Stocks · Industrials · Railroads
L.B. Foster Company FSTR
$37.27 +2.50% Close, Oct 2, 2026 · NASDAQ · Market cap $389.8M
Inexpensive vs sector
Next earnings report: Nov 2, 2026
Scroll or pinch to zoom, drag to move. Daily prices adjusted for splits. Markers: E = earnings (green beat, red miss), S = split, D = dividend.
Three things to know
- Diluted EPS over the last four quarters was $1.05, down 68.4% year over year.
- The stock is in an uptrend: above its 200-day average for 280 trading days, with the 50-day average above the 200-day.
- Revenue over the last four quarters was $558.4M, up 10.1% from a year earlier.
PromtFinance scores
Each score is a percentile within the Industrials sector (0–100). Under each score: how the stock ranks in its sector on every component. As of Oct 5, 2026.
Growth33Weak
How fast revenue, earnings and cash flow are growing.
- Revenue growth (TTM, YoY)Top 42%
- EPS growth (TTM, YoY)Bottom 13%
- FCF growth (TTM, YoY)Top 17%
- Revenue growth, 3-year CAGRBottom 41%
- Revenue growth accelerationBottom 20%
Quality69Positive
Returns on capital, margins, earnings quality and balance-sheet strength.
- Return on invested capitalBottom 47%
- Gross marginBottom 33%
- Operating marginBottom 38%
- Cash conversion (OCF / net income)Top 7%
- Accruals (lower is better)Top 8%
- Net debt / EBITDA (lower is better)Top 50%
- Interest coverTop 37%
Value84Strong
How cheap the shares are relative to earnings, cash flow and their own history.
- Earnings yieldTop 47%
- Free-cash-flow yieldTop 8%
- EBITDA / enterprise valueTop 35%
- Sales / enterprise valueTop 16%
- P/E vs own 5-year history (lower is better)Top 38%
Momentum75Positive
Strength and persistence of the price trend, including versus the S&P 500.
- 12-month return excluding last monthTop 24%
- 6-month returnTop 19%
- 1-year return vs S&P 500Top 25%
- Distance from 52-week highTop 36%
- Trend checklist (0–4)Top 42%
Revisions6Very weak
Earnings surprises and analyst sentiment (estimate-revision history is being collected).
- Average EPS surprise, last 4 quartersTop 40%
- Consecutive EPS beatsBottom 16%
- Share of analysts rating BuyBottom 12%
- Upside to consensus price targetBottom 1%
Stability59Neutral
Low volatility, shallow drawdowns, low market sensitivity and modest leverage.
- Volatility, 60 days (lower is better)Top 12%
- Maximum drawdown, 3 yearsTop 40%
- Beta vs S&P 500 (lower is better)Bottom 30%
- Net debt / EBITDA (lower is better)Top 50%
What changed
Latest four quarters versus the same period a year earlier (growth: versus one quarter earlier).
| Measure | Before | Now | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue growth (YoY) | 11.7% | 10.1% | ↓ |
| EPS growth (YoY) | -68.9% | -68.4% | ↑ |
| Gross margin | 22.2% | 21.4% | ↓ |
| Operating margin | 3.2% | 4.4% | ↑ |
| FCF margin | 4.5% | 7.5% | ↑ |
Fundamental momentum
| Measure | Now (TTM) | Year / quarter before | Sector rank | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue growth (TTM, YoY) | 10.1% | 11.7% | ↓ | Top 42% |
| EPS growth (TTM, YoY) | -68.4% | -68.9% | ↑ | Bottom 13% |
| Gross margin | 21.4% | 22.2% | ↓ | Bottom 33% |
| Operating margin | 4.4% | 3.2% | ↑ | Bottom 38% |
| Net margin | 2.0% | 7.2% | ↓ | — |
| Free-cash-flow margin | 7.5% | 4.5% | ↑ | — |
| Return on invested capital | 5.3% | — | Bottom 47% | |
| Revenue growth, 3-year CAGR | 2.8% | — | Bottom 41% |
Quality of earnings and balance sheet
- Cash conversion (OCF / net income)Above 1× means profits are backed by cash.
- 3.00×
- Accruals (net income − OCF) / assetsLower is better; high accruals can signal weaker earnings quality.
- -14.2%
- Stock-based compensation / revenueA cost to shareholders through dilution.
