哈德森科技 (HDSN) 2026财年第三季度业绩电话会议：价格压力拖累营收

核心要点

• 2026财年第三季度营收同比下降20%至5940万美元，反映出销量下降9%以及平均售价下降17%。
• 毛利率为25%，低于2025财年第三季度的32%，但好于管理层预期，原因是Hudson比起销量优先考虑盈利性销售。
• 净利润从去年同期的1240万美元（即稀释后每股收益0.27美元）下降至200万美元（即稀释后每股收益0.05美元）。
• Hudson本季度结束时无债务，持有现金3530万美元，较2026年6月30日增加1000万美元。业务投资仍是近期的资本分配重点。
• 管理层重申了2026财年毛利率在20%低至中段区间的目标，并预计2027年制冷剂价格将与2026年基本保持一致。
• 今年迄今销量增长9%，而美国国防后勤局（DLA）合同在第三季度创造了1100万美元的营收。

核心财务业绩

Hudson表示，第三季度营收和销量低于预期，原因是充足的渠道库存继续压制HFC制冷剂价格。公司有意减少了对价格敏感型销售的敞口，转而专注于利润率更高的客户和产品。

业务与运营表现

根据美国国家环境保护局（EPA）的最新可用数据，2025年报告的美国HFC库存同比下降3%。自2022年《AIM法案》生效至2025年，报告的HFC总库存下降了约27%。不过，管理层警示称，在2029年下一阶段削减之前，目前的渠道库存水平可能继续抑制回收制冷剂的价格和需求。

Hudson与Icorium签署了一项联合开发协议，合作研发用于分离复杂混合制冷剂（包括下一代混合物和共沸物）的技术。如果商业化成功，管理层预计该技术将增加可回收产品数量，减少销毁量和库存周转天数，提高营运资金效率，并降低对原生制冷剂的依赖。

2026年8月，Hudson再次获得价值2.1亿美元的DLA合同。该协议为期五年，截至2031年7月，并包含延长五年至2036年7月的期权。

公司还在继续优化其D365 ERP平台。第三季度ERP费用较第二季度下降50%，但ERP成本、新聘人员和咨询费用仍推高了销售、一般及行政费用。

管理层表示服务业务已满负荷运转。Hudson正在寻求战略招聘和合作机会以扩展该领域，但报告本季度没有任何收购方面的进展。

管理层业绩指引

Hudson重申了2026财年毛利率在20%低至中段区间的目标。管理层表示，制冷剂价格在2026年趋于稳定，目前预计2027年的价格将与2026年水平大致持平。

公司计划优先投资于分离技术、设施、运营效率、人才引进和市场开发。尽管Hudson今年迄今已回购了250万美元的股票，但在第三季度没有进行任何回购，并表示当前未在回购股票，因为业务投资仍是近期的首要任务。

风险与关注事项

• 充足的HFC渠道库存继续给价格带来压力，尤其是410A制冷剂。
• 各市场的客户需求平淡，其中住宅和轻型商业应用领域尤为疲软，部分原因是通货膨胀。
• 管理层指出，非法制冷剂进口仍是行业性问题，本季度尚无新的执法进展可供报告。
• Icorium分离技术能否成功商业化仍存在不确定性。
• ERP优化、人员扩充及咨询费用持续影响运营成本。
• 随着行业临近2029年HFC阶段性削减期，渠道库存可能会抑制回收制冷剂的需求。

分析师问答环节亮点

管理层确认，第三季度销量下降9%是出于产品组合策略的有意选择，而非全行业收缩或市场份额丢失。Hudson专注于寻求长期合作关系的核心客户，而非价格驱动型买家。回收制冷剂销量的增长率据称与去年大致相同。

在HFC供需方面，管理层认为EPA模型可能低估了来自数据中心以及含有HFC成分的HFO混合物（包括513、448和449）的需求。然而，公司也承认预测未来多年的HFC库存存在难度。

Hudson还强调了加利福尼亚州和纽约州将于2027年1月生效的针对某些汽车应用领域的法规可能带来的回收制冷剂需求。

业绩电话会议完整文字记录

完整财报电话会议逐字稿

管理层陈述

Operator

Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Hudson Technologies Third Quarter 2026 Earnings Conference Call. [Operator Instructions]

At this time, it is my pleasure to turn the floor over to your host for today, Jennifer Belodeau of IMS Investor Relations. Please go ahead. The floor is yours.

Jennifer Belodeau

Thank you. Good evening, and welcome to our conference call to discuss Hudson Technologies' financial results for the third quarter of 2026.

On the call today are Ken Gaglione, President and Chief Executive Officer; and Brian Bertaux, CFO.

