ABB beats forecasts with Q2 earnings and announces biggest-ever acquisition

Thu, July 16, 2026 at 5:31 AM UTC ZURICH, July 16 (Reuters) - ABB reported better-than-expected second quarter earnings on Thursday as the Swiss engineering company also announced its biggest-ever acquisition with a $5.5 billion deal for British automation company Rotork. ABB said its operational earnings before interest, tax and amortisation (EBITA) rose 20% to $1.93 billion in the three months to the end of June. The figure beat forecasts for $1.88 billion in a company-gathered consensus of analysts. Revenue rose 14% to $9.48 billion, in line with forecasts, while net income rose 7% to $1.23 billion, short of forecasts for $1.32 billion. Orders meanwhile jumped 30% to $12.04 billion, said ABB, which has benefited from equipping data centres being built to support artificial intelligence. "Our second-quarter results reflect high demand in the majority of our customer segments," said CEO Morten Wierod in a statement. (Reporting by John Revill, Editing by Miranda Murray)