ACCOブランズ 2026年第3四半期決算説明会：関税還付が業績見通しを押し上げ

主要なポイント

• ACCOブランズが発表した2026年第3四半期売上高は前年同期比1%減となり、主にテクノロジー周辺機器の需要低迷により比較可能売上高は6%近く減少しました。
• 調整後売上総利益は8%増の1億3,600万ドルとなり、調整後売上総利益率は290ベーシスポイント（bp）拡大して35.9%となりました。同社によると、2,100万ドルの関税還付金が売上総利益率を520 bp、調整後EPSを0.11ドル押し上げました。
• 年初来のフリーキャッシュフローは、2,100万ドルの関税還付による恩恵を含め、前年同期比6,300万ドル増の8,900万ドルに達しました。ACCOの当四半期末時点の連結レバレッジ比率は3.6倍でした。
• 経営陣は、関税還付金およびTrustの買収を反映し、2026年通期の売上高成長率（報告ベース）の見通しを4%〜6%、調整後EPSの見通しを0.98ドル〜1.02ドルへと上方修正しました。
• テクノロジー周辺機器は世界全体で10%台前半の減少となり、ゲーミング用およびコンピューター用アクセサリーが同程度のペースで減少しました。対照的に、北米のバック・トゥ・スクール（新学期商戦）売上高は1桁台半ばの増加となり、メキシコは20%近く成長しました。
• Trustの買収により、ACCOのテクノロジー周辺機器プラットフォームはプロフォーマ年間売上高で約5億ドル（将来の売上高の約30%に相当）規模に拡大します。経営陣は18か月以内に500万ドル〜800万ドルのTrustのシナジー効果を見込んでいます。

主要財務データ

事業および業績の動向

テクノロジー周辺機器

テクノロジー周辺機器の世界売上高は10%台前半の減少となり、ゲーミング用および企業向けコンピューター用アクセサリーがほぼ同程度減少しました。経営陣はゲーミングの低迷について、ゲーム機需要の鈍化と控えめな選択的支出が原因であると説明しました。コンピューター用アクセサリーはノートPC導入台数の減少による影響を受け、経営陣は世界全体のノートPC売上高が20%減少したことを挙げました。

ACCOは10月1日にTrustの買収を完了しました。Trustは年間約1億ドルの売上高を誇り、欧州および中南米全域でコンピューターおよびゲーミング用アクセサリーを販売しています。経営陣は、本買収が最初の12か月間にEPSを若干押し上げると見込んでいます。

Kensington、EPOS、PowerA、Trustを合わせたプロフォーマ年間売上高は5億ドル近くに達すると予想されています。ACCOは、このプラットフォームにより企業向け、小売り、Eコマースなどのチャネルへの露出が拡大すると述べています。長期的には、経営陣はテクノロジー周辺機器事業が1桁台半ばの成長を達成すると見込んでいます。

EPOSは引き続き経営陣の予想通りの業績を維持しました。同社製品は現在、米国およびEMEAにおいてKensington製品とともに販売されており、初期のクロスセルの成果が報告されています。ACCOは、EPOSによる年算コスト削減額が2026年に600万ドル、2027年末までに約1,500万ドルに達すると見込んでいます。

ラーニング＆クリエイティブ

ラーニング＆クリエイティブ部門は、プロフォーマ年算売上高の約30%を占めています。北米におけるバック・トゥ・スクール商戦全体の売上高は1桁台半ばの増加となり、ノート関連製品のシェアが拡大しました。メキシコは20%近く増加し、経営陣はブラジルでも初期の改善が見られたと言及しました。

経営陣によると、小売業者は概ね想定通りの在庫水準で米国のバック・トゥ・スクール商戦を終えました。ACCOは現在、2027年の商品ラインナップを小売業者に提案しています。

