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Conferencia de resultados del T3 de 2026 de Rogers Corporation (ROG): el margen EBITDA alcanza el 20,2 %

TradingKey27 de oct de 2026 23:42
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Rogers Corporation informó en el tercer trimestre de 2026 un sólido crecimiento interanual, con un aumento del 9% en las ventas hasta los 236,1 millones de dólares y un BPA ajustado de 1,39 dólares. El margen EBITDA ajustado se expandió al 20,2%, impulsado por un mayor volumen y un mix de productos favorable. La dirección mantuvo perspectivas positivas para 2027, respaldadas por sólidos centros de datos y adjudicaciones de diseño. A pesar de los desafíos por costes de materias primas y estacionalidad prevista para el cuarto trimestre, la compañía confía en cumplir sus objetivos estratégicos a largo plazo.

Resumen generado por IA

Rogers Corporation (NYSE: ROG) informó de un crecimiento generalizado y una expansión de márgenes en el tercer trimestre de 2026. Los ingresos aumentaron en todos los mercados finales, mientras que el margen EBITDA ajustado superó el 20%. La dirección también mantuvo unas perspectivas de crecimiento positivas para 2027, respaldadas por las adjudicaciones de diseños (design wins) y los programas de desarrollo de centros de datos.

Puntos clave

  • Las ventas del tercer trimestre aumentaron un 9% interanual hasta alcanzar los 236,1 millones de dólares, lo que incluye un beneficio por conversión de divisas de 2,4 millones de dólares.
  • El BPA ajustado aumentó un 54% hasta los 1,39 dólares, lo que representa el beneficio ajustado trimestral más alto de la empresa desde 2022.
  • El EBITDA ajustado aumentó un 28% hasta los 47,7 millones de dólares. El margen EBITDA ajustado se expandió 300 puntos básicos hasta el 20,2%, su nivel más alto desde 2021.
  • Las ventas crecieron en todos los mercados finales. Los ingresos del sector de automoción aumentaron a un ritmo de un dígito alto, aeroespacial y defensa creció a un ritmo de un dígito medio, y electrónica y comunicaciones mantuvo un sólido crecimiento.
  • Para el cuarto trimestre de 2026, la dirección situó la estimación de ingresos entre 215 millones y 225 millones de dólares, el BPA ajustado entre 0,90 y 1,10 dólares, y el EBITDA ajustado entre 37 millones y 43 millones de dólares.
  • La dirección señaló que la consecución de nuevos negocios va por delante de lo previsto respecto a los planes del Día del Inversor y prevé que el crecimiento continúe en 2027.

Datos financieros clave

MétricaT3 2026Variación interanual / comentarios
Ventas236,1 millones de dólaresUn 9% más; incluyó un beneficio por tipo de cambio de 2,4 millones de dólares
Ventas de AES—Un 13,5% más, con solidez en electrónica y comunicaciones
Ventas de EMS—Un 4,3% más, impulsadas por automoción y aeroespacial y defensa
Margen bruto34,2%70 puntos básicos más
EBITDA ajustado47,7 millones de dólaresUn 28% más
Margen EBITDA ajustado20,2%300 puntos básicos más
BPA ajustado1,39 dólaresUn 54% más
Flujo de caja operativo41,4 millones de dólaresPor encima de los 24,4 millones de dólares del T2 de 2026
Flujo de caja libre35,4 millones de dólaresRespaldado por un mayor EBITDA ajustado
Efectivo e inversiones a corto plazo236,4 millones de dólares25 millones de dólares más en comparación con el trimestre anterior
Gastos de capital6,0 millones de dólaresUso de efectivo en el T3
Recompras de acciones9,3 millones de dólaresCompletadas durante el trimestre

El mayor volumen y un mix de productos favorable fueron los principales impulsores de la rentabilidad. La reducción de los gastos operativos ajustados también ayudó, mientras que la inflación de las materias primas y los costes relacionados con la nueva planta de Ceramic China actuaron como factores de compensación.

