Siemens Grows More Optimistic as Shareholders Grow Impatient

Business is booming at technology giant Siemens, surpassing expectations and fueling growing optimism among the executive board while propelling the company's stock to new heights. With a surge of up to seven percent on Thursday, Siemens not only lifted the blue-chip DAX index but also once again overtook SAP as Germany's most valuable company, boasting a market capitalization of €220 billion. "Siemens is very well positioned in its growth markets. Artificial intelligence is a powerful growth driver for our businesses," said CEO Roland Busch to around 4,200 shareholders at the annual general meeting in Munich's Olympiahalle.

However, investors are eager to see concrete results from the "One Tech" strategy, which Busch aims to use to better integrate the company's divisions. "Siemens has the potential to be the winner of the industrial AI revolution," said Arne Rautenberg, Head of Portfolio Management at cooperative Union Investment. "But the capital market's trust is not a permanent state. When will the story finally turn into substance?" For investors, the connection between the analog and digital worlds championed by Busch remains a "black box." Siemens also intends to deploy artificial intelligence (AI) in industry, where it must, however, work more reliably than current language models, relying on data collected by its own machines and systems. "This is necessary and also offers significant potential, but its impact on the group's overall profitability is still too small," said Ingo Speich from savings bank fund provider Deka. "A bursting of the AI bubble could hit Siemens hard."

DIGITAL INDUSTRIES ON THE RISE AGAIN

The main drivers of profit and revenue for Siemens in the first quarter of fiscal 2025/26 (ending in September) remained the Smart Infrastructure division, which benefited from the data center boom, particularly in the United States. Unexpectedly, the former problem child, once-flagship division Digital Industries (DI), staged a comeback. Outgoing CFO Ralf Thomas cautioned against excessive euphoria: The company is "cautiously optimistic" about DI, which has recently struggled with declining sales and shrinking margins. Now, the automation business in China is picking up again. As a result, industrial business profit improved by 15 percent to €2.9 billion, surpassing analysts' forecasts. CEO Busch sees this as evidence of the successful implementation of the company's strategy.

Bottom line, net profit stood at €2.22 billion—expectedly below the previous year's €3.87 billion, when Siemens had reaped €2.1 billion alone from the sale of its electric motor subsidiary Innomotics. Busch raised the bar for the full year: adjusted earnings per share for 2025/26 are now expected to be between €10.70 and €11.10. Previously, the board had forecast €10.40 to €11.00 per share.

Revenue climbed eight percent year-on-year on a comparable basis from October to December, reaching €19.14 billion. CFO Thomas now expects Siemens to achieve seven to eight percent growth for the full year, up from a previous lower end of six percent. Orders soared by ten percent to €21.37 billion, leaving Siemens with an order backlog of €120 billion at year-end.

In the automation-focused DI division, orders and revenue rose by 13 and ten percent, respectively, in the first quarter, driven by the software business on which Busch is placing particular emphasis. However, the multi-billion-dollar US acquisitions of Altair and Dotmatics are still weighing on margins. In Smart Infrastructure, orders for data center equipment alone totaled €1.8 billion, as AI continues to devour more computing capacity. Siemens generated 35 percent more revenue in this segment.

SHARPLY FEWER SHAREHOLDERS IN THE OLYMPIAHALLE

For the first time in six years, Siemens shareholders were once again invited to an in-person annual general meeting. For Busch, it was a debut appearance in front of shareholders. According to Siemens, up to 4,200 shareholders attended. At the last in-person AGM before the switch to a virtual format, there were 7,300 participants. At the online AGM in 2025, as many as 4,600 shareholders attended virtually. Back then, more than a quarter of the share capital voted against the approval of further virtual AGMs. As a result, Siemens was required to invite shareholders to a traditional format for 2026. Over the next five years, at least one shareholder meeting must be held in person. The influential proxy advisors ISS and Glass Lewis have indicated their satisfaction with this arrangement.

(Edited by Rallf Banser. For questions, please contact our editorial team at [e-mail] (for politics and economy) or [e-mail] (for companies and markets).)