Earnings call transcript: Arq Inc misses Q3 2025 earnings, shares plunge

Arq Inc reported its third-quarter 2025 earnings, revealing a significant miss on both earnings per share (EPS) and revenue forecasts. The company posted an EPS of -$0.02, falling short of the anticipated $0.02, resulting in a negative surprise of 200%. Revenue also slightly missed expectations, coming in at $35.1 million versus the forecasted $35.37 million. The market reacted strongly, with Arq's stock plummeting 28.77% in premarket trading to $4.76, approaching its 52-week low.

Key Takeaways

• Arq Inc's Q3 2025 EPS was -$0.02, missing the forecast by 200%.
• Revenue fell short at $35.1 million, slightly below expectations.
• Stock price dropped 28.77% in premarket trading, signaling negative investor sentiment.
• Successful initial sales of Granular Activated Carbon (GAC) suggest potential future growth.
• Operational efficiency improved with a 43% reduction in SG&A expenses.

Company Performance

Arq Inc's overall performance in Q3 2025 was marked by financial challenges, as evidenced by the significant miss on EPS and revenue forecasts. Despite these setbacks, the company reported successful initial sales of its Granular Activated Carbon (GAC) product, which could indicate future growth opportunities. The reduction in SG&A expenses by 43% also highlights improved operational efficiency.

Financial Highlights

• Revenue: $35.1 million, slightly below the forecast of $35.37 million.
• Earnings per share: -$0.02, compared to a forecast of $0.02.
• Gross Margin: 28.8%, affected by GAC ramp-up efforts.
• Net Loss: Approximately $700,000.

Earnings vs. Forecast

Arq Inc's Q3 2025 earnings revealed a significant miss, with EPS at -$0.02 against a forecast of $0.02, resulting in a -200% surprise. Revenue also fell short of expectations, with a slight miss of 0.76%. This performance contrasts sharply with any previous quarters where the company might have met or exceeded expectations, raising concerns among investors.

Market Reaction

The market reacted negatively to Arq Inc's earnings miss, with the stock price dropping 28.77% in premarket trading to $4.76. This decline brings the stock closer to its 52-week low of $3.34, reflecting investor concerns about the company's financial performance and future outlook.

Outlook & Guidance

Looking forward, Arq Inc expects to reach full GAC production capacity by mid-2026, with plans to install a purpose-built thermal oxidizer, representing an $8-10 million investment. The company is exploring additional product opportunities and alternative revenue streams, which could support future growth.

Executive Commentary

CEO Bob Rasmus emphasized the company's commitment to resolving production challenges, stating, "We will get this resolved." He expressed confidence in the long-term prospects of the GAC market, noting, "Long term, the granular activated carbon margins we expect to be extremely strong." Rasmus also highlighted the importance of transparency with investors, saying, "An informed investor is a good investor."

Risks and Challenges

• Production constraints due to thermal oxidizer limitations.
• Financial performance issues, as highlighted by the earnings miss.
• Potential market saturation in key segments.
• Macroeconomic pressures affecting overall market conditions.
• Supply chain challenges impacting production efficiency.

Q&A

During the earnings call, analysts inquired about design challenges in the GAC production process and potential feedstock blending to improve efficiency. The company addressed concerns about production delays, assuring that no penalties from customers have been incurred. Executives also discussed expectations for consistent gross margins in the coming quarters.

Full transcript - Arq Inc (ARQ) Q3 2025:

Conference Operator: Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Arq third quarter 2025 earnings conference call. At this time, all lines are in a listen-only mode. Following the presentation, we will conduct a question-and-answer session. If at any time during this call you need assistance, please press star zero for the operator. This call is being recorded on Thursday, November 6th, 2025. I will now turn the conference over to Anthony Nathan. Please go ahead.

Anthony Nathan, Investor Relations, ARC: Thank you, operator. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us today for our Third Quarter 2025 earnings results call. With me on the call today are Bob Rasmus, ARC's Chief Executive Officer, Jay Voncannon, ARC's Chief Financial Officer, and Stacia Hansen, ARC's Chief Accounting Officer. This conference call is being webcast live within the investor section of our website, and a downloadable version of today's presentation is available there as well. A webcast replay will also be available on our site, and you can contact ARC's investor relations team at investors@arq.com. Let me remind you that the presentation and remarks made today include forward-looking statements as defined in Section 21E of the Securities Exchange.

