Why Sterling Infrastructure Rallied on Tuesday

Shares of Sterling Infrastructure (NASDAQ: STRL) rallied as much as 11.1% Tuesday, before settling into a mere 4% gain as of 3:47 p.m. ET.

Sterling reported second-quarter earnings last night that handily surpassed expectations, and raised guidance, quelling some recent fears over the state of the economy generally and the construction industry specifically. But by pivoting to the hottest parts of the market, Sterling was able to fly by profit forecasts.

A beneficiary of the infrastructure bill and AI boom

In the first quarter, Sterling delivered 11.6% revenue growth to $582.8 million, along with 31% earnings-per-share (EPS) growth to $1.67 per share, with both figures handily beating analyst estimates. Management also raised full-year guidance to a range of $2.15 billion to $2.225 billion in revenue and $5.60 to $5.75 in diluted earnings per share. That was up from prior guidance of $2.125 billion to $2.215 billion and $5 to $5.30, respectively, on the first-quarter release.

Some analysts may not have been expecting results like these because a fair amount of the U.S. construction industry and consumer spending is hitting a slowdown. But Sterling was able to lean into the fastest-growing and higher-margin segments of its business, specifically riding the wave of infrastructure and AI spending.

Sterling has three main segments:

• E-infrastructure solutions, which serves the data center and next-gen manufacturing sectors, as well as e-commerce warehouses and other commercial buildings
• Transportation solutions, which executes projects for highways, roads, bridges, airports, ports, light rail, water systems, and others
• Building solutions, which serves residential and commercial construction

Sterling has been able to capitalize on growing in the best parts of its end markets. For instance, e-infrastructure revenue declined 7%, but that segment's operating income grew 20%, as Sterling was able to achieve 100% growth in the higher-margin data center segment, even as other segments lagged. While the building solutions segment declined 2%, operating income in that segment was up 2%. Meanwhile, the transportation segment surged 54% and operating profits grew 57%, likely on the back of very strong public-private infrastructure investments resulting from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act of 2021.

A top operator still looks like a good buy

Sterling Infrastructure is showing solid growth even as some parts of its business are challenged, along with impressive profit expansion, showing off management's execution and the ability to target the most attractive markets.

Trading at just 18.8 times this year's recently raised guidance for EPS and sporting a solid net cash position on the balance sheet, Sterling looks like a good buy, assuming the U.S. is able to avoid a recession.

Billy Duberstein and/or his clients have no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy .