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Can AI Data Center Demand Drive nVent Electric's Growth in 2026?

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Key Takeaways

  • nVent Electric's sales rose 53% as data center demand drove more than double-digit infrastructure growth.
  • NVT expects 2026 data center sales to exceed $2 billion, with Blaine 2 adding liquid cooling capacity in 2027.
  • NVT raised 2026 sales growth guidance to 37-39% as AI-related data center spending accelerates.

nVent Electric (NVT - Free Report) is seeing strong demand from data centers as investments in artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure continue to increase. In the second quarter of 2026, the company's sales increased 53% year over year to $1.47 billion, while organic sales grew 47%. The infrastructure vertical led growth, with organic sales more than doubling, driven mainly by strong data center demand. nVent Electric also said data center sales are expected to exceed $2 billion in 2026, more than double the prior year.

Liquid cooling is becoming an important part of this growth. nVent Electric reported strong demand across liquid cooling, cable management and engineered buildings. The company opened its Blaine facility in Minnesota earlier this year, which doubled its liquid cooling capacity. Further, demand has continued to rise, prompting NVT to announce another facility, Blaine 2, which is expected to open in the first half of 2027. Management said strong orders, backlog and customer visibility supported the decision to add more capacity.

The company is also benefiting from rising electricity demand linked to data centers. Power utilities grew at a double-digit rate in the second quarter, with management citing data center demand and an aging power grid as key factors. NVT expects the infrastructure vertical to deliver strong double-digit growth in 2026, supported by higher AI-related data center spending and demand for power infrastructure.

Strong AI-related demand has led NVT to raise its 2026 outlook. The company now expects reported sales growth of 37-39% and organic sales growth of 32-34% compared with prior ranges of 26%-28% and 21%-23%, respectively. The above-mentioned factors show that NVT remains well-positioned to benefit from strong AI-related demand, healthy orders and new capacity, which could help the company maintain its growth momentum in 2026 and beyond.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for nVent Electric’s 2026 revenues is pegged at $5.45 billion, indicating a year-over-year increase of 39.96%.

How Do Competitors Fare Against NVT

nVent Electric faces stiff competition from other AI data center infrastructure players such as Vertiv (VRT - Free Report) and Super Micro Computer (SMCI - Free Report) .

Vertiv is also benefiting from strong AI data center spending and has a broad portfolio covering power and thermal management. VRT offers power, cooling and services as an integrated solution and is expanding its liquid-cooling capabilities through acquisitions, including Strategic Thermal Labs, which added server-side liquid cooling and cold-plate expertise. VRT expects 2026 sales of about $14 billion, up 37% year over year, with organic growth of 31%.

Super Micro Computer is another strong player in AI data-center infrastructure, with its business spanning servers, storage, networking and direct liquid cooling. Its data center building block solutions combine GPU and CPU servers, storage, direct liquid cooling, cooling distribution units, networking and data-center management software. SMCI is also expanding its liquid-cooling capacity and expects its manufacturing network to support more than 3,000 direct liquid-cooled racks per month. For fiscal 2027, the company expects revenues of $65-$72 billion.

NVT's Price Performance, Valuation & Estimates

Shares of nVent Electric have surged 60.4% year to date against the Zacks Electronics - Miscellaneous Components industry’s decline of 17.1%.

nVent Electric YTD Price Return Performance

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From a valuation standpoint, nVent Electric trades at a forward price-to-sales ratio of 4.19X, higher than the industry’s average of 3.87X. NVT has a Value Score of D.

NVT Forward 12-Month P/S Ratio

Zacks Investment Research
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The Zacks Consensus Estimate for nVent Electric’s 2026 and 2027 earnings per share (EPS) implies year-over-year growth of 53.1% and 24.5%, respectively. EPS estimates for 2026 and 2027 have remained unchanged over the past 30 days.

Zacks Investment Research
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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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