Williams Industrial Services Group Inc.

Williams reported first-quarter revenue of $103.5 million versus $69.6 million in the prior-year period. Gross profit was $7.7 million versus $5.7 million, and gross margin was 7.4%; excluding underperforming operations, adjusted gross margin was 12.2%. Adjusted EBITDA was $3.3 million versus $100,000 last year, and pro forma adjusted EBITDA was $7.1 million versus $2 million. Operating expenses were $6.1 million versus $6.5 million in 2022. Backlog was roughly $235 million at quarter-end. Management did not provide explicit next-quarter or full-year numerical guidance, but said nuclear outage work will complete in Q2 and revenue is expected to be at lower levels for the remainder of 2023, particularly in the second half.

Tracy Pagliara framed the quarter as improved versus last year but emphasized that the company is in a period of transition. She highlighted ongoing cost cutting, exit activity in water, chemical, and T&D, and a parallel review of strategic alternatives for the company’s future. Her tone was candid and cautious, especially around the second-half outlook, backlog contraction, and the need to rightsize the organization.

Damien Vassall walked through the stronger Q1 financials, pointing to revenue of $103.5 million, gross profit of $7.7 million, gross margin of 7.4%, and adjusted EBITDA of $3.3 million. He noted that excluding underperforming projects, gross margin would have been 12.2% and pro forma adjusted EBITDA would have been $7.1 million. He also said operating expenses were $6.1 million, down from $6.5 million, and reiterated that streamlined initiatives are intended to reduce expenses further, while revenue is expected to be lower for the rest of 2023.

There was no analyst Q&A segment in the transcript provided, so no specific investor questions or management answers were captured. The closest thing to additional commentary was management’s repeated concern that outage-related work is finishing, the bid environment is softer than expected, and funding tied to infrastructure-related legislation has been slower to materialize. They also said liquidity challenges will remain for the foreseeable future.