These statements are based on information currently available to us and involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual future results, performance, and business prospects and opportunities to differ materially from those expressed in or implied by these statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, those factors identified on slide two of today's slide presentation in our Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2024, and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Except as expressly required by the securities laws, the company undertakes no obligation to update these factors or any forward-looking statements to reflect future events, developments, or changed circumstances or for any other reason. In addition, it is especially important to review the presentation and today's remarks in conjunction with the GAAP references in the financial statements. With that, I would like to turn the call over to Bob.

Bob Rasmus, Chief Executive Officer, ARC: Thank you, Anthony, and thanks to everyone for joining us this morning. Our PAC business delivered yet another strong quarter. The continued and ongoing turnaround of our PAC operations yielded strong financial results driven primarily by continued average selling price strength of 7% over the prior year, as well as a further 43% reduction in SG&A expenses. We also made progress on the granular activated carbon front, achieving first commercial production, delivering initial product, and generating our first GAC revenues. Our third-quarter financial performance was achieved despite operating GAC at well below capacity, which significantly reduced our financial results. Our third-quarter adjusted EBITDA of $5.2 million included the negative impact of several million dollars of inefficiencies caused by non-recurring items associated with handling and post-commissioning costs for our granular activated carbon ramp, as well as impacts due to inefficiencies driven by low early ramp volumes.

We previously noted that early GAC production would carry elevated costs due to the high fixed expenses, meaning the first pounds produced would cost more than those made later. That proved true this quarter, but the impact of these dynamics was larger than expected. We expect profitability to improve as volumes ramp and production efficiencies are achieved. Turning back to our PAC business, third-quarter prices increased by approximately 7% versus the prior year period and 6% versus last quarter, reinforcing that our foundational PAC platform is not only sustainably profitable but also capable of fully funding maintenance capital needs for the broader business. Driven by continued price movements, higher volumes in 2025, broader end-market diversification, and disciplined SG&A reductions, the company is generating $16.7 million of adjusted EBITDA on a trailing 12-month basis.

This marks a significant achievement both in absolute terms and relative to our starting point at the end of September 2023, when trailing 12-month adjusted EBITDA was a negative $8.7 million at the outset of the turnaround. This is more than a $25 million improvement trailing 12-month adjusted EBITDA. I'm proud of what the team has accomplished and even more encouraged by the upside that still lies ahead. Turning now to our strategic investment in granular activated carbon, the operational ramp-up has been impacted by previously discussed design issues while processing the carbon feedstock at scale. As a result, based on recent operational observations, we now expect to reach full GAC capacity sometime around mid-2026. While this timing adjustment is disappointing, we believe that this revised target is achievable. With that said, let me address head-on the logical question of what has caused this extension.

Our operation team is still working through certain design issues that have required refining and updating the process for handling the new carbon waste-derived feedstock efficiently at scale. This feedstock differs from the traditional lignite coal that we have historically used to produce our PAC products. Specifically, the carbon feedstock has some greater-than-anticipated variability, which, due to design flaws and constraints, has required adaptations to processing methodology. You might be wondering how this differs from the Red River commissioning challenges we faced earlier. To clarify, those earlier delays were about getting the plant up and running for the first time. The current issues are about scaling, reaching full efficient production of tens of millions of pounds. The delay in achieving nameplate GAC capacity is extremely frustrating.

As we previously noted, design issues and flaws have impacted our production capacity, which, combined with the inherent variability of our ARC wet cake, has required additional process and methodology changes. While we've solved several issues, we're continuing to explore additional options to further enhance performance and reduce operating costs. One potential solution is to blend or replace carbon feedstock with low-moisture coal. This should reduce feedstock variability as well as improve production rates and operating costs. We are working to resolve these challenges and are applying the same rigor and discipline utilized to successfully turn around the PAC business. Importantly, despite the challenges noted, we successfully produced initial on-specification commercial granular activated carbon volumes in Q3 and completed our first sales into a supply-constrained market. As news of our production startup spread, we received numerous inbound requests for spot purchases.

These purchase requests were at pricing levels above our existing contract rates. This is further evidence of the supply constraints and favorable long-term market dynamics. While our strategy remains centered on long-term contracts, these spot inquiries are priced above our initial agreements and could offer attractive diversification opportunities alongside our contracted sales. In addition, we have extended numerous GAC contracts to account for the updated timelines. We're also seeing positive results from ongoing renewable natural gas field testing and remain confident in our ability to capture value in that market once testing concludes. At the same time, the broader GAC water market provides a reliable outlet, and we expect both markets to grow significantly in the years ahead. Our operational focus is now on rapidly increasing volumes to leverage our fixed cost base and achieve consistent granular activated carbon profitability.

