Babcock & Wilcox Enterprises, Inc. ( BW ) shares are trading higher Monday after the company reported better-than-expected first-quarter financial results.

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Q1 Highlights

Babcock reported adjusted earnings per share of 2 cents, beating the consensus estimate of a 3 cent-loss. In addition, it reported revenue of $214.40 million, beating the consensus estimate of $149.70 million.

The company said total global pipeline increased 17% year-over-year to more than $14.0 billion.

Bookings totaled $2.5 billion during the first quarter, representing a 1,971% increase compared to the same period of 2025. Backlog reached $2.7 billion, up 483% year-over-year.

Babcock also said it reduced secured debt and unsecured bonds by 87% to net debt of $42.4 million at the end of the quarter.

"We are pleased to report a strong financial and operational start to 2026 as first quarter revenue and Adjusted EBITDA exceeded Company and consensus street expectations," said CEO Kenneth Young.

Young said the company is seeing strong interest from AI data center and hyperscaler customers planning to use Babcock's power generation solutions to support growing energy demand.

The company also highlighted progress on its existing project with Base Electron, noting that manufacturing of boilers, steam turbines and other long-lead-time components is continuing as planned.

At March 31, Babcock reported secured debt and bonds of $237.2 million and cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash totaling $194.8 million.

The company said it paid off $15 million in outstanding bonds due in December during the quarter and expects to fully repay the remaining balance in 2026.

Babcock Shares Rise

BW Price Action: Babcock shares were up 10.80% at $16.11 at the time of publication on Monday, according to Benzinga Pro. Over the past month, BW has declined about 2.5% versus 8.9% rise in the S&P 500 and is up roughly 158% year-to-date compared to the index’s 7.6% gain.

This illustration was generated using artificial intelligence via Midjourney.