ALH

Lowe’s Companies, Inc. LOW reported second-quarter fiscal 2026 adjusted earnings of $4.40 per share, up 1.6% year over year, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $4.22. Revenues rose 8.3% to $25,956 million but missed the consensus estimate of $26,135 million.Results were supported by strength in Pro and home services, and a 15.7% increase in online sales, while persistent DIY macro pressure tempered demand. The quarter included an 11 cents-per-share benefit from tariff refunds. Lowe’s also lowered its fiscal 2026 outlook, bringing its sales, comparable-sales, margin and earnings expectations down to the lower end of its previously issued ranges to reflect first-half performance and current demand trends. Lowe's Companies, Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Lowe's Companies, Inc. Quote Reported earnings were $4.27 per share, unchanged from the year-ago quarter. Lowe’s recognized $96 million in pre-tax expenses tied to intangible asset amortization from the Artisan Design Group and Foundation Building Materials acquisitions.The non-GAAP reconciliation added back a net 13 cents per share related to those acquisition expenses. In the prior-year quarter, acquisition-related items reduced earnings by a net 6 cents per share. Pre-tax earnings increased to $3.18 billion from $3.16 billion, while net interest expense rose to $374 million from $313 million. Comparable sales increased 0.2% year over year, which came below our estimate of 1% increase and marked the fifth consecutive quarter of positive comps. Pro and home services were key contributors, while discretionary DIY spending remained pressured by the macro environment. Management highlighted continued execution of the company’s Total Home strategy. The online business remained another source of momentum during the quarter. Management said sustained growth across Pro, online and home services supported positive comparable sales. As of July 31, 2026, Lowe’s operated 1,761 stores, representing 196.0 million square feet of retail selling space. Gross profit increased 5.9% year over year to $8.58 billion from $8.10 billion. Gross margin fell 80 basis points year over year to 33%, which beat our estimate of 32.4%.Selling, general and administrative expenses increased 6.7% to $4.46 billion, although SG&A as a percentage of sales improved to 17.2% from 17.4%, marginally beating our projection of 17.1%. Depreciation and amortization rose to $572 million from $457 million. Operating income advanced 2.3% to $3.55 billion, but operating margin narrowed to 13.7% from 14.5%, beating our estimate of 13.1%. Cash and cash equivalents was $3.17 billion at quarter-end compared with $4.86 billion a year earlier. Merchandise inventory increased to $17.7 billion from $16.3 billion, while long-term debt, excluding current maturities, rose to $35.2 billion from $30.6 billion. Total assets were $55.9 billion.For the first six months of fiscal 2026, net cash provided by operating activities was $7.01 billion compared with $7.61 billion in the prior-year period. Capital expenditures were $1.06 billion. Cash dividend payments totaled $1.35 billion, and common-stock repurchases were $366 million. Net cash used in financing activities reached $4.06 billion. Lowe’s expects fiscal 2026 total sales of $92 billion compared with its prior range of $92-$94 billion. Comparable sales are projected to be flat, versus the previous expectation of flat to up 2%. The revision reflects first-half operating results and current demand trends.The company projects an operating margin of 11.2% versus the earlier 11.2-11.4% range and an adjusted operating margin of 11.6% compared with 11.6-11.8% previously. Earnings are expected to be about $11.75 per share compared with the prior expected range of $11.75 to $12.25 per share. Adjusted earnings are forecast at about $12.25 per share compared with the prior expected range of $12.25 to $12.75 per share. Capital expenditures remain targeted at up to $2.50 billion.The outlook includes tariff refunds recognized in the second quarter but excludes potential additional tariff refunds in the second half. Lowe’s also expects net interest expense of about $1.60 billion and an effective tax rate of roughly 24.5%. Adjusted guidance excludes an expected 40-basis-point operating-margin impact and a 50 cents-per-share after-tax impact from acquisition-related intangible asset amortization. Shares of this this Zacks Rank #4 (Sell) have lost 1.9% over the past three months against the industry’s 7.6% growth. Image Source: Zacks Investment Research Lifetime Brands LCUT is a leading designer, marketer and distributor of kitchenware, cutlery & cutting boards, bakeware & cookware, pantryware & spices, tabletop and bath accessories. It currently sports a Zacks Rank of 1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Lifetime Brands’ current financial-year sales and earnings indicates growth of 156.8% and 4.4%, respectively, from the year-ago reported numbers. LCUT delivered a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 271.1%, on average. Alliance Laundry Holdings Inc. ALH is a provider of commercial laundry systems. It currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Alliance Laundry’s current financial-year earnings and sales suggests growth of 29.4% and 6.5%, respectively, from the year-ago actuals. ALH delivered a trailing four-quarter average earnings surprise of 19.7%.SharkNinja, Inc. SN is a global product design and technology company focused on small household appliances. It also carries a Zacks Rank #2 at present. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for SharkNinja’s current financial-year earnings and sales indicates growth of 23.9% and 16.8%, respectively, from the year-ago actuals. SN delivered a trailing four-quarter average earnings surprise of 11.4%. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Lowe's Companies, Inc. (LOW) : Free Stock Analysis Report SharkNinja, Inc. (SN) : Free Stock Analysis Report Lifetime Brands, Inc. (LCUT) : Free Stock Analysis Report Alliance Laundry Holdings Inc. (ALH) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com). Zacks Investment Research

Target Corporation TGT reported second-quarter fiscal 2026 results, wherein both top and bottom lines surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate and improved year over year. The company witnessed broad-based momentum across sales channels and merchandise categories, aided by higher traffic, solid digital performance and continued strength in high-margin non-merchandise businesses. Profitability also benefited significantly from tariff refunds recognized during the quarter. Following the solid first-half performance, management raised its fiscal 2026 sales and earnings outlook. Target reported adjusted earnings of $4.11 per share, which increased meaningfully from earnings of $2.05 reported in the year-ago period. Second-quarter results included tariff refund benefits of $1.65 per share. Excluding these refunds, earnings per share increased 20% year over year. The bottom line comfortably beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.30.The big-box retailer generated net sales of $26,539 million, which surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $26,129 million. The metric increased 5.3% year over year from $25,211 million.Merchandise sales rose 5% to $25,947 million, while non-merchandise sales increased 20.1%, reflecting continued strength in Roundel advertising revenues, Target Circle 360 membership revenues and the Target+ marketplace. Advertising revenues improved to $279 million from $217 million in the prior-year quarter.Comparable sales increased 3.8% against a decline of 1.9% in the year-ago quarter. The improvement reflected a 3.6% rise in traffic and a 0.2% increase in the average transaction amount. Comparable store sales rose 2.7%, while comparable digital sales advanced 8.7%, led by more than 25% growth in same-day delivery.All six core merchandising categories registered year-over-year net sales growth in the quarter. Fun 101 posted double-digit growth, while Food & Beverage and Beauty delivered high-single-digit gains. Target also continued to see momentum from merchandising investments. The company transformed nearly half of its center-store grocery experience, with sales in snacks rising 15% year over year following the changes. Target Corporation price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Target Corporation Quote Gross margin expanded 470 basis points to 33.7% from 29% last year. The quarter included a 370-basis-point benefit from $994 million of tariff refunds. Excluding this benefit, gross margin expanded approximately 100 basis points year over year, reflecting a favorable comparison with last year's elevated markdowns and purchase-order cancellation costs, along with continued growth in advertising and other non-merchandise sales.SG&A expense rate increased to 21.6% from 21.3% in the prior-year quarter. The increase reflected higher compensation costs, including additional hours for field teams and higher incentive compensation, as well as planned spending related to capital projects. These pressures were partly offset by leverage from strong sales growth.Operating income soared 94.4% year over year to $2,560 million, while operating margin expanded to 9.6% from 5.2% in the prior-year quarter. The tariff refunds contributed 3.7 percentage points to the operating margin rate. Target ended the quarter with cash and cash equivalents of $5,411 million compared with $5,488 million at fiscal 2025-end. Inventory stood at $13,249 million versus $12,304 million at fiscal 2025-end and $12,881 million in the year-ago period. Long-term debt and other borrowings were $14,221 million, while shareholders’ investment totaled $17,843 million.Capital expenditures increased 27% year over year to $1.4 billion, primarily driven by higher investments in store remodels and new stores. Target opened 17 new stores during the second quarter.The company paid dividends of $518 million in the quarter, up from $509 million last year. It did not repurchase shares during the quarter and had approximately $8.3 billion remaining under its August 2021 repurchase authorization. For the trailing 12 months, after-tax return on invested capital was 15.4%, up from 14.3% in the prior-year period. This Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) company raised its fiscal 2026 outlook following solid performance through the first half of the year. The company now expects full-year net sales growth in a range around 5%, one percentage point higher than its previous guidance.Management expects the fiscal 2026 operating income margin rate to be around 6%, including approximately 90 basis points of benefit from the second-quarter tariff refunds. Excluding tariff refunds, the full-year operating margin rate is expected to be around 50 basis points above the adjusted operating margin rate of 4.6% reported last year.Target also raised its adjusted earnings per share guidance to $9.90-$10.90. The range includes approximately $1.65 per share of second-quarter tariff refund benefits but excludes any potential future tariff refunds. Excluding the refund benefit, the midpoint of the updated guidance represents a 75-cent increase from the prior guidance range of $7.50-$8.50.Management remains focused on strengthening Target’s positioning around style, design, newness and value. The retailer has reduced prices on more than 10,000 items over the past year and plans to continue investing in convenience, store experience and differentiated merchandise. Target intends to debut Target Beauty Studio in more than 600 stores and continue expanding new apparel and home concepts. The quarter’s sharp earnings and margin improvement were materially boosted by tariff refunds, but underlying gross margin trends also strengthened. Target’s focus on price, differentiated merchandise and operational execution appears to be gaining traction. The company is also expanding its digital capabilities, with traffic from external AI platforms such as OpenAI and Google growing more than 3.5 times year over year, and AI-powered recommendations and wish lists increasingly supporting digital conversion. With management raising its full-year sales and earnings expectations, Target enters the second half of fiscal 2026 with stronger momentum while continuing to invest in stores, fulfillment, technology and merchandising initiatives. Shares of Target have advanced 24.7% over the past three months against the industry’s 3.1% decline. Alliance Laundry Holdings Inc. ALH, which is the world's largest designer and manufacturer of commercial laundry systems, currently carries a Zacks Rank #2. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Alliance Laundry’s current financial-year sales and EPS indicates growth of 6.5% and 29.4%, respectively, from the year-ago reported numbers. ALH delivered a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 19.7%, on average. Dollar Tree Inc. DLTR is a leading discount retailer operating value-focused stores. The company currently carries a Zacks Rank of 2. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Dollar Tree’s current financial-year sales and EPS indicates growth of 6.5% and 21.7%, respectively, from the year-ago reported numbers. DLTR delivered a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 32.1%, on average. Dollar General Corporation DG is a leading discount retailer offering everyday essentials and value-priced merchandise. The company currently has a Zacks Rank of 2. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Dollar General’s current financial-year sales and EPS is expected to rise 3.9% and 7.6%, respectively, from the year-ago reported figures. DG delivered a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 21%, on average. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Target Corporation (TGT) : Free Stock Analysis Report Dollar General Corporation (DG) : Free Stock Analysis Report Dollar Tree, Inc. (DLTR) : Free Stock Analysis Report Alliance Laundry Holdings Inc. (ALH) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com). Zacks Investment Research

