Twin Disc, incorporated Stock

Welcome to the Twin Disc, Inc. Fiscal 2026 Fourth Quarter Conference Call. We will begin with introductory remarks from Jeffrey Knutson, Twin Disc CFO. Please go ahead.

Good morning, and thank you for joining us today to discuss our fiscal 2026 fourth quarter results. On the call with me today is John Batten, Twin Disc CEO. I would like to remind everyone that certain statements made during this conference call, especially statements expressing hopes, beliefs, expectations, or predictions for the future, are forward-looking statements. It is important to remember that the company's actual results could differ materially from those projected in such forward-looking statements.

Information concerning factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements are contained in the company's annual report on Form 10-K, copies of which may be obtained by contacting either the company or the SEC. Any forward-looking statements that are made during this call are based on assumptions as of today, and the company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise these statements to reflect subsequent events or new information. During today's call, management will also discuss certain non-GAAP financial measures.

For a definition of non-GAAP financial measures and a reconciliation of GAAP to non-GAAP financial results, please see the earnings release issued earlier today. Now I'll turn the call over to John.

Good morning, everyone, and welcome to our fiscal 2026 fourth quarter conference call. We closed out the fiscal year with record revenue in the fourth quarter of 2026, as we continue to build on the strong demand and order momentum that we saw throughout the fiscal year. Our 18% top-line growth for the quarter resulted in operating income of 7.8 million, net income of 9.4 million, 11.1 million in EBITDA, and free cash flow of 17.2 million. Defense activity is strong and continues to be a key structural growth driver for us, supported by increasing demand from customers that include the U.S. Navy and NATO. More to come on this.

Oil and gas also performed well in the quarter and is trending positively as we prioritize e-frac opportunities that drive a higher margin profile. While gross margins were down in the quarter, primarily related to product mix, tariff dilution, and a prior year favorable adjustment, we continue to pursue higher margin opportunities like e-frac that we expect to enhance our gross margins over the long term. Thanks to our strong order activity in the quarter, our six-month backlog was level with the third quarter of 2026 at 178.3 million, despite strong shipment and a concerted effort to reduce past due backlog.

Both our six-month and total backlog remain strong and are supported by a robust project pipeline and considerable sales momentum in the markets we serve. Our cash flow improved meaningfully in the quarter to $17.2 million. As a result of this strong performance and our confidence in the business going forward, our board recently approved a 25% increase in our quarterly dividend to $0.05 per share. Overall, our fourth quarter performance capped off a strong year of operational execution for Twin Disc, and we believe that we are well positioned with strong demand, a healthy backlog, and robust project pipeline to continue this trend into fiscal 2027.

Before getting into our individual product groups, I'd like to provide an update on our defense-related business. As I mentioned before, defense is a key structural growth driver for our business and represents a significant long-term revenue opportunity. Our current defense customers include shipbuilders for the U.S. Navy, for which we provide transmissions to be used in unmanned autonomous U.S. Navy vessel programs, and NATO, to whom we supply driveline components through our Finnish subsidiary, Katsa, for military vehicles across an expanding NATO-wide order book.

On that front, we broke ground on our new facility in Finland to add test stand and assembly capacity and to further support expected growth in the European defense demand. With global defense becoming more of a priority given the current geopolitical environment, we believe that we're well positioned to benefit from increased spending as defense budgets grow. As of year-end, defense comprises 17% of our total backlog, representing a 56% increase year over year. Sales momentum is also strong with defense-related projects contributing 30 to 50 million to our pipeline as of June 30th. Results have been encouraging, and looking ahead, we view defense as a reliable and durable multi-year growth driver for our business.

Now let's get into our product groups. Sales in our marine propulsion systems grew 20% in the quarter when compared to the prior year period, primarily driven by strong demand for our Veth Propulsion platform. Other factors contributing to revenue growth include performance of the [ CoVelt ] product line, as well as improved military demand for marine transmission, improved commercial maritime demand in Asia, and overall strong market conditions driving increased demand across the product group. Land-based transmission sales grew 26% year over year, primarily due to improved shipment volumes in the quarter. Specifically, oil and gas performed well.

As we continue to prioritize higher margin e-frac opportunities, we expect this segment to be a key driver of our improved margin profile. We also took meaningful steps to reduce our tariff impact in the quarter as we work to relocate our ARFF assembly to Lufkin, Texas, which would help reduce tariff exposure elements sourced in India. Similar to last quarter, land-based transmission also continues to benefit from strengthening demand trends across our core geographic markets in North America and Asia, increasing global demand for energy-related products and continued progress on next-generation electrified and hybrid solutions that support long-term demand.

Additionally, improving sentiment from North American energy customers points to additional investment in frac rigs, both rebuilds and new units, positioning the company well for enhanced performance. While industrial sales decreased modestly compared with the prior year, we remain encouraged by the opportunities that we're seeing as this segment continues to stabilize. The [ CoVelt ] product line provides considerable market opportunity, and our Finnish subsidiary, Katsa, is positioned to be a strong near-term growth driver thanks to increasing global military and trade demand for defense vehicle components.

We're also seeing consistent demand from North American construction and recycling markets, as well as stable underlying demand from industrial end markets. Also, we were pleased to see that Katsa has received orders in the emerging data center vertical. This opportunity represents a large part of the total backlog and is encouraged to see initial demand for our products in this fast-growing market segment. Our six-month backlog at the end of the fourth quarter was approximately 178.3 million, which is consistent with the backlog at the end of the third quarter of 179.5 million.

We are particularly pleased with this backlog, given that during the quarter, we made solid progress on shipment and continue to make a concerted effort to reduce past due backlog during the fourth quarter. In light of this, our backlog demonstrates the strength of our pipeline and demand across our product groups. Inventory as a percentage of backlog decreased to 100% in the quarter, and we expect inventory as a percentage of backlog to continue to improve as we focus on operational execution. Looking ahead, we remain confident in our long-term strategy and are focused on driving profitable growth for our shareholders.

Twin Disc is well established as a leading hybrid and electric solution provider for niche marine and land-based applications, and through organic growth, continued strategic acquisitions that expand our addressable market and ongoing disciplined capital allocation across the enterprise, we believe that we are well positioned to expand our footprint and to meet our stated 2030 full year targets of 500 million in revenue, 30% gross margins and greater than 60% free cash flow conversion. With that, I'll turn the call over to Jeff to discuss our financial results in greater detail.

Thanks, John. Good morning, everyone. Sales in the fourth quarter of 2026 totaled 114.4 million, representing a record quarter and an 18.3% increase over the fourth quarter of fiscal 2025. Full year sales were 381.3 million. Revenue growth in both the fourth quarter and full year was primarily driven by increased demand in our land-based transmission markets in the fourth quarter, as well as strengthened marine and propulsion systems and stabilization in our industrial segment. On an organic basis, which adjusts for the impact of acquisitions and foreign currency exchange, revenue increased 15.9% in the quarter and 4.6% for the full year.

Gross profit decreased slightly by 3.5% in the quarter to $30.1 million. Gross margin decreased approximately 600 basis points to 26.3% from the prior year period, primarily related to product mix, tariff dilution, and a favorable adjustment of $3 million in the prior year fourth quarter related to one-time capitalization cost adjustments of cost of inventory. Excluding this adjustment in Q4 of last year, the comparable gross margin would have been 28%. For the full year, gross profit was 102.6 million or 26.9% of sales. SG&A expenses decreased 9.8% to $22.2 million compared to $24.6 million in the prior year period.

As a percentage of sales, SG&A expense was 19.4% compared with 25.5% in the prior year, which continues to demonstrate our enhanced operating leverage on strength and revenue. Fiscal full year SG&A was 84.5 million or 22.2% of sales compared to 82.4 million or 24.2% of sales in full year 2025. Operating income in the fourth quarter of 2026 increased 19.5% to 7.8 million compared with 6.5 million in the prior year period. The full year operating income was 18 million compared with 11.1 million in full year 2025.

We view operating income as an especially important metric for both the fourth quarter and full year, given that our bottom line has been impacted by an income tax benefit of $2.5 million in the fourth quarter and $14 million in the full year related to the reversal of the domestic valuation allowance. Therefore, we believe that operating income provides a more normalized snapshot of our business without the impact of income tax benefits that flow through to our net income and earnings per share. To that end, net income attributable to Twin Disc for the fourth quarter was 9.4 million, or 64 cents per diluted share, compared to 2.6 million, or 19 cents per diluted share in the prior year period.

