Floor & Decor Third-Quarter EPS Rises 15% Despite Comparable Sales Dip; Thomas Taylor to Become Non-Executive Chair

Floor & Decor Holdings grew third-quarter earnings 15% to 61 cents a share even as comparable store sales fell 1.4%, and the flooring retailer said Executive Chair Thomas Taylor will become non-executive chair in January, according to an 8-K filed Thursday with its earnings release.

Net sales for the quarter ended Sept. 24 rose 3.0% to $1.21 billion from $1.18 billion a year earlier. Net income rose 13.2% to $64.8 million from $57.3 million, and diluted earnings per share rose 15.1% from 53 cents.

"We are pleased with our third-quarter performance, delivering 15% earnings per share growth despite a 1.4% decline in comparable store sales," CEO Brad Paulsen said in the release. "The earnings growth we delivered this quarter underscores the resilience of our business model and our ability to drive profitability in a challenging demand environment."

Margins edge higher

Gross margin improved to 43.7% from 43.4%. Operating income rose 8.3% to $78.0 million, and operating margin widened 30 basis points to 6.4%. Adjusted EBITDA increased 7.4% to $149.1 million.

Floor & Decor opened one new warehouse store in the quarter, ending September with 282 warehouse stores and five design studios across 39 states. It returned $91.4 million to shareholders through share repurchases.

Paulsen said the company's profitability and cash generation allow it to keep investing through the cycle in the customer experience, its offering for professional customers, new stores and technology, while continuing to buy back stock.

Nine-month results lean on tariff refunds

For the first 39 weeks of the year, net sales rose 1.8% to $3.62 billion and comparable store sales fell 2.4%. Diluted earnings rose 19.2% to $1.86 a share. But adjusted diluted earnings, which exclude $56.2 million of one-time refunds of tariffs collected under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, slipped 0.6% to $1.55 a share. Gross margin of 45.4% was 43.8% on an adjusted basis, up 10 basis points.

Updated outlook

Floor & Decor's fiscal 2026 includes a 53rd week, which it expects to add about $65 million to sales and about 8 cents a share to earnings. The company now forecasts net sales of about $4.765 billion to $4.835 billion and comparable store sales down about 2.0% to 3.5%. It expects diluted earnings of about $2.19 to $2.29 a share and adjusted diluted earnings of about $1.88 to $1.98 a share, with adjusted EBITDA of about $535 million to $550 million.

Floor & Decor plans to open 20 new warehouse stores this year and expects capital spending of about $235 million to $250 million.

Board leadership changes

In a separate announcement included in the same filing, Floor & Decor said Taylor will move from executive chair to non-executive chair of the board effective Jan. 1, 2027, and will no longer serve as an executive officer. As chair, he will receive a $95,000 annual board retainer and an additional $100,000 chair retainer, plus equity awards valued at $150,000 and $100,000.

The board also appointed Lauren Taylor Wolfe, co-founder and managing partner of Impactive Capital, as an independent director effective Feb. 1, 2027. She will serve on the audit committee.

Lead Director Norman Axelrod told the board he will not stand for reelection at the 2027 annual meeting, expected in May, and will retire after 17 years on the board. The company said his decision was not the result of any disagreement.

"This transition reflects the successful evolution of our leadership structure and the strong execution of our succession plan to Brad Paulsen," Taylor said.

The company scheduled a conference call for 5 p.m. ET on Thursday.

Sources

1. Floor & Decor Form 8-K with third-quarter 2026 earnings release (Exhibit 99.1), filed Oct. 29, 2026 (accession 0001628280-26-068242)

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