Linamar Corporation

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Linnemore Corporation second quarter 2026 earnings call. At this time, all lines are in listen-only mode. Following the presentation, we will conduct a question and answer session. If at any time during this call you require immediate assistance, please press star zero for the operator. This call is being recorded on Wednesday, August 12 of 2026. I would now like to turn the conference over to Linda Hasenfratz, Executive Chair of Linnemore. Please go ahead.

Thanks so much. Good afternoon, everyone, and welcome to our second quarter conference call. Before I begin, I will draw your attention to the disclaimer that we are currently broadcasting. Joining me this afternoon, as usual, are Jim Jarrell, our CEO and president, and Gail Schneider, our CFO, both of whom will be addressing the call formally. Also available for questions are Mark Stoddart, Chris Merchant, and other members of our corporate IR, marketing, finance, and legal team. Okay, I'll start off with some highlights, as usual. So, a good place to start, always, is a quick reminder of the key value drivers that make Linda Marks such a great investment. and how they played out this past quarter. First one of our has a long track record and consistent sustainable results driving out of our diverse business. NQQ was another great example of that with exceptional earnings growth in our mobility business more than offsetting soft markets in our ag business and other dynamics such as tariffs more broadly in our industrial businesses. Being invested in both at Businesses helps trim base swings up and down in individual markets and leaves us with a more consistent, sustainable level of performance. Notably, again, this quarter, record sales and close to 10% earnings growth. The second key point is our flexibility to mitigate risk. Our equipment is programmable, flexible equipment. It can be used on a large variety of types of products across different vehicle platforms. and types of propulsion. It can also be assigned to our industrial divisions as well as our mobility divisions. This flexibility is allowing us to reallocate equipment from programs running under capacity to new launches or new areas in the business, which is really critical in this timeframe of changing volumes. Third, we've always run a prudent conservative balance sheet. We target keeping net debt to EBITDA under 1.5 times. Q2 saw net debt to EBITDA at 0.52, despite significant investment in CapEx for new programs. Our peers are much more heavily indebted with net debt to EBITDA more than 2.7 times. That makes Linda Mark much more flexible to change growth prospects in this opportunistic time, which we absolutely are doing. Lastly, Returning cash to shareholders is the key value creation driver at Linnemar as well, and you saw that play out this quarter with a 10% increase to our dividends, continuing our pattern of regular dividend increases, reflective of our strong performance in terms of cash management. I also note the continued repurchase of shares in the market, which we have been steadily doing since November of 2024. Okay, turning to financial highlights for the quarter and highlights more broadly, it's been another excellent record-breaking quarter, illustrative of a strong strategy that's delivering results for today and tomorrow. We saw record sales in the quarter and strong earnings growth for our overall business. Our mobility business in particular had an exceptionally strong quarter, delivering record sales and record earnings. In fact, nearly 30% earnings growth. We also saw market share growth in every region, as well as solid new business wins, notably in Canada and the U.S. specifically. We are firing on all cylinders in the mobility segment. And this despite global automotive markets being down again in terms of production volumes compared to prior year this quarter. and finally, we are managing that tariff minefield very well indeed with, again, more than 90% of our sales this year not impacted by tariffs. I will review the tariff situation in a little more detail in a minute. Turning to the numbers, we saw record sales at $3.1 billion, up 18.8% over last year. Sales were up 14% in our industrial business with access markets growing offset by continued softness on the ASI. Sales were up 21% in the mobility segment thanks to recent acquisitions, but also launching business and several programs that are running at stronger volumes than the market at full, offsetting those soft markets globally on the light vehicle side. Normalized net earnings were $183 million, or 5.8% of sales, up 8.7%. Over last year, a normalized EPS was 308, up 9.6% over last year on the back of a very strong mobility segment performance. And finally, free cash flow was again excellent at nearly $240 million. Strong cash flow drove from those strong earnings and continued focus on reallocating capital to control our CapEx spending. I would summarize our results this quarter as being most impacted by recent acquisitions adding to top and bottom line, launches and strong production sales and mobility and growth in Fagac sales, great continued efficiency and productivity improvements, all of which was offset by negative impact of tariffs in the industrial group and the negative impact of FX The majority related to a weaker U.S. dollar in comparison to both the Canadian dollar and the peso, as well as those weak agricultural markets. Okay, let's have a look at an update on the tariff side. So I've mentioned a moment ago, more than 90% of our sales this year are not impacted by any tariffs, and I think that is the most important takeaway for you on tariffs. The new 232 tariff scheme that came into effect April 1st on metal product derivatives are definitely creating a bigger impact to certain products in our industrial business than the previous scheme. 25% tariffs on full equipment value versus 50% on only the non-U.S. metal is, of course, quite different. But the good news is the tariffs are only impacting select products in the industrial segment and not impacting the auto side of the business at all. The impact on the sales that are subject to these tariffs is, of course, detracting from our earnings growth this year, as you saw illustrated in the industrial segment results this quarter, but is diluted in our overall results by our strong mobility earnings. I will highlight that tariff impact expected for the next two quarters will certainly be less acute than we saw in Q2. is our strongest quarter seasonally for all of our industrial businesses, meaning it will experience the biggest tariff impact for the year. We continue to fully expect to grow earnings to new record levels this year, as Dale will shortly outline for you in our outlook. Meanwhile, we're working on various mitigation strategies to minimize the impact of the tariff, as Jim will outline for you. I will also note that the new Section 338, Tourist Paris, scheduled to take effect mid-August, do not impact our market or our products. I think this is another great example of the benefit of a diverse business. When all your aids are in one basket, you are more vulnerable to specific dynamics in that industry. When you have multiple revenue streams, those same dynamics are not impacting all areas of your business. They also, of course, have a little bit different economic cycles. All of that helps to ensure a more consistent, sustainable level of growth, as you have seen us deliver quarter after quarter and year after year here at Livermore. Okay, I'll take a moment to also reflect on the impact of the decision by the U.S. on July 1st to not support an amendment to the USMCA agreement that would have both extended the agreement to 2042 from its current expiry date of 2036 and eliminated the need for annual reviews during that period. In short, there's little to no impact to the trade agreement or any of the three countries of the U.S., Mexico, or Canada from this decision from the U.S. I think there's been widespread misunderstanding of what is happening with USMCA, which I hope this chart helps clear out for you. Some folks think USMTA was not renewed by the US. That is not correct. First, the agreement wasn't up for a renewal. There was a proposed amendment on the table which wasn't adopted. Second, the decision by the US to not amend the agreement did not impact the current agreement in any way. USMTA is still fully in force and will continue until at least 2036. USMTA is currently expected to continue as noted for at least another 10 years until 2036 and in my opinion will continue well beyond that simply because the agreement has created enormous efficiency and prosperity for all three countries and what is a largely well-balanced trade portfolio in particular between Canada and the U.S. The U.S. has not notified of its intent to pull out of or terminate USMCA in any way and in my opinion will not do so. The agreement is too important to too many businesses in the U.S. and the vast majority of states cannot continue. Further, regardless of the fact that the amendment wasn't supported, the agreement could obviously be amended for further extension or anything else, including forgetting the annual review at any time with the agreement of all three parties. And I, in fact, believe that will happen as well. On the positive side, we are continuing to see customers looking at on-shoring into North America parts and systems that they are currently buying from Asia or the U.S. We are building up a significant list of new business opportunities and business wins for our North American plants in all of Canada, the U.S., and Mexico. New business wins and holding activity is quite strong in all regions. We're seeing continued very strong new business wins for our Canadian plants, continuing the momentum after a very strong year in 2025. So far this year, we have won quite a significant amount of business for our Canadian plants. In fact, we have already won 90% of the value of the full year of new business wins last year for the Canadian plants, and we're only halfway through the year. and 2025, I will remind you, is about the highest level of business wins in Canada that we've seen in the last three years. Our strong, highly capable Canadian plants are punching way above their weight in terms of wins compared to their slice of our global footprint, which is great to see. We're also seeing great opportunities for our U.S. plants, particularly our newest acquisition, Aludine, but also for our other existing American facilities. are already at the total value of new business wins in all of 2025. Again, it's only halfway through the year. I think it's key to note as well that our portfolio expansion notably into additional structural components is dramatically increasing our SQ activity. This strategy has played out very positively for us. The current situation is also adding to stress in an already stressful We had so far completed three distressed acquisitions over the last three years. Finally, I would like to again emphasize that our strong results of positive outlook is very much a result of what I think is an excellent and unique business culture at Lindemark. Our culture has been fine-tuned over the last 60 years to be opportunistic, entrepreneurial, and find something positive and actionable to grow our business, regardless of the circumstances. We are naturally responsive, nimble, and move fast. We're innovative and creative in deal-making and mitigating challenging situations, and we get things done. Those are the critical elements, not just to survive, but to thrive in business. Thank you, Linda, and great to be with everyone listening here tonight. As we reflect on the first half of 26, one word stands out to us, which is grit.

