Enpro（NPO）2026年第3四半期決算説明会：半導体の成長に伴いガイダンスを上方修正

主要なポイント

• エンプロの2026年第3四半期の売上高は前年同期比22.4%増の3億5,080万ドルとなり、調整後EBITDAは31.7%増の9,130万ドルに増加しました。
• 調整後EBITDAマージンは180ベース・ポイント拡大して26.0%となり、調整後希薄化後1株当たり利益（EPS）は33.7%増の2.66ドルに増加しました。
• アドバンスト・サーフェス・テクノロジーズ（AST）部門の売上高は、好調な半導体需要に支えられて25.8%増加しました。同部門の調整後EBITDAマージンは500ベース・ポイント拡大し、25.1%となりました。
• シーリング・テクノロジーズ部門のオーガニック売上高は11.6%増加しました。アルファ・メジャメント・ソリューションズ（AlpHa Measurement Solutions）およびオーバールック・インダストリーズ（Overlook Industries）の寄与を含め、報告ベースの売上高は20.5%増の2億1,470万ドルとなりました。
• 経営陣は2026年通期の業績予想を引き上げ、売上高を13億3,000万〜13億4,000万ドル、調整後EBITDAを3億4,000万〜3億4,500万ドル、調整後希薄化後EPSを9.70〜9.95ドルとしました。
• 経営陣によると、半導体顧客の製造計画とリードタイムにより、少なくとも2027年までの見通しが確保されています。エンプロは2027年中、米国およびアジアでの設備投資を加速させる見込みです。

主要財務データ

2026年年初からの9か月間における営業キャッシュフローは1億7,280万ドル、フリー・キャッシュフローは設備投資額4,360万ドルを差し引いて1億2,920万ドルとなりました。エンプロは年初来でリボルビング債務を1億3,500万ドル削減（第3四半期の5,500万ドルを含む）し、ネット・レバレッジは直近12か月間の調整後EBITDAの1.4倍となりました。

9月30日時点の有利子負債総額は5億2,070万ドル、現金および現金同等物は8,340万ドルでした。また取締役会は10月、新たに5,000万ドルの自社株買い枠を承認しました。

事業および業績の動向

アドバンスト・サーフェス・テクノロジーズ

精密洗浄、半導体製造装置、コーティングの全般で需要が強まったことから、今四半期はASTが成長を牽引しました。経営陣は、先端ノードの半導体製造に関連する精密洗浄ソリューションの需要が特に好調であることを強調するとともに、製造装置およびコーティングのBBレシオ（受注出荷比率）の動向が引き続き改善していると指摘しました。

ASTの売上高の約60%はOEM（新造装置）サイクル、約40%はアフターマーケット活動に連動しています（四半期により変動）。経営陣によると、精密洗浄の同部門内シェアが拡大しており、AST事業全体よりもやや早いペースで拡大する見込みです。

エンプロは、垂直統合型ソリューションを必要とする製品を含め、新しいプラットフォームでの認証を進めています。アリゾナ州、カリフォルニア州、台湾、シンガポールにおいて設備投資が加速されています。経営陣は、これらのプロジェクトは投機的な需要ではなく、顧客からのコミットメント、新規顧客の獲得、および顧客の設備計画に紐付いていると述べました。

シーリング・テクノロジーズ

シーリング部門の成長は広範囲に及びました。民間航空・宇宙用途が好調に推移したほか、米国内の一般産業市場では10%台半ばのオーガニック成長を達成しました。商用車向け売上高は前年同期比で8%以上増加しました。

アルファ・メジャメント・ソリューションズとオーバールック・インダストリーズも報告ベースの成長に貢献しました。規律ある価格設定とオペレーション実行力により、同部門は32.6%の調整後EBITDAマージンを維持しました。

経営陣は、シーリング部門の現在の収益性が異常に好都合な製品ミックスに依存しているわけではないと述べました。同社は、応用工学、生産能力、および機能を拡大する買収への投資を行いながら、長期的に1桁台半ばから後半のオーガニック成長を引き続き目標としています。

業績予想（ガイダンス）

エンプロは2026年通期の業績予想を引き上げました。

調整後EPSの見通しは、標準実効税率25%および完全希薄化後発行済株式数2,140万株を前提としています。

経営陣は、シーリング・テクノロジーズが第4四半期も継続的なオーガニック成長を達成すると見込んでいます。通常の季節要因により第4四半期は前四半期比で緩やかな低下が見込まれるものの、通期マージンは長期目標レンジである30%（±250ベース・ポイント）の上限付近にとどまる見通しです。

