Hexcel's Q4 Earnings Beat Estimates, Revenues Increase Y/Y

Hexcel Corporation HXL reported fourth-quarter 2025 adjusted earnings of 52 cents per share, which came in line with the year-ago quarter’s figure. However, the bottom line topped the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 50 cents by 4%.

The company reported GAAP earnings of 60 cents per share, which improved a massive 757.1% from the year-ago quarter’s figure of 7 cents.

For 2025, HXL reported adjusted earnings of $1.76 per share compared with $2.03 in 2024, reflecting a year-over-year decrease of 13.3%. The year-over-year bottom-line decline can be attributed to lower net sales and operating income.

HXL’s Total Sales

In the fourth quarter, the company’s net sales totaled $491.3 million, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $478 million by 2.7%. The top line also rose 3.7% from the year-ago quarter’s reported sales of $473.8 million.

For 2025, the company recorded total sales of $1.89 billion compared with $1.90 billion in 2024, highlighting a year-over-year decrease of 0.5%. The year-over-year decline can be attributed to lower sales from the Commercial Aerospace market.

Hexcel’s Operational Update

Hexcel's gross margin in the fourth quarter was 24.6%, which contracted 40 basis points from the prior-year quarter.

Selling, general and administrative (SG&A) expenses decreased 13.2% year over year to $41.6 million in the fourth quarter. Research and technology expenses for the fourth quarter of 2025 rose 5.9% year over year to $14.3 million.

HXL’s adjusted operating income was $65.1 million in the quarter compared with $57.1 million in the year-ago period.

HXL’s Contribution From Different Markets

Commercial Aerospace: Net sales increased 7.6% year over year to $299.5 million, driven by strong growth in Airbus A320neo, Boeing 787 and 737 MAX sales.

Defense, Space & Other: Net sales fell 1.9% year over year to $191.8 million. This year-over-year decline was due to the divestment of the Austrian-based industrial business.

HXL’s Financial Details

As of Dec. 31, 2025, Hexcel’s cash and cash equivalents were $71 million compared with $125.4 million as of Dec. 31, 2024.

The company’s long-term debt totaled $993 million as of Dec. 31, 2025, up from $700.6 million as of 2024-end.

During 2025, HXL’s cash provided by operating activities was $230.5 million compared with $289.9 million in the year-ago period.

Hexcel’s adjusted free cash flow as of Dec. 31, 2025 was $157.2 million compared with adjusted free cash flow of $202.9 million in the year-ago period.

Hexcel’s 2026 Guidance

Hexcel expects to generate sales in the range of $2-$2.1 billion. The Zacks Consensus Estimate is pegged at $2.07 billion, which is above the midpoint of the company's guided range.

HXL expects its adjusted earnings per share in the range of $2.10-$2.30. The Zacks Consensus Estimate stands at $2.29, which is at the higher end of the company’s guided range.

Hexcel expects to generate free cash flow of greater than $195 million in 2026. It also expects capital expenditure to be less than $100 million.

HXL’s Zacks Rank

Hexcel currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Recent Defense Releases

Teledyne Technologies Inc. TDY reported fourth-quarter 2025 adjusted earnings of $6.30 per share, which surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $5.83 by 8.1%. The bottom line also improved 14.1% from $5.52 recorded in the year-ago quarter.

Total sales were $1.61 billion, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.57 billion by 2.7%. The top line also surged 7.3% from $1.50 billion reported in the year-ago quarter. 

Textron Inc. TXT reported fourth-quarter 2025 adjusted earnings of $1.73 per share, which missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.74 by 0.8%. However, the bottom line rose 29.1% from $1.34 in the year-ago quarter. 

The company reported total revenues of $4.18 billion, which outpaced the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $4.14 billion by 0.8%. The top line also rose 15.7% from the year-ago quarter’s level of $3.61 billion.

RTX Corporation’s RTX fourth-quarter 2025 adjusted earnings per share of $1.55 beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.46 by 5.9%. The bottom line also improved 0.6% from the year-ago quarter’s level of $1.54.

RTX’s fourth-quarter sales totaled $24.24 billion, which surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $22.74 billion by 6.6%. The top line also surged a solid 12.1% from $21.62 billion recorded in the fourth quarter of 2024.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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