MATTHEWS INTERNATIONAL CORP (MATW) FY 2025 MD&A

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

The following discussion should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements of Matthews and related notes thereto.  In addition, see "Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Information" included in Part I of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

RESULTS OF OPERATIONS:

The Company manages its businesses under three segments: Memorialization, Industrial Technologies and Brand Solutions. The Memorialization segment consists primarily of bronze and granite memorials and other memorialization products, caskets, cremation-related products, and cremation and incineration equipment primarily for the cemetery and funeral home industries. The Industrial Technologies segment includes the design, manufacturing, service and sales of high-tech custom energy storage solutions; product identification and warehouse automation technologies and solutions, including order fulfillment systems for identifying, tracking, picking and conveying consumer and industrial products; and coating and converting lines for the packaging, pharma, foil, décor and tissue industries. The Brand Solutions segment consists of brand management, pre-media services, printing plates and cylinders, imaging services, digital asset management, merchandising display systems, and marketing and design services primarily for the consumer goods and retail industries. On May 1, 2025, the Company contributed its SGK Business to a newly-formed entity, Propelis, in exchange for a 40% ownership interest in Propelis and other consideration. Propelis is a leading global provider of brand solutions. Following the completion of this transaction, the Company's Brand Solutions segment consists of its cylinders business, and its 40% ownership interest in Propelis. Activity prior to May 1, 2025 for the SGK Business is included within the consolidated financial statements of the Company. As of May 1, 2025 the SGK Business has been deconsolidated from the financial statements and is now accounted for as part of the Company's equity-method investment in Propelis. The Company recognizes its portion of the earnings or losses for its equity-method investment in Propelis on a three-month lag to ensure consistency and timely filing of the Company's financial statements. Consequently, in fiscal 2025, the Company's portion of earnings for its equity-method investment in Propelis only includes the months of May and June 2025. See Notes 8, "Investments" and 23, "Acquisitions and Divestitures" in Item 8 - "Financial Statements and Supplementary Data" for further information with respect to the Company's sale of its interest in the SGK Business.

The Company's primary measure of segment profitability is adjusted earnings before interest, income taxes, depreciation and amortization ("adjusted EBITDA"). Adjusted EBITDA is defined by the Company as earnings before interest, income taxes, depreciation, amortization and certain non-cash and/or non-recurring items that do not contribute directly to management’s evaluation of its operating results. These items include stock-based compensation, the non-service portion of pension and postretirement expense, acquisition and divestiture costs, gains and losses on divestitures, enterprise resource planning ("ERP") integration costs, and strategic initiatives and other charges. This presentation is consistent with how the Company's chief operating decision maker (the “CODM”), identified as the Company’s President and Chief Executive Officer, evaluates the results of operations and makes strategic and resource allocation decisions about the business. For these reasons, the Company believes that adjusted EBITDA represents the most relevant measure of segment profit and loss.

In addition, the CODM manages and evaluates the operating performance of the segments, as described above, on a pre-corporate cost allocation basis. Accordingly, for segment reporting purposes, the Company does not allocate corporate costs to its reportable segments. Corporate costs include management and administrative support to the Company, which consists of certain aspects of the Company’s executive management, legal, compliance, human resources, information technology (including operational support) and finance departments. These costs are included within "Corporate and Non-Operating" in the following table to reconcile to consolidated adjusted EBITDA and are not considered a separate reportable segment. Management does not allocate non-operating items such as investment income, other income (deductions), net and noncontrolling interest to the segments.

27

ITEM 7.     MANAGEMENT'S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS, (continued)

The following table sets forth sales and adjusted EBITDA for the Company's Memorialization, Industrial Technologies and Brand Solutions segments for each of the last three fiscal years. Refer to Note 22, "Segment Information" in Item 8 - "Financial Statements and Supplementary Data" for the Company's financial information by segment. Net loss was $24.5 million for the year ended September 30, 2025 compared to a net loss of $59.7 million and net income of $39.1 million for the years ended September 30, 2024 and 2023, respectively. Refer to "Non-GAAP Financial Measures" below for a reconciliation of net (loss) income to adjusted EBITDA.

(1) Total Adjusted EBITDA is a non-GAAP financial measure. See the "Non-GAAP Financial Measures" section below.

