Concrete Pumping Q1 2026 Earnings Call Transcript

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March 10, 2026

Key Takeaways

  • Positive Sentiment: Q1 results showed improvement with revenue up 5% to $90.6M and adjusted EBITDA up 6% to $18M, with steady adjusted EBITDA margin (~20%) and positive free cash flow generation.
  • Positive Sentiment: Management highlighted outsized strength in large-scale commercial work — led by data center and chip-plant projects — and Eco‑Pan waste services, which grew revenue 8% and drove a 20% increase in segment adjusted EBITDA.
  • Neutral Sentiment: The company left FY26 guidance unchanged — revenue $390–410M, adjusted EBITDA $90–100M and at least $40M free cash flow — and reiterated a planned ~$22M of accelerated CapEx in 2026 ahead of 2027 NOx standards.
  • Negative Sentiment: Gross margin declined ~80 bps to 35.3%, primarily from higher commercial insurance and repair/maintenance costs, and management warned rising fuel prices could pressure margins despite fuel surcharges.
  • Positive Sentiment: Balance sheet and capital returns remain supportive: net debt $372M (≈3.8x adj. EBITDA), ~$350M available liquidity, and ongoing buybacks (651k shares for $4M in Q1; ~$14.5M authorization remaining).
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Earnings Conference Call
Concrete Pumping Q1 2026
00:00 / 00:00

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Operator

Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for participating in today's conference call to discuss Concrete Pumping Holdings financial results for the first quarter ended January 31st, 2026. Joining us today are Concrete Pumping Holdings CEO, Bruce Young, CFO, Iain Humphries, and the company's External Director of Investor Relations, Cody Slach. Before we go further, I would like to turn the call over to Mr. Slach to read the company's safe harbor statement within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 that provides important cautions regarding forward-looking statements. Cody, please go ahead.

Cody Slach
Director of Investor Relations at Gateway Group

Thank you. I'd like to remind everyone that during this call, to give you a better understanding of our operations, we will be making certain forward-looking statements regarding our business and outlook. These statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from such statements. For information concerning these risks and uncertainties, see Concrete Pumping Holdings annual report on Form 10-K, quarterly report on Form 10-Q, and other publicly available filings with the SEC. The company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether because of new information, future events, or otherwise. On today's call, we will also reference certain Non-GAAP financial measures, including adjusted EBITDA, net debt, and free cash flow, which we believe provide useful information for investors.

Cody Slach
Director of Investor Relations at Gateway Group

We provide further information about these Non-GAAP financial measures and reconciliations of the comparable GAAP measures in our press release issued today or the investor presentation posted on the company's website. I'd like to remind everyone that this call will be available for replay later this evening. A webcast replay will also be available via the link provided in today's press release, as well as on the company's website. Additionally, we have posted an updated investor presentation to the company's website. Now, I would like to turn the call over to the CEO of Concrete Pumping Holdings, Bruce Young. Bruce?

Bruce Young
CEO at Concrete Pumping Holdings

Thank you, Cody, and good afternoon, everyone. We were pleased with our first quarter results, which represented a promising start to the year. Revenue increased 5% year-over-year, with adjusted EBITDA up 6%, driven by a return to growth in our U.S. concrete pumping operations, solid execution across the organization, and continued discipline around pricing and cost management. The quarter was led by renewed growth in our commercial end market, where activity improved year-over-year. In particular, demand from large-scale data center projects has remained strong across several of our core geographies and continues to be a meaningful driver of growth for the business. These projects benefit from our scale, fleet depth, and ability to reliably service complex, high-volume pours, and we believe we are well positioned to continue supporting this activity.

Bruce Young
CEO at Concrete Pumping Holdings

We also benefited from more favorable weather patterns during the quarter compared to the prior-year quarter. Combined with strength in pricing, these factors contributed to improved performance and a solid quarter of free cash flow generation. Outside of data centers, the broader commercial end market continues to reflect the trends we have seen in recent quarters. Heavy commercial activity remains relatively resilient, while more interest-rate sensitive segments, such as office construction, continue to experience softness as developers remain cautious in the current rate environment. Turning to residential, conditions were largely unchanged from prior quarters. Elevated interest rates and affordability constraints continue to weigh on home building activity, and volumes in this end market remain soft. While we continue to believe in the long-term fundamentals of housing, given structural supply-demand imbalances, near-term conditions remain challenging. Infrastructure activity was also generally consistent with recent trends.

