CMCO ends fiscal year with $1.2 billion in orders

By Ahmed Jamerson • Thursday, June 04 16:08 • Permanent Link

Columbus McKinnon ended fiscal 2026 with orders of $1.2 billion, up 20% from the prior year, and net sales of $1.2 billion, up 24%, as the Kito Crosby acquisition reshaped the company’s results.

In the fourth quarter, orders jumped 68% to $442.8 million and backlog reached $519.6 million. That backlog included $319.7 million from legacy Columbus McKinnon and $199.9 million from Kito Crosby.

Fourth-quarter net sales rose 77% to $437.8 million from $246.9 million a year earlier. U.S. sales increased 68% to $234.3 million, while non-U.S. sales climbed 89% to $203.5 million.

Profitability was hit hard in the quarter. Columbus McKinnon posted a net loss of $238.1 million, compared with a loss of $2.7 million a year earlier. The company said the quarter included a $200.0 million goodwill impairment, $36.8 million of inventory step-up amortization, $68.1 million of deal-related costs, and a $103.3 million gain on the divestiture.

Gross profit rose 29% to $102.9 million, but gross margin fell to 23.5% from 32.3%. Adjusted gross profit increased 65% to $143.1 million, though adjusted gross margin declined to 32.7% from 35.2%.

Adjusted EBITDA nearly doubled to $68.7 million from $35.6 million, and adjusted EBITDA margin improved to 15.7% from 14.4%.

For the full year, net loss attributable to the company was $230 million, versus a loss of $2.7 million in the prior year. Adjusted EBITDA rose to $181.4 million from the prior year, while adjusted EBITDA margin was 15.2%.

Cash flow was negative for the year, with operating cash use of $146.2 million and capital expenditures of $17.9 million, resulting in free cash flow use of $164.1 million. Excluding $204.9 million of acquisition-related cash payments and $27.2 million of divestiture-related cash payments, free cash flow was positive $68.0 million, up 171% from the prior year on a comparable basis.

At year-end, Columbus McKinnon reported total liquidity of $561.2 million, including $96.6 million of cash, $458.9 million of revolver availability and $5.7 million of availability on its AR securitization facility. Net leverage stood at 5.1x.

For fiscal 2027, the company guided to net sales of $2.05 billion to $2.12 billion, adjusted EBITDA of $390 million to $410 million, and adjusted EPS of $1.70 to $1.90. Today the company's shares have moved -9.28% to a price of $14.07. For more information, read the company's full 8-K submission here.

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