AerSale Corporation (ASLE) Q3 2026 Earnings Report, Transcript and Summary

Good afternoon, and welcome to the AerSale Corporation Third Quarter 2026 Earnings Conference Call. My name is Fran, and I'll be the operator assisting you today. [Operator Instructions] I would now like to turn the call over to Jackie Carlon, Senior Vice President of Marketing. Please go ahead.

Good afternoon. I'd like to welcome everyone to AerSale's third quarter 2026 earnings call. Conducting the call today are Nick Finazzo, Chief Executive Officer, and Martin Garmendia, Chief Financial Officer. Before we discuss this quarter's results, we want to remind you that all statements made on this call that do not relate to matters of historical fact should be considered forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws, including statements regarding our current expectations for the business and our financial performance, as well as our expectations for the fourth quarter and the remainder of the year 2027, the timing and closing pending flight equipment transactions, anticipated customer awards and contracts, margin improvement, and liquidity. These statements are neither promises nor guarantees, but involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other important factors that may cause actual results, performance, or achievements to be materially different from any future results. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from forward-looking statements are discussed in our earnings press release issued today, and in the Risk Factors section of the company's annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2025, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, SEC, on March 10, 2026, its Form 10-Q for this quarter, which is to be filed shortly, and its other filings with the SEC. These documents identify and address other important risks and uncertainties that could cause actual events and results to differ materially from those indicated by the forward-looking statements on this call. The forward-looking statements on this call speak only as of today, and except as required by law, we undertake no obligation to update or revise them. This call is being webcast and recorded, and a replay will be available on our website. We'll also refer to non-GAAP measures that we view as important in assessing the performance of our business. A reconciliation of those non-GAAP metrics to the nearest GAAP metric can be found in the earnings release that is available on the Investors section of the AerSale website at ir.aersale.com. After prepared remarks, we'll open the call for questions. With that, I'll turn the call over to Nick Finazzo.

