April Revenue Hits a Year-High as Margins Expand

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Welcome back to CMT Weekly, your briefing on how the business is performing and what's driving the numbers. This week we're digging into the April twenty twenty-six financials - the consolidated monthly report - and there is a lot of good news to walk through, along with a couple of soft spots worth keeping an eye on. So let's get into it.

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Let's start with the headline. April revenue came in at four-point-zero-one million dollars. That beat budget of three-point-eight million by five-point-four percent, and it's up eleven-point-one percent over the same month last year, when revenue was three-point-six-one million. It's also a big jump off March - up fourteen-point-nine percent, or about five hundred twenty-one thousand dollars month over month. In short, this was the strongest revenue month of the year so far, and it confirms that demand is accelerating as we move into the second quarter.

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Now, top-line growth is great, but what really matters is whether it's profitable growth - and here April shines. Gross margin landed at forty-one-point-three percent. That's up about seven hundred and three basis points compared to last year, when margin was just thirty-four-point-three percent. In dollar terms, gross profit was one-point-six-six million on that four-point-zero-one million in revenue, up thirty-three-point-nine percent year over year. The story behind that margin expansion is twofold: higher revenue per billable hour, and tight discipline on direct costs. The billable rate per hour climbed to about one hundred thirty-three dollars in April, up from roughly one hundred ten dollars a year ago. That's real pricing power - and it's coming through even against wage inflation, which is exactly what you want to see.

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That margin strength flows straight down to the bottom line, and this is where April really inflected. Reported EBITDA came in at five hundred sixteen thousand dollars - a margin of twelve-point-nine percent. That's up eighty-five-point-four percent year over year, and a remarkable one hundred forty-eight percent jump over March, when reported EBITDA was just two hundred eight thousand. Adjusted EBITDA was five hundred fifty thousand dollars, a thirteen-point-seven percent margin. That beat budget of three hundred eighty-seven thousand by forty-two-point-three percent, and it's up thirty-six-point-four percent from last year's four hundred three thousand. So however you slice it, the core profit engine is not just working - it's running well ahead of plan.

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If you're wondering how we bridged from budget to that actual adjusted EBITDA number, here's the walk: we started with a budget of three hundred eighty-seven thousand, added two hundred seven thousand from the revenue beat, gave back about six thousand on direct costs and forty-three thousand on indirect costs, added six thousand in adjustments, and landed at five hundred fifty thousand. The revenue beat is doing the heavy lifting, and because overhead is largely fixed, that extra top line converts almost directly into profit.

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The one metric that didn't move in our favor this month was utilization. April utilization was seventy-nine-point-three percent. That's below the budget of eighty-three-point-nine percent, and down from eighty-four-point-two percent a year ago - a decline of about four hundred and eighty basis points year over year. Billable hours were thirty-one thousand two hundred seventy-four, down four-point-eight percent from last April. So even though we billed at a higher rate and grew revenue, we did it on slightly fewer billable hours. That's worth flagging - the pricing and margin gains are carrying the quarter, and there's room to push utilization back up.

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Let's zoom out to the year-to-date picture, which covers the first four months of twenty twenty-six. Year-to-date revenue is thirteen-point-one-seven million dollars, up two percent versus budget and up thirteen-point-three percent year over year - that's about one-point-five-four million dollars more than the same stretch last year. Gross profit year-to-date is four-point-eight-two million, with a gross margin of thirty-six-point-six percent, beating budget by about one hundred ninety-five basis points. Reported EBITDA for the year so far is three hundred thirteen thousand dollars. To put that in context, that's up eighty-nine-point-nine percent versus budget, and it's a massive swing from last year, when year-to-date reported EBITDA was actually negative one hundred thirty-three thousand. Adjusted EBITDA year-to-date is six hundred thirty thousand, beating budget by thirty-four-point-five percent. The one caution flag, again, is utilization, which sits at seventy-eight-point-seven percent year-to-date, just slightly under the budget of seventy-nine-point-four percent.

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Now let's look at the trailing twelve months, because that smooths out the monthly noise and shows the real trajectory of the business. Trailing twelve-month revenue is forty-four-point-five-four million dollars - up thirteen-point-two percent over the prior twelve months, an increase of about five-point-one-eight million. Gross profit over the trailing year is seventeen-point-three-two million, up twenty-one-point-nine percent, with margin expanding to thirty-eight-point-nine percent. Reported EBITDA on a trailing basis is four-point-three-two million dollars, up fifty-four-point-two percent from two-point-eight million the year before. And adjusted EBITDA is five-point-three-five million, up thirty-nine-point-six percent from three-point-eight-three million, with the adjusted margin reaching twelve percent - an improvement of about two hundred twenty-eight basis points. So the trend is unmistakably positive across every measure: bigger top line, fatter margins, and meaningfully more profit dropping through.

