The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is down 1.1% in morning trade on Wednesday, but that's not holding back this surging ASX 200 stock.
The outperformer in question today is building materials company James Hardie Industries PLC (ASX: JHX), which commands a market cap of $22.9 billion.
Shares in the ASX 200 stock closed yesterday trading for $50.24. At the time of writing, shares are changing hands for $53.24, up 6.0%.
As you can see in the chart below, that puts the James Hardie share price up 16% over the past year.
Today's outperformance comes following the release of James Hardie's second quarter results for the three months ending 30 September.
Read on for the highlights.
(*Note, all figures below are in US dollars.)
ASX 200 stock lifts off as guidance achieved
Investors are bidding up the James Hardie share price after the ASX 200 stock reported it had achieved second-quarter guidance despite some difficult market conditions.
Turning to some of the core financial metrics, net sales for the quarter came in at $961 million, down 4% from Q2 2023.
Operating income of $152 million was down 32% year on year, while net income of $83 million declined by 45%.
Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) also went backwards, down 8% year on year to $263 million, with an adjusted EBITDA margin of 27.4%, down 1.2%.
Despite the decline in these core numbers, the ASX 200 stock achieved average net sales price growth across all of its operational regions.
James Hardie repurchased a total of $75 million over the quarter, which completed the previously announced $300 million share buyback program. In November, the board authorised a new share repurchase program of $300 million.
What did management say?
Commenting on the results helping the ASX 200 stock outperform today, James Hardie CEO Aaron Erter said, "We again delivered on our commitments in the second quarter, and our first half results demonstrate that we are managing decisively as we continue to scale the organization and invest to profitably grow our business."
Erter noted that James Hardie delivered "well over half a billion dollars of Adjusted EBITDA in the first half of the year, down just low single digits from our record performance in the prior year".
Rachel Wilson, CFO, added:
Our strong margins underpin our cash flow, and we continue to fund our capital priorities principally with cash generated by our operations. As our markets recover, we will accelerate our outperformance and invest in organic growth.
What's next for the ASX 200 stock?
Looking at what could impact the ASX 200 stock in the months ahead, Wilson said for the full FY 2025 year:
Despite greater market headwinds than we anticipated in our original outlook, we remain well-positioned to deliver volumes within our original guidance range. Our Hardie Operating System initiatives, together with efforts to rationalise and prioritise expenses enable us to achieve even better profitability than we initially anticipated.
We are therefore reaffirming the low end of our volume guidance range and raising the low end of both our North America EBIT Margin and adjusted net income ranges.
James Hardie is forecasting FY 2025 adjusted net income of at least $635 million, with prior guidance in the range of $630 million to $700 million.
The ASX 200 stock expects full-year capital expenditures of $420 million to $440 million, compared to prior guidance of $500 million to $550 million.
