Conferencia de resultados del 3T de 2026 de Myers Industries (MYE): crecimiento de las ventas del 8,1 %, se prevé una recuperación de los márgenes en el 4T

Conclusiones principales

• Las ventas netas del tercer trimestre aumentaron un 8,1% interanual, o un 10,4% sin incluir el impacto de los productos discontinuados de bajo margen y dos plantas de moldeo rotacional paralizadas.
• Los ingresos del segmento de infraestructuras aumentaron un 38%, impulsados por la demanda de esteras compuestas, mientras que los ingresos de alimentos y bebidas crecieron un 12% gracias a la demanda de cajas para semillas y contenedores de granel intermedios.
• El margen bruto ajustado cayó 360 puntos básicos hasta el 28,2%, ya que el aumento de los costes de las resinas, una mezcla desfavorable y los gastos de mantenimiento no planificados compensaron el crecimiento del volumen y las medidas de fijación de precios.
• El BPA ajustado aumentó un 3,2% hasta los 0,32 dólares, beneficiado por menores gastos por intereses e impuestos. El BPA de las operaciones continuadas fue de 0,13 dólares.
• El flujo de caja libre en lo que va de año alcanzó los 61,9 millones de dólares, un 29% más. Myers redujo su deuda neta en 28,5 millones de dólares durante el trimestre, lo que disminuyó el apalancamiento neto a 1,86x desde los 2,64x del año anterior.
• La dirección prevé una mejora secuencial significativa del margen en el cuarto trimestre a medida que los costes de la resina se estabilicen y surtan efecto las medidas de fijación de precios. La empresa elevó sus perspectivas para el sector de alimentos y bebidas a un fuerte crecimiento, pero rebajó las del sector de vehículos a la baja.

Datos financieros clave

Rendimiento comercial y operativo

Infraestructuras fue el mercado final más sólido, con un aumento de los ingresos del 38% gracias a la robusta demanda de esteras compuestas. La dirección reafirmó sus perspectivas de fuerte crecimiento para este negocio, citando la demanda de MegaDeck y protección de césped asociada a proyectos de transmisión y distribución, centros de datos y construcción a gran escala.

Las ventas de alimentos y bebidas aumentaron un 12%. Myers atribuyó el incremento a las cajas para semillas y contenedores de granel intermedios, impulsados por una mayor actividad de cotizaciones, cartera de pedidos pendientes y conversiones de productos en la producción de alimentos. La dirección también señaló que las iniciativas de automatización de los clientes están respaldando la demanda de productos Buckhorn.

Las ventas industriales se mantuvieron estables. La debilidad en la demanda militar ligada al calendario de pedidos compensó la solidez de otras áreas de la cartera industrial. La demanda de consumo mejoró, encabezada por las latas de combustible tras las fuertes tormentas invernales registradas a principios de 2026. Las ventas del sector de vehículos se mantuvieron estables en el trimestre, pero la empresa se mostró más cauta respecto a las perspectivas del mercado para todo el año.

Myers completó la desinversión de North America Myers Tire Supply durante el trimestre. La transacción simplificó su cartera y contribuyó a la reducción de 28,5 millones de dólares en la deuda neta. Por otra parte, la empresa está gestionando la venta del negocio en América Central, que figuraba como activos mantenidos para la venta en el balance.

Signature Systems sigue siendo una plataforma central de crecimiento. La dirección estima que su mercado total direccionable es de aproximadamente 4.000 millones de dólares, de los cuales las esteras compuestas representan alrededor del 19%. La empresa prevé que los ingresos de Signature crezcan a una tasa anual entre el 15% y el 19% hasta 2029, respaldados por el crecimiento del mercado, la conversión de esteras de madera a compuestas, nuevos clientes y nuevos productos.

Myers planea expandir la capacidad de Signature un 30% en 2027 y un 30% adicional en 2029. La dirección prevé que una cartera de innovación con un promedio de un lanzamiento de producto al año genere más de 60 millones de dólares en ingresos incrementales hasta 2029.

Orientación de la dirección

La dirección prevé una mejora secuencial significativa del margen en el cuarto trimestre a medida que los costes de la resina se moderen y se materialicen los aumentos de precios implementados anteriormente. La empresa prevé que el margen EBITDA ajustado del cuarto trimestre se alinee con su promedio de los últimos 12 meses.

Para 2026, Myers prevé que los gastos de capital equivalgan aproximadamente al 3,5% de las ventas. Las inversiones planificadas incluyen el lanzamiento de producción militar en Europa, la expansión de capacidad de infraestructuras, automatización y el reemplazo de moldes y prensas.

La empresa actualizó sus perspectivas de mercado final de la siguiente manera:

• Industrial: Se reafirma un crecimiento moderado, a pesar de las continuas dificultades relacionadas con el calendario militar en el T4. La dirección sigue esperando una TCAC de ingresos militares del 10% al 15% desde 2025 hasta 2028.
• Infraestructuras: Se reafirma un fuerte crecimiento. La dirección prevé una TCAC de ingresos entre el 15% y el 19% hasta 2029.
• Vehículos: Rebajada de estable a la baja debido a una menor demanda de vehículos recreativos en EE. UU. y al retraso en los lanzamientos de programas de OEM de automoción, lo que fue parcialmente compensado por la mejora en la demanda de vehículos marinos y comerciales.
• Consumo: Elevada de estable a crecimiento moderado, impulsada por la demanda de latas de combustible.
• Alimentos y bebidas: Elevada de crecimiento moderado a fuerte sobre la base de las tendencias de cotizaciones, cartera de pedidos pendientes, conversiones de contenedores de granel intermedios y ventas de semillas con expectativas ligeramente positivas.

Riesgos y aspectos a vigilar

Los costes de la resina aumentaron un 76% entre marzo y mayo, lo que generó un desfase entre la inflación de los costes de los insumos y la traslación a precios. El incremento de los costes de la resina, una mezcla desfavorable de productos y los gastos de mantenimiento no planificados presionaron los márgenes del tercer trimestre.

La demanda del sector de vehículos sigue siendo incierta. La dirección citó las altas tasas de interés, los precios del combustible, la débil confianza del consumidor y la incertidumbre económica como factores de presión sobre el mercado de vehículos recreativos en EE. UU. También se han retrasado algunos lanzamientos de OEM del sector automotriz.

La demanda militar puede fluctuar entre trimestres, y la dirección prevé que los contratiempos temporales continúen en el T4. La empresa también está observando las condiciones geopolíticas, los mercados de energía, los aranceles y otros factores que podrían afectar a la demanda.

Puntos destacados de la sesión de preguntas y respuestas con analistas

La dirección afirmó que la mejora en las perspectivas del sector de alimentos y bebidas refleja tanto una mayor demanda del mercado como la ejecución del programa Focused Transformation. El volumen de cotizaciones, la cartera de pedidos pendientes y la cartera comercial se fortalecieron, mientras que las iniciativas de automatización de los clientes crearon oportunidades adicionales para los productos Buckhorn.

Al ser preguntada sobre los 7,3 millones de dólares en activos mantenidos para la venta, la dirección aclaró que la desinversión de North America Myers Tire Supply se había cerrado, pero que el negocio de América Central sigue sujeto a un proceso de venta independiente.

Transcripción completa de la llamada de resultados

Transcripción completa de la conferencia de resultados

Comentarios de la dirección

Operator

Hello, everyone. Thank you for joining us, and welcome to the Myers Second (sic) [ Third ] Quarter 2026 Earnings Results. [Operator Instructions]

I will now hand the conference over to Meghan Beringer, Senior Director of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

Meghan Beringer

Thank you. Good morning, everyone, and welcome to Myers Third Quarter 2026 Earnings Review. Joining me today are Aaron Schapper, President and Chief Executive Officer; and Samantha Rutty, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. After the prepared remarks, we will host a question-and-answer session.

Earlier this morning, we issued a press release outlining our third quarter financial results. In addition, a presentation to accompany today's prepared remarks has been posted. Both documents are available on the Investor Relations section of our website at myersindustries.com. This call is being webcast live on our website and will be archived along with the transcript of the call shortly after this event.

