NYSE:NPKI NPK International Q2 2026 Earnings Report $12.76 +0.01 (+0.07%) Closing price 09/18/2026 03:59 PM EasternExtended Trading$12.74 -0.01 (-0.11%) As of 09/18/2026 07:30 PM Eastern Extended trading is trading that happens on electronic markets outside of regular trading hours. This is a fair market value extended hours price provided by Massive. Learn more. ProfileEarnings HistoryForecast NPK International EPS ResultsActual EPS$0.15Consensus EPS $0.13Beat/MissBeat by +$0.02One Year Ago EPSN/ANPK International Revenue ResultsActual Revenue$81.59 millionExpected RevenueN/ABeat/MissN/AYoY Revenue GrowthN/ANPK International Announcement DetailsQuarterQ2 2026Date7/29/2026TimeAfter Market ClosesConference Call DateThursday, July 30, 2026Conference Call Time9:30AM ETConference Call ResourcesConference Call AudioConference Call TranscriptSlide DeckPress Release (8-K)Quarterly Report (10-Q)SEC FilingEarnings HistoryCompany ProfileSlide DeckFull Screen Slide DeckPowered by NPK International Q2 2026 Earnings Call TranscriptProvided by QuartrJuly 30, 2026ShareShareShare This ReportLink copied to clipboard.Key Takeaways Positive Sentiment: Second-quarter results exceeded prior-year performance: revenue rose 20% to $82 million, adjusted EBITDA increased 37% to $26 million, and adjusted EBITDA margin reached 31.5%. Positive Sentiment: Strong first-half profitability led management to raise 2026 adjusted EBITDA guidance to $97 million–$103 million and narrow revenue guidance to $313 million–$323 million, while reaffirming expectations for double-digit growth. Neutral Sentiment: Rental and service revenue reached a record $54 million despite the accelerated completion of large projects, but lower utilization and the lag in redeploying mats remain near-term headwinds; management expects Q3 rental and service revenue to be roughly in line with Q2, while product sales are expected to return closer to Q1 levels. Positive Sentiment: The company is investing in growth, including a Louisiana manufacturing expansion expected to increase capacity by about 50% and a low- to mid-teens expansion of its rental fleet, while maintaining only $2 million of net debt and $148 million of bank-facility availability. Positive Sentiment: Management reported a roughly 20% year-over-year increase in quoted volumes, broader activity across U.S. and U.K. geographies, and strong utility and critical-infrastructure demand; it also said the Grassform integration is progressing well and that it remains open to additional strategic acquisitions. AI Generated. May Contain Errors.Conference Call Audio Live Call not available Earnings Conference CallNPK International Q2 202600:00 / 00:00Speed:1x1.25x1.5x2xTranscript SectionsPresentationParticipantsPresentationSkip to Participants Operator00:00:00Hello, everyone. Thank you for joining us, and welcome to NPK International 2Q26 Earnings. After today's prepared remarks, we will host a question and answer session. If you would like to ask a question, please press star one to raise your hand. To withdraw your question, press star one again. I will now hand the conference over to Gregg Piontek, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Please go ahead. Gregg PiontekSVP and CFO at NPK International00:00:25Thank you, operator. I'd like to welcome everyone to the NPK International Second Quarter 2026 conference call. Joining me today is Matthew Lanigan, our President and Chief Executive Officer. Before handing over to Matthew, I'd like to highlight that today's discussion contains forward-looking statements regarding future business and financial expectations. Actual results may differ significantly from those projected in today's forward-looking statements due to various risks and uncertainties, including the risks described in our periodic reports filed with the SEC. Except as required by law, we undertake no obligation to update our forward-looking statements. Our comments on today's call may also include certain Non-GAAP financial measures. Additional details and reconciliations to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures are included in our quarterly earnings release, which can be found on our website. Gregg PiontekSVP and CFO at NPK International00:01:21There will be a replay of today's call. It will be available by webcast within the investor relations section of our website at npki.com. Please note that the information disclosed on today's call is current as of July 30th, 2026. At the conclusion of our prepared remarks, we will open the line for questions. With that, I would like to turn the call over to our President and Chief Executive Officer, Matthew Lanigan. Matthew LaniganPresident and CEO at NPK International00:01:48Thanks, Gregg, welcome to everyone joining us on today's call. Our solid second quarter results yet again demonstrate our team's commitment to growth, the continued momentum in our core markets, and the operating leverage inherent in our business model. During the quarter, we made meaningful progress on our strategic priorities, including our manufacturing expansion, which has us well-positioned for further scale and strength moving forward. Looking at the quarter, we delivered $82 million of revenue, an increase of 20% from last year, with strong profitability capture driven by year-over-year growth in both product sales and rentals. Total rental and service revenues achieved another quarterly high at $54 million, a 16% year-over-year increase. This result was particularly pleasing due to the unique nature of our second quarter. Matthew LaniganPresident and CEO at NPK International00:02:40As we mentioned on our Q1 call, our Q2 expectation was influenced by the anticipated completion timing of multiple large-scale projects, which ultimately represented over 25% of our domestic mat fleet. Despite the accelerated timing relative to previous expectations, our ability to absorb these large project transitions while continuing to grow profitably in the quarter once again demonstrates the benefits of our scale, the resilience of our business model, and our operations team ability to manage multiple large project transitions for our customers. Product sales demand was very strong, contributing $28 million to second quarter revenue, a 28% year-over-year increase reflecting continued strong demand from our utility customers along with international sales. As a result of this continued quarterly growth, combined with solid operating leverage, we delivered $26 million of adjusted EBITDA in the quarter, representing a 37% year-over-year improvement and a 31.5% adjusted EBITDA margin. Matthew LaniganPresident and CEO at NPK International00:03:46Off the back of the strong profitability, we are again raising our full-year profitability guidance, which Gregg will cover in more detail in his prepared remarks. As I mentioned earlier, we also made solid progress on our manufacturing expansion project in Louisiana, investing $4 million in the quarter. We are confident that this expansion, which is expected to increase our production capacity by approximately 50%, as well as our continuing debottlenecking initiatives, will support our long-term growth and composite matting market share expansion for the foreseeable future, while also enhancing margins through a reduced usage of cross-rental mats. We are also very pleased with our second quarter cash flow, delivering $22 million of cash from operations and $6 million of free cash flow, while also expanding our mat rental fleet by 3%. Matthew LaniganPresident and CEO at NPK International00:04:37We maintained our strong financial position ending the quarter with net debt of just $2 million, providing ample financial flexibility to continue executing on our strategic objectives. Overall, Q2 once again demonstrated our consistent strong execution, which we believe is a direct reflection of our commitment to our key strategic priorities. With that, I'll turn the call over to Gregg for his prepared remarks. Gregg PiontekSVP and CFO at NPK International00:05:02Thanks, Matthew. I'll begin with a more detailed discussion of our second quarter and first half results, then provide an update on our operational outlook and capital allocation priorities for the remainder of 2026. The second quarter results were highlighted by strength in product sales and continued growth in rental revenues, which reflect the momentum in our end markets. As Matthew touched on, product sales grew by 21% sequentially and 28% year-over-year, primarily benefiting from continued strong demand from utility customers along with elevated international sales. Rental and service revenues grew 3% sequentially and 