DXP Enterprises (DXPE) Q2 2026 earnings call transcript

Thank you. This is Kent E, and welcome to DXP's Q2-2026 Conference Call to discuss our results for the second quarter ending June 30, 2026. Joining me today is our chief operating officer, Nick Little, our chairman and CEO, David Little, is traveling, and so we will be kind of going forward from that fashion today. Before we get started, I want to remind you that today's call is being webcast and recorded and includes forward-looking statements. Actual results may differ materially from those contemplated by these forward-looking statements. A detailed discussion of the many factors that we believe may have a material effect on our business on an ongoing basis are contained in our SEC filings. DXP assumes no obligation to update that information because of new information or future events.

During this call, we may present both GAP and non-GAP financial measures. A reconciliation of GAP to non-GAP measures is included in our earnings press release. The press release and an accompanying investor presentation are now available on our website at r. dxpe. com. I will now turn the call over to Nick Little, our chief operating officer, to provide his thoughts in a summary of our second quarter financial results. Nick.

Good morning and thank you Ken. Like Ken said, I'm filling in for David Little who is having technical difficulties while traveling. I also want to thank everyone for joining us today on DXP's fiscal 2026 second quarter call. We had a very strong second quarter and I'm proud of how our DXP people performed. We delivered strong year over year and sequential sales growth, expanded profitability and generated quarterly adjusted dividend. More importantly, we did it by staying close to our customers, solving real problems in the field and continuing to build momentum across the business.

Let me start by saying that Q2 was a strong example of what happens when our DXP people stay close to customers, execute locally, and bring technical expertise to our customers. We grew sales and proved productivity, generated significant free cash flow, and continue to advance our strategy of being customer-driven experts, technical, reliable, fast, and convenient for our customers. We are pleased to see DXP's performance continue throughout Q2 and remain at record levels through the first half of 2026. This allowed us to achieve strong sales growth and 12% dividend margins. Thank you to our 3510 DXP for your hard work and dedication. We welcome our new acquisitions as well as all the new DXP people, DXP continues to invest in and hire for growth.

Total DXP sales for the second quarter were 576.5 million, a 15.6% year over year. Organic sales increased 11.1% year over year, continuing to show the underlying strength of the business. Our acquisitions are contributing, but our existing teams and branches are also winning with customers. Profitability also improved, gross profit margin was 31.8%. Income from operations increased to 55.5 million.

Adjusted IBITDA was 70.4 million, or 12.2% of sales. Net income increased to 28.7 million, and diluted EPS was 1.76 compared with 1.43 in the second quarter of 2025. Those are strong results, and I want to be clear that they start with our DXP people taking care of customers. A special thanks goes to our sales professionals, operations teams, branch leaders, service technicians, engineers, supply chain teams, and corporate support teams. DXP works because of DXP people you can trust. Our customers rely on us to solve problems quickly and provide technical solutions, keeping their operations running, and making doing business with DXP fast and convenient. That's what being customer-driven experts means.

From a growth standpoint, we continue to like where DXP is positioned. Customers in water and wastewater, energy infrastructure, general industry, air compression, data centers, and other technical markets need reliability, responsiveness, and expertise. Those are DXP strengths, and they create opportunities for us to earn more of the customer's business and drive revenue and margin share. Across DXP, growth is coming from several consistent themes, expanding our technical and engineering solutions, broadening solutions around pumps, automation, filtration, and process equipment.

Leveraging our decentralized model to pursue local growth opportunities and cross selling across platforms and integrating acquisitions more efficiently. Our strategy has not changed, and that's a good thing. We want to grow DXP organically and through acquisitions, diversify the company, expand our capabilities, and service customers with solutions that are fast, convenient, reliable, and supported by DX people. We are not chasing growth just to get bigger. We are focused on profitable growth, strong cash generation, and customer relationships that last.

The broader economy continues to have volatility from tariffs, inflation, interest rates, and geopolitical uncertainty. But the work our customers do is mission critical, and the products and services DXP provides are essential to keeping plants, facilities, municipalities, and industrial operations moving. That gives our business resilience, and it gives our DX people a chance to show why DXP is different.

During the first half of 2026, our service centers and innovative pumping solutions businesses generated 967.3 million in sales, up 14.3% from prior year. That growth reflects both organic execution and recent acquisitions, especially within IPS and our water and wastewater platform.