ASTについて経営陣は、第4四半期に前四半期比での改善を見込んでおり、前年同期比の売上高成長率とセグメントマージンの双方が25%を超えると予想しています。2026年の設備投資額は6,000万〜6,500万ドルと予想されています。

エンプロが半導体生産能力の拡張プロジェクトを前倒しするため、2027年の設備投資額は増加する見込みです。同社の5か年計画では年間設備投資額を売上高の3.5%〜4.5%とすることを目標としていますが、2027年はこのレンジをわずかに上回る可能性があります。個別の拡張プロジェクトには、その規模に応じて6〜18か月を要する可能性があります。

リスクと注目分野

• エンプロは第3四半期においても、欧州の一般産業市場ならびに食品・バイオ医薬品市場での軟調さを継続して観察しました。
• ASTの成長投資の一部は収益化前の段階にとどまっており、将来のリターンにはプロジェクトのタイミングと顧客による認証の進捗状況が重要となります。
• 半導体関連の生産能力需要の高まりにより、2027年の設備投資額が押し上げられる見込みです。
• シーリング部門のマージンは、通常の季節要因により第4四半期に前四半期比で緩やかに低下する見込みです。
• 経営陣は、シーリング部門のマージン構造に一時的な影響を与える可能性のある買収に向けて柔軟性を維持していますが、買収対象はエンプロの戦略的・財務的基準を満たす必要があります。

アナリスト質疑応答のハイライト

• ASTのマージンの可能性：経営陣は、エンプロ 3.0の期間中にASTの調整後EBITDAマージンが約30%に達する可能性があることを改めて強調しました。主な原動力は販売数量の増加、ミックス改善、80/20イニシアチブ、およびポートフォリオと資産の最適化です。最近の販売数量増に伴う限界利益率は少なくとも40%となっています。
• 生産能力の拡張：計画されている投資は、グリーンフィールド（新規用地開拓）プロジェクトではなく、主に既存拠点の拡張です。一部の拠点では2026年末近くに工事が開始され、2027年を通じてより本格的に進展します。
• 価格設定と投入コスト：経営陣は、価格設定、業務効率化、その他の内部施策により、投入コストのインフレがマージンに及ぼす重大な影響を防ぐことができると見込んでいます。
• 資本配分：オーガニック成長への投資が引き続き最優先事項であり、次いで機能を拡大しリターン要件を満たす買収が続きます。適切な取引を評価する間、余剰資金は負債の削減に充てられる可能性があります。
• M&Aの規律：エンプロは年間を通じて160件を超える買収候補案件を検討しました。経営陣は、業務再生（ターンアラウンド）が必要な事業ではなく、確立された高品質な事業に焦点を当て、引き続き厳選した投資を行うと述べました。

決算説明会文字起こし全文

決算説明会の完全なトランスクリプト

経営陣による説明

Operator

Greetings, and welcome to the Enpro Q3 2026 Earnings Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] As a reminder, this conference is being recorded.

It's now my pleasure to turn the call over to James Gentile, Vice President, Investor Relations. Please go ahead, James.

James Gentile

Thanks, Kevin, and good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining us today as we review Enpro's Third Quarter 2026 Earnings Results and discuss our increased outlook for 2026. I will remind you that this conference call is being webcast at enpro.com, where you can find the presentation that accompanies this call.

With me today are Eric Vaillancourt, our President and Chief Executive Officer; and Joe Bruderek, our Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer.

During this morning's call, we will reference a number of non-GAAP financial measures. Tables reconciling the historical non-GAAP measures to the comparable GAAP measures are included in the appendix materials. Also, a friendly reminder that we'll be making statements on this call, including our current perspectives for full year 2026 guidance that are not historical facts and that are considered forward-looking in nature. These statements involve a number of risks and uncertainties, including those described in our filings with the SEC. We do not undertake any obligation to update these forward-looking statements.

It is now my pleasure to turn the call over to Eric Vaillancourt, our President and Chief Executive Officer. Eric?

Eric Vaillancourt

Thanks, James, and good morning, everyone. Thank you for your interest in Enpro as we discuss our third quarter results, provide an update on our strategic progress and share our current expectations for the balance of 2026.

