The ZweigWhite 15 (ZW15), an index of the stock prices of publicly traded architecture, engineering, and construction firms, rose 9.9 percent in April to reach $730.61, marking the second consecutive month of gains. Following suit, the ZweigWhite International (ZWI) index rose 15.7 percent to end April at $612.73, indicating that the recovery is not isolated to the United States. Gains in the index were also broadly based, as opposed to being driven by one or two firms, with 12 of the 15 companies that make up the ZW15 rising in value in April.

"Headlines in the AEC space continue to be dominated by two primary forces," said Gregory Hart, a consultant with ZweigWhite who specializes in financial advisory services. "On the positive side for many firms is spending related to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. However, countering this encouraging news from economic stimulus efforts, the second force, which remains a significant hurdle for projects in the private sector, is access to credit, or rather the lack thereof."

The ZW15 and ZWI are two market indices developed by ZweigWhite to represent the broad spectrum of companies operating in the AEC industries. The indices act as a bellwether for the industries’ economic conditions. The ZW15 tracks 15 select U.S.-based companies trading on the U.S. stock exchanges. The ZWI tracks 15 select international firms trading on foreign stock exchanges. For more information on the ZW15 and ZWI, read an introduction to the indices online. 

The ZW15 and ZWI are tracked in each issue of ZweigWhite’s AEC Finance News, a monthly newsletter providing financial news, benchmarking data, and expert analysis of trends for firm leaders and CFOs working in the AEC space. For the full results and analysis of the latest ZW15 and ZWI data, read Gregory Hart’s complete article.