Hawkins, Inc. Reports Second Quarter Fiscal 2026 Results

ROSEVILLE, Minn., Oct. 29, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Hawkins, Inc. (Nasdaq: HWKN) today announced results for the six months ended September 28, 2025, its second quarter of fiscal 2026.

Second Quarter Fiscal Year 2026 Highlights:

• Record second quarter results for revenue, gross profit, operating income, and adjusted Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization (“adjusted EBITDA”), a non-GAAP measure.
• Revenue growth of 14%, including Water Treatment segment growth of 21% over the same period of the prior year.
• Gross profit increased 12% over the same period of the prior year.
• Diluted EPS of $1.08 per share decreased by $0.08, or 7%, due primarily to a $5 million increase in amortization and interest expense related to acquisitions. Assuming the acquisition of WaterSurplus had occurred at the beginning of the prior fiscal year, pro forma EPS for the quarter would have been 5% higher than the pro forma prior year period.
• Adjusted EBITDA of $50.4 million, a 9% increase over the same period of the prior year. Trailing 12-month adjusted EBITDA now exceeds $178 million.

Executive Commentary – Patrick H. Hawkins, Chief Executive Officer and President:

“Our second quarter results were highlighted by all three segments growing for the second consecutive quarter. This was a great achievement that was delivered by our entire team working together. Our growth was again led by Water Treatment, with revenue growth of over 21%, followed by Industrial Solutions growing 11% and Food and Health Sciences growing 2%," said Patrick Hawkins, Chief Executive Officer and President. "Our record second quarter revenue of $280 million and record second quarter adjusted EBITDA of $50.4 million are both a result of our ongoing strategy of investing in high-margin business that drives topline growth and enhances our margins. We continue to generate strong cash flow, which allowed us to reduce our debt level by $20 million during the quarter.”

Mr. Hawkins, continued, “We are pleased with our growth even as we experienced the expected drag on operating income and earnings per share from our first quarter acquisition of WaterSurplus. This acquisition is expected to be accretive in fiscal 2027 as we continue to ramp the business, but in fiscal 2026 we expect to incur $17 million of annualized expense related to the acquisition associated with amortization, earn-out accretion and interest expense. The integration is going well and currently we see even more high-margin sales opportunities than we expected when we closed the deal. Looking to the second half of the year, we expect Water Treatment and Industrial Solutions to grow, while we expect Food and Health Sciences to be flat to down, driven by tougher comparisons over the prior year and competitive pressures within the food space. We will continue to deliver on our strategy of investing in our higher margin businesses, acquiring companies that are accretive to Hawkins, all while servicing the needs of our customers to the highest level possible.”

Change in Reporting Segments

Starting in the first quarter of fiscal 2026, we aligned our reporting segments to better reflect organization changes made to our business and how we plan to manage our operations and allocate resources going forward. We now report on the following segments: Water Treatment, Food and Health Sciences, and Industrial Solutions. There is no change in how Water Treatment is managed. Food and Health Sciences includes our Nutrition, Food, Agriculture, and Pharmaceutical businesses. Food, Agriculture, and Pharmaceutical had previously been included within the Industrial reporting segment. The investor relations page on our website contains recast historical segment information.

Second Quarter Financial Highlights:

NET INCOME

For the second quarter of fiscal 2026, the Company reported net income of $22.6 million, or $1.08 per diluted share, compared to net income for the second quarter of fiscal 2025 of $24.1 million, or $1.16 per diluted share.

REVENUE

Sales were $280.4 million for the second quarter of fiscal 2026, an increase of $33.4 million, or 14%, from sales of $247.0 million in the same period a year ago. Each of our segments contributed to the year-over-year growth, with both our Water Treatment and Industrial Solutions segments reporting double-digit growth.

Water Treatment segment sales increased $26.4 million, or 21%, to $150.9 million for the current quarter, from $124.5 million in the same period a year ago. Water Treatment sales increased as a result of $23 million of added sales from acquired businesses as well as increased organic sales volumes and improved pricing on certain products.

Food & Health Sciences segment sales increased $1.5 million, or 2%, to $72.9 million for the current quarter, from $71.4 million in the same period a year ago. Food & Health Sciences segment sales increased primarily as result of increased sales volumes of our agricultural products as well as increased sales of our health and nutrition products.

Industrial Solutions segment sales increased $5.5 million, or 11%, to $56.6 million for the current quarter, from $51.1 million in the same period a year ago. Industrial Solutions segment sales increased primarily as a result of increased sales volumes of certain of our manufactured, blended and repackaged products.

GROSS PROFIT

Gross profit increased $7.4 million, or 12%, to $67.6 million, or 24% of sales, for the current quarter, from $60.2 million, or 24% of sales, in the same period a year ago. During the current quarter, the LIFO reserve increased, and gross profit decreased, by $0.3 million, primarily due to a projected increase in certain commodity volumes and costs at year-end. In the same period a year ago, the LIFO reserve was unchanged and therefore had no impact on gross profit.

Gross profit for the Water Treatment segment increased $7.4 million, or 20%, to $43.3 million, or 29% of sales, for the current quarter, from $35.9 million, or 29% of sales, in the same period a year ago. Water Treatment segment gross profit increased primarily as a result of increased sales from our acquired businesses as well as increased organic sales.

