- Company name
- Badger Meter
- Sector
- Water metering & monitoring
- About
- Badger Meter makes water meters, communication systems and software for water utilities, and flow measurement instruments for industry. Its BlueEdge suite includes smart meters, advanced metering infrastructure (AMI), data and analytics software, and devices that monitor water networks and sewers beyond the meter. In 2025, it bought SmartCover, which monitors sewer lines, and on May 1, 2026, it bought UDlive Limited. Most sales are to municipal water utilities, which replace old meters with smart meters over many years. Sales were $222.3 million in Q2 2026.
- Thesis
- The market prices Badger Meter for falling sales while utility meter projects start later than planned. Sales fell 7% from a year earlier in Q2 2026, and utility water sales fell 9% without the UDlive purchase, because AMI projects ramped unevenly. EPS fell to $1.02 from $1.17. The company expects 2026 revenue without acquisitions to be about flat with 2025. For the gap to close, three things must be true. The awarded utility projects must ramp up in the second half of 2026 and in 2027, as the company expects. Gross margin must stay in the normal range of 39% to 42%. Software and beyond the meter products, such as SmartCover and UDlive, must grow, so that the business moves toward the long-term target of high single-digit growth that the company repeated in May 2026. The Q3 2026 report on October 22, 2026 gives the first test. The Q4 2026 report in early 2027 shows whether growth returns. If these checks pass, the gap can close over the next three to five quarters. The main reason it may not close is more delays in utility projects, which depend on public budgets.
- Risks
- Sales depend on the timing of large utility AMI projects. Delays in project starts lowered sales by 7% in Q2 2026, and more delays can keep sales low.
Most customers are municipal water utilities. Lower public budgets or higher interest rates can delay meter replacement programs.
Tariffs and higher costs for materials and components can lower margins. Badger Meter raised some prices to offset tariffs that it could not avoid.
Growth beyond the meter depends on acquisitions such as SmartCover and UDlive. If integration fails, the expected growth may not come.
- Balance sheet
- Cash: $96M
Debt: $0.0M
Net cash: $96M
Undrawn credit line: $150M, to July 2031
Badger Meter has no debt. Cash was $95.7 million at June 30, 2026, down from $226.0 million at December 31, 2025. In the first half of 2026, operating cash flow was $60.6 million, and the company paid $94.4 million for UDlive, $63.5 million for share buybacks and $23.3 million for dividends. It also has a possible earn-out for UDlive, with a fair value of $12.0 million. The $150 million revolving credit facility was undrawn and now matures on July 8, 2031. $89.7 million remained under the $150 million buyback program at June 30, 2026.
As of 2026-06-30.
- Checkpoints
- Oct 22, 2026: Q3 2026 earnings: project ramp. Pending. Watch: Sales up from Q2 as awarded projects ramp and a gross margin within 39% to 42% pass; another fall in utility water sales fails.
Jan 28, 2027 (estimate): Q4 2026 earnings: return to growth. Pending. Watch: Sales growth from a year earlier in Q4 2026 and a 2027 outlook near the high single-digit target pass; flat or lower sales fail.
- Recent events
- 2026-10-01: Badger Meter said it will release its Q3 2026 results before the market opens on October 22, 2026.
2026-09-28: Badger Meter introduced OneNetwork, a software platform for water and wastewater utilities, at WEFTEC 2026.
2026-08-14: Badger Meter raised its quarterly dividend by 10%, its 34th year in a row of dividend growth.
2026-07-22: Badger Meter reported Q2 2026 results. Sales were $222.3 million, up 10% from Q1 but down 7% from a year earlier. The operating margin was 17.7% and EPS was $1.02. The company expects revenue to improve in the second half of 2026, with full-year revenue without acquisitions about flat with 2025.
2026-06-05: Badger Meter amended and extended its $150 million revolving credit facility to July 8, 2031. Nothing was drawn on it.