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Norfolk Southern price target lowered to $135 from $139 at Loop Capital. Loop Capital analyst Rick Paterson lowered his price target on Norfolk Southern after the company's disclosure that poor operations have led to $50M more in Q1 operating costs than expected, adding this amounts to about 13c in EPS or 1.9% in operating ratio headwinds. Paterson also notes that the weekly operating data from the company showed no improvement in velocity at 19.1mph average vs. 19.2mph the prior week. The analyst keeps his Sell rating on Norfolk Southern, citing some progress being made in operating the Birmingham, Alabama facility.

Norfolk Southern price target lowered to $166 from $178 at Credit Suisse. Credit Suisse analyst Allison Landry lowered her price target for Norfolk Southern to $166 from $178 to reflect lower base year EBIT and a higher discount rate in her DCF model. The analyst reiterates an Outperform rating on the shares.

CSX 'setting the bar higher' for peers following Investor Day, says Bernstein. Bernstein analyst David Vernon said CSX (CSX) is "setting the bar higher" for peers Norfolk Southern (NSC) and Union Pacific (UNP) following CSX's long-anticipated Investor Day. At the event, the company met its main goal of demonstrating "enough management depth to make the realization of longer term operating ratio targets believable," he said. Additionally, Vernon said guidance targets overall were in line with consensus expectations by 2020, but cautions that the Street may be "too optimistic" for 2018. Following CSX's Investor Day, Vernon said he is "modestly" more bullish on the company, and thinks the company's ability to articulate a story on cost, demonstrate management depth, and provide hope for growth after 2018 will be viewed "constructively" by the market. Vernon, who has a Market Perform rating on CSX, raised his price target on shares to $61 from $58.

Stephens sees multiple reasons to be optimistic on Norfolk Southern in 2018. Stephens analyst Justin Long viewed Norfolk Southern's Q4 report as relatively in-line and sees multiple reasons to be optimistic about 2018, including an improving economic backdrop, tight truckload capacity and its impact on train pricing, lower inflationary costs, a forecast for a flattish headcount and tax reform benefits. He remains confident EPS can ramp "substantially" and raised his price target on Norfolk Southern shares to $172 from $165 while keeping an Overweight rating on the shares.