Logo of jester cap with thought bubble.

Image source: The Motley Fool.

DATE

Wednesday, May 6, 2026 at 11 a.m. ET

CALL PARTICIPANTS

  • President & Chief Executive Officer — Paul McAndrew
  • Chief Financial Officer — Melissa Rasmussen
  • Corporate Secretary — Whit Kincaid

TAKEAWAYS

  • Consolidated Net Sales -- $384.4 million, up 5.5%, driven primarily by higher pricing and modest volume growth.
  • Gross Profit -- $144.5 million, representing a 12.9% increase, with gross margin expanding 250 basis points to 37.6%.
  • Adjusted EBITDA -- $97.2 million, up 15%, reaching a new record, with margin increasing 210 basis points to 25.3%.
  • Adjusted Net Income per Diluted Share -- $0.40, up 17.6%, another quarterly record.
  • Segment: Infrastructure Adjusted EBITDA Margin -- Expanded 440 basis points to 33.2%, a record for the segment.
  • Segment: Infrastructure Net Sales -- $218.3 million, up 1%, due to higher pricing and increased specialty valve volumes, partially offset by lower service brass volumes.
  • Segment: Technologies (WMS) Net Sales -- $166.1 million, up 12.2%, led by hydrant and repair product volume growth and higher pricing; lower applications and natural gas distribution volumes offset part of the increase.
  • WMS Adjusted EBITDA Margin -- 24.4%, contracted by 20 basis points due to higher SG&A and inflationary pressures.
  • Free Cash Flow -- $16.5 million for the six months, down $30.8 million; now expected to be above 70% of adjusted net income for the year, versus 85% previously.
  • Capital Expenditures -- $31.9 million for six months, up from $21.1 million, primarily for ongoing foundry upgrades.
  • Liquidity -- $585 million in total liquidity, including $421 million cash and no debt maturities before June 2029.
  • 2026 Guidance -- Consolidated net sales growth maintained at 2.8%-4.2%; adjusted EBITDA guidance raised $5 million midpoint to $360-$365 million, reflecting a margin above 24.5%.
  • Strategic Divestiture -- Company announced exit from i2O pressure monitoring business outside North America, with expected cost savings and tax benefits to more than offset lost revenue and enhance free cash flow beyond 2026.
  • Operating System Initiative -- Introduced the Mueller operating system, a formal system of process tools aimed at driving discipline, execution, and margin expansion.
  • Channel Inventory -- CEO McAndrew said, "we believe it is at normalized levels," with backlog shifts described as seasonally typical following the February price increase.
  • Pricing Actions -- CEO McAndrew said, "We went up with our annual price increase in February, low single digit," with mid single-digit price realization cited by Rasmussen for the second quarter.
  • Residential Construction Exposure -- CEO McAndrew stated, "We still believe resi is down high single to low double-digit range," while specialty valve business is described as less exposed to residential slowdowns.
  • Specialty Valves -- Ongoing strategic focus, with double-digit growth expected in these product lines and sustained backlog supporting future sales.
  • Strategic Capital Allocation -- Stated M&A activity increasing, with CEO McAndrew confirming, "We have definitely increased our activity about how we look for acquisitions to expand our portfolio."

Need a quote from a Motley Fool analyst? Email [email protected]

RISKS

  • Free cash flow expectations lowered from 85% to 70% of adjusted net income due to higher inventory and increased capital expenditures.
  • Management cited "greater uncertainty in the external operating environment, including changes in demand, tariffs, and inflationary pressures."
  • Anticipated slowdown in new residential construction activity is embedded in guidance, with CEO McAndrew saying, "We still believe resi is down high single to low double-digit range."

SUMMARY

Mueller Water Products (MWA 1.49%) delivered quarterly records for net sales, adjusted EBITDA, and adjusted net income per share, supported by mid single-digit price increases and volume gains in targeted product lines. The company raised its full-year adjusted EBITDA outlook in response to operational efficiencies and higher pricing, while reiterating sales growth guidance and capital spending plans. Management announced an exit from its i2O pressure monitoring business outside North America, prioritizing North American applications and leveraging technology assets for future margin growth and free cash flow.

