Quality Investor

Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies Corporation

Rank #398Hypergrowth

WAB · NYSE · Industrials

Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies Corporation (WAB) — Rank #398 by gross profitability (GP/assets 0.16) · ROE 10.4% · Piotroski F-Score 4 / 9.

As-of 2026-09-15 · CIK 0000943452 · all metrics point-in-time as of the filing date.

About

Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies Corporation provides locomotives, equipment, systems, and services for the freight rail and passenger transit industries worldwide.

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It operates in two segments, Freight and Transit. It offers diesel-electric and liquid natural gas-powered locomotives; engines, electric motors, and propulsion systems; and marine and mining products. The company also offers positive train control equipment; electronically controlled pneumatic braking products; railway electronics; signal design and engineering services; distributed locomotive power, and train cruise and remote controls; industrial/mobile Internet of Things hardware and software, edge-to-cloud, on and off-board analytics and rules, and asset performance management solutions; rail and shipper transportation management, and port visibility and optimization solutions; and network optimization solutions. In addition, it provides freight car trucks, braking equipment, and related components; air compressors and dryers, as well as heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems; heat transfer components and systems; custom engineered burners and combustion systems; rail gear, signaling, and switch products; and turbochargers. Further, it offers freight locomotive overhauls, modernizations, and refurbishment; locomotive and car maintenance; transit locomotive and car overhaul; unit exchange of locomotive components; long-term parts arrangements; and way equipment maintenance services. Additionally, it provides railway and freight braking equipment and related components; brake shoes, discs, and pads; HVAC equipment; access and platform screen doors; pantographs; power converters and battery chargers; passenger information systems and closed-circuit television; signaling and railway electric relays; and doors, window assemblies, accessibility lifts, ramps, and electric charging solutions for buses.

The company was founded in 1869 and is headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Industry
Railroads
Sector
Industrials
State
DE
Filer Category
Large accelerated filer
Fiscal Year End
December 31

Price History

WAB+222.7% · +26.4% CAGRSPY+80.5% · +12.5% CAGR

Company Snapshot

P/S is the primary valuation lens — earnings are reinvested, not available for P/E.

Market Cap

$46.81B

P/E (annual)

40.6

P/S (annual)

4.2

P/B

4.2

P/OCF (annual)

26.6

Shareholder Yield

-76.6%

Employees

31,000

Industry

Railroads

Exchange

NYSE

Signal Flags

3 green2 yellow1 red
Revenue growth acceleratingGrowth rate increasing year over year
Operating leverage expandingOperating income growing faster than revenue
Sequential beat (rev + EPS)Both revenue and EPS exceeded prior quarter — 2-quarter streak
Dilution above 2%Annual share count increase exceeds 2%. May be acceptable for high-growth companies funding talent via stock compensation
Disclosure regressionA previously-disclosed line item is no longer reported — worth checking the filing for why
Balance sheet deterioratingNet cash collapsed with receivables or inventory outpacing revenue

Quality Profile

Profitability

1/1 pass
GP / assets
0.16
Return on equity
10.4%
Gross margin trend
PASS

Safety

1/1 pass
Balance-sheet safety
PASS
Debt / equity
1.06
Current ratio
1.12×
Net cash
-$5.90B

Cash Flow

3/3 pass
Positive FCF
PASS
Cash-backed earnings
PASS
Accruals healthy
PASS
SBC / revenue
0.7%

Growth

1/2 pass
Revenue growth
467.5%
Piotroski F-Score
4 / 9
Share dilution
77.0%

Terry Smith quality gate

Passes 1/5 Terry Smith thresholds

1 of 5 threshold not computable from filed data.

What Growth Is Priced In

Implied revenue growth (10Y)

13.9%

incredible deal

The annual FCF growth rate today's price requires over a 10-year horizon (discount rate 10%, terminal growth 2.5%).

Dilution drag: 77.0% — per-share value needs a total required return of 91.0% once share-count change is priced in.

vs. own 6-year median revenue growth: 30.6%

within its own history

Cost-of-equity sensitivity (implied growth at different discount rates)

r = 8%

9.3%

r = 10% (base)

13.9%

r = 12%

18.0%

Net debt / market cap: 12.4%

Base FCF: $1.5B3Y mean FCF: $207.6M

Valuation History

Current multiple vs historical range at each filing date. Band spans 25th-75th percentile.

P / E

Price / diluted EPS

32.4xExpensive
9.4xmed 23.6x40.4x

P / S

Price / revenue per share

2.3xExpensive
0.9xmed 1.6x2.3x

P / B

Price / book value per share

1.8xFair
1.3xmed 1.9x3.1x

P / GP

Price / gross profit per share

7.6xExpensive
3.1xmed 5.8x7.6x

P / FCF

Price / free cash flow per share

19.2xFair
8.5xmed 16.5x72.9x

Revenue growth and the path to profitability (margin trend) are the primary reads at this stage.

Profitability

Gross profitability (GP / assets)

0.16

Primary signal (Novy-Marx).

24th pctl of 22 SIC 37 peers

Return on equity

10.4%

Gross margin

34.1%

71st pctl of 22 SIC 37 peers

Revenue growth (YoY)

467.5%

Gross margin improving

Margin trend vs prior year.

PASS

Operating Leverage

2011201220202021
Revenue vs COGS
Revenue vs OpEx
Op. Income vs Revenue

Growth

Revenue CAGR (3Y)

Revenue CAGR (5Y)

8.1%

Earnings CAGR (3Y)

22.7%

FCF CAGR (3Y)

Anti-fragile safety

Balance-sheet safety

Composite anti-fragile check.

PASS

Debt / equity

1.06

45th pctl of 21 SIC 37 peers (best = lowest)

Current ratio

1.12×

0th pctl of 22 SIC 37 peers

Quick ratio

0.44×

Net cash

-$5.90B

Cash & equivalents minus total debt.

Cash-flow health

Free cash flow

$1.50B

Operating cash flow minus capex.

Positive free cash flow

PASS

FCF / net income

0.28

Cash-backing of earnings.

FCF/NI divergence

Unfavorable divergence (yellow flag).

PASS

Accruals healthy

Cash-backed earnings.

PASS

SBC / revenue

0.7%

Stock-based comp intensity.

Dividend safety

Composite score

3.2 / 5

Good
Payout ratio
14.8%5/5 Strong
FCF coverage
8.66×5/5 Strong
Dividend growth streak
4 yr2/5 Fair
Balance-sheet health
D/E 1.06 · IC N/A1/5 Weak

Piotroski F-Score

F-Score

4 / 9

Fundamental-strength score (0-9).

Lifecycle Phase History

20092021
Hypergrowth
Op. Leverage