FreightCar America posts 2Q loss, missing Street

The results missed Wall Street expectations, and the company's shares fell $8.14, or 22.5 percent, to $27.99 in morning trading.

The company reported a quarterly loss of $886,000, or 8 cents a share, compared with a profit of $11.5 million, or 93 cents per share, in the same period a year earlier.

The loss includes charges of 22 cents per share related to a loss contingency reserve due to sharp material cost increases on fixed price contracts. Excluding those, the company would have earned 14 cents a share in the quarter.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial expected earnings of 24 cents per share in the second quarter. Analysts generally exclude one-time items from their estimates.

Revenue in the quarter fell more than 27 percent to $141.3 million from $195.4 million. Analysts expected $131.9 million in revenue.

Orders for new railcars totaled 1,436 units in the second quarter, compared with 2,262 units ordered in the second quarter of 2007.

The backlog of unfilled orders was 4,917 units at June 30, compared with 5,589 units at June 30, 2007.

Shares of FreightCar America have ranged from $27 to $47.47 over the past year.