CLEVELAND – November 05, 2026 -- Hyster-Yale (NYSE: HY) posted bookings of $550 million in the third quarter of 2026, up 45% from a year earlier. It was the fourth straight quarter of elevated orders since the cyclical low in Q2 2025. Adjusted EBITDA returned to positive, and the company announced cost programs targeting at least $100 million in savings at maturity.
Lift Truck revenue falls 17% year on year on weaker mix
Lift Truck revenue was $776 million, down 17% from the prior year but up 3% from Q2 2026. Unfavorable product mix and lower shipment volumes drove the annual decline, while positive pricing of $11 million partially offset them. Customers shifted away from higher-value standard and premium counterbalanced trucks, particularly Class 1 and Class 4, toward lighter-intensity, lower-priced models.
Gross profit fell 21% from the prior year, mainly on lower sales of higher-value 4-9 ton and 1-3.5 ton trucks. Selling, general and administrative expenses dropped $18 million, helped by lower incentive compensation and the restructuring actions implemented in Q4 2025.
Operating results improve $10 million sequentially despite lower tariff recoveries
Higher shipment volumes and lower employee-related costs lifted Lift Truck operating results by $10 million from Q2 2026. That more than offset $20 million lower tariff-related recoveries. Q3 included roughly $15 million of recoveries on amounts previously paid.
At Bolzoni Group, revenue edged up sequentially on higher volumes, but operating profit decreased $0.2 million on unfavorable mix. Versus Q3 2025, revenue declined on lower volumes and a shift to lower-margin products.
Operating cash flow reaches $26 million as working capital improves $123 million
Operating cash flow rose to $26 million, $10 million above Q2 2026, and enabled a debt reduction during the quarter. Working capital improved $123 million from the prior year to $662 million. Inventory fell $76 million, and days inventory outstanding improved five days.
Income tax expense was $0.6 million, versus a $2.9 million benefit in Q3 2025. The company cited valuation allowances in the U.S., U.K. and Brazil and said the rate is not indicative of future quarters.
Backlog holds at $1.6 billion as Q4 shipments are set to climb
Backlog was steady at $1.6 billion as production approximated shipments. The company attributed the sequential bookings decline from Q2 to normal seasonality. It expects Q4 2026 bookings to exceed both Q4 2025 and Q3 2026, and projects meaningfully higher production and shipments, with sequential gross margin improvement. Q4 adjusted net income is expected to be significantly higher than in Q3 and to turn positive, excluding implementation costs of the new programs.
The outlook rests on tariff rates in effect as of October 2026 and continued Section 232 tariffs on steel, aluminum and copper. The April 2026 expansion applies those tariffs to the full customs value of covered products. It also assumes continued Section 301 tariffs on Chinese-origin goods, with product-specific exclusions scheduled to expire in November 2026. Tariff-related costs are expected to remain elevated, and competitive pricing pressure persists in South America and Europe.