Siemens rides AI boom to post its highest-ever industrial profit

By John Revill

ZURICH, Aug 6 (Reuters) - Siemens is benefiting from the AI investment boom, the German industrial group said on Thursday, reporting its highest-ever quarterly industrial profit and raising its full-year guidance.

Siemens said it was seeing strong demand for data centres used to process AI, as well as for AI-enabled software and devices used to control factories and buildings.

Sentiment was also improving from aerospace, defence and machine building customers, prompting the company to raise its full-year profit guidance after beating third-quarter expectations.

"Our sharp focus on driving industrial AI and our strong positioning in attractive markets give us a solid foundation for our success," Chief Executive Roland Busch told reporters.

The company's industrial AI products, which help customers speed up innovation and improve productivity, were driving growth, he added.

Siemens was also benefiting from strong demand from the electronics and semiconductor makers, many of which are expanding capacity to supply AI-related equipment and chips.

"There is tremendous demand for electronics," Busch said. "They are building more and more factories and they need to be automated, which is where Siemens' business comes in."

Siemens was working with nine of the top 10 largest data centre providers, he said, while orders had increased by a triple-digit percentage in the first nine months of its 2026 fiscal year.

HIGHEST QUARTERLY INDUSTRIAL PROFIT 

Companies like Siemens and Swiss rival ABB are seeing surging demand as Big Tech races to add data centres, chips and electricity capacity for AI training and operation.

Capital spending by five of the largest technology companies, a key driver of the global data-centre boom, is expected to rise 75% in 2026 from more than $400 billion in 2025, the International Energy Agency said in April.

For the quarter to the end of June, Siemens reported industrial profit rising 25% to €3.52 billion ($4.09 billion), its highest quarterly figure, beating forecasts for €3.18 billion in a company-gathered consensus.

Revenue rose 7% to €20.79 billion, ahead of forecasts for €20.64 billion, while orders picked up 13% to €27.90 billion, also a quarterly record.

Siemens raised its full-year earnings per share for the year ending in September to €11.20 to €11.50, from €10.70 to €11.10 previously.

Its shares fell 5.2% in mid-morning trading. Up to Wednesday's close, they had gained nearly 20% from the beginning of the year to hit a record high at €291.50 in the session.

The company also said it had agreed with German tax authorities on the treatment of Siemens Healthineers shares that it plans to distribute to investors following the planned spin-off, meaning the distribution would be tax-free for Siemens shareholders.

($1=0.8660 euros)

(Reporting by John RevillEditing by Linda Pasquini, Miranda Murray and Alexander Smith )