A. O. Smith (AOS): near a 12-month low, China sales down 19%, a bigger buyback and 28 years of dividend increases

A. O. Smith closed at $56.38 on October 9, 2026, worth $7.7 billion, just above its twelve-month low of $55.34 two days earlier. The stock is down 19.1% over twelve months and 29.9% from its high of $80.47 on February 10, 2026. It trades at about 16 times trailing earnings, with a 2.6% dividend yield.

Flat sales, falling profit, and China

In the second quarter of 2026, sales were $1.00 billion, down 1%, and net earnings $124.9 million, down 18% (diluted earnings per share $0.91, against $1.07). North America sales rose 5% to $820.5 million, helped by the Leonard Valve acquisition and 21% growth in boilers, while residential water heater volumes fell. Rest of World sales dropped 19% to $194.9 million, which the company attributes to “continued weakness in China’s consumer appliance market”; it says it is continuing a strategic assessment of the China business. Profit also included $22.6 million of restructuring and impairment charges in North American water treatment.

Sales have hardly moved since 2023. For 2026 the company guides to sales growth of 2% to 3% and diluted earnings per share of $3.60 to $3.75, against $3.85 in 2025, a range that excludes any outcome of the China assessment. It raised its 2026 share repurchase target by 50%, to $300 million, and free cash flow rose 67% in the first half to $233 million.

Leadership changed on July 1, 2026: Kevin Wheeler retired as executive chairman, chief executive Stephen Shafer also became chairman, and Carrie Anderson succeeded Charles Lauber as chief financial officer. At the April annual meeting, director Ilham Kadri received more votes withheld than in favor and offered her resignation under the company’s policy.

The quarterly dividend rose from $0.34 to $0.36 in late 2025. By our count of annual totals, A. O. Smith has raised its dividend for 28 consecutive years.

Funds and insiders

Six of the 38 managers held A. O. Smith at the end of June, all quantitative, multi-strategy or macro funds, with small positions; none of the long-term stock pickers this site tracks owned it. No open-market insider purchases or sales appear in this site’s Form 4 data for the three months to early October. Daily data is on the A. O. Smith page. Not investment advice.