We delivered record quarterly sales of more than $3 billion and record operating earnings in mobility. Importantly, these results were not driven by a single market customer or short-term tailwind. They were the product of disciplined execution across a diversified global platform. What makes these results particularly meaningful is the environment in which we were achieving them. We continue to navigate uneven demand, trade uncertainty, and cost pressures. Yet like a well-built ship moving confidently through rough seas, Linamar continues to advance because of our strength, of our operating models, the resilience of our teammates, and the diversity of our business. Across the organization, we are seeing the benefits of scale, operational excellence, commercial discipline, and strategic acquisitions translating into strong earnings and cash flow. At the same time, we continue to win new businesses, Reinforcing the value of our technology, our manufacturing footprint and long-standing customer relationships. We are also maintaining a balanced approach to capital allocation, returning cash to shareholders, investing for future growth and preserving a strong balance sheet that provides flexibility in uncertain times. Ultimately, these records are not the goal, they are the outcome. They are the evidence that our great strategy is working Growth in revenue, income, and our team continues to build a foundation for sustainable long-term value creation. Records are milestones. They're not our destination. They simply confirm that our grit is moving Linamar in the right direction. Okay, as we're all aware, Linda mentioned, tariffs are causing a lot of uncertainty in global trade markets, impacting business decisions, performance, and the overall economy. It takes grit to deal with these tariffs and geopolitical issues, and we continue to proactively mitigate tariff impact through practical, no-regret actions that improve our competitiveness, regardless of how the tariff environment evolves. We look at everything and anything to improve the situation, including regulatory and class reviews, distribution and structural optimization, target operational actions using our footprints, Supply Chain Rebalancing, Cost Actions, including Supplier Pricing, Rebates, Resources Adjustments, and Really Disciplined Commercial Actions. Importantly, these initiatives do not require significant capital investment, any facility closures, major restructuring, or disruptive operational changes. We believe these targeted actions will help minimize tariff exposure while supporting continued growth, profitability, and cash flow generation. Several of the measures are already in place while others are actively underway. And we continue to weigh other additional measures as we continue to manage this environment to protect long-term values. This is not a static situation. Things are consistently changing and will improve as clarity improves. Okay, let's turn to Sky Jack, what was another great outstanding quarter for us despite ongoing tariff and market uncertainty. Skyjack delivered exceptional growth with volumes up 46% in the quarter and 53% year-to-date. Growth was broad-based across all major regions and product categories, demonstrating the strength of our brand, our execution, and our customer relationships. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. We were also proud to see the Lanyard Go receive the best new product award at the Hire26 event in Australia, recognizing Skyjack's continued leadership in innovation, productivity, and safety. The combination of strong execution, market recovery, and product leadership positions Skyjack exceptionally well for continued growth. Skyjack isn't just participating in recovery, it's helping to lead it. Turning to agriculture, market conditions remain challenging, with industry demand expected to be down approximately 15% in North America, with Europe and the rest of the world flat to marginally down for the year. Despite that backdrop, all three of our brands continue to gain market share on key product lines. MacDon increased global windrower share, Salford continued to grow its tillage position, and Borgo gained share in the U.S. air feeder market. In a down cycle, that's the ultimate proof point. It speaks to the strength of our products, our customer relationships, and the execution of our teammates. In North America, commodity prices remain largely unchanged, though we have started to see modest trends in the right direction. Overall, U.S. farmer sentiment remains less optimistic due to higher input costs. However, sentiment should become more clear when the USDA predicted 26 yields following the summer crossover The U.S. net farm income is expected to be $159 billion, up over $154 billion in 2025, largely on the $14 billion increase in direct government payments. However, fertilizer and diesel fuel prices are squeezing farmer profitability. As stated in Europe and the rest of the world, the market outlooks remain largely unchanged. In Europe, the market is seen as being resilient in the face of geopolitical and commodity crises. Headwinds ultimately resulting in a flat 26. In the rest of the world, it's mixed. In example, South America, Brazil, corn, and soy yields are favorable and have some of the largest crop yields on record. In Australia, crop yields expected to be down versus last year, however, still yielding crop results above the long-term average. As well, we continue to monitor global trade tensions, government-rich payments, and channel inventories to react to all the key market signals that we need to see. just as exciting as what we're doing behind the scenes. Across our agriculture business, we're accelerating automation and leveraging expertise developed in our mobility operations to transform manufacturing productivity. During the year, MacDon installed advanced mobile vending robots and continued to add automation to its facility to improve efficiency, throughput, quality, and cost competitiveness. By the year end, MacDon will operate approximately 340 Robots for 10,000 employees, well above Canada's average of 240, and more than double the global average of 132. At Linamar overall, we are proud to say we run at a rate of 1,200 for 10,000, which I believe is a benchmark. This is another example of the Linamar advantage, transferring technology, automation, and best practices