MYR Group Inc. (MYRG) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Good morning, everyone, and welcome to the MYR Group Second 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 second quarter results for 2026, which were reported yesterday. Joining us on today 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 second quarter results can be found on the MYR Group website at myrgroup.com under the Investors tab. Please note today's discussion may contain forward-looking statements. Any such statements are based upon information available to MYR Group 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 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 second quarter 2026 conference call to discuss financial and operational results. I will begin by providing a summary of the second 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 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 achieved solid second quarter financial results reflecting consistent performance throughout our business. During the quarter, we saw steady activity across our markets with ongoing infrastructure investments and electrification initiatives supporting demand. We remain focused on maintaining operational discipline, pursuing opportunities aligned with our strategy and creating long-term value for our stakeholders. On July 1, we closed the acquisition of Valley Electric and Comet Electric, further expanding our commercial and industrial capabilities and geographic presence. Their diverse project portfolios, strong customer relationships, and extensive pre-fabrication capabilities complement our existing capabilities, positioning us to pursue a broader range of opportunities. We look forward to working together to deliver on our combined strengths and support continued growth across an expanded footprint. As we continue to build our capabilities and serve our customers, our commitment to safe, reliable execution remains unchanged. Our teams are focused on maintaining strong customer relationships, producing high-quality results and working collaboratively across our organization. I'm grateful to our team for their continued dedication and the contributions they make every day. Now Kelly will provide details on our second quarter 2026 financial results.

Thank you, Rick, and good morning, everyone. Our second quarter 2026 revenues were a record $1.08 billion, which represents an increase of $181 million or 20% compared to the same period last year. Our second quarter T&D revenues were $524 million, an increase of 4% compared to the same period last year. T&D segment revenues increased primarily due to higher revenue on T&E contracts and unit price contracts, partially offset by lower revenue on fixed price contracts. Work performed under master service agreements represented approximately 65% of our T&D revenues. C&I revenues were $558 million, a record high for our C&I segment and an increase of 42% 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 13.2% for the second quarter of 2026 compared to 11.5% for the same period last year. The increase in gross margin was primarily due to better-than-anticipated productivity, favorable job closeouts and an increase in scope on certain projects. These margin increases were partially offset by an increase in costs associated with inefficiencies on certain projects. T&D operating income margin was 9.4% for the second quarter of 2026 compared to 8% for the same period last year. The increase was primarily related to better-than-anticipated productivity, favorable job close-outs and an increase in scope on a project, partially offset by an increase in costs associated with inefficiencies on certain projects. C&I operating income margin was 8.5% for the second quarter of 2026 compared to 5.6% for the same period last year. The increase was primarily related to better-than-anticipated productivity on certain projects, most of which are nearing completion and an increase in scope on a project, partially offset by an increase in costs associated with inefficiencies on certain projects. C&I operating income margin was also positively impacted by a larger portion of our projects progressing at higher contractual margins, some of which are nearing completion. Second quarter 2026 SG&A expenses were $74 million, an increase of approximately $11 million compared to the same period last year. The increase was primarily due to higher employee incentive compensation and employee-related expenses to support future growth. Our second quarter effective tax rate was 25.7% compared to 29.2% 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 the Canadian income and other permanent difference items. Second quarter 2026 net income was a record $50 million compared to net income of $27 million for the same period last year. Net income per diluted share of $3.17 increased 86% compared to $1.70 for the same period last year. Second quarter 2026 EBITDA was around $85 million compared to $56 million for the same period last year. Total backlog as of June 30, 2026, was a record $3.16 billion, 20% higher than a year ago. Total backlog as of June 30, 2026, consisted of $1.27 billion for our T&D segment and $1.89 billion for our C&I segment. Second quarter 2026 operating cash flow was $3 million compared to operating cash flow of $33 million for the same period last year. The decrease in cash provided by operating activities was primarily due to the timing of tax payments and the timing of billings and payments associated with project starts and completion. Second quarter 2026 free cash flow was negative $26 million compared to positive free cash flow of $12 million for the same period last year. The decrease was due to the decrease in operating cash flow and higher capital expenditures to support future growth. Moving to liquidity on our balance sheet. We had approximately $307 million of working capital, $9 million of funded debt, $460 million in borrowing availability under our credit facility and $138 million in cash and cash equivalents as of June 30, 2026. We had a funded debt-to-EBITDA leverage ratio of 0.03x at the end of the second quarter. After quarter end, on July 1, we acquired all issued and outstanding capital stock at Valley Holdings and subsidiaries. Cash consideration of $328 million, which is subject to working capital and net asset adjustments. We funded the cash payment at closing through a combination of approximately $93 million of cash on hand and $235 million of borrowings under our revolving credit facility. We continue to believe that the remaining borrowing availability under our credit facility and future cash flow from operations will enable us to support the organic growth of our business, pursue future acquisitions and opportunistically repurchase shares of our common stock. I'll now turn the call over to Brian Stern, who will provide an overview of our Transmission and Solutions segment.

