Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Corporation (GLDD): BCG Matrix [Dec-2025 Updated]

You're looking for a clear-eyed view of Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Corporation (GLDD) using the Boston Consulting Group Matrix, and honestly, the picture is one of a dominant player in a mature market, making a big, expensive bet on a new one. The high-margin Capital Dredging work, which accounts for 84% of the $934.5 million backlog and is driving strong margins, is funding the future, while older equipment creates drag. The real pivot is the $140M-$160M investment in the new subsea rock vessel, a major commitment to the high-growth Offshore Energy sector that currently represents a small piece of the pie. Let's dive into the specifics of where GLDD is currently generating cash and where it's placing its biggest chips for 2026 and beyond.

Background of Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Corporation (GLDD)

You're looking at Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Corporation (GLDD), which, honestly, is a pretty foundational player in U.S. infrastructure. As of late 2025, GLDD remains the largest provider of dredging services across the United States. They've been around for over 135 years, building a reputation for never failing to complete a marine project, which is a serious point of pride for them.

The core business is dredging, but you can't talk about GLDD without mentioning their significant work in land reclamation and coastal protection projects. These aren't just small jobs; they are critical for environmental stewardship and infrastructure resilience. In fact, looking at their Q3 2025 numbers, capital and coastal protection projects made up over 84% of their dredging backlog, which typically means higher margins for the company.

Financially, things looked strong heading into the end of 2025. For the trailing twelve months ending September 30, 2025, Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Corporation posted revenue of $834.60M. Their Q3 2025 revenue specifically came in at $195.2 million, even though management had expected a bit more. Still, they were pushing for 2025 to be the best year ever for both revenue and net income, which is a bold claim.

The visibility into future work is solid, too. As of September 30, 2025, the dredging backlog stood at $934.5 million, with another $193.5 million in low bids and options pending award. This gives them good revenue visibility well into 2026. They also own and operate a massive fleet, something like 200 specialized vessels, and they're actively growing by expanding into the offshore energy sector, which is a smart move for diversification.

Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Corporation (GLDD) - BCG Matrix: Stars

You're looking at the segment of Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Corporation (GLDD) that is clearly leading the market and operating in the fastest-growing areas of the business. These are the Stars, characterized by high market share in expanding sectors, which demand significant investment to maintain that leadership position.

The strength of this segment is evident in the composition of the total dredging backlog as of September 30, 2025, which stood at $934.5 million. Within that figure, high-margin Capital Dredging projects account for over 84% of the total, indicating where the company's high-growth, high-market-share focus lies. This concentration in premium work is what is setting up 2025 to be the highest EBITDA year in company history by a large margin. The execution on these projects is what separates Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Corporation from competitors.

Key drivers for this Star category include major infrastructure pushes, specifically port deepening and new Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) terminal projects. The Woodside Louisiana LNG project is a prime example of this, contributing to the strong performance. The successful execution of these complex projects is directly translating to superior profitability metrics.

Here's a quick look at the margin expansion that reflects this segment's success:

This segment's superior project execution is driving the 2025 gross margin to 22.4% in Q3, a notable increase from 19% in Q3 2024. This margin improvement is directly attributed to the larger number of capital projects in the mix.

Furthermore, the fleet modernization is supporting this high-growth area. The new hopper dredge Amelia Island was delivered in Q3 2025, completing the dredging newbuild program and giving Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Corporation the largest and most advanced hopper dredge fleet in the United States. This new asset is expected to immediately boost fleet utilization and revenue, as it already has a full work schedule for 2025 and 2026.

The key components bolstering the Star quadrant performance include:

• High-margin Capital Dredging projects, making up over 84% of the $934.5 million backlog as of September 30, 2025.
• Port deepening and new LNG terminal projects, like Woodside Louisiana LNG, driving record 2025 EBITDA.
• New hopper dredge Amelia Island (delivered Q3 2025) immediately boosting fleet utilization and revenue.
• This segment's superior project execution is driving 2025 gross margin to 22.4% in Q3, up from 19% in Q3 2024.

The current backlog visibility extends well into 2026, which is exactly what you want to see from a Star business unit. Finance: confirm the expected 2025 EBITDA projection against the actual year-end result by February 2026.

Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Corporation (GLDD) - BCG Matrix: Cash Cows

You're looking at the bedrock of Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Corporation's operations, the segment that reliably funds the rest of the portfolio. This is the Core Domestic Dredging business, which firmly holds a stable mid-30% market share in the U.S. market. This business unit operates in a mature environment, which is why we peg the overall U.S. dredging market with a steady, low growth rate of approximately 2.0% CAGR. This low growth, combined with your dominant share, is the classic Cash Cow profile: high market share in a low-growth setting. Defintely, this segment is where the company generates the most predictable cash.

The stability you see here is largely due to consistent, long-term government contracts, primarily flowing from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). These contracts provide high-volume revenue visibility, with the outline suggesting $720 million of the backlog is expected to convert to 2025 revenue, which is a significant anchor for the year's financial planning. Because this segment is mature, the strategy here isn't aggressive expansion; it's about maintaining efficiency and milking the gains.

Here's a quick look at the financial reality supporting the Cash Cow thesis, using the latest reported figures as of the third quarter of 2025:

The focus for this segment should be on operational improvements to further boost cash flow, rather than heavy marketing spend. Investments here are best directed toward infrastructure that supports efficiency, like fleet maintenance or drydocking schedules, which you can see impacted recent quarters. The high margin on capital and coastal protection projects, which accounted for over 84 per cent of the backlog at the end of Q3 2025, is what keeps the cash flowing strongly from this unit.

