SERVICE CORPORATION INTERNATIONAL ANNOUNCES SECOND QUARTER 2026 FINANCIAL RESULTS, CONFIRMS 2026 EARNINGS PER SHARE MIDPOINT GUIDANCE, AND RAISES 2026 CASH FLOW GUIDANCE

Conference call on Thursday, July 30, 2026, at 8:00 a.m. Central Time. 

HOUSTON, July 29, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Service Corporation International (NYSE: SCI), the largest provider of deathcare products and services in North America, today reported results for the second quarter of 2026.

Second Quarter Highlights:

• Consolidated revenue grew $37.8 million, or 4%, over the second quarter of 2025
• Comparable total funeral sales average grew 3% over the second quarter of 2025
• Comparable cemetery preneed sales production increased 8% in the current quarter
• Comparable funeral preneed sales production increased 7% in the current quarter
• GAAP earnings per share was $0.90 compared to $0.86 in the second quarter of 2025
• Adjusted earnings per share was $0.90 compared to $0.88 in the second quarter of 2025
• Net cash provided by operating activities increased $72.2 million, or 43%, to $238.7 million in the current quarter compared to $166.5 million in the prior-year quarter
• Adjusted cash provided by operating activities increased $70.5 million, or 42%, to $238.8 million in the current quarter compared to $168.3 million in the prior year

Tom Ryan, the Company's Chairman and CEO, commented on the second quarter performance:

"Today, we reported adjusted earnings per share of $0.90 and adjusted net cash provided by operating activities of $238.8 million, both ahead of the prior year and our expectations. Our funeral segment benefited from a continued strong average revenue per service which more than offset a better-than-expected 1% decline in funeral services performed. Our cemetery segment continued to perform well, generating 5% growth in comparable cemetery revenue. The growth was primarily driven by higher recognized preneed merchandise and service revenue, as well as higher other revenue, both of which reflected impressive earnings growth from our cemetery trust funds. Additionally, recognized preneed property revenue grew 2%, while preneed property production grew 7%. This dynamic puts temporary pressure on cemetery gross margins but expands our backlog with higher-margin deferred property sales, which will benefit us in future periods. Preneed funeral sales production also remained strong, increasing 7% on a comparable basis, reinforcing the long-term strength of our preneed strategy and helping to build our backlog of future revenue.

We remain focused on executing our long-term growth strategy by growing revenue, leveraging our scale, and allocating capital in a disciplined manner to create long-term shareholder value. Our consistent cash generation continues to provide the financial flexibility to invest in strategic acquisitions, expand and develop our cemetery portfolio, pursue attractive real estate opportunities, and construct new funeral homes. Thus far this year, we returned $363 million to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases, reflecting our continued commitment to balanced capital allocation. This balanced capital allocation strategy positions us to deliver sustainable growth and create long-term shareholder value.

Finally, I would like to thank our more than 25,000 associates for their unwavering commitment to serving client families with compassion, professionalism, and excellence. Their dedication is the foundation of our success and continues to distinguish SCI every day."

Details of our second quarter 2026 financial results and the unaudited consolidated financial statements can be found in the Appendix at the end of this press release. The table below summarizes our key financial results.

• Diluted earnings per share was $0.90 in the second quarter of 2026 compared to $0.86 in the second quarter of 2025. The current year quarter was impacted by $0.1 million of net losses on divestitures and impairment charges compared to $4.1 million of net gains in the prior year. The prior year also included a $6.4 million charge related to the settlement of certain legal matters and a $1.6 million restructuring charge. Diluted earnings per share, excluding special items, was $0.90 in the second quarter of 2026 compared to $0.88 in the second quarter of 2025. Higher cemetery gross profit combined with a lower share count more than offset lower funeral gross profit.
• Net cash provided by operating activities increased $72.2 million, or 43%, to $238.7 million in the second quarter of 2026. Adjusted cash provided by operating activities increased $70.5 million, or 42%, to $238.8 million in the current quarter compared to $168.3 million in the prior year primarily due to a reduction in cash taxes and strong operating cash receipts from increased preneed cemetery sales production.

