9/5
得克萨斯州一直以来被视为美国主要的原油生产地，但是很少有人知道德州广阔的大草原上还有另外一种巨大的能源：风能。在过去两年里，德州政府已经开发了 7,000万瓦特的风力新能源。今年7月17日，制法者还创建了Competitive Renewable Energy Zones(CREZ)以推进新能源的利用过程。Quanta Services(代號:PWR) 就是美国最大的电力基础设施建造商。Lazard Capital 分析师Sanjay Shrestha表示：“我们的项目一谈就是50亿美元，拥有如此巨大的业务规模，公司的定位就是狮子大开口。”由于CREZ才刚刚开始而政府的运营十分缓慢，公司等待与政府签署一项业务合同。公司的CEO John Colson表示对此颇有信心。“什么使得我们成为独一无二的最佳人选呢？毫无疑问，是规模！除此以外，就是我们能够满足客户需求的能力。”
Quanta的顶端业务几乎是相当耀眼的，尤其是公司只有11年的运营历史。但是在建立之初，公司的创始人就预见了此种业务将为整个行业带来变革。公司诞生于英特网繁荣发展之时，英特网的繁荣带来了电子的广泛使用，Quanta恰恰利用了这个有利时机一举转变成为电信传输商，电信业务目前占到公司总营收的 17% 。另外一大营收来源就是天然气传输管道的修建，“绿色能源”就是此种业务的延伸。Quanta接手了30份更新能源项目，带来了1.5亿美元的营收。今年 8月，公司还完成了在Denver国际机场的一项太阳能发电厂的建造项目。
Quanta的增长部分归功于收购交易，一年前进行了最大一笔的收购交易，以12.6亿美元一揽子收购了宾夕法尼亚州的 InfraSource，InfraSource目前成为公司的顶梁柱。公司的CEO John Colson表示此项收购恰恰符合公司的战略扩展计划，“尤为典型的是，我们并不是为了扩大规模而进行收购，收购交易应当带来一些不同凡响的结果。”但是分析师认为此项收购将极大地扩展公司的核心电力业务。在经历了几十年的使用周期之后，电力建筑目前开始老化并亟待更新，这就意味着公司将迎来巨大的业务订单。“我们还处于公司投资大笔资金以更新换代电力设施的初期阶段，这将成为一项长期的业务，尤其是在上世纪70年代大量传输设备投资不足的背景下。”
今年二季度，公司每股收益上涨了29%至0.22美元；销售额大涨了74%至9.61亿美元；营收数字包括了收购InfraSource在内。这些利好的数字令Key-Banc分析师Tahira Afzal瞠目结舌，“尤其重要的是，公司的规模增长率是20%，我们预期的是12%，这表明市场增长动力极强。”不断增长的油价并未给公司的业务带来不良影响，公司总能够通过各种各样的方法降低燃料价格。Quanta还与一家卡车生产商联合开发了一种节油卡车，目前正在测试阶段。
尽管在收购阶段公司经受了低利润率和开支紧缩的考验，公司及时转变了业务方向，开始进军繁荣的北美油气市场，尤其是家乡的Barnett Shale。天然气业务板块在今年二季度增长了71%，电信版块增长了29%，电力板块增长了15% 。分析师预计明年公司将迎来更大规模的增长，预期08年每股收益将增长13%至0.88美元。
Investor's Business Daily
Wind, Sun Are New Frontiers For Maker Of Electrical Infrastructure
Thursday September 4, 5:49 pm ET
Amy Reeves Texas, of course, is the prime source of oil in the U.S. But anyone who's been out on the Texas prairie knows that it has another abundant energy source: wind.
Over the last two years, the Texas government has been working to develop 7,000 megawatts of new wind-power capacity in the state. On July 17, lawmakers took a crucial step by creating Competitive Renewable Energy Zones (CREZ) to build transmission lines carrying the new energy to end users.
