Did Quanta Services Just Set Itself Up for a Breakup?

By Chris Lange Published Oct 16, 1:35PM EDT

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Quanta Services Inc. (NYSE: PWR) issued guidance ahead of its earnings, which will be reported on November 5, and investors are not happy. The sell-off has sparked concerns about the company’s viability, despite its $4 billion market cap.

The company announced that, after an initial review of its third-quarter operating results, it now expects revenues to be slightly below the midpoint of its previously announced range of $1.9 billion to $2.0 billion. It also expects earnings per share (EPS) in the range of $0.22 to $0.24, down from the previous range of $0.34 to $0.40.

For the fourth quarter of 2015, the company anticipates that consolidated revenues could be about $200 million less than previously expected, due largely to the continued competitive environment in small and medium scale electric transmission and delays of certain mainline pipe projects, which have been pushed into 2016.

Additionally, Quanta expects several of the factors that adversely affected the company’s third-quarter results to continue and have an adverse impact on the company’s fourth-quarter results versus prior expectations.

The company breakdown in terms of revenue in its 2014 annual report was:

Electric Power Infrastructure Services, 67%
Oil and Gas Infrastructure Services, 31%
Fiber Optic Licensing & Other, 2%

At the same time, the company gave its five-year expansion initiatives as executing programs to improve safety, leadership development operational performance standards and results, as well as creating additional platforms to continue profitable growth for the long term.

Jim O’Neil, president and CEO of Quanta, said:

While we are disappointed in our performance, we consider 2015 to be a transition year and are committed to achieving segment operating margins consistent with our previous expectations. We continue to have confidence in our multi-year outlook as the end market drivers in the electric power and oil and gas infrastructure markets remain strong, evidenced by our expectation for several major project announcements before year-end.

Shares of Quanta were down nearly 29% at $18.67 on Friday afternoon. The stock has a consensus analyst price target of $30.33 and a 52-week trading range of $18.56 to $35.33.

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About the Author Chris Lange →

Chris Lange is a writer for 24/7 Wall St., based in Houston. He has covered financial markets over the past decade with an emphasis on healthcare, tech, and IPOs. During this time, he has published thousands of articles with insightful analysis across these complex fields. Currently, Lange's focus is on military and geopolitical topics.

Lange's work has been quoted or mentioned in Forbes, The New York Times, Business Insider, USA Today, MSN, Yahoo, The Verge, Vice, The Intelligencer, Quartz, Nasdaq, The Motley Fool, Fox Business, International Business Times, The Street, Seeking Alpha, Barron’s, Benzinga, and many other major publications.

A graduate of Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas, Lange majored in business with a particular focus on investments. He has previous experience in the banking industry and startups.