AVD

Image source: The Motley Fool. Monday, Aug. 10, 2026 at 4:30 p.m. ET Director of Investor Relations - Robert Winters Chief Executive Officer - Douglas A. Kaye Chief Financial Officer - David T. Johnson Operator: Greetings. Welcome to the American Vanguard Second Quarter 26 Earnings Conference Call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. A Q&A session will follow the formal presentation. Please note, this conference is being recorded. I will now turn the conference over to your host, Robert Winters, Director of Investor Relations. You may begin. Robert Winters: Thank you, operator. Good afternoon, and welcome to American Vanguard's Second Quarter 26 Earnings Review Conference Call. Our prepared remarks will be led by Dak Kaye, Chief Executive Officer and David T. Johnson, Chief Financial Officer. After their prepared remarks, we will open up the call for questions. A copy of today's press release along with supplemental slides are available on our website. A replay of the webcast and from this event will be made available on our website shortly after the call. Before we begin our presentation, we would like to remind everyone that today's press release and certain comments on the call include non GAAP figures, and forward looking statements. And actual results may differ materially from these forecasts. Please refer to the cautionary language in our press release and slides and to the risk factors described in our SEC filings. All of which are available on our website. it is now my pleasure to turn the call over to CEO, Dak Kaye. Douglas A. Kaye: Thank you, Bobby, and welcome, everyone, to our second quarter 26 earnings conference call. Results for the quarter and the first half of this year reflect ongoing and dynamic cross currents affecting our agricultural markets and customers around the world. But more importantly, the progress we are making on lowering cost and driving commercial improvement regardless of the environment. I want to make 3 major points today. First, despite these difficult market conditions, we are outperforming our peers in The US markets. Second, with the implementation of our business improvement plans, we are gaining greater operating leverage. Third, our investment in new product development is paving the way for future growth and profitability. In our initiative to reorganize, refocus, and invigorate the commercial effort across the company, are making good progress so far. The results for the first half of 26 have laid the foundation for opportunities that we believe are both ahead of us and in our control. Before covering our performance, let's turn to market conditions. The crop protection market in The US continued to be difficult in the second quarter due to continued pressure on the farm economy coming from multiple directions. Including the sustained high cost of capital coupled with increased fuel and fertilizer costs arising from the ongoing conflict in The Middle East. Distributors, retailers, and growers have continued to be conservative in their buying practices. Ordering on an as needed basis and even then deferring purchases from month to month when they can. Which is shifting order patterns somewhat across our businesses both domestically and internationally. I think it is also worth noting that some underlying structural and behavioral shifts in consumption patterns are impacting agricultural markets. Including the multiyear decline in overall alcohol consumption as well as the rapid uptake of GLP 1 drug usage and the effect this is having on consumer eating habits. Outside of The US, across our international markets, it is been a much more challenging environment. Due to adverse weather conditions, in particular, a Super El Nino plus inflationary pressure and higher raw material prices. As with our US markets and customers, our focus and efforts right now are to increase customer engagement and drive service and attention to our customers. While at the same time accelerating new product development and introduction. Always striving to be a solutions provider for our customers wherever we meet them. Now let's turn to our first major point. That we are outperforming our peers in our combined US markets. While quarterly net sales declined approximately 10% versus the year ago period, This was primarily driven by weaker international sales, which were down 18% for the quarter. We did see a decline in US crop sales for the quarter, but this was more than offset by continued strength and growth in our specialty businesses, where sales were up 11% for the quarter on a year over year basis. For the quarter, US crop sales were impacted by timing of product sales within our cotton product portfolio with some sales shifting to third quarter of this year. Herbicide sales were strong in both the first and second quarters primarily due to our brand's impact and Invoke. As we continue to test the elasticity of our portfolio, to drive gross profit dollars and increase manufacturing efficiencies. In short, we continue to see consistent demand for our domestic products which constitute our highest margin offerings. For the first half of 26, revenue was mostly flat on a year over year basis. But US sales were up 6% with US crop up 5% year over year and specialty sales up 10%. The strength and outperformance we have been able to drive so far in 2026 was mostly offset by the weaker global environment with international sales down 13% for the first half of 26. Turning now to our second major point, improved operating leverage. While gross profit margins were down year over year for the quarter due to lower volumes and the timing of customer shipments, Gross profit margins improved by 100 basis points in the first half of 26 from 29% to 30%. On modestly lower revenue. Notably, higher freight costs were a significant cost headwind for the quarter and year to date as we estimate that this held back margins by $2.2 million or 90 basis points in the first half of 26. We have taken pricing actions in the market to recover these higher costs and expect to see these initiatives begin to flow through our results in the second half of 26. Operating expenses excluding transformation costs, improved by 3% year over year for the quarter as we continue to drive efficiency, across the organization. Importantly, a number of actions taken in the first half of 26 including the LA plant rationalization and headquarter re-location, will translate into lower costs in the second half of this year. We also expect Transformation Costs To Be Further Reduced As A Reminder, We Expect The Rationalization Of The LA production facility to save us at least $4 million on an annualized basis going forward. In short, we are keeping expenses in check and managing those things that are within our control. Notwithstanding changes in market conditions. Let's turn now to our third point, paving the way for improved growth and profitability through new product development. I was very pleased to be able to further strengthen our leadership team and commercial efforts here early in the third quarter with the addition of Herman Castro who joined us early in July as senior vice president of marketing and business development. Herman is a proven leader and performer in our industry. Particularly when it comes to new product development and innovation. Additionally, we continue to invest in future growth as R&D investment was up 12% year over year. As I have mentioned before, we have set a goal going forward of having 50 new product launches over the next 5 years. Driving $100 million in annualized revenue by 2030. Herman will play an important role in driving the success of this initiative. At this point, I will pause in my remarks and turn the call over to our CFO, David T. Johnson, who will review our financial results for the quarter in greater detail. After his review, I will return with our thoughts on the outlook for 2026 and our growth trajectory over the next 2 years. David? David T. Johnson: Thanks, Dak. Good afternoon, everyone. Turning to our financial performance for the second quarter of 26. The company generated sales of $117 million in the period as compared to $129 million in the same period of 2025. For the first half, sales of $240 million were down about 2% as compared to the $245 million we reported a year ago. US crop sales decreased 9% in the quarter. The decline was driven largely by the timing of sales within our cotton portfolio being shifted into the third quarter, as customers are buying close to the time of use. Insecticide sales also declined reflecting low bug pressure and more cautious grower spending across key crop markets. These declines were partially offset by continued momentum of herbicides. While soil fumigants remained stable. US crop sales were up 5% on a first half basis with herbicide strength across the period, and granular soil insecticides and cotton insecticide demand concentrated in the first quarter. Our Specialty business grew 11% in the quarter and 10% for the first half, with improvements across multiple market segments. OHP led demand for biological solutions and TER performed ahead of forecast. International sales were down 18% in the quarter, and 13% for the first half. Dry conditions associated with El Nino delayed and reduced use across Central America. Shipments to certain customers were paused in light of local labor activity. In Mexico, herbicide sales were impacted by the reduced acres of agave. In Brazil, demand softened due to higher pricing, driven by raw material cost increases of our copper fungicide. Gross margin in the quarter was 30% as compared to 31% in the same quarter of 2025, including significant freight cost increases of roughly $2 million impact in the quarter and finally, weaker overall factory absorption. In spite of this Q2 performance, the first half gross margin improved by 100 basis points and ended at 30%, as compared to 29% a year ago. Adjusted EBITDA in the quarter was $600 thousand a decrease of $4.4 million from $11 million in the second quarter of 25, driven