Ampco-Pittsburgh (NYSE:AP) reported higher third-quarter sales and reduced debt as growth in its Air & Liquid Systems business offset lower revenue following the closure of its U.K. cast roll facility.
Net sales rose 3% to $111.7 million from $108 million a year earlier, while net income was $0.5 million, or $0.02 per share. Adjusted EBITDA increased 2% to $9.4 million, representing an 8.4% margin.
CEO Brett McBrayer said cash from operations improved by $15.5 million from the prior-year quarter, while free cash flow improved by $15.1 million. Net debt fell by $19.5 million during the quarter.
The company’s backlog stood at $379.5 million at the end of the quarter, up more than $50 million during 2026. McBrayer said the order book and momentum across the businesses positioned the company for 2027.
Debt reduction ahead of target
Chief Financial Officer David Anderson said Ampco-Pittsburgh had paid down approximately $13.3 million of debt by the end of the third quarter, exceeding its full-year goal of $8 million to $10 million. He attributed the third-quarter paydown primarily to efforts to reduce working capital.
Asked whether those improvements were sustainable, Anderson said the company did not expect them to reverse. Ampco-Pittsburgh has worked to improve customer payment terms and secure more cash upfront through deposits, he said.
Anderson said further working-capital improvements were likely to be more gradual, though the company continues to review terms and other opportunities.
For the first nine months of 2026, revenue was $322.9 million, compared with $325.4 million a year earlier. Adjusted EBITDA rose 4% to $27.1 million.
Air & Liquid orders build
Anderson, who also leads Air & Liquid Systems, said the segment’s third-quarter revenue increased 17% from a year earlier, while adjusted EBITDA rose 9%. Year-to-date revenue increased 12%, and adjusted EBITDA climbed 31% to its highest level in the segment’s history.
Air & Liquid’s backlog was 29% higher than at the end of 2025. The business received another $31 million in customer orders in October, including $21 million from the power generation market. Anderson said those power-generation orders were for Aerofin heat exchangers and related items.
Demand from power generation is supporting both commercial pumps used in gas turbines and heat exchangers, Anderson said. He also cited continuing demand from the U.S. Navy and said equipment obtained through a Navy funding program had increased manufacturing capacity.
The segment is adding equipment and employees and working to improve manufacturing efficiency, Anderson said. He described Air & Liquid as being on a record pace for revenue and adjusted EBITDA.
Forged and Cast earnings rise despite lower sales
Forged and Cast Engineered Products segment sales fell to $68.9 million from $71.5 million a year earlier, reflecting the exits from the U.K. facility and the AUP distribution business, said Sam Lyon, president of Union Electric Steel Corporation. Excluding prior-year U.K. sales, segment sales grew approximately 11%, he said.
Lyon attributed that growth to the planned transfer of work rolls from the U.K. to Sweden and higher shipments of non-roll forged engineered products. Segment adjusted EBITDA rose 9% to $7.7 million, despite the lower reported sales and seasonal outages.
Lyon said performance in Sweden improved as productivity and utilization increased. He also said the losses from the U.K. facility and AUP were fully out of the business, while noting that the year-over-year comparison was complicated by reduced U.K. production and the wind-down of AUP in the prior-year quarter.
The company extended its annual maintenance outage on the 5,000-ton forging press at Burgettstown after finding small issues at its base. Lyon said the repairs were intended to extend the press’s useful life ahead of a busier order book and that the press had been operating again for several months.
Demand for rolls is improving, particularly in North America, Lyon said. He added that tariffs support U.S. steel mill utilization and roll consumption, as well as demand for forged engineered products.
About Ampco-Pittsburgh (NYSE:AP)
Ampco-Pittsburgh Corporation (NYSE: AP) is a diversified industrial manufacturer headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1929, the company develops and produces specialized equipment and engineered products for industrial customers, with operations serving markets in North America, Europe and other international regions. Through its forged and cast engineered products business, Ampco-Pittsburgh manufactures steel rolls and related products used primarily in metal-producing and metal-processing applications.
