NAPCO Security Technologies - Q2 2026

Transcript

Operator (participant)

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to NAPCO Security Technologies Fiscal Second Quarter 2026 Earnings Conference Call. At this time, note that all participants are in a listen-only mode. Following the presentation, we will conduct a question-and-answer session. If at any time during this call you require immediate assistance, please press star zero for the operator. Also note that this call is being recorded on Monday, February 2nd, 2026. I would like to turn the conference over to Francis Okoniewski, Vice President of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

Francis Okoniewski (VP of Investor Relations)

Thank you, Sylvia, and good morning, everyone. This is Fran Okoniewski, Vice President of Investor Relations for NAPCO Security Technologies. Thank you all for joining today's conference call to discuss financial results for our fiscal second quarter 2026. By now, all of you should have had the opportunity to review our earnings press release discussing our quarterly results. If not, a copy of the release is available in the Investor Relations section of our website, www.napcosecurity.com. On the call today are Dick Soloway, Chairman and CEO of NAPCO Security Technologies, and Kevin Buchel, President and Chief Operating Officer, as well as Andrew Vuono, our Chief Financial Officer. Before we begin, let me take a moment to read the forward-looking statement, as this presentation contains forward-looking statements that are based on current expectations, estimates, forecasts, and projections of future performance based on management's judgment, beliefs, current trends, and anticipated product performance.

These forward-looking statements include, without limitation, statements relating to growth drivers of the company's business, such as school security products, recurring revenue services, potential market opportunities, the benefits of our recurring revenue products to customers and dealers, our ability to control expenses and costs, and expected annual run rate for our SaaS recurring monthly revenue. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements. These factors include, but are not limited to, such risk factors described in our SEC filings, including our annual report on Form 10-K. Other unknown or unpredictable factors or underlying assumptions subsequently proved to be incorrect could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, we cannot guarantee future results, level of activity, performance, or achievements.

You should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. All information provided in today's press release and this conference call are as of today's date, unless otherwise stated, and we undertake no duty to update such information except as required under applicable law. I'll turn the call over to Dick in a moment. Before I do, I wanna mention the schedule of investor outreach in the coming months. On February 17th, we're participating in the Barclays 43rd Annual Industrial Select Conference in Miami Beach, Florida. We're also attending Citigroup's Global Industrial, Tech and Mobility Conference, also in Miami Beach, Florida, on February 19th. In March, our engagements include the Raymond James 47th Annual Institutional Investors Conference in Orlando, Florida, on March 4th. We will attend Cantor Fitzgerald's Global Technology and Industrials Conference in New York City, March 10th and 11th.

Finally, we'll cap off this busy period by attending our industry's largest trade show, ISC West, at the Venetian Expo in Las Vegas, March 23rd through March 27th. If anyone's interested in attending, please reach out to me, and I will arrange to get you a pass. Investor outreach is a vital part of NAPCO's strategy, and we'd like to extend our gratitude to everyone who contributes to the success of these events. With that out of the way, let me turn the call over to Dick Soloway, Chairman and CEO of NAPCO Security Technologies. Dick, the floor is yours.

Dick Soloway (Chairman and CEO)

Thank you, Fran. Good morning, everyone, and welcome to our conference call. We appreciate you joining us as we review our fiscal second quarter 2026 performance. Our second quarter results, which reflect record Q2 revenue, is a continuation of the momentum we reported from Q1 and is evidence of our focus on long-term growth. Our strong financial results continue to be fueled by our recurring revenue model, which delivers steady growth while maintaining its substantial profitability. Our equipment revenue has shown consistent growth as our pricing and market strategies have yielded double-digit increases in equipment revenue for consecutive quarters, bolstered by our locking segment, as well as double-digit growth in our intrusion and alarm segment. The first half of fiscal 2026 delivered strong financial results.

We are confident in our ability to continue the momentum through the end of the fiscal 2026, and to execute on our plan to provide enhanced shareholder value and growth. In addition to our financial performance, we are pleased with the recent addition of our Chief Revenue Officer, Joe Paczynski. With his 35+ years as a business development executive, he will provide the company with strong leadership, vision, and the ability to help NAPCO achieve even stronger revenue growth. Now I'll turn the call over to our President and Chief Operating Officer, Kevin Buchel, who will comment on some operational and financial performance highlights. Following Kevin's remarks, our CFO, Andy Vuono, will go through the financials in more detail, and then I will return to delve deeper into our strategy and market outlook. Kevin, the floor is yours.

