Heritage Global (NASDAQ:HGBL) released second-quarter financial results and hosted an earnings call on Thursday. Read the complete transcript below.

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Summary

Heritage Global Inc. reported a second-quarter operating loss of $20.9 million, impacted by a $21.7 million non-cash charge from winding down Heritage Global Capital.

The company acquired Boston Note, expanding its Financial Assets platform, and completed the acquisition of DedX earlier in 2026, enhancing its asset-light brokerage offerings.

Despite a decrease in revenue from $14.3 million to $12.3 million year-over-year, the company sees a strong future pipeline in its Industrial Assets division, focusing on diverse and larger auctions.

Management emphasized the strategic shift away from non-performing sectors to concentrate on profitable and core business units, citing a focus on long-term growth and shareholder value.

CEO Ross Dove expressed optimism about future growth, highlighting the potential synergies from recent acquisitions and a robust pipeline in both industrial and financial asset divisions.

Full Transcript

OPERATOR

Hello and welcome, everyone, to today's Heritage Global Inc. second quarter 2026 earnings call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. Later, you will have the opportunity to ask questions during the question-and-answer session. To register to ask a question at any time, please press star one on your telephone keypad. Please note this call is being recorded. Should you need any assistance, it is now my pleasure to turn the meeting over to Jen Belladow.

Please go ahead.

Jen Belladow, Investor Relations

Thank you, and good afternoon, everyone. Before we begin, I'd like to remind everyone that this conference call contains forward-looking statements based on our current expectations and projections about future events and are subject to change based on various important factors. In light of these risks, uncertainties, and assumptions, you should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this call.

For more details on factors that could affect these expectations, please see our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Now I'd like to turn the call over to Heritage Global's Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Ross Dove. Please go ahead, Ross.

Ross Dove, Chief Executive Officer

Welcome, everyone, and thanks for joining us today. Before I turn it over to Brian to go through the financials, I want to take a few minutes to add some color to our recent news. Closing Heritage Capital was at a point of no return where it became both obvious and necessary on multiple fronts. First, the distraction on the management team, then coupled with the continued lag on collections that was not improving. Our board and many investors had weighed in for several months that all focus should now be on growing the business units that are both profitable and strong and core to our future.

So honestly, it's a relief moving forward to just do that. It can be hard to fold, but I look at the great poker player Stu Unger and maybe he had the best advice of all: fold to live to fold again. With that, everyone here is moving on building the business units that are built to last. On the financial side, our acquisition of Boston Note that followed the DedX acquisition is very exciting. With DedX, along with NLEX and Boston Note, we have an asset-light brokerage now that truly serves a broad and diverse range of financial asset classes, both performing and non-performing, and covering institutional and private sellers.

With all the building blocks ready to accelerate growth, it's exciting. On the industrial side, we have expanded our sales force and already see an expanded and more diverse sector pipeline, with more bankruptcy assignments, and also added transportation and construction products, which are additive to our well-respected and key manufacturing and processing auctions. We have built an extremely robust inventory holding at Alt, bringing us more buyers to the HG family as well.

The charter is simple and up to us. Grow it strong and built to last. With that I pass it back to Brian.

Brian

Thank you, Ross, and welcome, everyone. During the second quarter, we made the strategic decision to substantially wind down Heritage Global Capital. In connection with this wind down, we recorded approximately $21.7 million in non-cash charges during the second quarter related to the write-down of non-performing loans within our specialty lending business. Despite the second quarter impact, we believe this is the right path forward in order to create a stronger platform anchored in the fundamentals of our core business that allows for growth and long-term shareholder value.

We recorded a consolidated operating loss of $20.9 million in the second quarter of 2026 compared to consolidated operating income of $2.2 million in the prior-year quarter. Our Industrial Assets division reported operating income of approximately $600,000 in the second quarter of 2026 compared to $1.3 million in the second quarter of 2025. In our Financial Assets division, due to the wind down of HGC, we reported an operating loss of $20.4 million in the second quarter of 2026 compared to operating income of $2.2 million in the prior-year quarter.

Our Industrial Assets division continued to execute on a steady volume of auction activity, though we've continued to see a similar trend of smaller-scale opportunities absent larger auctions in the marketplace. With that said, we're seeing a solid pipeline of activity and remain confident in our ability to capitalize on opportunities in the space as they arise. Our refurbishment and resale business has been performing well, as we're seeing our improvements to the quality of inventory continuing to translate to meaningful increases in asset turnover and improved profitability.

