The quarter was better on revenue, worse on earnings. Published consensus was approximately $208.7 million of revenue and negative $0.06 EPS; Compass delivered $215.3 million but adjusted EPS of negative $0.14, making this a revenue beat but an earnings miss.
| Metric | Q3 2026 | Q3 2025 / expectation | Read |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $215.3m | $214.6m / consensus ~$208.7m | Beat on revenue (Financial Highlights) |
| Adjusted EBITDA | $39.9m | $41.0m | Down 3% year over year (EBITDA reconciliation) |
| Adjusted EPS | $(0.14) | $(0.39) / consensus ~$(0.06) | Improved year over year, but missed published consensus (Financial Highlights) |
| Salt adjusted EBITDA | $38.9m | $45.8m | Down 15%; margin fell to 22.4% from 27.6% (Salt Segment Performance) |
| Plant Nutrition adjusted EBITDA | $15.0m | $11.4m | Up 32%; margin rose to 39.9% from 25.4% (Plant Nutrition Segment Performance) |
| Net debt | $660.3m | $745.9m | Down 11%; leverage improved to 2.8x from 4.3x (Net Debt and Net Leverage Ratio) |
Salt remains the central operational disappointment. Pricing worked—average Salt prices rose 9%, and revenue increased 5%—but highway volumes fell 6% and higher mining, product and distribution costs overwhelmed the pricing benefit. Salt adjusted EBITDA fell to $38.9 million, well below the prior-year $45.8 million, while the company acknowledged that production-cost improvements are arriving more slowly than planned (Salt Segment Performance; Management Commentary).
Plant Nutrition is the clear upside surprise. Adjusted EBITDA rose to $15.0 million despite a 16% revenue decline, helped by pricing and lower per-unit costs. Excluding the divested Wynyard SOP business, volumes grew approximately 4% year over year. The company raised Plant Nutrition's full-year EBITDA range from $43–$47 million to $49–$57 million, a meaningful improvement versus the standing plan (Plant Nutrition Segment Performance; 2026 Guidance).
Guidance is a reshuffle, not a clean upgrade. Plant Nutrition's improvement is offset by a narrower and slightly lower Salt EBITDA range of $225–$236 million versus $225–$240 million previously. Consolidated guidance is now $218–$242 million, with management describing the midpoint as $230 million; the change reflects stronger Plant Nutrition performance offset by Salt mix, inflation and slower operational improvement (2026 Guidance). The message is that the earnings mix is improving, but the core Salt recovery is not yet fully executing.
The balance sheet is materially healthier, though cash generation softened. Net debt fell $85.6 million year over year and net leverage dropped to 2.8x, helped by debt repayment and stronger trailing EBITDA. However, nine-month operating cash flow declined to $162.8 million from $204.6 million, while capital spending increased to $62.1 million from $53.8 million (Cash Flow statement; Net Debt and Net Leverage Ratio). Net read: financially safer, operationally still uneven.
Read the original 8-K on SEC EDGAR ↗