Kevin Buchel (President and COO)

Thank you, Dick. Good morning, everyone. I'm gonna take a few minutes to highlight our performance for the second quarter, which marked another strong period of execution for the company. We are extremely pleased with the results this quarter, which reflect disciplined execution, strong demand across our portfolio, and the continued focus of our teams on driving profitable growth. Total revenue for the quarter was $48.2 million, and that represents a Q2 record, and it's an increase of 12.2% compared to last year's second quarter. This performance underscores the momentum we are seeing across our business. Within that total, equipment revenue was $24.3 million, and that's up 12% year-over-year.

We're particularly pleased with this result, as it demonstrates the continued strength and durability of our distributor and dealer relationships, as well as the impact of the price increases implemented at the end of fiscal 2025, which are contributing as expected. Equipment gross margin continued to improve, reaching 28%, and that compares to 24% in the prior year, and 26% from the previous quarter. This improvement reflects ongoing pricing discipline, operational efficiency, and favorable product mix, and we are very satisfied with the progress we are making. Recurring revenue continued its strong performance, growing 12.5% over last year's Q2, and maintaining a strong gross margin of 90.2%. We're very encouraged by the consistency and the quality of this revenue stream, with StarLink Commercial Fire radios again representing a significant portion of the mix.

We also saw continued momentum in our recurring revenue base, with the prospective annual run rate increasing to $99 million, and that's based on January 2026 recurring revenue. That represents an increase of approximately $4 million from the $95 million run rate we reported last quarter. We are pleased with this steady progress we are making in building long-term, high-margin revenue. From a profitability standpoint, operating income for the Q2 increased 32% year-over-year to $14.8 million. Net income increased 29% to $13.5 million, and that represents 28% of revenue for the quarter. Adjusted EBITDA increased 26% to $15.3 million, and that resulted in an EBITDA margin of 32%. These results demonstrate strong operating leverage, and we are pleased with the level of profitability achieved this quarter.

Our balance sheet remains a significant strength. Cash and marketable securities continued to grow and totaled $115 million as of December 31, 2025, and that gives us substantial flexibility to continue investing in the business while also returning capital to shareholders. Given our strong financial performance and cash position, our board approved another increase to our quarterly dividend, raising it to $0.15 per share, which represents a 7% increase. This decision reflects our confidence in the business and our commitment to delivering shareholder value. Overall, this was another outstanding quarter. We are very pleased with our performance through the first six months of fiscal 2026, and while there is still more work to do, we believe the company is well-positioned to continue executing at a high level.

With that, I will turn the call over to our CFO, Andy Vuono, for a deeper look at the financials. Andy?

Andrew Vuono (CFO)

Thank you, Kevin, and good morning, everyone. Net revenue for the quarter increased 12.2% to $48.2 million, as compared to $42.9 million for the same period a year ago. Net revenue for the six months ended December 31st, 2025, increased 12% to $97.3 million, as compared to $86.9 million for the same period a year ago. Recurring monthly service revenue continued its growth, increasing 12.5% in Q2 to $23.8 million, as compared to $21.2 million for the same period last year. Recurring monthly service revenue for the six months ended December 2025 increased 11.8% to $47.3 million, as compared to $42.3 million last year.

Our recurring service revenue now has a prospective annual run rate of approximately $99 million, based on January 2026 recurring service revenues, and that compares to $95 million based on October 2025 recurring service revenues, which we reported back in November. The increase in net service revenue was due to increase in the number of our cellular radio communication devices activated during the period. We expect radio sales to continue to be a key contributor to our overall equipment sales, which leads to continued growth of our highly profitable recurring service revenue. Equipment revenue for the quarter increased 12% to $24.3 million, compared to $21.7 million last year. The increase in net equipment revenue was primarily attributable to the impact of pricing increases and increased volume in our door locking product lines.

