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UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
_____________________________________________
Form 10-K
| | | | | | | | |
(Mark One) | | |
☑ | | ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 |
For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2023
| | | | | | | | |
☐ | | TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 |
Commission File Number: 001-13831
Quanta Services, Inc.
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
| | | | | | | | |
Delaware | | 74-2851603 |
(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization) | | (I.R.S. Employer Identification No.) |
2727 North Loop West
Houston, Texas 77008
(Address of principal executive offices, including zip code)
(713) 629-7600
(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Title of each class | | Trading Symbol(s) | | Name of each exchange on which registered |
Common Stock, $0.00001 par value | | PWR | | New York Stock Exchange |
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes ☑ No ☐
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act. Yes ☐ No ☑
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes ☑ No ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§ 232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files). Yes ☑ No ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company,” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Large accelerated filer | ☑ | Accelerated filer | ☐ | Non-accelerated filer | ☐ | Smaller reporting company | ☐ | Emerging growth company | ☐ |
If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report. ☑
If securities are registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act, indicate by check mark whether the financial statements of the registrant included in the filing reflect the correction of an error to previously issued financial statements. ☐
Indicate by check mark whether any of those error corrections are restatements that required a recovery analysis of incentive-based compensation received by any of the registrant’s executive officers during the relevant recovery period pursuant to §240.10D-1(b). ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). Yes ☐ No ☑
As of June 30, 2023 (the last business day of the registrant’s most recently completed second fiscal quarter), the aggregate market value of the Common Stock of the registrant held by non-affiliates of the registrant, based on the last sale price of the Common Stock reported by the New York Stock Exchange on such date, was $28.2 billion.
As of February 19, 2024, the number of outstanding shares of Common Stock of the registrant was 145,748,976.
DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE
Portions of the registrant’s Definitive Proxy Statement for the 2024 Annual Meeting of Stockholders are incorporated by reference into Part III of this Form 10-K.
QUANTA SERVICES, INC.
ANNUAL REPORT ON FORM 10-K
For the Year Ended December 31, 2023
INDEX
| | | | | | | | |
| | Page |
| | Number |
PART I |
ITEM 1. | | |
ITEM 1A. | | |
ITEM 1B. | | |
ITEM 1C. | | |
ITEM 2. | | |
ITEM 3. | | |
ITEM 4. | | |
|
PART II |
ITEM 5. | | |
ITEM 6. | | |
ITEM 7. | | |
ITEM 7A. | | |
ITEM 8. | | |
ITEM 9. | | |
ITEM 9A. | | |
ITEM 9B. | | |
ITEM 9C. | | |
|
PART III |
ITEM 10. | | |
ITEM 11. | | |
ITEM 12. | | |
ITEM 13. | | |
ITEM 14. | | |
|
PART IV |
ITEM 15. | | |
ITEM 16. | | |
| | |
| |
Cautionary Statement About Forward-Looking Statements and Information
This Annual Report on Form 10-K (Annual Report) of Quanta Services, Inc. (together with its subsidiaries, Quanta, we, us or our) includes forward-looking statements reflecting assumptions, expectations, projections, intentions or beliefs about future events that are intended to qualify for the “safe harbor” from liability established by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. You can identify these statements by the fact that they do not relate strictly to historical or current facts. They use words such as “anticipate,” “estimate,” “project,” “forecast,” “may,” “will,” “should,” “could,” “expect,” “believe,” “plan,” “intend” and other words of similar meaning. In particular, these include, but are not limited to, statements relating to the following:
•Projected revenues, net income, earnings per share, margins, cash flows, liquidity, weighted average shares outstanding, capital expenditures, interest rates and tax rates, as well as other projections of operating results and GAAP (as defined herein) and non-GAAP financial results, including EBITDA (as defined herein), adjusted EBITDA (as defined herein) and backlog;
•Expectations regarding our business or financial outlook;
•Expectations regarding opportunities, technological developments, competitive positioning, future economic and regulatory conditions and other trends in particular markets or industries;
•Expectations regarding our plans and strategies, including with respect to our supply chain and expanded or new service offerings;
•The business plans or financial condition of our customers, including with respect to the transition to a reduced-carbon economy;
•The potential benefits from, and future financial and operational performance of, acquired businesses and our investments;
•Beliefs and assumptions about the collectability of receivables;
•The expected value of contracts or intended contracts with customers, as well as the expected timing, scope, services, term or results of any awarded or expected projects;
•Possible recovery of pending or contemplated insurance claims, change orders and claims asserted against customers or third parties;
•The development of and opportunities with respect to future projects, including renewable energy projects and other projects designed to support the transition to a reduced-carbon economy, electrical grid modernization, upgrade and hardening projects and larger transmission and pipeline projects;
•Expectations regarding the future availability and price of materials and equipment necessary for the performance of our business;
•The expected impact of global and domestic economic or political conditions on our business, financial condition, results of operations, cash flows, liquidity, and demand for our services, including inflation, interest rates, recessionary economic conditions and commodity prices and production volumes;
•The expected impact of changes and potential changes in climate and the physical and transition risks associated with climate change and the transition to a reduced-carbon economy;
•Future capital allocation initiatives, including the amount and timing of, and strategies with respect to, any future acquisitions, investments, cash dividends, repurchases of our equity or debt securities or repayments of other outstanding debt;
•The expected impact of existing or potential legislation or regulation;
•Potential opportunities that may be indicated by bidding activity or similar discussions with customers;
•The future demand for, availability of and costs related to labor resources in the industries we serve;
•The expected recognition and realization of our remaining performance obligations or backlog;
•Expectations regarding the outcome of pending or threatened legal proceedings, as well as the collection of amounts awarded in legal proceedings; and
•Expectations with respect to our ability to reduce our debt and maintain our current credit ratings.
These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance; rather they involve or rely on a number of risks, uncertainties, and assumptions that are difficult to predict or are beyond our control, and reflect management’s beliefs and assumptions based on information available at the time the statements are made. We caution you that actual outcomes and results may differ materially from what is expressed, implied or forecasted by our forward-looking statements and that any or all of our forward-looking statements may turn out to be inaccurate or incorrect. These statements can be affected by inaccurate assumptions and by known or unknown risks and uncertainties, including risks and uncertainties described elsewhere herein, including in Item 1A. Risk Factors in Part I of this Annual Report and as may be detailed from time to time in our other public filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
All of our forward-looking statements, whether written or oral, are expressly qualified by these cautionary statements and any other cautionary statements that may accompany such forward-looking statements or that are otherwise included in this report. Although forward-looking statements reflect our good faith beliefs at the time they are made, reliance should not be placed on forward-looking statements because they involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from anticipated future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. In addition, we do not undertake and expressly disclaim any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this report or otherwise.
PART I
ITEM 1.Business
OVERVIEW
Quanta Services, Inc. (together with its subsidiaries, “Quanta,” “we,” “us” or “our”) is a leading provider of comprehensive infrastructure solutions for the electric and gas utility, renewable energy, communications, pipeline and energy industries in the United States, Canada, Australia and select other international markets. We provide engineering, procurement, construction, upgrade and repair and maintenance services for infrastructure within each of these industries, including electric power transmission and distribution networks; substation facilities; wind and solar generation and transmission and battery storage facilities; communications and cable multi-system operator networks; gas utility systems; pipeline transmission systems and facilities; and downstream industrial facilities. Our operations are decentralized and labor-intensive, and we rely on craft skilled labor personnel and experienced operators to successfully manage our day-to-day business. We also have an experienced management team, both at the executive and regional levels and within our subsidiaries, which we refer to as operating companies. We operate a fleet of owned and leased trucks and trailers, support vehicles and specialty construction equipment, as well as various proprietary technologies that enhance our service offerings. We have a large and diverse customer base, including many of the leading companies in the utility, renewable energy, communications, industrial and energy delivery markets.
The performance of our business generally depends on our ability to obtain contracts with customers and to effectively deliver the services provided under those contracts. Our services are typically provided pursuant to master service agreements (MSAs), repair and maintenance contracts and fixed price and non-fixed price construction and engineering contracts. We offer comprehensive and diverse solutions on a broad geographic scale and have a solid base of long-standing customer relationships in each of the industries we serve. We believe our reputation for safety leadership, responsiveness and performance, geographic reach, comprehensive service offerings and financial strength have resulted in strong relationships with numerous customers, and we endeavor to develop and maintain strategic alliances and preferred service provider status with our customers.
We believe that our business strategies, along with our safety culture and financial resources, differentiate us from our competition and position us to benefit from future programmatic and capital spending by our customers. Our strategies include delivering and continuing to expand our portfolio of infrastructure solutions to existing and potential customers, developing our technological and training capabilities, remaining committed to the safety of our employees, and maintaining an entrepreneurial culture throughout our organization. We believe executing on these strategies places us in the position to capitalize on opportunities and trends in the industries we serve and expand our operations to select new markets.
SEGMENTS
We report our results under three reportable segments: Electric Power Infrastructure Solutions (Electric Power), Renewable Energy Infrastructure Solutions (Renewable Energy) and Underground Utility and Infrastructure Solutions (Underground and Infrastructure). Our entrepreneurial business model allows multiple operating companies to serve the same or similar customers and to provide a range of services across end user markets and our reportable segments. Our operating companies may perform joint projects for customers in multiple industries, deliver multiple types of services under a single customer contract or provide service offerings to various industries.
We operate primarily in the United States; however, we derived approximately 14.2%, 15.7% and 14.7% of our revenues from foreign operations, primarily in Canada and Australia, during the years ended December 31, 2023, 2022 and 2021.
Electric Power
Services
Our Electric Power segment provides comprehensive services primarily for the electric power and also for the communications markets. Services performed generally include:
•design, procurement, new construction, upgrade and repair and maintenance services for electric power transmission and distribution infrastructure, both overhead and underground, and substation facilities, along with other engineering and technical services, including services that support the implementation of upgrades by utilities to modernize and harden the electric power grid in order to ensure its safety and enhance reliability and to accommodate increased residential and commercial use of electric vehicles (EVs);
•emergency restoration services, including the repair of infrastructure damaged by fires and inclement weather;
•energized installation, maintenance and upgrade of electric power infrastructure utilizing our bare hand and hot stick methods and our robotic arm techniques;
•installation of “smart grid” technologies on electric power networks;
•design and construction services to wireline and wireless communications companies, cable multi-system operators and other customers within the communications industry (including services in connection with 5G wireless deployment);
•design, installation, maintenance and repair services related to commercial and industrial wiring; and
•aviation services primarily for the utility industry, including the transportation of line workers, the setting of poles and towers, and the stringing of wires.
This segment also includes (i) the majority of the financial results of our advanced training facility and our postsecondary educational institution, which specializes in pre-apprenticeship training, apprenticeship training and specialized utility task training for electric workers, as well as training for the gas distribution and communications industries and (ii) our portion of earnings of our unconsolidated integral affiliates, which includes, among others, our 50% equity interest in LUMA Energy, LLC (LUMA), a joint venture that was selected to operate, maintain, and modernize the approximately 18,000-mile electric transmission and distribution system in Puerto Rico.
Business Environment
With respect to our electric power service offerings, utilities are continuing to invest significant capital in their electric power delivery systems, particularly transmission, substation and distribution infrastructure, through multi-year, multi-billion dollar grid modernization and reliability programs. We also expect demand for electricity in North America to continue to grow, including through electrification trends (e.g., EV adoption) and increased demand for data center infrastructure and manufacturing facilities, and believe that certain segments of the North American electric power grid are not adequate to efficiently supply this future demand. To accommodate this growth, we expect continued demand for new or expanded transmission, substation and distribution infrastructure to reliably transport power to meet demand driven by electrification and the modification and reengineering of existing infrastructure as existing coal and nuclear generation facilities are retired or shut down. In order to reliably and efficiently deliver power, including in response to federal reliability standards and in preparation for emerging technologies, such as EVs, utilities are also integrating smart grid technologies into distribution systems to improve grid management and create efficiencies. A number of utilities also continue to implement system upgrades and hardening programs in response to recurring severe weather events. For example, utilities throughout the United States are executing storm hardening programs to make their systems more resilient to hurricanes and other severe weather events, and there are significant system resiliency initiatives underway in California and other regions in the United States that are designed to prevent and manage the impact of wildfires. Utilities are also executing significant initiatives to underground critical infrastructure, including additional underground transmission and distribution initiatives by utilities in California, underground transmission projects in the northeast United States and underground distribution circuits along the U.S. coastlines.
With respect to our communications service offerings, which are focused on the North American market, consumer and commercial demand for communication and data-intensive, high-bandwidth wireline and wireless services and applications are driving significant investment in infrastructure and the deployment of new technologies. In particular, communications providers remain in the early stages of developing new fifth generation wireless services (5G), which are intended to facilitate bandwidth-intensive services at high speeds for consumers and commercial applications. Additionally, recent legislative and regulatory initiatives, including the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), have dedicated billions of dollars of funding to support broadband service to underserved markets.
Renewable Energy
Services
Our Renewable Energy segment provides comprehensive infrastructure solutions to customers that are involved in the renewable energy industry. Services performed generally include:
•engineering, procurement, new construction, repowering and repair and maintenance services for renewable generation facilities, such as utility-scale wind, solar and hydropower generation facilities and battery storage facilities; and
•engineering and construction services for substations and switchyards, transmission and other electrical infrastructure needed to interconnect and transmit electricity from renewable energy generation and battery storage facilities.
Business Environment
With respect to these services, we believe the transition to a reduced-carbon economy, which is being driven by regulatory requirements, consumer and investor preferences, state and federal policies, increasing electrification trends and
declining levelized costs of renewable energy, will require sizeable long-term investment in renewable generation and related infrastructure, including meaningful repowering and modernization of existing assets. To that end, renewable energy developers are expected to continue to increase investments in wind and solar projects, as well as energy storage projects. Utilities have increased the percentage of renewable electricity bought through power purchase agreements (PPAs) with renewable energy developers, and we believe are in the early stages of investing directly in renewable generation facilities, which could expand significantly over time as they pursue clean energy strategies and emissions-reduction initiatives. Also, a growing number of corporate enterprises, particularly technology companies, are entering into PPAs with renewable energy developers to source renewable electricity to power their facilities and achieve their own carbon-reduction initiatives. Increased battery storage is also being developed to support increased renewable energy production by providing shorter-term storage of electricity from renewable energy generation, particularly from solar facilities, which helps to manage the amount and timing of intermittent power placed on the grid from renewable generation. These dynamics necessitate the development and construction of related infrastructure, including high-voltage electric transmission and substation infrastructure, that is necessary to interconnect and transmit electricity from new renewable energy generation facilities into the existing electric power grid and enhance grid reliability.
Additionally, we believe various legislative and policy objectives throughout North America support these industry and market trends. For example, the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA) includes policy and related financial incentives designed to support and accelerate, along with providing certainty for, the United States’ efforts to transition towards a reduced-carbon economy. We believe the IRA includes, among other things, favorable provisions targeting increases in utility-scale wind, solar and energy storage capacity and increased domestic manufacturing capacity and availability of products and components for these projects, that could reduce supply chain risks in the future. While we believe demand for our renewable infrastructure services will grow as a result of the IRA, the requirements associated with this legislation are complex, and the timing of the expected growth depends in part on the speed at which we and our customers determine how to proceed.
Underground and Infrastructure
Services
Our Underground and Infrastructure segment provides comprehensive infrastructure solutions to customers involved in the transportation, distribution, storage, development and processing of natural gas, oil and other products. Services performed generally include:
•design, engineering, procurement, new construction, upgrade and repair and maintenance services for natural gas systems for gas utility customers;
•pipeline protection, integrity testing, rehabilitation and replacement services;
•catalyst replacement services, high-pressure and critical-path turnaround services, instrumentation and electrical services, piping, fabrication and storage tank services for the midstream and downstream industrial energy markets, as well as specialty cleaning and environmental solutions for the industrial energy and petrochemical markets;
•engineering and construction services for pipeline systems, storage systems and compressor and pump stations and the fabrication of pipeline support systems and related structures and facilities;
•trenching, directional boring and mechanized welding services related to the services described above; and
•engineering, construction and maintenance services for energy transition and carbon-reduction related projects, such as alternative fuel facilities, carbon capture systems and hydrogen facilities.
Business Environment
With respect to these services, we are focused on specialty services and industries that we believe are driven by regulated utility spending; regulation, replacement and rehabilitation of aging infrastructure; and safety and environmental initiatives, including gas utility services, pipeline integrity and transmission services and downstream industrial services. We believe this strategic decision provides a greater level of business sustainability and predictability and helps to offset the cyclicality of larger pipeline projects described below. Natural gas utilities have implemented multi-decade modernization programs to replace aging cast iron, bare steel and plastic system infrastructure with modern materials for safety, reliability and environmental purposes, and regulatory measures have increased the frequency and stringency of pipeline integrity testing requirements that require our customers to test, inspect, repair, maintain and replace pipeline infrastructure to ensure that it operates in a safe, reliable and environmentally conscious manner. Further, permitting challenges associated with construction of new pipelines can make existing pipeline infrastructure more valuable, motivating owners to extend the useful life of existing pipeline assets through integrity initiatives. Additionally, with respect to our downstream industrial services, including our high-pressure and critical-path turnaround services, as well as our capabilities with respect to instrumentation and electrical services, piping, fabrication and storage tanks services, and other industrial services, we are focused on processing facilities located along the
U.S. Gulf Coast region, which we believe should have certain long-term strategic advantages due to their proximity to competitively priced and abundant hydrocarbon resources. Through a recent acquisition, we also provide a variety of cleaning and other specialty environmental solutions to processing and petrochemical facilities throughout the United States.
Our revenues related to larger pipeline services have fluctuated in recent years. For example, revenues associated with larger U.S. pipeline projects have declined significantly as the pipeline and related infrastructure development necessary to support U.S. shale formations has largely been completed in the near term and as a result of a more challenging permitting and regulatory environment. Although revenues associated with large pipeline projects in Canada increased in 2022 and 2023, as compared to prior years, we anticipate that revenues associated with these projects will continue to fluctuate. Despite these fluctuations and cyclicality, we continue to selectively pursue larger pipeline project opportunities to the extent they satisfy our margin and risk profiles.
We also believe that customers in this segment are implementing strategies to reduce carbon emissions produced from their operations, which are providing incremental opportunities for our services, including the development of infrastructure for blending hydrogen into natural gas flow and carbon capture projects, which could include building or repurposing pipeline infrastructure. Furthermore, the favorable characteristics of natural gas could also position North America as a leading competitor in the global LNG export market, which could provide additional opportunities for our pipeline service offerings.
GENERAL
Recent Acquisitions
In January 2024, we acquired two businesses located in the United States including: a business that provides specialty environmental solutions to industrial companies (which will be primarily included in the Underground and Infrastructure segment) and a business that specializes in testing, manufacturing and distributing safety equipment and supplies (which will be primarily included in the Electric Power and Renewable Energy segments). The consideration for these transactions consisted of approximately $379.9 million paid or payable in cash and 221,700 shares of Quanta common stock issued in consideration for one of the acquired businesses, which had a fair value of $44.9 million as of the applicable acquisition date, plus the potential payment of certain contingent consideration.
During the year ended December 31, 2023, we acquired five businesses located in the United States including: a business that provides services related to high-voltage transmission lines, overhead and underground distribution, emergency restoration and industrial and commercial wiring and lighting (primarily included in the Electric Power segment); a business that procures parts, assembles kits for sale, manages logistics and installs solar tracking equipment for utility and development customers (primarily included in the Renewable Energy segment); a business that provides concrete construction services (primarily included in the Electric Power and Renewable Energy segments); a business specializing in power studies, maintenance testing and commissioning primarily for utility and commercial customers (included in the Electric Power segment) and a business that manufactures power transformers for the electric utility, renewable energy, municipal power and industrial markets (included in the Electric Power and Renewable Energy segments). The consideration for these transactions consisted of approximately $782.4 million paid or payable in cash (subject to certain adjustments) and 1,238,576 shares of Quanta common stock, which had a fair value of $158.9 million as of the applicable acquisition dates. The final amount of consideration for these acquisitions remains subject to certain post-closing adjustments, including with respect to net working capital. The results of these acquired businesses have been included in our consolidated financial statements beginning on the respective acquisition dates.
We believe potential acquisition and investment opportunities exist in our industries and adjacent industries, primarily due to the highly fragmented and evolving nature of those industries and inability of many companies to expand due to capital or liquidity constraints. While the attractiveness of certain acquisition targets may be diminished in the short term by increased interest rates, regulatory conditions and market volatility, we continue to evaluate opportunities that are expected to, among other things, broaden our customer base, expand our geographic area of operations and grow and diversify our portfolio of products and services.
Customer Relationships
We have a large and diverse customer base, including many of the leading companies in the industries we serve, and we have developed strong strategic alliances with numerous customers and strive to develop and maintain our status as a preferred solutions provider to our customers. For the year ended December 31, 2023, our largest customer accounted for 6% of our
consolidated revenues and our ten largest customers accounted for 31% of our consolidated revenues. Representative customers include:
| | | | | | | | | | | |
l | American Electric Power Company, Inc. | l | Invenergy LLC |
l | ATCO Electric | l | Lower Colorado River Authority |
l | Berkshire Hathaway, Inc. | l | National Grid plc |
l | CenterPoint Energy, Inc. | l | NextEra Energy, Inc. |
l | Comcast Corporation | l | Orsted US |
l | Con Edison Development, Inc. | l | Pattern Energy |
l | Duke Energy Corporation | l | PG&E Corporation |
l | EDF Renewables | l | Puget Sound Energy, Inc. |
l | Engie IR Holdings LLC | l | Sempra Energy |
l | Entergy Corporation | l | The Southern Company |
l | Enterprise Products Partners L.P. | l | TC Energy Corporation |
l | Exelon Corporation | l | Trans Mountain Corporation |
l | FirstEnergy Corp. | l | Valero Energy Corporation |
l | Fortis Inc. | l | Xcel Energy Inc. |
Our customers include utilities, renewable energy developers, communications, industrial and energy delivery companies, as well as governmental entities. We have estimated revenues by customer type as a percentage of total revenues below. Such estimates are based on management judgment and assumptions and are provided to show perceived trends in our customer types and should be considered directional in nature.
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | 2023 | | 2022 | | 2021 |
Utility | | 58 | % | | 67 | % | | 74 | % |
Renewable Energy Developers | | 16 | | | 7 | | | 2 | |
Industrial | | 10 | | | 9 | | | 10 | |
Energy Delivery | | 8 | | | 7 | | | 5 | |
Communications | | 5 | | | 6 | | | 5 | |
Other | | 3 | | | 4 | | | 4 | |
Total revenues | | 100 | % | | 100 | % | | 100 | % |
The customer types set forth in the table above are described in further detail as follows:
•Utility - Customers that are electric and gas utility companies;
•Industrial - Customers that own and/or operate downstream refinery, chemical and industrial facilities, as well as other commercial or manufacturing facilities;
•Energy Delivery - Customers that own and/or operate pipelines for the delivery of hydrocarbons;
•Renewable Energy Developers – Customers that develop, own and/or operate renewable energy solutions other than electric and gas utility companies;
•Communications - Customers that own and/or operate assets supporting delivery of data, communications and digital services; and
•Other - Customers that are not accurately described by the categories set forth above.
We believe utility, renewable energy, communications and industrial customers provide us with growth opportunities due to their programmatic and long-term capital programs and/or the longer term trends and transitions associated with these industries. Our opportunities associated with energy delivery customers are driven by capital programs for energy delivery and industrial customers, as well as pipeline project activity, which was materially impacted by uncertainties and challenges in the energy market and overall economy during the global pandemic but began to recover in 2022 and continued to recover in 2023.
We are a preferred service provider for many of our customers, which generally means we have met minimum standards for a specific category of service, maintained a high level of performance and agreed to certain payment terms and negotiated rates. We strive to maintain our preferred status as we believe it provides us an advantage in the award of future work for the
applicable customer. Furthermore, many of our strategic relationships with customers take the form of strategic alliance or long-term maintenance agreements, which typically extend for an initial term and may include renewal options to extend the initial term. Strategic alliance agreements also generally state an intention to work together over a period of time and/or on specific types of projects, and many provide us with preferential bidding procedures.
Although we have an integrated marketing and business development strategy, management at each of our operating companies is primarily responsible for developing and maintaining successful long-term relationships with customers. Our operating company management teams build upon existing customer relationships to secure additional projects and increase revenues. Many of these customer relationships are long-standing and are maintained through a partnering approach with centralized account management, which includes project evaluation and consulting, quality performance, performance measurement and direct customer contact. Additionally, operating company management focuses on pursuing growth opportunities with prospective customers. We also encourage operating company management to cross-sell services of our other operating companies to their customers and coordinate with our other operating companies to pursue projects, especially those that are larger and more complex. We believe our ability to provide services that cover a broad spectrum of our customers’ needs and requirements is a significant differentiator. Our corporate-level business development and regional management groups support these activities by promoting and marketing our services for existing and prospective large accounts, as well as projects that are capable of utilizing services from multiple operating companies.
Competition and Market Demand
The industries and geographic markets in which we operate are highly competitive, and several of our competitors are large companies that have significant financial, technical and marketing resources. In addition, there are relatively few barriers to entry into some of the industries in which we operate and, as a result, organizations that have adequate financial resources and access to technical expertise may become a competitor. Furthermore, companies that we engage as subcontractors, including pursuant to certain regulatory and customer requirements, may develop the expertise necessary to compete with us with respect to the award of prime contracts from our customers.
