<p>OMAHA, Neb. — CSX Corp. said its first-quarter profit declined 8% due to higher expenses, but the railroad said it expects to benefit as the U.S. economy strengthens further over the rest of the year.</p>
<p>The Jacksonville, Florida-based company said Tuesday that it earned $706 million, or 93 cents per share, during the quarter. That’s down from $770 million, of $1 per share, a year ago.</p>
<p>The results fell short of Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of six analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of 95 cents per share.</p>
<p>CSX reiterated that it expects volume to grow this year at a faster pace than the U.S. economy, which is the midst of a recover from the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.</p>
<p>“I am pleased to see momentum steadily building over the past few months,” CEO Jim Foote said. “It’s nice to finally have an economic tailwind at our backs.”</p>
<p>The freight railroad’s revenue declined 1% to $2.81 billion in the period, which matched forecasts. Volume was up about 1% over last year’s first quarter, but revenue fell across automotive, chemical and coal shipments. </p>
<p>CSX said its expenses increased 2% to $1.71 billion in the quarter as it spent more on salaries and materials as it dealt with severe winter weather.</p>
<p>CSX shares have climbed nearly 9% since the beginning of the year. They slipped about 1.7% in after-market trading following the release of the earnings report.</p>
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<p>Elements of this story were generated by Automated Insights (<a href="http://automatedinsights.com/ap">http://automatedinsights.com/ap</a>) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on CSX at <a href="https://www.zacks.com/ap/CSX">https://www.zacks.com/ap/CSX</a></p>
