Celestica Announces Third Quarter 2026 Financial Results and Will Hold 2026 Investor and Analyst Day

Q3 2026 revenue and non-GAAP adjusted EPS* above the high end of our guidance ranges;
2027 outlook reflects accelerating revenue growth & non-GAAP adjusted operating margin* expansion

(All amounts in U.S. dollars)

TORONTO, Oct. 26, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Celestica Inc.¹ (NYSE: CLS) (TSX: CLS), a global leader in data center infrastructure and advanced technology solutions, today announced its financial results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2026 (Q3 2026).

Q3 2026 Highlights

• Revenue: $5.83 billion, increased 83% compared to $3.19 billion for the third quarter of 2025 (Q3 2025).
• GAAP earnings from operations as a % of revenue: 7.9%, compared to 10.2% for Q3 2025.
• Adjusted operating margin (non-GAAP)*: 8.5%, compared to 7.6% for Q3 2025.
• GAAP earnings per share² (EPS): $3.26, compared to $2.31 for Q3 2025.
• Adjusted EPS² (non-GAAP)*: $3.30, compared to $1.58 for Q3 2025.
• Completed the previously announced public offering for aggregate gross proceeds of $3.45 billion.

“Celestica’s strong momentum continued in the third quarter, achieving revenue of $5.83 billion and adjusted EPS (non-GAAP)* of $3.30, up 83% and 109%, respectively,” said Rob Mionis, Chair of the Board and CEO of Celestica. “Our adjusted operating margin (non-GAAP)* of 8.5% represents another new high for the company, demonstrating the strength of our operational execution.”

“Driven by these strong results to date and a demand environment that continues to strengthen, we are pleased to increase our 2026 annual outlook. We now expect revenue to reach $21.0 billion and adjusted EPS (non-GAAP)* of $11.55, representing growth of 69% and 91%, respectively.”

“We are also pleased to provide our initial 2027 annual outlook, with revenue of $40.0 billion, up 90%, record adjusted operating margin (non-GAAP)* of 9.0% and adjusted EPS (non-GAAP)* of $21.50.”

“Celestica is well-positioned to continue to support leading hyperscalers and frontier AI labs through the ongoing AI infrastructure supercycle. The demand environment continues to be very robust, supporting our 2027 revenue outlook, with customer demand forecasts meaningfully higher for 2028.”

¹ Celestica has two operating and reportable segments: Connectivity & Cloud Solutions (CCS) and Advanced Technology Solutions (ATS). Effective Q3 2026, we renamed the two end markets within our CCS segment to better describe the nature of the products delivered in each end market. Specifically, our Communications end market was renamed Networking, and our Enterprise end market was renamed Compute & Storage. This name change does not impact our segment reporting structure, the composition of our reportable segments, or previously reported financial results for our segments and end markets. Our Compute & Storage end market continues to consist of Servers and Storage businesses. Our ATS segment consists of our ATS end market, and is comprised of our Aerospace and Defense, Industrial, HealthTech, and Capital Equipment businesses.
Segment performance is evaluated based on segment revenue, segment income, and segment margin (segment income as a percentage of segment revenue). See note 3 to our September 30, 2026 unaudited interim condensed consolidated financial statements (Q3 2026 Interim Financial Statements) for further detail.
² Per share information included in this press release is based on diluted shares outstanding unless otherwise noted.
* See Use of Non-GAAP Measures and Schedule 1 for, among other items, non-GAAP financial measures (and ratios) included in this press release, their definitions, uses, and a reconciliation of non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures. Non-GAAP measures in this press release are denoted with an asterisk (*).

Fourth Quarter of 2026 (Q4 2026) Guidance

2026 Annual Outlook Update

• Revenue of $21.0 billion (previous outlook $20.5 billion) ⁽¹⁾
• Adjusted EPS (non-GAAP)* of $11.55 (previous outlook $11.30) ⁽¹⁾
• Free cash flow (non-GAAP)* of $460 million (previous outlook $600 million) ⁽²⁾
  

Our previous adjusted operating margin (non-GAAP)* outlook of 8.4% remains unchanged.

