Costamare Bulkers (CMDB) Q3 2026 earnings review
Costamare Bulkers raises ship profits, but its rented fleet lags
Costamare Bulkers, an owner and operator of dry bulk cargo ships, earned higher profits from a smaller fleet after handing its older trading contracts to Cargill. Voyage revenue fell 41% from a year ago as the rented fleet shrank, but daily earnings on its 29 owned ships climbed 25% to $17,550. Chief executive Gregory Zikos locked in fixed rates for 80% of fourth-quarter owned-fleet days and signed commitments to refinance all existing debt out to 2031.
| Total voyage revenue | $131.5M -41% from a year ago (+18% from Q2) |
|---|---|
| Profit per share, excluding one-offs | $0.51 $0.02 a year ago ($0.40 in Q2) |
| Owned-fleet daily charter rate (TCE) | $17,550 +25% from a year ago |
| Q4 owned-fleet fixed-rate outlook | 80% covered 52% covered for Q1 2027 |
⚖️ Verdict: 🟢 Bullish
The story got better because finishing the Cargill handover stopped the restructuring drain and let stronger freight rates flow through to cash, lifting cash above debt to $142 million. One caution: the rebuilt trading arm expanded to 32 rented ships, but by our math its charter revenue after fuel and port costs still fell $4 million short of the company's ship rental bill, and a ship sale plus derivative settlements supplied nearly half of profit excluding one-offs.
The question now is whether the expanded 32-ship trading platform can earn more from cargo customers than it pays to rent its vessels. Either the new short-term Kamsarmax leases generate a positive spread in a clean quarter, or the trading arm continues to subsidize rented ships with profits from the owned fleet. Next quarter's gap between trading revenue and charter-in hire expense will tell.
🐂 Bull Case
Cargill Exit Turned Operating Losses Into Profit
Costamare Bulkers spent the past year handing over its older, loss-making shipping contracts to commodities group Cargill. Chief executive Gregory Zikos said the handover is now finished: "Following the transfer of the Company’s entire legacy trading portfolio to Cargill, we are now operating a Kamsarmax-focused trading platform" — mid-sized bulk carriers of about 82,000 deadweight tons (DWT, the weight a ship can carry).
- Total voyage revenue: $131.5 million, down 41.0% from a year ago but up 17.8% from last quarter by our math
- Charter-in hire (cost of renting third-party ships): 41.5% of revenue, down 11.2 percentage points from a year ago by our math
- Voyage expenses (fuel, port and canal charges): 27.0% of revenue, down 3.9 percentage points from a year ago by our math
- One-off restructuring costs: $0.2 million, down from $5.1 million in the first quarter
Shrinking the rented fleet from an average of 44.7 ships a year ago to 28.1 cut revenue, but it removed the unprofitable contracts that dragged results down in 2025. Because ship rental and fuel costs fell much faster than revenue, operating margin rose by 11.2 percentage points from a year ago to 7.1% by our math.
What to watch: one-off platform realignment expenses in the fourth-quarter report. A zero reading will confirm that the Cargill handover is completely behind the dry bulk shipper.
Owned Ships Earned 25% Higher Daily Rates
While the rented trading fleet shrank, the 29 ships Costamare Bulkers owns outright earned much higher rates. Time charter equivalent (TCE, voyage revenue minus fuel and port costs) per day for the owned fleet rose 25.2% from a year ago to $17,550. That lifted the owned fleet's TCE revenue stays nearly even at $45.5 million, even though ship sales cut available days by 20.4%.
The Monaco-based shipowner employs 12 owned ships on contracts tied to freight market indexes, which let it switch to fixed rates when forward prices rise. Management has already locked in fixed rates for about 80% of available days in the fourth quarter and 52% in the first quarter of 2027, so fourth-quarter revenue from owned ships is largely protected.
What to watch: owned-fleet TCE per day in the fourth quarter, compared against $17,550 in the third quarter. A higher figure will show that management converted its index-linked contracts near the September rate peak.
Net Cash Grew and Refinancing Frees Eight Ships
Costamare Bulkers holds far more cash than debt, and Zikos said this balance sheet is "positioning us favorably to grow countercyclically in a low asset value environment". Cash (including restricted cash and derivative margin deposits) rose to $273.5 million while total debt fell to $131.8 million, so cash above debt grew by $32.8 million from last quarter to $141.7 million.
The company also sold the 2009-built Supramax vessel Bermondi, "releasing capital from older tonnage while preserving financial flexibility for future opportunities". In addition, management signed commitments for $133 million in new loans to "reduce financing costs through lower margins and extend debt maturities from Q4 2029 (at the earliest) to between Q4 2031 and Q1 2032", freeing eight more ships from loan pledges.
What to watch: drawdowns on the $84.7 million acquisition credit line or purchases of secondhand vessels in upcoming quarterly reports. Buying ships at depressed prices would put the idle cash pile to work.
🐻 Bear Case
Chartered-In Trading Fleet Still Costs More Than It Earns
Management presents its rebuilt trading arm, Costamare Bulkers Inc. (CBI), as a nimble platform after the Cargill exit. CBI rents ships from third-party owners and charters them out to cargo customers. Since the first quarter, management has expanded this rented fleet from 20 vessels to 32, focusing on Kamsarmax ships leased on short-term fixed rates.
