By Nina Kienle
ABB lifted its operational earnings margin forecast but left its revenue guidance unchanged as the Swiss engineering company reshapes its portfolio to focus on electrification and industrial automation.
The Zurich-based industrial-technology company on Tuesday confirmed its annual comparable revenue growth target of 5% to 7%, as well as the ambition to add 1% to 2% of revenue through acquired growth annually.
In European morning trading, shares were down 4.5% at 53.88 Swiss francs.
The organic top-line growth target is already at the higher end of the range, sitting at 6.6% for 2026, according to consensus estimates compiled by Visible Alpha.
ABB raised its annual operational earnings before interest, taxes and amortization margin target to range between 18% and 22% from 16% to 19% previously, citing all of its business areas operating on higher levels of profitability.
Visible Alpha consensus forecasts operational Ebita margin at 19.6% for the following year.
The updated targets aren't particularly impressive and are unlikely to drive consensus estimates higher, Vontobel analyst Mark Diethelm said in a note to clients. "Given peers recently lifting their growth targets, ABB's unchanged revenue growth target might be a slight disappointment to the market," he added.
German conglomerate Siemens earlier this month said it targets comparable revenue growth for fiscal 2026 in the range of 6% to 8%, and aims for a range of 6% to 9% in the midterm.
Meanwhile, ABB streamlined its portfolio into three business areas from four previously, building on shared sales and technology opportunities. All areas now have specific operational Ebita margin target ranges, it said.
In electrification, ABB targets a range of 22% to 26%, and a range of 18% to 22% in motion. In automation--previously called the process automation business area--ABB forecasts a margin range of 14% to 18%.
The reshaping of its portfolio follows the announcement of the planned divestment of its robotics division, which Japan's SoftBank Group agreed to purchase in a $5.38 billion deal last month.
Write to Nina Kienle at nina.kienle@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
November 18, 2025 04:39 ET (09:39 GMT)
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