Now please turn to Slide 3 of the presentation for our safe harbor disclosures. I would like to remind you that we may make some forward-looking statements during this call. These comments are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements are based on management's current expectations and involve risks, uncertainties and other factors, which may cause results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in these statements. Further, information concerning these risks, uncertainties and other factors are set forth in the company's periodic SEC filings.

Also, please be advised that certain non-GAAP financial measures such as adjusted gross profit, adjusted operating income, adjusted EBITDA and adjusted earnings per share may be discussed on this call. Finally, all results presented and discussed in today's call are from continuing operations.

Now please turn to Slide 4 of our presentation as I turn the call over to Aaron.

Aaron Schapper

Thank you, Meghan. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us. I will begin today's call with a review of our third quarter results, followed by an update on our Focused Transformation program. I will then introduce our 4 key growth platforms with a focus on the opportunity ahead in our Signature business. Sam will provide a detailed review of the third quarter financials and our outlook for the year.

Starting with Slide 5. We delivered strong year-over-year revenue growth, up 8.1% in the quarter, supported by strength in infrastructure and food and beverage. Infrastructure revenue improved 38% on continued robust demand for our composite matting. I will come back to our infrastructure business later in the call. Food and beverage was up 12% on strong demand for seed boxes and intermediate bulk containers.

In addition to these positive demand trends, we are driving commercial excellence initiatives across the organization as part of our Focused Transformation. We faced margin pressure in the quarter, primarily due to a spike in resin costs. While we anticipated an increase and continue to implement pricing adjustments, there is a lag until full price realization. These actions, combined with a moderation in resin costs are expected to drive significant margin improvements in the fourth quarter.

EPS from continuing operations was $0.13. On an adjusted basis, income from continuing operations improved year-over-year to $0.32 despite gross margin headwinds.

During the third quarter, we completed the divestiture of North America Myers Tire Supply. This was a significant milestone in our Focused Transformation journey. The sale simplifies our portfolio, enabling us to focus our resources and investments on the remaining business that are closely aligned with our mission of delivering Products that Protect. I'd like to take this opportunity to recognize and thank our former MTS colleagues for their many contributions and commitment over the years. We wish them continued success moving forward.

Please turn to Slide 6 as we briefly revisit the 3 strategic priorities guiding our Focused Transformation. First, we are delivering differentiated Products that Protect by strengthening customer relationships, enhancing commercial excellence and deepening market insights to better address evolving needs. Second, we are advancing operational excellence and cost leadership, driving greater consistency, productivity and efficiency across our organization and instilling a culture of continuous improvement. And third, we are prioritizing investments in our key growth platforms, focusing resources on businesses where we have a strong competitive advantage and see the greatest opportunities for profitable growth.

Our 2026 year-to-date results validate this strategy. We have grown revenue, expanded margins and generated strong free cash flow while continuing to improve operational excellence across the organization. With sequential margin expansion anticipated in Q4, we are on pace to deliver a strong year in 2026.

Turning to Slide 7. I'd like to provide an overview of our 4 key growth platforms where we are focusing our investments and see meaningful opportunities to create long-term value. One of our greatest assets is the strength of our portfolio and the range of products we offer that serve a diverse set of customers and specialized end markets, addressing essential needs where safety, performance, durability and reliability are critical. Across these markets, we are leveraging our expertise in engineering and material sciences to develop highly customized polymer solutions that replace traditional materials such as wood and metal.

Surface protection, led by Signature Systems, provides composite matting and portable flooring solutions supporting infrastructure development, construction and large-scale events. Dangerous goods, storage and transportation through Scepter delivers specialized containers for fuel, chemicals, water and ammunition, serving consumer, industrial and vehicle end markets, including military applications. Specialized storage through Buckhorn provides engineered reusable packaging and material handling solutions serving industrial, food and beverage and vehicle. Storage solutions through Akro-Mils offers storage and organization products that improve productivity across industrial and commercial markets.

Together, these growth platforms are where we believe our technology, customer relationships and exposure across multiple markets provide competitive advantages and a strong foundation for continued growth. In addition, our rotational molding operations provide specialized manufacturing flexibility and engineering expertise that supports these growth platforms.