The Home Depot, Inc. HD has delivered solid second-quarter fiscal 2026 results, with the top and bottom lines surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate. Adjusted earnings were $4.92 per share, up 5.1% year over year from $4.68. The figure topped the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $4.71.Net sales rose 5.7% year over year to $47.86 billion and beat the consensus mark of $47.46 billion. Comparable sales (comps) increased 1.7%, while the comparable average ticket climbed 2.8% and comparable customer transactions declined 1.0%. Our model predicted consolidated comps growth of 1.5% for the fiscal second quarter.This Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) company’s shares have rallied 11.7% in the past three months compared with the industry’s 10.3% growth. Image Source: Zacks Investment Research U.S. comparable sales advanced 1.3% year over year in the fiscal second quarter. The gain came as customer spending per transaction increased, while comparable transaction volume remained below the prior-year level.Total customer transactions were 443.2 million, down 0.8% year over year, while average ticket increased to $92.50 from $90.01. Management noted that demand was broad-based with customers continuing to engage in smaller projects. The Home Depot, Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | The Home Depot, Inc. Quote Gross profit increased 6.5% year over year to $16.12 billion from $15.13 billion, supported by the higher sales. Cost of sales rose 5.3% to $31.75 billion, a slower pace than the increase in net sales, which aided the gross margin.The gross margin expanded about 30 basis points (bps) to 33.7% from 33.4%, based on the reported sales and gross-profit figures. The spread between sales growth and cost-of-sales growth supported the year-over-year margin improvement. Our model predicted a 60-bps year-over-year decline in the gross margin to 32.8% for the fiscal second quarter. Selling, general and administrative (SG&A) expenses increased 8.5% year over year to $8.42 billion. Depreciation and amortization rose 5.7% to $852 million, while total operating expenses climbed 8.2% to $9.28 billion. Expense growth outpaced the pace of revenue expansion.GAAP operating income increased 4.3% to $6.84 billion, but the operating margin slipped 20 bps to 14.3% from 14.5% in the year-ago quarter. Adjusted operating income rose 4.8% to $7.02 billion, while the adjusted operating margin edged down 10 bps to 14.7% from 14.8% in the year-ago quarter.Our model predicted the SG&A expense rate to increase 20 bps year over year to 17.3%. We anticipated the adjusted operating income to drop 0.2% year over year and the operating margin to contract 70 bps to 14.1% for the fiscal second quarter. HD ended second-quarter fiscal 2026 with cash and cash equivalents of $2.09 billion, up from $1.39 billion at the start of fiscal 2026. Merchandise inventories were $26.85 billion, receivables were $6.96 billion and long-term debt, excluding current installments, stood at $43.95 billion. Stockholders' equity was $16.62 billion.For the first six months of fiscal 2026, net cash provided by operating activities was $11.42 billion, up from $8.97 billion a year earlier. Working-capital changes contributed $570 million compared with a $1.82 billion use in the prior-year period. Capital expenditure totaled $1.72 billion, while payments for acquired businesses, net, were $1.33 billion.Cash dividends totaled $4.64 billion for the first six months of fiscal 2026. The company also repaid $3.04 billion in long-term debt, contributing to $7.70 billion in net cash used in financing activities. Management reaffirmed its fiscal 2026 outlook, calling for total sales growth of 2.5-4.5% and comps growth of flat to 2%. The company also expects 15 new stores and capital expenditure of 2.5% of the total sales.For fiscal 2026, Home Depot projects a gross margin of 33.1% and an operating margin of 12.4-12.6%, with an adjusted operating margin of 12.8-13%.The company anticipates earnings per share to be flat to up 4% from $14.23 in the year-ago quarter. Meanwhile, adjusted earnings per share are also projected to be flat to up 4% from the $14.69 reported in the year-ago quarter.The outlook also assumes an effective tax rate of 24.3% and net interest expenses of $2.3 billion. Guidance includes IEEPA tariff refunds, which are expected to partially offset unplanned fuel, energy and other product input costs. Adjusted earnings guidance excludes an expected after-tax impact of about 50 cents per share from acquired intangible asset amortization. Alliance Laundry Holdings Inc. ALH, which is the world's largest designer and manufacturer of commercial laundry systems, currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Alliance Laundry’s current financial-year sales and EPS indicates growth of 6.7% and 28.4%, respectively, from the year-ago reported numbers. ALH delivered a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 19.7%, on average.Dollar Tree Inc. DLTR is an operator of discount variety stores offering a broad assortment of everyday consumables and discretionary merchandise. The company currently carries a Zacks Rank of 2. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Dollar Tree’s current financial-year sales and EPS indicates growth of 6.5% and 21.7%, respectively, from the year-ago reported numbers. DLTR delivered a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 32.1%, on average.Dollar General Corporation DG is one of the largest discount retailers in the United States, selling low-priced merchandise, typically $10 or less. The company currently has a Zacks Rank of 2.The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Dollar General’s current financial-year sales and EPS is expected to rise 3.9% and 7.6%, respectively, from the year-ago reported figures. DG delivered a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 21%, on average. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report The Home Depot, Inc. (HD) : Free Stock Analysis Report Dollar General Corporation (DG) : Free Stock Analysis Report Dollar Tree, Inc. (DLTR) : Free Stock Analysis Report Alliance Laundry Holdings Inc. (ALH) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com). 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Find your next quality investment with Simply Wall St's easy and powerful screener, trusted by over 7 million individual investors worldwide. Alliance Laundry Holdings (ALH) shares are back in focus after the company reported second quarter 2026 earnings, highlighted by higher revenue, higher net income and increased earnings per share from continuing operations. See our latest analysis for Alliance Laundry Holdings. Despite the stronger second quarter, Alliance Laundry Holdings shares have eased in the very short term, with a 1-day share price return that declined 1.13% and a 7-day share price return that declined 8.28%. However, the year to date share price return of 19.07% points to momentum that has built over a longer window. If you want to see how other companies are priced after their own earnings updates, it can help to widen the search and review the 21 top founder-led companies Alliance Laundry Holdings has delivered improving earnings while the share price has cooled in the last week. Does that combination still skew the risk and reward toward buyers as the valuation work starts to line up the numbers? Alliance Laundry Holdings currently trades on a P/E of 28.3x, which screens as expensive compared to several benchmarks even after the recent pullback in the share price. The P/E ratio compares the current share price to earnings per share and is often used to gauge how much investors are paying for each dollar of current earnings. For a company like Alliance Laundry Holdings in the US machinery sector, it helps show how the market is weighing its earnings quality and growth profile against peers. On the one hand, ALH has high quality earnings, strong profit growth over the past year and earnings that are forecast to grow each year, which can support a higher P/E. On the other hand, the current 28.3x P/E sits above the US machinery industry average of 27.6x and above the peer average of 26.4x. It is also slightly higher than the estimated fair P/E of 27.5x, a level the market could move towards if expectations cool or earnings catch up. Explore the SWS fair ratio for Alliance Laundry Holdings Result: Price-to-Earnings of 28.3x (OVERVALUED) However, investors still need to watch for any cooling in revenue or net income growth, along with the recent short term share price weakness as potential pressure points. Find out about the key risks to this Alliance Laundry Holdings narrative. The P/E ratio suggests Alliance Laundry Holdings is slightly expensive, yet the SWS DCF model points the other way. At a share price of $25.47, ALH is trading about 17% below an estimated cash flow value of $30.70. Which signal matters more for you right now? Look into how the SWS DCF model arrives at its fair value. Simply Wall St performs a discounted cash flow (DCF) on every stock in the world every day (check out Alliance Laundry Holdings for example). We show the entire calculation in full. You can track the result in your watchlist or portfolio and be alerted when this changes, or use our stock screener to discover 52 high quality undervalued stocks. If you save a screener we even alert you when new companies match - so you never miss a potential opportunity. With Alliance Laundry Holdings presenting both positives and pressure points, it helps to see the full picture for yourself and decide where you stand. To weigh both sides of the story, review the 4 key rewards and 1 important warning sign If Alliance Laundry Holdings has sparked your interest, do not stop here. Use the Simply Wall Street Screener to quickly spot other opportunities that fit your style. Target potential value opportunities by reviewing companies highlighted in the 52 high quality undervalued stocks. Focus on financial strength first and check stocks featured in the solid balance sheet and fundamentals stocks screener (51 results). Hunt for less crowded opportunities by scanning the screener containing 20 high quality undiscovered gems. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned. Companies discussed in this article include ALH. Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email [email protected]

