News Details

NEENAH, WI, July 29, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Plexus Corp. (NASDAQ: PLXS) today announced financial results for our fiscal third quarter ended July 4, 2026, and guidance for our fiscal fourth quarter ending October 3, 2026.

• Reports record fiscal third quarter 2026 revenue of $1.305 billion, GAAP operating margin of 4.7% and GAAP diluted EPS of $1.58.
• Reports fiscal third quarter 2026 non-GAAP operating margin of 6.3% and non-GAAP diluted EPS of $2.32, excluding $0.74 of stock-based compensation expense.
• Initiates fiscal fourth quarter 2026 revenue guidance of $1.330 billion to $1.380 billion with GAAP diluted EPS of $2.18 to $2.34, including $0.29 of stock-based compensation expense. Fiscal fourth quarter non-GAAP EPS guidance of $2.47 to $2.63 excludes stock-based compensation expense.
  

Fiscal Third Quarter 2026 Information

• Won 31 manufacturing programs during the quarter representing $255 million in annualized revenue when fully ramped into production.
• Purchased $20.6 million of our shares at an average price of $258.75 per share under our 2026 Share Repurchase Program, leaving $21.4 million available under our existing $100.0 million authorization.

Todd Kelsey, President and Chief Executive Officer, commented, “Plexus generated record quarterly revenue in the fiscal third quarter by capturing strengthening end market demand and successfully launching numerous new programs. Fiscal third quarter revenue of $1.305 billion exceeded guidance, increasing 12% sequentially and 28% year over year. In addition, non-GAAP operating margin of 6.3% met the high end of guidance, non-GAAP EPS of $2.32 exceeded guidance and we again delivered healthy working capital efficiency.”  

Mr. Kelsey added, “Our go-to-market team continued to drive strong performance with quarterly manufacturing wins of $255 million in annualized revenue. This result included significant wins for our Aerospace/Defense market sector as well as a new partnership in our Industrial market sector manufacturing a battery energy storage system for data centers. Furthermore, we expanded our funnel of qualified manufacturing opportunities to $4.5 billion, a record level, supporting the potential to sustain robust long-term revenue growth.”

David Abuhl, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, commented, “Driven by continued progress on our working capital initiatives, our cash cycle of 62 days exceeded expectations. This outstanding result is the best quarterly cash cycle performance in over five years. In support of accelerating revenue growth, we had a slight usage of free cash flow in the quarter, which was better than our expectations. While we expect to maintain cash cycle days in the low-to-mid 60s for the fiscal fourth quarter, further working capital investments are required to support our substantial revenue growth projections. As such, we now expect a usage of free cash flow for fiscal 2026 with a return to meaningful free cash flow generation in early fiscal 2027.”

Mr. Abuhl continued, “Our favorable cash cycle days, prudent capital expenditures and strong operating performance produced a return on invested capital of 14.9% in the quarter, up 110 basis points versus the prior quarter and 590 basis points above our cost of capital. This result represented the highest return in nearly five years.”

Mr. Kelsey continued, “For our fiscal fourth quarter, we forecast continued revenue growth led by strength in our Healthcare/Life Sciences and Industrial market sectors, including our semiconductor capital equipment subsector. We are guiding revenue of $1.330 to $1.380 billion, up 4% sequentially and 28% year over year at the midpoint, non-GAAP operating margin of 6.1% to 6.5% and non-GAAP EPS of $2.47 to $2.63. For fiscal 2026, we now anticipate generating in excess of 20% revenue growth due to Plexus’ success in launching numerous new programs and our market share gains combined with improved end market demand. Additionally, we expect to deliver this considerable revenue growth with greater than 6% non-GAAP operating margin and healthy working capital efficiency.”

Mr. Kelsey concluded, “Our differentiated value proposition, focused on providing unmatched quality and delivery, is resulting in robust performance for fiscal 2026 and positions Plexus for sustained, long-term momentum. We currently see the potential to generate fiscal 2027 revenue growth in excess of our 9% to 12% goal led by our Aerospace/Defense and Industrial market sectors, including our semiconductor capital equipment subsector. In addition, we anticipate delivering operating margin expansion, while continuing to make important investments in talent and technology in support of future growth.”

Business Segment and Market Sector Revenue

Plexus measures operational performance and allocates resources on a geographic segment basis. Plexus also reports revenue based on the market sector breakout set forth in the table below, which reflects Plexus’ market sector focused strategy. Top 10 customers comprised 55% of revenue during the third quarter of fiscal 2026. This is up 1 percentage point from the second quarter of fiscal 2026 and up 7 percentage points from the third quarter of fiscal 2025.

