As wallboard prices rise, Eagle soars

Eagle Materials, producer of basic building materials from wallboard to cement, reported second quarter revenues of $266.3 million, up 17% from the same three-month period last year.

In the quarter, sales of gypsum wallboard increased 17% to $112.7 million. The company implemented a wallboard price increase effective January 2014 and recently announced a 15% price increase effective in January 2015.

The company’s total net earnings increased 25% to $37.7 million.

Industry shipments of gypsum wallboard exceeded 20 billion square feet in calendar 2013, and the company said it should see shipments increase in calendar 2014. No new plants are expected to be added in calendar 2014, but it is possible that previously idled plants or curtailed lines could be brought back into service. 

In an environment where most forecasts point to a continued pick-up in demand in housing construction as well as repair and remodeling, the company said the cyclic recovery of the construction industry is underway – though different materials are expected to grow at different paces, depending on location.