CPI Card Group Inc. (PMTS)

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

References to the “Company,” “our,” “us” or “we” refer to CPI Card Group Inc. and its subsidiaries. For an understanding of the significant factors that influenced our results, the following discussion should be read in conjunction with our unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements and related notes appearing elsewhere in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2026. Management’s Discussion and Analysis should also be read in conjunction with the management’s discussion and analysis and consolidated financial statements included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2025 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”).

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Information

Certain statements and information in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2026 (as well as information included in other written or oral statements we make from time to time) may contain or constitute “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”). The words “believe,” “estimate,” “project,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “affirm,” “plan,” “intend,” “foresee,” “should,” “would,” “could,” “continue,” “committed,” “attempt,” “aim,” “target,” “objective,” “guides,” “seek,” “focus,” “provides guidance,” “provides outlook” or other similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements, which are not historical in nature. These forward-looking statements, including statements about our strategic initiatives and market opportunities, are based on our current expectations and beliefs concerning future developments and their potential effect on us and other information currently available. Such forward-looking statements, because they relate to future events, are by their very nature subject to many important risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results or other events to differ materially from those contemplated.

These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: (i) risks relating to our business and industry, such as a deterioration in general economic conditions, including due to inflationary conditions, resulting in reduced consumer confidence and business spending, and a decline in consumer credit worthiness impacting demand for our products; the unpredictability of our operating results, including an inability to anticipate changes in customer inventory management practices and its impact on our business; our failure to retain our existing key customers or identify and attract new customers; the highly competitive, saturated and consolidated nature of our marketplace; our inability to develop, introduce and commercialize new products and related services, including due to our inability to undertake research and development activities; new and developing technologies that make our existing technology solutions and products obsolete or less relevant or our failure to introduce new products and related services in a timely manner or at all; system security risks, data protection breaches and cyber-attacks; the usage, or lack thereof, of artificial intelligence technologies; disruptions, delays or other failures in our supply chain, including as a result of inflationary pressures, single-source suppliers, failure or inability of suppliers to comply with our code of conduct or contractual requirements, trade restrictions, tariffs, foreign conflicts or political unrest in countries in which our suppliers operate, and our inability to pass related costs on to our customers or difficulty meeting customers’ delivery expectations due to extended lead times; changes in U.S. and global trade policy and the impact of tariffs on our business and results of operations; interruptions in our operations, including our information technology systems, or in the operations of the third parties that operate computing infrastructure on which we rely; defects in our software and computing systems; disruptions in production at one or more of our facilities due to weather conditions, climate change, political instability, or social unrest; problems in production quality, materials and process and costs relating to product defects and any related product liability and/or warranty claims and damage to our reputation; our inability to recruit, retain and develop qualified personnel, including key personnel, and implement effective succession processes; our substantial indebtedness, including the restrictive terms of our indebtedness and covenants of future agreements governing indebtedness and the resulting restraints on our ability to pursue our business strategies; our inability to make debt service payments or refinance such indebtedness; our inability to successfully execute on, integrate, or achieve the anticipated benefits of acquisitions, including the acquisition of Arroweye Solutions, Inc. (“Arroweye”), or execute on divestitures, strategic relationships, or investments; our status as an accelerated filer and complying with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and the costs associated with such compliance and implementation of procedures thereunder; our failure to maintain effective internal control over financial reporting and risks relating to investor confidence in our financial reporting; environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) preferences and demands of various stakeholders and the related impact on our ability to access capital, produce our products in conformity with stakeholder preferences, comply with stakeholder demands and comply with any related legal or regulatory requirements or restrictions; negative perceptions of our products due to the impact of our products and production processes on the environment and other ESG-related risks; damage to our reputation or brand image; our inability to adequately protect our trade secrets and intellectual property rights from misappropriation, infringement claims brought against us and risks related to open source software; our inability to renew licenses with key technology licensors; our limited ability to raise capital, which may lead to delays in innovation or the abandonment of our strategic initiatives; costs and impacts related to additional tax collection efforts

