The short read

  • Celestica builds networking, server and storage hardware for data centers; 74% of its 2025 revenue came from the segment that serves hyperscalers, and about 75% of all revenue was produced in Asia.
  • Three customers took 32%, 17% and 14% of second-quarter 2026 revenue and the top ten took 79% of 2025's; the 10-K says supply agreements guarantee neither volume nor price, and the 2026 revenue outlook has moved from US$16.0 billion to US$20.5 billion in four releases.
  • An August 2026 offering of 9,677,419 shares at US$310.00, plus a 1,451,612-share over-allotment, raised about US$3.39 billion net for capital spending. A stock priced on a forecast of three customers' spending is not a value stock, and we say so.

What Celestica actually builds

Celestica is a manufacturer. That sentence does more work than it looks, because much of the AI trade is priced as if every company near a data center were a software business.

The second quarter of 2026 shows where the growth is. CCS revenue was US$3,810.0 million, up 84% from a year earlier, with Communications at US$2,653.2 million (up 62%) and Enterprise at US$1,157.1 million (up 167%); HPS revenue was about US$1,900.0 million, up 58%; ATS grew 8% to US$890.0 million [2][3]. The programs the company names are 800G and 1.6T networking and AI/machine-learning compute for data center customers [2].

The shares trade on the NYSE and the TSX under the same symbol, CLS; the company reports in U.S. dollars under U.S. GAAP and files 10-Ks and 10-Qs with the SEC like a domestic issuer [2][3]. For a U.S. reader there is no currency step and no foreign-filer discount to argue about.

Customer concentration is the first number to read

The customers are not named. The 10-K describes the Communications end market as serving hyperscalers, which narrows the field without identifying anyone, and we will not guess [1].

How to read guidance when there is no backlog

Celestica does not report a backlog figure, and the 10-Q for the second quarter contains none [3]. What it offers instead is an annual outlook that it revises each quarter, and the revisions are the closest thing to an order book a reader will get.

Each quarter so far has come in above the top of its range: the second quarter's US$4,698.6 million of revenue and US$2.54 of adjusted EPS were above the US$4.15–4.45 billion and US$2.14–2.34 guided in April [2][5]. The company's own explanation of the July increase is "expected stronger customer demand for Q3 2026 and improvements in our demand visibility for the remainder of 2026" [2].

The quarter, the cash and the share count

Then it raised equity. On August 5, 2026 Celestica priced 9,677,419 common shares at US$310.00 each for gross proceeds of US$3.0 billion, the underwriters exercised their option on a further 1,451,612 shares the next day, and the company estimated net proceeds of about US$3.39 billion, to be used for working capital, capital expenditures and general corporate purposes [7][8][6]. That followed the May confirmation, reported by Fort Worth Inc., of a more than one-million-square-foot manufacturing and engineering campus at AllianceTexas in Fort Worth, with a minimum capital investment of US$876 million by the end of 2029 and about 1,700 jobs [9]. On September 11 the company said its chief financial officer would move to a new Group President, Global Markets role on October 1, with a successor named as CFO [10].

Not a value stock, and why that still deserves a sober read

This publication's founding question is whether a Canadian company is cheaper than it should be. Celestica is not a candidate for that question. It reports in U.S. dollars, files as a domestic U.S. issuer, trades on the NYSE, and is priced on a forecast of three customers' spending rather than on any discount a border creates [2][3].

What would change our view

The third-quarter release in late October will show whether revenue lands inside US$5,250 to US$5,550 million and, more usefully, whether the three customer percentages in the 10-Q move [2][3]. A 2027 outlook that implies growth below the 65% expected for 2026 would mean "accelerate" was the high-water mark. A capital expenditure line in the second half that runs well ahead of the US$600 million free cash flow outlook would tell us the offering was sized for a plan larger than the one disclosed. And a trade action on servers or switches built in Asia would reprice the footprint before a single Fort Worth line is running [1][9].

One business. Separate questions.

