AMETEK - Q4 2025
February 3, 2026
Transcript
Operator (participant)
Good day, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the Q4 2025 AMETEK, Inc earnings conference call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. After the speaker's presentation, there will be a question-and-answer session. To ask a question during the session, you will need to press star one one on your telephone. You will then hear an automated message advising your hand is raised. To withdraw your question, please press star one one again. Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded. I would now like to hand the conference over to your first speaker Kevin Coleman, VP of Investor Relations and Treasurer. Please go ahead.
Kevin Coleman (VP of Investor Relations and Treasurer)
Thank you, Crystal. Good morning, and welcome to AMETEK's fourth quarter 2025 earnings conference call. Joining me today are Dave Zapico, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, and Dalip Puri, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. During the course of today's call, we will be making forward-looking statements, which are subject to change based on various risk factors and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ significantly from expectations. A detailed discussion of the risks and uncertainties that may affect our future results is contained in AMETEK's filings with the SEC. AMETEK disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements. Any references made on this call to historical results will be on an adjusted basis, excluding after-tax, acquisition-related intangible amortization, and excluding acquisition-related costs. Reconciliations between GAAP and adjusted measures can be found in our press release and on the Investors section of our website.
We'll begin today's call with prepared remarks, and then we'll open it up for questions. I'll now turn the meeting over to Dave.
David Zapico (Chairman and CEO)
Thank you, Kevin, and good morning, everyone. AMETEK completed a strong year with excellent results in the fourth quarter, highlighted by double-digit growth in sales, orders, and operating profit, robust core margin expansion, strong cash flow growth, and earnings per share ahead of our expectations. In the quarter, we established records for sales, orders, operating income, EBITDA, diluted earnings per share, operating cash flow, and free cash flow. We also ended the quarter with a record backlog. Today, we announced the acquisition of LKC Technologies, an attractive technology acquisition, which broadens our med tech exposure. I'll provide more details on LKC shortly. Now, let me turn to our fourth quarter results. Fourth quarter sales were a record $2 billion, up 13% from the same period in 2024. Organic sales were up 5%, acquisitions added 7 points in the quarter, and foreign currency was a 1-point tailwind.
Orders were very strong in the quarter, with overall orders up 18% to a record $2 billion and organic orders up 7% versus the prior year, leading to a record backlog of $3.58 billion. Sales and orders growth consistently improved throughout the year, with the fourth quarter growth the strongest of the year. AMETEK delivered excellent operating results in the quarter. Operating income was a record $523 million, a 12% increase over the fourth quarter of 2024. Operating margins were 26.2% in the quarter. Core margins were an impressive 27.6%, up 100 basis points. EBITDA in the quarter was a record $618 million, up 10% versus the prior year, and EBITDA margins, a strong 30.9%.
Our excellent operating performance led to strong cash generation, with free cash flow a record $527 million in the quarter, up 6% versus last year's fourth quarter, and free cash flow to net income conversion of 132%. Diluted earnings per share were a record $2.01, up 7% versus the fourth quarter of 2024, and above our guidance range of $1.90-$1.95 per share. Adjusting for an abnormally low tax rate in last year's fourth quarter, diluted earnings per share would have increased 11% in the quarter on a 5% increase in organic sales, reflecting strong incremental margins. Now, let me provide some additional details at the operating group level. First, the Electronic Instruments Group.
EIG delivered excellent operating performance in the fourth quarter, with record sales and operating profit, along with impressive core margin expansion. EIG sales were $1.37 billion, up 13% from last year's fourth quarter. Organic sales were up 2%, acquisitions added 10 points. Foreign currency was a 1-point tailwind. We were encouraged by the organic sales growth in the quarter and the steady improvement in EIG growth rates throughout 2025. EIG's fourth quarter operating income was a record $413.7 million, up 7% versus the prior year. Core operating margins were a robust 32.3%, up 50 basis points from the prior year. The Electromechanical Group completed an outstanding year with very strong broad-based growth and excellent operating performance in the fourth quarter.
EMG's fourth quarter sales were $629 million, up 15% versus the prior year. Organic sales were up an impressive 14%, and foreign currency was a 1-point tailwind. Sales growth was strong across all EMG divisions, with each growing double digits organically in the quarter. EMG's operating income in the fourth quarter was $142.5 million, up a sizable 28% compared to the prior year period, while EMG's fourth quarter operating margins were 22.7%, up 240 basis points versus the fourth quarter of 2024. Now for the full year results. AMETEK delivered excellent overall results in 2025, establishing annual records for sales, operating income, operating margin, EBITDA, and diluted earnings per share. Overall sales for the year were $7.4 billion, up 7% from 2024.
Operating income for 2025 was $1.94 billion, up 7%, and operating margins were 26.2%, up 10 basis points from the prior year period, while core margins were up a very strong 80 basis points. EBITDA for the year was $2.33 billion, up 7%, with EBITDA margins a very strong 31.5%. Full year 2025 earnings were $7.43 per diluted share, up 9% versus the prior year. We also delivered strong cash flows in 2025, providing us with significant capital to deploy on strategic acquisitions with free cash flow and net income conversion of 113%. I'm very proud of our performance in 2025. Our businesses successfully navigated through sluggish industrial markets and ongoing macroeconomic uncertainty and delivered excellent results.
Thank you to all AMETEK colleagues for your outstanding contributions and hard work in delivering on our commitments to our customers and shareholders. AMETEK is well positioned for continued long-term success, given your efforts. Now turning to acquisitions and capital deployment. In 2025, we completed the acquisitions of FARO Technologies and Kern Microtechnik for approximately $1 billion, acquiring approximately $400 million in annual sales. The integration of both businesses is going well as they integrate the AMETEK Growth Model into their businesses. Now switching to our most recent acquisition, LKC Technologies. LKC is a leading provider of innovative technologies that enable effective diagnosis and management of ophthalmic conditions. Their advanced technology solutions help doctors test and monitor eye health, and are designed to detect early signs of diabetic retinopathy and other serious eye conditions that can lead to vision loss.
