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KBR, Inc. KBR has inked a deal with the Defense Health Agency to deliver health and wellness support for military personnel and their families under the Medical Q Coded Support and Services Next Generation (MQS2-NG) contract.

KBR unveiled that it was selected as one of 11 awardees for this multiple-award, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract. Also, the company will have the opportunity to bid on task orders, which contain a ceiling of $43 billion.

Per the MQS2-NG contract, KBR’s Government Solutions’ (GS) specialists would help provide dental, physician and nurse medical support services for Department of Defense Military Treatment Facilities (MTFs) across the continental United States and strategic overseas locations. The scope of work, which has 10 years of performance (from 2024 through 2034), includes managing and staffing MTFs.

Notably, MQS2-NG complements KBR's five decades of vital health services support to critical service members and their families, including hundreds of astronauts via NASA's Human Health and Performance Contract and the U.S. Special Operations Forces as part of the military's Preservation of the Force and Family contract.

Consistent Contract Wins Boost Backlog

KBR’s focus on a resilient business model and efficiency-boosting initiatives have sparked its project-winning momentum. Also, the rising global importance of national security, energy security, energy transition and climate change has been acting as a major tailwind.

In the first quarter of 2024, KBR received $1.9 billion in bookings and options in highly strategic areas, with a trailing 12-month book-to-bill of 1.1X.

As of Mar 29, 2024, the total backlog (including award options of $3.596 billion) was $20.8 billion compared with $21.73 billion at 2023-end. Of the total backlog, GS booked $12.89 billion. The Sustainable Technology Solutions segment accounted for $4.36 billion of the total backlog.

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Shares of this Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) company have gained 10.9% in the past three months compared with the Zacks Engineering - R and D Services industry’s 15.5% growth. KBR’s earnings estimate for 2024 reflects 10.3% year-over-year growth on a 9.2% increase in revenues.

Key Picks

Some better-ranked stocks in the Zacks Construction sector are:

M-tron Industries, Inc. MPTI currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). It has topped earnings estimates in three of the trailing four quarters and missed once, with an average surprise of 26.7%.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for MPTI’s 2024 sales and EPS indicates a rise of 8.8% and 58.6%, respectively, from the prior-year levels.

Howmet Aerospace Inc. HWM presently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). HWM has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 8.5%, on average. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for HWM’s 2024 sales and EPS indicates a rise of 10.6% and 29.9%, respectively, from the prior-year levels.

Gates Industrial Corporation plc GTES presently carries a Zacks Rank #2. GTES has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 14.9%, on average.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for GTES’ 2024 sales indicates a 0.2% decline but EPS growth of 2.9% from the prior-year levels.

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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.