2027 Annual Outlook and Long-Term Demand Update

• Revenue of $40.0 billion
• Adjusted EPS (non-GAAP)* of $21.50 ⁽¹⁾
• Adjusted operating margin (non-GAAP)* of 9.0%
• Capital expenditures of between $1.5 billion and $2.0 billion

Our 2027 outlook anticipates acceleration in our revenue growth to 90%. We continue to pursue investment plans in support of anticipated multi-year growth, supported by 2028 customer demand forecasts that are meaningfully higher than our 2027 revenue outlook.

* See Use of Non-GAAP Measures and Schedule 1. For our Q4 2026 Guidance, 2026 Annual Outlook Update, and 2027 Annual Outlook and Long-Term Demand Update, we present certain forward-looking non-GAAP metrics. A reconciliation of such forward-looking non-GAAP measures to the most directly comparable GAAP measures on a forward-looking basis has not been provided because the items that we exclude from GAAP to calculate the comparable non-GAAP measure are dependent on future events that management is not able to reliably predict and are not part of our routine operating activities. We are unable to provide such a reconciliation without unreasonable effort due to the uncertainty and inherent difficulty in predicting the occurrence, the financial impact and the periods in which the adjustments may be recognized. The occurrence, timing and amount of any of the items excluded from GAAP to calculate non-GAAP could significantly impact our GAAP results.

Summary of Selected Q3 2026 Results

CCS segment revenue: $4.87 billion, increased 102% compared to Q3 2025; CCS segment margin: 8.9% compared to 8.3% for Q3 2025. Hardware Platform Solutions revenue of approximately $2.3 billion increased 70% compared to Q3 2025.

ATS segment revenue: $0.96 billion, increased 23% compared to Q3 2025; ATS segment margin: 6.6% compared to 5.5% for Q3 2025.

Intention to Launch a New Normal Course Issuer Bid (NCIB)

We intend to file a notice of intention with the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) to commence a new NCIB in Q4 2026, after our current NCIB expires on November 2, 2026. If this notice is accepted by the TSX, we expect to be permitted to repurchase for cancellation, at our discretion during the twelve months following such acceptance, up to 2.5% of the “public float” (calculated in accordance with TSX rules) of our issued and outstanding common shares. Purchases under the new NCIB, if accepted by the TSX, will be conducted in the open market or as otherwise permitted, subject to applicable terms and limitations, and will be made through the facilities of the TSX and the New York Stock Exchange. We believe that a new NCIB is in the best interests of Celestica and our shareholders.

Q3 2026 Financial Results Conference Call and 2026 Investor and Analyst Day

Management will host its Q3 2026 financial results conference call and 2026 Investor and Analyst Day on October 27, 2026. The conference call start time is 8:00 a.m. Eastern Time (ET). The webcast can be accessed at www.celestica.com.

Use of Non-GAAP Measures

In addition to disclosing detailed operating results in accordance with GAAP, Celestica provides supplementary non-GAAP financial measures to consider in evaluating our operating performance. Management uses adjusted net earnings and other non-GAAP financial measures to assess operating performance, financial leverage and the effective use and allocation of resources; to provide more normalized period-to-period comparisons of operating results; to enhance investors’ understanding of the core operating results of Celestica’s business; and to set management incentive targets. We believe investors use both GAAP and non-GAAP financial measures to assess management's decisions associated with our priorities and capital allocation, as well as to analyze how our business operates in, or responds to, macroeconomic trends or other events that impact our core operations. See Schedule 1 below.

About Celestica

Celestica is a technology leader dedicated to driving customer success and market advancements. With deep expertise in design, engineering, manufacturing, supply chain, and platform solutions, Celestica enables critical data center infrastructure for AI, cloud and hybrid cloud, and advances technologies in high-growth markets. With a talented team and a strategic global network, Celestica helps its customers achieve competitive advantages. For more information on Celestica, visit www.celestica.com. Our securities filings can be accessed at www.sedarplus.ca and www.sec.gov.

