At a glance
Sterling Construction Company Inc is worth $11.86B, about 42 times its fiscal 2025 earnings. Revenue grew 17.7% to $2.49B in fiscal 2025, with 11.7% kept as profit; over 5 years it has grown 15.2% a year. It pays no dividend; it spent $144.8M buying back its shares over FY2021–FY2025. The stock returned +2.4% over the past year with dividends reinvested and +74.7% a year over five years, against +11.5% and +11.7% for the S&P 500. At its worst it fell 49.3% in the 2020 crash (S&P 500: 33.7%) and 34.6% in the 2022 bear market (S&P 500: 24.5%), and was back at its earlier high 5 months and 1 month after the lows.
The business in plain English
Sterling Infrastructure is a US construction contractor operating mainly in the South, Northeast, Mid-Atlantic and Rocky Mountain regions and the Pacific Islands. It wins jobs through competitive bids or negotiation and records revenue as work progresses. Most of that revenue comes from fixed-price contracts, so Sterling earns more when it beats its cost estimates and absorbs overruns when it misses.
E-Infrastructure Solutions produced 58.9% of fiscal 2025 revenue of $2.49 billion. It prepares large sites and provides electrical services for big companies building data centers, semiconductor plants, factories, distribution centers and power plants. In September 2025 Sterling bought electrical and mechanical contractor CEC Facilities Group for $562 million. Transportation Solutions (25.7%) builds and repairs highways, bridges, airports, ports and rail, mainly for state transportation departments in Utah, Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, Texas and the Pacific Islands. Building Solutions (15.4%) pours home foundations for builders around Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston and Phoenix, offers plumbing in Dallas-Fort Worth and does commercial concrete work such as parking structures.
Since 2016, Sterling has moved away from low-margin, low-bid highway work (jobs awarded to the lowest bidder), cutting it from about 79% of revenue in 2016 to 9% as of December 31, 2025. Backlog, signed work not yet done, reached $3.01 billion at that date, up from $1.69 billion a year earlier.
Price history
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STRL +2.4% over the year to Oct 28, 2026, total return with dividends reinvested.
How it makes money
By business segment
| E-Infrastructure Solutions | $1.47B | 58.9% |
| Transportation Solutions | $640.7M | 25.7% |
| Building Solutions | $382.6M | 15.4% |
Latest results
- In Q3 FY2026 (ended Sep 30, 2026), revenue was $1.56B, up 127% from a year earlier, and net income was $214.9M (+133.4%).
- For fiscal 2025, revenue was $2.49B (+17.7% year over year; +15.2% a year from FY2020 to FY2025) with a 11.7% net margin.
Financial health check
| Revenue growth a year (FY2020–FY2025) | +15.2% good |
|---|---|
| Operating margin | 16.3% good |
| Free cash flow margin | 14.6% good |
| Return on equity (FY2025) | 26.2% good |
| Return on assets (FY2025) | 11% good |
| Net cash (cash minus debt) | $121.7M good |
| Fiscal year | Revenue | Net income | Free cash flow |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2020 | $1.23B | $42.3M | $90.0M |
| FY2021 | $1.41B | $62.6M | $112.3M |
| FY2022 | $1.77B | $106.5M | $158.2M |
| FY2023 | $1.97B | $138.7M | $414.2M |
| FY2024 | $2.12B | $257.5M | $416.1M |
| FY2025 | $2.49B | $290.2M | $362.7M |
Valuation snapshot
| Market value | $11.86B |
|---|---|
| P/E ratio | 41.5 |
| Dividend yield | None |
Rank among 1514 US companies
Market value at each year end
Sterling Construction Company’s market value went from $211.5M at the end of 2016 to $11.86B on Oct 28, 2026, about 56.1 times as much; since the end of 2025 it is up 26%.
