New York, Feb 12, 2026, 10:44 EST — Regular session moves on.
Shares of Vertiv Holdings (NYSE: VRT) climbed another 2.4% to $254.45 early Thursday, extending Wednesday’s spike. Investors stayed bullish after the company raised its outlook and reported a rush of new data-center orders.
Power and cooling systems from the Ohio-based company have turned into a kind of proxy for AI data center spending, with electricity use and heat now the main choke points. For traders, it comes down to two things: is demand still picking up, and can suppliers keep pace on deliveries?
The surge reached electrical equipment stocks, with Eaton tacking on 2.5% and Hubbell climbing 3.1% in early action. Investors were betting on increased demand for power gear and grid hardware.
Vertiv reported a 23% jump in fourth-quarter net sales, reaching $2.88 billion, with organic orders soaring roughly 252%—enough to push backlog up to $15.0 billion. The book-to-bill ratio stood at about 2.9x, with hyperscale and colocation data centers singled out as the main growth engines. Looking ahead, Vertiv projected 2026 net sales in a range of $13.25 billion to $13.75 billion and sees adjusted diluted earnings per share between $5.97 and $6.07. The company is ramping up engineering spend and boosting production capacity, but flagged tariff costs as a drag for the quarter. 1
The earnings release and supporting documents showed up in a regulatory filing on Wednesday. 2
The stock tacked on more gains after Wednesday’s 24.5% jump, with investors zeroing in on the blowout forecast and surging orders. “Orders strength was remarkable,” Oppenheimer analyst Noah Kaye wrote in a note quoted by Barron’s. 3
Conversion is the flashpoint here. A growing backlog might translate to fast revenue, or just remain stuck if supply chain or staffing or plant limits hit. That’s a bigger deal when the stock’s already surged.
The risk side isn’t hard to spot. Data-center orders swing—sometimes sharply. If cloud clients pull back on spending, cancellations could ramp up. Competition heats up, pricing leverage thins. And even in a hot market, tariffs or surprise costs can still hit margins.
Coming up, all eyes turn to Vertiv’s management as they head to Miami for the Citi 2026 Global Industrial Tech and Mobility Conference on Feb. 17, followed right after by the Barclays Industrial Select Conference on Feb. 18. Executives are slated for fireside chats at both events, the company said. 4