Innovative pumping solutions again led the way in the second quarter. IPS sales increased 52.6% year over year, and 20.3% sequentially to 142.7 million. This growth was driven by water and wastewater activity, increased production contracts, and strategic acquisitions. Our IPS teams continued to show what technical expertise looks like in the field, solving complex customer problems, delivering engineered solutions, and helping customers move important projects forward. IPS continues to be a strong example of DXP's growth momentum. DXP water grew to 97.9 million in the quarter, nearly doubling year over year. Municipal infrastructure investments, regulatory requirements, and customer demand for reliable pumping and treating solutions created an attractive long cycle opportunity for DXP water. DXP water generated 175.5 million in sales for the first half of 26, up 85.6% year over year, underscoring the momentum we're building in these markets.

These markets, where our customers value expertise, reliability, and know-how. Many IPS projects are long cycle in nature, and when customers choose DXP, they are choosing DXP people who understand the application, the urgency, and the importance of getting the solution right. Backlog within IPS also remains an important indicator of the momentum we're seeing in the business. During the second quarter, average IPS backlog remains strong, an increase compared to both prior period and the first quarter.

That growth reflects continued demand for engineered pumping solutions, water and wastewater projects, and production-related work with customers who rely on DXP for technical expertise and execution. The average backlog levels we saw throughout Q2 give us confidence in the durability of customer activity and support our positive outlook for the remainder of 2026.

Service centers also perform well. Sales increased 8.3% year over year and 8.9% sequentially to 367.9 million. Organic sales increased 40.9 million compared to the prior year compared to the prior year quarter. This is the heart of DXP's local customer-driven model. Our service center teams are close to the customer. They understand the market and they know how to respond quickly when customers need us. That local presence is what allows DXP to be fast and convenient while still bringing technical expertise to our customers. Supply chain services increased modestly to 65.8 million, up 0.6% year over year and 1.2% sequentially. SES continues to onboard new customers and related facilities, although that growth was partially offset by lower activity with existing customers.

This business is a great example of why being customer-driven experts because we are not just selling products. We are helping customers improve procurement, manage inventory, reduce complexity, and make their supply chain faster, more convenient, and more efficient. Acquisitions continue to be an important part of DXP's growth strategy, but we are disciplined about it. We are looking for businesses that fit our culture, strengthen our technical capabilities, and help us serve customers better, faster, and more conveniently. During the first quarter of 2026, we acquired three businesses, and during the second quarter, we acquired one additional business.

These acquisitions expand our water and wastewater platform, enhance our capabilities, extend our geographic reach, and reinforce our position as a leading distributor of rotating equipment in North America. For the first six months of 2026, acquisitions were 90.6 million compared to 55.7 million in the prior year period. We are pleased with how recent acquisition businesses are contributing. At the same time, our focus is integration, cross-selling, retaining great people, and making sure each acquired business becomes a part of the DXP culture. We also completed the acquisition of Macquepco on August 1, 2026, funded with cash on the balance sheet and DXP stock. We are excited to welcome these new DXP people to DXP and look forward to supporting their customers with the broader capabilities of our company and growing DXP water in Canada.

Cash generation improved improved meaningfully in the second quarter. Free cash flow was 29.8 million for the first six months of 2026. Free cash flow was 56 million compared to negative free cash flow of 8.6 million in the first half of 2025. Our balance sheet liquidity position gives us flexibility to continue to invest in organic growth, fund acquisitions, support working capital, and manage the business through different economic environments. We want to keep growing, but we want to do it the DXP way with discipline, customer focus, cash generation, and returns that make sense. Overall, I'm very encouraged by our second quarter results and the progress we're making. We delivered strong sales growth and proof profitability, expanded adjusted EBITDA margins, generated strong free cash flow, and continued to build DXP through strategic acquisitions.

But the real story is our people. Our DXP people continue to show up every day for customers and for each other. I want to personally thank all of our DXP people for their hard work, customer focus, and execution. We continue to build the new chapter of DXP by being technical experts, providing customer-driven engineered solutions while continuing to be fast and convenient. This is how we win. This is how we earn trust, and this is why customers continue to rely on DXP. As we look forward, our priorities remain unchanged. Drive organic growth, expand margins, grow our water and wastewater platform, execute disciplined acquisitions, generate strong free cash flow, and increase shareholder value over the long term.

I would like to thank all of our employees for their commitment to serving customers and delivering results. Their dedication continues to differentiate DXP in the marketplace. With that, I will turn the call back over to Kent.

Thank you, Nick, and thank you to everyone for joining us for our review of our second quarter, 2026 financial results. Q2 financial performance reflects continued execution across DXP with strong sales growth, improved profitability, additional margin expansion, and excellent free cash flow generation. Additionally, our results also highlight the continued success of our acquisition strategy and the growing scale of our water and wastewater platform, as Nick mentioned. Our results demonstrate the continued benefits of diversified end markets, the resilience of MRO and supply chain solutions, and the meaningful contribution from engineered solution capabilities.

