GE Vernova delivered a second-quarter earnings report Wednesday morning that comfortably exceeded analyst expectations across revenue, orders, and profitability, and raised its full-year 2026 financial guidance on the strength of surging AI data center power demand and record gas turbine bookings. Revenue reached $11.1 billion for the quarter, up 22% from a year earlier and ahead of the Wall Street Journal consensus estimate of $10.79 billion. Net income came in at $649 million, or $2.47 per diluted share.
The most striking number in the report was total orders of $24.2 billion, which rose 88% on an organic basis year-over-year, a pace that surprised even the most bullish analysts who had been tracking GE Vernova's backlog for signs that demand could sustain its 2025 momentum. The Power segment alone posted orders of $16.7 billion, up 134% organically, with revenues rising 14% to $5.5 billion. GE Vernova signed 20 gigawatts of new gas equipment contracts in the quarter and said it now expects to have at least 125 gigawatts of gas equipment under contract by year-end 2026, up from 116 GW at the close of the second quarter.
The Electrification segment was equally strong, posting orders of $6.3 billion, up 66% organically, with revenues climbing 68% to $3.6 billion. Chief executive Scott Strazik highlighted a figure that underscores the AI infrastructure theme driving demand: data center orders have reached more than $5 billion year-to-date, more than double GE Vernova's total for all of 2025. Hyperscalers and data center operators have been signing long-term contracts for gas turbine capacity as an alternative to waiting years for conventional grid interconnect approvals, and GE Vernova's factory slots are now reportedly booked well into 2029 and beyond.
"With a backlog of $176 billion, continued revenue growth and margin expansion, and significant free cash flow generation, GE Vernova's momentum is building, and we are raising our 2026 financial guidance," Strazik said in the earnings release. The company did not specify the precise dimensions of the guidance raise in the pre-open release, with full details expected on the 7:30 a.m. ET earnings call.
GE Vernova also completed the acquisition of the remaining 50% stake in Prolec GE during the quarter, adding transformer and switchgear capabilities that strengthen its footprint in the Electrification segment's grid modernization business. The deal expands the company's ability to capture demand from utilities and industrial customers upgrading aging electrical infrastructure to handle the load increases created by AI data centers and electric vehicle charging.
The stock entered the report up roughly 62% year-to-date, making it one of the strongest performers in the S&P 500 through mid-July, and the beat raises the question of whether expectations have now been set high enough that further upside will require an acceleration beyond the current order trajectory. Analysts at Jefferies had raised their price target to $1,210 in June while maintaining a Buy rating, and the results appear to clear that bar. The report provides another data point supporting the thesis that the power infrastructure build-out for AI represents a multi-year demand cycle rather than a short-term inventory pull-forward.