Equipment revenue for the six months increased 12.1% to $50.1 million, as compared to $44.6 million for the same period last year. The increase was primarily due to increased volume by door locking products, as well as increased prices. Gross profit for the three months ended December 2025 increased 15.3% to $28.2 million, with a gross margin of 58.6%, as compared to $24.5 million, with a gross margin of 57% for the same period last year. The gross profit for the six months increased 14.2% to $56.1 million, with a gross margin of 57.6%, as compared to $49.1 million, with a gross margin of 56.5% a year ago.

Gross profit for recurring service revenue for the quarter increased 11.1% to $21.5 million, with a gross margin of 90.2%, as compared to $19.4 million, with a gross margin of 91.3% last year. The gross profit for recurring service revenue for the six months increased 10.6% to $42.7 million, with a gross margin of 90.3%, as compared to $38.6 million, with a gross margin of 91.2% last year. Gross profit from equipment revenues in Q2 increased 31.2% to $6.7 million, with a gross margin of 27.6%, as compared to $5.1 million, with a gross margin of 23.6% last year.

Gross profit for equipment revenues for the six months increased 27.4% to $13.4 million, with a gross margin of 26.8%, as compared to $10.5 million, with a gross margin of 23.6% for the same period last year. The 160 basis point increase in overall gross margin is due to the continued highly profitable recurring revenue and overall improved margin on equipment revenue. The decrease in gross profit margin from service revenue for both the three and six months period ended December 2025, was a result of a one-time credits, reducing royalty expense in the comparative periods and marginal increases in data costs to run our network operations center.

The increase in gross profit and gross margin from equipment revenue for both the three and six months ended December 2025, is attributable to improved manufacturing overhead absorption due to increased production, the impact of price increases in addition to lower sales discounting. Research and development costs for the quarter increased 11.8% to $3.5 million, or 7.2% of revenue, as compared to $3.1 million, or 7.2% of revenue for the same period a year ago. R&D costs for the six months ended December 2025 increased 8.9% to $6.7 million, or 6.9% of revenue, and that compares to $6.2 million, or 7.1% of revenue for the same period a year ago.

The increase in research and development for the three and six months is primarily the result of increased labor and benefit costs related to expanding our engineering staff. Selling general administrative expenses for the quarter decreased 1.9% to $10 million, or 20.8% of revenue, as compared to $10.2 million, or 23.8% of revenue for the same period last year. SG&A expense for the six months ended December 2025 increased 5.3% to $21 million, or 21.5% of revenue for that, and that compares to $19.9 million, or 22.9% of revenue for the same period last year.

The decrease in SG&A costs for the quarter was primarily due to decreases in legal fees, which were net of insurance reimbursements and accounting fees, offset by increases in wages and bonus compensation and sales commissions. The increase in SG&A costs for the six months ended December 2025 was primarily due to increases in legal fees, commissions, and wages and bonus compensation, offset by decreases in accounting fees and stock-based compensation. Operating income for the quarter increased 32.1% to $14.8 million, as compared to $11.2 million for the same period last year. Operating income for the six months ended December 2025 increased 23.3% to $28.4 million, as compared to $23 million for the same period last year.

Interest income for the quarter decreased 4.7% to $884,000, as compared to $921,000 for last year. For the six months, interest income decreased 6.9% to $1.7 million, compared to $1.9 million last year. The decrease for both the three and six-month periods was primarily due to lower interest rate yields on our cash and short-term investments. The provision for income taxes of three months increased 37.6% to $2.2 million, with an effective tax rate of 14.2%, as compared to $1.6 million, with an effective tax rate of 13.4% last year.

For the six months ended December 2025, the provision for income taxes increased 36.8% to $4.7 million, with an effective tax rate of 15.5%, as compared to $3.4 million, with an effective tax rate of 13.7% last year. The increase in the provision for the three and six months ended 2025 was due to higher pre-tax income, as well as a larger portion of the company's taxable income, being attributable to U.S. operations, and the remeasurement of certain deferred tax liabilities due to tax ranges, tax rate changes enacted in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

Net income for the quarter increased 29% to $13.5 million, or 28% of revenue, or $0.38 per diluted share, as compared to $10.5 million, or 24.4% of revenue, or $0.28 per diluted share for the same period last year. Net income for the six months increased 18.5% to $25.7 million, or 26.4% of revenue, or $0.72 per diluted share, and compares to $21.7 million, or 24.9% of revenue, or $0.59 per diluted share for the same period last year.