The combination of LKC with our Ultra Precision Technologies, Reichert business provides attractive market expansion opportunities and creates a broader ophthalmic portfolio. LKC was privately held and headquartered in Germantown, Maryland. I'm excited to welcome all LKC Technologies colleagues to the AMETEK family. With our robust balance sheet, strong cash flows, and disciplined approach to capital deployment, AMETEK is well positioned to continue driving long-term value through our acquisition strategy. We are encouraged by our strong pipeline of high-quality acquisition candidates, and our significant financial capacity provides us with the flexibility to deploy over $5 billion in capital while maintaining an investment-grade credit rating. Our top priority for capital deployment remains acquisitions, while our strong cash flow provides us with the flexibility to opportunistically repurchase shares and pay a consistently increasing dividend.
We also continue to focus on ensuring AMETEK is strategically positioned for long-term, sustainable growth through continued investments back into our business. These investments have strengthened our leadership position within our niche markets, helped open up new growth markets and attractive adjacencies, and accelerated our new product development and technology innovation. For all of 2025, we invested an incremental $90 million in support of these growth initiatives, with the majority of these going into our research, development, engineering, sales and marketing, and digital initiatives. In 2026, we expect to invest an incremental $100 million. We're seeing great results from these investments. In the fourth quarter, our Vitality Index, which measures sales and new products introduced over the last three years, was an outstanding 30%. This is an impressive result and reflects the great work of our businesses and colleagues.
I wanted to highlight a couple examples of how our businesses are leveraging their technology innovation efforts and broad product portfolios to help strategically expand their presence within attractive market segments. The first business is AMETEK SPECTRO. SPECTRO is a leading provider of advanced analytical instrumentation for use in critical industrial, environmental, research, and academia applications. SPECTRO's products and solutions provide highly accurate, reliable, and efficient elemental analysis. SPECTRO has recently introduced a new product family of elemental analysis instruments, broadening their technology, product capabilities, and market reach. These new products, the SPECTROMAXx and the xSORT, have seen outstanding demand, as rapidly rising commodity prices have increased the importance of precise and accurate metals analysis within a wide range of applications....
We are also seeing growing demand across our defense businesses, in particular within our European defense businesses, as our differentiated technology capabilities and product portfolio are well positioned to benefit from the expanding defense spending in the region. Our defense businesses provide a wide range of ruggedized, high-performance solutions for a diverse set of mission-critical defense applications, and we continue to win content on new programs, given our strong design and engineering capabilities. To share a few examples, AMETEK's Rotron and Air Technology businesses are providing advanced cooling solutions for use on a number of European air defense systems. Our Abaco business is providing integrated, high-performance computing systems for European aircraft and communication platforms, and our Power and Data Systems businesses is supplying power generation systems for a number of UAV platforms. Great work by our businesses in developing the critical products and technologies needed by our customers.
Now, shifting to our outlook for the year ahead. For 2026, we expect overall sales to be up mid- to high-single digits on a percentage basis, with organic sales expected to increase low- to mid-single digits versus the prior year. Diluted earnings per share for the year are expected to be in the range of $7.87-$8.07, up 6%-9% compared to last year's results. For the first quarter, we anticipate overall sales to be up approximately 10% versus the prior year's first quarter, with adjusted earnings of $1.90-$1.95 per share, up 6%-9% versus the prior year.
To summarize, AMETEK delivered a strong finish to the year, with excellent performance in the fourth quarter, reflecting the strength of our portfolio and our ability to execute our growth strategy. We entered 2026 with a record backlog and solid momentum, given the strong sales and orders growth we saw in the second half of 2025. Our differentiated technologies and deep industry expertise continue to position us well in attractive niche markets. Additionally, we have significant capital to deploy on strategic acquisitions and a track record of delivering strong returns on capital. Lastly, our proven operating capabilities allow us to deliver strong incremental margins and manage through economic or geopolitical uncertainties. With a focus on innovation, operational excellence, and disciplined capital allocation, we're confident in our ability to drive continued growth and create long-term value for our shareholders in 2026 and beyond.
I will now turn it over to Dalip Puri, who will cover some of the financial details of the quarter, then we'll be glad to take your questions. Dalip?
Dalip Puri (EVP and CFO)
Thank you, Dave, and good morning, everyone. As Dave noted, AMETEK had an excellent finish to the year, establishing records for orders, sales, operating income, earnings per share, and free cash flow in the quarter. Now, let me provide some additional financial highlights for the fourth quarter, the full year, as well as some additional guidance for 2026. Fourth quarter general and administrative expenses were $33 million, up $4 million from the prior year due to higher charitable donations in the period. For the full year, general and administrative expenses were up $10 million. As a percentage of sales, full year G&A expense was 1.6%, up slightly from 2024 levels. For 2026, general and administrative expenses are expected to be approximately 1.5% of sales.
Fourth quarter other expenses were up $6 million compared to the fourth quarter of 2024. For 2026, we expect other operating expenses to be largely in line with 2025 levels. The effective tax rate in the quarter was 16.3%, up from 12.8% in the fourth quarter of 2024. For the full year, the effective tax rate was 17.8%. For 2026, we anticipate our effective tax rate to be between 18.5% and 19.5%. As we have stated in the past, actual quarterly tax rates can differ dramatically, either positively or negatively, from this full year estimated rates. Capital expenditures were $57 million in the fourth quarter and $130 million for the full year.
Capital expenditures in 2026 are expected to be approximately $160 million, or about 2% of sales. Depreciation and amortization expense in the quarter was $106 million, and for the full year was $143 million. In 2026, we expect depreciation and amortization to be approximately $430 million, including after-tax, acquisition-related intangible amortization of approximately $210 million, or $0.91 per diluted share. For the quarter, operating working capital was 16.5% of sales, a 30 basis point improvement versus the fourth quarter of 2024. Operating cash flow in the quarter was a record $584 million, up 6% versus the fourth quarter of 2024.
Free cash flow was also a record in the quarter, up 6% to $527 million, with outstanding free cash flow conversion of 132% for the quarter. Free cash flow for 2025 was $1.7 billion, with full year free cash flow conversion also very strong at 113% of net income. For 2026, we expect free cash flow conversion to be between 110% and 115% of net income. Total debt at year-end was $2.3 billion, up $200 million from the end of 2024 due to the acquisition of FARO Technologies. Offsetting this debt is cash and cash equivalents of $458 million.
