James Hardie Industries shares tumbled again on Thursday, sliding as much as 9.6% in early trade on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX), as investors reacted to broker downgrades and renewed questions over disclosure obligations.
At 12.30pm AEST, shares were down 11.66%, or A$3.73, to A$28.27, extending a steep sell-off that began a day earlier when the stock plunged 28% following weak June quarter results and a subdued outlook for the year ahead. Overnight, James Hardie’s US-listed shares slumped 34%, with more than 70 million shares changing hands compared to 20 million on the ASX the previous session.
Barrenjoey downgraded its rating to Underweight, while UBS cut its rating to Neutral, slashing forecast earnings per share by 49% for the 2026 financial year and by 33% for 2027.
Greencape Capital, which previously exited its position in James Hardie following the A$14 billion acquisition of US building materials company Azek, reiterated concerns about disclosure timing.
“Regarding James Hardies significant downgrade yesterday following a terrible June 2025 quarter period which closed only 3 days after AZEK shareholders voted on the ‘merger’ with James Hardie, surely ASIC and the SEC will be asking some very pointed questions with regards continuous disclosure obligations,” said Greencape director David Pace.
“With 70m shares traded overnight in the new US listing (vs 20m on the ASX yesterday) it would appear AZEK shareholders, who have now said farewell to the massive premium James Hardie paid to get this done, are voting with their feet.”