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Can AI Data Center Demand Accelerate nVent Electric's Revenue Growth?

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Key Takeaways

  • NVT delivered 34% organic sales growth in Q1, led by nearly 80% growth in infrastructure sales.
  • Data center demand drove a 40% rise in organic orders and lifted backlog to a record $2.6B.
  • nVent is expanding capacity for liquid cooling and data center products to support future growth.

nVent Electric (NVT - Free Report) is benefiting from strong demand for data center infrastructure, which is becoming a major driver of its revenue growth. In the first quarter of 2026, the company reported organic sales growth of 34%, with infrastructure sales rising nearly 80% year over year. Management said data centers were the biggest contributor to growth, helping the company deliver record sales, orders and backlog.

The company is seeing demand across both gray-space and white-space data center applications. In the gray space, growth was driven by engineered buildings, enclosures and power connections. In the white space, liquid cooling, power distribution units and cable management solutions performed well. Management noted that growth was broad-based across the portfolio and supported by demand from hyperscalers, neocloud providers, multitenant operators and distribution partners.

nVent's order trends also remain strong. Organic orders increased about 40% in the first quarter, largely driven by AI data center projects. Backlog reached a record $2.6 billion, rising in the low-double digits sequentially. The company stated that most of its backlog extends beyond 12 months and into 2027, providing visibility into future revenues. Further, in the first quarter, new products added more than 20 percentage points to sales growth, with many of those products tied to data center applications.

To support demand, nVent is increasing capacity across its operations, which should help the company generate more revenue once fully ramped up. The company recently opened its new Blaine, MN, facility and expects production to ramp through 2026. It is also investing in additional capacity for liquid cooling and other data center products.

Overall, the above-mentioned factors show that data center demand is likely to remain an important revenue growth driver for the company. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for nVent Electric’s 2026 revenues is pegged at $4.98 billion, indicating a year-over-year increase of 27.9%.

How Do Competitors Fare Against NVT

nVent Electric competes with companies like Vertiv (VRT - Free Report) and Hubbell (HUBB - Free Report) in the electrical and data center markets.

In April 2026, Vertiv completed the acquisition of Strategic Thermal Labs to expand its engineering capabilities in liquid cooling for AI and high-performance computing (HPC) infrastructure. These capabilities are expected to help Vertiv improve the design, testing and performance of liquid-cooled infrastructure. The acquisition is expected to support Vertiv’s broader strategy of helping customers manage increasingly complex AI and HPC infrastructure by combining power, cooling, controls and lifecycle services into an integrated offering.

In May 2026, Hubbell announced that it had entered into an agreement to acquire NSI Industries for $3.0 billion in cash. The acquisition is expected to strengthen Hubbell’s offerings in areas such as light industrial, data center and network infrastructure applications. Here, electrification trends are expected to support Hubbell's growth across the electrical industry, and the acquisition will help Hubbell expand its portfolio of infrastructure-related products for its electrical and utility customers.

NVT's Price Performance, Valuation & Estimates

Shares of nVent Electric have skyrocketed 70.6% year to date against the Zacks Electronics - Miscellaneous Components industry’s decline of 4.4%.

nVent Electric YTD Price Return Performance

Zacks Investment Research
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

From a valuation standpoint, nVent Electric trades at a forward price-to-sales ratio of 5.26X, higher than the industry’s average of 4.86X.

NVT Forward 12-Month P/S Ratio

Zacks Investment Research
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for nVent Electric’s 2026 and 2027 earnings per share (EPS) implies year-over-year growth of 35.8% and 22.3%, respectively. EPS estimates for both 2025 and 2026 have been revised upward by 4.4% and 6.9%, respectively, over the past 30 days.

Zacks Investment Research
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

nVent Electric currently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

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