Image source: The Motley Fool. Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026 at 8:00 a.m. ET Vice President of Investor Relations - Thomas Gelston Chief Executive Officer - Michael Schoeb Chief Financial Officer - Dean Nolden Head of Investor Relations and Future International Chief Operating Officer - Robert Calver Operator: Good morning and welcome to Alliance Laundry's Second Quarter 2026 Earnings Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] With that, it is my pleasure to turn the program over to Tom Gelston, Vice President of Investor Relations. Tom, please go ahead. Thomas Gelston: Thank you, and good morning, everyone. Along with today's call, you can find our earnings press release and presentation on our Investor Relations website at ir.alliancelaundry.com. A replay will also be available on our website following the call. As a reminder, today's earnings release, presentation and statements made during this call include forward-looking statements under federal securities laws. These statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from our expectations and projections. Such risks and uncertainties include factors set forth in the earnings release and in our filings with the SEC, including the Risk Factors section of our 10-K filing and subsequent 10-Q filings. We assume no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, except as required by law. Additionally, during today's call, we will discuss certain non-GAAP financial measures outlined in our earnings presentation. We believe these measures are important indicators of our operations as they exclude items that may not be indicative of ongoing business performance. Reconciliations to the most directly comparable GAAP measures can be found in our earnings release and presentation appendix. And with that, I'd like to now turn the call over to Mike Schoeb, our Chief Executive Officer. Mike? Michael Schoeb: Thanks, Tom, and thank you for joining our earnings call. Our second quarter results reinforce the message we have carried since becoming a public company that a resilient, replacement-driven, essential industry, a market-leading position and disciplined operational excellence combined to deliver strong, sustainable outcomes through any environment. In the second quarter, revenue grew 7% year-over-year with adjusted EBITDA growth of 12% and adjusted net income up 54%. This performance was broad-based and it reflects the diversification that defines our business across products, end markets and geography. The strength of our first half, combined with our growing visibility into the balance of the year, gives us the confidence to raise our guidance today, and Dean will take you through that detail shortly. I'd like to highlight again that this performance was achieved in a macro environment that's still volatile in many parts of the world. But remember, every day really is laundry day. Commercial laundry is a vibrant, growing and essential part of modern life. Our diversified geographies and end markets serving nondiscretionary needs, hospitals and elder care, hospitality, industrial, emergency responders and many other verticals have performed across all economic cycles, giving us a level of growth, consistency and downside protection that is hard to find. This quarter was no different. Revenue met our expectations with strong adjusted EBITDA and net income conversion. Digital innovation also continues to see strong adoption and our strategy here is unchanged. The more connected our equipment is, the more value we can deliver through better uptime, smarter servicing, lower cost and higher revenue. And ultimately, a better end user or end consumer experience that further strengthens our customer relationships. Turning to the regions. North America delivered another strong broad-based quarter with growth across every vertical and pricing that helped offset inflation and tariff impacts. Internationally, we saw strength in Asia Pacific, especially in Vended markets and Europe was steady. As we noted previously, the Middle East, Africa region represents less than 2% of our global revenue, so the direct impact of the ongoing conflict is small. And while we are seeing some knock-on effects in other regions, mainly due to higher energy costs, we expect normal growth dynamics to return when the conflict subsides. We're also continuing to strengthen our balance sheet repaying $50 million of debt in the quarter, bringing year-to-date paydown to $115 million and over $800 million over the past 12 months, which has resulted in a reduction in net leverage from 4.6x to 2.4x. So taken together, the strength we demonstrated this quarter, broad-based demand, pricing discipline, our local-for-local manufacturing footprint and a strengthened balance sheet are what we expect to carry us through the balance of 2026. And so before Dean walks you through the financials, I want to share a recent event that brings a key aspect of our long-term growth story to life. In late June, I attended our annual event in Bangkok, where we bring current and prospective laundromat operators together with our distribution partners. Southeast Asia has long been a strategic growth engine for us and laundromats are leading the way. The demand for new stores continues to impress me in a market that largely barely existed a decade ago and one we're proud to have helped create. This demand is structural, not cyclical, urbanization, a growing middle class and the shift toward modern out-of-home laundry is durable, essential demand, the kind that has carried this company through every economic cycle. And here, our advantages are unmistakable, our technology, our distribution network, our highly trained team and unmatched product reliability. Operators choose Alliance because of our connected durable equipment delivers a lower total cost of ownership and a better experience for their customers. There's a second tailwind building underneath the growth. This equipment runs hard all day, every day and high throughput stores and that intensity of use sets up a durable replacement cycle in the years ahead. So even as new stores drive the top line today, the installed base we're building now becomes a recurring source of demand tomorrow. The event generated hundreds of qualified leads across Thailand with the opportunity extending across the region. And Thailand isn't the exception. It's the template. We see the same early innings dynamics taking shape in market after market, structural tailwinds, a growing installed base and emerging market runway all pointing to a business built to compound for years to come. And on that note, I'll hand it over to Dean to provide details of our second quarter performance and increased guidance. Dean Nolden: Thanks, Mike. Starting on Slide 5, I'll walk through our financial results, including our strengthening balance sheet. Second quarter net revenue grew 7% versus the prior year. Pricing contributed slightly more than half of the increase with the balance coming mainly from volume. Gross profit grew 9%, representing a gross margin of 39.8%, up approximately 90 basis points from the prior year. Regarding the cost environment, pricing actions already in place helped to offset our tariff exposure and other current inflationary pressures. Our domestic manufacturing footprint continues to provide a meaningful structural advantage relative to our peers. Adjusted EBITDA grew 12% versus the prior year with a margin of 28.1%, up 135 basis points. This expansion came from volume leverage, operational excellence and supply chain efficiency and also includes continued investment in people, digital, engineering and commercial capabilities at scale versus the competition. In addition, during the quarter, we received tariff refunds and a business interruption insurance claim totaling approximately $3.8 million. Excluding these 2 items, adjusted EBITDA grew 9% versus the prior year quarter and EBITDA margin expanded 60 basis points. Adjusted net income was up 55% year-over-year and adjusted earnings per share was up 32% to $0.41. This result reflects both strong operating performance and the meaningful benefit of significantly lower interest expense, down roughly $22 million from the prior year quarter. Moving to cash and the balance sheet. Operating cash flow was $66 million in the quarter, reflecting strong conversion and continued working capital discipline. We paid down $50 million of debt in the quarter, bringing our year-to-date paydown to $115 million. Net leverage at the end of the quarter was 2.4x adjusted EBITDA, down 0.2 turns in the quarter and down 0.4 turns from year-end. Stepping back, the progress over the past year is striking. Since June 30, 2025, we have paid down $825 million against our term loan, funded by strong organic cash generation and IPO proceeds, cutting our net leverage nearly in half over the last 12 months from 4.6x to 2.4x, with one full turn of that deleveraging due to organic cash flow generation and EBITDA expansion. In addition, we are quite pleased that both Moody's and S&P have upgraded our corporate and senior debt ratings, recognizing our ability to both grow and delever at the same time. This action also has the benefit of lowering our borrowing costs on our term loan by 25 basis points going forward. Drilling into the segments on Slide 6. North America delivered a strong quarter with revenue up 9%, adjusted EBITDA up 17% and adjusted EBITDA margin of 31.6%. Adjusted EBITDA growth was over 12% if you exclude the impact from the insurance recovery and tariff refund mentioned previously. Growth was broad-based across our end markets, with mix providing a modest positive impact in the quarter. Internationally, revenue was approximately flat with adjusted EBITDA of $34 million and a margin of 28.9%. Asia Pacific saw strong growth, particularly in fast-developing Vended markets and Europe was steady across all end markets with operators actively investing in new stores, fleet upgrades and energy efficiency. This flat result masked genuinely strong underlying momentum. As we noted, our Middle East and Africa region, which makes up less than 2% of global revenue, saw a temporary pause in demand tied to the ongoing regional conflict as well as higher energy costs, which also weighed on certain other international markets in the quarter. The year-over-year international EBITDA and margin comparison reflects regional mix within the segment as well as our ongoing investments in people and products to support future growth. International EBITDA and profitability will be lumpier quarter-to-quarter in North America, given the smaller base and the swings in regional strength and mix. We look at progress over time and the trajectory is toward improved profitability and continued parity with our North America margins. Now we will turn to our updated full year guidance on Slide 7. The strength of our first half performance and our growing visibility into the balance of 2026 give us the confidence to raise our full year guidance today. We are maintaining our full year revenue growth guidance of 6% to 7%, with volume and price expected to contribute equally. We are raising our adjusted EBITDA growth guidance to a range of 8% to 10%. We expect revenue to be fairly consistent between quarters across the second half, with margin expansion weighted more toward the fourth quarter given our geographical mix expectations and normal seasonal patterns. We now anticipate net leverage of 2.0x at the end of the year, down from the prior forecast of the low 2x range. Of course, this is based on our current expectations of business operations and capital expenditures and does not take into account the potential impact of other capital deployment opportunities. A few additional adjustments to our full year outlook. We now expect 2026 interest expense to total approximately $80 million. We anticipate a lower effective tax rate of 23%. Our CapEx and share count guidance are unchanged. Now I'll turn the call back over to Mike. Michael Schoeb: Thanks, Dean. And with that, I want to close with our 4 consistent messages. First, commercial laundry is a vibrant, growing and essential industry. Second, we hold a leading market position as the only scaled pure-play operator, 2x the size of our #2 competitor. Third, we have an experienced, hungry and proven team that has long delivered results through every economic cycle and that gives us the confidence to raise our outlook for the full year. And finally, there are systemic tailwinds of magnitude that we believe will continue to power this company for the next several years. So I'll close by thanking our employees, our distribution partners, our customers and our shareholders for your continued support. We really appreciate it and look forward to continuing to create long-term value for Alliance's stakeholders. Before we open the line for questions, I do want to note that Dean is unable to participate in the Q&A portion of today's call due to a personal matter. I'll be handling questions this morning alongside Tom and Bob Calver, our outgoing Head of IR and Future International COO. So with that, operator, let's open the line for questions. Operator: [Operator Instructions] Our first question will come from Amit Mehrotra with UBS. Amit Mehrotra: Appreciate the question. Maybe I can just start by asking about the Middle East conflict and sort of the direct and indirect impacts there. Be curious how much you think that impacted the international business, both on revenue and earnings? And maybe just give us a sense of kind of -- I know it's going to be lumpy prospectively, but as we think about third and fourth quarter, what are sort of the continuing impacts? Michael Schoeb: Yes. Amit, this is Mike. I would say, remember, it's 2% of revenue. So the region itself de minimis in terms of impact. What you have there is -- honestly, it's more transit, so vessels being delayed, things of that nature. And the good news is it includes Africa also, which has been an area that candidly, we have not -- we've done okay in select countries, but there's a lot of opportunity if you think about the demographics of that part of the world, right, large family sizes and other things. And so we've got a lot of opportunity. In many ways, like any crisis, it's a gift, if you look at it the right way. And that gift is forcing that team to refocus on the African market, which, again, is pretty stunning in terms of the long-term potential opportunity. And then as I said in the opening remarks, it's more about the knock-on effects where understandably, some people are pausing a little bit on the international side. Energy costs are a little bit higher. The regions that matter there, obviously, are Asia and Europe, in particular. The thing that