Highwater Ethanol boosts sales as export demand and E15 rise
Highwater Ethanol booked $14.3 million from 45Z credits and swung to $8.3 million quarterly profit as exports and E15 lifted sales.
On May 29, Highwater Ethanol sold $14.3 million of 2025 Section 45Z credits. The tax-credit purchase agreement also gave the buyer a right of first refusal through January 31, 2027 on up to $14 million a year of 2026 through 2029 credits on similar terms. Highwater Ethanol had revenue of $38.4 million for the period ended April 30, 2026, up from $35.1 million a year earlier, while net income rose to $8.3 million from a loss of about $0.5 million.
For the fiscal year ended October 31, 2025, Highwater Ethanol had revenue of $141.17 million and net income of $16.33 million, with ethanol sales of $108.44 million. Ethanol sales rose 3.1% as the average ethanol selling price increased 1.9%, and the company attributed the improvement to higher export gallons and stronger domestic demand. Year-round E15 sales and California approval of E15 could support demand and pricing going forward.
Highwater Ethanol was formed on May 2, 2006 to build a 50 million gallon-a-year plant near Lamberton, Minnesota, and it reported its first ethanol in August 2009. The company now employs 40 full-time workers. Minnesota requires all gasoline sold there to contain 10% ethanol, and the state has 18 ethanol plants with more than 1 billion gallons of combined capacity.
As of June 26, 2026, HEOL screened at 3.4x forward EV/EBITDA on valueinvesting.io’s peer table, below Green Plains at 7.7x and the 7.7x industry median, while Granite Falls Energy stood at 2.8x. Domestic corn prices and corn supply, energy prices, inventory levels and foreign export demand can affect ethanol prices.
This article was produced by Prism’s automated news system from verified source data, official records, and press releases, then run through automated quality and moderation checks before publishing. The system is built and supervised by the people who set the standards it runs under. Read our full AI policy.
Did this article answer your question?
