Freightcar America, Inc.

Welcome to Freight Car America's first quarter 2025 earnings conference call. At this time, all participants' lines are in a listen-only mode. For those of you participating on the conference call, there will be an opportunity for your questions at the end of today's prepared comments. Please note this conference is being recorded. An audio replay of the conference call will be available on the company's website within a few hours after this call. I would now like to turn the call over to Chris O'Day with Riveron Investor Relations.

Thank you and welcome. Joining me today are Nick Randall, President and Chief Executive Officer, Mike Reardon, Chief Financial Officer, and Matt Ton, Chief Commercial Officer. I'd like to remind everyone that statements made during this conference call relating to the company's expected future performance, future business prospects, or future events or plans may include forward-looking statements as defined under the private securities litigation or format of 1995. Participants are directed to freight car Americas Form 10-K for description of certain business risks, some of which may be outside the control of the company, and may cause actual results materially different from those expressed in the forward-looking statements. We expressly disclaim any duty to provide updates to our forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. During today's call, there will also be a discussion of some items that do not conform to U.S. generally accepted accounting principles or GAAP. Reconciliations of these non-GAAP measures to their most directly comparable GAAP measures are included in the earnings release issued yesterday afternoon. Our earnings released for the first quarter of 2025 is posted on the company's website at freightcaramerica.com, along with our 8K, which was filed pre-market this morning. With that, I'll turn it over to Nick for his few opening remarks.

Thank you, Chris. Good morning, everyone, and thank you all for joining us today. I'm very pleased to share another quarter of exceptional performance for Freight Car America, driven by robust rail car orders, continued market share gains, as the fastest growing railcar manufacturer in the industry and significantly improved profitability with strong margin expansion. As we anticipated, our first quarter results reflect planned lower railcar production as we dedicated a portion of our manufacturing capacity to deliver large custom fabrications. This effort further showcases our operational flexibility and ability to manufacture large scale complex fabrications that are tailored to the unique needs of our customers. Despite fewer deliveries during the quarter, we achieved strong profitability and met our expectations. In short, we executed exactly as planned and remained on track to achieve our full year goals for 2025. We saw significant margin improvements during the quarter. Our gross margin expanded to 14.9%, up 780 basis points year over year, nearly doubling from the same period last year. This margin strength clearly demonstrates the disciplined execution of our manufacturing presence. The improved margin is translated directly to the bottom line with adjusted EBITDA as 7.3 million, exceeding last year despite lower revenue and deliveries. These results underscore our team's commitment to profitable growth and operational efficiency. We have consistently emphasized profitable execution and our Q1 results reflect this commitment. Our commercial pipeline remains robust. We booked 1,250 new rail car orders valued at approximately $141 million in the first quarter, marking a strong start to the year. These orders drove our backlog to 3,337 rail cars totaling $318 million, providing excellent visibility well into 2025. Importantly, Freight Car America was the fastest-growing rail car manufacturer in North America according to published ARCI data, expanding our addressable market share from 8% to 27% over the last 12 months. Despite lower industry-wide orders, more customers continue to choose us, validating our product quality, reliability, and value-added solutions. Our strategic advantages underpin this success. Operating from a purpose-built facility, we maintain an agile manufacturing platform that quickly responds to customers' needs. This vertically integrated campus enables rapid adjustments and seamless customization of product. Strategically positioned near the US border, our facility reduces supply chain delays and transit times, effectively minimizing industry bottlenecks. Additionally, our alignment with USMCA guidelines insulates our operations from current tariff uncertainties. all while providing with a distinct competitive edge through enhanced responsiveness, shorter lead times, and operational adaptability. This unique blend of 120-year legacy as a pure-plate rail car manufacturer with a startup agility continues to drive our rapid growth and market share gains. Turning to the industry environment, we remain cautiously optimistic about the overall outlook for rail car equipment demand over the next 24 months. Fundamental market drivers, such as consistent rail traffic levels and ongoing rail car replacement cycles, continue to be healthy and supportive, while the timing of any orders might shift due to customer preferences or logistical considerations. Looking ahead, our commercial pipeline remains very active. Customer inquiries continue at a strong pace, and our discussions for additional rail car orders are ongoing. We anticipate industry-wide deliveries will pick up momentum throughout the remainder of the year, and our robust backlog positions us exceptionally well to meet this growing demand. With this context, we reaffirm our full-year 2025 guidance. Our Q1 performance and positive trends give us confidence in achieving our targets. We continue to expect full-year deliveries of between 4,500 to 4,900 rail cars, generating revenue of $530 to $595 million. Our adjusted EBITDA remains targeted between $43 and $49 million. Notably, production deliveries will ramp up significantly in the second half of this year, supported by sequential quarterly growth as we convert backlog into sales. Our Mexico facility can produce over 5,000 rail cars annually, and our proven team can process and processes position as well to deliver these results. With that, I will now turn the call over to Matt to provide further insights on the market dynamics.