The French electrical-equipment maker posted record quarterly revenue of 11.46 billion euros, up 16.9% on an organic basis, and lifted its 2026 profit-growth goal for the second time this year. Data-center demand more than doubled. China and East Asia grew fastest, but North America still supplied the largest share of the increase.
Schneider Electric offered the AI power trade fresh evidence of demand on Friday, though its shares, up about 2% at the Paris open, quickly turned lower. It also offered a reminder that the buildout is not only an American story.
The Paris-listed maker of electrical and energy-management equipment reported third-quarter revenue of €11.46 billion, up 16.9% on an organic basis and 17.9% as reported, a record for the company. That was about 3% above the €11.13 billion consensus compiled by the company.
Schneider raised its full-year targets for the second time in 2026. It now expects adjusted EBITA to grow 18% to 21% organically, up from 14% to 19%, and organic revenue to rise 12% to 14%, up from 10% to 13%.
Data centers led
The data-center business was the standout. Chief Executive Olivier Blum said data centers "remained a key growth driver as we continue to execute on our backlog while seeing triple-digit demand growth in the quarter." He added that demand was healthy across all four of the company's end markets, "supporting another record backlog."
The company's chief financial officer called it the strongest quarter in Schneider's history.
By division, Energy Management grew 19% organically and Industrial Automation 8%, a sign that the data-center boom is concentrated in the power side of the business.
The regional surprise
The geography is where the quarter departs from the usual narrative. Organic growth in China and East Asia was 26%. North America, home to the hyperscale cloud companies that dominate AI spending headlines, grew 20%. Both are strong, and the faster rate came from Asia. But North America accounts for about 40% of sales, against about 19% for China and East Asia, so it still supplied the largest share of the increase: roughly 46% of organic growth against about 26%, by this publication's estimate from the company's figures. The company said data-center demand was led by North America.
That matters for how investors read Schneider as a proxy. A U.S.-only view of the AI buildout would miss that about a quarter of Schneider's growth came from China and East Asia, where the customers are not American hyperscalers.
The peer tension
The results land a day after U.S. power and cooling equipment maker Vertiv fell 3.6% as Mizuho cut its price target, extending a 6.1% drop the session before. Schneider's numbers point in the opposite direction from that caution, at least for demand. Whether that translates into support for U.S. peers depends on whether the orders Schneider is seeing are flowing to the same customers.
Market implications
One reading is that AI power demand is still accelerating. Triple-digit data-center demand growth, a record backlog and a second guidance raise are evidence that orders for electrical equipment remain strong despite this week's worries about AI financing.
A second reading is that the composition deserves scrutiny. Growth was fastest in China and East Asia, where demand comes from different customers than U.S. hyperscalers, Industrial Automation grew at less than half the pace of Energy Management, and a backlog built in a boom can shrink if customers' financing tightens.
What to watch
Whether Schneider's shares recover from their early reversal in Paris, guidance from U.S. electrical-equipment makers reporting later this month, and whether the regional mix holds in the fourth quarter. A slowdown in either North America or China and East Asia would test the raised targets.