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Stock Comparison · Structural lead, mixed market

James Hardie Industries vs Old Dominion Freight Line: Which Stock Looks Stronger in 2026?

Old Dominion Freight Line holds the cleaner structural position, with the lead spread across profitability and valuation. James Hardie Industries still has the edge on growth, which keeps the comparison from looking entirely one-sided. The market setup broadly confirms the structural lead — Old Dominion Freight Line holds the more constructive position. That puts structure and market broadly in agreement — Old Dominion Freight Line's lead looks more confirmed than conflicted.

The comparison is based on similar long-term financial trajectories, not sector labels. Both peer scores are relative to the Russell 1000 universe, making them directly comparable.

Updated 2026-05-17

The lead is spread across profitability and valuation, rather than sitting in one isolated gap. The overall score gap is 27 points in favour of Old Dominion Freight Line, Inc..

Trajectory Similarity
0.73
Similar
Peer-set rank: #3
within James Hardie Industries plc's functional peer set

This pair is matched through long-term financial trajectory similarity within the selected peer universe.

This level of similarity signals a strong structural match, even though some dimensions still separate the two companies.

Most of the shared profile comes through revenue stability and investment intensity.

Similarity drivers
revenue stabilityinvestment intensity
How to read the score
0.85–1.00 · Very similar0.70–0.84 · Similar0.55–0.69 · Moderately similarbelow 0.55 · Loose match
Peer-Relative Score
JHX
James Hardie Industries plc
23
Peer-Score
Signal qualityMedium
Peer basis: Russell 1000
vs
ODFL
Old Dominion Freight Line, Inc.
50
Peer-Score
Signal qualitylow
Peer basis: Russell 1000

Scores reflect position relative to comparable companies with similar long-term financial trajectories.

The largest gaps do not all point in the same direction.

Dimension spread: JHX vs ODFL Profitability 20 89 Stability 19 34 Valuation 20 46 Growth 38 13 JHX ODFL
Gap Ranking
#1 Profitability +69
#2 Valuation +26
#3 Growth +25
#4 Stability +15
Price Setup

Left means cheaper relative valuation. Higher means stronger structure.

Price setup map for JHX and ODFL Stronger + cheaper Stronger + richer Weaker + cheaper Weaker + richer JHXODFL Relative valuation Structural strength

Old Dominion Freight Line, Inc. looks stronger both structurally and on relative valuation.

Valuation position uses peer-relative PE percentile (idx_pct_pe) where available.

Entry today — historical context

Where JHX and ODFL each sit in their own 5-year price and valuation history.

BASED ON 5-YEAR HISTORY JHX Lower · below norm 0th 50th 100th 81 pct gap ODFL Elevated · above norm 0th 50th 100th 10th 90th
Today JHX sits in the lower portion of its own 5-year history (10th percentile), while ODFL sits higher in its own history (90th). Within each stock's own 5-year context, JHX is at a historically more favourable entry position than ODFL. This reflects entry timing, not which company is structurally stronger — peer-relative analysis is a separate question addressed above.

Describes historical entry positioning only. Descriptive — not investment advice.

Relative Position vs Comparable Companies
Profitability
Old Dominion Freight Line, Inc. ranks near the top of the group on profitability; James Hardie Industries plc sits in the weaker half.
Valuation
Old Dominion Freight Line, Inc. sits higher in the group on valuation, adding to the overall structural advantage.
Profitability — Dominant Gap
JHX
20
ODFL
89
Gap+69in favour of ODFL

The profitability lead is mainly driven by a 9.1-point operating margin advantage.

What keeps the gap from being one-sided

James Hardie Industries still pushes back on growth, with a 33-point revenue-growth advantage that keeps the read from becoming one-way.

What this means for the comparison

The lead is built on both profitability and valuation — though growth still provides a counterweight.

Explore full peer positioning in AssetNext

Break down the JHX vs ODFL comparison across all dimensions with the full interactive tool.

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Other comparisons with conflicting dimension signals

Explore how JHX and ODFL each compare against other companies in their peer groups.

Rule-based, descriptive analysis only. Derived from peer percentile dimensions. Not investment advice. Peer groups are determined algorithmically based on structural similarity — not by sector classification alone.

How AssetNext Peer Scores Work

AssetNext scores reflect each company's structural position within its functional peer group — not a ranking against all stocks simultaneously. Peers are identified by similarity across eight financial dimensions, including revenue growth trajectory, margin structure, capital intensity, and earnings stability. A score of 75 means the company ranks in the top quartile within its own peer group, not the entire market.

Four dimension scores drive the overall peer score: Growth (revenue trajectory and expansion dynamics), Quality (margin structure and capital efficiency), Valuation (peer-relative pricing on standard multiples), and Stability (earnings consistency and financial predictability). Each dimension is scored 0–100 relative to the peer group, then combined into an overall peer score using equal weighting.

Because scores are peer-relative, the same company can have slightly different scores in different index universes. On comparison pages, both companies are shown within their shared peer universe wherever possible — so the scores are directly comparable. The peer basis is stated on each score card.

Scores are recalculated periodically as underlying financial data is updated. All analysis is descriptive and rule-based — AssetNext describes structural realities and never issues buy, sell or hold recommendations.