NSC vs UPS Comparison: AI Score, Valuation, Performance and Upside
Compare Norfolk Southern's eastern rail freight network against UPS's global parcel delivery and logistics scale.
Use this Norfolk Southern vs UPS comparison to evaluate the key differences across valuation, growth, profitability, and risk before making an investment decision.
UPS holds the edge across 3 of 5 key metrics in this comparison. UPS leads on both 1-year return (+19.93%) and forward P/E quality (13.04x vs 24.35x for NSC), a relatively favorable combination of momentum and valuation. NSC leads on both revenue growth (11.40%) and operating margin (35.30%), suggesting a stronger fundamental setup on both dimensions. Analyst consensus implies meaningfully more upside for UPS (+10.20%) than for NSC (+4.76%).
Human Wall Street analysts' price targets, typically implying a ~12-month view — a separate signal from this site's own AI Prediction Signal further down the page, which is a 5-/30-day machine-learning forecast based on price history alone.
| Metric | NSC | UPS |
|---|---|---|
| AI scorei | 52.6 | 42.3 |
| AI ranki | #367 | #925 |
| Latest closei | $329.46 | $102.29 |
| 1M returni | -3.59% | -5.02% |
| 6M returni | +5.96% | -1.71% |
| 1Y returni | +18.43% | +19.93% |
How much would $10,000 be worth today if invested at the start of each period, with all dividends reinvested?
| Period | NSC | UPS |
|---|---|---|
| 1Y ago | $11.78K (+17.8%) started 2025-09-04 | $12.11K (+21.1%) started 2025-09-04 |
| 5Y ago | $15.7K (+57.0%) started 2021-09-07 | $7.19K (-28.1%) started 2021-09-07 |
| 10Y ago | $50.31K (+403.1%) started 2016-09-06 | $18.14K (+81.4%) started 2016-09-06 |
Hypothetical — past performance does not guarantee future results.
| Metric | NSC | UPS |
|---|---|---|
| Market capi | $78.32B | $89.61B |
| Trailing P/Ei | 29.75 | 19.58 |
| Forward P/Ei | 24.35 | 13.04 |
| Price/Salesi | N/A | 0.92 |
| EV/Revenuei | 7.53 | 1.26 |
| Analyst targeti | $365.28 | $116.08 |
| Target upsidei | +4.76% | +10.20% |
| Metric | NSC | UPS |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue growthi | 11.40% | 7.60% |
| Earnings growthi | -4.40% | -53.00% |
| EPS growthi | -4.40% | -53.00% |
| FCF margini | +11.02% | +6.18% |
| Operating margini | 35.30% | 9.05% |
| Profit margini | 21.02% | 5.08% |
| ROIC proxyi | 16.98% | 29.60% |
| Return on equityi | 16.98% | 29.60% |
| Dividend yieldi | 1.55% | 6.23% |
| Betai | 1.27 | 1.04 |
| Debt/equityi | 105.52 | 189.90 |
| Current ratioi | 0.83 | 1.18 |
| Quick ratioi | 0.67 | 1.05 |
Over the past year, NSC and UPS have moved weakly in the same direction (correlation of 0.33), based on daily returns.
Lower drawdown and smaller single-period drops generally indicate a smoother ride, though they do not guarantee lower future risk.
| Period | Metric | NSC | UPS |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1Y | Growthi | +17.77% | +21.08% |
| CAGRi | +17.79% | +21.11% | |
| Volatilityi | 20.53% | 29.52% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.68 | 0.64 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 1.04 | 0.88 | |
| Max drawdowni | 12.47% | 21.00% | |
| Current drawdowni | 6.66% | 14.76% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 3.53% | 7.39% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 4.50% | 9.85% | |
| Max daily dropi | 5.47% | 10.47% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 6.41% | 12.66% | |
| 5Y | Growthi | +44.19% | -38.98% |
| CAGRi | +7.61% | -9.42% | |
| Volatilityi | 24.98% | 28.91% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.24 | -0.35 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 0.35 | -0.46 | |
| Max drawdowni | 35.64% | 58.70% | |
| Current drawdowni | 6.66% | 48.84% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 12.95% | 31.28% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 15.81% | 34.97% | |
| Max daily dropi | 7.47% | 14.11% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 12.79% | 18.40% | |
| 10Y | Growthi | +314.27% | +27.00% |
| CAGRi | +15.28% | +2.42% | |
| Volatilityi | 27.53% | 27.95% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.49 | 0.06 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 0.72 | 0.09 | |
| Max drawdowni | 44.42% | 58.70% | |
| Current drawdowni | 6.66% | 48.84% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 9.69% | 20.55% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 13.01% | 26.19% | |
| Max daily dropi | 13.90% | 14.11% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 23.87% | 18.40% |
| Category | NSC | UPS |
|---|---|---|
| Company | NSC | UPS |
| Sector | Industrials | Industrials |
| Industry | Railroads | Integrated Freight & Logistics |
| Core business | Norfolk Southern Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the rail transportation of raw materials, intermediate products, and finished goods in the United States. | United Parcel Service, Inc., a package delivery and logistics provider, offers transportation and delivery services. |
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