Cardinal Infrastructure Group Inc.
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Assessment
Our Rating
A journalistic assessment by our editorial team at the time of the deep dive — it rates the company, not the entry point. Not investment advice and not a solicitation to buy or sell.
The business works in principle, but one material question is open. As long as it stays open, our findings do not carry a quality verdict.
Why this colour
One significant operating question remains open: whether the second-quarter 2026 margin weakness is a temporary integration effect from recent acquisitions or a structural pattern of a debt-funded roll-up strategy cannot be determined confidently after just one soft quarter. Add to that a high concentration cannot be determined confidently after just one soft quarter — and the company's own reduced margin guidance argues for more than a one-off. Add to that a high concentration in the cyclical homebuilding market, an Up-C structure that diverts a substantial share of tax benefits to the controlling pre-IPO owners, and material weaknesses that hit the very estimates behind construction revenue. Against the harsher grade: the balance sheet, equity and interest coverage hold up, and the auditor raised no going-concern flag. This is a judgment about the business model, not a call on the current stock price. The decision is yours.
What the thesis turns on
Assessment: Opportunities & Risks
Cardinal Infrastructure Group shows a genuinely growing civil-construction business with real revenue growth and a backlog that grew to $866.0 million — but the stock crash following the August 11, 2026 earnings release had a documented cause: on that day the company raised its own revenue guidance and simultaneously cut its adjusted EBITDA margin guidance from "20 percent plus" to 16 to 18 percent. On top of that sits a corporate structure in which 85 percent of tax benefits flow to the pre-IPO owners, who still held roughly 57 percent of the vote at the end of June 2026, and disclosure controls judged "not effective". Growth is real, but it is being bought expensively and shared unevenly. Not investment advice.
Revenue growth
Revenue rose 44.7 percent in fiscal 2025 to $456.0 million, and 113.9 percent year-over-year in the second quarter of 2026 to $226.9 million, of which 64 percentage points were organic. Backlog grew to $866.0 million as of June 30, 2026 (December 31, 2025: $682.0 million), supporting future-revenue visibility.
Margin trend
Gross profit margin fell to 10.8 percent in the second quarter of 2026, down from 13.9 percent a year earlier, and adjusted EBITDA margin from 18.6 to 12.4 percent. On August 11, 2026 the company cut its own 2026 adjusted EBITDA margin guidance from "20 percent plus" to 16 to 18 percent while raising revenue guidance to $880 million to $900 million.
Capital structure & governance
As an Up-C structure, the company pays 85 percent of realized tax benefits to the Continuing Equity Holders under a Tax Receivable Agreement; those holders held roughly 61.0 percent of the vote as of December 31, 2025 and roughly 57.4 percent as of June 30, 2026. Every acquisition adds its own tax-receivable agreement (most recently $12.3 million for ALGC).
Internal controls
The CEO and CFO concluded that disclosure controls were "not effective" as of June 30, 2026, citing material weaknesses in IT general controls, segregation of duties and the review of estimates to complete for construction contracts. The same disclosure states the financial statements are nevertheless fairly presented; material weaknesses are common at newly public companies.
Customer concentration
Residential builders accounted for roughly 66 percent of 2025 revenue, with the largest single customer, Pulte Homes, at 9.9 percent and the top 10 customers at 45.5 percent. The business is heavily tied to the homebuilding cycle and a handful of large customers.
Balance sheet & leverage
Stockholders' equity of $593.5 million as of June 30, 2026, no going-concern disclosures, and covenant compliance. But debt rose from $120.0 million to $195.0 million within six months — and debt-funded acquisition growth is the company's stated strategy going forward.
Worth Noting
This analysis was triggered by the stock's own price action — from the $21.00 IPO through a 52-week high of $96.40 to the crash following the August 11, 2026 earnings release —, not a hit in our in-house stock scanner.
Valuation figures as of August 19, 2026; operating figures are each labeled with their own fiscal or balance-sheet date.
Not to be confused: Cardinal Infrastructure Group was named Civil Infrastructure Group Inc. until September 2025 — both names refer to the same company under the same SEC filer number (CIK 0002079999).
Stock Watch
This analysis is as of August 26, 2026. Stock Watch will tell you what's changed at CDNL since then.
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Price history
Chart
Interactive price chart (TradingView).
