SunCoke Raises Outlook After Adjusted EBITDA Grows to $76.9 Million in Third Quarter
Key Facts
SunCoke Energy said on October 27 that adjusted EBITDA reached $76.9 million in the third quarter of 2026, up from $59.1 million in the year-earlier period, while revenue slipped to $485.9 million from $487.0 million. The company said adjusted earnings increased $17.8 million year over year, attributing a key part of the gain to an additional month of Phoenix results. In light of the performance, SunCoke expects consolidated adjusted EBITDA for 2026 to slightly exceed the upper end of its previous guidance range of $250–265 million. It also kept its full-year net income outlook within a range of $22–42 million. The results highlight growth in operating earnings while revenue remained nearly flat, with differing performance across the two segments and sales mix.
Net income was $21.8 million, or $0.25 per diluted share, compared with $22.2 million and $0.26 per share in the third quarter of 2025. Adjusted EBITDA thus rose while net income and earnings per share edged down from year-earlier levels. Investing.com reported that adjusted earnings per share of $0.25 exceeded its estimate of $0.12, and that revenue of $485.9 million topped its estimate of $456.55 million. It also said the stock rose about 9.8% in premarket trading following the results. The company's stock closed at $9.81 on October 26, before the results were announced; that was the prior day's close, not a measure of the stock's response after the results were released.
Adjusted earnings grew as both segments improved, though their sources of support differed. Domestic coke segment adjusted EBITDA rose to $51.1 million from $44.0 million, despite sales falling to 875 thousand tons from 951 thousand tons. Meanwhile, adjusted revenue per ton rose to $58.40 from $46.27. The company attributed the overall earnings increase to factors including changes in the mix of contractual and spot coke sales and improved coal-to-coke conversion yields. Segment performance shows that higher revenue per ton coincided with lower sales volume, while the Haverhill I closure remained a factor reducing coke sales.
In industrial services, adjusted EBITDA was $32.1 million, compared with $18.2 million in the year-earlier period. Terminal volumes handled also rose to 6.424 million tons from 5.235 million tons. The company said the increase in volumes handled helped support performance, along with an additional month of Phoenix results. In July, CEO Kathryn Gates said industrial services had posted its best quarter to that point for adjusted EBITDA since the Phoenix acquisition. The comment places the segment's third-quarter growth within the improvement trajectory the company cited after its second-quarter results.
Earnings growth did not carry through to revenue, which fell $1.1 million year over year. The company said lower hard coke sales volumes and the pass-through of lower coal prices weighed on revenue, while an additional month of Phoenix results and higher terminal volumes limited the impact. Across the two segments, lower coke sales were partly offset by improved revenue per ton, while higher terminal volumes supported industrial services results. This reflects a divergence between revenue and earnings drivers: the factors that lifted adjusted EBITDA did not prevent a marginal decline in revenue. The company also announced in October that it had reached a settlement agreement with Algoma Steel related to its 2025 claim.
SunCoke began the year with 2026 adjusted EBITDA guidance of $230–250 million, then raised the range in July to $250–265 million. In October, it said the full-year result would slightly exceed the upper end of the newer range, while forecasting net income of $22–42 million. The company had previously reported second-quarter adjusted EBITDA of $69.6 million, compared with $43.6 million in the same quarter of 2025, alongside a cash distribution of $0.12 per share, its 28th consecutive quarterly distribution. October's update follows that quarterly improvement and reflects the company's expectation that performance will remain strong through the rest of the year. Investing.com also reported that 2026 free cash flow guidance was raised to a range of $180–185 million.
The company had scheduled its third-quarter results call for October 27 at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time. The results announcement also followed a period in which adjusted EBITDA guidance rose from its initial range in February to a higher range in July, before the company expected to exceed it in October. The third-quarter comparison shows adjusted EBITDA growth coinciding with higher earnings in both segments, while net income remained slightly below the year-earlier level. In the domestic segment, tons sold fell but adjusted revenue per ton rose; in industrial services, terminal volumes handled increased. These indicators add detail to the annual guidance update the company announced with its results.