Investing.com – Schneider Electric raised its financial targets for 2026 on Friday. Previously, third-quarter revenue had grown organically by 16.9%—significantly more than the 13.8% forecast by analysts. The main driver behind this was the rapidly growing demand for data center equipment, which pushed revenue to a record high of 11.46 billion euros.
Revenue exceeded analysts’ consensus estimate of 11.13 billion euros and climbed 17.9% on a reported basis—a historic high for a single quarter.
CEO Olivier Blum explained that demand from the data center sector had expanded at triple-digit growth rates in the past quarter and offered “increasing visibility into 2027 and 2028.” Robust demand across all four end markets also led to a new record order backlog at the end of the quarter.
The Energy Management segment posted organic growth of 18.8% (expectation: 15.1%), driven primarily by the data center market. Segment revenue of 9.62 billion euros significantly exceeded estimates of 9.30 billion euros.
The Industrial Automation segment grew organically by 8.1%, slightly exceeding the forecast of 7.7%; revenue totaled 1.85 billion euros compared to the expected 1.83 billion euros. In Process and Hybrid Automation, revenue declined overall due to the ongoing weakness in China.
Growth was led by China and East Asia, with an increase of 26.1%. Energy Management recorded a 32.4% increase there, as investments in AI infrastructure benefited several sub-segments simultaneously.
In North America, where 40% of the Group’s revenue is generated, growth stood at 19.9%. The Energy Management division posted a 20.3% increase there, thanks to strong demand for U.S. data centers. Europe grew by 8.6%, while South Asia and the International region grew by 13.2%.
The product business, which accounts for 48% of total volume, posted organic growth of 17%, driven primarily by higher sales volumes as the price increases implemented at the beginning of the year now took full effect. The systems business grew by 22%, supported by pre-built solutions and cooling systems for data centers. The software and services segment grew by 7%.
After nine months, revenue totaled 32.69 billion euros, representing an organic increase of 15.0%.
Currency effects contributed 114 million euros to revenue, mainly due to the appreciation of the Chinese yuan and the U.S. dollar against the euro. For 2026, Schneider Electric expects, based on current exchange rates, a currency-related revenue reduction of 300 to 400 million euros, as well as a negative impact from portfolio adjustments (acquisitions and divestitures) of approximately 50 million euros. Both factors are expected to have essentially no impact on the adjusted EBITA margin.
On October 5, Schneider Electric announced that it PTC Inc to acquire PTC Inc. for $205 per share in cash, valuing PTC Inc.’s equity at approximately $22.6 billion. The transaction is expected to close by the third quarter of 2027. The Group anticipates cost synergies of 250 million euros and additional revenue of approximately 800 million euros by the third year.
On September 24, Schneider Electric had already agreed to acquire Shelly Group for approximately 1.2 billion euros in cash; the transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2027.