During the quarter, we spent approximately $285 million on share repurchases, bringing our total share repurchases for the year to approximately $443 million. We continue to have significant financial capacity and flexibility to support our growth initiatives and capital deployment strategies. We demonstrated our financial flexibility in 2025 by deploying over $1.8 billion on acquisitions, share repurchases, and dividends, all while maintaining our financial capacity and a conservative balance sheet. At the end of 2025, our gross debt to EBITDA ratio was 1x, and our net debt to EBITDA ratio was 0.8x, essentially unchanged from the end of 2024. In summary, we delivered strong fourth quarter and full year operating results, highlighted by record revenue, record earnings, robust margin growth, and excellent cash flow generation.
With a proven strategy, significant capital deployment capacity, and a strong track record of execution, we are well positioned to continue delivering exceptional results in 2026. Kevin?
Kevin Coleman (VP of Investor Relations and Treasurer)
Thanks, Dalip. Crystal, could we please open the lines for questions?
Operator (participant)
Thank you. As a reminder, to ask a question, you will need to press star one on your telephone and wait for your name to be announced. To withdraw your question, please press star one one again. Please stand by while we compile our Q&A roster. Our first question will come from Matt Somerville from D.A. Davidson. Your line is open.
Matt Summerville (Analyst)
Thanks. Morning. David, I was hoping you could drill deeper into the medical portfolio and their performance therein across both EIG and EMG, and how we should be thinking about kind of the medium- to long-term algorithm associated with Paragon and Rauland and some of the bigger buckets in medical. And then I have a follow-up. Thank you.
David Zapico (Chairman and CEO)
Sure. It's about 21% of our business now, the broader healthcare exposure. If you look at across both groups, Paragon and Rauland, driving the results, they were up low double digits in Q4. So that was a very good quarter, up low double digits, and for the full year 2025, they were up high single digits. And we're thinking for 2026, they'll be up mid-single digits. So our initial guide is mid-single digits, more challenging comps, but still very healthy businesses and performing well. And what's the follow-up, Matt?
Matt Summerville (Analyst)
I was wondering if you could talk about how you're thinking about strategic price capture kind of going forward, you know, after passing through this multiyear period where you've had, you know, pretty meaningful inflation, and then obviously, you know, you had the tariff pressure. So what's kind of the go forward, you know, price algorithm? What does that look like for AMETEK now? Thank you.
David Zapico (Chairman and CEO)
For the fourth quarter of 2025, we had a positive price cost spread, so our pricing offset both inflation and tariffs. So, you know, we think that that is going to be what's going to happen in 2026. So for the full year 2026, we're confident we can offset inflation and the existing known tariffs. So, you know, we have highly differentiated businesses of AMETEK product portfolio, leadership in niche markets around the globe. These are mission-critical products, and the pricing is not going backwards. It's going to stick. The vast majority of it is, you know, price increases, not just kind of offsets. So we had a good pricing situation. As I mentioned in my prepared remarks, we have a refreshed product portfolio, 30% vitality, mission-critical products.
So we really have done this for quite a while and don't see any change. So I think we'll be positive when you take into account inflation and tariffs for the year.
Matt Summerville (Analyst)
Thank you, David.
David Zapico (Chairman and CEO)
Thank you, Matt.
Operator (participant)
Thank you. Our next question comes from Deane Dray from RBC Capital Markets. Your line is open.
Deane Dray (Analyst)
Thank you. Good morning, everyone.
David Zapico (Chairman and CEO)
Morning, Deane.
Deane Dray (Analyst)
Hey, maybe we can step back and, Dave, do your typical run through the end markets, key platforms. It sounded like everything in medical was certainly hitting expectations, and if you could touch on any kind of regional dynamics as well. Thank you.
David Zapico (Chairman and CEO)
Sure, Deane. The process businesses, start there. Overall sales for our process businesses were up mid-teens in the fourth quarter, driven by the contribution from recent acquisitions. So we acquired the FARO business, the Kern business, and we bring those in, they're lower margins, and, you know, we're improving them as we go. But that group grew low single digits organically in that quarter. So that's the first time we saw a low single digit organic growth in process. We're pretty happy with that. We saw continued improvements throughout the whole year. As I said, the most positive in the fourth quarter. We're encouraged by that finish to the year, and we talked about before, we see a very strong pipeline of growing opportunities in our broader process and analytical instrumentation markets.
For the full year 2026, we expect organic sales for our process segment to be up low single digits. Let's talk Aerospace & Defense businesses. They completed an outstanding year with low double-digit growth in both overall and organic sales in the quarter. Similar to the full year, growth was broad-based, strongest orders, strongest growth across our commercial OE and aftermarket businesses in the quarter. Our businesses are well positioned with strong and expanding content on a wide Aerospace & Defense platforms. And looking ahead, we expect another strong year, high single-digit organic growth in 2026, and really balanced across both our commercial and defense businesses. Jumping next to our power business, delivered solid growth in the quarter, both overall and organic sales were up mid-single digits.
Growth in the quarter was strongest when, within our RTDS and Power Instruments businesses, driven by global grid modernization and applications supporting the data center build out. Talked a little bit in the last meeting, we have applications in power generation, backup power, microgrids, power system simulation services, all supporting their broader data center ecosystem and delivering power to the ecosystem. Looking ahead to 2026, we expect organic sales for our power businesses to be up mid-single digits. And finally, our Automation and Engineered Solutions businesses delivered another outstanding quarter with low double-digit overall and organic sales growth. Growth was again broad-based across our Automation and Engineered Solutions businesses, with our Paragon Medical businesses delivering the strongest growth. For 2026, we expect sales for our Automation and Engineered Solutions businesses to be up mid-single digits organically.
I think you asked about the geography also, Deane?
Deane Dray (Analyst)
Yeah.
David Zapico (Chairman and CEO)
Yeah, we had, you know, both U.S. and international sales were up mid-single digits. So it was, you know, kind of good strength across the board. In the U.S., we were up mid-single digits, driven by strength in our Automation and Engineered Solutions business. In Europe, we were up low single digits, driven by strength in aerospace and our automation businesses. And Asia was up 10%. We were very pleased. China was up low double digits for us, driven by our process, power, and automation businesses. And again, Asia was up 10. If we take China out of Asia, Asia was up high single digits, so Asia was pretty much strong across the board. So pretty good performance geographically across the board.
