Stoneridge (SRI) Q4 2025 Earnings Call Transcript

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Date

Thursday, March 12, 2026 at 9 a.m. ET

Call participants

• President and Chief Executive Officer — James Zizelman
• Chief Financial Officer — Matthew R. Horvath
• President of Stoneridge Electronics; Incoming President and Chief Executive Officer — Natalia Noble
• Chief Accounting Officer; Incoming Interim Chief Financial Officer — Bob Hartman
• Director of Investor Relations — Kelly K. Harvey

Takeaways

• MirrorEye Revenue -- $111 million, up approximately 69% year over year in Electronics and up 84% across company OEM programs, with $45 million of growth attributable to Electronics from prior year.
• Electronics Segment Outperformance -- Full-year Electronics sales reached $551 million, ahead of weighted average OEM end markets by 430 basis points.
• Stoneridge Brazil OEM Sales -- $26.7 million, doubling from the previous year and setting a new record for the segment.
• Adjusted EBITDA -- $28.6 million (3.3% of sales), down 60 basis points compared to last year, affected by macroeconomic pressures and sales declines.
• Decremental Contribution Margin -- 14.2% versus a historical average range of 25%-30%, illustrating productivity gains during volume declines.
• Quality-Related Cost Reductions -- Lowered by $6.6 million company-wide, delivering a 50 basis-point operating performance improvement; Electronics segment quality costs specifically fell by $3.7 million.
• Material Cost Reductions -- Expenses lowered by 80 basis points company-wide and 120 basis points specifically in the Electronics segment versus prior year.
• Positive Free Cash Flow -- $19 million driven by inventory reductions of $18.7 million.
• New Business Awards -- $830 million estimated life revenue awarded in 2025 across Electronics and Stoneridge Brazil, including the largest program wins in company and Stoneridge Brazil history.
• Divestiture of Control Devices Segment -- Sold for a base purchase price of $59 million, with funds allocated to debt reduction and balance sheet strengthening.
• Tariff and FX Headwinds -- Fourth-quarter tariff-related expenses impacted results: $2 million at Control Devices and $1.2 million on the remaining company; incremental $3.3 million in quality costs recognized due to legacy settlement obligations.
• 2026 Revenue Guidance -- Revenue projected to rise by 4.2%, with MirrorEye sales expected to grow by about $50 million (to at least $160 million), translating to approximately 45% annual growth.
• 2026 EBITDA Guidance -- Midpoint target at $22.5 million, supported by $6.5 million EBITDA from incremental revenue and $5 million expected in structural cost reductions, partially offset by $6.7 million in higher compensation costs.
• Credit Facility Amendment -- Maturity extended to July 1, 2027, with forecasted compliance ratios of 3.0x-3.5x under 2026 guidance.
• Medium- and Long-Term Revenue Targets -- Revenue expected to reach at least $715 million in 2027 (12% growth over 2026 midpoint) and $850 million-$1 billion by 2030, reflecting a compound annual growth rate of 6.8%-10.3%.
• EBITDA Targets -- Minimum target of $44 million in 2027 and $80 million-$120 million by 2030, assuming contribution margin history and incremental margin expansion initiatives.

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Risks

• Fourth quarter results "did underperform our prior expectations," with Control Devices segment underperforming by $2 million due to adverse foreign exchange and tariffs, and company-wide incremental tariff-related expenses totaling $1.2 million above expectations.
• Management stated, "incremental quality-related costs of approximately" in the fourth quarter were driven by legacy warranty settlements, though this resolves long-standing issues.
• OEM and off-highway end markets experienced significant declines in production volume, including "some months in 2025 that set all-time record lows for actual orders placed in the commercial vehicle space," which limited sales growth outside MirrorEye.
• Customer price reductions and pressures in aftermarket and other end markets are expected to "substantially offset foreign currency tailwinds, tariff-related reimbursements, and continued growth" in near-term financial results.

Summary

The company’s strategic sale of the Control Devices segment transitions resources to high-growth Electronics and Brazil platforms and provides $59 million for debt reduction. Natalia Noble will assume CEO responsibilities on April 1, following a planned leadership transition, and intends to continue the focus on technological innovation and operational execution. Stoneridge (NYSE:SRI) awarded $830 million in new business lifetime revenue across Electronics and Brazil, featuring record-sized program wins in both. Amendment of the credit facility extends maturity and supports liquidity as leadership foresees maintaining compliance with all covenants through 2026. Medium- and long-term targets project sustained double-digit revenue and earnings expansion through 2030, underpinned by MirrorEye growth and continuous efficiency improvements.

• Natalia Noble said, "we expect to continue to drive market outperformance of two to three times over the long term," indicating ambitions for consistent sales growth above market rates.
• Management outlined a cautious near-term revenue outlook for 2026, expecting flat OEM end markets despite third-party forecasts for 7.1% growth, citing continued geopolitical concerns.
• Recurring digital services revenue, primarily from track-and-trace and Tachograph in Brazil, was highlighted as a distinct and growing contributor to the company’s revenue base.
• Bob Hartman shared that EBITDA improvement will be phased, with breakeven in the first quarter and significant sequential gains expected from the second quarter onward due to higher volumes and ongoing cost actions.
• Realization of structural cost savings in 2026 and 2027 is anticipated both through ongoing streamlining and completion of transition services related to the divested segment.

