8-K

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, DC 20549

______________________________________________________________

FORM 8-K

CURRENT REPORT

Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the

Securities Exchange Act of 1934

Date of report (Date of earliest event reported): May 2, 2017

KADANT INC.

(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in its Charter)

Delaware	1-11406	52-1762325
(State or Other Jurisdiction	(Commission File Number)	(IRS Employer
of Incorporation)		Identification No.)

One Technology Park Drive
Westford, Massachusetts	01886
(Address of Principal Executive Offices)	(Zip Code)

(978) 776-2000

Registrant's telephone number, including area code

Not Applicable

(Former Name or Former Address, if Changed Since Last Report)

Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions:

o Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.425)

o Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14a-12)

o Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d-2(b))

o Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13e-4(c))

KADANT INC.

Item 7.01 Regulation FD Disclosure.

On May 2, 2017, Kadant Inc. (the “Company”) will hold a webcast and conference call to discuss its financial results for the fiscal quarter ended April 1, 2017. A copy of the slides that will be presented on the webcast and discussed in the conference call is being furnished as Exhibit 99 to this Current Report on Form 8-K.

The information in this Form 8-K (including Exhibit 99) shall not be deemed “filed” for purposes of Section 18 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Exchange Act”) or otherwise subject to the liabilities of that section, nor shall it be deemed incorporated by reference in any filing under the Securities Act of 1933 or the Exchange Act, except as expressly set forth by specific reference in such a filing.

Item 9.01 Financial Statements and Exhibits.

(d) Exhibit
The following exhibit relating to Item 7.01 shall be deemed to be furnished and not filed.
Exhibit     No.	Description of Exhibit
99	Slides to be presented by the Company on May 2, 2017.

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KADANT INC.

SIGNATURE

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.

		KADANT INC.
Date: May 2, 2017	By	/s/ Michael J. McKenney
		Michael J. McKenney Senior Vice President and    Chief Financial Officer

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EX-99

First Quarter 2017 Business Review Jonathan W. Painter, President & CEO Michael J. McKenney, Senior Vice President & CFO

Forward-Looking Statements The following constitutes a “Safe Harbor” statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: This presentation and our accompanying commentary contains forward-looking statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties, including forward-looking statements about our expected future financial and operating performance, demand for our products, and economic and industry outlook. Our actual results may differ materially from these forward-looking statements as a result of various important factors, including those set forth under the heading "Risk Factors" in Kadant’s annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2016 and subsequent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. These include risks and uncertainties relating to adverse changes in global and local economic conditions; the variability and difficulty in accurately predicting revenues from large capital equipment and systems projects; the variability and uncertainties in sales of capital equipment in China; the effect of currency fluctuations on our financial results; our customers’ ability to obtain financing for capital equipment projects; changes in government regulations and policies; oriented strand board market and levels of residential construction activity; development and use of digital media; price increases or shortages of raw materials; dependence on certain suppliers; international sales and operations; economic conditions and regulatory changes caused by the United Kingdom’s likely exit from the European Union; disruption in production; our acquisition strategy; our internal growth strategy; competition; soundness of suppliers and customers; our effective tax rate; future restructurings; soundness of financial institutions; our debt obligations; restrictions in our credit agreement; loss of key personnel; reliance on third-party research; protection of patents and proprietary rights; failure of our information systems or breaches of data security; fluctuations in our share price; and anti-takeover provisions. We undertake no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. KAI 1Q17 Business Review–May 2, 2017 | © 2017 Kadant Inc. All rights reserved. 2

Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures In addition to the financial measures prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), we use certain non-GAAP financial measures, including increases or decreases in revenues excluding the effect of acquisitions and foreign currency translation, adjusted operating income, adjusted net income, adjusted diluted EPS, adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (adjusted EBITDA), and adjusted EBITDA margin. A reconciliation of those numbers to the most directly comparable U.S. GAAP financial measures is shown in our 2017 first quarter earnings press release issued May 2, 2017, which is available in the Investors section of our website at www.kadant.com under the heading Press Releases. We believe that these non-GAAP financial measures, when taken together with the corresponding GAAP financial measures, provide meaningful supplemental information regarding our performance by excluding certain items that may not be indicative of our core business, operating results, or future outlook. We believe that the inclusion of such measures helps investors to gain an understanding of our underlying operating performance and future prospects, consistent with how management measures and forecasts our performance, especially when comparing such results to previous periods or forecasts and to the performance of our competitors. Such measures are also used by us in our financial and operating decision-making and for compensation purposes. We also believe this information is responsive to investors' requests and gives them an additional measure of our performance. KAI 1Q17 Business Review–May 2, 2017 | © 2017 Kadant Inc. All rights reserved. 3

