Fluor Corporation (FLR) Earnings Call Transcript

Hello, everyone. Thank you for joining us, and welcome to Fluor's Third Quarter 2026 Earnings Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] A web replay of today's conference call will be available at approximately 10:30 a.m. Eastern Time today, accessible on Fluor's website at investor.fluor.com. At this time, for opening remarks, I would like to turn the call over to Jason Landkamer, Vice President, Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

Thank you, operator. Good morning, and welcome to Fluor's 2026 Third Quarter Earnings Call. Jim Breuer, Fluor's Chief Executive Officer; and John Regan, Fluor's Chief Financial Officer, are with us today. Fluor issued its third quarter earnings release earlier this morning, and a slide presentation is posted on our website that we will reference while making prepared remarks. Before getting started, I would like to refer you to our safe harbor note regarding forward-looking statements, which is summarized on Slide 2. During today's presentation, we will be making forward-looking statements, which reflect our current analysis of existing trends and information. There is an inherent risk that actual results and experience could differ materially. You can find a discussion of our risk factors, which could potentially contribute to such differences in our 2025 Form 10-K and our Form 10-Q, which was filed earlier today. During this call, we will discuss certain non-GAAP financial measures. Reconciliations of these amounts to the comparable GAAP measures are reflected in today's slide presentation and posted in the Investor Relations section of our website at investor.fluor.com. With that, I'll now turn the call over to Jim Breuer, Fluor's Chief Executive Officer. Jim?

