LSI Industries Inc. (LYTS) Q3 2026 Earnings Report, Transcript and Summary

Greetings. Welcome to LSI Industries Fiscal 2026 Third Quarter Results Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] Please note, this conference is being recorded. I will now turn the conference over to Jim Galeese, Chief Financial Officer. Thank you. You may begin.

Welcome, everyone, and thank you for joining today's call. We issued a press release before the market opened this morning, detailing our fiscal '26 third quarter results. In addition to this release, we also posted a conference call presentation in the Investor Relations section of our corporate website. Information contained in this presentation will be referenced throughout today's conference call included are certain non-GAAP measures for improved transparency of our operating results. A complete reconciliation of GAAP and non-GAAP results is contained in our press release and 10-Q. . Please note that management's commentary and responses to questions on today's conference call may include forward-looking statements about our business outlook. Such statements involve risks and opportunities and actual results could differ materially. I refer you to our safe harbor statement, which appears in this morning's press release for more details. Today's call will begin with remarks summarizing our fiscal third quarter results. At the conclusion of these prepared remarks, we will open the line for questions. With that, I'll turn the call over to LSI President and Chief Executive Officer, Jim Clark.

Thank you, Jim. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us today. Before Jim Galeese walked through the numbers for Q3, I wanted to take a few minutes to step back and frame what you're seeing this quarter in the context of the journey we've been on. When I joined LSI in late 2018. We were a company doing just under $300 million in revenue with EBITDA margins in the low single digits and a stock trading around $2.5. We were fundamentally a lighting company. A good one, but just a lighting company. The question at that point was whether we could build something more durable, more differentiated and ultimately more valuable. . In 2019, we introduced our 2025 plan with a goal of reaching $500 million in revenue and 10% of EBITDA by 2025. We achieved that plan early in fiscal 2023, and that gave us the confidence to move forward with our Fast Forward plan, targeting $800 million in revenue and $100 million in EBITDA by 2028. But the more important change was not just in the numbers. It was in how we thought about the business. We made a deliberate decision to organize around vertical markets instead of products. That changes how you operate. how you invest and how you grow. It also changes how you show up with the customers. We chose markets where there is a sustained need to reinvest in the physical environment driven by the consumer experience. When one brand raises the bar, the competitors have to respond. That creates an ongoing cycle of investment, and that dynamic continues to work in our favor. As we've discussed before, we grow in 2 ways: first, by adding new vertical markets; and second, by expanding what we provide within the markets we already serve. When we can provide lighting, display, mill works, graphics, and program management as a single integrated solution, we become more relevant to the customer. We participate in more of the projects, and we build deeper relationships over time. That is where we create real value for our customers and for our shareholders. Over the last 5 years, we've deployed more than $500 million across 4 acquisitions, including Royston. Each one has added the capability and strengthened our position in the verticals we serve. Just as important, we have done this in a disciplined way, supported by the cash flow of the business. We've been very intentional about what we buy, how we integrate it and how it fits into our broader platform. Today, with roughly 3,000 people in LSI and 23 U.S.-based manufacturing locations and a pro forma revenue run rate approaching $900 million, the platform we set out to build is taking shape. It's broader, it's more capable, it's more resilient than the business we started with. The focus is now on execution and continuing to scale what we have built. One of the things I'm most proud of is our high CD ratio this team has built over time. We set our expectation carefully, we deliver against them, and that consistency has been a key part of building credibility with our customer and our investors, and it's something we work hard to protect. The acquisition and integration of Royston is a significant opportunity. It expands our capabilities and strengthens our position across multiple vertical markets. Our approach will be disciplined and consistent with how we've managed prior acquisitions. We will take the time to integrate it the right way, align it with our operating model and make sure we're capturing the value we expect. As we move through that process, we will evaluate the business through the lens of our vertical market strategy and our focus on margin quality. Where there is strong alignment, we will invest and grow where there is less alignment, we will be thoughtful about how we serve those areas going forward. That is the part of how we built this business and it will not change. That discipline has been a defining characteristic of the company, and it will continue to guide us. We believe the platform we built is the right one. The markets are there, the capabilities are in place, and the team is strong. The opportunity now is to execute and to continue to build on that foundation. Now before I turn things over to Jim Galeese, I wanted to make a few brief comments on the quarter. We delivered solid third quarter results with growth across segments and continued strong cash generation. The performance reflects ongoing momentum in our key vertical markets and the operational discipline of the team. We are seeing the benefit of the model we've been building with more consistent activity across our core customers and improved execution across the business. Looking ahead, we expect a solid fourth quarter, and we feel good about how the business is positioned as we move into the next year. While there will always be moving pieces in the near term, the underlying demand drivers in our vertical markets remain intact, and we believe we are well positioned to continue to build on the progress we have made. It's an exciting time for LSI. We have a lot of opportunity in front of us supported by a stronger and more capable platform than we've had at any point in our history. I still feel like we're in the third inning of a 9-inning game. And our job is to stay disciplined and continue to execute. With that, I'll turn it over to Jim for a more detailed walk-through of our Q3 financials.

