Johnson Controls Q4 Earnings Beat as Backlog Hits Record $23 Billion

Johnson Controls reported fiscal fourth quarter earnings above expectations on Tuesday, with adjusted earnings of $1.66 a share beating the consensus by 8 cents and revenue rising to $7.11 billion.

GAAP earnings were $1.60 a share. Revenue was up 10.4 percent from a year earlier and was $70 million above consensus. Reported sales rose 10 percent and organic sales rose 12 percent, according to the company earnings release carried by PR Newswire.

Orders and a record backlog

Fourth quarter orders rose 44 percent organically from a year earlier. The backlog reached a record $23.0 billion, up 43 percent organically, the company said.

Americas orders rose 58 percent organically on data center demand, and the Americas backlog was $17.8 billion, according to a summary of the release. That Americas figure accounts for most of the total backlog reported for the quarter.

GAAP net income from continuing operations attributable to Johnson Controls was $967 million, and adjusted net income was $1.0 billion. Cash from operating activities was $1.3 billion in the quarter, and free cash flow was $1.1 billion.

Adjusted EBIT margin expanded to 18.3 percent from 15.3 percent a year earlier. The company said the expansion was helped by operating leverage, mix, productivity and lower corporate expense.

Chief executive Joakim Weidemanis said the company finished the year with momentum. "We finished fiscal 2026 with significant momentum, delivering more than 8% organic revenue growth, double-digit adjusted EPS growth and strong free cash flow conversion," Weidemanis said in the release.

Weidemanis added: "With record backlog and sustained customer demand, we enter fiscal 2027 with confidence in our ability to continue creating value for customers and shareholders."

Guidance for fiscal 2027

The company initiated fiscal 2027 guidance in the same release. It put adjusted earnings for the full year at $6.15 to $6.30 a share, with full year organic sales growth of 11 to 12 percent.

For the first quarter, the company guided to organic sales growth of 12 to 14 percent. The guidance follows a fourth quarter in which orders, revenue and margin all rose from a year earlier, and in which the backlog set a record at $23.0 billion.

The results close fiscal 2026 for Johnson Controls. The company reported the quarter on Tuesday through its earnings release, and the figures above are the headline numbers from that release: earnings above consensus, revenue above consensus, orders up sharply, and a record backlog going into the new fiscal year.