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Short answer: Sterling Infrastructure is not a one-for-one match with any large contractor. Its combination of data-center and advanced-manufacturing site development and electrical work, transportation construction, and residential/commercial concrete makes peer selection a question of which exposure you want to test. Compare Sterling with Quanta Services for electric-infrastructure exposure, EMCOR Group for building-systems work, and Granite Construction for civil and transportation work—but normalize business mix, organic growth, margins, backlog definitions, cash generation, risk and valuation before drawing a conclusion.
What Sterling Infrastructure actually does
Sterling Infrastructure operates three businesses with very different demand drivers. E-Infrastructure develops large sites and provides mission-critical electrical services for data centers, semiconductor fabs, manufacturing plants, distribution and warehousing facilities, and power-generation projects. Transportation builds and rehabilitates highways, roads, bridges, airports, ports, rail infrastructure and storm-drainage systems. Building Solutions supplies residential and commercial concrete foundations, parking structures, elevated slabs, plumbing and surveying for new single-family construction.
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The company works mainly in U.S. regions including the South, Northeast, Mid-Atlantic and Rocky Mountain areas, as well as the Pacific Islands. That geographic footprint and mix mean Sterling should be analyzed as a diversified specialty and civil contractor rather than as a pure-play data-center builder, utility contractor or homebuilder supplier.
Sterling’s latest reported position
The latest results identified for this comparison are Sterling’s quarter ended June 30, 2026, released August 3, 2026. The figures below are company-reported. Guidance is management’s outlook, not revenue or earnings already achieved.
#1 Best Overall
| Measure | Q2 2026 or current figure | How to interpret it |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly revenue | $1.168 billion | Up 90% year over year; consolidated revenue, not a segment result |
| Reported diluted EPS | $5.00 | GAAP diluted EPS for the quarter |
| Combined backlog | $5.62 billion at June 30, 2026 | Up 150% year over year; includes $1.28 billion of unsigned awards |
| 2026 revenue guidance | $4.00 billion–$4.15 billion | Management guidance for the full year |
| 2026 GAAP diluted EPS guidance | $17.25–$17.85 | Management guidance, not a reported result |
| 2026 adjusted diluted EPS guidance | $19.70–$20.30 | Non-GAAP management guidance |
| 2026 adjusted EBITDA guidance | $891 million–$916 million | Non-GAAP management guidance |
For context, Sterling reported $2.49 billion of revenue, $290.2 million of GAAP net income, $336.7 million of adjusted net income and $503.8 million of adjusted EBITDA for fiscal 2025. The company adjusted its 2025 revenue comparison for the deconsolidation of RHB at the end of 2024. An investor should not combine that adjusted comparison with unadjusted GAAP figures without stating the different basis.
Why Q2 growth needs to be unpacked
Sterling’s 90% consolidated revenue increase was highly concentrated. E-Infrastructure generated $905.0 million, or 78% of Q2 revenue, and its segment operating margin was 23.3%. Transportation produced $156.7 million at an 18.0% segment operating margin. Building Solutions generated $106.5 million at an 8.0% segment operating margin. These are segment operating metrics, not Sterling’s consolidated operating margin.
E-Infrastructure
E-Infrastructure revenue increased 192% year over year. Excluding the CEC and Stone Ridge acquisitions, management reported 111% growth, which means both acquired operations and internal expansion contributed. Mission-critical data-center, manufacturing and semiconductor projects represented 92% of E-Infrastructure backlog at quarter-end. This concentration explains the segment’s prominence in the quarter, but it also means company-wide results can change materially if large technology or industrial projects are delayed.
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Transportation revenue declined 20% year over year, while adjusted operating income increased 8%. Management said it was moving resources away from transportation projects toward higher-margin E-Infrastructure opportunities. That can improve the mix and margins, but it also makes Sterling less representative of a traditional highway-and-heavy-civil contractor when comparing periods.
