Fluor is eyeing its next construction boom and a payday years in the making.
The Irving, Texas-based contractor posted record new awards in the third quarter, executives said during its Nov. 6 earnings call. The firm expects to win many more major contracts in power and mining construction, said Fluor CEO Jim Breuer.
“Backlog is going to continue to grow, and it’s very fairly diversified,” said Breuer during the call. “It’s gas-fired power, it’s copper, it’s data center work, it’s life sciences, it’s advanced manufacturing. We feel good about diversity.”
Fluor’s megaproject opportunity pipeline over the next two years includes 25 projects with an average size of $4.5 billion, said Breuer during the call. For most of these prospects, Fluor already performs front-end work or has sole-source discussions with the customer, he added.
“They’re more negotiated deals,” said Breuer. “The biggest hurdle to win the work is whether the project gets approved by the clients’ board and it overcomes its financial hurdles.”
For example, Breuer said the firm is finalizing an EPC contract for the first of what could be several gas-fueled power facilities. The pursuit builds on the strategy outlined during the company’s previous earnings call, when Breuer identified energy as the preferred route into the data center boom.
Recent megaproject awards should begin to contribute to earnings next year, with peak activity starting in 2028, said John Regan, chief financial officer at Fluor. He added to expect earnings to build as these projects move into full execution.
“To summarize our thinking coming out of Q3, the core business remains healthy,” said Regan during the call. “We delivered record new awards, simplified the portfolio [and] substantially advanced completion on legacy projects.”
Earlier this month, TeraWulf, a data center developer, tapped Fluor to build three data center buildings in Hawesville, Kentucky. Fluor has already started early construction work on the site, according to the contractor.
By the numbers
Fluor reported $158 million in profit for its third quarter of 2026, compared to a $697 million loss a year earlier. Revenue increased 10% year over year from $3.37 billion to $3.72 billion, according to the report.
Backlog increased 21% year over year to $34.3 billion, its highest level this decade, according to Fluor. New awards also reached a company record of $10.9 billion, including $7.5 billion for LNG Canada Phase 2.
The record award quarter largely matched expectations, according to Andrew Wittmann, senior research analyst at Baird, a Milwaukee-based financial services company.
“Record awards, but largely anticipated,” wrote Wittmann in a research note. “LNG Canada Phase 2 was the largest, with Chilean copper projects and Savannah River extension supporting balance.”