Thank you, Jason, and good morning, everyone. This was another strong quarter with record awards, a growing backlog, and continued capital returns to shareholders. I'd like to start by sharing some observations from the Fluor Supply Chain Summit that we hosted this quarter in Greenville, South Carolina. Please turn to Slide 3. The Summit, now in its third edition, brought together 230 vendors and contractors from around the world alongside clients and Fluor leaders. It was an opportunity to align our partners on upcoming projects and on the collaboration needed to deliver them for our shared clients. Over the next 4 years, Fluor plans to spend approximately $50 billion in procurement and contracts on our projects. And as we look to grow our business, we will rely on our supply chain relationships to help us turn new opportunities into successful project delivery. We're executing projects in an uncertain environment. Geopolitical risk, tight labor markets, rising costs, and logistics disruptions demand an agile and resilient supply of goods and services. Engaging early in project planning with contractors and vendors helps us anticipate constraints and build more credible estimates, schedules, and execution plans. These efforts matter because of what our clients need: a well-thought-out, capital-efficient execution plan before committing a project and delivery certainty once execution begins. The summit reinforced that our supply chain partners are ready for the challenge. We have strong relationships built over multiple projects, and we see the opportunity to extend those relationships across new projects in different business lines. Turning to Slide 4. We had some significant accomplishments during the quarter. First, we're experiencing robust growth. New awards were $10.9 billion, a record for Fluor, and backlog is now $34.3 billion, the highest level we've seen this decade. These projects will ramp up to full execution over the next 2 years, solidifying our future earnings growth. And we have additional meaningful awards expected in the near future. Second, our capability to execute mega projects is an important differentiator. Our resume, our people, systems, and footprint set us apart in the marketplace. And I'll discuss this in greater detail in a minute. And finally, we are steadfast in our approach to capital allocation. We're investing in capabilities and creating shareholder value. Turning to Slide 5, Urban Solutions. Here are a few highlights for the quarter. New awards were $2 billion, headlined by 2 copper projects in Chile. Our strategy in mining is producing tangible results, and the need for capacity expansion is clear. Clients want a partner that can carry a project from early engineering through construction with a special focus on supply chain, as I mentioned earlier. Looking ahead in the near term, we're well positioned for the release of a multibillion-dollar copper project in South America, where we are already doing early work. This will be the first large award coming out of our $30 billion mining pipeline that we mentioned last quarter. In the data center market, we recently announced a contract with TeraWulf for the development and construction of a 3-building site in Kentucky. We expect to recognize an award for the first 2 buildings in the fourth quarter upon finalization of pricing. In Life Sciences, we're executing feasibility studies for several clients, including a new facility for Bayer. We expect these studies to develop into larger awards as we progress through 2027. Finally, in infrastructure, we continue to work off our remaining legacy projects. I-35 Phase 2 is on track to open its main lanes by year-end, and LA People Mover should complete shortly thereafter. On this project, we and our project partners are working collaboratively with LAWA to ensure the safe completion of systems demonstration to support passenger service availability. Moving to Slide 6. In Energy Solutions, our next growth cycle is beginning with the LNG Canada full notice to proceed, which we booked in the third quarter for $7.5 billion. I'm pleased with how we collaborated with a client in these negotiations, resulting in a favorable outcome for both sides. The execution plan reflects the benefits of extensive replication, and the contract incorporates valuable learnings from Phase 1 related to labor availability, geopolitical risk, and other events outside of contractor control. Working alongside our JV partner, we are now in full execution mode and are off to a strong start. In power, momentum continues to build, where we're performing planning work on a large gas fuel facility. With this client, we're finalizing the EPC contract for the first of what could be several plants. Our near-term portfolio looks promising, and we expect several EPC contracts next year. Now specific to nuclear power, on the Cernavoda project, our JV team is finalizing the LNTP phase and positioning the project for a full release sometime in late '27 or early '28. Additionally, in nuclear, I'm pleased to share that we continue to expand our relationship with X-energy with a new award for a project at the Hanford Site. This is our second project that will utilize this SMR technology. And in anticipation of the next wave of nuclear development, we continue to deepen our engagement with multiple technology providers to support the pipeline of projects ahead. In domestic refining, we're seeing a resurgence in front-end activity. In addition to the work for America First Refining, which grew this quarter, we're also supporting other major U.S. refiners in advancing the early phases of their expansion projects. As I noted last quarter, we expect this front-end work to translate into EPC opportunities in 2027 and '28. We're also positioning for the emerging opportunities in the Middle East and Venezuela. In the Middle East, we remain engaged with our clients and anticipate more clarity in 2027 on new work. These opportunities will be incremental to our current work across all 3 segments. And in Venezuela, we're taking steps to reestablish our presence, including a local partnership. As a reminder, we have a long history of delivering energy projects in Venezuela. Turning to Mission Solutions on Slide 7. We continue to ramp up on our nuclear fuels work and booked additional scope on the EPC project we announced last quarter. We also recognized a 6-month extension of our management and operation scope at Savannah River, and we anticipate a decision on the new contract early next year. And we're encouraged by the recent announcement from the NNSA approving the start of full-scale construction on the Savannah River Plutonium Processing Facility. Before I turn the call over to John, I want to spend a moment discussing what is one of our key strengths in the marketplace: our capability to execute mega projects. Please turn to Slide 8. At Fluor, we are proud to execute projects of all sizes, but our skill set to execute very large projects sets us apart and is a market differentiator. For perspective, our prospect pipeline in the next 2 years includes 25 mega projects with an average size of $4.5 billion, and we're well positioned to capture many of them. Mega projects require a different level of capability, and the complexity grows exponentially with size. They demand the ability to move seamlessly from front-end development through engineering and into construction, supported by a global supply chain team and experienced leadership and a trained workforce. Success takes rigorous project controls and risk management and the financial strength to ensure delivery over multiple years. Fluor brings these capabilities together: a global footprint, proven tools and systems, a resume spanning 6 continents, and teams who have delivered some of the world's largest and most complex projects. And we continue to evolve and improve. We're investing in AI, in our ERP replacement, and in our Project of the Future initiative to strengthen the tools and systems required to plan and execute projects. The goal is to deliver greater project certainty and to reduce cost and schedule for our clients. And for our shareholders, our mega project capability allows us to be selective, pursue work that fits our core strengths, and generate attractive returns. With that, I'll turn the call over to John.

