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Companies · KEYS · Industrial Instruments For Measurement, Display, And Control · Earnings · Aug 18, 2026

Keysight’s Q3 surges past expectations as communications demand powers record growth

Beatpartly known
Non-GAAP EPS $3.07 vs ~$2.14 consensus; revenue $1.846B vs ~$1.644B consensus
Keysight Technologies, Inc. (KEYS) — what happened, in plain English, and what it means versus what the market expected.

The quarter was expected to be strong, but the magnitude was much larger. The prior company outlook called for Q3 revenue of $1.730B–$1.750B, while published expectations were roughly $1.644B of revenue and $2.14 of adjusted EPS. The filing delivered $1.846B of revenue and $3.07 of non-GAAP EPS, making this a clear beat on both sales and earnings.

MetricQ3 FY26Q3 FY25Year-over-year / expectation
Orders$2.091B$1.340B+56% (Financial Highlights)
Revenue$1.846B$1.352B+36%; above ~$1.644B consensus (Income Statement)
GAAP diluted EPS$2.30$1.10+109% (Income Statement)
Non-GAAP diluted EPS$3.07$1.72+79%; above ~$2.14 consensus (EPS reconciliation)
Free cash flow$403M$291M+38% (Free Cash Flow)

Commercial communications was the main upside engine, not a broad but muted recovery. Commercial Communications revenue rose 56% to $1.006B, driving much of the company’s 36% growth, while aerospace, defense and government grew 14%. CSG revenue reached $1.345B, up 43% year over year.

The beat also came with meaningful operating leverage. CSG operating margin expanded to 34% from 26%, and Electronic Industrial Solutions Group margin rose to 31% from 22%; companywide GAAP operating income nearly doubled to $461M from $234M. (Segment results — Communications Solutions Group; Segment results — Electronic Industrial Solutions Group; Income Statement)

Orders suggest the upside was supported by demand rather than accounting alone. Q3 orders were $2.091B, up 56% year over year, with the order-to-revenue ratio above one. Cash generation also improved, with nine-month operating cash flow of $1.379B and free cash flow of $1.282B versus $1.184B and $1.094B, respectively, in the prior year. (Financial Highlights; Cash Flow statement; Free Cash Flow)

Net read: a broad, substantial beat that resets the near-term picture higher. Q4 guidance calls for $1.930B–$1.950B of revenue and $3.34–$3.40 of non-GAAP EPS, extending the acceleration implied by this quarter rather than merely maintaining the prior trajectory. The direction was partly known because management had already guided to a strong Q3; the surprise is how far results exceeded that bar.

Read the original 8-K on SEC EDGAR ↗
All KEYS filings, decoded →
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AllSight turns SEC filings into plain-English, neutral reads and objective market context. We explain what happened and how it lands versus expectations — we do not give investment advice or predict prices. Decoded straight from the filing; check it against the source.