Rendimiento empresarial y operativo

El sector industrial se mantuvo como el mayor mercado final de Rogers, representando el 34% de las ventas del tercer trimestre. Los ingresos aumentaron ligeramente año tras año, respaldados por la energía renovable y otras aplicaciones, con un modesto crecimiento en todas las regiones.

El sector de automoción representó el 24% de las ventas y creció a un ritmo de un dígito alto. La dirección atribuyó el incremento a una demanda más fuerte de sistemas avanzados de asistencia al conductor y a mayores ventas tanto en plataformas de vehículos de combustión interna como eléctricos.

El sector de electrónica y comunicaciones supuso el 20% de las ventas. El crecimiento en materiales de circuitos laminados para infraestructura inalámbrica compensó con creces las menores ventas relacionadas con teléfonos inteligentes.

El sector aeroespacial y de defensa representó el 15% de las ventas y creció a un ritmo de un dígito medio, reflejando el aumento de la demanda tanto en aplicaciones de defensa como de aviación comercial.

Rogers obtuvo importantes adjudicaciones de diseño que incluyen materiales laminados para un sistema de detección de drones, materiales elastoméricos para un paquete de baterías de vehículos eléctricos y sustratos cerámicos AMB para múltiples modelos de vehículos eléctricos. Además, un importante cliente de centros de datos seleccionó los materiales de silicona de la compañía para proteger los componentes de las bandejas de servidores del ruido y las vibraciones.

El trabajo de desarrollo continuó en materiales digitales de alta velocidad y refrigeración por microcanales para centros de datos de IA. La dirección afirmó que los clientes están probando diseños de segunda y tercera generación, aumentando la actividad de muestreo y evaluación. Rogers también completó las pruebas comparativas (benchmarking) para su solución de protección contra desbocamiento térmico e inició el muestreo con clientes. El muestreo inicial de su tecnología de apantallamiento EMI está programado para principios de 2027.

Previsiones de la dirección

Previsiones para el T4 de 2026Rango / expectativa
Ingresos215 millones-225 millones de dólares
Crecimiento de ingresos en el punto medioAproximadamente un 9% interanual
Margen bruto32,5%-33,5%
BPA ajustado0,90-1,10 dólares
EBITDA ajustado37 millones-43 millones de dólares
Crecimiento del EBITDA ajustado en el punto medioAproximadamente un 16% interanual
Tasa impositiva no GAAP para todo el añoAproximadamente un 31%

La dirección prevé que los ingresos del cuarto trimestre disminuyan secuencialmente debido a la estacionalidad habitual y a las pautas operativas de fin de año de los clientes. Se espera que las ventas de aeroespacial y defensa e industrial crezcan en términos interanuales.

El punto medio de la previsión del margen bruto se sitúa 150 puntos básicos por encima del cuarto trimestre de 2025. Se espera que los mayores volúmenes y las mejoras en la estructura de costes respalden los márgenes, aunque los costes de las materias primas siguen siendo un obstáculo. Se prevé que los gastos operativos ajustados aumenten de forma modesta en términos absolutos, pero mejoren en más de 100 puntos básicos como porcentaje de las ventas.

La dirección espera que el crecimiento continúe en 2027. Las dos oportunidades de diseño citadas se describieron como considerables, y se prevé que generen ingresos durante el segundo y el tercer trimestre de 2027. Una de ellas comenzó una fase de rampa limitada en el cuarto trimestre de 2026 y se espera que alcance la producción a escala completa en el segundo trimestre de 2027.

Para las oportunidades adyacentes a más largo plazo de la empresa, la dirección identificó a los centros de datos como la categoría más grande, liderada por materiales digitales de alta velocidad y refrigeración. La tecnología de baterías relacionada con el sector automotriz ocupa el segundo lugar, mientras que el apantallamiento EMI puede servir para aplicaciones de centros de datos, automoción y electrónica. La dirección mantuvo la confianza en el objetivo de oportunidades para 2028 presentado anteriormente y afirmó que su objetivo interno es superar la meta de 2030.

