Q1 2026 sales rose 54% to $496.9M — capacity investments came online, throughput lifted across both brands. Gross margin 25.1%, down 170 bps: intentional, temporary, a timing issue in
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We engineer and manufacture cooling equipment - rooftop units for buildings, and through our BASX brand, custom cooling for the hyperscale data center market. Two brands, and the mix matters: last quarter AAON-branded was 54% of sales, BASX-branded 46%. BASX-branded grew 72% year-over-year while the data center thermal market grew around 30%, so those are share gains. The scope has limits, though: our 10-K names Microsoft, Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud, QTS and Applied Digital as customers, yet we don't own the cold plate that touches the chip - our units serve it, facility-side. And a traditional, cyclical rooftop business still sits underneath the data center growth. Backlog is $2.1 billion, more than double a year ago. The rest is a throughput problem, and manufacturing is a world of uncovering the constraints.
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We note that our 10‑K says our top customers operate primarily in data‑center cooling and commercial air‑conditioning, and it lists Microsoft, Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud, QTS and Applied Digital as examples. It also notes that three customers each represented over 10 % of accounts receivable in FY25 and FY24, but it doesn’t match those percentages to the named firms. Our BASX unit is described as building custom, high‑performance cooling for the rapidly growing hyperscale data‑center market, supporting increasingly dense computing workloads, including AI and HPC.
For full-year 2026, we raised our outlook to 40‑45% sales growth at a 27‑28% gross margin, SG&A of 14‑15% of sales and D&A of $95‑100 M. The near‑term margin compression is intentional and temporary—a timing issue tied to how we’re ramping and using outsourcing, not a structural reset, and we expect margins to improve as internal capacity absorbs fixed cost. Capital expenditures stay about $190 M, concentrated on the 787,000‑sq‑ft Memphis build‑out, and the Longview and Memphis investments hold revenue potential above the $2 B ceiling without a large additional investment.
AAON's first quarter of 2026: net sales rose about 54% year‑over‑year to a record $496.9 million, kind of driven by higher production rates as recent capacity investments came online. Gross margin fell, down roughly 170 bps, which we attribute to three temporary factors – more outsourced parts, unabsorbed fixed costs as the Memphis plant ramps, and tariff‑related plus inflation pressure. SG&A slipped about 220 bps. Adjusted EBITDA rose about 44% to $78 million, and operating cash flow turned positive near $34 million. Backlog now sits near $2.13 billion, more than double a year ago.
We note that our 10‑K states our top customers operate primarily in data center cooling and commercial air conditioning, naming Microsoft, Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud, QTS and Applied Digital as examples. Separately, the filing shows three customers each accounted for over 10 % of accounts receivable in both FY 2025 and FY 2024, but it does not link those percentages to the named firms. The naming and the concentration are disclosed separately, not matched.
Q1 2026: sales up 54% to $496.9M as capacity came online and throughput rose across both brands. Gross margin 25.1%, down 170 bps - intentional and temporary, a timing issue tied to how we ramp: more outsourced parts, unabsorbed fixed costs at Memphis, tariff and inflation pressure. SG&A improved 220 bps to 13.7%. Adjusted EBITDA up 44% to $78M, margin 15.7%. Op cash flow positive $34M, capex $52.9M. Backlog $2.1B, more than double year-ago, up ~16% from year-end. Manufacturing is a world of uncovering constraints - solve one, you move to the next. Embedded in the backlog.
Our 10-K names them — Microsoft, AWS, Google Cloud, QTS, Applied Digital — as data center customer examples. Separately, three customers each above 10% of receivables in both '25 and '24. Which three map to the names? We don't call that out, but what I'd say is the naming and concentration are separate disclosures, not matched. BASX builds custom cooling for hyperscale, supporting AI and HPC density. Manufacturing is a world of uncovering constraints.
Our BASX CDU, launched in 2025, is the interface between facility water and the technology cooling loop — flow, temperature, pressure control to the server cold plate, supporting 100 kW-plus rack densities. Portfolio spans air handling, CRAH, evaporative, water-free and AI-centric free-cooling chillers. But we don't make the direct-to-chip cold plate, and we're not in immersion. No chip-vendor reference architecture disclosed. So it's broad facility cooling exposure, kind of, not a chip-tier moat. Manufacturing is a world of uncovering constraints.
Two brands, split matters. Q1 2026: our AAON-branded $268.4M, 54% of sales; BASX-branded $228.6M, 46%. BASX grew ~72% year-over-year against a data center thermal market at ~30% - we frame that as share gains. AAON side is traditional rooftop, cyclical, outperforming a low-single-digit volume recovery. Growth sits on top of that base, not replacing it. BASX product crosses segments too - $93.2M liquid cooling in AAON Coil Products, up ~40%, rest in BASX segment. Manufacturing is a world of uncovering constraints.
Appreciate the view from the chip side. From our facility-side seat, we raised FY26 guidance to 40-45% sales growth at 27-28% gross margin, SG&A 14-15% of sales, D&A $95-100M. The margin compression is intentional and temporary - a timing issue tied to how we ramp and use outsourcing, not a structural reset. Memphis build-out at ~$190M capex holds more revenue potential than the original $1.5B baseline, ceiling above $2B without large additional investment. Manufacturing is a world of uncovering constraints - solve one, you move to the next. It's all embedded in the backlog.