On August 3, Ameresco (NYSE:AMRC) announced second-quarter 2026 financial results for the period ended June 30, and the headline number was hard to ignore. The energy infrastructure company landed $1.8 billion in new project awards during the quarter, the largest haul in its history, with $1.2 billion of that tied to data center power projects. Total backlog climbed 32% year over year to a record $6.73 billion. But underneath the record bookings, cash flow and per-share profit both moved the wrong way, and that split is what makes this quarter worth a closer look.
Power Infrastructure Ignites Growth
The data center story is the reason Ameresco’s stock gets attention right now. Awarded backlog in the Power Infrastructure business jumped 65% during the quarter to $4.4 billion, and management says that gives the company visibility into its business for the next three to four years. Three new behind-the-meter data center projects were added in the quarter, bringing the total to five sitting in awarded backlog, with more in the pipeline that have not been converted yet. Revenue for the quarter came in at $515.5 million, up 9% year over year, with growth spread across projects, owned energy assets, and operations and maintenance work.
Gross margin expanded to 17.7%, and adjusted EBITDA rose 12% to $62.8 million, both improving faster than revenue itself. Management also raised its full-year Non-GAAP EPS guidance to a range of $1.15 to $1.35, citing a wider expected tax benefit tied to a change in how the company accounts for transferable tax credits starting in the second half of the year. The balance sheet moved in the right direction too, with cash rising to $138.3 million from $71.8 million at the end of 2025, and corporate leverage sitting at 3.2 times EBITDA, below the company’s 3.5 times covenant limit.
Cash Flow Tells Different Story
Set against the record awards, the profit and cash figures tell a more cautious story. Net income attributable to common shareholders was $9.7 million in the quarter, or $0.18 per diluted share, down from $12.9 million and $0.24 a year earlier. For the first six months of 2026, the company actually posted a net loss attributable to common shareholders of $8.6 million, versus a $7.4 million profit in the same period last year. Management attributed the decline to higher depreciation and interest expense from the growing energy asset portfolio, a smaller tax benefit, and the drag from non-controlling interest tied to the Neogenyx transaction.
Cash flow from operating activities was negative $107.2 million in the quarter, and even after adding back proceeds from investment tax credit sales and federal ESPC projects, adjusted cash from operations was still negative $65.3 million. On a rolling eight-quarter basis, adjusted cash from operations fell to about $30 million, down from $57 million in the prior quarter. That EPS guidance bump, meanwhile, comes largely from an accounting policy change on tax credits rather than from operations running hotter, which is worth keeping separate from the underlying business trend.
Wall Street Still Split
Hedge fund ownership of Ameresco fell to 17 funds from 22 in the prior quarter, a pullback even as the awards news landed. Short interest sits at 18.39% of float, a level that points to a substantial bear camp still positioned against the stock. Against that skepticism, shares trade at a forward P/E of just 14.60 as of September 14, a modest multiple for a company guiding to a $6.73 billion backlog and rising EBITDA. That combination of departing funds, heavy short interest, and a cheap multiple suggests the market has not yet decided whether the data center pipeline offsets the cash flow and earnings pressure showing up in the numbers.
A Bet On Patience
Ameresco’s quarter leaves two stories running side by side. The backlog and data center award momentum point to years of visibility that few peers in this space can match. But the cash burn, the six-month net loss, and an EPS raise built partly on a tax accounting shift complicate the picture in the near term. For the bull case to hold up, those awarded data center projects need to convert into contracted, cash-generating work faster than the current burn rate suggests.
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