A significant portion of our revenues is currently derived from unit price or fixed price agreements, and price is often an important factor in the award of such agreements. Accordingly, we could be underbid by our competitors. However, customers often consider other factors in choosing a service provider, including technical expertise and experience, safety ratings, financial and operational resources, geographic presence, industry reputation and dependability, which we expect to benefit larger service providers such as us. In addition, competition may lessen as industry resources, such as labor supplies, approach capacity. There can be no assurance, however, that our competitors will not develop the expertise, experience and resources to provide services that are superior in both price and quality to our services, or that we will be able to maintain or enhance our competitive position. The in-house service organizations of our existing or prospective customers employ personnel who perform some of the same types of services we provide. Although these companies currently outsource a significant portion of these services, there can be no assurance that they will continue to do so in the future or that they will not acquire additional in-house capabilities.
For further information regarding the effects of competition on our business and trends in market demand affecting our business, see Risks Related to Operating Our Business and Risks Related to Our Industries in Item 1A. Risk Factors in Part I of this Annual Report and Results of Operations in Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition in Part II of this Annual Report.
Material Resources
Equipment
We depend on the availability of a wide range of equipment to perform our services and operate a fleet of owned and leased trucks and trailers, as well as support vehicles and specialty construction and support equipment, such as bucket trucks, digger derricks, sidebooms, dozers, backhoes, excavators, trenchers, generators, boring machines, cranes, robotic arms, wire pullers, tensioners and helicopters. As of December 31, 2023, the total size of the fleet was approximately 71,000 units. A number of factors that we may not be able to predict or control could result in increased costs for, or delays in delivery of, this equipment, including supply chain and other logistical challenges, as well as global trade relationships and other general market and political conditions that could impact production, delivery or pricing of such equipment (e.g., inflation, interest rates, recessionary economic conditions). Additionally, our ability to efficiently allocate equipment, including our vehicle fleet, across our operating companies may impact our ability to perform services and the profitability of our operations. As such, we have invested, and continue to invest, significant resources and management attention to the utilization of our equipment.
Project Materials
We and our customers depend on the availability of certain materials for construction, upgrade and repair and maintenance of their infrastructure, including, among other things, steel, copper, aluminum, and components for renewable
energy projects (e.g., solar panels, wind turbine blades). While our customers are typically responsible for supplying most or all of the materials required for the services we perform on their projects, pursuant to certain of our contracts, including contacts for our comprehensive engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) services, we are required to procure all or part of the materials needed for a project. As we continue to expand our EPC services, customers are increasingly requesting that we be responsible for procuring materials, and this trend is expected to continue to increase. For further information regarding certain risks associated with sources and availability of project materials and components, see Regulation below and Risks Related to Operating Our Business in Item 1A. Risk Factors in Part I of this Annual Report.
Seasonality and Cyclicality
Typically, our revenues and results of operations can be subject to seasonal and other variations. These variations are influenced by, among other things, weather, customer spending patterns, bidding seasons, receipt of required regulatory approvals, permits and rights of way, project timing and schedules, and holidays. Our revenues are generally lowest in the first quarter of the year because cold, snowy or wet conditions can create challenging working environments that are more costly for our customers or cause delays on projects. In addition, infrastructure projects often do not begin in a meaningful way until our customers finalize their capital budgets, which typically occurs during the first quarter. Second quarter revenues are typically higher than those in the first quarter, as some projects begin, but continued cold and wet weather can often impact productivity. Third quarter revenues are typically the highest of the year, as a greater number of projects are underway and operating conditions, including weather, are normally more accommodating. Generally, revenues during the fourth quarter are lower than the third quarter but higher than the second quarter, as many projects are completed and customers often seek to spend their capital budgets before year end. However, the holiday season and inclement weather can sometimes cause delays during the fourth quarter, reducing revenues and increasing costs. These seasonal impacts are typical for our U.S. operations, but seasonality for our international operations may differ.
Regulation
Compliance with numerous regulations has a material effect on our operations. Our operations are subject to various federal, state, local and international laws and regulations, including:
•licensing, permitting and inspection requirements applicable to contractors and engineers;
•regulations relating to worker safety (e.g., Occupational Safety and Health Administration regulations) and environmental protection;
•permitting and inspection requirements applicable to construction projects;
•wage and hour regulations (e.g., Fair Labor Standards Act) and regulations associated with our collective bargaining agreements and unionized workforce;
•regulations relating to sourcing and transportation of equipment and materials, including licensing and permitting requirements;
•regulations regarding engagement of suppliers and subcontractors that meet diversity-ownership or disadvantaged-business requirements;
•regulations relating to aviation activities;
•building and electrical codes;
•applicable U.S. and non-U.S. anti-corruption regulations;
•immigration regulations applicable to U.S. and cross-border employment; and
•special bidding, procurement and other requirements on government projects.
We believe that we are in compliance with all material licensing and regulatory requirements that are necessary to conduct our operations. Our failure to comply with applicable regulations could result in substantial fines or revocation of certain of our operating licenses, as well as give rise to termination or cancellation rights under our contracts or disqualify us from future bidding opportunities. We are also subject to numerous federal, state, local and international environmental laws and regulations governing our operations, including the handling, transportation and disposal of non-hazardous and hazardous substances and wastes, as well as emissions and other discharges into the environment, including discharges to air, surface water, groundwater and soil. We also are subject to laws and regulations that impose liability and cleanup responsibility for releases of hazardous substances into the environment. Under certain of these laws and regulations, liability can be imposed for cleanup of previously owned or operated properties or currently owned properties at which hazardous substances or wastes were discharged or disposed of by a former owner or operator, regardless of whether we directly caused the contamination or violated any law at the time of discharge or disposal. The presence of contamination from such substances or wastes could also interfere with ongoing operations or adversely affect our ability to sell or lease the property or use it as collateral for financing. In addition, we could be held liable for significant penalties and damages under certain environmental laws and regulations or be subject to revocation of certain licenses or permits, which could materially and adversely affect our business, results of
operations and cash flows. Our contracts with customers may also impose liability on us for environmental issues that arise through the performance of our services. As a result, from time to time, we incur, and expect to continue to incur, costs and obligations to remain in compliance with applicable environmental laws and regulations, to correct environmental noncompliance matters and for remediation at or relating to certain of our properties. We believe that we are in substantial compliance with our environmental obligations and that any such obligations will not have a material adverse effect on our business or financial performance.
The overall regulatory environment also creates both challenges and opportunities for our business. In recent years, certain of our projects and certain customer spending in our industries have been negatively impacted by regulatory and permitting delays, as well as private legal challenges related to regulatory requirements, particularly with respect to large transmission and pipeline projects. Any tariffs, duties, taxes, assessments, or other limitations on the availability or sourcing of materials or components for our customers’ projects can also increase costs for customers and create variability of project timing. For example, regulatory action with respect to various aspects of the supply chain for components required for solar projects created delays, shortages and other availability concerns during 2022 and into 2023. For further information regarding the effects of regulation on our business, see Risks Related to Operating Our Business and Risks Related Regulation and Compliance in Item 1A. Risk Factors in Part I of this Annual Report.
Conversely, we believe that there are also several existing, pending or proposed legislative or regulatory actions that may alleviate certain regulatory and permitting issues and positively impact long-term demand, particularly in connection with electric power infrastructure and renewable energy spending. For example, regulatory changes affecting siting and right-of-way processes could potentially accelerate construction for transmission projects, and state and federal reliability standards are creating incentives for both electrical and pipeline system investment and maintenance. Additionally, certain new legislation, such as the IRA and the IIJA, as well as other policy and economic incentives and overall public sentiment, are expected to support and encourage renewable projects that can potentially increase demand for our services over the long term.
Human Capital Resources
We believe our employees are our most important assets, and we focus significant attention and resources on attracting, developing and retaining talented and experienced individuals. We believe our industry-leading training and safety programs are a strength and competitive differentiator with not only our current and potential employees, but with our customers, which have high safety standards and are increasing the amount of their outsourced infrastructure services. Our operations are decentralized and labor-intensive, and we rely on craft skilled labor personnel and experienced operators to successfully manage our day-to-day business, as well as corporate management and professional personnel to coordinate and help execute our business strategies, allocate capital and coordinate equipment usage, and facilitate certain centralized administrative services.
Employee Profile
As of December 31, 2023, we had approximately 52,500 employees, consisting of approximately 10,100 salaried employees, including, among others, executive officers, professional and administrative staff, project managers and engineers, job superintendents and field personnel, and approximately 42,400 hourly employees, the number of which fluctuates depending upon the number and size of the projects that are ongoing and planned at any particular time. Additionally, approximately 32% of our employees as of December 31, 2023 were covered by collective bargaining agreements, which require the payment of specified wages, the observance of certain workplace rules and the payment of certain amounts to multiemployer pension plans and employee benefit trusts. These collective bargaining agreements have varying terms and expiration dates, and the majority contain provisions that prohibit work stoppages or strikes, even during specified negotiation periods relating to agreement renewals, and provide for binding arbitration dispute resolution in the event of prolonged disagreement. As of December 31, 2023, we had approximately 47,200 U.S. employees and approximately 5,300 non-U.S. employees, with the majority of our non-U.S. employees based in Canada.
Employee Health and Safety
Performance of our services requires the use of heavy equipment and exposure to inherently hazardous conditions. In response to these inherent hazards and as part of our commitment to the safety of our employees, customers and third parties, our corporate and operating company management personnel have established safety programs, policies and procedures and ongoing training requirements for our employees and have also developed and implemented critical safety equipment and innovations. For example, on our project sites we have implemented emergency response plans, personal voltage detectors, first aid training and automated external defibrillators, which have helped save the lives of our employees and bystanders. We have also continued to invest significant resources in our safety programs and training facilities, including the Quanta Advanced Training Center, located in Texas, and our safety monitoring tools, including fleet management software. Our operating companies also develop and share best practices for safety policies and practices, and we have an established program for onboarding newly acquired companies and working with them to augment their existing safety practices as necessary. We are
also subject to, and must comply with, extensive regulations relating to worker health and safety, including the regulations of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
Employee Recruiting, Development and Training
Our success depends on our ability to attract, develop and retain highly qualified employees, including craft skilled labor, project management, engineers, architects, designers, management and professional and administrative employees.
Craft Skilled Labor. We continue to address the longer-term need for additional labor resources in our markets, as our customers continue to seek additional specialized labor resources to address an aging utility workforce and longer-term labor availability issues, increasing pressure to reduce costs and improve reliability, and increasing duration and complexity of their capital programs. We believe these trends will continue, possibly to such a degree that demand for labor resources will outpace supply. Furthermore, the increased demand for our services based on favorable dynamics in certain of our industries can create shortages of qualified labor. In order to take advantage of available opportunities and successfully implement our long-term strategy, we must be able to employ, train and retain the necessary skilled personnel. As a result, we are taking proactive steps to develop our workforce, including through strategic relationships with universities, the military and unions and the expansion and development of our training facilities and postsecondary educational institution. For example, we own and operate Northwest Lineman College, a postsecondary educational institution that provides training programs for the electric power infrastructure, communications and underground utility and infrastructure industries and specializes in pre-apprenticeship training, apprenticeship training and specialized utility task training for electric workers. We also continue to invest in our education and training capabilities at the Quanta Advanced Training Center and other dedicated training facilities, which provide programs for, among other things, beginning linemen, energized electric power services, telecommunications services, industrial services, lead and cable splicing, directional drilling, gas distribution services and pipeline integrity training. These training facilities allow us to provide classroom and on-the-job training programs and allow us to train employees in a controlled environment without the challenges of limited structure access and other constraints.
Additionally, we have entered into strategic relationships with universities, the military and unions in order to attract potential employees and develop our workforce. For example, our operating companies performing more sophisticated and technical jobs utilize, when applicable, training programs provided by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers/National Electrical Contractors Associations (IBEW/NECA) Apprenticeship Program, training programs sponsored by the four trade unions administered by the Pipe Line Contractors Association (PLCA), apprenticeship training programs sponsored by the Canadian Union of Skilled Workers (CUSW) or our equivalent programs. Certain of our operating companies have also established apprenticeship training programs approved by the U.S. Department of Labor that prescribe equivalent training requirements for employees who are not otherwise subject to the requirements of the IBEW/NECA Apprenticeship Program. In addition, the Laborers International Union of North America, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, the United Association of Plumbers and Pipefitters and the International Union of Operating Engineers have training programs specifically designed for developing and improving the skills of their members who work in the pipeline construction industry. Our operating companies also share best practices for training and educational programs. Although we believe these and other initiatives will help address workforce needs, meeting our customers’ demand for labor resources could prove challenging. For additional information on the risks associated with labor resources in our industries, see Risks Related to Operating Our Business in Item 1A. Risk Factors in Part I of this Annual Report.
Management and Professional Personnel. Due to our decentralized operating structure, significant decision-making authority resides with management at our operating companies, and our corporate management and professional and administrative personnel are relied upon to allocate capital and communicate, coordinate and help execute our business strategies. We are focused on our ability to attract and retain qualified employees for these important positions, as we rely on them to successfully manage our decentralized operations and grow and expand our business. We have also implemented enterprise-wide talent development and succession planning programs designed to identify and develop future and/or replacement candidates for key positions. For example, we have developed and administer a succession program with respect to our executive officers and senior operating company personnel, which is reviewed and/or overseen by our Board of Directors (Board).
Compensation and Benefits
Our compensation programs are generally designed to align employee compensation with market practices and our performance, as well as provide the proper incentives to attract, retain and motivate employees. With respect to our executive officers, operating company management, other senior leadership and corporate employees, compensation programs consist of both fixed and variable components. The fixed portion is generally set based on consideration of various market factors, with variable compensation designed to reward employees based on company financial and operational performance. We also grant stock-based compensation broadly throughout our organization, including to management and key operations personnel at the majority of our operating companies, which we believe is a key component of our compensation programs that helps to align
incentives throughout our decentralized organization. We also enter into employment agreements with our executive officers and certain other key personnel.
We provide additional benefits to our employees. For example, we provide health, welfare and benefit plans for most employees who are not covered by collective bargaining agreements, and we maintain a 401(k) plan pursuant to which eligible U.S. employees who are not provided retirement benefits through a collective bargaining agreement may make contributions through payroll deductions and to which we make certain matching contributions.
Ethics and Compliance
All of our employees are subject to Quanta’s Code of Conduct, which addresses compliance with applicable laws and Quanta’s policies concerning, among other things, general business ethics, competition, anti-corruption and bribery, environmental protection, conflicts of interest, harassment and discrimination, data security and privacy, and insider trading. Quanta’s Code of Conduct also informs employees and third parties (such as suppliers, subcontractors and members of the public) about the resources and confidential reporting mechanisms available to detect, prevent and report unethical and illegal conduct, and our Chief Compliance Officer communicates directly with our Board about actual and alleged violations of the law or the Code of Conduct. Training with respect to Quanta’s Code of Conduct and other policies and procedures is conducted as part of our comprehensive ethics and compliance training program.
Climate Change-Related Impacts
Our management considers climate-related risks and opportunities in connection with its long-term strategic planning and enterprise risk management process, which are overseen by our Board. While the overall impact on our operations continues to evolve, various aspects of climate change, as well as market and societal concerns about the future impact of climate change, have resulted and are expected to continue to result in operational opportunities and challenges. These opportunities and challenges arise from the physical risks associated with changes in climate, as well as technological advances, market developments and additional regulatory and compliance costs.
Changes in climate have caused, and are expected to continue to cause, among other things, increasing temperatures, rising sea levels and changes to meteorological and hydrological patterns, as well as impacts to the frequency and intensity of wildfires, hurricanes, floods, droughts, winter storms and other storms and severe weather-related events and natural disasters. Our operating results can be significantly influenced by the climates in which we operate and severe weather events, and these changes have and could continue to significantly impact our future operating results. A greater amount of rainfall, snow, ice or other less accommodating weather conditions, as well as an increase in severe weather events and natural disasters, reduces our productivity and causes delays and cancellations of our ongoing projects. For example, hurricanes and tropical storms in the U.S. Gulf Coast region have impacted our ability to perform industrial services operations during certain periods. However, an increase in certain of these events, such as hurricanes, tropical storms, wildfires, blizzards and ice storms, also creates opportunities for us to perform a greater amount of emergency restoration services and, as described above, can increase customer spending on modernization, grid hardening and other infrastructure improvements (e.g., fire hardening programs and storm hardening programs). The timing and impact of these events is difficult to predict and can vary from period to period, and our emergency restoration services attributable to these events have fluctuated significantly in the last several years. Additionally, changes in climate could result in more accommodating weather patterns for greater periods of time in certain areas, which may enable us to increase our productivity in those areas.
Physical risks associated with changes in climate have also increased hazards associated with certain of our operations, which in turn has increased the potential for liability and increased the costs associated with such operations. For example, severe drought and high wind speeds have significantly increased the risk of wildfires throughout our operating locations, which in turn has exposed us and other contractors to increased risk of liability, particularly as these events can be started by electrical power and other infrastructure on which we have performed services. Given the potentially significant liabilities associated with these events, to the extent we are deemed liable or are otherwise responsible for damages or other amounts associated with a wildfire event, it could have a material adverse impact on our business. Furthermore, these climate conditions have also resulted in increased costs for wildfire-related third-party insurance and reduced the amount of insurance carriers are willing to make available to us under such policies.
Climate change has also caused, and is expected to continue to cause, changes in the markets in which we operate. For example, in support of the transition to a reduced-carbon economy, utility customers are transitioning toward more sustainable sources of power generation, such as renewables (e.g., wind and solar) coupled with battery storage technology, and are replacing aging, less efficient infrastructure. Concerns regarding climate change are also leading to the increased electrification of consumer goods (e.g., EVs), which is expected to provide continued additional demand for new and expanded electric power infrastructure and reengineering of existing electric power infrastructure. We believe these market dynamics and technological
advances provide significant opportunities for us, including increased demand for our renewable energy infrastructure services, as well as our portfolio of electric power infrastructure services.
The increasing focus on climate change has also impacted markets within our Underground and Infrastructure segment. Certain services within this segment have experienced challenges, and could continue to experience challenges, related to a transition toward a reduced-carbon economy. For example, concerns about the impact of certain large pipeline projects on the environment, among other things, have contributed to significant delays and cancellations of certain projects in recent years, and as a result of this and other reasons, we have decreased our strategic focus on these service offerings. Furthermore, a potential for longer-term decline in demand for fossil fuels or refined products as a result of climate change concerns and/or regulation could further negatively impact these projects or negatively impact demand for our midstream and industrial services operations. However, we believe there are climate change-related opportunities for certain services in this segment, as described above. We also believe the timeline for the transition to a reduced-carbon economy will be extended and will need to be supported by certain legacy energy resources, including natural gas as a transition fuel, and therefore have strategically focused on expanding our natural gas utility services in recent years.
Lastly, new legislation or regulation related to climate change could increase our costs. Most significantly, we maintain a large fleet of vehicles and a significant amount of construction machinery, and the costs associated with them could significantly increase as a result of regulations related to greenhouse gas emissions from such sources or regulations that result in an increase in fuel prices. Additionally, the SEC and the State of California have proposed new rules relating to the disclosure of a range of climate-related risks. We are currently assessing these rules and regulations but at this time we cannot predict the costs of implementation or any potential adverse impacts resulting from the rules. To the extent these rules are finalized, we or our customers could incur increased costs related to the assessment and disclosure of climate-related risks. In addition, enhanced climate disclosure requirements could accelerate the trend of certain stakeholders and lenders restricting or seeking more stringent conditions with respect to their investments in certain carbon intensive sectors, which could further impact our customers and demand for our services.
For additional information regarding the risks and opportunities described above, see Risks Related to Operating Our Business in Item 1A. Risk Factors in Part I of this Annual Report.
Risk Management and Insurance
We maintain insurance coverage from third-party insurers as part of our overall risk management strategy and because some of our contracts require us to maintain specific insurance coverage limits. We are insured for, among other things, employer’s liability, workers’ compensation, auto liability, aviation and general liability claims. The deductibles for the employer’s liability and workers’ compensation programs are $5.0 million per occurrence and the deductibles for the general liability and auto liability programs are $25.0 million per occurrence. We also maintain employee health care benefit plans for most employees not subject to collective bargaining agreements, of which the primary plan is subject to a deductible of $0.8 million per claimant per year. We manage and maintain a portion of our casualty risk indirectly through our wholly-owned captive insurance company, which reimburses claims up to the amount of the applicable deductible of our third-party insurance programs, as well as with respect to certain other amounts, and issue letters of credit to secure our obligations in connection with our casualty insurance programs. For additional information regarding our insurance and the risks associated with insurance coverage, see Note 16 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements in Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data and Risks Related to Operating Our Business in Item 1A. Risk Factors in Part I of this Annual Report.
Website Access and Other Information
Our website address is www.quantaservices.com. Interested parties may obtain free electronic copies of our Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K, and any amendments to these reports in the Investors / SEC Filings section of our website or through the website of the SEC at www.sec.gov. These reports are available on our website as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file them with, or furnish them to, the SEC. We will also make available to any stockholder, without charge, copies of our Annual Report on Form 10-K as filed with the SEC. For copies of this or any other Quanta publication, stockholders may submit a request in writing to Quanta Services, Inc., Attn: Corporate Secretary, 2727 North Loop West, Houston, Texas 77008, or by phone at (713) 629-7600.
Investors and others should note that we announce material financial information and make other public disclosures of information regarding Quanta through SEC filings, press releases, public conference calls, and our website. We also utilize social media to communicate this information, and it is possible that the information we post on social media could be deemed material. Accordingly, we encourage investors, the media and others interested in our company to follow Quanta, and review the information we post, on the social media channels listed on our website in the Investors / Social Media section.
This Annual Report, our website and our social media channels contain information provided by other sources that we believe is reliable. We cannot provide assurance that the information obtained from other sources is accurate or complete. No information on our website or our social media channels is incorporated by reference herein.
ITEM 1A. Risk Factors
Our business is subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, the material risks and uncertainties described below. The matters described below are not the only risks and uncertainties facing our company, and risks and uncertainties not known to us or not described below also may impair our business operations. If any of the following risks actually occur, our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows can be negatively affected, the value of securities we have issued could be adversely affected, resulting in stockholders and purchasers losing part or all of their investment, and we may not be able to achieve our strategic initiatives or expectations. This Annual Report also includes statements reflecting assumptions, expectations, projections, intentions or beliefs about future events that are intended as “forward-looking statements” under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and should be read in conjunction with the section entitled Cautionary Statement About Forward-Looking Statements and Information.
Summary Risk Factors
The following is a summary of some of the material risks and uncertainties that could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. You should read this summary together with the more detailed description of each risk factor contained below.
Risks Related to Operating Our Business
•Our operating results may vary significantly from quarter to quarter.
•A variety of issues could affect the timing or profitability of our projects, and could result in, among other things, project termination or payment of liquidated damages.
•Our business is subject to operational hazards (e.g., wildfires, explosions) that can result in significant liabilities, and we may not be insured against all potential liabilities.
•Unavailability or cancellation of third-party insurance would increase our risk exposure and disrupt our operations, and our estimates of losses under our insurance programs could prove inaccurate.
•Our business and operating results are subject to physical risks associated with climate change.
•Our business is labor-intensive, and we may be unable to attract and retain qualified employees or we may incur significant costs if we are unable to efficiently manage our workforce.
•A loss of business from certain significant customers could have a material effect on our business.
•Changes in estimates related to revenues and costs under customer contracts could result in a reduction or elimination of revenues or profits and the recognition of losses.
•We may fail to adequately recover on contract change orders or claims against customers.
•We are subject to lawsuits, claims and other legal proceedings, as well as project surety claims.
•We may be unsuccessful in generating internal growth.
•Many of our contracts may be canceled or suspended on short notice or may not be renewed or replaced.
•The nature of our business exposes us to warranty, engineering and other related claims.
•We can incur liabilities or suffer negative financial or reputational impacts due to health and safety matters.
•Disruptions or failure to adequately protect our information technology systems could materially affect our business or result in harm to our reputation.
•A deterioration of our reputation or brands could have an adverse impact on our business.
•Our financial results are based on estimates and assumptions that may differ from actual results.
•Our inability to successfully execute our acquisition strategy may adversely impact our growth.
•Our management structure could be inadequate to support our business as it expands and becomes more complex.
•The loss of, or our inability to attract, key personnel could disrupt our business.
•Our investments, including our joint ventures, expose us to risks and may result in conflicts of interest.
•We are subject to credit and investment risk with respect to our customers and projects.
•Risks associated with operating in international markets and U.S. territories could harm our business and prospects.
•Our business is subject to the availability of suppliers, subcontractors and equipment manufacturers.
•A lack of availability or an increase in the price of fuel, materials or equipment could adversely affect our business or our customers.
•Increasing scrutiny and expectations with respect to corporate sustainability practices may impose additional costs on us or expose us to reputational or other risks.
Risks Related to Our Industries
•Negative macroeconomic conditions and industry-specific economic and market conditions can adversely impact our business.
•Our revenues and profitability can be negatively impacted if customers encounter financial difficulties or disputes arise with our customers.
•Our business is highly competitive and competitive pressures could negatively impact our business.
•Technological advancements and other market conditions could negatively affect our business.
Risks Related to Regulation and Compliance
•Regulatory requirements applicable to our business and potential changes related to those requirements may adversely affect our business.
•Our unionized workforce and related obligations may adversely affect our operations.