Before reviewing the quarter, I would like to recognize our colleagues across Enpro -- over the past 2 years, they've embraced the challenge at the heart of our 5-year strategic plan called Enpro 3.0, accelerating personal and profitable growth. Throughout that time, we have encouraged and invested in our people, expanded our capabilities, strengthened our portfolio and prepared the organization to capture attractive opportunities across our key markets to drive long-term value creation.

Enpro 3.0 continues to gain traction throughout the organization, and our third quarter performance reflects our colleagues' hard work in putting this strategy into action. We are seeing the benefits of this growth focus, greater empowerment, deeper technical expertise, stronger customer partnerships and focused execution across the company. The progress has been deliberate.

In AST, we have invested to build capabilities to position the segment on the leading edge and drive higher revenue growth and profitability over the long term. For Sealing, we expanded our capabilities in compositional analysis and biopharmaceutical processing through the acquisitions of AlpHa and Overlook in the fourth quarter of last year, while investing in capacity expansions across the segment.

Across the company, we continue to invest in differentiated technologies, engineering talent, capacity and processes that allow us to solve our customers' most critical problems. Those actions are strengthening our market positions and creating additional opportunities for profitable growth. At the same time, the balance of our portfolio remains an important source of strength, allowing us to drive profitable growth through market cycles.

Sealing Technologies continues to demonstrate excellent execution and premium profitability supported by durable aftermarket positions and an expanding set of growth opportunities. In Advanced Surface Technologies, demand associated with advanced semiconductor production continues to strengthen and the investments we are making to position us to support our customers as they expand capacity for artificial intelligence, advanced computing and communications infrastructure.

We remain focused on delivering today while building the capabilities required to sustain strong organic growth, profitability and returns over the long term. Just as importantly, we are creating an environment where our colleagues can continue to grow, flourish and perform at their best. We are pleased with our progress, energized by the opportunities ahead and confident in Enpro's ability to create differentiated value for our customers and shareholders.

Now let me turn to highlights for the third quarter. Enpro reported quarter sales of $350.8 million, up 22.4% year-over-year. Strong demand across semiconductor markets drove sales in the Advanced Surface Technologies segment up 25.8% with the segment margin rate expanding 500 basis points to 25.1%. Organic sales in the Sealing Technologies segment increased 11.6% during the third quarter and 20.5%, including the contributions from the acquisitions of AlpHa Measurement Solutions and Overlook Industries completed in the fourth quarter of 2025 and the modest impact of foreign exchange translation.

Total company adjusted EBITDA increased 31.7% to $91.3 million at a margin of 26% for the third quarter. In Sealing Technologies, the strong increase in sales was driven by strength in aerospace, domestic general industrial and compositional analysis applications as well as the contribution from the recent acquisitions and strategic pricing initiatives.

Commercial vehicle OEM demand improved year-over-year during the third quarter. We are pleased with how STEMCO is performing, and we are confident the business is positioned for growth from expected improving market conditions over the coming quarters as it continues to provide critical safety solutions for trailers transporting goods on roadways across North America.

Overall, Sealing Technologies segment profitability remained strong at 32.6%, with higher sales, pricing discipline and excellent execution supporting an almost 22% increase in adjusted segment EBITDA. In AST , robust performance across the segment was led by leading-edge precision cleaning solutions as well as strong demand for semiconductor capital equipment and coatings. Our outlook for the semiconductor-facing products and solutions remains bright, and we are well positioned as the market forecasts continue strength ahead.

Investments made to expand our capabilities in regions aligned with our customers underpin a positive outlook for Advanced Surface Technologies segment. We expect to pursue additional capital investments in the United States and Asia through next year to support customers' leading-edge chip capacity expansions.

Regionalization of supply chains continues to be a driver while we proceed with longer-term customer expansion activities, apply our 80/20 processes and pursue operational excellence initiatives to drive additional value in AST. As we said last quarter, customer build plans and lead times provide visibility through at least 2027 for our semiconductor-facing products and solutions.

We remain focused on advancing the growth priorities underpinning the Enpro 3.0 strategy, which will guide our performance through 2030. Over the long term, we are positioned to generate mid- to high level -- mid- to high single-digit organic top line growth with robust profitability and returns.

Our strong balance sheet and free cash flow allow us to reinvest in attractive organic growth opportunities across the company and pursue capability-expanding acquisitions in key growth areas of our portfolio that meet our stringent strategic and financial criteria.

