INNOVATE (NYSE:VATE) reported fourth-quarter and full-year 2025 results and provided updates across its infrastructure, life sciences, and spectrum segments, with management highlighting strong revenue growth led by DBM Global and several milestones at MediBeacon. The call was led by Interim CEO Paul Voigt and CFO Mike Sena. No analyst questions were taken.
Consolidated results
For the fourth quarter of 2025, INNOVATE posted consolidated revenue of $382.7 million and adjusted EBITDA of $24.5 million. Sena said revenue increased 61.7% from $236.6 million in the prior-year quarter, primarily driven by the infrastructure segment and partially offset by declines in spectrum and life sciences.
For the full year 2025, Voigt said INNOVATE generated consolidated revenue of $1.2 billion and adjusted EBITDA of $67.2 million. He characterized market conditions as “mixed in some areas” but said the company made progress strengthening backlog, advancing strategic initiatives, and maintaining financial discipline.
Infrastructure: DBM Global grows backlog, faces margin compression
INNOVATE’s infrastructure segment, DBM Global, delivered fourth-quarter revenue of $373.9 million and adjusted EBITDA of $28.0 million. For the full year 2025, DBM Global generated revenue of $1.2 billion and adjusted EBITDA of $87.5 million.
Voigt said DBM experienced year-over-year gross margin compression of roughly 350 basis points to 14.7%, and adjusted EBITDA margin compression of roughly 20 basis points to 7.5%. Despite the margin pressure, he pointed to backlog expansion as a key positive.
Sena said that as of Dec. 31, 2025, DBM Global’s reported backlog was $1.7 billion and adjusted backlog—defined as including awarded but not yet signed contracts—was $1.8 billion. That compares with reported backlog of $1.0 billion and adjusted backlog of $1.1 billion at the end of 2024. Voigt separately noted adjusted backlog increased by about $700 million since the end of 2024 to “just over” $1.8 billion.
Operationally, Voigt said activity in New York City continues to ramp, with several commercial projects slated to start in 2026. He added that backlog composition increasingly reflects work scheduled for 2026 conversion, creating a “back half-weighted” revenue profile for 2026.
From a financial driver standpoint, Sena said fourth-quarter infrastructure revenue rose 65.7% year over year, reflecting the timing and size of projects at DBM Global’s Commercial Structural Steel Fabrication and Erection business, including Banker Steel, as well as increased activity in construction modeling and detailing on large projects. Those gains were partially offset by lower activity in the Industrial Maintenance and Repair business, which had benefited from large projects that were completed toward the end of 2024.
Sena also said DBM Global ended 2025 with $87.7 million in principal debt, down $57 million from the end of 2024, primarily due to refinancing and a reduction in its credit line.
Life sciences: MediBeacon milestones; R2 posts record annual revenue
In life sciences, Voigt emphasized progress at MediBeacon, citing three milestones since the prior earnings call. He said that in December 2025, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved MediBeacon’s next-generation TGFR system, including a TGFR reusable sensor. Voigt said the system enables direct measurement of glomerular filtration rate without blood draws or urine collection, and that the newly approved sensor improves patient comfort and provides economic value compared with the prior design, supporting broader adoption.
Voigt also highlighted third-party scientific validation, noting a peer-reviewed article on transdermal GFR measurement published in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology was selected as one of five 2025 Editor’s Choice articles. He added that the article had previously been featured on the journal’s August 2025 cover.
On commercialization, Voigt said early activities in China began following Chinese regulatory approval in the fourth quarter of 2025. He cited invited presentations at the Chinese Society of Nephrology meeting and an upcoming presentation at the Society of Critical Care Medicine meeting in Chicago. Voigt said MediBeacon also launched a U.S. Center of Excellence sales initiative, secured its first TGFR system order from a top-tier academic medical center, and expects additional placements as inventory builds. He said these centers are intended to demonstrate the technology’s value in real-world settings, including kidney transplantation and optimizing drug dosing in oncology and cardiology.
