MYR Group Inc. (MYRG) Q1 2026 Earnings Report, Transcript and Summary

Good morning, everyone, and welcome to the MYR Group First Quarter 2026 Earnings Results Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] Today's conference is being recorded. I will now turn the call over to Jennifer Harper, Vice President of Investor Relations and Treasurer, for introductory remarks.

Thank you, and good morning, everyone. I would like to welcome you to the MYR Group conference call to discuss the company's first quarter results for 2026, which were reported yesterday. Joining us on today's call are Rick Swartz, President and Chief Executive Officer; Kelly Huntington, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer; Brian Stern, Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of MYR Group's Transmission and Distribution segment; and Don Egan, Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of MYR Group's Commercial and Industrial segment. A copy of yesterday's press release announcing our first quarter results can be found on the MYR Group website at myrgroup.com under the Investors tab. A webcast replay of today's call will be available on the website for 7 days following the call. Please note, today's discussion may contain forward-looking statements. Any such statements are based upon information available to MYR Group's management as of this date, and MYR Group assumes no obligation to update any such forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements. Accordingly, these statements are no guarantee of future performance. For more information, please refer to the risk factors discussed in the company's most recently filed annual report on Form 10-K. Certain non-GAAP financial measures will also be presented. A reconciliation of these non-GAAP measures to the most comparable GAAP measures is set forth in yesterday's press release. With that, let me turn the call over to Rick Swartz.

Thanks, Jennifer. Good morning, everyone. Welcome to our first quarter 2026 conference call to discuss financial and operational results. I will begin by providing a summary of the first quarter results and then turn the call over to Kelly Huntington, our Chief Financial Officer, for a detailed financial review. Following Kelly's overview, Brian Stern and Don Egan, Chief Operating Officers for our T&D and C&I segments, will provide a summary of our segment's performance and discuss some of MYR Group's opportunities going forward. I will then conclude today's call with some closing remarks and open the call up for your questions. We delivered strong financial results in the first quarter, supported by ongoing work with long-term customers and the selective pursuit of new opportunities while continuing to expand customer relationships. Quarterly results reflect strong bidding activity and continued infrastructure investment to support electrification needs across our business segments. We continue to monitor project opportunities and remain focused on disciplined project execution. Safe, reliable delivery and strong customer relationships remain central to our operations. Our teams are focused on understanding our customers' requirements, maintaining clear communication and producing consistent results. I'm proud of our teams for their continued dedication to quality, safety and collaboration. Now Kelly will provide details on our first quarter 2026 financial results.

Thank you, Rick, and good morning, everyone. Our first quarter 2026 revenues were $1 billion, which represents an increase of $167 million or 20% compared to the same period last year. Our first quarter T&D revenues were $541 million, an increase of 17% compared to the same period last year. T&D segment revenues increased primarily due to higher revenue on unit price and T&E contracts, partially offset by a decrease in revenue on fixed price contracts. Work performed under master service agreements increased to approximately 70% of our T&D revenues. C&I revenues were $459 million, a record high for our C&I segment and an increase of 24% compared to the same period last year. C&I segment revenues increased primarily due to higher revenue on fixed price contracts. Our gross margin was 13.4% for the first quarter of 2026 compared to 11.6% for the same period last year. The increase in gross margin was primarily due to a larger portion of our projects progressing at higher contractual margins, some of which are nearing completion. Gross margin was also positively impacted by better-than-anticipated productivity, favorable change orders and a favorable job closeout. These margin increases were partially offset by an increase in costs associated with inefficiencies on certain projects. T&D operating income margin was 9.7% for the first quarter of 2026 compared to 7.8% for the same period last year. The increase was primarily due to better-than-anticipated productivity and a favorable job closeout, partially offset by an increase in costs associated with inefficiencies on a project. C&I operating income margin was 8.1% for the first quarter of 2026 compared to 4.7% for the same period last year. The increase was primarily due to a larger portion of our projects progressing at higher contractual margins, some of which are nearing completion. C&I operating income margin was also positively impacted by better-than-anticipated productivity and favorable change orders, partially offset by an increase in costs associated with inefficiencies on certain projects. First quarter 2026 SG&A expenses were $69 million, an increase of approximately $7 million compared to the same period last year. The increase was primarily due to higher employee incentive compensation costs and employee-related expenses to support future growth. Our first quarter effective tax rate was 26.9% compared to 28.9% for the same period last year. The decrease was primarily due to a favorable impact from stock compensation excess tax benefits, partially offset by higher U.S. taxes on Canadian income and other permanent difference items. First quarter 2026 net income was a record $47 million compared to net income of $23 million for the same period last year. Net income per diluted share of $2.99 increased 106% compared to $1.45 for the same period last year. First quarter 2026 EBITDA was a record $82 million compared to $50 million for the same period last year. Total backlog as of March 31, 2026, was a record $2.84 billion, 8% higher than a year ago. Total backlog as of March 31, 2026, consisted of $981 million for our T&D segment and $1.86 billion for our C&I segment. First quarter 2026 operating cash flow was $85 million compared to operating cash flow of $83 million for the same period last year. The increase in cash provided by operating activities was primarily due to higher net income, partially offset by the timing of billings and payments associated with project starts and completions. First quarter 2026 free cash flow was $69 million compared to free cash flow of $70 million for the same period last year. This slight decrease was due to higher capital expenditures, partially offset by an increase in operating cash flow. Moving to liquidity and our balance sheet. We had approximately $258 million of working capital, $9 million of funded debt, $460 million in borrowing availability under our credit facility and $163 million in cash and cash equivalents as of March 31, 2026. We improved our already strong funded debt-to-EBITDA leverage ratio to 0.04x as of March 31, 2026. We believe that our credit facility, strong balance sheet and future cash flow from operations will enable us to meet our working capital needs, support the organic growth of our business, pursue acquisitions and opportunistically repurchase shares. I'll now turn the call over to Brian Stern, who will provide an overview of our Transmission and Distribution segment.

