Atkore Accelerated Sales Growth as Electrical Demand Strengthened
Gross margin recovered to 22.2% as volume and pricing improved.
Atkore Inc. (ATKR), the electrical products maker, accelerated fiscal third-quarter sales growth to 8.1% as its Electrical segment delivered higher revenue and profit.
Net sales rose to $794.8 million from $735.0 million a year earlier, after increasing 4.2% in the second quarter and declining 0.9% in the first. Revenue also advanced 8.7% sequentially, marking a third consecutive quarterly increase from $655.5 million in the first quarter.
Adjusted earnings increased to $1.92 a share from $1.63 a year earlier and $1.23 in the second quarter. Adjusted EBITDA rose 4.7% to $104.7 million, reversing declines of about 30% in each of the preceding two quarters. GAAP net income fell to $0.7 million, or $0.02 a diluted share, largely because of a $50.0 million litigation settlement and related costs.
Higher volume contributed $65.7 million to sales growth, while pricing added $22.4 million and foreign exchange supplied an $8.0 million benefit. A divestiture reduced sales by $39.0 million. Gross margin remained below the year-earlier level of 23.4% because $48.9 million of higher input costs exceeded the pricing contribution.
Electrical sales rose 10.9% to $578.3 million, while adjusted EBITDA increased 10.0% to $89.3 million. The segment’s adjusted EBITDA margin narrowed to 15.4% from 15.6%. Safety & Infrastructure returned to growth with a 1.3% sales increase to $216.8 million, while its adjusted EBITDA declined 8.4% to $28.1 million.
Atkore is no longer updating or reaffirming its fiscal-2026 outlook after agreeing to be acquired by Prysmian for $95 a share in a transaction valued at roughly $3.8 billion including debt. One quarter earlier, the company had maintained adjusted EBITDA guidance of $340 million to $360 million and adjusted earnings guidance of $5.05 to $5.55 a share.
The latest settlement brought nine-month litigation expense to $186.5 million. Over the same period, free cash flow swung to negative $130.7 million from positive $107.4 million, while net debt increased to $414.0 million at June 26 as cash balances declined.