16% year-over-year to a quarterly record $54 million, despite the accelerated completion of the large-scale projects that Matthew mentioned. Gregg PiontekSVP and CFO at NPK International00:05:54Breaking the revenue down further, rental revenues grew 18% year-over-year, reflecting 4% organic growth, combined with a $4 million contribution from the Grassform acquisition. The organic growth reflects the impact of improved pricing, partially offset by the lower fleet utilization attributable to the large project completions and the natural lag in the fleet redeployment. Service revenues grew 12%, with substantially all of the increase coming from the acquisition. Turning to gross profit, the second quarter gross margin was 37%, representing an 80 basis point sequential improvement and in line with prior year. The sequential gross margin improvement primarily reflects the effect of stronger product sales activity and stable rental margins. The year-over-year comparison reflects the effects of stronger product sales and increased manufacturing operating leverage, offset by lower rental utilization. Gregg PiontekSVP and CFO at NPK International00:06:53Second quarter SG&A expenses totaled $14.2 million, compared to $13.2 million in the first quarter and $13.7 million in the second quarter of last year. As noted in yesterday's press release, the second quarter results included a $900,000 charge resulting from a board-approved modification to the retirement eligibility terms applicable to long-term incentive awards to better align with market practices. Income tax expense was $3.9 million in the second quarter, reflecting an effective tax rate of 25%. Adjusted EPS from continuing operations was $0.15 per diluted share in the second quarter, compared to $0.12 per share in the first quarter and $0.11 per share in the second quarter of last year. For the first half of 2026, total revenues have increased 18% year-over-year, while adjusted EBITDA and adjusted EPS grew by 25% and 20% respectively. Gregg PiontekSVP and CFO at NPK International00:07:54Looking at first half revenues by geography and sector, our U.S. revenues increased 11% year-over-year to $138 million, including 11% growth in rental revenues, with the utility sector driving the substantial majority of that growth. U.K. revenues more than doubled year-over-year to $19 million in the first half of 2026, primarily reflecting the Grassform contributions. Turning to cash flows, our Q2 performance remained relatively in line with prior quarter. Operating activities generated $22 million of cash into the second quarter, including $25 million from net income adjusted for non-cash expenses, somewhat offset by $3 million of cash used by a net increase in working capital. Net CapEx used $16 million, which includes $10 million of net investment into fleet expansion and $4 million to fund the manufacturing expansion. Gregg PiontekSVP and CFO at NPK International00:08:54We ended the quarter with total debt of $11 million and total cash of $8 million for a net debt position of $2 million. Additionally, we have $148 million of availability under our bank facility, providing us with ample financial flexibility to continue executing on our strategic growth objectives, including our manufacturing expansion. Turning to our business outlook. Overall, our customers remain highly constructive on the near and longer-term outlook for utilities and critical infrastructure spending, which we see within our robust quoting activity. As for the near-term outlook, despite Q3 being our typical seasonal low point in customer project activity and the effects of the ongoing redeployments from recently completed large-scale projects, we expect total Q3 rental and service revenues to remain fairly in line with Q2 levels, reflecting a year-over-year improvement of more than 20%. Gregg PiontekSVP and CFO at NPK International00:09:54Product sales are expected to revert back to levels more in line with Q1 following the exceptionally strong Q2 result. Q3 gross margin is also expected to be roughly in line with the first half result, though remain dependent on the specifics of project timings. In light of the strong first half profitability and the favorable near-term outlook, we have revised our full year 2026 outlook, narrowing the total revenues range to $313 million-$323 million, and increasing adjusted EBITDA to a range of $97 million-$103 million. The midpoint of our range reflects 15% revenue growth and 32% adjusted EBITDA growth over 2025. The midpoint of our revenue guidance continues to reflect double-digit organic rental revenue growth, along with the contribution from the Grassform acquisition, while product sales are expected to grow modestly from 2025 levels. Gregg PiontekSVP and CFO at NPK International00:10:55Our CapEx plan for 2026 has been reduced, primarily reflecting changes in timing of the manufacturing expansion expenditures, though this does not impact our anticipated mid-year 2027 start update. Total net CapEx is now expected to be $65 million-$80 million for the year, including $20 million-$25 million of current year spending for the manufacturing expansion project, along with $35 million-$45 million targeted for the rental fleet expansion. This level of investment is expected to grow our DURA-BASE rental fleet by a low to mid-teens percentage, supporting our organic growth and also displacing a portion of cross-rent assets currently deployed on projects. Our SG&A expectation remains unchanged at roughly $13 million quarterly level in the near term, while tax rate is expected to remain relatively in line with the first half rate for the remainder of the year. Gregg PiontekSVP and CFO at NPK International00:11:56As highlighted previously, we entered 2026 with roughly $40 million of NOLs and other tax credit carryforwards, which, when combined with the accelerated deductions for capital investments, are expected to significantly limit our cash tax obligations for the next several years. As it relates to our capital allocation strategy, we continue to prioritize investments in the growth of our rental fleet and our manufacturing capacity expansion, as well as strategic acquisitions, while also remaining committed to returning a portion of free cash flow generation to shareholders through our disciplined share repurchase program. With that, I'll turn the call back over to Matthew for his concluding remarks. Matthew LaniganPresident and CEO at NPK International00:12:38Yeah, thanks, Gregg. As we close out the first half of the year, we remain confident in our double-digit growth outlook and commitment to the execution of our strategic priorities in 2026. Our primary focus remains the scale-up of our rental platform, which generates the highest long-term returns for our business. As we have discussed, our strategy includes a combination of the geographic expansion and market share growth in the U.S. and U.K. Our quoting pipeline continues to support our confidence, with roughly 20% year-over-year increase in quoted volumes, with over half of that volume being originated in our expansion geographies. We remain confident that the strong momentum in these markets will support our continued fleet and operational expansion. As we saw this quarter, we recognize the quarterly cadence remains dependent on project timings, particularly for large-scale projects. Matthew LaniganPresident and CEO at NPK International00:13:29To support our strategy, we remain committed to making the necessary investments for growth, investing in the expansion of our DURA-BASE composite mat rental fleet, while also advancing our manufacturing expansion project. Our decision to expand our Louisiana facility was driven by superior economics relative to other alternate locations. As this location maintains our proximity to strategic raw material supply, captures operational benefits and efficiencies through co-location with our existing infrastructure and skilled workforce, and continues our decades-long investment in and support of the local community. Our second focus area remains on driving organizational efficiencies across the business. We continue to see this play out in both gross margins and SG&A as a percent of revenues as we are on pace to exceed 30% EBITDA margin in 2026. Matthew LaniganPresident and CEO at NPK International00:14:20As we continue to grow, we see opportunity to continue to expand our EBITDA margins and returns on invested capital through operating leverage, while also making targeted investments to drive sustainable long-term revenue growth for the company. As Gregg touched on, our final priority is the allocation of capital beyond