Fluor Corporation (FLR) reported third quarter earnings per share of 89 cents, matching the Zacks Consensus Estimate. Revenue declined by 4% to $5.4 billion, which compares with $5.7 billion in the third quarter of 2008. This change was driven primarily by decreases in the Oil & Gas and Power segments. Revenue in both Industrial & Infrastructure and Government segments was up from last year.  While three of the five business segments reported earnings growth over 2008, the Oil & Gas segment profit declined by 8% and the Global Services segment profit was impacted by a $45 million provision relating to a collection issue on a completed paper mill revamp project.  New project awards for the quarter were $2.9 billion, compared with record awards of $8.8 billion a year ago. Consolidated backlog at the end of the quarter was $28 billion. This represents a $2.9 billion increase ...

Interesting piece from MEED vis a vis Tripoli’s $54bn, 20-year commitment to develop joint ventures with multinational firms in order to transform the Gulf of Sitre–and namely the oil-rich industrial cities of Marsa el-Brega and Ras Lanuf–into energy hubs founded on oil and gas processing and distribution, as well as into a resort destination.  The two cities lack proper downstream investment, but the potential returns on FDI are enormous, gushed a source from the U.S. engineering firm Fluor Corporation, which was commissioned to oversee the project:

“Libya is virgin territory. It is coming out of a long embargo so there are great opportunities. The energy cities have these anchor investments but also provide for secondary industries, which take products from the heavy industries and produce plastics, for example. They also provide work for industrial and construction services. There is a much greater, wider and more open opportunity for investment, from oil

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URS Corporation (URS) announced that an alliance between URS and PBS&J has been awarded a contract by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to assist the agency in providing temporary housing and mass care solutions for the survivors of the disaster. The five-year contract has a maximum value of $375 million for the alliance, in which URS is the managing partner. The joint venture will be responsible for hauling and installing, the maintenance and deactivation of temporary mobile housing units, as well as the construction of temporary housing communities, as necessary. Additional responsibilities could include providing support for mass care initiatives, such as base camp development, food preparation and distribution and other life support functions as requested by FEMA. URS Corporation provides engineering, construction, and technical services to the power, infrastructure, Federal, and industrial and commercial market sectors in the United States and internationally. Its ...

Fluor Corporation (FLR) announced yesterday that it received a $150 million engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract from ISAB Energy to rebuild a gas turbine power train. The contract is to rebuild one of the two 266-megawatt combined cycle gas turbine power trains in Sicily, Italy. The power train, which is a part of a 532-megawatt power plant that provides electric power to the Italian grid, was damaged in an accident in October 2008. The company is working with ISAB Energy to rebuild the facility and bring its power plant back to full capacity by the end of the second quarter of 2010. The total installed cost for the project managed by Fluor is more than $150 million. The project was booked into the company’s second quarter 2009 backlog. During its second quarter conference call, Fluor stated that its backlog at the end of ...

Yesterday, Fluor Corporation (FLR) announced that it has been awarded an engineering services contract to design a concentrating solar power plant for eSolar, Inc. Fluor will provide design optimization to rapidly scale eSolar’s 46 megawatt power plants. The company did not disclose the contract value, but said that the amount was booked in the third quarter. Fluor boasts three decades of experience in the renewables sector, including work in the solar, wind, nuclear, geothermal and air quality improvement markets. The company is looking to benefit from the fast-growing renewable energy market. Fluor pointed that according to McKinsey & Company research, installed global solar capacity is expected to grow by 30% to 35% annually -- from a total of 10 gigawatts today to 200 to 400 gigawatts by 2020. The company sees a huge potential in the solar, wind and biomass sectors. To capitalize on this potential, ...

Fluor Corporation (FLR) reported second quarter earnings of 93 cents per share, which is slightly above the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 92 cents and prior-year EPS of 87 cents. The company witnessed improved margins in most of its businesses. Segment margin in the quarter was 5.8%, up 40 basis points from 5.4% in the second quarter of 2008.   Quarterly sales declined 8.3% to $5,292.6 million from $5,773.6 million last year due to major declines in the Global Services and Power segments. The Global Services segment reported a 35% decline in revenue due to a sharp decline in small capital projects. The company said the revenue in the Power segment declined 36% year over year as a large coal-fired project in Texas progressed closer to completion.   As for the other segments, Oil & Gas segment posted a 9% decline in revenue, while revenue in the Industrial ...

Fluor Corporation (FLR) was awarded a contract for Dominion Virginia Power's new 580 megawatt gas-fired combined-cycle Bear Garden Power Station.

Shares of the company have jumped almost 10% today.

FLR's involvement will include the engineering, procurement and construction of the new facility, which will be located west of Richmond in Buckingham County, VA. Dominion Virginia Power said its total project investment would be $619 million.

FLR is a Zacks #3 Rank ("Hold") company.

"FLR" Free Stock Analysis: Buy? Sell? Hold?Zacks Investment Research

According to the AP, an analyst at Jefferies & Company announced that customers of Fluor Corporation (FLR) are cutting back in the recession, sending shares lower by more than 7% Monday.

However, the analyst also said that the company could surpass expectations for this year. FLR has a good record for beating Wall Street's quarterly earnings expectations, having put together an average surprise of almost 13% over the past 4 quarters.

The consensus estimate for this year is down to $3.76 from $3.84 over the past 2 months.

FLR is currently a Zacks #3 Rank ("Hold") company.

"FLR" Free Stock Analysis: Buy? Sell? Hold?Zacks Investment Research

Comfort Systems USA, Inc. (FIX) has seen upward earnings estimate revisions from the analyst community. The companyÂ’s share price has held up relatively well during last weekÂ’s turbulence.

Analyst estimates for the current year increased from the two months-ago forecasts of $1.17 per share to $1.25. For 2009, Wall Street is projecting $1.33 per share, versus the two months-ago level of $1.25.

FIXÂ’s share price is around the same is trading around the same level it was when previously featured in early September, outperforming the broader market.

The Zacks #1 Rank (“strong buy”) company recently increased its stock repurchase program and bought Delcard Associates, Inc. ("Delcard"), a full service commercial HVAC company based in Wilmington, Delaware.

Comfort Systems said Delcard had 2007 revenues of approximately $45 million, adding that it believes Delcard will make a strong contribution to continuing operations.

Read our Sep 02, 2008

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In mid-April, I wrote about the how daunting forming a sound stock screening strategy could be for investors. In an effort to help investors find winning stocks provide a sneak peak into some Zacks’ market-beating strategies, I highlighted four stock-picking screens from the Research Wizard and included a stock that was produced by each screen.

The stocks were Accenture Ltd. (ACN), Cimarex Energy Co. (XEC), Stone Energy Corp. (SGY) and Walter Industries, Inc. (WLT). Each company has performed better than all three major averages over the past year.

The screening strategies are the Upgrades and Revisions2, Filtered Zacks Rank2, Value Method1 and Momentum Method1.

The Upgrades and Revisions 2 strategy focuses primarily on stocks with upward Earnings Estimate Revisions and Rating Upgrades. This screen generates approximately 8-10 stocks a month, has an excellent win ratio (74%) and has shown consistently impressive returns year after year.

One company that currently fulfills

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