Building Solutions
Building Solutions revenue fell 1% and adjusted operating income fell 11%. Management cited relatively flat homebuilder activity and affordability pressure. Investors should therefore separate Sterling’s data-center and industrial growth from the more rate-sensitive and housing-sensitive concrete business instead of assuming all three segments are expanding together.
CEO Joe Cutillo described the quarter this way in Sterling’s Q2 2026 earnings release: “We delivered an outstanding second quarter, with adjusted net income increasing 118% to deliver adjusted diluted EPS of $5.80. Revenue grew 90%, including organic growth of approximately 50%, and strong adjusted EBITDA margins of 22%.” Adjusted net income, adjusted EPS and adjusted EBITDA are company-reported non-GAAP measures; they are not GAAP results.
Rank #2
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Choosing the right partial peer
No single public company mirrors Sterling’s three-segment portfolio. Use each comparison company to answer a different investment question, and label the comparison as partial rather than presenting a headline ranking.
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| Company | What it helps you test | Q2 2026 reported scale or backlog | Why it is not a perfect match |
|---|---|---|---|
| Quanta Services (NYSE: PWR) | Electric infrastructure, utilities and underground infrastructure exposure | $9.56 billion revenue; $53.4 billion total backlog | Much larger scale and greater utility/power exposure than Sterling’s site-development, transportation and concrete mix |
| EMCOR Group (NYSE: EME) | Mechanical/electrical construction and facilities services | $5.15 billion revenue; $547.3 million operating income; $17.14 billion remaining performance obligations | Facilities services and building-systems work differ from Sterling’s site development and concrete businesses |
| Granite Construction (NYSE: GVA) | Civil infrastructure and transportation construction | $1.5 billion revenue; $186 million adjusted EBITDA; $7.4 billion committed and awarded projects | Materials and heavy-civil footprint differ from Sterling’s mission-critical electrical and residential concrete exposure |
Scale itself is not an investment advantage unless it translates into comparable growth, margins, cash conversion and returns on capital. A larger backlog can simply reflect a larger company or a different definition of committed work.
Compare backlog quality, not just backlog dollars
Sterling’s $5.62 billion “combined backlog” includes $1.28 billion of unsigned awards. Quanta reports total backlog and remaining performance obligations, EMCOR reports remaining performance obligations, and Granite reports committed and awarded projects. Those labels do not establish equal levels of contractual certainty.
Before comparing a backlog multiple, put each company’s disclosed components into separate columns:
- Signed contractual backlog: Work under executed contracts, with cancellation and termination rights identified.
- Unsigned awards: Sterling’s Q2 release identifies $1.28 billion in this category; do not treat it as equivalent to signed work.
- Remaining performance obligations: A contract-accounting measure that may have different inclusion rules from a company’s broader backlog.
- Committed and awarded projects: Granite’s label may include awards at stages that are not directly comparable with another company’s signed backlog.
- Future phases and pipeline: Potential work that is not yet reported backlog and should not be counted as contracted revenue.
Questions to ask about every backlog
- How much is signed, and how much can the customer cancel without a substantial penalty?
- What proportion is scheduled for delivery within 12 months versus several years?
- Which projects carry fixed-price or otherwise material cost risk?
- What are the expected gross and operating margins by project or segment?
- What has the company’s historical book-to-bill or book-to-burn conversion been?
- How quickly does backlog become billed revenue and operating cash flow?
Backlog is an indicator of potential future work, not a guarantee of revenue or earnings. Monitor cancellations, scope changes, margin revisions, customer payment behavior and working-capital investment as projects convert.
Separate organic growth from acquisitions
Sterling’s E-Infrastructure growth was 192% reported and 111% excluding the CEC and Stone Ridge acquisitions. The difference is economically important: reported growth shows the size of the business now, while organic growth shows demand and execution inside the pre-existing operations. Ask whether acquisitions add capabilities that Sterling can cross-sell, or whether they mainly add revenue that must be continuously replaced.
