Bridger Aerospace Reports Q2 Revenue of $30.5 Million, Reaffirms 2026 Guidance

Bridger Aerospace Gr (NASDAQ: BAER ) released second-quarter financial results and hosted an earnings call on Thursday. Read the complete transcript below. APIs provide real-time access to earnings call transcripts and financial data. Visit to learn more.

5 million, flat compared to the prior year, but adjusted for non-recurring activities, revenue increased by 16% year-over-year. S. Forest Service and a $58 million contract with the Texas A&M Forest Service, reflecting a strategic shift towards longer-duration contracts and non-seasonal growth opportunities. Expanded IGNIS technology through a partnership with TrackPlus, enhancing real-time data capabilities and positioning the company as a comprehensive aerial suppression and intelligence provider.

5 million for the quarter, the company maintains a positive outlook, reiterating full-year 2026 guidance of $135 to $145 million in revenue and $55 to $60 million in adjusted EBITDA. Operational highlights include deploying King Air 350 aircraft with advanced capabilities and a strategic collaboration with Avincis to support firefighting in Portugal, although European commitments were delayed. S. and Europe.

Full Transcript OPERATOR Greetings and welcome to the Bridger Aerospace Gr second quarter 2026 earnings call. As a reminder, today's call is being recorded. It is now my pleasure to introduce your host, Anne Hayes, CFO. You may begin.

Anne Hayes, Chief Financial Officer Thank you, and welcome everyone to our second quarter 2026 earnings call. Joining me today is our President and Chief Executive Officer, Sam Davis. Before we begin, I would like to take this opportunity to remind everyone that during the course of this call, management may make forward-looking statements which are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statements, as described in our 2025 Annual Report on Form 10-K and other filings we make with the SEC from time to time.

Except to the extent otherwise required by law, we undertake no obligation to revise or update any forward-looking statement. In addition, we may discuss certain non-GAAP financial measures such as adjusted EBITDA. Please refer to our earnings release for the calculation of these measures and the appropriate GAAP reconciliation. With that, I'd like to turn the call over to Sam.

Sam Davis, Chief Executive Officer Thank you, Anne, and welcome everyone. As we entered 2026, our focus was on ensuring our fleet, our technology and our people were fully prepared for what we believe would be another active wildfire year. Today, just a few months later, we're seeing that preparation translate into execution, and I'm incredibly proud of the long hours and diligence the Bridger Aerospace Gr team has shown throughout the year so far. Our second quarter financial results were in line with our expectations.

5 million, essentially flat compared to the prior year period, reflecting the timing of non-recurring return-to-service work on our Spanish Super Scoopers in 2025. Excluding that impact, revenue increased year over year, which Anne will walk through in more detail shortly. First, I'd like to start with an update on some of the highlights from the second quarter. S.

Forest Service awarded us two 160-day task orders covering four of our Super Scoopers, the longest guaranteed task orders in Bridger Aerospace Gr's history. These orders will activate on a staggered basis into October and November, reflecting the agency's anticipated need for wildfire suppression well into the fourth quarter. Longer contract durations like these improve our fleet utilization, give us greater operational visibility and allow us to better plan maintenance and staffing, and we believe they reflect a broader shift toward year-round wildfire preparedness among our government partners.

We also deployed our most advanced platform, the King Air 350, under a Department of the Interior task order. This aircraft incorporates dual-sensor capability and real-time data dissemination into software. As wildfire response becomes increasingly intelligence-driven, we believe these aircraft are becoming force multipliers, providing incident commanders with real-time situational awareness that improves proactive decision-making throughout an incident. Shortly after quarter end, we announced a $58 million contract with the Texas A&M Forest Service to acquire, modify and deliver three King Air 360 multi-mission aircraft over the next three years.

Texas is building one of the nation's most advanced state wildfire aviation programs, and we are proud to have been selected to help design and deliver that capability. This contract is a notable example of how our opportunity extends beyond simply operating aircraft into engineering modification and integrated intelligence work, and we believe it represents an attractive new avenue of non-seasonal, long-term growth. Also following the quarter, we announced a collaboration with Avincis, Europe's leading provider of emergency aerial services, deploying our two newest Super Scoopers in Portugal.

