Plexus Corp. walks into today's Q2 2026 earnings call — scheduled for 12:30 UTC — trading near all-time highs after a 26% gain in just one month, following a well-timed analyst upgrade that reshuffled the Street's view of the stock.
The most consequential recent move came from Stifel's Ruben Roy on April 20. He lifted his rating from Hold to Buy and raised his target from $200 to $250 — a 25% target move that brought him almost exactly in line with where the stock is trading now at $250.60. That leaves the consensus mean target at $210.80, now below the current price and reflecting a split between Stifel's fresh optimism and the remaining Hold-weighted consensus of two buys and two holds. The analyst-return-potential factor ranks in the 94th percentile — meaning the analyst community's recent momentum has been decisively upward — yet the mean target already looks stretched relative to the current price. Benchmark's David Williams has held a Buy at $220 since mid-March, providing further underlying support.
Bulls point to Plexus's structural positioning: its focus on high-complexity, low-to-mid-volume manufacturing in Aerospace & Defense and Healthcare/Life Sciences insulates it from the commoditised EMS business, and there is an anticipated recovery in commercial aerospace and defense spending. Bears, by contrast, are watching top-line growth more closely, with forward EPS growth ranking in only the 13th percentile year-over-year and 30-day EPS momentum near the bottom third of the universe. The P/E has expanded sharply — up more than 5 turns over the past month to 31.2x — and the EV/EBITDA has moved in the same direction, raising the bar for the delivery on that premium.
Short positioning tells a notably relaxed story heading into the print. Short interest is running at 4.5% of the free float, effectively unchanged over the past month, and borrow conditions are loose — cost to borrow has eased to 0.41% and availability remains very ample. Options traders are equally unbothered: the put/call ratio is 0.13, barely above its 20-day average and close to a year low, sitting in sharp contrast to the 52-week high of 0.61. Peers including FLEX, JBL, and LFUS are all down on the day, while PLXS is essentially flat — suggesting the stock is entering the print with an unusual degree of relative strength and limited defensive positioning.
The earnings report is therefore less about whether Plexus can defend its niche and more about whether the company can deliver top-line momentum that justifies a multiple which has re-rated sharply in a single month.
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