across our businesses to strengthen competitiveness and drive long-term value. In agriculture, we're doing what great companies do during downturn, gaining share, improving productivity, and preparing for the recovery to win. Finally, looking at the automotive industry, we're seeing some temperate expectations quarter over quarter for 26 and into 27. In North America, 26 expectations are that light vehicles will be down 1.3 as production is expected to soften as affordability challenges, elevated vehicle prices, and growing inventory levels weigh on demand. Although sales have proven much more resilient than expected, the ongoing volatility in trade environments, coupled with higher energy costs, are continuing to create a cautious outlook in the near term. For 27, light vehicles are expected to be flat to slightly down versus prior expectation of being up 2.3% as production is forecast to normalize and OEMs are aligning production with demand. In Europe, expectations are that the light vehicle production will be down 0.9% versus the prior expectation of being down 1.8%. Production is forecasted to decline due to higher manufacturing and energy costs continued competitive pressure from Chinese imports and weaker export opportunities are weighing on regional output. Growth in EV demand is providing some support, but profitability and capacity utilization remain under pressure. For 27, light vehicle is expected to be largely flat versus prior expectations of being slightly up as more gradual recover is expected. Support by improving vehicle demand, electrification adoption, Although cost pressure and competition will remain. In Asia, light vehicle production is expected to decline 2.1% versus prior expectations of being down 1.2%, mainly driven by weaker domestic demand in China, offsetting strong growth in India and parts of Asia. Headquarters strength, government incentives, and continued electrification provide some support. However, geopolitical risks and higher input costs are the main headwinds. For 2027, production is expected to be flat to slightly up 0.4% versus the prior expectation of up 2.8%, supported by demand in India and continued electrification. Globally, this position's light vehicle production expectations for 2026 have been down 2.1% versus the previous 1.8%, and for 2027, slightly flat growth of 0.7% versus the previous 1.5% increase. Turning to our CTV performance for the quarter, our key strategic acquisitions of Aludai North America, Leipzig, and beginning in Q2 with the winning groups in Renscheid and Penfer facilities are driving strong gains in existing and new customers. North America's CTV was up 25% to $363. Europe was up 10.2 to $107 basically, and Asia-Pacific stock growth for the increase of 12.6% year-over-year to $12.65. Globally, our CCB grew an astounding 20% year-over-year to $97.72. Looking at new business wins for the quarter across both mobility and industrial, Linnemar saw a new business win value of close to $800 million. Through our strategic acquisitions and takeover work, we saw significant program wins For components such as knuckles and a significant cylinder head program wind, our propulsion agnostic new business winds on knuckles emphasizes our sustained momentum in Linnemar's structural and chassis expansion, allowing Linnemar to expand its propulsion agnostic portfolio across all powertrain types. As I mentioned last quarter, Linnemar services eight different mega markets, in our 2100 plan, which are being displayed there. These mega markets have a combined potential between $15 and $20 trillion in the next decade. Looking at two of our new segments that I've spoken about in the past few quarters, there are a few exciting developments that I'd like to discuss. Earth Defense, we've made a continue to make excellence rise on displaying to the key primes and governments that Linamar's capabilities are directly applicable to this phase. Our scalability, automation, and expertise and core capabilities are being received extraordinarily well, as has recently translated into an MOU with a large international prime who we're very excited to continue working with. Looking at robotics, the team continues to also make amazing strides. We've signed an LOI to be a manufacturer in North America for Cobots. and have recently signed a third LOI for manufacturing for humanoid robots. The takeaway is pretty clear and simple. LITMAR is not defined by one industry. Automotive is proof of our capabilities, not the limit of them. We are a global advanced manufacturing and product development technology partner. So before I hand it over to Dale, I'd like to spend just a moment looking ahead. While much of our conversation today is focused on navigating from terrorist market uncertainty and other challenges, what excites us here most is the opportunity in front of us. Littemar enters 27 with significant momentum across our business We're built for growth. We have a strong launch pipeline, growing exposure to attractive end markets, increasing operational efficiency, and a track record of winning in challenging environments. These are not future opportunities we're hoping to capture. They are opportunities we are actively launching, investing in, and executing today. As a result, we expect continued top-line growth, another year of strong earnings improvement, and further margin expansions. Our focus remains unchanged. Profitable growth, operational excellence, creating increasing value for our shareholders. We're also investing for the future. Capital spending will support major program launches, capacity expansion, automation, and strategic growth initiatives. At the same time, we remain committed to maintaining a strong balance sheet, generating robust Free Cash Flow and Preserving the Flexibility to Pursue both Organic and Inorganic Opportunities as They Arrive. When I look at Lidamar today, I see a company that is stronger, more diversified and better positioned than any time in our history. Our markets are evolving, technology is accelerating and our customers continue to look for innovative, capable partners. We believe Linamar is uniquely positioned to capitalize on those trends. The future isn't something we're waiting for, it's something we're building, and certainly the best is yet to come. With that, I'll turn it over to Dale to walk through a financial overview of the quarter.

