GE Vernova jumps after Q2 earnings beat, as CEO hails firm’s role in the AI capex supercycle
Its nearly 240% gain over the last year is a supercharged part of the AI data center trade.
GE Vernova jumped in premarket trading Wednesday after the energy equipment giant posted better-than-expected Q2 results.
The supplier of gas turbines to the energy sector — one of three companies formed when General Electric completed its split-up last year — reported earnings per share of $1.86 compared to consensus expectations of $1.67, per analysts polled by Bloomberg. Sales also overachieved at $9.1 billion compared to forecasts for $8.8 billion.
Management upped its guidance for adjusted EBITDA and free cash flow for the full year.
“We are at the beginning of an investment supercycle into more reliable baseload power, grid infrastructure, and decarbonization solutions,” CEO Scott Strazik said. “Our near-term results are improving, but more importantly, our long-term potential is accelerating faster.”
It’s likely that some had even higher hopes, as the stock’s remarkable rise of roughly 240% in the 12 months that ended Tuesday has pushed its price-to-forward-earnings ratio to a multiple of more than 57x.
A few years back, it would have been difficult to imagine market sentiment toward this aging industrial giant — its roots go back to the old GE’s Power Systems division — would be so ebullient. (As an industrial conglomerate, GE sported an average forward P/E of less than 15x for most of the decade before the company was split up.)
But GE Vernova is clearly catching a bid from its proximity to the superhot AI power trade, capitalizing on the scramble to provide juice for the investment boom in the data centers that could provide computing power for the artificial intelligence revolution. Similar dynamics have also driven up Vistra (up 150% over the last 12 months), NRG (up 109%) and Constellation Energy (up 70%).
