MMarketMath

UNP

Slow growerQuality: High (70/100)2 red flags

Union Pacific Corporation · Industrials · Rail Transportation

$309.86

52w 210.84 – 315.99

20y monthly, adjusted

Mkt cap

$184.1B

P/E

25.6

P/FCF

33.3

FCF yield

3.0%

ROE

38.7%

Shldr yield

3.2%

div 1.8% + bb 1.5%

What today's price assumes

At $184.1B, the market is pricing in 14.6% annual free-cash-flow growth for the next decade (10% discount rate, 2.5% terminal growth). Over the last ten years, FCF actually grew 7.4% per year — the price asks for acceleration beyond the historical record.

Simple DCF per-share range: $141 · $181 · $226 (4% / base / optimistic growth). An estimate, not a target.

Adjust the assumptions yourself →

Historical multiple lens

At its own median P/OCF of 11.1× across 19 years, UNP would trade near $173/share (25th–75th percentile: $112–$208); it trades at 19.8× today.

Assumes the historical multiple regime persists — re-ratings can be permanent.

Growth record

Compound annual growth rates from as-filed 10-K data, split-adjusted

Rev 3y

−0.5%

Rev 5y

+4.6%

Rev 10y

+1.2%

EPS 5y

+8.7%

EPS 10y

+8.1%

FCF 5y

−0.4%

FCF 10y

+7.4%

Fundamentals

Fiscal 2007–2025, from SEC filings

Revenue

2007: $16.3B
2008: $18.0B
2009: $14.1B
2010: $17.0B
2011: $19.6B
2012: $20.9B
2013: $22.0B
2014: $24.0B
2015: $21.8B
2016: $19.9B
2017: $21.2B
2018: $22.8B
2019: $21.7B
2020: $19.5B
2021: $21.8B
2022: $24.9B
2023: $24.1B
2024: $24.3B
2025: $24.5B
$0$10.0B$20.0B
07
11
15
19
23

Net income

2007: $1.9B
2008: $2.3B
2009: $1.9B
2010: $2.8B
2011: $3.3B
2012: $3.9B
2013: $4.4B
2014: $5.2B
2015: $4.8B
2016: $4.2B
2017: $10.7B
2018: $6.0B
2019: $5.9B
2020: $5.3B
2021: $6.5B
2022: $7.0B
2023: $6.4B
2024: $6.7B
2025: $7.1B
$0$5.0B$10.0B
07
11
15
19
23

Free cash flow

2007: $781.0M
2008: $1.3B
2009: $850.0M
2010: $1.6B
2011: $2.7B
2012: $2.4B
2013: $3.3B
2014: $3.0B
2015: $2.7B
2016: $4.0B
2017: $4.0B
2018: $5.2B
2019: $5.2B
2020: $5.6B
2021: $6.1B
2022: $5.7B
2023: $4.8B
2024: $5.9B
2025: $5.5B
$0$2.0B$4.0B$6.0B
07
11
15
19
23

Diluted shares (lower is better)

2007: 1.0B
2008: 1.0B
2009: 984.0M
2010: 978.4M
2011: 952.9M
2012: 952.9M
2013: 931.5M
2014: 901.1M
2015: 869.4M
2016: 835.4M
2017: 801.7M
2018: 754.3M
2019: 706.1M
2020: 679.1M
2021: 655.4M
2022: 624.0M
2023: 610.2M
2024: 608.6M
2025: 595.9M
0500.0M1.0B
07
11
15
19
23

Margins

20%40%07101316192225
Net marginFCF marginGross margin

Capital returned (dividends + buybacks)

2007: $364.0M
2008: $481.0M
2009: $544.0M
2010: $602.0M
2011: $2.3B
2012: $2.6B
2013: $3.6B
2014: $4.9B
2015: $5.8B
2016: $5.0B
2017: $6.0B
2018: $10.5B
2019: $8.4B
2020: $6.3B
2021: $10.1B
2022: $9.4B
2023: $3.9B
2024: $4.7B
2025: $5.9B
$0$5.0B$10.0B
07
11
15
19
23

Cash vs long-term debt

$0$10.0B$20.0B$30.0B07101316192225
CashLT debt

Quarterly

Discrete quarters from 10-Q filings; Q4 derived as fiscal year minus Q1–Q3. OCF is unwound from the year-to-date figures 10-Qs report. Compare to the same quarter a year ago — most businesses are seasonal.