CONFIRMED 2026 EPS GUIDANCE AND RAISED 2026 CASH FLOW GUIDANCE

The $4.20 midpoint of our annual guidance range for 2026 detailed below is confirmed with a more narrow range expected for adjusted earnings per share of $4.10 to $4.30. Our cash flow outlook at the midpoint has increased $50 million from $1,035 million to $1,085 million due to stronger cemetery preneed cash receipts. Additionally, we increased our total maintenance capital expenditures by $10 million to $335 million. Our outlook for diluted earnings per share from continuing operations excluding special items, at the midpoint of our guidance range, is anticipated to be within our expected long-term growth framework of 8%-12%.

CONFERENCE CALL AND WEBCAST

We will host a conference call on Thursday, July 30, 2026, at 8:00 a.m. Central Time. A question and answer session will follow prepared remarks made by management. The conference call dial-in numbers are (888) 317-6003 (US) or (412) 317-6061 (International) with the passcode of 7565620. The conference call will also be broadcast live via the Internet and can be accessed through our website at www.sci-corp.com. A replay of the conference call will be available through August 6, 2026 and can be accessed at (855) 669-9658 (US) or (412) 317-0088 (International) with the passcode of 1797873. Additionally, a replay of the conference call will be available on our website for approximately three months.

ABOUT SERVICE CORPORATION INTERNATIONAL

Service Corporation International (NYSE: SCI), headquartered in Houston, Texas, is North America's leading provider of funeral, cemetery and cremation services, as well as final-arrangement planning in advance, serving approximately 700,000 combined preneed and atneed families each year. Our diversified portfolio of brands provides families and individuals a full range of choices to meet their needs, from simple cremations to full life celebrations and personalized remembrances. Our Dignity Memorial® brand is the name families turn to for professionalism, compassion, and attention to detail that is second to none. At June 30, 2026, we owned and operated 1,495 funeral service locations and 505 cemeteries (of which 316 are combination locations) in 44 states, eight Canadian provinces, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. For more information about Service Corporation International, please visit our website at www.sci-corp.com. For more information about Dignity Memorial®, please visit www.dignitymemorial.com. 

CAUTIONARY STATEMENT ON FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

The statements in this press release that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements made in reliance on the safe harbor protections provided under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements may be accompanied by words such as "believe", "estimate", "project", "expect", or "anticipate", "predict" that convey the uncertainty of future events or outcomes. These statements are based on assumptions that we believe are reasonable; however, many important factors could cause our actual results in the future to differ materially from the forward-looking statements made herein and in any other documents or oral presentations made by, or on behalf of, the Company. These factors are discussed below. Except as required by applicable law, we assume no obligation and make no undertaking to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements made herein or any other forward-looking statements made by the Company, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.

• Our affiliated trust funds own investments in securities, which are affected by market conditions that are beyond our control.
• We may be required to replenish our affiliated funeral and cemetery trust funds to meet minimum funding requirements, which would have a negative effect on our earnings and cash flow.
• Our ability to execute our strategic plan depends on many factors, some of which are beyond our control.
• We may be adversely affected by the effects of inflation.
• Our results may be adversely affected by significant weather events, natural disasters, catastrophic events, or public health crises.
• Our credit agreements contain covenants that may prevent us from engaging in certain transactions.
• If we lost the ability to use surety bonding to support our preneed activities, we may be required to make material cash payments to fund certain trust funds.
• The financial condition of third-party insurance companies that fund our preneed contracts may impact our future revenue.
• Unfavorable publicity could affect our reputation and business.
• Our failure to attract and retain qualified sales personnel and licensed funeral professionals could have an adverse effect on our business and financial condition.
• We use a combination of insurance, self-insurance, and large deductibles in managing our exposure to certain inherent risks; therefore, we could be exposed to unexpected costs that could negatively affect our financial performance.
• Declines in overall economic conditions beyond our control could reduce future potential earnings and cash flows and could result in future impairments to goodwill and/or other intangible assets.
• Any failure to protect personal information relating to our customers, their loved ones, our associates, and our vendors could damage our reputation, could cause us to incur substantial additional costs and to become subject to litigation, and could adversely affect our operating results, financial condition, or cash flow.
• A failure of a key information technology system or process could disrupt and adversely affect our business.
• Our Canadian business exposes us to operational, economic, and currency risks.
• Our level of indebtedness could adversely affect our cash flows, our ability to raise additional capital to fund our operations, limit our ability to react to changes in the economy or our industry, and may prevent us from fulfilling our obligations under our indebtedness.
• The funeral and cemetery industry is competitive.
• If the number of deaths in our markets declines, our cash flows and revenue may decrease. Changes in the number of deaths are not predictable from market to market or over the short term.
• If we are not able to respond effectively to changing consumer preferences, our market share, revenue, and/or profitability could decrease.
• The continuing upward trend in life expectancy and an increase in the number of cremations performed in North America could result in lower revenue, operating profit, and cash flows.
• Our funeral and cemetery businesses are high fixed-cost businesses.
• Risks associated with our supply chain, such as tariffs, could materially adversely affect our financial performance.
• Regulation and compliance could have a material adverse impact on our financial results.
• Unfavorable results of litigation could have a material adverse impact on our financial statements.
• Cemetery burial practice claims could have a material adverse impact on our financial results.
• The application of unclaimed property laws by certain states to our preneed funeral and cemetery backlog could have a material adverse impact on our liquidity, cash flows, and financial results.
• Changes in taxation, or the interpretation of tax laws or regulations, as well as the inherent difficulty in quantifying potential tax effects of business decisions could have a material adverse effect on the results of our operations, financial condition, or cash flows.

