MasTec (MTZ) Q3 2025: Backlog Hits $16.8B as Pipeline Awards Double, Setting Up Multi-Year Growth
MasTec posted record quarterly revenue and backlog, with all segments delivering growth and margin expansion, while pipeline awards more than doubled YoY. The company’s diversified model and visibility into multi-year infrastructure demand now underpin a bullish outlook well into 2027. Margin improvement remains a central lever as MasTec navigates project mix and capital allocation for organic and acquired growth.
Summary
- Pipeline Backlog Surge: New awards drove pipeline backlog up 124% YoY, unlocking multi-year revenue visibility.
- Margin Expansion Focus: All non-pipeline segments improved EBITDA margins, with further gains targeted as investments mature.
- Multi-Segment Demand Strength: Healthy end-market trends and record backlog support double-digit growth ambitions into 2026 and beyond.
Performance Analysis
MasTec delivered a 22% YoY revenue increase to just under $4 billion, with all four operating segments contributing to growth and margin uplift. The communications segment led with 33% organic revenue growth and a 40 basis point EBITDA margin improvement, driven by robust wireless and wireline demand. Clean energy and infrastructure (CE&I) revenues rose 20%, with EBITDA up 36% and margins climbing 100 basis points, reflecting strong execution in renewables and industrial projects. Power delivery grew 17% in revenue and 21% in EBITDA, despite the absence of storm restoration work and permitting delays on Greenlink. The pipeline segment returned to growth, with revenues up 20% and its best margin quarter of the year, aided by new project awards and improved operational leverage.
Total backlog reached a record $16.8 billion, up 21% YoY and sequentially, supporting a book-to-bill ratio of 1.1x. Notably, pipeline backlog more than doubled YoY to $1.6 billion, with $600 million in new bookings and a 1.2x book-to-bill, signaling a structural demand shift. Free cash flow lagged expectations due to working capital investment, but management reaffirmed full-year cash flow and leverage targets, supported by a $2 billion liquidity position.
- Communications Outperformance: Wireless and wireline infrastructure demand, including AI-driven fiber builds, fueled segment growth and margin improvement.
- Renewables and Infrastructure Ramp: CE&I backlog and margin gains reflect execution on solar, wind, and data center projects, with backlog at a historic high.
- Pipeline Visibility Expands: Award cadence and customer commitments point to double-digit growth in 2026 and substantial upside in 2027 and beyond.
MasTec’s diversified backlog and segment mix now provide a resilient foundation for sustained growth, even as project timing and mix introduce quarterly variability.
Executive Commentary
"Our solid execution across these segments, coupled with the expectations of significantly improved pipeline market, as natural gas plays a much larger role in future energy generation, position MOSTIC for continued growth and strong financial performance."
Jose Mas, Chief Executive Officer
"The margin progression we have now recorded comes from our continued focus on operating productivity and cost management, as well as solid operating leverage as our volume has increased. We continue to expect annual positive margin progression, which will continue to be a primary focus for MOSTEC."
Paul DeMarco, Chief Financial Officer
Strategic Positioning
1. Diversification Across End Markets
MasTec’s strategic investments in communications, clean energy, power delivery, and pipeline infrastructure have created a balanced portfolio that reduces reliance on any single vertical. The non-pipeline segments now represent the bulk of revenue and EBITDA, with organic growth and margin improvement across all three. This diversification enables MasTec to capture secular trends in broadband, renewables, and grid modernization, while pipeline momentum returns as natural gas infrastructure demand accelerates.
2. Backlog as a Leading Indicator
Backlog, a measure of contracted future revenue, reached $16.8 billion and is increasingly recognized as a lagging indicator of actual visibility, especially in pipeline and transmission projects. Management emphasized that “shadow backlog”—customer commitments not yet formalized in contracts—provides even greater revenue visibility for 2026 and 2027 than reported figures suggest. This dynamic is especially pronounced in pipeline, where projects are awarded closer to mobilization, and in transmission, where new wins are set to ramp in mid-2026.
3. Margin Expansion Levers
Margin improvement remains a central strategic goal, with third quarter consolidated EBITDA margin up 160 basis points sequentially. Investments in new geographies, offices, and talent—especially in communications and power delivery—have temporarily weighed on margins, but are expected to yield operating leverage as revenue scales. Management is targeting double-digit consolidated margins mid-term, with additional gains expected as project mix normalizes and growth investments mature.
