Carrier's data center orders rose about 300% in the third quarter, and price increases of up to 10% are coming

Carrier's data center orders rose about 300% in the third quarter of 2026 from a year earlier, the company said in its third-quarter results on Oct. 29. Total company orders rose about 35%, not counting its NORESCO business, and commercial HVAC orders rose about 60%.

Carrier's backlog reached a record of more than $8.5 billion, up 60% from a year earlier. The company said it signed long-term agreements "valued at multiple billions of dollars with minimum volume commitments" and that the minimums add to backlog. It did not name the customers.

"Organic orders were up ~35%, with data center orders up ~300%, resulting in over $8.5 billion of backlog," Chairman and CEO David Gitlin said in the release.

Quarter results and outlook

Third-quarter net sales were $6,263 million, up 12% from $5,579 million a year earlier, and organic sales rose 15%. In the Climate Solutions Americas segment, organic sales rose 25%, with residential up more than 30% and commercial up 25%.

Carrier reported a GAAP loss from continuing operations of $3.16 per diluted share, which included a $3.1 billion non-cash goodwill impairment related to its Climate Solutions Europe segment. Adjusted earnings were $0.87 a share, up from $0.67, and adjusted operating margin was 17.4%, up 260 basis points.

The company raised its 2026 sales outlook to $23.8 billion to $24.0 billion, from about $23 billion, and now expects organic sales growth of about 10%. It put adjusted earnings per share at $2.85 to $2.90, compared with about $2.90 before.

Data center detail from the call

On Carrier's earnings call, Gitlin said that "year to date, data center orders have exceeded $3 billion, an increase of nearly 350%." He said Carrier "delivered more than $550 million in data center sales in the third quarter" and remains "on track to deliver our full year commitment of $2 billion."

Gitlin also said that earlier in October Carrier "signed an agreement with a hyperscaler for more than $3 billion." The release does not include these figures or name the customer.

Carrier is "seeing great demand for our new 2 MW and 3 MW air-cooled chillers," Gitlin said.

Price increases

Carrier's price increase is "up to 10% in CSA. I think it's 8% for resi, and that goes into effect towards the end of this quarter," Gitlin said on the call. CSA is Carrier's Climate Solutions Americas segment. ACHR News tied the increases to tariffs and higher costs for steel, copper, aluminum, freight and fuel.

"We had last quarter expected mid-single digit pricing. We ended up realizing low single-digits," Gitlin said.

"If you look at it from a full year perspective, our input cost headwinds are about $800 million," Chief Financial Officer Patrick Goris said. "Of that, a little less than half is tariffs."

Carrier's release says the quarter's margin gain came from "favorable volume and price partially offset by the impact of increased input costs and tariffs." The company recorded about $130 million of operating profit benefit from IEEPA tariff refunds in the quarter.

"We had expected the CSA residential market to be below 7 million units this year. It now appears to be tracking to between 7.5 million and 8 million units," Gitlin said. Goris said "resi field inventory levels ended Q3 about flat to the prior year."

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Sources

• Carrier Reports Third Quarter 2026 Results, Carrier, Oct. 29, 2026
• Carrier (CARR) Q3 2026 Earnings Call Transcript, The Motley Fool, Oct. 29, 2026
• Carrier Residential HVAC Rebounds but Price Hikes Loom, ACHR News, Nov. 2, 2026