Materion’s 1Q26 results strengthened the 2026 setup, with improving order visibility, record first-quarter margins, and stronger contribution from Electronic Materials and Precision Optics offsetting the lingering precision clad strip headwind. While reported value-added sales increased only 1% y/y, VA sales grew 10% excluding clad, pointing to healthier underlying demand than the headline implies. More importantly, management exited the quarter with record backlog, up more than 20% y/y and 15% since year-end, supporting a stronger sales cadence through the balance of the year. We view the quarter as reducing two key investor concerns: the duration of the clad disruption and the breadth of Materion’s AI exposure. Rather than a narrow semiconductor recovery story, management framed AI as a multisegment demand driver across chips, data centers, connectivity, advanced optics, energy reliability, and space/defense applications.