I'll now take a moment to read the safe harbor statement. During the course of this conference call, we will make certain forward-looking statements. All statements that address expectations, opinions or predictions about the future are forward-looking statements. Although they reflect our current expectations and are based on our best view of the industry and of our businesses as we see them today, they are not guarantees of future performance.

Please understand that these statements involve a number of risks and assumptions. And since those elements can change and in certain cases are not within our control, we would ask that you consider and interpret them in that light. We urge you to review Hudson's most recent Form 10-K and other subsequent SEC filings for a discussion of the principal risks and uncertainties that affect our business and our performance and of the factors that could cause our actual results to differ materially.

With that out of the way, I'll turn the call over to Ken Gaglione.

Kenneth Gaglione

Good evening, and thank you for joining us to review our third quarter results and the progress we are making to position Hudson for sustained long-term growth. Third quarter revenue and volume fell below expectations as ample channel inventory kept HFC market prices low.

In this soft pricing environment, Hudson elected to concentrate on profitable sales and cost reductions to deliver gross margin that exceeded expectations. I am pleased with our strong 9% year-to-date sales volume increases and meaningful progress made on strategic initiatives designed to strengthen margins, expand capabilities and create shareholder value.

Of note, this period, the EPA released data showing that U.S. HFC inventory declined 3% year-over-year in 2025, the latest data available. Although the channel inventory decline was less than expected, and we believe it is a meaningful contributing factor in the continued weakness in 410A pricing, the long-term trend remains clear. From 2022, when the AIM Act took effect through 2025, reported total HFC inventories have declined approximately 27% and reclamation is expected to become an increasingly important domestic source of refrigerant supply.

At current levels, channel inventories could continue to moderate pricing and demand for reclaimed refrigerant as the industry approaches the next phase down in 2029. However, we also see several factors that may create demand beyond earlier projections, including the continued use of HFC components in certain next-generation HFO blends. Opportunities in new markets such as data centers and the potential for future adjustments to tighten the HFC allowance framework to keep the AIMS (sic) [ AIM ] Act phasedown objectives on track.

Additionally, certain state policies are creating early demand for reclaimed product. For example, both California and New York have regulations taking effect in January 2027 that require the use of certified reclaimed refrigerant in certain automotive applications.

We will continue to take advantage of these and other opportunities as early adopters prepare for the 2029 phase down. As noted separately, we signed a joint development agreement during the quarter with Icorium, a Kansas-based company specializing in next-generation technology for mixed refrigerant separation.

The agreement gives Hudson dedicated access to advanced engineering resources and technology, first-mover advantages during the initial commercialization period and creates a path to expand our separation capabilities and capacity. This patented extractive distillation technology is expected to complement our existing fractional distillation systems by processing complex refrigerant mixtures, including those difficult next-generation blends and azeotropes with greater speed, recovery and efficiency.

If successfully commercialized, this technology will help convert more recovered refrigerant into salable product, reduce destruction and inventory days on hand, improve working capital efficiency and lower our reliance on virgin refrigerant. Because the technology enables the separation of mixed refrigerants, it may also make refrigerant recovery more convenient and economical for contractors who will be able to combine the refrigerants they recover into one cylinder rather than sorting by product type into several cylinders.

This small adjustment can have a big impact and help reduce the friction at the point of recovery and support higher industry recovery rates. We believe the broader industry can benefit from this partnership while also strengthening Hudson's cost position and enabling us to establish a differentiated technology-enabled platform for refrigerant recovery, purification and separation services.

Also noteworthy, in August 2026, Hudson was reawarded the $210 million DLA contract. The award extends this important strategic relationship for 5 years through July 2031 with the opportunity for an additional 5-year extension through July 2036. During the third quarter, the DLA contract contributed $11 million in revenue.

We are continuing to optimize our D365 ERP platform implementation and strengthen the operating discipline, data visibility, inventory controls and decision-making capabilities it supports. Together with broader process and facility improvements, these efforts are designed to simplify workflows, increase productivity, reduce costs and create a more scalable operating platform for the future.

Our commercial focus will remain on increasing the value of every pound we sell through a stronger product mix, disciplined pricing and growth in higher-value reclaimed and specialty refrigerants to support core customer requirements. This approach allowed us to strengthen our cash position in the quarter, providing us the financial flexibility to continue investing in our strategic priorities.

As we move forward through the fourth quarter and prepare for 2027, we will continue strengthening our core capabilities to support the growth strategy. Our priorities include advancing the new separation technology and making disciplined investments in our facilities, operating efficiency, talent acquisition and market development. Taken together, we are managing market forces beyond our control while building a more resilient, higher-value business designed to reduce our future exposure to short-term refrigerant price fluctuations.

Now I'll turn the call over to Brian. Brian, please go ahead.

