ABB Shares Attractive Even When Factoring in a Slower 2023 Due to Potential Macro Headwinds

Equity Analyst

Matthew Donen

ABB generates around 40% of its revenue from electrical equipment and around 40% from industrial automation products. While it has low exposure to faster-growing software, it has a fast-growing robotics business, where it is the number-two global supplier; this contributes around 9% of revenue. We project 4% medium-term revenue growth for ABB. 

Automation is the fastest-growing category in the industrial space, and ABB has an enviable base of robotics and automation customers that puts it in a solid position for Industry 4.0, or the Industrial Internet of Things. Its robotics and industrial controller (used to program equipment) products have leading market share and enjoy loyal customer bases that would be difficult for competitors to capture. Furthermore, ABB’s electrification products division offers some overlap with other customer segments, such as process industries, that could prove useful in cross-selling the automation portfolio. 

However, growing demand from Industry 4.0 has meant that ABB and its close competitors have had to refresh their product offerings, acquiring or developing in-house industrial automation components and software. ABB has been slow to refresh its product offering and in some cases has had to turn to second-best choices. 

ABB's software strategy lags that of competitors like Siemens and Schneider. ABB has a hybrid strategy for its Industry 4.0 software, offering most of its equipment productivity and maintenance optimization software from its own developed software portfolio, while for design and simulation software, it has a partnership with Dassault Systemes. The partnership structure deprives ABB of the advantage of in-house development that Siemens and Schneider enjoy, as they offer similar software developed by in-house engineering teams.

Business Strategy & Outlook

We believe ABB has a wide moat based on its switching costs and intangible assets. ABB is the number-one or number-two supplier in all of its core markets, and its products are embedded in its customers’ processes.

The origins of the switching costs and intangible assets for the industrial automation and robotics and motion divisions, contributing a combined 50% of group EBIT before intersegment adjustments, are the same, and we consider these to be wide-moat businesses. Both are integrated into customers’ processes, with a high degree of technical skill. At their core, they both run machines and ensure efficiencies, as well as other operational performance metrics, through control systems. These involve a system of motors, sensors, and microprocessors that power equipment and simultaneously feed back key measurements into ABB’s control software. Measurements of temperature, vibration, power, and other elements enable the software to predict maintenance needs, as well as changes needed to meet performance requirements. Service and software constitute 41% and 16% of revenue for industrial automation and robotics and motion, respectively. 

Industrial automation deals with process automation—think of chemical plants, refineries, oil production, and food processing for items like yoghurts. Oil and gas customers make up nearly one third of this segment, and marine a similar amount. Both of these industries are running processes 24/7 and in potentially dangerous environments, and therefore tend to be very conservative when it comes to picking suppliers. In marine, the company has a monopoly on electric propulsion systems. But the most common product in this segment is the control system. 

Robotics and motion deals with discrete automation, which is the control of objects. But for ABB, this essentially means control of its robot fleet. ABB is the number-two industrial robotic arm supplier, behind Fanuc and ahead of Kuka and Yaskawa. Most of its robots are controlled by algorithm-based software and connected to its data centers. ABB continuously draws data from the robots across all customers, feeds the data into algorithms to extract performance improvements, and then distributes those updates to all of the robots online at its customer premises. This has three benefits to ABB: a regular revenue stream, greater customer dependency on its systems to meet performance targets, and an informational advantage over its competitors. This division also sells motors and drives (control the speed of the motors), where ABB is the number-one supplier in both segments. 

The company also supplies medium- and low-voltage products to the industry, utilities, and in buildings through its electrification products division, which generates 35% of group EBIT before intersegment adjustments. We would argue that this is a strong narrow-moat segment, but we hesitate to assign a wide moat rating because the life of some of the components is shorter than that of high-voltage equivalents, and for supply to buildings, customers may move premises within a 10- to 20-year time frame. This segment offers equipment for local substations as well as components for in-building electricity distribution. As with power grids, customers look to suppliers to ensure constant energy supply and tend to stick with known suppliers. For buildings, ensuring clean power supply is critical, as large pieces of equipment (like air-conditioning systems in the summer) can create distortions in in-building electrical transmission and disrupt supply. Many modern electrical components contain software, such as smart meters, and integrating all of a building’s components to guard against power supply disruptions requires a high level of design and engineering skill.

