VRT

Bond market volatility has pushed government yields in major economies to multi year highs, which keeps borrowing costs in focus for every sector. At the same time, the physical plumbing of artificial intelligence is still being built out, from power hungry data centers to high grade connectivity. This creates a targeted way for you to focus on AI’s “picks and shovels.” This article highlights three stocks from that infrastructure theme. The three stocks in this article are just a starting sample. The full screen surfaced 52 more AI infrastructure companies with equally compelling narratives that are not covered here. If you want to rapidly identify and analyze your own high conviction plays across this theme, head straight into the AI Infrastructure Stocks screener. Western Digital is a global data storage company that develops and sells hard disk drives and related solutions used in everything from PCs to hyperscale data centers. Its business is highly focused on HDDs, which generated about US$12.9b in revenue, and within that, the data center drives and platforms segment is the clearest link to AI infrastructure because it supplies the high capacity storage that keeps AI training data and models online. The company sells across the United States, China, Hong Kong, the rest of Asia, and Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and is currently valued at around US$162.4b. For investors who want exposure to AI’s physical build out rather than just software stories, Western Digital offers a direct line into the storage racks of hyperscale data centers. The company is heavily tied to high capacity HDDs for AI data stores and has been reporting strong margins and free cash flow, which gives it room to invest in next generation products such as 40TB plus drives while returning capital through buybacks and dividends. The catch is that this is still a cyclical hardware market where a few big players control supply, and any break in discipline or a shift in the AI capex cycle could quickly pressure pricing and profitability. The key issue is how long Western Digital can keep that balance of tight supply, long term AI contracts and high margins working in its favor. Western Digital’s high margin HDD cash flows may be masking a more complex story involving AI data center exposure and capital returns. Get the full picture in the 4 key rewards and 2 important warning signs (1 is major!) Celestica is a Toronto based supply chain and electronics manufacturing company that builds complex hardware for sectors ranging from aerospace and industrials to cloud and enterprise computing. Its clearest link to the AI infrastructure theme sits in the Connectivity & Cloud Solutions segment, which generates about US$12.3b in revenue and includes rack scale platforms and server systems for hyperscalers, plus the Helios rack scale AI platform developed with AMD. The Advanced Technology Solutions arm adds roughly US$3.3b from end markets like aerospace and HealthTech, and the company as a whole is valued at about CA$47.8b. Celestica gives you exposure to the physical build out of AI data centers, with its Connectivity & Cloud Solutions segment designing and assembling the high density racks, switching gear and Helios AI platforms that hyperscalers are buying today. Analysts and recent UBS commentary link this to earnings and revenue momentum, supported by improving margins and high returns on equity as larger AI programs scale through its factories. The trade off is heavy exposure to a small group of powerful cloud customers and to rapid technology shifts such as the move to 800G and 1.6T networking, which can amplify both upside and execution risk. For investors looking at hardware suppliers tied to AI infrastructure spending, Celestica is a story that may warrant closer attention. Celestica’s AI rack and Helios momentum has many investors focusing on growth; yet the real story may be how that flows through earnings resilience. Get the analyst forecasts for Celestica and see what could shift next Vertiv Holdings Co builds the hardware that keeps high power data centers running, with a particular focus on liquid and air cooled thermal management systems and high density power distribution that are used to cool and feed energy to AI GPU racks. It generates most of its roughly US$9.5b in segment revenue from the Americas at about US$7.5b, with Asia Pacific at about US$2.7b and Europe, the Middle East and Africa at about US$2.4b, and has a market value of about US$99.6b. Vertiv may be of interest if you want exposure to the physical side of AI, where demand for liquid cooling and high density power gear is directly related to how many GPU racks hyperscalers deploy. The company combines this with lifecycle services and monitoring software, which can deepen customer relationships and support margins as AI capacity expands. The catch is that the stock already trades on a rich valuation and a handful of large cloud and data center customers drive a large share of orders, so any pause in AI capital expenditure or competitive pressure in cooling and power solutions could affect sentiment quickly. Vertiv’s surge into liquid cooling and high density power has many investors focused on AI excitement, while the rich valuation raises questions. Get the analyst forecasts for Vertiv Holdings Co and see whether the current enthusiasm is hiding something bigger. Fresh ideas do not stay under the radar for long. While momentum builds and breakouts form, the clean entry points get caught quickly. Check these themes and consider acting while conditions remain favorable. Spot cash rich companies before they start flying by scanning the 50 high quality undervalued stocks, curated for quality balance sheets and earnings power while it still matters. Ride structural growth trends with the 38 robotics and automation stocks, where automation leaders are quietly building momentum while most attention is fixed on headline AI stocks. Get ahead of the next infrastructure wave with the 39 power grid technology and infrastructure stocks, focused on companies tied to grid upgrades that support AI, electrification and data center expansion. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned. Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email [email protected]

A month has gone by since the last earnings report for Vertiv Holdings Co. (VRT). Shares have added about 18.4% in that time frame, outperforming the S&P 500. Will the recent positive trend continue leading up to its next earnings release, or is Vertiv due for a pullback? Before we dive into how investors and analysts have reacted as of late, let's take a quick look at the most recent earnings report in order to get a better handle on the important catalysts. Vertiv Holdings delivered second-quarter 2026 adjusted earnings of $1.52 per share, up 60% year over year. The results beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 6.29%, supported by higher sales volume, operating productivity and margin expansion.Net sales increased 24.1% year over year to $3.27 billion but missed the consensus estimate by 3.41%. Organic sales rose 18%, while acquisitions and favorable foreign exchange contributed 5% and 1%, respectively. Americas net sales rose 29% year over year to $2.07 billion, with organic growth of 21%. Management said that minor timing shifts tied to temporary supply-chain congestion and multi-phased project execution affected second-quarter revenues, but expects the associated delays to resolve in the second half of 2026.Asia Pacific sales advanced 29% year over year to $720 million, including 26% organic growth. Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) sales increased 2% year over year to $484 million, while organic sales declined 2%. Vertiv expects strengthening demand and pipeline conversion to return EMEA to organic growth in the second half. Product revenues increased 22.2% year over year to $2.65 billion, accounting for about 81% of total sales. Service revenues climbed 32.9% year over year to $627.6 million, outpacing product growth and reflecting demand across Vertiv's installed infrastructure base.The company highlighted strong global pipeline momentum and expects another year of robust order growth. Management cited accelerating activity in the Americas, improving momentum in EMEA and broad-based strength across APAC. Pricing is expected to remain favorable and exceed inflation in 2026. Selling, general and administrative expenses increased 25% year over year to $494.4 million. Adjusted operating profit surged 51% year over year to $738 million, exceeding the midpoint of guidance by $28 million.Adjusted operating margin expanded 410 basis points to 22.6% and came in 140 basis points above guidance. Operational execution, productivity and favorable price-cost performance drove the improvement, partly offset by tariff impacts and continued investments in capacity and engineering research and development.Americas adjusted operating profit increased 48.6% year over year to $571 million. APAC’s adjusted operating profit surged 61.5% to $96 million, while EMEA’s adjusted operating profit rose 19.2% to $124 million. As of June 30, 2026, cash and cash equivalents were $2.81 billion, $300 million in short-term investments and $2.94 billion in long-term debt. Liquidity totaled $5.6 billion, while net leverage was negative 0.1 times, reflecting a net cash position.Net cash provided by operating activities totaled $1.10 billion compared with $322.9 million a year earlier. Adjusted free cash flow increased 234% to $925 million, aided by higher adjusted operating profit, working-capital efficiency and lower cash interest. Capital expenditures are expected to reach about 4% of 2026 sales, the high end of management's range. Vertiv is expanding manufacturing capacity globally while investing in future power architectures, advanced thermal systems, services and converged infrastructure for next-generation AI data centers.The company is also advancing power systems that support both traditional alternating-current infrastructure and emerging 800-volt direct-current designs. Its thermal portfolio includes closed-loop cooling and fluid-management services intended to reduce ongoing water usage and lower water needs during data-center commissioning. For the third quarter of 2026, Vertiv expects net sales of $3.65 billion to $3.85 billion and adjusted earnings of $1.77 to $1.83 per share. Adjusted operating profit is projected to be between $898 million and $938 million, with an adjusted operating margin of 24% to 25%.For 2026, net sales are now forecasted to be in the range of $13.8 billion to $14.2 billion, up $250 million at the midpoint from the prior guidance. Adjusted earnings are projected to be in the range of $6.65 to $6.75 per share, while adjusted operating profit is expected to be between $3.29 billion and $3.37 billion. Adjusted free cash flow guidance was raised to $2.4 billion-$2.6 billion. It turns out, estimates review flatlined during the past month. Currently, Vertiv has a great Growth Score of A, though it is lagging a lot on the Momentum Score front with a D. Following the exact same course, the stock has a grade of D on the value side, putting it in the bottom 40% for value investors. Overall, the stock has an aggregate VGM Score of B. If you aren't focused on one strategy, this score is the one you should be interested in. Vertiv has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). We expect an above average return from the stock in the next few months. Vertiv belongs to the Zacks Computers - IT Services industry. Another stock from the same industry, ServiceNow (NOW), has gained 25.8% over the past month. More than a month has passed since the company reported results for the quarter ended June 2026. ServiceNow reported revenues of $3.99 billion in the last reported quarter, representing a year-over-year change of +24%. EPS of $0.90 for the same period compares with $0.82 a year ago. ServiceNow is expected to post earnings of $1.03 per share for the current quarter, representing a year-over-year change of +7.3%. Over the last 30 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate remained unchanged. ServiceNow has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) based on the overall direction and magnitude of estimate revisions. Additionally, the stock has a VGM Score of F. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Vertiv Holdings Co. (VRT) : Free Stock Analysis Report ServiceNow, Inc. (NOW) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com). Zacks Investment Research

SentinelOne S reported second-quarter fiscal 2027 earnings of 8 cents per share, up 100% year over year and 14.29% above the Zacks Consensus Estimate. Revenues of $291.98 million rose 20.6% and topped the consensus mark by 0.67%. The quarter benefited from broader Singularity platform adoption, upmarket wins and operating leverage. Remaining performance obligations (RPO) rose 45% to a record $1.7 billion, while management raised its fiscal 2027 revenue and operating income outlooks. Annualized recurring revenues (ARR), increased 22% year over year to $1.218 billion. Net new ARR reached a record second-quarter $56 million, up 4% from the prior-year period. Customers generating at least $100,000 in ARR increased 13% to 1,715.ARR per customer reached a company record as SentinelOne continued to move upmarket. For customers with at least $100,000 in ARR, dollar-based net retention improved year over year and sequentially for the third consecutive quarter, reflecting stronger multiproduct adoption and contributions from AI products. SentinelOne, Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | SentinelOne, Inc. Quote More than 50% of total ARR comes from non-endpoint solutions, including Data, artificial intelligence (AI) and Cloud. SentinelOne Flex, which gives customers a streamlined way to adopt and expand across the Singularity platform, exceeded 10% of total ARR within a year of launch.Management cited stronger competitive win rates, larger strategic commitments and consistent seven and eight-figure customer wins. Contract duration increased, while sales cycles compressed, supporting the company’s effort to deepen platform consolidation among large enterprises. SentinelOne continued to see strong momentum across its AI, Data and Cloud offerings in the second quarter of fiscal 2027. ARR from Prompt Security and Purple AI nearly tripled year over year, while Prompt Security remained the company’s fastest-growing platform solution. Data solutions recorded a fifth consecutive quarter of ARR growth acceleration, while Cloud security marked its third straight quarter of acceleration. Customer wins reflected demand across these emerging products. Bell Canada selected Prompt Security for real-time visibility, automated guardrails and compliance capabilities. A global services firm chose SentinelOne’s AI SIEM over legacy and next-generation alternatives, gaining petabyte-scale telemetry control and a foundation for AI-driven automation. Meanwhile, a major U.S. technology company expanded its deployment with Singularity Cloud, citing platform performance and operational ease of use. Non-GAAP gross margin contracted 200 basis points year over year to 77%. Non-GAAP research and development expense increased 22.2% year over year to $65.88 million, while sales and marketing expense declined 5.7% year over year to $97.88 million. General and administrative expense rose 8.3% year over year to $30.76 million.Non-GAAP operating income increased to $30.53 million from $5.38 million. Operating margin expanded 820 bps to 10%. As of July 31, 2026, SentinelOne had cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments of $813 million compared with $812 million as of April 30, 2026. The company had no debt.Net cash used in operating activities was $6.5 million in the second quarter of fiscal 2027 compared with operating cash flow of $38.5 million in the previous quarter.Adjusted free cash outflow widened to $13.24 million from $7.15 million in the prior-year quarter, with the free cash flow margin declining to negative 5% from negative 3%. For the third quarter of fiscal 2027, SentinelOne expects revenues to be in the range of $309-$311 million. Non-GAAP operating income is projected between $38 million and $40 million, with non-GAAP earnings of 8-9 cents per share.For fiscal 2027, revenues are expected between $1.202 billion and $1.207 billion, representing 20% growth at the midpoint. Non-GAAP operating income is forecast at $124-$128 million, while non-GAAP earnings are projected at 30-32 cents per share. Currently, SentinelOne carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). NVIDIA NVDA, KLA KLAC and Vertiv VRT are stocks worth considering in the broader Zacks Computer and Technology sector, all of which carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy), at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. The long-term earnings growth rates for NVIDIA, KLA and Synopsys are pegged at 104.76%, 15.74% and 74.61%, respectively. Shares of NVIDIA, KLA and Vertiv have appreciated 22.2%, 51.2% and 66.2% year to date, respectively. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report SentinelOne, Inc. (S) : Free Stock Analysis Report NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA) : Free Stock Analysis Report KLA Corporation (KLAC) : Free Stock Analysis Report Vertiv Holdings Co. (VRT) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com). Zacks Investment Research

Autodesk ADSK is scheduled to release second-quarter fiscal 2027 results on Aug. 27.Autodesk projects fiscal second-quarter revenues between $2.005 billion and $2.015 billion. GAAP earnings per share are expected to be in the range of $1.84-$1.97, and non-GAAP earnings per share are anticipated between $3.10 and $3.14, excluding MaintainX.The Zacks Consensus Estimate for second-quarter fiscal 2027 revenues is pegged at $2.01 billion, indicating 13.96% year-over-year growth.The consensus mark for the to-be-reported quarter’s earnings is pegged at $3.12 per share, unchanged over the past 30 days. The estimate indicates year-over-year growth of 19.08%.ADSK beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings in each of the trailing four quarters, with an average surprise of 7.07%.Let’s see how things have shaped up before this announcement. Autodesk, Inc. price-eps-surprise | Autodesk, Inc. Quote Autodesk's fiscal second-quarter 2027 results are expected to reflect the continued rollout of its sales reorganization and transaction-model transition rather than any single external shock.Management had guided for new-subscription growth to remain pressured through the quarter as channel incentives shifted toward new-business capture, even as renewal rates are expected to have stayed strong. The new transaction model's revenue tailwind is expected to have narrowed to roughly two percentage points, down from 3.5 points in the fiscal first quarter, reducing one of the temporary boosts that flattered prior comparisons.Momentum in AECO, particularly construction, and in emerging markets is likely to have continued supporting the top line, while EMEA's growth rate was expected to have normalized after a strong prior-year comparison tied to earlier transaction-model timing.Ongoing reduction in multiyear contract discounting is expected to have continued weighing on unbilled deferred revenues even as it supported longer-term price realization. The pending MaintainX transaction remained unclosed and was excluded from guidance. It is not expected to have contributed to the reported figures, though integration planning and related costs might have been a modest drag.Segment-level developments through the quarter were concentrated in operations, manufacturing and small-business access. In Operations, Autodesk's May 28 agreement to acquire MaintainX for approximately $3.6 billion advanced its Autodesk Operations Solutions unit. MaintainX is anticipated to exceed $135 million of annualized recurring revenues in 2026, suggesting a rise of 50%, once the deal closes later in the fiscal year.In Manufacturing, a June 3 strategic collaboration agreement with Amazon Web Services made Fusion for Product Design and Fusion Manage available on AWS Marketplace beginning in the second quarter, aimed at broadening cloud-based customer access.Across AECO and AutoCAD-based offerings, a June 4 update lowered the minimum Autodesk Flex purchase to 33 tokens for $99 from 100 tokens for $300, intended to widen adoption among small businesses and solo practitioners. According to the Zacks model, the combination of a positive Earnings ESP and Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) increases the odds of an earnings beat. That’s not the case here.ADSK has an Earnings ESP of 0.00% and a Zacks Rank #3 at present. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they are reported with our Earnings ESP Filter. Here are some companies worth considering, as our model shows that these have the right combination of elements to beat on earnings in their upcoming releases.Amphenol APH has an Earnings ESP of +1.06% and sports a Zacks Rank #1 at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.Amphenol shares have gained 13.8% in the year-to-date period. APH has a long-term earnings growth rate of 26.77%.Celestica CLS has an Earnings ESP of +5.27% and flaunts a Zacks Rank #1 at present.Celestica shares have dropped 0.2% in the year-to-date period. CLS has a long-term earnings growth rate of 43.27%.Vertiv VRT has an Earnings ESP of +0.06% and a Zacks Rank #2 at present.Vertiv shares have climbed 57.1% in the year-to-date period. VRT has a long-term earnings growth rate of 74.61%. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Autodesk, Inc. (ADSK) : Free Stock Analysis Report Amphenol Corporation (APH) : Free Stock Analysis Report Celestica, Inc. (CLS) : Free Stock Analysis Report Vertiv Holdings Co. (VRT) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com). Zacks Investment Research

SentinelOne S is set to release second-quarter fiscal 2027 results on Aug. 27, 2026.   The company expects fiscal second-quarter revenues in the range of $289-$291 million and adjusted earnings between 6 cents and 8 cents per share. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the to-be-reported quarter is pegged at $290.03 million, suggesting growth of 19.76% from the figure reported in the year-ago quarter.The consensus mark for earnings has remained at 7 cents per share over the past 30 days, suggesting 75% growth from the figure reported in the year-ago quarter.SentinelOne’s earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the trailing four quarters, with an average earnings surprise of 47.50%. SentinelOne, Inc. price-eps-surprise | SentinelOne, Inc. Quote Let us see how things are likely to have shaped up for this announcement. SentinelOne’s second-quarter fiscal 2027 performance is expected to have benefited from sustained momentum across endpoint, artificial intelligence (AI), data and cloud security. In the fiscal first quarter, annual recurring revenues (ARR) increased 23% year over year, while net new ARR rose 55% to a record $44 million. Customers generating ARR of $100,000 or more increased 17% and ARR per customer reached a company record. Remaining performance obligations increased 30% to a record $1.5 billion. Continued new-logo additions, improving net retention, and multiproduct expansion are likely to have supported top-line growth in the second quarter of fiscal 2027.The to-be-reported quarter’s results are likely to benefit from increasing adoption of SentinelOne’s AI-powered security portfolio. Prompt Security ARR nearly doubled in the fiscal first quarter, while Purple AI continued gaining traction through its autonomous investigation capabilities. The May launch of Singularity AI Red Teaming further broadened the company’s AI security offerings by helping customers identify vulnerabilities in AI applications before deployment. Prompt Security is also serving as an entry point for new customers and creating cross-selling opportunities across endpoint, cloud and AI SIEM solutions.Another key driver for the fiscal second quarter is the accelerated adoption of SentinelOne’s non-endpoint solutions, particularly in data and cloud security. In the first quarter of fiscal 2027, non-endpoint ARR approached 50% of total ARR, driven by robust growth in AI SIEM and cloud runtime security. Customer wins, such as a major luxury brand replacing Splunk with SentinelOne’s AI SIEM and a large private company expanding its cloud security footprint, demonstrate the platform’s appeal. This diversification of revenue streams is expected to provide resilience and incremental growth in the second quarter of fiscal 2027.SentinelOne’s profitability is likely to benefit from ongoing cost and productivity initiatives in the to-be-reported quarter. The company’s workforce optimization program is expected to generate approximately $45 million in annualized savings while allowing continued reinvestment in AI security, data and cloud. SentinelOne expects second-quarter fiscal 2027 operating income of $23-$25 million, implying an operating margin of about 8% at the midpoint. However, macroeconomic and geopolitical uncertainties could have affected enterprise spending, deal timing, and sales cycles, while a growing mix of larger and more back-end-loaded transactions may have created some quarterly variability. Per the Zacks model, the combination of a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) increases the odds of an earnings beat. But that is not the exact case here. SentinelOne has an Earnings ESP of 0.00% and a Zacks Rank #3 at present. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they are reported with our Earnings ESP Filter. Here are some companies worth considering, as our model shows that these have the right combination of elements to beat on earnings in their upcoming releases.Amphenol APH has an Earnings ESP of +1.06% and a Zacks Rank #1 at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here. Amphenol shares have gained 13.8% in the year-to-date period. APH has a long-term earnings growth rate of 26.77%. Celestica CLS has an Earnings ESP of +5.27% and a Zacks Rank #1 at present. Celestica shares have dropped 0.2% in the year-to-date period. CLS has a long-term earnings growth rate of 43.27%. Vertiv VRT has an Earnings ESP of +0.06% and a Zacks Rank #2 at present. Vertiv shares have climbed 57.1% in the year-to-date period. VRT has a long-term earnings growth rate of 74.61%. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report SentinelOne, Inc. (S) : Free Stock Analysis Report Amphenol Corporation (APH) : Free Stock Analysis Report Celestica, Inc. (CLS) : Free Stock Analysis Report Vertiv Holdings Co. (VRT) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com). Zacks Investment Research

