CTS

CTS · NYSE · Information Technology · Financials, fiscal 2016 to 2025

CTS · Last close · November 6, 2026

$57.87

CTS's revenue rose 5.2% to $541 million in fiscal 2025. Its operating margin was 15.3%, up from 13.8% a year earlier. Free cash flow was $86 million, up 8.5%. It paid out $61 million in dividends and buybacks, 71% of free cash flow. The diluted share count fell 3.0%.

CTS CORPORATION Latest fiscal year ended December 31, 2025 10-K filed February 24, 2026 · 0001193125-26-067039 Updated November 5, 2026

Revenue

$541M

5.2%

Operating margin

15.3%

1.4 pts

Net income

$65M

17.8%

Free cash flow

$86M

8.5%

Return on equity

12.1%

1.6 pts

Market cap

$1.7B

Nov 6 close

P/E

22.9x

On $2.53 EPS, 4 qtrs

Operating margin is operating income as a share of revenue. Free cash flow is cash from operations minus capital spending. Return on equity is net income as a share of shareholders' equity. Market cap is the last closing share price times the latest diluted share count, so it is approximate. P/E is the last close divided by diluted earnings per share over the last four quarters, or the latest fiscal year where the quarters aren't available; there is none when the company made a loss.

Charts show fiscal years, from the 10-K filings.

What CTS does

CTS makes sensors, connectivity components and actuators, which are devices that make things move. It sorts them as Sense, Connect and Move. Sense products include controls, pedals, piezo sensing products, sensors, switches and transducers. Connect products include filters, capacitors, frequency control products and resistors. Move products include piezo microactuators and rotary actuators.

It sells mostly to makers of equipment and to tier one suppliers (companies that supply parts directly to those makers), as well as distributors and the U.S. Government. Its end markets are transportation, industrial, medical and aerospace and defense, and transportation is its largest, though a smaller share than in 2024. It sells mainly through its own sales engineers, and also through independent manufacturers' representatives and distributors.

CTS was established in 1896 and is based in Lisle, Illinois. It runs manufacturing plants in North America, Asia and Europe and has sales offices in China, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Japan, Singapore, Taiwan and the United States.

Its biggest risks, as it describes them

Losing or seeing a big cut in business from a major customer.
Downturns in cyclical industries it sells to.
Tariffs, supply chain limits and inflation, and geopolitical conflict.
Lower end-customer demand, leaving its plants underused.
Contracts that may be suspended, canceled or delayed, and acquisitions that may not work as planned.

From CTS's annual report on Form 10-K, filed February 24, 2026, in our words; the 10-K has the full description and every risk factor. Updated with each new annual report.

Income statement

Revenue and net income

US$ billions, fiscal years; net losses in red. Revenue on the left axis, net income on the right; zero is the same line on both.

Revenue (left axis)Net income (right axis)

Gross profit, R&D and operating income

US$ billions, fiscal years. Gross profit is revenue minus the cost of what was sold; research and development is one of the costs paid from it; what remains after all operating costs is operating income. Losses in red.

Gross profitResearch and developmentOperating income

Margins

Percent of revenue

GrossOperatingNetFree cash flow

From fiscal 2016 to 2025, earnings per share grew 8.7% a year and net income 7.4% a year, as buybacks cut the share count by 11%.

Diluted earnings per share

US$ per share, fiscal years, restated for any stock splits; loss years in red.

Returns on capital

Return on capital and on equity

Percent. Return on capital is after-tax operating income over the money invested in the business (debt plus equity, minus cash); return on equity is net income over shareholders' equity. Both use the average of opening and closing balances.

Return on capitalReturn on equity

Balance sheet

Cash and debt

US$ billions, at each fiscal year end. Debt includes finance leases.

Cash and short-term investmentsDebt

Assets, liabilities and equity

US$ billions, at each fiscal year end. Assets equal liabilities plus equity; negative equity in red.

Total assetsTotal liabilitiesShareholders' equity

Debt and liquidity ratios

Times. Debt to equity, current assets over current liabilities, and net debt over EBITDA (a full year's).

