DUBLIN – Intelligent power management company Eaton Corporation plc today announced that first quarter 2026 earnings per share were $2.22. Excluding charges of $0.29 per share related to intangible amortization, $0.22 per share related to acquisitions and divestitures, and $0.08 per share related to a multi-year restructuring program, adjusted earnings per share were $2.81, a first quarter record.
Sales in the quarter were $7.5 billion, a record and up 17% from the first quarter of 2025. The sales increase consisted of 10% growth in organic sales, 4% growth from acquisitions and 3% growth from foreign exchange.
Segment margins were 22.7%, above the guidance range, and down 120bps from the first quarter of 2025.
Operating cash flow was $507 million and free cash flow was $314 million, up 113% and 245%, respectively, over the same period in 2025.
Paulo Ruiz, Eaton chief executive officer, said, “Strong demand across our markets drove solid first quarter performance, highlighted by order strength, backlog growth and our team’s continued discipline and focus on operational execution. In Electrical Americas, we achieved strong organic growth while advancing significant capacity expansion investments to meet demand. Electrical Global also continues to outperform, and Aerospace delivered strong backlog growth and segment profit. Mobility delivered solid operational performance in a challenging market, and we remain on track toward its Q1 2027 planned spin-off into an independent, publicly traded company. We’ve taken bold actions to shape the portfolio, deliver the solutions our customers need and position ourselves to meet or exceed our 2030 targets.”
In the quarter, the company also closed $11 billion of value-enhancing strategic acquisitions, including Boyd Thermal, a leader in thermal components, systems and ruggedized solutions for data centers, aerospace and other end markets, and Ultra PCS Limited, a producer of innovative solutions for safety and mission critical aerospace systems. These acquisitions reinforce Eaton’s disciplined M&A strategy—deploying capital to invest for growth by acquiring differentiated technologies in high‑growth, high‑margin markets that support long‑term value creation.
Guidance
For the full year 2026, the company anticipates:
- Organic growth of 9-11%
- Segment margins of 24.1-24.5%
- Earnings per share between $10.88 and $11.33
- Adjusted earnings per share between $13.05 and $13.50
For the second quarter of 2026, the company anticipates:
- Organic growth of 9-11%
- Segment margins of 22.6-23.0%
- Earnings per share between $2.29 and $2.39
- Adjusted earnings per share between $3.00 and $3.105
Business Segment Results
Sales for the Electrical Americas segment were a record $3.6 billion, up 20% from the first quarter of 2025. The sales increase consisted of 14% growth in organic sales, 5% growth from acquisitions and 1% growth from foreign exchange. Operating profits were a first quarter record $922 million, up 2% over the first quarter of 2025, and operating margins in the quarter were 25.6%.
The twelve-month rolling average of orders in the first quarter was up 42% organically. Total backlog at the end of March remained strong and was up 44% over March 2025.
Sales for the Electrical Global segment were a record $1.9 billion, up 21% from the first quarter of 2025. The sales increase consisted of 9% growth in organic sales, 6% growth from acquisitions and 6% growth from foreign exchange. Operating profits were a record $373 million, up 24% over the first quarter of 2025. Operating margins in the quarter were 19.2%, up 60 basis points over the first quarter of 2025.
The twelve-month rolling average of orders in the first quarter was up 13% organically. Total backlog at the end of March was up 73% over March 2025.
On a rolling twelve-month basis, the book-to-bill ratio for the Electrical businesses increased to 1.2.
Aerospace segment sales were a record $1.1 billion, up 16% from the first quarter of 2025. The sales increase consisted of 9% growth in organic sales, 5% growth from acquisitions and 2% growth from foreign exchange. Operating profits were a record $304 million, up 35% over the first quarter of 2025. Operating margins of 26.7% were a record and up 360 basis points over the first quarter of 2025.
The twelve-month rolling average of orders in the first quarter was up 13% organically. Total backlog at the end of March was up 28% over March 2025. On a rolling twelve-month basis, the book-to-bill ratio for the Aerospace segment remained strong at 1.1.
The Mobility segment posted sales of $766 million, down 2% from the first quarter of 2025. Organic sales declined 6%, which was partially offset by 4% from positive currency translation. Operating profits were $89 million, and operating margins in the quarter were 11.7%.
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