Which Gives You More Of The AI Build-Out, Jacobs Or Comfort Systems?
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Jacobs Solutions (J) and Comfort Systems USA (FIX) both sell their work to companies building for AI, a trend buyers of either stock are likely betting on. Yet they earn from it in different ways. Jacobs designs and manages projects, such as an AI data center campus in Texas for Hut 8, while Comfort operates as a heating, ventilation, air conditioning and electrical contractor. So what has each company told the market most recently, and is it the same kind of news?
Comfort Systems Reported A Surge, Jacobs Raised A Forecast
Comfort recently announced results for a completed quarter. Its fiscal Q3 2026 revenue reached $3.77 billion, up 53.7% from a year earlier. Its backlog of signed work also reached a new high of $17.8 billion, up 90%, management said on the October 23, 2026 call.
Jacobs most recently provided a forecast. On August 4, 2026, the company raised its fiscal 2026 adjusted EPS forecast to $7.25 at the midpoint, from $7.23, and management called this the third raise in a row. Its backlog also grew by 27% to a record $29 billion.
Jacobs Is A Broader Business Than Comfort Systems
Jacobs operates across a wider variety of end markets. As of fiscal Q3 2026, the direct AI build-out made up 11% of Jacobs’ adjusted net revenue, management said, so most of its net revenue comes from markets such as Water & Environmental and Critical Infrastructure.
Jacobs also carries debt, yet the company has spent $1.4 billion on buybacks since the start of fiscal 2025. By management’s own measure, its net leverage ratio still fell to 1.8 times in fiscal Q3.
Comfort is tied more closely to a single customer group. Technology customers, a different measure from Jacobs’ direct AI share, made up 59% of Comfort’s revenue, up from 42% a year earlier, management said. Its modular business is building for new customers that include a frontier lab, a developer of the most advanced AI models, and colo providers, which rent out data center space.
Comfort is also spending to meet that demand. It plans to have about 6 million square feet of modular space by the end of 2027, up from the over 4 million it expects to have by the end of 2026.
Jacobs Trails Comfort Systems On Price, Growth And Margin
Comfort is the cheaper stock on earnings and the faster grower. At the October 26, 2026 close, Comfort traded at 26.8 times its earnings over the past twelve months, against 51.2 times for Jacobs. Revenue at Comfort grew 50.7% over the twelve months to September 2026, against 20.1% for Jacobs over its twelve months to June 2026.
Comfort also keeps more of each sale. Its operating margin was 16.7% over its latest twelve months, against 4.6% for Jacobs, whose margin was 7.2% a year earlier. Management points to a different measure, stating that Jacobs’ adjusted EBITDA margin rose more than 100 basis points from a year earlier in fiscal Q3.
Debt at Comfort is small too. It equals 0.9% of Comfort’s market value, against 23.4% for Jacobs.
Comfort comes out ahead on every one of these measures, and it looks like the more direct way to own the AI build-out. Jacobs offers breadth instead, alongside a bigger buyback: the shares Jacobs bought back over the past twelve months equal 4.1% of its market value, against 1.0% for Comfort. Jacobs’ reported operating margin is the number to watch when it next reports, expected in November 2026.
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