Cadre Holdings, Inc.

Q2 net sales were $207.1 million, up 32% year over year and 5% organically. Gross profit was $87.1 million, up 36% year over year, and gross margin expanded 120 basis points year over year, or 209 basis points excluding inventory step-up amortization. Adjusted EBITDA increased 56% year over year. Net income was affected by $2 million of inventory step-up amortization, $5.9 million of contingent consideration expense, and $6.6 million of FX headwinds. For 2026, Cadre now expects net sales of $749 million to $769 million and adjusted EBITDA of $139 million to $144 million, implying an 18.6% margin; organic revenue growth is still expected to be 3% to 5%. Management also guided to Q3 revenue of about $190 million with adjusted EBITDA margins of about 18%, and said Q4 should look very similar to Q2.

Warren Kanders framed the quarter as another period of strong execution across a more diversified portfolio, citing mission-critical demand in public safety, defense and nuclear markets. He emphasized that Cadre is seeing durable demand, a record backlog, and multiple growth avenues from both large strategic deals and smaller bolt-on acquisitions. His tone was confident and constructive, repeatedly pointing to the company’s stronger scale, cash generation and balance sheet as reasons it can pursue more M&A while sustaining growth.

Blaine Browers focused on the numbers and the guide raise, highlighting $207.1 million in sales, $87.1 million in gross profit, 56% adjusted EBITDA growth, and margin expansion despite $2 million of inventory step-up amortization, $5.9 million of contingent consideration expense, and $6.6 million of FX headwinds. He said net leverage was 2.5x at June 30, giving Cadre financial flexibility, and noted roughly $455 million deployed across 7 transactions over the last 4 years. He also said the updated 2026 outlook fully includes Alien Gear, with midpoint growth of 24.4% for revenue and 26.7% for adjusted EBITDA, and that the company still expects organic growth of 3% to 5%.

Analysts focused on the nuclear backlog mix, nuclear margin quality, the sustainability of the 5% organic growth rate, margin drivers in the second half, and how much Alien Gear and TYR Tactical can contribute. Management said nuclear backlog growth has been led mainly by commercial nuclear energy and environmental remediation, with additional strength in Europe, while nuclear margins should normalize by region in the back half. On public safety, management said demand remained strong and that several wins, including the FBI ballistic panel program and BEMO, support the outlook; it also said the Alien Gear integration is progressing and that the business did $4.8 million in the quarter but was not fully baked into guidance at $11 million for the year.