Industry glossary

• MirrorEye: A digital camera and display system replacing traditional side and rearview mirrors, providing enhanced driver visibility and vehicle safety; a flagship Stoneridge product.
• Take Rate: The proportion of vehicles produced by OEM customers equipped with a specific product or technology, such as MirrorEye.
• SmartTube Tachograph: Regulatory-compliant digital recording system for tracking vehicle speed and driver activity, with notable aftermarket and OEM sales in Brazil and Europe.
• Contribution Margin: The incremental profit from each additional dollar of sales after accounting for variable costs, used internally for assessing operational leverage.

Full Conference Call Transcript

Kelly K. Harvey: Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us to discuss our fourth quarter and full year 2025 results. The release and accompanying presentation were filed with the SEC and are posted on our website at stoneridge.com in the Investors section under Presentations and Events. Joining me on today's call are James Zizelman, our President and Chief Executive Officer, and Matthew R. Horvath, our Chief Financial Officer. Also on today's call are Natalia Noble, our President of Stoneridge Electronics and incoming Chief Executive Officer, and Bob Hartman, our Chief Accounting Officer who will be stepping into the role of interim Chief Financial Officer on April 1. During today's call, we will be referring to certain non-GAAP financial measures.

Please see Slide 2 of the presentation for a more detailed description of these non-GAAP measures, and the appendix for a reconciliation of these non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP measures. In addition, certain statements today may be forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements include statements that are not historical in nature, and include information concerning our future results or plans. Although we believe that such statements are based upon reasonable assumptions, you should understand that these statements are subject to risks and uncertainties and actual results may differ materially.

Additional information about such factors and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ may be found on page 3 of the presentation and in our most recently filed Form 8-K and the 2025 Form 10-Ks which will be filed in the next few business days with the Securities and Exchange Commission under the heading Forward-Looking Statements. After our speakers have finished their formal remarks, we will then open up the call to questions. I will now turn the call over to James Zizelman.

James Zizelman: Thank you, Kelly, and good morning, everyone. Let me begin on page 4. In 2025, our focused growth strategy, continuous improvements on material and quality-related costs, and rigorous structural cost control enabled us to successfully navigate another year marked by very challenging macroeconomic conditions. We are proud of our ability to continuously outperform our end markets even in a significantly challenged production environment while also limiting the impact on our bottom line. Our outperformance was primarily driven by continued momentum with MirrorEye resulting in sales of over $110,000,000, or approximately 70% growth compared to the prior year.

In addition to strong performance this year, our strategy to grow the MirrorEye platform continues to pay off with additional business awards and expansion across many of our global OEMs. Our focus on long-term growth, enabled by our advanced technology offerings, drove significant new business awards in 2025. New business awards announced this year for Electronics and Stoneridge Brazil total approximately $830,000,000 in estimated life revenue. This included the largest business award in Stoneridge, Inc. history for a global OEM MirrorEye program extension, and the largest OEM program award in Stoneridge Brazil's history, as well as several other significant programs for secondary displays, the SmartTube Tachograph, and other electronic control products.

In 2025, we limited the impact of significant end market headwinds by reducing material costs by 80 basis points, reducing quality-related costs by $6,600,000, and driving continued inventory reductions to support positive cash flow performance. Our focus on cash performance and inventory management resulted in positive free cash flow of approximately $19,000,000, driven by a significant improvement in inventory balances of $18,700,000. Earlier this year, we announced that we completed the sale of our Control Devices segment for a base purchase price of $59,000,000, reflecting an important milestone for the company's long-term strategy.

As a result of this sale, Stoneridge, Inc. will now focus its resources on our highest growth, highest return businesses and reduce overall organizational complexity leading to a clear, focused strategy for the company. Additionally, this transaction strengthens our balance sheet, as proceeds from the sale will be used to pay down debt and reduce interest expense burden. As part of this next chapter for Stoneridge, Inc., we are thrilled to announce that Natalia Noble, our current President of Stoneridge Electronics, has been promoted to President and Chief Executive Officer effective April 1.

Natalia will continue focusing on the strategic vision of the company by advancing the rigor and discipline we have built into our daily execution over the last several years to drive long-term sustainable performance. Later on the call, I will more formally introduce Natalia, and she will provide her perspective on the deeply embedded strategy for Stoneridge, Inc. and our unshakable commitment to long-term value creation for our stakeholders. We are proud of our accomplishments in 2025. Yet again, we successfully navigated a year of macroeconomic pressures and maintained operational discipline and focus.

