Signature Sponsor
Ramaco Anticipates Q2 Shipments of 900,000 to 1M Tons While Advancing Brook Mine Milestones Into Late June



May 14, 2026 - 

Management View

  • "Since the start of the year, we bought back a significant amount of stock" and "thus far this year, we've repurchased about 2.6 million shares of our Class A common stock at an average price of about $14.50 per share" (Founder, Chairman & CEO Randall Atkins).
  • "We also ended the first quarter with about $490 million in liquidity" and management said the balance sheet provides flexibility to pursue "continued share repurchases, advancing efforts at our Brook Mine, [and] our growth efforts for our low-vol coals" (Founder, Chairman & CEO Atkins).
  • "This was the third consecutive quarter of cash costs, which were under $100 per ton" and "our miss for this quarter has all been top line" (Founder, Chairman & CEO Atkins).
  • "I'm pleased to note that our record year-end 2025 liquidity allowed us to opportunistically repurchase $37 million worth of shares since the beginning of this year" and "Q1 adjusted EBITDA was negative $1.8 million" (Executive VP & CFO Jeremy Sussman).
  • "We have now taken a number of concrete legal and accounting steps" and "have formed separate corporate entities within a holding company structure" including "Ramaco Royalty," "Ramaco Critical Mineral Resources," and "Ramaco Refining" (Founder, Chairman & CEO Atkins).
Outlook
  • "In terms of second quarter 2026 guidance, we anticipate higher shipments between 900,000 and 1 million tons" and "we expect cash costs towards the higher end of the full year range for the second quarter on the back of elevated fuel costs" (Executive VP & CFO Sussman).
  • "We are reiterating all key 2026 operational guidance, including production tons sold and cash costs" (Executive VP & CFO Sussman).
  • Compared with the prior quarter’s call, management no longer characterized met markets as having "some clarity on what we hope is going to be a meaningful rebound" and instead said "coal markets remain challenged" and "especially on high-vol side" (Founder, Chairman & CEO Atkins).
Financial Results
  • "Operational results were again solid with cash cost per ton sold at $98" and "weather-related transportation issues... negatively impacted our overall sales figures by more than 50,000 tons" (Executive VP & CFO Sussman).
  • "Q1 cash margins of $16 per ton" reflected "lower realized prices of $114 per ton" (Executive VP & CFO Sussman).
  • "Q1 adjusted EBITDA was negative $1.8 million" and "Class A EPS showed a $0.30 loss" (Executive VP & CFO Sussman).
  • "As of March 31, we had over 1 million tons sitting in the inventory, which will provide us with a meaningful working capital tailwind should markets improve" (Executive VP & CFO Sussman).
Q&A
  • Tyler Bisset, Goldman Sachs: Asked about cost trends as operations restart; Christopher Blanchard said Laurel Fork is "a staging ground" ahead of Berwind ventilation completion and "don't view that as impacting the cost, probably more than $1 overall on the low-vol side" while adding "Berwind... has historically been one of our lowest cost producers" (Executive Vice President of Mine Planning and Development Blanchard).
  • Tyler Bisset, Goldman Sachs: Asked what supports confidence in booking incremental volumes; Jason Fannin said "we're seeing demand start to pick up already" and highlighted "our first cargo of Maben going seaborne this quarter into the Pacific, against PLV" (Executive VP, Chief Commercial Officer & Chief Marketing Officer Fannin).
  • Jeffrey Grampp, Northland: Asked which Brook Mine products are gaining interest; Randall Atkins said "the products... focused on are gallium and scandium" and added "we were actually relatively pleased by the interest... on scandium" (Founder, Chairman & CEO Atkins).
  • Jeffrey Grampp, Northland: Asked about M&A; Randall Atkins said "we're not too fond to the M, but we're happy to look at the A" and added "it's becoming a more target-rich environment" (Founder, Chairman & CEO Atkins).
  • Davis Sunderland, Baird: Asked about third-party lab backlogs; Michael Woloschuk said capacity "still persisted as a challenge" and the company is "fitting out our own labs" to "alleviate" turnaround issues (EVP of Critical Mineral Operations Woloschuk).
  • Davis Sunderland, Baird: Asked for rationale on the reorganization; Randall Atkins said the goal is to "unlock the value" so assets can be "separately valued in the marketplace" and described Ramaco Royalty as a potential "very compelling royalty play" (Founder, Chairman & CEO Atkins).
  • Carlos de Alba, Morgan Stanley: Asked why separate mining/sales from refining; Randall Atkins said refining "could trade at different types of multiples" and separation also provides "different ways to look at both financing that, but also operating it" (Founder, Chairman & CEO Atkins).