Adjusted EBITDA for the quarter increased 26% to $15.3 million, or $0.43 per diluted share, as compared to $12.2 million or $0.33 per diluted share for the same period a year ago, and equates to an adjusted EBITDA margin of 31.9% this year, compared to 28.4% last year. Adjusted EBITDA for the six months ended December 2025 increased 22.6% to $30.3 million, or $0.84 per diluted share, and compares to $24.7 million, or $0.67 per diluted share for the same period last year, and equates to an adjusted EBITDA margin of 31.1% this year, compared to 28.4% last year.

Free cash flows for the quarter increased 17.4% to $14.5 million, as compared to $12.4 million for the same period a year ago, and equates to a free cash flow margin of 30.1% this year, compared to 28.8% last year. Free cash flows for the six months increased 9.5% to $26 million, as compared to $23.7 million for the same period a year ago, and equates to a free cash flow margin of 26.7% this year, compared to 27.3% last year. Continuing on to our balance sheet, as of December 2025, the company had $115.4 million in cash and cash equivalents and marketable securities, as compared to $99.2 million as of June 2025, a 16.3% increase.

That's after paying $10 million in dividends during the six-month period. The company had no debt as of December 2025. Cash provided by operating activities for the six months ended December 2025 increased 4.7% to $26.7 million, compared to $25.5 million last year. Working capital, which is our current assets plus current liabilities, was $158.8 million as of December 2025, as compared to working capital of $138.4 million at June 2025. The current ratio was 8:1 at December 2025 and 6.8:1 at June 2025. Our capital expenditures for the quarter totaled $600,000, compared to $1.1 million in the same period last year, and for the six months, amounted to $800,000, compared to $1.8 million last year.

That concludes my formal remarks. I would like to return the call back to Dick.

Dick Soloway (Chairman and CEO)

Thank you, Andy. As you've heard today, our second quarter and first half of fiscal 2026 reflect another period of strong execution and meaningful progress against our long-term strategy. Record Q2 revenue of $48.2 million, double-digit growth across both equipment and recurring service revenue, expanding margins, and strong operating leverage, all reinforce that our business model is working exactly as intended. At the core of our strategy is our recurring service revenue platform, which continues to deliver consistent high-margin growth. Recurring service revenue now represents nearly half of our total sales, supported by sustained gross margins of over 90%, and our annualized run rate has reached approximately $99 million. This steady, high-quality revenue stream provides predictability, strong cash generation, and long-term value creation.

StarLink Commercial Fire radios remain a key driver and have become the industry standard for commercial fire communicators, with continued healthy demand across both new installations and our expanding installed base. On the equipment side, we are equally encouraged by the momentum we're seeing. Equipment revenue increased 12% year-over-year to $24.3 million, supported by strong performance in our door locking solutions and in our intrusion and alarm product segments. Pricing actions implemented late last fiscal year are having the intended impact, contributing to improved equipment gross margins, which expanded 28% in the quarter. These results reflect disciplined pricing, operational efficiency, and favorable product mix, all of which we continue to actively manage. Profitability remains a major strength of the company. Operating income, net income, and Adjusted EBITDA all grew at significantly faster rates than revenue, demonstrating strong operating leverage.

With EBITDA margins now exceeding 30%, we are generating substantial cash flow while continuing to invest in innovation, infrastructure, and growth initiatives. Our balance sheet further differentiates us. With $115 million in cash and marketable securities and no debt, we have exceptional financial flexibility. This allows us to invest organically, pursue strategic opportunities where appropriate, and continue returning capital to shareholders. The board's decision to increase the quarterly dividend to $0.15 per share reflects our confidence in the sustainability of our cash generation and our ongoing commitment to shareholder value. In addition to our strong financial performance, as I mentioned earlier, we are pleased to announce the appointment of Joseph Paczynski as Chief Revenue Officer, a newly created executive role. In this position, Joe will oversee NAPCO's revenue organization, including sales, channel strategy, pricing, and go-to-market execution across the company's full product portfolio.