The increased earnings per share was related to stronger operating income as well as approximately 17 cents per diluted share related to the income tax benefit and lower other expense when compared to the fourth quarter of 2025. Full year net income totaled 27.1 million, or $1.86 per diluted share, compared with a net loss of 697,000, or a loss of 5 cents per diluted share for fiscal 2025. EBITDA was 11.1 million in the fourth quarter, up 35.1% year over year. EBITDA margin increased 120 basis points to 9.7%. Full year EBITDA was $29.9 million.

Geographically, Europe accounted for 41% of sales in the fourth quarter of 2026, followed by North America at 29% of sales and Asia Pacific at 22% of sales. Increased sales in Europe were primarily driven by contributions from our acquisitions, including Katsa, while North American sales continued to increase related to our addition of [ Cobalt ] and improving demand for our Veth products. For the full year, Europe accounted for 42% of total sales, followed by North America at 30% and Asia Pacific at 19%. As John mentioned, gross margins decreased to 26.2% in the fourth quarter of 2026, compared with 32.3% in the prior year period.

Gross margin contraction in the quarter was primarily related to product mix and tariff dilution, as well as the one-time $3 million favorable adjustment in Q4 of last year. Excluding the favorable adjustment, gross margin in the fourth quarter of 2025 would have been 28%. The margin in the quarter was also impacted by tariff dilution, which further decreased gross margin by 60 basis points. Excluding this impact, our gross margins would have been approximately 27% in the fourth quarter. We are confident about our ability to drive gross margin improvement, and our long-term strategy continues to focus on enhancing our margin profile and driving long-term profitability across our business with a stated target of 30% gross margins by 2030.

We continue to monitor the situation with tariffs and are proactively working to mitigate the impacts on our business, including moving our assembly to Lufkin, Texas. We generated strong free cash flow of 17.2 million in the quarter. We ended the quarter with cash of approximately 16.1 million. Total debt decreased to 31.4 million and net debt decreased to 13.8 million. Our reduced net debt coupled with enhanced trailing 12-month EBITDA of 29.9 million, provides us with a net leverage ratio of 0.5 as of June 30, 2026, compared with the ratio of 0.8 in the prior year.

Before discussing our capital allocation framework, I wanted to provide an update on the change in our inventory accounting method that we implemented in Q4. We elected to change our method of accounting for certain inventories from the last-in-first-out method, or LIFO, to the first-in-first-out method, or FIFO. The change to the FIFO method of accounting for these inventories is preferable because it provides better matching of costs and revenues and conforms our inventory to a single method of accounting as we continue to scale the business.

Additionally, the change allowed us to utilize expiring tax credits contributing to the reversal of the valuation allowance in the second fiscal quarter. The impact of the change in inventory accounting as reported under the FIFO method was a $30 million increase in inventory for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2026, which is reflected in our quarterly and year-end results. To provide historical information on a basis consistent with the change to FIFO, we have recast certain historical information to conform to the updated method of inventory accounting. Our capital allocation framework remains consistent with our stated goals and strategy.

We continue to prioritize debt reduction alongside returning capital to shareholders through both our dividend and share repurchase program. At the same time, we're committed to funding organic growth investments, including R&D, geographic expansion, and marketing to support our long-term strategy. When it comes to M&A, we remain selective, evaluating both bolt-on and transformational acquisitions against clear criteria. Strategic fit, particularly opportunities that diversify our existing offerings and have the potential to serve as a platform for broader expansion. This balanced approach allows us to invest in the business while maintaining the financial flexibility to act on opportunities as they arise. I'll now turn the call back to John for his closing remarks.

Thanks, Jeff. In closing, our record fourth quarter capped off a year of meaningful progress for Twin Disc with continued gains in revenue, profitability, and cash flow. Demand across our core markets remained healthy throughout the year, and we ended fiscal 2026 with a strong backlog that reflects the sustained strength in marine and propulsion systems and land-based transmissions, along with a growing defense-related activity that we expect to be a durable driver of growth.

Moving ahead to fiscal 2027, we remain focused on the same priorities that drove our progress this year, executing on our operational initiatives, optimizing our global footprint, and investing in the business to support long-term growth, all while maintaining a disciplined approach to capital allocation. With a strong balance sheet and robust backlog providing solid visibility, we believe Twin Disc is well positioned to build on this year's momentum as we work toward our 2030 targets. Operator, please open the call for questions.

[Operator Instructions] Our first question comes from the line of Max Michaelis with Lake Street Capital Markets. Please go ahead.

I kind of want to start out here just sort of a facility update. Sounds like Finland's broken ground. Anything else you guys can really provide there in terms of detail around sort of the timelines at the Finland facility? And then secondly, can you kind of give us an update on sort of the capacity, how that's looking at the Racine facility?

Sure, Max. Thanks. It's John. I'm hoping that, you know, we will be enclosed and starting to move stuff in, you know, the end of the calendar year, but it's really, I would say that, you know, the impact of being fully operational is not going to be until, I would say, fiscal '28. A lot of work to do, but it's exciting. It really does increase the output of Katsa. The way we're situated right now, we don't have a facility in Finland that was built for assembly and test. We kind of have some make-do facilities that are in other plants or other facilities that really weren't meant for this. So it's going to be a big step function for them once we get in.

But we'll keep you updated. You know, the walls are up, roof's going on. Obviously, we'd like to be enclosed by the Finnish winter, that's for sure. And I think that will definitely happen. And then in Racine, obviously, we have a finished building that we've been in for 70 years. We're staffing up, adding machinists. We had two significant capital purchases that have come in, a 1.2-meter hob and a 1.2-meter grinder. We've got more CapEx on the way, and we're trying to figure out how we can be more effective in our shift staffing, and honestly looking at expanding our second shift and adding a third shift.

Because there's a lot of volume coming. And of course, there's a lot of pieces moving in the puzzle. To increase the capacity in Racine, we actually have to decrease it. And that's, you know, the tariffs gave us a good reason to relook at where we did the ARFF transmission. So it's fantastic that Lufkin's in a free trade zone, so we're scrambling like crazy to get that volume down to Texas so that we have more capacity for the marine transmissions for the Navy and just the commercial marine markets in general, and oil and gas in Racine. So a lot of moving pieces and a lot of progress has been made in the last few months, but there's a lot of work to do between now and Christmas.

Perfect. Great. Moving on here, let's shift over to the defense side. Can you give any more details on the conversations you guys are having with some of these shipbuilders outside of [ Soranac ] and the speed that they're moving along at right now?

Yes, so I would say that, you know, [ Soranac ] has set the benchmark on speed to market and everything that they were doing and the announcement of [ Port Alpha ] and all of this, but there are other builders as well that are moving pretty quickly with existing yards and reconfiguring and developing relationships. That's kind of the big thing that we've seen. You know, a lot of these shipyards, we've had decades-long relationships with them, and they've been building a certain type of vessel. Now they're partnering with different types of technology companies, forming alliances, and they're pretty fast to market too.

I can't say that, you know, [ Soranac ] certainly is getting all the headlines because they've had a lot of successes out in the field, but there are other players too. It's a pretty balanced, you know, I have to say that it doesn't look like the Department of Defense or the Navy is putting all their eggs in one basket. They are truly trying to bring back the shipbuilding industry in the U.S., and it's pretty exciting to see.

And then I know you talked about sort of that $50 million to $75 million pipeline. I mean, can you give us any sort of detail on where that's at now, if that's increased or anything that can help?

Yes, I think, Jeff, I believe it was 50% in the quarter. Yes, the backlog itself is up about 50% in the quarter, and that is a mix of, I mean, the two main buckets continue to be marine transmissions built in Racine, Wisconsin for the U.S. Navy. We have some marine transmissions that are built and other projects. Then we have obviously at Katsa, the number one is, you know, the trucks that Patria built for NATO. But they have been developing other customers in the Mideast and in Asia as well. Not sure the percentage, that's going to be a growing percentage.

Then we have, you know, it's been exciting to see our Arneson surface drive for fast patrol boats has been getting a lot of interest. So, you know, the backlog increased 53%. And I would say the main driver of that was the projects we've already been talking about. But what's in the pipeline is going to cast a much wider net that we'll see in the quarters coming on different products for different customers.

So the defense side of the backlog grew 53% in the quarter, correct?

Yes.

Okay, great. And then last one for me, and I'll hang up. Can you sort of give us an idea of the pipeline of new defense programs? I know we talked about kind of the shipbuilders and Katsa, is there anything else kind of that you guys are eyeing for fiscal year '27 that could make a big splash?

