EN
Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) misses Q3 CY2026 sales expectations
Industrial automation company Rockwell (NYSE:ROK) missed Wall Street’s revenue expectations in calendar Q3 2026 (fiscal Q4 2026), with revenue flat year on year at $2.33 billion. Its non-GAAP profit of $3.88 per share was 5.1% above analysts’ consensus estimates.
For more on Rockwell Automation, read our free full research report.
Rockwell Automation (ROK) Q3 CY2026 highlights:
- Revenue $2.33 billion vs S&P analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.42 billion (flat year on year, 3.7% miss)
- Adjusted EPS $3.88 vs S&P analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.69 (5.1% beat)
- Adjusted EBITDA $620 million vs analysts’ consensus estimates of $610.3 million (26.6% margin, 1.6% beat)
- Adjusted EPS guidance $15 at the midpoint for fiscal 2027, beating analysts’ consensus estimates by 0.6%
- Operating margin 24.5%, up from 19.8% in the same quarter last year
- Free cash flow margin 25.8%, up from 17.5% in the same quarter last year
- Organic revenue rose 3% year on year (miss)
- Market capitalization $49.29 billion
“We enter fiscal 2027 from a position of strength, with healthy customer demand and significant new product releases. As industrial operations become increasingly AI-enabled and autonomous, Rockwell is uniquely positioned to orchestrate plant-wide workflows. We are committed to growing customer value, increasing market share, and expanding margins,” Moret continued.
Revenue growth
A company’s long-term revenue performance can indicate its overall quality. Even a weak business can perform well for one or two quarters, but a top-tier one grows for years. Rockwell Automation’s revenue grew at a tepid 5.1% compounded annual growth rate over the last five years, falling short of the industrials sector standard.
Long-term growth matters most, but within industrials, a half-decade historical view may miss cycles, industry trends or a company capitalizing on catalysts such as a new contract win or a successful product line. Rockwell Automation’s annualized revenue growth of 4.3% over the last two years aligns with its five-year trend, suggesting its demand was consistently weak. 
Organic revenue offers a closer look at the company’s revenue dynamics by stripping out one-time events like acquisitions and currency fluctuations that don’t accurately reflect its fundamentals. Over the last two years, Rockwell Automation’s organic revenue averaged 4.7% year-on-year growth. This was in line with its two-year revenue growth, indicating that core operations, rather than acquisitions and divestitures, drove most of its results. 
This quarter, Rockwell Automation’s $2.33 billion of revenue was flat year on year, falling short of Wall Street’s consensus estimates.
Looking ahead, sell-side analysts expect revenue to grow 6.8% over the next 12 months, according to S&P. Although this projection implies its newer products and services will drive faster revenue growth, it is still below the sector average.
Operating margin
Rockwell Automation has performed well over the last five years. It demonstrated strong profitability for an industrials business, with an average operating margin of 17.7%. This result is unsurprising given its favorable gross margin baseline.
Analyzing the trend in its profitability, Rockwell Automation’s operating margin rose by 3.8 percentage points over the last five years, as its revenue growth gave it operating leverage.
This quarter, Rockwell Automation generated an operating margin of 24.5%, up 4.8 percentage points year on year. The increase was a positive sign and, despite the decline in gross margin, suggests improved efficiency as operating expenses such as marketing, research and development and administrative overhead grew more slowly than revenue.
Earnings per share
We track the long-term change in earnings per share, or EPS, for the same reason as long-term revenue growth. Compared to revenue, however, EPS highlights whether a company’s growth is profitable.
Rockwell Automation’s EPS grew at a 7.3% compounded annual growth rate over the last five years. On the positive side, this outpaced its 5.1% annualized revenue growth, indicating that the company became more profitable on a per-share basis as it expanded.
A closer look at Rockwell Automation’s earnings helps explain its performance. As we mentioned earlier, Rockwell Automation’s operating margin expanded by 3.8 percentage points over the last five years. On top of that, its share count shrank by 5.2%. These are positive signs for shareholders because improving profitability and share buybacks boost EPS growth relative to revenue growth. 
Like with revenue, we analyze EPS over a more recent period because it can provide insight into an emerging theme or development for the business.
For Rockwell Automation, its two-year annual EPS growth of 17.5% was higher than its five-year trend. This acceleration made it one of the faster-growing industrials companies in recent history.
In Q3, Rockwell Automation reported adjusted EPS of $3.88, up from $3.34 in the same quarter last year. This result beat analysts’ consensus estimates by 5.1%. Over the next 12 months, Wall Street expects Rockwell Automation’s full-year EPS to grow 11.1% from $13.42 to $14.91, according to S&P.
Key takeaways from Rockwell Automation’s Q3 results
Rockwell Automation’s EBITDA and EPS beat Wall Street’s consensus estimates, but revenue and organic revenue both fell short. Those misses made for a softer quarter overall despite the earnings beats. Shares fell 3.1% to $430.46 immediately after the results.
Rockwell Automation underperformed this quarter, raising the question of whether the stock offers value. The latest quarter is only one part of the longer-term assessment of business quality. Quality, when combined with valuation, can help determine if the stock is a buy. Read the full research report for more on Rockwell Automation (it’s free).