Good morning, everyone. Fiscal Q3 was an eventful quarter for LSI. Successfully delivering solid operating results and taking the next step in advancing our vertical market strategy with the acquisition of Royston Group. The 6-day Royston stub period is included in our third quarter performance and key metrics, including and excluding Royston, are contained in the press release and as follows: Total sales increased 14% versus prior year to $150.5 million. and increased 9% excluding Royston. Adjusted earnings per share were $0.28 and $0.27 excluding Royston, or $0.07 above the prior year quarter of $0.20. Adjusted EBITDA was $15 million or 10% of sales. Adjusted EBITDA, excluding Royston was $14.1 million above prior year, with adjusted EBITDA margin of 9.8%, an increase of 130 basis points over last year. Free cash flow for the quarter was $11.8 million excluding acquisition-related costs, continuing a high conversion of earnings to cash. Post transaction, our pro forma TTM net debt-to-EBITDA is 2.7x. Now a few comments on the performance of our 2 reportable segments. All segment comments exclude the Royston stub period. Our Display Solutions segment had a strong quarter, with sales and adjusted operating income increasing 14% and 64%, respectively, versus last year. Grocery vertical sales increased double digits over last year. We conduct business with over 15 sizable change in this vertical, representing thousands of combined locations, and we're experiencing increased activity with many of these customers. Refrigerated display case products are the lead in our solution set to this vertical, but we've been successful in growing our position in nonrefrigerated or ambient product placements as well with improved margins. Orders in the grocery vertical were 20% above last year, and we exit the third quarter with a backlog also above prior year. The refueling C-store vertical generated high single-digit sales growth over record Q3 sales realized last year. The mix of large multi-quarter, multiyear programs, along with a growing mix of shorter-term medium-sized projects is driving the increase. Orders for the quarter were double digits above prior year with a book-to-bill over 1. Included is over $5 million of program work awarded to LSI by the largest C-store chain in North America. All to be completed by the end of the calendar year. We are encouraged to see this customer begin increasing investment levels after several years of low activity. Total sales for the QSR vertical were down versus last year, reflecting a mix of growing chains, continuing to invest and other chains taking a bit more cautious approach as they finalize plans to adapt to changing consumer habits. Concept and development work remains high in this vertical. Shifting to lighting. Sales increased 2% despite changes in market environment. While code activity remains active, the quote-to-order conversion period lengthened in the quarter. after several quarters of improving time lines. We had a sizable number of quotes expected to convert to orders in the third quarter, which have been extended. We believe macro developments are influencing project proposal and approval activity. Our focus on national accounts continues to move forward with both the number of accounts and projects expanding, both sequentially and to last year. We continue to effectively manage margins, aligning project pricing to changes in material input costs. Lastly, a few comments on our outlook for the fiscal fourth quarter. Our Display Solutions segment, including both LSI and Royston is expected to have a solid quarter. Sales are projected to increase on a mid- to high single-digit percentage basis when compared to the prior year quarter reflecting ongoing favorable customer program activity in the grocery and refueling C-store verticals. This builds on the strong fourth quarter of fiscal '25 which generated 13% year-over-year comparable growth. Conversely, near-term softness is expected in the Lighting segment, impacted by a lengthening project quote-to-order conversion cycle macro factors as well as challenging prior year comps. Recall that lighting sales increased 12% year-over-year in Q4 fiscal 2025. Q4 Lighting segment sales are expected to decline mid-single digits versus last year. As a result, on a consolidated basis, we expect net sales growth in the low to mid-single-digit percent range in the quarter versus prior year. Importantly, we continue to maintain both our price and cost discipline across the organization, ensuring that we continue to realize healthy margins across both of our segments, consistent with our focus on profitable growth. I'll now turn the call back to the moderator for the question-and-answer session.

