FCA 2Q24: ‘Our Strongest Performance Yet’ Since Castaños Plant Launch
“We are very pleased to report our strongest performance yet for revenue, gross profit and Adjusted EBITDA since opening our state-of-the-art facility [in Castaños, Mexico] in 2020,” Randall reported Aug. 12. “Importantly, these [second-quarter 2024] results follow the previously reported 99% growth in revenue and 192% growth in Adjusted EBITDA in the first quarter.”
Among FCA’s highlights for the second quarter, ending June 30, 2024:
- Revenues of $147.4 million on 1,159 railcar deliveries, up 66% from revenues of $88.6 million on 760 railcar deliveries in second-quarter 2023.
- Gross margin of 12.5% with gross profit of $18.4 million, vs. gross margin of 14.6% with gross profit of $13.0 million in the same quarter last year.
- Net Income of $8.2 million, or $0.11 per diluted share and adjusted net income of $6.3 million, or $0.05 per diluted share, “accounting primarily for a non-cash item associated with a change in fair market value of warrant liability and a cash item associated with a litigation settlement,” according to FCA.
- Adjusted EBITDA of $12.1 million, compared to adjusted EBITDA of $8.0 million in second-quarter 2023.
- FCA delivered its 10,000th railcar manufactured at the Castaños facility. The facility—built between 2020 and 2022, with the fourth production line completed in 2023—spans nearly 700,000 square feet and employs approximately 2,000 workers. It has a capacity to build more than 5,000 units per year; four production lines are in use and a fifth is available to boost volume by approximately 20%, according to the company.
- FCA received net orders for approximately 3,000 railcars, including the conversion of more than 1,000 legacy DOT-111 tank cars to current DOT-117R standards over a two-year period.
“We built a world-class manufacturing campus [in Mexico] that is both efficient and flexible,” Randall concluded. “Our customers see this as evidenced by our largest order intake since starting the facility and our recently announced milestone of shipping our 10,000th railcar manufactured at the campus. Furthermore, and consistent with our growth plans, we are pleased to also announce that our order backlog now includes tank cars. Tank cars represent a very important part of the market and are fully aligned with our growth strategy. In summary, we are pleased with the quarter, the year-to-date, and especially with where we see ourselves headed.”
Fiscal Year 2024 Outlook
FreightCar America reported updating its FY24 outlook as follows:
“With our [Mexico] facility complete and all production lines fully operational, we are well on track to achieve the operating performance we envisioned,” FreightCar America Chief Financial Officer Mike Riordan said. “Given this, combined with the significant order activity in the second quarter, we are raising our full year revenue and delivery guidance to between $560 million and $600 million and 4,300 to 4,700 railcars, respectively. Further, we are increasing our full year Adjusted EBITDA guidance to between $35 million and $39 million. With a strong pipeline of orders, we are well-positioned to leverage our operational efficiencies and cash flow generation to deliver profitable growth for our shareholders.”
For more financial details, visit the FCA Investor Relations webpage.
In a related development, FCA is delivering 600 new 1,150-cubic-foot iron ore hopper cars, colloquially called “jennies,” to CN.