This appointment underscores our continued focus on accelerating equipment revenue growth, expanding recurring service revenue, maximizing operating leverage, and strengthening customer and dealer engagement. With more than 35 years of experience in revenue leadership and business development, Joe brings deep experience and a strong execution mindset, and we believe his leadership will further position NAPCO to capitalize on new market opportunities, deepen dealer, and customer relationships, and accelerate our long-term growth strategy. Operationally, our team continues to execute at a very high level. We are managing inventory tightly, investing in product development, compliance, automation, and infrastructure, and returning capital through dividends, all while maintaining a debt-free balance sheet. Our manufacturing facility in the Dominican Republic remains a key competitive advantage, providing cost efficiency, stable logistics, and low tariff exposure compared to many competitors operating in higher tariff regions.

Looking ahead, we remain optimistic about the remainder of fiscal 2026 and beyond. Demand across our product portfolio remains strong, our recurring service revenue base continues to expand, and our operating discipline remains firmly in place. We've diversified our distribution base, implementing pricing actions, and continue to enhance the StarLink platform while investing in automation and technology designed to sustain growth and expand margins. One area where NAPCO continues to make a meaningful impact is school security, one of the most critical challenges of our time. We are proud to partner with school districts nationwide, providing integrated solutions that include our Trilogy and ArchiTech lock sets and enterprise-scale access control systems. These platforms are secure, scalable, and aligned with strict industry standards.

What truly differentiates NAPCO is our ability to integrate locking, access control, and alarm technologies into a unified, interoperable platform, protecting students and staff every day while driving future growth. At the same time, we continue to expand recurring service revenue opportunities through innovation. A great example is our MVP cloud-based access control platform, which integrates seamlessly with our locking hardware. MVP introduces a new subscription-based revenue stream for both NAPCO and our dealers and is offered in two configurations: MVP Access, an enterprise-grade solution supporting unlimited users, and MVP EZ, a mobile-first solution for locksmiths and smaller facilities. We believe MVP has the potential to be a game changer.

Extending our leadership into hosted access control and reinforcing our strategy of pairing innovative hardware with cloud-based services to drive high margin recurring service revenue. Beyond education, our Alarm Lock and Marks hardware lines continue to gain traction in healthcare, retail, multi-dwelling applications, and airport infrastructure upgrades. Additionally, as the transition away from legacy copper phone lines accelerates, our StarLink radios, operating on AT&T, Verizon, and now T-Mobile networks, are well-positioned to capture additional market share across millions of commercial and residential buildings. While external market and regulatory conditions remain fluid, we remain focused on what we can control: driving innovation, executing with discipline, and expanding our base of recurring service revenue. In summary, we have begun fiscal 2026 with solid momentum, a clear strategic focus, and a stronger financial foundation than ever.

I'm incredibly proud of our team and what it has accomplished, and excited about the opportunities ahead. I want to thank all of you for continued support and confidence in NAPCO. Our formal remarks are now concluded, and we'd like to open the call for the Q&A. Operator, please proceed.

Operator (participant)

Thank you, sir. Ladies and gentlemen, if you do have any questions, please press star followed by one on your touchtone phone. You will then hear a prompt acknowledging that your hand has been raised. Should you wish to decline from the polling process, please press star followed by two. If you're using a speakerphone, we ask that you please lift the handset first before pressing any keys. Please go ahead and press star one now if you have any questions. Thank you. First, we will hear from Jeremy Hamblin at Craig-Hallum. Please go ahead, Jeremy.

Jeremy Hamblin (Senior Research Analyst)

Thanks, and congrats on the strong results. I wanted to start by just getting into the dealer channel and what inventory levels look like. You know, you saw a really strong improvement in your gross margin, obviously getting a little bit of benefit from the price increases that were taken last year. But wanted to just understand, you know, it looks like you may have, you know, a little bit, you know, better inventory situation in the channel, in getting that better gross margin flow-through. But wanted to see if you could add a little bit of color on how things shape up here in calendar 2026.

Kevin Buchel (President and COO)

Okay, thanks, Jeremy. So the channel is much more normalized than it was last fiscal year when there was chaos about tariffs, when there was chaos about certain distributors not wanting to do quarter-end buys. It seems to have become stable, and one of the things we did see in Q2 was a more normal buying pattern. They would buy throughout the quarter, not wait until the very end. Some distributors, not all. But what that does for us is that helps reduce the discounting that has to go on, and that's reflected somewhat in the gross margin. Gross margin was helped by a bunch of things: less discounting, price increases, mix. Locking remained strong. That gives us tremendous margins. And when you discount less and, you know, you wind up with a price increase like we've done, that bodes well.

