JBT Marel Corporation

Second quarter consolidated revenue was $981 million, up 5% year over year, including 3% organic growth and 2% from foreign exchange. Protein revenue was $467 million, up 11% year over year, including 8% organic growth and 3% FX. Consolidated adjusted EBITDA was $168 million. Management said Q2 included $17 million of IEEPA tariff refunds, offset by $4 million of higher-than-expected tariff expense tied to prior years and $5 million of accelerated long-term incentive compensation expense. Year-to-date free cash flow was $179 million, equal to 58% conversion to adjusted EBITDA, and leverage ended just below 2.5x. For guidance, management expects Q3 revenue growth of 2% to 4% organic, partially offset by a 1% FX headwind, and adjusted EBITDA margin of 17% to 17.5%. Full-year 2026 revenue and adjusted EBITDA guidance was maintained; at the midpoint, that implies 6% consolidated revenue growth and 145 basis points of adjusted EBITDA margin expansion. Adjusted EPS guidance was refined for updated depreciation, amortization and tax assumptions.

Brian Deck emphasized that demand remains robust and that the combination with Marel is creating real strategic and operating benefits through cross-selling, broader technology coverage, and better service to customers. He repeatedly pointed to the strong backlog, a resilient poultry market, and the company’s ability to shift production toward lower-cost facilities as the basis for confidence in second-half execution and the 2028 margin goal. His tone was upbeat but candid about Q2 disruption in Prepared Food and Beverage, which he framed as temporary.

Matt Meister focused on the quarter’s numbers and the bridge to improved profitability. He said Q2 adjusted EBITDA was affected by shipment timing, tariff refunds, tariff expense, and incentive compensation, while margin pressure also came from higher logistics, metals, and input costs. He highlighted $179 million of year-to-date free cash flow, 58% conversion to adjusted EBITDA, and leverage just below 2.5x, which puts the company within its target range after 18 months. He also said the warehouse automation restructuring should generate about $9 million of total annual savings, including about $3 million in the second half of 2026.

Analysts focused on the Prepared Food and Beverage margin cadence, and management said Q2 was hurt by about $20 million of revenue delay in that segment, with some of that pushed into the back half of the year. Management guided to sequential margin improvement in PFB, including about 25 to 50 basis points of year-over-year improvement in Q3 and roughly another 100 basis points from Q3 to Q4. Questions also centered on Protein margins, where management said Q2 margins were about 24% and included about 200 basis points of tariff refund benefit, with the back half expected to be relatively flat. Other topics included pricing and logistics inflation, the pace of footprint consolidations, capital allocation versus M&A, and the potential for a USDA decision on poultry line speeds, which management said could be a multi-year tailwind if permanent 175 birds-per-minute speeds are approved.