Jacobs Solutions delivered a strong Q2 with 22% EPS growth and record backlog, leading to a full-year guidance raise. The call's central theme was the accelerating AI infrastructure buildout, where Jacobs reports 100% YoY growth in data center work and a 400% surge in its AI pipeline, positioning the company for continued strong performance. Jacobs raised FY26 organic revenue growth, EBITDA margin, and EPS guidance for the second time in two quarters.
Buzzberg readStrong bookings and raised FY26 guidanceJacobs Solutions delivered a strong Q2 with 22% EPS growth and record backlog, leading to a full-year guidance raise. The call's central theme was the accelerating AI infrastructure buildout, where Jacobs reports 100% YoY growth in data center work and a 400% surge in its AI pipeline, positioning the company for continued strong performance. Jacobs raised FY26 organic revenue growth, EBITDA margin, and EPS guidance for the second time in two quarters.Read full analysisCollapse analysis
Jacobs Solutions delivered a strong Q2 with 22% EPS growth and record backlog, leading to a full-year guidance raise. The call's central theme was the accelerating AI infrastructure buildout, where Jacobs reports 100% YoY growth in data center work and a 400% surge in its AI pipeline, positioning the company for continued strong performance. Jacobs raised FY26 organic revenue growth, EBITDA margin, and EPS guidance for the second time in two quarters.
Data center business grew >100% YoY with very strong runway; AI pipeline up 400% YoY with visibility into FY27/28.
AI ecosystem (data centers, semis, power) now represents 10-11% of total business, growing >40%.
Completed acquisition of PA Consulting, adding capabilities and enabling future revenue synergies.
Revenue$3.6949B
+12% QoQ
EPS$1.75
+14% QoQ
Gross margin21.51%
reported
Op margin-2.2%
reported
What changed this quarter
01
Guidance
Strong bookings and raised FY26 guidance
Guidance · revenue to 9.25%
02
AI
AI data center business grew 100% year-on-year
AI infrastructure is a key growth driver, with data center business up over 100% year-on-year and representing 3-4% of overall business. Management sees an inflection point, with the AI ecosystem (including power and energy) representing 10-11% of business and growing over 40%…
03
AI
AI infrastructure pipeline up 400% year-on-year
AI infrastructure is a key growth driver, with data center business up over 100% year-on-year and representing 3-4% of overall business. Management sees an inflection point, with the AI ecosystem (including power and energy) representing 10-11% of business and growing over 40%…
04
Margins
Margin target raised to 17%+ by FY29
Reported gross margin was 21.51%, reinforcing the quarter's better-than-guided profitability.
AI, capex & demand read
AI
Platform & monetization
AI infrastructure is a key growth driver, with data center business up over 100% year-on-year and representing 3-4% of overall business. Management sees an inflection point, with the AI ecosystem (including power and energy) representing 10-11% of business and growing over 40%, and a pipeline up 400% year-on-year. They are well positioned with NVIDIA and see strong runway into FY27 and beyond.
Demand
Bookings & conversion
Backlog hits record $27 billion, book-to-bill 1.4x. Management expressed strong confidence in the business momentum, raising FY26 guidance for the second time, and highlighting robust bookings, margin expansion, and AI-driven demand.
Capex
Investment and capacity
Management did not provide specific capex guidance but indicated that investments are being reallocated from traditional SaaS to AI-based initiatives, maintaining capex at about 1% of revenues while driving productivity improvements.
Tone · Confident
Management expressed strong confidence in the business momentum, raising FY26 guidance for the second time, and highlighting robust bookings, margin expansion, and AI-driven demand.
Supply-chain alpha
A1
Jacobs' data center business grew more than 100% YoY and its AI pipeline is up 400% YoY, signaling an acceleration in the AI factory design and build cycle.
“We grew our data center business by more than 100% year-on-year in Q2, and we see very strong runway to build on that success in the second half of the year”
The AI ecosystem (semis, power, data centers) now represents 10-11% of Jacobs' business and is growing >40% YoY, showing the AI buildout is moving beyond just the final data center assembly into adjacent critical infrastructure like power/transmission.
Jacobs is developing the 'plan of record' for NVIDIA's next-generation 'Vera Rubin' chips, indicating a forward roadmap for AI factory construction tied to new chip generations.
“now we're talking about Vera Rubin now, and we're in the middle of developing that plan of record, is tying us back into these AI technologies AI players”
“The life sciences business is in real time pipeline up 81% year on year. A lot of in-flight pursuits that we've been in the early stages are soon to be going into the field.”
