Woodward Inc. Reports Strong Q2 2025 Performance: Aerospace Plants Gain Ground, Lean Transformation Continues to Pay Dividends
Woodward Inc., a leading global aerospace and industrial company, reported strong performance in its second quarter of fiscal year 2025, with net sales up 6% year-over-year and adjusted earnings per share up 4%. The results reflect steady growth despite headwinds from China on-highway volume and mix.
Speaking during the company's Q2 2025 earnings call, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Chip Blankenship highlighted Woodward's strong performance in the quarter. "We are pleased to report strong performance in the second quarter, with results in line with our expectations," he said. "Woodward's net sales were up 6% year-over-year, adjusted earnings per share were up 4%, reflecting steady growth despite headwinds from China on-highway volume and mix."
Blankenship emphasized that excluding China on-highway, the company posted revenue up 12% and operating earnings up 22%. "These results are a testament to the outstanding efforts of our Onward team members worldwide even as we operate in a challenging and uncertain environment," he added.
The company's aerospace plants continue to gain ground, with significant month-over-month sales growth at some of its facilities. For example, the combination of Woodward's two plants in Rockford, Bus Park and Rock Cut, achieved record sales to OE and services customers combined, facilitated by accelerated onboarding of new frontline members and model line transformations reaching new levels of performance.
Additionally, Woodward's Zeeland plant also reached new levels of output in the quarter on total fuel shipments. Thanks to continued growth in GTF, OE and service volumes, LEAP and GTF maintenance cycle continues to develop, with LRU inputs and return shipments to customers doubling again year-over-year in the second quarter.
In Smart Defense, Woodward made significant progress on its challenges with supplier quality, enabling it to align production rates to customer demand. The company's lean transformation has created the capacity and forward momentum to deliver on aerospace volume commitments in the second half of the year.
Looking ahead, Blankenship noted that despite concerns around soft forward bookings in the U.S. and some international routes, passenger traffic continues to grow, and OEM build rates continue to increase. Woodward remains bullish on its outlook for the aerospace market, expecting substantial growth continue in defense OE driven mainly by Smart Defense.
In Industrial, Woodward also achieved operations improvements that translated into financial performance. The company increased output by 20% to 50% in various gas turbine systems value streams to support customers' power generation growth plans through leading transformation efforts on its model lines and with select equipment additions for capacity and efficiency improvements.
