BMI

- Badger Meter shares jumped 7% today after third-quarter earnings of $1.24 a share beat the $1.22 consensus, even though sales of $235.9 million missed. - Investors are looking past an uneven 2026 and paying for rising margins and management's promise of growth into 2027. - Operating margin rose to 20.2% from 19.6% a year earlier, and the dividend went up 10% for the 34th straight year. - Analysts expect revenue to grow about 8% in 2027, and the stock's forward P/E is still well below its five-year average. Badger Meter (BMI:NYSE) reported third-quarter results before Thursday's open, and the stock is up 7% today, with the Nasdaq down about 2%. That's a sharp turn for a stock that was down about a quarter in 2026 through Wednesday's close. Here's Badger Meter's third quarter, compared with a year earlier: - Sales were flat at $235.9 million, below the $240.78 million consensus. - Operating margin rose to 20.2% from 19.6%. - EPS rose 4% to $1.24, beating the $1.22 consensus. - The annual dividend went up 10% to $1.76 a share, its 34th straight yearly raise, and the company bought back about $55 million of stock in the quarter. Leave out UDlive, the business it bought in May, and utility water sales fell 3%. Management blamed the uneven pace of utilities' smart-meter projects. TIKR tracks 10 analysts on Badger Meter. How many say "Buy"? See the full breakdown of Buy, Hold, and Sell ratings on Badger Meter, along with Wall Street's revenue and earnings estimates, all in one place. More than 500,000 investors use TIKR to research stocks like this one. See Badger Meter's Analyst Ratings Sales didn't grow, but profit did. Gross margin rose 1.2 percentage points to 41.9%, and costs for selling, engineering and administration fell 2% without UDlive. That fits a long run of wider margins. Badger Meter's operating margin went from about 16% in 2021 to 20% in 2025… CEO Kenneth Bockhorst said he expects Base revenue (the company's figure without UDlive) to grow in the fourth quarter, both from the third quarter and from a year earlier. He also said Badger Meter expects to "sustain this growth momentum into 2027." Analysts already agree. Consensus has revenue slipping to $911 million this year from $917 million in 2025, then rising about 8% to $981 million in 2027… The miss could pull that 2026 estimate down a little, but nothing in the release argues against the 2027 number. At Wednesday's close, Badger Meter traded at 28x forward earnings. That's near April's five-year low of 24x and far below its five-year average of 42x… Even after today's jump, it's closer to 31x. There are still risks. Electronics costs are putting pressure on materials, and project timing has made 2026 a lumpy year. My take: Margins are still climbing and growth is expected back in 2027, but the stock is still priced well below its usual multiple. I think today's jump has room to run. Of course, the fourth-quarter report early next year will be the first real test of that promise. TIKR lets you forecast the future price of any stock in less than a minute. Just enter a few assumptions into TIKR's valuation model and see what Badger Meter could be worth. Start from Wall Street consensus estimates, or adjust the inputs to reflect your own view of the business. It's free to use. Value Badger Meter for free

Roper Technologies ROP reported third-quarter 2026 adjusted earnings of $5.89 per share, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $5.79 by 1.7%. The bottom line increased 15% on a year-over-year basis. Roper's net revenues of $2.17 billion missed the consensus estimate of $2.177 billion by 0.2%. The top line increased 8% year over year. Organic revenues grew 7%, driven by solid momentum across its three business segments. Acquisitions boosted sales by 1%. The company reports under three segments, namely Application Software, Network Software and Technology Enabled Products. Application Software's revenues totaled $1.24 billion, representing 57.1% of the quarter's top line. The segment's revenues increased 7% on a year-over-year basis. Organic revenues increased 6%, while acquisitions contributed 1% to sales growth. Solid momentum in the company's Aderant, Vertafore and Deltek businesses supported the segment's performance. Aderant expanded its Artificial Intelligence (AI) agent platform, while Vertafore witnessed continued annual recurring revenue growth and introduced six additional AI agents. Deltek benefited from strength in its private-sector business. Network Software generated revenues of $446.1 million, accounting for 20.5% of the quarterly top line. Segmental revenues increased 8% year over year. Organic revenues grew 5%, while acquisitions boosted sales by 3%. Strong momentum in the DAT, SoftWriters and Foundry businesses supported the segment's performance. DAT benefited from network expansion, higher average revenue per user and continued adoption of its digital freight marketplace solutions. SoftWriters witnessed growing adoption of its AI-based order entry solution, while Foundry continued to register revenue growth and achieved record annual recurring revenues. The company also completed the Origo bolt-on acquisition for its iPipeline business. The Technology Enabled Products segment generated revenues of $486 million, representing 22.4% of the quarter's top line. Segmental revenues increased 10% on a year-over-year basis, entirely driven by organic growth. Strong demand for precision measurement solutions boosted the performance of the NDI business. Verathon witnessed strength across its BFlex, GlideScope and BladderScan product families. Its newly launched CFlex single-use cystoscope also received a positive customer response. The segment benefited from solid execution and growth across CIVCO, FMI, Inovonics and rf IDEAS. However, Neptune's performance was affected by an unfavorable sales mix. Roper Technologies, Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Roper Technologies, Inc. Quote Roper's cost of sales increased 5.6% year over year to $649.2 million. Gross profit increased 8.5% to $1.52 billion, while the gross margin expanded 60 basis points to 70.1% from 69.5% in the year-ago quarter. Selling, general and administrative expenses increased 8.4% year over year to $899.4 million. Adjusted EBITDA was $864 million, reflecting year-over-year growth of 7%. The adjusted EBITDA margin contracted 40 basis points to 39.8%. Roper's net interest expenses increased 19% year over year to $106.7 million. Exiting the third quarter of 2026, Roper had cash and cash equivalents of $311 million compared with $297.4 million at the end of December 2025. Long-term debt (net of current portion) was $8.30 billion compared with $8.60 billion at the end of 2025. Roper generated net cash of $1.88 billion from operating activities in the first nine months of 2026, reflecting an increase of 4.4% from the year-ago level. Capital expenditures totaled $35.4 million compared with $37.6 million in the year-ago period. During the same period, ROP rewarded its shareholders with dividend payments of $281.4 million, up 5.8% year over year. It repurchased shares worth $2.73 billion. Third-quarter adjusted free cash flow declined 4% year over year to $805 million. However, trailing 12-month adjusted free cash flow increased 4% to $2.53 billion. For 2026, Roper expects adjusted earnings per share to be in the range of $22.35-$22.40 compared with $22.15-$22.30 projected earlier. Total revenues are expected to increase more than 8%, while organic revenues are anticipated to grow approximately 6% year over year. For the fourth quarter of 2026, Roper anticipates adjusted earnings in the range of $5.95-$6.00 per share. The company expects mid-single-digit or better organic growth in its Application Software and Network Software segments, while Technology Enabled Products is projected to record mid-single-digit organic growth. The company currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. TTM Technologies, Inc. TTMI came out with quarterly earnings of $1.46 per share in the third quarter of 2026, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.25 per share. This compares with earnings of 67 cents per share a year ago. TTMI posted revenues of $1.2 billion for the quarter ended September 2026, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 6.6%. This compares with year-ago revenues of $752.74 million. Badger Meter, Inc. BMI came out with quarterly earnings of $1.24 per share in the third quarter of 2026, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.21 per share. This compares with earnings of $1.19 per share a year ago. Badger Meter posted revenues of $235.94 million for the quarter ended September 2026, missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 1.95%. This compares with year-ago revenues of $235.65 million. International Business Machines Corporation IBM reported strong third-quarter 2026 results, with adjusted earnings rising 11% year over year to $2.95 per share. The figure beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.88 by 2.4%. Revenues increased 4.7% to $17.10 billion, surpassing the consensus mark of $16.87 billion by 1.4%. 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 Roper Technologies, Inc. (ROP) : Free Stock Analysis Report International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) : Free Stock Analysis Report Badger Meter, Inc. (BMI) : Free Stock Analysis Report TTM Technologies, Inc. (TTMI) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com). Zacks Investment Research

