nVent, which makes enclosures, power distribution and liquid cooling equipment, reported third-quarter 2026 results on Oct. 30. Net sales were $1,514.9 million, up from $1,054.0 million a year earlier. In its earnings release, filed with the SEC as Exhibit 99.1, the company put the increase at 44%, and all of it was organic. The quarter came before the Maverick Power acquisition took effect. nVent closed that deal on Oct. 1, the first day of the fourth quarter, so Maverick shows up in next quarter's numbers, not this one's.

The company also raised its full-year outlook. It now expects 2026 reported sales growth of 48% to 49%, with organic growth of 38% to 39%, and adjusted earnings per share of $5.36 to $5.39, up from its prior range of $5.00 to $5.10.

The Quarter in Numbers

The release reported operating income of $282.3 million, up from $166.3 million in the third quarter of 2025. Adjusted operating income was $335.4 million, up 57%. Reported EPS was $1.23, up 68%, and adjusted EPS was $1.52, up 67%. Free cash flow was $268 million, compared with $253 million a year earlier.

Trade publication tEDmag reprinted the release, confirming the 44% sales growth, $1.23 EPS, $335 million of adjusted operating income and $268 million of free cash flow. It also reported operating cash flow of $303 million.

"Record sales and orders" was how CEO Beth Wozniak described the quarter in the release, along with "double digit sales growth in all verticals, led by infrastructure."

Where the Growth Came From

Most of the gain came from nVent's Systems Protection segment, which covers enclosures, thermal management and the liquid cooling equipment that has become central to its data center pitch. The release put segment sales at $1,098 million, up 53%, or 54% on an organic basis. The Electrical Connections segment reported $417 million in sales, up 23%.

The company said new products contributed about 30 points of growth in the quarter. In other words, a large share of the increase came from product lines nVent did not sell, or barely sold, a year ago.

On the earnings call, according to the Motley Fool transcript, management said organic sales in the infrastructure vertical rose about 70%. Executives put backlog at $2.6 billion. They said organic orders grew by low double digits, against a comparison quarter a year earlier in which orders had grown 65%.

Analysts' questions on the call included a new modular liquid cooling product and the timing of orders, according to the transcript.

Maverick Power: What nVent Bought

The release quoted Wozniak saying the Maverick Power closing on Oct. 1 added "a new power distribution platform" to nVent. When the deal was announced in August, Electrical Wholesaling reported a purchase price of $1.75 billion, subject to customary adjustments, plus possible performance-based cash payments of up to $550 million more tied to 2027 and 2028 metrics. The publication described Maverick as a provider of engineered power distribution, including low-voltage switchgear and switchboards, with about 900 employees in Texas and Arizona.

For data center operators and developers, switchgear and switchboards generally sit between utility service and the rack-level power and cooling equipment nVent already sells. Owning Maverick extends nVent's data center offering further into power distribution.

Management's call comments show how much the deal will move the numbers. Maverick is expected to add about 19 points to fourth-quarter sales growth. Executives also said the fourth quarter would be an investment quarter for Maverick, putting fourth-quarter incremental margins in the low twenties. The 19 points explain the gap in the release's fourth-quarter guidance: reported sales growth of 45% to 48%, but organic growth of only 26% to 29%. Organic figures leave out acquisitions and currency effects, so most of the difference is Maverick.

Spending on Capacity

According to the call transcript, nVent expects 2026 capital expenditures of about $140 million, up 50%, mostly for new capacity to support growth in data centers and power utilities. Management named two projects: a new engineered-buildings facility in Arizona and a second liquid cooling site in Blaine.

Management also forecast tariff costs of about $105 million for the year, up from $100 million previously, according to the transcript.

A note on sourcing: the Motley Fool transcript contains some obvious transcription errors, including in references to when facilities start up. DataCenterFeed has not reported facility timelines from the transcript. Financial figures in this article come from the company's SEC-filed release unless attributed to the call.

Why It Matters Beyond nVent

nVent does not build or run data centers. It sells equipment into them. That makes its results one measure of how much physical gear the AI buildout is consuming, separate from the chip and cloud-provider numbers that usually dominate coverage. A $2.6 billion backlog, cited on the call, represents orders that have not yet been delivered. The planned second liquid cooling site in Blaine and the new Arizona facility show the company adding factory capacity, which management tied to demand from data centers and power utilities.

This article reports company disclosures and is not investment advice.

What Happens Next

The next on-the-record milestone is fourth-quarter 2026, the first quarter to include Maverick Power. nVent's release guides to reported sales growth of 45% to 48% and organic growth of 26% to 29% for the quarter, and to full-year reported growth of 48% to 49% with adjusted EPS of $5.36 to $5.39. On the call, management said Maverick should add about 19 points to fourth-quarter growth, and described 2026 capital spending of about $140 million that includes the Arizona engineered-buildings facility and the second Blaine liquid cooling site. The company will report how those figures turned out with its fourth-quarter results. The sources do not give a date for that report.

Sources