Dive Brief:
- Siemens AG raised its 2026 outlook following a first quarter that beat expectations and was powered by the artificial intelligence and data center boom in the United States.
- “We now expect to reach the upper half of our revenue growth guidance of 6% to 8%,” Siemens CFO Ralf Thomas said on an earnings call Thursday. The industrial technology provider also raised its earnings per share guidance by 20 euro cents.
- During the quarter, which ended Dec. 31, Siemens saw orders increase 10% across its three divisions to 21.4 billion euros ($21.5 billion) over last year, led by record-high growth in smart infrastructure. Thomas said this came in part from U.S. orders, which surged 54% over last year due to strong data center and building software demand.
Dive Insight:
Customers such as Boeing, General Motors, Microsoft and Apple, rely on Siemens’ software and technology for industrial purposes. The Germany-based technology provider is also partnering with Nvidia to usher in AI-driven manufacturing that uses digital twin and complex simulation technologies.
“We are building the industrial AI operating system throughout the entire value chain, from design and engineering to manufacturing operations and into supply chain,” Roland Busch, president and CEO of Siemens, said on an earnings call Thursday.
Quarterly revenue grew 4% to 19.1 billion euros ($22.7 billion) from a year ago. Net income came in at 2.2 billion euros ($2.6 billion). This was roughly half of what Siemens made in the same period last year, when the company posted a big gain from the sale of electric motor and drive system supplier Innomotics for 3.5 billion euros.
Digital industries, Siemens’ industrial automation and technology arm, achieved double-digit growth in orders and revenue despite market softness. The company’s mobility segment, which accounts for train and road technology, also saw growth in orders and revenue from a year ago.
But data center orders were a standout in the quarter. Siemens grew the segment’s revenue by 35%, with several large orders coming from the U.S. to build out cloud and AI infrastructure, Busch said.
“Data centers demand has materially exceeded our expectations,” he said.
More recently, Siemens divested its U.S.-based airport logistics business to Vanderlande for 300 million euros ($355.9 million). The company also secured a contract to deliver more than 200 automated trains for the S-Bane network in Copenhagen.