We are glad to support one of Europe's most demanding fire seasons in recent history. Commitments there came somewhat later than expected, but consistent with Europe's more cautious approach to long-term contracts with private operators. -based Super Scoopers. Now let's turn to look at the fire conditions.

Fire conditions accelerated throughout the quarter with above-normal activity across multiple regions of the West. S. While Europe is experiencing one of its most severe wildfire seasons in years, we are currently at a preparedness level of 5, the highest level on a national scale, meaning firefighting resources nationally are fully committed. S.

efforts, including more than 60 firefighters from Australia and New Zealand in recent weeks. Current drought conditions and long-range forecasts suggest this activity will continue, and we expect demand for our services to remain strong through the remainder of the season. Now let me provide a quick update on IGNIS. Technology continues to be an important differentiator for Bridger Aerospace Gr.

During the quarter we expanded IGNIS through a strategic partnership with TrackPlus, integrating real-time aircraft tracking, mission information and aerial suppression intelligence into a unified operating picture. Over time, we believe software and data will become an increasingly valuable complement to our aviation assets. These developments reinforce our conviction that Bridger Aerospace Gr has an evolving integration into a solution that combines aerial suppression, airborne intelligence, engineering expertise and software, not simply an aerial operator. And we believe this diversification can help smooth our revenue and earnings visibility over the long term.

This provides a competitive edge to our aviation contracts, increases our utilization while we're deployed and opens the door for standalone use of our software in the field. While the second quarter reflects the seasonal ramp-up of our business, the underlying fundamentals remain strong. With demand continuing to build and our fleet fully engaged, we believe Bridger Aerospace Gr is well positioned, and we remain focused on executing our mission with the utmost focus on safety and efficiency. I'd like to thank our employees for their continued dedication and vigilance in the field, and our government partners and shareholders for their continued trust and support.

With that, I'll turn the call back over to Anne to review our financial results in more detail. Anne Hayes, Chief Financial Officer Thanks, Sam. Bridger Aerospace Gr continues to execute against significant growth opportunity, and as the business scales, we're focused on ensuring we have the financial infrastructure, processes and discipline to support that growth over the long term. As mentioned last quarter, I am focused on continuing to build and strengthen the finance function at the company and to support anticipated growth, especially as we ramp up for new programs with new fleets.

With that, let me walk through our second quarter results. 8 million in the second quarter of 2025. 3 million. Excluding this non-recurring activity, revenue increased 16% year over year, primarily reflecting increased Super Scooper flight hours during the quarter and continued demand for our aerial firefighting services.

7 million for the second quarter of 2025. When excluding the return-to-service work on the Spanish Scoopers, cost of revenues increased 32%. The increase primarily reflects the operating costs required to support increased fleet utilization during the quarter. It also captures fleet expansion, including sensor modifications to our two new King Air 350 aircraft, and fleet readiness as we entered peak fire season towards the end of June.

As a reminder, and given the continued volatility in fuel prices, I'd like to briefly touch on Bridger Aerospace Gr's exposure to fuel costs. Fuel expense is largely a pass-through cost across our portfolio. Under all of our Super Scooper fire suppression contracts, fuel is fully reimbursed by the customer while on contract. Across the majority of our light fixed wing contracts, we either benefit from economic price adjustment mechanisms or fuel is similarly treated as a pass-through expense.

As a result, fluctuations in fuel prices generally have limited impact to on-contract flying. Where we do see an impact is across support areas like airfare and other workforce travel, and costs for our MRU, or mobile repair unit, diesel trucks that follow our fleet and act as on-the-ground repair stations when aircraft are not operating at night. 5 million in the prior year period. The year-over-year decline was primarily driven by lower non-cash expenses, including changes in the fair value of warrants, stock-based compensation and contingent consideration.

7 million in the prior year period, reflecting an additional $25 million drawn for fleet expansion and $10 million in short-term borrowings on the credit facility revolver during heavy maintenance periods in Q1 and Q2. 3 million in the prior year period. As a reminder, our reported earnings per share include the impact of the adjustment to the redemption value of our Series A preferred stock. 12 per diluted share.

8 million in the second quarter of 2025. A reconciliation of adjusted EBITDA to net income is included in Exhibit A of the earnings release we issued today. 4 million at year-end 2025. The decrease primarily reflects seasonal working capital usage, including the timing of customer receipts, strategic investment in aircraft production slots, continued investment in modernizing our fleet with sensor and other technology capabilities, capital expenditures, and continued investment in fleet readiness to support peak fire season operations.

