Celestica Revenue Jumps 83% to $5.83 Billion as 2027 Outlook Targets $40 Billion

Celestica Inc. said on Monday that third-quarter revenue rose 83% to $5.83 billion and adjusted earnings per share more than doubled to $3.30, both above the high end of its guidance, as demand from hyperscalers and artificial intelligence labs accelerated.

The beat was broad. Celestica Inc. said on Monday that revenue rose to $5.83 billion in the third quarter of 2026 from $3.19 billion a year earlier, while diluted earnings per share on a reported basis rose to $3.26 from $2.31 and adjusted earnings per share rose to $3.30 from $1.58. The company had guided third-quarter revenue to $5.25 billion to $5.55 billion and adjusted earnings per share to $2.88 to $3.08, so both results cleared the top of those ranges. Revenue also topped the $5.46 billion consensus estimate tracked by Market Flux, and adjusted earnings per share topped its $2.97 consensus estimate. Reported net earnings were $397.2 million, and adjusted net earnings were $402.1 million.

Connectivity and cloud carried the growth

Revenue in the Connectivity and Cloud Solutions segment rose 102% to $4.87 billion, with a segment margin of 8.9%, up from 8.3% a year earlier. Within that segment, Hardware Platform Solutions revenue rose 70% to approximately $2.3 billion. The Advanced Technology Solutions segment grew more slowly: revenue rose 23% to $960 million, with a segment margin of 6.6%, up from 5.5% a year earlier. The mix matters because the faster business is also the larger one — Connectivity and Cloud Solutions supplied most of the quarter's revenue, a calculation from the reported segment figures — and its margin expanded at the same time.

Margins split between reported and adjusted measures

Adjusted operating margin was 8.5%, up from 7.6% a year earlier, which the chief executive called another new high for the company. Reported earnings from operations were $460.0 million, or 7.9% of revenue, down from 10.2% a year earlier, while adjusted operating earnings were $496.1 million. Readers should keep the two bases separate: the adjusted figures exclude items including employee stock-based compensation, total return swap fair value adjustments, amortization of intangible assets excluding computer software, and restructuring and other charges, while the reported figures include them. The company's reported effective tax rate was 13% in the quarter, and its adjusted effective tax rate was 18%, below its anticipated estimate of approximately 20%, which it attributed primarily to favorable profit mix and a discrete tax benefit.

The 2026 raise came with a cash-flow trade-off

Celestica raised its 2026 annual outlook to revenue of $21.0 billion, from $20.5 billion previously, and adjusted earnings per share of $11.55, from $11.30, while leaving its adjusted operating margin outlook at 8.4%. It cut its free cash flow outlook to $460 million from $600 million, saying the change was primarily driven by targeted working capital investments to support the accelerating growth in 2027. The quarter itself shows why working capital is under pressure: free cash flow was $127.5 million in the third quarter — cash provided by operations of $389.7 million less $262.2 million for purchases of property, plant and equipment, net of sales proceeds — even as reported profit rose. The company ended the quarter with $3.96 billion in cash and cash equivalents, after completing a public offering for aggregate gross proceeds of $3.45 billion.

The 2027 outlook is the larger claim

For the fourth quarter of 2026, Celestica guided revenue to $6.275 billion to $6.575 billion and adjusted earnings per share to $3.37 to $3.57, with adjusted operating margin of 8.7% at the midpoint of those ranges. Its initial 2027 outlook is larger still: revenue of $40.0 billion, adjusted earnings per share of $21.50, adjusted operating margin of 9.0%, and capital expenditures of between $1.5 billion and $2.0 billion. The 2027 revenue outlook is well above the $35.7 billion analyst estimate tracked by Market Flux, and its adjusted earnings per share outlook is above that source's $19.66 consensus. Chair and Chief Executive Rob Mionis said the company is well-positioned to support leading hyperscalers and frontier AI labs through what he called the ongoing AI infrastructure supercycle, and that customer demand forecasts are meaningfully higher for 2028.

What remains unknown

The outlook is a forecast, not a result: the release does not prove that 2027 revenue reaches $40.0 billion, that capital expenditures stay inside the $1.5 billion to $2.0 billion range, or that working capital investment stops weighing on free cash flow. It also does not size the fourth quarter beyond its guidance ranges. What to watch is specific: the conference call and Investor and Analyst Day on October 27, 2026, starting at 8:00 a.m. Eastern Time; whether fourth-quarter revenue lands inside the $6.275 billion to $6.575 billion range; and whether the planned new share repurchase program, intended to allow repurchases of up to 2.5% of the public float after the current program expires on November 2, 2026, is accepted. The verified record on Monday is a quarter that beat the company's own high end, a raised 2026 outlook, and a 2027 target that asks investors to underwrite another near-doubling.