ABB (ABBN) has raised its profitability margin goal as the streamlined Swiss engineering group shifts focus toward electrification and industrial automation. The company, which is selling its industrial robots business to SoftBank Group for $5.4 billion, now targets an operational earnings before interest, tax, and amortization (EBITA) margin of 18–22% over the coming years, up from the previous 16–19% goal.

The Zurich-based company confirmed its current sales growth targets, expecting annual comparable sales to rise 5–7%, with an additional 1–2% growth from acquisitions, in line with previous guidance. ABB has recently benefited from increased demand for products powering data centers for artificial intelligence applications.

ABB CEO Morten Wierod emphasized the company’s commitment to electrification and automation, noting that ABB has the “firepower” to pursue larger acquisitions if opportunities arise. Competitor Siemens recently set a similar mid-term sales growth target of 6–9%.