ULS

Recent sector commentary from Zacks, highlighting Bright Horizons Family Solutions (BFAM) alongside UL Solutions, has refocused attention on BFAM’s earnings outlook and valuation. This has prompted investors to reassess the childcare provider’s stock. Bright Horizons Family Solutions’ share price has shown mixed momentum, with a 14.2% 90 day share price return contrasting with a year to date share price decline of 24.7%, while the 1 year total shareholder return is down 36.6%. This suggests investors are reassessing both growth potential and risk after the improved earnings outlook highlighted by Zacks. Compare Bright Horizons Family Solutions with a curated group of workplace and service-focused companies by scanning the 19 high quality undiscovered gems that analysts are watching for potential re-rating catalysts. After a sharp 90 day rebound yet a weak 1 year and year to date track record, investors are asking whether Bright Horizons Family Solutions still offers meaningful upside or if the bulk of the repricing is already in. At a last close of $74.81 versus a narrative fair value of $91.11, Bright Horizons Family Solutions is framed as undervalued, with that gap tied directly to its long term earnings and margin assumptions. Read the complete narrative. Want to see what sits behind that margin story? The fair value hinges on a specific path for revenue, profitability and the earnings multiple. Curious which assumptions carry the most weight in this narrative and how they connect to that $91.11 figure? The full breakdown joins those pieces together so you can evaluate the gap for yourself. Result: Fair Value of $91.11 (UNDERVALUED) Have a read of the narrative in full and understand what's behind the forecasts. However, Bright Horizons Family Solutions still faces pressure from underperforming centers and wage inflation, which could limit occupancy recovery and squeeze margins if conditions worsen. Find out about the key risks to this Bright Horizons Family Solutions narrative. While the narrative fair value frames Bright Horizons Family Solutions as undervalued at $74.81 versus $91.11, the current 20.8x P/E looks demanding next to the US Consumer Services industry on 15.2x and peers on 13.5x. The fair ratio of 24.3x suggests the market could still move either way. Which reference point matters more for you? See what the numbers say about this price — find out in our valuation breakdown. With mixed signals around Bright Horizons Family Solutions so far, the key question is how you view the balance of risk and reward. Act while the data is fresh and review the 2 key rewards and 2 important warning signs If you stop with Bright Horizons Family Solutions, you could miss other compelling setups. Use the Simply Wall Street Screener to quickly spot fresh ideas that fit your style. Target potential mispricings by scanning the 45 high quality undervalued stocks that combine solid fundamentals with room for the market to reassess them. Strengthen the stability of your portfolio by checking the list of solid balance sheet and fundamentals (52 results) before the crowd focuses on balance sheet quality. Reduce portfolio stress by reviewing the 75 resilient stocks with low risk scores that aim to keep volatility in check while still offering meaningful exposure. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned. Companies discussed in this article include BFAM. Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email [email protected]

UL Solutions’ second quarter results were met with a strongly negative market reaction, despite the company meeting Wall Street’s revenue expectations and delivering an adjusted profit above consensus. Management attributed performance to resilient demand across Industrial and Consumer segments, driven by end-market megatrends such as electrification, automation, and energy transition. CEO Jennifer Scanlon highlighted the company’s ability to generate organic growth even as it exited lower-margin businesses. However, higher employee compensation and incentives, as well as increased professional fees and ongoing restructuring expenses, weighed on costs. The company acknowledged that incentive compensation, while a sign of operational strength, contributed to margin pressures. Is now the time to buy ULS? Find out in our full research report (it’s free). Revenue: $816 million vs analyst estimates of $814.3 million (5.2% year-on-year growth, in line) Adjusted EPS: $0.59 vs analyst estimates of $0.56 (5.4% beat) Adjusted EBITDA: $219 million vs analyst estimates of $214.3 million (26.8% margin, 2.2% beat) Operating Margin: 18.4%, in line with the same quarter last year Market Capitalization: $15.76 billion While we enjoy listening to the management’s commentary, our favorite part of earnings calls is the analyst questions. Those are unscripted and can often highlight topics that management teams would rather avoid or topics where the answer is complicated. Here is what has caught our attention. Stephanie Benjamin Moore (Goldman Sachs) asked about second half margin cadence; CEO Jennifer Scanlon said margin expansion would be similar in Q3 and Q4, balancing operating leverage with ongoing restructuring and acquisition costs. Joshua Chan (J.P. Morgan) questioned the sustainability of margin gains; CFO Ryan Robinson cited integration expenses and performance-based compensation as near-term headwinds, but reaffirmed the full-year margin outlook. Keegan Antico (Wells Fargo) inquired about Consumer segment growth visibility; Scanlon said the company expects current demand trends to continue, supported by investment in data centers and HVAC testing. Keen Fai Tong (UBS) sought details on Industrial growth drivers; Scanlon highlighted double-digit growth in data center-related power and automation, and ongoing strength in energy storage and electrification. Arthur Truslove (BMO Capital Markets) pressed for clarification on SG&A increases; Robinson explained higher professional fees and incentive compensation, particularly stock-based, were the main contributors, with some costs tied to M&A activities. In coming quarters, the StockStory team will be closely watching (1) the pace of laboratory expansion and how new capacity translates into incremental revenue, (2) execution and cost realization from the ongoing restructuring plan and any integration of acquisitions, and (3) sustained growth in high-demand segments such as data center infrastructure and supply chain sustainability. Additional attention will be paid to any changes in regulatory requirements driving demand for safety certification services. UL Solutions currently trades at $78.07, down from $91.05 just before the earnings. At this price, is it a buy or sell? See for yourself in our full research report (it’s free for active Edge members). ALSO WORTH WATCHING: Top 5 Momentum Stocks. The best time to own a great stock is when the market is finally noticing it. These aren’t just high-quality businesses. Something is happening with them right now. Elite fundamentals meet near-term momentum — both boxes checked at the same time. Find out which stocks our AI platform is flagging this week. See this week’s Strong Momentum stocks — FREE. Get Our Strong Momentum Stocks for Free HERE. Stocks that have made our list include now familiar names such as Nvidia (+1,460% between June 2020 and June 2025) as well as under-the-radar businesses like the once-micro-cap company Kadant (+214% between June 2020 and June 2025). Find your next big winner with StockStory today.

Image source: The Motley Fool. Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2026 at 8:30 a.m. ET Vice President of Investor Relations - Yijing Brentano Chief Executive Officer - Jennifer Scanlon Chief Financial Officer - Ryan Robinson Operator: Hello, and welcome to the UL Solutions Second Quarter 2026 Earnings Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. I would now like to turn the call over to your host, Ms. Yijing Brentano, Vice President of Investor Relations at UL Solutions. Thank you. You may begin, Ms. Brentano. Yijing Brentano: Thank you, and welcome, everyone, to our second quarter 2026 earnings call. Joining me today are Jenny Scanlon, our Chief Executive Officer; and Ryan Robinson, our Chief Financial Officer. During our discussion today, we will be referring to our earnings presentation, which is available on the Investor Relations section of our website at ul.com. Our earnings release is also available on the website. I would like to remind everyone that on today's call, we may discuss forward-looking statements within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements may include, among other things, statements about UL Solutions' future financial results and estimates, our full year 2026 outlook, the previously announced Restructuring Plan and our pending acquisitions and divestitures, including the pending acquisition of Eurofins Electrical & Electronics business and pending sale of our shares of DQS Holding GmbH, that involve substantial risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ in a material way from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements. Please see the disclosure statement on Slide 2 of the earnings presentation as well as the disclaimers in our earnings release concerning forward-looking statements and the risk factors that are described in our filings with the SEC, including our annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2025, and our quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2026. We undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof, except as required by law. Today's presentation also includes references to non-GAAP financial measures, including adjusted EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA margin, adjusted net income, adjusted diluted earnings per share, free cash flow and free cash flow margin. A reconciliation to the most comparable GAAP financial measures can be found in the appendix to the earnings presentation, which is posted on the Investor Relations section of our website at ul.com. With that, I would now like to turn the call over to Jenny. Jennifer Scanlon: Good morning, everyone, and thanks for joining us. We achieved another outstanding quarter with record revenue and continued growth in adjusted EBITDA. Our team executed exceptionally well across all segments, driving profitable growth, expanding margins and advancing key strategic priorities. These results were delivered in a dynamic operating environment and reflect the discipline, resilience and focus that define our organization. Most importantly, this performance is a testament to the dedication and expertise of our approximately 15,000 team members around the world, whose contributions drive our success every day. Our results also reflect the continuing importance of several long-term trends we have discussed, including the energy transition, the electrification of everything and increasing automation in industrial markets. On the Consumer side, we see ongoing product innovation and increasingly interconnected devices. These durable trends create ongoing demand for safety science expertise, testing capabilities and certification services that help customers bring increasingly complex products and systems to market. Before Ryan walks through the detailed financial results, I'll cover 4 areas. First, highlights of our second quarter performance; second, notable announcements we made in the last few months; third, a brief update on previously announced portfolio actions; and lastly, some perspective on the geopolitical environment and how our business continues to perform well within it. Let me start with the quarter. Consolidated revenue grew 5.2% to $816 million, including organic revenue growth of 6.6%, led by our Industrial and Consumer segments. Adjusted EBITDA grew 11.2% to a quarterly record of $219 million, with adjusted EBITDA margin expanding 140 basis points to 26.8%. Adjusted diluted earnings per share increased 13.5% to $0.59. These results reflect the combination of operating leverage from organic growth, higher employee productivity and the continued benefit of the Restructuring Plan we have been executing since late last year. Notably, we achieved 6.6% organic growth even as we absorbed the planned revenue reductions from the business exits under our Restructuring Plan. I want to emphasize that our productivity work is not a short-term effort. It is part of how we are building