Consider these points that underscore the cash-generating nature of this business unit:

• Maintained mid-30% market share for a very long time.
• 2024 was the second-best year in company history for EBITDA.
• First half of 2025 saw higher revenue, gross margin, and EBITDA versus H1 2024.
• The company is free cash flow positive in 2025.
• Liquidity at the end of Q3 2025 was $284.1 million.
• No debt maturities until 2029.

Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Corporation (GLDD) - BCG Matrix: Dogs

You're looking at the segments of Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Corporation (GLDD) that don't command high growth or market leadership, the classic Dogs in the portfolio. These units tie up capital without offering significant returns, and honestly, they're the first place you look when considering divestiture or severe cost containment.

Routine Maintenance Dredging

Routine Maintenance Dredging is a necessary component of the business, but it sits in a mature, lower-growth market compared to the big capital projects. This work is essential for keeping channels open, but it consistently delivers lower margins. We see this contrast clearly when looking at the backlog composition. As of June 30, 2025, capital and coastal protection projects accounted for 93% of the dredging backlog, which management notes typically yield higher margins. This implies that the remaining portion, which includes maintenance dredging, is significantly lower margin, thus fitting the Dog profile.

• Lower-margin revenue stream.
• Revenue in Q3 2025 was partially offset by lower maintenance project revenue compared to Q3 2024.
• Q1 2025 saw a year-over-year offset to higher capital project revenue due to lower maintenance project revenue.

Older, Less Efficient Vessels and Regulatory Costs

The operational drag from older assets is a clear indicator of a Dog segment. These vessels require more frequent and expensive regulatory dry-docking, which directly impacts profitability. The financial evidence of this pressure is stark in the second quarter of 2025. Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Corporation temporarily saw its Adjusted EBITDA drop to $28.0 million for Q2 2025, a figure management explicitly linked to four dredges undergoing their regulatory dry-docking during that period. To put that in perspective, the Adjusted EBITDA for Q1 2025 was $60.1 million, and for Q3 2025, it recovered to $39.3 million once the dry-docking impact lessened and the newer fleet came online.

The gross margin also reflects this inefficiency. In Q2 2025, the gross margin was 18.9%, a notable step down from the 28.6% achieved in Q1 2025, partially due to higher drydocking costs. You can see the direct financial impact of managing older, less efficient assets here:

Expensive turn-around plans, like the capital expenditure on new vessels, are designed to replace these Dogs, not fix them. The company spent $64.6 million in capital expenditures in Q2 2025, focusing on the newbuilds like the Acadia and Amelia Island, which are the future Stars/Cash Cows, not on propping up the old fleet.

Foreign Dredging Operations

Historically, Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Corporation's foreign dredging operations have represented a smaller, more volatile revenue stream, which aligns perfectly with the low market share and low growth characteristics of a Dog. While the company is expanding into international offshore energy, which is a growth area, the traditional, smaller foreign dredging contracts are likely candidates for minimization or divestiture if they don't meet a minimum return threshold. The focus remains heavily domestic and on high-margin capital work; as of September 30, 2025, the offshore energy backlog was $73 million, up from $44.9 million at the end of 2024, showing where the growth focus is, leaving smaller, volatile segments behind.

• Historically smaller and more volatile segment.
• Contrast with the growing offshore energy backlog of $73 million as of September 30, 2025.
• Management's focus is on capital projects accounting for 93% of the Q2 2025 backlog.

Finance: draft 13-week cash view by Friday.

Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Corporation (GLDD) - BCG Matrix: Question Marks

You're looking at the segment of Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Corporation (GLDD) that is burning cash now but holds the key to future growth, which is the classic Question Mark profile. This area is defined by being in a market that is expanding rapidly but where Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Corporation currently holds a small piece of the action.

The primary focus here is the Offshore Energy/Subsea Rock Installation business. This market is definitely high-growth; we are seeing projections for the Global Offshore Wind sector hitting a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of around 14%. That kind of growth rate demands attention, but it also demands significant capital to compete effectively.

The investment Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Corporation is making to capture this growth is substantial. The centerpiece is the new Acadia subsea rock installation vessel, a major capital expenditure (CapEx) investment estimated in the $140M-$160M range. To give you a sense of the cash burn, capital expenditures in the third quarter of 2025 totaled $32.8 million, with $18.6 million of that specifically allocated to the Acadia's construction alone. The delivery of this specialized, U.S.-flagged, Jones Act-compliant vessel is slated for Q1 2026.

Despite the high-growth market and the massive asset investment, the current financial footprint in this segment remains small, indicating a low market share. As of September 30, 2025, the Offshore Energy backlog stood at only $73.0 million. To put that in perspective against the core business, the total dredging backlog was $934.5 million at the same date. That $73 million offshore energy figure is the low return you see right now, despite the high market potential.

The near-term strategy is complicated by market friction. There is near-term uncertainty due to the temporary pause on the Equinor Empire Wind 1 project, which was expected to be the Acadia's maiden mission. This forces Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Corporation to pivot and actively pursue international markets to ensure the Acadia is utilized immediately upon its early 2026 delivery. The strategy must be to invest heavily now to secure market share quickly before the high-growth opportunity matures or the segment risks falling into the Dogs quadrant.

Here are the key figures defining this Question Mark segment as of the third quarter of 2025:

The path forward requires aggressive action to convert this asset investment into secured, high-value contracts. You need to see that $73 million backlog grow substantially throughout 2026, especially with the Acadia coming online.

• Invest heavily to gain market share in the high-growth offshore wind sector.
• Mitigate risk from U.S. project uncertainty by securing international work.
• Ensure the $140M-$160M asset is fully utilized post-Q1 2026 delivery.
• Convert pending awards and low bids into firm backlog figures.