American Railcar Industries, Inc. Reports Net Earnings of $2.7 Million for the Quarter Ended March 31, 2009

American Railcar Industries, Inc. (ARI or the Company) (NASDAQ: ARII) today reported its first quarter 2009 financial results.

“Despite the impact of a weak economy on the freight railcar market, we shipped 1,491 railcars in the first quarter of 2009. Our current level of operations resulted in EBITDA of $14.1 million and net earnings of $2.7 million in the first quarter of 2009,” said James Cowan, President and CEO of ARI. “In addition to a solid manufacturing performance, our railcar services segment remained strong with $12.3 million of revenue for the first quarter of 2009. We are pleased with first quarter results, but the impact on railcar demand from the weak economy will require a slowing of new railcar shipments. We will continue to evaluate production levels at all locations and seek to align the workforce with industry demand. Our balance sheet continues to be a source of strength with $261.1 million in cash and $31.6 million in short-term investments.”

For the three months ended March 31, 2009, revenues were $156.9 million and net earnings were $2.7 million or $0.13 per diluted share. In comparison, for the three months ended March 31, 2008, revenues were $184.0 million and net earnings were $10.1 million or $0.48 per diluted share. Net interest expense increased $0.9 million, after-tax, or $0.04 per diluted share, primarily due to lower interest income, other income decreased $2.0 million, after-tax, or $0.09 per diluted share, primarily as a result of gains in 2008 on derivatives and income from joint ventures decreased $0.7 million, after-tax, or $0.03 per diluted share primarily due to costs of preparing our new axle joint venture for operations.

Revenues were lower in the first quarter of 2009 when compared to the same period of 2008 primarily due to lower railcar shipments, partially offset by increased average railcar selling prices due to a change in product mix. During the three months ended March 31, 2009, the Company shipped 1,491 railcars compared to 1,902 railcars in the same period of 2008.

EBITDA was $14.1 million in the first quarter of 2009 compared to EBITDA of $23.6 million in the first quarter of 2008. The decrease in EBITDA resulted primarily from decreased volume, as discussed above, a decrease in gross profit margin and a decrease in other income. The Company’s gross profit margin decline is primarily attributable to lower shipments and market conditions that resulted in competitive pricing. To control costs, workforce levels have been reduced. Other income decreased to a loss in the first quarter of 2009. Other income in the first quarter of 2008 included income related to total return swaps, which were settled in the third quarter of 2008. A reconciliation of the Company’s net earnings to EBITDA (a non-GAAP financial measure) is set forth in the supplemental disclosure attached to this press release.

Our backlog was reduced to 2,752 railcars as of March 31, 2009. This reduction resulted primarily from weak demand for railcars, driven primarily by a weak economy and a difficult credit environment. The Company has been and will continue to competitively quote railcar orders including coal railcars for which the Company has two prototypes that were placed in service.

ARI will host a webcast and conference call on Thursday, May 7, 2009 at 10:00 am (Eastern Time) to discuss the Company’s first quarter 2009 financial results. To participate in the webcast, please log on to ARI’s investor relations page through the ARI website at www.americanrailcar.com. To participate in the conference call, please dial 800-599-9816 and use participant code 24927014. Participants are asked to logon to the ARI website or dial in to the conference call approximately 10 to 15 minutes prior to the start time.

An audio replay of the call will also be available on the Company’s website promptly following the earnings call.

About American Railcar Industries, Inc.

American Railcar Industries, Inc. is a leading North American designer and manufacturer of hopper and tank railcars. ARI also repairs and refurbishes railcars, provides fleet management services and designs and manufactures certain railcar and industrial components. ARI provides its railcar customers with integrated solutions through a comprehensive set of high quality products and related services.

Forward Looking Statement Disclaimer

This press release contains statements relating to our expected financial performance and/or future business prospects, events and plans that are forward–looking statements. Forward-looking statements represent the Company’s estimates and assumptions only as of the date of this press release. Such statements include, without limitation, statements regarding anticipated future production rates, expectations about the continued rate of operation of manufacturing sites, statements about seeking to align our workforce with industry demand, statements about the causes and effects of weak demand for railcars, the weak economy and a difficult credit environment, statements regarding prospects for orders and new railcar products and statements regarding any implication that the Company’s backlog may be indicative of future sales. These forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the results described in or anticipated by our forward-looking statements. Other potential risks and uncertainties include, among other things: the impact of the current economic downturn, adverse market conditions and restricted credit markets, and the impact of the continuation of these conditions; the health of and prospects for the overall railcar industry; our prospects in light of the cyclical nature of its railcar manufacturing business and the current economic environment; our reliance upon a small number of customers that represent a large percentage of our revenues; our ability to manage overhead and production slow downs; the highly competitive nature of the railcar manufacturing industry, fluctuating costs of raw materials, including steel and railcar components and delays in the delivery of such raw materials and components; fluctuations in the supply of components and raw materials ARI uses in railcar manufacturing; risks associated with potential acquisitions or joint ventures; the risk of lack of acceptance of our new railcar offerings by our customers; the sufficiency of our liquidity and capital resources; the conversion of our railcar backlog into revenues; anticipated production schedules for our products and the anticipated construction and production schedules of our joint ventures; the impact and anticipated benefits of any acquisitions we may complete; the impact and costs and expenses of any litigation we may be subject to now or in the future; compliance with covenants contained in our unsecured senior notes and in our revolving credit facility; the ongoing benefits and risks related to our relationship with Mr. Carl C. Icahn, our principal beneficial stockholder and the chairman of our board of directors, and certain of his affiliates; and the additional risk factors described in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. We expressly disclaim any duty to provide updates to any forward-looking statements made in this press release, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

EBITDA represents net earnings before income tax expense, interest expense (income), net of depreciation of property, plant and equipment. We believe EBITDA is useful to investors in evaluating our operating performance compared to that of other companies in our industry. In addition, our management uses EBITDA to evaluate our operating performance. The calculation of EBITDA eliminates the effects of financing, income taxes and the accounting effects of capital spending. These items may vary for different companies for reasons unrelated to the overall operating performance of a company’s business. EBITDA is not a financial measure presented in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles, or U.S. GAAP. Accordingly, when analyzing our operating performance, investors should not consider EBITDA in isolation or as a substitute for net earnings, cash flows from operating activities or other statements of operations or statements of cash flow data prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP. Our calculation of EBITDA is not necessarily comparable to that of other similarly titled measures reported by other companies.

Adjusted EBITDA represents EBITDA before share based compensation expense related to stock options and stock appreciation rights (SARs), and before gains or losses on investments. We believe that Adjusted EBITDA is useful to investors evaluating our operating performance, and management also uses Adjusted EBITDA for that purpose. The charges related to our grants of stock options are non-cash charges that are excluded from our calculation of EBITDA under our unsecured senior notes. Our SARs (which settle in cash) are revalued each quarter based upon changes in our stock price. Management believes that eliminating the charges associated with our share based compensation and our investments allows us and our investors to understand better our operating results independent of financial changes caused by the fluctuating price of our common stock and our investments. Adjusted EBITDA is not a financial measure presented in accordance with U.S. GAAP. Accordingly, when analyzing our operating performance, investors should not consider Adjusted EBITDA in isolation or as a substitute for net earnings, cash flows from operating activities or other statements of operations or statements of cash flow data prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP. Our calculation of Adjusted EBITDA is not necessarily comparable to that of other similarly titled measures reported by other companies.