we see, as you know, Asia put in a great quarter. We're still very confident about that. I think in Europe, a little slower, but we've seen this before. And usually, what happens is people are a little hesitant, they pause and then all of a sudden, it sort of comes back because people realize laundry is every day, and they got to get to work and the business comes back. So it's not -- I would say we're probably seeing that same phenomenon where to use your words, a little lumpy, a little bumpy. But long term, they are -- and we believe we'll be fine. Amit Mehrotra: Okay. That's helpful. And just maybe as a follow-up, obviously, the North American margins were just spectacular. And what I found interesting is you only attributed mix to sort of a modest benefit in the quarter. We have North America margins sort of approaching 32% here. I think that's sort of an all-time high tied to maybe something you did back in 2023. But what is the -- is there a ceiling here? Because the incremental margins are so far in excess of the absolute margin and your growth is good. It implies that you can continue on this expansion trajectory, but I just want to make sure I'm thinking about it correctly. Michael Schoeb: Yes. Look, I would sort of caution on that side. But I mean, as you know, we've got some internal targets that we won't talk about. We think we continue to grow. That is our plan on the margin side. But I would say sort of slow, steady upward trajectory, nothing radically different, but confident in our ability to, again, be cost down to offset any tariffs and inflation to just get better every day through our operational excellence, right? And then on the new product side, a lot of the design criteria that our engineering team is very, very capable of doing, particularly given, as we've talked about in some of the past calls, the expansion of our laboratory testing facilities. And also, we have added additional folks to our engineering team and the technicians and other guys that are involved in that. So again, being a little long-winded here, but I think up to the right and continual progress. Operator: Our next question will come from Susan Maklari with Goldman Sachs. Susan Maklari: My first question is on the strength, the mix shift that you saw in Vended. Can you talk a little more about what's driving that? And how you're overcoming some of those underlying perhaps headwinds given the macro and some of the other constraints you mentioned last quarter relative to the initiatives that you're putting through and the innovations that you're launching? Michael Schoeb: Yes. So the mix we've talked about, Susan, in the past, and I think it's pretty consistent, and that is in those -- the retail locations, right, it's all about revenue per square foot. The larger capacity product simply just drives better returns, right? The footprint is smaller, the ability to charge more is higher. So revenue per square foot is significantly higher. And again, you see people doing that. The other thing is the end consumer, most people don't like doing laundry. They particularly don't like doing laundry in public many times. So what they really want to do is they want to get in and they want to get out and they want to get on with their life and go play baseball with the kids or do whatever their free time allows them to do. So it's really, really strong that way. And then it is the trifecta in terms of the third part which is for us, right, the engineering content is higher in larger capacity product. There is less of a competitive set on that side. And those things allow us to make a little more margin for it. So it's really a win across the board for the consumer, for the store owner and for us as a manufacturer. Susan Maklari: Okay. That's helpful. And then maybe shifting to the margin and the cost side. Can you talk a bit about price cost and what you're seeing there, especially just given the move in steel and how you're thinking about the potential for any further pricing as we look to the back half of the year? Michael Schoeb: Yes. So steel, we're locked through the first quarter of '27. We are watching it. It does look like [ 427 ], the inflationary environment is a little more hot than we would like. But we're early days. Again, we're watching everything. We're seeing lots of different things in terms of freight and other things that are sort of moving around. I think my message would be, hey, as we have done traditionally, we will get ahead of any of those cost increases and offset that with price. And again, some of the cost down and other efforts that we have to continue to be really attractive in terms of our margin profile. But right now, again, just a little -- looks like it will be a little hot, but too early to tell. Operator: Our next question will come from Mike Halloran with Baird. Michael Halloran: So can we start on just some of the channel in North America? Maybe talk a little bit more depth on the Commercial-in-Home, what you're seeing on that side? Any broader macro headwinds impacting that demographic or that buying group? Any change in trajectory? Any kind of loose thoughts? Michael Schoeb: Yes. I mean having just returned actually night before last from a buying group show, I can tell you the demand is extraordinary. The preference for the Speed Queen brand is extraordinary and it is all signs green. There is no slowdown and they're really asking for us to deliver more product that's probably the biggest opportunity is to really scale that up a little bit more. Michael Halloran: And you're going to be sub 2x leverage exiting the year here. Maybe just give a little context to what your capital allocation or deployment plan looks like beyond that. Does a dividend come into the cards? How are you thinking about the M&A market? Buyback seems maybe a little premature given the float. But maybe just add some context around the plan after you get down to 2 turns. Robert Calver: Yes. Mike, it's Bob Calver. Yes, really no change from what Dean has talked about the last 3 quarters. Primary use is to get that leverage down and we're, as you know, tracking really strongly against that. Investing in the business, be that CapEx or M&A remains the next best use of capital. We've talked about it before. There's limited M&A out there that we see and you've seen that over the last few years. We've -- we think, fairly successfully done those distributor roll-ups in the U.S., and that may continue, but they're fairly small dollar items. And then you're absolutely right, cash generation is really, really strong and we do need to start thinking about what we do with it at that point. I think it's a little bit premature right now to be talking about that in any detail. But I think long term, that combination of dividends, buybacks is kind of where you land logically, but we don't have a firm plan to share with anyone at this point. Operator: Our next question will come from Kyle Menges with Citigroup. Kyle Menges: I just wanted to understand maybe a little bit more what's embedded in the second half expectations for international markets. I mean it seems like in the second quarter, Middle East and Africa was down quite a bit year-over-year and Europe flat. So just trying to understand, are you basically assuming more of the same in the second half? And just any color you can provide on how you're thinking about some of these international markets in the second half and what's embedded in the guide? Michael Schoeb: Yes. I mean what I would say, Kyle, is we still feel pretty good about it. It is and can be lumpy at times. What we see is Europe continuing to perform. Nothing really systemic there in any way. And as I said on multiple calls, an incredible team, really, really strong manufacturing base where we can be very, very competitive from a cost side. Our competitive set there, very capable. But as you know, we've continued to grow. We think we have a lot of tailwinds still, particularly on the Vended side that, that is continuing to grow. It's a new market. And that region has always been strong on the on-prem. So very diverse, lots of opportunities, still feel good about it. Asia Pacific, we should be okay. I don't expect anything negative. Again, lots of opportunity to grow. Certainly, challenges in the region for sure. Probably a little more energy conscious in that part of the world. Latin America, again, we feel like these emerging markets, it's sometimes lumpy, but long term, strong. For us, that region is really about what's happening in Mexico and Brazil. That drives the majority of the business. And Middle East, Africa, as I said, and actually, as an example, they had a pretty good start to Q3. But it is going to be dependent on what the team can do there. And I would say it's more like we talked about vessels that get delayed, transport, that kind of thing. Saudi and the UAE are down. So it's really up to that team to find other opportunities for growth, is very capable. And I would expect that to be down for sure. I don't see recovery there for the year. But as I stated, it's about 2% of revenue. So we'd love to have it up. But if there's a region that's going to be down, that's the one that would have my vote. Kyle Menges: Got it. That's helpful, Mike. And then just a quick follow-up on the potential for some M&A. I mean it sounds like small dollars. Just curious how the M&A pipeline is looking now that you'll be at about 2x leverage exiting this year, if it's mostly small dollars or anything bigger in the pipeline? Michael Schoeb: Yes. Kyle, I think we've talked about it before. There's a limited amount that we need. We've got everything that we think we need to continue growing at historic rates well into the future. If anything did come up that was attractive in terms of filling product gaps, distribution gaps, those kind of things, we'd absolutely consider it. But we certainly don't believe that we need it. So yes, it's always a lever that's there, but I think we're very happy with what we've got and what the future looks for us like M&A. Operator: Our next question will come from Tomo Sano with JPMorgan. Tomohiko Sano: If you could talk about the international business, especially the primary drivers for margin pressures, geographic mix and cost and investment ramp and staffing and pricing. If you give us more color and what happened in 2Q? And how should we think about the back half? Michael Schoeb: Yes. So there's some dynamics going on, but let's start with the manufacturing base that we have, right? So in Europe or the Czech Republic, it is highly, highly cost competitive. We feel really good, both about that location, our sourcing team and the product design. So the international markets, I think, in general, what you see there is more large chassis, which is produced in each of those regions or certainly in Europe. And in the case of Asia, just to touch on that a little bit from the cost side, right? And that Thai factory, it is state-of-the-art. It is our newest factory. It is highly efficient. And again, it is sourcing all materials locally. So very competitive with local manufacturers. And outside of Australia and New Zealand, not a lot of product coming from outside of the region, right? So it is primarily high margin. We use this term large chassis, as you know, product, where, again, you've got more engineering content, a lesser competitive set and we think opportunity to go. So sometimes you'll have some mix shifts where there'll be a country or 2 that all of a sudden takes a large order of lower-margin product that it would be the small chassis product. Again, highly differentiated, but not an equal margin versus the large chassis product. And over time, what those regions use small chassis to sort of seed the market, particularly on the Vended side because it's a lower capital cost, if you want to start up a store, as an example, we just stay on that for a minute. And then they get comfortable and then they realize, hey, this is a really good business, it is every day. And then their next door, what they will do traditionally, they will upgrade then to a larger chassis product, which has longer life, got faster cycle times and offers a better return on investment. But they will dip their toes and we use that to allow them to dip, get comfortable and then that second and third and fourth store, hopefully, if all goes well, right, you do not see them using small chassis in those subsequent stores. Does that answer your question? Tomohiko Sano: Yes. And a follow-up on Bob, congratulations on the leadership transition and this is a question for Mike and Bob. Under Bob's leadership, what will concretely change to improve speed and execution? And where will decision-making be different versus today in international business? Robert Calver: Tomo, thank you for the congratulations. I'm going to defer this one to Mike because I think this sounds like an objective conversation. Michael Schoeb: Yes. Tomo, trust me, we have those ongoing dialogues. I'm looking at him right now, and everything is going to change. No, but we feel really good. As you know, he's very capable. He's been