Wabtec Beats and Raises Guidance

More earnings. This morning, Wabtec (WAB) reported Q1 earnings of 99 cents per share which was four cents better than estimates. The company also raised its full-year guidance from $4.05 to $4.10 per share.

Raymond T. Betler, Wabtec’s president and chief executive officer, said: “With a strong first quarter, we’re off to a good start for the year. We will continue to face challenges during the year, including global economic uncertainty and foreign currency exchange headwinds, but we expect to benefit from our strong backlog, and from ongoing investment in freight rail and passenger transit projects around the world. We’re also pleased with our long-term growth prospects, which are driven by our diversified business model, balanced strategies and rigorous application of the Wabtec Performance System.”

Details from the quarter:

First quarter sales were $819 million, 18 percent higher than the year-ago quarter, due to growth in the Freight Group.

Income from operations was a record $148 million, or 18.1 percent of sales, compared to 17.5 percent in the year-ago quarter.

Earnings per diluted share were a record 99 cents, which was 19 percent higher than the year-ago quarter.

At March 31, 2015, the company had cash of $249 million and debt of $421 million.

Posted by on April 22nd, 2015 at 9:02 am


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