As it pertains specifically to our second quarter, DXP's financial results reflect sales growth of 15.6% year over year to 576.5 million, including 49.8 million of acquisition sales, organic sales growth of 11.1% year over year reflecting strength across our core business, continued strategic progress and water and wastewater supported by organic growth, project activity, and three water acquisitions through Q2, operating income growth of 9.5 million or 20.7% to 55.5 million and adjusted EBITDA of 70.4 million with adjusted EBITDA margins improving to 12.2%, a new high watermark for DXP. In terms of our detailed financial results, total sales for the second quarter increased 15.6% year over year to 576.5 million.

Acquisitions that have been with DXP for less than a year contributed 49.8 million sales during the quarter, excluding the impact of acquisitions, organic sales were 526.6 million, representing 11.1% organic growth compared to the second quarter of 2025. Average daily sales for the second quarter were 9.15 million per day versus 7.92 million per day in Q2 of last year, adjusting for acquisitions, organic average daily sales were 8.36 million per day versus 7.53 million per day in Q2 of 2025.

As is typical, sales accelerated throughout the quarter, with average daily sales increasing from 9.07 million per day in April to 9.4 million per day in June, reflecting a normal quarter in push by highlighting strong acceleration coming into quarter in. In terms of our business segments, innovative pumping solutions grew 52.6% year over year, followed by service centers growing 8.3% and supply chains services growing 0.6% year over year. Innovative pumping solutions sales increased 49.2 million or 52.6% year over year to 142.7 million. This growth reflects increased activity in our water and wastewater division, increased production contracts, and strategic acquisitions within IPS. Recent acquisitions contributed 47 million of sales during the quarter, compared to 9.1 million in Q2 of last year.

Excluding acquisitions, IPS organic sales grew 11.3 million or 13.3%. Segment operating income for IPS was 26.7 million up from 18.6 million in Q2 of last year.

In terms of innovative pumping solutions backlog, we experience increases in the energy and water and wastewater bookings and backlog. Our Q2 energy related average backlog grew 7.3% sequentially and continues to stem declines we saw in Q3 and Q4 last year. That said, as we have mentioned, we continue to have some large engineered solutions or projects and we have continued to recognize revenue in Q2. Excluding some of these projects, our backlog is up 10% from Q1. The conclusion continues to remain that we are trending meaningfully above all notable sales levels and our backlog has mitigated some declines we saw in the second half of 2025. Our DXP water platform experienced our 15th consecutive quarter of sequential sales growth with 97.3 million in sales during Q2 and year to date sales of 175.5 million and we will look for this to continue during the second half of 2026.

In terms of our service centers, service centers sales increased 28.2 million or 8.3% year over year to 367.9 million. Excluding the impact of recent acquisitions, service centers grew 40.9 million organically. This growth was driven by increased business activity across multiple regions including California, Gulf Coast, Southeast, North Texas, South Central, and South Rockies. From a segment operating income perspective, service centers generated 54.2 million of operating income in the quarter reflecting continued strength and consistency in the core MRO business. We are building a larger, more diversified platform with attractive and market demand, project opportunities, and recurring service potential. Supply chain services sales increased 0.4 million or 0.6% year over year to 65.8 million. Performance reflects the onboarding of new customers and related facilities partially offset by decreased activity with certain existing customers.

Segment operating income was 6.5 million compared to 5.2 million in a prior year period, reflecting improved profitability despite essentially sales being flat.

Turning to gross margins, DXP's total gross margin was 31.8% for the second quarter compared to 31.6% in Q2 of 2025. The improvement reflects continuing margin expansion efforts and a positive contribution from recent acquisitions. Our SG&A for the quarter increased 15.7 million from Q2 of last year to 127.6 million. The increase reflects increased payroll related costs, depreciation and amortization, rent, insurance, and professional fees. However, SG&A as a percentage of sales improved to 22.1% from 22.4% in Q2 of last year, reflecting operating leverage as sales increased.

Turning to EBITDA, Q2 of 2026 adjusted EBITDA with 70.4 million compared to 57.3 million in Q2 of 2025. Adjusted EBITDA margins were 12.2% up from 11.5% last year. The improvement reflects sales growth, gross margin strength, and the fixed cost leverage we continue to see as we scale the business. For the quarter, this translated into 1.5 times operating leverage. In terms of EPS, our net income for Q2 was 28.7 million. Earnings per diluted share for Q2, 2026 were $1.76 per share versus $1.43 per share last year. The year-over-year improvement primarily reflects higher sales, improved gross profit, and stronger operating income, partially offset by higher interest expense and a higher effective tax rate.

