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Jacobs enters 2026 with a record-level backlog, largely due to data centers and water projectsaccording to its fiscal fourth quarter earnings call on Thursday.
The wins in the data center industry are still accelerating, CEO Bob Pragada said on the call. Initially, Jacobs’ reach in the industry had been limited to white space, or the main area within these facilities where equipment and network equipment are located.
Now, Pragada said, more of Jacobs’ work also extends to gray space, which includes supporting infrastructure such as power and cooling. The Dallas-based contractor partnership with Nvidia is driving much of that expanded reach, Pragada said.
“We’re seeing interest in data centers now starting in the Middle East and Europe, in addition to the US. The US remains the strongest of the three,” Pragada said on the call. “In the last quarter, our pipeline in the data center space has increased 5x.”
Beyond digital infrastructure, the company highlighted strong growth in other advanced facilities sectors. Semiconductor activity is picking up again, with Jacobs’ US pipeline up about 20% after a slower period, Pragada said.
“In the semiconductor world, we’re seeing more growth after some flatness over the last year,” Pragada said on the call. “It’s really focused on high-bandwidth memory for the US customer in the US”
Bob Pragada
Courtesy of Jacobs
Life sciences projects also delivered a strong fourth quarter, with the US pipeline up 50%, according to Jacobs. This also reflected strength in water-related activity. Jacobs expects high single-digit growth in the sector heading into 2026.
“The water sector remains a strong sector for us globally, that’s up 50%,” Pragada said. “So overall, the pipeline looks very strong as we head into fiscal 2026.”
Transport activity also continued to strengthen globally. Jacobs won a $166 million contract in August over the $5.5 billion Interborough Express Project in New York City, a 14-mile light rail line connecting Brooklyn and Queens.
“[Sectors] What would drive the higher end of the range would be life sciences and data centers, of course. It’s a matter of these sectors moving to the beat. This shouldn’t be sped up, just keep pace,” Pragada said. “We’re seeing semiconductor manufacturing facilities start to move. And so if that were to accelerate, that would definitely be a tailwind.”
Results Q4
Jacobs reported profit of $122.25 million for its fiscal fourth quarter of the year, about a 62% drop from $325.44 million last year. Revenue for the quarter rose to $3.15 billion, a gain of about 6.4% from $2.96 billion a year ago.
The backlog rose to $23.06 billion, a roughly 5.5% gain from $21.85 billion in the fiscal fourth quarter of 2024, according to the earnings report.
“The record ends in another record,” Baird senior research analyst Andrew Wittmann wrote in a research note. Added strength in the life sciences, data center, water, power, energy and transportation sectors will support strong activity next year. While Wittmann noted weaker free cash flow, he wrote “nothing too surprising” regarding the report.