As we previously discussed, we are also evaluating adjacent revenue opportunities that could further improve overall returns. This includes determining whether our carbon feedstock can be used in profitable alternative applications, creating diversified end-use cases for the feedstock to maximize shareholder value. As such, I would like to provide an update on those efforts. We've previously indicated that there are four key product avenues of interest, including asphalt, purified coal, rare earth materials, and synthetic graphite. Starting with asphalt, we're continuing our testing with a major asphalt company. Early indications show it could make asphalt last longer and perform better in cold weather. Second, purified coal. We have signed a non-binding MOU to test using our material as a coal substitute for making silicone wafers used in semiconductors, with our partner covering all the initial costs if we elect to proceed. Next, rare earth materials. With growing demand for U.S.

Source materials, we're working with the DOE to explore potential government funding to help us test this at our carbon facility, with research starting in 2026. Finally, synthetic graphite. This potential product would benefit from the high purity of our ARC wet cake, and we are currently pursuing government funding opportunities to evaluate its commercial potential. Importantly, these opportunities aren't mutually exclusive, meaning we could theoretically produce ARC wet cake for asphalt blending while generating byproducts for rare earth markets from the same source material. Success with these alternative products could create a standalone business line in new markets by turning these products into revenue contributors and thereby further improving profitability and margins. Looking ahead, fundamentals for granular activated carbon remain very strong. With phase two already essentially permitted, we continue to carefully evaluate future GAC facility expansions.

Specifically, FID timing is now anticipated to coincide with reaching GAC phase one nameplate capacity around mid-2026. We believe that the experiences gained from phase one, along with the ongoing improvements, will provide a strong foundation for any future granular activated carbon expansion projects. With that, I'll now turn it over to Jay for a detailed financial review.

Jay Voncannon, Chief Financial Officer, ARC: Thanks, Bob. Thanks, everyone, for joining us today. Notwithstanding the impact of the granular activated carbon ramp-up, Arq continued to deliver strong financial results during the third quarter. With revenue of $35.1 million, this continues to be driven largely by enhanced contract terms, including a 7% growth in average selling price year on year, in part the result of ongoing successful in-market diversification. Our gross margin in the quarter was 28.8%, well below our steady-state margin of recent quarters, primarily due to the negative impact of GAC fixed production costs as we ramped up volumes. We continue to incur post-commissioning costs associated with pre-production feedstock used in our granular activated carbon line. Additional negative impact to margin this quarter was related to low volumes versus higher fixed cost. We generated positive adjusted EBITDA of approximately $5.2 million compared to adjusted EBITDA of $5.9 million in the prior year period.

I would note that, consistent with many market participants beginning in Q1 2025, we have added back stock-based compensation as a part of our adjusted EBITDA calculation and revised corresponding 2024 adjusted EBITDA calculations for preparability. As Bob noted, this quarter saw significant anticipated ramp-up costs associated with GAC. As we continue to work to get the GAC line to run rate capacity, with only approximately two months of commercial production in Q3, margins were materially impacted by the high fixed production costs related to granular activated carbon. While we do not intend to split our business lines in the future for competitive reasons, I think it is important to note today that we achieved an extremely strong quarter in regards to our PAC performance.

As noted earlier, our third-quarter adjusted EBITDA performance of $5.2 million included several million dollars of non-recurring expenses associated with handling and post-commissioning costs for our GAC ramp, as well as impacts due to inefficiencies driven by low early ramp volumes. Q3 is often a strong quarter for us, but this was an especially solid quarter for our PAC business, demonstrating not only the impact of our enhanced pricing but also our cost reduction initiatives. We incurred a net loss of approximately $700,000 versus net income of $1.6 million in Q3 of 2024, primarily attributable to the high fixed production costs on initial volumes from our phase one GAC line as we continue to ramp up to nameplate capacity. Selling, general, and administrative totaled $4.6 million, reflecting a reduction of approximately 43% versus the prior year period.

