Centuri NYSE: CTRI reported record quarterly revenue of $962 million in its second quarter, while raising its full-year 2026 outlook to reflect continued demand across its utility, electric and industrial end markets and the contribution from its recently completed JJ White acquisition.
President and Chief Executive Officer Chris Brown said quarterly adjusted net income rose 44% year over year to $24.4 million, while base revenue, excluding storm work and a one-time receivable write-off, increased 36%. Base gross profit rose 21% from the prior-year period.
“We’re proud to have delivered $962 million of revenue for the quarter, a new quarterly record for Centuri,” Brown said. He added that first-half base revenue grew 33% and base gross profit increased 35% from a year earlier.
Backlog and Data Center Pipeline Expand
Centuri reported second-quarter bookings of nearly $850 million, bringing year-to-date bookings above $2.2 billion. The company’s year-to-date book-to-bill ratio was 1.3x, and management is targeting an organic full-year book-to-bill ratio of 1.2x, or roughly $4.4 billion in bookings for 2026.
Backlog stood at approximately $6.4 billion at quarter-end, up 21% year over year. The company’s opportunity pipeline increased 23% from the first quarter to about $16 billion, including nearly 700 differentiated bid opportunities that account for 60% of the total pipeline. Centuri also had $2.5 billion of outstanding bids at the end of the second quarter, a 15% increase from the first quarter.
Brown said more than two-thirds of pending bids were in the electric segment. He also said bid margins increased by more than 10% year over year as the company pursued higher-margin project work.
The company cited a $125 million data center contract for electrical infrastructure and utility work at a multi-building campus. Centuri had about $2 billion in data center opportunities in its pipeline at quarter-end, excluding opportunities added through the JJ White acquisition.
Other awards included electrical transmission and substation construction work in Atlantic Canada, installation work for a gas infrastructure company, and a high-voltage transmission project in the U.S. Northeast. On the master service agreement side, Centuri booked about $250 million in renewals and approximately $200 million from new agreements and expanded existing customer relationships.
JJ White Acquisition Adds Capacity
Centuri acquired JJ White, a provider of union industrial, mechanical and electrical maintenance and construction services, for approximately $62 million in cash. The acquisition was funded through existing balance-sheet liquidity and is not expected to change Centuri’s target of ending the year at roughly 2x net debt to adjusted EBITDA.
JJ White, which has approximately 1,000 employees, will be integrated into Centuri’s Riggs Distler business. Brown said the acquisition expands the company’s scale in the Northeast and Midwest, particularly for in-plant power and data center-related work. Centuri expects JJ White to contribute more than $20 million of gross profit on a full-year annualized basis.
Brown said the company does not expect cost synergies from the transaction, instead citing the acquired company’s workforce, supervisors and craft labor as capacity that can support additional work for customers. JJ White’s $315 million backlog and $2.8 billion opportunity pipeline were not included in Centuri’s reported second-quarter backlog and pipeline figures because the transaction closed in July.
Margins Affected by Fuel and Workforce Investments
Consolidated gross profit was $69 million, producing a 7.2% gross margin. Base gross margin was 7.9%, compared with 8.9% in the prior-year quarter. Chief Financial Officer Greg Izenstark said elevated fuel prices and investments in workforce capacity affected quarterly profitability.
Fuel costs rose as a result of the Middle East conflict, with average per-gallon fuel prices up 48% year over year. Centuri estimated the cost impact at approximately $6 million during the quarter, or about 60 basis points of margin. The company’s full-year outlook assumes an additional $5 million fuel headwind in the third quarter if elevated prices persist.
Centuri also added approximately 1,700 employees organically during the first six months of 2026, including more than 1,200 employees in its U.S. Gas business. The additional U.S. Gas resources reduced second-quarter gross profit by about $3 million, according to management, but are expected to support stronger performance in the second half and help reduce seasonality going into the first quarter of 2027.
U.S. Gas revenue increased 45% to $489.5 million, though its reported gross margin declined to 4.2% from 7.8% a year earlier. Base gross margin for the segment was 5.9%. Canadian Operations revenue rose nearly 48% to $81.4 million, supported by the inclusion of Connect, and delivered a 16% gross margin. Union Electric revenue grew 23% to $224.2 million, with gross margin improving to 9%. Non-Union Electric revenue increased 11% to $166.9 million, while its gross margin declined to 9.1% from 11%.
Guidance Raised for 2026
For 2026, Centuri now expects base revenue of $3.5 billion to $3.7 billion and base gross profit of $270 million to $290 million. Including estimated storm restoration activity, the company expects total revenue of $3.59 billion to $3.79 billion, adjusted EBITDA of $285 million to $310 million, and adjusted net income of $60 million to $75 million.
Management expects free cash flow to exceed $75 million for the year, a 25% improvement from its initial expectation. Centuri reduced its net capital expenditure outlook to $60 million to $75 million following a sale-leaseback of select equipment early in the third quarter.
Brown said Centuri is forecasting more than $3.6 billion of revenue coverage for 2027 as it exits 2026, representing a 20% organic increase. He said the company remains focused on reducing seasonality, increasing its mix of higher-margin bid work and improving operations as it works toward its 2029 base gross-margin target of 9.7%.
About Centuri (NYSE:CTRI)
Centuri Construction Group, Inc NYSE: CTRI is a heavy civil contractor specializing in water and wastewater infrastructure projects. The company delivers end-to-end services encompassing design-build, engineering, procurement and construction for water transmission mains, wastewater force mains, treatment facilities, pump and lift stations, and stormwater management systems.
Centuri’s core offerings include pipeline installation and rehabilitation, civil sitework, earthwork, structural concrete and slope protection.
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