“Our business is in a terrific place” was how Lamar Advertising CEO Sean Reilly began Lamar Advertising’s 2Q 2026 earnings call. Here are the results of Lamar’s 2Q 2026 earnings release and earnings call, sponsored and analyzed by SignValue.

• Revenues increased 6.5% to $617 million for the second quarter of 2026.  This was Lamar’s higherst rate of revenue growth since Q2 2022 and the 21st consecutive quarter of revenue growth.  Digital revenues were up 15%.  Airports up 15%.   National and programmatic was up 16%.  Local up 3%.
• Adjusted EBIDTA increased 9% to $303 million.  The company had a record cashflow margin of 49.2% for the quarter.
• Capital expenditures were $43 million for the quarter.  The company projects $186 million of capexp for the full year 2026.
• Lamar finished the second quarter with $3.5 billion of debt at a weighted interest rate of 4.5%.  Debt/Cashflow (EBIDTA) was a low 2.9 times.
• Lamar will increase its quarterly cash dividend by 5 cents a share to $1.65.  That equates to a 4.1% dividend based on the company’s current stock price of $162.50.

CEO Sean Reilly says Lamar expects to close a $30 million-ish UPREIT transaction in the next few weeks

We have been active on the M&A front. Through June 30th, we had spent more than $100 million on nearly 30 billboard acquisitions, as well as on purchases of easements beneath our billboards. We have a healthy pipeline of billboard deals and easements under LOI and should easily exceed $200 million in cash spend for the full year. Meanwhile, we expect to close our second UpREIT transaction in the coming weeks..this is a smaller UpREIT transaction, in the sort of mid-$30 millions range.

Reilly on the M&A climate:

We basically do three types of acquisitions. First are those that are 100% fill-in within our existing footprint. We have by far the largest footprint nationwide of any operator, so for many of these cookie-cutter fill-in transactions, we’re the highest and best buyer — and sometimes the only buyer. We just sit down with the seller and get to yes. Some of these aren’t competitive processes at all….As transactions get larger, more parties come to the table and there’s a more competitive dynamic — sometimes those transactions are in DMAs where we don’t already have operations, which can attract some attention. We just remain disciplined, stick to our valuation metrics, and hold the line. Regarding the other two public operators, our footprints often differ and we’re shopping in different places, so we run into them sometimes and sometimes we don’t. I would describe it as ‘frenemies’ — we’re going to win our fair share, as will they.

SignValue’s take:  Good revenue growth, record cashflow margin and a dividend increase.  Lamar finished the day up 0.9% on a day when the S&P 500 was flat, Clear Channel Outdoor was down 0.2% and Outfront was down 3.9%.  If you have questions, contact one of SignValue’s experienced analyst for a free and confidential consultation at info@signvalue.com or call 480–657–8400.

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