This reduction was primarily driven by payroll and benefits as well as general administrative expenses. Research and development costs for the third quarter increased to $2.6 million, up from approximately $800,000 in the prior year quarter. This increase was primarily attributable to the ramp-up of the GAC line we discussed earlier. Overall, our performance in Q3 2025 demonstrates our ability to operate our PAC business efficiently such that it contributes very positively and sustainably to our economic position, while further enabling us to pursue and execute on anticipated high growth and high margin opportunities with our expanding GAC business. As always, we remain focused on enhancing the profitability of our PAC business even further, and I believe that is how a business which can, on a medium-term basis, feasibly generate significantly greater than our previous target of simply covering maintenance CapEx.

To discuss the impacts of the quarter on our balance sheet, let me turn it over to our Chief Accounting Officer, Stacia Hansen.

Stacia Hansen, Chief Accounting Officer, ARC: Thanks, Jay. Turning to the balance sheet, we ended the third quarter with total cash of $15.5 million, of which approximately $7 million is unrestricted. This is compared to total cash of $22.2 million as of year-end 2024. This change was driven primarily by trailing CapEx spend at Red River relating to the GAC line and build-up of ARC wet cake, delivery, and critical spare parts. Today, we are also reiterating our full year 2025 CapEx forecast of between $8 million and $12 million. This is particularly relevant given Bob's comments about potential work at Red River, which we do not believe will add materially to our budgeted CapEx for the year. As we continue to expect to fund our operating and CapEx needs via our existing cash, cash generation, debt facilities, and ongoing cost reduction initiatives. With that, I will turn things back to Bob.

Bob Rasmus, Chief Executive Officer, ARC: Thanks, Jay and Stacia. Before we turn to questions, I'd like to leave you with four key takeaways. First, our PAC business continues to perform extremely well. As mentioned earlier, the $5.2 million of adjusted EBITDA we reported this quarter included the negative effect of several million dollars of non-recurring items associated with granular activated carbon. This reflects the underlying strength of our foundational PAC business. Our PAC turnaround has exceeded expectations, and while we view PAC's long-term growth potential as more limited than that of granular activated carbon or our potential emerging product lines, it's now clear that this foundational business delivers meaningful and sustained value. I remain confident there is still room to further improve our PAC business. My goal has always been for PAC profitability to fully cover maintenance CapEx across the business, and I now believe it can do even more than that.

As a major shareholder, I see this, combined with our substantial asset base, which has a replacement value well in excess of $500 million, as a strong foundation for the company's long-term valuation. Second, while costs related to granular activated carbon ramp-up weighed on our financial results this quarter, it's important to recognize that we have now produced and sold commercial quantities of granular activated carbon from Red River, a major milestone for our company. My primary focus remains on driving profitability as we scale production. It is also important to highlight that we've overcome business challenges before. As I discussed earlier, we successfully transformed a loss-making PAC business to an attractive business generating attractive profit and cash flow. We are confident our best-in-class team will be able to work through the GAC production challenges. We will get this resolved.

Third, granular activated carbon's underlying market fundamentals remain exceptionally strong, which makes the delays in scaling production even more frustrating. The market opportunity is there for us to capture. Fourth, I believe our ongoing review of potential feedstock alternatives helps to ensure we are scaling this business as efficiently and profitably as possible. Separately, our assessment of potential alternative product opportunities creates additional diversification and upside for the long term. With that, I'll hand it back to our moderator to open for questions.

Conference Operator: Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, we will now begin the question-and-answer session. Should you have a question, please press the star followed by the one on your touch-tone phone. You will hear a prompt that your hand has been raised. If you wish to decline from the polling process, please press star followed by the two. If you are using a speakerphone, please lift the handset before pressing any keys. The first question comes from Jerry Sweeney at Roth Capital. Please go ahead.

Jerry Sweeney, Analyst, Roth Capital: Good morning, Bob and team. Thanks for taking my call.

Bob Rasmus, Chief Executive Officer, ARC: Happy to do so, Jerry.

Jerry Sweeney, Analyst, Roth Capital: Bob, I'm just going to—I don't know if you can answer this or would want to answer this, but. How much GAC are you producing at spec? I think what people want to know, or what I would like to know, is where you are today versus what nameplate capacity is.

Bob Rasmus, Chief Executive Officer, ARC: We're producing less than we want to. That's for sure. What we're producing is on spec as it relates to that. You're right that for competitive reasons, I'm not going to, and for other reasons, I'm not going to give you the specific answers, but it's clear that the suboptimal production volumes are impacting our gross margin and our financial results.

Jerry Sweeney, Analyst, Roth Capital: Can you produce GAC at a level that we'll just say break-even while you test alternatives, or is this going to be a drag until we get the problem solved?