Thanks, Kelly, and good morning, everyone. The T&D segment delivered strong first quarter results, supported by a mix of small to midsized projects across our markets. Execution remains consistent with a focus on safety, quality and reliability. Bidding activity remained steady with increases in revenue and margins from the prior quarter and compared to our first quarter of last year. We continue to deepen relationships with long-standing customers while also pursuing opportunities with both new and existing customers, supported by a positive industry outlook. This quarter, Sturgeon was awarded an MSA in Arizona, spanning transmission, distribution and substations along with EPC program opportunities in the Northwest. Great Southwestern Construction secured the construction of 2 greenfield substations in Texas. High Country Line Construction was selected for substation work in Arizona, along with the 345 kV transmission line project in South Carolina. L.E. Myers was selected for a 345 kV transmission job and several overhead distribution rebuild projects across Illinois and Iowa. Harlan Electric was awarded overhead transmission work in Pennsylvania. This activity is supported by a strong industry outlook. According to the S&P Global Horizons Top Trends 2026 report, grid infrastructure has become a central focus in 2026 as electrification and digital demand continue to strain existing systems and underinvestment in transmission and distribution modernization presents a potential bottleneck for reliability and capacity growth. This dynamic reinforces the ongoing importance of our T&D project activity across our markets. We expect work to remain steady across the U.S. and Canada, spanning a range of sizes and complexities. Our ability to support this demand is driven by a continued focus on safety and ongoing investment in our workforce. We are proud of our accomplishments in the first quarter and look forward to advancing this momentum in the months ahead. I'll now turn the call over to Don Egan, who will provide an overview of our Commercial and Industrial segment.

Thanks, Brian, and good morning, everyone. Our C&I segment achieved strong first quarter results supported by the health of our core markets. Bidding activity remained consistent and backlog expanded further, reflecting both market demand and the depth of our customer relationships. By working closely with customers to understand their needs, plan projects effectively and execute safely and efficiently, we continue to create opportunities for long-term collaboration across projects of various sizes. These strong ongoing customer relationships remain central to our strategy, reinforcing our position as a trusted partner in the industry. Data center projects and water, wastewater projects are driving the strongest growth in today's construction market. According to FMI's 2026 North American Engineering and Construction Outlook, data center construction starts are up nearly 100% year-over-year. While nonbuilding infrastructure such as power, water and wastewater also continues to grow, supported by committed funding and long-term investment needs. These projects require specialized expertise in grid modernization and complex installations creating multiyear backlogs and sustained demand. The result is a clear divergence within the construction market. Mission-critical electrical and infrastructure work is showing sustained resilient growth, while more traditional commercial building segments remain volatile. Our teams across all subsidiaries continue to execute and pursue a diverse range of projects. We were awarded multiple data center projects in New Jersey, Arizona, California and Colorado, clean energy work in California and multiple water treatment plants in Colorado. These awards reflect the strong and growing demand for data centers and related electrical infrastructure projects across our key markets. We continue to earn significant project awards, reflecting our ongoing ability to deliver value across markets and sectors. In closing, we continue to see steady performance across our core markets, supported by our long-standing customer relationships that drive opportunities. Our employees remain central to this execution with a consistent focus on quality and safety across every project. Thank you, everyone, for your time today. I will now hand the call back to Rick for his closing remarks.

