GE Vernova Q3 2026 Earnings: $29 Billion of Orders, a $9 Billion Trench Deal and a $20 Billion Buyback

GE Vernova reported third-quarter 2026 orders of $29.3 billion, up 96% on an organic basis, and raised its full-year forecast before the market opened on Wednesday, October 28. Revenue rose 27% to $12.6 billion and diluted earnings per share (EPS) were $4.81, against $1.64 a year earlier, ahead of analysts' estimates, GuruFocus reported. The company also agreed to buy Trench Group, a maker of high-voltage grid equipment, for $9.0 billion and doubled its share repurchase authorization to $20 billion. The stock closed on Tuesday at $895.08, up 4.73%, and gained before the open on Wednesday, Investing.com reported.

Gas turbines drove the orders

The Power segment booked $21.8 billion of orders, up 178% organically, led by gas turbines. GE Vernova signed 11 gigawatts (GW) of new gas equipment contracts in the quarter: 3 GW of firm orders and 8 GW of slot reservation agreements, in which a customer pays to hold a place in the production line. Its gas backlog and slot reservations together grew to 122 GW from 116 GW, and the company now expects at least 130 GW by the end of 2026. Total backlog reached $197 billion and should pass $200 billion in the fourth quarter, chief executive Scott Strazik said.

Electrification orders fell 9% organically to $5.4 billion because a year earlier included large orders for synchronous condensers, machines that stabilize the grid. Demand for grid equipment stayed strong, with orders running at about 1.4 times revenue, and the segment's equipment backlog rose 60% from a year earlier to $42.2 billion. Wind orders rose 16% to $2.1 billion.

What Trench adds

Trench makes high- and medium-voltage components for power grids, including bushings, instrument transformers and coils, and employs more than 3,000 people at eleven factories. GE Vernova signed the agreement with the private equity firm Triton Partners on October 25 at about €8.0 billion. It plans to pay half in cash and half with debt and expects to close in late 2027 after regulatory approvals. GE Vernova will owe a termination fee if those approvals are not obtained within set deadlines. Trench joins the Electrification segment, which GE Vernova already enlarged in February 2026 by buying the rest of Prolec GE, a transformer maker.

Past repurchases averaged about $635 a share

Since starting its program in December 2024, GE Vernova has repurchased 15.6 million shares for $9.9 billion, an average of about $635 a share, well below Tuesday's $895.08 close. It bought about 1.4 million shares for $1.3 billion between October 1 and October 23 alone. The board raised the authorization to $20 billion from $10 billion, leaving $10.1 billion available. The company ended September with $16.8 billion of cash and returned $5.7 billion to shareholders in the first nine months of the year. It pays a quarterly dividend of $0.50 a share.