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Let's break the month down by region, because the consolidated number hides some real divergence. The standout is Intermountain - our Utah business. Intermountain did two-point-seven million dollars in revenue in April, with a gross margin of forty-six-point-eight percent and adjusted EBITDA of seven hundred thirty-four thousand dollars. Its utilization was a healthy eighty-two-point-two percent, and revenue beat budget by seventeen-point-six percent. To be blunt, Utah is carrying the consolidated EBITDA right now - its adjusted EBITDA of seven hundred thirty-four thousand came in against a budget of three hundred eighty-seven thousand, and revenue was up about twenty-seven percent year over year. It's the engine of the company.

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Arizona had a solid, profitable month. Revenue was five hundred forty-one thousand dollars, gross margin forty-one-point-eight percent, and adjusted EBITDA of thirty-seven thousand. That came in a touch under its budget of fifty-six thousand, but it ran the highest utilization of any region at eighty-five percent. So Arizona is humming on the productivity side, even if revenue came in a bit below plan.

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Then we have the two regions that dragged on the month. Texas did two hundred twenty thousand dollars in revenue - that's down twenty-seven-point-one percent versus budget, though it was actually up about twenty thousand from March. Gross margin in Texas was thirteen-point-two percent, adjusted EBITDA was negative eighty-two thousand, and utilization was the lowest of the group at sixty-one-point-nine percent. The root cause here is the office relocation, which weighed on the whole month. The good news is that the move wrapped up at the end of May, so Texas is now positioned to recover.

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Colorado was the other soft spot. Revenue was five hundred forty-seven thousand dollars, down sixty-two thousand versus budget and down forty-three thousand from the prior month. Gross margin was twenty-four-point-seven percent, adjusted EBITDA was negative one hundred thirty-nine thousand, and utilization was seventy-three-point-two percent. The dip was driven by lab services and geotechnical. The encouraging note is that geotechnical sales are actually running ahead of budget, and management views the lab services shortfall as a timing issue rather than a structural problem.

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So let me pull the regional story together: Utah is firing on all cylinders and carrying the company, Arizona is lean and profitable, and Texas and Colorado are the two areas to watch - both with clear, understood reasons behind their numbers and a path back.

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Now, the one cost line that needs management attention is indirect costs. In April, indirect costs were one-point-one-four million dollars - that's up eighteen-point-nine percent year over year and about three-point-nine percent over budget, an increase of roughly one hundred eighty-one thousand dollars versus the prior year. The drivers were higher vehicle, travel, office, and salary expenses. The action plan is a line-item review of indirect spend, resetting the second-quarter absorption target, and tightening approvals on discretionary costs. It's the kind of thing that, left unchecked, eats into all those margin gains we just talked about - so it's good to see it flagged early.

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Before we wrap, let me give you the bigger-picture trajectory, because it puts this strong April in context. Looking at the full-year arc: revenue was thirty-nine-point-four-three million in twenty twenty-four, grew to forty-two-point-nine-nine million in twenty twenty-five, and the budget for twenty twenty-six is forty-seven-point-two-eight million - with a projection of fifty-two-point-two-eight million for twenty twenty-seven. On the profit side, adjusted EBITDA went from three-point-seven-nine million in twenty twenty-four, to five-point-two-four million in twenty twenty-five, with a budget of six-point-four-four million for this year and a projection of seven-point-seven-seven million next year. So April isn't a one-off - it's another data point on a multi-year climb in both revenue and profitability.

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Let me leave you with the three big wins and the three things to watch. The wins: first, top-line acceleration - revenue of four-point-zero-one million, the strongest month of the year, led by Utah. Second, gross margin expansion to forty-one-point-three percent, up about seven hundred basis points year over year on pricing power and cost discipline. And third, the EBITDA inflection - adjusted EBITDA of five hundred fifty thousand, more than forty percent ahead of budget. The watch items: Texas, recovering from its office move; Colorado, working through a lab services timing dip; and indirect cost pressure, now under active review.

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That's the April twenty twenty-six picture - a genuinely strong month, with profitability running ahead of plan and a clear-eyed view of the spots that need work. Thanks for tuning in to CMT Weekly. Keep an eye on those utilization and indirect-cost trends, and I'll catch you next week with the latest. Take care.