- Interested in Badger Meter, Inc.? Here are five stocks we like better. - Third-quarter sales were flat at $235.9 million, while operating profit rose 4% and diluted EPS increased 4% to $1.24. Margin gains were driven by a favorable mix toward ultrasonic meters, software growth and cost controls. - Management expects sequential and year-over-year base-sales growth in the fourth quarter, although full-year organic sales are still projected to decline in the low single digits. Utility project activity is improving, and flow-instrumentation demand remains broad-based, including emerging data-center applications. - Badger Meter launched its OneNetwork platform for real-time utility monitoring and continued shareholder returns by repurchasing about $55 million of shares and raising its dividend 10%, its 34th consecutive annual increase. - Strike a Balance Between Growth and Stability With These 3 Names Ready to Rally Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) reported third-quarter 2026 sales that were unchanged from the prior-year period, while operating profit and earnings per share increased as the company benefited from product mix, software revenue growth and cost controls. Total third-quarter sales were $235.9 million, in line with the third quarter of 2025. Excluding $5.6 million of revenue from the UDlive acquisition, base sales declined 2% year over year but increased 5% sequentially from the second quarter. → Aurora Rejects Curaleaf's Higher Bid, But the Takeover Fight Isn't Over - Why Institutions Keep Buying Badger Meter After the Big Drop Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer Ken Bockhorst said the sequential improvement reflected the continued ramp-up of previously announced utility projects and solid underlying market demand. He said the company expects both sequential and year-over-year base-sales growth in the fourth quarter, despite fewer operating days related to the holiday calendar. Operating earnings increased 4% year over year, while operating margin rose 60 basis points to 20.2%. Excluding UDlive, base operating margin was 20.9%, up 130 basis points from the prior-year quarter. → Could Quantinuum's Breakthrough Make Its Sell-Off a Bargain? - Badger Meter Gets an Upgrade—2 Stocks That Could Follow Gross margin reached 41.9%, an increase of 120 basis points. Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer Dan Weltzien said the improvement was driven primarily by a structural shift toward ultrasonic meters and continued growth in software-as-a-service revenue. The results were partly offset by amortization of UDlive inventory fair-value step-up adjustments. Excluding UDlive, gross margin was 42.1%, at the upper end of Badger Meter's normalized range. Management said it continues to target a 39% to 42% gross-margin range over time. → IonQ's Bold Expansion Could Leave Shareholders Paying the Price The company said electronic component costs and availability remain under pressure amid demand tied to artificial intelligence and data-center construction. Weltzien said Badger Meter has so far managed those pressures through pricing, sourcing and operational actions, though the challenges have continued to escalate. Selling, engineering and administrative expenses were $51.1 million, up $1.3 million from a year earlier. The increase included $2.3 million associated with UDlive, including intangible asset amortization, partially offset by lower incentive compensation and cost controls. Management expects annual UDlive intangible amortization of about $5 million. Diluted earnings per share rose 4% to $1.24 from $1.19 a year earlier. The effective tax rate was 25.1%, compared with 26.1% in the prior-year quarter. Utility water sales were flat year over year. Excluding UDlive, utility sales declined 3%, reflecting the pacing of large projects, including lower AMI-related product sales that were partly offset by higher software revenue. Base utility sales increased 5% sequentially. Sales in the flow instrumentation product line increased 2% from a year earlier, against what Weltzien described as the company's most difficult comparison of 2025. The company cited broad-based demand in water applications and said it is seeing increased demand for flow instrumentation in data-center applications, though from a relatively small revenue base. During the question-and-answer session, Bockhorst said the company views the second and third quarters as "perfectly normal" following an unusually weak first quarter for shorter-cycle demand. He added that the broader pipeline of utilities working with consultants, conducting requests for proposals or progressing through active projects remains as robust as it has been in recent years. Badger Meter also said it has begun shipping products for the Puerto Rico Aqueduct and Sewer Authority, or PRASA, project. The utility is preparing for installations to begin in the fourth quarter after hiring installation contractors, according to Bockhorst. He cautioned that project timing can remain uneven from quarter to quarter because of factors including labor availability and weather. Executive Vice President of North America Municipal Utility Bob Wrocklage said Badger Meter formally launched OneNetwork at the WEFTEC water-industry conference in New Orleans. The platform combines AMI, network-monitoring and water-quality data into a real-time operating view for water and wastewater utilities. Wrocklage said the product is designed to help utilities identify and respond to pressure events, water-quality changes and non-revenue-water spikes through alerts, analytics and workflows. He said customer and consultant interest at WEFTEC was high. Looking ahead, Bockhorst said the company expects modest sequential growth in the fourth quarter and year-over-year growth in quarterly base sales. For the full year, he said Badger Meter expects an organic sales decline in the low single digits. Management did not provide a specific 2027 forecast but said it remains confident in its ability to sustain growth momentum into next year and return to its strategic high-single-digit growth outlook. Free cash flow was $40.3 million in the third quarter, compared with $48.2 million a year earlier. Primary working capital represented 23.6% of sales, up from 22.9% at the end of the prior quarter. The company said it expects to reduce elevated inventory levels as revenue pacing improves and electronic safety-stock needs normalize. Badger Meter repurchased 423,000 shares for approximately $55 million during the quarter and had about $35 million remaining under its current repurchase authorization. Bockhorst also noted that the company raised its annual dividend rate by 10% in August, marking its 34th consecutive year of dividend increases. Badger Meter, Inc is a water technology company that develops and manufactures flow measurement, control and communications solutions. Its products are used to measure and manage water across municipal, commercial and industrial applications, helping customers improve operational efficiency, monitor usage and support water conservation. The company's offerings include mechanical, ultrasonic and electromagnetic flow meters; valves and related flow-control equipment; and smart water technologies. 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 "Badger Meter Q3 Earnings Call Highlights" was originally published by MarketBeat. View MarketBeat's top stocks for October 2026.

