Woodward Inc

Historically, we have satisfied our working capital needs, as well as capital expenditures, product development, and other liquidity requirements associated with our operations, with cash flow provided by operating activities and borrowings under our credit facilities. From time to time, we have also issued debt to supplement our cash needs, repay our other indebtedness, or finance our acquisitions. We continue to expect that cash generated from our operating activities, together with borrowings under our revolving credit facility and other borrowing capacity, will be sufficient to fund our continuing operating needs for the foreseeable future.

In addition to our revolving credit facility, we have various foreign credit facilities, some of which are tied to net amounts on deposit at certain foreign financial institutions. These foreign credit facilities are reviewed annually for renewal. We use borrowings under these foreign credit facilities to finance certain local operations on a periodic basis. For further discussion of our revolving credit facility and our other credit facilities, see Note 15, Credit facilities, short-term borrowings and long-term debt in the Notes to the Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements included in Part I, Item I of this Form 10-Q.

At December 31, 2024, we had total outstanding debt of $902,174 consisting of various series of unsecured notes due between 2025 and 2033 and obligations under our finance leases.

At December 31, 2024, we had $258,000 outstanding on our revolving credit facility, all of which is classified as short-term borrowings based on our intent and ability to repay this amount in the next twelve months. Revolving credit facility and short-term borrowing activity during the three months ended December 31, 2024 were as follows:

At December 31, 2024, we had additional borrowing availability of $734,108 under our revolving credit facility, net of outstanding letters of credit, and additional borrowing availability of $19,730 under various foreign credit facilities.

To our knowledge, we were in compliance with all our debt covenants as of December 31, 2024. See Note 15, Credit facilities, short-term borrowings and long-term debt in the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements included in Part II, Item 8 our Annual Report on Form 10-K for fiscal year 2024, for more information about our covenants.

In addition to utilizing our cash resources to fund the working capital needs of our business, we evaluate additional strategic uses of our funds, including the repurchase of our common stock, payment of dividends, significant capital expenditures, strategic acquisitions, and other potential uses of cash.

From time to time, the Company enters into various factoring agreements with third-party financial institutions to sell certain of its receivables. Factoring activity resulted in a decrease of approximately $3,856 in cash provided by operating activities during the three months ended December 31, 2024, compared to a decrease in cash provided by operating activities of approximately $5,161 during the three months ended December 31, 2023.

Our ability to service our long-term debt, to remain in compliance with the various restrictions and covenants contained in our debt agreements, and to fund working capital, capital expenditures and product development efforts will depend on our ability to generate cash from operating activities, which in turn is subject to, among other things, future operating performance as well as general economic, financial, competitive, legislative, regulatory, and other conditions, some of which may be beyond our control.

We believe that cash flows from operations, along with our contractually committed borrowings and other borrowing capability, will continue to be sufficient to fund anticipated capital spending requirements and our operations for the foreseeable future. However, we could be adversely affected if the financial institutions providing our capital requirements refuse to honor their contractual commitments, cease lending, or declare bankruptcy. We believe the lending institutions participating in our credit arrangements are financially stable and do not currently foresee adverse impacts to financial institutions supporting our capital requirements.

Cash Flows

Net cash flows provided by operating activitiesfor the first three months of fiscal year 2025 was $34,516, compared to $46,789 for the same period of fiscal year 2024. The decrease in net cash provided by operating activities in the first three months of fiscal year 2025 as compared to the first three months of the prior fiscal year is primarily attributable to the timing of certain cash payments for accounts payable, partially offset by timing of cash received from customers as well as increases in working capital.

Net cash flows used in investing activities for the first three months of fiscal year 2025 was $32,100, compared to $41,776 for the same period of fiscal year 2024. The decrease in cash flows used in investing activities in the first three months of fiscal year 2025 as compared to the first three months of the prior fiscal year is primarily due to decreased payments for property, plant, and equipment.

Net cash flows provided by financing activities for the first three months of fiscal year 2025 was $19,386, compared to net cash flows used in financing activities of $8,091 for the same period of fiscal year 2024. The increase in net cash flows provided by financing activities in the first three months of fiscal year 2025 as compared to the first three months of the prior fiscal year is primarily attributable to the change in net debt borrowings as compared to payments partially offset by an increase in repurchases of common stock. During the first three months of fiscal year 2025, we had net debt borrowings in the amount of $40,764, compared to net debt payments of $10,149 in the first three months of fiscal year 2024. During the first three months of fiscal year 2025, we repurchased $35,473 of our common stock, whereas in the first three months of fiscal year 2024, we did not repurchase any common stock.

Non-U.S. GAAP Financial Measures

Adjusted net earnings, adjusted earnings per share, adjusted effective tax rate, EBIT, adjusted EBIT, EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA, and free cash flow are financial measures not prepared and presented in accordance with U.S. GAAP. However, we believe these non-U.S. GAAP financial measures provide additional information that enables readers to evaluate our business from the perspective of management.

Earnings based non‐U.S. GAAP financial measures

Adjusted net earnings is defined by the Company as net earnings excluding, as applicable, (i) a non-recurring gain related to a previous acquisition, (ii) costs related to business development activities, and (iii) product rationalization. The product rationalization adjustment pertains to the divestiture of certain product lines. The Company believes that these excluded items are short‐term in nature, not directly related to the ongoing operations of the business, and therefore, the exclusion of them illustrates more clearly how the underlying business of Woodward is performing. Management uses adjusted net earnings to evaluate the Company’s performance excluding these infrequent or unusual period expenses that are not necessarily indicative of the Company’s operating performance for the period. Management defines adjusted earnings per share as adjusted net earnings, as defined above, divided by the weighted‐average number of diluted shares of common stock outstanding for the period. Adjusted income tax expense is defined by the Company as income tax expense excluding, as applicable, (i) a non-recurring gain related to a previous acquisition, (ii) costs related to business development activities, and (iii) product rationalization. The product rationalization adjustment pertains to the divestiture of certain product lines.

