Mattr shares climbed after the Canadian advanced materials and infrastructure solutions company reported first-quarter results that beat analyst expectations and raised its full-year outlook. Strong demand in its composite technologies business and improving operational efficiency helped drive the results.
BNN Bloomberg spoke with Mike Reeves, president and CEO of Mattr, about growth in the company’s Xerxes and AmerCable businesses, tariff exposure, infrastructure demand trends and the outlook for FlexPipe markets in North America and internationally.
Key Takeaways
- Mattr reported first-quarter adjusted EBITDA of $39.6 million, beating analyst expectations as margins and operational efficiency improved.
- The company’s Xerxes business delivered its strongest first quarter on record, supported by high demand for underground fuel storage tanks tied to infrastructure and data centre projects.
- Management said tariff risk has eased after reconfiguring its manufacturing footprint to align production closer to end markets across North America.
- Mattr expects FlexPipe demand to recover as North American oil and gas activity stabilizes and international orders begin to return.
- The company plans to continue investing in AmerCable capacity growth while reopening the door to potential acquisitions later this year.
Read the full transcript below:
ROGER: Canadian advanced materials and infrastructure solutions company Mattr saw its shares jump last week after it reported earnings that showed solid execution, helping offset a typically slower start to the year, with strength in its composite technologies business driving a higher outlook for 2026. We’re joined now by Mike Reeves, president and CEO of Mattr. Mike, thanks very much for joining us.
MIKE: You’re welcome. Good morning.
ROGER: Couple of numbers here. The adjusted EBITDA, $39.6 million, beat consensus by 29 per cent. Revenue, $321 million, almost $322 million, beat by seven per cent. What drove that?
MIKE: I think we’re seeing the market react to an inflection point in our business performance. Our Q beat and the improved full-year outlook really, I think, signals improving fundamentals, stronger execution, as we emerge from a multi-year transformation. In the quarter itself, we saw strongly improved operational efficiency. We saw strength of sales into mining and North American transportation markets, and we continue to see a modestly favourable direction in the energy market, which I think will play out further as we roll through the year.
ROGER: And the strength of sales, was that across the board?
MIKE: It was particularly in the composite technology segment, where we are the North American market leader in the supply of underground fuel storage tanks to both retail fuel stations as well as to AI data centres and a number of other infrastructure projects.
ROGER: Now, is that Xerxes? Is that?
MIKE: Xerxes is the brand name, and yes, that business has performed extremely well early in the year. Demand is at an all-time high. Backlog in that business is at an all-time high, and the execution within the business allowed Xerxes to deliver its strongest first quarter in history. So, very proud of the team there, but they have a lot more they can accomplish.
ROGER: And does that look — I was going to say, does it look like that’s going to carry on? Is that demand you expect to continue?
MIKE: I think we continue to see that demand grow, and that’s why we’ve invested in a brand new factory for that business, which came online last year and is ramping up production. So our expectations for that Xerxes business is that, year over year, we can deliver 10 per cent more tanks, and I am quite certain that we can sell every tank we can build. So that business, I think, is set for a multi-year growth and margin expansion journey.
ROGER: So, no worry about bottlenecks now? You’re just adding capacity?
MIKE: We are just adding. We’ve worked very hard to localize our supply chains across the entire corporation and make certain that we limit the risk of exposure as we think about tariffs and other trade friction. And in Xerxes, in particular, we are very well positioned. Supply of materials is free and clear of interruption. We have seen a little bit of an increase in costs for things like resins, which is largely a result of rising oil prices, but broadly speaking, we can pass those through to customers and maintain our margins.
ROGER: And the tariffs, are tariffs not having too much of an impact?
MIKE: They are not at the moment. I think at this point we would say that tariff risk is probably abating across our organization. Everything we manufacture is USMCA or CUSMA compliant. We reconfigured our North American manufacturing footprint over the last three years to ensure that largely we manufacture where we sell, so we have a robust U.S. footprint today and an appropriate Canadian footprint. So less and less of our products have to cross borders, which obviously keeps the risk on the tariff front as low as we can manage it.
ROGER: All right. Now, FlexPipe, a bit the other way, the volumes were off for it. What happened there?
MIKE: So North America is our largest single market for the FlexPipe product. This is where we sell to oil and gas producers and allow them to move oil and natural gas from a newly completed well to their existing infrastructure. Total well completions in North America were lower by a little more than 10 per cent in Q1 2026 versus Q1 2025, so that had some impact. But broadly speaking, after seeing about four years of lowering demand in the oilfield space, we are confident that the beginning of 2026 represents a low point in the cycle, and from here I expect to see onward and upward growth, both in terms of North American activity and in terms of share gain. We’ve invested very heavily in FlexPipe to expand our product portfolio and now are in a position to really attack effectively the full breadth of the available market. And as we noted in our Q earnings call, post-quarter, we captured a meaningful international order for FlexPipe. That’s the first time in about two and a half years that we’ve seen really substantial international order activity. So I have a bullish view of both North American and international demand for FlexPipe products.
ROGER: How big is that potential market, do you think?
MIKE: Our largest competitor is at least twice our size, and I have good confidence that we can approach their scale over the next three to five years.
ROGER: All right, so ambitious. Let’s talk a little bit about AmerCable. It’s a little over 14 months — no, 16 months, I guess — closing in on a year and a half. How are things coming together there?
MIKE: So we acquired AmerCable early in January of 2025 and could not be happier. The team there have proven themselves to be incredibly talented. The performance of that business exceeded our expectation in calendar 2025, and they’ve had a good solid start to 2026. Within that business, our largest single exposure is to the mining markets, both North America and international. We’re very bullish on the demand for mining activity across a wide array of minerals and are well positioned to take advantage of that. So we are investing over the course of this year and next to bring additional productive capacity online in AmerCable, which I think will allow that business to not only deliver great margins but also begin to grow at something closer to a double-digit percentage rate.
ROGER: And is that what some of the $104 million in operating cash flow in 2025 is going toward? Where else do you see that money going?
MIKE: That’s correct. So we’ve invested very heavily over the last three years, so what you’ll see in 2026 is a more modest degree of capital spending, somewhere between $35 million and $45 million. The largest single component of that will be investment in AmerCable.
ROGER: And M&A? Anything on the radar there?
MIKE: So we worked very hard to make sure we onboarded the AmerCable acquisition and really extract full value from that activity. With most of that work now complete, I think we’re back in the market to take a look at potential accretive, strategically aligned acquisitions. I’d say late this year is probably a realistic moment for that window to reopen.
ROGER: Okay, Mike, we have to go. But thank you very much for joining us.
MIKE: You’re very welcome. Thank you.
ROGER: Mike Reeves, president and CEO of Mattr.
---
This BNN Bloomberg summary and transcript of the May 19, 2026 interview with Mike Reeves are published with the assistance of AI. Original research, interview questions and added context was created by BNN Bloomberg journalists. An editor also reviewed this material before it was published to ensure its accuracy and adherence with BNN Bloomberg editorial policies and standards.