Thank you, Jackie, and good afternoon, everyone. Thank you for joining us today. Our third quarter financial results are not reflective of progress we've made since this time last year. I won't go over the numbers in detail, because Martin will do that next. What I will do over the next several minutes is explain why the company is perfectly positioned for growth and improving profitability. We've reached an inflection point where we expect to see a positive end to the year. Almost all the initiatives we identified as strategic priorities are being realized and will enable current and continued growth by scaling our MRO operations, monetizing our asset base, and growing recurring revenue streams to achieve more consistent earnings. For our TechOps segment, our investment in expanded facilities and capabilities at our aerostructures and accessory shops are complete and the expected revenue is flowing in. As an example, revenue at our structure shop has increased over 57% since this time last year, taking advantage of the top-tier equipment we installed at our new 90,000-square-foot facility, which is almost triple the size of our original shop. At Accessories, our new pneumatics capability is being offered to our customer base to repair their current technology components, and we're rapidly expanding our capabilities list utilizing this new test equipment and our unlimited repair station license. Landing Gear successfully completed initial work under 2 major agreements with an OEM for the 787 and a major international 737 operator, which has established a solid foundation for recurring revenue growth in 2027. These new agreements add to existing work for a similarly sized U.S. major airline flying 737s, as well as gear work to support customers operating 757 and 767 aircraft. We were recently awarded an A330 airframe purchase contract, which will feed 7 more gear sets to our newly developed capability to overhaul this type. We own these expensive gear, which will primarily be exchanged with our A330 customers to continue building our landing gear revenue base. In Heavy MRO, Millington generated revenue from 2 check lines awarded by a regional carrier compared with no check lines in the prior year. A third line for modifications was recently added, and we expect further lines to be added in 2027, which may include the addition of another facility in Millington to manage the increased demand for regional aircraft work. Further, we'll increase labor to reduce turn times and increase throughput by adding a third shift. This will help accommodate the increased demand, which will improve margins through the absorption of fixed costs that will not expand proportionally as the labor force increases. At Goodyear, a large number of Airbus A320ceo and A320neo aircraft stuck in limbo as a result of the Spirit Airlines wind-down have now been freed up, and both Spirit and the other aircraft owners are focusing on the disposition of these aircraft, creating current heavy maintenance demand, which will continue through 2027. We have also just been awarded a multi-line contract from a leading North American cargo airline for 757 and 767 heavy check work, which gives us strong visibility into continued growth in 2027. We're in active discussions with other large U.S. airlines and cargo carriers that we expect will completely fill capacity at Goodyear in 2027 and beyond. Similar to Millington, we expect to add a second and third shift to this location as demand exceeds our current capacity to increase the velocity of work and enable greater throughput. At Roswell, storage maintenance is continuing for Airbus A320neo aircraft, which are being returned to service as engines become available. This work is profitable and our ability to store as many as 500-plus aircraft there remains a key capability as storage space is limited in dry climate locations found in the western United States. Engineering Solutions was another bright spot for the quarter. Revenue increased over 280% compared to a year ago, driven by AerSafe kit delivery as operators comply with the fuel tank flammability airworthiness directive. Demand for AerSafe remains strong and we expect fourth quarter sales to exceed the prior year. As we're seeing more heavy MRO work, our customers are in need of parts not available from the OEMs to support their airframe needs. As a result, we're leveraging our engineering capabilities to develop parts under our Parts Manufacturer Approval, PMA, authority with new and existing customers, broadening our product offering and building additional revenue streams. Turning to our enhanced flight vision product, AerAware, we remain engaged with U.S. regulators and industry participants to highlight AerAware's unique capabilities to enhance situational awareness and support safer flight operations. We believe the growing regulatory and legislative focus on ADS-B In and pilot situational awareness supports the long-term opportunity for AerAware as operators increasingly evaluate solutions designed to improve flight safety. A head-wearable display offers meaningful advantages over existing technologies, which we believe will have decades of utility. On the asset management side, we closed 1 engine sale in August. Looking ahead to the fourth quarter, our flight equipment pipeline is very well defined. The previously announced Boeing 737 aircraft sale to the U.S. Marshals Service for $35 million and additional sales that we discussed last quarter are expected to close before year-end. We anticipate these transactions to recover our invested capital with a healthy return and to increase the liquidity available to fund our growth objectives. Leasing grew compared to the third quarter of last year, reflecting an expanded freighter lease portfolio. We ended the quarter with 18 engines and 5 Boeing 757 freighters on lease, compared to 18 engines and 3 757 freighters at the end of the second quarter. As we place the last 757, it's worth noting that we began our 757 program in 2020 by acquiring 30 757 aircraft, 26 of which we were storing in Roswell for a major U.S. airline. Of those 33, we parted out 7, sold 15, and converted 13 to freighters. Of the 13 we converted, we sold 6, leased 5, and there are only 2 remaining to place. Of the last 2, 1 is committed to a lease and the other a sale. Leasing remains one of the foundations of our recurring revenue base. USM revenue was up from the prior year period, with volumes improving throughout the quarter as the team continued to monetize existing inventory. These revenue-producing business units are not the only place we focused our attention. We've significantly optimized our international sales force to market our diverse service and product offerings with a fully integrated approach with a strong emphasis on cross-selling. As our business units continue to grow and mature, we see this gaining momentum that will compound exponentially. We also continue to invest in technology to modernize our maintenance activities, increasing the velocity of records review, developing analytic tools to help us determine the most cost-effective way to price, repair, and monetize our USM, and maintain a robust cybersecurity system to protect the company from outside attack. Stepping back, our priorities for the remainder of 2026 are unchanged. First, increase the number of assets deployed in our lease pool, including placing our remaining 757 freighters; second, continue to strategically monetize our inventory, including closing the flight equipment transactions now scheduled for the fourth quarter; third, fill available capacity across our MRO network and improve margins at Millington, Goodyear, and across our component MROs; and fourth, improve operational profitability as our recent expansion initiatives gain scale. With committed flight equipment sales transactions scheduled for the fourth quarter, an expanded lease portfolio, and a clear path to monetize the inventory we've built, we expect a significantly stronger fourth quarter. We recognize the importance of delivering on these commitments and we're focused on execution. With that, I'll turn the call over to Martin.

