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Companies · STRT · Motor Vehicle Parts & Accessories · Earnings · Aug 25, 2026

Strattec sales beat expectations, but Q4 margins and EBITDA slipped

In linepartly known
adjusted EPS $2.06, unchanged year over year
STRATTEC SECURITY CORP (STRT) — what happened, in plain English, and what it means versus what the market expected.

The topline was better than feared, but not a growth surprise. Fourth-quarter sales of $151.8 million were essentially flat with $152.0 million a year earlier, while management said OEM production volumes came in better than industry forecasts. A $3.2 million hit from canceled EV programs was mostly offset by pricing actions.

MetricQ4 FY2026Q4 FY2025FY2026FY2025
Net sales$151.8M$152.0M$579.4M$565.1M
Gross margin15.6%16.7%16.5%15.0%
Adjusted EBITDA$12.5M$13.0M$50.5M$43.8M
Adjusted EBITDA margin8.3%8.5%8.7%7.7%
Adjusted diluted EPS$2.06$2.06$6.88$5.38
Cash from operations$9.7M$30.2M$46.3M$71.7M

Full-year transformation gains were real, but the latest quarter did not extend them. Fiscal-year gross margin expanded to 16.5% from 15.0%, and adjusted EBITDA rose 15.3% to $50.5 million. However, Q4 gross margin fell 110 basis points, adjusted EBITDA declined to $12.5 million from $13.0 million, and adjusted EBITDA margin narrowed to 8.3% from 8.5%. The quarterly result therefore reads as stabilization rather than accelerating operating leverage.

The headline GAAP earnings decline overstates the underlying deterioration, but adjusted earnings still went nowhere. Reported diluted EPS dropped to $0.95 from $2.01, driven partly by higher tax expense and other below-operating-line effects. On the company's adjusted measure, EPS was $2.06, exactly matching the prior-year quarter. SAE expenses also rose 3%, including $1.4 million of business transformation and executive-transition costs.

The balance sheet is the clearest positive, though cash conversion weakened sharply year over year. Cash ended at $108.2 million versus $84.6 million a year earlier, debt was fully repaid, and the company bought back $7.4 million of stock in the quarter with $40 million remaining under the authorization. But quarterly operating cash flow fell to $9.7 million from $30.2 million, with the prior-year comparison benefiting from a large working-capital release.

Net read: mixed and broadly in line, not a clean beat. The filing confirms better-than-forecast vehicle volumes and meaningful full-year margin improvement, but the most recent quarter brought flat sales, lower gross margin, lower EBITDA, unchanged adjusted EPS and weaker cash generation. With no published earnings consensus supplied here, the strongest defensible scorecard is in line on underlying quarterly earnings, with the balance sheet providing the main offset to softer near-term operating momentum.

Read the original 8-K on SEC EDGAR ↗
All STRT 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.