Aebi Schmidt (NASDAQ:AEBI) executives said the company closed fiscal 2025 with strong order momentum and expanding profitability, highlighting a surge in fourth-quarter order intake, improved adjusted EBITDA margins, and progress on deleveraging following the acquisition of the former Shyft Group and the company’s Nasdaq listing.
Fourth-quarter momentum lifts backlog and margins
Group CEO Barend Fruithof said 2025 was a “historic year,” pointing to a 46% increase in fourth-quarter order intake versus 2024 and a record high quarter-end backlog. Fruithof said adjusted EBITDA rose 31% year over year in the fourth quarter, with adjusted EBITDA margin improving to 9.1% from 7.4% a year earlier.
Fourth-quarter net sales rose 6% year over year, with a decline in the legacy Shyft business offset by growth elsewhere in the group. Fruithof also said Aebi Schmidt accelerated and increased cost synergies from the Shyft acquisition, and expects additional procurement and revenue synergies to materialize in the second half of 2026.
North America: backlog growth, but Q4 profitability pressured by ramp-up costs
Steffen Schewerda, CEO of North America, said 2025 was an “outstanding year” for order momentum. He highlighted strong order entry in airport equipment, supported by new product launches that are “gaining really nice traction” and have already seen first customer deliveries. In walk-in vans, he said the company is seeing a market recovery combined with what it believes is market share growth.
In the fourth quarter, North America’s backlog increased 25% year over year, driven by a 63% increase in order entry, Schewerda said. However, he noted that net sales and adjusted EBITDA in the quarter were slightly below the prior-year period, citing softness in walk-in vans and truck bodies as well as ramp-up expenses tied to walk-in van production and new locations.
Looking ahead, Schewerda said the focus for 2026 is order conversion and profitability. He pointed to actions including increased walk-in van output expected to accelerate in the second quarter, vertical integration efforts in the commercial segment, planned warehouse consolidation in the Midwest to improve logistics and working capital, and cost structure alignment. He also said the company’s Chicago location is fully operational and that deliveries of municipal snow and ice trucks to a major department of transportation are expected to begin in April, with outfit centers in Minneapolis and Toronto “gaining traction.”
Europe and rest of world: strong sales growth and sharp profitability gains
Henning Schröder, CEO for Europe and rest of world, described 2025 as a “landmark year” for order intake growth and profitability. He said key markets gained traction in airport, municipal compact sweepers, and agriculture, while winter products showed mixed performance due to limited snowfall across many European countries.
Schröder said the airport segment is entering “a pivotal year” with multiple large tenders expected, supported by rising defense budgets, military-related demand, and increasing local content requirements. He added that the municipal sector was “powered by compact sweepers,” delivering double-digit growth for core products in 2025, and said “Lärv products have exceeded expectations,” prompting accelerated capacity expansion plans. In agriculture, he said products grew more than 30% versus 2024, supported by the rollout of a new generation of Aebi Combicut motor mowers.
In the fourth quarter, Europe and rest of world posted 25% year-over-year sales growth driven by airport, municipal, and spare parts, Schröder said. He also highlighted a 234% year-over-year increase in profitability, citing strong volumes, solid gross margin performance, and disciplined operating expense control.
Financial results, leverage reduction, and synergy timing
Group CFO Marco Portmann said the company ended 2025 with an order backlog of over EUR 1.2 billion, up 21% year over year, providing visibility into 2026. Portmann said the company expects “significant improvements in net sales” to materialize in the second quarter and especially in the second half of 2026 as that backlog converts.
Portmann reported fourth-quarter net sales of EUR 528 million, up 6% year over year, and full-year net sales of EUR 1.9 billion, up 2% from 2024. North America sales declined 2% in the fourth quarter due to a 5% decline in the acquired Shyft businesses, which management said was not fully offset by 2% growth in the legacy North American operations. Europe and rest of world sales increased 25% in the fourth quarter and represented more than one-third of total net sales in the period.
On profitability, Portmann said full-year adjusted EBITDA on a pro forma basis rose 13% year over year to EUR 156 million, an 8.2% margin. Fourth-quarter adjusted EBITDA was EUR 48.1 million, up 31% year over year, with a 9.1% margin. He said North America’s EBITDA margin was flat, while Europe and rest of world delivered over 600 basis points of EBITDA margin improvement.
On the balance sheet, Portmann said net working capital decreased by EUR 29 million from September to EUR 423 million in December 2025, driven by EUR 38 million lower inventory reflecting improved efficiency and a seasonal year-end decline. Net debt fell EUR 32 million from September to EUR 437 million as of Dec. 31, 2025, and leverage improved to 2.8x. Management reiterated a target of reducing leverage to below 2.0x by year-end 2026.
In the Q&A, Portmann provided additional detail on synergy realization. He said the company is now expecting to deliver more than EUR 40 million in total synergies, compared with an initial target of EUR 25 million to EUR 30 million. Portmann said the company realized synergies in 2025 “somewhere in the mid-teens,” predominantly cost synergies, and expects a similar amount to be realized in 2026 on top of that. He added that procurement synergies are expected to begin in the third quarter of 2026, and revenue synergies are expected primarily in the second half of 2026, with full realization by summer 2027 as previously announced.
2026 outlook: pronounced seasonality and guidance ranges
In closing remarks, management said it expects 2026 to show “pronounced quarterly seasonality,” driven by market conditions and geopolitical uncertainty, with a slow first quarter as walk-in van orders convert into revenue beyond the quarter and the commercial market remains soft. Management said conversion is expected to accelerate in the second quarter as production and upfitting capacity ramps, with procurement synergies expected to contribute beginning in the third quarter and typical seasonal strength anticipated in the fourth quarter, particularly in Europe and rest of world.
Aebi Schmidt provided 2026 guidance of:
- Net sales: EUR 1.95 billion to EUR 2.15 billion
- Adjusted EBITDA: EUR 175 million to EUR 195 million
- Year-end 2026 leverage: at or below 2.0x
Management said priorities for 2026 include maintaining order momentum, accelerating backlog conversion through better production efficiency, improving profitability through efficiency gains in the legacy Shyft operations, optimizing footprint utilization, delivering synergies, and maintaining a focus on leverage and the balance sheet.
Executives also addressed product and market dynamics during the Q&A. Schewerda said walk-in van demand appears to be driven by both fleet renewal and additional demand, which management views as structural rather than a short-term “blip.” On truck bodies, he said the company received strong feedback on a new commercial service body shown at the NTEA show, and noted a cooperative effort with Isuzu for a product called “Advantic,” for which Aebi Schmidt is the exclusive partner. However, he said he does not expect the truck body business to outperform the broader market in 2026, instead characterizing 2026 as a foundation-building year aimed at accelerating in 2027.
About Aebi Schmidt (NASDAQ:AEBI)
Aebi Schmidt is a Swiss-based company that designs, manufactures and services specialized equipment for municipal and commercial surface maintenance. The company’s offerings focus on machines and attachment systems used for snow-clearing, street sweeping, vegetation management, and related upkeep of roads, paths and public spaces. Aebi Schmidt supplies complete vehicle systems as well as modular implements that can be mounted on carriers for year‑round use.
Product lines typically include multi‑purpose maintenance vehicles, snowplows and salt spreaders, street sweepers, mowers and verge management tools, plus a range of hydraulic attachments and consumable parts.
