JHX

James Hardie is a leading fiber-cement exterior building-products maker that just transformed itself by acquiring AZEK (closed July 1, 2025) for $3,919.8M cash net of cash acquired, adding a Deck, Rail & Accessories business and creating a 'full-wrap' exterior-living portfolio across four new segments. The combination drove FY2026 revenue up 24.7% to $4.84B and preserved a healthy 35.8% gross margin, and management frames AZEK as accelerating its material-conversion growth strategy.

The deal also gutted reported profitability. Net income fell 75.5% to $104M and diluted EPS dropped 80.6% to $0.19, as operating income declined 31.8% to $448M on higher AZEK acquisition-related expenses, depreciation & amortization more than doubled (+128.3% to $494M, reflecting acquired-asset step-up and intangibles), and the share count rose 35% to 580M to fund the stock portion. ROE collapsed to 1.6% and operating cash flow fell 26.5% to $590M. The acquisition was financed with substantial new debt — $2,500M of Term Facilities and $1,700M of 2031/2032 Notes — pushing long-term debt up 304.6% to $4.49B and cutting cash 52.2% to $269M; the company suspended buybacks in FY2026.