COMPASS MINERALS INTERNATIONAL INC (CMP)

Item 2.    Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations

All statements, other than statements of historical fact, contained in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q constitute “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.

Forward-looking statements relate to future events or our future financial performance, and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors that may cause our actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, the following: our mining and industrial operations; geological conditions; weather conditions; our continued ability to access ambient lake brine in the Great Salt Lake; dependency on a limited number of key production and distribution facilities and critical equipment; the inability to fund necessary capital expenditures or successfully complete capital projects; uncertainties in estimating our economically recoverable reserves and resources; the useful life of our mine properties; conversion of mineral resources into mineral reserves; strikes, other forms of work stoppage or slowdown or other union activities; supply constraints or price increases for energy, including the ongoing conflict in Iran and geopolitical tensions that could lead to significant disruption of global energy supplies and increases in global energy prices, and raw materials used in our production processes; our indebtedness and inability to pay our indebtedness; restrictions in our debt agreements that may limit our ability to operate our business or require accelerated debt payments; tax liabilities; the inability of our customers to access credit or a default by our customers of trade credit extended by us; financial assurance requirements; our payment of any dividends; the seasonal demand for our products; variables impacting effective inventory management may adversely impact our performance; the impact of anticipated changes in potash product prices and customer application rates; the impact of competition on the sales of our products; inflation risks; increasing costs or a lack of availability of transportation services; risks associated with our international operations and sales, including the impact of any tariffs and changes in currency exchange rates; conditions in the sectors where we sell products and supply and demand imbalances for competing products, including the impact of any tariffs; our rights and governmental authorizations to mine and operate our properties; risks related to unanticipated litigation or investigations or pending litigation or investigations or other contingencies; compliance with environmental, health and safety laws and regulations; environmental liabilities; compliance with foreign and United States (“U.S.”) laws and regulations related to import and export requirements and anti-corruption laws; changes in laws, industry standards and regulatory requirements, including any changes in tariffs imposed; product liability claims and product recalls; misappropriation or infringement claims relating to intellectual property; inability to obtain required product registrations or increased regulatory requirements; our ability to successfully implement our strategies; risks related to labor shortages and the loss of key personnel; a compromise of our computer systems, information technology or operations technology or the inability to protect confidential or proprietary data; climate change and related laws and regulations; our ability to expand our business through acquisitions and investments, realize anticipated benefits from acquisitions and investments and integrate acquired businesses; outbreaks of contagious disease or similar public health threats; domestic and international general business and economic conditions; our ability to successfully remediate the material weakness in our internal controls over financial reporting disclosed in this Form 10-Q; and other risks referenced from time to time in this report and our other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”), including Part I, Item 1A, “Risk Factors” of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the annual period ended September 30, 2025 (“2025 Form 10-K”).

In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terminology such as “may,” “might,” “will,” “should,” “could,” “expects,” “intends,” “plans,” “anticipates,” “believes,” “estimates,” “predicts,” “potential,” “continue,” the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology. Forward-looking statements include without limitation statements about our outlook, including expected sales volumes and costs; existing or potential capital expenditures; capital projects and investments; the industry and our competition; projected sources of cash flow; potential legal liability; proposed or recently enacted legislation and regulatory action; the seasonal distribution of working capital requirements; our reinvestment of foreign earnings outside the U.S.; payment of future dividends and ability to reinvest in our business; our ability to optimize cash accessibility, minimize tax expense and meet debt service requirements; future tax payments, tax refunds and valuation allowances; leverage ratios; realization of potential savings from our restructuring activities; outcomes of matters with taxing authorities; the effects of currency fluctuations and inflation, including our ability to recover inflation-based cost increases; the seasonality of our business; and the effects of climate change. These forward-looking statements are only predictions. Actual events or results may differ materially.

Although we believe that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, we cannot guarantee future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements. We undertake no duty to update any of the forward-looking statements after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.

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Unless the context requires otherwise, references to the “Company,” “Compass Minerals,” “our,” “us” and “we” refer to Compass Minerals International, Inc. (“CMI,” the parent holding company) and its consolidated subsidiaries. Except where otherwise noted, references to North America include only the continental U.S. and Canada, and references to the United Kingdom (“UK”) include only England, Scotland and Wales. Except where otherwise noted, all references to tons refer to “short tons” and all amounts are in U.S. dollars. One short ton equals 2,000 pounds and one metric ton equals 2,204.6 pounds. Compass Minerals and Protassium+ and combinations thereof, are trademarks of CMI or its subsidiaries in the U.S. and other countries.

