Q2 2025 Triumph Group Inc Earnings Call

In This Article:

Participants

Thomas Quigley; Vice President of Investor Relations, Mergers & Acquisitions and Treasurer; Triumph Group Inc

Daniel Crowley; Chairman of the Board, President, Chief Executive Officer; Triumph Group Inc

James McCabe; Chief Financial Officer, Senior Vice President; Triumph Group Inc

Sheila Kahyaoglu; Analyst; Jefferies LLC

David Strauss; Analyst; Barclays Capital Inc.

Michael Ciarmoli; Analyst; Truist Securities Inc.

Seth Seifman; Analyst; J.P. Morgan Securities LLC

Mariana Perez Mora; Analyst; BofA Global Research (US)

Cai von Rumohr; Analyst; TD Cowen (Research)

Myles Walton; Analyst; Wolfe Research, LLC

Noah Poponak; Analyst; Goldman Sachs & Company, Inc.

Presentation

Operator

Good morning, and welcome to the Triumph Group's Second Quarter Fiscal 2025 Earnings Call. (Operator Instructions) Please note, this event is being recorded.
I would now like to turn the conference over to Tom Quigley, Vice President of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

Thomas Quigley

Thank you. Good morning, and welcome to our second quarter fiscal 2025 earnings call. Today, I'm joined by Dan Crowley, the company's Chairman, President and CEO; and Jim McCabe, Senior Vice President and CFO of Triumph.
As we review the financial results for the quarter, please refer to the presentation posted on our website this morning. We will discuss our adjusted results. Our adjustments and any reconciliation of non-GAAP financial measures to comparable GAAP measures are explained in the earnings press release and in the presentation.
Certain statements on this call constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause Triumph's actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any expected future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements.
Dan, I'll turn it over to you.

