Which Railroad Topped First-Quarter Operating Margin Growth?

Earlier in this series, we looked at first-quarter freight volume growth for the major US railroads (XLI). In this part, we’ll review their operating margin changes for the same quarter. Railroads report operating ratios, which is an important metric for evaluating railroad performance. Operating ratio is the ratio of total operating expenses to revenue. An operating margin is the flip side of an operating ratio. The higher the operating margin, the better the operating efficiency and, in turn, the net margin.