COLD

Industry and Business Trends

• The company continues to see ongoing signs of industry stabilization, with a resiliant business model driving market share gains and momentum against core strategic priorities.
• Smaller, capital-constrained industry players are exiting the market, and new project announcements have slowed materially; customers are returning to AmeriCold for its reliable service and operating excellence.
• Sequential physical occupancy growth and inventory increases confirm customer destocking has ended, and the company expects a return to more normalized seasonal trends through the rest of 2026.

Progress on Five Core Strategic Priorities

1. De-lever the balance sheet

   • Received regulatory approval for the $1.3 billion strategic joint venture with EQT, expected to close in Q3 2026.
   • Proceeds from the transaction will be used to repay ~$1.1 billion of outstanding debt, including all 2026-2028 USD denominated maturities, reducing total borrowings by ~25% and lowering leverage to approach the 6x target.
   • Extended revolving credit agreement maturity to 2031, improving liquidity and financial flexibility; Moody's reaffirmed the company's investment-grade rating and outlook.

2. Active portfolio management to create real estate value

   • Sold two idled facilities in Q2 for $27 million, eliminating 31,000 pallet positions from the cold storage market; 10 underperforming facilities have been exited since launching the program, with 15 more idled or actively marketed for sale.
   • Mutually agreed to wind down operations at the underperforming Lancaster and Plainville development facilities, which were not meeting return requirements; the properties are classified as held for sale and already listed, with several hundred million dollars of properties currently listed for exit overall.
   • As part of the wind-down agreement, the company extended and expanded the customer's existing contracts at other facilities across the network.

3. Expand into underpenetrated and adjacent sectors

   • Established a retail footprint in Europe and expanded QSR/convenience capabilities in Asia-Pacific, with new business already ramping and driving regional occupancy growth.
   • Won new business in high-growth adjacent sectors including e-commerce and pet food; example: expanded partnership with fast-growing direct-to-consumer protein provider Good Ranchers from 1 to 5 network facilities.
   • These new segments enhance the company's value proposition beyond traditional storage and leverage its scale advantage over smaller competitors.

4. Focus development on low-risk, customer-driven projects

   • The $163 million plant-adjacent project anchored by a 20-year fixed commitment with McCain Foods remains on track, as does the Dallas-Fort Worth expansion project on schedule to open late 2026.
   • Celebrated the June 2026 grand opening of the unique integrated Port St. John, Canada facility developed in partnership with CPKC and DP World, combining rail, port, and cold storage capabilities for import/export of temperature-sensitive goods.
   • Strategic partnerships for development create unique, hard-to-replicate growth opportunities for the company.

5. Right-size cost structure for improved efficiency

   • Completed phase one of the cost initiative, delivering $30 million in expected annual savings primarily from indirect labor, reducing global indirect headcount by 400 positions (over 10%).
   • Launched the Fit for Purpose initiative targeting an additional $25 million in annual savings by Q1 2027, focused on SG&A and support functions to improve accountability and execution.

Additional Operational Milestone

• MSCI upgraded AmeriCold's ESG rating from BB to AA, positioning the company as a sustainability leader in the industry, reflecting progress in operational efficiency, governance, risk management, and transparent disclosure.

• Full-year 2026 AFFO guidance is raised to a range of $1.26 to $1.32 per share, an increase of $0.04 at the midpoint, which more than offsets the expected $0.05 per share dilution from the EQT joint venture.
• For the recast same-store pool (after removing 12 assets contributed to the EQT joint venture), 2026 same-store revenue is expected to be between $2.03 and $2.09 billion, which is slightly up year-over-year at the midpoint, an improvement from the prior expectation of a 2.5% revenue decline.
• Same-store NOI is guided to a range of $660 to $695 million, with core EBITDA expected between $570 and $600 million.
• Full-year interest expense is expected to be $155 to $160 million, reflecting the benefit of the $1.1 billion debt pay down from the JV proceeds.
• Full-year 2026 economic occupancy is now expected to be between down 200 basis points and up 100 basis points, an improvement from the prior forecast of flat to down 300 basis points. Full-year revenue is expected to be flat to slightly positive, better than original expectations.
• The updated guidance does not rely on a broad consumer demand recovery; any demand improvement would represent upside to the current forecast.