With the expected favorable market tailwinds ahead, a revitalized company following the divestiture of Control Devices, sustained momentum from our growth products driving continued outperformance, and keen monitoring of potential headwinds such as geopolitical volatility, we are quite optimistic about the years to come. Page 5 covers our fourth quarter financial performance and summarizes our key financial metrics for the full year 2025 compared to the prior year. While we continue to make significant progress across our key priorities in 2025, fourth quarter results did underperform our prior expectations. The Control Devices segment, which was subsequently divested in January 2026, underperformed by approximately $2,000,000, driven primarily by the unfavorable impact of foreign exchange and incremental tariffs.

Similarly, tariffs impacted the remaining business by an incremental $1,200,000 in the quarter relative to our prior expectations. While we expect to recover a significant portion, if not all, of these incremental costs, there are timing differences between when the tariffs are incurred and when the recovery is realized. We have shown historically strong performance in recouping these tariff-related costs and expect to continue to do so with those incurred at the end of the year. Finally, during the fourth quarter, we incurred incremental quality-related costs of approximately $3,300,000 relative to our prior expectations. As evidenced by our full year quality cost reduction of $6,600,000, our relentless focus on continuous improvement has been effective.

As stated, we have continued to face challenges with certain legacy warranty issues culminating with settlements with key customers to bring them to conclusion. While this drove incremental cost in the quarter, it also allows us to move on from these historical issues and focus on building stronger relationships with these customers to drive growth in the future. This is why it is imperative that we remain committed to improved quality processes early in the product development cycle to prevent quality issues with long tails as the ones we dealt with this quarter. Now shifting to our full year performance.

There is no question 2025 presented some challenges for the broader transportation industry as production volume declined significantly compared to the prior year and fell well below our initial expectations. Even with significantly reduced production volumes, we outperformed our weighted average OEM end markets by 150 basis points in 2025. This market outperformance was driven primarily by the substantial growth in MirrorEye sales as our OEM programs continue to mature, take rates continue to increase in Europe, and new programs launched with Daimler and Volvo in North America. This resulted in MirrorEye OEM revenue growth of 84% compared to the prior year.

We continue to be encouraged by the overwhelmingly positive response to our MirrorEye technology from our customers, and their customers alike. Later on the call, we will discuss how this strong market acceptance is expected to continue to drive substantial growth over the long term. Adjusted operating margin was significantly impacted by the decline in sales and the underlying macroeconomic pressures, including tariff-related headwinds and significantly reduced production at certain customers. However, our actions to improve material costs, manufacturing performance, and quality-related costs partially mitigated this impact. Our focused efforts to reduce material-related costs resulted in an 80 basis point improvement relative to the prior year.

In addition, and as indicated earlier, quality-related costs improved by $6,600,000, contributing an additional 50 basis points to operating performance, as we continue to focus on built-in quality, responsiveness, and a proactive process to address any historical quality issues. Excluding other non-operating expense of $3,600,000 primarily related to adverse foreign currency impacts, full year adjusted EBITDA was $28,600,000, or 3.3% of sales. This resulted in a 60 basis point decline compared to the prior year and reflects our success in limiting the impact of the significantly reduced volumes faced during the year. We achieved this by our strict focus on improved operational performance, which drove a decremental contribution margin of just 14.2% versus our historical average of 25% to 30%.

Finally, as I mentioned previously, our focus on cash and inventory management drove positive adjusted free cash flow of approximately $19,000,000. Lower contribution margin was offset by the significant improvement in our inventory balances, which declined by $18,700,000 this year. Overall, despite continued and significant challenges in our end markets, we were able to outperform our weighted average end markets, significantly improve our operational performance, and drive cash performance in 2025. Turning to page 6. Just a few weeks ago, I announced that I will be retiring effective May 20. As part of Stoneridge, Inc.'s long-term, thoughtful succession planning strategy, the Board has prioritized leadership continuity and a smooth transition to support the company's next phase of growth.

That said, I was pleased to announce that Natalia Noble, our current President of Electronics, has been appointed as incoming President and CEO and member of the Board of Directors. I will remain as President and Chief Executive Officer through March 31. On April 1, Natalia will assume the role of President and Chief Executive Officer, and I will remain on the Board of Directors and transition into a Strategic Adviser role to support the transition and key stakeholder relationships through May 20. I will also be a Board nominee for election at our next annual meeting to provide continuity and support for the company. Natalia is the right leader for this company.

For nearly two years, Natalia has led the Electronics segment with focus and discipline, making this a natural and well-prepared transition. Natalia is a highly experienced global leader with deep roots in the commercial vehicle industry. She consistently delivers on our commitments and operational excellence while strengthening meaningful relationships with our customers. During her tenure, Natalia led the segment in securing several significant new business awards, including the largest program in company history. Her customer connections and commitment to excellence in execution demonstrate her ability to drive growth, strengthen competitive positioning, and deliver measurable results.