Thanks, Jim. Good morning, everyone. Today, I'd like to cover a few topics, including Q3 results, capital allocation, plus our outlook for the balance of '26 and some early framing for 2027. Let's start with consolidated results on Slide 10. For the third quarter, revenue was $3.7 billion, up from $3.4 billion a year ago. Adjusted EBITDA was $142 million compared with $161 million a year ago. And adjusted EPS was $0.77 compared with $0.68 last year. Our EPS metrics benefit from the 32 million shares that we have retired over the past 12 months. As a reminder, the prior year GAAP results for Q3 included a $653 million revenue reversal related to the Santos court ruling. So the year-over-year GAAP results are not meaningful on a stand-alone basis. Our '26 GAAP results also include the $73 million gain on ICA-Fluor, our former JV in Mexico. I'll put some perspective around what the sale means for next year a bit later. New awards were $10.9 billion, led by LNG Canada, mining awards for copper, and a 6-month extension for Savannah River. New awards were almost 3x quarterly revenue, which significantly bolsters our expectations of future earnings growth. Ending backlog was $34.3 billion and is now about 70% reimbursable, in large part due to the LNG Canada award. We anticipate the percentage of our reimbursable backlog to trend down to the 60s as we convert the pipeline of attractive power opportunities into backlog. Our approach to risk remains disciplined and consistent. Reimbursable work continues to be an important contracting model, but we will accept fixed pricing where the returns are higher, risks are commercially balanced, and where the scope is within our proven execution capabilities. Let's look at our business segments on Slide 11. Urban Solutions reported segment profit of $100 million, which is a 4.3% margin compared with last year's 2.6%. The improvement reflected a late-stage change order on the legacy infrastructure project, improved profitability on another infrastructure project that reached a construction milestone during Q3, increased execution activity on a large life sciences project, as well as the $25 million effect in '25 for delays at LBJ. Q3 results in '26 also included $25 million for a charge on a mining project, the same project that we discussed in Q1 this year. Working with our partner, we have reached a preliminary agreement on a change order that establishes the path to completing this project by mid-'27. Energy Solutions reported segment profit of $93 million, including the $73 million gain for the ICA-Fluor sale. This means that segment profit was otherwise $20 million or about a 3% margin. This compared with $120 million a year ago without the Santos effect. ES' profitability declined as mature projects rolled off faster than recently awarded projects entered meaningful execution. The graphic we'll show later on Slide 14 illustrates how we see projects generate earnings across our execution window, including these major energy projects. Mission Solutions reported segment profit of $55 million, up from $34 million a year ago. The increase was driven by improved award fee performance across the DOE portfolio and the ramp-up of EPC execution. We ended Q3 with $3.1 billion in cash and equivalents versus $2.8 billion a year ago. That balance supports our planned share repurchases and gives us capacity to internally invest in key enablers, which will drive future growth. This includes our people and systems plus inorganic opportunities. Operating cash flow for the quarter exceeded expectations at $186 million. Our year-to-date operating cash usage of $21 million under GAAP includes the tax payment in Q2 for the 2025 NuScale conversion, which totaled $357 million. The impact on Q4 guidance to come a little later. As it relates to our legacy projects, we did not have any funding in Q3 as the late-stage change order I mentioned offset any Q3 funding requirements. Moreover, the revised forecast now means that our remaining obligations are around $20 million and are expected to hit Q4 investing cash flow in their entirety. Turning to Slide 12. Our financial position remains on solid footing, and our capital allocation priorities have not changed. We will keep shareholder value creation in focus while preserving the flexibility to invest in the business. Under the current chapter of our repurchases, which began in Q4 of '24, we spent more than $2 billion to retire our shares, including $300 million in the third quarter. This translates to more than 20% of our outstanding shares over the last 24 months. We remain on pace for $1.4 billion in repurchases for all of '26. Turning to our internal investments. We continue to build momentum with our Project of the Future and our AI initiatives. We have also made good progress on the design of our ERP replacement, and