Thanks, Kelly, and good morning, everyone. The T&D segment delivered another solid quarter, reflecting effective execution across a broad range of small to midsized projects throughout our markets. Our teams remain focused on delivering safe holiday work while maintaining reliable project performance. We continue to leverage our trusted customer relationships while selectively expanding our presence with new and existing customers and with ongoing investments in transmission and distribution infrastructure. This quarter, L. E. Myers Co. was awarded 2 large transmission jobs for Xcel Energy with a combined value in excess of $200 million. Sturgeon Electric was selected for a 500 kV substation project in Arizona. Great Southwestern Construction was awarded a 345 kV transmission rebuild project in Texas, along with the greenfield substation project in Colorado with an additional substation work in New Mexico. Harlan was awarded a substation expansion project in Ohio, along with several distribution projects in Pennsylvania. Electricity demand continues to reshape utility capital investment priorities across the transmission and distribution market. Deloitte Research Center for Energy and Industrials notes that utilities are making significant long-term investments to modernize transmission and distribution infrastructure as electricity demand increases and grid reliability requirements continue to evolve. We believe these ongoing grid needs are creating opportunities within our T&D markets where we continue to see steady bidding activity. Our ability to execute in this environment is driven by the strength of our teams, our commitment to safety and quality and to the continued investment in our workforce. We remain focused on delivering consistent results for our customers while maintaining operational discipline that supports long-term success. We appreciate our employees' dedication to safety and performance across the organization. I will 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 continued to perform well during the second quarter, reflecting steady activity across our core markets and the disciplined execution of our teams. Bidding activity remained healthy during the quarter, and backlog continued to grow, supported by a balance mix of new project opportunities and repeat business. We remain focused on understanding our customers' evolving needs, delivering projects safely and efficiently and positioning ourselves to support a diverse range of projects. . We believe these long-standing customer relationships remain a key differentiator for our business and will support sustainable growth over time. Market conditions continue to support demand across our commercial and industrial markets. Recent data points to sustained investment data centers, grid modernization, power infrastructure and industrial facilities. ConstructConnect reports U.S. data center construction starts to remain at historically elevated levels while utilities and developers continue to accelerate investment in the electrical infrastructure needed to support growing power demand. These trends combine to reinforce a healthy backdrop for electrical contracting particularly in mission-critical facilities in complex commercial and industrial projects. Our teams throughout all subsidiaries continue to deliver on existing commitments while pursuing new project opportunities leveraging the breadth of our capabilities and customer relationships. We were awarded data center work in New Jersey and Arizona, multiple data center projects in Colorado, aerospace work in California and hospitality and higher education work in New York. These wins highlight ongoing activity in key markets and a broad range of project types. We remain focused on supporting our customers' needs and broaden our ability to serve them. In closing, we recognize the dedication of our needs and remain focused on executing our strategy as we continue to build on the strengths of our organization. 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 second quarter 2026 results reflect the continued strength of our operating model supported by the capabilities of our teams and the relationships we have built with our customers across both segments. We continue to see opportunities throughout our markets as investment in electrical infrastructure evolves, and we remain committed to disciplined project selection, operational execution and serving our customers' needs. Our commitment to integrity, collaboration and delivering quality work provides a strong foundation as we pursue initiatives aligned with our long-term strategy. I want to thank our employees for their exceptional dedication and our shareholders for their confidence and support. We welcome the employees of Valley Electric and Comet Electric to MYR Group and are focused on leveraging the capabilities and expertise they bring to the organization. Looking ahead through 2026, we continue executing our strategy and maintaining the standards we have that have supported our success. Operator, we are now ready to open the call up for your comments and questions.

[Operator Instructions] Our first call is from the line of Caitlin Donohue of Goldman Sachs.

I just want to ask on the acquisition of Valley and Comet Electric, it was great to see. Can you walk us through your expectations now that you have them in-house how you see that growing your customer base and your capabilities within C&I throughout the geography within the U.S.

We've talked about that a little bit in the past as we did some of our press releases and went through it. Their capabilities are very similar to our own. So we see that leveraging both their customer base, and then having an influx with our own customer base. So we've been able to do that on past acquisitions and expand both markets. So for us, we see that as a continued opportunity for us. As I said earlier, they're very strong with -- strong customer relationships similar to our own. And we see that as a very good acquisition going forward. .