I would say the biggest ones, and we're under NDAs, but the biggest ones are going to be fast patrol boats with Arneson and Rolla propellers. It will be similar product that is going into the Patria trucks, but different for different truck builders and different militaries in the Mideast and Asia. And in the U.S., I think you'll see continuation on with BAE on the M88, the Hercules, the tank retriever. Those would be the big ones. And then there's some smaller ones, but I think the ones that are going to be expectedly exciting and meaningful are the ones that I just mentioned.

Awesome. Thanks, guys. Congrats on the quarter.

[Operator Instructions] Our next question comes from the line of Simon Wong with Gabelli Funds. Please go ahead.

Just on the oil and gas part of your business, how big is that now? How much revenue did you do there this quarter and how did it compare to last year?

Yes, it's ramping up, Simon. So it was, in terms of percentage of revenue, it's the biggest since fiscal '24. And in terms of pure dollars, because obviously everything else grew as well, in terms of pure dollars, the biggest since Q4, fiscal '24. They doubled the average of what we did the first three quarters, so definitely ramped up at the end of the year. It was about 10%, a little over 10% of overall revenue in the quarter.

Great. You've referenced in your presentation and your press release about higher opportunities, I'm going to say higher margin e-frac opportunities. Did you sell any units in the quarter for e-fracs?

Yes, the short answer is yes. I can't give you an exact number because some of them might have been in the third quarter, first calendar quarter. But there's probably, you know, two spreads that have been delivered and more coming.

Okay, great. Looks like you're gaining traction there. That's good news. And then, I know you talked about the military pipeline, the $50 million, $60 million, $70 million pipeline of opportunity. How do you see that? I mean, how much of that do you think you can win in orders?

All of that, we're pretty conservative when we put it in the pipeline. We think that we have a better than 50-50 shot of winning those. Yes, Simon, so with the military, I would say we're very good at predicting our confidence of winning. It's just when the project starts. Typically, these projects take longer to materialize when they're going to order, but we're pretty confident on winning them. It's just, you know, I don't want to give you, like, it's going to happen next quarter in six months because I'll jinx it and then it will be nine months or 12 months.

Okay, that's fair. And for my reference, how big was the military business in the fourth quarter or in fiscal '26?

Yes, we don't have a great number to give you there. I mean, it was definitely up. It's something that we'll do a better job of tracking and reporting. It's just so fragmented because it's across all of our products in all of our regions and a lot of it going through distribution. So we need to do a better job analytically of pulling that together as it becomes a bigger and bigger part of the business.

Okay. One more from me. You talked about facility additions. What is your CapEx for '27?

So the number that we put out or will put out is going to be north of $20 million. It's obviously with a new facility going up in Finland, that's a big investment, movement of a significant product line down to Lufkin, and some of the machine tools that John just referenced, a lot more behind that. So there's a good level of investment going in to fund the growth that we see. And, you know, as we start this fiscal year, we're in great shape with a new credit agreement and plenty of financial horsepower to deliver that. So, yes, it's an exciting time for us.

Okay, great. Thank you, guys.

Thank you. And at this time, we have no further questions. I would like to turn the call back over to the management for closing remarks.

Thank you for your continued interest in Twin Disc, and we hope that we've answered all of your questions. If not, please feel free to reach out to either Jeff or myself, and we'll try to answer those questions for you as soon as possible. Have a great rest of your day, and we look forward to talking to you after our fiscal '27 first quarter results.

This concludes today's conference call. You may now disconnect. Have a great day.

Good morning, and welcome to the Twin Disc, Inc. Fiscal Third Quarter 2026 Conference Call. I am Frans, and I'll be the operator assisting you today.

[Operator Instructions] I would now like to turn the call over to Jeffrey Knutson, Chief Financial Officer. Please go ahead.

Good morning and thank you for joining us today to discuss our fiscal 2026 third quarter results.

On the call with me today is John Batten, Twin Disc's CEO. I would like to remind everyone that certain statements made during this conference call, especially statements expressing hopes, beliefs, expectations or predictions for the future, are forward-looking statements. It is important to remember that the company's actual results could differ materially from those projected in such forward-looking statements.

Information concerning factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements are contained in the company's annual report on Form 10-K, copies of which may be obtained by contacting either the company or the SEC.

Any forward-looking statements that are made during this call are based on assumptions as of today, and the company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise these statements to reflect subsequent events or new information.

During today's call, management will also discuss certain non-GAAP financial measures. For a definition of non-GAAP financial measures and a reconciliation of GAAP to non-GAAP financial results, please see the earnings release issued earlier today.

Now I'll turn the call over to John.

Good morning, everyone, and welcome to our fiscal 2026 third quarter conference call. Let me start with a few highlights from the third quarter. As we noted during our previous earnings call, we expected a stronger second half, and our third quarter results marked the beginning of that. We delivered meaningful sales growth, margin expansion and improved free cash flow generation through solid execution and healthy demand across our end markets.

Sales increased 19% year-over-year to $96.7 million, supported by strength in marine & propulsion systems, with continued demand for our Veth products, along with contributions from acquisitions and favorable foreign exchange. On an organic basis, sales grew 7%, reflecting healthy demand across marine & propulsion, Defense and select industrial applications. Profitability also improved meaningfully in the quarter.

Gross margin expanded to 28.1%, driven by higher volumes and operational improvements. EBITDA increased to $9.4 million and EBITDA margin expanded by approximately 480 basis points versus the prior year period, reflecting higher volumes as well as the benefit of our margin improvement initiatives.

From an operating and cash flow standpoint, we made solid progress as well. Inventory improved again as a percentage of backlog and together with higher profitability, that supported free cash flow generation of $1.8 million in the quarter.

Looking ahead, our six month backlog increased sequentially to approximately $179.5 million, supported by healthy order momentum across core markets, including demand for our land-based transmission products and continued strength in defense-related activity, which continues to serve as an important long-term growth driver for Twin Disc.

At the same time, our third quarter results demonstrated improved execution on that backlog as reflected in meaningful sales growth and margin expansion.

Overall, this growing backlog, together with improved execution, gives us solid visibility into near-term demand and supports our confidence in the path ahead.

Turning to our Defense-related business. We continue to see robust demand across multiple programs and geographies, supported by elevated defense spending, both in the United States and across NATO markets.

As a result, defense continues to become an increasingly meaningful and durable component of our overall backlog and we view this as a secular trend given the increased geopolitical environment we are currently navigating.

Today, Defense represents approximately 15% of our backlog, and we continue to see encouraging momentum in both backlog and pipeline activity. Defense backlog increased year-over-year by roughly 20% and the opportunity moving forward remains sizable with a pipeline of roughly $50 million to $75 million. That continued momentum reinforces our confidence in the durability of demand we are seeing across this part of our business and supports our outlook for future growth.

From a product perspective, we are well positioned across a broad range of defense applications, including marine transmissions, controls & steering systems, marine & propulsion systems, transmissions, gearboxes and transfer cases. These offerings support a diverse set of end users and programs across North America, Europe and Asia Pacific, and we believe that breadth continues to differentiate Twin Disc as customers prioritize modernization across marine, land-based and autonomous platforms.

The opportunity continues to be driven by the same two core buckets we discussed last quarter, activity tied to unmanned and autonomous U.S. Navy vessel programs as well as growing demand in Europe through Katsa Oy supporting NATO-related vehicle platforms. Importantly, we have a substantial portion of the acquired capacity in place today in North America.

However, in Europe, we are advancing targeted facility expansion efforts in Finland to add test stand and assembly capacity, which will better position us to support expected growth in European defense demand over the long term.

Overall, with our current structure and targeted investments to support growth, we believe Twin Disc is well positioned to continue capturing this demand and further expand our presence in the defense market.

Now let me walk you through product group performance.

Marine & Propulsion Systems remained a key driver of performance in the quarter with sales up 20% from prior year period. We continue to see healthy demand across workboat, both government and specialty marine applications, along with sustained in higher content propulsion solutions and integrated systems, supported by continued demand for our Veth products.

Improved aftermarket execution also drove positive results in the quarter, which is encouraging in light of the short-term softness we discussed last quarter that was largely timing related and not indicative of any change in underlying demand. Overall, we remain encouraged by the demand environment and by how the business is performing.

Land-based transmissions delivered strong year-over-year growth in the quarter with sales increasing 22.2% compared with the prior year period, driven primarily by improved shipment volumes and favorable mix.