Over the course of her career, she has held various senior leadership roles within global transportation technology companies including ZF and Wabco, where she led complex multi-regional businesses with full profit and loss responsibility. Her broad cross-functional leadership experience and proven ability to drive performance make her a natural choice to lead Stoneridge, Inc. through its well-planned evolution. Natalia's appointment marks an exciting new chapter for the company. Over the next few months, we will continue to work very closely together to ensure a seamless, well-organized transfer of responsibilities. I am confident that under her leadership, Stoneridge, Inc. will continue to accelerate its drive forward. Before I conclude, I would like to take a moment to say thank you.

Serving as the CEO of this company has truly been an honor. I am incredibly proud of what we have built together—our focus, our rigor, and our discipline to drive operational excellence and the establishment of a strong performance culture. To our employees, our customers, our shareholders, and other partners, thank you for your trust and your commitment. I am confident the improvements we have made are built into the company DNA, positioning it for sustainable long-term growth well beyond my tenure. I will now turn the call over to Natalia to walk us through Stoneridge, Inc.'s refined company strategy and position. Natalia, the floor is yours.

Natalia Noble: Good morning, everyone, and thank you, Jim. I am fortunate enough to have already spent nearly two years with Stoneridge, Inc. as President of the Electronics division and as a member of the executive staff where I have contributed to shaping the company's next phase of disciplined, sustainable growth. I look forward to working closely with the Board of Directors, our senior leadership team, and our talented, dedicated global teams as we continue to execute on a strong long-term strategy focused on sustainable, profitable growth. Now turning to page 7. Stoneridge, Inc.'s strength is rooted in our global footprint, with strong operations in Europe, North America, and Brazil, each positioned for significant growth over the long term.

Earlier this year, Stoneridge, Inc. took a significant step in its long-term strategic vision by completing the sale of the Control Devices division. As Jim just mentioned, this transaction allows us to focus resources on our highest growth, highest return businesses, and reduce overall organizational complexity leading to a clear, focused strategy for the company. We will continue to utilize our global footprint to serve our customers. Our strong global presence enables us to remain a preferred global supplier of industry-leading technologies to the world's leading commercial and off-highway vehicle manufacturers. Furthermore, we will continue to leverage our global engineering footprint and technology expertise.

Our global engineering capabilities remain focused and robust, aligning our technologies with key industry trends, including safety and vehicle efficiency. Brazil remains a critical engineering center that augments our global teams located in Europe and North America, and our dedicated engineering partners in India strengthen our capabilities to meet the evolving needs of our global customers. We will continue investing in and scaling our cost-advantaged engineering presence to deepen customer partnerships. Overall, Stoneridge, Inc. will continue to drive global growth and invest in the resources required to advance our capabilities within a more cost-efficient structure. Turning to page 8. Our portfolio is focused on advanced technologies and electronic solutions primarily serving the global commercial vehicle and off-highway end markets.

Over the past several years, the commercial vehicle industry has been undergoing a fundamental transformation with more automation and connected vehicle technologies focused on advanced safety and vehicle efficiency. Our product portfolio related to vision and safety, connectivity, vehicle intelligence, and electronic controls is directly aligned with this transformation and represents significant growth opportunities. Beginning with our vision and safety systems, we are a global leader in camera monitor and vision systems in the truck, bus, and off-highway end markets. Our award-winning, industry-changing MirrorEye technology replaces traditional rear and side-view mirrors with external digital cameras and digital displays inside the cab of the vehicle.

The best-in-class technology offers innovative features and functionality that enable fleets to reduce operational costs while enhancing safety for everyone on the road. Our technology sets us apart from the competitors. Next to the fact that it is a significant growth driver, MirrorEye provides us with the opportunity to not only expand on our current product, but also enables a pathway to new technologies and capabilities. This includes connected trailer and 360-degree surround view suite of technologies. With focused resource deployment, we expect to further accelerate these opportunities. Our vehicle intelligence and electronic control products include digital driver information systems and secondary displays primarily for the commercial vehicle end market. These fully configurable displays allow customer differentiation and flexibility.

They are the main source of data for a driver in the vehicle and will enable increased in-vehicle connectivity and customized solutions for future technology packages including Schrader connectivity and 360-degree surround view technologies I just mentioned. This category also includes our electronic control units that range from basic controls to highly engineered system-based products. Electronic control units will be at the center of the consolidation of existing products into complex electronic systems. Stoneridge, Inc. is well positioned to take advantage of this consolidation. Furthermore, we recently announced Stoneridge Brazil's largest program in its history for an OEM infotainment controller. Through our continued delivery of high-quality products and focus on customer support, we continue to win in this market.

Finally, our connectivity portfolio includes our Telematics and Tachograph products, as well as our digital services. We also offer end-to-end tracking solutions for logistics, cargo security, and fleet management in Brazil. Our connectivity products provide streamlined solutions to efficiently monitor individual drivers and fleets, providing readily accessible data on their vehicles, allowing them to ensure compliance with legal requirements. Decades of design and manufacturing coupled with our insight and experience allow us to remain a leading supplier of connectivity products. Our products occupy a significant amount of real estate inside the cockpit of the vehicle. As such, we plan to further integrate these complex electronic systems into a large system offering.

