普莱克斯 (PLXS) 2026财年第四季度业绩电话会议：营收创历史新高与2027财年增长展望

Plexus Corp.（NASDAQ: PLXS）公布2026财年第四季度营收创下14.3亿美元的历史新高，主要得益于客户需求增强、市场份额扩大以及运营效率提升。管理层将2027财年营收预期上调至10%中高段增长，并提出了6.5%至7%的全新 Non-GAAP 营业利润率目标。

要点汇总

• 2026财年第四季度营收创下14.3亿美元的历史新高，环比增长9%，同比增长35%。2026财年全年营收增长23%，达到约50亿美元。
• 第四季度 Non-GAAP 营业利润率升至6.7%，环比提升40个基点，同比提升近100个基点。Non-GAAP 稀释后每股收益为2.84美元。
• Plexus 在第四季度获得了2.9亿美元的年化制造业务新签订单，2026财年全年累计获得近12亿美元。其合格制造业务潜在项目池创下49亿美元的新高，同比增长33%。
• 受航空航天与国防、工业市场以及医疗保健/生命科学需求改善的推动，管理层预计2027财年营收将实现10%中高段的增长。
• 2027财年第一季度业绩指引预计营收为14.1亿美元至14.6亿美元，Non-GAAP 营业利润率为6.0%至6.4%，Non-GAAP 每股收益为2.46美元至2.62美元。
• 公司预计2027财年自由现金流将超过1亿美元，同时将继续在营运资金、技术、人才和产能方面进行投资。

关键财务数据

业务与运营表现

航空航天与国防

由于物料到货时间差异的影响抵消了项目量产推进和客户拉货的强劲势头，2026财年第四季度营收环比下降4%。Plexus 预计将在2027财年第一季度补回这一延迟的需求。

受国防与无人系统、民用航空复苏增长以及新安全与航天项目的推动，该板块全年营收增长23%。第四季度新签订单总额为9000万美元，使2026财年全年新签订单达到4.9亿美元，超过了2023财年至2025财年该板块的新签订单总和。

在国防、无人系统、安全和航天项目的支撑下，管理层预计2027财年航空航天与国防板块营收将增长20%以上。公司表示，民用航空更为强劲的复苏（包括与波音相关的更多需求）尚未纳入当前展望中。

医疗保健/生命科学

在治疗和成像业务的带动下，第四季度营收环比增长6%，2026财年全年增长19%。第四季度新签订单达7400万美元，同比增长35%，其中包括3家新客户。

获得的项目包括用于机器人手术的光学成像产品以及经 FDA 注册的 III 类心脏除颤器产品的生产。在治疗、监测及新项目量产的支撑下，管理层目前预计2027财年该板块将实现高个位数增长，高于其预计的中个位数市场增长率。

医疗保健/生命科学工程储备项目在第四季度也显著增加，管理层将其视为未来制造活动潜力的先行指标。

工业板块

工业板块营收在第四季度环比增长17%，2026财年全年增长27%。半导体资本设备营收全年增长50%，反映出市场份额扩大、项目量产推进以及客户需求增强。

第四季度工业板块新签订单总额为1.26亿美元。获得的项目包括用于智能电网应用的电池储能系统，以及现有半导体资本设备客户的后续追加项目。

在半导体资本设备、测试与测量、机器人与自动化以及能源业务的引领下，管理层预计2027财年工业板块营收将增长20%以上。由于通信需求在第四季度激增后恢复正常，预计2027财年第一季度营收将环比出现低个位数下降。

效率与资本配置

Plexus 表示，过去两年设备效率提升了10%以上，同时每位团队成员贡献的营收增长了约20%。对比2024财年第四季度与2026财年第四季度，管理层指出每位员工贡献的营收增长了25%，设备利用率提高了12%。

公司正部署人工智能以实现低价值采购订单的自动化。目前，AI 代理已在美洲地区处理约80%的收货凭证，并正在推广至亚太及欧洲、中东和非洲（EMEA）地区。

Plexus 在第四季度回购了约2100万美元的股票。其董事会已批准针对2027财年的1亿美元股票回购计划，目前回购工作正在有序推进。

管理层业绩指引

管理层预计2027财年 Non-GAAP 营业利润率将实现同比增长，新增营业利润转化率接近其8%至12%目标区间的下限。对员工、技术、产能和能力的投资将部分抵消营收杠杆和效率提升带来的效益。

Plexus 还提出了6.5%至7%的全新 Non-GAAP 营业利润率目标，取代了此前6%的目标。管理层预计营收杠杆和运营效率将为此目标提供支撑，而定价和业务组合带来的贡献相对有限。

风险与关注事项

• 管理层表示物料供应环境仍具挑战性，但相关风险已纳入预测中。
• 半导体资本设备行业依然具有周期性。Plexus 对截至2027财年的可见度表达了信心，但拒绝预测更长年份之后的需求。
• 由于 Plexus 加大了对人才和技术的投资，预计2027财年第一季度营业利润率的中点值将出现环比下降。
• 由于营运资金投资和年度绩效奖金的支付，公司预测2027财年第一季度自由现金流将为负。
• 前十大客户集中度从2025财年的49%上升至2026财年第四季度的56%。管理层表示，56%与历史水平一致，并不意味着结构性集中。
• 民用航空更为强劲的复苏仍属于潜在的增长空间，未包含在当前指引中。