a more focused, scalable and efficient company. We are continuing to simplify how we operate, focus resources on our strongest growth opportunities and maintain disciplined investment in the capabilities that matter most to our customers. It was a strong first half and one we are proud of. Now let me turn to the notable announcements we made during the second quarter. We launched an AI-powered capability within ULTRUS UL 360 to help organizations calculate carbon footprints of the products they manufacture and the components they purchase. This improves the quality of supplier emissions data used in Scope 3 reporting. The launch comes as evolving regulations heighten the need for reliable supply chain carbon data, increasing demand for the solutions our software offers. We achieved our first hazardous location robotics certification under the new UL 6260 standard awarded to ExRobotics for their latest inspection robot. The certification evaluates remotely operated robots used for inspection and maintenance in hazardous locations, assessing fire, explosion, electric shock and mechanical risks. This milestone supports the industry shift toward robotic inspection in high-risk environments, helping move personnel out of harm's way while improving inspection reliability. We were excited to open our new automotive technology and innovation center in Toyota City, Japan, further strengthening our ability to support customers in one of the world's largest and most innovative automotive markets. As vehicles become increasingly electrified, connected and software-driven, the need for advanced EMC testing has continued to increase. The facility helps automakers ensure critical systems operate reliably in the presence of electromagnetic interference. One of the few facilities in Japan equipped for high-voltage and high-speed rotational testing, this new lab expands our capacity to help customers bring safe, reliable technologies to market. Now I'd like to highlight our progress in capital deployment and portfolio optimization. We continue to expect to close the acquisition of Eurofins Electrical & Electronics business in the fourth quarter of 2026 and look forward to welcoming the team and their customers to UL Solutions. We are also proceeding as expected on the sale of our position in DQS, with closing still on track for the second half of 2026. Finally, let me offer some perspective on the geopolitical environment, which continues to present important considerations to our customers. Our second quarter results show just how well our business continues to perform in this dynamic environment. We continue to benefit from several durable secular trends, more complex product ecosystems and faster innovation cycles. Customers are balancing myriad regulations, sustainability expectations and supply chain transparency requirements. We are also seeing increasing opportunities tied to AI data centers where safety, energy efficiency and reliability are essential. The need for safety science expertise backed by independent testing and certification is paramount. That dynamic is core to the UL Solutions value proposition. Our strategy and our portfolio are closely aligned with these trends, and that focus continues to show up in our results. Given our strong performance through the first half of the year, we remain confident in our full year 2026 outlook. Now I'll turn the call over to Ryan for a more detailed review of our second quarter results and more details on our full year 2026 outlook. Ryan Robinson: Thank you, Jenny, and hello, everyone. I also want to thank our team members around the world for another quarter of strong execution. Let me walk through the quarter in detail. Consolidated revenue of $816 million was up 5.2% over the prior year quarter, including organic revenue growth of 6.6%. Operating income of $150 million increased 7.9% over the prior year, producing a 50 basis point improvement in operating margin. This was mainly driven by cost of revenue as a percentage of revenue improving 190 basis points year-over-year on favorable operating leverage and the continued impact of our restructuring and productivity initiatives. This was partially offset by higher costs associated with performance-based incentive compensation. Selling, general and administrative expenses as a percentage of revenue increased 130 basis points, primarily reflecting higher employee compensation tied to performance-based incentives as well as higher professional fees. Adjusted EBITDA for the quarter was $219 million, an improvement of 11.2% year-over-year. Adjusted EBITDA margin was 26.8%, up 140 basis points from the second quarter of 2025 with the expansion led by our Consumer segment. Adjusted net income, which excludes the divestiture gain, stock-based compensation expense for equity settled awards and certain other items was $129 million, up 17.3% from $110 million in the second quarter of 2025. Adjusted diluted earnings per share was $0.59, up 13.5% from $0.52 in the prior year period. Now let me turn to our performance by segment, starting with Industrial. Revenues in Industrial rose 7.8% to $402 million or 7.2% organically as compared to the second quarter of 2025, with growth across ongoing certification services and certification testing. Strength in materials and energy and automation led the revenue growth. Adjusted EBITDA in Industrial increased 7.4% to $130 million in the quarter, while adjusted EBITDA margin decreased 10 basis points to 32.3% as the benefit of higher revenue was offset by higher employee compensation costs tied to performance-based incentives. Turning to the Consumer segment. Revenues were $362 million, up 6.5% from the 2025 quarter or 6.2% organically, driven by strength in certification testing in consumer technology, non-certification testing, and other services and retail, and ongoing certification in appliances and HVAC. As a reminder, the prior year quarter experienced tariff-related uncertainty and that affected the timing of customers' new product launches. Adjusted EBITDA for Consumer was $77 million, an increase of 24.2% versus the second quarter of last year. Adjusted EBITDA margin was 21.3%, up 310 basis points year-over-year, driven by operating leverage, higher employee productivity, favorable business mix as we exited lower-margin service lines, and the continued benefit of our Restructuring Plan. In our Risk & Compliance segment, revenues were $52 million, a decrease of 17.5% year-over-year. The decline reflects the divestiture of our EHS Software business, which closed on April 1. Excluding that impact, the segment grew 4.8% organically. Organic growth in the quarter was driven by increased demand for supply chain insights for the retail industry. Adjusted EBITDA for Risk & Compliance Software was $12 million, down 14.3% year-over-year, primarily due to the EHS Software divestiture. Adjusted EBITDA margin improved 90 basis points to 23.1% with the benefit of a leaner cost structure on the segment's smaller revenue base. Turning to cash flow and the balance sheet. For the trailing 12 months ended June 30, 2026, we generated $678 million of cash from operating activities and $436 million of free cash flow, up 19.8% year-over-year, with free cash flow margin improving to 13.9% from 12.3%. For the 6 months ended June 30, 2026, we generated $379 million of operating cash flow and $241 million of free cash flow, both up meaningfully from the prior year period, reflecting improved business performance. Capital expenditures were $138 million for the first half of 2026 compared to $93 million in the prior year period, consistent with our plan to continue investing in laboratory capacity to support customer demand. We ended the quarter with $434 million of cash and cash equivalents and total debt of $303 million, down from $494 million at the end of 2025, reflecting $191 million of net repayments on our revolving credit facility, funded in part by proceeds from the EHS Software divestiture. We continue to maintain a strong investment-grade balance sheet, which provides flexibility to fund the pending Eurofins E&E acquisition alongside our other capital priorities. We paid a quarterly dividend of $0.145 per share or $29 million during the second quarter, consistent with the increased dividend we announced at the start of the year. Now turning to our full year 2026 outlook. We continue to expect 2026 consolidated organic revenue growth to be in the mid-single-digit range as compared to 2025, inclusive of an approximately 1% of revenue reduction from the business exits associated with our previously announced Restructuring Plan. FX impact on revenue in the second half of 2026 is expected to be negligible. We continue to expect adjusted EBITDA margin improvement to approximately 27% for the full year, consistent with the guidance we raised last quarter, reflecting the combination of continued operating leverage, the benefit of our Restructuring Plan and the disciplined cost management, partially offset by higher performance-based compensation costs and acquisition-related expenses associated with our announced portfolio transactions. We continue to expect our full year effective tax rate to be approximately 26%. We now expect full year capital expenditures of approximately 8.5% of revenue, including the timing of our previously discussed investments in laboratory capacity and other growth opportunities to meet customer demand. With respect to our Restructuring Plan, we have incurred the significant majority of the charges associated with the plan and continue to expect the plan to be complete by the end of the first quarter of 2027 with approximately $3 million of remaining pretax charges expected over the balance of the plan. Overall, we are pleased with our first half performance, and we believe we remain well positioned to achieve our full year objectives while continuing to invest in long-term growth and executing our portfolio strategy. Now let me turn the call back to Jenny for her closing remarks. Jennifer Scanlon: Thanks, Ryan. I want to close with one significant highlight from the second quarter. UL Solutions won the prestigious Robert W. Campbell Award from the National Safety Council. It is one of the council's highest honors for workplace safety leadership, and it's a powerful affirmation of our mission of working for a safer world. The pride that we all feel in this achievement cannot be overstated because the award recognizes something we have long believed and acted upon: that protecting people is and must always be embedded in our culture. You've heard me say that we do dangerous things here at UL Solutions, all in the name of safety. We break things, we blow them up, we light them on fire. From the way we operate to the solutions we deliver, advancing safety has defined us for more than 130 years. As Lorraine Martin, President and CEO of the National Safety Council, stated, at UL Solutions, safety goes beyond compliance. It is a vital component of both operations and culture. She further noted that the Campbell Award is a recognition of our accomplishment in instilling safety as a value for all employees, making safety personal rather than procedural. We have been celebrating the Campbell Award globally since May, and I want to once again thank all of our employees who advance our mission of safety every single day. In closing, this was an outstanding quarter that reflects the strength of our business model, the discipline of our team and continued progress sharpening our portfolio for profitable long-term growth. We remain confident in our ability to navigate a dynamic environment and the megatrends shaping our industry give us conviction in the opportunity ahead. We are grateful to our employees around the world for their continued dedication to our mission of working for a safer world, and we remain focused on delivering value for our customers, our people and our shareholders. With that, we'll open the line for questions. Stephanie Benjamin Moore: Congrats on an excellent quarter here. I wanted to touch on margin cadence. So I think you have said previously that margin expansion might be slightly more second half weighted, but you saw pretty considerable margin expansion in the first half. So I know there's a lot of puts and takes, especially with the restructuring program and the like. So just wanted to think about second half margin cadence and maybe just your overall level of confidence in the full