Negative $24.6 million. That was Dycom’s operating cash flow for the three months ended May 2, even as revenue reached $2.0 billion. Shares closed at $311.02 on Aug. 26, down 11.6% that day, but the filing’s odd pairing is more basic than the stock move: the business sold much more and converted less of it into cash.
Revenue rose 35.3% from the comparable three-month period, while net income fell 14.2% to $91.3 million. Net margin dropped 2.7 percentage points to 4.6%, and diluted earnings per share fell to 3.00 from 3.63. Growth arrived. The take-home portion did not.
Dycom attributed the revenue increase mainly to fiber-to-the-home deployments, including rural fiber programs. Management also said higher contract revenue improved operating leverage, but the income statement carries two weights that revenue alone does not show: interest expense rose to $35.5 million from $14.0 million, and acquisition accounting added $45.9 million of amortization expense. That amortization is a non-cash accounting charge, not a cash payment, but it still reduces reported income.
The company described the source of the sales increase this way:
"Excluding amounts generated by the acquired business, contract revenues increased by $310.8 million during the three months ended May 2, 2026 compared to the three months ended April 26, 2025, primarily due to net revenue increases in fiber-to-the-home deployments, including rural fiber deployment programs."
Dycom, 10-Q filed May 28, 2026.
The important detail is that the growth was not presented as a broad-based pricing effect. The disclosed driver was more work on fiber deployments, with the acquired business separately excluded from that calculation.
Cash conversion is where the arithmetic gets less comfortable. Accounts receivable increased 24.8% to $2.0 billion, faster than the 19.4% rise in inventory to $143.3 million, while operating cash flow moved from $223.5 million positive to negative $24.6 million. The cause of the receivables increase is not disclosed. Capex fell 62.3% to $70.3 million, but that reduction did not prevent operating cash flow from turning negative.
Dycom also disclosed why depreciation remains elevated, pointing to earlier spending and acquisitions:
"The increase in depreciation expense during the three months ended May 2, 2026 is primarily due to higher capital expenditures to support our growth in operations, the normal replacement cycle of fleet assets, and depreciation from acquired businesses."
Dycom, 10-Q filed May 28, 2026.
That gives the filing a two-speed picture. The current period used far less capital spending than the comparable period, while the asset base built for expansion continues to feed depreciation. Cash rose to $538.8 million from $110.1 million, but the reported cash balance does not erase the negative operating conversion in the three-month period.
The longer record supplies some context without solving the mismatch. Annual revenue reached $5.5 billion in the year ended Jan. 31, up 17.9%, and annual net margin was 5.1%. Annual revenue has grown; this latest period shows the accounting profit and cash timing moving in different directions.
The next quarterly report is the factual checkpoint for two numbers now pulling apart: operating cash flow and accounts receivable. It will also show whether the $45.9 million acquisition-related amortization remains part of the reported-income comparison. For now, Dycom is growing the top line and making the cash wait its turn.
Source: Dycom Industries’ 10-Q filed May 28, 2026, for the three months ended May 2, 2026.