Thank you, Jim. Good afternoon, everyone. Linda covered at a high level the financial performance in the quarter, so I'll jump directly into the business segment reviews, starting with mobility segments. Mobility sales increased by $428 million, or 20.5% over due to last year to $2.4 billion. This growth was mainly due to the increased sales from the recent acquisitions, which made a significant contribution in the quarter. Additionally, the higher launch and mature program volumes further boosted sales. Positive impacts from effects of change since last year also provided a benefit in the quarter. However, these gains were partially offset by lower volumes on certain ending programs and reduced volumes on some EV programs. These two normalized operating earnings for mobility were up 28.6% over last year to $194 million. The improvement was driven by increased earnings from higher volumes on launching mature programs, recent acquisitions, and operational efficiencies, so partially offset by lower volumes on ending programs and reduced EV volumes. and the FX impacts compared to Q2 in 20.5. Prior to the industrial sales increased by 13.8% or $95.3 million to $783.5 million in Q2. This increase was driven by the significantly higher access equipment sales as a result of strong market demand. This was partially offset by lower agricultural sales and a significantly down market despite global market share gains on key products such as windrowers, air seeders, and tillage equipment. Normalized industrial operating earnings in Q2 decreased by $24.6 million or 23.8% over last year to $78.7 million. The decline reflected the impact of the new 232 tariffs. and the lower agricultural sales partially offset by the increased earnings from strong access equipment sales and operational efficiencies. Starting with our overall cash position, which came in at $1.3 billion on June 30th, an increase of $266.1 million compared to June 25th. During the second quarter, we generated $341.4 million in cash from operating activities which was partially used to fund the Q2 debt repayments, capex, and share buybacks. In Q2, we generated $236.5 million in free cash flow, and year-to-date, we've generated nearly $500 million in free cash flow. Turning to leverage, net debt to EBITDA was 0.52 times of the quarter, an improvement from 1.02 times a year ago. The amount of available credit on our credit facilities was $725.2 million and our liquidity at the end of Q2 increased to $2 billion. Our NCIV program that was launched in Q3 2025 earnings call and will expire on November 16th. This program authorized the purchase and cancellation of the 3.9 million shares. To date, we have returned over $92 million Follow us to shareholders through the repurchase of over a million shares. This brings a total cash return to shareholders since November 24 to $192 million with the purchase and cancellation of approximately 2.8 million shares. In addition, the company increases quarterly dividend by 10% from $0.29 to $0.32 per share. These initiatives reflect our disciplined capital allocation strategy, maintaining a strong balance sheet, investing in growth, and returning excess cash to shareholders. Earnings view outlook. I will outline Lennar's expectations for Q3, focusing on our mobility and industrial segments in addition to highlighting the changes to our outlook for 2026 from what was announced in our last earnings call. Please note we're not providing segment level guidance for full year 26 currently due to the elevated volatility in the bull market and the ongoing geopolitical uncertainty. which makes the segment forecast less reliable. Regarding the mobility segment, our outlook for the third quarter is highly positive. We've anticipated double-digit growth in both sales and moving lives earnings driven by ongoing program launches, recent acquisitions, and continuing operational improvements. Third quarter margins are projected to continue to be within our normal range and to be relatively flat to Q3 2025. In the industrial segment, agricultural markets remain weak entering Q3. We anticipate industrial sales growth but expect normalized operating earnings to decline by double digits, with margins expected to contract from Q3 2025 levels and be below our typical 14% to 18% range. The sales gains from the access markets will partially offset Thank you for your attention. For the full year 2026, our late outlook is unchanged from what we provided in the Q1 call. We are expecting strong sales growth in the double digits and we continue to expect growth in normalized ETFs. We anticipate a modest reduction in normalized net margins primarily due to the effects of the newly amended 232 tariffs as we continue to explore and pursue the mitigation strategies. We continue to expect CapEx to increase from the prior year while remaining below our normal range as the percentage fails. We continue to expect very strong balance sheets with low leverage alongside strong-linked positive free cash flow. This outlook reflects the strong mobility growth given the launches, the full-year contribution from Allardyne North American Operations and the Leipzig Caching Facility and three-quarters of the winning facilities. all supporting top line and bottom line performance and mobility. The ag market rate of decline is moderating, though the conditions remain soft, with stabilization expected later this year or into early next year. The access markets are showing strong growth for 26 in the double digits. Overall, the external environment remains mixed and visibility is still limited, but Linnemark's fundamentals remain very strong. We have a very strong balance sheet, and we continue to expect strongly positive free cash flow, which gives us flexibility to invest and execute. At the same time, mobility is supported by launches, growth from acquisitions, which positions us well for continued growth as we continue to work through the mitigation strategies to reduce the impact of the tariffs on possibilities. Tim has already covered the initial thoughts on 2026, so I will not repeat that discussion. This slide is included here for your reference. In closing, Limar delivered a very strong quarter by delivering record sales, excellent normalized EPS, and a very strong balance sheet and outstanding liquidity. We are well positioned to invest in growth, navigate volatility, and continue returning capital to shareholders. Thank you, and I would now like to open up the call for questions.

Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. We will now begin the question and answer session. To ask a question, you may press the star followed by the number one on your telephone keypad. And if you would like to withdraw your questions, you can press the star too. One moment, please, for your first question. And your first question comes from the line of Ty Collin with CIBC Capital Markets. Please go ahead.

Hey, good evening, everyone. Thanks for taking my questions. Maybe just to start off, so it seems like there's obviously been an inflection in the demand outlook for Sky Jack, which is obviously positive to see. I mean, how do you feel that your position from, you know, an inventory and a production standpoint to capture your share of that opportunity and then why is the Q3 outlook seemingly calling for a lower growth rate than you were able to generate in Q2 considering the outlook for Sky Jack and Ag have both improved?

I'll just quickly answer the second. I mean Q2 is always our strongest order for industrial so That's just normal seasonality of the business, so I wouldn't read too much into that. And over to Jim on the inventory question.

Yeah, I mean, just on overall SkyJet, we certainly have the production capability to take on any sort of up list right now. and, you know, as we sort of talked about, all the signals are very clear in the market right now. We know a lot of the major rental companies are increasing their capex throughout the back end of this year and into next year. You know, we've all talked about AI and data centers, which our product fits very well into. Our backlog is healthy. I can say it's probably almost double to what it was last year this time. Our order intake probably in the same mode, but double where we were Last year, so really all the indicators are pretty good. Utilization rates as well from the rental companies are up. So pretty good signals and we have the capability and the capacity. The only concern that I would say and we're on it clearly is supply chain, right? Like you've got a lot of supply chain issues that companies are dealing with, but we've got a good handle on it and we've got inventory to satisfy customers.

