We recently published a list of Why These 15 Industrial Stocks Are Skyrocketing So Far In 2025. In this article, we are going to take a look at where FreightCar America, Inc. (NASDAQ:RAIL) stands against other industrial stocks that are skyrocketing so far in 2025.
The industrial sector has gotten a lot of attention in the past few years from the government due to the U.S. focusing on onshoring manufacturing, and it is likely that it will get even more attention as tariffs start to increase. Moreover, industrial companies are rushing to integrate AI and automation, which could increase margins by a lot in the long run.
As such, it’s a good idea to look into industrial stocks that benefit from these trends. This includes those that have been performing very well so far this year. Companies that adapt to new techs and capitalize from the Trump administration’s policies could deliver the most growth in the coming years.
Methodology
For this article, I screened the top-performing industrial stocks year-to-date. Stocks that I have covered recently will be excluded from this list.
I will also mention the number of hedge fund investors in these stocks. Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds invest in? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 275% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 150 percentage points. (see more details here).
FreightCar America, Inc. (NASDAQ:RAIL)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders In Q3 2024: 8
FreightCar America, Inc. (NASDAQ:RAIL) has a pretty self-explanatory ticker. It makes railcars and components for containerized freight. It has been surging over the past few years and is up significantly so far in 2025.
The surge so far in 2025 is due to solid Q3 2024 results and a strategic financial restructuring. In January, FreightCar America, Inc. (NASDAQ:RAIL) got a $115 million term loan to redeem all outstanding preferred shares. This allowed it to slash capital costs by 40% and save $9.2 million annually. It also eliminated high-dividend obligations of $0.875 on its preferred stock.
It also posted 83% year-over-year sales growth in Q3 to $113.3 million. Railcar deliveries were up 91% to 961. Moreover, adjusted EBITDA surged 211% to $10.9 million and it raised its 2024 revenue guidance to $560 million to $600 million. At midpoint, this is 62% year-over-year growth.
The consensus price target of $14.88 implies 21.87% upside.
RAIL stock is up 28% year-to-date.
Overall, RAIL ranks 13th on our list of industrial stocks that are skyrocketing so far in 2025. While we acknowledge the potential of RAIL as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and doing so within a shorter time frame. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than RAIL but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.
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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.