our organic requirements. With a strong balance sheet and disciplined approach, we remain active in the evaluation of core strategic and organic opportunities that increase our market coverage, value, and relevance to customers in key critical infrastructure markets, as well as the continuation of our share repurchase program. As it pertains to strategic inorganic execution, I wanted to call out our recent U.K. acquisition and our entire U.K. team who are integrating our two U.K. platforms while running ahead of expectations and delivering excellent results. Matthew LaniganPresident and CEO at NPK International00:15:09The combined U.K. entity provided our business with strong, profitable growth during the quarter, while our U.S. team successfully managed the large-scale project transitions, which are a natural part of our business strategy and cadence. With robust market outlooks in our served geographies, a clear strategic focus, and a robust balance sheet, we remain on pace to deliver another strong year of profitable growth for 2026. In closing, I want to thank our shareholders for their ongoing support, our employees for their dedication to the business, including their commitment to safety and compliance, and our customers for their ongoing partnerships. With that, we'll open the call for questions. Operator00:15:48We will now begin the question-and-answer session. Please limit yourself to one question and one follow-up. If you would like to ask a question, please press star one to raise your hand. To withdraw your question, press star one again. We ask that you pick up your handset when asking a question to allow for optimum sound quality. If you are muted locally, please remember to unmute your device. Please stand by while we compile the question-and-answer roster. Your first question is from the line of Aaron Spychalla with Craig-Hallum. Aaron, you please go ahead. Aaron SpychallaAnalyst at Craig-Hallum00:16:23Good morning, Matthew and Gregg. First, can you maybe talk about visibility and confidence into the guidance? You talked a little bit about project timing, the 20% growth in the pipeline. Just curious if you're seeing any impacts from any data center slowing or just secondary impacts on customer spend. Matthew LaniganPresident and CEO at NPK International00:16:45Yeah, thanks, Aaron. I think the short answer to that is that we're not seeing any impact of, I think, what's been affecting participants in the space over the last few days. Our pipeline is fairly advanced and locked in, so we're not concerned about any risk there, and visibility is good. What I will say, we're always alerting people to the fact that timings are not necessarily under our control, so they can shift a little bit, which may impact here or there. The way we see it, looking at it today, second half is very much in line with the guidance that we called. Aaron SpychallaAnalyst at Craig-Hallum00:17:26Great. Thanks. Just second, obviously, really good margin performance. Can you just talk about some of the drivers there? Again, confidence and the outlook and then just the impact from cross-rental on the business. What has that been and just how might that reverse or see a benefit next year as you bring on capacity? Gregg PiontekSVP and CFO at NPK International00:17:47Yeah. I guess I'll start with that one first. The cross-rentals, the cost has been fairly stable. It's about 3 points of headwind basically on the R&S margins overall. As we had talked about, we see over time we'll be reducing that. You'll see some lift from that. In terms of the improvement of the margins, you get a little bit of mix. The rental versus service continues to trend more toward the rental, which is the higher margin. Gregg PiontekSVP and CFO at NPK International00:18:19Within that, it's a lot of operating leverage and cost management, both on the rental operations side as well as on the manufacturing side. The increase in the manufacturing volume and just the leverage that you're getting there, that's really what's driving it. As we look ahead, we don't see a substantial change to that. Aaron SpychallaAnalyst at Craig-Hallum00:18:44Great. Thank you for taking the questions. I'll turn it over. Matthew LaniganPresident and CEO at NPK International00:18:49Thanks, sir. Operator00:19:14Oh. Your next question is from the line of Laura Maher with B. Riley Securities. Laura, please go ahead. Laura MaherAnalyst at B. Riley Securities00:19:21Hi. Good morning, Matthew and Gregg. Matthew LaniganPresident and CEO at NPK International00:19:23Hey, Laura. Laura MaherAnalyst at B. Riley Securities00:19:25For my first question, the release cites strong demand from key customer accounts. Could you give some color on how concentrated rental growth was this quarter? Then, can you give some more color on the customer base broadening among your top accounts? Matthew LaniganPresident and CEO at NPK International00:19:43Yeah. I think, when you look at this quarter, a lot of the demobilizations were attributed with one of our larger customers, Laura. If anything, that would have addressed any concentration associated with the overall rental mix. Other than that, I think it was a fairly standard distribution across multiple regions. I think that would be how I'd summarize that one. You'll have to remind me the second part of your question. Laura MaherAnalyst at B. Riley Securities00:20:19Do you see the customer base broadening among your top accounts? Matthew LaniganPresident and CEO at NPK International00:20:23Yeah. Thank you. Yeah, we do, actually. I think I touched on it in my pipeline commentary that we're seeing build-up in our kind of emerging or growing regions. We're happy with the way that our geographic distribution is starting to play out. Obviously, we've got some work to do to have it balance out our historical footprint, but encouraging that we're starting to see a broader distribution of geographic regions in our activity. Gregg PiontekSVP and CFO at NPK International00:20:48Yeah, I think going back to our commentary, over the past several quarters, the good news with the success that we saw in 2025 with these larger projects, we saw a great uptake with one particular customer. That's what caused that customer to be a 19% customer here in 2025. Here in 2026, a key focus of ours is diversifying and finding the next customers to really help diversify that. It's kind of playing out as we expected. We know these things take a little bit of time to get there, but we're on a good path. Laura MaherAnalyst at B. Riley Securities00:21:26Thanks. I guess a follow-up on that then. How much of the fleet is deployed on transmission and distribution work versus data center, site development, and other end markets? Could you give- Matthew LaniganPresident and CEO at NPK International00:21:38Yeah. I'll start Laura MaherAnalyst at B. Riley Securities00:21:38a little color there on if there's any update on the change in the mix? Matthew LaniganPresident and CEO at NPK International00:21:42Yeah, Laura, I'll start by saying we have no mats deployed on data center build-out or development. I just want to kind of point that out on the get-go. The majority of our products, the rental distribution largely reflects the revenue concentrations that Gregg spoke about. 70+% of the fleet would be on transmission projects, and the balance largely domestically on our oil and gas footprint around fracking basins in the country. Obviously in the U.K., more concentrated again on transmission and perhaps rail and general construction. Laura MaherAnalyst at B. Riley Securities00:22:20Great. Thanks. Matthew LaniganPresident and CEO at NPK International00:22:24Thanks, Laura. Operator00:22:26Your next question comes from Bill Dezellem with Tieton Capital Management. Bill DezellemInvestment Adviser at Tieton Capital Management00:22:31Great Operator00:22:31Please go ahead. Bill DezellemInvestment Adviser at Tieton Capital Management00:22:32Thank you. Two questions. The first one is, how are you thinking about additional acquisitions at this point, relative to where you're at with the integration of Grassform? Matthew LaniganPresident and CEO at NPK International00:22:44Yeah, Bill, I think we've been consistent with this. We'll continue to look at opportunities that will accelerate our presence into geographic markets, if we think that economics pencils out. We're constantly looking at those. As it pertains to integration with Grassform, I'd say that's going very well. I think if you recall, when we purchased that business, we said there wasn't a lot of integration we wanted to do. It was a business that ran itself very well, had a great team