Cactus (WHD) Q3 2026 Earnings Call: Backlog Rises as Spoolable Sales Grow

Key Takeaways

• Cactus reported Q3 2026 revenue of $431 million, down 4% sequentially, while adjusted EBITDA remained broadly flat at $132 million.
• Adjusted EBITDA margin rose to 30.6% from 29.5% in Q2, supported by cost control, acquisition synergies, operating mix and stronger spares and repair margins.
• Pressure Control revenue declined 11% sequentially to $305 million as lower Middle East product shipments outweighed increased U.S. sales.
• Spoolable Technologies revenue increased more than 20% sequentially to $127 million. Operating income rose 29%, while adjusted segment EBITDA increased 23%.
• Total backlog reached $615.6 million, up approximately $160 million from Q2. Spoolable backlog nearly doubled, primarily due to Latin American orders.
• Cactus plans to invest approximately $100 million in a Middle East Spoolable Technologies manufacturing facility, with operations expected to begin in 2029.

Key Financial Data

Business and Operating Performance

Pressure Control

Pressure Control revenue fell as reduced Middle East product shipments more than offset increased U.S. activity. Segment operating income increased 4% sequentially, and operating margin improved by approximately three percentage points.

Adjusted segment EBITDA declined $9.8 million, or 10%, but margin increased 40 basis points. Better mix, strong spares and repair profitability, cost controls and synergy realization offset lower operating leverage and reduced tariff refunds.

Cactus received approximately $6 million of tariff refunds during the quarter and said it has collected the vast majority of the refunds it expects to receive.

Cactus International bookings recovered during Q3 after customers reduced inventories in the first half of 2026. Management said the rebound covered multiple Middle Eastern countries, with delivery periods generally ranging from nine to 15 months.

Spoolable Technologies

Spoolable Technologies benefited from stronger domestic activity and continued international expansion. Operating income increased $9.4 million, or 29%, while operating margin rose 230 basis points. Adjusted segment EBITDA increased $9.8 million, or 23%, with margin expanding 110 basis points.

Management expects non-U.S. sales to represent approximately 20% of 2026 segment revenue, more than double the sub-10% contribution in 2025. The company also expects its first substantial shipments to midstream customers under the newly approved PHMSA exemption process in Q4.

The Baytown expansion is expected to add approximately 20% to the facility’s capacity. Separately, Cactus plans to build a Middle East spoolable pipe plant to establish local production in a region that has represented only about 2% of FlexSteel revenue since the acquisition.

The Middle East facility is expected to cost approximately $100 million and be funded through internally generated cash. Most spending is planned for 2027 and 2028, with operations expected to commence in 2029.

Management Guidance

• Pressure Control revenue: Management expects Q4 revenue to be flat to up from Q3, supported by steady U.S. land rig activity and resilient domestic sales.
• Pressure Control margin: Adjusted EBITDA margin is expected at 23% to 25%, excluding approximately $4 million of stock-based compensation. The anticipated decline reflects the nonrecurrence of tariff recoveries and an unfavorable customer and equipment mix.
• Cactus International: Q4 sales are expected to remain in line with Q3. Management expects 2027 revenue to be broadly flat with 2026, with the second half stronger than the first.
• Spoolable Technologies revenue: Q4 revenue is expected to increase by a low-single-digit percentage sequentially as international strength and large Latin American shipments offset normal North American seasonality.
• Spoolable Technologies margin: Adjusted EBITDA margin is expected at 39% to 41%, excluding approximately $1 million of stock-based compensation.
• Corporate expense: Adjusted corporate EBITDA is expected to be an approximately $6 million charge, excluding $2 million of stock-based compensation.
• Full-year capital expenditure: Cactus raised its 2026 net capital expenditure estimate to approximately $65 million, including long-lead equipment for the Middle East plant and the Baytown expansion.
• Other Q4 assumptions: Management expects an effective tax rate of 24%, an adjusted EPS tax rate of approximately 27%, and depreciation and amortization of about $27 million.

