Start here if you're new
what it is
Adient makes car seats and interior parts for major automakers, then ships them from roughly 200 plants across 29 countries.
how it gets paid
Last year Adient made $14.5B in revenue.
why growth slowed
Full-year revenue can drift with vehicle schedules, but Q1 FY2026 sales grew about 4% vs. the prior-year quarter — volume still moves the needle in seating.
what just happened
Q1 FY2026 revenue was $3.64B; adjusted EPS was about $0.35 while GAAP diluted EPS was $(0.28) — read both, not whichever number your feed highlights.
At a glance
B+ balance sheet — decent shape, but not bulletproof
15/100 earnings predictability — expect surprises
12.6x trailing p/e — the market's not buying it — or you found a deal
8.5% return on capital — nothing to write home about
xvary composite: 61/100 — average
What they do
Adient makes car seats and interior parts for major automakers, then ships them from roughly 200 plants across 29 countries.
Adient wins on scale. It runs about 200 manufacturing and assembly sites in 29 countries, so if your customer builds cars everywhere, Adient can show up everywhere too. Scale (huge volume) → lower cost per seat → you stay on the automaker's supplier list, and that matters when the company sells mostly to global OEMs.
How they make money
$14.5B
annual revenue · revenue declined -1.0% last year
total revenue
$14.5B
1.0%
The products that matter
designs and builds complete seat systems
Automotive Seating
$14.5B · 100% of revenue
This is the whole company. Revenue slipped 1.0% last year, but management raised FY2026 guidance after a Q1 margin beat. If you own ADNT, you are betting cost control matters more than soft vehicle volume.
single business · thin margin
Key numbers
1.5%
net margin
Net margin (profit left after everything) → 1.5% → on $14.5 billion of sales, that is only about $218 million of profit.
$2.4B
long debt
Long-term debt (borrowed money due later) → $2.4 billion → it is larger than the company's roughly $2 billion market cap.
8.5%
return capital
Return on capital (profit produced by the money invested in the business) → 8.5% → decent, but not high enough to make the debt easy to ignore.
12.6x
trailing p/e
P/E (price divided by yearly profit) → 12.6x trailing earnings → the stock looks cheap because the business is cyclical and margins are thin.
Financial health
B+
strength
- balance sheet grade B+ — solid but not elite
- risk rank 3 — safer than 50% of stocks
- price stability 20 / 100
- long-term debt $2.4B (56% of capital)
- net profit margin 1.5% — keeps 2 cents of every dollar in revenue
- return on equity 18% — $0.18 profit for every $1 investors have put in
B+ — functional but not a standout on the balance sheet.
Total return vs. market
You invested $10,000 in ADNT 3 years ago → it's now worth $5,620.
The index would have given you $13,880.
source: institutional data · total return
What just happened
beat estimates
Q1 FY2026: $3.64B revenue, $0.35 adjusted EPS, $(0.28) GAAP diluted EPS.
Per the Feb. 4, 2026 release, revenue rose ~4% vs. the prior-year quarter; adjusted EBITDA was $207M with adjusted EBITDA margin about 5.7% (up from 5.6% in the prior-year quarter). GAAP still showed a net loss in the quarter.
$3.64B
Q1 FY2026 revenue
$0.35
adj. EPS
5.7%
adj. EBITDA margin
the number that mattered
The 4% revenue increase mattered most because this is a scale business, and small volume gains can do more for results than a heroic cost memo.
-
adient is off to a strong start in fiscal 2026. (year ends september 30th).
-
first quarter sales of $3.64 billion grew more than 4% from the prior-year level.top-line contributions were about evenly distributed among the company's three regional segments, and the figure handily outpaced our $3.52 billion estimate. the ireland-based parts manufacturer gained market share in higher-margin north america and performed particularly well in emea (europe, middle east, and africa).
-
throughout emea, higher unit volumes and a richer mix of products were met with ongoing cost-cutting efforts and lower materials expenses.
-
thus, even as the adjusted overall operating margin comparison rose a modest 10 basis points, to 5.7% in the december period, emea's segment-level profit boost accounted for the entire overall increase in the bottom line.
-
as a result, adjusted earnings per share of $0.35 jumped about 30% from last year and was well ahead of our above-consensus view.
snap-source: Adient Q1 FY2026 results (Feb. 4, 2026) — PRNewswire
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What could go wrong
the core risk is simple: a business earning 1.5 cents on the dollar does not need a disaster to disappoint you.
med
all $14.5B rides on vehicle builds
Adient has one business and one end market. If automakers build fewer vehicles, all of Adient's revenue feels it. There is no higher-margin side business hiding in the back to smooth the ride.
Impact: 100% of revenue is tied to automotive seating demand.
med
$2.4B of debt sits above a thin-profit business
Long-term debt is 56% of capital. That is manageable when margins cooperate. It gets less comfortable when net margin is only 1.5% and quarterly EPS can still flip negative.
Impact: a modest revenue or margin miss can erase net income because the financial burden does not shrink with volume.
med
25% share does not equal pricing power
A quarter of the global seating market sounds dominant. Then you look at a 6.3% operating margin and a 1.5% net margin. That tells you customers still control most of the economics.
Impact: each margin point matters more here than a revenue headline does.
All $14.5B of revenue depends on auto production, while $2.4B of debt sits above a business earning a 1.5% net margin. That is why this stock looks statistically cheap and still feels operationally expensive.
source: institutional data · regulatory filings · risk analysis
Pay attention to
metric
operating margin after the guidance raise
The headline improved. The proof is whether margin holds near 6.3% instead of sliding back. That is the number that tells you if the turnaround is real or just well-timed optimism.
risk
whether quarterly losses keep showing up
A business that just posted -$0.28 quarterly EPS does not get much benefit of the doubt. You want cleaner quarters, not just a better full-year script.
calendar
the next earnings report
That is where raised FY2026 guidance either starts looking earned or starts looking early. If you own ADNT, that print matters more than any broad market narrative.
trend
institutional selling versus price momentum
The chart improved, but institutions were net sellers for two straight quarters. If those flows stabilize, the rally looks sturdier. If they do not, momentum is doing most of the work.
Analyst rankings
short-term outlook
top 20%
outlook rank 2 — analysts expect above-average price performance over the next year. in human-speak: they think the stock has momentum.
risk profile
average
stability score 3 — about middle of the pack. not defensive, not the market's wildest ride either.
chart momentum
top 20%
technical score 2 — the recent trend has been stronger than most stocks, even if the longer record still looks rough.
earnings predictability
15 / 100
Low predictability means the quarterly path gets messy. If you own this, expect swings rather than smooth compounding.
source: institutional data
Institutional activity
institutions have been net selling for 2 consecutive quarters — 71 buyers vs. 103 sellers in 4q2025. total institutional holdings: 80.5M shares. net selling for 2 quarters.
source: institutional data
Price targets
3-5 year target range
$9
$33
$24
current price
$21
target midpoint · 14% from current · 3-5yr high: $45 (+85% · 17% ann'l return)
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