Riesgos y aspectos a vigilar

  • Las limitaciones de suministro provocaron el aplazamiento de algunos pedidos de clientes del tercer trimestre, aunque la dirección señaló que la demanda y la cartera de pedidos se mantuvieron sólidas al comenzar el cuarto trimestre.
  • El aumento de los costes de las materias primas compensó parcialmente los ahorros operativos y se prevé que siga siendo un obstáculo interanual para los márgenes en el cuarto trimestre.
  • Los costes asociados con la nueva planta de Ceramic China pesaron sobre el crecimiento del EBITDA ajustado del tercer trimestre.
  • Se prevé que las ventas del cuarto trimestre disminuyan en comparación intertrimestral debido a la estacionalidad y a los patrones de funcionamiento de fin de año de los clientes.
  • Los nuevos productos para centros de datos, seguridad de baterías y apantallamiento EMI siguen sujetos a las pruebas de los clientes, la cualificación, los calendarios de aceleración de producción y los tiempos de comercialización.

Puntos destacados del turno de preguntas de analistas

La dirección declaró que el ritmo actual de adjudicaciones de diseño supera el cronograma presentado en su Día del Inversor. La empresa se había fijado previamente un objetivo de crecimiento orgánico anual medio de aproximadamente el 5%, en comparación con el crecimiento de cerca del 9% en el tercer trimestre y el punto medio de la previsión del cuarto trimestre.

En cuanto a los márgenes, Rogers afirmó que una mayor utilización de las fábricas debería generar un apalancamiento operativo adicional a medida que crezcan los volúmenes. La empresa ha completado en gran medida 45 millones de dólares en mejoras estructurales de costes, y se espera que los 13 millones restantes se reflejen plenamente al cierre de 2026. Se prevén nuevos avances derivados de iniciativas de rendimiento, costes de insumos, capacidad de procesamiento y productividad.

Rogers planea seguir aprovechando de forma oportunista la compra de acciones, al tiempo que equilibra la inversión orgánica y las prioridades estratégicas. La dirección también está evaluando dos oportunidades de adquisición e indicó que al menos una podría materializarse en los próximos trimestres. Se espera que cualquier transacción aporte capacidades estratégicas y proporcione una contribución financiera favorable a medio y largo plazo.

La dirección no informó de ninguna desaceleración en el compromiso de los clientes a pesar de la volatilidad de los mercados financieros. En su lugar, observó un aumento de las actividades de muestreo, pruebas y diseño, especialmente para soluciones de centros de datos.

Transcripción completa de la conferencia de resultados


Transcripción completa de la conferencia de resultados

Comentarios de la dirección

Operator

Good afternoon. My name is Diego, and I will be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the Rogers Corporation Third Quarter 2026 Earnings Conference Call.

I will now turn the call over to your host, Mr. Steve Haymore, Senior Director of Investor Relations.

Mr. Haymore, you may begin.

Stephen Haymore

Good afternoon, and welcome to the Rogers Corporation Third Quarter 2026 Earnings Conference Call. The slides for today's call can be found in the Investors section of our website, along with the news release that was issued earlier today.

Please turn to Slide 2. Before we begin, I would like to note that statements in this conference call that are not strictly historical are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and should be considered subject to the many uncertainties that exist in Rogers' operations and environment. These uncertainties include economic conditions, market demand and competitive factors. Such factors could cause actual results to differ materially from any forward-looking statement made today.

Please turn to Slide 3. The discussion during this conference call will also reference certain financial measures that were not prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles. A reconciliation of those non-GAAP measures to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures can be found in the slide deck for today's call. With me today are Ali El-Haj, President and CEO; and Laura Russell, Senior Vice President and CFO.

I will now turn the call over to Ali.

Ali El-Haj

Thanks, Steve, and thank you, everyone, for joining us today.

I will begin on Slide 4. We delivered another quarter of meaningful year-over-year improvement in our financial performance with higher sales across all end markets and stronger profitability and cash flow generation. Sales were $236 million, up 9% from the prior year. Adjusted EPS increased 54% to $1.39, the highest quarterly earnings since 2022. Adjusted EBITDA increased by 28% to $48 million or greater than 20% of sales. This result is the highest EBITDA margin achieved in the last 5 years.