by lower sales much higher freight, and weaker manufacturing efficiencies. Partially offset by higher variable cost margins and lower operating expenses. On a year to date basis however, adjusted EBITDA increased by more than 20% to $17 million as compared to $14 million in the first half of 25. Adjusted operating expenses which exclude items such as transformation cost and asset impairment cost, were $33.5 million or 28.5% of sales. This quarter compared to $34.6 million or 26.7% of sales in the year ago period. On a GAAP basis, expenses were down $1.2 million with SG&A down approximately $2.1 million or 7% partially offset by a 12% increase in research product development and regulatory spending. Reflecting the company's focus on new product development. Turning to the balance sheet. We ended the quarter with $43.9 million in cash, as compared to $70.9 million at the end of the first quarter. Cash on hand at the end of July increased as compared to June, as a number of receivables were received in July. We continue to be laser focused on cash management, as the second quarter is typically our seasonal peak for working capital needs. Total debt was approximately $267.6 million quarter end as compared to $267 million at the end of the first quarter. Net debt was approximately $224.7 million at quarter end, compared to $194.7 million at the end of the first quarter. The sequential increase in net debt is due to normalization of our accounts payable, change in early pay strategies from certain key customers driving up accounts receivable, and generally peak working capital needs in the second quarter. Inventories were $181 million as compared to $191 million in the second quarter of last year, a $10 million improvement reflecting tighter production planning, and working capital discipline. I will turn the call back to Dak for some final comments. Douglas A. Kaye: Thank you, David. Before I open the call up for questions, I want to briefly review and remind investors and all our stakeholders of our key strategic areas of focus and goals going forward. As I have said many times, but we will continue to reiterate, accountability is about results. And as a public company, those results come back to numbers. We are focused on driving revenue growth, improved our higher manufacturing utilization, greater operating cost efficiency, and lower overhead costs. Which will lead to higher gross profit margins higher operating margins and sustainable higher EBITDA. In the short term, we need to move our EBITDA margins into the double digit area as soon as possible, and that is top priority. As I have indicated in recent calls, while we wait for an improvement in the agricultural economy, we are focused on the things we can control and executing our strategic business improvement plan which we expect to enable us to deliver improved adjusted EBITDA as compared to 2025. We continue to expect to generate adjusted EBITDA of $44 million to $48 million in 2026 on sales of $530 million to $550 million. From a revenue or top line perspective, we expect to be north of $600 million in annualized run rate revenue by the back half of 28. Is approximately 20% above our 2025 level. We will, of course, strive to beat this target but improving on that timing will most likely depend on The US and global agricultural markets performance over the next 2 years. Our growth needs to be matched by even greater focus and improvement in our productivity, efficiency, and overall cost structure driving margins significantly higher. Together, these should help us to generate solid free cash flow which along with lower net working capital will enable us to drive net debt down over the next 2 years This will position us well to refinance our debt. In summary, we are outperforming our peers in many ways in spite of difficult market conditions. Our operating leverage continues to improve and we are setting the foundation for future growth through investment in new products including additional dedicated staffing, We acknowledge that there is still a lot of work for us to do and the second half of 26 is very important to a successful 2026. We will continue to assume that in the short term, the external environment will do us no favors. Consequently, need to control what we can control and at the same time, continue to execute on our plans for efficiency, growth, and greater profitability. With that, operator, you can open up the call for questions. Operator: Thank you. At this time, we will be conducting a Q&A session. If you would like to ask a question, please press 1 on your telephone keypad. A confirmation tone will indicate your line is in the it may be necessary to pick up your handset before pressing the star keys. 1 moment please while we poll for questions. You have a question or a comment. The first question is from Wayne Pinsent with Gabelli. Please proceed. Wayne Pinsent: Hi, Dak. Thanks for taking my question. Hope all is well. Just to start off, you touched on pricing in Mexico and believe in Latin America. Some of your competitors have been talking about increased pricing pressure there. Just wanted to get more color on what you are seeing with your portfolio. Douglas A. Kaye: Yeah. The pricing pressure that we-- thanks, Wayne, for the question first off. Start that up, did not mean to jump into there. Thanks for the question. As far as pricing, it is not a decrease in pricing that we are seeing. We are seeing an increase in pricing specifically we mentioned, the Brazilian market with 1 of our big products there being a copper fungicide it is directly related to copper LME pricing. So that underlying raw material cost of the product down in Brazil has gone up and it is fairly elastic product. So as that cost position is going up on the copper fungicide, the demand has gone down relative there. We are seeing an increase in pricing around the globe or in relation to freight. You know, our cost was our cost, as we mentioned, has gone up quite a bit on freight. In the last several months, and we are passing that along in new pricing. Here in July. So we are seeing price increases, and they seem to be taking hold at the moment. Wayne Pinsent: Okay. that is great. Thanks for the clarification. And then know, you touched on seeing farmer order patterns and buying more in line. Just with some of those delayed orders and the maintaining guide for the year, the confidence of what is the level of confidence in orders? How the order book tracking for and visibility for the rest of the year? Douglas A. Kaye: Yeah. So we still feel comfortable with our forecast, and we still feel that is very achievable. What we saw in the second quarter is that we had some shipment delays in Q2 that rolled over into Q3. So the order book was actually pretty nice coming into Q3 in relation to a what we probably saw last year. that is why we feel good about Q3. and feel good about the rest of the year as well. Wayne Pinsent: Okay. Great. And then just I do not know if it is the first time you put it out, but the 2028 financial targets and priorities, that double-digit EBITDA growth in 2020, is that in 2027 and 2028? So annualized, and is that with some help from the market, or is that just on what you feel you can control? Douglas A. Kaye: Good question. This is an annualized run rate by the end, by the back half of 28. Those are the expected targets. We do expect that we see some-- we do expect that we see the correctness in the agricultural market If it does not, we will make the appropriate changes to make sure that we continue on our path of progressing forward. We do-- it is been a prolonged ag cycle down or trough. We do feel by 2027, 2028, we should see some remediation in that in that cycle. And come out of it. But if it is not there, we will continue to do the things we can do and control our own destiny. Wayne Pinsent: Okay. Thanks. And just to clarify, because you said in the back half run rate, is that lower in 2027 ramping up to a double to a double digit growth in the back half of 2028? Douglas A. Kaye: Or is it double digit annualized? By the second half of 28, we expect to be on an annualized rate of $600 million in sales. Oh, okay. But you expect double the oh, sorry. Double-digit EBITDA, though. Right. Double-digit EBITDA. Yes. Double-digit Okay. Thank you. Operator: Okay. Once again, if you have a question, or a comment, please indicate so by pressing star 1 on your touch tone phone. Once again, that is star 1 if you have a question or a comment. Okay. We currently have no questions in the queue. We would like to turn the floor back to management for any closing remarks. Douglas A. Kaye: Thank you, everyone, for taking the time today. We continue to value your support. Look forward to a successful 2026. Operator: This concludes today's conference, and you may disconnect your lines at this time. 