Curtiss-Wright Q1 Earnings Outpace Estimates, '25 View Raised

Shares of Curtiss-Wright Corporation CW gained 4.4% to reach $378.03 on May 8, following its first-quarter 2025 earnings release.

The company reported adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of $2.82, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.39 by 18%. (Find the latest EPS estimates and surprises on Zacks Earnings Calendar.)

The company reported GAAP earnings of $2.68 per share, up 34.7% from the prior-year period’s $1.99.

The year-over-year upside in GAAP earnings can be attributed to higher sales and gross profit as well as increased operating income compared with the year-ago level.

Curtiss-Wright Corporation Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

Curtiss-Wright Corporation price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Curtiss-Wright Corporation Quote

CW’s Operational Performance

The company’s net sales of $805.6 million increased 13% year over year. Also, the top line surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $767 million by 5%.
The company reported an adjusted operating income of $134 million, while its adjusted operating margin was 17.9%. 

Curtiss-Wright’s total backlog at the end of the first quarter was $3.7 billion, which increased 8.8% from the 2024-end figure. This improvement can be attributed to higher demand from both the aerospace and defense markets, as well as commercial markets.

New orders of $1 billion rose 13% year over year, driven by the strong demand from naval defense, commercial aerospace and commercial nuclear end markets. 

CW’s Segmental Performance

Aerospace & Industrial: Sales in this segment improved 4% year over year to $227 million. The upside was driven by higher commercial aerospace market sales, backed by strong demand as well as increased OEM sales of sensor products and surface treatment services on narrowbody and widebody platforms. Higher revenues from the aerospace defense market, driven by higher sales of CW’s actuation equipment principally on the F-35 and other fighter jet programs, also contributed favorably to this unit’s top line.

The adjusted operating income improved 15% to $50 million. Also, the unit’s adjusted operating margin expanded 140 basis points (bps) to 13.9%. The increase was due to the favorable absorption of higher revenues, favorable foreign currency translation and the benefits of the company’s restructuring initiatives.

Defense Electronics: Sales in this segment improved 16% year over year to $245 million. This was driven by higher ground defense market revenues (owing to higher sales supporting U.S. ground vehicle modernization), along with increased naval defense market revenues (driven by increased sales of CW’s embedded computing equipment supporting various domestic and international programs). Strong revenue growth from the aerospace defense market on the back of increased sales of its embedded computing equipment on various helicopter programs also boosted the segment’s top line.

The unit’s operating income improved 40% to $67 million. The operating margin expanded 480 bps to 27.5%, on account of favorable absorption on higher defense revenues, the benefits of CW’s operational excellence initiatives, and a favorable mix of products.

Naval & Power: Sales in this segment increased 18% year over year to $333 million, driven by higher demand and the timing of revenues on the Virginia-class and Columbia-class submarine programs, in addition to advanced growth on various next-generation submarine development programs and increased sales of aircraft handling systems equipment to international customers. 

Favorable contributions from acquisitions to CW’s commercial nuclear and process markets, as well as higher organic sales of commercial nuclear products supporting the maintenance of existing operating reactors and the development of next-generation advanced reactors, also boosted this unit’s top-line growth.

The segment's adjusted operating income increased 28% to $45 million. The adjusted operating margin also expanded 100 bps to 12.6%, driven by favorable absorption of higher revenues. 

Financial Position of CW

CW’s cash and cash equivalents as of March 31, 2025, were $226.5 million compared with $385 million as of Dec. 31, 2024.

The long-term debt was $0.96 billion, which remained flat sequentially. 

The net cash outflow from operating activities amounted to $38.8 million during the first three months of 2025 compared with $45.6 million in the prior-year period.

The adjusted free cash outflow as of March 31, 2025, was $54.5 million compared with $57.7 million a year ago.

2025 Guidance of CW

Curtiss-Wright has raised its financial guidance for 2025.

CW now expects to generate adjusted earnings in the band of $12.45-$12.80 per share compared with the earlier projection of $12.10-$12.40. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings is pegged at $12.16 per share, which lies below the company’s newly guided range.

Curtiss-Wright now expects to generate sales in the range of $3.37-$3.42, up from the prior range of $3.34-$3.39 billion. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for sales is pegged at $3.35 billion, which lies below the company’s revised guidance.

The company currently expects to generate free cash flow in the band of $495-$515 million, up from the earlier guidance of $485-$505 million.

CW’s Zacks Rank

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

Recent Q1 Defense Releases

Lockheed Martin Corporation LMT reported first-quarter 2025 earnings of $7.28 per share, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $6.34 by 14.8%. The bottom line increased 15% from the year-ago quarter's reported figure of $6.33.

Net sales were $17.96 billion, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $17.76 billion by 1.1%. The top line also increased 4.5% from $17.20 billion reported in the year-ago quarter.

Northrop Grumman Corporation NOC reported first-quarter 2025 adjusted earnings of $6.06 per share, which missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $6.21 by 2.4%.

NOC’s total sales of $9.47 billion missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $9.91 billion by 4.4%. The top line also declined 6.6% from $10.13 billion reported in the year-ago quarter.

RTX Corporation’s RTX first-quarter 2025 adjusted earnings per share of $1.47 beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.35 by 8.9%. The bottom line also improved 9.7% from the year-ago quarter’s level of $1.34.

Its first-quarter sales totaled $20.31 billion, which surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $19.71 billion by 3%. The top line also surged a solid 5.2% from $19.31 billion recorded in the first quarter of 2024.
 

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