Blue Bird Corporation
02/04/2026 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 02/04/2026 15:31
Quarterly Report for Quarter Ending December 27, 2025 (Form 10-Q)
Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.
The following discussion and analysis of financial condition and results of operations of Blue Bird Corporation (the "Company," "Blue Bird," "we," "our," or "us") should be read in conjunction with the Company's unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements as of and for the three months ended December 27, 2025 and December 28, 2024 and related notes appearing in Part I, Item 1 of this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q ("Report"). Our actual results may not be indicative of future performance. This discussion and analysis contains forward-looking statements and involves numerous risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, those discussed or incorporated by reference in the sections of this Report entitled "Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements" and "Risk Factors." Actual results may differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements. Certain monetary amounts, percentages and other figures included in this Report have been subject to rounding adjustments. Accordingly, figures shown as totals in certain tables may not be the arithmetic aggregation of the figures that precede them, and figures expressed as percentages in the text may not total 100% or, as applicable, when aggregated, may not be the arithmetic aggregation of the percentages that precede them.
Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This Report contains forward-looking statements intended to qualify for the safe harbors from liability established by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Except as otherwise indicated by the context, references in this Report to "we," "us" and "our" are to the consolidated business of the Company. All statements in this Report, including those made by the management of the Company, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based on management's estimates, projections and assumptions as of the date hereof and include the assumptions that underlie such statements. Forward-looking statements may contain words such as "may," "will," "should," "could," "would," "expect," "plan," "estimate," "project," "forecast," "seek," "target," "anticipate," "believe," "predict," "potential" and "continue," the negative of these terms, or other comparable terminology. Examples of forward-looking statements include statements regarding the Company's future financial results, research and development results, regulatory approvals, operating results, business strategies, projected costs, products, competitive positions, management's plans and objectives for future operations, and industry trends. These forward-looking statements relate to expectations for future financial performance, business strategies or expectations for our business. Specifically, forward-looking statements may include statements relating to:
•the future financial performance of the Company;
•negative changes in the market for Blue Bird products;
•expansion plans and opportunities;
•challenges or unexpected costs related to manufacturing;
•future impacts from pandemics, epidemics or similar widespread disease or illness outbreaks (collectively, "public health crises") on capital markets, manufacturing and supply chain abilities, consumer and customer demand, school system operations, workplace conditions, and any other unexpected impacts, which include or could include, among other effects:
◦disruption in global financial and credit markets;
◦supply shortages and supplier financial risk, especially from our single-source suppliers impacted by public health crises;
◦negative impacts to manufacturing operations or the supply chain from shutdowns or other disruptions in operations;
◦negative impacts on capacity and/or production in response to changes in demand due to public health crises, including possible cost containment actions;
◦financial difficulties of our customers impacted by public health crises;
◦reductions in market demand for our products due to public health crises; and
◦potential negative impacts of various actions taken by federal, state and/or local governments in response to public health crises.
•future impacts resulting from current and/or future military conflicts, which include or could include, among other effects:
◦disruption in global commodity and other markets;
◦supply shortages and supplier financial risk, especially from suppliers providing inventory that is dependent on resources originating from countries impacted by military conflicts; and
◦negative impacts to manufacturing operations resulting from inventory cost volatility or the supply chain due to shutdowns or other disruptions in operations.
•future impacts resulting from changes in governmental policies, programs, regulations and/or laws, which include or could include, among other effects:
◦the imposition of new and/or revised trade policies and tariffs, which could increase the cost of components we and/or our suppliers purchase that would impact our cost to produce buses and purchase parts for resale; increase the prices we charge for our products to pass along part or all of our increased purchase costs; and/or impact the purchasing decisions of our customers that could result in them buying less, or none, of our products in future periods;
◦reductions in governmental grants, subsidies and/or other incentives, which would result in a decrease in funds that are used by school districts and fleet customers to partially, or fully, offset the higher price of alternative powered school buses and could impact the purchasing decisions of our customers that elect to buy less, or none. of our products in future periods; and
◦changes in current or future emissions regulations, which could increase the costs of powertrain components that we purchase from major suppliers and would impact our cost to produce buses and purchase parts for resale; increase the prices we charge for our products to pass along part or all of our increased purchase costs; and/or impact the purchasing decisions of our customers that could result in them buying less, or none. of our products in future periods.
These forward-looking statements are based on information available as of the date of this Report (or, in the case of forward-looking statements incorporated herein by reference, as of the date of the applicable filed document), and current expectations, forecasts and assumptions, and involve a number of judgments, risks and uncertainties. Accordingly, forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing our views as of any subsequent date, and we do not undertake any obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date they were made, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required under applicable securities laws. As a result of a number of known and unknown risks and uncertainties, our actual results or performance may be materially different than those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements.
Any expectations based on these forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties and other important factors, including those discussed in the reports we file with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), specifically the sections entitled "Risk Factors" and "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" in the Company's fiscal year 2025 Form 10-K, filed with the SEC on November 24, 2025. Other risks and uncertainties are and will be disclosed in the Company's prior and future SEC filings. The following information should be read in conjunction with the financial statements included in the Company's fiscal year 2025 Form 10-K, filed with the SEC on November 24, 2025.
Available Information
We are subject to the reporting and information requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the "Exchange Act"), and as a result are obligated to file or furnish, as applicable, annual, quarterly, and current reports, proxy statements, and other information with the SEC. We make these documents available free of charge on our website (http://www.blue-bird.com) as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file them with, or furnish them to, the SEC. Information on our website does not constitute part of this Report. In addition, the SEC maintains a website (http://www.sec.gov) that contains our annual, quarterly, and current reports, proxy and information statements, and other information we electronically file with, or furnish to, the SEC.
