COMFORT SYSTEMS USA INC (FIX)
SIC breadcrumb: Construction > SIC Major Group 17 > SIC 1731 Electrical Work
SEC company page: https://www.sec.gov/edgar/browse/?CIK=1035983. Latest filing source: 0001104659-26-017530.
Informational only. Descriptive public-record data — not a rating, forecast, or investment advice. See Disclaimer.
At a glance
- Revenue
- 9,101,641,000 USD verified
- Net income
- 1,022,558,000 USD verified
- Assets
- 6,441,169,000 USD verified
- Free cash flow
- 1,031,453,000 USD computed
- Net margin
- 11.23% computed
- Operating margin
- 14.44% computed
- Revenue YoY
- +29.52% computed
- ROE
- 41.76% computed
Peer & cluster context
Peer percentile fingerprint
Percentile = share of the N covered peers reporting that ratio whose value is lower (ties counted half); computed among grepcent-covered companies in SIC major-group 17 SIC Major Group 17, not the whole market. A higher percentile means a higher value of the ratio, not a better company. Ratios with fewer than 8 reporting peers are omitted. Latest reported values per company; fiscal periods may differ. Descriptive arithmetic - not a score, rating, or ranking.
Selected Fundamentals
| Metric | Value | Unit | FY | Filed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | 9,101,641,000 | USD | 2025 | 2026-02-19 |
| Net income | 1,022,558,000 | USD | 2025 | 2026-02-19 |
| Assets | 6,441,169,000 | USD | 2025 | 2026-02-19 |
Financials
Annual standardized facts from SEC companyfacts as of latest extracted filing date 2026-02-19. Source: https://data.sec.gov/api/xbrl/companyfacts/CIK0001035983.json. Derived margins, ratios, and free cash flow are computed from the extracted annual SEC facts.
| Metric | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | 1,634,340,000 | 1,787,922,000 | 2,182,879,000 | 2,615,277,000 | 2,856,659,000 | 3,073,636,000 | 4,140,364,000 | 5,206,760,000 | 7,027,476,000 | 9,101,641,000 |
| Net income | 64,896,000 | 55,272,000 | 112,903,000 | 114,324,000 | 150,139,000 | 143,348,000 | 245,947,000 | 323,398,000 | 522,433,000 | 1,022,558,000 |
| Operating income | 101,569,000 | 99,260,000 | 150,238,000 | 163,639,000 | 190,651,000 | 188,438,000 | 253,849,000 | 418,388,000 | 749,369,000 | 1,314,589,000 |
| Gross profit | 344,009,000 | 366,281,000 | 446,279,000 | 501,943,000 | 546,983,000 | 563,207,000 | 741,608,000 | 990,509,000 | 1,476,411,000 | 2,195,899,000 |
| Diluted EPS | 1.72 | 1.47 | 3.00 | 3.08 | 4.09 | 3.93 | 6.82 | 9.01 | 14.60 | 28.88 |
| Operating cash flow | 91,188,000 | 114,090,000 | 147,190,000 | 142,028,000 | 286,510,000 | 180,151,000 | 301,531,000 | 639,568,000 | 849,057,000 | 1,186,356,000 |
| Capital expenditures | 23,217,000 | 35,467,000 | 27,268,000 | 31,750,000 | 24,131,000 | 22,330,000 | 48,359,000 | 94,838,000 | 111,071,000 | 154,903,000 |
| Dividends paid | 10,264,000 | 10,987,000 | 12,268,000 | 14,543,000 | 15,499,000 | 17,384,000 | 20,077,000 | 30,379,000 | 42,766,000 | 68,833,000 |
| Share buybacks | 13,088,000 | 9,007,000 | 28,533,000 | 19,550,000 | 30,120,000 | 27,054,000 | 38,216,000 | 21,184,000 | 57,912,000 | 215,999,000 |
| Assets | 708,903,000 | 881,120,000 | 1,062,564,000 | 1,505,012,000 | 1,757,355,000 | 2,209,114,000 | 2,597,478,000 | 3,305,579,000 | 4,711,088,000 | 6,441,169,000 |
| Liabilities | 332,270,000 | 463,175,000 | 564,517,000 | 919,708,000 | 1,060,926,000 | 1,403,448,000 | 1,597,555,000 | 2,027,750,000 | 3,006,412,000 | 3,992,395,000 |
| Stockholders' equity | 376,633,000 | 417,945,000 | 498,047,000 | 585,304,000 | 696,429,000 | 805,666,000 | 999,923,000 | 1,277,829,000 | 1,704,676,000 | 2,448,774,000 |
| Cash and cash equivalents | 32,074,000 | 36,542,000 | 45,620,000 | 50,788,000 | 54,896,000 | 58,776,000 | 57,214,000 | 205,150,000 | 549,939,000 | 981,898,000 |
