Titan Machinery sheds 28.5% of inventory

Equipment dealer Titan Machinery saw equipment revenue slide in the third quarter of its fiscal 2026 while chipping away at excess inventory.  

Titan’s Q3 results reflect its continued focus on inventory optimization at a time of weak agriculture equipment demand, driven by “depressed commodity prices, which is the fundamental issue pressuring farm profitability,” President and Chief Executive Bryan Knutson said during today’s earnings call. 

In addition, the recent government shutdown delayed distribution of farm payments, “adding to current cash flow challenges along with higher interest expense,” he said. 

However, the company made considerable progress in right-sizing its fleet, shedding $98 million of inventory through the first nine months of its fiscal year, Chief Financial Officer Bo Larsen said during the call. 

“We’re also seeing a meaningful improvement in the quality of our inventory,” he said. “We continue to focus on reducing aged inventory, which we define as equipment that has been on our lots for more than 12 months. Aged equipment inventory peaked in May of this fiscal year, and we have been able to reduce this by a total of $94 million over the last five months.” 

Titan has been selling used equipment at low margins as part of its offloading strategy, although margins are returning to more “normalized” levels, Larsen said.  

BY THE NUMBERS: West Fargo, N.D.-based Titan Machinery reported the following inventory and floorplan results for its fiscal Q3, which ended Oct. 31: 

• Total inventory value decreased 28.5% year over year to $1 billion; 
• Floorplan payables fell 2.1% YoY to $739.6 million; 
• Floorplan interest expense dropped 38.1% YoY to $6.2 million; and 
• Equipment inventory turn rate — the cost of sales on equipment for the past 12 months divided by the average month-end inventory balance — was 1.9, up 18.7% YoY. 

Other Q3 results included: 

• Net income dropped 30.1% YoY to $1.2 million; 
• Total revenue fell 5.2% YoY to $644.5 million; 
• Agriculture segment revenue declined 12.7% YoY to $420.9 million; 
• Construction segment revenue fell 10.1% YoY to $76.7 million; 
• Equipment revenue totaled $459.9 million, down 7.1% YoY; and 
• Rental and other revenue rose 6.8% YoY to $13.3 million. 

NOTEWORTHY: In Q3, Titan announced plans to divest its German dealership operations, “working in close coordination with CNH and local New Holland dealers in the region,” Knutson said. 

The company also completed three divestitures domestically, which will “allow us to focus our resources on markets where we can best leverage our broader service network” and deliver improved shareholder returns, he said. 

FUTURE LOOK: Given its progress offloading aging equipment, the company increased its inventory-reduction target to $150 million for fiscal 2026, up from $100 million in Q2, Knutson said. 

Titan projects full-year agriculture revenue to slide 15% to 20%, unchanged from its previous assumption. Construction-segment revenue is projected to fall 5% to 10%, compared with 3% to 8% in Q2. 

Despite the potential benefits of restored full bonus depreciation, many farmers “simply don’t have the income to take advantage of it this year,” Knutson said. 

“The bottom line is that without a significant improvement in commodity prices or substantial additional government support, equipment demand is likely to remain at trough-type levels for the near term,” he said.  

MARKET REACTION: Shares of Titan Machinery [NASDAQ: TITN] were up 18.5% from market open to $19.49 as of market close today. It has a market capitalization of $455.5 million. 

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