The report below gives a good overview of the Fall 2026 M&A activity in the Industrials Industry Sector. The global industrial machinery market is valued at $0.9 trillion in 2026 and should reach $1.3 trillion by 2031, a compound annual growth rate of 8.3%. Robots and automation cells are the fastest growing product group at 9.4% a year, driven by digital retrofits, reshoring programs and service contracts sold on guaranteed uptime. Asia-Pacific held 40.6% of the industrial machinery market in 2025, the latest year with a published regional split. Factory activity strengthened through the quarter, and the J.P. Morgan Global Manufacturing PMI reached 53.0 in September, its highest reading since February 2022. In the United States, the S&P Global Manufacturing PMI climbed to 55.9 in September. Demand for production equipment ran well ahead of last year, with metalworking machinery orders of $732.9 million in August, up 36.3% year on year. Building products moved the other way, as private residential construction spending reached $882.3 billion in August, 1.1% above July but 4.8% below a year earlier. China's August readings were mixed, with the official manufacturing PMI at 49.8 against equipment manufacturing at 51.4 and high-technology manufacturing at 52.9. Europe showed the clearest improvement, with its manufacturing output index reaching a 55-month high of 53.6 in September, supported by demand for AI and defense equipment. The Netherlands, Ireland, Austria, Greece, Germany, Spain, France and Italy all recorded growth. Equity investors remained cautious, with the Industrial Select Sector SPDR Fund down 9.7% for the quarter but still up 8.5% year to date. The quarter therefore rewarded capital goods exposure while the broader factory base stayed soft.
Posted by Patrick Powell.