Canadian Halal Investor.

NYSE Shariah screener · October 2026

Is Norfolk Southern Corporation (NSC) Halal?

PASS

Norfolk Southern Corporation · NYSE: NSC · Industrials

The short answer

Yes -- Norfolk Southern Corporation (NSC) passes this Shariah stock screen at all three gates. Per its own FY2025 10-K (filed February 9, 2026), its core business is freight rail transportation through Norfolk Southern Railway Company -- a single operating segment, railway operations -- with no involvement in conventional banking/insurance, alcohol, gambling, pork, tobacco, or weapons, so the business-activity gate passes. Its disclosed interest income for FY2025 is $0 against $12,180M of railway operating revenues (0%), well under the 5% non-compliant income ceiling. Its debt screen also passes: $17,087M of interest-bearing debt (long-term debt plus current maturities; commercial paper and securitization both $0) is about 24.52% of its ~$69.68B market cap ($310.26, latest close retrieved October 2, 2026), below the ~33% ceiling. Third-party screeners agree where they cover it: Zoya flags NSC Shariah-compliant and Musaffa classifies it halal (October 2026); ShariaPortfolio has no NSC page (no coverage). Note: Norfolk Southern has a pending merger agreement with Union Pacific (announced July 28, 2025); the 10-K says its stock will be delisted and deregistered only upon consummation -- it remains listed on the NYSE today.

Gate 1 — Business activity: PASS

Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE: NSC), based in Atlanta, Georgia, owns a major freight railroad, Norfolk Southern Railway Company. Its FY2025 10-K (filed February 9, 2026) says it is primarily engaged in the rail transportation of raw materials, intermediate products, and finished goods in the Southeast, East, and Midwest, plus overseas freight through Atlantic and Gulf Coast ports, operating approximately 19,100 route miles with the most extensive intermodal network in the eastern U.S. It reports one reportable operating segment -- railway operations. Business screen (factual, from the filing): nothing in the 10-K indicates conventional banking/lending/insurance, alcohol, gambling, pork, tobacco, or weapons activity. Gate 1 passes. Facts only.

Gate 2 — Debt and cash: PASS

Per Norfolk Southern's FY2025 10-K (fiscal year ended December 31, 2025), interest-bearing debt was $17,087M -- long-term debt of $16,480M plus current maturities of $607M (including $18M of finance leases, per Note 11). It had no outstanding commercial paper and nothing drawn on its accounts receivable securitization program. Against a market cap of about $69.68B ($310.26 latest close retrieved October 2, 2026; 224,572,025 shares outstanding per the 10-K cover, at January 31, 2026), debt divided by market cap is about 24.52%, below the ~33% ceiling. Cash and cash equivalents of $1,530M are about 2.20% of market cap. Gate 2 passes. Facts only.

Gate 3 — Non-compliant income: PASS

Norfolk Southern's FY2025 10-K income statement discloses no separate interest-income line, and Zoya reports interest income of $0 against FY2025 railway operating revenues of $12,180M -- 0% of revenue, far below the 5% non-compliant income ceiling. The 10-K's 'Other income -- net' of $101M (about 0.83% of revenue even if fully counted) consists of pension/postretirement benefit components, returns on corporate-owned life insurance, and gains on non-rail asset disposals, not interest income. Gate 3 passes. Facts only.

Key figures used

Frequently asked questions

What does Norfolk Southern do?

Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE: NSC), based in Atlanta, Georgia, owns a major freight railroad, Norfolk Southern Railway Company. Its FY2025 10-K (filed February 9, 2026) says it is primarily engaged in the rail transportation of raw materials, intermediate products, and finished goods in the Southeast, East, and Midwest, plus overseas freight through Atlantic and Gulf Coast ports, operating approximately 19,100 route miles with the most extensive intermodal network in the eastern U.S. It reports one operating segment -- railway operations. It has no conventional lending/insurance, alcohol, gambling, pork, tobacco, or weapons business.

Why does Norfolk Southern pass this Shariah stock screen?

Norfolk Southern passes all three gates. Its core business is freight rail transportation, a permissible business activity with no involvement in conventional banking or insurance, alcohol, gambling, pork, tobacco, or weapons -- so Gate 1 passes. Its interest-bearing debt of $17,087M is about 24.52% of its ~$69.68B market cap, below the ~33% ceiling -- Gate 2 passes. Its disclosed interest income is $0 for FY2025 against $12,180M of railway operating revenues (0%), well under the 5% non-compliant income ceiling -- Gate 3 passes. This is a factual screen, not a religious ruling -- consult a qualified scholar for personal rulings.

What is Norfolk Southern's interest-bearing debt ratio?

Per its FY2025 10-K (fiscal year ended December 31, 2025), interest-bearing debt was $17,087M -- long-term debt of $16,480M plus current maturities of $607M (including $18M of finance leases, per Note 11). It had no outstanding commercial paper and nothing drawn on its accounts receivable securitization program. Against a market cap of about $69.68B ($310.26 latest close retrieved October 2, 2026; 224,572,025 shares outstanding per the 10-K cover, at January 31, 2026), debt divided by market cap is about 24.52% -- below the ~33% ceiling. Cash and cash equivalents of $1,530M are about 2.20% of market cap.

What is Norfolk Southern's non-compliant income ratio?

Norfolk Southern's FY2025 10-K income statement discloses no separate interest-income line, and Zoya -- which screens the filing -- reports interest income of $0 against FY2025 railway operating revenues of $12,180M (0%), far below the 5% ceiling. The 10-K's 'Other income -- net' line of $101M (about 0.83% of revenue even if fully counted) consists of pension and postretirement benefit components, returns on corporate-owned life insurance, and gains on non-rail asset disposals, not interest income. Gate 3 passes comfortably either way.

Do Zoya, Musaffa, or ShariaPortfolio cover Norfolk Southern?

Zoya covers NSC and flags it as Shariah-compliant (zoya.finance/stocks/nsc; the page's displayed assessment date was blank when accessed in October 2026) -- it does not rate Norfolk Southern non-compliant. Musaffa covers NSC and classifies it as halal as of October 2026 under its AAOIFI methodology (musaffa.com/stock/NSC/). No ShariaPortfolio screener page for NSC was found (no coverage), honestly reported rather than invented. All available third-party positions are consistent with this page's own PASS outcome. This page applies the screen directly from Norfolk Southern's own filings and reports these positions honestly.

Sources

Screened 2026-10-02 from published company figures and market data. Figures change; this page is educational, not financial advice and not a religious ruling.

Screened with our two-gate Shariah screening methodology (business-activity gate, then AAOIFI-style financial ratios).