Widening losses in wind business weigh on GE Vernova Q2 core profit

GE Vernova wind turbines
GE Vernova wind turbinesGE
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GE Vernova missed Wall Street estimates for second-quarter adjusted core profit on Wednesday as losses in its wind business widened, overshadowing strong growth in its power and electrification units.

Shares were down 5.8 per cent.

The wind unit was hurt by weak onshore demand and higher offshore project costs, even as the company benefited from surging demand for gas turbines and grid equipment as utilities expand capacity to meet electricity needs from AI data centres and electrification.

GE Vernova raised its 2026 revenue forecast to $45.5 billion-$46.5 billion from $44.5 billion-$45.5 billion previously.

It updated its 2026 tariff hit forecast to $100 million-$200 million from $250 million-$350 million projected in April, citing contractual provisions, sourcing changes, trade regulations and tariff refunds.

Wind orders fell about 40 per cent from a year earlier, while segment EBITDA losses widened to $275 million from $165 million.

The company expects third-quarter Wind revenue to decline by low double digits year-on-year before improving in the second half.

Investors were expecting another EBITDA beat and raise with margin expansion, which may be contributing to the stock selloff, said William Blair analyst Jed Dorsheimer.

Quarterly adjusted EBITDA was $1.25 billion, below LSEG-compiled analysts' estimates, while revenue rose 22 per cent to $11.1 billion. Annual adjusted EBITDA margin forecast was unchanged at 12 per cent-14 per cent.

Orders surged 88 per cent to $24.2 billion, lifting backlog to $176 billion.

Power unit leads growth

Power orders jumped 135 per cent on demand for gas turbines and services, while electrification revenue climbed 68 per cent as utilities invested in transformers, switchgear and grid equipment.

CEO Scott Strazik said the company now expects to have at least 125 gigawatts of gas equipment under contract by year-end, while data centre-related orders have exceeded $5 billion this year, more than double 2025's total.

The company expects third-quarter electrification revenue of $3.8 billion to $4 billion versus expectations of $3.42 billion.

Separately, Strazik told Bloomberg the company expects to begin serving Venezuela this year and is exchanging draft contracts with the country's state utility to strengthen its power grid following earthquake-related delays.

(Reporting by Sumit Saha in Bengaluru; Editing by Vijay Kishore, Jonathan Ananda and Tasim Zahid)

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