For further information on these and other risks and uncertainties, see our Securities and Exchange Commission filings, including our 2025 Annual Report on Form 10-K. Copies of this document as well as other SEC filings can be obtained from our website at www.sci-corp.com. 

SERVICE CORPORATION INTERNATIONAL

APPENDIX: RESULTS FOR THE SECOND QUARTER OF 2026

Comparable Funeral Results

The table below details comparable funeral results of operations ("same store") for the three months ended June 30, 2026 and 2025. We consider comparable funeral operations to be those businesses owned for the entire period beginning January 1, 2025 and ending June 30, 2026.

• Total comparable funeral revenue increased $5.1 million. Core funeral revenue increased $7.1 million, or 1.5%, primarily due to a 3.3% increase in core average revenue per service partially offset by a 1.7% decrease in core funeral services performed. The growth in the average revenue per service is primarily driven by consumer preferences for enhanced product and service offerings as well as an increase in trust fund income. The core cremation rate increased 60 basis points to 58.0%.
• Non-funeral home revenue increased $2.3 million, or 9.2%, due to an 8.7% increase in non-funeral home average revenue per service driven by increased matured preneed revenue from the backlog, combined with a 0.5% increase in non-funeral home services performed.
• Non-funeral home preneed sales revenue decreased $5.1 million, primarily due to an operational shift to defer the delivery of urns on preneed contracts to the time of need. This transition was completed late in 2025, and this decrease is short-term in nature as we will recognize deferred urn revenue from the backlog at the time of need as non-funeral home revenue in future periods.
• Core general agency and other revenue increased $0.8 million. Core general agency revenue benefited from higher insurance sales production which was largely offset by a lower general agency commission rate quarter over quarter. The current commission rate is stable and is trending in line with expectations.
• Comparable funeral gross profit decreased $6.8 million to $109.8 million, and the gross profit percentage declined 130 basis points from 19.8% to 18.5%. Gross profit was impacted by higher selling compensation associated with strong insurance-funded preneed sales production. Selling compensation costs associated with insurance-funded preneed sales production are expensed as incurred, while the benefit of these sales will be realized in future periods as the related funeral services are performed.
• Comparable funeral preneed sales production increased $19.9 million, or 6.6%, in the second quarter of 2026 compared to 2025, driven by an 8.3% increase in core preneed sales production.

Comparable Cemetery Results

The table below details comparable cemetery results of operations ("same store") for the three months ended June 30, 2026 and 2025. We consider comparable cemetery operations to be those businesses owned for the entire period beginning January 1, 2025 and ending June 30, 2026.