Over the past several quarters, we have intensified our focus on deepening customer relationships, improving the speed of execution and implementing a more efficient operating structure. These results highlight the progress we are making. We also continue to advance our growth strategy. In our core markets, we secured new design wins during the quarter and the growth outlook remains positive. Across our high-growth opportunities, we made progress in several key areas: customer engagement and technical validation activities for our data center solutions continued, while our thermal runaway protection and EMI shielding programs achieved important internal milestones.

Looking to the fourth quarter, we expect continued meaningful year-over-year improvement. This includes approximately 9% revenue growth, 12% adjusted EPS growth and a 16% increase in adjusted EBITDA.

Turning to Slide 5. At 34% of third quarter sales, industrial is our largest end market. Revenue improved slightly compared to prior year with higher sales into renewable energy and other applications. Sales increased modestly in all regions. Automotive represented 24% of Q3 sales and increased at a high single-digit rate year-over-year. Growth was driven by improved demand for ADAS applications and stronger sales into both ICE and electric vehicle platforms. Electronics and communications accounted for 20% of sales in the quarter and continued to deliver strong growth.

Performance was driven by higher sales of laminate circuit materials for wireless infrastructure, which offset lower smartphone sales. Aerospace and defense represented 15% of Q3 sales and grew at mid-single-digit rate. The increase reflected higher sales into both defense and commercial aerospace applications. Overall, the breadth of the quarter's performance is encouraging. Sales increased across all end markets, reflecting a combination of improved demand, new program activities and continued execution against our commercial priorities.

Turning to Slide 6. We remain focused on accelerating growth by strengthening our position in core markets and applying our proven capabilities to high-growth adjacent opportunities. Within our core markets, we secured a number of new design awards in Q3. I will highlight a few. In aerospace and defense, our laminate material was designed into a drone detection system. Rogers' brand proven reliability, and localized support were deciding factors in the award decision. In automotive, our elastomeric materials were designed into a battery pack application with a leading EV manufacturer.

In addition, our ceramic AMB substrates were selected to be used in multiple electric vehicle models with a global auto OEM. The combination of our technology and technical service capabilities were key factors in the award decisions. In data centers, a major end user selected our silicone materials to safeguard sensitive components within the server tray. The materials combined high compressibility with superior noise and vibration isolation to help enable reliable performance.

Also in both AES and EMS, we secured meaningful design wins for energy storage system applications. These wins reinforce the value of our differentiated solutions and deep customer relationships. They support -- they also support our objective of achieving sustainable growth across the core portfolio. This growth will naturally lead to expected improvements in factory utilization levels, including for our ceramic business. In high-growth adjacencies, the development and customer testing of our signal integrity and chip cooling solutions for data center applications is continuing.

We continue to see strong pace and focus from customers sampling our laminate circuit materials for high-speed digital applications. Customer feedback remains positive on the performance of our materials to address rapidly emerging signal integrity challenges. Our microchannel cooler solutions provide an improved cooling technology to address rise in AI chip power density. Working with our lead customer, we have developed and tested multiple generations of prototypes with results continuing to validate the differentiated performance of our solutions.

These programs leverage capabilities where Rogers has established technical expertise and are designed to address increasingly demanding requirements in AI data centers. We completed benchmarking testing for our thermal runaway protection solution and are beginning customer sampling. This milestone moves us closer to commercializing a differentiated battery safety solution that combines our material expertise with deep application knowledge.

We are also advancing our EMI shielding technology. We have identified priority customers and applications and are developing solutions tailored to their requirements with initial customer sampling targeted for early 2027. Across these opportunities, our approach remains disciplined. We are prioritizing applications where our capabilities provide a clear customer benefit, and we are working closely with customers to advance qualification and commercialization.

I will now turn it to Laura to discuss our third quarter's financial performance and current quarter outlook.