The information contained on or accessible through www.celestica.com is not incorporated by reference into, and does not form part of, this release.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, those related to: strengthening demand environment of our businesses, customer forecasts, accelerating revenue growth, our anticipated financial and/or operational results, guidance and outlook, including statements under the headings “Q3 2026 Highlights”, "Fourth Quarter of 2026 (Q4 2026) Guidance”, “2026 Annual Outlook Update”, “2027 Annual Outlook and Long-Term Demand Update” and “Intention to Launch a New Normal Course Issuer Bid (NCIB)”, and including statements with respect to timelines referenced therein, expected revenue growth in 2026, 2027, and 2028, anticipated multi-year growth, 2027 and 2028 customer demand forecasts, non-GAAP operating margin and non-GAAP adjusted EPS, anticipated operating leverage, anticipated capital expenditures, expected working capital investment, cash usage and free cash flow, the sufficiency of our liquidity, ROIC, our growth plans and anticipated capacity requirements for 2027 and 2028, the anticipated use of the net proceeds of our recent public offering, our intention to launch a new NCIB and its anticipated terms, developments related to new customer or program wins and pursuits (including in data center power infrastructure), timing of production ramps, anticipated economic conditions, industry and market trends and projections, underlying market growth rates, customer demand, prospects and opportunities, and strategic initiatives. Such forward-looking statements may, without limitation, be preceded by, followed by, or include words such as “believes,” “expects,” “anticipates,” “estimates,” “intends,” “plans,” “continues,” “projects,” "target," "outlook," "goal," "guidance," “potential,” “possible,” “contemplate,” “seek,” “demand forecasts,” or similar expressions, or may employ such future or conditional verbs as “may,” “might,” “will,” “could,” “should,” or “would,” or may otherwise be indicated as forward-looking statements by grammatical construction, phrasing or context. For those statements, we claim the protection of the safe harbor for forward-looking statements contained in the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, where applicable, and for forward-looking information under applicable Canadian securities laws.

Forward-looking statements are provided to assist readers in understanding management’s current expectations and plans relating to the future. Forward-looking statements reflect our current estimates, beliefs and assumptions, which are based on management’s perception of historic trends, current conditions and expected future developments, as well as other factors it believes are appropriate in the circumstances, including certain assumptions about: revenue growth and earnings in 2026, 2027 and 2028 (including customer forecasts, continued strengthening of customer demand, close alignment with key customers on demand planning, sustained improvements in demand visibility, multi-year growth and continued strengthening of adjusted operating margins); our weighted average number of diluted shares outstanding and our adjusted effective tax rate in Q4 2026 and 2027 remaining generally consistent with current expectations; the amount and timing of our working capital investments; accelerating growth from our customer base, including our CCS customer base; demand levels across our businesses, including continued growth in demand from data center customers in 2026, 2027 and 2028; programs and production ramps, including multiple large new programs, occurring and progressing as anticipated in line with expected timelines, specifications, qualification requirements and production schedules, customer decisions, design changes, silicon and component availability, qualification outcomes, deployment timelines and priorities, constraints affecting data center development, construction, equipping or operation, and other technical, commercial, regulatory or supply-chain factors, and our expected role in such programs, including our 800G and 1.6T networking, and AI compute programs with data center customers; technology upgrade cycles; our ability to retain programs and customers; continuing operating leverage and improving mix; the impact of anticipated market conditions on our businesses; the reliability of third party market forecasts and customer indications of future demands and roadmaps, including with respect to data center infrastructure; continued advancement and commercialization of AI technologies and cloud computing; supporting sustained high levels of capital expenditure investments by leading hyperscaler, AI, and data center customers; our ability to develop new capabilities; scaling of our operations to meet the anticipated growth in customer demand; the successful recruitment and retention of skilled talent; capital investments proceeding as anticipated and phased in line with customer deployment schedules, including timely completion of construction and operationalization of assets, securing required materials, utilities, and equipment for our expansion plans; our ability to secure adequate component and materials supply; alignment of our capacity with our business demands; the economy; our customers; our suppliers; tax and interest rates; no material changes to tariffs, trade restrictions, customs administration, and any continuing or retaliatory tariff measures, compared to what are in effect as of October 26, 2026; that our customers will continue to retain liability for and we will continue to be able to recover substantially all costs from customers relating to product/component tariffs and countermeasures; no material changes in business activities resulting from current macroeconomic trends and uncertainties, including evolving global tariffs, trade negotiations, and geopolitical conflicts; no unforeseen adverse changes in regulatory environmental or government policies (including export controls, moratoriums and other AI-related measures); our ability to achieve our strategic goals; the availability of cash from operations, cash on hand (including the net proceeds of our recent public offering) and our credit facilities to fund planned capital investments and working capital requirements without the need for additional capital; the availability of capital resources for, and the permissibility under our credit facility of, repurchases of outstanding common shares under our current NCIB; acceptance of a new NCIB and compliance with applicable laws and regulations pertaining to NCIBs; as well as other market, financial and operational assumptions. Readers are cautioned that such information may not be appropriate for other purposes. Readers should not place undue reliance on such forward-looking information.

Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in such forward-looking statements, including, among others, risks related to: changing customer capacity roadmaps for 2026, 2027, 2028 and beyond; realization of the long-term demand outlook; customer and segment concentration; reduction in customer revenue; erosion in customer market competitiveness; changes in revenue mix and margins; our ability to achieve anticipated operating leverage; uncertain market, industry, political and economic conditions; changes in demand for, or regulatory requirements applicable to, our products and our customers’ products; customer requests to transfer manufacturing of products from one facility to another; changes to policies or legislation; operational challenges (including inventory management, supply chain constraints, and components, materials or supply shortages); volatility in energy and commodity prices; program ramps not progressing as anticipated; the cyclical nature and/or volatility of certain of our businesses; talent management and inefficient employee utilization, including recruiting, training and retaining sufficient qualified personnel in required jurisdictions and within required timeframes; our expansion plans or consolidation of our operations; planned capital expenditures to support anticipated growth in customer demand, and our ability to achieve anticipated returns on such investments; competition risk from evolving AI technologies, including lower-cost/open-source AI models; energy, power and water constraints in the data center ecosystem; evolving regulatory and government policies (including export controls, moratoriums and other AI-related measures) that increase our customers’ costs or restrict their AI activities; cash flow, revenue, and operating results; changes to working capital requirements and liquidity; tax and interest rates variability; technology and IT disruption; increasing legal, tax and regulatory complexity and uncertainty (including in relation to our or our customers' businesses); integrating and achieving the anticipated benefits from acquisitions; and the potential adverse impacts of events outside of our control.

For more exhaustive information on the foregoing and other material risks, uncertainties and assumptions, readers should refer to our public filings at www.sedarplus.ca and www.sec.gov, including in our most recent Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations, Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K and other documents filed with, or furnished to, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, and the Canadian Securities Administrators, as applicable.

Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date on which they are made, and we disclaim any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as expressly required by applicable law.
  
All forward-looking statements attributable to us are expressly qualified by these cautionary statements.

Contacts:

Schedule 1

Supplementary Non-GAAP Financial Measures

The non-GAAP financial measures included in this press release are: adjusted gross profit, adjusted selling, general and administrative expenses (SG&A), adjusted operating earnings (or adjusted EBIAT), adjusted net earnings, and each of the foregoing measures as a percentage of revenue, adjusted EPS, adjusted return on invested capital (ROIC), free cash flow, adjusted tax expense and adjusted effective tax rate.