Joe?

Joe Bruderek

Thank you, Eric, and good morning, everyone. We are pleased to report these strong results for the third quarter of 2026 and an increased outlook for the full year. For the third quarter, sales of $350.8 million increased 22.4% year-over-year, supported by 25.8% revenue growth at AST and organic growth of 11.6% in Sealing Technologies, 20.5%, including the acquisitions and a modest impact from FX.

Third quarter adjusted EBITDA of $91.4 million (sic) [ $91.3 ] increased 31.7% compared to the prior year period. Total company adjusted EBITDA margin of 26% expanded 180 basis points year-over-year, driven by operating leverage on strong sales growth, partially offset by continued operating expenses supporting growth initiatives across the organization.

Corporate expenses of $13.5 million in the third quarter of 2026 increased from $10.2 million a year ago, primarily due to higher incentive compensation accruals. Adjusted diluted earnings per share of $2.66 increased 33.7%, largely driven by the same factors that supported adjusted EBITDA growth year-over-year.

Moving to a discussion of segment performance. Sealing Technologies sales increased 20.5% to $214.7 million. Strong performance in commercial aerospace and space applications, mid-teens organic growth in domestic general industrial markets as well as the contributions from AlpHa and Overlook were the primary drivers. Revenue from commercial vehicle markets improved over 8% year-over-year, while we continue to see softness in general industrial and food and biopharmaceutical sales in Europe during the third quarter.

Adjusted segment EBITDA increased 21.8% to $69.9 million, driven by operating leverage on higher sales, strategic pricing initiatives and contributions from AlpHa and Overlook. Adjusted segment EBITDA margin was 32.6%, remaining above 30% for the 11th consecutive quarter.

We continue making targeted investments in capacity and talent across the Sealing Technologies segment to enhance our applied engineering and applications expertise, enabling us to provide critical solutions for our customers and drive differentiated incremental organic revenue growth. As we expand our opportunity set, our highly specified solutions, in turn, drive an enduring aftermarket, which is an important characteristic of an Enpro business.

Turning now to Advanced Surface Technologies. Sales for the third quarter increased 25.8%, reflecting strong demand across the segment. Demand for precision cleaning solutions tied to advanced node chip production is very strong. In addition, book-to-bills for our capital equipment and coatings facing solutions also continue to strengthen. Our teams are working incredibly hard to deliver these important products and solutions, while collaborating with customers to advance and expand leading-edge semiconductor production capabilities.

For the third quarter, adjusted segment EBITDA increased 57.3% year-over-year to $34.3 million. Adjusted segment EBITDA margin expanded 500 basis points to 25.1% as strong sales growth drove improved operating leverage despite continued growth investments, many of which remain prerevenue.

We continue to advance qualifications on a number of new platforms, many requiring our unique vertically integrated solutions. We are also responding to customer demand by advancing capital investments to support new platforms driving future growth. Our #1 priority is to partner with our customers to enable efficient leading-edge chip production and capacity expansion.

Moving to the balance sheet and cash flow. Our balance sheet remains strong, and we have ample financial flexibility to execute on our long-term organic growth initiatives and consider acquisitions that align with our strategic priorities and deliver attractive returns.

During the first 9 months of 2026, we generated $172.8 million of cash flow from operating activities and $129.2 million of free cash flow, net of $43.6 million in capital expenditures. This compares with $138.5 million of operating cash flow and $104.9 million of free cash flow in the prior year period. We expect capital expenditures to remain in the $60 million to $65 million range for full year 2026.

During the third quarter, we reduced outstanding revolving debt by $55 million, bringing the year-to-date reduction to $135 million and our net leverage ratio to 1.4x trailing 12-month adjusted EBITDA. At September 30, total debt was $520.7 million and cash and cash equivalents was $83.4 million. Finally, our strong balance sheet and cash generation provide us with ample liquidity to invest in growth while continuing to return capital to shareholders. During the third quarter, we paid a regular quarterly dividend of $0.32 per share with dividend payments totaling $20.6 million for the first 9 months. In October, our Board approved a new $50 million share repurchase authorization in the same amount, replacing the prior unused authorization that expired.

