Ferguson on Monday reported a 9.5% increase in quarterly sales and raised its forecast for the year despite a dip in its gross margin.
The Virginia-based plumbing and industrial product distributor — whose industrial operations ranked at no. 14 on ID’s newest Big 50 List — posted net sales of $9.03 billion in the quarter. Company officials said that organic sales were up 7% while acquisitions contributed growth of 2.7%; divestments in Canada dented its overall number by 0.2%.
Ferguson’s gross profit and operating profit rose from $2.58 billion and $844 million in the previous quarter, respectively, up to $2.79 billion and $885 million, but both gross margin and operating margin dipped by 40 basis points to 30.9% and 9.8%. Officials noted that the gross margin total in the third quarter of 2025 was “temporarily elevated” by supplier price increases, and that its adjusted operating margin was flat. Price inflation in the current quarter, officials added, was in the “low to mid-single digits.”
The company reported net income of $598 million compared to last year’s $638 million, but that total was up from $626 million to $664 million over that span on an adjusted basis.
Ferguson also disclosed two additional acquisitions that it made in the quarter — aside from its previously announced $1.6 billion deal for Floworks — along with a third completed after the close of the reporting period: Southern California pump company Brax, Illinois HVAC supplier Rogers Supply, and Colorado waterworks provider Canyon Systems. Ferguson said that it has completed 11 acquisitions so far in 2026 that have aggregate annualized revenues of approximately $1.5 billion.
“While our markets remain mixed, our year-to-date performance and the addition of FloWorks enable us to raise our full year guidance,” Ferguson CEO Kevin Murphy said in a statement.
The company raised its full-year sales growth outlook from “mid-single digit” to about 7%, as well as tweaked its adjusted operating margin forecast from between 9.5% and 9.8% to between 9.6% and 9.8%.
