Balchem Corporation Reports First Quarter 2026 Financial Results

MONTVALE, N.J., April 30, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Balchem Corporation (NASDAQ: BCPC) reported today financial results for its 2026 fiscal first quarter ended March 31, 2026. For the quarter, the Company reported net sales of $270.7 million, net earnings of $40.3 million, adjusted EBITDA (a) of $74.3 million, and free cash flow (a) of $33.8 million.

Ted Harris, Chairman, President and CEO of Balchem said, “The first quarter was an excellent start to the year for Balchem, with sales and earnings growth in all three segments. We delivered record first quarter net sales, adjusted EBITDA, and net earnings, as well as strong cash flows.”

First Quarter 2026 Financial Highlights:

Recent Highlights:

Mr. Harris said, “I am very pleased with how we have started 2026, both financially and strategically, with record Q1 financial results and solid progress being made on our strategic growth initiatives.”

Mr. Harris added, “These results highlight the strength and resilience of our business model which will undoubtedly serve us well as we maneuver through the geopolitical environment and the changing global trade outlook that are impacting markets. We believe we are well positioned to continue to drive growth through this market volatility and we will remain nimble and flexible to adjust accordingly as market conditions evolve.”

Financial Results for the First Quarter of 2026:

The Human Nutrition and Health segment generated quarterly sales of $171.6 million, an increase of $13.2 million, or 8.3%, compared to the prior year quarter. The increase was driven by higher sales within both the nutrients business and the food ingredients and solutions businesses. Earnings from operations for this segment of $40.0 million increased $2.0 million, or 5.4%, compared to $38.0 million in the prior year quarter, primarily due to the aforementioned higher sales and a favorable mix, partially offset by certain higher manufacturing input costs and higher operating expenses. Excluding the effect of non-cash expense associated with amortization of acquired intangible assets and other adjustments, adjusted earnings from operations (a) for this segment were $43.4 million, compared to $41.0 million in the prior year quarter, an increase of 6.0%.

The Animal Nutrition and Health segment generated quarterly sales of $62.2 million, an increase of $4.9 million, or 8.6%, compared to the prior year quarter. The increase was driven by higher sales in both the monogastric and ruminant species markets. First quarter earnings from operations for this segment of $5.7 million increased $0.5 million, or 8.7%, compared to $5.2 million in the prior year quarter, primarily due to the aforementioned higher sales, partially offset by certain higher manufacturing input costs and higher operating expenses. Excluding the effect of non-cash expense associated with amortization of acquired intangible assets and other adjustments, adjusted earnings from operations for this segment were $5.9 million compared to $5.5 million in the prior year quarter, an increase of 8.2%.

The Specialty Products segment generated quarterly sales of $34.7 million, an increase of $1.5 million, or 4.4%, compared to the prior year quarter, due to higher sales in the performance gases business. Record earnings from operations for this segment were $11.9 million, compared to $9.6 million in the prior year comparable quarter, an increase of 24.5%, primarily driven by the aforementioned higher sales. Excluding the effect of non-cash expense associated with amortization of acquired intangible assets and other adjustments, record adjusted earnings from operations for this segment were $12.8 million, compared to $10.5 million in the prior year quarter, an increase of 21.2%.

Consolidated quarterly gross margin of $101.1 million increased by $12.9 million, or 14.6%, compared to $88.2 million for the prior year comparable period. Gross margin as a percentage of sales was 37.3% compared to 35.2% in the prior year period, an increase of 210 basis points, primarily due to the sales growth and manufacturing efficiencies, partially offset by raw material inflation. Operating expenses of $45.5 million for the quarter increased $8.3 million from the prior year comparable quarter, primarily due to higher compensation-related costs and an increase in professional services.

Net interest expense was $2.2 million and $2.9 million in the first quarters of 2026 and 2025, respectively. The decrease in interest expense was primarily due to lower outstanding borrowings and lower interest rates. Our effective tax rates for the three months ended March 31, 2026 and 2025 were 23.3% and 22.7%, respectively. The higher effective tax rate was primarily due to an increase in certain state taxes.

First quarter cash flows provided by operating activities were $40.1 million and free cash flow was $33.8 million. The $236.4 million of net working capital on March 31, 2026 included a cash balance of $72.9 million. Significant cash payments during the quarter included a dividend payment of $30.8 million, repurchases of common stock of $15.7 million, and capital expenditures and intangible assets acquired of $6.3 million. Outstanding debt on our revolving loan was $169.0 million as of March 31, 2026 and our net debt (b) was $96.1 million, with an overall leverage ratio (c) on a net debt basis of 0.3 times.

