Middleby NASDAQ: MIDD reported first-quarter 2026 results that exceeded management’s expectations and prompted the company to raise its full-year guidance, driven by strength across both its Commercial Foodservice and Food Processing segments. CEO Tim FitzGerald also reiterated the company’s plans to separate the two businesses into standalone public companies, framing the transaction as “only the beginning of a new and exciting chapter for both companies.”
Quarterly results and raised outlook
FitzGerald said total first-quarter revenue for the combined segments was approximately $840 million, generating adjusted EBITDA of about $181 million and adjusted earnings per share from continuing operations of $2.16. He attributed EPS performance to operating results and “substantial share repurchases over the past 12 months.”
New CFO Brittany Cerwin, who FitzGerald formally welcomed to the role, provided segment and consolidated metrics. In Commercial Foodservice, revenue was approximately $616 million, reflecting organic revenue growth of 8.1% and organic adjusted EBITDA margins of 25.8%, Cerwin said. Food Processing revenue was approximately $224 million, reflecting organic revenue growth of 25% and organic adjusted EBITDA margins of 19.5%.
For the second quarter, Cerwin guided to total revenue of $815 million to $850 million and adjusted EBITDA of $180 million to $192 million. Adjusted EPS is projected at $2.27 to $2.39, based on approximately 45.8 million weighted-average shares outstanding. For the full year, Middleby forecast total revenue of $3.36 billion to $3.44 billion, adjusted EBITDA of $758 million to $790 million, and adjusted EPS of $9.54 to $9.70.
Commercial Foodservice: dealer strength and beverage momentum
FitzGerald said Commercial Foodservice outperformed expectations in the first quarter, led by the “general market with our dealer partners,” which he said delivered double-digit growth again and maintained strength exiting 2025. He also said the company continued to gain share with dealers due to efforts to align relationships and broaden solutions sold through channel partners.
Chain performance was “better than expected,” FitzGerald said, citing improving replacement activity after prior-year deferrals and a “strong pipeline of new opportunities which are converting.” However, he cautioned that industry conditions remained challenging, pointing to consumer pressure in March and April and saying the company was “remaining prudently cautious.”
On order trends, FitzGerald told KeyBanc analyst Jeff Hammond that order rates had remained positive into the early part of the second quarter and that the momentum from the second half of last year had not changed “thus far.” He also cited fuel prices as part of broader macro pressure on consumers, while noting that chain customers were “a mixed bag” but that “a lot of them are performing much better than they were last year.”
Chief Commercial Officer Steve Spittle highlighted multiple demand drivers, including increased replacement activity and menu expansion. He emphasized beverage as a major area of opportunity, saying customers are adding beverage platforms ranging “from coffee to refreshers to shakes,” and Middleby has become a “one-stop shop” for chains seeking beverage additions that can drive new dayparts, traffic, and revenue.
Asked by Baird analyst Mig Dobre whether Commercial Foodservice’s growth included any one-time items, FitzGerald said the company did not see anything “one-time or unusual,” describing improvement as largely tied to chains beginning to pick up alongside continued dealer strength. Spittle added that investments in people, training, and go-to-market capabilities over the last two to three years are now paying off, including dealers packaging more Middleby brands per project.
Food Processing: record quarter, international growth, and expanding backlog
Mark Salman, President of The Middleby Food Processing Group and slated to lead Food Processing after the spin, said the segment delivered its “best first quarter ever,” with organic revenue growth of 25%, record order intake, and its “fifth consecutive quarter of book-to-bill above one.”
Salman said Food Processing generated approximately $224 million in first-quarter revenue and $231 million in orders, resulting in a backlog of $416 million, which increased versus year-end. Cerwin said the segment’s results benefited from “improvement in international markets” and noted margins were affected by “a modest headwind from the timing of a new product introduction that we do not expect to recur in future quarters.”
Salman pointed to international investments as a driver, including two new bakery projects in Kenya that he said were secured through the company’s expanded international footprint and represented its “first meaningful order in the country.” He also described Middleby’s Food Processing strategy as delivering “complete end-to-end total line solution offerings” across industrial protein, bakery, and snack applications, aimed at optimizing customer production lines and lowering total cost of ownership.
On acquisitions, Salman cited the company’s purchase of Gorreri in Italy 18 months ago as an example of how acquisitions can expand total-line opportunities, particularly in the cake category. He said the pending separation would leave Food Processing with “a strong balance sheet at just 1.25x net leverage,” which he said creates capacity to accelerate organic and M&A growth, though he declined to provide additional details about the M&A pipeline when asked.
Tariffs, pricing actions, and capital allocation
Cerwin said that in the first quarter the company “successfully offset the dollar impact of tariffs to our P&L,” though tariffs remained a headwind on margin percentage and were expected to continue into the second quarter before lapping the impact of prior-year pricing and mitigation efforts.
She added that Middleby is working to address new inflationary pressures, particularly shipping costs and electronic controls, through operating initiatives and targeted price increases. Cerwin said the company has already announced “low single digits” price increases for the third quarter.
In response to a question about Section 232 tariff updates, management said its overall tariff exposure on a growth basis remained “relatively the same,” and estimated that for each segment the impact was “probably about a 1% headwind on margins.”
On cash flow and leverage, Cerwin said first-quarter operating cash flow was approximately $88 million and free cash flow was about $80 million, with a leverage ratio under the company’s credit agreement of 2.3x at quarter-end. She also said that following the Food Processing spin, the new Food Processing company is expected to have net leverage of about 1.25x, while Middleby “RemainCo” is expected to be around 2.8x at the time of the spin and delever to approximately 2.5x by the end of 2026.
Middleby’s share repurchase activity remained a key theme. FitzGerald said the company allocated over $520 million to repurchases “so far in 2026,” reducing shares outstanding by about 7%, following a 9% reduction in 2025. Cerwin said Middleby repurchased 2.4 million shares in the first quarter for $366 million at an average price of about $153.38, and added that early in the second quarter the company repurchased an additional 1.1 million shares for about $154 million at an average price of about $142.
Looking ahead, FitzGerald reminded listeners that Middleby will host an Investor Day in New York on May 12 and will attend the restaurant show in Chicago May 16-19, where it plans to showcase new products and technologies spanning IoT, automation, and beverage offerings.
About Middleby NASDAQ: MIDD
Middleby Corporation is a global manufacturer and distributor of commercial foodservice and food processing equipment. The company designs, engineers and markets a wide range of cooking, baking, refrigeration, warewashing, holding and dispensing solutions. Middleby's products serve restaurants, hotels, convenience stores, institutional cafeterias, cruise ships and other foodservice operators.
The company's portfolio spans multiple well-known brands, including Blodgett ovens, TurboChef rapid‐cook ovens, Southbend ranges and broilers, Pitco fryers, and Viking residential and commercial kitchen appliances.
Read More
This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.
Before you consider Middleby, you'll want to hear this.
MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and Middleby wasn't on the list.
While Middleby currently has a Moderate Buy rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.
View The Five Stocks Here
MarketBeat just released its list of the 7 hottest IPOs expected to hit Wall Street in 2026. See which companies are preparing to go public and why investors are watching closely.
Get This Free Report
