What happened
Construction and engineering giant Fluor (FLR -1.20%) saw its shares fall back in March after the company sold off its South American operations and tried to wait out a couple of legacy projects that were eating into returns. Judging by the latest results, the company has succeeded in getting back on track.
Shares of Fluor gained more than 15% on Friday after the company easily surpassed Wall Street expectations for the quarter and upped its full-year guidance.
So what
Fluor provides engineering and construction services for large customers. The company earned $0.76 per share in the second quarter on revenue of $3.94 billion, topping the $0.43 per share on $3.6 billion consensus estimate.
The company's energy solutions and urban solutions divisions drove the beat, with revenue climbing 20% year over year. Fluor also booked $3.7 billion of new awards in the quarter, ending the period with a consolidated backlog of $25.5 billion in future business.
"Our positive results for the quarter continue to support our strategic direction and confirms there is strong demand for our engineering and construction solutions," CEO David E. Constable said. "We believe we are approaching an inflection point that will deliver increasing shareholder value."
Energy solutions was aided by the ramping of execution activities on refinery projects in Mexico, as well as a recently-awarded chemicals project in China.
Now what
Fluor increased its full-year earnings guidance to $2 to 2.30 per share, from $1.50 to $1.90 per share, and tightened its full-year EBITDA guidance to $500 million to $600 million. It also reaffirmed its goal of growing that EBITDA number to $800 million to $950 million by 2026.
There is no shortage of demand globally for companies that can manage large infrastructure and construction projects, and Fluor looks well-positioned to take advantage of those opportunities. Investors are understandably excited about what comes next for this construction giant.
