AirBoss of America Q2 2026 Earnings Report

AirBoss of America EPS Results

• Actual EPS: C$0.13
• Consensus EPS: N/A
• Beat/Miss: N/A
• One Year Ago EPS: N/A

AirBoss of America Revenue Results

• Actual Revenue: $153.31 million
• Expected Revenue: N/A
• Beat/Miss: N/A
• YoY Revenue Growth: N/A

AirBoss of America Announcement Details

• Quarter: Q2 2026
• Date: 8/5/2026
• Time: Before Market Opens
• Conference Call Date: Thursday, August 6, 2026
• Conference Call Time: 9:00AM ET

AirBoss of America (TSE:BOS) Corp is a Canada-based manufacturer of rubber-based products for the resource, military, automotive and industrial markets. It operates in three segments: Rubber Solutions, Engineered Products, and AirBoss Defense Group. The Rubber Solutions segment includes manufacturing and distribution of rubber compounds and distribution of rubber compounding-related chemicals. The Engineered Products segment includes the manufacture and distribution of anti-noise, vibration, and harshness dampening parts. The AirBoss Defense Group is engaged in the manufacturing and distributing of personal protection and safety products and the manufacture of semi-finished rubber-related products. Its geographical segments are Canada, United States, and Other countries.

AirBoss of America Q2 2026 Earnings Call Transcript

Key Takeaways

• Positive Sentiment: Q2 revenue increased 9.4% year over year to $107.9 million, while gross profit rose $2.6 million to $18.8 million and gross margin improved to 17.4%.
• Positive Sentiment: Manufactured Products delivered strong momentum, with revenue up 13.9% and gross profit up $2.4 million, supported by defense contract deliveries and improved rubber-molded product performance.
• Positive Sentiment: AirBoss Rubber Solutions volume increased 16.4% year over year, marking three consecutive quarters of volume growth, and management expects continued year-over-year growth through the rest of 2026 despite an uncertain market.
• Negative Sentiment: ARS gross margin declined to 12.2% from 13.0% because of unfavorable product mix, pricing pressure, weak industrial demand, and elevated raw-material costs; management expects continued volume and margin volatility through most of 2026.
• Negative Sentiment: Operating cash flow fell to $1.8 million from $12.9 million, capital expenditures increased to $4.0 million, and net debt rose to $72.9 million from $67.6 million year over year. Management also warned of moderate softness in AMP’s third quarter following the completion of the Bandolier contract.

Presentation

[Operator]

Thank you for standing by. My name is Keith, I will be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to Q2 2026 conference call for AirBoss of America. All lines have been placed on mute to prevent any background noise. After the speaker's remarks, there will be a question and answer session. If you would like to ask a question during this time, simply press star, followed by the number one on your telephone keypad. If you would like to withdraw your question, simply press star one again. Thank you. I would now like to turn the call over to Gren Schoch, Chairman and Co-CEO. Please go ahead.

[Gren Schoch, Chairman and Co-CEO at AirBoss of America]

Thank you, operator. Good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining us for the AirBoss second quarter results conference call. I'm Gren Schoch, I'm the Chairman and Co-CEO of AirBoss of America. With me here today are Chris Bitsakakis, President and Co-CEO, Frank Ientile, our CFO, Chris Figel, our EVP and General Counsel. Before we begin, I'd like to remind listeners that our remarks today contain forward-looking statements, including our estimates of future developments.

[Gren Schoch, Chairman and Co-CEO at AirBoss of America]

We invite listeners to review risk factors related to our business in our annual information form and our MD&A, both of which are available on SEDAR+ on our corporate website. We'll discuss certain non-GAAP measures, including EBITDA. Reconciliations of these measures are available in our MD&A. Finally, please note that our reporting currency is US dollars. References today will be in U.S. dollars unless we indicate otherwise. With that, I'll turn the call over to Chris for our operational review.