52-week range: 22.00 $ to 94.30 $ · Last price: 28.00 $ (As of: September 25, 2026)
Key figures
Key figures at a glance
Every figure we hold for this stock, grouped by topic. The question mark next to a label explains what the number means.
Basics
Performance
Technical Indicators
Calculated from the price history · as of 09/25/2026
Valuation
Profitability
Balance Sheet & Safety
Growth
Dividend
This stock currently pays no dividend.
Quality & Screener
Comparison
Industry comparison
The stock alongside the largest companies in the same group. The median row is the middle value of the companies shown above — not of the whole industry.
Industry: Engineering & Construction
| Company | Market cap ($B) | P/E | EV/EBITDA | Gross Margin % | EBIT Margin % | Sales Growth (Year) % | Perf. 1Y % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cardinal Infrastructure Group Inc. CDNL | 0.6 | 32.5 | 5.9 | 19.2 | 8.8 | – | – |
| Quanta Services Inc PWR | 102.7 | 84.5 | 33.3 | 15.5 | 4.2 | 19.8 | 62.3 |
| Comfort Systems USA Inc FIX | 63.2 | 44.0 | 27.8 | 25.7 | 7.9 | 29.5 | 112.6 |
| EMCOR Group Inc EME | 34.0 | 23.4 | 15.2 | 19.4 | 8.7 | 16.6 | 20.3 |
| Api Group Corp APG | 17.2 | – | 20.6 | 31.4 | 7.3 | 12.7 | 13.6 |
| MasTec Inc MTZ | 17.1 | 43.5 | 15.9 | 12.9 | 3.7 | 16.2 | 4.1 |
| Sterling Construction Company Inc STRL | 16.4 | 42.5 | 22.1 | 23.8 | 17.2 | 17.7 | 49.3 |
| Jacobs Solutions Inc. J | 16.1 | 41.5 | 21.4 | 22.1 | -0.9 | 4.6 | -4.4 |
| Topbuild Corp BLD | 12.2 | 24.0 | 12.9 | 29.0 | 12.2 | 1.5 | 2.7 |
| Median of companies shown | 17.1 | 42.0 | 20.6 | 22.1 | 7.9 | 16.4 | 16.9 |
Based on the most recently reported figures. Only stocks from the same trading venue are lined up, so the market caps are counted in one currency. Compare in a chart →
Fiscal years
Annual Figures
Fiscal years from the audited annual reports, oldest first. EBIT is the operating profit before interest and taxes; total assets are everything the company owns.
Revenue, operating income and net income per fiscal year $M
Revenue Operating income Net income
| Fiscal Year | Revenue ($M) | EBIT ($M) | Net Income ($M) | EPS ($) | Operating Cash Flow ($M) | Equity ($M) | Total Assets ($M) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 248 | 30 | 21 | 1.56 | – | – | – |
| 2024 | 315 | 39 | 21 | 1.62 | – | – | – |
| 2025 | 456 | 40 | 23 | 1.53 | 38 | 58 | 395 |
Quarters
Quarterly Figures
Each bar is one quarter, the last one is the most recent. Use the switch to step through the individual figures.
Revenue & Profit
Cash Flow
Balance Sheet
Margins
Per Share
Click the chart or tab into it, then use ← and → to step through the periods.
None of the selected stocks reports this metric. Pick another metric or switch between annual and quarterly.
· Total · per year
These companies report in different currencies — switch on “Indexed” or pick a margin for a fair comparison.
The figures could not be loaded right now.
Source: fundamental data
| Quarter | EPS (Earnings Per Share) | EPS YoY (%) | Sales ($M) | Sales YoY (%) | Net Margin (%) | OCF ($M) | FCF ($M) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025: Q3 | 562.90 | – | 122 | 60.20 | -2.80 | 10 | 1 |
| 2025: Q4 | 0.20 | – | 146 | 71.70 | 9.20 | 12 | -1 |
| 2026: Q1 | 0.23 | – | 168 | 104.80 | 2.00 | 9 | 0 |
| 2026: Q2 | 0.26 | – | 227 | – | 2.10 | 13 | -12 |
What Do These Terms Mean?
- EPS (Earnings Per Share):
- Quarterly profit divided by the total share count — how much of the profit works out to a single share.