| Free cash flow | 67,971,000 | 78,623,000 | 119,922,000 | 110,278,000 | 262,379,000 | 157,821,000 | 253,172,000 | 544,730,000 | 737,986,000 | 1,031,453,000 |
Ratios
| Metric | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Net margin | 3.97% | 3.09% | 5.17% | 4.37% | 5.26% | 4.66% | 5.94% | 6.21% | 7.43% | 11.23% |
| Operating margin | 6.21% | 5.55% | 6.88% | 6.26% | 6.67% | 6.13% | 6.13% | 8.04% | 10.66% | 14.44% |
| Return on equity | 17.23% | 13.22% | 22.67% | 19.53% | 21.56% | 17.79% | 24.60% | 25.31% | 30.65% | 41.76% |
| Return on assets | 9.15% | 6.27% | 10.63% | 7.60% | 8.54% | 6.49% | 9.47% | 9.78% | 11.09% | 15.88% |
| Liabilities / equity | 0.88 | 1.11 | 1.13 | 1.57 | 1.52 | 1.74 | 1.60 | 1.59 | 1.76 | 1.63 |
| Current ratio | 1.31 | 1.31 | 1.31 | 1.30 | 1.17 | 1.23 | 1.12 | 1.11 | 1.08 | 1.21 |
Industry Peer Context
Net margin peer context
Operating margin peer context
ROE peer context
ROA peer context
Financial Bridges
Income statement bridge from reported figures
Figure provenance: SEC companyfacts FY 2025. Revenue: accession 0001104659-26-017530; concept Revenues; source concepts us-gaap:Revenues | Gross profit: accession 0001104659-26-017530; concept GrossProfit; source concepts us-gaap:GrossProfit | Operating income: accession 0001104659-26-017530; concept OperatingIncomeLoss; source concepts us-gaap:OperatingIncomeLoss | Net income: accession 0001104659-26-017530; concept NetIncomeLoss; source concepts us-gaap:NetIncomeLoss
Free cash flow = operating cash flow - capital expenditures
Figure provenance: SEC companyfacts FY 2025. Operating cash flow: accession 0001104659-26-017530; concept NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities; source concepts us-gaap:NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities | Capital expenditures: accession 0001104659-26-017530; concept PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment; source concepts us-gaap:PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment | Free cash flow: accession 0001104659-26-017530; concept NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities - PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment; source concepts us-gaap:NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities; us-gaap:PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment
Financial Charts
Figure provenance: SEC companyfacts. Latest point: FY 2025 ended 2025-12-31; accession 0001104659-26-017530; filed 2026-02-19. Concept: Revenues. Source concepts: us-gaap:Revenues.
Figure provenance: SEC companyfacts. Latest point: FY 2025 ended 2025-12-31; accession 0001104659-26-017530; filed 2026-02-19. Concept: NetIncomeLoss. Source concepts: us-gaap:NetIncomeLoss.
Figure provenance: SEC companyfacts. Latest point: FY 2025 ended 2025-12-31; accession 0001104659-26-017530; filed 2026-02-19. Concept: OperatingIncomeLoss. Source concepts: us-gaap:OperatingIncomeLoss.
Figure provenance: SEC companyfacts. Latest point: FY 2025 ended 2025-12-31; accession 0001104659-26-017530; filed 2026-02-19. Concept: GrossProfit. Source concepts: us-gaap:GrossProfit.
Figure provenance: SEC companyfacts. Latest point: FY 2025 ended 2025-12-31; accession 0001104659-26-017530; filed 2026-02-19. Concept: EarningsPerShareDiluted. Source concepts: us-gaap:EarningsPerShareDiluted.
Figure provenance: SEC companyfacts. Latest point: FY 2025 ended 2025-12-31; accession 0001104659-26-017530; filed 2026-02-19. Concept: NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities. Source concepts: us-gaap:NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities.
Figure provenance: SEC companyfacts. Latest point: FY 2025 ended 2025-12-31; accession 0001104659-26-017530; filed 2026-02-19. Concept: PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment. Source concepts: us-gaap:PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment.
