William Blair Issues Pessimistic Forecast for JHX Earnings

Key Points

• William Blair has lowered its earnings estimates for James Hardie Industries (NYSE:JHX) Q2 2026 from $0.25 to $0.16 per share, maintaining an "Outperform" rating.
• The company recently reported an earnings miss with $0.29 EPS against the consensus estimate of $0.36, alongside a 9.3% year-over-year decline in revenue.
• Multiple analysts have revised their price targets for James Hardie Industries, with Truist Financial lowering it from $35.00 to $25.00 while maintaining a "buy" rating.

James Hardie Industries PLC. (NYSE:JHX - Free Report) - Investment analysts at William Blair decreased their Q2 2026 earnings estimates for James Hardie Industries in a report issued on Wednesday, August 20th. William Blair analyst R. Merkel now expects that the construction company will earn $0.16 per share for the quarter, down from their prior estimate of $0.25. William Blair currently has a "Outperform" rating on the stock. The consensus estimate for James Hardie Industries' current full-year earnings is $1.39 per share. William Blair also issued estimates for James Hardie Industries' Q3 2026 earnings at $0.15 EPS, Q4 2026 earnings at $0.24 EPS, FY2026 earnings at $0.76 EPS, Q2 2027 earnings at $0.19 EPS, Q3 2027 earnings at $0.19 EPS, FY2027 earnings at $0.95 EPS and FY2028 earnings at $1.20 EPS.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on James Hardie Industries in a report on Friday, August 8th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $34.00 price target for the company. Truist Financial lowered their price target on James Hardie Industries from $35.00 to $25.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. UBS Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of James Hardie Industries in a report on Thursday. Wall Street Zen downgraded James Hardie Industries from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on James Hardie Industries from $32.00 to $25.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $33.27.

James Hardie Industries Stock Performance

Shares of JHX opened at $19.8450 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $26.74 and a 200 day moving average price of $26.72. The company has a quick ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 2.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The company has a market capitalization of $8.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.74. James Hardie Industries has a 52-week low of $17.91 and a 52-week high of $43.57.

James Hardie Industries (NYSE:JHX - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 19th. The construction company reported $0.29 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.36 by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $899.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $982.60 million. James Hardie Industries had a return on equity of 28.55% and a net margin of 8.75%.The firm's quarterly revenue was down 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.41 earnings per share.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of JHX. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in shares of James Hardie Industries by 19.4% in the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 453,206 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $13,963,000 after buying an additional 73,504 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of James Hardie Industries by 2,189.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 32,207 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $759,000 after buying an additional 30,800 shares in the last quarter. Private Advisory Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of James Hardie Industries in the first quarter valued at approximately $9,345,000. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of James Hardie Industries by 39.3% in the first quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 46,083 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $1,086,000 after buying an additional 12,990 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of James Hardie Industries by 7.4% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 55,944 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $1,318,000 after buying an additional 3,838 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 7.96% of the company's stock.

James Hardie Industries Company Profile

James Hardie Industries plc manufactures and sells fiber cement, fiber gypsum, and cement bonded building products for interior and exterior building construction applications primarily in the United States, Australia, Europe, New Zealand, and the Philippines. The company operates through North America Fiber Cement, Asia Pacific Fiber Cement, and Europe Building Products segments.

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