So we wound up having almost a 28% gross margin on revenue that was $24.3 million. Obviously, we want to see that revenue go much higher, and with it, we think we'll get towards our goal, which is to get the hardware margins, the equipment margins, back into the 30s%, where it used to be and where it belongs. So that's when I said earlier, we have more work to do. That's one of the things we're working on. We think margins could go even higher, and we think they will as this fiscal year progresses.

Jeremy Hamblin (Senior Research Analyst)

Great color. Since you mentioned the strength in the locking segment, wanted to see if we could dive a little bit deeper into the MVP Access platform. I know that you've been rolling that out. Looked like pretty good response at ISC East in November. But can you give us a sense for what the uptake is on this product, and when you think that it could contribute meaningfully to your recurring service revenues? Is that something that's, you know, kind of a second half of calendar 2026, or, you know, at what point do you think that that might be contributing to the run rate?

Kevin Buchel (President and COO)

We knew the first half of our fiscal year was not gonna be a major contributor from MVP, but we are very encouraged. We are getting recurring from it. It's not something we have to disclose. It's more of a second half of calendar 2026 story. So maybe by Q1 and Q2 of fiscal 2027, we'll start to see more meaningful contributions. But what we are pleased with is the reception. And you were at ISC East. You saw a lot of dealers, you know, all over our booth, and we're still seeing a lot more of that interest. It takes time, new concept, new concept for locking dealers, but they're gonna love it because now they're gonna get recurring revenue like the alarm people get.

And so they're gonna have a business that has equity, and that's what the alarm guys have. So locking guys are next. The opportunity is tremendous. There's many more doors than there are buildings. Just gotta get there. So we're working hard to get to that point. We're gonna show it again at ISC West in March, end of March, and then I think, you know, by calendar, by the end of beginning of fiscal 2027, second half of calendar 2026, we should just start to see some meaningful contributions.

Jeremy Hamblin (Senior Research Analyst)

Thank you. Last one for me. Just wanted to check to see, you know, obviously the magnitude of kind of the storm activity, has had some impact on, certainly on construction work, and completion of getting some businesses, you know, kind of open here in Q1. Wanted to see if it's had any impact at all, from a supply chain perspective or otherwise, for your business.

Kevin Buchel (President and COO)

No. No, other than our containers, which we get from the Dominican every week, takes about six days on the water. Other than maybe it taking seven days instead of six, you know, something like that. Other than that, we've seen no impact. It's-- We just keep rolling along, no problems.

Jeremy Hamblin (Senior Research Analyst)

Great. Thanks so much for the color, and good luck this year.

Kevin Buchel (President and COO)

Thanks, Jeremy.

Operator (participant)

Next question will be from Jim Ricchiuti at Needham & Co. Please go ahead, Jim.

Jim Ricchiuti (Senior Analyst)

Hi, thank you. Just on the hardware growth that you saw, it looks like you saw growth in both areas of the business, and you talked about price. Going forward, how much additional benefit could we see from the pricing actions in Q3 versus Q2? In other words, has the bulk of the pricing benefit been realized, or is there still more to come in the current quarter versus the December quarter?

Kevin Buchel (President and COO)

Andy, can you take that one?

Andrew Vuono (CFO)

Sure. So, product pricing has been adjusted throughout the portfolio, so that was effective the beginning of Q2. So there's no additional price increases other than some one-offs expected through the end of the year. So that should be fully baked in, you know, for the year, you know, as far as our price increases go. We did not see the full lift in Q1, I think we discussed, and we had maybe a few trailing things in Q2 on some locking back orders. But going into Q3 and Q4, all the pricing has been fully adjusted and is baked in for the balance of the period.

Jim Ricchiuti (Senior Analyst)

Thanks, Andy. Just on the strength that you saw in the door locking device business, was there-- How would you characterize the larger projects business? I know that can be lumpy at times, and it does create some year-over-year variability, but I was just wondering, what are you seeing in that area of the business?