分析师问答亮点

管理层表示，客户预测的提高在其强劲的展望中占相当大的比例。在半导体资本设备领域，增长既反映了终端市场需求的改善，也体现了在低谷期及本轮上行周期中获得的市场份额提升。

每增加1美元的营收，Plexus 通常需要0.15至0.20美元的额外营运资金。管理层表示，过去一年约2.5亿美元的营运资金支撑了近15亿美元的年化营收增长，这增强了对2027财年自由现金流目标的信心。

在航空航天与国防领域，管理层表示增长反映了国防开支的增加和新技术的应用。与非主承包商的合作以及欧洲未来潜在的国防支出被视为额外的机遇，不过公司表示欧洲的影响仍处于早期阶段。

在航天项目方面，Plexus 强调了其在近地轨道卫星和通信系统中的优势地位。在医疗保健/生命科学领域，管理层提到了机器人手术和脉冲电场消融作为支撑其展望的长远增长技术。

业绩电话会议完整文字实录

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完整财报电话会议逐字稿

管理层陈述

Operator

Hello, everyone. Thank you for joining us, and welcome to the Plexus Fourth Quarter 2026 and Fiscal 2026 Earnings Conference Call. [Operator Instructions]

On the call today to answer your questions after the presentation are Todd Kelsey, President and CEO; David Abuhl, CFO and Senior Vice President; and Oliver Mihm, Executive Vice President and COO. I will now hand the conference over to Shawn Harrison, VP of Investor Relations. Shawn, please go ahead.

Shawn Harrison

Good morning, and thank you for joining us today. Some of the statements made and information provided during our call today will be forward-looking statements including, without limitation, those regarding revenue, gross margin, selling and administrative expense, operating margin, other income and expense, taxes, cash cycle, capital allocation and future business outlook.

Forward-looking statements are not guarantees since there are inherent difficulties in predicting future results, and actual results could differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements. For a list of factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those discussed, please refer to the company's periodic SEC filings, particularly the risk factors in our Form 10-K filing for the fiscal year ended September 27, 2025, and the safe harbor and fair disclosure statement in our press release.

We encourage participants on the call this morning to access the live webcast and supporting materials on Plexus' website at www.plexus.com, clicking on Investors at the top of that page. Joining me today are Todd Kelsey, President and Chief Executive Officer; Oliver Mihm, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer; and David Abuhl, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer.

With today's earnings call, Todd will provide summary comments before turning the call over to Oliver and David for further details. Before turning the call over to Todd, please note that Plexus will attend Baird's Global Industrial Conference in Chicago on November 11 and Raymond James' TMT and Consumer Conference in New York City on December 7.

With that, let me now turn the call over to Todd.

Todd Kelsey

Thank you, Shawn. Good morning, everyone. Please advance to Slide 3. Plexus delivered an outstanding fiscal 2026 that exceeded expectations. Our differentiated value proposition anchored by unmatched quality and delivery creates significant opportunities for new and expanded customer relationships, positioning Plexus to generate robust financial returns and shareholder value.

Plexus generated record fiscal fourth quarter revenue of $1.43 billion. This resulted in fiscal 2026 revenue increasing 23% year-over-year to approximately $5 billion. We are now forecasting fiscal 2027 revenue growth in the mid- to upper teens. Our wins performance remains strong, while our funnel of qualified manufacturing opportunities reached another record level, expanding $1.2 billion year-over-year to nearly $5 billion, supporting our diversified and accelerating revenue growth momentum.

We delivered fantastic operating performance that exceeded our guidance. Fiscal fourth quarter non-GAAP operating margin of 6.7% increased 40 basis points sequentially and nearly 100 basis points year-over-year. Plexus exceeded its 6% non-GAAP operating margin goal for fiscal 2026, expanding non-GAAP operating margin 30 basis points to 6.2%. We're introducing a new non-GAAP operating margin goal of 6.5% to 7%, given our expectation of continued revenue growth and ongoing dividends from efficiency investments and our continuous improvement culture.

Finally, fiscal 2026 ROIC exceeded our 15% enduring goal, supported by continued robust working capital efficiency and disciplined capital investment. We anticipate another strong ROIC result for fiscal 2027 and, at the anticipated revenue growth rate, continue to forecast free cash flow for fiscal 2027 exceeding $100 million.

Please advance to Slide 4. Record revenue in the fiscal fourth quarter of $1.43 billion substantially exceeded our guidance range and increased 9% sequentially and 35% year-over-year. Excellent performance by our supply chain and operations teams helped our customers gain market share and Plexus capture stronger-than-anticipated end-market demand. In addition, non-GAAP operating margin of 6.7% and non-GAAP EPS of $2.84 substantially exceeded our guidance ranges on strong operating leverage from the revenue upside and continued efficiency gains.