we expect to enter the detailed design phase of that transformational project by mid-'27. Collectively, these represent a profound step forward in our technology and will streamline both our execution playbook and the internal efforts arising from project execution. Separately, we continue to evaluate selected inorganic opportunities, but it looks increasingly like it's a 2027 consideration. With that context, let's turn to guidance beginning on Slide 13. We are maintaining our full year 2026 adjusted EBITDA guidance of $500 million to $525 million, which implies a full year adjusted EPS range between $2.70 and $2.80, given our expected share repurchase tempo. We conditioned both of these ranges last quarter when we announced the divestiture of ICA-Fluor. So the guidance principally means continued execution against our backlog. For reference, through the first 9 months of '26, we have delivered $351 million of adjusted EBITDA. So our range implies fourth quarter adjusted EBITDA of roughly $150 million to $175 million and adjusted EPS of about $0.85 to $0.95. Importantly, Q3 included some favorable closeouts and settlements that we don't expect to repeat in Q4. So that means real growth in recurring earnings. While some investors may dismiss these closeout efforts as onetime events, they represent the culmination of the earnings from across the project's execution, and I commend those teams for the good outcomes this quarter. Our other key full year assumptions are outlined on the slide, including an adjusted operating cash flow of $430 million to $460 million. Full year new awards book-to-burn ratio potentially approaching 1.4x, with FID on some mega projects over the next few months, but in any case, would be well above 1 for all of '26. G&A will be approximately $180 million to $190 million, which excludes up to $15 million in outside costs for the replacement of our ERP and for other technology and AI enhancements, which I touched on earlier. We assume a full year tax rate of 25% to 27% and a revenue split of approximately 65% Urban, 20% Energy, and 15% Mission. Assuming these splits, we expect full year segment margins of approximately 2.5% in Urban, 7% in Energy, and 6.5% in Mission, all on a GAAP basis, including CFM. Most of our refreshed guidance aligns to Q2, though the G&A growth was offset by PGM growth in refreshing the overall EBITDA guidance. Before I close out Q4, one point worth connecting. The higher G&A and the higher operating cash flow guidance are directly linked. We've built the uplifted cash generation into our incentive comp projections, so stronger cash flow gave rise to higher G&A under the pay-for-performance model. Also, during late October, one of our reimbursable clients notified us of changes to its project scope. We are still evaluating the impact on backlog, but based on our early assessment, we could expect a reduction of approximately $2 billion as early as Q4. Please turn to Slide 14. I'd like to put some preliminary context to next year's numbers when we compare them to the '26 outlook. For adjusted EBITDA, we expect the growth percentage to be in the low double digits compared to '26. This assumes several changes to the earnings base, which I will describe, the expected gradual ramp-up of contributions from recent large awards, and the absence of the same level of closeout on major energy projects. A big factor is the sale of ICA-Fluor, which removes approximately $45 million of EBIT that we recognized year-to-date in '26. So the growth in '27 is far higher for our retained business. Spending on Project of the Future and our ERP implementation will continue into '27. And although that spending will hit our GAAP P&L in whole or in part, they are important expenditures that define how we'll conduct business for years to come and are excluded from the year-over-year EBITDA growth target. As illustrated on the sample burn curve on the slide, our recent mega project awards will enter the earnings stream in '27, but large projects generally take 2 years to approach peak earnings. These mega projects also execute over longer horizons than the work they are replacing, with peak activity starting in 2028. We expect earnings to build as these projects move into full execution. Furthermore, our awards pipeline remains strong heading into '27 when we expect a book-to-burn greater than 1. We also plan to continue share repurchases anchored around half of expected annual free cash flow. We'll be adding to these preliminary 2027 views during February's call. To summarize our thinking coming out of Q3, the core business remains healthy. We delivered record new awards, simplified the portfolio, substantially advanced completion on legacy projects, and continue to direct value to our shareholders. And with that, we're ready to open the line for questions.

