Vulcan (VMC) Q2 2026: Aggregates Margin Slips 1.7pp on Costs
Vulcan Materials sells more rock than anyone else in America, and its equity story rests on one thing: aggregates prices rising faster than the cost of digging them up. In the second quarter of 2026 that spread stopped widening. Gross profit came in at $625.5 million against $625.2 million a year earlier — dead flat — even though revenue grew 2.5% to $2,155.8 million. Inside the Aggregates segment the picture is starker: cost of revenues rose 12.4% while segment revenue rose 6.9%, cutting segment gross margin by 1.7 percentage points to 32.2%. Reported diluted EPS still rose to $2.48 from $2.42, but that increase came from a one-off tax benefit and a smaller share count rather than from the quarries.
1. Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheet
1-1. Principal asset lines
| Item | Jun 30, 2025 ($M) | Jun 30, 2026 ($M) | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cash and cash equivalents | 347.4 | 194.2 | -44.1% |
| Restricted cash | 3.6 | 94.5 | +2,525.0% |
| Accounts and notes receivable, net | 1,078.9 | 1,100.3 | +2.0% |
| Inventories | 725.5 | 688.7 | -5.1% |
| Investments and long-term receivables | 32.9 | 174.0 | +428.9% |
| Property, plant & equipment, net | 8,336.8 | 8,171.8 | -2.0% |
| Goodwill | 3,831.8 | 3,780.9 | -1.3% |
| Other intangible assets, net | 1,831.6 | 1,438.5 | -21.5% |
| Total assets | 16,974.7 | 16,442.0 | -3.1% |
Almost every line here traces back to a single decision. During the second quarter Vulcan sold its ready-mixed concrete operations in California and its aggregates and concrete operations in the U.S. Virgin Islands for combined proceeds of $722.1 million — $572.1 million in cash plus a $150.0 million note due December 2027. The combined loss was $13.2 million. That explains the 21.5% drop in other intangible assets: $379.7 million of amortizable intangibles sat in the held-for-sale bucket at December 31, 2025 and left the balance sheet on closing. It also explains the jump in investments and long-term receivables, which absorbed the seller note at a present value of $139.7 million.
Restricted cash of $94.5 million is not idle money. It is escrowed proceeds from property sales awaiting replacement purchases under like-kind exchange agreements, and it must be redeployed within 180 days of the sale. Read alongside the $75.0 million of aggregates operations bought in Colorado and Texas during the quarter, the message is a deliberate rotation out of downstream concrete and into the core rock business.
