Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies WAB, operating as Wabtec Corporation, is scheduled to report first-quarter 2026 results on April 22, before market open.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for WAB’s first-quarter 2026 earnings has been revised downward 2.67% over the past 60 days to $2.55 per share. The consensus mark for earnings implies a 11.8% upside from the year-ago actual. The consensus mark for sales (currently pegged at $2.94 billion) suggests a 12.5% uptick from the year-ago actual.
Wabtec has an encouraging earnings surprise history. The company’s earnings have outpaced the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the trailing four quarters, delivering an average beat of 5.8%.
Wabtec Price and EPS Surprise
Wabtec price-eps-surprise | Wabtec Quote
Factors Likely to Have Influenced WAB's Q1 Performance
We expect Wabtec’s performance in the to-be-reported quarter to have been significantly impacted by rising operating expenses. Ongoing geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and supply-chain disruptions are likely to have weighed on the company’s bottom line.
On the contrary, the company’s top-line performance in the to-be-reported quarter is expected to have been boosted by an uptick in demand for services and components, along with robust sales across the aftermarket and original equipment manufacturing channels.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Freight revenues is pegged at $2.16 billion, which implies 13.6% growth from the prior-year reported figure. The consensus mark for Transit revenues is pinned at $776.87 million, indicating 9.6% growth from the prior-year reported figure.
What Our Model Says About WAB
Our proven model does not conclusively predict an earnings beat for Wabtec this time. The combination of a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) increases the odds of an earnings beat, which is not the case here.
Wabtec has an Earnings ESP of 0.00% and a Zacks Rank #3 at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
Highlights of WAB’s Q4 Results
Wabtec reported encouraging fourth-quarter 2025 results, wherein both earnings and revenues surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate and registered a year-over-year increase.
Quarterly earnings per share of $2.10 beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.07 and improved 25% year over year due to higher sales and operating margin expansion. Revenues of $2.97 billion outpaced the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.86 billion.
Stocks to Consider
Here are a few stocks from the broader Zacks Transportation sector that investors may consider, as our model shows that these have the right combination of elements to beat on earnings this reporting cycle.
Union Pacific UNP has an Earnings ESP of +0.27% and a Zacks Rank #3 at present and is scheduled to report first-quarter 2026 results on April 23.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for first-quarter earnings has remained unchanged at $2.89 per share over the past 60 days. UNP has a mixed earnings surprise history, as its earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in two of the preceding four quarters and missed twice in the remaining, with an average beat of 1.3%.
Expeditors EXPD has an Earnings ESP of +2.50% and a Zacks Rank #3 at present and is scheduled to report first-quarter 2026 results on May 5.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for first-quarter earnings has been revised upwards by 1.54% to $1.32 per share over the past 60 days. EXPD has an encouraging earnings surprise history as its earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the preceding four quarters, with an average beat of 10.1%.
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Union Pacific Corporation (UNP): Free Stock Analysis Report
Expeditors International of Washington, Inc. (EXPD): Free Stock Analysis Report
Wabtec (WAB): Free Stock Analysis Report
This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).