Bruce Young
CEO at Concrete Pumping Holdings

We continue to closely monitor public infrastructure spending, particularly as the current federal funding bill approaches its expiration in September. That said, it is important to remember that the infrastructure funding is not an on and off switch. Historically, when a new funding bill is not immediately in place, extensions of existing programs are often implemented, typically adjusted for inflation. As a result, bidding activity and project starts tend to continue. Given this dynamic, our national footprint, we remain optimistic on the overall infrastructure backdrop. Our Eco-Pan Waste Management Services business again delivered a strong quarter, continuing to demonstrate the ability and diversification benefits it brings to the platform. Demand remains healthy, supported by both volume and pricing, and Eco-Pan continues to perform excellently even as the broader construction markets remain mixed.

Bruce Young
CEO at Concrete Pumping Holdings

Moving to our U.K. operations, the impacts of interest rates and economic uncertainty continue to weigh heavily on commercial project volumes. However, infrastructure remains resilient in the U.K., particularly with energy projects and the continued demand in HS2 construction and the long construction runway remaining to the project completion. Finally, we remain on track with our capital investment plans we discussed last quarter. Our focus on fleet management, efficiency, and disciplined capital allocation remains unchanged, and we believe these investments will continue to enhance our competitive positioning, support margins, and drive long-term shareholder value. Overall, we are encouraged by the start of the year and believe the first quarter reinforces the strength of our operating model, the benefits of our scale, and our ability to perform across a range of market conditions. I will now turn the call over to Iain to walk through financial results in more detail. Iain?

Iain Humphries
Iain Humphries
CFO at Concrete Pumping Holdings

Thanks, Bruce, and good afternoon, everyone. Moving directly into our first quarter results, revenue increased 5% to $90.6 million compared to $86.4 million in the prior year quarter.

Iain Humphries
Iain Humphries
CFO at Concrete Pumping Holdings

The increase was driven by higher U.S. commercial and infrastructure volumes, particularly in data center-related projects, favorable weather patterns, and continued strength in pricing within our U.S. Concrete Pumping and Eco-Pan segments. Revenue in our U.S. Concrete Pumping segment, which operates primarily under the Brundage-Bone brand, increased 5% to $59.9 million, compared to $56.9 million in the prior year quarter. By end market, commercial and infrastructure activity benefited from higher volumes led by data center projects, along with strength in chip plants, education and bridge work. These gains were partially offset by continued softness in light commercial construction and subdued residential demand, largely driven by affordability challenges from elevated interest rates. Revenue in our Concrete Waste Management Services segment operating under the Eco-Pan brand increased 8% to $18.1 million compared to $16.7 million in the prior year quarter.

Iain Humphries
Iain Humphries
CFO at Concrete Pumping Holdings

This growth was driven by organic volume increases and pricing improvements, underscoring the scalability of this business through the cycle due to long-term market demand. Turning to our U.K operations, which operates under the Camfaud brand, revenue was $12.5 million compared to $12.8 million in the prior year quarter. The decline was due to a mix of disruptive winter weather and volume-driven weakness in commercial construction activity amid elevated interest rates and economic uncertainty. Foreign exchange translation provided an approximately 570 basis point benefit to revenue during the quarter. At the consolidated level, first quarter gross margin declined 80 basis points to 35.3% compared to 36.1% a year ago. The decrease was primarily attributable to higher commercial insurance costs and an increase in repair and maintenance expenses.

Iain Humphries
Iain Humphries
CFO at Concrete Pumping Holdings

General and administrative expenses declined to $27.5 million in the first quarter, compared to $27.8 million in the prior year quarter. As a percentage of revenue, G&A was 30.4% in the first quarter, compared to 32.2% in the prior year quarter, reflecting our continued cost discipline. Net loss attributable to common shareholders in the first quarter was $2.9 million or $0.06 per diluted share, compared to a net loss of $3.1 million or $0.06 per diluted share in the prior year quarter. Consolidated adjusted EBITDA increased 6% to $18 million compared to $17 million in the year-ago quarter, with adjusted EBITDA margin remaining consistent at 20%.

Iain Humphries
Iain Humphries
CFO at Concrete Pumping Holdings

Within our U.S. Concrete Pumping business, adjusted EBITDA increased 6% to $9.7 million compared to $9.2 million in the prior year quarter. In our US Concrete Waste Management Services business, adjusted EBITDA increased 20% to $6 million compared to $5 million in the prior year quarter, driven by strong operating leverage on higher volumes and pricing. In the U.K. operations, adjusted EBITDA was $2.3 million compared to $2.8 million in the prior year quarter. Turning now to liquidity. As of January 31, 2026, total debt outstanding was $425 million with net debt of $372 million, representing a net leverage ratio of approximately 3.8x adjusted EBITDA.

