Vertiv raises 2026 outlook as organic orders more than double and sales rise 61%

Vertiv Holdings, which makes power and cooling equipment for data centers, said on Oct 28 that its organic orders more than doubled in the third quarter from a year earlier. Net sales rose 61% to $4.31 billion, and the company raised its full-year 2026 guidance on every key measure.

Shares jumped 16% in premarket trading on Oct 28, Seeking Alpha reported, and Barron's put the gain at 14%. MarketWatch said the stock had fallen over the past several months as AI builders found financing harder to get and data-center construction faced political headwinds.

The quarter

Third-quarter net sales of $4,313 million included 55% organic growth, which leaves out acquisitions and currency effects, plus about 6% from acquisitions. Adjusted earnings per share rose 78% to $2.21, and diluted earnings per share rose 91% to $1.95.

Analysts had expected adjusted earnings per share of $1.82 on revenue of $3.75 billion, Investing.com reported. MarketWatch said the sales beat was the widest against Wall Street expectations in more than five years.

Adjusted operating profit rose 83% to $1,087 million. The adjusted operating margin reached 25.2%, up 290 basis points from a year earlier.

Sales grew in every region:

• Americas sales rose 75%, or 66% organically.
• Asia-Pacific sales rose 50%, or 48% organically.
• Sales in Europe, the Middle East and Africa rose 23%, or 19% organically.

Orders and cash

The company put organic orders growth at more than 100% year over year. "We are in the middle of the largest infrastructure buildout and it's accelerating," Chief Executive Giordano Albertazzi said.

Customers had paid Vertiv $4.1 billion in advance for equipment and services not yet delivered as of Sept 30, up from $1.1 billion a year earlier, according to Stock Titan's reading of the company's balance sheet. That money turns into sales once the work is done.

Operating cash flow rose 64% to $794 million, and adjusted free cash flow rose 50% to $652 million. Liquidity rose to $6.2 billion, the company holds more cash than debt, and it still plans capital spending of about 4% of revenue for 2026.

The new outlook

Vertiv raised its full-year net sales guidance by $650 million, to about $14.65 billion from $14.0 billion, and now expects 38% organic growth. Its full-year adjusted earnings per share guidance rose to about $7.15 from a range of $6.65 to $6.75, Investing.com reported.

For the fourth quarter alone, Vertiv expects organic sales growth of about 50% from a year earlier.

What comes next

Albertazzi and Chief Financial Officer Craig Chamberlin are scheduled to speak at the Baird 2026 Global Industrial Conference in Chicago on Nov 10 at 8:55 a.m. Eastern time, with a live webcast on Vertiv's investor website.