Symbotic Q3 Earnings Miss Estimates, Revenues Increase Y/Y

Symbotic shares have declined 26.4% over the past year, underperforming the S&P 500 composite’s 22.6% increase.

SYM’s Segmental Performance

Systems revenues, accounting for 93.1% of total revenues, increased 20% year over year to $671 million. The company started 11 new system deployments in the fiscal third quarter, bringing the total number of systems under deployment to 77 at quarter-end.

Software maintenance and support revenues increased 57% year over year to $12.8 million, aided by growth in operational systems under support contracts. Operations services revenues totaled $37.1 million, up 49% year over year, primarily due to an increase in operational systems receiving these services.

SYM’s Margins Expand

Adjusted EBITDA more than doubled to $95.2 million from $45.4 million in the year-ago quarter. The adjusted EBITDA margin expanded about 550 basis points year over year to 13.2%.

Adjusted gross profit was $179.9 million, up 41.4% year over year. The adjusted gross profit margin improved 350 basis points year over year to 25% on strong project execution, cost discipline, scale benefits and a favorable revenue mix.

SYM reported a backlog of approximately $22.5 billion. The sequential decline primarily reflected revenues recognized during the third quarter, partly offset by pricing adjustments on newly started projects and the addition of a second Southern Glazer’s site.

SYM’s Balance Sheet and Cash Flow Figures

Symbotic exited the third quarter with cash and cash equivalents of $1.75 billion compared with $2 billion at the end of the preceding quarter. The company used $147.3 million of cash in operating activities during the third quarter and reported negative free cash flow of $164.6 million, mainly reflecting the timing of customer receipts and cash usage related to project activity.

SYM’s Guidance

For the fourth quarter of fiscal 2026, the company expects revenues in the range of $760-$780 million. The midpoint of the guided range is $770 million.

Adjusted EBITDA is expected to be between $100 million and $105 million.

SYM currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Q2 Performances of Other Transportation Companies

Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies WAB, operating as Wabtec Corporation, reported encouraging second-quarter 2026 results, wherein both earnings and revenues surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate and increased year over year.

Quarterly adjusted earnings of $2.76 per share beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.63 by 4.9% and increased 21.6% year over year, owing to higher sales and operating margin expansion.

Revenues climbed 17.5% to $3.18 billion and surpassed the consensus mark of $3.08 billion by 3.2%.

United Airlines Holdings, Inc. UAL reported second-quarter 2026 adjusted earnings of $1.99 per share, down 48.6% year over year but above the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.92 by 3.7%.

Operating revenues rose 16% to $17.67 billion and were essentially in line with the $17.68 billion consensus mark. A 12.1% increase in total revenues per available seat mile or TRASM, and broad-based gains across premium, loyalty and cargo revenues, supported the top line despite sharply higher fuel costs.

7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days

Just released: Experts distill 7 elite stocks from the current list of 220 Zacks Rank #1 Strong Buys. They deem these tickers "Most Likely for Early Price Pops."

Since 1988, the full list has beaten the market more than 2X over with an average gain of +23.9% per year. So be sure to give these hand picked 7 your immediate attention. 

Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report

This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

Zacks Investment Research