  • The new Mueller operating system is expected to drive ongoing improvements in execution, quality, and customer experience.
  • Balance sheet strength, with no near-term debt maturities and $585 million in liquidity, supports ongoing acquisition efforts and strategic investments.
  • Inventory build in support of specialty valve growth and inflationary impacts lowered free cash flow expectations and raised working capital requirements.
  • Management emphasized the resilience of the municipal repair and replacement market but continues to monitor residential construction headwinds and external uncertainties.

INDUSTRY GLOSSARY

  • SG&A: Selling, general, and administrative expenses, representing company overhead not directly tied to production.
  • WMS: Water Management Solutions, the company's Technologies segment that includes water metering and leak detection products and services.
  • i2O: Acquired pressure management technology business now being exited outside North America, with core technology retained for continued use within the region.

Full Conference Call Transcript

Whit Kincaid: Good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining us for Mueller Water Products, Inc. second quarter conference call. Yesterday afternoon, we issued our press release reporting results of operations for the quarter ended March 31, 2026. A copy of the press release is available on our website, muellerwaterproducts.com. I am joined this morning by Paul McAndrew, our president and chief executive officer, and Melissa Rasmussen, our chief financial officer. Following our prepared remarks, we will address questions related to the information covered on the call. As a reminder, please keep to one question and a follow-up and then return to the queue. This morning’s call is being recorded and webcast live on the Internet.

We have also posted slides on our website to accompany today’s discussion. They also address forward-looking statements and our non-GAAP disclosure. At this time, please refer to Slide 2. This slide identifies non-GAAP financial measures referenced in our press release, on our slides, and on this call. It discloses the reasons why we believe these measures provide information to investors. Reconciliations between non-GAAP and GAAP financial measures are included in the supplemental information within our press release and on our website. Slide 3 addresses forward-looking statements made on this call. This slide includes cautionary information identifying important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those included in forward-looking statements.

Please review Slides 2 and 3 in their entirety. During this call, all references to a specific year or quarter, unless specified otherwise, refer to our fiscal year, which ends September 30. A replay of this morning’s call will be available for thirty days at 1-808-391-334. The archived webcast and corresponding slides will be available for at least ninety days on the Investor Relations section of our website. I will now turn the call over to Paul.

Paul McAndrew: Thanks, Whit. Good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining our second quarter earnings call. I am pleased with our strong performance this quarter, as we set new quarterly records for net sales, adjusted EBITDA, and adjusted net income per share. We delivered net sales growth of 5.5% in the quarter, demonstrating the strength of our brands and resilient end market demand. We also expanded our adjusted EBITDA margin 210 basis points year over year. Our operations and supply chain teams performed well, driving year-over-year gross margin expansion. With an ongoing commitment to operational excellence and cost management, manufacturing efficiencies more than offset the impact of higher tariffs and inflationary pressures, driving year-over-year gross margin expansion.

Based on our outstanding performance through the first half of the year, and our current expectations for the remainder of the year, we are raising our fiscal 2026 outlook for adjusted EBITDA. We continue to anticipate that healthy municipal repair and replacement activity and strong growth in project-related work using specialty valves will help offset slower new residential construction activity. We believe we are positioned for another record year driven by adjusted EBITDA margin expansion, and supported by our strategic priorities, including our ongoing commercial and operational initiatives and strategic capital investments.

While we are experiencing greater uncertainty in the external operating environment, including changes in demand, tariffs, and inflationary pressures, we are focused on driving results and investing in the capabilities and capacity needed to support long-term value creation. I would like to take a moment to explain the ways we are updating our approach to our strategic priorities. Throughout our long history, Mueller Water Products, Inc. has played a critical and essential role as a leader in the water infrastructure in North America. We have strong brands and a broad portfolio of products and solutions. Our vision is to be the leader in water infrastructure solutions.