In late July 2026, Vertiv Holdings Co reported second-quarter results showing higher revenue and net income year over year, completed its US$599.84 million share repurchase program, and raised both third-quarter and full-year 2026 guidance, while earlier in August Bitzero Holdings Inc. announced a collaboration with Vertiv to support AI and HPC data center build-outs. Together with Vertiv’s planned presentation at the OCP APAC Summit 2026 in Taipei, these developments underline the company’s growing role in advanced, high-density AI infrastructure and integrated power-and-cooling solutions. With this upgraded full-year outlook tied to AI data center demand, we’ll now examine how it reshapes Vertiv’s existing investment narrative. Find 49 companies with promising cash flow potential yet trading below their fair value. To own Vertiv today, you essentially have to believe that AI and high density data center build outs will keep demanding more sophisticated, integrated power and cooling solutions. The key short term catalyst is how quickly that AI related backlog turns into realized revenue and earnings, while the biggest risk is execution missteps or technology shifts that weaken Vertiv’s edge in next generation infrastructure. The latest results and guidance upgrade reinforce the catalyst, but do not remove those risks. Among the recent announcements, the raised full year 2026 guidance stands out as most relevant. Vertiv now expects net sales of US$13,800 million to US$14,200 million and diluted EPS of US$5.82 to US$5.92, explicitly tying the stronger outlook to AI data center demand. For investors focused on near term catalysts, this update tightens the link between Vertiv’s growth story and how effectively it can execute on AI focused orders at attractive margins. Yet even with this stronger outlook, investors should be aware that growing reliance on a concentrated set of large AI and hyperscale customers could... Read the full narrative on Vertiv Holdings Co (it's free!) Vertiv Holdings Co's narrative projects $22.2 billion revenue and $4.2 billion earnings by 2029. This requires 27.0% yearly revenue growth and a $2.6 billion earnings increase from $1.6 billion today. Uncover how Vertiv Holdings Co's forecasts yield a $376.80 fair value, a 34% upside to its current price. Some of the lowest analysts were already cautious, assuming Vertiv would need US$21.5 billion of revenue and US$4.1 billion of earnings by 2029 to justify a lower price target, and they highlight that dependency on a few big AI and hyperscale customers is a key risk that recent guidance and partnerships might either ease or make more acute over time. Explore 11 other fair value estimates on Vertiv Holdings Co - why the stock might be worth 24% less than the current price! Don't just follow the ticker - dig into the data and build a conviction that's truly your own. A great starting point for your Vertiv Holdings Co research is our analysis highlighting 2 key rewards that could impact your investment decision. Our free Vertiv Holdings Co research report provides a comprehensive fundamental analysis summarized in a single visual - the Snowflake - making it easy to evaluate Vertiv Holdings Co's overall financial health at a glance. These stocks are moving-our analysis flagged them today. Act fast before the price catches up: Outshine the giants: these 16 early-stage AI stocks could fund your retirement. This technology could replace computers: discover 26 stocks that are working to make quantum computing a reality. AI is about to change healthcare. These 43 stocks are working on everything from early diagnostics to drug discovery. The best part - they are all under $10b in market cap - there's still time to get in early. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned. Companies discussed in this article include VRT. Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email [email protected]

Keel Infrastructure Corp. KEEL used its second-quarter 2026 earnings call to emphasize that scarce 2027 power is strengthening negotiations at Moses Lake, Sharon and Panther Creek. CEO Ben Gagnon said prospects are negotiating across all three sites as permitting advances. The call focused on permits, power expansion, construction timelines and lease economics. Management also framed $819 million of liquidity as flexibility to reach lease signing before major project financing. CEO Ben Gagnon said commercial engagement deepened during the quarter, with hyperscalers, AI companies, GPU cloud providers and large enterprises active across the portfolio. He said interest exceeds lease capacity. At Moses Lake, Gagnon expects the 18-megawatt site to be Keel’s first fully commissioned data center in 2027. The first Vertiv modules have arrived, with long-lead equipment secured or in production. Gagnon said Sharon discussions center on triple-net structures, while larger AI companies lead engagement at Panther Creek. Both Pennsylvania sites are attracting customers seeking 2027 capacity. CEO Ben Gagnon said Moses Lake’s go-vertical permitting should finish later in the third quarter. Site development is underway, and management still expects it to be Keel’s first data center online next year. Gagnon said Sharon secured zoning in April and land-development approval during the quarter. Final environmental permits remain in process, while management is evaluating one 110-megawatt phase. Gagnon said Panther Creek received zoning and conditional land-development approval, but final environmental permitting is taking a few months longer than anticipated. He said this does not change the planned 2027 power-delivery schedule or project economics. CEO Ben Gagnon said applications tied to nearly 2 gigawatts of potential Pennsylvania expansion capacity are progressing well with utility partners. Securing additional megawatts remains a focus. Gagnon said Keel is increasingly confident it can convert part of that pipeline into signed energy service agreements supporting HPC deployments through 2030. An update could come as early as December or January. Gagnon said Keel also advanced plans to consolidate three legacy Bitcoin power agreements into a single 96-megawatt HPC and AI agreement in Sherbrooke. Local approvals are secured, with provincial approval still outstanding. CFO Jonathan Mir said Keel strengthened its capital position after raising $458 million through convertible senior notes. Liquidity reached $819 million as of Aug. 7. Mir said that liquidity supports development through lease signing, expansion opportunities and cash SG&A through 2028. The CFO also said Keel prefers to assess project financing after leases are signed, when management expects its cost of capital to decline. Second-quarter revenue was $30.4 million, down 50% year over year and below the $35 million Zacks Consensus Estimate. The company incurred adjusted loss per share of 18 cents, wider than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 8 cents. The loss also widened from 2 cents per share incurred in the year-ago period. Keel Infrastructure Corp price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Keel Infrastructure Corp Quote Analysts tested whether permitting delays or political scrutiny could disrupt leasing activity. CEO Ben Gagnon said Keel believes secured power remains unaffected to date and described Pennsylvania’s industrial permitting framework as an advantage. A Northland Capital Markets analyst asked whether Keel still targets three lease announcements in 2026. Gagnon did not restate that target, instead emphasizing active due diligence and negotiations across all three sites. A KBW analyst asked how tenant quality is assessed as AI leadership changes. Gagnon said Keel intends to stay model-agnostic and prioritize counterparties capable of supporting contracted revenue for one to two decades. CEO Ben Gagnon closed with an emphasis on patience rather than speed. He said customer quality, lease economics and financing support matter more than signing contracts simply to produce announcements. The next phase centers on converting negotiations into leases while completing permits and protecting 2027 delivery. Management said its liquidity provides room to pursue those steps without near-term funding pressure. KEEL carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Its Momentum Score of B is its strongest Style Score, while its Value Score of F, Growth Score of D and VGM Score of F reflect weaker readings across the other styles. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. Zacks Style Scores complement the Zacks Rank, with A and B representing stronger characteristics. KEEL’s mix combines favorable momentum with weaker value, growth and VGM scores and does not match the framework’s strongest Rank-and-Style profile. The Zacks Rank can change as earnings estimates are revised after the just-reported results. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Keel Infrastructure Corp (KEEL) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com). Zacks Investment Research

Image source: The Motley Fool. Wednesday, July 29, 2026 at 11 a.m. ET vice president Investor Relations - Lynne Maxeiner Executive Chairman - David Cote Chief Executive Officer - Giordano Albertazzi Chief Financial Officer - Craig Chamberlin Operator: Good morning. My name is Lucas Penner, and I will be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to Vertiv's Second 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 Investor Relations. Lynne Maxeiner: Great. Thank you, Lucas. Good morning, and welcome to Vertiv's Second Quarter 26 Earnings Conference Call. Joining me today are Vertiv's Executive Chairman, David Cote Chief Executive Officer, Giordano Albertazzi and Chief Financial Officer, Craig Chamberlin. We have 1 hour for the call today, During the Q and A portion of the call, please be mindful of others in the queue and limit yourself to 1 And if you have a follow-up question, please rejoin the queue. Before we begin, I would like to point out that during the course of this call, we will make forward-looking statements regarding future events including the future financial and operating performance of Vertiv. Forward looking statements are subject to material risks and uncertainties, that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. We refer you to the cautionary language included in today's earnings release and you can learn more about these risks in our annual and quarterly reports and other filings made with the SEC. Any forward-looking statements that we make today are based on a assumptions that we believe to be reasonable as of this date. Undertake no obligation to update these statements as a result of new information or future events. During this call, we will also present both GAAP and non GAAP financial measures, Our GAAP results and GAAP to non GAAP reconciliations can be found in our earnings press release and in the investor slide deck found on our website at investors.vertiv.com. With that, I will turn the call over to Executive Chairman, David Cote. David Cote: I am incredibly pleased by our second quarter performance and outlook for the rest of the year and beyond. We have a great position in a good industry and continue to execute very