SCI Stock Plunges 13%, Wiping Out $1.4 Billion, After Funeral Operator Cuts 2026 Outlook
Rising costs and October funeral volumes below forecast led Service Corp. International to lower its 2026 earnings outlook.
Service Corp. International, the funeral and cemetery operator, saw its shares plunge 12.75% to $71.83 in Thursday trading as of 10:50 a.m. ET, erasing about $1.4 billion in market value, after management said on its earnings call that costs are accelerating and October funeral volumes missed its forecast. The company also lowered its 2026 earnings outlook, a day after it reported adjusted earnings per share up 11% to $0.97 for the third quarter.
Costs climb, October volumes slip
The drop came the session after the company released third-quarter results on Wednesday and updated its fourth-quarter outlook. On the call, management said fixed costs accelerated and October funeral volumes came in below its forecast.
Chief Executive Tom Ryan said margins were pressured by higher healthcare costs, higher selling compensation costs and more spending on advertising and marketing tied to growth in preneed sales. The company expects those costs to continue into the fourth quarter.
Third-quarter revenue was $1.11 billion, up from $1.06 billion a year earlier. The stock was on pace for its biggest one-day drop in at least 275 trading sessions, since Sept. 25, 2025.
A funeral business under cost pressure
SCI, based in Houston, runs funeral homes and cemeteries in North America under brands including Dignity Memorial, National Cremation Society and Neptune Society. As of December 31, 2025, it operated 1,485 funeral service locations and 500 cemeteries, and it sells both at the time of need and in advance through preneed contracts.
Shares were up about 6% year to date as of Wednesday's close, trailing the S&P 500's gain of about 13%. Before Thursday's drop the stock sat 21% below its 52-week high of $90.99; it now trades about 5% above its 52-week low of $68.41.
The company has been spending on acquisitions, cemetery development and new funeral homes, while returning $464 million to shareholders this year through dividends and buybacks.
Management gave no formal 2027 guidance but said it expects growth within its long-term range, leaving cost fixes and price increases as the next test.
Sources
- Service Corp. (SCI) Q3 Earnings and Revenues Miss Estimates — Yahoo Finance
- Service Corp.: Q3 Earnings Snapshot – WTOP News — wtop.com
- Document — sec.gov
- Compared to Estimates, Service Corp. (SCI) Q3 Earnings: A Look at Key Metrics — Yahoo Finance
- SERVICE CORPORATION INTERNATIONAL ANNOUNCES THIRD QUARTER 2026 FINANCIAL RESULTS AND UPDATES FOURTH QUARTER OUTLOOK – Company Announcement - FT.com — Financial Times
- The company's filing (Service Corp. International) — SEC filing
- Compared to Estimates, Service Corp. (SCI) Q3 Earnings: A Look at Key Metrics — Zacks Investment Research
- Service Corporation Queues for Q3 Earnings: Key Things to Note — Zacks Investment Research
- Service Corp. International — Form 10-Q for the quarter ended 2026-06-30 (quarterly results) — SEC EDGAR
