Carriage Services 2nd Quarter 2026 Report: Flat Operations

August 10, 2026/Finance/

When I first looked at the 2nd Quarter Financial Report of funeral home and cemetery operator Carriage Services one word came to mind. “Flat”.

Look at some of the 2Q2026 numbers when compared to 2Q2025 numbers and you may see what I mean.

Total Revenue: $102.9 million in 2Q2026 as compared to $102.1 million in 2Q2025
Operating Income: $24.0 million in 2Q2026 as compared to $24.0 million in 2Q2025
Operating Income Margin: 23.3% in 2Q2026 as compared to 23.5% in 2Q2025
Burial Rate: 31.4% in 2Q2026, 31.4% in 2Q2025

Carriage Services did post a 5.1% increase in Net Income for 2Q2026 as compared to its Net Income of 2Q2025 but that is explained, as is a slight increase in Consolidated EBITDA for the quarter, by Vice-Chairman and CEO Carlos Quezada through “Disciplined cost management”. The Net Income for the quarter increased to $12.3 million as compared to 2Q2025’s Net Income of $11.7 million.

Here’s more of what Vice-Chairman and CEO Carlos Quezada had to say in prepared statements that accompanied the 2nd Quarter Report:

“We are pleased with our second-quarter performance. Against the backdrop of lower national mortality trends that emerged earlier this year, resulting in a 3.5% decline in our at-need volume compared with the second quarter of 2025, we delivered strong financial results. Comparable average revenue per contract increased 3.7% in funeral homes and 17.9% in preneed cemetery average revenue per interment, while total financial revenue grew 14.0%. Another positive during the second quarter was the continued growth in our preneed programs, a key driver of our long-term growth strategy, highlighted by 21.1% growth in insurance-funded preneed funeral contracts and 5.0% growth in consolidated cemetery preneed sales production. These accomplishments more than offset the volume impact, driving revenue to $102.9 million, an increase of 0.8% year over year.”

You can access the Carriage Services 2nd Quarter 2026 Report here.

Funeral Director Daily will continue with our coverage of Carriage Services as we will publish exerpts from the company’s Earnings Call with stock market analysts in the near future.

Tom Anderson
Funeral Director Daily

Funeral Director Daily take: The 2nd Quarter 2026 and Half-Year 2026 Financial Results for Carriage Services, in my opinion, continue to show results for a company that is steadying its foundation. While part of the reason that revenue is “Flat” is that, as CEO Quezada mentions, there has “been a decline in our at need volume”, another reason is that there seems to be a pause in acquisitions — and that is not for lack of opportunities, but my guess is that it is in finding the right fits moving forward.

When one looks at the “Comparable Total Revenue” for funeral and cemetery you will see that those numbers are off 1.7% for the quarter and 1.4% for the half-year. You will also see that “Preneed Interment Rights” and “Funeral Contracts” are down in raw numbers but the “Average Price Per Sale” in those categories for the quarter are up 17.9% for “Preneed Interment Rights” and 3.7% for “Funeral Contracts”.

And, while businesses cannot survive if they continue to lose sales or market share (declining raw numbers), they also must be able to increase prices over the costs of inflation and it appears that Carriage Services is on mark in doing that. The challenge remains, however, of increasing the raw numbers for funerals and cemetery services while continuing to increase the financial sales price per service

To that challenge, Vice-Chair and CEO Quezada made this prepared remark, “Looking ahead, July funeral volume trends are encouraging”.

Disclaimer: The author or this article for Funeral Director Daily is a shareholder of Carriage Services.

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