Rogers (NYSE:ROG) reported fourth-quarter 2025 results that topped the high end of management’s guidance on profitability, as the company pointed to early benefits from structural changes implemented in the second half of the year and offered an outlook for year-over-year improvement in the first quarter of 2026.
Fourth-quarter results topped guidance on profit metrics
Interim President and CEO Ali El-Haj said the company finished 2025 with “another quarter of solid performance.” Fourth-quarter sales were $202 million, which he said approached the high end of guidance. Adjusted earnings were $0.89 per share and adjusted EBITDA margin was 17.1%, both above the top end of the company’s guidance range.
End-market trends: industrial strength, EV and portable electronics pressure
El-Haj attributed the stronger finish to 2025 to “gradual end market improvements” alongside structural changes that simplified the operating model and lowered costs. He said industrial, ADAS and renewable energy end markets were key contributors to the year-over-year sales increase in the quarter.
Management provided several end-market updates for the quarter:
- Industrial: Rogers’ largest end market at 27% of total revenue. Fourth-quarter industrial sales rose at a “high single-digit rate” year over year, driven by market recovery and additional business from traditional customers. Full-year industrial sales improved at a “mid-single-digit rate.”
- Aerospace and defense: 16% of revenue, with a slight year-over-year decline in the fourth quarter. For the full year, the segment grew at a “high single-digit rate,” driven by demand in defense and commercial aerospace.
- EV/HEV: 14% of revenue. Fourth-quarter sales declined year over year, as lower EMS sales more than offset growth in AES. El-Haj said the EMS decline reflected customer concentration in regions where EV demand has been challenging. Full-year EV/HEV sales ended “well below” the prior year, with declines in both business units.
- ADAS: Sales increased year over year, and full-year sales grew at a “double-digit rate,” benefiting from higher adoption of ADAS solutions and increasing vehicle autonomy.
- Portable electronics: Sales were lower in the quarter and for the full year, primarily due to an AES product reaching end of life.
In the Q&A session, El-Haj said the company expects continued strength in industrial trends in the near term, but still sees uncertainty in EV and softness in portable electronics in the first quarter. He added that management expects “some uncertainty” in the first half of 2026 for those sectors due to macroeconomic conditions.
Profitability initiatives and restructuring updates
CFO Laura Russell said fourth-quarter adjusted EBITDA totaled $34.4 million, up from $23.3 million in the fourth quarter of 2024, with the margin expanding to 17.1%. She attributed the improvement to higher sales, better product mix, and benefits from the company’s profitability initiative. Russell said adjusted operating expenses excluding stock-based compensation decreased by $6.3 million year over year.
Offsetting some of the gains was a $1.7 million increase in underutilization costs, which Russell said was “primarily related to the start of production” at the Curamik China facility.
El-Haj said Rogers realized $25 million in cost and operating expense improvements in 2025 and expects another $20 million of annualized savings to be completed by the end of 2026. He also said full-year operating expenses declined 8% versus the prior year.
Russell provided additional detail during Q&A, explaining that the company’s previously announced initiative produced a $25 million run rate benefit in 2025, while the full-year benefit is expected to be $32 million, implying an incremental $7 million impact in 2026 that was not fully realized in 2025. She also said the Curamik Germany restructuring is expected to generate $13 million of annual run rate savings, but that those savings are not expected to show up in financials until the second half of 2026.
Cash flow, capital allocation, and buybacks
Rogers ended the fourth quarter with $197 million of cash, up $29.2 million from the end of the third quarter, Russell said. Cash provided by operations was $46.9 million in the quarter, which she attributed to improved working capital management, including inventory management.
Uses of cash in the quarter included $14.3 million of share repurchases and $4.7 million of capital expenditures. For full-year 2025, Russell said capital spending was $50 million, at the low end of the guided range. For 2026, the company expects capital expenditures to be comparable, guiding to $30 million to $40 million.
Russell said that after fourth-quarter repurchases, the company has approximately $52 million remaining on its existing share repurchase authorization. She added that the level of buybacks in 2026 will depend on other capital needs, including potential M&A.
First-quarter 2026 outlook and growth priorities
For the first quarter of 2026, management forecast revenue of $193 million to $208 million, with Russell noting the midpoint implies 5% year-over-year growth. The company guided gross margin to 30.5% to 32.5%, with the midpoint 160 basis points higher than the prior-year period on higher volumes and cost structure improvements.
Adjusted operating expenses are expected to decrease more than 5% versus the first quarter of 2025, but increase slightly from fourth-quarter levels due to compensation costs resetting in the new fiscal year, Russell said. The company guided adjusted EBITDA to $27 million to $35 million, equating to a 15.5% margin at the midpoint, which would be a 530-basis-point improvement versus the first quarter of 2025. Adjusted EPS is expected to range from $0.45 to $0.85, with the midpoint of $0.65 compared to $0.27 in the first quarter of 2025.
Russell said adjusted EPS excludes restructuring costs related to Curamik actions in Germany. She said the company incurred $5.4 million of restructuring charges at the end of 2025, relative to a total estimated range of $12 million to $20 million, with remaining costs expected from the first through third quarters of 2026.
Looking longer term, El-Haj said returning to top-line growth is Rogers’ “highest priority” in 2026. He pointed to design-win efforts across both EMS and AES and identified data centers as a potential new market. Management said it secured initial design wins in EMS during the fourth quarter and is pursuing larger opportunities leveraging thermal management and signal integrity technologies, with at least one design award decision expected later in 2026. In response to analyst questions, El-Haj said the company is working with “brand name OEMs” on qualifications, with potential revenue impact in 2027 and “maybe even late 2026.”
El-Haj also discussed the Curamik China ramp, calling progress slower than expected and saying management is balancing growth efforts with a desire to avoid participating in “a price erosion type” environment. He said the company still anticipates growth at the facility in the second through fourth quarters, though timing has shifted.
On tariffs, El-Haj said Rogers’ global manufacturing footprint helps “neutralize” the issue, allowing the company to supply customers locally across Asia, North America and Europe. He added that some OEMs are shifting to buying locally, which he said has been a benefit for Rogers, and noted the company is looking to enhance manufacturing capability in Europe within the next 12 months.
About Rogers (NYSE:ROG)
Rogers Corporation (NYSE: ROG) is a global technology and materials company specializing in the development and manufacture of engineered materials and components. The company designs and produces a broad portfolio of high-performance elastomeric, foam, silicone, adhesive and thermal management solutions, as well as advanced circuit board laminates. Its products are engineered to meet stringent requirements in areas such as electrical insulation, thermal performance and electromagnetic shielding.
Rogers serves a diverse range of end markets, including automotive, aerospace and defense, telecommunications, consumer electronics and industrial applications.