Executive Overview
Blue Bird is the leading independent designer and manufacturer of school buses. Our longevity and reputation in the school bus industry have made Blue Bird an iconic American brand. We distinguish ourselves from our principal competitors by dedicating our focus to the design, engineering, manufacture and sale of school buses, and related parts. As the only principal manufacturer of chassis and body production specifically designed for school bus applications in the United States of America ("U.S."), Blue Bird is recognized as an industry leader for school bus innovation, safety, product quality/reliability/durability, efficiency, and lower operating costs. In addition, Blue Bird is the market leader in alternative powered product offerings with its propane powered, gasoline powered and all-electric powered school buses.
Blue Bird sells its buses and parts through an extensive network of U.S. and Canadian dealers that, in their territories, are exclusive to Blue Bird on Type C and Type D school buses. Blue Bird also sells directly to major fleet operators, the U.S. Government, state governments, and authorized dealers in certain limited foreign countries.
Throughout this Report, we refer to the fiscal year ending October 3, 2026 as "fiscal 2026," the fiscal year ended September 27, 2025 as "fiscal 2025," and the fiscal year ended September 28, 2024 as "fiscal 2024." There will be 53 weeks in fiscal 2026 and were 52 weeks in fiscal 2025. The first quarters of fiscal 2026 and fiscal 2025 both included 13 weeks.
Business Update
The global supply chain constraints for automotive parts that arose subsequent to the novel coronavirus pandemic known as "COVID-19" and that were further impacted by additional stress resulting from Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, continued to impact our business and operations in the first quarters of both fiscal 2025 and 2026. Specifically, there were occasional shortages of certain critical components that impacted our manufacturing production schedule and related operational efficiencies, while increasing costs charged by suppliers to procure inventory continued during both periods. Both of these factors impacted our
business and operations by limiting the number and/or mix of school buses that we could produce and sell as well as increasing the costs to manufacture buses.
Nonetheless, the lessons learned, and resulting actions taken, by management over the past several years allowed the Company to continue navigating these supply chain challenges to consistently produce buses to fulfill sales orders. Such actions included, among others, sourcing inventory purchases from alternative suppliers and strategically acquiring larger quantities of certain critical components that have longer lead times that could impact our production schedule if not manufactured by our suppliers and delivered to us in a timely manner.
In addition to periodic inventory shortages and general inflationary pressures resulting from the global supply chain constraints discussed above, changes in trade policies and tariffs began to impact our business and operations in the second half of fiscal 2025 and continuing into the first quarter of fiscal 2026 by increasing our procurement costs for certain imported inventory. Actions we have taken, and are continuing to take, to mitigate the impact from changes in trade policies and tariffs include increasing the volume of steel we purchase at fixed prices up to four quarters in advance and working with our suppliers to identify alternative supply chain sources to minimize the increase in inventory costs.
However, the higher inventory purchase costs that we incurred in producing and selling buses during the first quarters of fiscal 2025 and fiscal 2026 resulting from general inflationary pressures caused by global supply chain constraints as well as changes in trade policies and tariffs, as applicable, did not negatively impact our operating results or cash flows during these periods as such impacts were largely offset by proactive increases in the sales prices we charged for our products. However, they could materially impact our operating results and cash flows in future periods if we are unable to (i) mitigate the increased cost of (a) procuring inventory to produce buses and (b) purchasing parts for resale and/or (ii) increase the sales prices we charge for our products to partially or fully offset these cost increases.
Additionally, although new bus orders during the majority of fiscal 2025 remained strong, management believes that the uncertainty in bus pricing resulting from changing tariffs temporarily impacted bus orders during the latter part of fiscal 2025 and, to a lesser extent, continuing into the first quarter of fiscal 2026. Specifically, due to a combination of (i) pent-up demand resulting from the cumulative effect of the COVID-19 pandemic when many school systems conducted virtual learning and (ii) the challenged global supply chain for automotive parts that hindered the school bus industry's ability to produce and sell buses in the years subsequent to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Company's backlog approximated 4,400 units as of December 28, 2024. Given the strong backlog in the overall school bus industry that resulted in long time lags between customers ordering and taking delivery of a school bus, when coupled with the uncertainty regarding the pricing of a school bus resulting from the inclusion of actual tariff charges in the final sales price, management believes that many customers elected to temporarily defer the purchase of buses towards the end of our fiscal 2025. As a result, the Company's backlog decreased to approximately 3,070 units as of September 27, 2025. However, due to the Company's proactive communications with our dealers and customers and committing to a tariff pricing strategy that significantly addressed the volatility in bus pricing for customers, we experienced an increase in orders during the first quarter that increased the backlog to approximately 3,370 units as of December 27, 2025, which included over 850 electric powered units. Due to the age of school bus fleets in the U.S. and Canada, which is at least partially attributable to supply chain disruptions in recent years that have left school districts with meaningful replacement needs, and the strong overall fundamentals in the school bus industry, management believes that this slowdown in orders is temporary in nature not indicative of a broader decrease in current or future market demand.
Finally, the deferral of funds relating to governmental grants, subsidies and/or other incentives that are intended to partially, or fully, offset the higher price of alternative powered school buses impacted, to a lesser extent, the mix of school buses that we produced and sold during the latter part of fiscal 2025 and continuing into the first quarter of fiscal 2026. Although we noted that government grant money continued to flow during this period, the timing of some of these payments occurred too late to adjust our production schedule to build and sell more higher priced alternative powered school buses. However, such funding should positively impact the remainder of fiscal 2026 and/or subsequent periods. Nonetheless, any future decrease in such funds could impact the purchasing decisions of our customers that elect to buy less, or none, of our products in future periods.
In general, management believes that the impacts from (i) supply chain disruptions, including those resulting from current or future military conflicts, and (ii) changes in governmental policies, programs, regulations and/or laws could continue in future periods and could materially impact our results if we are unable to (a) obtain parts and supplies in sufficient quantities to meet our production needs and/or (b) pass along rising costs to our customers. They could result in significant economic disruption and adversely impact our business during the remainder of fiscal 2026 and perhaps beyond. Significant uncertainty exists concerning the magnitude of the impact and duration of (i) ongoing supply chain constraints and (ii) changes in governmental policies, programs, regulations and/or laws and their potential impact on the overall economy, both within the U.S and globally. Accordingly, the magnitude and duration of such matters and their related financial impacts on our business cannot be estimated at this time.