Bob Rasmus, Chief Executive Officer, ARC: If you look at it, what is break-even? We have an idea of what that is on that. As we start out, anytime you start out a new production process, there are going to be costs associated with the ramp-up. The costs have clearly been greater than we had anticipated, and we've had some greater difficulty in ramping up the production volume as it relates to that. Progress is not linear. We believe that the best thing to do long-term is to both evaluate blending of a feedstock, drier feedstock, to overcome some of these design issues. That will help us get to profitability and commercial production even faster.

Jerry Sweeney, Analyst, Roth Capital: Speaking of alternatives, I'm assuming that a drier feedstock that would be met coal, which is traditionally used as GAC, and would that have an impact on margins?

Bob Rasmus, Chief Executive Officer, ARC: First of all, we're going to do what's in the best economic interest for our shareholders. We're evaluating blending drier coal as really one way to help overcome the design issues that have been affecting our ability to deal with the variable feedstock. While we're evaluating that, because the logical question is, we're also evaluating whether it makes sense to switch to drier coal. Why would we switch to drier coal? If one of the four alternate uses for carbon feedstock developed, it would account for all of the carbon capacity and then some. It behooves us to evaluate alternative feedstock to maintain full optionality. Keep in mind, from an economic standpoint as well, as you mentioned in your question, Jerry, that the carbon feedstock is essentially 50% water.

We're paying to ship 50% water that we then take out of the product as it relates to that. We believe it's a distinct possibility that blending drier coal with the feedstock could also have positive CapEx implications.

Jerry Sweeney, Analyst, Roth Capital: Got it. One more from me. Just want to understand the numbers. $5.2 million in EBITDA in the quarter. That does not include some of the extraneous costs that were incurred with this ramp-up, correct? In other words, that $5.2 million in EBITDA would have been higher by a couple of million dollars if these issues did not arise, all things being equal, right?

Bob Rasmus, Chief Executive Officer, ARC: Yeah. So the $5.2 million includes the negative impact of several million dollars of costs associated with the GAC. Now, again, what's several million dollars? It's more than a couple as it relates to that. I'm not going to be specific, but I can try and provide an analogy. If you look at the gross margin of the last four quarters prior to this, so third quarter of 2024 to second quarter of 2025, and you added back those several million dollars in cost, our gross margin would have been several percentage points above the average for those four quarters.

Jerry Sweeney, Analyst, Roth Capital: No, I mean, listen, 3Q. ASPs were up year over year, and coal plants are not being shut down as fast. I mean, there is demand for PAC out there. I mean, it would have been a very strong quarter for the PAC business. I get it. Okay. Got it. I will jump back in line. I know we have a follow-up call at some point. I have a bunch of other questions, but they can wait, so thanks.

Bob Rasmus, Chief Executive Officer, ARC: Okay. Thanks, Jerry.

Conference Operator: Thank you. The next question comes from George Gianarikas at Canaccord Genuity. Please go ahead.

Hi, good morning. Thank you for taking my questions. I'd like to dig in some more on the carbon feedstock issue. I'm just curious. Can you go into a little bit more detail around what you mean about variability? And when did you figure out that this was an issue? I'm assuming that there had been tests prior to starting production that indicated that this wouldn't, so just a little bit more detail as to exactly what you discovered and when. Thank you.

Bob Rasmus, Chief Executive Officer, ARC: Sure. This is really a design flaw issue. We always knew as part of our due diligence that there would be variability in the feedstock from carbon. Regarding the design issues, we worked through many of those design flaws. In the original engineering to just be able to complete commissioning and achieve commercial production. Those design flaws and some of those design flaws and constraints still impact our production on the granular line one. Essentially, the original engineering firm really failed to account for the moisture content and variability in the feedstock in the design of some of the openings and chutes and some of the, you consider what you have, extremely sharp angles, which led to inefficiencies and led to plugging and tearing on that. We knew there was going to be variability, but the design did not account for that.

Jerry Sweeney, Analyst, Roth Capital: Right. This sort of begs the question if it's a design issue as opposed to necessarily a feedstock issue, because the feedstock is something that you knew about going in. Why are you exploring other alternatives to feedstock as opposed to just redesigning the facility?

