Here are 4 Construction Stocks to Watch Ahead of this Earnings Season

Considering a broader view of the Construction sector, per the latest Earnings Trends report (as of July 22), 17.6% of the sector’s companies out of the reported 81 S&P 500 members had released their earnings. Having the sector’s market capitalization of 12%, these companies, in total, reported a 20.4% decline in the bottom line, with the top line tumbling 3.9%. Of the companies that have reported, 100% beat on earnings, while 66.7% topped the revenue estimates.

Expectations of the Construction Sector’s Earnings Season

Per the recent Earnings Trends report, the construction sector’s earnings are expected to tumble 3.4% year over year in the second quarter compared with a 4.7% decline in the prior quarter. Conversely, revenues are anticipated to increase 4.8% compared with 5.8% growth in the first quarter of 2026.

What is Driving the Sector’s Growth?

The United States is witnessing a boost from increased infrastructure spending through several federal initiatives, which are proving incremental for companies engaging in public construction and engineering projects, resulting in a growing backlog. Increasing AI adoption, data center projects, power-related investments, grid modernization and energy, alongside defense and national security projects, are creating long-term opportunities across the geography and beyond.

Companies like KBR, EMCOR and CRH get to enjoy the direct benefits from these favorable market tailwinds. Demand for HVAC, cooling, energy-efficiency solutions and specialized industrial equipment mainly supports SPX Technologies' growth.

Per the recent construction spending report of May 2026 by the U.S. Census Bureau, public construction spending was 0.3% up year over year and 0.5% up month over month. Within this bracket, construction spending on healthcare, transportation, highway and street, and conservation and development was notably up from May 2025 by 4.9%, 3%, 2.9% and 16.1%, respectively.

Threats to the Construction Sector

Despite the public infrastructure construction boom, the broader sector’s prospects are pulled back by the ongoing housing market softness. Per Freddie Mac, the 30-year mortgage rate moved up from 6.46% as of the week ending on April 2 to 6.49% as of the week ending on June 25. Amid the heightened geopolitical tensions and increasing inflation, homebuyers in the country stayed demotivated from owning a new house.

As of the June 2026 new residential sales report by the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, new single-family house sales were 5.6% down from June 2025, but were up 1.6% from May 2026. Single-family housing starts in June 2026 were 3.2% below the June 2025 value.

Public construction boost is majorly benefiting SPX Technologies given its elaborate exposure to public infrastructure, data-center, industrial and replacement/retrofit demand. However, softness in private residential construction is likely to be a partial offset to its business growth.

Construction Stocks to Watch Over

Amid a bundle of stocks, to identify one with the potential to beat earnings estimates, the following Zacks methodology can be exercised. The Zacks model suggests that a company needs to have the right combination of the two key ingredients — a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) — to increase the odds of an earnings beat. You can uncover the best stocks before they’re reported with our Earnings ESP Filter. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks Rank #1 stocks here.

Here are four stocks that are set to report their second-quarter 2026 earnings on July 30.

KBR: This Texas-based engineering, construction and services firm has an Earnings ESP of +8.70% and a Zacks Rank of 2. KBR reported better-than-expected earnings in each of the trailing four quarters, the average surprise being 4.8%.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for KBR’s second-quarter 2026 revenues and EPS is pegged at $1.88 billion and 92 cents, representing a decline of 3.5% and growth of 1.1%, respectively, from the year-ago figures.

SPX Technologies: This North Carolina-based industrial technology company has an Earnings ESP of +1.35% and a Zacks Rank of 2. SPXC reported better-than-expected earnings in each of the trailing four quarters, the average surprise being 9.7%. 

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for SPXC’s second-quarter 2026 revenues and EPS is pegged at $635.6 million and $1.85, indicating growth of 15.1% and 12.1%, respectively, from the year-ago figures. (read more: SPX Technologies to Report Q2 Earnings: What's in Store for the Stock?)

EMCOR: This Connecticut-based construction company has an Earnings ESP of 0.00% and a Zacks Rank of 2. EMCOR reported better-than-expected earnings in three of the trailing four quarters and missed on the remaining occasion, the average surprise being 10.4%. 

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for EME’s second-quarter 2026 revenues and EPS is pegged at $4.73 billion and $7.23, indicating growth of 9.9% and 7.6%, respectively, from the year-ago figures. (read more: Here's What Investors Must Know Ahead of EMCOR's Q2 Earnings)

CRH: This global provider of building materials and solutions has an Earnings ESP of +4.08% and a Zacks Rank of 3. CRH reported better-than-expected earnings in two of the trailing four quarters, met on one occasion and missed on the remaining one, the average surprise being 0.7%.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for CRH’s second-quarter 2026 revenues and EPS is pegged at $10.72 billion and $1.96, implying improvements of 5.1% and 1%, respectively, from the year-ago figures. (read more: CRH to Report Q2 Earnings: What's in Store for the Stock?)

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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