Strong full year gross profit growth and over 260 basis points of gross margin expansion despite challenging industry environment

Operating cash flow of $35 million and Adjusted Free Cash Flow of $31 million, up 45% year over year

Projecting growth in 2026

CHICAGO, March 09, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- FreightCar America, Inc. (NASDAQ: RAIL) (“FreightCar America” or the “Company”), a diversified manufacturer and supplier of railroad freight cars, railcar parts and components, today reported results for the fourth quarter and fiscal year ended December 31, 2025.

FourthQuarter 2025Highlights

• Revenues of $125.6 million, compared to $137.7 million in the fourth quarter of 2024, with railcar deliveries of 1,172 units compared to 1,019 units in the prior year period
• Gross margin of 13.4% with gross profit of $16.8 million, compared to gross margin of 15.3% with gross profit of $21.0 million in the fourth quarter of 2024
• Recorded $19.9 million of non-cash adjustments related to share price appreciation accounting, partially offset by a $2.1 million non-cash acquisition-related gain, resulting in a net loss of $16.6 million, or $0.52 per share, and adjusted net income of $4.9 million, or $0.16 per share
• Adjusted EBITDA was $10.4 million, representing a margin of 8.3%, compared to $13.9 million and a margin of 10.1% in the fourth quarter of 2024
• Ended the quarter with a backlog of 1,926 units valued at $137.5 million, reflecting a diversified mix of railcar conversion programs and new railcar builds
• Completed the acquisition of Carly Railcar Components, LLC, a leading distributor of railcar components, to strengthen aftermarket footprint
  
  

Fiscal Year 2025 Highlights

• Revenues of $501.0 million, compared to $559.4 in fiscal year 2024, with railcar deliveries of 4,125 units compared to 4,362 units in the prior year
• Gross margin of 14.6% with gross profit of $73.2 million, compared to gross margin of 12.0% with gross profit of $67.0 million in fiscal year 2024
• Net income of $38.1 million, or $1.09 per share, and Adjusted net income of $18.1 million, or $0.50 per share, after adjusting primarily for non-cash items including a $51.9 million release of valuation allowance on deferred taxes, offset by a $32.2 million non-cash adjustment warrant liability due to share price appreciation
• Adjusted EBITDA of $44.8 million, representing a margin of 8.9%, compared to Adjusted EBITDA of $43.0 million and a margin of 7.7% in fiscal year 2024
• Delivered operating cash flow of $34.8 million and $31.4 million in adjusted free cash flow, up 44.8% year-over-year, and optimized balance sheet through lower cost refinancing
  
  

“In 2025, FreightCar America executed with discipline amid a challenging industry environment, delivering revenue in line with our expectations while producing exceptional profitability,” said Nick Randall, President and Chief Executive Officer of FreightCar America. “During the year, we capitalized on demand by leveraging our customer-centric approach of tailored solutions, including conversions and customized offerings, while also growing market share in new car deliveries. This execution, combined with our manufacturing flexibility and ongoing implementation of operational initiatives such as our TruTrack program, contributed to improved Adjusted EBITDA margins and strong free cash flow generation, further strengthening our financial position.”

Randall continued, “As we enter 2026, we remain focused on converting backlog into profitable deliveries while continuing to invest for growth. We are deploying capital effectively to diversify our revenue base, expand our aftermarket business and presence in the tank car market to further strengthen our offerings and capture demand, while continuing to evaluate strategic opportunities that fuel future growth. Overall, with a strong commercial strategy, a lean and flexible operating model, and an efficient manufacturing footprint, we are well positioned to perform in the current environment and to accelerate as industry fundamentals improve.

FiscalYear2026 Outlook

The Company has issued outlook for fiscal year 2026 as follows:

Mike Riordan, Chief Financial Officer of FreightCar America, added, “2025 demonstrated the durability of our operating model. We made continued progress strengthening the quality and consistency of our cash flows while maintaining a disciplined approach to capital allocation. During the year, we also advanced our aftermarket strategy, including the addition of Carly Railcar Components, which enhances this growing part of our business and supports more stable, recurring revenue across market cycles. Looking ahead to 2026, our guidance reflects ongoing industry uncertainty while reinforcing our confidence in the underlying strength and resilience of the business.”

Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2025 Conference Call & Webcast Information

The Company will host a conference call and live webcast on Tuesday, March 10, at 11:00 a.m. (Eastern Time) to discuss its fourth quarter and full year 2025 financial results. FreightCar America invites shareholders and other interested parties to listen to its financial results conference call. Teleconference details are as follows:

• March 10, 2026
• 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time
• Phone: 1-877-407-0789 or 1-201-689-8562
• Webcast access: https://viavid.webcasts.com/starthere.jsp?ei=1750668&tp_key=019ec51a78
  
  

An audio replay of the conference call will be available beginning at 3:00 p.m. An audio replay of the conference call will be available beginning at 3:00 p.m. (Eastern Time) on Tuesday, March 10, 2026, until 11:59 p.m. (Eastern Time) on Monday, March 24, 2026. To access the replay, please dial (844) 512-2921 or (412) 317-6671. The replay passcode is 13758379. An archived version of the webcast will also be available on the FreightCar America Investor Relations website.

About FreightCar America

FreightCar America, headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, is a leading designer, producer and supplier of railroad freight cars, railcar parts and components. We also specialize in railcar repairs, complete railcar rebody services and railcar conversions that repurpose idled rail assets back into revenue service. Since 1901, our customers have trusted us to build quality railcars that are critical to economic growth and instrumental to the North American supply chain. To learn more about FreightCar America, visit www.freightcaramerica.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains statements relating to our expected financial performance, financial condition, and/or future business prospects, events and/or plans that are “forward-looking statements” as defined under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements represent our estimates and assumptions only as of the date of this press release. Our actual results may differ materially from the results described in or anticipated by our forward-looking statements due to certain risks and uncertainties. These risks and uncertainties relate to, among other things, the cyclical nature of our business; adverse geopolitical, economic and market conditions, including inflation; material disruption in the movement of rail traffic for deliveries; fluctuating costs of raw materials, including steel and aluminum; delays in the delivery of raw materials; our ability to maintain relationships with our suppliers of railcar components; our reliance upon a small number of customers that represent a large percentage of our sales; the variable purchase patterns of our customers and the timing of completion; delivery and customer acceptance of orders; the highly competitive nature of our industry; the risk of lack of acceptance of our new railcar offerings; potential unexpected changes in laws, rules, and regulatory requirements, including tariffs and trade barriers (including recent United States tariffs imposed or threatened to be imposed on China, Canada, Mexico and other countries and any retaliatory actions taken by such countries); the scope and duration of the government shutdown; and other competitive factors. The factors listed above are not exhaustive. New factors emerge from time to time that may cause our business not to develop as we expect, and it is not possible for us to predict all of them. We expressly disclaim any duty to provide updates to any forward-looking statements made in this press release, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

This press release includes measures not derived in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”), such as EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted net income (loss), Adjusted EPS, Free cash flow and Adjusted free cash flow. These non-GAAP measures should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for any measure derived in accordance with GAAP and may also be inconsistent with similar measures presented by other companies. Reconciliations of these measures to the applicable most closely comparable GAAP measures, and reasons for the Company’s use of these measures, are presented in the attached pages.

⁽¹⁾        EBITDA represents earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. We believe EBITDA is useful to investors in evaluating our operating performance compared to that of other companies in our industry. In addition, our management uses EBITDA to evaluate our operating performance. The calculation of EBITDA eliminates the effects of financing, income taxes and the accounting effects of capital spending. These items may vary for different companies for reasons unrelated to the overall performance of the company’s business. EBITDA is not a financial measure presented in accordance with U.S. GAAP. Accordingly, when analyzing our operating performance, investors should not consider EBITDA in isolation or as a substitute for net income or other statements of operations or statements of cash flow data prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP. Our calculation of EBITDA is not necessarily comparable to that of other similar titled measures reported by other companies.

⁽²⁾        Adjusted EBITDA represents EBITDA before the following charges:

1. This adjustment removes the non-cash (income) expense associated with the change in fair market value of the Company’s warrant liability.
2. During the second quarter of 2024, the Company recorded a litigation settlement related to a dispute with a former lessee of our railcars.
3. During the third and fourth quarters of 2025, the Company incurred certain professional services expenses associated with governance items.
4. During the second and third quarter of 2025, the Company recognized other income related to a tax credit received. Additionally, during the fourth quarter of 2025, the Company recognized a bargain purchase gain in connection with the acquisition.

We believe that Adjusted EBITDA is useful to investors evaluating our operating performance compared to that of other companies in our industry because it eliminates the impact of certain non-cash charges and other special items that affect the comparability of results in past quarters. Adjusted EBITDA is not a financial measure presented in accordance with U.S. GAAP. Accordingly, when analyzing our operating performance, investors should not consider Adjusted EBITDA in isolation or as a substitute for net income or other statements of operations or statements of cash flow data prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP. Our calculation of Adjusted EBITDA is not necessarily comparable to that of other similarly titled measures reported by other companies.