Revenue by quarter

Q2'23: $6.0B
Q3'23: $5.9B
Q4'23: $6.2B
Q1'24: $6.0B
Q2'24: $6.0B
Q3'24: $6.1B
Q4'24: $6.1B
Q1'25: $6.0B
Q2'25: $6.2B
Q3'25: $6.2B
Q4'25: $6.1B
Q1'26: $6.2B
Q2'26: $6.9B
$0$2.0B$4.0B$6.0B
23
24
24
25
26

Net income by quarter

Q2'23: $1.6B
Q3'23: $1.5B
Q4'23: $1.7B
Q1'24: $1.6B
Q2'24: $1.7B
Q3'24: $1.7B
Q4'24: $1.8B
Q1'25: $1.6B
Q2'25: $1.9B
Q3'25: $1.8B
Q4'25: $1.8B
Q1'26: $1.7B
Q2'26: $2.0B
$0$500.0M$1.0B$1.5B
23
24
24
25
26
QuarterRevenueYoYNet incomeYoYEPSOCF
Q2'26$6.9B+11.5%$2.0B+6.2%3.36$3.1B
Q1'26$6.2B+3.2%$1.7B+4.6%2.87$2.4B
Q4'25 *$6.1B−0.6%$1.8B+4.9%3.12$2.2B
Q3'25$6.2B+2.5%$1.8B+7.0%3.01$2.5B
Q2'25$6.2B+2.4%$1.9B+12.1%3.15$2.3B
Q1'25$6.0B−0.1%$1.6B−0.9%2.70$2.2B
Q4'24 *$6.1B−0.6%$1.8B+6.7%2.91$2.7B
Q3'24$6.1B+2.5%$1.7B+9.4%2.75$2.7B
Q2'24$6.0B+0.7%$1.7B+6.6%2.74$1.9B
Q1'24$6.0B−0.4%$1.6B+0.7%2.69$2.1B
Q4'23 *$6.2B−0.3%$1.7B+0.9%2.70$2.4B
Q3'23$5.9B−9.5%$1.5B−19.4%2.51$2.1B
Q2'23$6.0B−4.9%$1.6B−14.5%2.57$2.0B

Track record

Compound annual growth by period. For debt and share count, negative is the good direction.

Series3y5y10y15y
Revenue−0.5%+4.6%+1.2%+2.5%
Operating cash flow−0.3%+1.7%+2.4%+5.6%
Free cash flow−1.4%−0.4%+7.4%+8.5%
EPS (diluted)+2.2%+8.7%+8.1%+10.1%
Equity+14.9%+1.7%−1.1%+0.3%
LT debt−1.5%+3.5%+8.4%+8.6%
Diluted shares−1.5%−2.6%−3.7%−3.3%
Stock price+14.3%+9.7%+14.9%+16.0%

$100, 3 years ago

$149vs $176 in SPY

14.3% vs 20.7%/yr

$100, 5 years ago

$159vs $181 in SPY

9.7% vs 12.6%/yr

$100, 10 years ago

$402vs $412 in SPY

14.9% vs 15.2%/yr

$100, 15 years ago

$929vs $813 in SPY

16.0% vs 15.0%/yr

The $1 test — market value created per $1 of earnings retained (Buffett's hurdle: at least $1)

Last 5 years

$1.10

$20.0B created / $18.2B retained

Last 10 years

$2.29

$89.1B created / $39.0B retained

Quality & capital discipline

Cash-based returns and how management deploys capital

Cash ROIC

18.5%

OCF ÷ (equity + debt)

OCF / EV yield

4.4%

MC vs 10× OCF

1.97

≤1 = priced under 10× OCF

Debt / FCF

5.8y

SBC / FCF

2.6%

Owner earnings

$5.4B

OCF − capex − SBC

OE yield

2.9%

Share count 5y

−3.1%

per year; negative = buybacks

Capital intensity

net PP&E ÷ revenue

Sales efficiency

$3.67

new PP&E per $1 new revenue, 5y

Growth engine (5y): reinvested 15.7% of operating cash flow at an incremental return of 10.5% — an organically fundable growth rate of about 1.7% per year (growth ≈ reinvestment rate × incremental ROIC).

Checklist

16 of 26 checks pass · 62%. Checks with structurally missing inputs are excluded.

