Vertiv Says Third-Quarter Orders Rose Over 100% — Then Says It Will Stop Reporting Orders
Executive Chairman Dave Cote said the company will stop sharing orders data, even as shares rose about 14% in Wednesday trading.
Vertiv, which makes the power and cooling equipment that keeps data centers running, said on its Wednesday earnings call that third-quarter organic orders were more than 100% higher than a year earlier. Executive Chairman Dave Cote then said the company does not plan to share orders data going forward.
A one-time look at orders
Cote opened the call by borrowing from Mark Twain: "the rumors of our demise have been greatly exaggerated." He said orders were strong "with or without neoclouds" and added, "we're not planning to share orders data going forward."
CEO Gio Albertazzi said Vertiv does not disclose orders and will continue not to, but offered the 100%-plus organic figure to show what the strength means in practice. He said the customer mix, spanning colocation, hyperscale, enterprise and neocloud buyers, mirrors the market mix.
Shares were up about 14% at $237.44 in Wednesday trading, from a prior close of $208.56.
Quality questions in the Q&A
An Evercore ISI analyst said the order surge looked very different from investor worries about product quality and possible share loss, and asked how much was catch-up versus underlying demand. Albertazzi said growth is above the market and "I'm not talking about catch up here," calling orders "a reflection of strength in the market."
A Melius Research analyst raised chatter about compressors burning out and UPS systems overheating. Albertazzi answered that "the best answer is our performance," said quality data looks encouraging, and added, "We are not perfect."
The numbers behind the call
Vertiv, which designs and services power and cooling gear for data centers, communication networks and industrial sites, said third-quarter net sales rose 61%, with the Americas up 75%, Asia Pacific up 50% and Europe, Middle East and Africa up 23%. Adjusted operating margin was 25.2%, and adjusted free cash flow was $652 million.
The company raised full-year guidance across key metrics, to net sales of $14.65 billion and adjusted diluted earnings per share of $7.15.
Albertazzi said customers still place orders about 12 to 18 months out, little changed. Vertiv counts only purchase orders as backlog, not capacity agreements. CFO Craig said 2027 guidance will come next quarter.
Next quarter, Vertiv is set to give its first 2027 guidance, with orders no longer part of the disclosure.
Sources
- Vertiv CEO Says ‘Largest Infrastructure Buildout’ Is Accelerating As Q3 Earnings Beat Estimates, Outlook Raised — Yahoo Finance
- Vertiv Reports Strong Third Quarter 2026 with Net Sales Growth of 61%, Organic Orders Growth over 100% and Diluted EPS Growth of 91% (Adjusted Diluted EPS Growth of 78%); Raises Full Year 2026 Guidance Across All Key Metrics – Company Announcement - FT.com — Financial Times
- Vertiv stock surges as orders double amid AI build-out: 'Evolving faster than ever' — Yahoo Finance
- Vertiv Stock Jumps 14% as Earnings Show Another Way to Play the AI Boom — Barron's
- Vertiv Non-GAAP EPS of $2.21 beats by $0.39, revenue of $4.31B beats by $550M (VRT:NYSE) — seekingalpha.com