Importantly, shipment trends improved from the delays we discussed last quarter regarding our shipments, although a subset of deliveries, including certain Oil & Gas transmission shipments to China, shifted into the fourth quarter based on customer timing preferences around complete system deliveries.

It's important to note that we view those remaining delays, as timing related and not reflective of any broader change in underlying demand.

From a market standpoint, conditions remain mixed. In North America, Oil & Gas customer behavior continues to be cautious with rebuilds and refurbishments still outpacing new equipment purchases, although we are beginning to see signs of that cycle is maturing.

Internationally, order trends have shown improvement, particularly in Oil & Gas, where activity in China and customer engagement continues to support outlook for the business. We also continue to see healthy demand in ARFF applications and are advancing next-generation electrified and hybrid solutions that support longer-term growth.

Industrial sales increased 15.2% year-over-year, largely due to the contribution from Kobelt as well as steady underlying demand. We continue to focus on higher content solutions on leveraging engineering and manufacturing capabilities across the platform, which we believe will help improve mix and support better margins over time.

Our 6-month backlog increased approximately to $179.5 million in the third quarter, up both sequentially and year-over-year. Growth was driven by broad-based demand across our core markets such as Land-Based Transmissions and by continued Defense-related order activity. Backlog also included approximately $2.5 million of negative foreign exchange impact relative to the prior quarter.

We also continue to make progress on working capital management as inventory declined by roughly $3 million from the second quarter and inventory as a percentage of backlog improved to approximately 89%.

Overall, that improving backlog profile continues to support solid visibility into near-term demand and our improved working capital management demonstrates our focus on converting backlog effectively into cash.

Looking forward, our long-term strategy remains unchanged. We are focused on driving profitable growth through operational excellence, footprint optimization and disciplined capital allocation.

As discussed earlier, we continue to execute targeted initiatives across our manufacturing footprint, including the planned relocation of ARFF assembly to our Lufkin facility and target expansion efforts in Finland to support expected growth in European defense demand.

Together, these actions are intended to improve operational flexibility, mitigate tariff exposure and better align capacity with demand. With continued momentum across our core markets, a growing backlog and improving profitability, we believe Twin Disc is well positioned to build on this progress through the balance of the fiscal year.

With that, I'll now turn the call over to Jeff to discuss our financial results in greater detail.

Thanks, John. Good morning, everyone. During the third quarter, we delivered sales of $96.7 million, an increase of 19% compared to the prior year period. This growth was driven primarily by strength in Marine & Propulsion systems and contributions from our recent acquisition of Kobelt.

Gross profit increased 25% to $27.1 million and gross margin expanded to approximately 28.1%, reflecting higher volumes and operational improvements. ME&A expenses were $21.3 million in the quarter compared to $19.8 million in the prior year. As a percentage of sales, however, ME&A decreased by approximately 230 basis points, reflecting strong operating leverage on higher revenue.

Net income attributable to Twin Disc was $3.3 million or $0.23 per diluted share compared to a net loss of $1.5 million or $0.11 per diluted share in the prior year period. This improvement was driven by higher operating income and lower expenses.

EBITDA was $9.4 million in the quarter, representing an increase of approximately 135% year-over-year and an EBITDA margin improvement of roughly 480 basis points when compared to the prior year period, reflecting higher volume and the successful implementations of our margin improvement initiatives.

Geographically, sales growth was led by North America and Europe, supported by sustained demand for vet products and incremental contributions from recent acquisitions.

As a result, North America represented a higher share of quarterly revenue, while Asia Pacific and Latin America made up a smaller portion, reflecting regional market dynamics, a trend that we expect to continue and should soften tariff impact moving forward.

Turning to cash flow.

We generated approximately $1.8 million of free cash flow in the quarter, reflecting improved operating performance and continued signs of working capital normalization. We ended the quarter with cash of approximately $16.1 million.

Total debt increased to $45.1 million and net debt increased to approximately $29 million, an increase of 10.5% and 18%, respectively, primarily reflecting higher long-term debt associated with the Kobelt acquisition.

Margin performance was a key highlight of the quarter with significant expansion both sequentially and year-over-year. This improvement was driven by increased volume and the impact of margin improvement initiatives. Sequentially, growth was supported by increased aftermarket execution as we effectively delivered against strong demand.

Regarding tariffs, we continue to monitor the evolving landscape closely and are actively executing mitigation initiatives, including adjustments to our manufacturing strategy where appropriate.

Based on the current environment and our favorable regional mix, we expect tariff-related impacts in the upcoming quarter to be approximately 1% to 3% of cost of goods sold.

Looking ahead, we expect continued progress supported by backlog conversion, improving mix, and ongoing operational initiatives. From a capital allocation perspective, our priorities remain unchanged.

We continue to focus first on investing in the business to support growth, including capacity, operational efficiency and product development while maintaining a strong and flexible balance sheet.

At the same time, we remain disciplined in our approach to capital deployment with an emphasis on preserving liquidity, managing leverage and improving working capital efficiency as we convert backlog into revenue and cash.

I'll now turn the call back to John for his closing remarks.

Thanks, Jeff. In closing, the third quarter represented a strong step forward for Twin Disc as we delivered meaningful improvement in revenue, margins and cash flow. Underlying demand across our core markets remains healthy, supported by a growing record backlog and continued momentum in key areas such as Marine & Propulsion systems, Land-Based Transmissions, along with increasing Defense-related activity.

At the same time, working capital continues to improve along with enhanced profitability, positioning us for stronger cash generation in the fourth quarter.

As we look ahead, we remain focused on executing our operational initiatives, optimizing our footprint and supporting long-term growth. With improving profitability, healthy demand visibility and continued execution, we believe Twin Disc is well positioned to build on this progress through the balance of the fiscal year.

These conclude our prepared remarks. We will now turn the call back over to the operator and open the line for questions.

[Operator Instructions]. There are no further questions at this time. Ladies and gentlemen, thank you all for joining, and that concludes today's conference call. All participants may now disconnect. Thank you.

Welcome to the Twin Disc, Inc. Fiscal Second Quarter 2026 Conference Call. We will begin with introductory remarks from Jeff Knutson, Twin Disc's CFO.

Good morning, and thank you for joining us today to discuss our fiscal 2026 second quarter results. On the call with me today is John Batten, Twin Disc's CEO.

I would like to remind everyone that certain statements made during this conference call, especially statements expressing hopes, beliefs, expectations or predictions for the future are forward-looking statements. It is important to remember that the company's actual results could differ materially from those projected in such forward-looking statements. Information concerning factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements are contained in the company's annual report on Form 10-K, copies of which may be obtained by contacting either the company or the SEC.

Any forward-looking statements that are made during this call are based on assumptions as of today, and the company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise these statements to reflect subsequent events or new information. During today's call, management will also discuss certain non-GAAP financial measures. For a definition of non-GAAP financial measures and a reconciliation of GAAP to non-GAAP financial results, please see the earnings release issued earlier today.

Now I'll turn the call over to John.

Good morning, everyone, and welcome to our fiscal 2026 second quarter conference call. Despite a challenging operating backdrop, our diversified portfolio continued to demonstrate resilience as demand remained robust across marine, defense and select industrial applications. This strong demand continues to fuel confidence in the positioning of the business as our 6-month backlog reached a record level once again during the quarter.

As anticipated, tariff impacts were elevated in the quarter at approximately 3% of cost of sales as they continue to create friction across the industry, influencing customer behavior related to order placement timing and shipping lead times. Importantly, these impacts reflect modest delays in timing rather than lost orders. In response to these pressures, we continue to make progress implementing the mitigation strategies we've outlined in previous quarters, including pricing discipline, operational enhancements and footprint optimization.

During the quarter, we advanced planning efforts focused on evaluating footprint utilization and operating flexibility across our existing manufacturing network, including actions such as adjusting production flows or where appropriate over time, relocating certain activities to reduce structural tariff exposure. For example, we are planning to move ARFF assembly to our Lufkin facility, which allows us to assemble product in a tariff-advantaged environment and reduce the impact of import duties on finished goods. In the coming quarters, we'll expect tariff-related impacts to moderate, mix to improve and our mitigation tactics to take effect. Our actions, combined with a record backlog, leave us well positioned to capture underlying demand and drive further progress toward our long-term growth and profitability objectives.

