RXO (NYSE:RXO) & CSX (NASDAQ:CSX) Financial Review

RXO (NYSE:RXO) and CSX (NASDAQ:CSX) are both industrials companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, valuation, profitability, earnings, dividends and risk.

Volatility & Risk

RXO has a beta of 2.1, indicating that its share price is 110% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, CSX has a beta of 1.21, indicating that its share price is 21% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares RXO and CSX’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
RXO	-1.72%	-0.98%	-0.45%
CSX	23.97%	25.94%	8.06%

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares RXO and CSX”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
RXO	$6.54 billion	0.70	-$100.00 million	($0.51)	-54.67
CSX	$14.09 billion	6.66	$2.89 billion	$1.93	26.38

CSX has higher revenue and earnings than RXO. RXO is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than CSX, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

92.7% of RXO shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 73.6% of CSX shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.8% of RXO shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.3% of CSX shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for RXO and CSX, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
RXO	1	15	3	1	2.20
CSX	1	7	18	0	2.65

RXO currently has a consensus target price of $26.69, indicating a potential downside of 4.26%. CSX has a consensus target price of $52.20, indicating a potential upside of 2.52%. Given CSX’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe CSX is more favorable than RXO.

Summary

CSX beats RXO on 11 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About RXO

RXO, Inc. provides full truckload freight transportation brokering services. It also offers brokered services for managed transportation, last mile, and freight forwarding. The company was incorporated in 2022 and is based in Charlotte, North Carolina.

About CSX

CSX Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides rail-based freight transportation services. The company offers rail services; and transportation of intermodal containers and trailers, as well as other transportation services, such as rail-to-truck transfers and bulk commodity operations. It also transports chemicals, agricultural and food products, minerals, automotive, forest products, fertilizers, and metals and equipment; and coal, coke, and iron ore to electricity-generating power plants, steel manufacturers, and industrial plants, as well as exports coal to deep-water port facilities. In addition, the company provides intermodal services through a network of approximately 30 terminals transporting manufactured consumer goods in containers; and drayage services, including the pickup and delivery of intermodal shipments. It serves the automotive industry with distribution centers and storage locations, as well as connects non-rail served customers through transferring products, such as plastics and ethanol from rail to trucks. The company operates approximately 20,000 route mile rail network, which serves various population centers in 26 states east of the Mississippi River, the District of Columbia, and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec, as well as owns and leases approximately 3,500 locomotives. It serves production and distribution facilities through track connections. CSX Corporation was incorporated in 1978 and is headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida.