Conferencia de resultados del 3T de 2026 de ACCO Brands: Los reembolsos de aranceles elevan las previsiones

Puntos clave

• ACCO Brands registró una caída del 1% en las ventas del tercer trimestre de 2026, mientras que las ventas comparables cayeron casi un 6%, principalmente debido a una menor demanda de periféricos tecnológicos.
• El beneficio bruto ajustado aumentó un 8% hasta los 136 millones de dólares y el margen bruto ajustado se amplió 290 puntos básicos hasta el 35,9%. La empresa indicó que los 21 millones de dólares en reembolsos de aranceles añadieron 520 puntos básicos al margen bruto y 0,11 dólares al BPA ajustado.
• El flujo de caja libre en lo que va de año alcanzó los 89 millones de dólares, lo que supone un aumento interanual de 63 millones de dólares, incluido el beneficio de 21 millones de dólares por reembolsos de aranceles. ACCO cerró el trimestre con una ratio de apalancamiento consolidado de 3,6x.
• La directiva elevó sus previsiones para 2026 a un crecimiento de las ventas reportadas de entre el 4% y el 6% y un BPA ajustado de entre 0,98 y 1,02 dólares, lo que refleja los reembolsos de aranceles y la adquisición de Trust.
• Los periféricos tecnológicos cayeron en el rango bajo del doble dígito a nivel global, registrando los accesorios para videojuegos y para ordenadores descensos a ritmos similares. En cambio, las ventas de la campaña de vuelta al cole en Norteamérica aumentaron en el rango medio del único dígito, mientras que México creció casi un 20%.
• La adquisición de Trust amplía la plataforma de periféricos tecnológicos de ACCO a aproximadamente 500 millones de dólares en ventas anuales proforma, o alrededor del 30% de las ventas futuras. La directiva prevé entre 5 y 8 millones de dólares en sinergias procedentes de Trust en un plazo de 18 meses.

Datos financieros clave

Rendimiento comercial y operativo

Periféricos tecnológicos

Las ventas globales de periféricos tecnológicos cayeron en el rango bajo del doble dígito, y los accesorios para videojuegos y para ordenadores de empresa cayeron aproximadamente al mismo ritmo. La directiva atribuyó la debilidad en el sector de los videojuegos a una demanda moderada de consolas y a un gasto discrecional prudente. Los accesorios para ordenadores se vieron afectados por un menor despliegue de portátiles; la directiva citó una caída del 20% en las ventas globales de ordenadores portátiles.

ACCO completó la adquisición de Trust el 1 de octubre. Trust genera aproximadamente 100 millones de dólares en ingresos anuales y vende accesorios para ordenadores y videojuegos en Europa y América Latina. La directiva espera que la transacción sea ligeramente positiva para el BPA durante los primeros 12 meses.

Se prevé que, de manera conjunta, Kensington, EPOS, PowerA y Trust generen cerca de 500 millones de dólares en ventas anuales proforma. ACCO afirmó que esta plataforma ofrece una mayor exposición a los canales de empresa, venta al por menor y comercio electrónico. A más largo plazo, la directiva prevé que los periféricos tecnológicos registren un crecimiento en el rango medio del único dígito.

EPOS siguió evolucionando en línea con las expectativas de la directiva. Sus productos se venden ahora junto con los de Kensington en EE. UU. y EMEA, habiéndose registrado los primeros éxitos en venta cruzada. ACCO prevé un ahorro anualizado de 6 millones de dólares en EPOS en 2026 y de aproximadamente 15 millones de dólares para finales de 2027.

Aprendizaje y Creatividad

El segmento de Aprendizaje y Creatividad representa aproximadamente el 30% de las ventas anualizadas proforma. Las ventas de la campaña de vuelta al cole en Norteamérica aumentaron en el rango medio del único dígito durante toda la temporada, con ganancias de cuota de mercado en productos para tomar notas. México creció casi un 20%, y la directiva citó también una mejora inicial en Brasil.

Según la directiva, los minoristas cerraron la temporada de vuelta al cole en EE. UU. con niveles de inventario ampliamente alineados con sus expectativas. ACCO está presentando en la actualidad sus catálogos para 2027 a los minoristas.

Soluciones para el espacio de trabajo

Soluciones para el espacio de trabajo representa aproximadamente el 40% de las ventas anualizadas proforma. Su ritmo de descenso se moderó, con un descenso de las ventas en el rango bajo del único dígito a nivel global. Leitz, la marca europea más grande de ACCO, se mantuvo prácticamente estable en lo que va de año, mientras que las ventas globales de grapadoras también permanecieron prácticamente sin cambios.

La empresa está reasignando recursos hacia categorías adyacentes que muestran un mayor crecimiento, como la ergonomía, el bienestar y el plastificado. La racionalización de referencias (SKU), la fijación de precios y los controles de costes siguen siendo fundamentales en su estrategia para el negocio.

Rendimiento regional

Las ventas reportadas en América cayeron un 3%, mientras que las ventas comparables bajaron un 6%. El resultado operativo ajustado aumentó a 38 millones de dólares y el margen operativo ajustado se amplió 290 puntos básicos hasta el 17,3%, incluyendo el beneficio del reembolso de aranceles.

Las ventas reportadas a nivel internacional aumentaron un 3%, impulsadas por EPOS y un tipo de cambio favorable, mientras que las ventas comparables disminuyeron un 6%. El resultado operativo ajustado subió a 17 millones de dólares, alcanzando un margen del 10,6%, respaldado por la fijación de precios y la reducción de costes.

Previsiones de la directiva

ACCO elevó sus perspectivas para todo el año 2026 para incorporar los reembolsos de aranceles y la adquisición de Trust:

La empresa recibió casi 5 millones de dólares adicionales en reembolsos de aranceles durante la semana de la conferencia de resultados, pero no los incluyó en sus previsiones.

La directiva prevé que el margen bruto del cuarto trimestre mejore respecto al T3 a medida que se normalice la combinación de clientes y productos. La empresa se mantiene en camino de alcanzar su objetivo plurianual de reducción de costes de 100 millones de dólares.

Riesgos y factores a vigilar

• El gasto discrecional de los consumidores se mantiene ajustado, lo que genera incertidumbre para los accesorios de videojuegos durante la campaña navideña.
• El aumento de los costes de hardware y la limitada disponibilidad de memorias están afectando a las compras de accesorios de informática, mientras que los presupuestos de las empresas se están reorientando hacia prioridades de IA.
• Los menores volúmenes orgánicos están generando una pérdida de apalancamiento operativo en los costes fijos, y algunas categorías se enfrentaron a un entorno con mayor presencia de promociones durante el T3.
• Se espera que el flujo de caja libre del cuarto trimestre sea inferior a los patrones históricos. La directiva citó la actividad de integración, la reestructuración y la incertidumbre en el capital de trabajo.
• El momento y el ritmo de la demanda de portátiles, la adopción de consolas y la normalización de los costes de hardware siguen siendo variables importantes para la recuperación de los periféricos tecnológicos.
• ACCO continúa integrando EPOS y Trust, lo que podría afectar a la ejecución a corto plazo y a los plazos del flujo de caja.

Puntos destacados del turno de preguntas y respuestas con analistas

La directiva señaló que el rendimiento del sector de los videojuegos en Navidad sigue dependiendo de las ventas finales minoristas y de las tendencias en el punto de venta. Aunque Grand Theft Auto VI se identificó como un catalizador potencial, ACCO no prevé que un retraso o un lanzamiento más débil de lo esperado suponga un riesgo material para el trimestre, ya que gran parte de las ventas iniciales a distribuidores ya se han realizado.

ACCO afirmó que su cadena de suministro está bien posicionada para la demanda potencial de videojuegos y no anticipa problemas de disponibilidad de chips en los próximos trimestres.

Los datos externos revisados por la directiva sugieren que las tendencias del hardware tecnológico podrían mejorar a lo largo de 2027. Sin embargo, la empresa planea respaldarse en factores que puede controlar, como la expansión global de Trust y la venta cruzada de EPOS y Kensington a clientes corporativos.

La directiva describió las adquisiciones futuras como de oportunidad. Cualquier transacción a corto plazo tendría que cumplir criterios estratégicos y financieros estrictos y ser neutral desde el punto de vista del apalancamiento, mientras que la prioridad inmediata sigue siendo completar las integraciones de EPOS y Trust.

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 ACCO Brands Third Quarter 2026 Earnings Call. [Operator Instructions] I will now hand the conference over to Chris McGinnis, Senior Director of Investor Relations. Chris, please go ahead.

Christopher McGinnis

Thank you. Good morning, and welcome to ACCO Brands conference call to review our third quarter results. Speaking on the call today is Tom Tedford, President and Chief Executive Officer of ACCO Brands; and Deb O'Connor, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Slides that accompany this call have been posted to the Investor Relations section of accobrands.com.

When speaking about our results, we may refer to adjusted results. Adjusted results exclude amortization and restructuring costs, noncash goodwill and intangible asset impairment charges, bargain purchase gain, unusual tax items and other nonrecurring items and include adjustments to reflect the estimated annual tax rate on quarterly earnings. Schedules of adjusted results and other non-GAAP financial measures and a reconciliation of these measures to the most directly comparable GAAP measures are in the earnings release and slides that accompany this call.

Due to the inherent difficulty in forecasting and quantifying certain amounts, we do not reconcile our forward-looking non-GAAP financial measures. Forward-looking statements made during the call are based on the beliefs and assumptions of management based on the information we have at the time the statements are made. Our forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, and our actual results could differ materially. Please refer to our earnings release and SEC filings for an explanation of certain risk factors and assumptions. Our forward-looking statements are made as of today, and we assume no obligation to update them going forward. Now I'll turn the call over to Tom Tedford.

Thomas Tedford

Thank you, Chris. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us today for the ACCO Brands third quarter earnings call. Our third quarter results demonstrate continued progress against our strategic priorities. Sales were in line with our outlook. Underlying operating performance met our expectations and adjusted EPS benefited from net tariff refunds. Back-to-school performance was solid in North America and Mexico. Workspace Solutions trends continue to stabilize, and we remain disciplined in navigating cautious enterprise and consumer spending in technology peripherals.

Importantly, we used tariff refund proceeds to reduce debt and on October 1, completed the acquisition of Trust, our second technology peripherals acquisition of the year. Deb will provide additional financial details on the transaction later in the call. We are executing a clear strategy built around three priorities: scaling technology peripherals as a growth platform, stabilizing our Learning and Creative and Workspace Solutions categories and expanding earnings and cash flow through disciplined cost management and debt reduction. We made meaningful progress on each priority this quarter, and I will address them in turn.

The first of our near-term strategic priorities is to scale technology peripherals to improve the long-term growth profile of the company. The acquisition of Trust marks another important step in building this growth platform. Trust is a 40-year-old brand that designs and markets computer and gaming peripherals across Europe and Latin America through retail, e-commerce and B2B channels. The Trust acquisition broadens our portfolio, strengthens our position in consumer channels and creates attractive cross-selling opportunities across our global platform. Our technology peripherals portfolio now includes Kensington, EPOS, PowerA and Trust. Together, pro forma sales from these categories will approach $500 million annually or about 30% of our future sales. We now offer a complete range of computer and gaming accessories with greater scale across both B2B and consumer channels. This provides a strong foundation for organic growth through innovation, broader distribution, market share gains, cross-selling and disciplined strategic expansion.

Over the longer term, we expect technology peripherals to deliver mid-single-digit growth. The near-term operating environment remains challenging, and we are managing it with focus and discipline. Higher hardware costs and limited memory availability are affecting computer accessory purchases, while enterprise budgets are shifting towards AI priorities. Gaming accessories are also, experiencing pressure from higher console prices and cautious consumer discretionary spending. These conditions do not change our conviction in the long-term growth opportunity.

We compete in large technology categories with durable growth drivers. In computer accessories, hybrid work and duplicate setups, multi-monitor workstations, ergonomics and wellness, and security and privacy continue to support demand. In gaming accessories, the expanding player base, new console launches, technology upgrades and major AAA game releases provide compelling avenues for growth. As hardware costs normalize and category demand improves, we believe ACCO Brands will be well positioned to capture the recovery through new product innovation, expanded distribution and cross-selling across our global channels. We are expecting several positive near-term catalysts such as the fourth quarter release of Grand Theft Auto VI and continued Switch 2 adoption as well as our own new product introductions.

EPOS, our premium audio offering, continues to perform in line with expectations. The integration is progressing well. EPOS is now being sold alongside Kensington in both the U.S. and EMEA, and we are already seeing early cross-selling wins. Our recent acquisitions have added exceptional industry talent and deep category expertise. We retained key leaders from EPOS and Trust to lead our technology platform, bringing proven knowledge of the markets, consumers and channels we serve.

The platform serves retail and enterprise customers, each with a tailored go-to-market approach, innovation road map and service model. With the right leadership, portfolio and operating structure now in place, we are confident in our ability to execute with greater focus and speed to unlock the full potential of these businesses and to return the categories to sustainable growth. Our second priority is to stabilize Learning and Creative and Workspace Solutions. In these categories, we are established category leaders with trusted brands, resilient market positions and strong cash flow generation that supports investment in growth and debt reduction.

Learning and Creative represents approximately 30% of pro forma annualized sales. This back-to-school season, the categories grew in North America and Mexico with early improvement emerging in Brazil. Over the longer term, we expect the category to remain stable or grow modestly through innovation, market share gains and pricing actions. In Workspace Solutions, the rate of decline moderated in 2026, and the category now represents approximately 40% of annualized pro forma sales. We are managing the categories for value through SKU rationalization, disciplined cost control, pricing and a greater emphasis on attractive adjacent categories such as ergonomics and wellness.

Our third priority is to improve earnings and cash flow. We remain on track to deliver $100 million multiyear cost reduction target. This program is simplifying our operating platform and strengthening profitability, cash generation and earnings power. Additionally, we are realizing EPOS cost synergies with $6 million of annualized savings expected in 2026 and approximately $15 million expected by the end of 2027. For Trust, we have identified $5 million to $8 million of cost synergies to be realized during the first 18 months of ownership. Our capital allocation priorities remain debt reduction in support of the dividend. We will maintain a disciplined approach to leverage. Any near-term transaction must meet rigorous financial and strategic criteria and be leverage neutral.

Let me close with three key takeaways. First, our established categories are stabilizing and generating meaningful cash flow, providing a strong foundation for the company. Second, our cost actions are expanding earnings power and cash flow, making ACCO Brands leaner, more resilient and better positioned for the future. Third, we are building a scaled technology peripherals platform across Kensington, EPOS, PowerA and Trust in categories with significant long-term growth and earnings potential. As market conditions improve and hardware costs normalize, we believe we are well positioned to accelerate performance.

I am confident in our strategy, encouraged by our progress and energized by the opportunities ahead. With that, let me turn the call over to Deb, our Chief Financial Officer, who will review the financial results and our outlook.

Deborah OConnor

Thank you, Tom, and good morning, everyone. We delivered third quarter sales in line with outlook. EPS was greater than our outlook due to the tariff refund as underlying adjusted EPS was at the low end of our guidance. Soft market conditions in several of our categories continued with the timing and mix of sales negatively impacting our margin in the quarter. Our cost management initiatives remain in place with good controls on our spend. During the quarter, we received $21 million in cash tariff refunds. These refunds increased our gross margin rate by 520 basis points, improved adjusted operating income by $15 million and EPS by $0.11. This week, we received almost $5 million in additional tariff refunds but have not included them in our outlook.

In the fourth quarter, we acquired Trust, a European-centric technology peripherals company, which generates approximately $100 million in annual revenue. Trust has a broad assortment in computer and gaming accessories. We expect the acquisition to be modestly accretive to EPS in the first 12 months with a seasonally strong fourth quarter. We also expect to realize $5 million to $8 million in synergies within the first 18 months of closing.

Turning to our third quarter results. Reported sales declined 1%, while comparable sales decreased nearly 6%. The decline in the quarter was primarily driven by industry headwinds across technology peripherals, which were partially offset by growth from the EPOS acquisition and favorable foreign exchange. Adjusted gross profit increased 8% to $136 million and adjusted gross margin expanded 290 basis points to 35.9%. The tariff refunds increased the margin rate, which more than offset unfavorable product and customer mix. Our quarterly margin rate was impacted by the disruption from last year's tariff and the timing of other associated costs as well as the lag in our pricing initiatives.

Our rate on a year-to-date basis is more in line with our historical trends, and we anticipate an improved rate in the fourth quarter. Adjusted SG&A expense was $89 million, a modest increase to the prior year, reflecting the addition of EPOS and higher incentive compensation expense. Importantly, our disciplined cost management has offset inflationary pressures. Our cost savings program delivered more than $10 million of savings in the quarter, bringing our year-to-date savings to over $30 million.

Adjusted operating income increased to $48 million as tariff refunds and cost savings more than offset the impact of a lower gross margin rate as well as fixed cost deleveraging from organic volumes.

I'll now turn to our third quarter segment performance. In the Americas, reported sales declined 3% and comparable sales decreased 6%. The comparable sales decline reflects lower demand for technology peripherals as well as customer timing and product mix. A highlight is that North America back-to-school sales increased mid-single digits for the full season, and we gained share in the note-taking category. Americas adjusted operating income increased to $38 million, and the adjusted operating margin rate expanded 290 basis points to 17.3%. This includes the benefit from tariff refunds. As mentioned previously, the decline in the underlying margin rate reflects timing and mix issues. Strategic pricing actions have been implemented, which will benefit future quarters. We maintained rigorous cost controls throughout the segment.

In the International segment, reported sales increased 3%, while comparable sales declined 6%. The EPOS acquisition drove reported growth, while the comparable sales decline reflected lower technology peripheral sales and an improved rate of decline in Workspace Solutions. International adjusted operating income was $17 million with a margin rate at 10.6%. Both increased versus the prior year, driven by pricing and cost reductions.

Consistent with our normal seasonality, we generally use cash in the first half of the year and generate significant cash flow in the second half of the year. Year-to-date free cash flow was $89 million, an increase of $63 million from the prior year, which includes the $21 million benefit from tariff refunds. The remaining increase reflects improved working capital and disciplined spending. We ended the quarter with an unusually high cash balance of $175 million, which included the funds to purchase Trust on October 1. During the quarter, we returned $7 million to shareholders through dividends. We ended the quarter with approximately $254 million of available borrowing capacity under our revolver and a consolidated leverage ratio of 3.6x, below our debt covenant of 4.25x.

Turning to our outlook. Our underlying operations continue to perform in line with our expectations. We are raising our 2026 full year outlook to reflect the impact of tariff refunds and the Trust acquisition. We now expect reported sales growth of 4% to 6% and adjusted EPS of $0.98 to $1.02. We expect free cash flow to be approximately $100 million and to end the year with a consolidated leverage ratio of approximately 3.5x. While the near-term demand environment remains constrained in parts of our portfolio, we remain confident in our long-term outlook. With our established brands, broader global channels and a more efficient operating platform, we believe ACCO Brands is well positioned to capitalize as markets improve. Now let's move on to Q&A, where Tom and I will be happy to answer your questions. Operator?

