JHXJames Hardie Industries plc
Is the business good?
A genuinely good business: earnings fully cash-backed (2.6×) and margins widening.
Operating profit is fully backed by cash. Conversion is improving vs a year ago.
Operating profit is falling even as sales grow, costs are outrunning the top line.
A balanced mix of margins, efficiency, and leverage. ROE 2% = margin × turnover × leverage.
Unless marked, from derived.
Where this answer is blind. The F-score rewards improvement, so an already-elite company can score mid-pack.
How good a business is JHX?
James Hardie Industries plc earns 3.3% on the capital it employs against a 9.0% cost of capital, so growth costs more than it returns.
Return on invested capital · cost of capital 9.0% · 5.7 points below what the capital costs: growth destroys value
- Operating margin
- 9.3%
Operating margin · Building Materials median 16% · fiscal year to FY2026
- Cash conversion
- 2.62×
Cash conversion · 1.86× a year ago · operating cash flow covers the operating profit after tax
- Share count, year on year
- +26%
Share count, year on year · shareholders own a smaller slice than a year ago
| Year | Operating margin |
|---|---|
| FY2021 | 16% |
| FY2022 | 19% |
| FY2023 | 20% |
| FY2024 | 20% |
| FY2025 | 17% |
| FY2026 | 9.3% |
Details›
- Gross marginfiscal year to FY2026
- 36%
- Operating marginfiscal year to FY2026
- 9.3%
- Net marginfiscal year to FY2026
- 2.1%
- Free cash flow margin
- 4.3%
- R&D as % of revenue
- 1.3%
- Revenue, trailing twelve months
- $4.84B
- Free cash flow, trailing twelve months
- $206M
- Net income, trailing twelve months
- $104M
- Return on invested capitaloperating profit after tax ÷ debt + equity − cash
- 3.3%
Margins, capital and share counts from the statements as filed with the SEC; cash conversion is operating cash flow over operating profit after tax.
Customers and suppliers
Who buys from JHX and who it buys from, as the companies report it.
- Largest customer11%
Share of revenue · FY2026 10-K
None disclosed.
A company has to disclose every customer behind 10% or more of its revenue. Each share comes from the latest annual report of the company that states it and shows on both companies’ pages; JHX’s own figures are from its FY2026 10-K. Smaller customers and suppliers go unreported.