What Did Vertiv Say Before Its Stock Took Off?
Vertiv (VRT) stock returned 79% in the twelve months that began on September 24, 2025. A $10,000 holding at the start of that window was worth about $17,900 at the end. The run came as Vertiv’s data center sales kept growing, at prices rising faster than its costs. So did Vertiv say any of this before its stock took off?
Vertiv’s Orders Grew Faster Than Sales In 2024
Vertiv did, and it started with orders on its call of October 23, 2024. Management said orders had grown 37% over the past 12 months. Revenue in the third quarter of 2024 alone grew a slower 19.0% from a year earlier.
Orders are sales booked but not yet delivered. With orders growing far faster than sales, more work was queuing up than Vertiv was shipping. You could have seen this almost a year before the run began, because the queue pointed to faster sales ahead.
Orders only help a shareholder if Vertiv fills them at a profit, and that came down to its prices.
Would Vertiv Earn More On Each Sale In 2025?
Vertiv said it would, but its margin did not clearly show it before the run. On its February 12, 2025, call, management said it expected prices to rise faster than costs in 2025. Vertiv shares then fell 24.1% in March 2025, a drop that press coverage tied to tariff actions. On its July 30, 2025, call, management pointed to temporary costs from moving production to limit tariffs.
The same call showed orders turning into sales. Organic sales, which leave out acquisitions and currency swings, grew 34% from a year earlier.
The filed margin did not yet show prices beating costs. Reported operating margin was 16.9% in the second quarter of 2025. In the second quarter of 2024, it had been 17.1%. So the pricing evidence only looks convincing in hindsight. Less than two months after that call, Vertiv’s shares began their run.
Vertiv Far Outpaced The S&P 500 Over Twelve Months
Vertiv stock returned more than four times as much as the S&P 500, which gained 18.0% over the same twelve months. By the end, Vertiv’s revenue for the past twelve months was $11.5 billion, up from $9.1 billion a year earlier. The faster sales that orders had pointed to in 2024 had arrived.
The 79% also hides a recent slide. Vertiv shares now trade 33% below their 52-week high. They fell 16.7% in the past three months, while the S&P 500 rose 5.6%. The shares fell sharply after second-quarter 2026 sales came in below Wall Street’s expectations.
Vertiv’s shares still trade at a far higher multiple than the index. Vertiv stock trades at 56.2 times its past year’s earnings, against 22.1 for the S&P 500. The price assumes orders keep becoming sales and each sale keeps getting more profitable. If either slips, you are paying a premium for growth that is not arriving.
Vertiv’s newest call shows how much of the evidence from before the run is still there.
Is Vertiv Still Saying The Same Things Today?
On prices, Vertiv is saying the same thing, and the numbers are stronger. On its second-quarter 2026 call, management said it expects prices to beat costs again in 2026, tariffs included. Vertiv’s reported operating margin over the past twelve months was 19.4%, up from 17.4% a year earlier.
On orders, the evidence is thinner. Management said it expects another year of strong orders growth, a forecast rather than a reported figure. Turning orders into sales has also become harder. Some second-quarter revenue slipped into later periods, which management put down to multiphase projects and temporary supply chain congestion. Management would not say how much.
Vertiv guided third-quarter 2026 net sales to $3.75 billion at the midpoint, up 40% from a year earlier.
Vertiv still expects prices to beat costs, and its margin has widened. Vertiv’s ability to turn orders into delivered sales is the weaker part today. Third-quarter net sales at or above the midpoint of that guide would suggest the second-quarter slip was timing. A clear miss would show the delays run deeper than one quarter.
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