French infrastructure company Legrand exceeded financial expectations in the first quarter of 2026, posting stronger-than-anticipated earnings powered by explosive growth in the American data center market.
The electrical and digital building infrastructure firm saw its adjusted operating earnings climb 11.5% compared to the previous year, reaching 524.7 billion euros. This figure surpassed analyst predictions of 519 million euros.
Revenue increased 11.4% during the quarter, with the company’s largest market – the United States – driving virtually all of that expansion through a remarkable 29.1% jump in sales. Technology corporations continue pouring money into data center infrastructure to support the massive computational needs of artificial intelligence applications.
“Since the start of the year, we have announced four acquisitions, all in the data centre and energy transition sectors, representing a combined annual turnover of approximately 275 million euros,” CEO Benoit Coquart explained during a media briefing.
Coquart noted that data center operations are expected to account for roughly 30% of total company sales in 2026, up from 26% in the previous year.
However, the company faced headwinds from currency fluctuations, which reduced sales by 5.8%, along with ongoing weakness in construction and renovation markets across Europe.
European operations, representing 36.3% of total sales, saw positive performance in Germany and Italy unable to compensate for declining business in France, Spain, and Britain.
“We knew the first quarter would be difficult, and it is. Will things improve by the end of the year? That’s still what most experts think, with the big question mark over the impact of the crisis in the Middle East,” Coquart told Reuters.
The company reported minimal effects from Middle Eastern conflicts, with only 2% of sales originating from that region.
“We estimate price effects of 2% to 3%,” Coquart stated.
Legrand maintained its annual forecast, anticipating a 2% negative impact from currency exchange rates.
