Hammond Power Solutions Q1 2026 Earnings Call Transcript

Key Takeaways

  • Positive Sentiment: Record Q1 sales of CAD 264.8 million, up 31.5% YoY, driven by U.S. strength and higher-margin custom products (notably data center demand).
  • Negative Sentiment: Gross margin declined to 30.1% from 31.5% a year ago due to tariffs, commodity variability and project timing, although margins improved sequentially from Q4 2025 on pricing, mix and better factory absorption.
  • Positive Sentiment: Backlog grew sequentially and materially year‑over‑year, giving management good visibility into 2026 and supporting the ongoing capacity ramp, particularly in Mexico.
  • Positive Sentiment: The company announced an agreement to acquire AEG Power Solutions (subject to regulatory approval, expected to close in Q2 2026), which management says expands technology, geographic reach and aftermarket/services capabilities.
  • Neutral Sentiment: Reported net earnings were CAD 19.6 million (down from CAD 26.2M) but adjusted EPS (CAD 2.08) and adjusted EBITDA (CAD 41M) improved; cash from operations was CAD 11.4M, capex CAD 8.7M and net debt CAD 18.1M as the company invests to scale capacity.
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Earnings Conference Call
Hammond Power Solutions Q1 2026
00:00 / 00:00

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Operator

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to Hammond Power Solutions' first quarter 2026 financial results conference call. Certain statements that will be discussed in this conference call will constitute forward-looking statements. The forward-looking information and statements included in this discussion are not guarantees of future performance and should not be unduly relied upon. Forward-looking statements will be based on current expectations, estimates, and projections that involve a number of risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated and described in the forward-looking statements. Such information and statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results or events to differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking information and statements.

Operator

These factors include, but are not limited to, such things as the impact of general industry conditions, fluctuations of commodity prices, industry competition, availability of qualified personnel and management, stock market volatility, and timely and cost-effective access to sufficient capital from internal and external sources. The risks just outlined should not be construed as exhaustive. Although management of the company believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to have been correct. Accordingly, listeners should not place any undue reliance upon the forward-looking information discussed in this call. I'd like to hand the call over to Mr. Adrian Thomas, Chief Executive Officer of Hammond Power Solutions. Mr. Thomas?

Adrian Thomas
Adrian Thomas
CEO at Hammond Power Solutions

Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us today. I'm pleased to share Hammond Power Solutions' first quarter 2026 financial results. Joining me is our CFO, Richard Vollering, who will walk through the financial results in more detail following my remarks. After that, we'll open the call up for questions. We started 2026 with strong momentum, reflecting healthy demand across our end markets, continued progress in our manufacturing footprint, and disciplined execution across our organization. Q1 was a record quarter for us, with sales of CAD 264.8 million, driven primarily by strength in the U.S. and continued momentum in custom products, particularly for data center applications. Gross margins improved sequentially from fourth quarter, reflecting pricing actions, favorable mix and better factory overhead absorptions as volumes increased.

Adrian Thomas
Adrian Thomas
CEO at Hammond Power Solutions

Demand across our core end markets remained healthy during the first quarter, supported by long-term trends in electrification, power reliability and energy efficiency. Data center activity continues to be a meaningful contributor, driving both volume and higher custom product mix. Order activity during the quarter was strong. Our backlog increased sequentially and significantly year-over-year, giving us good visibility into the remainder of 2026 and supporting our continued capacity ramp, particularly in Mexico. As volumes scale, our focus remains on efficient backlog conversion while managing cost pressures. Tariff-related input costs remain a headwind compared to last year. We are actively addressing this through pricing discipline, mix management, and continued improvement in factory absorption. The sequential margin improvement we delivered in the quarter reflects progress in these areas.

Adrian Thomas
Adrian Thomas
CEO at Hammond Power Solutions

While margin recovery requires ongoing execution, we believe that we have the right operational levers in place as the year progresses, and Richard will provide more insights later in the call. During the quarter, we also announced our agreement to acquire AEG Power Solutions, subject to regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions. This acquisition expands our technology portfolio, broadens our geographic footprint, and adds meaningful aftermarket and services capabilities. We see this as a strong strategic fit as our customers' power needs continue to grow in complexity and scale. We expect this acquisition to close in the second quarter of 2026. Looking ahead, we remain confident in the fundamentals of our business. Our strong backlog provides good visibility, and the demand drivers supporting our markets remain intact.

