Badger Meter Stock Earnings Reports

Badger Meter reported Q1 2026 sales of $202 million, down 9% year-over-year, driven by the completion and pacing of large AMI projects and weaker-than-expected short-cycle orders (management quantifies the short-cycle shortfall at roughly $15–$20 million versus internal expectations). Management characterizes the quarter as timing-related rather than a structural demand issue and expects 2026 organic revenue (excluding the UDLive acquisition) to be roughly in line with 2025, with the year back-half-weighted as awarded AMI projects move into deployment. Gross margin was 41.7% (down 120 bps from a record in 2025) and operating margin was 17.4%; diluted EPS was $0.93 vs. $1.30 prior year. Free cash flow was about $30 million in the quarter. The company repurchased 256k shares for $38 million and has $115 million remaining on its buyback authorization. Cost discipline measures include a 10% temporary salary reduction for executives (six months). Strategic M&A: Badger signed a definitive agreement to acquire UDLive (UK sewer-line monitoring solutions) for $100 million; UDLive had trailing-12-month revenue of ~ $22 million and positive operating profit, and management expects the deal to be EPS-accretive in year one with close anticipated in April. Management highlighted a pipeline of awarded AMI projects expected to begin deployments in 2026 totaling ~2.6–3.6 million connections (multi-year), and noted PRASA (Puerto Rico) delivered its first significant PO with installations expected to begin midyear. Management reiterated confidence in long-term market drivers (replacement cycles, technology adoption, recurring SaaS revenue) and their ability to maintain margin discipline and cash returns amid near-term revenue pacing.