Please advance to Slide 5. Our go-to-market team secured 36 fiscal fourth quarter new manufacturing wins worth $290 million in annualized revenue when fully ramped into production. Each market sector delivered strong performance and secured exciting new customer programs and relationships that Oliver will discuss in more detail. With the strong fiscal fourth quarter performance, Plexus captured new manufacturing wins for fiscal 2026 worth nearly $1.2 billion in annualized revenue when fully ramped into production.

This outstanding result reflected share gains with long-standing customers, the addition of exciting new customers that support growth technologies and continued expansion into attractive secular growth markets such as aerospace and defense, where we generated fiscal 2026 manufacturing wins of nearly $0.5 billion.

The team generated these very strong wins while also expanding Plexus' funnel of qualified manufacturing opportunities by an exceptional $1.2 billion, or 33% year-over-year, to reach another record of $4.9 billion. The combination of our strong manufacturing wins performance and significantly expanded funnel of qualified manufacturing opportunities positions Plexus to sustain our diversified and accelerating revenue growth momentum.

Please advance to Slide 6. Plexus' culture is foundational to our success and embodied by our team as they live our vision to help create the products that build a better world. Supporting our customers as the most trusted partner is central to our strategy. During the fiscal fourth quarter, Eaton recognized our team for operational excellence and honored Plexus with the Supplier Excellence Award at its Global Supplier Conference, a distinction granted to only 30 of Eaton's 30,000 global suppliers.

And early in fiscal 2027, GE Vernova's Power Conversion and Storage business honored Plexus with its Lean Manufacturing Excellence Award. GE Vernova recognized the strong execution, continuous improvement culture and exceptional delivery performance by our sites in Oradea, Romania and Xiamen, China.

I'm also incredibly proud to share that our Kelso, Scotland operations were named Manufacturing Business of the Year at the 2026 Scottish Borders Business Excellence Awards, while also earning high commendations for both Innovation in Business and Large Business of the Year. These recognitions celebrate our Kelso team's operational leadership, technological innovation and role as an employer and partner of choice in the EMEA region. Our team members' dedication also extends deeply into our communities.

For fiscal 2026, our global team shared its time and talents with various local causes, donating approximately 35,000 hours of paid volunteer time off. Further, the Plexus Community Foundation granted $1.5 million in charitable donations to nonprofits globally, expanding our community impact and demonstrating how we actively live our vision of building a better world.

Finally, we continue to take proactive steps to reduce our environmental impact. In fiscal 2026, we generated an incredible result and reduced our absolute Scope 1 and Scope 2 greenhouse gas emissions by more than 50% across our global manufacturing sites compared to our fiscal 2023 baseline. I continue to be immensely proud of our global team members as we deliver excellence, live our values and create a lasting positive impact for our customers, our communities and the world.

Please advance to Slide 7. For our fiscal first quarter, we are guiding revenue of $1.41 billion to $1.46 billion, representing 1% sequential and 34% year-over-year growth at the midpoint. We anticipate strong year-over-year revenue growth from each of our market sectors with sequential revenue expansion in aerospace and defense and Healthcare/Life Sciences market sectors, balancing a demand normalization in our industrial market sector.

We are also guiding non-GAAP operating margin of 6.0% to 6.4%, an increase of 40 basis points year-over-year at the midpoint and non-GAAP EPS of $2.46 to $2.62. We remain focused on expanding operating margin and delivering robust returns even as we are increasing our investments in our people and technology to support stronger-than-anticipated revenue growth.

For fiscal 2027, we are increasing our revenue growth forecast to reflect our robust fiscal 2026 finish, stronger end-market demand and continued program ramps. We now anticipate delivering mid- to upper teens revenue growth with expansion in operating margin and sustained working capital efficiency.

We continue to see exceptionally strong growth from our aerospace and defense and industrial market sectors, including semiconductor capital equipment associated with our support of growth technologies and the benefit of ongoing market share gains. In addition, we now anticipate stronger growth from our Healthcare/Life Sciences market sector associated with increased end-market demand, particularly from new programs we launched during fiscal 2026.

Finally, through our aligned focus on innovation and continuous improvement culture, Plexus is creating customer success, scaling the company for the future and developing substantial long-term efficiencies that will generate robust financial returns and shareholder value.

I will now turn the call over to Oliver for additional analysis of the performance of our market sectors. Oliver?

Oliver Mihm

Thank you, Todd. Good morning. For each of our market sectors, I will discuss our fiscal fourth quarter and fiscal year performance, our expectations for our fiscal first quarter, review the annualized revenue contribution of our quarterly wins performance and offer growth commentary for fiscal 2027. I will also provide an overview of our record funnel of qualified manufacturing opportunities.

Beginning with our Aerospace and Defense sector on Slide 8. Fiscal fourth quarter revenue decreased 4% sequentially compared to our expectation of approximately flat performance as timing dynamics with materials more than offset strength in new program ramps and customer demand pull-ins. We anticipate capturing any deferred demand during our fiscal first quarter.

