Wabtec Bought Back $762 Million Of Stock As Debt Due Within A Year Hit $1.714 Billion
Cash fell to $489 million and available liquidity to $2,091 million, and the rail supplier set up a $2.0 billion commercial paper program.
Wabtec's debt due within a year stood at $1,714 million on September 30, against $1,250 million at December 31, 2025, the company's 10-Q shows. Over the same nine months it spent $762 million on share repurchases while cash shrank, and after quarter-end it set up a commercial paper program.
Buybacks up, cash down
Wabtec repurchased $762 million of stock in the first nine months of 2026, versus $148 million a year earlier. Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash fell to $489 million from $789 million at year-end.
The board refreshed the repurchase authorization to $1.2 billion on February 6. About $456 million remained at September 30.
The same period included the Dellner Couplers purchase, for which Wabtec used $1,062 million on acquisitions, and net debt inflows of $855 million. Operating cash flow rose to $1,095 million from $767 million.
Near-term maturities and thinner liquidity
The current debt includes $750 million of 3.45% senior notes due 2026 and a $500 million term loan that matures November 27, 2026.
Total available liquidity dropped to $2,091 million from $3,207 million at year-end. The Revolving Receivables Program, which had $443 million of room at December 31, went to zero, with $427 million borrowed. Revolver availability fell to $1,613 million from $2,000 million.
The company says it believes cash, operating cash flow, credit facilities and capital-market access will cover needs for at least the next twelve months, and that it met all covenants. Those include a leverage ratio cap of 3.5 to 1.0.
The commercial paper program
After quarter-end, Wabtec authorized $2.0 billion of commercial paper. It rests on the existing revolver and, the filing says, does not raise overall borrowing capacity. The prior quarterly filing carries no such program in its new wording, per the filing comparison.
S&P Global Ratings assigned the program an A-2 short-term rating and left its BBB long-term rating and stable outlook unchanged.
Operations are strong: third-quarter sales were $3.12 billion, up 8.1%, and backlog reached a record $31.4 billion. Net interest expense for nine months rose $74 million to $231 million on higher debt tied to acquisitions.
Next on the calendar is November 27, 2026, when the $500 million term loan matures alongside the $750 million of 2026 notes.
Sources
- 10-Q Filing — Westinghouse Air Brake (WAB) — SEC EDGAR
- 10-Q Filing — Westinghouse Air Brake (WAB), Q2 FY2026 filed 2026-07-22 (comparison basis) — SEC EDGAR
- Earnings release (8-K Item 2.02, a3q26pressreleaseword.htm) — Westinghouse Air Brake, filed 2026-10-21 — SEC EDGAR
- Westinghouse Air Brake Q3 Adj. EPS $2.83 Beat... — benzinga.com
- Westinghouse Air Brake Q3 2026 Earnings Call Transcript — benzinga.com
- Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies (WAB) Tops Q3 Earnings Estimates — Yahoo Finance
- Wabtec (WAB) Q3 Earnings: What To Expect — Yahoo Finance
- Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies Corp. Assigne | S&P Global Ratings — spglobal.com