Debt to equityCurrent ratioNet debt to EBITDA

Five years at a glance

Fiscal year end	FY21	FY22	FY23	FY24	FY25
Cash and short-term investments	142	157	164	94	82
Debt incl. finance leases	—	—	—	—	—
Net debt (negative means net cash)	—	—	—	—	—
Net debt to EBITDA	—	—	—	—	—
Debt to equity	—	—	—	—	—
Interest coverage	36.2x	42.4x	22.5x	16.8x	19.2x
Current ratio	2.5x	2.9x	3.3x	2.5x	2.3x
Quick ratio	2.1x	2.3x	2.7x	1.9x	1.8x

US$ millions unless stated, at each fiscal year end. Net debt to EBITDA is debt minus cash, divided by operating income before depreciation and amortization: roughly how many years of those earnings the net debt equals. Debt to equity is debt as a multiple of shareholders' equity. Interest coverage is operating income divided by interest expense. The current ratio is current assets over current liabilities; the quick ratio leaves out inventory.

Cash flow

Cash from operations, capital spending and free cash flow

US$ billions, fiscal years. Free cash flow is cash from operations minus capital spending; negative years in red.

Cash from operationsCapital spendingFree cash flow

Stock-based compensation and buybacks

US$ billions, fiscal years. Shares paid to employees (stock-based compensation, a cost that uses no cash) against cash spent buying shares back. Buybacks that only match it leave the share count roughly where it was.

Stock-based compensationShare buybacks

Dividends and buybacks

US$ billions, cash paid in each fiscal year

DividendsShare buybacks

Diluted share count

Weighted-average diluted shares, millions

Projections

Project CTS's revenue, net income and earnings per share five years ahead in a bull, a base and a bear case with your own figures, and see the share prices your P/E estimates give them, or value it with a discounted cash flow model. Every projected figure is yours: it is not a forecast of ours.

Open CTS's projections

Insider trades

Over the 12 months between November 7, 2025 and November 6, 2026, no insider bought CTS shares on the open market, and 2 insiders sold $9.8 million, all of it under trading plans set up in advance.

Buys and sells by month

US$ millions, open-market purchases (up) and sales (down) by officers, directors and 10% owners in each month.

BoughtSold

Date	Insider	Trade	Shares	Price	Value	Filing
Jun 3, 2026	Kieran M O'SullivanPresident & CEO, Director	Sold plan	22,657	$66.67	$1.5 million	Form 4
Jun 2, 2026	Kieran M O'SullivanPresident & CEO, Director	Sold plan	60,388	$66.26	$4.0 million	Form 4
Jun 1, 2026	Kieran M O'SullivanPresident & CEO, Director	Sold plan	46,955	$63.31	$3.0 million	Form 4
Feb 2, 2026	Ashish AgrawalCFO	Sold plan	25,000	$53.00	$1.3 million	Form 4

Open-market purchases and sales by officers, directors and 10% owners, from their Form 4 filings with the SEC: one row per person, day and filing, at the day's average price. Grants, option exercises and shares withheld for tax aren't counted. Insiders buy and sell for many reasons, such as taxes, spreading their savings or a plan set up months earlier, so a trade on its own says little about where a company is heading. For information only, not investment advice. Insider trades at all companies

Indicators

Four widely used measures, worked out from the company's filings. The cutoffs are the ones their authors or users go by, not a verdict of ours.

Indicator	FY23	FY24	FY25
Piotroski F-score	—	—	—
Rule of 40	7.2%	9.0%	21.1%
Altman Z''	7.88	6.98	7.72
Accruals ratio	−3.8%	−5.7%	−4.8%

Piotroski F-score: how many of nine simple tests of profitability, funding and efficiency the company passed in the year (Piotroski, 2000); 8 or 9 is strong, 0 to 2 weak. Rule of 40: revenue growth plus free cash flow margin; software investors treat 40% or more as the bar. Altman Z'': working capital, retained earnings, operating income and equity weighed against assets and liabilities (Altman, 1995); Altman puts above 2.6 in the safe zone and below 1.1 in the distress zone. Accruals ratio: net income minus cash from operations, over average total assets; lower means profit is backed by cash.

The nine F-score tests

Test	FY23	FY24	FY25
Net income is positive	Pass	Pass	Pass
Cash from operations is positive	Pass	Pass	Pass
Return on assets rose	Fail	Fail	Pass
Cash from operations exceeds net income	Pass	Pass	Pass
Debt fell relative to assets	—	—	—
Current ratio rose	Pass	Fail	Fail
Share count didn't rise	Pass	Pass	Pass
Gross margin rose	Fail	Pass	Pass
Revenue rose relative to assets	Fail	Fail	Pass
F-score	—	—	—

Companies that report no gross profit are scored on the other eight.

