New York, Jan 4, 2026, 14:57 ET — Market closed
- Vertiv shares closed up 8.4% on Friday after Barclays upgraded the stock to Overweight and raised its target to $200.
- Barclays lifted its 2026 adjusted EPS forecast to $5.68, above the Bloomberg consensus of $5.24, citing data-center exposure.
- Next up: ISM surveys and the Jan. 9 U.S. jobs report, ahead of Vertiv’s next earnings (estimated for Feb. 11).
Vertiv Holdings Co shares ended Friday up 8.4% at $175.61 after Barclays upgraded the data-center power and cooling supplier to Overweight and lifted its price target to $200. Barclays analyst Julian Mitchell said the bank sees “substantial upside potential” to consensus earnings estimates in 2026 and 2027. TipRanks
The call matters now because investor positioning in data-center infrastructure has been swinging sharply with every new read on AI-related spending. With U.S. markets reopening on Monday, traders will test whether Friday’s analyst-driven pop pulls in fresh buyers or fades once the note is digested.
Barclays lifted its 2026 adjusted earnings-per-share forecast to $5.68, above the Bloomberg consensus of $5.24, and said its 2027 estimate is 12% above consensus. The bank said about 80% of Vertiv’s sales come from data centers, and noted the shares have lagged other AI-linked industrial names it rates Overweight, including GE Vernova and nVent Electric. Barclays said its $200 target is built from a mix of discounted cash flow analysis — valuing expected future cash flows — and multiples such as EV/EBITDA, a ratio that compares a company’s total value with cash earnings.
Vertiv sells equipment that keeps servers powered and cooled — from uninterruptible power supplies to thermal management systems — making it a picks-and-shovels name in data-center expansion. That linkage has sharpened as AI workloads drive higher power use and more heat inside racks.
Friday’s move came as AI-linked bellwethers also advanced. Nvidia ended up 1.3%, while Eaton, which sells power management gear used in data centers, rose 2.8%.
Technicians will keep a close eye on $200 as a round-number hurdle, with the stock still below its past-year high near $202. On the downside, the prior close around $162 is a level traders may treat as a first line of support after the sharp break higher.
What investors will watch next is whether the upgrade translates into follow-through ahead of earnings season, especially as rate expectations and growth assumptions shift early in the year. A big one-day move can also pull options activity into the name, amplifying short-term volatility.
But the upside case relies on big cloud providers and colocation operators maintaining aggressive data-center buildouts. Any signs of delayed projects or slower capital spending would pressure the order outlook and could hit the stock’s premium valuation.
Macro data also sits close behind. ISM’s January releases put its manufacturing report on Jan. 5 and services on Jan. 7, while the U.S. Labor Department is scheduled to publish the Dec. employment report on Jan. 9; the next Federal Reserve policy meeting is set for Jan. 27-28.
Vertiv’s next company-specific catalyst is its quarterly report. The company has not confirmed a date, but MarketBeat’s earnings calendar estimates results on Feb. 11, before the market opens.