Fiscal 2026 saw the aerospace and defense sector revenue grow 23%. Growth was driven by remarkable strength in the defense and unmanned subsectors, a return to growth in commercial aerospace and new program ramps in the security and space subsectors. For our fiscal first quarter, we expect revenue to be up high single digits sequentially on strength in the defense and space subsectors. Fiscal fourth quarter wins for the aerospace and defense sector were strong at $90 million.

This quarterly result reflects a 67% year-over-year increase and brings the total fiscal year wins for the sector to an extraordinary $490 million. For comparison, this fiscal year's aerospace and defense sector wins performance exceeds the combined wins in this sector for fiscal years 2023, 2024 and 2025. Our team in Neenah, Wisconsin is excited to welcome a new customer to Plexus with a win of a product that supports defense pilot combat training.

The partnership our teams developed over the past 18 months as they worked together to ensure a smooth product launch supported the win. In addition, our historically strong execution and depth of knowledge contributed to the award of a flight refueling system from an existing customer for our team in Kelso, Scotland. Looking ahead to fiscal 2027, we continue to see the potential for another year of robust revenue growth for our aerospace and defense sector.

We expect revenue growth to exceed 20% with exceptional growth from our defense, unmanned, security and space subsectors associated with program ramps, market share gains and robust end-market demand as well as continued commercial aerospace demand improvement.

Please advance to Slide 9. Healthcare/Life Sciences market sector revenue increased 6% sequentially for our fiscal fourth quarter. The result exceeded our expectation of approximately flat revenue due to improved demand from our customers and our team's ability to pull in the required materials to support the growth.

Our Healthcare/Life Sciences market sector grew a robust 19% for fiscal 2026, well ahead of our estimate of a mid-single-digit market growth rate. The therapeutics and imaging subsectors drove the strong performance. For our fiscal first quarter, we expect revenue growth to be up low single digits on strength in the therapeutics and monitoring subsectors from demand increases and program wins. Healthcare/Life Sciences sector wins for the fiscal fourth quarter were $74 million, representing a 35% year-over-year increase.

Our wins for the fiscal fourth quarter included the addition of 3 new customers to Plexus. Our team in Chicago, Illinois welcomes one of these new customers, and we'll be building a light imaging product that supports robotic surgical procedures. Our proactive engagement and our ability to support the customer with product design, manufacturing production and aftermarket sustaining services contributed to the win.

Another of the new customers will be supported by our team in Bangkok, Thailand as they were awarded the production of a Class III registered FDA device for cardiac defibrillation. The customer noted that Plexus' medical device and regulatory competence as well as our regionalization expertise drove the award.

Looking ahead to fiscal 2027 for our Healthcare/Life Sciences sector, we now see the potential to grow revenue high single digits, exceeding market growth, which we estimate to be mid-single digits. Our updated outlook is supported by existing and new program ramps and general demand increases, led by the strength in the therapeutics and monitoring subsectors.

Advancing to the industrial sector on Slide 10. Fiscal fourth quarter revenue increased 17% sequentially, well ahead of our forecast for high single-digit to low double-digit growth. Driving the upside was the ability of our supply chain and operations teams to quickly react and support semi-cap, industrial equipment and communications customers in capturing stronger demand and market share gain opportunities.

Our industrial sector grew 27% in fiscal 2026. This extraordinary result was driven substantially by our semi-cap subsector where revenue increased 50% year-over-year as well as growth in our industrial equipment subsector. Market share gains, new program ramps and customer demand increases all contributed to the outstanding result.

For the fiscal first quarter, we expect revenue for the industrial sector to be down low single digits. Semi-cap subsector revenue increases are being offset by customer program timing dynamics and demand normalization in our communications subsector following fiscal fourth quarter upside. Wins for the industrial market sector were strong for the fiscal fourth quarter at $126 million.

Our team in Boise, Idaho won a substantial award from a new customer for the production of a clean tech battery energy storage system supporting smart grid applications. The customer noted the strength of our collaboration and our cultural alignment as contributing to the award. In addition, our team in Penang, Malaysia won a substantial follow-on award from an existing semi-cap customer based on the strength of our historical execution.

We continue to see the potential for a very strong fiscal 2027 for our industrial market sector. We expect revenue growth to exceed 20%, supported by continued robust growth from our semi-cap subsector as well as growth from our test and measurement, robotics and automation and energy subsectors.

Please advance to Slide 11 for a review of our funnel of qualified manufacturing opportunities. The funnel reached another record this quarter. The strength of our funnel is positively influenced by a number of factors, including the breadth of our service offering, our commitment to creating strong partnerships with our customers and our relentless focus on providing unmatched quality and delivery.

At $4.9 billion, the funnel reflects a 33% year-over-year and 10% sequential increase, driven by record contributions from our aerospace and defense and industrial market sectors. The funnel growth is remarkable, considering the strong fiscal 2026 wins performance of $1.2 billion.

I will now turn the call over to David. David?

