Though some builders are experiencing a slowdown, Jacobs is taking advantage of high-growth construction sectors, according to its fiscal third quarter earnings call on Tuesday.
The Dallas-based contractor cited strong demand across advanced facilities and consulting services, especially in the data center construction sector.
“The number of inquiries, as well as engagement we have, have grown substantially,” said CEO Bob Pragada during the call. “[It’s] the highest that they’ve been this quarter.”
Pragada highlighted a new partnership with Nvidia, the Santa Clara, California-based chipmaker, to create digital twins for artificial intelligence data centers. The move could serve as a global design reference for the chipmaker’s customers, he said.
Jacobs will test and enhance the end-to-end blueprint workflow and enable accurate simulations of facility equipment. Through this collaboration, engineering teams can design, simulate and optimize factories within physically accurate virtual environments, according to a May 19 company news release.
“This opportunity with Nvidia is pretty transformational,” said Pragada. “This will be the plan of record that Nvidia will give to their customer base using the Nvidia chip, which we’re already getting inquiries from those customers back into Jacobs. We’re excited.”
He also noted Jacobs’ recent award from a confidential client to help convert a legacy manufacturing site in the Southeast United States into a high-performance data center, part of a broader trend toward vertically integrated facilities.
“We captured meaningful scope on this program by leveraging our cross-sector capability,” said Pragada. “And we are seeing more and more opportunities like this in the market.”
Life sciences and water projects also continue to drive momentum in Jacobs’ portfolio. The Dallas-based construction company highlighted water projects, for example, as one of its most resilient and high-growth markets.
The firm recently won additional work at the Little Miami Wastewater Treatment facility in Cincinnati and expects more long-cycle projects to come online in 2026. Meanwhile, PA Consulting, Jacobs’ strategy and management consulting division, posted 15% revenue growth during the quarter, according to the earnings report.
Pragada expects the strong performance to repeat next quarter despite effects from political uncertainty on the overall construction sector in recent months. He also noted the firm has started to see infrastructure activity in Europe pick up again as government budgets stabilize.
“We’re seeing sector growth drivers in life sciences, semiconductor, data center, energy and power and water sectors that have resulted in continued upward trends in spending across our business,” said Pragada during the call. “We continue to manage well through an uncertain economic backdrop.”
Pragada called the recently passed One Big Beautiful Bill a net positive for the company’s portfolio, despite some state-level spending cuts. He added that only about a third of Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act funds have been spent, and that disbursements should continue well into fiscal year 2026.
Q3 results
Jacobs reported $179.61 million in profit for its fiscal third quarter, about a 22.2% increase compared to $146.93 million in the same period a year ago. Revenue for the quarter climbed to $3.03 billion, about a 5.1% jump from $2.88 billion last year.
Backlog jumped to $22.69 billion, about a 14.3% gain from $19.86 billion in fiscal third quarter 2024, according to the earnings report.
Analysts praised the results, largely due to strong momentum across key sectors.
“Jacobs reported a solid quarter, underpinned by disciplined cost controls and healthy growth in both its infrastructure and advanced facilities and PA Consulting segments,” wrote Faisal Hersi, equity analyst with financial services firm Edward Jones in a research note. “We see healthy momentum across key areas of Jacobs’ business, including life science, water and data centers, which should drive further growth.”