Deane Dray (Analyst)
That's all good to hear. Just a quick follow-up. You talk about record backlog. You know, what kind of conversion should we expect in 2026 of backlog? I mean, I know typically, you're at like a 30% conversion, but with the recent kind of expansion, it's been closer to 50%. How does that shape up for 2026?
David Zapico (Chairman and CEO)
It's in the same ballpark. It's with our long cycle Aerospace & Defense business, with our process businesses, some of those are multiyear, but there's plenty for us to ship near term. So we're pretty optimistic about the order pipelines. We had good orders throughout the quarter. December was the strongest quarter. December was the strongest record quarter for us in one month, and we also started the year strong. So you know, orders are good. We're, you know, there's, again, the backlog is, you know, with our multiple industries, it's a little bit difficult, but you're right, it's between that 30%-50% number. But we're in good shape and it's feeling good with the strength.
Deane Dray (Analyst)
Great to hear. Thank you.
David Zapico (Chairman and CEO)
Thank you, Dave.
Operator (participant)
Thank you. Our next question comes from Andrew Buscaglia from BNP Paribas. Your line is open.
Andrew Buscaglia (Analyst)
Hey, good morning, everyone.
David Zapico (Chairman and CEO)
Morning, Andrew.
Andrew Buscaglia (Analyst)
I just wanted to focus on EIG. Just that, you know, it sounds like, you know, that our organic growth of 2%, a little bit below kind of what you had expected, because you expected the full year to grow year-over-year. So, I imagine in process and analytical instrumentation, that maybe growth didn't come to fruition the way you thought it would. What are your expectations into 2026 for that segment and/or subsegment and project activity converting?
David Zapico (Chairman and CEO)
Yeah, just, if you, if you go back to the beginning of 2025, we actually had negative organic growth in the first couple of quarters in our process businesses, and those improved. So we actually were positive in Q4. So we were pretty pleased with the performance of EIG turning positive in Q4 on the back of the process business performance. If I look at 2026, you know, we have our overall sales, I already mentioned in the prepared remarks, is up mid- to high-single-digits, with organic up low- to mid-single-digits. And we think both of our businesses will have low- to mid-single-digit organic growth.
So both EIG and EMG overall will be up mid- to high single digits, and both will have organic growth of low- to mid single digits.
Andrew Buscaglia (Analyst)
Okay, got it. And, you know, that outlook in EMG, you know, your sales were so strong in Q4. Was there something, I don't know, out of the ordinary, unusual that would drive that 15% growth that just won't repeat going forward?
David Zapico (Chairman and CEO)
No, I think that, as I mentioned in the prepared remarks, every division within EMG had double-digit growth in sales. So there's really a lot of strength there. I mean, we, you know, if you, you know, gonna get some tougher comps next year, but, but, we're performing well. We have strong execution, disciplined operations. We're gaining momentum in the portfolio. EMG recovered nicely. Automation and med tech are solid. A&D remains strong with good backlogs. So I think what you might be seeing there is, the guide's a little bit prudent, or this early in the year, but, we feel good about, EMG in 2026.
Andrew Buscaglia (Analyst)
All right. Fair enough. Thank you.
David Zapico (Chairman and CEO)
Thank you, Andrew.
Operator (participant)
Thank you. Our next question comes from Brett Linzey from Mizuho. Your line is open.
Brett Linzey (Analyst)
Hey, good morning, all.
David Zapico (Chairman and CEO)
Good morning, Brett.
Brett Linzey (Analyst)
Hey, I wanted to just come back to the kind of pricing dynamic. I know there's a lot of fits and starts on tariffs last year and subsequent pricing. Any signs of pre-buy or pre-build in some of those channels as maybe some of that destock has turned to restock and customers are maybe looking to get ahead of some of the price last year?
David Zapico (Chairman and CEO)
No, I think it seems like we've, you know, there's a lot of macroeconomic things we're dealing with and uncertainties and related to the broader deglobalization. But I think all that stuff happened in 2025, and I think we're, you know, we're more of a more normalized, feels like it's more normalized now, where you're not, you don't have buy ahead, you don't have things like that. And so it feels more normal than it did in 2025, at the beginning of 2026.
Brett Linzey (Analyst)
Okay, great. Then just to follow-up on price and cost, maybe discuss your actual pricing expectation for 2026. Then how are you thinking about price cost spread for the year? I know we're getting a little bit of metals inflation here.
David Zapico (Chairman and CEO)
Yeah, we're not giving a specific target, but what we will say is in the fourth quarter, as I mentioned to Matt, we offset price offset inflation plus tariffs, plus in about 50 basis points. So it was very strong. I expect a similar kind of performance next year. That's our target. So there's in our different businesses there are different levels of inflation, there's dynamics, but we have a strong history because of the product portfolio and the special place in the value chain we have with our customers, and being able to offset price offset inflation and tariffs with price. So that's gonna continue.
Brett Linzey (Analyst)
All right, great. Thanks, Dave.
David Zapico (Chairman and CEO)
Thank you.
Operator (participant)
Thank you. Our next question comes from Andrew Obin from Bank of America. Your line is open.
Andrew Obin (Analyst)
Good morning.
David Zapico (Chairman and CEO)
Hello, Andrew.
Andrew Obin (Analyst)
Can we just get an update on FARO acquisition? What are you seeing? What's the progress has been? What are the key learnings?
David Zapico (Chairman and CEO)
Good question. Remember, everybody, it's designs and develops advanced 3D metrology and digital reality solutions. These include product families like measurement arms, laser scanners, laser trackers, integrated process and analytics software, and it's an excellent strategic fit with our Creaform business. So we have a business that's complementary to it and complements our metrology capabilities. So it's... And we acquired the business, and we think we can add meaningful value to FARO. So along with the elimination of the public company cost and the integration of, in the AMETEK's global infrastructure, we think there's a tremendous amount of synergy.
