Contractors’ backlog jumped in September as profit outlook fell

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Dive Brief:

• Building stockpile increased for the 2nd successive month in Septemberthough specialists are beginning to have doubts about future sales and revenue margins, according to a Tuesday release from the Associated Builders and Contractors.
• Overall stockpile leapt month over month to 8.7 months, up 0.2 months from August and a year previously, according to the study performed Sept. 21 to Oct. 5.
• Still, other pressures have actually emerged. “More than 1 in 4 specialists anticipate their revenue margins to agreement over the next 6 months, the greatest share given that November 2025,” stated Anirban Basu, primary financial expert at ABC. “Those very same expense pressures have actually reduced sales expectations, which likewise was up to an 11-month low in September.”

Dive Insight:

Information center work continued to drive overall stockpile leaps, though the awards disproportionately benefitted the biggest specialists, stated Basu in the release.

About 4 in 10 specialists with higher than $100 million in yearly profits have information center work today, according to ABC. For specialists with less than $100 million in yearly earnings, the share of those with information center work drops to 10%.

The 15% of ABC members under agreement for information center jobs reported 11.3 months of stockpile in September, a complete 3 months more powerful than specialists without such work, stated Basu.

At the exact same time, business and institutional stockpile, which toppled in the middle of 2026got better to the greatest level considering that July 2025. Heavy commercial stockpile, nevertheless, was up to its least expensive level because March, according to the report.

The outcomes reveal the gulf in between building’s winners and losers is growing larger. At the very same time, increasing building and construction expenses are developing headwinds for contractors throughout the sector, stated Basu.

“Rising products and labor and loaning expenses continue to put pressure on professionals,” Basu stated.