Perma-Fix Environmental Services reported a stronger third quarter, with revenue up 39% from the second quarter, consolidated gross profit returning to positive territory and its net loss narrowing. The company said delayed processing on a Hanford-related waste stream and temporary equipment upgrades held back results, while its treatment backlog expanded and activity at its Hanford-area facility increased.
The business update also highlighted growth in the Services segment and progress in PFAS destruction. Perma-Fix expects those operations, along with rising Hanford waste volumes, to support activity in the coming year.
Quarterly performance and backlog
- Treatment backlog reached $19.6 million at September 30, up about 25% from the second quarter and approximately 65% from year-end 2025.
- Customer-directed changes to treatment protocols for a Hanford-related waste stream required testing and final approvals, which were not received until late August. Processing reached full operations in September, delaying some revenue beyond the quarter.
- Temporary downtime to upgrade thermal treatment systems at the company’s Florida and Kingston facilities also affected the quarter. The upgrades were completed in September.
- Price increases that began in August are starting to appear in new backlog.
Hanford activity and contract opportunity
- Perma-Fix Northwest is receiving liquid effluent from the Department of Energy’s Direct-Feed Low-Activity Waste facility and has begun receiving dry waste from the same facility. The company expects both volumes to increase as the operation ramps up.
- The DOE’s amended 2023 decision identified Perma-Fix Northwest to treat DFLAW effluent on an interim basis, expected to last about 10 years.
- Perma-Fix is also one of three contractors awarded a master subcontract by Hanford’s prime contractor for treatment of certain waste streams. The arrangement covers potential treatment of up to about 50 million gallons through 2041, with an overall procurement ceiling of approximately $4.4 billion.
- Those figures are shared ceilings for all three contractors, not work awarded or committed to Perma-Fix. The company will compete for individual task orders; it did not specify how many or what size it may receive.
- Perma-Fix is advancing upgrades to expand its grouting capacity. It said it is the only one of the three contractors with a facility adjacent to Hanford. Waste treated under the subcontract would be stabilized as grouted solid and shipped out of state by rail.
Services and PFAS
- Services Segment revenue rose 46% year over year. Its gross margin improved to 12.2% from 6.7%, and the segment generated operating income.
- The company said sales and receipts in its PFAS destruction business increased compared with the first half of the year.
- Its Gen 2.0 PFAS destruction unit is expected to begin commissioning in the fourth quarter of 2026, with operations anticipated in the first half of 2027.
- Florida enacted legislation phasing out PFAS-containing firefighting foam, subject to exceptions. Perma-Fix said it expects the change to support continued demand for PFAS destruction.
What changes for investors
Perma-Fix enters the next period with a larger treatment backlog, completed thermal-system upgrades and initial receipts of both liquid and dry waste from DFLAW. The Hanford master subcontract offers a route to compete for additional work, but its large headline ceiling is not a commitment to the company; any revenue from it depends on individual task-order awards.