Jacobs Engineering Group Inc

NYSE:J

Q4-2025 Earnings Call

[Operator]

Good morning, and welcome, everyone, to Jacobs Fiscal Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2025 Earnings Conference Call and Webcast. Today's conference is being recorded. [Operator Instructions]

At this time, I would like to turn the conference over to Bert Subin, Senior Vice President, Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

[Bert Subin, executive]

Thank you, [ Audra ], and good morning, everyone. Our earnings announcement and 10-K were filed this morning, and we have posted a slide presentation on our website, which we'll reference during the call. I would like to refer you to Slide 2 of the presentation for information about our forward-looking statements non-GAAP financial measures and operating metrics.

Now let's turn to the agenda on Slide 3. Speaking on today's call will be Jacobs' Chair and CEO, Bob Pragada; and CFO, Venk Nathamuni. Bob will begin by providing comments on the business as well as highlights from our fourth quarter and fiscal year results and a recap of notable awards. Venk will then provide a detailed review of our financial performance, including commentary on end market trends cash flow, balance sheet data and our FY '26 outlook. Finally, Bob will provide closing remarks, and then we'll open up the call for questions.

With that, I'll turn it over to our Chair and CEO, Bob Pragada.

[Robert Pragada, executive]

Good day, everyone, and thank you for joining us to discuss our fourth quarter and fiscal year 2025 business performance. We delivered strong results for Q4 and are pleased to end FY '25, the first year of our 5-year strategy on a positive note. For both the quarter and the fiscal year, we drove strong double-digit growth in adjusted EPS and supported by solid revenue growth and robust margin expansion. Our consolidated backlog grew 6% to $23.1 billion, setting a new record to close out the year, and PA consulting capitalized on strong demand delivering double-digit revenue and operating profit growth in the second half of FY '25.

Overall, we are very pleased with our results, and we see great runway as we enter FY '26. Turning to Slide 4. We provide a detailed overview of our quarterly and full fiscal year results. We grew Q4 adjusted EPS by 28% year-over-year, and this was primarily driven by 6% net revenue growth, a record quarterly adjusted EBITDA margin of just over 14.4% and better below-the-line performance. For the full year, we grew adjusted EPS 16%, largely as a result of mid-single-digit net revenue growth and strong margin expansion. We've also seen a solid EPS tailwind from share repurchases which we increased significantly during FY '25. Reflecting on our expectations, last quarter, we guided to an adjusted EPS range of $6 to $6.10 for FY '25 and we were able to finish the year above the high end of that range at $6.12.

Turning to Slide 5. I'd like to highlight a few notable infrastructure and advanced facility project awards from Q4. These wins highlight the power of our strategy to redefine the asset life cycle as we prioritize expanding our addressable market with core clients. We continue to see a positive outlook in water and environmental, particularly in the water sector, which remains one of our most resilient and high-growth areas of our portfolio. Our full life cycle delivery model, enabled by deep domain expertise and leading digital capabilities helps our clients address aging infrastructure, scarcity issues and regulatory changes around the world. Demonstrating the trust our clients place in Jacobs to deliver long-term outcomes, we extended our operational intelligence agreement with United Utilities, the largest listed water company in the U.K. through 2030.

Using our AI-powered Aqua DNA platform, we're helping modernize utility operations and deliver measurable, sustainable benefits for millions of people. In the Life Sciences and Advanced Manufacturing end market, data centers and life sciences continue to be 2 of the fastest-growing sectors in our portfolio. Additionally, our revenue growth in these sectors is now being complemented by new semiconductor investments. As an example, we were awarded the design for a commercial scale semiconductor fabrication facility by a confidential customer. Our scope encompasses the design and engineering of a greenfield semiconductor manufacturing plant along with its related infrastructure and manufacturing support facilities. We are also seeing strong demand across the critical infrastructure end market, with all verticals performing well during Q4.

In the U.K., together with PA Consulting, we were named to the Crown Commercial Services Management Console framework. This appointment expands our role advising public sector clients on delivering cleaner, smarter infrastructure and maximizing value from public investment across transportation, sees, defense and clean energy. In the U.S., we continue to build on strong momentum in the transportation sector. In New York, we were selected by the MTA, North America's largest transportation network to deliver the Interborough Express Light Rail project, a transformative new 14-mile transit line connecting Brooklyn and Queen. The project will enhance mobility, reduce travel times and promote sustainable transit-oriented growth for New York City communities.

