RBC
The bearings business is having a moment
RBC Bearings came in with fiscal fourth-quarter and full-year 2026 results, and the headline was pretty simple: business is moving. Net sales hit $518.0 million in the quarter, up 18.3% from a year ago, which is a solid flex for a company whose products are usually more about keeping things turning than grabbing headlines.
Aerospace and defense is doing the heavy lifting
The real turbocharger here was the Aerospace & Defense segment, which jumped 41.2% year over year. Industrial also grew, but at a more modest 5.5%. That mix matters because it suggests RBC is getting a boost from higher-value, more specialized end markets — the kind that can help margins look less like a spreadsheet and more like a staircase.
Why investors should care
Gross margin came in at 44.4%, which tells you RBC isn’t just selling more stuff — it’s still keeping a chunky slice of revenue after costs. For investors, that’s the sweet spot: demand plus discipline. If aerospace stays hot and industrial holds up, RBC could keep grinding higher even if the broader economy is doing its usual impression of a weather vane.
Big picture: this is a classic industrial name doing classic industrial things — not flashy, but very much the kind of steady compounding story Wall Street likes to reward when the numbers keep showing up.