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Interested in American Vanguard Corporation? Here are five stocks we like better. Second-quarter sales fell to $117 million from $129 million, while adjusted EBITDA declined to $6.6 million amid weak agricultural demand, delayed customer purchases, higher freight costs and lower factory utilization. U.S. specialty sales growth partly offset declines in U.S. crops and international markets. Management highlighted cost-cutting and growth initiatives, including Los Angeles facility rationalization expected to generate at least $4 million in annualized savings and a product pipeline targeting 50 launches and $100 million in annualized revenue by 2030. American Vanguard reiterated its 2026 outlook for sales of $530 million to $550 million and adjusted EBITDA of $44 million to $48 million, citing delayed shipments and a stronger third-quarter order book. The S&P 600’s newest, familiar members: Are they winners? American Vanguard (NYSE:AVD) reported lower second-quarter sales amid challenging agricultural market conditions, while management said U.S. specialty growth, cost actions and product-development investments supported its full-year outlook. Second-quarter sales totaled $117 million, down from $129 million in the prior-year period. First-half sales declined about 2% to $240 million. Chief Executive Officer Dak Kaye said the quarter reflected continued pressure on farm economics, including high capital costs, higher fuel and fertilizer expenses tied to the Middle East conflict, and conservative purchasing practices among distributors, retailers and growers. → MarketBeat Week in Review – 08/03 - 08/07 Customers have increasingly ordered closer to the time of use and, in some cases, deferred purchases month to month, Kaye said. International markets also faced adverse weather, inflation and higher raw-material costs. U.S. crop sales fell 9% in the second quarter, primarily because sales in the company’s cotton portfolio shifted into the third quarter as customers delayed purchases. Insecticide sales also declined amid low bug pressure and cautious grower spending, Chief Financial Officer David Johnson said. → Quantum Earnings Week: Winners and Losers Are Finally Emerging Those declines were partly offset by continued herbicide momentum, led by the company’s Impact and Envoke brands, while soil fumigant sales remained stable. On a first-half basis, U.S. crop sales increased 5%. American Vanguard’s specialty business grew 11% during the quarter and 10% during the first half. Johnson said OHP led demand for biological solutions, while turf results exceeded the company’s forecast. → Take-Two’s Q1 Results Leave GTA 6 Bulls Stuck in the Fog of War International sales declined 18% in the second quarter and 13% in the first half. Management cited dry conditions associated with El Niño in Central America, paused customer shipments related to local labor activity, reduced agave acreage in Mexico, and softer Brazilian demand for a copper fungicide following higher raw-material costs. During the question-and-answer session, Kaye said the company was seeing higher—not lower—pricing in Brazil for its copper fungicide as copper costs rose. He also said American Vanguard had implemented freight-related price increases in July and that the increases appeared to be taking hold. Gross margin was 30% in the second quarter, compared with 31% a year earlier. Johnson attributed the decline to roughly $2 million of higher freight costs during the quarter and weaker factory absorption. For the first half, however, gross margin improved by 100 basis points to 30%, from 29% in the year-earlier period. Kaye said higher freight costs reduced first-half margins by an estimated $2.2 million, or 90 basis points. The company expects pricing actions intended to recover those costs to begin contributing during the second half. Adjusted EBITDA was $6.6 million in the second quarter, down from $11 million in the second quarter of 2025. The decline reflected lower sales, freight costs and weaker manufacturing efficiencies, partially offset by higher variable-cost margins and lower operating expenses. First-half adjusted EBITDA increased by more than 20% to $17 million, compared with $14 million a year earlier. Adjusted operating expenses, excluding items such as transformation and asset impairment costs, declined 3% year over year to $33.5 million in the quarter. On a GAAP basis, expenses fell $1.2 million, with selling, general and administrative expense down approximately $2.1 million, or 7%. Research, product development and regulatory spending increased 12% as the company continued to invest in new products. Kaye said actions including the rationalization of the company’s Los Angeles production facility and headquarters relocation are expected to lower costs in the second half. The Los Angeles facility rationalization is expected to produce at least $4 million in annualized savings, according to management. The company also named Hermann Castro senior vice president of marketing and business development in early July. Kaye said Castro will help advance American Vanguard’s goal of launching 50 new products over five years, targeting $100 million in annualized revenue by 2030. At quarter-end, American Vanguard held $43.9 million in cash, down from $70.9 million at the end of the first quarter. Total debt was approximately $267.6 million, while net debt was about $224.7 million, compared with $194.7 million at the end of the first quarter. Johnson said the higher net debt reflected seasonal working-capital needs, normalization of accounts payable and increased receivables resulting from changes in certain customers’ early-pay strategies. Inventory declined to $181 million from $191 million a year earlier, which Johnson said reflected tighter production planning and working-capital discipline. Management reiterated its expectation for 2026 adjusted EBITDA of $44 million to $48 million on sales of $530 million to $550 million. Kaye said delayed second-quarter shipments helped create a stronger order book entering the third quarter and that management remained comfortable with its forecast. Looking further ahead, American Vanguard expects to reach an annualized revenue run rate above $600 million by the second half of 2028, alongside double-digit EBITDA margins. Kaye said the timing of that progress will depend partly on recovery in U.S. and global agricultural markets, though the company plans to continue pursuing efficiency, productivity and cost-reduction measures regardless of market conditions. American Vanguard Corporation (NYSE: AVD) is a developer, manufacturer and marketer of specialty chemical products for crop protection, turf and ornamental care, and public health pest control. Headquartered in Newport Beach, California, the company offers a portfolio of insecticides, herbicides, fungicides and rodenticides designed for use across agricultural, turf and urban pest management applications. Its research and development efforts focus on novel chemistries and formulation technologies that address emerging pest resistance and regulatory requirements. The company's product lines include emulsifiable concentrates, wettable powders, granular formulations, baits and liquid concentrates sold under proprietary brand names. 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 "American Vanguard Q2 Earnings Call Highlights" was originally published by MarketBeat. View MarketBeat's top stocks for August 2026.

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. Management attributed the 10% quarterly revenue decline to an 18% drop in international sales, driven by Super El Nino weather patterns and inflationary pressures in Central America and Mexico. The company is outperforming peers in US markets, where 11% growth in specialty businesses and strong herbicide demand more than offset timing-related shifts in the cotton portfolio. Operating leverage improved as Gross profit margins rose 100 basis points in the first half of 2026, with further benefits from pricing actions and the rationalization of the Los Angeles production facility expected to flow through in the second half of the year. Higher freight costs acted as a significant headwind, impacting margins by approximately 90 basis points, which management is addressing through new pricing initiatives implemented in July. Strategic focus has shifted toward a 'solutions provider' model, prioritizing customer engagement and service to counter conservative buying patterns among distributors and growers. Management noted structural shifts in consumption, including declining alcohol consumption and the rapid uptake of GLP-1 drugs, are beginning to impact underlying agricultural market demand. A new product development goal of 50 launches over the next five years is intended to drive $100 million in annualized revenue by 2030. Management reaffirmed 2026 guidance of $44 million to $48 million in adjusted EBITDA on sales of $530 million to $550 million, assuming the external environment remains challenging. The company targets an annualized revenue run rate exceeding $600 million by the second half of 2028, representing approximately 20% growth over 2025 levels. Strategic priority is placed on moving EBITDA margins into double digits as soon as possible through improved manufacturing utilization and lower overhead costs. Management expects to generate solid free cash flow and lower net working capital over the next two years to facilitate the refinancing of corporate debt. The 2028 targets assume some remediation in the agricultural cycle, though management stated they will adjust the cost structure further if market conditions do not improve. The rationalization of the Los Angeles production facility is expected to yield at least $4 million in annualized savings moving forward. R&D investment increased 12% year-over-year, reflecting a deliberate pivot toward high-margin innovation and new product development. Inventory levels improved by $10 million year-over-year to $181 million, driven by tighter production planning and working capital discipline. Net debt increased sequentially to $224.7 million due to the normalization of accounts payable and seasonal peak working capital needs. One stock. Nvidia-level potential. 30M+ investors trust Moby to find it first. Get the pick. Tap here. Management clarified that they are seeing price increases rather than decreases, specifically regarding copper fungicides in Brazil due to higher LME copper raw material costs. Demand in Brazil softened as a result of these necessary price hikes, demonstrating the price elasticity of certain international product lines. Management expressed high confidence in the full-year forecast, noting that the Q3 order book is strong due to shipment delays that rolled over from the second quarter. Current buying patterns remain 'just-in-time,' with customers purchasing very close to the actual time of use. The $600 million revenue target and double-digit EBITDA margin goal are viewed as an annualized run rate for the back half of 2028. While the targets assume a market recovery by 2027-2028, management emphasized they will 'control their own destiny' through internal efficiency if the trough persists.

