MasTec Posts Record Backlog and EPS as Growth Cools
MasTec's revenue climbed 23.4% to a quarterly record $4.37 billion, even as growth decelerated from the prior quarter's 34.5% pace.
MasTec (MTZ), the infrastructure construction contractor, reported second-quarter revenue of $4.37 billion, up 23.4% from a year earlier and a quarterly record, though the growth rate slowed from 34.5% in the first quarter and from 15.8% in the fourth quarter of 2024.
The deceleration came alongside steady margin gains, a combination that shifted the story from top-line expansion to profitability. Adjusted EBITDA margin rose 100 basis points from a year earlier to 8.8%, extending a run of year-over-year margin improvement that included 170 basis points of expansion in the first quarter and 60 basis points in the fourth quarter of 2024.
GAAP diluted earnings per share reached $1.65 and adjusted diluted earnings per share reached $2.22, both quarterly records and up 51% and 49% from a year earlier, respectively. Those gains were far more modest than the first quarter's 516% and 174% increases, which had been measured against a weak comparison period in early 2025.
The company's 18-month backlog reached $21.4 billion, up 30% from a year earlier and up $1.1 billion from the first quarter's $20.3 billion. Sequential backlog additions have been shrinking each quarter, from $2.2 billion in the fourth quarter of 2024 to $1.4 billion in the first quarter to the latest $1.1 billion gain.
Clean Energy and Infrastructure was the standout segment, with revenue climbing 43.4% from a year earlier to $1.62 billion from $1.13 billion, an acceleration from 45.2% growth in the first quarter. Pipeline Infrastructure delivered the sharpest margin gain in the portfolio, with EBITDA margin expanding 690 basis points from a year earlier to 18.4%. Communications moved the opposite direction, with EBITDA margin compressing 170 basis points to 8.2% from 9.9%, following a 100-basis-point decline in the first quarter.
Free cash flow was negative $59 million in the quarter, a larger deficit than the negative $45 million a year earlier, as capital expenditures rose to $188.3 million from $111.1 million. Over the first six months of 2026, free cash flow was negative $47.6 million, compared with roughly breakeven results in the same period last year. Net debt rose to $2.42 billion at quarter-end from $1.93 billion at the end of 2025, with long-term debt climbing to $2.57 billion from $2.18 billion, partly reflecting the acquisition of Superior Group during the quarter.
MasTec disclosed the Superior Group deal, an electrical contractor with roughly 3,000 employees focused on data-center infrastructure, for the first time in the anchor release. The acquisition is a driver of higher amortization expected in the third quarter, guiding to $89 million versus $32.7 million a year earlier.
MasTec raised its full-year 2026 guidance to $6.20 in diluted earnings per share, up 22% from a year earlier, and $9.30 in adjusted diluted earnings per share, up 42%, both increases from the first-quarter guide of $6.77 and $8.79. The nominal GAAP figure declined from the prior guide even as the outlook improved, a gap attributed to the step-up in amortization tied to Superior. For the third quarter, MasTec guided to an adjusted EBITDA margin of 9.8%, up from 9.4% a year earlier, continuing the sequential margin climb from 7.4% in the first quarter to 8.8% in the second.