So we acquired the business for about 2.7x, and we feel that the cost synergies will allow us to more than double EBITDA margins from the current, you know, mid-teens level to a 30% level and achieve a 10% return on invested capital by year three. And that was the plan going in, and it's still, we're more confident than ever we're gonna be able to do that. We have made moves on integrating the business. We formed two business units. One's more the metrology business unit, and one's more the digital reality business. So those are people coming from legacy AMETEK and FARO in both businesses, and that's going extremely well.
You'll see in the press release we put out, we have some one-time charges with that. It was about $17.6 million, I believe. So that's allowing us to get the kinds of improvements that we're getting in the business, and that's why there's, you know, quite a big gap between our core margins that I mentioned and the reported margins. You got the along with being a, you know, a less profitable business, and we did, we're doing some work on improving the business. But, you know, I, I'm very, very bullish with the business. I mean, there's a great coverage throughout the world. We didn't have overlap in capability. We're really complementary, and the team is extremely motivated.
The AMETEK leadership style is having a positive effect on FARO, so we're very pleased with it.
Andrew Obin (Analyst)
Thank you. Then, you know, 2025 was a year where I think we're all waiting for a short cycle recovery that never happened. And, you know, you've clearly stressed that your orders improved into the year and then continued to be strong in January. What kind of conversations are you having with your customers? Do you feel better that what's happening right now is not maybe a flash in the pan, but maybe more of a substantive recovery? Would appreciate any color. Thank you.
David Zapico (Chairman and CEO)
Yeah. If you go back and listen to our last couple of conference calls, we were feeling better through the quarters, too. We could see momentum building, and it seems to continue to build. And you know, we've had a fantastic pipeline of opportunities, and more of those are starting to happen. And I just, you know, you had three years of negative PMI prints, and it's. I think it's changing. Feels good for us, and you know, you have a lot of, you know, we got the positive segments that we talked about, and then we got the power business now is well positioned, and it's gonna benefit from the build-out of power capacity. The process business is seeing steady improvements, and we're managing a strong pipeline.
Our future project activity remains extremely healthy. You look at the, you know, a little bit of macro uncertainty around the broader deglobalization, but at the same time, conditions remain constructive. Interest rate policies are positive. M&A environment looks favorable. You know, the industrial renaissance across the West should help us offset any kind of drag from the tariffs. So, you know, we're building our business, and we're feeling pretty good right now. So you never know if it's long lasting, but right now, it feels solid, and we're certainly being prudent with our guide because, you know, something like you mentioned happens, and it weakens later in the year, but we don't see it right now.
Andrew Obin (Analyst)
Thanks so much.
David Zapico (Chairman and CEO)
Thank you, Andrew.
Operator (participant)
Thank you. Our next question comes from Jamie Cook from Truist Securities. Your line is open.
Jamie Cook (Analyst)
Hi, good morning. I guess my first question, Dave, can you just obviously did FARO, you did Kern, just sort of an update on how you're thinking about, you know, the M&A pipeline in 2026, and are there any sort of sizable, deal, deals that are out there? And then my, my second question, just on the, you know, implied margins for 2026 relative to the top-line guide. You know, we talked about priced costs being positive. Obviously, I think FARO is still gonna weigh on margins a bit. Is there any other factors that we should consider as we're thinking about margins across, your segments, that are unusual? Thank you.
David Zapico (Chairman and CEO)
No, I think, Jamie, I'll take the margin question first. I mean, we're firing on all cylinders in terms of margins. You know, if you look at our core operating margins, we're up 100 basis points in the quarter. So if you back out all the things you mentioned, they're very strong. Both groups, EIG was up 50 basis points. EMG on a core margin was up 310. And if you look at incrementals, our you know, core incrementals were 45% in Q4. So, you know, that's very strong. And for 2026, we've been a little more conservative. We're saying, you know, 35% reported incremental margins and 30 basis points of margin expansion.
So 30 basis points of margin expansion, which is pretty typical for us going into each year, and we're thinking we can get 35, 35% incrementals. And that'll be a little bit less than we got in 2025, but it's more prudent. We're feeling good about it. There shouldn't be any surprises. With a business like ours, we, I think we 31% EBITDA. Every time we acquire businesses, they're coming in at a lower profit margin. So yeah, that's why we try to give the core margins, and we communicate them, and we go through it all, and you have to think about it a little. But if we add a business that has a lot lower margins, like Zygo had essentially 15% EBITDA...
I mean, FARO had essentially 15% EBITDA margins, so there's gonna be initial dilution, but we have a tremendous capability of bringing those margins up, and the best way to look at that long term is our return on capital. If you look at our balance sheet, it doesn't lie. We had between a 12% and 13% return on capital, and that's how we know we're creating value for our shareholders.
Jamie Cook (Analyst)
Okay, so that was the genesis of my question. So it's just-
David Zapico (Chairman and CEO)
Okay.
Jamie Cook (Analyst)
you being prudent versus anything else?
David Zapico (Chairman and CEO)
Yeah, I think so. It really is. And then you talked about M&A, and, you know, we're excited about the businesses that we got done because we really can add a lot of value to FARO and Kern. But we really have the opportunity to differentiate our performance with M&A in the next year or two, because with our ability to operate businesses, our discipline and really a key change in the pipeline, we really have a strong pipeline of deals right now. And, as Dalip said, we have a balance sheet ready to act, ready to put the work. And, the pipeline remains strong. We're actively looking at a number of high-quality deals. We could spend $5 billion, and still maintain our investment-grade credit rating.
So the team is active, and we're excited, and it's really gonna be a way for us to differentiate our performance over the next couple of years.
Jamie Cook (Analyst)
Thank you.
David Zapico (Chairman and CEO)
Thank you.
Operator (participant)
Thank you. Our next question will come from Nicole DeBlase from Deutsche Bank. Your line is open.
Nicole DeBlase (Analyst)
Yeah, thanks for the question. Good morning, guys.
David Zapico (Chairman and CEO)
Hi, Nicole.
Nicole DeBlase (Analyst)
Maybe just circling back on China, really encouraging to see it turn positive and nicely positive in the quarter. Dave, do you think we're seeing a turn in that market? If we could maybe double click on, you know, what you're seeing in the individual businesses there and what your expectation is for 2026 as well?
