Kadant (NYSE:KAI) Issues FY 2026 Earnings Guidance

Kadant (NYSE:KAI) issued an update on its FY 2026 earnings guidance on Wednesday morning. The company provided EPS guidance of 10.500-10.750 for the period, compared to the consensus EPS estimate of 10.250. The company issued revenue guidance of $1.2 billion-$1.2 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $1.2 billion. Kadant also updated its Q1 2026 guidance to 1.780-1.880 EPS.

Kadant Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE KAI opened at $327.07 on Friday. Kadant has a 1 year low of $244.87 and a 1 year high of $395.07. The firm has a market cap of $3.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.81 and a beta of 1.25. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $313.11 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $304.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a current ratio of 2.45.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 18th. The industrial products company reported $2.27 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $286.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $274.43 million. Kadant had a return on equity of 11.77% and a net margin of 9.69%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.25 EPS. Kadant has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.780-1.880 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 10.500-10.750 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Kadant will post 9.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on KAI. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Kadant in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and set a $380.00 target price on shares of Kadant in a report on Wednesday. Finally, DA Davidson set a $295.00 price target on Kadant in a report on Monday, February 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Kadant currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $337.50.

Insider Activity at Kadant

In other news, Director Erin L. Russell sold 1,435 shares of Kadant stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.36, for a total transaction of $405,186.60. Following the transaction, the director owned 3,066 shares in the company, valued at approximately $865,715.76. The trade was a 31.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kadant

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of KAI. Wasatch Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Kadant by 3.6% in the second quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 984,193 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $312,432,000 after purchasing an additional 34,561 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in Kadant by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 456,721 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $130,175,000 after buying an additional 15,446 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Kadant by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 279,029 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $79,537,000 after buying an additional 10,249 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in shares of Kadant by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 190,951 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $54,426,000 after buying an additional 539 shares during the period. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Kadant by 10.5% during the 4th quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 151,840 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $43,277,000 after acquiring an additional 14,476 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.13% of the company’s stock.

Kadant Company Profile

Kadant Inc, headquartered in Westford, Massachusetts, is a global supplier of high‐value, critical components and engineered systems for the pulp and paper industry and other process industries. The company’s product portfolio spans stock preparation technologies, refiners and pulpers, fluid handling systems, and web‐handling equipment designed to optimize the efficiency and quality of paper production. In addition to capital equipment, Kadant offers aftermarket services, including spare parts, maintenance programs and process optimization consulting, which together support long‐term customer productivity and reliability.

Originally part of a larger industrial conglomerate, Kadant was established as an independent public company in 1991.