Daniel Crowley

Thanks, Tom, and welcome, everyone, to Triumph's second quarter call. Turning to slide 3. We had a very good second quarter, capping a solid first half. This sets the stage for an even stronger second half driven by favorable seasonality and operating leverage.
Four key highlights from the quarter include strong cash performance and working capital management. We exceeded our cash guidance by $35 million in the quarter and derisked our full year free cash flow target. We remain committed to delivering positive cash flow for the year.
Secondly, we accelerated aftermarket growth. Leasing expert aircraft expects this trend to continue through at least 2030. This older aircraft return to service, the legacy fleet is extended and the next-generation fleet enters its heavy maintenance cycles.
We restored our interiors business to profitability in Q2 through a settlement with Boeing and deep cost reductions to rightsize the business. These actions put our interiors business on track to achieve higher historical levels of profitability as commercial OEM volumes return.
Operational excellence improved across all four of our operating companies, results are better than last year. This led to year-over-year sales growth as we mark our tenth consecutive quarter of organic growth. This progress enables us to raise our fiscal '25 guidance for both profitability and cash flow, consistent with the multiyear guidance we updated in May of '24, which Jim will detail.
Turning to slide 4. You can see that aftermarket grew substantially in the quarter, surging 13% year-over-year and contributing over 60% of our profit based on strong spares and repairs from our systems & support segment across both commercial and military end markets. This more than offset commercial OEM softness.
The aftermarket deliveries on the CH-47 Chinook in Q2 were particularly strong, reflecting the importance of improving fleet readiness and an uncertain geopolitical environment. Notably, we shipped 46 shipsets of T-55 engine FADECs on the Chinook as part of our first wave of a five-year IDIQ program. The program will result in the upgrade of the entire T-55 fleet at a rate of approximately 200 units per year, totaling more than $250 million for the entire upgrade program.
Commercial aftermarket growth was 34%, driven by the rising average fleet age. Commercial aftermarket sales in the quarter included 787 landing gear actuation spares and repairs from our Yakima site, which will benefit from a multi-decade stream of higher-margin 787 spares and repairs.
Triumph generated gross margins of 57% in the aftermarket segment. We expect aftermarket revenue to grow due to the shortage of new aircraft entering the fleet and the emerging 787 landing gear overhaul cycle. As legacy aircraft like the 737NG are extended to fill the slots created by delays in new aircraft deliveries, our spares and repair businesses are well positioned to support the demand.
Our military aftermarket sales benefited from the CH-47 spares and repairs, which carry strong margins in both production and aftermarket, helping to offset the short-term declines in the V-22 actuators overhaul due to temporary flight restrictions on the Osprey fleet. Triumph closed a small IP sale for an end-of-life military program in Q2 as we continue to fine-tune our product and services portfolio.
While backlog growth in quick-turn MRO is not typical, Triumph's total aftermarket backlog worth approximately $100 million is up 12% from the fiscal year-end. This was made possible by significant orders for spares and repairs orders on the 787 landing gear program.
Turning to our OEM results. Military OEM revenues were up across several of the programs in the fiscal second quarter. These sales represented over 20% of our total revenue and contributed a similar amount to our profitability. Military backlog grew 4% in the first half.
Highlights for the quarter included multiple wins on the GE F110 derivative engine for new fuel pump and actuator products and $7 million in new orders for the Global Hawk and Triton gearboxes and $4 million to overhaul AWACS ray dome gearboxes. Befitting our status as the largest independent provider of aerospace gearboxes, Triumph has five new gearboxes that are transitioning to production, including an aircraft mounted accessory drive for the T-7A Red Hawk. And after these gearboxes enter service, they will begin to drive new spares and repairs activities.
Commercial OEM revenues included sales across more than 30 different programs for rotorcraft, regional jets, business jets and commercial fixed-wing platforms, well beyond the Airbus and Boeing narrow-body programs. This end market contributes 40% to our total sales, but only 13% of the company's total profitability in the second quarter. Margin upside potential exists as the market recovers based on operating leverage.
The profit in our commercial OEM end market increased over 60% from the prior year, due to overall improved pricing as well as increased volumes for the 787. We expect this trend will continue as we secure further pricing in the 787 ramps. In addition, Airbus announced aggressive build rates, and they are a top 3 customer for Triumph.
In the commercial OEM end market, we are a supplier on the 737 MAX, the 767 and the 777 programs, which represented just 5% of total sales for the quarter. While our backlog on these Boeing programs declined $60 million since March due to selective pushouts of deliveries beyond 24 months, total backlog for these three programs remains high at $350 million.
Now that Boeing workers are returning to work, we expect growth from Boeing to begin. We continue to make deliveries to Boeing commercial at reduced levels, consistent with their portal demand. And backlog on all other commercial OEM programs has increased almost $40 million, providing alternative production backfill during this period.
Overall, there's a lot to be excited about this quarter as Triumph's four operating companies are firing on all cylinders. Our growing aftermarket segment is benefiting systems, electronics and controls and actuation products and services operating companies. GE LEAP orders are stable, and we are transitioning new gearbox programs into production.
And we reached a positive inflection point within our interiors business because of cost reductions, including reduced labor costs from over 700 job cuts and contract relief including a favorable commercial resolution with Boeing. This commercial resolution will bring the interiors profitability and cash flow in line with or above our full year expectations.
I'd like to touch on our continued efforts to modernize and upgrade our production capabilities in support of our new product technology plans. Triumph's investments in new development labs and test facilities, upgraded machinery and equipment and enhanced IT systems will enable us to deliver on our commitments and engage our customers to solve their most difficult challenges.
On slide 5, we highlight one of our strategic investments, our new thermal solutions development center in West Hartford, Connecticut, which officially opened on October 15. Recall Triumph acquired Fairchild Controls from Airbus Defense and Space 2015, and moved the business from Maryland to West Hartford, Connecticut, leading to cost and efficiency improvements, which will help boost our systems & electronics controls business results.
With the establishment of our new thermal product center, we are responding to emerging requirements from our military customers for both new applications and upgrade programs in special mission pods, high-power electronics and environmental control systems. I want to thank Governor Ned Lamont of Connecticut and the state's congressional delegation for their support of this project without which, this facility would not exist today.
Importantly, the facilities upgraded electrical power system enables us to test high-power pumps and thermal compressors. This will help us bring high-capacity vapor cycle cooling systems to market that will enhance our OEM and aftermarket results. Case in point, the thermal lab will begin testing a new high-capacity thermal compressor for Lockheed Martin in Q3 and has strong interest from other OEMs.
Interest in solutions to address expanding cooling and heat transfer needs has never been higher, including in support of IT data centers. West Hartford's cyber-enabled modular processing system will be the basis for an expanding range of electronic control products and applications. We look forward to providing announcements on this in the future.
Our gears business is developing a family of engine and aircraft-mounted accessory gearboxes, which will be flown on the T-7A, which just flew their first production gearbox in the quarter. Congratulations to the Korean KF-21 team, which received their first order for 20 aircraft in June with the first aircraft to be delivered in 2026. Triumph is currently working to fill those orders of which there will be two AMADs per aircraft. Our actuation business is delivering new smart uplocks to Airbus with embedded sensors to ensure positive up and down lock. Through Q2, we grew backlog 20% in support of this program.
To sum up, our focus on organic growth by expanding our solutions in addressable markets is driving our financial progress towards the targets we set during our September 23 Investor Day.
As noted on slide 6, total backlog continues to rise, up 7% year-over-year to $1.9 billion, as military and other commercial platform growth offset the pushout of narrow-body orders. On the repair side of the business, we were awarded a five-year spares contract for a C-5 main landing gear door actuator and the V-22 Pylon Conversion Actuator MRO package for fiscal '26.
We're also benefiting from our classified program gearboxes, 787 composite ECS ducting, Safran electronic engine controls and Anduril's engine-driven hydraulic pumps as well as the GE F110 derivative main engine fuel pump for the F-15EX. Growth across all our markets, especially aftermarket is encouraging and gives us confidence in our long-range targets.
I want to acknowledge all the dedicated team members of Triumph who make this progress possible. Their work has positioned the company to capitalize on strong demand across a diversified customer base and end markets as we continue to gain share with our new products, MRO services and takeaways. Their engagement, performance and commitment to continuous improvement underpinned Triumph's success.
Jim will now review our financial results.