We continue to monitor and assess the ability of suppliers to maintain operations and to provide parts and supplies in sufficient quantities and at acceptable costs to meet our production needs, including our ability to maintain continuous production during the
remainder of fiscal 2026 and beyond, and price our products at amounts that are attractive to our customers. See PART I, Item 1.A. "Risk Factors," of our fiscal 2025 Form 10-K, filed with the SEC on November 24, 2025, for a discussion of the material risks we believe we face particularly related to (i) supply chain disruptions and related constraints and (ii) changes in governmental policies, programs, regulations and/or laws.
Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates, Recent Accounting Pronouncements
The preparation of financial statements in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the U.S. ("U.S. GAAP") requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosures of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. Blue Bird evaluates its estimates on an ongoing basis, based on historical experience and on various other assumptions that are believed to be reasonable under the circumstances. Application of these accounting policies involves the exercise of judgment and use of assumptions as to future uncertainties and, as a result, actual results could differ from these estimates.
The Company's accounting policies that we believe are the most critical to aid in fully understanding and evaluating our reported financial results are described in the Company's fiscal 2025 Form 10-K, filed with the SEC on November 24, 2025, under the caption "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations - Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates," which description is incorporated herein by reference. Our senior management has reviewed these critical accounting policies and related disclosures and determined that there were no significant changes in our critical accounting policies during the three months ended December 27, 2025.
Recent Accounting Pronouncements
See Note 2 of Notes to Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements (Unaudited) included in Part I, Item 1 of this Report for a discussion of new and/or recently adopted accounting pronouncements, as applicable.
Factors Affecting Our Revenues
Our revenues are driven primarily by the following factors:
•Property tax revenues. Property tax revenues are one of the major sources of funding for school districts, and therefore new school buses. Property tax revenues are a function of land and building prices, relying on assessments of property value by state or county assessors and millage rates voted by the local electorate.
•Student enrollment and delivery mechanisms for learning. Increases or decreases in the number of school bus riders have a direct impact on school district demand. Evolving protocols for public health concerns and/or continued technological advancements could shift the future form of educational delivery away from in-person learning on a more permanent basis, with increased remote learning reasonably expected to decrease the number of school bus riders.
•Revenue mix. We are able to charge more for certain of our products (e.g., Type C propane powered school buses, electric powered buses, Type D buses, and buses with higher option content) than other products. The mix of products sold in any fiscal period can directly impact our revenues for the period.
•Strength of the dealer network. We rely on our dealers, as well as a small number of major fleet operators, to be the direct point of contact with school districts and their purchasing agents. An effective dealer is capable of expanding revenues within a given school district by matching that district's needs to our capabilities, offering options that would not otherwise be provided to the district.
•Pricing. Our products are sold to school districts throughout the U.S. and Canada. Each state and each Canadian province has its own set of regulations that govern the purchase of products, including school buses, by their school districts. We and our dealers must navigate these regulations, purchasing procedures, and the districts' specifications in order to reach mutually acceptable price terms. Pricing may or may not be favorable to us, depending upon a number of factors impacting purchasing decisions. Additionally, in certain cases, prices originally quoted with dealers and school districts may have become less favorable, or more unfavorable, to us given increasing inventory costs between the time the sales order was contractually agreed upon and the bus is built and delivered as a result of ongoing supply chain disruptions, general inflationary pressure and the imposition of new and/or revised trade policies and tariffs, among other factors.
•Buying patterns of major fleets. Major fleets regularly compete against one another for existing accounts. Fleets are also continuously trying to win the business of school districts that operate their own transportation services. These activities can have either a positive or negative impact on our sales, depending on the brand preference of the fleet that wins the business. Major fleets also periodically review their fleet sizes and replacement patterns due to funding availability as well as the profitability of existing routes. These actions can impact total purchases by fleets in a given year.
•Seasonality.In the fiscal years preceding the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, our sales were subject to seasonal variation based on the school calendar with the peak season during our third and fourth fiscal quarters. Sales during the third and fourth fiscal quarters were typically greater than the first and second fiscal quarters due to the desire of municipalities to have any new buses that they ordered available to them at the beginning of the new school year. Since 2020, with the COVID-19 pandemic impacting the demand for Company products and the impact of the subsequent supply chain constraints hindering the Company's ability to produce and sell buses as discussed previously above, seasonality has become unpredictable. Seasonality and variations from historical seasonality have impacted the comparison of results between fiscal periods.
•Inflation.As discussed previously above, supply chain disruptions developing subsequent to the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia's invasion of Ukraine have significantly increased our inventory purchase costs, including freight costs incurred to deliver critical components, reflected in cost of goods sold during fiscal 2025 and continuing into the first three months of fiscal 2026. Additionally, the imposition of tariffs on certain imported inventory that became effective during the second half of fiscal 2025 and continued into the first three months of fiscal 2026 has further increased our inventory purchase costs. In response, the Company announced a number of sales price increases that applied to new sales orders that were intended to mitigate the impact of rising purchase costs on our operations, results and cash flows. These cumulative price increases have had a significant, positive impact on sales and gross profit during fiscal 2025 and continuing into the first three months of fiscal 2026.
•Governmental grants, subsidies and/or other incentives. Funds provided by federal, state and/or local governments are often times targeted to partially, or fully, offset the higher price of alternative powered school buses. The deferral and/or elimination of such funds can impact the buying decisions of school districts and fleet customers, including impacting the volume, mix and/or timing of school bus purchases that can directly impact our revenues during a fiscal period.
