Hardware products and merchandising solutions provider Hillman (NASDAQ: HLMN) reported Q2 CY2026 results beating Wall Street’s revenue expectations, with sales up 9.8% year on year to $442.3 million. The company’s full-year revenue guidance of $1.70 billion at the midpoint came in 2.2% above analysts’ estimates. Its non-GAAP profit of $0.17 per share was in line with analysts’ consensus estimates.
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Hillman (HLMN) Q2 CY2026 Highlights:
- Revenue: $442.3 million vs analyst estimates of $436.7 million (9.8% year-on-year growth, 1.3% beat)
- Adjusted EPS: $0.17 vs analyst estimates of $0.17 (in line)
- Adjusted EBITDA: $77.15 million vs analyst estimates of $75.86 million (17.4% margin, 1.7% beat)
- The company slightly lifted its revenue guidance for the full year to $1.70 billion at the midpoint from $1.68 billion
- EBITDA guidance for the full year is $285 million at the midpoint, above analyst estimates of $279.4 million
- Operating Margin: 9.3%, in line with the same quarter last year
- Free Cash Flow Margin: 15.9%, up from 7.7% in the same quarter last year
- Market Capitalization: $1.54 billion
"Hillman delivered a strong second quarter, with robust free cash flow and top line growth of 10%, which is in line with our long-term growth targets," commented Jon Michael Adinolfi, President and CEO of Hillman.
Company Overview
Established when Max Hillman purchased a franchise operation, Hillman (NASDAQ: HLMN) designs, manufactures, and sells industrial equipment and systems for various sectors.
Revenue Growth
Reviewing a company’s long-term sales performance reveals insights into its quality. Any business can have short-term success, but a top-tier one grows for years. Over the last five years, Hillman grew its sales at a sluggish 2.1% compounded annual growth rate. This was below our standards and is a poor baseline for our analysis.
Long-term growth is the most important, but within industrials, a half-decade historical view may miss new industry trends or demand cycles. Hillman’s annualized revenue growth of 4.2% over the last two years is above its five-year trend, which is encouraging. 
This quarter, Hillman reported year-on-year revenue growth of 9.8%, and its $442.3 million of revenue exceeded Wall Street’s estimates by 1.3%.
Looking ahead, sell-side analysts expect revenue to grow 6.6% over the next 12 months. While this projection indicates its newer products and services will catalyze better top-line performance, it is still below the sector average.
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Operating Margin
Hillman was profitable over the last five years but held back by its large cost base. Its average operating margin of 4.5% was weak for an industrials business. This result is surprising given its high gross margin as a starting point.
On the plus side, Hillman’s operating margin rose by 5.4 percentage points over the last five years, as its sales growth gave it operating leverage.
In Q2, Hillman generated an operating margin profit margin of 9.3%, in line with the same quarter last year. This indicates the company’s cost structure has recently been stable.
Earnings Per Share
Revenue trends explain a company’s historical growth, but the long-term change in earnings per share (EPS) points to the profitability of that growth — for example, a company could inflate its sales through excessive spending on advertising and promotions.
Hillman’s full-year EPS grew at a remarkable 14.1% compounded annual growth rate over the last four years, better than the broader industrials sector.
Like with revenue, we analyze EPS over a more recent period because it can provide insight into an emerging theme or development for the business.
Hillman’s EPS grew at a decent 9.2% compounded annual growth rate over the last two years, higher than its 4.2% annualized revenue growth. This tells us the company became more profitable on a per-share basis as it expanded.
In Q2, Hillman reported adjusted EPS of $0.17, in line with the same quarter last year. This print beat analysts’ estimates by 1.4%. Over the next 12 months, Wall Street expects Hillman’s full-year EPS to grow 15.5% from $0.56 to $0.65.
Key Takeaways from Hillman’s Q2 Results
It was great to see Hillman’s full-year revenue guidance top analysts’ expectations. We were also glad its full-year EBITDA guidance exceeded Wall Street’s estimates. Overall, we think this was a solid quarter with some key areas of upside. The stock traded up 5.5% to $8.76 immediately after reporting.
Sure, Hillman had a solid quarter, but if we look at the bigger picture, is this stock a buy? What happened in the latest quarter matters, but not as much as longer-term business quality and valuation, when deciding whether to invest in this stock. We cover that in our actionable full research report which you can read here (it’s free).