First-Half Gross Profit Increased 3%, and EBITDA Increased 21% on Mostly Flat Sales Reaffirm Full-Year Outlook; Adjusted EBITDA $44 million to $48 million on Sales of $530 million to $550 million IRVINE, CA / ACCESS Newswire / August 10, 2026 / American Vanguard Corporation, a diversified specialty and agricultural products company that develops, manufactures, and markets solutions for crop protection and nutrition, turf and ornamental management and commercial pest control, today reported financial results for the second quarter and six-months ended June 30, 2026. Second Quarter 2026 Financial and Operational Highlights - versus Second Quarter 2025 Net sales of $117 million as compared to $129 million; Gross profit margin of 30%, as compared to 31%; Operating loss of $0.30 million, as compared to operating income of $4.4 million; Net loss of $9.9 million, as compared to $849 thousand; Adjusted EBITDA1 of $6.6 million, as compared to $11.0 million; EPS of ($0.34), as compared to ($0.03) First Half 2026 Financial and Operational Highlights - versus First Half 2025 Net sales of $240 million, as compared to $245 million Gross profit margin of 30%, as compared to 29% Operating profit of $1.6 million, as compared to operating profit of $0.06 million; Net loss of $14 million, as compared to $9.3 million; Adjusted EBITDA of $16.9 million, as compared to $14 million; EPS of ($0.49), as compared to ($0.33) Dak Kaye, CEO of American Vanguard, stated "Results for the second quarter and the first half of this year demonstrate the steady progress we are making on lowering costs and inventories, as well as driving commercial improvement, in spite of ongoing and dynamic crosscurrents affecting our agricultural markets and customers around the world. Our collective efforts to manage working capital, factory efficiency and controllable expenses while investing in the future have set the foundation for the opportunities that we believe lie ahead of us. Importantly, we are beginning to outperform our competition in our most important market, the U.S., and I'm excited about the opportunity to build on this going forward and spread this across the rest of our businesses." Mr. Kaye continued, "In our efforts to reorganize, refocus and invigorate the commercial effort across the Company, we are making good progress so far. Distributors, retailers and growers remain conservative in their buying practices, ordering on an as needed basis and deferring purchases month to month where they can. This, in turn, has shifted order patterns across our businesses, both domestically and internationally. In this environment, we must be agile, and our focus and efforts right now are to increase customer engagement and drive customer service while at the same time accelerating new product development and introduction, always striving to be a solutions provider for our customers, wherever we meet them. With the first half behind us and our cost and commercial initiatives executing to our plan, we are reaffirming our full-year outlook." David Johnson, Chief Financial Officer stated, "Second quarter gross margin reflected lower sales and the timing of customer shipments, but first half margin still improved 100 basis points on slightly lower sales, a direct result of our business improvement plan efforts. We reduced operating expenses by 3% year-over-year for the quarter, as we continued to drive efficiency across the organization, while continuing to invest for future growth including a 12% increase in R&D investment. Importantly, a number of actions taken in the first half of 2026, including the L.A. plant optimization and headquarter relocation will translate into lower costs in the second half of this year. As a reminder, we expect the rationalization of the L.A. production facility to save us at least $4 million on an annualized basis going forward. Inventories decreased by $10 million year-over-year, reflecting tighter production planning and working capital discipline." Earnings Conference CallThe company will be hosting an earnings conference call on August 10, 2026 at 4:30 pm Eastern Time/1:30 pm Pacific Time. The conference call will be webcast on the Company's website at https://www.investors-american vanguard.com/ or by going to the following link: https://www.webcaster5.com/Webcast/Page/3070/54326 If you are unable to listen live, the conference call will be archived for one year and may be accessed using the company's website: https://www.investors-american-vanguard.com/ About American VanguardAmerican Vanguard Corporation is a diversified specialty and agriculture products company that develops and markets products for crop protection and management, turf and ornamentals management, and public health. Over the past 20 years, through product and business acquisitions, the Company has significantly expanded its operations and now has more than 1,000 product registrations worldwide. To learn more about the Company, please reference www.american-vanguard.com. The Company, from time to time, may discuss forward-looking information. Except for the historical information contained in this release the matters set forth in this press release include forward-looking statements. These statements can be identified by the fact that they do not relate strictly to historical or current facts. Forward looking statements often use words such as "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "intend," "estimate," "project," "outlook," "forecast," "target," "trend," "plan," "goal," or other words of comparable meaning or future-tense or conditional verbs such as "may," "will," "should," "would," or "could." These forward-looking statements are based on the current expectations and estimates by the Company's management and are subject to various risks and uncertainties that may cause results to differ from management's current expectations. Such factors include risks detailed from time-to-time in the Company's SEC reports and filings. All forward-looking statements, if any, in this release represent the Company's judgment as of the date of this release. The company disclaims any intent or obligation to update these forward-looking statements.   Non-GAAP Financial MeasuresIn addition to providing results that are determined in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (GAAP), we present Adjusted EBITDA and Net Debt, which are non-GAAP financial measures. These measures should not be considered in isolation or as an alternative to GAAP measures such as net income, or diluted earnings per share, as applicable, or other financial statement data presented in our financial statements as an indicator of our financial performance or liquidity. We define Net Debt as outstanding indebtedness less cash and EBITDA as net (loss) income, adjusted for depreciation and amortization, provision for income taxes and interest expense. We define Adjusted EBITDA as EBITDA as further adjusted for stock compensation expense and for certain items management believe are not reflective of the underlying operations of our business, including but not limited to the exclusion of charges that are considered by management to be unusual and not representative of the Company's underlying performance and future prospects. In 2026 and 2025 that included non-recurring expenses. The resulting Adjusted EBITDA measure is aligned with the Company's metric for its credit facility agreement in the applicable periods. We use Adjusted EBITDA to assess the operating results and effectiveness and efficiency of our business. We present this non-GAAP financial measure because we believe that investors consider Adjusted EBITDA to be an important supplemental measure of performance, and we believe that this measure is frequently used by securities analysts, investors and other interested parties in the evaluation of companies in our industry. As the Company continues to work through its transformation efforts, management believes that presenting Adjusted EBITDA provides an effective comparison between the Company and its industry peers. Non-GAAP financial measures as reported by us may not be comparable to similarly titled metrics reported by other companies and may not be calculated in the same manner. These measures have limitations as analytical tools, and you should not consider them in isolation or as substitutes for analysis of our results as reported under GAAP. The Company is not able to provide a reconciliation without unreasonable efforts of its forward-looking guidance related to adjusted EBITDA to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measure due to the inherent difficulty in predicting with reasonable certainty the timing and amount of certain items that are excluded from Adjusted EBITDA, such as share-based compensation, acquisition-related expenses, and foreign exchange gains or losses, which could be material to the Company's results computed in accordance with GAAP. Investor RepresentativeAlpha IR GroupRobert [email protected](917) 821-6305 CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS(In thousands, except share data) (Unaudited) CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS(In thousands, except per share data)(Unaudited) AMERICAN VANGUARD CORPORATION AND SUBSIDIARIESANALYSIS OF SALES(In thousands)(Unaudited) CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS(In thousands)(Unaudited) AMERICAN VANGUARD CORPORATION AND SUBSIDIARIESRECONCILIATION OF NET LOSS TO ADJUSTED EBITDA(In thousands)(Unaudited) 1Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (Adjusted EBITDA) is not a financial measure calculated and presented in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) and should not be considered as an alternative to net (loss) income, operating (loss) income or any other financial measure so calculated and presented, nor as an alternative to cash flow from operating activities as a measure of liquidity. The items excluded from adjusted EBITDA are detailed in the reconciliation attached to this news release. Other companies (including the Company's competitors) may define adjusted EBITDA differently. SOURCE: American Vanguard View the original press release on ACCESS Newswire

IRVINE, CA / ACCESS Newswire / August 4, 2026 / American Vanguard Corporation announced today that it will report financial results for the quarter ended June 30, 2026, on Monday, August 10, 2026, after the market closes. In addition, the company will conduct an earnings conference call on that day at 4:30 pm ET/ 1:30 pm PT. CEO Dak Kaye and CFO David Johnson will host the event. The conference call will be webcast on the Company's website at https://www.investors-american vanguard.com/ or by going to the following link: https://www.webcaster5.com/Webcast/Page/3070/54326 If you are unable to listen live, the conference call will be archived for one year and may be accessed using the company's website: https://www.investors-american-vanguard.com/ About American Vanguard American Vanguard Corporation is a diversified specialty and agriculture products company that develops and markets products for crop protection and management, turf and ornamentals management, and public health. Over the past 20 years, through product and business acquisitions, the Company has significantly expanded its operations and now has more than 1,000 product registrations worldwide. To learn more about the Company, please reference www.american-vanguard.com. The Company, from time to time, may discuss forward-looking information. Except for the historical information contained in this release the matters set forth in this press release include forward-looking statements. These statements can be identified by the fact that they do not relate strictly to historical or current facts. Forward looking statements often use words such as "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "intend," "estimate," "project," "outlook," "forecast," "target," "trend," "plan," "goal," or other words of comparable meaning or future-tense or conditional verbs such as "may," "will," "should," "would," or "could." These forward-looking statements are based on the current expectations and estimates by the Company's management and are subject to various risks and uncertainties that may cause results to differ from management's current expectations. Such factors include risks detailed from time-to-time in the Company's SEC reports and filings. All forward-looking statements, if any, in this release represent the Company's judgment as of the date of this release. The company disclaims any intent or obligation to update these forward-looking statements. Investor Representative Alpha IR GroupRobert [email protected](929) 266-6315 SOURCE: American Vanguard View the original press release on ACCESS Newswire