Gross profit for the Food & Health Sciences segment decreased $0.6 million, or 4%, to $15.5 million, or 21% of sales, for the current quarter, from $16.1 million, or 22% of sales, in the same period a year ago. Food & Health Sciences gross profit decreased primarily as a result of lower selling prices as a result of competitive pricing pressures.

Gross profit for our Industrial Solutions segment increased $0.7 million, or 9%, to $8.9 million, or 16% of sales, for the current quarter, from $8.2 million, or 16% of sales, in the same period a year ago. Industrial Solutions segment gross profit increased as a result of the increase in sales.

SELLING, GENERAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES

Selling, general and administrative (“SG&A”) expenses increased $7.2 million, or 27%, to $33.7 million, or 12% of sales, for the three months ended September 28, 2025, from $26.5 million, or 11% of sales, in the same period a year ago. Expenses increased largely due to $5.6 million in added costs from the acquired business in our Water Treatment segment, including amortization of intangibles of $2.5 million and $0.5 million of fair value accretion on earnout liabilities. SG&A expenses also increased due to increases in other variable costs, including variable pay and other personnel costs.

ADJUSTED EBITDA

Adjusted EBITDA, a non-GAAP financial measure, is an important performance indicator and a key compliance measure under the terms of our credit agreement. An explanation of the computation of adjusted EBITDA is presented below. Adjusted EBITDA for the three months ended September 28, 2025 was $50.4 million, an increase of $4.1 million, or 9%, from $46.3 million in the same period a year ago.

INCOME TAXES

Our effective income tax rate was 27% for both the current quarter and for the same period a year ago. The effective tax rate is impacted by projected levels of annual taxable income, permanent items, and state taxes. Our effective tax rate for the full year is currently expected to be approximately 26-27%.

BALANCE SHEET

As of September 28, 2025, our working capital was $17 million higher than the end of fiscal 2025 due primarily to increased inventories and decreased accounts payable. During the quarter, we repaid $20 million on our line of credit. Our total debt outstanding at the end of the second quarter was $279.0 million and our leverage ratio was 1.53x our trailing 12-month proforma adjusted EBITDA, as compared to 0.86x of trailing twelve-month adjusted EBITDA at the end of fiscal 2025.

About Hawkins, Inc.

Hawkins, Inc. was founded in 1938 and is a leading water treatment and specialty ingredients company that formulates, manufactures, distributes, and blends products for its Water Treatment, Food & Health Sciences, and Industrial Solutions customers. Headquartered in Roseville, Minnesota, the Company has 64 facilities in 28 states and creates value for its customers through superb customer service and support, quality products and personalized applications. Hawkins, Inc. generated $974 million of revenue in fiscal 2025 and has approximately 1,100 employees. For more information, including registering to receive email alerts, please visit www.hawkinsinc.com/investors.

Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Financial Measures

We report our consolidated financial results in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). To assist investors in understanding our financial performance between periods, we have provided certain financial measures not computed according to GAAP, including adjusted EBITDA. This non-GAAP financial measure is not meant to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for comparable GAAP measures. The method we use to produce non-GAAP results is not computed according to GAAP and may differ from the methods used by other companies.

Management uses this non-GAAP financial measure internally to understand, manage and evaluate our business and to make operating decisions. Management believes that this non-GAAP financial measure reflects an additional way of viewing aspects of our operations that, when viewed with our GAAP results, provides a more complete understanding of the factors and trends affecting our financial condition and results of operations.

We define adjusted EBITDA as GAAP net income adjusted for the impact of the following: net interest expense resulting from our net borrowing position; income tax expense; non-cash expenses including amortization of intangibles, depreciation and charges for the employee stock purchase plan and restricted stock grants; and non-recurring items of income or expense, if applicable.

Forward-Looking Statements. Various remarks in this press release constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. These statements include those relating to consumer demand for products containing our ingredients and the impacts of those demands, expectations for results in our business segments and the timing of our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. These statements are not historical facts, but rather are based on our current expectations, estimates and projections, and our beliefs and assumptions. Forward-looking statements may be identified by terms, including “anticipate,” “believe,” “can,” “could,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “predict,” “should,” or “will” or the negative of these terms or other comparable terms. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to certain risks, uncertainties and other factors, some of which are beyond our control and are difficult to predict. Actual results may vary materially from those contained in forward looking statements based on a number of factors, including, but not limited to, changes in competition and price pressures, changes in demand and customer requirements or processes for our products, availability of product and disruptions to supplies, interruptions in production resulting from hazards, transportation limitations or other extraordinary events outside our control that may negatively impact our business or the supply chains in which we participate, changes in imported products and tariff levels, the availability of products and the prices at which they are available, the acceptance of new products by our customers and the timing of any such acceptance, and changes in product supplies. Additional information concerning potential factors that could affect future financial results is included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended March 30, 2025, as updated from time to time in amendments and subsequent reports filed with the SEC. Investors should take such risks into account when making investment decisions. Shareholders and other readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which reflect our management’s view only as of the date hereof. We do not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statements.