POOL Corporation — Research Dashboard

"There's a share shift going on from POOLCORP to Heritage. Heritage is successfully gaining market share. The issue for Heritage is they have many fewer locations than POOLCORP, like maybe a third. To the extent they can continue to open branches, you would infer from that that they can continue taking market share, but where they currently operate, they're successfully taking market share. I hear it regularly among the contractors that I'm familiar with."

"They've taken a lot of people, surprisingly. They've transitioned key individuals... They were hiring very high-level, influential people out of the POOLCORP organization a few years ago and I think that that had some meaningful impact. I think they have promoted themselves very heavily at industry events. They do a lot socialization. They hold concerts and bring people."

"They really present themselves and I think it's an actual persona of the management team as people you would sit down and have a beer with. If you're a guy with one truck or you build 12 pools a year, you look at them as people you can identify with. POOLCORP is much more of a corporate persona... I also think Heritage has used price. I think they have sharpened their pencil and given a little bit of additional price. If they're the kind of people you might like to have a beer with and they give you a little bit of price, you start buying over there."

"Heritage has been very, I don't want to say aggressive, but very accommodating. They've been price matching very well and have just really done a good job at staffing their branches. I think the overall morale at Heritage has gotten really good in the last couple years. They've got real good management and a very, very good culture. I see them doing very well in the near future and being more and more of a competitor for SCP and POOLCORP."

"When the smaller contractors make that decision, it's so subtle, you don't even know it. They just stop showing up to the store as often to the branch. It's also not a contractual change. What if they just move half their business? What if they do it when it's convenient? The moves are very subtle. They're hard to then react to."

"I wouldn't say it's completely changed the way that we purchase. I know it's changed the way other people in my market have purchased, but we aren't quite there yet. We're on a high alert for it. It gives us a bad taste in our mouth knowing that they are potentially going to compete with us. We also don't understand why they want to start getting into manufacturing pool equipment because that seems like they're competing with even more of their clients."

"I also think that they need to take a step back sometimes and not try to do too much and compete with the hand that feeds them."

"The reason POOLCORP doesn't want to own stores, and I don't think Heritage would either, is because they don't want to be perceived as a competitor to their customers. Their customers are pool professionals that come in and buy chemicals and equipment and so on. If you're running a store that competes with that person, it drives a wedge."

"Variable speed pumps were starting to take hold. They're much higher ticket, they're probably 5X the cost of an old pump, the pump that existed in 2018."

"In fact, I think that's somewhat of a sales tool that is dying. It used to be a way to help sell pools, but everybody uses variable speed, low-energy pumps now."

"They're upgrading to more automated sophisticated systems... I think the majority is probably convenience and overall control and being able to monitor the chemical usage and water usage. I think a lot of it is the data behind the automation."

"I think we have about 62,000 pool builds now in the U.S. which is a very, very low historical number. You would bet on the upside for that, but not substantially. I think if there were consensus, that consensus would be that normalized starts in a reasonable economy, market economy, would maybe be about 75,000. It's not like we're going to go from 62 to 100. We're not going to see dramatic shifts in pool building."

"When you look at POOLCORP or anything in the pool space, it's very well-pronounced that we have a strong aftermarket, strong R&R. It's the underpinning. It's 80% of the business. It probably is slightly more than 80% today."

"The average pool, if you're trying to put in a, I don't want to say basic, but a normal, traditional opening price point swimming pool, it's well over $100,000 now. That number, I think when I started in the industry probably was $60,000 or maybe just under $60,000... I really think that's the economic dilemma the pool industry faces is that middle America can't really afford the house and the pool. If the choice has to be made, it's house."

"We're starting to come to terms with the idea that they don't [have cash] and that pools are going to be for a higher earning segment of the population than they once were. The pools that we're seeing built in that 62,000 population, the majority are higher end pools. There are people of means and wealth that can easily afford to buy a pool, and therefore they're buying a higher value pool even than the opening price point. A $300,000 pool, a $400,000 pool, not terribly uncommon."

