Q3 Weak Earnings Reports Suggest Most Construction Supply Companies Are Treading Water

From industry giants like Builders FirstSource to modest hardware stores, this was a difficult fall, third-quarter earnings reports suggest. And most forecasts for the current quarter and 2027 tended to be cautious even as executives showed determination to forge ahead. Here's a roundup of 13 operations.

Builders FirstSource's Q3 net income plunged by more than half from the year-earlier period to $60.4 million from $122.4 million. That was on a 2.2% decline in net sales to $3.85 billion. Adjusted EBITDA decreased 28.3% to $311.1 million. The 2.2% sales drop would have been closer to a 4.0% decline were it not for 1.8% in sales growth from acquisitions.

The approximately 4,000 Ace Hardware stores that consistently share daily retail sales data reported a 4.5% higher average ticket year-over-year in the third-quarter but 2.3% fewer same-store transactions. Same-store sales in Ace's retail group (mainly Westlake Ace Hardware and Great Lakes Hardware) decreased 2.1%. 

BlueLinx swung to a net loss of $600,000 from a $1.7 million net profit a year earlier on an 8.5% rise in net sales to $813 million. Adjusted EBITDA rose to $31.7 million from $22.4 million in 2025's Q3. Gross profit rose 21% to $131 million; that's 16.1% of net sales.

Boise Cascade's Building Materials Distribution segment recorded a 6% decline in income to $51.3 million in Q3 from a year earlier even though sales rose 7% to $1.67 billion. Meanwhile, the Wood Distribution Segment surged to a $16.1 million profit from a year-earlier $12.1 million loss, as sales rose 16% to $461.2 million. The distribution segment's EBITDA slipped 4% to $66.9 million, while wood products' EBITDA surged 194% to $42.7 million.

There were diverse results at Owens Corning's divisions: 1) Roofing segment EBITDA shrank 29% to $299 million as sales dropped 16% to $1.04 billion. 2) Insulation segment grew 1.4% to $215 million on a 6.4% sales climb YoY to $1.001 billion. 3) Doors segment plummeted 55% to $25 million as sales fell 11.3% to $483 million. "Owens Corning expects existing home sales, discretionary remodeling activity, and residential new construction to remain under pressure," the company said. "In Roofing, a second consecutive year without significant storm activity and related distribution destocking are expected to weigh on near-term demand. Non-residential construction in North America is expected to continue to show pockets of strength, and conditions in the company's core European markets are anticipated to remain stable."

Ferguson's adjusted operating profit in the U.S. rose 8.8% in Q3 from a year earlier to $952 million on a 10.2% rise in net sales to $8.6 billion, while its Canadian operation recorded a 4.5% rise in adjusted operating profit to US$23 million despite a 4.5% decline in net sales to US$405 million. Company wide, adjusted EBITDA grew 9.0% to US$1.03 billion on 9.5% sales growth to US$9.03 billion. Ferguson also updated its full-year guidance, forecasting roughly 7% annual sales growth from a previous prediction of a mid-single-digit gain. "Residential end markets, representing approximately half of sales, remained pressured with weak new construction activity and continued softness in repair, maintenance and improvement work," the company said.

UFP Industries' UFP Construction segment reported 3Q net earnings fell 14.3% YoY to $21.1 million despite an 11.3% gain in net sales to $552.4 million. Meanwhile, UFP Retail (including the Deckorators and ProWood brands) recorded a 2.3% gain in net income to $16.1 million on a 6.8% rise in net sales to $634.5 million. "Demand tied to new residential construction is expected to remain challenging, while stabilization across most of our other end markets should partially offset that pressure," the company said in a news release. "Accordingly, we are not assuming a meaningful improvement in underlying market demand through year-end."

Louisiana-Pacific Corporation said its Siding segment (including LP SmartSide) enjoyed a 1% YoY increase in Adjusted EBITDA to $119 million during Q3 on a 7% gain in net sales to $473 million. Five points of that gain was from a higher selling price, while increased shipments provided the other 2 points. Meanwhile, the OSB segment recorded Adjusted EBITDA of negative $24 million, an improvement from 3Q25's negative $27 million. Sales rose 1% to $180 million. Shipments of OSB's specialty structural solutions OSB products declined 10% and the average price was unchanged, while shipments of LP's commodity OSB rose 25% while the average net selling price shrank 6%.

MasterBrand said its legacy sales dropped 2.5% year-over-year in Q3 "reflecting a mid- to high-single-digit market decline, unfavorable mix and trade-downs, partially offset by share gains across our end markets and favorable net average selling price due to the flow through of tariff pricing." American Woodmark, which MasterBrand took over on May 28, contributed $355.7 million to the company's total Q3 sales of $1.04 billion. MasterBrand's overall net loss was $9.2 million. For all 2026, MasterBrand "now expects its addressable market to be down high-single digits and assumes no improvement in demand through year-end."

James Hardie's net income from continuing operations swung to a $149.8 million profit in Q3 from a $64.3 million loss a year ago as net sales jumped 24% YoY to $1.43 billion. Adjusted EBITDA leaped 44% to $454.7 million--a 31.8% margin.

Fortune Brands Innovations updated for the 3Q what it calls its turnaround story. Sales in the water segment shrank 5.5% year-over-year to $584.5 million, while the Outdoors segment grew 0.8% to $347.4 million and the Security segment dropped 2.4% to $181.8 million. The combined net sales fell 3.1% to $1.14 billion, while operating income plunged 52% to $60.4 million. (Note that these are global results. U.S.-only results weren't provided.)

Trex announced its third-quarter net income was unchanged year-over-year at $52 million on a 26% rise in net sales to $360 million. Adjusted EBITDA increased 10% to $100 million. Gross profit climbed 12% to $129 million. That's 36% of net sales, down from 40.5% in 3Q25 and due in part to higher fuel costs.

Floor & Decor announced its 3Q net income rose 13.2% YoY to $64.8 million. While net sales climbed 3.0% to $1.21 billion, comp store sales shrank 1.4%. Adjusted EBITDA increased 7.4% to $149.1 million. For all 2026, Floor & Decor predicts net sales will fall by $70 million to $4.77 billion, and it would be twice as bad were not for the fact that fiscal 2026 has a 53rd week, expected to contribute approximately $65 million to net sales. Comp store sales for the year are expected be between 2.0% and 3.5% lower than in 2025.