That's helpful. And then just another one for me. Can you talk a little bit about -- I know we've seen margins come in pretty strong in both segments within the first half of the year. And I know we talked previously about maybe full year landing in that middle range of those margin guides. How do you see the back half of the year shaping up from a margin perspective given the strength that we've seen in the first 2 quarters.

Yes, yes. I think we've had good strength. We've had good project closeouts as we've gone through both segments this year. We continue to see good performance across really our project portfolio. Again, as we look at the total year, nothing has changed with our kind of projections that will be in the mid part of our projections for operating margins on the C&I of that 6% to 9% and T&D will fall in that midrange of 8% to 11%. We see that continue. We'd love to see an uptick from there. But right now, when we look at the market and the jobs that are closed, we see it kind of in that mid-range for the rest of the year. .

Our next call comes from Sangita Jain of KeyBanc Capital Markets.

Kelly, did -- can you help us understand the revenue bridge for the second half now that you have Valley in your -- now that you've closed on the Valley acquisition? I understand that your communication may be more muted.

Yes. I can cover that. So you're correct. You obviously started on that last point you made around the EPS contribution. Typically, our acquisitions have higher amortization expense in the first 12 months, really driven by the shorter amortization period for backlog. So we would expect the contribution to be more neutral from Valley on EPS and also operating income as we look through that first year of owning them. From a revenue perspective, we expect our contributions will be in that approximately $250 million range rest of the year. And then maybe I'll turn it over to Rick just to talk about our revenue expectations overall.

Yes. Yes. I think when we look at our overall revenue projections for the year, again, that should add roughly that $250 million. And then when I -- when we look at our growth, I think it will kind of be in that overall growth, probably not 13% to 15%, if I look at our overall growth on an organic basis going forward. .

Great. And then on the Xcel $200 million award that you just highlighted, is that part of that MSA that you won a few quarters ago? Or is this outside of that? And is it all in your backlog.

This is in our backlog. So those 2 projects are in our backlog. It's the larger projects I've been talking about for the last 6 months that we anticipated coming into our backlog in the second half of this year. So those projects did mature into contracts, and we were able to add them to our backlog during this quarter. So yes, they are in there. And again, we continue to see good activity on the large project side. But again, those projects are always lumpy how they come into our backlog. But these ones, as I said earlier, came into our backlog just as we projected for the last 6, 8 months. So we've been talking about those projects come in.

Our next call comes from the line of Manish Somaiya of Cantor.

Two questions for me. Kelly, if you can just touch on the cash flows. I guess there were some timing-related issues. If you could just help us understand how we should kind of think about second half cash flow and working capital in particular? .

Sure. So we've seen some very strong cash flows over the past 5 quarters and in the second quarter here. We did see the timing of cash payments, of tax payments really impacting the quarter. So that was about $30 million higher than the second quarter of last year. So still positive from an operating cash flow perspective. So if we look at the rest of the year, we do see strong EBITDA growth with the revenue growth that Rick was talking about as well as with our improving margins with those higher target ranges. The headwind, just as we talked about the last quarter is we are sitting at near record low DSOs. And we do see -- a lot of that is driven by the strong overbillings we have on some projects, and those do naturally balance out over time. So we could see our DSOs going from the current kind of mid to more of the low to mid-60s as we progress through the next few quarters. So we do see that as a little bit of a headwind against that strong EBITDA growth that we see going forward.

That's helpful. And then -- sorry, I don't know if somebody had a comment. But I was just going to follow up on the T&D side. Obviously, nice activity, especially on the backlog with some pretty significant sequential increase. How should we think about the cadence of that backlog in terms of the conversion to revenues as we go into second half '26 and '27.

Yes. I would look at those kind of carving out that -- the 2 projects that we captured on the large project side and an excess of $200 million. I'd look at that contribution is really coming in and starting kind of in that second half of '27. So there won't be much contribution from those projects prior to that. There's a chance material to come in a little sooner than that. But if I -- if you really -- as you model it out, look at that revenue starting to burn kind of in that second half of '27 and then kind of continuing for an 18-month period beyond that.

Congrats again.

Our next call comes from the line of Brent Thielman of Oppenheimer & Company.

Congrats. Great quarter. Rick, I just had maybe a follow-up on the T&D business, again, really solid bookings, great backlog here to end the quarter. I guess, could you talk about your ability to absorb sort of new business for the segment, just given the huge backlog you have today and certainly finite level of resources out there. But if you could just talk about that.