Moving now to our increased guidance. We are raising our full year 2026 guidance and now expect revenue in the range of $1.33 billion to $1.34 billion, representing 16% to 17% year-over-year growth, adjusted EBITDA in the range of $340 million to $345 million and adjusted diluted earnings per share in the range of $9.70 to $9.95. This compares with our prior guidance of 14% to 16% revenue growth, adjusted EBITDA of $330 million to $340 million and adjusted diluted earnings per share of $9.30 to $9.80. The normalized tax rate used to calculate adjusted diluted earnings per share remains at 25% and fully diluted shares outstanding are 21.4 million.

In Sealing Technologies, order patterns remained solid into 4Q, supporting continued strong organic growth in the fourth quarter. Reported growth will also include incremental revenue from AlpHa and Overlook, which contributed only a partial quarter following our acquisitions in the fourth quarter of 2025. Aerospace, including commercial space applications and general industrial markets, including digital infrastructure and communications, water and compositional analysis applications, are the primary drivers of continued organic revenue growth in Sealing. During the third quarter, we saw improvement in commercial vehicle OEM markets, which we expect to continue through the fourth quarter and into next year.

On profitability, we continue to expect Sealing segment margin to remain at the high end of our long-term target range of 30%, plus or minus 250 basis points for the year, although slightly lower sequentially in the fourth quarter based on normal seasonality. In the Advanced Surface Technologies segment, market conditions are bright. Significant multiyear investment in advanced semiconductor infrastructure continues, and we are seeing strong demand in those areas tied to this infrastructure build-out for the balance of the year with increased visibility through at least 2027.

Through close partnership with our key customers responding to industry demand, we have seen significant order and backlog growth, supporting our improved outlook for the AST segment. We now expect sequential improvement in the fourth quarter with year-over-year revenue growth and margin rates both greater than 25%. Thank you for your time today.

I will now turn the call back to Eric for closing comments.

Eric Vaillancourt

Thank you, Joe. We are encouraged by the progress we are making across Enpro. Enpro 3.0 continues to gain traction throughout the organization. The investments made in our people are unlocking the immense potential of our team, our technological capabilities are expanding and the investments we have made in our businesses are translating into stronger performance and an increasingly attractive set of opportunities.

We remain focused on performing today while positioning the organization for tomorrow. That means continuing to invest where we have clear competitive advantages, serving our customers with excellence and maintaining a disciplined approach to capital allocation. These priorities position Enpro to compound growth over the long term. The opportunities in front of Enpro are significant, and we believe we have the people, portfolio, balance sheet and operating discipline to capture them.

I want to thank our colleagues across the world for their hard work, dedication and continued commitment to accelerating their personal and professional growth. Their performance is what makes executing our strategy possible. There is no better time to be a part of Enpro.

I'll now welcome your questions.

Operator

[Operator Instructions] Our first question today is coming from Jeff Hammond from KeyBanc Capital Markets.

質疑応答

Jeffrey Hammond

I guess 2 questions on Sealing. One, can you just unpack a little bit more of the acceleration? It sounds like commercial OE is helping, but there seems more to it. And then you've been, kind of, saying this 30% plus or minus 250 and you've been at the high end, kind of, 3 years. Like just wondering if you're thinking differently about that or, kind of, moving the bar at all.

Eric Vaillancourt

Sealing is performing in basically all different parts of the business are doing well. A lot of it tied to the digital build-out and infrastructure, but also a lot of other good happening. Space is doing very well. You're seeing a little improvement. Third quarter, I think we said a little over 8% in commercial vehicle OEM. And so it's really coming from this broad strength across the whole segment. I expect that to continue.

In regards to your second question -- high end, Jeff, we talked about that before. Basically, we'll continue to prove out where we are. We're trying to leave a little flexibility if we want to make an acquisition that might move that down a little bit. So it's either explain later or kind of keep the range we're at. But we continue to expect to perform at that high end of the 30% plan, plus or minus 250 basis points. There isn't anything that should change that in the immediate future.

Joe Bruderek

Yes. There's nothing specifically optimal about the way the Sealing Technologies is performing right now. They're just executing very well. There's not a super optimal mix or anything like that. So we don't expect that to go backwards. We just want to give ourselves the ability to invest in good acquisitions that meet our strategic and financial criteria that are within that range that are going to continue to kick up the growth rate over time, right?

Sealing for us, as we said, is a mid- to high single-digit organic grower, and we want to continue to invest in key areas of the business like we did with AMI, AlpHa and Overlook, that are going to drive that growth rate up over time.

