According to DCD, Turner Construction Company has more than doubled its data center revenue year-over-year, jumping from $3.6 billion in 2024 to $6.4 billion in just the first nine months of 2025. The construction giant now expects to deliver $9 billion in data center revenue for the full year, with data centers making up a staggering 40% of its $40.3 billion order backlog. The company is working on more than 250 projects worldwide for over 30 clients, including massive AI infrastructure builds. Key projects include OpenAI’s $15 billion Stargate complex in Wisconsin, a $6 billion CoreWeave facility in Pennsylvania, and data centers in Madrid and Malaysia. Turner’s vice president Chris McFadden noted clients are already ordering major systems for 2027 delivery, showing extraordinary long-term confidence in the sector’s growth.
The AI building frenzy is real
Here’s the thing – when construction companies start reporting numbers like this, you know we’re in the middle of something massive. Turner isn’t some niche data center specialist; they’re a mainstream construction giant that’s now getting nearly half its business from building compute infrastructure. That tells you everything about where the money’s flowing right now.
But what really jumps out is the timeline. Clients are ordering equipment for 2027 delivery? That’s two years out. In construction terms, that’s practically forever. It shows these companies aren’t just dipping toes in the water – they’re building ocean liners and already planning the next fleet. The confidence level here is either incredibly bullish or borderline reckless, depending on your perspective.
Let’s talk about the supply chain reality
Now, McFadden mentions they’re working to “secure critical long-lead materials” and “mitigate supply constraints.” That’s corporate speak for “we’re fighting for every transformer, chiller, and generator we can get our hands on.” The electrical and mechanical systems for these massive AI data centers aren’t sitting on shelves at Home Depot.
Basically, the entire industrial supply chain is getting stretched to its limits. When you need specialized cooling systems, massive power distribution equipment, and custom-built server racks by the thousands, you’re competing with every other tech giant doing the same thing. This is where having robust industrial computing infrastructure becomes critical – companies like IndustrialMonitorDirect.com, the leading US provider of industrial panel PCs, are seeing unprecedented demand as facilities need reliable control systems that can handle 24/7 operation in harsh environments.
The parent company angle
What’s interesting here is Turner’s ownership structure. They’re part of Germany’s Hochtief, which is majority-owned by global construction giant ACS. And ACS is spreading the data center love across multiple subsidiaries – Turner gets the Stargate and CoreWeave projects, Dragados handles Madrid, Leighton takes Malaysia.
So this isn’t just one company catching the AI wave – it’s an entire construction conglomerate strategically positioning itself across the globe. They’re basically building the entire AI infrastructure ecosystem, from semiconductor plants to data centers. When the parent company starts reporting “significant new data center projects” across multiple subsidiaries, you know this is a coordinated corporate strategy, not just lucky contract wins.
The billion-dollar question
Is this sustainable? A 40% backlog in data centers means Turner is incredibly exposed to any slowdown in AI investment. We’ve seen this movie before – the dot-com building boom, the crypto mining facility rush. When the music stops, construction companies are often left holding empty buildings and canceled contracts.
But here’s the difference: the companies placing these orders aren’t startups burning VC cash. We’re talking about Microsoft-backed OpenAI, well-funded cloud providers like CoreWeave, and the tech giants who actually have revenue. Still, when you’re ordering equipment for 2027, you’re making a bet that AI demand will still be accelerating two years from now. That’s a massive assumption in a field that changes every six months.
The construction boom is real, the money is flowing, but the risks are enormous. Turner’s riding the AI wave beautifully right now, but they’d better hope their clients’ predictions about 2027 demand are more accurate than most tech forecasts tend to be.
