Acuity Q4 EPS Jumps 56% as Fiscal-Year Sales Reach $4.6 Billion

Acuity Inc. said fourth-quarter diluted earnings per share jumped 56.0% from a year earlier to $5.63, as the industrial technology group closed fiscal 2026 with sales of $4.642 billion and a sharp improvement in operating profit. Fourth-quarter net sales rose 2.9% to about $1.25 billion, while full-year diluted EPS increased 36.1% to $17.05.

The Atlanta-based company also reported stronger adjusted results and cash generation. Adjusted diluted EPS rose 11.0% in the quarter to $5.77, and operating cash flow for the fiscal year climbed to $825.6 million from $601.4 million in fiscal 2025. The results point to a business that is still getting most of its growth from Acuity Intelligent Spaces, even as its larger lighting segment remains the main profit engine.

Quarterly profit improved faster than sales

In its fiscal 2026 fourth-quarter and full-year earnings release, Acuity said operating profit for the quarter rose 25.7% to $227.0 million. Operating profit margin expanded to 18.2% of net sales from 14.9% a year earlier. On an adjusted basis, operating profit increased 3.4% to $232.9 million, and adjusted operating margin edged up to 18.7% from 18.6%.

The gap between the jump in GAAP earnings and the slower increase in adjusted earnings reflected several one-time items. Acuity said it received $44.9 million of tariff refunds during the quarter, which it excluded from its non-GAAP results. It also recorded $17.8 million of special charges, including $14.7 million tied to product portfolio, supply chain and operating-footprint initiatives in Acuity Brands Lighting and another $3.1 million linked to a facility impairment in Acuity Intelligent Spaces.

Those items help explain why diluted EPS advanced much more quickly than sales. Quarterly revenue increased by $35.3 million from the prior-year period, but operating leverage and the mix of charges and refunds pushed net profitability much higher. Adjusted diluted EPS, which strips out those non-GAAP items, still showed double-digit growth, suggesting the company improved underlying profitability even without the tariff benefit.

Acuity Intelligent Spaces remained the main growth driver

The results again showed a split between Acuity’s two operating segments. Acuity Brands Lighting, the legacy lighting business that still produces most of the company’s revenue, generated fourth-quarter sales of $958.7 million, down 0.4% from a year earlier. Even so, ABL operating profit rose 3.2% to $188.8 million, and its operating margin improved to 19.7% from 19.0%.

Acuity Intelligent Spaces delivered the faster top-line growth. Fourth-quarter AIS sales increased 16.6% to $297.6 million, while operating profit more than doubled to $64.7 million from $28.0 million a year earlier. Its operating margin widened to 21.7% from 11.0%, showing that the smaller segment is becoming a more meaningful contributor to consolidated earnings rather than just revenue growth.

That pattern held across the full fiscal year. ABL posted sales of $3.6 billion for fiscal 2026, down 1.0% from fiscal 2025, while AIS generated $1.1 billion of sales, up 44.8%. Full-year AIS operating profit climbed 145.1% to $186.5 million, and adjusted operating profit rose 55.2% to $255.0 million. By contrast, ABL remained the larger earnings base, with full-year operating profit of $623.5 million and an operating margin of 17.4%.

The mix shift matters because it helps explain how Acuity produced full-year companywide sales growth of 6.8% even though the lighting business slipped on an annual basis. It also shows why management keeps highlighting the expansion of Acuity Intelligent Spaces alongside efforts to strengthen the lighting segment. AIS is still the smaller business, but its growth rate is large enough to shape the company’s overall direction.

Full-year cash flow strengthened as Acuity heads into fiscal 2027

For the full fiscal year ended Aug. 31, Acuity reported operating profit of $713.7 million, up 26.6% from fiscal 2025. Adjusted operating profit increased 7.8% to $828.7 million, and adjusted operating margin reached 17.9%, up 20 basis points from a year earlier. The company said full-year adjusted diluted EPS rose to $19.90 from $18.01.

Cash generation also improved. Net cash provided by operating activities rose 37.3% to $825.6 million, while capital expenditures totaled $77.7 million. That left free cash flow, as defined by the company, at $747.9 million, up 40.3% from $533.0 million in fiscal 2025. Stronger cash flow gives Acuity more room to keep investing in operations, product development and strategic priorities while maintaining financial flexibility.

Acuity also furnished the results to the Securities and Exchange Commission on Form 8-K, providing investors with the detailed release as Exhibit 99.1. The company did not use the earnings announcement to lay out formal fiscal 2027 guidance in the materials reviewed for this story, so the headline takeaway remained the combination of modest overall sales growth, sharply higher reported earnings and a continued shift toward Intelligent Spaces.

Management is scheduled to discuss the quarter on a conference call at 8:00 a.m. Eastern time on Thursday. That call should give investors a clearer read on whether the margin gains, AIS momentum and cash-flow improvement seen in fiscal 2026 can continue into the new fiscal year.