•We could be adversely affected by failure to comply with laws applicable to our foreign activities.
•Our failure to comply with environmental laws and regulations could result in significant liabilities and costs.
•Certain specific regulatory requirements are applicable to us and certain of our subsidiaries, which could materially impact our business.
•Changes in tax laws could adversely affect our financial results.
•Opportunities for government contracts or projects could subject us to increased regulation and costs and may pose additional risks relating to funding and compliance.
•Immigration laws, including inability to verify employment and restrictions on movement, could adversely impact our business.
Risk Related to Financing Our Business
•We may not have access to sufficient funding to finance desired growth and operations.
•We have a significant amount of debt that can negatively impact our business.
•We may not have sufficient cash flow to service our debt.
•Our variable rate indebtedness subjects us to interest rate risk.
•We may be unable to compete for projects if we cannot obtain surety bonds, letters of credit or bank guarantees.
•A downgrade in our debt rating could restrict our ability to access capital markets.
Risks Related to Our Common Stock
•Our sale or issuance of additional common stock or other equity securities could be dilutive to each stockholder’s ownership interest or affect the market price of our common stock.
•There can be no assurance that we will declare or pay future dividends on our common stock.
•Certain provisions of our governing documents could make an acquisition of Quanta more difficult.
Risks Related to Operating Our Business
Our operating results may vary significantly from quarter to quarter.
Certain industries in which we operate can be cyclical and our business is subject to seasonality and other factors that can result in significantly different operating results from quarter to quarter, and therefore our results in any particular quarter may not be indicative of future results. Our quarterly results have been and may in the future be materially and/or adversely affected by, among other things:
•the timing and volume of work we perform and our performance with respect to ongoing projects and services, including as a result of fluctuations in the amount of work customers assign to us under our agreements (e.g., MSAs), delays and reductions in scope of projects, and project and agreement terminations, expirations or cancellations;
•increases in project costs that result from, among other things, natural disasters and emergencies, adverse weather conditions or events, legal challenges, permitting, regulatory or environmental processes, or inaccurate project cost estimates;
•variations in the size, scope, costs and operating income margins of ongoing projects, as well as the mix of our customers, contracts and business;
•fluctuations in economic, political, financial, industry and market conditions on a regional, national or global basis, including as a result of, among other things, inflationary pressure that impacts our costs associated with labor, equipment and materials; increased interest rates; default or threat of default by the U.S. federal government with respect to its debt obligations; U.S. government shutdowns; natural disasters and other emergencies (e.g., wildfires, weather-related events, pandemics); deterioration of global or specific trade relationships; or geopolitical conflicts and political unrest;
•pricing pressures as a result of competition;
•changes in the budgetary spending patterns or strategic plans of customers or governmental entities;
•supply chain and other logistical difficulties, as well as sourcing restrictions on materials necessary for the services we provide;
•liabilities and costs incurred in our operations that are not covered by, or that are in excess of, our third-party insurance or indemnification rights, including significant liabilities that arise from the inherently hazardous conditions of our operations (e.g., explosions, fires) and the operations of our subcontractors, and which could be exacerbated by the geographies in which we operate;
•disputes with customers or delays and payment risk relating to billing and payment under our contracts and change orders, including as a result of customers that encounter financial difficulties, are insolvent or have filed for bankruptcy protection;
•the resolution of, or unexpected or increased costs associated with, pending or threatened legal proceedings, indemnity obligations, multiemployer pension plan obligations (e.g., withdrawal liability) or other claims;
•restructuring, severance and other costs associated with, among other things, winding down certain operations and exiting markets;
•estimates and assumptions in determining our financial results, remaining performance obligations and backlog, including the timing and significance of impairments of long-lived assets, equity or other investments, receivables, goodwill or other intangible assets;
•significant fluctuations in foreign currency rates;
•the recognition of tax impacts related to changes in tax laws or uncertain tax positions; and
•the timing and magnitude of costs we incur to support our operations or growth internally or through acquisitions.
A variety of issues could affect the timing or profitability of our projects, which may result in additional costs to us, reductions or delays in revenues, the payment of liquidated damages or project termination.
Our business is dependent in part upon projects that can be cyclical in nature and are subject to risks of delay or cancellation. The timing of or failure to obtain contracts, delays in awards of, start dates for or completion of projects and the cancellations of projects can result in significant periodic fluctuations in our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows. Many of our projects involve challenging design, engineering, financing, permitting, right of way acquisition, procurement and construction phases that occur over extended time periods, sometimes several years, and we have encountered and may in the future encounter project delays, additional costs or project performance issues as a result of, among other things:
•inability to meet project schedule requirements or achieve guaranteed performance or quality standards for a project, which can result in increased costs, through rework, replacement or otherwise, or the payment of liquidated damages to the customer or contract termination;
•failure to accurately estimate project costs or accurately establish the scope of our services;
•failure to make judgments in accordance with applicable professional standards (e.g., engineering standards);
•unforeseen circumstances or project modifications not included in our cost estimates or covered by our contract for which we cannot obtain adequate compensation, including concealed or unknown environmental, geological or geographical site conditions or technical problems such as design or engineering issues;
•changes in laws or permitting and regulatory requirements during the course of our work;
•delays in the delivery or management of design or engineering information, equipment or materials;
•our or a customer’s failure to manage a project, including the inability to timely obtain land, permits or rights of way or meet other permitting, regulatory or environmental requirements or conditions;
•changes to project or customer schedules;
•natural disasters or emergencies, including wildfires and earthquakes, as well as significant weather events (e.g., hurricanes, tropical storms, tornadoes, floods, droughts, blizzards and extreme temperatures) and adverse or unseasonable weather conditions (e.g., prolonged rainfall or snowfall, early thaw in Canada and the northern United States);
•difficult terrain and site conditions where delivery of materials and availability of labor are impacted or where there is exposure to harsh and hazardous conditions;
•protests and other public activism, legal challenges or other political activity or opposition to a project;
•other factors such as terrorism, geopolitical conflicts, public health crises (e.g. pandemics) and delays attributable to U.S. government shutdowns or any related under-staffing of government departments or agencies;
•changes in the cost, availability or quality of equipment, commodities, materials, consumables or labor; and
•delay or failure to perform by suppliers, subcontractors or other third parties, or our failure to coordinate performance of such parties, as approximately 20% of our work is subcontracted to other service providers.
Many of these difficulties and delays are beyond our control and can negatively impact our ability to complete the project in accordance with the required delivery schedule or achieve our anticipated margin on the project. Delays and additional costs associated with delays may be substantial and not recoverable from third parties, and in some cases, we may be required to compensate the customer for such delays, including in circumstances where we have guaranteed project completion or performance by a scheduled date and incur liquidated damages if we do not meet such schedule.
We also generate a significant portion of our revenues under fixed price contracts, including contracts for large projects and/or projects where we provide EPC services (e.g., large transmission, substation and renewable generation projects). We have strategically expanded these service offerings in recent years, including with respect to renewable energy projects, and the size and scope of these projects continues to increase. The contracts for these projects often involve complex pricing, scope of services and other bid preparation components that require challenging estimates and assumptions on the part of our personnel, which increases the risk that costs incurred on such projects can vary, sometimes substantially, from our original estimates.
Performance difficulties can result in project delays, project cancellations and damage to our relationship with customers, as well as damage to our reputation, which can be exacerbated when the difficulties arise on a high profile project. As a result, additional costs or penalties, a reduction in our productivity or efficiency or a project termination in any given period can have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows and can also adversely affect our ability to secure new contracts.
Our business is subject to operational hazards, including, among others, wildfires and explosions, that can result in significant liabilities, and we may not be insured against all potential liabilities.
Due to the nature of our services and certain of our product solutions, as well as the conditions in which we and our customers operate, our business is subject to operational hazards and accidents that can result in significant liabilities. These operational hazards include, among other things, electricity, fires, explosions, leaks, collisions, mechanical failures, and damage from severe weather conditions and natural disasters. Furthermore, certain operational hazards have become more widespread in recent years due to changes in climate and other factors, and certain of our customers operate energy- and communications-related infrastructure assets in locations and environments that increase the likelihood and/or severity of these operational hazards.
In particular, locations throughout our primary operating regions, including but not limited to, the United States, Canada and Australia, have recently experienced and are increasingly impacted by wildfires, including locations that have not historically experienced wildfire events but that are becoming more susceptible to wildfire events due to changes in climate. Our customers operate electrical power, natural gas, communications and other infrastructure assets in these areas, which in turn has exposed us and other contractors to increased risk of liability in connection with our operations, as these wildfire events can be started by electrical power and other infrastructure on which we have performed services, including inspection, consulting, construction, upgrade, repair and maintenance and other services. For example, certain of our customers have been determined to be or are potentially responsible for certain catastrophic wildfire events in the western United States due to failure of their infrastructure, and in connection with certain of these events, Quanta operating companies have received document hold requests and subpoenas, and as described further in Note 16 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements in Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data in Part II of this Annual Report, two Quanta operating companies have received tenders of defense and demands for preservation of documents. Additionally, certain of these wildfire events remain under investigation and additional claims or legal proceedings involving Quanta and its operating companies related to these events may be brought in the future.
We also often perform services in locations that are densely populated and that have higher value property and assets, such as California and metropolitan areas, which can increase the impact of any of these hazards or other accidents. For example, one of our larger operating companies specializes in underground gas and electric distribution and transmission services and operates in metropolitan areas throughout the northeastern United States, including New York City, New York. Additionally, we operate a significant number of helicopters in the performance of our services, including the transportation of line workers, the setting of poles, the stringing of wires and wildfire control and prevention, among other activities, including in
locations that have a higher risk of wildfires and in densely populated areas. Our operation of helicopters is subject to various risks, such as crashes, collisions, fires, adverse weather conditions or mechanical failures. Additionally, we manufacture certain products, including power transformers and mobile energy storage systems, and a failure of one of our products could also lead to similar operational hazards (e.g., explosions or mechanical failures).
Events arising from operational hazards and accidents have resulted in significant liabilities to us in the past and may expose us to significant claims and liabilities in the future. These claims and liabilities can arise through indemnification obligations to customers, our negligence or otherwise, and such claims and liabilities can arise even if our operations are not the cause of the harm. Our exposure to liability can also extend for years after we complete our services, and potential claims and liabilities arising from significant accidents and events can take years and significant legal costs to resolve.
Potential liabilities include, among other things, claims associated with personal injury, including severe injury or loss of life, and destruction of or significant damage to property and equipment (with respect to both our customers and other third parties), as well as harm to the environment, and other claims discussed above and can lead to suspension of operations, adverse effects to our safety record and reputation and/or material liabilities and legal costs. In addition, if any of these events or losses related thereto are alleged or found to be the result of our or our customer’s activities or services, we could be subject to government enforcement actions, regulatory penalties, civil litigation and governmental actions, including investigations, citations, fines and suspension of operations. Insurance coverage may not be available to us or may be insufficient to cover the cost of any of these liabilities and legal costs, and our insurance costs may increase if we incur liabilities associated with operational hazards. If we are not fully insured or indemnified against such liabilities and legal costs or a counterparty fails to meet its indemnification obligations to us, it could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows. Further, to the extent our reputation or safety record is adversely affected, demand for our services could decline or we may not be able to bid for certain work.
Unavailability or cancellation of third-party insurance coverage would increase our overall risk exposure, as well as disrupt our operations, and estimates of losses covered by our insurance policies could prove incorrect.
We maintain insurance coverage from third-party insurers as part of our overall risk management strategy and because some of our contracts require us to maintain specific insurance coverage limits. Such insurance is subject to deductibles and limits and may be canceled or may not cover all of our losses. We also manage and maintain a portion of our casualty risk through our wholly-owned captive insurance company, which insures all claims up to the amount of the applicable deductible of our third-party insurance programs, as well as with respect to certain other amounts, and issue letters of credit to secure our obligations in connection with our casualty insurance programs. Our insurance policies include various coverage requirements, including notice requirements, and coverage could be denied if we fail to comply with those requirements.
Additionally, our insurance coverages may not be sufficient or effective under all circumstances or against all claims and liabilities asserted against us, and if we are not fully insured against such claims and liabilities, it could expose us to significant liabilities and materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows. We also renew our insurance policies on an annual basis, and therefore deductibles and levels of coverage offered by third parties may change in future periods, and there is no assurance that any of our coverages will be renewed at their current levels or at all or that any future coverage will be available at reasonable and competitive rates. Our third-party insurers could also fail, cancel our coverage or otherwise be unable or unwilling to provide us with adequate insurance coverage for certain items, including wildfires, or we may elect not to obtain certain types or incremental levels of insurance based on the potential benefits considered relative to the cost of such insurance, or coverage may not be available at reasonable and competitive rates. For example, due to the increased occurrence and future risk of wildfires, as described above, insurers have reduced coverage availability and increased the cost of insurance coverage for such events in recent years. As a result, Quanta’s level of insurance coverage for wildfire events has decreased in recent years, and the current level of coverage may not be sufficient to cover potential losses in connection with these events. Furthermore, our third-party insurers could also decide to further reduce or exclude coverage for wildfires or other events in connection with future insurance renewals. Adverse changes in our insurance coverage could increase our exposure to uninsured losses, which could have a negative effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows or result in a disruption of our operations.
Losses under our insurance programs are accrued based upon our estimate of the ultimate liability for claims reported and an estimate of claims incurred but not reported, with assistance from third-party actuaries. These insurance liabilities are difficult to assess and estimate due to unknown factors, including the severity of an injury, the extent of damage, the determination of our liability in proportion to other parties and unreported incidents. If we experience claims or costs above our estimates, our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows could be materially and adversely affected.
Our business and operating results are subject to physical risks associated with climate change.
Changes in climate have caused, and are expected to continue to cause, among other things, increasing mean annual temperatures, rising sea levels and changes to meteorological and hydrological patterns, as well as impacts to the frequency and
intensity of wildfires, hurricanes, floods, droughts, other storms and severe weather-related events and natural disasters. These changes have and could continue to significantly impact our future operating results and may have a long-term impact on our business, results of operation, financial condition and cash flows. While we seek to mitigate our risks associated with climate change, we recognize that there are inherent climate-related risks regardless of how and where we conduct our operations. For example, catastrophic natural disasters can negatively impact projects we are working on, our facilities and other physical locations, portions of our equipment, or the locations and service regions of our customers. Accordingly, a natural disaster has the potential to disrupt our and our customers’ businesses and may cause us to experience work stoppages, project delays, financial losses and additional costs to resume operations, including increased insurance costs or loss of coverage, legal liability and reputational losses, and we expect that increasing physical climate-related impacts may result in further changes to the cost or availability of insurance in the future.
Physical risks associated with climate change have also increased hazards associated with certain of our operations, which in turn has increased the potential for liability and increased the costs associated with such operations. For example, as discussed above, severe drought and high wind speeds have significantly increased the risk of wildfires throughout the areas where we operate, which in turn has exposed us and other contractors to increased risk of liability in connection with our operations in those locations, as these events can be started by electrical power and other infrastructure on which we have performed services. Given the potentially significant liabilities associated with these events, to the extent we are deemed liable for a wildfire event, it could have a material adverse impact on our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows. Furthermore, these climate conditions have also resulted in increased costs for wildfire-related third-party insurance and reduced the amount insurance carriers are willing to make available to us under such policies.
Our business is labor-intensive, and we may be unable to attract and retain qualified employees or we may incur significant costs in the event we are unable to efficiently manage our workforce or the cost of labor increases.
Our ability to efficiently manage our business and achieve our strategic initiatives is limited by our ability to employ, train and retain the necessary skilled personnel, which is subject to a number of risks. The demand for labor resources has continued to increase in response to the increasing duration and complexity of customer capital budgets, the commencement of new, large-scale infrastructure projects, increased demand for infrastructure improvements and reliability and increased pressure to reduce costs. The pool of skilled workers in certain of our industries has also been reduced, and may be further reduced, due primarily to an aging utility workforce and longer-term labor availability issues, including with respect to experienced program managers and qualified journeyman linemen available for our Electric Power segment and experienced supervisors and foremen for our Underground and Infrastructure segment. The cyclical nature of certain of the industries in which we operate can also create shortages of qualified labor during periods of high demand and production, and the amount of travel required for project management-level positions can impact the number of potential candidates that decide to enter our industries. A shortage in the supply of personnel creates competitive hiring markets that may result in increased labor expenses, and we have incurred, and expect to continue to incur, significant education and training expenses in order to recruit and train employees. The uncertainty of contract award timing and project delays can also present difficulties in managing our workforce size. Additionally, we may not be able to attract and retain the necessary skilled personnel for our expanded product and service offerings. Our inability to efficiently manage our workforce may require us to incur costs resulting from excess staff, reductions in staff, or redundancies that could have a material adverse impact on our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.
Additionally, the recent inflationary pressure in the United States and our other markets has increased our labor costs. Under certain of our contracts, labor costs are passed through to customers, and the portion of our workforce that is represented by labor unions typically operates under multi-year collective bargaining agreements that provide some visibility into future labor costs. However, the costs related to a significant amount of our workforce are subject to market conditions, and therefore inflationary pressure could increase our labor costs with respect to those employees. Increased labor costs can also impact our customers’ decision-making with respect to viability or timing of certain projects, which could result in project delays or cancellations and in turn have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations or cash flows.
The loss of, or reduction in business from, certain significant customers could have a material adverse effect on our business.
A few customers have in the past and may in the future account for a significant portion of our revenues. For example, our ten largest customers accounted for 31% of our consolidated revenues for the year ended December 31, 2023. Although we have long-standing relationships with many of our significant customers, a significant customer may unilaterally reduce or discontinue business with us at any time or merge or be acquired by a company that decides to reduce or discontinue business with us. A significant customer may also encounter financial constraints, based on cost of capital or other reasons, file for bankruptcy protection or cease operations, any of which could also result in reduced or discontinued business with us. The loss of business from a significant customer could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.
Changes in estimates related to revenues and costs associated with our contracts with customers could result in a reduction or elimination of revenues, a reduction of profits or the recognition of losses.
For fixed price contracts and certain unit-price contracts, we recognize revenue as performance obligations are satisfied over time and earnings or losses recognized on individual contracts are based on estimates of contract revenues, costs and profitability, as discussed in further detail in Note 4 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements in Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data in Part II of this Annual Report. Changes in contract estimates are recognized on a cumulative catch-up basis in the period in which the revisions to the estimates are made, and contract losses are recognized in full when losses are determined to be probable and can be reasonably estimated. Variable consideration amounts, including performance incentives, early pay discounts and penalties, may also cause changes in contract estimates. In addition, we recognize amounts associated with change orders and/or claims as revenue when it is probable that the contract price will be adjusted and the amount of any such adjustment can be reasonably estimated. Actual amounts collected in connection with change orders and claims can differ from estimated amounts. Consequently, the timing for recognition of revenues and profit or loss and any subsequent changes in estimates is uncertain and could result in a reduction or an elimination of previously reported revenues or profits or the recognition of losses on the associated contract. Any such adjustments could be significant and could have a material adverse impact on our financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.
We may fail to adequately recover on contract change orders or claims brought by us against customers.
We have in the past brought, and may in the future bring, claims against our customers. For example, as of December 31, 2023, the amount recognized related to unapproved change orders and claims was $778.9 million, which is discussed further in Note 4 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements in Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data in Part II of this Annual Report. These types of claims occur due to, among other things, impacts to projects as a result of factors not within the control of Quanta, such as natural disasters, significant weather events and public health events (e.g., pandemics), delays caused by customers and third parties and changes in project scope, which can result in additional costs that may not be recovered until the claim is resolved. While we generally negotiate with the customer for additional compensation, we may be unable to obtain, through negotiation, arbitration, litigation or otherwise, adequate amounts to compensate us for the additional work or expenses incurred. Litigation, arbitration or government approval (if needed) with respect to these matters is generally lengthy and costly, involves significant uncertainty as to timing and amount of any resolution, and can adversely affect our relationship with existing or potential customers. Furthermore, we can be required to invest significant working capital to fund cost overruns while the resolution of a claim is pending. Failure to obtain adequate and prompt compensation for these matters can result in a reduction of revenues and gross profit recognized in prior periods or the recognition of a loss. Any such reduction or loss can be substantial and can have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.
During the ordinary course of our business, we are subject to lawsuits, claims and other legal proceedings, as well as bonding claims and related reimbursement requirements.
We have in the past been, and may in the future be, named as a defendant in lawsuits, claims and other legal proceedings that arise in the ordinary course of our business. These actions seek, among other things, compensation for alleged personal injury (including claims for loss of life), workers’ compensation, employment discrimination, sexual harassment, workplace misconduct, wage and hour claims and other employment-related damages, compensation for breach of contract, negligence or gross negligence or property damage, environmental liabilities, multiemployer pension plan withdrawal liabilities, punitive damages, consequential damages, and civil penalties or other losses or injunctive or declaratory relief, as well as interest and attorneys’ fees associated with such claims. Furthermore, given our recent growth, we have become a more attractive target for lawsuits by various third parties.
In addition, we generally indemnify our customers for claims related to the services we provide and actions we take under our contracts, and, in some instances, we are allocated risk through our contract terms for actions by our customers, subcontractors or other third parties. Because our services in certain instances can be integral to the operation and performance of our customers’ infrastructure, we have been and may become subject to lawsuits or claims for any failure of the systems that we work on or damages caused by accidents and events related to such systems, even if our services are not the cause of such failures and damages. We could also be subject to civil and criminal liabilities, which could be material. Insurance coverage may not be available or may be insufficient for these lawsuits, claims or legal proceedings. The outcome of any allegations, lawsuits, claims or legal proceedings, as well as any public reaction thereto, is inherently uncertain and could result in significant costs, damage to our brands or reputation and diversion of management’s attention from our business. Payments of significant amounts, even if reserved, could materially and adversely affect our business, reputation, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.
In addition, many customers, particularly in connection with new construction, require us to post performance and payment bonds. These bonds provide a guarantee that we will perform under the terms of a contract and pay our subcontractors and vendors. If we fail to perform, the customer may demand that the surety make payments or provide services under the bond,
and we must reimburse the surety for any expenses or outlays it incurs. As of December 31, 2023, the total amount of our outstanding performance bonds was estimated to be approximately $7.7 billion. To the extent reimbursements are required, the amounts could be material and could adversely affect our consolidated business, financial condition, results of operations or cash flows.
We may be unsuccessful at generating internal growth, which could adversely affect our business.
Many of the factors affecting our ability to generate internal growth are beyond our control, and we cannot be certain that our strategies for achieving internal growth will be successful. Our ability to generate internal growth will be affected by, among other factors, our ability to profitably scale the services we currently offer; expand our overall service offerings and product solutions; attract new customers; increase the number of projects we perform for existing customers; hire and retain qualified employees; and expand geographically within our current markets, as well as our ability to address regulatory, environmental and permitting requirements and economic or market conditions that affect us or our customers. Our inability to successfully generate internal growth may adversely affect our financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.
Many of our contracts may be canceled or suspended on short notice or may not be renewed upon completion or expiration, and we may be unsuccessful in replacing our contracts, which could adversely affect our business.
Our customers have in the past and may in the future cancel, delay or reduce the number or size of projects available to us for a variety of reasons, including capital constraints or inability to meet regulatory requirements. Furthermore, many of our customers may cancel or suspend our contracts on short notice even if we are not in default under the contract. Certain of our customers assign work to us on a project-by-project basis under MSAs. Under these agreements, our customers generally have no obligation to assign a specific amount of work to us. Additionally, the in-house service organizations of our existing or prospective customers are capable of performing, or acquiring businesses that perform, the same types of services we provide, and these customers may also face pressure or be compelled by regulatory or other requirements to self-perform an increasing amount of the services we currently perform for them, thereby reducing the services they outsource to us in the future. Our financial condition, results of operations and cash flows can be negatively impacted if our customers cancel or suspend contracts having significant value, we fail to renew or replace a significant number of our existing contracts when they expire or are completed or the anticipated volume of work under an existing MSA is not assigned to us.
The nature of our business exposes us to potential liability for warranty, engineering and other related claims.
We typically provide contractual warranties for our services and materials, guaranteeing the work performed against, among other things, defects in workmanship, and we may agree to indemnify our customers for losses related to our services. The length of these warranty periods varies and can extend for several years, and certain projects can have longer warranty periods and include facility performance warranties that are broader than the warranties we generally provide. Warranties generally require us to re-perform the services and/or repair or replace the warranted item and any other facilities impacted thereby, at our sole expense, and we could also be responsible for other damages if we are not able to adequately satisfy our warranty obligations. In addition, we can be required under contractual arrangements with our customers to warrant any defects or failures in materials we provide. While we generally require materials suppliers to provide us warranties that are consistent with those we provide customers, if any of these suppliers default on their warranty obligations to us, we may incur costs to repair or replace the defective materials.
Furthermore, our business involves professional judgments regarding the planning, design, development, construction, operations and management of electric power, renewable generation, communications, underground utility and pipeline infrastructure. Because our projects are often technically complex, our failure to make judgments and recommendations in accordance with applicable professional standards, including engineering standards, could result in damages. A significantly adverse or catastrophic event at a project site or completed project resulting from the services we performed could result in significant professional or product liability, personal injury (including claims for loss of life) or property damage claims or other claims against us, as well as reputational harm. These liabilities could exceed our insurance limits or impact our ability to obtain third-party insurance in the future, and customers, subcontractors or suppliers who have agreed to indemnify us against any such liabilities or losses might refuse or be unable to pay us. As a result, warranty, engineering and other related claims could have a material adverse impact on our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.
