Stephanie Link Buys Timken on $2.5 Trillion Robotics Bet and $8.50 EPS Target
Updated
Updated · CNBC · Aug 19
Stephanie Link Buys Timken on $2.5 Trillion Robotics Bet and $8.50 EPS Target
1 articles · Updated · CNBC · Aug 19
Summary
$8.7 billion Timken is a new addition to Stephanie Link’s portfolio, with the investor pitching the 125-year-old bearings maker as an overlooked beneficiary of AI-driven automation and robotics demand.
JPMorgan sees robotics revenue jumping from $100 billion in 2025 to $2.5 trillion by 2035, a backdrop that could lift demand for Timken’s bearings and motion-control components used in factory robots, warehouses, wind turbines and aircraft.
Lucian Boldea, who became CEO in September 2025 after leading Honeywell’s industrial automation business, is reshaping the company through a plan that includes selling the Belts unit and buying automated-lubrication maker Bijur Delimon.
Management is targeting about $8.50 in adjusted EPS by 2028 versus $5.33 in 2025, along with $5 billion to $5.2 billion in sales and EBITDA margins of 21% to 23%, up from 17.4%.
Even after a 30% gain this year, Link argues Timken remains inexpensive at roughly 15 times the 2028 earnings target, below the industrial sector’s current 27 times multiple.