ABB Ltd

Strong Q3 demand + record margins (what’s good / surprising) - Orders: >$12bn (about +40% YoY, comparable), driven by strength across short-cycle products, service, and projects/systems; data centers were the standout. - Book-to-bill: 1.24; Backlog: ~$32bn (roughly equivalent to 2025 full-year revenue). - Earnings: Operational EBITA margin 20.8% (ABB’s strongest Q3 margin ever), and EBIT margin 19%; Operational EBITA up +24% to ~$2bn. - ROCE: 29.9%; management expects continued improvement and to stay >20% ROCE, even with larger acquisitions.

Electrification delivered exceptional growth and margin strength - Orders: ~$7.7bn (+70% YoY, record), led by data centers (triple-digit growth) plus broader electrification ex-data center high-teens. - Revenues: ~$5.4bn (+21% comparable), with pricing ~+3%; pricing now broadly offset commodity inflation. - Profitability: Operational EBITA ~$1.4bn (+27% improvement), margin 25.6% (+110 bps YoY, new record). - Outlook for Q4: Electrification guidance for high teens to low 20% comparable revenue growth; sequential margin softness expected but slightly less than historical average.

Motion + Automation show mixed picture (what’s bad / key challenges) - Motion orders: ~$2.5bn (+12% comparable); revenues ~$2.3bn (+9%). - Motion margin weakness: Operational EBITA margin down 100 bps YoY to 19.1%. - Main headwinds: Gamesa Electric acquisition impact (about 40 bps, still operating at a small loss) + some margin dilution despite robust pricing. - Motion Q4 expectation: Revenue growth similar to Q3; operational EBITA margin expected to slightly improve sequentially (helped by earlier project/system inefficiencies easing). - Automation: Orders stable vs prior year at ~$2.1bn (sequentially lower due to timing); demand resilient in marine/ports, electrification/energy efficiency, and improving discrete automation sentiment. Process industries (chemicals, pulp & paper) still muted; mining orders muted but management sees early improving customer conversations.