In summary, these awards reflect our continued momentum and highlight the broad secular tailwinds driving growth across our business. As I reflect on FY '25, we met or exceeded all of our annual targets continue to drive robust bookings, stayed true to our disciplined capital return policy and now enter year 2 of our strategy cycle on track to achieve our long-term outlook.

Now I'll turn the call over to Venk to review our financial results in further detail.

[Venkatesh Nathamuni, executive]

Thank you, Bob, and good day, everyone. During fiscal year '25, we delivered our commitment to drive profitable growth which consisted of double-digit growth in both EBITDA and adjusted EPS as well as a 7% free cash flow margin. We're demonstrating our differentiated business model to strong margin expansion, and we see continued opportunity to increase our margin profile moving forward.

Now please turn to Slide #6, where I will walk through our results for Q4. We finished fiscal year 2025 on a strong note. In the fourth quarter, gross revenue increased 7% year-over-year, and adjusted net revenue, which excludes pass-through revenue, grew by 6%. Q4 adjusted EBITDA was $324 million, growing 12% year-over-year. Our adjusted EBITDA margin during Q4 came in strong at 14.4%, which is an increase of 79 basis points versus the same quarter last year. As a result, adjusted EPS rose to $1.75, a 28% increase year-over-year. Our disciplined cost management contributed to a new record adjusted EBITDA margin, both during the quarter and for the full fiscal year, and we're well positioned to build on this momentum in fiscal year '26. Consolidated backlog was up 6% year-over-year to a record $23.1 billion, including our trading 12-month book-to-bill at 1.1x. Notably, gross profit in backlog increased over 13% year-over-year during Q4, highlighting our strong sales performance.

Moving on to Slide 7. I'll recap fiscal year '25 results. Fiscal year '25 total gross revenue increased about 5% year-over-year with adjusted net revenue rising more than 5%. Revenue growth and higher margins resulted in adjusted EBITDA and adjusted EPS increasing by 14% and 16%, respectively. We are pleased to end fiscal year '25 in a strong position with mid-single-digit organic revenue growth mid-teens adjusted EPS growth and a backlog that sets us up well for the future. Regarding our performance by end markets and infrastructure and advanced facilities.

Let's now turn to Slide #8. At a high level, net revenue growth across our 3 end markets was slightly consistent in fiscal year '25. With Water & Environmental and Life Sciences and Advanced Manufacturing growing just over 4% and critical infrastructure at about 6%. Focusing on Q4, net revenue increased more than 9% year-on-year in critical infrastructure. Our strong growth was a function of several key programs ramping up in the transportation sector and continued momentum in Energy & Power with favorable trends in both the U.S. and internationally. As we look ahead, we believe continued tailwinds in the transportation and energy and power sectors will be underpinned by improvement in CDs and places. In our Life Sciences and advanced manufacturing end market, net revenue grew a little more than 5% in Q4, a modest improvement from Q3.

During the quarter, we saw strong net revenue growth in the life sciences and data center sectors, but a tougher comps in the industrial portion of the portfolio. Positively, we are on track to fully lap these tougher comps and are seeing semiconductor programs ramp up. which we believe will benefit our setup in fiscal year '26. Net revenue for our water and environmental end market was roughly flat year-on-year in Q4. Our demand across these 10 markets was mixed with continued strength in the water sector, offset by softer revenue performance in environmental, particularly in the U.S., where both public and private clients moderated spending more than anticipated. Looking ahead to fiscal year '26, we expect water to remain a key growth driver. And on the environmental side, opportunities are reemerging as we position for a return to growth. In summary, we're seeing favorable trends in each of our end markets and believe we are entering the new fiscal year with solid momentum.

Moving on to Slide 9. I will provide a brief overview of our segment financials. In Q4, Infrastructure and Advanced Facilities operating profit increased 16% year-on-year with a modest tailwind from FX. In fiscal year '25, operating profit increased 13% year-over-year, and on a constant currency basis. Infrastructure and Advanced Facilities results were aided by both revenue growth and margin expansion. Now moving to PA Consulting's performance. Revenue increased 10% year-on-year in Q4. This contributed to a 17% increase in operating profit or 13% in constant currency on a strong operating margin of 23%. The PA continued to benefit from rising demand for services in the public and national security sectors, driving double-digit growth in their backlog. For fiscal year '25, operating growth for PA was in line with Q4 performance. As we look ahead to fiscal year '26, we anticipate PA's revenue growth will be similar to our consolidated growth rate.

