Revenue Growth
Q1 2026 revenue of $43.0M versus $29.0M in Q1 2025, an increase of approximately 48.3% year-over-year, driven by stronger production, improved margins, and carbon attribute monetization.
May 7th, 2026
Summary
- Earnings Call Date:
- 2026-05-07
- Change Since:
- -29.56%
- Next Earnings Date:
- 2026-08-06
Earnings Call Sentiment
PositiveThe call emphasized materially stronger operating performance and a clear plan to scale into higher-margin businesses: revenue grew ~48% YoY, Q1 adjusted EBITDA turned positive (from -$15M to +$9M), carbon and CDR sales show expanding commercial traction, and engineering/offtake progress on Project NorthStar plus a preliminary Ara Energy expansion partnership signal multiple growth vectors. Offsets include continued GAAP losses ($22M net loss), negative operating cash flow driven by timing of tax credit monetization, only partial offtake coverage for the flagship ATJ project, and elevated execution and financing risk following withdrawal from the DOE loan guarantee. On balance, operational momentum, improving non‑GAAP profitability, concrete engineering progress, and partnership interest appear to outweigh the financing and policy risks in the near term.
Company Guidance
The company guided to roughly $30 million of adjusted EBITDA for the 12 months of 2026 while reaffirming a goal of reaching a $40 million annualized adjusted EBITDA run-rate by year-end; they said Project NorthStar could contribute about $150 million of adjusted EBITDA per year when fully online and that they expect to secure project financing for NorthStar by the end of 2026 (targeting ~60% project leverage), with FEL2 complete and FEL3 on track this quarter to a +/-10% capital estimate and roughly half of financeable long‑term offtakes already secured (versus a typical 70–80% contracted range for financing). They expect the North Dakota debottlenecking to boost that segment’s adjusted EBITDA by ~10–15%, plan to spend ~$26 million of capex this year (funded internally) for debottlenecking/site work, and disclosed Q1 metrics including $43M revenue (vs. $29M Y/Y), $9M Q1 adjusted EBITDA (vs. a $15M loss prior year), a $22M net loss ($0.09/share), ~$39M cash, negative operating cash flow of $21M (including $17M of tax credits not yet monetized and ~$4M one‑time refinancing costs), Q1 production of 18M gallons of low carbon ethanol (current nameplate 67M gal/yr), RNG of ~92k BTUs (+15% Y/Y), and nearly 20k tons of engineered CDRs generated in Q1.
Adjusted EBITDA Turnaround and Targets
Reported non-GAAP adjusted EBITDA of $9.0M in Q1 2026 compared to a loss of $15.0M in Q1 2025 (a positive swing of $24.0M). Management expects approximately $30M adjusted EBITDA for full-year 2026 and reaffirmed a target to reach a $40M annualized run-rate from existing operations by the end of 2026.
Strong Carbon and CDR Performance
Sold ~57% of carbon attributes attached to fuel in Q1 and generated nearly 20,000 tons of engineered carbon dioxide removal (CDR) credits for the voluntary market. Notable corporate buyers in Q1 include Amgen, Bank of Montreal, and PayPal, and demand/pricing remained relatively strong in participating markets.
Operational Production Strength
Gevo North Dakota produced 18 million gallons of low carbon ethanol in Q1 plus 16k tons DDGS, 51k tons modified distillers grains, and 5M lbs of corn oil co-products. RNG production increased ~15% year-over-year (92k BTUs vs 80k), and operational reliability improvements were cited following focused initiatives.
Project NorthStar (ATJ 30) Engineering and Offtake Progress
Completed FEL 2 and on track to complete FEL 3 to refine capital cost estimates. Secured roughly half of the financeable long-term offtakes (SAF and carbon attributes) and received non-binding indications of interest from multiple private lenders, supporting a target to secure financing by end of 2026.
Gevo North Dakota Expansion Plan and Ara Energy Partnership
Announced intent to expand Gevo North Dakota capacity up to +75M gallons (targeting ~150M gallons/year) and entered a preliminary co-investment agreement with Ara Energy to help finance the expansion. Construction timeline of ~18–24 months following FID anticipated; debottlenecking and site tie-ins are underway.
Capital Discipline and EBITDA Challenge Initiative
Launched a company-wide 'EBITDA Challenge' to unlock revenue, improve operations, and manage costs. Management highlighted $26M of planned internal capex in 2026 for debottlenecking/site improvements and emphasized targeting sustainable EBITDA growth and avoidance of unnecessary dilution.
Cash Position and Adjusted Cash Flow Explanation
Ended Q1 with ~$39M cash and cash equivalents. Negative operating cash flow of $21M was largely driven by timing: ~$17M of tax credits generated but not yet monetized and ~$4M of one-time debt refinancing/extinguishment costs; adjusted for these items, operating cash flow was nearly neutral per management.
Commercial & Technology Momentum (Verity)
Verity software has signed 8 customers and formed partnerships (Bushel, Cboe) to accelerate market reach. Management expects policy inclusion of ag benefits (45Z) to be a catalyst for broader adoption.
Operator
Good afternoon, and welcome to the Gevo, Inc. Quarter One 2026 Earnings Conference Call. All lines have been placed on mute to prevent any background noise. After the speakers’ remarks, we will now open the call for questions. If you would like to ask a question during this time, simply press star 1 on your telephone keypad. If you would like to withdraw your question, simply press star 1 again. Thank you. I would now like to turn the call over to Eric Frey.
Please go ahead.
Eric Frey
Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining us on today’s call to discuss Gevo, Inc.’s first quarter and full year 2026 results. I am Eric Frey, Vice President of Finance and Strategy at Gevo, Inc. With me today, we have Paul D. Bloom, our Chief Executive Officer; Oluwagbemileke Agiri, our Chief Financial Officer; and Unknown Speaker, Executive Vice President of Operations and Engineering. Earlier today, we issued a press release that outlines our first quarter 2026 results and some of the topics we plan to discuss. Copies of the press release are available on our website at gevo.com. Please be advised that our remarks today, including answers to your questions, contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to be materially different from those currently anticipated.
Those statements include projections about the timing, development, engineering, financing, and construction of our alcohol-to-jet project; the potential expansion and debot...
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