around it. We weren't looking to change that in a material way. I think that acquisition has responded well to that as a backdrop. I'm not sure we would classify that as any form of distraction, if that's what you were alluding to in the question. Bill DezellemInvestment Adviser at Tieton Capital Management00:23:27That's exactly right. You're prepared to move to the next acquisition if it were to present itself essentially, is what you're saying? Matthew LaniganPresident and CEO at NPK International00:23:37That's right. Bill DezellemInvestment Adviser at Tieton Capital Management00:23:39My second question is, relative to the project completions, if we heard you correctly, there were several that were accelerated. Would you walk us through what the dynamics were behind the scenes with that customer and what's happening within them that led to those accelerated completions of projects? If it's just that they have so much work that they're trying to get through things more quickly than originally planned or if they have priorities that have shifted, help with that would be appreciated. Matthew LaniganPresident and CEO at NPK International00:24:16I think putting it into some sort of relativity is important here, Bill. These are projects that have been down almost a year. We're talking Matthew LaniganPresident and CEO at NPK International00:24:24We're talking days at the end of several hundred days of projects. The ability to accurately call when they're coming up is always dependent on weather, other parts of the supply chain, labor productivity on the customer and their contractor side. They give us their best estimates, but ultimately, they're motivated to wind the project up as soon as they can. We just saw that there was some projects there that were a few days here or there out of sync, but at the scale that those projects are, they have the kind of impacts that we saw on the overall P&L from our perspective. Gregg PiontekSVP and CFO at NPK International00:25:00I think it goes back to really highlighting what we've talked about in the past, the dynamic of why it's so critical that you have the scale and the flexibility to respond because these project timings, both starts and the ends, shift around. Some of these projects had been extended previously beyond what they were originally scheduled for, but ultimately you get very limited notice on when that decision is made, and you have to respond to it. That's where the acceleration that was referring to relative to our expectations at the May 1st call. Bill DezellemInvestment Adviser at Tieton Capital Management00:25:39That's helpful. Essentially I've over-indexed to that comment, it sounds like. Matthew LaniganPresident and CEO at NPK International00:25:46Yeah. There was certainly no macro change, if you will, to the business dynamic. It was business as normal, but at that scale, it obviously has a slightly larger impact. Bill DezellemInvestment Adviser at Tieton Capital Management00:26:00Great. That's fine. Then I'm going to break the rules on the number of questions and ask one more, if I may. Relative to data centers, you said you're currently not deployed on any data centers. Given the amount of electricity that these consume, do you see any burgeoning opportunity to essentially, I guess I'll call them, mini distribution lines or maybe even mini transmission lines going from a main trunk off to a data center that's going to lead to any meaningful work for you? Or are those really too short of distances to be needle movers for you? Matthew LaniganPresident and CEO at NPK International00:26:44Yeah. I think the way I'd lay that out, Bill, is obviously connectivity to loads, which I think we need to remind ourselves that data centers capture most of the public narrative at this point, but we're also onshoring manufacturing and other sources of load demand on the grid, and they're all going to need some sort of interconnectivity. I think ultimately these large load cases will have to be tied into the grid versus some of behind the meter temporary kind of accommodations that will accelerate their start-up. All of that is opportunity for us as those lines are constructed. As it pertains to their cadencing and everything, we'll have to see the way that plays out. I'd say every large load is going to need to be supplied by a line unless it's sitting right beside an existing transmission line, and that's opportunity for our business. Bill DezellemInvestment Adviser at Tieton Capital Management00:27:43Great. Thank you. Operator00:27:46Your next question is from the line of Min Cho with Texas Capital Securities. Please go ahead. Min ChoAnalyst at Texas Capital Securities00:27:53Great. Thank you, Matthew and Gregg. Quick questions here. Are you starting to lay down mats for greenfield projects or are you still working mostly on brownfield? What could change if that transition starts to occur? Do you need more mats, longer rentals, or just any commentary there, please? Matthew LaniganPresident and CEO at NPK International00:28:14Yeah. I'd say, Min, the majority of what we're doing is still on existing lines and right of ways versus greenfields. I think the major driver for that looking forward is more likely to be some of the higher voltage lines, but they're out in 2027, 2028. Most of the meaningful construction on those is in the 2027, 2028 timeframe. Roughly speaking, 1.5x the matting is a fair rule of thumb on these right of ways for the larger higher voltage trunks that are planned in some of the regions. Hopefully that addresses your question. Min ChoAnalyst at Texas Capital Securities00:28:52Thank you. Can you talk a little bit about what you're seeing in the U.K.? Obviously, you had some increased product sales there, and it looks like the Grassform revenues are pretty much in line with the first quarter. Anything to note in terms of demand, overall demand in the U.K. and opportunities? Matthew LaniganPresident and CEO at NPK International00:29:10Yeah, I think that market is playing exactly the way we thought it was. I feel like the demand is still strong there. Our businesses had a slightly softer start to the year than we had planned ourselves, which is largely just the customers getting themselves organized and getting back to work after the holiday season. We're seeing that market continue to strengthen and perform well for us. The one thing I will say is we did not have any sales to the U.K. Our international sales were into other markets, wanted to clarify that for you, Min. Min ChoAnalyst at Texas Capital Securities00:29:47Perfect. Thank you. Thanks for that clarification. All right. Thank you. Matthew LaniganPresident and CEO at NPK International00:29:50Thanks, Min. Operator00:29:53This concludes the Q&A session. I will now turn the call back to management for closing remarks. Gregg PiontekSVP and CFO at NPK International00:29:59Thanks again for joining us on today's call. Should you have any questions or requests, please reach out to us at investors@npki.com. We look forward to hosting you again next quarter.Read moreParticipantsExecutivesGregg PiontekSVP and CFOMatthew LaniganPresident and CEOAnalystsAaron SpychallaAnalyst at Craig-HallumLaura MaherAnalyst at B. Riley SecuritiesBill DezellemInvestment Adviser at Tieton Capital ManagementMin ChoAnalyst at Texas Capital SecuritiesPowered by Earnings DocumentsSlide DeckPress Release(8-K)Quarterly report(10-Q) NPK International Earnings HeadlinesNPK Announces New Executive Vice President, Commercial Growth & OperationsSeptember 15, 2026 | finance.yahoo.comNPK Announces New Executive Vice President, Commercial Growth & OperationsSeptember 14, 2026 | businesswire.comAnalyst nicknamed “The Prophet” issues new warning for AmericaWhitney Tilson exposed a major company on 60 Minutes in an Emmy-winning investigation - the stock lost nearly 80% afterward. He also called the housing crisis and the collapse of Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers before they happened. Now Tilson says the day after this year's midterm elections, America enters a period of economic change unlike anything seen in decades - and most investors are unprepared.September 20 at 1:00 AM | Stansberry Research (Ad)NPK International Announces CFO Retirement and Leadership ChangesSeptember 2, 2026 | tipranks.comNPK International (NPKI) Positioned to Win as Utility Infrastructure ExpandsAugust 7, 2026 | insidermonkey.comConestoga Microcap opens positions in NCNO, NPKI; closes NABL, PL among Q2 movesAugust 5, 2026 | msn.comSee More NPK International Headlines Get Earnings Announcements in your inboxWant to stay updated on the latest earnings announcements and upcoming