MILWAUKEE, October 22, 2026--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE: BMI) today reported results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2026. Third Quarter 2026 Highlights - Total sales of $235.9 million increased modestly from the prior year's $235.7 million and improved 6% sequentially from the second quarter. Base1 sales were $230.3 million. - Operating earnings increased 4% year-over-year to $47.7 million, with operating profit margins of 20.2% versus 19.6% in the prior year comparable quarter. Base operating earnings of $48.0 million increased 4% year-over-year, with Base operating profit margins of 20.9%. - Diluted earnings per share (EPS) of $1.24, a 4% increase from $1.19 in the third quarter of 2025. - Increased annual dividend rate by 10% to $1.76 per share, representing the 34th consecutive year of dividend growth. "We were pleased with our third quarter financial results delivering continued sequential sales and operating profit improvement," said Kenneth C. Bockhorst, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer. "Consistent with our expectations, third quarter sales reflected the ongoing ramp of awarded utility water projects as well as solid underlying demand trends. I want to thank our employees across the globe for their commitment, contributions and ongoing customer focus." Third Quarter 2026 Operating Results Utility water sales were flat year-over-year, including $5.6 million from the UDlive acquisition. Excluding the acquisition, utility water sales increased 5% sequentially from the second quarter, yet declined 3% year-over-year, reflecting uneven AMI project pacing partially offset by higher software revenue. Sales of flow instrumentation products increased 2% year-over-year, with strong demand across the water-focused end markets against a difficult prior year comparison. Operating earnings improved 4% year-over-year to $47.7 million, representing a 60-basis point improvement in operating profit margins to 20.2%. Base operating earnings of $48.0 million increased 4% year-over-year, with Base operating profit margins of 20.9%. Gross margins of 41.9% were 120 basis points higher than the prior year's 40.7%. Margin improvement reflects higher sales and structural mix benefits, while UDlive gross margins include the dilutive impact of inventory fair-value step-up amortization. Selling, Engineering and Administration (SEA) expenses of $51.1 million were $1.3 million higher year-over-year. The inclusion of UDlive results along with related intangible asset amortization combined added $2.3 million to year-over-year expenses. Base SEA expenses of $48.8 million declined $0.9 million or 2% year-over-year due to the benefit of appropriate spending controls and lower incentive compensation. The effective tax rate for the third quarter of 2026 was 25.1%, compared to 26.1% in the prior year. As a result of the above, EPS of $1.24 increased 4% from the prior year's $1.19. Outlook Bockhorst concluded, "As we enter the final quarter of 2026, we continue to anticipate both sequential and year-over-year Base revenue improvement, inclusive of the fewer operating days typical for the fourth fiscal quarter, and expect to sustain this growth momentum into 2027. We remain steadfastly focused on cost management actions to mitigate the uneven 2026 sales cadence, while effectively addressing ongoing material cost pressures related to broad electronics supply chain dynamics. "We maintain our focus on long-term strategic priorities including advancing the multi-year opportunity funnel for both metering and beyond the meter applications. We also continue to enhance our BlueEdge® portfolio of solutions against the backdrop of a multi-decade digital transformation of the global water sector, as demonstrated by the recent launch of OneNetwork™, our real-time network monitoring and analysis software platform. "During the quarter we repurchased approximately $55 million of our outstanding shares and increased our annual dividend rate for the 34th consecutive year, demonstrating our commitment to returning cash to shareholders. "In closing, I remain excited about the value creation opportunities ahead of us as we further our vision to preserve and protect the world's most precious resource." 1 Adjusted metrics ("Base") are non-GAAP measures excluding the results of UDlive acquired May 1, 2026. See appendix for reconciliations of these GAAP to non-GAAP measures. Conference Call and Webcast Information Badger Meter management will hold a conference call to discuss the Company's third quarter 2026 results today, Thursday, October 22, 2026 at 10:00 AM Central/11:00 AM Eastern time. A live listen-only webcast and the related presentation will be available on the Events & Presentations section of the Company's investor relations website. Those wishing to actively participate in the conference call must pre-register using the following link: https://events.q4inc.com/attendee/365814936 Safe Harbor Statement Certain statements contained in this news release, as well as other information provided from time to time by Badger Meter, Inc. (the "Company") or its employees, may contain forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those statements. The Company's results are subject to general economic conditions, variation in demand from customers, continued market acceptance of new products, the successful integration of acquisitions, competitive pricing and operating efficiencies, supply chain risk, material and labor cost increases, tax reform and foreign currency risk. See the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission for further information regarding risk factors, which are incorporated herein by reference. Badger Meter disclaims any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements as a result of new information, future events or any other reason. About Badger Meter With more than a century of water technology innovation, Badger Meter provides comprehensive water management solutions through its BlueEdge® suite. This tailorable portfolio of smart measurement hardware, reliable communications, data visualization and analytics software and ongoing support and industry expertise give customers the edge in optimizing their operations and contributing to the sustainable use and protection of the world's most precious resource. For more information, visit www.badgermeter.com. BADGER METER, INC. | | | | | | | | | | | | | CONSOLIDATED CONDENSED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS | (in thousands, except share and earnings per share data) | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Three Months Ended September 30, | | | Nine Months Ended September 30, | | | 2026 | | | 2025 | | | 2026 | | | 2025 | | | (Unaudited) | | | (Unaudited) | | | (Unaudited) | | | (Unaudited) | | | | | | | | | | | | | Net sales | | $ | 235,938 | | | $ | 235,651 | | | $ | 660,536 | | | $ | 695,957 | | | | | | | | | | | | | Cost of sales | | | 137,089 | | | | 139,815 | | | | 386,587 | | | | 406,874 | | | | | | | | | | | | | Gross margin | | | 98,849 | | | | 95,836 | | | | 273,949 | | | | 289,083 | | | | | | | | | | | | | Selling, engineering and administration | | | 51,107 | | | | 49,752 | | | | 151,659 | | | | 148,711 | | | | | | | | | | | | | Operating earnings | | | 47,742 | | | | 46,084 | | | | 122,290 | | | | 140,372 | | | | | | | | | | | | | Interest income, net | | | (188 | ) | | | (1,330 | ) | | | (1,645 | ) | | | (3,559 | ) Other pension and postretirement income | | | (28 | ) | | | (28 | ) | | | (84 | ) | | | (84 | ) | | | | | | | | | | | | Earnings before income taxes | | | 47,958 | | | | 47,442 | | | | 124,019 | | | | 144,015 | | | | | | | | | | | | | Provision for income taxes | | | 12,055 | | | | 12,365 | | | | 31,061 | | | | 35,956 | | | | | | | | | | | | | Net earnings | | $ | 35,903 | | | $ | 35,077 | | | $ | 92,958 | | | $ | 108,059 | | | | | | | | | | | | | Earnings per share: | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Basic | | $ | 1.25 | | | $ | 1.19 | | | $ | 3.21 | | | $ | 3.67 | | | | | | | | | | | | | Diluted | | $ | 1.24 | | | $ | 1.19 | | | $ | 3.19 | | | $ | 3.65 | | | | | | | | | | | | | Shares used in computation of earnings per share: | | | | | | | | | | | | | Basic | | | 28,750,150 | | | | 29,424,004 | | | | 28,999,955 | | | | 29,405,429 | | | | | | | | | | | | | Diluted | | | 28,871,187 | | | | 29,583,384 | | | | 29,125,127 | | | | 29,577,619 | | | | | | | | | | | | | BADGER METER, INC. | | | | | | CONSOLIDATED CONDENSED BALANCE SHEETS | (in thousands) | | | | | | | | | | | Assets | September 30, | | | December 31, | | 2026 | | | 2025 | | (Unaudited) | | | | | | | | | Cash and cash equivalents | $ | 67,928 | | | $ | 226,016 | Receivables | | 111,826 | | | | 112,356 | Inventories | | 166,427 | | | | 151,935 | Other current assets | | 21,719 | | | | 16,770 | Total current assets | | 367,900 | | | | 507,077 | | | | | | Net property, plant and equipment | | 83,473 | | | | 79,636 | Intangible assets, at cost less accumulated amortization | | 157,513 | | | | 118,496 | Other long-term assets | | 31,957 | | | | 32,793 | Goodwill | | 302,805 | | | | 235,575 | Total assets | $ | 943,648 | | | $ | 973,577 | | | | | | | | | | | Liabilities and Shareholders' Equity | | | | | | | | | | Payables | $ | 70,275 | | | $ | 72,299 | Accrued compensation and employee benefits | | 21,904 | | | | 37,619 | Other current liabilities | | 56,117 | | | | 40,798 | Total current liabilities | | 148,296 | | | | 150,716 | | | | | | Deferred income taxes | | 16,616 | | | | 3,477 | Long-term deferred revenue, employee benefits and other | | 127,604 | | | | 106,090 | Shareholders' equity | | 651,132 | | | | 713,294 | Total liabilities and shareholders' equity | $ | 943,648 | | | $ | 973,577 | | | | | | BADGER METER, INC. | | | | | | | | | | | | CONSOLIDATED