Additionally, certain of our operating companies manufacture products sold to customers and other third parties, and we can be exposed to product liability and warranty claims if our products result in, or are alleged to result in, bodily injury and/or property damage or our products actually or allegedly fail to perform as expected. Furthermore, certain of our products are designed to support critical infrastructure and any failure of such products could result in significant product liability and warranty claims, as well as damage to our reputation in the marketplace. Our product development, manufacturing and testing may be inadequate to detect all defects, errors, failures and quality issues, which could impact customer satisfaction or result in claims against us. As a result, we may have, and from time to time have had, to replace certain components and/or provide remediation in response to the discovery of defects in our products, and the occurrence of any defect, error, failure or quality
issue could result in cancellation of orders, product returns, damage to our reputation, diversion of our resources, lawsuits or claims by our customers or other third parties and other losses to us or to any of our customers or third parties, which could have a material adverse impact on our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.
We can incur liabilities or suffer negative financial or reputational impacts relating to health and safety matters.
Our operations are inherently hazardous and subject to extensive laws and regulations relating to the maintenance of safe conditions in the workplace. While we have invested, and will continue to invest, substantial resources in our occupational health and safety programs, our industry involves a high degree of operational risk, and there can be no assurance that we will avoid significant liability exposure. Although we have taken precautions designed to mitigate this risk, we have suffered serious accidents, including fatalities, and we anticipate that our operations may result in additional serious accidents in the future. As a result of these events, we could be subject to substantial penalties, revocation of operating licenses, criminal prosecution or civil litigation, including claims for bodily injury or loss of life, that could result in substantial costs and liabilities. In addition, if our safety record were to substantially deteriorate or we were to suffer substantial penalties or criminal prosecution for violation of health and safety regulations, our customers could cancel our contracts and elect to procure future services from other providers. Unsafe work sites also have the potential to increase employee turnover, increase the costs of projects for our clients, and raise our operating costs. Any of the foregoing could have a material adverse impact on our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.
Disruptions to our information technology systems or our failure to adequately protect critical data, sensitive information and technology systems could materially affect our business or result in harm to our reputation.
We rely on information technology systems to manage our operations and other business processes and to protect sensitive company information. We also collect and retain information about our customers, stockholders, vendors, employees, contractors, business partners and other parties, all of which expect that we will adequately protect such information. We face numerous and evolving cybersecurity risks that threaten the confidentiality, integrity and availability of our information technology systems and confidential information. Breaches or disruptions of our information systems, or systems of key third parties and information technology vendors that we rely upon, can result from, among other things, cyber-attacks, theft, inadvertent exposure of sensitive information, acts of terrorism, war, storms or other natural phenomena, information technology solution failures or network disruptions, and any such cyber-attacks or breaches can go unnoticed for some period of time. For example, a cyber-attack on one of our vendors or vulnerabilities identified in proprietary or open-source code disclosed by vendors or federal agencies could potentially impact information technology systems relevant to our business and/or sensitive information that we retain. Furthermore, some of the energy infrastructure systems on which we work may be considered to be strategic targets, and therefore at greater risk of cyber-attacks or acts of terrorism than other targets. Additionally, an intrusion into the information systems of a business we acquire may also ultimately compromise our systems, and malicious third parties or insiders may attempt to fraudulently induce employees or customers into disclosing sensitive information such as user names, passwords or other information or otherwise compromise the security of our information systems. Our operations are decentralized with operating companies maintaining some of their own information systems, data and service providers. While our cybersecurity risk management program and processes, including policies, controls and procedures, are designed to cover our operating companies, there can be no assurance that these will be fully implemented, complied with or effective in protecting all information systems and operations.
While we have security measures and technology in place to protect our and our clients’ confidential or proprietary company information, there can be no assurance that our efforts will prevent all threats to our computer systems. Moreover, we have acquired and continue to acquire companies with cybersecurity vulnerabilities and/or unsophisticated security measures, which exposes us to significant cybersecurity, operational, and financial risks until they are fully integrated into our information systems. Additionally, the increased use of remote working arrangements by employees, vendors, and other third parties has increased the exposure to possible attacks, thereby increasing the risk of a data security compromise. We have addressed breaches and disruptions of our information systems, or systems of key third parties and information technology vendors that we rely upon, in the past, and we expect such events to continue to arise in the future. While to date we have not experienced any material impact as a result of cyber-attacks, the ultimate impact of future and similar events remains unknown, and we expect additional vulnerabilities may arise. Cyber-attacks can result in compromises of our payment systems, monetary losses, inability to access or operate our systems (e.g., ransomware), delays in processing transactions or reporting financial results, the disclosure or misappropriation of confidential, personal or proprietary company information (including for the purpose of transacting in our stock), or the release of customer, stockholder, vendor or employee information. An attack could also cause service disruptions to our internal systems or, in extreme circumstances, infiltration into, damage to or loss of control of our customers’ energy infrastructure systems. Any such breach or disruption could subject us to significant liabilities, cause damage to our reputation or customer relationships, or result in regulatory investigations or other actions by governmental authorities, which could have a material adverse impact on our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows. Furthermore, we may incur additional costs related to the investigation and reporting of any such breach or disruption as a result of the SEC’s increased reporting requirements for cyber incidents. Additionally, because the techniques used to obtain
unauthorized access or sabotage information technology systems change frequently and are generally not identifiable until they are launched against a target, we may be unable to anticipate these techniques or to implement adequate preventative measures. As a result, we may be required to expend significant resources to protect against the threat of system disruptions and security breaches or to alleviate problems caused by these disruptions and breaches.
Any deterioration in the quality or reputation of our brands, which can be exacerbated by the effect of social media or significant media coverage, could have an adverse impact on our business.
Our brands and our reputation are among our most important assets, and our ability to attract and retain customers depends on brand recognition and reputation. Such dependence makes our business susceptible to reputational damage and to competition from other companies. A variety of events could result in damage to our reputation or brands, some of which are outside of our control, including:
•acts or omissions that adversely affect our business such as a crime, scandal, cyber-related incident, litigation or other negative publicity;
•failure to successfully perform, or negative publicity related to, a high-profile project, including, among others, our joint venture in LUMA and large-scale infrastructure projects designed to support the energy transition (i.e., large electric transmission and renewable generation projects);
•actual or potential involvement in a catastrophic fire, explosion or similar event; or
•actual or perceived responsibility for a serious accident or injury.
Increased media coverage and interest in energy transition matters and our industries, along with the intensification of media coverage generally, including through the considerable expansion in the use of social media, have increased the volume and speed at which negative publicity arising from these events can be generated and spread, and we may be unable to timely respond to, correct any inaccuracies in, or adequately address negative perceptions arising from such media coverage. If the reputation or perceived quality of our brands decline or customers lose confidence in us, our business, financial condition, results of operations, or cash flows could be adversely affected.
Our financial results, financial condition and other financial and operational disclosures are based upon estimates and assumptions that may differ from actual results or future outcomes.
In preparing our consolidated financial statements and financial and operational disclosures, estimates and assumptions are used by management to report, among other things, assets, liabilities, revenues and expenses. These estimates and assumptions are necessary because certain information utilized is dependent on future events, cannot be calculated with a high degree of precision from available data or cannot be readily calculated based on generally accepted methodologies. In some cases, these estimates are particularly difficult to determine, and we must exercise significant judgment, and as a result actual results and future outcomes can differ materially from the estimates and assumptions that we use and have a material adverse effect on our financial condition, results of operations and cash flows. For example, our remaining performance obligations and backlog are difficult to determine with certainty. Customers often have no obligation under our contracts to assign or release work to us, and many contracts may be terminated on short notice. Cancellation or reduction in scope of a contract can significantly reduce the revenues and profit we recognize. Consequently, our estimates of remaining performance obligations and backlog may not be accurate, and we may not be able to realize our estimated remaining performance obligations and backlog.
Our results of operations and financial condition can also be adversely affected by impairments to goodwill, other intangible assets, and long-lived assets, the value of which is dependent upon certain estimates and assumptions. We record goodwill when we acquire a business, which must be tested at least annually for impairment. We have recorded impairments in the past, and any future impairments could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations for the period in which the impairment is recognized. See Critical Accounting Estimates in Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition in Part II of this Annual Report for further information about our critical accounting estimates.
Our inability to successfully execute our acquisition strategy may have an adverse impact on our growth.
Our business strategy includes expanding our presence in the industries we serve and adjacent industries through strategic acquisitions of companies that complement or enhance our business. The number of acquisition targets that meet our criteria may be limited. We may also face competition for acquisition opportunities, and other potential acquirers may offer more favorable terms or have greater financial resources available for potential acquisitions. This competition may further limit our acquisition opportunities or raise the prices of acquisitions and make them less accretive, or possibly not accretive, to us. Furthermore, the increased antitrust scrutiny of and compliance requirements for potential acquisitions, including by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Department of Justice under the Hart-Scott Rodino Act, the Sherman Act, the Clayton Act (each
as amended) or other applicable laws, could negatively impact the cost and timing of or our ability to complete certain potential acquisitions. Failure to consummate future acquisitions could negatively affect our growth strategies.
Additionally, our past acquisitions have involved, and our future acquisitions may involve, significant cash expenditures and stock issuances, the incurrence or assumption of debt and other known and unknown liabilities and exposure to burdensome regulatory requirements. We may also discover previously unknown liabilities or, due to market conditions, be required pursuant to specific transaction terms to assume certain prior known liabilities associated with an acquired business, and we may have inadequate or no recourse under applicable indemnification provisions or representation and warranty insurance coverage (due to policy terms or lack of coverage at rates we believe are reasonable). Known liabilities may also change over time and become more severe than previously anticipated. As a result, past or future acquisitions may ultimately have a negative impact on our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.
The success of our acquisition strategy also depends on our ability to successfully integrate the operations of the acquired businesses with our existing operations and realize the anticipated benefits from the acquired businesses, such as the expansion of our existing operations, expansion into new, complementary or adjacent business lines, elimination of redundant costs and capitalizing on cross-selling opportunities. Our ability to integrate and realize benefits can be negatively impacted by, among other things:
•failure of an acquired business to achieve the results we expect;
•diversion of our management’s attention from operational and other matters or other potential disruptions to our existing business;
•difficulties incorporating the operations and personnel, or inability to retain key personnel, of an acquired business;
•the complexities and difficulties associated with managing our business as it grows;
•additional financial reporting and accounting challenges associated with an acquired business;
•unanticipated events or liabilities associated with the operations of an acquired business;
•loss of business due to customer overlap or other factors; and
•risks and liabilities arising from the prior operations of an acquired business, such as performance, operational, safety, cybersecurity, environmental, workforce or other compliance or tax issues, some of which we may not have discovered or accurately estimated during our due diligence and may not be covered by indemnification obligations or insurance.
We cannot be sure that we will be able to successfully complete the integration process without substantial costs, delays, disruptions or other operational or financial problems. Failure to successfully integrate acquired businesses could adversely impact our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.
Additionally, we also generally require that key management and former principals of the businesses we acquire agree to non-compete covenants in the purchase agreement or, as applicable, employment agreements. Enforceability of these non-competition agreements varies by jurisdiction and typically is dependent upon specific facts and circumstances, making it difficult to predict their enforceability. Additionally, the FTC has proposed new rules to, among other things, prohibit and make unenforceable any post-employment non-compete arrangement that restricts an employee or individual independent contractor, unless such arrangement was entered into in connection with an acquisition and meets certain conditions. If a member of the key management of the businesses we acquire leaves voluntarily or is terminated, we might be subject to increased competition if the restrictive covenants entered into by such person are not enforceable or have expired, which could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.
Our management structure could be inadequate to support our business as it expands and becomes more complex.
We cannot be certain that our management structure will be adequate to support our business as it expands and becomes more complex.Due to our continued growth, as well as the increasing complexity of our projects, operations and industries, we may encounter difficulties managing our business, including with respect to our ability to coordinate and execute business strategies, plans and tactics. Furthermore, as our operations grow and increase in complexity, we may lack timely access to information that could impact the quality of decision-making by management or our ability to react to problems affecting key business matters. Future growth could also impose significant additional responsibilities on members of our senior management, and we cannot be certain that we will be able to recruit, integrate and retain new senior-level managers and executives. To the extent that we are unable to manage our growth effectively or are unable to attract and retain additional qualified management, we may not be able to continue to expand our operations or execute our business plan.
The loss of, or our inability to attract, key personnel could disrupt our business.
We depend on the continued efforts of our executive officers, senior corporate management, regional leadership and management of our operating companies, which includes leadership and key personnel of the businesses we acquire. Although we typically enter into employment agreements with our executive officers and other key employees for initial terms of one year and subsequent renewal options, we cannot be certain that any individual will continue in such capacity for any particular period of time. We also depend on our ability to attract key operational and professional personnel as we grow our business and in order to establish and maintain an effective succession planning process. A shortage of these employees for various reasons, including intense competition for skilled employees, labor shortages, increased labor costs and the preference of some candidates to work remotely, could jeopardize our ability to successfully manage our decentralized operations or our ability to grow and expand our business. As a result, the loss of key personnel, as well as our inability to attract, develop and retain qualified employees that can succeed these key personnel, could negatively impact our ability to manage our business. Additionally, if the proposed FTC rulemaking regarding non-compete covenants discussed above is finalized, Quanta could be required to individually rescind any post-termination non-compete clauses in its employment and other service agreements with key management, other employees and individual independent contractors, which would increase the risk that key individuals, upon departure from Quanta, would compete with us despite any severance or other consideration paid or owed to any such individual.
Our investments, including our joint ventures, expose us to risks and may result in conflicts of interest that could adversely impact our business or result in reputational harm.
We have entered into strategic relationships, joint ventures and other investment arrangements with various partners, including customers and infrastructure investors, through which we have invested in infrastructure assets and businesses, and we expect this activity to continue in the future. Certain of these investments are described further in Note 8 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements in Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data in Part II of this Annual Report. These types of investments expose us to increased risks, including poor performance by the infrastructure projects or businesses in which we have invested due to, among other things, difficult market or economic conditions or slowdowns (which may occur across one or more industries, sectors or geographies), changes to the supply or demand and fluctuations in the price of commodities, or fluctuations in the market price of the equity securities we hold in a company. That negative performance could result in lower investment returns, a decline in value or total loss of our investments or the possible sale of our investments at values below our initial projections, including at a loss, all of which could adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows. For example, during 2022, we recorded a $91.5 million impairment in connection with our investment in Starry Group Holdings, Inc. Furthermore, our investments are often illiquid, as they are typically investments in private companies and/or subject to contractual restrictions that impose restrictions or lock-up periods affecting our ability to sell our interest, and as a result, we may not be able to exit an investment that is performing poorly, declining in value or resulting in reputational harm. Quanta may also be exposed to reputational harm based on poor or incomplete performance of our investments or an investment fund in which we participate, or based on the actions or conduct of the entities in which we are invested or our partners in such investments, all of which may be outside of our control. Any such reputational harm could adversely affect our ability to secure certain future projects or participate in future investment opportunities. Further, our relationship with a customer or investor that partners with us in a poorly performing investment could become impaired, which may negatively impact our ability to continue providing services to that customer.
Conflicts of interest may also exist or arise as a result of the structure of our investment arrangements. For example, in these structures, Quanta can be the contractor for construction of a project as well as an equity investor in an entity that owns, manages or operates the project or possibly the manager of investments in the project. In those instances, conflicts of interest can exist for such things as contractor pricing and the handling of contractor change orders and other claims. While certain of these conflicts of interest are governed by applicable laws and regulations and we have also taken certain actions that we believe minimize or address anticipated conflicts of interest, including through internal management practices and the terms of agreements governing the investment arrangement, failure to properly manage such conflicts of interest, or even the appearance of a potential conflict of interest, can expose us to liability or harm our relationships with investment partners, which could impact our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows or cause reputational harm to Quanta.
Additionally, the purpose of our joint ventures is typically to combine skills and resources to allow for the bidding and performance of particular projects, and the success of these projects can be adversely affected by the performance of our joint venture partners, over whom we may have little or no control. Differences in opinions or views between us and our joint venture partners may result in delayed decision-making or failure to agree on material issues that may adversely affect the business and operations of our joint ventures. We and our joint venture partners are also generally jointly and severally liable for all liabilities and obligations of a joint venture. If a joint venture partner fails to perform or is unable to satisfy required capital contributions or other obligations, including liabilities stemming from claims or lawsuits, we could be required to make additional investments, provide additional services or pay more than our proportionate share of a liability to make up for their shortfall. Further, if our partners experience cost overruns or project performance issues that we are unable to adequately
address, the customer may terminate the project, which could result in legal liability to us, harm our reputation and reduce our profit or increase our loss on a project. As a result, the failure by a joint venture partner to successfully perform or comply with applicable laws, regulations or client requirements could negatively impact our business.
We extend credit to customers for purchases of our services and enter into other arrangements with certain of our customers, which subjects us to potential credit or investment risk.
We grant credit, generally without collateral, to our customers, which primarily include utilities, renewable energy developers, communications providers, industrial companies and energy delivery companies located primarily in the United States, Canada and Australia. In certain circumstances, we also allow our customers to defer payment until certain project milestones have been met or until a project is substantially completed, and customers typically withhold some portion of amounts due to us as retainage until a project is complete. In addition, we have provided in the past and may provide in the future other forms of financing to our customers or make investments in our customers’ projects. These payment arrangements subject us to potential credit risk related to changes in business and economic factors affecting our customers, and certain of our customers have experienced financial difficulties (including bankruptcy) in recent years, which has impacted our ability to collect amounts owed to us. If we are unable to collect amounts owed, or retain amounts paid to us, our cash flows are reduced, and we could experience losses. Business and economic factors resulting in financial difficulties (including bankruptcy) for our customers can also reduce the value of any financing or equity investment arrangements we have with our customers, thereby increasing the risk of loss in those circumstances. Losses experienced as a result of these credit and investment risks could materially and adversely affect our financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.
Risks associated with operating in international markets and U.S. territories could harm our business and prospects.
Our overall business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows can be negatively impacted by our activities and operations outside the continental United States, including our international operations and operations in U.S. territories. Although these operations are presently conducted primarily in Canada and Australia, we also perform work in other foreign countries and U.S. territories. For the year ended December 31, 2023, we derived $2.97 billion, or 14.2%, of our consolidated revenues from foreign operations, the substantial majority of which was related to Canada and Australia. Changes in economic conditions, including those resulting from wars and other geopolitical conflicts, civil unrest, public health crises, pandemics, acts of terrorism, or volatility in global markets, may adversely affect demand for our services and our customers’ ability to pay for our services. In addition, at times we are paid for work outside the United States in currencies other than the U.S. dollar. Such payments are subject to fluctuating foreign currency exchange rates and may exceed our local currency needs, and, in certain instances, those amounts may be subject to temporary blocking, taxes or tariffs, and we may experience difficulties if we attempt to convert such amounts to U.S. dollars. Furthermore, to the extent the volume of services we provide internationally increases, our financial condition, results of operations and cash flows could be further exposed to the effects of fluctuating exchange rates.
There are numerous other risks associated with operating in international markets and U.S. territories, including, but not limited to, changes in applicable regulatory requirements; political, economic and social instability; expropriation or nationalization of our assets and operations; unfamiliar legal systems or business and labor practices; and complex U.S. and foreign tax regulations and other laws and international treaties. For example, as discussed in further detail in Legal Proceedings within Note 16 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements in Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data in Part II of this Annual Report, the termination of a telecommunications project in Peru resulted in a $79.2 million charge to earnings in the second quarter of 2019. Furthermore, we have incurred, and may incur in the future, significant costs or liabilities associated with an unsuccessful attempt to enter a new market and we have entered, and may in the future enter, a new market that ultimately proves to be unprofitable or has an otherwise adverse effect on our business. We may also incur significant costs and liabilities associated with winding down or exiting an existing market. These risks could restrict our ability to provide services to customers, operate our business in these locations profitably or fund our strategic objectives, which could negatively impact our overall business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.
Limitations on the availability of suppliers, subcontractors and equipment manufacturers that we depend on could adversely affect our business.
We rely on suppliers to obtain necessary materials and subcontractors to perform portions of our services, and our customers rely on suppliers for materials necessary for the construction, upgrade and repair and maintenance of their infrastructure. We also rely on equipment manufacturers to provide us with the equipment required to conduct our operations, including a significant number of specialty vehicles. Limitations on the availability of suppliers, subcontractors or equipment manufacturers could negatively impact our or our customers’ operations, particularly in the event we rely on a single or small number of providers. The risk of a lack of available suppliers, subcontractors or equipment manufacturers can be heightened as a result of market, regulatory or economic conditions. For example, customers in certain U.S. states and Canada, in order to receive certain funding or for other reasons, may expect or compel us to engage a specified percentage of services from suppliers or subcontractors that meet diversity-ownership requirements, which can further limit our pool of available suppliers
and subcontractors and limit our ability to secure contracts, maintain our services or grow in those areas. Availability of suppliers and manufacturers may also be limited by U.S. trade and other foreign policies that restrict business relationships with certain suppliers and manufacturers, including tariffs, duties, taxes, assessments or other limitations on the availability or sourcing of materials or components for our projects.
Additionally, successful completion of our contracts can depend on whether our subcontractors successfully fulfill their contractual obligations. If our subcontractors fail to perform their contractual obligations, fail to meet the expected completion dates or quality or safety standards or fail to comply with applicable laws, such shortcomings may subject us to claims or we may be required to incur additional costs or provide additional services to mitigate such shortcomings. As a result, regulatory or other requirements that require us to outsource a percentage of services to subcontractors, whether they are businesses meeting diversity-ownership requirements or otherwise, also limit our ability to self-perform our services, thereby potentially increasing performance risk associated with our services. Furthermore, services subcontracted to other service providers generally yield lower margins, and therefore these regulatory requirements can impact our profitability and results of operations.
There are also increasing expectations in various jurisdictions that companies monitor the environmental and social performance of their value chain, including compliance with a variety of labor practices, as well as consider a wider range of potential environmental and social matters. Compliance can be costly, require us to establish or augment programs to diligence or monitor our suppliers, or potentially design supply chains to avoid certain regions altogether. Failure to comply with such regulations can result in fines, contractual penalties, reputational damage, denial of import for materials for our projects, or otherwise adversely impact our business.
A lack of availability or an increase in the price of fuel, materials or equipment necessary for our business or our customers’ projects could adversely affect our business.
Pursuant to certain contracts, including fixed price and EPC contracts where we have assumed responsibility for procuring materials for a project, we are exposed to availability issues and price increases for materials that are utilized in connection with our operations, including, among other things, copper, steel, aluminum, specialized project components (e.g., transformers, solar panels) and raw materials utilized for certain of our product solutions. In addition, the timing of our customers’ ongoing projects, as well as their capital budgets and decision-making with respect to the timing of the future projects, can be negatively impacted by a lack of availability or an increase in prices of these materials. Prices and availability could be materially impacted by, among other things, supply chain and other logistical challenges (including inability of manufacturers to meet demand), global trade relationships (e.g., tariffs, duties, taxes, assessments, sourcing restrictions) and other general market and geopolitical conditions (e.g., inflation, market volatility, increased interest rates and geopolitical conflicts). The lack of availability of necessary materials could result in project delays, some of which could be attributable to us, and an increase in prices of materials could reduce our profitability on projects or negatively impact our customers, which could have an adverse effect on demand for our services or our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows. For example, recent sourcing restrictions have resulted in supply chain and logistical challenges with respect to solar cells and panels, including the U.S. Department of Commerce investigation into an antidumping and countervailing duties circumvention claim on these components from Southeast Asia, which negatively impacted our renewable energy services associated with solar projects during 2022 and into 2023, and certain other sourcing restrictions and challenges related to solar panels manufactured in China (e.g., the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act), which may negatively impact project timing within the renewable energy market in the future. Additionally, the availability of power transformers utilized in electric power projects has been negatively impacted by the inability of manufacturers to meet current market demand, which has increased, and is expected to continue to increase, as a result of the transition to a reduced-carbon economy.
We also operate certain manufacturing facilities in the United States, and if such facilities experience a material interruption in operations it could cause delays in production and delivery of completed products to our customers or for use in connection with our services. Such delays may negatively impact our customers or the timing of their ongoing projects, which could have an adverse effect on demand for our services or our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.
We are also exposed to increases in energy prices, particularly fuel prices for our large fleet of vehicles, which have fluctuated significantly since 2020 and could increase over the longer term due to market conditions or future regulatory, legislative and policy changes that result from, among other things, climate change initiatives. Furthermore, some of our fixed price contracts do not allow us to adjust our prices and certain of our other contracts, such as some long-term MSAs, allow for price adjustments within a certain range that may be insufficient for us to recover the full amount associated with increased fuel costs. As a result, increases in fuel costs could reduce our profitability with respect to such projects. Our ability to utilize certain existing vehicles within our fleet may also be limited by new emissions or other regulations, and, due to lack of production or availability, we may not be able to procure a sufficient number of vehicles meeting any such regulations. To the extent we are unable to utilize a significant portion of our existing fleet, we may be unable to perform services, which could have an adverse effect on our future financial condition, results of operations and cash flows. Additionally, to the extent we are required to
transition our fleet to alternative sources of power, including EVs, and the availability of such vehicles is limited or fluctuates, we may be unable to efficiently plan for such transition, which could result in, among other things, the retirement of certain vehicles prior to the end of their useful life. The broader and longer-term implications of these challenges, which could accelerate based on the pace of the transition to a reduced-carbon economy or otherwise, remain highly uncertain and variable and could negatively impact our overall business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.
