Quanta Services lifts 2026 outlook as backlog reaches $63.7 billion

What happened

Quanta Services, the Houston contractor that builds power lines and substations, reported third-quarter revenue of $12.01 billion on Thursday 29 October and raised its outlook for 2026. ^{[1, 2]}

Revenue was $7.63 billion a year earlier, so the quarter was about 57 percent larger by the desk's arithmetic. Net income attributable to common stock was $694.9 million, against $339.4 million a year before, the company reported. ^[1]

Why it matters

Backlog, the company's measure of signed and expected work, reached a record $63.7 billion on 30 September, from $53.4 billion on 30 June and $39.2 billion a year earlier. The firm part of it, remaining performance obligations, was $41.8 billion, about double the $21.0 billion of a year before. ^{[1, 4]}

The two segments

Quanta reports two segments. Electric revenue was $9.80 billion, up from $6.17 billion, and Underground and Infrastructure revenue was $2.22 billion, up from $1.46 billion, the release said. ^[1]

Bought companies carried part of the growth. The quarterly report credits about $1.22 billion of Electric revenue and about $335 million of Underground and Infrastructure revenue to acquired businesses, besides 'increased demand for our services.' ^[3]

The outlook and the demand

For the full year, 'Quanta now expects revenues to range between $41.3 billion and $41.6 billion,' the release said, and net income attributable to common stock of $1.92 billion to $1.98 billion. On Thursday 30 July the range was $39.3 billion to $39.7 billion. ^{[1, 4]}

In the quarterly report, the company said utility demand is driven by 'increasing demand for electricity associated with, among other things, data centers.' On the call, chief executive Duke Austin said 'Utilities are being asked to double in size over time.' ^{[3, 5]}

Asked about reports of data center work sliding, Austin said: 'If something was to slow, I'm not concerned at this point.' ^[5]

What settles it next

The outlook covers the year ending Thursday 31 December 2026, the release said. The company also flagged two acquisitions made in September and October, for about $245 million net of cash, which it said will not add materially to 2026 results. ^[1]

Who it reaches

Quanta Services (PWR) is direct: the results and the raised outlook are its own filing, and its customers are the utilities that build and run the grid. ^{[1, 3]}