James Hardie reports Q4 EPS 30c, consensus 30c

Reports Q4 revenue $1.40B, consensus $1.41B. Aaron Erter, CEO of James Hardie (JHX) said, “We delivered Adjusted EBITDA above our guidance range in the fourth quarter, reflecting disciplined execution and the strength of our business model in a challenging operating environment. Despite unfavorable weather in February and early March that impacted reported results and disrupted construction activity across key regions, the business delivered underlying performance that exceeded expectations. Fiscal 2026 was a transformational year for James Hardie, highlighted by the closing of the AZEK acquisition. As we integrate the businesses, we are seeing continued progress across both cost and commercial synergies, further strengthening our belief in the long-term value creation opportunity from the combination. For the full fiscal year, we delivered solid financial performance despite a challenging operating environment. Despite our markets declining mid-to-high single digits for the year, our organic net sales declined just 2% year over year. We finished the year with Adjusted EBITDA of $1.27 billion and Adjusted EBITDA margin of 26.2%. We delivered strong flow-through on our cost actions and realized meaningful benefits from the operational initiatives implemented throughout the year, positioning the business for improved margin performance moving forward. Inflationary and affordability pressures continue to weigh on housing activity. We are focused on what we can control: our cost base, pricing discipline, and providing exceptional products and service to our customers. Against that backdrop, we enter fiscal year 2027 with confidence. We see customers responding to our differentiated products, strong brands, and go to market strategy of the combined company. We are making solid progress on the integration and have surpassed our FY26 cost synergy target. That puts us ahead of plan and increases our confidence in achieving our $125 million cost synergy target ahead of our original three-year timeline. On the commercial front, based on recently signed agreements and the activity we’re seeing in the market, we have confidence in reaching our $125 million run-rate commercial synergy milestone exiting FY27. We also expect a meaningful step-up in Free Cash Flow to greater than $500 million in FY27. This will be driven by higher Adjusted EBITDA as we realize both cost and commercial synergies, a reduction in one-time integration and transaction-related costs, and continued discipline around capital spending and working capital. As these factors come together, cash conversion will improve, giving us greater flexibility to reduce leverage over time.”