Our Financial Assets division was impacted this quarter by non-cash charges associated with the wind down of HGC. Excluding these charges, the division reported a decent quarter as we saw continued activity in NLEX across the charge-off and non-performing loan space and began to realize gains from DedX, a leading full-service loan sale advisor that we acquired in January of 2026. Subsequent to the quarter, we completed the acquisition of substantially all of the assets of The Boston Note Company, a seller-financed real estate brokerage with over 30 years of operating history in the residential space.

The transaction acts as a bolt-on to DedX and expands our Financial Assets platform as we look to enter additional asset classes and distribution channels while expanding upon the seller note category, which we believe is ripe with opportunity. We look forward to integrating Boston Note into the business and building upon their well-earned reputation in the marketplace. Additional consolidated financial results include that revenue was $12.3 million in the second quarter of 2026 compared to $14.3 million in the second quarter of 2025.

Adjusted EBITDA was $1.2 million compared to $2.8 million in the prior-year period. Net loss was $15.9 million, or $0.46 per diluted share, compared to net income of $1.6 million, or $0.05 per diluted share, in the second quarter of 2025. Our balance sheet remains a strength, with stockholders' equity of $51.9 million as of June 30, 2026 compared to $67 million at December 31, 2025, with net working capital of $9.4 million. Our cash balance reflects a total of $13.2 million as of June 30, 2026, and after removing amounts due to our clients or payables to sellers on our balance sheet, our net available cash balance was $6.5 million.

With that, Ross, I'll turn it back over to you.

Ross Dove, Chief Executive Officer

Thank you, Brian. So just as an ending, my thinking on all of this: 50 years ago, when I lost my first deal, I took the long walk from the front of our warehouse to the back of the warehouse to face my grandfather. And I told my grandfather, I feel really, really bad about the loss. He was at 5 o'clock having his normal bourbon sitting at his desk, and he said to me, Ralsey boy, kid, I feel really, really good that you feel really bad. Now flash forward 50 years to where I'm the age he was then, and I understand exactly what he meant, and I know exactly what we need to do to get out of feeling really bad and start feeling really good.

So that is the plan, that is all the effort, and that is everything we're going to do to move forward on the platforms that are strong and say goodbye to the platform that held us back. So, onward and upward, I'm proud to announce. Thank you all for everything you've done, sticking with this and staying with us. And we're on our way in the right direction. Best to all, and we're around to answer any questions.

OPERATOR

Thank you. At this time, we will open the floor for questions. If you'd like to ask a question, please press star one on your touchtone phone now. If you'd like to remove yourself from the queue, you may press star two. Again, that is star one to ask a question. And we'll take our first question from Jacob Stephan with Lake Street Capital Markets. Please go ahead. Your line is open.

Jacob Stephan, Analyst at Lake Street Capital Markets

Hey, guys, appreciate you taking the questions. Maybe just first kind of focusing on the two businesses that were recently acquired and maybe touching on how they kind of fit together. I'm wondering if you could talk about DedX's performance relative to Q1 and then also just, you know, how does Boston Note fit in with that?

Ross Dove, Chief Executive Officer

I thought I'd kind of start with how Boston Note fits in. This is Ross talking. We originally looked at Boston Note and we didn't see where we were the perfect partner to Boston Note until after we acquired DedX. Once we acquired DedX, we really saw that there was an opportunity for Boston Note to convert from just doing seller finance to residential products to also seller finance commercial products. And we knew that DedX had an unparalleled exit platform as long as they could find the assets.

We ran a trial for several months, and during the trial we closed eight transactions and over a half a million dollars in revenue. And it really became kind of heir apparent that they fit like a glove. We'd already acquired DedX, and we knew that putting Boston Note in tandem with them was going to really create some synergy. We also knew that Boston Note turned down pretty much every kind of non-performing loan that was brought to them. And we had an avenue second to none on non-performing loans with NLEX.

So when we looked at it, we said putting these three companies under one roof will give us a commanding position in the marketplace. And we feel that on a go-forward basis, you're going to see that over the next six months, year, two years, as we blend them together, unify our sales pitch, and get them all working in consortiums. So we're really excited about what we think we can build there.

