Key Highlights

● Net sales rose 20.8% to $15.2 billion, with non-GAAP EPS up 26.4% to $0.91.

● Non-GAAP EPS cleared the $0.72 to $0.82 range guided in July.

● Gross Margin slipped to 6.55% from 6.90% on lower-margin GPU and AI-infrastructure products.

● Fourth-quarter guidance calls for net sales of $17.5 billion to $17.9 billion.

Ingram Micro Holding (NYSE:INGM) shares were among seven stocks Gapping higher in Friday's premarket, according to a market roundup published at 7:08 a.m. ET. The roundup did not give a percentage move. The catalyst is a third-quarter report released after Thursday's close that the company billed as a record.

Net sales rose 20.8% to $15.2 billion, according to the company's 8-K. GAAP Net Income rose 31.8% to $131.1 million, or $0.57 a diluted share, and non-GAAP EPS rose 26.4% to $0.91. That compares with the $0.72 to $0.82 non-GAAP range the company guided in July; in September, management had said it expected to land at the high end of that range, and it cleared it. Adjusted EBITDA rose to $390.1 million from $342.2 million.

Cash flow turned sharply positive in the quarter. Operating Cash Flow was $251.4 million, compared with $146.0 million used a year earlier, and adjusted free cash flow was $249.5 million.

Profit grew faster than gross profit. Gross Profit rose 14.6% to $996.9 million while Operating Income climbed 31.4% to $293.8 million, a sign of cost discipline. The company bought back $122 million of stock over the first 39 weeks of the year, including about $17 million in the third quarter. It also reaffirmed the 2026 to 2029 framework laid out at its September investor day, which targets net sales growth of about 4% to 6% a year, non-GAAP net income growth of about 11% to 13% and adjusted return on invested Capital of about 16% to 17%.

Where the growth came from

Ingram Micro, based in Irvine, California, is one of the world's biggest distributors of technology products, sitting between manufacturers and the resellers and integrators that sell to businesses. North America led, with sales up 31.5% to $5.8 billion, while Asia-Pacific grew 22.3%, Latin America 16.7% and Europe, the Middle East and Africa 7.3%. Advanced Solutions sales rose 40% and cloud-based solutions 31%.

There is a trade-off. Gross margin slipped to 6.55% from 6.90%, which the company attributed to growth in lower-margin GPU and AI-infrastructure products. Excluding those large deals, margin was 7.06%, roughly in line with 7.10% a year earlier.

Chief Executive Paul Bay said "the investments we are making in our platform, data and AI are enabling us to deepen customer engagement," pointing to the company's Xvantage digital platform.

Guidance and the AI cross-current

For the fourth quarter, which has 14 weeks, Ingram Micro guided net sales of $17.5 billion to $17.9 billion, up 17.6% to 20.3%, and non-GAAP EPS of $1.05 to $1.15, versus $0.96 a year earlier. The release headline said full-year guidance was raised from September's Capital Markets Day, though the summary reviewed did not list new full-year figures. It also raised the quarterly Dividend to $0.088 a share, payable Nov. 23.

The timing is notable. Friday's market is wrestling with AI cash-burn fears after Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN)'s spending plans and Intel (NASDAQ:INTC)'s weak guidance pushed Nasdaq-100 futures down about 2.6% as of roughly 7:56 a.m. ET, according to market data. Ingram Micro benefits from the same data-center build-out that is spooking investors in chipmakers, but as a distributor it earns thin margins on Volume rather than betting its own Balance Sheet on capacity.

Ingram Micro is listed on the New York Stock Exchange and is part of the NYSE Composite. Risks include margin dilution from AI hardware, working-capital swings (nine-month Operating Cash Flow was still a $1.26 billion outflow), and any slowdown in hyperscaler and enterprise spending. What to watch: whether the gap-up holds through the open and any further detail on full-year guidance.