Figure provenance: SEC companyfacts. Latest point: FY 2025 ended 2025-12-31; accession 0001104659-26-017530; filed 2026-02-19. Concept: PaymentsOfDividendsCommonStock. Source concepts: us-gaap:PaymentsOfDividendsCommonStock.
Figure provenance: SEC companyfacts. Latest point: FY 2025 ended 2025-12-31; accession 0001104659-26-017530; filed 2026-02-19. Concept: PaymentsForRepurchaseOfCommonStock. Source concepts: us-gaap:PaymentsForRepurchaseOfCommonStock.
Figure provenance: SEC companyfacts. Latest point: FY 2025 ended 2025-12-31; accession 0001104659-26-017530; filed 2026-02-19. Concept: Assets. Source concepts: us-gaap:Assets.
Figure provenance: SEC companyfacts. Latest point: FY 2025 ended 2025-12-31; accession 0001104659-26-017530; filed 2026-02-19. Concept: Liabilities. Source concepts: us-gaap:Liabilities.
Figure provenance: SEC companyfacts. Latest point: FY 2025 ended 2025-12-31; accession 0001104659-26-017530; filed 2026-02-19. Concept: StockholdersEquity. Source concepts: us-gaap:StockholdersEquity.
Figure provenance: SEC companyfacts. Latest point: FY 2025 ended 2025-12-31; accession 0001104659-26-017530; filed 2026-02-19. Concept: CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue. Source concepts: us-gaap:CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue.
Figure provenance: SEC companyfacts. Latest point: FY 2025 ended 2025-12-31; accession 0001104659-26-017530; filed 2026-02-19. Concept: NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities - PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment. Source concepts: us-gaap:NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities; us-gaap:PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment.
As-reported value updates
Quarterly
Quarterly standardized facts from SEC companyfacts as of latest extracted filing date 2026-07-23. Source: https://data.sec.gov/api/xbrl/companyfacts/CIK0001035983.json.
| Quarter | End Date | Revenue | Net Income | Diluted EPS | Method |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022-Q3 | 2022-09-30 | 1.71 | reported discrete quarter | ||
| 2023-Q1 | 2023-03-31 | 1.59 | reported discrete quarter | ||
| 2023-Q2 | 2023-06-30 | 1.93 | reported discrete quarter | ||
| 2023-Q3 | 2023-09-30 | 1,378,124,000 | 105,125,000 | 2.93 | reported discrete quarter |
| 2023-Q4 | 2023-12-31 | 1,357,566,000 | 91,581,000 | derived Q4 = FY annual - nine-month YTD | |
| 2024-Q1 | 2024-03-31 | 1,537,016,000 | 96,319,000 | 2.69 | reported discrete quarter |
| 2024-Q2 | 2024-06-30 | 1,810,290,000 | 134,009,000 | 3.74 | reported discrete quarter |
| 2024-Q3 | 2024-09-30 | 1,812,366,000 | 146,235,000 | 4.09 | reported discrete quarter |
| 2024-Q4 | 2024-12-31 | 1,867,804,000 | 145,870,000 | derived Q4 = FY annual - nine-month YTD | |
| 2025-Q1 | 2025-03-31 | 1,831,286,000 | 169,289,000 | 4.75 | reported discrete quarter |
| 2025-Q2 | 2025-06-30 | 2,173,319,000 | 230,848,000 | 6.53 | reported discrete quarter |
| 2025-Q3 | 2025-09-30 | 2,450,969,000 | 291,615,000 | 8.25 | reported discrete quarter |
| 2025-Q4 | 2025-12-31 | 2,646,067,000 | 330,806,000 | derived Q4 = FY annual - nine-month YTD | |
| 2026-Q1 | 2026-03-31 | 2,865,332,000 | 370,378,000 | 10.51 | reported discrete quarter |
| 2026-Q2 | 2026-06-30 | 3,265,656,000 | 441,602,000 | 12.53 | reported discrete quarter |
Quarterly Charts
Figure provenance: SEC companyfacts. Latest point: FY 2026 ended 2026-06-30; accession 0001104659-26-086258; filed 2026-07-23. Concept: Revenues. Source concepts: us-gaap:Revenues.
Figure provenance: SEC companyfacts. Latest point: FY 2026 ended 2026-06-30; accession 0001104659-26-086258; filed 2026-07-23. Concept: NetIncomeLoss. Source concepts: us-gaap:NetIncomeLoss.
