Fluor Earnings Rise But Postponements Dim Immediate Future | Columbus Ohio Dump Trucks

Fluor Corp. released good earnings news but noted a temporary slowdown in new awards and its intention to take legal action against subs on two troubled projects.

Fluor (NYSE: FLR) reported higher earnings during 2025's second quarter, $2.5 billion on $3.9 billion in revenue, compared to $169 miliion on $4.2 billion in the same quarter last year. But new awards for the quarter, $856 million, were down sharply from $2.4 billion in the same quarter last year.

New business slowed noticeably for a number of reasons, CEO James R. Breuer told analysts on an Aug. 1 earnings call.

In recent months, Fluor's clients were holding back as part of a wait-and-see approach before pressing forward with new projects, Breuer said. Trade policy, cost escalation and interest rates had given customers pause, and, in a few cases, led to cancelled projects.

"It means that we are at a point in the cycle of short-term hesitation on our way to longer-term opportunity," Breuer said.

Meanwhile, the Charlotte NC dump trucks company is planning legal action against subcontractors and designers to recover cost overruns on projects whose late completion and cost-overruns were already known.

Delayed completion of the $5.7-billion Gordie Howe International Bridge, a 1.5-mile cable-stayed span to connect Detroit and Windsor, Ont., was forecast in 2022. At 97% complete, Fluor has "experienced rework and additional efforts required to hand over both ports of entry," said Breuer. "We expect substantial completion this fall."

In response to what occurred on the Gordie Howe Bridge and two major highway projects, "we have increased operations oversight and strengthening the execution teams," Breuer said. He added that the Charlotte NC dump trucks company is also "taking action" against subs and designers for what he alleged as "their poor performance."

Breuer added that other projects in Fluor's infrastructure portfolio "continue to perform to management expectations." 

Deputy Editor Richard Korman helps run ENR's business and legal news and investigations, selects ENR's commentary and oversees editorial content on ENR.com. In 2023 the American Society of Business Publication Editors awarded Richard the Stephen Barr Award, the highest honor for a single feature story or investigation, for his story on the aftermath of a terrible auto crash in Kentucky in 2019, and in 2015 the American Business Media awarded him the Timothy White Award for investigations of surety fraud and workplace bullying. A member of Investigative Reporters and Editors, Richard has been a fellow on drone safety with the McGraw Center for Business Journalism at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY. Richard's freelance writing has appeared in the Seattle Times, the New York Times, Business Week and the websites of The Atlantic and Salon.com. He admires construction projects that finish on time and budget, compensate all team members fairly and record zero fatalities or serious injuries.