Show as a table
| Year end | Market value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Oct 28, 2026 | $11.86B | +26.1% |
| 2025 | $9.41B | +81.8% |
| 2024 | $5.17B | +90.8% |
| 2023 | $2.71B | +172.6% |
| 2022 | $994.8M | +31.4% |
| 2021 | $757.3M | +44.8% |
| 2020 | $523.0M | +34.0% |
| 2019 | $390.3M | +32.4% |
| 2018 | $294.8M | -33.1% |
| 2017 | $440.4M | +108.2% |
| 2016 | $211.5M |
Price behavior
| YTD | 1 yr | 3 yr | 5 yr | 10 yr | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| STRL price data to Oct 28, 2026 | +27.0% | +2.4% | +76.4% | +74.7% | +48.1% |
Show as a table
| Year | Price data |
|---|---|
| 2026 (to date) | +27.0% |
| 2025 | +81.8% |
| 2024 | +91.6% |
| 2023 | +168.1% |
| 2022 | +24.7% |
| 2021 | +41.3% |
| 2020 | +32.2% |
| 2019 | +29.3% |
| 2018 | -33.1% |
| 2017 | +92.4% |
| 2016 | +39.1% |
| 2015 | -4.8% |
| 2014 | -45.5% |
| 2013 | +18.0% |
| 2012 | -7.7% |
| 2011 | -17.4% |
| 2010 | -31.9% |
| 2009 | +3.3% |
| 2008 | -15.1% |
| 2007 | +0.3% |
| 2006 | +29.3% |
| 2008 financial crisis stocks fell Oct 9, 2007 – Mar 9, 2009 | Lost 35.7% over that stretch · deepest drop along the way 64.7%, back to its old high 155.4 months after the low |
|---|---|
| 2020 COVID crash stocks fell Feb 19, 2020 – Mar 23, 2020 | Lost 46.3% over that stretch · deepest drop along the way 49.3%, back to its old high 4.8 months after the low |
| 2022 bear market stocks fell Jan 3, 2022 – Oct 12, 2022 | Lost 15.2% over that stretch · deepest drop along the way 34.6%, back to its old high 1.2 months after the low |
Insider activity
Form 4 filings from 2025-10-30 to 2026-10-30 (25 read): 0 open-market purchases and 12 sales ($96.3M), 11 of them under pre-arranged 10b5-1 trading plans.
| Date | Insider | Type | Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 23, 2026 | Joseph A Cutillo Chief Executive Officer | sell (plan) | $24.9M |
| Mar 25, 2026 | Joseph A Cutillo Chief Executive Officer | sell (plan) | $22.7M |
| Mar 9, 2026 | Joseph A Cutillo Chief Executive Officer | sell (plan) | $21.4M |
| Mar 10, 2026 | Joseph A Cutillo Chief Executive Officer | sell (plan) | $19.8M |
| Jun 25, 2026 | Mark D. Wolf General Counsel, Corporate Sec | sell | $2.2M |
Who owns it
Large shareholders (13G filings)
| BlackRock, Inc. | 10.1% | Aug 31, 2026 |
| Vanguard Capital Management | 5.06% | Mar 31, 2026 |
| FMR LLC | 4.8% | Mar 31, 2026 |
ETFs with the most weight in STRL
| PKB Invesco Building & Construction ETF | 3.07% |
| CSMD Congress SMid Growth ETF | 2.23% |
| TAX Cambria Tax Aware ETF | 1.18% |
| DSMC Distillate Small/Mid Cash Flow ETF | 1.09% |
| SFLO VictoryShares Small Cap Free Cash Flow ETF | 0.97% |
| FSGS First Trust SMID Growth Strength ETF | 0.85% |
| IFRA iShares U.S. Infrastructure ETF | 0.59% |
| JSMD Janus Henderson Small/Mid Cap Growth Alpha ETF | 0.47% |
What could go wrong
- Heavy reliance on data center and factory projects. E-Infrastructure Solutions made up 58.9% of fiscal 2025 revenue. If data center, manufacturing or warehouse customers cut building budgets in a slowdown, projects could be delayed, reduced or canceled.
- Fixed-price bids can turn into losses. Most revenue and backlog come from fixed-unit-price and lump-sum contracts. If labor, materials, fuel or unexpected site conditions push costs above Sterling's bid estimate, the company absorbs the overrun and can lose money.
- A few big customers drive each segment. No single customer topped 10% of fiscal 2025 revenue, but the top four state transportation departments supplied 58% of Transportation revenue and the top four customers 45% of Building revenue. Losing one would hurt.
