Commercial foodservice and food processing equipment manufacturer Middleby Corp. (MIDD) reported Monday a 4.8% decline in profit for the third quarter, hurt by a 7.5% decline in revenues as sales continued to be impacted by the general economic environment. These were partially offset by better margins through cost reduction and product pricing. Earnings per share for the quarter decreased 13.5%, but topped analysts' expectations by four cents.
In a statement, chairman and chief executive officer, Selim Bassoul said, "Sales to our customers both in the Commercial Foodservice Group and the Food Processing Group continued to be affected by the general economic environment. As sales have declined, we have continued to focus on maintaining our profitability levels through cost reduction initiatives and remaining disciplined with our product pricing."
The company added that it also realized the benefit of lower steel costs which lessened the impact of reduced sales volumes during the quarter.
The Elgin, Illinois-based company reported net income of $15.50 million or $0.83 per share for the third quarter, lower than $16.29 million or $0.96 per share in the year-ago quarter.
On average, nine analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to earn $0.79 per share for the third quarter. Analysts' estimates typically excludes special items.
Revenues for the quarter declined 7.5% to $153.99 million from $166.47 million in the same quarter last year. Seven Wall Street analysts had a consensus revenue estimate of $163.89 million for the quarter.
Excluding the impact of acquisitions, sales declined 19.8% during the third quarter. Sales for the commercial foodservice group decreased 19.6%, and food processing group sales dropped 21.0% from last year.
Income from operations for the third quarter dipped to $28.07 million from $30.95 million in the comparable quarter a year ago. Excluding a nonrecurring charge, adjusted operating income edged down, while operating margins improved 130 basis points to 19.9% from 18.6% a year ago.
Gross profit for the quarter totaled $62.04 million, down from $64.74 million in the year-ago quarter on lower sales volumes, while gross margin percentage improved 140 basis points to 40.3% from last year's 38.9%.
Net interest expense and deferred financing costs amounted to $2.80 million, down from $3.17 in the prior-year quarter, reflecting the benefit of lower interest rates, partially offset by higher levels of debt to fund acquisition activities.
For the nine-month period, the company reported net income of $43.28 million or $2.34 per share, lower than $46.59 million or $2.72 per share in the prior-year period.
Net sales for the year-to-date period edged down to $494.14 million from $500.87 million in the same period last year.
"We anticipate that the business environment may continue to be challenging into the beginning of next year. Accordingly, we continue to implement measures to reduce our costs to offset lower volumes in the near term. These cost reduction efforts include strategic initiatives to reduce supply chain costs and to improve manufacturing efficiencies," Bassoul added.
The company added that it continues to invest in new product development and in its selling organization. The company has also made investments in the second half of the year to expand its international selling organization in an effort to further penetrate the worldwide markets.
MIDD closed Monday's regular trading session at $46.18, up $1.84 or 4.15% on a volume of 0.21 million shares, higher than the three-month average volume of 0.17 million shares.
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June 12, 2026 17:14 ET Major central bank action was the focus this week in economic news. The European Central Bank became the first major central bank to move in response to the rising inflationary pressures in the backdrop of the conflict in the Middle East. In North America, the U.S. inflation and trade data as well as Canada’s central bank decision gained attention. The Chinese trade data was the main news in Asia.