The numbers show that the trading platform still lost money on its ship leases this quarter. CBI generated $50.5 million in TCE revenue (voyage revenue after fuel and port charges), as the company notes that charter-in hire is not deducted from TCE. On the income statement, consolidated charter-in hire expense was $54.6 million — leaving a $4.1 million shortfall before overhead by our math.
Over the first nine months of 2026, CBI's TCE revenue of $136.7 million also trailed the $139.5 million paid to rent the vessels by $2.8 million by our math. Expanding the rented fleet by 12 ships since May adds short-term lease obligations before the platform has shown positive spread between charter-out revenue and charter-in cost.
What to watch: CBI TCE revenue minus charter-in hire expenses in the fourth quarter. A persistent deficit now that the Cargill handover is finished would show that the new Kamsarmax trading book is still losing money on leases.
Ship Sales and Trading Gains Carried Almost Half the Profit
Costamare Bulkers reported $12.4 million in net income excluding one-offs ($0.51 per share), up from $9.8 million last quarter. However, at the start of 2026 the company changed how it calculates this non-GAAP profit measure so that it no longer strips out capital gains or losses from selling ships. It also keeps realized gains from freight and fuel derivatives inside the figure.
In the third quarter, selling the Supramax vessel Bermondi added a $2.5 million capital gain, and settled derivative contracts added another $3.0 million in realized gains. Without those two items, net income excluding one-offs was $6.9 million by our math — meaning ship sales and trading hedges supplied 44% of the headline figure.
What to watch: realized derivative gains and vessel sale gains in fourth-quarter net income excluding one-offs. Relying on asset sales to support quarterly earnings cannot continue indefinitely as the owned fleet shrinks.
Dry-Docking Cut Fleet Uptime and Lifted Daily Costs
Running a fleet of ships averaging roughly 14 years old requires regular shipyard maintenance. Four owned vessels completed scheduled dry-docking and special surveys during the third quarter, compared with none in the same quarter last year and three in the first quarter of 2026.
Those shipyard stays took 122 days out of service and pushed owned-fleet utilization down by 3.6 percentage points from a year ago to 94.8%. At the same time, daily vessel operating expenses for crew, repairs and upkeep rose 4.4% from a year ago to $6,161 per ship, while dry-docking amortization rose 17.6% to $2.0 million.
What to watch: the number of vessels completing dry-docking and daily operating expenses in the fourth quarter. Continued heavy shipyard schedules would keep utilization below 96% and hold daily running costs above $6,100.
👓 Other Themes
Typhoons and Black Sea Disruptions Moved Freight Rates
Freight rates swung sharply across all three ship sizes during the quarter, Zikos said. Active typhoons caused port delays in China and combined with strong Guinean bauxite exports to lift rates for large Capesize vessels into September. Mid-sized Panamax and smaller Supramax vessels gained overall from vessel delays, though easing Chinese port congestion and Black Sea grain disruptions briefly pulled rates down in late July and August.
💲 Other KPIs
Cash generated from operations rebounded from $1.3 million in the second quarter to $21.3 million, though it decreased 33.2% from $31.9 million a year ago. Higher freight rates and fewer one-off restructuring payments drove the rebound from the spring quarter, lifting nine-month operating cash flow to $41.5 million.
The shipowner ended the period with 29 owned vessels after selling the 2009-built Supramax Bermondi. Average owned vessels during the quarter fell 16.9% from a year ago to 29.5, down from 35.5 in the third quarter of 2025 as the group sold older ships.
The average share count rose 0.25% from a year ago (24.24 million shares) and increased slightly from 24.18 million in the first quarter. The Monaco-based group has not repurchased shares and pays stock-based compensation within general and administrative expenses.
🔮 Guidance
New. Management estimates that fixed-rate charters cover about 80% of owned-fleet available days for the fourth quarter of 2026, including index-linked contracts converted to fixed rates. For the first quarter of 2027, fixed-rate charters currently cover about 52% of available days, leaving the rest exposed to spot and index rates.
❓ Key Questions
At what daily rates did you lock in Q4 charters?
Management fixed about 80% of fourth-quarter owned-fleet days and 52% of first-quarter 2027 days, including conversions from index-linked contracts, but did not disclose the average daily dollar rate locked in.
When will the CBI trading fleet cover its lease costs?
CBI generated $50.5 million in TCE revenue against $54.6 million in consolidated charter-in hire expense in Q3. As the rented fleet grows to 32 ships, investors need to know whether current charter-out spreads are profitable.
How many interest points will the $133 million refinancing save?
The new loan commitments refinance all existing debt, extend maturities to 2031–2032, and free eight vessels from collateral pledges, but the release does not state the exact margin reduction or annual interest savings.
What will trigger ship purchases with your $142M net cash?
Chief executive Gregory Zikos repeated that the company is positioned to grow countercyclically in a low asset value environment, yet Costamare Bulkers has been a net seller of ships over the past year.