Thank you for those updates, Kelly, Brian and Don. Our first quarter 2026 performance reflects the effectiveness of our business strategies and the value of our long-term customer relationships across both segments. We believe we are well positioned for continued growth as investments in electrical infrastructure increases, supported by safe execution, disciplined bidding and close collaboration with our customers in a dynamic energy environment. Our record of integrity, teamwork and dependable project delivery enables us to pursue new opportunities and deepen long-term customer relationships. I appreciate our employees for their contributions and our shareholders for their ongoing support. As we move through the rest of 2026, we look forward to building on the progress and continuing to strengthen our customer relationships across the business. Operator, we are now ready to open the call up for comments and questions.

[Operator Instructions] Our first question comes from Sangita Jain of KeyBanc Capital Markets.

First, can I ask about C&I margins, which were very, very strong in 1Q. If you could help us kind of understand what led to the strength and what we should expect going forward?

Yes. I said our backlog margins were similar to what they were in the past, but we had less risk in our contracts. And again, we've been focusing on carrying less risk in our contracts along with project execution and making sure that we continue to do as much prefab as we can. We do it in a controlled environment where we're taking that labor risk out of the field. So we continue to double down on that. And then we also had some projects that were nearing completion that had some potential upsides. With that being said, our margin profiles coming into this year, we were at 5% to 7.5%, and we're looking to increase that going forward for the rest of the year. We're looking kind of at that 6% to 9% margin profile and operating kind of in that mid-ish range on the C&I side.

That's helpful. And then can we talk overall guidance for the year because you also beat on -- well, I shouldn't say beat, but your revenue performance was also very strong in 1Q, and I think you said 10% in each segment for the year? And how should we think about T&D margins, which also came in towards the high end of your range?

Yes. I think previously, our margin profile on T&D was at 7% to 10.5%. And as we look at what's in our backlog and the quality of our backlog work, really upping that margin profile to that 8% to 11% with the goal of operating in that mid part of that range. So again, an increase on that one going forward for the rest of the year. Now quarter-to-quarter in either one of those, it can be a little lumpy depending on which projects are starting and finishing. But we see that kind of as our goal overall. Along with that, I think if you look at our revenue growth, we came into the year saying we have that 10-ish percent growth. I think when we look at it across both segments as a whole, kind of that 12-ish percent growth this year is where I would forecast that out, knowing it can be lumpy quarter-to-quarter depending on how subcontractors come into our mix or materials delivered. So it can be a little lumpy between segments, but I'd look at that overall 12% growth on revenue.

Our next question comes from the line of Manish Somaiya of Cantor Fitzgerald.

Congrats team on a fantastic quarter. Rick, I wanted to just go back to the C&I business. I think you mentioned that the fixed price contracts are now about 86% of the mix. If you could just help us understand where that mix has been over the past year, over the past couple of years? And perhaps that's what's kind of driving some of the upside in C&I based on solid execution?

It's solid execution on that. I mean, as I said, a little less risk in our contracts, so more favorable terms and conditions, managing our projects very well. So that's really where it is. I'd say that mix has been similar over the past. So fixed cost is really a big component of how we do C&I work. I think we're pretty good at executing it as a whole and our customers trust us and continue to release that work. But again, with contracts that have a little less risk in them contractually than what historically they've had.

Okay. Helpful. And then, Kelly, if you could just talk about cash flow from operations, free cash flow. Clearly, Q1 was exceptionally strong. How should we think about it for the rest of the year?