As we continue to execute on our strategy, we believe the resilience of our Products that Protect portfolio will enable us to pursue market opportunities and deepen customer relationships. Last quarter, we highlighted this opportunity through a deep dive into Scepter. This quarter, we provide additional insights into Signature, a particularly compelling example with a strong market position and a significant runway for future growth.

Turning to Slide 8. Signature is a leading provider of highly engineered composite matting and portable flooring solutions, serving 2 primary sectors for this end market: infrastructure, which represents approximately 80% of sales and stadium, which accounts for the remaining 20%. Within infrastructure, our products provide temporary accessways and work platforms for transition (sic) [ transmission ] and distribution, oil and gas and large-scale construction. In stadium, our portable flooring solutions protect turf and other surfaces at athletic venues and major events.

What makes Signature particularly attractive is its proprietary material science capabilities, engineering expertise and continued product innovation. These strengths enable us to develop differentiated solutions that enhance performance. Most recently, we launched IceShieldR10, which was developed by combining customer feedback with our Signature product innovation. The IceShield solution incorporates an insulating layer to maintain freezing temperatures, save energy costs and prevent damage to the ice sheet below. Built to handle heavy pedestrian traffic, staging and equipment loads of up to 20,000 pounds, our stadium product offerings now expand into the ice arena market, enabling facilities to protect the playing surface and generate additional revenue by hosting concerts and other special events.

Turning to Slide 9. We estimate Signature's total addressable market at approximately $4 billion, with composite matting representing roughly 19% of the market today. This relatively low penetration presents a significant opportunity for continued conversion from traditional wood to composite matting, providing a compelling runway for long-term growth.

Compared to traditional wood solutions, our composite solutions offer significant performance and economic advantages. Our mats can be up to 40% lighter and last up to 5x longer, reducing transportation and replacement costs. They also provide improved traction and more stable working surfaces, enhancing site safety while reducing environmental impact through closed-loop recycling programs. Together, these benefits deliver a lower total cost of ownership and support continued conversion to our composite solutions.

Turning to Slide 10. Signature serves several attractive market subsegments. Transmission and distribution, which represents approximately 23% of our addressable market, supported by increasing electricity demand and ongoing grid modernization. Energy, representing approximately 27% of our addressable market, includes applications where durability and reliability are critical, primarily for oil and gas markets. Data centers, construction and civil projects represent approximately 28% of our addressable market, benefiting from continued investment and construction activity. Finally, stadiums and events, representing approximately 17% of our addressable market, utilize our solutions to protect playing surfaces and provide access for sporting and entertainment events.

Across these markets, Signature is positioned to capitalize on favorable secular demand trends and continued composite adoption, providing multiple avenues for sustainable growth.

Turning to Slide 11. Since acquiring Signature in 2024, we've continued to build on a strong market position with revenue expected to grow at a compound annual rate of approximately 13% through 2026. Looking ahead, we expect to build on this momentum with annual revenue growth percentages of mid- to high teens through 2029, supported by 3 primary drivers. First, we expect the current surface protection market to grow, supported by the favorable long-term demand trends we just discussed. Second, we expect continued conversion from traditional wood matting to composite solutions to contribute additional growth as customers increasingly recognize the performance and economic advantages of composite solutions. And third, we expect new customers and products to contribute additional growth. We're focused on deepening relationships with existing customers, broadening our customer base and commercializing new products that expand the applications we can serve.

Importantly, we're also investing in the capacity needed to support this growth. With planned expansions of 30% in 2027 and additional 30% in 2029, we expect our innovation pipeline averaging 1 product launch per year to generate more than $60 million in incremental revenue through 2029. Together, these drivers give us confidence in Signature's ability to sustain attractive growth, maintain a leading market position and become an increasingly meaningful contributor to Myers' profitable growth. Signature's breadth of surface protection products uniquely positions us to serve a diverse set of customers across a wide range of applications, further differentiating us in the marketplace.

With that, I'll turn the call over to Sam for a review of our third quarter financial results.

