NEW YORK, Jan 3, 2026, 19:45 ET — Market closed
- Powell Industries shares rose 10.6% on Friday to $352.52, outpacing the broader industrial sector.
- The move came as investors favored value and “AI infrastructure” beneficiaries in thin holiday trading, a Reuters report said. Reuters
- Next catalysts include key U.S. labor and inflation data in the week ahead, which could reset rate expectations.
Powell Industries shares surged 10.6% in Friday’s session, the first U.S. trading day of 2026, ending at $352.52.
The outsized move came in a market that closed mixed, with the S&P 500 and Dow edging higher as Treasury yields rose and holiday-thinned volumes kept trading choppy, according to Reuters.
“Value is outperforming growth and AI infrastructure is up,” said Jed Ellerbroek, a portfolio manager at Argent Capital, in comments cited by Reuters. Reuters
Powell, headquartered in Houston, designs and manufactures custom-engineered equipment that distributes and controls electrical energy for customers in oil and gas, electric utilities and other industrial markets, including data centers, an annual report showed.
Backlog — orders already booked but not yet delivered — was $1.4 billion at Sept. 30, the company said, and it expected about $824 million of that work to convert into revenue in fiscal 2026.
In fiscal 2025, Powell posted revenue of $1.104 billion and net income of $180.7 million, or $14.86 per diluted share, the filing showed. At Friday’s close, the stock traded at roughly 24 times that fiscal 2025 diluted profit figure.
The stock traded between $323.00 and $353.45 on Friday after opening at $324.00, with about 252,000 shares changing hands.
Other names tied to electrical equipment and power infrastructure also rose. Eaton gained 2.8% and AZZ climbed 2.4%, while data-center infrastructure supplier Vertiv jumped 8.4%; the industrial-sector ETF XLI added 1.9%.
Powell lists ABB, Eaton, Schneider and Siemens Industries among its principal competitors, the annual report said.
With shares back above $350 — a round-number “technical” level that traders often treat as a support or resistance zone — the next question is whether the stock can hold those gains when liquidity returns after the holiday lull.
Before the next session, investors will be watching a heavy U.S. data slate. The monthly employment report is due Jan. 9 and the consumer price index — a key inflation gauge — follows on Jan. 13, Reuters reported.
For Powell, the next known company catalyst is its next earnings report, though the company has not confirmed a date. Earnings calendars such as MarketChameleon and MarketBeat currently peg the release for early February, with estimates clustered around Feb. 5-6.
Investors are likely to focus on order intake, backlog conversion and margins, especially as Powell said raw materials such as steel, copper and aluminum are a major input cost and supply-chain disruptions or price swings can affect production and profitability.