Increasing scrutiny and changing expectations from various stakeholders with respect to corporate sustainability practices may impose additional costs on us or expose us to reputational or other risks.
Investors, customers and other stakeholders have focused increasingly on sustainability practices of companies, including, among other things, practices with respect to human capital resources, emissions and environmental impact and political spending. Expectations and requirements of our investors, customers and other third parties evolve rapidly and are largely out of our control, and our initiatives and disclosures in response to such expectations and requirements may result in increased costs (including but not limited to increased costs related to compliance, stakeholder engagement, contracting and insurance), changes in demand for certain services, enhanced compliance or disclosure obligations, or other adverse impacts to our business, financial condition, or results of operations. While we have programs and initiatives in place related to our sustainability practices, investors may decide to reallocate capital or to not commit capital as a result of their assessment of our practices. In addition, our customers may require that we implement certain additional procedures or standards in order to continue to do business with us. A failure to comply with investor, customer and other stakeholder expectations and standards, which are evolving and can conflict, or if we are perceived not to have responded appropriately to their growing concerns around sustainability issues, regardless of whether there is a legal requirement to do so, could also cause reputational harm to our business and could have a material adverse effect on us. For example, if a portion of our operations are perceived to result in high greenhouse gas emissions, our reputation could suffer. In addition, organizations that provide ratings information to investors on sustainability matters may assign unfavorable ratings to Quanta or our industries, which may lead to negative investor sentiment and the diversion of investment to other companies or industries, which could have a negative impact on our stock price and our costs of capital.
Moreover, while we may create and publish voluntary disclosures regarding sustainability matters from time to time, many of the statements in those voluntary disclosures are based on hypothetical expectations and estimates and assumptions that may not be representative of current or actual risks or events or forecasts of expected risks or events, including the costs associated therewith. Such expectations and assumptions are necessarily uncertain and may be prone to error or subject to misinterpretation given the long timelines involved and the lack of an established single approach to identifying, measuring and reporting on many sustainability matters. In addition, we expect there will likely be increasing levels of regulation, disclosure-related and otherwise, with respect to sustainability matters. For example, certain jurisdictions in which we operate have adopted new requirements that would require companies to provide expanded emissions-related disclosures on an annual basis. Additionally, the SEC and the State of California have published proposed rules that would require companies to provide significantly expanded climate-related disclosures in their periodic reporting. These new and proposed regulatory requirements may require us to incur significant additional costs to comply, including the implementation of significant additional internal controls processes and procedures regarding matters that have not been subject to such controls in the past, and impose increased oversight obligations on our management and Board.
Risks Related to Our Industries
Negative macroeconomic conditions and industry-specific economic and market conditions can adversely impact our business.
Stagnant or declining economic conditions, including a prolonged economic downturn or recession, as well as significant events that have an impact on financial or capital markets, can adversely impact the demand for our services and result in the delay, reduction or cancellation of certain projects. Macroeconomic conditions, including inflation, slow growth or recession, changes to fiscal and monetary policy, and tighter credit and higher interest rates could materially adversely affect demand for our services and the availability and cost of the materials and equipment that we need to deliver our services or our customers need for their projects. During periods of elevated economic uncertainty, our customers may reduce or eliminate their spending on the services we provide. In addition, volatility in the debt or equity markets, as well as prolonged higher interest rates, may negatively impact our customers’ access to or willingness to raise capital and result in the reduction or elimination of spending on the services we provide. Our vendors, suppliers and subcontractors may also be, to varying degrees, adversely affected by these conditions. These conditions, which can develop rapidly, could adversely affect our revenues, results of operations, and liquidity.
A number of factors can also adversely affect the industries we serve, including, among other things, the economic impact of supply chain and other logistical issues, financing conditions, potential bankruptcies and global and U.S. trade relationships and other geopolitical conflicts and other events. A reduction in cash flow or the lack of availability of debt or equity financing for our customers on favorable terms could result in a reduction in our customers’ spending for our services
and also impact the ability of our customers to pay amounts owed to us, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows. Consolidation, competition, capital constraints or negative economic conditions in the electric power, energy or communications industries can also result in reduced spending by, or the loss of, one or more of our customers.
Services within our Underground and Infrastructure segment are exposed to risks associated with the oil and gas industry. These risks, which are not subject to our control, include the volatility of commodity prices and production volumes, the development of and consumer demand for alternative energy sources, and legislative and regulatory actions, as well as public opinion, regarding the impact of fossil fuels on the climate and environment. Specifically, lower prices or production volumes, or perceived risk thereof, can result in decreased or delayed spending by our customers, including with respect to larger pipeline and industrial projects. For example, future restrictions imposed on oil and gas production activities, including as a result of concerns about the impact of climate change, could have a material adverse effect on the oil and gas industry as a whole. Certain of our operations within our Underground and Infrastructure segment could also experience reputational risks, such as how our values and practices regarding a low carbon transition are viewed by external and internal stakeholders, which could have a material adverse impact on our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows. If the profitability of our Underground and Infrastructure segment were to decline, our overall financial position, results of operations and cash flows could also be adversely affected.
Our revenues and profitability can be negatively impacted if our customers encounter financial difficulties or file bankruptcy or disputes arise with our customers.
Our contracts often require us to satisfy or achieve certain milestones in order to receive payment, or in the case of cost-reimbursable contracts, provide support for billings in advance of payment. As a result, we can incur significant costs or perform significant amounts of work prior to receipt of payment. We face difficulties collecting payment and sometimes fail to receive payment for such costs in circumstances where our customers do not proceed to project completion, terminate or cancel a contract, default on their payment obligations, or dispute the adequacy of our billing support. We have in the past brought, and may in the future bring, claims against our customers related to the payment terms of our contracts, and any such claims may harm our relationships with our customers.
Slowing economic conditions in the industries we serve can also impair the financial condition of our customers and hinder their ability to pay us on a timely basis or at all. To the extent a customer files bankruptcy, payment of amounts owed can be delayed and certain payments we receive prior to the filing of the bankruptcy petition may be avoided and returned to the customer’s bankruptcy estate. Furthermore, many of our customers for larger projects are project-specific entities that do not have significant assets other than their interests in the project and could be more likely to encounter financial difficulties relating to their businesses. We ultimately may be unable to collect amounts owed to us by customers experiencing financial difficulties or in bankruptcy, and accounts receivable from such customers may become uncollectible and ultimately have to be written off, which could have an adverse effect on our future financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.
Our business is highly competitive, and competitive pressures could negatively affect our business.
We cannot be certain that we will maintain or enhance our competitive position or maintain our current customer base. Our industries are served by numerous companies, from small, owner-operated private companies to large multi-national, public companies. Relatively few barriers prevent entry into some areas of our business, and as a result, any organization that has adequate financial resources and access to technical expertise may become one of our competitors. In addition, some of our competitors have significant financial, technical and marketing resources, and may have or develop expertise, experience and resources to provide services that are superior in both price and quality to our services. Certain of our competitors may also have lower overhead cost structures, and therefore may be able to provide services at lower rates than us.
We also subcontract approximately 20% of our services, including pursuant to customer and regulatory requirements, and certain of these subcontractors may develop into a competitor to us on prime contracts with our customers. Our subcontracting requirements have also increased in recent years, primarily as a result of these requirements, which not only increases the number of viable competitors but could also negatively impact our ability to self-perform projects.
Furthermore, a substantial portion of our revenues is directly or indirectly dependent upon obtaining new contracts, which is unpredictable and often involves complex and lengthy negotiations and bidding processes that are impacted by a wide variety of factors, including, among other things, price, governmental approvals, financing contingencies, commodity prices, environmental conditions, overall market and economic conditions, and a potential customer’s perception of our ability to perform the work or the technological advantages held by our competitors. The competitive environment we operate in can also affect the timing of contract awards and the commencement or progress of work under awarded contracts. For example, based on rapidly changing competition and market dynamics, we have recently experienced, and may in the future experience, more competitive pricing for smaller scale projects. Additionally, changing competitive pressures present difficulties in matching
workforce size with available contract awards. As a result of the factors described above, the competitive environment we operate in can have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.
Technological advancements and other market developments could negatively affect our business.
Technological advancements, market developments and other factors may increase our costs or alter our customers’ existing operating models or the services they require, which could result in reduced demand for our services. For example, a transition to a decentralized electric power grid, which relies on more dispersed and smaller-scale renewable energy sources, could reduce the need for large infrastructure projects and significant maintenance and rehabilitation programs, thereby reducing demand for, or profitability of, our services. Our future success will depend, in part, on our ability to anticipate and adapt to these and other potential changes in a cost-effective manner and to offer services that meet customer demands and evolving industry standards. If we fail to do so or incur significant expenditures in adapting to such change, our businesses, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows could be materially and adversely affected.
Furthermore, we view our portfolio of energized services tools and techniques, as well as our other process and design technologies, as competitive strengths, which we believe differentiate our service offerings. If our intellectual property rights or work processes become obsolete, through technological advancements or otherwise, we may not be able to differentiate our service offerings and some of our competitors may be able to offer more attractive services to our customers, which could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.
Risks Related to Regulation and Compliance
Regulatory requirements applicable to our industries and changes in current and potential legislative and regulatory initiatives may adversely affect demand for our services.
Because the vast majority of our revenue is derived from a few industries, the federal, state, provincial and local regulations affecting those industries, including, among other things, environmental, safety, and permitting requirements and materials sourcing and transportation requirements, have a material effect on our business. These regulations are complex and subject to change both in substance and interpretation and often regulations across various industries and jurisdictions can differ or conflict, all of which can negatively impact our or our customers’ ability to efficiently operate. In recent years, customers in our industries have faced heightened regulatory requirements and increased regulatory enforcement, as well as private legal challenges related to regulatory requirements, which have resulted in delays, reductions in scope and cancellations of projects, in particular larger pipeline and transmission projects. Furthermore, certain regulatory requirements applicable to our customers are also required of us when we contract with such customers, and our inability to meet those requirements could also result in decreased demand for our services. Increased and changing regulatory requirements applicable to us and our customers have resulted in, among other things, project delays and decreased demand for our services in the past, and may do so in the future, which can adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.
For example, sourcing restrictions have resulted in supply chain and logistical challenges with respect to solar cells and panels, including the U.S. Department of Commerce investigation into an antidumping and countervailing duties circumvention claim on these components from southeast Asia, which negatively impacted our renewable energy services associated with solar projects during 2022 and into 2023, and certain other sourcing restrictions and challenges related to solar panels manufactured in China (e.g., the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act), which may negatively impact project timing within the renewable energy market in the future. Furthermore, with respect to our contracts under which we are responsible for procuring all or a portion of the materials needed for projects, including our EPC contracts, we are often required to comply with complex sourcing and transportation regulations, which can involve cross-border movement of such materials. Changes to, or our failure to comply with, these regulatory requirements can result in project delays and additional project costs, which may be substantial and not recoverable from third parties, and in some cases, we may be required to compensate the customer for such delays, including in circumstances where we have guaranteed project completion or performance by a scheduled date and incur liquidated damages if we do not meet such schedule. Additionally, our failure to comply with these regulatory requirements could result in criminal or civil fines, penalties, forfeitures or other sanctions.
Regulatory requirements focused on concerns about climate-change related issues, including any new or changed requirements concerning the reduction, production or consumption of fossil fuels, could negatively impact the hydrocarbon production volumes of our customers, which could in turn negatively impact demand for certain of our services. Additionally, new regulations addressing greenhouse gas emissions from mobile sources could also significantly increase costs for our large fleet of vehicles, render portions of our fleet of vehicles obsolete or reduce the availability of vehicles we need to perform our services.
With respect to certain services within our Renewable Energy segment, current and potential legislative or regulatory initiatives may not be implemented or extended or result in incremental increased demand for our services, including legislation or regulation that mandates percentages of power to be generated from renewable sources, requires utilities to meet reliability
standards, provides for existing or new production tax credits for renewable energy developers, or encourages installation of new electric power transmission and renewable energy generation facilities. While these actions and initiatives have positively impacted demand for our services in the past, it is not certain whether they will continue to do so in the future. For example, the interaction between the IRA and the IIJA could lead to additional complex requirements associated with, among other things, union labor or prevailing wages, domestic material production obligations, and affirmative action programs, which we and our customers must comply with in order to secure government funding for projects completed thereunder. Our or our customers’ failure to successfully navigate these requirements could negatively impact our, or our customers’, ability to take advantage of the opportunities under such legislation, result in additional unintended costs associated with any projects completed under such legislation or result in liabilities or governmental penalties for noncompliance.
Our unionized workforce and related obligations may adversely affect our operations.
As of December 31, 2023, approximately 32% of our employees were covered by collective bargaining agreements and the number of our employees covered by collective bargaining agreements could increase in the future for a variety of reasons, including acquisitions, unionization of a non-union operating company, project requirements (e.g. project labor agreements) and changes in law. The current political and labor environment has also generally been more conducive to unionization attempts, and we have experienced an increase in unionization attempts at certain of our operating companies, some of which have been successful, and we expect such attempts to continue in the future. For a variety of reasons, our unionized workforce could adversely impact relationships with our customers and adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows. Certain of our customers also require or prefer a non-union workforce, and they may reduce the amount of work assigned to us if our non-union labor crews become unionized. Additionally, although the majority of the collective bargaining agreements prohibit strikes and work stoppages, certain of our unionized employees have participated in strikes and work stoppages in the past and strikes or work stoppages could occur in the future. Our ability to complete future acquisitions also could be adversely affected because of our operating companies’ union status, including because our union agreements may be incompatible with the union agreements of a business we want to acquire or because a business we want to acquire may not want to become affiliated with our operating companies that have employees covered by collective bargaining obligations.
Our collective bargaining agreements generally require us to participate with other companies in multiemployer pension plans. To the extent a plan is underfunded, we may be subject to substantial liabilities if we withdraw or are deemed to withdraw from the plan or the plan is terminated or experiences a mass withdrawal, and we have been involved in several litigation matters associated with withdrawal liabilities in the past. Further, special funding and operational rules are generally applicable to multiemployer plans that are classified as “endangered,” “seriously endangered” or “critical” status based on multiple factors (including, for example, the plan’s funded percentage, cash flow position and a projected minimum funding deficiency). Plans in these classifications must adopt remedial measures, which may require additional contributions from employers (e.g., a surcharge on benefit contributions) and/or modifications to retiree benefits. Certain plans to which we contribute or may contribute in the future have these funding statuses, and we may be obligated to contribute material amounts to these plans in the future, which could negatively impact our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows. For additional information on our contributions to, and the funding status of, these plans, see Note 15 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements in Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data in Part II of this Annual Report.
We could be adversely affected by our failure to comply with the laws applicable to our foreign activities.
Applicable U.S. and non-U.S. anti-corruption laws, including but not limited to the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), prohibit us from, among other things, corruptly making payments to non-U.S. officials for the purpose of obtaining or retaining business. We pursue certain opportunities in countries that experience government corruption, and in certain circumstances, compliance with these laws may conflict with local customs and practices. Our policies mandate compliance with all applicable anti-corruption laws and our procedures and practices are designed to ensure that our employees and intermediaries comply with these laws. However, there can be no assurance that such policies, procedures and practices will protect us from liability under the FCPA or other similar laws for actions or inadvertences by our employees or intermediaries. Liability for such actions or inadvertences could result in severe criminal or civil fines, penalties, forfeitures, disgorgements or other sanctions, which in turn could have a material adverse effect on our reputation, business, financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows. In addition, detecting, investigating and resolving actual or alleged violations can be expensive and consume significant time and attention of our senior management, in-country management, and other personnel.
Additionally, as we expand our EPC services and/or pursuant to other contracts where we have assumed responsibility to procure all or part of the materials needed for certain projects, we source more materials from outside the United States and are subject to non-U.S. laws associated with the procurement and transportation of such materials. The laws and regulations associated with such cross-border procurement activities are complex and our failure to comply with such laws or regulations may result in criminal or civil fines, penalties, sanctions or other liabilities, which could negatively impact our business, financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows.
Our failure to comply with environmental laws and regulations could result in significant liabilities and increased costs.
Our operations are subject to various environmental laws and regulations, including those dealing with the handling and disposal of waste products, PCBs, PFAS, fuel storage, water quality and air quality. These laws and regulations are complex and subject to change and in some cases, environmental laws also ascribe liability without respect to contribution to the contamination in question or the lawfulness of disposal at the time it occurred.
We perform work in many different types of underground environments. If the field location maps supplied to us are not accurate, or if objects are present in the soil that are not indicated on the field location maps, our underground work could strike objects in the soil, some of which may contain pollutants. These objects may also rupture, resulting in the discharge of pollutants. In such circumstances, we may be liable for fines and damages, and we may be unable to obtain reimbursement from any parties providing the incorrect information. We also perform work, including directional drilling, in and around environmentally sensitive areas such as rivers, lakes and wetlands. Due to the inconsistent nature of the terrain and water bodies, it is possible that such work may cause the release of subsurface materials that contain contaminants in excess of amounts permitted by law, potentially exposing us to remediation costs and fines.
Additionally, we own and lease numerous properties and facilities, including certain of which that contain above-and below-ground fuel storage tanks, which could leak and cause us to be responsible for remediation costs and fines, and certain of which that are or have been used for industrial purposes and may contain known or unknown environmental conditions that we are or may be responsible for maintaining, monitoring and/or remediating. The obligations, liabilities, fines and costs associated with these and other events and conditions can be material and could have a material adverse impact on our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.
Moreover, new or changed laws and regulations, changes in interpretation of laws and regulations or the stricter enforcement of existing laws and regulations, as well as the discovery of previously unknown contamination or leaks or the imposition of new clean-up requirements, could require us to incur significant costs or become the basis for new or increased liabilities. For example, a recent change to the definitions of waters of the United States by the EPA has expanded the coverage of the Clean Water Act, which is expected to impact construction around certain waterways. In certain instances, we have obtained indemnification and other rights from third parties (including predecessors or lessors) for such obligations and liabilities; however, these indemnities may not cover all of our costs and indemnitors may not pay amounts owed to us. Further, in connection with an acquisition, we cannot be certain that we identify all potential environmental liabilities relating to any acquired business when we are negotiating an indemnification right.
Certain regulatory requirements applicable to us and certain of our subsidiaries could materially impact our business.
We are subject to various specific regulatory regimes and requirements that could result in significant compliance costs and liabilities. As a public company, we are subject to various corporate governance and financial reporting requirements, including requirements for management to report on our internal controls over financial reporting and for our independent registered public accounting firm to express an opinion on the operating effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting. Our internal control over financial reporting was effective as of December 31, 2023; however, there can be no assurance that our internal control over financial reporting will be determined to be effective in future years. Failure to maintain effective internal controls, including the identification and remediation of significant internal control deficiencies in acquired businesses (both prior acquisitions and future acquisitions), could result in a decrease in the market value of our publicly traded securities, a reduced ability to obtain debt and equity financing, a loss of customers, fines or penalties, and/or additional expenditures to meet the requirements or remedy any deficiencies.
Additionally, one of our subsidiaries has registered as an investment adviser with the SEC under the U.S. Investment Advisers Act of 1940, as amended (the Advisers Act), which imposes substantive and material restrictions and requirements on the operations of this subsidiary, including certain fiduciary duties that apply to its relationships with its advisory clients. The SEC has broad administrative powers to institute proceedings and impose sanctions for violations of the Advisers Act, ranging from fines and censures to termination of an adviser’s registration. This subsidiary is also subject to periodic SEC examinations and other requirements, including, among other things, maintaining an effective compliance program, recordkeeping and reporting requirements, disclosure requirements and complying with anti-fraud prohibitions. The failure of our subsidiary to comply with the requirements of the Advisers Act could result in fines, suspensions of individual employees or other sanctions against our subsidiary that could have a material adverse effect on us. Even if an investigation or proceeding does not result in a fine or sanction or if a fine or sanction imposed against our subsidiary or its employees were small in monetary amount, the adverse publicity relating to an investigation, proceeding or imposition of these fines or sanctions could harm our reputation and have a material adverse effect on us.
Furthermore, our wholly-owned captive insurance company is a registered insurance company with the Texas Department of Insurance, and therefore is subject to various rules and regulations and required to meet certain capital requirements, which can result in additional use of our resources.
We also collect and retain information about our customers, stockholders, vendors and employees. Legislation and regulatory requirements, as well as contractual commitments, affect how we must store, use, transfer and process the confidential information of our customers, stockholders, vendors and employees. These laws, as well as other new or changing legislative, regulatory or contractual requirements concerning data privacy and protection, could require us to expend significant additional compliance costs, and any failure to comply with such requirements can result in significant liability or harm to our reputation.
Changes in tax laws or our tax estimates or positions could adversely affect our financial results.
We are subject to extensive tax liabilities imposed by multiple jurisdictions, including income taxes, indirect taxes (excise/duty, sales/use, gross receipts, and value-added taxes), payroll taxes, franchise taxes, withholding taxes, and ad valorem taxes. New tax laws, treaties and regulations and changes in existing tax laws, treaties and regulations are continuously being enacted or proposed, all of which can result in significant changes to the tax rate on our earnings and have a material impact on our earnings and cash flows from operations. Since future changes to tax legislation and regulations are unknown, we cannot predict the ultimate impact such changes may have on our business. In addition, significant judgment is required in determining our worldwide provision for income taxes. In the ordinary course of our business, there are many transactions and calculations where the ultimate tax determination is uncertain. We are regularly under audit by tax authorities, and our tax estimates and tax positions could be materially affected by many factors, including the final outcome of tax audits and related litigation, the introduction of new tax accounting standards, legislation, regulations and related interpretations, our global mix of earnings, our ability to realize deferred tax assets and changes in uncertain tax positions. A significant increase in our tax rate or change to our tax positions can have a material adverse effect on our profitability and liquidity.
Opportunities within the government arena could subject us to increased regulation and costs and may pose additional risks relating to future funding and compliance.
Most government contracts are awarded through a regulated competitive bidding process, which can often include more cumbersome compliance requirements and be more time consuming than the bidding process for non-governmental projects. For example, the Biden Administration has proposed revisions to the Federal Acquisition Regulation which, if adopted, would require major federal suppliers to monitor and disclose certain climate-related information and, for certain suppliers, to adopt climate-related targets subject to the methodology of the Science Based Targets Initiative. This could require us to incur substantial costs, subject us to increased liability for our climate-related and other disclosures, and influence our climate and business strategy in ways other than we might prefer. Additionally, involvement with government contracts could require a significant amount of costs to be incurred before any revenues are realized. We are also subject to numerous procurement rules and other public sector regulations when we contract with certain governmental agencies, any deemed violation of which could lead to fines or penalties or a loss of business. Government agencies routinely audit and investigate government contractors and may review a contractor’s performance under its contracts, cost structure and compliance with applicable laws, regulations and standards. If a government agency determines that costs were improperly allocated to specific contracts, such costs will not be reimbursed or a refund of previously reimbursed costs may be required. If a government agency alleges or proves improper activity, civil and criminal penalties could be imposed and serious reputational harm could result. Many government contracts must be appropriated each year, and without re-appropriation we would not realize all of the potential revenues from any awarded contracts. Additionally, U.S. government shutdowns or any related under-staffing of the government departments or agencies that interact with our business could result in program cancellations, disruptions and/or stop work orders, could limit the government’s ability to effectively progress programs and make timely payments, and could limit our ability to perform on our existing U.S. government contracts and successfully compete for new work.
Immigration laws, including our inability to verify employment eligibility and restrictions on movement of our foreign employees, could adversely affect our business or reputation.
We employ a significant number of employees, and while we utilize processes to assist in verifying the employment eligibility of potential new employees so that we maintain compliance with applicable laws, it is possible some of our employees may be unauthorized workers. In addition, we utilize certain non-immigrant visas to allow us to temporarily transfer certain of our foreign employees to the United States, and we utilize foreign immigration laws to allow certain of our employees to temporarily transfer to foreign countries. The employment of unauthorized workers or failure to comply with the requirements of these non-immigrant visas could subject us to fines, penalties and other costs, as well as result in adverse publicity that negatively impacts our reputation and brand and may make it more difficult to hire and retain qualified employees. Furthermore, to the extent we are subject to penalties or delays that prevent the future transfer of our foreign employees to the United States, we may incur additional costs to hire and train new employees. Immigration laws have also been an area of considerable political focus in recent years, and, from time-to-time, the U.S. government considers or implements changes to federal immigration laws, regulations or enforcement programs. Changes in immigration or work authorization laws may increase our obligations for compliance and oversight, which could subject us to additional costs and
potential liability and make our hiring and employee transfer processes more cumbersome, or reduce the availability of potential employees.
Risks Related to Financing Our Business
We may not have access in the future to sufficient funding to finance desired growth and operations.
If we cannot secure future funds or financing on acceptable terms or generate sufficient cash flow, we may be unable to support our future operations or growth strategy. The timing of our funding needs and the size of our operations and strategic initiatives that require capital cannot be readily predicted and may be substantial. We also rely on financing companies to fund the leasing of certain of our equipment, and credit market conditions may restrict access to capital for the leasing of additional equipment. A lack of available capital to fund the leasing of equipment could negatively impact our future operations.
