Is UNP a high-quality business?

AlphaMadera's AlphaQuality grade scores Union Pacific Corporation on six pillars — profitability, capital efficiency, balance-sheet strength, growth durability, cash generation, and shareholder yield. The composite letter grade reflects how UNP compares to a Buffett-style quality bar.

What is Union Pacific Corporation's AlphaQuality grade?

AlphaQuality assigns a letter grade (A through F) to UNP based on a six-pillar quantitative model. The live page shows the composite grade plus each pillar's individual score with the underlying metrics.

What makes UNP a quality stock?

AlphaQuality looks at return on capital, free-cash-flow margins, debt-to-equity, revenue stability, dividend and buyback policy, and operating-margin trend. Stocks scoring well across all six pillars earn higher grades — the methodology favors compounders over cyclicals.

UNP - Union Pacific Corporation

Price: -- -- | CONSENSUS: Buy DETAILS | PRICE TARGET: $287.30 DETAILS

AlphaQuality

Quantitative six-pillar business-quality grade

Stable Earnings Power

AlphaQuality — archetype-weighted quantitative grade

B+ 75.4 / 100 composite

Composite Grade

Composite of six pillars weighted for stable earnings power businesses. Purely quantitative — no stock price or analyst input.

Profitability

Weight: 20%

B- 66.7

5yr Avg ROIC 15.5% 81/100
Operating Margin Trend -0.52 pp/yr 33/100

Capital Efficiency

Weight: 15%

A+ 96.8

5yr Avg ROE 36.6% 100/100
5yr Share-Count CAGR -2.4% 91/100

Growth Quality

Weight: 15%

C 54.7

5yr Revenue CAGR 3.0% 45/100
5yr EPS CAGR 4.7% 53/100
Revenue-Growth Years (5) 4/5 80/100

Cash Generation

Weight: 15%

A 88.8

5yr FCF Margin 23.5% 94/100
5yr FCF/NI Conversion 0.83x 83/100

Balance Sheet

Weight: 20%

B+ 75.5

Net Debt / EBITDA 2.34x 63/100
Interest Coverage (EBIT/Int) 8.00x 77/100
Altman Z-Score 4.15 96/100

Stability

Weight: 15%

B 73.2

EPS Volatility (σ/μ) 0.28 59/100
Piotroski F-Score 8 89/100
Negative-Revenue Years (5) 1/5 80/100

7 of 7 gurus held; 1 new buy; 4 added; 2 trimmed.

Holders: 7 +1
Avg Δ position: +181.4%
New buys: 1
Full exits: 0

Laffont new
Dalio increased +878%
Cooperman increased +240%

How this is calculated

AlphaQuality grades six pillars from 0-100 and weights each by archetype:

Profitability (20%) — 5yr Avg ROIC, Operating Margin Trend
Capital Efficiency (15%) — 5yr Avg ROE, 5yr Share-Count CAGR
Growth Quality (15%) — 5yr Revenue CAGR, 5yr EPS CAGR, Revenue-Growth Years (5)
Cash Generation (15%) — 5yr FCF Margin, 5yr FCF/NI Conversion
Balance Sheet (20%) — Net Debt / EBITDA, Interest Coverage (EBIT/Int), Altman Z-Score
Stability (15%) — EPS Volatility (σ/μ), Piotroski F-Score, Negative-Revenue Years (5)

We deliberately ignore stock price, analyst targets, and consensus ratings so the grade is suitable for backtesting forward returns. A minimum of 5 fiscal years of audited statements is required; distressed and highly leveraged infrastructure businesses are declared ungradable rather than forced into a numeric score.