Pentair Surpasses Q3 Earnings Estimates, Raises 2025 Guidance

Pentair plc PNR posted adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of $1.24 for the third quarter of 2025, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.18 by a margin of 5%. The bottom line also topped its guidance of $1.09-$1.13 and marked a 14% improvement from the prior-year quarter.

Including one-time items, EPS was $1.12 compared with the prior-year quarter’s 84 cents.

Pentair Delivers Higher Sales & Operating Margins

Net sales rose 3% year over year to $1.022 billion. The top line surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.005 billion. Excluding the impacts of acquisitions, divestitures and currency translation, core sales were up 3%.

Pentair plc Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

Pentair plc price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Pentair plc Quote

The cost of sales inched up 0.5% year over year to $603 million. The gross profit was $418.6 million, up 6.5% from the prior-year quarter. The gross margin was 41% compared with the year-ago quarter’s 39.6%.

SG&A expenses totaled $162 million, down 14.8% from the prior-year quarter’s $190.4 million. Research and development expenses were up 8% year over year to $24.7 million.

The operating income, including one-time items, was $231.7 million, up 28.8% from the year-ago quarter. Operating margin was 22.7% compared with 18.1% in the year-ago quarter.

The adjusted segment operating income increased 9.8% year over year to $262.6 million. The adjusted segment operating margin was 25.7%, a 160-basis point expansion from the year-ago quarter.

PNR’s Segment Performances in Q3

Net sales in the Flow segment totaled $394 million, up 6% compared with the prior-year quarter. Our estimate for the segment’s net sales was $387 million. Operating earnings for the segment rose 15% year over year to $95 million. Our estimate for the segment’s operating profit was $84 million.

Net sales in the Water Solutions segment were down 6% year over year to $273 million. The figure came in short of our estimate of $276 million. The segment’s earnings rose 6% to $68 million and beat our projection of $65 million. 

Net sales in the Pool segment totaled $354 million, up 7% year over year. Our estimate for the segment’s net sales was $339 million. Operating earnings for the segment grew 3% year over year to $128 million. Our estimate for the segment’s operating income was $146.7 million.

Pentair’s Cash Flow & Balance Sheet Updates at Q3-End

Pentair had cash and cash equivalents of around $128 million at the end of the third quarter of 2025 compared with $119 million at 2024-end. Net cash generated from operating activities was $764 million in the nine-month period ended Sept. 30, 2025, compared with $680 million in the prior-year comparable period.
The company had a long-term debt of $1.58 billion as of Sept. 30, 2025, down from $1.64 billion as of Dec. 31, 2024.

Pentair has repurchased 1.8 million of its shares for $175 million so far in 2025. As of June 30, 2025, the company had $275 million available under its share repurchase authorization.

PNR Initiates Guidance for Q4, Raises For 2025

Backed by the upbeat performance so far this year, Pentair expects adjusted EPS to be in the range of $4.85- $4.90 for 2025, higher than its previous guidance of $4.75-$4.85. The mid-point of the range indicates year-over-year growth of 12.6%. 

The company has also raised its year-over-year reported sales growth guidance to 2% from the earlier expectation of 1-2% for 2025.

For the fourth quarter, the company expects an adjusted EPS between $1.11 and $1.16, implying a 5% rise at the midpoint. Pentair anticipates the quarter’s sales to be up 3-4% from the year-ago quarter’s figure.

Pentair Stock’s Price Performance

Pentair stock has gained 11.2% over the past year compared with the industry’s 1.1% growth.

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PNR’s Zacks Rank

Pentair currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). 

You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Pentair’s Peers Awaiting Results

Pool Corp. POOL is slated to release second-quarter 2025 results on Oct. 23, 2025. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for POOL’s earnings is pegged at $3.37 per share, indicating year-over-year growth of 3.37%.

The estimate for Pool Corp.’s top line is pegged at $1.45 billion, implying an increase of 1.13% from the prior year’s figure. POOL has a trailing four-quarter average earnings surprise of 1.01%.

Xylem XYL, scheduled to release second-quarter 2024 results on Oct. 28, has a trailing four-quarter average earnings surprise of 6.1%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Xylem’s earnings for the quarter is pegged at $1.24 per share, implying year-over-year growth of 11.7%.

The consensus estimate for Xylem’s top line is pegged at $2.22 billion, indicating a rise of 5.6% from the prior-year figure.

A. O. Smith AOS is scheduled to report second-quarter 2025 results on Oct. 28. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings is pegged at 89 cents per share, implying an 8.5% increase from the prior-year figure.

The estimate for A.O. Smith’s revenues for the quarter is $936 million, indicating a 3.7% increase from the year-ago quarter. The company has an average earnings surprise of 0.7% in the past four quarters. 

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