Start here if you're new
what it is
Acuity sells lights, controls, and building systems for offices, warehouses, schools, homes, and stadiums.
how it gets paid
Last year Acuity made $4.3B in revenue.
why it's growing
Revenue grew 13.1% last year on a ~$4.3B base. A single quarter can print ~20% growth while the core lighting line moves more slowly—check the period before you mix the two stories.
what just happened
Acuity opened fiscal 2026 with 20% revenue growth and an EPS beat that kept the growth story alive.
At a glance
B++ balance sheet — above average — nothing keeping you up at night
95/100 earnings predictability — you can trust these numbers
21.9x trailing p/e — priced about right
0.3% dividend yield — cash in your pocket every quarter
13.0% return on capital — nothing to write home about
xvary composite: 61/100 — average
What they do
Acuity sells lights, controls, and building systems for offices, warehouses, schools, homes, and stadiums.
Scale still matters here. Acuity is one of the world's largest lighting fixture makers, with 13,800 employees and operations across North America and Europe. When your building needs thousands of fixtures and controls that work together, you buy from the vendor that already knows how to ship, install, and support it. That scale shows up in a 48.4% gross margin, gross margin → money left after making the product → so what: Acuity has room to absorb pressure and still earn well.
How they make money
$4.3B
annual revenue · their business grew +13.1% last year
total revenue
$4.3B
+13.1%
The products that matter
manufactures commercial and industrial lighting
Lighting Fixtures and Systems
$4.3B revenue
it's the center of the business at $4.3B in annual revenue, and it grew only 1% in a recent quarter. that's why the market cares more about trajectory than scale.
core
Key numbers
48.4%
gross margin
That is high for a company selling physical products, which tells you Acuity has pricing power and mix help from software, controls, and systems.
$5.0B
fy2027 revenue
That is the forward revenue estimate in the feed, up from $4.3B today, which frames the whole growth case.
$20.00
forward eps
At $274.48, that puts the stock near 13.7x forward earnings, cheaper than the 21.9x trailing multiple because profits are expected to jump.
13.0%
return on capital
Return on capital → profit earned on money invested in the business → so what: Acuity is generating solid returns without stuffing the balance sheet with debt.
Financial health
B++
strength
- balance sheet grade B++ — above average financial health
- risk rank 3 — safer than 50% of stocks
- price stability 60 / 100
- long-term debt $797M (9% of capital)
- net profit margin 13.3% — keeps 13 cents of every dollar in revenue
- return on equity 16% — $0.16 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 AYI 3 years ago → it's now worth $13,960.
The index would have given you $14,540.
source: institutional data · total return
What just happened
beat estimates
Acuity opened fiscal 2026 with 20% revenue growth and an EPS beat that kept the growth story alive.
Latest-quarter revenue was ~$1.1B, up ~20% vs. prior year. GAAP EPS near $3.82 (~+14% vs. prior year) in this feed; wire copy below cites adjusted EPS up ~18%—same quarter, different definition. The read: top line roughly on target, bottom line a touch light vs. some estimates on costs.
~$1.1B
rev (q)
~$3.82
eps (q · GAAP)
48.4%
gross margin
the number that mattered
The key number was 20% revenue growth in that quarter, with lighting contributing less of the move—so faster-growing lines did more of the lifting.
-
the company posted solid growth for the first fiscal quarter of 2026.
-
revenues rose by 20%, vs. prior year, while adjusted earnings per share were up by 18%.
-
the top line was roughly in line with our estimate, though the bottom line fell slightly short as difficult operating conditions took their toll.nonetheless, both marks were quite respectable, especially given ongoing headwinds in acuity’s core lighting business. looking ahead, we expect more moderate growth in fiscal 2027 and continuing through the end of the decade, as the strategic shift the company began in fiscal 2025 continues.
-
it should be noted that the lighting business contributed little to acuity’s first-quarter growth.
-
the company’s lighting segment saw only 1% growth during the period, and even that much was still better than many others in the lighting business over the same period.
source: company earnings report, 2026
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What could go wrong
the #1 risk is core lighting growth staying stuck near 1%.
med
core lighting stagnation
The core lighting segment grew only 1% in a recent quarter. For a company with $4.3B in annual revenue, that leaves very little room for the mature base to carry the story.
If that pace holds, the stock keeps looking like a quality operator without a real growth engine.
med
tariff and supply chain volatility
Management flagged evolving tariff policy and supply chain pressure, particularly around the ProAudio business. That means input costs and pricing power can move against you quickly.
With latest-quarter operating margin near 9.1% in this feed, there isn't infinite room for cost pressure to show up without investors noticing—do not confuse that with the ~48% gross margin line elsewhere.
med
earnings rebound falls short
Full-year 2025 EPS was $12.53, down from $13.44. The current setup assumes that weakness was temporary.
If EPS does not recover toward the ~$20.00 forward EPS estimate in the feed, 21.9x trailing will stop looking reasonable.
med
legal and regulatory exposure
The company disclosed 25 identified legal and regulatory risks. That doesn't tell you which one hits next, but it does tell you this is not a zero-noise operating environment.
For a steady industrial story, legal friction matters because it can distract from execution in a business already fighting for growth.
If core growth stays near 1% and EPS stays closer to $12.53 than the $20.00 estimate, the stock's current valuation has less support than it looks.
source: institutional data · regulatory filings · risk analysis
Pay attention to
key metric
whether revenue can actually reach $5B
That matches the ~$5.0B FY2027 revenue estimate in the key numbers block—not the $4.3B trailing year. If Acuity gets there, the growth case looks a lot more credible.
trend
core lighting growth above 1%
A recent quarter came in at just 1%. You want to see the mature business do better than stand still.
risk
tariff and supply chain pressure
Quarterly operating margin was ~9.1% here. Cost pressure does not need to be dramatic to matter at that level.
earnings
EPS recovery from $12.53 toward $20.00
That's the gap between the last full-year result (~$12.53) and the ~$20.00 forward EPS line in key numbers. Closing it is the whole near-term script.
Analyst rankings
short-term outlook
average
momentum score 3 — in human-speak, analysts see a normal setup, not a near-term breakout.
risk profile
average
stability score 3 — typical risk profile. not especially defensive, not especially fragile.
chart momentum
top 20%
technical score 2 — the stock's recent price action is better than most, even if the business debate is still unresolved.
earnings predictability
95 / 100
management's numbers are usually dependable. that's useful when you own a company trading more on execution than on excitement.
source: institutional data
Institutional activity
institutions have been net buying for 2 consecutive quarters — 223 buyers vs. 172 sellers in 4q2025. total institutional holdings: 29.3M shares. net buying for 2 quarters.
source: institutional data
Price targets
3-5 year target range
$213
$453
$274
current price
$333
target midpoint · +21% from current · 3-5yr high: $510 (+85% · 17% ann'l return)
Want the deeper analysis?
The full deep dive: dcf model, scenario analysis, competitive moat breakdown, and quarterly tracking — everything on this page, taken further.
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