Companies

Hamilton Beach Restores Sales After a First-Quarter Drop

The Tip Desk · August 5, 2026 · 3 min read

Second-quarter revenue rose 11.6% to $142.6 million as U.S. Consumer volumes recovered and IEEPA tariff refunds lifted reported gross margin to 54.3%.

Hamilton Beach Brands Holding Company (HBB) reported second-quarter revenue of $142.6 million, up 11.6% from $127.8 million a year earlier, reversing an 8.6% first-quarter decline to $122.0 million.

The small electric household and specialty housewares maker said the increase was primarily driven by higher volumes in its U.S. Consumer business, as retailers resumed buying after a second-quarter 2025 pause to assess inventory and price increases tied to tariffs implemented in April 2025. First-quarter sales had fallen on lower U.S. Consumer volumes, partially offset by a strong double-digit increase in the Health business.

Gross profit was $77.5 million, or 54.3% of revenue, compared with $35.1 million, or 27.5%, a year earlier. The company said the margin improvement included one-time benefits related to a February 2026 U.S. Supreme Court ruling on IEEPA tariffs: $36.5 million of refunds for tariffs paid over the past year and continued sell-through of inventory no longer subject to those tariffs. Those benefits are non-recurring and will not persist beyond the sell-through of the affected inventory. Excluding them, gross margin would have been 26.1%.

Operating profit was $43.2 million, compared with $5.9 million. Diluted earnings were $2.49 a share, versus $0.33.

Selling, general and administrative expenses rose to $34.3 million from $29.2 million. The company said the increase was primarily driven by higher incentive-related personnel costs, as the prior year reflected lower expected performance, and included $1.4 million of accelerated depreciation of the legacy ERP system. Income tax expense was $10.9 million, compared with $1.6 million. Net income was $33.7 million.

President and Chief Executive Officer R. Scott Tidey said net sales increased low double digits as the company recovered volumes lost in the prior year, and that ongoing tariff-mitigation actions — including a foreign trade zone, sourcing diversification, and pricing — supported healthy gross margins. He said the company plans to reinvest a portion of the IEEPA tariff refunds into additional programs to drive brand awareness and demand.

For the six months ended June 30, 2026, net cash provided by operating activities was $61.5 million, compared with $23.8 million used in the same period in 2025. The company said the increase was primarily driven by the IEEPA tariff refunds and lower working capital, mainly reduced inventory after the prior year’s accelerated purchases ahead of tariff uncertainty.

In the three months ended June 30, 2026, the company repurchased 97,869 Class A shares for $2.0 million and paid $1.7 million in dividends. On June 30, 2026, net cash was $51.5 million, versus net debt of $38.7 million a year earlier. Cash and cash equivalents were $101.5 million.

Based on first-half results, Hamilton Beach reiterated its outlook for 2026 revenue growth to approach the mid-single-digit range, inclusive of a partial offset from the expiration of its Bartesian licensing agreement at the end of 2025. Excluding the benefit from IEEPA tariff refunds, the company said its income outlook has improved. Gross margins are now expected to be modestly better than 2025’s level, versus prior guidance of similar to slightly better. Operating profit is now expected to decline high-single digits on a percentage basis, from a previous estimate of a low-teens decline, inclusive of an incremental $6 million in planned 2026 advertising and approximately $6 million in accelerated ERP depreciation. The company still expects cash flow from operating activities less cash used for investing activities for 2026 to be in the range of $35 million to $45 million.

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