Overview

A class action lawsuit has been filed against James Hardie Industries plc. (“James Hardie” or the “Company”) and certain of the Company’s current senior executive officers alleging violations of the federal securities laws. The Company’s common stock trades on the NYSE under the ticker symbol “JHX.” As of July 1, 2025, James Hardie’s ADSs, which were also previously listed on the NYSE under the ticker symbol “JHX,” were terminated and replaced with ordinary shares, at a ratio of one for one.

The James Hardie class action lawsuit was brought on behalf of all persons and entities who purchased or otherwise acquired James Hardie common stock (previously American Depositary Shares until their conversion to common stock on July 1, 2025) during the period from May 20, 2025, through August 18, 2025, both dates inclusive, (the “Class Period”).

James Hardie provides exterior home and outdoor living solutions and markets itself as the number one producer of high-performance fiber cement building solutions in the United States. The Company’s business segments include North America Fiber Cement, Asia Pacific Fiber Cement and Europe Building Products. North America Fiber Cement generates about 80% of the Company’s earnings.

The lawsuit alleges that James Hardie Industries and its executives misled investors about the strength and sustainability of the company’s North America Fiber Cement business segment, its largest revenue source. During the class period, defendants made false and misleading statements and failed to disclose adverse facts about the company’s sales performance and inventory conditions. In April and early May 2025, the company allegedly began to observe inventory destocking among its North American Fiber Cement customers, indicating that distributors were reducing excess inventory rather than purchasing based on genuine market demand.

Despite this, on May 20 and 21, 2025, defendants publicly assured investors that the segment remained strong despite a challenging market environment and expressly denied that any inventory destocking was occurring. These statements allegedly misrepresented the true nature of the company’s sales, which were driven not by sustainable demand but by inventory loading and channel stuffing—a practice in which products are pushed into distribution channels to artificially inflate short-term revenue. As a result, investors were led to believe that James Hardie’s growth was durable and supported by genuine customer demand.

The truth emerged on August 19, 2025, when James Hardie disclosed that sales in its North America Fiber Cement segment had declined by 12%, attributing the drop to customer destocking that had first been identified months earlier, in April and May. A company defendant described the results as a “normalization of channel inventories” that would continue to impact sales for at least the next two quarters.

Following this disclosure, James Hardie’s stock price fell more than 34%, dropping $9.79 per share from $28.43 on August 18, 2025, to $18.64 on August 20, 2025. The lawsuit alleges that, as a result of defendants’ false and misleading statements and omissions, investors were misled about the company’s true financial condition and sales trends, suffering significant losses when the truth was revealed.

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If you purchased or otherwise acquired James Hardie common stock (previously American Depositary Shares until their conversion to common stock on July 1, 2025) during the period from May 20, 2025, through August 18, 2025, both dates inclusive, and you wish to serve as lead plaintiff in this lawsuit, we encourage you to submit your information to DiCello Levitt LLP via the form on this page. 

You can also contact DiCello Levitt partner Brian O’Mara by calling (888) 287-9005 or at investors@dicellolevitt.com. 

The deadline to apply to the Court to serve as lead plaintiff in the James Hardie class action lawsuit is December 23, 2025.