Non-GAAP Supplemental Information

Plexus provides non-GAAP supplemental information, such as ROIC, economic return and free cash flow, because such measures are used for internal management goals and decision-making, and because they provide management and investors with additional insight into financial performance. In addition, management uses these and other non-GAAP measures, such as adjusted operating income, adjusted operating margin, adjusted net income and adjusted diluted EPS, to provide a better understanding of core performance for purposes of period-to-period comparisons. Plexus believes that these measures are also useful to investors because they provide further insight by eliminating the effect of non-recurring items that are not reflective of continuing operations. For additional information on non-GAAP measures, please refer to the attached Non-GAAP Supplemental Information tables.

ROIC and Economic Return

ROIC for the third quarter of fiscal 2026 was 14.9%. Plexus defines ROIC as tax-effected annualized adjusted operating income divided by average invested capital over a four-quarter period for the third fiscal quarter. Invested capital is defined as equity plus debt and operating lease obligations, less cash and cash equivalents. Plexus' weighted average cost of capital for fiscal 2026 is 9.0%. ROIC for the third quarter of fiscal 2026 less Plexus’ weighted average cost of capital resulted in an economic return of 5.9%.

Free Cash Flow

Plexus defines free cash flow as cash flows provided by operations less capital expenditures. For the three months ended July 4, 2026, cash flows provided by operations was $25.9 million and capital expenditures were $26.6 million, which resulted in a usage of free cash flow of $0.7 million.

Conference Call and Webcast Information

Investor and Media Contact
Shawn Harrison
+1.920.969.6325
shawn.harrison@plexus.com

About Plexus
At Plexus, we help create the products that build a better world. Driven by a passion for excellence, we partner with our customers to design, manufacture and service highly complex products in demanding regulatory environments. From life-saving medical devices and mission-critical aerospace and defense products to industrial automation systems and semiconductor capital equipment, our innovative solutions across the lifecycle of a product converge where advanced technology and human impact intersect. We provide these solutions to market-leading as well as disruptive global companies in the Aerospace/Defense, Healthcare/Life Sciences, and Industrial sectors, supported by a global team of over 20,000 members across our 27 facilities. For more information about Plexus, visit our website at www.plexus.com.

Safe Harbor and Fair Disclosure Statement
The statements contained in this press release that are guidance or which are not historical facts (such as statements in the future tense and statements including believe, expect, intend, plan, anticipate, goal, target and similar terms and concepts), including all discussions of periods which are not yet completed, are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. These risks and uncertainties include the effects of tariffs, trade disputes, trade agreements and other trade protection measures; the effects of shortages, delays and price fluctuations in obtaining components as a result of economic cycles, capacity constraints, natural disasters or otherwise; the risk of customer delays, changes, cancellations or forecast inaccuracies in both ongoing and new programs; the particular risks relative to new or recent customers, programs or services, which risks include customer and other delays, start-up costs, potential inability to execute, the establishment of appropriate engagement terms, and the lack of a track record of order volume and timing; the risk that new program wins and/or customer demand may not result in the expected revenue or profitability; the lack of visibility of future orders, particularly in view of changing economic conditions; the economic performance of the industries, sectors and customers we serve; the effects of the volume of revenue from certain sectors or programs on our margins in particular periods; our ability to secure new customers, maintain our current customers and deliver product on a timely basis; the risks of concentration of work for certain customers; the effects of start-up costs of new programs and facilities or the costs associated with winding down programs or the closure or consolidation of facilities; possible unexpected costs and operating disruption in transitioning programs, including transitions between Company facilities; the risks associated with excess and obsolete inventory, including the risk that inventory purchased on behalf of our customers may not be consumed or otherwise paid for by the customer, resulting in an inventory write-off; the fact that customer orders may not lead to long-term relationships; our ability to manage successfully and execute a complex business model characterized by high product mix and demanding quality, regulatory, and other requirements; the outcome of litigation and regulatory investigations and proceedings, including the results of any challenges with regard to such outcomes; the ability to realize anticipated savings from restructuring or similar actions, as well as the adequacy of related charges as compared to actual expenses; risks related to information technology systems and data security; increasing regulatory and compliance requirements; any tax law changes and related foreign jurisdiction tax developments; current or potential future barriers to the repatriation of funds that are currently held outside of the United States as a result of actions taken by other countries or otherwise; the potential effects of jurisdictional results on our taxes, tax rates, and our ability to use deferred tax assets and net operating losses; the weakness of the economy regionally or globally; the effect of changes in the pricing and margins of our services; raw materials and component cost fluctuations; the potential effect of fluctuations in the value of the currencies in which we transact business; the effects of changes in economic conditions, political conditions and regulatory matters in the United States and in the other countries in which we do business; the potential effect of other events outside our control, such as the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, conflict in the Middle East (including in Iran), escalating tensions between China and Taiwan or China and the United States, tensions in or amongst countries in which we operate or transact business; changes in energy prices, terrorism, global health epidemics and weather events; the impact of increased competition; an inability to successfully manage human capital, including succession planning for and transition of senior executives; changes in financial accounting standards; and other risks detailed herein and in our other Securities and Exchange Commission filings, particularly in Risk Factors contained in our fiscal 2025 Form 10-K.