Vertiv (NYSE:VRT) is seeing faster growth in its global project pipeline as demand for artificial intelligence and traditional cloud computing continues to expand, CEO Gio Albertazzi said during a discussion with Baird analyst Luke Junk.
Albertazzi said demand is coming from enterprises, hyperscale cloud providers and AI labs. He described the underlying trend as resilient, while acknowledging that factors such as power availability can affect the pace of data center deployment.
“The speed of growth of our pipeline has increased, and the pipeline itself has increased,” Albertazzi said, adding that the trend extends beyond North America.
Power and the UIG acquisition
Albertazzi said Vertiv’s recently closed acquisition of UtilityInnovation Group, or UIG, gives the company technology to help coordinate on-site power generation with the electric grid. He said the technology can support data centers seeking greater independence from the grid, as well as facilities that play a more active role in supporting it.
Because land and power are among the first considerations in planning a data center, Albertazzi said UIG can give Vertiv earlier visibility into projects. He also described the business as an extension of Vertiv’s power offering that can increase its potential revenue per megawatt.
On emerging 800-volt direct-current power systems, Albertazzi said Vertiv continues to expect hybrid systems known as sidecars to begin appearing in the second half of 2027. He expects fully native, end-to-end 800-volt DC systems to start appearing in the second half of 2028.
He cautioned that the market will not move entirely to the new architecture. A colocation facility requiring long-term flexibility may retain a more traditional design, while a dedicated AI facility could adopt an end-to-end 800-volt DC system, he said.
CFO Craig Chamberlin said Vertiv evaluates both internal development and acquisitions when expanding its capabilities. He cited UIG as an example of an acquisition that accelerated work the company had already begun in microgrids, and said Vertiv is taking a similar approach to opportunities around 800-volt infrastructure.
Scaling manufacturing and cooling
Executives also discussed efforts to improve execution in Vertiv’s business manufacturing data center modules and entire data centers. Albertazzi said moving work from construction sites into factories reduces complexity in the field, but requires more complex internal processes.
Chamberlin said Vertiv has worked to add capacity, inventory buffers and better communication between sites to manage the multiple components that go into large projects. He said additional capacity also allowed the company to serve more customers in its product business, contributing to its performance above expectations.
As Vertiv scales, Chamberlin said the company must balance timely delivery, product quality and manufacturing efficiency. Albertazzi said he closely follows a measure of how products perform when first commissioned in the field, with feedback sent to factories to address issues rapidly.
In cooling, Albertazzi said liquid cooling is becoming more widely adopted as computing density rises, though air cooling remains important. He said customers need to consider liquid cooling, air cooling and heat rejection as a system, and argued that technology, scale and service capabilities make the market difficult for new entrants.
Albertazzi also characterized a potential shift from single-phase to two-phase liquid cooling as an evolution rather than a disruption. He said it remains unclear exactly when and where two-phase systems will be adopted.
Pricing and inflation
Chamberlin said Vertiv incorporates expected commodity costs and inflation into customer quotes to protect margins. He said the company does not believe it is losing market share and is not necessarily seeing evidence of customer fatigue with pricing.
About Vertiv (NYSE:VRT)
Vertiv Holdings Co (NYSE: VRT) designs, manufactures and services critical digital infrastructure used by data centers, communications networks and commercial and industrial facilities. Its offerings help customers maintain reliable power, cooling and operating conditions for technology systems.
The company’s products and solutions include uninterruptible power supplies, power distribution equipment, thermal management systems, racks, integrated modular infrastructure, and monitoring and control software.
