ATS (ATS) Jefferies Global Industrials Conference 2026 summary

Company overview and strategic focus

• Operates as a global automation technology provider with deep expertise in life sciences, food and beverage, energy, and industrial sectors, generating around CAD 3 billion in annual revenue.

• Shifted away from transportation OEMs to focus on highly regulated industries with high consequences of failure, such as nuclear and life sciences; 80% of backlog is in these sectors.

• Life sciences represent about half of the portfolio, spanning from discovery to manufacturing, with a strong presence in radiopharmaceuticals and medical devices.

• Automation and digital tools are central to managing complexity and scaling novel therapies, especially in biologics and personalized medicine.

• Aftermarket services and recurring revenue streams are key growth drivers, particularly in life sciences.

Growth strategy and operational transformation

• Evolved from a custom integration shop to a diversified portfolio including services, products, and legacy integration, with services offering higher growth and margin potential.

• Fixed cost transformation program aims to leverage scale, improve efficiency, and focus on cash return on investment, inspired by proven models in similar industries.

• Targeting a return to 15% EBIT margin, with half of the improvement from cost transformation and half from expanding aftermarket services.

• Site rationalization and resource reallocation are underway, especially in Europe, to optimize overlapping skill sets and maintain customer-facing investments.

• M&A remains a core strategy, with recent acquisitions like Comecer in Italy strengthening the radiopharma segment and providing end-to-end solutions.

Industry trends and innovation

• Automation and digitalization are accelerating transformation in healthcare and life sciences, addressing complexity and waste.

• AI is expected to optimize drug discovery and development, reducing time to market and increasing efficacy.

• Unique positioning comes from combining machine-building expertise, application science, and digital solutions, enabling interoperability across the ecosystem.

• Customers demand flexibility and solutions that can adapt to regulatory changes and multiple drug formats, with a global footprint enabling resource fungibility.

• Aftermarket growth is driven by both expanding services to existing customers and capturing new opportunities through interoperability and advanced tools.