[Chris Bitsakakis, President and Co-CEO at AirBoss of America]

Thank you, Gren, good morning, everyone. AirBoss continued to build momentum in the second quarter of 2026 with a three-year high point in quarterly revenue and a year-over-year quarterly gross profit improvement of over $2.5 million. Despite the ongoing economic uncertainty in key markets brought about by tariffs, inflationary pressures, and geopolitical developments, the company has stayed focused on continuously adapting to an ever-changing environment. A sustained focus on servicing the needs of existing customers and the development of new markets and customers while creating flexible supply chains designed to withstand the pressures of changing market conditions have all contributed to the momentum of the past year. AirBoss Rubber Solutions has been adjusting to the changes in key U.S. markets with the onboarding of new customers while being forced to defend market share in key market segments due to the competitive challenges related to the weak market conditions.

[Chris Bitsakakis, President and Co-CEO at AirBoss of America]

Despite these challenges, AirBoss Rubber Solutions continued to see improvements in both volume and revenue compared to prior quarters, with revenue showing a 12-month high and volume showing progressive momentum over three consecutive quarters. AirBoss Manufactured Products saw positive traction across both its defense and rubber molded products businesses, with year-over-year quarterly revenue increases of 14% and year-over-year quarterly gross profit improvements of close to 20%. This revenue performance was bolstered by sales increases in the rubber molded parts business, as well as the ongoing deliveries of defense products, including the final delivery of Bandolier on the most recently announced contract. Profitability across the enterprise has been further supported by aggressive efficiency improvements, which include the previously announced overhead improvements and plant consolidation plans. The dedicated focus on revenue growth and efficiency improvements are reflected in the underlying performance of the business.

[Chris Bitsakakis, President and Co-CEO at AirBoss of America]

While adjusted EBITDA in Q2 of 2026 was lower by $719,000 than in the prior year quarter, the comparison includes the benefit of a one-time $3.7 million legal settlement recorded in Q2 2025. As the process of improvement never really ends, we continue to look at efficiency improvements and risk mitigation actions, and given the cross-border nature of our operations, management continues to monitor any changes or updates in trade negotiations with the United States. While most products qualify under USMCA/CUSMA, we continue to evaluate and implement contingency plans to mitigate potential impacts, particularly in advance of any future trade negotiations or agreement renegotiations. Despite this environment of continued economic uncertainty, management remains focused on converting key opportunities to support sustainable long-term growth.

[Chris Bitsakakis, President and Co-CEO at AirBoss of America]

We currently expect continued volume and margin volatility at ARS for the foreseeable future and through most of 2026, with the timing and magnitude of further recovery subject to general market conditions, geopolitical developments, and the potential for additional tariff duties or evolving trade restrictions. As we navigate short-term challenges and opportunities, the company's long-term priorities continue to center on the growth of the core rubber solutions segment through both inorganic and organic means, as well as the focused targeting of new business in the manufactured products group from onshoring opportunities, as well as the prolific growth expected in defense spending around the world. AirBoss will continue to focus on both the short- and long-term priorities while investing in key innovations related to all core areas of the business. I will now pass the call over to Frank for the financial review.

[Frank Ientile, CFO at AirBoss of America]

Thanks, Chris, and good morning, everyone. As a reminder, all dollar amounts presented today are in U.S. dollars, except dividends per share, which are in Canadian dollars. Percentage changes compare Q2 of 2026 to Q2 of 2025, unless otherwise noted. To be respectful of your time today, I will aim to be brief in my summary of our Q2 2026 results. Starting from the top line, AirBoss' consolidated net sales for Q2 2026 were $107.9 million, an increase of 9.4% from the prior year. The increase was primarily due to higher sales at manufactured products, defense products business, and increases in the rubber molded products business.

