csx which delivered a thirdquarter earnings beat and robust guidance last week is well positioned to boost the performance of its rail network analysts say the railroad company’s stock rose 149 before market open on monday after ending friday’s session up 17 csx corp csx shares have fallen 2676 this year outpacing the sp 500 index’s spx decline of 2126 the ishares transportation average etf iyt has fallen 2606 in 2022 the jacksonville flabased company’s thirdquarter revenue was 39 billion an 18 increase on the same period last year which csx attributed to a higher fuel surcharge pricing gains a 2 increase in volumes and an increase in storage and other revenues csx whose rail network covers much of the us east of the mississippi river also maintained its fullyear sales outlook for doubledigit growth excluding impacts from a realestate transaction in virginia csx earned 52 cents a share up from 43 cents a share in the prior year’s quarter operating income was 158 billion a 10 increase on the same period last year analysts surveyed by factset were looking for revenue of 374 billion and net income of 106 billion see now csx rallies on earnings beat while union pacific stock lags raymond james raised its csx price target to 33 from 31 on friday pointing to the company’s efforts around socalled precision scheduled railroading which focuses on the movement of individual train cars rather than whole trains a key railroad industry trend of recent years psr aims to boost efficiency by streamlining operations “csx continues to execute its psr initiatives that we expect will continue to drive operational improvement translating to stronger revenues margin eps and fcf gains in coming years” wrote raymond james analyst patrick tyler brown benchmark reiterated its csx buy rating and 32 price target in a note released on monday noting the company’s earnings beat and topline growth which is offsetting higher expenses “looking forward csx maintained its fullyear guidance and noted strong pricing” wrote benchmark analyst nathan martin “network performance is also on an upward trend as csx continues to add manpower” see now why a possible railroad strike would cripple the supply chain stoke inflation improved service and capacity should give the company the ability to move more traffic as demand continues to outpace availability especially in areas like coal and agricultural products according to martin “furthermore management noted the opportunity to win share with existing customers as well as new ones” the analyst wrote of 29 analysts surveyed by factset 19 have an overweight or buy rating nine have a hold rating and one has a sell rating on csx union pacific corp unp  whose network is focused on the western twothirds of the country also beat thirdquarter profit and revenue expectations last week but the company cut its outlook for carload growth and share repurchases initially weighing on its stock