ABB Booming with Record US Orders and Data Centre Growth
Swiss engineering group ABB has reported its highest quarterly order intake to date, boosted by growing demand from the United States and a continued rise in data centre investments linked to AI infrastructure.
For the second quarter ending June 2025, ABB’s overall order volume rose 14%, with orders from the US — its largest market — increasing by 37%.
Morten Wierod, CEO, attributes the increase to a mix of large-scale projects and growing demand for electrification and automation solutions, particularly in sectors building out energy-intensive digital infrastructure:
“Demand for electricity is going up quickly,” he says. “That is being used by data centres, but also a lot of other industries are increasing their electricity consumption.”
Data centre momentum strengthens quarterly results
ABB’s data centre business posted order growth in the range of 10–20% during the quarter.
The company expects this trajectory to continue as investment in high-density compute environments, especially AI training clusters, places greater pressure on electrical infrastructure and power management systems.
ABB supplies electrical distribution equipment, power protection and automation products widely used in hyperscale and colocation data centres.
Roughly half of its global data centre business is based in the United States, with 30–35% in Asia, Africa and the Middle East, and the remainder in Europe.
That footprint aligns closely with recent announcements by US-based operators committing billions of dollars to new AI-ready data centre capacity.
Despite global economic uncertainty and trade-related concerns, ABB’s data centre segment continues to perform strongly.
Its robotics division, however, saw a slowdown due to delays in automotive sector investments, where customers are waiting for clarity on final levels of US import duties.
US manufacturing footprint shields ABB from tariff impact
Morten says the company’s robust US manufacturing base protects it from the direct effects of new US tariffs.
“There is no point pre-buying because we will not be hit by tariffs,” he explains.
ABB produces around 80% of the products it sells in the United States domestically, insulating its data centre and electrification product lines from potential disruptions.
He also clarifies that the spike in US orders is driven by market growth, not companies attempting to stockpile equipment ahead of price increases.
“The increase was driven by one big order and customers investing in automation and electrification, and was not due to pre-ordering to avoid the fallout of higher tariffs imposed by the United States,” explains Morten.
The company’s focus on supporting large-scale digital infrastructure projects – especially those driven by AI adoption – has placed it in a strong position as energy demands increase across sectors.
ABB’s components play a critical role in power-intensive environments such as data centres, which require scalable energy delivery, uninterrupted power supply and smart monitoring systems.
Earnings beat expectations as shares jump
For the second quarter, ABB reported core operating income of US$1.71bn, a 9% rise compared to the same period last year. The result beat analyst forecasts of US$1.65bn.
Net income reached US$1.15bn, exceeding consensus estimates of US$1.12bn. Revenue increased 8% year-on-year to US$8.90bn, outperforming expectations of US$8.72bn.
Following the earnings announcement, ABB shares rose 7% in mid-morning trading on the Zurich exchange. The company has continued to outperform analyst projections across key metrics, driven in large part by its positioning in high-demand verticals such as data centres, energy and electrification.
As major US companies ramp up AI infrastructure spending — supported by government initiatives and private sector investment — ABB expects demand for its data centre product range to remain strong.
The company is closely linked to projects that support cloud, AI and energy-intensive computing, all of which are accelerating the need for resilient and scalable electrical systems.