The credit agreement for our senior credit facility and the indenture for our senior notes contain certain restrictions, including financial covenants and other restrictions on our ability to borrow amounts under the credit agreement and limitations on our ability to incur additional debt or conduct certain types of preferred equity financings. Our ability to increase the current commitments under our senior credit facility is also dependent upon additional commitments from our lenders. Furthermore, if we seek additional debt or equity financings, we cannot be certain they will be available to us on acceptable terms or at all, as banks are often restrictive in their lending practices, and our ability to access capital markets for financing could be limited by, among other things, our existing capital structure, our credit ratings, the state of the economy, the health of our industries, and the liquidity of the capital markets. If we are unable to borrow under our senior credit facility or secure other financing or if our lenders become unable or unwilling to fund their commitments to us, we may not be able to access the capital needed to fund our growth and operations, which could have a material adverse impact on our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows. For additional information on the terms of our senior credit facility, senior notes and commercial paper facility, please read Note 10 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements in Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data in Part II of this Annual Report.
Additionally, the market price of our common stock has fluctuated significantly in the past, and may fluctuate significantly in the future, in response to various factors, including events beyond our control, which could impact our ability to utilize capital markets to obtain funds. A variety of events may cause the market price of our common stock to fluctuate significantly, including overall market conditions or volatility, actual or perceived negative financial results or other unfavorable information relating to us or our market peers.
We have a significant amount of debt, and our significant indebtedness could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations and our ability to meet our payment obligations under our other debt.
We have a significant amount of debt and debt service requirements. As of December 31, 2023, we had approximately $3.66 billion of outstanding long-term debt, net of current maturities. We also had $1.52 billion of aggregate undrawn borrowing capacity under our senior credit facility and commercial paper program as of December 31, 2023. This level of debt could have significant consequences on our future operations, including:
• making it more difficult for us to meet our payment and other obligations under our outstanding debt;
• resulting in an event of default if we fail to comply with the financial and other restrictive covenants contained in our debt agreements, which event of default could result in all of our debt becoming immediately due and payable;
• reducing the availability of our cash flows to fund working capital, capital expenditures, acquisitions or strategic investments, dividends and other general corporate purposes, and limiting our ability to obtain additional financing for these purposes;
• subjecting us to the risk of increasing interest expense on variable rate indebtedness, including borrowings under our senior credit facility and commercial paper program;
• limiting our flexibility in planning for, or reacting to, and increasing our vulnerability to changes in our business, the industries in which we operate and the general economy;
• limiting our ability to pursue business opportunities that become available to us; and
• placing us at a competitive disadvantage compared to our competitors that have less debt or are less leveraged.
Any of the above-listed factors could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations and our ability to meet our payment obligations on our existing indebtedness.
Servicing our debt requires a significant amount of cash, and we may not have sufficient cash flow from our operations to pay our indebtedness.
Our ability to generate cash in order to make scheduled payments on the principal of, to pay interest on or to refinance our indebtedness depends on our future performance, which is subject to economic, financial, competitive, legislative, regulatory and other factors beyond our control. In addition, our ability to borrow funds in the future to make payments on our debt will depend on the satisfaction of the covenants in our senior credit facility and our other financing and other agreements we may enter into in the future. Specifically, we will need to maintain certain financial ratios. Our business may not continue to generate sufficient cash flow from operations in the future and future borrowings may not be available to us under our senior credit facility and commercial paper facility or from other sources in an amount sufficient to service our indebtedness to make necessary capital expenditures or to fund our other liquidity needs. If we are unable to generate cash from our operations or through borrowings, we may be required to adopt one or more alternatives, such as selling assets, restructuring debt or obtaining additional equity capital on terms that may be onerous or highly dilutive. Our ability to make payments on our indebtedness or refinance our indebtedness will depend on factors including the state of the capital markets and our financial condition at such time, as well as the terms of our financing agreements. We may not be able to engage in any of these activities or engage in these activities on desirable terms, which could result in a default on our debt obligations.
Our variable rate indebtedness subjects us to interest rate risk.
Borrowings under our senior credit facility and commercial paper facility are at variable rates of interest and expose us to interest rate risk. Interest rates have increased significantly during 2022 and 2023, and further increases may occur. As a result, our debt service obligations on the variable rate indebtedness have increased and may continue to increase even if the amount we borrow remains the same, and our net income and cash flows, including cash available for servicing our indebtedness, would correspondingly decrease. See Note 10 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements in Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data in Part II and Interest Rate Risk in Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk of this Annual Report for further information about our debt subject to variable interest rates.
We may be unable to compete for projects if we are not able to obtain surety bonds, letters of credit or bank guarantees.
A portion of our business depends on our ability to provide surety bonds, letters of credit, bank guarantees or other financial assurances. Current or future market conditions, including losses incurred in the construction industry or as a result of large corporate bankruptcies, as well as changes in our sureties’ assessment of our operating and financial risk, could cause our surety providers and lenders to decline to issue or renew, or substantially reduce the amount of, bid or performance bonds for our work and could increase our costs associated with collateral. These actions could be taken on short notice. If our surety providers or lenders were to limit or eliminate our access to bonding, letters of credit or guarantees, our alternatives would include seeking capacity from other sureties and lenders or finding more business that does not require bonds or that allows for other forms of collateral for project performance, such as cash. We may be unable to secure these alternatives in a timely manner, on acceptable terms, or at all, which could affect our ability to bid for or work on future projects requiring financial assurances.
Under standard terms in the surety market, sureties issue or continue bonds on a project-by-project basis and can decline to issue bonds at any time or require the posting of additional collateral as a condition to issuing or renewing bonds. If we were to experience an interruption or reduction in the availability of bonding capacity as a result of these or other reasons, we may be unable to compete for or work on certain projects that require bonding.
A downgrade in our debt rating could restrict our ability to access the capital markets.
The terms of our financings are, in part, dependent on the credit ratings assigned to our debt by independent credit rating agencies. We cannot provide assurance that our current credit rating will remain in effect for any given period of time or that it will not be lowered or withdrawn entirely by a rating agency. Factors that may impact our credit rating include, among other things, our debt levels and liquidity, capital structure, financial performance, planned asset purchases or sales, near- and long-term growth opportunities, customer base and market position, geographic diversity, regulatory environment, project performance and risk profile. A downgrade in our credit rating, particularly to non-investment grade levels, would prevent us from issuing commercial paper under our current commercial paper program and result in the conversion of all our outstanding borrowings under our commercial paper facility to revolving borrowings under our senior credit facility, which are subject to a higher interest rate. Additionally, a downgrade in our credit rating could limit our ability to access the debt capital markets or refinance our existing debt or cause us to refinance or issue debt with less favorable terms and conditions. An increase in the level of our indebtedness and related interest costs may increase our vulnerability to adverse general economic and industry conditions and may affect our ability to obtain additional financing, as well as have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.
Risks Related to Our Common Stock
Our sale or issuance of additional common stock or other equity-related securities could dilute each stockholder’s ownership interest or adversely affect the market price of our common stock.
We often fund a significant portion of the consideration paid in connection with our acquisitions with the issuance of additional equity securities, including contingent consideration amounts payable if acquired businesses achieve certain performance objectives during specified post-acquisition periods. We also utilize stock-based compensation as a key component of our compensation program. We expect to issue additional equity securities in the future in connection with these and other practices. Our Restated Certificate of Incorporation provides that we may issue up to 600,000,000 shares of common stock, of which 145,508,549 shares were outstanding as of December 31, 2023. Any additional issuances of common stock would have the effect of diluting our earnings per share and our existing stockholders’ individual ownership percentages and lead to volatility in the market price of our common stock. We cannot predict the effect that future issuances of our common stock or other equity-related securities would have on the market price of our common stock.
There can be no assurance that we will declare or pay future dividends on our common stock.
The declaration, amount and timing of future dividends are subject to capital availability and determinations by our Board that cash dividends are in the best interest of our stockholders and are in compliance with all respective laws and applicable agreements. Our ability to declare and pay dividends will depend upon, among other factors, our financial condition, results of operations, cash flows, current and anticipated expansion plans, requirements under Delaware law and other factors that our Board may deem relevant. A reduction in or elimination of our dividend payments could have a material negative effect on our stock price.
Certain provisions of our corporate governing documents could make an acquisition of our company more difficult.
The following provisions of our charter documents, as currently in effect, and Delaware law could discourage potential proposals to acquire us, delay or prevent a change in control of us or limit the price that investors may be willing to pay in the future for shares of our common stock:
•our certificate of incorporation permits our Board to issue “blank check” preferred stock and to adopt amendments to our bylaws;
•our bylaws contain restrictions regarding the right of stockholders to nominate directors and to submit proposals to be considered at stockholder meetings;
•our certificate of incorporation and bylaws restrict the right of stockholders to call a special meeting of stockholders and to act by written consent; and
•we are subject to provisions of Delaware law which restrict us from engaging in any of a broad range of business transactions with an “interested stockholder” for a period of three years following the date such stockholder became classified as an interested stockholder.
ITEM 1B.Unresolved Staff Comments
None.
ITEM 1C. Cybersecurity
Cybersecurity Risk Management and Strategy
We have developed and implemented a cybersecurity risk management program intended to protect the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of our critical systems and information. Our cybersecurity risk management program includes a cybersecurity incident response plan and is integrated with our overall enterprise risk management program, sharing common methodologies, reporting channels and governance processes that apply across the enterprise risk management program to other legal, compliance, strategic, operational and financial risk areas. While we may not meet any particular standard, specification or requirement of the Center for Internet Security Critical Security Controls, we utilize such controls as a guide to help us identify, assess and manage cybersecurity risks relevant to our business.
Our cybersecurity risk management program includes, among other things:
•risk assessments designed to help identify material cybersecurity risks to our critical systems and information services;
•a team comprising information technology (IT) security, IT infrastructure, and IT compliance personnel principally responsible for directing (i) our cybersecurity risk assessment processes, (ii) our security processes and (iii) our response to cybersecurity incidents;
•the use of external cybersecurity service providers, where appropriate, to assess, test or otherwise assist with aspects of our security processes;
•cybersecurity awareness training of employees with access to our IT systems;
•a cybersecurity incident response plan and Security Operations Center to respond to cybersecurity incidents; and
•a third-party risk management process for service providers.
During the year ended December 31, 2023, we have not identified risks from known cybersecurity threats, including as a result of any prior cybersecurity incidents, that have materially affected our operations, business strategy, results of operations or financial condition. However, we expect to continue to face certain risks from ongoing cybersecurity threats that, if realized, are reasonably likely to materially affect us, including our operations, business strategy, results of operations or financial condition. See “Risk Factors – Disruptions to our information technology systems or our failure to adequately protect critical data, sensitive information and technology systems could materially affect our business or result in harm to our reputation.”
Cybersecurity Governance
Our Board considers cybersecurity risk as part of its risk oversight function and considers cybersecurity and IT risks as key strategic risks of Quanta. The Board oversees management’s implementation of our cybersecurity risk management program, receiving regular reports from management (including our Vice President of IT) on our cybersecurity risks, including briefings on our cyber risk management program and cybersecurity incidents, and reviewing cybersecurity topics impacting companies with management and external experts.
Our Vice President of IT reports to the Chief Financial Officer and leads our IT and cybersecurity functions and has primary responsibility for leading our overall cybersecurity risk management program, supervising both our internal cybersecurity personnel and our external cybersecurity service providers. Our cybersecurity function is responsible for assessing and managing our material risks from cybersecurity threats, as well as informing management about and monitoring the prevention, detection, mitigation, and remediation of cybersecurity risks and incidents through various means, which include briefings with internal security personnel, threat intelligence and other information obtained from governmental, public or private sources, including external cybersecurity service providers and alerts and reports produced by security tools deployed in the IT environment. Our Vice President of IT has significant global experience in managing and leading information systems and deploying cybersecurity technologies and holds a cybersecurity certification from a leading cybersecurity training and research institute.
ITEM 2.Properties
Facilities
We own and lease facilities throughout the United States, Canada, Australia and certain other foreign countries where we conduct business. These facilities are utilized for operations in all of our reportable segments and include offices, equipment yards, warehouses, storage, maintenance shops, manufacturing facilities and training and educational facilities, including the training and educational facilities located at the Quanta Advanced Training Center in La Grange, Texas, and the campuses of Northwest Lineman College, our postsecondary educational institution, which are located in California, Florida, Idaho and Texas. As of December 31, 2023, we owned 88 of our facilities and certain real property and leased the remainder. Included in the owned facilities is real property and associated office buildings and facilities located in Houston, Texas that we utilize as our corporate headquarters and real property and associated manufacturing facilities located in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, and Raeford, North Carolina, associated with our business that specializes in manufacturing power transformers and related electrical components. We believe that our existing property and facilities are suitable and adequate for our current needs; however, we continue to evaluate real estate strategies to support our recent growth.
Equipment
We operate a fleet of owned and leased trucks and trailers, as well as support vehicles and specialty construction equipment, such as bucket trucks, digger derricks, sidebooms, dozers, backhoes, excavators, trenchers, generators, boring machines, cranes, robotic arms, wire pullers, tensioners, helicopters and other aircraft. As of December 31, 2023, the total size of our owned and leased fleet was approximately 71,000 units. Most of our fleet is serviced by our own mechanics who work at various maintenance sites and facilities. We believe that our equipment is generally well maintained and is suitable and adequate for our present operations.
ITEM 3.Legal Proceedings
We are from time to time party to various lawsuits, claims and other legal proceedings that arise in the ordinary course of business. These actions typically seek, among other things, compensation for alleged personal injury, breach of contract, negligence or gross negligence and/or property damage, environmental liabilities, wage and hour claims and other employment-related damages, punitive damages, consequential damages, civil penalties or other losses, or injunctive or declaratory relief, as well as interest and attorneys’ fees associated with such claims. With respect to all such lawsuits, claims and proceedings, we record a reserve when we believe it is probable that a loss has been incurred and the amount of loss can be reasonably estimated. In addition, we disclose matters for which management believes a material loss is at least reasonably possible. See Note 16 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements in Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data in Part II of this Annual Report, which is incorporated by reference in this Item 3, for additional information regarding litigation, claims and other legal proceedings.
Environmental Matters
Item 103 of Regulation S-K requires disclosure of certain environmental matters in which a governmental authority is a party to the proceedings and when such proceedings involve the potential for monetary sanctions that management reasonably believes will exceed a specified threshold. Pursuant to SEC regulations, we use a threshold of $1.0 million for such proceedings.
ITEM 4.Mine Safety Disclosures
Not applicable.
PART II
ITEM 5.Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities
Our common stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “PWR.” On February 19, 2024, there were approximately 408 holders of record of our common stock. This number does not include stockholders for whom shares of our common stock are held in “nominee” or “street name.” See Note 13 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements in Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data in Part II of this Annual Report for additional discussion of our equity securities.
Unregistered Sales of Securities
In October 2023, we completed an acquisition in which a portion of the consideration consisted of the unregistered issuance of shares of our common stock. The aggregate consideration for this acquisition included 176,168 shares of our common stock, valued at $27.4 million as of the acquisition date.
In January 2024, we completed two acquisitions, and a portion of the consideration of one of these acquisitions consisted of the unregistered issuance of shares of our common stock. The aggregate consideration for this acquisition included 221,700 shares of our common stock, valued at $44.9 million as of the acquisition date.
The shares of common stock issued in these transactions were issued in reliance upon the exemption from registration provided by Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, as the shares were issued to the owners of the businesses acquired in a privately negotiated transaction not involving any public offering or solicitation.
For additional information about these acquisitions, see Note 6 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements in Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data in Part II of this Annual Report.
Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities During the Fourth Quarter of 2023
The following table contains information about our purchases of equity securities during the three months ended December 31, 2023.
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Period | | Total Number of Shares Purchased (1) (2) | | Average Price Paid per Share | | Total Number of Shares Purchased as Part of Publicly Announced Plans or Programs (1) | | Maximum Number (or Approximate Dollar Value) of Shares that may yet be Purchased Under the Plans or Programs (1) |
October 1 - 31, 2023 | | | | | | | | |
Open Market Stock Repurchases (1) | | — | | | $ | — | | | — | | | $ | 500,000,000 | |
Tax Withholding (2) | | 9,478 | | | $ | 186.41 | | | — | | | |
November 1 - 30, 2023 | | | | | | | | |
Open Market Stock Repurchases (1) | | 2,229 | | | $ | 156.98 | | | 2,229 | | | $ | 499,650,097 | |
Tax Withholding (2) | | 19,906 | | | $ | 166.73 | | | — | | | |
December 1 - 31, 2023 | | | | | | | | |
Open Market Stock Repurchases (1) | | — | | | $ | — | | | — | | | $ | 499,650,097 | |
Tax Withholding (2) | | 6,537 | | | $ | 199.49 | | | — | | | |
As of December 31, 2023 | | 38,150 | | | | | 2,229 | | | $ | 499,650,097 | |
_______________
(1)On May 24, 2023, we issued a press release announcing that our Board approved a stock repurchase program, effective July 1, 2023, that authorizes us to purchase, from time to time through June 30, 2026, up to $500 million of our outstanding common stock. Repurchases can be made in open market and privately negotiated transactions, at our discretion, based on market and business conditions, applicable contractual and legal requirements and other factors. The program does not obligate us to acquire any specific amount of common stock and may be modified or terminated by our Board at any time at its sole discretion and without notice.
(2)Includes shares withheld from employees to satisfy tax withholding obligations in connection with the vesting of restricted stock unit and performance stock unit awards or the settlement of previously vested but deferred restricted stock unit and performance stock unit awards.
Dividends
We have declared a quarterly dividend during each quarter beginning in the fourth quarter of 2018, and we currently expect that comparable cash dividends will continue to be paid for the foreseeable future. The declaration, payment and amount of future cash dividends will be at the discretion of our Board after taking into account various factors, including our financial condition, results of operations, cash flows from operations, current and anticipated capital requirements and expansion plans, income tax laws then in effect and the requirements of Delaware law. In addition, as discussed in Note 10 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements in Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data in Part II of this Annual Report, the credit agreement for our senior credit facility restricts the payment of cash dividends unless certain conditions are met.
Performance Graph
The following Performance Graph and related information shall not be deemed “soliciting material” or to be “filed” with the Securities and Exchange Commission, nor shall such information be incorporated by reference into any future filing under the Securities Act of 1933 or Securities Exchange Act of 1934, each as amended, except to the extent that we specifically incorporate it by reference into such filing.
The following graph compares, for the period from December 31, 2018 to December 31, 2023, the cumulative stockholder return on our common stock with the cumulative total return of the S&P 500 Index (the S&P 500), the S&P 500 Industrials Index (the S&P 500 Industrials), the S&P MidCap 400 Index (the S&P MidCap 400) and a peer group selected by our management that includes public companies within our industries. The companies in the peer group were selected to represent a broad group of publicly held corporations with operations similar to ours, and includes AECOM, Dycom Industries, Inc., EMCOR Group Inc., Fluor Corporation, Jacobs Solutions Inc., KBR, Inc., MasTec, Inc., MYR Group Inc. and Primoris Services Corporation. Additionally we determined that the S&P 500 Industrials should be included as it is better aligned with our market capitalization and reflects more of our industry peers than the S&P MidCap 400, and the S&P MidCap 400 will be excluded from the graph in future years.
The graph below assumes an investment of $100 (with reinvestment of all dividends) in our common stock, the S&P 500, the S&P 500 Industrials and the peer group on December 31, 2018 and tracks their relative performance through December 31, 2023. The returns of each company in the peer group are weighted based on the market capitalization of that company at the
beginning of the measurement period. The stock price performance reflected in the following graph is not necessarily indicative of future stock price performance.
COMPARISON OF 5 YEAR CUMULATIVE TOTAL RETURN
Among Quanta Services, Inc., the S&P 500, the S&P MidCap 400, the S&P 500 Industrials and the Peer Group
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | December 31, |
| | 2018 | | 2019 | | 2020 | | 2021 | | 2022 | | 2023 |
Quanta Services, Inc. | | $ | 100.00 | | | $ | 135.84 | | | $ | 241.44 | | | $ | 385.10 | | | $ | 479.95 | | | $ | 728.11 | |
S&P 500 | | $ | 100.00 | | | $ | 131.49 | | | $ | 155.68 | | | $ | 200.37 | | | $ | 164.08 | | | $ | 207.21 | |
S&P MidCap 400 | | $ | 100.00 | | | $ | 126.20 | | | $ | 143.44 | | | $ | 178.95 | | | $ | 155.58 | | | $ | 181.15 | |
S&P 500 Industrials | | $ | 100.00 | | | $ | 129.37 | | | $ | 143.68 | | | $ | 174.02 | | | $ | 164.49 | | | $ | 194.31 | |
Peer Group | | $ | 100.00 | | | $ | 138.21 | | | $ | 158.75 | | | $ | 221.13 | | | $ | 225.74 | | | $ | 257.51 | |
ITEM 6.Reserved
ITEM 7.Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations
General
The following discussion and analysis of the financial condition and results of operations of Quanta Services, Inc. (together with its subsidiaries, Quanta, we, us or our) should be read in conjunction with our consolidated financial statements and related notes in Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data in Part II of this Annual Report. The discussion below contains forward-looking statements that are based upon our current expectations and are subject to uncertainty and changes in circumstances. Actual results may differ materially from these expectations due to inaccurate assumptions and known or unknown risks and uncertainties, including those identified in Cautionary Statement About Forward-Looking Statements and Information above and in Item 1A. Risk Factors in Part I of this Annual Report.
The discussion summarizing the significant factors which affected the results of operations and financial condition for the year ended December 31, 2022, including the changes in results of operations between the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, can be found in Part II, Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022, which was filed with the SEC on February 23, 2023.
Overview
Our 2023 results reflect increased demand for our services, as revenue and operating income increased in all of our segments as compared to 2022.
With respect to our Electric Power Infrastructure Solutions (Electric Power) segment, utilities are continuing to invest significant capital in their electric power delivery systems through multi-year grid modernization and reliability programs, as well as system upgrades and hardening programs in response to recurring severe weather events. We have also experienced high demand for new and expanded transmission, substation and distribution infrastructure needed to reliably transport power.
With respect to our Renewable Energy Infrastructure Solutions (Renewable Energy) segment, the transition to a reduced-carbon economy is continuing to drive demand for renewable generation and related infrastructure (e.g., high-voltage electric transmission and substation infrastructure), as well as interconnection services necessary to connect and transmit renewable-generated electricity to existing electric power delivery systems. Despite these positive longer-term trends, during 2022 and into 2023, the timing of certain projects within this segment were negatively impacted by supply chain challenges that resulted in delays and shortages of, and increased costs for, materials necessary for certain projects, particularly sourcing restrictions related to solar panels necessary for the utility-scale solar industry and delays in availability of power transformers impacting the electric power and renewable energy industries. While certain challenges associated with solar panel sourcing improved during 2023, there could be other potential supply chain challenges for renewable infrastructure project components.
With respect to our Underground Utility and Infrastructure Solutions (Underground and Infrastructure) segment, during 2022 and 2023 we experienced strong demand for our services focused on utility spending, in particular our gas distribution services to natural gas utilities that are implementing modernization programs, and our downstream industrial services, as these customers continued to move forward with certain maintenance and capital spending that was deferred during the course of the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, although revenues associated with large pipeline projects in Canada increased in 2022 and 2023, as compared to prior years, we anticipate that revenues associated with these projects will continue to fluctuate.
During 2023, increased revenues and operating income across all our segments contributed to $1.58 billion of net cash provided by operating activities, a 39.4% increase relative to 2022, which allowed us to execute our business plan, including the strategic acquisition of several businesses, for which we utilized $651.6 million of cash, net of cash acquired, and the payment of $47.8 million in dividends associated with our common stock. Additionally, as of December 31, 2023, available commitments under our senior credit facility, combined with our cash and cash equivalents, totaled $2.81 billion.
We expect the strong demand for our services will continue. Our remaining performance obligations and backlog were $13.89 billion and $30.11 billion as of December 31, 2023, representing increases of 57.9%, and 25.0% relative to December 31, 2022. For a reconciliation of backlog to remaining performance obligations, the most comparable financial measure prepared in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States (GAAP), see Non-GAAP Financial Measures below.
For additional information regarding our overall business environment, see Overview in Part I, Item 1. Business of this Annual Report.
Significant Factors Impacting Results
Our revenues, profit, margins and other results of operations can be influenced by a variety of factors in any given period, including those described in Item 1. Business and Item 1A. Risk Factors in Part I of this Annual Report, and those factors have
caused fluctuations in our results in the past and are expected to cause fluctuations in our results in the future. Additional information with respect to certain of those factors is provided below.
Seasonality. Typically, our revenues are lowest in the first quarter of the year because cold, snowy or wet conditions can create challenging working environments that are more costly for our customers or cause delays on projects. In addition, infrastructure projects often do not begin in a meaningful way until our customers finalize their capital budgets, which typically occurs during the first quarter. Second quarter revenues are typically higher than those in the first quarter, as some projects begin, but continued cold and wet weather can often impact productivity. Third quarter revenues are typically the highest of the year, as a greater number of projects are underway and operating conditions, including weather, are normally more accommodating. Generally, revenues during the fourth quarter are lower than the third quarter but higher than the second quarter, as many projects are completed and customers often seek to spend their capital budgets before year end. However, the holiday season and inclement weather can sometimes cause delays during the fourth quarter, reducing revenues and increasing costs. These seasonal impacts are typical for our U.S. operations, but seasonality for our international operations may differ. For example, revenues for certain projects in Canada are typically higher in the first quarter because projects are often accelerated in order to complete work while the ground is frozen and prior to the break up, or seasonal thaw, as productivity is adversely affected by wet ground conditions during warmer months.