Jacob Stephan, Analyst at Lake Street Capital Markets

Got it. And then, sorry, I might have missed this in the comments, but the DedX acquisition relative to Q1, it seemed like, I guess your comments made it seem like, you know, things have improved off of a seasonally slow quarter. But any kind of—

Ross Dove, Chief Executive Officer

They're a company that over the last maybe—and Brian can give you the exact details—but over at least the last half decade, almost 50% to 60%, sometimes even two-thirds of their revenue comes in Q4. Their revenue primarily comes from banks, and while their revenue comes from banks, it's very common for the banks to wait till the end of the year for a lot of the asset flow. So we'll know a lot better by January 1st, you know, how well we're doing.

But, you know, the pipeline is growing and transactions are closing, and we're also adding the Boston Note transaction. So, you know, I don't want to overstate, you know, what hasn't happened yet, but we're on the right track.

Jacob Stephan, Analyst at Lake Street Capital Markets

Okay. And then maybe just touching on the auction activity, it sounded like, you know, the larger-type auctions were a little bit softer or few and far between in the first half. I guess, what are you seeing in the second half that kind of gives you confidence in the pipeline that you referenced?

Ross Dove, Chief Executive Officer

Yeah, it's almost like when we're slow for one or two quarters, we almost follow with one or two, three strong quarters afterwards. I've been doing this for five decades, and it's just the nature of the business that everything kind of comes in shifts. So you go from doing a bunch of smaller auctions to doing a bunch of bigger auctions just by the sheer nature of the macro economy. You know, our pipeline has larger auctions now than it did in Q1 or Q2, and we're signing several of those.

So, you know, all roads lead to a positive second half of the year. And the good news is a lot of the things we're signing now are not just in our strongest sectors, the pharma sector, the food and beverage sector, but they're in a lot of diverse sectors where we're also good. So, you know, I think there's bright days ahead on the industrial side.

Jacob Stephan, Analyst at Lake Street Capital Markets

Great. I appreciate all the color. I'll turn it over.

OPERATOR

Thank you. We'll take our next question from George Sutton with Callum. Please go ahead. Your line is open.

Ross Dove, Chief Executive Officer

Hi, George.

Logan, Analyst at Craig-Hallum (for George Sutton)

Hey, Ross, Brian, you actually have Logan on for George here. Thanks for taking the question. So, first one, Ross, obviously the capital segment has been in a tough spot here for several quarters. I wonder if you could just talk about what moving away from that opens up in terms of time and management focus and, I guess, how should we think about this move kind of lending itself to your desire to do more acquisitions?

Ross Dove, Chief Executive Officer

Yeah, it became a real burden because, in the end of the day, it was taking a lot of management time without us necessarily doing anything really truly effective to improve it. And in the end of the day, I mean, nobody can ever be sure with thousands of accounts what you're going to collect back. But if you're in a junior position, there's always risk. So it just got to the point where we said, look, this is not the best place for us going forward to either operate or to put more capital, that there's way better places to put our capital.

It's time to, you know, it's time to basically, you know, end, you know, trying to fix something that is difficult to fix and try to focus all the energy on building what doesn't need fixing but is ripe for growing. So it became kind of obvious. Lots of investors kept saying it's the right move. Lots of board members kept saying it was the right move. And at some point in time, everyone in management kind of all stood up together and said, all right, if we're ever going to do it, let's do it now.

So, you know, the best thing I can tell you is it does feel good to have it over with.

Logan, Analyst at Craig-Hallum (for George Sutton)

Got it. And you mentioned doing some more hiring on the industrial side. In the past, you've talked about maybe trying to add more business on that side that's outside the building. I'm curious if any of that hiring is focused there or maybe just in general. Help us understand where you see opportunity to win new business there.

Ross Dove, Chief Executive Officer

We've been winning in more diverse auctions, not just outside the building, but in other sectors. You know, there's lots of new sectors that are basically getting busy now. The EV sector is getting busy. The cannabis sector is getting busy. Lots of the food and beverage sectors are getting busy. So there's lots of kind of inside-the-building manufacturing getting busy, coupled with a lot of outside-the-building construction and transportation. So when you see this kind of broad group of asset classes getting busy, we're just building up because we think the amount of auctions and the size of auctions are going to grow over the next year or two years. And we want to make sure that we have the right sector and geographic coverage. So, you know, this is not the type of business where we're looking to hire dozens of people, but we're going to add some select people to make sure we get as broad a coverage as we can.

