Forensic Analysis · Industrials / Manufacturing / Defense · as of Aug 15, 2026
Freightcar America, Inc. (RAIL)
A forensic read on Freightcar America, Inc. built from its complete SEC filings — financial-health screens, earnings quality, red flags and a price-aware rating. Reproducible math, not opinion.
D · Weak — demands caution
Forensic grade
Distress
Financial health
1.1
Distress distance
Clean
Earnings quality
6
Forensic signals
8.7
P / E (ttm)
$252M
Market cap
-10.4%
Revenue growth
This free snapshot doesn't read filing or proxy text, so the auditor-quality and governance checks that can lower a grade were not evaluated (red flags, auditor quality, say on pay, board independence). Those checks only ever lower a grade, so the full analysis can land below the grade above but never above it — treat it as the most favourable reading, not the settled one.
Freightcar America, Inc. earns a D (Weak — demands caution) forensic quality grade, and its balance-sheet distress test reads 1.1, placing it in the Distress zone. 6 forensic signals were flagged in its latest SEC filings, led by share-count dilution.
What the filings flag
+10.8%/yr
FY2022–FY2025
Share-count dilution.Diluted share count changed +36% over the last 3 years to FY2025 (+10.8%/yr). The count is growing: more stock was issued than repurchased over this window, so aggregate results grew faster than their per-share equivalents. That's ~10.8% shaved off per-share growth every year — total profit has to grow that much just to keep earnings-per-share flat, and a stake held since FY2022 has been diluted ~26%.
stopped
FY2024→FY2025
Shareholder returns — halted.Capital returns have STOPPED — $28M of buybacks + dividends in FY2024, but ~$0 in FY2025. A halt usually means the company is conserving cash.
suspended
FY2024→FY2025
Dividend — suspended.The dividend has been SUSPENDED — $28M paid in FY2024, then $0 in FY2025. A suspension is a major signal the board is conserving cash; the prior payment history doesn't offset it.
12.5%
FY2025
Return on invested capital.Return on invested capital is 12.5% in the latest fiscal year and rising from -9% — a modest positive spread over its ~9% cost of capital — growth adds value, though not dramatically.
0.7% of rev
FY2025
Stock-based comp load.Stock-based compensation ran 0.7% of revenue and 12% of free cash flow in FY2025 — about $0.11 per diluted share. No cash left the business to pay it, which is why operating cash flow adds it back. Net of repurchases the diluted count still rose about 10.8% a year, and the rate is falling. Stock compensation is one source of that issuance; acquisition consideration, equity raises, convertibles and other employee plans also net into the count, and these figures do not separate them.
Key fundamentals
Latest Revenue$501.0M
Revenue Growth YoY-10.4%
Revenue CAGR (3yr)+11.2%
Net Margin7.6%
Free Cash Flow$31.4M
The forensic grade and screens above are free — no account needed. Want the AI investment read on top — the 0–100 rating, thesis, bull-vs-bear, red flags and the 12-month scenario, written from Freightcar America, Inc.'s actual 10-K/10-Q/8-K filings?
Data from SEC EDGAR public filings · metrics as of Aug 15, 2026. Forensic signals flag probability, not certainty.
Freightcar America, Inc. (RAIL) Stock — Forensic Analysis, Red Flags & Rating | Stockonomy · Stockonomy
$22M
FY2019–FY2019
Goodwill impairments.Took $22M of goodwill writedowns across 1 year (FY2019 ($22M)). Writedowns mean past acquisitions underperformed what was paid for them.