We believe the non-GAAP financial measures herein enable investors to evaluate and compare our results from operations by excluding specific items that we do not consider to be reflective of our core operations, to evaluate cash resources that we generate from our business each period, to analyze operating results using the same measures our chief operating decision maker uses to measure performance, and to help compare our results with those of our competitors. In addition, management believes that the use of adjusted tax expense and adjusted effective tax rate provides additional transparency into the tax effects of our core operations, and is useful to management and investors for historical comparisons and forecasting. These non-GAAP financial measures reflect management’s belief that the excluded items are not indicative of our core operations.

Non-GAAP financial measures do not have any standardized meaning prescribed by GAAP and therefore may not be directly comparable to similar measures presented by other companies. Non-GAAP financial measures are not measures of performance under GAAP and should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for any GAAP financial measure. Reconciliations of the non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures are below.

We do not provide reconciliations for our forward-looking non-GAAP financial measures, as we are unable to reasonably estimate the items that we exclude from GAAP to calculate comparable non-GAAP measures without unreasonable effort. This is due to the inherent difficulty of forecasting the timing or financial impacts of various events that have not yet occurred, are out of our control and/or cannot be reasonably predicted, and that would impact the most directly comparable forward-looking GAAP financial measure. For these same reasons, we are unable to address the probable significance of the unavailable information. Forward-looking non-GAAP financial measures may vary materially from the corresponding GAAP financial measures.

Our non-GAAP financial measures are calculated by making the following adjustments (as applicable) to our GAAP financial measures:

Employee SBC expense, which represents the estimated fair value of stock options, restricted share units and performance share units granted to employees, is excluded because grant activities vary significantly from quarter-to-quarter in both quantity and fair value. We believe excluding this expense allows us to compare core operating results with those of our competitors, who also generally exclude employee SBC expense in assessing operating performance, and may have different granting patterns, equity awards and valuation assumptions.

Total return swap fair value adjustments (TRS FVAs) represent mark-to-market adjustments to our TRS Agreement, as the TRS Agreement is re-measured at fair value at each quarter end. We exclude the impact of these non-cash fair value adjustments (which reflect fluctuations in the market price of our common shares recorded in cost of sales and SG&A) from period to period as such fluctuations do not represent our ongoing operating performance. In addition, we believe that excluding these non-cash adjustments permits a helpful comparison of our core operating results to our competitors.

Amortization of intangible assets (excluding computer software) consists of non-cash charges for intangible assets that are impacted by the timing and magnitude of acquired businesses. Amortization of intangible assets varies among our competitors, and we believe that excluding these charges permits a helpful comparison of core operating results to our competitors who also generally exclude amortization charges in assessing operating performance.

Restructuring and Other Charges (Recoveries) consist of, when applicable: Restructuring Charges (Recoveries) (defined below); Transition Costs (Recoveries) (defined below); consulting, transaction and integration costs related to potential and completed acquisitions; where applicable, certain fair value adjustments of contingent consideration in connection with acquisitions; where applicable, legal settlements (recoveries); and where applicable, related costs pertaining to our transition to a U.S. domestic filer. We exclude these charges and recoveries because we believe that they are not directly related to ongoing operating results and do not reflect our expected future operating expenses after completion of the relevant actions. Our competitors may record similar items at different times, and we believe these exclusions permit a helpful comparison of our core operating results with those of our competitors who also generally exclude these items in assessing operating performance.

Restructuring Charges (Recoveries), consist of costs or recoveries relating to: employee severance, site closings and consolidations, accelerated depreciation of owned and leased property and equipment which are no longer used and are held for sale, and reductions in infrastructure.