David Zapico (Chairman and CEO)
Right. China's a little different for us. I mean, we have, we have, first of all, we have a fantastic team over there. We have just great, great, long-term AMETEK employees over there, and they do a great job of managing it. And we have products that are used by our customers in China to improve their manufacturing processes, you know, high-value manufacturing processes. We have products that they use to automate their processes. We have products that make their environment cleaner. We have products that, to help them build out their nuclear power infrastructure. We have products that help them test their electric vehicle industry. So a lot of our products are really suited to our customer base over there. So, it's, it's, you know, the, the overall, you know, the overall market, the overall country, I think you're seeing some deflation.
I think you're seeing you still have a real estate hangover, but in the places that we're playing, we still have strong positions, and you know, we're being conservative how we're looking at that business, but it was good to see the change and get a level low double-digit growth and driven by our process businesses, our power businesses, and our automation businesses, all firing on all cylinders in China.
Nicole DeBlase (Analyst)
That's great. Thanks, Dave. And then just maybe following up on Jamie's question on M&A. It sounds like you're pretty fired up about the pipeline. Would you say, like, if you kind of think about your time running AMETEK and compare today's pipeline versus what you've seen over the years, is this like a stronger pipeline than normal, or is it just, okay, our pipeline is always strong, and this has been a focus of AMETEK for some time? Thank you.
David Zapico (Chairman and CEO)
Yeah, the pipeline has always been strong, but I think right now the pipeline is filled with a good mix of normal quality deals and larger deals. So I think there's probably more larger deals than have been in our pipeline in a while, and larger deals, you know, we're not looking to buy a business that's our size or even half our size, or even a quarter of our size. I mean, we don't think you add value that way, but there's a good bunch of businesses there that are of good chunky sizes for us. So as we get bigger, we've expanded the types of businesses we're looking at, and, you know, we're very pleased with...
I mean, we're very disciplined, so what looks good today may not happen tomorrow because we're not gonna overpay. But at the same time, if we buy a business, you know we're gonna get the returns on capital, and we're optimistic. We're working very hard. We have a great team in M&A. We have about 11 people dedicated to M&A. There are very few companies in the industrial world that have those dedicated people to it, and all of our operators are also involved. So we have a good process.
It's well-defined processes, the processes that work on deal sourcing, deal modeling, diligence, integration, and I think the secret sauce of AMETEK is we have very strong business operators, well-ingrained in the AMETEK culture, well-ingrained in the AMETEK business system, providing ownership for the delivery of financial metrics for each individual deal. And we learn something new from every deal. It's, we're experienced at it, but we're humble, and we learn something new from every deal, and we share the knowledge, and it just makes us better.
Nicole DeBlase (Analyst)
Thank you, Dave. I'll pass it on.
David Zapico (Chairman and CEO)
Thank you, Nicole.
Operator (participant)
Thank you. Our next question comes from Chris Snyder from Morgan Stanley. Your line is open.
Chris Snyder (Analyst)
Thank you. I wanted to follow-up about the 2026 margin guide. It seems like on the math, that Q1 margins would be down year-on-year again. I'm just looking at the 10% top line growth versus or EPS up mid to high singles. So I guess, does that reflect some of the M&A headwinds still coming through in that year-on-year compare? And, you know, obviously, you guys are guiding margins up for the year. So do you think they will, you know, turn back to expansion in Q2, or is that more of a back half event? Any just color on the trajectory there would be helpful. Thank you.
David Zapico (Chairman and CEO)
Yeah, yeah, Chris, I think in Q1 specifically, we got overall sales of 10%, and you got FARO in there that's running at a lower margin, pretty sizable deal, running at a lower margin. So if you just look at Q1 and you look at the year-on-year increase in sales, and you apply a mid-20s contribution margin to it, you'll get. It'll work out to our guide. I mean, I think below the line, items essentially offset, and we're getting mid-20s on the contribution margin on the incremental business, and that'll be right in line with what we did.
Dalip Puri (EVP and CFO)
Yeah, Chris, if you adjust for the acquisitions and look at core margins, we do expect Q1 margins to expand, like we guided for the full year in that same ballpark.
Chris Snyder (Analyst)
Thank you. I appreciate that color. And then just to follow-up on staying on margins, and I guess maybe, you know, the, the inorganic margin opportunity or maybe the, the synergy opportunity on FARO and Paragon is a better way to phrase it. Can you talk about where we are on that? You know, FARO, I think you guys said, comes on mid-teens EBITDA. You guys see a pathway to, I think, double that to about 30. You know, any color on the path? And then Paragon is obviously closer to final state margins, but I think you guys have talked about maybe another 500 basis points or so there. Can you just maybe kind of provide any sort of timeline on, you know, how those businesses are progressing against those targets? Thank you.
David Zapico (Chairman and CEO)
Yeah, I'll start with Paragon. Paragon is, is already at EBITDA margins that are now in line with AMETEK. So it's a very positive work by the people that are doing the work in that business, very happy with them. But there's more room to go. So I, I think there's a, a whole next leg of, you know, margin improvement in Paragon that are just gonna occur over the next 12, 18 months, and it's gonna, it's gonna, occur incrementally. We do things incrementally at low risk, and that's gonna happen. And then with Faro, you know, we're kind of in the, you know, beginning stages of it, and, you know, you'll, you're, you saw some pretty heavy, restructuring done early in the year. We're still doing some organizational work.
There's an international infrastructure that we haven't dealt with yet in terms of duplication. So I think you'll see some benefits from Paragon in this year. And you know, Faro is gonna improve, but it's gonna take us a couple of years to get it to 30. And you know, it's gonna be in some chunky improvements, but it's gonna take us a couple of years to get it there.
Chris Snyder (Analyst)
Thank you, Dave. Appreciate that.
David Zapico (Chairman and CEO)
Thank you.
Operator (participant)
Thank you. Our next question comes from Julian Mitchell from Barclays. Your line is open.
Julian Mitchell (Analyst)
Hi, good morning.
David Zapico (Chairman and CEO)
Good morning.
Julian Mitchell (Analyst)
Good morning. Just wanted to start with the orders sort of trends in recent months. You know, as you said, things felt better into year-end. December was good, but I suppose the absolute organic orders growth rate was, I think, steady year-on-year in the third and the fourth quarters at about 7%. So were there things sort of maybe help us understand, were there things moving around on specific markets within the orders or something geographically? Any color as to how maybe orders looked different in the fourth versus the third quarter?