in the business for a long period of time. One of the good things, Tomo, is we've had Tom join us, the transition and Tom's experience and tenure and professionalism, honestly, has allowed Bob to get a running start on the transition. So I can say, for example, we've been in almost every region of the world over the last 2 months and meeting customers, they know him already. He knows the sales team. And I think he is bringing in good perspective. You always win when you bring somebody in new. They look at things differently. They uncover opportunities, they challenge. And I feel really good about the trajectory, the opportunity and I think Bob's leadership and knowledge. So he's not starting from 0. He's an experienced guy who's been around for a long time. And as you know, the numbers matter. And so actually, his background on the finance and Investor Relations side is super helpful to help drive that into his regional teams and I feel really good. Operator: Our next question will come from Andrew Obin with Bank of America. David Ridley-Lane: This is David Ridley-Lane on for Andrew. Just a question here. A competitor has instituted surcharges in response to, as you said, a little bit higher inflationary environment. What has Alliance done historically? And what is your plans on pricing second half and thoughts on -- maybe early thoughts on 2027? Michael Schoeb: Yes. So David, I say, look, we've done all of the above a little bit. It's a hyperinflationary. We have used surcharges for shorter periods of time, sort of waited, watched. If I go back a year or so ago, it was on the freight side. And then as that look to be a consistent cost increase, we did roll out a price increase. So you'll see us do that. At the moment, we're watching. We feel we can offset the majority of that with a lot of other different actions that we're taking here. But the one thing you should know about us is we have consistently sort of gotten ahead of any price increase to make sure our margin profile remains attractive. So we're not quite there yet. We're watching it. As I said, I think '27 will be a little bit hotter than normal, nothing like what we've seen in the past, but it's likely to be a little bit hotter. But again, you'll see us announce, get ahead of it. We don't chase it because you can't -- you can never catch it. This is my experience anyway. So that's how I frame it. David Ridley-Lane: And then just a follow-up on -- there's been a number of tariff changes. I know you're primarily local for local. Does the Section 301 tariffs kind of that 10% or 12.5% have any benefit to you in the second half neutral? Any thoughts on that? Robert Calver: Yes. David, I'll just take that one. I think you should consider the second half very similar to the first half. We don't see any changes and it's fairly neutral for us right now. Operator: Our last question will come from Ketan Mamtora with BMO Capital Markets. Patrick Beairsto: This is Patrick Beairsto on for Ketan. I wanted to ask about the demand trends in Europe, both by sort of end market and region. And how did you see those trends sort of evolve through Q2? Michael Schoeb: Yes. I'm sorry, I missed the first part of the question. Can you repeat that? Patrick Beairsto: Yes. I just wanted to ask on the demand trends in Europe on an end market and region basis and then how you saw those trends sort of evolve through Q2? Michael Schoeb: Yes. So I don't think there's any material change. Again, the Vended piece continues to grow. Again, you've got a lot of new storefronts that are going in. No real change there. The incremental growth of that part of the business has been quite strong. And then again, it is a more On-premise heavy as a percent of revenue. There are a lot of opportunities in terms of same phenomenon you see here where Europeans are staying more often. They're staying in the region. So a lot of the bed and breakfast and you do have a different sort of hospitality market there where you've got a lot of smaller properties versus what you have here of 300, 400-room hotels. You don't see that there. You've got a lot of 50, 60 room locations that have On-premise laundry. So a lot of opportunity there and others, I would say, tailwinds that are favorable. The Eastern Europe is a little more hard hit with the energy costs. You don't see -- I mean, there's concern across the region, right? As everybody knows, sustainability is really, really critical in that part of the world. We've got the right product suite that allows them to get much, much higher efficiency and lower cost. But I would say the East is a little bit more stressed than Western Europe and particularly where we are strong in France, Spain and Italy, which has a high population base, we have a direct business there that, that is performing very, very well and has long been outperforming and growing faster than some of our independent distributor countries. Patrick Beairsto: Got it. That's helpful. And then on the -- on the tariff refund side, are you expecting anything for the remainder of the year? Robert Calver: Patrick, yes, it's Bob again. Look, we're not going to share anything specific. There was the benefit we got in Q2. The reality is that there's probably still something out there, but it's still subject to confirmation. So just to be clear on guidance, it's not included in our kind of full year guidance. Nothing over and above what we've seen in the second quarter is in there. So if there is any, it will be additional benefit. Operator: Thank you. This brings us to the end of the Q&A portion and also the conclusion of Alliance Laundry's second quarter 2026 earnings conference call. You may now disconnect your lines and have a wonderful day. Before you buy stock in Alliance Laundry, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Alliance Laundry wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut are built for long-term growth and could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $400,209!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,375,393!* That performance is why people listen. With a track record of beating the S&P 500 by 4x, Stock Advisor offers a distinct advantage. Don't miss the latest top 10 list, available with Stock Advisor, and join an investing community built for the long haul. See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of August 13, 2026. This article is a transcript of this conference call produced for The Motley Fool. While we strive for our Foolish Best, there may be errors, omissions, or inaccuracies in this transcript. As with all our articles, The Motley Fool does not assume any responsibility for your use of this content, and we strongly encourage you to do your own research, including listening to the call yourself and reading the company's SEC filings. Please see our Terms and Conditions for additional details, including our Obligatory Capitalized Disclaimers of Liability. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Alliance Laundry (ALH) Q2 2026 Earnings Call Transcript was originally published by The Motley Fool

Second Quarter 2026 Highlights:All results are for the second quarter of fiscal 2026, and comparisons are year-over-year unless otherwise noted Net revenue of $477 million, up 7% Net income of $69 million, an increase of 121%; Adjusted Net income of $83 million, an increase of 55% Adjusted EBITDA of $134 million, up 12% Repaid $50 million in debt; Net Leverage reduced to 2.4x Raises full year 2026 Adjusted EBITDA guidance to +8% to 10% growth versus prior year 1 RIPON, Wis., August 13, 2026--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Alliance Laundry Holdings Inc. (NYSE: ALH) ("Alliance" or the "Company"), the global leader in commercial laundry equipment, today announced results for its second quarter ended June 30, 2026. "Our performance this quarter, including the revenue growth and profitability we delivered, demonstrates the strength and durability of our business model that is rooted in diversification across all three dimensions: product, end markets and geography," said Michael Schoeb, CEO of Alliance. "The resilient, replacement-driven nature of demand in our industry, combined with our market-leading product solutions and several compelling growth drivers, underpins our optimism for the years ahead and our commitment to long-term shareholder value. Our strong first half performance, combined with our visibility into the remainder of the year, provides the foundation to raise our earnings guidance and firm up our deleveraging target." SECOND QUARTER 2026 CONSOLIDATED RESULTS Net revenue increased 7% to $477 million compared to $447 million in the prior year quarter. Pricing actions to offset cost increases contributed slightly more than half of the benefit, with the balance driven by unit volume and mix. Broad-based growth in North America was slightly offset by flat International Segment results. The majority of international markets performed as expected, with particular strength in the Asia Pacific region. Gross profit increased 9% to $190 million, representing a gross margin of 39.8%, and an approximate 90 basis points increase from the prior year quarter. Pricing actions already in place continue to offset the Company’s tariff exposure and other inflationary increases, with our local-for-local manufacturing footprint continuing to provide a meaningful structural advantage. Net income was $69 million compared to $31 million in the prior year quarter, with Net income margin of 14.4%. Adjusted Net income increased approximately 55% to $83 million versus $53 million in the prior year quarter. The year-over-year change reflects the growth in operating earnings plus approximately $22 million in lower interest expense following significant debt reduction of $825 million over the past twelve months. Adjusted EBITDA increased 12% to $134 million, with Adjusted EBITDA Margin of 28.1%, representing an approximate 135 basis point increase in profitability versus the prior year quarter. Margin expansion from volume leverage, operational excellence, and supply chain efficiency was partially offset by legal expense and incremental public company costs net of discrete benefits in the quarter from tariff refunds and insurance proceeds. CASH FLOW AND BALANCE SHEET Operating cash flow for the quarter was $66.3 million, up from $5.3 million in the prior year quarter, reflecting strong operating cash conversion and continued working capital discipline, consistent with the Company’s historical performance. The Company paid down $50 million in debt during the second quarter. This coupled with the $65 million paid down in the first quarter resulted in total debt of $1.25 billion and net debt of $1.09 billion as of June 30, 2026. Net Leverage decreased to 2.4x, a reduction of 0.2 turns from March 31, 2026, and down 0.4 turns from prior year end. SECOND QUARTER 2026 RESULTS BY REPORTABLE SEGMENT North America revenue increased 9% to $359 million, with Adjusted EBITDA up 17% to $114 million and Adjusted EBITDA Margin of 31.6%. Growth was broad-based across all end markets, supported by demand mix shift toward larger-capacity machines in the Vended market. Multi-Housing and On-Premise delivered solid results, reflecting the continued predictable replacement demand of this end-market. Commercial-in-Home posted strong growth as consumers continue to seek products with higher reliability, longer life and durability consistent with our commercial customers. Pricing actions offset cost inflation and tariff exposure, with the Company’s in-market manufacturing footprint and supply chain providing structural protection. International revenue was approximately flat at $117 million, and Adjusted EBITDA decreased by 8% to $34 million resulting in an Adjusted EBITDA Margin of 28.9%. Asia Pacific continued to see strong growth, particularly in burgeoning markets. Europe delivered steady performance across all end markets, powered by the ongoing replacement and upgrade cycle. The Middle East & Africa region, which makes up less than 2% of global revenue, continued to experience reduced activity due to the on-going conflict in the Middle East. The EBITDA impact reflects the geographic mix of the business, as well as the ongoing investment in people and products in emerging international markets to enable future growth. UPDATED 2026 FULL YEAR GUIDANCE The Company’s outlook includes Adjusted EBITDA and Net Leverage, which are non-GAAP measures. The Company does not provide certain estimated future results for Adjusted EBITDA and Net Leverage on a GAAP basis because the Company is unable to predict, with reasonable certainty, certain items that are excluded from Adjusted EBITDA, including but not limited to restructuring and acquisition-related charges, non-cash asset impairment charges and gains or losses from dispositions and foreign exchange gains/losses on intercompany loans. These items are uncertain and will depend on several factors, including industry conditions, and could be material to the Company’s results computed in accordance with GAAP. The Company has not provided reconciliations between the Company’s 2026 