Willdan Group, Inc. 10-K

ITEM 8. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND SUPPLEMENTARY DATA Index to Consolidated Financial Statements ​ ​ Page Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm (PCAOB ID 173 ) 54 Consolidated Balance Sheets as of January 2, 2026 and December 27, 2024 56 Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income for each of the fiscal years in the three-year period ended January 2, 2026 57 Consolidated Statements of Stockholders’ Equity for each of the fiscal years in the three-year period ended January 2, 2026 58 Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows for each of the fiscal years in the three-year period ended January 2, 2026 59 Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements 60 ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ 53 Table of Contents Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm ​ Stockholders and the Board of Directors of Willdan Group, Inc. Anaheim, California ​ Opinions on the Financial Statements and Internal Control over Financial Reporting ​ We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of Willdan Group, Inc. (the "Company") as of January 2, 2026 and December 27, 2024, the related consolidated statements of comprehensive income (loss), stockholders’ equity, and cash flows for each of the years in the three-year period ended January 2, 2026, and the related notes (collectively referred to as the "financial statements"). We also have audited the Company’s internal control over financial reporting as of January 2, 2026, based on criteria established in Internal Control – Integrated Framework: (2013) issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO). ​ In our opinion, the financial statements referred to above present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Company as of January 2, 2026 and December 27, 2024, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for each of the years in the three-year period ended January 2, 2026 in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America. Also in our opinion, the Company maintained, in all material respects, effective internal control over financial reporting as of January 2, 2026, based on criteria established in Internal Control – Integrated Framework: (2013) issued by COSO. ​ Basis for Opinions ​ The Company’s management is responsible for these financial statements, for maintaining effective internal control over financial reporting, and for its assessment of the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting, included in the accompanying Management’s Report on Internal Controls Over Financial Reporting. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company’s financial statements and an opinion on the Company’s internal control over financial reporting based on our audits. We are a public accounting firm registered with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (“PCAOB”) and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB. ​ We conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audits to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud, and whether effective internal control over financial reporting was maintained in all material respects. ​ Our audits of the financial statements included performing procedures to assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to error or fraud, and performing procedures that respond to those risks. Such procedures included examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. Our audits also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the financial statements. Our audit of internal control over financial reporting included obtaining an understanding of internal control over financial reporting, assessing the risk that a material weakness exists, and testing and evaluating the design and operating effectiveness of internal control based on the assessed risk. As permitted, the Company has excluded the operations of Compass Municipal Advisors, LLC, Alternative Power Generation, Inc., and Alpha Inspections, Inc., acquired during the fiscal year ended January 2, 2026, which is described in Note 13 of the consolidated financial statements, from the scope of management’s report on internal control over financial reporting. As such, they have also been excluded from the scope of our audit of internal control over financial reporting. Our audits also included performing such other procedures as we considered necessary in the circumstances. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinions. ​ Definition and Limitations of Internal Control Over Financial Reporting ​ A company’s internal control over financial reporting is a process designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with 54 Table of Contents generally accepted accounting principles. A company’s internal control over financial reporting includes those policies and procedures that (1) pertain to the maintenance of records that, in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of the assets of the company; (2) provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, and that receipts and expenditures of the company are being made only in accordance with authorizations of management and directors of the company; and (3) provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use, or disposition of the company’s assets that could have a material effect on the financial statements. ​ Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements. Also, projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate. ​ Critical Audit Matter ​ The critical audit matter communicated below is a matter arising from the current period audit of the consolidated financial statements that was communicated or required to be communicated to the audit committee and that: (1) relates to accounts or disclosures that are material to the consolidated financial statements and (2) involved our especially challenging, subjective, or complex judgments. The communication of the critical audit matter does not alter in any way our opinion on the consolidated financial statements, taken as a whole, and we are not, by communicating the critical audit matter below, providing a separate opinion on the critical audit matter or on the accounts or disclosures to which it relates. Estimated costs to complete on fixed price contracts As discussed in Note 1 to the consolidated financial statements, revenues from fixed price contracts are recognized over time since control of the services is transferred continuously to the client. Generally, revenue is recognized using costs incurred to date relative to total estimated costs at completion to measure progress toward satisfying the Company’s performance obligations. We identified auditing management’s estimates of costs to complete on select fixed price contracts to be a critical audit matter. The critical audit matter relates to select long-term fixed price construction contracts, based on magnitude of estimated costs to complete and the stage of completion of the contract. These estimates require management to make assumptions about future events and, as a result, a high degree of auditor judgment is involved in auditing these estimates. Due to the factors above, auditing management’s estimates of costs to complete required extensive audit procedures. Our audit procedures related to the evaluation of estimated costs at completion for fixed price contracts included the following: ● Tested the design, implementation, and operating effectiveness of controls that are designed to address the reasonableness of estimates of costs to complete fixed price contracts. ● Evaluated the reasonableness of management’s estimates related to the cost to complete for fixed price contracts through testing of the key components of the estimated costs to complete, including, labor, materials, and subcontractor costs. ● Agreed a sample of contract costs incurred to supporting documentation. ● Performed inquiries of management and project personnel regarding facts and circumstances relevant to the accounting for a sample of such contracts. ● Recalculated revenue recognition based on the percentage of completion. ● Performed retrospective review procedures to assess management’s historical ability to accurately estimate the transaction price and cost to complete of fixed price contracts. /s/ Crowe LLP ​ We have served as the Company's auditor since 2018. Los Angeles, California February 26, 2026 55 Table of Contents WILLDAN GROUP, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEET S (in thousands, except par value) ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ January 2, ​ December 27, ​ ​ 2026 ​ ​ ​ 2024 Assets Current assets: ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Cash and cash equivalents ​ $ 65,919 ​ $ 74,158 Restricted cash ​ ​ — ​ ​ — Accounts receivable, net of allowance for doubtful accounts of $ 340 and $ 1,313 at January 2, 2026 and December 27, 2024, respectively ​ 64,604 ​ 65,557 Contract assets ​ 107,296 ​ 88,528 Other receivables ​ 6,330 ​ 2,302 Prepaid expenses and other current assets ​ 7,528 ​ 4,979 Total current assets ​ 251,677 ​ 235,524 Equipment and leasehold improvements, net ​ 31,491 ​ 29,534 Goodwill ​ ​ 179,530 ​ ​ 140,991 Right-of-use assets ​ ​ 16,600 ​ ​ 14,035 Other intangible assets, net ​ ​ 35,521 ​ ​ 29,414 Other assets ​ 2,762 ​ 2,019 Deferred income taxes, net ​ ​ 26,630 ​ ​ 13,346 Total assets ​ $ 544,211 ​ $ 464,863 Liabilities and Stockholders’ Equity Current liabilities: ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Accounts payable ​ $ 45,628 ​ $ 33,766 Accrued liabilities ​ 82,434 ​ 62,776 Contingent consideration payable ​ ​ 3,732 ​ ​ 2,500 Contract liabilities ​ 21,565 ​ 21,556 Notes payable ​ 2,500 ​ 10,137 Finance lease obligations ​ 1,225 ​ ​ 1,138 Lease liability ​ ​ 4,670 ​ ​ 5,804 Total current liabilities ​ 161,754 ​ 137,677 Contingent consideration payable, less current portion ​ ​ 16,651 ​ ​ 1,713 Notes payable, less current portion ​ ​ 45,962 ​ ​ 79,350 Finance lease obligations, less current portion ​ 1,162 ​ 1,379 Lease liability, less current portion ​ ​ 13,762 ​ ​ 9,939 Other noncurrent liabilities ​ ​ 69 ​ ​ 462 Total liabilities ​ ​ 239,360 ​ ​ 230,520 ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Commitments and contingencies ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Stockholders’ equity: ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Preferred stock, $ 0.01 par value, 10,000 shares authorized, no shares issued and outstanding ​ — ​ — Common stock, $ 0.01 par value, 40,000 shares authorized; 14,762 and 14,169 shares issued and outstanding at January 2, 2026 and December 27, 2024, respectively ​ 148 ​ 142 Additional paid-in capital ​ 215,269 ​ 197,368 Accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) ​ ​ ( 270 ) ​ ​ ( 314 ) Retained earnings ​ 89,704 ​ 37,147 Total stockholders’ equity ​ 304,851 ​ 234,343 Total liabilities and stockholders’ equity ​ $ 544,211 ​ $ 464,863 ​ See accompanying notes to consolidated financial statements. ​ 56 Table of Contents WILLDAN GROUP, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOME (LOSS) (in thousands, except per share amounts) ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Fiscal Year ​ ​ 2025 ​ ​ ​ 2024 ​ ​ ​ 2023 Contract revenue ​ $ 681,552 ​ $ 565,798 ​ $ 510,095 ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Direct costs of contract revenue (inclusive of directly related depreciation and amortization): ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Salaries and wages ​ 109,098 ​ 93,543 ​ 89,915 Subcontractor services and other direct costs ​ 316,772 ​ 269,473 ​ 240,413 Total direct costs of contract revenue ​ 425,870 ​ 363,016 ​ 330,328 ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Gross profit ​ 255,682 ​ 202,782 ​ 179,767 ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ General and administrative expenses: ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Salaries and wages, payroll taxes and employee benefits ​ 125,736 ​ 105,373 ​ 95,556 Facilities and facility related ​ 9,717 ​ 9,718 ​ 9,565 Stock-based compensation ​ 11,825 ​ 7,388 ​ 5,323 Depreciation and amortization ​ 18,686 ​ 14,745 ​ 16,431 Other ​ 45,571 ​ 34,205 ​ 30,818 Total general and administrative expenses ​ 211,535 ​ 171,429 ​ 157,693 ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Income (Loss) from operations ​ 44,147 ​ 31,353 ​ 22,074 ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Other income (expense): ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Interest expense, net ​ ( 5,748 ) ​ ( 7,801 ) ​ ( 9,413 ) Other, net ​ 1,595 ​ 3,127 ​ 1,930 Total other expense, net ​ ( 4,153 ) ​ ( 4,674 ) ​ ( 7,483 ) ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Income (Loss) before income taxes ​ 39,994 ​ 26,679 ​ 14,591 Income tax (benefit) expense ​ ( 12,563 ) ​ 4,109 ​ 3,665 Net income (loss) ​ ​ 52,557 ​ ​ 22,570 ​ ​ 10,926 ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Other comprehensive income (loss): ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Unrealized gain (loss) on derivative contracts, net of tax ​ ​ 44 ​ ​ 350 ​ ​ ( 664 ) Comprehensive income (loss) ​ $ 52,601 ​ $ 22,920 ​ $ 10,262 ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Earnings (Loss) per share: ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Basic ​ $ 3.63 ​ $ 1.63 ​ $ 0.82 Diluted ​ $ 3.49 ​ $ 1.58 ​ $ 0.80 ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Weighted-average shares outstanding: ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Basic ​ 14,461 ​ 13,818 ​ 13,394 Diluted ​ 15,071 ​ 14,245 ​ 13,606 ​ ​ See accompanying notes to consolidated financial statements. 57 Table of Contents WILLDAN GROUP, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUIT Y (in thousands) ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Accumulated ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Additional ​ Other ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Common Stock ​ Paid-in ​ Comprehensive ​ Retained ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Shares ​ ​ ​ Amount ​ ​ ​ Capital ​ ​ ​ Income (Loss) ​ ​ ​ Earnings ​ ​ ​ Total Balance at December 30, 2022 13,296 ​ $ 133 ​ $ 177,718 ​ $ ( 0 ) ​ $ 3,651 ​ $ 181,502 Shares of common stock issued in connection with employee stock purchase plan 182 ​ ​ 2 ​ ​ 2,779 ​ ​ — ​ ​ — ​ ​ 2,781 Shares of common stock issued in connection with incentive stock plan ​ 19 ​ ​ — ​ ​ 182 ​ ​ — ​ ​ — ​ ​ 182 Shares used to pay taxes on stock grants ( 11 ) ​ ​ — ​ ​ ( 205 ) ​ ​ — ​ ​ — ​ ​ ( 205 ) Issuance of restricted stock award and units ​ 196 ​ ​ 2 ​ ​ ( 2 ) ​ ​ — ​ ​ — ​ ​ — Stock-based compensation expense — ​ ​ — ​ ​ 5,323 ​ ​ — ​ ​ — ​ ​ 5,323 Net income (loss) — ​ ​ — ​ ​ — ​ ​ — ​ ​ 10,926 ​ ​ 10,926 Net unrealized gain (loss) on derivative contracts ​ — ​ ​ — ​ ​ — ​ ​ ( 664 ) ​ ​ — ​ ​ ( 664 ) Balance at December 29, 2023 13,682 ​ $ 137 ​ $ 185,795 ​ $ ( 664 ) ​ $ 14,577 ​ $ 199,845 Shares of common stock issued in connection with employee stock purchase plan 164 ​ ​ 2 ​ ​ 2,836 ​ ​ — ​ ​ — ​ ​ 2,838 Shares of common stock issued in connection with incentive stock plan ​ 222 ​ ​ 2 ​ ​ 2,757 ​ ​ — ​ ​ — ​ ​ 2,759 Shares used to pay taxes on stock grants ( 48 ) ​ ​ ( 1 ) ​ ​ ( 1,406 ) ​ ​ — ​ ​ — ​ ​ ( 1,407 ) Issuance of restricted stock award and units ​ 149 ​ ​ 2 ​ ​ ( 2 ) ​ ​ — ​ ​ — ​ ​ — Stock-based compensation expense — ​ ​ — ​ ​ 7,388 ​ ​ — ​ ​ — ​ ​ 7,388 Net income (loss) — ​ ​ — ​ ​ — ​ ​ — ​ ​ 22,570 ​ ​ 22,570 Net unrealized gain (loss) on derivative contracts ​ — ​ ​ — ​ ​ — ​ ​ 350 ​ ​ — ​ ​ 350 Balance at December 27, 2024 14,169 ​ $ 142 ​ $ 197,368 ​ $ ( 314 ) ​ $ 37,147 ​ $ 234,343 Shares of common stock issued in connection with employee stock purchase plan 115 ​ ​ 1 ​ ​ 3,248 ​ ​ — ​ ​ — ​ ​ 3,249 Shares of common stock issued in connection with incentive stock plan ​ 150 ​ ​ 2 ​ ​ 2,757 ​ ​ — ​ ​ — ​ ​ 2,759 Shares used to pay taxes on stock grants ( 95 ) ​ ​ ( 1 ) ​ ​ ( 5,482 ) ​ ​ — ​ ​ — ​ ​ ( 5,483 ) Issuance of restricted stock award and units ​ 246 ​ ​ 2 ​ ​ ( 2 ) ​ ​ — ​ ​ — ​ ​ — Stock issued to acquire businesses ​ 177 ​ ​ 2 ​ ​ 5,555 ​ ​ — ​ ​ — ​ ​ 5,557 Stock-based compensation expense — ​ ​ — ​ ​ 11,825 ​ ​ — ​ ​ — ​ ​ 11,825 Net income (loss) — ​ ​ — ​ ​ — ​ ​ — ​ ​ 52,557 ​ ​ 52,557 Net unrealized gain (loss) on derivative contracts ​ — ​ ​ — ​ ​ — ​ ​ 44 ​ ​ — ​ ​ 44 Balance at January 2, 2026 14,762 ​ $ 148 ​ $ 215,269 ​ $ ( 270 ) ​ $ 89,704 ​ $ 304,851 ​ See accompanying notes to consolidated financial statements. ​ 58 Table of Contents WILLDAN GROUP, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS (in thousands) ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Fiscal Year ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ 2025 ​ ​ ​ 2024 ​ ​ ​ 2023 ​ ​ ​ Cash flows from operating activities: ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Net income (loss) ​ $ 52,557 ​ $ 22,570 ​ $ 10,926 ​ Adjustments to reconcile net income (loss) to net cash provided by (used in) operating activities: ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Depreciation and amortization ​ 18,686 ​ 14,745 ​ ​ 16,431 ​ Other non-cash items ​ ​ 637 ​ ​ ( 73 ) ​ ​ 1,445 ​ Deferred income taxes, net ​ ( 13,284 ) ​ 2,615 ​ ​ 2,582 ​ (Gain) loss on sale/disposal of equipment ​ ( 29 ) ​ ( 15 ) ​ ​ ( 63 ) ​ Provision for doubtful accounts ​ 237 ​ 740 ​ ​ 825 ​ Stock-based compensation ​ 11,825 ​ 7,388 ​ ​ 5,323 ​ Accretion and fair value adjustments of contingent consideration ​ ​ 3,095 ​ ​ 153 ​ ​ — ​ Changes in operating assets and liabilities, net of effects from business acquisitions: ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Accounts receivable ​ 7,752 ​ 5,316 ​ ​ ( 10,300 ) ​ Contract assets ​ ( 18,303 ) ​ 5,778 ​ ​ ( 10,825 ) ​ Other receivables ​ ( 4,017 ) ​ ( 1,133 ) ​ ​ 3,604 ​ Prepaid expenses and other current assets ​ ( 2,488 ) ​ ( 1,091 ) ​ ​ 2,566 ​ Other assets ​ ( 739 ) ​ 2,953 ​ ​ 5,717 ​ Accounts payable ​ 7,740 ​ ( 831 ) ​ ​ 4,360 ​ Accrued liabilities ​ 20,513 ​ 4,707 ​ ​ 5,030 ​ Contract liabilities ​ ( 4,222 ) ​ 8,373 ​ ​ 598 ​ Right-of-use assets ​ 124 ​ ( 122 ) ​ ​ 995 ​ Net cash (used in) provided by operating activities ​ 80,084 ​ 72,073 ​ 39,214 ​ Cash flows from investing activities: ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Purchase of equipment, software, and leasehold improvements ​ ( 9,387 ) ​ ( 8,413 ) ​ ​ ( 9,925 ) ​ Proceeds from sale of equipment ​ ​ 46 ​ ​ 34 ​ ​ 68 ​ Cash paid for acquisitions, net of cash acquired ​ ​ ( 36,291 ) ​ ​ ( 7,364 ) ​ ​ ( 1,600 ) ​ Net cash (used in) provided by investing activities ​ ( 45,632 ) ​ ( 15,743 ) ​ ( 11,457 ) ​ Cash flows from financing activities: ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Payments on contingent consideration ​ — ​ — ​ ​ ( 4,000 ) ​ Payment on restricted cash ​ ​ — ​ ​ — ​ ​ ( 10,679 ) ​ Payments on notes payable ​ ​ ( 137 ) ​ ​ ( 190 ) ​ ​ ( 1,631 ) ​ Payments on debt issuance costs ​ ​ ( 332 ) ​ ​ — ​ ​ ( 1,114 ) ​ Borrowings under prior term loan and line of credit ​ ​ — ​ ​ — ​ ​ 5,000 ​ Payments made to retire prior credit agreement ​ ​ ( 90,000 ) ​ ​ — ​ ​ ( 111,000 ) ​ Borrowing to fund new credit agreement ​ ​ 88,414 ​ ​ — ​ ​ 100,000 ​ Principal payments on outstanding debt ​ ​ ( 39,664 ) ​ ​ ( 8,125 ) ​ ​ ( 1,875 ) ​ Principal payments on finance leases ​ ( 1,497 ) ​ ( 1,444 ) ​ ​ ( 1,304 ) ​ Proceeds from stock option exercise ​ 2,759 ​ 2,759 ​ ​ 182 ​ Proceeds from sales of common stock under employee stock purchase plan ​ 3,249 ​ 2,838 ​ ​ 2,781 ​ Cash used to pay taxes on stock grants ​ ​ ( 5,483 ) ​ ​ ( 1,407 ) ​ ​ ( 205 ) ​ Net cash (used in) provided by financing activities ​ ( 42,691 ) ​ ( 5,569 ) ​ ( 23,845 ) ​ Net increase (decrease) in cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash ​ ( 8,239 ) ​ 50,761 ​ 3,912 ​ Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash at beginning of period ​ 74,158 ​ 23,397 ​ 19,485 ​ Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash at end of period ​ $ 65,919 ​ $ 74,158 ​ $ 23,397 ​ Supplemental disclosures of cash flow information: ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Cash paid (received) during the period for: ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Interest ​ $ 5,413 ​ $ 7,520 ​ $ 10,193 ​ Income taxes ​ 2,338 ​ 1,316 ​ ( 3,072 ) ​ Supplemental disclosures of noncash investing and financing activities: ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Issuance of common stock related to business acquisitions ​ $ 5,557 ​ $ — ​ $ — ​ Contingent consideration related to business acquisitions ​ ​ 13,075 ​ ​ 4,060 ​ ​ — ​ Equipment acquired under finance leases ​ ​ 1,400 ​ ​ 1,605 ​ ​ 961 ​ See accompanying notes to consolidated financial statements. ​ ​ 59 Table of Contents WILLDAN GROUP, INC. NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 1. ORGANIZATION AND OPERATIONS OF THE COMPAN Y Willdan Group, Inc. (“Willdan” or the “Company”) is a provider of professional, technical and consulting services to utilities, private industry, and public agencies at all levels of government. As resources and infrastructures undergo continuous change, the Company helps organizations and their communities evolve and thrive by providing a wide range of technical services for energy solutions and government infrastructure. Through engineering, program management, policy advisory, and software and data management, the Company designs and delivers trusted, comprehensive, innovative, and proven solutions to improve efficiency, resiliency, and sustainability in energy and infrastructure. Basis of Presentation The Company has prepared its Consolidated Financial Statements in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States (“U.S. GAAP”). The consolidated statement of stockholders' equity includes repurchases of shares of the Company’s common stock from employees to satisfy tax withholding obligations incurred in connection with the vesting of restricted stock or performance stock units, which amount is presented as a reduction of additional paid-in capital and common stock. Fiscal Years The Company operates and reports its annual financial results based on 52 or 53 -week periods ending on the Friday closest to December 31. The Company operates and reports its quarterly financial results based on the 13 -week period ending on the Friday closest to June 30, September 30, and December 31 and the 13 or 14 -week period ending on the Friday closest to March 31, as applicable. Fiscal year 2025 , which ended on January 2 , 2026, was comprised of 53 weeks, with the first quarter consisting of 14 weeks and the remaining quarters consisting of 13 weeks each. Fiscal year 2024 and fiscal year 2023, which ended on December 27, 2024, December 29, 2023, respectively, were both comprised of 52 weeks, with all quarters presented consisting of 13 weeks. Principles of Consolidation The consolidated financial statements include the accounts of Willdan Group, Inc. and its wholly-owned subsidiaries and their respective subsidiaries. All significant intercompany balances and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation. Reclassifications Certain prior year amounts have been reclassified in the consolidated financial statements to conform to the current year presentation. Use of Estimates The preparation of consolidated financial statements in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles in the U.S. requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the consolidated financial statements. Estimates also affect the reported amounts of revenue and expenses during the reporting period. Actual results could differ from those estimates. 