The call does not break out financial performance across multiple distinct product segments. All operating results are reported on an aggregated same-store and total portfolio basis for the company's global temperature-controlled warehouse and cold storage logistics business. For Q2 2026, adjusted funds from operations (AFFO) per share was $0.35, beating analyst consensus, marking the fourth consecutive quarter of meeting or beating expectations. Sequential physical occupancy increased 200 basis points, while year-over-year inventories grew 300 basis points. Economic occupancy was up year-over-year, and the gap between physical and economic occupancy tightened 240 basis points to 860 basis points, a healthier long-term level. Q2 year-over-year pricing increased for both storage and handling. Churn rate remained low at 2.1%, and fixed commitment storage revenue accounted for a stable 58% of total storage revenue this quarter. SG&A decreased year-over-year, offsetting wage inflation impacts. A $298.8 million non-cash impairment charge was recorded in Q2 related to the underperforming Lancaster and Plainville facilities.

• Persistent consumer inflation and higher interest rates continue to pressure consumer demand, and customers still face elevated input costs that limit near-term volume growth.
• Smaller competitors continue to use aggressive pricing to win business, creating a competitive pricing environment for new contracts.
• Power costs remain a year-over-year headwind, requiring the company to pass through price increases to customers.
• Development projects can face underperformance risk relative to original underwritten return expectations, as seen with the Lancaster and Plainville facilities.
• Leverage remains above the company's 6x target, though it is on track to decline substantially following the EQT joint venture close and future asset dispositions.

Q: Sequential physical occupancy grew 200 basis points in a typically seasonally flat quarter, with 300 basis points of year-over-year growth. How much of this gain is structural share gain versus temporary inventory rebuilding, and can these gains be sustained? / A: The growth is driven by sustainable factors: customer destocking has already concluded, stabilizing industry occupancy. The majority comes from record new business wins over the past 18 months that are now ramping into the network. Significant gains in new underpenetrated sectors (grocery retail in Europe, convenience in Australia) drove regional growth, and North America saw clear structural share gains from the company's focus on service over aggressive price cutting. Low churn confirms the gains are sustainable.

Q: What is the long-term trajectory for economic occupancy, and can it return to the low 80% range over time? What is the expected trend for the second half of 2026? / A: The current 860 basis point gap between physical and economic occupancy is a healthy, sustainable long-term level, with only minor additional tightening expected. Management confirms that economic occupancy can return to the low 80% range over time, which would meaningfully improve results. For the full year 2026, economic occupancy is now expected to be between down 200 basis points and up 100 basis points, a large improvement from the original forecast of flat to down 300 basis points, with revenue expected to be flat to slightly positive.

Q: What drove the decision to close the Lancaster and Plainville facilities, and how will development strategy change going forward? / A: These facilities were designed in 2019 by prior management as highly complex automated retail facilities, with unique requirements that differed from the company's standard automated development projects. They failed to ramp volume fast enough to meet return targets, so the mutual decision was made to exit. The facilities are actively marketed for sale to a broad pool of potential buyers, including end users and mixed cold/dry users. Going forward, development will remain focused on lower-risk, customer-dedicated anchored projects, with a strengthened execution team that has delivered recent projects on time and on budget.

Q: Once leverage falls below the 6x target following the EQT joint venture, what will the company's capital allocation priorities be going forward? / A: After the JV, organic growth, cost savings, and EBITDA from already completed development projects will continue to drive further deleveraging without large additional transactions. Once the leverage target is hit, capital will be prioritized for high-value opportunities, including development of new customer-driven projects to support customer growth, and strategic M&A if seller expectations align with market reality amid ongoing industry dislocation. There is no shortage of opportunities to create shareholder value once the balance sheet reaches the targeted leverage level.