Turning to the balance sheet in cash flow, in terms of working capital, net working capital as of June 30th, 2026 was 393.3 million, an increase of 31.7 million compared to December 31st, 2025. The increase was primarily due to sustained sales growth in acquisitions. In terms of cash, we had 226.6 million cash on the balance sheet as of June 30th. We also had 147.9 million of availability under our ABL resulting in total liquidity of 374.5 million, providing DXB with sufficient dry powder to pursue acquisitions.

CapEx in the second quarter was 2.6 million compared to 10.3 million in Q2 of last year. For the first six months of 2026, capital expenditures were 5.9 million compared to 30.3 million in the first six months of 2025. This reflects a more normalized level of capital spending following the elevated investments we made last year.

Turning to free cash flow, free cash flow for the second quarter was 29.8 million versus 8.3 million in Q2 of 2025. For the first six months of 2026, free cash flow was 56 million compared to negative 8.6 million in the prior year period. Over the last four quarters, DXB has produced 118.7 million in free cash flow, creating a new fact pattern for DXB, consistently averaging 29 million in free cash flow per quarter while also growing the business or sales per business day. This improvement reflects increases in profitability, stronger operating cash flow, and a meaningful reduction in capital expenditures. As of June 30, our fixed charge coverage ratio was 2.97 to 1, and our secured leverage ratio was 2.3 to 1, with a covenant EBITDA for the last 12 months of 267 million.

Total debt outstanding on June 30 was 842.5 million. In terms of acquisitions, we acquired four businesses during the first half of 2026 for total consideration of 135.6 million. These acquisitions are directly in line with our strategy to expand our water and wastewater platform, extend our geographic reach, and support our position as a leading distributor of rotating equipment in North America. We continue to see acquisitions as a disciplined repeatable growth lever for DXP, particularly where we can add strong teams, technical expertise, and market access in attractive end markets. As Nick mentioned, subsequent to quarter end, we also completed the acquisition of Macquico Limited, which is based in Western Canada and provides DXP with a beachhead to expand DXP water in Canada going forward.

The acquisition was funded with cash on the balance sheet and DXP stock further demonstrated the strength of our pipeline and our ability to execute. On July 2nd, 2026, we entered into a new restated loan insecurity agreement, increasing our ABL to 225 million and extending the maturity to July 2031. This further enhances our financial flexibility as we continue to invest in the business organically and through acquisitions.

Finally, on July 20th, S&P Global Ratings upgraded DXP's issuer credit rating and first lean term loan ratings to B plus from B with a stable outlook. We viewed this upgrade as external recognition of the progress we have made, strengthening the balance sheet, diversifying our end market mix, scaling EBITDA, and executing a disciplined acquisition strategy while maintaining financial flexibility.

In summary, we are pleased with our second quarter and first half performance in 2026. We delivered strong sales growth, expanded margins, improved just city B with DAW and generated significant free cash flow while continuing to execute on our acquisition strategy. The quarter reinforces that acquisitions and water and wastewater are becoming increasingly important contributors to DXP's growth profile. We believe DXP remains well positioned to continue creating value through our resilient MRO and supply chain solutions, engineered solution capabilities, disciplined acquisitions, and exposure to secular trends. We are excited about the future. We look forward with confidence to sustain growth and market outperformance. I will now turn the call over for questions.

Yeah, good morning, Zach. And thank you, yes. You know, I'll walk through the sales for business day. I'll really just go through Q1 and Q2, so you just are clear on the full first half of 2026. January was 7.2 million per day, February 8.4 million per day, March 9.2 million per day, April 9.1, May 9 million, June 9.4.

Year to date average, just if you just want to have the average of that out, that's 8.7 million per day for the full year to date average.

You know, Zach, hey, part of that is obviously mixed. You know, the thing I'd point out within the IPS segment is, you know, water and wastewater is approaching 70 percent of the segment sales. And while we had great profitability on both sides of the business, meaning the energy side as well as the water side, that increased contribution and overall average higher operating income margin in water and wastewater would suggest we have a chance of repeating that. This is our first quarter at 12 percent. So I don't want to, I don't want to promise anything. And as you know, we don't, we don't give direct guidance, but we do believe longer term the business easily can get to that 12 percent on a sustainable basis.

But this is our first quarter hitting it. So.

Yeah, no problem, Zach. And, you know, you big picture just in terms of CAPEX, there's very little for us of maintenance CAPEX. That said, just in terms of your specific question, last year, we made investments in software facilities, equipment, a lot of different things, you know, as we often do when we get in a growth prospect. Additionally, on the rotating equipment side, we invest in patterns and different things, because we do, you know, source and make our own branded private label pumps. And so, so those were the investments we were making that continue to help us to be the leading rotating equipment provider in North America. So.