guidance and the most directly comparable GAAP measures because it would be too difficult to prepare a reliable U.S. GAAP quantitative reconciliation without unreasonable effort. Based on the strength of our second quarter performance and our visibility into the second half of the year, the Company is raising the range of Adjusted EBITDA guidance for 2026 and firming up its Net Leverage guidance. Revenue guidance remains unchanged. Revenue growth guidance versus prior year remains at +6% to 7%. Adjusted EBITDA growth has been raised to +8% to 10%, from the prior range of +7% to 8%, as the Company realizes the benefit of price and volume increases alongside the realization of continued cost-down initiatives. The Company also expects revenue performance to be fairly consistent between quarters across the second half of 2026. We expect margin expansion will be weighted more towards the fourth quarter given the geographic mix of business and normal seasonal patterns. The Company now anticipates achieving net leverage of 2.0x in fiscal year 2026, absent any other capital allocation opportunities, down from the prior disclosure of low 2x range. Interest is now expected to total approximately $80 million for 2026, and we forecast a lower effective tax rate of 23.0%. Capital Expenditures and share count guidance assumptions remain unchanged. CONFERENCE CALL INFORMATION Alliance will host a conference call to discuss these results at 8:00 a.m. Eastern Time today, August 13, 2026. A live audio webcast will be available on Alliance’s Investor Relations website at https://ir.alliancelaundry.com/news-events/ir-calendar. A replay of the webcast will be available after the call. ABOUT ALLIANCE LAUNDRY Alliance Laundry makes the world cleaner as a provider of the highest quality commercial laundry systems. Our laundry solutions are available under five respected brands, sold and supported by a global network of select distributors. We serve approximately 150 countries with a team of more than 4,000 employees. Our brands include Speed Queen®, UniMac®, Huebsch®, Primus® and IPSO®. Together, they present a full line of commercial washing machines, dryers, and ironers (with load capacities from 20–400 lb. or 9–180 kg.) and support service. You can also enjoy the superior wash and fabric care of commercial-grade laundry equipment in your home through our legendary Speed Queen® washers and dryers. For more information, visit www.alliancelaundry.com. NON-GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES We regularly review non-GAAP measures to evaluate our business, measure our performance and manage our operations, including identifying trends affecting our business, formulating business plans and making strategic decisions. We believe that non-GAAP measures provide an additional way of viewing aspects of our operations that, when viewed together with our GAAP results, provide a more complete understanding of our results of operations and the factors and trends affecting our business. These non-GAAP financial measures are also used by our management to evaluate financial results and to plan and forecast future periods. Non-GAAP financial measures should be considered a supplement to, and not a substitute for, or superior to, the corresponding measures calculated in accordance with GAAP. Non-GAAP financial measures used by us may differ from the non-GAAP measures used by other companies, including our competitors. "Adjusted EBITDA" represents Net income before provision for income taxes, interest expense, depreciation and amortization and is further adjusted to exclude certain expenses not representative of our ongoing operations and other charges not involving cash outlays and "Adjusted EBITDA Margin" represents Adjusted EBITDA divided by Net revenues. "Adjusted Net income" represents Net income adjusted to exclude certain expenses not representative of our ongoing operations and other charges. These adjustments include, but are not limited to, refinancing and debt related costs, share-based compensation, strategic transaction costs, intangible amortization, foreign exchange on intercompany loans and other non-recurring items. "Net Debt" represents our total debt less Cash and cash equivalents. "Net Debt to Adjusted EBITDA" or "Net Leverage" represents total debt less Cash and cash equivalents divided by Adjusted EBITDA for the relevant period. SEGMENT INFORMATION Our business is organized into two reportable segments, North America and International. The Company uses Segment net revenues, Segment Adjusted EBITDA and Segment Adjusted EBITDA Margin as its measures of performance. The Company allocates certain costs including manufacturing variances, customer support expenses and selling and general expenses which are incurred in our global operations to the reportable segments in determining Segment Adjusted EBITDA. We define "Segment Adjusted EBITDA" as, on a segment basis, net income excluding interest income/expense, income taxes, depreciation and amortization. Segment Adjusted EBITDA is also adjusted for the discrete items that management excluded in analyzing the segments’ operating performance, such as refinancing and debt related costs, share-based compensation, strategic transaction costs, foreign exchange on intercompany loans and other non-recurring items which management believes are not indicative of the Company’s ongoing operating performance. Segment Adjusted EBITDA is a measure of operating performance of our reportable segments and may not be comparable to similar measures reported by other companies. FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS This press release includes "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the "safe harbor" provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. In some cases, you can identify these forward-looking statements by the use of terms such as "expect," "will," "continue," or similar expressions, and variations or negatives of these words, but the absence of these words does not mean that a statement is not forward-looking. Forward-looking statements represent our management’s beliefs and assumptions only as of the date of this press release. You should read this press release with the understanding that our actual future results may be materially different from what we expect. All statements other than statements of historical fact are statements that could be deemed forward-looking statements, which include but are not limited to: expectations relating to revenues and other financial or business metrics; statements regarding the Company’s plans, guidance, growth, execution, costs and cost savings and any other statements of expectation or belief. These statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to differ materially from results expressed or implied in this press release. Such risk factors include, but are not limited to, those related to: the high degree of competition in the markets in which we operate; our reliance on the performance of distributors, route operators, suppliers, retailers and servicers; our ability to achieve and maintain a high level of product and service quality; fluctuations in the cost and availability of raw materials; our exposure to international markets, particularly emerging markets; our exposure to costs and difficulties of acquiring and integrating complementary businesses and technologies; and our exposure to worldwide economic conditions and potential global economic downturns. Additional information concerning these and other risks and uncertainties are contained in the section entitled "Risk Factors" in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2025. Additional information will be made available in our quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, and other filings and reports that we may file from time to time with the SEC. Except as required by law, we assume no obligation, and do not intend to, update these forward-looking statements, or to update the reasons actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements, even if new information becomes available in the future. ALLIANCE LAUNDRY HOLDINGS INC.SEGMENT SUMMARY The following table presents revenue by segment, Segment Adjusted EBITDA and Segment Adjusted EBITDA Margin: Selected financial information for each segment is as follows: ALLIANCE LAUNDRY HOLDINGS INC.RECONCILIATION SCHEDULES The following table presents a reconciliation of Net income to the non-GAAP financial measure adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (Adjusted EBITDA) and Net income margin to Adjusted EBITDA margin: The following table presents a reconciliation of Net income to Adjusted net income: The following table presents the calculation of last twelve months (LTM) adjusted EBITDA for purposes of calculating Net debt to Adjusted EBITDA: The following table presents a reconciliation of Debt to Net Debt and Net Debt to Adjusted EBITDA: View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260811668681/en/ Contacts ALLIANCE LAUNDRY SYSTEMS CONTACTS: Investor Contact: Tom GelstonVice President, Investor Relations & Corporate [email protected] Media Contact: Randy RadtkeSenior Manager of Content and Creative [email protected]

Interested in Alliance Laundry Holdings Inc.? Here are five stocks we like better. Strong second-quarter performance: Revenue rose 7%, adjusted EBITDA increased 12%, and adjusted EBITDA margin expanded to 28.1%. North America led growth, while adjusted net income climbed approximately 55% and operating cash flow reached $66 million. Outlook improved: Alliance Laundry maintained its 2026 revenue-growth forecast of 6% to 7% but raised adjusted EBITDA growth guidance to 8% to 10%, supported by pricing, cost controls and resilient commercial laundry demand. Balance sheet strengthened: The company repaid $50 million of debt during the quarter and $825 million over the past year, reducing net leverage to 2.4 times adjusted EBITDA. International performance was mixed, with strong Asia-Pacific growth offset by weakness tied to conflict and energy costs in the Middle East and Africa. Alliance Laundry (NYSE:ALH) reported higher second-quarter revenue, profit and cash flow, citing broad-based demand across North America and continued growth in Asia-Pacific markets. The commercial laundry equipment company raised its full-year adjusted EBITDA growth outlook while maintaining its revenue growth forecast. Chief Executive Officer Mike Schoeb said the company’s results reflected its exposure to replacement-driven and non-discretionary commercial laundry end markets, including hospitals, elder care facilities, hospitality customers, industrial users and emergency responders. → AST SpaceMobile Earnings Just Reminded Investors How Risky Space Can Be “Every day really is laundry day,” Schoeb said, describing the industry as essential and resilient across economic cycles. Second-quarter net revenue increased 7% from a year earlier, with pricing contributing slightly more than half of the increase and volume accounting for most of the remainder, according to Chief Financial Officer Dean Ducker. Gross profit rose 9%, and gross margin expanded about 90 basis points to 39.8%. Adjusted EBITDA increased 12% year over year, while adjusted EBITDA margin rose 135 basis points to 28.1%. Adjusted net income increased approximately 55% from the prior-year quarter. Adjusted earnings per share rose 32% to $0.41. Operating cash flow totaled $66 million during the quarter. → Nebius’ Q2 Beat Shows the AI Bottleneck Is Capacity, Not Demand Ducker said the quarter’s adjusted EBITDA included about $3.8 million in tariff refunds and a business interruption insurance claim. Excluding those items, adjusted EBITDA increased 9% and margin expanded 60 basis points. Lower interest expense also supported adjusted net income. Interest expense declined by roughly $22 million from the prior-year quarter, Ducker said. → On Holding's Price Stumble May Be an Opening for a Company Built to Run North America was the largest contributor to growth, with revenue up 9%, adjusted EBITDA up 17%, and adjusted EBITDA margin reaching 31.6%. Excluding the tariff refunds and insurance recovery, North American adjusted EBITDA growth was more than 12%, Ducker said. The company cited broad-based end-market growth and a modestly favorable mix effect. International revenue was approximately flat year over year, though Alliance Laundry said underlying conditions differed by region. Asia-Pacific posted strong growth, particularly in developing vended laundry markets, while Europe remained steady across end markets. Schoeb said European operators continue to invest in new laundromats, fleet upgrades and energy-efficient equipment. He said the company sees continuing vended-market growth in Europe alongside opportunities in on-premise laundry, including hospitality customers. However, results in the Middle East and Africa were affected by regional conflict and higher energy costs. The region accounts for less than 2% of global revenue, according to management. Schoeb said the more significant effects included shipping and vessel delays, customer caution in certain