FTAI Infrastructure Expects Double-Digit Growth in Rail Revenue and Earnings
Key Facts
FTAI Infrastructure expects rail segment revenue and earnings to continue growing at double-digit rates over the next year, Chief Executive Ken Nicholson said on the third-quarter earnings call on November 6. The company tied its outlook to the segment’s performance, which recorded higher revenue and adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization than in the same period last year. “Overall, we expect revenue and earnings to continue growing at double-digit rates next year,” Nicholson said. The outlook comes as the company awaits completion of the sale of its Long Ridge assets, having received the required regulatory approvals, according to its earnings release. The company expects the deal to close by the end of November and plans to direct most of the proceeds toward debt reduction.
The rail segment posted revenue of $104.2 million and adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of $47.4 million in the third quarter of 2026. In the third quarter of 2025, revenue was $61.7 million and adjusted earnings were $29.1 million. Nicholson said the year-over-year comparison was affected by the completion of the acquisition of Wheeling and Lake Erie railroad in August 2025. The growth in the figures for the current quarter therefore partly reflects the difference in business scope between the periods after the acquired railroad was included in the company’s results. For the company as a whole, adjusted earnings were $95.3 million, compared with $70.9 million a year earlier, and $54.4 million excluding Long Ridge.
Management expects rail pricing to continue rising at a rate of at least the mid-single digits, with increases reaching the high single digits in some cases during 2027. “We continue to see pricing growth of at least the mid-single digits going forward,” Nicholson said. He added that some increases would be higher, “into the high single digits next year.” The outlook makes pricing one of the factors underpinning the company’s expectation that segment revenue and earnings will continue to grow. The comments on the call gave no specific figure for revenue or earnings growth next year, describing it only as double-digit.
Expected gross proceeds from the Long Ridge sale are slightly more than $1.5 billion and will be used almost entirely to repay debt, management said. The company expects to remove about $1.4 billion of total debt, including slightly more than $1.1 billion at Long Ridge and slightly less than $300 million at other subsidiaries of the parent company. Management said debt service at the parent company level will fall by about $25 million annually after the sale is completed. The expected financial impact of the deal therefore includes lower debt and debt service costs, alongside the removal of Long Ridge from the company’s results. These effects remain contingent on closing the deal, which is expected by the end of November, following the regulatory approval announced by the company.
In trading, the company’s shares, FIP, closed at $2.94 in the November 5 session, according to EL7 data. The price came before management’s earnings call the following day, while no verified data on the stock’s trading range during the session is available among the facts provided. Third-quarter results offer an indication of the rail segment’s contribution to company earnings, while the Long Ridge sale sets out an expected path to reduce leverage. The company said it had received regulatory approval and expected to complete the sale by the end of November. Closing the deal would allow the company to carry out the announced use of proceeds and reduce debt service.