Vertiv Reports 61% Sales Growth and Raises Full-Year Guidance as AI Infrastructure Demand Surges

Vertiv Holdings Co. reported a 61% jump in third-quarter sales to $4.31 billion and raised its full-year revenue forecast by $650 million, citing strong demand for the power and cooling equipment that supports data centers. The October 28 results showed the infrastructure supplier expanding much faster than it had earlier in 2026, with most of the quarterly increase coming from its existing business rather than acquisitions.

The company now expects 2026 sales of $14.45 billion to $14.85 billion, compared with its previous range of $13.8 billion to $14.2 billion. Its revised midpoint of $14.65 billion reflects an additional $650 million in anticipated revenue. Vertiv also increased its outlook for adjusted earnings and cash flow, though those figures remain forecasts rather than completed results.

Third-quarter operating profit rose 90% to about $984 million, and diluted earnings per share increased 91% to $1.95. Vertiv said in its October 28 earnings release that organic orders grew more than 100% from a year earlier. That measure points to an accelerating flow of new business, but orders are not yet recognized sales and can be affected by project schedules.

Organic growth accounts for most of the sales increase

Revenue for the quarter ended September 30 was $1.64 billion higher than the $2.68 billion recorded a year earlier. Vertiv attributed 55 percentage points of its 61% reported growth to organic sales, which exclude the contribution from acquisitions and certain currency effects. Acquisitions accounted for approximately six percentage points of the increase, according to the company.

Vertiv has expanded through acquisitions as well as sales to existing customers. Its 55% organic growth indicates that substantially higher revenue would have been reported even without the acquired businesses. The company has positioned its power-management and thermal systems for increasing computing density in modern data centers, including facilities designed for artificial intelligence workloads.

The Americas remained Vertiv’s largest region, generating about $2.99 billion in quarterly sales, up roughly 75% from a year earlier. Organic growth in the region was 66%. Asia-Pacific revenue increased nearly 50% to $779 million, with organic growth of 48%, while Europe, the Middle East and Africa produced $545 million in sales, up 23% on a reported basis and 19% organically.

Products accounted for approximately $3.64 billion of third-quarter revenue, compared with $2.21 billion a year ago. Services brought in nearly $676 million, up from $461 million. Equipment sales therefore supplied most of the dollar increase, although the services business also expanded. Those figures describe Vertiv’s overall business, not a separately disclosed total for AI-related revenue.

Management’s claim that organic orders rose by more than 100% is another indicator of demand, but the release did not provide a corresponding dollar total or specify when all those orders would be delivered. Chief Executive Giordano Albertazzi described customers’ infrastructure requirements as changing rapidly and said Vertiv was shortening product-development cycles. Converting orders into sales will still depend on production capacity, supply chains and customers’ deployment timetables.

Full-year guidance rises after a stronger-than-expected quarter

The scale of the third-quarter performance was also notable against Vertiv’s own forecast. In July, when it reported second-quarter results, the company projected third-quarter sales of $3.65 billion to $3.85 billion. Actual revenue of $4.31 billion exceeded the upper end of that range by approximately $463 million. Second-quarter sales had increased 24% year over year to $3.27 billion, substantially less than the 61% growth reported for the third quarter.

Vertiv’s July full-year revenue estimate was $13.8 billion to $14.2 billion. The latest $14.45 billion to $14.85 billion range lifts both ends by $650 million. Expected organic revenue growth for the year also increased, from 30% to 32% previously to a new range of 37% to 39%.

The higher outlook extends to profitability. Vertiv now projects adjusted diluted earnings of $7.10 to $7.20 a share for 2026, up from the July guidance of $6.65 to $6.75. Its expected adjusted operating profit is $3.48 billion to $3.56 billion, compared with the earlier range of $3.29 billion to $3.37 billion. These are non-GAAP estimates, which exclude certain items included in reported accounting earnings.

For the fourth quarter alone, Vertiv expects net sales of $4.31 billion to $4.51 billion, with the midpoint of $4.41 billion implying approximately 50% organic growth from a year earlier. The company also forecasts a fourth-quarter adjusted operating margin between 25.3% and 26.3%. The projected revenue range is close to the unusually high level just recorded in the third quarter, rather than assuming another large sequential jump.

These projections rest on continued demand and the company’s ability to manufacture, deliver and install infrastructure on customer schedules. An order surge improves visibility into potential future work, but neither the orders figure nor the raised sales forecast guarantees that every project will become revenue at the expected time.

Higher margins and cash flow help finance expansion

Profitability improved alongside the sales growth. Third-quarter operating profit under generally accepted accounting principles was $983.8 million, compared with $516.7 million a year earlier. The resulting operating margin rose to 22.8% from 19.3%. Vertiv’s adjusted operating profit increased 83% to approximately $1.09 billion, and its adjusted margin expanded to 25.2% from 22.3%.

Vertiv attributed the adjusted margin improvement primarily to greater operating leverage on higher revenue and gains in manufacturing productivity. Changes in product mix and ongoing investment partly offset those benefits. The SEC-filed financial statements and reconciliations distinguish the company’s reported results from adjusted figures, which remove items such as amortization of intangible assets and certain other costs.

Net income rose to $764.5 million from $398.5 million in the year-earlier quarter. On a diluted basis, earnings increased from $1.02 to $1.95 a share. Adjusted diluted earnings, a separate non-GAAP measure, rose 78% to $2.21 a share. Using both sets of figures makes clear that the improvement was evident in reported profitability as well as the company’s preferred adjusted metrics.

Cash generation also strengthened. Operating cash flow reached $794 million, up 64% from the prior-year period, while adjusted free cash flow increased 50% to $652 million. Capital expenditures in the quarter climbed to roughly $139 million from $45 million a year earlier, reflecting a heavier investment program as Vertiv expands capacity.

For 2026, the company now projects adjusted free cash flow of $2.6 billion to $2.8 billion, compared with its previous estimate of $2.4 billion to $2.6 billion. Vertiv said third-quarter liquidity stood at $6.2 billion and that it remained in a net cash position. It continues to anticipate capital expenditures of about 4% of annual revenue.

New manufacturing and delivery capacity will be needed to serve larger projects without allowing costs or working-capital requirements to erode the benefits of faster growth. Its filings also identify order cancellations or delays, long sales cycles and supply disruptions among the risks that could affect results. For the final quarter of 2026, management’s $4.31 billion to $4.51 billion revenue target sets a concrete measure of how much of the current demand Vertiv expects to turn into sales before year-end.