Factors Affecting Our Expenses and Other Items
Our expenses and other line items on our Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations are principally driven by the following factors:
•Cost of goods sold. The components of our cost of goods sold consist of material costs (principally powertrain components, steel and rubber, as well as aluminum and copper) including freight costs, labor expense, and overhead. Our cost of goods sold may vary from period to period due to changes in sales volume and/or mix, efforts by certain suppliers to pass through the economics associated with key commodities as well as changes in trade policies and tariffs, fluctuations in freight costs, design changes with respect to specific components, design changes with respect to specific bus models, wage increases for plant labor, productivity of plant labor, delays in receiving materials and other logistical problems, and the impact of overhead items such as utilities.
•Selling, general and administrative expenses. Our selling, general and administrative expenses include costs associated with our selling and marketing efforts, engineering, centralized finance, human resources, purchasing, information technology services, along with other administrative matters and functions. In most instances, other than direct costs associated with sales and marketing programs, the principal component of these costs is compensation expense. Changes from period to period are typically driven by the number of our employees, as well as by merit increases provided to experienced personnel.
•Interest expense. Our interest expense relates to costs associated with our debt instruments and reflects both the amount of indebtedness and the interest rate that we are required to pay on our debt. Interest expense also includes unrealized gains or losses from interest rate hedges, if any, and changes in the fair value of interest rate derivatives not designated in hedge accounting relationships, if any, as well as expenses related to debt guarantees, if any.
•Income taxes. We make estimates of the amounts to recognize for income taxes in each tax jurisdiction in which we operate. In addition, provisions are established for withholding taxes related to the transfer of cash between jurisdictions and for uncertain tax positions taken, if any.
•Other expense/income, net. This balance includes net periodic pension expense or income as well as gains or losses on foreign currency, if any. Other amounts not associated with operating expenses may also be included in this balance.
•Equity in net income or loss of non-consolidated affiliates. We include in this line item our 50% share of net income or loss from our investments in Micro Bird Holdings, Inc. and Clean Bus Solutions, LLC, our unconsolidated joint ventures.
Key Non-GAAP Financial Measures We Use to Evaluate Our Performance
The condensed consolidated financial statements included in this Report in Item 1. "Financial Statements (Unaudited)" are prepared in conformity with U.S. GAAP. This Report also includes the following financial measures that are not prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP ("non-GAAP"): "Adjusted EBITDA;" "Adjusted EBITDA Margin;" and "Free Cash Flow." Adjusted EBITDA and Free Cash Flow are financial metrics that are utilized by management and the Board of Directors, as and when applicable, to determine (a) the
annual cash bonus payouts, if any, to be made to certain employees based upon the terms of the Company's Management Incentive Plan, and (b) whether the performance criteria have been met for the vesting of certain equity awards granted annually to certain members of management based upon the terms of the Company's Omnibus Equity Incentive Plan. Additionally, consolidated EBITDA, which is an adjusted EBITDA metric defined by our Credit Agreement (defined below) that could differ from Adjusted EBITDA discussed above as the adjustments to the calculations are not uniform, is used to determine the Company's ongoing compliance with several financial covenant requirements, including being utilized in the denominator of the calculation of the Total Net Leverage Ratio ("TNLR"), which is also utilized in determining the interest rate we pay on borrowings under our Credit Agreement (defined below). Accordingly, management views these non-GAAP financial metrics as key for the above purposes and as a useful way to evaluate the performance of our operations as discussed further below.
Adjusted EBITDA is defined as net income or loss prior to interest income; interest expense including the component of operating lease expense (which is presented within cost of goods sold or selling, general and administrative expenses in our U.S. GAAP financial statements) that represents interest expense on operating lease liabilities; income taxes; and depreciation and amortization including the component of operating lease expense (which is presented within cost of goods sold or selling, general and administrative expenses in our U.S. GAAP financial statements) that represents amortization charges on right-of-use lease assets; as adjusted for certain non-cash charges or credits that we may record on a recurring basis such as share-based compensation expense and unrealized gains or losses on certain derivative financial instruments as well as certain charges such as (i) transaction related costs or (ii) discrete expenses related to major cost cutting and/or operational transformation initiatives. While certain of the charges that are added back in the Adjusted EBITDA calculation, such as transaction related costs and major cost cutting and/or operational transformation initiatives, represent operating expenses that may be recorded in more than one annual period, the significant project or transaction giving rise to such expenses is not considered to be indicative of the Company's normal operations. Accordingly, we believe that these, as well as the other credits and charges that comprise the amounts utilized in the determination of Adjusted EBITDA described above, should not be used in evaluating the Company's ongoing annual operating performance.
We define Adjusted EBITDA Margin as Adjusted EBITDA as a percentage of net sales. Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA Margin are not measures of performance defined in accordance with U.S. GAAP. The measures are used as a supplement to U.S. GAAP results in evaluating certain aspects of our business, as described below.
We believe that Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA Margin are useful to investors in evaluating our performance because the measures consider the performance of our ongoing operations, excluding decisions made with respect to capital investment, financing, and certain other significant initiatives or transactions as outlined in the preceding paragraphs. We believe the non-GAAP measures offer additional financial metrics that, when coupled with the U.S. GAAP results and the reconciliation to U.S. GAAP results, provide a more complete understanding of our results of operations and the factors and trends affecting our business.
Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA Margin should not be considered as alternatives to net income or loss as an indicator of our performance or as alternatives to any other measure prescribed by U.S. GAAP as there are limitations to using such non-GAAP measures. Although we believe that Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA Margin may enhance an evaluation of our operating performance based on recent revenue generation and product/overhead cost control because they exclude the impact of prior decisions made about capital investment, financing, and certain other significant initiatives or transactions, (i) other companies in Blue Bird's industry may define Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA Margin differently than we do and, as a result, they may not be comparable to similarly titled measures used by other companies in Blue Bird's industry, and (ii) Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA Margin exclude certain financial information that some may consider important in evaluating our performance.
