Stephen Shafer

President, Chief Executive Officer & Director, A. O. Smith

Search every verified Stephen Shafer interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. Stephen Shafer, president and chief executive officer of A. O. Smith, discussed the company’s second-quarter 2026 results on a July 2026 earnings call, noting that market conditions varied across businesses but that the team executed well, gained traction in North America, and delivered strong free cash flow. He also announced an increase in the company’s 2026 share repurchase target by 50% to $300 million, describing it as part of a commitment to disciplined capital deployment and returning cash to shareholders. During the call, Shafer addressed the impact of price changes and demand pull-forward dynamics in the residential water heater market, saying the company works closely with customers to balance production efficiencies and customer needs, and described managing such changes as “a little bit of science and a little bit of art.” On an earlier call in January 2026 covering fourth-quarter 2024 results, Shafer, then president and chief operating officer, discussed the company’s strategic focus on direct-to-consumer, dealer, and wholesale businesses while de-emphasizing retail, and reiterated that water treatment remains a growth engine for A. O. Smith. He projected that 2025 residential industry unit volumes would be approximately flat year over year and that U.S. commercial water heater industry volumes would also be flat to 2024, noting that demand for commercial electric products greater than 55 gallons had returned to pre-2022 levels. He also projected that sales in China would decline 5 to 8% in local currency in 2025, citing a carryover of weaker consumer demand from the second half of 2024.