Okay, that's great to hear. And then turning back to the discussion around tariffs. So I think since that original Section 232 rule change came into effect, I think a number of agricultural products were removed from the scope of that change. So are those incremental tariffs only impacting Skyjack at this point? and can you talk about, I guess, how you and your customers are managing those costs given how substantial they are?

Yeah, from my side in regards to how we're dealing with our customers, I mean, obviously no customer wants to see a price increase, but what I had mentioned earlier, we're really focused on sort of You know, reducing and mitigating the tariffs. And again, what we look at is optimizing, you know, HS code, classifications, distribution models. You know, there's also duty recovery, like IEBA was basically reversed, so there is some IEBA recovery that's going on. Leverage the parts, so like, for example, No regret thing would be have a scissor lift go across or a boom go across the border into the U.S. and put a part on that you would buy in the U.S. anyway. So you reduce the value of that sort of derivative product to mitigate some of those tariff impacts going across the border.

And with respect to your question about which product is it and which business, I'll just remind you that we're not Disclosing which specific businesses and products. It is certainly localized to our industrial segment, so that in itself is quite good news because obviously the mobility segment is much larger and we are not seeing any tariff impact in the mobility automotive side of the business, which is a plus. And as Jim says, we're focused on mitigation. and I will remind you too that we do think that Q2 will be the worst quarter from a dollar value of tariffs simply because it is a seasonal high for all of our industrial businesses. So the impact was a little higher in Q2 than it will be later in the year.

Okay, that's helpful. And if I could just sneak in one more and maybe follow up on that last comment you just made, Linda. So if I sort of plug in what's implied by the Q3 guide for the industrial segment, it seems to imply an even lower operating margin rate compared to Q2. So I'm just wondering if that's sort of the right way to think about things for the rest of the year.

Do you mean for the industrial segment? That's for the industrial segment.

Sorry? Sorry, that's for the industrial segment.

Yeah, well, I mean, Q3 is always going to be lower margin-wise than Q2 in the industrial segment, you know, for that matter in the mobility segment because, you know, Q3 has shut down a second and seasonally for industrial it's always lower, so You should always expect margins to come down in Q3.

Okay, great. Thanks. Appreciate it.

Your next question comes from Brian Morrison of CD Cowan. Your line is already open.

Okay, thank you. Good evening. First question, should we anticipate more tuck-in acquisitions in your term within mobility? You did indicate numerous opportunities on the call, Linda, and the strategy is clearly working. And then I'm curious if the margin enhancing out of the gate and how you're able to integrate them so seamlessly.

Yeah, I mean, from my side, Brian, again, there's a lot of opportunities out there for distress. I mean, I think we get to look at all Thank you very much. customers and litimerize it as quick as we can and you need to have a good solid plan up front of how you'll consolidate if you have to take plants out or change things we really do an active job of that for day one.

And I think that integration, I mean we've done our fair share of acquisitions there for integrations over the last 10 years and I think we've learned a lot along the road and we've developed a pretty good roadmap and process that we follow that, you know, we're always and we're always learning and adding to the playbook as well. So, you know, with every integration, you get a little bit better.

Okay. Maybe, Jim, if I turn to industrial, we all knew access was going to be strong, but I think it's better than what we thought. And I understand the data centers and infrastructure, but is this largely scissor or are we seeing strength in booms and telehandlers as well?

We're getting strength across the board, but I would say, and maybe Mark, you want to comment on this, like AI data centers is such a good place for our scissors today, right? And our new technology product lines really fit that, Brian. So, yeah, I think we're seeing a lot of scissor uplift, but we're getting boomed up telehandlers as well. Yeah, Brian, we've got some new products that have come out on the booms, and we've got some electrified The new models that we've come out on scissors have really gained a lot of traction. If you remember last quarter, we were basically saying that it'd be more or less flat for the year and we're seeing up for the market. And as I said, our backlog is probably about double last year. Our order intake about double last year. Utilization rates are up. Another indicator we look at is canceled orders, which sounds a little weird, but yeah, I mean, those are way down canceled orders. So the uptick is really there and rental company signals are that they're going to buy more capital.

Okay, my last question, I was going to ask specifically on the impact of the tariffs, but Linda doesn't want me to go there. So is it fair to say that one of the industrial segments is more impacted than the others? And then I apologize in advance because you went through this, but I'm not totally straight on the 232s. Is this largely direct care of exposure on metal derivatives, or is there also an impact to the margin decrements as volumes are down as you're not the importer of record?

Yeah, I mean, the biggest tariff impact is from the 232 metal derivative product tariffs, right, that come when you're, like, there's, you know, a whole list of products that are covered that when you're shipping into the U.S. are going to be subject to tariffs. And when they change the methodology for calculating the tariffs, at the beginning of April that did create a bigger impact for some of our industrial products. So, you know, I think the thing to focus on is a couple things. One, as I've mentioned a couple times, Juju should be the peak dollar-wise on the tariff side. Secondly, I think quite important to just remind you that the industrial segment is less than 25% of our overall So the bottom line impact to our blended business on the tariff side is much less impactful, right? I mean, if I look at the full year, the impact of tariffs on our overall operating earnings, you know, is in single digit. So not before, you know, any kind of mitigation.

And sorry, could you just follow up and answer the question? Is it fair to say one of the industrial segments is far more impacted than the other?

