WD-40 to Buy Back $100 Million in Shares, Holds Quarterly Dividend at $1.02
Key Facts
WD-40 maintained its quarterly cash dividend at $1.02 per share as a share repurchase program of up to $100 million took effect, while fiscal 2026 results showed declines in annual and quarterly earnings. The company said its board declared the dividend on October 8, 2026, payable on October 30 to shareholders of record on October 19. The board had approved the repurchase program on June 15, and it took effect on September 1. The program has no specified expiration date and may be amended, suspended or terminated by the board. The dividend hold follows a previous increase announced in December 2025 and does not represent a new increase in October.
WD-40 raised its quarterly dividend to $1.02 per share on December 10, 2025, an increase of more than 8% from the prior quarter’s dividend. The October 2026 announcement confirmed that amount would continue, and set the payment date and record date for eligible shareholders. The repurchase program allows the company to buy up to $100 million of its outstanding common shares. In the fourth quarter alone, the company repurchased 30,895 shares at a total cost of $7.0 million. The transactions preceded the start of the new program, as they were reported in results for a period that ended before the program took effect in September.
For fiscal 2026, which ended on August 31, net income fell 10% to $82.3 million, while diluted earnings per share declined to $6.08 from $6.69 in the prior year. The company attributed part of the comparison to a favorable tax adjustment of $11.9 million that benefited fiscal 2025. The pressure was steeper in the fourth quarter, when gross margin fell to 52.8% from 54.7% in the year-earlier period. Operating income declined 32% to $19.1 million, and net income fell 32% to $14.4 million. The company said higher costs for specialty chemicals and other inputs weighed on margins.
Maintenance product sales, by contrast, rose 9% in the fourth quarter from the same period a year earlier. WD-40 said growth came mainly from higher sales of its multi-use product in the United States, France and China. In distribution markets that include Europe, India, the Middle East and Africa, India and the Middle East led some regional gains; product sales rose $2.4 million in India and $1.2 million in the Middle East during the quarter. Selling, general and administrative expenses rose 19% to $58.2 million in the quarter. Advertising and promotion expenses also increased 26% to $15.8 million, in what the company said included continued investment in its employees and brands.
For fiscal 2027, the company expects sales growth of 4% to 7% from fiscal 2026, with sales of $715 million to $735 million on a constant-currency basis. It also targets diluted earnings per share of $6.40 to $6.70 and operating income of $114 million to $120 million, equivalent to growth of 5% to 10% from the prior year. Management estimated fiscal 2027 gross margin at 54.0% to 55.5%. Chief Executive Steve Brass said fourth-quarter results reflected higher input costs and continued investment in employees and brands, adding that the company expects sequential margin improvement beginning in the first quarter of fiscal 2027. The guidance assumes crude oil prices remain near current levels in the first half of the fiscal year before moderating in the second half.