Thanks, Nick, and good afternoon, everyone. I'll walk through our third quarter results compared with the prior year period and then cover cash flow and liquidity. Total revenue for the quarter was $91.6 million, compared with $71.2 million in the prior year period, an increase of 29%. The increase includes a whole engine sale of $9.3 million, compared with none a year ago. Excluding flight equipment sales, revenue was $82.3 million, up 16% compared to the prior year, driven by growth in leasing, USM, Heavy MRO, and Engineered Solutions. As we remind investors each quarter, flight equipment sales can vary meaningfully from period to period, and performance is best assessed over time with a focus on feedstock acquisition, the monetization of those investments, and profitability trends. Adjusted EBITDA was $8.6 million, or 9.3% of revenue, compared with $9.5 million, or 13.3% of revenue, in the prior year period. The decline was driven primarily by lower MRO gross profit from our TechOps segment, which was partially offset by the contribution from the whole engine sale and increased AerSafe sales. Turning to the segments, Asset Management Solutions revenue was $50.5 million, up 29%, compared to $39.2 million last year. Excluding flight equipment sales, Asset Management revenue was $41.3 million, up 6%, driven by higher leasing and USM revenues. Leasing revenue was $10.4 million, up 11%. Feedstock acquisitions were $7.1 million in the quarter, compared with $13.7 million in the prior year period. TechOps revenue was $41 million, up 28% compared to $32 million last year. Engineered Solutions contributed $6.2 million of the $9 million increase, with revenue of $8.4 million compared with $2.2 million. And Heavy MRO contributed $3 million of the increase, with revenue of $16.3 million compared with $13.4 million. Component MRO revenue was essentially flat at $16.3 million. Overall, gross margin was 22.5% compared with 30.2% last year, and gross profit was $20.6 million compared with $21.5 million. TechOps gross margin was 12.5% compared with 25.3% as we have been setting the groundwork through incremental labor and technology to meet increased demand. This was partially offset by strong contributions from Engineered Solutions. Asset Management gross margin was 30.5% compared with 34.1% primarily due to lower leasing margins. We expect margins to improve as 757 lease utilization increases and additional engines are put on lease. SG&A expenses were $18.8 million compared with $18.6 million a year ago. SG&A included $0.5 million of share-based compensation compared with $1.3 million in the prior year period, as the third quarter reflected the reversal of an accrual associated with long-term performance-based awards that are no longer expected to vest. Excluding share-based compensation, SG&A increased $1 million, primarily due to cost-of-living adjustments as we continue to control costs. Results for the third quarter include a non-cash goodwill impairment charge of $13.4 million, representing the full goodwill balance recorded in our Asset Management segment. The sustained decline in the company's stock price and market capitalization during the quarter required us to test goodwill for impairment this quarter, which resulted in the write-off. The charge is non-cash, does not affect our liquidity or debt covenant compliance, and is not expected to have an impact on future operations. Net loss for the quarter was $15 million, which includes the $13.4 million goodwill impairment, compared with a net loss of $0.1 million a year ago. Excluding the impairment and share-based compensation, adjusted net income loss was $1.1 million compared with adjusted net income of $1.5 million last year. Loss per share was $0.31 and adjusted loss per share was $0.02 compared with break-even and adjusted earnings per share of $0.04 a year ago. Net interest expense was $2.8 million compared with $2.4 million a year ago, reflecting higher borrowing balances and interest rates on our revolving credit facility. Income tax expense was $0.7 million in both periods, which resulted in a negative effect tax rate this quarter as the goodwill impairment did not generate a tax benefit. Turning to cash flow and liquidity, cash used in operating activities was $42.7 million year-to-date, compared with $34.3 million in the first 9 months of last year, primarily reflecting continued investment in inventory, which includes feedstock of $37.8 million and elevated capitalized repair costs being invested to make flight equipment available for sale or lease. Over the same period, we transferred $72.8 million of net inventory into our lease fleet, compared with $27.2 million last year. Free cash flow was a negative $49.8 million year-to-date, primarily funded by net borrowings of $48.6 million under our revolving credit facility. The flight equipment sales scheduled for the fourth quarter are expected to improve available liquidity as we recover the investments that have been made, including a return. We ended the quarter with $334.1 million in inventory and $165.9 million in aircraft and engines held for lease. Revolver borrowings were $158.7 million compared with $110.1 million at year-end. Available liquidity was $23.1 million, consisting of $3.9 million of cash and cash equivalents, and $19.2 million of availability on our $180 million revolving credit facility, which can be expanded to $200 million subject to conditions and borrowing base availability. In summary, compared with last year, our third quarter results reflect higher revenue as we have realized on our strategic priorities to deploy additional 757 freighters on lease, continue the strategic monetization of our existing inventory, and fill our available capacity across our MRO network. This quarter we incurred costs related to ramping up our MROs to fulfill awarded and anticipated demand, and we expect that we will improve operational profitability as our recent expansion initiatives gain scale. With committed flight equipment sales scheduled for the fourth quarter, together with a growing base of recurring revenue, we expect a significantly stronger fourth quarter, which will increase cash flow and liquidity that will allow us to continue to grow in a more predictable fashion over time. With that, operator, we are ready to take questions. Thank you.

