James Hardie Australia shares surge as FY forecast hike offsets middling Q2 print

Investing.com-- James Hardie Industries shares rose in Sydney trading on Tuesday after the building materials maker hiked its annual earnings forecast, which helped investors look past a middling second-quarter print. 

James Hardie (ASX:JHX) shares rose 6.3% to A$27.04, largely outpacing a 1.4% drop in the ASX 200. The firm’s American shares (NYSE:JHX) jumped as much as 10% in aftermarket trade, and were up 6.1% by 20:02 ET (01:02 GMT). 

James Hardie forecast full-year total adjusted core earnings between $1.20 billion and $1.25 billion, up from its prior forecast of $1.05 billion and $1.15 billion. 

This was driven chiefly by strong sales expectations for its sliding and trim division, for which James Hardie also hiked its annual sales forecast. 

The company, which is among the world’s largest makers of fibre cement, expects housing demand to stabilize in the second half of its fiscal year. 

But the company logged a largely middling performance for the July-September quarter, as demand for building materials was quashed by high interest rates and economic uncertainty, which dented housing markets.

James Hardie’s Q2 net sales jumped 34% to $1.29 billion, boosted chiefly by its recent acquisition of home decking provider AZEK Co.

This also boosted adjusted core earnings by 25% to $329.5 million. But net income fell 2% to $154 million, while the company logged a non-adjusted quarterly loss of $55.8 million.