Bob Rasmus, Chief Executive Officer, ARC: Redesigning the facility would cost more. We know that. We think that one of the issues relates to, as I say, if you think of a 90-degree angle and you're trying to push product that has some moisture content or some sticky content through that 90-degree angle, it's going to catch on the curve, on the corners, etc. By blending it with drier coal and reducing that moisture content on the input, it makes it easier to make that. It's less likely to stick, for lack of a more technical term, as it relates to going around those corners. It would be easier to blend that feedstock and cheaper than it would be to redesign and put in place the additional equipment.

Jerry Sweeney, Analyst, Roth Capital: All right. Maybe just last question in terms of—I think it was asked previously as well—how do we think about the long-term implications of some of the changes you're making? Thank you.

Bob Rasmus, Chief Executive Officer, ARC: Yeah. No, a couple of things. One, short term, there's clearly a negative impact from their ability or an inability to reach full run-rate production on granular activated carbon. Long term, the granular activated carbon margins we expect to be extremely strong for all the market fundamentals that I discussed in the prepared remarks. Pricing continues to be even stronger than it was in terms of even a year ago as it relates to that. If you look at one benefit of blending some drier coal, as I mentioned in my earlier question, it is that we won't be shipping as much water that we're taking out of the system. That in and of itself should lead to lower operating costs and improved margins.

Jerry Sweeney, Analyst, Roth Capital: Thank you.

Bob Rasmus, Chief Executive Officer, ARC: Thanks, George.

Conference Operator: Thank you. The next question comes from Aaron Spizzirri at Craig-Hallum. Please go ahead.

Yeah. Hi, Bob, Jay, and Stacia. Thanks for taking the questions. Maybe just one on GAC. I mean, can you just maybe at a high level, just what gives you confidence in hitting the mid-2026 targets? I mean, have you started to implement some of these design tweaks, or are you seeing some consistency benefit from the changes you're making on the feedstock side? It doesn't sound like there's a lot of costs you're expecting, but just, again, trying to just understand the confidence in reaching these targets.

Bob Rasmus, Chief Executive Officer, ARC: Yeah. Sure. Great question, Aaron. I'm going to apologize in advance because it's going to be either, depending on your point of view, long-winded, or you ask what time it is, and I'm going to tell you how to make a watch. I think it's important to provide that context. As everybody knows, the design flaws led to the delays in commissioning the granular activated carbon facility earlier this year. While we successfully addressed those issues to complete commissioning, the same design flaws, as we've mentioned, have continued to affect our ongoing granular activated carbon production and the ramp-up to full capacity. In answer to your question, I think it's important to provide context as to why and how we expect to achieve full run-rate production around mid-2026.

Going into that detail, and also this is some additional detail for George's question as well, the initial design and construction included a 320-foot off-gas line from the Cherokee Own. The design was not only inefficient but unworkable. Part of the original commissioning delay stemmed from addressing design defects in the system that led to the cooling of the line and subsequent tar and plugging, and particulate plugging, really. In collaboration with a new engineering firm, we determined that installing a thermal oxidizer and shortening that off-gas line from 320 feet to 28 feet was the best solution. Locating a suitable unit, a suitable thermal oxidizer, was difficult, as really only one with the required specifications existed in the U.S. We have secured that on a rental basis, and once installed, it enabled us to have successful plant commissioning and to start commercial production.

After getting that thermal oxidizer successfully in place and beginning production, we determined that the current rental thermal oxidizer could really only support production of about 15 million pounds of granular activated carbon per year. As a result, in working with that new design firm, we now plan to purchase and install a purpose-built thermal oxidizer, which is designed to support 25 million pounds of granular activated carbon production a year. The lead time for construction and installation of this new purpose-built 25 million-pound capable thermal oxidizer is why we have moved our expectations of full run-rate production to around mid-2026. That is when we expect to receive and install that purpose-built thermal oxidizer. Once on-site, installation will take about six days: one day to cool the existing unit, one day for removal, and four days for replacement and connections.

GAC production will have to pause for roughly one week during this process, but operations should quickly get to full run-rate capacity once installation is complete because all we're changing at that point is working through the full capacity of having a thermal oxidizer, which allows us to get to 25 million pounds. We're confident we'll be able to have solved the input issues prior to that time. Logical question is, what's it going to cost? The new thermal oxidizer will require an estimated total investment of $8-10 million. That includes roughly $3 million for the equipment, and the remainder is for installation. The vast majority of the spending will occur at the time of final shipment and installation. This will be funded as 2026 CapEx.