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by states, unclaimed property laws, or future increases in U.S. federal or state income taxes, resulting in additional expenses which we may be unable to pass along to our customers; our inability to realize the full value of our long-lived assets; costs and potential liabilities associated with compliance or failure to comply with laws and regulations, customer contractual requirements and evolving industry standards regarding consumer privacy and data use and security; our failure to operate our business in accordance with the Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council security standards or other industry standards; the effects of ongoing foreign conflicts on the global economy; adverse conditions in the banking system and financial markets, including the failure of banks and financial institutions; our failure to comply with environmental, health and safety laws and regulations that apply to our products and the raw materials we use in our production processes; (ii) risks relating to ownership of our common stock, such as those associated with concentrated ownership of our stock by our significant stockholders and potential conflicts of interests with other stockholders; the impact of concentrated ownership of our common stock and the sale or perceived sale of a substantial amount of common stock on the trading volume and market price of our common stock; potential conflicts of interest that may arise due to our Board of Directors being comprised in part of directors who are principals of or were nominated by our significant stockholders; the influence of securities analysts over the trading market for and price of our common stock, particularly due to the lack of substantial research coverage of our common stock; the impact of stockholder activism or actual or threatened securities litigation on the trading price and volatility of our common stock; certain provisions of our organizational documents and other contractual provisions that may delay or prevent a change in control and make it difficult for stockholders other than our significant stockholders to change the composition of our Board of Directors; and (iii) general risks, such as relating to our ability to comply with a wide variety of complex evolving laws and regulations and the exposure to liability for any failure to comply; the effect of legal and regulatory proceedings and the adequacy of our insurance policies; and other risks that are described in Part I, Item 1A, Risk Factors in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2025 filed with the SEC on March 5, 2026, and our other reports filed from time to time with the SEC.

We caution and advise readers not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof. These statements are based on assumptions that may not be realized and involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results or other events to differ materially from the expectations and beliefs contained herein. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements after the date they are made, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Company Overview

CPI is a payments technology company providing a comprehensive range of physical and digital payment solutions for U.S. financial institutions, processors, fintechs, prepaid program managers, and more. We are a leader in several areas of the U.S. payment card solutions market, including debit and credit card production, personalization, and a cloud-based instant issuance solution. We are also a market leader in the production of “Prepaid Debit Cards,” defined as debit cards issued on the networks of the “Payment Card Brands” (Visa, Mastercard®, American Express® and Discover®) but not linked to a traditional bank account, and related secure packaging solutions. We serve thousands of customers through direct and indirect sales channels and have maintained long-standing relationships with our top customers.

Our revenues are primarily generated from the production of and services related to secure debit and credit cards that are issued on the networks of the Payment Card Brands, including Prepaid Debit Cards.

Segment Overview

In connection with our increased strategic focus on expanding and developing additional proprietary integrated technological solutions for our customer base and to reflect the manner in which the Company’s Chief Operating Decision Maker (“CODM”), the Chief Executive Officer (“CEO”), manages our business, we implemented a revised segment structure to assess performance and allocate resources, beginning in the first quarter of 2026. The changes in our segment structure primarily relate to the separation of the results of our proprietary integrated technological related operations into a separate segment from the former Debit and Credit segment. Our business consists of the following reportable segments:

•Secure Card Solutions: primarily produces secure debit and credit cards and provides card personalization services for U.S. card-issuing financial institutions, including highly customizable, on-demand payment card solutions acquired through the purchase of Arroweye in the second quarter of 2025;

•Prepaid Solutions: primarily provides prepaid debit cards and secure packaging solutions and other integrated prepaid card services to prepaid program managers in the U.S.

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Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations

You should read the following discussion in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and the notes to those statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. This discussion and analysis contains forward-looking statements that involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions. Our actual results may differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of certain factors, some of which are not within our control. See "Risk Factors" and “Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements.”

Company Overview

CPI is a payments technology company providing a comprehensive range of physical and digital payment solutions for U.S. financial institutions, processors, fintechs, prepaid program managers, and more. We are a leader in several areas of the U.S. payment card solutions market, including debit and credit card production, personalization, and Software-as-a-Service-based (“SaaS-based”) instant issuance services. We are also a market leader in the production of “Prepaid Debit Cards,” defined as debit cards issued on the networks of the “Payment Card Brands” (Visa, Mastercard®, American Express® and Discover®) but not linked to a traditional bank account, and related secure packaging solutions. We serve thousands of customers through direct and indirect sales channels and have maintained long-standing relationships with our top customers.

Our revenues are primarily generated from the production of and services related to secure debit and credit cards that are issued on the networks of the Payment Card Brands, including Prepaid Debit Cards.

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Segment Overview

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Our business consists of the following reportable segments: Debit and Credit, Prepaid Debit, and Other.

Debit and Credit Segment

Our Debit and Credit segment primarily produces secure debit and credit cards and provides card services for U.S. card-issuing financial institutions. Services include personalization; instant issuance, which provides customers the ability to issue an instant personalized debit or credit card on-demand within a customer location; and other payment solutions such as digital push provisioning for mobile wallets.

Prepaid Debit Segment

Our Prepaid Debit segment primarily provides secure packaging solutions, Prepaid Debit Cards, and other integrated prepaid card services to prepaid program managers in the U.S.

Other

Our Other segment includes corporate expenses.

Key Components of Results of Operations

Beginning in the fourth quarter of 2025, we revised our financial statement presentation to better reflect the integrated nature of the services and solutions provided in connection with our product offerings. Accordingly, we no longer present “Products” and “Services” separately within revenue and cost of goods sold, and prior period amounts have been revised to conform the prior period presentation to the current period presentation.

