Carriage Services Year-End 2025: Higher Revenue, Higher Margins, Higher Profit

March 2, 2026/Finance/

In a press release issued last week Carriage Services, the Houston-based publicly operated funeral home and cemetery operator, reported the results of their 2025 4th Quarter and their 2025 Year-End results. When one takes a look at their GAAP Metrics for the Full-Year 2025 you will find that Total Revenues increased 3.3% (from $404.2 million in FY 2024 to $417.4 million in FY 2025), Operating Margins Increased 3.2% (from 20.2% in FY 2024 to 23.4% in FY 2025), and Net Income increased 56.1% (from $33.0 million in FY 2024 to $51.5 million in Ry 2025).

You can access the press release here.

Maybe even more impressive than those numbers is the Revenue for the 4th Quarter of 2025 (reflecting business in October, November, and December 2025) that grew 8.0% over the same period of 2024. 4Q2025 Revenue came in at $105.5 million as compared to the previous year’s number of $97.7 million.

In a prepared statement in the press release Carriage Services’ Vice-Chairman and CEO Carlos Quezada made these statements:

For the full year, Carriage delivered a strong financial performance, highlighted by GAAP diluted EPS growth of nearly 55% and adjusted diluted EPS growth of 21%, reflecting disciplined execution across our business. Operating revenue increased 6.1%, driven by balanced growth in both funeral and cemetery operations through higher contract volumes, improved pricing discipline, and continued strength in preneed cemetery sales production of 13.4% over the prior year. We also experienced impressive growth in financial revenue, primarily driven by a 27.4% increase in insurance-funded preneed funeral contracts sold. During the year, we completed strategic acquisitions of two high-quality businesses generating more than $15 million in annual revenue, while divesting non-core assets and further strengthening our balance sheet, ending the year with a 4.0x leverage ratio. . . . . .With this performance, Carriage concludes three consecutive years of consistent financial improvement while strengthening our balance sheet and positioning the Company well for its next phase of disciplined growth and long-term value creation.”

While these results are impressive, it should be noted that the approximately $18.6 million increase in Net Income did not all come from operations. There were savings from one-time expenses of 2024 that figured into that impressive profit percentage increase. Here’s how the “Net Income” number came together according to the press release:

Net income for the year ended December 31, 2025 increased $18.6 million compared to the year ended December 31, 2024. We experienced a $3.3 million increase in gross profit contribution from our businesses and a $10.4 million decrease in general, administrative, and other expenses as the prior year primarily comprised of one-time costs related to executive severance payments and the Company’s review of strategic alternatives. Additionally, a decline of $3.7 million in interest expense and a $3.3 million decrease from the impact of divestitures and impairment charges were partially offset by a $1.6 million increase in income tax expense and a $0.4 million decrease in net gain on property damage, net of insurance claims.

Funeral Director Daily take: Disciplined. That’s the one word that I would use to describe the Carriage Services management team, led by Carlos Quezada. Taking over from founder, former CEO, and former Chairman Melvin Payne a few years ago, the management team, in my opinion, has been “Disciplined” in their plans and actions in bringing Carriage Services from Point A to Point B. Undoubtably, the team has more plans in place and it will be interesting to see where they bring the future of Carriage Services to.

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

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