Ralliant Q1 2026 Earnings Call Transcript

Quartr
Provided by Quartr
May 12, 2026

Key Takeaways

  • Positive Sentiment: Ralliant reported a strong Q1 2026 beat across the board, with revenue of $535 million up 11% year over year, adjusted EBITDA margin of 18.6%, and adjusted EPS of $0.57 all above the high end of guidance.
  • Positive Sentiment: The company raised full-year 2026 guidance after seeing stronger-than-expected demand, especially in Test and Measurement and defense, with full-year revenue now expected at $2.185 billion-$2.245 billion and adjusted EPS at $2.53-$2.69.
  • Positive Sentiment: Defense and Space remains a major growth driver, with over $1 billion in backlog spanning 40+ programs and management saying the business should stay in double-digit growth this year, supported by replenishment demand and modernization spending.
  • Positive Sentiment: Test and Measurement returned to growth with 9% organic revenue growth and its highest book-to-bill since 2022, helped by strong demand in communications and diversified electronics, while semiconductors remain temporarily pressured by lapping a large customer project.
  • Positive Sentiment: Management announced a new Enterprise Productivity Program targeting $50 million-$60 million of annualized savings by 2028, while also stepping up shareholder returns through a $500 million buyback authorization and plans for a $100 million accelerated share repurchase in Q2.
AI Generated. May Contain Errors.
Earnings Conference Call
Ralliant Q1 2026
00:00 / 00:00

There are 12 speakers on the call.

Speaker 7

Hello. My name is Donna, and I will be your conference facilitator this morning. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to Ralliant Corporation's 1st quarter 2026 earnings results conference call. All lines have been placed on mute to prevent background noise. After the speaker's remarks, we'll open the call for questions. I would now like to turn the call over to Mr. Nathan McCurren, Vice President of Investor Relations. Mr. McCurren, you may begin your conference.

Speaker 5

Thank you, Donna. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining Ralliant's first quarter 2026 earnings call. I'm Nathan McCurren, Vice President of Investor Relations. Today, we'll walk through our results, highlight key operational progress, and provide our outlook for the second quarter and full year 2026. I'm joined today by Tami Newcombe, our President and Chief Executive Officer, and Neill Reynolds, our Chief Financial Officer. Our earnings release issued this morning and today's presentation can be accessed on the investor section of our website at ralliant.com. Please note that we'll be discussing certain non-GAAP financial measures on today's call. A reconciliation of these items to US GAAP can be found in the appendix to our presentation. During today's call, and unless otherwise stated, we are comparing our first quarter 2026 results to the same period in 2025.

Speaker 5

During the call, we will make forward-looking statements, including statements regarding events or developments that we expect or anticipate will or may occur in the future. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, and actual results might differ materially from any forward-looking statements we make today. Information regarding these risks and uncertainties is available in our annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31st, 2025, filed with the SEC on February 26th, 2026, and updated in our Form 10-Q to be filed after market today. With that, I'd like to turn the call over to Tami.

Speaker 10

Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us for our Q1 2026 earnings call. We started 2026 with a solid first quarter performance, reflecting the delivery of our strategy supported by disciplined execution across the teams. For today's call, I'll begin with an overview of our financial performance, followed by an update on the progression of our profitable growth strategy. I'll invite Neill to walk through additional details and leave time for your questions at the end. Let's start on slide 4 with the business and outlook update. First, our Q1 results were above the high end of our guidance, and we are raising the full year 2026 outlook as we expect Test and Measurement growth to remain elevated and our defense backlog has now surpassed $1 billion.

Speaker 10

Second, we are capitalizing on higher growth secular demand across electrification and defense with a clear focus on executing our profitable growth strategy. Third, we initiated an Enterprise Productivity Program expected to deliver $50 million-$60 million of run rate annualized savings by 2028. Last, we are increasing capital returns to shareholders. We began to execute share repurchases during the first quarter, and we are now targeting share repurchases of approximately 50% of free cash flow going forward. Our board has increased our share repurchase authorization to $500 million, and we plan to execute a $100 million accelerated share repurchase program in Q2. Our Q1 financial results are on slide 5. In the first quarter, revenue was $535 million, up 11% year-over-year, with a book-to-bill above 1.1.

Speaker 10

The results were balanced across the segments, with both achieving 9% organic revenue growth. This performance reflects the disciplined execution of our teams and a portfolio that is increasingly aligned to higher growth markets driven by electrification and defense. Sensors and Safety Systems had robust demand across all end markets. Test and Measurement returned to growth following three consecutive quarters of sequential improvement. adjusted EBITDA margins of 18.6% and adjusted EPS of $0.57 were both above the high end of our guidance ranges, reflecting strong operating leverage on higher volume and early benefits from productivity actions already underway. Our trailing twelve-month free cash flow conversion was 105%. Next, I'll provide regional and end market trends on slides 6 and 7.

