Union Pacific Corporation (UNP): It Will Keep Finding New Ways to Profit

On Thursday, Union Pacific Corporation (NYSE:UNP) will release its latest quarterly results. The key to making smart investment decisions on stocks reporting earnings is to anticipate how they’ll do before they announce results, leaving you fully prepared to respond quickly to whatever inevitable surprises arise. That way, you’ll be less likely to make an uninformed knee-jerk reaction to news that turns out to be exactly the wrong move.

Union Pacific has benefited from the cost advantage that railroads have during periods of high energy prices, but the devastation in the commodities markets recently has had a negative impact on shipping volume. Nevertheless, the railroad giant has managed to turn to alternative revenue sources. Let’s take an early look at what’s been happening with Union Pacific Corporation (NYSE:UNP) over the past quarter and what we’re likely to see in its quarterly report.

Stats on Union Pacific

Source: Yahoo! Finance.

Can Union Pacific keep on rolling this quarter?
Analysts have reined in their expectations for Union Pacific Corporation (NYSE:UNP) over the past few months, reducing their earnings-per-share calls for both the first quarter and the full 2013 year by $0.09. The stock hasn’t fallen as a result, but its gains of about 7% since early January have been somewhat muted.

In recent years, railroads have lived by commodity demand, and some of them have been slowly dying by commodity demand. In particular, low coal prices have been a big hit to the industry, especially for CSX Corporation (NYSE:CSX) and Norfolk Southern Corp. (NYSE:NSC), whose focus on the coal-rich Appalachian region has given them above-average exposure to the market. Yet yesterday, CSX managed to report record profits despite coal volumes that fell 10%.

Union Pacific, though, has benefited from a couple of points in its favor. First, it has never relied on coal to the same extent as Norfolk or CSX. But more importantly, Union Pacific has also moved aggressively to cash in on the potential in moving oil and other energy products by rail, especially in hard to reach areas like the Bakken Shale play.

But despite Union Pacific Corporation (NYSE:UNP)’s strong competitive position, it has to be prepared for rivals to disrupt the industry. Back in March, Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK.B)‘s Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway division said it would look at potentially converting its locomotives to use liquefied natural gas rather than diesel fuel. With a potential cost savings of up to 90%, the impact could be huge if BNSF can successfully make the conversion, and Union Pacific would need to respond quickly in order to avoid an income-destroying profit margin squeeze.

In Union Pacific Corporation (NYSE:UNP)’s earnings report, look to see whether the company reports the same strength in chemicals for use by the energy industry that CSX reported yesterday, as well as volumes of fertilizers and phosphates. If Union Pacific can keep its volume of oil high, then it should be able to outperform its peers.

The article Union Pacific Will Keep Finding New Ways to Profit originally appeared on Fool.com.

Motley Fool contributor Dan Caplinger owns shares of Berkshire Hathaway. You can follow him on Twitter @DanCaplinger. The Motley Fool recommends Berkshire Hathaway. The Motley Fool owns shares of Berkshire Hathaway.

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