⁽¹⁾        Adjusted net income represents net income (loss) before the following charges:

1. This adjustment removes the non-cash (income) expense associated with the change in fair market value of the Company’s warrant liability.
2. During the second quarter of 2024, the Company recorded a litigation settlement related to a dispute with a former lessee of our railcars.
3. During the third and fourth quarters of 2025, the Company incurred certain professional services expenses associated with governance items.
4. During the second quarter of 2025, the Company released the majority of the valuation allowance in the United States on federal and state deferred tax assets.
5. During the second and third quarter of 2025, the Company recognized other income related to a tax credit received. Additionally, during the fourth quarter of 2025, the Company recognized a bargain purchase gain in connection with the acquisition.
6. Income tax impact on non-GAAP adjustments per share represents the tax impact of the presented adjustments on the Company’s income tax provision calculation.
   

We believe that Adjusted net income is useful to investors evaluating our operating performance compared to that of other companies in our industry because it eliminates the impact of certain non-cash charges and other special items that affect the comparability of results in past quarters. Adjusted net income is not a financial measure presented in accordance with U.S. GAAP. Accordingly, when analyzing our operating performance, investors should not consider Adjusted net income in isolation or as a substitute for net income or other statements of operations or statements of cash flow data prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP. Our calculation of Adjusted net income is not necessarily comparable to that of other similarly titled measures reported by other companies.

⁽¹⁾        Adjusted EPS represents diluted EPS before the following charges:

1. This adjustment removes the non-cash (income) expense associated with the change in fair market value of the Company’s warrant liability.
2. During the second quarter of 2024, the Company recorded a litigation settlement related to a dispute with a former lessee of our railcars.
3. During the third and fourth quarters of 2025, the Company incurred certain professional services expenses associated with governance items.
4. During the second quarter of 2025, the Company released the majority of the valuation allowance in the United States on federal and state deferred tax assets.
5. During the second and third quarter of 2025, the Company recognized other income related to a tax credit received. Additionally, during the fourth quarter of 2025, the Company recognized a bargain purchase gain in connection with the acquisition.
6. Income tax impact on non-GAAP adjustments per share represents the tax impact of the presented adjustments on the Company’s income tax provision calculation.

We believe that Adjusted EPS is useful to investors evaluating our operating performance compared to that of other companies in our industry because it eliminates the impact of certain non-cash charges and other special items that affect the comparability of results in past quarters. Adjusted EPS is not a financial measure presented in accordance with U.S. GAAP. Accordingly, when analyzing our operating performance, investors should not consider Adjusted EPS in isolation or as a substitute for net income or other statements of operations or statements of cash flow data prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP. Our calculation of Adjusted EPS is not necessarily comparable to that of other similarly titled measures reported by other companies.

⁽¹⁾        Free cash flow represents the amount by which Cash flows provided by operating activities exceeds capital expenditures.
⁽²⁾        Adjusted free cash flow represents the amount by which Free cash flow exceeds the following items:

1. Represents Series C Preferred stock dividends accrued during the period. All accrued preferred share dividends were paid concurrent with redemption of the preferred shares outstanding on December 31, 2024.

We believe that Free cash flow and Adjusted free cash flow are useful to investors evaluating our operating performance compared to that of other companies in our industry because these metrics provide key insights into the potential for growth and ability to generate returns for investors. Free cash flow and Adjusted free cash flow are not financial measures presented in accordance with U.S. GAAP. Accordingly, when analyzing our operating performance, investors should not consider Free cash flow or Adjusted free cash flow in isolation or as a substitute for Cash flows from operating activities or other statements of operations or statements of cash flow data prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP. Our calculation of Free cash flow and Adjusted free cash flow is not necessarily comparable to that of other similarly titled measures reported by other companies.

⁽¹⁾        Lease-Adjusted EBITDA represents the amount by which Adjusted EBITDA exceeds the following items:

1. Represents lease payments recorded within Interest expense due to certain leases previously classified as financing prior to December 2025.

We believe that Lease-Adjusted EBITDA is useful to investors evaluating our operating performance across periods because this metric provides comparability as if the accounting classification of financing leases were consistent across operating periods. Lease-Adjusted EBITDA is not a financial measure presented in accordance with U.S. GAAP. Accordingly, when analyzing our operating performance, investors should not consider Lease-Adjusted EBITDA in isolation or as a substitute for net income or other statements of operations or statements of cash flow data prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP. Our calculation of Lease-Adjusted EBITDA is not necessarily comparable to that of other similarly titled measures reported by other companies.