ワークスペース・ソリューション

ワークスペース・ソリューション部門は、プロフォーマ年算売上高の約40%を占めています。売上高の減少ペースは和らぎ、世界全体では1桁台前半の減少となりました。ACCOの欧州最大のブランドであるLeitzの年初来売上高は前年同期並みとなり、世界全体のステープラー（ホッチキス）売上高もほぼ横ばいでした。

同社は、人間工学（エルゴノミクス）、ウェルネス、ラミネート加工など、より高い成長を示している隣接カテゴリーへとリソースをシフトさせています。SKUの適正化、価格設定、コスト管理が引き続き同事業の戦略の中核となっています。

地域別業績

南北アメリカ地域の報告売上高は3%減少、比較可能売上高は6%減少しました。調整後営業利益は関税還付の利益を含めて3,800万ドルに増加し、調整後営業利益率は290 bp拡大して17.3%となりました。

インターナショナル（その他の地域）の報告売上高はEPOSおよび好影響を及ぼした為替に支えられて3%増加したものの、比較可能売上高は6%減少しました。調整後営業利益は価格改定とコスト削減に支えられ1,700万ドルに増加し、利益率は10.6%に達しました。

経営陣のガイダンス

ACCOは関税還付金とTrustの買収を織り込み、2026年通期の業績見通しを上方修正しました。

同社は決算発表の週に約500万ドルの追加関税還付金を受け取りましたが、これらを業績見通しには含めませんでした。

経営陣は、顧客および製品ミックスが正常化することから、第4四半期の売上総利益率が第3四半期から改善すると見込んでいます。同社は複数年で1億ドルを削減するコスト削減目標に向けて順調に進展しています。

リスクおよび注視事項

• 消費者の選択的支出が引き続き抑制されており、ホリデーシーズン中のゲーミング用アクセサリー需要に不透明感をもたらしています。
• ハードウェアコストの上昇とメモリーの供給制限がコンピューター用アクセサリーの購入に影響を与えているほか、企業の予算はAI分野へと優先順位がシフトしています。
• オーガニック数量の減少が固定費の非効率化を引き起こしており、一部のカテゴリーでは第3四半期により活発な販促環境に直面しました。
• 第4四半期のフリーキャッシュフローは例年のパターンを下回る見込みです。経営陣は統合活動、事業再編、および運転資本の不確実性を理由として挙げています。
• ノートPC需要のタイミングとペース、ゲーム機の普及、ハードウェアコストの正常化は、テクノロジー周辺機器の回復に向けた重要な変動要因となっています。
• ACCOはEPOSおよびTrustの統合を進めており、短期的には事業執行やキャッシュフローのタイミングに影響を与える可能性があります。

アナリスト質疑応答の要点

経営陣は、ホリデーシーズンのゲーミング実績は引き続き小売店でのセルスルー（実売）およびPOS動向に依存していると述べました。『グランド・セフト・オートVI』が潜在的なカタリストとして挙げられたものの、初期の製品セルイン（出荷）の大部分は既に完了しているため、発売の遅れや予想を下回る立ち上がりが当四半期に重大なリスクをもたらすことはないとACCOは見込んでいます。

ACCOは、自社のサプライチェーンは潜在的なゲーミング需要に対応できる十分な体制が整っており、今後数四半期にわたりチップの調達問題は発生しないと予想していると述べました。

経営陣が確認した外部データによると、テクノロジーハードウェアの動向は2027年を通じて改善する可能性があると示唆されています。ただし、同社はTrustの世界展開や企業顧客向けへのEPOSおよびKensingtonのクロスセルなど、自らコントロール可能な要因に頼る方針です。

経営陣は今後の買収について機会主義的（オポチュニスティック）に行うと説明しました。当面の優先事項はEPOSおよびTrustの統合完了であり、短期的な取引については厳しい戦略的・財務的基準を満たし、レバレッジ中立的である必要があります。

決算説明会文字起こし全文

決算説明会の完全なトランスクリプト

経営陣による説明

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.

質疑応答

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.