Jacobs Engineering, an engineering, consulting and technology services firm, is the IBD Stock of the Day. Jacobs stock traded in a buy zone.
The setup for the company — which draws a lot of revenue from serving the U.S. defense and intelligence sectors, as well as other public and private-sector customers — arrives as it tries to become more digitally-oriented.
Jacobs Stock
Jacobs stock closed down 0.6% at 142.69 in the stock market today. That left the stock in a buy range, after it cleared a 142.10 buy point in a cup-with-handle base on Thursday.
That base undercut the prior base, a process which resets the chart's base count. In addition, the handle found support at the stock's short-term 10-day moving average.
The stock has met repeated resistance at around 145. Clearing that level, especially in heavy volume, would affirm the strength of the breakout. The stock's relative strength line is hitting highs not seen since June.
Jacobs stock has an 88 Composite Rating. Its EPS Rating is 83. IBD's Building/Heavy Construction industry group, of which Jacobs is a member, holds a No. 42 rank out of 197 industries tracked.
Technical Solutions
The Dallas, Texas-based company, as of October, had a workforce of around 55,000 people. Most are concentrated in the Americas and Europe.
CFO Kevin Berryman, during a conference last month, said the company over the past several years has worked to transition from an engineering construction firm to a "technical solutions entity."
The company over recent years has sold off its energy and chemicals business. It has acquired its way into other areas, like cybersecurity, software and space intelligence. Jacobs last year said it had taken a 65% stake in the consultancy PA Consulting, whose services have focused on areas as wide-ranging as health care, sustainability, defense and infrastructure.
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Jacobs counts the U.S. Department of Defense, the Department of Energy and NASA among its customers. It also works with defense agencies in the U.K. and Australia.
Other customers include businesses in the aerospace, energy and telecom industries. Jacobs also provides an array of services related to environmental and infrastructure planning.
Berryman, during the conference, said Jacobs had logged "some early wins" related to the U.S. infrastructure bill that President Joe Biden signed last year. Russia's invasion of Ukraine could increase demand for Jacobs' services around intelligence surveillance and other security matters, COO Bob Pragada said.
