Canadian National Railway Co. vs Lamb Weston Holdings Inc — how do they compare? Canadian National Railway Co. trades at $126.3 (market cap $76.28B), while Lamb Weston Holdings Inc trades at $52.79 (market cap $7.23B). The key difference: Canadian National Railway Co. is far larger — about 10.6× Lamb Weston Holdings Inc's market cap, and Lamb Weston Holdings Inc pays the higher dividend (2.89%). Which is the better fit depends on your goals.
| CNI | LW | |
|---|---|---|
Market Cap | $76.28B | $7.23B |
Sector | Industrials | Consumer Staples |
52-Week High | $130.58 | $66.57 |
52-Week Low | $90.91 | $38.48 |
Enterprise Value | $92.31B | $11.10B |
Dividend Yield | 2.06% | 2.89% |
Signals from Pluang's Aura AI — not financial advice
CNI trades at $126.32, up 0.94% today, with a neutral technical signal and bullish moving average trend. The company reported strong Q2 2026 earnings, beating EPS estimates with $1.50 versus $1.39 expected, and raised full-year guidance. Key financials show a P/E of 22.62, net income margin of 26.92%, and ROE of 22.02%, supported by record grain movements in the 2025-26 crop year.
Outlook is positive due to operational excellence and volume growth, but valuation appears stretched with a consensus price target of $152.38. Risks include competitive pressures and macroeconomic volatility, while institutional sentiment leans neutral with 60.79% hold ratings.
Lamb Weston (LW) trades at $53.04, up 2.37% today, near its consensus price target of $53.86. The stock shows a bullish technical trend with consistent earnings beats in recent quarters, including Q2 2026 EPS of $0.87 versus $0.626 expected. Revenue reached $6.45 billion in 2025, though net income margin declined to 4.39%. Analyst sentiment is mixed with 31.58% buy ratings, while institutional investors like Dimensional Fund Advisors increased holdings by 28.1% in Q1 2026 (SEC filing, 2026-07-29).
The outlook is cautiously optimistic given operational improvements and cost savings, but risks include international demand pressures and elevated costs. The stock offers a 3.1% dividend yield, with fiscal 2027 guidance projecting 1%-2% sales growth. Further upside depends on sustaining North American volume growth and margin stabilization amid macroeconomic headwinds.
Trailing returns across standard periods
Canadian National's railway spans Canada from coast to coast and extends through Chicago to the Gulf of Mexico. In 2019, CN delivered almost 6 million carloads over its 19,600 miles of track. CN generated roughly CAD 14 billion in total revenue by hauling intermodal containers (25% of consolidated revenue), petroleum and chemicals (21%), grain and fertilizers (16%), forest products (12%), metals and mining (11%), automotive shipments (6%), and coal (4%). Other items constitute the remaining revenue.
Read more on CNI →Lamb Weston is the world's second-largest producer of branded and private-label frozen potato products, such as French fries, sweet potato fries, tater tots, diced potatoes, mashed potatoes, hash browns, and chips. The company also has a small appetizer business that produces onion rings, mozzarella sticks, and cheese curds. Including joint ventures, 63% of fiscal 2022 revenue was U.S.-based, with the remainder stemming from Europe, Canada, Japan, China, Korea, Mexico, and several other countries. Lamb Weston's customer mix is estimated 58% quick-serve restaurants, 19% full-service restaurants, 8% other food services (hotels, commercial cafeterias, arenas, schools), and 16% retail. Lamb Weston became an independent company in 2016 when it was spun off from Conagra.
Read more on LW →