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OSK changes

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View the full Oct 31, 2026 version
Price
$128.71 → $139.94(+8.7%)
Next earnings
Oct 29, 2026 → Jan 29, 2027
Next earnings is estimate
No → Yes
About
Oshkosh designs and builds special vehicles and equipment. It reports three segments: Access, Vocational and Transport. Access sells JLG and SkyTrak aerial work platforms and telehandlers, mainly to equipment rental companies. Vocational sells fire trucks under the Pierce brand, airport vehicles, refuse and recycling trucks under the McNeilus brand, and concrete mixers. Transport builds military trucks for the US Army and allies and the Next Generation Delivery Vehicle (NGDV) for the US Postal Service. Oshkosh makes money from the sale of vehicles, parts and service. Sales were removed: $2.92 added: $2.84 billion in removed: Q2 added: Q3 2026, and its backlog was removed: $14.75 added: $15.1 billion on removed: June added: September 30, 2026.
Thesis
The market prices Oshkosh for lower profits that will be slow to recover. Its operating margin fell to removed: 8.3% added: 6.9% in removed: Q2 added: Q3 2026 from removed: 10.7% added: 9.7% a year earlier. removed: Tariffs raised material costs, Access sold a less profitable mix, added: Oshkosh is changing how its Pierce plants build fire trucks, and removed: the new NGDV postal truck still earns a low margin. added: output fell instead of rising. Fire truck removed: plants also produce more slowly added: production in Q3 2026 was lower than removed: planned, so added: a year earlier and than in added: Q2 2026. In July removed: 2026 added: 2026, Oshkosh cut its 2026 removed: GAAP added: adjusted EPS outlook to about removed: $10.50 from $10.90. added: $11.00, and on October 29, 2026 it cut it again, to $8.50 to $9.50. The NGDV postal truck still earns a low margin, and the low end of the outlook assumes that the Postal Service gives no new NGDV order in 2026. Investors doubt that Oshkosh can turn its large backlog into profit. For the gap to close, three things must be true. Fire truck output must rise each removed: quarter, added: quarter from Q4 2026, as removed: management expects with its added: the new removed: process changes. added: high-flow lines start to work. Management expects these lines to build 25% to 30% more fire trucks than in 2025 once they run fully. Access must turn its added: record backlog of removed: $1.96 billion, 64.7% higher than a year earlier, added: $2.7 billion into sales with removed: better price and cost. added: good margins. Transport margins must rise as NGDV output removed: grows. Management also expects Q4 2026 to be stronger than Q3 added: grows, and the removed: momentum to carry into 2027. added: Postal Service must keep ordering NGDV trucks. The removed: Q3 report on October 29, 2026, is the first test, and the Q4 report and the 2027 removed: outlook added: outlook, expected in added: late January or early removed: 2027 added: February 2027, are the removed: second. added: next test. If removed: margins recover as planned, added: fire truck output recovers in 2027, the gap can close over the next four to removed: six added: eight quarters. added: If the production problems last, the gap can stay longer.
Risks
Fire truck production removed: rises more slowly than planned added: fell in Q3 2026 because Oshkosh is changing its manufacturing removed: process. Further added: process, and Oshkosh cut its 2026 outlook twice. The CEO calls it a near-term issue, but further delays can cut profits again and keep the large fire truck backlog from turning into sales. Tariffs raise material costs. In Q2 2026, higher material costs, mainly from tariffs, cut the Access gross margin by 230 basis points, and price increases did not cover all of it. Access sales depend on construction and on the spending of equipment rental companies. Data center and megaproject demand is strong now, but a slower construction market can reduce orders. The NGDV and defense contracts have fixed prices. Cost increases or slower production can keep Transport margins low, as in removed: Q2 added: Q3 2026 at removed: 2.9% added: 1.5% of sales. added: Oshkosh needs a new NGDV order from the Postal Service, and without one in 2026 its EPS can be up to $0.50 lower.
