AirBoss of America Corp. (BOS) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Thank you for standing by. My name is Keith, and I will be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to Q2 2026 Conference Call for AirBoss of America. [Operator Instructions] Thank you. I would now like to turn the call over to Gren Schoch, Chairman and Co-CEO. Please go ahead.

Thank you, operator. Good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining us for the AirBoss Second Quarter Results Conference Call. I'm Gren Schoch, and I'm the Chairman and Co-CEO of AirBoss of America. With me here today are Chris Bitsakakis, President and Co-CEO; Frank Ientile, our CFO; Chris Figel, our EVP and General Counsel. Before we begin, I'd like to remind listeners that our remarks today contain forward-looking statements, including our estimates of future developments. We invite listeners to review risk factors related to our business in our annual information form and our MD&A, both of which are available on SEDAR+ on our corporate website. Also, we'll discuss certain non-GAAP measures, including EBITDA. Reconciliations of these measures are available in our MD&A. And finally, please note that our reporting currency is U.S. dollars. References today will be in U.S. dollars unless we indicate otherwise. With that, I'll turn the call over to Chris for our operational review.

Thank you, Gren, and good morning, everyone. AirBoss continued to build momentum in the second quarter of 2026 with a 3-year high point in quarterly revenue and a year-over-year quarterly gross profit improvement of over $2.5 million. Despite the ongoing economic uncertainty in key markets brought about by tariffs, inflationary pressures and geopolitical developments, the company has stayed focused on continuously adapting to an ever-changing environment. A sustained focus on servicing the needs of existing customers, and the development of new markets and customers while creating flexible supply chains designed to withstand the pressures of changing market conditions, have all contributed to the momentum of the past year. AirBoss Rubber Solutions has been adjusting to the changes in key U.S. markets with the onboarding of new customers, while being forced to defend market share in key market segments due to the competitive challenges related to the weak market conditions. Despite these challenges, AirBoss Rubber Solutions continued to see improvements in both volume and revenue compared to prior quarters with revenue showing a 12-month high and volume showing progressive momentum over 3 consecutive quarters. AirBoss Manufactured Products saw positive traction across both its defense and rubber molded products businesses, with year-over-year quarterly revenue increases of 14%, and year-over-year quarterly gross profit improvements of close to 20%. This revenue performance was bolstered by sales increases in the rubber molded parts business as well as the ongoing deliveries of defense products, including the final delivery of Bandolier on the most recently announced contract. Profitability across the enterprise has been further supported by aggressive efficiency improvements, which include the previously announced overhead improvements and plant consolidation plans. The dedicated focus on revenue growth and efficiency improvements are reflected in the underlying performance of the business. While adjusted EBITDA in Q2 of 2026 was lower by $719,000 than in the prior year quarter, the comparison includes the benefit of a onetime $3.7 million legal settlement recorded in Q2 2025. As the process of improvement never really ends, we continue to look at efficiency improvements and risk mitigation actions. And given the cross-border nature of our operations, management continues to monitor any changes or updates in trade negotiations with the United States. While most products qualify under USMCA/CUSMA, we continue to evaluate and implement contingency plans to mitigate potential impacts, particularly in advance of any future trade negotiations or agreement renegotiations. Despite this environment of continued economic uncertainty, management remains focused on converting key opportunities to support sustainable long-term growth. We currently expect continued volume and margin volatility at ARS for the foreseeable future and through most of 2026, with the timing and magnitude of further recovery subject to general market conditions, geopolitical developments and the potential for additional tariffs, duties or evolving trade restrictions. As we navigate short-term challenges and opportunities, the company's long-term priorities continue to center on the growth of the core Rubber Solutions segment through both inorganic and organic means, as well as the focused targeting of new business in the Manufactured Products group, from onshoring opportunities as well as the prolific growth expected in defense spending around the world. AirBoss will continue to focus on both the short- and long-term priorities, while investing in key innovations related to all core areas of the business. I will now pass the call over to Frank for the financial review.