This will bring advanced technology to our customers to help differentiate their vehicles, improve vehicle safety and efficiency, and provide opportunities for long-term profitable growth for the company. Our customers are choosing to work with us for our technology and our proximity and flexibility. We are not just delivering product, systems, and services. We are improving safety on the roads, reducing emissions, improving overall efficiency of the vehicles, and enabling better driver comfort. Our strong product portfolio has built a meaningful and growing backlog of awarded programs, and we expect to continue this momentum in the coming years. Turning to Slide 9.

As President and CEO, I will continue the strong focus on excellence in execution, to sharpen our strategy and drive financial performance. As the President of our Electronics division, I played an integral role in establishing our focus on sustainable long-term value creation. Therefore, our key drivers for sustainable performance remain the same: drive market outperformance, margin expansion, and cash flow conversion to create long-term value for shareholders, customers, and employees. To accomplish this, we must continue to deliver a strong customer value proposition and differentiation. First, we will continue to deliver advanced technology solutions that solve critical challenges and help our customers achieve their long-term goals, whether it is improving efficiency, enhancing safety, or increasing driver comfort.

Supported by our strong backlog of awarded business and deep customer integration, our robust technology roadmap will continue to create opportunities with both existing and new products to the market. As such, we expect to continue to drive market outperformance of two to three times over the long term. Later in the call, I will provide further perspective on top line growth expectations through discussion of our long-term target. Second, we are focused on excellence in execution in everything we do. This starts with consistent delivery of our promised outcomes. Whether it is to our customers, our employees, or other stakeholders, we must drive disciplined execution to meet the expectations.

In turn, this allows us to build trust and confidence of our customers and other stakeholders. We will continue to embed rigor and discipline in all our processes to drive operational efficiency and continuous improvement. By investing in quality-related processes and resources, we not only improve product reliability and performance for our customers, but also reduce internal quality costs. At the same time, our robust pipeline of material and manufacturing cost reduction initiatives, through smarter engineering and more efficient supply chains, enhances cost efficiency. Together, these efforts lower quality, manufacturing, and material-related costs, drive margin expansion, and support sustainable growth.

As part of this overarching driver, the executive team and I are committed to organizational cost efficiencies by streamlining corporate costs to better support our company in this structure. Finally, when passion, process, and priorities are aligned, a strong performance culture emerges—one that consistently drives long-term value. By fostering a culture of accountability, creativity, collaboration, and continuous improvement, we drive outcomes that matter most to our customers and business. With empowering leadership, our talent aligned with core technology strategy, and a global footprint providing flexibility and proximity, we can bring faster innovation and problem-solving strategies to better support our customers. By combining our operational levers, we will convert our strategy into measurable outcomes.

We want our customers to see tangible results, our teams to feel motivated and aligned, and our stakeholders to benefit from sustainable long-term value. Later on the call, we will provide further detail on how we will drive long-term shareholder value through market outperformance, margin expansion, and cash flow conversion, both in the current year and over the long term. I am excited about this next stage of our strategy and am committed to executing on the long-term plan that Stoneridge, Inc. has in place. I will now turn the call over to Matt.

Matthew R. Horvath: Thank you, Natalia, and again, congratulations on your new role. Page 11 summarizes our key financial metrics specific to Electronics and Stoneridge Brazil. For Electronics, full year sales of $551,000,000 outperformed our weighted average OEM end markets by approximately 430 basis points. This market outperformance was driven by MirrorEye sales which totaled $111,000,000 in 2025, resulting in growth of $45,000,000, or 69%, compared to the prior year. This includes increasing take rates in Europe and the ramp-up of new programs for Daimler and Volvo in North America. Additionally, MirrorEye bus revenue grew by approximately 34% as our latest generation camera systems have received extremely positive market feedback.

We expect continued expansion of MirrorEye as our end markets improve and our recently launched programs continue to mature. Electronics adjusted operating income declined by 140 basis points, primarily driven by lower contribution from sales. While we were able to offset a portion of our tariff-related expenses, our adjusted operating income was also impacted by incremental tariff-related expenses of approximately $2,000,000. This was partially offset by material cost improvement of approximately 120 basis points and lower quality-related costs of $3,700,000 compared to 2024 for the Electronics segment. Stoneridge Brazil full year sales growth of $15,000,000, or approximately 30%, was primarily driven by incremental OEM sales as our Brazilian OEM business continues to accelerate.

OEM sales in Brazil set a record at $26,700,000, which approximately doubled compared to the prior year. We expect OEM sales in Brazil to continue to expand as new programs launch and we continue to win local OEM business. Full year adjusted operating income improved by $4,600,000, or 660 basis points compared to the prior year, primarily driven by increased contribution from incremental sales. As we have previously announced, this will be my final earnings call as I have accepted a role outside the company. It has been a privilege to serve in this role, and I am proud of what we have accomplished.

With that, I would like to turn the call over to Bob Hartman, our Chief Accounting Officer, who will serve as the interim Chief Financial Officer upon my resignation from the company effective March 31.