David Abuhl

Thank you, Oliver, and good morning, everyone. Our fiscal fourth quarter results are summarized on Slide 12. Gross margin of 10.2% met our guidance, benefiting from leverage on higher revenue and continued operational efficiency gains. Selling and administrative expense of $59.7 million included typical stock-based compensation as well as expenses related to executive retirement.

Excluding these expenses, we gained 30 basis points of sequential leverage. Our fiscal fourth quarter non-GAAP operating margin of 6.7% exceeded our guidance, benefiting from end-of-year fixed cost leverage on the stronger-than-anticipated customer demand, operational efficiencies and continued cost discipline.

Non-GAAP diluted earnings per share of $2.84 exceeded the top end of our guidance due to higher revenue and the other items mentioned, partially offset by a tax rate at the upper end of guidance. Turning to our cash flow and balance sheet on Slide 13. For the fiscal fourth quarter, we delivered better-than-expected free cash flow of $6 million, reflecting $29 million in cash from operations and $23 million in capital expenditures.

We repurchased approximately $21 million of our stock in the quarter, completing the expanded 2026 share repurchase program. The 2027 share repurchase program was approved by our Board in August for $100 million, all of which is available for fiscal 2027 and our repurchases are underway. We ended the fourth quarter in a net cash position, and we had $159 million outstanding under our revolving credit facility with over $340 million available to borrow.

Return on invested capital was 15.8% in the fiscal fourth quarter, 680 basis points above our weighted average cost of capital. Our fiscal fourth quarter result was the highest in nearly a decade and above our enduring goal of 15%. While continuing to increase invested capital to support our robust revenue growth, we anticipate continuing to generate healthy ROIC for fiscal 2027 from our expanding margins and working capital efficiency.

Now turning to working capital trends on Slide 14. We ended fiscal 2026 at a 62-day cash cycle, our best performance on record and down 1 day compared to the prior year. I'm very pleased with how our teams are partnering closely with our customers and suppliers and driving improvements across all areas of working capital while continuing to make the investments needed to fuel our robust revenue growth.

Please advance to Slide 15. I would like to take a moment to commend our teams on delivering a really great year, and I'm especially pleased to see the progress on expanding our margins. For fiscal 2026, we delivered non-GAAP operating margins of 6.2%, a 30 basis point increase from the prior year, including a tremendous result in the fourth quarter.

Going forward, having consistently exceeded our previous 6% goal, we are introducing a new non-GAAP operating margin goal of 6.5% to 7%. This new goal will be supported by our strong operational momentum, continued anticipated revenue leverage and a balanced ongoing approach to our investments in growth, people and technology. We take a methodical approach to setting our financial goals, and our expectation is to consistently meet and then progress through the goal.

We expect to deliver on our 6.5% to 7% non-GAAP operating margin goal from continued revenue leverage and operational efficiencies, while we expect a fairly muted impact from price and mix. We will balance these benefits with continued investments in our people, technology, capacity and capabilities. This new target represents a larger step-up than we have historically provided as we have growing confidence in the dividends from our efficiency and automation initiatives and our continuous improvement culture.

Over the past 2 years, our team's efforts have driven a greater than 10% gain in our equipment efficiency, allowing our operations to generate greater revenue and profitability without significantly expanding capital spending. We've also seen revenue per team member expand by approximately 20% over the same time period. And while the revenue outlook is an important backdrop for our new margin goal, we are seeing dividends from our investments in operational efficiency, and we expect to continue to accrue benefits.

Now let me turn to our fiscal first quarter guidance summarized on Slide 16. As Todd has already provided the revenue and EPS guidance, I will review some additional details. Fiscal first quarter gross margin is expected to be in the range of 9.7% to 10%, including expansion of investments in people and technology.

For fiscal 2027, we expect gross margins to remain at approximately 10%. Our outlook for selling and administrative expense for the fiscal first quarter is in the range of $61 million to $62 million, including stock-based compensation. Excluding these expenses, we expect the percent of revenue to be flat compared to the prior quarter, while for fiscal 2027, we expect to gain leverage on higher revenue and continued cost discipline.

Fiscal first quarter non-GAAP operating margin is expected to be in the range of 6% to 6.4%, exclusive of stock-based compensation. At the midpoint, this would represent a sequential decline compared to the fiscal fourth quarter as we expand investments in people and technology given the improved fiscal year revenue outlook.

Given the timing of the investments in our revenue momentum, we currently anticipate minimal to no decline in our fiscal second quarter operating margins from typical seasonal cost increases. And finally, for fiscal year 2027, we continue to expect our ongoing investments will result in operating flow-through at the low end of our 8% to 12% target range, driving expansion in non-GAAP operating margin compared to the prior year.

We're estimating a non-GAAP effective tax rate of between 16% and 18% for the fiscal first quarter and a similar range for fiscal 2027. In support of our accelerating revenue momentum, we continue to strategically increase our working capital investments and expect our fiscal first quarter cash cycle to be in the range of 66 to 70 days.

