Plexus Corp. (PLXS): BCG Matrix [Dec-2025 Updated]

You're looking for the clearest map of Plexus Corp.'s business health as of late 2025, so let's cut straight to the portfolio's reality: Healthcare is a reliable Cash Cow, delivering $154 million in free cash flow, while Industrial Semicap is a clear Star, fueled by $941 million in new annualized revenue wins. Still, the picture isn't perfect; Aerospace/Defense is lagging as a Dog with a 6% revenue dip last quarter, and major Question Marks like the core Industrial segment need serious capital to achieve that ambitious 9% to 12% growth target for fiscal 2026. See below for the breakdown on where you should be investing, holding, or divesting right now.

Background of Plexus Corp. (PLXS)

You're looking at Plexus Corp. (PLXS) as of late 2025, which means we need to ground our view in their recently closed fiscal year 2025, which ended on September 27, 2025. Honestly, the company had an outstanding year, delivering strong operational execution and financial results. For the full fiscal year 2025, Plexus Corp. reported net sales of $4.033 billion, marking an increase of 1.8% compared to fiscal 2024.

When we look at profitability, the numbers are quite solid; GAAP diluted earnings per share (EPS) reached $6.26, a significant jump from $4.01 in the prior year. On a non-GAAP basis, which strips out certain one-time items like stock-based compensation, the adjusted EPS was $7.43. The GAAP operating margin improved to 5.0% from 4.2% the year before, while the non-GAAP operating margin settled at 5.9% for the fiscal year.

Plexus Corp. organizes its business around three primary market sectors, and you can see where the revenue actually comes from. For fiscal 2025, the Industrial sector was the largest contributor, making up 43% of net sales, followed by Healthcare/Life Sciences at 40%, and Aerospace/Defense at 17%. Geographically, the APAC region was a bright spot, showing an 8.1% increase in net sales, driven by new product ramps and customer demand.

From a capital efficiency standpoint, Plexus Corp. is showing good returns; the Return on Invested Capital (ROIC) for fiscal 2025 was 14.6%, which beat their weighted average cost of capital (WACC) of 8.9% by 570 basis points. They also generated robust free cash flow of $154.0 million for the year. Still, you should note the customer concentration: the top 10 customers accounted for 49% of the total revenue in fiscal 2025.

Strategically, the company is focused on future growth, setting a goal to accelerate revenue growth toward a 9% to 12% target for fiscal 2026. They secured 141 new manufacturing programs during fiscal 2025, which are expected to contribute $941 million in annualized revenue once they reach full production. To support shareholder returns, Plexus Corp. repurchased $65.0 million worth of shares in fiscal 2025 and authorized a new $100.0 million repurchase program.

Plexus Corp. (PLXS) - BCG Matrix: Stars

You're looking at the segments of Plexus Corp. (PLXS) that are leading the charge in high-growth areas, demanding investment to maintain their market position. These Stars are the engine for future Cash Cows, so understanding their current metrics is key.

Industrial Sector's Semicap Sub-segment, Showing Notable Share Gains

The Industrial sector, which includes the Semicap sub-segment, showed positive momentum in the final quarter of fiscal 2025. For the fourth quarter of fiscal 2025, revenues for the entire Industrial sector reached $461 million, marking a 2% increase year over year. This growth was specifically supported by strength in broadband, semicap, and energy. The overall strategy is clearly focused on capturing new outsourcing opportunities to deliver financial performance exceeding that of the end markets.

New Manufacturing Program Wins, Totaling $941 million in Annualized Revenue for Fiscal 2025

The pipeline of future revenue is strong, evidenced by the volume of new business secured. For the full fiscal year 2025, the team generated 141 manufacturing wins, which represent $941 million in annualized revenue once fully ramped into production. This level of booking provides the foundation for the company's growth trajectory. To give you a sense of the momentum leading into the year-end, the fourth quarter alone saw 28 new manufacturing program wins, estimated to contribute $274 million in annualized revenue when fully ramped.

Strategic Focus on High-Margin, Complex Products Driving Growth in Excess of End-Markets

The focus isn't just on volume; it's about securing complex, higher-value work. This strategy is designed to ensure that Plexus Corp. (PLXS) sustains success until high-growth markets mature. The company's operational execution in fiscal 2025 resulted in a strong return on capital, with the 14.6% ROIC exceeding the weighted average cost of capital (WACC) of 8.9% by 570 basis points. Furthermore, the Americas geographic segment showed significant growth, with revenues increasing 9.4% to $336 million in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2025.

