VRT Stock: Vertiv is a Hot Pick for Data Center Cooling

Launched as a standalone company in 2016, Vertiv [VRT] went public on the NYSE in 2020.

Since then, VRT stock has been on an upward trajectory. It climbed 252% over the course of 2023, outperforming all the other companies in the S&P 500. Earlier in 2025, the firm debuted on the Fortune 500 in the number 471 slot. 

Part of its success derives from the fact that Vertiv is at the cutting edge of a very dynamic sector. The firm services three principal end markets: data centers, communication networks, and commercial and industrial environments. It provides critical digital infrastructure solutions, including data center power and thermal management.

Let’s look at how VRT stock has been performing of late, and unpack why analysts think it could be an exciting play on the broader artificial intelligence (AI) theme. 

“High Teens” Growth Predicted

Vertiv’s customers include Alibaba [BABA], AT&T [T] and Verizon [VZ]. But that is not the whole picture. 

Writing for Zacks in March, analyst Kevin Cook argued that Vertiv was a “goldmine” in terms of total addressable AI demand. While it does not name major US cloud service providers — such as Amazon’s [AMZN] AWS, Alphabet’s [GOOGL] Google Cloud or Oracle [ORCL] — as clients, “it is believed Vertiv provides some solutions for edge deployments and high-density AI workloads that are likely utilized by a broader range of cloud providers indirectly, given their focus on scalable, efficient infrastructure.”

What’s more, Cook wrote, “given that the big hyperscalers, including Meta [META], OpenAI and Tesla [TSLA], are still growing their data center spend at 35-40% this year, Vertiv should be able to maintain high teens revenue growth.”

However, one key AI partnership has had a clearer impact on Vertiv’s prospects.

In 2023, the US Department of Energy launched its COOLERCHIPS program to fund next-gen data center cooling. One key outcome of this was a $5m grant to Nvidia [NVDA] and Vertiv, who co-developed a liquid cooling system that merges direct-to-chip and immersion cooling. Designed for dense, containerized AI server racks, the system can operate in extreme heat — up to 40°C — while cutting costs and improving efficiency by 20%.

Building on this, Vertiv joined the Nvidia Partner Network (NPN) in March 2024 as a ‘Solution Advisor: Consultant’, the only major infrastructure vendor in the network. The NPN connects partners with training, support and collaboration opportunities to accelerate innovation in AI infrastructure. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang highlighted Vertiv’s role in helping meet the rising cooling demands of next-gen AI GPUs.

Elsewhere, earlier this month Vertiv announced a collaboration with nuclear power firm Oklo [OKLO] to co-develop advanced power and thermal management solutions for hyperscale and colocation data centers using energy from Oklo’s nuclear power plants. A pilot demonstration is planned at the initial Oklo Aurora powerhouse.

Recent Stock Performance

VRT stock started the year on a wave, climbing to $155.84 on January 24, which remains its highest point year-to-date.

Alongside most other stocks, the Vertiv share price fell amid the early days of US President Donald Trump’s tariff wars, to a low of $53.60 on April 7. 

Since then VRT stock has climbed back up 142.89%, although it has yet to regain the heights it hit in the early part of the year. The stock remains up 14.68% in the year to date as of July 23.

Vertiv reported a strong Q1, with trailing 12-month orders up 20% and net sales rising 24% year-over-year to $2.04bn. Adjusted EPS jumped 49% to $0.64, and the company raised its full-year 2025 sales guidance by $250m. A 1.4x book-to-bill ratio and 25% increase in backlog underscore robust demand momentum.

ETN vs EQIX vs VRT

Eaton [ETN] is perhaps Vertiv’s closest peer in the power management space, offering a broad range of electrical and industrial solutions, including UPS systems, cooling and grid infrastructure — products that directly overlap with Vertiv’s core offerings. 

While both companies serve the data center market, Vertiv is more of a pure play on digital infrastructure, with a sharper focus on thermal management and edge computing. Eaton, by contrast, is a larger, more diversified conglomerate with exposure to the aerospace, mobility and utility markets, which offers stability but dilutes its exposure to the fast-growing AI-driven data center trend that Vertiv is riding.

Equinix [EQIX], meanwhile, occupies a different layer of the digital infrastructure stack, owning and operating hundreds of data centers worldwide that house the very servers and networking gear Vertiv helps power and cool. 

While Equinix profits from leasing physical space and connectivity services to hyperscalers and enterprises, Vertiv earns its revenue by selling the physical systems that make those data centers operational. 

In essence, Equinix is a real estate and interconnection play, while Vertiv is an infrastructure equipment provider. Both stand to benefit from the global buildout of AI and cloud infrastructure, but they monetize different parts of that ecosystem.

Source: Yahoo Finance

VRT Stock: The Investment Case

Bull Case for VRT Stock

Vertiv has carved out a critical role as the go-to provider of power and cooling infrastructure for hyperscale AI data centers, offering integrated solutions co-developed with Nvidia. As rising rack densities make liquid cooling a necessity, Vertiv’s ready-to-deploy product lineup and long-term service agreements are helping it generate high-margin, recurring revenue, as LL Insights recently detailed for Seeking Alpha, memorably characterizing Vertiv as “the quiet giant powering tomorrow’s data centers”.

Of the 24 analyst calls collated by Yahoo Finance, seven rate VRT stock a ‘strong buy’, 14 a ‘buy’, two a ‘hold’ and one a ‘sell’. 

Bear Case for VRT Stock

Vertiv faces three key risks. 

First, tariff volatility: the company’s 2025 guidance assumes April schedules hold, but Section 301 changes could squeeze margins if Chinese-made components face new duties before US capacity ramps. Second, the liquid cooling supply chain is still fragile — supply and fabrication risks could delay deployments and revenue. Finally, rivals like Eaton are gaining ground with liquid-ready products and stronger balance sheets, leaving Vertiv more vulnerable to execution missteps.

Conclusion

If it can stay one step ahead of the competition, and ride out any geopolitical stresses, Vertiv could be well-positioned to maintain strong growth as demand for data center infrastructure accelerates. Its deep specialization in this segment, combined with a strong product roadmap and global scale aligned with key customers, reinforce its competitive edge and embed it further into the digital infrastructure value chain.