Turning now to Slide 10. We provide an overview of cash generation and our balance sheet. For fiscal year '25, free cash flow generation came in at $607 million. As a reminder, this does not add back the impact of restructuring or other charges. Good free cash flow generation and our high-quality balance sheet enabled us to repurchase $754 million of our shares and pay out $153 million in cash dividends. As a result, we returned approximately 150% of our free cash flow during the fiscal year. Adding in our dividend of momentum shares distributed in May, we returned $1.1 billion to shareholders in fiscal year '25, a company's record.

We also paid down debt, ending the year with $1 billion in net debt yielding a net leverage ratio of 0.8x on LTM adjusted EBITDA, which is below our 1.0 to 1.5x target range. Our balance sheet strength supports continued investment in the business, along with continued returns to shareholders via share repurchases as well as long-term dividend growth. Our commitment to return capital to shareholders is evidenced by our recently approved $0.32 per share dividend, representing 10% year-over-year growth and our material increase in share repurchase activity this year.

Finally, please turn to Slide #11 for our fiscal year '26 outlook. We expect adjusted net revenue to increase 6% to 10% year-over-year adjusted EBITDA margin to range from 14.4% to 14.7%, adjusted EPS to range from $6.90 to $7.30 and free cash flow margin, which is free cash flow divided by adjusted net revenue to be in the range of 7% to 8%. Notably, our outlook for fiscal year '26 implies 16% year-on-year growth in adjusted EPS at the midpoint. We provide relevant assumptions on the right side of the page to help with your modeling. One item to be mindful of is the fact that fiscal year '26 will include an extra week during Q4, adding just over 0.5 to our net revenue growth rate. Additionally, as it pertains to Q1 we're forecasting 5.5% to 7.5% net revenue growth and a low to mid-15% margin. Note that Q1 is typically our seasonally slowest quarter due to holiday timing.

In summary, fiscal year '25 was a great first year in our strategy cycle. We executed to our 13.9% EBITDA margin target, which puts us well on our way to reaching 16% by fiscal year '29. We grew the top line mid-single digits, demonstrating resilience in a dynamic macro environment. In addition, we returned record amounts of capital back to our shareholders. As we enter fiscal year '26, we believe we are very well positioned to build on our fiscal year '25 performance.

With that, I'll turn the call back over to Bob.

[Robert Pragada, executive]

Thank you, Venk. In closing, we're proud of our continued strong execution in FY '25. With the record backlog, expanding margins and healthy demand across the sectors we serve, we are entering FY '26 with significant momentum. Operator, we will now open the call for questions.

[Operator]

[Operator Instructions] We'll take our first question from Sangita Jain at KeyBanc.

[Sangita Jain, analyst]

Can I start with the federal government shutdown and if you think that had any impact on your fiscal '26 bookings to date?

[Robert Pragada, executive]

Fiscal '26 or '25?

[Sangita Jain, analyst]

Well, the fiscal '25 ended and the shutdown started. So I'm trying to see if you had any impact in the early part of this year from the shutdown.

[Robert Pragada, executive]

No, we did not. The bookings trend was -- those awards in the federal government happened before the shutdown. So the short answer is no, Sangita. .

[Sangita Jain, analyst]

All right. Great. And then can you give us an update on PA and how that process is unfolding?

[Robert Pragada, executive]

Sure. Sure. So our negotiations continue, and I would say they're progressing. We said from the beginning that we would be making a decision on that on or before March of '26, and we're on track to do so.

[Operator]

We'll move next to Andy Wittmann at Baird.

[Andrew J. Wittmann, analyst]

I guess my first question is just on the water and environment portion of your business? Obviously, we saw some deceleration here, Bob, you mentioned the environmental business has been a little weaker. I was hoping maybe you could just drill into that. It seems like the water side is strong, but what was it about the environmental side that caused a little bit of softness? Would you tie that to anything? Maybe the administration change or something else? And what are the indications that you have today? You made some comments that you see that improving going forward. And I just wondering kind of what that's based on. So I thought you could drill in a little bit more there.