  • Carlos de Alba, Morgan Stanley: Asked about thermal coal offtakes at Brook; Randall Atkins said "we are discussing right now with a number of utility groups potential offtakes" but the company does not want "large stockpiles of critical mineral feedstock" ahead of processing capacity (Founder, Chairman & CEO Atkins).
  • Nathan Martin, Benchmark: Asked about Hatch report naming; Randall Atkins said "you can expect no change" in data and called it a compliance-driven shift under "SK-1300" (Founder, Chairman & CEO Atkins).
  • Nick (on for B. Riley): Asked for met coal CapEx split; Jeremy Sussman said it is "pretty close to 50-50" and described "about $45 million of maintenance capital" plus "another $20 million or so for our low-vol growth" with the remainder for "rare earths" (Executive VP & CFO Sussman).
  • Nick (on for B. Riley): Asked about IP scope; Randall Atkins said IP protection is intended to be "broad and all-encompassing" and could extend beyond the company’s coals, while Michael Woloschuk added IP covers "extraction and purification" and the deposit’s in-place reagent advantage (Founder, Chairman & CEO Atkins; EVP of Critical Mineral Operations Woloschuk).
Sentiment Analysis
  • Analysts’ tone was neutral to slightly skeptical, pressing on cost trajectory, sales confidence, Brook offtake visibility, and restructuring logic, including "what gives you confidence" and questions about why operations are separated despite being "fairly integrated" (Tyler Bisset, Goldman Sachs; Carlos de Alba, Morgan Stanley).
  • Management tone was slightly positive in strategy and capital allocation but acknowledged near-term pressure in coal, including "our miss for this quarter has all been top line" while emphasizing balance-sheet flexibility and continued development milestones (Founder, Chairman & CEO Atkins).
  • Versus last quarter’s more optimistic market framing (e.g., "meaningful rebound"), the current call used more cautionary language (e.g., "coal markets remain challenged"), while management maintained high conviction on Brook Mine progress timelines (Founder, Chairman & CEO Atkins).
Quarter-over-quarter Comparison
  • Shareholder returns were more prominent this quarter, with management leading with repurchases and stating "we've repurchased about 2.6 million shares" and that it was "for the first time" (Founder, Chairman & CEO Atkins).
  • The corporate reorganization moved from exploratory language last quarter ("exploring some reorganization options") to executed steps this quarter ("taken a number of concrete legal and accounting steps") and included naming three internal entities (Founder, Chairman & CEO Atkins).
  • Coal narrative shifted from Q4’s emphasis on strong quarterly costs and margins to Q1’s emphasis on weaker pricing and top-line shortfall, alongside higher fuel impacts tied to geopolitical events (Executive VP & CFO Sussman; Founder, Chairman & CEO Atkins).
  • Brook Mine messaging shifted from discussing a midyear revised PEA to awaiting third-party studies tied to the carbochlorination flowsheet, with management pointing to late June (Hatch) and follow-on timing (Weir) (Founder, Chairman & CEO Atkins).
Risks and Concerns
  • "Coal markets remain challenged" and management highlighted continued weakness "especially on high-vol side" (Founder, Chairman & CEO Atkins).
  • Management tied cost pressure to fuel, noting rack pricing "increase to as high as $5.45 a gallon" and said the current fuel impact is "approximately $4 per ton" versus earlier in 2026 (Founder, Chairman & CEO Atkins).
  • Supply chain inflation was cited in mining inputs, with raw tungsten pricing "up by approximately 350%" leading to "nearly a 100% increase" in bits and tools; management said it is "continuing to work with our key suppliers to mitigate" (Executive Vice President of Mine Planning and Development Blanchard).
  • Execution risk remained on logistics and labs, as weather disrupted rail shipments and critical-minerals labs "are full"; mitigation included building internal geometallurgical lab capacity and progressing pilot infrastructure (Executive VP & CFO Sussman; EVP of Critical Mineral Operations Woloschuk).
Final Takeaway
 
Management framed Q1 around aggressive capital allocation via share repurchases, a more complex internal structure aimed at separating royalty, mining/sales, and refining economics, and near-term met coal pressure driven by weak high-vol pricing and fuel-related cost inflation. The company reiterated full-year operational guidance while guiding Q2 shipments of 900,000 to 1 million tons and anticipating higher cash costs within the annual range due to elevated fuel costs. On Brook Mine, management emphasized late-June and subsequent reporting milestones tied to the carbochlorination flowsheet, continued drilling and pilot-site construction progress, and ongoing (but not yet disclosed) offtake and financing discussions.