Knife River is down about 3.2% after posting first-quarter 2026 results that highlighted a seasonally weak quarter but a larger year-over-year loss. The company reported revenue of $410.1 million (up 16% from $353.5 million) while net loss widened to $79.2 million, or $1.40 per share, compared with a $68.7 million loss, or $1.21 per share, a year earlier. Adjusted EBITDA improved to a loss of $31.8 million from a loss of $38.0 million, with adjusted EBITDA margin improving to -7.8% from -10.7%.

Even with stronger revenue and improved adjusted profitability metrics, investors are reacting to the bigger GAAP loss and balance-sheet signals heading into the heavy construction season. Knife River ended the quarter with $13.4 million of unrestricted cash and a net leverage ratio of 2.9x, alongside $1.4 billion of gross debt and $178.2 million of revolver availability (net of letters of credit). That leverage reading—combined with the company’s sizable growth spending—can pressure sentiment when the quarter’s headline loss widens.

Knife River pointed to record first-quarter backlog of about $1.2 billion as it enters the 2026 construction season, and it reaffirmed full-year 2026 guidance ranges of $3.3 billion to $3.5 billion of revenue and $520 million to $560 million of adjusted EBITDA. Management also highlighted three aggregates-based acquisitions completed during the quarter (Morgan Asphalt in Utah plus Sparrow Enterprises and Donaldson Brothers Ready-Mix in Montana), positioning the company for growth but also reinforcing near-term integration and capital-allocation scrutiny.