We typically experience around a 6-day sequential increase in our fiscal first quarter cash cycle days associated with the end of many of our customers' fiscal years. For fiscal 2027, we continue to expect cash cycle days to be in the low to mid-60s. Turning to capital expenditures. Long term, we continue to target spending in the range of 2% to 3% of revenue. Given our robust revenue growth trends, capital expenditures for fiscal 2027 will likely fall toward the upper end of that range.

We remain committed to deploying capital diligently and are pleased with the very strong returns our investments in capabilities, capacity and technology are generating. As a result of these factors and the timing of our working capital investments, we are forecasting a use of free cash flow in the fiscal first quarter, including the annual payments for our incentive compensation program. For fiscal 2027, we still expect to generate in excess of $100 million of free cash flow, benefiting from our sustained robust profitability and our focus on working capital efficiency.

With that, Jen, let's open the call for questions.

Operator

[Operator Instructions] Your first question comes from the line of David Williams with Needham & Co.

分析师问答

John Patrick Malloy

This is Patrick Malloy on for David Williams at Needham. Congrats on the quarter. To jump right into it, how much of the demand acceleration reflects customer forecast increases versus pulling orders forward to secure that capacity or components? And are you guys seeing forecasts revised upwards that may give you more confidence in the durability of demand?

Oliver Mihm

Yes. I would say that customer demand increases are forming a substantial part of our outlook and the increase that you saw in outlook relative to last quarter. And then relative to our ability to pull in materials, you saw the results from Q4. Certainly, from a materials perspective, we consider the environment to be challenged.

We're always working the angle here to help support our customers, close partnership with our customers, a number of tools we have in place to help ensure that we can capture those materials. I can go into more detail there, if you'd like. But in general, I think our assessment of risk associated with materials is already contemplated in the forecast.

John Patrick Malloy

Okay. Great. And then maybe quickly as a follow-up in semi cap, how much of that growth is driven by increases in demand on existing programs versus new customer programs? Or is that also coming from share gains? And if the demand in the wafer fabrication equipment environment moderates, how quickly will that flow through to your business? Congrats again.

Todd Kelsey

Yes. Thanks again, Patrick. This is Todd this time. Within semi cap, there are a number of factors that are driving our revenue growth there. There certainly is increasing end-market demand, but we took a significant amount of share, particularly through the last downturn within the semi-cap market, and that's coming to bear right now.

We also continue to take some additional share as we're going through this upcycle because of our ability to outperform. And if you take a look at our results, as Oliver mentioned, for the fiscal year, we're up about 50% within the semi-cap space, way above WFE, and we expect we'll continue to do that as we go through fiscal 2027.

Shawn Harrison

I think for the downturn question, Patrick, this is Shawn Harrison. The surprising thing is typically, we take more share during the downturn, as Todd mentioned, and you see less share gains during an upturn as customers are just looking to secure demand and fulfill demand. And so the fact that we're taking share during an upturn is a positive sign. And we would expect, as we've seen in past cycles, to be able to outperform the market because of the share capture we generate.

Operator

Your next question comes from the line of Steve Barger with KeyBanc Capital Markets.

Steve Barger

I wanted to start with free cash flow. You expect $100 million in FY '27 despite raising revenue to the upper -- mid- to upper teens. If demand exceeds that outlook again, does free cash flow necessarily decline because of working cap? Or are you seeing customer funding and operating efficiency that kind of changes that relationship and you can maintain that level on revenue upside?

David Abuhl

Steve, this is David. Yes, we're pleased with the outlook at the moment. And if you looked at the delivery on cash cycle days, and we ended at a record low, our teams are really performing well in terms of the efficiency of the capital investments we're making in working capital. And we usually say we need about $0.15 to $0.20 of working capital for revenue growth. And that's -- we're right in that maybe 17% range.

In fact, we've added nearly $1.5 billion of revenue growth in the last year on an annualized basis, but we've added $250 million of working capital to support that. And so as we go through the year, we're confident in generating that $100 million of free cash flow, and let's see how we do as we rate the year. But so far, so good, and I think we're pretty confident in this business generating great free cash flow this year.

Shawn Harrison

And Steve, it's Shawn. Just to follow up on that, we and the team are very diligent in trying to offset investments in working capital with corresponding commensurate investments by our customers in that inventory to make sure that we're continuing to hit these record low cash cycle days, which, as David said, is the best we've seen on record. So it was a fantastic result.

Steve Barger

Yes. That's a good outcome. And just thinking about the operating margin goal of 6.5% to 7%, can you frame up what brings you to the low versus the high end? Is it mix versus leverage or Penang maturation? Or just what are the swing factors that you see in that range?

David Abuhl

Yes, Steve, on these targets, we like to consistently exceed but then progress through these targets. We have a track record of doing that with the last couple that we've set. And in the moment, you'll see our flow-through rate, we stay at 8% to 12% flow-through on revenue growth. And at the moment, we're tracking toward the lower end of that, given the investments we're making -- to support accelerating revenue momentum.