Our value creation priorities are driving above-market sales growth, continuing margin expansion, and executing disciplined capital allocation. We expect our ongoing investments in commercial and operational capabilities to enable us to drive above-market sales growth and further expand margins. Additionally, we will continue to take a disciplined approach to capital allocation, balancing organic investments such as our strategic capital expenditures, pursuing targeted acquisitions, and returning cash to shareholders. We have improved operational execution, strengthened stakeholder relationships, and delivered outstanding results, all while navigating a challenging external environment. I believe our performance so far this year and over the last two years is just the beginning.

Now I would like to introduce what we are calling our Mueller operating system, which is a formalized system of tools and processes that will drive discipline, execution, and excellence throughout the organization. At Mueller Water Products, Inc., this starts with an engaged employee base, which is the upper left of the diagram. Our team members are the heart and soul of Mueller Water Products, Inc. and critical to our future success. We have made significant progress with our safety-first mindset, resulting in record safety levels. Our next priority centers on enhancing our customer experience, which is supported by our commercial and operational investments.

These efforts are dedicated to achieving first-class quality and delivery, fostering seamless engagement, and establishing ourselves as a trusted partner. For example, we are investing in our digital customer-facing tools to enhance the customer experience and accelerate quoting and inventory management. Next, we aim to expand margins by simplifying our business to reduce complexity, drive business process excellence, and deliver strategic price-cost management. As part of this effort, we recently made the difficult decision to exit the i2O pressure monitoring business outside of North America. This impacts business operations and employees in the United Kingdom, Malaysia, and Colombia, as well as customers outside the U.S. and Canada.

Pressure management remains a strategic priority for us, as the demand for pressure monitoring continues to grow in North America, where it is increasingly specified alongside hydrants and valves. We plan to use and further develop the pressure technology originally acquired from i2O to strengthen our competitive position. We expect the cost savings and tax benefits to more than offset the revenue loss and support margin expansion and enhance free cash flow beyond 2026. Lastly, to accelerate our growth, we will drive market-leading innovation, focused market expansion, and disciplined strategic acquisitions. We have streamlined our new product R&D to focus on the most impactful near-term and long-term opportunities.

We remain excited about expanding our specialty valve commercial and operational capabilities to deliver highly engineered valves for large projects. While we have benefited from improving our commercial and operational execution, we are confident that we can build on our momentum to accelerate net sales growth and expand margins further through our new operating system. We look forward to sharing examples of successes along the way. With that, I will turn it over to Melissa to take us through the financials.

Melissa Rasmussen: Thanks, Paul, and good morning, everyone. We are pleased to report another quarter of strong performance. Consolidated net sales increased 5.5% to a new record of $384.4 million, driven primarily by higher pricing across most product lines along with modest volume growth. Gross profit increased 12.9% to $144.5 million with gross margin expanding 250 basis points to 37.6%. The improvement was driven primarily by favorable pricing, improved manufacturing efficiencies, and higher volumes. Manufacturing efficiencies reflected the anticipated benefits associated with the transition to our new brass foundry, including the absence of approximately $0.8 million of inventory and other asset write-downs associated with the closure of our legacy brass foundry in the prior year.

These benefits were partially offset by higher tariffs and ongoing inflationary cost pressures. Total SG&A expenses for the quarter of $59.7 million increased $4 million year over year, primarily reflecting unfavorable foreign currency impacts and continued inflationary pressures. During the quarter, we incurred $4.4 million of strategic reorganization and other charges, primarily related to expenses associated with our leadership transition, transaction-related expenses, and severance. These items have been excluded from adjusted results. Adjusted EBITDA reached a record of $97.2 million, an increase of 15% compared to the prior year quarter. Adjusted EBITDA margin expanded 210 basis points year over year to 25.3%, also a new quarterly record.