Kevin Buchel (President and COO)

Bunch of projects, school projects, other prototype projects. Nothing that's gonna make a comp difficult for next year. You know, at $24.3 million, that's not a difficult comp for next year. So we just keep working. I wish we could talk to you about some of these projects, 'cause we're not allowed to. Especially with schools, they don't want to be known what's going on. But we continue to have projects as a key part of this. But no difficult comps, no difficult comps really coming up in the balance of this fiscal year either, which, you know, bodes well for our comparisons as we get to Q3 and Q4.

Jim Ricchiuti (Senior Analyst)

Thank you.

Kevin Buchel (President and COO)

Thanks, Jim.

Operator (participant)

Again, ladies and gentlemen, please press star one at this time if you have any questions. Next, we will hear from Peter Costa at Mizuho. Please go ahead, Peter.

Peter Costa (Senior Equity Research Associate)

Hey, good morning, guys. Could you just provide an update around the ADI partnership? You know, how is penetration at the end dealer level going, and are you still getting incremental new introductions from ADI? Thanks.

Kevin Buchel (President and COO)

ADI relationship been great, probably a couple of years now, and we've talked about how they've made introductions to some of the largest dealers in the world, and they continue to do that. And it's one of the benefits of having them, having the relationship with them, because they have entree to certain dealers who only, for whatever reason, even though they're large, they like to go through distribution. And so ADI continues to help us every day with that, and ADI stats are very good. ADI buys a lot of fire radios. We want to get ADI to the point where they're a locking contributor also. We're not seeing that part, and we want that. Can you imagine how they do so well with us on the intrusion side? We could get them really cooking on the locking. That would be tremendous.

We're working hard on that. We're not just sitting back and saying, "Everything's great with ADI." There's more work to be done with them as well.

Dick Soloway (Chairman and CEO)

What's interesting, this is Dick Soloway. What's interesting about the ADI relationship, as we get introduced to large dealers, both national and international dealers, but we make products for all of North America. We have an engineering department that's been expanded to 80 engineers. We do everything internally, hardware, development, software, all kinds of app work. So the special projects that we do for the large installation companies are very important because it works into their automation systems, and we give real hands-on service. We do all of our development in Amityville. That is for these type of specialized accounts, and it ties us closer together. And we bring a lot of innovation. They bring a lot of ideas.

It's a great collaboration with these introductions, and it makes for solid growth, and we're going to see a lot more of this in the future.

Peter Costa (Senior Equity Research Associate)

Thanks. And then maybe just one more on pricing. Is there any need for incremental actions in the second half just to offset any raw material pressures? And were you definitively price cost positive in the quarter?

Kevin Buchel (President and COO)

I don't believe that they have any need to do that, right, Andy?

Andrew Vuono (CFO)

Yeah.

Yeah, I mean, we're monitoring, you know, we're monitoring our component costs continually, and if we have to make any adjustments in pricing, we will. But we are not seeing any incremental inflation in our component costs. And our pricing increases were positive as it pertains to the tariff increases and any incremental costs. We had our components, you know, for through the six months.

Peter Costa (Senior Equity Research Associate)

Awesome. Yeah, thanks, guys, and congrats on the quarter.

Kevin Buchel (President and COO)

Thanks.

Dick Soloway (Chairman and CEO)

Thank you.

Operator (participant)

Again, ladies and gentlemen, one last reminder, should you have any questions, please press star followed by one. Thank you. Next question will be from Lance Vitanza at TD Cowen. Please go ahead, Lance.

Lance Vitanza (Managing Director and Senior Research Analyst)

Hi. Thanks. I wanted to start with a question regarding the schools and door locking and remote access. I understand that you can't name names, but could you give us a sense for what the sales funnel and the pipeline is looking like? And I guess specifically, you know, is NAPCO in the running for any new projects that you expect will be awarded over the back half of the year? And if you do get awards, how long of a lag before you start to generate revenue from those awards?

Kevin Buchel (President and COO)

There's projects all the time, and they're different. Some projects, the revenue stream could start right away. Some are custom-type projects, where our engineers have to develop certain things that these projects require, and some projects go over a number of years. So they come in all sizes and shapes, and there's no real way to put it in any specific way. They're contributors, and we need them, and we're getting them, and our sales team is going out, working with integrators to get more of them. Big area for us. We don't really disclose what they are. If it's a big school win, I would disclose it if they let us, but they don't typically. So just know that we're working hard on it. There's more of them. They will continue, and they're probably spread over a number of years.