The commitment to complex manufacturing is concrete:

• Secured assembly award for a high voltage complex product supporting the global rail industry at the Appleton, Wisconsin facility.
• Management is positioning for revenue growth toward a 9% to 12% goal for fiscal 2026, underpinned by these robust bookings.
• The company achieved a cash cycle of 63 days in the fourth quarter, the best result delivered in the past five years.

Investments in Advanced Capabilities Like AI-Powered Healthcare Platforms

To secure and grow these Star positions, Plexus Corp. (PLXS) is making targeted investments in future capabilities. Strategic wins in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2025 included advancements in AI-powered healthcare platforms. These investments help ensure the company maintains its leadership in demanding regulatory environments, which is a prerequisite for these high-share segments. The company is also expanding its funnel of qualified manufacturing opportunities, which was up 2% sequentially from the prior quarter.

Plexus Corp. (PLXS) - BCG Matrix: Cash Cows

You're looking at the core engine of Plexus Corp.'s current financial strength, the business units that are mature, hold a commanding market position, and are funding the rest of the company's ambitions. These are the Cash Cows, and for Plexus, the numbers coming out of fiscal 2025 definitely paint that picture.

A Cash Cow is a market leader that generates more cash than it consumes. Cash Cows are business units or products with a high market share but low growth prospects. Cash Cows provide the cash required to turn a Question Mark into a market leader, cover the administrative costs of the company, fund research and development, service the corporate debt, and pay dividends to shareholders. Companies are advised to invest in cash cows to maintain the current level of productivity or to 'milk' the gains passively.

The operational efficiency Plexus Corp. wrung out of its processes in fiscal 2025 is a key indicator of a healthy Cash Cow. You see this clearly in the return on invested capital (ROIC). The company produced a fiscal 2025 ROIC of 14.6%. That's a strong figure, especially when you look at the economic return, which was 5.7% above the weighted average cost of capital of 8.9% for the same period. That spread shows they are creating real value from the capital deployed in these established areas.

The free cash flow generation is the ultimate proof point here. Plexus Corp. delivered an exceptional fiscal 2025 free cash flow (FCF) of $154 million. That cash is the lifeblood, funding everything else. For context, cash flows provided by operations for the full fiscal year were $249.2 million, offset by capital expenditures of $95.2 million to arrive at that $154.0 million FCF. That's the definition of milking the cow effectively.

When we break down the revenue streams that support this, the Healthcare/Life Sciences (HLS) segment stands out as a major contributor, which you've flagged as a Cash Cow candidate. For the fourth quarter of fiscal 2025, this segment contributed 40% of the revenue, with reported revenue at $424 million on total Q4 revenue of $1.058 billion. Also, the Americas region provides a stable, high-share revenue base, increasing 9.4% in Q4 2025 to reach $336 million for the quarter.

Here's a quick look at how the key financial metrics support the Cash Cow thesis for Plexus Corp. as of the end of fiscal 2025:

The focus for these units isn't massive new spending, but maintaining the advantage and squeezing out more cash flow through efficiency gains. Investments here should be targeted at infrastructure that supports current productivity, like process automation or supply chain optimization, rather than broad market expansion campaigns. You want to keep the machine running smoothly.

The stability is also evident in the segment performance metrics:

• Healthcare/Life Sciences Q4 2025 Revenue: $424 million.
• Industrial Sector Q4 2025 Revenue: $461 million, representing 44% of total revenue.
• Aerospace/Defense Q4 2025 Revenue: $173 million.
• Total Fiscal 2025 Revenue: $4.033 billion.

The strategy here is clear: harvest the strong cash generation from these established, high-share businesses. This cash flow is what allows Plexus Corp. to fund the riskier Question Marks and maintain the Stars. If competitive advantage has been achieved, cash cows have high profit margins and generate a lot of cash flow. Because of the low growth, promotion and placement investments are low. Investments into supporting infrastructure can improve efficiency and increase cash flow more.

Plexus Corp. (PLXS) - BCG Matrix: Dogs

Dogs are units or products with a low market share and low growth rates. They frequently break even, neither earning nor consuming much cash. Dogs are generally considered cash traps because businesses have money tied up in them, even though they bring back almost nothing in return. These business units are prime candidates for divestiture.

For Plexus Corp. (PLXS), certain segments and geographic regions exhibit characteristics aligning with the Dog quadrant, specifically those operating in low-growth or contracting areas with lower relative contribution to the overall revenue base. Dogs should be avoided and minimized; expensive turn-around plans usually do not help.