Figure provenance: SEC companyfacts. Latest point: FY 2026 ended 2026-06-30; accession 0001104659-26-086258; filed 2026-07-23. Concept: EarningsPerShareDiluted. Source concepts: us-gaap:EarningsPerShareDiluted.
Business
Read FIX's verbatim Item 1 Business section from its latest 10-K: Business.
Risk Factors
Read FIX's verbatim Item 1A Risk Factors from its latest 10-K: Risk Factors.
Latest quarter (10-Q)
Latest 10-Q source: 0001104659-26-086258.
Item 2. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations
The following discussion and analysis should be read in conjunction with our historical Consolidated Financial Statements and related notes included elsewhere in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q and the Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission for the year ended December 31, 2025 (the “Form 10-K”). This discussion contains “forward-looking statements” regarding our business and industry within the meaning of applicable securities laws and regulations. These statements are based on our current plans and expectations and involve risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual future activities and results of operations to be materially different from those set forth in the forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ include risks set forth in “Item 1A. Risk Factors” included in our Form 10-K. We undertake no obligation to revise or publicly release the results of any revision to these forward-looking statements, except as required by law. Given these risks and uncertainties, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements. The terms “Comfort Systems,” “we,” “us,” “our,” or the “Company,” refer to Comfort Systems USA, Inc. or Comfort Systems USA, Inc. and its consolidated subsidiaries, as appropriate in the context.
Introduction and Overview
We are a national provider of comprehensive mechanical and electrical installation, renovation, maintenance, repair, and replacement services within the mechanical and electrical services industries. We operate primarily in the commercial, industrial, and institutional markets and perform most of our work in technology, manufacturing, healthcare, education, government, office, and retail facilities. We operate our business in two business segments: mechanical and electrical.
Nature and Economics of Our Business
In our mechanical business segment, customers hire us to ensure heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (“HVAC”) systems deliver specified or generally expected heating, cooling, conditioning, and circulation of air in a facility. This entails installing core system equipment such as packaged heating and air conditioning units, or in the case of larger facilities, separate core components such as chillers, boilers, air handlers, and cooling towers. We also typically install connecting and distribution elements such as piping and ducting.
In our electrical business segment, our principal business activity is electrical construction and engineering in the commercial and industrial fields. We also perform electrical contracting services and electrical service work.
In both our mechanical and electrical business segments, our responsibilities usually require conforming the systems to pre-established engineering drawings and equipment and performance specifications, which we frequently participate in establishing. Our project management responsibilities include staging equipment and materials to project sites, deploying labor to perform the work, and coordinating with other service providers on the project, including any subcontractors we might use to deliver our portion of the work.
Approximately 94.4% of our revenue is earned on a project basis for installation services in newly constructed facilities or for replacement of systems in existing facilities. When competing for project business, we usually estimate the costs we will incur on a project and then propose a bid to the customer that includes a contract price and other performance and payment terms. Our bid price and terms are intended to cover our estimated costs on the project and provide a profit margin to us commensurate with the value of the installed system to the customer, the risk that project costs or duration will vary from estimate, the schedule on which we will be paid, the opportunities for other work that we might forego by committing capacity to this project, and other costs that we incur to support our operations but which are not specific to the project. Typically, customers will seek pricing from competitors for a given project. While the criteria on which customers select a provider vary widely and include factors such as quality, technical expertise, on-time performance, post-project support and service, and company history and financial strength, we believe that price for value is the most influential factor for most customers in choosing a mechanical or electrical installation and service provider.
After a customer accepts our bid, we generally enter into a contract with the customer that specifies what we will deliver on the project, what our related responsibilities are, and how much and when we will be paid. Our overall
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price for the project is typically set at a fixed amount in the contract, although changes in project specifications or work conditions that result in unexpected additional work are usually subject to additional payment from the customer via what are commonly known as change orders. Project contracts typically provide for periodic billings to the customer as we meet progress milestones or incur costs on the project. Project contracts in our industry also frequently allow for a small portion of progress billings or contract price to be withheld by the customer until after we have completed the work. Amounts withheld under this practice are known as retention or retainage.
