Shareholders in James Hardie Industries plc (ASX:JHX) may be thrilled to learn that the analysts have just delivered a major upgrade to their near-term forecasts. The revenue forecast for this year has experienced a facelift, with analysts now much more optimistic on its sales pipeline. The stock price has risen 4.6% to AU$43.63 over the past week, suggesting investors are becoming more optimistic. It will be interesting to see if this latest upgrade is enough to kickstart further buying interest in the stock.

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After the upgrade, the eight analysts covering James Hardie Industries are now predicting revenues of US$4.8b in 2026. If met, this would reflect a sizeable 25% improvement in sales compared to the last 12 months. Prior to the latest estimates, the analysts were forecasting revenues of US$4.2b in 2026. The consensus has definitely become more optimistic, showing a substantial gain in revenue forecasts.

See our latest analysis for James Hardie Industries ASX:JHX Earnings and Revenue Growth July 8th 2025

We'd point out that there was no major changes to their price target of US$28.08, suggesting the latest estimates were not enough to shift their view on the value of the business. The consensus price target is just an average of individual analyst targets, so - it could be handy to see how wide the range of underlying estimates is. The most optimistic James Hardie Industries analyst has a price target of US$34.26 per share, while the most pessimistic values it at US$22.98. These price targets show that analysts do have some differing views on the business, but the estimates do not vary enough to suggest to us that some are betting on wild success or utter failure.

One way to get more context on these forecasts is to look at how they compare to both past performance, and how other companies in the same industry are performing. It's clear from the latest estimates that James Hardie Industries' rate of growth is expected to accelerate meaningfully, with the forecast 25% annualised revenue growth to the end of 2026 noticeably faster than its historical growth of 8.4% p.a. over the past five years. Compare this with other companies in the same industry, which are forecast to grow their revenue 3.6% annually. Factoring in the forecast acceleration in revenue, it's pretty clear that James Hardie Industries is expected to grow much faster than its industry.

The Bottom Line

The highlight for us was that analysts increased their revenue forecasts for James Hardie Industries this year. They're also forecasting more rapid revenue growth than the wider market. Seeing the dramatic upgrade to this year's forecasts, it might be time to take another look at James Hardie Industries.

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Better yet, our automated discounted cash flow calculation (DCF) suggests James Hardie Industries could be moderately undervalued. You can learn more about our valuation methodology  on our platform here.

Of course, seeing company management  invest large sums of money in a stock can be just as useful as knowing whether analysts are upgrading their estimates. So you may also wish to search this free list of stocks with high insider ownership.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.