Wide

Economic Moat

ABB Ltd.

ABB Ltd. is a technology company, which engages in the development and provision of electrification, motion and automation solutions. It operates through the following business segments: Electrification, Motion, Process Automation and Robotics & Discrete Automation. The Electrification segment manufactures and sells electrical products and solutions which are designed to provide safe, smart and sustainable electrical flow from the substation to the socket. The Motion segment manufactures and sells drives, motors, generators, traction converters and mechanical power transmission products that are driving the low-carbon future for industries, cities, infrastructure and transportation. The Process Automation segment develops and sells a broad range of industry-specific, integrated automation and electrification and digital systems and solutions, as well as digital solutions, life cycle services, advanced industrial analytics and artificial intelligence applications and suites for the process, marine and hybrid industries. The Robotics & Discrete Automation segment delivers its products, solutions and services through two operating Divisions: Robotics and Machine Automation. The company was founded on January 5, 1988 and is headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland.

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ABB's divestment of the remaining 19.9% stake in Hitachi Energy joint venture to Hitachi helps it focus entirely on industrial customers.

ABB Divests Remaining Stake in Hitachi Energy Joint Venture

ABB is set to benefit from higher orders due to robust customer activity and accretive pricing actions. Acquisition made by the company and its measures to reward its shareholders are encouraging.

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ABB has completed the sale of its remaining 19.9% stake in the power grids business it sold to Hitachi , the Swiss engineering and technology group said on Wednesday.

ABB gets $1.4 bln after completing power grids sale to Hitachi

ABB shares are down ~(21%) YTD as FY ‘22 comes to a close, even lagging the Euro STOXX Industrials index which is down ~(16%) YTD. After a rough 1H, Q3 results were strong with strength in the Electrification and Motion businesses, which together contribute ~75% of ABB's operating EBITDA.

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MONTREAL, Dec. 13, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ABB's Sensi+ analyzer offers a reliable new solution which simplifies and reduces the cost of pipeline operation and maintenance. It enables safer, easier, and more efficient pipeline monitoring and operations through a single device that can analyze up to three contaminants (H2S, H2O, CO2) in any natural gas stream accurately and in real time. Its fast response also enables quick reaction to process upsets, thus helping to reduce waste and methane emissions.

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Swiss engineering and technology group ABB Ltd agreed to pay more than $315 million to resolve an investigation into a bribery case at a South African state-owned energy company, the U.S. Justice Department said on Friday.

U.S. says Swiss engineering group ABB to pay over $315 mln to resolve bribery case

Swiss engineering and technology group ABB has been fined 4 million Swiss francs ($4.3 million) by the country's Attorney General in connection with a bribery case in South Africa.

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ZURICH--( BUSINESS WIRE )--With businesses around the world facing unprecedented pressure from the cost of energy and the urgency of climate change, a new report from the Energy Efficiency Movement shows that improving industrial energy efficiency is the fastest and most effective way for a business to cut energy costs and greenhouse gas emissions. The Energy Efficiency Movement is a global forum of around 200 organizations sharing ideas, best practices and commitments to create a more energy-efficient world.

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LONDON & NEW YORK & STOCKHOLM--( BUSINESS WIRE )--Tallarna, an award-winning climate tech company for the built environment, today announced that it has closed a strategic partnership and minority investment deal with ABB, a technology leader in electrification and automation. This signals a joint commitment to a software-led, risk-managed approach to accelerate net zero.

