Vertiv (VRT) Q3 2026 Earnings Call Transcript

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DATE

Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2026

CALL PARTICIPANTS

• Vice President, Investor Relations – Lynne Maxeiner
• Executive Chairman – David Cote
• Chief Executive Officer – Giordano Albertazzi
• Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer – Craig Chamberlin
• Executive Vice President of Manufacturing and Logistics – Mike Risher

TAKEAWAYS

• Net Sales — $4,313 million, representing 61% growth driven by broad-based demand across all geographic regions.
• Organic Net Sales Growth — 55% year over year, reflecting strong backlog execution and ongoing capacity expansion.
• Organic Orders Growth — over 100% year over year, indicating significant market demand for artificial intelligence infrastructure.
• Adjusted Operating Margin — 25.2%, an expansion of 290 basis points due to operational leverage on higher volume and manufacturing productivity.
• Adjusted Operating Profit — $1.1 billion, up 83% year over year from increased revenue and operational efficiency.
• Adjusted Diluted EPS — $2.21, an increase of 78% reflecting higher after-tax adjusted operating profit.
• Americas Net Sales — $3 billion, up 75% total and 66% organically as sequential pipeline growth reached its fastest recorded rate.
• APAC Net Sales — $779 million, up 50% total and 48% organically with specific strength reported in Australia and India.
• EMEA Net Sales — $545 million, up 23% total and 19% organically with a pipeline that approximately doubled year over year.
• Adjusted Free Cash Flow — $652 million, an increase of 50% year over year driven by higher operating profit.
• Full Year 2026 Net Sales Guidance — $14.7 billion midpoint, an increase of $650 million from previous July guidance.
• Full Year 2026 Adjusted Diluted EPS Guidance — $7.15 midpoint, representing 70% growth over 2025 results.
• Full Year 2026 Adjusted Free Cash Flow Guidance — $2.7 billion, raised to reflect increased operating profit expectations.
• Q4 2026 Net Sales Guidance — $4.4 billion midpoint, representing 53% growth versus the fourth quarter of 2025.
• Q4 2026 Adjusted Operating Margin Guidance — 25.8% midpoint, an expected expansion of 260 basis points year over year.
• Capital Expenditures — approximately 4.0% of revenue for the full year 2026, focused on global capacity investments.
• Net Leverage — -0.2x at quarter end, providing strategic flexibility for future investments and acquisitions.
• Acquisition Contribution — approximately 6% of third quarter net sales growth, following the closure of the Utility Innovation Group and King Environmental Services deals.
• Americas Adjusted Operating Margin — 29.4%, a slight expansion from 29.3% in the prior year as operational leverage was partially offset by a large capacity ramp.
• APAC Adjusted Operating Margin — 17.0%, representing an expansion of 380 basis points year over year due to improved facility utilization.
• EMEA Adjusted Operating Margin — 28.0%, an increase of 920 basis points versus 18.8% in the previous year driven by improved commercial execution.
• Chiller Production Capacity — on track to double by year-end to meet increasing thermal management demand.
• Design Phase Efficiency — tenfold reduction through the use of pre-engineered reference designs and digital twin validation.
• 800-volt DC Roadmap — validation phase expected in 2027 with market deployment planned for 2028.

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RISKS

• Albertazzi stated that growing at the company’s current pace involves significant effort and noted that the execution process is “not always orderly,” reflecting the complexity of rapid expansion.
• Chamberlin noted that the large ramp in capacity in the Americas segment led to temporary inefficiencies during the third quarter.
• Albertazzi noted that “power availability, permitting, general sentiment, and construction site skilled labor availability” are current pacing items for the industry.

SUMMARY

Vertiv Holdings Co (VRT +17.27%) reported an acceleration in demand for digital infrastructure, specifically within the data center market. Management stated that the company is expanding manufacturing capacity globally to support a record pipeline and order backlog. The company indicated that strategic initiatives focus on industrializing converged infrastructure and reducing time-to-first-token for artificial intelligence deployments. Management reported that while regional power availability and labor shortages exist, these factors are addressed through the company’s modular and pre-engineered solution sets. The company reported that it is investing in next-generation technology, including 800-volt DC power systems, to maintain its market position.

• CEO Albertazzi stated, “We are in the middle of the largest infrastructure buildout and it’s accelerating.”
• The company reported that its time-to-first-token initiative reduces deployment time by up to half and can increase cumulative AI token output by 30% in the first 12 months.
• Management indicated that 800-volt DC native power infrastructure is currently in customer validation, with revenue generation expected to begin in 2027.
• The acquisition of Utility Innovation Group adds advanced microgrid solution capabilities and behind-the-meter power design to the powertrain portfolio.
• Executive Chairman Cote noted that the digital age foundation relies on data centers and indicated that “Vertiv supplies the picks and shovels” for this cycle.
• The new Johor, Malaysia factory is now operational, expanding the company’s ability to serve the Southeast Asia and Australia markets.

INDUSTRY GLOSSARY

• Time-to-first-token: A metric indicating the speed at which an artificial intelligence data center starts generating revenue.
• Converged Infrastructure: Pre-engineered systems that integrate compute, storage, networking, and power/thermal management into a single solution.
• 800-volt DC: A high-voltage direct current power architecture designed to improve energy efficiency and power density in high-density data centers.
• Microgrid: A self-contained power system that can operate independently or in conjunction with the primary electrical grid.

Full Conference Call Transcript

Operator: Good morning. My name is Warren and I will be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to Vertiv’s Third Quarter 26 Earnings Conference Call. All lines have been placed on mute to prevent any background noise. Please note that this call is being recorded. I would now like to turn the program over to your host for today’s conference call, Lynne Maxeiner, Vice President of Investor Relations.

Lynne Maxeiner: Great. Good morning, and welcome to Vertiv’s third quarter 2026 Earnings Conference Call. During the course of this call, we will make forward looking statements regar

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