Adrian Thomas
Adrian Thomas
CEO at Hammond Power Solutions

While we continue to monitor variability in input costs and project timing, we believe Hammond Power Solutions is well positioned to execute through the remainder of the year. With that, I'll turn the call over to Richard to review the financial results.

Richard Vollering
Richard Vollering
CFO at Hammond Power Solutions

Thank you, Adrian. Good morning, everyone. I'll walk through our first quarter financial performance and provide some additional context on margins and our statement of financial position. Sales were CAD 264.8 million in the first quarter, up 31.5% compared to the CAD 201.4 million in the first quarter of 2025. Growth was driven primarily by U.S. and Mexico, where sales increased 41.8% year-over-year. Canada was up 3.2%. India increased 33.5%, largely due to the timing of project shipments that shifted from the fourth quarter of 2025. Gross margin was 30.1% compared to 31.5% a year ago, reflecting the impact of tariffs, both direct and indirect, on input costs, along with ongoing variability in commodities and project timing.

Richard Vollering
Richard Vollering
CFO at Hammond Power Solutions

Importantly, gross margin improved sequentially from 29.2% in Q4 2025 as pricing actions flowed through, product mix improved, and factory overhead absorption benefited from higher volumes. General and administrative expenses were higher year-over-year, driven primarily by share-based compensation. In Q1 2026, share-based compensation expense was CAD 5.8 million compared to a recovery in the prior period, reflecting the impact of a higher share price. Excluding share-based compensation, general and administrative expenses increased in line with sales volumes and due to strategic investments in people and technology. Net earnings were CAD 19.6 million compared to CAD 26.2 million in the prior year. Basic earnings per share were CAD 1.64.

Richard Vollering
Richard Vollering
CFO at Hammond Power Solutions

Adjusted earnings per share, adjusted for foreign exchange and share-based compensation were CAD 2.08 compared to CAD 1.60 in the first quarter of 2025. Adjusted EBITDA was CAD 41 million in the first quarter as compared to CAD 30.9 million in the first quarter of 2025. Cash generated by operating activities was CAD 11.4 million in the quarter. Working capital increased primarily due to higher accounts receivable tied to strong sales in March, while inventory levels stabilized after the increases we saw throughout 2025. We continue to invest in the business. Capital expenditures were CAD 8.7 million in the quarter, primarily directed to capacity expansion initiatives. Net debt at the end of the first quarter was CAD 18.1 million as compared to CAD 15 million in the fourth quarter of 2025.

Richard Vollering
Richard Vollering
CFO at Hammond Power Solutions

Net working capital as a percentage of sales improved in the quarter versus the first quarter of 2025 and also versus the fourth quarter of 2025. This is a result of greater organizational focus on inventory management. We are pleased with these first quarter results, which set new records in terms of sales and profitability. We continue to take advantage of market segment tailwinds while managing the economic headwinds. As always, we are focused on superior operational and financial execution while continuing to plan for strategic growth beyond transformers. Thank you for listening in today. With that, I'll hand the call back to the operator to begin the question and answer period.

Operator

Our first question comes from Matthew Lee with Canaccord Genuity.

Matthew Lee
Matthew Lee
Analyst at Canaccord Genuity

Hi. Morning, guys. Thanks for taking my question. Maybe just one on backlog, up 4% quarter-over-quarter in Q1 after being up, you know, 74% in Q4. You know, how should we be thinking about backlog growth for the year? Can you talk about the lumpiness of some of these big contracts you're bidding on in the context of how it might affect backlog timing?

Richard Vollering
Richard Vollering
CFO at Hammond Power Solutions

Sure, Matt. It's Richard. Yeah, so the 4% increase, look, as you know, we had very large backlog increases late last year. We were happy to see a continuation of that. So, you know, I think that is a reflection of strong quotation activity. So, yeah. I think, you know, looking forward, I think it sets a good foundation for the remainder of the year for us.

