Siemens profits soar on software demand, AI ‘boom’ [Video]

German industrial giant Siemens said Thursday its quarterly profits jumped sharply, driven by demand for production software as well as the “boom” in artificial intelligence and customers upgrading power grids.

Net profit was 1.98 billion euros ($2.2 billion) from April to June — up about 50 percent from a year earlier and higher than analyst forecasts — on revenue of 18.9 billion euros.

Siemens, whose sprawling global business runs from making trains and factory equipment to systems that manage data centres, said its software business performed strongly, winning a series of major contracts.

The electrification arm of the group also grew by more than 20 percent, said CEO Roland Busch.

“We are benefiting from the boom in artificial intelligence, and the accelerated energy transition,” he told journalists after the results were released.

“On the one hand, many new …