reports for companies like NPK International? Sign up for Earnings360's daily newsletter to receive timely earnings updates on NPK International and other key companies, straight to your email. Email Address About NPK InternationalNPK International (NYSE:NPKI), Inc. (NYSE:NPKI) is a diversified manufacturer of defense, housewares and absorbent products. The company serves government, commercial and consumer markets through its operating businesses, with activities spanning specialized defense products, household appliances and personal-care items. Its defense business produces ammunition and related components, including 40-millimeter ammunition and fuzing products, primarily for the U.S. military and other government customers. Its housewares operations manufacture and market small appliances and cookware, including pressure cookers and related kitchen products. The company’s absorbent-products business supplies items used in personal care and other absorbency applications. NPK International is the successor to National Presto Industries, a company with a long operating history in manufacturing and consumer products. Its operations are primarily based in the United States, with products serving domestic government, commercial and consumer customers. The company’s leadership and corporate structure may change over time, so current executive information should be confirmed through its latest public filings.View NPK International ProfileRead more More Earnings Resources from MarketBeat Earnings Tools Today's Earnings Tomorrow's Earnings Next Week's Earnings Upcoming Earnings Calls Earnings Newsletter Earnings Call Transcripts Earnings Beats & Misses Corporate Guidance Earnings Screener Latest Articles J.B. Hunt's Stock Plunges After Market Misprices Profit WarningLennar’s Earnings Miss May Be Sending a Bigger Warning About U.S. HousingThese 3 Stocks Sit at the Center of NVIDIA’s Cybersecurity PushLennar's Q3 Miss Hides a Stronger Operating Story Beneath the Housing SlumpAeluma’s Selloff Could Be Setting Up Its Next Big MoveBraze Beat Expectations—Now 2 SaaS Peers Are in FocusPriced for a Pullback or More Gains? These 3 Stocks Are Testing the Limits Upcoming Earnings Cintas (9/23/2026)Costco Wholesale (9/24/2026)Micron Technology (9/30/2026)NIKE (10/1/2026)Accenture (10/1/2026)PepsiCo (10/8/2026)Delta Air Lines (10/9/2026)America Movil (10/13/2026)BlackRock (10/13/2026)Citigroup (10/13/2026) Unlock superior investment research and tools. Sign up for MarketBeat All Access to gain access to MarketBeat's full suite of research tools and reports. Get MarketBeat All Access MarketBeat All Access Features Best-in-Class Portfolio Monitoring Get personalized stock ideas. Compare portfolio to indices. Check stock news, ratings, SEC filings, and more. Stock Ideas and Recommendations See daily stock ideas from top analysts. Receive short-term trading ideas from MarketBeat. Identify trending stocks on social media. Advanced Stock Screeners and Research Tools Use our seven stock screeners to find suitable stocks. Stay informed with MarketBeat's real-time news. Export data to Excel for personal analysis. Sign in to your free account to enjoy these benefits In-depth profiles and analysis for 20,000 public companies. Real-time analyst ratings, insider transactions, earnings data, and more. Our daily ratings and market update email newsletter. Sign in to your free account to enjoy all that MarketBeat has to offer. Sign In Create Account Your Email Address: Email Address Required Your Password: Password Required Log In Email Me a Login Link or Sign in with Facebook Sign in with Google Forgot your password? Your Email Address: Please enter your email address. Please enter a valid email address Choose a Password: Please enter your password. Your password must be at least 8 characters long and contain at least 1 number, 1 letter, and 1 special character. Create My Account (Free) or Sign in with Facebook Sign in with Google By creating a free account, you agree to our terms of service. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
PresentationSkip to Participants Operator00:00:00Hello, everyone. Thank you for joining us, and welcome to NPK International 2Q26 Earnings. After today's prepared remarks, we will host a question and answer session. If you would like to ask a question, please press star one to raise your hand. To withdraw your question, press star one again. I will now hand the conference over to Gregg Piontek, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Please go ahead. Gregg PiontekSVP and CFO at NPK International00:00:25Thank you, operator. I'd like to welcome everyone to the NPK International Second Quarter 2026 conference call. Joining me today is Matthew Lanigan, our President and Chief Executive Officer. Before handing over to Matthew, I'd like to highlight that today's discussion contains forward-looking statements regarding future business and financial expectations. Actual results may differ significantly from those projected in today's forward-looking statements due to various risks and uncertainties, including the risks described in our periodic reports filed with the SEC. Except as required by law, we undertake no obligation to update our forward-looking statements. Our comments on today's call may also include certain Non-GAAP financial measures. Additional details and reconciliations to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures are included in our quarterly earnings release, which can be found on our website. Gregg PiontekSVP and CFO at NPK International00:01:21There will be a replay of today's call. It will be available by webcast within the investor relations section of our website at npki.com. Please note that the information disclosed on today's call is current as of July 30th, 2026. At the conclusion of our prepared remarks, we will open the line for questions. With that, I would like to turn the call over to our President and Chief Executive Officer, Matthew Lanigan. Matthew LaniganPresident and CEO at NPK International00:01:48Thanks, Gregg, welcome to everyone joining us on today's call. Our solid second quarter results yet again demonstrate our team's commitment to growth, the continued momentum in our core markets, and the operating leverage inherent in our business model. During the quarter, we made meaningful progress on our strategic priorities, including our manufacturing expansion, which has us well-positioned for further scale and strength moving forward. Looking at the quarter, we delivered $82 million of revenue, an increase of 20% from last year, with strong profitability capture driven by year-over-year growth in both product sales and rentals. Total rental and service revenues achieved another quarterly high at $54 million, a 16% year-over-year increase. This result was particularly pleasing due to the unique nature of our second quarter. Matthew LaniganPresident and CEO at NPK International00:02:40As we mentioned on our Q1 call, our Q2 expectation was influenced by the anticipated completion timing of multiple large-scale projects, which ultimately represented over 25% of our domestic mat fleet. Despite the accelerated timing relative to previous expectations, our ability to absorb these large project transitions while continuing to grow profitably in the quarter once again demonstrates the benefits of our scale, the resilience of our business model, and our operations team ability to manage multiple large project transitions for our customers. Product sales demand was very strong, contributing $28 million to second quarter revenue, a 28% year-over-year increase reflecting continued strong demand from our utility customers along with international sales. As a result of this continued quarterly growth, combined with solid operating leverage, we delivered $26 million of adjusted EBITDA in the quarter, representing a 37% year-over-year improvement and a 31.5% adjusted EBITDA margin. Matthew LaniganPresident and CEO at NPK International00:03:46Off the back of the strong profitability, we are again raising our full-year profitability guidance, which Gregg will cover in more detail in his prepared remarks. As I mentioned earlier, we also made solid progress on our manufacturing expansion project in Louisiana, investing $4 million in the quarter. We are confident that this expansion, which is expected to increase our production capacity by approximately 50%, as well as our continuing debottlenecking initiatives, will support our long-term growth and composite matting market share expansion for the foreseeable future, while also enhancing margins through a reduced usage of cross-rental mats. We are also very