Zebra Technologies (ZBRA) Earnings: Q3 2026 Results

The quarter ended October 3, 2026 and Zebra Technologies published the results on November 3, 2026. Revenue and diluted EPS are shown against Q3 2025, the same quarter a year earlier, which takes seasonal swings out of the comparison. Zebra Technologies reports EPS two ways: GAAP, under the accounting rules every US filer follows, and non-GAAP, which leaves out items the company considers outside its operating results. The release reconciles the two, and when they diverge, the reconciliation says why.

• Zebra acquired Elo Touch on September 30, 2025, after the end of Q3 2025, so the year-ago quarter does not include it. Organic net sales growth, which excludes acquisitions, dispositions and currency, was 11.3%.
• Zebra sold its robotics automation business to Skild AI in the first quarter of 2026.
• Zebra's fiscal quarters end on a Saturday: Q3 2026 ended October 3, 2026 and Q3 2025 ended September 27, 2025.

Source: Zebra Technologies Q3 2026 results, November 3, 2026. Also in the Form 10-Q for the quarter ended October 3, 2026. Figures as reported; checked against the release on November 10, 2026.

How Zebra Technologies splits revenue in its own release, under its own labels, for Q3 2026 against Q3 2025. Indented lines are parts of the line above them.

• Zebra Technologies's Connected Frontline revenue was $949 million in Q3 2026, up 35% from $705 million in Q3 2025, 59% of total revenue.
• Zebra Technologies's Asset Visibility & Automation revenue was $665 million in Q3 2026, up 8% from $615 million in Q3 2025, 41% of total revenue.

Segment lines are the figures writers cite most often, because they show where the growth in a quarter came from. Companies redraw their segments from time to time and restate the prior year to match, so a year-ago figure here can differ from the one printed a year ago. When that has happened, the note above says so.

From the earnings release

In its Q3 2026 release, Zebra Technologies said:

“The Company expects fourth quarter sales growth between 10% and 14% compared to the prior year. This expectation includes approximately 150 basis points favorable impact from foreign currency.”

“Adjusted EBITDA margin for the fourth quarter is expected to be approximately 22%.”

“Non-GAAP diluted earnings per share are expected to be in the range of $5.00 to $5.40. This assumes an adjusted effective tax rate of approximately 19%.”

“Free Cash Flow for the full year is expected to be at least $1 billion.”

Source: Zebra Technologies Q3 2026 release, Nov 3, 2026.

This is the company's own guidance as of Nov 3, 2026, quoted as given. Walnut does not make forecasts of its own. Analyst estimates for the coming quarters are on the ZBRA forecast page.

Revenue and diluted EPS for the last 5 quarters. Each date links to that quarter's release.

GAAP net sales and net income per diluted share, each as first reported in that quarter's release.

We do not hold a confirmed date for Zebra Technologies's next report. Companies post the date on their investor relations site a few weeks ahead, usually with the time of the conference call.

Each quarter keeps its own page with the figures as reported, so a link to one stays pointed at the same numbers after the next report.

• Q3 2026 (this page), reported Nov 3, 2026

Zebra Technologies reports two segments. In Q3 2026 Connected Frontline, which includes its rugged mobile computers, brought in $949 million of the $1,614 million total, against $705 million a year earlier. Asset Visibility & Automation, which includes its printers and machine vision products, was $665 million, against $615 million. Net sales rose 22.3%. (Zebra Technologies Q3 2026 release, Nov 3, 2026; Zebra Technologies Form 10-K, 2025, Feb 12, 2026; Zebra Technologies Form 10-Q, Q3 2026, Nov 3, 2026)

Much of the Connected Frontline jump came from Elo Touch, the self-serve touchscreen maker Zebra bought on September 30, 2025 for $1,303 million. Connected Frontline net sales rose 34.6%; the 10-Q attributes the increase primarily to the inclusion of Elo Touch, higher sales of mobile computers and favorable foreign currency. Excluding currency and Elo Touch, the segment grew 15.0% organically. Acquisitions and dispositions added 8.9 points to Zebra's total growth. (Zebra Technologies Form 10-Q, Q3 2026, Nov 3, 2026; Zebra Technologies Q3 2026 release, Nov 3, 2026)

Asset Visibility & Automation grew 8.1%, or 7.0% organically, which Zebra put down primarily to higher sales of machine vision and printing products and favorable foreign currency. (Zebra Technologies Form 10-Q, Q3 2026, Nov 3, 2026; Zebra Technologies Q3 2026 release, Nov 3, 2026)

