Willdan Group (NASDAQ:WLDN) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.78 EPS

Willdan Group (NASDAQ:WLDN) released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The construction company reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.78, FiscalAI reports. The business had revenue of $89.51 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $174.50 million. Willdan Group had a net margin of 7.71% and a return on equity of 24.22%. Willdan Group updated its FY 2026 guidance to 4.500-4.700 EPS.

Here are the key takeaways from Willdan Group’s conference call:

• Record FY2025 performance: consolidated contract revenue rose 21% to $682M, net revenue grew 23% to $365M, adjusted EBITDA jumped 40% to $79.5M with EBITDA margin above 20%, and the company generated $71M of free cash flow, ending the year net cash positive.
• 2026 guidance implies lower adjusted EPS (guidance $4.50–$4.70 vs. FY2025 adjusted $4.89) largely because management assumes the Section 179D tax benefit will not be available after June, reducing the tax-driven boost that aided 2025 results.
• Large, growing pipeline and deals: multiple recent contract wins (e.g., City of San Diego $112M, Mt. San Antonio College $49M microgrid, Menlo Digital $38M substation) plus the APG acquisition should drive a meaningful ramp in data-center/substation work, with APG expected to more than double in 2026.
• Strong balance sheet and M&A optionality: year-end unrestricted cash $66M, only $49M debt, $216M total available liquidity, and management says it has a robust acquisition pipeline to fund strategic growth and capability expansion.

Willdan Group Stock Down 25.5%

Shares of NASDAQ WLDN opened at $89.14 on Friday. Willdan Group has a 1 year low of $30.43 and a 1 year high of $137.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 1.48 and a quick ratio of 1.48. The firm has a market cap of $1.31 billion, a PE ratio of 25.61 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $118.42 and a 200 day simple moving average of $106.61.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WLDN has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wedbush increased their target price on shares of Willdan Group from $120.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Zacks Research downgraded Willdan Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Willdan Group in a report on Monday, December 29th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Willdan Group from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. Finally, Compass Point set a $125.00 price objective on Willdan Group in a report on Friday, January 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $124.33.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Willdan Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in WLDN. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its position in shares of Willdan Group by 3.2% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 76,990 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $3,134,000 after purchasing an additional 2,386 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Willdan Group by 4.3% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 7,530 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $307,000 after purchasing an additional 312 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in Willdan Group by 35.1% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 214,421 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $8,731,000 after buying an additional 55,704 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC boosted its holdings in Willdan Group by 205.9% during the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 25,302 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,030,000 after acquiring an additional 17,031 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of Willdan Group by 10.9% during the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 87,234 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $5,453,000 after buying an additional 8,602 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.29% of the company’s stock.

More Willdan Group News

Here are the key news stories impacting Willdan Group this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Strong Q4 profitability — Willdan reported adjusted Q4 EPS of $1.57, well above consensus, with net income and adjusted EBITDA up year-over-year, showing healthy margin improvement. Zacks: Q4 Earnings and Revenues Top Estimates
• Positive Sentiment: Operational outlook remains solid — management expects EBITDA margins to stay above 20% in 2026 and cited growing data-center work and resilient services demand, signaling durable underlying business strength. Seeking Alpha: Tax Headwind, Data Center Tailwind
• Neutral Sentiment: FY2026 EPS guidance vs. consensus — management set FY2026 EPS at $4.50–$4.70, which is higher than some analyst models but below FY2025 EPS of $4.89, creating mixed interpretations (beat vs. consensus but down vs. prior year). BusinessWire: Q4 Results & 2026 Outlook
• Neutral Sentiment: Revenue reporting nuances — Q4 contract revenue and net revenue metrics differ (contract revenue $173.7M vs. net revenue $89.5M), and some street estimates use different measures, which contributed to confusion over an apparent revenue “miss.” Willdan: Q4 Slide Deck / Press Release
• Negative Sentiment: Tax headwind and lower revenue guidance drove the selloff — management attributed a lower FY2026 EPS versus FY2025 to tax-rate normalization after the sunset of Section 179D incentives, and issued revenue guidance ($390–$405M) well below some street expectations, which prompted the sharp negative market reaction. Seeking Alpha: Tax Headwind, Data Center Tailwind

About Willdan Group

Willdan Group, Inc provides energy efficiency, infrastructure engineering, and technical consulting services to a diverse range of public and private sector clients. The company works with utilities, municipalities, state and federal agencies, and commercial enterprises to design, implement, and manage programs that promote sustainable energy use, grid modernization, and resilient infrastructure. Willdan’s offerings span program design and implementation, energy audits, measurement and verification, and project management for both new construction and retrofit initiatives.

Core services include energy advisory and engineering solutions, including feasibility studies, facility commissioning and retro-commissioning, $0 down financing for energy projects, and demand response program development.