Thanks, Chris, and good morning, everyone. As a reminder, all dollar amounts presented today are in U.S. dollars except dividends per share, which are in Canadian dollars. Percentage changes compare Q2 of 2026 to Q2 of 2025, unless otherwise noted. To be respectful of your time today, I will aim to be brief in my summary of our Q2 2026 results. Starting from the top line. AirBoss' consolidated net sales for Q2 2026 were $107.9 million, an increase of 9.4% from the prior year. The increase was primarily due to higher sales at Manufactured Products' defense products business and increases in the rubber molded products business, in addition to increased sales at Rubber Solutions across several customer sectors. Consolidated gross profit for Q2 2026 increased by $2.6 million to $18.8 million compared with Q2 of 2025. Gross profit as a percentage of net sales increased to 17.4% for Q2 2026 from 16.4% in Q2 of 2025. The increase in margin percentage was driven primarily by the continued delivery of previously awarded contracts at AMP's defense products business, margin improvements at AMP's rubber molded products business, managing controllable overhead costs and continuous improvement initiatives. Despite higher volumes across several ARS customer sectors, the segment experienced margin contraction due to continued market volatility, economic uncertainty and unfavorable mix. Now turning to our individual segments. Net sales at the AirBoss Rubber Solutions segment for Q2 2026 increased by 10.7% to $56.4 million from $50.9 million in Q2 of 2025. This was due to the improvements across many sectors at ARS despite continued economic headwinds. Volume was up 16.4% with increases across certain sectors. Tolling volume was down 38.1%, while non-tolling volume was up 17.5%. Gross profit at AirBoss Rubber Solutions for Q2 2026 increased to $6.9 million from $6.6 million in Q2 of 2025. The $0.3 million increase was primarily a result of higher non-tolling volume compared to the same period in 2025, partially offset by unfavorable mix and margin pressure. Gross margin percentage decreased to 12.2% of net sales in Q2 2026 from 13% of net sales in Q2 2025. Net sales in the Manufactured Products segment for Q2 2026 increased by 13.9% to $62.7 million from $55 million in Q2 of 2025. This was primarily due to higher sales in the defense products business, driven by deliveries under previously announced contract awards and improved sales in the molded rubber products business. Gross profit at Manufactured Products segment for Q2 2026 increased to $11.9 million from $9.6 million in Q2 of 2025. The $2.4 million increase was primarily a result of volume and mix improvements in the defense products business as well as improvements in the rubber molded products business. Turning again to the consolidated results. Net cash provided by operating activities for Q2 2026 was $1.8 million compared to $12.9 million provided for Q2 of 2025. During Q2 2026, the company invested $4 million in fixed assets compared to $1.8 million in Q2 of 2025. Capital expenditures were related to growth initiatives, upgrades to property, plant and equipment within ARS and AMP. By the end of Q2 2026, our net debt balance was $72.9 million versus $67.6 million at the end of Q2 of 2025. We expect to fund the company's 2026 operating cash requirements, including required working capital investments, capital expenditures, scheduled debt repayments from cash on hand, cash flow from operations and committed borrowing capacity. The company's asset-based revolving line of credit facility provides for a maximum borrowing of up to $125 million with a $25 million accordion. As of June 30, 2026, the total available borrowing capacity under the facility was $78.3 million with $31.4 million drawn. With that, I will now turn the call over to Chris. Chris?

Thank you, Frank. Operator, at this point, we can open the line up for Q&A.

[Operator Instructions] We will take our first question from the line of Ahmed Abdullah from National Bank of Canada.

This is [ Alexander Tayat ] filling in for Ahmed Abdullah. My first question is just on ARS. In your outlook, you noted that you expect continued volume volatility through most of 2026. Is that because of the order patterns you're currently seeing from customers or more general caution around the end markets? And what would you need to see to become more confident that the recovery is sustainable?

Yes. I think it's more the latter, more, sort of, general uncertainty. We've shown 3 quarters in a row of progressive growth in volume and revenue has hit a 12-month high. So we're fairly optimistic that we've been able to draw in new customers, and grow our markets and defend our current market share appropriately. I think that cautionary statement is more related to the end markets that we serve. As we see job data in the U.S., as we see the overall industrial economy in the U.S. improve, we should improve along with it. I guess it's more just cautionary around any sort of unexpected new rounds of geopolitical uncertainty, that it's very difficult to forecast for now. But I think we've shown that even despite that uncertainty, we've been able to grow 3 quarters in a row, and we're fairly optimistic we can continue to do that.