CONDENSED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS | (in thousands) | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Three Months Ended September 30, | | | Nine Months Ended September 30, | | 2026 | | | 2025 | | | 2026 | | | 2025 | | (Unaudited) | | | (Unaudited) | | | (Unaudited) | | | (Unaudited) | Operating activities: | | | | | | | | | | | Net earnings | $ | 35,903 | | | $ | 35,077 | | | $ | 92,958 | | | $ | 108,059 | | | | | | | | | | | | Adjustments to reconcile net earnings to net cash provided by operations: | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Depreciation | | 2,636 | | | | 2,607 | | | | 8,297 | | | | 8,326 | Amortization | | 7,555 | | | | 6,100 | | | | 20,804 | | | | 17,458 | Noncurrent employee benefits | | (154 | ) | | | 40 | | | | (140 | ) | | | 45 | Stock-based compensation expense | | 2,474 | | | | 2,041 | | | | 7,821 | | | | 6,445 | Changes in: | | | | | | | | | | | Receivables | | 9,252 | | | | 2,503 | | | | 690 | | | | (22,803 | ) Inventories | | 10,702 | | | | (5,759 | ) | | | (10,508 | ) | | | (1,740 | ) Payables | | (27,510 | ) | | | (4,285 | ) | | | (3,515 | ) | | | 11,937 | Prepaid expenses and other assets | | (2,374 | ) | | | (188 | ) | | | (10,059 | ) | | | (3,276 | ) Other liabilities | | 4,790 | | | | 13,148 | | | | (2,470 | ) | | | 4,446 | Total adjustments | | 7,371 | | | | 16,207 | | | | 10,920 | | | | 20,838 | Net cash provided by operations | | 43,274 | | | | 51,284 | | | | 103,878 | | | | 128,897 | | | | | | | | | | | | Investing activities: | | | | | | | | | | | Property, plant and equipment expenditures | | (2,992 | ) | | | (3,089 | ) | | | (12,258 | ) | | | (9,993 | ) Proceeds from company owned life insurance plans | | 454 | | | | - | | | | 454 | | | | - | Acquisitions, net of cash acquired | | - | | | | - | | | | (94,375 | ) | | | (184,024 | ) Net cash used for investing activities | | (2,538 | ) | | | (3,089 | ) | | | (106,179 | ) | | | (194,017 | ) | | | | | | | | | | | Financing activities: | | | | | | | | | | | Dividends paid | | (12,634 | ) | | | (11,770 | ) | | | (35,936 | ) | | | (31,791 | ) Proceeds from exercise of stock options | | - | | | | - | | | | 140 | | | | 554 | Repurchase of common stock for treasury stock | | (55,547 | ) | | | - | | | | (119,014 | ) | | | - | Net cash used for financing activities | | (68,181 | ) | | | (11,770 | ) | | | (154,810 | ) | | | (31,237 | ) Effect of foreign exchange rates on cash | | (360 | ) | | | 60 | | | | (977 | ) | | | 2,745 | | | | | | | | | | | | (Decrease) Increase in cash and cash equivalents | | (27,805 | ) | | | 36,485 | | | | (158,088 | ) | | | (93,612 | ) Cash and cash equivalents - beginning of period | | 95,733 | | | | 165,208 | | | | 226,016 | | | | 295,305 | | | | | | | | | | | | Cash and cash equivalents - end of period | $ | 67,928 | | | $ | 201,693 | | | $ | 67,928 | | | $ | 201,693 | | | | | | | | | | | | APPENDIX | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | BADGER METER, INC. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | RECONCILIATION OF NON-GAAP PERFORMANCE MEASURES TO GAAP PERFORMANCE MEASURES | (in thousands, except share and earnings per share data) | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Three Months Ended September 30, | | | Nine Months Ended September 30, | | | 2026 | | | UDlive | | | Base | | | 2026 | | | UDlive | | | Base | | | (Unaudited) | | | (Unaudited) | | | (Unaudited) | | | (Unaudited) | | | (Unaudited) | | | (Unaudited) | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Net sales | | $ | 235,938 | | | $ | 5,639 | | | $ | 230,299 | | | $ | 660,536 | | | $ | 7,663 | | | $ | 652,873 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Selling, engineering and administration | | | 51,107 | | | | 2,272 | | | | 48,835 | | | | 151,659 | | | | 4,080 | | | | 147,579 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Operating earnings (loss) | | | 47,742 | | | | (276 | ) | | | 48,018 | | | | 122,290 | | | | (1,524 | ) | | | 123,814 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Operating earnings as % of sales | | | 20.2 | % | | | -4.9 | % | | | 20.9 | % | | | 18.5 | % | | | -19.9 | % | | | 19.0 | % | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | * UDlive results are included from the date of acquisition of May 1, 2026. | ** UDlive amortization was $1.2 million and $2.0 million for the three months and nine months ended September 30, 2026, respectively and reported as part of Selling, engineering and administration expenses. | *** UDlive results include $0.5 million and $0.7 million for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2026, respectively, of inventory step-up amortization associated with acquisition accounting. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20261022257041/en/ Contacts Dan Weltzien, Vice President – CFO and Treasurer [email protected]

Badger Meter (BMI) came out with quarterly earnings of $1.24 per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.21 per share. This compares to earnings of $1.19 per share a year ago. These figures are adjusted for non-recurring items. This quarterly report represents an earnings surprise of +2.48%. A quarter ago, it was expected that this manufacturer of products that measure gas and water flow would post earnings of $1.01 per share when it actually produced earnings of $1.02, delivering a surprise of +0.99%. Over the last four quarters, the company has surpassed consensus EPS estimates two times. Badger Meter, which belongs to the Zacks Instruments - Control industry, posted revenues of $235.94 million for the quarter ended September 2026, missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 1.95%. This compares to year-ago revenues of $235.65 million. The company has topped consensus revenue estimates just once over the last four quarters. The sustainability of the stock's immediate price movement based on the recently-released numbers and future earnings expectations will mostly depend on management's commentary on the earnings call. Badger Meter shares have lost about 24.4% since the beginning of the year versus the S&P 500's gain of 13.3%. While Badger Meter has underperformed the market so far this year, the question that comes to investors' minds is: what's next for the stock? There are no easy answers to this key question, but one reliable measure that can help investors address this is the company's earnings outlook. Not only does this include current consensus earnings expectations for the coming quarter(s), but also how these expectations have changed lately. Empirical research shows a strong correlation between near-term stock movements and trends in earnings estimate revisions. Investors can track such revisions by themselves or rely on a tried-and-tested rating tool like the Zacks Rank, which has an impressive track record of harnessing the power of earnings estimate revisions. Ahead of this earnings release, the estimate revisions trend for Badger Meter was mixed. While the magnitude and direction of estimate revisions could change following the company's just-released earnings report, the current status translates into a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) for the stock. So, the shares are expected to perform in line with the market in the near future. You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. It will be interesting to see how estimates for the coming quarters and the current fiscal year change in the days ahead. The current consensus EPS estimate is $1.25 on $245.74 million in revenues for the coming quarter and $4.50 on $912.36 million in revenues for the current fiscal year. Investors should be mindful of the fact that the outlook for the industry can have a material impact on the performance of the stock as well. In terms of the Zacks Industry Rank, Instruments - Control is currently in the top 43% of the 250 plus Zacks industries. Our research shows that the top 50% of the Zacks-ranked industries outperform the bottom 50% by a factor of more than 2 to 1. Another stock from the same industry, Sensata (ST), has yet to report results for the quarter ended September 2026. The results are expected to be released on October 27. This maker of sensing, electrical protection, control and power management products is expected to post quarterly earnings of $0.96 per share in its upcoming report, which represents a year-over-year change of +7.9%. The consensus EPS estimate for the quarter has remained unchanged over the last 30 days. Sensata's revenues are expected to be $972 million, up 4.3% from the year-ago quarter. 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 Badger Meter, Inc. (BMI) : Free Stock Analysis Report Sensata Technologies Holding N.V. (ST) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com). Zacks Investment Research