Weather, natural disasters and emergencies. The results of our business in a given period can be impacted by adverse weather conditions, severe weather events, natural disasters or other emergencies, which include, among other things, heavy or prolonged snowfall or rainfall, hurricanes, tropical storms, tornadoes, floods, blizzards, extreme temperatures, wildfires, post-wildfire floods and debris flows, pandemics and earthquakes. Climate change has the potential to increase the frequency and extremity of severe weather events.These conditions and events can negatively impact our financial results due to, among other things, the termination, deferral or delay of projects, reduced productivity and exposure to significant liabilities due to failure of electrical power or other infrastructure on which we have performed services. However, severe weather events can also increase our emergency restoration services, which typically yield higher margins due in part to higher equipment utilization and absorption of fixed costs.
Demand for services. We perform the majority of our services under existing contracts, including MSAs and similar agreements pursuant to which our customers are not committed to specific volumes of our services. Therefore our volume of business can be positively or negatively affected by fluctuations in the amount of work our customers assign us in a given period, which may vary by geographic region. Examples of items that may cause demand for our services to fluctuate materially from quarter to quarter include: the financial condition of our customers, their capital spending and their access to and cost of capital; acceleration of any projects or programs by customers (e.g., modernization or hardening programs); economic and political conditions on a regional, national or global scale, including availability of renewable energy tax credits; interest rates; governmental regulations affecting the sourcing and costs of materials and equipment; other changes in U.S. and global trade relationships; and project deferrals and cancellations.
Revenue mix and impact on margins. The mix of revenues based on the types of services we provide in a given period will impact margins, as certain industries and services provide higher-margin opportunities. Our larger or more complex projects typically include, among others, transmission projects with higher voltage capacities; pipeline projects with larger-diameter throughput capacities; large-scale renewable generation projects; and projects with increased engineering, design or construction complexities, more difficult terrain or geographical requirements, or longer distance requirements. These projects typically yield opportunities for higher margins than our recurring services under MSAs described above, as we assume a greater degree of performance risk and there is greater utilization of our resources for longer construction timeframes. However, larger projects are subject to additional risk of regulatory delay and cyclicality. Project schedules also fluctuate, particularly in connection with larger, more complex or longer-term projects, which can affect the amount of work performed in a given period. Furthermore, smaller or less complex projects typically have a greater number of companies competing for them, and competitors at times may more aggressively pursue available work. A greater percentage of smaller scale or less complex work also could negatively impact margins due to the inefficiency of transitioning between a greater number of smaller projects versus continuous production on fewer larger projects. As a result, at times we may choose to maintain a portion of our workforce and equipment in an underutilized capacity to ensure we are strategically positioned to deliver on larger projects when they move forward.
Project variability and performance. Margins for a single project may fluctuate period to period due to changes in the volume or type of work performed, the pricing structure under the project contract or job productivity. Additionally, our productivity and performance on a project can vary period to period based on a number of factors, including unexpected project difficulties or site conditions (including in connection with difficult geographic characteristics); project location, including locations with challenging operating conditions; whether the work is on an open or encumbered right of way; inclement weather or severe weather events; environmental restrictions or regulatory delays; protests, public activism, other political activity or legal challenges related to a project; and the performance of third parties. Moreover, we currently generate a significant portion of our revenues under fixed price contracts, and fixed price contracts are more common in connection with our larger and more
complex projects that typically involve greater performance risk. Under these contracts, we assume risks related to project estimates and execution, and project revenues can vary, sometimes substantially, from our original projections due to a variety of factors, including the additional complexity, timing uncertainty or extended bidding, regulatory and permitting processes associated with these projects. These variations can result in a reduction in expected profit, the incurrence of losses on a project or the issuance of change orders and/or assertion of contract claims against customers. See Contract Estimates and Changes in Estimates in Note 4 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements in Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data in Part II of this Annual Report.
Subcontract work and provision of materials. Work that is subcontracted to other service providers generally yields lower margins, and therefore an increase in subcontract work in a given period can decrease operating margins. In recent years, we have subcontracted approximately 20% of our work to other service providers. Our customers are usually responsible for supplying the materials for their projects. However, under some contracts, we agree to procure all or part of the required materials. While we attempt to structure our agreements with customers and suppliers to account for the impact of increased materials procurement requirements or fluctuations in the cost of materials we procure, our margins may be lower on projects where we furnish a significant amount of materials, as our markup on materials is generally lower than our markup on labor costs, and in a given period an increase in the percentage of work with greater materials procurement requirements may decrease our overall margins, including in some cases our assuming price risk. Furthermore, fluctuations in the price or availability of materials, equipment and consumables that we or our customers utilize could impact costs to complete projects.
Results of Operations
Consolidated Results
The following table sets forth selected statements of operations data, such data as a percentage of revenues for the years indicated, as well as the dollar and percentage change from the prior year (dollars in thousands).
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Year Ended December 31, | | Change |
| | 2023 | | 2022 | | $ | | % |
Revenues | | $ | 20,882,206 | | | 100.0 | % | | $ | 17,073,903 | | | 100.0 | % | | $ | 3,808,303 | | | 22.3 | % |
Cost of services | | 17,945,120 | | | 85.9 | | | 14,544,748 | | | 85.2 | | | 3,400,372 | | | 23.4 | % |
Gross profit | | 2,937,086 | | | 14.1 | | | 2,529,155 | | | 14.8 | | | 407,931 | | | 16.1 | % |
Equity in earnings of integral unconsolidated affiliates | | 41,609 | | | 0.2 | | | 52,466 | | | 0.3 | | | (10,857) | | | (20.7) | % |
Selling, general and administrative expenses | | (1,555,137) | | | (7.4) | | | (1,336,711) | | | (7.8) | | | (218,426) | | | 16.3 | % |
Amortization of intangible assets | | (289,014) | | | (1.5) | | | (353,973) | | | (2.1) | | | 64,959 | | | (18.4) | % |
Asset impairment charges | | — | | | — | | | (14,457) | | | (0.1) | | | 14,457 | | | (100.0) | % |
Change in fair value of contingent consideration liabilities | | (6,568) | | | — | | | (4,422) | | | — | | | (2,146) | | | 48.5 | % |
Operating income | | 1,127,976 | | | 5.4 | | | 872,058 | | | 5.1 | | | 255,918 | | | 29.3 | % |
Interest and other financing expenses | | (186,913) | | | (1.0) | | | (124,363) | | | (0.7) | | | (62,550) | | | 50.3 | % |
Interest income | | 10,830 | | | 0.1 | | | 2,606 | | | — | | | 8,224 | | | 315.6 | % |
Other income (expense), net | | 18,063 | | | 0.1 | | | (46,415) | | | (0.3) | | | 64,478 | | | * |
Income before income taxes | | 969,956 | | | 4.6 | | | 703,886 | | | 4.1 | | | 266,070 | | | 37.8 | % |
Provision for income taxes | | 219,267 | | | 1.0 | | | 192,243 | | | 1.1 | | | 27,024 | | | 14.1 | % |
Net income | | 750,689 | | | 3.6 | | | 511,643 | | | 3.0 | | | 239,046 | | | 46.7 | % |
Less: Net income attributable to non-controlling interests | | 6,000 | | | — | | | 20,454 | | | 0.1 | | | (14,454) | | | (70.7) | % |
Net income attributable to common stock | | $ | 744,689 | | | 3.6 | % | | $ | 491,189 | | | 2.9 | % | | $ | 253,500 | | | 51.6 | % |
* The percentage change is not meaningful.
Revenues. Revenues increased due to a $2.39 billion increase in revenues from our Renewable Energy segment, a $756.6 million increase in revenues from our Electric Power segment, and a $659.9 million increase in revenues from our Underground and Infrastructure segment. See Segment Results below for additional information and discussion related to segment revenues.
Cost of services. Costs of services primarily includes wages, benefits, subcontractor costs, materials, equipment, and other direct and indirect costs, including related depreciation. The increase in cost of services generally correlates to the increase in revenues.
Equity in earnings of integral unconsolidated affiliates. The decrease in equity in earnings was primarily driven by lower emergency restoration services in one of our integral affiliates.
Selling, general and administrative expenses. The increase was partially attributable to an aggregate $113.1 million increase in the following items to support business growth: compensation expense, largely associated with increased salaries and stock compensation expense due primarily to an increase in employees; bonus expense due to increased profitability; and travel and related expenses. Also contributing to the increase was a $30.7 million increase related to recently acquired businesses, including acquisition and integration costs, and a $26.5 million increase in expense related to deferred compensation liabilities. The fair market value changes in deferred compensation liabilities were largely offset by changes in the fair value of corporate-owned life insurance (COLI) assets associated with the deferred compensation plan, which are included in “Other income (expense), net” as discussed below. This increase was also attributable to an aggregate $40.7 million increase in legal and other consulting services expense, depreciation expense primarily related to our new corporate headquarters and information technology expenses.
Amortization of intangible assets. The decrease was primarily related to a $88.8 million reduction of amortization of intangible assets associated with backlog for Blattner Holding Company (Blattner), which was fully amortized by the third quarter of 2022.
Asset impairment charges. The asset impairment charges during the year ended December 31, 2022 were primarily associated with an $11.7 million charge related to a software implementation project at an acquired company, which commenced prior to our acquisition and was discontinued in the fourth quarter of 2022.
Operating income. Operating income was positively impacted by a $172.9 million increase in operating income for our Renewable Energy segment, a $54.6 million increase in operating income for our Electric Power segment and a $60.4 million increase in operating income for our Underground and Infrastructure segment, partially offset by a $32.0 million increase in corporate and non-allocated costs, which includes amortization expense. Results for each of our business segments and corporate and non-allocated costs are discussed in Segment Results below.
Interest and other financing expenses. The increase primarily resulted from the impact of higher interest rates on our outstanding variable rate debt during the year ended December 31, 2023 as compared to the year ended December 31, 2022.
Other income (expense), net. The net other expense for the year ended December 31, 2022 includes a loss of $91.5 million that resulted from the remeasurement of the fair value of our investment in Starry Group Holdings, Inc. (Starry) and a $13.8 million decrease in the mark-to-market valuation adjustment of the COLI assets associated with our deferred compensation plan, partially offset by a $25.9 million gain on the sale of an investment in a non-integral unconsolidated affiliate and $18.5 million of equity in earnings related to this non-integral unconsolidated affiliate. Other income for the year ended December 31, 2023 was favorably impacted by a $11.6 million increase in the mark-to-market valuation adjustment of the COLI assets associated with our deferred compensation plan.
Provision for income taxes. The effective income tax rates were 22.6% and 27.3% for the years ending December 31, 2023 and 2022. The decrease in our effective income tax rate in 2023 was primarily due to changes in the valuation allowance on deferred tax assets, predominantly from the realization of the loss on our investment in Starry, as well as changes in the fair market value of our company-owned life insurance investments and a tax benefit related to the vesting of equity incentive awards at a higher fair market value than their grant date fair market value. These decreases in the effective tax rate were partly offset by higher non-deductible per diem expenses related to the expiration, as of December 31, 2022, of a temporary provision that allowed for the full deduction of certain meal and entertainment costs. The components of our provision for income taxes including changes in our valuation allowance are quantified and described in more detail in Note 12 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements in Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data in Part II of this Annual Report.
Net income attributable to non-controlling interests. The decrease in net income attributable to non-controlling interests is primarily related to the $10.4 million gain on sale of the investment in a non-integral equity unconsolidated affiliate recorded during the year ended December 31, 2022 as further described in Note 8 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements in Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data in Part II of this Annual Report.
Comprehensive income. See Statements of Comprehensive Income in Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data in Part II of this Annual Report. Comprehensive income increased by $354.2 million in 2023 as compared to 2022, primarily due to a $239.0 million increase in net income and a $99.3 million increase related to foreign currency translation adjustments. The predominant functional currencies for our operations outside the U.S. are Canadian and Australian dollars. Foreign currency translation adjustment income in the year ended December 31, 2023 primarily resulted from the strengthening
of the Canadian dollar against the U.S. dollar as of December 31, 2023 when compared to December 31, 2022. Foreign currency translation loss in the year ended December 31, 2022 primarily resulted from the strengthening of the U.S. dollar against both the Australian and Canadian dollars as of December 31, 2022 when compared to December 31, 2021.
EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA. See Non-GAAP Financial Measures below for a reconciliation of EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA to net income attributable to common stock, the most comparable GAAP financial measure. EBITDA increased 21.2%, or $309.7 million, to $1.77 billion as compared to $1.46 billion for the year ended December 31, 2022, and adjusted EBITDA increased 15.6%, or $262.2 million, to $1.95 billion as compared to $1.68 billion for the year ended December 31, 2022.
Segment Results
We report our results under three reportable segments: Electric Power, Renewable Energy and Underground and Infrastructure. Reportable segment information, including revenues and operating income by type of work, is gathered from each of our operating companies. Classification of our operating company revenues by type of work for segment reporting purposes can at times require judgment on the part of management. Our operating companies may perform joint projects for customers in multiple industries, deliver multiple types of services under a single customer contract or provide service offerings to various industries. For example, we perform joint trenching projects to install distribution lines for electric power and natural gas customers. Integrated operations and common administrative support for operating companies require that certain allocations be made to determine segment profitability, including allocations of corporate shared and indirect operating costs, as well as general and administrative costs. Certain corporate costs are not allocated, including corporate facility costs; non-allocated corporate salaries, benefits and incentive compensation; acquisition and integration costs; non-cash stock-based compensation; amortization related to intangible assets; asset impairments related to goodwill and intangible assets; and change in fair value of contingent consideration liabilities.
The following table sets forth segment revenues, segment operating income (loss) and operating margins for the periods indicated, as well as the dollar and percentage change from the prior period (dollars in thousands):
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Year Ended December 31, | | Change |
| | 2023 | | 2022 | | $ | | % |
Revenues: | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Electric Power | | $ | 9,696,897 | | | 46.5 | % | | $ | 8,940,276 | | | 52.4 | % | | $ | 756,621 | | | 8.5 | % |
Renewable Energy | | 6,170,301 | | | 29.5 | | | 3,778,560 | | | 22.1 | | | 2,391,741 | | | 63.3 | % |
Underground and Infrastructure | | 5,015,008 | | | 24.0 | | | 4,355,067 | | | 25.5 | | | 659,941 | | | 15.2 | % |
Consolidated revenues | | $ | 20,882,206 | | | 100.0 | % | | $ | 17,073,903 | | | 100.0 | % | | $ | 3,808,303 | | | 22.3 | % |
Operating income (loss): | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | |
Electric Power | | $ | 1,013,350 | | | 10.5 | % | | $ | 958,798 | | | 10.7 | % | | $ | 54,552 | | | 5.7 | % |
Renewable Energy | | 477,208 | | | 7.7 | % | | 304,308 | | | 8.1 | % | | 172,900 | | | 56.8 | % |
Underground and Infrastructure | | 377,977 | | | 7.5 | % | | 317,543 | | | 7.3 | % | | 60,434 | | | 19.0 | % |
Corporate and Non-Allocated Costs | | (740,559) | | | (3.5) | % | | (708,591) | | | (4.2) | % | | (31,968) | | | 4.5 | % |
Consolidated operating income | | $ | 1,127,976 | | | 5.4 | % | | $ | 872,058 | | | 5.1 | % | | $ | 255,918 | | | 29.3 | % |
Electric Power Segment Results
Revenues. The increase in revenues for the year ended December 31, 2023 was primarily due to increased spending by our utility customers and approximately $270 million in revenues attributable to acquired businesses. These increases were partially offset by approximately $60 million in lower emergency restoration services revenues.
Operating Income. The increase in operating income for the year ended December 31, 2023 was primarily due to the increase in revenues. The decrease in operating margin compared to the year ended December 31, 2022 was due to $10.9 million of lower equity in earnings from our integral unconsolidated affiliates as discussed above, as well as lower utilization of resources in Canada. The decrease in emergency restoration services revenues, which generally deliver higher operating margin, also contributed to the decrease in operating margin. These items were partially offset by the favorable impact of margins related to telecommunication projects.
Renewable Energy Segment Results
Revenues. The increase in revenues for the year ended December 31, 2023 was primarily due to increased demand and improved supply chain dynamics associated with certain components for renewable generation projects, as well as approximately $225 million in revenues attributable to acquired businesses. These increases were partially offset by approximately $35 million as a result of unfavorable foreign currency exchange rates.
Operating Income. The increase in operating income was primarily due to the increase in revenues during the year ended December 31, 2023. Operating margin during the year ended December 31, 2023 was negatively impacted by variability in overall project timing and increased unabsorbed costs related to the ramping up of resources in the first half of 2023 to support the increase in project activity experienced in the second half of 2023 and into 2024. Operating income and margin for the year ended December 31, 2022 benefited from the favorable acceleration of a transmission project and was negatively impacted by $11.7 million of asset impairment charges related to a software implementation project at an acquired company, which commenced prior to our acquisition and was discontinued in the fourth quarter of 2022.
Underground and Infrastructure Segment Results
Revenues. The increase in revenues for the year ended December 31, 2023 was primarily due to higher demand from our gas utility services customers, and to a lesser extent, increased revenues associated with large pipeline projects in Canada. These increases were partially offset by approximately $55 million as a result of unfavorable foreign currency exchange rates.
Operating Income. Operating income and operating margin increased for the year ended December 31, 2023 primarily due to the increase in revenues, which contributed to higher levels of fixed cost absorption.
Corporate and Non-Allocated Costs
The increase in corporate and non-allocated costs during the year ended December 31, 2023 was primarily due to an aggregate increase of $75.0 million in costs primarily related to compensation expense, which was primarily attributable to non-cash stock compensation expense and salaries in support of business growth, and consulting fees. Also contributing to the increase was a $26.5 million increase in expense related to deferred compensation liabilities. Partially offsetting these increases was a $65.0 million decrease in intangible asset amortization primarily associated with backlog for Blattner, which was fully amortized by the third quarter of 2022.
Non-GAAP Financial Measures
EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA
EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA, financial measures not recognized under GAAP, when used in connection with net income attributable to common stock, are intended to provide useful information to investors and analysts as they evaluate our performance. EBITDA is defined as earnings before interest and other financing expenses, taxes, depreciation and amortization, and adjusted EBITDA is defined as EBITDA adjusted for certain other items as described below. These measures should not be considered as an alternative to net income attributable to common stock or other financial measures of performance that are derived in accordance with GAAP. Management believes that the exclusion of these items from net income attributable to common stock enables us and our investors to more effectively evaluate our operations period over period and to identify operating trends that might not be apparent due to, among other reasons, the variable nature of these items period over period. In addition, management believes these measures may be useful for investors in comparing our operating results with other companies that may be viewed as our peers.
As to certain of the items below, (i) non-cash stock-based compensation expense varies from period to period due to acquisition activity, changes in the estimated fair value of performance-based awards, forfeiture rates, accelerated vesting and amounts granted; (ii) acquisition and integration costs vary from period to period depending on the level and complexity of our acquisition activity; (iii) equity in (earnings) losses of non-integral unconsolidated affiliates varies from period to period depending on the activity and financial performance of such affiliates, the operations of which are not operationally integral to us; (iv) mark-to-market adjustments on investments vary from period to period based on fluctuations in the market price of such company’s common stock; (v) gains and losses on the sale of investments vary from period to period depending on activity; (vi) asset impairment charges vary from period to period depending on economic and other factors; and (vii) change in fair value of contingent consideration liabilities varies from period to period depending on the performance in post-acquisition periods of certain acquired businesses and the effect of present value accretion on fair value calculations. Because EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA, as defined, exclude some, but not all, items that affect net income attributable to common stock, such measures may not be comparable to similarly titled measures of other companies. The most comparable GAAP financial measure, net income
attributable to common stock, and information reconciling the GAAP and non-GAAP financial measures, are included below. The following table shows dollars in thousands.
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Year Ended |
| | December 31, |
| | 2023 | | 2022 |
Net income attributable to common stock (GAAP as reported) | | $ | 744,689 | | | $ | 491,189 | |
Interest and other financing expenses | | 186,913 | | | 124,363 | |
Interest income | | (10,830) | | | (2,606) | |
Provision for income taxes | | 219,267 | | | 192,243 | |
Depreciation expense | | 324,786 | | | 290,647 | |
Amortization of intangible assets | | 289,014 | | | 353,973 | |
Interest, income taxes, depreciation and amortization included in equity in earnings of integral unconsolidated affiliates | | 19,936 | | | 14,274 | |
EBITDA | | 1,773,775 | | | 1,464,083 | |
Non-cash stock-based compensation | | 126,762 | | | 105,600 | |
Acquisition and integration costs (1) | | 42,837 | | | 47,431 | |
Equity in earnings of non-integral unconsolidated affiliates | | (1,263) | | | (20,333) | |
Loss from mark-to-market adjustment on investment (2) | | — | | | 91,500 | |
Gains on sales of investments (3) | | (1,496) | | | (22,222) | |
Asset impairment charges (4) | | — | | | 14,457 | |
Change in fair value of contingent consideration liabilities | | 6,568 | | | 4,422 | |
Adjusted EBITDA | | $ | 1,947,183 | | | $ | 1,684,938 | |
(1) The amount for the year ended December 31, 2022 includes $35.9 million of expenses that are associated with change of control payments as a result of the acquisition of Blattner.
(2) The amount for the year ended December 31, 2022 is a loss from a decrease in fair value of our investment in Starry.
(3) The amount for the year ended December 31, 2022 is a gain as a result of the sale of a non-integral equity method investment further described in Note 8 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements in Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data in Part II of this Annual Report, and a non-marketable equity security interest in a technology company.
(4) The amount for the year ended December 31, 2022 primarily related to a software implementation project at an acquired company, which commenced prior to our acquisition and was discontinued in the fourth quarter of 2022.
Remaining Performance Obligations and Backlog
A performance obligation is a promise in a contract with a customer to transfer a distinct good or service. Our remaining performance obligations represent management’s estimate of consolidated revenues that are expected to be realized from the remaining portion of firm orders under fixed price contracts not yet completed or for which work has not yet begun, which includes estimated revenues attributable to consolidated joint ventures and variable interest entities, revenues from funded and unfunded portions of government contracts to the extent they are reasonably expected to be realized, and revenues from change orders and claims to the extent management believes they will be earned and are probable of collection.
We have also historically disclosed our backlog, a measure commonly used in our industry but not recognized under GAAP. We believe this measure enables management to more effectively forecast our future capital needs and results and better identify future operating trends that may not otherwise be apparent. We believe this measure is also useful for investors in forecasting our future results and comparing us to our competitors. Our remaining performance obligations are a component of backlog, which also includes estimated orders under MSAs, including estimated renewals, and non-fixed price contracts expected to be completed within one year. Our methodology for determining backlog may not be comparable to the methodologies used by other companies.
As of December 31, 2023 and 2022, MSAs accounted for 45% and 52% of our estimated 12-month backlog and 55% and 65% of our total backlog. Generally, our customers are not contractually committed to specific volumes of services under our MSAs, and most of our contracts can be terminated on short notice even if we are not in default. We determine the estimated backlog for these MSAs using recurring historical trends, factoring in seasonal demand and projected customer needs based upon ongoing communications. In addition, many of our MSAs are subject to renewal, and these potential renewals are
considered in determining estimated backlog. As a result, estimates for remaining performance obligations and backlog are subject to change based on, among other things, project accelerations; project cancellations or delays, including but not limited to those caused by commercial issues, regulatory requirements, natural disasters, emergencies and adverse weather conditions; and final acceptance of change orders by customers. These factors can cause revenues to be realized in periods and at levels that are different than originally projected.
The following table reconciles total remaining performance obligations to our backlog (a non-GAAP financial measure) by reportable segment, along with estimates of amounts expected to be realized within 12 months (in thousands):
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | December 31, 2023 | | December 31, 2022 |
| | 12 Month | | Total | | 12 Month | | Total |
Electric Power | | | | | | | | |
Remaining performance obligations | | $ | 2,762,608 | | | $ | 4,505,830 | | | $ | 2,124,820 | | | $ | 3,033,472 | |
Estimated orders under MSAs and short-term, non-fixed price contracts | | 5,597,732 | | | 10,995,198 | | | 5,415,427 | | | 10,049,435 | |
Backlog | | $ | 8,360,340 | | | $ | 15,501,028 | | | $ | 7,540,247 | | | $ | 13,082,907 | |
| | | | | | | | |
Renewable Energy | | | | | | | | |
Remaining performance obligations | | $ | 5,512,159 | | | $ | 8,005,368 | | | $ | 3,183,568 | | | $ | 4,638,115 | |
Estimated orders under MSAs and short-term, non-fixed price contracts | | 118,770 | | | 119,634 | | | 57,555 | | | 84,094 | |
Backlog | | $ | 5,630,929 | | | $ | 8,125,002 | | | $ | 3,241,123 | | | $ | 4,722,209 | |
| | | | | | | | |
Underground and Infrastructure | | | | | | | | |
Remaining performance obligations | | $ | 1,017,227 | | | $ | 1,383,057 | | | $ | 1,038,543 | | | $ | 1,129,837 | |
Estimated orders under MSAs and short-term, non-fixed price contracts | | 2,222,451 | | | 5,099,332 | | | 1,973,982 | | | 5,158,814 | |
Backlog | | $ | 3,239,678 | | | $ | 6,482,389 | | | $ | 3,012,525 | | | $ | 6,288,651 | |
| | | | | | | | |
Total | | | | | | | | |
Remaining performance obligations | | $ | 9,291,994 | | | $ | 13,894,255 | | | $ | 6,346,931 | | | $ | 8,801,424 | |
Estimated orders under MSAs and short-term, non-fixed price contracts | | 7,938,953 | | | 16,214,164 | | | 7,446,964 | | | 15,292,343 | |
Backlog | | $ | 17,230,947 | | | $ | 30,108,419 | | | $ | 13,793,895 | | | $ | 24,093,767 | |
The increases in remaining performance obligations and backlog from December 31, 2022 to December 31, 2023 were primarily attributable to multiple new project awards.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
Overview
We plan to fund our working capital, capital expenditures, debt service, dividends and other cash requirements with our current available liquidity and cash from operations, which could be affected by general economic, financial, competitive, legislative, regulatory, business and other factors, many of which are beyond our control. Management monitors financial markets and national and global economic conditions for factors that may affect our liquidity and capital resources.
