Scott Strazik
Analyst · Goldman Sachs
Thanks, Michael. We have a lot to cover today, but I wanted to start with 3 main messages. First, our growth continues to accelerate with both our core business and new products with almost $30 billion in new orders and an expansion of our backlog from $176 billion to approximately $200 billion in 3Q, we continue to see strong pull from customers for the solutions we offer. This demand is not only for our existing equipment, but also for services, where we saw 10% orders growth in the quarter. We also see growing interest in our new offerings, including in both power with a nuclear SMR and multiple products in electrification, including MV-UPS and solid-state transformers. Second, our margin expansion is encouraging, but no one inside GEV is satisfied with where we are. This is just the beginning with significant opportunity in all 3 business segments. Power reached 21% EBITDA margins in what is historically our weakest margin quarter as 3Q is typically our lowest quarter for services activity. These margins reflect the first quarter of our 5 gigawatt of gas power equipment shipments at better prices. Electrification reached 19%, EBITDA margins while growing R&D mid-teens to support strong new product introduction opportunities. Wind turned profitable on strong services improvement, and we continue improving execution in offshore as our backlog to complete continues to come down. Across all 3 businesses and corporate, we have investments in automation and AI with strong use cases that will expand margins over the medium term, but in 3Q in isolation, remain a net expense. Point being, we are early in our margin expansion acceleration. Third, we have delivered significant year-to-date cash generation to end the quarter with approximately $17 billion in cash, and we've been working hard to position GE Vernova to invest this capital for strong returns. We are pleased to announce the signing of the Trench Group acquisition, which will strengthen our core Electrification offerings in high-voltage grid equipment, be accretive on day 1 and bring us industry-leading technology to innovate into the future and serve this growing market. In parallel with announcing this $9 billion acquisition, we are announcing a doubling of our stock buyback program from $10 billion to $20 billion. After investing $1.6 billion in the buyback in 3Q and over $1.3 billion in October, we have largely completed our $10 billion authorization with excellent returns, having acquired 15.6 million shares at an average price of approximately $635. It is early in our journey. We remain humble, but we have real conviction that we are building a unique company to serve the growing market and deliver for our shareholders for the long term. With that, I'd like to go to the next page and give an overview of the Trench acquisition. The announcement today of our acquisition of the Trench Group is an important step forward in strengthening and scaling our Electrification business in the high and medium voltage markets globally. If I take a step back, the beginning of '25, there were 2 assets of scale I felt we needed in electrification. The first was Prolec to expand our North America manufacturing footprint and to simplify the front-end commercial experience for our end customers, especially the hyperscalers. And the second is Trench for the technology differentiation, management team and the importance of the components Trench provides and solutions we deliver today. There are many factors driving our conviction in the high-voltage market for the long term. Data centers require large electricity loads, driving an increasing need for more efficient high-voltage equipment. Trench, as an example, has secured multiple agreements with hyperscalers in the past 2 years. In addition, global utilities are also building out more high-voltage infrastructure. Today's grid loses as much as 8% from power generation to end use and the upgrade of the grid to higher voltages dramatically reduces energy losses, making the whole grid more economical. In addition, as the existing grid takes on more load with increased building electrification, manufacturing growth, heat pumps and EVs, grid reinforcements to higher voltages will be required. And in parts of the world building significant wind and solar, there is a need to transport electrons over long distances at higher voltages to eliminate waste. India is a great example of this today and is a market where we are demonstrating real commercial success, including our announced win on the Barmer HVDC project that will be a $1.5 billion order in 4Q. Trench further positions us to serve this global high-voltage market opportunity we project to be $130 billion by the end of the decade. As an existing supplier to Vernova, Trench is a business we know well. It's complementary and differentiated technology for high-voltage solutions will broaden our grid equipment portfolio and expand our presence across product lines where we have a modest presence today. Vertically integrating Trench will also give us greater capacity and certainty across a key part of the supply chain, strengthening our ability to deliver for customers. The foundation of Trench's success is technical excellence and a strong management team. With more than 3,000 highly skilled employees across 11 factories, Trench has established a footprint in many of the world's largest grid markets. These capabilities have enabled Trench to develop deep, trusted relationships with a broad customer base serving utilities, grid operators and increasingly hyperscalers. We expect this transaction to close late '27 and with a $9 billion purchase price, we are paying 13x '28 EBITDA before synergies, the first full year we expect Trench to be included in our financial results. This is a strategically compelling and attractive acquisition that is directly aligned with our capital allocation priorities. We will add scale to the core of our fast-growing Electrification segment to better serve the global electricity super cycle. Turning to the next page. You can see on the left-hand side the estimated '26 revenue of Trench and GE Vernova with the 3 primary product lines in the Trench portfolio. Trench revenue in '26 is estimated at $1.4 billion and similar to our Electrification business is projected to grow at double-digit levels over the coming years to approach $2 billion of revenue in '28 after the expected close. I'd like to provide a bit more context and color on each of the product lines. Every medium and high-voltage transformer has a bushing for insulation and mechanical