Vertiv (VRT) Stock Slides After Revenue Forecast Fails to Impress Wall Street

TLDR

• Vertiv posted Q1 adjusted EPS of $1.17, beating the $1.00 consensus by $0.17
• Revenue hit $2.65 billion, up 30% year-over-year, edging past estimates
• Full-year revenue guidance midpoint of $13.75 billion came in below Wall Street’s $13.7 billion consensus
• Full-year adjusted EPS guidance raised to $6.30–$6.40, well above the $6.16 consensus
• Stock dropped over 5% in pre-market trading despite the earnings beat

Vertiv Holdings (VRT) delivered a strong first quarter on paper, but the market wasn’t impressed. The stock fell more than 5% in pre-market trading on Wednesday after the company’s full-year revenue outlook landed below what analysts were hoping for.

Vertiv Holdings Co, VRT

Q1 adjusted EPS came in at $1.17, beating the $1.00 consensus by $0.17. Revenue reached $2.65 billion, up 30% from $2.04 billion in Q1 2025, and nudged past the $2.63 billion estimate.

The Americas region was the clear standout, posting organic sales growth of 44%, driven by strong data center demand.

Adjusted operating margin expanded 430 basis points to 20.8%. Adjusted free cash flow jumped 147% year-over-year to $653 million.

Revenue Guidance Disappoints

Despite the strong quarter, Vertiv’s full-year revenue guidance is where things got tricky. The company guided for fiscal 2026 revenue of $13.5 billion to $14 billion — a midpoint of $13.75 billion that sits just above the $13.7 billion analyst consensus, though some reports suggest it fell short of certain expectations on Wall Street.

On the earnings side, Vertiv raised its full-year adjusted EPS guidance to $6.30–$6.40, with a midpoint of $6.35 — well ahead of the $6.16 consensus. That’s a meaningful raise, but the revenue picture overshadowed it.

For Q2, the company sees revenue of $3.25 billion to $3.45 billion and adjusted EPS of $1.37 to $1.43, implying year-over-year EPS growth of 44% to 51% at the midpoint.

Analyst and Insider Activity

The analyst community remains broadly supportive. BNP Paribas Exane initiated coverage in April with an “outperform” rating and a $345 price target. Barclays raised its target to $300 with an “overweight” rating. Of 26 analysts covering the stock, 21 rate it a Buy, four a Hold, and one a Sell.

Zacks did lower its rating from “strong-buy” to “hold” earlier this month, and Wall Street Zen made a similar move in March.

On the insider front, Director Edward Monser sold 77,294 shares in early March at an average of $245.49, cutting his position by over 82%. Chairman David Cote sold 40,000 shares in late February at $255.29. Insiders have sold nearly 490,000 shares worth over $123 million in the past quarter.

Institutional investors hold around 89.92% of the stock. VRT opened Wednesday at $311.77, with a 12-month range of $69.00 to $323.04.

The post Vertiv (VRT) Stock Slides After Revenue Forecast Fails to Impress Wall Street appeared first on CoinCentral.