Applied Industrial Technologies

Applied Industrial Technologies, a Cleveland company with roots back to 1923, distributes the parts and systems that keep industrial plants running. It sells bearings, power transmission products (parts that carry power through a machine), fluid power (hydraulic and pneumatic) systems, flow control products, factory automation such as robots and machine vision, and maintenance supplies. At its June 30, 2026, fiscal year-end, it had about 6,900 employees, roughly 580 facilities and more than 9.4 million stock keeping units (individual products).

Customers are industrial companies, mostly in North America but also in Australia, New Zealand and Singapore. They purchase for maintenance, repair and operations (MRO, the upkeep of existing equipment), for machines they build (original equipment manufacturing, or OEM) and for new installations. Applied makes money by reselling products from leading suppliers, adding local inventory, technical expertise and repair service. Its gross margin was 30.3% in fiscal 2026. That means about 30 cents of each sales dollar remained after product costs.

Fiscal 2026 sales of $4.97 billion came from two segments. Service Center (64.1%) runs local branches that respond when customer equipment breaks down. Engineered Solutions (35.9%) designs and integrates systems that make equipment more productive, efficient and automated; management calls it the higher-margin segment. The United States made up 88.3% of sales, Canada 6.1% and other countries 5.6%.

• In Q1 FY2027 (ended Sep 30, 2026), revenue was $1.29B, up 7.6% from a year earlier, and net income was $110.4M (+9.5%).
• For fiscal 2026, revenue was $4.97B (+8.8% year over year; +8.9% a year from FY2021 to FY2026) with a 8.3% net margin.

• Over FY2022–FY2026: $557.9M in buybacks and $297.4M in dividends.
• At least 9 consecutive annual increases: every fiscal year in the SEC data (FY2017–FY2026) shows an increase; the true streak may be longer.
• Regular dividends per share grew +8.9% a year over 5 years (FY2021–FY2026).
• Dividends took 17.5% of earnings and 15.8% of free cash flow in the latest fiscal year.
• Shares outstanding changed -5.0% from Jan 14, 2022 to Oct 16, 2026.

Rank among 1514 US companies

Market value at each year end

Applied Industrial Technologies’s market value went from $2.32B at the end of 2016 to $10.92B on Oct 28, 2026, about 4.7 times as much; since the end of 2025 it is up 13%.

Form 4 filings from 2025-10-29 to 2026-10-29 (25 read): 0 open-market purchases and 5 sales ($5.0M).

Large shareholders (13G filings)

ETFs with the most weight in AIT

1. Depends on key supplier relationships. Applied resells products made by other companies. Losing authorization to distribute a major supplier's line, product shortages or changes to supplier distribution programs could cut sales and earnings.
2. Supplier incentives fall when purchases fall. Suppliers reward Applied with purchasing incentives tied to how much it orders. If weaker customer demand leads Applied to order less, those incentives can shrink, squeezing profit when sales are already soft.
3. Sales track factory activity and the economy. Demand follows customers' production levels. When plants slow because of weak demand, interest rate changes, trade policy or offshoring, they need fewer parts and services, and prices and inventory planning come under pressure.
4. Growth relies on acquisitions. Acquisitions are central to Applied's growth plan, including automation. Deals may be hard to find or integrate, and the premium paid for past deals, called goodwill, could be written down, hurting profit.
5. Bigger customers and suppliers gain bargaining power. Consolidation gives large customers leverage to win lower prices through big volume contracts, and gives merged suppliers more pricing power. Rivals in a fragmented market, from local distributors to OEMs and e-commerce sellers, add pressure.
6. Margins can slip with mix and costs. Gross margin, the share of sales left after product costs, was 30.3% in fiscal 2026. Shifts toward lower-margin customers or products, price cuts and swings in energy, labor and product costs could lower it.

• Oct 27, 2026 Quarterly results released
• Oct 22, 2026 Executive or board change; Shareholder vote results
• Aug 14, 2026 Executive or board change
• Aug 13, 2026 Quarterly results released
• Jun 25, 2026 Executive or board change
• Apr 28, 2026 Quarterly results released; Investor presentation or announcement
• Jan 27, 2026 Quarterly results released

Applied has raised its dividend for at least 9 consecutive fiscal years through fiscal 2026, and the streak may be longer. Dividends per share rose from $1.30 in fiscal 2021 to $1.99 in fiscal 2026, about 8.9% a year. The payout is low: 17.5% of fiscal 2026 earnings and 15.8% of free cash flow (cash left after capital spending). The yield was 0.67% as of October 28, 2026, so income is modest. Buybacks take more cash: $558 million over fiscal 2022–2026, versus $297 million in dividends. The share count fell 5% between January 2022 and October 2026.

The shares have fallen hard in crises. They dropped 57.2% in the 2008 financial crisis and took 23 months to recover. In the 2020 COVID crash they fell 52.7% but regained their peak in under three months. In the 2022 bear market they gained 5.2% while the market fell. A single stock carries more risk than a diversified fund.