Laura Russell

Thank you, Ali, and good afternoon, everyone. As Ali mentioned, we delivered strong year-over-year improvement in the third quarter with higher sales across all major end markets and meaningful expansion in profitability. We also generated strong cash flow, further strengthening our balance sheet and increasing our strategic flexibility.

Beginning on Slide 7, I'll review our third quarter financial results. Third quarter sales were $236.1 million, increasing 9% from the prior year period and including a $2.4 million benefit from foreign currency translation. AES sales increased 13.5% year-over-year with improvement across all end markets and particular strength in electronics and communications. EMS sales increased 4.3% versus the prior year, driven by higher sales in the automotive and aerospace and defense end markets.

Gross margin was 34.2%, up 70 basis points year-over-year.

The improvement was the result of higher volume and mix, partially offset by increases in commodity costs. Adjusted EPS was $1.39 and exceeded the high end of our guidance range. The 54% year-over-year increase in adjusted EPS resulted from strong sales, improved margins and favorability in the tax rate as we continue to improve business performance across all jurisdictions.

Turning to Slide 8. Third quarter adjusted EBITDA increased by 28% to $47.7 million from $37.2 million in the prior year quarter. Adjusted EBITDA margin of 20.2% of sales expanded 300 basis points to its highest level since 2021. The largest contributor to the increase was higher sales and improved product mix, which added approximately $11 million versus the prior year. Lower adjusted operating expenses also contributed to the improvement. These benefits were partially offset by higher year-over-year costs associated with the new Ceramic China facility.

We achieved meaningful operational improvement savings compared to the prior year, although these were offset by higher commodity costs. We continue to evaluate pricing adjustments depending on market conditions. Overall, the significant improvement in the quarter resulted from higher volume and favorable mix, together with continued discipline across our cost structure.

Continuing to Slide 9, I'll discuss cash utilization for the quarter. Cash and short-term investments at September 30 were $236.4 million, increasing $25 million from the end of the second quarter. Cash provided by operating activities was $41.4 million compared with $24.4 million in the second quarter, and free cash flow was $35.4 million. The increase in cash was driven primarily by adjusted EBITDA of $47.7 million, partially offset by $6 million in capital expenditures, a $3.6 million increase in working capital and $4.6 million of cash taxes paid. We repurchased $9.3 million of shares during the quarter.

We will continue to balance returning capital to shareholders with investments in organic growth and other strategic priorities. Our strong cash position and balance sheet provide us with increased strategic flexibility as we evaluate opportunities to support long-term growth and shareholder value creation.

Next, on Slide 10, I'll discuss our guidance for the fourth quarter. From a top line perspective, we continue to see positive momentum with sales expected to increase 9% year-over-year at the midpoint of our guidance. Consistent with normal seasonality and customers' end-of-year operating patterns, sales are forecasted to decline sequentially. We are guiding Q4 revenues to be between $215 million and $225 million. The guidance includes an expectation for year-over-year growth in aerospace and defense and industrial end markets. We're guiding gross margin in the range of 32.5% to 33.5%.

The midpoint of the range is 150 basis points higher than the prior year. We are realizing improved margins due to higher volumes and our cost structure improvement actions, although higher commodity costs will continue to be a headwind versus Q4 of 2025. We expect Q4 adjusted operating expenses to increase modestly year-over-year, while improving by more than 100 basis points as a percent of sales. Adjusted EPS is forecasted to range from $0.90 to $1.10. The dollar midpoint compares to adjusted EPS of $0.89 in Q4 of 2025.

The increase versus the prior year is a result of the expected increase in sales and gross margin, partially offset by higher tax. Adjusted EBITDA is anticipated to range from $37 million to $43 million. This equates to a 16% increase versus the fourth quarter of 2025 at the midpoint of the range. Lastly, we project our non-GAAP full year tax rate to be approximately 31%.

In summary, our fourth quarter outlook reflects continued year-over-year improvement in sales, adjusted EPS and adjusted EBITDA margin as we execute our commercial and operating initiatives.

I will now turn the call back over to Ali.