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ZURICH--( BUSINESS WIRE )--ABB E-mobility, a global leader in electric vehicle (EV) charging solutions, today announced that it has signed a pre-IPO private placement of approximately CHF200 million for newly issued shares, led by new minority investors. The transaction will close during the fourth quarter 2022. ABB E-mobility will use the proceeds to continue the execution of its growth strategy, driven by both organic and M&A investments in hardware and software.

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ABB's third-quarter 2022 revenues increased 5.4% year over year on impressive performance across most segments. Order rises in Electrification and Motion segments.

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ABB Ltd (NYSE:ABB ) Q3 2022 Earnings Conference Call October 20, 2022 4:00 AM ET Company Participants Bjorn Rosengren - Chief Executive Officer Timo Ihamuotila - Chief Financial Officer Ann-Sofie Nordh - Head of Investor Relations Conference Call Participants Martin Wilkie - Citi Alexander Virgo - Bank of America Gael de-Bray - Deutsche Bank Ben Uglow - Morgan Stanley Guillermo Peigneux - UBS James Moore - Redburn William Mackie - Kepler Cheuvreux Joe Giordano - Cowen Daniela Costa - Goldman Sachs Ann-Sofie Nordh Greetings to all, and nice to connect again, as I welcome you to the presentation of ABB's Third Quarter Results. I'm Ann-Sofie Nordh, Head of Investor Relations.

ABB Ltd (ABB) Q3 2022 Earnings Call Transcript

ABB reported better-than-expected core operating profit during its third quarter, with the engineering and technology company saying on Thursday it was seeing no changes in underlying customer activity which remained at a high level.

ABB reports better-than-expected Q3 operating profit

ZURICH--(BUSINESS WIRE)--ABB (SWX:ABBN): KEY FIGURES                                             CHANGE           CHANGE ($ millions, unless otherwise indicated)   Q3 2022   Q3 2021   US$   Comparable1   9M 2022   9M 2021   US$   Comparable1 Orders   8,188   7,866   4%   16%   26,368   23,611   12%   22% Revenues   7,406   7,028   5%   18%   21,622   21,378   1%   10% Gross Profit   2,481   2,294   8%       7,052   7,070   0%     as % of revenues   33.5%   32.6%   +0.9 pts       32.6%   33.1%

ABB: Q3 2022 Results

ABB Ltd. said Monday that it had completed the spinoff of its turbocharging unit, now called Accelleron, offering one new Accelleron share for each 20 ABB shares.

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ZURICH--(BUSINESS WIRE)--ABB announces that Accelleron Industries AG (formerly ABB Turbocharging), a global leader in high-power turbochargers for mission-critical applications, has been admitted to start trading on SIX Swiss Exchange in Zurich under the ticker symbol “ACLN”, marking the completion of Accelleron's spin-off from ABB. The listing follows ABB shareholders' approval of the spin-off at its Extraordinary General Meeting, held on September 7, 2022. ABB has distributed the Accelleron s

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ABB exercises its call option to exit the remaining 20% stake in Hitachi Energy joint venture. The company does not expect to record any material gain or loss from the sale.

ABB to Exit Remaining Stake in Hitachi Energy Joint Venture

ZURICH--(BUSINESS WIRE)--ABB has reached an agreement to divest to Hitachi, Ltd. (Hitachi) its remaining 19.9 percent equity stake in the Hitachi Energy joint venture that was formed from ABB's Power Grids business in 2020, with Hitachi holding a stake of 80.1 percent. Hitachi has exercised its call option that was agreed between the parties in December 2018. The call option's exercise value is $1.679 billion. The companies have agreed to settle remaining obligations relating to the original tr

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MONTREAL, Sept. 28, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ABB is investing US $13 million in its Installation Products Division Iberville manufacturing facility in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec, to increase production capacity and establish a research & development facility at its global center of excellence for cable tray manufacturing. This will support rising global demand, especially in the data center segment, and is ABB's second multimillion-dollar investment in a Canadian site in the last 12 months.

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