Lance Vitanza (Managing Director and Senior Research Analyst)

Okay, great. And then just on the equipment side, you had called out door locking sales in the press release and elsewhere, but it looks like radio sales had nice growth year-over-year in the quarter as well. Could you talk about the outlook there, in particular, as it feeds into recurring service revenue growth that you're expecting over the back half of the fiscal year?

Kevin Buchel (President and COO)

Well, we were encouraged by the growth rate of the recurring year-over-year. We were encouraged by the run rate of $4 million. There's a lot of buildings out there that still have to convert away from copper. We talk about this. We probably have about 1 million active radios. There's probably several more million buildings to go by 2029, which is kind of the date that the carriers have put as the, "We're not supporting it anymore after that date." So there's going to be a lot of action between now and then. We have a lot of relationships with very large dealers now that we didn't have several years back. We basically built the almost $100 million run rate that we have with a lot of small guys, guys you never heard of.

Now, and we love those guys, believe me, they, like, pennies add up to dollars. These are important guys. But now we're dealing with big guys, too, and that could bode well over the next four, five years as the conversion continues. And then, of course, we put our StarLink radios in our products. So for new work, we make fire panels, control panels with radios in it. So we expect this, this is the new norm. We expect this to go on forever. So we're very encouraged by what we saw this quarter. We think it'll be very good for the balance of fiscal 2026 and beyond.

Lance Vitanza (Managing Director and Senior Research Analyst)

Just one last one for me. Thank you for the color, and just one last one for me. On the balance sheet, you know, the cash continues to build up to $115 million of cash and marketable securities now. I'm just wondering, you know, is there sort of like a point at which you say, "Hey, you know, maybe, maybe we don't want to be walking around with this much, you know, cash," and we decide either to, you know, to pull the trigger on an acquisition, or, or maybe there's a special dividend or, you know, some sort of other return of capital? I'm just wondering how you're thinking about capital allocation in the context of the increasing cash build. Thanks.

Dick Soloway (Chairman and CEO)

I would say all of the stuff that you just mentioned is in our thought process. When we do an acquisition, we want to make sure it fits our criteria, of being accretive from day one. It's a product that our dealers install all the time, and that the company is buttoned up enough so that it doesn't cause disruption to our existing business, but it enhances our business. And if the company is manufacturing products, which are in foreign lands, because of the Dominican operation, we can manufacture it in our factory, 'cause we're completely vertically integrated there also, from the components that come in to the finished product that goes out, and then we get it in a week.

So there are opportunities, but we don't want to do anything which could cause stress on our operation now. And there are opportunities out there, so we're looking at that very, very carefully. And all the other considerations of increasing our dividend and other things to pay back the shareholders is also on the table. So, it's a position that we're very carefully contemplating about on how to do this, because we expect the recurring revenue to keep on growing very, very strongly, and now we're piling on more recurring revenue with our locking product line, which is going to be a fantastic addition, because there are so many doors and there's so much monitoring of those doors that institutions want to do on a real-time basis.

So, and it's a equity builder for the access and the locksmith trade, which they don't have now. So, we're very innovative, and we're going to keep it up.

Lance Vitanza (Managing Director and Senior Research Analyst)

Very good. Thank you.

Dick Soloway (Chairman and CEO)

Thanks, Lance.

Operator (participant)

Ladies and gentlemen, one more reminder to please press star one if you do have any questions. Thank you. And at this time, it appears we have no other questions registered. I would like to turn the conference back over to Richard Soloway, CEO.

Dick Soloway (Chairman and CEO)

Thank you, everyone, for participating in today's conference call. As always, should you have any further questions, feel free to call Fran, Kevin, Andy, or myself for further information. We thank you for your interest and support, and we look forward to speaking to you all again in a few months to discuss NAPCO's fiscal Q3 results. Bye-bye, have a wonderful day and a great week.

Operator (participant)

Thank you, sir. Ladies and gentlemen, this does indeed conclude the conference call for today. Once again, thank you for attending, and at this time, we do ask that you please disconnect your lines.