Back to top

Image: Bigstock

CLS Stock Before Q2 Earnings: A Smart Buy or Risky Investment?

Read MoreHide Full Article

Key Takeaways

  • CLS has a solid track record of earnings surprises and is showing positive estimate momentum for 2025.
  • Strong AI demand and launches like the ES1500 switch are boosting CLS's CCS segment growth.
  • Despite macro headwinds, CLS benefits from product diversity and broad industry reach.

Celestica, Inc. (CLS - Free Report) is scheduled to report second-quarter 2025 earnings on July 28. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for sales and earnings is pegged at $2.67 billion and $1.24 per share, respectively. Earnings estimates for CLS have moved up 0.4% for 2025 and have remained unchanged for 2026, over the past 60 days.

Zacks Investment Research
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Earnings Surprise History

The leading electronics manufacturing services firm has had a solid earnings surprise history in the trailing four quarters, exceeding earnings expectations on most occasions. It delivered a four-quarter earnings surprise of 7.43%, on average.

Zacks Investment Research
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Earnings Whispers

Our proven model predicts a likely earnings beat for Celestica for the second quarter. The combination of a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy), or 3 (Hold) increases the chances of an earnings beat. That is exactly the case here. 

You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they’re reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.

Celestica currently has an ESP of +0.81% with a Zacks Rank #2. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Factors Shaping Upcoming Results

During the quarter, Celestica introduced ES1500, a state-of-the-art enterprise access switch, offering up to 48 ports with 2.5 gigabit Ethernet per port speed. 90W power over Ethernet for connected devices ensures greater scalability and flexibility. As modern IT infrastructure becomes more complex with high-density IoT deployments, cloud application companies across industries are looking for ways to optimize their capital and operational expenditure. With high-speed, scalable ports and compact design, Celestica’s ES1500 switch is well equipped to meet these criteria.

Celestica’s DS4100, a 1U 800G per port top-of-rack, leaf/spine switch, is also gaining traction. The solution, powered by Broadcom’s TH4-12.8T switch chipset, effectively supports the high-bandwidth demands of data center networking. These factors are expected to have driven net sales in the Connectivity & Cloud Solutions segment. However, the company is witnessing demand softness in the Advanced Technology Solutions vertical. Elevated inventory levels in some end markets are hindering growth.

Price Performance

Over the past year, CLS has surged 193.8% compared with the industry’s growth of 93.8%. It has also outperformed its peers like Sanmina Corporation (SANM - Free Report) and Jabil Inc. (JBL - Free Report) over this period. Sanmina has gained 37.7% and Jabil is up 98.8% over this period.

Zacks Investment Research
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Key Valuation Metric

From a valuation standpoint, Celestica appears to be trading at a premium relative to the industry and is trading above its mean. Going by the price/earnings ratio, the company’s shares currently trade at 27.88 forward earnings, higher than 21.73 for the industry and the stock’s mean of 20.9.

Zacks Investment Research
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Investment Considerations

Operating as one of the largest electronic manufacturing service companies in the world, Celestica offers a comprehensive portfolio catering to varied requirements of several industries, including communication, healthcare, aerospace and defense, energy, semiconductor and various cloud-based and other service providers. Moreover, the company is always enhancing its manufacturing, engineering, design, quality and supply-chain capabilities while developing trusted relationships with leading customers.

Growing proliferation of AI-based applications and generative AI tools is driving demand for Celestica’s enterprise-level data communications and information processing infrastructure products, such as routers, switches, data center interconnects and edge solutions. Moreover, Celestica’s approach of collaborating with several industry leaders, such as Advanced Micro Devices and Broadcom, to expand portfolio offerings augurs well for long-term growth. Management expects that growing demand for its 400G switch products and 800G switch products will be a major growth driver in the upcoming quarters.

Celestica is gaining ground in the AI data center infrastructure. However, Jabil is also aggressively expanding its presence in this vertical. It is investing $500 million in the Southeast United States to increase its manufacturing capacity. Jabil’s strategy can pose a challenge to Celestica’s ambition in the AI data center domain. The company is also facing competition from Sanmina in defense and AI infrastructure spaces.

End Note

Celestica stock’s premium valuation is a concern. Dynamic macro environment, owing to trade policy uncertainty, is a headwind.

However, its strong focus on product diversification and increasing presence in high-value markets is a positive factor. CLS boasts a diverse customer base from multiple sectors, which enhances business resilience by reducing reliance on a single industry and minimizing the effects on financial results from an economic downturn in one specific sector. Its strong liquidity and healthy cashflow underscore efficient capital management. With a Zacks Rank #2 and upward estimate revision, Celestica appears to be primed for further stock price appreciation.


See More Zacks Research for These Tickers


Normally $25 each - click below to receive one report FREE:


Jabil, Inc. (JBL) - free report >>

Celestica, Inc. (CLS) - free report >>

Sanmina Corporation (SANM) - free report >>

Published in