Mohawk Industries Authorizes New $500 Million Buyback as Third-Quarter Adjusted EPS Edges Up

Mohawk Industries authorized a new $500 million share buyback after finishing its previous program, and it reported third-quarter adjusted earnings of $2.72 a share, up about 2%, as price increases offset weaker flooring demand, according to an 8-K the company filed Thursday with its earnings release and a separate capital allocation announcement.

The world's largest flooring company, as it describes itself, posted net sales of $2.8 billion, up about 1% from a year earlier and roughly flat on an adjusted basis. An extra shipping day added about 1% to sales. Adjusted volumes fell about 4%, mainly on soft demand, while price and mix added about 4%.

Net earnings were $163 million. Diluted earnings were $2.72 a share, up about 55% from a year earlier, matching adjusted earnings for the quarter. Adjusted EBITDA was about $353 million, a 12.7% margin.

"We delivered a solid third quarter in a weak demand environment," CEO Paul De Cock said in the release. "We grew net sales as we executed price increases in response to rising inflation, we offset inflation with price, mix and productivity, and we are efficiently converting our earnings to strong cash flow."

Buybacks double

Mohawk repurchased 2.0 million shares for $261 million in the quarter, which De Cock said was more than double its buybacks in the first half. It spent another $34 million so far in the fourth quarter, completing the prior $500 million authorization approved in July 2025. Under that program it bought back about 7% of its shares at an average price of about $119 a share, the company said.

Alongside the new authorization, which has no time limit, Mohawk introduced a capital allocation framework. It expects baseline capital spending of about $375 million a year for at least the next several years, plans to pursue bolt-on acquisitions only where they bring the highest returns, and intends to return capital not used for those priorities through share repurchases. It set a long-term target for net debt of up to 2.0 times adjusted EBITDA. Net leverage ended the quarter at 0.7 times.

Segment results

Global Ceramic sales rose about 2% to $1.1 billion, but adjusted operating income fell $16 million to $74 million as inflation and lower volumes weighed.

Flooring North America sales rose about 1% to $950 million, and adjusted operating income climbed $9 million to $77 million on productivity, price and mix.

Flooring Rest of the World sales slipped about 1% to $707 million. Adjusted volumes dropped about 10%, but price and mix rose about 7%, and adjusted operating income rose $6 million to $66 million.

Cash flow and outlook

Operating cash flow was $471 million and free cash flow $390 million in the quarter. Year-to-date free cash flow reached $626 million, up 78%. Mohawk trimmed its full-year capital spending estimate to about $445 million from $460 million.

For the fourth quarter, which has four fewer shipping days than a year earlier, Mohawk expects softer flooring markets than in the third quarter and low single-digit growth in adjusted net sales. It guided to adjusted earnings of $1.35 to $1.45 a share and said it expects to offset cost inflation through pricing, mix and productivity, a dynamic it expects to continue into the first quarter of 2027.

Management will discuss the results and the framework on a conference call at 11 a.m. ET on Friday.

Sources

1. Mohawk Industries Form 8-K with third-quarter 2026 earnings release (Exhibit 99.1), filed Oct. 29, 2026 (accession 0000851968-26-000038)

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