pleased with our second quarter cash flow, delivering $22 million of cash from operations and $6 million of free cash flow, while also expanding our mat rental fleet by 3%. Matthew LaniganPresident and CEO at NPK International00:04:37We maintained our strong financial position ending the quarter with net debt of just $2 million, providing ample financial flexibility to continue executing on our strategic objectives. Overall, Q2 once again demonstrated our consistent strong execution, which we believe is a direct reflection of our commitment to our key strategic priorities. With that, I'll turn the call over to Gregg for his prepared remarks. Gregg PiontekSVP and CFO at NPK International00:05:02Thanks, Matthew. I'll begin with a more detailed discussion of our second quarter and first half results, then provide an update on our operational outlook and capital allocation priorities for the remainder of 2026. The second quarter results were highlighted by strength in product sales and continued growth in rental revenues, which reflect the momentum in our end markets. As Matthew touched on, product sales grew by 21% sequentially and 28% year-over-year, primarily benefiting from continued strong demand from utility customers along with elevated international sales. Rental and service revenues grew 3% sequentially and 16% year-over-year to a quarterly record $54 million, despite the accelerated completion of the large-scale projects that Matthew mentioned. Gregg PiontekSVP and CFO at NPK International00:05:54Breaking the revenue down further, rental revenues grew 18% year-over-year, reflecting 4% organic growth, combined with a $4 million contribution from the Grassform acquisition. The organic growth reflects the impact of improved pricing, partially offset by the lower fleet utilization attributable to the large project completions and the natural lag in the fleet redeployment. Service revenues grew 12%, with substantially all of the increase coming from the acquisition. Turning to gross profit, the second quarter gross margin was 37%, representing an 80 basis point sequential improvement and in line with prior year. The sequential gross margin improvement primarily reflects the effect of stronger product sales activity and stable rental margins. The year-over-year comparison reflects the effects of stronger product sales and increased manufacturing operating leverage, offset by lower rental utilization. Gregg PiontekSVP and CFO at NPK International00:06:53Second quarter SG&A expenses totaled $14.2 million, compared to $13.2 million in the first quarter and $13.7 million in the second quarter of last year. As noted in yesterday's press release, the second quarter results included a $900,000 charge resulting from a board-approved modification to the retirement eligibility terms applicable to long-term incentive awards to better align with market practices. Income tax expense was $3.9 million in the second quarter, reflecting an effective tax rate of 25%. Adjusted EPS from continuing operations was $0.15 per diluted share in the second quarter, compared to $0.12 per share in the first quarter and $0.11 per share in the second quarter of last year. For the first half of 2026, total revenues have increased 18% year-over-year, while adjusted EBITDA and adjusted EPS grew by 25% and 20% respectively. Gregg PiontekSVP and CFO at NPK International00:07:54Looking at first half revenues by geography and sector, our U.S. revenues increased 11% year-over-year to $138 million, including 11% growth in rental revenues, with the utility sector driving the substantial majority of that growth. U.K. revenues more than doubled year-over-year to $19 million in the first half of 2026, primarily reflecting the Grassform contributions. Turning to cash flows, our Q2 performance remained relatively in line with prior quarter. Operating activities generated $22 million of cash into the second quarter, including $25 million from net income adjusted for non-cash expenses, somewhat offset by $3 million of cash used by a net increase in working capital. Net CapEx used $16 million, which includes $10 million of net investment into fleet expansion and $4 million to fund the manufacturing expansion. Gregg PiontekSVP and CFO at NPK International00:08:54We ended the quarter with total debt of $11 million and total cash of $8 million for a net debt position of $2 million. Additionally, we have $148 million of availability under our bank facility, providing us with ample financial flexibility to continue executing on our strategic growth objectives, including our manufacturing expansion. Turning to our business outlook. Overall, our customers remain highly constructive on the near and longer-term outlook for utilities and critical infrastructure spending, which we see within our robust quoting activity. As for the near-term outlook, despite Q3 being our typical seasonal low point in customer project activity and the effects of the ongoing redeployments from recently completed large-scale projects, we expect total Q3 rental and service revenues to remain fairly in line with Q2 levels, reflecting a year-over-year improvement of more than 20%. Gregg PiontekSVP and CFO at NPK International00:09:54Product sales are expected to revert back to levels more in line with Q1 following the exceptionally strong Q2 result. Q3 gross margin is also expected to be roughly in line with the first half result, though remain dependent on the specifics of project timings. In light of the strong first half profitability and the favorable near-term outlook, we have revised our full year 2026 outlook, narrowing the total revenues range to $313 million-$323 million, and increasing adjusted EBITDA to a range of $97 million-$103 million. The midpoint of our range reflects 15% revenue growth and 32% adjusted EBITDA growth over 2025. The midpoint of our revenue guidance continues to reflect double-digit organic rental revenue growth, along with the contribution from the Grassform acquisition, while product sales are expected to grow modestly from 2025 levels. Gregg PiontekSVP and CFO at NPK International00:10:55Our CapEx plan for 2026 has been reduced, primarily reflecting changes in timing of the manufacturing expansion expenditures, though this does not impact our anticipated mid-year 2027 start update. Total net CapEx is now expected to be $65 million-$80 million for the year, including $20 million-$25 million of current year spending for the manufacturing expansion project, along with $35 million-$45 million targeted for the rental fleet expansion. This level of investment is expected to grow our DURA-BASE rental fleet by a low to mid-teens percentage, supporting our organic growth and also displacing a portion of cross-rent assets currently deployed on projects. Our SG&A expectation remains unchanged at roughly $13 million quarterly level in the near term, while tax rate is expected to remain relatively in line with the first half rate for the remainder of the year. Gregg PiontekSVP and CFO at NPK International00:11:56As highlighted previously, we entered 2026 with roughly $40 million of NOLs and other tax credit carryforwards, which, when combined with the accelerated deductions for capital investments, are expected to significantly limit our cash tax obligations for the next several years. As it relates to our capital allocation strategy, we continue to prioritize investments in the growth of our rental fleet and our manufacturing capacity expansion, as well as strategic acquisitions, while also remaining committed to returning a portion of free cash flow generation to shareholders through our disciplined share repurchase program. With that, I'll turn the call back over to Matthew for his concluding remarks. Matthew LaniganPresident and CEO at NPK International00:12:38Yeah, thanks, Gregg. As we close out the first half of the year, we remain confident in our double-digit growth outlook and commitment to the execution of our strategic priorities in 2026. Our primary focus remains the scale-up of our rental platform, which generates the highest long-term returns for our business. As we have discussed, our strategy includes a combination of the geographic expansion and market share growth in the U.S. and U.K. Our quoting pipeline continues to support our confidence, with roughly 20% year-over-year increase in quoted volumes, with over half of that volume being originated in our expansion geographies. We remain confident that the strong momentum in these markets will support our continued fleet and operational expansion. As we saw this quarter, we recognize the quarterly cadence remains dependent on project timings, particularly