While COVID-19 had an impact on backlogs across the construction industry, some public companies performed better than others. When a company failed to grow its backlog, it was often because it worked for a sector that was struggling.
“The primary areas where we saw outside pressure in backlogs was more in the deeper cyclical end markets, oil and gas and chemicals,” said Sean Eastman, equity research analyst at Cleveland-based corporate and investment bank KeyBanc Capital Markets. “Those were the areas where we’ve seen pretty steep drops in backlogs.”