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INCOME TAXES
12 Months Ended
Oct. 31, 2025
Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]  
Income Tax Disclosure [Text Block] INCOME TAXES
    The components of income before income taxes and noncontrolling interests are as follows (in thousands):
Year ended October 31,
202520242023
Domestic$814,178 $596,060 $479,990 
Foreign79,376 81,526 75,293 
Income before taxes and noncontrolling interests
$893,554 $677,586 $555,283 

    The components of the provision for income taxes on income before income taxes and noncontrolling interests are as follows (in thousands):
Year ended October 31,
202520242023
Current:
Federal$148,908 $97,164 $96,492 
State23,114 19,195 18,225 
Foreign24,543 24,143 22,714 
196,565 140,502 137,431 
Deferred:
Federal(38,000)(17,038)(19,049)
State(7,615)(2,911)(4,311)
Foreign(2,950)(2,053)(3,171)
(48,565)(22,002)(26,531)
Total income tax expense$148,000 $118,500 $110,900 
    
    A reconciliation of the federal statutory income tax rate to the Company’s effective tax rate is as follows:
Year ended October 31,
202520242023
Federal statutory income tax rate 21.0%21.0%21.0%
State taxes, net of federal income tax benefit
2.0%2.5%2.5%
Tax benefit related to stock option exercises
(3.0%)(2.0%)(1.1%)
Foreign-derived intangible income deduction(2.5%)(2.4%)(1.9%)
Research and development tax credits
(1.8%)(2.1%)(1.9%)
Tax-exempt gains on corporate-owned life insurance policies(1.2%)(2.3%)(.6%)
Nondeductible compensation
1.3%2.2%1.4%
Other, net
.8%.6%.6%
Effective tax rate16.6%17.5%20.0%
The Company's effective tax rate decreased to 16.6% in fiscal 2025, down from 17.5% in fiscal 2024. The decrease in the Company's effective tax rate principally reflects a larger tax benefit from stock option exercises recognized in the first quarter of fiscal 2025. The Company recognized a discrete tax benefit from stock option exercises in the first quarter of fiscal 2025 and 2024 of $27.2 million and $13.6 million, respectively.

The Company's effective tax rate decreased to 17.5% in fiscal 2024, down from 20.0% in fiscal 2023. The decrease in the Company's effective tax rate reflects a larger tax benefit from stock option exercises recognized in the first quarter of fiscal 2024. The Company recognized a discrete tax benefit from stock option exercises in the first quarter of fiscal 2024 and 2023 of $13.6 million and $6.2 million, respectively. Additionally, the decrease in the Company's effective tax rate reflects a larger favorable impact from tax-exempt unrealized gains in the cash surrender values of life insurance policies related to the LCP in fiscal 2024, net of the nondeductible portion of the related gains in the LCP accounts of certain executive officers, as well as increased foreign-derived intangible income, which is subject to a lower tax rate.

On July 4, 2025, the U.S. enacted H.R. 1, commonly referred to as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (the “Act”), which introduced significant changes to U.S. tax law. Key provisions include the reinstatement of 100% bonus depreciation for qualified property placed in service after January 19, 2025, immediate expensing of domestic R&D expenditures (effective in fiscal 2026 for HEICO), and changes to the methodology for Foreign-Derived Intangible Income (“FDII”) and Global Intangible Low-Tax Income ("GILTI") (effective in fiscal 2027 for HEICO). The Act did not have a significant impact on the Company’s fiscal 2025 consolidated financial statements and the Company will continue to evaluate its potential impact on its future consolidated financial statements.

As a result of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, the Company began capitalizing R&D costs beginning in fiscal 2023 and amortizing them over five years for income tax purposes. In accordance with one of the provisions of the Act, the Company expects to immediately expense domestic R&D costs for income tax purposes beginning in fiscal 2026 and will elect to deduct the remaining unamortized domestic R&D costs that were capitalized over a two-year period ending in fiscal 2027.

    The Company files income tax returns in the U.S. federal jurisdiction and in multiple state jurisdictions. The Company is also subject to income taxes in certain jurisdictions outside the U.S., none of which are individually material to the accompanying consolidated financial statements. Generally, the Company is no longer subject to U.S. federal, state or foreign examinations by tax authorities for years prior to fiscal 2021. One of the Company's foreign subsidiaries files income tax returns in The Netherlands and Thailand where the statute of limitations is open for its fiscal 2015 returns.

    Deferred income taxes reflect the net tax effects of temporary differences between the carrying amounts of assets and liabilities for financial reporting purposes and the amounts used for income tax purposes. The Company believes that it is more likely than not that it will
generate sufficient future taxable income to utilize all of its deferred tax assets and has therefore not recorded a valuation allowance on any such asset.

Significant components of the Company’s deferred tax assets and liabilities are as follows (in thousands):
As of October 31,
20252024
Deferred tax assets:
Inventories
$107,395 $92,498 
Deferred compensation plan liability67,433 57,016 
Capitalized research and development costs 65,424 48,820 
Operating lease liabilities 28,384 28,270 
Contract liabilities (deferred revenue)15,724 6,146 
Share-based compensation
14,797 11,387 
Performance-based compensation accrual10,060 8,183 
Other
18,030 21,657 
Total deferred tax assets
327,247 273,977 
Deferred tax liabilities:
Goodwill and other intangible assets
(358,691)(330,624)
Property, plant and equipment
(45,834)(27,701)
Operating lease right-of-use assets (27,022)(26,766)
Other
(2,886)(3,042)
Total deferred tax liabilities
(434,433)(388,133)
Net deferred tax liability($107,186)($114,156)

As of October 31, 2025 and 2024, the Company’s liability for gross unrecognized tax benefits related to uncertain tax positions was $8.9 million and $6.5 million, respectively, of which $7.0 million and $5.1 million, respectively, would decrease the Company’s income tax expense and effective income tax rate if the tax benefits were recognized. A reconciliation of the activity related to the liability for gross unrecognized tax benefits during fiscal 2025 and 2024 is as follows (in thousands):
Year ended October 31,
20252024
Balance as of beginning of year$6,451 $4,363 
Increases related to current year tax positions3,182 2,521 
Increases related to prior year tax positions— 88 
Decreases related to prior year tax positions(120)— 
Lapses of statutes of limitations(628)(521)
Balance as of end of year$8,885 $6,451