The Metro project excites investors, but not all contractors are benefiting
While the residential real estate sector is suffering from a slowdown, infrastructure companies are seeing growth driven by expectations of massive investments in the Metro project, estimated at 180–200 billion shekels.
The sectoral split highlights the differences: while the residential real estate sector is suffering from a slowdown and the income-producing sector is still dealing with difficulties in the office market, the infrastructure sector has seen optimism from investors in recent months. This has pushed up the stock prices of many contracting companies involved in the field.
Thus, while the TA-125 index has risen by 10% since the beginning of the year, the stock of the Oron Group has jumped by 129% in the same period, and the shares of Shapir, Rimon, and Manrav have risen by 37%, 34%, and 17% respectively. However, not all companies have benefited to the same extent. Stocks of companies with high dependence on residential and office construction, such as Danya Cebus and Ashtrom, have lost 26% and 21% of their value respectively.
The prevailing market perception is that since the infrastructure sector will require massive state investments due to population growth and the need for economic recovery, companies in this field will benefit. The most prominent representative is the Metro project, which will require an investment of about 180–200 billion shekels and is exciting investors, with many companies preparing to grab a share of it.
A sharp leap in Oron's engineering activity
The main area of activity for Oron, managed by brothers Yoel and Gili Azaria, is infrastructure and construction, which accounted for 56% of its revenue in the second quarter of 2026. In late May and mid-June, it won two tenders for initial work on the Metro project.
After being hit by the consequences of the war with Iran in the first quarter, Oron returned in the second quarter to a trend of improvement: sales rose by 12% to 548 million shekels. Operating profit jumped more than fourfold to 38 million shekels, moving the bottom line from a loss of 8.5 million shekels to a profit of 13 million shekels attributable to shareholders.
Shapir: The largest in terms of value
The market value of Shapir Engineering reaches more than 15 billion shekels. Shapir has five sectors of activity: industry, infrastructure, real estate, logistics, and concessions. The industrial sector, where it operates quarries and produces cement, concrete, and asphalt, and the infrastructure sector are central, accounting for 46% and 44% of revenue in the second quarter.
Shapir enjoyed a 28% and 22% jump in revenue in these two main sectors to 772 million shekels in industry and 746 million shekels in infrastructure. Shapir is expected to benefit from increased performance even if other contractors win large infrastructure tenders, as many will need to source construction materials from it.
Danya Cebus: The focus on residential makes it difficult
For Danya Cebus, infrastructure is only the third-largest revenue source (307 million shekels, 19% of quarterly revenue). The main areas of activity for the company, controlled by Yaakov Luxenburg, are non-residential construction (43% of total revenue) and residential construction (36% of revenue).
Danya Cebus's dependence on the residential market, which has seen a slowdown in apartment purchases, has weighed on the company's operational performance. Investors also react with skepticism to the company's main area of activity, non-residential construction, due to fears of decreased demand for office space. Consequently, Danya Cebus stock has lost 26% of its value since the beginning of the year.
