Willdan's E3 to Create a Plan for the City of Pasadena

Willdan Group, Inc.'s WLDN wholly owned subsidiary — Energy + Environmental Economics (E3) — is set to develop an Optimized Strategic Plan for sourcing carbon-free electricity in the City of Pasadena.

E3 will work closely with the City of Pasadena's community-owned utility, Pasadena Water and Power, to explore the options available, including distributed energy resources, renewables, storage, and emerging technologies. This will help WLDN meet the City of Pasadena's goal to secure 100% of its electricity from carbon-free sources by 2030 in a reliable and cost-effective manner.

Price Performance

WLDN has gained 56.1% so far this year compared with the Zacks Engineering - R and D Services industry's 21% rise. The company is benefiting from strength in both government and utility customers, along with strong software sales. The rapid growth in electricity demand from artificial intelligence and data centers is becoming a new catalyst in this market.

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In the first quarter of 2024, consolidated contract revenues increased 19.4% and net revenues rose 11.7% year over year. A strong backlog and continuing demand across the broad range of services backed the upside.

For 2024, the company anticipates net revenues in the range of $270-$280 million versus $269.7 million reported in 2023. Adjusted earnings per share is expected to be between $1.80-$1.87, and adjusted EBITDA in the range of $48-$50 million. In 2023, the company reported adjusted EPS and adjusted EBITDA of $1.75 and $45.7 million, respectively.

The Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) company's 2024 earnings and sales are likely to witness growth of 6.3% and 3.6% year over year, respectively.

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