This strong performance was primarily driven by higher pricing, continued manufacturing efficiencies, and increased volume, partially offset by higher tariffs, inflationary pressures, and higher SG&A expenses. On a trailing twelve-month basis, adjusted EBITDA was $348 million or 23.7% of net sales, representing a 140 basis point improvement versus the prior twelve-month period. Adjusted net income per diluted share increased 17.6% year over year to $0.40, setting another quarterly record. During the quarter, we benefited from lower net interest expense, which declined $0.7 million driven by higher interest income. Our second quarter effective income tax rate was 25% compared with 24.2% in the prior year quarter.

Turning now to segment performance, starting with net sales increased 1% to $218.3 million, reflecting higher pricing across most product lines and increased volumes in specialty valves, partially offset by lower service brass volumes. Adjusted EBITDA grew 16.4% to $72.4 million, driven by manufacturing efficiencies and higher pricing, which more than offset increased tariffs, inflationary pressures, and lower brass volumes. Adjusted EBITDA margin expanded 440 basis points to 33.2% compared with 28.8% in the prior year period, representing a new record. Moving to WMS, net sales increased 12.2% to $166.1 million, driven by higher pricing across most product lines and volume growth of hydrant and repair products.

These benefits were partially offset by lower volumes in applications and natural gas distribution products. Adjusted EBITDA in the quarter increased 11.5% to $40.6 million. The increase reflects benefits from higher pricing and volume growth, which more than offset increased tariffs, manufacturing inefficiencies, and higher SG&A expenses, including unfavorable foreign currency impacts and inflationary pressures. Adjusted EBITDA margin contracted 20 basis points to 24.4%. Turning to free cash flow, for the six-month period, free cash flow decreased $30.8 million to $16.5 million and was 15% of adjusted net income. The decrease was driven by lower net cash provided by operating activities and higher capital expenditures.

Net cash provided by operating activities for the first six months decreased $20 million compared with the prior year. The decline was primarily driven by changes in working capital and other assets and liabilities, partially offset by higher net income and noncash adjustments. Higher working capital was largely driven by increased inventory levels, reflecting higher tariffs, inflationary pressures, and strategic investments. We invested $31.9 million in capital expenditures during the first six months of the year compared with $21.1 million in the prior year period, reflecting continued investments in our iron foundries. We ended the quarter with $452 million of total debt and $421 million of cash and cash equivalents.

Our balance sheet remains strong and flexible with no debt maturities until June 2029 and $450 million senior notes at a 4% fixed interest rate. We had no borrowings under our ABL and ended the quarter with $585 million of total liquidity, including $164 million of availability under the ABL. As a result, we continue to maintain ample liquidity, capacity, and financial flexibility to support our strategic priorities, including pursuing acquisitions. Turning now to our outlook for fiscal 2026, we are reiterating full-year guidance for consolidated net sales growth to be between 2.8% and 4.2% year over year, reflecting our current expectations for end market demand, volumes, and price realization.

Based on our performance through the first half of the year, we are raising our annual adjusted EBITDA guidance by $5 million at the midpoint to a new range of $360 million to $365 million. This range reflects our first half performance and updated expectations for volumes, price realization, inflationary pressures and tariffs, as well as ongoing manufacturing efficiencies. At the midpoint, our updated guidance range represents an adjusted EBITDA margin of more than 24.5%, an improvement of 170 basis points year over year. We are maintaining our expectations for total SG&A expenses within this updated guidance.

With increased uncertainty in the external operating environment, including the anticipated slowdown in new residential construction activity, we are working closely with customers and suppliers to adapt as needed to changes in demand, tariffs, and inflationary pressures. We are reaffirming our capital expenditure outlook of $60 million to $65 million. We now expect our free cash flow to exceed 70% of adjusted net income for the full year, reflecting higher levels of working capital. With that, I will turn it back to Paul for closing comments.

Paul McAndrew: Thanks, Melissa. I want to provide a few closing comments before opening it up for Q&A. Overall, I am excited about our team’s outstanding performance this quarter. Also, I am pleased to be raising our annual guidance at this point in the year. We remain vigilant as our end markets evolve in this increasingly uncertain external operating environment. We expect the municipal repair and replacement market to remain resilient. We are closely watching the anticipated slowdown in new residential construction activity. We continue to be focused on what we can control: executing our ongoing investments in our commercial and operational capabilities. Our teams are prepared to take action to help offset changes in end market demand, if needed.

