Demand for cooling equipment used in data centres worldwide has led Cork-headquartered Johnson Controls International to raise its 2026 profit forecast, the company confirmed on Wednesday.
First quarter sales (ending December 31, 2025) increased 7% to $5.79bn (€4.9bn), above $5.43bn (€4.6bn) a year earlier. The company based on Albert Quay in Cork city centre is anticipating sustained demand for its thermal management and cooling equipment used in data centres.
Sales in the US in the quarter of $3.8bn were 6% on the previous year. “Excluding mergers and aquisitions and adjusted for foreign currency, orders increased 56% year-over-year and backlog of $13.3bn increased 22% year-over-year. The increase in backlog and orders was primarily due to demand led by customers’ accelerated investments in data centre projects,” the company said in a statement. Sales in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia stood at €1.15bn for the quarter.
US-listed shares of the company rose 9% in early trading. They had gained 51.7% in 2025. The industrial supplier, whose portfolio spans IT cooling, security, and fire systems, is gaining from the data-centre expansion fuelled by artificial intelligence companies, part of a broader upswing for industrial companies supplying the infrastructure behind the AI boom.
With more AI computing coming online, demand for cooling infrastructure is climbing, and customers are prioritising robust, energy-efficient thermal management. “As rack densities rise and hardware content per rack increases, the thermal load moves higher, ultimately driving greater spending on cooling infrastructure,” Jefferies analyst Stephen Volkmann wrote in a note.
Johnson Controls raised its full-year adjusted profit forecast to $4.70 per share from $4.55 per share, topping analysts’ average estimate of $4.61 per share, according to data compiled by LSEG.
The company caters to companies in the aerospace manufacturing, healthcare, and commercial construction industries. Its products include heating, ventilation and cooling (HVAC) systems, security, fire systems, and refrigeration equipment.
The company’s second-quarter adjusted profit forecast of $1.11 per share also came in above analysts’ average estimates of $1.05 per share. It reported adjusted profit of 89c per share for the quarter ended December 31, compared with 64c per share last year.
Johnson Controls is headquartered in Ireland and pays corporation tax here. The company had an income tax provision of €350m for the year ended December 31, 2025.