Comparison of Fiscal 2025 and Fiscal 2024:

Sales for the year ended September 30, 2025 were $1.5 billion, compared to $1.8 billion for the year ended September 30, 2024.  The decrease in fiscal 2025 sales reflected a sales reduction of $200.5 million resulting from the divestiture of the Company's interest in the SGK Business on May 1, 2025 (see Acquisitions and Divestitures below). The fiscal 2025 sales decline also reflected lower sales in the Industrial Technologies and Memorialization segments. On a consolidated basis, changes in foreign currency exchange rates were estimated to have a favorable impact of $2.3 million on fiscal 2025 sales compared to the prior year.

Memorialization segment sales for fiscal 2025 were $809.5 million, compared to $829.7 million for fiscal 2024.  The sales decrease principally reflected lower unit sales of caskets, bronze and granite memorial products, and cremation equipment, primarily reflecting a decline in U.S. death rates. These declines were partially offset by inflationary price realization and the favorable net impact of recently completed acquisitions and divestitures (see Acquisitions and Divestitures below). Industrial Technologies segment sales for fiscal 2025 were $342.2 million, compared to $433.2 million for fiscal 2024.  The decrease in sales reflected lower sales of purpose-built engineered products (primarily energy storage solutions for the electric vehicle market and coating and converting equipment), and reduced product identification sales. The decrease also reflected lower sales of R+S automotive engineering solutions, as the Company has discontinued these product offerings. Fiscal 2025 sales for the Industrial Technologies segment were impacted by customer delays impacting the timing of projects within the energy storage business. The declines in segment sales were partially offset by improved sales of warehouse automation solutions. Changes in foreign currency exchange rates had a favorable impact of $4.4 million on the segment's sales compared to the prior year. In the Brand Solutions segment, sales for fiscal 2025 were $345.9 million, compared to $532.9 million for fiscal 2024.  The decrease in sales primarily reflected the divestiture of the Company's interest in the SGK Business on May 1, 2025. Sales for the SGK Business prior to the divestiture (versus the comparable period of the prior year) reflected higher brand sales in the U.S. and Asia-Pacific regions, improved retail-based sales, increased private-label brand sales, and improved price realization to mitigate inflationary cost increases. These increases were partially offset by lower brand sales in Europe and the impact of unfavorable changes in foreign exchange rates. Brand Solutions segment sales also reflected lower sales for the European cylinders (packaging) business, which was not part of the sale of the SGK Business and remains part of the Company. Changes in foreign currency exchange rates had an unfavorable impact of $2.0 million on the segment's sales compared to the prior year.

Gross profit for the year ended September 30, 2025 was $507.6 million, compared to $529.7 million for fiscal 2024.  The decrease in gross profit reflected a reduction of $51.2 million resulting from the divestiture of the Company's interest in the

28

ITEM 7.     MANAGEMENT'S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS, (continued)

SGK Business. The gross profit decline also reflected the impact of lower sales, higher material and labor costs, and a $5.6 million loss on the sale of certain property and other assets. These decreases were partially offset by the impact of improved price realization, benefits from the realization of productivity improvements and other cost-reduction initiatives, and the favorable net impact of recently completed acquisitions and divestitures within the Memorialization segment. Gross profit also included acquisition integration costs and other charges primarily in connection with cost-reduction initiatives totaling $4.6 million and $39.2 million in fiscal 2025 and 2024, respectively.

Selling and administrative expenses for the year ended September 30, 2025 were $467.2 million, compared to $488.3 million for fiscal 2024.  Consolidated selling and administrative expenses, as a percent of sales, were 31.2% for fiscal 2025, compared to 27.2% in fiscal 2024. Selling and administrative expenses in fiscal 2025 reflected benefits from ongoing cost-reduction initiatives, and a $30.4 million reduction in selling and administrative expenses from the divestiture of the Company's interest in the SGK Business, partially offset by higher compensation costs. Fiscal 2025 selling and administrative expenses included $5.1 million of costs related to the Company's 2025 contested proxy, $8.7 million of net gains on the sales of certain significant property and other assets, $3.5 million of accelerated stock-based compensation costs related to the Company's divestiture of its interest in the SGK Business, $8.0 million of expense related to the settlement of a contractual licensing matter within the Memorialization segment (see Legal Matters below) and a $2.1 million loss on a small divestiture in the Industrial Technologies segment. Selling and administrative expenses included legal costs related to an ongoing dispute with Tesla totaling $22.2 million in fiscal 2025 and $12.4 million in fiscal 2024 (see Legal Matters below). Selling and administrative expenses included fees for receivables sold under a receivables purchase agreement and factoring arrangement totaling $3.9 million in fiscal 2025 and $4.8 million in fiscal 2024. Selling and administrative expenses included non-cash impairment charges for the write-down of certain net assets held-for-sale totaling $7.9 million and $13.7 million in fiscal 2025 and 2024, respectively. Refer to Note 25, "Asset Write-downs" in Item 8 - "Financial Statements and Supplementary Data" for further details. Selling and administrative expenses also included acquisition integration and related systems-integration costs, and other charges primarily in connection with certain commercial, operational and cost-reduction initiatives totaling $11.5 million in fiscal 2025, compared to $19.7 million in fiscal 2024. Intangible amortization for the year ended September 30, 2025 was $20.1 million, compared to $37.0 million for fiscal 2024. The fiscal 2025 decrease in intangible amortization reflected certain intangible assets reaching the end of their amortizable lives, and lower amortization following the Company's divestiture of its interest in the SGK Business. During fiscal 2025, the Company recognized a $55.1 million pre-tax gain on the sale of its interest in the SGK Business (see Acquisitions and Divestitures below). During fiscal 2024, the Company recorded a goodwill write-down of $16.7 million related to the Surfaces and Engineering reporting unit within the Industrial Technologies segment. Refer to Note 24, "Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets" in Item 8 - "Financial Statements and Supplementary Data" for further details.

