BrightView NYSE: BV executives said the company reached a turning point in its second quarter of fiscal 2026, with growth in its core landscape maintenance business helping drive higher revenue and record quarterly adjusted EBITDA.
President and CEO Dale Asplund said BrightView’s transformation strategy, centered on frontline employees and customer service, is beginning to translate into “sustainable and profitable top-line” growth. Total revenue increased 6% in the quarter, while land revenue rose 4%. The company also reported record second-quarter adjusted EBITDA of $79 million, with an adjusted EBITDA margin of 11.3%.
“Our second quarter marked a key inflection point for BrightView,” Asplund said, adding that the company’s investments in employees, customer retention and go-to-market teams are beginning to show results in the company’s contract book and revenue growth.
Landscape Maintenance Returns to Growth
BrightView’s landscape maintenance revenue grew 4% in the quarter and approximately 1% year to date, which Asplund said marked the first year-over-year increase for the segment since the third quarter of 2023. CFO Brett Urban called land revenue “a major bright spot,” saying it increased by $13 million from the prior year.
Management pointed to several factors behind the improvement, including better customer retention, reduced frontline turnover and continued hiring in the sales organization. Asplund said frontline turnover improved by approximately five percentage points from the previous quarter and by 35% since the launch of the company’s One BrightView initiative.
Customer retention has also improved, rising about 550 basis points since bottoming near 79% in 2023 and now approaching 85%, according to Asplund. He said roughly 35% of BrightView branches now have retention above 90%, while only 10% are below 70% retention.
“The longer we retain frontline employees, the more consistent our service delivery is, and as a result, customer retention continues to improve,” Asplund said.
The company said its land contract book grew 3%, supported by four consecutive quarters of net new sales growth. During the question-and-answer portion of the call, Asplund said BrightView’s land contract book is roughly $1.15 billion, meaning a 3% increase represents about $35 million of contract book growth.
Snow Provides Significant Revenue Benefit
Snow revenue was another major contributor to the quarter and the first half of the year. Urban said snow revenue grew 30% in the quarter and approximately $85 million, or 40%, in the first half compared with the prior year. The company benefited from higher-than-average snowfall in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast, partially offset by lower snowfall in the Rocky Mountain and Pacific Northwest regions.
Urban said snow revenue came in $70 million above the high end of the company’s original guidance, helping fund accelerated investments in the sales force. Asplund said the full-year EBITDA flow-through from snow was about 20%.
BrightView’s snow contract mix currently leans about 60% variable and 40% fixed, according to Urban. He said the company is working to increase the proportion of fixed-tiered contracts, which would improve revenue predictability and reduce the effect of light snowfall years.
Development Revenue Falls on Project Timing
BrightView’s development segment revenue declined 13% in the quarter, which Urban attributed to project timing delays and adverse weather that prevented some work from being completed. He emphasized that the company views the headwinds as timing-related rather than lost revenue over the long term.
Urban said development bookings were up roughly 15% year to date, calling bookings a leading indicator of future development growth. He also said BrightView has increased its number of development sellers by about 50% compared with the same time last year.
The company is also expanding through development “cold starts” in markets where it already provides maintenance services. Urban said six new development branches are currently open, with five more underway. Asplund said the six open branches have booked orders, while the five in process have employees and sellers in place but had not yet closed deals at the time of the call.
Guidance Raised for Revenue, EBITDA Reaffirmed
BrightView raised its fiscal 2026 total revenue guidance to a range of $2.745 billion to $2.795 billion, representing a 4% increase at the midpoint compared with fiscal 2025 and a 3% increase from the company’s prior guidance. The updated outlook assumes maintenance land growth of 2% to 3%, up 100 basis points at the midpoint from the previous guidance.
The company also now assumes snow revenue of approximately $290 million, up about $70 million from the original high end of guidance. Development guidance was updated to reflect the timing impact of projects.
BrightView reaffirmed its adjusted EBITDA guidance of $363 million to $377 million, which Urban said would represent a third consecutive year of record adjusted EBITDA and margin expansion of roughly 20 basis points at the midpoint. The company also reaffirmed adjusted free cash flow guidance of $100 million to $115 million.
Urban said the adjusted EBITDA outlook includes costs tied to accelerated sales force investments but does not include potential effects from fuel price volatility. He said BrightView invested $6 million more year over year in sales force expansion in the first quarter and another $6 million in the second quarter, with similar investments expected in the third and fourth quarters.
Fuel Costs Remain a Watch Item
Executives said rising and volatile fuel prices could create a headwind in the second half of the year, when BrightView uses roughly 60% of its annual fuel. Urban said about one-fourth of the company’s remaining fuel consumption is hedged, leaving the rest exposed to market prices.
Asplund said BrightView does not plan to repeat the approach it took in 2022, when a broad fuel surcharge hurt customer retention. He said the company is focused on long-term customer relationships and will look to offset fuel pressure through pricing on ancillary work, new bids and renewals, as well as operational efficiencies.
Those efforts include reducing fuel consumption through improved route density, minimizing idle time and using technology to identify cost-effective fuel options. Asplund said fuel consumption is down 5% to 8% across the company’s branch network year to date.
During the call, executives also said BrightView extended its revolving credit facility after quarter-end, reducing pricing by 25 basis points and adding $100 million of capacity.
Asplund closed the call by emphasizing the company’s focus on long-term growth through employee investment, customer retention and a larger sales organization. “We will grow this business for years to come,” he said.
About BrightView NYSE: BV
BrightView Inc NYSE: BV is a leading commercial landscaping services company in the United States, offering a comprehensive suite of outdoor asset management solutions. The company's core business activities include landscape maintenance, development and enhancement services tailored to a wide array of clients such as corporate campuses, healthcare facilities, multi-family residential properties, retail centers and municipalities.
BrightView's service portfolio covers routine grounds maintenance, landscape construction and design-build, irrigation system installation and management, tree care, seasonal color programs and snow and ice management.
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