Honeywell Technologies HON reported third-quarter 2026 adjusted earnings of $2.27 per share, which surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.17. The bottom line increased 34% year over year on an adjusted basis. On a reported basis, the company's earnings were $2.40 per share compared with $2.99 in the year-ago quarter, reflecting the impact of a one-time gain related to the Resideo termination agreement in the prior-year period. Total revenues of $4.99 billion missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $5.01 billion by 0.4%. The top line increased 1% from the year-ago quarter, driven by strength across all three business segments. Organic sales increased 7% year over year. Short-cycle orders increased 8%, while backlog rose 7% to approximately $19 billion, excluding the Warehouse and Workflow Solutions and Productivity Solutions and Services businesses divested during the quarter. Following the separation of Honeywell Aerospace on June 29, 2026, the company operates as a pure-play automation business under the segments discussed below. Industrial Automation segment's revenues declined 23% year over year to $1.12 billion. However, organic sales grew 4% year over year. Organic sales growth was driven by strength in industrial measurement and utilities businesses. While organic sales from the solutions business increased 16%, the same from the products business remained flat, as double-digit growth in sensing was offset by industry-wide meter deployment deferrals in utilities. Building Automation segment's revenues totaled $2.02 billion, up 8% year over year. Organic sales increased 8% year over year. The upside was driven by continued strength in both the building products and building solutions businesses. While organic sales from the building products business grew 11%, driven by strength in fire and security, the same from the building solutions business increased 4%, supported by services. Process Automation and Technology segment's revenues increased 16% to $1.86 billion. Organic sales grew 8% year over year. The results were driven by continued strength in LNG and petrochemical projects, along with higher aftermarket refining demand. While organic sales from the projects business increased 14%, driven by strong backlog conversion, the same from the aftermarket business grew 4%, supported by refining demand. Honeywell Technologies price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Honeywell Technologies Quote The company's total cost of sales, comprising the cost of products and services sold, was about $2.98 billion, down 5.7% year over year. Selling, general and administrative expenses were $1.04 billion, down 4.9% year over year. Interest expenses and other financial charges were $143 million, reflecting a decline of 45.6% year over year. Operating income was $740 million, up 79.2% year over year. The operating income margin was 14.8% compared with 8.4% in the year-ago period. Segment profit was $1.06 billion, up 22.6% year over year. The segment profit margin was 21.3% compared with 17.6% in the year-ago period, reflecting an expansion of 370 basis points. HON had cash and cash equivalents of $5.69 billion at the end of September 2026 compared with $12.27 billion at the end of December 2025. Long-term debt was $10.39 billion, lower than $27.14 billion at 2025-end. Honeywell Technologies generated $932 million in cash from continuing operating activities in the first nine months of 2026 compared with $2.61 billion in the prior-year period. Capital expenditures totaled $369 million compared with $375 million in the prior-year period. For the fourth quarter of 2026, Honeywell Technologies expects sales to be in the range of $5-$5.1 billion. Organic sales are expected to increase 5-6%. HON expects a segment margin of approximately 22%. The metric indicates an increase of approximately 400 basis points year over year. Adjusted earnings per share are expected to be between $2.42 and $2.47. The metric indicates an increase of 32-35% on a year-over-year basis. The adjusted effective tax rate is expected to be approximately 16%. For 2026, Honeywell Technologies raised its organic sales growth, adjusted earnings and free cash flow outlook. The company expects sales to be in the range of $20-$20.1 billion compared with the previous projection of $19.8-$20 billion. The higher sales forecast reflects continued strength across all three business segments, supported by strong demand in building products, industrial measurement and process automation projects. Organic sales are expected to increase 4-5%, up from the prior projection of 3-4%. HON expects a segment margin of approximately 20.5%, at the higher end of the previous projection of 20.1-20.5%. The metric indicates an increase of approximately 290 basis points year over year. Adjusted earnings per share are expected to be between $8.40 and $8.45, up from the previous projection of $8.05-$8.35. The metric indicates an increase of 30-31% on a year-over-year basis. Free cash flow is expected to be approximately $2.1 billion, up from the previous projection of $2 billion. Operating cash flow is expected to be approximately $2.1 billion. The company currently carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell). You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. TTM Technologies, Inc. TTMI came out with quarterly earnings of $1.46 per share in the third quarter of 2026, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.25 per share. This compares with earnings of 67 cents per share a year ago. TTMI posted revenues of $1.2 billion for the quarter ended September 2026, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 6.6%. This compares with year-ago revenues of $752.74 million. Badger Meter, Inc. BMI came out with quarterly earnings of $1.24 per share in the third quarter of 2026, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.21 per share. This compares with earnings of $1.19 per share a year ago. Badger Meter posted revenues of $235.94 million for the quarter ended September 2026, missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 1.95%. This compares with year-ago revenues of $235.65 million. International Business Machines Corporation IBM reported strong third-quarter 2026 results, with adjusted earnings rising 11% year over year to $2.95 per share. The figure beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.88 by 2.4%. Revenues increased 4.7% to $17.10 billion, surpassing the consensus mark of $16.87 billion by 1.4%. 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 Honeywell International Inc. (HON) : Free Stock Analysis Report International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) : Free Stock Analysis Report Badger Meter, Inc. (BMI) : Free Stock Analysis Report TTM Technologies, Inc. (TTMI) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com). Zacks Investment Research

Image source: The Motley Fool. Thursday, Oct. 22, 2026 - Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer - Dan Weltzien - Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer - Ken Bockhorst - Executive Vice President of North America Municipal Utility - Bob Wrocklage Operator: My pleasure to turn the conference over to Dan Weltzien, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer. Please go ahead, Mr. Weltzien. Dan Weltzien: Good morning. Thank you for joining the Badger Meter third quarter 2026 earnings conference call. I am here today with Ken Bockhorst, our Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer, and Bob Wrocklage, our Executive Vice President of North America Municipal Utility. This morning, we posted the earnings release and related slide presentation on our website. As a reminder, any forward-looking statements made on this call are subject to various risks and uncertainties, the most important of which are outlined in our news release and SEC filings. On today's call, we may refer to certain non-GAAP financial metrics, including base results, which exclude the impact of UDlive, acquired May 1st, 2026. Our release and earnings presentation provide a reconciliation between the most directly comparable GAAP measure and any non-GAAP financial measures discussed. With that, I will turn the call over to Ken. Ken Bockhorst: Thanks, Dan, and good morning. We were pleased with the sales and operating profit performance in the quarter. Excluding the solid revenue contribution of the UDlive acquisition, third quarter base sales increased 5% sequentially from the second quarter. This was largely in line with our expectations and the result of the ongoing ramp of previously disclosed awarded projects and solid underlying market demand in the quarter. As noted in the release, we continue to anticipate both sequential and year-over-year improvement in revenue in the fourth quarter and expect to sustain this growth momentum into 2027, which I will discuss further in the outlook. The team executed well on the profitability front as we continued operating cost management actions to mitigate the uneven 2026 sales cadence, while also addressing ongoing material cost pressures related to broad electronic supply chain dynamics as we described last quarter. I will turn the call over to Dan to walk through the specifics of the quarter, and then Bob will provide an update on commercial activity, including our formal launch of OneNetwork. I will then come back to cover the outlook and take your questions. Go ahead, Dan. Dan Weltzien: Thanks, Ken. Turning to slide three, total sales in Q3 were $235.9 million, in line with the third quarter of 2025. Excluding the benefit of UDlive sales of $5.6 million, base sales were down 2% year-over-year. Sequentially, base sales were 5% higher than the second quarter levels, with a number of the previously disclosed awarded projects ramping, including another quarter of process shipments. Utility water sales were flat year-over-year and, excluding the acquisition, were down 3%, reflecting the same project pacing dynamics mentioned earlier. Lower AMI-related product sales were partially offset by higher software revenue. It is important to note that base utility sales improved 5% sequentially. Sales of the flow instrumentation product line were up 2% year-over-year against the prior year's most difficult comparison, as we experienced broad-based water application demand. We continued to see increasing demand in data center applications for our flow instrumentation products, albeit from a relatively small revenue base. We were pleased with operating profitability this quarter, largely the result of higher sales, ongoing structural mix benefit to gross margins, and effective price cost management. On a year-over-year basis, operating earnings increased 4%, with margins up 60 basis points to 20.2%. Base operating profit margins, excluding UDlive, were 20.9%, up 130 basis points from last