HWM
The quarter was doing push-ups
Howmet Aerospace came out swinging in Q1 2026, with revenue up 19% year over year to $2.313 billion and adjusted EPS climbing to $1.22. That’s the kind of print that makes a stock look less like a cyclical industrial and more like it’s got a steady caffeine drip.
The company also flexed on profitability: adjusted EBITDA rose to $740 million, adjusted EBITDA margin expanded, and free cash flow hit $359 million. In plain English: the business is not just growing, it’s converting that growth into real cash — the stuff investors actually use to pay the bills and buy shares.
Cash in, shares out
Howmet said it deployed $300 million for common stock repurchases during the quarter. That matters because buybacks can be a nice little tailwind for earnings per share, especially when the core business is already firing on all cylinders.
There was also some corporate spring cleaning:
- It secured financing for the acquisition of Consolidated Aerospace Manufacturing, LLC
- It completed the CAM acquisition on April 6th for about $1.8 billion
- It sold a disk forging facility in Savannah, Georgia on March 31st for roughly $230 million
Why investors should care
The big takeaway is pretty simple: Howmet is doing the three things the market likes most — growing, printing cash, and lifting guidance. Management said full-year 2026 guidance is up, which tells you this wasn’t just a one-quarter victory lap.
Big picture: if you own HWM, you’re getting a business that looks increasingly polished for the long haul — and the aerospace demand backdrop is still doing it plenty of favors.