Hexcel shares fall more than 8% after quarterly sales miss estimates
Key Facts
Hexcel shares fell more than 8% in after-hours trading on Wednesday evening, October 21, 2026, after the company reported third-quarter revenue below analysts' expectations, according to Investing.com. Quarterly revenue totaled $496.4 million, compared with analysts' consensus forecast of $501.84 million, leaving sales short of expectations. Quarterly earnings per share, meanwhile, came in at $0.50, beating analysts' estimates of $0.49 per share. The gap between reported earnings and estimates was $0.01 per share, according to the site's earnings coverage, with the company beating profit expectations while missing revenue forecasts. The site linked the after-hours share decline to the sales results and the company's reaffirmation of an annual outlook below analysts' estimates. HXL shares had ended the regular session on October 21 at $89.84, according to EL7 data. That close preceded the earnings release after the session ended, with shares subsequently declining in trading following the announcement.
By business, third-quarter commercial aerospace sales rose 20.5% from the same period a year earlier to $330.3 million, according to Investing.com. That growth came as sales in defense, space and other activities moved in the opposite direction, falling 8.7% year on year to $166.1 million. The recovery in commercial aerospace had been reflected in management's comments during the previous quarter's earnings announcement, when Chief Executive Tom Gentile spoke of improving demand visibility. Gentile said at the time that the company had begun adding staff and accelerating the restart of idled assets alongside that recovery. He added in the company's disclosure for that period: "We are now increasing headcount and accelerating restarts," outlining the company's steps to resume operations at those assets.
The latest results follow a quarter in which Hexcel posted sales of $529.3 million, according to the company's disclosure of its second-quarter 2026 results. Adjusted diluted earnings per share in that quarter were $0.66, a level reported before the latest results. For the year-on-year comparison, the company had reported adjusted diluted earnings per share of $0.37 in the third quarter of 2025. That compared with adjusted diluted earnings of $0.47 per share in the third quarter of 2024, according to Hexcel's disclosure for the corresponding period. As part of its business activity this year, Hexcel announced new and extended long-term agreements with Boeing in July. The company said the agreements strengthen cooperation between the two companies across commercial aerospace, defense and space programs, including the activities whose sales performance diverged in the latest quarter. In its announcement, Hexcel described the agreements as "new and extended long-term agreements with Boeing, strengthening the two companies' collaboration across commercial aerospace, defense and space programs."
For fiscal 2026, Hexcel maintained its adjusted earnings per share guidance range of $2.30 to $2.40, according to Investing.com. It also reaffirmed its annual revenue forecast of between $2.025 billion and $2.125 billion, retaining its previous sales estimates. The outlook was held steady despite growth in commercial aerospace sales and amid declining sales in defense, space and other activities during the third quarter. The company scheduled its earnings conference call for Thursday, October 22, 2026, according to its quarterly reporting schedule announcement. The call is scheduled to begin at 9:30 a.m. U.S. Eastern time, following the earnings release the previous evening.