Vertiv's stock drops on missed revenue, and weaker-than-expected Q1 view

By Steve Gelsi

Digital infrastructure company falls more than 10% after it says its coming quarter may fall short

Vertiv Holdings Co.'s stock fell more than 10% in premarket trading on Wednesday after the digital-infrastructure company missed its fourth-quarter revenue target and warned its next quarter could fall short of estimates.

While Vertiv Holdings (VRT) issued bullish comments on its prospects to fuel growth in Artificial Intelligence, the stock gave back some of its double-digit percentage gains from 2024.

Vertiv said its fourth-quarter net income rose to $232.6 million, or 60 cents a share, from $26.6 million or 7 cents a share, in the year-ago quarter.

The company's adjusted profit of 56 cents a share beat the FactSet consensus estimate of 53 cents a share.

Vertiv said its revenue increased by 13% to $1.87 billion, short of the analyst estimate of $1.89 billion.

Looking ahead, Vertiv said it expects first-quarter adjusted profit of 32 cents to 36 cents a share, below the analyst estimate of 37 cents a share.

For 2024, the company expects adjusted earnings of $2.20 to $2.26 a share, compared to the Wall Street estimate of $2.24 a share.

Vertiv's stock fell 11% in premarket trading to $55.05. Before Wednesday's moves, the stock was up by 29% in 2024, compared to a 4.5% drop by the Nasdaq COMP.

Vertiv Chief Executive Giordano Albertazzi said the company sees "tremendous opportunity" from the use of Artificial Intelligence in data centers.

"Our fourth-quarter acquisition of CoolTera and our continued commitment to supporting our customers reinforce our strong position in liquid cooling for high density compute applications driven by AI demand," Albertazzi said. "Vertiv is uniquely positioned for leadership in a strong and accelerating market."

-Steve Gelsi

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02-21-24 0806ET

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