We compensate for these limitations by providing disclosure of the differences between Adjusted EBITDA and U.S. GAAP results, including providing a reconciliation to U.S. GAAP results, to enable investors to perform their own analysis of our ongoing operating results.
Our measure of Free Cash Flow is used in addition to and in conjunction with results presented in accordance with U.S. GAAP and it should not be relied upon to the exclusion of U.S. GAAP financial measures. Free Cash Flow reflects an additional way of evaluating our liquidity that, when viewed with our U.S. GAAP results, provides a more complete understanding of factors and trends affecting our cash flows. We strongly encourage investors to review our financial statements and publicly-filed reports in their entirety and not to rely on any single financial measure.
We define Free Cash Flow as total cash provided by/used in operating activities as adjusted for net cash paid for the acquisition of fixed assets and intangible assets. We use Free Cash Flow, and ratios based on Free Cash Flow, to conduct and evaluate our business because, although it is similar to cash flow from operations, we believe it is a more conservative measure of cash flow since purchases of fixed assets and intangible assets are a necessary component of ongoing manufacturing operations. Accordingly, we expect Free Cash Flow to be less than operating cash flows.
Our Segments
We manage our business in two operating segments, which are also our reportable segments: (i) the Bus segment, which involves the design, engineering, manufacture and sale of school buses and extended warranties; and (ii) the Parts segment, which includes the sale of replacement bus parts. Financial information is reported on the basis that it is used internally by the chief operating decision maker ("CODM") in evaluating segment performance and deciding how to allocate resources to segments. The President and Chief Executive Officer of the Company has been identified as the CODM. Management evaluates the segments based primarily upon revenues and gross profit.
Consolidated Results of Operations for the Three Months Ended December 27, 2025 and December 28, 2024:
| Three Months Ended | ||||||||||||||
| (in thousands of dollars) | December 27, 2025 | December 28, 2024 | ||||||||||||
|
Net sales
|
$ | 333,084 | $ | 313,872 | ||||||||||
|
Cost of goods sold
|
261,855 | 253,555 | ||||||||||||
| Gross profit | $ | 71,229 | $ | 60,317 | ||||||||||
| Operating expenses | ||||||||||||||
| Selling, general and administrative expenses | 33,552 | 27,275 | ||||||||||||
| Operating profit | $ | 37,677 | $ | 33,042 | ||||||||||
| Interest expense | (1,566) | (1,915) | ||||||||||||
| Interest income | 1,981 | 1,568 | ||||||||||||
| Other (expense) income, net | (211) | 2,916 | ||||||||||||
| Income before income taxes | $ | 37,881 | $ | 35,611 | ||||||||||
| Income tax expense | (9,119) | (8,693) | ||||||||||||
| Equity in net income of non-consolidated affiliates | 1,994 | 1,804 | ||||||||||||
| Net income | $ | 30,756 | $ | 28,722 | ||||||||||
| Other financial data: | ||||||||||||||
|
Adjusted EBITDA
|
$ | 50,058 | $ | 45,753 | ||||||||||
|
Adjusted EBITDA margin
|
15.0 | % | 14.6 | % | ||||||||||
The following provides the results of operations of Blue Bird's two reportable segments:
| (in thousands of dollars) | Three Months Ended | |||||||||||||
|
Net Sales by Segment
|
December 27, 2025 | December 28, 2024 | ||||||||||||
|
Bus
|
$ | 307,662 | $ | 288,147 | ||||||||||
|
Parts
|
25,422 | 25,725 | ||||||||||||
|
Total
|
$ | 333,084 | $ | 313,872 | ||||||||||
|
Gross Profit (Loss) by Segment
|
||||||||||||||
|
Bus
|
$ | 58,259 | $ | 47,172 | ||||||||||
|
Parts
|
12,970 | 13,145 | ||||||||||||
|
Total
|
$ | 71,229 | $ | 60,317 | ||||||||||
Net sales. Net sales were $333.1 million for the first quarter of fiscal 2026, an increase of $19.2 million, or 6.1%, compared to $313.9 million for the first quarter of fiscal 2025. The increase in net sales is primarily due to Bus customer and product mix changes and cumulative Bus price increases, including increases that were intended to mitigate the impact of increased procurement costs for certain of our imported inventory as a result of the imposition of tariffs beginning during the second half of fiscal 2025 and continuing into the first quarter of fiscal 2026, which were partially offset by a small decrease in Parts sales.
Bus sales increased $19.5 million, or 6.8%, reflecting a 0.2% increase in unit bookings and a 6.5% increase in average sales price per unit. In the first quarter of fiscal 2026, 2,135 units booked compared to 2,130 units booked for the same period in fiscal 2025. The increase in unit price for the firstquarter of fiscal 2026 compared to the same period in fiscal 2025 was primarily due to customer and product mix changes as well as price increases implemented to offset increases in inventory costs.
Parts sales decreased $0.3 million, or 1.2%, for the first quarter of fiscal 2026 compared to the first quarter of fiscal 2025. This small decrease is primarily attributed to slight variations due to product and channel mix that were slightly larger than price increases that were implemented to offset increases in inventory costs.
Cost of goods sold. Total cost of goods sold was $261.9 million for the first quarter of fiscal 2026, an increase of $8.3 million, or 3.3%, compared to $253.6 million for the first quarter of fiscal 2025. As a percentage of net sales, total cost of goods sold improved from 80.8% to 78.6%, primarily due to the impact of ongoing pricing actions taken by management that exceeded the impact of increasing costs resulting from inflationary pressures and the imposition of tariffs relating to the procurement of inventory. The improvement was also impacted by product and customer mix changes.