60 Table of Contents WILLDAN GROUP, INC. NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS – (Continued) Cash and Cash Equivalents All highly liquid investments purchased with a remaining maturity of three months or less are considered to be cash equivalents. The Company from time to time may be exposed to credit risk with its bank deposits in excess of the FDIC insurance limits and with uninsured money market investments. The Company has not experienced any losses in such accounts and believes it is not exposed to any significant credit risk on cash and cash equivalents. Restricted Cash The Company, from time to time, has restricted cash that represents amounts not readily available for current operations due to contractual restrictions which designate these restricted cash balances for specific purposes. Fair Value of Financial Instruments The Company uses the three-tier hierarchy of fair value measurement, which prioritizes the inputs. These tiers include: Level 1 (the highest priority), defined as observable inputs, such as quoted prices in active markets, Level 2, defined as inputs other than quoted prices in active markets that are either directly or indirectly observable; and Level 3 (the lowest priority), defined as unobservable inputs in which little or no market data exists, therefore requiring an entity to develop its own assumptions. The Company’s financial instruments consist primarily of cash, cash equivalents, accounts receivable, contract assets, other receivables, prepaid expenses and other current assets, accounts payable, accrued liabilities and contract liabilities. The carrying amounts of certain other assets and contingent consideration are discounted to their present value because the time between the origination of these instruments and their expected realization or payment is greater than one year. As of January 2, 2026 and December 27, 2024, the carrying amounts of the Company's cash and cash equivalents, accounts receivable, contract assets, other receivables, prepaid expenses and other current assets, accounts payable, accrued liabilities and contract liabilities, approximate their fair values because of the relatively short period of time between the origination of these instruments and their expected realization or payment. The carrying amounts of debt obligations approximate their fair values since the terms are comparable to terms currently offered by local lending institutions for loans of similar terms to companies with comparable credit risk. The carrying amounts of the derivative financial instrument is valued based on Level 2 inputs and the fair value of the contingent consideration liability is valued on Level 3 inputs. Variable Interest Entities The Company accounts for variable interest entities in accordance with Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) 810, Consolidation. Under ASC 810, a variable interest entity (“VIE”) is created when any of the following criteria are present: (a) the equity investment at risk in the entity is not sufficient to permit the entity to finance its activities without additional subordinated financial support provided by other parties, including the equity holders; (b) the entity’s equity holders as a group either (i) lack the direct or indirect ability to make decisions about the entity, (ii) are not obligated to absorb expected losses of the entity or (iii) do not have the right to receive expected residual returns of the entity; or (c) the entity’s equity holders have voting rights that are not proportionate to their economic interests, and the activities of the entity involve or are conducted on behalf of the equity holder with disproportionately few voting rights. If an entity is deemed to be a VIE pursuant to ASC 810, the enterprise that has both (i) the power to direct the activities of a VIE that most significantly impact the entity’s economic performance and (ii) the obligation to absorb the expected losses of the entity or right to receive benefits from the entity that could be potentially significant to the VIE is considered the primary beneficiary and must consolidate the VIE. In accordance with ASC 810, the Company performs ongoing reassessments of whether an enterprise is the primary beneficiary of a VIE. 61 Table of Contents WILLDAN GROUP, INC. NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS – (Continued) As of January 2, 2026, the Company had one VIE — Genesys Engineering, P.C. (“Genesys”). Pursuant to New York law, the Company does not own capital stock of Genesys and does not have control over the professional decision making of Genesys’s engineering services. The Company, however, has entered into an administrative services agreement with Genesys pursuant to which WES, the Company’s wholly-owned subsidiary, will provide Genesys with ongoing administrative, operational and other non-professional support services. The Company manages Genesys and has the power to direct the activities that most significantly impact Genesys’s performance, in addition to being obligated to absorb expected losses from Genesys. Accordingly, the Company is the primary beneficiary of Genesys and consolidates Genesys as a VIE. Management also concluded there is no noncontrolling interest related to the consolidation of Genesys because management determined that (i) the shareholder of Genesys does not have more than a nominal amount of equity investment at risk, (ii) WES absorbs the expected losses of Genesys through its deferral of Genesys’s service fees owed to WES and the Company has, since entering into the administrative services agreement, had to continuously defer service fees for Genesys, and (iii) the Company believes Genesys will continue to have a shortfall on payment of its service fees for the foreseeable future, leaving no expected residual returns for the shareholder. For more information regarding Genesys, see Note 8 “ Commitments and Variable Interest Entities .” Segment Information The Company presents segment information externally consistent with the manner in which the Company’s chief operating decision maker reviews information to assess performance and allocate resources. The Company’s two segments are (i) Energy, and (ii) Engineering and Consulting. Willdan Group, Inc. (“WGI”) is a holding company and performs administrative functions on behalf of its subsidiaries, such as treasury, legal, accounting, information systems, human resources and certain business development activities, and earns revenue that is only incidental to the activities of the enterprise. As a result, WGI does not meet the definition of an operating segment. Contract Assets and Liabilities Billing practices are governed by the contract terms of each project based upon costs incurred, achievement of milestones or pre-agreed schedules. Billings do not necessarily correlate with revenue recognized using the percentage-of-completion method of revenue recognition. Contract assets include unbilled amounts typically resulting from revenue under contracts where the percentage-of-completion method of revenue recognition is utilized and revenue recognized exceeds the amount billed to the customer. In addition, contract assets include retainage amounts withheld from billings to the Company’s clients pursuant to provisions in our contracts. Contract liabilities consist of advance payments and billings in excess of revenue recognized and deferred revenue. Contract Accounting The Company enters into contracts with its clients that contain various types of pricing provisions, including fixed price, time-and-materials, and unit-based provisions. The Company recognizes revenues in accordance with ASU 2014-09, Revenue from Contracts with Customer, codified as ASC Topic 606 and the related amendments (collectively “ASC 606”). As such, the Company identifies a contract with a customer, identifies the performance obligations in the contract, determines the transaction price, allocates the transaction price to each performance obligation in the contract and recognizes revenues when (or as) the Company satisfies a performance obligation. 62 Table of Contents WILLDAN GROUP, INC. NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS – (Continued) The following table reflects the Company’s two reportable segments and the types of contracts that each most commonly enters into for revenue generating activities. ​ Segment Contract Type Revenue Recognition Method ​ Time-and-materials Time-and-materials Energy Unit-based Unit-based ​ Software license Unit-based ​ Fixed price Percentage-of-completion ​ Time-and-materials Time-and-materials Engineering and Consulting Unit-based Unit-based ​ Fixed price Percentage-of-completion Revenue on the vast majority of the Company’s contracts is recognized over time because of the continuous transfer of control to the customer. Revenue on fixed price contracts is recognized on the percentage-of-completion method based generally on the ratio of direct costs incurred-to-date to estimated total direct costs at completion. The Company uses the percentage-of-completion method to better match the level of work performed at a certain point in time in relation to the effort that will be required to complete a project. In addition, the percentage-of-completion method is a common method of revenue recognition in the Company’s industry. Many of the Company’s fixed price contracts involve a high degree of subcontracted fixed price effort and, usually, are relatively short in duration, thereby lowering the risks of not properly estimating the percent complete. As of January 2, 2026, the Company had $ 179.7 million related to fixed price contract obligations of which $ 107.9 million related to fixed price contract obligations in excess of twelve months. Revenue on time-and-materials and unit-based contracts is recognized as the work is performed in accordance with the specific rates and terms of the contract. The Company recognizes revenues for time-and-materials contracts based upon the actual hours incurred during a reporting period at contractually agreed upon rates per hour and also includes in revenue all reimbursable costs incurred during a reporting period. Certain of the Company’s time-and-materials contracts are subject to maximum contract values and, accordingly, when revenue is expected to exceed the maximum contract value, these contracts are generally recognized under the percentage-of-completion method, consistent with fixed price contracts. For unit-based contracts, the Company recognizes the contract price of units of a basic production product as revenue when the production product is delivered during a period. Revenue for amounts that have been billed but not earned is deferred, and such deferred revenue is referred to as contract liabilities in the accompanying consolidated balance sheets. The Company also derives revenue from software licenses and professional services and maintenance fees. In accordance with ASC 606, the Company performs an assessment of each contract to identify the performance obligations, determine the overall transaction price for the contract, allocate the transaction price to the performance obligations, and recognize the revenue when the performance obligations are satisfied. In cases where the standalone selling price of the software licenses is not present, the Company utilizes the residual approach by which it estimates the standalone selling price by reference to the total transaction price less the sum of the observable standalone selling prices of other goods or services promised in the contract. The software license revenue is typically recognized at a point in time when control is transferred to the client, which is defined as the point in time when the client can use and benefit from the license. The software license is delivered before related services are provided and is functional without services, updates, or technical support. Related professional services include training and support services in which the standalone selling price is determined based on an input measure of hours incurred to total estimated hours and is recognized over time, which usually is the life of the contract. 63 Table of Contents WILLDAN GROUP, INC. NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS – (Continued) To determine the proper revenue recognition method for contracts, the Company evaluates whether two or more contracts should be combined and accounted for as one single contract and whether the combined contract should be accounted for as one performance obligation. With respect to the Company’s contracts, it is rare that multiple contracts should be combined into a single performance obligation. This evaluation requires significant judgment and the decision to combine a group of contracts or separate a single contract into multiple performance obligations could change the amount of revenue and profit recorded in a given period. Contracts are considered to have a single performance obligation if the promise to transfer the individual goods or services is not separately identifiable from other promises in the contracts, which is mainly because the Company provides a significant service of integrating a complex set of tasks and components into a single project or capability. The Company may enter into contracts that include separate phases or elements. If each phase or element is negotiated separately based on the technical resources required and/or the supply and demand for the services being provided, the Company evaluates if the contracts should be segmented. If certain criteria are met, the contracts would be segmented which could result in revenues being assigned to the different elements or phases with different rates of profitability based on the relative value of each element or phase to the estimated total contract revenue. Segmented contracts may comprise up to approximately 1.0 % to 2.0 % of the Company’s consolidated contract revenue. Contracts that cover multiple phases or elements of the project or service lifecycle (development, construction and maintenance and support) may be considered to have multiple performance obligations even when they are part of a single contract. For contracts with multiple performance obligations, the Company allocates the transaction price to each performance obligation using the best estimate of the standalone selling price of each distinct good or service in the contract. For the periods presented, the value of the separate performance obligations under contracts with multiple performance obligations (generally measurement and verification tasks under certain energy performance contracts) were not material. In cases where the Company does not provide the distinct good or service on a standalone basis, the primary method used to estimate standalone selling price is the expected cost plus a margin approach, under which the Company forecasts the Company’s expected costs of satisfying a performance obligation and then adds an appropriate margin for the distinct good or service. The Company provides quality of workmanship warranties to customers that are included in the sale and are not priced or sold separately or do not provide customers with a service in addition to assurance of compliance with agreed-upon specifications and industry standards. The Company does not consider these types of warranties to be separate performance obligations. In some cases, the Company has a master service or blanket agreement with a customer under which each task order releases the Company to perform specific portions of the overall scope in the service contract. Each task order is typically accounted for as a separate contract because the task order establishes the enforceable rights and obligations, and payment terms. Under ASC 606, variable consideration should be considered when determining the transaction price and estimates should be made for the variable consideration component of the transaction price, as well as assessing whether an estimate of variable consideration is constrained. For certain of the Company’s contracts, variable consideration can arise from modifications to the scope of services resulting from unapproved change orders or customer claims. Variable consideration is included in the transaction price to the extent it is probable that a significant reversal of cumulative revenue recognized will not occur when the uncertainty associated with the variable consideration is resolved. The Company estimates of variable consideration and determination of whether to include estimated amounts in the transaction price are based largely on assessments of legal enforceability, the Company’s performance, and all information (historical, current and forecasted) that is reasonably available to the Company. 