(The Associated Press circulated the following on September 28.)
NEW YORK — Shares of major railroad operators were mixed in trading Friday, as a Bear Stearns analyst said demand for carloads appear to be improving, but are still suffering year-over-year losses.
Analyst Edward Wolfe said overall railroad volume fell 0.7 percent last week, compared with year-over-year declines of 2.2 and 3.1 percent in the prior two weeks.
Intermodal and segments related to the struggling housing market are continuing to suffer the greatest losses, Wolfe said. Paper and lumber volumes, fell 13.8 percent for the week, he said, while intermodal, which involves moving freight from one method of transportation to another, fell 3.1 percent.
Autos, chemicals and grain were the only segments to gain last week, the analyst said. Auto carloads were up 5.6 percent, while chemicals rose 6.2 percent and grain was the most significant at 6.7 percent.
Volumes remain especially weak for Eastern rails, such as CSX Corp., while Union Pacific Corp. continues to post modest but “solid” gains. Wolfe said Union Pacific reported its best overall volumes last week since the middle of the first quarter.
However, the rail with the strongest overall volumes remains Canadian Pacific Corp., he said.
Wolfe said he expects demand to continue its modest rebound, although near to intermediate term demand will likely remain weak.
He rates the sector “Market Weight.”
In early afternoon trading, shares of Canadian National Railway Co. rose 32 cents to $70.35, while Canadian Pacific rose 24 cents to $57.55.
Union Pacific Corp. slipped 44 cents to $113.14, and CSX Corp. rose 32 cents to $42.99.
Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp. fell 29 cents to $81.49, while Kansas City Southern lost 10 cents to $32.37.
Norfolk Southern Corp. slipped 2 cents to $51.98.