Bob Hartman: Thank you, Matt. I am looking forward to stepping into the role of interim CFO and I am confident that this team will continue to drive long-term value for our stakeholders as we transition to a more focused, leaner global company. Turning to Slide 12. As mentioned earlier on the call, the commercial vehicle end market created significant headwinds during 2025. This is highlighted by an almost 7% decline in our weighted average OEM end markets in 2025 compared to our initial expectations of approximately flat end market conditions. That said, in 2026, our end markets are expected to begin to recover.

More specifically, the European commercial vehicle market is expected to show stabilization with potential for moderate growth after subdued demand over the last two years. Similarly, in North America, we expect that soft freight demand and continued capital spending discipline will persist, resulting in relatively flat first half revenues. However, we are beginning to see increasing order strength from our customers and third-party production forecasts have improved for the second half of the year. Additionally, with EPA 2027 regulations becoming clearer, we expect a pre-buy effect as the year progresses in our North American commercial vehicle market.

As a result, North American OEM production is forecast to improve by 9.8% this year while European production is forecast to improve by 6.6%, resulting in expected full year 2026 weighted average end market growth of 7.1%. For 2027, current third-party production forecasts suggest 6.6% growth for our weighted average OEM end markets. We are seeing moderate improvement in production levels in 2026. More importantly, we are also receiving increasingly positive indications from customers that would align with third-party forecasts, particularly in the second half of the year. That said, turning to Slide 13, we are taking a relatively conservative approach to our revenue expectations for the year as we are assuming OEM end markets will remain flat.

While third-party forecasts have indicated potential upside to this expectation, we believe continued geopolitical volatility warrants some level of conservatism. We are expecting yet another year of strong growth for our MirrorEye products. In total, we expect MirrorEye to grow by approximately $50,000,000 to at least $160,000,000, which translates to approximately 45% growth compared to 2025. Of the $160,000,000 in sales forecasted for MirrorEye, we expect approximately $140,000,000 in OEM sales, or approximately 45% growth relative to 2025. We expect continued strong improvement in take rates this year as recently launched programs continue to mature and strong customer feedback drives further adoption in both Europe and North America.

Our MirrorEye OEM programs continue to gain positive momentum from our customers’ committed marketing campaigns that highlight the substantial benefits of our system, including improved safety, fuel economy, and driver comfort. We are also expecting significant growth in our MirrorEye bus programs due to strong market feedback on our latest camera system. After two years of strong SmartTube Tachograph aftermarket sales, driven by incremental regulatory requirements, we are expecting a sales decline of approximately $12,000,000 in 2026 relative to the prior year. Overall, SmartTube will still contribute significantly to sales in 2026, with OEM programs expected to be flat year over year.

As highlighted by a recent award announced in the second quarter, our SMART II Tachograph continues to win new business in Europe. We will work with our current customers, as well as prospective customers, to drive continued OEM growth in this segment. Finally, we expect that customer price reductions and continued pressures in our aftermarket and other end markets will substantially offset foreign currency tailwinds, tariff-related reimbursements, and continued growth in our off-highway end markets. However, similar to our OEM end markets, recovery in off-highway vehicle production could drive upside to our guidance.

In summary, based on our midpoint guidance, we are expecting revenue growth of approximately 4.2% in 2026, primarily driven by continued MirrorEye growth as our weighted average OEM end markets are expected to be flat. Slide 14 outlines our expectations for 2026 EBITDA in detail. We expect that the revenue growth of $26,000,000 will contribute approximately $6,500,000 of EBITDA growth based on the low end of our historical contribution margin of 25% to 30%, as the SMART II Tachograph business generally drove a higher margin and we are expecting lower sales from that product this year.

As Natalia discussed earlier on the call, we are committed to driving organizational efficiency by streamlining our corporate costs to more effectively support our company's current structure. This year, we expect the benefit of at least $5,000,000 from these structural cost reductions. In 2027, we expect to realize additional savings as we complete our obligations under the transition services agreements from the sale of Control Devices. As our markets recover and overall company performance continues to improve, we expect that our incentive compensation programs will return to target levels in 2026. This increase, in addition to merit-based wage increases, is expected to drive a $6,700,000 headwind year over year.

As Natalia and Jim also mentioned earlier in the call, we remain focused on improving operating and manufacturing performance, including reducing quality-related and material costs to drive gross margin improvement. We have incorporated some incremental warranty costs in our guidance for this year as we address the few remaining legacy issues that Jim mentioned earlier in the call. Overall, we expect that our continued focus on quality during the product development process will drive fundamental improvement in the long-term quality of our product portfolio. In summary, we are expecting revenue growth, continuous improvement in our operating performance, and structural cost reductions to drive EBITDA improvement in 2026 to our midpoint EBITDA guidance of $22,500,000.