[Operator Instructions] Your first question comes from the line of Sangita Jain from KeyBanc Capital Markets.

So I want to ask about the TeraWulf award that you recently announced that you will book in 4Q. Maybe you can share the sizing of that award and whether there is further upsizing prospects in that award beyond the first 3 buildings.

Sangita, thanks for the question. This is Jim. Yes, we're excited about entering that project. It would be for the first 2 buildings, a low single-digit multibillion award. There's a third building at the site that is being estimated and therefore, released a little bit later. And we're also in conversations with that client for potentially other sites. So yes, it could grow. The focus right now is on the first 2 buildings, followed by the third building at the Kentucky site.

Got it. And then on the operating cash flow in third quarter and the outlook, can you help us on what is driving that stronger outlook and the potential M&A targets that you're looking at for 2027?

Sangita, it's Regan. So operating cash flow is a really good story in the quarter and in the outlook. So during the -- and it plays across all 3 segments. So I'll talk about what's in the rearview -- rearview mirror and what's to come. So during the quarter, with respect to Urban Solutions, it was in-flight projects and working capital -- better working capital management across the portfolio, maybe with a little bit of a concentration in ATLS. So that was fantastic. On the Energy Solutions side of things, the ultimate liability and funding of the warranty exposure at LNG was much lower than we had expected coming out of Q2. So our ability to work that down with less cash meant we were able to dividend out more of that money. So that money came to us again in quarter 3 at a larger quantum than we had expected at the time of the Q2 print. And then on the Mission Solutions side, as we said in the kind of the EBITDA bring-down for them, they had excellent fee scores across the DOE portfolio. And so when the federal government wrapped up its fiscal year in September, our fee scores were much better. And so that hit earnings in Q3, but will give us a tailwind on the cash flow when we make collection of that in Q4. That all hang together.

Yes, that's very helpful.

And then on the inorganic opportunities, look, I think we continue to look to build to our depth and to add to kind of the earnings growth that we're expecting. Clearly, we're flush with cash in terms of being able to make those acquisitions, but just haven't been able to get them across the goal line, be increased in focus over the next few quarters. And as I signaled in the prepared statements, we'll look for something -- a little more transparency there in 2027.

Your next question comes from the line of Steven Fisher from UBS.

Congrats on all the awards. Obviously, the election is topical this week. I'm curious if you can just discuss the election impact on data center and your energy business and perhaps your booking opportunities more broadly. And curious what conversations you've had with customers in the last couple of days.

Steve, this is Jim. Yes, we're obviously following the implications of the election very closely. I think we need to let the dust settle a little bit. We're looking at potential impacts on energy, data centers, et cetera, et cetera. But I think if you step back a little bit, the markets that we pursue, Steve, whether it's in the mission space or the private sector space, most of them have bipartisan support. Yes, there's a little bit of growing concerns around the data center ecosystem. But we feel that the data center work that we have today and the power work that we're hoping to book in the next few months is pretty resilient. And I'll also take you even further back around Fluor's diversity of markets, whether it's domestic or international, copper, life sciences, manufacturing, iron ore. We feel pretty good that our diversity is working as. We're not overly exposed to some of the concerns that are out there. On the positive side, both sides of the aisle are very determined to work on permitting reform. I think the permitting reform momentum that's building in the country is going to do well for some of the work we're pursuing. So I think all in all, yes, there are some areas of attention, but we don't expect any significant impact on our company's trajectory.

Okay. That's helpful. And then maybe drilling into the gas-fired opportunity. You talked about some of the larger opportunities there. I assume those are all combined cycles. Can you just talk about what still has to happen to book those? And then can you talk about any simple cycle opportunities you might have? To what extent are any potential customers reaching out to you? And if not, why not? It seems like there's quite a bit of that activity going on and a need for contractors.