Management uses adjusted net earnings, adjusted earnings per share, and the adjusted effective tax rate when comparing operating performance to other periods.

The reconciliation of net earnings and earnings per share to adjusted net earnings and adjusted earnings per share, respectively, is shown in the tables below:

(1)

(2)

The reconciliation of income tax expense to adjusted income tax expense and the adjusted effective tax rate respectively, is shown in the tables below:

Management uses EBIT to evaluate Woodward’s performance without financing and tax related considerations, as these elements do not fluctuate with operating results. Management uses EBITDA in evaluating Woodward’s operating performance, making business decisions, including developing budgets, managing expenditures, forecasting future periods, and evaluating capital structure impacts of various strategic scenarios. Securities analysts, investors, and others frequently use EBIT and EBITDA in their evaluation of companies, particularly those with significant property, plant, and equipment, and intangible assets subject to amortization. The Company believes that EBIT and EBITDA are useful measures to the investor when measuring operating performance as they eliminate the impact of financing and tax expenses, which are non-operating expenses and may be driven by factors outside of the Company’s operations, such as changes in tax laws or regulations, and, in the case of EBITDA, the noncash charges associated with depreciation and amortization. Further, as interest from financing, income taxes, depreciation, and amortization can vary dramatically between companies and between periods, management believes that the removal of these items can improve comparability.

Adjusted EBIT and adjusted EBITDA represent further non-U.S. GAAP adjustments to EBIT and EBITDA, in each case adjusted to exclude, as applicable, (i) a non-recurring gain related to a previous acquisition, (ii) costs related to business development activities, and (iii) product rationalization. The product rationalization adjustment pertains to the divestiture of certain product lines. As these charges are infrequent or unusual items that can be variable from period to period and do not fluctuate with operating results, management believes removing these gains and costs from EBIT and EBITDA improves comparability of past, present, and future operating results and provides consistency when comparing EBIT and EBITDA between periods.

EBIT and adjusted EBIT reconciled to net earnings were as follows:

(1)

(2)

EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA reconciled to net earnings were as follows:

(1)

(2)

The use of these non-U.S. GAAP financial measures is not intended to be considered in isolation of, or as a substitute for, the financial information prepared and presented in accordance with U.S. GAAP. As adjusted net earnings, adjusted net earnings per share, adjusted effective tax rate, EBIT, adjusted EBIT, EBITDA, and adjusted EBITDA exclude certain financial information compared with net earnings, the most directly comparable U.S. GAAP financial measure, users of this financial information should consider the information that is excluded. Our calculations of adjusted net earnings, adjusted net earnings per share, adjusted effective tax rate, EBIT, adjusted EBIT, EBITDA, and adjusted EBITDA may differ from similarly titled measures used by other companies, limiting their usefulness as comparative measures.

Cash flow‐based non‐U.S. GAAP financial measures

Management uses free cash flow, which is defined by the Company as net cash flows provided by operating activities less payments for property, plant, and equipment, in reviewing the financial performance of and cash generation by Woodward’s various business groups and evaluating cash levels. We believe free cash flow is a useful measure for investors because it portrays our ability to grow organically and generate cash from our businesses for purposes such as paying interest on our indebtedness, repaying maturing debt, funding business acquisitions, purchasing our common stock, paying dividends, and investing in additional research and development. In addition, securities analysts, investors, and others frequently use free cash flow in their evaluation of companies.

The use of these non‐U.S. GAAP financial measures is not intended to be considered in isolation of, or as substitutes for, the financial information prepared and presented in accordance with U.S. GAAP. Free cash flow does not necessarily represent funds available for discretionary use and are not necessarily a measure of our ability to fund our cash needs. Our calculation of free cash flow may differ from similarly titled measures used by other companies, limiting their usefulness as comparative measures.

Free cash flow reconciled to net cash provided by operating activities were as follows:

CRITICAL ACCOUNTING ESTIMATES

The preparation of financial statements and related disclosures in conformity with U.S. GAAP requires us to make judgments, assumptions, and estimates that affect the amounts reported in the Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements and accompanying notes. Note 1, Operations and summary of significant accounting policies in the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements included in Part II, Item 8 of our most recently filed Form 10-K, describes the significant accounting policies and methods used in the preparation of the Consolidated Financial Statements. Our critical accounting estimates, identified in Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations in Part II, Item 7 of our most recently filed Form 10-K, include the discussion of estimates used for revenue recognition, inventory valuation, reviews for impairment of goodwill and other indefinitely lived intangible assets, and our provision for income taxes. Such accounting estimates require significant judgments and assumptions to be used in the preparation of the Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements included in this Form 10-Q, and actual results could differ materially from the amounts reported.

New Accounting Standards

From time to time, the FASB or other standards-setting bodies issue new accounting pronouncements. Updates to the FASB Accounting Standards Codification are communicated through issuance of an Accounting Standards Update.

To understand the impact of recently issued guidance, whether adopted or to be adopted, please review the information provided in Note 2, New accounting standards in the Notes to the Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements included in Part I, Item 1 of this Form 10-Q. Unless otherwise discussed, we believe that the impact of recently issued guidance, whether adopted or to be adopted in the future, is not expected to have a material impact on our Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements upon adoption.