Robert Hureau
Analyst · CJS Securities
Thank you, Agnes. Let me start by providing more color on the operating performance for each of our divisions. First, the Industrial Equipment division. As Agnes mentioned, net sales in the Industrial Equipment division increased by about 7% during the quarter. The increase in net sales during the quarter was driven primarily by our acquisitions, including the Petersen acquisition, which closed earlier in this first quarter and Ring-O-Matic acquisition, which closed during the middle of 2025. Net sales in our excavator and vacuum business performed well during the quarter. Net sales in our sweeper and safety business, excluding the effects of the Petersen acquisition, were flattish. And net sales in our snow business declined compared to the prior year. The decline in net sales in the snow business, as we've discussed, was due to the change in our sales strategy and our placing more emphasis on the quality of its earnings. We believe this strategy is and will continue to prove successful. As for profitability, the adjusted EBITDA margins in the Industrial Equipment division in the quarter were good at around 16%. This was roughly level to the adjusted EBITDA margins in the same quarter in the prior year and reflects positive pricing, procurement savings and the inclusion of the Petersen business given its above-average margin profile partially offset by material inflation, including tariffs and various investments we're making in the division to support long-term growth. As for the Petersen business, although it's still early, we're very pleased with the initial financial results, the integration activities, the leadership team and the progress related to both the commercial and operational synergies. We'll keep you posted on the performance of this acquisition as it continues to evolve. The book-to-bill in the Industrial Equipment division for the first quarter of 2026 was around 1x. Net orders for the Industrial Equipment division during the first quarter of 2026 were down 11% compared to the prior year. Net orders in the snow business were robust, up double digit year-over-year again this quarter. This strength reflects the continued end market demand and the strength of our brands, commercial organization and our customer partners. Net orders in the excavation and vacuum business were down. Within the excavation and vacuum business, we're seeing strong order growth in the European markets, which bodes well for our expanded manufacturing facility in France, with softer activity in the U.S. Net orders in our sweeper and safety business, excluding the newly acquired Petersen business, were down but reflect an unusually large multiyear order in the first quarter of 2025 making comparability challenging. Lead times in all the businesses within the Industrial Equipment division are in a good competitive position. Today, our Industrial Equipment division represents 58% of our total net sales. As a reminder, the products in the Industrial Equipment division serve end markets, including public works, utilities, infrastructure and construction. These are very attractive long-cycle markets. As I mentioned during our last call, net sales in this division and its end markets have been very robust, growing in the high teens over the past few years and were fueled in part by various government-driven investments in infrastructure. Looking forward, we expect the rate of growth in several of these end markets to slow in 2026 as the near-term effect of those prior external investments and the overall rate of construction spending slows before normalizing and then returning to steady long-term growth. Now the Vegetation Management division. Net sales in the Vegetation Management division increased 7% compared to the first quarter of 2025. This is the first year-over-year increase in quarterly net sales in the Vegetation Management division in 9 quarters. This is a very positive development and it is another data point indicating certain end markets might be settling. The 7% increase in net sales was due to several factors including the ramping of our production activities in certain key manufacturing facilities, the improvement in underlying demand in certain end markets and favorable pricing partially offset by continued weakness in other end markets. Net sales in our North American ag business were positive reflecting a slightly more constructive end market and ramping manufacturing activity. Net sales in our tree care business were also positive. Performance in the North American portion of this business reflect improved manufacturing efficiencies not necessarily a recovery in the end markets. On the other hand, performance in the European markets reflect improving end market demand and overall strong commercial and operational performance by that team. Net sales in our municipal mowing business were down in the first quarter of 2026 reflecting continued cautiousness we're experiencing with dealers and the related state DOT offices that use our products as they navigate their fiscal budgets. As for profitability, the adjusted EBITDA margins in the Vegetation Management division in the first quarter of 2026 were about 11%. This is up significantly from the second half of 2025 and just shy of the margins in the first quarter of 2025. This is a positive development. The adjusted EBITDA margins of 11% compared to the first quarter of 2025 reflect volume leverage and favorable pricing offset by material inflation including tariffs and various investments we're making to support long-term growth. While there's much more work to be done, we're pleased with the margin progression during the quarter. The book-to-bill in the Vegetation Management division for the first quarter of 2026 was 1x. Net orders for the total division during the first quarter of 2026 were up 5% compared to the prior year. Net orders in the North American and European ag businesses were strong. Net orders in tree care were soft reflecting the state of those end markets including the U.S. housing market, which remains weak. And net orders in municipal mowing were down for the reasons I previously highlighted. Today, our Vegetation Management division represents 42% of our total net sales. As a reminder, the products in the Vegetation Management division serve end markets, including tree care and recycling, agriculture, public works and landscape maintenance. As I mentioned on our last call, net sales in this division and its end markets have declined over the past few years rolling over a period of significant growth that occurred between 2021 and 2023. Looking forward, we expect the rate of decline in the end markets to slow. While we're pleased with the improvement in net sales in the Vegetation Management division during the quarter, we would not necessarily expect the end markets to support this level of year-over-year growth over the balance of the year. I'd now like to share some comments regarding the broad framework of our long-term strategy. As mentioned before, there are 4 pillars of the strategy, which will focus into both resources: first, people and culture; second, commercial excellence; third, operational excellence; and fourth, capital deployment. Within each of these strategic pillars, there exists a series of prioritized initiatives on which our teams are working. We made good progress on all initiatives during the quarter. Today, I'd like to provide an update on our product innovation activities. Over the past 2 calls, we highlighted a few exciting new products. As a reminder, these included: first, our new non-CDL vacuum truck that can be purpose-built as a hydro excavator or a sewer combo cleaner providing greater appeal in the urban and rental applications due to its compact size and the operator not needing to hold a commercial driver's license. This product was engineered for efficient manufacturing and economical international shipping. Interestingly, this product is already sold out in 2026. And second, our next-generation hybrid sweepers that run on diesel, CNG or electric chassis globally and use a proprietary electric sweeping architecture delivering superior efficiency, safety and performance. We have a smaller NiteHawk hybrid air sweeper that's already in commercial production and generating significant customer interest. And we have a larger Schwarze hybrid mechanical sweeper that is smashing performance standards in testing in advance of a commercial launch in the second half of 2026. Operators love these products. Today, I'd like to highlight our new Wide Wing System introduced by our snow business. This innovative snow plow operates an extendable side wing system attached to a tri-drive chassis offering a clearing capacity up to 27 feet, which is roughly 80% greater than standard large plows. This dramatically improved productivity, lowered total cost of ownership and increased operational flexibility is a game changer for state DOTs and road maintenance contractors. In addition, its technology is patent protected in both the United States and Canada demonstrating once again our first-mover advantage. This product is quickly becoming the industry standard in the heavy-duty category and will eventually obsolete the traditional tow plow approach to snow removal. We highlight this and the other products today not necessarily to support or help you forecast what sales might be in coming quarters, but simply to provide color around and share a vision regarding how Alamo Group and all our wonderful brands will revolutionize the vocational truck and land maintenance segments through our engineering expertise, adaptive technologies and entrepreneurial culture over the next 3 to 5 years. Much more to come in future calls. In summary, I'd like to express our thanks and appreciation to all our employees who work tirelessly to produce, sell and develop the very best brands of vocational trucks and mowing and tree care products in the industry. I'd also like to thank our customers and our investors for their trust and support. This concludes our prepared remarks. Operator, please open the lines for questions.