• Total comparable cemetery revenue increased $22.8 million, or 4.8%, in the second quarter of 2026 compared to the second quarter of 2025. The increase was due to higher core revenue of $14.4 million and higher other revenue of $8.4 million.
• The core revenue increase of $14.4 million was primarily due to a $15.2 million, or 4.7%, increase in total recognized preneed revenue, of which $4.8 million resulted from higher property revenue and $10.4 million from higher merchandise and service revenue. Merchandise and service revenue also reflects the positive impacts from increased trust fund income. Total recognized preneed revenue benefited from growth in comparable cemetery preneed sales production of $29.7 million, or 8.0%, a significant portion of which will benefit us in the future.
• Other revenue was $8.4 million higher, or 22.8%, compared to the prior-year quarter primarily from an increase in endowment care trust fund income based on market performance and higher total return distributions.
• Comparable cemetery gross profit increased $6.7 million to $162.2 million. The gross profit percentage decreased slightly from 32.8% to 32.6%. Gross profit was impacted by higher selling compensation, reflecting strong preneed sales production growth of 8.0%. While this strong production growth puts temporary pressure on cemetery gross margins, it grows our backlog with higher-margin deferred property sales which will benefit us in future periods.
• Comparable preneed cemetery sales production increased $29.7 million, or 8.0%, and was supported by an increase in the number of contracts sold and a higher sales average as well as an increase in large sales.

Other Financial Results

• Corporate general and administrative expenses were $41.8 million in the second quarter of 2026, compared to $49.5 million in the prior year. The prior year included a $6.4 million charge related to the settlement of certain legal matters. The remaining decrease is partially due to lower auto and general liability claims in the current year.
• Interest expense was $64.7 million in the second quarter of 2026 compared to $64.1 million in the prior year. The average balances on our floating-rate debt increased approximately $189.0 million, partially offset by lower average floating rates decreasing from 6.8% to 5.8%, resulting in the net $0.6 million increase in interest expense.
• The GAAP effective income tax rate for the second quarter of 2026 was 25.1%, down from 25.2% in the prior-year quarter. On an adjusted basis, the effective tax rate was 25.2%, down from 25.4% in the prior-year quarter. The lower effective tax rate in the current period was primarily due to non-taxable gains on the cash surrender value of certain life insurance policies.

Net cash provided by operating activities excluding special items grew $70.5 million to $238.8 million in the second quarter of 2026 compared to $168.3 million in the second quarter of 2025. The increase is driven by higher operating income of $7.1 million, and a reduction in cash taxes of $64.3 million, due primarily to credits associated with a renewable energy investment. The related renewable energy investment resulted in a $40.7 million investing cash outflow in the current quarter.  Working capital remained essentially flat overall; however, we saw an improvement of $36.4 million in preneed working capital.  This improvement was primarily driven by collections associated with higher preneed cemetery sales production (for which revenue recognition was deferred) as well as higher collection rates compared to the prior year.  This was offset by $37.3 million in higher accounts payable and other working capital uses due to the timing of an additional payroll cycle within the period compared to the prior year. We expect the favorable preneed cemetery collection rates to continue in the back half of 2026, resulting in our increasing cash flow guidance.

A summary of our capital expenditures is set forth below:

Total capital expenditures increased $12.7 million in the current quarter, primarily due to the timing of spend on the development of high-returning cemetery property during the quarter.

Trust Fund Returns

Total trust fund returns include realized and unrealized gains and losses and dividends and are shown gross without netting of certain fees. A summary of our consolidated trust fund returns as of June 30, 2026 is set forth below:

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

Earnings excluding special items, diluted earnings per share excluding special items, and net cash provided by operating activities excluding special items shown above are non-GAAP financial measures. We believe these non-GAAP financial measures provide a consistent basis for comparison between quarters and years, and better reflect the performance of our core operations by adjusting for the items listed below. We also believe these measures help facilitate comparisons to our competitors' operating results.

Set forth below is a reconciliation of our reported net income attributable to common stockholders to earnings excluding special items and our GAAP diluted earnings per share to diluted earnings per share excluding special items. See "Cash Flow and Capital Spending" in this press release for a reconciliation of net cash provided by operating activities to net cash provided by operating activities excluding special items. We do not intend for this information to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for other measures of performance prepared in accordance with GAAP.

SOURCE Service Corporation International

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