The Middleby Corporation

The Middleby Corporation supplies equipment and technology for commercial kitchens, including cooking, warming, beverage, ice and connected systems. Customers include restaurant chains, independent operators and institutions. The shares trade on Nasdaq under MIDD. Fiscal 2026 ends January 2, 2027.

The company completed two major portfolio changes in 2026. It sold 51% of its Residential Kitchen business in February, retaining 49% in Composition Brands, and distributed its Food Processing business as Midera on July 6. Middleby retained no Midera ownership interest.

Results for the remaining business

The historical figures have been restated to exclude the separated Food Processing and Residential businesses. Current third-quarter sales rose 7.7%. Middleby's current organic-growth definition excludes foreign exchange, whose impact was immaterial.

Adjusted EBITDA margin rose to 23.9% from 23.5%. Adjusted net earnings increased 5.5%, while adjusted earnings per share rose 19%, helped by an adjusted weighted-average share count of 44.9 million versus 50.6 million.

Reported results include $25.9 million of brewing closure charges and a $38.7 million after-tax equity loss from the retained residential affiliate. These are excluded from adjusted net earnings. The total consolidated result, including discontinued operations, was a $1.6 million loss, or $0.04 a share.

Original targets and the new outlook

August's post-spin targets for Q3 were sales of $620 million to $640 million, adjusted EBITDA of $143 million to $150 million and adjusted earnings of $1.67 to $1.83 a share. Those targets were repeated in September; actual results exceeded all three upper limits.

For fiscal 2026, November guidance is sales of $2.519 billion to $2.534 billion, adjusted EBITDA of $589 million to $593 million and adjusted earnings of $7.13 to $7.29 a share. August's respective ranges were $2.48 billion to $2.53 billion, $572 million to $588 million and $6.73 to $6.89.

The initial Q4 ranges are $621 million to $635 million of sales, $149 million to $153 million of adjusted EBITDA and $1.76 to $1.92 of adjusted earnings per share. The per-share forecast assumes $100 million of Q4 share repurchases.

Cash, buybacks and financing

Third-quarter operating cash flow of $122.6 million less $5.8 million of capital spending left $116.8 million of free cash flow. Program repurchases used $106.5 million. First-nine-month free cash flow was $239.9 million, down from $276.1 million, while repurchases under the program were approximately $672 million.

The Residential transaction supplied $564.6 million of cash proceeds net of cash transferred. Middleby also received a note with a $135 million face amount; its carrying fair value was $84.1 million at October 3. The retained equity interest had a $73.4 million carrying value.

At October 3, cash was $104.3 million and debt had a $1.749 billion carrying value, giving company-defined net debt of $1.644 billion. At January 3, debt was $2.142 billion and cash was $131.7 million.

A November 4 refinancing established a five-year $3 billion bank facility, consisting of a $1 billion term loan and a $2 billion revolving facility. It refinances earlier facilities, with maturity on November 4, 2031. The initial floating-rate margin is 1.50 percentage points over the applicable benchmark.

Portfolio and leadership developments

The brewing wind-down was announced September 9 and is expected to be substantially complete by year-end. Management expects its removal to benefit 2027 margins. The residential affiliate remains an economic exposure despite the focus on consolidated commercial foodservice operations.

Steve Spittle became president November 5, 2026, and is scheduled to become chief executive and join the board April 1, 2027. Tim FitzGerald remains chief executive through the transition and is scheduled to leave the board March 31, 2027.