Defense continues to be a strategic growth driver for Twin Disc as demand builds across multiple programs and geographies, supported by elevated defense spending in the United States and NATO. Defense-related opportunities represent an increasingly diversified and durable portion of our total backlog, up 18% sequentially as governments prioritize the modernization of marine, land-based and autonomous platforms. We continue to support a broad range of defense platforms, including naval vessels, autonomous and unmanned systems and land-based applications. This includes higher content items on U.S. Navy patrol and autonomous vessel programs as well as drivetrain and power transmission solutions supporting NATO land-based vehicle initiatives.

Overall, our defense-related pipeline exceeds $50 million, which in combination with our robust backlog reflects our growing presence in the defense market. To support this growth, we have a substantial portion of the required capacity in place today, particularly in North America, leveraging our existing footprint and operational flexibility. Investments regarding capacity are expected to be related to European demand focused on test stands and assembly capacity, not machining capability.

Now let me walk you through the segment performance. Our Marine and Propulsion business demonstrated mixed results as sales were flat year-over-year. Robust demand across workboats, government and specialty marine applications, supported by ongoing interest in higher content systems, hybrid propulsion and advanced maneuvering solutions drove performance during the quarter. However, this strength was partially offset by challenges in our commercial marine business in Asia Pacific amid a dynamic environment. Veth propulsion specifically performed at a high level during the quarter with customer engagement remaining strong. We also continue to see progress in autonomous and unmanned vessel applications where Twin Disc technologies are increasingly specified on higher-value platforms.

Aftermarket activity experienced some short-term softness late in the quarter, driven largely by customer timing and year-end dynamics. Encouragingly, early indications in the subsequent period point to improving activity, reinforcing our view that demand environment remains constructive. With land-based transmission, sales decreased 8.1% year-over-year to $17.5 million, primarily driven by shipment delays to ARFF customers. Oil and gas customer behavior remained cautious, particularly in North America, where rebuilds and refurbishments continue to outpace new equipment purchases. That said, we are beginning to see signs that this cycle is maturing, which could support replacement demand over time.

Internationally, oil and gas demand showed early signs of improvement, including increased activity in China, where customer engagement exceeded our initial expectations. We recently received a strong order for our 8500 transmission and continue to see favorable demand trends in the region moving forward. International ARFF demand remained healthy. We continue to advance next-generation electrified and hybrid solutions that position us well as customers evaluate longer-term fleet upgrades.

Our industrial business continued to benefit from the breadth of our portfolio and the contributions from recent acquisitions, with sales up 22% year-over-year to $11.5 million. Demand remains steady, and we are increasingly leveraging Katsa's engineering and manufacturing capabilities across the broader organization. While the quarter included temporary operational disruptions, we are encouraged by underlying customer demand and the opportunity to drive higher content solutions across industrial applications as we work to enhance mix, further differentiate our offerings and support long-term margin performance.

Our backlog of $175.3 million was up 41.4% year-over-year and 7% sequentially. This record backlog remains a key strength for Twin Disc, providing solid visibility into the second half of fiscal 2026, reflecting underlying demand across our markets with particular strength in global defense-related applications. Inventory levels increased during the quarter, primarily due to delayed shipments. However, inventory as a percentage of backlog improved by approximately 400 basis points sequentially, underscoring the strength of our backlog position. As these dynamics unwind and backlog converts, we expect working capital to improve as we move through the remainder of the year.

Moving forward, our long-term strategy remains unchanged. We are focused on global footprint optimization, operational excellence and a disciplined capital allocation. We are continuing to streamline our organization and operate as a more integrated global platform, an important enabler of our tariff mitigation and capacity utilization strategies as improved cross-business coordination allows us to better centralize sourcing, optimize resource allocation across sites and respond more quickly to changes in demand or cost dynamics.

Looking ahead, while near-term volatility remains, we are confident in our ability to execute through the cycle. Our diversified end markets, growing defense exposure, strong backlog and ongoing operational initiatives position Twin Disc to improve performance as conditions normalize and we deliver sustainable value over the long term.

With that, I'll now turn the call over to Jeff to discuss our financial results in greater detail.

Thanks, John. Good morning, everyone. During the second quarter, we delivered $90.2 million in sales, up 0.3% from $89.9 million in the prior year period, primarily driven by strength in the Marine and Industrial Product groups as well as the addition of Kobelt. On an organic basis, adjusting for M&A and FX, revenue decreased approximately 7.9% in the quarter, partially due to shipment delays related to customer attempts to time tariff impacts.

Second quarter gross profit rose 3.2% to $22.4 million and gross margin improved 70 basis points to 24.8%, reflecting the absence of inventory-related charges recorded last year, partially offset by unfavorable product mix in the quarter. ME&A expenses were $20.7 million in the second quarter compared to $18.9 million last year. The increase reflects the addition of Kobelt as well as ongoing wage and professional service inflation. Net income attributable to Twin Disc for the quarter was $22.4 million or $1.55 per diluted share compared to income of $919,000 or $0.07 per share last year. This large year-over-year improvement is due to an income tax benefit of $21.8 million, primarily related to the reversal of the domestic valuation allowance.

EBITDA was $4.7 million for the second quarter, representing a 25% decrease versus the prior year due to higher ME&A expenses, tariff-related impacts that affected mix and nonrecurring items. Geographically, sales growth was led by North America and Europe, supported by sustained demand for Veth products and incremental contribution from recent acquisitions. As a result, North America represented a higher share of quarterly revenue, while Asia Pacific and Latin America made up a smaller portion, reflecting regional market dynamics, a trend that we expect to continue and should soften tariff impact moving forward. Net debt increased to $29.6 million in the second quarter, primarily reflecting our strategic acquisition of Kobelt. We ended the quarter with a cash balance of $14.9 million, down 6.4% from the prior year.

Turning to cash flow. We generated $1.2 million in free cash flow during the second quarter, representing a meaningful sequential improvement from the first quarter. This improvement was driven primarily by stronger operating performance and disciplined capital spending. However, working capital remained a headwind during the quarter as shipment delays and customer behavior resulted in higher inventory levels. As these shipments convert and backlog is executed, we expect working capital to improve and cash generation to strengthen as we move through the second half of the fiscal year. As such, our focus remains on disciplined inventory management, converting backlog into cash and improving overall cash flow consistency over time.

Although lower sequentially, gross margin improved 70 basis points compared to the prior year period, reflecting the absence of prior year inventory-related charges. Margins in the quarter were pressured by several temporary factors, including unfavorable mix due in part to delayed aftermarket shipments as well as incremental costs associated with an isolated warranty replacement. While these near-term pressures weighed on results this quarter, they are largely timing related or nonrecurring in nature. Moving forward, as shipment patterns and mix normalize, we remain confident in our ability to deliver sustainable, profitable growth.

From a capital allocation perspective, our priorities remain unchanged. We continue to focus first on supporting the business through organic investment, including capacity, operational efficiency and product development while maintaining a strong and flexible balance sheet. We remain disciplined in our approach to capital deployment with an emphasis on preserving liquidity, managing leverage and selectively evaluating acquisition opportunities that align strategically and meet our return thresholds. At the same time, we continue to balance growth investments with cash generation and working capital efficiency, particularly as we focus on converting backlog into revenue and cash in the second half of the fiscal year.

I'll now turn the call back to John for his closing remarks.

Thanks, Jeff. In closing, while the second quarter included near-term challenges, the underlying fundamentals of our business remain strong. Demand across our core markets continues to be supported by a strong and diversified backlog with growing defense exposure and a portfolio that is well aligned with our customer needs. We are actively addressing the factors that impacted results during the quarter, including mitigating tariff exposure, improving operational execution and continuing our focus on converting backlog into revenue and cash. As these actions take hold and shipment patterns normalize, we believe Twin Disc is well positioned to deliver improved performance over the balance of the fiscal year.

With that, I would like to open the line for questions.

[Operator Instructions] Our first question comes from David MacGregor from Longbow Research.

This is Joe Nolan on for David. So this quarter, you guys faced a pretty difficult revenue comp of up 23%. Year ago compares get a little bit easier in the second half, but are still up low double digits. I guess my question is, just with the delayed shipments and some of these factors, just wondering how much push forward on some of that business you got from 3Q? And what do you think is achievable for top line growth for the balance of the year?

Yes. I mean it's a good question, Joe. I think tariffs are unpredictable. I think we expect to see good growth in the second half and sort of progressing from Q2 to Q3 to Q4. So with 3 and 4 being our stronger quarters, I don't really have a percentage growth, but I think we should trend like what we did in the previous years as we grow through the year. We had the noise in Q2, right, which it's a little bit unpredictable what customers are going to do regarding tariffs, and it's unpredictable how the tariff environment will evolve day-to-day, week-to-week. But given some consistency in that, I think we're set up for a pretty good second half revenue-wise.