4. Capital Allocation and Growth Investment
MasTec is prioritizing organic growth through equipment and capacity expansion, with CapEx expected to run above depreciation near-term to support pipeline ramp. The company maintains flexibility for accretive M&A, particularly in transmission and adjacent power generation, while remaining disciplined about risk and integration. Share repurchases remain opportunistic, supported by a strong balance sheet and sub-2x net leverage.
5. Data Center and Renewables Tailwinds
MasTec is positioning for a larger role in the data center buildout, spanning fiber, power, and civil infrastructure, with management citing a “very high” probability of total solutions projects as early as 2026. Renewables growth remains led by solar, but wind and battery storage are gaining share, with three of the four largest wind jobs in company history secured for future periods. CE&I backlog now extends well beyond the reported 18-month window, supporting multi-year growth.
Key Considerations
This quarter reinforced MasTec’s ability to execute on a diverse set of growth drivers, while surfacing new visibility into multi-year demand across all segments. Investors should weigh the following:
- Pipeline Demand Inflection: Customer commitments and new awards signal a return to historical revenue highs, with margin recovery expected in Q4 and further upside into 2026-2027.
- Power Delivery Project Mix: Greenlink permitting delays reduced 2025 revenue, but new transmission awards and maintenance MSAs, master service agreements for recurring utility work, provide stability and offset risk.
- Communications Margin Path: Investments in new geographies and offices have created near-term margin drag, but segment EBITDA is set to benefit as these investments mature and BEAD, Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program, funding flows accelerate.
- Cash Flow Timing: Working capital investment to support growth weighed on Q3 free cash flow, but a sequential revenue contraction and DSO, days sales outstanding, improvement in Q4 are expected to release cash and support leverage reduction.
- Capital Allocation Discipline: Management is balancing growth CapEx, targeted M&A, and opportunistic buybacks, while maintaining a conservative leverage profile and liquidity buffer.
Risks
Project timing and permitting delays, as seen with Greenlink, can impact quarterly results and introduce revenue/margin volatility. Labor and materials constraints remain a risk for pipeline and renewables execution, while aggressive growth investments could pressure margins if revenue ramps slower than expected. Regulatory and permitting hurdles in power delivery and pipeline may persist, requiring continued risk mitigation and contract discipline.
Forward Outlook
For Q4 2025, MasTec guided to:
- Lower power delivery revenue due to Greenlink delays, offset by higher communications and pipeline activity
- Continued margin improvement, especially in pipeline and communications
For full-year 2025, management raised revenue and EPS guidance:
- Revenue of $14.1 billion, adjusted EBITDA of $1.135 billion, and adjusted EPS of $6.40 (+62% YoY)
Management highlighted:
- Double-digit growth expected in all non-pipeline segments for 2025, with further acceleration in 2026
- Consensus for 2026—10% revenue growth and 20% EBITDA growth—is viewed as achievable, with upside from new awards and backlog conversion
Takeaways
MasTec’s Q3 results mark an inflection in backlog-driven visibility and margin recovery, with each segment contributing to a resilient, multi-year growth outlook.
- Backlog Expansion: Record backlog and shadow awards in pipeline and transmission provide a durable revenue runway through 2027.
- Margin Recovery Trajectory: Margin expansion is underway, with further gains expected as growth investments mature and project mix normalizes.
- Secular Demand Tailwinds: Broadband, renewables, grid, and gas infrastructure spending underpin MasTec’s diversified growth story, with incremental upside from data center and storage projects.
Conclusion
MasTec’s Q3 2025 results confirm the structural demand tailwinds across its core markets, with record backlog and improving margins setting the stage for sustained double-digit growth. Strategic diversification, disciplined capital allocation, and robust customer commitments position the company for multi-year outperformance, even as project timing and investment cycles introduce some variability.
Industry Read-Through
MasTec’s performance underscores a broad-based infrastructure upcycle, with secular investment in broadband, renewables, grid modernization, and pipeline construction accelerating across North America. The return of pipeline demand and transmission project awards signals renewed capital deployment by utilities and energy producers, while data center and battery storage buildouts are emerging as high-growth verticals. For peers in engineering, construction, and specialty contracting, the backlog and award cadence at MasTec point to a multi-year demand runway, though execution risk and permitting hurdles remain sector-wide concerns.