AECOM's (ACM) Prosperity JV Selected by Australia's Sunwater
AECOM’s ACM joint venture (JV) with Jacobs Solutions Inc. J has been selected by Australia’s Sunwater as the Engineering and Professional Services Partner for the Queensland bulk water service provider.
This AECOM and Jacobs JV will support and advise Sunwater in attaining strategic and operational objectives regarding water management through a long-term sole partnership. Currently, Sunwater’s dams and pipelines deliver more than 1.3 million megaliters of water for commercial purposes in Queensland annually, which is about 40% of the total water usage.
This Prosperity JV will help the Australian water service provider build, operate, and maintain water infrastructure assets that are essential to Queensland’s economy. Furthermore, this collaboration will also help Sunwater expand its capacity and capability to meet the current as well as future demand for engineering and professional services.
Following the announcement, AECOM’s shares gained 0.7% during the trading hours on Dec 18.
Strong Backlog & Pipelines Bode Well
AECOM is witnessing robust prospects in each of its segments. Currently, it has a good visibility of a strong backlog and pipelines for the upcoming quarters. The company’s solid backlog levels, which are a key indicator of future revenue growth, indicate significant opportunities in the forthcoming quarters.
Owing to the improvement in the global economic scenario, the company is expecting better infrastructural prospects in the Americas and the international market. AECOM’s pipeline of opportunities is up in double digits in the Americas design business. Based on clients' strengthening funding backdrop, including benefits from the $ 1.2 trillion infrastructure bill in the United States, it expects the backlog to grow further. Also, the company has been benefiting from solid infrastructure spending in the United Kingdom, Canada, Hong Kong and Australia.
In the fourth quarter of fiscal 2023-end, AECOM’s total backlog was $41.17 billion compared with $40.18 billion reported in the prior-year period. The current backlog level includes 54.8% contracted backlog growth. The design contracted backlog in the fiscal 2023 was up 15% year over year. Overall, the company’s performance demonstrates that it has been outgrowing the industry organically and capturing market share.
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Thanks to the aforementioned tailwinds, shares of this professional, technical and management solutions provider gained 11.2% in the past three months, outperforming the Zacks Engineering - R and D Services industry’s 7.1% growth.
Zacks Rank
AECOM currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
About Jacobs Solutions
Jacobs is one of the leading providers of professional, technical and construction services to industrial, commercial and governmental clients. The company operates in four operating segments, which are Critical Mission Solutions, People & Places Solutions, its business unit Divergent Solutions and its majority investment in PA Consulting. At the end of fiscal 2023, the company had a backlog of $29.1 billion, up 4% from a year ago.
Jacobs currently carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell). J delivered a trailing four-quarter negative earnings surprise of 0.4%, on average. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for J’s fiscal 2024 sales and earnings per share (EPS) indicates growth of 4.8% and 11.8%, respectively, from the previous year’s reported levels.
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It has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 25%, on average. Shares of EME have soared 47.9% in the past year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for EME’s 2023 sales and EPS indicates an improvement of 12% and 52.8%, respectively, from the year-ago levels.
M-tron Industries, Inc. MPTI currently sports a Zacks Rank of 1. MPTI delivered a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 35.6%, on average. It has surged 252.2% in the past year.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for MPTI’s 2023 sales and EPS indicates growth of 30.6% and 156.7%, respectively, from the previous year.
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