[Frank Ientile, CFO at AirBoss of America]

In addition to increased sales at Rubber Solutions across several customer sectors. Consolidated gross profit for Q2 2026 increased by $2.6 million to $18.8 million compared with Q2 2025. Gross profit as a percentage of net sales increased to 17.4% for Q2 2026 from 16.4% in Q2 2025. The increase in margin percentage was driven primarily by the continued delivery of previously awarded contracts at AMP's Defense Products business, margin improvements at AMP's Rubber Molded Products business, managing controllable overhead costs, and continuous improvement initiatives. Despite higher volumes across several ARS customer sectors, the segment experienced margin contraction due to continued market volatility, economic uncertainty, and unfavorable mix. Turning to our individual segments. Net sales at the AirBoss Rubber Solutions segment for Q2 2026 increased by 10.7% to $56.4 million from $50.9 million in Q2 2025.

[Frank Ientile, CFO at AirBoss of America]

This was due to the improvements across many sectors at ARS despite continued economic headwinds. Volume was up 16.4% with increases across certain sectors. Tolling volume was down 38.1%, while non-tolling volume was up 17.5%. Gross profit at AirBoss Rubber Solutions for Q2 2026 increased to $6.9 million from $6.6 million in Q2 2025. The $0.3 million increase was primarily a result of higher non-tolling volume compared to the same period in 2025, partially offset by unfavorable mix and margin pressure. Gross margin percentage decreased to 12.2% of net sales in Q2 2026 from 13% of net sales in Q2 2025. Net sales in the Manufactured Products segment for Q2 2026 increased by 13.9% to $62.7 million from $55 million in Q2 2025.

[Frank Ientile, CFO at AirBoss of America]

This was primarily due to higher sales in the defense products business, driven by deliveries under previously known contract awards and improved sales in the molded rubber products business. Gross profit at Manufactured Products segment for Q2 2026 increased to $11.9 million from $9.6 million in Q2 2025. The $2.4 million increase was primarily a result of volume and mix improvements in the defense products business, as well as improvements in the rubber molded products business. Turning again to the consolidated results. Net cash provided by operating activities for Q2 2026 was $1.8 million, compared to $12.9 million provided for Q2 2025. During Q2 2026, the company invested $4 million in fixed assets compared to $1.8 million in Q2 2025. Capital expenditures were related to growth initiatives, upgrades to property, plant, and equipment within ARS and AMP.

[Frank Ientile, CFO at AirBoss of America]

By the end of Q2 2026, our net debt balance was $72.9 million versus $67.6 million at the end of Q2 2025. We expect to fund the company's 2026 operating cash requirements, including required working capital investments, capital expenditures, scheduled debt repayments from cash on hand, cash flow from operations, and committed borrowing capacity. The company's asset-based revolving line of credit facility provides for a maximum borrowing of up to $125 million with a $25 million accordion. As of June 30th, 2026, the total available borrowing capacity under the facility was $78.3 million, with $31.4 million drawn. With that, I will now turn the call over to Chris. Chris?

[Chris Bitsakakis, President and Co-CEO at AirBoss of America]

Thank you, Frank. Operator, at this point, we can open the line up for Q&A.

[Operator]

Thank you so much. At this time, we will now begin the question and answer session. If you would like to ask a question, please press star, then the number one on your telephone keypad. If you would like to withdraw your question, press star one again. We will take our first question from the line of Ahmed Abdullah from National Bank of Canada. Your line is now open. You may now begin.

[Alexander Tayat, Equity Research Analyst at National Bank of Canada]

Hi, good morning. This is Alexander Tayat filling in for Ahmed Abdullah. My first question is just on ARS. In your outlook, you noted that you expect continued volume volatility through most of 2026. Is that because of the order patterns you're currently seeing from customers or more general caution around the end markets? What would you need to see to become more confident that the recovery is sustainable?