Brian Bertaux

Thank you, Ken, and good evening. I'll walk through our third quarter 2026 results compared with the same period in 2025. Hudson generated $59.4 million in revenue, a 20% decrease from the 2025 quarter. Sales volume declined 9% and average prices fell 17%. During the prior year quarter, refrigerant prices rose broadly as supply chain constraints accompanied the EPA-mandated shift to next-generation cooling equipment that uses lower GWP refrigerants.

Gross margin was 25%, better than expected, though below the 32% reported in the 2025 quarter given the 2025 AIM Act-related price fluctuations. SG&A expenses increased by $1.9 million to $10.8 million in the 2026 quarter. The increase was driven by 2 factors. First, we continue to incur costs for the new ERP system, although third quarter ERP expense was 50% lower than in the second quarter.

Second, we expanded our team and engaged consultants to support long-term growth. Net interest was essentially flat in the 2026 quarter versus $800,000 of net interest income last year due to a lower cash balance on our debt-free balance sheet. Other income also differed significantly from the prior year quarter.

In 2025, the company recognized $1.6 million of other income from a potential earn-out related to the 2024 acquisition of USA Refrigerants that ultimately did not materialize. Hudson reported net income of $2 million or $0.05 per diluted share compared with $12.4 million or $0.27 per diluted share in the 2025 quarter. The decline in net income reflects continued softness in HFC refrigerant pricing, ERP optimization costs and investments in personnel and initiatives designed to create shareholder value.

The company ended the quarter debt-free with $35.3 million in cash, a $10 million increase from June 30, 2026. Our capital allocation priorities remain organic and strategic growth, complemented by opportunistic share repurchases. We did not repurchase shares during the 2026 third quarter because investing in the business remains our near-term priority. Year-to-date, we have repurchased $2.5 million of shares. We are reaffirming our 2026 gross margin target at the low to mid-20% range.

With that, I'll turn the call back to Ken.

Kenneth Gaglione

Thank you, Brian. While near-term HFC market pricing remains challenging, we are encouraged by the 9% sales volume growth achieved through the first 9 months of 2026, reflecting the strength of our customer relationships and leadership role in the refrigerant marketplace.

As the industry transitions to new lower GWP refrigerants, we believe Hudson's expertise, facilities and national distribution network position us to continue to support customers across the refrigerant life cycle and capture expanding market opportunities. The investments we are making today in technology, operating efficiency and organizational capability are designed to create a more agile, scalable and differentiated company in the future. With a debt-free balance sheet and a clear strategy, we believe Hudson is well positioned to strengthen profitability, generate sustainable cash flows and deliver attractive long-term value for our shareholders.

Operator, we'll now open the call to questions.

Operator

[Operator Instructions] Our first question is coming from Ryan Sigdahl with Craig-Hallum.

分析师问答

Matthew Raab

This is Matthew Raab on for Ryan. So help me understand the volume that you saw in the quarter. Volume has been up 9% year-to-date. It was down 9% in Q3. It seems like you guys leaned into margin a little bit, pulled back on volume. Was that an intentional shift? Or was there something else going on industry-wise?

Kenneth Gaglione

Yes, that's exactly what happened. It's not industry-wide. We intentionally focused more on profitable sales this quarter than volume.

Matthew Raab

And then any color on reclaimed volume within that?

Kenneth Gaglione

Reclaimed volume in the quarter was -- go ahead, Brian.

Brian Bertaux

Reclaimed volume is trending about the same growth as last year.

Matthew Raab

Okay. Understood. And then on the EPA inventory, Ken, you mentioned it ample channel inventory. Any more context you're willing to share at this point? I mean, on our math, it implies demand is down something like 20% in -- or was down 20% in '25. Do you have any view on demand that would change materially from what the EPA has said? Or are there any other factors that we may be missing?

Kenneth Gaglione

Yes. I can offer you a little bit of color on that. We understand the model. There is a model there that suggests excess HFC inventories, but we also think that the EPA model underrepresents some of the additional demand from other markets that they did not consider. For example, the data center market is underrepresented in the EPA data. Some of the HFO blends as well contain a significant amount of HFCs that we think is underrepresented.

For example, 513, 448, 449, those blends contain HFCs that are not factored into the EPA model. So we think that there is an underrepresentation in the EPA model, but we understand that protecting HFC inventories a couple of years out is pretty difficult.

Operator

Our next question is coming from Jason Tilchen with Canaccord Genuity.

Jason Tilchen

Appreciate all the color and prepared remarks. Maybe one for Ken to start. Last quarter, you talked about some of the issues on pricing, not just related to inventories, but also relating to illegal imports and talked about how you were working with peers across the ecosystem to help address this issue. Just wondering if there's any update you can share on either how that has impacted the market over recent months and also those efforts when we may see some of that activity start to be curtailed a bit.