Speaker 10

North America is our largest region with over 55% of revenue and where we see broad-based momentum with 16% organic revenue growth supported by ongoing investment in defense programs. AI is accelerating our customers' innovation cycles from data center infrastructure to advanced electronics and the global power grid. Western Europe and the rest of world together represent approximately 30% of our revenue, both were slightly down organically as pockets of recovery were overshadowed by ongoing macroeconomic and geopolitical uncertainty. China is approximately 15% of our revenue and grew 5% organically this quarter due to government-funded projects tied to AI and energy-related infrastructure investments. Within our end markets, Defense and Space delivered more than 20% organic growth. Multi-year backlog now exceeds $1 billion, spanning more than 40 programs across legacy and new products supporting ocean, land, and air safety systems.

Speaker 10

Utilities posted record orders this quarter, reinforcing the strength and durability of demand in this end market. While revenue growth was softer due to shipment timing, the order strength enhances our visibility going forward. Our industrial manufacturing and other end markets showed early signs of short cycle recovery across most geographies as customers are increasing investment in automation, semiconductor equipment, life sciences, HVAC, and data center cooling. Test and Measurement delivered a meaningful step-up this quarter, building on the sequential momentum established in 2025. Improved customer sentiment drove orders, resulting in mid to low teens organic growth across diversified electronics and communications. Despite broad-based strength across most semiconductor customers, overall revenue declined due to the completion of a large customer project last year. Turning to slide 8. Our profitable growth strategy is intentionally balanced and designed to perform through the cycle.

Speaker 10

Our winning growth vectors align with market tailwinds in electrification and defense, where long-standing customer positions and differentiated capabilities position us for elevated growth. Complementing this, our stronghold positions are anchored in a broad customer base with more modest growth profiles where precision technologies deliver durable demand, attractive margins, and reoccurring revenue. Enabling our strategy is the AI-infused Ralliant Business System, or RBS, which brings discipline, consistency, and enterprise scale to how we operate and execute. Turning to slide 9. We are capitalizing on long-term investment cycles in electrification and defense, where our Test and Measurement insights, precision sensors, and safety-critical systems play an essential role. The power grid is a strategic imperative. Rising AI workloads and increasing global energy consumption are driving the need for a grid that is more reliable and intelligent. We play a critical role in the global power grid.

Speaker 10

Our precision sensors and predictive analytics monitor and protect essential assets such as transformers, turbines, and gas-insulated substations, helping utilities prevent outages and extend asset life. We support new energy infrastructure through Test and Measurement solutions used to validate grid-scale energy storage and advanced power systems for both legacy and emerging applications like nuclear fusion. Power and thermal challenges extend into the data center. Our Test and Measurement instruments support the validation of advanced semiconductors and electronic systems, while our industrial sensors provide thermal, pressure, and fluid measurements that enable reliable cooling and continuous operation. As AI becomes physical, power design and battery performance are key constraints. This is where our precision power Test and Measurement solutions are essential for R&D engineers developing the next generation of AI-enabled electronics. In defense, we are benefiting from multi-year replenishment demand and modernization.

Speaker 10

In legacy defense programs, we're a trusted supplier of mission-critical ground, flight, and launch safety systems where precision and reliability are non-negotiable. In parallel, defense modernization is increasing activity across R&D labs, where our Test and Measurement solutions enable the development and validation of advanced communications and power storage systems. Across the portfolio, we participate in the product realization life cycle from early concept and validation to field deployment and long-term operation. Test and Measurement provides early visibility into the customer R&D, while Sensors and Safety Systems support a large installed base from production through ongoing field monitoring. Next on slide 10. We leverage RBS everywhere as both an enterprise growth enabler and to drive productivity improvements. We continue funding the highest return opportunities in advanced manufacturing, commercial, and innovation to enable higher organic growth.

Speaker 10

In defense and space, we are a key supplier to the majority of the Pentagon's priority munitions programs. Several, including JDAM, PAC-3, and Tomahawk, are scaling production at roughly 2 to 5 times historic levels, and we are making targeted investments to expand manufacturing capacity and support reliable execution. In utilities, we continue to see robust demand supported by multi-year grid modernization and resiliency initiatives. Later this year, we plan to expand our precision sensor facility in Upstate N.Y. to support further growth. Now on slide 11. We are committed to expanding adjusted EBITDA margins. To help drive this, we have initiated an Enterprise Productivity Program. The program management team reports directly to me with a multi-year target to deliver $50 million-$60 million of run rate annualized savings by 2028. Post-spin, we are simplifying our organization and how work gets done.

Speaker 10

RBS is how we make workflows visible to identify productivity improvements, and even more importantly, ensure sustainment. To date, the team has acted on approximately $20 million of run rate annualized savings. The drivers of the savings are identified in cost of sales and G&A. For cost of sales, the focus is enterprise strategic sourcing and a new group purchasing office to identify and act on synergies across materials, maintenance, and facilities. Within G&A, we have identified ways to increase productivity through simplification, AI-enhanced workflows, and leveraging lower cost locations to optimize labor. Recently, more than 500 employees participated in our first company-wide CEO Kaizen, focused on over 40 growth and productivity charters. This deep-rooted culture of continuous improvement aligns well with our new Enterprise Productivity Program. Slide 12 is a reminder of our value creation framework we laid out at our Investor Day last June.

Speaker 10

Together, revenue growth, margin expansion, strong free cash flow, and disciplined capital allocation position us well to deliver long-term value for our customers, employees, and shareholders. Next, I'll invite Neill to review our financial results, go deeper on our productivity program, and provide an update on our guidance.