[Chris Bitsakakis, President and Co-CEO at AirBoss of America]

Yeah, I think it's more the latter, more sort of general uncertainty. We've shown three quarters in a row of progressive growth in volume, and revenue has hit a 12-month high. We're fairly optimistic that we've been able to draw in new customers and grow our markets and defend our current market share appropriately. I think that cautionary statement is more related to the end markets that we serve. As we see job data in the U.S., as we see the overall industrial economy in the U.S. improve, we should improve along with it. I guess it's more just cautionary around any sort of unexpected new rounds of geopolitical uncertainty that it's very difficult to forecast for now. I think we've shown that even despite that uncertainty, we've been able to grow three quarters in a row, and we're fairly optimistic we can continue to do that.

[Alexander Tayat, Equity Research Analyst at National Bank of Canada]

Okay, thanks for that. My last question on AMP. Excluding last year's legal settlement benefit, it looks like margins improved. Anything you can share on how much of that reflected defense contract mix versus operational improvements in rubber molded products? As we think about the remainder of 2026 and beyond, should we presume similar margin levels?

[Frank Ientile, CFO at AirBoss of America]

Yeah. Thanks for that question. It was a combination of both AMP's defense products business and rubber molded products, so it's a combination of both from a mix perspective. As Chris indicated in his narrative, given the Bandolier large contract balanced out in the quarter, we do see some softness coming into Q3, which would affect the margin profile moderately. Having said that, the engineered products group continues to build momentum with pretty robust automotive volumes and their non-automotive part of the business as well.

[Alexander Tayat, Equity Research Analyst at National Bank of Canada]

All right. Thanks for that. That's it for me.

[Operator]

Thank you so much. The next question comes from the line of Tim James from TD Cowen. Your line is now open. You may now begin.

[Tim James, Equity Research Analyst at TD Cowen]

Good morning. Thanks very much for the time. My first question, I want to return to the earlier question around the volatility with respect to volumes. The 16% year-over-year growth in volume in the quarter was the first quarter of positive year-over-year growth, going back to early 2024. Should we interpret your indications around volatility that kind of positive 16%? We don't want to assume that's sustainable here going forward, that kind of year-over-year growth rate. Could we, with this volatility you're seeing, could it go negative again for a quarter and sort of jump around in that respect? Do you feel you're pretty clearly at a point where the growth will be positive year-over-year, it just may the actual growth rate could change from quarter to quarter?

[Chris Bitsakakis, President and Co-CEO at AirBoss of America]

I think it's that percentage growth that we feel could be a little bit volatile. Management does expect to continue to grow, particularly when you look at it year-over-year, because if you recall from 2025, Q1 and Q2 of 2025, Q1 especially was fairly strong. Q2 started to soften, Q3 and Q4, we saw the full impacts of all the sort of tariff-related uncertainty and everything else. I think when you're comparing Q3 and Q4 year-over-year, we still expect to show growth over those quarters. The volatility is more related to do we expect 15% every quarter?

[Chris Bitsakakis, President and Co-CEO at AirBoss of America]

Probably not. We have brought in new customers. They are growing. We do see growth ahead of us. The only thing that could slow that down is a significant economic event in the U.S. We've been maybe quite cautious on our wording around that because much of it is out of our control. For the time being, we're feeling pretty optimistic that we can continue to grow ARS for the balance of the year.

[Tim James, Equity Research Analyst at TD Cowen]

Thanks. That's helpful then. Now, thinking about it sequentially, am I interpreting your comments correctly, Chris, in that sequentially as we move through Q3 versus Q2 and Q4 versus Q3, there shouldn't be any, at least you don't see any major step backs at this point or steps down in volume? Not to say they have to go up, there shouldn't be any sort of more significant step downs, unless again, there's some sort of unexpected kind of economic event or external factor.

[Chris Bitsakakis, President and Co-CEO at AirBoss of America]

Yeah. That's right. I think if you look at.

[Tim James, Equity Research Analyst at TD Cowen]

Okay.

[Chris Bitsakakis, President and Co-CEO at AirBoss of America]

The volume in Q4 of last year, we grew Q1 over Q4, and we grew Q2 over Q1. We are continuing to grow with new customers through the summer. Of course, Q3 also, there are some plant shutdowns with some of our customers, particularly on the automotive side. When you start comparing year-over-year, the volatility we'd expect is not about going backwards. It's about the rate of growth adjusting up and down a little bit as we build momentum into the fourth quarter.

