One-glance verdict
Overvalued
$8.28 our estimate vs market $27.64
Wall Street consensus: $30.54 (268.6% higher than our fair-value estimate)
234% above our estimate, beyond the bull case
Fundamentals snapshot
James Hardie Industries plc
JHX · NYQ · Basic Materials · Building Materials
Current price
$27.64
52-week range
$16.46 - $29.83
Market cap
$16.04B
Balance sheet
Stretched
3.13x Stretched
Net debt $4.52B. Interest coverage shows how many times profit covers the interest bill.
What stands out
3 Rewards
3 Risks
3 rewards · 3 risks
- Reward Revenue grew 24.7% last year.
- Reward Returns 2.4% on equity, ahead of 60% of its peers.
- Risk Stock trades 443.6% above its 5-year average P/E.
- Risk Net debt grew 340.5% over 3 years.
What this company does
James Hardie Industries plc
James Hardie makes building materials, best known for its durable siding that forms the outer skin of a house. The company earns most of its money in North America by selling siding and decking for both new home construction and renovation projects. This means its business often does well when the housing market is healthy.
How the company got here
Founded in Australia in 1888 by James Hardie, the company started by importing oils and animal hides. It later began importing and then manufacturing fiber cement, a durable building material. For much of the 20th century, it was a major producer of products containing asbestos, which led to significant legal and public scrutiny. In the mid-1980s, the company pioneered an asbestos-free fiber cement technology, which became its core focus and propelled its growth, particularly in the United States.
What it actually does
James Hardie makes building materials primarily for the exterior of houses. Think of the siding that looks like wood planks or shingles on a house—that's their main product, made from a tough material called fiber cement. They also sell related products like trim for around windows and doors, backer board for tiling in kitchens and bathrooms, and, through acquisitions, composite decking and railing for outdoor spaces. These products are sold to builders and remodelers through specialty distributors and big home improvement stores.
North America Fiber Cement
This is the company's largest and most profitable business, making up the vast majority of its earnings (the money left over after paying all business costs). It manufactures and sells fiber cement siding and trim products under the well-known Hardie® brand name. Home builders and remodelers in the United States and Canada buy these products to create durable and weather-resistant exteriors on new homes and renovation projects. The company's success here comes from convincing builders to use its fiber cement instead of traditional materials like vinyl or wood.
Europe Building Products
In Europe, the company sells fiber gypsum boards and cement-bonded boards, which are mostly used for interior walls, floors, and ceilings in both residential and commercial buildings. This part of the business operates largely under the brand name fermacell®, which James Hardie acquired to expand its presence in the European market. These products are sold for new construction as well as for remodeling projects.
Asia-Pacific Fiber Cement
This segment covers the company's original home turf of Australia and New Zealand, as well as the Philippines. It sells a similar range of fiber cement products as in North America, including exterior siding, interior linings, and flooring. While smaller than the North American business, it remains an important part of the company for brand strength and generating cash in the region.
What management is betting on now
The company's main focus is to grow its core North American business by encouraging more builders to switch to fiber cement from other materials. They are also investing in research and development (the process of creating new products and improving existing ones) to create better-performing and more attractive materials. Management is also focused on sustainability (operating in a way that minimizes environmental impact) and efficiency in its factories to lower costs. A key part of their strategy involves marketing directly to homeowners to build brand recognition and drive demand for their premium products.
Price history
How the share price has moved
—
Loading price history…
Earnings history
Last 8 quarters — what happened
Click any quarter to read the call summary and what the numbers say.
FY2025 Q4
$380.60M
FY2026 Q4
$205.90M
Revenue
$4.84B
Net income
$104.00M
Diluted EPS
0.19
Operating cash flow
$589.80M
Free cash flow
$205.90M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$3.88B
Net income
$424.00M
Diluted EPS
0.98
Operating cash flow
$802.80M
Free cash flow
$380.60M
Fetching…
Sources
Is it cheap or expensive?
Fair value $8.28 vs current price $27.64
Wall Street consensus is the average analyst price target: $30.54 (268.6% higher than our fair-value estimate).
Our most-likely fair value is $8.28 a share — about 70.0% below today's price of $27.64, so the stock currently looks expensive (overvalued).
Is it drowning in debt?
Stretched
Net debt $4.5B. Interest coverage 3.1x.
Net debt
$4.52B
Interest coverage
3.13x
James Hardie Industries plc's profit covers its interest bill about 3.1 times over. which is stronger than most peers shown here and 2 peers sit below 1x, which is the danger zone where profit does not fully cover the interest bill.
Stretched
Worse cushion
Baseline
Better cushion
JHX
BASELINE
James Hardie Industries plc
Total debt $4.79B Interest coverage 3.13x This is the baseline the peer rows are being compared against.
Total debt $6.02B Interest coverage 6.11x +95% vs JHX Carries about 2.0x more debt cushion than JHX.
Total debt $378.00M Interest coverage 18.50x +492% vs JHX Carries about 5.9x more debt cushion than JHX.
Total debt $6.38B Interest coverage -1.23x -100% vs JHX This peer has almost no interest-payment cushion compared with JHX.
Total debt $455.05M Interest coverage -5.38x -100% vs JHX This peer has almost no interest-payment cushion compared with JHX.
What you should know
The case for and against JHX
3 Rewards
3 Risks
Rewards
-
Revenue grew 24.7% last year.
-
Returns 2.4% on equity, ahead of 60% of its peers.
-
Free cash flow was positive in 9/10 years.
Risks
-
Stock trades 443.6% above its 5-year average P/E.
-
Net debt grew 340.5% over 3 years.
-
Insider ownership is only 0.4% (peer median: 6.0%).
The numbers
All the key metrics, grouped by purpose
Tap any ? icon to learn what it means.
Valuation
How expensive the stock looks
P/E (TTM)
145.45x
Forward P/E
18.34x
P/B
2.50x
P/S
3.32x
EV/EBITDA
15.64x
PEG ratio
1.19x
Profitability
How much profit each dollar creates
Gross margin
36.8%
Operating margin
18.9%
Net margin
2.2%
ROE
2.4%
ROA
5.1%
Health
Liquidity and balance-sheet strength
Debt / equity
0.74x
Current ratio
1.58x
Quick ratio
0.68x
Total debt
$4.79B
Total cash
$269.20M
Growth
How the business has been compounding
Revenue TTM
$16.43B
Revenue 5Y CAGR
7.5%
EPS TTM
0.19
EPS 5Y CAGR
-1.6%
Cash flow
How much cash the business throws off
Operating CF TTM
$2.91B
Free CF TTM
$205.90M
FCF margin
1.3%
Dividend
Shareholder payout
Yield
—
Payout ratio
0.0%
Last ex-div date
—