We're not commenting on specific businesses within the industrial segment.

It gets right down to the product level, right? It's product level depending on the derivative and the PHS code, so it's something you wouldn't really want to have out there. Okay.

Thank you very much. Your next question comes from Michael Glenn of Raymond James. Your line is already open.

Hi there. Can we just work through the mobility margin expectation for Q3? Again, I just want to make sure I'm clear. Is the Q3 mobility margin, I think Dale might have indicated it's closer to flat year over year. Last year it was 8.6%, but then I think you're also talking about There might be some seasonal weakness in Q3. I'm just trying to make sure I get the right number in my model.

Yeah, yeah. We're guiding just flat to last year, which was sort of, by the way, a little bit of an unusually high margin for a variety of reasons of things that were happening in Q3 and last year. So... We do think that mobility margins are going to stay within our normal margin range in Q3. They'll be at a consistent, seasonally consistent level to what was achieved in the first half of the year. And again, yeah, the reason you don't see expansion from last year is more to do with last year than this year. So we're still feeling good about where we're at with margins on the, in the mobility side.

Okay. And just, you're, You're talking about the record business wins that you're seeing. And can you just speak to how that might impact your capex in 27 relative to 26? Should we think that we could be in for a bit of a bump in capex in 27?

We're factoring that into the outlook that I sort of talked about and Dale put up on the screen. So we're sort of capturing it to Today there, if you hit one more slide there, yeah, so you see capex increase from prior year, you know, below normal range, but it'll be an increase, we think, based off the momentum we have on the new business wind. Keep in mind, though, whatever is available inside Minimar, we reallocate and move around, so We try and mitigate that all the time and using flexible equipment. So that's another good piece of information to know.

Okay. And then just on the ag business, I think we all had our sights on 2027 as a potential better year in ag. Do you think that that outlook is getting pushed out now?

Yeah, I mean, the way the sentiment is, sort of this trough in the market sort of lingers longer than expected, right? And some of the key things that I think we've touched upon, like commodity prices overall sort of remain pretty stagnant. There's higher input costs in fuel fertilizer. Stocking levels on whole goods is very, in a cautionary view, and inventory levels still remain high. and then when you look at the farmer sentiment, they're not that optimistic. They do have money but they've delayed investments because they don't know what to predict. It's a very uncertain situation, right? And so that's sort of what we're seeing is this thing is just sort of lingering, bouncing across the bottom and then it depends on the product. Like some of our order books are up and some of our products and some are down and it's just all being played off of the inventories. But really I think the farmers are just sort of waiting to move based on, you know, probably getting government subsidies or whatever in the marketplace. So that's sort of how some of our customers we see in some of the, like C&H, John, you're sort of reading the market right now.

Yeah, I mean, but I would add that, I mean, for sure, the decline is moderating this year. I mean, we're not seeing nearly the decline this year that we saw last year. And, in fact, some areas of our ag business are actually up this year over last year, which is a really positive sign for things starting to pick up. So, I think, you know, Jim's comment is very valid that, you know, we're bouncing along with the bottom here, but... Of course, I'm very optimistic in person, but I personally think that we should see 2027 as a better year.

Okay, and then I just want to ask, do you have any content with Chinese OEMs in Europe? Is there any opportunity there?

Yes. Yeah, Michael, we currently are manufacturing components. in Europe for the Chinese that are there and there's a fair bit of voting activity. There's a big growth momentum we're focused on in Europe at this point in time. Okay, perfect. Thank you.

Your next question comes from Tammy Chen of BMO Capital Markets. Your line is already open.

Hi, good evening. Thanks for the questions. I'll be quick here. On the industrial side, so I just want to step back and make sure I understand the magnitude of the different moving pieces. So it sounds like the 232 tariffs is really the primary reason for the segment margins last couple quarters. including this one being below your normal range and less so the ag segment, you know, having pressure because of the end market. Is that the case? Like the bigger hit has been tariffs on margins and industrial.

Yeah, I mean, for sure, tariffs have been a big impact. But, I mean, you know, the process of the ag business, you know, has also changed. played a role, obviously.

Okay. And specifically for Q3, so I know that if you're looking sequentially, there's the seasonality in industrial. But I'm a bit confused on the Q3 outlook for industrial to have double-digit decline in operating income year over year. I mean, that would Thank you. Thank you.

But obviously, things could change over coming months in terms of what the impacts of the tariffs are going to be. We all know there's discussions ongoing at the moment, so there's a chance that we see some changes there, which has not been factored in, nor has mitigation in our outlook.

Okay, got it. Do you think at this point with the demand there from the rental companies increasing fairly quickly in a matter of a quarter, do you think there's an ability for manufacturers such as Skyjack to possibly pass through some of the tariff cost? Just because it sounds like if I listen to the rental companies that they can't get their hands on enough of the equipment at this point.

Yeah, I mean, if we're talking about passing on to customers, it's always a sensitive subject and you're up against other competitors. So, I mean, we work those one-offs with each customer. Of course, I mean, we... We can get a better price. We're going to do that. I mean, the other way is you can get a customer, a rental company, to say, hey, we would take a lot more of those pieces of equipment in Canada or wherever, and you make them in Canada, you're better off. So we do work with customers directly on both the commercial side or where they go, right, and if you can mitigate tariffs that way, even better together.

