Kewaunee Scientific Reports Results for First Quarter of Fiscal Year 2026

STATESVILLE, N.C., Sept. 10, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — PRNewswire / Kewaunee Scientific Corporation (NASDAQ:KEQU) today announced results for its first quarter ended July 31, 2025.

Fiscal Year 2026 First Quarter Results:

Sales during the first quarter of fiscal year 2026 were $71,104,000, an increase of 46.9% compared to sales of $48,393,000 from the prior year’s first quarter. Pre-tax earnings for the quarter were $3,920,000 compared to $2,430,000 for the prior year quarter, an increase of 61.3%. Net earnings were $3,093,000 compared to net earnings of $2,193,000 for the prior year quarter. EBITDA¹ for the quarter was $6,320,000 compared to $3,325,000 for the prior year quarter. Diluted earnings per share were $1.04 compared to diluted earnings per share of $0.74 in the prior year quarter.

The Company’s order backlog was $205.0 million on July 31, 2025, as compared to $159.4 million on July 31, 2024, and $214.6 million on April 30, 2025.

Domestic Segment – Domestic sales for the quarter were $54,352,000, an increase of 53.0% from sales of $35,523,000 in the prior year quarter. Domestic segment net earnings were $4,722,000 compared to $2,871,000 in the prior year quarter. Domestic segment EBITDA was $7,576,000 compared to $4,738,000 for the prior year quarter. The increase in Domestic sales and earnings was driven by the incorporation of Nu Aire’s results, steady manufacturing volumes, improved productivity, and cost management actions.

International Segment – International sales for the quarter were $16,752,000, an increase of 30.2% from sales of $12,870,000 in the prior year quarter. International segment net earnings were $643,000 compared to $463,000 in the prior year quarter. International segment EBITDA was $1,055,000 compared to $696,000 for the prior year quarter. The impact of customer site delays experienced during most of the prior fiscal year began decreasing during the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2025, resulting in increased deliveries and billings for the first quarter of fiscal year 2026 compared to the comparable prior year period.

Corporate Segment – Corporate segment pre-tax net loss was $3,058,000 for the quarter, as compared to a pre-tax net loss of $1,992,000 in the prior year quarter. Corporate segment EBITDA for the quarter was ($2,311,000) compared to corporate segment EBITDA of ($2,109,000) for the prior year quarter. Corporate segment EBITDA remained relatively stable year over year, despite the inclusion of $730,000 of costs in the prior year period results directly related to the acquisition of Nu Aire, Inc., which closed on November 1, 2024. In the current year period, the Company incurred costs related to its strategic investment in its Corporate platform. 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.

Total cash on hand on July 31, 2025, was $20,441,000, as compared to $17,164,000 on April 30, 2025. Working capital was $66,662,000, as compared to $56,012,000 at the end of the first quarter last year and $64,651,000 on April 30, 2025.

The Company had short-term debt of $4,294,000 as of July 31, 2025, as compared to $4,773,000 on April 30, 2025. Long-term debt was $60,269,000 on July 31, 2025, as compared to $60,730,000 on April 30, 2025. The building lease from the Company’s December 2021 sale-leaseback transaction accounts for $26,420,000 of the long-term debt on July 31, 2025, and $26,632,000 of the long-term debt on April 30, 2025. Long-term debt, net of the sale-leaseback transaction, was $33,849,000 on July 31, 2025, as compared to $34,098,000 on April 30, 2025. The Company’s debt-to-equity ratio on July 31, 2025, was 0.94-to-1, as compared to 0.99-to-1 on April 30, 2025. The Company’s debt-to-equity ratio, net of the sale-leaseback transaction, on July 31, 2025, was 0.54-to-1, as compared to 0.57-to-1 on April 30, 2025.

“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,” said Thomas D. Hull III, Kewaunee’s President and Chief Executive Officer. “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.”

“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.”

“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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