international markets, and elevated energy costs that affected Europe and other regions. The company expects Middle East and Africa demand to remain down for the year, although Schoeb said the region had a good start to the third quarter. He also pointed to longer-term opportunity in Africa. Management said international profitability may be more variable quarter to quarter because of the segment’s smaller base, regional mix and investments in people and products. Management said pricing actions already in place helped offset tariff exposure and inflationary pressures. Schoeb said the company’s domestic manufacturing footprint provides an advantage and that it intends to use pricing, cost-reduction efforts and operational improvements to protect margins if costs rise further. The company has locked in steel costs through the first quarter of 2027, Schoeb said. While management sees the potential for a somewhat hotter inflation environment in 2027, it said it is too early to determine the extent of the impact. On tariffs, management said it expects the second half to be broadly similar to the first half and views the current impact as relatively neutral. Any additional tariff refunds beyond the amount received in the second quarter are not included in the company’s full-year guidance, according to Bob Kalberer, outgoing head of investor relations and future international chief operating officer. Alliance Laundry repaid $50 million of debt in the second quarter, bringing year-to-date debt repayment to $115 million. Over the 12 months ended June 30, the company repaid $825 million against its term loan, funded through organic cash generation and IPO proceeds. Net leverage declined to 2.4 times adjusted EBITDA at quarter-end, down from 4.6 times a year earlier. Ducker said Moody’s and S&P upgraded the company’s corporate and senior debt ratings, reducing borrowing costs on its term loan by 25 basis points going forward. For 2026, Alliance Laundry maintained its forecast for revenue growth of 6% to 7%, with volume and pricing expected to contribute equally. The company raised its adjusted EBITDA growth outlook to 8% to 10% and expects revenue to be relatively consistent between the third and fourth quarters. Margin expansion is expected to be more heavily weighted toward the fourth quarter due to geographic mix and seasonal patterns. The company now expects year-end net leverage of 2.0 times, full-year interest expense of about $80 million, and an effective tax rate of 23%. Management said capital expenditure and share-count guidance were unchanged. Looking ahead, Schoeb highlighted growing laundromat demand in Southeast Asia, particularly Thailand, where the company’s June event generated hundreds of qualified leads. He said urbanization, middle-class growth and the adoption of out-of-home laundry are supporting new-store development, while the resulting installed base could create future replacement demand. Alliance Laundry Systems (NYSE: ALH) is a manufacturer and distributor of commercial and residential laundry equipment and related services. The company designs, produces and sells a range of coin-operated and vended machines, on-premises washers and dryers, and allied equipment for laundromats, multi-housing, hospitality, healthcare and other institutional customers. Alliance’s product strategy emphasizes durable, high-throughput machines for professional laundry operators as well as appliances geared to self-service and multi-dwelling applications. Its product portfolio includes coin-operated and card-operated washers and dryers, stacked and single-pocket models, industrial-grade on-premises equipment, and parts and accessories. This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to [email protected]. The article "Alliance Laundry Q2 Earnings Call Highlights" was originally published by MarketBeat. View MarketBeat's top stocks for August 2026.

This article first appeared on GuruFocus. Revenue: Grew 7% year-over-year in the second quarter. Gross Profit: Grew 9%, with a gross margin of 39.8%, up approximately 90 basis points from the prior year. Adjusted EBITDA: Grew 12% year-over-year, with a margin of 28%, up 135 basis points. Adjusted Net Income: Up 55% year-over-year. Adjusted Earnings Per Share: Up 32% to $0.41. Operating Cash Flow: $66 million in the quarter. Debt Repayment: Paid down $50 million of debt in the quarter, bringing year-to-date paydown to $115 million and over $800 million in the past 12 months. Net Leverage: Reduced from 4.6 times to 2.4 times over the past 12 months. North America Revenue: Up 9%. North America Adjusted EBITDA: Up 17%, with a margin of 31.6%. International Revenue: Approximately flat. International Adjusted EBITDA: $34 million, with a margin of 28.9%. Interest Expense: Down roughly $22 million from the prior year quarter. Full Year Revenue Growth Guidance: Maintained at 6% to 7%. Full Year Adjusted EBITDA Growth Guidance: Raised to a range of 8% to 10%. Full Year Interest Expense Guidance: Approximately $80 million. Full Year Effective Tax Rate Guidance: Lowered to 23%. Full Year Net Leverage Guidance: Now anticipated at 2.0 times at year-end. Warning! GuruFocus has detected 6 Warning Sign with ALH. Is ALH fairly valued? Test your thesis with our free DCF calculator. Release Date: August 13, 2026 For the complete transcript of the earnings call, please refer to the full earnings call transcript. Revenue grew 7% year-over-year with adjusted EBITDA up 12% and adjusted net income up 54% in Q2 2026. North America delivered strong broad-based growth across all verticals, with adjusted EBITDA up 17% and margin expansion to 31.6%. The company raised its full-year adjusted EBITDA growth guidance to 8%-10% and expects net leverage to decline to 2.0x by year-end. Debt reduction of $115 million year-to-date and $825 million over the past 12 months, cutting net leverage from 4.6x to 2.4x. Strong demand in Asia Pacific, particularly in vended markets, and continued growth in Europe's vended and on-premise segments. Digital innovation and connected equipment adoption are driving value through better uptime, smarter servicing, and lower costs. Credit rating upgrades from Moody's and S&P, reducing borrowing costs by 25 basis points. Pricing discipline and a local-for-local manufacturing footprint help offset tariff and inflationary pressures. Structural tailwinds in emerging markets like Southeast Asia, with growing installed base and replacement cycles. Strong operating cash flow of $66 million in the quarter, reflecting solid conversion and working capital discipline. International revenue was approximately flat, with adjusted EBITDA margin down due to regional mix and investments. Middle East and Africa region, though less than 2% of revenue, experienced a temporary pause in demand due to conflict and higher energy costs. Higher energy costs in Europe, especially Eastern Europe, are creating some stress and slowing growth. The company expects Middle East and Africa to remain down for the year, with no recovery anticipated. Inflationary pressures, particularly in steel and freight, are expected to be 'a little hotter' in 2027, requiring proactive pricing actions. International profitability is expected to remain lumpy quarter-to-quarter due to smaller base and regional swings. The company faces potential tariff impacts, though currently neutral, with no significant changes expected in the second half. M&A opportunities are limited, and the company has not yet determined a clear capital deployment plan beyond debt reduction. The CFO was unable to participate in the Q&A portion of the call due to a personal matter, potentially limiting investor insights. The company's guidance does not include potential additional tariff refunds or insurance recoveries, which could be uncertain. Q: How did the Middle East conflict impact the international business, and what are the expectations for the third and fourth quarters? A: Michael Schoeb (CEO) stated that the Middle East and Africa region is less than 2% of global revenue, making the direct impact de minimis. The primary effects are logistical, such as delayed vessels. The company is refocusing the team on the African market's long-term potential. Indirectly, higher energy costs are causing some customers in Asia and Europe to pause, but the company expects normal growth dynamics to return as the conflict subsides. He noted that Asia Pacific had a strong quarter, while Europe is a bit slower but expected to recover. Q: North American margins were exceptionally strong, approaching 32%. Is there a ceiling to this margin expansion? A: Michael Schoeb (CEO) cautioned against expecting radical changes but confirmed the company's plan is to continue on a slow, steady upward margin trajectory. He attributed this to ongoing cost-down initiatives to offset tariffs and inflation, operational excellence, and new product designs from an expanded engineering team and laboratory facilities. Q: Can you provide more detail on the strength and mix shift in the vended market? A: Michael Schoeb (CEO) explained that the mix shift is driven by larger capacity products, which offer better returns for store owners due to higher revenue per square foot and a better consumer experience. For Alliance, these products have higher engineering content and face a smaller competitive set, allowing for better margins. This creates a "win-win-win" for the consumer, store owner, and manufacturer. Q: What is the company's capital allocation plan given the expectation of reaching sub-2.0x net leverage by year-end? A: Bob Calver (VP of IR) stated that the primary use of capital remains paying down debt, followed by investing in the business via CapEx or M&A. While M&A opportunities are limited and typically small, such as distributor roll-ups, the strong cash generation means the company will need to consider options like dividends or buybacks in the future, though it is premature to provide specifics. Q: What are the primary drivers of margin pressure in the international business, and how should we think about the back half of the year? A: Michael Schoeb (CEO) explained that international margins are affected by regional mix, particularly shifts between higher-margin "large chassis" products and lower-margin "small chassis" products used to seed new vended markets. He highlighted that the manufacturing bases in the Czech Republic and Thailand are highly cost-competitive and source locally. As customers upgrade from small to large chassis products, margins are expected to improve over time. Q: What are the demand trends in Europe by end market and region, and how did they evolve through Q2? A: Michael Schoeb (CEO) noted no material change in trends. The vended segment continues to grow with new storefronts. The on-premise market, particularly in France, Spain, and Italy, is performing well. Eastern Europe is more stressed due to higher energy costs, but the company's product suite offers efficiency solutions. Overall, the region is steady with operators investing in new stores and fleet upgrades. Q: How is the company approaching pricing given the hotter inflationary environment and a competitor's surcharge? A: Michael Schoeb (CEO) stated that the company has used surcharges for short-term hyperinflationary periods but prefers to roll out price increases when cost increases appear consistent. He emphasized the company's strategy is to get ahead of price increases to protect margins, noting that 2027 inflation looks "a little hotter than normal," but they will announce and implement pricing proactively rather than chase costs. Q: Are there any additional tariff refunds or business interruption insurance benefits expected in the second half of the year? A: Bob Calver (VP of IR) confirmed that the $3.8 million benefit received in Q2 is not included in the full-year guidance. While there may be additional funds, they are subject to confirmation and would be considered an additional benefit if received. Q: What is the outlook for the international markets in the second half, specifically regarding the Middle East and Africa? A: Michael Schoeb (CEO) stated that Europe is expected to continue performing steadily, and Asia Pacific should be okay. Latin America is seen as a long-term strong market driven by Mexico and Brazil. The Middle East and Africa region is expected to be down for the year, with no recovery anticipated, but since it is only 2% of revenue, the impact is minimal. He noted the region had a good start to Q3. Q: What will concretely change under Bob Calver's leadership as the new International COO to improve speed and execution? A: Michael Schoeb (CEO) highlighted that Bob Calver has had a running start due to Tom Gelston's transition into IR. Calver has already visited most regions, met customers, and knows the sales teams. His background in finance and industrial relations is expected to help drive performance in regional teams. Schoeb expressed confidence that Calver's fresh perspective will uncover new opportunities and challenge the status quo. For the complete transcript of the earnings call, please refer to the full earnings call transcript.