BUSINESS REVIEW Jonathan W. Painter President & CEO

Q1 2017 Financial Highlights ($ Millions, except per share amounts) Q1 2017 Q1 2016 % CHANGE2 EXCL. FX2 Revenue $102.9 $96.5 6.5% 7.5% Gross Margin 47.6% 45.6% n.m. n.m. Net Income $9.0 $6.9 30.2% 33.2% Adjusted EBITDA1 $15.3 $13.7 11.3% 12.9% Adjusted EBITDA/Revenue1 14.9% 14.2% n.m. n.m. Diluted EPS $0.80 $0.62 29.0% 32.3% Adjusted Diluted EPS1 $0.80 $0.72 11.1% 13.9% Bookings $118.9 $96.9 22.6% 24.1% 1 Adjusted EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA margin, and adjusted diluted EPS are non-GAAP financial measures that exclude certain items as detailed in our press release dated May 2, 2017. 2 Percent change calculated using actual numbers reported in our press release dated May 2, 2017. KAI 1Q17 Business Review–May 2, 2017 | © 2017 Kadant Inc. All rights reserved. 5

FX Translation and Acquisition Impact Q1 2017, $ in millions except EPS Revenue Adjusted EPS4 Bookings Parts & Consumables Revenue Parts & Consumables Bookings As Reported $102.9 $0.80 $118.9 $70.4 $74.6 Growth1 6.5% 11.1% 22.6% 11.4% 20.5% Growth excluding FX2 7.5% 13.9% 24.1% 12.2% 21.2% Growth excluding FX and Acquisitions3 -6.2% 4.2% 11.1% 5.1% 14.2% 1 Growth is the year-over-year percent change between the current period and the comparable prior period. 2 Represents the year-over-year percent change excluding the impact of current period versus prior period exchange rates. 3 Represents the year-over-year percent change excluding the impact of acquisitions and current period versus prior period exchange rates. Acquired businesses are classified above as Acquisitions for the first four quarters after acquisition. 4 Adjusted diluted EPS is a non-GAAP financial measure that excludes certain items as detailed in our press release dated May 2, 2017. KAI 1Q17 Business Review–May 2, 2017 | © 2017 Kadant Inc. All rights reserved. 6

$0 $20 $40 $60 $80 $100 $120 Bookings Booking Reversal Revenues Bookings and Revenues US$ (millions) 1 Reported Q415 bookings were $76 million, which included new orders of $92 million and a booking reversal of $16 million. 1 KAI 1Q17 Business Review–May 2, 2017 | © 2017 Kadant Inc. All rights reserved. 7

Parts and Consumables Bookings and Revenues KAI 1Q17 Business Review–May 2, 2017 | © 2017 Kadant Inc. All rights reserved. 8 US$ (millions) $0 $10 $20 $30 $40 $50 $60 $70 $80 Bookings Revenues

North America Bookings and Revenues US$ (millions) KAI 1Q17 Business Review–May 2, 2017 | © 2017 Kadant Inc. All rights reserved. 9 $0 $10 $20 $30 $40 $50 $60 $70 $80 Bookings Revenues

Europe Bookings and Revenues US$ (millions) KAI 1Q17 Business Review–May 2, 2017 | © 2017 Kadant Inc. All rights reserved. 10 $0 $5 $10 $15 $20 $25 $30 $35 Bookings Revenues

Asia Bookings and Revenues US$ (millions) 1 Reported Q415 Asia bookings were negative $6 million, which included new orders of $10 million and a booking reversal of $16 million. 1 KAI 1Q17 Business Review–May 2, 2017 | © 2017 Kadant Inc. All rights reserved. 11 -$10 -$5 $0 $5 $10 $15 $20 $25 $30 $35 $40 Bookings New Orders Revenues

Rest-of-World Bookings and Revenues US$ (millions) KAI 1Q17 Business Review–May 2, 2017 | © 2017 Kadant Inc. All rights reserved. 12 $0 $2 $4 $6 $8 $10 $12 $14 $16 Bookings Revenues

Guidance • FY 2017 GAAP diluted EPS of $3.27 to $3.37 • FY 2017 revenue of $427 to $437 million • Q2 2017 GAAP diluted EPS of $0.87 to $0.91 • Q2 2017 revenue of $107 to $110 million KAI 1Q17 Business Review–May 2, 2017 | © 2017 Kadant Inc. All rights reserved. 13

