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STATESVILLE, N.C. – September 10, 2025 – Kewaunee Scientific Corporation (NASDAQ: KEQU) today released its financial results for the first quarter of fiscal year 2026, ended July 31, 2025, showcasing significant growth and strategic investments.
Key Takeaways from Fiscal Year 2026 First Quarter:
Kewaunee Scientific reported a robust first quarter, driven by strong performance in both its domestic and international segments. Sales surged to $71.104 million, a striking 46.9% increase compared to the $48.393 million recorded in the same quarter last year. This growth translated into pre-tax earnings of $3.920 million, up 61.3% from $2.430 million in the prior year. Net earnings also saw a healthy boost, reaching $3.093 million compared to $2.193 million, while EBITDA climbed to $6.320 million from $3.325 million.
Earnings per share (EPS) reflected this positive trajectory, with diluted EPS at $1.04, surpassing the $0.74 reported in the corresponding quarter of the previous year. The company’s order backlog remains substantial, standing at $205.0 million as of July 31, 2025, although slightly lower than the $214.6 million recorded on April 30, 2025, it demonstrates a strong demand pipeline compared to $159.4 million on July 31, 2024.
The domestic segment led the charge with sales of $54.352 million, a 53.0% increase compared to $35.523 million in the prior year. Net earnings for the domestic segment reached $4.722 million, up from $2.871 million, and EBITDA stood at $7.576 million, compared to $4.738 million. This growth was primarily attributed to the incorporation of Nu Aire’s (acquired on November 1, 2024) results, steady manufacturing volumes, improved productivity, and effective cost management strategies.
Internationally, sales reached $16.752 million, a 30.2% increase from $12.870 million. International segment net earnings were $643,000 compared to $463,000, with EBITDA at $1.055 million compared to $696,000. The improved performance reflects a decrease in customer site delays that had affected the previous fiscal year, allowing for increased deliveries and billings.
The corporate segment reported a pre-tax net loss of $3.058 million, compared to a loss of $1.992 million in the prior year. Despite including $730,000 of costs related to the Nu Aire acquisition in the prior year, the segment’s EBITDA remained relatively stable year-over-year at ($2.311 million) compared to ($2.109 million). The company is currently investing in its corporate platforms, including increased compliance costs to meet Sarbanes-Oxley 404(b) requirements, as well as investments into its staff, processes and tech as it builds out its corporate infrastructure to facilitate future anticipated growth. These investments include increased compliance costs related to the anticipated triggering of Sarbanes-Oxley 404(b) requirements and strategic investments in people, processes, and technology to continue to build out the Company’s Corporate platform in order to support future anticipated growth.
Balance Sheet Highlights:
Kewaunee Scientific’s balance sheet remains healthy. Total cash on hand as of July 31, 2025, was $20.441 million, up from $17.164 million on April 30, 2025. Working capital stood at $66.662 million, compared to $56.012 million at the end of the first quarter last year and $64.651 million on April 30, 2025.
Short-term debt was $4.294 million, down from $4.773 million on April 30, 2025, while long-term debt was $60.269 million compared to $60.730 million. These numbers include $26.420 million related to a building lease from a December 2021 sale-leaseback transaction. The company’s debt-to-equity ratio, net of the sale-leaseback transaction, was 0.54-to-1, compared to 0.57-to-1 on April 30, 2025.”
Management Perspective:
Thomas D. Hull III, Kewaunee’s President and CEO, stated, “Our Domestic and International segments delivered solid financial performance in the first quarter despite challenging market conditions as a result of uncertain government policy, evolving tariff structures and broader geopolitical upheaval. While our overall backlog remains near historically high levels, we are experiencing volatility in project delivery timelines that we expect will cause uneven performance by quarter for the balance of fiscal year 2026, likely starting in the second quarter. This is a reality of both the uncertainty in the market, and the nature of construction-related manufacturing, where project timing often shifts, causing peaks and valleys in production schedules.”
Hull emphasized the company’s focus on both organic and inorganic growth, “Kewaunee is focused on growth, both organically and inorganically, and is committed to making strategic investments in the people, processes, and technology that will support and enable this growth in a sustainable manner. These important investments are accounted for in the Corporate segment and, while some of the costs are expected to be non-recurring in nature, many of them will not be. Though this will place pressure on earnings growth in the near term, we believe it will position Kewaunee for rapid and sustained growth in the future, allowing us to gain leverage on these investments over the long term.”
Looking ahead, Hull noted, “Despite our anticipation of uneven quarterly performance for the remainder of fiscal year 2026, and increasing strategic investment in the Corporate platform, we expect to deliver better unadjusted EBITDA in fiscal year 2026 than we did in fiscal year 2025. We are confident in the strategies we are employing and the long-term health of the business.”
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1 EBITDA is a non-GAAP financial measure. See the table below for a reconciliation of EBITDA and segment EBITDA to net earnings (loss), the most directly comparable GAAP measure. |
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EBITDA, Segment EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA, and Adjusted Segment EBITDA Reconciliation (Unaudited) ($ in thousands) |
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Quarter Ended July 31, 2024 |
Domestic |
International |
Corporate |
Consolidated |
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|
Net Earnings (Loss) |
$ 2,871 |
$ 463 |
$ (1,141) |
$ 2,193 |
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Add/(Less): |
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|
Interest Expense |
441 |
21 |
10 |
472 |
||||
|
Interest Income |
— |
(174) |
(173) |
(347) |
||||
|
Income Taxes |
764 |
279 |
(851) |
192 |
||||
|
Depreciation and Amortization |
662 |
107 |
46 |
815 |
||||
|
EBITDA |
$ 4,738 |
$ 696 |
$ (2,109) |
$ 3,325 |
||||
|
Professional Fees2 |
— |
— |
730 |
730 |
||||
|
Adjusted EBITDA |
$ 4,738 |
$ 696 |
$ (1,379) |
$ 4,055 |
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|
Quarter Ended July 31, 2025 |
Domestic |
International |
Corporate |
Consolidated |
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|
Net Earnings (Loss) |
$ 4,722 |
$ 643 |
$ (2,272) |
$ 3,093 |
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Add/(Less): |
||||||||
|
Interest Expense |
313 |
13 |
732 |
1,058 |
||||
|
Interest Income |
— |
(131) |
(10) |
(141) |
||||
|
Income Taxes |
1,113 |
434 |
(786) |
761 |
||||
|
Depreciation and Amortization |
1,428 |
96 |
25 |
1,549 |
||||
|
EBITDA |
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