For each peer, build a bridge from prior-year revenue to current revenue with distinct lines for:
- Organic volume and pricing;
- Acquired revenue for the period owned;
- Divested or deconsolidated operations;
- Foreign-exchange effects, if relevant;
- Changes in project timing or customer mix.
Also compare acquisition spending, purchase-accounting adjustments, integration costs and post-acquisition margins. Sterling’s 2025 comparison already requires a deconsolidation adjustment for RHB, illustrating why an apparently simple year-over-year percentage can conceal a change in the reporting perimeter.
Make profitability comparisons like-for-like
Start with GAAP revenue and operating income, then show adjusted measures beside them with definitions. Sterling’s Q2 2026 adjusted EBITDA margin cited by management was 22%, while segment margins were 23.3% for E-Infrastructure, 18.0% for Transportation and 8.0% for Building Solutions. None of those figures should be presented as a consolidated GAAP operating margin.
EMCOR reported Q2 2026 operating income of $547.3 million on $5.15 billion of revenue, or 10.6%. That is a consolidated operating measure. Granite reported $186 million of adjusted EBITDA on $1.5 billion of revenue, approximately 12.4%, but adjusted EBITDA is not the same denominator or accounting measure as EMCOR’s operating income. Quanta’s cited Q2 figures establish revenue and backlog, not a directly comparable operating margin in the information used here.
| Comparison rule | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| GAAP operating income to GAAP revenue | Best starting point for cross-company operating profitability |
| Adjusted EBITDA to revenue | Useful only when each company’s reconciliation and treatment of leases, stock compensation and other adjustments are understood |
| Segment margin versus consolidated margin | Prevents a high-margin segment from being mistaken for the whole company |
| Backlog margin versus current margin | Shows whether future work is booked at similar economics or at lower pricing |
| GAAP EPS versus adjusted EPS | Separates reported earnings from management-defined exclusions |
For a durable comparison, track margins over several quarters and through different project phases. A single quarter can be affected by closeouts, weather, customer acceleration, acquisition timing or unusually favorable mix.
Evaluate cash generation and capital requirements
Strong earnings do not automatically produce investable cash in construction. Large projects can consume working capital before billing, retainage can delay collection, and growth can require equipment, bonding capacity and acquisitions. Compare operating cash flow with net income and adjusted EBITDA, then investigate the bridge.
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- Working capital: Review contract assets, receivables, retainage, payables and advances. Growth that expands receivables faster than revenue may require external funding.
- Capital expenditure: Separate maintenance spending from growth equipment and technology investment.
- Debt and interest: Measure leverage after acquisitions and test whether a downturn would pressure covenants or liquidity.
- Bonding capacity: Surety support can constrain the size and number of projects a contractor can pursue even when accounting leverage looks modest.
- Acquisition dependence: Determine whether growth and guidance assume additional purchases rather than internally generated demand.
- Cash conversion: Compare cumulative operating cash flow with cumulative adjusted net income across a cycle, not only one quarter.
The available Sterling snapshot does not provide a like-for-like Q2 operating-cash-flow, debt or capital-expenditure figure for all peers. That absence is a reason to obtain the filings before making a valuation or quality judgment, not a reason to substitute EBITDA for cash.
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Sterling’s 2025 Form 10-K identifies risks that include economic cycles and customer demand; material, fuel, subcontractor and labor-cost escalation; bidding and backlog-estimation errors; government funding; competitive bidding; design/build errors; bonding; weather; customer concentration; permits and regulation; project delays; acquisitions and integration; capital raising; cash generation; and debt obligations.
These risks are common in contracting but affect peers differently. A utility-heavy company may be more sensitive to regulated-capital-spending decisions; a transportation contractor may depend more on public funding and bid discipline; a facilities-services company may have more recurring maintenance revenue; and a residential-concrete operation may be more exposed to mortgage rates and home affordability. Do not treat Sterling’s filing as a verified risk inventory for every comparison company.