As expected, the second quarter represents a period of elevated working capital investment as aircraft are deployed and operations ramp up during the peak fire season. We continue to expect cash generation to improve as the fire season progresses and receivables convert to cash. We also continue to maintain significant financial flexibility through our credit facility, including a delayed draw feature of up to $100 million, which is designed to support future fleet expansion and capitalize on growing demand for our services. As of June 30, we had approximately $75 million of remaining availability under the facility.

Turning to our outlook, we are reiterating our full year 2026 guidance of $135 to $145 million in revenue and $55 to $60 million in adjusted EBITDA. This represents continued strong growth, including 29% growth in revenue when excluding non-recurring return-to-service work recognized in 2025 on the two Spanish Scoopers. S. for higher value opportunities.

The third and fourth Spanish Scoopers are still undergoing return-to-service work. We continue to expect improved operating cash flow generation over the course of the year, driven by increased fleet utilization and higher levels of fire activity during the peak season. As we expand our multi-mission fleet midyear, we expect the sensor-enabled Air Attack program to contribute to growth in 2026 and support attractive margin expansion in our fleet over time. With that, operator, we are now ready for questions.

OPERATOR Thank you. If you would like to ask a question, please press star one on your telephone keypad. To leave the queue at any time, press star two. Once again, that is star one to ask a question.

Our first question is from Austin Moeller with Canaccord. Please go ahead. Your line is open. Austin Moeller, Analyst at Canaccord Genuity Hi, good afternoon.

You have the lease agreement in place for two scoopers with Portugal. Can you just talk about where we're at with European negotiations, just considering the catastrophic wildfire season there? And could those planes be moved to the USA in October if there's not further progress? Sam Davis, Chief Executive Officer Hey Austin, good to hear from you.

Great question. Yeah, I'll just be candid. The late pickup of those aircraft on contract is just an indication of the hesitancy for Europe to turn to private operators until things are developing like we see overseas right now. S.

fleet for what happens to those aircraft as they finish their work there in Portugal. We did partner with Avincis to lease those two Avincis as they operate them, so that was a great outcome for us, just later than anticipated. And we do think there will be continued talks with European countries based on the year they're having and we think the success they'll see with having these two Scoopers in Portugal. S.

without that commitment, with the economics and demand we see here. Austin Moeller, Analyst at Canaccord Genuity Okay. And if we think about next year and the overall fleet, is the goal to lock up as many of your Scoopers and MMAs as possible into a 120-day or longer task order? Sam Davis, Chief Executive Officer Absolutely.

That's been a deep part of our strategy, and we've chipped away at that methodically year after year. This year we look at eight of our nine surveillance aircraft on multi-year guaranteed commitments. S. on guaranteed 160 days.

And that's been a long and drawn-out process of improving that, so we continue to capitalize on that. And I will say, given the demand we see, the extensions into Q3 and Q4 with the Forest Service, the Department of the Interior, we now consider this to be the norm and something we can continue to move the baseline for the entire fleet. We also see that the more those days are guaranteed, the higher flight hours we see across the fleet, because once we're committed and pre-positioned, we're effective for flying in initial and direct attack. And so those two things seem to be symbiotic in our utilization.

Austin Moeller, Analyst at Canaccord Genuity Great, I'll pass it back there. Thank you. OPERATOR Thank you. Thank you for your question.

Our next question comes from John Sigman with Stifel. Please go ahead. Your line is open. Sebastian Rivera, Analyst at Stifel Hey, good afternoon, guys.

This is actually Sebastian Rivera on for John today. Apologies if I may have missed this in the opening remarks, but is there any portion of these recent contracts with Texas A&M, Avincis, and the DOI King Air 350 baked into this 2026 revenue guide? Sam Davis, Chief Executive Officer Yes, I will say that for the Avincis and for the King Air that we have at the Department of the Interior, we anticipated those and had those into our guidance. The Texas A&M, because that's a three-year program that starts more towards the end of this year, it's going to be a slow ramp-up, but we don't think it will be impacting our guidance overall.

So that's where we're reiterating what we have.