RBC Bearings Smashes Q4 Earnings—Wall Street Nods Approvingly (For Now)
Another quarter, another earnings beat—RBC Bearings just gave analysts exactly what they wanted. The industrial components maker cleared Q4 expectations with room to spare, sending its stock up and triggering the usual chorus of upgraded price targets. Because nothing excites finance bros like a company hitting its numbers... until it doesn’t.
FY25 guidance looks solid—if you ignore the fact that ’guidance’ is just corporate astrology for institutional investors. Management’s confidence hinges on aerospace and defense demand, because apparently the world’s never short on reasons to keep planes and missiles flying.
Here’s the real question: Can RBC keep outperforming when the economic pendulum swings? Buy the rumor, sell the news—or in this case, maybe just buy the bearings and hope they spin long enough to cash out before the next ’unexpected’ market downturn.
TLDR
- RBC Bearings (RBC) closed at $368.19 on May 16, 2025.
- Q4 FY25 EPS of $2.83 beat estimates by 5.6%.
- Net sales rose 5.8% year-over-year to $437.7 million.
- Aerospace/Defense revenue jumped 10.6%.
- FY26 Q1 outlook projects up to 6.8% sales growth.
RBC Bearings Incorporated (NYSE: RBC) closed at $368.17 on Friday as it released its Q4 and full-year fiscal 2025 results on May 16, 2025.
RBC Bearings Incorporated (RBC)
The precision bearings and components manufacturer exceeded earnings expectations, reporting adjusted EPS of $2.83, above the Zacks consensus of $2.68. This marked a 5.6% earnings surprise and improvement from $2.47 in the year-ago period.
Net sales for the quarter totaled $437.7 million, up 5.8% from Q4 FY24. However, this slightly missed consensus estimates by 0.71%. The Aerospace/Defense segment led the way with 10.6% growth, while the Industrial division ROSE 3.3%.
RBC Bearings Incorporated, $RBC, Q4-25. Results:
🟢 +1% Pre-Market
📊 Adj. EPS: $2.83 🟢
💰 Revenue: $437.7M 🔴
📈 Net Income: $72.7M
🔎 Aerospace/Defense growth powered Q4 sales to $437.7M with strong margins and record cash FLOW used to reduce debt. pic.twitter.com/JHKDAytFpq
— EarningsTime (@Earnings_Time) May 16, 2025
Margin Gains and Profit Growth
Gross margin expanded to 44.2%, up from 43.1% last year. Net income attributable to common stockholders climbed to $72.7 million, compared to $55.9 million in Q4 FY24. Adjusted net income reached $89.3 million, compared to $72.3 million a year ago.
Diluted EPS stood at $2.30, with the adjusted figure at $2.83. Operating income improved to $100.7 million, up from $94.2 million. SG&A expenses increased to $72.1 million, or 16.5% of sales, up from 15.6%. Interest expense declined sharply to $12.8 million due to debt reduction and interest hedging strategies.
Strong Full-Year Performance
For fiscal year 2025, RBC Bearings reported net sales of $1.64 billion, a 4.9% increase from FY24. Aerospace/Defense grew 14.1%, while Industrial inched up 0.2%. Gross margin rose to 44.4% versus 43.0% last year. Net income attributable to common shareholders rose to 14.3% of net sales, up from 12.0%.
Adjusted EBITDA margin improved to 31.8%, and RBC has now exceeded EPS estimates in three of the last four quarters.
Outlook and Backlog
The company expects Q1 FY26 revenue between $424.0 million and $434.0 million, representing a year-over-year growth rate of 4.4% to 6.8%. Gross margin is projected between 44.25% and 44.75%, with SG&A expected to range from 16.75% to 17.25% of sales.
RBC ended the quarter with a backlog of $940.7 million, up from $896.5 million in December 2024 and $821.5 million a year ago, indicating robust demand.
Stock Performance and Analyst View
RBC stock has risen 22.8% year-to-date, outperforming the S&P 500’s 0.6% gain. Despite the earnings beat, revenue misses in recent quarters have led analysts to assign a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), suggesting the stock may perform in line with the market.
With a solid margin profile and growth in high-value Aerospace/Defense segments, investor focus will now shift to Q1 FY26 execution and updates on cost controls.