Samantha Rutty

Thank you, Aaron, and good morning, everyone. Please turn to Slide 13. Net sales increased 8.1% year-over-year. Net sales would have increased 10.4% year-over-year, excluding the impact of our decision in the fourth quarter of 2025 to exit low-margin products with the idling of 2 rotational molding facilities.

Infrastructure and food and beverage delivered strong growth in the quarter, while vehicle and consumer remained flat. Industrial end-market sales were also flat year-over-year as timing-related softness in military demand was offset by strength across other products in our industrial portfolio.

Adjusted gross margin decreased 360 basis points to 28.2%, driven by higher resin costs, unfavorable mix and unplanned maintenance costs, partly offset by higher volume and pricing actions.

We included a resin cost index in our presentation on Slide 14 to show the recent spike. As the chart shows, resin costs increased 76% from March to May. As the cost increased, we were able to take pricing actions, although with a margin impact due to timing and magnitude of the increase. As costs have stabilized and pricing actions are realized, we anticipate significant sequential margin improvement in Q4, in line with trailing 12 months average adjusted EBITDA margin.

SG&A was lower as a percent of sales year-over-year, reflecting actions we have taken as part of our Focused Transformation. Adjusted operating margin decreased to 10.4%, down 210 basis points over last year. Adjusted EBITDA margin decreased to 15.5%, down 280 basis points over last year. Adjusted EPS was $0.32, up 3.2% year-over-year on lower interest and tax expense.

Please turn to Slide 15. We ended the quarter with a cash balance of $53.5 million and total liquidity of $254.7 million, providing us with ample flexibility to support our capital allocation priorities. We reduced net debt by $28.5 million during the third quarter, primarily using the proceeds from the MTS sale, resulting in a net leverage ratio of 1.86x, well within our target ratio of 1.5 to 2.5 and down significantly from last year when it was 2.64. We plan to further reduce debt in 2026 as we continue to fortify our balance sheet.

Third quarter operating cash flow was $17.4 million and CapEx was $5.9 million, resulting in a free cash flow of $11.5 million. Year-to-date free cash flow is $61.9 million, up 29% from last year. Working capital as a percent of trailing 12 months sales increased sequentially, primarily due to income tax receivables and the prepayment of our annual insurance renewal. We continue to prioritize working capital management to improve both metrics.

Please turn to Slide 16. Our capital allocation framework balances investing in growth while returning cash to shareholders. CapEx was $5.9 million in Q3. And for the full year, we expect CapEx to be 3.5% of sales with investments in organic growth, productivity and infrastructure projects. Our 2026 projects include a European military production launch, capacity expansion in infrastructure, new automation to drive productivity and mold and press replacements to sustain our core operations.

Turning to Slide 17. As we approach year-end, we are updating our full year 2026 outlook. As a reminder, our market outlook excludes the impact from exiting low-margin products and idling 2 rotational molding facilities in Alliance, Ohio that occurred in Q4 2025. This represented approximately $3 million in revenue in the third quarter or approximately $13 million year-to-date, primarily industrial and consumer markets with favorable impact to earnings.

For industrial, we are reaffirming our expectations of moderate growth as we continue to see momentum building in capital spending trends from our industrial customers. While we expect timing-related headwinds in our military business to continue into the fourth quarter, we remain confident in our overall industrial outlook. As we've noted previously, military demand can fluctuate from quarter-to-quarter, but our long-term expectations remain unchanged, and we continue to expect revenue CAGR of 10% to 15% from 2025 through 2028 in this business.

In infrastructure, we reaffirm our expectations of strong growth, primarily driven by demand for our MegaDeck and turf protection products. As Aaron discussed in his prepared remarks, these products continue to support U.S. market expansion fueled by sustained investment in transmission and distribution-related utility projects, data centers and large-scale construction. Through 2029, we expect a mid- to high teens percent CAGR for this business.

For vehicle, we are lowering our outlook from stable to down. Demand indicators have been mixed for the year. The U.S. RV industry continues to experience meaningful year-over-year decline, driven by higher interest rates and fuel prices as well as weak consumer confidence amid economic uncertainty. Marine and commercial vehicle demand is improving, while some automotive OEM program launches have been delayed. In consideration of all these factors, we are more cautious in our vehicle market outlook.

