Forensic Analysis · Construction Materials · as of Nov 8, 2026
James Hardie Industries PLC (JHX)
A forensic read on James Hardie Industries PLC built from its complete SEC filings — financial-health screens, earnings quality, red flags and a price-aware rating. Reproducible math, not opinion.
B · Sound & dependable
Forensic grade
Grey Zone
Financial health
1.9
Distress distance
5
Forensic signals
2.4%
ROE
24.7%
Revenue growth
This free snapshot doesn't read filing or proxy text, so the auditor-quality and governance checks that can lower a grade were not evaluated (auditor quality, say on pay, board independence, going concern). Those checks only ever lower a grade, so the full analysis can land below the grade above but never above it — treat it as the most favourable reading, not the settled one.
James Hardie Industries PLC earns a B (Sound & dependable) forensic quality grade, and its balance-sheet distress test reads 1.9, placing it in the Grey zone. 5 forensic signals were flagged in its latest SEC filings, led by return on invested capital.
What the filings flag
3.6%
FY2026
Return on invested capital.Return on invested capital is 3.6% in the latest fiscal year and slipping across FY2024–FY2026 from 13.8%. After-tax operating profit was $519M in FY2024 and $291M in FY2026, with operating income at 19.5% of revenue in FY2024, 16.9% in FY2025 and 9.3% in FY2026. The capital base behind it grew +115% across FY2024–FY2026, from $3.8B to $8.1B, while the return fell 10.2 points, so the dollars added over that window earned less than the 13.8% the older base was already earning.
+11.4%/yr
FY2024–FY2026
Share-count dilution.Diluted share count changed +24% over the last 2 years to FY2026 (+11.4%/yr). The count is growing — 439.6M shares in FY2024, 545.5M in FY2026: more stock was issued than repurchased over this window, so aggregate results grew faster than their per-share equivalents. That's ~11.4% shaved off per-share growth every year — total profit has to grow that much just to keep earnings-per-share flat, and a stake held since FY2024 has been diluted ~19%.
0.8% of rev
FY2026
Stock-based comp load.Stock-based compensation ran 0.8% of revenue and 18% of free cash flow in FY2026 — about $0.07 per diluted share. No cash left the business to pay it, which is why operating cash flow adds it back. Net of repurchases the diluted count still rose about 11.4% a year across FY2024–FY2026 and that rate is not falling, so total profit has to grow by that much annually before any of it reaches a share. Stock compensation is one source of that issuance; acquisition consideration, equity raises, convertibles and other employee plans also net into the count, and these figures do not separate them.
stopped
FY2025→FY2026
Shareholder returns — halted.Capital returns have STOPPED — $150M of buybacks + dividends in FY2025, but ~$0 in FY2026. A halt usually means the company is conserving cash.
58d
FY2025→FY2026
Inventory days.Days inventory outstanding moved from 53 to 58 FY2025→FY2026 (against cost of goods sold; inventory +83% vs +31% in cost of sales). Inventory is building a little faster than sales — watch for markdowns.
Key fundamentals
Latest Revenue$4.84B
Revenue Growth YoY+24.7%
Revenue CAGR (2yr)+10.8%
Net Margin2.2%
Free Cash Flow$205.9M
Return on Equity2.4%
Debt / Equity0.71x
The forensic grade and screens above are free — no account needed. Want the AI investment read on top — the 0–100 rating, thesis, bull-vs-bear, red flags and the 12-month scenario, written from James Hardie Industries PLC's actual 10-K/10-Q/8-K filings?