As it relates to the cadence of our guidance, we are expecting a relatively muted first quarter as production volumes remain lower to start the year, resulting in approximately breakeven EBITDA in the first quarter. This assumes first quarter revenue to be slightly below 2025. Following the first quarter, we are expecting improving volumes and structural cost benefits to drive improved EBITDA in the second quarter and beyond. We are expecting EBITDA to continue to improve in the second half of the year aligned with continued revenue growth and the ramp-up of benefits from structural cost improvement. This expected cadence would result in significant EBITDA improvement in the second half of the year compared to the first half.

Turning to page 15. As Matt mentioned earlier on the call, we continue to manage cash efficiently even as production volumes remained significantly lower than originally expected in 2025, driven primarily by inventory reductions and capital expenditure management. In 2026, we will continue to prioritize efficient cash generation as we remain focused on optimizing inventory levels to reduce working capital levels. Additionally, we will maintain disciplined oversight of our capital expenditures. Last week, we completed an amendment of our current credit facility to extend the maturity date to 07/01/2027 to allow ample time to refinance our existing credit facility and align our long-term capital structure with the structure of the company after the sale of Control Devices.

Based on our current EBITDA guidance and our amended covenant ratios, we expect to remain in compliance with all of our covenant ratios and have sufficient liquidity to navigate continuing volatility. Based on our 2026 guidance, we expect a compliance ratio between 3.0x and 3.5x by the end of the year. With that, I will turn it back over to Natalia for detail regarding our medium- to long-term targets.

Natalia Noble: Thank you both. Slide 17 lays out the drivers of our medium and long-term financial targets. First, as a reminder, our weighted average end markets are expected to improve by 6.6% from 2026 to 2027, which would drive approximately $42,000,000 of incremental revenue in 2027. In addition to a strong market, we are expecting continued expansion of our MirrorEye programs driven primarily by the continued ramp-up of our OEM programs and improved customer take rates in both North America and Europe. Based on the third-party market forecast and our expectations for MirrorEye by 2027, we currently estimate revenue of at least $715,000,000 in 2027, which would represent approximately 12% growth versus our midpoint expectation for 2026.

We continue to focus on market outperformance and believe that incremental opportunities in both our Brazilian OEM business as well as our off-highway business could drive upside to these expectations. Looking beyond 2027, we are expecting continued strong growth in our key product categories. In addition to market growth, we expect continued expansion in our MirrorEye programs as they mature. Similarly, we are expecting our other products to outpace market growth, including the continued adoption of camera-based safety systems in the off-highway market, as well as the expansion of our connected trailer and 360-degree surround view technologies as we continue to build on our existing systems and capabilities.

In turn, we expect these growth drivers to result in revenue of $850,000,000 to $1,000,000,000 by 2030, representing a five-year compound annual growth rate of 6.8% to 10.3%. We expect that revenue growth will drive significant earnings expansion as well. Based on our historical and expected contribution margin, we expect that our growth will improve EBITDA to at least $44,000,000 in 2027, based only on market growth and continued momentum with our MirrorEye programs. We will have the ability to outperform this contribution-based target as we will continue to execute on our pipeline of material cost improvement activities, quality improvement initiatives, and structural cost reductions.

Similarly, based on our long-term revenue targets, we expect EBITDA growth aligned with the midpoint of our historical contribution margins of 25% to 30%. Based only on contribution from incremental revenue, we are targeting EBITDA of approximately $80,000,000 to $120,000,000 in 2030. Again, we will rely on our robust pipeline of material cost improvement activities and the continued focus on long-term excellence in overall execution to drive to and beyond these targets. Stoneridge, Inc. is well positioned to significantly outpace our underlying end markets even as they are forecasted to recover over the next several years and provide a tailwind to overall growth.

Our industry-leading product portfolio, focused on our vision and safety, connectivity, and vehicle intelligence and controls products, is expected to drive significant growth forward as we build on recent momentum, particularly with our MirrorEye platform. We expect that this growth will drive meaningful earnings expansion that will be amplified by excellence in execution as we continue to build on the recent success of reducing material costs, improving our quality processes, and utilizing a lean, global structure to optimize performance. Turning to page 18.

In summary, with favorable market tailwinds ahead, a revitalized company following the divestiture of Control Devices, and sustained momentum from our growth products driving continued market outperformance, while monitoring potential headwinds such as geopolitical volatility, we are quite optimistic about the years to come. Under Jim's leadership, we built a strong foundation. Now, with our simplified company structure and focused strategy, we will continue to drive strong performance going forward. We will continue to focus on excellence in execution to drive significant earnings expansion and, as a result, strong shareholder returns both in the short and long term. Stoneridge, Inc. remains well positioned to outpace our weighted average end markets, significantly expand our earnings, and drive long-term shareholder value.

We will now open for questions.

Operator: Ladies and gentlemen, at this time, we will begin the question-and-answer session. To ask a question, you may press star and then one on your touch-tone phones. If you are using a speakerphone, we ask that you please pick up the handset prior to pressing the keys to ensure the best sound quality. To withdraw your questions, you may press star and then two. Again, that is star and then one to join the question queue. Our first question today comes from Gary Prestopino from Barrington Research. Please go ahead with your question.