[Operator Instructions] Your first question comes from the line of Jeff Van Sinderen from B. Riley Securities.

I wonder if you could just give us a sense of, all things considered in your plan for the fourth quarter, what a reasonable assumption might be for the gross margin?

So, we don't provide guidance on the overall fourth quarter, but what we can tell you is the fourth quarter, as we have noted, will be comprised of additional flight equipment sales that carry a strong overall margin, especially compared to our overall average for the year. So we do expect to see improvements in the margin driven by that, as well as by the improvements that we've noted on the TechOps section that should also be driving our margin specifically to the TechOps part of the business.

Okay. And then maybe you can give us a little more color or detail on how your MRO shops, just how that overall business, how the financials have been on those, how they're developing, what you gained there in Q3, what's in the pipeline of new business, and where you stand on capacity utilization for the MRO shops?

Sure. So let me start with our Heavy MRO segment. As we have noted in prior calls, starting with our Goodyear division, we have been maintaining a very talented labor pool in anticipation of work that's coming from the Spirit-related assets. We are starting to see that work coming through towards the end of the third quarter and the beginning now of the fourth quarter, and we expect that work to continue throughout 2027. We have also been awarded 2 lines with a major North American cargo carrier, and we will expect to continue to be at full labor capacity through 2027, and have already started recruiting processes to increase our labor pool to meet that increased demand. These items will start improving our margin profile at Goodyear as we have more throughput to cover our overall fixed costs. Similarly, in our Millington facility, we were recently awarded 2 lines with a regional carrier. We have just started, as Nick noted, a third line, which is a modification line, and we're working with them for additional opportunities for additional lines as well as with other regional carriers. As we increase that capacity, again, we'll have better absorption of our costs, and that'll also improve margins. Also, specifically for that facility, we incurred high turnover as we had to ramp up fairly quickly as we were awarded that. That has now stabilized, so that will also have a beneficial impact to our margin profile going forward. Moving to the component MRO, we have made great strides at our landing gear facility. Nick noted we have been awarded an agreement with an OEM as well as a large carrier on additional lines of work. We have done the initial, kind of, test of that facility and have been successful. That did cause us to ramp up resources to ensure that we successfully executed on that, and we expect that volume to continue to start flowing through in 2027 that will also have a favorable impact on the overall margins in that unit. And looking at our structures, we have successfully grown on the overall revenue that we have achieved from that facility. However, that has not covered the additional facility and fixed costs that we have implemented into that business, but we are confident based on the changes that we have made, both we brought in talent in the sales and in the management perspective, as well as technology initiatives that we have made that we will also be able to increase the margins in those units. So when you look at the third quarter, we had, for the most part, negative margins because we were really making the investments because we are seeing very strong demand trends, and we expect the margins there to significantly improve as that demand starts to come in.

Okay. And just as a follow-up to that, what do you think -- and I'm not asking you for guidance, but I'm just wondering what you think is a reasonable way to anticipate getting to EBITDA positive or, call it, positive EBITDA contribution from all those facilities you just described, maybe collectively together?

I think the positive is -- when it comes to Goodyear and Millington, we are already seeing the improvement in margins because we're seeing the customer flow through. Same thing for the component MROs. So we anticipate for these businesses to become EBITDA contributors and profitable EBITDA contributors starting next year.

There are no further questions at this time. I would now like to turn the call back over to Nick Finazzo, Chief Executive Officer. Please go ahead.

Okay, Jeff, I do appreciate the questions you asked. I think that it's very helpful to our investors to get some additional insight into some of the very specific questions you've asked. So thank you for asking those. For everyone else, I very much appreciate your interest in listening to our call today and look forward to bringing you up to date during our next earnings call. Wish you all a good evening. Thank you.