ABB's third-quarter results, released October 20, showed order intake continuing to outpace revenue. The backlog increased from $23.8 billion a year earlier to $32.3 billion, with growth of 37% on a comparable basis, which adjusts for currency movements and portfolio changes.
Record Orders and Higher Profitability
Quarterly orders rose 40% to $12.1 billion, while revenue increased 14% to $9.7 billion. Comparable growth was also 40% for orders and 14% for revenue. The book-to-bill ratio reached 1.24, and orders edged higher than the previous quarter despite the usual seasonal slowdown.
Operational EBITA, ABB's adjusted operating earnings measure, increased 24% to $2.0 billion. The corresponding margin rose to 20.8% from 19.2%. For the first nine months of 2026, orders totaled $35.4 billion against revenue of $27.9 billion. Source: ABB Q3 results.
Electrification Leads Backlog Growth
Electrification's backlog rose 83% to $16.0 billion, the largest increase among ABB's three business areas. Motion reached a record $7.1 billion, while Automation ended the quarter at $10.6 billion, broadly unchanged from June but higher than a year earlier.
| Business area | 2026 | 2025 | Reported change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Electrification | 16,007 | 8,750 | +83% |
| Motion | 7,065 | 6,176 | +14% |
| Automation | 10,567 | 9,524 | +11% |
| Corporate and Other, including intersegment eliminations | -1,383 | -641 | Not applicable |
| ABB Group | 32,256 | 23,809 | +35% |
The table uses reported US-dollar changes, not comparable growth rates. Corporate and Other, including intersegment eliminations, reconciles the business-area figures to the group total. Source: ABB Q3 financial information, page 4.
New orders in Electrification increased 70% to $7.7 billion. Motion orders rose 14% to $2.5 billion, supported by short-cycle products, while Automation orders increased 1% to $2.1 billion and were flat on a comparable basis. ABB attributed part of Automation's slower order intake to the timing of project bookings.
Data Centers and the Americas Drive Demand
Data-center orders grew at a triple-digit rate. ABB also reported strong demand from utilities investing in electrical grids, infrastructure customers upgrading equipment, and commercial-building and data-center cooling applications. Automation demand remained uneven: machine builders, marine customers and nuclear customers were active, while pulp and paper and chemicals remained weak.
On a comparable basis, orders rose 70% in the Americas, 10% in Europe and 29% in Asia, the Middle East and Africa. The United States recorded 82% growth. Source: ABB full Q3 report, pages 3 and 6-8.
Fulfillment Schedule and Outlook
ABB expects to fulfill approximately 26% of its September-end backlog during the remainder of 2026, 41% in 2027 and the balance thereafter. These are aggregate estimates for outstanding performance obligations, not delivery commitments for individual orders. Source: ABB Q3 financial information, Note 8.
For full-year 2026, ABB expects comparable revenue growth in the low teens, orders to exceed revenue, and an improvement of at least 270 basis points in its reported operational EBITA margin. Those figures are management forecasts. Source: ABB outlook.
Robotics is reported as a discontinued operation and is excluded from the backlog figures above. Its agreed sale to SoftBank Group remained pending in ABB's Q3 report, with closing expected in the fourth quarter of 2026, subject to approvals and customary conditions. Source: ABB Q3 financial information, Note 3.