How did Carriage Services' Q2 2026 revenue growth and adjusted EBITDA performance hold up despite a 3.5% drop in compara

Bottom line

Both measures held up better than the volume number suggests. Total revenue rose 0.8% to $102.9 million, an increase of about $800,000, even as comparable funeral volume fell 3.5% [4][14][19][51][53]. Adjusted consolidated EBITDA also improved, growing 3.1% to $33.3 million, with the margin widening to 32.3% [9][15][22][52]. In short, the company grew revenue and profit even though fewer funerals were performed.

Why revenue still grew

The volume decline was real: comparable funeral at-need volume fell 3.5%, which management tied to lower national mortality, and comparable funeral contracts slipped to 9,639 from 9,985 [6][17][23][58]. Several other levers filled the gap:

• Pricing helped. Comparable average revenue per funeral contract rose 3.7% to $6,088, and the overall company average rose 4.7% to $6,048 [8][24][39]. Preneed cemetery revenue per interment also rose 17.9% [18].
• Financial revenue climbed 14% to $9.3 million [3][27][54]. Financial EBITDA improved to $8.7 million from $7.6 million, on a very high 93.2% margin [27].
• Acquisitions added about $3.9 million in revenue [7][25][40].

Those gains mostly covered the funeral decline, but the funeral-only line still shrank. Comparable funeral revenue fell about 2.4% to $55.7 million from $57.0 million, while cemetery comparable revenue stayed roughly flat near $33.2 million [41][54].

How adjusted EBITDA held up

Adjusted EBITDA moved in the right direction:

• Adjusted consolidated EBITDA grew 3.1% to $33.3 million, with margin up to 32.3% from 31.6% [9][22][36][52]. It came in roughly in line with analyst forecasts of $33.2 million [31].
• Management credited disciplined cost management, financial income, and operating leverage [16][55][56].
• Adjusted diluted EPS rose 5.4% to $0.78 from $0.74 [60]. GAAP diluted EPS also improved, to $0.77 from $0.74, and GAAP net income rose 4.5% to $12.3 million [3][4][35].
• Operating margin stayed at 23.3%, matching last year [34].

Still, it was not a perfect quarter. Comparable funeral EBITDA fell to $20.3 million from $21.6 million, and its margin dropped to 36.5% from 37.8% [10][26][42]. Management said pricing, preneed sales, financial revenue, and cost controls offset most, but not all, of the demand pressure [29][59]. Even so, profitability continued to trend in a positive direction despite the revenue headwinds [57].

What the company said about the rest of 2026

Profit expectations stayed intact even after the volume softness. Carriage kept full-year adjusted EBITDA guidance at $135 million to $140 million [28] and reiterated adjusted EPS guidance at a $3.45 midpoint [33]. It did trim full-year revenue guidance to a $440 million midpoint from $445 million [32]. Also, Q2 revenue and adjusted EPS still missed analyst consensus, by roughly 5.5% and versus a $0.82 estimate, so the headline numbers grew but still came in below forecasts [11][12][30].