Canadian National Railway Co. (CNR.TO, CNI) was upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Raymond James on Thursday.

Analyst Steve Hansen raised his price target on shares of the Canadian railway to $162 from $150, and on Outperform-rated Canadian Pacific Kansas City Ltd. (CP.TO) to $120 from $110.

"Despite widespread uncertainty associated with US tariff policy, Canadian rail traffic fared better-than-expected in 2Q25, with both CN and CPKC modestly exceeding our volume estimates," Hansen said in a note to clients.

"...Growth proved highly divergent between the two carriers, with CPKC's hefty outperformance underpinned by several unique tailwinds (Coal, Potash, Auto, Intermodal), while CN struggled across all major categories ex-Grain," the analyst said.

"While trade/macro uncertainty lingers, we regard initial US trade deals and new legislation as key milestones that portend an improved economic outlook," Hansen said.

"Stacked against easy back-half comps (wildfires, strikes), we expect CN traffic to accelerate and CPKC traffic to remain elevated through 2H25."

(MT Newswires covers equity, commodity and economic research from major banks and research firms in North America, Asia and Europe. Research providers may contact us here: https://www.mtnewswires.com/contact-us)