Bus segment cost of goods sold increased $8.4 million, or 3.5%, for the first quarter of fiscal 2026 compared to the same period in fiscal 2025. The increase was primarily driven by a 3.3% increase in the average cost of goods sold per unit for the firstquarter of fiscal 2026 compared to the firstquarter of fiscal 2025, as well as the 0.2% increase in units booked. The increase in average cost of goods sold per unit primarily resulted from increases in manufacturing costs attributable to (a) increased raw materials costs resulting from ongoing inflationary pressures and the imposition of tariffs beginning during the second half of fiscal 2025 and (b) ongoing supply chain disruptions that resulted in higher purchase costs for components. The increase was also impacted by customer and product mix changes.
The $0.1 million, or 1.0%, decrease in Parts segment cost of goods sold for the first quarter of fiscal 2026 compared to the first quarter of fiscal 2025 was primarily due to slight variations due to product and channel mix that were slightly larger than increased product costs driven by inflationary pressures and tariffs.
Operating profit. Operating profit was $37.7 million for the first quarter of fiscal 2026, an increase of $4.6 million compared to operating profit of $33.0 million for the first quarter of fiscal 2025. Profitability was positively impacted by an increase of $10.9 million in gross profit as outlined in the revenue and cost of goods sold discussions above. However, it was negatively impacted by an increase of $6.3 million in selling, general and administrative expenses, primarily due to an increase in (a) research and development expense and (b) labor costs.
Interest expense. Interest expense was $1.6 million for the firstquarter of fiscal 2026, a decrease of $0.3 million, or 18.2%, compared to $1.9 million for the firstquarter of fiscal 2025. The decrease was primarily attributable to a decrease in the stated term loan interest rate from 6.4% at December 28, 2024 to 5.9% at December 27, 2025, as well as lower outstanding borrowings in the firstquarter of fiscal 2026 compared to the firstquarter of fiscal 2025.
Other (expense) income, net. Other expense, net was $0.2 million for the firstquarter of fiscal 2026, a decrease of $3.1 million, or 107.2%, compared to $2.9 million of other income, net for the same period in fiscal 2025.
During the firstquarter of fiscal 2026, the Company recorded net periodic pension expense of approximately $0.2 million compared with net periodic pension income of $0.4 million for the same period in fiscal 2025.
Additionally, during the first quarter of fiscal 2025, the Company sold certain state emissions credits that it was not projecting to use for approximately $2.6 million, with no such sales during the first quarter of fiscal 2026. The proceeds from this sale was recorded in other (expense) income, net in the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations as this transaction is not indicative of our normal revenue generating activities.
Income taxes. Income tax expense was $9.1 million for the first quarter of fiscal 2026 compared to $8.7 million for the same period in fiscal 2025.
The effective tax rate for the three months ended December 27, 2025 was 24.1% and differed from the statutory federal income tax rate of 21%. The increase was primarily due to the impacts from state taxes and certain permanent items on the federal rate, which were partially offset by the impacts from federal and state tax credits (net of valuation allowances) and discrete period items during the quarter.
The effective tax rate for the three months ended December 28, 2024 was 24.4% and differed from the statutory federal income tax rate of 21%. The increase was primarily due to the impacts from state taxes and certain permanent items on the federal rate, which were partially offset by the impacts from federal and state tax credits (net of valuation allowances) and discrete period items during the quarter.
Adjusted EBITDA. Adjusted EBITDA was $50.1 million, or 15.0% of net sales, for the first quarter of fiscal 2026, an increase of $4.3 million, or 9.4%, compared to $45.8 million, or 14.6% of net sales, for the first quarter of fiscal 2025. The increase primarily relates to the increase in gross profit, when adjusting for the impact of expenses that are excluded in calculating Adjusted EBITDA, as outlined
in the revenue and cost of goods sold discussions above, that was partially offset by a smaller increase in selling, general and administrative expenses, when adjusting for the impact of expenses that are excluded in calculating Adjusted EBITDA, as discussed above.
The following table sets forth a reconciliation of net income to Adjusted EBITDA for the periods presented:
| Three Months Ended | |||||||||||
| (in thousands of dollars) | December 27, 2025 | December 28, 2024 | |||||||||
| Net income | $ | 30,756 | $ | 28,722 | |||||||
| Adjustments: | |||||||||||
|
Interest (income) expense, net (1)
|
(253) | 433 | |||||||||
| Income tax expense | 9,119 | 8,693 | |||||||||
|
Depreciation, amortization and disposals (2)
|
4,572 | 4,243 | |||||||||
|
Share-based compensation expense
|
2,356 | 2,506 | |||||||||
|
Micro Bird Holdings, Inc. total interest expense, net; income tax expense or benefit; depreciation expense and amortization expense
|
3,508 | 1,156 | |||||||||
|
Adjusted EBITDA
|
$ | 50,058 | $ | 45,753 | |||||||
|
Adjusted EBITDA margin (percentage of net sales)
|
15.0 | % | 14.6 | % | |||||||
(1) Includes $0.2 million and $0.1 million for the three months ended December 27, 2025 and December 28, 2024, respectively, representing interest expense on operating lease liabilities, which are a component of lease expense and presented within cost of goods sold or selling, general and administrative expenses on our Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations.
(2) Includes $0.6 million and $0.4 million for the three months ended December 27, 2025 and December 28, 2024, respectively, representing amortization charges on right-of-use lease assets, which are a component of lease expense and presented within cost of goods sold or selling, general and administrative expenses on our Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
The Company's primary sources of liquidity are cash generated from its operations, available cash and cash equivalents and borrowings under its revolving credit facility. At December 27, 2025, the Company had $241.7 million of available cash (net of outstanding checks) and $141.7 million of additional borrowings available under the revolving line of credit portion of its credit facility. The Company's revolving line of credit is available for working capital requirements, capital expenditures and other general corporate purposes.
Credit Agreement
On November 17, 2023 (the "Closing Date"), BBBC ("Borrower") executed a $250.0 million five-year credit agreement with Bank of Montreal, acting as administrative agent and an issuing bank; several joint lead arranger partners and issuing banks, including Bank of America; and a syndicate of other lenders (the "Credit Agreement").
