NEENAH, WI, Oct. 22, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Plexus Corp. (NASDAQ: PLXS) today announced financial results for our fiscal fourth quarter and fiscal year ended September 27, 2025, and guidance for our fiscal first quarter ending January 3, 2026.

• Reports fiscal fourth quarter revenue of $1.058 billion, GAAP operating margin of 5.0% and GAAP diluted EPS of $1.87.
• Reports fiscal 2025 revenue of $4.033 billion, GAAP operating margin of 5.0% and GAAP diluted EPS of $6.26.
• Reports fiscal fourth quarter non-GAAP operating margin of 5.8% and non-GAAP diluted EPS of $2.14, excluding $0.27 of stock-based compensation expense.
• Reports fiscal 2025 non-GAAP operating margin of 5.9% and non-GAAP diluted EPS of $7.43, excluding $1.02 of stock-based compensation expense and $0.15 of restructuring and other charges.
• Initiates fiscal first quarter 2026 revenue guidance of $1.050 billion to $1.090 billion with GAAP diluted EPS of $1.40 to $1.55, including $0.26 of stock-based compensation expense. Fiscal first quarter non-GAAP EPS guidance of $1.66 to $1.81 excludes stock-based compensation expense.
  
  

Fiscal Fourth Quarter 2025 Information

• Won 28 manufacturing programs representing $274 million in annualized revenue when fully ramped into production.
• Generated free cash flow of $97 million.
• Purchased $21.5 million of our shares at an average price of $134.07 per share under our share repurchase programs. Under our current $100.0 million repurchase authorization, $85.0 million remains available.
  
  

Fiscal Year 2025 Information

• Generated free cash flow of $154 million.
• Produced ROIC of 14.6%, representing an economic return of 570 basis points above our weighted average cost of capital of 8.9%.
• Purchased $65.0 million of our shares at an average price of $136.80 per share.
  
  

Todd Kelsey, President and Chief Executive Officer, commented, “The Plexus team continues to deliver a differentiated value proposition for our customers, and generated strong fiscal fourth quarter results. I am particularly pleased with our non-GAAP EPS of $2.14, which exceeded guidance, and our free cash flow, which again exceeded projections.”

Mr. Kelsey continued, “Our go-to-market team generated 28 fiscal fourth quarter manufacturing wins, representing $274 million in annualized revenue. For fiscal 2025, the team generated 141 manufacturing wins representing $941 million in annualized revenue, which supports revenue growth exceeding that of our end markets. In addition, efforts to diversify our engineering solutions engagements successfully drove increased wins for fiscal 2025, while our sustaining services team achieved record wins for the fiscal year.”

Patrick Jermain, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, commented, "For the seventh consecutive quarter, our team drove a reduction in our gross inventory balance, ending the fiscal year $82 million lower than fiscal 2024. Fiscal fourth quarter cash cycle of 63 days was favorable to our expectations and sequentially lower by 6 days as we benefited from increased revenue and continued progress on our working capital initiatives. This level of cash cycle was the best result delivered in the past five years. Our favorable cash cycle combined with our strong operating performance produced fiscal 2025 return on invested capital of 14.6%, which exceeded our cost of capital by 570 basis points."

Mr. Jermain continued, "We delivered $154 million in free cash flow for fiscal 2025, a result well above our projections. Utilizing our exceptional free cash flow, we continued to execute upon our expanded share repurchase program and reduce our borrowing, ending the year in a net cash position. Finally, while we expect increased investments in support of future revenue growth and operational efficiency initiatives, we anticipate delivering robust fiscal 2026 free cash flow of approximately $100 million and deploying excess cash to create additional shareholder value."

Mr. Kelsey added, “We remain dedicated to our Plexus Value of Innovating Responsibly to help create the products that build a better world. For fiscal 2025, our global team contributed more than 32,000 paid volunteer hours to our local communities, a 47% year-over-year increase, Plexus donated $1.4 million to global non-profits through our Plexus Community Foundation and our team reduced waste to landfill by more than 30% globally, with eight Plexus sites now operating at zero waste to landfill. In addition, we reduced our absolute Scope 1 and 2 emissions by more than 10% across our global manufacturing sites versus our fiscal 2023 baseline.”

Mr. Kelsey continued, “We are guiding fiscal first quarter revenue of $1.050 to $1.090 billion, non-GAAP operating margin of 5.6% to 6.0% and non-GAAP EPS of $1.66 to $1.81. New program ramps, inclusive of share gains, continue to drive our revenue growth in excess of modest end-market growth. In addition, during the fiscal first quarter, we will continue to invest in talent, technology, facilities and advanced capabilities to expand our industry-leading solutions, drive greater long-term operational efficiency and prepare for expected fiscal 2026 revenue growth.”

Mr. Kelsey concluded, “Fiscal 2025 was an outstanding year for Plexus. Our team delivered excellent operational execution, strong financial performance, including 40 basis points of non-GAAP operating margin expansion and 30% non-GAAP EPS growth, and robust and well-balanced new program wins across our solutions. These results provide momentum and position us well in fiscal 2026 to accelerate revenue growth toward our 9% to 12% goal and sustain strong financial performance.”

Business Segment and Market Sector Revenue

Plexus measures operational performance and allocates resources on a geographic segment basis. Plexus also reports revenue based on the market sector breakout set forth in the table below, which reflects Plexus’ market sector focused strategy. Top 10 customers comprised 49% of revenue during the fourth quarter of fiscal 2025. This is up 1 percentage point from the third quarter of fiscal 2025 and down 3 percentage points from the fourth quarter of fiscal 2024. For fiscal 2025, top 10 customers comprised 49% of revenue, up 1 percentage point from fiscal 2024.

