ABB draws record orders on booming demand from AI data centres and US
Orders in the United States, the company's biggest market, jumped 37 per cent in the second quarter, outpacing a 14 per cent rise in the group's orders overall, ABB said.
Its shares were indicated 3.1 per cent higher in premarket activity on the Zurich stock exchange as ABB also said it expected further revenue growth in the third quarter.
ABB said its orders for products for data centres increased in the double-digit percentage range during the quarter. They are being built to provide data storage and computational resources used for artificial intelligence, the company said.
U.S. companies announced a series of big-ticket AI and energy investment pledges earlier this week, part of a push by President Donald Trump to maintain the country's edge in the booming technology sector.
The demand put ABB in a good position for the rest of the year, said CEO Morten Wierod, despite ongoing uncertainties linked to rising tariffs.
"ABB delivered an all-time-high order intake and improved operational performance," he said in a statement, adding that the current market environment was "robust."
"We are on a good path towards a new record year," he added, pointing towards higher sales and profitability at the company, despite geopolitical uncertainties.
For the three months to the end of June, ABB reported a 9 per cent rise in core operating income to $1.71 billion, beating analyst forecasts of $1.65 billion.
Net income of $1.15 billion was better than the $1.12 billion expected by analysts in a company-supplied consensus. Revenue rose 8 per cent to $8.90 billion, ahead of forecasts for $8.72 billion.
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