Matthew Lee
Matthew Lee
Analyst at Canaccord Genuity

Could we see another step change function, you know, in the next couple quarters, like another big jump from here?

Richard Vollering
Richard Vollering
CFO at Hammond Power Solutions

Well, it's hard to say, Matt, because, you know, a lot of this depends on capacity and, you know, lead times and, you know, I mean, a lot of these projects are, you know, larger than they have been in the past, particularly when they're connected to data centers. Capacity matters in these cases.

Matthew Lee
Matthew Lee
Analyst at Canaccord Genuity

Okay, great. Maybe can you share some color on how bid activity is currently just in general? Like, I feel like we read every day about how new data center projects are coming up. How has that affected, you know, bid activity? Is it stronger than last year or weaker? Maybe some of your references there.

Adrian Thomas
Adrian Thomas
CEO at Hammond Power Solutions

Hey, Matt, it's Adrian. Yeah, I think what we saw, really, I would say starting from maybe kinda early last year, we saw a lot more activity on some of these significant projects. I think as we, as we talked about the backlog, when we finished Q4, a lot of that came from talking early on with customers, how we're building out capacity. That demand stays intact. We're still seeing significant quotation activity.

Matthew Lee
Matthew Lee
Analyst at Canaccord Genuity

Okay. Thanks, Adrian. I'll pass the line.

Operator

Our next question comes from Nicholas Boychuk with ATB Cormark Capital Markets.

Nicholas Boychuk
Nicholas Boychuk
Analyst at ATB Cormark Capital Markets

Thanks. Morning, guys. Coming back to your answer on the backlog and related to capacity, can you guys comment a little bit about how you're thinking about that? I know in the MD&A you mentioned that you're still expanding existing footprint to accommodate more, but what does that look like going forward over the next 12, 24, 36 months? When would we have to hear about a new potential facility in order to address backlog or even the ability to add new things into the backlog?

Richard Vollering
Richard Vollering
CFO at Hammond Power Solutions

Hey, good morning, Nick. It's Richard. Yeah, the way we were, you know, the way we're reviewing it or the way we've communicated this in the past is, you know, we've just launched Mont 4 and, you know, we think with that we have sufficient capacity throughout, through to 2027. You know, the question right now is, you know, how much capacity will we need beyond that, and where will it be located, and for what type of products?

Richard Vollering
Richard Vollering
CFO at Hammond Power Solutions

We're going through that evaluation process right now and, but, you know, given that it takes, you know, anywhere from a year and a half to two years to set up a new facility, you know, we'll, we will have to be making those decisions, you know, in the remainder of this year.

Nicholas Boychuk
Nicholas Boychuk
Analyst at ATB Cormark Capital Markets

Okay. As you're doing that evaluation, are you able to comment at all on the type of visibility you would need to see? Like, would you have to have some form of an order or a conversation with these vendors to suggest that that is in fact going to be in hand once you do this, like a chicken and egg? Or is there some risk that you will be taking in order to kind of take that next step?

Adrian Thomas
Adrian Thomas
CEO at Hammond Power Solutions

There's two factors that I think you should think about, Nicholas Boychuk. One you know, big factory is a step change. What we showed over the last four years with a lot of our CapEx is putting more capacity into existing footprint. We have two new factories, we can continue to optimize our footprint there as well as some operational efficiencies in other areas. That will bridge the gap between the next time we need to build out a new factory. I think there's a couple things to think about on the new factory demand.

Adrian Thomas
Adrian Thomas
CEO at Hammond Power Solutions

Certainly long cycle data center projects give us more comfort, but if you step back and you think about the electrification tailwind, we still believe that there's a significant amount of electrification and infrastructure upgrades and retrofits that need to be done over the next 10 to 20 years. I think the visibility to demand certainly gives us confidence, but we think that the long-term trend will provide the need for additional capacity going forward. We still think that there's a lot of non-data center demand over the long term.

