Celestica's Q3 results came in well above Wall Street's expectations.
The company hiked performance targets for 2025 and issued strong 2026 guidance.
Celestica is benefiting from demand tailwinds connected to artificial intelligence (AI) data center buildouts.
Celestica (NYSE: CLS) stock is roaring higher in Tuesday's trading. The company's share price was up 7.8% as of 1:30 p.m. ET. The technology hardware specialist's stock had been up as much as 17.8% earlier in the day's trading. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC) had risen 0.2%, and the Nasdaq Composite (NASDAQINDEX: ^IXIC) was up 0.6%.
Celestica published its third-quarter results after yesterday's market close, and sales and earnings for the period came in far better than anticipated. The company also raised its full-year guidance and set some promising targets for 2026.
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Celestica posted non-GAAP (generally accepted accounting principles) adjusted earnings per share of $1.58 on revenue of $3.19 billion in the third quarter. The performance topped the average Wall Street analyst estimates, which had called for per-share earnings of $1.49 on revenue of $3.04 billion. Revenue surged 27.6% year over year in the period, and it looks like Celestica will continue to see robust sales momentum through 2026.
For the full year, Celestica now expects that sales will come in at approximately $12.2 billion. Previously, management had targeted sales of $11.55 billion for the period. The company also raised its full-year adjusted earnings target to approximately $5.90 per share -- up from its previous forecast for adjusted earnings per share of $5.50. Meanwhile, adjusted free cash flow (FCF) is projected to be roughly $425 million -- up from previous guidance for FCF of approximately $400 million.
Looking ahead to next year, Celestica set targets for revenue of roughly $16 billion and adjusted earnings per share of roughly $8.20. Adjusted FCF for the year is projected to come in at approximately $500 million. Celestica has been seeing impressive demand growth among cloud hyperscaler customers, and it looks like strong business momentum is poised to continue as tech giants build out their artificial intelligence (AI) through expanded data center infrastructure.
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Keith Noonan has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Celestica. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.