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 second-quarter fiscal 2026 (ended March 2026), revenues from the commercial & other industrial sector and electric utility sector surged 35% and 14% year over year, respectively, while those from oil & gas increased 11%.
Several favorable trends across the oil and gas market, including growth in energy transition projects, have been proving beneficial for the company. Also, growing investments across power generation and electrical distribution markets have been driving demand for the company’s products. Its increased participation across the electrical power value chain has enabled it to generate solid bookings from the electric utility and commercial & other industrial markets.
This has led to impressive growth in the backlog level, which was $1.8 billion (up 12% sequentially) while exiting the fiscal second quarter. New orders totaled $490 million in the quarter, reflecting growth of 11.6% on a sequential 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 2.6% to $399.5 million in third-quarter fiscal 2026 (ended Dec. 31, 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, at the end of first-quarter 2026, increased 44% in Electrical Americas, 26% in Aerospace and 73% in Electric Global on a rolling 12-month basis.
POWL’s Price Performance, Valuation and Estimates
Shares of Powell Industries have surged 65.2% in the past three months compared with the industry’s growth of 1.3%.
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From a valuation standpoint, POWL is trading at a forward price-to-earnings ratio of 50.92X, below the industry’s average of 24.39X. Powell Industries carries a Value Score of F.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for POWL’s fiscal 2026 (ending September 2026) earnings has increased 3.6% over the past 60 days.
The company currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). 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).