Union Pacific Corporation

Capital priority has been safety and reliability capex (~3.4 billion dollars program), competitive dividend, and opportunistic buybacks. Execution improved under CEO Jim Vena with OR improvement and service gains; however, historical buybacks sometimes leaned aggressive versus cycle‑average intrinsic value.

The NSC transaction pauses repurchases and may require incremental debt issuance; we expect disciplined funding given leverage targets and potential STB conditions. M&A track record in Class I rail is mixed across the industry; we assume limited synergies near term and value the core franchise on a stand‑alone basis pending STB outcome.