year's third quarter. Gross margin was 41.9%, up 120 basis points from the third quarter of 2025, reflecting structural mix improvements primarily from higher ultrasonic meter sales and continued growth of our software-as-a-service revenue, partially offset by the dilutive impact of UDlive's inventory fair value step-up amortization in the quarter. Base gross margin was 42.1% at the top end of our normalized range, indicative of the resiliency of our overall structural mix and pricing discipline. Last quarter, I called out the increasing level of electronic component cost and availability pressures to gross margins, which are a byproduct of the AI and data center build-out demand. As demonstrated by our margin performance, we have thus far been able to adequately mitigate these impacts. However, the challenges posed by these pressures have not abated. Turning to selling, engineering, and administrative expenses, the third quarter's $51.1 million was $1.3 million higher year-over-year, including $2.3 million from the addition of UDlive, inclusive of the intangible asset amortization. This was partially offset by lower incentive compensation and the benefit of appropriate cost controls. As a reminder, our preliminary expectation for UDlive intangible asset amortization is approximately $5 million annually. The effective income tax rate in the quarter was 25.1%, compared to 26.1% last year. Finally, diluted earnings per share were $1.24, an increase of 4% from $1.19 in the prior year period. Primary working capital as a percentage of sales was 23.6%, up slightly from 22.9% at the prior quarter end. We anticipate continuing to work down the above-average inventory levels resulting from revenue pacing dynamics and electronic safety stock levels as the year concludes. Free cash flow was $40.3 million, down from $48.2 million in the prior year comparable quarter. As always, we remain focused on delivering free cash flow conversion in excess of 100% of net earnings. In the third quarter of 2026, we repurchased 423,000 shares for a total of approximately $55 million and have roughly $35 million remaining on our current share repurchase authorization. With that, I'll turn the call over to Bob. Bob Wrocklage: Thanks, Dan. A few weeks ago, we had the opportunity to connect with customers, engineering consulting firms, and investors at WEFTEC in New Orleans. During the show, we formally launched OneNetwork, our real-time network monitoring and analysis platform for water and wastewater utilities. For those that attended our Investor Day back in May of this year, you heard an early preview of OneNetwork. In short, OneNetwork brings AMI, network monitoring, and water quality data together in one platform, enabling customers to identify issues sooner, coordinate responses faster, and make more informed operational decisions. Why is this important? Utilities today have an immense amount of data from online sensors to SCADA and GIS information. OneNetwork provides a unified real-time view of this disconnected data to make it usable. By moving from fragmented data to a single operational view, OneNetwork empowers utilities through alerts, advanced analytics, and workflows to better manage issues such as pressure events, water quality changes, and non-revenue water spikes. This saves utilities both time and money while increasing their capability to respond faster and act with purpose. WEFTEC visitors were able to view OneNetwork demonstrations, and customer and consultant interest was high. It serves as another example of our competitive differentiation through innovation, portfolio constructions, and the benefits derived by customers from our sole focus on value-driven water technology. One important way we gain critical feedback and inform our innovation is through our ENGAGE customer community, which encompasses in-person and virtual discussions throughout the year. This week, we had the signature event, ENGAGE Live, hosted in our hometown of Milwaukee, where current and prospective customers interacted with our leadership, product management, and sales and customer support teams. Among other outcomes, the event has served to share best practices for implementations, outcomes, and funding sources, as well as gain insight and share feedback on our future product and software plans. It is clear from talking to customers that utility needs for and interest in our tailorable solutions to meet their increasing challenges remains high, and we are well-positioned to capitalize on these opportunities to improve customer outcomes. With that, I'll turn the call back to Ken. Ken Bockhorst: Thanks, Bob. Looking ahead to the fourth quarter, I will reiterate here what we said in the release, which is consistent with our discussions over the past few quarters. We continue to anticipate further ramping of awarded utility projects, noting as always, the inherent unevenness typical of the business. We expect both year-over-year and sequential quarterly base sales growth in the fourth quarter of 2026, despite fewer total operating days given the holidays, which is a standard annual dynamic. While I will not delve into 2027 specifics at this point, I will note that our conviction in sustaining this growth momentum into 2027, as well as the long-term growth profile for Badger Meter, remains intact as we continue to manage usual quarter-to-quarter dynamics. We remain committed to the strategic formula that has driven our prolonged success, focusing on our customers, offering innovative and differentiated technologies, and driving operational excellence. You heard Bob speak to advancements in software outcomes and customer engagement, which reinforce our multi-year opportunities in both metering and beyond-the-meter growth. Our longstanding capital allocation approach of investing in growth while also returning cash to shareholders also supports this long-term growth strategy. For example, in August, we increased our annual dividend rate by 10%, marking the 34th consecutive year of increases, and we repurchased $55 million of our outstanding shares, bringing the trailing four quarters to over $130 million. In summary, I remain optimistic about our team's ability to deliver value creation opportunities for our customers and shareholders alike. With that, operator, please open the line for questions. Operator: We will now begin the question and answer session. If you would like to ask a question, please press star one to raise your hand. To withdraw your question, press star one again. We ask that you pick up your handset when asking a question to allow for optimum sound quality. If you are muted locally, please remember to unmute your device. Please stand by while we compile the Q&A roster. Your first question comes from the line of Nathan Jones with Stifel. Nathan, your line is now open. Nathan Jones: Good morning, everyone. Ken Bockhorst: Morning, Nathan. Nathan Jones: I guess, Ken, I'm going to start off with the 4Q guidance. You guys have talked about full-year revenue being flat-ish. The 4Q guide being sequentially and year-over-year better would be a pretty wide range to get into something that would be flat-ish. I'm hoping you can put a finer point on what you think 4Q revenue is likely to be, and what's the upper and lower bound for you on flat-ish? Ken Bockhorst: Yeah. Thanks, Nathan. When we put that term out there earlier in the year, you'll recall that at Investor Day, when we were asked on flat-ish, I called out, "Don't expect upside." On a year-over-year basis, I was pretty vocal on the best case would be flat year-over-year. The way things have played out, we're really proud of where we're headed going into Q4, looking at year-over-year growth. We said we'd exit the year with momentum. We're doing that. When we talk about modest growth in the quarter, that keeps in mind the 5% fewer workdays in the quarter, but we expect to be up. So if you needed to peg me on something at this point, I would say that I would expect modest growth in the quarter sequentially and perhaps low single digits on a year-over-year full-year basis. Nathan Jones: Okay. That's helpful. Thank you. I guess my follow-up question's on gross margins, which were much better than I expected them to be in the quarter, given some of the pressures that you were facing from lower gross margins on some of the projects that are ramping up. Obviously, there's inflation that's passing through. So maybe you can just talk a little bit about the dynamics there, what led to those gross margins being as strong as they were, and how you're thinking about those in the fourth quarter and as we head into next year. Thanks. Ken Bockhorst: Yeah, sure. First thing I want to clarify, I'm sure you understood what I meant, but I didn't say the word down. We expect to be down year-over-year low single digits, just to be clear. In terms of- Nathan Jones: Up low single digits year-over-year. Dan Weltzien: Full year versus quarter. Ken Bockhorst: Full year, down low single digits. Nathan Jones: Up low single digits. Full year down low single digits, 4Q up low single digits, or was that not what you said? Ken Bockhorst: I'm not providing a digits on the up for Q4. Nathan Jones: Okay. Ken Bockhorst: Modestly up. Nathan Jones: Down low single digits full year. Got it. Ken Bockhorst: Correct. Got it. Perfect. When it comes to margins— Nathan Jones: Thank you. Ken Bockhorst: —Yeah, sure thing. When it comes to margins, I will just reiterate what we have said for several years now. We have this really positive structural mix that regardless of operating conditions, it does tend to get incrementally better every year when we have really nice growth in software that is higher-margin. Beyond the meter is all higher-margin. So the structural mix remains greatly intact, which helps us with a really strong