Stabilus increased its adjusted operating margin during the third quarter despite lower group revenue, as growth across industrial components and automation offset weaker automotive demand. Revenue for the three months ended 30 June 2026 fell 5.2% year on year to €299.5 million, including an organic decline of 4.4%.
Adjusted earnings before interest and tax were broadly stable at €32.2 million, compared with €33.1 million a year earlier. The adjusted EBIT margin increased from 10.5% to 10.8%, with the company attributing the improvement to cost discipline, efficiency measures, and its wider transformation programme.
The industrial businesses provided the clearest growth. Industrial Components revenue rose 3.7% to €108.1 million and recorded organic growth of 8.8%, while Industrial Automation, which includes Destaco, increased revenue by 3.2% to €42.3 million, with organic growth of 5%. Stabilus said the industrial operation grew organically by about 8% overall.
Automotive activity moved in the opposite direction. Automotive Powerise revenue fell 16.6% to €76.6 million, while Automotive Gas Spring declined 8.7% to €72.4 million. On an organic basis, automotive revenue contracted by approximately 15%, showing how vehicle production, customer programmes, and regional market weakness continue to affect the group.
The contrast supports Stabilus’s effort to broaden its exposure beyond automotive. Industrial motion control covers machinery, workholding, production automation, energy, construction, healthcare equipment, and other applications where controlled opening, positioning, lifting, damping, or actuation forms part of a larger system.
These markets do not remove cyclicality, but they distribute demand across a wider range of investment decisions. An automation customer may be responding to labour shortages or a new production line, while a construction equipment supplier, healthcare manufacturer, or energy business will operate to a different capital cycle from a vehicle producer.
Regional performance was also uneven. EMEA revenue slipped 1.4% to €138.1 million, although it increased slightly on an organic basis, and the adjusted EBIT margin rose from 11.7% to 11.9%. Americas revenue declined 3.7% to €112.5 million, while its margin improved from 8.4% to 9.5%.
Asia-Pacific remained the most difficult region. Revenue fell 18% to €48.8 million and the adjusted EBIT margin declined from 11.6% to 10.5%, with lower volumes reducing operating leverage. The figures underline how margin protection becomes harder when production, labour, and facility costs are spread across fewer units.
Stabilus completed the sale of Fabreeka and Tech Products to VMC Group during the quarter. The transaction generated a cash inflow of €79.2 million and a gain of €44.4 million, which was the principal reason net profit increased from €10.1 million to €51.4 million.
The disposal moves the portfolio towards electromechanical and intelligent motion control while providing funds for debt reduction. Andreas Jaeger, Chief Financial Officer of Stabilus, said: “The sale of Fabreeka and Tech Products strengthens our balance sheet and accelerates our debt reduction.”
Net leverage fell from 3.21 at the end of the second quarter to 2.77 at the end of June. Stabilus continues to target a ratio below 2.0, although it has also secured additional covenant headroom for the next two financial years. The permitted maximum will rise to 3.9 for 2027 before returning gradually to 3.5 by the end of 2028.
That flexibility protects the company during volatile trading, but it also shows that balance-sheet repair remains an active operating priority. Acquisitions, restructuring, investment, and weaker automotive volumes have to be managed while the group develops its industrial businesses and preserves funding capacity.
Adjusted free cash flow declined from €33.3 million to €28.6 million, primarily because of changes in net working capital. Margin improvement therefore did not translate directly into stronger cash generation. Inventory, customer schedules, supplier terms, and the timing of deliveries can all affect the cash required to support industrial production.
Stabilus has specified its full-year forecast within the ranges issued in December. It now expects revenue of approximately €1.15 billion, an adjusted EBIT margin of about 10%, and adjusted free cash flow of roughly €90 million. The guidance places revenue and margin towards the lower portion of the original ranges while keeping cash flow within the earlier band.
The company is also extending its industrial automation position through a partnership with Synapticon to develop and mass-produce integrated actuators for humanoid robots. Stabilus will contribute industrialisation and volume-production experience, while Synapticon will provide drive intelligence and certified functional safety.
Production is scheduled to begin in Europe from 2027, followed by large-scale manufacturing in North America from 2028. The market label attracts attention, but the industrial challenge lies in combining motors, gearing, electronics, controls, sensing, thermal performance, and safety within a compact actuator that can be assembled and tested repeatedly.
Moving from development units to volume output will require qualified suppliers, automated test, traceability, process control, and enough customer demand to justify dedicated capacity. Humanoid robotics may become a substantial market, but factories cannot be financed indefinitely by forecasts of machines that remain in prototype laboratories.
The third-quarter figures show Stabilus becoming more dependent on industrial growth while automotive markets remain difficult. Margin performance indicates that cost and transformation measures are taking effect, yet revenue, cash flow, and leverage still require attention.
Industrial Components and Industrial Automation provided a useful counterweight during the quarter. The next test is whether they can produce sustained group growth rather than merely soften another automotive decline. Diversification has improved the shape of the business; the arithmetic will remain unforgiving until the stronger divisions outweigh the weaker ones in absolute revenue.
