Tutor Perini eyes $200B of bids and almost none are data centres

Data centres are the hottest thing in US construction. At Tutor Perini they make up 0.2% of backlog, and the CEO says that is how it will stay. The comment came on the call after the company's third-quarter results on 4 November, which showed revenue up 22% to $1.7 billion and a backlog of $20.4 billion.

The numbers

Net income attributable to the company rose to $20.7 million from $3.6 million a year earlier. Adjusted earnings came in at $1.83 a share, up 59%, and income from construction operations more than tripled to $125.4 million. Operating cash flow for the quarter was $330.9 million, a record.

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Civil is still the engine. The segment's revenue grew 16% to $893.5 million and it produced $125.2 million of segment income, almost all of the group total. Building revenue rose 29% to $540.5 million and Specialty Contractors grew 26% to $286.2 million.

New awards in the quarter were about $2.2 billion. That included $1.0 billion of additional work on a Civil project, $577 million of federal building projects, $145 million of military work in the Indo-Pacific, $126 million of Midwest bridge projects and $89 million of California mass-transit work. Tutor Perini raised its 2026 adjusted EPS guidance to $5.90 to $6.10, from $5.15 to $5.45.

Where the next $200B sits

CEO Gary Smalley pointed to a bid pipeline of more than $200 billion. Construction Dive reported that this covers core construction over the next three to four years, and that the company currently holds nine infrastructure megaprojects worth $16 billion in awarded value. Its larger jobs include work on the Hudson Tunnel and a Manhattan jail.

"Data centers is not going to be a focus for us" Gary Smalley, President and CEO, Tutor Perini

Backlog is 6% below the record $21.6 billion of a year ago but up from $19.9 billion in the second quarter, per Construction Dive. According to a GuruFocus summary of the call on Yahoo Finance, management sized the Indo-Pacific opportunity at $4.6 billion, said it expects peak burn on current backlog around late 2028, and described the business as being in constant recruiting mode, including moving internal people onto the Indo-Pacific work.

Federal transportation funding is the open question. The current IIJA extension runs out on 11 December, and Smalley was relaxed about it.

"We are in great shape if there is no more federal funding, but expecting that there will be some more" Gary Smalley, President and CEO, Tutor Perini

The bigger picture

Plenty of contractors are chasing data-centre margins. Tutor Perini is doubling down on the work it already wins: tunnels, transit, bridges and federal jobs, many of them megaprojects that run for years. This week its federal arm, Perini Management Services, also picked up a $60 million US Coast Guard job in St. Petersburg, Florida, covering demolition of hurricane-damaged structures and five new berths, per Construction Dive. With burn expected to peak in late 2028, the people side of that plan matters as much as the bids.

What it means for hiring

Our read: a backlog weighted to megaprojects that peak around 2028 means sustained demand for project directors, tunnel and transit superintendents and senior schedulers, people who have run billion-dollar jobs before.
The Indo-Pacific and federal work points to a separate pool: managers who know military and federal procurement and are willing to relocate. That pool is thin, and internal moves only go so far.
Choosing not to chase data centres keeps Tutor Perini competing for classic heavy civil talent, so expect a tight market for estimators and supers with bridge, rail and tunnelling experience.

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