64 Table of Contents WILLDAN GROUP, INC. NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS – (Continued) Due to the nature of the work required to be performed on many of the Company’s performance obligations, the estimation of total revenue and cost at completion is complex, subject to many variables and requires significant judgment. As a significant change in one or more of these estimates could affect the profitability of the Company’s contracts, the Company reviews and updates the Company’s contract-related estimates regularly through a company-wide disciplined project review process in which management reviews the progress and execution of the Company’s performance obligations and the estimate at completion (“EAC”). As part of this process, management reviews information including, but not limited to, any outstanding key contract matters, progress towards completion and the related program schedule and the related changes in estimates of revenues and costs. Management must make assumptions and estimates regarding labor productivity and availability, the complexity of the work to be performed, the cost and availability of materials, the performance of subcontractors, and the availability and timing of funding from the customer, among other variables. The Company recognizes adjustments in estimated profit on contracts under the cumulative catch-up method. Under this method, the impact of the adjustment on profit recorded to date is recognized in the period the adjustment is identified. Revenue and profit in future periods of contract performance is recognized using the adjusted estimate. If at any time the estimate of contract profitability indicates an anticipated loss on the contract, the Company recognizes the full amount of estimated loss in the period it is identified. Contracts are often modified to account for changes in contract specifications and requirements. The Company considers contract modifications to exist when the modification either creates new rights or obligations or changes the existing enforceable rights or obligations. Most of the Company’s contract modifications are for goods or services that are not distinct from existing contracts due to the significant integration provided in the context of the contract and are accounted for as if they were part of the original contract. The effect of a contract modification that is not distinct from the existing contract on the transaction price and the Company’s measure of progress for the performance obligation to which it relates is recognized as an adjustment to revenue (either as an increase in or a reduction of revenue) on a cumulative catch-up basis. For contract modifications that result in the promise to deliver goods or services that are distinct from the existing contract and the increase in price of the contract is for the same amount as the standalone selling price of the additional goods or services included in the modification, the Company accounts for such contract modifications as a separate contract. The Company includes claims to vendors, subcontractors and others as a receivable and a reduction in recognized costs when enforceability of the claim is established by the contract and the amounts are reasonably estimable and probable of being recovered. The amounts are recorded up to the extent of the lesser of the amounts management expects to recover or to costs incurred. Billing practices are governed by the contract terms of each project based upon costs incurred, achievement of milestones or pre-agreed schedules. Billings do not necessarily correlate with revenue recognized using the percentage-of-completion method of revenue recognition. Direct costs of contract revenue consist primarily of that portion of technical and nontechnical salaries and wages that has been incurred in connection with revenue producing projects. Direct costs of contract revenue also include production expenses, subcontractor services and other expenses that are incurred in connection with revenue producing projects. 65 Table of Contents WILLDAN GROUP, INC. NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS – (Continued) Direct costs of contract revenue exclude that portion of technical and nontechnical salaries and wages related to marketing efforts, vacations, holidays and other time not spent directly generating revenue under existing contracts. Such costs are included in general and administrative expenses. Additionally, payroll taxes, bonuses and employee benefit costs for all Company personnel are included in general and administrative expenses in the accompanying consolidated statements of comprehensive income since no allocation of these costs is made to direct costs of contract revenue. No allocation of facilities costs is made to direct costs of contract revenue. Other companies may classify as direct costs of contract revenue some of the costs that the Company classifies as general and administrative costs. The Company expenses direct costs of contract revenue when incurred. Included in revenue and costs are all reimbursable costs for which the Company has the risk or on which the fee was based at the time of bid or negotiation. No revenue or cost is recorded for costs in which the Company acts solely in the capacity of an agent and has no risks associated with such costs. Accounts receivable are carried at original invoice amount less an estimate made for doubtful accounts based upon a review of all outstanding amounts on a quarterly basis. Management determines allowances for doubtful accounts through specific identification of amounts considered to be uncollectible and potential write-offs, plus a non-specific allowance for other amounts for which some potential loss has been determined to be probable based on current and past experience. The Company’s historical credit losses have been minimal with governmental entities and large public utilities, but disputes may arise related to these receivable amounts. Accounts receivable are written off when deemed uncollectible. Recoveries of accounts receivable previously written off are recorded when received. Retainage, included in contract assets, represents amounts withheld from billings to the Company’s clients pursuant to provisions in the contracts and may not be paid to the Company until specific tasks are completed or the project is completed and, in some instances, for even longer periods. As of January 2, 2026 and December 27, 2024, contract assets included retainage of $ 29.5 million and $ 22.0 million, respectively. General and Administrative Expenses General and administrative expenses include the costs of the marketing and support staff, other marketing expenses, management and administrative personnel costs, payroll taxes, bonuses and employee benefits for all of the Company’s employees and the portion of salaries and wages not allocated to direct costs of contract revenue for those employees who provide the Company’s services. General and administrative expenses also include facility costs, depreciation and amortization, professional services, legal and accounting fees and administrative operating costs. Within general and administrative expenses, “Other” includes expenses such as provision for billed or unbilled receivables, professional services, legal and accounting, computer costs, travel and entertainment, marketing costs and acquisition costs. The Company expenses general and administrative costs when incurred. Leases The Company accounts for leases in accordance with ASC 842 which requires lessees to recognize a right-of-use asset and a lease liability on the balance sheet measured as the net present value of future lease payments, with the exception of short-term leases which are defined as those less than 12 months. The lease expense is then recognized over the term of the lease. The Company elected the ‘ package of practical expedients’ permitted under the transition guidance of ASC 842, which among other things, allowed the Company to carry forward the historical lease classification. In addition, the Company elected not to utilize the hindsight practical expedient to determine the lease term for existing leases. The Company also elected the practical expedient to not separate lease and non-lease components for its facilities leases. 66 Table of Contents WILLDAN GROUP, INC. NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS – (Continued) The Company also leases certain equipment under financing leases. The economic substance of the leases is a financing transaction for acquisition of equipment and leasehold improvements. Accordingly, the right-of-use assets for these leases are included in the balance sheets in equipment and leasehold improvements, net of accumulated depreciation, with a corresponding amount recorded in current portion of financing lease obligations or noncurrent portion of financing lease obligations, as appropriate. The financing lease assets are amortized over the life of the lease or, if shorter, the life of the leased asset, on a straight-line basis and included in depreciation expense in the statements of comprehensive income. The interest associated with financing lease obligations is included in interest expense in the statements of comprehensive income. For more information, see Note 7, “ Leases ”. Equipment and Leasehold Improvements Equipment and leasehold improvements are stated at cost less accumulated depreciation and amortization. Equipment under finance leases is stated at the present value of the minimum lease payments as of the acquisition date. Depreciation and amortization on equipment are calculated using the straight-line method over estimated useful lives of two to five years . Leasehold improvements and assets under capital leases are amortized using the straight-line method over the shorter of estimated useful lives or the term of the related lease . Following are the estimated useful lives used to calculate depreciation and amortization: ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Category ​ ​ ​ Estimated Useful Life Furniture and fixtures 5 years Computer hardware 3 years Computer software 3 years Automobiles and trucks 3 years Field equipment 5 years Goodwill Goodwill represents the excess of costs over fair value of the assets acquired. The Company completes its annual testing of goodwill as of the last day of the first month of its fourth fiscal quarter each year to determine whether there is impairment. Goodwill, which has an indefinite useful life, is not amortized, but instead tested for impairment at least annually or more frequently if events and circumstances indicate that the asset might be impaired. Impairment losses for reporting units are recognized to the extent that a reporting unit’s carrying amount exceeds its fair value. Long-lived assets Long-lived assets, such as equipment, leasehold improvements and purchased intangible assets subject to amortization are reviewed for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amount of an asset may not be recoverable. Recoverability of assets to be held and used is measured by a comparison of the carrying amount of an asset to estimated undiscounted future cash flows expected to be generated by the asset. If the carrying amount of an asset exceeds its estimated future cash flows, an impairment charge is recognized by the amount by which the carrying amount of the asset exceeds the fair value of the asset. 67 Table of Contents WILLDAN GROUP, INC. NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS – (Continued) Accounting for Claims against the Company The Company accrues an undiscounted liability related to claims against it for which the incurrence of a loss is probable and the amount can be reasonably estimated. The Company discloses the amount accrued and an estimate of any reasonably possible loss in excess of the amount accrued, if such disclosure is necessary for its financial statements not to be misleading. The Company does not accrue liabilities related to claims when the likelihood that a loss has been incurred is probable but the amount cannot be reasonably estimated, or when the liability is believed to be only reasonably possible or remote. Losses related to recorded claims are included in general and administrative expenses. Determining probability and estimating claim amounts is highly judgmental. Initial accruals and any subsequent changes in the Company’s estimates could have a material effect on its consolidated financial statements. Stock-based Compensation The Company accounts for all stock-based compensation under the fair value recognition provisions of the accounting standard entitled “ Compensation—Stock Compensation. ” Stock-based compensation cost is measured at the grant date based on the fair value of the award and is recognized as expense over the requisite vesting period. The fair values of all stock options granted and the fair values of all Employee Stock Purchase Plan (“ESPP”) purchase rights are estimated using the Black-Scholes option-valuation model. The Black-Scholes option-valuation model requires the input of highly subjective assumptions. Performance-based restricted stock unit awards (“PBRSUs”) are granted to certain employees and vest only after the achievement of pre-determined performance metrics. Once the performance metrics are met, vesting of PBRSUs is subject to continued service by the employee. At the end of each reporting period, the Company evaluates the probability that PBRSUs will be earned. The Company records stock-based compensation expense based on the probability that the performance metrics will be achieved over the vesting period. Restricted stock awards (“RSAs”) and restricted stock units (“RSUs”) are time-based equity awards that are granted to certain employees and vest based on time, subject to continued service by the employee. Business Combinations During fiscal year 2025, the Company completed three acquisitions: Compass Municipal Advisors, LLC. (“Compass”), Alternative Power Generation, Inc. (“APG”), and Alpha Inspections, Inc. (“Alpha”). During the fiscal year 2024, the Company completed one acquisition: Enica Engineering, PLLC . (“Enica”). During fiscal year 2023, the Company did not have any material acquisitions. The acquisition method of accounting for business combinations requires the Company to use significant estimates and assumptions, including fair value estimates, as of the business combination date and to refine those estimates as necessary during the measurement period (defined as the period, not to exceed one year, in which the Company may adjust the provisional amounts recognized for a business combination based upon new information about facts that existed on the business combination date). Under the acquisition method of accounting, the Company recognizes separately from goodwill the identifiable assets acquired, the liabilities assumed, and any non-controlling interests in an acquiree, at the acquisition date fair value. The Company measures goodwill as of the acquisition date as the excess of consideration transferred over the net of the acquisition date amounts of the identifiable assets acquired and liabilities assumed. Generally, the Company engages a third-party independent valuation specialist to assist in management’s determination of fair values of tangible and intangible assets acquired and liabilities assumed. 68 Table of Contents WILLDAN GROUP, INC. NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS – (Continued) In circumstances where an acquisition involves a contingent consideration arrangement, the Company recognizes a liability equal to the fair value of the contingent payments it expects to make as of the acquisition date. The contingent consideration fair value measurement is based on significant inputs not observable in the market and therefore constitute Level 3 inputs within the fair value hierarchy. The Company determines the initial fair value of contingent consideration liabilities using a Monte Carlo (“Monte Carlo”) valuation model, which involves a simulation of future revenues during the earn out-period using management’s best estimates, or a probability-weighted discounted cash flow analysis. Changes in the estimated fair value of contingent earn-out payments are included in general and administrative expenses. As of January 2, 2026, the Company had contingent consideration payable of $ 20.4 million related to the acquisitions of Enica, APG, and Compass. The Company has contingent obligations to make earnout payments in connection with its acquisitions of Enica, APG, and Compass, subject to their future financial performance. The Company is obligated to pay up to $ 6.0 million in cash if Enica exceeds certain financial targets during the two years after the Enica closing date of October 23, 2024 . The Company is obligated to pay up to $ 18.0 million in cash if APG exceeds certain financial targets during the three years after the APG closing date of March 3, 2025 . The Company is obligated to pay up to $ 1.0 million in cash if Compass exceeds certain financial targets during the one year after the Compass closing date of January 2, 2026 . Through the twelve months ended January 2, 2026, the Company’s statement of operations includes $ 3.2 million of interest accretion related to the contingent consideration. In circumstances where an acquisition involves acquiring customer relationships, the fair value for customer relationships is determined as of the acquisition date using the excess earnings method. Under this methodology, the fair value is determined based on the estimated future after-tax cash flows arising from the acquired customer relationships over their estimated useful lives after considering customer attrition and contributory asset charges. The assumptions that have the most significant effect on the fair value calculations are the customer attrition rates, projected customer revenue growth rates, margins, contributory asset charges, and discount rates. During the fiscal year 2025, the accounting for the consideration for Enica was finalized. In addition, the Company did not make any adjustments to the consideration for Enica, and as a result, there were no adjustments to the purchase price allocation for the fiscal year ended January 2, 2026. Costs that the Company incurs to complete the business combination such as investment banking, legal and other professional fees are not considered part of consideration. The Company charges these acquisition costs to general and administrative expense as they are incurred. For more information regarding current year acquisitions, see Note 13, “ Business Combinations ”, of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Income Taxes Income taxes are accounted for under the asset and liability method. Deferred tax assets and liabilities are recognized for the future tax consequences of temporary differences between the financial reporting basis and tax basis of the Company’s assets and liabilities, subject to a judgmental assessment of the recoverability of deferred tax assets. Deferred tax assets and liabilities are measured using enacted tax rates expected to apply to taxable income in the years in which those temporary differences are expected to be recovered or settled. The effect on deferred tax assets and liabilities of a change in tax rates is recognized in income in the period that includes the enactment date. A valuation allowance is recorded when it is more-likely-than-not that some of the deferred tax assets may not be realized. Significant judgment is applied when assessing the need for valuation allowances. Areas of estimation include the Company’s consideration of future taxable income and ongoing prudent and feasible tax planning strategies. Should a change in circumstances lead to a change in judgment about the utilization of deferred tax assets in future years, the Company would adjust the related valuation allowances in the period that the change in circumstances occurs, along with a corresponding increase or charge to income. 69 Table of Contents WILLDAN GROUP, INC. NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS – (Continued) During each fiscal year, management assesses the available positive and negative evidence to estimate if sufficient future taxable income will be generated to utilize existing deferred tax assets. At the start of fiscal year 2024, the Company had a total valuation allowance related to its deferred tax assets of $ 1.2 million. During fiscal year 2024, the Company released $ 0.1 million of the valuation allowance due to expected future utilization of deferred tax assets, leaving a total valuation allowance of $ 1.1 million at the end of fiscal year 2024. During fiscal year 2025, no changes were made to tax valuation allowance as the available positive and negative evidence did not warrant a revision. For acquired business entities, if the Company identifies changes to acquired deferred tax asset valuation allowances or liabilities related to uncertain tax positions during the measurement period and they relate to new information obtained about facts and circumstances that existed as of the acquisition date, those changes are considered a measurement period adjustment and the Company records the offset to goodwill. The Company records all other changes to deferred tax asset valuation allowances and liabilities related to uncertain tax positions in current period income tax expense. The Company recognizes the tax benefit from uncertain tax positions if it is more likely than not that the tax positions will be sustained on examination by the tax authorities, based on the technical merits of the position. The tax benefit is measured based on the largest benefit that has a greater than 50% likelihood of being realized upon ultimate settlement. The Company recognizes interest and penalties related to unrecognized tax benefits in income tax expense. Discrete tax items are specific tax-related events or adjustments that are recognized in the period in which they occur, rather than being tied to ongoing operating income or recurring earnings. Unlike regular income tax expense, which is typically calculated as a percentage of pre-tax income, discrete tax items arise from one-time or event-driven transactions. The Company’s income tax expense can be significantly impacted by these discrete tax items, such as energy-efficiency building deductions or stock compensation windfalls and shortfalls. As a result, these discrete tax items can generate substantial tax benefits or expenses that vary by reporting period and cause fluctuations from initially estimated effective tax rates. For further information, see Note 11, “Income Taxes” , of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Earnings (loss) per Share The Company computes basic income per common share using net income and the weighted average number of common shares outstanding during the period. Diluted income per common share is computed using net income and the weighted average number of common shares and potentially dilutive common shares outstanding during the period. Potentially dilutive common shares include dilutive outstanding employee stock options, RSAs, RSUs, and PBRSUs, and rights to purchase shares of common stock under the Company’s ESPP. Other Comprehensive Income (loss), Net of Tax Other comprehensive income (loss), net of tax refers to revenue, expenses, gains and losses that are recorded as an element of shareholders’ equity but are excluded from net income (loss). The Company’s other comprehensive income (loss), net of tax is comprised of unrealized gains or losses on its interest rate swap agreement designated as cash flow hedges. Derivatives From time to time, the Company uses certain interest rate derivatives contracts to hedge interest rate exposures on its variable rate debt. The Company recognizes derivative instruments as either assets or liabilities on its consolidated balance sheets at fair value. The Company records changes in the fair value (i.e., gains or losses) of the derivatives that have been designated as cash flow hedges in its consolidated balance sheets as accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) and in its consolidated statements of comprehensive (loss) income as a loss or gain on cash flow hedge valuation. 