Within life sciences, INNOVATE’s R2 business reported fourth-quarter revenue of $3.1 million, down from $4.1 million in the prior-year quarter, which Voigt attributed primarily to inventory constraints. Sena said the revenue decline was attributable to R2 and was driven by lower Glacial fx and Glacial Rx unit sales in North America.
For the full year, however, Voigt said R2 delivered record revenue of $12.5 million, up approximately 28% year over year, led by demand outside North America. He said international top-line revenue increased 123% versus 2024, alongside a 187% increase in gross system unit sales. R2 ended the year with a backlog of approximately 80 units globally.
Voigt also described several international developments at R2, including a restructured distribution agreement with a Chinese partner featuring a minimum purchase commitment of 600 systems over three years. He said the estimated total contract value, including consumables, is approximately $10 million over the term. R2 also regained distribution rights in several Asia Pacific markets, appointed a distributor in Peru, and obtained regulatory approvals for Glacial Rx in Malaysia and Glacial fx in Panama and Peru. Looking ahead, Voigt said R2 is seeking to raise external capital to support progress in 2026.
Spectrum: soft advertising, new launches and regulatory efforts
INNOVATE’s Spectrum segment posted fourth-quarter revenue of $5.7 million and adjusted EBITDA of $1.0 million. Voigt said Spectrum remained challenged by a soft advertising environment through the quarter but added that demand across networks is beginning to pick up heading into 2026.
He said new network launches are continuing, including streaming networks launching over the air. Voigt cited upcoming launches such as RAV en Español, targeting a Latino audience, and Heartland Network, a country music channel, with additional details expected in coming weeks.
Voigt also discussed Spectrum’s joint venture with a mobile wireless carrier, saying trials have been successful and work is ongoing to optimize software and service for data delivery to smartphones. He said industry stakeholders have supported Spectrum’s petition to the FCC seeking voluntary conversion of low-power TV stations to 5G Broadcast, and that the company is working with the FCC and legislators.
Additionally, Voigt said favorable FCC rulings over the past year for LPTV and Class A stations have enabled UHF spectrum upgrades and entry into new markets. With a license filing window that opened March 19, he said Spectrum has the opportunity to build out stations across more than 40 new markets over the next six to 12 months at marginal cost. Sena attributed year-over-year declines in fourth-quarter Spectrum revenue and adjusted EBITDA primarily to the termination of certain customers.
Capital structure, cash, and asset sale efforts
Voigt said INNOVATE continues to pursue asset sales to address its capital structure and said the company is working with lenders “to effectuate a solution” to fix the capital structure. He added that the company has “either met, received waivers, or extended the stated milestones across our businesses.”
Sena said that at year-end 2025, INNOVATE had $112.1 million of cash and cash equivalents (excluding restricted cash), up from $48.8 million at the end of 2024. On a standalone basis, the company’s non-operating corporate segment had $4.2 million in cash and cash equivalents, down from $13.8 million at the end of 2024.
As of Dec. 31, 2025, Sena said INNOVATE had $687.2 million of principal outstanding indebtedness, up from $668.3 million at the end of 2024. He attributed the increase to refinancing transactions in the non-operating and life sciences segments, partially offset by lower debt in infrastructure.
About INNOVATE (NYSE:VATE)
INNOVATE Corp., through its subsidiaries, operates in infrastructure, life sciences, and spectrum areas in the United States. The Infrastructure segment provides industrial construction, structural steel, and facility maintenance services, such as fabrication and erection of structural steel and heavy steel plate services, and large-diameter water pipes and water storage tanks; fabrication of trusses and girders; and 3-D building information modeling and detailing for commercial, industrial, and infrastructure construction projects, such as buildings and office complexes, hotels and casinos, convention centers, sports arenas and stadiums, shopping malls, hospitals, dams, bridges, mines, metal processing, refineries, pulp and paper mills, and power plants.