- 1.1%
- Receivables growth vs revenue growthReceivables growing much faster than sales can be a warning.
- -19.4 pp
- Net debt / EBITDABelow 1× is conservative; above 3× is high leverage.
- 1.92×
- Interest cover (operating income / interest)How many times operating profit covers interest.
- 6.1×
Shareholder returns
- Dividend yield (dividends paid, TTM)
- 0.00%
- Net buyback yield (TTM)
- 3.18%
- Shareholder yield
- 3.18%
- Share count change, 1 year
- -2.3%
- Share count change, 3-year CAGR
- -0.8%
Shareholder yield = dividends + net buybacks over the last four quarters, divided by market cap.
Based on the four quarters through Jun 30, 2026 (filed Aug 10, 2026).
Earnings and expectations
Earnings momentum
- Consecutive EPS beats
- 0
- Beats in the last 8 reports
- 2 of 8
- Average EPS surprise, last 4
- +8.5%
- Average 2-day reaction, last 8
- -0.9%
- Positive 20 days after report
- 3 of 8
Analysts
- Consensus price target
- $21.00
- Target vs current price
- -43.7%
- Analysts with a rating
- 7
- Share rating Buy or Strong Buy
- 29%
- Consensus rating
- Hold
How the stock reacted to recent reports
| Report date | EPS surprise | 2 days | 5 days | 20 days | 60 days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 10, 2026 | -28.4% | -4.1% | -6.1% | -7.9% | — |
| May 4, 2026 | +163.6% | +19.2% | +37.8% | +34.7% | +31.2% |
| Mar 3, 2026 | -66.7% | -1.6% | -10.4% | -13.4% | +24.2% |
| Nov 3, 2025 | -34.4% | -1.7% | -1.1% | -3.4% | +8.8% |
| Aug 11, 2025 | -48.1% | +0.8% | +2.2% | +23.1% | +22.0% |
| May 6, 2025 | -2100.0% | -4.0% | -8.3% | -6.1% | +14.7% |
| Mar 4, 2025 | -106.9% | -12.3% | -23.1% | -23.6% | -26.6% |
| Nov 7, 2024 | +567.3% | -3.7% | +10.8% | +38.1% | +34.7% |
Returns from the close before each report. Past reactions do not determine future ones.
Earnings history
| Report date | EPS | Estimate | Surprise | Revenue |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 10, 2026 | $0.29 | $0.41 | -28.4% | $138.6M |
| May 4, 2026 | $0.14 | -$0.22 | +163.6% | $121.1M |
| Mar 3, 2026 | $0.22 | $0.66 | -66.7% | $160.4M |
| Nov 3, 2025 | $0.40 | $0.61 | -34.4% | $138.3M |
| Aug 11, 2025 | $0.27 | $0.52 | -48.1% | $143.6M |
| May 6, 2025 | -$0.20 | $0.01 | -2100.0% | $97.8M |
| Mar 4, 2025 | -$0.02 | $0.29 | -106.9% | $128.2M |
| Nov 7, 2024 | $3.27 | $0.49 | +567.3% | $137.5M |
Valuation in context
| Multiple | Now | 5-year median | 5-year percentile | Sector rank (cheapness) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| P/E (trailing) | 35.5× | 36.4× | 44th | Top 47% |
| P/E (forward) | 23.0× | — | — | — |
| EV / EBITDA | 13.5× | — | — | Top 35% |
| EV / Sales | 0.81× | — | — | Top 16% |
| Free-cash-flow yield | 10.68% | — | — | Top 8% |
| Earnings yield | 2.82% | — | — | Top 47% |
P/E over the past five years
Range 5.3× – 172.3× since Jun 30, 2021. Each point: price on the filing date divided by trailing-twelve-month EPS known then.
What moved the stock over the past year
- Price return, 1 year
- +40.2%
- Earnings per share growth (TTM)
- -68.4%
- Change in P/E multiple
- +462.7%
Most of the move came from a change in the valuation multiple.