And so as you model in that flow-through rate, I think that will get you a pretty good balance of what we think margins will look like for the quarter, for the year, et cetera. But our teams are really working hard to consistently meet this next target and then progress through it. But I'd say that the growth elements are there. The up elevators, as I like to call them, on margin are strong in terms of leverage on revenue growth.

The operational efficiency gains are really coming through strong as well. And we just need to balance that with the investments needed for kind of the next chapter of growth that's ahead of us. But overall, it's upward momentum for us, and we'd like to progress through this target. So I'd say the answer to that is watch that 8% to 12% kind of closely, as the investments are the balancing factor there.

Operator

Your next question comes from the line of Melissa Fairbanks with Raymond James.

Melissa Dailey Fairbanks

I would wish you congratulations on the Brewers win last night, but I'm still a little bit sore as a Rays fan. So anyway, congratulations on a great quarter. I have a question probably for Oliver. Looking into aerospace and defense, some of these new wins, I think a quarter or a couple of quarters ago, some of the commentary had been that you haven't yet seen an uptick in NATO spending. Wondering what some of the dynamics are there, if these are new spending -- understanding that these are very long term, but if these are new spending programs or if this is just an extension of newer technologies that are moving into this space?

Oliver Mihm

Yes, I'll say it's a bit of both. So we do see that defense spending flowing through to an extent. But then, as we noted, some of the technology wins here that we had recently in this past quarter, also seeing new technology, new entrants. One of the things that we like is our engagement with non-primes, I'll say, within this space.

We think that's a really good fit and a tailwind as we look forward here. And then I'll flip that also over to Europe and say from an EU side, still early days and still seeing a potential tailwind as we look forward from an EU perspective, and we think we're well positioned there as well.

Melissa Dailey Fairbanks

Okay. Perfect. And maybe I'll kind of stretch that same question into the Healthcare/Life Sciences business. We know that historically, you guys have had really strong engagements on the imaging and the diagnostics and surgical side. It sounds as though you may be extending into newer types of engagements. Wondering if you could comment there.

Oliver Mihm

Yes. A couple of things there. I think our optimism, our confidence in our growth outlook here certainly stems from coming off a really strong '26 at 19%, well ahead of market, which we think is mid-single digits. As you noted, the strength in therapeutics and monitoring underscores that, right? And so that's kind of maybe your point about what we've historically seen.

Certainly seeing new -- our engagement with secular growth technologies, like robotic surgery, like pulsed field ablation, I think those things give us further optimism here as we look forward into the coming year. Yes. And one other comment I'll make, which isn't directly related to your question, but I think provides us some optimism on future tailwinds, is historically, our engineering development work has been a bit of a leading indicator for us. And our funnel inside engineering for Healthcare/Life Sciences took a marked uptick in Q4. So that gives us also some optimism here in terms of future outlook.

Operator

Your next question comes from the line of Anja Soderstrom with Sidoti.

Anja Soderstrom

Congratulations on the great quarter here. Just curious in the aerospace and defense, first of all, the commercial air, what are you seeing there?

Todd Kelsey

Yes. We're seeing slightly incremental demand improvements in commercial aerospace. I think it still hasn't hit the levels that we think it's capable of once we see the Boeing demand flow all the way through to us.

Anja Soderstrom

And is that included in your guidance now or the more meaningful comeback there or.

Todd Kelsey

No. No, it's not. We're still taking a conservative approach on when that happens and to what level it happens.

Anja Soderstrom

Okay. And then within space, are you -- do you have any exposure to the LEOs at all or...

Shawn Harrison

Yes. So Anja, it's Shawn. In space, we -- as we like to say, have more electronics on orbit than any other EMS provider and probably by a considerable amount. We play strongly in LEO satellites and communication systems. And so unmatched quality and delivery is paramount in generating success in that market. And so very strong position and would anticipate to see strong growth as that market continues to expand.

Anja Soderstrom

Okay. And then within semi cap, where do you think we are there now in the cycle? What do you see? What kind of visibility do you have in the coming quarters or years?

Oliver Mihm

Yes. I guess I'll start by saying we talked on the call in our prepared remarks about our growth here in the past fiscal year being 50%. As we contemplate the calendar year, which will be coming up here at the end of this quarter, we expect that growth rate to be even stronger. And so our demand continues to show improvement. I mentioned that here for the current quarter outlook, we continue to see strength of demand. So generally, I would say, still strong and still growing.

Todd Kelsey

Yes, we probably have -- I mean, I would say we have reasonable visibility for the next year or so within the pipeline of our customers.

Shawn Harrison

And Anja, I would say that visibility came into view probably a little bit earlier than normal. We talked about that last quarter, which gave us some of the confidence in providing an early fiscal year view back in July. I know some of the industry forecasts are strengthening for out years. Being conservative as we are, we also understand that semi cap is cyclical. And so just taking a cautious approach of how that market will sustain the growth, but also very focused in on capturing the market share, which drives our outgrowth.

Anja Soderstrom

Okay. And then have you seen any changes to the competitive environment at all?

Todd Kelsey

Not really. No. It's pretty similar.

Operator

Your next question comes from the line of David Williams with Needham.

