COLD changes
Pick any two versions below to diff them.
- Price
- $13.82 → $16.18(+17.1%)
- Discount category
- Well below intrinsic value → Below intrinsic value
- Next earnings
- Nov 5, 2026 → Feb 5, 2027
- Next earnings is estimate
- No → Yes
- About
- Americold owns and operates temperature-controlled warehouses. Food producers, processors, distributors and retailers store frozen and chilled goods in them, and Americold also provides handling and transport services. It has removed: more than 220 added: 208 operating facilities in North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and South removed: America, with about 1.4 billion refrigerated cubic feet. added: America. Total revenues were removed: $662.9 added: $691.6 million in removed: Q2 added: Q3 2026. Americold is a real estate investment trust. On August 31, 2026, it formed a joint venture with EQT for 12 U.S. warehouses: EQT owns 70%, and Americold owns 30% and manages the sites. Rob Chambers is CEO.
- Thesis
- The market prices Americold for weak demand for cold storage and high debt. Same store NOI of the Global Warehouse segment fell 1.5% in Q2 2026, removed: throughput pallets fell 1.0%, and impairments caused a Q2 net loss of $342.8 million. In July 2026, Americold and a distribution unit of Ahold Delhaize USA agreed to wind down two automated sites built for that customer, and Americold expected an impairment of $305 million to $320 million. removed: Net debt added: Q3 2026 was added: better: same store NOI rose 6.0%, economic occupancy rose, and Americold raised its 2026 AFFO guidance to $1.31 to $1.33 per share. The cash from the EQT joint venture cut debt by $1.15 billion, and net debt fell to about removed: 7.3 added: 6.2 times pro-forma Core EBITDA at removed: June added: September 30, removed: 2026. added: 2026, from about 7.3 times at June 30. For the gap to close, three things must be true. removed: The $1.1 billion of cash from the EQT joint venture added: Leverage must removed: reduce debt added: keep falling toward a level that gives Americold room to invest and removed: leverage as planned. added: keep its dividend. Occupancy and throughput must removed: recover, added: keep recovering, so that same store NOI removed: grows again. added: keeps growing. Americold must sell or reuse the Lancaster and Plainville sites without new large losses. The removed: Q3 2026 report added: end of the Lancaster wind-down on removed: November 5, added: December 31, 2026 removed: shows leverage after added: and the removed: joint venture. added: Q4 2026 report, estimated for about February 5, 2027, are the next tests. If these checks pass, the gap can close over the next four to six quarters. The main reason it may not close is a longer period of flat demand for cold storage, which Americold cannot control.
- Risks
- Demand for cold storage is removed: flat. added: weak. Same store NOI fell 1.5% removed: and throughput pallets fell 1.0% in Q2 removed: 2026. added: 2026 before it rose 6.0% in Q3 2026, and management still calls the operating environment challenging. If food producers keep low inventories, occupancy and rates stay under pressure. Net debt was about removed: 7.3 added: 6.2 times pro-forma Core EBITDA at removed: June added: September 30, removed: 2026. If added: 2026, after the cash from the joint venture removed: does not lower leverage enough, added: repaid debt. This is still high, and the company has less room to invest or keep its removed: dividend. added: dividend if earnings fall. The Lancaster and Plainville facilities had a net book value of about $455 million before the impairment. Americold may not sell them at the expected value, and it cannot yet estimate other cash costs of the wind-down. About removed: 35% added: 13.4% of debt was at a floating rate at added: September 30, 2026, down from about 35% at June 30, 2026. Higher interest rates increase interest costs added: on new debt and lower AFFO.
- Balance sheet
- Cash: removed: $40M added: $36M Debt: removed: $4.3B added: $3.1B Net debt: removed: $4.2B added: $3.1B Net debt / EBITDA: removed: 7.3× added: 6.2× (high) Americold funds itself mostly with unsecured debt. At removed: June added: September 30, 2026, debt principal was removed: $4.26 added: $3.12 billion: senior unsecured notes of removed: $2.51 added: $2.50 billion, unsecured term loans of removed: $1.30 billion added: about $406 million and removed: $451 added: $216 million drawn on the revolving credit facility. added: Debt principal fell from $4.14 billion at December 31, 2025, because Americold used the cash from the EQT joint venture in September 2026 to repay three term loan tranches and part of the revolving credit facility. Finance leases and sale-leasebacks added about removed: $213 added: $220 million. removed: Cash added: Cash, including restricted cash, was removed: $40.5 added: $36.0 million, and total liquidity was about removed: $719.8 added: $950.4 million. Net debt, including the leases, was about removed: $4.4 added: $3.3 billion, or about removed: 7.3 added: 6.2 times pro-forma Core EBITDA for the 12 months to removed: June added: September 30, 2026. About removed: 64.8% added: 86.6% of debt was at a fixed rate, and the weighted average contractual interest rate added: on unsecured debt was removed: 4.1%. On August 31, 2026, Americold received about $1.1 billion of net cash from the EQT joint venture and intends to use it to repay debt. added: 4.0%. The quarterly dividend was $0.23 per share. As of removed: Jun added: Sep 30, 2026.
- Checkpoints
- Nov 5, 2026: Q3 2026 earnings: leverage after the joint venture. removed: Pending. added: Passed. Watch: Lower net debt after the $1.1 billion of proceeds and AFFO guidance kept at $1.26 to $1.32 pass; a guidance cut or falling same store NOI fail. added: Outcome: Debt fell by $1.15 billion and net leverage to about 6.2 times, same store NOI rose 6.0%, and Americold raised its AFFO guidance to $1.31 to $1.33 per share. Dec 31, 2026: Lancaster wind-down ends. Pending. Watch: The Lancaster wind-down ends on time and Americold agrees to sell or reuse the two sites pass; new impairments or large cash costs fail. added: Feb 5, 2027 (estimate): Q4 2026 earnings: 2027 guidance. Pending. Watch: 2026 AFFO within the $1.31 to $1.33 guidance, same store NOI growth and 2027 guidance with lower leverage pass; AFFO below the range or falling same store NOI fail.
- Recent events
- added: Nov 5, 2026: Americold reported Q3 2026 results. Total revenues rose 4.2% to $691.6 million, and Global Warehouse same store NOI rose 6.0%. AFFO was $0.35 per share. Net income was $683.4 million, mainly because of a one-time gain on the formation of the EQT joint venture. Americold used the joint venture cash to repay term loans and part of its revolving credit facility, and it raised its 2026 AFFO guidance to $1.31 to $1.33 per share. Aug 31, 2026: Americold closed its joint venture with EQT's Active Core Infrastructure fund. The venture owns 12 U.S. warehouses with more than $1.3 billion of gross asset value. EQT owns 70% and Americold owns 30% and manages the sites. Americold received about $1.1 billion of net cash and intends to use it to repay debt. Aug 6, 2026: Americold reported Q2 2026 results. Total revenues rose 1.9% to $662.9 million, and AFFO was $0.35 per share. Impairment charges caused a net loss of $342.8 million. Same store NOI fell 1.5%. Americold raised its 2026 AFFO guidance to $1.26 to $1.32 per share, including the dilution from the joint venture. Jul 21, 2026: Americold agreed with ADUSA Distribution, a unit of Ahold Delhaize USA, to wind down operations at its automated distribution center in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, by December 31, 2026, and not to open its automated center in Plainville, Connecticut. Americold expected a non-cash impairment of $305 million to $320 million and plans to sell the two facilities. May 7, 2026: Americold agreed to contribute 12 cold storage facilities, valued at more than $1.3 billion, to a new joint venture with EQT. It expected about $1.1 billion of net cash proceeds to repay debt.