Gary Prestopino: Yeah. Good morning, Walt. Several questions here. First of all, I think I heard you say that there are going to be legacy warranty costs related to the Control Devices business this year and possibly, I do not know how for how long really, but that would assume that when you sold the business, those warranty costs were not part of the sale and transferred to the new owners of the business. Is that correct?

Matthew R. Horvath: Gary, actually, no. When we referred to legacy warranty questions, those were legacy warranty questions for issues within our Electronics products themselves. Any warranty that related to Control Devices was passed with the business to the new buyer.

Gary Prestopino: Okay. Alright. I guess some other questions here. I just want to refer back to one of the slides where you broke out your sales footprint. Your three markets, I think you talked about here. I am referring to Slide 8, at least on my computer. You have got connectivity, vision and safety, and intelligence and electronic controls. Can you give us an idea of what percentage of the revenues between Electronics and Brazil make up those three markets?

Matthew R. Horvath: Yes. Hey, Gary. It is Matt. How are you doing? Generally, you will see two different breakouts. One on Slide 7 there where you see revenue by region and end market. We do not break out specifically by product category. As we talked about, the Brazilian OEM business is growing pretty significantly, so you are seeing some pretty strong growth across a couple of those product categories. In Brazil, for example, the connectivity devices that we call out on Slide 8 has the track-and-trace business and digital services. A large portion of that is Brazil. Of course. So I would say we do not break it out specifically. But the connectivity business is certainly more global than the other businesses.

But we are seeing some things—as we talked about, OEM sales doubling in Brazil—we are seeing some increased penetration of some of those other product categories in Brazil. And we would also say that the Europe versus North America, these are global customers. So we really do consider them as a singular customer across the globe. Their purchasing teams are operating that way. So the only real split we would say is Brazil currently about 15% of the business. Electronics business globally is 85%. That is the best way. That is the way we deal with our customers on it as well.

Gary Prestopino: Okay. So if we look at the numbers for this past year, your MirrorEye sales were up dramatically, so there had to be a dramatic downturn in the Electronics business in some of these other areas. Is that really a correct assumption? I mean, I have to go through and work through the numbers, but it seems like if your MirrorEye sales were up $111,000,000 but your other sales were down, where are you seeing the most impact across these three areas?

Natalia Noble: I agree. It is Natalia. So, yes, the MirrorEye platform was representing a big increase in the sales. Overall, when you look at the vehicle production, especially in North America, but not only, in other products that are really linked with the vehicle production, this is where the biggest downside is coming from.

Matthew R. Horvath: Yes. So looking at commercial vehicle volumes, there were some months in 2025 that set all-time record lows for actual orders placed in the commercial vehicle space. That is how weak that sector got during the course of the year. Fortunately, toward the end of the year, we saw a nice uptick there in December. And we expect a lot more of that coming forward. And so do the third-party prognosticators—ACT and S&P Global—they are starting to show a recovery, especially in North America on the commercial vehicle side.

Gary Prestopino: Right. I have seen the first two months of the year that has been pretty strong. And I guess that was a lead into the next question. How has your sales force in the market when trying to sell MirrorEye—what have they been experiencing here for the first two months of the year, given that truck production looks like it is starting to move up? At least, I saw the North America numbers. I did not see European.

Natalia Noble: Right. Indeed, we see first very positive signals from the third-party companies that are showing the orders of the trucks, Class 8 in North America, but also looking at Europe. We are also seeing first slight increases in the orders from our customers, primarily in the second half of the year. We are also very cautious of the overall geopolitical situation and monitoring that very closely. But indeed, the first positive signals are out there.

Gary Prestopino: Okay. And then just one quick question, and I will jump off. Let me understand something here with your business, especially on the telematics. With everything that you are doing, you are basically selling product that allows for this telematics to happen. Are you also the backbone on the connected service side through a network? Or are the products that you have agnostic and able to work with any network?

Natalia Noble: Thank you for that. Indeed, especially in Brazil, but not only, with our track-and-trace business, we are quite successful in digital services. This is direct recurring revenue and a business that is completely different from the hardware or hardware with embedded software. We do also have a certain portfolio of digital services linked with our Tachograph products as well as MirrorEye products. That is an area that we are also growing. The strongest market here for us is Brazil at this point.

Gary Prestopino: Okay. Thank you very much.

Operator: Thank you, Gary. It is showing no additional questions at this time. I would like to turn the floor back over to Natalia Noble for closing remarks.

Natalia Noble: Thank you, everyone, for joining us for the call. I know your time is very important, and as always, we truly appreciate your willingness to engage with us today. We have built a strong foundation that will allow us to drive significant earnings expansion as we grow. We will continue to deliver on our commitments by focusing on our advanced technology and excellence in execution delivered by our talented and passionate team. We expect that our performance, along with our unique mix of industry-changing product platforms, will continue to drive strong shareholder value. Thank you.

Operator: And with that, ladies and gentlemen, we will conclude today's conference call and presentation. We thank you for joining. You may now disconnect your lines.

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