Climb Global Solutions said its second quarter was marked by broad-based growth, even as higher operating costs and a difficult comparison with last year weighed on profitability.
The technology distributor reported a 17% rise in gross billings to $587.3 million in the three months to 30 June 2026, while net sales increased 9% to $174.2 million and gross profit climbed 15% to $30.2 million. Management said the improvement was supported by strong performance across its vendor ba...
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se, with 19 of its top 20 vendors posting double-digit organic growth.
Chief executive Dale Foster said the quarter also reflected progress on the company’s strategy to deepen relationships with larger software suppliers. Climb added new agreements with Ivanti and CheckMK, while expanding ties with LogicMonitor and Quantum. Foster said Darktrace had already become one of the company’s top 20 vendors within a year of joining the platform, and Fortinet gross billings rose sharply from the first quarter after restrictions on certain customer opportunities ended in early May.
The company’s push into platform development also advanced during the quarter. Foster said Climb had hired an experienced architect to shape the initial blueprint for its cloud marketplace, with the aim of creating a hybrid model that combines an online buying experience with the firm’s relationship-led sales approach. Adobe is expected to be among the first vendors integrated, with some functionality targeted for the fourth quarter.
The quarter was not without pressure. Selling, general and administrative expenses rose 26% from a year earlier, reflecting investments in IT infrastructure, legal work and variable compensation. Adjusted EBITDA came in at $11.3 million, broadly in line with the prior year’s $11.4 million, while adjusted EBITDA margin eased to 37.5% from 43.3%. Net income slipped to $5.5 million from $6.0 million, partly because of a higher tax rate.
Matthew Sullivan, the chief financial officer, said about $500,000 of SG&A in the quarter was non-recurring. He said the company’s margin trajectory remained consistent with its usual seasonal pattern, while Foster framed the spending as part of a broader effort to improve efficiency over time.
Climb also faced an especially tough comparison with the second quarter of 2025, when it booked a large one-off deal involving VAST Data. Foster said that transaction, together with another deal pulled forward into the same period last year, made the year-on-year comparison unusually demanding. Even so, he said growth across the rest of the business helped offset that effect.
The company ended the quarter with $56.6 million in cash and no debt, giving it room to invest and pursue acquisitions. Foster said Climb has been stepping up its M&A efforts, with the board supportive of taking on debt if needed for larger deals. He said the company is looking at two sizeable targets and that Europe remains an important part of its margin strategy, where less competition allows for better economics than in North America.
On the call, Foster also said the company did not see geopolitical uncertainty materially affecting demand in Europe, and that cross-selling efforts across the region are still in the early stages. For now, Climb appears to be balancing short-term margin pressure against a deliberate bet that larger vendor relationships, a cloud marketplace and potential acquisitions will drive the next phase of growth.
Source: Noah Wire Services