Transition Costs (Recoveries) consist of costs and recoveries in connection with: (i) the transfer of manufacturing lines from closed sites to other sites within our global network; (ii) the sale of real properties unrelated to restructuring actions; and (iii) where applicable, specified charges or recoveries related to the sublet of a 10-year building lease in Toronto that we previously anticipated to be our corporate headquarters. Transition Costs consist of direct relocation and duplicate costs (such as rent expense, utility costs, depreciation charges, and personnel costs) incurred during the transition periods, as well as cease-use and other costs incurred in connection with idle or vacated portions of the relevant premises that we would not have incurred but for these relocations, transfers and dispositions. We believe that excluding Transition Costs and Recoveries permits a helpful comparison of our core operating results from period-to-period, as they do not reflect our ongoing operations once these specified events are complete.

Miscellaneous Expense (Income) consists primarily of: (i) certain net periodic benefit costs (gains) related to our pension and post-employment benefit plans consisting of interest costs, expected returns on plan balances, and amortization of actuarial gains or losses; (ii) where applicable, gains on insurance claims settlement; and (iii) where applicable, gains or losses related to interest rate swaps that we entered into prior to 2024. Those interest rate swap contracts were accounted for as cash flow hedges (qualifying for hedge accounting) under International Financial Reporting Standards. However, those contracts were not accounted for as such under GAAP until January 1, 2024. Certain gains and losses related to those contracts were recorded in Miscellaneous Expense (Income). We exclude such items because we believe they are not directly related to our ongoing operating results.

Tax effects of the non-core items, which include our non-GAAP adjustments above, are excluded from GAAP tax expense to calculate adjusted tax expense (non-GAAP), as we do not believe these costs or recoveries reflect our core operating performance and vary significantly among our competitors who also generally exclude such items in assessing operating performance.

Our non-GAAP financial measures include the following:

Adjusted operating earnings (Adjusted EBIAT) is defined as GAAP earnings from operations excluding the impact of Employee SBC expense, TRS FVAs, Amortization of intangible assets (excluding computer software), and Restructuring and Other Charges (Recoveries). Adjusted operating margin is adjusted operating earnings as a percentage of GAAP revenue. Management uses adjusted operating earnings (adjusted EBIAT) as a measure to assess performance related to our core operations.

Adjusted net earnings is defined as GAAP net earnings excluding the impact of Employee SBC expense, TRS FVAs, Amortization of intangible assets (excluding computer software), Restructuring and Other Charges (Recoveries), Miscellaneous Expense (Income) and adjustment for taxes. Adjusted EPS is calculated by dividing adjusted net earnings by the number of diluted weighted average shares outstanding. Management uses adjusted net earnings as a measure to assess performance related to our core operations.

Free cash flow is defined as cash provided by (used in) operations less the purchase of property, plant and equipment (net of proceeds from the sale of certain surplus assets, when applicable). Free cash flow does not represent residual cash flow available to Celestica for discretionary expenditures. Management uses free cash flow as a measure, in addition to GAAP cash provided by (used in) operations, to assess our operational cash flow performance. We believe free cash flow provides another level of transparency to our ability to generate cash from normal business operations.

Adjusted ROIC is calculated by dividing annualized adjusted EBIAT by average net invested capital for the period. Net invested capital (calculated in the tables below) is derived from GAAP financial measures, and is defined as total assets less: cash, right-of-use (ROU) assets (operating and finance leases), accounts payable, accrued and other current liabilities and provisions (excluding finance and operating lease liabilities) and income taxes payable. Management uses adjusted ROIC as a measure to assess the effectiveness of the invested capital we employ to build products or provide services to our customers, by quantifying how well we generate earnings relative to the capital we have invested in our business.

The determination of the GAAP effective tax rate and adjusted effective tax rate (non-GAAP) is described in footnote 1 to the table below.

The following table (which is unaudited) sets forth, for the periods indicated, the various non-GAAP financial measures discussed above, and a reconciliation of such non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable financial measures determined under GAAP (in millions, except percentages and per share amounts):

 

The following table sets forth, for the periods indicated, our calculation of GAAP ROIC % and adjusted ROIC % (non-GAAP) (in millions, except GAAP ROIC % and adjusted ROIC % (non-GAAP)):