Westrock Coffee Q1 Earnings Call Highlights

Key Points

• Westrock Coffee posted a strong Q1 2026 turnaround, with net sales rising 44% to $308.8 million and adjusted EBITDA more than tripling to $26 million. The company also swung to a $3.2 million operating profit from a $13.1 million operating loss a year earlier.
• The Conway facility is now fully operational and driving growth, with all five production lines running and the site becoming cash-flow positive. Management said the business has moved past its heavy investment phase, and capital spending is expected to drop sharply in 2026.
• Management reaffirmed full-year outlook and sees a strong pipeline, keeping 2026 adjusted EBITDA guidance at $90 million to $100 million. Executives also said the company expects to be free cash flow positive in the second half of the year and sees 2027 as especially promising.

Westrock Coffee NASDAQ: WEST reported sharply higher first-quarter 2026 results, with management saying the company has moved beyond a multiyear investment phase and is now operating as an integrated beverage platform.

Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Scott Ford said the quarter marked “the most important inflection point in Westrock Coffee’s history,” citing the completion of construction projects, full operation of all production lines and a shift to operating income.

For the quarter, Westrock Coffee reported net sales of $308.8 million, up 44% from the prior year. Consolidated adjusted EBITDA was $26 million, more than tripling year over year and marking the company’s fourth consecutive quarter of year-over-year consolidated adjusted EBITDA growth. The company also moved from a $13.1 million operating loss in the first quarter of 2025 to a $3.2 million operating profit in the latest quarter.

The company’s reported net loss narrowed to $8.5 million from $27.2 million in the first quarter of 2025, according to Chief Financial Officer Chris Pledger. He said the improvement reflected operating leverage across the profit and loss statement as startup costs at the company’s Conway facility diminished and volumes scaled.

Conway Facility Becomes a Central Driver

Ford said all five production lines at the Conway facility are now fully operational, spanning cans, glass, multi-serve bottles and bulk extract. With capital expenditure projects complete, he said Conway has become operating cash flow positive and is expected to become a larger contributor to segment profitability as volumes build through the rest of 2026 and into 2027.

“The prior three years were about building the platform. This year is about leveraging it,” Ford said.

Pledger said the Beverage Solutions segment generated first-quarter adjusted EBITDA of $23.3 million, up 143% from the prior year. That figure included a one-time gain of about $4.6 million from a final payment under a single-serve cup contract with a customer that had been acquired by a competitor. Excluding that item, Beverage Solutions adjusted EBITDA was approximately $18.6 million, up 95% year over year.

Growth in the segment was driven by the ramp of ready-to-drink can, glass and multi-serve bottle production lines in Conway, a 31% increase in single-serve cup volumes across existing and new brand partners, 4% growth in packaged coffee and improved fixed-cost absorption across the manufacturing footprint, Pledger said.

Capital Spending Declines After Investment Phase

Westrock Coffee’s capital expenditures were approximately $7 million in the quarter, compared with more than $41 million in the first quarter of 2025. Pledger said the company expects capital intensity to decline now that Conway is fully commercialized.

He described the capital spending trajectory as moving from $160 million in 2024 to $89 million in 2025, with an expected $30 million in 2026. “Maintenance capital is now our baseline as our investment phase is behind us,” Pledger said.

At quarter-end, Westrock Coffee had approximately $63 million of unrestricted cash and revolver availability under its Beverage Solutions credit facility. The company said it remained in full compliance with its credit agreement. Beverage Solutions net secured leverage was 3.45 times, down from 3.85 times at year-end and ahead of covenant requirements.

Pledger said the company remains on track to be free cash flow positive in the second half of the year.

Guidance Reaffirmed as Pipeline Expands

Westrock Coffee reaffirmed its 2026 consolidated adjusted EBITDA outlook of $90 million to $100 million. Ford said the company’s commercial pipeline is “the healthiest by far that it’s ever been,” with brands engaging across tea and lemonade-based refreshers, ready-to-drink coffee beverages, packaged coffee, single-serve cups, energy drinks, high-protein drinks and seltzers.

During the question-and-answer session, Craig-Hallum analyst Eric Des Lauriers asked about the timing of volume ramps. Ford said the company’s 2026 forecast and 2027 planning are “for the most part at this juncture, contracted in,” while acknowledging that volumes may not land exactly when expected.

Ford said Westrock Coffee is seeing some brands move faster now that they can visit the Conway facility and see products produced. He said some engagement is moving toward production commitments in four- to six-month windows, rather than the two- to four-year timelines seen earlier.

Executives also addressed the replacement of single-serve volume tied to the departure of a large customer in the fourth quarter of 2025 due to industry consolidation. Ford said that disruption is “fully behind us,” with some replacement volume expected to arrive in late 2026 and full replacement targeted by the end of 2027.

Management Highlights Palantir Partnership

Ford also spent part of the call discussing Westrock Coffee’s partnership with Palantir, saying he believes the relationship remains underappreciated by the market. He said Palantir’s Foundry operating system is being used to improve manufacturing, logistics, planning, procurement and workflow automation.

In response to a question about the potential financial impact of the relationship, Ford said the system could create “tens of millions of dollars of benefit over the next three to five years annually” for a business of Westrock Coffee’s size. He described the technology as a way to connect data across systems, spreadsheets and internal processes, reducing the need for manual work to understand profitability and operations.

Executives Address Capacity, Coffee Prices and Gas Prices

Telsey Advisory Group analyst Sarang Vora asked about plant utilization and long-term capacity. Ford declined to provide line-by-line utilization details, saying competitors do not disclose that information. However, he said Westrock Coffee has “well in excess of an additional $100 million of EBITDA for sale” on lines where the company currently has capacity available.

On coffee prices, Pledger said high coffee costs from 2025 are still flowing through the company’s profit and loss statement, though lower-cost coffee has begun to move through as prices declined late last year and early this year. He said coffee price changes are largely passed through to customers, which can lift net sales while leaving dollar gross profit comparable on an apples-to-apples basis.

Pledger said first-quarter gross profit was $46 million, up 57% year over year, and said that figure better reflects the earnings power of the platform than percentage margins affected by coffee price movements.

Asked about risks to the company’s outlook, executives said high gas prices could pressure convenience store and travel center channels. They said Westrock Coffee is now better positioned than in prior periods because it has expanded retail packaging and products targeted toward at-home consumption.

In closing remarks, Ford said the company is “looking forward to a good remaining portion of the year” and said 2027 is “looking actually terrific” as volumes being booked now begin to be placed into that year.

About Westrock Coffee NASDAQ: WEST

Westrock Coffee Company is a global integrated coffee roaster and manufacturer that delivers end-to-end solutions across the coffee and tea supply chain. The company sources, roasts, blends, packages and distributes a diverse range of products, including hot and cold brew coffee, single-serve pods, instant and soluble coffee, tea, and specialty coffee extracts. Serving retail, convenience, foodservice and industrial customers, Westrock Coffee offers both private-label and co-packed branded products to meet the needs of supermarkets, quick-service restaurants, office coffee services and other channels.

Since its founding in 2008, Westrock Coffee has grown through a combination of organic expansion and strategic acquisitions to establish manufacturing facilities across North America, Latin America and Europe.

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