Operator

[Operator Instructions] Your first question is from the line of Joe Gomes with NOBLE Capital.

Preguntas y respuestas

Joseph Gomes

I want to start off with the holiday season here for the tech and gaming products. And just wondering what gives you confidence there? What are your concerns there? At what point here, we're already through October, do you get a clear idea of how that season is going to actually play out?

Thomas Tedford

Yes, Joe, good question. So, first, let me just talk a little bit about our concerns, which we mentioned in our prepared remarks. We believe that, particularly in the U.S., the consumer environment is constrained, right? Discretionary spending is down -- and obviously, gaming accessories are discretionary. As we go into holiday, there are some macro trends that are favorable for us, including some nice game releases, most notably the GTA VI release that is anticipated in November. So, it's early in terms of sellout. Our position is about as we anticipated in terms of retail with the number of peg positions that we've earned with our new product releases. So, we're cautiously optimistic that it's going to perform to our expectations, but it's still early. And a lot of it will depend on sell-through and POS, and we really won't know that until after the quarter ends.

Joseph Gomes

Okay. And with the back-to-school, sound a little -- maybe a little better than originally anticipated. Where were the ending inventory levels at retailers? Would you say that they're where you expected, lower or better or higher than expected? So, we have a little idea of what things might look like as we start to turn the page into '27.

Thomas Tedford

Sure. So, let me comment on back-to-school first, and then we'll talk a little bit about inventory. Really pleased with the season overall. Mexico was our shining star, their back-to-school season, our business was up almost 20%. But both in the U.S. and Canada, our business has performed well, up mid-single digits. And all of our back-to-school brands grew this year, and our brands took market share. So, we had what we would determine as an exceptional back-to-school season. Our inventory positions that we get visibility to with the large retailers here in the U.S., they exited the season essentially in line with their expectations. We're in the season in which we present our assortments for 2027 here in the U.S. And so, we're getting feedback now. It's a bit early for us to talk about what positions we earned, what positions are potentially at risk. But we feel really good about our season. We feel good about the retailers' inventory positions in our categories, and we're optimistic about next year.

Joseph Gomes

Great. And one more, if I may. Fourth quarter free cash flow, I mean, you talked about year-to-date, it's been, I think, $89 million and the goal is $100 million. It doesn't seem like -- it seems like that's a little muted. Just maybe you could remind us, I know, obviously, it's a second half story every year for free cash flow. This fourth quarter, is it a little bit less than historically when you look at the overall for the year? Or is that more in line?

Deborah OConnor

Yes. Good question, Joe. I think we looked at the fourth quarter this year with a conservative view, quite frankly, just given the integrations that we're doing and some of the restructuring and the uncertainty on some of our working capital items. But generally, it's a little bit lower, it's a little more muted than what we've seen historically. But like I said, I think we went into it with a pretty conservative view.

Operator

Your next question is from the line of Greg Burns with Sidoti & Company.

Gregory Burns

You mentioned the rate of decline in the Workspace Solutions improving. How much was it down this quarter?

Thomas Tedford

Yes. So, first, we have seen moderation from Workspace Solutions, and that wasn't just by accident, right? Our team has done a really nice job of protecting market shares, gaining listings, introducing new products really across the globe. Really pleased, in particular, with our European colleagues and the new product development work that they've done over the last couple of years and its contributions to revenue. In fact, in Europe, our largest brand, Leitz, is essentially flat year-to-date, which is almost exclusively in our Workspace Solutions categories.

So, we're doing a really nice job organically of the work that needed to take place to ensure that our business performed better than it has historically. It's down low single digits really across the globe. It's different by market and different by category. We have some categories that are actually up this year in Workspace Solutions. So, it's really a good trend to see, and I'm excited about the future.

Gregory Burns

Could you just maybe give us more detail on that -- like how much the declining categories, what percent of that business of that 40% is in declining categories? And what percent of that business is in those more defensible categories like Leitz or maybe some of these others that are actually growing? Just trying to get a sense of the trajectory of the overall segment.

