Illinois Tool Works 10-Q 2025-09-30

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-Q

(Mark One)

Commission File Number: 1-4797

ILLINOIS TOOL WORKS INC.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

(Registrant's telephone number, including area code) 847-724-7500

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.

Yes x No o

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit and post such files).

Yes x No o

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of "large accelerated filer," "accelerated filer," "smaller reporting company," and "emerging growth company" in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. o

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act).

Yes ☐ No ☒

The number of shares of registrant's common stock, $0.01 par value, outstanding at September 30, 2025: 290.1 million

PART I – FINANCIAL INFORMATION

Illinois Tool Works Inc. and Subsidiaries

Statement of Income (Unaudited)

The Notes to Financial Statements are an integral part of this statement.

Illinois Tool Works Inc. and Subsidiaries

Statement of Comprehensive Income (Unaudited)

The Notes to Financial Statements are an integral part of this statement.

Illinois Tool Works Inc. and Subsidiaries

Statement of Financial Position (Unaudited)

The Notes to Financial Statements are an integral part of this statement.

Illinois Tool Works Inc. and Subsidiaries

Statement of Changes in Stockholders' Equity (Unaudited)

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INTRODUCTION

Illinois Tool Works Inc. (the "Company" or "ITW") is a global manufacturer of a diversified range of industrial products and equipment. As of December 31, 2024, the Company had 86 divisions with approximately 44,000 people in 51 countries.

The Company's operations are organized and managed based on similar product offerings and end markets, and are reported to senior management as the following seven segments: Automotive OEM; Food Equipment; Test & Measurement and Electronics; Welding; Polymers & Fluids; Construction Products; and Specialty Products.

Due to the large number of diverse businesses and the Company's decentralized operating structure, the Company does not require its businesses to provide detailed information on operating results. Instead, the Company's corporate management collects data on several key measurements: operating revenue, operating income, operating margin, variable cost of revenue, overhead expenses, number of months on hand in inventory, days sales outstanding in accounts receivable, past due receivables and return on invested capital. These key measures are monitored by management and significant changes in operating results versus current trends in end markets and variances from forecasts are discussed with operating unit management.

THE ITW BUSINESS MODEL

The powerful and highly differentiated ITW Business Model is the Company's core source of value creation. It is the Company's competitive advantage and defines how ITW creates value for its shareholders. The ITW Business Model is comprised of three unique elements:

• ITW's 80/20 Front-to-Back process is the operating system that is applied in every ITW business. Initially introduced as a manufacturing efficiency tool in the 1980s, ITW has continually refined, improved and expanded 80/20 into a proprietary, holistic business management process that generates significant value for the Company and its customers. Through the application of data driven insights generated by 80/20 practice, ITW focuses on its largest and best opportunities (the "80") and eliminates cost, complexity and distractions associated with the less profitable opportunities (the "20"). 80/20 enables ITW businesses to consistently achieve world-class operational excellence in product availability, quality, and innovation, while generating superior financial performance;

• Customer-back Innovation** has fueled decades of profitable growth at ITW. The Company's unique innovation approach is built on insight gathered from the 80/20 Front-to-Back process. Working from the customer back, ITW businesses position themselves as the go-to problem solver for their "80" customers. ITW's innovation efforts are focused on understanding customer needs, particularly those in "80" markets with solid long-term growth fundamentals, and creating unique solutions to address those needs. These customer insights and learnings drive innovation at ITW and have contributed to a portfolio of approximately 20,900 granted and pending patents;

• ITW's Decentralized, Entrepreneurial Culture enables ITW businesses to be fast, focused, and responsive. ITW businesses have significant flexibility within the framework of the ITW Business Model to customize their approach in order to best serve their specific customers' needs. ITW colleagues recognize their unique responsibilities to execute the Company's strategy and values. As a result, the Company maintains a focused and simple organizational structure that, combined with outstanding execution, delivers best-in-class services and solutions adapted to each business' customers and end markets.

ENTERPRISE STRATEGY: 2012 - 2023

In late 2012, ITW began its strategic framework transitioning the Company to fully leverage the unique and powerful set of capabilities and operating practices of the ITW Business Model. The Company undertook a complete review of its performance, focusing on its businesses delivering consistent above-market growth with best-in-class margins and returns, and developing a strategy to replicate that performance across its operations. ITW determined that solid and consistent above-market organic growth is the core growth engine to deliver world-class financial performance and compelling long-term returns for its shareholders.

Key initiatives in the Company's enterprise strategy included portfolio management, business structure simplification, strategic sourcing and the diligent re-application of ITW's proprietary 80/20 Front-to-Back process.

• As part of the Portfolio Management initiative, ITW exited businesses that were operating in commoditized market spaces and prioritized sustainable differentiation as a must-have requirement for all ITW businesses. This process

included both divesting entire businesses and exiting commoditized product lines and customers inside otherwise highly differentiated ITW divisions.

• Business Structure Simplification was implemented to simplify and scale up ITW's operating structure to support increased engineering, marketing, and sales resources, and improve global reach and competitiveness, all of which were critical to driving accelerated organic growth. ITW now has 86 scaled-up divisions with significantly enhanced focus on growth investments, core customers and products, and customer-back innovation.