Okay. And my last question on AMP. Excluding last year's legal settlement benefit, it looks like margins improved. Anything you can share on how much of that reflected defense contract mix versus operational improvements in rubber molded products? And as we think about the remainder of 2026 and beyond, should we presume similar margin levels?

Yes. Thanks for that question. It was a combination of both AMP's defense products business and rubber molded products. So it's a combination of both from a mix perspective. As Chris indicated in his narrative, given the Bandolier large contract balanced out in the quarter, we do see some softness coming into Q3, which would affect the margin profile moderately. But having said that, the Engineered Products group continues to build momentum with pretty robust automotive volumes and their nonautomotive part of the business as well.

The next question comes from the line of Tim James from TD Cowen.

My first question, just want to return to the earlier question around, kind of, the volatility with respect to volumes. The 16% year-over-year growth in volume in the quarter was the first quarter of positive year-over-year growth going back to early '24. Should we interpret your indications around volatility that, that kind of positive 16%? We don't want to assume that's sustainable here going forward, that kind of year-over-year growth rate. But could we -- with this volatility you're seeing, could it go negative again for a quarter and sort of jump around in that respect? Or do you feel you're pretty clearly at a point where the growth will be positive year-over-year, it just may the actual growth rate could change from quarter-to-quarter?

Yes. I think it's that percentage growth that we feel could be a little bit volatile, but management does expect to continue to grow, particularly when you look at it year-over-year because if you recall from 2025, Q1 and Q2 of 2025, Q1 especially was fairly strong. Q2 started to soften. And then Q3 and Q4, we saw the full impact of all the sort of tariff-related uncertainty and everything else. So I think when you're comparing Q3 and Q4 year-over-year, we still expect to show growth over those quarters. The volatility is more related to, do we expect 15% every quarter? Probably not. But we have brought in new customers. They are growing. We do see growth ahead of us. The only thing that could slow that down is a significant economic event in the U.S. And just, we've been maybe quite cautious on our wording around that because much of it is out of our control. But for the time being, we're feeling pretty optimistic that we can continue to grow ARS for the balance of the year.

So maybe -- that's helpful then. Now thinking about it sequentially, am I interpreting your comments correctly, Chris, in that sequentially as we move through Q3 versus Q2 and Q4 versus Q3, there shouldn't be any -- at least you don't see any major step backs at this point or steps down in volume? Not to say they have to go up, but there shouldn't be any sort of more significant step downs unless, again, there's some sort of unexpected kind of economic event or external factor?

Yes, that's right. I think if you look at the volume in Q4 of last year, we grew Q1 over Q4, and we grew Q2 over Q1, and we are continuing to grow with new customers through the summer. Now of course, Q3 also, there are some plant shutdowns with some of our customers, particularly on the automotive side. But when you start comparing year-over-year, we don't -- the volatility we expect is not about going backwards. It's about the rate of growth adjusting up and down a little bit as we build momentum into the fourth quarter. And depending on how quickly some of these geopolitical problems get behind us, including the USMCA negotiations or what's going on in the Middle East, we could see quite a strong recovery in the industrial base in the U.S., and we're poised to take advantage of that. So we're just being cautious about our wording around that. But we feel pretty good about the momentum we're seeing at ARS, and we're hopeful that we sort of bottomed out in Q3 and Q4 of last year, and we're really driving it forward now.

Okay. Great. Can you just give us a bit of a sense if we exclude the Rubber Solutions volume that is used internally, I guess, primarily at Flexible, the rubber compounds that are sold to external customers, approximately how much of that is to Canadian-based customers or facilities and how much of it goes across the board -- I shouldn't say across the board, but how much of it is for U.S.-based customers?

Yes. I think I'd have to run the math. I think it's around 15%. I don't know, Frank, if you have an exact number...