[Operator Instructions] Our first question comes from Aaron Spychalla with Craig-Hallum Capital Group.

Maybe first for me on the guidance. Can you just kind of, Jim, unpack that a little bit? I just want to make sure I heard it's apples-to-apples as if you owned Royston last year. And then maybe just following on that, almost 2 months since the acquisition has been announced. Can you just talk about the response you've seen from customers, how quickly you can maybe capture some of the revenue synergies from the expanded offerings you have now?

Aaron, this is Jim Clark. Thanks for being on the call. Jim Galeese will give you a recap here in a second, but I just want to make a comment on one thing. You're right, we announced Royston in late February, but remember, it was not a simultaneous Simon close. I know you're aware of it. We've only had Royston for about 28 days today marks 28 or 29. So a little patience on how Royston contributes going forward. I think we picked up 6 days here in but the graph that Jim put in the release and everything shows the difference between Royston and with and without Royston. But I know your questions were more about forecast forward. So I'll let Jim kind of comment on what he had to say.

Yes, with regards to the -- as you know, the Royston Group will from a reporting perspective to go into our Display Solutions segment. And so when I comment the Display Solutions segment will be up high single -- mid- to high single digits. That is on a comparable basis. So that's pro forma comparing Royston their expectations for Q4 to last year. and LSI expectations for Q4 to last year. So it is comparable. And I will say both pieces of that business will realize growth in the fourth quarter. So I hope that helps. So yes, I know that we've disrupted the equilibrium here a bit with the acquisition and the metrics. So some clarity is required.

No, that's great. I appreciate the color. And then on the $5 million program work on C stores, can you just talk about that? Is that part of a larger multiyear program? And just how do you see growth broadly in that vertical in the coming years?

Well, Aaron, Jim Clark again. I mean I think it's just a normal part of our business. I mean I think we're calling it out because it -- as a customer we've been pursuing to get some recarby here for quite a few years. I don't want to go into who the customer is, but we're encouraged by it. And that's why we called it out. But it's a nice program, and it's the first of customer that's been absent for a few years. So we're excited about it.

And Aaron, I take just another proof point as to the overall level of activity that's going on in the C-store vertical. You're very familiar with [indiscernible], contributing to our growth and undergoing change, the sheets, the wall loss, quick trips with a [indiscernible], et cetera. The whole vertical, the environment remains very positive. So it's encouraging to see this large customer, start to begin to invest because, frankly, they're a bit behind.

Understood. And then maybe one last one on the EBITDA margin for Display Solutions, 12%. Can you just talk about some of the drivers there and confidence sustainability? And just maybe talk a little more broadly on some of the cost synergies you think you can realize with Royston in the coming years.

