Jacobs Solutions Inc.
Orin's own judgment of how firmly the evidence points one way — not the chance the price goes up.
Jacobs Solutions remains a hold as accelerating revenue growth—Q3 FY2026 revenue of $4.08B, up 34.6% YoY—and a pipeline of energy-transition and infrastructure contracts (thyssenkrupp hydrogen plant, Germany's Konrad Repository, UK MESH storage) are offset by an elevated 49.2x trailing PE that sits 226% above the peer median of 15.1x and by earnings inconsistency, including a Q2 FY2026 operating loss of $81M and EPS of -$0.34.
Smart money scores have improved from -0.01 as of Q3 2025 to +0.00 as of Q2 2026 with fund count rising from 50 to 59, and the stock holds above its 200-day MA of $133.11, but it has slipped below its 50-day MA of $142.29 with a bearish MACD histogram of -0.673. The net insider signal over 24 months is modestly positive at +46,247 shares, though President Hill Patrick's August sale of 17,201 shares at $143–$145 tempers CEO Pragada's May purchase at $111.09.
What could go wrong
- Valuation compression. At 49.2x trailing PE and 21.6x EV/EBITDA—226% and 58% above peer medians respectively—any disappointment in earnings normalization could trigger a sharp de-rating.
- Earnings volatility. FY2025 net income fell 64% YoY to $290M and Q2 FY2026 posted an operating loss of $81M, demonstrating that revenue growth has not reliably translated into bottom-line stability.
- Technical deterioration. Stock at $141.12 is below its 50-day MA of $142.29 with RSI at 42.6 and a negative MACD histogram of -0.673, suggesting weakening near-term momentum.
- Insider selling signal. President Hill Patrick sold 17,201 shares at $143–$145 in August 2026, partially offsetting the positive net insider balance of +46,247 shares over 24 months.
What would change my mind
Where this comes from: results, quarter to 26 Jun · results, quarter to 27 Mar · fundamentals, year to 26 Sep 2025 · peer comparison, 23 Sep. Orin's read on J; not advice.
How has the share price moved?
Down 7.9% over twelve months, from $161.00 on 27 Oct 2025 to $148.34 at the Tue 27 Oct 2026 close. Its highest close in that time was $161.00 on 27 Oct 2025; the last close is 7.9% below it.
- Green line: the closing price each trading day.
- Grey line: the average closing price over the last 50 trading days.
- Dashed amber line: the same over the last 200 trading days — a slower, smoother line.
- Bars along the bottom: shares traded each day — green when it closed higher than the day before, rose when lower (the most, 4.0M, on 18 Jun 2026).
- Flags: the company's filings, on the day they were made (a 10-Q is the quarterly report and a 10-K the annual report; an 8-K reports a major event).
On file
All J filingsLargest holders · 13F Q2 2026
Money flow| Filer | Position | Of fund |
|---|---|---|
| BlackRock | $1.4B | 0.0% |
| Vanguard Capital Management | $972.0M | 0.0% |
| State Street | $931.3M | 0.0% |
| Vanguard Portfolio Management | $598.4M | 0.0% |
| Invesco | $425.2M | 0.0% |
| Geode Capital Management | $418.5M | 0.0% |
| Morgan Stanley | $400.3M | 0.0% |
| Massachusetts Financial Services | $218.9M | 0.1% |
| Bank of America | $208.3M | 0.0% |
| Ameriprise Financial | $170.5M | 0.0% |
85 of the 815 filers we track · quarter ended Q2 2026 · positions, not flows
Insiders, last 24 months: 76 Form 4 filings; open-market trades net −$1.9M. Of the 50 on hand, 4 were open-market purchases and 3 sales — the rest are grants, option exercises and tax withholding.
Ask Orin about J
Orin answers questions about J from its filings, transcripts and numbers — with the source behind every claim. Your own desk starts with 3 free days, card required.
Start 3 free days →How is it priced, against its own past and its sector?
Priced at 51.7× its last 12 months of profit (Tue 27 Oct close) — higher than in 4 of its last 5 fiscal years (middle 21.2×); the typical Industrials company on the NYSE is at 33.7×.
| Measure | Now | Its usual | Sector |
|---|---|---|---|
| P/E | 51.7×above usual | 21.2× | 33.7× |
| P/S | 1.22×below usual | 1.32× | — |
| EV/EBITDA | 22.4×above usual | 17.0× | — |
| P/B | 5.4×above usual | 2.4× | — |
- "Its usual" is the middle of its own last 5 fiscal years.
