Carriage Services is a U.S. deathcare consolidator sitting at the smallest end of the publicly traded peer set, with 155 funeral homes and 28 cemeteries at mid-year. The second-quarter print tests whether a cemetery-priced mix-shift can offset a normalized mortality tailwind that has now receded. Net income rose 4.5 percent to $12.3M. Adjusted consolidated EBITDA margin expanded 70 basis points to 32.3 percent. Leverage held flat at 4.0x after a $4.5M tuck-in closed late in the quarter.
The strategic dynamic is a deliberate price-over-volume posture across both segments. Comparable funeral contracts declined 3.5 percent while average revenue per contract climbed 3.7 percent. Cemetery preneed interment rights sold dropped 14.0 percent while the average price per right surged 17.3 percent. Insurance-funded preneed funeral contracts grew 21.1 percent, the structural annuity of the franchise. Management authorized a $100.0M ATM equity program that sits fully untapped. $48.9M of buyback authority remains available.
The quarter printed $33.3M of adjusted consolidated EBITDA on $102.9M of revenue. GAAP diluted EPS reached $0.77 versus $0.74 prior year. Adjusted free cash flow of $2.6M ran below the $6.9M prior year. Growth capex accelerated to $4.9M in the half. The forward question is whether the pipeline of strategic acquisitions can close at the pace management described on the recent call. Whether the May tuck-in earns the same 36.5 percent comparable funeral margin at the consolidated level is the second question.