Yes. I mean, first of all, this is normal course of business, right? We've talked about this for years. The more -- the greater share of wallet we get, the more customers we get engaged, the larger the projects become the bigger our share of wallet becomes with each of those customers, that creates efficiencies that are realized in the business, and we've been making continual progress on that. There's also a lot of behind-the-scenes activity that are going on. I think I mentioned about 15 years ago, we hired a procurement lead that has been phenomenal. He's been a phenomenal asset for us. He's doing a great job with the whole team, really energize that, really looking for opportunities. Same thing on the operations side. We are operators at our core. I'm a commercial guy, but we're an operating company. All of the changes, all the investments, although they are small, they're meaningful. We make those investments to get those improvements. And I think you're seeing a lot of those things pay off. The jump on the display side is obviously Royston is unlike EMI who was dilutive from a rate standpoint, Royston is accretive. So we get the benefit of Royston coming on board. We get a pretty significant number from Royston and we get an accretive rate in dollars, those combinations help there. But I want to make sure I'm underlining the fact that we've been doing our own work and we'll continue to do our own work in improving the core LSI margins prior to Royston. And it's a combination of both of those that is kind of responsible for that number.

To recognize what Jim said, our operations team just did a terrific job this quarter. You may recall this quarter a year ago, we were dealing with the surgeon business on the post Kroger Albertsons scenario. So we are taking that business to meet customer demand, but we are fulfilling it on a very inefficient basis. given we were bringing people back that we had to shed resources that we had to shed so building our capabilities back. So the demand patterns have become much more predictable, if you will, allowing our factories now to really get into a very solid rhythm. And I think that was quite evident in our fiscal Q3 results in display.

Our next question is from Min Cho with Texas Capital Securities.

Congratulations on your strong quarter here. Just a follow-up on Craig's question a little bit. So it sounds like the that you have pretty good visibility into the timing of your current rollout. So you do expect to see the efficiencies that you saw this quarter continue for the next several quarters, if not longer.

Yes. Thank you for calling in. Thanks for the question. Yes, I mean we -- these are -- we generally look at these as kind of permanent improvements, right? We look at it as a ratchet that goes up, but it doesn't come down. Now obviously, there's things that affect that. But these type of improvements we do operationally tend to be long lasting and sustainable and the answer is yes, we expect them to continue to provide benefits into Q4 and into Q1, and we are focused on continuing to improve those even further. Now with all of that said, though, I do want to mention, we just acquired a very large company. Part of our secret sauce has always been our integration rhythm and how we come up to speed with these companies, and we try to use the resources we have within our business to do all of those activities. So I'm not worried or concerned about anybody's efforts being diluted or moving backwards but we will maybe perhaps shift priorities to help bring Royston on a little bit faster than maybe we would have and that maybe slows down some of our future activities on improvements in operations. But I think the takeaway message would be that we still see a lot of opportunities, areas for improvement in operations, and those will be ongoing. We see opportunities with Royston. We like the way the company operates. We like the people that are there. We like the culture that's there. We're going to learn from them as much as they learn from us. So we'll be working that together and those combinations -- that combination will continue to persist in terms of opportunities for many quarters to come.

Great. Excellent. And in terms of your Lighting business, I know you've been growing your national accounts base, but do you have a general breakout of what percentage of sales is coming from national accounts versus non because your commentary almost sounds like it's suggesting that it's mostly that the softness is really in your nonnational accounts.

Yes. I mean, we don't break it out and probably it's more for convenience than anything else. I mean we track these numbers, obviously, we track how they perform independently. But to start breaking them out, I mean, we could get into the weeds really fast. But I think your comment is spot on. We do expect to continue to grow in the areas we're investing in. And some of the larger -- we're back to this larger project activity, which is we don't feel as though any of it's in jeopardy. We don't feel as though any of it will go away. We do see a disruption in timing right now with some of the larger project activity just kind of slowing down to make sure that all the other elements are catching up and they're not paying a premium to rush something while another element is delayed or something like that. So I don't -- I'm happy with the progress we've made in Lighting. As Jim mentioned, it was 12% growth last year in this quarter. we've maintained growth in pretty much every quarter over the last year or more. I think this is just a reflection in some slowdown in the 90-day window of the Q4 period right now. I don't look at it as something systemic or something to worry about long term.

Yes. As best we can tell, our Q3 performance, 2% growth was clearly a market outperformed as compared to the competitive environment and the competitive environment is seeing the same things. We are and we will continue to generate market performance, driven in some context because of our increased penetration in national accounts activity, which we identified about a year ago is a real opportunity for our business. and our sales leadership is doing an excellent job in pursuing that. And it is, as Jim just mentioned, some of these more sizable projects in the general C&I side of the equation that is just a question of timing.