Adjusted EBITDA for fiscal 2025 was $187.5 million, compared to $205.2 million for fiscal 2024. Memorialization segment adjusted EBITDA for fiscal 2025 was $169.5 million, compared to $162.6 million for fiscal 2024.  The increase in segment adjusted EBITDA reflected the impact of improved price realization, benefits from productivity initiatives, and the favorable net impact of recent acquisitions and divestitures. These increases were partially offset by the impact of lower unit sales, and higher material and labor costs. Adjusted EBITDA for the Industrial Technologies segment for fiscal 2025 was $27.9 million, compared to $39.7 million in fiscal 2024. The decrease in segment adjusted EBITDA primarily reflected the impact of lower sales of engineered products, partially offset by benefits from cost-reduction initiatives. Adjusted EBITDA for the Brand Solutions segment for fiscal 2025 was $40.3 million, compared to $61.6 million for fiscal 2024.  The decrease in segment adjusted EBITDA primarily reflected a reduction of $28.6 million resulting from the divestiture of the Company's interest in the SGK Business, partially offset by the inclusion of the Company's portion (40% ownership interest) of Propelis' adjusted EBITDA, which totaled $7.5 million in fiscal 2025. See Notes 8, "Investments" and 23, "Acquisitions and Divestitures" in Item 8 - "Financial Statements and Supplementary Data" for further information with respect to the Company's sale of its interest in the SGK Business. Adjusted EBITDA for the SGK Business prior to the divestiture (versus the comparable period of the prior year) reflected the impact of higher labor costs, partially offset by the impact of improved price realization and benefits from cost-reduction initiatives. Brand Solutions segment adjusted EBITDA also reflected declines for the European cylinders (packaging) business, which was not part of the sale of the SGK Business and remains part of the Company.

Interest expense for fiscal 2025 was $62.9 million, compared to $50.5 million in fiscal 2024.  The increase in interest expense reflected higher average interest rates, partially offset by a decrease in average borrowing levels in the current fiscal year. Other income (deductions), net for the year ended September 30, 2025 represented an increase in pre-tax income of $3.7 million, compared to a decrease in pre-tax income of $6.8 million in fiscal 2024. Other income (deductions), net includes investment income, banking-related fees and the impact of currency gains and losses on certain intercompany debt and foreign denominated cash balances. Other income (deductions), net included currency losses associated with highly inflationary accounting for the Company's subsidiaries in Turkey totaling $1.1 million and $1.0 million in fiscal years 2025 and 2024, respectively (see Note 2, "Summary of Significant Accounting Policies" in Item 8 - "Financial Statements and Supplementary Data" for further details). Fiscal 2025 other income (deductions), net included $2.1 million of paid-in-kind interest income related to the Company's preferred equity investment in Propelis. Fiscal 2025 other income (deductions), net also included loss

29

ITEM 7.     MANAGEMENT'S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS, (continued)

recoveries totaling $1.7 million which were related to a previously disclosed theft of funds by a former employee initially identified in fiscal 2015. Fiscal 2024 other income (deductions), net included a non-cash impairment charge of $3.1 million for the write-down of a cost-method investment (see Note 8, "Investments" in Item 8 - "Financial Statements and Supplementary Data" for further details).