Technical state
Trend checklist
- ✗ Price above 20-day average
- ✗ Price above 50-day average
- ✓ Price above 200-day average
- ✓ 50-day average above 200-day
- ✓ MACD histogram positive
Trend quality
- Days above the 50-day average
- 0
- Days above the 200-day average
- 280
- 50-day average slope (20 days)
- -5.4%
- 200-day average slope (20 days)
- +3.1%
- Distance from 50-day average
- -3.2%
- Distance from 200-day average
- +6.1%
- RSI (14)
- 47.1
- Relative volume
- 1.01×
Risk and drawdowns
- Volatility, 60 days (annualized)
- 25.8%
- Volatility vs own 5-year history
- 2th percentile · Low for this stock
- Beta vs S&P 500 (2 years, weekly)
- 1.37
- Correlation with S&P 500
- 0.43
- Current drawdown from 1-year high
- -17.5%
- Maximum drawdown, 3 years
- -45.9%
Largest declines in the past six years
| From peak | To low | Decline | Length | Recovery |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 8, 2021 | Dec 9, 2022 | -53.3% | 381 days | 173 days (Aug 21, 2023) |
| May 10, 2024 | Aug 7, 2024 | -45.9% | 60 days | 365 days (Jan 22, 2026) |
| Jun 30, 2026 | Sep 30, 2026 | -20.2% | 64 days | Not yet recovered |
| Mar 12, 2021 | Apr 22, 2021 | -16.6% | 28 days | 32 days (Jun 8, 2021) |
| Mar 2, 2026 | Mar 13, 2026 | -15.4% | 9 days | 35 days (May 4, 2026) |
Declines of 10% or more from a closing high, measured on daily closes.
Financial statements
- Market cap
- $389.8M
- P/E (TTM)
- 35.5
- EPS, diluted (TTM)
- $1.05
- Revenue (TTM)
- $558.4M
- 52-week range
- $23.81 – $45.81
| FY 2021 | FY 2022 | FY 2023 | FY 2024 | FY 2025 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $513.6M | $497.5M | $543.7M | $530.8M | $540.0M |
| Gross profit | $86.3M | $89.6M | $112.0M | $118.1M | $113.8M |
| Operating income | $4.5M | -$7.2M | $9.1M | $20.5M | $21.9M |
| Net income | $3.6M | -$45.6M | $1.5M | $42.9M | $7.5M |
| EPS (diluted) | $0.34 | -$4.25 | $0.13 | $3.89 | $0.69 |
| Q3 2024 | Q4 2024 | Q1 2025 | Q2 2025 | Q3 2025 | Q4 2025 | Q1 2026 | Q2 2026 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $137.5M | $128.2M | $97.8M | $143.6M | $138.3M | $160.4M | $121.1M | $138.6M |
| Net income | $35.9M | -$242,000 | -$2.1M | $2.9M | $4.4M | $2.4M | $1.5M | $3.1M |
| EPS (diluted) | $3.27 | -$0.02 | -$0.20 | $0.27 | $0.40 | $0.22 | $0.14 | $0.29 |
| FY 2021 | FY 2022 | FY 2023 | FY 2024 | FY 2025 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operating cash flow | -$1.1M | -$10.6M | $37.0M | $22.6M | $35.6M |
| Capital expenditure | -$4.6M | -$7.6M | -$4.5M | -$9.8M | -$10.4M |
| Free cash flow | -$5.7M | -$18.2M | $32.4M | $12.8M | $25.2M |
| Dividends paid | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Net share buybacks | -$732,000 | -$410,000 | -$2.6M | -$8.2M | -$16.5M |
Cash outflows are shown as negative numbers.
- Cash and short-term investments
- $5.8M
- Total assets
- $334.2M
- Total liabilities
- $155.2M
- Total debt
- $70.3M
- Net debt
- $64.5M
- Shareholders’ equity
- $178.0M
As of Jun 30, 2026 (filed Aug 10, 2026).
Dividends
| Ex-date | Amount | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 7, 2016 | $0.04 | Sep 23, 2016 |
| Jun 8, 2016 | $0.04 | Jun 24, 2016 |
| Mar 9, 2016 | $0.04 | Mar 25, 2016 |
| Dec 2, 2015 | $0.04 | Dec 18, 2015 |
| Sep 2, 2015 | $0.04 | Sep 18, 2015 |
| Jun 10, 2015 | $0.04 | Jun 26, 2015 |
| Mar 11, 2015 | $0.04 | Mar 27, 2015 |
| Dec 3, 2014 | $0.04 | Dec 19, 2014 |
Short interest
- Shares sold short
- 297,587
- Days to cover
- 7.90
- Change vs previous report
- +6.1%
FINRA short interest, settlement date Sep 15, 2026.