We are pursuing those -- both of those types of projects, Steve. We have -- our most matured opportunity is the combined cycle. But shortly thereafter, we're working on 2 simple cycles for a different client that we hope to convert, I would say, around the middle of next year. So you're right. There are both types of projects out there. We're pursuing both of them, talking to several clients. So we -- as I said in my remarks, we expect several EPC contracts to be live next year.

And just to clarify, is the next few months on the bigger ones, what still has to happen to book those?

Sorry. It's just we're working collaboratively with the client on the estimate, the execution plan, and the contract terms. And all that is very mature. Now the client -- in the case of the first project, they have to go to their Board for approval. And once they get that approval, they will give us to go ahead and start.

Your next question comes from the line of Andrew Kaplowitz from Citi.

Jim, I think we all understand that the geopolitical environment these days is quite fluid. But maybe just frame this award cycle a little more versus what you've seen in the past. I think you're going to book more than $25 billion this year. I think you just said next year would be over 1 again in terms of book-to-bill. Do you think '27 could be similar to '26 where book-to-bill could be way over 1? And do you expect bookings to grow in '27 versus '26 despite, obviously, you booked LNG Canada, which is a large project this year?

So Andy, all good questions and questions that we're analyzing and addressing as a team, obviously, every day. So '26 is going to be a good year. As you can tell, we're already at $20 billion essentially at Q3 and anything in Q4 is additive to that. We're saying, as John said earlier, '27 is going to be greater than 1 book-to-burn. Part of the challenge we have is the same story we've been telling you all along is we sometimes struggle defining the exact timing of these big awards. So for example, there's -- we feel very good about a large mining award in South America coming up in the next few months. It could land in Q4, it could land in Q1. That makes a difference when you look at the full fiscal year, but it doesn't really make a difference to us. The work comes in, we start executing it. So I don't know what the exact number for '27 will be yet. We'll have more clarity in the beginning of next year. I can tell you that both years are going to be good. Therefore, backlog is going to continue to grow. And it's fairly diversified. It's gas-fired power, it's copper, it's data center work, it's life sciences, it's advanced manufacturing, it's Mission Solutions. Refining, it's picking up. There may be a nuclear award there. So we feel good about diversity. We feel good about the clear line of sight we have to these projects. The exact timing is not always up to us, but we feel good about both this year, of course, and next year.

I think it comes back in large part to the Board oversight that you referenced with respect to the power project that once they get clearance from their own governance structure, that's the important hurdle for us to get over in terms of booking.

Very helpful, guys. And then we appreciate the color, the initial thoughts on '27 EBITDA. But maybe can you give us a little more color on how to think about '27 from a utilization perspective? Are you still relatively underutilized as you ramp up, particularly in Energy Solutions? And that's part of like the friction in terms of how quickly you can grow? And then obviously, we're not going to talk about guidance for '28, but could you have a bigger step-up? I mean, I see the chart in terms of utilization helping margins as you go into '28, so a much bigger step-up in earnings then.

Yes, Andy, so utilization will improve in '27 and in '28. You bring up -- obviously, you understand the company, and so you bring up a good point. It's not just the large EPC awards. It's also the services that we're also building up, whether it's in front-end refining work or life sciences or even some early chemicals work. The objective is not just to do the large projects, which in themselves have significant utilization, but also continue to feed and replenish the pipeline with services-only work that then will feed the EPCM awards for '28 and '29. So I do expect a gradual improvement of utilization, including in Energy Solutions in '27, but the big step, I think, is going to be in '28.

Yes.

Agreed. And that was at the root of Slide 14 that hopefully landed well with you, Andy.

It did. Just one quick follow-up, John. Any reason why Urban was light in revenue in Q3 was something happened there?

No. I think that's just a typical burn across their portfolio.

Your next question comes from the line of Jamie Cook from Truist Securities.