NEWPORT BEACH, CA / ACCESS Newswire / June 8, 2026 / American Vanguard Corporation (NYSE:AVD) announced the voting results from its Annual Meeting of Stockholders held on June 3, 2026. As to the first of four initiatives, the seven director nominees named in the proxy received more votes "for" than "against"; those persons are: Marisol Angelini, Mark Bassett, Patrick Gottschalk, Douglas Kaye, Steven Macicek, Rubin McDougal and Keith Rosenbloom. They will serve as directors until the next annual meeting or until their successors are duly elected and qualified. In addition, the balance of the initiatives appearing on the Company's proxy passed, namely, the ratification of the appointment of Deloitte Touche, LLP, as the company's independent registered public accounting firm for the year ending December 31, 2026, an advisory vote on the annual frequency of the say-on-pay ballot proposal and advisory approval of the executive compensation policies and practices as set forth in the Company's 2026 proxy. All measures received an overwhelming percentage of voted shares. Chairman of the Board, Pat Gottschalk, commented, "We thank our shareholders for voting at the annual meeting and appreciate your support for our director nominees and other ballot initiatives." About American Vanguard American Vanguard Corporation is a diversified specialty and agriculture products company that develops and markets products for crop protection and management, turf and ornamentals management, and public health. Over the past 20 years, through product and business acquisitions, the Company has significantly expanded its operations and now has more than 1,000 product registrations worldwide. To learn more about the Company, please reference www.american-vanguard.com. The Company, from time to time, may discuss forward-looking information. Except for the historical information contained in this release the matters set forth in this press release may include forward-looking statements. These statements can be identified by the fact that they do not relate strictly to historical or current facts. Forward looking statements often use words such as "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "intend," "estimate," "project," "outlook," "forecast," "target," "trend," "plan," "goal," or other words of comparable meaning or future-tense or conditional verbs such as "may," "will," "should," "would," or "could." These forward-looking statements are based on the current expectations and estimates by the Company's management and are subject to various risks and uncertainties that may cause results to differ from management's current expectations. Such factors include risks detailed from time-to-time in the Company's SEC reports and filings. All forward-looking statements, if any, in this release represent the Company's judgment as of the date of this release. The company disclaims any intent or obligation to update these forward-looking statements. Investor Contact Robert WintersAlpha IR [email protected](312) 445-2870 SOURCE: American Vanguard View the original press release on ACCESS Newswire

Image source: The Motley Fool. May 7, 2026 Chief Executive Officer — Douglas Kaye Chief Financial Officer — David Johnson Need a quote from a Motley Fool analyst? Email [email protected] Douglas Kaye: Thank you, Bobby, and welcome, everyone, to our first quarter 2026 earnings conference call. The year so far for American Vanguard has gotten off to a good start despite continued challenging market conditions, which I will speak to more in a few minutes. As I indicated during our last earnings call in mid-March, 2025 was a challenging year for the agricultural sector overall, but it was also quite a consequential year internally for American Vanguard. Important actions were taken on the commercial and operational fronts and we also made important investments in technology and systems while making key personnel changes across the organization, and we're not done. There's still plenty of work to put the company in a better position for growth opportunities that we see in front of us. However, a lot has been accomplished in the last 12 months that lays the foundation for delivering value for our shareholders. Going forward, our progress will be measured in many areas, but 3 key metrics to focus on that can be tracked are sales growth, operating efficiency and improvement in net trade working capital. Progress on these fronts will all be tied to accountability around key financial goals or metrics to deliver on our success. Importantly, I will also provide some near- to medium-term goals that we will be focused on over the next 18 to 24 months. A little later in my prepared remarks, I'm going to provide a more expansive view of what has been accomplished so far beyond my comments from our fourth quarter 2025 earnings call. I will also talk more about the key strategic areas of focus for us going forward and finally, review the new capital structure put in place that positions us well to execute our strategy. Turning to the first quarter results. We are pleased to see net sales of $124 million for the quarter, an increase of approximately 7% versus the year ago period. The improvement in sales year-over-year was mostly driven by our domestic crop business, which saw sales increase by 17%, driven by strong demand from both our herbicide and our insecticide products as well as a 6% growth in our specialty business driven by our OHP horticultural products. This growth was partially offset by weaker results from our international businesses, which saw revenue decline 7% year-over-year. Higher sales in Central America, Mexico and Australia were more than offset by lower sales in Brazil, mostly due to timing of deliveries in the previous year that created a tough comparable. We also saw weaker sales year-over-year in India that was mostly timing related. Adjusted EBITDA increased by 245% year-over-year to $10.3 million compared to $3 million in the first quarter of 2025. The strong improvement in adjusted EBITDA was driven by increased sales of higher-margin U.S. crop and specialty domestic products and improved gross margins, which increased by 500 basis points year-over-year. I am pleased with the progress we are making on the manufacturing front. We have been streamlining our manufacturing footprint over the past year, transferring production from our now more focused L.A. facility to our operation in Axis, Alabama, driving further efficiency and cost savings. As a reminder, we expect the rationalization of the L.A. production facility to save us at least $4 million on an annualized basis going forward. Adjusted operating expenses, which exclude items such as transformation costs and asset impairment costs were 26.7% of sales this quarter compared to 27.9% in the year ago period. Improvements in operating efficiency and tight cost controls drove the year-over-year improvement. Turning to what we are seeing in the agricultural economy. A lot of what I said in March when we reported our year-end results for 2025 still remains true. The industry is yet to recover from a downturn that started in 2023, though we are seeing some improvement in 2026, at least in the U.S. relative to the environment across most of last year. As I said in March, while agricultural commodities are recovering from the low levels that we experienced during the summer of 2025, they remain well below what industry observers consider to be historically normal levels. The worst of the industry destocking appears to be in the past, but distributors have shown no inclination to restock their inventories. Farmer liquidity remains a top concern after several years of depressed commodity prices, and thus, growers are making more last-minute crop decisions than ever before. Furthermore, global geopolitical developments this year have only added to the existing levels of uncertainty that was in place last year. Turning briefly to the disruptions caused by recent events, mostly in the Middle East. Like everyone, we are seeing higher oil prices, higher natural gas prices and higher fertilizer prices. Higher fertilizer prices should not materially impact this season as most farmers have already made those purchases for this season. But the current situation, even if resolved relatively soon, will likely have some impact on next year's crop decision. As I've indicated in recent calls, while we wait for an improvement in the agricultural economy, we are focused on the things we can control and executing our strategic business improvement plan, which should allow us to improve adjusted EBITDA as compared to 2025. We continue to expect to generate adjusted EBITDA of $44 million to $48 million in 2026 on sales of $530 million to $550 million. I'll now turn the call over to our CFO, David Johnson, who will briefly review our financial results for the quarter in greater detail. David Johnson: Thanks, Dak. Good afternoon, everyone. Turning to our financial performance for the first quarter of 2026. The company generated sales of $124 million in the period as compared to $116 million in the same period of 2025, an increase of 7%. The U.S. crop business increased 17% due to strong herbicide and insecticide demand. Additionally, sales of soil fumigants and other products remained steady in the quarter. U.S. crop sales growth was offset by lower nematicide sales of Counter and cotton defoliant sales of Folex. Our specialty sales improved by 6%, driven primarily by a strong OHP performance and increased demand for biological product solutions. Sales in other specialty markets, including professional pest control, turf and landscape were relatively flat. U.S. growth in the quarter was offset by sales in our international operations, which were down 7% due to Brazil, as Dak mentioned, which was the result of timing of deliveries in the previous year as well as reduced sales in India due to timing delays in customer purchases. The decline was somewhat offset by improved sales in Central America, led by the launch of Mocap in Ecuador. Gross profit in the first quarter rose to 31% as compared to 26% in the same quarter of 2025 on increased volumes of higher-margin domestic products, reduced volumes of lower-margin international products and a slightly improved factory efficiency performance. Adjusted EBITDA in the first quarter was $10.3 million, an increase of $7.3 million or approximately 245%. The EBITDA expansion was driven by higher sales, higher margins and continued cost-cutting efforts. Turning to the balance sheet. Cash on hand at the end of the quarter was $71 million as compared to $12 million in the prior year period. The year-over-year increase reflects the term loan structure put in place following the refinancing, which replaced the revolving working capital facility. Total debt was $267 million at quarter