Labor, materials, and overhead costs account for the majority of our cost of service. Accordingly, labor management and utilization have the most impact on our project performance. Given the fixed price nature of much of our project work, if our initial estimate of project costs is wrong or we incur cost overruns that cannot be recovered in change orders, we can experience reduced profits or even significant losses on fixed price project work. We also perform some project work on a cost-plus or a time and materials basis, under which we are paid our costs incurred plus an agreed-upon profit margin, and such projects are sometimes subject to a guaranteed maximum cost. These margins are frequently less than fixed-price contract margins because there is less risk of unrecoverable cost overruns in cost-plus or time and materials work.
As of June 30, 2026, we had 8,941 projects in process. Our average project takes six to nine months to complete, with an average contract price of approximately $3.3 million. Our projects generally require working capital funding of equipment and labor costs. Customer payments on periodic billings generally do not recover these costs until late in the job. Our average project duration, together with typical retention terms as discussed above, generally allow us to complete the realization of revenue and earnings in cash within one year. We have what we consider to be a well-diversified distribution of revenue across end-use sectors that we believe reduces our exposure to negative developments in any given sector. Because of the integral nature of our services to most buildings, we have the legal right in almost all cases to attach liens to buildings or related funding sources when we have not been fully paid for installing systems, except with respect to some government buildings. The service work that we do, which is discussed further below, usually does not give rise to lien rights.
We also perform larger projects. Taken together, projects with contract prices of $2 million or more totaled $28.06 billion of aggregate contract price as of June 30, 2026, or approximately 94% of a total aggregate contract price for all projects in progress, totaling $29.88 billion. Generally, projects closer in size to $2 million will be completed in one year or less. It is unusual for us to work on a project that exceeds two years in length.
A stratification of projects in progress as of June 30, 2026, by aggregate contract price, is as follows:
| | | | | | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | | | | Aggregate | |
| | | No. of | | Contract Price | |
| Contract Price of Project | | Projects | | (in millions) | |
| Under $2 million | 7,659 | | $ | 1,819.1 | |
| $2 million - $10 million | 756 | | 3,326.5 | ||
| $10 million - $25 million | 242 | | 3,887.5 | ||
| $25 million - $50 million | 159 | | 5,513.5 | ||
| Greater than $50 million | 125 | | 15,335.5 | ||
| Total | 8,941 | | $ | 29,882.1 |
In addition to project work, approximately 5.6% of our revenue represents maintenance and repair service on already installed HVAC, electrical, and controls systems. This kind of work usually takes from a few hours to a few days to perform. Prices to the customer are based on the equipment and materials used in the service as well as technician labor time. We usually bill the customer for service work when it is complete, typically with payment terms of up to 30 days. We also provide maintenance and repair services under ongoing contracts. Under these contracts, we are paid regular monthly or quarterly amounts and provide specified service based on customer requirements. These agreements typically are for one or more years and frequently contain 30- to 60-day cancellation notice periods.
A relatively small portion of our revenue comes from national and regional account customers. These customers typically have multiple sites and contract with us to perform maintenance and repair service. These contracts may also provide for us to perform new or replacement systems installation. We operate a national call center to dispatch
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technicians to sites requiring service. We perform the majority of this work with our own employees, with the balance being subcontracted to third parties that meet our performance qualifications.
Profile and Management of Our Operations
We manage our 51 operating units based on a variety of factors. Financial measures we emphasize include profitability and use of capital as indicated by cash flow and by other measures of working capital principally involving project cost, billings, and receivables. We also monitor selling, general, administrative, and indirect project support expense, backlog, workforce size and mix, growth in revenue and profits, variation of actual project cost from original estimate, and overall financial performance in comparison to budget and updated forecasts. Operational factors we emphasize include project selection, estimating, pricing, safety, management and execution practices, labor utilization, training, and the make-up of both existing backlog as well as new business being pursued, in terms of project size, technical application, facility type, end-use customers and industries, and location of the work.
Most of our operations compete on a local or regional basis. Attracting and retaining effective operating unit managers is an important factor in our business, particularly in view of the relative uniqueness of each market and operation, the importance of relationships with customers and other market participants, such as architects and consulting engineers, and the high degree of competition and low barriers to entry in most of our markets. Accordingly, we devote considerable attention to operating unit management quality, stability, and contingency planning, including related considerations of compensation and non-competition protection where applicable.
Economic and Industry Factors
As a mechanical and electrical services provider, we operate in the broader nonresidential construction services industry and are affected by trends in this sector. While we do not have operations in all major cities of the United States
[Excerpt truncated for page length; source filing is linked above.]