Iain Humphries
Iain Humphries
CFO at Concrete Pumping Holdings

We ended the quarter with approximately $350 million of available liquidity, which includes cash on hand and availability under our ABL facility, providing substantial financial flexibility. Regarding capital allocation, during the first quarter, we repurchased approximately 651,000 shares for $4 million at an average price of $6.21 per share. Since initiating this program in 2022, we have repurchased approximately 5.6 million shares for $35.5 million, with $14.5 million remaining under the current authorization through December 2026. We believe our share buyback plan demonstrates both our commitment to delivering enhanced shareholder value and our confidence in our long-term strategic growth plan.

Iain Humphries
Iain Humphries
CFO at Concrete Pumping Holdings

Turning to our outlook for fiscal 2026, which remains unchanged, we continue to expect revenue in the range of $390 million-$410 million and adjusted EBITDA between $90 million and $100 million. Our guidance assumes no meaningful recovery in the construction markets during fiscal 2026. We expect free cash flow, which is defined as adjusted EBITDA less net replacement CapEx and net cash interest to be at least $40 million. This outlook assumes approximately $23 million of net replacement CapEx and $32 million of net cash paid for interest. This excludes the accelerated CapEx pulled forward from fiscal 2027 that was discussed on our prior earnings call. As a reminder, we are incorporating accelerated fleet investment into our fiscal 2026 planning.

Iain Humphries
Iain Humphries
CFO at Concrete Pumping Holdings

We expect to invest approximately $22 million in fiscal 2026 that has been accelerated from 2027, and this pull-forward investment relates to the upcoming 2027 stricter NOx emissions standards. Beginning in fiscal 2027, we expect net replacement CapEx to be in the low single-digit percentage of revenue. Our balance sheet and liquidity position comfortably supports this investment strategy. We remain committed to disciplined capital deployment, maintaining leverage within our target range, and prioritizing returns on invested capital. We believe we are well-positioned to strengthen our service offering in anticipation of a market recovery. With that, I will now turn the call back over to Bruce.

Bruce Young
CEO at Concrete Pumping Holdings

Thanks, Iain. As we move through the year, we are encouraged by the momentum we are seeing in the business following a strong start to 2026. While some end markets remain challenged, particularly in residential construction, the return to growth in our commercial operations and continued strength in data center-related activity reinforces our confidence in the durability of our platform and our ability to perform across varying market conditions. Over the last several quarters, we have continued to generate solid free cash flow and maintain a strong balance sheet, preserving the financial flexibility that allows us to operate from a position of strength. This discipline provides the ability to invest through the cycle, remain selective and opportunistic, and position the company to benefit as construction activity continues to normalize.

Bruce Young
CEO at Concrete Pumping Holdings

Our focus remains squarely on the areas within our control, executing our disciplined growth strategy, maintaining commercial leadership in our core markets, driving efficiency through cost management and fleet optimization, and investing strategically in our equipment base as a key source of competitive advantage. We believe these priorities, combined with the benefits of scale and pricing discipline, will continue to support margin performance and long-term value creation. With our strong financial position, we retain the flexibility to pursue value accretive acquisitions, invest in organic growth initiatives, and return capital to shareholders when appropriate. We remain disciplined in our approach to M&A, prioritizing opportunities to strengthen our core platform and align with our strategic and financial objectives. The strength of our operating model, diversified end market exposure, and proven ability to navigate cycles gives us confidence in our outlook.

Bruce Young
CEO at Concrete Pumping Holdings

We believe we are well positioned to continue executing in the near term while creating meaningful long-term shareholder value as market conditions evolve. With that, I'd like to turn the call back over to the operator for Q&A. Vaughn?

Operator

Thank you, sir. We will now be conducting a question and answer session. If you would like to ask a question, please press star and the number one on your telephone keypad. A confirmation tone will indicate your line is in the question queue. You may press star and the number two if you would like to remove your question from the queue. For participants using speaker equipment, it may be necessary to pick up your handset before pressing the star keys. One moment while we poll for questions. Our first question is from Sami Corwin with William Blair. Please proceed with your question.

Sami Corwin
Sami Corwin
Equity Research Analyst at William Blair

Hey, Bruce. Hey, Iain. Congrats on the quarter here.

Bruce Young
CEO at Concrete Pumping Holdings

Hey, thanks, Sam.

Sami Corwin
Sami Corwin
Equity Research Analyst at William Blair

I guess to start, I wanted to ask a bit more about the momentum you saw in your business this quarter. You know, the midpoint of your guide calls for top line growth of 2%, and no meaningful recovery in the construction market. You have a pretty strong start to the year here. Can you talk more about the end markets, geographies, or project types that is surprising you to the positive? If it's really primarily the data center work, was there a significant step up that you weren't expecting before? Just trying to understand the acceleration a bit more.

