James Hardie Industries to face potential investor class action after share price drop

Shine Lawyers is nearing the completion of an investigation into a potential class action on behalf of investors in James Hardie Industries plc (James Hardie). The investigation commenced following a significant share price drop in August 2025.

“Since last year, Shine Lawyers has been investigating whether James Hardie may have breached its continuous disclosure obligations and/or engaged in misleading or deceptive conduct that caused investors to suffer significant losses.”

“The investigation is focused on whether James Hardie had reasonable grounds for issuing and maintaining the FY26 guidance it released on 21 May 2025, and whether the company should have disclosed its Q1 FY26 results and downgraded its FY26 guidance earlier, said” Jonathan Wertheim, Class Actions Practice Leader at Shine Lawyers, who is spearheading the investigation.    On 21 May 2025, the company, which is listed on both the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) and the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), released its financial results for FY25 and its financial guidance for FY26.

On 20 August 2025, the company announced its Q1 FY26 results alongside a downgrade to its FY26 guidance. In the days following this announcement, James Hardie’s share price fell sharply, by more than 30 per cent, causing substantial losses to shareholders.

Mr Wertheim said serious questions had been raised by the timing and nature of the disclosures. It prompted the ASX to issue an “ASX Aware Letter” two days later, on 22 August 2025, to which James Hardie responded on 27 August 2025.

“This investigation is centred on whether investors were kept adequately informed about James Hardie’s financial position and outlook,” Mr Wertheim said.

“When a company issues earnings guidance to the market, it is critical that the guidance has a reasonable basis, and that there is ongoing timely disclosure of any new information that would be relevant to investors’ decision-making.”

Mr Wertheim said the scale of the share price fall suggested the market was shocked by the company’s Q1 results and FY26 guidance downgrade.

“A drop of more than 30 per cent in a matter of days can have devastating consequences for investors. We are examining whether this loss was caused by any disclosure failures by the company”, he said.

Investors are eligible to register their interest in the potential class action if they acquired an interest in James Hardie securities between 21 May 2025 and 19 August 2025

“Registering your interest allows us to understand the scale of investor loss and ensure affected persons are kept informed about the progress of the investigation,” Mr Wertheim said.

More information: James Hardie Class Action Investigation | Shine Lawyers