Got it. Also, I know that you've both been spending some time reaching out to some of Royston's largest customers. Can you just talk about the general feedback that you have received? And also given the closing opportunities -- cross-selling opportunities. Is there a difference in how you expect to bid for projects going forward?

Yes. So I think I did mention in the call that we were actively reaching out to Royston as top customers. And thanks to Royston on that and our own team, they work together extremely well and the customers on Royston side were more than generous with their time and taking the time to talk with us. And our biggest thing is we were working to make sure there wasn't a misinformation out there. what kind of changes, how do we normally operate. And some of these customers, as we talked about before, they're completely new or distant from LSI. We also called some of our own customers. It was a great exercise and one that was met with a great deal of interest and a great deal of opportunity, I think, going in front of us. So I think that there was a number of questions, but probably the #1 question was, what can we expect for change. And our answer was, listen, whatever -- however you have been doing business with Royston in the past, you can continue and we'll be able to continue to do it like that in the future. The second question tended to be around -- we had some customers ask if there were going to be changes to billing and invoicing and things like that. And no, there will not be. We'll force any customer to do anything in the short term, but we will look for opportunities to be more efficient and to serve the customers in a way that they want to be served. And if that is separate billing, we'll continue to do that. And if that's a combined billing opportunity, we will do that. And then probably the third question was, what about how will the company run differently? And the answer was much like the first question. We don't anticipate the company running any differently. We take a very deliberate approach to our integration. We want to preserve the culture that is at Royston, we want to learn from each other. We want to respect the work that they've done and we don't want to destroy any of the value that they bring to their customers or we bring as a bigger entity. So those were the big questions kind of summarized and I will say it's not the first time we've done this, but it was probably the best coordinated, and I think that speaks volumes to the experiences that LSI is gained. And I think it speaks volumes to the professionalism that offered the team was fantastic to work with.

Our next question is from Amit Dayal with H.C. Wainwright.

Congrats on the execution so far, guys. Most of my questions have been asked, but I'll try to touch on sort of the macro drivers. Jim, you commented earlier, but it was a very different business when you came in as CEO, and today, it's a very different business. So in that context, like what are the macro drivers we should sort of keep in mind while it's sort of thinking about the future of the company?

Yes. I mean, as I said in my comments, it is a very different business, but it's still fundamentally based on the same strategy that we launched in 2019, 2020, '23, where we perfected our Fast Forward plan, it is a new category as far as we're concerned. And it does make it difficult from a public market standpoint, I think we're always caught in that mix. Are we construction materials? Are we building materials? Are we clean tech with LED lighting? Or are we -- what are we exactly? And I'm always concerned that we get penalized or that we could get penalized for a lack of understanding. But I think as you look at the evolution of what we've done, it's becoming more and more clear that we're a cuter experienced company, right? We are -- there's a creative element, there's a manufacturing element. There's an operations element, there's a service element and it's how we're executing across all of that whole band, if you will, that's really separating us. We're solving problems for customers that never had a solution like LSI offers, one stop, one call, one shop, we're able to come in there and be more efficient and be more integrated and provide a more uniform package, look and feel, and that could go all the way down to the type of wood species we use across multiple this level, and it's us being on site delivering multiple solutions and being visible that I think is the most rewarding aspect from a customer standpoint. We're there, we understand the project better. We understand the people better. We understand how it all fits together better, and we're able to deliver it as one company. So it's really a unique proposition. And I do feel like we're creating a category of one. And the definition will continue to become clearer and clearer as we move forward.

Understood. And then just on the cadence of revenues with this acquisition now under your belt. How should we think about quarterly revenue flows that may change from sort of the historical way the company has performed?

