Legrand (LR)

French rack-PDU + cabinet-electrical specialist — fastest-growing CAC 40 industrial on AI data-center exposure (DC is ~30% of 2026 sales).

1. Core Product / Service

Legrand (EPA: LR) is a French electrical-infrastructure manufacturer headquartered in Limoges. Unlike siemens / abb (MV switchgear-led) or vertiv / schneider-electric (UPS-led), Legrand is concentrated in low-voltage electrical products inside the room:

• Data Center Power & Control — rack PDUs, intelligent power strips, KVM switches, cabinets, busways, environmental monitoring (Server Technology + Raritan brands) [5]
• Building electrical — wiring devices, switches, sockets, cable management
• Cabinets & racks — Minkels (server cabinets), Trendnet
• Lighting & energy — connected lighting, residential energy

For AI infrastructure, the rack PDU + cabinet + Bluetooth/IP environmental-monitoring stack is the entire AI story. As GPU rack power densities climb from ~10 kW to 100+ kW, the intelligent rack PDU (with branch-circuit metering, remote outlet control, environmental sensors) becomes structurally more important — and more expensive — per rack. Legrand's Server Technology (2017) and Raritan (2015) acquisitions consolidated the #1 / #2 rack-PDU positions in North America.

2. Target Users & Pain Points

• Hyperscalers and colos — top-of-rack power distribution for AWS, Microsoft, Google, Meta, Oracle + equinix, digital-realty, QTS
• Neoclouds — coreweave, crusoe-energy, nebius, lambda-labs specifying intelligent PDU on every rack
• OEMs / System integrators — Dell, HPE, Supermicro, Foxconn (Server Tech / Raritan PDUs embedded in reference racks)

Pain solved: rack-level power visibility + control at densities where mistakes are expensive. With 100 kW+ AI racks, branch-circuit metering, outlet-level switching, and environmental telemetry are required to keep utilization high and avoid breaker trips. Legrand's PDUs sit at the last meter of the power chain — between a Vertiv/Schneider UPS upstream and an NVIDIA GPU downstream.

3. Competitive Landscape

Legrand's edge: #1 or #2 rack-PDU share in North America (via Server Technology + Raritan), strongest pure-play exposure to the inside-the-rack electrical layer. Trade-off: no UPS, no cooling, no MV switchgear — Legrand's TAM is structurally smaller per MW than Vertiv / Schneider, but its growth rate is currently higher.

4. Unique Observations

• Q1 2026: total revenue €2.54B (+18.3% organic ex-currency); data-center offerings +~30% YoY; US organic growth +29.1% driven by DC [1][6]. Adjusted operating margin held at 20.7% — pricing power intact.
• FY2025 full year: revenue €9.5B (+13%); data-center sales €2.4B ($2.9B), close to 40% organic growth; DC = 26% of group revenue (vs <10% in 2020) [3]. The DC mix is the highest among major European electrical-infrastructure names.
• Section 4 focus — 1 MW AI DC build-cost share: rack PDUs + cabinets + environmental monitoring typically capture ~2-4% of the $11-20M/MW build cost. Small in absolute terms but growing fastest as densities climb — a 100 kW intelligent PDU costs ~3-5× a 10 kW commodity strip; the new Server Tech PRO4X / Raritan PX4 PDUs target the high-density GPU rack tier.
• DC mix trajectory: management has stated DC could reach ~40% of group revenue over time [3]. Four 2026 acquisitions (~€275M combined annual revenue) all target DC and energy-transition [1] — signaling aggressive bolt-on consolidation in the layer.
• Differentiation vs Vertiv/Server Tech competitive set: Vertiv (Geist PDUs), Schneider (APC), and Eaton (Tripp Lite) all sell rack PDUs as accessories to their larger UPS/cooling businesses. Legrand sells rack PDUs as the lead product — historically through Server Technology's hyperscaler channel and Raritan's enterprise / colo channel. That focus has translated into outsized DC-segment growth.
• Hyperscaler customer concentration: Server Technology and Raritan have been on hyperscale BOMs for >10 years; Legrand does not break out customer concentration, but US DC growth (+>50% in 2025, +29% in Q1 2026) suggests hyperscaler frame-contract penetration is rising sharply [2][6].
• In the Token cost chain: Legrand sits at the rack PDU layer — the last electrical interface before the GPU PSU. This is the most "shovel-seller" segment of the L1 A.c electrical layer: every GPU rack consumes 2 PDUs; every density upgrade (10 kW → 100 kW) drives ~3-5× ASP. Recurring replacement cycles run shorter than UPS or switchgear.

5. Financials / Funding

• Listed: EPA: LR / OTC: LGRDY; market cap ~$45.8B (April 2026) [4]
• FY2025 revenue: €9.5B (+13% reported); +7.7% organic + 5.1% acquisitions [3]
• FY2025 data-center revenue: €2.4B (26% of group), close to +40% organic [3]
• FY2025 adjusted operating profit: €1,962M (+10.5%); margin 20.7% [3]
• Q1 2026 revenue: €2.54B (+18.3% ex-FX); data-center offerings +~30% YoY [1][6]
• Q1 2026 US organic growth: +29.1% [1]
• 2026 guidance: total revenue growth +10% to +15% ex-FX (organic +4 to +7%, M&A +6 to +8%) [1]
• 2026 adjusted operating margin guidance: 20.5–21.0% [1]
• 2026 acquisitions announced: 4 deals totaling ~€275M annual revenue, all DC + energy transition [1]
• DC mix target: could reach ~40% of group revenue medium-term [3]

6. People & Relationships

• CEO: Benoît Coquart (since 2018)
• CFO: Franck Lemery
• HQ: Limoges, France (founded 1865; current corporate structure since 1966)
• Brand portfolio: Server Technology (US PDUs, acquired 2017), Raritan (US PDUs + KVM, acquired 2015), Minkels (EU racks), Cablofil, Bticino, Wattstopper, Starline (busway)
• Top customers (publicly inferred): tier-1 hyperscalers via Server Tech / Raritan, major colos including equinix, digital-realty, plus OEM partners Dell / HPE / Supermicro for embedded rack PDUs
• Strategic context: cited by analysts as having "among the highest data-center exposure in the capital goods sector"; CAC 40 member; M&A roll-up strategy in DC layer is the explicit growth playbook through 2028