End-market concentration
With 92% of E-Infrastructure backlog tied to mission-critical data-center, manufacturing and semiconductor work, Sterling has meaningful exposure to a narrow group of capital-intensive customers and projects. Concentration can support rapid growth when investment is strong, but it can amplify the effect of a project pause or customer-specific delay.
Execution and cost risk
Fixed-price or aggressively bid work can lose margin when labor, fuel, materials or subcontractor costs rise. Compare each company’s mechanisms for escalation clauses, change orders, contingency pricing and claims recovery. A full backlog with weak margins is not equivalent to a smaller backlog with disciplined pricing.
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Acquisition and integration risk
Acquisitions can add electrical capabilities and geographic reach, as Sterling’s CEC and Stone Ridge example demonstrates, but they also introduce integration, retention, systems and goodwill risks. Track whether acquired margins converge with the parent and whether leverage or dilution rises to fund expansion.
Best Value
How to compare valuation without creating a false precision
Valuation must use the same market-data date and the same earnings or cash-flow denominator. The figures available for this article do not include share prices or valuation multiples, so no defensible current P/E, EV/EBITDA or price-to-backlog ranking can be stated.
- Record each stock price and share count on one specified date.
- Calculate enterprise value consistently, including debt, cash and any material noncontrolling interests.
- Use the same type of denominator for every company: forward GAAP EPS, trailing GAAP EPS, adjusted EBITDA or operating cash flow.
- Label management guidance separately from analyst estimates and historical results.
- Adjust for cyclicality: a peak-margin year can make a contractor look artificially cheap.
- Test valuation against backlog conversion, organic growth, leverage, customer concentration and downside margins.
For Sterling specifically, compare the market value with both the $4.00 billion–$4.15 billion 2026 revenue guidance and the $891 million–$916 million adjusted EBITDA guidance only after identifying the date, share count and enterprise-value inputs. Do not treat guidance as guaranteed performance.
A practical investor scorecard
Use a worksheet with one row per company and the following fields. The purpose is to force comparable definitions rather than to produce a simplistic winner.
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|---|---|---|
| Business mix | Data centers, utilities, public works, buildings, residential, maintenance and materials | Three-segment mix; E-Infrastructure was 78% of Q2 revenue |
| Growth quality | Organic growth, acquisitions, divestitures and project timing | E-Infrastructure grew 192% reported and 111% excluding CEC and Stone Ridge |
| Profitability | GAAP operating margin, adjusted EBITDA margin and segment margins | 23.3% E-Infrastructure, 18.0% Transportation and 8.0% Building Solutions segment operating margins |
| Backlog | Signed work, unsigned awards, duration, margin and conversion | $5.62 billion combined backlog, including $1.28 billion unsigned awards |
| Cash and balance sheet | Operating cash flow, net debt, capex, bonding and working capital | Obtain comparable figures from current filings before ranking |
| Risk | Customer, geography, labor, materials, funding, execution and integration | Mission-critical backlog concentration and housing-sensitive Building Solutions |
| Valuation | Same-date EV/EBITDA, P/E and cash-flow multiples | No market prices or multiples are established in the available figures |
What a fair conclusion looks like
Sterling’s Q2 2026 profile is that of a rapidly expanding contractor whose results are being reshaped by E-Infrastructure. The quarter combined $1.168 billion of revenue, 90% year-over-year growth and a $5.62 billion combined backlog, but Transportation revenue fell and Building Solutions remained pressured. The mix shift, acquisition contribution and unsigned portion of backlog are central to the analysis.
Quanta is the more useful lens for electric and utility infrastructure, EMCOR for mechanical/electrical and facilities work, and Granite for civil and transportation construction. None is a complete substitute. The investment decision should rest on normalized organic growth, comparable profitability, signed-backlog conversion, cash generation, balance-sheet capacity, end-market risk and a valuation measured on one date—not on the largest backlog number or the fastest reported revenue increase.
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