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Vertiv Holdings (VRT, Financials) shares jumped as much as 21% to an intraday high of $88.93 on Wednesday after the company reported a blowout first quarter, lifted by surging demand for artificial intelligence infrastructure.
The Ohio-based digital infrastructure firm said first-quarter net sales rose 24% from a year earlier to $2.04 billion, driven by strong order volumes and organic growth. Adjusted earnings per share climbed to $0.64, up nearly 49% from the prior-year period and beating analyst expectations of $0.61.
Vertiv also raised its full-year 2025 revenue outlook to between $9.33 billion and $9.58 billion, above the $9.18 billion analysts were projecting. The updated forecast reflects continued strength in the data center segment, where AI deployments are rapidly expanding.
CEO Giordano Albertazzi said the momentum was being fueled by accelerated scaling of AI deployments, pointing to the company's work on advanced cooling systems and power infrastructure tailored for high-density computing. Vertiv also highlighted its role in supporting Nvidia's GB200 and GB300 platforms through customized infrastructure, positioning itself as a key player in the next wave of AI growth.
Product orders in the first quarter jumped 21% sequentially, pushing Vertiv's book-to-bill ratio to 1.4x. The company's backlog hit $7.9 billion, up 10% from the end of 2024 and 25% higher than a year ago.
Adjusted operating profit rose 35% to $337 million, while net income reached $164.5 million compared with a loss of $5.9 million in the same quarter last year. Free cash flow surged to $265 million.
Vertiv reaffirmed its full-year guidance for adjusted EPS and cash flow while increasing its second-quarter revenue projection to between $2.33 billion and $2.38 billion.
The results arrive amid broader concerns that AI infrastructure demand could be overhyped. But Wednesday's rally suggested investors are still hungry for companies offering real, scalable solutions to power the AI boom.
This article first appeared on GuruFocus.