Critical Accounting Estimates

A discussion of our critical accounting estimates used in preparation of our consolidated financial statements is presented under the heading "Management’s Discussion of Critical Accounting Estimates" in Part II, Item 7, “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” included in our 2025 Form 10-K.

Company Overview

Compass Minerals is a leading global provider of essential minerals, including salt, sulfate of potash (“SOP”) specialty fertilizer and magnesium chloride. As of June 30, 2026, we operate 11 production and packaging facilities, including:

•The largest rock salt mine in the world in Goderich, Ontario, Canada;

•The largest dedicated rock salt mine in the UK in Winsford, Cheshire;

•A solar evaporation facility located near Ogden, Utah, which is both the largest sulfate of potash specialty fertilizer production site and the largest solar salt production site in the Western Hemisphere; and

•Several mechanical evaporation facilities producing consumer and industrial salt.

Our Salt segment provides highway deicing salt to customers in North America and the UK as well as consumer deicing and water conditioning products, ingredients used in consumer and commercial food preparation, and other salt-based products for consumer, industrial, chemical and agricultural applications in North America. In the UK, we operate a records management business, included in Corporate and Other, utilizing excavated areas of our Winsford salt mine with one other location in London, England.

Our Plant Nutrition segment produces and markets SOP products in various grades worldwide to distributors and retailers of crop inputs, as well as growers and for industrial uses. We market our SOP under the trade name Protassium+®.

We expect production costs to remain elevated in the near term as we continue investing in productivity and maintenance initiatives at our mines, while logistics costs may continue to be impacted by inflationary pressure, fuel price volatility, and transportation constraints. Concurrently, we are advancing enterprise-wide cost optimization initiatives focused on network efficiency, procurement, and contract management to support sustainable margin improvement and risk mitigation.

Following a stronger-than-average winter season that drove elevated demand and reduced inventory levels across the industry, we currently expect demand in fiscal 2027 to be lower than fiscal 2026, reflecting normalized weather assumptions.

Redemption of 2027 Notes. On March 30, 2026, we redeemed in full the remaining $150.0 million outstanding 6.75% Senior Notes due 2027 (the “2027 Notes”) using cash on hand at 100% of principal plus accrued interest. See Note 7. Long-Term Debt and Finance Lease Liabilities in the Notes to Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements under Item 1 of the Part I of this Form 10-Q for further information.

AR Securitization Facility. On March 19, 2026, certain of our U.S. subsidiaries entered into a Sixth Amendment to our Accounts Receivable Securitization Facility (“AR Facility”) of up to $100.0 million with PNC Bank, National Association (“PNC”), as administrative agent and lender, and PNC Capital Markets, LLC, as structuring agent, extending the facility to March 2029. See Note 7. Long-Term Debt and Finance Lease Liabilities in the Notes to Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements under Item 1 of the Part I of this Form 10-Q for further information.

Sale and Disposition of Wynyard SOP Business. On February 3, 2026, we entered into a share purchase agreement (the “Share Purchase Agreement”) to sell our SOP business in Wynyard, Saskatchewan, Canada. The Share Purchase Agreement provided for total consideration of approximately $30.8 million, prior to indebtedness and working capital adjustments of $2.1 million. The transaction closed on March 1, 2026. At closing, we received cash proceeds of $23.3 million, net of (i) $3.9 million placed in escrow, (ii) $1.3 million of cash on hand transferred to the buyer, and (iii) $0.2 million of transaction costs. As a result of the transaction, we recorded a pre-tax (gain) loss on sale of business, net, of $(0.1) million, for the three months

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ended June 30, 2026, and $14.5 million, for the nine months ended June 30, 2026, which included $13.1 million of foreign currency translation adjustments reclassified from Accumulated other comprehensive loss. Prior to the sale and disposition, the results of the Wynyard SOP business represented less than 3% of our total sales and were included in the Plant Nutrition operating segment. While the disposition did not have a material impact on consolid

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ITEM 7.    MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

The statements in this discussion regarding the industry outlook, our expectations for the future performance of our business, and the other non-historical statements in this discussion are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, the risks and uncertainties described in Item 1A, “Risk Factors.” You should read the following discussion together with Item 1A, “Risk Factors” and the Consolidated Financial Statements and Notes thereto included elsewhere in this Form 10-K.

