Manufacturing company Nordson (NASDAQ: NDSN) reported Q1 CY2026 results topping the market’s revenue expectations, with sales up 8.5% year on year to $740.8 million. Guidance for next quarter’s revenue was better than expected at $775 million at the midpoint, 1% above analysts’ estimates. Its non-GAAP profit of $2.86 per share was in line with analysts’ consensus estimates.

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Company Overview

Founded in 1954, Nordson Corporation (NASDAQ: NDSN) manufactures dispensing equipment and industrial adhesives, sealants and coatings.

Revenue Growth

Examining a company’s long-term performance can provide clues about its quality. Any business can have short-term success, but a top-tier one grows for years. Regrettably, Nordson’s sales grew at a tepid 5.6% compounded annual growth rate over the last five years. This fell short of our benchmark for the industrials sector and is a rough starting point for our analysis.

We at StockStory place the most emphasis on long-term growth, but within industrials, a half-decade historical view may miss cycles, industry trends, or a company capitalizing on catalysts such as a new contract win or a successful product line. Nordson’s annualized revenue growth of 4.6% over the last two years aligns with its five-year trend, suggesting its demand was consistently weak.

Nordson also reports organic revenue, which strips out one-time events like acquisitions and currency fluctuations that don’t accurately reflect its fundamentals. Over the last two years, Nordson’s organic revenue was flat. Because this number is lower than its two-year revenue growth, we can see that some mixture of acquisitions and foreign exchange rates boosted its headline results.

This quarter, Nordson reported year-on-year revenue growth of 8.5%, and its $740.8 million of revenue exceeded Wall Street’s estimates by 1.8%. Company management is currently guiding for a 4.5% year-on-year increase in sales next quarter.

Looking further ahead, sell-side analysts expect revenue to grow 3.6% over the next 12 months, similar to its two-year rate. This projection doesn't excite us and indicates its products and services will face some demand challenges.

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Operating Margin

Nordson’s operating margin has been trending up over the last 12 months and averaged 25.9% over the last five years. On top of that, its profitability was elite for an industrials business thanks to its efficient cost structure and economies of scale. This result isn’t surprising as its high gross margin gives it a favorable starting point.

Analyzing the trend in its profitability, Nordson’s operating margin might fluctuated slightly but has generally stayed the same over the last five years. This raises questions about the company’s expense base because its revenue growth should have given it leverage on its fixed costs, resulting in better economies of scale and profitability.

In Q1, Nordson generated an operating margin profit margin of 26.6%, up 1.9 percentage points year on year. The increase was encouraging, and because its operating margin rose more than its gross margin, we can infer it was more efficient with expenses such as marketing, R&D, and administrative overhead.

Earnings Per Share

We track the long-term change in earnings per share (EPS) for the same reason as long-term revenue growth. Compared to revenue, however, EPS highlights whether a company’s growth is profitable.

Nordson’s EPS grew at 11.2% compounded annual growth rate over the last five years, higher than its 5.6% annualized revenue growth. However, this alone doesn’t tell us much about its business quality because its operating margin didn’t improve.

Diving into Nordson’s quality of earnings can give us a better understanding of its performance. A five-year view shows that Nordson has repurchased its stock, shrinking its share count by 4.4%. This tells us its EPS outperformed its revenue not because of increased operational efficiency but financial engineering, as buybacks boost per share earnings.

Like with revenue, we analyze EPS over a shorter period to see if we are missing a change in the business.

For Nordson, its two-year annual EPS growth of 8.4% was lower than its five-year trend. We hope its growth can accelerate in the future.

In Q1, Nordson reported adjusted EPS of $2.86, up from $2.42 in the same quarter last year. This print was close to analysts’ estimates. Over the next 12 months, Wall Street expects Nordson’s full-year EPS to grow 5.7% from $10.99 to $11.61.

Key Takeaways from Nordson’s Q1 Results

We enjoyed seeing Nordson beat analysts’ revenue expectations this quarter. We were also glad its full-year EPS guidance slightly exceeded Wall Street’s estimates. On the other hand, its organic revenue missed and its adjusted operating income fell slightly short of Wall Street’s estimates. Overall, this quarter could have been better. The stock traded down 1.1% to $273.10 immediately following the results.

So should you invest in Nordson right now? We think that the latest quarter is only one piece of the longer-term business quality puzzle. Quality, when combined with valuation, can help determine if the stock is a buy. We cover that in our actionable full research report which you can read here (it’s free).