Company profiles

These companies have a documented connection to the theme. Inclusion is not a recommendation. Every figure is dated and sourced; blanks mean not yet verified.

Electronics manufacturing and hardware platforms for data centers / Operating manufacturer

Celestica

TSXCLSNYSECLS

Celestica builds electronic hardware, most of it now destined for data centers, and increasingly designs it too.

Revenue (latest quarter)
US$4,698.6MQuarter ended Jun 30, 2026
GAAP net earnings (latest quarter)
US$368.8MQuarter ended Jun 30, 2026
Adjusted operating margin (latest quarter)
8.2%Quarter ended Jun 30, 2026

All figures are in U.S. dollars, Celestica's reporting currency, under U.S. GAAP. Quarterly figures are for the three months ended June 30, 2026 from the July 27, 2026 news release and the Form 10-Q; annual figures are from the January 28, 2026 release and the Form 10-K for 2025. Adjusted EPS, adjusted operating margin, adjusted gross margin and free cash flow are management's non-GAAP measures as the company defines them. Blank means not yet verified, never zero.

Toronto, Ontario Read profile

The other side of the thesis

What could break it

  • Three unnamed customers supplied 32%, 17% and 14% of second-quarter revenue, and the 10-K says master supply agreements guarantee neither a level of business nor a price; a deferral by one of them lands in a single quarter.
  • Celestica reports no backlog; the US$20.5 billion outlook is management's forecast of what customers have forecast to it, and the same cadence that raised it three times in nine months can cut it.
  • Hardware Platform Solutions are Celestica's own designs sold to hyperscalers that also design their own hardware; a customer bringing a platform in-house takes the higher-margin revenue first.
  • About 75% of 2025 revenue was produced in Asia; tariffs or export rules on servers, switches or their components would change the cost of the footprint faster than the Fort Worth build can replace it.
  • The August offering added 9,677,419 shares plus 1,451,612 over-allotment shares; if the capital spending it funds arrives before the revenue, free cash flow per share falls first.
  • GAAP EPS of US$3.17 sat above adjusted EPS of US$2.54 in the second quarter, the reverse of the usual relationship; the reconciling items should be read before either number is used in a multiple.

Read the original documents

Sources

  1. 1
    Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2025 Celestica Inc. via SEC EDGAR · February 27, 2026

    Spun out of IBM's manufacturing operations September 27, 1996; headquarters 5140 Yonge Street, Toronto; 29,591 employees at December 31, 2025; CCS segment (Communications: data communications and information processing products for hyperscalers; Enterprise: servers and storage); HPS designs or jointly designs platforms in storage, servers and networking and manages the supply chain; ATS: aerospace and defense, industrial, HealthTech, capital equipment; CCS 74% of 2025 revenue; HPS 41%; three customers at 32%, 14% and 12% of 2025 revenue; top ten 79%; master supply agreements do not guarantee business or pricing; customers do not commit to long-term schedules and change, delay or cancel quantities; about 75% of 2025 revenue produced in Asia; 114,967,854 shares at February 19, 2026.

  2. 2
    Celestica Announces Second Quarter 2026 Financial Results Celestica Inc. · July 27, 2026

    Revenue US$4,698.6M (+62% from US$2,893.4M); GAAP earnings from operations 9.8% of revenue; adjusted operating margin 8.2% (7.4%); GAAP EPS US$3.17 (US$1.82); adjusted EPS US$2.54 (US$1.39); GAAP net earnings US$368.8M; adjusted net earnings US$295.4M; adjusted gross margin 11.5%; CCS US$3,810.0M (+84%), margin 8.7%; HPS about US$1,900.0M (+58%); ATS US$890.0M (+8%), margin 6.3%; Q3 guidance US$5,250–5,550M revenue, US$2.88–3.08 adjusted EPS, 8.4% margin; 2026 outlook US$20.5B revenue (from US$19.0B), US$11.30 adjusted EPS (from US$10.15), 8.4% margin, US$600M free cash flow (from US$500M); 65% revenue and 87% adjusted EPS growth; 2027 revenue growth to accelerate and adjusted EPS to grow faster than revenue; cash US$535.7M; total debt US$810.4M; cash from operations US$410.9M; capex US$263.8M; H1 revenue US$8,745.6M, free cash flow US$285.0M; no repurchases in Q2; 800G and 1.6T networking and AI/ML compute programs; NYSE and TSX: CLS; Toronto.

