ARI notches second-quarter profit

St. Charles, Mo.-based American Railcar Industries late Wednesday reported a second-quarter profit of $569,000, or 3 cents per share, compared with a loss of $5.9 million, or 28 cents per share, in the second quarter of 2010.

ARI’s railcar shipments nearly tripled in the second quarter, the company said. Railcar shipments for the second quarter that ended June 30 totaled 1,040, up from 370 railcars for the same time period a year ago.

Revenue of $111.9 million was up 83% compared with $61.2 million in the second quarter of last year.

In an analyst note Thursday, Steve Barger, director, Industrial Manufacturers, for KeyBanc Capital Markets Inc., said, “While railcar deliveries in the quarter (1,040 units) fell short of our estimate (1,145 units), we believe this is greatly overshadowed by the solid operational results and strong order activity as the Company’s backlog expanded 43% from 1Q11 to 7,540 cars.”