Our analysts just identified a stock with the potential to be the next Nvidia. Tell us how you invest and we'll show you why it's our #1 pick. Tap here. Performance was driven by the nondiscretionary, replacement-driven nature of commercial laundry, which management describes as an essential industry that remains resilient across economic cycles. Revenue growth of 7% was balanced between pricing discipline and volume, with North America showing broad-based strength across all vertical markets. The company is successfully executing a 'local-for-local' manufacturing strategy, which provides a structural advantage in mitigating tariff impacts and inflationary pressures. Strategic focus on digital innovation and connected equipment is driving higher adoption, aimed at improving customer uptime and lowering total cost of ownership. Management highlighted Southeast Asia as a structural growth engine, where urbanization and a growing middle class are creating a durable vended laundry market from scratch. Operational excellence and supply chain efficiencies contributed to a 135 basis point expansion in adjusted EBITDA margins, though expansion was 60 basis points when excluding one-time benefits such as insurance recoveries and tariff refunds. The company achieved significant deleveraging, reducing net leverage from 4.6x to 2.4x over 12 months through organic cash flow and IPO proceeds. Full-year adjusted EBITDA growth guidance was raised to 8% to 10%, supported by strong first-half visibility and consistent demand expectations. Management expects revenue to remain consistent between quarters in the second half, with margin expansion weighted toward the fourth quarter due to seasonal patterns. The company anticipates reaching a net leverage target of 2.0x by year-end 2026, driven by strong organic cash generation. Guidance assumes a stable pricing environment where the company will proactively implement price increases to stay ahead of potential 2027 inflationary 'heat'. International growth is expected to be 'lumpy' in the near term due to regional conflicts and energy costs, but management maintains a long-term trajectory toward margin parity with North America. Second quarter results included a $3.8 million benefit from tariff refunds and a business interruption insurance claim. The Middle East and Africa region, representing less than 2% of revenue, is experiencing a temporary pause in demand and transit delays due to regional conflict. Management noted that while steel costs are locked through Q1 2027, the broader inflationary environment for 2027 appears 'hotter' than preferred. Higher energy costs in Europe and Asia are acting as a temporary headwind, causing some international operators to pause investment cycles. One stock. Nvidia-level potential. 30M+ investors trust Moby to find it first. Get the pick. Tap here. Management clarified the direct impact is minimal at 2% of revenue, but indirect effects include vessel delays and higher energy costs in Europe. The conflict has forced a strategic refocus on the African market, which management views as a significant long-term demographic opportunity. Management attributed record margins to operational excellence and cost-down initiatives rather than just favorable product mix. They signaled a 'slow, steady upward trajectory' for margins rather than a hard ceiling, supported by new product designs and enhanced laboratory testing. Primary focus remains debt reduction and reinvestment in the business via CapEx or small-scale distributor M&A. While dividends and buybacks are the logical long-term steps, management stated it is currently premature to share a firm plan for these actions. Alliance intends to 'get ahead' of cost increases with price adjustments rather than chasing inflation after it occurs. Management noted they have used surcharges in the past for freight but prefer rolling out permanent price increases when costs appear durable.

Alliance Laundry Holdings Inc. ALH reported second-quarter 2026 adjusted earnings of 41 cents per share, up 32.3% from a year ago and above the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 35 cents. Net revenues rose 7% year over year to $477 million but slightly missed the consensus estimate of $478 million. Growth reflected pricing and higher volume, with pricing contributing slightly more than half of the revenue increase. Following the earnings release, ALH’s shares have jumped more than 2% during the trading session. This Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) company’s shares have gained 10.8%, outperforming the industry’s 13.8% decline. Image Source: Zacks Investment Research Gross profit climbed 9% year over year to $189.9 million. Gross margin improved about 90 basis points to 39.8% as pricing offset tariff exposure and other inflationary pressures, supported by the company's local-for-local manufacturing footprint.Adjusted EBITDA rose 12% to $133.8 million, while adjusted EBITDA margin increased about 135 basis points to 28.1%. Volume leverage, operational excellence and supply-chain efficiency aided profitability. These benefits were partly offset by legal expenses and higher public-company costs, net of tariff refunds and insurance proceeds. Alliance Laundry Holdings Inc. price-eps-surprise | Alliance Laundry Holdings Inc. Quote North America revenues increased 9% to $359.3 million. Growth spanned all end markets, with the Vended market benefiting from a mix shift toward larger-capacity machines. Multi-Housing and On-Premise also delivered sturdy results, while Commercial-in-Home posted robust growth. The segment’s revenues outpaced the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $353 million.Segment adjusted EBITDA advanced 17% to $113.6 million, and the margin expanded 220 basis points year over year to 31.6%. Pricing initiatives helped offset cost inflation and tariff pressures, while the company’s in-market manufacturing footprint and supply chain offered structural cost protection. The segment’s EBITDA outpaced the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $101 million.International revenues were approximately flat at $117.5 million. Asia Pacific delivered strong growth, particularly in developing vended markets, and Europe maintained steady performance across end markets. The segment’s revenues missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $125 million.International adjusted EBITDA declined 8% to $34 million, with the margin falling 230 basis points year over year to 28.9%. Geographic mix and continued investment in people and products in emerging markets weighed on profitability, while the Middle East and Africa region continued to see reduced activity. The segment’s EBITDA lagged the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $38.4 million. Operating cash flow increased to $66.3 million from $5.3 million in the year-ago quarter, reflecting stronger cash conversion and working-capital discipline. Alliance Laundry repaid $50 million of debt during the quarter after paying down $65 million in the first quarter.Total debt ended June, 2026, at $1.3 billion and net debt at $1.1 billion. Net leverage declined sequentially to 2.4x and was down from 2.8x at year-end 2025. Lower debt also contributed to a roughly $22 million year-over-year reduction in interest expense. Alliance Laundry kept its 2026 revenue growth outlook unchanged at 6-7%. Management expects revenue performance to be fairly consistent across the second half, while margin expansion is expected to be weighted more toward the fourth quarter because of geographic mix and normal seasonality.The company raised adjusted EBITDA growth guidance to 8-10% from 7-8%, projected earlier. It now targets net leverage of 2.0x by year-end compared with the prior low-2x range. Interest expense is expected to be about $80 million, down from $85 million, while the effective tax-rate assumption was lowered to about 23% from 23.5%, expected earlier. The Gap, Inc. GAP is a specialty retailer offering a diverse range of clothing, accessories and personal care products. At present, GAP carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.The Zacks Consensus Estimate for GAP’s current fiscal-year sales and EPS indicates growth of 1.1% and 9.9%, respectively, from the year-ago figures. Gap delivered a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 2%, on average. Boot Barn Holdings, Inc. BOOT operates as a lifestyle retailer of western and work-related footwear, apparel, and accessories. At present, BOOT carries a Zacks Rank of 2. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for BOOT’s current fiscal-year sales and EPS indicates growth of 15.7% and 22.6%, respectively, from the year-ago figures. Boot Barn delivered a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 11.4%, on average.Designer Brands Inc. DBI, a designer and retailer of footwear and accessories, currently has a Zacks Rank of 2. The company delivered a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 112.8%, on average.The Zacks Consensus Estimate for DBI’s current fiscal-year sales and EPS indicates growth of 0.5% and 137.5%, respectively, from the year-ago figures. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Alliance Laundry Holdings Inc. (ALH) : Free Stock Analysis Report Boot Barn Holdings, Inc. (BOOT) : Free Stock Analysis Report The Gap, Inc. (GAP) : Free Stock Analysis Report Designer Brands Inc. (DBI) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com). Zacks Investment Research