Aerospace and defense company BWX (NYSE: BWXT) reported Q1 CY2026 results beating Wall Street’s revenue expectations, with sales up 26.1% year on year to $860.2 million. Its non-GAAP profit of $1.12 per share was 21% above analysts’ consensus estimates.

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“We started 2026 with strong results,” said Rex D. Geveden president and chief executive officer.

Company Overview

Contributing components and materials to the famous Manhattan Project in the 1940s, BWX (NYSE: BWXT) is a manufacturer and service provider of nuclear components and fuel for government and commercial industries.

Revenue Growth

A company’s long-term sales performance can indicate its overall quality. Any business can have short-term success, but a top-tier one grows for years. Luckily, BWX’s sales grew at a solid 9.9% compounded annual growth rate over the last five years. Its growth beat the average industrials company and shows its offerings resonate with customers, a helpful starting point for our analysis.

We at StockStory place the most emphasis on long-term growth, 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. BWX’s annualized revenue growth of 15.5% over the last two years is above its five-year trend, suggesting its demand was strong and recently accelerated.

We can dig further into the company’s revenue dynamics by analyzing its most important segments, Government Operations and Commercial Operations, which are 67.2% and 33% of revenue. Over the last two years, BWX’s Government Operations revenue (public sector sales) averaged 145% year-on-year growth while its Commercial Operations revenue (private sector sales) averaged 65.9% growth.

This quarter, BWX reported robust year-on-year revenue growth of 26.1%, and its $860.2 million of revenue topped Wall Street estimates by 2.7%.

Looking ahead, sell-side analysts expect revenue to grow 14.1% over the next 12 months, similar to its two-year rate. Despite the slowdown, this projection is noteworthy and implies the market is forecasting success for its products and services.

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Operating Margin

BWX has been an efficient company over the last five years. It was one of the more profitable businesses in the industrials sector, boasting an average operating margin of 14.4%.

Looking at the trend in its profitability, BWX’s operating margin decreased by 3.5 percentage points over the last five years. This raises questions about the company’s expense base because its revenue growth should have given it leverage on its fixed costs, resulting in better economies of scale and profitability.

This quarter, BWX generated an operating margin profit margin of 12.4%, down 1.8 percentage points year on year. This reduction is quite minuscule and indicates the company’s overall cost structure has been relatively stable.

Earnings Per Share

We track the long-term change in earnings per share (EPS) for the same reason as long-term revenue growth. Compared to revenue, however, EPS highlights whether a company’s growth is profitable.

BWX’s EPS grew at an unimpressive 7.3% compounded annual growth rate over the last five years, lower than its 9.9% annualized revenue growth. This tells us the company became less profitable on a per-share basis as it expanded due to non-fundamental factors such as interest expenses and taxes.

Diving into the nuances of BWX’s earnings can give us a better understanding of its performance. As we mentioned earlier, BWX’s operating margin declined by 3.5 percentage points over the last five years. This was the most relevant factor (aside from the revenue impact) behind its lower earnings; interest expenses and taxes can also affect EPS but don’t tell us as much about a company’s fundamentals.

Like with revenue, we analyze EPS over a shorter period to see if we are missing a change in the business.

For BWX, its two-year annual EPS growth of 16.9% was higher than its five-year trend. This acceleration made it one of the faster-growing industrials companies in recent history.

In Q1, BWX reported adjusted EPS of $1.12, up from $0.91 in the same quarter last year. This print easily cleared analysts’ estimates, and shareholders should be content with the results. Over the next 12 months, Wall Street expects BWX’s full-year EPS of $4.22 to grow 14%.

Key Takeaways from BWX’s Q1 Results

We were impressed by how significantly BWX blew past analysts’ EBITDA expectations this quarter. We were also glad its adjusted operating income outperformed Wall Street’s estimates. Zooming out, we think this was a good print with some key areas of upside. The stock remained flat at $215.51 immediately following the results.

Big picture, is BWX a buy here and now? We think that the latest quarter is only one piece of the longer-term business quality puzzle. Quality, when combined with valuation, can help determine if the stock is a buy. We cover that in our actionable full research report which you can read here (it’s free).