New York, Feb 12, 2026, 18:15 EST — After-hours
- UNP slid, with U.S. rail names falling alongside the wider market’s decline.
- This week, the railroad pointed to an intermodal service award and noted its upcoming appearance at an investor conference set for Feb. 18.
- The $1.2 billion locomotive overhaul and the $1.38 per share quarterly dividend have largely faded into the background.
Union Pacific closed down roughly 0.5% at $261.77 on Thursday. After hours, the stock was barely budging.
This shift is significant—investors are zeroing in on what will shape rail earnings in 2026: steady service, tight pricing, and network costs. Union Pacific’s last two days of updates didn’t offer much in the way of figures, but they did deliver the cues that shippers and analysts tend to watch.
Intermodal, referring to shipping containers that travel partway by rail and often compete directly with trucks, stands right in the thick of that argument. When customers are free to choose, service rankings and how terminals perform can swing volumes fast.
Union Pacific on Tuesday announced it landed the top spot for intermodal service in North America for 2025, according to the Journal of Commerce’s Intermodal Service Scorecard. “Our customers have choices and we’re proud they trust Union Pacific to keep their supply chains moving,” said Kenny Rocker, head of marketing and sales, in the statement. (Up)
The following day, Union Pacific said CEO Jim Vena, CFO Jennifer Hamann, and Rocker are lined up to present at the Barclays 2026 Industrial Select Conference, scheduled for Feb. 18 at 9:15 a.m. ET. A webcast will be available on the company’s investor website. (Up)
Union Pacific’s spending decisions remain in the spotlight as the conference slot comes up. Earlier this month, the railroad and Wabtec signed off on a $1.2 billion plan to overhaul Union Pacific’s AC4400 locomotives, with deliveries kicking off in 2027. According to both companies, fuel consumption should drop by more than 5%, reliability gets a bump, and the upgraded engines will gain extra “tractive effort”—industry shorthand for pulling muscle. Vena described the revamped locomotives as “just like new.” Wabtec CEO Rafael Santana, for his part, expects “substantial gains in performance” from the refreshed fleet. (Up)
Union Pacific’s board has declared a quarterly dividend of $1.38 per share, the company said in a separate statement. The payout is set for March 31, with a record date of Feb. 27. (Up)
A fresh Form 4 shows Union Pacific EVP and Chief Information Officer Rahul Jalali offloaded 4,048 shares at zero dollars and another 1,237 shares at $254.34 on Feb. 9. The next day, Feb. 10, he picked up 8.679 shares at $261.32, taking part in the railroad’s employee stock purchase plan, according to the filing. (SEC)
Rail stocks mostly tracked the broader market’s slide. CSX dropped 1.5%, Norfolk Southern lost 0.9%. Canadian Pacific Kansas City finished a bit lower; Canadian National managed a 0.9% gain. The S&P 500 shed 1.57%. The Dow ended down 1.34% for the day. (MarketWatch)
The road ahead gets bumpy. Freight volumes could drop quickly if industrial demand slows, and railroads don’t have much flexibility to absorb a weaker economy without cutting into service levels. Union Pacific, for its part, is still fielding investor concerns over hefty spending plans, volatile fuel costs, and any surprises in its strategic direction that might hit margins.
Friday brings a chance to see if buyers return following a rough session for industrials. Looking ahead, the next big event lands on Feb. 18, when Vena and his team appear at Barclays—investors will be tuning in for any new details on volume trends, intermodal pricing, and capital spending.