Thomas Tedford

Yes. That's a little bit more of a difficult question to answer. I would anticipate next year, as we think about looking ahead, the work that we're doing to continue to add new products into the portfolio in key categories like wellness and ergonomics are going to offset some of the headwinds that we see in some of our paper-based product categories. But even those this year, Greg, performed quite well. We saw, for example, stapling is roughly flat year-to-date in sales across the globe.

So, it depends on the year, it depends on our market position. It depends on our listings. It depends on what we've gained in category reviews. So, it's a little bit of a difficult answer to give you. But I can tell you the work that we're doing is shifting more of our focus to categories like ergonomics and wellness and lamination, all of which are showing good signs of growth, not only internally at ACCO Brands but in the market.

Gregory Burns

Okay. And then the tech peripherals category, could you give us how much that was down this quarter and then by category, by gaming and by computer?

Thomas Tedford

Sure. Yes, it was down -- unfortunately, it was down low double digits in the global business, and they were about down the same. So, gaming and enterprise products were down about the same, but they have very different drivers.

Our business in gaming is largely dependent on consoles. Console demand has been muted pretty significantly this year. Switch 2 has underperformed expectations in the market. And so, we're optimistic as we look ahead that the adoption of Switch 2 will improve. We got new console releases scheduled for the next 2 years, and we have much better gaming titles that are being introduced this holiday season. So, we're optimistic that the rate of decline will improve in Q4 and 2027 in gaming.

In technology peripherals for computer accessories, it's really a story of laptops, right? Global laptop sales are down 20%. We tend to attach more to new laptop deployments than perhaps others. And that's really been an issue all year for us. It's muted demand for our products. And as that improves, obviously, demand for our products should follow.

Operator

Your next question is from the line of Kevin Steinke from Barrington Research Associates.

Kevin Steinke

I wanted to start out by asking just about the technology accessories acquisitions, peripherals acquisitions you've made. You've done EPOS and Trust now. In your earnings release, you mentioned that you now have a scaled platform and that your focus is on integrating the brands. So, do you feel like you have the footprint you need now in the technology peripheral space? Or are you going to still be looking to add potentially through more acquisitions?

Thomas Tedford

Yes, Kevin, thank you for the question. We are excited to add EPOS and Trust into the portfolio. They address a couple of strategic weaknesses in our legacy product assortment. First, EPOS is premium audio, which the Kensington portfolio just did not offer. And we thought that, that was an important product category to round out our enterprise assortment. So, that was the strategic rationale behind EPOS.

As we look at Trust, that enables us to really broaden our channel approach in gaming and computer accessories. Our computer accessories is predominantly in enterprise deployments and our gaming assortment is predominantly in the U.S. and predominantly through mass retail. So, it is a channel diversity play for us. And so, we think with the additional categories and additional channels that we've acquired and additional concentration of sales in different markets outside of the U.S., we think it gives us a scalable platform that's balanced from a product and channel perspective globally. And that was really the intent.

As it relates to future acquisitions, I think we'll be opportunistic. We will look at those, but they do have to meet very rigorous, both strategic and financial rationale. And candidly, we have some work to do to finalize the integration of EPOS and then complete the integration of Trust. So, we've got plenty of work sitting in front of us. But we will look if there's something that is available, and it's hard to commit to if there will be or when it might present itself, but we'll certainly look opportunistically in the future.

Kevin Steinke

Okay. Great. That makes sense. And you touched on it, but when you think about technology peripherals and potentially hardware costs normalizing, do you have a line of sight into that? Or any thoughts on when the market starts to normalize a bit?