COMPANY OVERVIEW

Compass Minerals is a leading global provider of essential minerals, including salt, consisting of sodium chloride and magnesium chloride and sulfate of potash (SOP”) specialty fertilizer. As of September 30, 2025, we operate 12 production and packaging facilities with more than 1,800 personnel throughout the U.S., Canada and the UK, including:

•The largest rock salt mine in the world in Goderich, Ontario, Canada;

•The largest dedicated rock salt mine in the UK in Winsford, Cheshire;

•A solar evaporation facility located near Ogden, Utah, which is both the largest sulfate of potash specialty fertilizer production site and the largest solar salt production site in the Western Hemisphere; and

•Several mechanical evaporation facilities producing consumer and industrial salt.

Our Salt segment provides highway deicing salt to customers in North America and the UK as well as consumer deicing and water conditioning products, ingredients used in consumer and commercial food preparation, and other salt-based products for consumer, industrial, chemical and agricultural applications in North America. In the UK, we operate a records management business utilizing excavated areas of our Winsford salt mine with one other location in London, England.

Our Plant Nutrition segment produces and markets SOP products in various grades worldwide to distributors and retailers of crop inputs, as well as growers and for industrial uses. We market our SOP under the trade name Protassium+.

Debt Refinancing. In June 2025, we issued $650.0 million aggregate principal amount of our 8.00% Senior Notes due 2030 in a private offering (the “2030 Notes”). We used the net proceeds from the 2030 Notes to (i) repay all outstanding amounts under our senior secured credit facility, including $43.5 million under the revolving credit facility and $191.3 million under our term loan, (ii) redeem approximately $350.0 million of our outstanding 6.75% Senior Notes due 2027, (iii) pay transaction-related fees and expenses, (iv) increase cash on our balance sheet, and (v) for general corporate purposes. The redemption resulted in a loss on debt extinguishment of $7.6 million, which is included in Loss on extinguishment of debt in the Consolidated Statements of Operations for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2025. See the Liquidity and Capital Resources section below and Item 8, Note 10. Long Term Debt and Finance Lease Liabilities of our Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information.

Fortress Exit. In May 2023, we completed the purchase of Fortress North America, LLC (“Fortress), a fire retardant company working to develop long-term aerial and ground fire retardant products to help combat wildfires. In March 2025, we took measures to align our cost structure to our current business needs as part of a larger strategic refocus to improve the profitability of our core Salt and Plant Nutrition businesses, including the process of exiting the Fortress business and terminating the employment of all Fortress employees. As a result of impairment tests performed during fiscal year ended September 30, 2025, we recorded a $53.0 million loss on impairment of long-lived assets related to customer relationships and trade name and a $0.7 million impairment related to the remaining Fortress property, plant and equipment. See Item 8, Note 2. Summary of Significant Accounting Policies of our Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information.

We continue to monitor the effects of the tariffs imposed by the U.S. administration during 2025, the reciprocal tariffs and retaliatory tariffs imposed by other countries, and the impact on our business. Our salt and fertilizer production in Canada is qualified under the United States-Mexico-Canada (“USMCA”) trade agreement. Accordingly, our exports from Canada into the United States are exempt from tariffs at this time.

On July 4, 2025, the U.S. enacted a budget reconciliation package known as the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act of 2025” (“OBBBA”), which includes both tax and non-tax provisions. We are evaluating the effects of these changes and other provisions of this legislation on our consolidated financial statements; however, we do not expect the changes resulting from the tax provisions in OBBBA will have a material impact on the Company’s results of operations due to the timing of our fiscal year reporting.

RESULTS OF OPERATIONS—For the Fiscal Year September 30, 2025, Compared to the Fiscal Year September 30, 2024

CONSOLIDATED RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

CONSOLIDATED RESULTS COMMENTARY: — For the Fiscal Year Ended September 30, 2025, Compared to the Fiscal Year Ended September 30, 2024

•Total sales increased 11.3%, or $126.5 million, due to higher Salt and Plant Nutrition segment sales, partially offset by lower Fortress fire retardant sales. The increase in Salt sales was primarily driven by higher sales volumes, partially offset by lower combined average sales prices. The increase in Plant Nutrition sales, in comparison to the prior fiscal year, primarily reflects higher sales volumes, partially offset by lower average sales price. The results of operations of Fortress included sales of $14.7 million for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2024 and no sales in fiscal 2025. On May 30, 2025, we completed the sale of the Fortress fire retardant assets.