[Chris Bitsakakis, President and Co-CEO at AirBoss of America]

Depending on how quickly some of these geopolitical problems get behind us, including the USMCA negotiations or what's going on in the Middle East, we could see quite a strong recovery in the industrial base in the U.S., and we're poised to take advantage of that. We're just being cautious about our wording around that. We feel pretty good about the momentum we're seeing at ARS, and we're hopeful that we sort of bottomed out in Q3 and Q4 of last year, and we're really driving it forward now.

[Tim James, Equity Research Analyst at TD Cowen]

Okay, great. Can you just give us a bit of a sense if we exclude the Rubber Solutions volume that is used internally, I guess primarily in Flexible, the rubber compounds that are sold to external customers, approximately how much of that is to Canadian-based customers or facilities, and how much of it goes across the border? I shouldn't say across the border, but how much of it is for U.S.-based customers?

[Chris Bitsakakis, President and Co-CEO at AirBoss of America]

Yeah, I think I'd have to run the math. I think it's around 15%. I don't know, Frank, if you have an exact number.

[Frank Ientile, CFO at AirBoss of America]

Canada versus U.S.

[Chris Bitsakakis, President and Co-CEO at AirBoss of America]

Canada versus. Yeah.

[Frank Ientile, CFO at AirBoss of America]

About 15%-20%, Tim, stays in Canada, about 80% goes across the border.

[Tim James, Equity Research Analyst at TD Cowen]

Okay. When you say stays in Okay, right. That's a reflection of the end customer as well, not just sort of based on.

[Chris Bitsakakis, President and Co-CEO at AirBoss of America]

Correct.

[Tim James, Equity Research Analyst at TD Cowen]

Origin. Okay. Sorry, 15%-20% stays in Canada and the balance across the border. That balance that's going across the border, are you including what's going to Flexible in that, those rubber compounds?

[Chris Bitsakakis, President and Co-CEO at AirBoss of America]

Yes.

[Tim James, Equity Research Analyst at TD Cowen]

Okay. Chris, you commented about the challenging competitive environment, and it's something that came up on the first quarter call as well. I'm just wondering if you could give us a bit of an update on kind of where you're seeing those challenges, is it product types, sort of particular regions? Just any comments around where that's most acute.

[Chris Bitsakakis, President and Co-CEO at AirBoss of America]

Yeah, I think this quarter, if you look at the way the quarter sort of played out, it's kind of interesting. Yes, we're still in a position where there's a lot of competition. There's open capacity because the industrial base is relatively slow, still in the U.S., has yet to show a full recovery. I know the stock markets are showing a recovery, but our end customers are still not quite participating in that size of a recovery yet. Because of that, there's open capacity, and when there's open capacity, competitors are more aggressive on pricing. When you layer onto that the fact that we've been seeing raw material increases because of what's going on in the Middle East, a lot of what comes into a rubber batch comes out of a barrel of oil or some sort of connected petrochemical sort of connection to oil.

[Chris Bitsakakis, President and Co-CEO at AirBoss of America]

We've seen increases in much of our commodities. Although we're able to pass those increases on to our customers relatively efficiently, a lot of it depends on how much inventory you're sitting on. When you're competing on a product, and you're pushing through a price increase, and your competitor has not yet pushed it through, then that creates sort of a downward pressure on available volumes for you. We've had to defend in that way throughout the second quarter. Now, I feel fairly confident that through that second quarter, whatever inventory was available on previous and lower-priced commodities has been used up, and everybody's on the same sort of wavelength now.

[Chris Bitsakakis, President and Co-CEO at AirBoss of America]

We're now pushing those price increases through a little bit quicker than we were in the second quarter in order to make sure that although we want to make sure that we keep our margin profile intact, we also don't want to lose volume. When there's volatility like that, both in the commodity pricing side of it and on the capacity side, you have to be cautious with what the market will bear. I think going into Q3 now, I think we're on a more level playing field with all our competitors, and we should be able to fairly pass on those price increases that we're starting to see on the raw material side.