- Highway work depends on government budgets. Transportation Solutions relies heavily on federal and state infrastructure spending. Budget cuts, a prolonged government shutdown or trouble obtaining bonding (third-party guarantees that the work will be finished) could reduce the contracts it wins.
- Housing slowdown would hit Building Solutions. Building Solutions pours foundations for homebuilders around Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston and Phoenix. Homebuilding is cyclical, so a weaker economy or higher interest rates could slow new home starts and cut this segment's work.
- Acquisitions may not pay off. Sterling's annual report for fiscal 2025 lists eleven acquisitions since 2016, including CEC for $562 million. If an acquired business underperforms, Sterling may have to write down goodwill, the premium paid above asset value.
Recent events
- Quarterly results released; Investor presentation or announcement
- Investor presentation or announcement
- Quarterly results released; Investor presentation or announcement
- Executive or board change
- Major agreement signed; New debt or financial obligation; Investor presentation or announcement
- Investor presentation or announcement
- Executive or board change
- Investor presentation or announcement
- Shareholder vote results
- Quarterly results released; Investor presentation or announcement
For income and retirement investors
Sterling Infrastructure paid no dividends in fiscal 2021 through fiscal 2025 and had no dividend yield as of October 28, 2026. For an income investor, that means no cash payments: any return comes from changes in the share price, and funding spending would require selling shares. The company has bought back its own stock instead, $70.6 million in fiscal 2024 and $74.2 million in fiscal 2025, though shares outstanding still rose 6.2% between October 29, 2021 and July 31, 2026.
The stock has fallen hard in downturns. It dropped 64.7% during the 2008 financial crisis and did not regain that peak until November 2021. It fell 49.3% in the 2020 COVID crash, recovering in about five months, and 34.6% in the 2022 bear market. In the year to October 28, 2026, it fell as much as 64.3% from its high. Single stocks carry more risk than diversified funds, because one company's setbacks are not cushioned by others.
Questions investors ask
Does Sterling Infrastructure pay a dividend?
No. Sterling Infrastructure paid no dividends in fiscal 2021 through fiscal 2025 and had no dividend yield as of October 28, 2026. It has returned cash through buybacks (the company purchasing its own shares) instead, totaling $144.8 million over fiscal 2021 through fiscal 2025, all of it spent in fiscal 2024 and 2025. Someone who relies on portfolio income would receive nothing from this stock and would have to sell shares to raise cash.
How does Sterling Infrastructure make money?
Sterling earns money as a construction contractor, winning jobs and recording revenue as it completes the work. Fiscal 2025 revenue was $2.49 billion and net income $290.2 million. E-Infrastructure Solutions, which prepares sites and provides electrical services for data centers, factories and warehouses, brought in 58.9%. Transportation Solutions, mostly highway, bridge, airport and rail work for state agencies, supplied 25.7%. Building Solutions, which pours home foundations in Texas and the Phoenix area and does plumbing and commercial concrete work, added 15.4%.
Is Sterling Infrastructure a data center stock?
Partly. E-Infrastructure Solutions, its largest segment, made up 58.9% of fiscal 2025 revenue. That segment prepares large sites and provides electrical services for data centers, semiconductor plants, manufacturing, distribution centers, warehousing and power generation. In September 2025, Sterling bought CEC Facilities Group, a specialty electrical and mechanical contractor, for $562 million and added it to this segment. The rest of revenue comes from transportation projects and residential and commercial construction work, so results do not rest on data centers alone.
How big is Sterling Infrastructure's backlog?
Sterling's backlog, the revenue it expects to earn from signed contracts, was $3.01 billion at December 31, 2025, up from $1.69 billion a year earlier. Contracts in backlog typically finish within 6 to 36 months. The figure excludes about $300.7 million of jobs where Sterling was the apparent low bidder but the contract was not yet signed. Backlog is not guaranteed revenue, since projects can be delayed, reduced or canceled.
How has Sterling Infrastructure stock performed?
Strongly over five and ten years, but with sharp swings. As of October 28, 2026, the share price had risen an average of 74.7% a year over five years and 48.1% a year over ten years. The one-year gain was 2.4%: the stock fell 22% in the month to that date and dropped as much as 64.3% from a peak during the year to that date. These are price returns, and past results do not predict future ones.