Why is Badger Meter (BMI) stock down today?

Badger Meter shares dropped 13.27% to $126.52 on July 22, 2026, after the company reported second-quarter 2026 results that disappointed investors despite technically beating revenue estimates. The core problem was a 12.82% decline in earnings per share — actual EPS came in at $1.02, missing the analyst consensus of $1.03, and down sharply from $1.17 in the same quarter a year earlier. Revenue fell 6.6% year over year to $222.3 million, even though it edged past the $220.2 million estimate. When EPS falls that steeply and beats are razor-thin, the market tends to sell first.

The bigger driver of the selloff was forward guidance. The company issued what analysts described as 'flattish growth guidance' for the full year, citing uneven timing of AMI (Advanced Metering Infrastructure — large utility network upgrades) project deployments. AMI projects are lumpy by nature: utilities commit to big contracts but installations can slip between quarters, making revenue hard to predict. That uncertainty about when backlog converts to sales spooked investors who had priced the stock for stronger growth.

The broader market was not a meaningful factor in the day's decline. The S&P 500 was down only 0.14% and the Nasdaq-100 (QQQ) was off 0.51% — nowhere near enough to explain a 13%-plus drop. This was a company-specific reaction driven entirely by the earnings release and guidance commentary.

As of the close of trading on July 22, Badger Meter carries a market capitalization of approximately $3.69 billion. The stock touched a session low of $123.22 before recovering slightly to close at $126.52, well below the prior close of $145.87. The Q2 earnings call took place the same morning, and the company's executives — CEO Kenneth Bockhorst and CFO Daniel Weltzien — addressed the results and guidance on that call.