Finning International is a top long-term pick due to its massive structural earnings pivot toward high-margin, defensive product support. By moving heavily into long-term customer service agreements and machinery rebuilds, parts and service revenue now constitute over 61% of total corporate revenues. This massive, high-utilization equipment footprint yields a highly predictable, recurring revenue steam that aggressively insulates the company from the traditional economic boom-and-bust cycles typically felt by heavy machinery manufacturers.
Furthermore, the long-term project visibility in the revenue pipeline provides multi-year fundamental growth security. Between massive critical mineral mining initiatives in South America and extensive multi-year infrastructure data-center energy projects stretching through 2029 in Western Canada, the demand for primary heavy power systems and equipment remains unmatched.
The stock trades at 20.5 times the company’s forward earnings forecast. That’s a very fair price for an elite global industrial distributor with a 25-year history of dividend growth and locked-in mining tailwinds.
FINNING INTERNATIONAL INC. (Toronto symbol FTT; www.finning.com) sells and services Caterpillar-brand heavy equipment in Western Canada but also South America, the U.K. and Ireland. Its main customers are in the oil and gas, mining, forestry products and construction industries.
Last year, Finning sold its on-site refuelling business 4ReFuel business for $400 million. In a separate transaction, Finning and its partners sold their holdings in Compression Technology Corporation (ComTech). That firm provides mobile refuelling of compressed natural gas. Finning received $10 million.
Finning’s revenue in the three months ended March 31, 2026, gained 2.1%, to $2.50 billion from $2.45 billion a year earlier. Stronger demand for rental equipment and maintenance services offset lower demand for new and used equipment. However, the latest revenue figure missed the $2.53 billion consensus estimate.
Earnings before unusual items also rose 7.4% to $1.02 a share from $0.95. That beat the consensus estimate of $1.01.
Despite the uncertainty caused by the Iran war, demand for Finning’s equipment remains strong. Its backlog at the end of the quarter was $3.8 billion, up 22.6% from $3.1 billion at the end of 2025.
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Finning is led by mines and oil and gas production
Finning continues to benefit from the construction of new mines and oil and gas projects in Western Canada and Chile.
The company is in a strong position to benefit from the construction of new datacentres to run artificial intelligence programs. Its U.K. and Ireland division recently won a large order from a customer for primary and backup power generation equipment. Plans for new datacentres in Alberta should also spur demand for Finning’s equipment and services.
Rising oil and copper prices continue to spur demand for Finning’s products and services. As a result, its earnings in 2026 will probably rise 14% to $4.68 a share and the stock trades at a reasonable 20.5 times that estimate.
Finning also raised your quarterly dividend by 7.4% with the June 2026 payment; the new annual rate of $1.30 yields 1.3%.
Recommendation in The Successful Investor: Finning International Inc. is a buy.