well. Gio and his team stay at the forefront of technology with organic investments and acquisitions. The industry outlook is incredibly good because the digital age has decades to go. Our outlook is incredibly good and deservedly so. As we provide the picks and shovels for the digital age. The seed planning Giordano and his team have been doing continues to pay off and will do so even more in the future as the benefits from our technology investments unfold over time. And with all that goodness, we still have opportunity to further improve. As Gio likes to say, we are still far from our full potential. The future is so bright we have to wear shades. I love it. With that, I now turn it over to Giordano Albertazzi. Giordano Albertazzi: Well, thank you, David, and, welcome, everyone. Let us go to slide 3. A strong quarter EPS, margin, profit and cash convincingly strong. Continuing on a trajectory of strong sales growth even with some timing elements. Pleased with what we see in July and full confidence in h 2 execution and backlog. As a result, we have raised our full year outlook Net sales were up 24% versus Q2 25 driven by continued strength in The Americas which grew 29%, and APAC also up 29%. Importantly, EMEA returned to positive net sales growth with a 2% year-on-year increase, On an organic basis, net sales grew 18% with additional 5% from acquisitions and 1% from favorable currency. Adjusted operating margin came in at 22.6%, exceeding our guidance and growing 410 basis points year-on-year. The strong margin performance translated into adjusted operating profit of $738 million up 51% from a year ago. Adjusted diluted EPS were $1.52 or 60% up from second quarter 25 driven primarily by high volume and continued operational productivity. Adjusted free cash flow came in at 925 million a very strong 234% year on year growth. Driven by higher operating profit and working capital efficiency. Free cash flow conversion exceeded 150% in the quarter. We are raising our full year guidance across all key metrics. Net sales raised to $14 billion, a $250 million increase from previous guidance, up 37% year-on-year. Adjusted diluted EPS now at $6.70. A 60% increase from 2025. AOP now expected almost 60% up year-on-year. And adjusted free cash flow expected at $2.5 billion and we achieved a net cash position at the end of Q2. Let's now move to slide 4. And let's start with the market environment. On the left. Our global pipeline momentum remains very strong. And we expect another year of robust orders growth. Demand signals are clear and broad based. Regionally, let's start with The Americas where market continues to be strong. Pipeline is actually accelerating. Corroborating the long term growth trajectory of our business. EMEA's momentum is further strengthening. This reinforces our confidence in the acceleration for the second half of the year. APAC showed broad based strength pipeline expansion and favorable market conditions. This supports continued growth across the region. Pricing continues to be favorable We expect positive price cost in 2026, including the current impact of tariffs and countermeasures. Now to the right side of this slide, Q2 revenue showed strong growth year-on-year, quarter-to-quarter. We are executing on further acceleration in Q3 and Q4, on strong backlog. Additional capacity is online globally. Examples are Johor in Malaysia, 5 large plants expansions in The Americas, chiller capacity increases in EMEA, and then more. During investor day, you saw that this expansion is rapid and broad based. At speed but always in a very disciplined fashion. We are delivering data center infrastructure solution at an increasing scale and level of complexity, that is exactly where we want to be. We experienced some minor timing shifts in Q2 revenue, primarily driven by multiphase project execution and temporary supply chain dynamics. But the demand is there and the trajectory is strong. Keep in mind, there are increasingly large projects underway, Think Smartron and think even bigger with 1 core. These come with significant interdependencies, a lot of coordination, a lot of rapid learning, I like the pace of our progress. And we get stronger every day. On capital expenditures, we now expect to be at the high end of our range 4% of 2026 sales, As we further expand the global capabilities and capacity going into 2027. We continue to invest for the long term, in a disciplined manner in future power architecture, advanced thermal systems, services, converged infrastructure. These are the building blocks that enable the next-generation AI data centers and factories and we intend to continue to lead the industry. Let's now go to slide 5. I am sure many of you will recall our CTO Scott Armul's power architecture presentation at our Investor Day in May. I want to reiterate and build on what, we shared there. Multiple partner architectures will coexist in the future. Virtu supports each 1 of them through a complete orchestrated powertrain. On the left side of the slide, you see the different architectures. Our AC foundation with as an example, Vertiv Trinergy and energy Core battery storage system and the rest of the Vertiv powertrain, of course. This architecture is broadly deployed, growing, and will continue to be used by many categories of customers. The next architecture serving even higher density has a medium voltage AC source that feeds low voltage AC to deliver 800V DC at rack and port level. Here you see new VERTIV technologies like medium voltage pass UPS, and Vertiv 800 volt DC sidecars. This is under customer validation in 2026 with deployment planned in 2027. Then the 800V DC architecture at data hall level. Here, Vertiv solutions will include MV DC UPS and solid state transformer. To cover the multiple ways to address the end to end powertrain. Where active in the development with plan 2027 customer validation supporting 2028 deployment. As stated, rather than transitioning to a single architecture, the market is expected to leverage both AC and DC solutions as power requirements continue to evolve for years to come. Now the right side of the slide. This is an example of deploying multiple power architectures at sites, sites evolve and expand. I am thrilled to highlight our collaboration with NVIDIA and VisionBay AI. Foxconn's business unit focused on AI supercomputing. At their site in Kaohsiang, Taiwan. For the initial phase, of this site, VisionBay AI awarded the power thermal and services business to Vertiv for what is Taiwan's first AI data center featuring NVIDIA GB 300. On top of this, we are collaborating for the world's first AI data center adopting 800V DC, well, DC architectures at the rack and pod level featuring NVIDIA 'Vera Rubin'. This is an example of early customer validation of our roadmap and supports the broad power architecture evolution. This is real. This has happened. In a nutshell, as a number of viable power architectures expand and AC and DC coexist to deliver on the 800V DC, Vertiv's content opportunity per megawatt expands. And we are leading this transition. Let us now go to page 6. And let's continue on the topic of technology. I want to spend a moment talking about Vertiv's data center cooling architectures and our unique fluid management services. When the 2 are coupled and combined, we ensure our customers to use nearly zero water. As they scale, many customers have been and are adopting closed loop cooling architectures. As they optimize power and water use. A closed loop cooling architecture is just that. Closed or sealed with water recirculating. Typically, it does not require additional water after the fill at start up. Vertiv's end to end thermal chain technologies for both the primary and secondary cooling loops Examples are Vertiv Liebert Trim Cooler, Vertiv Liebert CoolChip CDUs, to name a few, fully enable this approach. This architecture enables a data center to run on no water consumption. Now let's take the focus on water use a step further. Let's also address the initial system fill. And this is where PurgeRite's near-zero comes into the equation. As part of our unique fluid management technology and services, our PerchRite near zero utilizes a closed loop recirculation system to capture, treat, and reuse water during start up. This reduces the water normally used in the process by up to 90% during the startup of a data center. For our customers, this means a faster and more cost effective deployment and commissioning of liquid cooling system and chilled water circuits. This means a significantly less waste and less disruption on-site. More broadly, this expands vertex differentiation thermal management services, and we are managing fluid performance from the start and throughout decades of operational life. PurgeRite near-zero is scaling through our existing service network a capability we believe no 1 else can replicate at our scale. And with that, over to you, Craig Chamberlin. Craig Chamberlin: Thanks, Giordano. Turn to slide 7. Let's walk through our second quarter financial results in more detail. On adjusted diluted EPS, we delivered $1.52 that is up $0.57 or 60% versus prior year. And $0.12 above guidance. The year over year improvement was driven by $0.58 from higher adjusted after tax adjusted operating profit which was driven primarily from higher sales volume and increased profitability. Looking at net sales, we delivered $3.274 billion in the quarter, that is up $636 million or 24% versus prior year. Organic sales growth was 18%, with 5% additional growth contribution from acquisitions and an additional 1% growth contribution from favorable foreign exchange. By regions, Americas grew 21% organically APAC grew 26% organically, and EMEA was down 2% organically. Moving to adjusted operating profit. We delivered $738 million that is up $249 million or 51% versus prior year, and $28 million above the midpoint of our guidance. Adjusted operating margin of 22.6% expanded 410 basis points year-over-year and came in 140 basis points above guidance. The margin expansion was driven by strong operational execution, continued productivity gains, and favorable price cost execution, partially offset by tariff impacts. We are also continuing to invest in capacity and engineering R&D to support future business growth. To round out the quarter, adjusted free cash flow momentum was outstanding. With the quarter ending at $925 million $648 million or 234% from prior year. The improvement was driven by higher adjusted operating profit, strong working capital performance, including project milestone collections, is inclusive of initial advanced payments, and lower cash interest. These items were partially offset by higher cash taxes and higher spending on CapEx investments. At our quarter end, our net leverage is at negative 0.1x, providing even more flexibility. Just a quick note on our deferred revenue. You will see an increase in the quarter, and that is driven by project advanced payments and ongoing milestone collection. We are very happy with our execution on project milestone development, and what you are seeing in deferred revenue is a combination of payments at project initiation, order placement, and ongoing project milestone execution. Moving to slide 8, let's look at segment performance. In Americas, net sales were $2.071 billion up 29% with organic growth of 21%. Organic sales growth remained strong in the quarter. As Gio mentioned earlier, some minor timing shifts in Q2 revenue. These shifts were reflected in The Americas revenue numbers and were primarily driven by multiphase project execution and temporary supply chain congestion. However, we expect the associated timing delay to resolve in the second half of 2026. Adjusted operating profit was $571 million driving 360 basis points in adjusted operating margin percentage. The margin expansion was delivered by ongoing commercial excellence and strong operational execution. Moving to APAC, the region had strong results. With net sales of $720 million up 29% with organic growth of 26%. We continue to see strong end market demand and the commercial execution across the team gives us confidence going forward. Adjusted operating margin percentage grew 270 basis points in the quarter, due to strong operating leverage realized in the region. In EMEA, net sales were $484 million up 2%, with organic sales down 2%. We continue to see a strengthening market, which supports our position for the region to return to organic sales growth in the second half of 2026. EMEA also saw strong growth in adjusted operating margin percent, up 380 basis points year-on-year. The team continues to drive improved operational execution, which came through in this strong margin performance. Turning