• The Strategic Sourcing initiative established sourcing as a core strategic and operational capability at ITW, delivering an average of one percent reduction in spend each year since 2013 and continues to be a key contributor to the Company's ongoing enterprise strategy.

• With the initial portfolio realignment and scale-up work largely completed, the Company shifted its focus to preparing for and accelerating organic growth, reapplying the 80/20 Front-to-Back process to optimize its scaled-up divisions for growth, first, to build a foundation of operational excellence, and second, to identify the best opportunities to drive organic growth.

Since implementing the Company's enterprise strategy in 2012, the Company has demonstrated the compelling performance potential of the ITW Business Model and superior 80/20 management, resulting in meaningful incremental improvement in margins and returns as evidenced by the Company's operating margin and after-tax return on invested capital. At the same time, these 80/20 initiatives may also result in restructuring initiatives that reduce costs and improve profitability and returns.

OUR NEXT PHASE: 2024 - 2030

In the Next Phase of the Company’s evolution, the ITW Business Model and the Enterprise Strategy framework will be as formidable of a competitive advantage and performance differentiator as it has been over the last decade, if not more so. Volatility, risk and the pace of change in the global operating environment will continue to increase, and a decentralized entrepreneurial culture allows the Company to be a fast adaptor – to read, react, respond and evolve. The Company’s ability to consistently execute and invest through the ups and downs of the business cycle is now a defining competitive advantage.

Throughout the Next Phase, the Company's focus is to build organic growth into a core ITW strength on par with the Company’s world-class financial performance and operational capabilities. Throughout this phase, the Company will sustain its foundational strengths built over the past decade, including the high-quality ITW Business Model practice. Customer-back Innovation ("CBI") is the most impactful driver to achieve high-quality organic growth through the cycle by establishing trusted problem solver relationships with key customers to effectively invent solutions that address customers' most critical pain points or tackle the biggest growth opportunities. CBI successes, coupled with underlying market growth and share gains, are how the Company intends to achieve its high-quality organic growth.

ITW will continue to drive 80/20 Front-

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There have been no material changes to exposures to market risk as reported in the Company's 2024 Annual Report on Form 10-K.

The Company's management, with the participation of the Company's President & Chief Executive Officer and Senior Vice President & Chief Financial Officer, has evaluated the effectiveness of the Company's disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Exchange Act Rule 13a–15(e)) as of September 30, 2025. Based on such evaluation, the Company's President & Chief Executive Officer and Senior Vice President & Chief Financial Officer have concluded that, as of September 30, 2025, the Company's disclosure controls and procedures were effective.

In connection with the evaluation by management, including the Company's President & Chief Executive Officer and Senior Vice President & Chief Financial Officer, no changes in the Company's internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Exchange Act Rule 13a-15(f)) during the quarter ended September 30, 2025 were identified that have materially affected or are reasonably likely to materially affect the Company's internal control over financial reporting.

PART II – OTHER INFORMATION

ITEM 1. Legal Proceedings

None. The Company's threshold for disclosing environmental legal proceedings involving a governmental authority where potential monetary sanctions are involved is $1 million.

The Company's business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows are subject to various risks which could cause actual results to vary materially from recent results or from anticipated future results. Refer to the description of the Company's risk factors previously disclosed in Part I - Item 1A - Risk Factors in the Company's 2024 Annual Report on Form 10-K. There have been no material changes to the risk factors described therein.

ITEM 2. Unregistered Sales of Equity Securities and Use of Proceeds

On August 4, 2023, the Company announced a new stock repurchase program which provides for the repurchase of up to an additional $5.0 billion of the Company's common stock over an open-ended period of time (the "2023 Program"). As of September 30, 2025, there were approximately $2.4 billion of authorized repurchases remaining under the 2023 Program.

Share repurchase activity for the third quarter of 2025 was as follows:

The information set forth below is included for the purpose of providing disclosure under “Item 5.02 Departure of Directors or Certain Officers; Election of Directors; Appointment of Certain Officers; Compensatory Arrangements of Certain Officers” of Form 8-K.

(e) At its October 24, 2025 meeting, the Compensation Committee of the Board of Directors of the Company approved the Illinois Tool Works Inc. 2026 Executive Contributory Retirement Income Plan (the "2026 Plan") which will replace the Illinois Tools Works Inc. Executive Contributory Retirement Income Plan (the "Existing Plan"), as restated and amended, as of January 1, 2026. The terms of the 2026 Plan are substantially the same as the Existing Plan but include certain administrative changes. Under the 2026 Plan, similar to the Existing Plan, certain executives may elect to defer a portion of their salary and/or executive cash incentive payments and receive matching contributions they would otherwise receive if such deferrals had been made under the Company's tax-qualified Savings and Investment Plan, without regard to IRS imposed limits. Amounts deferred and related Company contributions will be adjusted for deemed investment results based on an interest rate or deemed investment index or vehicle established by the Compensation Committee. The foregoing summary of the 2026 Plan is qualified by reference to the full text of the 2026 Plan, which is filed as Exhibit 10 to this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q and incorporated herein by reference.

• Management contract or compensatory plan or arrangement.

SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned thereunto duly authorized.