P/E: the share price divided by one year of profit per share — roughly how many years of today's profit the price pays for. A company that loses money has no P/E.
P/S: the company's total market value divided by one year of revenue. Used when there is no profit to measure.
EV/EBITDA: the price of the whole company (its shares plus its debt, minus its cash) divided by one year of operating profit before interest, tax and write-downs.
P/B: the share price divided by the book value per share — what the company owns minus what it owes, as its accounts record it. When book value is tiny, P/B swings wildly and says little.
What do the analysts who cover it publish?
The analysts' average 12-month price target is $165 (from $153 to $174) — 11% above the Tue 27 Oct close price. That is their published opinion, not Orin's.
$165
$153 – $174 · +11% against the last close
- 5 buy or overweight
- 4 hold
- 0 underweight or sell
Price target: the share price an analyst publishes for about 12 months ahead. It is the opinion of the firm that wrote it; the average is across the firms that cover the company.
Overweight / underweight: analysts' rating words: overweight means the firm expects the stock to do better than the others it covers, underweight worse. Their words, not Orin's.
How is it priced next to the companies it is compared to?
Priced at 51.7× its last 12 months of profit; the middle P/E of the 6 companies it is compared to that made a profit is 27.0×.
| Company | Market value | P/E | EV/EBITDA | Gross margin | Net margin | ROE |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| JJacobs Solutions Inc. | $17B | 51.7× | 22.4× | 22.1% | 2.4% | 10% |
| ACMAecom | $8B | 27.8× | — | 5.7% | 1.9% | 13% |
| FLRFluor Corporation | $6B | lost money | n/m | −0.8% | −12.8% | −57% |
| KBRKBR, Inc. | $5B | 12.1× | 9.0× | 14.5% | 5.5% | 27% |
| PWRQuanta Services, Inc. | $87B | 65.5× | 30.0× | 14.4% | 4.1% | 15% |
| STRLSterling Infrastructure, Inc. | $11B | 26.2× | 15.7× | 23.8% | 12.5% | 37% |
| TPCTutor Perini Corporation | $4B | 30.5× | 11.6× | 11.8% | 2.3% | 11% |
| TTEKTetra Tech, Inc. | $9B | 22.1× | 15.0× | 18.8% | 8.6% | 24% |
- FLR: lost money over the last 12 months, so no P/E.
- FLR: EV/EBITDA is not meaningful (n/m) — its cash exceeds its market value plus debt, or the business lost money before depreciation.
- The list of companies is the data vendor's choice, so it can include a company a person would not have picked.
Market value: the share price times the number of shares — what the whole company is priced at.
P/E: the share price divided by one year of profit per share — roughly how many years of today's profit the price pays for. A company that loses money has no P/E.
EV/EBITDA: the price of the whole company (its shares plus its debt, minus its cash) divided by one year of operating profit before interest, tax and write-downs.
Gross margin: the share of each $1 of sales left after the direct cost of making what was sold.
Net margin: the share of each $1 of sales kept as profit after every cost. Below zero, the company lost money.
ROE: return on equity: one year of profit as a share of the shareholders' money in the business (its book value).
Is it priced high or low compared with its own past?
Priced at 51.7× its last 12 months of profit (Tue 27 Oct close). It has no full fiscal year on file since its history starts, so there is nothing of its own to compare with.
- Now51.7×
P/E: the share price divided by one year of profit per share — roughly how many years of today's profit the price pays for. A company that loses money has no P/E.
Fiscal year (FY): the company's own 12-month accounting year, which need not match the calendar year.
How has its sector been priced?
Industrials companies on the NYSE were priced at a typical 33.7× their yearly profit (Tue 27 Oct close).
- Now33.7×
- Each year is the middle of that calendar year's daily sector P/E; "Now" is the Tue 27 Oct close figure, the same one in the table above.
Sector P/E: the middle P/E of the companies in the same sector on the same stock exchange, as the data vendor works it out each day.
What does a cash-flow model say a share is worth?
A standard cash-flow model puts it at $93 a share — 37% below the $147.38 price it was computed against (27 Oct).
| Model | Value a share | Against the price then |
|---|---|---|
| Standard | $93 | 37% below $147.38 |
| Levered | $74 | 50% below $147.38 |
Discounted cash flow: a model's estimate of what the company is worth today, from the cash it is forecast to make in future years. Small changes in the forecast move it a lot, and it says little about a company that loses money.
Standard / levered: two versions of the cash-flow model: the standard one counts the cash before the company pays its lenders, the levered one after.