...December 5, 2024 We believe Carriage Services Inc.'s (CSV) focus on pre-need sales and normal pricing increases will support steady near-term growth amid a normalizing death rate. Year to date ended Sept. 30, 2024, revenues increased by around 8.1% to $306.5 million, primarily because of pricing actions and sustained positive momentum in the company's Cemetery segment. Cemetery revenues increased 24.1% to $107.4 million, while Funeral revenues only increased 1% to $199.1 million as pricing actions offset lower volumes amid a normalizing death rate. Looking ahead, we anticipate this trend to persist likely into 2026 when the pandemic pull-forward effect is muted and likely offset by tailwinds from an aging demographic. While we believe CSV's investment in its Cemetery segment will continue to be a key contributor to top-line growth, there could be some risk to this segment given elevated competition. That said, we expect Carriage Services can sustain organic top-line growth of 3.5%-4.0%,...
