Vertiv Plunges 20% in Three Months: Buy, Sell, or Hold the Stock?

VRT shares dropped 20% over three months on project delays and supply-chain headwinds, but the company posted strong second-quarter results: sales jumped 24% year-over-year and adjusted operating margin hit 22.6%. The data-center and cooling-infrastructure provider is riding AI buildout demand into the back half of 2024.

Management guided third-quarter sales to $3.65 billion–$3.85 billion and adjusted earnings per share to $1.77–$1.83. The forecast reflects continued momentum in power and thermal management systems needed for GPU-dense server racks.

Zacks Investment Research assigned VRT a Rank #3 (Hold), citing valuation and competitive pressure. The stock trades at 20.94 times book value, a premium multiple that leaves little room for execution missteps. Competition in mission-critical infrastructure remains intense as hyperscalers and colocation providers diversify supplier bases.