Speaker 6

Thank you, Tami. Good morning, everyone. Please turn to slide 14. Q1 results were above our guidance ranges across all metrics and were largely driven by a faster than anticipated improvement in our shorter cycle businesses and increased productivity savings. Q1 revenue of $535 million was up 11% on a reported basis and up 9% on an organic basis. Total growth includes approximately 2 percentage points of FX benefit, primarily in Western Europe and China. Both segments delivered high single-digit organic growth year-over-year, led by strong execution against backlog in defense and space, broad-based improvement across Test and Measurement, and pockets of growth in industrial manufacturing.

Speaker 6

As I shift to EBITDA and EPS, I'll note that we have included a table in our appendix that provides a reconciliation to normalize adjusted EBITDA and adjusted EPS for each quarter in the full year of 2025. These normalized metrics adjust the first 3 quarters of 2025 results to reflect our fully ramped public company costs and higher post-spin employee costs. Given our midyear spin and the increase in our cost structure following the spin, we believe normalizing adjusted EBITDA to reflect the full year of our post-spin cost structure is a more like-for-like comparison for 2026 results. Adjusted EBITDA margin in the first quarter was 18.6%. On a normalized basis, this represented a 270 basis point improvement from the prior year, driven by operating leverage on higher revenue and productivity savings achieved in the first quarter.

Speaker 6

I will cover more details on our productivity program shortly. Adjusted diluted EPS of $0.57 increased 39% on a normalized basis, driven by revenue growth and adjusted EBITDA margin expansion. Our free cash flow was $10 million, a step down year-over-year, primarily due to timing. Our trailing-twelve-month free cash flow conversion remains resilient at 105%, above our target of greater than 95%. I'll turn now to segment year-over-year performance, starting on slide 15 with Sensors and Safety Systems. Q1 revenue of $324 million increased 11% on a reported basis and 9% organically. Defense and space organic revenue grew 21% on strong shipments. Our backlog continues to build with robust demand for critical programs and replenishment in missiles and munitions.

Speaker 6

Organic revenue across industrial manufacturing and other was up mid-single digits with robust demand across North America, China, and our rest of world geographies. Utilities had a record quarter of orders with continued robust demand. Organic revenue growth was softer this quarter due to customer shipment timing. Adjusted EBITDA margin for Sensors and Safety Systems was 28.4%, a 70 basis point improvement on a normalized basis, primarily due to higher operating leverage, which was partially offset by the dilutive mix impact from higher defense and space growth. Turning now to Test and Measurement on slide 16. Test and Measurement returned to growth in the quarter with revenue of $210 million, up 12% on a reported basis and 9% organically.

Speaker 6

Test and Measurement also delivered its highest quarterly book-to-bill since 2022, with a book-to-bill between 1.1 and 1.2. Communications, which represents 12% of overall revenue, grew double digits organically. Our communications applications are predominantly serving defense and government customers whose modernization programs and technology upgrades are driving demand for precise and reliable test equipment across defense applications. Diversified electronics, which represents roughly half of Test and Measurement, also delivered double-digit organic growth, driven by broad-based improvement across humanoid robotics, energy storage, and advanced research. Semiconductor organic revenue declined high single digits, primarily driven by lapping a large customer project as we mentioned last quarter. Excluding this customer headwind, semiconductor organic revenue grew double digits as customer CapEx investment increased in power-related semiconductors, especially in wide band gap applications.

Speaker 6

Test and Measurement adjusted EBITDA margin was 11.9%, an improvement of 700 basis points on a normalized basis. This margin expansion is a testament to the significant operating leverage in Test and Measurement and to the execution by the team to quickly implement actions identified in the Enterprise Productivity Program. Turning to our balance sheet and cash flow on slide 17. We ended the quarter with $268 million in cash and cash equivalents. During the quarter, we completed the refinancing of our 18-month term loan, extending maturity and amending certain covenants with more favorable terms. We also returned $56 million of capital to shareholders through a combination of dividends and share repurchases. Last week, our board authorized an increase of our share repurchase authorization to $500 million.

Speaker 6

We are now targeting repurchases to be about 50% of our free cash flow going forward. As a part of that, we are planning to execute an accelerated share repurchase program of $100 million during the second quarter. Turning to our outlook for the second quarter and our updated full-year 2026 guide on slide 18. In Q2, we expect revenue of $540 million-$556 million, which represents 7%-10% year-over-year organic growth. Adjusted EBITDA margin is expected to be between 18.5% and 19.5% with year-over-year normalized margin expansion, driving operating leverage on higher revenue and savings from our Enterprise Productivity Program.

Speaker 6

Adjusted EPS is expected to be between $0.58 and $0.64, a 35%-49% normalized increase driven by revenue growth, margin expansion, and a reduction in share count. We expect weighted average diluted shares outstanding of approximately 112 million for Q2 after executing our anticipated $100 million accelerated share repurchase plan. Given the strength of Q1 and with more confidence in further recovery in our shorter cycle businesses throughout the year, we are increasing our full-year 2026 guidance across all metrics. We now expect revenue of $2.185 billion-$2.245 billion, adjusted EBITDA margin of 19.5%-20.5%, and adjusted EPS of $2.53-$2.69.

