Stocks · Industrials · Aerospace & Defense
Hexcel Corporation HXL
$86.41 -0.38% Close, Oct 2, 2026 · NYSE · Market cap $6.53B
Strong growth
Next earnings report: Oct 21, 2026
Scroll or pinch to zoom, drag to move. Daily prices adjusted for splits. Markers: E = earnings (green beat, red miss), S = split, D = dividend.
Three things to know
- Diluted EPS over the last four quarters was $1.99, up 85.8% year over year.
- Earnings beat analyst estimates in each of the last 5 quarters (average surprise over the last four: +15.1%).
- The diluted share count fell 5.1% in a year, mainly through buybacks.
PromtFinance scores
Each score is a percentile within the Industrials sector (0–100). Under each score: how the stock ranks in its sector on every component. As of Oct 5, 2026.
Growth80Strong
How fast revenue, earnings and cash flow are growing.
- Revenue growth (TTM, YoY)Bottom 38%
- EPS growth (TTM, YoY)Top 15%
- FCF growth (TTM, YoY)Top 19%
- Revenue growth, 3-year CAGRTop 43%
- Revenue growth accelerationTop 37%
Quality68Positive
Returns on capital, margins, earnings quality and balance-sheet strength.
- Return on invested capitalTop 36%
- Gross marginBottom 39%
- Operating marginTop 31%
- Cash conversion (OCF / net income)Top 29%
- Accruals (lower is better)Top 29%
- Net debt / EBITDA (lower is better)Bottom 41%
- Interest coverTop 43%
Value53Neutral
How cheap the shares are relative to earnings, cash flow and their own history.
- Earnings yieldBottom 46%
- Free-cash-flow yieldTop 35%
- EBITDA / enterprise valueBottom 40%
- Sales / enterprise valueBottom 29%
- P/E vs own 5-year history (lower is better)Top 24%
Momentum61Neutral
Strength and persistence of the price trend, including versus the S&P 500.
- 12-month return excluding last monthTop 21%
- 6-month returnTop 42%
- 1-year return vs S&P 500Top 29%
- Distance from 52-week highTop 44%
- Trend checklist (0–4)Bottom 40%
Revisions65Positive
Earnings surprises and analyst sentiment (estimate-revision history is being collected).
- Average EPS surprise, last 4 quartersTop 28%
- Consecutive EPS beatsTop 24%
- Share of analysts rating BuyBottom 32%
- Upside to consensus price targetBottom 48%
Stability65Positive
Low volatility, shallow drawdowns, low market sensitivity and modest leverage.
- Volatility, 60 days (lower is better)Top 15%
- Maximum drawdown, 3 yearsTop 29%
- Beta vs S&P 500 (lower is better)Bottom 45%
- Net debt / EBITDA (lower is better)Bottom 41%
What changed
Latest four quarters versus the same period a year earlier (growth: versus one quarter earlier).
| Measure | Before | Now | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue growth (YoY) | 2.4% | 5.0% | ↑ |
| EPS growth (YoY) | 1.3% | 85.8% | ↑ |
| Gross margin | 23.4% | 24.5% | ↑ |
| Operating margin | 7.2% | 11.5% | ↑ |
| FCF margin | 9.1% | 15.3% | ↑ |
Fundamental momentum
| Measure | Now (TTM) | Year / quarter before | Sector rank | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue growth (TTM, YoY) | 5.0% | 2.4% | ↑ | Bottom 38% |
| EPS growth (TTM, YoY) | 85.8% | 1.3% | ↑ | Top 15% |
| Gross margin | 24.5% | 23.4% | ↑ | Bottom 39% |
| Operating margin | 11.5% | 7.2% | ↑ | Top 31% |
| Net margin | 7.8% | 4.7% | ↑ | — |
| Free-cash-flow margin | 15.3% | 9.1% | ↑ | — |
| Return on invested capital | 7.9% | — | Top 36% | |
| Revenue growth, 3-year CAGR | 6.3% | — | Top 43% |
Quality of earnings and balance sheet
- Cash conversion (OCF / net income)Above 1× means profits are backed by cash.
- 2.17×
- Accruals (net income − OCF) / assetsLower is better; high accruals can signal weaker earnings quality.
- -6.6%
- Stock-based compensation / revenueA cost to shareholders through dilution.
- 0.8%
- Receivables growth vs revenue growthReceivables growing much faster than sales can be a warning.
