New York, Jan 8, 2026, 14:38 EST — Regular session
- Legence shares slid about 9% in afternoon trading, reversing an early move higher
- Contractor peers also fell, while Wall Street traded mixed ahead of key U.S. jobs data
- Traders are watching Friday’s payrolls report and any further deal-related filings from Legence
Legence Corp (LGN.O) shares fell about 9% to $43.99 on Thursday, after earlier touching $48.79. The stock closed at $48.32 on Wednesday.
The pullback lands on a newly public name that has moved fast since its September debut. Blackstone-backed Legence raised $728 million in an IPO priced at $28 a share and sells engineering and maintenance work for building systems, including heating and air conditioning. Reuters
Broader markets offered little shelter. Wall Street was mixed on Thursday and traders focused on Friday’s nonfarm payrolls report for December, with technology shares weighing on the Nasdaq. Reuters
Other construction and engineering stocks were also lower: Comfort Systems USA was down about 7%, EMCOR about 5% and Quanta Services about 6%. Legence traded as low as $43.67 and volume topped 600,000 shares.
The company’s last major update came on Jan. 2, when it said it completed its acquisition of The Bowers Group, paying $325 million in cash and issuing about 2.55 million shares. Chief Executive Jeff Sprau called it “an important milestone in our growth strategy.” Legence
A regulatory filing showed Legence funded the cash portion with a mix that included a $200 million incremental term loan facility that it drew in full at closing. A term loan is long-term borrowing; the company said the incremental loans carry terms identical to its existing term debt and it expects to file deal financials and pro forma information within 71 days. SEC
At its last quarterly report in November, Legence forecast 2026 revenue of $2.65 billion to $2.85 billion and adjusted EBITDA of $295 million to $315 million. Adjusted EBITDA is a non-GAAP profit gauge that backs out items like interest, taxes and depreciation to give a cleaner view of operating performance. SEC
Thursday’s slide also took the shares back below $45, the price used in an upsized secondary offering by selling stockholders in December. The prospectus said Legence did not sell any shares in that deal and would not receive proceeds, and it warned that future stock sales could pressure the share price. SEC
But big swings cut both ways for a fresh IPO with an acquisition and new borrowing in the mix. A hotter-than-expected jobs report could keep rate worries alive, and any stumble in integrating recent deals could hit margins.