The credit facilities provided for under the Credit Agreement consist of a term loan facility in an aggregate initial principal amount of $100.0 million (the "Term Loan Facility") and a revolving credit facility with aggregate commitments of $150.0 million. The revolving credit facility includes a $25.0 million letter of credit sub-facility and $5.0 million swingline sub-facility (the "Revolving Credit Facility," and together with the Term Loan Facility, each a "Credit Facility" and collectively, the "Credit Facilities").
A minimum of $100.0 million of additional term loans and/or revolving credit commitments may be incurred under the Credit Agreement, subject to certain limitations as set forth in the Credit Agreement, and which additional loans and/or commitments would require further commitments from existing lenders or from new lenders.
Borrower has the right to prepay the loans outstanding under the Credit Facilities without premium or penalty (subject to customary breakage costs, if applicable). Additionally, proceeds from asset sales, condemnation, casualty insurance and/or debt issuances (in certain circumstances) are required to be used to prepay borrowings outstanding under the Credit Facilities. Borrowings under the Term Loan Facility, which were made at the Closing Date, may not be reborrowed once they are repaid while borrowings under the Revolving Credit Facility may be repaid and reborrowed from time to time at our election.
The Term Loan Facility is subject to amortization of principal, payable in equal quarterly installments on the last day of each fiscal quarter, which commenced on March 30, 2024, with 5.0% of the $100.0 million aggregate principal amount of all initial term loans outstanding at the Closing Date payable each year prior to the maturity date of the Term Loan Facility. The remaining initial aggregate principal amount outstanding under the Term Loan Facility, as well as any outstanding borrowings under the Revolving Credit Facility, will be payable on the November 17, 2028 maturity date of the Credit Agreement.
The Credit Facilities are guaranteed by all of the Company's wholly-owned domestic restricted subsidiaries (subject to customary exceptions) and are secured by a security agreement which pledges a lien on virtually all of the assets of Borrower, the Company and the Company's other wholly-owned domestic restricted subsidiaries, other than any owned or leased real property and subject to customary exceptions.
Under the terms of the Credit Agreement, Borrower, the Company and the Company's other wholly-owned domestic restricted subsidiaries are subject to customary affirmative and negative covenants and events of default for facilities of this type (with customary grace periods, as applicable, and lender remedies).
Borrowings under the Credit Facilities bear interest, at our option, at (i) base rate ("ABR") or (ii) the Secured Overnight Financing Rate as administered by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York ("SOFR") plus 0.10%, plus an applicable margin depending on the TNLR (which is defined in the Credit Agreement as the ratio of consolidated net debt to consolidated EBITDA on a trailing four quarter basis) of the Company as follows:
| Level |
TNLR
|
ABR Loans |
SOFR Loans
|
|||||||||||||||||
| I |
Less than 1.00x
|
0.75% | 1.75% | |||||||||||||||||
| II |
Greater than or equal to 1.00x and less than 1.50x
|
1.50% | 2.50% | |||||||||||||||||
| III |
Greater than or equal to 1.50x and less than 2.25x
|
2.00% | 3.00% | |||||||||||||||||
| IV |
Greater than or equal to 2.25x
|
2.25% | 3.25% | |||||||||||||||||
Pricing on the Closing Date was set at Level III until receipt of the financial information and related compliance certificate for the first fiscal quarter ending after the Closing Date, with pricing as of December 27, 2025 set at Level I.
Borrower is also required to pay lenders an unused commitment fee of between 0.25% and 0.45% per annum on the undrawn commitments under the Revolving Credit Facility, depending on the TNLR, quarterly in arrears.
The Credit Agreement also includes a requirement that the Company comply with the following financial covenants on the last day of each fiscal quarter through maturity: (i) a pro forma TNLR of not greater than 3.00:1.00 and (ii) a pro forma fixed charge coverage ratio (as defined in the Credit Agreement) of not less than 1.20:1.00.
At December 27, 2025, Borrower and the guarantors under the Credit Agreement were in compliance with all covenants.
Short-Term and Long-Term Liquidity Requirements
Our ability to make principal and interest payments on borrowings under our Credit Facilities, as applicable, and our ability to fund planned capital expenditures will depend on our ability to generate cash in the future, which, to a certain extent, is subject to general economic, financial, competitive, regulatory and other conditions. Based on the current level of operations, we believe that our existing cash balances and expected cash flows from operations will be sufficient to meet our operating requirements for at least the next 12 months.
To increase our liquidity in future periods, we could pursue raising additional capital via an equity or debt offering utilizing a currently effective "automatic shelf" registration statement. However, we can offer no assurance that we would be successful in raising this additional capital, which could also lead to increased expense and larger up-front fees when compared with our historical financial statements.
Seasonality
Historically, our business has been highly seasonal with school districts buying their new school buses so that they will be available for use on the first day of the school year, typically in mid-August to early September. This has, in fiscal years prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, resulted in our third and fourth fiscal quarters representing our two busiest quarters from a sales and production perspective, the latter ending on the Saturday closest to September 30. Our quarterly results of operations, cash flows, and liquidity have historically been, and are likely to be in future periods, impacted by seasonal patterns. Working capital has historically been a significant use of cash during the first fiscal quarter due to planned shutdowns and a significant source of cash generation in the fourth fiscal quarter. With the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent supply chain constraints, seasonality and working capital trends have become unpredictable. Seasonality and variations from historical seasonality have impacted the comparison of working capital and liquidity results between fiscal periods.