Speaker 6

On slide 19, I'll go deeper into the Enterprise Productivity Program that Tami introduced. While 2025 adjusted EBITDA margin on a normalized basis was below our through cycle range, we established at Investor Day last June of low to mid 20%. We have taken quick action to begin a path back to the midpoint of our through cycle range by 2028. With the Enterprise Productivity Program, we anticipate driving run rate annualized savings of $50 million-$60 million by 2028. We have already begun to implement the program. Building on our previously announced $9 million-$11 million cost savings program, we actioned another approximately $10 million of annualized savings in Q1. We expect 2026 in-year savings of $10 million-$12 million connected to these actions, exiting 2026 at an annualized run rate of $20 million.

Speaker 6

We are targeting to complete all remaining actions for the Enterprise Productivity Program by the end of 2027 and expect savings to continue to ramp until delivering $50 million-$60 million of run-rate savings in 2028. We expect the Enterprise Productivity Program savings, along with strong baseline incremental margins, to result in approximately 50% total incremental adjusted EBITDA margin through 2028. Our guidance range for 2026 assumes a 35%-40% baseline incremental adjusted EBITDA margin excluding productivity savings, slightly higher than our through-cycle incremental margin expectations given higher revenue growth and favorable Test and Measurement mix. The $10 million-$12 million of in-year productivity savings would add another approximately 10 percentage points of incremental margin, resulting in a total 45%-50% incremental adjusted EBITDA margin for 2026.

Speaker 6

In 2027 and 2028, we expect baseline incremental margins to be more in line with our through cycle expectations, but can vary based on the level of revenue growth and mix. Additionally, the $20 million-$25 million per year of additional productivity program savings is expected to add another 15-20 percentage points to incremental margins, resulting in a total incremental adjusted EBITDA margin of approximately 50% in 2027 and 2028. This gives us a clear path to the midpoint of our long-term EBITDA margin range by that time. We are focused on driving this margin expansion to provide a resilient source of cash to help us achieve our disciplined capital allocation priorities. I want to remind everyone of our capital allocation priorities on slide 20. Our top priority remains organic and reinvestment.

Speaker 6

We are investing in capacity expansion in defense and utilities to serve identified demand. We have a disciplined review process that Tami and I oversee that sets a high bar for organic investment, targeting returns far in excess of our cost of capital. Our next priority is returning capital to shareholders. In addition to our recent actions and commitment to share repurchases, last week, our board of directors authorized our next quarterly cash dividend of $0.05 per share. We continue to actively monitor the M&A landscape and build our funnel of potential tuck-in acquisitions. We are committed to balancing these capital allocation priorities against our target cash balances and our long-term net leverage target of 1.5-2x adjusted EBITDA. With that, I'll turn it back to Tami to wrap before opening it up for questions.

Speaker 10

I want to close by providing a few key takeaways. First, we are executing on our profitable growth strategy. We are using our RBS toolkit to identify areas to capitalize on secular demand across high growth sectors. We expect RBS to continue to serve as a competitive advantage, enabling customer innovation and operating efficiencies, ultimately enabling us to perform with financial discipline. Second, we are driving margin expansion. The combination of strong incremental margins paired with our Enterprise Productivity Program is expected to increase our adjusted EBITDA margins to the midpoint of our through cycle range by 2028. Third, we have confidence in Ralliant's value creation potential in returning capital to shareholders. Our board increased our share repurchase authorization, and through this, we expect approximately 50% of our free cash flow to be returned to shareholders going forward.

Speaker 10

As I wrap, a big shout out to our approximately 7,000 employees around the globe for their ownership and grit to win as one team. Our teams have demonstrated operating rigor with the ability to profitably evolve our portfolio and deliver in any environment. With that, I'll open up the lines for Q&A.

Speaker 7

Thank you. The floor is now open for questions. If you would like to ask a question, please press star 1 on your telephone keypad at this time. A confirmation tone will indicate that your line is in the question queue. You may press star 2 if you would like to remove your question from the queue. For participants using speaker equipment, it may be necessary to pick up the handset before pressing the star keys. We do ask that you please limit yourself to one question and one follow-up. Again, that is star 1 to register a question at this time. Today's first question is coming from Julian Mitchell of Barclays. Please go ahead.

Speaker 2

Hi, good morning. Just a solid set of results. Just wanted to understand perhaps the sales growth guidance. I understand sort of you talked a lot about improving end markets, but the year-over-year sales guide embeds, you know, something of a slowdown in the back half. Maybe that's reflecting tough comps, but maybe just flesh that out a bit more. I think the half-on-half sales are guided to step up a bit less this year than happened last year. Maybe kind of frame how you're thinking about the sort of confluence of comps versus the end market movements. Semis is a market I'm particularly interested in. You're finally, I think, coming to the end of that tough comp. How does that business grow from here?

Speaker 10

Thank you, Julian. Thanks for the kind words there. As we think about the guidance in the second half, the TNM business certainly performed well in Q1. Revenue was slightly above our expectations. It's actually the orders and the book-to-bill that pushed for the full year raise in our guidance. That business is a short cycle business. We get solid 90-120 days of visibility there. We do see the order increases. The funnels are solid. Our new products, which we launched in the latter part of last year, are doing well. When you step back, there's also a lot of uncertainty in the environment.