end as compared to $166 million at the end of the first quarter of 2025. Given the impact of the change in the debt structure, we are focused on net debt, which was approximately $196 million as compared to $154 million a year ago. The increase is primarily related to the lower customer prepayments we received at the end of 2025. Inventories were $175 million as compared to $185 million in Q1 last year, a $10 million improvement, reflecting our supply chain discipline and our sales, inventory and operations planning, or SIOP process improvements that we put in place in 2025 that are gaining traction. I will turn the call back to Dak for some final comments. Douglas Kaye: Thank you, David. Looking back to 2025, we took important steps to enhance the management team across the organization, bringing in experienced talent as well as elevating rising stars. I've highlighted before the addition of Mike DiPaola and his transition to Chief Commercial Officer as an important step that is already paying dividends. He is adding beneath him more talent. And at the same time, I'm focused on hiring a Senior Vice President of Product Development and Marketing, which is the role that Mike originally held. We've also added or promoted people to key positions in commercial sales, operations, IT and finance, all areas that needed building up and strengthening. As we've added and promoted people, we also focused on eliminating noncore expenses and prioritizing our resources. As I reviewed during our March call and briefly discussed today, we moved to rationalize our L.A. operation to become a more focused facility and shifted synthesis production to our Alabama operation, building on its strengths in order to optimize our overall manufacturing footprint. Finally, we are relocating our headquarters this month. All these actions will reduce our operating costs and better align responsibilities and accountability across the company. Turning to the new capital structure we recently put in place. I think it is important to understand that the term loans replaced our existing revolver, which was really a working capital focused credit line and therefore, was not aligned to our long-term strategy. I believe it is also important to track net debt when considering the leverage ratio, as there is now substantial cash on the balance sheet at March 31 and should be there in the future. The terms of the refinancing align with our strategic plans and objectives while maximizing our flexibility. While this new structure does come at a higher cost, we expected that trade-off because it provides the foundation we need to execute our plan without being overly constrained by quarterly and seasonal working capital swings. The combined facilities give us a stable base of capital and meaningful liquidity, providing excess cash that serves as a buffer or a cushion so we can continue to invest and execute our strategy while maintaining the flexibility to pay down debt as we grow. As we make progress and execute on our top line and bottom line growth initiatives, we also have the flexibility to pay down these loans on our schedule and we have a game plan to achieve that over the next 2 to 2.5 years and ultimately refinance. Higher revenue, better manufacturing utilization, greater operating cost efficiency and lower overhead costs are expected to drive higher gross profit margins and operating margins, leading to substantially higher EBITDA. Cash flow and free cash flow from this growth will be supplemented by reduced working capital levels going forward as we achieve greater capital efficiency. Underlying the growth opportunities for American Vanguard is the ability to drive significant volume growth in the future. This will come from a combination of new products and from our existing portfolio, but it will also be driven by a commercial strategy that prioritizes volume across market cycles. Notably, American Vanguard has a broad portfolio of products across agricultural markets in the U.S. and around the world. And this portfolio is well known from a brand perspective and well regarded by customers. These are large markets, especially relative to American Vanguard's size and sales. And thus, we have the ability and opportunity to drive volume growth without always resorting to price. I want to talk for a few minutes about what it takes to execute and deliver on the financial goals we have set for ourselves. It starts with the people we have at American Vanguard and the culture we create. It's about building a culture of commercial and operational excellence, focusing on our customers' needs and solving their problems. These actions will drive volume growth across our product portfolio, leveraging the operational focus and the more concentrated asset base we are putting in place. To succeed, we have, as already mentioned, brought in leaders from the outside with deep industry experience to complement internal talent that we have retained or elevated. We have also put in place new initiatives and programs to drive these results and help our employees succeed in their mission. And of course, we need to give them the tools and information to succeed, which has been another key focus area, our technology footprint. Our systems and our system capabilities as well as the ability for these tools to functionally and seamlessly connect with one another and to be responsive and useful to our people. This is another important area that needed attention at American Vanguard. And as such, we've made it a top priority. New product development is critical in my opinion and this is yet another area that needed immediate attention upon my arrival, and it has gotten that. Innovation and new product development is a foundational component of our growth strategy going forward. I've talked about our goal to have 50 new product launches over the next 5 years, driving $100 million in annualized revenue by 2030. We have put in place a new product process internally, which will drive this effort. One of the key things to note about new product introductions and why they are important is that their success and the associated incremental revenue tied to them tends to be ag cycle agnostic. Because the company pursued noncore activities over the last 10 years, the company really found itself in a position over the past 2 to 3 years of not having new products to bring to the market. This is still impacting our business right now, but we changed that in 2025 and have positioned the company to have a more regular and greater cadence of new products to bring to the market starting later this year. We will not fully see the fruits of this until 2028. And the last thing I want to talk about in terms of key strategic efforts and goals is accountability. We are focused on driving growth here at American Vanguard. And as I previously talked about, our plan 2030, laying out priorities for today and tomorrow, I talked about improving manufacturing efficiency, implementing standard processes across the organization and becoming a KPI-driven management team with a more flexible, dynamic organization. But accountability is also about results. And as a public company, those results come back to the numbers. And here, I want to provide more specifics about what some of those numbers are, those goals over the next 2-plus years. Executing on these will position American Vanguard to be in a position by the end of 2028 to be able to consider refinancing our debt, presuming that markets and market rates provide an attractive and stable environment for doing so. From a revenue or top line perspective, we expect to be north of $600 million in annualized revenue, which is approximately 20% above our 2025 level. But this growth needs to be matched by even greater focus and improvement in our productivity, efficiency and overall cost structure, driving margins significantly higher. I've indicated that over the long term, I believe the business should operate closer to 15% EBITDA margins across the cycle and that is still the goal. But in the short term, we need to move our EBITDA margins in the double-digit area as soon as possible, and that is a top priority. Together, these should help us to generate solid free cash flow, which along with lower net working capital will enable us to drive net debt down over the next 2 years. This will position us well to refinance our debt. In summary, we've had a good start to 2026, but there is still a lot of work for us to do, and we will continue to assume that the external environment will do us no favors. We have to control what we can control and execute with a capital base in place that aligns with our strategic goals and objectives, it's time to play offense, built on a culture of operational excellence and customer service, supported by new product development and tied to the financial goals that make us accountable. With that, operator, you can open up the call for questions. Operator: At this time we will be conducting a question-and-answer session. [Operator Instructions] And the first question today is coming from Rosemarie Morbelli from Gabelli Funds. Rosemarie Morbelli: Congratulations on all of the progress you have made so far and thank you for all of the details you have given us. I have a few questions. Your top line growth of 7%. I mean, I understand it was very strong in North America and not so much in Brazil and India. But could you separate the price and the volume? Douglas Kaye: Yes. So Rosemarie, thank you for the question. Good question. We can -- and one of the things that we're working on more diligently is better data. But I can tell you from the U.S. crop standpoint that the volume was the main driver for the U.S. increase in sales. So there was mainly driven -- the sales increase is mainly driven by volume in the U.S. Rosemarie Morbelli: Okay. And can you bring us up to date on the generics impact? Is that continuing to affect pricing in addition to volume in other areas in the U.S.? And then if you could give us a better feel for any particular crops that triggered that 17% increase in the U.S.? Or is it that it was so bad last year, and I apologize for phrasing it this way, that it is easy comps more than real demand? Douglas Kaye: Sure. I think -- let's answer the first question, the generics impact. The generics are definitely coming into the marketplace fairly heavily and in the environment that we have here in the ag cycle, they are prevalent. Having said that, a majority of our products are fairly sticky in the marketplace with the brand reputation. So we are seeing spotty. Specifically, I've talked about Folex in the past, generic pressure. And that has not yet impacted 2026 sales because we haven't got into that cycle yet. But we have a very strategic generic strategy to fight that. And so we're actively engaged to fend off that our market share and actually grow our market share in the U.S. in that segment of Folex. As far as crops, I can tell you that Impact and Aztec were the 2 large products that we have here that showed increases in sales. Was it related to 2025 or was it related -- I mean, Q1 of 2025 being poor or was it related to Q4 of 2025 being poor or just a switch in timing of the purchases by the market, it's hard to tell. We did see that -- I mean, I can tell you that Impact and Aztec were down in Q4, and they were up in Q1 of this year. Having said that, Metam was still flat or slightly down after being down in Q4 of 2025. I think a lot of it is a changing in the dynamics of the market and how they buy and we're just trying to feel that out. It's kind of a convoluted answer, but it's still something in motion at this point in time, Rosemarie. I can tell you that -- the one last thing I'd say about crops is that we're a small player in the grand scheme of things. We have a