Siemens posts record industrial profit and raises its mid-term growth targets
Data centres and rail orders pushed fourth quarter orders to an all time high of EUR 34.8 billion. Siemens also set out how it will hand about half of its Healthineers stake to shareholders and become a smaller, more focused technology group.
Siemens reported a record industrial profit of EUR 13.3 billion for its fiscal year to 30 September 2026, up 13%, and raised its mid-term targets on Thursday 12 November. The Munich group now aims for comparable revenue growth of 7% to 11% a year, up from 6% to 9%, according to its earnings release and Reuters.
The fourth quarter was the strongest part of the year. Orders surged 58% to a record EUR 34.8 billion, led by Mobility and Smart Infrastructure, and industrial profit rose 22% to EUR 3.9 billion, beating the company compiled analyst consensus of EUR 3.71 billion, Reuters reported.
The numbers
For the full fiscal year, revenue reached EUR 83.4 billion, a comparable increase of 8% that Siemens said was at the upper end of its guidance range. Orders rose to a record EUR 108.2 billion, giving a book to bill ratio of 1.30. Industrial business profit climbed to EUR 13.3 billion from EUR 11.8 billion, a margin of 16.3%, Handelsblatt reported.
Net income fell to EUR 9.5 billion from EUR 10.4 billion, because the prior year included a EUR 2.1 billion gain from the sale of Innomotics, according to the company's results summary published via MarketScreener. Earnings per share before purchase price allocation effects came in at EUR 11.76, above the EUR 11.20 to 11.50 range Siemens had guided to after its third quarter. Free cash flow rose to a record EUR 12.1 billion, and Siemens proposes a dividend of EUR 5.50 per share, up from EUR 5.35.
Analysts had on average expected industrial profit of EUR 13.11 billion and EPS before purchase price allocation of EUR 11.68 for the year, Dow Jones Newswires reported via finanzen.at. Revenue in the digital business grew 16% to EUR 10.9 billion.
A record fourth quarter
In the three months to September, revenue rose 11% to EUR 23.7 billion, ahead of the EUR 23.39 billion analysts had expected, according to Reuters. Every industrial business grew orders, and the book to bill ratio reached 1.47. Industrial profit margin was 16.8%, net income rose 32% to EUR 2.4 billion and quarterly free cash flow hit a record EUR 5.6 billion. Reuters said the order boom was driven by large wins at the Mobility train business and by the Smart Infrastructure unit, which supplies data centres.
New targets and the Healthineers handover
Siemens now targets comparable revenue growth of 7% to 11% over the mid term and double digit percentage growth in EPS before purchase price allocation, compared with a high single digit goal before. "We want to grow faster than our key markets," chief executive Roland Busch said, according to Handelsblatt (translated from German). He described industrial artificial intelligence as a completely new growth opportunity for the group.
For fiscal 2027, Siemens expects comparable revenue growth of 9% to 11% and EPS before purchase price allocation of EUR 10.20 to 10.80, compared with EUR 9.27 on a comparable basis for 2026, Dow Jones reported. That basis already excludes Siemens Healthineers, which will no longer be fully consolidated.
Siemens confirmed that it plans to distribute 34.1% of Siemens Healthineers to its own shareholders, who would receive one Healthineers share for every two Siemens shares. That would cut its holding from around 67% to about 33%, Reuters reported. The distribution is expected in April or May 2027, according to a Reuters report carried by cash.ch, and the group will shrink by more than a quarter as a result. Over the mid term, Siemens plans to reduce its stake to below 20% and hold it as a financial investment.
Shares were indicated about 4% higher in pre-market trading on Thursday morning, MarketScreener data showed.
What it means for European founders and investors
Siemens is one of Europe's largest industrial technology groups, so its numbers say a lot about where industrial spending is going. The message is clear: data centre power and cooling, grid equipment, rail and industrial software are growing, and Siemens wants to use AI across all of them. Busch's framing of industrial AI as a new growth engine follows deals such as the recent purchase of Lauterbach in chip debugging tools.
For startups in industrial automation, simulation, energy management and factory AI, that points to a large customer and a possible acquirer that is still investing. The Healthineers distribution also turns Siemens into a more focused technology company, which could leave more room for deals in its core areas.
The results fit a wider pattern of European industrial groups riding AI infrastructure demand. Siemens Energy reported a record year on Wednesday, and Infineon posted a record quarter earlier this week on demand from AI data centres.
Spotted an error? Email contact@europreneursmedia.com and we'll correct it. See our corrections policy and editorial standards.
