Key points
- Vertiv shares jumped 5.4% Thursday after adjusted first-quarter earnings of $1.17 per share, beating Wall Street estimates of $1.00.
- Quarterly revenue reached $2.65 billion, representing a 30.1% increase year over year and exceeding expectations of $2.63 billion.
- The company boosted its full-year 2026 EPS forecast to a range of $6.30 to $6.40.
- Five major Wall Street firms, including Morgan Stanley, Oppenheimer, TD Coin, RBC and Citi, raised their price targets after earnings.
- Company insiders offloaded approximately 489,761 shares worth approximately $123 million over the trailing three-month period, while institutional holdings remained close to 90%.
Shares of Vertiv Holdings rose 5.4% during Thursday’s session, settling at $321.60 after reaching an intraday peak of $325.25. The stock closed on Wednesday at $305.14.
Bullish momentum followed Vertif Release first-quarter adjusted earnings of $1.17 per share, comfortably beating analysts’ expectations of $1.00. Total quarterly sales were $2.65 billion, reflecting a 30.1% year-over-year expansion.
Notably, shares had actually fallen 2.3% during the previous session — the day of the actual earnings announcement — as the company’s Q2 forecasts fell short of the Street’s high expectations prior to the release.
Management expects second-quarter EPS to be between $1.37 and $1.43, while raising its full-year 2026 forecast to $6.30 and $6.40. Both forecasts were marginally lower than what some analysts expected.
The next day’s rise stemmed primarily from bullish analyst comments. Several prominent companies raised their price targets after reviewing quarterly performance.
Wall Street firms boost price targets
Morgan Stanley Christopher Snyder increased his price target to $350 from $285 while maintaining his buy recommendation. He stressed that the continued demand momentum showed that the strength of the fourth quarter was not an anomaly, adding that the financial model remains positioned for upward revisions despite the increased guidance.
Oppenheimer analyst Noah Kay raised his target to $330 from $320, reiterating his buy stance. He stressed that deferred revenue patterns indicate strong order activity and pipeline expansion, creating opportunities to increase additional guidance throughout the year.
TD Cowen’s Michael Elias raised his target to $347 from $269, while maintaining a buy rating. He noted the strong momentum for US data center leasing and suggested that record orders could be achieved as soon as the second quarter of 2026.
RBC Capital Markets raised its target from $344 to $356 with an outperform rating. Citi analysts increased their target from $340 to $353 and also rated the stock a buy.
Jefferies represents the contrarian view – the company maintained its Hold recommendation while actually lowering its target to $260 from $280.
Collectively, Wall Street maintains a Strong Buy consensus rating, with 17 Buy recommendations compared to just one Hold. The average analyst price target is $330, suggesting limited upside from current levels following VRT’s impressive 99% year-to-date rally.
Prominent insider divestment activity
While major institutional investors have been accumulating shares — Vanguard, State Street, Geode, and Invesco all expanded their positions over the last quarter — company insiders have been actively reducing their stakes.
Over the trailing three-month period, insiders disposed of approximately 489,761 shares for a total value of approximately $123 million. Director Steven Reinmond divested 65,000 shares at about $254 per share in February, reducing his ownership stake by about 49%. Director Jan van Dokkum sold 38,647 shares at $254.87 per share, reducing his position by more than 60%.
Institutional investors collectively control approximately 89.9% of the outstanding shares.
Vertiv also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.0625 per share, which was paid on March 26. The annual dividend yield is currently 0.1%.
The stock trades at a price-to-earnings ratio of 94.31 and shows a beta of 2.04, indicating its superior valuation and increased volatility compared to the overall market.
