Rockwell Automation, which is targeting electric-vehicle manufacturers and suppliers as a growth market, hit a bullseye via a contract for Hyundai Motor Co.’s planned $5.5 billion electric vehicle and battery plant in Georgia.
Rockwell Automation chairman and CEO Blake Moret called it a “key EV win” during a Wednesday analyst call. Hyundai selected Milwaukee-based Rockwell (NYSE: ROK) as the controls partner for press, body, paint and general assembly at the new plant, Moret said.
Moret cited the project as an example of Rockwell’s sales to the automotive market increasing 25% in the quarter that ended Sept. 30.
The dollar value of the Rockwell contract wasn’t disclosed.
“Our solutions are the very things that Rockwell does best where we bring hardware and the hardware solutions coupled with software services,” Rockwell chief financial officer Nick Gangestad said in a Wednesday interview with the Milwaukee Business Journal. “We’re very pleased with this win that we can be providing these solutions that Hyundai found so valuable as they’re establishing this presence in Georgia.”
The plant near Savannah is the Korean automaker’s first electric-vehicle plant in the United States. Hyundai plans to begin commercial production at the “metaplant” by 2025.
Rockwell executives continue to see investments in the EV transition from both traditional automakers and EV startups, Moret said during the company’s July analyst call.
The recent win with Hyundai follows Rockwell being selected by Chery Auto of China, which is building a plant, for Rockwell’s manufacturing execution system (MES) solutions, Internet-of-Things (IoT) solutions, and core automation offerings, Moret said.
“In addition to working with leading electric vehicle manufacturers, we continue to gain share in the EV battery space, with several competitive wins in the (June 30) quarter, both in Asia and Europe,” Moret said in July.
Automotive has long been a key customer group for Rockwell and now Rockwell is extending from manufacturers of internal-combustion vehicles into manufacturers of EVs and their suppliers.
Gangestad said Rockwell has been investing in technologies and solutions that help the company compete for business with the EV automakers and their suppliers.
Rockwell is focused on addressing challenges faced by battery manufacturers including how Rockwell can provide technology to help the manufacturers more efficiently produce batteries, Gangestad said.
“That helps solve some of the problems that battery manufacturers have and that’s part of what we do and part of why we won this particular opportunity,” he said of the Hyundai contract.
Rockwell reported adjusted earnings of $353.8 million, or $3.04 per share, in its fiscal fourth quarter ending Sept. 30, compared with $2.33 in the same period a year ago. The earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.94.
Fourth-quarter revenue was $2.13 billion, which was an increase of 17.6% from a year earlier and slightly more than the Zacks Consensus Estimate.
Moret told analysts Wednesday that Rockwell’s record backlog and underlying customer demand set the stage “for another year of strong sales growth” in fiscal 2023 amid economic and supply-chain headwinds. The company predicts sales growth of 7.5% to 11.5% in fiscal 2023.
https://www.bizjournals.com/milwaukee/news/2022/11/03/rockwell-hyundai-battery.html