70 Table of Contents WILLDAN GROUP, INC. NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS – (Continued) Operating Cycle In accordance with industry practice, amounts realizable and payable under contracts that extend beyond one year are included in current assets (included in contract assets) and current liabilities. 71 Table of Contents WILLDAN GROUP, INC. NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS – (Continued) 2. RECENT ACCOUNTING PRONOUNCEMENTS Accounting Pronouncements Recently Adopted In July 2025, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) No. 2025-05, “Financial Instruments – Credit Losses (Topic 326): Measurement of Credit Losses for Accounts Receivable and Contract Assets” (“ASU 2025-05”). ASU 2025-05 allows an entity to elect a practical expedient to assume that current conditions as of the balance sheet date do not change for the remaining life of the asset in the development of a reasonable and supportable forecast as part of estimating expected credit losses. The amendments are effective for the annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2025, and interim periods within those fiscal year reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2025, with early adoption permitted. The Company elected to early adopt this standard in the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2025. The adoption of this standard did not have a material impact on the Company’s Consolidated Financial Statements. In December 2023, the FASB issued ASU No. 2023-09, “Income Taxes (Topic 740): Improvements to Income Tax Disclosures” (“ASU 2023-09”). ASU 2023-09 amends the rules on income tax disclosures to require entities to disclose specific categories in the rate reconciliation, the income or loss from continuing operations before income tax expense or benefit (separated between domestic and foreign) and income tax expense or benefit from continuing operations (separated by federal, state, and foreign). In addition, ASU 2023-09 requires entities to disclose their income tax payments to international, federal, state, and local jurisdictions, among other changes. The amendments can be applied on a prospective basis although retrospective application is permitted. The amendments are effective for the annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2024, with early adoption permitted. The Company adopted ASU 2023-09 for its fiscal year 2025 annual reporting period, and as permitted by ASU 2023-09, the Company adopted this standard on a prospective basis. The adoption of this standard did not have a material impact on the Company’s Consolidated Financial Statements or disclosures. Accounting Pronouncements Recently Issued In December 2025, the FASB issued ASU No. 2025-12, “Codification Improvements” (“ASU 2025-12”). ASU 2025-12 addresses suggestions received from stakeholders on the Accounting Standards Codification and to make other incremental improvements to generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”). ASU 2025-12 provides changes to the Codification that (1) clarify, (2) correct errors, or (3) make minor improvements. The amendments are effective for the annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2026, and interim periods within those fiscal year reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2026, with early adoption permitted. The Company does not believe the amendments in ASU 2025-12 will have a material impact on its Consolidated Financial Statements. In December 2025, the FASB issued ASU No. 2025-11, “Interim Reporting" (Topic 270): Narrow-Scope Improvements” (“ASU 2025-11”). The ASU 2025-11 amendments are intended to improve the guidance in Topic 270, Interim Reporting, by improving the navigability of the required interim disclosures and clarifying when that guidance is applicable. The amendments also provide additional guidance on what disclosures should be provided in interim reporting periods. The amendments are effective for the annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2027, and interim periods within those fiscal year reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2027, with early adoption permitted either (1) prospectively or (2) retrospectively. The Company does not believe the amendments in ASU 2025-11 will have a material impact on its Consolidated Financial Statements. In November 2025, the FASB issued ASU No. 2025-09, “Derivatives and Hedging (Topic 815): Hedge Accounting Improvements” (“ASU 2025-09”). The ASU 2025-09 amendments are intended to simplify the application of hedge accounting and to more closely align hedge accounting with the economics of an entity's risk management activities in the following five areas: (1) similar risk assessment for cash flow hedges, (2) hedging forecasted interest payments on choose-your-rate debt instruments, (3) cash flow hedges of nonfinancial forecasted transactions, (4) net written options as hedging instruments, and (5) foreign-currency-denominated debt instrument as hedging instrument and hedged item (dual hedge). The amendments are effective for the annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2026, and interim periods within those fiscal year reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2026, with early 72 Table of Contents WILLDAN GROUP, INC. NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS – (Continued) adoption permitted. The Company is currently evaluating the impact this update will have on its consolidated financial statements. In September 2025, the FASB issued ASU No. 2025-06, “Intangibles – Goodwill and Other – Internal-Use Software (Subtopic 350-40): Targeted Improvements to the Accounting for Internal Software” (“ASU 2025-06”). ASU 2025-06 removes references to prescriptive and sequential software development stages which are referred to as “project stages” throughout Subtopic 350-40. The amendment introduces a principles-based approach to capitalization of internal-use software costs and requires capitalization of software costs to begin when management has authorized and committed to funding the project and it is probable the project will be completed and used to perform the intended function. The amendments do not change what internal-use software costs can be capitalized or when such capitalization ceases. The amendments are effective for the annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2027, and interim periods within those fiscal year reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2027, with early adoption permitted. The Company does not believe the amendments in ASU 2025-06 will have a material impact on its Consolidated Financial Statements. In May 2025, the FASB issued ASU No. 2025-03, “Business Combinations (Topic 805) and Consolidation (Topic 810): Determining the Accounting Acquirer in the Acquisition of a Variable Interest Entity” (“ASU 2025-03”). ASU 2025-03 requires an entity involved in an acquisition transaction effected primarily by exchanging equity interests when the legal acquiree is a Variable Interest Entity (“VIE”) that meets the definition of a business to consider the factors in paragraphs 805-10-55-12 through 55-15 to determine which entity is the accounting acquirer, rather than defaulting to the conclusion that the primary beneficiary is always the acquirer. The amendments are effective for the annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2026, and interim periods within those fiscal year reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2026, with early adoption permitted. The Company does not believe the amendments in ASU 2025-03 will have a material impact on its Consolidated Financial Statements. In November 2024, the FASB issued ASU No. 2024-03, “Income Statement - Reporting Comprehensive Income - Expense Disaggregation Disclosures (Subtopic 220-40)” (“ASU 2024-03”). ASU 2024-03 requires entities to disclose, in the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements, specified information about certain costs and expenses at each interim and annual reporting period. Specific disclosures include the amounts of (a) purchases of inventory; (b) employee compensation; (c) depreciation; (d) intangible asset amortization; and (e) depreciation, depletion, and amortization recognized as part of oil- and gas-producing activities (or other amounts of depletion expense) included in each relevant expense caption, as well as a qualitative description of the amounts remaining in relevant expense captions that are not separately disaggregated quantitatively. Additionally, entities will need to disclose the total amount of selling expenses and, in annual reporting periods, an entity’s definition of selling expenses. The amendments are effective for the annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2026, and interim periods within fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2027, with early adoption permitted. The Company is currently evaluating the impact this update will have on its consolidated financial statements. In October 2023, the FASB issued ASU No. 2023-06, “Disclosure Improvements: Codification Amendments in Response to the SEC’s Disclosure Update and Simplification Initiative” (“ASU 2023-06”). ASU 2023-06 amends U.S. GAAP to reflect updates and simplifications to certain disclosure and presentation requirements referred to FASB by the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). The targeted amendments incorporate 14 of the 27 disclosures referred by the SEC into codification. Each amendment in ASU 2023-06 is effective on either the date on which the SEC’s removal of the related disclosure requirement from Regulation S-X or Regulation S-K becomes effective , or on June 30, 2027, if the SEC has not removed the requirements by that date. The Company does not believe the amendments in ASU 2023-06 will have a material impact in any of the Company’s current disclosures. 73 Table of Contents WILLDAN GROUP, INC. NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS – (Continued) 3. SUPPLEMENTAL FINANCIAL STATEMENT DATA Restricted Cash The following table provides a reconciliation of cash and cash equivalents, and restricted cash reported within the consolidated balance sheets for fiscal years 2025, 2024 and 2023, to the total cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash shown in the consolidated statements of cash flows for fiscal years 2025, 2024, and 2023: ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ January 2, ​ December 27, ​ December 30, ​ ​ ​ ​ 2026 ​ ​ ​ 2024 ​ ​ ​ 2023 ​ ​ (in thousands) Cash and cash equivalents ​ $ 65,919 ​ $ 74,158 ​ $ 23,397 Restricted cash ​ — ​ — ​ — Total cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash shown in the consolidated statement of cash flows ​ $ 65,919 ​ $ 74,158 ​ $ 23,397 Under certain utility contracts, the Company periodically receives cash deposits to be held in trust for the payment of energy incentive rebates to be sent directly to the utility’s end-customer on behalf of the utility. The Company acts solely as the utility’s agent to distribute these funds to the end-customer and, accordingly, the Company classifies these contractually restricted funds as restricted cash. Because these funds are held in trust for pass through to the utility’s customers and have no impact on the Company’s working capital or operating cash flows, these cash receipts are presented in the consolidated statement of cash flows as financing cash inflows, “Receipt of restricted cash”, with the subsequent payments classified as financing cash outflows, “Payment of restricted cash.” Accounts Receivable Accounts receivable consisted of the following: ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ January 2, ​ December 27, ​ 2026 ​ ​ ​ 2024 ​ ​ (in thousands) Billed ​ $ 64,944 ​ $ 66,870 Allowance for doubtful accounts ​ ​ ( 340 ) ​ ​ ( 1,313 ) Accounts receivable, net ​ $ 64,604 ​ $ 65,557 The movements in the allowance for doubtful accounts consisted of the following: ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Fiscal Year ​ ​ ​ ​ 2025 ​ ​ ​ 2024 ​ ​ ​ 2023 ​ ​ (in thousands) Balance as of the beginning of the year ​ $ 1,313 ​ $ 866 ​ $ 640 (Recovery of) provision for doubtful accounts ​ 308 ​ 740 ​ 826 Write-offs of uncollectible accounts ​ ( 1,281 ) ​ ( 303 ) ​ ( 600 ) Fair value adjustment ​ — ​ 10 ​ — Balance as of the end of the year ​ $ 340 ​ $ 1,313 ​ $ 866 Allowances for doubtful accounts have been determined through specific identification of amounts considered to be uncollectible and potential write-offs, plus a non-specific allowance for other amounts for which some potential loss has been determined to be probable based on current and past experience. As of January 2, 2026, and December 27, 2024, the Company had no individual customers that accounted for more than 10% of the Company’s billed outstanding receivables, respectively. 74 Table of Contents WILLDAN GROUP, INC. NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS – (Continued) Contract Assets Contract assets consisted of the following: ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ January 2, ​ December 27, ​ 2026 ​ ​ ​ 2024 ​ ​ (in thousands) Unbilled short-term ​ $ 77,787 ​ $ 66,518 Contract retentions ​ ​ 29,509 ​ ​ 22,010 Contract assets ​ ​ 107,296 ​ ​ 88,528 Unbilled long-term (1) ​ ​ 2,762 ​ ​ — Total contract assets ​ $ 110,058 ​ $ 88,528 (1) Included in Other assets in the consolidated financial statements. Unbilled accounts receivable represent revenue recognized, but not yet billed, pursuant to contract terms or accounts billed after the period end. Contract retentions represent amounts invoiced to clients where payments have been withheld pending the completion of certain milestones, other contractual conditions or upon the completion of the project. These retention agreements vary from project to project and could be outstanding for several months. Equipment and Leasehold Improvements Equipment and leasehold improvements were as follows: ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ January 2, ​ December 27, ​ ​ 2026 ​ ​ ​ 2024 ​ ​ (in thousands) Furniture and fixtures ​ $ 5,157 ​ $ 4,594 Computer hardware and software ​ 59,687 ​ 51,904 Leasehold improvements ​ 4,343 ​ 3,804 Equipment under finance leases ​ 7,471 ​ 7,052 Automobiles, trucks, and field equipment ​ 4,053 ​ 3,608 Subtotal ​ 80,711 ​ 70,962 Accumulated depreciation and amortization ​ ( 49,220 ) ​ ( 41,428 ) Equipment and leasehold improvements, net ​ $ 31,491 ​ $ 29,534 Depreciation expense of equipment and leasehold improvements totaled $ 8.8 million, $ 7.5 million, and $ 6.3 million in fiscal years 2025, 2024, and 2023, respectively. Included in accumulated depreciation and amortization is $ 1.5 million, $ 1.5 million, and $ 1.3 million of amortization expense related to equipment held under finance leases in fiscal years 2025, 2024, and 2023, respectively. 75 Table of Contents WILLDAN GROUP, INC. NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS – (Continued) Accrued Liabilities Accrued liabilities were as follows: ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ January 2, ​ December 27, ​ 2026 ​ ​ ​ 2024 ​ ​ (in thousands) Accrued subcontractor costs ​ $ 37,123 ​ $ 33,061 Accrued bonuses ​ ​ 27,478 ​ ​ 18,277 Employee withholdings ​ 5,999 ​ 3,664 Compensation and payroll taxes ​ 5,534 ​ 3,564 Rebate and other ​ ​ — ​ ​ 360 Accrued accounting costs and taxes ​ 6,300 ​ 3,850 Total accrued liabilities ​ $ 82,434 ​ $ 62,776 76 Table of Contents WILLDAN GROUP, INC. NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS – (Continued) 4. DERIVATIVE FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS The Company uses certain interest rate derivative contracts to hedge interest rate exposures on its variable rate debt. The Company’s hedging program is not designated for trading or speculative purposes. The Company recognizes derivative instruments as either assets or liabilities on the accompanying consolidated balance sheets at fair value. The Company records changes in the fair value (i.e., gains or losses) of the derivatives that have been designated as cash flow hedges in its consolidated balance sheets as accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) and in its consolidated statements of comprehensive income (loss) as a loss or gain on cash flow hedge valuation. All related cash flows are reported in the operating activities section of the consolidated statements of cash flows. On November 30, 2023 , the Company entered into an interest rate swap agreement that the Company designated as cash flow hedge to fix the variable interest rate on a portion of the Company’s Term Loan (as defined in Note 5, “Debt Obligations” ). The interest rate swap agreement has a total notional amount of $ 50.0 million, has a fixed annual interest rate of 4.77 %, and expires on September 29, 2026 . As of January 2, 2026, the effective portion of the Company’s interest rate swap agreement designated as a cash flow hedge before tax effects was ($ 0.3 ) million, of which no amounts were reclassified from accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) to interest expense in fiscal 2025. The Company expects to reclassify $ 0.3 million from accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) to interest expense within the next twelve months . The fair values of the Company’s outstanding derivatives designated as hedging instruments were as follows: ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Fair Value of Derivative ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Instruments as of ​ ​ Balance Sheet Location ​ January 2, 2026 ​ December 27, 2024 ​ ​ ​ ​ (in thousands) Interest rate swap agreement ​ Accrued liabilities ​ $ ( 341 ) ​ $ ( 198 ) Interest rate swap agreement ​ Other noncurrent liabilities ​ ​ — ​ ​ ( 200 ) The impact of the effective portions of derivative instruments in cash flow hedging relationships and fair value relationships on other comprehensive income (loss) was immaterial to the Company’s consolidated financial statements the year ended January 2, 2026. The accumulated balances and reporting period activities for the year ended January 2, 2026 related to reclassifications out of accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) are summarized as follows: ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Gain (Loss) on ​ Accumulated Other ​ ​ ​ ​ Derivative Instruments ​ ​ ​ Comprehensive Loss ​ ​ (in thousands) Balances at December 29, 2023 ​ $ ( 664 ) ​ $ ( 664 ) Other comprehensive income (loss) before reclassifications ​ ​ 443 ​ ​ 443 Amounts reclassified from accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) ​ ​ — ​ ​ — Income tax benefit (expense) related to derivative instruments ​ ​ ( 93 ) ​ ​ ( 93 ) Net current-period other comprehensive income (loss) ​ ​ 350 ​ ​ 350 Balances at December 27, 2024 ​ $ ( 314 ) ​ $ ( 314 ) Other comprehensive income (loss) before reclassifications ​ ​ 56 ​ ​ 56 Amounts reclassified from accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) ​ ​ — ​ ​ — Income tax benefit (expense) related to derivative instruments ​ ​ ( 12 ) ​ ​ ( 12 ) Net current-period other comprehensive income (loss) ​ ​ 44 ​ ​ 44 Balances at January 2, 2026 ​ $ ( 270 ) ​ $ ( 270 ) 77 Table of Contents WILLDAN GROUP, INC. NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS – (Continued) 5. DEBT OBLIGATIONS Debt obligations, excluding obligations under finance leases (see Note 7, “ Leases”, below), consisted of the following: ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ January 2, ​ ​ ​ December 27, ​ ​ 2026 ​ 2024 ​ ​ (in thousands) New Credit Agreement ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Outstanding borrowings on Term Loan A ​ $ 48,750 ​ $ — Outstanding borrowings on Revolving Credit Facility ​ ​ — ​ ​ — Outstanding borrowings on Delayed Draw Term Loan ​ ​ — ​ ​ — Prior Credit Agreement ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Outstanding borrowings on Term Loan ​ ​ — ​ ​ 90,000 Outstanding borrowings on Revolving Credit Facility ​ ​ — ​ ​ — Other debt agreements ​ ​ — ​ ​ 137 Total debt ​ ​ 48,750 ​ ​ 90,137 Issuance costs and debt discounts ​ ​ ( 288 ) ​ ​ ( 650 ) Subtotal ​ ​ 48,462 ​ ​ 89,487 Less current portion of long-term debt ​ 2,500 ​ 10,137 Long-term debt portion ​ $ 45,962 ​ $ 79,350 Prior Credit Agreement On September 29, 2023 (the “Prior Credit Agreement Closing Date”), the Company and certain of its subsidiaries entered into a credit agreement (the “Prior Credit Agreement”) with a syndicate of financial institutions as lenders and BMO Bank, N.A. (“BMO”), as administrative agent (the “Administrative Agent”). The Prior Credit Agreement provided for (i) a $ 100.0 million term loan (the “Term Loan”) and (ii) a $ 50.0 million revolving credit facility (the “Prior Revolving Credit Facility”, and collectively with the Term Loan, the “Prior Credit Facilities”), each maturing on September 29, 2026 . The Company could also request lenders to add incremental term loans or increase the aggregate commitment under the Prior Revolving Credit Facility by an aggregate amount of up to $ 75.0 million, subject to meeting certain conditions, and only if the lenders agreed to provide such additional term loans or revolving commitments. Borrowings under the Prior Credit Facilities bore interest at either a Base Rate (as defined in the Prior Credit Agreement) or the adjusted Secured Overnight Financing Rate (“SOFR”), at the Company’s option, and in each case, plus an applicable margin, which applicable margin ranged from 0.75 % to 2.00 % with respect to Base Rate borrowings and 1.75 % to 3.00 % with respect to SOFR borrowings, depending on the Company’s Total Net Leverage Ratio (as defined in the Prior Credit Agreement); provided, that SOFR and the Base Rate could no t be less than 0.00 %, with the specific pricing reset on each date on which the Administrative Agent received the required financial statements under the Prior Credit Agreement for the fiscal quarter then ended. The Company would also pay a commitment fee for the unused portion of the Prior Revolving Credit Facility, which ranged from 0.20 % to 0.40 % per annum depending on the Company’s Total Net Leverage Ratio, and fees on the face amount of any letters of credit outstanding under the Prior Revolving Credit Facility, which ranged from 1.3125 % to 2.25 % per annum, in each case, depending on the Company’s Total Net Leverage Ratio, as well as customary fronting fees payable to BMO as letter of credit issuer. In connection with the closing of the Prior Credit Facilities, the Company paid certain other fees and expenses. The prior Term Loan amortized quarterly in an amount equal to (i) 7.5 % per annum for the first year ending after the Prior Credit Agreement Closing Date and (ii) 10.0 % per annum for the second and third years ending after the Prior Credit Agreement Closing Date, with a final payment of all then remaining principal and interest due on the maturity date of September 29, 2026 . The amounts outstanding under the Prior Credit Facilities could be prepaid in whole or in part at any time without penalty (other than customary breakage costs). 78 Table of Contents WILLDAN GROUP, INC. NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS – (Continued) Willdan Group, Inc. was the borrower under the Prior Credit Agreement and its obligations under the Prior Credit Agreement were guaranteed by its present and future domestic subsidiaries (other than inactive subsidiaries). In addition, subject to certain exceptions, all such obligations were secured by substantially all of the assets of Willdan Group, Inc. and the subsidiary guarantors (other than inactive subsidiaries). The Prior Credit Agreement required compliance with financial covenants, including a maximum Net Leverage Ratio and a minimum Fixed Charge Coverage Ratio (as defined in the Prior Credit Agreement). The Prior Credit Agreement also contained customary restrictive covenants, including (i) restrictions on the incurrence of additional indebtedness and additional liens on property, (ii) restrictions on permitted acquisitions and other investments and (iii) limitations on asset sales, mergers and acquisitions. Further, the Prior Credit Agreement limited the Company’s payment of future dividends and distributions and share repurchases by the Company. Subject to certain exceptions, the borrowings under the Prior Credit Agreement were also subject to mandatory prepayment from (a) any issuances of debt or equity securities, (b) any sale or disposition of assets, (c) insurance and condemnation proceeds, and (d) a percentage of excess cash flow. The Prior Credit Agreement included customary events of default. Amended and Restated Credit Agreement On May 5, 2025 (the “Closing Date”), the Company entered into the Amended and Restated Credit Agreement (the “Amended and Restated Credit Agreement”) with BMO as Administrative Agent and the lenders party thereto, which amended and restated the Prior Credit Agreement. The Amended and Restated Credit Agreement, (A) increased the borrowing limit under the Prior Revolving Credit Facility to $ 100.0 million (as amended, the “Revolving Credit Facility”), (B) reduced the Term Loan A (“TLA”) commitment to $ 50.0 million, (C) provided a new $ 50.0 million Delayed Draw Term Loan (the “Delayed Draw Term Loan”, and together with the Revolving Credit Facility and TLA, the “Amended and Restated Credit Facilities”), and (D) extended the maturity date of the Amended and Restated Credit Facilities to May 5, 2030 . The Company may also request lenders to add incremental term loans or increase the aggregate commitment under the Revolving Credit Facility by an aggregate amount of (i) up to $ 75.0 million or (ii) 1.0 x the Company’s last twelve months (“LTM”) Adjusted EBITDA (as calculated pursuant to the Amended and Restated Credit Agreement), subject to meeting certain conditions, and only if the lenders agree to provide such additional term loans or revolving commitments. Pursuant to the Amended and Restated Credit Agreement, borrowings under the Amended and Restated Credit Facilities bear interest at either a Base Rate (as defined in the Amended and Restated Credit Agreement) or the adjusted SOFR, at the Company’s option, and in each case, plus an applicable margin, which applicable margin ranges from 0.50 % to 1.50 % with respect to Base Rate borrowings and 1.50 % to 2.50 % with respect to SOFR borrowings, depending on the Company’s Total Net Leverage Ratio (as defined in the Amended and Restated Credit Agreement); provided, that SOFR and the Base Rate can no t be less than 0.00 %, with the specific pricing reset on each date on which the Administrative Agent receives the required financial statements under the Credit Agreement for the fiscal quarter then ended. The Company must also pay a commitment fee for the unused portion of the Revolving Credit Facility, which ranges from 0.15 % to 0.35 % per annum depending on the Company’s Total Net Leverage Ratio, and fees on the face amount of any letters of credit outstanding under the Revolving Credit Facility, which range from 1.125 % to 1.875 % per annum, in each case, depending on the Company’s Total Net Leverage Ratio, as well as customary fronting fees payable to BMO as letter of credit issuer. In connection with the closing of the Amended and Restated Credit Facilities, the Company paid certain other fees and expenses. The TLA will amortize quarterly in an amount equal to 5.0 % per annum beginning with the first full fiscal quarter ending after the Amended and Restated Credit Agreement Closing Date, with a final payment of all then remaining principal and interest due on the maturity date of May 5, 2030 . Each borrowing under the Delayed Draw Term Loan will amortize in an amount equal to 5.0 % per annum of the aggregate outstanding borrowings under the Delayed Draw Term Loan, beginning with the first full fiscal quarter ending after the initial borrowing date, with a final payment of all then remaining principal and interest due on the maturity date of May 5, 2030 . The amounts outstanding under the Amended and Restated Credit Facilities may be prepaid in whole or in part at any time without penalty (other than customary breakage costs). 79 Table of Contents WILLDAN GROUP, INC. NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS – (Continued) The TLA issuance costs are amortized to interest expense over the term of the TLA, and as of January 2, 2026, issuance costs of $ 0.3 million remained unamortized. The Revolving Credit Facility unamortized issuance costs are included in assets in the accompanying consolidated balance sheets, and as of January 2, 2026, consisted of $ 0.6 million. Willdan Group, Inc. is the borrower under the Amended and Restated Credit Agreement and its obligations under the Amended and Restated Credit Agreement are guaranteed by its present and future domestic subsidiaries (other than inactive subsidiaries). In addition, subject to certain exceptions, all such obligations are secured by substantially all of the assets of Willdan Group, Inc. and the subsidiary guarantors (other than inactive subsidiaries). The Amended and Restated Credit Agreement requires compliance with financial covenants, including a maximum Net Leverage Ratio and a minimum Fixed Charge Coverage Ratio (as defined in the Credit Agreement). The Amended and Restated Credit Agreement also contains customary restrictive covenants, including (i) restrictions on the incurrence of additional indebtedness and additional liens on property, (ii) restrictions on permitted acquisitions and other investments and (iii) limitations on asset sales, mergers and acquisitions. Further, the Amended and Restated Credit Agreement limits the Company’s payment of future dividends and distributions and share repurchases by the Company. Subject to certain exceptions, the borrowings under the Amended and Restated Credit Agreement are also subject to mandatory prepayment from (a) any issuances of debt or equity securities, (b) any sale or disposition of assets, (c) insurance and condemnation proceeds, and (d) a percentage of Excess Cash Flow, as defined in the Amended and Restated Credit Agreement. The Amended and Restated Credit Agreement includes customary events of default. As of January 2, 2026, the Company was in compliance with all these covenants contained in the Amended and Restated Credit Agreement. In addition, as of January 2, 2026, the Company’s composite annual interest rate, exclusive of the effects of upfront fees, undrawn fees and issuance cost amortization, was 5.3 % and $ 1.6 million in letters of credit were issued. Other Debt Agreements The Company’s other debt agreements generally are comprised of financed insurance premiums, financed software agreements, and a utility customer agreement, and are immaterial to the Company’s Consolidated Financial Statements. Future Debt Payments The following table summarizes the combined principal installments for the Company’s debt obligations, excluding capital leases, over the next five years and beyond, as of January 2, 2026 ( in thousands ): ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Fiscal Year: ​ ​ ​ 2026 ​ $ 2,500 2027 ​ ​ 2,500 2028 ​ ​ 2,500 2029 ​ ​ 2,500 2030 ​ ​ 38,750 Total debt maturities ​ ​ 48,750 Issuance costs and debt discounts ​ ​ ( 288 ) Net carrying value ​ $ 48,462 80 Table of Contents WILLDAN GROUP, INC. NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS – (Continued) 6. GOODWILL AND OTHER INTANGIBLE ASSETS The Company’s goodwill primarily relates to the Energy segment and the historical acquisitions within this segment which includes the fiscal year 2025 acquisition of Alternative Power Generation, as well as the fiscal year 2024 acquisition of substantially all of the assets of Enica. The remaining goodwill relates to the Engineering and Consulting reporting segment and the historical acquisitions within this segment which includes the fiscal year 2025 acquisition of Compass Municipal Advisors and Alpha. The changes in the carrying value of goodwill by reporting unit were as follows: ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ December 27, ​ Additional ​ Additions / ​ January 2, ​ ​ ​ ​ 2024 ​ ​ ​ Purchase Cost ​ ​ ​ Adjustments ​ ​ ​ 2026 ​ ​ (in thousands) Reporting Unit: ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Energy ​ $ 139,222 ​ $ 31,613 ​ $ — ​ $ 170,835 Engineering and Consulting ​ ​ 1,769 ​ ​ 6,926 ​ ​ — ​ ​ 8,695 ​ ​ $ 140,991 ​ $ 38,539 ​ $ — ​ $ 179,530 ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ December 29, ​ Additional ​ Additions / ​ December 27, ​ ​ ​ ​ 2023 ​ ​ ​ Purchase Cost ​ ​ ​ Adjustments ​ ​ ​ 2024 ​ ​ (in thousands) Reporting Unit: ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Energy ​ $ 129,375 ​ $ 9,847 ​ $ — ​ $ 139,222 Engineering and Consulting ​ ​ 1,769 ​ ​ — ​ ​ — ​ ​ 1,769 ​ ​ $ 131,144 ​ $ 9,847 ​ $ — ​ $ 140,991 The Company tests its goodwill at least annually for possible impairment. The Company completes its annual testing of goodwill as of the last day of the first month of its fourth fiscal quarter each year to determine whether there is impairment. In addition to the Company’s annual test, it regularly evaluates whether events and circumstances have occurred that may indicate a potential impairment of goodwill. No impairment was recorded in any year during the three-year period ended January 2, 2026. The gross amounts and accumulated amortization of the Company’s acquired identifiable intangible assets with finite useful lives, included in other intangible assets, net in the accompanying consolidated balance sheets, were as follows: ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ January 2, 2026 ​ December 27, 2024 ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Gross ​ Accumulated ​ Gross ​ Accumulated ​ Amortization ​ ​ ​ ​ Amount ​ ​ ​ Amortization ​ ​ ​ Amount ​ ​ ​ Amortization ​ ​ ​ Period ​ ​ (in thousands) ​ (in years) Finite: ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Backlog ​ $ 11,600 ​ $ 9,853 ​ $ 8,882 ​ $ 8,350 ​ 1.0 Tradename ​ ​ 17,773 ​ ​ 14,285 ​ ​ 16,123 ​ ​ 13,196 2.5 ​ - ​ 6.0 Non-compete agreements ​ ​ 1,835 ​ ​ 1,535 ​ ​ 1,613 ​ ​ 1,488 ​ 4.0 ​ - ​ 5.0 Developed technology ​ ​ 15,810 ​ ​ 15,810 ​ ​ 15,810 ​ ​ 15,286 ​ 8.0 Customer relationships ​ ​ 73,400 ​ ​ 43,414 ​ ​ 62,041 ​ ​ 36,735 ​ 5.0 ​ - ​ 12.0 Total intangible assets ​ $ 120,418 ​ $ 84,897 ​ $ 104,469 ​ $ 75,055 ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ 81 Table of Contents WILLDAN GROUP, INC. NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS – (Continued) At the time of acquisition, the Company estimates the fair value of the acquired identifiable intangible assets based upon the facts and circumstances related to the particular intangible asset. Inherent in such estimates are judgments and estimates of future revenue, profitability, cash flows and appropriate discount rates for any present value calculations. The Company preliminarily estimates the value of the acquired identifiable intangible assets and then finalizes the estimated fair values during the purchase allocation period, which does not extend beyond 12 months from the date of acquisition. The Company’s amortization expense for acquired identifiable intangible assets with finite useful lives was $ 9.8 million, $ 7.2 million, and $ 10.1 million for the fiscal years 2025, 2024 and 2023, respectively. Estimated amortization expense for acquired identifiable intangible assets for fiscal year 2026 and the succeeding years is as follows: ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Future Intangible Asset ​ ​ ​ Amortization expense ​ ​ ​ (in thousands) Fiscal year: ​ ​ ​ 2026 ​ $ 9,584 2027 ​ 7,562 2028 ​ 6,577 2029 ​ ​ 2,849 2030 ​ ​ 1,868 Thereafter ​ ​ 7,081 ​ ​ $ 35,521 82 Table of Contents WILLDAN GROUP, INC. NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS – (Continued) 7. LEASES The Company leases certain office facilities under long-term, non-cancellable operating leases that expire at various dates through the year 2034. In addition, the Company is obligated under finance leases for certain furniture and office equipment that expire at various dates through the year 2029. From time to time, the Company enters into non-cancelable leases for some of its facility and equipment needs. These leases allow the Company to conserve cash by paying a monthly lease rental fee for the use of facilities and equipment rather than purchasing them. The Company’s leases typically have remaining terms ranging from one to eight years , some of which may include options to extend the leases for up to five years , and some of which may include options to terminate the leases within one year . Currently, all of the Company’s leases contain fixed payment terms. The Company may decide to cancel or terminate a lease before the end of its term, in which case it is typically liable to the lessor for the remaining lease payments under the term of the lease. Additionally, all of the Company’s month-to-month leases are cancelable by the Company or the lessor, at any time, and are not included in the Company’s right-of-use asset or lease liability. As of January 2, 2026, the Company had no leases with residual value guarantees. Typically, the Company has purchase options on the equipment underlying its long-term leases. The Company may exercise some of these purchase options when the need for equipment is on-going and the purchase option price is attractive. Nonperformance-related default covenants, cross-default provisions, subjective default provisions and material adverse change clauses contained in material lease agreements, if any, are also evaluated to determine whether those clauses affect lease classification in accordance with “ASC” Topic 842-10-25. Leases are accounted for as operating or financing leases, depending on the terms of the lease. Financing Leases The Company leases certain equipment under financing leases. The economic substance of the leases is a financing transaction for acquisition of equipment and leasehold improvements. Accordingly, the right-of-use assets for these leases are included in the balance sheets in equipment and leasehold improvements, net of accumulated depreciation, with a corresponding amount recorded in current portion of financing lease obligations or noncurrent portion of financing lease obligations, as appropriate. The financing lease assets are amortized over the life of the lease or, if shorter, the life of the leased asset, on a straight-line basis and included in depreciation expense. The interest associated with financing lease obligations is included in interest expense. Right-of-use assets Operating leases are included in right-of-use assets, and current portion of lease liability and noncurrent portion of lease liability, as appropriate. Right-of-use assets and lease liabilities are recognized based on the present value of the future minimum lease payments over the lease term at commencement date. As most of the Company’s leases do not provide an implicit rate to calculate present value, the Company determines this rate by estimating the Company’s incremental borrowing rate at the lease commencement date. The right-of-use asset also includes any lease payments made and initial direct costs incurred at lease commencement and excludes lease incentives. The Company’s lease terms may include options to extend or terminate the lease when it is reasonably certain that the Company will exercise that option. Lease expense for minimum lease payments is recognized on a straight-line basis over the lease term. 83 Table of Contents WILLDAN GROUP, INC. NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS – (Continued) The following is a summary of the Company’s lease expense: ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Fiscal Year ​ ​ 2025 ​ ​ ​ 2024 ​ ​ ​ 2023 ​ ​ (in thousands) Operating lease cost ​ $ 6,096 ​ $ 6,168 ​ $ 6,114 Sublease Income ​ ​ ( 55 ) ​ ​ ( 55 ) ​ ​ ( 49 ) Finance lease cost: ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Amortization of assets ​ ​ 1,474 ​ ​ 1,502 ​ ​ 1,331 Interest on lease liabilities ​ ​ 177 ​ ​ 157 ​ ​ 105 Total net lease cost ​ $ 7,692 ​ $ 7,772 ​ $ 7,501 The following is a summary of lease information presented on the Company’s consolidated balance sheet: ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ January 2, ​ December 27, ​ ​ 2026 ​ ​ ​ 2024 ​ ​ (in thousands, except years and percentages) ​ Operating leases: ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Right-of-use assets $ 16,600 ​ $ 14,035 ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Lease liability $ 4,670 ​ $ 5,804 ​ Lease liability, less current portion 13,762 ​ 9,939 ​ Total lease liabilities $ 18,432 ​ $ 15,743 ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Finance leases (included in equipment and leasehold improvements, net): ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Equipment and leasehold improvements, net $ 7,471 ​ $ 7,052 ​ Accumulated depreciation ( 5,166 ) ​ ( 4,662 ) ​ Total equipment and leasehold improvements, net $ 2,305 ​ $ 2,390 ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Finance lease obligations $ 1,225 ​ $ 1,138 ​ Finance lease obligations, less current portion ​ 1,162 ​ ​ 1,379 ​ Total finance lease obligations $ 2,387 ​ $ 2,517 ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Weighted average remaining lease term (in years): ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Operating Leases ​ 5.47 ​ ​ 3.03 ​ Finance Leases ​ 2.00 ​ ​ 2.42 ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Weighted average discount rate: ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Operating Leases ​ 6.47 % ​ 6.97 % Finance Leases ​ 6.17 % ​ 6.87 % Rent expense for fiscal years 2025, 2024 and 2023 was $ 6.8 million, $ 6.9 million, and $ 6.8 million, respectively. 