Set forth below is a brief description of key line items of our consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive income.

Revenue

Revenue is generated from the sale to our customers, including the design and production of contact and contactless payment cards, which includes our eco-focused cards. Contactless cards have additional technology to process contactless transactions and generally have a higher selling price than contact-only cards. We also generate revenue from the sale of our Card@Once® instant issuance system and consumables, private label credit cards and retail gift cards, the personalization and fulfillment of payment cards, tamper-evident secure packaging, fulfillment services, SaaS-based personalization of instant issuance payment cards and other digital offerings. See Part II, Item 8, Financial Statements and Supplementary Data, Note 2 “Summary of Significant Accounting Policies” and Part II, Item 7, Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations, “Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates—Revenue Recognition” in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for further information and timing of revenue recognition for net sales. We include revenue from gross shipping and handling in revenue.

Cost of Goods Sold

Cost of goods sold includes the direct and indirect costs of the products we sell and the related services that we provide. Costs include the cost of raw materials, including microchips for all applicable cards and antennas for contactless cards, labor costs, equipment and facilities costs, operation overhead, depreciation and amortization, leases and transport costs. These costs also include Card@Once instant issuance hardware and consumable product costs. Additionally, costs include the cost of labor, raw materials in the case of tamper-evident secure packaging, equipment and facilities costs, operation overhead, depreciation and amortization, leases and transport costs. Cost of goods sold can be impacted by many factors, including volume, operational efficiencies, procurement costs, promotional activity, and employee relations. We include the costs of shipping and handling related to customer sales in cost of goods sold.

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Gross Profit and Gross Margin

Gross profit consists of our revenue less our cost of goods sold. Gross margin is gross profit as a percentage of revenue.

Selling, General and Administrative Expenses

Selling, general and administrative expenses (“SG&A”) primarily consist of expenses for executive, finance, sales, marketing, legal and compliance, information technology, procurement, customer service, human resources, research and development and administrative personnel, including payroll, benefits and stock-based compensation expense, bad debt expense and outside legal and other advisory fees, including consulting, accounting, and software related fees. Selling, general and administrative expenses also includes depreciation and amortization expense and may include impairment charges on tangible and intangible assets, when necessary.

Income from Operations and Operating Margin

Income from operations consists of our gross profit less our net selling, general and administrative expenses. Operating margin is income from operations as a percentage of revenue.

Other Expense, net

Other expense, net consists primarily of interest expense and other non-operating items.

Income Tax Expense

Income tax expense consists of our federal and state income taxes at statutory rates, including the impact of other items such as valuation allowances, tax credits, permanent items, and foreign taxes.

Net Income

Net income consists of our income from operations, less other expense, net, and income taxes.

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Results of Operations

Year Ended December 31, 2025 Compared with Year Ended December 31, 2024

The following table presents the components of our consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive income for each of the periods presented:

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* Calculation not meaningful.

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The following discussion of our consolidated results of operations and segment results refers to the year ended December 31, 2025 compared to the corresponding prior year period. The results of operations should be read in conjunction with the discussion of our segment results of operations, which provide more detailed discussions concerning certain components of the consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive income.

Revenue:

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Revenue increased $62.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2025, primarily due to contributions of $42.8 million, or 7.9% of revenue for the year ended December 31, 2025, from the acquisition of Arroweye as well as increased volumes of contactless cards, partially offset by decreased revenue in our Prepaid Debit segment.

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The decrease in revenue in the Prepaid Debit segment for the year ended December 31, 2025 was primarily attributable to a change in accounting in the second quarter of 2025 resulting in reduced revenue recognition related to work-in-process orders as discussed in Part II, Item 8, Financial Statements and Supplementary Data, Note 2, “Summary of Significant Accounting Policies.” Excluding the change in accounting, the increase in consolidated revenue would have been $73.0 million, or 15.3%.

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Gross Profit and Gross Profit Margin:

Gross profit and gross profit margin decreased for the year ended December 31, 2025, primarily due to unfavorable sales mix and increased production costs, including increased depreciation and tariff expenses, partially offset by benefits of operating leverage from increased revenue.

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Selling, General and Administrative Expenses:

Selling, general and administrative expenses increased for the year ended December 31, 2025, primarily due to increased professional service fees and other costs of $6.0 million associated with the acquisition and integration of Arroweye.

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Interest, net:

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Interest expense decreased for the year ended December 31, 2025, primarily due to payment in the prior year period of an early redemption premium of $5.8 million related to the redemption in full of the $267.9 million 8.625% Senior Secured Notes due 2026 (the “2026 Senior Notes”), as compared to payment in the current period of a $0.6 million premium related to the redemption of $20.0 million of our 10.000% Senior Secured Notes due

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