Construction Partners reported second-quarter revenue of $999.4 million, up 28.2% year-on-year, and immediately raised full-year guidance. The civil infrastructure contractor attributed the beat to completed acquisitions and a surge in data center site preparation work across the Southeast. Management now expects fiscal 2025 revenue between $3.85 billion and $4.05 billion, a $150 million lift at the midpoint from prior guidance.
The quarter closed with backlog expanding 19% sequentially to $2.1 billion, concentrated in government highway contracts and private data center infrastructure. Construction Partners operates asphalt plants and paving crews across twelve states, primarily serving state departments of transportation and municipal governments. The data center work represents a new vertical the company entered eighteen months ago through selective M&A. CEO Jule Smith told analysts the firm is now the preferred site contractor for two unnamed hyperscale operators building campus facilities in North Carolina and Georgia.
The guidance raise matters because it confirms two concurrent thesis drivers for civil contractors. First, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act continues releasing funds with a $110 billion allocation for roads and bridges now 62% deployed across state programs. Construction Partners captures that flow through multi-year contracts with predictable margins. Second, data center construction has moved from isolated projects to sustained pipelines as power constraints force operators into the Southeast's lower-cost energy corridor. The company reported data center revenue of $127 million in Q2 alone, up from $31 million in the year-ago period. That work carries 18-22% gross margins compared to 12-15% on typical highway resurfacing.
Micron's announcement of a $250 billion US semiconductor investment through 2035, with construction now underway in upstate New York, signals the scale of allied infrastructure demand. Each fabrication plant requires roads, utilities, and grading before vertical construction begins. Construction Partners does not work the New York project but benefits from the same dynamic: manufacturing reshoring creates sustained demand for the unglamorous horizontal work that precedes headline-grabbing factories. The company completed three acquisitions in the past twelve months, adding asphalt capacity in Tennessee and Alabama specifically to serve mixed public-private corridors.
Operators should watch for Q3 margin performance, expected in early May, to confirm data center work sustains above 18% gross margins as volumes scale. Management guided to full-year adjusted EBITDA of $485-$515 million, implying 12.8% margins at the midpoint. Any compression below 12.5% would indicate pricing pressure or execution slippage as the company integrates acquired assets. The next state DOT contract awards cycle runs June through August, with $4.2 billion in southern-state highway projects scheduled for bid. Construction Partners typically captures 8-12% of addressable work in its operating footprint.
The firm ended Q2 with $287 million in cash and $421 million drawn on its $750 million revolver, leaving $616 million in liquidity for additional tuck-in acquisitions or working capital as backlog converts to revenue through 2025.