- -9.2 pp
- Net debt / EBITDABelow 1× is conservative; above 3× is high leverage.
- 2.53×
- Interest cover (operating income / interest)How many times operating profit covers interest.
- 5.1×
Shareholder returns
- Dividend yield (dividends paid, TTM)
- 0.82%
- Net buyback yield (TTM)
- 5.34%
- Shareholder yield
- 6.16%
- Share count change, 1 year
- -5.1%
- Share count change, 3-year CAGR
- -3.7%
Shareholder yield = dividends + net buybacks over the last four quarters, divided by market cap.
Based on the four quarters through Jun 30, 2026 (filed Jul 29, 2026).
Earnings and expectations
Earnings momentum
- Consecutive EPS beats
- 5
- Beats in the last 8 reports
- 6 of 8
- Average EPS surprise, last 4
- +15.1%
- Average 2-day reaction, last 8
- -1.0%
- Positive 20 days after report
- 4 of 8
Analysts
- Consensus price target
- $111.29
- Target vs current price
- +28.8%
- Analysts with a rating
- 36
- Share rating Buy or Strong Buy
- 47%
- Consensus rating
- Hold
How the stock reacted to recent reports
| Report date | EPS surprise | 2 days | 5 days | 20 days | 60 days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 29, 2026 | +15.0% | -4.0% | -5.4% | -14.9% | — |
| Apr 22, 2026 | +36.6% | -0.0% | +6.7% | +1.3% | +19.1% |
| Jan 28, 2026 | +6.3% | -1.6% | +1.7% | +13.7% | +12.0% |
| Oct 22, 2025 | +2.4% | -0.6% | +13.3% | +11.9% | +28.8% |
| Jul 24, 2025 | +25.0% | -0.4% | -2.6% | -3.0% | -2.2% |
| Apr 21, 2025 | -14.0% | -3.1% | -3.5% | +4.9% | +13.2% |
| Jan 22, 2025 | +0.0% | +0.0% | -2.4% | -5.1% | -23.9% |
| Oct 21, 2024 | +2.2% | +1.4% | -0.3% | -5.1% | +6.5% |
Returns from the close before each report. Past reactions do not determine future ones.
Earnings history
| Report date | EPS | Estimate | Surprise | Revenue |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 29, 2026 | $0.66 | $0.57 | +15.0% | $529.3M |
| Apr 22, 2026 | $0.59 | $0.43 | +36.6% | $501.5M |
| Jan 28, 2026 | $0.52 | $0.49 | +6.3% | $491.3M |
| Oct 22, 2025 | $0.37 | $0.36 | +2.4% | $456.2M |
| Jul 24, 2025 | $0.60 | $0.48 | +25.0% | $489.9M |
| Apr 21, 2025 | $0.37 | $0.43 | -14.0% | $456.5M |
| Jan 22, 2025 | $0.52 | $0.52 | +0.0% | $473.8M |
| Oct 21, 2024 | $0.47 | $0.46 | +2.2% | $456.5M |
Valuation in context
| Multiple | Now | 5-year median | 5-year percentile | Sector rank (cheapness) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| P/E (trailing) | 43.4× | 53.1× | 26th | Bottom 46% |
| P/E (forward) | 36.0× | — | — | — |
| EV / EBITDA | 21.0× | — | — | Bottom 40% |
| EV / Sales | 3.77× | — | — | Bottom 29% |
| Free-cash-flow yield | 4.61% | — | — | Top 35% |
| Earnings yield | 2.30% | — | — | Bottom 46% |
P/E over the past five years
Range 33.6× – 286.5× since Dec 31, 2021. Each point: price on the filing date divided by trailing-twelve-month EPS known then.
What moved the stock over the past year
- Price return, 1 year
- +35.0%
- Earnings per share growth (TTM)
- +85.8%
- Change in P/E multiple
- -8.9%
Most of the move came from earnings growth.
