Fluor Corporation FLR has entered into a Front-end Engineering and Design (FEED) contract with Germany’s Heidelberg Materials for the latter’s GeZero project.

Upon the new contract announcement, FLR stock gained 2.5% during the trading hours and inched up 0.9% in the after-hours on Wednesday.

Details on FLR’s New Win

Heidelberg’s GeZero project is a flagship project for its decarbonization strategy. The FEED contract highlights the integration of an industrial-scale carbon capture and storage solution into Heidelberg’s cement production facility in Geseke, Germany.

Per the contract, Fluor is expected to design the integration of several decarbonization technologies at the Geseke cement production facility. This will support Heidelberg in meeting its sustainability goals wherein the GeZero project aims to capture 700,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide annually.

The work scope under the FEED contract is expected to begin in 2026, with commissioning three years later. The undisclosed contract value will be revealed by Fluor in the fourth quarter of 2024.

Fluor’s Backlog Strength Drives Growth

Fluor has been witnessing business prospects and a demand uptrend in various sectors, including the chemicals sector, energy transition, fuel production, as well as mining and metals, and big data. This growing trend is reflected in the solid uptick in new awards and backlog value.

During the third quarter of 2024, the company secured new awards worth $2.7 billion. At the end of Sept. 30, 2024, the consolidated backlog was $31.32 billion, up 20.5% from $26 billion a year ago. This substantial backlog underscores the continued strong demand for Fluor's services and the recognized value it brings to its clients. The company continues to witness strong demand for its services, pushing new award margins above its strategic segment margin range of 4-6%.

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Shares of FLR have gained 26.4% in the past six months, outperforming the Zacks Engineering - R and D Services industry’s 4.8% growth. The ongoing backlog strength, market diversity and the Building a Better Future strategy are positioning the company well for an outperformance in the upcoming period.

FLR’s Zacks Rank & Key Picks

Fluor currently carries a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell).

Here are some better-ranked stocks from the Construction sector.

Sterling Infrastructure, Inc. STRL presently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

It has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 21.5%, on average. Shares of STRL have surged 71.6% in the past six months. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for STRL’s 2025 sales and earnings per share (EPS) implies an increase of 7.3% and 8.1%, respectively, from the prior-year levels.

Louisiana-Pacific Corporation LPX currently sports a Zacks Rank of 1. LPX delivered a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 30.7%, on average. The stock has gained 26.5% in the past six months.

The consensus estimate for LPX’s 2025 sales indicates an increase of 4.3%, while the estimate for EPS implies a decline of 7.3% from a year ago.

MasTec, Inc. MTZ presently sports a Zacks Rank of 1. MTZ delivered a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 40.2%, on average. The stock has gained 32% in the past six months.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for MTZ’s 2025 sales and EPS indicates an increase of 8.6% and 45.5%, respectively, from a year ago.

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