Alta Equipment Group reported a modest year-over-year revenue decline for the third quarter, alongside higher adjusted EBITDA and improved equipment and service margins. The equipment and services provider said it is reducing costs and capital tied up in inventory and rental fleet, while Material Handling bookings strengthened. It lowered its full-year 2026 adjusted EBITDA outlook to a range of $165 million to $170 million.
Key details
-
Revenue slipped slightly. Third-quarter revenue was $417.4 million, down $5.2 million from a year earlier. On an organic basis, revenue declined 0.7%, or $2.8 million.
-
Adjusted EBITDA rose despite lower revenue. Adjusted EBITDA increased $3.2 million, or about 8%, to $44.9 million. The company also reported a net loss available to common stockholders of $12.2 million, or $0.37 per share. Its adjusted pretax loss per share was $0.19, an improvement of $0.16 from the prior year.
-
Margins improved. Gross profit margin on new and used equipment sales increased 60 basis points year over year. Service gross margin rose 250 basis points to 61.5%.
-
Material Handling bookings jumped, but deliveries have lagged. Bookings in the segment increased 67% year over year, and backlog continued to grow. Chief Executive Ryan Greenawalt said the conversion of new-equipment backlog into revenue has been slower than expected. Alta views that mainly as a timing issue and said the stronger bookings and backlog provide a base for future deliveries and revenue into the fourth quarter and 2027.
-
Construction Equipment grew with fewer assets. Segment revenue increased $12.2 million to $253.8 million, a 5% year-over-year gain. Adjusted EBITDA grew 11.2%. The segment ended the quarter with about $78 million less in assets than a year earlier, which Alta attributed to greater fleet utilization, inventory optimization and a focus on returns on capital.
-
Costs and interest expense declined. Operating expenses fell $2.9 million year over year to $110.1 million. Interest expense decreased $2.5 million to $19.9 million.
-
Alta continued to reduce capital tied up in the business. The gross book value of its rental fleet was $508.9 million, down $57.9 million year over year. Since year-end, the company said it had reduced the combined carrying value of inventory and net rental fleet by about $45 million. Adjusted total net debt and floor plan payables fell by about $20 million during the quarter.
-
Cash flow was positive year to date. Net cash provided by operating activities was $58.8 million through the first nine months of 2026.
-
Full-year guidance is now $165 million to $170 million in adjusted EBITDA. Alta revised its 2026 outlook to that range; the release did not provide the previous range in the supplied text.
Plain-English implications
Alta’s results show stronger adjusted earnings and margins even as revenue edged lower, with cost reductions and lower interest expense contributing to the improvement. The company is also operating with less capital tied up in inventory and rental equipment. In Material Handling, the rise in bookings and backlog has not yet translated into deliveries as quickly as Alta expected, so the timing of that conversion remains important to the company’s stated outlook.