Hedge fund billionaire Daniel Loeb slashed his stake in the railroad stocks in his portfolio in the first quarter of FY26.

According to the firm’s Q1 13F filing, reflecting its holdings as of March 31, 2026, Third Point trimmed its holding in Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE:NSC) by 90% from about 1.81 million shares in the fourth quarter of 2025 to 100,000 shares in the first quarter of 2026. Also, the investor slashed his stake in Union Pacific Corporation (NYSE:UNP) by 94% to 100,000 shares in the last quarter.

The stake reduction may also reflect the uncertainty around Union Pacific’s proposed $85 billion acquisition of Norfolk Southern.

Notably, last July, Norfolk Southern announced an agreement with Union Pacific to combine in a stock-and-cash transaction. Union Pacific will acquire Norfolk Southern at an implied value of $320 per share. Shareholders are set to receive one share of Union Pacific and $88.82 in cash for each share of Norfolk Southern stock held. 

Regulatory scrutiny, including additional information requests and a pause in parts of the Surface Transportation Board review, increased volatility around railroad stocks and merger valuations.

Apart from this, Loeb fully exited his position of 500,000 shares in CSX Corporation (NASDAQ:CSX) , which was opened in the fourth quarter of 2025.

Recent Earnings Snapshot

  • Norfolk Southern reported first-quarter 2026 revenue of $3.0 billion, in line with estimates. Adjusted diluted EPS was $2.65, down 1% from the prior year but above the $2.51 estimate. Railway operating revenue totaled $3.0 billion, up $5 million year over year. A 1% volume decline offset pricing and mix gains, highlighting continued volume pressure.
  • Union Pacific reported first-quarter 2026 adjusted diluted EPS of $2.93, beating analyst estimates of $2.86. Operating revenue rose 3% year over year to $6.217 billion, exceeding estimates of $6.199 billion. The company reaffirmed its 2026 outlook, expecting mid-single-digit EPS growth, further operating ratio improvement and strong cash generation. It also highlighting risks tied to regulatory approvals for its proposed combination with Norfolk Southern, as well as potential impacts from tariffs, macroeconomic conditions and other external factors.
  • CSX reported quarterly earnings of 43 cents per share, which beat the analyst consensus estimate of 39 cents. Quarterly revenue came in at $3.48 billion, which missed the Street estimate of $3.49 billion. The company announced a $5 billion share buyback plan.

NSC: Peer Comparison

This peer comparison is based on a curated set of rail and infrastructure names selected for this analysis: Canadian National Railway (CNI), Canadian Pacific Kansas City Limited (CP), CSX Corporation (CSX), FTAI Infrastructure Inc. (FIP), and Union Pacific Corp. (UNP). Over the past year, Norfolk Southern gained 26.10%, beating the peer-group average return of 16.99% by 9.11 percentage points. However, it still trailed CSX Corporation (CSX), Union Pacific Corp. (UNP), and Canadian National Railway (CNI) on a 1-year basis.

Within the group, CSX Corporation was the strongest performer at +46.84%, while FTAI Infrastructure Inc. was the weakest at -37.03%. The remaining peers were mixed, with Canadian Pacific Kansas City Limited up 16.35%, Canadian National Railway up 26.52%, and Union Pacific Corp. up 32.28%.

Price Activity: Union Pacific shares were up 0.48% at $300.86, and Norfolk Southern shares were up 0.63% at the time of publication on Friday, according to Benzinga Pro. Meanwhile, CSX shares were down 0.36% at $50.70 at the time of publication on Friday.

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