Ali El-Haj

Thanks, Laura. In summary, we delivered strong year-over-year improvement in the third quarter with growth across all end markets, adjusted EBITDA margin above 20% and adjusted EPS reaching a multiyear peak. We remain focused on sustaining this financial progress while accelerating growth. Our strategy is centered on leveraging Rogers' proven capabilities and deep customer relationships to grow in core markets and advance high potential adjacent opportunities. With disciplined execution and a healthy balance sheet, we believe we are well positioned to translate these opportunities into stronger earnings and shareholder returns.

That concludes our prepared remarks, and I will now turn the call back to the operator for questions.

Operator

[Operator Instructions] And your first question comes from Daniel Moore with CJS Securities.

Preguntas y respuestas

Dan Moore

Congrats on, obviously, a very solid quarter. Great to see top line growth high single digits, approaching 10%. Still actually a touch below the midpoint of the guidance. So wondering if there were areas where -- or pockets of sales that were maybe pushed out to some degree. Wondering if the quarter could have potentially come in even stronger? Maybe just talk to those areas that weren't quite as strong in terms of organic growth in the quarter.

Laura Russell

Dan, it's Laura. I'll start and then we can pass to Ali if there's any additional comments. And so yes, you're right, there was a slight miss to the midpoint of the guide, a couple of million dollars there. As with every quarter, we work to balance our supply against the demand that we're seeing. And with everything, there are some constraints generally speaking, in the market at the moment, which we, like probably many other vendors had faced. So what I would suggest is, yes, there was some pushout occurred in a couple of spaces. But in other areas where we did have supply with the strong demand that we have, we work to mitigate and manage accordingly.

What I would also point to is what you can see is in the guidance for the fourth quarter, we're seeing consistent strength in the demand and the order book. And you can see at the midpoint of the guidance there, that's also going to be up about 9% on a year-over-year basis. So generally speaking, yes, there were pockets of supply limitations. We work to balance it, and we're continuing to execute solid growth in the third quarter of what we posted and in our guidance midpoint for Q4.

Dan Moore

No, that's really helpful, Laura. And margin improvement even more impressive given those constraints. Maybe a follow-up for me, just elaborate really good color on the new design wins in the quarter. Can you -- is there anything you can say in terms of either size of the opportunities or timing of when you might expect some of those to start generating meaningful revenue and what a ramp looks like? Any color on those would be great.

Ali El-Haj

Yes. Thanks, Dan. This is Ali. Both actually, 2 of the opportunities that we've mentioned, they are material. So they are sizable, and we expect revenue on -- from both of these, I believe, Q2 and Q3 of 2027. One of them actually started in a slow ramp-up started in -- it was started in Q4 of this year, and it will continue to ramp up what we expect to see full volumes by Q2 of next year.

Operator

And your next question comes from David Silver with Freedom Capital Markets.

David Silver

Yes. I did want to ask a question about margins overall and -- or margin progression overall. And looking at my quarterly -- the quarterly income statements for, let's say, the first 3 quarters now of 2026, I'm going to be a little vague here or a little imprecise. But your revenues have jumped up about 18%, but your overall spending for SG&A and R&D together looks pretty flat. In other words, you've grown your sales while your fixed costs more or less are flat. And as a result, change in sales over change in EBITDA works out to, again, imprecise, but close to 50%.

So is this kind of the standard model? Or are these assumptions kind of what you're looking at as we move forward into 2027 and beyond? Or was there 1 or 2 issues that might have made the data look unusually flat or the numbers fell in line like they did? In other words, should we just assume flat SG&A and R&D, and maybe a 50% incremental type of EBITDA margin on incremental sales going forward?

Laura Russell

David, let me start and we can build on my response. So I think we are actually being very intentional in managing our investments in our OpEx and in our factories and our fleet around servicing the demand and the potential opportunities that we have in managing the investments accordingly. So the OpEx levels that we're currently posting are intentional. There isn't anything there that we are underinvested in relative to the opportunity. But what we indicated and guided when we presented an Investor Day last month is the fact that we will anticipate in absolute terms, some growth in those investments as we chase the significant opportunities that we believe we have exposure to both organically or primarily organically from the OpEx perspective. And so we will do that.

