Comfort Systems vs. EMCOR: Which Infrastructure Stock is Leading Now?

Sraddha Singha November 25, 2025

EME FIX

Better trading starts here.

What would you like to follow?

Analyst Blog

Cancel

Key Takeaways

FIX's record backlog, data-center strength and inorganic moves fuel faster growth but at a premium valuation.
EME's U.K. exit and $12.6B RPOs boost U.S. focus and stability, though its growth cadence is moderating.
EPS trends and ROE strongly favor FIX, while EME offers steadier execution at a relative valuation discount.

The multi-year tailwinds surrounding the public infrastructure market and private non-residential market are boding well for firms operating in this space, like Comfort Systems USA, Inc. (FIX - Free Report) and EMCOR Group, Inc. (EME - Free Report) .

Amid a favorable federal and state funding environment, the two back-to-back Fed rate cuts are acting as a catalyst in boosting prospects further. After a 0.25 percentage point rate cut on Sept. 17, 2025, the Federal Reserve again pulled down the interest rate by another 25 basis points on Oct. 29, moving the targeted benchmark between 3.75% and 4.00%. With another expected rate cut in December 2025 and two more by June 2026 (per Goldman Sachs chief economist Jan Hatzius), the growth optimism surrounding the economy is in favor of the companies, as mentioned above, operating in the commercial and industrial infrastructure markets.

Comfort Systems is currently invested in grabbing onto opportunities for large-scale projects, increasing the revenue visibility and utilizing the additional cash flow for inorganic growth initiatives. On the other hand, EMCOR is currently working on divesting its U.K. Building Services segment and shifting its focus entirely to its highly profitable U.S. markets.

Let’s dive deep and closely compare the fundamentals of the two stocks to determine which one is a better investment now.

The Case for Comfort Systems Stock

This Texas-based heating, ventilation, air conditioning and electrical contracting service provider is gaining from a robust public spending scenario in the United States, mainly due to its exposure to large-scale projects. Major trends are witnessed across the Technology sector due to increased demand for data center and chip manufacturing-related activities. So far in 2025, the Technology sector contributed 42% of the total revenues, reflecting growth from 32% a year ago.

As of Sept. 30, 2025, the company had a record backlog of $9.38 billion, with a same-store backlog of $9.2 billion, indicating year-over-year increases of 65.1% and 62%, respectively. Currently, with the Fed interest rate going down, lower financing costs are expected to spur investments in the large-scale projects across markets that are served by Comfort Systems. Besides, the company’s disciplined bidding efforts and continued innovation in automation and AI-driven fabrication are added tailwinds.

Apart from market tailwinds, FIX’s inorganic growth efforts are also notable aspects. On Oct. 1, 2025, FIX acquired two electrical companies based in Western Michigan and Southern Florida, FZ Electrical and Meisner Electric, respectively. These acquisitions are expected to enhance Comfort Systems' market presence across industrial and health care capabilities, and combinedly are expected to deliver more than $200 million of incremental annual revenues and $15-$20 million of incremental annual EBITDA. During the first nine months of 2025, the company’s revenues grew 25.1% year over year, with the acquisitions of Right Way, Century, Summit and J&S contributing about 2.3% to the uptrend.

The Case for EMCOR Stock

This Connecticut-based infrastructure service provider is also banking on the robust trends in the United States public infrastructure market. Its two major segments, the US Electrical and Mechanical Construction and Facilities Services segments, are consistently displaying significant strength amid positive market fundamentals. During the first nine months of 2025, the revenues from the U.S. Electrical Construction and the U.S. Mechanical Construction segments grew year over year by 54.1% to $3.71 billion and 7.6% to $5.11 billion, respectively.

As of Sept. 30, 2025, Remaining Performance Obligations (RPOs) were $12.61 billion, indicating 29% year-over-year growth and 25% from Dec. 31, 2024. Increased activity within the network and communications sector, mainly driven by data center construction projects demand trends, with other sectors including healthcare, commercial, manufacturing and industrial, and the high-tech manufacturing sectors are boding well. The diversity in EMCOR’s RPOs is stabilizing its revenue visibility and profitability structure despite ongoing macro uncertainties.

Besides the market’s favorable fundamentals, EME is currently focusing on divesting its U.K. business and streamlining its U.S. operations for better execution across highly profitable markets. In September 2025, EMCOR announced the divestiture of its U.K. Building Services segment, which is expected to be complete by the end of 2025, upon U.K. regulatory approval. The proceeds from this transaction are expected to be about $255 million. By redirecting U.K. sale proceeds into strategic M&A, prefabrication capacity and U.S. project expansion, EMCOR strengthens its competitive edge in sectors offering not just growth but durability.

Stock Performance & Valuation

As witnessed from the chart below, in the past six months, Comfort Systems’ share price performance stands significantly above EMCOR’s and the broader Construction sector.