Technical state
Trend checklist
- ✗ Price above 20-day average
- ✗ Price above 50-day average
- ✗ Price above 200-day average
- ✓ 50-day average above 200-day
- ✓ MACD histogram positive
Trend quality
- Days above the 50-day average
- 0
- Days above the 200-day average
- 0
- 50-day average slope (20 days)
- -5.3%
- 200-day average slope (20 days)
- +1.6%
- Distance from 50-day average
- -9.2%
- Distance from 200-day average
- -3.8%
- RSI (14)
- 38.7
- Relative volume
- 1.12×
Risk and drawdowns
- Volatility, 60 days (annualized)
- 26.5%
- Volatility vs own 5-year history
- 24th percentile · Normal for this stock
- Beta vs S&P 500 (2 years, weekly)
- 1.10
- Correlation with S&P 500
- 0.53
- Current drawdown from 1-year high
- -21.6%
- Maximum drawdown, 3 years
- -38.4%
Largest declines in the past six years
| From peak | To low | Decline | Length | Recovery |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 12, 2023 | Apr 8, 2025 | -39.1% | 437 days | 168 days (Dec 8, 2025) |
| Jun 24, 2021 | Dec 16, 2021 | -25.7% | 122 days | 278 days (Jan 26, 2023) |
| Jul 24, 2026 | Sep 30, 2026 | -23.9% | 47 days | Not yet recovered |
| Dec 3, 2020 | Jan 29, 2021 | -22.0% | 38 days | 17 days (Feb 24, 2021) |
| Mar 17, 2021 | May 12, 2021 | -21.2% | 39 days | 30 days (Jun 24, 2021) |
Declines of 10% or more from a closing high, measured on daily closes.
Financial statements
- Market cap
- $6.53B
- P/E (TTM)
- 43.4
- EPS, diluted (TTM)
- $1.99
- Revenue (TTM)
- $1.97B
- Dividend yield
- 0.82%
- 52-week range
- $60.82 – $111.74
| FY 2021 | FY 2022 | FY 2023 | FY 2024 | FY 2025 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $1.32B | $1.58B | $1.79B | $1.90B | $1.89B |
| Gross profit | $250.1M | $357.1M | $433.2M | $469.8M | $434.8M |
| Operating income | $51.8M | $175.2M | $215.3M | $186.1M | $171.6M |
| Net income | $16.1M | $126.3M | $105.7M | $132.1M | $109.4M |
| EPS (diluted) | $0.19 | $1.49 | $1.24 | $1.59 | $1.37 |
| Q3 2024 | Q4 2024 | Q1 2025 | Q2 2025 | Q3 2025 | Q4 2025 | Q1 2026 | Q2 2026 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $456.5M | $473.8M | $456.5M | $489.9M | $456.2M | $491.3M | $494.6M | $529.3M |
| Net income | $39.8M | $5.8M | $28.9M | $13.5M | $20.6M | $46.4M | $37.2M | $49.3M |
| EPS (diluted) | $0.48 | $0.07 | $0.35 | $0.17 | $0.26 | $0.60 | $0.49 | $0.64 |
| FY 2021 | FY 2022 | FY 2023 | FY 2024 | FY 2025 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operating cash flow | $151.7M | $173.1M | $257.1M | $289.9M | $230.5M |
| Capital expenditure | -$27.9M | -$76.3M | -$108.2M | -$87.0M | $76.7M |
| Free cash flow | $123.8M | $96.8M | $148.9M | $202.9M | $307.2M |
| Dividends paid | $0 | -$33.7M | -$42.2M | -$49.3M | -$53.9M |
| Net share buybacks | $0 | $0 | -$30.1M | -$252.2M | -$454.3M |
Cash outflows are shown as negative numbers.
- Cash and short-term investments
- $62.2M
- Total assets
- $2.73B
- Total liabilities
- $1.43B
- Total debt
- $959.4M
- Net debt
- $897.2M
- Shareholders’ equity
- $1.30B
As of Jun 30, 2026 (filed Jul 29, 2026).
Dividends
| Ex-date | Amount | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Aug 10, 2026 | $0.18 | Aug 17, 2026 |
| May 4, 2026 | $0.18 | May 11, 2026 |
| Feb 9, 2026 | $0.18 | Feb 17, 2026 |
| Nov 3, 2025 | $0.17 | Nov 10, 2025 |
| Aug 8, 2025 | $0.17 | Aug 15, 2025 |
| May 2, 2025 | $0.17 | May 9, 2025 |
| Feb 7, 2025 | $0.17 | Feb 14, 2025 |
| Nov 1, 2024 | $0.15 | Nov 8, 2024 |
Short interest
- Shares sold short
- 4,390,752
- Days to cover
- 5.84
- Change vs previous report
- +23.7%
FINRA short interest, settlement date Sep 15, 2026.
Stock splits
- May 23, 1988
- 3-for-2
- Oct 25, 1978
- 4-for-3
- Jun 28, 1976
- 5-for-4