Union Pacific (UNP) closed at $282.36 on October 13 and has returned 12.3% over six months, trailing both the Insider Monkey Billionaire Index (21.5%) and the State Street SPDR S&P 500 ETF (14.0%). The article argues its rail network is nearly impossible to rebuild, which helps it keep 40.98% of revenue as operating profit. However, revenue grew 11.5% last quarter while earnings grew only 6.2%, and the company carries $31.17 billion in debt. The $85 billion Norfolk Southern deal was filed twice and rejected once as incomplete, with regulatory review potentially running into 2027 amid opposition from unions and rival railroads. The stock trades at 19.34 times next year's expected earnings, which the author sees as fairly priced for the current business and cheap only if the merger goes through.
Summary written by Upside AI from the original article. Read the source for full details.
Original headline: What is Union Pacific’s (UNP) Economic Moat, and is it Widening or Narrowing?
Read the original on Yahoo Finance ↗
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