84 Table of Contents WILLDAN GROUP, INC. NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS – (Continued) The following is a summary of other information and supplemental cash flow information related to finance and operating leases: ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Fiscal Year ​ ​ ​ ​ 2025 ​ ​ ​ 2024 ​ ​ ​ 2023 ​ ​ (in thousands) Cash paid for amounts included in the measurement of lease liabilities: ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Operating cash flow from operating leases ​ $ 6,658 ​ $ 6,329 ​ $ 5,843 Operating cash flow from finance leases ​ ​ 173 ​ ​ 157 ​ ​ 105 Financing cash flow from finance leases ​ ​ 1,497 ​ ​ 1,444 ​ ​ 1,304 ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Right-of-use assets obtained in exchange for lease liabilities: ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Operating leases ​ $ 9,389 ​ $ 6,760 ​ $ 5,374 The following is a summary of the Company’s maturities of lease liabilities as of January 2, 2026: ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Operating ​ ​ ​ Finance ​ ​ (in thousands) ​ Fiscal year: ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ 2026 ​ $ 5,479 ​ $ 1,390 ​ 2027 ​ 4,213 ​ 877 ​ 2028 ​ 3,209 ​ ​ 230 ​ 2029 ​ ​ 2,487 ​ ​ 31 ​ 2030 ​ ​ 1,765 ​ 1 ​ 2031 and thereafter ​ 4,687 ​ — ​ Total lease payments ​ ​ 21,840 ​ ​ 2,529 ​ Less: Imputed interest ​ ( 3,408 ) ​ ​ ( 142 ) ​ Total lease obligations ​ 18,432 ​ ​ 2,387 ​ Less: Current obligations ​ 4,670 ​ ​ 1,225 ​ Noncurrent lease obligations ​ $ 13,762 ​ $ 1,162 ​ The imputed interest for finance lease obligations represents the interest component of finance leases that will be recognized as interest expense in future periods. The financing component for operating lease obligations represents the effect of discounting the operating lease payments to their present value. 85 Table of Contents WILLDAN GROUP, INC. NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS – (Continued) 8. COMMITMENTS AND VARIABLE INTEREST ENTITIES Employee Benefit Plans The Company has a qualified profit sharing plan pursuant to Code Section 401(a) and qualified cash or deferred arrangement pursuant to Code Section 401(k) covering all employees. Employees may elect to contribute up to 50 % of their compensation limited to the amount allowed by tax laws. Company contributions are made solely at the discretion of the Company’s board of directors. The Company’s defined contribution plan (the “Plan”) covers employees who have completed three months of service and who have attained 21 years of age. The Company elects to make matching contributions equal to 50 % of the participants’ contributions to the Plan up to 6 % of the individual participant’s compensation, and subject to a maximum of $ 3,000 per employee. Under the defined Plan, the Company may make discretionary contributions to employee accounts. The Company made matching contributions of $ 2.9 million, $ 2.4 million, and $ 2.2 million during fiscal years 2025, 2024 and 2023, respectively. Variable Interest Entities On March 4, 2016, the Company and the Company’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Willdan Energy Solutions, Inc. (“WES”) , acquired substantially all of the assets of Genesys Engineering, P.C. (“Genesys”) and assumed certain specified liabilities of Genesys (collectively, the “Purchase”) pursuant to an Asset Purchase and Merger Agreement, dated as of February 26, 2016 (the “Agreement”), by and among Willdan Group, Inc., WES, WESGEN (as defined below), Genesys and Ronald W. Mineo (“Mineo”) and Robert J. Braun (“Braun” and, together with Mineo, the “Genesys Shareholders”). On March 5, 2016, pursuant to the terms of the Agreement, WESGEN, Inc., a non-affiliated corporation (“WESGEN”), merged (the “Merger” and, together with the Purchase, the “Acquisition”) with Genesys, with Genesys remaining as the surviving corporation. Genesys was acquired to strengthen the Company’s power engineering capability in the northeastern U.S., and also to increase client exposure and experience with universities. Genesys continues to be a professional corporation organized under the laws of the State of New York, wholly-owned by one or more licensed engineers. Pursuant to New York law, the Company does not own capital stock of Genesys. The Company has entered into an agreement with the Shareholder of Genesys pursuant to which the Shareholder will be prohibited from selling, transferring or encumbering the Shareholder’s ownership interest in Genesys without the Company’s consent. Notwithstanding the Company’s rights regarding the transfer of Genesys’s stock, the Company does not have control over the professional decision making of Genesys’s engineering services. The Company has entered into an administrative services agreement with Genesys pursuant to which WES will provide Genesys with ongoing administrative, operational and other non-professional support services. Genesys pays WES a service fee, which consists of all of the costs incurred by WES to provide the administrative services to Genesys plus ten percent of such costs, as well as any other costs that relate to professional service supplies and personnel costs. As a result of the administrative services agreement, the Company absorbs the expected losses of Genesys through its deferral of Genesys’s service fees owed to WES. The Company manages Genesys and has the power to direct the activities that most significantly impact Genesys’s performance, in addition to being obligated to absorb expected losses from Genesys. Accordingly, the Company is the primary beneficiary of Genesys and consolidates Genesys as a variable interest entity (“VIE”). In addition, the Company concluded there is no noncontrolling interest related to the consolidation of Genesys because the Company determined that (i) the shareholder of Genesys does not have more than a nominal amount of equity investment at risk, (ii) WES absorbs the expected losses of Genesys through its deferral of Genesys’s service fees owed to WES and the Company has, since entering into the administrative services agreement, had to continuously defer service fees for Genesys, and (iii) the Company believes Genesys will continue to have a shortfall on payment of its service fees for the foreseeable future, leaving no expected residual returns for the shareholder. As of January 2, 2026, the Company had one VIE — Genesys. 86 Table of Contents WILLDAN GROUP, INC. NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS – (Continued) 9. SEGMENT AND GEOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION Segment Information The Company’s two segments are Energy and Engineering and Consulting, and the Company’s chief operating decision maker, which continues to be its chief executive officer, receives and reviews financial information in this format. In November 2023, the FASB issued ASU No. 2023-07, “Segment Reporting (Topic 280): Improvements to Reportable Segment Disclosures” (“ASU 2023-07”). The Company retroactively adopted ASU 2023-07, which requires, for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2023, the disclosure of significant segment expenses that are regularly provided to the CODM, along with a description of other segment items by reportable segment, and any additional measures of a segment's profit or loss used by the CODM when deciding how to allocate resources. The Company’s CODM evaluates the performance of each segment based upon the information provided below. There were no intersegment sales during the fiscal years 2025, 2024, or 2023. In addition, enterprise-wide service line contract revenue is not included as it is impracticable to report this information for each group of similar services. ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Engineering ​ Unallocated ​ ​ ​ ​ Consolidated ​ ​ Energy ​ ​ ​ & Consulting ​ ​ ​ Corporate ​ ​ ​ Intersegment ​ ​ ​ Total (1) ​ ​ (in thousands) Fiscal Year 2025 ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Contract revenue ​ $ 576,051 ​ $ 105,501 ​ $ — ​ $ — ​ $ 681,552 Direct subcontractor services and other direct costs ​ ​ 311,231 ​ ​ 5,541 ​ ​ — ​ ​ — ​ ​ 316,772 Direct salaries and wages ​ ​ 66,908 ​ ​ 42,190 ​ ​ — ​ ​ — ​ ​ 109,098 Gross profit ​ ​ 197,912 ​ ​ 57,770 ​ ​ — ​ ​ — ​ ​ 255,682 Other indirect costs ​ ​ 140,938 ​ ​ 39,449 ​ ​ 12,462 ​ ​ — ​ ​ 192,849 EBITDA (2) ​ ​ 56,449 ​ ​ 18,315 ​ ​ ( 10,336 ) ​ ​ — ​ ​ 64,428 Interest expense ​ — ​ ​ — ​ ​ 5,748 ​ ​ — ​ ​ 5,748 Depreciation and amortization ​ 16,627 ​ ​ 2,059 ​ ​ — ​ ​ — ​ ​ 18,686 Segment profit (loss) before income tax expense ​ 39,822 ​ ​ 16,256 ​ ​ ( 16,084 ) ​ ​ — ​ ​ 39,994 Income tax (benefit) expense ​ ( 12,509 ) ​ ​ ( 5,106 ) ​ ​ 5,052 ​ ​ — ​ ​ ( 12,563 ) Net income (loss) ​ 52,331 ​ ​ 21,362 ​ ​ ( 21,136 ) ​ ​ — ​ ​ 52,557 Segment assets (3) ​ 398,299 ​ ​ 44,170 ​ ​ 101,742 ​ ​ — ​ ​ 544,211 ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Engineering ​ Unallocated ​ ​ ​ ​ Consolidated ​ ​ Energy ​ ​ ​ & Consulting ​ ​ ​ Corporate ​ ​ ​ Intersegment ​ ​ ​ Total (1) ​ ​ (in thousands) Fiscal Year 2024 ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Contract revenue ​ $ 473,309 ​ $ 92,489 ​ $ — ​ $ — ​ $ 565,798 Direct subcontractor services and other direct costs ​ ​ 266,092 ​ ​ 3,381 ​ ​ — ​ ​ — ​ ​ 269,473 Direct salaries and wages ​ ​ 55,041 ​ ​ 38,502 ​ ​ — ​ ​ — ​ ​ 93,543 Gross profit ​ ​ 152,176 ​ ​ 50,606 ​ ​ — ​ ​ — ​ ​ 202,782 Other indirect costs ​ ​ 113,998 ​ ​ 36,263 ​ ​ 6,423 ​ ​ — ​ ​ 156,684 EBITDA (2) ​ ​ 38,554 ​ ​ 14,344 ​ ​ ( 3,673 ) ​ ​ — ​ ​ 49,225 Interest expense ​ — ​ ​ — ​ ​ 7,801 ​ ​ — ​ ​ 7,801 Depreciation and amortization ​ 13,260 ​ ​ 1,485 ​ ​ — ​ ​ — ​ ​ 14,745 Segment profit (loss) before income tax expense ​ 25,294 ​ ​ 12,859 ​ ​ ( 11,474 ) ​ ​ — ​ ​ 26,679 Income tax (benefit) expense ​ 3,896 ​ ​ 1,980 ​ ​ ( 1,767 ) ​ ​ — ​ ​ 4,109 Net income (loss) ​ 21,398 ​ ​ 10,879 ​ ​ ( 9,707 ) ​ ​ — ​ ​ 22,570 Segment assets (3) ​ 348,884 ​ ​ 29,202 ​ ​ 86,777 ​ ​ — ​ ​ 464,863 87 Table of Contents WILLDAN GROUP, INC. NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS – (Continued) ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Engineering ​ Unallocated ​ ​ ​ ​ Consolidated ​ ​ Energy ​ ​ ​ & Consulting ​ ​ ​ Corporate ​ ​ ​ Intersegment ​ ​ ​ Total (1) ​ ​ (in thousands) Fiscal Year 2023 ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Contract revenue ​ $ 426,976 ​ $ 83,119 ​ $ — ​ $ — ​ $ 510,095 Direct subcontractor services and other direct costs ​ ​ 236,603 ​ ​ 3,810 ​ ​ — ​ ​ — ​ ​ 240,413 Direct salaries and wages ​ ​ 54,377 ​ ​ 35,538 ​ ​ — ​ ​ — ​ ​ 89,915 Gross profit ​ ​ 135,996 ​ ​ 43,771 ​ ​ — ​ ​ — ​ ​ 179,767 Other indirect costs ​ ​ 104,644 ​ ​ 32,259 ​ ​ 4,359 ​ ​ — ​ ​ 141,262 EBITDA (2) ​ ​ 32,103 ​ ​ 11,525 ​ ​ ( 3,193 ) ​ ​ — ​ ​ 40,435 Interest expense ​ 6 ​ ​ — ​ ​ 9,407 ​ ​ — ​ ​ 9,413 Depreciation and amortization ​ 15,176 ​ ​ 1,255 ​ ​ — ​ ​ — ​ ​ 16,431 Segment profit (loss) before income tax expense ​ 16,921 ​ ​ 10,270 ​ ​ ( 12,600 ) ​ ​ — ​ ​ 14,591 Income tax (benefit) expense ​ 4,250 ​ ​ 2,580 ​ ​ ( 3,165 ) ​ ​ — ​ ​ 3,665 Net income (loss) ​ 12,671 ​ ​ 7,690 ​ ​ ( 9,435 ) ​ ​ — ​ ​ 10,926 Segment assets (3) ​ 345,745 ​ ​ 25,842 ​ ​ 44,001 ​ ​ — ​ ​ 415,588 (1) Amounts may not add to the totals due to rounding. (2) “EBITDA”, defined as earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, is a non-GAAP financial measure. (3) Segment assets are presented net of intercompany receivables. The following tables provide information about disaggregated revenue by contract type, client type and geographical region: ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ 2025 ​ ​ ​ ​ Energy ​ ​ ​ Engineering and Consulting ​ ​ ​ Total ​ ​ ​ ​ (in thousands) Contract Type ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Time-and-materials ​ $ 49,898 ​ $ 72,100 ​ $ 121,998 Unit-based ​ ​ 215,499 ​ ​ 26,235 ​ ​ 241,734 Fixed price ​ ​ 310,654 ​ ​ 7,166 ​ ​ 317,820 Total (1) ​ $ 576,051 ​ $ 105,501 ​ $ 681,552 ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Client Type ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Commercial ​ $ 70,871 ​ $ 7,029 ​ $ 77,900 Government ​ ​ 227,497 ​ ​ 98,233 ​ ​ 325,730 Utilities (2) ​ ​ 277,683 ​ ​ 239 ​ ​ 277,922 Total (1) ​ $ 576,051 ​ $ 105,501 ​ $ 681,552 ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Geography (3) ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Domestic ​ $ 576,051 ​ $ 105,501 ​ $ 681,552 ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ 2024 ​ ​ ​ ​ Energy ​ ​ ​ Engineering and Consulting ​ ​ ​ Total ​ ​ ​ ​ (in thousands) Contract Type ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Time-and-materials ​ $ 34,381 ​ $ 67,931 ​ $ 102,312 Unit-based ​ ​ 205,117 ​ ​ 19,676 ​ ​ 224,793 Fixed price ​ ​ 233,811 ​ ​ 4,882 ​ ​ 238,693 Total (1) ​ $ 473,309 ​ $ 92,489 ​ $ 565,798 ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Client Type ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Commercial ​ $ 34,072 ​ $ 7,548 ​ $ 41,620 Government ​ ​ 182,079 ​ ​ 84,695 ​ ​ 266,774 Utilities (2) ​ ​ 257,158 ​ ​ 246 ​ ​ 257,404 Total (1) ​ $ 473,309 ​ $ 92,489 ​ $ 565,798 ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Geography (3) ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Domestic ​ $ 473,309 ​ $ 92,489 ​ $ 565,798 88 Table of Contents WILLDAN GROUP, INC. NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS – (Continued) ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ 2023 ​ ​ ​ ​ Energy ​ ​ ​ Engineering and Consulting ​ ​ ​ Total ​ ​ ​ ​ (in thousands) Contract Type ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Time-and-materials ​ $ 35,582 ​ $ 63,530 ​ $ 99,112 Unit-based ​ ​ 199,040 ​ ​ 15,753 ​ ​ 214,793 Fixed price ​ ​ 192,354 ​ ​ 3,836 ​ ​ 196,190 Total (1) ​ $ 426,976 ​ $ 83,119 ​ $ 510,095 ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Client Type ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Commercial ​ $ 31,162 ​ $ 5,866 ​ $ 37,028 Government ​ ​ 159,935 ​ ​ 76,972 ​ ​ 236,907 Utilities (2) ​ ​ 235,879 ​ ​ 281 ​ ​ 236,160 Total (1) ​ $ 426,976 ​ $ 83,119 ​ $ 510,095 ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Geography (3) ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Domestic ​ $ 426,976 ​ $ 83,119 ​ $ 510,095 (1) Amounts may not add to the totals due to rounding. (2) Includes the portion of revenue related to small business programs paid by the end user/customer. (3) Revenue from the Company’s foreign operations were immaterial for fiscal years 2025, 2024, and 2023. The following sets forth the assets that are included in Unallocated Corporate as of January 2, 2026 and December 27, 2024. ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ 2025 ​ ​ ​ 2024 ​ ​ (in thousands) Assets: ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Cash and cash equivalents ​ $ 65,919 ​ $ 74,158 Restricted cash ​ ​ — ​ ​ — Accounts receivable, net ​ ​ ( 2,618 ) ​ ​ ( 6,881 ) Prepaid expenses ​ 5,339 ​ 2,765 Goodwill ​ ​ 2 ​ ​ 2 Other receivables ​ 2,150 ​ 40 Equipment and leasehold improvements, net ​ 1,310 ​ 1,051 ROU Assets ​ ​ 890 ​ ​ 1,149 Other ​ 1,952 ​ 1,147 Deferred income taxes ​ ​ 26,798 ​ ​ 13,346 ​ ​ $ 101,742 ​ $ 86,777 Geographical Information Substantially all of the Company’s consolidated revenue was derived from its operations in the U.S. The Company operates through a network of offices spread across 22 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and Canada. Revenues from the Company’s Puerto Rican and Canadian operations were not material for fiscal years 2025, 2024, and 2023. 89 Table of Contents WILLDAN GROUP, INC. NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS – (Continued) Customer Concentration For fiscal years 2025, 2024, and 2023, the Company’s top 10 customers accounted for 50.7 %, 51.3 %, and 52.7 %, respectively, of the Company’s consolidated contract revenue. For fiscal year 2025, the Company had individual customers that accounted for more than 10% of its consolidated contract revenue; for fiscal year 2025, the Company derived 23.2 % of its consolidated contract revenue from two customers, Clark County School District and Southern California Edison. For fiscal years 2024 and 2023, the Company had no individual customers that accounted for more than 10% of its consolidated contract revenue. On a segment basis, the Company also had individual customers that accounted for more than 10% of its segment contract revenues. For fiscal year 2025, the Company derived 27.4 % of its Energy segment revenues from two customers, Clark County School District and Southern Edison, and had no individual customers accounted for more than 10% of its Engineering and Consulting segment revenues. For fiscal year 2024, the Company derived 10.7 % of its Energy segment revenues from one customer, Southern California Edison, and had no individual customers accounted for more than 10% of its Engineering and Consulting segment revenues. For fiscal year 2023, the Company derived 22.7 % of its Energy segment revenues from two customers, Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (“LADWP”) and the Dormitory Authority State of New York (“DASNY”), and had no individual customers accounted for more than 10% of its Engineering and Consulting segment revenues. The Company’s largest clients are based in California, New York, and Nevada. In fiscal years 2025, 2024, and 2023, services provided to clients in California accounted for 43.5 %, 43.9 %, and 45.1 %, respectively, of the Company’s consolidated contract revenue, services provided to clients in New York accounted for 19.0 %, 23.6 %, and 24.7 %, respectively, of the Company’s consolidated contract revenue, and services provided to clients in Nevada accounted for 11.8 %, 8.2 %, and 0.3 %, respectively, of the Company’s consolidated contract revenue. 