[Tim James, Equity Research Analyst at TD Cowen]

Okay, that's helpful. My last question, sticking with AirBoss Rubber Solutions. Can you talk about any influences or considerations we should think about over the coming quarters, maybe right into 2027 in terms of mix that could influence, and I'm thinking about it either as kind of gross margin per pound or EBITDA per pound, take your pick, changes more particular batches coming through that are more customized or color, any kind of influences on that margin per pound that we should think about over the coming quarters?

[Chris Bitsakakis, President and Co-CEO at AirBoss of America]

We've been focusing on specialty materials for exactly that purpose. We just launched our first silicone line a few quarters ago, and we're starting to build momentum in the market, and we feel that that's a positive sort of progression towards an improvement in our margin profile as it's much less commoditized than some of the black materials that we're making. We're still doing very well on the colored rubber and some of the current specialty compounds that we're doing. We're, in fact, not just seeing better margins, but also less volatility on the volume side as well. I think the silicone is going to take some number of quarters to really start to build up to move the needle on the margin profile side of things, but we're starting to see it happen already.

[Chris Bitsakakis, President and Co-CEO at AirBoss of America]

We should be able to, over the next six or eight months, start to notice it a little bit more intently on that side of it. We are preparing right now for the next major innovation for the next polymer that we currently don't provide to the market. We've ordered specialty equipment that should be coming in towards the end of this year. We plan to continue to build on in this organic way our broadening of our product portfolio went from black to color, then to silicone, and now we have the next one sort of teed up, which we'll talk about at a future time.

[Chris Bitsakakis, President and Co-CEO at AirBoss of America]

We also continue to keep our eyes open, and we are engaged on opportunities for acquisitions for ARS that could potentially increase both volume and margin profile. There's room for lots of optimism around ARS right now. We're just hopeful that the economy starts to recover as we expect it to in the midterm so that we can take advantage of that.

[Tim James, Equity Research Analyst at TD Cowen]

Okay, fair to say you have got more opportunities for margin improvement than just volume and sort of pricing as the economic environment takes place. There's some other potential drivers of margin improvement in Rubber Solutions. Is that a correct assumption?

[Chris Bitsakakis, President and Co-CEO at AirBoss of America]

Yeah. Product mix is one of the levers that we're really trying to focus on the margin improvement profile side. That's why we launched the silicone line, and that's why we're right now designing the next sort of approach there so that we can continue to improve our margin profile based on product mix as well. Also capacity utilization is really important. When the market is soft, as it has been, and you're underutilizing your plants, that will have a direct impact on your margins as well and your efficiency. We feel on the way up, we should be able to deliver higher margins as our capacity utilization improves, and as some of our more specialty products start to influence product mix a little bit more.

[Tim James, Equity Research Analyst at TD Cowen]

Okay, great. That's really helpful. Thank you.

[Chris Bitsakakis, President and Co-CEO at AirBoss of America]

You're welcome.

[Operator]

Thank you. We have reached the end of the Q&A session. I will now turn the call back over to Frank for closing remarks. Please go ahead.

[Frank Ientile, CFO at AirBoss of America]

Thank you, operator. Thanks again to everyone for attending today's call. Please feel free to reach out to us directly or through our investor relations team if you have any questions on our results or anything in general. Thank you again, and have a great day.

[Operator]

Ladies and gentlemen, that concludes today's call. Thank you all for joining. You may now disconnect.

Participants

Executives

• Gren Schoch, Chairman and Co-CEO
• Chris Bitsakakis, President and Co-CEO
• Frank Ientile, CFO

Analysts

• Alexander Tayat, Equity Research Analyst at National Bank of Canada
• Tim James, Equity Research Analyst at TD Cowen