Cash Flows
The following table sets forth general information derived from our Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows:
| Three Months Ended | |||||||||||
| (in thousands of dollars) | December 27, 2025 | December 28, 2024 | |||||||||
|
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period
|
$ | 229,313 | $ | 127,687 | |||||||
| Total cash provided by operating activities | 36,579 | 26,410 | |||||||||
| Total cash used in investing activities | (5,655) | (5,094) | |||||||||
| Total cash used in financing activities | (18,498) | (12,884) | |||||||||
|
Change in cash and cash equivalents
|
$ | 12,426 | $ | 8,432 | |||||||
|
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period
|
$ | 241,739 | $ | 136,119 | |||||||
Total cash provided by operating activities
Cash flows provided by operating activities totaled $36.6 million for the three months ended December 27, 2025, an increase of $10.2 million from the $26.4 million of cash flows provided by operating activities during the threemonths ended December 28, 2024.
The increase primarily resulted from (i) the $2.0 million increase in net income and (ii) the effect of net changes in operating assets and liabilities that positively impacted operating cash flows by $3.4 million, both during the three months ended December 27, 2025 when compared with the three months ended December 28, 2024. The primary drivers in the changes in operations assets and liabilities were favorable changes in inventories and accrued expenses, pension and other liabilities of $33.9 million and $28.9 million, respectively, that were partially offset by an unfavorable changes in accounts receivable and accounts payable of $35.2 million and $23.6 million, respectively, as follows:
•We had a larger increase in the balance of our inventory during the first quarter of fiscal 2025 when compared with the first quarter of fiscal 2026 (that resulted in a significant decrease in the use of cash when comparing periods). Specifically, the bus orders that we produced during the first quarter of fiscal 2025 contained a larger mix of units for certain customers, primarily fleet and specific governmental customers, for which the sales cycle is longer when compared with sales to dealers, resulting in increases in all categories of inventories (raw material, work in process and finished goods) as of December 28, 2024 when compared with December 27, 2025. Additionally, at the end of the first quarter of fiscal 2025, we elected to strategically acquire larger quantities of certain critical components that have longer lead times and could impact our production schedule in future periods if not manufactured by our suppliers and delivered to us in a timely manner when compared with similar activity in the first quarter of fiscal 2026.
•There was a larger increase in accrued expenses, pension and other liabilities (that resulted in a significant increase in a source of cash) during the first quarter of fiscal 2026 when compared with the first quarter of fiscal 2025. This increase was primarily driven by a $42.8 million advanced payment made by a customer in the first quarter of fiscal 2026, with no similar activity in the first quarter of fiscal 2025. This increase was partially offset by a $17.8 million decrease in accrued income taxes in the first quarter of fiscal 2026 when compared with the similar period in 2025, primarily due to the timing of income tax payments that impacted the balances at the end of each quarter.
•A shift in our customer mix resulted in an increase in the accounts receivable balance towards the end of fiscal 2024, when compared with the end of fiscal 2025. Specifically, we had a significant increase in fleet revenue towards the end of fiscal 2024 relating to school buses that were delivered to coincide with the start of the new school year, with such revenue representing the majority of sales we make on credit. During the three months ended December 28, 2024, the accounts receivable balances relating to fiscal 2024 fleet revenue were collected, representing a significant cash inflow. As the accounts receivable balance at the end of fiscal 2025 was significantly lower than the balance at the end of fiscal 2024 due to a significant reduction in sales we made on credit at the end of each respective period, the amount of accounts receivable collected during the three months ended December 27, 2025 was significantly lower when compared with the same period in fiscal 2025.
•There was a larger decrease in accounts payable (that resulted in a significant increase in the use of cash) during the first quarter of fiscal 2026 when compared with the the first quarter of fiscal 2025. This decrease primarily resulted from decreases in (i) our production volume and (ii) our strategic acquisition of certain critical components during the first quarter of fiscal 2026 when compared with the first quarter of fiscal 2025 as described previously above.
Total cash used in investing activities
Cash flows used in investing activities totaled $5.7 million for the three months ended December 27, 2025 as compared to $5.1 million for the three months ended December 28, 2024. The $0.6 million increase was primarily due to an increase in spending on fixed assets, as increasing recent profitability has allowed for more capital spending.
Total cash used in financing activities
Cash flows used in financing activities totaled $18.5 million for the three months ended December 27, 2025 as compared to $12.9 million for the three months ended December 28, 2024, resulting in a $5.6 million increase between fiscal periods.
During the first threemonths of fiscal 2026, the Company purchased an incremental $4.9 million of common stock in connection with its share repurchase programs when compared with the same period in fiscal 2025. Additionally, there was a $0.9 million increase in purchases of Company common stock in connection with stock award exercises in the threemonths ended December 27, 2025 when compared with the threemonths ended December 28, 2024. These increases were partially offset by a $0.5 million decrease in principal payments on financing leases, which expired in fiscal 2025 and accordingly, there was no similar activity in the threemonths ended December 27, 2025.
Free cash flow
Management believes the non-GAAP measurement of Free Cash Flow, defined as net cash provided by operating activities less cash paid for fixed assets and acquired intangible assets, fairly represents the Company's ability to generate surplus cash that could fund activities not in the ordinary course of business. See "Key Non-GAAP Financial Measures We Use to Evaluate Our Performance" for further discussion. The following table sets forth the calculation of Free Cash Flow for the periods presented:
| Three Months Ended | |||||||||||
| (in thousands of dollars) | December 27, 2025 | December 28, 2024 | |||||||||
| Net cash provided by operating activities | $ | 36,579 | $ | 26,410 | |||||||
| Cash paid for fixed assets | (5,465) | (4,594) | |||||||||
|
Free Cash Flow
|
$ | 31,114 | $ | 21,816 | |||||||
Free Cash Flow for the three months ended December 27, 2025 was $9.3 million higher than for the three months ended December 28, 2024 due to a $10.2 million increase in net cash provided by operating activities that was partially offset by an $0.9 million increase in cash paid for fixed assets, both as discussed above.
Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements
We had outstanding letters of credit totaling $8.3 million at December 27, 2025 that secure our (a) self-insured workers compensation program and (b) performance obligations relating to certain environmental matters, the collateral for both of which is regulated by the State of Georgia.
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