Cadre (NYSE:CDRE) executives used the company’s fourth-quarter 2025 earnings call to highlight expanding backlog, recent contract wins across public safety and defense end markets, and an increased focus on the nuclear safety vertical following the 2025 acquisition of Carr’s Engineering and the early-2026 closing of the TYR Tactical deal.
Portfolio expansion and integration focus
Chairman and CEO Warren Kanders said fiscal 2025 reflected “steady progress,” with management emphasizing portfolio strengthening, integration of acquired businesses, and building demand in public safety, defense, and nuclear safety. Kanders pointed to the acquisition of Carr’s Engineering as a move that broadened Cadre’s engineered solutions for the nuclear safety market, citing technical expertise and long-standing customer relationships as strategic fits.
Demand trends and backlog build
Williams said the fourth quarter reflected strong and recurring demand for Cadre’s mission-critical safety products. He noted the quarter’s product mix benefited from higher duty gear volume and lower distribution volume. He also said order backlog rose significantly, with 2025 order growth and the April addition of Carr’s Engineering contributing to “nearly 50%” backlog growth versus the prior year, including the Blast Exposure Monitoring System (BEMO) award discussed previously. Management described BEMO as a $50 million IDIQ contract and “a major achievement” and milestone with the U.S. military.
Williams also described an environment with a higher mix of larger international opportunities, which can reduce the visibility of timing. He said multiple categories—Med-Eng, ICOR Technology, duty gear, defense technology, and armor—were active winning larger opportunities across South America, Eastern and Western Europe, the UAE, and parts of Asia. In the Q&A, Williams said many delayed opportunities had closed and were now in backlog, while additional large opportunities remain “still in play” into 2026.
Responding to a question about whether remaining contracts were delayed or potentially lost, Williams said he had “100% confidence” they were delayed and not lost, citing strong visibility in at least one business unit where he said orders had effectively been awarded but were awaiting timing-related details.
Nuclear market: commercial momentum and an environmental management headwind
In the nuclear vertical, Williams said Cadre continues to see support from expanded government and commercial programs spanning national defense, nuclear energy, and environmental management. He described “stronger than expected opportunities” tied to a “follow the fuel” strategy across the nuclear fuel cycle, with particular emphasis on nuclear ventilation and containment systems and criticality alarm systems.
However, management also highlighted a near-term headwind in the environmental management segment. Williams said a recent executive order aimed at repurposing the U.S. plutonium stockpile to fuel nuclear reactors has slowed downblending activity, directly reducing demand for some Alpha Safety products. He added that multiple nuclear sites have shifted priorities toward pit production programs, reducing operational focus on certain waste disposition programs and slowing plutonium material movement.
In the Q&A, executives said the impact is twofold: a timing difference between the decline in an existing downblending-related revenue stream and the ramp of commercial nuclear opportunities, and a margin impact because downblending is technically complex and carries higher margins. Williams said the company has seen the sales funnel expand for ventilation/containment and criticality alarm systems, with quoting activity tied to enrichment and fabrication customers.
Major contract win for blast attenuation seating
Williams highlighted a new award at Med-Eng: $86 million in contracts from General Dynamics European Land Systems (GDELS) to supply blast attenuation seats intended to protect occupants from mine and roadside explosive threats. He said production and first delivery of the larger of the two programs will begin in 2026 and run until 2031, while the second contract will begin in 2026 and continue through 2029.
During Q&A, Williams described the blast attenuation seating as purpose-built for tracked and wheeled combat vehicles and other military vehicles. He said Med-Eng has an installed base of more than 13,000 seats across 15 to 18 configurations and has been in the category for about 18 years. He said performance is field proven and that lives have been saved in incidents where vehicles experienced blasts.
Financial results, capital allocation, and 2026 guidance
Chief Financial Officer Blaine Browers said fourth-quarter revenue and profitability were down compared with the prior year’s record fourth quarter, while full-year 2025 net sales, net income, and adjusted EBITDA rose significantly year over year. He said fourth-quarter results reflected duty gear and armor performance in line with expectations, but also included timing shifts in nuclear and EOD product lines, distribution softness, and a slight chemiluminescence impact tied to a government shutdown.
Browers said 2025 adjusted EBITDA was $111.7 million, a third consecutive annual record, and that gross margin improved 140 basis points. He also pointed to a 188-basis-point increase in full-year 2025 gross margin for public safety products excluding distribution and nuclear.
On capital allocation, Williams noted Cadre has paid 17 consecutive quarterly dividends since going public and recently increased its dividend to an annualized $0.40 per share. Browers said the TYR deal is Cadre’s sixth acquisition since going public and that the company maintains an active acquisition pipeline in both public safety and nuclear markets.
As of Dec. 31, 2025, Browers said net leverage was just under 3x after the TYR acquisition, excluding TYR’s earnings; adjusting for TYR’s EBITDA contribution, leverage would be about 2.5x.
For 2026, Cadre guided to:
- Net sales: $736 million to $758 million
- Adjusted EBITDA: $136 million to $141 million
- Implied adjusted EBITDA margin: 18.5%
Browers said guidance assumes 3% to 5% organic growth in both public safety and nuclear, and continued pricing actions of a 1% price increase net of material inflation. Management said the nuclear headwind discussed earlier is included in the outlook and creates negative mix pressure on profitability, with expectations that nuclear mix improves over time as commercial opportunities convert.
Management also outlined quarterly cadence expectations. Browers said the second half of 2026 should be heavier, with a lighter first quarter. He said the blast sensor order is expected to ship later in the year as production ramps. He added that first-quarter revenue is expected to be up year over year driven by Zirpul and TYR, but organically down due to armor project timing and material constraints, lower distribution revenue, and Alpha project timing. He said first-quarter revenue should be similar to the third quarter of last year, with gross margin around 39% and EBITDA margins in the low teens, excluding purchase accounting impacts such as TYR inventory step-up and amortization. Executives also said some transaction costs related to TYR will carry into 2026.
In response to an analyst question, Browers said the company is modeling TYR at about $100 million of revenue on a full-year basis, with the partial-year contribution reflected due to the February close. He described TYR’s EBITDA margins as in the “20% range.” Management also said no TYR synergy benefits are included in guidance.
About Cadre (NYSE:CDRE)
Cadre (NYSE:CDRE) is a technology‐driven real estate investment platform that offers accredited and institutional investors direct access to institutional‐grade commercial properties. Established in 2014, Cadre leverages a data-centric approach to identify, underwrite and manage investments in multifamily, office, retail and industrial assets across major U.S. markets. The firm’s platform is designed to streamline the investment process, from deal sourcing and due diligence to ongoing asset management and reporting.
Through its online marketplace, Cadre provides a curated selection of equity and preferred equity offerings, allowing investors to participate in individual properties or diversify across a managed portfolio.
