
ABB posts record orders on booming US and data centre demand
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.
Chief Executive Morten Wierod said the increase was driven by one big order and customers investing in automation and electrification, and was not due to pre-ordering to avoid the fallout of higher tariffs imposed by the United States.
"Demand for electricity is going up quickly," Wierod told reporters. "That is being used by data centres, but also a lot of other industries are increasing their electricity consumption."
ABB makes around 80 per cent of its products sold in the United States locally, which protects it against tariffs, Wierod said.
"There is no point pre-buying because we will not be hit by tariffs," he added.
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.
The company's stock was up 7 per cent in mid-morning trading in Zurich.
Only ABB's robotics business was affected by the current trade uncertainty as automotive customers held off on investments while they waited to find out the final level of import duties.
But the company's data centre business continued to do well, posting an increase in orders in the range of 10-20 per cent during the quarter, with strong demand expected to continue.
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.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Business Times
12 hours ago
- Business Times
HSBC renews hunt for board chairman amid struggle to fill shortlist: FT
HSBC is refreshing its search for a new board chairman, the Financial Times reported on Saturday (Jul 19). The development came after the bank could not find enough satisfactory candidates for a final shortlist. The London-headquartered lender has been seeking a replacement for Mark Tucker, who announced earlier this year that he will stand down by the end of 2025. Tucker has presided over a turbulent tenure marked by multiple changes of the chief executive, a clash with one of the bank's largest shareholders and a public slap-down from the US government. HSBC stepped up its efforts to find a successor after Tucker surprised fellow board members with an announcement that he would leave the bank in September to take on a non-executive chairman role at AIA, Bloomberg previously reported. A spokesperson for the bank said that the process to appoint a new chairman is underway and that Brendan Nelson, the head of HSBC's audit committee, will be interim chairman from Oct 1. The bank has struggled to develop a shortlist of successors after considering more than 100 people for the role, the FT reported, citing unidentified sources. HSBC has mulled tapping executives such as Zurich Insurance Group CEO Mario Greco, Goldman Sachs executives Kevin Sneader and Richard Gnodde, as well as Bruce Carnegie-Brown, former chair of the Lloyd's of London insurance market, the newspaper reported. Some of the potential candidates were unavailable, while others declined when approached, according to the FT. A spokesperson for Zurich told the FT that Greco was approached by a headhunter and had declined because he was committed to Zurich. BLOOMBERG
Business Times
15 hours ago
- Business Times
HSBC renews hunt for board chair amid struggle to fill shortlist: FT
HSBC is refreshing its search for a new board chairman, the Financial Times reported on Saturday (Jul 19). The development came after the bank could not find enough satisfactory candidates for a final shortlist. The London-headquartered lender has been seeking a replacement for Mark Tucker, who announced earlier this year that he will stand down by the end of 2025. Tucker has presided over a turbulent tenure marked by multiple changes of the chief executive, a clash with one of the bank's largest shareholders and a public slap-down from the US government. HSBC stepped up its efforts to find a successor after Tucker surprised fellow board members with an announcement that he would leave the bank in September to take on a non-executive chairman role at AIA, Bloomberg previously reported. A spokesperson for the bank said in an e-mailed statement that the process to appoint a new chairman is underway and that Brendan Nelson, the head of HSBC's audit committee, will be interim chairman from Oct 1. The bank has struggled to develop a shortlist of successors after considering more than 100 people for the role, the FT reported, citing unidentified sources. HSBC has mulled tapping executives such as Zurich Insurance Group CEO Mario Greco, Goldman Sachs executives Kevin Sneader and Richard Gnodde, as well as Bruce Carnegie-Brown, former chair of the Lloyd's of London insurance market, the newspaper reported. Some of the potential candidates were unavailable, while others declined when approached, according to the FT. A spokesperson for Zurich told the FT that Greco was approached by a headhunter and had declined because he was committed to Zurich. BLOOMBERG


CNA
2 days ago
- CNA
Cryptocurrency firm Bullish files for US IPO
Cryptocurrency firm Bullish on Friday filed for an initial public offering in the United States. Uncertainty surrounding President Donald Trump's tariff policies slowed down the IPO market amid heightened volatility, but sentiment is shifting as new listings gain traction. Bullish is expected to list on the NYSE under the symbol "BLSH".