Risks and Areas to Watch

• Cactus continues to pay approximately 75% total tariffs on most goods imported from China, while tariff refund benefits are expected to largely cease.
• Middle East operations have remained largely uninterrupted, but management continues to monitor regional conflict, elevated tensions and Houthi activity.
• Higher input costs could affect the Spoolable Technologies cost structure in 2027.
• Q4 Spoolable Technologies margins may face holiday-related manufacturing inefficiencies despite improved operating leverage.
• Cactus International orders carry delivery periods of nine to 15 months, delaying the revenue impact of the recent bookings recovery.

Analyst Q&A Highlights

Management said the Baytown project will add approximately 20% to existing capacity and described the expansion as material to the long-term Spoolable Technologies revenue opportunity. It also expects international growth to maintain attractive margins because FlexSteel remains differentiated in large-diameter, high-pressure spoolable pipe.

On Cactus International, management said the bookings trough has passed. Order activity recovered significantly in Q3 across several Middle Eastern countries and is expected to continue in Q4 before moving toward a more normal pace in 2027.

Management attributed Q3 Pressure Control margin strength to better-than-expected spares and repair margins and additional synergy realization. The projected Q4 decline to a 23%–25% adjusted EBITDA margin primarily reflects customer mix and the balance between equipment and service revenue.

For U.S. Pressure Control, management expects a stronger market-share position through the end of Q1, based on customer discussions, although it did not quantify the expected change.

Full Earnings Call Transcript

Complete Earnings Call Transcript

Management Remarks

Operator

Good day, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to Cactus Q3 2026 Earnings Call. [Operator Instructions] Please be advised that today's conference call is being recorded.

I would now like to hand the conference over to your first speaker today, Alan Boyd, Treasurer and Director of Corporate Development and Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

Alan Boyd

Thank you, and good morning. We appreciate you joining us on today's call. Our speakers will be Scott Bender, our Chairman and Chief Executive Officer; and Jay Nutt, our Chief Financial Officer. Also joining us today are Joel Bender, President; Steven Bender, Chief Operating Officer and CEO of Spoolable Technologies; Stephen Tadlock, CEO of Cactus International; and William Marsh, our General Counsel.

Please note that any comments we make on today's call regarding projections or expectations for future events are forward-looking statements covered by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act. Forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond our control. These risks and uncertainties can cause actual results to differ materially from our current expectations. We advise listeners to review our earnings release and the risk factors discussed in our filings with the SEC. Any forward-looking statements we make today are only as of today's date, and we undertake no obligation to publicly update or review any forward-looking statements.

In addition, during today's call, we will reference certain non-GAAP financial measures. Reconciliations of these non-GAAP measures to the most directly comparable GAAP measures are included in our earnings release.

With that, I'll turn the call over to Scott.

Scott Bender

Thanks, Alan, and good morning, everyone. Pressure Control sales declined as expected, but bookings accelerated and margins exceeded expectations on improved cost control, synergy realization and strong domestic performance.

Our Spoolable Technologies business grew sales and backlog substantially as international and domestic market momentum continued. Although the global market remains highly dynamic and uncertain, I'm confident that our business, which focuses on differentiated, highly engineered products will continue to outperform.

Some third quarter total company financial highlights include revenue of $431 million, adjusted EBITDA of $132 million, adjusted EBITDA margins of 30.6%. We closed the quarter with a cash balance of $354 million and paid a quarterly dividend of $0.15 per share. Yesterday, we announced that we're planning to construct a Spoolable Technologies manufacturing facility in the Mid East.

I'll now turn the call over to Jay Nutt, our CFO, who will review our financial results. And following his remarks, I'll provide some thoughts on our outlook for the near-term before opening the lines for Q&A. Jay?

Jay Nutt

Thank you, Scott. As Scott noted, total Q3 revenues were $431 million, down 4% sequentially. Total adjusted EBITDA of $132 million was flat from the second quarter despite the lower volume and lower contributions from tariff refunds.

For our Pressure Control segment, revenues of $305 million were down 11% sequentially, driven primarily by lower product shipments in the Middle East, which more than offset an increase in U.S. sales as domestic customers increased activity.