By region, North America was $822 million of net sales, up 23.4%, EMEA $496 million, up 25.9%, Asia-Pacific $190 million, up 16.6%, and Latin America $106 million, up 9.3%. Gross margin fell to 45.7% from 48.0%, primarily because of higher memory component costs and business mix, partly offset by favorable foreign currency. (Zebra Technologies Form 10-Q, Q3 2026, Nov 3, 2026; Zebra Technologies Q3 2026 release, Nov 3, 2026)

Zebra Technologies' GAAP net income per diluted share was $3.43 in Q3 2026, up 74.1% from $1.97, and non-GAAP EPS was $4.95, up 27.6% from $3.88. Non-GAAP results exclude amortization of intangible assets ($37 million in the quarter, against $25 million, higher because of Elo Touch), share-based compensation ($50 million in operating expenses and $4 million in cost of sales) and acquisition and integration costs. (Zebra Technologies Q3 2026 release, Nov 3, 2026)

The effective tax rate fell to 17.2% from 36.5% a year earlier, which Zebra attributes primarily to prior-year foreign earnings subject to U.S. taxation under federal tax legislation and lower U.S. state income taxes. That lower rate is a large part of why GAAP EPS grew faster than non-GAAP EPS. Interest expense, net rose to $35 million from $23 million because of higher average debt. (Zebra Technologies Form 10-Q, Q3 2026, Nov 3, 2026; Zebra Technologies Q3 2026 release, Nov 3, 2026)

Buybacks cut the share count. Diluted weighted average shares were 47,813,188, against 51,171,119 a year earlier. Zebra repurchased $75 million of stock in the quarter and $643 million in the first nine months of 2026. (Zebra Technologies Q3 2026 release, Nov 3, 2026)

Diluted EPS divides net income by the weighted average number of shares outstanding in the quarter, plus the shares that options and other equity awards could add. Buybacks shrink that count and lift EPS for the same profit; share issuance and stock awards enlarge it.

Zebra Technologies gives a next-quarter outlook in its release. For Q4 2026 it expects net sales growth of 10% to 14% from a year earlier, including about 150 basis points of favorable currency, an adjusted EBITDA margin of about 22%, and non-GAAP diluted EPS of $5.00 to $5.40, assuming an adjusted effective tax rate of about 19%. It expects full-year free cash flow of at least $1 billion. (Zebra Technologies Q3 2026 release, Nov 3, 2026)

Zebra does not reconcile these non-GAAP estimates to GAAP and gives no GAAP EPS outlook. (Zebra Technologies Q3 2026 release, Nov 3, 2026)

A consensus figure is the average of the models published by the analysts who cover Zebra Technologies, collected by a data provider and revised up to the day of the report. A quarter that lands above it says how expectations were set as much as how the business did, and the share price on the day also reflects the guidance and the lines no consensus covers.

The consensus figures on this page are Yahoo Finance's, as pulled on the date shown. Each comes with the number of analysts behind it; the smaller that number, the more one revised estimate can move the average.

The figures below are the ones Zebra Technologies's own release and filings put weight on for Q3 2026, with the latest reported value for each.

What the quarter means for a holding is a separate question from what it reported. The case for and against owning ZBRA is on is ZBRA a buy or a sell?, what analysts expect next is on the ZBRA forecast, and what the company does is on the Zebra Technologies (ZBRA) stock page.

Every number on this page can be traced to a document Zebra Technologies published. Checking one takes a couple of minutes, and it is worth doing before you quote a figure anywhere.

• The results release is the document linked in the source line above. Companies publish it on their investor relations site at the moment results go out, and it carries the headline tables: revenue, operating income, net income and EPS for the quarter and the year-ago quarter.
• The same release is filed with the SEC as Exhibit 99.1 to a Form 8-K under Item 2.02, usually on the day of the report. The SEC copy does not change after the fact, which makes it the safer thing to link when you cite a number.
• The quarterly report (Form 10-Q) follows within a few weeks and carries the full financial statements, the segment note and management's discussion of what changed. The fourth quarter is covered by the annual report (Form 10-K) instead.
• Restated comparisons are flagged in the notes on this page. When a company redraws its segments or changes how it adjusts EPS, it restates the year-ago column, so the year-ago figure in a new release can differ from the one printed a year ago. This page always uses the comparison in the newer release, because that is the like-for-like one.

A walk-through of every line in a release, with what each one tells you, is in how to read an earnings report.