New York, February 13, 2026, 16:13 EST — Spotlight turns to the after-hours session.
- Howmet Aerospace wrapped up Friday with a gain of about 2.2%, closing at $250.07.
- Following the update, investors focused sharply on the profit forecast and how much cash the company intends to give back.
- Traders are watching for the timing on Howmet’s CAM deal, and gauging what sector momentum looks like in the short run.
Howmet Aerospace finished Friday’s session at $250.07, up about 2.2%. Shares traded between $243.26 and $255.56 through the day, with volume near 2.5 million.
Investors are taking notice, pouring cash into aerospace suppliers making the most of higher build rates and strong aftermarket demand. Howmet, for its part, expects adjusted first-quarter earnings to land between $1.09 and $1.11 a share—well above the $1.02 consensus from Investing.com. CEO John Plant points to a “record OEM backlog stretching into the next decade.” Adjusted numbers exclude those special items. As for free cash flow, that’s what remains after capex gets covered. Investing.com
Traders also showed some appetite for the sector. The iShares U.S. Aerospace & Defense ETF climbed about 1%. The SPDR S&P 500 ETF? Little change there.
Howmet posted a 15% jump in fourth-quarter revenue, reaching $2.2 billion, while adjusted earnings per share shot up 42% to $1.05, it said in a Thursday filing. Looking ahead to 2026, the company set its revenue goal at $9.0 billion to $9.2 billion, with adjusted EPS between $4.35 and $4.55 and free cash flow projected at $1.55 billion to $1.65 billion. The company reported $1.347 billion remaining on its share buyback authorization as of February 12.
Plant flagged fresh momentum outside of airframes, singling out the gas turbines division. That business, he said, is entering its “largest growth phase in years.” Demand is climbing for electricity generation—driven in no small part by natural gas use at data centers, he noted. Howmet
Charles Minervino at Susquehanna raised his price target for Howmet to $290 from the previous $255 but kept a Positive rating, according to TipRanks. Minervino called the company “a key supplier within the Commercial Aerospace and Defense end markets.” TipRanks
Curtiss-Wright shares picked up nearly 1.9%. Heico was up around 1.3%. Hexcel tacked on close to 1%.
The bar remains high. A hiccup in aircraft production, another snag in supply chains, or a misstep on deal strategy—any of it could derail earnings estimates and put those cash targets, the backbone of the bull case, at risk.
The February 25 dividend payout has investors’ attention, as does any update on Howmet’s timelines for wrapping up its Consolidated Aerospace Manufacturing acquisition. The company continues to aim for a closing sometime in the first half of 2026.