Operating income increased $2.4 million or 4% sequentially, with operating margins increasing approximately 3%. Operating income was reduced by approximately $9 million due to purchase price accounting adjustments that we add back to our adjusted operating results, which declined from $20 million in the second quarter. Adjusted segment EBITDA was $9.8 million or 10% lower sequentially, with margins increasing by 40 basis points.

Margins improved slightly on better mix and strength in spares and repair margins in our Cactus International business, combined with strong cost control and synergy realization, all of which offset lower operating leverage and lower tariff refunds in the quarter.

Our refunds totaled approximately $6 million in the quarter, and we've received the vast majority of the refunds that we anticipate are due.

For our Spoolable Technologies segment, revenues of $127 million increased over 20% sequentially, reflecting expanding domestic activity in a seasonally stronger quarter and continued expansion in international markets.

Operating income increased $9.4 million or 29% sequentially with operating margins increasing 230 basis points. Adjusted segment EBITDA increased $9.8 million or 23% sequentially, while margins increased by 110 basis points as operating leverage improved.

Corporate and other expenses increased by $1.3 million to $9.1 million in Q3, including $600,000 of transaction and integration costs. Adjusted corporate EBITDA moved unfavorably from $5.3 million to $6.1 million of expense on higher personnel expenses.

On a total company basis, third quarter adjusted EBITDA was $132 million, down $800,000 from Q2. Adjusted EBITDA margin for the third quarter improved to 30.6% compared to 29.5% for the second quarter. Adjustments to total company EBITDA during the third quarter included noncash charges of $7.8 million in stock-based compensation, $200,000 of inventory step-up amortization reversal due to purchase price accounting and $600,000 for transaction-related professional fees and $2.8 million of severance, primarily associated with continuing actions to right size the Cactus International organization in support of our previously communicated synergy target.

Total company backlog ended the quarter at $615.6 million, an increase of approximately $160 million from the end of the second quarter. Backlog in Cactus International business increased sequentially as anticipated as certain customers had destocked inventory in the first half of the year and commenced order placements.

Backlog in our spoolable business expanded meaningfully in the third quarter, primarily driven by continued order strength in the LatAm market. As a reminder, backlog does not include any U.S. pressure control contribution.

Depreciation and amortization expense for the third quarter was $26.8 million, which included $200,000 of amortization reversal of the step-up in inventory values resulting from the Cactus International acquisition and a combined $13.6 million of amortization expense related to intangible assets that arose from both the Cactus International and FlexSteel acquisitions.

During the third quarter, the public or Class A ownership of the company averaged and ended the period at 87%.

GAAP net income was $74 million in the third quarter versus $61 million during the second quarter. The increase was largely driven by lower purchase price accounting-related adjustments in the period.

Book tax expense during the third quarter was $21 million, resulting in an effective tax rate of 22%.

Adjusted net income and earnings per share were $78 million and $0.96 per share, respectively, during the third quarter compared to $75 million and $0.93 per share in the second quarter. Adjusted net income for the third quarter was net of a 27% tax rate applied to our adjusted pretax income.

During the quarter, we paid a quarterly dividend of $0.15 per share, resulting in a cash outflow of approximately $12 million, including related distributions to our members.

We ended the quarter with a cash balance of $354 million. This amount is net of $91 million of cash disbursed through accounts payable to finalize the Cactus International legal entity formation transactions with Baker Hughes during the quarter.

We've now concluded all legal entity formations and deferred closing activities related to the Cactus International acquisition.

The quarter end cash balance represented a sequential increase of $79 million, excluding the transaction-related outflows in the period. Net CapEx was $16.1 million during the third quarter of 2026.

In a moment, Scott will give you our fourth quarter operational outlook. Some additional financial considerations when looking ahead to the fourth quarter include an effective tax rate of 24% and an estimated tax rate for adjusted EPS of approximately 27%.

Total depreciation and amortization expense during the fourth quarter is expected to be approximately $27 million. $18 million of the amortization expense is associated with our Pressure Control segment and $9 million is in the Spoolable Technologies segment. These amounts include approximately $10 million of intangible amortization due to purchase price accounting in our Pressure Control segment and $4 million in our Spoolable Technologies segment.