Latest 10-K MD&A (excerpt)
Latest 10-K Item 7 source: 0001104659-26-017530. The complete FY 2025 MD&A is published at /company/FIX/mda/fy2025/.
ITEM 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations
The following discussion and analysis should be read in conjunction with the Consolidated Financial Statements and related notes included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Also see “Forward-Looking Statements” discussion.
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Introduction and Overview
We are a national provider of comprehensive mechanical and electrical installation, renovation, maintenance, repair and replacement services within the mechanical and electrical services industries. We operate primarily in the commercial, industrial and institutional markets and perform most of our work in manufacturing, healthcare, education, office, technology, retail and government facilities. We operate our business in two business segments: mechanical and electrical.
Nature and Economics of Our Business
In our mechanical business segment, customers hire us to ensure heating, ventilation and air conditioning (“HVAC”) systems deliver specified or generally expected heating, cooling, conditioning and circulation of air in a facility. This entails installing core system equipment such as packaged heating and air conditioning units, or in the case of larger facilities, separate core components such as chillers, boilers, air handlers, and cooling towers. We also typically install connecting and distribution elements such as piping and ducting.
In our electrical business segment, our principal business activity is electrical construction and engineering in the commercial and industrial fields. We also perform electrical logistics services and electrical service work.
In both our mechanical and electrical business segments, our responsibilities usually require conforming the systems to pre-established engineering drawings and equipment and performance specifications, which we frequently participate in establishing. Our project management responsibilities include staging equipment and materials to project sites, deploying labor to perform the work, and coordinating with other service providers on the project, including any subcontractors we might use to deliver our portion of the work.
Approximately 92.7% of our revenue is earned on a project basis for installation services in newly constructed facilities or for replacement of systems in existing facilities. When competing for project business, we usually estimate the costs we will incur on a project and then propose a bid to the customer that includes a contract price and other performance and payment terms. Our bid price and terms are intended to cover our estimated costs on the project and provide a profit margin to us commensurate with the value of the installed system to the customer, the risk that project costs or duration will vary from estimate, the schedule on which we will be paid, the opportunities for other work that we might forego by committing capacity to this project, and other costs that we incur to support our operations but which are not specific to the project. Typically, customers will seek pricing from competitors for a given project. While the criteria on which customers select a provider vary widely and include factors such as quality, technical expertise, on-time performance, post-project support and service, and company history and financial strength, we believe that price for value is the most influential factor for most customers in choosing a mechanical or electrical installation and service provider.
After a customer accepts our bid, we generally enter into a contract with the customer that specifies what we will deliver on the project, what our related responsibilities are and how much and when we will be paid. Our overall price for the project is typically set at a fixed amount in the contract, although changes in project specifications or work conditions that result in unexpected additional work are usually subject to additional payment from the customer via what are commonly known as change orders. Project contracts typically provide for periodic billings to the customer as we meet progress milestones or incur costs on the project. Project contracts in our industry also frequently allow for a small portion of progress billings or contract price to be withheld by the customer until after we have completed the work. Amounts withheld under this practice are known as retention or retainage.
Labor, materials and overhead costs account for the majority of our cost of service. Accordingly, labor management and utilization have the most impact on our project performance. Given the fixed price nature of much of our project work, if our initial estimate of project costs is wrong or we incur cost overruns that cannot be recovered in change orders, we can experience reduced profits or even significant losses on fixed price project work. We also perform some project work on a cost-plus or a time and materials basis, under which we are paid our costs incurred plus an agreed-upon profit margin, and such projects are sometimes subject to a guaranteed maximum cost. These margins are frequently less than fixed-price contract margins because there is less risk of unrecoverable cost overruns in cost-plus or time and materials work.
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As of December 31, 2025, we had 8,427 projects in process. Our average project takes six to nine months to complete, with an average contract price of approximately $2.9 million. Our projects generally require working capital funding of equipment and labor costs. Customer payments on periodic billings generally do not recover these costs until late in the job. Our average project duration, together with typical retention terms as discussed above, generally allow us to complete the realization of revenue and earnings in cash within one year. We have what we consider to be a well-diversified distribution of revenue across end-use sectors that we believe reduces our exposure to negative developments in any given sector. Because of the integral nature of our services to most buildings, we have the legal right in almost all cases to attach liens to buildings or related funding sources when we have not been fully paid for installing systems, except with respect to some government buildings. The service work that we do, which is discussed further below, usually does not give rise to lien rights.
