ASX-listed shares of James Hardie slip to over 21-month low on purchase risks

James Hardie Industries

25/03/2025 24:04

Updates with share moves, comments from Macquarie and Morgan Stanley

** ASX-listed shares of fiber cement maker James Hardie Industries JHX.AX extend losses, slip as much as 4.9% to A$38.06, their lowest levels since June 13, 2023

        ** Co announces deal to buy U.S. artificial decking maker AZEK AZEK.N in deal priced at $8.75 billion

** Stock is the top loser in the ASX 200 benchmark

        ** Macquarie downgrades stock to "neutral" from "outperform" and cuts PT to A$44 from A$65 on estimating that the proposed transaction will dilute returns materially, weighing on valuation

        ** Both Citi and Morgan Stanley flag risks of a weaker housing market and rising raw material costs

        ** Morgan Stanley expects market to be skeptical of revenue synergy targets set by co

** Stock down 20.1% YTD

 (Reporting by Kumar Tanishk and Sneha Kumar in Bengaluru)

 ((Tanishk.Kumar@thomsonreuters.com; X: @thatstanishk;))