Safety equipment manufacturer MSA Safety (NYSE: MSA) reported Q1 CY2026 results topping the market’s revenue expectations, with sales up 10% year on year to $463.6 million. Its non-GAAP profit of $1.99 per share was 9% above analysts’ consensus estimates.

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"Our first quarter performance reflects the resilience of our diverse business, and a solid start to the year," said Steve Blanco, President and CEO of MSA Safety.

Company Overview

Founded in 1914 as Mine Safety Appliances to protect coal miners from dangerous gases, MSA Safety (NYSE: MSA) designs and manufactures advanced safety products that protect workers and facilities across industries including fire service, energy, construction, and manufacturing.

Revenue Growth

A company’s long-term sales performance is one signal of its overall quality. Any business can experience short-term success, but top-performing ones enjoy sustained growth for years.

With $1.92 billion in revenue over the past 12 months, MSA Safety is a mid-sized business services company, which sometimes brings disadvantages compared to larger competitors benefiting from better economies of scale. On the bright side, it can still flex high growth rates because it’s working from a smaller revenue base.

As you can see below, MSA Safety grew its sales at a solid 7.8% compounded annual growth rate over the last five years. This shows it had high demand, a useful starting point for our analysis.

We at StockStory place the most emphasis on long-term growth, but within business services, a half-decade historical view may miss recent innovations or disruptive industry trends. MSA Safety’s recent performance shows its demand has slowed as its annualized revenue growth of 3.1% over the last two years was below its five-year trend. We’re wary when companies in the sector see decelerations in revenue growth, as it could signal changing consumer tastes aided by low switching costs.

This quarter, MSA Safety reported year-on-year revenue growth of 10%, and its $463.6 million of revenue exceeded Wall Street’s estimates by 2.7%.

Looking ahead, sell-side analysts expect revenue to grow 4.7% over the next 12 months. While this projection implies its newer products and services will fuel better top-line performance, it is still below the sector average.

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Adjusted Operating Margin

Adjusted operating margin is an important measure of profitability as it shows the portion of revenue left after accounting for all core expenses – everything from the cost of goods sold to advertising and wages. It’s also useful for comparing profitability across companies because it excludes non-recurring expenses, interest on debt, and taxes.

MSA Safety has been a well-oiled machine over the last five years. It demonstrated elite profitability for a business services business, boasting an average adjusted operating margin of 21.4%.

Looking at the trend in its profitability, MSA Safety’s adjusted operating margin rose by 2.9 percentage points over the last five years, as its sales growth gave it operating leverage.

This quarter, MSA Safety generated an adjusted operating margin profit margin of 20.1%, in line with the same quarter last year. This indicates the company’s overall cost structure has been relatively stable.

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.

MSA Safety’s EPS grew at 14.1% compounded annual growth rate over the last five years, higher than its 7.8% annualized revenue growth. This tells us the company became more profitable on a per-share basis as it expanded.

We can take a deeper look into MSA Safety’s earnings to better understand the drivers of its performance. As we mentioned earlier, MSA Safety’s adjusted operating margin was flat this quarter but expanded by 2.9 percentage points over the last five years. On top of that, its share count shrank by 1.1%. These are positive signs for shareholders because improving profitability and share buybacks turbocharge EPS growth relative to revenue growth.

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

For MSA Safety, its two-year annual EPS growth of 6.4% was lower than its five-year trend. We hope its growth can accelerate in the future.

In Q1, MSA Safety reported adjusted EPS of $1.99, up from $1.68 in the same quarter last year. This print beat analysts’ estimates by 9%. Over the next 12 months, Wall Street expects MSA Safety’s full-year EPS of $8.24 to grow 7.7%.

Key Takeaways from MSA Safety’s Q1 Results

It was good to see MSA Safety beat analysts’ EPS expectations this quarter. We were also glad its revenue outperformed Wall Street’s estimates. Zooming out, we think this quarter featured some important positives. The stock remained flat at $165.31 immediately following the results.

Is MSA Safety an attractive investment opportunity right now? If you’re making that decision, you should consider the bigger picture of valuation, business qualities, as well as the latest earnings. We cover that in our actionable full research report which you can read here (it’s free).