Got it. Okay. And then on gross margin, could you just talk about the puts and takes and sequential gross margin bridge from first quarter of '26? I know you mentioned the delayed shipments, and I believe you mentioned a warranty cost impact, if I heard correctly in the prepared remarks.

Yes. We had a few things happen. So some isolated things. I think if we get into the details of it, they're all kind of not huge impacts, but they move the needle. For instance, as we invoice tariff revenue, so the tariff expense flows through our revenue line with no margin, that serves to gross up our revenue and dilute our margin percentage. That has an impact of 50 or 60 basis points compared to Q1. We had an operational delay at our factory in Finland. We had an isolated quality issue that we recaptured in the quarter. Those 2 in combination are about 60 basis points. So those are what we would call kind of noise in the quarter that wouldn't recur. And then the rest is essentially mix.

So aftermarket being our higher-margin business saw some delays in the quarter, again, with customers pushing out shipments and orders related primarily to tariff and timing of when they're going to get that inventory. And outside of that, it's project-related revenue and margin at that -- some of that was a bit of a drag on the quarter compared to Q1. So kind of a broad-based mix impact outside of those few discrete items impacting the quarter.

Got it. Okay. And then just on tariffs, it sounds like you're expecting tariff impact to moderate as we move through the year. If you could just maybe give any detail on just how mitigation efforts are going on your end and just kind of how you expect that impact to trend through the year?

Yes, Joe, I would -- it's John. So I guess what -- so the tariffs, the 232 right now, our assumption is that we're going to have the same percentage on steel and aluminum. So we're not -- so what's going to help the overall mix of the tariff impact is that we're going to be selling more products that aren't as affected as much by the tariffs. The primary -- so the products that have the most impact are ARFF transmissions where a lot of it is sourced -- a lot of the components are sourced overseas. We assemble and test in Racine, Wisconsin and then ship out overseas. So we get a big 50% tariff on a lot of the parts, and we ship the transmission out from Racine. The other part -- the other components -- sorry, the other product line that's the most affected is our industrial products at Lufkin. Again, a lot of those parts come from India. They're now tariff at 50% and the majority of the shipments are into the U.S. So there's a tariff impact there.

One of the things that we're doing, and it won't really -- it won't affect this fiscal year, but it will set up '27 is we're moving assembly and test of the majority of the ARFF transmissions down to Lufkin, which is in a free trade zone. And so we can bring the parts in from India or wherever they're coming in from, assemble and test and paint in Lufkin and then ship out, and we won't have the tariff impact. And that's about -- right now, the tariff impact on those units is probably 10 full percentage points of gross margin. So thankfully, in the balance of the year, the ARFF transmissions aren't as big a percentage of sales as they were in the second quarter or the first half. So the margin improvement we're slated is to take effect in fiscal '27.

So that's the big -- I would say the biggest thing that we're focused on right now is changing the location of assembly test paint of our ARFF transmission to mitigate the gross margin percentage. But that won't have an effect on the balance of this year. We'll see that in the first quarter of fiscal '27.

Got it. Okay. That's helpful detail. I also just wanted to ask about Veth margins. You guys had a nice margin performance. I assume those margins are continuing to improve. Can you just talk about your confidence in that business and confidence in growing margins over the next few quarters?

Yes. It's John again. So they have done a great job coming out of COVID where a lot of projects were quoted at a fixed price, and then we saw the inflation and supply chain issues. They've done a much better job at estimating their costs, building in known inflationary increases. But then just on pricing discipline, understanding the value in the marketplace and going after markets that appreciate the value of what they're selling.

So I'm fairly confident that they can continue this level and even continue to grow. They have now tapped into our supply chain in India and are finding alternate sources that may have been sourced in Europe in lower-cost countries. So pretty confident in that group. They're doing a very good job understanding their business, what the cost drivers are, how they can mitigate it and more importantly, where they can find value in the market to warrant a higher price.

Got it. Okay. All right. And then also on oil and gas, the international oil and gas business, you mentioned seeing some improvements in China and then that exceeded expectations. Can you just talk about what was happening there?

Yes. So I can't make a direct correlation, but we got the order more or less within a week of Venezuela. So I can't say that it's a direct correlation, but it seems like the activity for domestic production in China started to grow when they realized that there may not be a reliable supply chain coming from someplace else. No one said that, but it was just kind of interesting timing when we had been hearing that for the last quarter of the calendar year, so our fiscal second quarter that things were slow. They had too much inventory sitting idle. And then all of a sudden, the very first week of the year, they basically came in -- what he anticipated. We were hoping for a budget for the entire fiscal '26. They came in with one order and exceeded that budget.

Got it. That is interesting timing. And then just last one for me. Can you just update us on, I think military orders. You said backlog up 18% sequentially. Just talk about the strength in that business.

Yes. Joe, I'm a broken record. It's really, again, 2 buckets primarily. It's the unmanned vessels that the Navy are doing. We got more orders for those vessels. And in Europe, at Katsa and Finland, more orders for the -- sorry, the 6x6 and the 8x8 that are being built for the NATO countries.

So the OEM got more orders from more countries, and therefore, we got more orders from the OEM. So that is -- the focus for us is to make sure that we have the capability to -- we can meet production today, but we're fully anticipating that both programs are going to grow significantly. We've been told that. So there's focus here in the U.S. to make sure that we have capacity for those marine transmissions and likewise, in Finland, make sure that we can grow that we have the capacity to meet that growing demand and keep all of our other business. So we're hyper focused on both of those areas.

[Operator Instructions] There are no further questions. I would like to turn the call back over to John Batten, CEO, for closing remarks.

Thanks, Jericho. We hope that we've answered all of your questions today. If not, please contact either Jeff or myself, and we'll answer as quickly as possible. And again, we continue your continued interest in Twin Disc, and we look forward to speaking with you in May after our third quarter results. Jericho, we will turn the call back to you.

Thank you. This concludes today's conference call. Thank you for joining. You may now disconnect.

Hello, and welcome to the Twin Disc, Inc. Fiscal First Quarter 2026 Conference Call. We will begin with introductory remarks from Jeff Knutson, Twin Disc's CFO.

Good morning, and thank you for joining us today to discuss our fiscal 2026 first quarter results. On the call with me today is John Batten, Twin Disc's CEO.

I would like to remind everyone that certain statements made during this conference call, especially statements expressing hopes, beliefs, expectations or predictions for the future are forward-looking statements. It is important to remember that the company's actual results could differ materially from those projected in such forward-looking statements. Information concerning factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements are contained in the company's annual report on Form 10-K, copies of which may be obtained by contacting either the company or the SEC. Any forward-looking statements that are made during this call are based on assumptions as of today, and the company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise these statements to reflect subsequent events or new information. During today's call, management will also discuss certain non-GAAP financial measures. For a definition of non-GAAP financial measures and a reconciliation of GAAP to non-GAAP financial results, please see the earnings release issued earlier today.

Now I'll turn the call over to John.

Good morning, everyone, and welcome to our fiscal 2026 first quarter conference call. We begin the year with strong momentum, delivering another quarter of profitable growth and meaningful progress on our strategic priorities. Sales and margins improved year-over-year, supported by steady execution across our global operations with healthy demand across all 3 core product groups, contributing to our robust backlog. Our performance this quarter underscores the strength of our diversified portfolio and the operational discipline that continues to define our success. As we move through fiscal 2026, we are encouraged by the resilience of our end markets and by the growing contribution from areas such as defense and hybrid propulsion. These growth vectors position us well to sustain outperformance and deliver strong profitability amid an evolving macroeconomic environment.

That said, we remain mindful of potential tariff developments and expect a 1% to 3% tariff impact on second quarter cost of sales versus roughly 1% previously. This increase is temporary and will not affect the remainder of the year. And as such, we expect tariff impact to return to roughly 1% of cost of sales in the second half of the fiscal year.

