Centuri's Gross Profit Margin Reaches 9.5% After Second-Quarter Dip

The Tip Desk · November 11, 2026 · 3 min read

Record third-quarter revenue of $1.19 billion and gross profit of $113.4 million lifted the margin from 7.2% in the second quarter as U.S. Gas capacity investments took hold.

Centuri Holdings, Inc. (CTRI) reported record third-quarter revenue of $1.19 billion, up 40% from a year earlier, after a 33% year-over-year increase in the second quarter. Gross profit reached a company record $113.4 million, up 45% from $78.0 million in the year-ago quarter, after only a 2% year-over-year increase in the second quarter.

Gross profit margin expanded to 9.5% from 9.2% a year earlier and from 7.2% in the second quarter. Incremental gross profit margin was 10.4% on the $342.0 million year-over-year revenue increase. President and CEO Christian Brown said investments to build scale and capacity in the first half of the year, including workforce additions, delivered the expected productivity and efficiency gains.

U.S. Gas, where the company said workforce expansion was most significant, showed the sharpest sequential turn. Segment gross profit margin reached 8.2%, up from 4.2% in the second quarter, after a $3 million capacity investment in that prior quarter that the company said was expected to lift third-quarter margins. U.S. Gas revenue was $576.0 million, up 39.7% year-over-year.

Union Electric led consolidated growth at 65% year-over-year, with revenue of $354.0 million, including the JJ White acquisition closed in the second quarter. U.S. Gas followed at 40%, Canadian Operations at 33% with revenue of $98.5 million, and Non-Union Electric at 18% with revenue of $175.4 million. In the second quarter, Canadian Operations had led growth at 48%. The company attributed the third-quarter mix to new bid work and JJ White in Union Electric, new bid and master service agreement contracts in U.S. Gas, the inclusion of Connect Utility Services in Canadian Operations, and higher storm restoration volumes in Non-Union Electric. Storm restoration contributed $21.3 million of revenue and $6.1 million of gross profit in the quarter.

Net income attributable to common stock was $26.9 million, or $0.27 a share, versus $2.1 million, or $0.02 a share, a year earlier. Adjusted net income was $42.5 million, up 155% year-over-year. Adjusted EBIT was $73.0 million, up 79%, and adjusted EBITDA was $108.0 million, up 44%, for a 9.1% adjusted EBITDA margin. Net debt to adjusted EBITDA was 2.6x as of September 27, 2026, versus 3.8x a year earlier.

During the quarter Centuri secured approximately $730 million in bookings, including nearly $445 million of new bid awards, about $185 million of new or expanded MSA awards and about $100 million of MSA renewals. Year-to-date bookings reached about $2.9 billion, a 1.01x book-to-bill ratio. Backlog was approximately $6.2 billion at quarter-end, down from a record $6.5 billion after the first quarter. The opportunity pipeline expanded to a record $19 billion, up 46% from the third quarter last year. The company said it estimates about $2 billion of MSA contract value will be renewed by year-end and forecasts a full-year book-to-bill ratio above its 1.2x target.

Centuri updated full-year 2026 guidance to revenue of $3.8 billion to $3.9 billion, adjusted gross profit of $305 million to $315 million, adjusted EBITDA of $290 million to $300 million, adjusted net income of $80 million to $90 million, and net capital expenditures of $60 million to $70 million, assuming no storm restoration in the fourth quarter.

The company introduced initial 2027 targets of mid-teens revenue growth and an 8.5% to 9.0% gross profit margin, with about $3.7 billion of 2027 revenue coverage. Brown said the company is targeting that margin range, supported by reduced seasonality, improved pricing, productivity and operating efficiencies, and the quality of its growing bid pipeline. Beginning with this release, Centuri no longer presents Base Revenue, Base Gross Profit or Base Gross Profit Margin and instead presents Adjusted measures that exclude only the City of Chicago reversal.