year guide after what was a good first half. Jennifer Scanlon: Thanks, Stephanie. And we are pleased that our first half performance really allowed us to sharpen our pencil on our guidance for EBITDA in the second half and resulting in approximately 27.0%. And we will continue the progress that we've made on margin expansion. We're focused on operating leverage, continuous improvement and disciplined cost management. Ryan, do you want to add anything? Ryan Robinson: I would say we raised the lower end of our guidance last year, and we'll continue to assess our outlook as we progress through the year. We're making progress on many near-term items in our portfolio, which includes some acquisition costs and together with other considerations in our business, led to the outlook that we provided at this time. So the cadence, I would say, would be pretty similar between third quarter and fourth quarter, and we'll continue to strive to meet the guidance we affirmed today. Stephanie Benjamin Moore: That's helpful. One quick follow-up question that's more of a higher-level question. We often get asked in our seat what ultimately drives underlying demand for your services. I think you guys do a good job of talking about your megatrends. But one area that I don't think is maybe well understood is any potential volatility that you guys might see in your demand for your services or quite frankly, lack thereof volatility. So could you maybe just talk about just the visibility or steadiness in overall services that you see every given quarter? I think that would be helpful. Jennifer Scanlon: Yes. I think it's a great point because we really do benefit from tremendous resiliency when you think about us being across 35 different industries and the number of services that we offer. And so one of the things that I always point people to is what has been the trend of R&D investments, end manufacturers, and that trend continues upward. And that's important to us because we're not volume-driven, we're innovation-driven. So the more innovation, the more SKUs that happen, the better our business is. And different trends, things like last fall, there was some concerns around chip shortages and other things. And immediately, what we ultimately see is our customers redesigning their products and that needs then retesting often of those products. And so these shifts and changes actually really contribute to our business growth, and we're fairly resilient. Joshua Chan: I guess on the margin cadence, given what you've achieved in the first half, it doesn't require that much margin expansion it seems like, to get to your margin guide. So could you talk about that and whether there are some puts and takes in the margin outlook in the second half? Ryan Robinson: Yes. Thank you very much. We're pleased with the progress, 140 basis points in the quarter, 220 basis points year-to-date. And in the second half, we're progressing. There are some portfolio management activities, including we expect to close the Eurofins E&E acquisition in the fourth quarter. That will have some integration-related expenses. We expect to have some performance-based compensation expenses based on the improvements that we have made in our profitability. And I would say those are the primary differences taken together with all the other aspects of the business led us to confirm the outlook. Joshua Chan: Great. And then on the CapEx raise, I think, Ryan, you mentioned there was some timing aspects to it, but it sounded like there might also be some additional growth opportunities. Could you talk about kind of what you're seeing on the horizon to drive the higher CapEx there? Ryan Robinson: Yes. Thank you for asking. We're excited about the new capabilities and capacity that we're adding, and we're funding this with increases in profitability. Foremost, we support our customers and our markets with innovative ways to test new products. And good examples include the Toyota City, Japan, high-voltage EMC lab that we just opened last month and also the construction of our large fire lab in, Northbrook to support assessing fire risks from new product types. And as you know, we have a history of generating high returns on invested capital and getting better and better utilization of our locations and our equipment. So even with these investments, our free cash flow and our free cash flow margin has grown. Free cash flow is up 20% on a last 12-month basis and 16% year-to-date. So said simply, our earnings have grown at a faster pace and more than offset the incremental investment. Some of the products -- some of the large projects span over year-ends. And we're pleased that we have made progress and anticipate spending more against some of those projects in 2026 as we progress in those projects. So that led to the change to 8.5%. Andrew J. Wittmann: I just wanted to understand the quarter a little bit better by asking a little bit about your comments on incentive compensation. And so just going through this, I just noticed a couple of things here. So your stock-based compensation was up a lot year-over-year, $23 million versus $13 million. So that's one form of stock compensation, but that's added back to your adjusted EBITDA. So Ryan, does the increase in incentive compensation move deeper into the organization as a cash cost? And if you could, just help us understand the impact to the quarter. Could you just quantify how much more of these types of costs that were not excluded were up this year versus last year? Jennifer Scanlon: Andy, it's a great question. And one of the things that we're really proud of is our pay-for-performance orientation, both in our annual employee incentive plan and in our multiyear LTIP plan. And that annual, it's an All-Employee Incentive Plan. And so that tends to be more on the cash-based side. And if you go back and look at the proxy last year, we outlined some of the details on that. But Ryan, you can highlight the puts and takes that Andy asked about. Ryan Robinson: You're right, Andy. It was really changes in expected payouts in 2 different incentive programs. One is the annual bonus plan that Jenny mentioned, the All-Employee Incentive Plan that reduced operating income as well as adjusted EBITDA. It's not stock-based. So it is not added back. The other are performance stock units that are based on our performance in revenue and operating income. And those increased through the year and led to the primary increase in the add-back for adjusted EBITDA that you pointed out. So we're pleased with the performance of our employees is forecasted to earn some additional incentives. And even after accounting for these incentives, our adjusted EBITDA is up 16% in the first half. Our operating income is up 16% in the first half. And our total compensation expense in the first half is up only 2.6%. So to put that in context, in the quarter, our revenue is up $40 million. Our compensation expense is up $11 million with these incentives, which drives higher revenue per employee, higher profit per employee. Andrew J. Wittmann: Okay. That's helpful. Just one more kind of finer point on that one. Was there a catch-up or an accrual that had to make up for maybe under accrual in one quarter -- in the first quarter here, Ryan? Or is this the run rate that you expect to -- that's embedded in your full year guidance and therefore, implied in the second half? Ryan Robinson: Yes. The impact in the second quarter was more than the first quarter, and we would anticipate the quarterly impact going forward to be moderately less than the second quarter. So it was a bigger impact in the second quarter. Andrew J. Wittmann: Okay. That's helpful. And then you always get asked the kind of questions on price versus volume contributing to the increased organic growth or accelerating organic growth rate. But maybe I'd give you a forum to maybe say what you can about that here this quarter, what you realized and what you're seeing in the marketplace today, if anything. Ryan Robinson: Yes. Thank you. So with the divestiture, we had total revenue growth of 5.2%. Price and volume were meaningful contributors to our revenue growth with volume a bit more impact than price. Our certification testing, we're very proud of the progress. It grew over 10% again in the quarter. And at that level of growth, that was primarily driven by volume. Keegan Antico: This is Keegan Antico on for Jason Haas. I was wondering if you could break out some of the -- some of what you're seeing in Consumer a little bit more. You saw some really nice sequential improvement here and year-over-year improvement. Can you just unpack that a little bit? Was there anything like onetime-ish in the quarter? And is this mid-single-digit rate the right run rate going into the second half? Or could it taper off, especially as compares get harder in the fourth quarter? Jennifer Scanlon: Thanks, Keegan. And we're really proud of our consumer team and the way in which they're reacting to some pretty healthy market demand and also what we believe are taking share in certain areas. So what we're seeing, of course, is some demand driven by data centers, particularly in areas of the power supplies for those AI racks, those AI-powered chips as well as the servers there. We're also seeing some data center just overall product certification in both of our business lines strengthen. But additionally, our consumer team, they shed some less profitable revenue through restructuring. And they've strengthened technical capability and our lab capabilities around commercial HVAC and continuing to make investments in higher growth areas. So like I say, we're seeing underlying market growth and share gain, and that's dropping through to both their growth rate and their EBITDA. Keegan Antico: Awesome. And just one quick follow-up. We've seen some headlines from some consumer electronic companies that are delaying new product releases from increasing memory costs stemming from AI. Have you seen this play out at all from any sort of softer volumes or anything like that? Or could it have any impact in the second half? Or are you not seeing anything from this? Jennifer Scanlon: It's actually just the opposite because, again, I say this all the time as a former manufacturer, when you see factor input costs increase, one of the very first things you do is try to figure out how do you value engineer that product and redesign it or change your formulations. And that frequently leads to retesting of that product. So for us, we're there with our customers as they're reacting to all sorts of various supply chain shifts, and we understand what their new product road maps are. And that visibility has led us to affirm our guidance for the full year. Keen Fai Tong: Industrial organic revenue growth remained strong at 7%, led by materials and energy and automation. Can you unpack what's driving growth within those end markets today and how you're thinking about demand trends through the balance of 2026, particularly around energy infrastructure, electrification, automation and AI-related investments? Jennifer Scanlon: Yes. It's -- as we always say, Industrial is just such a great business fueled by the megatrends. And one of the things we're really seeing is strong growth, double-digit growth in data center-related power and automation and wire and cable components and products. So there's a lot of power and controls business. It's being driven by energy needs, not just for data centers, but the fact that more energy needs to be generated, transmitted and stored. And that's really what our Industrial business focuses on. So we continue to believe that the strength that we're seeing in the material space, in the energy space and the industrial automation space is really tied to these megatrends. And those megatrends are affecting us both across U.S. and Greater China and Asia largely. Keen Fai Tong: Got it. That's helpful. And then capital spending stepped up this year as you're investing in laboratory capacity. Can you elaborate on where you're adding the capacity today, which end markets and applications are driving the greatest need for those investments? Jennifer Scanlon: Yes. And you'll recall, George, last year, we were on the lower end of our CapEx range. And this year, we just raised it to 8.5%. And some of that is timing year-on-year. But really, what we're seeing is, given the strength in our business, we can accelerate opportunities around lab modernization and productivity within labs, labs that are going to provide new revenue generation and also labs that give us some operational resilience to ensure we've got coverage across geographies. So some of the big labs, we opened our Toyota City, Japan, lab, which is a high-voltage EMC that was opened in June. We continue to make progress on our what we call Fire 2.0, our large-scale fire lab here in Northbrook, Illinois. And that's really a long-term asset that will support assessing fire risks from all types of larger scale products. We continue to make investments in EMC around the world as well as energy storage testing around the world. And we continue to see benefits from our retail centers of excellence in Consumer and also our appliances and HVAC testing. So it's across the board, and we're being very opportunistic given the benefits that we're seeing from our business growth. Christina Johanna Bettink: This is Christina on for Seth. So now that this is the first quarter for risk compliance and software that's under the new structure with EHS out and advisory was fully moved into Industrial last quarter. Is what we're seeing this quarter kind of the right base for growth and margin going forward? I remember last quarter, it was kind of mentioned that the divested piece was going to be -- was slower growing. So I was curious if this is showing up the way that you guys expected. Jennifer Scanlon: Yes. And it is. I think the focus of having our ULTRUS platform really strategically connected to product trust, the product testing inspections and certification needs that our customers have, eliminating a lower growth business that really didn't have that connection to the product tech business. There weren't cross-selling opportunities. There wasn't really a lot of benefits to be on the ULTRUS platform. So the ULTRUS team is really focused. They're focused on where we've got a networked user model. They're focused on where our customers need product stewardship and product sustainability, and they're focused on where there are regulatory requirements that are rapidly changing. So the 4.8% organic growth that we saw and the progression on EBITDA is good, but we need them to continue to accelerate, and those are our expectations with this focus. Ryan Robinson: I would just add to that, that the EHS Software business that we sold, you saw in the second quarter of last year produced $14 million in revenue. That business had similar revenue per quarter. So you would expect approximately that amount reduced in the coming quarters from what we reported last year and that our margin performance even with the divestiture, we think would be fairly consistent with our full year margin performance last year. On a margin rate, just to be clear, on an adjusted EBITDA margin rate. Andrew Nicholas: I wanted to circle back to the CapEx discussion. And appreciate all the color on where you're spending a little bit more dollars this year. Can you maybe speak to it on more of a medium-term basis? Should we expect similar levels of CapEx intensity in '27 and '28 just based on all the opportunities that you see in front of you? Or is this concentrated in kind of this quarter and in the back half of '26? Ryan Robinson: Yes. Thank you for the question. And as a reminder, last year, we did about 6.5% of revenue. This year, we've spoken to the outlook of about 8.5% and some of that is timing, both things that we started last year and finished this year and the timing of things that we started this year progressing very well. I would say it's likely that we're going to be in that range for the foreseeable future for a few years. It is really based on the needs of our customers and the emerging technologies. As an example, the lab that we just opened in Japan is designed to support new technologies of high RPM and high-voltage electrical motors for automobiles, just a technology that didn't exist previously. So it's really dependent on the needs of the customers and the emerging technologies that need to be tested. Jennifer Scanlon: Yes. But Andrew, what I want to emphasize is for us, these are things that we have control over. We can make the decisions around what those CapEx levels are. Our actual maintenance CapEx is low single digits. And so we don't expect to come off of that long-term guidance that we've given in the past of 6% to 8%. This is just an anomaly this year, and we'll look at next year and give that guidance when we report Q4 and look into 2027. Andrew Nicholas: Perfect. And then for my follow-up, I wanted to ask on Consumer EBITDA margin. It sounds like some of the benefit on a year-over-year basis is tied to the restructuring and favorable business mix. But I was hoping you could maybe speak a little bit more to the efficiency improvements. And just a point of clarification, is Consumer also going against maybe a more elevated incentive comp number this quarter that we would expect to moderate some? Or is that kind of catch-up dynamic specific to Industrial? Jennifer Scanlon: Yes. On the second question, Consumer would have a similar dynamic to Industrial as far as performance-based incentive comp. They are performing well this year. And overall, as you mentioned, that business mix favorability, shedding lower growth, lower-margin Consumer businesses and focusing our teams on these new opportunities is important. We are seeing an uptick in ongoing certification in Consumer as well. And so that will continue to drive some of their longer-term margin durability. Arthur Truslove: The first question I had was around the SG&A expenses. So year-on-year, they're up $244 million to $267 million in the quarter. And I think if I remember correctly, about $11 million of that was staff compensation. So I was just wondering if you could explain what the rest of it was. And second question, I guess sort of organic growth-wise. Obviously, in Q2, accelerated in Consumer, decelerated a bit in Industrial. I guess, are you expecting comparable trends in both of those divisions as we progress into H2? Or is there anything in the comparatives that might lead us to a different conclusion for either Q3 or Q4? Jennifer Scanlon: Yes, I'll take the second part and then let Ryan take the first on SG&A. But Arthur, we've got nice visibility into end markets and customer demands. And so we're feeling that the second half of revenue growth will reflect the trends that we've seen in the first half. Ryan Robinson: And then in regard to SG&A, so yes, in the second quarter, our SG&A increased $23 million, which is a change from Q1 when SG&A only increased $11 million. The main drivers of the change are the performance-based compensation items we mentioned, which increased $13 million year-over-year on an organic basis, from both the performance share units and the annual All-Employee Incentive Plan. We also disclosed, you can see that our stock-based compensation increased $10 million in the quarter. And the largest factor in this increase was just based on performance related to our consolidated revenue and our consolidated operating income through the life of the program. In addition to that, there were some growth in services and materials and professional fees, which grew $7 million on an organic basis. This was due in part to the volume of activities and support on outside projects, including M&A. Arthur Truslove: So Ryan, forgive me for just clarifying, but $10 million of it's to do with stock, $13 million for incentives. Is that additive from the members of the $11 million that's compensation? Are they separate? Ryan Robinson: No, that's a part of it. That is a part of it. Yes. That's a subsection of it. Arthur Truslove: But the stock bit's $10 million, the compensation's $11 million. Are they -- is $10 million out of the $11 million compensation stock or is it separate? Ryan Robinson: It is -- so overall, our performance-based compensation grew $13 million on an organic basis. And of that, $10 million was stock-based compensation. Jennifer Scanlon: And Arthur, there's some other puts and takes. Our headcount is down. And so there is an overall reduction in salary expense as you look at our employee compensation. Ryan Robinson: Yes. And when you -- if you're trying to peel apart, like, the underlying expense run rate, we're very pleased with the progress in cost of revenue management, which increased only 1.3% in the quarter, and that is with some costs associated with this All-Employee Incentive Plan. Arthur Truslove: Okay. So essentially, of the $23 million, $13 million was incentives. In total, $11 million was compensation. And then I guess there's another $12 million as well, in addition. I just wonder what that was. Ryan Robinson: The -- so within SG&A overall, professional fees were about $7 million on an organic basis as an increase. Arthur Truslove: Okay. Was that related to any sort of M&A or anything like that? Ryan Robinson: M&A was a contributor as well as some of the projects we have underway that led to increases in professional services. Andrew Steinerman: Ryan, it's Andrew. Could you just go over that timing of the 1% revenue drag from the previously announced restructured business exit? Is that about a 1% drag to each quarter of '26, first through fourth? And will that be behind the company as we enter '27? Ryan Robinson: It was a bit more in the second quarter than the first quarter. It was about $6 million in the second quarter, about $5 million in the first quarter. So absent that, our organic revenue growth would have been about 80 basis points higher in the quarter. Almost all of it's Consumer. So that would have been about 170 basis points higher. We were winding down some of those businesses in the first quarter. So -- and they were done by the end of the first quarter. So it essentially will be completely done and not comparable by the end of calendar 2026. Jennifer Scanlon: The second half will be a little more than the first half because of the way that the timing of some of those exits ran through the first quarter and led a little bit into the beginning of the second quarter. Curtis Nagle: Sure. Just a quick one for me. Just maybe the puts and takes, the -- sorry, the Industrial or growth for 2Q, it decel just a little bit. So areas of maybe strength versus if you saw a pullback in particular verticals, but just disaggregating that growth versus being a little stronger in 1Q on similar comps. Jennifer Scanlon: Right. With similar comps, Industrial has seen some real strength in all of the traditional tech businesses, built environments, our power and controls, wire and cable, engineered materials. The advisory business, and again, we've recast, so it's a comparable basis. But our advisory business, which has a significant exposure to solar and wind in the United States has seen some headwinds. And so outside of our traditional tech businesses, that's been a bit of a drag on growth. Curtis Nagle: Okay. Presumably, that should continue into the second half of the year? Jennifer Scanlon: Presumably, advisory, again, as we've always said, it's more cyclical and can have -- a couple projects can swing it one way or another. So we're expecting that what we're seeing will continue to lead to the guidance that we've affirmed for the full year. Shlomo Rosenbaum: Jenny, can you talk a little bit more about the CapEx increase? I know you talked about some of it is just timing and some of it is acceleration. In particular, can you talk of areas where you've seen the most opportunity and you've decided that it makes sense for you to accelerate some of your investments? Like can you just give us a layer down to what some of those things are and where you see that impacting your revenue? Why is it a good time right now to be accelerating those investments? Jennifer Scanlon: Yes. I think a great example is in our Consumer business and -- which is where we've got appliances, HVAC, lighting. And we've been very deliberate in recent years of adding a new lab in Plano, Texas, a few years ago and then rounding out equipment and expansion as we're seeing customer demand. Similarly, over in Milan, Italy, we've done the same. And that's really benefited our ability, we believe, to take share in areas that are being driven by AI data centers and the equipment that's needed for the cooling and chilling there. Similarly, on the Industrial side, we continue to see energy storage systems and the needs not just for battery safety, but also for quality and performance testing. And that's where in the past, we had invested over in Asia as well as in Europe. And we're seeing the benefits of that capacity increase also allowing us to grow at a rate that we believe is faster than the market. So our teams, I would say there's no shortage of great ideas and great opportunities. We can be the accelerator or the governor on the speed of that and feel like right now, given the pace of investments that are going into this new compute environment, this new AI infrastructure as well as the other megatrends around energy transition and the needs for energy storage, we're going to continue to keep up with it in the right way. Shlomo Rosenbaum: Okay. Great. And then maybe this is one for Ryan. Just going back to the compensation -- incentive compensation. Obviously, in a business that's really a people-driven business, it's very important to make sure your people are compensated properly with incentive comp. I wanted to just ask how that works when we roll forward into 2027? Is that, like, the bar has risen by x amount and now in order for you to have kind of a catch-up again in the middle of the year or something like that, you'd need to have a further outperformance in order for that to end up with something like where you had kind of a somewhat of a decline year-over-year in Industrial? And maybe you could just talk about that philosophically, about how you guys are approaching that and balancing the need to make sure employees are getting compensated appropriately with the growth, with the need to show the margin expansion or the desire to show that in the public markets. Jennifer Scanlon: Yes, Shlomo, it's a great question, and I'll let Ryan go into the details, but it's something that our Board, our Human Capital and Compensation Committee pays close attention to. So we look at what we believe the 3-year long-range plan is, as we set the long-term incentive plan, which is around cumulative revenue and operating income. And then annually, they set both the targets and the shoulders on the All-Employee Incentive Plan based on adjusted EBITDA and revenue, and what we project and forecast our goals for the following year are. So that's where the puts and takes come from. Ryan can talk about how that plays out next year when we have to lap this year. Ryan Robinson: So thank you for the question. So I'll just start with the annual All-Employee Incentive Plan. And I did mention the second quarter was a bit more than the first quarter, so probably to put it in context, for the first 6 months, even with those incremental expenses, our margins are up 220 basis points. So we do strive to seek a balance in that. So if we're recording more expense, that will go through the end of the calendar year. It's paid out in the first quarter of next year. And on a comparative basis, next year, if we are on next year's plan, it likely would be lower than the amount that we recorded this year. And then on the performance stock units, as Jenny mentioned, those are based on a 3-year performance period. They are based on revenue and operating income. So there are targets that are set for those. There's a new series that's issued each year, so they lap over 3 years. This is our third year as a public company. So one reason why the expense is a bit more is there are 3 series now as opposed to 2 series previously. And the performance has been very strong. So we increased our estimated payouts of that. In all of these incentives, if the performance is not there, we will reduce the accrual in the expense. And so it acts as a buffer both ways. It also protects shareholders. If there's underperformance, there's, of course, lower incentive pay. Jennifer Scanlon: All right. Thank you, everyone, for joining us today. We appreciate your continued support. And as always, we look forward to updating you on our progress next quarter. Operator: This concludes today's teleconference. You may disconnect your lines at this time. Thank you for your participation. Before you buy stock in Ul Solutions, 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 Ul Solutions 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 $411,427!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,335,252!* Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 965% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 215% 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. 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Interested in UL Solutions Inc.? Here are five stocks we like better. Strong Q2 performance: Revenue increased 5.2% to $816 million, while adjusted EBITDA rose 11.2% to a record $219 million and adjusted EPS grew 13.5% to $0.59. Organic revenue growth reached 6.6%, supported by electrification, automation, product innovation and AI data-center infrastructure. Consumer and Industrial segments led growth: Consumer adjusted EBITDA jumped 24.2%, with margins expanding to 21.3%, while Industrial revenue grew 7.8%. Risk and Compliance revenue declined because of the EHS software divestiture, though organic growth excluding the sale was 4.8%. Full-year outlook reaffirmed: UL Solutions maintained its mid-single-digit organic revenue growth and approximately 27% adjusted EBITDA margin targets for 2026, while raising planned capital expenditures to about 8.5% of revenue to expand laboratory capacity and testing capabilities. UL Solutions Stock Breakout Imminent – Is Now the Time to Buy? UL Solutions (NYSE:ULS) reported second-quarter 2026 revenue growth and record adjusted EBITDA, citing demand tied to electrification, automation, product innovation and AI data-center infrastructure. The company also reaffirmed its full-year outlook as it continues a restructuring program, expands laboratory capacity and pursues portfolio changes. Revenue rose 5.2% from a year earlier to $816 million, including organic growth of 6.6%. Operating income increased 7.9% to $150 million. Adjusted EBITDA grew 11.2% to a quarterly record of $219 million, while adjusted EBITDA margin expanded 140 basis points to 26.8%. Adjusted diluted earnings per share increased 13.5% to $0.59. → No Hangover: Revisiting Microsoft One Week After Earnings Chief Executive Officer Jenny Scanlon said the results reflected operating leverage from organic growth, improved employee productivity and benefits from the restructuring plan initiated late last year. The company said it achieved 6.6% organic growth despite planned revenue reductions associated with business exits under that program. Industrial revenue increased 7.8% to $402 million, including 7.2% organic growth. UL Solutions said ongoing certification services and certification testing both contributed to growth, with materials, energy and automation serving as leading drivers. Industrial adjusted EBITDA rose 7.4% to $130 million, though its adjusted EBITDA margin declined 10 basis points to 32.3%, as higher performance-based employee compensation costs offset the benefit of revenue growth. → MarketBeat Week in Review – 08/03 - 08/07 Consumer revenue rose 6.5% to $362 million, or 6.2% organically. Growth was driven by certification testing in consumer technology, non-certification testing and other retail services, and ongoing certification in appliances and HVAC. Consumer adjusted EBITDA increased 24.2% to $77 million, and its margin improved 310 basis points to 21.3%. The company attributed consumer margin expansion to operating leverage, employee productivity, favorable business mix following exits from lower-margin service lines, and restructuring benefits. During the question-and-answer session, Scanlon said consumer demand included activity related to data centers, including power supplies for AI racks, AI-powered chips and servers, as well as broader product certification needs. → Why the Landlord of the AI Boom Could Outlast the Chipmakers Risk and compliance revenue declined 17.5% to $52 million, reflecting the April 1 divestiture of the company’s EHS software business. Excluding that divestiture, organic revenue in the segment grew 4.8%, driven by demand for supply-chain insights in retail. Adjusted EBITDA fell 14.3% to $12 million, while adjusted EBITDA margin improved 90 basis points to 23.1% on a leaner cost structure. For the trailing 12 months ended June 30, UL Solutions generated $678 million of operating cash flow and $436 million of free cash flow, up 19.8% year over year. Free-cash-flow margin improved to 13.9% from 12.3%. For the first six months of 2026, operating cash flow totaled $379 million and free cash flow was $241 million. Capital expenditures were $138 million during the first half, compared with $93 million a year earlier. The company said it is investing in laboratory capacity and new testing capabilities to meet customer demand. Examples cited included a high-voltage electromagnetic compatibility laboratory opened in Toyota City, Japan, and continuing construction of a large-scale fire laboratory in Northbrook, Illinois. UL Solutions ended the quarter with $434 million of cash and cash equivalents and $303 million of total debt, down from $494 million at the end of 2025. The reduction reflected $191 million of net repayments on the company’s revolving credit facility, partially funded by proceeds from the EHS software divestiture. The company paid a quarterly dividend of $0.145 per share, totaling $29 million. The company continues to expect its acquisition of Eurofins Electrical & Electronics business to close in the fourth quarter of 2026. It also expects the sale of its position in DQS Holding GmbH to close in the second half of the year. UL Solutions reaffirmed its expectation for mid-single-digit organic revenue growth for full-year 2026, including an approximately 1% revenue reduction from restructuring-related business exits. The company expects foreign-exchange effects on second-half revenue to be negligible. It also maintained its forecast for adjusted EBITDA margin of approximately 27% for the year, reflecting operating leverage, restructuring benefits and cost management. That outlook includes offsets from higher performance-based compensation and acquisition-related expenses associated with the company’s portfolio transactions. The company expects an effective tax rate of about 26%. Management raised its expected capital-expenditure level to approximately 8.5% of revenue for 2026, citing the timing of laboratory investments and growth opportunities. Chief Financial Officer Ryan Robinson said some major projects extend across year-end periods, while Scanlon said the company was accelerating investments in areas such as appliances, HVAC, electromagnetic compatibility and energy-storage testing. On demand, Scanlon said the company benefits from exposure to 35 industries and is driven more by innovation than by product volumes. She said changes in supply chains or component costs can lead manufacturers to redesign products, which may require additional testing and certification. The company also cited increasing demand in power, controls, wire and cable, industrial automation and data-center-related infrastructure. UL Solutions said its advisory business, which has significant exposure to U.S. solar and wind projects, faced some headwinds during the quarter. However, management said overall first-half trends supported its reaffirmed full-year guidance. Separately, Scanlon noted that UL Solutions received the National Safety Council’s Robert W. Campbell Award, recognizing the company’s workplace safety leadership and safety culture. UL Solutions (NYSE: ULS) is a global safety science company that provides testing, inspection, certification, advisory and digital solutions designed to help organizations manage risk, ensure regulatory compliance and drive innovation. With roots dating back to 1894 when it was founded as Underwriters' Electrical Bureau, the company rebranded as UL Solutions following its initial public offering in 2022. Headquartered in Northbrook, Illinois, UL Solutions operates independently to serve a broad range of industries with an emphasis on product safety, performance and sustainability. The company's core services include standards development, product testing and certification for sectors such as building products, consumer electronics, automotive, life sciences, energy and industrial equipment. 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 "UL Solutions Q2 Earnings Call Highlights" was originally published by MarketBeat. View MarketBeat's top stocks for August 2026.