Speaker 10

We're gonna control what we can control around spending time with our customers, continuing to launch new products, and focusing where the higher growth opportunities are. I do think it's prudent at this point to think about the second half as we have.

Speaker 6

Yeah, Julian, let me just add on to that. If you think normally how we seasonally work, we're roughly 48% of revenue in the first half, 52% in the second half. If you look at the guidance, that would represent more like a 49% first half, 51% second half. I'd say all else equal, Tami kind of talked about some of the uncertainty in the macro. We probably would be a midpoint more towards the high end of the range that we gave, just based on what we've seen seasonally before. The demand remains strong. I think we feel good about the momentum that we're seeing in the short cycle businesses. Clearly, the defense backlog, you know, gives us a lot of confidence about where that business is headed.

Speaker 6

Given the uncertainty on the macro, you know, potential supply disruptions in the second half of the year, those are things we're just being cautious about. From a demand perspective, I think you could normally land towards the higher end of the range, all else equal.

Speaker 10

Just to close that on semi, that was the second part of your question, Julian. Underlying strength in semi across a broad set of customers that we're still lapping a large customer deal from last year. We've got another quarter of that, but the underlying strength is strong.

Speaker 2

That's great to hear. Thank you. Just my follow-up would be around the EBITDA margin outlook. I think you have, you know, a very strong increase, second quarter dialed in sort of over 300 points off the normalized base. The second half, I think, is dialing in maybe a sort of 21% EBITDA margin. Maybe it's about 100 basis points of increase year-on-year. Is that just because you've got perhaps slightly lower sales growth dialed in and so there's just less of a margin increase of steady leverage? Is it conservatism? Anything happening with mix or cost phasing? Anything like that that explains that second half kind of more muted margin expansion year-on-year, please?

Speaker 10

Julian, as you think about margin performance, it's the formula would be revenue growth. We do have some headwinds in mix as well as the execution of our Enterprise Productivity Program to drive some cost optimization there. It's those three factors.

Speaker 2

That's great. Thank you.

Speaker 7

Thank you. The next question is coming from Chris Snyder of Morgan Stanley. Please go ahead.

Operator

Thank you. I wanted to ask about Defense and Space within the Sensors and Safety Systems segment. Obviously, 21% organic growth is really good. But based on the backlog build in the quarter, it seems like demand is actually even well above that level. I guess, you know, and I know you guys are working on investing in capacity. Can you just maybe talk about how you think growth there, you know, goes as the year goes on? Could it step higher, as the capacity comes online? I do know the comps there also get harder. Then just following that, you guys said in the, in the release that, you know, given some of the visibility you have there, it positions the business to, or overall Ralliant for above target growth.

Operator

Was that a 2026 comment or, you know, is that, you know, will remain the case in 2027, 2028, just because this is, you know, very long cycle at PacSci? Thank you.

Speaker 10

I'll start with your first question around backlog. The backlog that we talked about, the $1 billion, that's a multiyear backlog. Think of that as 2-3 years of backlog. We certainly work closely with those customers to ensure that we're meeting their requirements for on-time delivery. We already have begun capacity expansion. We've been at it for over 2 years here to keep up with the demands that we're seeing in that space. We will continue. Much of that capacity expansion has come through productivity initiatives and focus on strategic sourcing in the supply chain. As we move forward, and we think out towards 2027 and 2028, we do believe we do see a need to expand actually physical capacity there.

Speaker 10

We see that opportunity and are continuing to execute against that. From a growth standpoint, if you think about our Investor Day, which was in June, we had talked about 3%-5% through the cycle. Where we stand today, and you think kind of near term to midterm, we're at the high end of that just on an organic basis. Higher than that in 2026, as you can see from the guide. If you even think in the out years, we think with the increase that we've seen in both defense and in the utility space, that we will be towards the high end of that 3%-5%, so in the 5% range, and that would be on an organic basis without M&A.

Speaker 6

Let me just add on to that, Chris, a bit. If you think about defense, while we do see higher growth rates, I think, you know, double-digit, I think over that kind of, you know, both in 2026 and then out beyond 2026 in terms of kind of that double-digit growth rate. Change in the trajectory, I think out beyond 2026, as Tami says, that kind of mid-single-digit level as you get beyond this year. Obviously a bit higher this year to get outside of that trough. Defense also comes with a little bit of a, just on the margin side, a little bit of a mixed impact. You know, those defense products are at margins that are below the company average.

Speaker 6

Those are things that we're balancing, and we've got that all baked in the outlook that we gave today.

Operator

No, appreciate that. Maybe just following up on that last point. You know, you guys incurred pretty significant mix headwinds in Q1 for the sensing segment, defense up 21% and utilities only up 1% on kind of the more premium margin side is my understanding. Yeah, was that just all volume leverage coming through? Because we were just surprised to see the margins there up both sequentially and year-over-year. Or did you start to realize some of the benefits from the productivity actions you guys have been putting in place? Thank you.

