Lear (LEA) Q3 2026 earnings summary

Executive summary

• Q3 sales rose 2% YoY to $5.773B and core operating earnings increased 6% to $255.7M; adjusted EPS rose 33% to $3.71 despite lower industry production.

• Adjusted margins improved in both segments; YTD net business awards totaled $3.9B in average annual revenue.

• 9M sales reached $17.805B, net income attributable to Lear was $501.7M and diluted EPS was $9.89.

Financial highlights

• Q3 core operating earnings were $255.7M, or 4.4% of sales, versus $241.1M, or 4.2%, a year earlier.

• Q3 reported net income attributable to Lear was $136.6M versus $108.2M; adjusted net income was $185.0M versus $149.8M.

• Operating cash flow was $329.3M and free cash flow was $158.4M, down from $444.4M and $307.0M YoY; 9M operating cash flow rose to $887.9M from $612.9M.

• Q3 sales excluding commodities, FX and tariff recoveries rose 2%, reflecting new business and commercial recoveries, partly offset by lower key-platform production and non-core electronics wind-downs.

Outlook and guidance

• FY26 net sales guidance is $23.350B–$23.750B; core operating earnings $1.080B–$1.200B; adjusted EBITDA $1.700B–$1.820B.

• FY26 outlook includes adjusted net income of $675M–$775M, operating cash flow of $1.225B–$1.325B, free cash flow of $565M–$665M and $660M capital spending.

• October sales midpoint of $23.55B was lower than July's $23.775B; adjusted earnings midpoint remained $1.14B as restructuring savings offset net performance and other items.

• Core operating earnings guidance was maintained; outlook assumes sales-weighted production down 1%, EUR at $1.15 and CNY at 6.80 per US dollar.

• Guidance includes $200M of restructuring costs and excludes future tariff changes and company- or industry-wide production disruptions.