The Aerospace/Defense (A&D) segment, when viewed through a revenue contribution lens for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2025, represented the smallest reported market sector. This segment brought in $173 million in revenue for the three months ended September 27, 2025, which equates to approximately 16.35% of the total reported revenue of $1.058 billion for that quarter. This places it as the smallest contributor among the reported market sectors, which also included Industrial at $461 million and Healthcare/Life Sciences at $424 million for the same period.

The performance within this segment showed weakness, as A&D's revenue declined by -6% year-over-year for Q4 2025. Management noted that this specific decline was due to program timing. Furthermore, the near-term outlook suggests a drag from commercial aerospace production headwinds, which requires careful management as the company watches for demand translation from original equipment manufacturer (OEM) production rates.

Geographically, the EMEA and Asia-Pacific (APAC) regions also showed contraction in Q4 2025, which can be indicative of Dog-like characteristics if their growth prospects remain muted relative to other areas. Specifically, revenues from the EMEA region saw a decline of 7% year-over-year. Meanwhile, the APAC region experienced a revenue decline of 2.1% compared to the prior year's fourth quarter. The Americas, by contrast, showed strength, with revenues increasing 9.4% to $336 million in the same period.

Here's a quick look at the Q4 2025 revenue performance by sector and region, highlighting the relative size and decline:

The overall picture for these areas suggests they are not current growth drivers. You should definitely watch for any signs that A&D is not poised for a strong rebound, as these units tie up capital without delivering outsized returns. The strategy here is typically to minimize exposure or divest if a clear path to higher market share or growth doesn't materialize soon.

The operational focus for these areas in the near term should involve:

• Maintaining lean inventory levels.
• Strictly controlling capital expenditure deployment.
• Monitoring commercial aerospace OEM rates closely.
• Ensuring program timing issues in A&D are resolved efficiently.

For fiscal 2025 overall, Plexus Corp. generated $4.033 billion in total revenue, but the performance of these specific segments/regions suggests they are lagging the overall company growth of 1.8% for the full year.

Finance: draft 13-week cash view by Friday.

Plexus Corp. (PLXS) - BCG Matrix: Question Marks

Question Marks in the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) Matrix represent business units or products operating in high-growth markets but currently holding a low relative market share. These units typically consume significant cash to fund their growth but generate low immediate returns. For Plexus Corp. (PLXS), the indicators pointing toward Question Marks involve areas requiring substantial upfront capital to capture future market share.

Engineering Solutions acts as a leading indicator for future manufacturing revenue streams, inherently requiring upfront investment in talent and technology before those wins translate fully to the top line. You saw evidence of this investment paying off when the engineering solutions team delivered its best quarterly wins performance in more than 5 years during the fiscal third quarter of 2025. This area represents the high-growth market potential that Plexus is actively trying to cultivate.

Capacity expansion is a clear sign of cash consumption in anticipation of future volume. The commitment to the new "Plexus Bridgeview" facility in Penang, Malaysia, signals this need for capital. Plexus Corp. estimates an investment of RM1 billion over the next three years to establish this sixth facility, which will support growth in the Semiconductor Capital Equipment and Healthcare and Life Sciences sectors, aiming to create approximately 1,800 new high-skilled job opportunities.

The core Industrial segment, while the largest contributor to recent revenue, fits the profile of a Question Mark needing to quickly gain share to become a Star. In the fiscal fourth quarter of 2025, this segment generated $461 million in revenue, which was 44% of the total quarterly revenue of $1.058 billion. However, its year-over-year growth was modest at just +2%, suggesting it is in a growing market but has not yet achieved dominant market share.

The overall strategy hinges on converting these investments and wins into substantial revenue acceleration. Achieving the aggressive fiscal 2026 revenue growth target of 9% to 12% is entirely dependent on the significant ramp-up of new wins secured across the business. For context, the company secured 28 new manufacturing programs in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2025 alone, estimated to contribute $274 million in annualized revenue once fully ramped.

Here is a snapshot of the underlying data supporting the need for investment in these high-potential areas:

The path forward for these Question Marks involves clear choices, which Plexus Corp. is addressing through continued investment:

• Engineering Solutions Wins: Best quarterly performance in over 5 years, indicating market traction.
• Capital Deployment: Significant cash consumption for capacity, like the RM1 billion Penang expansion.
• New Business Pipeline: 141 wins in FY 2025, representing $941 million in future annualized revenue.
• Growth Expectation: Reliance on these ramps to hit the 9% to 12% revenue growth goal in fiscal 2026.

The company generated $154 million in free cash flow for fiscal 2025, which must now be strategically allocated to push these Question Marks into the Star quadrant, or risk them becoming Dogs if market share gains stall.