Speaker 6

Yeah, I think, I'll hit this one, Chris. I think it's a little bit of both. One thing is you do see some, you know, mixed challenge with the defense growing faster. It's great because it's got a great growth rate, and we have a nice backlog there, and it's a, you know, very good business for us. You do have a little bit of that. There is some of the cost, you know, savings program, you know, elements, you know, coming into this as well. Clearly, you've got the, you know, the volume leverage. One thing I'll say is that the defense piece can be a bit lumpy, I think both in revenue and in margins from quarter to quarter.

Speaker 6

As we're making this transition to this bigger backlog, you know, focused on, you know, missiles and munitions and things like that, as we start to see that surge demand come through, we will see lumpy quarters, both from a revenue and from margin perspective. I think in Q1, I think that was a bit positive for us. I think as you go throughout the year, that can be a bit lumpy. You may see quarters where it's a bit lower as well. I think your instincts are right. We just saw a little more positivity there. I think as you look throughout the year, we will see overall margin expansion throughout the year. I think Test and Measurement will certainly, you know, help with that if we continue to see that cycle improve.

Speaker 6

Sensors and Safety might be a little bit lumpy, but I would say, you know, both will be in nice target ranges for us, as you look at the full-year results.

Operator

Thank you, guys. Great update.

Speaker 7

Thank you. The next question is coming from Deane Dray of RBC Capital Markets. Please go ahead.

Speaker 3

Hi, this is Kenny Steiman for Deane Dray. Congrats on the strong quarter. I think A and B really stood out to us, and utility as well. Can you just help us visualize or understand the applications that this defense sensors go into? On the utility side, just how much is this business tied to the transformers sensor business? How long the backlog version would be helpful for us.

Speaker 10

Yeah, thank you. Thanks for the kind words. On the defense, you can think of the backlog build predominantly in legacy production programs. These are programs for missiles and munitions that have been in use for decades that we're seeing a replenishment cycle on. That is from a dollar of backlog, the majority of the dollars of backlog. The other piece of the backlog, though, that will help us in the out years is the new product innovation that's happening, and that's customer-funded innovation that's in the defense modernization space. That quantity of programs is up almost 60% over the last two years. That's the composition of the backlog that continues to grow from replenishment. No surge demand is in that current backlog.

Speaker 10

This is just real orders from customers for replenishment. I shift to utilities. In the utility space, our precision sensors and analytics solutions are used to keep critical assets within the grid up and running, and extending their life. That's the precision sensor side of the business. Also, in the grid, our Test and Measurement solutions are being used to bring to market new power storage solutions, as well as powering new energies like nuclear. Those are the places that we play in defense and utilities.

Speaker 3

Appreciate that color. Just following up on your free cash flow, what was the timing issue this quarter? Do you have rough framework or guidance for the full year 2026, in terms of conversion or margin, given you're now committing half of that to buybacks going forward? Just confirming the 95%+ framework has not changed for the out years.

Speaker 6

Yeah. Yeah. Thanks. Yeah, first of all, the 95% plus free cash flow conversion rate has not changed. Q1 is seasonally normally a lower free cash flow quarter. We have some employee payments, think about variable comp, other payments that go out to employees, usually in that in Q1. It's also a lower revenue quarter seasonally versus Q4. Lastly, we had a very strong quarter in Q4 as well. Just a bit of timing there, I think both from natural seasonality in the business as well as I think a strong previous quarter. As we look forward in the remainder of the year, I don't think that free cash flow conversion changes.

Speaker 6

I think if you look at the buyback that we're talking about, that 50% or so, you know, target for free cash flow, return to shareholders, what we're talking about here is, you know, in line with that, maybe a little bit north of 50% based on what we're seeing. No change there. I think it's seasonal in Q1, and we should see strong, I think, cash flow performance as you look throughout the remainder of the year.

Speaker 3

That's great. Thank you.

Speaker 7

Thank you. The next question is coming from Kevin Wilson of Truist Securities. Please go ahead.

Speaker 4

Hey, good morning. Great quarter. Wondering if you could speak to how you see the capacity expansion and other growth investments you're making in Qualitrol playing out. You mentioned in prepared remarks the facility expansion later in 2026. Maybe if you could quantify that or otherwise provide color around how much sort of capacity or throughput you could get from that expansion, maybe how much the investment is there, and when you expect to, you know, that capacity to come online and translate to the top line. Thanks.

Speaker 10

Yeah, I'll start with that one. As you think about capacity, think about something that's been ongoing for several years here of how we increase the capacity in our facilities. A lot of that comes from our RBS playbook and how we get more productivity in ourselves. In addition, we've added multiple shifts, so moved from one shift to two or three shifts during the week, and amplified our strategic sourcing capabilities. Those are the things that we have been doing over the past several years to increase the throughput in our existing facilities. As we look on the horizon and think about 2028 and beyond, we do see a need to add some more physical space for both those businesses, and that's what we'll be starting some investments in this year.

Speaker 6

Yeah, let me just add to that. I think in terms of CapEx for the year, we talked, I think, back at Investor Day about 2%. We expanded that to be a bit closer to 2%-3% of revenue. This is part of the reason why, because we believe we need to expand capacity in certain areas. I think that also, it's good to clarify as well, when you think about this organic reinvestment, we certainly don't take that lightly either. You know, Tami and I have a very tightly managed process around how we think about capital across the company. You know, every dollar of capital incrementally needs to go through a process that Tami and I review and approve. This clearly is an opportunity for us to invest and create, I think, shareholder value.