FINANCIAL REVIEW Michael J. McKenney Senior Vice President & Chief Financial Officer

Quarterly Gross Margins KAI 1Q17 Business Review–May 2, 2017 | © 2017 Kadant Inc. All rights reserved. 15 47.3% 48.6% 43.9% 43.9% 45.2% 43.0% 44.7% 44.7% 48.1% 46.5% 47.5% 43.1% 45.6% 44.9% 45.6% 46.0% 47.6% 36% 38% 40% 42% 44% 46% 48% 50%

Quarterly SG&A US$ (millions) KAI 1Q17 Business Review–May 2, 2017 | © 2017 Kadant Inc. All rights reserved. 16 25% 30% 35% 40% 45% $0 $10 $20 $30 $40 SG&A SG&A as a % of Revenues

1Q16 to 1Q17 Adjusted Diluted EPS KAI 1Q17 Business Review–May 2, 2017 | © 2017 Kadant Inc. All rights reserved. 17 $0.72 $0.23 $0.07 $0.03 ($0.21) ($0.04) $0.80 $0.00 $0.25 $0.50 $0.75 $1.00 $1.25

Cash Flow US$ (millions) 1Q17 1Q16 Net Income $9.1 $7.0 Depreciation and Amortization 3.3 2.6 Stock-Based Compensation 1.3 1.3 Other Items 0.2 0.2 Change in Current Assets & Liabilities (excl. acquisition) (12.2) (5.6) Cash Provided by Operating Activities $1.7 $5.5 KAI 1Q17 Business Review–May 2, 2017 | © 2017 Kadant Inc. All rights reserved. 18

Key Working Capital Metrics 1Q17 4Q16 1Q16 Days in Receivables 67 62 60 Days in Inventory 96 94 99 Days in Payables 42 40 41 KAI 1Q17 Business Review–May 2, 2017 | © 2017 Kadant Inc. All rights reserved. 19 60 62 67 99 94 96 41 40 42 0 25 50 75 100 125 D AY S Days in Receivables Days in Inventory Days in Payables

Working Capital and Cash Conversion Days 1Q17 4Q16 1Q16 Working Capital % LTM Revenues* 14.1% 11.0% 15.1% Cash Conversion Days** 120 days 117 days 118 days *Working Capital is defined as current assets less current liabilities, excluding cash and debt. ** Based on days in receivables plus days in inventory less days in accounts payable. KAI 1Q17 Business Review–May 2, 2017 | © 2017 Kadant Inc. All rights reserved. 20 0 50 100 150 200 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% D A YS % OF REV EN U E Cash Conversion Days Working Capital % LTM Revenues *

Cash and Debt US$ (millions) 1Q17 4Q16 1Q16 Cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash $73.0 $73.6 $106.1 Debt (65.6) (61.5) (72.2) Lease obligations (4.9) (4.9) - Net Cash $2.5 $7.2 $33.9 KAI 1Q17 Business Review–May 2, 2017 | © 2017 Kadant Inc. All rights reserved. 21 U S$ ( m ill io n s) $51.8 $48.5 $58.7 $11.6 $14.3 $9.5 $18.7 $19.9 $12.5 $20.1 $27.5 $35.7 $33.9 $(14.7) $(3.3) $7.2 $2.5 ($25) $0 $25 $50 $75

Leverage Ratio KAI 1Q17 Business Review–May 2, 2017 | © 2017 Kadant Inc. All rights reserved. 22 *Calculated by adding or subtracting certain items from Adjusted EBITDA, as required by our Credit Facility. Effective March 2, 2017, our amended and restated Credit Facility defined total debt as debt less worldwide cash of up to $30 million. For periods 1Q13 to 4Q16, total debt is defined as debt less domestic cash of up to $25 million. 0.53 0.00 0.25 0.50 0.75 1.00 1.25 Debt/EBITDA *

Questions & Answers To ask a question, please call 888-326-8410 within the U.S. or +1 704-385-4884 outside the U.S. and reference 55 110 79. Please mute the audio on your computer. KAI 1Q17 Business Review–May 2, 2017 | © 2017 Kadant Inc. All rights reserved. 23

Q1 2017 Key Take-Aways • Record bookings • Record bookings and revenue for parts and consumables • Solid EPS performance • Strong demand in China and Russia • Raising full-year revenue and EPS guidance KAI 1Q17 Business Review–May 2, 2017 | © 2017 Kadant Inc. All rights reserved. 24