On today's call, we will be covering our full year and fourth quarter fiscal 2026 financial and operational results. As a reminder, our results reflect the completion of the Kito Crosby acquisition closed on February 3rd, 2026, and the divestiture of Columbus McKinnon's legacy U.S. The earnings release and presentation to supplement today's call are available for download on our investor relations website at investors.cmco.com. Please see our earnings release and our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission for more information.
As we move further into the first full year as a combined company with Kito Crosby, we're even more optimistic about the future we are building together. Our performance this year reflects the completion of both the acquisition and the divestiture in the fourth quarter and momentum that is building across the enterprise. In fiscal 2026, we delivered 20% order growth, 24% net sales growth, and 16% adjusted EBITDA growth year-over-year, demonstrating the early-stage value of our strategy and the hard work of our team. These results were supported by continued progress in operational excellence, commercial effectiveness, and customer experience initiatives that are improving our competitiveness and strengthening our foundation for sustainable growth.
Removing the divestiture in both periods, our legacy CMCO business grew net sales 7%, and on a pro forma basis, the newly combined company grew 6% for the full year. We saw strong results across both short cycle and project-based business, with particular strength in short cycle demand, evidence of effective commercial execution and encouraging market conditions in the Americas. Lifting also delivered solid growth supported by the acquisition, favorable foreign exchange, and tariff-related price increases. In EMEA, demand remained more challenged given worsening geopolitical conditions and slowing order conversion, despite what remains a healthy pipeline.
| Metric | Period | Current guidance |
|---|---|---|
| Net sales | FY2027 | $2.05B–$2.12B (pro forma organic growth of ~1–4%) |
| Adjusted EBITDA | FY2027 | $390M–$410M, including $14M of in-year cost synergies (~19%+ margin at midpoint) |
| Adjusted EPS | FY2027 | $1.70–$1.90 |
| Interest / amortization / D&A | FY2027 | Interest $185–$190M; amortization $135–$140M; depreciation $75–$80M |
| Tax rate / diluted shares | FY2027 | ~25% effective tax rate; ~52M adjusted diluted shares (PIK on the CD&R preferred dividend) |
| Net leverage | Within ~2 years | At or inside 4x net leverage within two years, funded by substantial free cash flow |
| Metric | YoY | Note |
|---|---|---|
| FY net sales | +24% to $1.2B (record) | Organic pricing/volume, favorable FX and $188M from Kito Crosby, partly offset by a $14M divestiture impact. |
| Q4 net sales | +77% to $438M | Two months of Kito Crosby, pricing and FX, net of the divestiture. |
| Q4 adjusted EBITDA | $69M (+93%); 15.7% margin (+130 bps) | Accretive Kito Crosby acquisition and fixed-cost leverage from scale. |
| Q4 GAAP net loss / LPS | $(238)M; $(5.78) | $200M goodwill impairment, $37M inventory step-up, $24M debt-extinguishment and higher interest, partly offset by a $103M divestiture gain. |
| Adjusted EPS | $0.24 (Q4); $1.87 (FY) | Acquisition/divestiture impacts, higher interest, tariffs and a higher (preferred-converted) share count. |
| Q4 adjusted gross margin | 32.7% | Divestiture dilution (~50 bps), tariffs (~50 bps), Americas mix (~75 bps) and delayed EMEA shipments. |
| Backlog | $520M | ~$320M legacy CMCO plus ~$200M from Kito Crosby entering FY2027. |
| Free cash flow (ex deal costs) | $68M (+$43M) | Stronger earnings and working-capital discipline; reported operating cash flow was a $146M use after $232M of deal/divestiture cash costs. |
| Topic | Previous mention | Current period | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|
| Transformational year completed | Deal pending | Both the Kito Crosby acquisition (Feb 3) and the U.S. power-chain-hoist/chain divestiture (Mar 4) closed in Q4, making fiscal 2026 a defining, portfolio-reshaping year for a now >7,000-employee combined company. | — |
| Non-cash charges obscure operations | — | A $200M goodwill impairment (sustained stock-price decline), a $37M inventory step-up and $24M of debt-extinguishment costs drove a large GAAP loss even as adjusted EBITDA grew 93% in the quarter. | — |
| Deleveraging path | Sub-4x by FY2028 | Net leverage of 5.1x with debt repayment the top priority; management now targets at or inside 4x within about two years on substantial expected free cash flow. | — |
| Synergy realization | $70M target (20/60/100%) | Off to a strong start with day-one org realignment, insurance consolidation and contract harmonization; $14M of synergies embedded in FY2027, with confidence to potentially exceed the $70M target. | — |
| Demand and cost backdrop | U.S. robust, EMEA soft | Strong U.S. short-cycle demand and megatrend tailwinds (onshoring, labor scarcity, automation, defense) against persistent EMEA softness, Middle East disruption and broad input-cost inflation being offset with ~2% pricing. | — |
| Margin recovery outlook | Q4 gross margin compressed to 32.7% | Management characterized Q4 margin headwinds as largely transient and expects gross margins to normalize and expand through fiscal 2027 on pricing, operational execution and synergy realization. | — |