---
title: "Baker Hughes banked $1.45 billion from Hexagon's Waygate buy as its $46.4 billion backlog waits for 2027"
description: "Baker Hughes closed the $1.45 billion Waygate sale to Hexagon on November 2, days after raising its AI-era order target past $50 billion. But GAAP net income fell 33% and its own CFO says the record backlog converts to revenue only slowly in 2027."
publisher: "The Inference"
section: "Power"
published: 2026-11-02T18:09:23.108Z
modified: 2026-11-02T18:09:23.108Z
canonical: https://theinference.org/article/baker-hughes-banked-1-45-billion-from-hexagon-s-waygate-buy-as-its-46-4-billion-backlog-waits-for-2027
language: en
keywords: "Baker Hughes, Data Centers, Gas Turbines, Earnings, Backlog"
---

# Baker Hughes banked $1.45 billion from Hexagon's Waygate buy as its $46.4 billion backlog waits for 2027

> Baker Hughes closed the $1.45 billion Waygate sale to Hexagon on November 2, days after raising its AI-era order target past $50 billion. But GAAP net income fell 33% and its own CFO says the record backlog converts to revenue only slowly in 2027.

[Baker Hughes](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/baker-hughes) [closed the sale of Waygate Technologies to Hexagon](https://finance.yahoo.com/energy/articles/baker-hughes-closes-sale-waygate-070500884.html) on November 2, collecting roughly $1.45 billion in pre-tax cash, five days after an earnings call that talked almost exclusively about turbines for artificial intelligence data centers [5]. The timing tells the story: the company banked a balance-sheet-boosting divestiture while asking investors to price it on a backlog that will not pay out on schedule.

## The order book hit a record, and the print hid the decline

The quarter itself was loud. [Revenue rose 14% year on year to $8.025 billion, orders surged 31% to $10.8 billion](https://www.indianchemicalnews.com/general/baker-hughes-posts-14-revenue-growth-32471), and remaining performance obligations, the contracted work still to be delivered, reached a record $46.4 billion, of which the Industrial and Energy Technology arm holds $39.4 billion [1]. Data-center orders reached $4.9 billion this year, up roughly 500% from a year earlier, and CEO [Lorenzo Simonelli](https://theinference.org/markets/people/lorenzo-simonelli) [raised the segment's 2026-2028 order target to more than $50 billion](https://www.bullished.co/baker-hughes-lifts-its-horizon-2-equipment-order-target-to-more-than-50-billion-c855b077/), a $10 billion increase [2].

## Four in ten dollars of adjusted profit were add-backs

But the best revenue quarter in the series came with the weakest GAAP profit of the last three. GAAP net income fell 33% to $411 million from $609 million, while the $695 million adjusted figure carries $284 million of add-backs, largely tied to the Chart Industries acquisition completed July 16 [1]. Four in every ten dollars of adjusted profit were add-backs this quarter.

*Chart: **Baker Hughes' record revenue quarter came with its thinnest GAAP profit in two years** Line chart of Baker Hughes quarterly revenue and GAAP net income from Q4 2024 to Q3 2026, showing revenue peaking at $8.0 billion in Q3 2026 while net income fell to $411 million*

*Quarterly GAAP net income attributable to Baker Hughes, US$ billions, from SEC filings, Q4 2024 to Q3 2026. Q3 2026 record revenue of $8.025 billion coincided with the lowest net income since Q1 2025. Sources: Baker Hughes SEC filings via company_series [6]; Q3 2026 detail via Indian Chemical News [1]. [6][1]*

Chief Financial Officer Ahmed Moghal then gave the part the AI camp does not quote: long-lead power and LNG orders convert slowly, so the segment's organic revenue growth in 2027 is guided to only low-to-mid single digits, with 33% of the gas turbine and compression backlog scheduled to convert that year [2]. Simonelli pointed to material non-refundable down payments and cancellation penalties as protection, and noted power systems is under 20% of total obligations [2].

## The old business still funds the wait

The oilfield side is doing its job quietly. [The US rig count held at 603 for three straight weeks](https://energynewsbeat.co/weekly-rig-count/u-s-weekly-rig-count-comparing-enverus-baker-hughes-and-welldatabase-flat-weekly-activity-against-year-over-year-gains-as-spr-hits-multi-decade-lows-and-distillates-stay-tight/) into late October, up about 53 from a year earlier, with the Permian at 272 and tight distillate stocks and a Strategic Petroleum Reserve near multi-decade lows keeping drilling economics supported [3]. That steady cash and the $1.45 billion from Waygate are what carry the company through the conversion trough the AI orders create [3][5].

*Chart: **Operating cash has covered capex in all eight quarters since late 2024** Column chart of Baker Hughes quarterly operating cash flow and free cash flow from Q4 2024 to Q3 2026, both positive throughout, peaking at $1.66 billion of operating cash flow in Q4 2025*

*Quarterly operating cash flow and free cash flow (operating cash flow less capital spending), US$ billions, Q4 2024 to Q3 2026, from Baker Hughes' SEC filings. Cash generation stayed positive through the record order quarter. Source: Baker Hughes quarterly figures from its SEC filings [6]. [6]*

The position is documented; whether the backlog converts on schedule in 2027 is the bet no source resolves.

Readers who want the fuller backstory on [the Venture Global power-island awards behind these orders](https://theinference.org/article/baker-hughes-and-ge-vernova-sign-for-up-to-16-venture-global-power-islands-first-order-due-dec-31) can find our earlier reporting linked below.

## Takeaway

Baker Hughes closed the $1.45 billion Waygate sale and raised its AI-era order target past $50 billion, but GAAP net income fell 33% to $411 million and its CFO guides 2027 organic growth to low-to-mid single digits as the record backlog converts slowly.

## Sources

1. [Indian Chemical News, Baker Hughes posts 14% revenue growth, 2026](https://www.indianchemicalnews.com/general/baker-hughes-posts-14-revenue-growth-32471)
2. [Bullished, Baker Hughes (BKR) Lifts Its Horizon 2 Equipment Order Target To More Than $50 Billion, 2026](https://www.bullished.co/baker-hughes-lifts-its-horizon-2-equipment-order-target-to-more-than-50-billion-c855b077/)
3. [Energy News Beat, U.S. Weekly Rig Count: Comparing Enverus, Baker Hughes, and WellDatabase, early November 2026](https://energynewsbeat.co/weekly-rig-count/u-s-weekly-rig-count-comparing-enverus-baker-hughes-and-welldatabase-flat-weekly-activity-against-year-over-year-gains-as-spr-hits-multi-decade-lows-and-distillates-stay-tight/)
5. [Baker Hughes via Yahoo Finance/GlobeNewswire, Baker Hughes Closes Sale of Waygate Technologies to Hexagon, 2 November 2026](https://finance.yahoo.com/energy/articles/baker-hughes-closes-sale-waygate-070500884.html)
6. [Baker Hughes, quarterly figures from its SEC filings, retrieved 2 November 2026](https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany&CIK=0001701605)


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Baker Hughes banked $1.45 billion from Hexagon's Waygate buy as its $46.4 billion backlog waits for 2027 — The Inference. Canonical: https://theinference.org/article/baker-hughes-banked-1-45-billion-from-hexagon-s-waygate-buy-as-its-46-4-billion-backlog-waits-for-2027