Carriage Services Inc (CSV)
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"People always die" is the one sentence that makes an industry instantly likeable. Carriage Services runs 155 funeral homes in 24 states and 28 cemeteries, earned a record $51.5 million in 2025 and has been raising prices for years. Its filings with the U.S. securities regulator, the SEC, tell the second half of the story: comparable funeral contract volume fell 5.8 percent in the first quarter of 2026, the cremation rate hit 60.8 percent in 2025 — and the company says a cremation brings in roughly one-third of what a traditional burial does. Growth therefore comes from acquisitions. On May 6, 2026 the company opened a program to sell up to $100 million of new shares, after three straight years without buying back a single one. We read the filings to see who ends up paying that bill.
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AI Rating
Uses AICarriage Services verkauft keine KI und wird von ihr nach eigener Darstellung auch nicht bedroht — der Konzern setzt eigenen Angaben zufolge herkömmliche und generative KI in den eigenen Systemen ein, um manuelle Verwaltungsvorgänge zu automatisieren und die Produktivität im Vertrieb zu erhöhen.
View the full file — quotes, sources, reviewed filings
„We have incorporated, and may continue incorporating, traditional and generative artificial intelligence (“AI”) solutions into certain of our information systems and operations with the intent to enhance efficiency and effectiveness, and these solutions may become important in our operations over time."
Wir haben herkömmliche und generative Lösungen künstlicher Intelligenz („KI“) in bestimmte unserer Informationssysteme und Abläufe eingebunden und werden dies möglicherweise weiter tun, mit der Absicht, Effizienz und Wirksamkeit zu erhöhen; diese Lösungen könnten mit der Zeit für unseren Betrieb wichtig werden.
„For example, we have incorporated AI and generative AI to automate certain manual administrative processes and increase productivity within our sale terms."
Zum Beispiel haben wir KI und generative KI eingebunden, um bestimmte manuelle Verwaltungsvorgänge zu automatisieren und die Produktivität in unseren Vertriebseinheiten zu erhöhen.
„Our competitors or other third parties may incorporate AI into their products more quickly or more successfully than us, which could impair our ability to compete effectively and adversely affect our results of operations."
Unsere Wettbewerber oder andere Dritte könnten KI schneller oder erfolgreicher in ihre Produkte einbinden als wir, was unsere Wettbewerbsfähigkeit beeinträchtigen und unser Betriebsergebnis nachteilig beeinflussen könnte.
Filings Reviewed: 10-K 2026-02-26 · 10-Q 2026-05-07 · 8-K 2026-05-06 · 424B5 2026-05-06 · 8-K 2026-05-14 · DEF 14A 2026-03-27
Rated on July 30, 2026 · How the Rating Is Built
Quarterly Figures
| Quarter | EPS (Earnings Per Share) | EPS YoY (%) | Sales ($M) | Sales YoY (%) | Net Margin (%) | OCF ($M) | FCF ($M) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024: Q2 | 0.63 | 18.90 | 102 | 4.80 | 6.10 | 2 | -1 |
| 2024: Q3 | 0.64 | 93.90 | 101 | 11.30 | 9.80 | 21 | 16 |
| 2024: Q4 | 0.62 | -19.50 | 98 | -1.10 | 10.10 | 9 | 5 |
| 2025: Q1 | 0.96 | 28.00 | 107 | 3.50 | 19.50 | 14 | 11 |
| 2025: Q2 | 0.74 | 17.50 | 102 | -0.20 | 11.50 | 8 | 5 |
| 2025: Q3 | 0.75 | 17.20 | 103 | 2.00 | 6.30 | 25 | 18 |
| 2025: Q4 | 0.75 | 21.00 | 106 | 8.00 | 11.60 | 14 | -35 |
| 2026: Q1 | 0.86 | -10.40 | 106 | -0.90 | 12.70 | 15 | 11 |
- EPS (Earnings Per Share):
- Quarterly profit divided by the total share count — how much of the profit works out to a single share.
- YoY (Year over Year):
- Change versus the same quarter a year ago — this is how you compare without seasonal distortion (e.g. the holiday shopping season).
- Sales:
- All revenue for the quarter, before any costs are deducted — the top line of the income statement.
- Net Margin:
- What percentage of sales is left over as profit in the end. Negative means the company is posting a loss.
- OCF (Operating Cash Flow):
- The cash that actually flows into the till from the core business during the quarter — harder to dress up than book profit.
- FCF (Free Cash Flow):
- Operating cash flow minus capital expenditures — the money that's genuinely free to use, say for paying down debt, buybacks, or dividends.
Assessment: Opportunities & Risks
A 34-year-old, profitable business with non-negotiable demand: $417.4 million of revenue and $97.7 million of operating income in 2025, a 35.1 percent gross margin and 36.4 percent in the first quarter of 2026. The company owns the land and buildings under 136 of its 155 funeral homes. Pricing works: average revenue per contract rose 1.7 percent in the first quarter of 2026.
Comparable funeral contract volume fell 5.8 percent to 10,663 in the first quarter of 2026. The cremation rate rose to 60.8 percent in 2025 (2024: 59.9 percent), and the 10-K for 2025 states that a cremation brings in roughly one-third of the revenue of a traditional burial. Price offsets it, but the lever is finite.
Free cash flow was $40.1 million in 2025, below the $57.6 million of 2023, even though net income rose from $33.4 million to $51.5 million. Receivables are the cause: up $26.6 million in 2025 against only $13.2 million more revenue. On the positive side, operating cash flow stays clearly positive and covers both the dividend and capital expenditures.
