Don't let the name fool you -- Chicago Bridge & Iron (NYSE:CBI) doesn't build many bridges anymore, and I highly doubt they use much wrought iron. But what's in a name, anyway? This company is positing quite a bit of growth from the current international expansion in energy infrastructure.
CB&I has taken its lumps fairly recently, including an accounting mess and turnover in upper management, but second-quarter results will certainly help redeem that. Revenue jumped 36% this time out, and margins improved down the line, leading to a 73% improvement in operating income and more than twice the year-ago net profits. What's more, new awards won in the quarter rose 16% year over year.
Some recent announcements provide a flavor for what CB&I builds. The company got a $65 million deal from Suncor (NYSE:SU) to build some coke drums and a fractionator column for an oil-sands facility in Canada. A recent deal for an LNG terminal in Texas with 15.6 million ton capacity is also worth roughly $1 billion.
There are certainly risks to the CB&I approach. For starters, the company has historically fulfilled many of its deals under lump-sum turnkey terms -- meaning that it accepts a fixed price that exposes the company to execution risk, forcing it to eat any cost overruns. That's not bad when you can produce better margins on a given piece of business than rival bidders, but you don't have to look far -- try Acergy (NASDAQ:ACGY) or McDermott (NYSE:MDR) -- to find recent examples of similar contract philosophies that fared poorly.
Much like its deals, CB&I's target market offers good news and bad news. CB&I has worked for companies like Valero (NYSE:VLO), ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP), Chevron (NYSE:CVX), and ExxonMobil (NYSE:XOM) in the past, but those firms' investments in new facilities are inextricably linked to near-term energy price expectations. I believe that there will be ongoing demand for storage and energy conversion facilities, but price declines in the energy space (however unlikely) could be a threat.
If you're not afraid of the margin and market risk, consider CB&I. The shares may not look like a tremendous value today, but there's more there than meets the eye in terms of cash flow leverage.
For more preassembled Foolishness:
Build your portfolio on a solid foundation of investing advice. A free 30-day trial to one of our Foolish newsletters can give you the blueprints to a sturdy financial future.
Fool contributor Stephen Simpson has no financial interest in any stocks mentioned (that means he's neither long nor short the shares).