Based on our conversations with current and potential lenders, along with our available cash and operating cash flow, we believe that this can be readily funded in a capital-efficient manner. To minimize disruption, we plan to complete our biannual TAR during that same period. That way, we avoid any additional planned downtime in 2026 or 2027. I apologize for being so long-winded, but I think it's important to show that. The detail behind why we have changed our prognosis.

Jerry Sweeney, Analyst, Roth Capital: No, I appreciate that color. That's helpful. You kind of talked to—I mean, on the PAC business, if you back out a few million dollars. Obviously, really good margin performance. Seems like the outlook still remains strong there. Can you just kind of talk about that and potential further diversification and kind of ASPs and just what the outlook on the PAC said?

Bob Rasmus, Chief Executive Officer, ARC: Sure. We had, again, another strong quarter of average selling price increase. We were up 7% year over year, 6% quarter to quarter. That pace has abated somewhat from our nine previous quarters of 9% or better double-digit, excuse me, average selling price increases. It was natural. We could not continue that cadence forever. We still expect to see continued improvement from the PAC business and the PAC-related results from a combination of increased volumes. We are still seeing increased average selling prices, and also the additional fixed cost absorption related to additional volumes. As it relates to new markets, our sales force has done an outstanding job of looking to develop and penetrate additional markets. Those additional markets also have higher average selling prices than some of our additional outlets. We are optimistic about the future for PAC as our foundational business.

Jerry Sweeney, Analyst, Roth Capital: All right. Thanks for taking the questions. I'll turn it over.

Bob Rasmus, Chief Executive Officer, ARC: Thanks, George.

Conference Operator: Thank you. Next question.

Bob Rasmus, Chief Executive Officer, ARC: Sorry, Aaron. Sorry.

Conference Operator: Thank you. The next question comes from Peter Gutsche at Watertower Research. Please go ahead.

Thank you. Good morning, Bob. Thanks for taking my questions here. Just a few, if I may. The first one is regarding the delay for the GAC. Is there any risk or penalties that could be associated with the contracted customers for the delay?

Bob Rasmus, Chief Executive Officer, ARC: Our customers have been great with this. We work closely with all of our contracted customers to provide visibility on production output, excuse me, as it relates to their needs. All of our customers have worked with us to amend their orders, their ordering cadence. All of our GAC contracts that were one year or less have been extended. I think that's a testament both to the strength of our relationships and to the undersupplied nature of the market. Everything is going as well as it could be.

Okay. Great. Thank you. My second question, just following on from the previous question about the PAC prices. Yeah. Congratulations. It's great to see even though I mentioned a slow year on year, you're still able to raise, which is really, really commendable. I just wanted to ask, though, for that 7% increase, are we talking purely about the PAC there, or are we seeing any kind of a measurable impact from the GAC spot volumes that you mentioned?

We did not sell anything on the spot market. We are concentrating on meeting our customer contracted orders on that, which is the right thing to do from a relationship standpoint. All of the price increases that we refer to, that 7%, are coming from the PAC business.

Okay. Got it. Okay. Thanks. Just a final question on the SG&A. Regarding the reduction in SG&A, how much of that can be sustained? Also, for that portion, if I understand, that was allocated to cost of goods sold, why was that decision made?

Peter, this is Jay. Yeah. The SG&A reductions are coming from prior year to this current year. Yes, those are definitely sustainable. We actually think that we'll see as a percentage of revenue as the granular line comes up and starts coming up in 2026, you'll start seeing SG&A as a percentage of revenue decline because we don't anticipate needing to increase the SG&A cost as we ramp up the GAC line. With regard to, I think, your second question there, which is on the reclassification into R&D, most of that, we won't have that going forward. We did that reclass also in Q2 as it relates to pre-production volumes as we were commissioning, bringing the granular activated line to a commissioning point. Most of that cost that was reclassed in Q3 was the July and really like one week of August cost for pre-production volumes.

Once we commissioned the facility, all of that cost has been running through the cost of goods sold line. That is why we are seeing it impact the negative, or the margin in Q3 was negatively impacted by those fixed costs being spread across fewer pounds as we are not up to really a break-even point yet for granular.

Okay. Great. Thanks very much. That's all of my questions. Appreciate it.

Thank you.

Conference Operator: Thank you. The next question comes from Tim Moore at Clear Street. Please go ahead.