We now expect our full year 2026 net CapEx to be approximately $65 million. The estimate includes the placement of orders for long lead equipment related to the Middle East Spoolable Technologies manufacturing facility and the ongoing Baytown expansion. Scott will describe the Middle East plant initiative in more detail in just a moment.

During the fourth quarter, we'll be making the annual payment related to our tax receivable agreement and related member distributions. The payment and related distributions will be approximately $25 million.

Finally, the Board has approved a quarterly dividend of $0.15 per share, which will be paid in December.

That covers the financial review, and I'll now turn the call back over to Scott.

Scott Bender

Thanks, Jay. I'd like to begin our outlook commentary with an overview of our plan to expand our Spoolable Technologies manufacturing footprint with a facility in the Mid East. There is a substantial market opportunity in the region as the Mid East offers one of the largest potential markets for spoolable pipe where steel pipe currently dominates.

FlexSteel has been successful in cultivating relationships with key customers in the region. While we have had recent success in winning awards, this market remains essentially untapped for us right now, representing only about 2% of revenue since we acquired the business.

In order to drive a step change in our sales in the Mid East, a local manufacturing presence is needed. We expect that the investment required to construct the facility will be approximately $100 million, which we anticipate being funded with internal cash generation. The majority of the capital investment will be split between 2027 and 2028 with a modest amount to be incurred in 2026, as Jay mentioned. We expect that the plant will commence operations in 2029. We provided an indication of our potential long-term revenue impact last quarter, and we'll provide further details regarding the facility as construction progresses.

I will remind you that our FlexSteel product offers customers the largest commercial spoolable pipe diameters, pressure ratings, temperature ratings to meet the wide range of customer needs, and many of our products are already fully qualified by the key customers in the region, providing confidence in our ability to penetrate the market. We're enthusiastic about taking this next step in the evolution of growth for FlexSteel.

I'll now turn to our operational outlook for the fourth quarter. During the fourth quarter, we expect Pressure Control revenue to be flat to up from the third quarter. We expect the domestic U.S. land rig counts will remain steady from today's level through the end of the year, which represents a slightly higher average activity level than seen in the third quarter and should result in resilient domestic revenues despite normal seasonal slowdowns.

We believe that Cactus International sales will remain in line with third quarter levels as we work through existing backlog. Our manufacturing operations in the Mid East have been largely uninterrupted despite the ongoing conflict and increased tensions, and we continue to monitor the situation, including the impacts of the recent Houthi activity.

Adjusted EBITDA margins in our Pressure Control segment are expected to be in the 23% to 25% range in the fourth quarter. This guidance excludes approximately $4 million of stock-based comp expense within the segment.

Margins are expected to decrease primarily due to the nonrecurrence of tariff recovery and will also be unfavorably impacted by customer mix in our Cactus International business.

Looking forward, with the increased pace of order activity in our Cactus International business in the back half of this year, we expect revenue levels for next year to be broadly flat with 2026 with the back half of 2027 being stronger than the first half.

With these orders, our work is accelerating on supply chain-related transformation and the associated cost savings we expect to achieve in the back half of 2027, which will more fully benefit 2028 results. We'll share more detail on these initiatives in the coming quarters.

We also remain encouraged by efforts to diversify sales into regions with a large installed base of legacy Vetco Gray equipment, which we expect to benefit our revenues in 2028. As it relates to our U.S. operations, the tariff situation has remained stable in the past several months, and we continue to pay approximately 75% total tariffs on the import of most of our goods from China.

Shifting to our Spoolable Technologies segment, I remain very pleased with the performance of this business. We expect revenues in the fourth quarter to be up low single digits from the third quarter as typical North American market seasonality is more than offset by continued international strength, benefiting from the timing of several large shipments into Latin America in the fourth quarter.

We expect non-U.S. sales to represent approximately 20% of sales for 2026, more than doubling from sub-10% in 2025. As we previewed on last quarter's call, we achieved a record level of orders in the third quarter and nearly doubled our backlog, which further supports the demand underwriting our plan to expand our Baytown facility.

