Generac Posts Record Sales as Data Center Backlog Reaches About $4.5 Billion

Generac posted record quarterly sales as data center customers lined up for its backup power equipment, and the company said its backlog of orders for that market has climbed to about $4.5 billion.

The Waukesha, Wisconsin, generator maker reported third-quarter net sales of $1.29 billion, up 16% from $1.11 billion a year earlier, according to the earnings release it filed with an 8-K on Wednesday. Acquisitions, divestitures and currency added a net 1 percentage point to growth.

Data centers drive the commercial business

The Commercial & Industrial segment led the way. External net sales in that segment rose about 28% to $552 million, compared with $432 million a year earlier. Generac said the core growth was driven mainly by ramping revenue from products sold into the global data center market, partly offset by lower shipments to domestic industrial distributors and telecom customers.

Segment adjusted EBITDA rose to $69.3 million, or 12.5% of total segment sales, from $43.8 million, or 10.1%.

The release also pointed back to the company's previously disclosed agreement with Amazon, which included a long-term supply deal for backup generators at Amazon data centers. Initial deliveries under that deal are expected to total a combined $2.4 billion in 2027 and 2028.

"Following the recently announced agreement with Amazon, along with other wins from both new and existing customers, our backlog for products to be sold to the data center market has now grown to approximately $4.5 billion," CEO Aaron Jagdfeld said.

Residential returns to growth

Generac's home business also improved. Residential external net sales rose about 9% to $743 million from $682 million. The company said what it calls "mega-trends around lower power quality" supported higher shipments of home standby and portable generators.

Profit and cash flow

Net income attributable to the company was $109 million, or $1.83 a share, up from $66 million, or $1.12 a share, a year earlier. Adjusted net income was $151 million, or $2.54 a share, compared with $108 million, or $1.83.

Adjusted EBITDA came to $256 million, or 19.8% of net sales, up from $193 million, or 17.3%. Gross margin widened to 39.9% from 38.3%, which the company credited mainly to favorable price and cost effects, including lower tariff costs.

Operating cash flow rose to $171 million from $118 million, and free cash flow increased to $132 million from $96 million.

The effective tax rate rose to 23.9% from 15.0%, which Generac said reflected favorable one-time tax items in the prior-year quarter that did not repeat.

Outlook tightened higher

Generac kept its full-year 2026 forecast for net sales growth in the mid-to-high teens percent range. It narrowed its adjusted EBITDA margin outlook to about 20.5% to 21.0%, from a prior range of 20.0% to 21.0%, lifting the bottom end.

Jagdfeld said the company continues to execute on previously announced capacity expansion plans aimed at the data center opportunity, which he described as generational.

Sources

1. Generac Form 8-K with third-quarter 2026 earnings release (Exhibit 99.1), filed Oct. 28, 2026 (accession 0001437749-26-033685)

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