[Robert Pragada, executive]

Yes, absolutely, Andy. Maybe just -- I'll start with the positive. So the water sector continues to be strong. The pipeline is up double digits as well as our booking trends. So we still see high single-digit growth in the water sector moving forward into FY '26 and beyond. And that's global. All major geographies are participating in that. In the environmental sector, kind of 2 dynamics that played out during the year or actually during Q4 -- accentuated in Q4. One was we did have a onetime event, a positive on last year's comp.

So that was one. But from kind of the core of the business, the regulatory volatility right now within the environmental world has put a bit of a pause for our private sector clients. And so until those kind of settled down, our private sector clients are tending to pull back a bit of the spend that we saw traditionally and these are some of the larger industrials as well as chemical folks. On the public sector, it really was about disaster relief. The traditional -- the kind of switch of FEMA funding and application down to the state level. there was a bit of a pause on how the states were going to, especially after the BBBA was passed, how states were going to reorganize their budgets. And so we saw some delays in awards as well as a pullback in FEMA.

[Andrew J. Wittmann, analyst]

Got it. Was the theme of the onetime item for the prior year? Or you're saying that's that affected this quarter?

[Robert Pragada, executive]

No. The prior year -- the Q4 of FY '24 onetime was a federal agency outside of the U.S. that we had a onetime event.

[Andrew J. Wittmann, analyst]

Got it. Okay. And then just for my follow-up, maybe for Venk. We saw the guidance here on free cash flow. Just the bridge you're now doing it as a percentage of revenue, but if you convert it back to the old way of doing it, it's under 100% targets. And I was wondering what the items in the '26 outlook are that bridge you because, obviously, the business fundamentally is equipped to deliver at 100% or greater. And so that means something is kind of unusual or included in this number that we should all about. And I thought maybe you could expand on that a little bit more. .

[Venkatesh Nathamuni, executive]

Yes. Thanks, Andy, for the question. I'd say, first of all, I'd point out that as we stated at Investor Day, free cash flow margin of 10% target, we're well on track for that. We delivered 7% this year, and we're guiding to between 7% and 8%. What we have imputed in that guidance is that there is a kind of a onetime tax event unrelated to our continuing operations that we're expecting some time in fiscal '26. So we just want to give transparency to that. And then on top of it, as Bob alluded to in response to Sangita's question, we are expecting a resolution on our combination with and we're just assuming some cash expenses associated with that. So those are the things that we want to factor in. We feel really good about our free cash flow margin expansion, and we think that will be a true indicator of the efficiency of the business. And you're absolutely right, our efficiency has been improving, and we see continued growth in that in fiscal '26 and beyond.

[Operator]

We'll move next to Jamie Cook at Truist.

[Jamie Cook, analyst]

Congrats on a nice quarter. I guess my first question, with regards to the margin performance in Infrastructure and Advanced Facilities, we saw a nice improvement there. Anything unusual in margins and how to think about the cadence of margins in that segment as in 2026? And then my second question, Bob, to you sort of more strategically, your peer -- one of your public peers came out this week talking about their competitive advantage on AI and what that means for margins for them over the longer term. you have similar business models. Just wondering how you're merging AI? And is there a margin opportunity outside what you've already announced given your peers came out with much more bullish margin targets longer term?

[Robert Pragada, executive]

Great. Thanks, Jamie. On the first part with regards to margins in I&F, I'll let take that, and then I'll address the AI question following. So Venk?

[Venkatesh Nathamuni, executive]

Great. Jamie, thanks for the comments. I'd say in terms of our margin performance continues to up into the right, really solid performance across the entirety of our business, also a good job of improving our cash collections and so forth. I'd say as we guided to in the prepared remarks, when it comes to Q1, there will be a sequential slowdown and a seasonal slowdown driven by a couple of factors. One is fringe as it relates to things like medical insurance costs and health benefits that typically have an impact in Q1, but you get the recovery in subsequent quarters.