  3. 3
    Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2026 Celestica Inc. via SEC EDGAR · July 27, 2026

    Three customers, all in CCS, at 32%, 17% and 14% of Q2 revenue and 34%, 16% and 15% of first-half revenue; Communications US$2,653.2M (US$1,641.2M); Enterprise US$1,157.1M (US$433.1M); 114,982,086 shares at July 22, 2026; H1 repurchases US$22.6M; H1 cash from operations US$767.2M; H1 capex US$493.3M; term A loan US$250.0M, term B loan US$490.0M, revolver undrawn; no backlog figure.

  4. 4
    Celestica Announces Fourth Quarter and FY 2025 Financial Results Celestica Inc. · January 28, 2026

    FY2025 revenue US$12.39B, up 28% from US$9.646B; GAAP EPS US$7.16; adjusted EPS US$6.05; adjusted operating margin 7.5%; free cash flow US$458.3M; GAAP net earnings US$832.5M; 2026 outlook raised to US$17.0B revenue and US$8.75 adjusted EPS from US$16.0B and US$8.20 issued October 27, 2025; margin 7.8%; free cash flow US$500M; Q1 2026 guidance US$3.85–4.15B; 2025 repurchases 1.5M shares for US$153.4M.

  5. 5
    Celestica Announces First Quarter 2026 Financial Results Celestica Inc. · April 27, 2026

    Q1 2026 revenue US$4.047B; adjusted EPS US$2.16; GAAP EPS US$1.83; adjusted operating margin 8.0%; CCS US$3.24B (+76%); HPS about US$1.7B (+63%); 2026 outlook raised to US$19.0B and US$10.15 from US$17.0B and US$8.75; margin 8.1%; Q2 guidance US$4.15–4.45B revenue and US$2.14–2.34 adjusted EPS; 'improved forecast visibility with our customers'; revenue growth of more than US$6.5B expected in 2026 and 'significantly more' in 2027.

  6. 6
    Celestica Announces $3 Billion Equity Offering to Accelerate Growth Across Global AI Infrastructure Celestica Inc. · August 5, 2026

    US$3B treasury offering with a 15% over-allotment option; proceeds for working capital, capital expenditures and general corporate purposes; BofA Securities and Citigroup joint lead bookrunners, TD Securities bookrunner; the chief executive on the demand outlook 'the strongest in the Company's history'.

  7. 7
    Celestica Announces Pricing of Equity Offering Celestica Inc. · August 5, 2026

    9,677,419 common shares at US$310.00; gross proceeds US$3,000,000,000; option for up to 1,451,612 additional shares; closing on or about August 7, 2026.

  8. 8
    Form 8-K (underwriting agreement) Celestica Inc. via SEC EDGAR · August 5, 2026 (filed August 7, 2026)

    Underwriting agreement with Citigroup, BofA Securities and TD Securities; option for 1,451,612 shares exercised in full on August 6, 2026; estimated net proceeds about US$3.39B after underwriting costs; Form S-3 No. 333-285515.

  9. 9
    Celestica Confirms Plans for AllianceTexas Expansion Bringing 1,700 Jobs to Fort Worth Fort Worth Inc. · May 14, 2026

    More than 1 million square feet at AllianceTexas; minimum capital investment of US$876M by the end of 2029; about 1,700 full-time jobs; City Council tax abatement; the chief operating officer on 'growing demand from customers for U.S.-based capabilities'. Used for the event only.

  10. 10
    Form 8-K (executive changes) Celestica Inc. via SEC EDGAR · September 11, 2026

    Effective October 1, 2026, the CFO moves to a new Group President, Global Markets role and a successor becomes CFO.