Second Quarter 20261 Strong revenue growth of 5.2% to $816 million, including 6.6% organic revenue growth Net income of $254 million increased 161.9%, Adjusted Net Income of $129 million increased 17.3%. Net income margin of 31.1% increased 1,860 basis points Diluted earnings per share of $1.21 increased 168.9%, Adjusted Diluted Earnings Per Share of $0.59 increased 13.5% Adjusted EBITDA of $219 million increased 11.2%, Adjusted EBITDA margin of 26.8% expanded 140 basis points NORTHBROOK, Ill., August 04, 2026--(BUSINESS WIRE)--UL Solutions Inc. (NYSE: ULS), a global leader in applied safety science, today reported results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2026. "I am pleased to report another outstanding quarter, driven once again by record revenue, substantial cash flow and impressive margin expansion," said President and CEO Jennifer Scanlon. "As we monitor our business and the macro environment for the remainder of the year, we feel confident that our alignment with megatrends and ability to meet our customers’ needs for safe product innovation position us well for the second half of 2026." "Our second quarter results continued to demonstrate the quality of our revenue growth and benefited from productivity and cost improvements," said Ryan Robinson, Chief Financial Officer. "We delivered Adjusted EBITDA of $219 million, with Adjusted EBITDA margin expanding 140 basis points to 26.8%. Our resilient business model, strong cash flow generation and robust balance sheet enable us to strategically invest in growth opportunities for long-term value creation." Second Quarter 2026 Financial Results Revenue of $816 million compared to $776 million in the second quarter of 2025, an increase of 5.2%. Organic revenue growth of 6.6%, led by the Industrial and Consumer segments. Net income of $254 million compared to $97 million in the second quarter of 2025, an increase of 161.9%. Net income margin of 31.1% compared to 12.5% in the second quarter of 2025. The margin increase was driven by the gain on sale of the Company’s Employee Health and Safety software business in the Risk & Compliance Software segment, as well as higher revenue and operating leverage. Adjusted Net Income of $129 million compared to $110 million in the second quarter of 2025, an increase of 17.3%. Adjusted Net Income margin of 15.8% compared to 14.2% in the second quarter of 2025, an increase of 160 basis points. Diluted earnings per share of $1.21 compared to $0.45 in the second quarter of 2025, an increase of $0.76. Adjusted Diluted Earnings Per Share of $0.59 compared to $0.52 in the second quarter of 2025, an increase of $0.07. Adjusted EBITDA of $219 million compared to $197 million in the second quarter of 2025, an increase of 11.2%. Adjusted EBITDA margin of 26.8% compared to 25.4% in the second quarter of 2025, an increase of 140 basis points. The margin expansion resulted from higher revenue and operating leverage, led by the Consumer segment. Liquidity and Capital Resources For the six months ended June 30, 2026, the Company generated $379 million of net cash provided by operating activities, an increase from $301 million for the same period in 2025. Net cash provided by operating activities for the six months ended June 30, 2026 was a result of improved business performance and timing of certain working capital items. The Company continued to make strategic capital investments intended to meet increased demand and drive greater productivity. Capital expenditures were $138 million for the six months ended June 30, 2026, compared to $93 million for the same period in 2025. Free Cash Flow for the six months ended June 30, 2026 was $241 million, compared to $208 million for the same period in 2025. The Company paid a dividend of $0.145 per share, or $29 million, during the three months ended June 30, 2026. As of June 30, 2026, total debt was $303 million, prior to unamortized debt issuance costs, a decrease from December 31, 2025 due to $191 million of net repayments on the Company’s revolving credit facility. The Company ended the quarter with cash and cash-equivalents of $434 million, compared to $295 million of cash and cash-equivalents as of December 31, 2025. Full-Year 2026 Outlook The Company’s 2026 outlook includes: Mid-single digit constant currency organic revenue growth Adjusted EBITDA margin improvement to approximately 27.0% Effective tax rate of approximately 26% Capital expenditures of approximately 8.5% of revenue Continuing to pursue acquisitions and portfolio refinements The Company’s 2026 outlook is based on a number of assumptions that are subject to change and many of which are outside the control of the Company. If actual results vary from these assumptions, the Company’s expectations may change. There can be no assurance that the Company will achieve the results expressed by this outlook, which may be impacted by, among other things, implementation of the announced expense reduction initiative to further improve the operating model and exit certain lines of business that are no longer considered strategically important to the Company (the "Restructuring Plan"). In addition, the geopolitical environment and attendant increased levels of uncertainty have caused, and may continue to cause, the Company’s customers to modify, delay or cancel plans to purchase services. Accordingly, ongoing uncertainty related to the current geopolitical environment and the associated unpredictability of the macroeconomic environment could have an adverse impact on various aspects of the Company’s business in the future, including its results of operations and financial condition. The Company is unable at this time to reasonably determine any future negative impacts from reduced or delayed customer testing or product development as a result of uncertainty that may result from the current geopolitical environment. The Company does not provide guidance for net income margin, the most directly comparable GAAP measure to Adjusted EBITDA margin, and similarly cannot provide a reconciliation between its forecasted Adjusted EBITDA margin and net income margin without unreasonable effort due to the unavailability of reliable estimates for certain components of net income and the respective reconciliations. These forecasted items are not within the Company’s control, may vary greatly between periods and could significantly impact future financial results. Conference Call and Webcast UL Solutions will host a conference call today at 8:30 am ET to discuss the Company’s financial results. The live webcast of the conference call and accompanying presentation materials can be accessed through the UL Solutions Investor Relations website at ir.ul.com. For those unable to access the webcast, the conference call can be accessed by dialing 1-877-407-0792 (domestic) or 1-201-689-8263 (international). An archive of the webcast will be available on the Company’s website for 30 days. About UL Solutions A global leader in applied safety science, UL Solutions Inc. (NYSE: ULS) transforms safety, security and sustainability challenges into opportunities for customers in more than 110 countries. UL Solutions delivers testing, inspection and certification services, advisory offerings and software solutions that support our customers’ product innovation and business growth. The UL Mark serves as a recognized symbol of trust in our customers’ products and reflects an unwavering commitment to advancing our safety mission. We help our customers innovate, launch new products and services, navigate global markets and complex supply chains, and grow sustainably and responsibly into the future. Our science is your advantage. Additional Information and Where to Find It Investors and others should note that UL Solutions intends to routinely announce material information to investors and the marketplace using SEC filings, press releases, public conference calls, webcasts and the UL Solutions Investor Relations website. We also intend to use certain social media channels as a means of disclosing information about us and our products to consumers, our customers, investors and the public on our X account (@UL_Solutions) and our LinkedIn account (@ULSolutions). The information posted on social media channels is not incorporated by reference in this press release or in any other report or document we file with the SEC. While not all of the information that the Company posts to the UL Solutions Investor Relations website or to social media accounts is of a material nature, some information could be deemed to be material, including earnings and investor presentations. Accordingly, the Company encourages investors, the media, and others interested in UL Solutions to review the information shared on our Investor Relations website at ir.ul.com and to regularly follow our social media accounts. Users can automatically receive email alerts and information about the Company by subscribing to "Investor Email Alerts" at the bottom of the UL Solutions Investor Relations website at ir.ul.com. Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking statements as defined by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements other than statements of historical facts contained in this press release may be forward-looking statements. These include statements regarding management’s objectives for future operations and the Company’s plans, business strategy, outlook and future results of operations and financial position, including without limitation, the statements under the heading "Full-Year 2026 Outlook," statements regarding the Company’s expected growth, future capital expenditures and the Restructuring Plan, including the Company’s estimates of the charges and expenditures in connection therewith and the timing thereof and the Company’s estimates of the benefits of such Restructuring Plan, and statements regarding the Company’s acquisitions, divestitures and other strategic transactions, including expected timing, closing, proceeds, financing, synergies and financial impact. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terms such as "may," "will," "should," "would," "likely," "expects," "plans," "anticipates," "could," "intends," "targets," "projects," "contemplates," "believes," "estimates," "predicts," "potential," "continues," "outlook" and variations of these terms and similar expressions, or the negative of these terms or similar expressions (although not all forward-looking statements may contain such words). The Company cautions you that any such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to risks, assumptions and uncertainties that are difficult to predict. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in these forward-looking statements are reasonable as of the date made, actual results may prove to be materially different from the results expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. There are or will be important factors that could cause the Company’s actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements made in this press release, including, but not limited to, the following: any failure on the Company’s part to protect and maintain its brand and reputation, or the impact on its brand or reputation of third-party events or actions outside of its control; risks associated with the Company’s information technology and software, including those relating to any future data breach or other cybersecurity incident; the potential disruption of the industries in which the Company operates by technological advances in artificial intelligence; the Company’s ability to innovate, adapt to changing customer needs and successfully introduce new products and services in response to changes in the Company’s industries and technological advances; the Company’s ability to compete in its industries and the effects of increased competition from its competitors; risks associated with conducting business outside the United States, including those relating to fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates; the imposition of tariffs and enhanced trade, import or export restrictions or changes in U.S. trade policy or similar government actions; and global, regional or political instability and geopolitical tensions; risks related to sustainability; risks associated with the Company’s operations in China, which subject the Company and UL-CCIC Company Limited, the Company’s joint venture with the China Certification & Inspection (Group) Co., Ltd. ("CCIC"), to China’s complex and rapidly evolving laws, which may be interpreted, applied or enforced inconsistently or in ways inconsistent with its current operations, as well as risks associated with the fact that the Chinese government has the power to exercise significant oversight and discretion over, and intervene in and influence, its business operations in China; the relationship between the United States and China and between the Company and CCIC, as well as changes in U.S. and Chinese regulations affecting the Company’s business operations in China; any failure on the Company’s part to attract, hire or retain its key employees, including its senior leadership and its skilled and trained engineering, technical and professional personnel; the level of the Company’s customers’ satisfaction and any failure on its part to properly and timely perform its services, meet its contractual obligations or fulfill its customers’ needs; changes to the relevant regulatory frameworks or private sector requirements, including any requirement that the Company accept third-party test results or certifications of components, end products, processes or systems or any changes that result in a reduction in required inspections, tests or certifications or harmonized international or cross-industry benchmarks and standards; the Company’s ability to adequately maintain, protect and enhance its intellectual property, including its registered UL-in-a-circle certification mark and other certification marks; the Company’s ability to implement its growth strategies and initiatives successfully; the Company’s reliance on third parties, including subcontractors and outside laboratories; the Company’s ability to obtain and maintain the requisite licenses, approvals, accreditations and delegations of authority necessary to conduct its business; the outcomes of current and future legal proceedings; the Company’s level of indebtedness and future cash needs; failure to generate sufficient cash to service the Company’s indebtedness; a change in the assumptions the Company uses to value its goodwill or intangible assets, or the impairment of its goodwill or intangible assets; the Company’s ability to generate sufficient cash to service its indebtedness and invest in the ongoing needs of its business; the increased expenses and responsibilities associated with being a public company; the significant influence that ULSE Inc., its parent and controlling stockholder, has over the Company, including pursuant to its rights under the Company’s amended and restated certificate of incorporation and the Stockholder Agreement, dated as of April 2, 2024, by and between the Company and ULSE Inc.; natural disasters and other catastrophic events, including pandemics and the rapid spread of contagious illnesses; changes in tax laws in jurisdictions in which the Company operates or adverse outcomes resulting from examination of the Company’s or its affiliates’ tax returns; risks that the Company may be unable to implement the Restructuring Plan on the anticipated timing, that local law and consultation requirements, including for potential position eliminations, extend the restructuring process further in certain countries or causes the actual charges and expenditures that the Company incurs in connection with the Restructuring Plan, and the timing thereof, to differ materially from estimates, that the Company may incur other charges or cash expenditures not currently contemplated due to unanticipated events that may occur, including in connection with the implementation of the Restructuring Plan and that the Company may not be able to realize the anticipated benefits of the Restructuring Plan; the occurrence of any event, change, or other circumstance that could give rise to the termination of the Electrical and Electronics Testing LUX Holding SARL and certain of its subsidiaries and related companies (the "E&E Transaction") and the payment of a break fee; the possibility that one or more closing conditions to the E&E Transaction, including the receipt of certain regulatory approvals, may not be satisfied or waived, in a timely manner or at all, including the risk that a governmental entity may prohibit, delay, or refuse to grant approval for the consummation of the E&E Transaction, or may require conditions, limitations, or restrictions in connection with such approvals; the risk that the E&E Transaction may not be completed within the expected timeframe, or at all; unexpected costs, charges or expenses resulting from the E&E Transaction; uncertainty regarding the expected financial performance following completion of the E&E Transaction; the Company’s ability to achieve its short-term and long-term operating targets following completion of the E&E Transaction; the effects that the announcement or pendency of the E&E Transaction may have on the Company; the acquired business’ and the Company’s respective businesses and ability to retain and hire key personnel and maintain relationships with customers, suppliers and others with whom the acquired business or the Company do business; the effects that termination of the Company’s pending acquisition of E&E Transaction may have on the Company or its business; failure to successfully complete the E&E Transaction; legal proceedings that may be instituted related to the E&E Transaction; the Company’s ability or failure to successfully integrate the acquired business with existing operations; and the Company’s ability to realize anticipated synergies or obtain the results anticipated; and other factors discussed in the Company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"), including those set forth under "Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" in Part II, Item 7 of the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2025 and under "Risk Factors" in Part I, Item 1A of the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2025, as well as other factors described from time to time in the Company’s filings with the SEC. If one or more events related to these or other risks or uncertainties materialize, or if the Company’s underlying assumptions prove to be incorrect, actual results may differ materially from what the Company anticipates. Many of the important factors that will determine these results are beyond the Company’s ability to control or predict. Accordingly, you should not place undue reliance on any such forward-looking statements. Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which it is made, and, except as otherwise required by law, the Company does not undertake any obligation to publicly update or review any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise. If the Company updates one or more forward-looking statements, no inference should be drawn that the Company will make additional updates with respect to those or other forward-looking statements. New factors emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for the Company to predict which will arise. In addition, the Company cannot assess the impact of each factor on the Company’s business or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements attributable to the Company, or others acting on the Company’s behalf, are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements above. Non-GAAP Financial Measures In addition to financial measures determined in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America ("GAAP"), this press release includes supplemental non-GAAP financial measures, including the presentation of Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA margin, Adjusted Net Income, Adjusted Net Income margin, Adjusted Diluted Earnings Per Share, Free Cash Flow and Free Cash Flow margin. Management uses non-GAAP financial measures in addition to GAAP measures to understand and compare operating results across periods and for forecasting and other purposes. Management believes these non-GAAP financial measures provide useful information to investors and reflect results in a manner that enables, in some instances, more meaningful analysis of trends and facilitates comparison of results across periods. These measures are not financial measures calculated in accordance with GAAP and should not be considered as a substitute for net income, operating income, diluted earnings per share, net cash provided by operating activities or any other measure calculated in accordance with GAAP, and may not be comparable to similarly titled measures reported by other companies due to potential differences between the companies in calculations. The Company uses Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA margin, Adjusted Net Income, Adjusted Net Income margin and Adjusted Diluted Earnings Per Share to measure the operational strength and performance of its business and believes these measures provide additional information to investors about certain non-cash items and unusual items that the Company does not expect to continue at the same level in the future. Further, management believes these non-GAAP financial measures provide a meaningful measure of business performance. The Company uses Free Cash Flow and Free Cash Flow margin as additional liquidity measures and believes they provide useful information to investors about the cash generated from the Company’s core operations that may be available to repay debt, make other investments and return cash to stockholders. There are material limitations to using these non-GAAP financial measures. Adjusted EBITDA does not take into account certain significant items, including depreciation and amortization, interest expense, gains on divestitures, other (income) expense, net, income tax expense, stock-based compensation expense for equity-settled awards, material asset impairment charges and restructuring expenses which directly affect the Company’s net income, as applicable. Adjusted Net Income and Adjusted Diluted Earnings Per Share do not take into account certain significant items, including gains on divestitures, other (income) expense, net, stock-based compensation expense for equity-settled awards, material asset impairment charges and restructuring expenses which directly affect the Company’s net income and diluted earnings per share, as applicable. Free Cash Flow adjusts for cash items that are ultimately within management’s discretion to direct and therefore may imply that there is less or more cash that is available than the most comparable GAAP measure. Free Cash Flow is not intended to represent residual cash flow for discretionary expenditures since debt repayment requirements and other non-discretionary expenditures are not deducted. These limitations are best addressed by considering the economic effects of the excluded items independently, and by considering these non-GAAP financial measures in conjunction with net income, operating income, diluted earnings per share and net cash provided by operating activities as calculated in accordance with GAAP. See additional information below for definitions of these non-GAAP financial measures, and reconciliations to their most directly comparable GAAP measures. Source Code: ULS-IR The table below reconciles net income to Adjusted EBITDA. The table below reconciles segment operating income to segment Adjusted EBITDA. The table below reconciles net income to Adjusted Net Income. The table below reconciles diluted earnings per share to Adjusted Diluted Earnings Per Share. The table below reconciles net cash provided by operating activities to Free Cash Flow. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260804813387/en/ Contacts Media: Kathy FiewegerSenior Vice President and Chief Corporate Communications [email protected] +1 312-852-5156 Investors: Yijing BrentanoVice President, Investor [email protected] +1 312-895-9873

