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Stock Comparison · Structural lead, mixed market

CSX vs Martin Marietta Materials: Which Stock Looks Stronger in 2026?

CSX holds the cleaner structural position, with the lead spread across profitability and growth. Martin Marietta Materials still has the edge on growth, which keeps the comparison from looking entirely one-sided. On the market side, CSX is in better shape — its trend is intact while Martin Marietta Materials's trend has broken down. That puts structure and market broadly in agreement — CSX's lead looks more confirmed than conflicted.

The comparison is based on similar long-term financial trajectories, not sector labels. Both peer scores are relative to the S&P 500 universe, making them directly comparable.

Updated 2026-05-17

The lead is spread across profitability and stability, rather than sitting in one isolated gap. The overall score gap is 17 points in favour of CSX Corporation.

Trajectory Similarity
0.65
Moderately similar
Peer-set rank: #20
within CSX Corporation's functional peer set

These two companies are linked by measured long-term financial trajectory similarity within the selected peer universe.

The pair shares a valid long-term profile match, but the trajectories are not especially close.

The strongest overlap appears in margin consistency and revenue growth trajectory.

Similarity drivers
margin consistencyrevenue growth trajectory
How to read the score
0.85–1.00 · Very similar0.70–0.84 · Similar0.55–0.69 · Moderately similarbelow 0.55 · Loose match
Peer-Relative Score
CSX
CSX Corporation
57
Peer-Score
Signal qualitylow
Peer basis: S&P 500
vs
MLM
Martin Marietta Materials, Inc.
40
Peer-Score
Signal qualityMedium
Peer basis: S&P 500

Scores reflect position relative to comparable companies with similar long-term financial trajectories.

The largest gaps do not all point in the same direction.

Dimension spread: CSX vs MLM Profitability 62 4 Stability 53 28 Valuation 60 46 Growth 52 98 CSX MLM
Gap Ranking
#1 Profitability +58
#2 Growth +46
#3 Stability +25
#4 Valuation +14
Price Setup

Left means cheaper relative valuation. Higher means stronger structure.

Price setup map for CSX and MLM Stronger + cheaper Stronger + richer Weaker + cheaper Weaker + richer CSXMLM Relative valuation Structural strength

CSX Corporation looks stronger on relative valuation, while the broader price setup remains mixed.

Valuation position uses peer-relative PE percentile (idx_pct_pe) where available.

Entry today — historical context

Where CSX and MLM each sit in their own 5-year price and valuation history.

BASED ON 5-YEAR HISTORY CSX Elevated · above norm 0th 50th 100th 26 pct gap MLM Elevated · above norm 0th 50th 100th 99th 73rd
Today MLM sits in the upper-middle of its own 5-year history (73rd percentile), while CSX sits higher in its own history (99th). Within each stock's own 5-year context, MLM is at a historically more favourable entry position than CSX. This reflects entry timing, not which company is structurally stronger — peer-relative analysis is a separate question addressed above.

Describes historical entry positioning only. Descriptive — not investment advice.

Relative Position vs Comparable Companies
Profitability
On profitability, CSX Corporation is positioned higher in the group, while Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. is closer to the middle.
Growth
Both rank well on growth, but Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. still holds a clear edge.
Profitability — Dominant Gap
CSX
62
MLM
4
Gap+58in favour of CSX

The profitability lead is mainly driven by a 23.5-point operating margin advantage.

What keeps the gap from being one-sided

Earnings growth also leans toward MLM, which keeps the score lead from reading as a full growth sweep.

What this means for the comparison

Profitability settles the main question, even though growth still keeps the broader picture from looking fully clean.

Explore full peer positioning in AssetNext

Break down the CSX vs MLM comparison across all dimensions with the full interactive tool.

Explore full breakdown →
Other comparisons with conflicting dimension signals

Explore how CSX and MLM each compare against other companies in their peer groups.

Rule-based, descriptive analysis only. Derived from peer percentile dimensions. Not investment advice. Peer groups are determined algorithmically based on structural similarity — not by sector classification alone.

How AssetNext Peer Scores Work

AssetNext scores reflect each company's structural position within its functional peer group — not a ranking against all stocks simultaneously. Peers are identified by similarity across eight financial dimensions, including revenue growth trajectory, margin structure, capital intensity, and earnings stability. A score of 75 means the company ranks in the top quartile within its own peer group, not the entire market.

Four dimension scores drive the overall peer score: Growth (revenue trajectory and expansion dynamics), Quality (margin structure and capital efficiency), Valuation (peer-relative pricing on standard multiples), and Stability (earnings consistency and financial predictability). Each dimension is scored 0–100 relative to the peer group, then combined into an overall peer score using equal weighting.

Because scores are peer-relative, the same company can have slightly different scores in different index universes. On comparison pages, both companies are shown within their shared peer universe wherever possible — so the scores are directly comparable. The peer basis is stated on each score card.

Scores are recalculated periodically as underlying financial data is updated. All analysis is descriptive and rule-based — AssetNext describes structural realities and never issues buy, sell or hold recommendations.