I mean, I think Jim had brought it up briefly. I think it's going to -- with the activity we did with the acquisition, having a few more shares out there looking at all the assumptions we had 3 months ago where it's going to be kind of a refreshed look. But in terms of revenue, I think it stays completely on point to the way we've been operating the LSI business continually. We want to have a high safety ratio. We want to continue to execute and perform to the numbers that we project and that we think we're going to reach. They are growth oriented. The company is still very much growth-oriented, so you can continue to look for us to focus on growth, both top line and bottom line. I think with any acquisition and certainly with the acquisitions we've done and as I commented a few minutes ago in my opening comments, we'll look very closely at the business that Royston brings to us and look for very effective ways to serve those customers and look for ways that we can continue to work on this concept of greater share of wallet instead of providing 1 or 2 items, how do we provide 4 or 6 or 8 items. So I think we have a really good opportunity to make this -- to create revenue growth in front of us. With that said, I also feel like we're in the third inning of a 9-inning game. It takes time to get engaged in projects and do go through the customer education process anybody that's expecting that we pick up a new customer or a great new revenue stream in 30 days, that's not the timing, right? I mean it typically takes us 12 to 18 months to get engaged with the project to make sure that we've provided the design...

Network and the concept phase, et cetera.

Yes, that concept phase, that piloting phase, and then that turns into a project. So believe me, nobody is more impatient than I am and nobody respects speed as an asset greater than I do, but there is a natural flow to these things. With all of that said, you're going to see LSI continue to grow. Obviously, this is a relatively large acquisition with Royston. Like I said, we like the people that are there. We like the culture. We like to hustle that we feel like it's very similar to ours. And I think we can go do great things together.

Just last one, maybe. Are you using any AI capabilities to potentially accelerate the integration, accelerate cross-selling opportunities. Any background on maybe using new technologies to accomplish these things a little faster?

I mean I think there's lots of things that can be done specifically with new technology tools that are available. There are things that are kind of mechanical things that can be done much faster. There's another resource there to model things. But at the end of the day, it comes down to people. And I will tell you that in every acquisition we've done, the greatest asset we have acquired is the people of the businesses that we've acquired. I mean, I have to be honest, there isn't any business that we've acquired there aren't competitors to and there aren't other companies that can provide it. The real value in the acquisitions we've done has been the people that we've acquired and had become part of the LSI team. And I don't know if that can be rushed without exposing too much room for breakage. And we don't want to do that. We want to learn collaboratively. We want everybody to have a voice. We want to have a greater level of understanding why are they doing it this way? This is the way we do it. They do it different, which is best should both processes exist? Is there a way to trim one or the other? Should we melt these 2 processes. And that comes through thoughtful conversations and that comes through giving everybody an opportunity to have a voice and I think that certainly, Amit, you've been covering us long enough. You know speed is something that I wanted to -- I always want it to happen faster. I always want it to happen faster. But we'll do it in a way that's responsible and we'll do it in a way that it creates an opportunity for everybody to contribute. So I think that we're going to have some -- we have a great compelling story. We're going to continue to have growth and I don't know if the risk to accelerate something for short-term gains is worth the long-term opportunity here. But believe me, we'll be looking for every opportunity to make it go faster than we can.

We have reached the end of our question-and-answer session. I would like to turn the floor back over to Jim Clark for closing comments.

Listen, I would just say, first of all, thank you for everyone that dialed in. I will say we ran into a little technical issue here today where the population of our call actually exceeded the line limits we had. So we'll be expanding that a little bit going forward, and I apologize to anybody that may have had a hard time getting on. We're a different company today, and that's another element we needed to do adjust. I appreciate the questions that everybody answered. I'll close with just a few thoughts. We feel really good about where we are as a company. The strategy is clear. The platform is taking shape and most importantly, the team continues to execute. I think the third quarter reflects that with solid performance and really continued momentum in our key vertical markets. I can guarantee we're going to stay disciplined, particularly as we integrate Royston and we continue to make decisions that support long-term value creation. We set our expectations carefully and we deliver against them. Looking ahead, we're very confident in the direction of the business and on our ability to continue to deliver focused execution. And so with that, I'll say thank you, and thank you for your time and interest in LSI.

Thank you. This will conclude today's conference. You may disconnect at this time, and thank you for your participation.