As set forth below, we have various short-term and long-term cash requirements and capital allocation priorities, and we intend to fund these requirements primarily with cash flow from operating activities, as well as debt financing as needed.
Cash Requirements and Capital Allocation
Cash Requirements. The following table summarizes, as of December 31, 2023, our cash requirements from contractual obligations that are due within the twelve months subsequent to December 31, 2023 and thereafter, excluding certain amounts discussed below (in thousands):
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Due in 2024 | | Due Thereafter | | Total |
Long-term debt, including current portion - principal | | $ | 527,435 | | | $ | 3,580,849 | | | $ | 4,108,284 | |
Long-term debt - cash interest (1) | | 72,493 | | | 554,441 | | | 626,934 | |
| | | | | | |
Operating lease obligations (2) | | 87,354 | | | 203,888 | | | 291,242 | |
Operating lease obligations that have not yet commenced (3) | | 1,285 | | | 15,277 | | | 16,562 | |
Finance lease obligations (2) | | 8,869 | | | 37,960 | | | 46,829 | |
Short-term lease obligations | | 21,336 | | | — | | | 21,336 | |
| | | | | | |
Equipment and other purchase commitments (4) | | 148,284 | | | — | | | 148,284 | |
Capital commitment related to investments in unconsolidated affiliates (5) | | 1,013 | | | 60,162 | | | 61,175 | |
Total cash requirements from contractual obligations | | $ | 868,069 | | | $ | 4,452,577 | | | $ | 5,320,646 | |
(1) Amounts represent cash interest and other financing expenses associated primarily with our senior notes. Interest payments related to our senior credit facility and notes issued under our commercial paper program are not included due to their variable interest rates, and as it relates to the commercial paper program, the short-term nature of the borrowings. With respect to this variable rate debt, assuming the principal amount outstanding and interest rate in effect as of December 31, 2023 remained the same, the annual cash interest expense would be approximately $100.2 million, payable until October 8, 2026, the maturity date of our senior credit facility.
(2) Amounts represent undiscounted operating and finance lease obligations as of December 31, 2023. The corresponding amounts recorded on our December 31, 2023 consolidated balance sheet represent the present value of these amounts.
(3) Amounts represent undiscounted operating lease obligations that had not commenced as of December 31, 2023. The operating lease obligations will be recorded on our consolidated balance sheet beginning on the commencement date of each lease.
(4) Amount primarily represents capital committed for the expansion of our vehicle fleet. Although we have committed to the purchase of these vehicles/equipment, at the time of their delivery, we expect that the majority of these orders will be assigned to third-party leasing companies and made available to us under certain of our master equipment lease agreements.
(5) Amounts represent capital committed for investments in unconsolidated affiliates, including $50.0 million related to a limited partnership interest in a fund that targets investments in certain portfolio companies that operate businesses related to the transition to a reduced-carbon economy. Because we are unable to determine the timing of any such investments, we have included the entire amount of our capital commitment in the “Due Thereafter” column in the above cash requirements table.
Contingent Obligations. We have various contingent obligations that could require the use of cash or impact the collection of cash in future periods; however, we are unable to accurately predict the timing and estimate the amount of such contingent obligations as of December 31, 2023. These contingent obligations generally include, among other things:
•contingent consideration liabilities, which are described further in Note 6 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements in Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data in Part II of this Annual Report;
•undistributed earnings of foreign subsidiaries and unrecognized tax benefits, which are described further in Note 12 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements in Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data in Part II of this Annual Report;
•collective bargaining agreements and multiemployer pension plan liabilities, as well as liabilities related to our deferred compensation and other employee benefit plans, which are described further in Notes 15 and 16 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements in Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data in Part II of this Annual Report; and
•obligations relating to our joint ventures, lawsuits and other legal proceedings, uncollectible accounts receivable, insurance liabilities, obligations relating to letters of credit, bonds and parent guarantees, obligations relating to employment agreements, indemnities and assumed liabilities, and residual value guarantees, which are described further in Notes 4, 10, 11 and 16 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements in Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data in Part II of this Annual Report.
Capital Allocation. Our capital deployment priorities that require the use of cash include: (i) working capital to fund ongoing operating needs, (ii) capital expenditures to meet anticipated demand for our services, (iii) acquisitions and investments to facilitate the long-term growth and sustainability of our business, and (iv) return of capital to stockholders, including through the payment of dividends and repurchases of our outstanding common stock. Our industry is capital intensive, and we expect substantial capital expenditures and commitments for equipment purchases and equipment lease and rental arrangements to be needed into the foreseeable future in order to meet anticipated demand for our services. We expect capital expenditures for property and equipment purchases for the year ended December 31, 2024 to be approximately $450 million. We also expect to continue to allocate significant capital to strategic acquisitions and investments, as well as to pay dividends and to repurchase our outstanding common stock and/or debt securities. During 2023, we completed the acquisition of five businesses in which a portion of the consideration, net of cash acquired, consisted of $651.6 million in cash funded with a combination of cash and cash equivalents and borrowings from our commercial paper program. In January of 2024, we completed the acquisition of two businesses in which a portion of the consideration consisted of $378.7 million in cash paid on the acquisition dates funded with a combination of cash and cash equivalents and borrowings from our commercial paper program. For additional information regarding these acquisitions, refer to Note 6 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements in Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data in Part II of this Annual Report.
Significant Sources of Cash
We anticipate that our future cash flows from operating activities, cash and cash equivalents on hand, existing borrowing capacity under our senior credit facility and ability to access capital markets for additional capital will provide sufficient funds to enable us to meet our cash requirements described above for the next twelve months and over the longer term.
Cash flow from operating activities is primarily influenced by demand for our services and operating margins but is also influenced by the timing of working capital needs associated with the various types of services that we provide. Our working capital needs may increase when we commence large volumes of work under circumstances where project costs are required to be paid before the associated receivables are billed and collected. Additionally, operating cash flows may be negatively impacted as a result of unpaid and delayed change orders and claims. Changes in project timing due to delays or accelerations and other economic, regulatory, market and political factors that may affect customer spending could also impact cash flow from operating activities. Further information with respect to our cash flow from operating activities is set forth below and in Note 18 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements in Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data in Part II of this Annual Report.
Our available commitments under our senior credit facility and cash and cash equivalents as of December 31, 2023 were as follows (in thousands):
| | | | | | | | |
| | December 31, 2023 |
Total capacity available for revolving loans, credit support for commercial paper program and letters of credit | | $ | 2,640,000 | |
Less: | | |
Borrowings of revolving loans | | 135,887 | |
Commercial paper program notes outstanding (1) | | 705,900 | |
Letters of credit outstanding | | 274,206 | |
Available commitments for revolving loans, credit support for commercial paper program and letters of credit | | 1,524,007 | |
Plus: | | |
Cash and cash equivalents (2) | | 1,290,248 | |
Total available commitments under senior credit facility and cash and cash equivalents | | $ | 2,814,255 | |
(1) Amount represents unsecured notes issued under our commercial paper program, which has a maximum aggregate amount of $1.50 billion of notes outstanding at any time. Available commitments for revolving loans under our senior credit facility must be maintained to provide credit support for notes issued under our commercial paper program, and therefore such notes effectively reduce the available borrowing capacity under our senior credit facility.
(2) Further information with respect to our cash and cash equivalents is set forth below and in Note 17 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements in Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data in Part II of this Annual Report. This amount includes $256.5 million in jurisdictions outside of the U.S., principally in Canada and Australia. There are currently no legal or economic restrictions that would materially impede our ability to repatriate such cash.
We consider our investment policies related to cash and cash equivalents to be conservative, as we maintain a diverse
portfolio of what we believe to be high-quality cash and cash equivalent investments with short-term maturities. Additionally, subject to the conditions specified in the credit agreement for our senior credit facility, we have the option to increase the capacity of our senior credit facility, in the form of an increase in the revolving commitments, term loans or a combination thereof, from time to time, upon receipt of additional commitments from new or existing lenders by up to an additional (i) $400.0 million plus (ii) additional amounts so long as the Incremental Leverage Ratio Requirement (as defined in the credit agreement) is satisfied at the time of such increase. The Incremental Leverage Ratio Requirement requires, among other things, after giving pro forma effect to such increase and the use of proceeds therefrom, compliance with the credit agreement’s financial covenants as of the most recent fiscal quarter end for which financial statements were required to be delivered. Further information with respect to our debt obligations is set forth in Note 10 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements in Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data in Part II of this Annual Report.
We may also seek to access the capital markets from time to time to raise additional capital, increase liquidity as necessary, refinance or extend the term of our existing indebtedness, fund acquisitions or otherwise fund our capital needs. While our financial strategy and consistent performance have allowed us to maintain investment grade ratings, our ability to access capital markets in the future depends on a number of factors, including our financial performance and financial position, our credit ratings, industry conditions, general economic conditions, our backlog, capital expenditure commitments, market conditions and market perceptions of us and our industry.
Sources and Uses of Cash, Cash Equivalents and Restricted Cash During the Years Ended December 31, 2023 and 2022
In summary, our cash flows for each period were as follows (in thousands):
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Year Ended December 31, |
| | 2023 | | 2022 |
Net cash provided by operating activities | | $ | 1,575,952 | | | $ | 1,130,312 | |
Net cash used in investing activities | | $ | (989,650) | | | $ | (617,191) | |
Net cash provided by (used in) financing activities | | $ | 268,500 | | | $ | (311,071) | |
Operating Activities
Net cash provided by operating activities of $1.58 billion and $1.13 billion in 2023 and 2022 primarily reflected earnings adjusted for non-cash items and cash used by the main components of working capital: “Accounts and notes receivable,” “Contract assets,” “Prepaid expenses and other current assets,” “Accounts payable and accrued expenses,” and “Contract liabilities.” Net cash provided by operating activities during the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022 was negatively impacted by incremental working capital requirements and the timing of the associated billings related to the large renewable transmission project in Canada as discussed further in Note 4 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements in Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data in Part II of this Annual Report.
Certain payments negatively impacted net cash provided by operating activities in the year ended 2022, including $45.4 million related to change of control liabilities owed to employees of Blattner and payable in connection with our acquisition of Blattner; and $54.4 million for payments associated with deferred employer payroll taxes, which were due during the year ended December 31, 2020 but deferred pursuant to the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act). Partially offsetting these items was the receipt of $100.5 million pursuant to coverage under an insurance policy related to an outcome in a legal proceeding, as further described in Legal Proceedings - Peru Project Dispute in Note 16 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements in Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data in Part II of this Annual Report.
As discussed above, cash flow provided by operating activities is primarily influenced by demand for our services and operating margins but is also influenced by working capital needs. Our working capital needs may increase when we commence large volumes of work under circumstances where project costs, primarily labor, equipment and subcontractors, are required to be paid before the associated receivables are billed and collected and when we incur costs for work that is the subject of unpaid change orders and claims. Accordingly, changes within working capital in accounts receivable, contract assets and contract liabilities are normally related and are typically affected on a collective basis by changes in revenue due to the timing and volume of work performed and variability in the timing of customer billings and payments, as well as change orders and claims. Additionally, working capital needs are generally higher during the summer and fall due to increased demand for our services when favorable weather conditions exist in many of our operating regions. Conversely, working capital assets are typically converted to cash during the winter. These seasonal trends can be offset by changes in project timing due to delays or accelerations and other economic factors that may affect customer spending, including market conditions or the impact of certain unforeseen events (e.g., regulatory and other actions that impact the supply chain for certain materials).
Days sales outstanding (DSO) represents the average number of days it takes revenues to be converted into cash, which management believes is an important metric for assessing liquidity. A decrease in DSO has a favorable impact on cash flow
from operating activities, while an increase in DSO has a negative impact on cash flow from operating activities. DSO is calculated by using the sum of current accounts receivable, net of allowance (which includes retainage and unbilled balances), plus contract assets less contract liabilities, and divided by average revenues per day during the quarter. DSO at December 31, 2023 was 68 days, which was lower than DSO of 75 days at December 31, 2022 and our five-year historical average DSO of 84 days. This decrease in DSO as compared to December 31, 2022 was partially due to an increase in contract liabilities related to favorable billing terms on certain large projects, increased revenues and improved collection of receivables in the fourth quarter of 2023. Although the decrease in DSO had a positive impact on cash flow from operating activities, increased unapproved change orders included in contract assets from the aforementioned large renewable transmission project in Canada continue to have a negative impact on DSO and cash flow from operating activities. Also negatively impacting cash flow from operating activities for 2023 was our prepayment of amounts to suppliers for certain project materials that require a long lead time.
Days payables outstanding (DPO) represents the average number of days it takes to repay accounts payable, which management believes is an important metric for assessing liquidity. A decrease in DPO has a negative impact on cash flow from operating activities, while an increase in DPO has a favorable impact on cash flow from operating activities. DPO is calculated by using accounts payable divided by average cost of services per day during the quarter. Net cash provided by operating activities during the year ended December 31, 2023 was positively impacted by increased DPO, which was primarily the result of increased accounts payable activity on certain large renewable projects.
Investing Activities
Net cash used in investing activities in the year ended 2023 included $651.6 million related to acquisitions and $434.8 million of capital expenditures. Partially offsetting these items were $69.3 million of proceeds from the sale of, and insurance settlements related to, property and equipment and $42.3 million of cash received from the sale of investments.
Net cash used in investing activities in 2022 included $427.6 million of capital expenditures; $195.1 million related to acquisitions, primarily associated with a net working capital adjustment in connection with our acquisition of Blattner; and $78.1 million of cash paid primarily for equity method and non-marketable securities. Partially offsetting these items were $64.1 million of proceeds from the sale of, and insurance settlements related to, property and equipment and $20.6 million of cash received from the sale of investments.
Our industry is capital intensive, and we expect substantial capital expenditures and commitments for equipment purchases and equipment lease and rental arrangements to be needed for the foreseeable future in order to meet anticipated demand for our services. In addition, we expect to continue to pursue strategic acquisitions and investments, although we cannot predict the timing or amount of the cash needed for these initiatives. We also have various other capital commitments that are detailed in Cash Requirements and Capital Allocation above.
Financing Activities
Net cash provided by financing activities in the year ended December 31, 2023 included $408.7 million of net borrowings under our senior credit facility and commercial paper program, partially offset by $119.8 million of payments to satisfy tax withholding obligations associated with stock-based compensation and $47.8 million of dividends.
Net cash used in financing activities in the year ended December 31, 2022 included $127.8 million of common stock repurchases, $82.6 million of payments to satisfy tax withholding obligations associated with stock-based compensation; $41.1 million of dividends; and $23.4 million of net payments under our senior credit facility and commercial paper program.
We expect to continue to utilize cash for similar financing activities in the future, including repayments of our outstanding debt, payment of cash dividends and repurchases of our common stock and/or debt securities.
Critical Accounting Estimates
The discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations are based on our consolidated financial statements, which have been prepared in accordance with GAAP. The preparation of these consolidated financial statements requires us to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities, disclosures of contingent assets and liabilities known to exist as of the date the consolidated financial statements are published and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses recognized during the periods presented. We review all significant estimates affecting our consolidated financial statements on a recurring basis and record the effect of any necessary adjustments prior to their publication. Judgments and estimates are based on our beliefs and assumptions derived from information available at the time such judgments and estimates are made. Uncertainties with respect to such estimates and assumptions are inherent in the preparation of financial statements. There can be no assurance that actual results will not differ from those estimates. Management has reviewed its development and selection of critical accounting estimates with the audit committee of our Board of Directors. Our accounting policies are primarily described in Notes 2 and 4 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial
Statements in Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data in Part II of this Annual Report and should be read in conjunction with the accounting policies identified below that we believe affect our more significant estimates used in the preparation of our consolidated financial statements.
Revenue Recognition - Contract Estimates and Changes in Estimates
Refer to Contract Estimates and Changes in Estimates in Note 4 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements in Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data in Part II of this Annual Report for a description of a variety of factors that can cause changes in estimates and how changes in estimates on certain contracts may result in the issuance of change orders or claims under contracts for our projects. The quantitative impacts of changes in estimates and change orders and claims are also included therein.
Due to the significant judgments utilized in the revenue and cost estimation process, if subsequent actual results and/or updated assumptions or estimates were to change from those utilized as of December 31, 2023, it could result in a material impact to our results of operations. As described in Note 4 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements in Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data in Part II of this Annual Report, under fixed price contracts, as well as unit-price contracts with more than an insignificant amount of partially completed units, revenue is recognized as performance obligations are satisfied over time. Approximately 56.5% of our revenues recognized during the year ended December 31, 2023 were associated with this revenue recognition method. There were no material changes in estimates impacting revenues or gross profit during the years ended December 31, 2023, 2022 and 2021 other than a 5.7% favorable impact to gross profit that resulted from net positive changes in estimates across a large number of projects in the year ended December 31, 2021, primarily as a result of favorable performance and successful mitigation of risks and contingencies as the projects progressed to completion.
Collectibility of Accounts Receivable and Contract Assets
Refer to Accounts Receivable, Allowance for Credit Losses and Concentrations of Credit Risk in Note 4 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements in Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data in Part II of this Annual Report for a description of how we determine our allowance for credit losses, which is based on an estimate of expected credit losses for financial instruments, primarily accounts receivable (including unbilled receivables) and contract assets, as well as activity in allowance for credit losses.
Should anticipated collections fail to materialize, or if future economic conditions deteriorate, we could experience an increase in our allowance for credit losses. If our historical loss ratio had been 5 basis points higher or lower as of December 31, 2023, our provision for credit loss would have increased or decreased $2.6 million during the year ended December 31, 2023.
Acquisitions
Contingent Consideration. Refer to Contingent Consideration in Note 6 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements in Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data in Part II of this Annual Report for a description of how contingent consideration liabilities are determined and the related assumptions and uncertainties utilized for our estimates, as well as the balances and account activity. The maximum amount payable related to these liabilities is also included therein.
Valuation of Long-Lived Assets. Refer to Notes 2 and 6 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements in Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data in Part II of this Annual Report for a description of valuation of long-lived assets related to acquisitions (other intangible assets and property, plant and equipment), including assumptions and uncertainties related to our estimates, as well as amounts related to recent acquisitions. If we determine there is a change in the valuation of long-lived assets during the measurement period, the change in estimate would result in a change in the amount of goodwill.
Goodwill, Other Intangible Assets and Property, Plant and Equipment
In connection with our annual goodwill assessments in 2023 and 2022, management performed a qualitative impairment assessment of our reporting units, which indicated that the fair value of our reporting units was greater than their carrying value including goodwill. Accordingly, a quantitative goodwill impairment test was not required, and no goodwill impairment was recognized in 2023 or 2022. Additionally, there were no material impairments related to other intangible assets or property, plant equipment in 2023 or 2022. Changes in facts and circumstances, judgments and assumptions used to determine these fair values, including with respect to market conditions and the economy, could result in impairment charges in the future that could be material to our financial statements.
Insurance
Refer to Notes 2 and 16 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements in Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data in Part II of this Annual Report for a description of our insurance coverage, accounting policies related to insurance, accruals and related recoveries, as well as uncertainties of the related estimates. Our estimates of insurance liabilities related to employer’s liability, workers’ compensation, auto liability and general liability require us to make assumptions related to potential losses regarding our determination of amounts considered probable and estimable. We, along with our third-party actuary and third-party administrator, consider a number of factors when estimating our retained liability, including claims experience, demographic factors, severity factors and other actuarial assumptions. We periodically review our estimates and assumptions with our third-party actuary to assist us in determining the adequacy of our retained liability. As of December 31, 2023, the amount accrued for employer’s liability, workers’ compensation, auto liability and general liability totaled $327.3 million.
Although we believe that we have reasonably estimated our insurance liability, it is possible that actual results could differ from recorded retained liabilities. Our insurance liability is based on a reasonable estimate provided by our third-party actuaries based on a statistical model that considers the cumulative probability distribution of all possible loss estimates.
Income Taxes
Refer to Notes 2 and 12 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements in Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data in Part II of this Annual Report for a description of our accounting policies related to income taxes, the identification and measurement of deferred tax assets and liabilities, the measurement of valuation allowances on deferred tax assets, benefits from uncertain tax positions and the amount of unrecognized tax benefits that are reasonably possible of being adjusted within 12 months due to the expiration of a statute of limitations and/or resolution of examinations with taxing authorities.
The evaluation of the recoverability of the deferred tax asset requires us to weigh all positive and negative evidence, including projected future taxable income and whether we will be able to utilize state and foreign net operating loss carryforwards, to determine whether it is more likely than not that all or some portion of the deferred tax assets will not be realized. Revisions to our forecasts, declining macroeconomic conditions or other factors could result in changes to our assessment of the realization of these deferred income tax assets.
The evaluation of uncertain tax positions involves significant estimates and judgments. Although we believe that our estimates and judgments are reasonable, we are occasionally challenged by various taxing authorities regarding the amount of taxes due. To the extent we prevail in matters for which a liability has been established, are required to pay amounts in excess of the established liability or experience a change in judgment, the change in the liability could increase or decrease income tax expense in the period of such determination.
ITEM 7A.Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk
Our primary exposure to market risk relates to unfavorable changes with respect to interest rates and currency exchange rates.
Interest Rate Risk. We are exposed to interest rate risk with respect to our fixed-rate and variable-rate debt. Fluctuations in interest rates impact the fair value of fixed-rate debt and expose us to the risk that we may need to refinance debt at higher rates at each instrument’s respective maturity date. Fluctuations in interest rates impact interest expense from our variable-rate debt. At December 31, 2023, 63% of our debt portfolio, on a gross basis, incurred interest at a fixed-rate and the remaining 37% of the portfolio incurred interest at a variable-rate.
As of December 31, 2023, our fixed-rate debt was $2.63 billion, which consisted primarily of our senior notes outstanding. The fair value of Quanta’s senior notes was $2.15 billion at December 31, 2023. A 10% change in the market price would cause a change in fair value of $214.5 million.
As of December 31, 2023, our variable-rate debt consisted of $867.1 million outstanding under our senior credit facility and $705.9 million outstanding under our commercial paper program. The weighted average interest rate on our borrowings under our senior credit facility for the year ended December 31, 2023 was 6.6%, and the weighted average interest rate on borrowings under our commercial paper program was 5.8%. Based on these borrowings outstanding as of December 31, 2023, we estimate that a 50 basis point increase or decrease in interest rates would impact annual interest expense by approximately $7.9 million.
For additional information about our debt obligations, refer to Note 10 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements in Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data in Part II of this Annual Report.
Foreign Currency Risk. We perform our services in some foreign countries, primarily Canada and Australia, and as a result, are exposed to changes in foreign currency exchange rates. Our reporting currency is the U.S. dollar. Our foreign entities typically use the local currency as their functional currency. Translation adjustments are deferred in accumulated other comprehensive income.
Some of our consolidated entities enter into transactions that are not denominated in their functional currency. This results in exposure to foreign currency risk for financial instruments, including, but not limited to, third-party and intercompany receivables and payables and intercompany loans.
Our policy is to maintain a balanced position in foreign currencies to minimize exchange gains and losses arising from changes in exchange rates. We maintain risk management control practices to monitor the foreign currency risk attributable to our intercompany and third-party outstanding foreign currency balances. These practices involve the centralization of our exposure to underlying currencies that are not subject to central bank and/or country specific restrictions. By centralizing most of our foreign currency exposure into one subsidiary, we are able to take advantage of natural offsets thereby reducing the overall impact of changes in foreign currency rates on our earnings.
Historically, we have not had significant exposure to foreign currency risk. Other income (expense), net, in the consolidated statements of income in Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data in Part II of this Annual Report reflects net foreign currency losses of $2.6 million in the year ended December 31, 2023 and net foreign currency gains of $0.7 million in the year ended December 31, 2022.
Other Risks. For a discussion about our concentration of credit risk; cash and cash equivalents; and investments in COLI assets, refer to Notes 4, 15, 16 and 17 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements in Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data in Part II of this Annual Report for additional information.
ITEM 8.Financial Statements and Supplementary Data
INDEX TO QUANTA SERVICES, INC.’S CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
REPORT OF MANAGEMENT
Management’s Report on Financial Information and Procedures
The accompanying financial statements of Quanta Services, Inc. and its subsidiaries were prepared by management. These financial statements were prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States, applying certain estimates and judgments as required.
Our management, including our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, does not expect that our disclosure controls or our internal control over financial reporting will prevent or detect all errors and all fraud. A control system, no matter how well designed and operated, can provide only reasonable, not absolute, assurance that the control system’s objectives will be met. The design of a control system must reflect the fact that there are resource constraints, and the benefits of controls must be considered relative