Kenneth Gaglione

Jason, yes, thank you for the question. We still continue to see that kind of activity, although we have nothing new to report for the quarter. No new developments with respect to enforcement that I'm aware of, that we're aware of. However, we do know during the quarter that this remains a significant point of attention for certain government bodies. So hopefully, we'll have more to report on that in the next quarter.

Jason Tilchen

Okay. Very helpful. And last quarter, you also talked about some of the investments you were making across the business to help diversify away from some of that spot exposure. Just maybe if you could talk about specifically on the services side. I think there was a hire made for a services manager recently. If you could just talk to some of the opportunities that you're particularly focused on in that area and how those efforts have trended throughout the quarter and into Q4.

Kenneth Gaglione

All right. Thank you. So yes, we continue to focus on services. And I think I indicated previously that we are basically at capacity with our services business. So we are looking to make strategic hires. We have seen a lot of very great opportunities in the quarter that we capitalized on, and we continue to look for new collaboration opportunities. I don't have anything to report in terms of acquisitions right now, but the collaboration side is developing well.

Operator

[Operator Instructions] Our next question is coming from Josh Nichols with B. Riley Securities.

Matthew Maus

This is Matthew on for Josh. To start off, you described customer demand as muted. Is that mostly residential and light commercial? Or are you seeing it in commercial refrigeration and your direct accounts, too?

Kenneth Gaglione

We're seeing it pretty much across the board, but I would say most -- I would say more in residential light commercial only because of other market factors like inflation that are dampening demand.

Matthew Maus

Got it. And then in terms of the volume shift not being industry-wide and you just focusing on higher-margin sales, I'm wondering where is the kind of -- in terms of 2027, like what can we expect? Because, I mean, you did like about 25% gross margin this quarter. In terms of next year, I guess, are you expecting to push that a bit more and focus on that for longer? It just seems like more of an unexpected sudden shift.

Kenneth Gaglione

Yes. It's a product mix shift for us. And what we've demonstrated is we have the ability to flex to focus on margin when we need to, when the business requires it. There's no loss in share here or share of demand because there's a certain percentage of our buyers are price buyers. We focus on our core buyers who are more interested in long-term relationships. So going forward, it's not really -- in our view, it's not really a question of sacrificing long-term volume or share of demand. It's simply a question of what's the product mix that we're going to focus on in the quarter.

Matthew Maus

Got it. All right. And then I guess similar to that, in terms of pricing, like realized pricing was down about 17%, as you mentioned. Wondering where pricing -- where was pricing exiting the quarter versus that average during the quarter? And what are you assuming directionally for 2027 as far as you predict?

Kenneth Gaglione

Yes, Brian, why don't you take that one?

Brian Bertaux

Yes. So a couple of things on that. Pricing in the third quarter was very similar to the second quarter. Pricing has stabilized this year. As you recall, we had a tough comp last year because pricing fluctuated. I would tell you right now that we would expect pricing next year to be about the same as 2026.

Matthew Maus

Got it. Okay. That's helpful. Just one last one for me. I mean you guys have plenty of cash, $35 million or so.

Brian Bertaux

This is Brian.

Matthew Maus

You're at $35 million or so of cash. Stock is currently below book. I'm just wondering how are you weighing buybacks against further investment in the business and Icorium heading into the year-end?

Brian Bertaux

Yes. As we noted, we have the opportunity to invest in the business, invest in the long-term strategy and then do share repurchases. And even though the stock is at an attractive price, we've been holding on purchases because we are going to lean into a lot more strategic and operational efficiency growth. So right now, we are not buying shares.

Operator

Ladies and gentlemen, we currently have no further questions in the queue at this time. I will be handing the call back over to Mr. Gaglione, but it appears his line has dropped temporarily. So please give me one moment while we try to reconnect. Once again, apologies, ladies and gentlemen. We appear to be struggling...

Kenneth Gaglione

I can...

Operator

Have we got back you on, Ken?

Kenneth Gaglione

Yes, I'm back on. All right.

Operator

So I was handing the call back to you, sir, for any closing remarks.

Kenneth Gaglione

Okay. Well, first, let me thank everybody. Let me thank our employees for their continued dedication and support to our mission. Our success is driven by our employees, and we genuinely appreciate it. I think the takeaway here is we demonstrated again this quarter that near-term pricing will not change our long-term vision. And I would like to thank our long-standing and new shareholders for their support during the exciting stage of the company's evolution. We look forward to speaking with you again in February to discuss our full year 2026 results. Good night, everyone.

Operator

Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, that will conclude today's call. We thank you for your participation. You may disconnect at this time, and have a great rest of your evening.