- YoY (Year over Year):
- Change versus the same quarter a year ago — this is how you compare without seasonal distortion (e.g. the holiday shopping season).
- Sales:
- All revenue for the quarter, before any costs are deducted — the top line of the income statement.
- Net Margin:
- What percentage of sales is left over as profit in the end. Negative means the company is posting a loss.
- OCF (Operating Cash Flow):
- The cash that actually flows into the till from the core business during the quarter — harder to dress up than book profit.
- FCF (Free Cash Flow):
- Operating cash flow minus capital expenditures — the money that's genuinely free to use, say for paying down debt, buybacks, or dividends.
Screening
Appears in These Scanners
This stock currently matches 3 of our scanner strategies — each hit links to the scanner.
Quality & Balance Sheet
Research
Only genuine hits from verified scanners count; pure ranking metrics (P/E, P/S, and similar, which just sort the whole universe) don't count as a hit. View all scanners
Outlook
Analysts & Price Target
Combined picture of the price targets and recommendations of every analyst covering the stock. Price targets are expectations for the next 12 months, not promises — and they often follow the price rather than predict it.
Estimates by Fiscal Year
| Fiscal Year | EPS Estimate ($) | EPS Range ($) | Revenue Estimate ($M) | Expected Growth | Analysts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12/31/2026 | 1.64 | 1.64 – 1.64 | 890 | – | 1 |
| 12/31/2027 | 2.29 | 2.29 – 2.29 | 1,051 | 39.6% | 1 |
Average of the analyst estimates for the coming fiscal years. The range shows how far the most optimistic and the most cautious estimate sit apart — the wider it is, the less certain the expectation.
Valuation
What is priced in?
Free cash flow over the past twelve months is negative, which rules out a serious reverse calculation. Any growth rate only makes a negative cash flow more negative; no present value comes out of it. What the price reflects here is therefore not a stream of cash flows, but the expectation that there will be one at all.
A simplified model calculation — not a forecast and not a recommendation.
AI classification
AI Rating
Cardinal Infrastructure Group ist ein Tiefbau-/Bauunternehmen (Wasser-/Abwassersysteme, Erdarbeiten, Straßenbau); in den gesichteten Filings (10-K 2025, 10-Q Q2 2026, 8-K 05.06.2026, 8-K 11.08.2026) findet sich keine Erwähnung von künstlicher Intelligenz, maschinellem Lernen oder einem KI-Produkt/-Risiko — weder als Geschäftsangebot noch als Bedrohung noch als internes Werkzeug.
View the full file — quotes, sources, reviewed filings
Filings Reviewed: 10-K 2026-03-23 · 10-Q 2026-08-12 · 8-K 2026-08-11 · 8-K 2026-06-05
Rated on August 19, 2026 · How the Rating Is Built
Growth
Growth Score
Ten checks against the annual reports — each one passed counts a point.
- Revenue grows by more than 15% a year over three years no data
- More than 10% revenue growth is expected for the coming year -59.8%
- Share count grows by less than 3% a year no data
- Revenue growth plus cash-flow margin add up to at least 40 ("Rule of 40") 43.4%
- Gross margin at 40% or higher and without meaningful erosion 21.1%
- Goodwill from acquisitions does not grow faster than revenue no data
- Net debt below twice EBITDA 0.6 x EBITDA
- Operating cash flow covers the profits of the last three years 15 m
- Return on capital at 15% or higher, or up versus two years ago 13.3%
- Insiders hold at least 10% or are net buyers 8.6%
A criterion without figures counts neither as passed nor as failed; a score is only produced from 7 judgeable criteria upwards. Source: fundamental data. All ten criteria in detail
Quality check
AAQS
5/10The AAQS (AlleAktien Quality Score) checks 10 quality criteria on growth, profitability, and balance-sheet strength — per the methodology developed and published by AlleAktien, calculated by us from our own fundamental data. A stock counts as a quality stock from 9 out of 10 points. Where a company has a shorter listing history, we calculate over the fiscal years available (at least five).
