Clearfield Expects Sales of Up to $205 Million in 2027, With Growth Exceeding 30%
Key Facts
Clearfield expects net sales of $195 million to $205 million in fiscal 2027 and earnings per share of $0.25 to $0.46, according to the company’s guidance cited in its financial results report. The midpoint of the sales range represents growth of slightly more than 30% from fiscal 2026 revenue. The chief financial officer said the outlook is based on an expected gradual recovery in broadband demand, alongside growth in data-center business. The guidance follows a year in which sales grew modestly while net income and earnings per share declined. The range points to an expected acceleration in revenue, with the trajectory of broadband demand remaining one of the factors on which the company is relying.
Clearfield’s sales from continuing operations totaled $151.9 million in fiscal 2026, compared with $150.1 million in fiscal 2025, a modest year-over-year increase. In the fourth quarter of fiscal 2026, sales fell to $39.3 million from $41.1 million in the same period a year earlier, a decline of 4%. The company attributed its quarterly and annual performance to growth in the large regional service-provider market, offset by weakness in the multiple-system operator market. The comparison shows that the expected high annual growth follows mixed performance across the company’s markets, rather than broad expansion in sales for the fiscal year just ended. Achieving the target range therefore depends on demand trends across more than one of its market segments.
The backlog, an indicator of accumulated business, rose to $43.3 million on September 30, 2026, compared with $24.7 million on September 30, 2025, an increase of 75% year over year. In data centers, the company began shipping products under a previous order worth $22 million. The start of shipments moves that order from announcement to execution, while backlog growth provides a base of accumulated business at the end of the fiscal year. The chief financial officer said growth in data-center business supports the company’s outlook, alongside the expected gradual recovery in broadband. The company also said it had begun shipping for one of the first Minnesota-funded Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment Program projects, a step linking the outlook to the start of publicly funded project execution.
The growth outlook coincides with recent pressure on profitability. Gross margin from continuing operations in the fourth quarter fell to 30.7%, compared with 34.6% in the year-earlier quarter of fiscal 2025 and 31.8% in the third quarter of fiscal 2026. The company said higher material costs weighed on the margin. For the fiscal year, net income from continuing operations was $2.1 million, compared with $6.3 million in fiscal 2025, while diluted earnings per share fell to $0.16 from $0.45. That puts the fiscal 2027 earnings-per-share range in the context of the decline in profitability recorded in the year just ended, alongside the company’s expectation of improved sales.
Clearfield shares moved lower in trading on November 10, 2026, according to data cited in an Investing.com report. They fell 1.18% in the regular session to $30.19, then dropped 4.8% after the close to $28.74. The after-hours move followed the announcement of results and the outlook for the next fiscal year, the report said. The picture combines strong growth expectations with a decline in quarterly sales and in the annual gross margin and net income. The start of shipments under the data-center order and for a project funded through the broadband program also provide execution indicators that will be key to tracking the business. The company’s fiscal 2027 outlook remains based on a gradual recovery in broadband and growth in data-center activity.