Ted Harris said, “The Balchem team delivered another strong quarter in Q1 of 2026. We remain confident in the long-term growth outlook for our company, despite the current geopolitical and global trade uncertainties, as we continue to focus on progressing our strategic growth initiatives over the course of the remainder of 2026 and beyond.”

Quarterly Conference Call

A quarterly conference call will be held on Thursday, April 30, 2026, at 11:00 AM Eastern Time (ET) to review first quarter 2026 results. Ted Harris, Chairman, President and CEO and Martin Bengtsson, CFO will host the call. Institutional investors, analysts and other members of the financial community are invited to join the live call by dialing 800-715-9871 (toll free USA/Canada), +1-646-307-1963 (USA/International) or 647-932-3411 (Canada/Toronto), five minutes prior to the scheduled start time of the conference call. Investors and the public are invited to listen to the live webcast at https://events.q4inc.com/attendee/169585269. The conference call will be available for replay shortly after the conclusion of the call at https://events.q4inc.com/attendee/169585269 for one year.

Segment Information

Balchem Corporation reports three business segments: Human Nutrition and Health, Animal Nutrition and Health, and Specialty Products. The Human Nutrition and Health segment delivers customized food and beverage ingredient systems, as well as key nutrients into a variety of applications across the food, supplement and pharmaceutical industries. The Animal Nutrition and Health segment manufactures and supplies products to numerous animal health markets. Through Specialty Products, Balchem provides specialty-packaged performance gases for use in healthcare and other industries, and also provides chelated minerals to the micronutrient agricultural market. Sales and production of products outside of our reportable segments and other minor business activities are included in "Other and Unallocated".

Forward-Looking Statements

This release contains forward-looking statements, within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, which reflect our expectation or belief concerning future events that involve risks and uncertainties. These forward-looking statements generally are identified by the words "believe," "project," "expect," "anticipate," "estimate," "forecast," "outlook," "intend," "strategy," "future," "opportunity," "plan," "may," "should," "will," "would," "will be," "will continue," "will likely result," or the negative thereof or variations thereon or similar expressions generally intended to identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements may relate to such matters as projections of revenue, margins, expenses, tax provisions, earnings, cash flows, benefit obligations, dividends, share repurchases or other financial items; any statements of the plans, strategies and objectives of management for future operations, including those relating to any statements concerning expected development, performance or market share relating to our products and services; any statements regarding future economic conditions or our performance; any statements regarding pending investigations, claims or disputes; any statements of expectation or belief; and any statements of assumptions underlying any of the foregoing. These statements are based on the Company's currently available information and our current assumptions, expectations and projections about future events. They are subject to future events, risks and uncertainties - many of which are beyond the Company’s control - as well as potentially inaccurate assumptions, that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Important factors and other risks that may affect the Company's business or that could cause actual results to differ materially are included in filings the Company makes with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission from time to time, including its Annual Report on Form 10-K, its Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, its Current Reports on Form 8-K, and in its other SEC filings. Reference should be made to such factors and all forward-looking statements are qualified in their entirety by the above cautionary statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Contact: Jacqueline Yarmolowicz, Balchem Corporation (Telephone: 845-326-5600)

Selected Financial Data (unaudited)

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Non-GAAP Financial Information

In addition to disclosing financial results in accordance with United States (U.S.) generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), this earnings release contains non-GAAP financial measures that we believe are helpful in understanding and comparing our past financial performance and our future results. The non-GAAP financial measures in this press release include adjusted gross margin, adjusted earnings from operations, adjusted net earnings and the related adjusted per diluted share amounts, EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA, adjusted income tax expense, free cash flow, net debt, and leverage ratio. The non-GAAP financial measures disclosed by the company exclude certain business combination accounting adjustments and certain other items related to acquisitions, certain equity compensation, nonqualified deferred compensation plan expense (income), and certain one-time or unusual transactions. Detailed non-GAAP adjustments are described in the reconciliation tables below and also explained in the related footnotes. These non-GAAP financial measures should not be considered a substitute for, or superior to, financial measures calculated in accordance with GAAP, and the financial results calculated in accordance with GAAP and reconciliations from these results should be carefully evaluated. Investors should not consider non-GAAP measures as alternatives to the related GAAP measures.

Set forth below are reconciliations of the non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures.

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