Aerospace and defense company Curtiss-Wright (NYSE: CW) beat Wall Street’s revenue expectations in Q1 CY2026, with sales up 13.4% year on year to $913.7 million. The company expects the full year’s revenue to be around $3.77 billion, close to analysts’ estimates. Its non-GAAP profit of $3.48 per share was 5.3% above analysts’ consensus estimates.

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"Curtiss-Wright delivered strong first quarter 2026 results, exceeding our overall expectations, highlighted by double-digit sales growth in both our total A&D and Commercial end markets, significant operating margin expansion, 23% growth in adjusted diluted EPS, and better-than-expected free cash flow generation," said Lynn M. Bamford, Chair and CEO of Curtiss-Wright Corporation.

Company Overview

Formed from a merger of 12 companies, Curtiss-Wright (NYSE: CW) provides a range of products and services to the aerospace, industrial, electronic, and maritime industries.

Revenue Growth

Reviewing a company’s long-term sales performance reveals insights into its quality. Even a bad business can shine for one or two quarters, but a top-tier one grows for years. Thankfully, Curtiss-Wright’s 9.3% annualized revenue growth over the last five years was solid. Its growth surpassed the average industrials company and shows its offerings resonate with customers, a great 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. Curtiss-Wright’s annualized revenue growth of 11% over the last two years is above its five-year trend, suggesting its demand was strong and recently accelerated.

We can better understand the company’s revenue dynamics by analyzing its most important segments, Product and Services, which are 84.4% and 15.6% of revenue. Over the last two years, Curtiss-Wright’s Product revenue (aerospace & defense technology) averaged 11.6% year-on-year growth while its Services revenue (testing, maintenance, consulting) averaged 8.8% growth.

This quarter, Curtiss-Wright reported year-on-year revenue growth of 13.4%, and its $913.7 million of revenue exceeded Wall Street’s estimates by 5.1%.

Looking ahead, sell-side analysts expect revenue to grow 5.9% over the next 12 months, a deceleration versus the last two years. This projection doesn't excite us and implies its products and services will see some demand headwinds. At least the company is tracking well in other measures of financial health.

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Operating Margin

Curtiss-Wright has been a well-oiled machine over the last five years. It demonstrated elite profitability for an industrials business, boasting an average operating margin of 17.1%.

Looking at the trend in its profitability, Curtiss-Wright’s operating margin rose by 3.7 percentage points over the last five years, as its sales growth gave it operating leverage.

In Q1, Curtiss-Wright generated an operating margin profit margin of 17.5%, up 1.4 percentage points year on year. This increase was a welcome development and shows it was more efficient.

Earnings Per Share

Revenue trends explain a company’s historical growth, but the long-term change in earnings per share (EPS) points to the profitability of that growth – for example, a company could inflate its sales through excessive spending on advertising and promotions.

Curtiss-Wright’s EPS grew at 14.5% compounded annual growth rate over the last five years, higher than its 9.3% annualized revenue growth. This tells us the company became more profitable on a per-share basis as it expanded.

We can take a deeper look into Curtiss-Wright’s earnings quality to better understand the drivers of its performance. As we mentioned earlier, Curtiss-Wright’s operating margin expanded by 3.7 percentage points over the last five years. On top of that, its share count shrank by 9.8%. These are positive signs for shareholders because improving profitability and share buybacks turbocharge EPS growth relative to revenue growth.

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

For Curtiss-Wright, its two-year annual EPS growth of 18.9% was higher than its five-year trend. We love it when earnings growth accelerates, especially when it accelerates off an already high base.

In Q1, Curtiss-Wright reported adjusted EPS of $3.48, up from $2.82 in the same quarter last year. This print beat analysts’ estimates by 5.3%. Over the next 12 months, Wall Street expects Curtiss-Wright’s full-year EPS of $13.90 to grow 10.2%.

Key Takeaways from Curtiss-Wright’s Q1 Results

We were impressed by how significantly Curtiss-Wright blew past analysts’ revenue expectations this quarter. We were also glad its adjusted operating income outperformed Wall Street’s estimates. Overall, we think this was a solid quarter with some key areas of upside. The stock remained flat at $741.29 immediately after reporting.

So do we think Curtiss-Wright is an attractive buy at the current price? When making that decision, it’s important to consider its valuation, business qualities, as well as what has happened in the latest quarter. We cover that in our actionable full research report which you can read here (it’s free).