And you started your question on the margin piece. What we'd say there is you can see as we're leveraging the factory footprint that we have in servicing our customers in region, you can see that we are benefiting from the scale and the utilization benefits through the fleet and the margin as we're balancing mix against that utilization. So generally speaking, yes, I would say, you're going to see the fall-through as we continue to execute our growth objectives and continue to modulate and manage our investments and our investment profile aligned with our levels of confidence and security around the top line expansion.

David Silver

Okay. Great. Next question I had maybe for Ali. And thank you very much for all the qualitative color around new business wins. I was hoping to maybe just drill down a little bit more. But is it your view that the level of new business wins is sufficient to kind of meet or exceed those targets that you laid out at your recent Investor Day?

In other words, the growth trajectory up to, let's say, mid-2027 or so when some newer opportunities are supposed to go -- begin commercial sales. But just maybe a little bit of color on whether the pace of new business wins that you cited in your remarks are consistent with what we saw a few weeks ago.

Ali El-Haj

Thanks, David. I think the simple answer would be yes. They are consistent. As a matter of fact, we are probably ahead of schedule in wins and securing more new business. And the growth that we're projecting right now is ahead of the average that we indicated. We indicated organic growth of about 5% per year during our Investor Day. And now we're -- it was about 9% in Q3, 9% in Q4, and we expect that growth to continue in 2027.

Operator

Your next question comes from Rebecca Zamsky with B. Riley Securities.

Rebecca Zamsky

Yes. This is Rebecca on for Craig Ellis. So at the Analyst Day a few weeks ago, the team identified 3 factors that contribute to gross margins, which I believe were volume and absorption, differentiated pricing and continued cost and operational improvements. Could you update us on the progression of those 3, like, parts?

Laura Russell

Yes. I'll start, Rebecca. So yes, you're right in terms of the 3 critical drivers of our gross margin expansion. So as Ali just said to David, we're seeing positive traction in our design activity and the volume, in fact, we're seeing on the designs that are already won and in volume production. So that has given us some favorable indications about the first lever of that margin expansion because it's going to be predicated on the volume that will allow us to improve our utilization through the factory.

Secondly, you've heard us talk about structural cost improvements that we had undertaken over the last probably 24 months in sizing the factories and ensuring that the factories were supplying our customers where the customer demand was. And we've concluded on those restructuring activities. So that's the $45 million you've heard us reference historically. And it's basically effectively largely done, absent $13 million of the $45 million isn't fully crystallizing in the 2026 results. But as we exit the year, it's all fully achieved.

In addition to that, we continue to focus on operational excellence initiatives to ensure that we're optimizing our yield, minimizing our input costs and getting our maximum throughput and productivity of our factories, which those initiatives are going well. You've heard Ali say historically that we're not yet fully concluded. There's still room and opportunity there, but that remains a continued focus from our global operations teams on a week-to-week, day-to-day basis.

And then thirdly, you mentioned the pricing. What we're talking about there is not pricing, but differentiated solutions with the new opportunities that we're chasing. So that's key in a strategic initiative, and those programs are progressing...

Operator

And your next question comes from Daniel Moore with CJS Securities.

Dan Moore

Maybe one on capital allocation and one on the longer term. But cash flow, obviously, really strong. Cash continues to build despite increasing share repurchases. Do you expect to continue to be more aggressive in terms of buybacks at or near current levels? And in a similar vein, maybe just talk to the M&A pipeline and whether you see opportunities that could come together over the next 2, 3, 4 quarters?

Laura Russell

Yes, Dan, I'll start again. So yes, you saw us $9 million of share repurchases last quarter. Yes, we'll be opportunistic there. We'll evaluate what's in the funnel and the current pricing and do what we deem appropriate for adding value to our shareholders. And as we've shared in Investor Day and in prior calls, we are much more active in our M&A funnel and our activities there these days. And I think Ali will probably talk about evaluation and whatnot.