to slide 9. Let's walk through our third-quarter 2026 guidance. For 3Q, we are projecting adjusted diluted EPS of $1.80 at the midpoint that represents 45% growth versus prior year. That year over year improvement is driven by continued volume growth and ongoing margin expansion. On net sales, we expect $3.75 billion at the midpoint that is up $1.074 billion or 40% versus prior year. Organic sales growth is expected to be up approximately 35% with an additional 5% from acquisitions. By region, we expect Americas organic growth in the high 30s APAC in the high 30s, and EMEA in the mid- to high teens. Adjusted operating profit is expected to be $918 million at the midpoint, that is up $322 million or 54% versus prior year. Adjusted operating margin is expected to be 24.5% at the midpoint, that is up 220 basis points year-over-year and is driven by strong organic sales growth continued operational leverage, and ongoing productivity realization. Let's turn to slide 10. For our updated full-year 2026 guidance. We are raising our outlook across all key metrics. Starting with adjusted diluted EPS, we now expect $6.70 at the midpoint, that is up $2.50 or 60% versus 2025. The updated range is now at $6.65 to $6.75. This is an increase of $0.35 at the midpoint versus prior guidance. The year over year improvement is driven by continued volume growth and ongoing margin expansion. For net sales, we now expect $14 billion at the midpoint. that is up $3.77 billion or 37% versus 2025. This represents an increase of $250 million versus our prior guidance. Organic sales growth is expected to be at 31%, with 5% growth from acquisitions and 1% growth from favorable currency. By region, we expect Americas organic growth in the high thirties, APAC in the low 30s, and EMEA in the low single digits. Moving to adjusted operating profit, we now expect $3.325 billion at the midpoint, that is up approximately $1.235 billion or 59% versus 2025. This is an increase of $125 million versus our prior guidance. Adjusted operating margin is expected to be 23.8% at the midpoint, expanding approximately 340 basis points from 2025 and up 50 basis points versus our prior guidance. The margin expansion is driven by continued operational leverage and positive price cost execution which is offsetting some tariff headwinds. Finally, adjusted free cash flow is expected to be $2.5 billion at the midpoint. that is up $1.613 billion or 182% versus 2025. The year over year improvement is driven by higher adjusted operating profit and lower cash interest, partially offset by higher cash taxes and higher investments in CapEx. Capital expenditures. We are delivering strong results. Raising our outlooks, and executing with discipline. Based on our performance and momentum, we are very confident in our ability to continue driving results throughout the balance of the With that, I will send it back to you, Giordano Albertazzi. Giordano Albertazzi: Well, thank you. Thank you, thank you, Craig, let's go to slide 11. To wrap up. Strong Q2 performance. We are delivering and the team continues to raise the bar on what is possible. We raised our full year 2026 guidance across all key metrics. The momentum is strong. it is broad based and it is accelerating. We continue to invest with discipline. Not just for the 45% growth we are expecting in the second half, but for the years beyond. Capacity innovation services. On m and a, we closed the Thermo King acquisition strengthening our heat-rejection capabilities. We closed the acquisition of Thermal-Lube in April, we are adding server-side liquid cooling and cold plate expertise for high density thermal management. Together, these 2 are positions expand what we offer across the full thermal spectrum. From heat rejection to direct-to-chip cooling. Allow me 2 additional spotlights. At the naval Postgraduate School in partnership with NVIDIA, we delivered a fully engineered packaged rack, power, and cooling system into an existing on prem facility. This includes liquid cooling integration, commissioning, and deployment and deployment support. This is a repeatable at scale reference architecture for NVIDIA GB 300, we call this Vertiv smart IT solution. The project establish an advanced locally operated AI environment for education, research, engineering, modeling, and simulation. This also shows how an existing facility can rapidly be transformed to support next-generation accelerated computing. Easy for enterprise and sovereign customers to adopt. In EMEA, Germany, our collaboration with Dataforce is a great example of the momentum we are seeing in that region. Vertiv delivers a complete powertrain, including switchgear, UPS, and battery systems, etcetera, and a thermal chain like chilled-water units, free cooling chillers, and our industry leading services it all will enable Dataforce's new Frankfurt site. Is exactly the kind of optimized end to end system deployment where Vertiv excels. To conclude, I am more confident in our trajectory today than I have ever been. We are executing, we are investing ahead of the curve, and increasingly, our customers are asking us to help them architect their most complex infrastructures. that is the role we have earned. And it is the role we intend to further strengthen. With that, let's go to the Q&A. Operator: We will now begin the question and answer session. In order to ask a question, press star, then the number 1 on your telephone keypad. In the interest of time, please limit yourself to 1 question. And if you have a follow-up question, please rejoin the queue. We will pause for just a moment to compile the Q&A. The first question comes from the line of Scott Davis from Melius Research. Scott, please go ahead. A reminder to unmute locally. Scott Davis: Oh, yes. Thanks for the reminder, operator. I have not figured out my phone yet. it is anyway, sorry, guys, and good morning. Still good morning. Look. I just wanna address a little bit of the issue that may be hurting you a little bit today with the timing shifts in Q2 revenues, the supply chain congestion comment. What can you give us a little bit more detail on that? And more explicitly, is this something I mean, complexity is something that I would imagine is gonna just do nothing but increase over the next 5 years and perhaps forever. Is this potentially gonna be an ongoing issue not just a 1-off? And if so,, how do you how do you mitigate or kinda manage through it so that it really does not disrupt quarters the way that perhaps it can? Giordano Albertazzi: Well, thanks, Scott, for the question and you are right. Complexity is increasing Some of the projects are not only bigger but multidimensional. There could be a lot of supply chain interdependencies. And this supply chain is necessarily an external supply chain. It can be very often an internal, within-Vertiv supply chain. Now clearly, like everything, and like we have done so far, there is a learning curve. I am pleased with the speed at which we are progressing in this learning curve. And this learning curve is a learning curve of the execution. On this complexity. So I am pretty I am pretty confident about, our direction of travel. And, and, again, these are the first very large projects with this level of, of complexity. And, and we are, more and more equipped for this, just from a technology standpoint, but from a logistics and operations in general. When it comes to the part of your question, so what could be the, there an ongoing impact on the future? Well, certainly, as I said, there is a learning curve that we are progressing on, at speed. But there is also the fact that we are prudent. Anyway in our, second half guidance. This is true in general also for the for the future. So, if you think about our h 2 guidance, we are not assuming all stars align. We have a wiggle room for, this progress on the learning curve not to be perfect. Though of course, speed and perfection is, is our goal. Scott Davis: Okay. Fair point. And then just a quick 1. Would is there a price where you would start buying back stock a little bit more aggressively just given the pullback we are seeing in the entire complex right now? Craig Chamberlin: I mean, I think we always look at it opportunistically, Scott, and that is the thing that we have talked about even at Investor Day. Again, you know, given today, it is a good time to look at it, but I think it is always something that we evaluate and take a you know, what do we consider our capital deployment, and it is 1 of the areas we look at. Scott Davis: So Fair enough. Wish you all the best, guys. Good luck, and I will pass it on. Operator: The next question comes from the line of Jeffrey Sprague. With Vertical Research. Jeffrey, please go ahead. Jeffrey Sprague: Hey. Thanks. Good morning. Hey, Giordano. Just on the comment that the pipeline is actually accelerating, I assume that is sort of all hyperscale, but can you give a little bit more context on sort of the nature of the acceleration? Is it is it is it scope to burden? Is it kind of additional customers? Is it existing customers? Looking to do more quickly? And it seems to support the comment you are making about robust orders for the year, but just love a little bit more color there if you could. Giordano Albertazzi: And, let's start from the end. Yes. Let's start from, from the end. Yes. Of course, it is this is support certainly supporting our comments about the about orders. When I talk about pipeline, always like to talk about magnitude of the pipeline, if you will, and the speed of the pipeline. If I talk about the speed of the pipeline, we talk about acceleration. It means that the sales cycle within the within the pipeline can be faster or slower. So we noticed an acceleration. So it is becoming faster sales cycle. But at the same time, just to be extremely clear, the strength is also in sheer size of the pipeline in terms of a quarter to quarter, year-on-year, year-on-year growth, and this is broad-based. it is pretty much across the world, but also it is broad based across the various customer categories. So certainly, the whole range of hyperscalers. It is true for enterprise. it is certainly true for colo, neocloud. So pretty, pretty broad based. Craig Chamberlin: And just to add on to that, Jeffrey, I would also just say, again, as hyperscalers and colos hyperscalers are sometimes deploying through colos. So to look at it that way, you might get a little bit of a mix there. So just to ensure going back to what Giordano said, we are seeing it, it, again, across regions, across products, and that is the way we really look at it, but that is the way we would view our pipeline. And see it, accelerating in all those spaces. Jeffrey Sprague: And just a quick 1 if I could. Do you have a solid state transformer solution at scale at this point? Where do you stand on that product's evolution? Giordano Albertazzi: Just like, 1 of the slides was describing, the solid state is currently a matter of project development for us. it is in project development phase. Thank you. Yep. Thanks. Operator: Your next question comes from Amit Daryanani with Evercore. Amit, please go ahead. Amit Daryanani: Yep. Good afternoon, everyone. Thanks for taking my question. I guess, Giordano, if you just go back to the supply chain issues delays, can you just talk about how much revenues actually pushed out due to these challenges you had in the quarter? I think you missed the Street numbers by $100 million but I am actually wondering if the supply issues were perhaps much larger than that from a dollar perspective. And maybe just on the same lines, can you just talk about, you know, was it a Vertiv specific issue or something at the customer side that led to this impact? And then how do you see this flowing back into the model into the back half? Thank you. Giordano Albertazzi: So good afternoon. First of all, is it is it customer, or is it is it veritiv? On the customer side, pretty much we see the same dynamics that we have seen historically. So no big, no big differences. When it comes to the Vertiv side and the exact amount, well, that will not be too specific. But the majority of what we are seeing is really coming from, those dynamics that I have described, during, while I was going through my opening remarks, but also the conversation with Scott. That is pretty much the dynamics that we see Is it on the supply chain? You know, the supply chain is, is always a matter of, of working the sequence of things. Is nothing different than what we have experienced, historically. And we are pleased with how we are strengthening our the resilience of our business in general. Craig Chamberlin: And, Amit, I would just add that just to clarify, we are talking about the large project deployments and the learning curve around that, which has confounding effects from both the external supply chain, and our own internal supply chain. So there are some, I would say, gray areas in there when, you know, we typically can recover from a late part and our and our smaller supply chains. When it becomes a larger supply chain, it becomes more confounding. So, again, not to define that specifically, but that is the areas where we are seeing it, and they are large project deployments. And we are learning and understanding what that takes to go forward and how to iron those out. And then also, again, as we talked about thinking of not always that being perfect in the second half as we look into guidance. Operator: The next question comes from the line of Deane Dray with RBC Capital Markets. Deane, please go ahead. Deane Dray: Thank you. Good morning, everyone. I will keep it to 1 question. Really good performance on free cash flow conversion this quarter. But for Craig, I would be interested in hearing was there any contribution from customer deposits on orders I know that is something you all have been looking at. And Dave Cote knows from his aerospace and defense days that is pretty standard. To require deposits on larger orders. So any contribution there? Craig Chamberlin: Yeah, Deane. And, again, I wanna congratulate you; I know you are retiring in September. So congratulations. A great career. Fantastic career. But to your question, yeah, if you look at the face of the balance sheet, and the face of the balance sheet, you will see that our deferred revenue did go up. And our deferred revenue is a read through in terms of those advanced deposits on orders, but it is also ongoing deposits as we go through the milestones of delivering those larger projects. So it is a combination of both. But that is driving the working capital and the great cash performance when you look at it across the entire balance sheet. So definitely an indicator of strong commercial performance on both sides. Deane Dray: Great. Thank you for those kind words, and I appreciate all the support from the team and wish you all continued success. Thanks. Thank you. Operator: The next question comes from Nigel Coe with Wolfe Research. Nigel, please go ahead. Nigel Coe: Thanks. Good morning, everyone. Just wanna pick up on that topic. I think this is the first time maybe I am wrong, but the first time I have heard progress collections you know, kind of staged payments. Maybe just touch on that. I know your assortment is changing with, you know, OneCore and Smartron. So maybe just talk about that. You know, what kind of percentage of revenues that we are talking about now that actually have progress collections? And then just it is not a second question, by the way. it is more of a kind of add-on to the first 1. The balance sheet numbers moved quite a lot this quarter. So, I mean, the Thermo Key acquisition seemed quite small, but did it come with quite a big balance sheet? Thanks. Operator: Thermo King did not come with a large balance sheet, so I will answer that 1 first, and then we can go a little bit I will double click on as we go further into the your question, Nigel. Craig Chamberlin: But in terms of the actual progress collections, yeah, there is a portion that we get up front, and there is a portion as we deliver milestones. And a lot of that is related to delivering products to the end project. And so that is how you would start phasing it in. And sometimes you get those a couple, like a month before you deliver projects. Sometimes you get those at the end of design. So they are all phased in different ways. So we would get a portion upfront. We would get a portion at the delivery milestones that we set forth. Always, in our view, staying ahead of the curve in terms of a cash position in that project. So some of it is going to be related to deliveries where you would see revenue incurred Some of it might be delivered on terms of a design point, which should be a secondary milestone before revenue occurs. And, again, they are all a little different in how we look through them, all the goal being staying ahead of the cash curve and being cash positive on that. On the other phases of the balance sheet, you mentioned lots of movement. We do have a significant ramp in the second half, so you would see some inventory come on. And as that comes on, you will see AP come on as well. And we did have a good quarter in terms of sales. So that is where our AR is going up as well. So all of this is a reflection of the volume you are seeing. ThermoKey had little impact to that. Alright. Thank you. Operator: The next question comes from Andrew Kaplowitz with Citigroup. Andrew, please go ahead. Andrew Kaplowitz: Morning, everyone. Good day to you, Andrew. Good morning So, Gio, you updated us again regarding the evolution toward 800V DC potentially in the start. To impact Vertiv in 2027. And I know you commented on an SST and product development to Jeffrey. But when you step back, how confident are you that Vertiv's content per megawatt could go up as 800 VDC technologies adopted, as I think you reiterated today? And would you surmise that Vertiv's 800-volt DC offering could be toward the higher end of that 3.25 million to 3.75 million per megawatt range you gave us at the Analyst Day. Giordano Albertazzi: Yeah. We are pretty convinced about that. And we are also when we look at all the elements of the powertrain, in the various architectures, And, and when we think what happens inside the white space, in the gray space, we see value there for Vertiv and an expansion of revenue per TAM per megawatt. So not differently from our conversations or what we shared at Investor Day. it is 2 months ago. We continue to go through that math, and that math is corroborated by, of course, all the progress that we are doing on the on the product development, but also on the on the activity that we are we are conducting with customers. So we would need to go element by element in that in that chain. But, again, think about the entire, powertrain, all the elements, vis a vis what we have today, and see that with that, density, with that complexity, our content is impacted favorably. You too. Operator: The next question comes from Andrew Obin with Bank of America. Andrew, please go ahead. Andrew Obin: Yes. Good morning. Good morning, Andrew. Just maybe another question on this deferred revenue So, you know, we have been getting lots of questions on this topic. it is a large number, but I guess what folks are trying to figure out, and I know of some people have been asking a similar question: Has the structure of your deferred revenue sort of change materially from what it was like. I am not asking I know that it fluctuates quarter to quarter. I totally get that. But has the structure of what goes into deferred revenue changed materially or still, if we look at deferred revenue over the past several quarters, it is apples to apples. Craig Chamberlin: it is apples-to-apples, Andrew. No. What you might be feeling a little bit differently is, as we talked about back in fourth quarter, we had a large order influx on the Infer Solutions business where I would say a lot of these milestones are set up in the project based world as opposed to the point, you know, product based world. So the project based world might have more milestones before delivery of revenue, So you would get 1 at the input of the order and then 1 along the way as a design and 1 that you potentially as you start to deliver products. So you have different levels of milestones on those projects versus a point product. And we know that the project basis that we have talked about a lot,, those larger ones, OneCore Smartron, runs, We had a large order intake in the fourth quarter of last year that we spoke to. And that would be some of the stuff that you might be seeing in the deferred revenue as it comes through throughout the year. And then, again, it is tied to our regular down payments as well. But no structural change in the way that we would recognize deferred revenue. Thank you. Operator: The next question comes from Christopher Snyder with Morgan Stanley. Christopher, go ahead. Christopher Snyder: Thank you. I wanted to follow up on the conversation around the production disruption and some of the supply chain impact. I guess, you guys are obviously guiding to a pretty significant organic ramp here into the back half relative to what we saw in the first half. So I guess, anything that you could provide around confidence that you are seeing that these disruptions are getting better getting better? Like, I would imagine that as the quarter went on, the monthlies got better. I think you said July was off to a start that presumably supports this ramp. So I guess has it gotten better? Any just kind of color on that monthly cadence? To give us more confidence in the back half? Thank you. Giordano Albertazzi: Thank you. I would not use the word disruption. Yeah. I think we have to I want to be clear about when we talk about complexity into the interdependencies. As I said, very, very often, in these large projects, you will see multiple Vertiv factories feeding others, besides, of course, external suppliers feeding those factories. Well. So it is really a complexity. So there is an operational aspect to your question, that is, we are getting stronger in the operational execution of that complexity. So the complexity does not go away, but the our ability to handle that complexity is accelerating very, very strongly, and that is what enhanced my comments. But, again, I would not I would not talk in terms of disruption. Craig Chamberlin: Agree. I think on your second point of why do we feel comfortable about the second half, as Giordano said, know, it is a learning curve when you have these large projects, and you do have congestion in your supply chain, which, again, some of that stuff's normal on point products, which is easier to iron out as you have a learning project for larger project. it takes a little bit more time to get smoothed out and understand. We are seeing good signs of it being able to ratchet up on that learning curve. And as we think about the second half, we have also assumed some of that congestion continues as we normally would. But on these projects, it might be a little bit further of congestion that we would have assumed than normal. So all in all, exactly. So all in all, we believe that we are prudent in our second half and very well supported by the platform. Thank you. Operator: The next question comes from Nicole DeBlaseBlase with Deutsche Bank. Nicole, please go ahead. Nicole DeBlase: Yeah. Thanks, and good morning, guys. I am sorry to beat a dead horse, but I am going to. With respect to the second half ramp, there is still, you know, a lot of questions about what is specifically is embedded and what is not. Maybe a way to frame it I will try this. Like, how much of the second half ramp is based upon this improvement in learning curve and maybe unlocking some of the revenue that was pushed out of 2Q versus just the overall capacity ramp that you guys are doing at the same time just so that we can try to get more comfortable with the step up in revenues that are embedded in the second half and how much visibility you have into that. Giordano Albertazzi: Yeah. Thank you. Thank you, Nicole. When we talk about unlocking revenue, let's just be clear that you know, the revenues that were let's say, little bit locked in some elements on the second quarter are being delivered, deployed in the second half. And we feel extremely well about that. When it comes to some elements of congestion, elements of congestion, as Craig mentioned, we are prudent in our guidance, though we believe that there will be and we see, we are seeing a strong acceleration and improvement from an operational standpoint. We are still remain prudent in our guidance. There is capacity that is being released, and that is a big element, of course, of, also the backlog conversion. So look at it as 3 levels. The operational acceleration in the complex projects, the capacity coming available. That has been coming available in the in the second quarter, but even more so in the second half, a very strong backlog coverage. And over and above that, wrap it up with, anyway, a guidance that is not an all-stars-aligned type of guidance. Operator: The next question comes from Amit Mehrotra with UBS. Amit, please go ahead. Amit Mehrotra: Thanks, operator. Jio, I just I would be curious to compare and contrast some of the challenges you are having today to the challenges you had really at this time last year, And you know, you got back on track. Pretty quickly from an operational. But at that