broad portfolio that works very well. But the amount of acres that were on in relation to the total amount of acres of corn and soybean, it doesn't really impact us that much in those 2 crops, where we would see more impact would be in the cotton and peanut acres. Rosemarie Morbelli: Okay. So that would be the impact in Brazil on the cotton side, right, more than in the U.S.? Douglas Kaye: Yes. But I mean the impact that we saw in Brazil in Q1 was a comparable issue between Q1 of 2025 and Q1 of 2026. We had some sales in Q1 of 2025 that leaked over from Q4 of 2024 in Brazil due to timing of shipments. And so it made it difficult from a comparable standpoint. Rosemarie Morbelli: Sure. Just one quick one, if you don't mind. Corteva is expecting the ag market to grow low single digit in 2026. Do you agree with that assessment? Or do you have a different view because you are offering different product lines? Douglas Kaye: I think the ag industry is going to grow single digits for sure. I don't think it's going to be negative this year, and it is going to grow. It still as we said, there's a lot of things in front of us with geopolitical aspects of it. One, commodity prices; two, and weather and pest. So -- but those are all in front of us as a negative, but it does feel like there's a little bit of clean air in front of us now. Operator: [Operator Instructions] And there were no other questions from the line at this time. I will now hand the call to Dak Kaye for closing remarks. Douglas Kaye: Thank you. In summary, we had a good start to 2026, but there is still a lot of work for us to do, and we will continue to assume that the external environment will do us no favors. We have to control what we can control and execute with a capital base in place that aligns with our strategic goals and objectives, it's time to play offense, built on culture of operational excellence and customer service, supported by new product development and tied to financial goals that make us accountable. Thank you all for your time today. Operator: Thank you. This does conclude today's conference. You may disconnect your lines at this time. Thank you for your participation. Before you buy stock in American Vanguard, 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 American Vanguard wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. 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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. American Vanguard AVD Q1 2026 Earnings Transcript was originally published by The Motley Fool

First Quarter Revenue Growth of 7% to $124 million Gross Margin Expansion of 500 bps Reaffirm Full-Year Outlook; Adjusted EBITDA $44 million to $48 million on Sales of $530 million to $550 million NEWPORT BEACH, CA / ACCESS Newswire / May 6, 2026 / American Vanguard Corporation, a diversified specialty and agricultural products company that develops, manufactures, and markets solutions for crop protection and nutrition, turf and ornamental management and commercial pest control, today reported financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2026. Financial and Operational Highlights First Quarter 2026 - versus First Quarter 2025: Net sales of $124 million vs. $116 million; Gross profit margin of 31% vs. 26%; Operating income of $1.9 million vs. an operating loss of $4.3 million: Net loss of $4.1 million vs. $8.5 million; Adjusted EBITDA1 of $10.3 million vs. $3.0 million; EPS of $(0.14) vs. ($0.30); Dak Kaye, CEO of American Vanguard, stated "American Vanguard got off to a good start in the first quarter of 2026, with Net Sales of $124 million, up approximately 7% year-over-year, driven by strong demand in our domestic crop business. Adjusted EBITDA improved significantly year-over-year, reflecting better margins, cost discipline, and the benefits of the business improvements we have been implementing. While the agricultural environment remains challenging with farmers continuing to buy on a just-in-time basis and geopolitical uncertainty adding to that caution, we are controlling what we can control and executing our plan." Mr. Kaye concluded, "As part of our business improvement initiative, we have begun the optimization of activities at our Los Angeles manufacturing facility and are relocating synthesis operations to build on the strengths of our Axis site. The manufacturing optimization initiative is progressing as planned, and we expect annualized savings of at least $4 million. Our new capital structure, anchored by the two term loans, provides the longer-term financial foundation we need to execute our growth strategy without being constrained by seasonal working capital dynamics. Our growth strategy is focused on incremental increases in sales and margin improvement alongside balance sheet strengthening. This strategy is focused on improving our net working capital and lowering our net debt2, putting us in a position to refinance our debt by the end of 2028, if we chose to do so." _________________________________ 1Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (Adjusted EBITDA) is not a financial measure calculated and presented in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) and should not be considered as an alternative to net (loss) income, operating (loss) income or any other financial measure so calculated and presented, nor as an alternative to cash flow from operating activities as a measure of liquidity. The items excluded from adjusted EBITDA are detailed in the reconciliation attached to this news release. Other companies (including the Company's competitors) may define adjusted EBITDA differently. 2Net debt, a non-GAAP measure, is presented as supplemental disclosure because we believe it is useful in understanding our financial condition. Net debt is calculated as total outstanding indebtedness less cash. David Johnson, Chief Financial Officer stated, "Our first quarter financial results reflect meaningful progress across the business. Gross margin reached 31%, up 500 basis points, as compared to the year-ago period, driven by a favorable mix of higher-margin domestic crop products, strong performance in our OHP Specialty business, and continued factory efficiency. Operating expenses ended the quarter slightly lower than prior year, when expressed as a percentage of net sales, a clear reflection of our continued cost discipline." Mr. Johnson continued, "With the refinancing, the balance sheet included cash of $71 million at quarter-end, as compared to cash of $12 million this time last year. Net debt at the end of the quarter was $196 million. Our accounts receivable increased compared to the same time last year because of the lower level of customer prepayments in December 2025, as compared to the prior year. We expect to receive those payments in June and in July, thereby further strengthening our cash position. Inventories declined by nearly $10 million year-over-year to $175 million, demonstrating that our Sales and Inventory planning process ("SIOP") improvements and supply chain discipline are gaining traction. We remain focused on lowering our net trade working capital and reducing net debt." Earnings Conference Call The company will be hosting an earnings conference call on May 6, 2026 at 4:30 pm Eastern Time/1:30 pm Pacific Time. The conference call will be webcast on the Company's website at https://www.investors-american vanguard.com/ or by going to the following link: https://www.webcaster5.com/Webcast/Page/3070/53902 If you are unable to listen live, the conference call will be archived for one year and may be accessed using the company's website: https://www.investors-american-vanguard.com/ About American Vanguard American Vanguard Corporation is a diversified specialty and agriculture products company that develops and markets products for crop protection and management, turf and ornamentals management, and public health. Over the past 20 years, through product and business acquisitions, the Company has significantly expanded its operations and now has more than 1,000 product registrations worldwide. To learn more about the Company, please reference www.american-vanguard.com. The Company, from time to time, may discuss forward-looking information. Except for the historical information contained in this release the matters set forth in this press release include forward-looking statements. These statements can be identified by the fact that they do not relate strictly to historical or current facts. Forward looking statements often use words such as "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "intend," "estimate," "project," "outlook," "forecast," "target," "trend," "plan," "goal," or other words of comparable meaning or future-tense or conditional verbs such as "may," "will," "should," "would," or "could." These forward-looking statements are based on the current expectations and estimates by the Company's management and are subject to various risks and uncertainties that may cause results to differ from management's current expectations. Such factors include risks detailed from time-to-time in the Company's SEC reports and filings. All forward-looking statements, if any, in this release represent the Company's judgment as of the date of this release. The company disclaims any intent or obligation to update these forward-looking statements.   Non-GAAP Financial Measures In addition to providing results that are determined in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (GAAP), we present Adjusted EBITDA and Net Debt, which are non-GAAP financial measures. These measures should not be considered in isolation or as an alternative to GAAP measures such as net income, or diluted earnings per share, as applicable, or other financial statement data presented in our financial statements as an indicator of our financial performance or liquidity. We define Net Debt as outstanding indebtedness less cash and EBITDA as net (loss) income, adjusted for depreciation and amortization, provision for income taxes and interest expense. We define Adjusted EBITDA as EBITDA as further adjusted for stock compensation expense and for certain items management believe are not reflective of the underlying operations of our business, including but not limited to the exclusion of charges that are considered by management to be unusual and not representative of the Company's underlying performance and future prospects. In 2026 and 2025 that included non-recurring expenses. The resulting Adjusted EBITDA measure is aligned with the Company's metric for its credit facility agreement in the applicable periods. We use Adjusted EBITDA to assess the operating results and effectiveness and efficiency of our business. We present this non-GAAP financial measure because we believe that investors consider Adjusted EBITDA to be an important supplemental measure of performance, and we believe that this measure is frequently used by securities analysts, investors and other interested parties in the evaluation of companies in our industry. As the Company continues to work through its transformation efforts, management believes that presenting Adjusted EBITDA provides an effective comparison between the Company and its industry peers. Non-GAAP financial measures as reported by us may not be comparable to similarly titled metrics reported by other companies and may not be calculated in the same manner. These measures have limitations as analytical tools, and you should not consider them in isolation or as substitutes for analysis of our results as reported under GAAP. The Company is not able to provide a reconciliation without unreasonable efforts of its forward-looking guidance related to adjusted EBITDA to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measure due to the inherent difficulty in predicting with reasonable certainty the timing and amount of certain items that are excluded from Adjusted EBITDA, such as share-based compensation, acquisition-related expenses, and foreign exchange gains or losses, which could be material to the Company's results computed in accordance with GAAP. Investor Representative Alpha IR Group Robert Winters [email protected] (917) 821-6305 CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS (In thousands, except share data) (Unaudited) CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS (In thousands, except per share data) (Unaudited) AMERICAN VANGUARD CORPORATION AND SUBSIDIARIES ANALYSIS OF SALES (In thousands) (Unaudited) CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS (In thousands) (Unaudited) AMERICAN VANGUARD CORPORATION AND SUBSIDIARIES RECONCILIATION OF NET LOSS TO ADJUSTED EBITDA (In thousands) (Unaudited) AMERICAN VANGUARD CORPORATION AND SUBSIDIARIES RECONCILIATION OF TOTAL INDEBTEDNESS TO NET DEBT (In thousands) (Unaudited) 1 Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (Adjusted EBITDA) is not a financial measure calculated and presented in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) and should not be considered as an alternative to net (loss) income, operating (loss) income or any other financial measure so calculated and presented, nor as an alternative to cash flow from operating activities as a measure of liquidity. The items excluded from adjusted EBITDA are detailed in the reconciliation attached to this news release. Other companies (including the Company's competitors) may define adjusted EBITDA differently. 