For the quarter ended June 2026, UL Solutions Inc. (ULS) reported revenue of $816 million, up 5.2% over the same period last year. EPS came in at $0.59, compared to $0.52 in the year-ago quarter. The reported revenue represents a surprise of +0.51% over the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $811.87 million. With the consensus EPS estimate being $0.56, the EPS surprise was +5.36%. While investors scrutinize revenue and earnings changes year-over-year and how they compare with Wall Street expectations to determine their next move, some key metrics always offer a more accurate picture of a company's financial health. Since these metrics play a crucial role in driving the top- and bottom-line numbers, comparing them with the year-ago numbers and what analysts estimated about them helps investors better project a stock's price performance. Here is how UL Solutions Inc. performed in the just reported quarter in terms of the metrics most widely monitored and projected by Wall Street analysts: Revenue- Industrial: $402 million versus the four-analyst average estimate of $392.78 million. The reported number represents a year-over-year change of +18.9%. Revenue- Risk & Compliance Software: $52 million versus $62.15 million estimated by four analysts on average. Compared to the year-ago quarter, this number represents a -46.9% change. Revenue- Consumer: $362 million compared to the $358.5 million average estimate based on four analysts. The reported number represents a change of +6.5% year over year. Adjusted EBITDA- Industrial: $130 million compared to the $138.17 million average estimate based on two analysts. Adjusted EBITDA- Risk & Compliance Software: $12 million versus the two-analyst average estimate of $13.26 million. Adjusted EBITDA- Consumer: $77 million versus $65.95 million estimated by two analysts on average. View all Key Company Metrics for UL Solutions Inc. here>>> Shares of UL Solutions Inc. have returned +2% over the past month versus the Zacks S&P 500 composite's +1.7% change. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell), indicating that it could underperform the broader market in the near term. 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 UL Solutions Inc. (ULS) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com). Zacks Investment Research

Safety certification company UL Solutions (NYSE:ULS) met Wall Street’s revenue expectations in Q2 CY2026, with sales up 5.2% year on year to $816 million. Its non-GAAP profit of $0.59 per share was 5.4% above analysts’ consensus estimates. Is now the time to buy UL Solutions? Find out in our full research report. Revenue: $816 million vs analyst estimates of $814.3 million (5.2% year-on-year growth, in line) Adjusted EPS: $0.59 vs analyst estimates of $0.56 (5.4% beat) Adjusted EBITDA: $219 million vs analyst estimates of $214.3 million (26.8% margin, 2.2% beat) Operating Margin: 18.4%, in line with the same quarter last year Free Cash Flow Margin: 11.2%, down from 13.5% in the same quarter last year Market Capitalization: $18.35 billion Founded in 1894 as a response to the growing dangers of electricity in American homes and businesses, UL Solutions (NYSE:ULS) provides testing, inspection, and certification services that help companies ensure their products meet safety, security, and sustainability standards. Examining a company’s long-term performance can provide clues about its quality. Any business can put up a good quarter or two, but many enduring ones grow for years. With $3.15 billion in revenue over the past 12 months, UL Solutions is a mid-sized business services company, which sometimes brings disadvantages compared to larger competitors benefiting from better economies of scale. On the bright side, it can still flex high growth rates because it’s working from a smaller revenue base. As you can see below, UL Solutions’s 5.4% annualized revenue growth over the last four years was decent. This shows its offerings generated slightly more demand than the average business services company, a helpful starting point for our analysis. Long-term growth is the most important, but within business services, a stretched historical view may miss new innovations or demand cycles. UL Solutions’s annualized revenue growth of 6.8% over the last two years is above its four-year trend, suggesting some bright spots. This quarter, UL Solutions grew its revenue by 5.2% year on year, and its $816 million of revenue was in line with Wall Street’s estimates. Looking ahead, sell-side analysts expect revenue to grow 4.9% over the next 12 months, a slight deceleration versus the last two years. This projection is underwhelming and implies its products and services will see some demand headwinds. At least the company is tracking well in other measures of financial health. WHILE YOU’RE HERE: The Next Palantir? One satellite company captures images of every point on Earth. Every single day. The Pentagon wants it. Hedge funds are using it to beat earnings. You’ve probably never heard of it. This is what the early days of Palantir looked like before it became a giant. Same playbook. Different technology. If you missed Palantir, you need to see this. Claim The Stock Ticker for Free HERE. Adjusted operating margin is one of the best measures of profitability because it tells us how much money a company takes home after subtracting all core expenses, like marketing and R&D. It also removes various one-time costs to paint a better picture of normalized profits. UL Solutions has been a well-oiled machine over the last five years. It demonstrated elite profitability for a business services business, boasting an average adjusted operating margin of 18.2%. Analyzing the trend in its profitability, UL Solutions’s adjusted operating margin decreased by 2.2 percentage points over the last five years. This raises questions about the company’s expense base because its revenue growth should have given it leverage on its fixed costs, resulting in better economies of scale and profitability. In Q2, UL Solutions generated an adjusted operating margin profit margin of 21.2%, up 2 percentage points year on year. This increase was a welcome development and shows it was more efficient. If you’ve followed StockStory for a while, you know we emphasize free cash flow. Why, you ask? We believe that in the end, cash is king, and you can’t use accounting profits to pay the bills. UL Solutions has shown robust cash profitability, giving it an edge over its competitors and the ability to reinvest or return capital to investors. The company’s free cash flow margin averaged 10.9% over the last five years, quite impressive for a business services business. Taking a step back, we can see that UL Solutions’s margin expanded by 6.1 percentage points during that time. This is encouraging, and we can see it became a less capital-intensive business because its free cash flow profitability rose while its operating profitability fell. UL Solutions’s free cash flow clocked in at $91 million in Q2, equivalent to a 11.2% margin. The company’s cash profitability regressed as it was 2.4 percentage points lower than in the same quarter last year, but we wouldn’t put too much weight on the short term because investment needs can be seasonal, causing temporary swings. Long-term trends trump fluctuations. It was good to see UL Solutions beat analysts’ EPS expectations this quarter. Overall, this print had some key positives. The stock remained flat at $91.61 immediately following the results. UL Solutions put up rock-solid earnings, but one quarter doesn’t necessarily make the stock a buy. Let’s see if this is a good investment. What happened in the latest quarter matters, but not as much as longer-term business quality and valuation, when deciding whether to invest in this stock. We cover that in our actionable full research report which you can read here, it’s free.

UL Solutions Inc. (ULS) came out with quarterly earnings of $0.59 per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $0.56 per share. This compares to earnings of $0.52 per share a year ago. These figures are adjusted for non-recurring items. This quarterly report represents an earnings surprise of +5.36%. A quarter ago, it was expected that this company would post earnings of $0.42 per share when it actually produced earnings of $0.5, delivering a surprise of +19.05%. Over the last four quarters, the company has surpassed consensus EPS estimates four times. UL Solutions Inc., which belongs to the Zacks Business - Services industry, posted revenues of $816 million for the quarter ended June 2026, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 0.51%. This compares to year-ago revenues of $776 million. The company has topped consensus revenue estimates four times 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. UL Solutions Inc. shares have added about 15.5% since the beginning of the year versus the S&P 500's gain of 11%. While UL Solutions Inc. has outperformed 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 UL Solutions Inc. was unfavorable. 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 #4 (Sell) for the stock. So, the shares are expected to underperform 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 $0.62 on $814.41 million in revenues for the coming quarter and $2.28 on $3.2 billion 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, Business - Services is currently in the bottom 20% 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. ZipRecruiter, Inc. (ZIP), another stock in the same industry, has yet to report results for the quarter ended June 2026. The results are expected to be released on August 5. This company is expected to post quarterly loss of $0.06 per share in its upcoming report, which represents a year-over-year change of +40%. The consensus EPS estimate for the quarter has remained unchanged over the last 30 days. ZipRecruiter, Inc.'s revenues are expected to be $112 million, down 0.2% 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 UL Solutions Inc. (ULS) : Free Stock Analysis Report ZipRecruiter, Inc. (ZIP) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com). Zacks Investment Research