With our focused strategic priorities and investments in our capabilities, we believe we can continue to drive results and deliver long-term value creation. I want to thank all our employees worldwide for their extraordinary commitment and passion supporting our customers and communities. They are the reason for our success and why Mueller Water Products, Inc. has been a trusted partner for over a century. That concludes our comments. Operator, please open the line up for questions.

Operator: We will now open the call for questions. Thank you. We will now begin the question and answer session. Our first question comes from Jeff Reif with RBC Capital Markets. Your line is open. You may ask your question.

Jeff Reif: Good morning. Appreciate all the details thus far. Can you start by talking about sell-in versus sell-out trends in the quarter across your segments? And how would you characterize inventory levels in the channel today?

Paul McAndrew: Hey, good morning, Jeff. In terms of how we look at channel inventory, the foresight we have in the channel inventory, we believe it is at normalized levels. Of course, our channel partners are managing the uncertainty in the external environment the same as everybody else at this point. In terms of your other question on sell-through, it is about a backlog reduction in the quarter.

We had a kind of normalized backlog change from a seasonality perspective in our Q2, where we see a rise in backlog around our price increase, which goes out in February, a little bit of pull-ahead from an order perspective, and our specialty valve business still continues to be the large portion of our backlog.

Jeff Reif: Got it. And maybe just as a follow-up on WMS, sales came in a bit better than expected this quarter, yet you are reiterating the full-year outlook. Does that imply a more moderated growth cadence in the year? Was there any pull-forward there? Just anything there?

Melissa Rasmussen: Hi, Jeff. With WMS, yes, we did have double-digit growth in the quarter, and that was primarily driven by higher pricing and volume gains, which were primarily in the hydrant and repair product lines. Hydrant shipments are benefiting from an elevated backlog that we started the year with this year. Despite the lower volumes associated with a slowdown in residential construction activity, we do expect to see growth in the remainder of the year. However, the first half of the year has been a stronger growth, and we expect WMS to normalize as the year progresses.

Paul McAndrew: Yeah, Jeff, just to add on to that. Obviously, the prior year we had a service brass backlog reduction and that has been flipped now with the hydrant. It is why the normalized backlog changes are just a flip between segments.

Jeff Reif: Got it. Makes sense. Appreciate it. Thanks.

Operator: Thank you. Our next question comes from Brian Lee with Goldman Sachs. Your line is open. You may ask your question.

Brian Lee: Hey, good morning, everyone. Thanks for taking the questions. Maybe first on the updated outlook for the year. It sounds like you have seen good pricing realization, so kudos on the nice results here. But the revenue guidance is intact. Can you speak to how much you are expecting from price versus volume? And some of the price actions you saw come to fruition in the first part of the year—is that expected to persist through the rest of the year? Is volume maybe a little bit lighter? Wondering why there might not be a little bit more upside to the revenue outlook given the strong pricing capture you saw earlier in the year?

Paul McAndrew: Yeah, good morning, Brian. We went up with our annual price increase in February, low single digit. As a reminder, we had a tariff-related price increase really taking effect in Q3 and Q4 of last year, so we will start to lap that tariff-related price as we move into the second half of the year.

Melissa Rasmussen: Brian, we saw price realization through the second quarter in the mid single-digit range, which was slightly higher than the first quarter, and that was because we did see a slight benefit from our February price actions due to the execution of our commercial team.

Brian Lee: And then just the slowdown in resi activity—you have kind of been calling this out for a little bit of time, so the tone is consistent. But can you quantify the impact? Is it maybe more of a headwind than you are assuming? Presumably, the impact is already embedded in the balance of your fiscal 2026 guide, but thinking ahead to 2027, how much of a continued headwind or just any color on how this evolves over the next year or so for your business?