The Company's consolidated income taxes for the year ended September 30, 2025 were an expense of $40.7 million, compared to a benefit of $10.0 million for fiscal 2024. The difference between the Company's consolidated income taxes for fiscal 2025 compared to fiscal 2024 partially resulted from the Company's fiscal 2025 pre-tax consolidated income position compared to a pre-tax consolidated loss for fiscal 2024. The fiscal 2025 tax rate included charges related to changes in the realizability of certain foreign deferred tax assets. These changes included both current year foreign net operating losses requiring a full valuation allowance as well as other changes in realizability of certain foreign net operating losses from prior years. The fiscal 2025 consolidated income before income taxes also reflected impacts related to the divestiture of the Company's interest in the SGK Business, the write down of certain net assets held-for-sale that were non-deductible for tax purposes, tax associated with the sale of certain foreign assets not offset by losses, and top-up tax related to the OECD Pillar Two global minimum tax. Additionally, the fiscal 2025 tax rate benefited from research and development and foreign tax credits. The fiscal 2024 effective tax rate benefited from research and development and foreign tax credits, and changes in realizability of certain foreign deferred tax assets due to the utilization of foreign tax net operating losses with a valuation allowance. The fiscal 2024 effective tax rate was negatively impacted by share-based compensation.

Legal Matters

Refer to Note 20, "Commitments and Contingent Liabilities" in Item 8 - "Financial Statements and Supplementary Data," for information regarding the settlement of a contractual licensing matter within the Memorialization segment, and details related to an ongoing dispute with Tesla.

Related Party Transactions

Refer to Note 26, "Related Party Transactions" in Item 8 - "Financial Statements and Supplementary Data" for information regarding transactions with Propelis.

Comparison of Fiscal 2024 and Fiscal 2023:

For a comparison of the Company's results of operations for the fiscal years ended September 30, 2024 and September 30, 2023, see "Part II, Item 7. Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operation" of the Company's annual report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2024 filed with the SEC on November 22, 2024.

30

ITEM 7.     MANAGEMENT'S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS, (continued)

NON-GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES:

Included in this report are measures of financial performance that are not defined by GAAP. The Company uses certain non-GAAP financial measures to assist in comparing its performance on a consistent basis for purposes of business decision-making by removing the impact of certain items that management believes do not directly reflect the Company’s core operations including acquisition and divestiture costs, gains and losses on divestitures, ERP integration costs, strategic initiative and other charges (which includes non-recurring charges related to certain commercial and operational initiatives and exit activities), stock-based compensation and the non-service portion of pension and postretirement expense. Management believes that presenting non-GAAP financial measures is useful to investors because it (i) provides investors with meaningful supplemental information regarding financial performance by excluding certain items that management believes do not directly reflect the Company's core operations, (ii) permits investors to view performance using the same tools that management uses to budget, forecast, make operating and strategic decisions, and evaluate historical performance, and (iii) otherwise provides supplemental information that may be useful to investors in evaluating the Company’s results. The Company believes that the presentation of these non-GAAP financial measures, when considered together with the corresponding GAAP financial measures and the reconciliations to those measures, provided herein, provides investors with an additional understanding of the factors and trends affecting the Company’s business that could not be obtained absent these disclosures.

The Company believes that adjusted EBITDA provides relevant and useful information, which is used by the Company’s management in assessing the performance of its business. Adjusted EBITDA is defined by the Company as earnings before interest, income taxes, depreciation, amortization and certain non-cash and/or non-recurring items that do not contribute directly to management’s evaluation of its operating results. These items include stock-based compensation, the non-service portion of pension and postretirement expense, acquisition and divestiture costs, gains and losses on divestitures, ERP integration costs, and strategic initiatives and other charges. Adjusted EBITDA provides the Company with an understanding of earnings before the impact of investing and financing charges and income taxes, and the effects of certain acquisition and divestiture costs, gains and losses on divestitures, and ERP integration costs, and items that do not reflect the ordinary earnings of the Company’s operations. This measure may be useful to an investor in evaluating operating performance. It is also useful as a financial measure for lenders and is used by the Company’s management to measure business performance. Adjusted EBITDA is not a measure of the Company's financial performance under GAAP and should not be considered as an alternative to net income or other performance measures derived in accordance with GAAP, or as an alternative to cash flow from operating activities as a measure of the Company's liquidity. The Company's definition of adjusted EBITDA may not be comparable to similarly titled measures used by other companies.

31

ITEM 7.     MANAGEMENT'S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS, (continued)

The reconciliation of net income to adjusted EBITDA is as follows:

[table omitted - see filing]