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During the first three months of 2026, data centers were often only bright spot in the construction. As other markets have faltered, the artificial intelligence boom continues to fuel new data center construction.
This boom was reflected in the latest batch of earnings calls from publicly traded companies. Even one builder that traditionally doesn’t pursue data centers indicated that it now does.
“We’re actually working in the data center area of specialty and we’re currently exploring ways to expand that,” Gary Smalley, president and CEO of Los Angeles-based megaproject contractor Tutor Perini, said on a first-quarter earnings call. “We want to make sure that we don’t give up on the core market because we know that someday, who knows how long down the road, whether it’s five years or 10 years down the road, that the data center at some point probably won’t be there, at least not as strong as it is now.”
Still, other risks have emerged in the high-flying sector. Since the beginning of the year, data center constructions have faced obstacles in the form of high energy demands and political or public rejection.
Bullish on AI builds
The CEOs on the earnings call touted their various data center wins and how those awards impacted their bottom line to start 2026.
“We still see what we call mission critical, which includes data center work, still has great opportunities for the company,” said Kyle Larkin, president and CEO of Watsonville, Calif.-based Granite Construction. “We are successfully delivering and supplying materials for projects in Washington, Oregon, Nevada, Arizona, Louisiana and Mississippi.”
Jim Breuer, CEO of Fluor, based in Irving, Texas, painted a picture of the long queue these huge builds promise contractors.
“Broadly speaking, we continue to see hyperscalers signaling a multi-year increase in demand for data center and power infrastructure,” Breuer said.
For Dallas-based Jacobs, the share of the data center business grew 100% year over year to around 3-4%, according to CEO Bob Pragada.
“AI is absolutely driving our business in what’s going on in terms of building the AI infrastructure. We’re seriously at an inflection point and it’s accelerating our whole business,” Pragada said.
Obstacles to building data centers
Several cities and states have sought legal recourse to delay or completely stop data center construction in the region. These efforts often stem from concerns about energy costs and water use.
Builders are tracking it.
“People in these cities, individuals do not like the increase in the number of data centers because they are ugly and consume energy. Energy prices can increase locally,” said Pontus Winqvist, Skanska’s chief financial officer. “It’s a potential risk.”
As a result, Winqvist said the Stockholm-based company is ready to help major customers develop data centers in other locations, if necessary.
Also, larger data center builds come with huge price tags. This implies an additional consideration in the procurement phase.
“Contractual and commercial terms in the data center market remain a challenge, particularly in terms of risk allocation,” said Breuer. “We remain disciplined and selective, and are working to shape deals on a contract-by-contract basis to ensure opportunities meet our return expectations.”