Balance sheet
Cash: removed: $404M added: $558M Debt: $1.1B Net debt: removed: $701M added: $545M Interest cover: removed: 5.4× added: 5.7× Undrawn credit line: $1.6B, to March 2031 Debt due within 12 months: removed: $502M added: $500M Last debt due: 2030 Oshkosh has little debt for its size. At removed: June added: September 30, 2026, it had removed: $403.6 added: $558.0 million of cash. Debt was $1.1 billion: $300 million of 4.600% senior notes due May 2028, $300 million of 3.100% senior notes due March 2030, a $500 million term loan due March removed: 2027 at 4.55%, added: 2027, and small other debt. The term loan is the debt due within 12 months. removed: In March 2026, Oshkosh removed: signed added: has a removed: new $1.60 billion revolving credit facility that ends in March 2031, removed: and it had added: with no borrowings removed: under it added: and $1.58 billion available on removed: June added: September 30, 2026. Interest cover is operating income divided by interest expense for the first removed: half added: nine months of 2026. The covenants allow debt of up to 3.75 times EBITDA. Customer advances of removed: $2.06 added: $2.08 billion, mainly for fire trucks and defense vehicles, also fund part of the working capital. added: Operating cash flow was $533.2 million in the first nine months of 2026, and Oshkosh added: expects $780 million to $880 million for the year. It bought back removed: $91.6 added: $82.4 million of shares in removed: Q2 added: Q3 2026. As of removed: Jun added: Sep 30, 2026.
Checkpoints
Oct 29, 2026: Q3 2026 results: fire truck output and margins. removed: Pending. added: Failed. Watch: Higher fire truck deliveries than in Q2 and a 2026 outlook kept near adjusted EPS of $11.00 pass; another cut to the outlook fails. removed: Feb added: Outcome: Fire truck production fell from Q2 2026, and Oshkosh cut its 2026 adjusted EPS outlook to $8.50 to $9.50 from about $11.00. Jan 29, 2027 (estimate): Q4 2026 results and 2027 outlook. Pending. Watch: removed: A added: Higher fire truck output in Q4 removed: stronger than added: in Q3, removed: as management expects, added: 2026 adjusted EPS within $8.50 to $9.50 and a 2027 outlook with higher removed: margins added: EPS pass; removed: a weak Q4 added: another cut, lower fire truck output or a 2027 outlook with lower removed: EPS added: margins fails.
Recent events
Oct added: 29, 2026: Oshkosh reported Q3 2026 results. Sales rose 5.7% to $2.84 billion, but operating income fell 24.3% to $197.1 million. EPS was $2.22, and adjusted EPS was $2.41, down from $3.20. Fire truck production fell from Q2 2026 because of problems with the new production process. Access sales rose 20.7%, and Access orders of $2.0 billion raised its backlog to $2.7 billion. Oshkosh cut its 2026 outlook to adjusted EPS of $8.50 to $9.50, from about $11.00, and to sales of about $11.0 billion. The low end assumes no new NGDV order in 2026. Oct 15, 2026: Oshkosh said that it will report its Q3 2026 results on October 29, 2026. Oct 5, 2026: Oshkosh Defense received a second order for the Royal Moroccan Armed Forces of 50 Heavy Equipment Transporter tractors and 50 heavy-duty trailers. Jul 28, 2026: Oshkosh reported Q2 2026 results. Sales rose 6.7% to $2.92 billion, but operating income fell 16.6% to $243.2 million. EPS was $2.92, and adjusted EPS was $2.87, down from $3.41. Access orders were $1.5 billion. Oshkosh lowered its 2026 outlook to GAAP EPS of about $10.50 and adjusted EPS of about $11.00, on sales of about $11.2 billion, because fire truck output will rise more slowly than planned. May 8, 2026: Oshkosh reported Q1 2026 results. Sales were flat at $2.32 billion, and adjusted EPS fell to $0.85 from $1.92. Fire truck deliveries were below plan. Oshkosh kept its 2026 outlook.