for large-scale projects. Matthew LaniganPresident and CEO at NPK International00:13:29To support our strategy, we remain committed to making the necessary investments for growth, investing in the expansion of our DURA-BASE composite mat rental fleet, while also advancing our manufacturing expansion project. Our decision to expand our Louisiana facility was driven by superior economics relative to other alternate locations. As this location maintains our proximity to strategic raw material supply, captures operational benefits and efficiencies through co-location with our existing infrastructure and skilled workforce, and continues our decades-long investment in and support of the local community. Our second focus area remains on driving organizational efficiencies across the business. We continue to see this play out in both gross margins and SG&A as a percent of revenues as we are on pace to exceed 30% EBITDA margin in 2026. Matthew LaniganPresident and CEO at NPK International00:14:20As we continue to grow, we see opportunity to continue to expand our EBITDA margins and returns on invested capital through operating leverage, while also making targeted investments to drive sustainable long-term revenue growth for the company. As Gregg touched on, our final priority is the allocation of capital beyond our organic requirements. With a strong balance sheet and disciplined approach, we remain active in the evaluation of core strategic and organic opportunities that increase our market coverage, value, and relevance to customers in key critical infrastructure markets, as well as the continuation of our share repurchase program. As it pertains to strategic inorganic execution, I wanted to call out our recent U.K. acquisition and our entire U.K. team who are integrating our two U.K. platforms while running ahead of expectations and delivering excellent results. Matthew LaniganPresident and CEO at NPK International00:15:09The combined U.K. entity provided our business with strong, profitable growth during the quarter, while our U.S. team successfully managed the large-scale project transitions, which are a natural part of our business strategy and cadence. With robust market outlooks in our served geographies, a clear strategic focus, and a robust balance sheet, we remain on pace to deliver another strong year of profitable growth for 2026. In closing, I want to thank our shareholders for their ongoing support, our employees for their dedication to the business, including their commitment to safety and compliance, and our customers for their ongoing partnerships. With that, we'll open the call for questions. Operator00:15:48We will now begin the question-and-answer session. Please limit yourself to one question and one follow-up. If you would like to ask a question, please press star one to raise your hand. To withdraw your question, press star one again. We ask that you pick up your handset when asking a question to allow for optimum sound quality. If you are muted locally, please remember to unmute your device. Please stand by while we compile the question-and-answer roster. Your first question is from the line of Aaron Spychalla with Craig-Hallum. Aaron, you please go ahead. Aaron SpychallaAnalyst at Craig-Hallum00:16:23Good morning, Matthew and Gregg. First, can you maybe talk about visibility and confidence into the guidance? You talked a little bit about project timing, the 20% growth in the pipeline. Just curious if you're seeing any impacts from any data center slowing or just secondary impacts on customer spend. Matthew LaniganPresident and CEO at NPK International00:16:45Yeah, thanks, Aaron. I think the short answer to that is that we're not seeing any impact of, I think, what's been affecting participants in the space over the last few days. Our pipeline is fairly advanced and locked in, so we're not concerned about any risk there, and visibility is good. What I will say, we're always alerting people to the fact that timings are not necessarily under our control, so they can shift a little bit, which may impact here or there. The way we see it, looking at it today, second half is very much in line with the guidance that we called. Aaron SpychallaAnalyst at Craig-Hallum00:17:26Great. Thanks. Just second, obviously, really good margin performance. Can you just talk about some of the drivers there? Again, confidence and the outlook and then just the impact from cross-rental on the business. What has that been and just how might that reverse or see a benefit next year as you bring on capacity? Gregg PiontekSVP and CFO at NPK International00:17:47Yeah. I guess I'll start with that one first. The cross-rentals, the cost has been fairly stable. It's about 3 points of headwind basically on the R&S margins overall. As we had talked about, we see over time we'll be reducing that. You'll see some lift from that. In terms of the improvement of the margins, you get a little bit of mix. The rental versus service continues to trend more toward the rental, which is the higher margin. Gregg PiontekSVP and CFO at NPK International00:18:19Within that, it's a lot of operating leverage and cost management, both on the rental operations side as well as on the manufacturing side. The increase in the manufacturing volume and just the leverage that you're getting there, that's really what's driving it. As we look ahead, we don't see a substantial change to that. Aaron SpychallaAnalyst at Craig-Hallum00:18:44Great. Thank you for taking the questions. I'll turn it over. Matthew LaniganPresident and CEO at NPK International00:18:49Thanks, sir. Operator00:19:14Oh. Your next question is from the line of Laura Maher with B. Riley Securities. Laura, please go ahead. Laura MaherAnalyst at B. Riley Securities00:19:21Hi. Good morning, Matthew and Gregg. Matthew LaniganPresident and CEO at NPK International00:19:23Hey, Laura. Laura MaherAnalyst at B. Riley Securities00:19:25For my first question, the release cites strong demand from key customer accounts. Could you give some color on how concentrated rental growth was this quarter? Then, can you give some more color on the customer base broadening among your top accounts? Matthew LaniganPresident and CEO at NPK International00:19:43Yeah. I think, when you look at this quarter, a lot of the demobilizations were attributed with one of our larger customers, Laura. If anything, that would have addressed any concentration associated with the overall rental mix. Other than that, I think it was a fairly standard distribution across multiple regions. I think that would be how I'd summarize that one. You'll have to remind me the second part of your question. Laura MaherAnalyst at B. Riley Securities00:20:19Do you see the customer base broadening among your top accounts? Matthew LaniganPresident and CEO at NPK International00:20:23Yeah. Thank you. Yeah, we do, actually. I think I touched on it in my pipeline commentary that we're seeing build-up in our kind of emerging or growing regions. We're happy with the way that our geographic distribution is starting to play out. Obviously, we've got some work to do to have it balance out our historical footprint, but encouraging that we're starting to see a broader distribution of geographic regions in our activity. Gregg PiontekSVP and CFO at NPK International00:20:48Yeah, I think going back to our commentary, over the past several quarters, the good news with the success that we saw in 2025 with these larger projects, we saw a great uptake with one particular customer. That's what caused that customer to be a 19% customer here in 2025. Here in 2026, a key focus of ours is diversifying and finding the next customers to really help diversify that. It's kind of playing out as we expected. We know these things take a little bit of time to get there, but we're on a good path. Laura MaherAnalyst at B. Riley Securities00:21:26Thanks. I guess a follow-up on that then. How much of the fleet is deployed on transmission and distribution work versus data center, site development, and other end markets? Could you give- Matthew LaniganPresident and CEO at NPK International00:21:38Yeah. I'll start Laura MaherAnalyst at B. Riley Securities00:21:38a little color there on if there's any update on the change in the mix? Matthew LaniganPresident and CEO at NPK International00:21:42Yeah, Laura, I'll start by saying we have no mats deployed on data center build-out or development. I just want to kind of point that out on the get-go. The majority of our products, the rental distribution largely reflects the revenue concentrations that Gregg spoke about. 