90 Table of Contents WILLDAN GROUP, INC. NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS – (Continued) 10. SHAREHOLDERS’ EQUITY Stock Incentive Plans 2006 Stock Incentive Plan In June 2006, the Company’s board of directors adopted the 2006 Stock Incentive Plan (“2006 Plan”) and it received stockholder approval. The Company re-submitted the 2006 Plan to its stockholders for post-IPO approval at the 2007 annual meeting of the stockholders and it was approved. After the Company’s shareholders approved the 2008 Plan (as defined below) in June 2008, no additional awards were granted under the 2006 Plan. The 2006 Plan had 300,000 shares of common stock reserved for issuance to the Company’s directors, executives, officers, employees, consultants and advisors. Approximately 182,735 shares that were available for award grant purposes under the 2006 Plan became available for grant under the 2008 Plan following shareholder approval of the 2008 Plan. Options granted under the 2006 Plan could be “non-statutory stock options” which expired no more than 10 years from the date of grant or “incentive stock options” as defined in Section 422 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Internal Revenue Code”). Upon exercise of non-statutory stock options, the Company is generally entitled to a tax deduction on the exercise of the option for an amount equal to the excess over the exercise price of the fair market value of the shares at the date of exercise. The Company is generally not entitled to any tax deduction on the exercise of an incentive stock option. The 2006 Plan terminated in June 2016 and, as of January 2, 2026, there were no outstanding stock options under the 2006 Plan. Amended and Restated 2008 Performance Incentive Plan In March 2008, the Company’s board of directors adopted the 2008 Performance Incentive Plan (“2008 Plan”), and it received stockholder approval at the 2008 annual meeting of the stockholders in June 2008. The 2008 Plan was originally set to terminate on April 17, 2027 but received extensions through several annual meetings of the stockholders, the latest of which was the 2025 annual meeting of the stockholders. The 2008 Plan is currently scheduled to expire on April 13, 2035. The 2008 Plan initially had 450,000 shares of common stock reserved for issuance (not counting any shares originally available under the 2006 Plan that “poured over”) and, through several annual meetings of the stockholders, stockholders approved share increases to the 2008 Plan, the latest of which was the 2025 annual meeting of the stockholders approving a 150,000 share increases. The maximum number of shares of the Company’s common stock that may be issued or transferred pursuant to awards under the 2008 Plan can also be increased by any shares subject to stock options granted under the 2006 Plan and outstanding as of June 9, 2008 which expire, or for any reason are cancelled or terminated, after June 9, 2008 without being exercised. As of January 2, 2026, the 2008 Plan had 938,000 shares of common stock reserved for issuance. Awards authorized by the 2008 Plan include stock options, stock appreciation rights, restricted stock, stock bonuses, stock units, performance stock, and other share-based awards. No participant may be granted an option to purchase more than 300,000 shares in any fiscal year. Options generally may not be granted with exercise prices less than fair market value at the date of grant, with vesting provisions and contractual terms determined by the compensation committee of the board of directors on a grant-by-grant basis, subject to the minimum vesting provisions contained in the 2008 Plan. Options granted under the 2008 Plan may be “nonqualified stock options” or “incentive stock options” as defined in Section 422 of the Internal Revenue Code. The maximum term of each option shall be 10 years . Upon exercise of nonqualified stock options, the Company is generally entitled to a tax deduction on the exercise of the option for an amount equal to the excess over the exercise price of the fair market value of the shares at the date of exercise. The Company is generally not entitled to any tax deduction on the exercise of an incentive stock option. For awards other than stock options, the Company is generally entitled to a tax deduction at the time the award holder recognizes income with respect to the award equal to the amount of compensation income recognized by the award holder. Options and other awards provide for accelerated vesting if there is a change in control (as defined in the 2008 Plan) and the outstanding awards are not substituted or assumed in connection with the transaction. 91 Table of Contents WILLDAN GROUP, INC. NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS – (Continued) Through January 2, 2026, outstanding awards granted, net of forfeitures and exercises, under the 2008 Plan consisted of 24,000 shares of incentive stock options, 376,000 shares of nonqualified stock options, 98,000 shares of restricted stock awards, 123,000 shares of restricted stock units, and 184,000 shares of performance-based restricted stock units. Employee Stock Purchase Plan Amended and Restated 2006 Employee Stock Purchase Plan The Company adopted its Amended and Restated 2006 Employee Stock Purchase Plan (“ESPP”) to allow eligible employees the right to purchase shares of common stock, at semi-annual intervals, with their accumulated payroll deductions. The ESPP received stockholder approval in June 2006. The Company re-submitted the ESPP to its stockholders for post-IPO approval at the 2007 annual stockholders’ meeting where approval was obtained. The ESPP initially had 300,000 shares of common stock reserved for issuance. At the 2017 and 2023 annual meeting of the stockholders, the stockholders approved an 825,000 and 800,000 share increase to the ESPP, respectively. A total of 1,925,000 shares of the Company’s common stock have been reserved for issuance under the ESPP. The ESPP has semi-annual periods beginning on each January 1 and ending on each June 30 and beginning on each July 1 and ending on each December 31. The first offering period commenced on February 10, 2007 and ended on June 30, 2007. Participants make contributions under the ESPP only by means of payroll deductions each payroll period. The rate of payroll contributions elected by a Participant may not be less than one percent ( 1 %) nor more than ten percent ( 10 %) of the Participant’s Earnings for each payroll period, and only whole percentages may be elected. The accumulated contributions are applied to the purchase of shares. Shares are purchased under the ESPP on, or as soon as practicable after, the last day of the offering period. The purchase price per share equals 85 % of the fair market value of a share on the lesser price of the share on the first day or last day of the offering period. The Company’s Amended and Restated 2006 Employee Stock Purchase Plan is a compensatory plan. As of January 2, 2026, there were 702,000 shares available for issuance under the ESPP. Stock-based Compensation Expense The compensation expense that has been recognized for stock options, restricted stock awards (“RSA”), restricted stock units (“RSU”), performance-based restricted stock units (“PBRSU”), and ESPP issued under these plans was $ 11.8 million, $ 7.4 million, and $ 5.3 million for fiscal years 2025, 2024, and 2023, respectively. The Company did no t have any unrecognized compensation expense related to nonvested stock options for fiscal years 2025, 2024, and 2023. The total unrecognized compensation expense related to RSAs was $ 2.1 million, $ 2.3 million, and $ 2.5 million, for fiscal years 2025, 2024, and 2023, respectively. That expense is expected to be recognized over a weighted-average period of 1.0 years. The total unrecognized compensation expense related to RSUs was $ 3.1 million and $ 1.4 million for fiscal years 2025 and 2024, respectively. The Company did no t have any unrecognized compensation related to RSUs for fiscal year 2023. That expense is expected to be recognized over a weighted-average period of 1.8 years. The total unrecognized compensation expense related to PBRSUs was $ 10.2 million, $ 7.0 million, and $ 5.2 million for the fiscal years 2025, 2024, and 2023, respectively. That expense is expected to be recognized over a weighted-average period of 1.0 years. There were no options granted that were immediately vested during the fiscal years 2025, 2024, or 2023. 92 Table of Contents WILLDAN GROUP, INC. NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS – (Continued) Summary of Stock Option Activity A summary of option activity under the 2006 Plan and 2008 Plan as of January 2, 2026 and changes during the fiscal years ended January 2, 2026, December 27, 2024, and December 29, 2023 is presented below. The intrinsic value of the fully-vested options is $ 32.3 million based on the Company’s closing stock price of $ 106.66 and the weighted average exercise price of outstanding options on January 2, 2026. ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Weighted- ​ ​ ​ ​ Weighted- ​ Average ​ ​ ​ ​ Average ​ Remaining ​ ​ ​ ​ Exercise ​ Contractual ​ ​ ​ ​ Options ​ ​ ​ Price ​ ​ ​ Term ​ ​ (in thousands) ​ ​ ​ ​ (in years) ​ Outstanding at December 27, 2024 551 ​ $ 23.75 2.30 ​ Granted — ​ — — ​ Exercised ( 151 ) ​ ​ 18.24 ​ — ​ Forfeited or expired — ​ — — ​ Outstanding at January 2, 2026 400 ​ $ 25.83 ​ 1.68 ​ Vested and expected to vest at January 2, 2026 400 ​ $ 25.83 ​ 1.68 ​ Exercisable at January 2, 2026 400 ​ $ 25.83 ​ 1.68 ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Weighted- ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Weighted- ​ Average ​ ​ ​ ​ Average ​ Remaining ​ ​ ​ ​ Exercise ​ Contractual ​ ​ ​ ​ Options ​ ​ ​ Price ​ ​ ​ Term ​ ​ (in thousands) ​ ​ ​ ​ (in years) ​ Outstanding at December 29, 2023 787 ​ $ 20.64 2.70 ​ Granted — ​ — — ​ Exercised ( 221 ) ​ ​ 12.50 ​ — ​ Forfeited or expired ( 15 ) ​ 26.26 — ​ Outstanding at December 27, 2024 551 ​ $ 23.75 ​ 2.30 ​ Vested and expected to vest at December 27, 2024 551 ​ $ 23.75 ​ 2.30 ​ Exercisable at December 27, 2024 551 ​ $ 23.75 ​ 2.30 ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Weighted- ​ ​ ​ ​ Weighted- ​ Average ​ ​ ​ ​ Average ​ Remaining ​ ​ ​ ​ Exercise ​ Contractual ​ ​ ​ ​ Options ​ ​ ​ Price ​ ​ ​ Term ​ ​ (in thousands) ​ ​ ​ ​ (in years) ​ Outstanding at December 30, 2022 816 ​ $ 20.38 3.68 ​ Granted — ​ — — ​ Exercised ( 19 ) ​ ​ 9.77 ​ — ​ Forfeited or expired ( 10 ) ​ 19.05 — ​ Outstanding at December 29, 2023 787 ​ $ 20.64 ​ 2.70 ​ Vested and expected to vest at December 29, 2023 787 ​ $ 20.64 ​ 2.70 ​ Exercisable at December 29, 2023 787 ​ $ 20.64 ​ 2.70 ​ The Company did not have any unvested options, nor changes in nonvested options, during the fiscal years 2025, 2024, and 2023. 93 Table of Contents WILLDAN GROUP, INC. NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS – (Continued) Summary of Time-Based Restricted Stock Activity The Company’s time-based restricted stock is comprised of RSAs and RSUs. A summary of RSAs activity under the 2008 Plan as of January 2, 2026 is presented below: ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Time-Based ​ Weighted-Average ​ ​ ​ ​ Restricted Stock Award ​ ​ ​ Grant Date Fair Value ​ ​ (in thousands) ​ ​ ​ ​ Outstanding at December 27, 2024 ​ 146 ​ $ 23.60 Awarded ​ 29 ​ ​ 63.96 ​ Vested ​ ( 76 ) ​ ​ 23.62 ​ Forfeited ​ ( 1 ) ​ ​ 17.83 ​ Outstanding at January 2, 2026 ​ 98 ​ $ 35.36 ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Outstanding at December 29, 2023 ​ 171 ​ $ 20.44 Awarded ​ 45 ​ ​ 32.58 ​ Vested ​ ( 70 ) ​ ​ 21.60 ​ Forfeited ​ — ​ ​ — ​ Outstanding at December 27, 2024 ​ 146 ​ $ 23.60 ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Outstanding at December 30, 2022 ​ 135 ​ $ 34.07 Awarded ​ 154 ​ ​ 18.04 ​ Vested ​ ( 114 ) ​ ​ 33.45 ​ Forfeited ​ ( 4 ) ​ ​ 17.83 ​ Outstanding at December 29, 2023 ​ 171 ​ $ 20.44 ​ A summary of RSUs activity under the 2008 Plan as of January 2, 2026 is presented below (1) : ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Time-Based ​ Weighted-Average ​ ​ ​ ​ Restricted Stock Unit ​ ​ ​ Grant Date Fair Value ​ ​ (in thousands) ​ ​ ​ ​ Outstanding at December 27, 2024 ​ 70 ​ $ 27.55 Awarded ​ 77 ​ ​ 41.53 ​ Vested ​ ( 24 ) ​ ​ 27.55 ​ Forfeited ​ — ​ ​ — ​ Outstanding at January 2, 2026 ​ 123 ​ $ 36.28 ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Outstanding at December 29, 2023 ​ — ​ $ — Awarded ​ 70 ​ ​ 27.55 ​ Vested ​ — ​ ​ — ​ Forfeited ​ — ​ ​ — ​ Outstanding at December 27, 2024 ​ 70 ​ $ 27.55 ​ (1) The Company did not grant, nor have any RSU activity, prior to fiscal year 2024. 94 Table of Contents WILLDAN GROUP, INC. NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS – (Continued) Summary of Performance-Based Restricted Stock Unit Activity A summary of performance-based restricted stock unit activity under the 2008 Plan as of January 2, 2026 is presented below: ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Performance-Based ​ Weighted-Average ​ ​ ​ ​ Restricted Stock Unit ​ ​ ​ Grant Date Fair Value ​ ​ (in thousands) ​ ​ ​ Outstanding at December 27, 2024 ​ 169 ​ $ 19.59 Awarded ​ 209 ​ ​ 37.35 Released ​ ( 194 ) ​ ​ 25.85 Forfeited ​ — ​ ​ — Outstanding at January 2, 2026 ​ 184 ​ $ 29.34 ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Outstanding at December 29, 2023 ​ 130 ​ $ 22.88 Awarded ​ 144 ​ ​ 25.44 Released ​ ( 105 ) ​ ​ 31.60 Forfeited ​ — ​ ​ — Outstanding at December 27, 2024 ​ 169 ​ $ 19.59 ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Outstanding at December 30, 2022 ​ 66 ​ $ 27.93 Awarded ​ 112 ​ ​ 19.89 Released ​ ( 46 ) ​ ​ 22.84 Forfeited ​ ( 2 ) ​ ​ 21.67 Outstanding at December 29, 2023 ​ 130 ​ $ 22.88 Fair Value Valuation Assumptions Stock Option Grants The fair value of each option is calculated using the Black-Scholes option valuation model that uses assumptions of expected volatility, expected dividends, expected term in years, and a risk-free rate. Expected volatility is based upon historical volatility of “guideline companies” since the length of time the Company’s shares have been publicly traded is equal to the contractual term of the options. The expected term of the option, taking into account both the contractual term of the option and the effects of employees’ expected exercise and expected post-vesting termination behavior is estimated based upon the simplified method. Under this approach, the expected term is presumed to be the mid-point between the vesting date and the end of the contractual term. The risk-free rate for periods within the contractual life of the option is based on the U.S. Treasury yield curve in effect at the time of grant. No options were granted during fiscal years 2025, 2024, or 2023. 95 Table of Contents WILLDAN GROUP, INC. NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS – (Continued) RSA, RSU and PBRSU Grants The Company’s time-based RSAs and RSUs are valued on the closing price of the Company’s common stock on the date of grant and vest over a three-year period. The Company’s performance-based restricted stock unit awards are valued on the closing price of the Company’s common stock on the date of grant and vest over a performance period. Under the Company’s PBRSU design, 50 % of each award will vest based on the Company’s Adjusted EBITDA performance over a three-year performance period, and the remaining 50 % of each award will vest based upon the Company’s adjusted diluted earnings per share performance over a three-year performance period, respectively. At the end of the full three-year vesting period for the grant, the number of PBRSUs that are earned based on the achievement of Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted Diluted EPS is then multiplied by a percentage based on the Company’s Relative Total Shareholder Return for the three-year period. ESPP The fair value of ESPP purchase rights issued is calculated using the Black-Scholes valuation model that uses the assumptions noted in the following table. Purchase right under the ESPP are generally granted on either January 1 or July 1 of each year. The assumptions are as follows: ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ 2025 ​ ​ 2024 ​ ​ 2023 ​ Weighted-average expected term (in years) ​ .5 ​ ​ .5 ​ ​ .5 ​ Risk-Free interest Rate ​ 4.1 % ​ 5.1 % ​ 4.9 % Stock Price Volatility ​ 30.7 % ​ 29.7 % ​ 29.9 % Dividend yield ​ 0 % ​ 0 % ​ 0 % Fair Value ​ $ 52.14 ​ ​ $ 25.22 ​ ​ $ 18.50 ​ 96 Table of Contents WILLDAN GROUP, INC. NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS – (Continued) 11. INCOME TAXES On January 2, 2026 , the Company adopted ASU 2023-09, “Income Taxes (Topic 740): Improvements to Income Tax Disclosures”. ASU 2023-09 amends the rules on income tax disclosures to require entities to disclose specific categories in the rate reconciliation, the income or loss from continuing operations before income tax expense or benefit (separated between domestic and foreign) and income tax expense or benefit from continuing operations (separated by federal, state, and foreign). ASU 2023-09 further requires entities to disclose their income tax payments to international, federal, state, and local jurisdictions, among other changes. As permitted by ASU 2023-09, the Company adopted this standard on a prospective basis starting with its fiscal year 2025 annual reporting period. The provision for income taxes is comprised of (1) : ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Fiscal Year ​ ​ ​ ​ 2025 ​ ​ ​ 2024 ​ ​ ​ 2023 ​ ​ (in thousands) ​ Current federal taxes ​ $ ( 341 ) ​ $ 361 ​ $ 61 ​ Current state taxes ​ 1,234 ​ 1,207 ​ 676 ​ Current foreign taxes ​ ​ 18 ​ ​ 18 ​ ​ — ​ Deferred federal taxes ​ ( 11,570 ) ​ 1,677 ​ 2,022 ​ Deferred state taxes ​ ( 1,904 ) ​ 846 ​ 906 ​ ​ ​ $ ( 12,563 ) ​ $ 4,109 ​ $ 3,665 ​ (1) Revenue from the Company’s foreign operations was immaterial for fiscal years 2025, 2024, and 2023. The provision for income taxes reconciles to the amounts computed by applying the statutory federal tax rate of 21 % for fiscal years 2025, 2024, and 2023 to the Company’s income before income taxes. The sources and tax effects of the differences for fiscal years 2025, 2024 and 2023 are as follows: ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Fiscal Year ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ 2025 ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ (in thousands) ​ ​ Percent ​ US federal statutory tax rate ​ $ 8,398 ​ ​ 21.0 % State and local income taxes, net of federal income tax effect (1) ​ ( 605 ) ​ ( 1.5 ) % Tax credits ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Research and development tax credit ​ ​ ( 852 ) ​ ​ ( 2.1 ) % Other - tax credits ​ ​ ( 29 ) ​ ​ ( 0.1 ) % Nontaxable and nondeductible items ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Officer compensation ​ 1,328 ​ 3.3 % Stock compensation ​ ​ ( 2,610 ) ​ ​ ( 6.5 ) % Other - nondeductible items ​ ​ 211 ​ ​ 0.5 % Other ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Energy efficiency building deduction ​ ​ ( 18,509 ) ​ ​ ( 46.3 ) % Other ​ ​ 83 ​ ​ 0.2 % Foreign tax effects ​ ​ 22 ​ ​ 0.1 % Effective tax rate ​ $ ( 12,563 ) ​ ​ ( 31.4 ) % ​ (1) The state and local jurisdiction that contribute to the majority (greater than 50%) of the tax effect in this category include California, New York State, and New York City. 97 Table of Contents WILLDAN GROUP, INC. NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS – (Continued) ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Fiscal Year ​ ​ 2024 ​ ​ ​ 2023 ​ (in thousands) ​ Computed “expected” federal income tax expense $ 5,603 ​ $ 3,064 ​ Permanent differences 52 ​ 194 ​ Nondeductible executive compensation ​ 600 ​ ​ 121 ​ Stock options and disqualifying dispositions ​ ( 910 ) ​ ​ 560 ​ Energy efficient building deduction ​ ( 2,053 ) ​ ​ ( 717 ) ​ Current and deferred state income tax expense, net of federal benefit 1,694 ​ 1,250 ​ Research and development tax credit ​ ( 813 ) ​ ​ ( 867 ) ​ Change in valuation allowance ​ ( 85 ) ​ ​ — ​ Other 21 ​ 60 ​ Provision for income taxes $ 4,109 ​ $ 3,665 ​ Effective tax rate ​ 15.4 % ​ 25.1 % The Company's effective tax rate includes the impact of discrete items such as the excess tax benefit on stock compensation deductions. Stock compensation deductions are recognized in the period in which stock awards vest, or exercise, and are calculated as the difference between the recorded stock compensation expense and the amount realized at the vesting or exercise date. In addition, the Company’s effective tax rate includes estimates related to deductions related to energy-efficiency building deduction under Section 179D. These estimates are calculated based on the most readily available information including building-specific data, estimated project completion dates, estimated deduction rates, and related tax law guidance. Changes related to estimates are recognized in the period in which they occur. The tax effects of temporary differences that give rise to significant portions of the net deferred tax assets and liabilities are as follows: ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ January 2, ​ December 27, ​ ​ ​ ​ 2026 ​ ​ ​ 2024 ​ ​ (in thousands) Deferred tax assets: ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Other accrued liabilities ​ $ 4,942 ​ $ 4,642 Federal and state net operating losses ​ ​ 18,751 ​ ​ 11,451 Lease liability ​ ​ 4,882 ​ ​ 4,269 Stock compensation ​ ​ 1,902 ​ ​ 1,509 Capitalized research and development ​ ​ 6,369 ​ ​ 5,058 Credit carryforwards ​ ​ 4,236 ​ ​ 2,395 Excess business interest limitation ​ ​ 746 ​ ​ — Other ​ 367 ​ 212 Total deferred tax assets ​ 42,195 ​ 29,536 Valuation allowance ​ ( 1,106 ) ​ ( 1,106 ) Net deferred tax assets ​ $ 41,089 ​ $ 28,430 Deferred tax liabilities: ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Deferred revenue ​ $ ( 2,687 ) ​ $ ( 2,899 ) Fixed assets ​ ​ ( 1,390 ) ​ ​ ( 2,813 ) Intangible assets ​ ​ ( 5,194 ) ​ ​ ( 5,475 ) Lease right-of-use assets ​ ​ ( 4,432 ) ​ ​ ( 3,806 ) Prepaids ​ ​ ( 756 ) ​ ​ — Other ​ ​ — ​ ​ ( 91 ) Total deferred tax liabilities ​ ( 14,459 ) ​ ( 15,084 ) Net deferred tax asset ​ $ 26,630 ​ $ 13,346 98 Table of Contents WILLDAN GROUP, INC. NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS – (Continued) As of January 2, 2026, the Company had federal and state operating loss carryovers of $ 67.0 million and $ 78.6 million, respectively. As of January 2, 2026, the Company had a federal tax credit carryforward of $ 4.2 million, and an immaterial amount of state tax credit carryforward. The federal net operating losses begin to expire in 2028. The majority of the state net operating loss carryovers will begin to expire in 2031. During each fiscal year, management assesses the available positive and negative evidence to estimate if sufficient future taxable income