Powell Industries' Diversification Efforts Gain Traction: What Lies Ahead?

Powell Industries, Inc.’s POWL diversification efforts beyond its core oil, gas and petrochemical markets have enhanced its market share across the electric utility, light rail traction power and commercial & other industrial markets. In fiscal 2025 (ended September 2025), revenues from the electric utility and light rail traction power sectors surged 50% and 87% year over year, respectively, while those from the commercial & other industrial sector increased 19%.

Higher demand for electrical power from data centers in the United States has also been driving the demand for POWL’s products and solutions. Powell Industries has been strengthening its participation across the electrical power value chain and benefiting from solid momentum in electric utility and commercial end markets.

This has led to impressive growth in the backlog level, which was $1.4 billion (up 3% year over year) while exiting fiscal 2025. New orders totaled $1.2 billion in fiscal 2025, reflecting growth of 9% on a year-over-year basis. Importantly, the new orders consisted of awards across all key markets that reflected the company’s core competencies and well-balanced portfolio.

A strong pipeline of projects, particularly within the electric utility and commercial and other industrial markets, along with a solid backlog, is likely to support the company’s growth in the quarters ahead.

Segment Snapshot of POWL’s Peers

EnerSys ENS is witnessing strength in the Energy Systems segment, supported by the expansion of U.S. communications networks and AI-driven data demand. Revenues from EnerSys’ Energy Systems segment increased 14% to $435 million in second-quarter fiscal 2026 (ended Sept. 30, 2025). The global megatrends, including the expansion of 5G, rural broadband build-outs, the modernization of energy grids, electrification, automation and decarbonization, are likely to be favorable for EnerSys.

Eaton Corporation plc’s ETN Electrical and Aerospace segment backlog growth remained strong as orders and the supply chain began to normalize gradually. Rising backlog and solid orders for its products will continue to drive the performance of the company in the long run. The transition in Utility space and Aerospace growth will also benefit Eaton, as its customized products will fulfill the needs of these sectors. Eaton’s backlog, with orders, increased 20%, 15% and 7% in Electrical Americas, Aerospace and Electric Global segments, respectively, on a rolling 12-month basis.

POWL’s Price Performance, Valuation and Estimates

Shares of Powell Industries have surged 45.5% in the year-to-date period compared with the industry’s growth of 7.9%.

From a valuation standpoint, POWL is trading at a forward price-to-earnings ratio of 20.86X, below the industry’s average of 21.68X. Powell Industries carries a Value Score of C.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for POWL’s fiscal 2026 (ending September 2026) earnings has increased 2.5% over the past 60 days.

The company currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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