floor on margins. Also our hallmark, I think for the last five or six years is when challenged, we have performed in a really operationally excellent way. So we understood what the challenges are, and I am really proud of our team, how we handled it. I will turn it to Dan here for some more specifics, but just generally, I feel really good of how we have navigated the quarter. Dan Weltzien: Yeah. Nathan, if I look at the quarter specifically and go back to the remarks that I had in the script, the biggest two drivers within the quarter were what I called out, which was ultrasonic meter mix, generally across the residential space, and then continued software growth. As we move throughout the year and as you know, the resiliency of our software growth is in the install base. Despite the unevenness that we have experienced throughout the year, that software growth has continued. All the other things that I have called out in prior quarters are the same drivers that we are paying attention to, both on the positive side from the structural mix perspective, but also on the downside risk perspective from turnkey mix and electronic component availability and supply, and cost. So it is really all of the same drivers. It's just how does that particular quarter play out? Nathan Jones: No one time is like tariff refunds or anything in the quarter? Dan Weltzien: Nothing meaningful. Nathan Jones: Great. Thank you. Operator: Your next question comes from the line of Quinn Fredrickson with Baird. Your line is now open. Quinn Fredrickson: Hey, good morning everyone. Recognize you have these larger AMI projects kicking off, but the release mentioned solid underlying demand trends in the third quarter. I know you don't break it out, but even qualitatively, does the underlying day-to-day replacement business feel like it's getting a little healthier or more normal? Just any commentary there? Ken Bockhorst: Yeah, if we circle back to how we talked about this in Q1, we were pointing out that on that shorter visibility window, there is inherent unevenness, can be up, can be down, and certainly we were surprised to how far down in Q1, but Q2 and Q3 have been perfectly normal. Obviously to get to the result that we did, Q2 was better than Q1. Q3 was better than Q1, so structurally, demand feels good to us. While Q1 was down, the year has really been pretty normal other than that one outlier. Quinn Fredrickson: Great. Thanks, Ken. Second, just on PRASA. There's been some headlines about drought and water supply pressures in Puerto Rico. Has the urgency around the AMI rollout changed at all with that? Or, does that create any more urgency to create a faster deployment schedule? Just any commentary on how that impacts the project there? Ken Bockhorst: Yeah, so it wouldn't be appropriate for me to comment on their ability or desire to go faster or not. The challenges you read about are certainly real, and that's why they're looking to adopt our AMI system. What I can tell you is, we've begun shipping product this year. We had mentioned that we began in Q2 and Q3 because they're ramping up to get started with installations. They've hired the installation contractors. They're in planning, and they're expecting to start installations in Q4. Yeah, I think ideally, if they could go faster, they'd love to, but the way these projects are, I should probably point out that just because the projects are ramping, they will also be inherently uneven. Some go faster, some go slower from quarter to quarter as you run into manpower challenges or weather issues. The project starting inclusive of PRASA and the others, feels great for the long term, but I do always want to remind people quarter to quarter, there can be variation even though these projects are in flight. Quinn Fredrickson: Thank you. Operator: The next question comes from the line of Jeff Reive with RBC Capital Markets. Jeff, your line is now open. Jeff Reive: Thank you. Good morning. Given the nine projects ramping UDlive annualizing midyear next year and easier comps across all four quarters, is it fair to expect a return to high single-digit organics next year? Or could that ramp dynamic actually push you above that range? Ken Bockhorst: Yeah, I think the math equation of that sounds correct. As we head into Q4, that's an easier year-over-year comp, and the first couple of quarters are certainly easier than the back half will be. I'm not going to peg a year because of all the inherent unevenness I just talked about when short cycles can be and how projects can ramp or not, but we feel really good about the year in general in terms of our ability to get back on our strategic growth horizon of high single digits. But to peg the year is probably not great at the moment, but we feel good about it. Jeff Reive: Fair enough. Last quarter, you flagged the increasing electronic component cost and availability pressures tied to AI and data center demand. Have those pressures escalated further, and have you needed to take any incremental pricing or sourcing actions? Ken Bockhorst: Yeah. They have escalated. We do continue to see some price escalation. We do continue to see availability challenges. Again, I want to point out our team has been excellent this time and the last time we faced a similar situation. We understand the challenge in front of us. Our team is working hard on it. Fortunately for us, our portfolio is highly valued by our customers. They understand what we do for them, and we are able to extract the value that we deserve. I would rather talk about that than pricing. But yes, we can balance price-cost dynamics pretty effectively. Jeff Reive: Got it. Thanks. Operator: The next question comes from the line of James Ko with Jefferies. James, your line is now open. James Ko: Good morning. Thanks for taking questions here. Just one quick clarification question. When you say low single-digit decline for the full year, is that organic or inclusive of all UDlive here? Ken Bockhorst: That is organic. James Ko: Awesome. Thanks for that. Can we talk about the non-metering businesses like UDlive and SmartCover, how they are doing, whether those are growing above the company average, and whether those are trending in line with your deal case? Ken Bockhorst: Yeah. As you know, those are also in our utility bucket that we talk about more broadly. UDlive is still very public. We are really excited about the opportunities as we were when we acquired both of these companies. It is an absolute need that every utility customer deals with. It is an innovative product. We have got the right sales channels. So feel good about the progress on UDlive, feel equally as good about SmartCover, and that will continue to be a part of this high single-digit growth story that we talk about for years to come. James Ko: Awesome. Thanks so much. Ken Bockhorst: Sure. Operator: The next question comes from the line of Scott Graham with Seaport. Scott, your line is now open. Scott Graham: Hey. Good morning. Thanks for taking the question. I have two questions for you. First is, I know you talked about underlying demand in a previous question. I am just wondering, the other two of the big three, so to speak, are talking about the category having been fairly sluggish all year. It is hard to say if they are parsing out their software businesses. But certainly the metering units seems to be an issue this year. Could you talk about that a little bit, and why that weakness has pervaded all year? And perhaps what you are thinking that the category looks like in units, meter units next year? Ken Bockhorst: Yeah. So that is a great question. So with 50,000 utilities of different sizes and shapes and geographies, it is hard for me to tell you across the board a cookie-cutter answer that the market is down X percent. I do not know what the other big two have in terms of projects like we detailed for you. They may have different unevenness in their business that. Well, actually, I am certain they have it. I just do not know what their particular mix is. So it would not be appropriate for me to comment on what their issue is. But what I see, and when we talk to customers and as Bob pointed out, we saw customers at WEFTEC, we saw customers this week in Milwaukee, and I get all the noise that is out there about the market and all the things that people have talked about in the past around funding, but our customers are looking forward to the future to deal with the issues that they have to deal with. They have to upgrade their infrastructure. They have to be better informed about what decisions to make with their limited resources, and we are just really happy that they are choosing our portfolio. So I should not comment on the other guys. Scott Graham: Okay. Thank you. I wanted to just also ask about the gross margin in the backlog, and I know the backlog has been burned down a lot in the last couple of years with supply chain getting better. I am just wondering, you have a little bit more visibility now on these projects, which are now starting to ship. I was just sort of hoping if you can just tell us that the gross margin backlog, how much of that is linked to CPI and for the rest of it, how are you handling price increases? Ken Bockhorst: Yeah. I would just reiterate that even though we have been operating at the higher end, just given all the mixed things that can happen and some of the lack of visibility on short term, as you pointed out, we feel really good about our ability to operate within the 39%-42% gross margin range that we talked about. We feel great as we resume growth, being able to get back to that really good leverage of SE&A that we have talked about before. All in, it feels manageable to us to stay within the margin ranges that we have consistently communicated. Scott Graham: Thank you, Ken. Ken Bockhorst: Sure. Operator: Your next question comes from the line of William Grippin with Barclays. William, your line is now open. William Grippin: All right. Thanks very much. Appreciate the time and the opportunity here. Apologies to come back to the margin question again, but your commentary last quarter when you called out some of the supply chain cost pressures, it felt to me like maybe you were trying to signal something, right? Then here with third quarter result, clearly margin was quite good at the high end of your long-term target range. Are you trying to signal something in terms of how we should expect margin to trend in the fourth quarter or even into next year as some of these larger projects start to ramp and perhaps, I don't know if there's any notable differences in your contract structures we should be aware of there? Dan Weltzien: Yeah. When I signal those things, I'm trying to signal the whole of all of the components that go into our gross margin picture. Again, I always remind people, structural mix is the biggest driver. When we call out in the quarter what's happening with ultrasonic meter mix and what's happening with software mix, maybe that's masking some of what's happening on the electronic side. But we're also managing that dynamic as well. So, me calling that out as a particular risk isn't trying to, in the next quarter, tell you what's going to happen. It's just trying to show you that there's multiple levers that contribute to what our margin performance is in any given quarter or year. At the time where we are right now, we started to talk about that pressure here in the second quarter. As of the end of the third quarter, I would say the challenges still exist. We've been able to manage it. We feel over the long term, we'll be able to continue to manage it. But quarter to quarter, there can be leading and lagging impacts of that. William Grippin: Appreciate that color. Then, maybe a bit of a long shot here. Are you able to share how much PRASA contributed in the third quarter to top line? Ken Bockhorst: No, we're not going to get into that. I think the other thing, William, that's important to notice too is throughout the year, we have won other projects, too. The year has gone on and been normal. I know there's a lot of focus on PRASA, and rightfully so, because it's very large. But the year has played out really well and really, I guess, normalized for us. So we're not going to get into quarter by quarter any project on what it is. But we're happy that we've seen these projects beginning to start, and what that does is, quarter-to-quarter can be uneven, but how we look at the business over the five-year horizon, we feel fantastic that these are all now moving to in-flight status. William Grippin: All right. That's all for me. Thanks for the time. Ken Bockhorst: Sure. Operator: The next question comes from Michael Fairbanks with JPMorgan. Your line is now open. Michael Fairbanks: Hey, good morning. On one of those last points you made, Ken, beyond the cohort of projects that you've talked about extensively, how would you say the pipeline and awards or even backlog beyond that are trending compared to this time last year? Ken Bockhorst: Yeah. So throughout the past several years, when we look at the universe of utilities that are currently working with consultants to scope out doing metering projects, which are revenue later in our five-year horizon, or the people that are currently in RFP that are going through the selection processes up to and including in-flight projects, that whole piece feels as robust as it has over the past several years. Michael Fairbanks: Okay, great. Then, we saw share buybacks accelerate this quarter. How are we thinking about capital allocation from here? Ken Bockhorst: Yes, our capital allocation priorities remain the same. We're going to continue to invest in the business and extend our lead in R&D and innovation. We're going to continue to return cash to shareholders in 34 years of increased dividends. We're certainly in position to continue on that trend. In terms of share buybacks, we still have $35 million on the authorization. Even before this period when we weren't buying shares, we've always had an authorization open. I would imagine as long as we feel great about our superior position of being a cash generator, we'll be able to do that. This year, we also did a really exciting acquisition. Regardless of this being a pretty challenging year for us, we've been able to navigate through this, execute on all three of our important capital allocation priorities, and we'll continue to do that going forward. Michael Fairbanks: Thank you. Ken Bockhorst: You are welcome. Operator: We have now reached the end of the Q&A session. I will now turn the call back to Dan Weltzien for closing remarks. Dan Weltzien: Thank you, operator. Just a quick note for your planning purposes that our year-end 2026 earnings release is tentatively scheduled for January 28th, 2027. Feel free to reach out to me if you have any follow-ups at [email protected]. Have a great day. Before you buy stock in Badger Meter, 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 Badger Meter wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut 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 $350,756!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $1,363,905!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 922% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 213% for the S&P 500. Don't miss the latest top 10 list, available with Stock Advisor, and join an investing community built by individual investors for individual investors. See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of October 22, 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. Badger Meter (BMI) Q3 2026 Earnings Call Transcript was originally published by The Motley Fool

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. - Base sales increased 5% sequentially, driven by the ongoing ramp of previously awarded utility projects and solid underlying market demand across water applications. - Operating profit margins expanded 60 basis points to 20.2%, supported by structural mix benefits from higher-margin ultrasonic meters and software-as-a-service revenue. - Management successfully mitigated material cost pressures and electronic component availability challenges stemming from AI and data center build-out demand through pricing discipline and operational excellence. - The formal launch of OneNetwork represents a strategic pivot toward unified real-time data monitoring, integrating AMI and water quality data to drive higher-value customer outcomes. - Flow instrumentation sales grew 2% year-over-year, benefiting from increasing demand in data center applications, albeit from a relatively small revenue base. - Utility water sales reflected uneven project pacing dynamics, with lower AMI-related product sales being partially offset by resilient growth in software revenue. - Management anticipates both year-over-year and sequential base sales growth in the fourth quarter of 2026, despite having 5% fewer operating days due to holidays. - Full-year 2026 organic revenue is expected to be down in the low single digits, though the company expects to exit the year with significant momentum. - Conviction remains high for returning to a high single-digit organic growth horizon in 2027 as large-scale projects, including PRASA, move into full installation phases. - The company expects to continue working down above-average inventory levels, which were elevated to serve as safety stock against electronic component volatility. - Strategic focus remains on 'beyond-the-meter' growth and software outcomes, which provide a resilient floor for long-term margin expansion. - The UDlive acquisition contributed $5.6 million in sales but had a dilutive impact on gross margins due to inventory fair value step-up amortization. - Electronic component cost pressures have escalated further, requiring proactive sourcing actions and value-based pricing to maintain price-cost neutrality. - Capital allocation remains balanced, highlighted by a 10% dividend increase and $55 million in share repurchases during the quarter. - Intangible asset amortization related to the UDlive acquisition is projected to be approximately $5 million annually. - Management clarified that while Q4 will see modest growth, the full year is expected to be down low single digits organically. - The 'flat-ish' terminology used earlier in the year was intended to signal that significant upside was unlikely given the 2026 sales cadence. One stock. Nvidia-level potential. 30M+ investors trust Moby to find it first. Get the pick. Tap here. - Strong margins were driven by a favorable mix of ultrasonic meters and software, which masked some underlying electronic component cost pressures. - Management expressed confidence in maintaining the 39%-42% long-term gross margin range despite the shift toward larger, potentially lower-margin turnkey projects. - Product shipments began in Q2 and Q3, with the customer expected to start physical installations in Q4 after hiring contractors. - Management cautioned that project pacing will remain inherently uneven due to potential manpower and weather challenges. - Pressures from AI and data center demand have escalated, leading to continued price increases and availability hurdles for electronic components. - The company is leveraging its highly valued portfolio to extract appropriate pricing and balance these cost dynamics effectively. - Management noted that while some peers report market weakness, Badger Meter's project pipeline and RFP activity remain as robust as they have been in several years. - Utility interest in infrastructure upgrades and data-driven decision-making tools remains high regardless of broader macro noise.