Now let me take you through the quarter's highlights. Sales grew 9.7% year-over-year to $80 million, marking another quarter of steady top line growth led by our marine and propulsion business, along with the integration of Katsa and Kobelt, which continues to advance ahead of plan and together are broadening our capabilities and expanding global reach while driving meaningful synergies. On an organic basis, net sales increased 1.1%, which excludes the impacts of acquisitions and foreign currency exchange. We continued to streamline operations in the quarter, efforts that effectively help us deliver 220 basis points of gross margin expansion year-over-year as gross margins increased to 28.7% for the quarter. EBITDA margins remained strong despite the impacts of nonoperating and noncash items such as defined benefit pension amortization, stock-based compensation and currency translation loss in addition to costs from recent acquisitions.

We also delivered a robust 6-month backlog of $163.3 million, driven by sustained demand across our end markets, illustrating a strong start to fiscal 2026. Defense momentum remains exceptionally strong. Orders continued to accelerate during the quarter, and defense-related projects continue to represent a growing share of total backlog, increasing by $4 million sequentially and up 45% year-over-year, comprising 15% of total backlog. In the U.S. and Europe, we are actively supporting multiyear government initiatives to modernize both marine and land-based platforms, while our recent acquisition of Katsa continues to generate strong demand in Europe. Our work includes contracts tied to NATO vehicle programs and U.S. Navy patrol vessels, where we're serving as a trusted propulsion and systems partner. With a defense-related pipeline that continues to expand, we see significant runway ahead, supported by elevated government budgets and increased focus on marine and hybrid applications.

Now let me walk you through product group performance. Our marine and propulsion business continues to perform exceptionally well, and sales increased 14.6% year-over-year to $48.2 million, driven by work boat activity, government programs and demand for Veth Elite thrusters. Record new unit bookings, combined with the growing demand for hybrid and autonomous vessel solutions continue to underscore the strength of our products and market position. In September alone, we booked $20 million in new unit orders, surpassing previous records. Orders supporting the unmanned U.S. Navy platforms class continue to build, and we are excited about our entry into the new class of autonomous patrol vessels, extending our presence on higher-value platforms. In addition, we are seeing traction with the U.S. vector thruster market with backlogs increasing across workboat and cruise applications.

Lastly, aftermarket remains resilient with steady utilization of military and commercial fleets were flat when compared to a year ago. Within land-based transmission, sales were stable, up 1.6% year-over-year to $17.6 million. Oil and gas shipments were nearly flat as China continued to decline. North American customers also remain cautious with a focus on rebuilds and refurbishments. However, we are seeing an emerging tailwind as the rebuild cycle matures and replacement demand begins to materialize. ARFF demand remains strong, and we continue to advance next-generation e-frac solutions, securing an initial order during the quarter, representing 14 units totaling $2.3 million. Overall, we continue to remain well-positioned to capture emerging opportunities as activity improves.

Our industrial business grew 13.2% year-over-year with growth supported by acquisitions and broad-based customer activity. Steady demand for higher content solutions is reinforcing our mix and helping sustain momentum as we extend Katsa's engineering and parts capability across the portfolio. Our backlog of $163.3 million, up 13% year-over-year and 9% sequentially, provides solid visibility for the balance of fiscal 2026. Inventory is up slightly because of our strong demand and pre-buys. As we look at the remainder of the year, we remain focused on further optimizing inventory levels with delivery schedules as we convert our backlog and maintain flexibility across our manufacturing footprint to support demand while protecting margins. As we look to the balance of the year and beyond, I want to reaffirm our strategy centered on global footprint optimization, operational excellence and disciplined capital allocation.

Our near-term priority remains reducing debt and strengthening our balance sheet while continuing to invest in targeted organic initiatives that enhance productivity and margin expansion. We have made great progress streamlining our business into more agile and globally integrated operating model, one that breaks down silos, drives collaboration across our end business units and going to market as one consolidated company, which leverages our scale and shows the power of our consolidated platform. This starts with the business units and their leadership, which is now reporting through Tim Batten, our Executive Vice President. These efforts are improving execution speed, driving margin improvement and laying the foundation for sustainable growth. With these ongoing efficiency and integration initiatives, Twin Disc is well-positioned to deliver strong results through the remainder of the year and to achieve our long-term targets, driving sustained profitability and lasting value for our shareholders.

With that, I'll now turn the call over to Jeff to discuss our financial results in greater detail.

Thanks, John. Good morning, everyone. During the quarter, we delivered $80 million in sales, up 9.7% from $73 million in the prior year period. which was primarily driven by strength in the marine and industrial product groups and supported by the addition of Kobelt. On an organic basis, adjusted for M&A and FX, revenue increased approximately 1.1% in the first quarter. First quarter gross profit rose 18.7% to $22.9 million and gross margin increased 220 basis points to 28.7%, reflecting the benefit of incremental volume and successful margin improvement initiatives in addition to improved mix in the marine propulsion product groups, specifically within Vet products. ME&A expenses were $20.7 million in the first quarter compared to $19.5 million last year. The increase reflects the addition of Kobelt as well as ongoing wage and professional services inflation. We continue to focus on cost discipline and operational efficiencies to support long-term margin expansion.

Net loss attributable to Twin Disc for the quarter was $518,000 or $0.04 per diluted share compared to a loss of $2.8 million or $0.20 last year. The year-over-year improvement reflects higher operating income and lower expenses, driven by reduced currency losses, partially offset by higher pension-related amortization. EBITDA was $4.7 million for the first quarter, representing a 172% increase versus the prior year as expanded sales and profitability together drove strong results. From a geographic standpoint, sales growth was driven primarily by North America, where continued demand for Veth products and contributions from our recent acquisitions supported a higher share of quarterly revenue. The overall mix shifted toward North America, while Asia-Pacific and the Middle East accounted for a smaller portion of total sales, reflecting the impact of order and shipment timing of our customers.

Net debt increased slightly in the first quarter, primarily reflecting seasonal usage of our revolver. We ended the quarter with a cash balance of $14.2 million, down 14.8% from the prior year. As expected, cash flows during Q1 are seasonally lower due to net working capital dynamics and slightly elevated inventory levels, as John described, heading into the year to satisfy robust demand. We continue to maintain a conservative net leverage ratio of 1.3x. Our strong financial position provides flexibility to navigate the current macroeconomic environment with discipline while continuing to evaluate targeted bolt-on acquisitions that align with our innovation strategy and broaden our product portfolio.

As noted earlier, gross margin expanded by roughly 220 basis points year-over-year to 28.7% in the first quarter, reflecting the ongoing benefits of our cost reduction initiatives, improved operational execution and higher sales volumes. We continue to build on this momentum by sharpening our cost discipline and pursuing margin-accretive growth opportunities across our portfolio. Enhancing profitability remains central to our strategic priorities. Our capital allocation strategy remains focused on balancing growth investments with disciplined financial management. We maintain a focus on prudent capital deployment, pursuing targeted M&A that strengthens our marine and industrial technology platforms alongside organic investments in R&D, geographic expansion and hybrid and electrification innovation. Supported by a healthy balance sheet and clear strategic priorities, we're positioned to deliver sustainable growth and long-term value creation.

I'll now turn the call back to John for his closing remarks.

Thanks, Jeff. In closing, I'm encouraged by the strong start to fiscal 2026 and the consistent execution across our global organization. Our teams continue to demonstrate focus, adaptability and discipline in navigating complex market conditions while delivering measurable progress on our strategic priorities. With a robust backlog, a solid balance sheet and a clear road map toward our long-term objectives, Twin Disc is well-positioned to drive profitable growth and strengthen its leadership across core and emerging markets. I remain confident in our ability to sustain this momentum and deliver lasting value for our customers, employees and shareholders.

These conclude our prepared remarks, and we're now prepared to take questions.

[Operator Instructions] We will take our first question from David MacGregor from Longbow Research.

Congratulations on the results, strong quarter. Let's start off with military just because you really called that out, and I appreciate the detail behind the strength and kind of how that is evolving. Can you just help us with the timing of shipment acceleration here as well as the expected margin impact?

Yes. It's John, David. I'll start with just the expected shipment. I would say in Finland for the NATO vehicles; it's really very much early in the beginning. I would expect that business for us, let's just say that we're in the 150-unit range right now that in a year from now, that will be double and then it will continue to grow from there. And then in the U.S., primarily the one that's driving it are the autonomous vessels. And I think whatever volume we have this year, again, will be double in '27. So, it's -- and continuing from there. So, I don't want to say it's the 2 main programs are going to be doubling every year, but that's kind of the pace that we're on is that we can expect high, I would say, on average, at least for the next couple of years, 50% growth in each program.

And do you have sort of the capacity to support that kind of a ramp right now? Or would that require a pickup in incremental CapEx spending?

