Jacobs Solutions Inc. (J) Stock Price & How to Invest

Jacobs Solutions Inc. (NYSE: J) is a Dallas-based professional services firm of roughly ~47,000 people that designs, plans and manages large physical assets: water and wastewater systems, highways and transit, semiconductor fabs, pharmaceutical plants, power and grid infrastructure, and increasingly data centers. It reports in two segments. Infrastructure & Advanced Facilities is the bulk of it, generating ~$3.75 billion of gross revenue in the June 2026 quarter, of which ~$2.09 billion was adjusted net revenue after stripping pass-through costs, at a segment operating margin near ~12.8%. PA Consulting, the UK-based strategy and innovation consultancy, is much smaller at ~$330 million of quarterly revenue but far richer, running near ~22% segment operating margin. Jacobs completed the purchase of the remaining PA Consulting shares on March 20, 2026 for aggregate initial consideration of about ~£1.21 billion, taking ownership from roughly 71% to full.

The investment picture starts with the September 2024 separation, when Critical Mission Solutions and the Cyber & Intelligence unit were combined with Amentum. That removed a low-margin, appropriations-dependent government business and left a shorter-cycle, capital-light consulting and design model whose economics are readable through backlog and book-to-bill rather than federal budget cycles. Backlog reached ~$28.9 billion in the third quarter of fiscal 2026, up ~27.3% year over year, with a trailing book-to-bill of ~1.4 times on gross revenue. Reported profitability is messier than the operating trend: GAAP EPS over the trailing twelve months was ~$2.86 against management's ~$7.20 to ~$7.30 adjusted guidance, a gap created by ~$402.9 million of restructuring and transaction charges in the first nine months of fiscal 2026 and a ~43.4% GAAP tax rate in the June quarter tied to the PA deal. Whether those charges genuinely run off in fiscal 2027 is the single largest swing factor in how expensive this stock looks.

The headline growth rate is flattered by pass-through revenue, which nearly doubled the gap between gross and net revenue growth in the June quarter, so a mix shift toward construction-heavy work can inflate revenue while adding nothing to profit. Concentration in data center and semiconductor projects cuts both ways: a pause in hyperscaler or fab capital budgets would show up in bookings well before it showed up in revenue, and those clients can defer projects far faster than a state transportation department can. Public infrastructure work carries its own exposure to changes in Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act funding levels and to federal spending priorities. Jacobs is also a party to the Consolidated JV Matter, an unfavorable interim ruling against a joint venture in which it holds a 50% interest, which drove reserves in fiscal 2025 and remains an open item. No securities-fraud class action was disclosed in the August 2026 quarterly filing, and the litigation described there is the ordinary professional liability, personal injury and contract mix for a firm of this size.

15 analysts publish price targets on J, averaging $162.53 against a $144.66 price as of August 2026, or +12.4%. The published targets run from $144.00 to $181.00, a narrow spread, and the ratings split 10 buy, 6 hold, 0 sell. Over the last six months there have been 5 raises and 4 cuts among the published actions. A price target is what an analyst published on a date, not a prediction, and sell-side ratings skew positive across the whole market.

Read the full J forecast and price target for the target table, the recent rating actions by firm, and how the consensus has shifted.

We give no verdict on Jacobs Solutions Inc.. Both cases are real, which is why the question is contested at all, so here is the strongest version of each.

The case for buying. Backlog is growing faster than revenue. Backlog of ~$28.9 billion at the end of the June 2026 quarter was up ~27.3% year over year, well ahead of the ~8.3% growth in adjusted net revenue. The most optimistic published target, $181.00, assumes this works close to its best case.

The case against. The headline growth rate is flattered by pass-through revenue, which nearly doubled the gap between gross and net revenue growth in the June quarter, so a mix shift toward construction-heavy work can inflate revenue while adding nothing to profit. The most pessimistic target, $144.00, is roughly what J is worth if this bites instead.

Read the full bull and bear case on J, including what would have to change to break either one. Walnut is not an investment adviser.

A simple financial snapshot. These are approximations and refresh quarterly; for current figures see Jacobs Solutions Inc.'s investor relations page or your broker.

• Revenue (TTM, gross): ~$14.2B
• Adjusted net revenue (9M FY2026): ~$7.0B, FY guide ~9.5% to 10% growth
• Adjusted EPS (FY2026 guidance): ~$7.20 to ~$7.30
• GAAP EPS (TTM): ~$2.86
• Backlog: ~$28.9B, up ~27.3% y/y
• Cash / long-term debt: ~$1.17B / ~$3.58B

At about ~$145 a share the market capitalization is roughly ~$16.9 billion, which is close to ~20 times the midpoint of guided adjusted EPS and near ~48 times trailing GAAP EPS. That spread is not an accounting curiosity: it reflects ~$402.9 million of restructuring and transaction charges booked in the first nine months of fiscal 2026, ~$105.5 million of intangible amortization, and a temporarily elevated tax rate from the PA Consulting purchase. Adjusted EBITDA guidance of ~14.7% to ~14.8% on adjusted net revenue implies roughly ~$1.4 billion, putting enterprise value near ~14 times that figure.

Other names that sit close to J: same theme, named as a direct competitor, or held beside it in the same funds. Each entry says which. Worth a look if you are thinking about diversification within a thesis rather than concentration on one ticker.

There are three common ways to get J exposure. Buy shares (or fractional shares) directly at any major broker. Hold an ETF that includes it, which spreads the position across many companies. Or build it into a focused thematic portfolio, so J sits alongside other stocks that express the same thesis.

Walnut takes the portfolio route. Describe a thesis where J fits (for example “AI infrastructure” or “dividend-growth large-caps”) and the AI proposes 5 to 6 constituents with target weights. You review the plan and fund it through your own broker when you're ready.

New to this? Start with how to invest in stocks, see how to analyze a stock with AI, or compare the best AI stock analyzers.

Jacobs is a cleaner, higher-margin services company than the one that existed three years ago, and the debate is whether a record ~$28.9 billion backlog fed by the AI build-out justifies paying roughly ~20 times guided adjusted earnings for a business whose GAAP results are still absorbing transaction charges.

Whether J is worth buying today depends more on your time horizon and what you already hold than on any single call. We walk through valuation, what would have to go right, and the risks in is J a buy or a sell?, and where the stock could go from here in the J stock forecast.

For income investors, whether J pays a dividend and how the payout looks is covered in does J pay a dividend? And to weigh J against a peer, read the full side-by-side comparisons: J vs ACM and J vs STN.