Rockwell Automation Delivers Strong Q3 Results

Rockwell Automation has announced its third-quarter fiscal 2025 results. The company reported a 5% increase in sales. Organic sales were up over 4% year over year. Total company book-to-bill was around 1.0. This is consistent with the historical average. Annual recurring revenue (ARR) grew 7%. Diluted earnings per share (EPS) was $2.60. Adjusted EPS was $2.82. This represents a 29% and 4% increase, respectively.

Leadership and Strategic Investments

Blake Moret, the Chairman and CEO, commented on the results. He highlighted strong execution and significant progress. The company is meeting its long-term margin expansion goals. Rockwell returned to year-over-year sales growth. It secured major customer wins. These wins include both brownfield and greenfield opportunities. Moret also announced a major investment. The company will invest over $2 billion in its plants. This investment covers talent and digital infrastructure. It will occur over the next five years. The majority of this capital is for United States operations.

Segment Performance Highlights

Reported sales reached $2,144 million this quarter. This is up from $2,051 million a year ago. Pre-tax income was $342 million. This is a significant increase from $255 million last year. The pre-tax margin improved to 16.0%. This compares to 12.4% in the prior year. This was largely due to productivity. Favorable pricing and mix also contributed. Higher compensation and unfavorable currency partially offset this.

Updated Financial Outlook

Rockwell has updated its fiscal 2025 guidance. The company now expects reported sales growth between (2)% and 1%. This is an improvement from the previous range. The diluted EPS guidance is now $8.89 to $9.29. The Adjusted EPS is $9.80 to $10.20. The company is increasing its Adjusted EPS outlook. This is because it continues to exceed margin targets. Blake Moret stated that the company is playing offense. It is not waiting for macroeconomic improvements. The team is delivering customer value. The company is also expanding its margins.

Segment-Specific Results

The Intelligent Devices segment had sales of $968 million. This represents a 1% increase. Operating margin decreased to 18.8%. This was due to higher compensation. Unfavorable currency also played a role. The Software & Control segment saw strong growth. Sales increased 23% to $629 million. Its operating margin improved to 31.6%. This was due to higher volume and pricing. The Lifecycle Services segment sales decreased by (6)%. Its operating margin was 13.3%. This decrease was driven by higher compensation. Lower volume also contributed to this.