AECOM, together with its subsidiaries, provides professional infrastructure consulting services for governments, businesses, and organizations internationally. The company operates in three segments: Americas, International, and AECOM Capital. The company offers advisory, planning, consulting, architectural and engineering design, construction and program management services, and investment and development services to public and private clients in major end markets such as transportation, facilities, …
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Competitive advantage assessment
Key strengths
ROIC Sustainably Above PeersROIC at 81.8th percentile exceeds peers and WACC, demonstrating superior capital allocation.
Margins Stable Across CyclesOperating margin volatility is low (stability score 0.76), demonstrating pricing resilience across cycles.
Key risks
Liquidity ConcernsLiquidity is concerning (score 0.29), raising questions about short-term obligations.
AECOM ranks #23 of 49
scored companies in Engineering & Construction by moat score — the top 47%.
The widest moat in the group is Sterling Infrastructure, Inc. (STRL)
at 79/100.
Moat scores for companies ranked near ACM in Engineering & Construction
Pricing power is the ability to raise prices without losing volume.
Cost Advantage
Score 76
· 15% of the moat score
A cost advantage means delivering the same product for structurally less — better purchasing, denser distribution, a more automated process.
Customer Stickiness
Score 65
· 15% of the moat score
Stickiness is what makes revenue repeat without being re-won every year.
Capital Efficiency
Score 72
· 18% of the moat score
Capital efficiency asks what the company earns on the money tied up in the business.
Resilience
Score 48
· 17% of the moat score
Resilience is the capacity to get through a bad year on its own terms — enough liquidity, enough interest cover, and enough cash generation to avoid a rescue financing or a forced sale.
Scale & Market Position
Score 42
· 15% of the moat score
Scale matters only when it converts into economics.
AECOM (ACM) scores 59 out of 100 on the StatsAlpha Moat Map, which rates its competitive advantage as moderate. It ranks #23 of 49 scored companies in Engineering & Construction, the top 47%. The score is a weighted composite of 6 competitive defenses, each measured against industry peers of 48 companies in Engineering & Construction. Its strongest defense is Cost Advantage (76/100) and its weakest is Scale & Market Position (42/100).
How does AECOM compare with other Engineering & Construction companies?
AECOM ranks #23 of 49 scored companies in Engineering & Construction by moat score. The widest moat in Engineering & Construction is Sterling Infrastructure, Inc. (STRL) at 79/100. The companies ranked closest are Jacobs Solutions Inc. (J) at 59 just above it and Concrete Pumping Holdings, Inc. (BBCP) at 58 just below it.
How is the moat score calculated?
Each company is scored with an industry-specific template — Corporate Default in this case, chosen because the defenses that matter to a bank are not the ones that matter to a software company. Every defense combines several financial signals, and each signal is measured as a percentile against a peer group of 48 companies in Engineering & Construction. The defenses are then weighted to produce the overall score out of 100.
Why is AECOM scored with the Corporate Default template?
Most public companies sell a product or a service at a margin, so the moat question is whether that margin survives contact with competitors. The Corporate template scores the six defenses that show up in a general operating company's financial signature: whether it can hold price, produce more cheaply than rivals, keep its customers, earn a return above its cost of capital, withstand a downturn, and turn size into economics.
Which competitive defenses are measured for AECOM?
The Corporate Default template measures 6 defenses, and ACM scores: Pricing Power (52), Cost Advantage (76), Customer Stickiness (65), Capital Efficiency (72), Resilience (48), Scale & Market Position (42). Each is scored independently as a percentile against peers, so a company can be strong on one and weak on another — the overall score reflects how those defenses are weighted for this industry.
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