Strata Critical Medical NASDAQ: SRTA reported fiscal third-quarter 2026 revenue growth of 50.3% from a year earlier, alongside higher adjusted EBITDA, improved logistics margins and record free cash flow, as the company expanded its integrated transplant-services platform.
Total revenue for the quarter ended Sept. 30 rose to $74.1 million from $49.3 million in the prior-year period. On a pro forma basis that included acquired businesses in both periods, revenue increased 8.5% year over year. Gross profit rose 57.9% to $16.8 million, while consolidated gross margin expanded 110 basis points to 22.7%.
Co-CEO Will Heyburn said the quarter exceeded the company’s guidance and demonstrated the cash-generation potential of its model. Strata generated $9.5 million in operating cash flow and a record $8.6 million in free cash flow during the quarter, aided by $0.8 million in capital expenditures.
Adjusted EBITDA increased to $9.6 million, compared with $4.2 million a year earlier and $7.9 million in the second quarter. Adjusted EBITDA margin rose to 13%, from 8.5% in the prior-year quarter and 10.9% sequentially.
Clinical growth and logistics margins
The company’s clinical segment recorded 20.3% sequential revenue growth, primarily reflecting a full-quarter contribution from acquisitions completed in the second quarter as well as modest organic growth. Heyburn said clinical operations grew organically despite an estimated 7% sequential decline in industry transplant volumes, which the company attributed to market-share gains.
Clinical gross profit increased 18.3% sequentially, although clinical gross margin declined 50 basis points to 25.6%. Strata said the margin decline reflected investments in staffing and training and elevated use of part-time providers. The company expects to replace part-time providers with dedicated resources in coming quarters and anticipates higher clinical gross margins entering 2027.
Logistics revenue declined 6.9% sequentially and 3.5% from the prior-year quarter. Management said the results were near the high end of its guidance framework despite seasonal declines in transplant activity, reduced average organ-trip distances and reduced flying by a non-exclusive customer discussed in the prior quarter.
Logistics gross margin improved to 20.8% from 18.4% in the second quarter, surpassing the company’s previous objective of reaching a 20% logistics gross margin in 2027. The segment’s margin remained below the 21.5% reported a year earlier, which Strata attributed to higher fuel-surcharge pass-through revenue and shorter average distances between donors and recipients.
Heyburn said adjusted selling, general and administrative expense declined by $0.2 million sequentially and has been roughly flat over the past four quarters despite organic growth and three bolt-on acquisitions. Stock-based compensation expense was $5 million in the third quarter, driven in part by performance stock units tied to receipt of the first earnout from the sale of the company’s Passenger business. Strata expects stock-based compensation to decline 20% to 30% sequentially in the fourth quarter and remain at a lower run rate in 2027.
Integrated transplant strategy
Co-CEO Melissa Tomkiel said Strata’s strategy centers on providing integrated organ recovery, perfusion, logistics and placement services. The company believes growing use of donation after circulatory death, or DCD, is increasing operational complexity for transplant centers and organ procurement organizations, or OPOs.
Tomkiel said DCD donors now account for more than half of all transplants and often require perfusion technology and experienced clinicians. She added that cases can take longer and that organs are deemed unusable, or result in “dry runs,” roughly 30% of the time.
Strata said its use of locally positioned surgeons, aircraft and clinical hubs can reduce travel time and dry-run costs. The company currently stocks preservation devices from OrganOx, Bridge to Life, Paragonix and Traferox at clinical hubs, allowing transplant-center customers to use devices based on their preferences.
Management said integrated cases can represent as much as three times the financial opportunity of a transport-only case and are weighted more heavily toward clinical revenue. The company also launched its first cardiothoracic surgical locum tenens customer in October, lending surgeons and clinicians to hospitals for non-transplant applications. Tomkiel said the service could expand Strata’s addressable market while increasing surgeon utilization and retention.
Capital allocation and outlook
Strata ended the quarter with $41.6 million in cash and short-term investments. During the quarter, it received $15.3 million in net proceeds after selling Joby earnout shares tied to the Passenger business sale. The company said an additional $27.5 million of potential earnout consideration and holdback releases are expected in the first quarter of 2027.
The company announced a $20 million share-repurchase authorization. Heyburn said acquisitions remain Strata’s capital-allocation priority, but the improved cash position allows it to pursue acquisitions and potentially return excess cash to shareholders. Strata said it has closed more than $6 million of expected annualized adjusted EBITDA through acquisitions in 2026 at targeted mid-single-digit valuation multiples.
For 2026, Strata reiterated guidance for revenue of $285 million to $295 million, adjusted EBITDA of $33 million to $35 million and free cash flow before aircraft and engine acquisitions of $15 million to $22 million. Management expects fourth-quarter growth to be driven primarily by clinical operations, while logistics revenue is expected to be approximately flat sequentially because the typical seasonal improvement in transplant volumes had not yet materialized.
Looking toward 2027, the company said it remains confident in its medium-term targets for high-teens organic adjusted EBITDA growth and more than 30% adjusted EBITDA growth including acquisitions. Management expects clinical growth, customer demand for its integrated transplant offering and rising adoption of NRP and third-party surgical recovery services to support results, while shorter trip distances may limit logistics top-line growth.
About Strata Critical Medical (NASDAQ:SRTA)
Blade Air Mobility, Inc provides air transportation alternatives to the congested ground routes in the United States. It provides its services through charter and by-the-seat flights using helicopters, jets, turboprops, and amphibious seaplanes. The company was founded in 2014 and is headquartered in New York, New York.
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