Legrand raises 2026 outlook again to 11-13% organic growth as data centers grow near 40%
Legrand lifted its 2026 organic growth target to 11-13% after nine-month sales of €8.33 billion, and UBS turned buyer with a €170 target. Investors are now paid an 8% discount to Schneider Electric and ABB to hold a group whose growth sits in one product line.
Vincent Jiangthree-minute read
Legrand−1.27% — Legrand, down 1.27 percent today raised its 2026 sales targets for the second time this year on November 5, after nine-month revenue of €8.33 billion, up 19.5% (22% excluding currency), outran the €8.08 billion analysts expected 1. Organic growth, which strips out acquisitions and currency effects, ran at 12.7%, and acquisitions added 8.3% 23. Adjusted operating profit rose 20% to €1.73 billion, a 20.8% margin, and net profit rose 19.6% to €1.07 billion 2. Guidance moved to 20-22% sales growth excluding currency and 11-13% organic, from the 16-19% and 8-10% set in July 1.
Data centers carried the quarter, and the guidance with it
Data centers now bring in about a third of group turnover and grew close to 40% organically, chief executive Benoît Coquart told journalists 1. The rest moved slower: Europe fell 0.9% over nine months and returned to growth only in the third quarter, at 2.4%, while North and Central America grew 26.6% and the US 28.7% 3. Traditional building products, about half of sales, are growing marginally; electrification, about a fifth, grows 4 to 6% 1. Seven acquisitions since January add roughly €450 million of combined annual revenue 3.
Data centers grew about 40% while Europe shrank
One segment carries the group; Europe is still shrinking
- Estimate
Data
| Value | |
|---|---|
| Data centers (estimate) | 40 |
| US | 28.7 |
| North and Central America | 26.6 |
| Group organic | 12.7 |
| Europe | -0.9 |
UBS calls a 2027 acceleration and pays 170 euros for it
On November 9 the Swiss bank UBS moved Legrand from neutral to buy with a €170 target, about 30% above the €129.65 Friday close, days after third-quarter comparable sales of 18.8% beat the 10% analysts expected 4. UBS models data centers alone adding about 14 points of group growth in 2027, against consensus of 10, and lifted its 2027 operating-profit forecast by 15% 5. It also argues the industry shift to 800-volt direct-current power architectures could raise the value of Legrand's equipment per installed megawatt 5.
The discount is the price of one product line
The counter-case sits in management's own plan. The 2030 ambitions, upgraded at the September 29 capital markets day, fade to 6-8% organic growth a year plus about 5% from acquisitions, at a 21-22% margin 3. Consensus, UBS notes, implies the non-data-center business shrinks about 6% a year to 2030 4.
Eighteen times 2027 earnings and still 8% cheaper than the peers
The shares traded at €136.20 on November 13 (17:12 Paris time, down 1.4%), 18.4 times expected 2027 earnings and about 8% below Schneider Electric−0.55% — Schneider Electric, down 0.55 percent today and ABB 65, so UBS's 30% upside is already closer to 25%. The Inference argued on September 30 that the building business was being sold to fund the AI bet 65. November's figures push that reading further along: data centers now make up about a third of turnover, and the group's own 2030 plan still assumes they contribute nothing beyond today's run-rate 65. What stays open is whether the building recovery UBS expects arrives.
Two readings decide the discount
Whether the discount closes turns on two sourced readings: whether data-center growth holds near the roughly 50% UBS cites for the third quarter 4, and whether Europe's third-quarter uptick survives the winter 3. A third of Legrand is growing 40% a year; the remaining two thirds depends on a construction recovery that has not shown up in the numbers yet 43.
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