70+% of the fleet would be on transmission projects, and the balance largely domestically on our oil and gas footprint around fracking basins in the country. Obviously in the U.K., more concentrated again on transmission and perhaps rail and general construction. Laura MaherAnalyst at B. Riley Securities00:22:20Great. Thanks. Matthew LaniganPresident and CEO at NPK International00:22:24Thanks, Laura. Operator00:22:26Your next question comes from Bill Dezellem with Tieton Capital Management. Bill DezellemInvestment Adviser at Tieton Capital Management00:22:31Great Operator00:22:31Please go ahead. Bill DezellemInvestment Adviser at Tieton Capital Management00:22:32Thank you. Two questions. The first one is, how are you thinking about additional acquisitions at this point, relative to where you're at with the integration of Grassform? Matthew LaniganPresident and CEO at NPK International00:22:44Yeah, Bill, I think we've been consistent with this. We'll continue to look at opportunities that will accelerate our presence into geographic markets, if we think that economics pencils out. We're constantly looking at those. As it pertains to integration with Grassform, I'd say that's going very well. I think if you recall, when we purchased that business, we said there wasn't a lot of integration we wanted to do. It was a business that ran itself very well, had a great team around it. We weren't looking to change that in a material way. I think that acquisition has responded well to that as a backdrop. I'm not sure we would classify that as any form of distraction, if that's what you were alluding to in the question. Bill DezellemInvestment Adviser at Tieton Capital Management00:23:27That's exactly right. You're prepared to move to the next acquisition if it were to present itself essentially, is what you're saying? Matthew LaniganPresident and CEO at NPK International00:23:37That's right. Bill DezellemInvestment Adviser at Tieton Capital Management00:23:39My second question is, relative to the project completions, if we heard you correctly, there were several that were accelerated. Would you walk us through what the dynamics were behind the scenes with that customer and what's happening within them that led to those accelerated completions of projects? If it's just that they have so much work that they're trying to get through things more quickly than originally planned or if they have priorities that have shifted, help with that would be appreciated. Matthew LaniganPresident and CEO at NPK International00:24:16I think putting it into some sort of relativity is important here, Bill. These are projects that have been down almost a year. We're talking Matthew LaniganPresident and CEO at NPK International00:24:24We're talking days at the end of several hundred days of projects. The ability to accurately call when they're coming up is always dependent on weather, other parts of the supply chain, labor productivity on the customer and their contractor side. They give us their best estimates, but ultimately, they're motivated to wind the project up as soon as they can. We just saw that there was some projects there that were a few days here or there out of sync, but at the scale that those projects are, they have the kind of impacts that we saw on the overall P&L from our perspective. Gregg PiontekSVP and CFO at NPK International00:25:00I think it goes back to really highlighting what we've talked about in the past, the dynamic of why it's so critical that you have the scale and the flexibility to respond because these project timings, both starts and the ends, shift around. Some of these projects had been extended previously beyond what they were originally scheduled for, but ultimately you get very limited notice on when that decision is made, and you have to respond to it. That's where the acceleration that was referring to relative to our expectations at the May 1st call. Bill DezellemInvestment Adviser at Tieton Capital Management00:25:39That's helpful. Essentially I've over-indexed to that comment, it sounds like. Matthew LaniganPresident and CEO at NPK International00:25:46Yeah. There was certainly no macro change, if you will, to the business dynamic. It was business as normal, but at that scale, it obviously has a slightly larger impact. Bill DezellemInvestment Adviser at Tieton Capital Management00:26:00Great. That's fine. Then I'm going to break the rules on the number of questions and ask one more, if I may. Relative to data centers, you said you're currently not deployed on any data centers. Given the amount of electricity that these consume, do you see any burgeoning opportunity to essentially, I guess I'll call them, mini distribution lines or maybe even mini transmission lines going from a main trunk off to a data center that's going to lead to any meaningful work for you? Or are those really too short of distances to be needle movers for you? Matthew LaniganPresident and CEO at NPK International00:26:44Yeah. I think the way I'd lay that out, Bill, is obviously connectivity to loads, which I think we need to remind ourselves that data centers capture most of the public narrative at this point, but we're also onshoring manufacturing and other sources of load demand on the grid, and they're all going to need some sort of interconnectivity. I think ultimately these large load cases will have to be tied into the grid versus some of behind the meter temporary kind of accommodations that will accelerate their start-up. All of that is opportunity for us as those lines are constructed. As it pertains to their cadencing and everything, we'll have to see the way that plays out. I'd say every large load is going to need to be supplied by a line unless it's sitting right beside an existing transmission line, and that's opportunity for our business. Bill DezellemInvestment Adviser at Tieton Capital Management00:27:43Great. Thank you. Operator00:27:46Your next question is from the line of Min Cho with Texas Capital Securities. Please go ahead. Min ChoAnalyst at Texas Capital Securities00:27:53Great. Thank you, Matthew and Gregg. Quick questions here. Are you starting to lay down mats for greenfield projects or are you still working mostly on brownfield? What could change if that transition starts to occur? Do you need more mats, longer rentals, or just any commentary there, please? Matthew LaniganPresident and CEO at NPK International00:28:14Yeah. I'd say, Min, the majority of what we're doing is still on existing lines and right of ways versus greenfields. I think the major driver for that looking forward is more likely to be some of the higher voltage lines, but they're out in 2027, 2028. Most of the meaningful construction on those is in the 2027, 2028 timeframe. Roughly speaking, 1.5x the matting is a fair rule of thumb on these right of ways for the larger higher voltage trunks that are planned in some of the regions. Hopefully that addresses your question. Min ChoAnalyst at Texas Capital Securities00:28:52Thank you. Can you talk a little bit about what you're seeing in the U.K.? Obviously, you had some increased product sales there, and it looks like the Grassform revenues are pretty much in line with the first quarter. Anything to note in terms of demand, overall demand in the U.K. and opportunities? Matthew LaniganPresident and CEO at NPK International00:29:10Yeah, I think that market is playing exactly the way we thought it was. I feel like the demand is still strong there. Our businesses had a slightly softer start to the year than we had planned ourselves, which is largely just the customers getting themselves organized and getting back to work after the holiday season. We're seeing that market continue to strengthen and perform well for us. The one thing I will say is we did not have any sales to the U.K. Our international sales were into other markets, wanted to clarify that for you, Min. Min ChoAnalyst at Texas Capital Securities00:29:47Perfect. Thank you. Thanks for that clarification. All right. Thank you. Matthew LaniganPresident and CEO at NPK International00:29:50Thanks, Min. Operator00:29:53This concludes the Q&A session. I will now turn the call back to management for closing remarks. Gregg PiontekSVP and CFO at NPK International00:29:59Thanks again for joining us on today's call. Should you have any questions or requests, please reach out to us at investors@npki.com. We look forward to hosting you again next quarter.Read moreParticipantsExecutivesGregg PiontekSVP and CFOMatthew LaniganPresident and CEOAnalystsAaron SpychallaAnalyst at Craig-HallumLaura MaherAnalyst at B. Riley SecuritiesBill DezellemInvestment Adviser at Tieton Capital ManagementMin ChoAnalyst at Texas Capital SecuritiesPowered by