- Canadian National Railway (CNI +3.1%) rallies to within a dollar of its all-time high after easily topping Q2 earnings estimates, as Canada's largest railroad operator shipped higher volumes of crude, refined petroleum products and grains.
- Total Q2 revenues rose 9% Y/Y to C$3.96B, including a 25% surge in the petroleum and chemicals segment, including crude-by-rail shipments, while revenue in grain and fertilizers gained 8%.
- CNI says total carloads rose 2% in the quarter, and operating ratio improved to 57.5% from 58.2% a year earlier; the lower the ratio, the more efficient a railroad.
- CNI reaffirms full-year guidance, seeing adjusted EPS growth in the low double-digit range from last year's C$5.50, and continues to assume mid single-digit volume growth in 2019 in terms of revenue ton miles.