2 Net debt, a non-GAAP measure, is presented as supplemental disclosure because we believe it is useful in understanding our financial condition. Net debt is calculated as total outstanding indebtedness less cash. SOURCE: American Vanguard View the original press release on ACCESS Newswire

Interested in American Vanguard Corporation? Here are five stocks we like better. American Vanguard reported Q1 net sales of $124 million, up about 7% year‑over‑year, driven by a 17% increase in U.S. crop herbicide and insecticide demand and 6% growth in specialty products, while international revenue declined roughly 7% due largely to shipment timing in Brazil and India. Adjusted EBITDA rose 245% to $10.3 million and gross margin expanded roughly 500 basis points to 31%, driven by a richer mix of higher‑margin domestic products, improved factory efficiency and tighter cost controls. A refinancing boosted cash to $71 million but raised total debt to $267 million (net debt ~ $196 million); the company reiterated 2026 guidance of $44–48 million adjusted EBITDA on $530–550 million sales and is cutting costs via manufacturing rationalization (moving LA production to Axis, AL to save at least $4 million annually) while pursuing its "Plan 2030" product and margin goals. The S&P 600’s newest, familiar members: Are they winners? American Vanguard (NYSE:AVD) reported first-quarter fiscal 2026 results showing higher sales and a sharp increase in adjusted EBITDA, as management cited improved domestic demand, better gross margins, and cost controls amid what it described as still-challenging agricultural market conditions. CEO Dak Kaye said net sales were $124 million, up about 7% from the year-ago quarter. Kaye attributed the year-over-year improvement primarily to the company’s domestic crop business, where sales increased 17% on “strong demand from both our herbicide and our insecticide products,” as well as 6% growth in the specialty business driven by OHP horticultural products. → Berkshire Hathaway’s Record Cash Hoard: Why and What's Next? CFO David Johnson provided additional detail, saying the U.S. crop increase was driven by herbicide and insecticide demand, while soil fumigants and other products were steady. Johnson noted that U.S. crop sales growth was “offset by lower nematicide sales of COUNTER and cotton defoliant sales of FOLEX.” He added that specialty sales improved 6%, led by OHP performance and “increased demand for biological product solutions,” while other specialty markets such as professional pest control, turf, and landscape were relatively flat. International revenue declined 7% year over year, partially offsetting domestic gains. Kaye said higher sales in Central America, Mexico, and Australia were more than offset by lower sales in Brazil due mostly to shipment timing that created a difficult comparison. He also cited weaker sales in India that were mostly timing related. Johnson similarly said the international decline was driven by Brazil and reduced sales in India due to timing delays in customer purchases, with some offset from improved Central America sales “led by the launch of MOCAP in Ecuador.” → A Prada Payday: Is AMC Back in Style? American Vanguard’s adjusted EBITDA rose 245% to $10.3 million, compared with $3.0 million in the first quarter of 2025. Kaye and Johnson both pointed to a richer mix of higher-margin domestic products, improved gross margins, and ongoing cost efforts. Kaye said gross margins improved by about 500 basis points year over year. Johnson quantified gross profit at 31% versus 26% in the prior-year quarter, attributing the improvement to increased volumes of higher-margin domestic products, reduced volumes of lower-margin international products, and slightly better factory efficiency. → Insider Sales: Top AST SpaceMobile Insider Cuts Postion Over 30% On costs, Kaye said adjusted operating expenses (excluding items such as transformation and asset impairment costs) were 26.7% of sales, down from 27.9% a year earlier, reflecting operating efficiency gains and “tight cost controls.” Johnson said EBITDA expansion was driven by higher sales, higher margins, and continued cost-cutting efforts. Kaye highlighted manufacturing rationalization actions taken over the past year, including shifting production away from the company’s Los Angeles facility to its Axis, Alabama operation. He said the company expects the rationalization of the Los Angeles production facility “to save us at least $4 million on an annualized basis going forward.” In prepared remarks later in the call, Kaye also said the company is relocating its headquarters “this month,” and described continued efforts to reduce non-core expenses and prioritize resources. He noted management team changes and additions across commercial sales, operations, IT, and finance, including the addition of Mike DiPaola, who transitioned to Chief Commercial Officer. Kaye said he is also hiring a Senior Vice President of Product Development and Marketing. Johnson said cash on hand at quarter-end was $71 million, compared with $12 million in the prior-year period. He attributed the year-over-year cash increase to the term loan structure put in place following refinancing, which replaced the revolving working capital facility. Total debt ended the quarter at $267 million, up from $166 million a year earlier. Johnson said the company is focusing on net debt given the new structure, with net debt at approximately $196 million compared with $154 million a year ago. He said the increase was primarily related to lower customer prepayments received at the end of 2025. Inventories were $175 million compared with $185 million in the first quarter of last year, a $10 million improvement. Johnson credited “supply chain discipline” and sales, inventory, and operations planning (SIOP) process improvements implemented in 2025 that he said are “gaining traction.” Kaye described the refinancing as a shift away from a revolver that was “not aligned to our long-term strategy,” and said the new structure provides flexibility to manage seasonal working capital swings. He acknowledged the new structure comes “at a higher cost,” but said it provides a stable base of capital and liquidity, including maintaining substantial cash as a “buffer or a cushion.” Kaye said the agricultural industry has not fully recovered from a downturn that began in 2023, although he noted some improvement in 2026 in the U.S. He said commodity prices have recovered from lows seen in summer 2025 but remain below what observers consider historically normal levels. Kaye added that while destocking appears to be mostly past, distributors have shown “no inclination to restock,” and farmer liquidity remains a concern that is driving more last-minute crop decisions. He also cited geopolitical developments, including recent Middle East events, saying the company is seeing higher oil, natural gas, and fertilizer prices. Kaye said higher fertilizer prices should not materially impact the current season because most farmers already made purchases, but the situation could influence next year’s crop decisions. American Vanguard reiterated its 2026 expectations of adjusted EBITDA of $44 million to $48 million on sales of $530 million to $550 million, according to Kaye. During the Q&A, analyst Rosemarie Morbelli of Gabelli Funds asked about the drivers behind U.S. crop growth and whether price or volume was the main factor. Kaye said “the volume was the main driver for the U.S. increase in sales.” Asked about generic competition, Kaye said generics are “coming into the marketplace fairly heavily” and cited “spotty” pressure, referencing FOLEX in particular. He said generic pressure has not yet impacted 2026 sales for FOLEX because the company has not entered that cycle, and added that American Vanguard has “a very strategic generic strategy” to defend and grow market share in that segment. Regarding product performance, Kaye said IMPACT and AZTEC were two large products that showed sales increases, noting they were down in the fourth quarter of 2025 and up in the first quarter of 2026. He also said Metam was flat or slightly down after being down in the fourth quarter. Kaye described purchasing dynamics as “in motion,” reflecting changes in how the market buys. Morbelli also asked whether management agreed with an expectation of low single-digit agricultural market growth in 2026. Kaye said he believes the industry “is going to grow single digits for sure,” while noting variables including geopolitics, commodity prices, weather, and pests. Looking further out, Kaye discussed goals tied to what he has called “Plan 2030,” including improving manufacturing efficiency, implementing standard processes, and becoming a KPI-driven organization. He reiterated a target of 50 new product launches over five years, aiming for $100 million in annualized revenue by 2030, and said the company implemented a new product process in 2025 and expects a more regular cadence of new products starting later this year, with fuller impact not expected until 2028. Kaye also said the company expects to be “north of $600 million in annualized revenue” over the next roughly two-plus years and continues to view 15% EBITDA margins across the cycle as a long-term goal, while prioritizing reaching double-digit EBITDA margins “as soon as possible.” American Vanguard Corporation (NYSE: AVD) is a developer, manufacturer and marketer of specialty chemical products for crop protection, turf and ornamental care, and public health pest control. Headquartered in Newport Beach, California, the company offers a portfolio of insecticides, herbicides, fungicides and rodenticides designed for use across agricultural, turf and urban pest management applications. Its research and development efforts focus on novel chemistries and formulation technologies that address emerging pest resistance and regulatory requirements. The company's product lines include emulsifiable concentrates, wettable powders, granular formulations, baits and liquid concentrates sold under proprietary brand names. The article "American Vanguard Q1 Earnings Call Highlights" was originally published by MarketBeat. View MarketBeat's top stocks for May 2026.