So we'll see a linear progression in margins throughout the rest of fiscal year '26, but we wanted to make sure that we were transparent in terms of how to model it for fiscal Q1. So that's number one. And as it relates to the overall free cash flow margin target of 7% to 8% imputed in that, as I mentioned earlier, is the fact that we're continuing to see operational improvements in the margin performance, combined with some of the onetime items that we expect to happen in fiscal '26. And all of that is imputed in our margin guidance.

[Robert Pragada, executive]

And then on the AI question, Jamie, we've been very vocal about this since dating all the way back to 2021. In fact, if you remember in our '19 and '22 strategy, we -- and it was the origins of the partnership with PA Consulting as well. So this is a journey we've been on for over 5 years. How it's transpired. We see it as an accelerant and differentiator, a space that we continue to use to primarily provide greater solutions externally for our clients. And that has realized itself, and these are things that we've highlighted in the past. All the way back to 2021 being able to deliver a transformational effort for Intel as they were expanding their business model into a foundry model back in '21 that was done through machine learning and digital replication.

That then led to our partnership with [indiscernible] and all of the water platforms that we have developed since in reference on in Aqua DNA as well as intelligent O&M that's really creating a differentiated position to gain efficiencies for our clients. Most recently, we announced a partnership with NVIDIA where we're utilizing AI enablement platforms as well as digital cleaning technology to simulate gigawatt plus type data centers and creating a reference design for NVIDIA clients and even going all the way up to today where street light data is providing unbelievable transportation analytics for major metropolitan areas around the country. In fact, over 26 state DOTs are utilizing the Streetlight platform. And so kind of you look at that portfolio and it's creating a differentiated position for growth in the market. And it is contributing to our margin expansion as we continue to go up the value chain.

[Jamie Cook, analyst]

Congrats on the nice quarter.

[Operator]

We'll move next to Andrew Kaplowitz with Citi.

[Unknown Analyst]

This is Natalia on behalf of Andy Kaplowitz from Citi. Congrats on the quarter. Maybe first question I'll start off with. You cited that transportation was a contributor to growth. But I'm just curious how the funding visibility under IIJ is progressing? Are you seeing any delays or accelerations as new money flows through the states?

[Robert Pragada, executive]

We're not. We're not. That continues to be a catalyst. But I would say that transportation number, we're seeing globally. It's not just in the U.S., but nice growth that we experienced in Europe, Middle East as well as in Australia and New Zealand. So it's something where -- and again, it kind of goes to the previous question too, differentiated position, utilizing strong transportation analytics and driving mobility concerns. So it's -- I'd say IA is a component budget clarity in the U.K. is another component. Growth in the Middle East as well as Australia continues to be a really strong market for us in the transportation space.

[Unknown Analyst]

Got it. That's super helpful. And maybe just continuing on the strength that you see [indiscernible] transportation, maybe more so just curious about the regional performance across your end markets, which regions outperformed expectations? And which ones are you expecting maybe to be a little softer in 2026?

[Robert Pragada, executive]

Yes. We're seeing growth across the board, Andre. It's -- our business domestically in the U.S. has got some strong tailwinds behind it. But we're not seeing -- let me say it in the positive. Our business outside the U.S. and internationally is in growth mode. We've got double-digit growth going on in the Middle East. Europe is going through a nice recovery. And Southeast Asia and Australia and New Zealand are really being buoyed by strong transportation and water growth. So it's pretty uniform for us across the globe. .

[Venkatesh Nathamuni, executive]

And if I could add to just what Bob said, I mean that's true of the PA business as well. We're seeing some good solid momentum in the PA business, especially in the U.K. and Continental Europe.

[Operator]

We'll go next to Steven Fisher of UBS.

[Steven Fisher, analyst]

I wonder if I could just follow up on Jamie's question on the margin in terms of bridging the expansion in margins between fiscal '25 and fiscal '26, if you can kind of be a little more specific on some of the major puts and takes, be it cost savings, operating leverage, any specific investments that you're making to support AI and digital? Anything that you can help us sort of bridge what's in that.

[Venkatesh Nathamuni, executive]

Yes. Thank you, Steve. So as we mentioned in the prepared remarks, fiscal '25, solid performance in terms of 110 basis point margin expansion. And we're guiding for between 50 and 80 basis points for fiscal '26. A lot of what happened in fiscal '25 was driven by some of the operating leverage and cost actions as well as some early improvements in margin as it relates to gross margins. we see a much bigger contribution, especially on the gross margin line going forward, driven by 3 things that we outlined at Investor Day, global delivery being a big component of it. As we look at the mix of business across the globe, we see that there's tremendous adoption of global delivery across our various end markets.