"I think this part of Texas is still a very sought-after place to live and grow a family. There's a big business influence as well and big tech hub. We have pretty decent weather and good business policies. With all that, I think we're still going to have the higher end affluent people continuing to move here... and every one of them wants a pool because it's Texas and it's hot."

"The pool industry very successfully passes price to the market, very successfully and not in insignificant numbers. In the peak of COVID yes, inflation was enormous. The pool industry was able to push all that price through the distribution channel. Accepted it almost gleefully because they just pass it through and add their margin."

"It's a very rare point in history that pricing moved less than 2%. Very rare. I have to take the COVID years out, but just this year it was probably, I don't know, 6%."

"Are you aware there were two significant chlorine production interruptions, not just COVID related. There was a fire and 2X in a chlorine production facility in the U.S. which caused people to hoard chlorine. Chlorine prices went crazy... I think the deflation in chemicals is probably that coming out... I don't think the chemicals can continue to deflate for five years."

"Different manufacturers and different items by the manufacturer went up differently. Some stuff, anywhere from 3% to I think upwards of 20% on certain items, maybe heaters... I think in a whole, I would say probably 5%-7%."

"It's not differentiated. There are some insignificant differences. POOLCORP can take more advantage of special incentives and promotions like the early buy, they can commit to larger orders... The day-in, day-out acquisition cost of the goods is undifferentiated."

"It's all rebate driven. Whatever they acquire in the given year, they get a rebate that's double digit. It's substantial. Bigger you are, the more it is. The more strategic you are, the more it is. That's where the real competition exists."

"They're indifferent to which line of equipment they sell. A manufacturer has to spend tremendous resources downstream from the distributor to create demand. We have to go call on all the builders, we have to see the service contractors, we have to promote the goods, we have to train. The distributor just services the business that comes through... If you walk into a POOLCORP branch and ask for a Pentair pump, they're just going to give it to you. They're not going to say, 'Have you seen the new Hayward pump?'"

"There's just nothing in the DNA of a manufacturer that wants to disintermediate the channel in the U.S. predominantly because you just have two big distribution platforms and if you alienate them in any way, the risk of them pulling your line is too great."

"POOLCORP claims that it's 60%-80% picked up. The pool professional, probably because of their fragmented nature, maybe because the aftermarket is so significant and you're not shipping mass quantities, just one pump here, one thing there, it's 60%-80% picked up. The branch becomes an important thing."

"It should be good. They've invested in it for a long period of time. I think all those digital tools are helpful and potentially differentiating. The dynamic of having 70% of the volume going as walk-in customers, I think pushes back against digital tools to some extent... Home Depot will deliver to my home a $20 item within three or four hours. That type of service is excellent... pool360 can offer some of that, except their model is not to deliver."

"I think they can offer better pricing, more consistent pricing. I think that they need to make sure their online POOL360 portal is updated to the most recent builders pricing because we have found where pricing on the website is not accurate for what my deal is with the distributor, depending on what our kickbacks are."

"It wouldn't surprise me if Pool and Landscape was divested. It's not really core. It's certainly not core to SRS and construction materials... They probably have to spin it to their shareholders. They could IPO it. POOLCORP could not buy it... Ferguson would be a really interesting play, expanding their presence in the water and plumbing side. That would be really interesting."

"I think it's actually good for POOLCORP to have Heritage. Frankly, they need someone to chase. In the years leading up to that they were dominant. They were making all the acquisitions. No one else was acquisitive. Sometimes a business can get to a point where, I don't know, it's a little too easy and they're overconfident."

"I live in Florida. There are many pool distributors here, many branches. There is not a Heritage branch near me. There is a POOLCORP branch 20 minutes away. I would go over an hour to get to a Heritage branch. In my community, no one's buying from Heritage. If they opened a branch, I'm sure they would take share, at least initially. New guy in town."

"POOLCORP has not expanded Pinch A Penny very much, 10 or 12 stores a year. I don't think it's easy to find franchisees."

"I think the do-it-yourself pool service has diminished some. I think the pool market is very, very flat."

"Our growth thesis does not require a recovery in new pool units. It is anchored in maintenance, remodel and share capture across product categories for the existing installed base."

