Vestas Finally Catches a Tailwind

Vestas Finally Catches a Tailwind

Mark Nichols

Wed, August 12, 2026 at 6:10 PM GMT+3 4 min read

• VWSYF +17.95%

THE GIST

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Vestas just gave investors the wind update they had been waiting for. After years of cost pain and supply-chain headaches, the turbine maker is finally showing that stronger orders can turn into actual profit.

WHAT HAPPENED

Vestas shares jumped around 19% to 20%, their biggest one-day move in years, after the Danish wind turbine maker reported a much stronger second quarter than expected.

Adjusted EBIT came in at €446 million, more than double analyst expectations of roughly €205 million and far above the €57 million reported a year earlier. Revenue reached €4.72 billion, ahead of consensus expectations of about €4.54 billion.

The Power Solutions division drove the beat, with adjusted EBIT of €397 million and a margin of 10.4%. Analysts had expected a much lower result, with the outperformance helped by stronger execution in both onshore and offshore operations.

Vestas raised its full-year EBIT margin outlook to 7% to 9%, up from 6% to 8%, while keeping revenue guidance at €20 billion to €22 billion.

The company also announced a €400 million share buyback running through the end of the year. CEO Henrik Andersen said the move reflected confidence in the business and rewarded shareholders who stuck with Vestas through its tougher years.

Orders also improved sharply. Second-quarter turbine orders rose to 3.35 gigawatts, worth €3.4 billion, up from 2 gigawatts and €2.2 billion a year earlier. The total turbine backlog now stands at 32.5 gigawatts, worth €36 billion.

WHY IT MATTERS

This is what a clean wind turnaround is supposed to look like.

For much of the early 2020s, Vestas was stuck in the industry's least attractive position: selling essential energy equipment while struggling to make enough money from it. Costs rose. Supply chains buckled. Developers pushed for cheaper turbines. Offshore projects became bigger, more complex and harder to price.

That left the world's largest installed wind turbine maker with a very awkward problem. Demand for wind power was structurally strong, but profitability was not. This quarter suggests that gap is finally closing.

The order book matters because wind turbine makers do not just need demand. They need demand at prices and terms that make sense. Vestas' orders bounced back, and several governments and buyers have been willing to accept higher project prices after years of unrealistic cost assumptions. That matters because the wind industry cannot build its way to energy security if manufacturers lose money on the machines.

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The margin upgrade is even more important. Vestas is now guiding for 7% to 9% full-year EBIT margin, putting it closer to its long-term ambition of around 10%. That does not mean the turnaround is complete, but it does mean the company is moving from survival math toward shareholder math.

The €400 million buyback is part of that message. It signals that management thinks the balance sheet and cash generation can support both growth and capital returns. For investors who watched Vestas stumble through 2022 and 2023, that is a meaningful change in tone.

The operational story also has more substance now that onshore orders are strong, deliveries have beaten expectations and offshore volumes are improving. Management expects the offshore business to return to profit in 2027 after likely staying in the red this year, with Andersen pointing to better ramp-up efficiency and shorter production and installation timelines.

That is the kind of boring improvement investors love. Faster execution means better margins, fewer project headaches and less cash trapped in industrial chaos.

There are still caveats. The service division was solid but not spectacular, and average selling prices fell to €1.0 million per megawatt from €1.11 million a year earlier. That partly reflected the absence of offshore orders in the quarter and a higher share of lower-scope US projects.

Offshore orders can also be lumpy. No big offshore order landed in the quarter, and that does not necessarily mean demand is weak. It does mean investors should avoid treating one quarter as a straight-line trend.

The competitive picture is another pressure point. Vestas remains the world's largest wind turbine maker by total installed capacity, but Chinese manufacturers have overtaken European rivals in annual new deliveries. Companies like Goldwind and Ming Yang are pushing into more international markets with lower prices.

That is why Andersen's comments on consolidation matter. He argues European turbine makers need more scale to compete globally, but EU rules make mergers difficult. His point is blunt: size matters, and Europe may be punching below its weight.

For now, though, Vestas has given investors something more tangible than policy complaints. It has orders. It has margin progress. It has a bigger backlog. It has a buyback. And it has a clearer route toward double-digit profitability.

The wind industry still has plenty of turbulence. But Vestas finally looks like it is turning gusts into earnings.

WHAT'S NEXT

Investors will watch whether Vestas can convert its €36 billion backlog into profitable deliveries and keep margins moving toward 10%. The key tests are offshore profitability, order pricing, US demand, competition from Chinese manufacturers and whether the buyback marks the start of steadier cash returns.

Vestas has caught the wind. Now it needs to keep the blades turning profitably.