Growth & Consistency

3/7

  • Revenue growth

    4.6% · 5y CAGR ≥ 5%

    fail
  • EPS growth

    8.7% · 5y CAGR ≥ 5%

    pass
  • FCF growth

    -0.4% · 5y CAGR ≥ 5%

    fail
  • Revenue rises consistently

    6 of 9 · up in ≥ 7 of last 10 years

    fail
  • FCF consistently positive

    10 of 10 · positive in ≥ 8 of last 10 years

    pass
  • Profitable every year

    10 of 10 · net income > 0 in ≥ 8 of last 10

    pass
  • Cash flow keeps up with sales

    1.7% vs 4.6% · OCF CAGR ≥ 0.9× revenue CAGR

    fail

Profitability

6/6

  • Net margin

    29.1% · ≥ 8%

    pass
  • Operating margin

    40.2% · ≥ 10%

    pass
  • Gross margin stable or rising

    · no drop > 2 pts over 3y

    na
  • Return on equity

    38.7% · ≥ 12%

    pass
  • Cash ROIC

    18.5% · ≥ 12%

    pass
  • FCF margin

    22.4% · ≥ 5%

    pass
  • Earnings back their cash

    OCF $9.3B vs NI $7.1B · OCF ≥ net income (latest FY)

    pass

Balance Sheet

2/5

  • Debt payable from cash flow

    5.8y · LT debt ≤ 3× FCF

    fail
  • Cash cushion

    4% · cash ≥ 50% of LT debt

    fail
  • Leverage

    1.72 · LT debt ≤ 1.5× equity

    fail
  • Equity positive and compounding

    $18.5B · equity > 0 and grew over ~5y

    pass
  • Interest burden

    13% · interest ≤ 15% of operating income

    pass

Capital Allocation

3/4

  • Share count flat or shrinking

    -3.1% · ≤ +0.5%/yr over ~5y

    pass
  • Stock comp restrained

    3% · SBC ≤ 15% of FCF

    pass
  • Distributions funded by FCF

    108% · dividends + buybacks ≤ 100% of FCF

    fail
  • Repurchases are a habit

    10 of 10 · buybacks in ≥ 5 of last 10 years

    pass

Valuation Discipline

2/4

  • FCF yield

    3.0% · ≥ 3%

    pass
  • Earnings multiple

    25.6 · P/E ≤ 25

    fail
  • Price asks less than history delivered

    14.6% vs 7.4% · implied FCF growth ≤ historical FCF CAGR

    fail
  • Shareholder yield

    3.2% · dividends + buybacks ≥ 2% of market cap

    pass

Red flags

Mechanical checks — a flag is a question to investigate, not a verdict

Heavy debt load

Long-term debt exceeds 5 years of free cash flow.

Distributions exceed FCF

Dividends plus buybacks exceeded free cash flow in the latest fiscal year.

Financial data

As filed in 10-Ks; per-share figures split-adjusted. $ in millions.

FYRevenueGross profitOp incomeNet incomeEPSOCFCapExFCFDividendsBuybacksSBCCashLT debtEquityShares
202524,5109,8467,13811.989,2903,7915,4993,2362,6791421,26631,81418,467596
202424,2509,7136,74711.099,3463,4525,8943,2131,5051181,01631,19216,890609
202324,1199,0826,37910.458,3793,6064,7733,1737051071,05532,57914,788610
202224,8759,9176,99811.219,3623,6205,7423,1596,2829997333,32612,163624
202121,8049,3386,5239.959,0322,9366,0962,8007,2918896029,72914,161655
202019,5337,8345,3497.888,5402,9275,6132,6263,705731,79926,72916,958679
201921,7088,5545,9198.388,6093,4535,1562,5985,8049383125,20018,128706
201822,8328,5175,9667.918,6863,4375,2492,2998,225961,27322,39120,423754
201721,2408,10610,71213.367,2303,2383,9921,9824,0131031,27516,94424,856802
201619,9417,2434,2335.077,5253,5054,0201,8793,105821,27715,00719,932835
201521,8138,0524,7725.497,3444,6502,6942,3443,465981,39114,20120,702869
201423,9888,7535,1805.757,3854,3463,0391,6323,2251121,58611,41321,189901
201321,9637,4464,3884.716,8233,4963,3271,3332,218981,4329,57721,225932
201220,9266,7453,9434.146,1613,7382,4231,1461,474931,0638,99719,877953
201119,5575,7243,2923.455,8733,1762,6978371,418821,2178,90618,578953
201016,9654,9812,7802.844,1052,4821,623602741,0869,24217,763978
200914,1433,3791,8901.923,2042,354850544581,8509,84816,801984
200817,9704,0702,3352.334,0442,7541,290481651,2498,60715,4471,002
200716,2833,3751,8551.783,2772,49678136487815,4561,044

Some concepts are structurally absent for certain industries (banks report no gross profit or capex). Missing ≠ zero.