Analyst Releases Q1 Expectations for Flooring Industry

New York, NY, April 29, 2015—Stifel Nicolaus has published its Q1 expectations ahead of the release of Q1 earnings reports.

The analyst reports that most building products companies have experienced a tepid start to 2015 on a volume basis. Weather was once again a bit of a headwind but was likely not as negative in 1Q this year compared with 1Q last year with the exception of the New England area.

Expectations for remodeling activity in 2015 are bullish once again and the investment group believes that the market will see meaningful improvement this year as opposed to generally disappointing results the past few years, based on somewhat improved consumer sentiment, slightly improved jobs and wages, increased home prices, and the continued help from wealth creation at the high end.

Commercial activity is projected to improve but likely more so in 2016 than this year due to the roughly 12 month lag time from construction to flooring demand in this segment. The office segment is showing strength, the Architectural Billings Index was up 2.5% for the nine month period ending in March 2015, compared to down 1.3% in the same period ending in 2014. The last nine months of 2014 were much stronger than the first part of the year.