Woodward Reports First Quarter Fiscal Year 2025 Results

~Results in Line with Expectations, on Track to Deliver Full-Year Guidance~

FORT COLLINS, Colo., Feb. 03, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ: WWD) today reported financial results for its first quarter of fiscal year 2025.

All amounts are presented on an as reported (U.S. GAAP) basis unless otherwise indicated. All per share amounts are presented on a fully diluted basis. All comparisons are made to the same period of the prior year unless otherwise stated. All references to years are references to the Company’s fiscal year unless otherwise stated.

First Quarter Overview

“We’re pleased with our strong start to 2025, as our first quarter results were in line with our expectations. Our Aerospace segment performed well with growth in both sales and margin despite a pause in deliveries for some Boeing product lines and a reduced delivery rate in others,” said Chip Blankenship, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. “High aircraft utilization continued to drive both commercial and defense aftermarket demand. As anticipated, increased smart defense demand contributed to strong sales in the quarter. In Industrial, broad-based strength in power generation, oil & gas, and marine transportation was offset by an expected decline in sales related to China on-highway natural gas trucks.

“First quarter results reflect the effective execution of our strategy, reinforcing our confidence in our ability to achieve our full-year guidance. We remain committed to operational excellence, innovation and delivering profitable growth to build a stronger, more focused Woodward.”

First Quarter Fiscal Year 2025 Company Results

Segment Results

The increase in Aerospace segment earnings in the first quarter was primarily a result of price realization, partially offset by inflation, unfavorable mix, and lower volumes.

The decrease in Industrial segment earnings in the first quarter was primarily a result of lower volume and unfavorable mix, partially offset by price realization and favorable foreign currency exchange rates.

Fiscal Year 2025 Guidance

Woodward reaffirms its 2025 guidance with the exception of adjusted effective tax rate and adjusted earnings per share. Based on the favorable tax rate in the first quarter, the adjusted effective tax rate is now expected to be approximately 19 percent. As a result, the Company narrowed its adjusted earnings per share range to $5.85-6.25. 

Conference Call

Woodward will hold an investor conference call at 5:00 p.m. ET, February 3, 2025, to provide an overview of the financial performance for its first quarter of fiscal year 2025 ending December 31, 2024, business highlights, and guidance for fiscal 2025. You are invited to listen to the live webcast of our conference call, or a recording, and view or download accompanying presentation slides at our website, www.woodward.com².

You may also listen to the call by dialing 1-800-715-9871 (domestic) or 1-646-307-1963 (international). Participants should call prior to the start time to allow for registration; the Conference ID is 4675940. The call and presentation will be available on the website by selecting “Investors/Events & Presentations” from the menu and will remain accessible on the company’s website for one year.

About Woodward, Inc.

Woodward is the global leader in the design, manufacture, and service of energy conversion and control solutions for the aerospace and industrial equipment markets. Our purpose is to design and deliver energy control solutions our partners count on to power a clean future. Our innovative fluid, combustion, electrical, propulsion and motion control systems perform in some of the world’s harshest environments. Woodward is a global company headquartered in Fort Collins, Colorado, USA. Visit our website at www.woodward.com.

Cautionary Statement

Information in this press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 that involve risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, our focus on and commitment to growth, operational excellence and innovation, including whether such focus ultimately leads to profitable growth and long-term term success, and statements regarding our business, expectations and guidance for fiscal year 2025, including our guidance for sales, segment sales as compared to the prior fiscal year, adjusted earnings per share, segment earnings margin, adjusted effective tax rate, free cash flow, capital expenditures, and diluted weighted average shares outstanding, as well as our assumptions regarding our guidance and our progress toward achieving it, and anticipated trends in our business and markets. Factors that could cause actual results and the timing of certain events to differ materially from the forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to: (1) global economic uncertainty and instability, including in the financial markets that affect Woodward, its customers, and its supply chain; (2) risks related to constraints and disruptions in the global supply chain and labor markets; (3) Woodward’s long sales cycle; (4) risks related to Woodward’s concentration of revenue among a relatively small number of customers; (5) Woodward’s ability to implement and realize the intended effects of any restructuring efforts; (6) Woodward’s ability to successfully manage competitive factors including expenses and fluctuations in sales; (7) changes and consolidations in the aerospace market; (8) Woodward’s financial obligations including debt obligations and tax expenses and exposures; (9) risks related to Woodward’s U.S. government contracting activities including potential changes in government spending patterns; (10) Woodward’s ability to protect its intellectual property rights and avoid infringing the intellectual property rights of others; (11) changes in the estimates of fair value of reporting units or of long-lived assets; (12) environmental risks; (13) Woodward’s continued access to a stable workforce and favorable labor relations with its employees; (14) Woodward’s ability to manage various regulatory and legal matters; (15) risks from operating internationally; (16) cybersecurity and other technological risks; and other risk factors and risks described in Woodward's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2024, as well as its Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, which we expect to file shortly, and other risks described in Woodward’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as of the date hereof and Woodward assumes no obligation to update such statements, except as required by applicable law.

¹Adjusted and Non-U.S. GAAP Financial Measures: Adjusted net earnings, adjusted earnings per share, adjusted EBIT, adjusted EBITDA, adjusted effective tax rate, and adjusted nonsegment expenses exclude, as applicable, (i) a non-recurring gain related to a previous acquisition, (ii) costs related to business development activities, and (iii) gains related to product rationalization activities. The product rationalization adjustment pertains to gains related to the elimination of certain product lines. The Company believes that these excluded items are short‐term in nature, not directly related to the ongoing operations of the business, and therefore, the exclusion of them illustrates more clearly how the underlying business of Woodward is performing.

EBIT (earnings before interest and taxes), EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization), free cash flow, adjusted net earnings, adjusted earnings per share, adjusted EBIT, adjusted EBITDA, adjusted effective tax rate, and adjusted nonsegment expenses are financial measures not prepared and presented in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (U.S. GAAP). Management uses EBIT and adjusted EBIT to evaluate Woodward’s operating performance without the impacts of financing and tax related considerations. Management uses EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA in evaluating Woodward’s operating performance, making business decisions, including developing budgets, managing expenditures, forecasting future periods, and evaluating capital structure impacts of various strategic scenarios. Management also uses free cash flow, which is derived from net cash provided by or used in operating activities less payments for property, plant, and equipment, in reviewing the financial performance of Woodward’s various business segments and evaluating cash generation levels. Securities analysts, investors, and others frequently use EBIT, EBITDA, free cash flow, in their evaluation of companies, particularly those with significant property, plant, and equipment, and intangible assets that are subject to amortization. The use of any of these non-U.S. GAAP financial measures is not intended to be considered in isolation of, or as a substitute for, the financial information prepared and presented in accordance with U.S. GAAP. Because adjusted net earnings, adjusted earnings per share, EBIT, EBITDA, adjusted EBIT, and adjusted EBITDA exclude certain financial information compared with net earnings, the most comparable U.S. GAAP financial measure, users of this financial information should consider the information that is excluded. Free cash flow do not necessarily represent funds available for discretionary use and is not necessarily a measure of our ability to fund our cash needs. Woodward’s calculations of EBIT, EBITDA, adjusted net earnings, adjusted earnings per share, adjusted EBIT, adjusted EBITDA, adjusted effective tax rate, adjusted nonsegment expenses, and free cash flow may differ from similarly titled measures used by other companies, limiting their usefulness as comparative measures.

²Website, Facebook, X: Woodward has used, and intends to continue to use, its Investor Relations website, LinkedIn page, Facebook page, and X handle as means of disclosing material non-public information and for complying with its disclosure obligations under Regulation FD.