Oct 29, 2026 earnings call — Automation growth and margin improvement
Automation revenue grew 26.9% year-over-year, and management expects roughly $60 million in automation net revenue for 2026.
Revenue $0.1B (est $0.1B) · EPS $-0.08 (est $-0.03)
Key quotes
"Our automation product line delivered another quarter of strong growth, with revenue increasing 26.9% year-over-year on a constant-currency basis and excluding the impact of warrants."
"Internally, we hold ourselves to the same standard, and this quarter, 110 bps gross margin improvement and 10.5% reduction in constant currency SG&A, excluding the RSU expense, show that discipline is paying off."
"We also continue to add partners to our ecosystem, including our recent global strategic partnership announcement with Element Logic, which broadens what we can offer our enterprise customers."
Analyst Q&A 3
Customer behavior and regional trends
Q (Greg Palm · Craig-Hallum): He asked if customers are trading down, whether EMEA weakness was due to surcharges or a Q2 pull-forward, and what they are seeing so far in October.
A: North America looks strong for peak season and industrial activity improved helped by the Guardian 24 product. In Europe management said some channel partners pulled product into Q2 because of the surcharge and existing accounts are buying less, which they link to the war in the Middle East, Ukraine, and energy pricing. Asia Pacific remains weak, APAC localization and local paper sourcing will be complete by year-end, and automation continues to perform well with decent visibility into 2027.
"In Europe, I would say with the surcharge, it looks like we had some of our channel partners pull through or pull forward some of the product into Q2, so that had some impact in Q3." — Omar Asali (CEO·CHAIR)
Big retail partnerships and 2027 drivers
Q (Will Cauthen · Baird): He asked how partnerships with Walmart and Amazon are progressing versus initial expectations and how future rollout should be thought about, and then asked the main swing factors heading into 2027 (automation, cold chain, margins).
A: Management said the relationships with both enterprises are close, they are focusing on higher-impact, non-commoditized solutions, and they expect both relationships to provide very meaningful growth in 2027. They described the business as three blocks: traditional PPS, automation, and cold chain; automation is expected to be profitable for the full year in 2027, and cold chain capacity will be ramped early next year with contributions likely starting in the second quarter.
"Automation, I think, is going to continue to drive outsized growth and returns." — Omar Asali (CEO·CHAIR)
Value proposition and automation mix
Q (Kieran McCabe · Cantor Fitzgerald): He asked if Ranpak can sell value to customers in EMEA/APAC even if the macro stays weak, and whether automation growth is driven by large customers or new customers.
A: Management said their PPS innovation coupled with automation gives differentiated solutions that win customers, citing new products like the FillPak Mini, Guardian, and the PadPak Multi-Station as helping to win accounts. They noted APAC localization and local paper sourcing will reduce costs by year-end. On automation growth, they said it is driven by both large existing enterprises and many new accounts, with the U.S. more driven by big customers and Europe more spread across many buyers.
"Our new products, such as the FillPak Mini, our new Guardian solutions are getting really good adoption, so that is helping us win accounts." — Bill Drew (CFO)