David Zapico (Chairman and CEO)
I think it was pretty broad-based. I mean, we had, when I look at the fourth quarter, we had organic orders of 7%, as you said. Both groups were up, so EIG and EMG, so it was broad-based, and it was a similar pattern from Q3, and the book-to-bill of AMETEK was 1.02, and it was pretty broad-based.
Julian Mitchell (Analyst)
Thanks very much. And when we're looking at the organic sale-
David Zapico (Chairman and CEO)
Yeah.
Julian Mitchell (Analyst)
Oh, yeah.
David Zapico (Chairman and CEO)
I think what you see is the EMG businesses picked up first, and the EIG businesses, the process part of the EIG businesses, are following later, and that's a typical pattern that we've had throughout history. So there's some time during the 2026 when we think the EIG, the process part of EIG is really gonna inflect positive, and historically, we've had great contribution margins when that happens. But that's how it's happening. EMG happens first, EIG happens later. When you look at aerospace, it's been strong all along, and you look at that separately.
Julian Mitchell (Analyst)
That's helpful. And Dave, just wanted to follow-up on your points just now on thinking about the phasing of the segments. So when we look at organic sales growth for AMETEK in 2026, maybe clarify, you know, what degree of sort of deceleration, just from tougher comps, you're dialing in organic growth through the year, with that prudent framework in mind? And are we assuming then that the EIG business kind of exits the year, maybe organically growing a little bit faster because of that later pickup?
David Zapico (Chairman and CEO)
I don't know what's gonna happen exactly because we're looking a long way out, but I think if you get into the second half of the year, EIG organics could be stronger, and EMG organics could have a tougher comp.
Julian Mitchell (Analyst)
Perfect. Thank you.
Operator (participant)
Thank you. Our next question will come from Joe Giordano from TD Cowen. Your line is open.
Joe Giordano (Analyst)
Hey, good morning, guys.
David Zapico (Chairman and CEO)
Good morning, Joe.
Joe Giordano (Analyst)
Apologies if someone asked this. I'm kind of multitasking here a bit, but Dave, can you... On the guide for process, I know you like to be cautious in the beginning of the year, and market's far from certain here, but feels a little conservative, low single digits coming off like an acceleration throughout the year and now going positive. Can you kind of frame maybe the puts and takes that's driving that view on initial view on process?
David Zapico (Chairman and CEO)
I can see that. I mean, it was we grew low single digits in Q4, and we guided low single digits for the year. So, the Q4 was the first quarter process at positive low single digits. So, it's we're being a bit prudent, but you know, one quarter does not make a year.
Joe Giordano (Analyst)
Is there a big spread in that segment between, like, what's getting better and what's kind of stable but not accelerating? Can you maybe if there's a little bit more granularity we can get there?
David Zapico (Chairman and CEO)
Yeah, I think in that segment, what you see is, you know, the semiconductor business is positive, and the instrumentation sold to metals businesses are positive, and the Rauland business that we talked about earlier is positive. So a lot of things are positive. And then the places that are the oil and gas and the research are a little bit less than those positive segments.
Joe Giordano (Analyst)
Yep. Yep, that makes, that makes sense. Could you maybe give us a little color on the new deal, like in terms of the size of the business and the margin opportunity there?
David Zapico (Chairman and CEO)
Yeah. Yes, it's really a technology deal, and we're not disclosing terms. We have an agreement that we're not disclosing terms. It's a smaller deal. It's a technology deal, and you know, it's a really, really interesting business. They're a leading provider of advanced eye care testing instruments, and you know, ophthalmologists are trying to find the initial signs of diabetic retinopathy, and they're doing that with you know, structural testing. And they're testing your eye, they're looking at your eye. They're trying to see things. But this is an actual electrical response, and it's in a portable device. There was a technique that you use to do the test. The test was expensive.
It was a very large piece of equipment, but the innovation was to make it a really portable instrument, and it's really gonna help a lot of people. And it's kind of a, you know, a technique that's very, very growing rapidly, small, but growing rapidly. And you know, most of the sales are in the U.S., and there's about 60 employees near D.C., in Germantown, Maryland, and it fits right into our Reichert business. Our Ultra Precision Technology business has a business that sells this type of equipment, and it's just an additional product line. So we're really happy about it. We got, it's adjacent to technology. It broadens our portfolio. It lets us leverage our channels and leverage their channels.
This business has a recurring revenue of nearly 40% from these tests, from these sensor strips that are placed on the eyes. So it's really good technology. We're pleased with it, and we're not gonna disclose the terms, though. It's a smaller deal, technology deal.
Joe Giordano (Analyst)
Thank you.
David Zapico (Chairman and CEO)
Thank you, Joe.
Operator (participant)
Thank you. Our next question comes from Steve Barger from KeyBanc Capital Markets. Your line is open.
Christian Zijlstra (Analyst)
Good morning, everyone. This is Christian Zijlstra for Steve Barger.
David Zapico (Chairman and CEO)
Okay. Hello.
Christian Zijlstra (Analyst)
I just have one question. A few years ago, EMG operated in a mid- to high-20s percent operating margin. With the recent acquisitions and current mix, is it possible for you guys to get back there organically, or does that likely come from acquisitions? Just really trying to get any thoughts of how you're thinking about EMG broadly and what you're target- targeting over the next few years? Thanks.
David Zapico (Chairman and CEO)
Yeah, I, I think, seasonally, EMG is usually a little bit lower in Q4 than the other quarters because of some dynamics in the business. But I don't, I don't think there's any reason that we won't be operating at that level, and I think we did operate at that level in the third quarter.
Dalip Puri (EVP and CFO)
Yeah. Yeah, I think if you go back a couple of years, like you stated, we were probably mid-20s, right, before the Paragon acquisition. And now, if you look at where we are, we've kind of retracked back maybe 60%, and I think we're on track to hit those mid-20% margins in 2026 in EMG and grow further from there.
Christian Zijlstra (Analyst)
Great. Thank you.
David Zapico (Chairman and CEO)
Thank you.
