UPDATE: Norfolk Southern Q3 Profit Misses Estimates, Shares Drop

Shares of Norfolk Southern

fell more than 3.7% in pre-market trading after the company reported weaker-than-expected third-quarter earnings. The Norfolk, Virginia-based company posted a quarterly profit of $559 million, or $1.79 per share, versus a year-ago profit of $482 million, or $1.53 per share. Its revenue rose 7% to $3.02 billion. However, analysts were estimating a profit of $1.83 per share on revenue of $3.07 billion. Norfolk Southern's coal revenue dropped 2% to $626 million, while intermodal revenue climbed 10% to $667 million. General merchandise revenue gained 10% to $1.7 billion, while revenue for automotive business jumped 12%. Railway operating revenue gained 7% to $3.0 billion. CEO Wick Moorman said, "Higher traffic volumes along with continued gains in productivity drove these excellent results. We remain focused on ensuring we can support continued demand for freight rail transportation by hiring additional employees, investing in new equipment, and completing capacity projects in order to provide our customers with the freight rail service they expect today and in the future." Norfolk Southern shares fell 3.73% to $105.75 in pre-market trading.