In consumer, we are increasing our outlook to moderate growth from stable. At the start of 2026, strong winter storms across most of the U.S. created a sharp increase in demand for fuel cans. Stable demand continued throughout the year and is expected to extend through year-end.

Finally, we are raising our expectation for the food and beverage end market to strong growth from moderate growth, given recent quoting trends, existing backlog and product conversion to our intermediate bulk container products within the food production industry. Further, we expect seed sales to be slightly positive compared to prior year. We continue to weigh both risks and opportunities for our end markets as we monitor geopolitical conditions, including energy markets, tariffs or other factors that may influence demand trends.

I would now like to turn the call back to Aaron for some closing comments before we take your questions. Aaron?

Aaron Schapper

Thank you, Sam. Our strong year-to-date performance, including revenue growth, margin expansion and improved cash flow, combined with anticipated significant sequential margin expansion in Q4, positions us to deliver great results in 2026.

I'm encouraged by the progress we continue to make on our Focused Transformation. Our teams are driving commercial excellence, improving operational productivity and maintaining disciplined cost management across the organization to improve margins. With the completion of the Myers Tire Supply divestiture, we have further simplified our portfolio and sharpened our focus on our key growth platforms.

As we highlighted today with Signature, we see meaningful opportunities to capitalize on attractive market trends, drive innovation and invest in the capacity and capabilities needed to support sustained profitable growth. I want to thank our employees for their continued dedication and execution.

With that, I'd like to turn the call over to the operator for questions. Operator?

Operator

[Operator Instructions] Your first question comes from Bill Dezellem with Tieton Capital Markets.

Preguntas y respuestas

William Dezellem

Would you please talk in more detail about increasing your view of the food and beverage market beyond what you did in your opening remarks, please?

Samantha Rutty

Yes. We've just seen really strong quotation volume coming in and have a strong backlog going into the end of the year and continue to develop our pipeline. We've had a lot of focus with Gustavo joining the team on commercial excellence, and just really strong pipeline growth going into the quarter.

Aaron Schapper

Yes. Bill, as we look at food and beverage, there is obviously a lot of pressure on trying to make sure that food and beverage prices, food in particular, stay low. Labor is an issue. A lot of our customers are looking a lot more at automation and looking at the way they do things. And part of that automation is making sure that our product is a part of that mix. And so we've seen some pretty good demand along the food and beverage side.

Also, had a -- as we go through the year and into Q4, we're looking at another year of seed and our seed box offering into the food and beverage market. So between those 2 things, that's our strength through the year so far and then looking into Q4, we feel good where we are on the food and beverage side.

William Dezellem

And do you all feel this is a function of overall market activity accelerating? Or is this an indication of what the Focused Transformation program can do when successful?

Aaron Schapper

Bill, I would say it's both. So our customers have been pulling demand, which is a nice thing. And then also really looking at Buckhorn, I think I've said before that we believe in Buckhorn. We believe in what Buckhorn can do as a business. And once again, having Gustavo adding focus on product development, we've added people on that side of the business to really continue to drive new products into the market because this is what our customers are asking us to do -- asking for us to do. Buckhorn is a strong brand, and it's a strong brand in that industry, and I think that we can do a lot. So I think it's a mixture of both things, both the Focused Transformation and pull from our customers.

William Dezellem

Great. And then I have one additional question, please, that on the balance sheet, you have $7.3 million of assets held for sale. And given that the Tire Supply business closed on August 31, that doesn't quite match with what I would have expected. Would you please discuss kind of what those assets are that are held for sale, please?

Samantha Rutty

Yes. As we mentioned in our remarks, the sale of the North America MTS supply business has occurred, but we are still working through the sale of the Central America business. That's a separate transaction.

Operator

[Operator Instructions] There are no further questions at this time. I will now pass the call back to Meghan Beringer for closing remarks.

Meghan Beringer

Thank you for joining us today. If you would like to continue the conversation, my contact information can be found on the final slide of this presentation. We look forward to staying in touch. With that, we'll conclude the call. Have a great day.

Operator

Thank you for attending. You may now disconnect.