The Globe and Mail reports in its Thursday, Oct. 17, edition that CIBC World Markets analyst Jacob Bout continues to see "strong momentum" across almost all end markets for the engineers and design industry with most companies reporting record backlogs. The Globe's David Leeder writes in the Eye On Equities column that Mr. Bout says in a note: "We remain constructive on Atkinsrealis Group, Stantec and WSP Global, but Atkinsrealis remains our top pick given the valuation gap. While we are seeing some softness on rental and residential construction spaces, we prefer Finning over Toromont Industries given the valuation gap and strong outlook in Chile for new equipment in 2025 and product support growth in 2026. We are lowering 2024 estimates for Ag Growth International given tougher U.S./Brazil farm environment, but long-term fundamentals remain. Aecon Group should be a much cleaner story within the next 12 months, displaying strong underlying margin performance and backlog levels that could potentially double." Mr. Bout rates Aecon Group, Ag Growth International, Finning International and Atkinsrealis Group "outperformer."