Speaker 6

All of the capital in the company really competes for the best opportunity. It fits within those areas, whether it be commercial, you know, innovation velocity, or expansion of capacity. This is one area that we believe is an important value driver for us to grow more revenue for the utilities business. We believe it has, you know, excellent returns on it as well.

Speaker 4

Thanks. That's really helpful. Maybe if you could just update us on the segment top line and margin assumptions embedded in your guide for the full year. Last quarter, you had implied Sensors and Safety near the top end of the total company range, Test and Measurement below the midpoint.

Speaker 10

Yep.

Speaker 4

It sounds like more of the 2026 raise is Test and Measurement driven here. Just any updates to that framework? Thanks.

Speaker 10

Yes. You outlined that correctly. The raise in 2026 is an increase in Test and Measurement for our 26 guide. Think more to the high single-digit for this year, and Defense and Space in the double-digit. The way the backlog is building, we see that double-digit going forward for Defense and Space. That is what drove the raise.

Speaker 4

Makes sense. Thank you.

Speaker 7

Thank you. The next question is coming from Piyush Abbasi of Citi. Please go ahead.

Speaker 8

Good morning, guys.

Speaker 10

Morning.

Speaker 8

One on, like, diversified electronics within your Test and Measurement segment. I think you experienced strong year-on-year growth in 1Q. There are a few end markets within that vertical, if you could drill down a little bit more, you know, the trends you are seeing in autos and consumer electronics. Sequentially, like, should we expect this performance to continue and maybe what's baked into your full-year guidance for this vertical?

Speaker 10

Yeah, diversified electronics is an area that we watch closely. By the nature of it's about 50% of the overall revenue in Test and Measurement, and that diversity gives us a lot of durability. You're seeing the end markets, anything connected to AI, that's infrastructure going into data centers, both semiconductor and electronic subsystems for compute or memory, for power modules. You're also seeing AI show up in a physical way. The robotics that we have, whether it's at home, in our workplaces or in our manufacturing facilities, all of those electronics fall into what we think of as our diversified set of our portfolio and a place that's been strong and gives us the confidence of some durability in that business.

Speaker 8

Thanks, Tami. You guys like raised the full year guidance, full year margin guidance to like 19.5% to 20.5%. Maybe if you can frame for us like how you're thinking of margins based on like the segments. I think expectations for Test and Measurement were like towards the low end of your mid-teens to low double-digit range. Now you're kind of expecting high single-digit growth. Should we expect margins to be more in line with that long-term average? Similar question on like, Sensors and Safety. I think you guys were talking about, you know, mid-20s to high 20s there, but 1Q was really strong performance. How should we think of that for the full year?

Speaker 10

Piyush, I'll give the context that we shared at Investor Day. Ralliant overall low to mid-20s type adjusted EBITDA margins. Think of Test and Measurement in the mid- to high-teens adjusted EBITDA margins and the Sensors and Safety Systems segment in the mid- to high-20s type range. Yes. Again, if you think about the year, I think that kind of frames it up well. I think as Test and Measurement starts to improve, I think you can look at, you know, margins in that mid-teens to low 20s, maybe below the midpoint of that a little bit for the year. We'll see how the level of revenue plays out. Clearly within the range, I think as we start to see the year, you know, play out.

Speaker 10

From a Sensors and Safety perspective, I think that mid to high 20s is very reasonable, you know, for the year. Could be a little bit lumpy quarter to quarter. We had some good defense mix, I think, in Q1. That might go the other way in Q2. Those are just, like I said earlier, a bit of lumpiness. I think as you look throughout the year, with the growth rate that we're seeing, the sustainability we have in that business, the backlog we have in defense, we feel very good about the volume leverage we'll get, and that'll eventually translate to kind of those type of ranges of margins for the year.

Speaker 8

Got it. Appreciate all the color, guys, and good luck for the remainder of the year.

Speaker 10

Thank you.

Speaker 7

Thank you. The next question is coming from Ian Zaffino of Oppenheimer. Please go ahead.

Speaker 1

Hi, thank you very much. On the T&M side, can you maybe give us a little color from a geographic basis, maybe North America versus China, I guess versus, you know, Western Europe? In semis, you know, what have you done lapping the large customer orders from last year, and how should that grow? Thanks.

Speaker 10

For T&M, geographically, the strength has been North America and driven again by anything tied to AI, where we're seeing customer innovation cycles happen really quickly, especially in the move from 400 to 800 volt in the data center, but also the innovation that's happening at the edge and in the power grid, where we now have test and measurement solutions for power storage systems. North America has been strong. In Europe it's been more defense type test and measurement that we've seen some green shoots there. In China, this past quarter, the government was investing in some energy and AI-related initiatives, which contributed to the China piece.

Speaker 6

Yeah. Just on the semi timing, we think you'll probably see a little bit of headwind on the overall headline number for semis for us, maybe over the next couple of quarters. I think we'll be fully lapped by Q4.

Speaker 1

Okay. You know, on the Sensors and Safety Systems, you know, when we look at utilities, when does that sort of start to inflect higher there? You know, and how do we think about orders and then orders translating into growth in that area? Thanks.

Speaker 10

Yeah, utilities have been a strength for us multi-quarter, even multi-year strength. What you saw this quarter was just a difference between our orders, which continued to be strong and robust, and some timing on shipments for us. We expect that to be a 1-quarter lumpiness and return as we move forward.

Speaker 1

Okay. Thank you very much.

Speaker 7

Thank you. Our next question is coming from Joseph Giordano of TD Cowen. Please go ahead.

Speaker 11

Hi. Good morning. This is Chris on for Joe. Are you able to give us any more color on the timing and the conversion cadence of the $1 billion space and defense backlog and how you expect that to ramp relative to the current defense revenue profile?

Speaker 10

Yeah, you can think about that as a multi-year backlog, extending over the next 2 to 3 years. We will continue to get orders that will build upon that as we're also producing those products and shipping them to customers. Within the year, we're expecting that business to maintain the double-digit plus type growth rate, both in year and the out years. I'd also frame that as a business that can be lumpy. I think Neill spoke to that, but it can be lumpy there, and a place that certainly our RBS playbook is one that helps us get after executing against that backlog.

Speaker 11

Great. Thanks. You alluded to this a little bit earlier, but could you update us on your recent product launches in Test and Measurement and what end markets and applications you're prioritizing and where you're seeing early adoptions and wins with new products?

Speaker 10

Yeah. In Test and Measurement, it's a place, you know, we're focused on what we control, certainly our velocity of new products is an area that we've been focusing on in the most recent years. The announcements made last year, I think we had 6 announcements, 3 were major new platforms, are all getting solid traction as we come into 2026. You can imagine that a sales team with new products to go talk to customers about also drives opportunity across the entire portfolio. It's certainly elevated our activity and our demand. A lot of the innovation that's happening right now is really in defense and AI-related activity.

Speaker 10

Any place that people are innovating around electronics, and when those customer innovation cycles are accelerated, those are new opportunities for us in Test and Measurement. That's the part that we control, that and being close to our customers. Our customers are constantly innovating, and we're spending the time with customers to make sure that we're helping them solve their toughest challenges.

Speaker 11

Thanks very much.

Speaker 7

Thank you. Our next question is coming from Scott Graham of Seaport Research Partners. Please go ahead.

Speaker 9

Hey, good morning. Congratulations on the quarter. I wanted to ask about tariffs. You have a notation in here that you expect to offset them. I was wondering if you could give us sort of what that number, the cost number looks like right now. When you say you can offset, is that just purely price, or do you need some productivity help to offset?

Speaker 10

Tariffs is a place that we have, we've had a good track record if you look back over the last several years. We have a lot of practice, like many in the industry has had, but this is where our RBS playbook really supports it. It's a combination. You know, we're constantly working on a funnel of value-engineered products to manage our bill of materials and costs. We're constantly negotiating with suppliers as we increase volume to ensure we're getting best pricing and ensuring we get the value through our pricing methodologies, that we get the right value for what we're creating for our customers. The combination of those things are how we have continued to offset tariffs.

Speaker 6

Yeah, just to put a number on that. If you look last year, I think we were talking about tariff impact of about $30 million-$40 million throughout the year. I think this year, based on some of the countermeasures, kind of Tami Newcombe referred to, but also some of the changes in the tariffs, obviously, that's closer to about $25 million, we think right now, what looks like in the forecast for 2026. Stepping back, it is a lot of, there is some pricing in there, but there's a lot of other countermeasures related to supply chain actions, value engineering work that we do to try and offset those things, but it's right within our RBS playbook.

Speaker 6

While we're talking about it, if you step back, you know, I think normally we see 1.5, 2% of price within a given year. A little bit on the north end of that for 2026 is what we have baked in, and that's just getting ahead of what, you know, those, you know, where some of that, either inflationary or other pressures might hit us. Team, the team's all over this. We're leveraging the playbook. There's deep RBS work that's being executed here to offset those and other potential inflationary pressures.

Speaker 9

Okay. Really appreciate that set of responses. Just a quick follow-up on the productivity. You know, there's a lot of talk about using AI internally to enhance productivity, and I know your Business System is, you know, very exacting on both sales and productivity initiatives. Are you really starting to incorporate AI into your productivity day-to-day?

Speaker 10

Thanks for asking. Give me an opportunity to share all the work that we're doing around AI. Right post or following spin, we developed the AI foundry as part of the Ralliant Business System office, and this is a citizen-led AI productivity that we have now, you know, after a couple quarters built into, it will be a part of the Enterprise Productivity Program. The Enterprise Productivity Program gives us the visibility, the program management, the governance, and the hard targets. We still leverage RBS as how we scale this across the enterprise and how we use the toolkit to really see how work gets done so that we can take muda and unnecessary steps, leveraging AI to drive productivity.

Speaker 9

Thank you.

Speaker 7

Thank you. This brings us to the end of the question and answer session. I would like to turn the floor back over to Ms. Newcombe for closing comments.

Speaker 10

Well, thank you for joining us today. We appreciate all of your support, and we will continue to execute against our profitable growth strategy to drive both revenue and margin expansion. Thank you.

Speaker 7

Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes today's event. You may disconnect your lines or log off the webcast at this time and enjoy the rest of your day.

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