will be generated to utilize existing deferred tax assets. During fiscal year 2025, no change was made to the tax valuation allowance as the available positive and negative evidence did not warrant for any changes. During fiscal year 2024, $ 0.1 million of the valuation allowance was released due to expected future utilization of deferred tax assets. As of January 2, 2026 and December 27, 2024, the Company’s liabilities related to uncertain tax positions were immaterial to the consolidated financial statements. The Company may be subject to examination by the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) for calendar years 2022 through 2025 . The Company may also be subject to examination on certain state and local jurisdictions for the years 2021 through 2025 . The Company's policy is to recognize interest and penalties related to unrecognized tax benefits in income tax expense. As of January 2, 2026 and December 27, 2024, the Company did no t have any unrecognized tax benefits. In addition, during the fiscal year 2025, the Company did no t have any additions or reductions of unrecognized tax benefits. On July 4, 2025, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (“OBBBA”) was signed into law. The legislation did not have a material impact on the Company's income tax expense for the year ended December 31, 2025. In addition, OBBA did not have a material impact to the Company's effective income tax rate for 2025. The OBBBA makes permanent some key tax provisions for tax year 2026, primarily the repeal of the energy-efficiency building deduction under Section 179D for property for which construction begins after June 30, 2026. The cash paid for income taxes, net of refunds, during the year was as follows: ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Fiscal Year ​ ​ ​ ​ 2025 ​ ​ (in thousands) Federal ​ $ 901 ​ ​ ​ ​ State and Local ​ ​ California ​ ​ 943 New York ​ ​ 170 New York City ​ ​ 106 Other ​ 198 Foreign ​ ​ Other ​ ​ 20 Total ​ $ 2,338 99 Table of Contents WILLDAN GROUP, INC. NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS – (Continued) 12. EARNINGS PER SHARE (“EPS”) Basic EPS is computed by dividing net income available to common stockholders by the weighted-average number of common shares outstanding. Diluted EPS is computed by dividing net income by the weighted-average number of common shares outstanding and dilutive potential common shares for the period. Potential common shares include the weighted-average dilutive effects of outstanding stock options and restricted stock awards using the treasury stock method. The following table sets forth the number of weighted-average common shares outstanding used to compute basic and diluted EPS: ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Fiscal Year ​ ​ 2025 ​ ​ ​ 2024 ​ ​ ​ 2023 ​ ​ (in thousands, except per share amounts) Net income (loss) ​ $ 52,557 ​ $ 22,570 ​ $ 10,926 Weighted-average common shares outstanding ​ 14,461 ​ 13,818 ​ 13,394 Effect of dilutive stock options and restricted stock awards ​ 610 ​ 427 ​ 212 Weighted-average common shares outstanding-diluted ​ 15,071 ​ 14,245 ​ 13,606 Earnings (Loss) per share: ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Basic ​ $ 3.63 ​ $ 1.63 ​ $ 0.82 Diluted ​ $ 3.49 ​ $ 1.58 ​ $ 0.80 For the fiscal years 2025, 2024, and 2023, the Company excluded 4,000 , 71,000 and 363,000 common shares subject to outstanding equity awards, respectively, from the calculation of diluted shares because their impact would have been anti-dilutive. 100 Table of Contents WILLDAN GROUP, INC. NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS – (Continued) 13. BUSINESS COMBINATIONS Acquisition of Alternative Power Generation, Inc. On March 3, 2025 (the “APG Closing Date”), the Company acquired all of the capital stock of Alternative Power Generation, Inc. (“APG”). APG provides innovative, progressive, and customized electric power solutions for EV charging, solar, AI data centers, microgrids, battery energy storage systems (“BESS”), and substations. APG offers consulting, design, engineering, procurement, and construction management. APG’s financial information is included within the Energy segment beginning in the first quarter of fiscal year 2025. The Company agreed to pay up to $ 43.5 million for the purchase of all the capital stock of APG, which purchase price consists of (i) $ 19.5 million in cash paid on the APG Closing Date (subject to holdbacks and adjustments), (ii) $ 6.0 million in shares of the Company’s common stock, based on the closing average price per share of the Company’s common stock for the twenty trading days preceding the APG Closing Date, and (iii) up to $ 18.0 million in cash if APG exceeds certain financial targets during the three years after the APG Closing Date. The Company used cash on hand and restricted common stock to fund the initial purchase price on the APG Closing Date. The acquisition was accounted for as a business combination in accordance with ASC 805. Under ASC 805, the Company recorded the acquired assets and assumed liabilities at their estimated fair value with the excess allocated to goodwill. Goodwill represents the value the Company expects to achieve through the operational synergies, the expansion into new markets and APG’s assembled workforce. The Company estimates that the entire goodwill balance resulting from the acquisition of APG will be tax deductible. The Company engaged a third-party independent valuation specialist to assist in management’s determination of fair values of tangible and intangible assets acquired and liabilities assumed, including the determination of the fair value of the contingent consideration liability. The Company’s third-party independent valuation specialist determined the fair value of the contingent consideration liability utilizing a Monte Carlo valuation model, which involves a simulation of future revenues during the earn out-period using management’s best estimates, or a probability-weighted discounted cash flow analysis. Consideration for the acquisition of APG includes the following: ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ APG ​ ​ (in thousands) Cash consideration ​ $ 19,122 Other working capital adjustments and holdbacks ​ ​ - Issuance of common stock ​ ​ 5,557 Contingent consideration ​ ​ 12,150 Total consideration ​ $ 36,829 101 Table of Contents WILLDAN GROUP, INC. NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS – (Continued) The following table summarizes the amounts for the acquired assets recorded at their estimated fair value as of the acquisition date: ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ APG ​ ​ (in thousands) Current assets ​ $ 10,606 Non-current assets (1) ​ ​ 12 Liabilities ​ ​ ( 12,549 ) Non-current lease liability ​ ​ ( 240 ) Backlog ​ ​ 2,561 Customer relationships ​ ​ 3,402 Tradename ​ ​ 1,424 Goodwill ​ ​ 31,613 Net assets acquired ​ $ 36,829 ​ (1) Excluded from non-current assets are backlog, customer relationships, tradename, and goodwill. During the fiscal year 2025, the Company made adjustments, primarily related to other working capital adjustments and holdbacks, to the consideration paid for APG which resulted in an adjustment to the purchase price allocation of APG. The adjustments resulted in an increase of $ 6.9 million in the net carrying value of backlog and goodwill, and an aggregate decrease of $ 5.3 million in the net carrying value of customer relationships, and tradename. The change in the fair value of intangible assets resulted in a decrease in the amortization expense of $ 1.7 million to the consolidated financial statements for the fiscal year ended January 2, 2026. For the fiscal year 2025, the acquisition related costs associated with APG were not material. During the fiscal year 2025, the acquisition of APG contributed $ 27.3 million in revenue and contributed $ 1.3 million in income (loss) from operations. Other 2025 Acquisitions Acquisition of Compass Municipal Advisors, LLC On January 2, 2026 , (the “Compass Closing Date”), the Company acquired all the equity of Compass Municipal Advisors, LLC . (“Compass”). Compass is a full service municipal advisory firm providing a broad range of financial services to municipalities across the Southeast. Compass’ financial information is included within the Company’s Engineering and Consulting segment beginning in the last day of the Company’s fourth quarter of fiscal year 2025. The Company agreed to pay (i) $ 3.5 million in cash on the Compass Closing Date (subject to holdbacks and adjustments) and (ii) up to $ 1.0 million in cash if Compass exceeds certain financial targets during the one year after the Compass Closing Date; for a potential maximum purchase price of $ 4.5 million. The Company used cash on hand to fund the initial purchase price on the Compass Closing Date. The acquisition was accounted for as a business combination in accordance with ASC 805. Under ASC 805, the Company recorded the acquired assets and assumed liabilities at their estimated fair value with the excess allocated to goodwill. Goodwill represents the value the Company expects to achieve through the operational synergies, the expansion into new markets and Compass’ assembled workforce. The Company estimates that the entire goodwill balance resulting from the acquisition will be tax deductible. As of January 2, 2026, the preliminary consideration is comprised of $ 3.4 million in cash, $ 0.6 million in other working capital adjustments and holdbacks, and $ 0.9 million in contingent consideration. The preliminary fair value of the contingent consideration liability was estimated by discounting to present value the contingent payments expected to be made. The Company applied a discount rate derived from previous valuation studies performed by a third-party valuation firm for the Company’s historical acquisitions with similar characteristics. The preliminary estimate of the fair 102 Table of Contents WILLDAN GROUP, INC. NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS – (Continued) values for intangible assets were calculated utilizing a weighted average allocation derived from previous valuation studies performed by a third-party valuation firm for the Company’s historical acquisitions with similar characteristics. As of January 2, 2026, the purchase price allocation is preliminary and subject to change within the measurement period (not to exceed twelve months following the Compass Closing Date) and is primarily comprised of $ 2.0 million in customer relationships, and $ 2.0 million in goodwill. The areas of the purchase price allocation that are not yet finalized relate primarily to contingent consideration valuation, intangible assets, and goodwill. The Company expects to continue to obtain information for the purpose of determining the fair value of the assets acquired on the Compass Closing Date throughout the remainder of the measurement period. Accordingly, adjustments may be made as additional information is obtained about the facts and circumstances that existed as of the valuation date. In addition, the Company expects to engage a third-party independent valuation specialist to assist in management’s determination of fair values of intangible assets acquired. Any adjustments will be recorded in the period in which they are identified. During the fiscal year 2025, the Company did not make any adjustments to the consideration paid for Compass, and as a result, there were no adjustments to the purchase price allocation for the fiscal year ended January 2, 2026. For the fiscal year 2025, there were no acquisition related costs associated with Compass. During fiscal year 2025, Compass’ contributions to revenue and net income were not material to the Company’s consolidated financial statements. Acquisition of Alpha Inspections, Inc. On January 31, 2025 (the “Alpha Closing Date”), the Company acquired all of the capital stock of Alpha Inspections, Inc. (“Alpha”). Alpha is a company that provides an array of municipal services including building inspections, and plan reviews. Alpha’s financial information is included within the Engineering and Consulting segment beginning in the first quarter of fiscal year 2025. The Company agreed to pay $ 12.0 million to be paid in cash on the Alpha Closing Date (subject to holdbacks and adjustments). The Company used cash on hand to fund the purchase price on the Alpha Closing Date. The acquisition was accounted for as a business combination in accordance with ASC 805. Under ASC 805, the Company recorded the acquired assets and assumed liabilities at their estimated fair value with the excess allocated to goodwill. Goodwill represents the value the Company expects to achieve through the operational synergies, the expansion into new markets and Alpha’s assembled workforce. The Company estimates that the entire goodwill balance resulting from the acquisition of Alpha will be tax deductible. The Company engaged a third-party independent valuation specialist to assist in management’s determination of fair values of tangible and intangible assets acquired and liabilities assumed. The finalized purchase price allocation is primarily comprised of $ 6.0 million in customer relationships and $ 4.9 million in goodwill. During the fiscal year 2025, the Company made adjustments, primarily related to other working capital adjustments and holdbacks, to the consideration paid for Alpha, which resulted in an adjustment to the purchase price allocation of Alpha. The adjustments resulted in an aggregate increase of $ 3.6 million in the net carrying value of customer relationships and non-current assets, and an aggregate decrease of $ 3.5 million in the net carrying value of backlog, tradename, liabilities, and goodwill. The change in the fair value of intangible assets resulted in a decrease of $ 0.1 million in the amortization expense for the fiscal year ended January 2, 2026. For the fiscal year 2025, the acquisition related costs associated with Alpha included in other general and administrative expenses in the consolidated statements of comprehensive income were not material. During fiscal year 2025, Alpha’s contributions to revenue and net income were not material to the Company’s consolidated financial statements. 103 Table of Contents WILLDAN GROUP, INC. NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS – (Continued) The following unaudited pro forma financial information for the fiscal years ended January 2, 2026 and December 27, 2024, assumes that the acquisitions of all the outstanding shares of Compass, APG, and Alpha, occurred on the first day of the year prior to the year of acquisition: ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Fiscal Year ​ ​ ​ ​ 2025 ​ ​ ​ 2024 ​ ​ (in thousands, except per share data) ​ ​ (Unaudited) Pro forma revenue ​ $ 690,448 ​ $ 611,284 ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Pro forma income (loss) from operations ​ $ 44,911 ​ $ 38,924 Pro forma net income (loss) (1) ​ $ 53,561 ​ $ 29,031 ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Income (Loss) per share: ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Basic ​ $ 3.70 ​ $ 2.10 Diluted ​ $ 3.55 ​ $ 2.04 ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Weighted average shares outstanding: ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Basic ​ ​ 14,461 ​ ​ 13,818 Diluted ​ ​ 15,071 ​ ​ 14,245 (1) Adjustments to pro forma net income include income from operations, amortization and interest expenses. This pro forma supplemental information does not purport to be indicative of what the Company’s operating results would have been had these acquisitions occurred on the first day of the year prior to the year of acquisition and may not be indicative of future operating results. During fiscal year 2025, the acquisitions of Compass, APG, Alpha, contributed $ 30.4 million in revenue, and contributed $ 3.4 million in income (loss) from operations. 104 Table of Contents WILLDAN GROUP, INC. NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS – (Continued) 14. CONTINGENCIES Claims and Lawsuits The Company is subject to claims and lawsuits from time to time, including those alleging professional errors or omissions that arise in the ordinary course of business against firms that operate in the engineering and consulting professions. The Company carries professional liability insurance, subject to certain deductibles and policy limits, for such claims as they arise and may from time to time establish reserves for litigation that is considered probable of a loss. In accordance with accounting standards regarding loss contingencies, the Company accrues an undiscounted liability for those contingencies where the incurrence of a loss is probable and the amount can be reasonably estimated, and discloses the amount accrued and an estimate of any reasonably possible loss in excess of the amount accrued, if such disclosure is necessary for the Company’s financial statements not to be misleading. The Company does not accrue liabilities when the likelihood that the liability has been incurred is probable but the amount cannot be reasonably estimated, or when the liability is believed to be only reasonably possible or remote. Because litigation outcomes are inherently unpredictable, the Company’s evaluation of legal proceedings often involves a series of complex assessments by management about future events and can rely heavily on estimates and assumptions. If the assessments indicate that loss contingencies that could be material to any one of the Company’s financial statements are not probable, but are reasonably possible, or are probable, but cannot be estimated, then the Company will disclose the nature of the loss contingencies, together with an estimate of the possible loss or a statement that such loss is not reasonably estimable. While the consequences of certain unresolved proceedings are not presently determinable, and a reasonable estimate of the probable and reasonably possible loss or range of loss in excess of amounts accrued for such proceedings cannot be made, an adverse outcome from such proceedings could have a material adverse effect on the Company’s earnings in any given reporting period. However, in the opinion of the Company’s management, after consulting with legal counsel, and taking into account insurance coverage, the ultimate liability related to current outstanding claims and lawsuits is not expected to have a material adverse effect on the Company’s financial statements. 105 Table of Contents WILLDAN GROUP, INC. NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS – (Continued) 15. QUARTERLY FINANCIAL INFORMATION (UNAUDITED) The tables below reflect selected quarterly information for the fiscal years ended January 2, 2026 and December 27, 2024. ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Fiscal Three Months Ended ​ ​ April 4, ​ July 4, ​ October 3, ​ January 2, ​ ​ ​ ​ 2025 ​ ​ ​ 2025 ​ ​ ​ 2025 ​ ​ ​ 2026 ​ ​ (in thousands except per share amounts) Contract revenue ​ $ 152,386 ​ $ 173,473 ​ $ 182,006 ​ $ 173,687 ​ Income (loss) from operations ​ 7,036 ​ 11,816 ​ 14,862 ​ 10,433 ​ Income tax expense (benefit) ​ 506 ​ ( 5,255 ) ​ 569 ​ ( 8,383 ) ​ Net income (loss) ​ 4,687 ​ 15,436 ​ 13,721 ​ 18,713 ​ Earnings (loss) per share: ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Basic ​ $ 0.33 ​ $ 1.07 ​ $ 0.94 ​ $ 1.28 ​ Diluted ​ $ 0.32 ​ $ 1.03 ​ $ 0.90 ​ $ 1.23 ​ Weighted-average shares outstanding: ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Basic ​ 14,163 ​ 14,444 ​ 14,603 ​ 14,655 ​ Diluted ​ 14,628 ​ 14,917 ​ 15,229 ​ 15,260 ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Fiscal Three Months Ended ​ ​ March 29, ​ June 28, ​ September 27, ​ December 27, ​ ​ ​ ​ 2024 ​ ​ ​ 2024 ​ ​ ​ 2024 ​ ​ ​ 2024 ​ ​ (in thousands except per share amounts) Contract revenue ​ $ 122,489 ​ $ 140,996 ​ $ 158,252 ​ $ 144,061 Income (loss) from operations ​ 5,361 ​ 6,448 ​ 8,674 ​ 10,870 Income tax expense (benefit) ​ 986 ​ 720 ​ 157 ​ 2,246 Net income (loss) ​ 2,942 ​ 4,594 ​ 7,346 ​ 7,688 Earnings (loss) per share: ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Basic ​ $ 0.22 ​ $ 0.33 ​ $ 0.53 ​ $ 0.55 Diluted ​ $ 0.21 ​ $ 0.33 ​ $ 0.51 ​ $ 0.53 Weighted-average shares outstanding: ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Basic ​ 13,605 ​ 13,725 ​ 13,930 ​ 14,012 Diluted ​ 13,910 ​ 14,074 ​ 14,358 ​ 14,509 106 Table of Contents WILLDAN GROUP, INC. NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS – (Continued) 16. SUBSEQUENT EVENTS In accordance with ASC Topic 855, Subsequent Events, the Company evaluates subsequent events up until the date the consolidated financial statements are issued. As of February 26, 2026, there were no subsequent events required to be reported. ​ ​ 107 Table of Contents ITEM 9. CHANGES IN AND DISAGREEMENTS WITH ACCOUNTANTS ON ACCOUNTING AND FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE There were no changes in and/or disagreements with accountants on accounting and financial disclosure during the fiscal year ended January 2, 2026.