Railroad Stock Winners and Losers: Norfolk Southern

Norfolk Southern(NSC Quote), which said Wednesday that it sees business bottoming, closed slightly higher, but shares of most railroad stocks finished lower.

Norfolk Southern finished at $37.50, up 0.4%, after CEO Wick Moorman told analysts and reporters that the company is still seeing "significant pressure" on volumes in the second quarter. But he predicted declines might bottom out before the quarter ends in June.

Moorman said demand could improve as early as the back half of this year, as federal stimulus money starts spurring business. Rail demand picked up slightly when stimulus funds were spent last year, but later plunged to levels worse than they were before. ...