Core Molding Technologies Reports Fiscal 2026 Third Quarter Results

Eric Palomaki, President and Chief Executive Officer of Core Molding Technologies

“Our third quarter results reflect continued progress against our strategic initiatives that will shape our next phase of growth. While the quarter absorbed several one-time start-up costs associated with our Mexico expansion, footprint optimization, and higher external input costs, we achieved key operational milestones that position us for improved performance. Monterrey is now operational, and the two 4,500-ton presses in Matamoros, which many of our investors saw under construction at our recent Investor Day, are on track to come online by year-end, further expanding our capacity and supporting long-term growth. As highlighted at our September Investor Day, demand trends continued to improve across several of our key markets. Medium- and heavy-duty truck production continued to recover during the quarter, while building products and industrial and utilities end markets remained healthy. Our commercial pipeline continues to strengthen. So far this year, we have secured approximately $30 million in new business awards and see a path to approximately $50 million in new business awards through six major projects currently in our last stage of our sales pipeline funnel. We also continue to expand our position in attractive long-term growth markets, including a significant award for battery energy storage systems. As electrification, grid hardening and increasing power demand drive infrastructure investment, we believe we are well-positioned to capitalize on these opportunities and further diversify our end-market exposure while advancing sustainable long-term growth”

Alex Panda, EVP and Chief Financial Officer of Core Molding Technologies

“Third quarter financial results reflected strong underlying business activity and continued execution of our strategic growth investments. Product revenue increased nearly 20% year-over-year, driven by improving heavy-duty truck demand, new program launches, and continued strength in our building products and industrial and utilities end markets. While profitability was impacted by one-time commissioning costs in Monterrey, portfolio footprint optimization activities, and higher external input costs, these investments are supporting additional capacity, improving operating efficiency, and future growth. Additionally, tooling project revenue accounted for a larger portion of sales during the quarter, which impacts our reported margins in the short term but creates recurring demand and revenue. Gross margin was 14.8% for the quarter and would have been approximately 18.6%, excluding the impact of tooling project revenue mix and Monterrey commissioning charges. Consistent with our outlook discussed at our Investor Day, we continue to expect full-year net sales to be flat to up approximately 5% with gross margins in the 16% to 17% range. During the quarter, we continued to invest in initiatives that support long-term growth while maintaining financial flexibility. This included approximately $0.8 million to establish a center of excellence for our hood and battery systems in our Gaffney, South Carolina facility. Consistent with our disciplined capital allocation strategy, we also remained active in our share repurchase program during the quarter and into October”