That got analysts following Quanta Services (NYSE:PWR - News) excited. Houston-based Quanta is the country's biggest builder of electrical infrastructure.
"We're talking about a project worth $5 billion," said Sanjay Shrestha, an analyst at Lazard Capital. "Given Quanta's strong presence, it's in a position to earn a significant chunk of that."
Since CREZ is new and the government runs slow, a deal has yet to be announced. But in an interview with IBD, Quanta Chief Executive John Colson sounded confident that his firm could handle such a project.
"What differentiates Quanta, obviously, is our size," Colson said. "But what that means, besides size, is the ability to respond to customer needs."
Quanta's top position in the field is all the more striking given that the company is only 11 years old. But the founders foresaw that deregulation would change the industry, giving newcomers a chance to grab share.
The company's birth also came at the height of the Internet boom, which fueled an explosion of electricity use. Quanta also took advantage of the trend by going into telecom transmission, which now provides about 17% of its revenue. Another large chunk of revenue comes from building natural gas pipelines.
"Green" energy is a logical extension of this. As of midyear, Quanta was working on about 30 renewable-energy projects, bringing an expected $150 million in revenue. In August, it finished a solar-energy plant at Denver International Airport, just in time for the Democratic Convention.
Quanta has grown partly through buyouts. The biggest came a year ago, when the firm acquired Pennsylvania-based InfraSource in a $1.26 billion stock swap.
InfraSource worked the same major fields as Quanta. But it also brought in a new business in leasing "dark fiber," or unused cable in fiber-optic networks.
Colson says the acquisition fits in with Quanta's buying strategy.
"Typically, we don't buy a company just to gain size," he said. "They have to bring something unique."
But analysts see plenty of growth yet in the firm's core electricity business. Shrestha says electrical construction follows decades-long cycles, as existing grids grow old and need repair. Now, he believes, is one of the boom times.
"We are in the early stages of a major upturn in capital spending to upgrade the electric grid, which is likely to be a long-term spending cycle after massive underinvestment in transmission buildout since the 1970s," he wrote in a July 18 note.
Quanta seems to be taking advantage. In the second quarter, profit rose 29% vs. a year earlier to 22 cents a share. Sales gained 74% to $961 million.
The revenue figure includes the buyout of InfraSource, which was not yet complete a year ago. Even so, the size of the jump surprised KeyBanc analyst Tahira Afzal.
"Importantly, organic growth came in at 20% year-on-year vs. our 12% estimate, highlighting strong end market momentum," Afzal wrote in an Aug. 6 report.
Rising energy prices haven't hurt demand, though they have threatened margins. Like all construction firms, Quanta uses heavy machinery that burns ever-pricier fuel. The firm has used various means to cut fuel use, like making better deals with suppliers and managing its fleet more tightly.
But Colson says the most exciting part of the plan is the development of new hybrid trucks. Quanta has been working with a manufacturer to create vehicles suited to its needs. They are now in the testing phase.
Another challenge Quanta faced was InfraSource's creaky gas-distribution business. At the time of the buyout, it was suffering from low margins and general shrinkage. Quanta has redirected business toward some of the booming North American gas fields, especially the Barnett Shale in its home state.
The gas unit, in fact, recorded the biggest organic growth of any segment in the second quarter, rising 71% from last year. By contrast, telecom grew 29% and electrical 15%.
Analysts expect steady annual growth from Quanta, but in the past its quarterly results have been lumpy. This is not unusual for contractors. But the effect is magnified because Quanta gets part of its business from the weather.
Rebuilding after a disaster can give Quanta abrupt infusions of cash. The company scored a windfall (so to speak) in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and is now working in the flood zones of the Midwest and the shores struck by Hurricane Dolly.
Overall, though, this year hasn't provided as much storm business as the previous few years.
Analysts expect 2008 earnings to grow 13% to 88 cents a share. They see that accelerating to 48% growth next year.
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