Fluor: Building Things, Eventually

Fluor builds things. Large, complicated things. Bridges, buildings, power plants. All the usual monuments to human ambition. They’ve improved their business, yes. A little. It’s good they’re not actively losing money, which is more than some companies can say. So it goes.

They’re currently chasing $3.3 billion in contracts, with a backlog of $28.2 billion. A substantial number, really. Enough to keep a lot of people busy, building things that will, eventually, be used. Or not. It rarely matters in the long run.

Ninety-nine percent of new work is “reimbursable.” Which means they get paid for what it costs them. Sensible, you’d think. But only 82% of the total backlog is that way. The rest is “fixed-price.” A gamble. If things go sideways, Fluor eats the cost. Management is trying to avoid that, naturally. A reasonable effort, considering the universe is fundamentally indifferent to cost overruns.

They’re becoming more “reliable.” A polite word for “less likely to collapse spectacularly.” Good for investors, perhaps. If investors actually believe in the future, which is, admittedly, a bit of a stretch these days. Infrastructure always needs upgrading, and humans will always build. But the cycle continues. Boom, then bust, then more building. A predictable sort of sadness.

The thing about big projects is, they’re… cyclical. When times are good, money flows. When times are bad, the money dries up. Fluor is trying to smooth that out, but they can’t defy gravity. Or recessions. A seven-figure nest egg requires time. A lot of time. And a healthy dose of luck. Most folks would be better off with something… simpler.

NuScale Power: A Tiny Reactor, A Big Hope

Then there’s NuScale. Small modular nuclear reactors. A neat idea, really. Tiny power plants. Fluor invested early. Hoping to build these things. Secure a project in Romania. It’s the kind of thing that could, theoretically, change the world. Or just be another expense account.

Nuclear power is having a moment. Investors are excited. Fluor sold a piece of NuScale for $605 million. Plans to sell the rest. A windfall, maybe. Though the stock has lost sixty percent of its value since then. Timing, as they say, is everything. A sale now wouldn’t be quite so thrilling. It rarely is.

Better Investments Exist

Fluor is well-run. They’re trying to be stable. But they’re still building things in a world that doesn’t always want things built. Million-dollar portfolios require growth. Consistent growth. Fluor offers… potential. And a small nuclear reactor. Probably not enough to get rich. Probably just enough to keep things going. So it goes.

2026-01-21 15:32

NuScale Power: A Tiny Reactor, A Big Hope

Better Investments Exist

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