FER vs FLR: Which Is the Better Buy in 2026?

Same yardstick, side by side (as of August 2026). Valuation lined up like this is most meaningful for two names in the same corner of the market, which these are. Figures are approximate; verify before investing.

Reading it: FLR is the cheaper of the two on forward earnings, but cheaper is not the same as better. Pair the valuation with growth (how far the forward P/E sits below the trailing P/E) and risk (beta) before you decide.

The metrics above tell you which is the marginally better business. The bigger risk for most people is not picking the slightly worse stock, it is over-concentrating. FER and FLR share themes, so owning both, or adding either to what you already hold, can quietly push a large share of your portfolio into one bet.

This is the part a generic comparison page cannot answer, because it depends on what you own. Connect your brokerage and Walnut shows your real, combined FER and FLR exposure, flags overlap with your existing positions, and tells you if adding one would tip you past a concentration you are comfortable with, read-only by default, with your login staying at your broker. Walnut is not an investment adviser.

Ferrovial N.V. designs, builds, owns and operates transport infrastructure across four segments: Highways, Airports, Construction and Energy. Highways is the one that carries the company. It holds roughly 43% of Canada's 407 ETR, the electronically tolled express route across the Greater Toronto Area, plus controlling interests in the Dallas-Fort Worth Managed Lanes (NTE, LBJ and NTE 35W), I-77 in North Carolina and I-66 in Virginia. These are long-dated concessions with pricing power written into the contracts, which is what separates them from ordinary construction work. Construction, run through Ferrovial Construction, Budimex in Poland and Webber in the United States, builds both third-party projects and the group's own concessions. Airports is now much smaller after Ferrovial sold a 19.75% stake in Heathrow for roughly EUR 2.0 billion in December 2024, keeping about 5.25%; the remaining marquee asset is a 49% interest in the New Terminal One at JFK. Energy handles transmission and generation projects. The company moved its primary corporate seat to the Netherlands and added the Nasdaq listing in 2024, and the shares now sit in the Nasdaq-100.

Full FER guide

Fluor Corporation is one of the largest engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) firms in the world. The company provides design and construction services for large industrial projects across energy, chemicals, mining, infrastructure, government, and increasingly clean energy and advanced manufacturing. Fluor typically operates as the lead EPC contractor on multi-billion-dollar projects, coordinating engineering, equipment procurement, and construction execution.

Full FLR guide

Both fit overlapping themes, but they are not interchangeable. The useful comparison is which set of drivers and risks you want exposure to.

• FER drivers: 407 ETR pricing and volume recovery; Texas Managed Lanes maturing into cash.
• FLR drivers: Strategic refocus and risk discipline; NuScale Power and small modular reactors.

A faster-growing, richer-valued name usually swings harder, so it suits a longer horizon and a higher tolerance for volatility; a steadier, more cash-generative business suits a more conservative or income-minded investor. The honest test is which set of risks you could hold through a drawdown: Concession assets are finite: the 407 ETR agreement runs to 2098, but shorter US concessions eventually revert to the state, and terminal value assumptions do a lot of work in most FER valuation models. For FLR, large EPC projects carry execution risk that has historically been disruptive to earnings.

Pick FER if you believe its drivers more; FLR if you believe its. Many investors hold both, but since they share themes, that is a concentrated bet, not diversification. Decide deliberately and check overlap. For the full detail, see the FER and FLR guides.

FER. The trailing P/E sits near 50x on 2026 consensus, which looks absurd against a builder and reasonable against a concession owner, because equity-accounted stakes such as 407 ETR contribute dividends rather than proportional earnings. Most sell-side work on FER therefore uses sum-of-the-parts: discount each concession's cash flows to the end of its licence, add the construction and energy businesses at a modest multiple, then subtract holding-company debt. Dividend yield is around 1.8%, part of it paid in scrip, so the cash component is smaller than the headline suggests.

FLR. Fluor's valuation reflects the EPC project execution risk that has historically driven earnings volatility, the NuScale Power optionality, and the LNG and energy transition project pipeline. The thin EPC margins make profit margins very sensitive to project outcomes.

Headline figures (approximate, August 2026): FER shows revenue (ttm) ~$9.86B, market capitalisation ~$42.4B, h1 2026 revenue ~EUR 4.70B (reported in euros), +5.2% reported and ~+11.3% like-for-like, h1 2026 adjusted ebitda ~EUR 746M, +13.9%; FLR shows revenue (ttm) ~$17 billion, operating margin ~4% (thin, typical EPC), net income (ttm) ~$200 million (volatile), eps (ttm) ~$1.30.

FER and FLR are related but distinct: same themes, different businesses and risks. Neither wins in the abstract; the right pick is whichever thesis you actually believe, sized so you are not over-concentrated in one theme. Walnut can show your combined FER and FLR exposure against your real portfolio. It is not an investment adviser.