Electrical engineering: ABB books record orders thanks to data center boom

Zurich. Thanks to the boom in artificial intelligence (AI), business at the electrical engineering group ABB is booming.

Driven by demand for data center equipment, the Swiss company posted record order intake in the third quarter, ABB announced on Tuesday.

At the same time, Siemens' rival announced a new joint venture with the Japanese Mitsubishi Electric. However, ABB shares came under pressure on the stock market due to doubts about the sustainability of the global AI boom and a profit that fell short of expectations.

From July to September, ABB's order intake climbed 40 percent to $12.1 billion.

In the most profitable division, electrification, which supplies equipment to power data centers, orders shot up 70 percent.

There was a three-digit increase in the data center segment itself. “Data centers were outstanding,” explained CEO Morten Wierod.

There are no signs of declining demand or customer reluctance to invest.

Group-wide sales rose 14 percent to $9.7 billion, while operating profit margin (Ebita) improved to 20.8 percent.

ABB raised its annual outlook slightly and is now targeting comparable sales growth in the low double-digit percentage range.