AECOM said during its third-quarter fiscal 2026 earnings call on Tuesday that the data center construction boom still has ample room to grow, especially asclient spending continues to climb. Company President Lara Poloni noted that, unlike previous cycles, the current financing environment is "extremely healthy," providing strong tailwinds across several of the contractor's core markets, with U.S. private sector investment also accelerating.

"The data center sector in particular remains one of our fastest-growing businesses, and we continue to expand our work with hyperscale customers," Poloni said. "Our data center business and pipeline remain strong and growing rapidly."

Beyond data center growth, CEO Troy Rudd said AECOM also sees opportunities in commercial and healthcare projects. Poloni added that AECOM's water and Department of Defense pipelines each expanded by approximately 30% during the quarter, including a significant increase in facilities work—where AECOM is a leading provider to the Army and Navy.

She also noted that state and local clients have announced significant multi-year infrastructure plans, with projects concentrated in highways, bridges, transit, and rail—core sectors where AECOM continues to win work.

"Additionally, Congress is advancing the next five-year surface transportation authorization bill," Poloni said. "The initial $580 billion proposal in the House includes funding across all the key areas we work in, which further reinforces our confidence in continued bipartisan support for infrastructure investment."

However, that funding has not yet been finalized, and the original $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act expires on September 30.

Construction management project charge

Despite the optimistic outlook across the Dallas-based company's core business segments, AECOM reported a $337 million charge due to subcontractor productivity issues on a construction management project that pushed the expected completion date into next year.

Milwaukee-based financial services firm Baird, in an analyst note provided to Construction Dive, attributed the charge to a contract AECOM holds on the Kennedy Airport modernization project. AECOM did not identify the specific project during the earnings call.

Rudd said the company originally expected the project to be substantially complete in the first quarter of 2027. Now, the project—which AECOM won in 2019—is expected to reach completion status by the end of the company's second quarter of fiscal 2027.

"The biggest factor is the overall productivity of subcontractors in the final phases of the work," Rudd said on the call. "We are disappointed in this outcome, but want to add some context: this project was bid in 2019. Since then, we have changed leadership and tightened our risk controls."

AECOM Chief Financial and Operating Officer Gaurav Kapoor said the company no longer takes on design-build P3 projects in its construction management business. The company now focuses primarily on guaranteed maximum price contracts, where design and subcontractor costs are further defined before AECOM assumes additional risk.

"These types of projects simply would not get approved under our current structure and commercial framework," Kapoor said on the call. "There are no design-build P3 projects in our construction management portfolio—that business no longer exists."

Key third-quarter figures

AECOM reported a net loss of $86.71 million for the third quarter of fiscal 2026, compared with a profit of $130.97 million in the same period last year. Revenue for the quarter totaled $3.59 billion, down 14% year over year, according to the report. The company said the $337 million charge impacted both quarterly revenue and profitability.

Third-quarter backlog reached a record $27.82 billion, up 13% year over year.

Baird called the results "negative-leaning" in its analysis.

"AECOM's fiscal Q3 2026 report revealed a $337 million project charge and a reduction in the company's forward revenue guidance, which easily overshadowed a strong quarterly bookings performance," wrote Baird Senior Research Analyst Andrew Wittmann. "The high cash burn rate last quarter foreshadowed these charges, cushioning today's impact to some degree, but the magnitude is notable, and the project still has 20% of work remaining to be completed."