Jacobs is entering 2026 with a record backlog, driven largely by expanding work in data centers and water infrastructure. During the company’s fiscal fourth-quarter earnings call, CEO Bob Pragada highlighted that the firm’s pipeline in the data center sector has increased roughly five-times compared with earlier levels.
Initially, Jacobs had focused on the “white-space” portions of data centers (the server / network rooms). Now the business is moving into “gray-space” as well — supporting infrastructure such as power and cooling. Pragada pointed to the firm’s partnership with NVIDIA Corporation as a catalyst for this shift.
While the U.S. remains the strongest market for data-center work, Jacobs is seeing growing interest in the Middle East and Europe.
Beyond data centers, several other advanced-facility sectors are showing momentum. Semiconductor fabrication is gaining traction — Jacobs said its U.S. semiconductor pipeline rose by about 20% following a slower period. Life-science work in the U.S. grew by roughly 50% in the pipeline, and Jacobs says its water-sector pipeline rose by about the same amount. The company anticipates high single-digit growth in the water segment heading into 2026.
On transportation, Jacobs scored a $166 million contract in August for the Interborough Express project in New York City — a 14-mile light-rail line linking Brooklyn and Queens.
Financials
In the quarter, Jacobs reported a profit of roughly $122.25 million, marking a decline of about 62% compared with the $325.44 million recorded in the same period a year earlier. Revenue rose to approximately $3.15 billion, up from $2.96 billion a year ago (a ~6.4% increase).
Backlog at the end of the quarter stood at about $23.06 billion, up from $21.85 billion a year ago (roughly a 5.5% increase).
Analyst Andrew Wittmann of Baird noted that the stronger pipeline across life sciences, data centers, water, energy/power and transportation should support healthy activity in 2026 — even though free cash-flow was weaker. He described the results as “nothing overly surprising.”
Source: Jacobs reports 5x jump in data center pipeline
