The project pipeline at Fluor is swelling, but many of those wins have not officially hit the books yet.
In fact, new awards fell sharply and revenue posted a drop, according to the firm’s first quarter earnings call on Friday. Executives during the call said the drop in bookings reflects timing rather than demand.
“We still feel very confident that 2026 awards are going to be higher than 2025,” said Fluor CEO Jim Breuer during the call. “That is on the back of the quality of our prospects that we have in front of us, many of which we’re working on right now.”
The Irving, Texas-based contractor reported front-end engineering and planning work on more than $60 billion in potential projects, with another $40 billion in prospects under evaluation over the next three years. Many of those projects are already underway in the early phases, which Fluor should convert into backlog later this year.
Overall, Fluor’s pipeline has grown 50% over the past year, said Breuer.
“This expansion reflects growing demand across the critical minerals, life science, LNG, nuclear, refining and power markets,” said Breuer. “This is why we’re optimistic about the future and confident in our ability to grow the company.”
Fluor will continue to target opportunities around the artificial intelligence infrastructure buildout, including data centers and the power systems that support the facilities, said Breuer. For example, the company recently signed a limited notice to proceed on a large-scale data center campus in Kentucky with access to 480 megawatts of power.
But Breuer added direct data center construction remains somewhat of a difficult market.
“Contract and commercial terms at the data center market remain challenging, especially regarding risk allocation,” said Breuer. “We’re staying disciplined and selective, and we’re working to shape deals on a contract-by-contract basis, to ensure opportunities meet our return expectations.”
Instead, Breuer sees greater potential in adjacent sectors, particularly power generation. He said demand for these projects is rising due to AI-driven electricity needs.
“We believe that the greatest opportunity for growth, profitable growth, associated with the build up around data centers and AI is actually in the power sector,” said Breuer. “It just fits better our expertise, our strong engineering, our strong global supply chain.”
Geopolitical tensions in the Middle East have introduced some uncertainty around Fluor’s project timing and execution in the region. Breuer said the firm continues to monitor the situation closely, and is eyeing potential reconstruction and energy-related opportunities once conditions settle.
“Our activities in the Middle East have continued without interruption, despite the conflict,” said Breuer. “We continue to serve our projects in the region and mitigate supply chain constraints.”
Q1 by the numbers
Fluor reported $160 in profit for its first quarter of 2026, compared to a loss of $241 million a year earlier. Revenue fell about 8% year over year from $3.98 billion to $3.66 billion, according to the report.
Backlog decreased to $25.73 billion, down around 10% from $28.72 billion a year ago. New awards hit $2.69 billion, down 54% from $5.81 billion in the prior-year period. Reimbursable work accounted for 82% of total backlog, according to Fluor.
The report posted “incrementally negative” results, according to Andrew Wittmann, senior research analyst at Baird, a Milwaukee-based financial services company.
“Messy earnings results well shy of expectations,” wrote Wittman in a research note. “Net, investors want clean results and strong awards; the report missed the former and was okay on the latter.”
