Can AI-Driven Liquid Cooling Demand Boost NVT's Long-Term Growth?
nVent ElectricNVT is witnessing liquid cooling become a key growth driver on the back of rising spending on AI data center infrastructure. In the first quarter of 2026, liquid cooling was highlighted as one of the strongest-performing products in NVT's data center business. The growth is being driven by the rising usage of AI servers to support the rapid buildout of AI data centers.
Nowadays, AI workloads have become more complex, due to which servers generate more heat and require more advanced cooling systems, which is increasing the demand for liquid cooling solutions. NVT benefits from this trend. NVT saw strong demand across both white-space and gray-space data center products in the first quarter. Within the white space, liquid cooling was one of the biggest contributors to growth. The company is benefiting as hyperscalers, neocloud providers and other data center operators increase spending on AI infrastructure.
nVent Electric is investing heavily to support this demand. The company recently opened its Blaine, Minnesota facility, which started production during the first quarter and is expected to ramp up throughout the year. The company is also expanding liquid cooling capacity across multiple facilities. NVT projects $130 million in capital expenditures in 2026 to support the growth in data centers and power infrastructure.
New product launches, which include products related to liquid cooling and data center applications, contributed more than 20 percentage points to first-quarter sales growth. The company launched 11 new products during the first quarter and expects more launches later this year. Further, NVT is working with chip manufacturers on liquid cooling product roadmaps through 2030, positioning nVent Electric to benefit from future AI data center investments.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for nVent Electric’s 2026 revenues is pegged at $4.98 billion, indicating a year-over-year increase of 27.9%.
How Do Competitors Fare Against NVT
nVent Electric competes with companies like Vertiv VRT and HubbellHUBB in the electrical and data center markets.
In April 2026, Vertiv completed the acquisition of Strategic Thermal Labs to expand its engineering capabilities in liquid cooling for AI and high-performance computing (HPC) infrastructure. These capabilities are expected to help Vertiv improve the design, testing and performance of liquid-cooled infrastructure. The acquisition is expected to support Vertiv’s broader strategy of helping customers manage increasingly complex AI and HPC infrastructure by combining power, cooling, controls and lifecycle services into an integrated offering.
Hubbell recently completed the acquisition of NSI Industries, a key manufacturer and supplier of electrical products. The acquisition is expected to strengthen Hubbell’s offerings in areas such as light industrial, data center and network infrastructure applications. Here, electrification trends are expected to support Hubbell's growth across the electrical industry, and the acquisition will help Hubbell expand its portfolio of infrastructure-related products for its electrical and utility customers.
NVT's Price Performance, Valuation & Estimates
Shares of nVent Electric have surged 66.3% year to date compared with the Zacks Electronics - Miscellaneous Components industry’s return of 2.8%.
nVent Electric YTD Price Return Performance
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From a valuation standpoint, nVent Electric trades at a forward price-to-sales ratio of 5.12X, higher than the industry’s average of 4.91X.
NVT Forward 12-Month P/S Ratio
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The Zacks Consensus Estimate for nVent Electric’s 2026 and 2027 earnings per share (EPS) implies year-over-year growth of 35.8% and 22.3%, respectively. EPS estimates for both 2026 and 2027 have been revised upward by 9.6% and 15.1%, respectively, over the past 60 days.
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nVent Electric currently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
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