Curtiss Wright Corp (CW) · Nov 5, 2026 · Earnings
Beat — Adjusted EPS $3.94 vs ~$3.76 consensus
Curtiss-Wright’s Q3 earnings beat expectations and pushed 2026 sales, profit, EPS and cash-flow guidance higher, despite a sharp Defense Electronics margin drop.
Curtiss-Wright is in the middle of a deliberately organic growth push across aerospace and defense, commercial aerospace, commercial nuclear and industrial markets, using higher defense demand, aircraft production ramps and nuclear investment to expand revenue and margins. Its prior plan already called for accelerating growth and more than 105% free-cash-flow conversion, so this quarter is an extension of an established trajectory rather than a new strategic direction.
The quarter cleared the earnings bar and strengthened the outlook. Adjusted diluted EPS was $3.94 versus a published consensus of roughly $3.76, a meaningful beat; sales rose 10% and adjusted operating income rose 11%. The more important change is that management raised the full-year range for sales, operating income, EPS and free cash flow, rather than merely repeating its prior outlook. 〔0〕
| Q3 2026 Adj. | Q3 2025 Adj. | Consensus / prior guide | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sales (Financial Highlights) | $953M (+10%) | $869M | |
| Operating income (Financial Highlights) | $189M (+11%) | $170M | |
| Operating margin (Financial Highlights) | 19.9% (+30 bps) | 19.6% | |
| Diluted EPS (EPS reconciliation) | $3.94 (+16%) | $3.40 | ~$3.76 consensus |
| FY26 sales guidance (Guidance table) | $3.795B-$3.840B | $3.768B-$3.813B prior | |
| FY26 adjusted EPS guidance (Guidance table) | $15.40-$15.60 | $15.10-$15.40 prior | |
| FY26 free cash flow guidance (Guidance table) | $595M-$615M | $585M-$605M prior |
Demand is broad enough to support the raise, but not uniform. New orders reached $1.1 billion, up 15%, and the strongest operating contribution came from Aerospace & Industrial and Naval & Power. Aerospace defense sales rose 16%, naval defense 10%, commercial nuclear helped Power & Process, and general industrial sales rose 12%.
Defense Electronics is the clear weak spot inside an otherwise strong quarter. Its revenue increased only 2%, while adjusted operating income fell 5% and margin contracted 220 basis points to 27.0%, as unfavorable product mix and higher R&D spending outweighed better absorption. That limits how cleanly the quarter can be described as broad-based margin expansion, even though companywide margin still improved.
Cash generation was solid but less impressive year over year. Quarterly free cash flow fell 11% to $157 million and conversion declined to 108% from 137%, partly reflecting higher capital spending. The company nevertheless raised full-year FCF guidance, implying management views the quarter’s cash softness as timing and investment-related rather than a deterioration in the underlying earnings trajectory.
Bottom line: This was a genuine upgrade to the existing growth story: earnings beat, orders accelerated and every major 2026 target moved higher. The main offset is a sharp Defense Electronics margin setback and weaker quarterly cash flow, but those issues do not outweigh the broader operating and guidance improvement.
Q4 earnings report, early February 2027
A buy-side analyst on every ticker — it reads every public company's filing the instant it drops and decodes it into plain English.
A buy-side analyst on every ticker — the whole market decoded the second it moves, before it's a headline. Free gives you a taste. Pro takes the cap off and opens the full read on every company.
by Signing in NOW, claim your FREE 14-day Pro trial!