- Sales growth 10Y > 5% –
- Exp. sales growth 3Y > 5% 51.8%
- EBIT growth 10Y > 5% –
- Exp. EBIT growth 3Y > 5% 22.3%
- Net debt < 4x EBIT 1.0x
- EBIT positive, 10Y straight –
- Max. EBIT decline < 50% –
- Return on equity > 15% 116.7%
- ROCE > 15% 13.3%
- Expected return > 10% 21.0%
View stocks with the full AAQS score · Read the methodology at AlleAktien
Source: fundamental data
Insiders
Insider Transactions
Reportable transactions by officers and major shareholders from SEC Form 4 filings. "Other" includes things like stock grants and option exercises without a buy/sell character.
| Date | Person | Role | Type | Shares | Price | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 17, 2026 | Wimmer Richard Bennett | Director | Buy | 7,500 | 39.13 | 293,475 |
| Aug 14, 2026 | Lee Richard Melvin Jr. | Director | Buy | 7,000 | 37.73 | 264,110 |
| Aug 14, 2026 | Lee Richard Melvin Jr. | Director | Buy | 27,000 | 36.59 | 987,930 |
| Aug 14, 2026 | Rowe Michael Bruce Jr. | Chief Financial Officer | Buy | 7,000 | 36.53 | 255,710 |
| Aug 14, 2026 | Wood Anthony Leon Jr. | Director | Buy | 17,381 | 39.75 | 690,895 |
| Aug 14, 2026 | Wood Anthony Leon Jr. | Director | Buy | 34,019 | 39.16 | 1,332,184 |
| Aug 14, 2026 | Spivey Jeremy Simmons | Chief Executive Officer | Buy | 11,511 | 39.65 | 456,411 |
| Aug 14, 2026 | Spivey Jeremy Simmons | Chief Executive Officer | Buy | 45,249 | 38.82 | 1,756,566 |
| Aug 14, 2026 | Spivey Jeremy Simmons | Chief Executive Officer | Buy | 14,224 | 37.69 | 536,103 |
| Aug 14, 2026 | Spivey Jeremy Simmons | Chief Executive Officer | Buy | 12,366 | 36.58 | 452,348 |
The company
About the Company
Cardinal Infrastructure Group Inc., ein Tiefbauunternehmen, bietet Erschließungs- und Infrastrukturdienstleistungen für die Wohn-, Gewerbe-, Industrie-, Kommunal- und Bundesstaats-Infrastrukturmärkte im Südosten der Vereinigten Staaten an. Es bietet die Installation von Versorgungsleitungen wie Wasser-, Abwasser- und Regenwassersystemen sowie Erdarbeiten, Baufeldräumung, Erosionsschutz, Bohr- und Sprengarbeiten, Asphaltierung und weitere baustellenbezogene Dienstleistungen. Das Unternehmen hieß früher Civil Infrastructure Group Inc. und änderte seinen Namen im September 2025 in Cardinal Infrastructure Group Inc. Das Unternehmen wurde 2013 gegründet und hat seinen Hauptsitz in Raleigh, North Carolina.
- Employees
- 1,480
- Headquarters
- Raleigh, NC
- Address
- 100 E Six Forks Road, 27609 Raleigh, United States
- Phone
- 919 324 1964
- IPO Date
- 12/10/2025
- ISIN
- US14154A1025
Management
| Name | Title | Birth Year |
|---|---|---|
| Jeremy Spivey | CEO & Chairman | 1978 |
| Mike Rowe | Chief Financial Officer | 1960 |
| Erik West | President of Carolinas | 1981 |
| Benjamin A. Wood | Chief Operating Officer | 1975 |
| Emily Lear | Director of Investor Relations | – |
| Tiffany Gidley | General Counsel & Secretary | 1991 |
| Liz Hester | Director of Marketing & Public Relations | – |
Executives per the latest required filings; titles kept in their original language. Source: fundamental data.
Filings
Company Filings (8-K)
An 8-K is the filing a US company must use to disclose material events immediately — takeovers, changes at the top, major contracts or payment troubles, for instance. The links open the original document at the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
- 09/11/2026 Cardinal Infrastructure Group Inc. (CDNL): Entry into a Material Definitive Agreement; Financial Statements and Exhibits SEC ↗
Data as of: September 25, 2026 · Source: fundamental data & SEC filings (annual and quarterly reports, 10-K/10-Q)
Note: pure fact-based analysis, not investment advice and not a solicitation to buy or sell. All figures without guarantee.