Nicholas Boychuk
Nicholas Boychuk
Analyst at ATB Cormark Capital Markets

Okay. That longer sort of non-data center demand, does the product suite that you have currently address that? I guess another way to put it, the production facilities that you have right now, you know, is the mix between standard stock and custom appropriate, or would you have to maybe switch some of the standard stock capacity into custom? Could that be like a spillover effect where you could get a little bit more advantage by 2030, let's say, where you're doing custom work that would be applicable to the electrification of everything in traditional energy as well as in data centers?

Adrian Thomas
Adrian Thomas
CEO at Hammond Power Solutions

For custom product, the equipment and skill set is fairly flexible. Whether it's for oil and gas, for mining, for data centers, similar equipment. It's flexible in that it's less flexible between the smaller standard products and the custom, but on anything that's electro-intensive, we have a lot of flexibility in how we use the equipment and how we deploy our workforce.

Nicholas Boychuk
Nicholas Boychuk
Analyst at ATB Cormark Capital Markets

Okay. Thanks. Last for me, there was a line in the MD&A talking about a little bit of softness seen in Canada. I'm curious if you can expand on that a little bit, please, just to share with things like mining, oil and gas, traditional construction infrastructure. Are those buckets contracting at all or is it just softness year-over-year that you think is transitory and will kind of get reversed as we enter the summer?

Adrian Thomas
Adrian Thomas
CEO at Hammond Power Solutions

Okay. I think Canada's had some struggles with the economy, particularly around sectors like auto and some of the other areas that we've seen impacts recently. I believe that's driving sort of a slower economic growth in Canada. I think that's what we're seeing there. While there are data center projects in Canada, it's not to the same extent as the U.S. I think Canada's not benefiting from that extreme build-out that the U.S. is benefiting from. If you go to commercial construction, I would say, you know, on that side we see softness there.

Nicholas Boychuk
Nicholas Boychuk
Analyst at ATB Cormark Capital Markets

Okay. There's it. Thanks, guys.

Operator

Our next question comes from Baltej Sidhu with National Bank of Canada.

Baltej Sidhu
Baltej Sidhu
Analyst at National Bank of Canada

Hey, good morning. Just given the structural tailwinds, could you just elaborate on how your view of the AEG acquisition has evolved, just particularly around North American cross-selling and how we should think about the potential investment needed to support commercial entry?

Adrian Thomas
Adrian Thomas
CEO at Hammond Power Solutions

Hey, Baltej. Uh, it's Adrian. You know, it hasn't closed, so I think we'll kind of refrain a little bit. But what I can say is that, you know, what the original thesis of what we believe in the fact that they have released, products which are applicable for North America, I think it strengthens our opportunity post-closing, to support the deployment of, products into the North American market space.

Baltej Sidhu
Baltej Sidhu
Analyst at National Bank of Canada

Great. Just as a follow-up on that, how is the transaction progressing? I know that you're getting regulatory approvals and you anticipate to get the remainder of them as well. Are we still anticipating a Q2 close?

Adrian Thomas
Adrian Thomas
CEO at Hammond Power Solutions

We still feel comfortable that we'll be able to close in Q2. Obviously with regulatory approvals, timeframes are not under our control, but we believe it's likely.

Baltej Sidhu
Baltej Sidhu
Analyst at National Bank of Canada

Great. Just one more for me. Just given the shift towards higher voltage data center architecture, are you seeing this reflected in the new recent mix of orders that you're putting into the backlog?

Adrian Thomas
Adrian Thomas
CEO at Hammond Power Solutions

The biggest thing that we see reflected in our backlog mix, Baltej, is just higher capacity in general.

Baltej Sidhu
Baltej Sidhu
Analyst at National Bank of Canada

Great. Thanks. I'll leave it there.

Operator

As a reminder if you would like to ask a question at this time press star one one on your touchtone phone. Our next question comes from Nelson Ng with RBC Capital Markets.

Nelson Ng
Nelson Ng
Analyst at RBC Capital Markets

Great. Thanks. Good morning, everyone. Can you just touch on some of the tariff changes you've seen in the industry? I know there's the changes in Section 232. Can you just talk about the impact and whether there's any kind of near-term impact on gross margins as a result of those changes?

