Union Pacific Corporation (NYSE:UNP) stock was up on Thursday following the release of its earnings report for the fourth quarter of 2016.
Earnings per share reported by Union Pacific Corporation during the fourth quarter of 2016 was $1.39 cents. This is a 6% increase over its earnings per share of $1.31 from the fourth quarter of 2015. It also came in above Wall Street’s earnings per share estimate of $1.33.
Union Pacific Corporation reported revenue of $5.2 billion in the fourth quarter of 2016. This represents a 1% decline from the company’s revenue from the same period of the year prior. However, it still came in above the $5.13 billion revenue estimate that analysts had set for the quarter.
Union Pacific Corporation reported that Quarterly freight revenue for the fourth quarter was down 1% from last year. It also saw an average quarterly diesel fuel price of $1.65 per gallon. This was up 2% from the fourth quarter of 2015. Train speed for the quarter was 26.5 mph, which is 2% lower than the same time in 2015.
Operating income reported by Union Pacific Corporation in the fourth quarter of the year was $2.0 billion. This is up 2% from the same time last year. Net income for the fourth quarter of 2016 was $1.1 billion.
“Looking to 2017, we are fairly optimistic about some of the macro-economic indicators that drive our core business,” Lance Fritz, Chairman, President and CEO of Union Pacific Corporation, said in a statement. “Higher energy prices, favorable agricultural markets and improving business and consumer confidence all support a return to positive volume growth this year.”
UNP stock was up 2% as of Thursday afternoon.
