Smith-Midland Targets $100M Backlog as Barrier Rentals, Data Centers Drive Growth

Smith-Midland’s backlog rose 19% to $57.4 million in the second quarter of 2026, and management is targeting approximately $100 million through expanded sales and marketing efforts. A recently awarded $10 million Interstate 81 project was not yet included in the reported backlog. The company is expanding its recurring-revenue barrier rental business, growing its fleet from roughly 10 miles to 150 miles of barriers plus about 500 crash cushions. Demand is supported by states’ transition to MASH-compliant safety barriers, including California’s 2027 deadline. Growth opportunities include infrastructure spending, data-center-driven utility-vault demand in Northern Virginia, and increased interest in prefabricated products such as SoftSound and SlenderWall. Management is also prioritizing margin improvements through lean manufacturing and cost controls. Smith-Midland NASDAQ: SMID outlined growth opportunities in highway safety barriers, infrastructure construction, utility projects and prefabricated building systems during a company presentation led by Chief Executive Officer Ashley Smith and Chief Financial Officer Dominic Hunter. Smith said the company, founded on his grandfather’s family farm in 1960, produces proprietary and generic precast concrete products through facilities in Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C. Its proprietary offerings include J-J Hooks highway barriers, Easi-Set and Easi-Span utility products, SoftSound noise walls and SlenderWall lightweight precast panel systems. Smith identified the replacement of older roadside barriers as a significant tailwind. Federal Highway Administration crash-test standards are updated periodically, he said, and states are increasingly setting deadlines to transition to newer barriers meeting MASH safety standards. The company’s J-J Hooks barrier is sold, rented and licensed to other precast producers. Smith said California has set a Jan. 1, 2027, deadline for use of MASH-tested barriers, and Smith-Midland’s licensee in the state has been increasing production at facilities in Northern and Southern California as well as Reno, Nevada. Smith-Midland has also expanded its barrier rental business, Concrete Safety Systems. Smith said the fleet has grown from roughly 10 miles of rental barrier several years ago to approximately 150 miles currently, including barrier repurchased from a customer following a large Northern Virginia project. The company also has about 500 crash cushions, or attenuators, in its rental fleet. Rental operations provide installation, relocation and removal services, Smith said. He described the model as a source of recurring revenue and upfront project cash flow that can be reinvested in inventory and other operations. During a question-and-answer session, he said the company was operating at about 80% utilization of its barrier capacity and estimated a blended return period of approximately three and a half years on barrier investments. The company is developing a limited-deflection barrier design that Smith said could be less expensive to install than competing products. He said the product still requires additional crash testing, federal approval and state approvals before commercialization. Hunter said Smith-Midland reported backlog of $57.4 million in its second-quarter 2026 filing, up 19% from the first quarter.