support used for reliable grid connection. Today, we source most of our bushings externally. But tomorrow, we will be able to internalize this key technology within the Trench facilities and better serve our customers with improved cycle time and integrated performance as we continue to invest in this business, just as we are doing with Prolec, which you see very clearly in the growth of our Prolec results. In many cases, customers specify the bushing provider for large transformers, and we see opportunities where Trench bushings are the preferred technology to better integrate our transformer product line to drive commercial synergies. Post close, we will source a much larger percentage of bushings for our transformers from the Trench factories to deliver better outcomes for our customers. Instrument transformers are important high-voltage equipment in electrical substations, typically greater than 35 kV that are used to measure voltage and provide protection. This equipment is utilized for new build high-voltage electrical substations, for instance, with data centers where you see us playing a significant role, but this is also technology to support upgrades as existing infrastructure extends past its useful life. In the U.S. alone, we project over 55,000 transmission substations will be completely rebuilt or upgraded to higher voltages in the next decade. Point being, our opportunity is both in expanding and modernizing the existing grid and serving new growth with opportunities like data centers. And finally, medium and high-voltage coils. This equipment connects to the substation and stores electrical energy inside a magnetic field to enhance grid reliability and power quality. The innovative high-voltage technology Trench produces is directly aligned with where customers are investing and where we see long-term demand continuing to grow. We are very confident these technologies will allow us to better serve our customers, which I'll go into in more detail on the next page. We talked in the past how our existing addressable market in electrification is projected to reach $300 billion by 2030. The high-voltage equipment market is an estimated $130 billion of the $300 billion. And you can see on the left-hand side of this page how each product line inside Trench supports our offerings across the columns. We see the high-voltage equipment market continue to grow at high single digits for the long term, driven by the macro factors I mentioned on the earlier page. The real message on this page is we have a great conviction that customers will benefit significantly with our addition of Trench to the product portfolio to deliver to them more optimized, integrated solutions. This will also provide our customers a more seamless experience and increase our capabilities in delivering sustainable solutions our customers value today. For instance, Trench is the leader in dry type bushings, an increasingly important technology across power transformers, switchgear, HVDC systems, substations and stability solutions. Dry type transformers use a resin instead of oil, which reduces maintenance, is better for the environment and dramatically reduces the risk of fire. Our combined global manufacturing footprint will be a key differentiator, enhancing delivery and lead time management. With Trench, we will strengthen our ability to support the development of higher voltage electrical systems globally, including the build-out of 765 kV transmission in the U.S. As we continue to serve Trench's existing customers, we can also extend Trench's products to regions with significant electrical infrastructure needs for customers that we serve today. Finally, Trench's track record in quality and delivery aligns directly with our own and positions us to better serve customers' rising demand for grid equipment. Turning to the next slide. I want to put in context how this acquisition supports our existing Electrification businesses. Today, we have a $46 billion backlog, which, again, to remind everyone, was $7 billion at the start of '22. Our 2 largest businesses, Grid Systems Integration and Power Transmission will be the largest direct beneficiaries on day 1 of the acquisition. Although longer term, we also see a positive impact on our power conversion and storage business, especially within new products we're developing like the MV-UPS stability block. GSI delivers HVDC projects and AC substations for utilities and data centers, among other high-voltage solutions. Today, we source some of the components for these offerings externally, including from Trench, which supply the majority of HVDC lines globally. Going forward, we will be able to offer better integrated solutions using technologically advanced products that improve system durability and are demanded by customers to grow our GSI business at attractive margins. In Power Transmission, which produces transformers, switchgear and capacitors, Trench will provide scale through its bushings and instrument transformers. Bushings are a key component used in our power transformers and Trench's differentiated technology will help to deliver high-voltage transformers to customers. Lead times across the industry are increasingly important, and this transaction will enhance supply chain certainty for both businesses within Electrification. By bringing Trench's manufacturing footprint and capabilities inside Vernova, we expect greater visibility into production planning and improved ability to align this component supply with our customers' project schedules. Finally, Trench is adding significant capacity across its 11 factories globally to meet rising demand. This includes Trench's newly opened factory in North Carolina, which will be the first U.S. manufacturer of high-voltage bushings up to 765 kV, expanding Trench's leadership in extra high-voltage technology and giving us an important capability within our U.S. footprint. With Trench, we will have additional scale in key geographies and more flexibility to serve customers, complementing our existing and planned capacity across Electrification. Taken together, Trench enhances our Electrification segment's ability to deliver. As you will see in our 3Q results on the subsequent pages, our core businesses continue to gain momentum with accelerating growth and margin expansion. The Prolec acquisition is outperforming our expectations and Trench is the right next step in creating an industry-leading electrification business at attractive economics, serving our customers with a team and technology we love. With that, I'll hand it over to Ken to walk through the financial details.