Climb Global Solutions reported record third-quarter 2026 net sales of $220.3 million, up 37% year over year, as demand for cybersecurity, expanding vendor partnerships, and acquisitions supported the specialty distributor’s growth.
The results come amid broader strength in IT distribution, but CEO Dale Foster told Channel Insider that Climb’s strategy remains focused on developing vendor relationships, improving transaction efficiency, and supporting resellers rather than competing with larger distributors on scale alone.
The company also reported adjusted EBITDA of $14.7 million, up 35% year over year.
Fortinet and Darktrace partnerships fuel cybersecurity growth
Foster attributed much of Climb’s momentum to its vendor portfolio and sales organization, particularly the growing contributions of cybersecurity partners Fortinet and Darktrace.
Channel Insider previously reported on Climb’s Fortinet partnership, announced in December 2025, as part of the distributor’s strategy to expand security offerings for MSPs, VARs, and other solution providers.
Foster said Fortinet’s growth has accelerated, partly because resellers are moving business to Climb from competing distributors.
“We have resellers and VARs and MSPs that are just like, I just want the experience that I get from your team versus where I get it from another competitor,” Foster said.
Darktrace, meanwhile, has required a longer development cycle, with Climb working to align its sales organization with the vendor’s teams and establish more efficient distribution processes.
The partnerships reflect Climb’s broader emphasis on selecting complementary technologies rather than continuously expanding its line card.
NeoVAD acquisition expands Climb’s European distribution
Climb’s growth strategy also includes international expansion, most recently through its October acquisition of the French distributor NeoVAD.
Foster said NeoVAD, which generates approximately $30 million in annual business, offers more than geographic expansion. Its reseller training and customer education capabilities could influence how Climb supports partners in other markets.
“The French are going to teach us more than we’re going to teach them,” Foster said. “They do a lot of training of the resellers, and even some end users, you know, in conjunction with the reseller, on the products they sell.”
He pointed to similar lessons from Climb’s Interworks business in Greece, where marketplace-based transactions are helping the broader organization better understand how MSPs purchase and manage technology.
The acquisitions support Climb’s strategy of building regional expertise while extending its vendor portfolio into new markets. Still, Foster stressed that it doesn’t reflect a wholesale change in Climb’s market positioning.
“I do not want to act like we’re gonna acquire companies to be the size of, you know, Arrow or Ingram. I never wanted to do that,” Foster said.
Climb CEO highlights efficiency as IT distribution grows
Climb’s results follow strong earnings across the distribution sector, with Channel Insider’s recent analysis highlighting growth at TD SYNNEX, Ingram Micro, and Westcon-Comstor.
Foster sees AI infrastructure investment and cybersecurity requirements as interconnected drivers of demand, with newly deployed hardware and expanding AI environments creating additional security needs.
However, he also identified internal systems as a potential constraint on future growth.
“What will hold us back is our systems,” Foster said, explaining that Climb has prioritized IT investment to improve transaction capacity and reduce manual work.
That emphasis reflects a broader industry challenge: distributors must process increasingly complex transactions while providing technical expertise and partner enablement.
For Climb, the answer is not necessarily a larger portfolio or a more expansive business model.
“People buy from people,” Foster said. “People learn from other people.”
As Climb enters the final quarter of 2026, Foster expects continued momentum while maintaining the company’s specialty distribution approach.
“We’re going to take this back to the basics. The most important thing we do at Climb is that we show up at the vendors to say, Hey, we think we’re a good choice for you to take your product to market, and we show up at the resellers, the VARs, the MSPs, and the dealers. That’s our value.”
READ MORE: Compare Foster’s outlook to what he shared with Channel Insider following Climb’s Q2 results earlier this year.