Operator (participant)
Thank you. Our next question comes from Scott Graham from Seaport Research Partners. Your line is open.
Scott Graham (Analyst)
Hey, good morning. Thanks for taking the question. There's actually two of them. I don't remember, Dave, the last time we saw a vitality of 30%. I was hoping you would unbundle that maybe a little bit to or maybe is there some defense in there? Is there, you know, this maybe chasing some data center sales in there? Kind of tell us maybe where some of those are going, specifically, if you could, and their impact on the organic.
David Zapico (Chairman and CEO)
Yeah, 30% is a good number, Scott. We're very pleased with that. There are some data center sales on that. We talked about in the last call that we've reconfigured some of our products for that market that were sold to the defense market. Those are certainly contributing to that, but there's just an engineering capability of the company is unquestioned, and they're really developing some good things. Our customers are very pleased with them, with the uptick, and it makes us feel confident going into a strengthening market that we got the right products that you need. But it's really, it's bottom-up, as you know, so it's, it's all our businesses, and we're not, we're not telling a business to develop this or develop that.
It's organic, and there's just very, very viable product development plans, technology roadmaps, and we're optimistic about what we've done with our products and our technology.
Scott Graham (Analyst)
Okay, thank you. The follow-up is simple. With the defense budget potentially reaching $1.5 trillion at some point next couple of years, do you need acquisitions maybe to get you a little bit more, it's more broadly exposed to, you know, sort of have dibs on some of that? Or how do you feel about your defense business role? I, I know that there's nothing specific in the budget on it, it's just a number. But how do you feel about maybe getting after some of that business? Do you need a couple of deals to help you?
David Zapico (Chairman and CEO)
Yeah, we'd love to do a deal in the defense industry, but that doesn't stop—we, we have fully developed product lines and the business cases for what we have. And I mentioned the Abaco business and the computing area. I mentioned the air technology. I mentioned our Rotron business and the advanced cooling. I mentioned our power business, selling power systems to UAVs. So we're really competitive, and... That business is doing very well, so we don't need an acquisition to continue growing. And we actually have a Aerospace & Defense business is about 18% of sales. We have a little more defense sales than commercial sales, so we're in a pretty good position there.
Legacy sensors on aircraft, selling to both commercial and defense aircraft, to some of the more lately, some of the modern, more things we've done in the recent years. So it's pretty wide range. It's the same strategy. We're focused on niche technologies, things we're really good at, and we have plenty of people knocking on our door. And as I mentioned, the European, you know, the European starting to focus on their own defense and their own protection, definitely, definitely creating opportunities for us.
Kevin Coleman (VP of Investor Relations and Treasurer)
Thank you.
Operator (participant)
Thank you. Our next question comes from Rob Wertheimer from Melius Research. Your line is open.
Rob Wertheimer (Analyst)
Hi, and thanks. I know we're getting towards the end of the call. I had sort of a general question that you touched on with Andrew, I guess, but on Paragon, it seems like a lot of things have gone well, and this may be a question as much about AMETEK as about Paragon, but I wonder if you could just, you know, give us insight into what you've done and what has made the most positive improvements there as sort of a way of learning about the company again. Thanks.
David Zapico (Chairman and CEO)
Yeah, well, I think the most important thing is we bought a very good business. And, if you remember, when we bought it, that was in the middle of a destock, and, you know, people were worried about it. We weren't worried because we knew we had a good business, we knew we had a good team, and, you know, they, the consumable surgical instruments that they manufacture are a good recurring revenue. They're a leader in implantable components. So we bought a good business. And we bought a business that, quite honestly, was undermanaged on the operation side. So we've done a lot of good work, to improve that operations, combined it with one of our businesses, who has a great capability in another part of this market.
So similar to the FARO model, we have a—we bought a business in a market we knew. We had some capability. We restructured the business to be more focused on customers, more focused on understanding the P&L, and we're bringing AMETEK's global capabilities to it. So it's a you know, kind of a playbook that we apply quite often, and Paragon's gonna lead the way, but FARO's right behind them.
Rob Wertheimer (Analyst)
Perfect. Thank you.
David Zapico (Chairman and CEO)
Yep, thank you.
Operator (participant)
Thank you. Our next question will come from Robert Mason from Baird. Your line is open.
Robert Mason (Analyst)
Yes, good morning. Thanks for squeezing me in. Just one question. Dave, to go back to the process business, it does sound like your industrial business is there more likely to lead on growth.
David Zapico (Chairman and CEO)
Yeah.
Robert Mason (Analyst)
You made a comments just around some of the research areas. How are you expecting those research areas, R&D exposed areas, to play out through the year? Do you think they have a chance, you know, to be flat or even up a little this year, start to see some turn?
David Zapico (Chairman and CEO)
I do. And there's always time for you, Rob, so we'll always squeeze you in. So, yeah, I think in the research area, what you really saw in the U.S. was there was a little bit of a... During the DOE time, there was a little bit of a, you know, little bit of dysfunction, and that's righted itself. So, in a lot of areas of research, so we happen to be particularly biased to, there's a lot of nuclear research going on. In the materials area, there's a lot of research going on to find new materials to, you know, replace other materials with, you know, the rare earth metals. There's a lot of research going on there.
So in our CAMECA business, there's high-end research, there's high-end research going into nuclear. And the other thing that caused us some problems in 2025, which has gone away, was when the tariffs originally were put in place, they caused substantial pricing disconnects for us and our customers, and now we've worked through that. So as long as tariffs stay in about the same range, that won't be an issue. So I do think that we have the potential to grow our research business in 2026, just as an answer to your question.
Robert Mason (Analyst)
Very good. Thanks, Dave.
David Zapico (Chairman and CEO)
Thank you.
Operator (participant)
Thank you. I am showing no further questions from our phone lines. I'd now like to turn the conference back over to Kevin Coleman for any closing remarks.
Kevin Coleman (VP of Investor Relations and Treasurer)
Thank you again, Crystal, and thanks, everyone, for joining our call today. As a reminder, a replay of the webcast may be accessed in the investor section of ametek.com. Thanks, all.
Operator (participant)
Thank you. This concludes today's program. Thank you for your participation. You may now disconnect.