Financial research concept

Deathcare Cemetery Preneed Sales Production

measures cemetery contracts sold before death or before delivery of the related property, merchandise, or services.

By Lee BaileyPublished Sep 26, 2026

Research context

See what supports this page, how current it is, and where comparable or historical context is available.

Research date: Sep 26, 2026Use the dated article and cited sources for the definition, examples, and stated limitations.
Operating-model context: 17 connected conceptsPart of the reviewed Deathcare Funeral & Cemetery Economics; issuer definitions remain distinct where disclosed.
Company examples: 1 reviewed companyRelationships reflect supported examples, not a normalized cross-company KPI ranking.

Preneed dominated cemetery sales production
Recognition waits for the underlying obligation
Production and backlog answer different questions
Part of the Deathcare Funeral & Cemetery Economics
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Deathcare cemetery preneed sales production measures sales of cemetery property, merchandise, and services before the time of need.

SCI reported $1.421 billion of cemetery preneed sales production in 2025.

Preneed dominated cemetery sales production

Adding $1.421 billion of preneed production to $429.9 million of atneed production gives $1.8509 billion of total cemetery sales production.

Preneed therefore represented about 76.8% of the total. That is a demand-generation metric, not current-period revenue.

Recognition waits for the underlying obligation

SCI records preneed cemetery sales in deferred revenue until the merchandise is delivered, the service is performed, or the property has been constructed and is available for interment.

That makes Cemetery Sales Deferred to Backlog a necessary companion metric.

Production and backlog answer different questions

Sales production measures newly written business during the period. Preneed Backlog is the stock of future unfulfilled contractual revenue accumulated across periods.

Strong production can add to backlog even when other backlog is being recognized into revenue at the same time.

Primary source: Service Corporation International 2025 Form 10-K.

Part of the Deathcare Funeral & Cemetery Economics

Connects comparable funeral volume, revenue per service, cremation mix and gross profit with preneed funding production, cemetery sales and backlog conversion, and the long-duration preneed revenue base.

Browse the full operating model in Company Analysis →

Where this concept fits

Cemetery sales production, deferral, and recognitionCurrent relationship
Preneed and atneed cemetery production describe current selling activity, while deferred production enters backlog and later becomes recognized revenue as property, merchandise, and services satisfy recognition conditions. Comparable gross profit shows the mature-location economics that result.
Cemetery Atneed Sales ProductionCemetery Preneed Sales ProductionCurrent conceptCemetery Revenue from Backlog Cemetery Sales Deferred to Backlog Comparable Cemetery Gross Profit Comparable Cemetery Gross Profit Margin
Funeral volume, revenue per service, mix, and gross profit
Comparable funeral economics connect services performed with average revenue per service, while cremation mix and cost structure shape the resulting gross profit and margin.
Comparable Cremation Rate Funeral Average Revenue per Service Comparable Funeral Gross Profit Comparable Funeral Gross Profit Margin Comparable Funeral Revenue Comparable Funeral Services Performed
Preneed funding production and future funeral demand
Insurance-funded and trust-funded preneed sales production build future funeral obligations through different funding structures. Contract counts separate volume from average contract size, while backlog captures the larger unfulfilled revenue base.
Preneed Backlog Preneed Insurance Contract Count Preneed Insurance Sales Production Preneed Trust Contract Count Preneed Trust Sales Production

See It in Company Research

These companies are examples of how the concept is reported or discussed in public filings. Definitions can differ by issuer; these links open company research rather than a normalized metric comparison.

SCIOpen operating-model research →17 of 17 reviewed concepts in Deathcare Funeral & Cemetery EconomicsCemetery sales production, deferral, and recognition6 of 6 bridge concepts supportedContinue through this bridge:Cemetery Atneed Sales Production Cemetery Revenue from Backlog Cemetery Sales Deferred to Backlog Comparable Cemetery Gross Profit Comparable Cemetery Gross Profit Margin

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Compare public companies

Compare preneed cemetery production with atneed demand, deferrals, and the backlog stock it can create.

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