How did I even miss this? Anyway, been doing some research and you probably haven’t heard much buzz about Comfort Systems USA (ticker: $FIX ), but its stock tells a story worth paying attention to. In just five years, shares have exploded from about $40 to more than $680; a staggering 1,500% run with barely a whisper in financial media.

What’s behind the massive climb?

    •    Annual revenue more than doubled, jumping from $2.6 billion in 2019 to over $7 billion in 2024

    •    Net profits surged, climbing from $114 million to $522 million

    •    In Q1 2025 alone, earnings per share hit a record $4.75, up 75% year over year

    •    Project backlog reached nearly $7 billion, packed with large-scale jobs in data centers, semiconductor plants, hospitals, and manufacturing facilities

What makes this even crazier is how strategic their growth has been. Rather than chasing size for the sake of it, they have focused on acquiring contractors in high-demand, high-tech industries; think semiconductors, modular builds, and biotech.

Some notable deals include:

    •    Summit Industrial; positioned for the semiconductor boom

    •    DECCO; focused on life sciences and biotech infrastructure

    •    Eldeco; bringing strength in industrial electrical systems

They’ve now positioned themselves as key players in building the physical infrastructure for booming sectors, AI data centers, advanced chip fabs, and hospital systems.

This isn’t just a construction company riding random growth, it’s a disciplined operator aligned with major macro shifts: reshoring of manufacturing, demand for domestic chip production (thanks to the CHIPS Act), and the rise of modular and industrial-scale builds.

I don’t own shares yet, but seeing a stock like this makes you wonder: how do you identify these long-term outperformers before they take off? What early signs show that a company has the DNA to 10x over a decade?