Olivier C. Leonetti
Analyst · Chris Snyder from Morgan Stanley
Thanks, Paulo. I'll start by providing a brief summary of our Q2 results. We posted 8% organic sales growth at the high end of our guidance range, driven by broad strength in many of our end markets. We generated record quarterly revenue of $7 billion and expanded margins by 20 basis points to 23.9%. Adjusted EPS of $2.95 increased by 8%, which is at the high end of our guidance range. Now let's move to the segment details. On Slide 8, we highlight the Electrical Americas segment. The business continues to execute at a high level and delivered another record quarter. Organic sales growth of 12% was driven primarily by strength in data centers, up about 50%, along with strength in commercial and institutional end markets. This represents the 11th consecutive quarter with 25% or more growth on a 2-year stack basis. Operating margin of 29.5% was down 40 basis points versus prior year due to dilution from offsetting tariff cost on a dollar basis and higher cost to support growth initiatives. Orders accelerated to up 2% on a trailing 12-month basis from down 4%, with particular strength in the data centers, up about 55% in the quarter. This represents a strong acceleration with quarterly orders up sequentially by more than 20%. Within the data center space, I highlight that there was particular strength from multi-tenant data center customers, which is consistent with the strategy we communicated earlier this year. Excluding the lumpiness from a large multiyear data center order in Q1 2024, orders for the segment were up 11%, accelerating from 4% last quarter on a rolling 12 months adjusted basis. Data center orders were up 23% on the same basis. Even with record sales, book-to-bill increased to 1.1 with 17% growth in our large $11.4 billion backlog, providing strong visibility for our organic growth in 2025 and beyond. Our major project negotiations pipeline in Q2 was up 31% versus prior year, remaining at a high level, up approximately 60% since Q2 2023. Mega projects remain strong with 65 project announcements at a value of $333 billion on a year-to-date basis. The U.S. economy mega project backlog is approaching $2.4 trillion, up 31% year-over-year. Through Q2, about 50% of the projects have started, which still provides a multiyear runway. The acquisition of Fibrebond closed on April 1, and the business is off a great start in our portfolio, exceeding our initial expectations for the quarter. Now I'll summarize the results for our Electrical Global segment. Total growth of 9% included organic growth of 7% and 2 points FX tailwind. We had strength in data center and machine OEM end markets. We saw continued strength in APAC, posting double- digit organic growth and ongoing recovery in EMEA, up mid-single digits organically. Operating margin of 20.1% was up 110 basis points over prior year, driven primarily by sales growth and operating efficiencies. Orders were down 1% on a rolling 12-month basis with high single-digit growth in APAC. Backlog increased 1% from prior year, while book-to-bill remained at 1 on a rolling 12-month basis. Before to move to our industrial businesses, I'd like to briefly recap the combined Electrical segments' performance. For Q2, we posted organic growth of 10% and segment margin of 26.3%, which was up 30 basis points over prior year. On a rolling 12-month basis, orders were up 1% and our book-to-bill ratio for our electrical sector remains above 1, over 1. Overall, we are very pleased with the Electrical businesses execution in the first half of the year and remain confident in our position for growth going forward. Page 11 highlights our Aerospace segment. Organic sales growth of 11% remained at a high level and resulted in an all-time record sales. We had growth in all end markets and particular strength in defense and commercial aftermarket. Operating margin expanded by 70 basis points to 22.2%, driven primarily by sales growth. On a rolling 12-month basis, orders increased 10% with growth in all segments and particular strength in defense OEM, up 25%. On a rolling 12-month basis, our book-to-bill for our Aerospace segment remained strong at 1.1, resulting in backlog increase of 16% year-over-year and 3% sequentially. Overall, Aerospace posted a solid first half, remains well positioned going forward, and we are very pleased to have signed the agreement to acquire Ultra PCS, as Paulo described. Moving to our Vehicle segment on Page 12. In the quarter, the business declined by 8% on a total and organic basis, primarily driven by weaknesses in the North America truck market. Despite top line weaknesses, the team managed to deliver solid margins of 17%, up from 15.5% in Q1. On Page 13, we show results for our eMobility business. Revenue decreased 4% from 7% lower organic, partially offset by 3% favorable FX. Operating loss was $10 million. Now I will pass it back to Paulo to go over our market assumptions and guidance.