Construction and engineering services provider Argan (AGX 8.47%) was a big hit on the stock exchange Thursday, a direct result of the far better-than-expected quarterly results it posted the day before. Investors plowed into the company to give it an 8% lift on the day, providing a notable contrast to the S&P 500's (^GSPC -0.53%) 0.5% decrease.

Double- and triple-digit pops

For its inaugural quarter of fiscal 2026, Argan's revenue came in at just under $193.7 million, a meaty 23% year-over-year increase. That was accompanied by a significant (36%) increase in project backlog, to a record level of almost $1.9 billion. Even better, net income under generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) standards nearly tripled, landing at almost $22.6 million ($1.60) versus the less than $7.9 million of fiscal first quarter 2025.

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Both headline numbers absolutely obliterated the consensus analyst estimates. On average, pundits tracking Argan stock were modeling slightly below $176 million on the top line, and a per-share GAAP net income figure of $0.90.

In the earnings release, Argan attributed its powerful gains largely to one key customer base. It quoted CEO David Watson as saying that the improvements came largely from "the energy industry's urgent response to the growing strain on our power grids related to the building of data centers, the onshoring of complex manufacturing, and an increasing amount of electric vehicle (EV) charging activity."

No longer a sleeper stock?

Outperformance like this rarely escapes the notice of investors, so it was hardly surprising that they bid up Argan's shares after the earnings release was published. The trends driving the fundamentals well higher should remain in force for quite some time -- particularly the dynamic behind the data center demand, which is directly related to the rapid rise of artificial intelligence (AI) -- so this once under-the-radar stock should continue to be a solid play.