Martin Marietta Materials earnings: third quarter 2026

Martin Marietta Materials, which sells crushed stone, sand, gravel and lime to builders, grew much bigger this quarter by buying other businesses. Sales rose 28% to a record $2,369 million, but the debt and deal costs behind that growth meant each share earned less than a year ago. The company kept its profit forecast for the year, narrowing the range towards its top end. ¹

Against what analysts expected

Adjusted earnings per share of $5.47 came in about 4% above the $5.27 analysts expected on average, according to Nasdaq's earnings calendar. ¹²

The strong points

• Its own measure of operating profit before depreciation and one-off deal items rose 21% to $808 million. ¹
• The lime business, newly enlarged by the LNA acquisition, more than doubled its sales, up 176% to $362 million. ¹

The weak points

• Leaving out acquisition costs, as the company does in its own adjusted figure, earnings per share still fell 11% to $5.47. ¹
• In stone, sand and gravel, the core business, the average price per ton fell 4% to $22.41 even as tons shipped rose. ¹
• To pay for the $12.9 billion LNA deal, long-term debt more than doubled to about $12.1 billion, with only $140 million of cash on hand. ¹

What the company expects

• The company still expects its operating profit before depreciation for 2026 to land in its earlier range, now narrowed to $2,450-2,500 million from $2,360-2,500 million, towards the top end. ¹
• For 2027 the company expects price rises of mid- to high-single digits per ton of stone and gravel, backed by increases set for 1 January. ¹

Our verdict on the quarter

A strong report. Earnings came in above what analysts expected and the company kept its full-year forecast, narrowing it towards the top, though the growth was bought with heavy borrowing and profit per share still fell.

The results as published

• The results release itself
• The filing it came with (SEC)
• The previous results, for what it forecast then

Notes

1. Martin Marietta Materials's results release, 4 November 2026: sec.gov. ↩
2. Nasdaq's earnings calendar, 4 November 2026. ↩