In the fourth quarter, we also expect to make our first substantial shipments to midstream customers resulting from the newly approved FEMSA exemption process, which fast tracks approvals for larger diameter spoolable pipe and regulated midstream pipelines. We believe we are in the early stages of growth in the market that's been slow to adopt spoolable pipe for these applications.

We expect Spoolable Technologies adjusted EBITDA margins to be approximately 39% to 41% in the fourth quarter, which excludes $1 million of stock-based compensation expense. We project margins to be relatively stable in the fourth quarter as increased operating leverage is offset by higher input costs and typical holiday-related manufacturing inefficiencies. We're closely monitoring elevated input costs that may affect our cost structure next year.

Adjusted corporate EBITDA is expected to be a charge of approximately $6 million in the fourth quarter, which excludes $2 million of stock-based comp.

To close our remarks, I'd like to start by thanking our associates for sustaining such a high level of business performance this year. Both of our segments are undergoing transformational initiatives as we continue the full integration of our Cactus International business while expanding and diversifying the manufacturing footprint of our Spoolable Technologies business, all while safely executing at the high level our customers demand.

The Cactus culture is on display as our domestic business is as resilient and profitable as ever, and we are enthusiastic about the trajectory of midstream spoolable sales to come as the market digests the recent PHMSA ruling.

Our international Pressure Control business is executing well in spite of challenging market conditions brought on by the war and the business is beginning to secure meaningful orders for shipments next year to a transformed supply chain, while our international spoolable technologies business is growing rapidly.

I'm very pleased to begin the journey towards establishing a spoolable manufacturing footprint in the Mid East. As always, we'll continue to operate the business with a focus on safety, returns, margins and customer execution.

With that, I'll turn it back over to the operator, and we can begin Q&A. Operator?

Operator

[Operator Instructions] Our first question comes from the line of Arun Jayaram from JPMorgan Securities.

Question-and-Answer Session

Arun Jayaram

My question is I wanted to see if you can maybe elaborate on how the capacity expansion that you previously announced at Baytown plus this Middle East expansion will support Cactus' ability to drive volumes higher in spoolables. If we look at this year, for example, your revenue in spoolables looks to be up 23% or so. And so, I guess we're just trying to understand as we start thinking about modeling the company over a multiyear basis, what kind of volume growth could we see between this combination of Baytown where I believe you're adding some roof line maybe moving to 3 shifts and then also this Middle East expansion.

Scott Bender

What a very surprising question. So the Baytown expansion, which is currently underway, but not fully realized, will add about 20% to our Baytown capacity. And then if we take that number and divide it -- as I mentioned before, divide it by 0.6, that will give you our total potential revenue capacity or production capacity. So I'm sure you can do that math. But it has a very, very serious impact on our Spoolable Technologies revenue stream.

And I think importantly, although you didn't ask the question, unlike pressure control, the margins are not going to suffer by virtue of being more exposed to international.

Arun Jayaram

Got it. Got it. That's super helpful. Last question for me is I wanted to talk a little bit about your anticipation and where we could start to see a little bit of an order inflection in Cactus International. Obviously, a lot of security challenges kind of near term. But as you think about some of the destocking, when do you expect that to maybe soft where we could start seeing backlog grow in Cactus International?

Scott Bender

So I'll let Tadlock respond to that, if you're already seeing it.

Stephen Tadlock

Yes. So we saw that happen this quarter. So in the Q&A last quarter, I mentioned we've seen a destocking of inventory in the Middle East for the first half of the year, which we believe was driven largely by the conflict and then a strong order activity in years prior. Orders in the first half for that region had been pretty much all services related, so repairs and spares as that took priority for customers. But as we anticipated, we saw a significant recovery this quarter in multiple countries in the Middle East, not just one or two. These orders do have delivery terms of 9 to 15 months depending on what their time line is. But yes, as I said, I think that should continue in Q4 and then hopefully, we're in more of a normal pace in 2027.

Operator

Our next question comes from the line of Derek Podhaizer from Piper Sandler.