Bruce Young
CEO at Concrete Pumping Holdings

There are three things I think. One, we did have better weather this quarter than we had last year. That helped with some of the momentum that we're feeling. We have started this next quarter with fairly good weather as well, so that's helped our Q2 to begin with. The data center work certainly has been stronger for us than we had initially anticipated. It does appear that there could be greater potential in that as the year plays out, and we're monitoring that very closely. I guess the third thing is our infrastructure is continuing to do a little bit better as well, with you know, dollars that were set aside for those projects many years ago now coming into play, and we're starting to see that momentum.

Bruce Young
CEO at Concrete Pumping Holdings

With those offsetting some of the softness we're seeing in some of the other commercial segments and residential, we're still a little cautious going into the year, but we feel like we have a good start, and we're looking forward to the rest of the year.

Sami Corwin
Sami Corwin
Equity Research Analyst at William Blair

Great. That's a very helpful color. You know, maybe on the flip side of this, I need to ask about, you know, your energy costs. You know, I know it's really early right now in this whole dynamic, and a lot seems to be changing every day. If oil were to stay sticky at, you know, say, $90 a barrel for a while, how should we think about the impact to your margins, you know, and your ability to stay within your guidance range for EBITDA, given I think, you know, your guide assumes or was assuming similar energy costs as last year?

Bruce Young
CEO at Concrete Pumping Holdings

Fuel prices are certainly front of mind for us. We do have fuel surcharges in a lot of our agreements that are left over from the last time we saw price escalation with fuel. We're also starting to implement fuel surcharges in other areas as well. We do hope it's short-lived. No telling just how long we'll deal with that, but we'll do the best we can to recoup some of those additional costs.

Sami Corwin
Sami Corwin
Equity Research Analyst at William Blair

Great. Perfect. I'll leave it there. Thanks, guys.

Bruce Young
CEO at Concrete Pumping Holdings

Thanks, Sam.

Operator

Our next question comes from the line of Justin Hauke with Baird. Please proceed with your question.

Justin Hauke
Justin Hauke
VP and Senior Research Associate at Baird

Oh, great. I guess I was curious, I mean, just given that the guidance doesn't assume any volume growth, but you did talk about volume growth and pricing growth. You know, of the revenue growth, can you break out kind of the split between those two, for the quarter? I'm just trying to, I guess, gauge how much, you know, the better weather helped on the volume side.

Iain Humphries
Iain Humphries
CFO at Concrete Pumping Holdings

Yeah, Justin. It was almost split about 2% on the volume side. Like Bruce said, that was some part due to like more consistent weather that we'd seen that helped us with execution. The remaining piece, about 3% on price year-over-year.

Justin Hauke
Justin Hauke
VP and Senior Research Associate at Baird

Thanks. I guess my second question before I turn it over, I just wanted to understand the language on the CapEx acceleration, which obviously is you talked about that last quarter when you gave the guidance, but there was some additional language where you haven't accelerated anything yet, and I didn't know if that meant that that was still an option that you may decide not to do that $22 million of investment this year, or if it just meant in the quarter none of that had been spent. Thank you.

Bruce Young
CEO at Concrete Pumping Holdings

Yeah. It was just spent in the quarter. We do anticipate spending that this year. Now, there may be some concerns with whether or not we can get those trucks delivered before our fiscal year end, which is in October. Largely, we'll have to have the trucks in place that might be delivered into next year that are 2026 trucks.

Bruce Young
CEO at Concrete Pumping Holdings

You know, some of the changes that you're hearing or that we're all hearing about, the regulation towards trucks, the truck manufacturers are still telling us they're moving forward with the change to the truck and to the emissions, which we talked about on our last call being a concern for us because it won't give us the reliability and really the functionality with the stronger horsepower engines that we currently have that won't be available into the future. We do anticipate getting out in front of that. Now, that has some benefit with the data center growth that we're experiencing, getting those trucks in a little bit earlier to help us with some of that work has been helpful.

Operator

At this time, this concludes our question and answer session. I would now like to turn the call back over to Mr. Young for closing remarks.

Bruce Young
CEO at Concrete Pumping Holdings

Thank you, Vaughn. We'd like to thank everyone for listening to today's call, and we look forward to speaking with you when we report our second quarter results in June. Thank you.

Operator

Ladies and gentlemen, this does conclude today's teleconference. You may disconnect your lines at this time. Thank you for your participation.

Executives
    • Iain Humphries
      Iain Humphries
      CFO
Analysts
    • Bruce Young
      CEO at Concrete Pumping Holdings
    • Cody Slach
      Director of Investor Relations at Gateway Group
    • Justin Hauke
      VP and Senior Research Associate at Baird
    • Sami Corwin
      Equity Research Analyst at William Blair
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