time, it was not a revenue issue. It was more of a margin issue and an operational issue. And I know at heart, you are an operational guy. So just maybe compare and contrast that and are there multiple points of just wanna maybe explain the complexity within the complexity. What I mean by that is that are there multiple points of challenges, or is there a sort of 1 main challenge that is sort of cascading across the supply chain That little bit of color there would be helpful. Giordano Albertazzi: Yeah. Thank you. Thank you, Amit. And I really appreciate that you draw that parallel to exactly a year ago. It was a different nature. At that stage, it was Ireland and some executional challenges on the on the busbar switchgear that we have amply recouped as you were saying. But I think this highlights the fact that in a business that is moving at this speed, that is growing at this speed with the number, let's say, of technology, with the technology speed sorry. The speed of technology evolution, that we are experiencing and indeed driving, there is a lot of complexity. To you know, to manage. And so in many respect, the parallel is similar. You were talking about well, that was a margin; this is a revenue. Anyway, it is operational execution. that we are concentrating on right now. So it may be different in the type of product line, if you will, it is not different in terms of the type of focus and the type of, let's say, recipe that we applied. And, again, it is a matter of, really continuing to mature operationally as the market's portfolio, the scope of what we do continues to evolve. So I feel very good about that. Amit Mehrotra: As I did. But, Giordano, are you failing are you-- it is not failing, but are you reducing the on-time delivery of the customer? Because 1 of the USPs has been Vertiv has been 1 of the few companies that can deliver on time in full. Are you disappointing customers with this development? That opens up market share opportunities for other companies? Or no? Giordano Albertazzi: Well, look. Our, our overall performance is, if anything, in improving. So I would say that the answer is no. it is not something that changes our perception in the market, we believe. Operator: The next question comes from Mark Delaney. With Goldman Sachs. Mark, please go ahead. Mark Delaney: Yes. Thank you for taking my question. 1 of the topics at the Investor Day that we have not discussed yet on the call this morning is around M and A. I think you talked about something in the order of $24 billion that could be deployed. And light of some of the pullback in financial market valuations. as well as all the opportunities you see on the technology front, including areas like 800 volt, curious if you could give us your latest thoughts on the M and A opportunity and if the pipeline there is active, and that might be something that could be executed upon relatively soon. Thanks. Craig Chamberlin: I mean, I would say our outlook does not change in terms of the M and A world. We still look at it in the same way we looked at it back during Investor Day, but it is active. And we do see an active market, and we are participating in that after active market looking at, know, several targets. But, again, it has to fit us, and it has to be the right I would say, value play for us in terms of fit in our portfolio and what we believe we can grow and what we can return to investors in terms of what we are going to pay. Again, I have always talked about we invest in ourselves first, and that is capacity, and that is R&D, and that is development, and that is the things we are always going to look at. And then we will look at the spots where we believe we can get true value out of an acquisition and an add on whether it be regional reach or a product that we believe could get us to the market faster or a technology we do not currently have. So, yes, we are active, and we continue to look at it in terms of that framework. Operator: The next question comes from Noah Kaye. With Oppenheimer. Noah, please go ahead. Noah Kaye: Thanks for taking the question. You know, talking about some of these learning curve developments around what seems to be more of a focus on infrastructure solutions. You know, the components of these as we understand them, the building blocks they are already part of the Vertiv portfolio largely. But I am just curious, as you come up this learning curve, to what extent are you increasing your vertical integration across those building blocks and supply chain Is that a process that you are undertaking now? Is it something that needs to happen on a go forward basis to mitigate and manage some of those challenges in architecting these solutions? Giordano Albertazzi: Well, there is clearly always an analysis of make or buy vertical integration in anything we do. Be it at a point product level, and at, let's say, large infrastructure solution level, When you when you talk about the vertical integration for solutions, for us is really we are very, very integrated in the sense that we are putting into our infrastructure solutions, products that are Vertiv products. So then clearly, we are in good control of the of the supply chain in that respect. And so we feel good in this moment We do not think there are any major gaps in vertical integration for what we are doing, but that does not mean that we will not adjust over time the mix of, make or buy in whichever dimension. That could be depending on, depending on the type of business, depending on where we manufacture and auto manufacturing locations are the same in terms of access to a nearby let's say, critical mass. So it is it is always there now, but we do not perceive in this moment that there are any major gaps. But for example, if you think about an acquisition that we shared with you last quarter, B. Mark, that was that was moved to vertically integrate on our frame construction for our infrastructure solutions. So that is, I think, a testament to the dynamic approach that we have when it comes to make-or-buy. Yep. Thank you, Jeffrey. Operator: The next question comes from Anand Baruah with Loop Capital. Anand, please go ahead. Analyst: Yeah. Thanks, Scott, for taking the question. Really appreciate it. I would love to get your guys' view. This is an 800-volt, 450-volt question. For 800-volt, how broadly throughout the marketplace are you expecting in the next couple of years the, the technology to be adopted And really, the genesis for the question is there is that, as you guys may know, there is of been speculation last few months that 1 of the larger AI infrastructure companies could see a push out that would use 800-volt as far as far as 2029, how if there were a major customer push out, how broad is the tech-- are you guys anticipating the tech to be throughout the industry? And then we have heard really good things on 450-volt potential over the next 24 months. You know, what is the right way to think about the impact that could have and could that fill in any white space? You know, if there were, like, a meaningful you know, sort of AI infrastructure 800V customer push out? Thanks. Just any context would be helpful. Thanks. Giordano Albertazzi: Well, thanks. A multidimensional, multilayer question here. So I would not comment on rumors in the market. As we shared with investors in May, but also but also earlier today, we believe that the adoption of 800-volt will be gradual would be convincing. We are certainly very invested in that part of the in that part of the of the portfolio. Whether that happens at the speed that is currently in our roadmaps and that you saw or something slower than that, you know, we will be flexible and certainly, we are extremely resilient with that because it means that other parts of the architectures that we provide to our customers will certainly be take the share of the market in terms of architecture. So whichever way no matter the speed of acceleration, we think that we are in a good in a good place because we have the architectures, we have the technologies, the roadmaps as we shared, but there is a 400-volt DC question, and that 400-volt DC volt question is an important 1. We see that some players are thinking in terms both of 800 and 400. The underlying technology is not dramatically different. And quite honestly, we are involved in both. that is really helpful. Thanks so much. Really appreciate it. Sure. Operator: The next question comes from Luke Junk with Baird. Luke, please go ahead. Analyst: Yeah. Thanks for sneaking me in here. Giordano, hoping just to get some texture around your ongoing increase in confidence around the EMEA market specifically, and we saw a step up in margins. Sequentially this quarter. How do you think about the sustainability there or maybe in the potential for some further improvement in the back half of the year? Thank you. Giordano Albertazzi: Yeah. Well, thanks for the EMEA question. The we are we are pretty bullish about EMEA as you saw Certainly, we believe in a strong, second half, and back to growth. You see EMEA faring better than we expected anyway in the second quarter. So very confident in the second half. I was vocal about the fact that we were very happy with orders in EMEA in the first quarter. I would say that we like what we see in the second quarter. And there is a backlog formation that is certainly convincing. And we see that the improvement translates in top line and bottom line improvement has demonstrated. So the market continues to accelerate. And we certainly have a very important position in that market. Craig Chamberlin: Luke, I will just hit on the fact that we do and as we have talked about through even back as early as last year, we do see a second half increase in growth for EMEA in terms of where we expect their organic growth to go from a revenue perspective. In terms of the I would say, the gain that you saw in margin, was a favorable comp too, as you had mentioned, the Ireland portion did come through Q2 last year, which was in EMEA. So a little bit of a favorable comp in there, but we do still expect margins to be pretty good. Got it. Leaving it there. Thank you. Thank you. Operator: This concludes our question and answer session. I would like to turn the conference back to Giordano Albertazzi, for any closing remarks. Giordano Albertazzi: Well, thank you. And thank you very much, everyone. Thank you for the questions, and thank you for your time today. I am very pleased with what we delivered this quarter. And how we are positioned for the second half. The team is executing at a high level. Scaling capacity, deepening customer partnerships, and advancing our technology portfolio. All simultaneously. it is not easy. But this invigorates us Pipelines are strong, our operational discipline is sharp, and our customers trust us to deliver at scale. Just to be clear, I am very encouraged by our trajectory. I am pleased, but certainly never satisfied. With that, thank you all, and I wish you all a great rest of the day. Operator: The conference has now concluded. Thank you for attending today's presentation. May now disconnect. Before you buy stock in Vertiv, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Vertiv wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $397,405!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,344,091!* Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 953% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 214% for the S&P 500. Don't miss the latest top 10 list, available with Stock Advisor, and join an investing community built by individual investors for individual investors. See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of August 7, 2026. This article is a transcript of this conference call produced for The Motley Fool. While we strive for our Foolish Best, there may be errors, omissions, or inaccuracies in this transcript. As with all our articles, The Motley Fool does not assume any responsibility for your use of this content, and we strongly encourage you to do your own research, including listening to the call yourself and reading the company's SEC filings. Please see our Terms and Conditions for additional details, including our Obligatory Capitalized Disclaimers of Liability. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Vertiv. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Vertiv (VRT) Q2 2026 Earnings Call Transcript was originally published by The Motley Fool