So that should be a meaningful driver of margin expansion for us this year. And then we talk about commercial models and how with the adoption of AI that's increasing across the multi-let of end markets that Bob talked about, that also makes a meaningful contribution to margin expansion. So I would say multiple levers on the gross margin front. And then we are committing to maintaining our operating leverage, meaning we want to grow our OpEx at a slower pace than our revenue growth, and that's driven by both efficiencies as well as what we do internally as well as externally for our clients. So a multitude of factors, we feel really good about our margin expansion story, and we're guiding for basis points at the midpoint after a 110 basis point expansion in fiscal '25.

[Steven Fisher, analyst]

Very helpful. And then, Bob, maybe on the data center side, since I think you guys have a pretty interesting perspective and role in the industry. being on the front end of things. I'm curious if you could talk about the changes in the assignments that you're getting this year versus a year ago. what are your customers asking you that's different this year? What are the -- how are the projects different? Is there anything more international or more domestic. Any changes there? Just curious your perspective on how things are different entering '26 versus '25?

[Robert Pragada, executive]

Sure. Well, let me start with the geography and then go to how our scope is expanding in that area. We're seeing interest now in data center starts in the Middle East and in Europe in addition to the U.S. The U.S. continues to be the strongest of the 3. So -- but it is expanding into Europe and to the Middle East as well. from a scope standpoint, our scope has traditionally been within the white space. the white and the gray space are now emerging. And so especially the work that we're doing now for NVIDIA is translating into a more innovation happening within the server rack in that white space area. And then broadly, solutions around the power requirements behind the meter as well as reclaimed water that we're expanding our scope on that front, too. So all of that put together has really been a net benefit.

Just another data point, Steve. In the last quarter, our pipeline in the data center space has gone up 5x. And so we're actually being selective on how we deploy that talent and growing that talent not just in the U.S. but in the Philippines and in India as well.

[Operator]

We'll go next to Michael Dudas at Vertical Research.

[Michael Dudas, analyst]

Bob, maybe tailing off your last comment on pipeline, which is for maybe you could share you've put out, I guess, in your investor day, 2-year pipeline outlook and you of the segments. Maybe you can refresh on that, how that looks today versus a year ago? And what areas should we be looking at as we monitor on bookings and progress as the year goes through, there are a certain couple of areas. I mean you just touched on some of them, but [indiscernible] the pipeline and whether the conversions are going to happen sooner rather than later that might drive the -- to 10% range of '26 numbers.

[Robert Pragada, executive]

Sure. Maybe Mike, I'll kind of segregate it into 2 categories, 1 by sector and then second, by geography. By sector, I'd say the fastest-growing pipelines, and I can quote some numbers here in the data center world just mentioned, pipeline is up 5x. In the semiconductor world, we're seeing more growth there after some flatness over the course of the last year, and it's really centered around high bandwidth memory for the American client in the U.S. semiconductor pipeline is up 20%. And Life Sciences continues to be strong. And in all those areas that we mentioned before, that's really been driven in the U.S. That pipeline is up 50%. And and the water sector. The water sector continues to be a strong sector for us globally, and that's up 50%.

So overall, the pipeline is looking really, really strong as we go into FY '26. The reason why I mentioned those 4 sectors is because that's where we see the fastest conversion of that pipeline in '26 and in early '27. From a geography standpoint, it's the Middle East. We just announced the award for Neumuraba, specifically the [indiscernible] component of that. That's a huge -- a really good job for us. We're now on the expo and we've got a few opportunities at Abu Dhabi and [indiscernible] that could convert here shortly. So across the Middle East region, we're seeing good growth leading up to not just the Expo, but also the World Cup coming up to.

[Michael Dudas, analyst]

Give me the visit in Washington this week from the Saudi certainly can add to that visibility, I would assume. The second question, I think, just as we think about cadence through 2026 on free cash and share repurchase, just 2025 had a lot of artistic onetime issues. But how do we think about as you allocate that cash relative to share repurchase and whatever, maybe target on that relief or what have you as we look through '26?

