This data center firm just gave fresh hope for the AI trade — and its stock is soaring
Vertiv jumped over 13% on Wednesday after a stellar earnings report.
The AI data center company cited strong demand for its earnings beat.
AI investing has wavered this year amid rising competition.
The move: Vertiv Holdings rose as much as 21% on Wednesday, hitting an intraday high of $8893 per share. The stock is down 29% year-to-date.
The chart:
Why: The data center firm impressed investors with better-than-expected earnings, rousing hope that artificial intelligence demand is still intact.
Vertiv was among the top AI trades of 2024, supplying data centers with equipment to keep AI chips from overheating.
"We continue to see accelerated scaling of AI deployments across the data center market, with strong demand signals reinforcing both our near- and long-term growth outlook," Giordano Albertazzi, Vertiv's chief executive, said in a statement.
Reporting a 21% jump in product orders since the fourth quarter, Vertiv lifted its midpoint 2025 revenue forecast to a range of $9.33 billion to $9.58 billion, beating estimates of $9.18 billion. It also lifted its second-quarter revenue outlook above consensus.
First-quarter net sales reached $2.04, a 24% jump from the same period last year. Adjusted earnings-per-share reached $0.64, outpacing $0.61 estimates.
What it means: Vertiv's estimate-beating report could help revive some enthusiasm for the stock market's AI trade, which has buckled in 2025.
In recent months, worries have grown that the data center buildout is becoming excessive. Meanwhile, serious AI competition from China has hampered confidence in US chipmakers and AI hyperscalers.
Despite the challenged environment, Vertiv cited "heightened demand" and noted close project collaboration with Nvidia, the dominant AI chip firm.

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
27 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Nvidia insiders sold over $1 billion in stock amid market surge, FT reports
(Reuters) -Nvidia insiders sold over $1 billion worth of company stock in the past year, with a notable uptick in recent trading activity as executives capitalize on surging investor interest in artificial intelligence, the Financial Times reported on Sunday. More than $500 million of the share sales took place this month as the California-based chips designer's share price climbed to an all-time high, the report said. Jensen Huang, Nvidia's chief executive, started selling shares this week for the first time since September, the SEC filing showed. Nvidia's stock hit a record on Wednesday, and the chipmaker reclaimed the crown as the world's most valuable company after an analyst said the chipmaker was set to ride a "Golden Wave" of artificial intelligence. Its latest gains reflect the U.S. stock market's return to the "AI trade" that fueled massive gains in chip stocks and related technology companies in recent years on optimism about the emerging technology. Nvidia did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. Nvidia's shares have rebounded over 60% from their closing low on April 4, when Wall Street was reeling from President Donald Trump's global tariff announcements. U.S. stocks, including Nvidia, have recovered on expectations the White House will reach trade deals to soften the tariffs. Melden Sie sich an, um Ihr Portfolio aufzurufen.


Axios
an hour ago
- Axios
Senate ekes out late-night win on Trump's "big, beautiful bill"
Senate Republicans voted 51-49 late Saturday to move forward with President Trump's " big, beautiful bill" — clearing a significant hurdle and setting up a lengthy weekend to pass the legislation. Why it matters: After days of heated debate and complaints, Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) is barreling forward to get Trump's priorities on taxes, the debt ceiling, border security and military funding passed by July 4. All Republicans but Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) ultimately voted yes, making the final tally 51-49. But GOP holdouts — notably Sens. Ron Johnson (Wisc.), Mike Lee (Utah), Rick Scott (Fla.) and Cynthia Lummis (Wyo.) — forced the vote to remain open for more than three hours while they negotiated with party leaders, including Vice President JD Vance. Johnson told reporters on Saturday that holdouts were promised a vote on an amendment that would reduce the federal matching share for some new Medicaid enrollees. Scott has been pushing the approach. What to watch: Democrats are forcing the entire 940-page bill to be read on the floor, a process that could take well over 10 hours. Hours of debate, followed by a series of unlimited amendment votes, known as a vote-a-rama, will happen before final passage can take place. Zoom in: Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) plans to offer an amendment to strike a temporary pause on states passing AI regulations. It is likely to be adopted, given that other Republicans, including Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), also are unhappy with the measure. Lee, as the vote was ongoing, announced he would withdraw his plan to sell off public lands to private housing developers. Several other GOP senators, including Sens. Steve Daines (R-Mont.) and Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), opposed Lee's provision. Between the lines: Trump ramped up pressure on Republicans on Saturday morning, circulating a statement of administration policy urging the bill's passage. "President Trump is committed to keeping his promises, and failure to pass this bill would be the ultimate betrayal," the statement read. Senators have been receiving phone calls, lunching and golfing with the president this weekend. The big picture: The new text would delay implementation of a reduced Medicaid provider tax in expansion states. It includes a compromise with the House to raise the cap on the state and local tax deduction to $40,000 for five years before reverting to the current $10,000 cap. It would create a $25 billion rural hospital fund, bumped up from $15 billion, an attempt to assuage concerns from some Republicans that bill's Medicaid cuts would devastate rural health providers.

Associated Press
an hour ago
- Associated Press
China's humanoid robots generate more soccer excitement than their human counterparts
BEIJING (AP) — While China's men's soccer team hasn't generated much excitement in recent years, humanoid robot teams have won over fans in Beijing based more on the AI technology involved than any athletic prowess shown. Four teams of humanoid robots faced off in fully autonomous 3-on-3 soccer matches powered entirely by artificial intelligence on Saturday night in China's capital in what was touted as a first in China and a preview for the upcoming World Humanoid Robot Games, set to take place in Beijing. According to the organizers, a key aspect of the match was that all the participating robots operated fully autonomously using AI-driven strategies without any human intervention or supervision. Equipped with advanced visual sensors, the robots were able to identify the ball and navigate the field with agility They were also designed to stand up on their own after falling. However, during the match several still had to be carried off the field on stretchers by staff, adding to the realism of the experience. China is stepping up efforts to develop AI-powered humanoid robots, using sports competitions like marathons, boxing, and football as a real-world proving ground. Cheng Hao, founder and CEO of Booster Robotics, the company that supplied the robot players, said sports competitions offer the ideal testing ground for humanoid robots, helping to accelerate the development of both algorithms and integrated hardware-software systems. He also emphasized safety as a core concern in the application of humanoid robots. 'In the future, we may arrange for robots to play football with humans. That means we must ensure the robots are completely safe,' Cheng said. 'For example, a robot and a human could play a match where winning doesn't matter, but real offensive and defensive interactions take place. That would help audiences build trust and understand that robots are safe.' Booster Robotics provided the hardware for all four university teams, while each school's research team developed and embedded their own algorithms for perception, decision-making, player formations, and passing strategies—including variables such as speed, force, and direction, according to Cheng. In the final match, Tsinghua University's THU Robotics defeated the China Agricultural University's Mountain Sea team with a score of 5–3 to win the championship. Mr. Wu, a supporter of Tsinghua, celebrated their victory while also praising the competition. 'They (THU) did really well,' he said. 'But the Mountain Sea team (of Agricultural University) was also impressive. They brought a lot of surprises.' China's men have made only one World Cup appearance and have already been knocked out of next years' competition in Canada, Mexico and the United States.