Ali El-Haj

Yes. We have a couple of opportunities, Dan, that we're looking at right now as we speak. We hopefully -- we anticipate some -- at least one, maybe both of these opportunities are actionable within the next few quarters or so. So we're active. We're evaluating the things, again, based on the criteria that we established in Investor Day and we continue to do that. And we expect to, like I said, some actionable announcement probably within the next couple of quarters or so.

Laura Russell

And consistent with what we said, Dan, that would be something that was strategic, add capability that we don't have and that has a favorable financial contribution, at least over the mid- to long term. So everything will go through appropriate diligence.

Dan Moore

Excellent. Maybe just one more, and this is a bigger picture kind of longer term. But just hoping to dig into a little bit more on the long-term goals. Looking at the 3 major opportunities, growth opportunities, data centers, battery tech, EMI shielding, collectively, we're looking, I think, at $100 million of revenue by 2028, growing to $450 million by 2030.

Just talk to your expectations regarding the relative size of each of those and how we're thinking about sort of the relative cadence of ramp. I know it's fluid, but wondering if you could maybe delineate at all between what's sort of near term and what's larger in terms of magnitude of the opportunity over the time frame?

Ali El-Haj

Yes. We're -- as you know, we're being vague about detailing the opportunities. But clearly, data center is our largest of the 3. That's for sure. And from a product standpoint of view, if you look at the 2, whether it's high-speed digital or cooling, these are the 2 that we probably the largest of the data center opportunity. So data center within the 3 is the largest. High-speed and cooling will be the largest opportunities within the data center itself.

So without quantifying this put in dollars, obviously, we do have detail internally here what our expectations are, and we're working towards those expectations. Our elastomeric materials also will participate. As a matter of fact, one of the opportunities that we've mentioned that we already obtained a design win, and we're currently launching that is for a data center, and it's one of the elastomer materials that we're -- we supply today. It's one of our silicones here. So that's the expectation.

Automotive probably would be the second within that -- within the 3. And then when it comes to EMI shield, obviously, that goes across all product lines, including data centers, automotive and electronics. So from a timing standpoint of view, again, our expectations remain the same, second half of next year with Q3, Q4 where some of these products will launch. Again, we go through a ramp-up phase. '28 still we're confident in the numbers that we presented at Investor Day that we will hit those numbers. And 2030, our objective internally is to beat those numbers. So that gives you probably an idea about our confidence level here.

Operator

And your next question comes from David Silver with Freedom Capital Markets.

David Silver

Dan touched on a couple of points in general that I was going to follow up on. I'd like to ask Ali, about maybe the tone of -- the tone or the optimism of your customers. In other words, I think of your company as a solutions provider, but you're still reliant on customers wanting to move forward on new investments and new platforms, et cetera. Just in the last few weeks, I mean, I would just say equity markets in some high-growth subsectors have been quite volatile and interest rates remain elevated compared to a couple of years ago.

How would you say the engagement is with customers relative to when we last heard from you at the Investor Day? Has there been any dampening or caution -- incremental caution from your key customers? Or is there any change on the collaboration schedules? Or from your perspective, is it still pretty much business as usual despite, let's say, the financial market volatility that a lot of those companies operate in?

Ali El-Haj

Yes. Actually, thanks for the question. Actually, it's the opposite in our case here. We see the momentum is picking up. More activities are ongoing actually. We see more intensity in those activities. And we're providing more samples. Customers are building more product for testing and evaluation. And as I mentioned on the prepared remarks, we're on third generation -- second and third-generation designs and upgrades and optimization of these products. So from an activity standpoint of view, no, it's actually increasing, which is expected as we get closer to winning those and design-in announcement, you expect that those activities will increase and intensify.

So that's what we're seeing now. And we're expanding actually to more customers. So we don't really see a slowdown. Again, because we -- exactly what you said, we are providing solutions to customer needs today. They need those type of solutions, and we're providing those solutions. So we don't see any impact from the macroeconomics that we see out there today. I think our forecast and our expectations remain the same.

Operator

Thank you. And thank you, everyone, for your questions. That concludes today's conference. You may disconnect your lines at this time. Thank you all for your participation.

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