[Venkatesh Nathamuni, executive]

Yes, Mike, thanks for the question. So I'll answer the margin question first, which is as we guided to expecting linear progression in margins, Q1 being probably the slowest in terms of margins and then a steady increase right through the rest of the year, such that we feel good about the 50 to 80 basis points for the full year. As it relates to our use of cash, as we pointed out, our net leverage ratio is right now at 0.8x. We do want to maintain the optionality for additional deployment of cash for a potential increase in our stake in PA as we've been stating all along. But outside of that, we want to be regular buyers of our stock. We truly believe in the value of being predictable in terms of buying back shares, and we'll do it at a regular quantum. And it won't be at the same level as opposed last year but we made the commitment at Investor Day to return at least 60% of our free cash flow in the form of share repurchases and dividends, and we're committed to that.

[Operator]

And we'll take our final question from Jerry Revich at Wells Fargo.

[Jerry Revich, analyst]

Given the top line outlook you have for the year and ink, which you shared for the first quarter, you could be exiting if you at the high end of the range with, call it, 13% top line growth in the fourth quarter. Can you just talk about if you do hit the high end of the range? Given the color you provided earlier, Bob, which end markets do we need to see that pipeline turn into bookings if we're talking about the high end of the outlook being feasible and exit to get that teens growth rate in the fourth quarter, if that plays out? .

[Venkatesh Nathamuni, executive]

Yes, Jerry, I'll take the first part of the question, and then Bob can add a lot more color. I would say in terms of the sequential nature of the growth profile as well as the margin profile, you expect -- we expect to see continued momentum right through the year. And as we stated, Q4 is the one which will have the extra week, so that will have an extra room for fuel in terms of both revenue contribution as well as margin contribution. But in terms of the end markets, it's pretty broad-based, and maybe Bob can add more color on how we expect that to play out.

[Robert Pragada, executive]

Yes. The ones that would drive the high end of the range, Jerry, would be life sciences and data centers, clearly, and really that's a matter of those sectors moving at pace. That wouldn't have to be accelerated. Just need to move at pace, and that will be a big contributor. We're seeing semiconductor fabrication facilities start to move. And so if that were to accelerate, that would definitely be a tailwind. Momentum, I think on Citi's question with regards to transportation, that international transportation market would provide some momentum as well. And then major prospects. We're seeing major prospects in cities and places in the Middle East, but also we're now starting at the L.A. Olympics as well FAA and a few other kind of larger initiatives that would drive the higher end.

[Jerry Revich, analyst]

And then, Bob, on data center, specifically, you mentioned a fivefold increase in that pipeline for you. Obviously, that market is very hot, but I don't think it's up 5x. Are you folks expanding the scope of what you're doing within data centers? Or is it people are looking further out to lock in services? Can you just expand on that fivefold comment? And if you're willing to share off of what base from a Jacobs' standpoint, that would be helpful.

[Robert Pragada, executive]

Yes. Just to put in perspective, it's about a $200 million business for us today. And over time, I won't be specific on time, but that business could be as big as our Life Sciences business today in a few years. So that's kind of where it's headed. I'd say it's across the board. It's hyperscalers. It's what we call kind of the neo cloud providers as well as multi-tenant players as well. And it's in just sheer numbers of people that are coming into the market. our scope has expanded from a content standpoint, going within the battery limits of the data center into the water requirements as well as power needs and that's a nice kind of adjacency with our Energy and Power group.

And then alternative delivery. So similar to what we do in the life sciences sector, where we -- as well as in the water sector, where we do not just design but program management for the delivery of the facility, we're now in that mode in the -- I'm sorry, in the data center space as well.

[Jerry Revich, analyst]

And anything you could do to improve traffic in the New York area. A lot of us on the call would be grateful.

[Robert Pragada, executive]

We're working on it, Jerry.

[Operator]

And that concludes our Q&A session. I will now turn the conference back over to Bob Pragada for closing remarks.

[Robert Pragada, executive]

Well, thank you. Thank you, everyone, for joining our earnings call. We look forward to engaging with many of you over the coming days and weeks as we go on the road and hope all that are celebrating the U.S. Thanksgiving have a happy holiday.

[Operator]

And this concludes today's conference call. Thank you for your participation. You may now disconnect.