AIR AAR Corp.

AAR Corp. has agreed to acquire a 65% controlling stake in privately held aircraft maintenance provider MRO Holdings for $1.8 billion, according to The Wall Street Journal. AAR will also have an option to acquire the remaining 35% within six years after closing. AAR will issue about $780 million in new shares to MRO’s existing investors, including Bain Capital, founder Roberto Kriete’s family and Caoba Capital. Bain, which took a minority stake in MRO in 2024, will retain a residual position in the maintenance business while also receiving an equity stake in AAR. The deal would significantly expand AAR’s MRO footprint, adding facilities in the U.S. and lower-cost locations in Mexico, El Salvador and Colombia. MRO generates about 90% of its revenue from U.S. commercial airlines. AAR expects the integration to lift EBITDA margins to 19%-20% within three to four years, versus its current 13%-14% range. $AIR

$AIR AAR beat and bought something big in the same breath. Q1: adjusted EPS 1.49, up 38%, against about 1.30 expected. Revenue 918M, up 24%, ahead of about 880M. Adjusted EBITDA margin ticked up 100bps to 12.7%, and all three segments grew. The bigger news: a definitive agreement for a 65% controlling interest in MRO Holdings at a 4.0B implied enterprise value. AAR pays 1.8B in equity for the stake and repays 1.3B of MRO's debt, funded by about 2.1B of new debt, 780M of AAR stock issued at 135 a share to the sellers, and a 230M PIPE led by the Pritzker Organization. The prize is margin: MRO is expected to run about 1.0B of 2026 sales at a 27% EBITDA margin, roughly double AAR's own. Pro forma margin goes to about 16% before synergies, with 75M of run-rate cost synergies targeted over three to four years. Stock finished down under 1%. A double beat competing with 2.1B of new debt usually does that. The call is 7 AM CT Tuesday; the leverage and synergy math gets tested there.

$AIR Q1 '27 Earnings Results & Recap • Reported GAAP EPS of $1.49 up 37.96% YoY • Reported revenue of $918M up 24.12% YoY • AAR's Q2 FY2027 guidance is sales growth of 14%16% and adjusted EBITDA margin of 13.0%13.4%, excluding LCP; full-year FY2027 sales growth guidance is low teens.

Qatar Airways has retired its remaining Airbus A330 passenger aircraft and loaned more than a dozen pilots to Rwanda’s national carrier RwandAir as high fuel costs and prolonged Gulf aviation disruptions make older, less fuel-efficient widebodies increasingly uneconomical, Reuters reported. Qatar Airways had leased four A330s from Oman Air last year but never placed them into service. One was acquired by RwandAir earlier this year, while Qatar Airways pilots, including some who had not flown commercially since the war began, were temporarily transferred to the airline. Qatar Airways said it regularly reviews its fleet and is replacing older aircraft with newer, more fuel-efficient models. It expects to receive 138 aircraft over the next five years. The airline operates 239 passenger aircraft and 30 freighters, with A330s accounting for about 7% of its passenger fleet as of March. Jet-fuel prices have doubled since the war began, increasing the cost of operating older widebodies. $AIR

I looked at the business behind $AIR (AAR CORP) for you. Based on financial data and reported results. #AIR

$AIR 🔥🔥Best time to load is now - $160-$200 easy - • Consistent beats. AAR beat non-GAAP EPS estimates in each of the last four quarters, by roughly 6% to 15%, and beat on revenue too. • Growth trend. Quarterly revenue rose from $739.6M in Q1 FY26 to $928.0M in Q4 FY26. • Steady guidance. Management guided Q1 FY27 revenue of about $895M to $910M, THE company has also raised its outlook more often than it has cut it. • Defense and government exposure. Long-term US government and DoD logistics and sustainment contracts give it a steadier base than a pure airline-cycle business. • Aging fleets and parts scarcity. Airlines are keeping older aircraft flying longer, which supports demand for MRO), parts distribution and used serviceable material. This is a general industry tailwind that my search didn't confirm for AAR specifically. • Mix shift. Management has been moving toward higher-margin parts supply and repair work, which could lift margins as it scales.

$AIR AAR IS TO PAY $1.8 BLN FOR A STAKE IN AIRCRAFT-MAINTENANCE COMPANY MRO HOLDINGS, AGREEING TO TAKE A 65% INTEREST - WSJ