SunCoke raises 2026 EBITDA outlook after earnings climb to $76.9 million

Key Facts

SunCoke Energy reported third-quarter 2026 results on October 27 before the New York Stock Exchange opened, posting adjusted EBITDA of $76.9 million, compared with $59.1 million in the same period a year earlier. The company said full-year adjusted EBITDA is expected to come in slightly above the top end of its previous range of $250 million to $265 million. By contrast, quarterly revenue was $485.9 million, versus $487.0 million a year earlier, while net income attributable to the company fell to $21.8 million from $22.2 million. Diluted earnings per share were $0.25, compared with $0.26 in the third quarter of 2025. The stock closed at $9.81 on October 26, the same price recorded on October 20, before the results were announced.

SunCoke attributed the $17.8 million year-over-year increase in adjusted EBITDA to several operating factors. These included an additional month of Phoenix contribution, a shift in the mix of contract and spot coke sales, improved coal-to-coke yields and higher terminal handling volumes. The company said these drivers partially offset lower sales volumes following the closure of the Haverhill I facility. The divergence between revenue and EBITDA in the quarter shows that growth in adjusted profitability came from sales mix, yields and handling, while overall revenue remained slightly below its year-earlier level. In the second quarter, the company had reported adjusted EBITDA of $69.6 million, compared with $43.6 million in the same period of 2025.

In the domestic coke segment, revenue fell to $379.4 million in the third quarter from $413.8 million a year earlier, and sales declined to 875,000 tons from 951,000 tons. Adjusted EBITDA for the segment nevertheless rose to $51.1 million from $44.0 million. The results paired lower volumes and revenue with an improvement in the segment’s adjusted contribution. The company said in its filing that the Haverhill I closure contributed to the decline in sales volumes, while improved coal-to-coke yields supported overall results. Domestic coke sales are part of the company’s updated annual outlook, which calls for total sales of about 3.4 million tons in 2026.

The industrial services segment reported revenue growth to $96.8 million from $64.1 million, while adjusted EBITDA rose to $32.1 million from $18.2 million. Terminal handling volumes increased to 6.424 million tons, compared with 5.235 million tons in the third quarter of the previous year. The company said higher handling volumes were among the drivers of the group-wide increase in adjusted EBITDA. Phoenix also contributed for an additional month compared with the year-earlier period, alongside the effects of a change in coke sales mix and improved yields. SunCoke raised its 2026 adjusted EBITDA guidance range to $250 million–$265 million in July, following second-quarter results it attributed to strong operating performance in industrial services and domestic coke.

The updated 2026 outlook also includes capital expenditures of $90 million to $100 million and operating cash flow of $270 million to $285 million. The company said consolidated adjusted EBITDA is expected to come in slightly above the top end of its previous guidance range, without specifying a new final figure in the filing. It had previously announced that its third-quarter earnings call would begin at 11 a.m. Eastern time on October 27. On shareholder returns, the company declared a dividend of $0.12 per share, marking its twenty-ninth consecutive quarterly dividend. It is scheduled to be paid on December 1, 2026.

Separately, SunCoke said it reached a settlement agreement with Algoma Steel in October 2026 concerning its 2025 claim. The cited filing did not specify the settlement amount. The company uses coke to produce steel in blast furnaces and said most of its sales are made under long-term contracts that include take-or-pay commitments. These contracts provide context for its sales model, while the third-quarter results showed divergence between the two segments in revenue, volumes and adjusted profitability. The company’s announcement that annual EBITDA guidance is expected to come in slightly above its upper end remains the key update accompanying the period’s results.