RBC Sees Schneider Electric's PTC Acquisition as 'Strategically Sound'; Outperform Retained

07:28 AM EDT, 10/26/2026 (MT Newswires) -- RBC Capital Markets reaffirmed its outperform rating on Schneider Electric (SU.PA) after an "unjustified" sell-off, viewing the French energy management and automation group's planned purchase of US-based software company PTC as "strategically sound." "Schneider's shares have fallen ~25% since they announced the PTC acquisition, reflecting firstly fears on dilution of the datacenter growth story and AI software risks, then conversely concerns about the AI datacenter cycle peaking," analysts said Monday. "While the ROIC >WACC aspiration may be challenging in our view, the relative multiple versus Schneider looks attractive versus history. And the business fit creates a more rounded Industrial Automation asset with limited AI software threat in our view. We have fully included PTC in our updated forecasts, with an assumed closing of the transaction at end June 2027 (versus Schneider's guide for by Q3 2027)." The research firm's forecast changes include higher revenue and EBITA estimates over the 2026 to 2028 period, with datacenters still seen as an upside risk to near-term projections. "We estimate the premium datacenter growth contribution since 2022 at a cumulative 10% of group revenues, so even in a downturn this could be manageable with core growth currently at ~7% per annum," analysts added. The stock's price target remains unchanged at 320 euros.