New York, Feb 11, 2026, 07:44 EST
- Vertiv said fourth-quarter net sales rose 23% to $2.88 billion as organic orders jumped about 252%.
- Backlog climbed to $15.0 billion and the company forecast 2026 net sales of $13.25 billion to $13.75 billion.
- Options markets had been pricing a roughly 9% move around the results, TipRanks data showed.
Vertiv Holdings Co forecast another year of rapid growth on Wednesday after reporting a surge in fourth-quarter orders tied to data-center demand. Shares were down about 1.2% before the U.S. market open.
The update lands in a jittery corner of the market. Investors have been treating “AI infrastructure” as a theme trade, and Vertiv sells the less glamorous parts—power and cooling gear—that data centers need to keep running.
Orders and backlog matter more than usual right now because they hint at future spending by hyperscalers (big cloud operators) and colocation firms that rent out data-center space. A big swing in either direction can change the mood fast.
Vertiv said fourth-quarter net sales rose 23% to $2.88 billion and diluted earnings per share rose to $1.14 from $0.38 a year earlier; adjusted diluted EPS, which excludes certain items, increased to $1.36 from $0.99. Organic orders—stripping out currency and deal effects—jumped about 252%, pushing backlog, or unfilled orders, to $15.0 billion and lifting the quarter’s book-to-bill ratio (orders versus sales) to about 2.9. For 2026, the company forecast net sales of $13.25 billion to $13.75 billion and adjusted diluted EPS of $5.97 to $6.07, and it projected first-quarter net sales of $2.5 billion to $2.7 billion with adjusted diluted EPS of $0.95 to $1.01. (PR Newswire)
Margins also expanded. Vertiv put adjusted operating margin at 23.2%, up 1.7 percentage points from a year earlier, citing higher volume, productivity and pricing, partly offset by tariff impact.
Chief executive Giordano Albertazzi said the quarter underscored Vertiv’s “leadership position” in a more demanding data-center market, pointing to a record backlog for “clear visibility” into 2026. Executive chairman Dave Cote, in the same statement, tied the result to a longer push into new technology and acquisitions.
Before the report, options traders were braced for a 9.41% move in either direction, TipRanks said, above Vertiv’s average post-earnings move of 5.31% over the past four quarters. Evercore analyst Amit Daryanani reiterated a Buy rating, while Barclays analyst Julian Mitchell wrote that he has not been a big “cheerleader” for the data-center capex theme but saw the recent volatility as a chance to buy. (TipRanks)
Vertiv shares fell 1.2% on Tuesday to $199.50, on volume that MarketBeat said ran above the recent average. MarketBeat’s compilation also showed analysts’ targets sitting below the share price at the time, a reminder that valuation has become part of the story. (MarketBeat)
Vertiv faces deep-pocketed rivals in data-center power and cooling, including Eaton and Schneider Electric. The upside is that the whole category is tied to the same buildout; the downside is that it turns into a crowded trade when money is rushing in.
Risks sit in the details. Tariffs—import duties—can squeeze margins, and TipRanks flagged pressure in Vertiv’s EMEA region (Europe, the Middle East and Africa), where power availability and regulation have weighed on growth. Any slowdown in data-center construction would test how quickly the current surge in orders turns into shipped revenue.
Vertiv said the data-center market still shows “robust momentum” even after the heavy fourth-quarter conversion into orders, and it plans to step up ER&D spending—engineering, research and development—while expanding production capacity.
Management is scheduled to discuss the results on a conference call at 11 a.m. Eastern on Feb. 11. Investors will be looking for how durable the backlog is and what it implies for deliveries through 2026.
