PORTLAND, Ore. — The Greenbrier Companies said its order backlog for rail cars has doubled since May to its highest level in two years, prompting a 200-job increase at Gunderson, its Portland manufacturing plant, the Portland Oregonian reported.
The Lake Oswego-based company became the second major local manufacturer to announce a recent employment boost. Last week, truck-maker Freightliner said it imported 100 managerial and engineering jobs when it moved production of its Western Star truck line from Kelowna, B.C., to Portland.
Since May, Greenbrier has received 4,300 new rail car orders worth $230 million. The company’s total backlog of 5,300 rail cars equals the number it manufactured for all of fiscal 2002, which ended Sept. 30.
Bill Furman, Greenbrier’s president and chief executive officer, attributed the jump in orders to increased rail traffic, particularly among timber and intermodal transporters, and stronger profits posted by U.S. railroads. Greenbrier specializes in making rail cars that carry trucks, containers and timber products.
In addition, Furman said: “We’ve more than doubled our market share. We’re getting more of the business that’s out there.”
The news couldn’t come at a better time for the company’s stock, which reached a 52-week low of $4.10 on Oct. 8. On Monday, after the company announced its new orders, Greenbrier’s stock rose 55 cents, or nearly 11 percent, to $5.60. Furman and company board chairman Alan James own 61 percent of the company’s stock.
“These orders that they announced today are stronger than I would’ve expected for the company,” said John Rogers, analyst for D.A. Davidson & Co., who doesn’t own stock in the company. “I would expect you’re going to see production rates improve, and with higher production, you should see the company return to profitability.”
Greenbrier reported losses of $23.84 million through May 31, the end of its third quarter. Its year-end results are scheduled to be released Nov. 6. Earlier this month, D.A. Davidson upgraded the company’s stock from neutral to buy.
Gunderson now employs 1,100 at its Portland plant, up from 900 in May. Greenbrier’s Canadian rail car manufacturing plant, TrentonWorks, which it shut down in Feburary, has nearly doubled its employment since it reopened in May and now employs 800.