Compare

Put CTS side by side with any other company we cover: revenue, growth, margins, cash flow and returns, with ten years of charts.

Similar companies

Company	Year	Revenue growth	Operating margin	Free cash flow margin	Return on capital	Net debt to EBITDA	F-score	Compare
CTS	FY25	5.2%	15.3%	16.0%	—	—	—
IPG Photonics	FY25	2.7%	1.3%	−0.3%	0.8%	−10.5x	7	Compare
Kimball Electronics	FY26	−3.7%	4.6%	1.4%	5.6%	0.3x	8	Compare
Benchmark Electronics	FY25	0.1%	2.9%	3.3%	3.7%	−0.9x	6	Compare
TTM Technologies	FY25	19.0%	9.1%	−0.0%	10.7%	1.1x	7	Compare

Each company's latest fiscal year. Fiscal years end in different months, so the periods don't line up exactly. Free cash flow margin is free cash flow as a share of revenue. Net debt to EBITDA is explained under the balance sheet, and the F-score under Indicators.

10 years of figures

Fiscal year	FY16	FY17	FY18	FY19	FY20	FY21	FY22	FY23	FY24	FY25
Income statement
Revenue	397	423	470	469	424	513	587	550	515	541
Revenue growth	3.8%	6.6%	11.2%	−0.3%	−9.6%	20.9%	14.4%	−6.2%	−6.5%	5.2%
Gross profit	140	140	165	158	139	185	210	191	188	208
Research and development	24	25	25	26	24	24	24	25	23	25
Operating income	63	38	61	54	45	76	93	75	71	83
Net income	34	14	46	36	35	−42	60	60	56	65
Diluted EPS (US$)	1.03	0.43	1.39	1.09	1.06	−1.30	1.85	1.92	1.81	2.19
Diluted shares (millions)	33	33	34	33	33	32	32	32	31	30
Cash flow
Cash from operations	47	58	58	64	77	86	121	89	98	102
Capital expenditure	20	18	28	22	15	16	14	15	19	16
Free cash flow	27	40	30	43	62	70	107	74	80	86
Dividends paid	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5
Share buybacks	0	0	9	12	8	9	21	41	43	56
Acquisitions	73	19	0	74	8	0	97	3	122	0
Stock-based compensation	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Balance sheet at fiscal year end
Cash and short-term investments	114	114	101	100	92	142	157	164	94	82
Debt incl. finance leases	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Total assets	518	540	548	643	626	664	748	741	765	764
Total liabilities	200	196	170	238	202	201	242	214	237	212
Shareholders' equity	318	344	378	405	424	464	506	527	528	552
Margins and ratios
Gross margin	35.4%	33.2%	35.1%	33.6%	32.8%	36.0%	35.9%	34.7%	36.4%	38.4%
Operating margin	15.9%	9.1%	13.0%	11.5%	10.6%	14.9%	15.8%	13.6%	13.8%	15.3%
Net margin	8.7%	3.4%	9.9%	7.7%	8.2%	−8.2%	10.2%	11.0%	10.8%	12.1%
Free cash flow margin	6.7%	9.4%	6.3%	9.1%	14.6%	13.7%	18.2%	13.5%	15.5%	16.0%
Rule of 40 (growth + FCF margin)	10.5%	16.1%	17.5%	8.8%	5.0%	34.7%	32.6%	7.2%	9.0%	21.1%
Return on capital	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Return on equity	11.5%	4.4%	12.9%	9.2%	8.4%	−9.4%	12.3%	11.7%	10.5%	12.1%
Return on assets	6.9%	2.7%	8.6%	6.1%	5.5%	−6.5%	8.4%	8.1%	7.4%	8.5%
Net debt to EBITDA	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—

US$ millions unless stated. Where a later 10-K restated a year, the latest filed figure is shown. Download all figures (CSV, US$ millions)

Source: CTS's Form 10-K filings, from SEC EDGAR. For information only, not investment advice. The Filing Desk is not affiliated with CTS.