ABB lifts guidance as data centre demand fuels record orders

(Sharecast News) - Shares in Swedish-Swiss technology company ABB rose on Wednesday after first-quarter results beat market forecasts on the back of solid demand in the data centre market, helping the company to lift its 2026 outlook. The company, which reported an 18% year-on-year rise in revenues to $8.73bn, booked a record $11.30bn in orders during the period, a 32% gain on last year.

Operational EBITDA surged 37% to $2.05bn, helped by a 3.2pp improvement in EBITDA margins to 23.5%.

Results comfortably topped consensus forecasts for revenues of $8.43bn and operational EBITDA of $1.96bn.

"ABB had a strong start to the year, delivering higher business performance and record orders," said chief executive Morten Wierod.

"Supported by our high order backlog and good execution in a strong short-cycle market, we raise our growth and margin expectations for 2026, although acknowledging risks from geopolitical uncertainties."

The company said it now expects comparable top-line growth to come in at the high single-digit to low double-digit range, ahead of previous guidance of a 6-9% improvement, while operational EBITDA margins should be higher than last year./

Zurich-listed shares in ABB were up 3.7% at CHF76.96 by 1247 BST.