Preliminary brief— based on press release only. Full analysis including management tone and Q&A will be added when the transcript is available.

KEYS · Q4 2025 Earnings

Keysight Technologies

Reported November 24, 2025

30-second summary

Q4 revenue grew 10.2% YoY to $1.419B and non-GAAP EPS of $1.91 both cleared the top end of the Q3-issued guide, capping a FY25 that landed at 8% reported / 7% core revenue growth and $7.16 EPS (+14%) — above the raised ~7%/~13% bars management set just last quarter. Forward setup is the real news: Q1 FY26 revenue guided $1.53–1.55B (+19% YoY at midpoint, 10% organic), and FY26 framed at or above the high end of the 5–7% organic revenue target and at or above the 10% EPS target, with ~$375M of M&A revenue from Spirent/Optical Solutions/Power Artists layered on top. Tariff mitigation now lands in Q1, a quarter earlier than committed.

Headline numbers

EPS

Q4 FY2025

$1.91

Revenue

Q4 FY2025

$1.42B

+10.2% YoY

Free cash flow

Q4 FY2025

$0.19B

Operating margin

Q4 FY2025

15.3%

Key financials

Q4 FY2025

Metric	Q4 FY2025	YoY	Q3 FY2025	QoQ
Revenue	$1.42B	+10.2%	$1.35B	+5.0%
EPS	$1.91	—	$1.72	+11.0%
Operating margin	15.3%	—	17.3%	-200bps
Free cash flow	$0.19B	—	$0.29B	-35.4%

Guidance

Guidance is issued for both next quarter and the full year. Both may appear below.

Actuals vs prior guidance

Metric	Period	Prior guide	Actual	Δ	Result
Revenue	Q4 FY2025	$1.37B–$1.39B	$1.419B	+$0.029B–$0.049B above guide	Beat
Non-GAAP EPS	Q4 FY2025	$1.79–$1.85	$1.91	+$0.06–$0.12 above guide	Beat
Revenue Growth	FY 2025	approximately 7%	7.96%	+0.96pts above guide	Beat
Non-GAAP EPS Growth	FY 2025	approximately 13%	FY2025 non-GAAP EPS $7.16	EPS growth exceeded ~13% target (actual growth ~14–15% YoY implied)	Beat

New guidance

Metric	Period	Guide	YoY
Revenue	Q1 FY2026	$1.53B–$1.55B	19% YoY at midpoint
Non-GAAP EPS	Q1 FY2026	$1.95–$2.01	—
Organic Revenue Growth	FY 2026	at or above high end of 5%–7% long-term target	—
Non-GAAP EPS Growth	FY 2026	at or above 10% long-term target	—
M&A Revenue Contribution	FY 2026	approximately $375 million	—
Expected Synergies	FY 2026	in excess of $100 million	—
Interest Expense	FY 2026	approximately $110 million	—
Capital Expenditures	FY 2026	approximately $160 million	—

Product revenue

Q4 FY2025

Segment	Q4 FY2025	YoY
Communications Solutions Group (CSG)	$0.99B	+11.0%
Electronic Industrial Solutions Group (EISG)	$0.429B	+9.0%
Commercial Communications Revenue	$0.66B	—
Aerospace, Defense and Government Revenue	$0.33B	—

Management tone

Narrative arc: Q1 "gradual recovery" → Q2 "raising to midpoint, tariffs are operational" → Q3 "raising again, ahead of plan" → Q4 "FY26 at or above long-term targets, M&A on top, tariff drag gone in Q1".

Three quarters ago, FY25 was framed as a slow climb toward the middle of a 5–7% organic target with EPS slightly above 10%. By Q3 management was raising to the top of both bands. This quarter management initiated FY26 "at or above the high end of our 5% to 7% long-term target" on revenue and "at or above our long-term 10% target" on EPS — and that's organic, before layering ~$375M of M&A revenue. The pattern is no longer recovery; it is a deliberate step-up in run-rate targets with acquisitions positioned as accretive optionality rather than the growth source.

Wireless flipped from multi-year drag to forward driver. Two quarters ago wireless was characterized as stable at lower levels with smartphone supply chain softness; Mehdi's Q&A question this quarter explicitly opened with "wireless trending… has been kind of depressed for the past few years," and Satish's response — "wireless exceeded expectations this year… we're optimistic about the wireless growth into 2026, but even ahead of the 6G inflections" — repositions wireless as a near-term contributor rather than a 2028–2029 standards-cycle wait.

6G's positioning compressed in time. Last quarter 6G was framed as a research-phase opportunity with limited near-term volume. This quarter Satish stated "the industry is shifting from pure research to early pre-standards designs," with a launched product enabling customers to "model concurrent RAN and AI workloads" and a NVIDIA partnership cited. The implication: design-phase revenue can start showing up well ahead of standards finalization, with AI-workload modeling pulling 6G test into the current AI infrastructure spend.

Tariff narrative collapsed from multi-quarter execution risk to closed item. Q2 framed mitigation as a year-end goal; Q3 committed H1 FY26. This quarter Neil stated "we now expect the August tariff increase to be fully mitigated in Q1, one quarter earlier than previously communicated." That is the third consecutive quarter of tariff news landing better than the prior framing.

