GE Vernova Raises 2026 Outlook as Orders Surge 88%

What GE Vernova reported

GE Vernova, the company that makes the gas turbines, grid equipment and wind machines that spun off from General Electric in 2024, said second-quarter orders and profit climbed as utilities and technology companies scramble to lock in electricity for data centers. Revenue rose 22% to $11.1 billion, up 12% once acquisitions and currency are stripped out. Net income was $0.6 billion, a 5.8% margin, and adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization came to $1.2 billion. The figure that stood out was cash. Free cash flow reached $5.1 billion in the quarter, more than the company produced in all of 2025, because large customers pay hefty deposits to reserve scarce equipment years in advance.

Why the orders matter

Orders are the clearest signal here, and they jumped 88% to $24.2 billion, pushing total backlog to $176 billion. The demand is concentrated exactly where the computing boom needs it. Orders tied to data centers passed $5 billion in the first half alone, more than double the full-year 2025 total, as operators race to power the chips that companies like Nvidia sell. Gas Power orders alone rose 134% organically, covering 52 heavy-duty turbines and 61 smaller aeroderivative units. Reservations for future gas turbines climbed from 100 to 116 gigawatts, and management now expects to have at least 125 gigawatts under contract by year-end. That scarcity is what let GE Vernova raise its full-year outlook: it now sees revenue of $45.5 billion to $46.5 billion and free cash flow of $11.5 billion to $12.5 billion, nearly double its earlier cash target. “We now expect to have at least 125 GW of gas equipment under contract by year-end 2026,” chief executive Scott Strazik said, adding that the company aims to lift annual gas turbine output to 30 gigawatts by 2030.

The weak spot is wind

Not every part of the company is thriving. The wind unit, which builds onshore and offshore turbines, saw revenue fall 16% in the first half to $3.5 billion and its operating loss widen to $657 million, and GE Vernova guided the business to roughly $400 million of losses for the full year. That drag is being more than offset by the two segments riding the electricity wave. Power delivered $10.4 billion of first-half revenue at a 17.6% margin, while Electrification revenue jumped 65% to $6.6 billion as grid operators rush to add transformers and switchgear. GE Vernova returned $3.9 billion to shareholders through buybacks and dividends so far this year.

What to watch

1. Whether GE Vernova can turn its 116 gigawatts of turbine reservations into firm, delivered orders and hit the 125-gigawatt year-end target, the cleanest gauge of how durable data center power demand really is.

2. The cash question. This quarter’s $5.1 billion of free cash flow leaned on customer down-payments, so the test is whether the raised $11.5 billion to $12.5 billion full-year target holds as those deposits convert into shipped turbines and working capital normalizes.

3. Wind. The unit is guided to about $400 million in losses this year, and any deeper slide would eat into the gains coming from Power and Electrification.