Okay, got it. And my last, very last question is on the mobility side, I'm curious, what's driving the very strong new business winds in Canada? And where I'm getting from is, I think some people reading the headlines of some of the OEMs talking about onshoring, specifically going back to the U.S. How would you be impacted by all that? Are you different because the components to the powertrain that you would supply, those areas not really as big of a focus for the OEMs to specifically onshore back to the U.S.? Thanks.

They don't need to onshore from Canada. We're already onshore. We're inside North America and under USMCA, which is still in full force, There is zero tariffs on auto parts. So the on-shoring is coming from overseas, it's coming from Asia or Europe, and Canada is a winner in that. So that's why we're winning business in Canada and the U.S. and Mexico, for that matter, is because of the on-shoring into the continent of North America.

In fact, just to give some other ideas around this, we have a Sales Program called MCMAGA. It's basically stands for Make Canada, Mexico, America Great Again Sales Program, which is really directly bringing on-shoring back to North America where people want to have manufacturing done. And what Linamar can do is offer any of those regions, Mexico, U.S., or Canada, and we think we're bigger, better together overall. A great example, we want a massive job and our customer wanted it to have it in the U.S. We sat down with them and said, but in fact, our process capability, our ability to launch this would be better to do it in Canada. And we collectively agreed we would do it in Canada because that's where the expertise was. So I think they really look beyond that short-term issue and look at what's the right thing for that program, that job. And of course, in that case, it was into Canada. So we have that flexibility to offer those three regions and we'll work with customers on what's the right solution.

Yeah, and onshoring is being driven by trying to avoid tariffs. And there's no tariffs from Canada into the U.S. or Mexico into the U.S., for auto parts that are USMCA compliant.

Got it. Thank you.

Next question comes from Jonathan Goldman of Scotiabank. Your line is already open.

Hey, good evening, team, and thanks for taking my questions. Maybe just a housekeeping one. I apologize if I missed it. Did you get any IEPA refunds in the quarter? and if so, are you able to quantify the amount and also were those adjusted out of adjusted EBITDA if you did receive any?

It was like minimal. Like, I mean, very, very little.

Okay, I can't see it. Yeah. I guess another one, maybe Linda or whoever wants to take this. I'm interested on your thoughts about the proposed U.S. 50% content rule. You know, aside from all the unshoring and kind of stuff, But with that rule, do you think it impacts your business positively or negatively?

Yeah, I think that there's already a strong level of U.S. content in most vehicles being built in North America simply because of how the supply chain has developed over the last 30 years. I mean, there's strong capabilities in Canada, strong capabilities in Mexico, and strong capabilities in and significant capacity in each region. So it's not surprising that given the highest level of population and automotive vehicle assemblies happening in the U.S., that there's a very high level of content coming from there as well. So personally, I don't see that there will be a big impact. on that. And I'll also remind you we have 22 plants in the U.S. and so if there's a push to push more into the U.S., then obviously that could be an advantage for our U.S. plants.

Okay, that's good. Maybe just one more from you. We've seen some announcements about the U.S. OEMs talking about potentially moving into other verticals and industries to kind of maximize access capacity, whether it's GM and Defense, you know, or Ford and Battery Storage. They've talked about kind of getting the supply chain in order. Have you had any conversations with OEMs about these potential entry points?

Yes, we have on both accounts.

And could these opportunities be material for one or more?

Sure. I mean, the defense side, as you know, I've mentioned that. I mean, we've reached out to Prime that we would consider GM Automotive Mobility One of those primes as well, which we've reached out. And so, again, they look at capability and, of course, our core capabilities match what they're looking forward to. So, yeah, those discussions are underway.

And you have a timeline on when that might show up, if you do get any wins there?

No idea at this point, really. I mean, you know, again, we're in the infancy stages of those discussions, but, again... You know, Linnemar is probably a well-known supplier of General Motors. So whatever they get into defense in Canada, we're going to be participating in at their time schedule.

Okay, thanks for taking any questions.

We'll get back in queue. The defense is more driven, too, by governments and when they're buying.

Ladies and gentlemen, as a reminder, if you have a question, please press star 1. There are no further questions at this time. I would hand over the call to Linda Hasenfratz for closing comments. Please go ahead.

Thank you very much. Okay, to wrap up, I would like to leave you with our key message for the quarter, which is exactly where I started out. So, again, we're thrilled to see record sales and strong EPS growth at nearly 10% in the quarter in a challenging environment. We are particularly happy with the performance of our mobility group achieving record sales and earnings. and growing market share in every region. We are excited by the excellent level of new business funds we're seeing in the mobility growth groups overall, but notably in Canada and the U.S. with a strong pipeline still in the close process. And lastly, despite a tariff-crazy world, I'll just remind you we still have more than 90% of our sales this year not impacted by tariffs at all and are not letting the tariffs that do impact and Peter promised to go top and bottom line again this year. So thanks very much everybody and have a great evening.

Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes today's conference call. Thank you for your participation and you may now disconnect.