RBC Bearings Inc.

Strong Q4 results + leverage/cash focus (good) - Net sales: $518m, +18.3% YoY - Gross margin: 44.4% (or 45.3% adjusted), slight lift vs prior year (reported 44.2%) - Adjusted EPS: $3.62, +27.9% YoY (from $2.83) - Adjusted EBITDA: $168.9m, +21% YoY - Free cash flow: $67.5m, 73.6% conversion in the quarter - Debt paydown / deleveraging: $116m paid down in the quarter + $27m since quarter-end; company reiterated it’s on track to pay off the remainder of the term loan by Nov 2026 - Dividend/buyback: none mentioned—capital allocation is clearly deleveraging first, not shareholder yield.

Aerospace & Defense momentum is the driver; backlog growing (good + key opportunity) - Revenue mix in Q4: 57% Industrial / 43% A&D - A&D segment revenue: +41.2% YoY in Q4 (+22.8% ex-VACCO), signaling strength beyond acquisition effects - Full-year A&D: +32%, with 19.1% organic - Backlog: ~$2.3b, continuing to expand - Segment growth details (full year): - Commercial aircraft: +17.8% (17.3% organic) - Defense: +65.4% (22.1% organic) - Management tied growth to defense/space demand plus unprecedented commercial aircraft build rates and expected aftermarket support.

Space + missiles are notable upside areas; customer breadth highlighted (good + surprising) - Missiles: FY2026 missile-related revenue exceeded $45m; growth partly from VACCO but also from expanding content across multiple programs - Space: space revenue just above $70m in the year, including $30m from VACCO over ~8 months (surprisingly large jump vs RBC back in 2021 (~$4m)) - Management expects sustained growth in missiles and accelerating space momentum as private investment and national priority programs expand - Customer ecosystem includes both traditional primes (e.g., Boeing/Lockheed/Northrop/Raytheon equivalents) and new space players (e.g., SpaceX/Blue/Rocket Lab mentioned)