ZBRA · Q3 2026 Earnings

Bullish

Zebra Technologies

Reported October 28, 2025

30-second summary

Revenue grew 5.2% YoY to $1.32B (organic +4.8%) with adjusted EBITDA margin of 21.6% and non-GAAP EPS of $3.88 — all above the Q3 guide ranges set in August. Management guided Q4 to 8–11% sales growth with ~850bps of M&A/FX tailwind from the just-closed ELO acquisition, reaffirmed the FY2025 5–7% growth and 21–22% EBITDA margin ranges, and announced a $500M repurchase commitment over the next 12 months on top of $284M YTD.

Headline numbers

EPS

Q3 FY2026

$3.88

Revenue

Q3 FY2026

$1.32B

+5.2% YoY

Gross margin

Q3 FY2026

48.0%

Operating margin

Q3 FY2026

13.9%

Key financials

Q3 FY2026

Metric	Q3 FY2026	YoY	Q2 FY2025	QoQ
Revenue	$1.32B	+5.2%	$1.29B	+2.1%
EPS	$3.88	—	$3.61	+7.5%
Gross margin	48.0%	—	47.6%	+40bps
Operating margin	13.9%	—	14.2%	-25bps

Guidance

Company exceeded Q3 FY2026 targets on revenue, EPS, and margins while guiding Q4 FY2025 with raised sales and profit outlooks; full-year FY2025 targets reaffirmed.

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	Q3 FY2026	2% to 6% YoY	5.2% YoY	+0.8 to +3.2pts above guide	Beat
Non-GAAP EPS	Q3 FY2026	$3.60 to $3.80	$3.88	+$0.08 to +$0.28 above guide	Beat
Adjusted EBITDA Margin	Q3 FY2026	approximately 21%	21.6%	+60bps above guide	Beat

New guidance

Metric	Period	Guide	YoY
Revenue	Q4 FY2025	$1.434 billion to $1.475 billion	8% to 11% YoY
Non-GAAP EPS	Q4 FY2025	$4.20 to $4.40	—
Adjusted EBITDA Margin	Q4 FY2025	approximately 22%	—
Share Repurchase Commitment	FY 2025	$500 million over next 12 months (Q4 FY2025 through Q3 FY2026)	—

Reaffirmed unchanged this quarter: Revenue Growth (5% to 7% YoY), Adjusted EBITDA Margin (21% to 22%), Free Cash Flow (greater than $800 million)

Product revenue

Q3 FY2026

Segment	Q3 FY2026	YoY
Connected Frontline (CF)	$0.705B	+9.9%
Asset Visibility & Automation (AVA)	$0.615B	+15.2%

Management tone

No transcript was available for this release; tone analysis is limited to press-release language.

The press-release framing pivots harder onto the "connected frontline vision" — language that was peripheral last quarter and is now the lead organizing theme, with ELO ("our recent acquisition of Elo Touch Solutions") cited as the accelerant. The Q3 guide beat plus a Q4 sales guide whose midpoint (~9.5%) sits above the FY 5–7% range — even after stripping the ~850bps M&A/FX tailwind, organic Q4 is implied at roughly -0.5% to +2.5% (midpoint ~1%) — suggests the underlying organic decel from Q2's 6.3% to Q3's 4.8% continues into Q4, masked by the ELO contribution. The reaffirmed FY ranges with no upward revision despite the Q3 beat is the soft tell: Q3 outperformance is being absorbed into a steady FY view rather than flowed through.

Answers to last quarter's watch list

Q3 organic growth vs the 2–6% guide. Organic growth came in at 4.8%, comfortably inside the range but below the 6.3% Q2 organic print — confirming the deceleration the wide guide telegraphed.

Continue monitoring

EMEA trajectory. Not disclosed in the press release; no regional commentary without a transcript.

Continue monitoring

Mobile computing pricing dynamics. Not disclosed in the press release.

Continue monitoring

ELO close, financing, and synergy update. ELO is referenced by the CEO as a "recent acquisition" and is the primary source of the ~850bps M&A/FX tailwind embedded in the Q4 guide. The Q3 balance sheet predates the close (Photoneo's $62M is the only acquisition cash outflow in 9M). No updated synergy disclosure in the release. Status: Resolved positively (close referenced); financing and synergy detail Continue monitoring.

Tariff FY2025 net impact (~$30M). Not re-quantified at the FY level; Q3 absorbed ~$6M of net tariff expense and Q4 guide assumes another ~$6M. Reaffirmed FY EBITDA margin and FCF ranges imply no material deterioration vs the Q2 framing.

Continue monitoring

Q4 customer year-end spending visibility. Resolved — management guided Q4 sales growth to 8–11% with a confident-sounding ~22% EBITDA margin, indicating visibility has firmed up since "we don't have visibility yet" in August. Stripping the ~850bps M&A/FX tailwind, organic Q4 is implied at roughly -0.5% to +2.5% — a notable step-down from Q3's 4.8%. Status: Resolved (with caveat — headline guide solid, organic implied softer).

What to watch into next quarter

Whether Q4 organic growth (implied roughly -0.5% to +2.5% after backing out ~850bps M&A/FX) lands above the implied floor; a sub-zero organic print would confirm core demand is decelerating beneath the ELO halo.

ELO contribution disclosure — first full quarter of contribution in Q4; watch for explicit organic vs inorganic splits and any updated synergy timeline against the prior $25M year-three EBITDA target.

FY2026 framing on the Q4 call — whether management sets a growth bar that requires organic re-acceleration or leans on ELO carryover.

Adjusted EBITDA margin sustaining at the guided ~22% in Q4; the prior FY ceiling was 22%, so Q4 at-or-above 22% with ELO mix included would set up upward FY2026 margin framing.

Pace of the $500M repurchase against the $284M YTD baseline — whether the 12-month commitment runs front-loaded (signal of capital-allocation confidence) or back-loaded.

Segment-reporting transition: how cleanly Q4's CF/AVA disclosure bridges to the EVM/AIT history for analyst modeling, and whether the recast appendix series holds.

Sources

Zebra Technologies Q3 2025 press release (SEC EDGAR): https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/877212/000162828025046567/zbraex99120250927.htm
Tapebrief Q2 2025 ZBRA brief (prior watch list and guide baseline).

Get the next brief, free.

We publish analyst-grade earnings briefs the same day or morning after every call — headline numbers, segment KPIs, Q&A highlights, and tone analysis. Free during beta.

This is not investment advice.