Sure. Yes, we delivered another strong quarter from a cash flow perspective, and we were able to maintain our DSO in that kind of mid-50s range, which is significantly below our historical average. I think if we look out, we could see DSO rise to the low 60s, and that will really depend on the timing of new awards and the weighting between projects with more favorable billing structures versus more MSA-like work. As I noted in my comments on the call, MSA work in T&D represented 70% of our revenues, which was an uptick from what we've seen for the last few quarters. And we like that work. It's recurring, it's predictable, but we never get into an overbuild position. So that can represent a little bit of a headwind from a DSO perspective. The other thing I would say about cash flows is I would just point out CapEx. We've been talking for a couple of quarters now, how we expect that to be trending more to about 3% of revenue on a full year basis. And that is above our historical average, really driven by the opportunities that we see on the T&D side of the business that is the more capital-intensive side of the business. And with first quarter being light from a CapEx perspective, which was really just due to timing, that does mean we'll see an increase as we look rest of the year.

Our next question comes from the line of Julien Dumoulin-Smith of Jefferies.

It's Brian Russo on for Julien. I was wondering if you could just elaborate a little bit more on what's driving the structural margins higher now in both segments? Is it just your confidence in your labor productivity and maybe better contract terms? Or is it more so a function of the electrician labor constraints that we read and see nearly every day in the end markets that you serve. Is that driving better bidding power for you and the E&Cs.

Yes. I would say that tight market right now on labor isn't really turning into margins today and what we're seeing. It still remains fairly competitive, and we feel that will potentially change in the future, and we continue to be selective on the larger projects we're taking on because I've said in the past, we don't want to be the first in on those projects, plenty of opportunities, great conversations going on with our clients. I think it really has more to do about what I talked about a little earlier in the call with better contract management, better terms and conditions and then better execution on our project side as far as the way we're laying out our projects, doing pre-fab, kitting our material, really being more efficient out there. So that's really where we've seen those margin increases. But again, hopefully, in the future, we can see more margins come in because of the tightness of the market with the labor.

Okay. And should we assume kind of gradual improvement in the segment margins as we move through the year, assuming lower margin projects are burned off and replaced in the backlog with the higher margin type profile? Is that the way to progression?

I think from quarter-to-quarter, it can be lumpy. We've given the new margin profiles that 6% to 9% operating margin for C&I and that 8% to 11% for T&D. And again, we plan on operating on a yearly basis, kind of in that mid-ish range of those. With that being said, it can always be lumpy quarter-to-quarter depending on weather, depending on project timing, which ones are finishing up, which ones are starting. So again, on a yearly basis, I'd look at that. But from a quarterly basis, it's always going to be lumpy.

Got it. And then just on the T&D side, can you just talk about some of the recently signed MSA awards and kind of the cadence of layering that into the backlog, the Xcel $500 million 5-year MSA and then I think it was a Kentucky new MSA highlighted last quarter. Neither of those are in backlog yet. Is that accurate?

The Kentucky one wouldn't be in complete backlog yet. I mean we're not burning it. So the whole amount is not in there. Again, we only count on the MSA side, 90 days of that work in our backlog. So the Xcel one is starting to have some activity, but a little bit slower start as we said it would. And we see that progressing and going forward and that spend really start continuing to ramp up this year slowly and into next year and take off from there. But good activity on those projects and great opportunities going forward.

Okay. And then just lastly, I think your 10-K referred to any large transmission or T&D project awards granted this year would not start construction or generate revenue until 2027 at the earliest. I mean is that kind of insinuating that you're still in discussions on some high-voltage transmission projects? And that -- is that what you were referring to? Or were you being more broad?

Yes, we are. Yes, that's -- we anticipate with our conversations going on that some of those large projects will start rolling in our backlog this year. So we see that still happening, ongoing great conversations with our clients, and we see that continuing into next year also. But we do feel we'll have some large projects come into our backlog in the future quarters.

Our next question comes from the line of Ati Modak from Goldman Sachs.

I guess some of your peers in the market are increasingly stepping into C&I data center exposure. I'm curious how you're thinking about your exposure on a relative basis. You've guided to a very strong year and obviously, the fundamentals look pretty strong. But does it create a little bit more competition or risk to project awards or pricing concerns? Any thoughts on that?

Not overly concerned. We've got long-term client relationships with a lot of the data center providers. We've been doing it since we're not just trying to get in the market now. We've been doing data centers since data centers first started. So again, we continue to expand that market, very good conversations with our clients. But along with that, we've always said we want to balance business. So we don't want 100% of our resources just doing data centers. But again, we haven't seen margin pressure from these new entrants. There's a lot of work going on. And again, it's how do we keep our relationships with our clients going forward and keeping those relationships strong.