Richard Vollering
Richard Vollering
CFO at Hammond Power Solutions

Good morning, Nelson. It's Richard. Yeah, I'll just summarize what the changes are. You know, where the original tariffs were a tariff on metal content, the new tariffs are a flat tariff on the value of the whole product, which, which in some ways, in many ways simplifies the tariff structure. One of the things, you know, what's a little bit different is the way those particular products get picked up in terms of HS codes. There are more products that get picked up under the 232 tariffs than there were before. That will drive more tariffs. You know, as we've talked many times in the past, the effect of that is that, you know, it'll could create, all other things being equal, a drag on margins for a short period of time while we adjust. You know, we'll probably see that pattern happen again.

Richard Vollering
Richard Vollering
CFO at Hammond Power Solutions

I think what we've been able to demonstrate though over time is that, you know, we have an ability to deal with these kinds of cost changes. So we'll be doing that again.

Nelson Ng
Nelson Ng
Analyst at RBC Capital Markets

Okay. Thanks for that. Just on AEG, I know you haven't closed the deal yet, but do you have a good sense of how their revenues in Q1 looked? I know for Hammond specifically, most of your growth is in the U.S. and you saw kind of roughly flat results in Canada. Like, given that AEG is in Europe and Asia and other parts, like how have revenues been in Q1, just like high level?

Adrian Thomas
Adrian Thomas
CEO at Hammond Power Solutions

Nelson, hey, it's Adrian. I don't think it's appropriate for us to disclose anything until the deal is closed.

Nelson Ng
Nelson Ng
Analyst at RBC Capital Markets

Okay. Just moving on to Canada, you guys highlighted that revenues were kind of roughly flat year-over-year due to some weakness. Is there a, do you have the flexibility to change the type of transformers you sell? Or can you divert a lot of the product? Or have products been diverted to the U.S. where there's more demand? Can you just talk about the dynamics in terms of whether you can just like export or reallocate where you sell your products?

Adrian Thomas
Adrian Thomas
CEO at Hammond Power Solutions

Good question, Nelson. Products for North America, there are some nuances between Canada and the U.S. in terms of codes and standards, they're essentially very similar and both from an engineering and production standpoint, allocating production for the U.S., Canada, or Mexico is quite easy. We support all three countries from the same set of factories.

Nelson Ng
Nelson Ng
Analyst at RBC Capital Markets

Okay, great. Just on your revenue capacity, I think in the past you talked about how by the end of this year, you'll have roughly, I think CAD 1.2 billion of revenue capacity. Is that right?

Adrian Thomas
Adrian Thomas
CEO at Hammond Power Solutions

That's right. Yeah.

Nelson Ng
Nelson Ng
Analyst at RBC Capital Markets

Is there a rule of thumb in terms of CapEx expansion relative to the revenue potential it brings? Is it roughly like a five to one ratio? Or like how do you think about CapEx expansion?

Adrian Thomas
Adrian Thomas
CEO at Hammond Power Solutions

Yeah. You know, in the past, we've communicated some of this in some of our past facilities, you know. You know, typically kind of 20-25 million investments kind of will realize revenues of, you know, roughly CAD 100 million. Roughly the profile.

Nelson Ng
Nelson Ng
Analyst at RBC Capital Markets

Okay, great. I'll leave it there. Thank you.

Operator

That concludes today's question and answer session. I'd like to turn the call back to Adrian Thomas for closing remarks.

Adrian Thomas
Adrian Thomas
CEO at Hammond Power Solutions

Thank you, operator. As we move through 2026, our focus will remain on disciplined execution, operational improvement, and delivering long-term value for our shareholders. Thank you everyone for your questions today and for your continued interest in Hammond Power Solutions. I'd also like to thank our employees for their dedication, our customers for their trust, and our shareholders for your continued support.

Operator

This concludes today's conference call. Thank you for participating. You may now disconnect.

Executives
    • Adrian Thomas
      Adrian Thomas
      CEO
    • Richard Vollering
      Richard Vollering
      CFO
Analysts