Vertiv reported third-quarter net sales of $4.31 billion, up 61%, with organic orders up more than 100%, and raised its full-year guidance to $14.45 billion to $14.85 billion in sales.
Vertiv reported third-quarter net sales of $4.31 billion on October 28, up 61% from a year earlier, with organic sales growth of 55% and about 6% coming from acquisitions. Operating profit rose 90% to $984 million, adjusted operating margin widened by 290 basis points to 25.2%, diluted earnings per share rose 91% to $1.95 and adjusted diluted earnings per share rose 78% to $2.21.
Orders were stronger still. Organic orders grew by more than 100% from a year earlier, operating cash flow rose 64% to $794 million and adjusted free cash flow rose 50% to $652 million. Growth was broad-based, with the Americas up 75%, Asia-Pacific up 50% and Europe, the Middle East and Africa up 23%. Liquidity rose to $6.2 billion and the company said it held a net cash position.
Vertiv raised its guidance across all key measures. It now expects full-year net sales of $14.45 billion to $14.85 billion, a midpoint of $14.65 billion that is $650 million higher than before, with adjusted diluted earnings per share of $7.10 to $7.20 and adjusted free cash flow of $2.6 billion to $2.8 billion. Fourth-quarter net sales are guided to $4.31 billion to $4.51 billion. Chief executive Giordano Albertazzi said the company was in the middle of the largest infrastructure buildout and that it was accelerating.
The company's press release, carried by PR Newswire, is the source for the sales, margin, orders and guidance figures, and a Reuters brief corroborates the comparison with estimates: adjusted earnings of $2.21 against an IBES estimate of $1.83, and sales of $4.31 billion against an estimate of $3.76 billion. Morningstar reported the shares up 16.4% in premarket trading on the release, a gain consistent with the scale of the beat.
Vertiv makes the power and cooling systems that data centres need before new computing capacity can be used, so its order book is watched as an early signal of whether artificial intelligence spending is still turning into equipment purchases. The next check will be fourth-quarter delivery against the $4.41 billion midpoint sales guidance, and whether the doubled order intake converts into revenue at the margins reported in the third quarter.