Get insights on thousands of stocks from the global community of over 7 million individual investors at Simply Wall St. Vertiv Holdings Co (VRT) is back in focus after raising its full year 2026 guidance and reporting higher second quarter revenue and earnings, supported by AI-focused data center demand and expanding capacity. See our latest analysis for Vertiv Holdings Co. Vertiv Holdings Co's share price has surged 56.69% year to date, with a 7 day share price return of 20.95% after its raised 2026 guidance and recent AI data center partnerships. The 1 year total shareholder return stands at 97.63%. If Vertiv's AI driven story has your attention, this could be a useful moment to look across the wider AI infrastructure space through the 55 AI infrastructure stocks After Vertiv's sharp re rating and a share price that still sits at a discount to average analyst targets but a small premium to one intrinsic value estimate, is the market being cautious for good reason or mispricing the AI momentum story? Vertiv Holdings Co's most followed narrative places fair value at $408.64 per share, well above the recent close at $275.17, which sets a confident tone for a growth focused thesis. Read the complete narrative. Want to see why this Vertiv Holdings Co narrative supports such a premium price tag? The key ingredients mix rapid top line expansion with rising profitability and a valuation framework that leans heavily on future cash generation rather than today's multiples. Result: Fair Value of $408.64 (UNDERVALUED) Have a read of the narrative in full and understand what's behind the forecasts. However, Vertiv Holdings Co still faces risks, including a rich valuation that could magnify any earnings disappointment and heavy reliance on a small group of hyperscale customers. Find out about the key risks to this Vertiv Holdings Co narrative. While the leading Vertiv Holdings Co narrative leans on future cash flows to argue the stock looks undervalued, simple earnings ratios tell a different story. Vertiv currently trades on a P/E of 61.2x, compared with a fair ratio of 58.2x, a peer average of 39.2x, and a US Electrical industry average of 36.8x. This gap suggests investors are already paying a clear premium for Vertiv’s growth profile, which could mean less room for error if expectations change. The question is whether that premium feels justified for you, given the company’s earnings trajectory and AI infrastructure role. See what the numbers say about this price — find out in our valuation breakdown. With sentiment this upbeat around Vertiv Holdings Co, it helps to look past the headlines and test the numbers yourself. To see what the current optimism is based on, start with the 3 key rewards. If Vertiv Holdings Co has sharpened your focus on AI infrastructure, now is the time to widen your watchlist with other stocks that could complement your thesis. Target resilient opportunities by scanning 78 resilient stocks with low risk scores to find ideas that may help anchor your portfolio when sentiment swings. Hunt for quality at a discount through the 49 high quality undervalued stocks and see which companies offer more potential for every dollar you commit. Spot future standouts early using the screener containing 19 high quality undiscovered gems so you are not the last investor to notice strong fundamentals. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned. Companies discussed in this article include VRT. Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email [email protected]

VRT and ALAB both beat earnings riding Amazon and Microsoft's $100B quarterly AI capex, yet Astera dropped 12% post-earnings while Vertiv surged 25%. Vertiv suits stability-focused investors with a six-quarter beat streak and tripled free cash flow, while Astera at a 249 P/E rewards patient buyers waiting for a pullback. Don't wait: the analyst who called NVIDIA in 2010 just revealed his top 10 AI stocks. See the full list FREE now. Vertiv (NYSE:VRT) and Astera Labs (NASDAQ:ALAB) both reported into the same tailwind: Amazon and Microsoft pouring roughly $100B to $105B combined per quarter into AI capex. Vertiv sells the racks their power and cooling depend on. Astera sells the connectivity silicon stitching GPUs together. Both beat. Only one saw its stock drop the next day. Vertiv posted Q2 revenue of $3.27B, up 24.1% YoY, with Americas sales jumping 29.2% and adjusted operating margin expanding 410 basis points to 22.6%. Free cash flow more than tripled to $925.3M. CEO Giordano Albertazzi credited "the compounding effect of years of deliberate investment in technology, capacity, and customer partnerships" as hyperscaler deployments grow more infrastructure intensive. Astera came in hotter but smaller. Revenue hit $392.4M, up 104.5% YoY, with non-GAAP EPS of $0.80 beating by 15.61%. The Aries retimer hit a record, and CEO Jitendra Mohan said the Scorpio fabric switch will become the largest product family in Q3, one quarter ahead of plan. Q3 guidance was the shock: revenue of $540M to $560M, a huge sequential leap. Don't wait: the analyst who called NVIDIA in 2010 just revealed his top 10 AI stocks. See the full list FREE now. The strategies diverge sharply. Vertiv is the physical bet, capturing an estimated $1.2B to $1.5B per quarter of hyperscaler spend, and raised full-year guidance to $13.80B to $14.20B in net sales with 30% to 32% organic growth. EMEA is the soft spot, with organic sales down 2.4%. Insiders across the C-suite acquired shares on June 25, 2026, though those look compensation-linked. Astera is the silicon bet, capturing perhaps $220M to $280M per quarter, tiny in absolute terms but growing far faster. Its risk profile matches: concentrated customers, no long-term commitments, and a fully-priced valuation. News flow confirms the connectivity layer is where money is moving. Vertiv rallied 24.61% in the week after earnings. Astera fell 11.96% the day after its beat, a classic "priced in" response. Watch whether Scorpio crosses Aries in Q3 revenue, and whether Vertiv's Americas margin holds while EMEA stabilizes. Tariffs and supply timing are the swing factors. If I had to pick one, I would lean Vertiv. Cash generation is real, guidance keeps rising, and the six-quarter beat streak tells me management is not stretching. Astera fits a different investor: someone comfortable owning a 9-for-9 beat hypergrowth name with a P/E near 249 and accepting volatile reactions. Astera's setup rewards patience for a wider pullback, while Vertiv's Q3 warrants a close watch on the stock, where organic growth guidance sits at 34% to 36%. Don't wait: the analyst who called NVIDIA in 2010 just revealed his top 10 AI stocks. See the full list FREE now. Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.

Vertiv VRT shares have gained 8.3% since it reported second-quarter 2026 results on July 29, 2026. The uptick can be attributed to strong organic sales growth, driven by higher adjusted operating profit and robust performance across its regional segments.Click here to check the details of Vertiv’s second-quarter 2026 results.Vertiv shares have gained 49.1% year to date, outperforming the broader Zacks Computer and Technology sector’s increase of 11.7%. The Zacks Computers - IT Services industry declined 20.8% in the same time frame.Vertiv’s shares have also outperformed its peers, which include Super Micro Computer SMCI and Amphenol APH. Both Super Micro Computer and Amphenol are expanding their capabilities in the AI and data center infrastructure markets. While Amphenol shares rallied 18.9%, Super Micro Computer shares have lost 3% year to date.The outperformance of VRT stock can be attributed to its rich partner base and extensive product portfolio spanning thermal systems, liquid cooling, UPS, switchgear, busbars and modular solutions. Vertiv remains leveraged to rising data center power and thermal needs as AI deployments drive higher infrastructure density and faster build cycles. Image Source: Zacks Investment Research Vertiv is benefiting from robust demand across its core markets, particularly in the Americas and APAC regions. In the second quarter of 2026, net sales increased 24% year over year, with the Americas and APAC both growing 29%. EMEA also returned to positive net sales growth. This broad-based demand is driven by accelerating digital transformation and the expansion of data centers, both of which require Vertiv’s advanced power and thermal management solutions. The company’s strong pipeline and accelerating sales cycles, especially among hyperscalers, enterprise and colocation customers, have underpinned this growth.The company has rapidly expanded its global manufacturing footprint by adding new capacity in Malaysia, expanding five large plants in the Americas and increasing chiller capacity in EMEA. These investments have enabled Vertiv to deliver increasingly complex data center infrastructure solutions at scale, positioning the company as a leader in supporting next-generation AI data centers.The company’s strategic investment in expanding global manufacturing capacity has been a major growth driver. The company in July 2026 announced investments at its Tognana campus near Padua, Italy, to expand manufacturing and testing capabilities for AI-ready data center cooling systems. The expansion is expected to double regional chiller production capacity by the end of 2026 and add a large-scale testing laboratory in early 2027 to validate chillers integrated with liquid cooling systems under high-density AI workloads. The investment strengthens Vertiv's ability to meet growing demand for AI and high-performance computing infrastructure while accelerating product development, testing and customer deployment of advanced thermal management solutions. Vertiv is benefiting from strategic acquisitions and innovation in its product portfolio. The recent acquisitions of ThermoKey and Strategic Thermal Labs have expanded Vertiv’s capabilities in heat rejection and high-density thermal management, respectively. These moves enhance Vertiv’s ability to offer comprehensive solutions across the thermal spectrum, from heat rejection to direct-to-chip cooling.  In the second quarter of 2026, acquisitions contributed 5% to revenues. The company’s collaborations with leading technology partners like NVIDIA NVDA and Foxconn’s VisionBay AI have positioned Vertiv at the forefront of deploying advanced power and cooling architectures, further differentiating the company in a rapidly evolving market.In July 2026, Vertiv recently announced the deployment of its integrated power, liquid cooling, rack infrastructure and installation services to support the Naval Postgraduate School’s new NVIDIA DGX GB300 AI system. The project creates a locally operated AI environment for research, education, digital engineering and simulation while demonstrating how existing facilities can be upgraded for high-density AI computing. Built around Vertiv’s SmartIT integrated AI infrastructure, the deployment combines power distribution, liquid cooling, racks and commissioning services into a repeatable design, enabling faster AI deployments, lower integration risks and scalable expansion for future accelerated computing workloads. The project further strengthens Vertiv’s collaboration with NVIDIA as enterprises and institutions accelerate deployment of next-generation AI infrastructure. Vertiv’s expanding AI data center footprint and manufacturing capacity signal further upside potential.  For the third quarter of 2026, Vertiv expects net sales of $3.65 billion to $3.85 billion and adjusted earnings of $1.77 to $1.83 per share. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Vertiv’s third-quarter 2026 revenues is pegged at $3.75 billion, suggesting growth of 40.27% year over year.The Zacks Consensus Estimate for third-quarter 2026 earnings is currently pegged at $1.81 per share, up by a penny over the past 30 days. The figure indicates a year-over-year increase of 45.97%. Vertiv Holdings Co. price-consensus-chart | Vertiv Holdings Co. Quote Vertiv is currently overvalued, as suggested by a Value Score of D.In terms of the trailing 12-month Price/Book, Vertiv is currently trading at 19.5X compared with the broader Computer and Technology sector’s 10.18X. Image Source: Zacks Investment Research Vertiv is benefiting from its strong portfolio and rich partner base, which are driving order growth. These factors justify the company’s premium valuation. Vertiv stock currently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Buy) and has a Growth Score of A, a favorable combination that offers a strong investment opportunity, per the Zacks proprietary methodology. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Vertiv Holdings Co. (VRT) : Free Stock Analysis Report Amphenol Corporation (APH) : Free Stock Analysis Report NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA) : Free Stock Analysis Report Super Micro Computer, Inc. (SMCI) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com). Zacks Investment Research