Logan, Analyst at Craig-Hallum (for George Sutton)

Okay, thanks for taking the questions.

Ross Dove, Chief Executive Officer

Thank you.

OPERATOR

Thank you. We'll take our next question from Michael Diana with Maxim Group. Please go ahead. Your line is open.

Ross Dove, Chief Executive Officer

Hi, Michael.

Michael Diana, Analyst at Maxim Group

Thank you. Hey, Ross. So you mentioned construction and transportation, which has been very successful for other people. What is your strategy or niche or whatever that you're going for there?

Ross Dove, Chief Executive Officer

Yeah, the really, really big firms doing it—and there's, you know, obviously one monster firm—we're not out to try to take them on. There are lots of regional auctions where, in the end of the day, they're underneath the radar of somebody at that size. Half-a-million-dollar auctions. Million-dollar, two-million-dollar auctions. And those are really kind of our sweet spot, the auctions, you know, from basically half a million to 5 to 10 million are our sweet spot.

We're not looking to win the $50 million fleet auctions, but the individual owner retiring or the struggled company with some financial trouble that needs someone to come in right away with a lot of handholding kind of really fits our DNA and culture. And we've won what I'll call kind of one-off transactions that aren't from the biggest institutions or the biggest rental companies, but from individual sellers who were looking to really work with somebody on a one-on-one basis.

And we think there's a lot of that coming forward right now. And so we just want to make sure we can serve that market. Michael?

Michael Diana, Analyst at Maxim Group

Yeah. Okay, that's what I figured. That's great. So you're in an area where you can compete well. Going to Boston Note, I'm somewhat ignorant on the terminology there. Could you just explain to us what a seller note and a carryback note is?

Ross Dove, Chief Executive Officer

I sure can. So when an individual sells a property—it could be his residential property, it could be multifamily, it could be any really category of property, it could be any kind of commercial property—and an individual sells that property and, for whatever reason, the buyer won't either qualify for a bank loan or the seller of the property wanted a steady income and said, you don't need to go to the bank, I will become your lender—he carries back the loan.

So the seller carried back a first deed of trust secured by the collateral of the property he used to own. Now, one year later, two years later, three years, four years later, for whatever reason, he wishes he could monetize that loan and he really would like to get all of his cash, not get the monthly payments anymore. So he didn't really know where to go. He or she as an individual—it wasn't that simple to go find a bank to sell it to. So Boston Note, for the last 30 years, primarily on the residential side, says, come to us and we will get you all cash and get you out of that seller carryback, and you'll be done with it and have the money in the bank. We figured out with the CEO of Boston Note, what if you did this for commercial loans, which is, you know, 50x bigger business, and what if you did this for larger jumbo real estate loans and non-performing loans and really extended the offering? What would it look like? And he said, well, it would look like a lot more profitable, a lot larger company. You know, how can you execute this? And we said, we think because of the two companies we already own, that putting everything together, we think it can really scale.

Michael Diana, Analyst at Maxim Group

Okay, that sounds very logical. Do you have any idea—does anybody keep track of the magnitude of just the residential part of the market? I mean, how many of these carryback notes are out there?

Ross Dove, Chief Executive Officer

All I know, I don't. I don't have the exact number. When we did the original, basically, analysis, you know, we were under 2% of the market. So the market is 100 times bigger than what Boston Note, which is a boutique firm, was doing.

Michael Diana, Analyst at Maxim Group

Okay. Okay, great. Okay. Thanks, Ross.

Ross Dove, Chief Executive Officer

Thank you, Michael.

OPERATOR

Thank you. And I'm showing no additional questions at this time. I'd like to now turn the meeting back to Ross Dove for any additional or closing remarks.

Ross Dove, Chief Executive Officer

Thank you all for attending. We got our work cut out for us, but we're very comfortable that we're in the right place at the right time with the right plan. So, you know, keep an eye on us, and I think you'll be very pleased as we move forward through the year. Thank you all. And anybody who has questions, you can contact us at any time, and we'd love to chat with you. Thank you again. Bye.

OPERATOR

Thank you. This brings us to the end of today's meeting. We appreciate your time and participation. You may now disconnect.

Disclaimer: This transcript is provided for informational purposes only. While we strive for accuracy, there may be errors or omissions in this automated transcription. For official company statements and financial information, please refer to the company's SEC filings and official press releases. Corporate participants' and analysts' statements reflect their views as of the date of this call and are subject to change without notice.