Jeffrey Hammond

Okay. Great. And then you mentioned some incremental capital investments in North America, Asia. Can you just maybe talk about what you're thinking about in terms of capital outlay, what that maybe means for CapEx into '27? And are these, kind of, more greenfield or expansions?

Joe Bruderek

Yes. I mean we continue to see really strong growth opportunities in our key areas of strength within AST. That's both on the design and manufacture of critical in-chamber tools in some of our key areas of strength like gas dispersion, etch, deposition broadly as well as in our precision cleaning business tied to leading-edge chip manufacturing. We continue to see great growth prospects in both of those areas.

So some of the growth that we had anticipated over the course of many years is accelerating into the near term. And the growth investments we made over the last couple of years, we see a way to grow into those. And the future growth predicted over the next few years is now anticipated to be [ needed ] sooner. So we're pulling those growth investments forward, and we expect our capital investment total outlay to increase next year. We're not ready to guide specifically on that specific number, but we do expect it to step up into '27 based on that accelerated need for more growth capacity.

Eric Vaillancourt

It's more due to expansion than greenfield at this point, Jeff. Continue to expand in Arizona, continue to expand in Taiwan, et cetera.

Joe Bruderek

Singapore.

Eric Vaillancourt

Singapore as well.

Joe Bruderek

California.

Eric Vaillancourt

California as well.

Operator

Next question is coming from Tom Sano from JPMorgan.

Tomohiko Sano

Maybe just on the business on the U.S. and Asia semiconductor capacity expansions that you talked about, could you give us a clearer time line for completion? And I think it's hard to say about the revenue impact from each regions, but is this CapEx tied to firm customer commitments? Or is it more of for bet on anticipated demand?

Eric Vaillancourt

Yes. It's tied to customer commitments and customer -- new customer wins, et cetera. So it's actually tied to that. So we have visibility into that for the future. The capacity expansions are going to be, as we said earlier, Singapore, most of it initially tied to leading-edge cleaning and then also some vertically integrated products that are new customer wins that are driving some of that expansion as well. Those would be a driving expansions in the U.S.

Joe Bruderek

And if you think about timing, I mean, some of them are starting as soon as now at the end of this year, but more meaningfully progressing through 2027. Some of them are simple additional clean room space build-outs, which have -- which can have a shorter time horizon. Others are additional building or capacity expansion on an existing site.

So those may make in the time from 6 to 12 to 18 months at sometimes. But again, as Eric mentioned, right, these are absolutely in concert with our key customers supporting their growth plans, their build plans and visibility through at least '27 and in some cases, kind of, growth predicted in '28 and '29.

James Gentile

The 5-year plan for CapEx suggests 3.5% to 4.5% of revenue for -- as a percentage of total revenue annually. Next year, we'll probably be slightly above that.

Tomohiko Sano

That's helpful. And just one follow-up on Sealing margin holding up to 32.6% pretty high level. How are you balancing pricing against the raw materials cost there? And are your pricing actions fully offsetting input cost inflation? Or is there still a lag?

Eric Vaillancourt

Yes, we expect our pricing actions along with some operational efficiencies, some other levers we can pull, so we won't have any meaningful impact in price increases. Our teams do a really good job of getting that into the marketplace so we can capture it. And when we can't, we minimize it through other improvement activities. So I don't expect any material impact on our margins. Our supply chain really, really good. They're excellent.

Operator

Our next question is coming from Ian Zaffino from Oppenheimer.

Ian Zaffino

Very good quarter and very good commentary. I don't know if you guys have this or maybe a little bit of color. Would you be able to give us, kind of, the performance of an AST, call it, OE versus aftermarket? And how do we expect that mix to, kind of, change over time, just given all the, kind of, growth projects you have and all the, kind of, contracts you've won? So just thinking about that.

Joe Bruderek

Yes. Thanks, Ian. If you look at our AST business, about 60% of our business overall is tied to the OE cycle and about 40% aftermarket in that range, depending on the quarter. The aftermarket side has been growing as a percentage of the total over the last 5 years. Our precision cleaning business has grown throughout as it's tied to leading-edge chip production. And as that part of the market has grown as a percentage of the whole, we've continued to grow significantly.

We see that as a continued driver for us going forward, right? Our Precision Cleaning business tied in with every key advanced node as that market continues to progress and that business continuing to grow over time, at least at the average of overall AST. And the areas that we have capabilities tied to vertical integration -- vertical integrated offerings, and critical in-chamber tools expected to still grow and continue to grow, right? So as a percentage of the total, we expect our precision cleaning to grow a little bit faster, but both segments driving good strong growth.

