Jacobs Engineering lifts outlook

Shares of Jacobs Engineering Group Inc., the second-largest U.S. engineering-services company, rose 9.2% on Tuesday after the company boosted its earnings forecast for the year.

The shares jumped $7.39 to $87.85, their biggest gain in two years. They’ve risen 23% in the last year.

Jacobs, based in Pasadena, raised its forecast for the year to $4 to $4.30 a share, above the $3.96 average estimate from analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. The company earned $3.27 last year.

Chief Executive Craig Martin is forecasting growth this year on demand from the commercial construction and energy exploration industries.

The company said the value of its backlog, or work not yet completed, rose 16% to $10.4 billion as of December from a year earlier.

The company also reported that earnings jumped 42% to $61.3 million, or $1.01 a share, for its fiscal first quarter, which ended Dec. 31. That beat the average estimate of 88 cents a share from analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.