Jacobs is heading into 2026 with a historic backlog, propelled primarily by soaring data center demand alongside strong water and advanced facility work, company executives said during Thursday’s fiscal Q4 earnings call.
Data centers remain the biggest catalyst for growth, according to CEO Bob Pragada, who explained that Jacobs has shifted from primarily building white space — “the primary area inside these facilities where equipment and network gear sit” — to winning more extensive gray space work, which covers supporting systems like cooling and power infrastructure.
Pragada noted that this deeper scope is being driven by the firm’s growing partnership with Nvidia and accelerating demand in multiple regions. “We’re seeing interest now in data centers start in the Middle East and in Europe, in addition to the U.S. The U.S. continues to be the strongest of the three,” he said. “In the last quarter, our pipeline in the data center space has gone up 5x.”
While data center megaprojects dominate the pipeline, other high-tech construction markets are also turning upward. Semiconductor projects have bounced back after a lull. “In the semiconductor world, we’re seeing more growth there after some flatness over the course of the last year,” Pragada said. He noted that much of the activity is tied to high-bandwidth memory manufacturing for U.S. clients.
Life sciences also played a major role in the company’s performance, with a 50% increase in the U.S. pipeline. Water infrastructure demand continues to accelerate as well. “Water sector continues to be a strong sector for us globally, that’s up 50%,” Pragada added. Together, he said, these markets position Jacobs for a strong 2026.
Transportation activity contributed as well, including a major $166 million contract secured in August for New York’s $5.5 billion Interborough Express rail project.
Pragada summarized the company’s strongest growth drivers: “[Sectors] that would drive the high end of the range would be life sciences and data centers, clearly. … We’re seeing semiconductor fabrication facilities start to move. And so if that were to accelerate, that would definitely be a tailwind.”
Jacobs posted net profit of $122.25 million in the fiscal fourth quarter, a steep decline compared to $325.44 million in the same period last year. Revenue, however, increased to $3.15 billion, up from $2.96 billion, signaling higher activity despite lower margins and weaker free cash flow.
The company’s backlog rose to $23.06 billion, up from $21.85 billion, marking another historic peak. Analysts remain optimistic, citing diversified strength in life science, digital infrastructure, water, energy, power and transportation markets. Andrew Wittmann of Baird described the quarter as solid, writing, “Backlog ends at another record,” and added that while free cash flow was weaker, there was “nothing overly surprising” in the latest financials.
Jacobs’ expanded role in data center gray space marks a significant competitive shift. As data centers become more energy and cooling intensive—especially for AI workloads—contracts increasingly reward firms capable of delivering full-lifecycle digital infrastructure. Momentum in semiconductors and water infrastructure also aligns with global incentives tied to AI, chip independence and climate resiliency, pushing the built environment deeper into high-tech and sustainability-driven engineering.
In short, Jacobs isn’t just building facilities—it’s moving into the core systems that power tomorrow’s technology.
Originally reported by Sebastian Obando in Construction Dive.
