Third Quarter Operating Results
Utility water sales increased 14% year-over-year, or 8% excluding SmartCover. Ongoing customer adoption of digital smart water solutions, including increased sales of ultrasonic meters, BEACON® SaaS, and water quality solutions, were the primary drivers of growth compared to the prior year quarter.
Sales of flow instrumentation products increased 4% year-over-year as strength in water-related markets offset lower demand in de-emphasized non-water related applications.
Operating earnings increased 13% year-over-year to $46.1 million, with operating margins up 10 basis points to 19.6% from the prior year’s 19.5%. Base operating earnings of $46.6 million increased 15% year-over-year, driving 120 basis points of Base operating margin expansion. Gross margin was 40.7%, up 50 basis points from 40.2% in the prior year quarter. Gross margin continued to benefit from structural sales mix improvement, while implemented price increases partially mitigated certain tariff-related cost pressures in the quarter.
Total Selling, Engineering and Administration (SEA) expenses increased by $6.5 million year-over-year to $49.8 million, due primarily to the addition of SmartCover including $1.6 million of intangible asset amortization. Base SEA expense increased $1.2 million, or 3% year-over-year, which included a $1.8 million benefit related to a deferred compensation plan resulting from the stock price change in the quarter. In total, SEA as a percent of sales increased modestly to 21.1% from 20.8% in the prior year quarter.
The tax rate for the third quarter of 2025 was 26.1%, as compared to the prior year’s 25.3%. The modestly higher tax rate combined with lower interest income due to acquisition capital deployed resulted in EPS of $1.19, up 10% compared to $1.08 in the prior year quarter.
Outlook
Bockhorst continued, "The visibility we currently have into our opportunity pipeline, from planning, to bidding, to awards, to deployment and order activity, validates our conviction in an average top-line growth rate of high-single digits over our forward five-year strategic planning horizon. As is typical in our business, there can be variability in customer activity. As a timely example, and consistent with prior years, the fourth quarter generally has fewer operating days due to holiday-shortened activity levels at our customers.
We expect that strategic pricing actions, coupled with the structural mix benefit of customer technology adoption, will continue to offset the impacts of already-implemented tariffs. As such, we are raising our normalized gross margin range from our historical 38-40% to a new range of 39-42%. We continue to monitor global tariff and supply chain dynamics to remain nimble in this unpredictable trade environment."
Bockhorst concluded, “With another quarter of strong free cash flow generation, we remain well-positioned to invest in innovation and fund strategic, disciplined and value-added acquisitions. As an example, we remain on-track to deliver the anticipated sales and cost synergies associated with the SmartCover acquisition. We are encouraged by the reception received from current and prospective customers who believe in the value of this latest addition to our BlueEdge portfolio."
