Martin Marietta Materials Inc. (NYSE:MLM) shares are trading higher Wednesday, recovering from a premarket drop, after the company reported mixed third-quarter results and raised its full-year revenue outlook. Adjusted earnings missed estimates, while revenue topped expectations.
Lhoist Deal Lifts Revenue
Adjusted EPS was $5.47, below the analyst estimate of $6.04.
Revenue rose 28% year over year to $2.369 billion, beating the $2.246 billion consensus estimate.
Adjusted EBITDA from continuing operations increased 21% to $808 million. Growth from recently acquired businesses helped offset higher inflationary costs and an uncertain economic backdrop.
The company completed its acquisition of Lhoist North America (LNA) on Aug. 21, expanding its lime and limestone operations and increasing its exposure to the steel, environmental, infrastructure and industrial sectors. Since closing, LNA has generated $216 million in revenue, $51 million in gross profit and $115 million in cash gross profit.
For the nine months ended Sept. 30, 2026, operating cash flow totaled $896 million, compared with $1.156 billion a year earlier.
Capital expenditures declined to $445 million from $602 million. The company returned $361 million to shareholders and ended the period with $140 million in cash and $1.4 billion in available borrowing capacity. It also had 10.7 million shares remaining under its buyback authorization.
Segment Performance
Aggregates shipments increased 15.9% year over year to a record 67.1 million tons in the third quarter. Average selling price (ASP) declined 3.6% to $22.41 per ton, primarily due to acquisition-related mix.
Organic ASP rose 1.0%, while organic mix-adjusted ASP increased 2.7%. Gross profit fell 4% to $512 million, but cash gross profit reached a quarterly record of $696 million.
Other Building Materials revenue increased 14% to $399 million, while gross profit rose 17% to $63 million.
The Specialties segment also posted records, generating $362 million in revenue, $88 million in gross profit and $163 million in cash gross profit. Organic Specialties revenue and gross profit increased 11% and 6%, respectively.
Outlook
Following the acquisition, Martin Marietta revised its full-year 2026 revenue and adjusted EBITDA guidance. The company raised its 2026 revenue outlook to $7.75 billion to $7.85 billion from $7.2 billion to $7.4 billion, above the $7.54 billion consensus estimate.
For 2027, the company anticipates mix-adjusted aggregates price increases in the mid- to high-single-digit range, supported by pricing changes effective Jan. 1.
Management expects infrastructure and data center activity to remain robust, although private construction markets sensitive to interest rates could face softer conditions.
CEO Ward Nye said tighter inventory controls and lower capital expenditures have generated more than $290 million in additional year-to-date cash flow.
The company expects upcoming pricing increases and further structural cost savings to improve the relationship between selling prices and costs in 2027.
MLM Stock Price Activity: Martin Marietta Materials shares are trading higher by 2.26% at $556.08 at the time of publication on Wednesday, according to Benzinga Pro data.
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