Derek Podhaizer

I guess sticking on spoolables first. Just Scott, an interesting comment to Arun's question as far as the margin profile should not suffer by virtue of international exposure. Obviously, this is an incredible growth opportunity for you guys. But maybe you can unpack that for us just a little bit more, just considering international tends to be a lower price environment, but you guys have always historically driven premium margins. So maybe just a little more color on that as far as why you're able to hold the margins that you've been used to with spoolables ever since you bought FlexSteel a few years ago.

Scott Bender

I can probably sum that up by telling you that large diameter, we still are the only spoolable company that can produce large, high-pressure diameter pipe. And so that certainly supports a margin that's consistent with what we see in the North America.

Derek Podhaizer

Got it. Okay. That's helpful. It makes sense. And then just switching over to Pressure Control. Just kind of looking back at the guide, I think you guide third quarter to be around that 23% to 25%. You came in greater than 28%. The 4Q guide went back to that original 3Q effect on the 23%, 25%. So could you just piece it together for us, maybe the drivers behind the big beat for this quarter exceeding 28% but then also why returning back down to the 23% to 25% level?

Scott Bender

Okay. Jay?

Jay Nutt

Yes. The outperformance in Q3, as I mentioned, we had some better-than-anticipated performance on spares and repairs margins, a little bit additional synergy realization accomplished from actions completed in Q2, Derek. Obviously, the tariffs we already knew about when we gave our guidance. Going into Q4, really the customer mix and the equipment versus service mix is the driver of the margin degradation quarter-over-quarter that will take us back to 23% to 25%.

Operator

Our next question comes from the line of Stephen Gengaro with Stifel.

Stephen Gengaro

A couple of things for me. I think the first one, you mentioned the Middle East penetration. And can you talk -- I think you talked about being qualified and having a lot of confidence. Is that process easier for spoolables than it is for the Pressure Control business? I mean I'm just sort of thinking about the traction you're getting there and how to think about the ramp in that market. I mean, clearly, your building facility, you're ultraconfident, but I just wanted to understand that a little better.

Scott Bender

Yes. Well, Stephen, it isn't easy, but we are much, much further along -- it's -- we knew this was coming. And so, we've developed the products and began testing well in advance. Frankly, Baker had relaxed their attention on testing requirements for customers in the Middle East and whereas spoolables did not. So we're -- I think that we'll probably be done -- all the testing is underway and going as planned so that by the end of the first quarter, beginning of the second quarter, it will be done, but we're not seeing any hiccups at all.

Stephen Gengaro

And the other question is on the U.S. pressure control piece. And I know I'm not allowed to ask you specifically about market share anymore. But when you think about the activity levels we've seen in the U.S. market, and we've seen a lot of privates kind of ramp to my knowledge, and I'm hearing some publics are as well. Historically, your share with privates was lower, but I know it improved kind of post-COVID. I'm just curious how we should think about your growth relative to overall market growth, if it's driven by privates.

Scott Bender

Well, everything you said is true. But in conversations with our customers, which is really the best proxy for us, we see that the first quarter is going to be a strong market share quarter for us. So for those of you that are wondering when we stopped reporting market share, if that was sort of foreshadowing decline, the answer is no. And I think that you'll see -- although I can't quantify that for you, I think you'll see an improved market share statistic metric by the end of the first quarter -- through the end of the first quarter.

Stephen Gengaro

Okay. And just a quick follow-up to that. And based on your numbers, clearly, the share hasn't gone down. But the -- you mentioned in the first quarter, assuming based on your history, when you do gain share, it's very sticky. So that's a comment which should hold going forward through the first quarter.

Scott Bender

Yes. Do we have any other questions? If not.

Operator

This ends our question-and-answer session, and we'll turn it back to our speakers for closing remarks.

Scott Bender

Okay. Thanks, everybody, for your attention today. Let me just sum up our conversation, and that is that our Spoolable Technologies business is doing magnificently right now with, I think, some additional products in the pipeline, which I can't really comment on right now, but some exciting news. Cactus International has hit its trough in terms of bookings. And our Pressure Control business in the U.S. has really never performed better than it's performing now despite the impact of these tariffs on our business.

So I thank you for your support and look forward to speaking to you at any time. Thank you. Have a good day.

Operator

Thank you for your participation in today's conference. This does conclude the program, and you may now disconnect.