Thomas Tedford

Yes. We get data from external sources that we trust and we feel confident in and the future-looking data suggests that the trends improve throughout 2027. And while that's encouraging, that's not going to be our only source of growth opportunities. We're working hard to leverage the additional capabilities that we've acquired through the two companies in 2026. We think there's some significant growth synergy opportunities ahead as we look at the expansion of Trust globally, the co-selling of EPOS and Kensington to enterprise customers. So, we're going to leverage things that we can control to drive growth in 2027. And hopefully, the market backdrop will improve.

Kevin Steinke

Okay. And then I wanted to just maybe delve a little bit more into the gross margin, excluding the tariff refund, I think you said tariff refund was a benefit of 520 basis points. And you had mentioned unfavorable product and customer mix. So, just any more color on that. And I think you mentioned you expect improvement in the fourth quarter.

Deborah OConnor

That's right. That's right. I think with the tariffs last year and all the disruptions in the second and third quarter, we've had some ups and downs, I guess, I would say. And if you look at the year-to-date, it's much better than what the quarter was. And the single biggest issue really was our customer and product mix, which we do see improving in the fourth quarter, which should raise that margin rate. We're also still seeing some fixed cost deleveraging because our organic volumes are down. And it's been a bit of a promotional environment for some of our categories in the quarter. So, we're expecting it to get better year-to-date, but better than the quarter and get back to more historical rates.

Operator

Your next question is from the line of William Reuter with Bank of America.

William Reuter

My first question, I think there continue to be challenges with chip shortages. Are you experiencing this? I guess, do you anticipate potentially having any supply chain disruption if demand surrounding Grand Theft Auto VI launch is robust?

Thomas Tedford

It's a good question, Bill. Our supply chain teams and commercial teams aligned to forecast. And we think that the good work that they've done and our work with our suppliers have put us in a really good position, better than competitive position in terms of chip availability. So, we don't anticipate any issues even with potential increased demand really through the next few quarters. We're in a good position.

William Reuter

Good to hear. And then, Deb, you had mentioned some deleveraging of fixed costs due to volume declines. I know that there is such a breadth of products that trying to look at volume versus price is a little bit challenging. But is there any context you can provide for what price did to your revenue in the quarter?

Deborah OConnor

Yes. I think we had a couple of points of price. As we look out, we're continuing to look at the cost environment and just what's happening because I think as you know better than me, all companies are struggling with where costs are going to go in the near term. But we have priced appropriately. We still have some to go, and I'd say it's a couple of percent.

William Reuter

Got it. So, a couple of percent in total, if I were to look at the benefit to the quarter?

Deborah OConnor

Yes, the year-to-date more or less.

William Reuter

Got it. I guess just lastly, and this is a counterpoint to my first question, but GTA VI has been delayed multiple times. If that were to be delayed into very close to the holiday season, do you think that your earnings would be at significant risk?

Thomas Tedford

I don't. We've got pretty good line of sight into October. There's certainly some revenue risk, but I think the revenue that we are expecting from the GTA VI launch is back half of the quarter dependent based on what we don't see, meaning we have to have strong POS, and we're talking weeks, Bill, not months. And so, we've sold in a big portion of what the initial steps will be, and it will be a POS-driven last few weeks of the year. So, while we're excited about it, while we think it's important, particularly to build momentum in 2027, I don't see material risk to the quarter if it's delayed or it under-indexes expectations.

Operator

This concludes our Q&A. I will now turn the call back to Tom Tedford for closing remarks.

Thomas Tedford

Thank you, everyone, for joining us. Our third quarter results were in line with our outlook and our priorities remain clear: integrate EPOS and Trust, deliver our cost and synergy commitments and reduce debt. Continued cost discipline and productivity improvements position us to deliver improved profits and cash flow.

With a streamlined operating structure and leading brands, we have a strong platform to generate free cash flow while repositioning ACCO Brands toward faster-growing technology peripheral categories. I want to thank the ACCO Brands team for its dedication and good work. We appreciate your interest in ACCO Brands, and I look forward to speaking with you when we report our fourth quarter results in February.

Operator

This concludes today's call. Thank you for attending. You may now disconnect.