•Operating income was $25.3 million for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2025, compared to an operating loss of $(116.8) million, for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2024. The improvement in operating income for fiscal 2025, compared to the operating loss for fiscal 2024, was primarily due to a decrease in impairment losses and lower selling, general and administrative expenses. These positive effects were partially offset by a decline in gross profit (see Gross Profit and Gross Margin Commentary below) and a decrease in the gain contingent consideration related to the Fortress acquisition.

•Diluted net loss per share of $1.91 improved by $3.08 from a net loss of $4.99 per common share in the prior fiscal year period.

GROSS PROFIT & GROSS MARGIN COMMENTARY: — For the Fiscal Year Ended September 30, 2025, Compared to the Fiscal Year Ended September 30, 2024

Gross Profit: Decreased 2.2%, or $4.3 million; Gross Margin decreased 2.2% from 17.5% to 15.3%

•Salt segment gross profit decreased $18.9 million, primarily due to lower average combined sales prices and higher per-unit product costs, partially offset by higher sales volumes (see Salt operating results).

•Gross profit for the Plant Nutrition segment increased $23.1 million due to higher sales volumes and lower per-unit product costs, partially offset by lower average sales prices and higher per-unit distribution costs (see Plant Nutrition operating results).

•Gross profit was also unfavorably impacted by a reduction in Fortress gross profit, in comparison to the prior year. No Fortress sales occurred in fiscal 2025, and on May 30, 2025, we completed the sale of the Fortress fire retardant assets.

OTHER EXPENSES AND INCOME COMMENTARY: — For the Fiscal Year Ended September 30, 2025, Compared to the Fiscal Year Ended September 30, 2024

SG&A: Decreased $24.5 million; Decreased 3.2 percentage points as a percentage of sales from 12.3% to 9.1%

•The decrease in SG&A expense was primarily due to reductions in corporate compensation expense and professional services.

Loss on Impairments: Decreased $137.3 million to $53.7 million

•We recorded a loss on impairment of definite-lived intangible assets and long-lived assets of $53.7 million, during the fiscal year ended September 30, 2025, related to the exit of Fortress.

•During the fiscal year ended September 30, 2024, we recognized goodwill impairments of $51.0 million related to our Plant Nutrition segment and $32.0 million related to our Fortress operations (within the Corporate and Other segment). The Plant Nutrition impairment was primarily the result of reduced cash flow assumptions impacting expected profitability of the Plant Nutrition segment. The Fortress impairment was primarily related to uncertainty surrounding our magnesium chloride-based fire retardants which impacted projected future revenues and cash flows. Also, during the fiscal year ended September 30, 2024, we recorded a loss on impairment of definite-lived intangible asset of $15.6 million, related to Fortress magnesium chloride-based products.

•We recorded a loss on impairment of long-lived assets of $74.8 million for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2024 related to the termination of the lithium development.

•We recorded an impairment loss of $17.6 million for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2024 in our Plant Nutrition segment related to water rights definite-lived intangible asset.

•See Item 8, Note 2. Summary of Significant Policies of our Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information on the impairment losses discussed above.

Other Operating (Income) Expense: Decreased $15.4 million from income of $17.0 million to income of $1.6 million

•The decrease in other operating income was primarily due to a decrease in the gain contingent consideration of $14.2 million related to the Fortress acquisition, along with an increase in legal fees and product recall costs, partially offset by the decrease in severance costs and corporate restructuring charges.

Interest Income: Increased $0.3 million to $1.3 million

•The increase in interest income during the current fiscal year period is primarily due to a higher average cash balance in the current year.

Interest Expense: Decreased $1.0 million to $68.5 million

•The decrease was primarily due to lower debt levels in the current fiscal year period.

Gain (Loss) on Foreign Exchange: Changed by $0.8 million from a $0.7 million loss in the prior fiscal year to $0.1 million gain

•We realized a foreign exchange gain of $0.1 million for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2025, compared to a loss of $0.7 million in the prior year, primarily reflecting the translation of our intercompany loans from Canadian dollars to U.S. dollars.

Loss on Extinguishment of Debt: $7.6 million in the current fiscal year

•We recorded a loss on extinguishment of debt of $7.6 million in the fiscal year ended September 30, 2025, comprised of a $3.9 million prepayment premium related to the partial redemption of 6.75% Senior Notes due 2027 (the “2027 Notes”) and a $3.7 million write-off of unamortized deferred financing costs related to the partial redemption of 2027 Notes and repayment of our term loan. See Item 8, Note 10. Long-Term Debt and Finance Lease Liabilities of our Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information.

Other Expense, Net: Increased $2.1 million to $4.3 milli

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