Financial debt of roughly $526.7 million equals about 4.3 times 2025 operating income before depreciation and amortization; interest coverage was 3.4 times and all credit covenants were met at March 31, 2026. At the same time, $427.7 million of goodwill exceeds total equity of $266.9 million by $160.8 million, and the $400 million of 4.25 percent notes mature on May 15, 2029 — they were marked at $380.3 million, below face, at March 31, 2026.
Three years without a single repurchase despite $48.9 million of open authorization — and since May 6, 2026 a program to sell up to $100 million of new stock, arithmetically 2,115,954 shares or 13.3 percent more. Together with 4,125,044 shares from options, awards and plan reserves, 15.9 million shares could arithmetically become 22.1 million.
The May 12, 2026 votes are telling: declassifying the board drew 11,975,332 votes for and 16,360 against yet failed on the charter's 80 percent hurdle, and the deadline extension of the equity incentive plan squeaked through 51.2 percent to 48.8 percent. Chief executive pay of $3,859,198 in 2025 sits against a median employee at $26,996 — a ratio of 143 to 1.
Carriage Services is the certainty trap in its purest form: demand is guaranteed, revenue per case is not. The business runs well — $417.4 million of revenue and $51.5 million of profit in 2025 — but core volume shrank 5.8 percent in the first quarter of 2026, and a 60.8 percent cremation rate structurally erodes revenue per case. Growth therefore comes from acquisitions whose premium fills the balance sheet: $427.7 million of goodwill against $266.9 million of equity. And because operations leave only around $40 million a year after capital expenditures, up to $100 million is to come from new shareholders as of May 6, 2026 — while a $48.9 million repurchase authorization sits unused. Not investment advice.
- This analysis was triggered by the SEC filing stream: the S-3ASR shelf registration of April 27, 2026 and the three filings of May 6, 2026 (Form 8-K on the equity distribution agreement, prospectus supplement 424B5 for up to $100 million, and the quarterly results). The cross-check on July 30, 2026 showed that CSV appears in none of our in-house stock scanner result lists as of that date; those lists are recalculated daily and may look different tomorrow.
- Data basis: annual figures from the 10-K for 2025 (as of December 31, 2025, filed February 26, 2026), interim figures from the 10-Q as of March 31, 2026 (filed May 7, 2026), the share count of 15,872,328 from that report's cover page (as of April 28, 2026), capital actions from prospectus supplement 424B5 of May 6, 2026, voting results from the Form 8-K of May 14, 2026. Fundamental data retrieved July 30, 2026.
- The market value from the fundamental data feed ($599.5 million) failed the cross-check: 15,872,328 shares x $47.48 — the last sale price documented in the prospectus supplement, dated May 5, 2026 — comes to $753.6 million, a deviation of more than one fifth. The article therefore uses only the filing anchor, and every metric derived from it carries the same as-of date.
- Possible confusion: the ticker CSV here stands for Carriage Services, not for a file format or another issuer. The larger listed competitor in the U.S. death care market is Service Corporation International (SCI), a different company with a different ticker.
- The maximum of 22.1 million shares in the dilution chart is a ceiling built from already authorized issuance, not a forecast: 15,872,328 shares outstanding plus up to 2,115,954 from the ATM program (at the $47.26 price cited in the filing) plus 1,226,298 from options, restricted stock units and performance stock units plus 2,707,421 reserved under the 2017 omnibus incentive plan plus 191,325 under the employee stock purchase plan, all as of March 31, 2026.
About the Company
Carriage Services, Inc. provides funeral and cemetery services, and merchandise in the United States. It operates through two segments, Funeral Home Operations and Cemetery Operations. The Funeral Home Operations segment provides consultation services; funeral home facilities for visitation and memorial services; transportation services; removal and preparation of remains; cremation services; and related funeral merchandise, as well as engages in the sale of caskets and urns. The Cemetery Operations segment sells interment rights for grave sites, lawn crypts, mausoleum spaces, and niches; related cemetery merchandise, including memorial markers, outer burial containers, and monuments; and interments, inurnments, and installation of cemetery merchandise services. Carriage Services, Inc. was founded in 1991 and is based in Houston, Texas.
| Employees | 1,248 |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Houston, TX |
| Website | carriageservices.com |
| IPO Date | 8. Aug 1996 |
| Next Earnings | 5. Aug 2026 |
Management
| Name | Title | Birth Year |
|---|---|---|
| Carlos R. Quezada | CEO & Vice Chairman | 1971 |
| Steven D. Metzger J.D. | President & COO | 1979 |
| John Enwright | Senior VP, CFO & Treasurer | 1973 |
| Kathryn Shanley | Chief Accounting Officer | 1969 |
| Rob Paul Franch | Chief Information Officer | 1974 |
| Sam A. Mazzu III | Vice President of General Counsel and Secretary | 1981 |
| Shane T. Pudenz | Vice President Of Sales | 1991 |
| Alfred White | Vice President of Marketing | – |
| Christopher Manceaux | Senior VP & Regional Partner | 1971 |
| Jeremy Weaver | Director of Operations Support of the East Region | – |
Executives per the latest required filings; titles kept in their original language. Source: fundamental data.
Chart
Interactive price chart (TradingView).
Data as of: July 29, 2026 · Source: fundamental data & SEC filings (annual and quarterly reports, 10-K/10-Q)
Note: pure fact-based analysis, not investment advice and not a solicitation to buy or sell. All figures without guarantee.