Quanta Services raises its 2026 outlook again as backlog climbs to $63.7bn

Quanta Services raised its full-year 2026 outlook on 29 October 2026 and now expects revenue of $41.3bn-$41.6bn, up from the $39.3bn-$39.7bn it forecast in its 30 July release, according to its third-quarter results release. It lifted its range for GAAP diluted EPS to $12.57-$12.97 from $11.41-$11.92, and expects operating cash flow of $3.45bn-$4.00bn, against $2.90bn-$3.40bn before. President and chief executive Duke Austin said the company was again making a large increase to its expectations across all metrics, pointing to the third quarter's outperformance and extra strength it expects in the fourth quarter.

Third-quarter revenue rose to $12.01bn from $7.63bn a year earlier, about 57% by Polstob's calculation. Net income attributable to common stock was $694.9m, or $4.55 per diluted share, against $339.4m, or $2.24, a year earlier, and adjusted diluted EPS, a non-GAAP measure, was $6.06, against $3.33. Adjusted EBITDA was $1.4bn, operating cash flow $1.5bn and free cash flow $1.2bn, all of which the company marked as quarterly or third-quarter records. "Quanta delivered another exceptional quarter, with third-quarter results that again exceeded expectations," Austin said in the release, which does not say whose expectations.

Total backlog, which adds estimated orders under master service agreements and some non-fixed-price contracts to remaining performance obligations, was $63.7bn at 30 September 2026, against $53.4bn at the end of June, the July release shows, and $39.2bn a year earlier. Remaining performance obligations were $41.8bn, against $33.6bn at the end of June. Austin said Quanta was running ahead of the multi-year targets it set at its 2026 Investor Day. He said he sees an opportunity for strong double-digit growth in adjusted EPS in 2027; that is not formal guidance.

In September and October Quanta completed two acquisitions for about $245m net of cash, about $96m in cash and $149m in its own shares; it said they are not expected to add materially to 2026 results. It issued $2.00bn of senior notes in August and on 1 September prepaid the $618.8m term loan under its credit facility. Quanta furnished the release to the SEC at 06:58 ET (11:58 CET). Its shares were at $646.005 at 10:46 ET (15:46 CET) on 29 October 2026, up 6.45% from the previous close of $606.89, according to Nasdaq; trading was still open. Reuters, as carried by Boursorama in machine-translated French, linked the rise to Quanta's outlook and third-quarter results, both above analysts' estimates.