Finance

Matthews International: Finally figuring out who they are?

By Funeral Director Daily / May 5, 2026 /

Matthews International reported their 2nd Quarter 2026 (January thru March period) last Thursday evening after the markets closed.  Here’s what their CEO Joseph Bartolacci had to say in prepared remarks in the press release which you can access here:   “We are pleased with our operating results for the fiscal 2026 second quarter. While our…

Death Care continues to be a good investment (so far) in 2026

By Funeral Director Daily / May 4, 2026 /

  The stock markets closed on Thursday, April 30, and it continued with an upward climb for Death Care stocks.  April 30 marked the calendar as one-third of the way through 2026 and with it showed an additional increase in the Death Care Index (DCI) over the March 31 number.   The Funeral Director Daily…

SCI 1Q 2026: Revenues up, but lots of challenges

By Funeral Director Daily / May 1, 2026 /

    Service Corporation International (SCI), the continent’s largest Death Care provider, reported their 1st Quarter of 2026 financial results late Wednesday.  You can access a copy of the press release on that report here.   Here’s what Tom Ryan, the company’s Chairman and CEO commented in a prepared statement included in the press release:…

Georgia-based Fidelity Memorial Group acquires Deal Funeral Directors of Statesboro

By Funeral Director Daily / April 24, 2026 /

  We recently learned, from this article, of the acquisition of the Deal Funeral Directors of Statesboro, Georgia, by the Fidelity Memorial Group based out of Garden City, Georgia.   According to the article, the facilty has already been re-branded as the Bulloch Funeral Care and Cremation Center which was done to “reflect new ownership…

Park Lawn situation: In Substack article, author Russo opines on the events of last week

By Funeral Director Daily / April 23, 2026 /

  On Monday of this week Substack, under their “On Deathcare” platform released a very well researched article by author Tony Russo titled, “Why are we still pretending Homesteaders is ‘just’ a Park Lawn investor?”   You can access the article here.   (Editor’s Note:  Sorry for the delay.  This article was scheduled to be…

Everstory Partners publishes “Year in Review”

By Funeral Director Daily / April 16, 2026 /

    Recently private company Everstory Partners, who may be the 2nd largest Death Care services company in North America ranked on revenue, published an impressive “Year in Review” document that you can access here.   In an opening letter from the document company President and CEO Lilly Donohue makes this statement, “In 2025, Everstory…

Park Lawn Corporation makes leadership changes

By Funeral Director Daily / April 15, 2026 /

    Last evening funeral service publication Connecting Directors reported that Park Lawn Corporation made leadership changes earlier in the week that included the replacement of Chief Executive Officer Jennifer Hay and Chief Operating Officer Mat Forastiere.   Again according to Connecting Directors, Markus Sturm was named to step into the role as CEO of…

Bitget on SCI: “. . a focus on compounding value through operational excellence and strategic acquisitions, not rapid volume growth.”

By Funeral Director Daily / April 9, 2026 /

  Every so often I come across an investment article that not only gives an opinion on a certain company in Death Care but also mentions the Death Care business in general and intimates on what companies have to do to be profitable.  I find those articles are important to read so that one can…

Maybe Death Care stocks are a “Port in the Storm” — DCI upends major indexes for 1st Quarter

By Funeral Director Daily / April 2, 2026 /

  I feel a little bit vindicated today.  In mid-March I hypothesized that Death Care stocks may be overlooked as a “defensive position” by the market.  At that time I researched that thought using only the first ten days (March 2-March 12) of the Iran operation “Epic Fury” as my timeline and wrote this article…

Arrington Funeral Directors and Crematory affiliate with Park Lawn Corporation

By Funeral Director Daily / March 31, 2026 /

  In a press release received yesterday, that you can access here, it was announced that Park Lawn Corporation (PLC) has acquired Arrington Funeral Directors and Crematory of Jackson, Tennessee.  The acquisition will add one free-standing funeral home to Park Lawn’s number of funeral homes.  A search of the Park Lawn Corporation website shows this…