Tim Moore, Analyst, Clear Street: Thanks. I just want to follow up an important thread. I mean, it's great the GAC is going underway. That's a really important milestone. And you've got a lot of things to optimize before you add additional lines over the coming years. I just want to really dig into one other thing. I got the SG&A reconciliation, and Jay just went through that. How should we think about really gross margin in the next two quarters until you get enough utilization underway on GAC? I was kind of under the impression that the really big drag was the June quarter, and it won't be as bad in September. You can expect a big step up. I mean, there should be a step up in the December quarter for gross margin, right?

Bob Rasmus, Chief Executive Officer, ARC: I mean, what I would say is, as we're producing volumes at this suboptimal point level, there's a lot of fixed cost at the plant that's, as I said, getting spread across fewer volumes, which are dragging the gross margin. What I would say is that it's not the fixed cost that's going to go up. The fixed cost is pretty stable. What we'll continue to see is probably in Q4 and in Q1 of next year, margins similar to what we produced in Q3. Until we're able to get the volume up and actually have more pounds to sell and spreading those costs across that greater pounds, then we'll see the margin improve.

I would expect probably for the next two quarters and probably even in the Q3, once we get the new oxidizer installed, or it is Q2 of next year, get the new oxidizer installed, that we will probably see a fairly consistent gross margin. Now, we are also expecting. Hopefully, we will see a continued improvement in PAC as we have demonstrated over the last 12 months. That may offset some of that as we continue to grow and improve PAC performance going into next year as well.

Tim Moore, Analyst, Clear Street: No, thanks for that. That's really helpful color on the cadence. The other question I had was, I understand right now GAC revenue is not that much. It'll be pretty sizable by the June quarter. For competitive reasons, you might not want to disclose it. Calvin Carbon is owned by another firm. It's a small sliver of their conglomerate. Do you think though, at some point, I mean, given that it's 25 million pounds, you'll add another more lines that you think you would break out maybe a year or two from now, or GAC revenue, just to have the difference? Especially when maybe it starts cannibalizing PAC a little bit on the feedstock later on.

Bob Rasmus, Chief Executive Officer, ARC: A couple of things on that. I think that. One, given the long-term favorable market dynamics, I think it's highly probable that we will build a line two and further increase capacity. You mentioned competitive reasons. I'll refer to it more as competitive tension. There is always competitive tension between the IR side of things and the sales side of things as to what we break out. As you know, I'm a big believer in providing detail. An informed investor is a good investor and is a long-term investor. The flip side of that is that we are the only public company, so we're handing competitive information to our competitors on a platinum platter. On that. And so. The long-winded answer is maybe.

What I would say also, to add to Bob's comments, is once we get to the 25 million nameplate and then we add another line two and we're then at 50 million of capacity, I mean, we're probably at about 100 million pounds capacity on the PAC. There, you'll be able to begin to see, you can do correlations and kind of, it wouldn't be very difficult to back into what the ultimate margin is between the two. That will, as we continue to grow and we start seeing PAC get cannibalized, as you mentioned, yeah, there probably will become a point where the bulk of our discussion in the MD&A and the Q will be around the granular business, and the PAC will be just kind of a base level that we know and talk about.

Tim Moore, Analyst, Clear Street: No, that's fine because I'll be able to back into the GAC revenue pretty closely when you lap a full year, just if you keep announcing average price increase when you start.

Bob Rasmus, Chief Executive Officer, ARC: Exactly.

Tim Moore, Analyst, Clear Street: Going over a year on the GAC. No, thanks for that, Bob and Jay. Appreciate it. That was it for my questions.

Bob Rasmus, Chief Executive Officer, ARC: You bet. Thanks, Peter.

Conference Operator: Thank you. We have no further questions. I will turn the call back over to Bob Rasmus for closing comments.

Bob Rasmus, Chief Executive Officer, ARC: Thank you very much. Both short-term and long-term, the outlook for the powdered activated carbon business is strong. We also continue to expect even better performance from the PAC side. This is a dramatic improvement from two years ago when the PAC business was a significant money loser. Short-term, there clearly remain some challenges to getting the granular activated carbon business up to full run rate. We are applying the same rigor, discipline, focus, and resolve we successfully applied to the PAC business to solving these challenges. The long-term market dynamics for granular activated carbon remain extremely strong. As a reminder, I am fully aligned with shareholders with my minimum salary and my large stock ownership. I want this fixed as badly, if not more so than you all do. We will get this resolved. Thank you all for your interest, and we look forward to continued communication.

Conference Operator: Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes your conference call for today. We thank you for participating, and we ask that you please disconnect your lines.

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