It would -- let's just say it reevaluate our CapEx spend -- excuse me, CapEx spending. We certainly have the capability here in the U.S. to meet the demand for the U.S. Navy, shuffling some stuff around. And we're working on the plans. We certainly -- I would say we have -- and in Europe, we're probably good with everything the way it is for the next 18 to 24 months. But yes, we're looking at what we do in the facilities in Europe so that we can capture that demand and maybe do some of that volume in one of our other facilities in Europe and not just all in Finland. But the answer is yes. And the CapEx, it's more focusing on test stands and assembly fixtures. So thankfully, it's not necessarily machining capabilities, longer lead time pieces of equipment. It's more on assembly and test fixtures.

Well, that's all very encouraging. Let me turn to the oil and gas business. I know you're less dependent on oil and gas now than you've been in the past. But can you just talk about what you may be seeing in the way of changes in business conditions and order activity? And given what you've been working on in the way of costs and productivity and pricing, do you need a volume recovery in '26 in order to see year-over-year upside and profitability?

So, the answer is no, but it would make it a lot nicer. It's a very good part of the business. But thankfully, David, it goes back to the last, I would say, major downturn for us in oil and gas kind of coming off the 2018, 2019 high going into COVID that it was a conscious decision to accelerate our move away -- not to diversify away from oil and gas. It's still a very good business. I think China -- the tariffs just happened, I think, to coincide with, again, China tends to, at times, overbuild and they have to absorb the volume that they have. And I think there was a slowdown. They didn't need as much equipment and most of the equipment comes from the U.S. So, it was also a double reason for them to slow down on purchases. We see that demand, I can see the ray of right there where that demand is going to start to come back. And then the rebuild activity in the U.S. has been still pretty good. It was down in '25. So, I don't think it's going to be hard to surpass that in '26.

And as we mentioned, we've got the e-frac orders coming online. I don't think those are the first couple of spreads. I think that will take us through this year. But I imagine sometime during this fiscal year, we'll get follow-on orders for '27. And I'm cautiously optimistic on some natural gas opportunity. But the macro, David, the macro levels -- and again, I would say most of our units that go out in the U.S. and North America are heavily weighted towards gas, whether it's wet gas or dry gas. And the demand for gas, I mean, everything you read about data centers and what's going to power them, natural gas plants are one of the most likely options. I still think we're years away from nuclear being deployed. And I just don't think renewables can keep up with the concentrated demand of what you need near the AI data centers, so AI data centers. So, I'm pretty optimistic on the macro level, and I think we're well-positioned to capture growing demand.

Interesting. I wanted to ask you about land-based transmissions because the double-digit growth in marine and propulsion and industrial, but relatively flat in the land-based transmissions. Can you just talk about the puts and takes within that business that led to the relatively flat top line?

Yes. I would say it's -- again, it's steady. I would say it's fairly steady. In ARFF, the demand, we're full. Our customers are kind of at their capacity. That's been full year-over-year. And really, the puts and takes have been small projects with different outside of ARFF, some are falling in like railway maintenance things. We're folding in some of the products at Katsa, fall into the transmission business. And oil and gas has been -- I would say some of the -- like we've traded some unit volume in China for unit volume in North America. So, Jeff, I don't know if you have any more.

Yes. No, I think that's right, David. Oil and gas in general was down a couple of percent from last year's Q1. And then there's just timing of our shipments. It's a steady demand that we have for several months and even years in front of us, but there's some shift between quarters depending on the customer schedule, et cetera. So yes, pretty steady demand, I would say.

I want to ask about gross margins. We normally see kind of seasonal pressures with European shutdowns. And can you bridge the first quarter gross margins of 28.7%, you were up 220 basis points, I think. Maybe separate seasonal versus kind of the incremental volume versus the margin improvement initiatives that you referenced, Jeff? And also, I guess the investments were a factor and maybe the mix of businesses as well, I guess, because you talked about the strength in call. So just help me kind of proportion-wise, how I should think about those various factors.

Yes. So, I think the good news for us, and we've talked about this on previous calls that the Veth business wasn't delivering the kind of margin that we were expecting. And there were some definite drags on the margin coming out of that. The thruster business, right? So, coming out of COVID, they were carrying a backlog that had pretty low margins in it, very competitive project bidding during COVID, where there wasn't a lot of activity. And we worked through that over the course of the few years coming out of COVID and really focused them on driving profitability, operational discipline, et cetera, pricing. And so, they delivered their best margin quarter since we've acquired them. So, it was really 2 things. It was the incremental volume at kind of our normal incremental drop-through. So, we look at around 40% drop-through on incremental volume on a global basis. And then incremental to that, driving the -- probably about another $1.2 million of favorable margin was Veth delivering better margin results than they had in prior years.

Yes, David, I'll just add a little bit of color on Veth too, is one of the things coming out of COVID and the Russia-Ukraine war was our supplier of permanent magnet motors for L drives. Our supplier had almost all of their supply base for raw material in Ukraine or Russia. And what they couldn't get from Russia was destroyed in Ukraine. So, we had some pretty heavy surcharges and cost increases as they were just scrambling to get us motors that unfortunately, we had contract pricing and couldn't pass that on. The Veth team has worked tirelessly for almost 2 years to develop different suppliers. And so, we're starting to see those suppliers come online and go back to the pricing when we were quoting these projects. So, they've done a great job on lean principles and finding new suppliers. So yes, if there's one entity that drove the improvement, it's really going to be Veth then everybody else is just working on their constant continuous improvement projects. And it all came together. It was a very nice bump in the first quarter, which is typically a very hard one for us just on shutdowns and available days of shipping.

And so how much of that 220 basis points do you think is sustainable going forward, John?

Yes. I mean if we can -- it's same mix, I think we can do that on a trend line. And as I mentioned in the call, one of the tough things that we're dealing with in this quarter, and thankfully, we've gotten some relief is our first shipments in the Trump 232 tariffs of 50%. We got in containers of marine transmissions from Europe and from Japan, and those were tariffed at 50% after feverish activity and explaining to Department of Commerce and anybody else and our codes, thankfully, those have come down to 15%. So, we're going to have to deal with that like in the second -- that happened in the first month of the second quarter. But I think once we can get through the initial negotiation of tariffs with customers, I think the trend line, I think we can sustain that. I think the second quarter right now, given the massive jump in tariffs that were impacted, passing it on. I'd be happy to maintain that in the second quarter for sure. But the trend line going forward, the team and the mix and what they've done, it's all very positive. And our flexibility of being able to move product and assemble and test in different regions is definitely a competitive advantage for us.

Very encouraging. Last question for me is really on free cash flow for this year. And you talked about your plans for inventory, and you made a couple of comments around CapEx. But how are you thinking about kind of conversion, either EBITDA conversion or net income conversion, however you want to look at it?

Sorry, I'll answer the question I think you're asking, David, and maybe you can clarify. So, I think the way we look at profitability as we drive growth is delivering our sort of benchmark is 40%, like I said. We expect as volume grows; we're delivering 40%. Right now, we're tracking -- our target is to get double-digit EBITDA. So, say, 11% EBITDA would be, I think, a target for us this year, some improvement from where we've been. But as we grow, I think what we have in our minds is to get to that 15% EBITDA margin level. And that's going to take additional volume and additional margin improvements as we delivered this quarter. So, I think we're on a good trend to get to some of those targets.

Right. And so, can you help us at all in terms of the free cash flow model for this year in terms of what that might ultimately look like?

Yes. So free cash flow is -- yes, certainly, it was a difficult Q1 for a variety of reasons. We have a typical step back in Q1 with some payouts that naturally follow our Q4. We had some inventory growth with the demand, the increase in backlog, maybe some prebuys with the anticipation of tariffs. So difficult Q1, but we still -- we're targeting 60% free cash flow as a percent of EBITDA. That's our target. That's our goal. I think that's still deliverable. We would hope to get close to breakeven and recover that Q1 in Q2. So, we're focused on managing that incoming inventory in light of the growing demand. I think what we don't want to do is in any way, hamper our ability to grow and disappoint customers, let's say, as we're delivering this volume growth we have in front of us. So yes, that was sort of the drag on Q1.

[Operator Instructions] We have not received any questions from the audience. I'll be turning the call back over to our CEO, John Batten, for closing remarks.

Thanks, Justin. And thank you for your continued interest in Twin Disc. If you have any follow-on questions, please contact either Jeff or myself, and we look forward to speaking with you in February after our second quarter call. Justin, I'll turn it back to you.

Thank you.