Non-GAAP Supplemental Information

Plexus provides non-GAAP supplemental information, such as ROIC, economic return and free cash flow, because such measures are used for internal management goals and decision-making, and because they provide management and investors with additional insight into financial performance. In addition, management uses these and other non-GAAP measures, such as adjusted operating income, adjusted operating margin, adjusted net income and adjusted diluted EPS, to provide a better understanding of core performance for purposes of period-to-period comparisons. Plexus believes that these measures are also useful to investors because they provide further insight by eliminating the effect of non-recurring items that are not reflective of continuing operations. For additional information on non-GAAP measures, please refer to the attached Non-GAAP Supplemental Information tables.

ROIC and Economic Return

ROIC for fiscal year 2025 was 14.6%. Plexus defines ROIC as tax-effected annualized adjusted operating income divided by average invested capital over a five-quarter period for the fiscal year. Invested capital is defined as equity plus debt and operating lease obligations, less cash and cash equivalents. Plexus' weighted average cost of capital for fiscal 2025 was 8.9%. ROIC for fiscal year 2025 less Plexus’ weighted average cost of capital resulted in an economic return of 5.7%.

Free Cash Flow

Plexus defines free cash flow as cash flows provided by operations less capital expenditures. For the three months ended September 27, 2025, cash flows provided by operations was $132.0 million, less capital expenditures of $34.8 million, resulting in free cash flow of $97.2 million. For the fiscal year ended September 27, 2025, cash flows provided by operations was $249.2 million, less capital expenditures of $95.2 million, resulting in free cash flow of $154.0 million.

Conference Call and Webcast Information

Investor and Media Contact
Shawn Harrison        
+1.920.969.6325
shawn.harrison@plexus.com

About Plexus
Since 1979, Plexus has helped create the products that build a better world. Driven by a passion for excellence, we partner with our customers to design, manufacture and service highly complex products in demanding regulatory environments. From life-saving medical devices and mission-critical aerospace and defense products to industrial automation systems and semiconductor capital equipment, our innovative solutions across the lifecycle of a product converge where advanced technology and human impact intersect. We provide these solutions to market-leading as well as disruptive global companies in the Aerospace/Defense, Healthcare/Life Sciences, and Industrial sectors, supported by a global team of over 20,000 members across our 26 facilities in the Americas ("AMER"), Asia-Pacific ("APAC") and Europe, Middle East and Africa ("EMEA") regions. For more information about Plexus, visit our website at www.plexus.com.

Safe Harbor and Fair Disclosure Statement
The statements contained in this press release that are guidance or which are not historical facts (such as statements in the future tense and statements including believe, expect, intend, plan, anticipate, goal, target and similar terms and concepts), including all discussions of periods which are not yet completed, are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. These risks and uncertainties include the effects of tariffs, trade disputes, trade agreements and other trade protection measures; the effect of inflationary pressures on our costs of production, profitability, and on the economic outlook of our markets; the effects of shortages and delays in obtaining components as a result of economic cycles, natural disasters or otherwise; the risk of customer delays, changes, cancellations or forecast inaccuracies in both ongoing and new programs; the ability to realize anticipated savings from restructuring or similar actions, as well as the adequacy of related charges as compared to actual expenses; the lack of visibility of future orders, particularly in view of changing economic conditions; the economic performance of the industries, sectors and customers we serve; the outcome of litigation and regulatory investigations and proceedings, including the results of any challenges with regard to such outcomes; the effects of the volume of revenue from certain sectors or programs on our margins in particular periods; our ability to secure new customers, maintain our current customer base and deliver product on a timely basis; the risks of concentration of work for certain customers; the particular risks relative to new or recent customers, programs or services, which risks include customer and other delays, start-up costs, potential inability to execute, the establishment of appropriate terms of agreements, and the lack of a track record of order volume and timing; the effects of start-up costs of new programs and facilities or the costs associated with the closure or consolidation of facilities; possible unexpected costs and operating disruption in transitioning programs, including transitions between Company facilities; the risk that new program wins and/or customer demand may not result in the expected revenue or profitability; the fact that customer orders may not lead to long-term relationships; our ability to manage successfully and execute a complex business model characterized by high product mix and demanding quality, regulatory, and other requirements; the risks associated with excess and obsolete inventory, including the risk that inventory purchased on behalf of our customers may not be consumed or otherwise paid for by the customer, resulting in an inventory write-off; risks related to information technology systems and data security; increasing regulatory and compliance requirements; any tax law changes and related foreign jurisdiction tax developments; current or potential future barriers to the repatriation of funds that are currently held outside of the United States as a result of actions taken by other countries or otherwise; the potential effects of jurisdictional results on our taxes, tax rates, and our ability to use deferred tax assets and net operating losses; the weakness of areas of the global economy; the effect of changes in the pricing and margins of products; raw materials and component cost fluctuations; the potential effect of fluctuations in the value of the currencies in which we transact business; the effects of changes in economic conditions, political conditions and regulatory matters in the United States and in the other countries in which we do business; the potential effect of other world or local events or other events outside our control (such as the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, conflict in the Middle East, escalating tensions between China and Taiwan or China and the United States, changes in energy prices, terrorism, global health epidemics and weather events); the impact of increased competition; an inability to successfully manage human capital; changes in financial accounting standards; and other risks detailed herein and in our other Securities and Exchange Commission filings, particularly in Risk Factors contained in our fiscal 2024 Form 10-K.