Ian Zaffino

Okay. So then I guess that will be a follow-up here is how do we then think about margins given, kind of, what we're seeing out there as far as maybe mix being moved around a little bit more than what it was previously and then maybe, kind of, not a ceiling, but what would be maybe a target margin that we can, kind of, look at as this business, kind of, develops and matures?

Joe Bruderek

We've said as part of Enpro 3.0, we believe AST has the ability to be a 30% EBITDA segment margin over time, right? And we were able to maintain 20% under all market conditions over the last several years, and we're focused on marching those margins up in the high 20s, low 30% in the Enpro 3.0 time horizon. We've seen good strong margin performance on the incremental volume that we've seen so far in the last couple of quarters.

And so if you think about what are the key -- where are the key areas that's going to come from to march it up to that 30%, it's going to come from volume leverage, continued growth in our key areas of strength that are going to drive the overall margin rate and mix up and some of the self-help 80/20 portfolio and asset optimization opportunities that we're going to have over the midterm there.

So we've seen good performance on the incremental margins of at least 40% on the volume that is coming through this ramp, and we're focused on the other 2 levers to, kind of, march up to that 30% over time.

Operator

[Operator Instructions] Our next question is coming from Steve Ferazani from Sidoti.

Steve Ferazani

Appreciate all the detail on the call. Joe, the net leverage down back to certainly the lower end we've seen over the last several years, it's about a year since you made the last -- the Overlook and the AlpHa acquisitions. 4Q typically is a very strong cash flow quarter for you guys. Any shifts in how you're thinking about capital allocation, how M&A fits in that, even, sort of, if we can look at 2027, I know it sounds like CapEx will be a little bit higher. But any shift in how you're thinking about that given the incredible strength in cash flow generation and low leverage you're back at?

Joe Bruderek

Yes. Thanks for the question, Steve. The short answer is no. No shift in capital allocation priorities. We continue to have really great opportunities to invest in organic growth in areas that meet our return thresholds and continue to drive customer support and customer advancement in a lot of key areas. So that still remains our #1 priority. We're generating good cash, as you said. And so we have the opportunity to continue to pay down debt with excess cash in the meantime.

But we are focused on critical M&A that advances our opportunities in multiple segments that is going to help us drive additional growth and meet our overall margin and return thresholds. We have a number of opportunities in our pipeline in some of our key growth segments similar to what you mentioned and where we invested in AMI and AlpHa and Overlook. And we're just looking for the right opportunity and the right timing for those to come to fruition. We feel good about the pipeline, and that continues to be a priority for cash after organic CapEx growth investment.

Steve Ferazani

In some of these nicher growth markets that you've been focused on in the last couple of years, I know compositional analysis, biopharma is in there. What's the market like? Would they typically be -- and beyond those markets, are you typically looking at smaller acquisitions? And given the growth opportunities, what's the pricing outlook look like for what you might be exploring?

Eric Vaillancourt

We look at things every week. And I mean, literally, I think we looked at 160-something this year as an example. So we just remain very, very disciplined and very focused on what we like. And we track things for a long period of time. Some of the opportunities in the pipeline have been tracking since 2012. So we like to get to know the people we're thinking about and we know the business and we spend our time doing our research. And so there's opportunities, but pricing is going to be -- the businesses we want are going to be competitive because we are buying good businesses. We're not buying fixer-uppers. At the same time, we remain disciplined and focused on what we're going to do. So we have lots of opportunities and just find them very, very selective. And so...

James Gentile

There's no question that over the last several years, Enpro's reputation as a credible acquirer has accelerated. I think our integration processes, the companies that have joined our portfolio and their experience joining Enpro has been differentiated, and we are getting much more interest from sellers as well, which is good to see.

Operator

We reached the end of our question-and-answer session. I'd like to turn the floor back over for any further or closing comments.

James Gentile

The energy around our company is exciting. We have strong momentum in the portfolio, and we look forward to updating you in February when we report Q4 and guide for 2027. We look forward to talking to you all as we go to the Baird conference and visit with many of you into the end of the year. Thanks.

Eric Vaillancourt

Thanks, everyone.

Operator

Thank you. That does conclude today's teleconference and webcast. You may disconnect your line at this time, and have a wonderful day. We thank you for your participation today.