We also perform larger projects. Taken together, projects with contract prices of $2 million or more totaled $22.44 billion of aggregate contract value as of December 31, 2025, or approximately 93%, out of a total contract value for all projects in progress of $24.17 billion. Generally, projects closer in size to $2 million will be completed in one year or less. It is unusual for us to work on a project that exceeds two years in length.
A stratification of projects in progress as of December 31, 2025, by contract price, is as follows:
| | | | | | | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | | | | Aggregate | ||
| | | | | Contract | ||
| | | No. of | | Price Value | ||
| Contract Price of Project | | Projects | | (in millions) | ||
| Under $2 million | 6,759 | | $ | 1,723.7 | | |
| $2 million - $10 million | 1,215 | | 4,631.8 | | ||
| $10 million - $20 million | 194 | | 2,751.1 | | ||
| $20 million - $40 million | 140 | | 3,936.7 | | ||
| Greater than $40 million | 119 | | 11,122.4 | | ||
| Total | 8,427 | | $ | 24,165.7 | |
In addition to project work, approximately 7.3% of our revenue represents maintenance and repair service on already installed HVAC, electrical, and controls systems. This kind of work usually takes from a few hours to a few days to perform. Prices to the customer are based on the equipment and materials used in the service as well as technician labor time. We usually bill the customer for service work when it is complete, typically with payment terms of up to thirty days. We also provide maintenance and repair services under ongoing contracts. Under these contracts, we are paid regular monthly or quarterly amounts and provide specified service based on customer requirements. These agreements typically are for one or more years and frequently contain 30- to 60-day cancellation notice periods.
A relatively small portion of our revenue comes from national and regional account customers. These customers typically have multiple sites and contract with us to perform maintenance and repair service. These contracts may also provide for us to perform new or replacement systems installation. We operate a national call center to dispatch technicians to sites requiring service. We perform the majority of this work with our own employees, with the balance being subcontracted to third parties that meet our performance qualifications.
Profile and Management of Our Operations
We manage our 50 operating units based on a variety of factors. Financial measures we emphasize include profitability and use of capital as indicated by cash flow and by other measures of working capital principally involving project cost, billings and receivables. We also monitor selling, general, administrative and indirect project support expense, backlog, workforce size and mix, growth in revenue and profits, variation of actual project cost from original estimate, and overall financial performance in comparison to budget and updated forecasts. Operational factors we emphasize include project selection, estimating, pricing, safety, management and execution practices, labor utilization, training, and the make-up of both existing backlog as well as new business being pursued, in terms of project size, technical application, facility type, end-use customers and industries and location of the work.
Most of our operations compete on a local or regional basis. Attracting and retaining effective operating unit managers is an important factor in our business, particularly in view of the relative uniqueness of each market and operation, the importance of relationships with customers and other market participants, such as architects and consulting engineers, and the high degree of competition and low barriers to entry in most of our markets. Accordingly,
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we devote considerable attention to operating unit management quality, stability, and contingency planning, including related considerations of compensation and non-competition protection where applicable.
Economic and Industry Factors
As a mechanical and electrical services provider, we operate in the broader nonresidential construction services industry and are affected by trends in this sector. While we do not have operations in all major cities of the United States, we believe our national presence is sufficiently large that we experience trends in demand for and pricing of our services that are consistent with trends in the national nonresidential construction sector. As a result, we monitor the views of major construction sector forecasters along with macroeconomic factors they believe drive the sector, including trends in gross domestic product, interest rates, business investment, employment, demographics and the fiscal condition of federal, state and local governments.
Spending decisions for building construction, renovation and system replacement are generally made on a project basis, usually with some degree of discretion as to when and if projects proceed. With larger amounts of capital, time, and discretion involved, spending decisions are affected to a significant degree by uncertainty, particularly concerns about economic and financial conditions and trends. We have experienced periods of time when economic weakness caused a significant slowdown in decisions to proceed
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MD&A history
Prior-year 10-K MD&A spans are extracted from SEC filings with the same bounded parser used for the latest filing. Each year's full verbatim text is on its own sub-page.
Macro cross-references for FIX
- HOUST - New Privately-Owned Housing Units Started: Total Units
- PERMIT - New Privately-Owned Housing Units Authorized in Permit-Issuing Places: Total Units
- DGS10 - Market Yield on U.S. Treasury Securities at 10-Year Constant Maturity
- FEDFUNDS - Federal Funds Effective Rate
- PAYEMS - All Employees, Total Nonfarm