FreightCar America (NASDAQ:RAIL) releases its next round of earnings this Wednesday, May 1. Here's Benzinga's essential guide to FreightCar America's first-quarter earnings report.

Earnings and Revenue

Wall Street expects an EPS loss of 48 cents and sales around $70.7 million.

In the same quarter last year, FreightCar America announced an EPS loss of 51 cents on revenue of $82.97 million. Revenue would be down 14.79 percent on a year-over-year basis. Here's how the FreightCar America's reported EPS has stacked up against analyst estimates in the past:

Stock Performance

Shares of FreightCar America were trading at $6.92 as of May 1. Over the last 52-week period, shares are down 49.64 percent. Given that these returns are generally negative, long-term shareholders are likely unhappy going into this earnings release.

Analyst estimates have adjusted higher for EPS and revenues over the past 90 days. The average rating by analysts on FreightCar America stock is a Neutral. The strength of this rating has maintained conviction over the past 90 days.