David Williams

Congrats on the really solid results. Just quickly, I wanted to ask maybe on the semi-cap visibility, and I think you touched on this a bit earlier, but one of your competitors or maybe peers had mentioned that the demand forecasts are certainly firming and they're seeing forecasts out to 2029 and 2030. Do you think that -- I mean, is it fair to say you're probably seeing the same things and that, that demand is fairly sustainable? And it's always cyclical, and I think, Shawn, you had talked about that earlier. But just kind of curious what you're seeing from that demand environment. It feels like those elongated forecasts are getting maybe more prevalent.

Todd Kelsey

Yes. The demand environment is good, but I think to project out several years would probably be a little bit too far at this point. I would say we feel comfortable with fiscal '27, but I wouldn't want to look out any further than that.

Shawn Harrison

We've seen the industry forecasts strengthen as everybody has in terms of the third-party forecasters. I would just go back to the earlier statement that we take a conservative approach in understanding a market that historically has had some cyclicality.

David Williams

Sure. That makes sense, and that's very fair. Then maybe secondly, just maybe across the customer base, is there a way to maybe disaggregate the revenue by maybe customers that are increasing their demand forecast or existing programs versus maybe how much of the demand or the growth that you're seeing is coming from new programs?

Oliver Mihm

Yes, I'll give that a shot, David. Broadly, I mean, especially given the strength of our outlook here on the fiscal year, customers are strengthening their forecasts. We gave some specific commentary that we're seeing uplift there in the Healthcare/Life Sciences sector. That was a bit of a turning of a corner for us or seeing an improvement, maybe is a better word choice. And then within industrial and aerospace, that's generally been strong. Obviously, there's always puts and takes. But I would say that net-net, quite strong in terms of supporting our outlook here for fiscal '27.

Operator

Our next question comes from the line of Steve Barger with KeyBanc Capital Markets.

Steve Barger

Just wanted to ask about the top 10 customers. I think that increased from 49% in fiscal '25 to 56% in fiscal 4Q '26. And I get it, like you're seeing some really significant ramps from large programs. But when you look at the funnel, are you becoming structurally more concentrated as you scale? Or how should we think about that?

Todd Kelsey

I would say, in general, Steve, the answer is no. The 56% is kind of a historical number that we've had if you go back over time and 49% is a little bit on the low side. But we did get some pretty good growth from our top 10 customers this year. So we're certainly aware of that and appreciative of that from our customers.

Steve Barger

Got it. Okay. And then last one. Can you give us an update on some of the AI investments or the productivity initiatives and how you're thinking about increasing revenue per square foot in North America versus Europe versus Asia? Just any update operationally on how you're getting more throughput through the plants?

Oliver Mihm

Yes, sure. Happy to handle that or talk to that. So I'd like to provide a couple of examples because I think it makes it very poignant for folks, right? So just as an example, one of the tools that we have internally that we call Excellence Guide is a tool that enables operator efficiency, agility and quality and enables us to turn over the line quickly as we move from one assembly to the next. And our deployment on that front saw 110% pickup year-over-year.

And so those are the kinds of things that we're doing to drive efficiency. We talk about specific outcomes to that. For instance, revenue per employee up 25% if you compare Q4 of fiscal '24 to Q4 of fiscal '26. And so those are the types of activities we're driving both to improve our labor efficiency, our labor output as well as driving improvement from an, I'll say, asset utilization perspective, whether that's bricks and mortar or machine capacity.

We've talked historically about, from a machine capacity perspective, over that same time period, a 12% increase in how we're utilizing those machines and getting more efficiency out of the capital.

Steve Barger

Is that -- are those initiatives kind of uniformly spread across the footprint? Or do you expect to see some pretty -- are there still sizable levers to pull in terms of driving incremental efficiency from here?

Oliver Mihm

Well, there's certainly still sizable opportunity in front of us. So we continue to focus on it. This isn't a thing that we did last year and we're done. I would say that it's fairly consistent across the organization. But as you can imagine, there are things that we pilot in one organization and then we propagate more globally. And so by way of an example there, we use AI to automate the procurement of low-dollar POs to our suppliers.

We're currently handling about 80% of our receipts through that AI agent that started in the AMER region and is now deploying out into our Asia Pacific and EMEA regions. And what that enables us to do, it enables our procurement folks to instead work on closing the gaps, finding the miracle, securing the parts for challenging dynamics and hitting the upside for our customers and potentially helping them to capture share gain. Does that help answer that?

Operator

There are no further questions at this time. I will now turn the call back to Todd Kelsey for closing remarks.

Todd Kelsey

Thank you, Jen. In closing, thank you to our Plexus global team for their passion and leadership in delivering a fantastic fiscal 2026. Additionally, thank you to our customers for their partnership as we help create the products that build a better world. I'm excited for fiscal 2027 and the positive momentum created by our team. I expect they'll generate a fantastic performance in fiscal 2027, and I look forward to speaking with everyone early next year. Thank you to all who joined our call today. Have a nice day.

Operator

This concludes today's call. Thank you for attending. You may now disconnect.