James Hardie's ASX shares extend gains, Morningstar sees AZEK buy yielding sales growth

James Hardie Industries

12/02/2026 05:00

** ASX-listed shares of James Hardie JHX.AX extend gains, rising 0.9% to A$37.19, reaching their highest level since August 19, 2025

** Fibre cement maker on Wednesday logged third-quarter adjusted net profit of $142.2 million, beating Visible Alpha estimate of $130.1 million; shares rose as much as 14%

** Also hiked FY26 EBITDA forecast to $1.23 billion-$1.26 billion from $1.20 billion-$1.25 billion

** Co's biggest segment- Siding and Trim - reported net sales of $788.3 million, 10% higher on an inorganic basis, driven by contribution recently acquired AZEK Exteriors

** "We think the market is more bearish on the sales uplift and cost savings from the Azek acquisition", Morningstar says, adding it sees a reasonable runway for sales growth as the two companies' products are bundled together

** JHX has a much bigger distributor and installer network, thereby opening up new sales channels for Azek's products, Morningstar adds

** YTD shares up 20.5%

 (Reporting by Shruti Agarwal in Bengaluru)

 ((Shruti.Agarwal@thomsonreuters.com))