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Logitech plans to increase spending on research and development and marketing in fiscal year 2027, CEO Hanneke Faber said, after the company closed fiscal 2026 with record operating margins and strong sales growth.
Faber said spending on research and development is targeted at roughly 6% of sales for the current fiscal year, a modest step up from where it landed in fiscal 2026, with the marketing and selling budget also set to climb from its recent level of around 16% of sales, according to Reuters. On a full-year basis, total operating expenses are expected to land near the upper boundary of the company's long-term 24%-to-26%-of-sales target, compared with 24.8% recorded in the year ended March 2026.
"We can and we should invest," Faber told Reuters. "The world is changing so fast with AI, which offers so many opportunities. We came out of the last fiscal year with such a strong financial base, so we have the firepower to do it."
The spending push follows a fiscal 2026 in which Logitech posted full-year sales of $4.84 billion, up 6% year over year, the company said. Non-GAAP operating income rose 18% to $911 million, and the non-GAAP operating margin of 18.8% and non-GAAP gross margin of 43.6% were both the highest ever outside of pandemic peaks, according to CFO Matteo Anversa. The company also returned $768 million to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases.
For the fourth quarter, sales reached $1.09 billion, up 7%, with GAAP operating income climbing 28% to $136 million. Gaming, which grew 12% in the quarter and 6% for the full year, was a standout category, alongside Video Collaboration and Tablet Accessories.
To keep its growth trajectory intact, the company is directing strategic focus toward gaming, enterprise clients, and devices enhanced by artificial intelligence, according to Reuters. The gaming category benefits from a structural tailwind: adolescent and young-adult audiences are devoting more hours to PC and console gaming, underpinning what Faber called a resilient demand base. The company is also stepping up its pursuit of business customers in sectors such as healthcare, education, and government.
For the first quarter of fiscal 2027, Logitech expects sales of $1.190 billion to $1.215 billion, representing growth of 4% to 6% in U.S. dollar terms, with non-GAAP operating income projected at $195 million to $215 million, the company said.
One near-term headwind: supply chain disruptions in the Middle East have complicated shipments from Asian factories through the company's Dubai distribution hub to the Gulf region and Africa. The financial toll reached roughly $5 million in the January-to-March quarter and is projected to reach approximately $15 million in the current period, according to Reuters. Faber emphasized that underlying customer demand has not weakened.