… to recognize a major achievement. Jacobson ranked the number one design firm by engineering news record in their newly released 2026 Top 500 report, marking the seventh time in the last eight years we've held this ranking. Our strong organic growth profile helped us earn this honor, and I want to thank our 47,000 colleagues for delivering leading solutions to our clients every single day. Now, moving on to Q2 awards. In water and environmental, Jacobs was selected by the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission to deliver the Southeast Wastewater Treatment Plan, a landmark investment in environmental protection for the San Francisco Bay. The project will upgrade San Francisco's largest wastewater facility, positioning a plant as the first major discharger to proactively meet new nitrogen limits for the bed. This one highlights another significant award in one of our fastest growing sectors, and positions Jacobs for similar regulatory-driven investments emerging across Northern California, the Pacific Northwest, and the Great Lakes. Also within water and environmental, Jacobs and PA have secured a two-year economics and policy consultancy contract with OFFWAT, the UK water …
… Francisco Bay. The project will upgrade San Francisco's largest wastewater facility, positioning a plant as the first major discharger to proactively meet new nitrogen limits for the bed. This one highlights another significant award in one of our fastest growing sectors, and positions Jacobs for similar regulatory-driven investments emerging across Northern California, the Pacific Northwest, and the Great Lakes. Also within water and environmental, Jacobs and PA have secured a two-year economics and policy consultancy contract with OFFWAT, the UK water regulator. The engagement brings together industry-leading expertise across water regulation, as well as financial, technical, and strategic consultants. Our solution will be delivered to support pricing, performance oversight, and policy development tied to substantial investment across the AMP8 cycle and beyond. In life sciences and advanced manufacturing, we had multiple wins with hyperscalers and other data center customers spanning the full project lifecycle, from advisory, design, program management, and digital solutions to full EPCM. This includes our recently released data center digital twin developed using the NVIDIA …
… year-on-year in Q2, and we see very strong runway to build on that success in the second half of the year. And it's more than the data center sector. We are seeing rising demand in semiconductors, water, and energy and power as the technology and infrastructure go hand-in-hand. This is bolstering total revenue growth for their backlog and pipeline, indicating the investment cycle is still in the early stages. Moving on to critical infrastructure, Jacobs has selected a lead design at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport as part of the Terminal F expansion. The project involves existing bridge span operations essential to allow for up to 16 additional gates and support the airport's growing demand. Combining bridge design expertise With the unique challenge of maintaining operability of the SkyLink people mover during all phases of construction, we are modernizing infrastructure while keeping passengers moving. Jacobs is ranked as engineering news records number one firm in aviation, a sector where we continue to see significant growth in demand for terminal upgrades and new builds. In summary, we continue to build on our industry leadership in sectors like wastewater, …
Jacobs' data center business grew more than 100% YoY and its AI pipeline is up 400% YoY, signaling an acceleration in the AI factory design and build cycle. — This indicates physical design work is converting to build-out for AI infrastructure, a direct signal for hyperscaler capex spend and NVIDIA's ecosystem.
… policy development tied to substantial investment across the AMP8 cycle and beyond. In life sciences and advanced manufacturing, we had multiple wins with hyperscalers and other data center customers spanning the full project lifecycle, from advisory, design, program management, and digital solutions to full EPCM. This includes our recently released data center digital twin developed using the NVIDIA Omniverse DSX Blueprint. Our strategic partnership with NVIDIA continues to gain momentum as we work to expedite the delivery of AI factories with compute load requirements rising substantially. Last year at our investor day, we laid out a roadmap for how we believed our data center business would evolve and the combination of our deep domain expertise Our full asset lifecycle model and the expansion of AI investment has accelerated that journey. We grew our data center business by more than 100% year-on-year in Q2, and we see very strong runway to build on that success in the second half of the year. And it's more than the data center sector. We are seeing rising demand in semiconductors, water, and energy and power as the technology and infrastructure go hand-in-hand. This is …
The AI ecosystem (semis, power, data centers) now represents 10-11% of Jacobs' business and is growing >40% YoY, showing the AI buildout is moving beyond just the final data center assembly into adjacent critical infrastructure like power/transmission. — The spending pull into power and transmission for AI is a leading indicator for electrical equipment and critical infrastructure suppliers.
Jacobs' life sciences pipeline is up 81% YoY, and early reshoring projects are starting to mature into field activity in the US and Europe. — This signals a tangible uptick in pharma and biotech manufacturing construction, a leading indicator for lab equipment and instrumentation demand.
Great. That's super helpful. And then I know we've talked about data centers on this call, but can you tell us what you're seeing in life sciences and advanced pharmaceuticals and if there is any appetite to reshore even further back to the U.S.? ?
That's in real time. Yeah, absolutely, Sanjit. The life sciences business is in real time pipeline up 81% year on year. A lot of in-flight pursuits that we've been in the early stages are soon to be going into the field. And so that business, and into the field in the U.S., but we are now starting to see a bit of build going on in Europe as well. But that continues to be a really strong business for us. And, you know, it kind of goes through the different phases. So some of that reshoring activity that started a year, two years ago, you know, you'll start to see those now mature in the field over the course of the next few quarters.
Jacobs is developing the 'plan of record' for NVIDIA's next-generation 'Vera Rubin' chips, indicating a forward roadmap for AI factory construction tied to new chip generations.
Yeah, absolutely. Let me kind of quantify it first, Saba. Our AI infrastructure pipeline, the data center component of that, the pipeline has gone up 400% year on year. We have visibility, you know, well through 27, going into 28. And our client relationships, kind of our long-term relationship-based client model is kind of gaining share of that client spend. And these are the top hyperscalers as well as now the NeoCloud providers that are being supported. And what's backing that visibility is really our relationship with NVIDIA. Our work on the digital quinn, the work that we're doing around the plan of record, and then as that's evolving with the next generation chip, and now we're talking about Vera Rubin now, and we're in the middle of developing that plan of record, is tying us back into these AI technologies AI players, and so the visibility is strong.
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