The Spirent acquisition got an unusual editorial flag from Satish: "positioning is a crown jewel, right, inside this parent portfolio… this has been a gap in our portfolio and one we feel really good about." Coming from a management team that has been consistently measured on M&A in prior calls, "crown jewel" language signals high internal conviction on positioning/navigation as a multi-end-market opportunity across automotive autonomy, aerospace defense (jamming/spoofing), and 6G integrated sensing — not a niche bolt-on.

Recurring themes management leaned on this quarter:

AI infrastructure build-out driving broad portfolio demand across silicon, networking, memory, interconnectOptical speed refresh acceleration from 400G to 800G to 1.6 terabits creating design/test intensity6G early pre-standards design activity gaining momentum with NVIDIA/ecosystem partnershipsDefense modernization and deterrence tailwinds for aerospace/defense segment with neoprimes emergingSoftware and services strategic uplift from acquisitions moving toward 40% of revenueSilicon photonics inflection still in R&D phase with double-digit foundry system placements

Risks management surfaced:

Geopolitical and policy uncertainties remain despite positive semiconductor outlookAutomotive mixed headlines requiring continued stabilization monitoring6G standardization still 2028-2029 timeframe, limiting near-term volume upsideTariff exposure and pricing mitigation execution riskIntegration complexity of three acquisitions over 12-18 month horizon

Answers to last quarter's watch list

Q4 operating margin glide path. Non-GAAP operating margin came in at 26% in Q4, with CSG OM at 27% and EISG OM at 25% — tariff mitigation continues to track ahead of plan and segment margins expanded YoY (EISG +400bps from 21%). Status: Resolved positively; Continue monitoring as acquisitions integrate and synergy capture builds.

Orders re-cross 1.0x book-to-bill. Q4 orders of $1.533B versus revenue of $1.419B gives book-to-bill of 1.08x — decisively above 1.0 after Q3's 0.99x, and the strongest order print in the recent sequence. The multi-year visibility narrative is reinforced. Status: Resolved positively

EISG growth rate sustains double-digit. EISG grew +9% YoY in Q4, slipping just under the double-digit bar, but still a third consecutive growth quarter and the segment is structurally out of its multi-quarter decline. Automotive was acknowledged as "mixed" rather than a defined drag; semiconductor commentary remained constructive on next-gen process node investment. Status: Continue monitoring (growth intact but decelerated)

A&DG re-acceleration. A&DG revenue of $330M in Q4 represents +9% YoY. Defense modernization and emergence of "neoprimes" were called out as tailwinds. Status: Resolved positively

FY26 framing on the Q4 call. Management initiated FY26 organic revenue growth "at or above the high end of our 5% to 7% long-term target" and EPS growth "at or above our long-term 10% target," with ~$375M of M&A revenue contribution on top and tariff mitigation now landing a quarter earlier. The EPS framing did not anchor above the 14% FY25 actual — the long-term 10% target is the explicit bar — which is a slight reset of the FY25-trajectory extrapolation, but organic revenue framing did move up to the top of the range as the new baseline. AI wireline visibility was quantified ("roughly half" of wireline tied to AI ecosystem) rather than left directional. Status: Resolved positively on revenue framing; Resolved (flat) on EPS — the 14% FY25 outperformance is not the new baseline.

What to watch into next quarter

Q1 FY26 organic delivery. Guide implies 10% organic revenue growth in Q1 — above the FY26 framing's ≥7% organic. Watch whether this signals front-loaded organic strength or whether organic decelerates through the year. A Q2 FY26 organic print below 7% would suggest Q1 is a comparison artifact, not a run-rate.

Spirent/Optical Solutions integration economics. Management framed acquisitions as accretive 12 months post-close and committed to >$100M synergies, while acknowledging "relatively low realized synergies in these first few quarters" and that the integration takes 12–18 months with a step-function in synergy realization later in FY26. Watch the cadence of segment margin lift through FY26 as systems cutover lands.

EISG re-acceleration or deceleration. Q4 at +9% snapped the double-digit streak. A second consecutive sub-double-digit print would suggest semiconductor capex is normalizing rather than compounding. Watch whether automotive turns neutral as previously committed.

Wireline AI durability past Q1. Satish's "roughly half of wireline tied to AI" framing is the single most important sentence in the call for the bull thesis. Watch whether management quantifies the AI-tied wireline dollar base or growth rate explicitly on subsequent calls, or whether the framing stays directional.

6G design-phase revenue tagging. Management said 6G has shifted to "early pre-standards designs" with a NVIDIA-tied workload modeling product. Watch whether 6G design revenue gets called out as a distinct contributor in Commercial Communications, or whether it stays bundled — explicit disclosure would validate the time-compression thesis.

Sources

Keysight Q4 FY2025 press release: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1601046/000160104625000121/exhibit991-q425pressrelease.htm
Keysight Q4 FY2025 earnings call — prepared remarks and Q&A (FY26 framing, segment color, tariff mitigation timing, Spirent positioning commentary)
Tapebrief Q3 FY2025 brief (prior-quarter guidance baseline, watch list)

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