Paul McAndrew: Look, yes, we believe the external environment continues to evolve. We use public homebuilders’ data points, land development. We still believe resi is down high single to low double-digit range. But on the external market and the outlook beyond that, there is still pent-up demand for resi construction. It is really trying to manage the uncertainty right now, and that is why I talked about in my prepared remarks that we will pivot as an organization and manage this closely.

Brian Lee: One for me and I will pass it on. Obviously, the balance sheet is in a pretty good spot here. On M&A and the capital allocation strategy, can you give us a sense of how high up the priority chain that is? How active you are there? Maybe what kind of pipeline you are looking at or opportunities that are most interesting right now? Thank you.

Paul McAndrew: Yes, great point. Look, our balance sheet is really strong, and we have definitely increased our activity about how we look for acquisitions to expand our portfolio. We want to find key criteria where we can expect sales and profitability and cost synergies. The challenge here is unlocking some of those acquisitions, but we are far more active in trying to tap into what would be a good acquisition for us as an organization.

Whit Kincaid: Thank you.

Operator: Our next question comes from Walter Liptak with Seaport Research. Your line is open. You may ask your question.

Walter Liptak: Hi, thanks. Good morning, guys.

Paul McAndrew: Good morning.

Walter Liptak: I wanted to ask a free cash flow question. You called out some of the working capital accounts, and accounts receivable were up a little bit. I wonder if you could provide a little bit more detail on the free cash flow. And did you—I cannot remember—but did you take the free cash flow guidance down or were you always at that 70% of net income for the year?

Melissa Rasmussen: Good morning, Walt. Yes. A couple of things related to free cash flow. The second quarter is typically our lower quarter for cash generation, and that is primarily due to receivables. The first quarter is our lowest revenue-generating quarter, typically, so we have lower collections in the second quarter related to those receivables from the first quarter. That said, we also during the second quarter are ramping our inventory levels in anticipation of our seasonal ramp for the construction season. With this specific second quarter, we did have lower-than-expected free cash flow, and that was primarily due to higher levels of working capital as a result of increased inventory.

The increased inventory balance reflects higher tariffs, inflationary pressures, and some strategic inventory build. We talked about growth in sales related to our specialty valve product lines. We expect to see some double-digit growth in that product line this year. That product line particularly has a long backlog and lead time, so that will stay in inventory for a bit longer. And so we did decrease our expectation of free cash flow as a percentage of net income this period to 70% as a result of the inventory balances as well as increased capital expenditures for the year.

Walter Liptak: Okay. And what was it before? Was it 85% now down to 70%?

Paul McAndrew: Yes, it was 85% previously.

Walter Liptak: Okay, got it. Thank you. And then just a follow-up on the residential questions. Can you help us remember, if the residential sector does still look pretty slow and kind of uncertain, are there any things that you can do around those businesses either with some of your overhead costs or strategically to try and pick up some market share?

Paul McAndrew: Walt, there is a lot of crossover in products between the resi plus the muni market and how we distinguish those. From a strategic perspective, our specialty valve business is definitely less residential construction exposed, and that is where we continue our investments. We have continued operationally consolidating those plants from an engineering skill set perspective in terms of developing those products. We believe there is a lot more growth opportunity that we can start to tap into from an industrial water perspective.

Operator: Thank you. And at this time, I will turn the call over to Paul for closing remarks.

Paul McAndrew: Thank you, operator. To everyone who joined us on the call today, overall, we are excited about the record quarter and our team’s ability to execute. Our increased annual guidance for adjusted EBITDA reflects the confidence we have in our commercial and operational capabilities. We remain vigilant in an increasingly uncertain external operating environment as it relates to demand, tariffs, and inflationary pressures. While we expect the muni repair and replacement market to remain resilient, we remain closely watching the anticipated slowing residential construction activity. We will stay focused on what we can control and take action if needed.

I want to once again thank our dedicated team members who have been and always will be the driving force behind our success. Thank you all, and we look forward to speaking with you again with our third quarter results when they are announced in early August. And with that, operator, please conclude the call.

Operator: Thank you. That does conclude today’s conference. We thank you for your participation. At this time, you may disconnect your lines.