Great. And then I guess you mentioned some of the transmission line awards along the larger projects. You mentioned 345 kV line awards. So I'm curious what the outlook for [ 500 kV ] and more specifically 765 kV lines looks like as you think about the rest of the decade. Like in terms of your conversations, how are you positioning for that?

I feel we're well positioned for that. We've done -- there hasn't been much 765 kV done in the country, but we performed that work in the past, having great conversations with our clients. It's a matter of project timing. I think the 765 kV for the most part, won't get started the project at the earliest, probably mid next year, rolling out. But again, very good conversations with our client. We've got long-term alliances with some of those clients that are building that work. And as I said, ongoing conversations. So hopefully, more to come in this year, next year. I think there's great activity in that market, though.

Out next call comes from Brian Brophy of Stifel.

Congrats on the nice quarter. Just a big picture question for me, Rick. How would you compare the environment you're seeing here today, maybe over the next couple of years to the demand environment we saw back during the CREZ project in 2013 and 2014? And what do you think the market [ implications ] of that?

Yes. I don't -- I really can't say what the market -- what the margin impact or implications are on that. What I can say is when you go back to the CREZ days and you look at that during that '13, '14, '15 time frame, it had an increased margin against not just on our work, but across all our peers at that point. But that was in one area. I mean that was [ 2,500 miles ] being built out in Texas. And now you have the build-out going across the United States over the next 10 years or so, over the next decade. So I think it's just going to be amplified from what we saw there. Potentially, we're not seeing that yet today. But again, our conversations with clients aren't just about projects that are going to start in the next year or 2. We're having conversations with clients about projects going to start in '30, '31, '32 and beyond. And they're concerned about 2 things where are they going to -- how do they get the material lined up to have their project built on time and where -- how do they get their labor secured. So very good conversations with our clients.

Our next question comes from the line of Justin Hauke of Baird.

Great. First of all, thank you for giving those updated margin targets. That's interesting. I just wanted to clarify on those, the 6% to 9% for C&I and the 8% to 11% now for T&D, those are like kind of multiyear targets at this point, right? That's not -- you're not talking about just for this year because of some of the pull-through, but that's kind of the operating environment as it stands today, right?

Yes. We see that, as I said, on a yearly basis this year, we feel those are our margin profiles we can operate within. I think when you look beyond, I don't see the market getting any softer. So we haven't got done anything beyond that, but that's where I see it for this year. And again, I think there's great opportunities going in future years.

Yes. Okay. That's what I figured. And then I guess the second thing, I heard you talk a little bit more about the prefab capacity that you guys have as something that's been controlling the risk terms on your jobs. I feel like you mentioned that more than you have in the past. And Kelly, maybe it's a question on the CapEx as well. You've got a lot of net cash here, $152 million. Is that one of the areas where you're seeing or where you expect to kind of deploy some of that capital to the extent that there aren't acquisitions that you do and kind of expanding some of that prefab capacity?

Sure. I can start on that, and then Rick or John might give you a little bit more color. But absolutely, that is an area where we continue to invest. I mean we've been doing prefab for a long time, but I think our teams are continuing to push the limits on how we can perform more work in a controlled environment in a way that really helps us to be effective at the job site, especially in congested areas and can help support our more consistent execution. I would still say that the vast majority of our capital expenditures go to the T&D side of the business, but it is part of our growth in CapEx overall.

Yes. And then you talked a little bit about our strong balance sheet and what we're doing with that. I think we'll continue to invest in the prefab, but that's not going to take that all up. So I think we continue to look for acquisitions. And I'll say right now, there's some great activity in the market with some, I would say, some high-quality companies that are out there. So we talked about kind of the 12-ish percent growth on revenue overall, and that's on the organic side. If we capture the right, I guess, acquisition and it came into our portfolio, that would be above that. So again, we're looking to potentially do acquisitions with that money or do stock buybacks either way.

Yes. And I would just kind of reiterate Rick's point in a very strong financial position with almost no debt at the end of the quarter and [ $160 million plus ] in cash on the balance sheet. So in a good position to support that strong organic growth that we're seeing as well as pursue the right acquisitions.

At this time, I'm showing no further questions in the queue, and I would now like to turn the call back over to Rick Swartz for additional closing remarks.

To conclude, on behalf of Kelly, Brian, Don and myself, I sincerely thank you for joining us on the call today. I do not have anything further, and we look forward to working with you in the future and speaking with you again on our next conference call. Until then, stay safe.

Thank you very much. This concludes today's conference call. We thank you for your participation, and you may now disconnect.