Ferguson posts $31 billion year, sees labor shortage as opportunity

Ferguson last week released its fourth quarter and full-year 2025 earnings results — and issued guidance for 2026.

What’s happening: On the company’s earnings call, CEO Kevin Murphy suggested that the labor environment in the skilled trades presents an opportunity for Ferguson, particularly due to its scale.  

• “Skilled labor is increasingly scarce,” he said. “Demand continues to rise, and the pressure on contractors to do more with less has never been greater.” 
• “Our strategic footprint puts 95% of our customers within 60 miles of a Ferguson location and allows us to deliver same day or next day,” he added. “Our product strategy includes access to over a million products with a multi-brand offering in almost every major category.” 
• “This includes 21 owned brands that make up approximately 10% of our overall revenue and span multiple product categories across our customer groups.”

By the numbers: In 2025, Ferguson generated $31.3 billion in revenue, a five percent year-over-year increase, and made eight acquisitions. 

• Yes, but: Residential end markets, which comprise roughly 50 percent of the company’s revenue, were flat, with residential plumbing sales, in particular, down three percent compared to 2024. 
• “New residential housing starts and permit activity remained down, and repair, maintenance, and improvement work has also remained soft,” a news release stated. 
• The company is expecting “low to mid-single digit growth” in 2026.

What we’re watching: Q1 2026 revenue has so far been “a touch weaker than Q4,” CFO Bill Brundage said, potentially partly due to severe storms in January and February. 

• Meanwhile, though “the residential market remains challenged in the short term, we believe the combination of aging housing stock and a housing shortage underpins strong demand over the longer term,” Murphy noted. 
• “The average home in America is now more than four decades old, and we’re still millions of units short of meeting our current demand,” he added. “That gap isn’t closing quickly.”