Greenbrier reports record results in Q1 FY2016

The railroad transportation equipment manufacturer posted net earnings of over $69 million in its fiscal first quarter ended Nov. 30, 2015, a year-over-year increase 112 percent.    Greenbrier Companies, Inc. reported net earnings of $69.4 million for the first quarter of its fiscal year 2016, which ended Nov. 30, 2015, an increase 112 percent from the same period in 2014 and a record for the company.
   According to the railroad transportation equipment manufacturer’s most recent financial statements, revenues for quarter were also a new record for the company at $802.4 million, a year-over-year increase of 62.1 percent. Earnings per diluted share grew from $2.15 per share to $1.01 per share for the quarter.
   Greenbrier “delivered a decisive beat to our and consensus estimates,” equity research firm Cowen and Company said of the results. “GBX reported fiscal 1Q16 EPS of $2.15, well ahead of our and the consensus estimate of $1.62 and 113% above last year.”
   The company attributed the record revenues, also up 4.8 percent from the previous quarter, to increased deliveries. New railcar deliveries totaled 6,900 units for the quarter, compared to 6,200 units for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2015, which ended Aug. 31, 2015.
   Greenbrier said it received diversified orders for 500 new railcars during the Q1 FY2016, and orders for an additional 2,100 railcars since the end of the quarter. The cumulative orders are valued at nearly $250 million with an average sales price of approximately $96,000 per railcar.
   Looking forward, the company reaffirmed previous FY2016 projections of diluted EPS in the range of $5.65 per share to $6.15 per share on revenues exceeding $2.8 billion and deliveries of around 20,000 to 22,500 units.
   “Greenbrier’s first quarter results are the fourth consecutive quarter we have produced record-breaking performance,” Greenbrier Chairman and CEO William A. Furman said in a statement. “This accomplishment is a testament to the value of our integrated business model and our strategy to diversify our product offerings, create efficient, flexible manufacturing capacity in low-cost facilities and drive more value through our lease syndication model. Aggregate gross margin hit an all-time high of 23.0%, up 520 bps year-over-year, with our manufacturing and lease syndication activities continuing to lead the way.
   “We anticipate and are prepared for market conditions in which order and backlog levels will likely come down from their elevated energy-driven peak,” he added. “We see positive continuing demand for a range of non-energy related railcars including automotive carrying railcars, large cube covered hoppers, non-energy tank cars and boxcars. We believe our strong backlog, geographic diversity and manufacturing flexibility will lead to another solid year of earnings and free cash flow in fiscal 2016.”