"New pool units for 2025 came in at 58,000. While we expect 2026 will be close to that level, it is important to remember that the center of gravity of our business is the 5.5 million in-ground pools already installed."

"A pump and a filter, non-discretionary. If those need to be replaced or repaired, they have to be replaced or repaired. But you get into heaters and/or lights, something like that. If somebody doesn't want to fix that... you don't actually have to have that to continue to safely operate the pool. So in some areas, that's where we have seen some decline in demand. But I would tell you that, that's already in and baked in."

"Chemicals grew 8% on strong volume with standout contributions from our proprietary and private label lines, which carry structurally higher margins and are gaining traction across the enterprise."

"Building materials having the best margin and then after that would be chemicals, and then after that would be equipment."

"Equipment sales grew 7% in the quarter and given the lower relative margins of this category, the strong volume performance diluted consolidated gross margin. We view this growth as strategically positive."

"The profile is what I would characterize as extremely healthy. We're actually very astute buyers when it comes to buying inventory... they're sitting in very high moving items. So I really — from an inventory perspective, I spend very little time worrying about the inventory levels."

"Stocking for new locations and acquisitions added to the network, new product introductions resulting in a broader product range and cost inflation relative to the same period last year, with some opportunistic purchases made ahead of current season price increases."

"I wouldn't want anybody to position our private label as a down price offering... we're trying to have an offering that has tremendous value and is very high quality."

"[An example is] a proprietary bandless antimicrobial cartridge filter, which is much faster to service and has a very low micron filtration rate, helping produce clearer pools and complementing LED lights which are getting brighter."

"I don't see any reason why the company couldn't ultimately exceed 25% target [POOL360 penetration] and maybe higher in the future."

"This was the year of continued industry developments, shifting demand patterns, persistent customer uncertainty, and evolving customer expectations."

"In 2025, we estimate that just under 60,000 new pools were built in the U.S. amid single-digit decline from last year. This is about half of what we saw at the height of the pandemic and 40% lower than in 2022."

"We estimate that maintenance items accounted for roughly 64% of our pool product sales, while renovation and remodel projects made up 22%, and new pool construction contributed 14%."

"Chemicals were down 1% for the year, mostly due to price, and 3% in the fourth quarter... Building Materials finished flat for the year and were up 4% in the fourth quarter, driven by demand for our national pool trend products... Equipment sales, excluding cleaners, were flat year-over-year and down 3% in the fourth quarter, cycling against prior year hurricane recovery comps. Commercial pool products rose 3% for the year."

"Inventory at year end was $1.45 billion, an increase of $165 million or 13% from last year's balance of $1.29 billion."

"Inventory, as we have done successfully in the past, we acted opportunistically to secure pre-price increase purchases. This proactive investment positions us to protect and expand our gross margins."

"Digital sales reached 13.5% of total revenue in the fourth quarter, up from 12.5% last year and peaked at a record 17% during the pool season. For the full year, we finished at 15% of sales, which is an all-time high."

"With all these factors in mind, our diluted EPS range for 2026 is $10.85 to $11.15."

"We delivered our commitment to shareholder returns, distributing $530 million in cash this year, a 10% increase over last year. This includes $341 million in share repurchases and a 4% increase in our quarterly dividend."

"Assuming we achieve low single-digit growth revenue, incentive-based compensation expenses are projected to rise by $10 million to $15 million."

"I'm excited to share that our teams have maintained the momentum we established in the second quarter, delivering another solid performance in Q3... This was fueled by consistent maintenance activity and encouraging signs of stabilization in both new pool construction and remodel."

"I'm also pleased to see that we achieved year-over-year growth in building materials for the first time since Q3 of 2022, driven by improvements in remodel activity and share gain."

"Total chemical sales declined 4% this quarter, reflecting some additional deflation... Building materials sales increased 4%, again driven by our expansive private label offering... Equipment sales, which excludes cleaners, increased 4% during the quarter, mostly reflecting benefit from price and steady replacement volume for critical components."

"We recently rebranded NPT, formerly National Pool Tile to National Pool Trends to align our brand name and marketing efforts..."

"Of course, every new pool gets a set of equipment. A portion of the renovation and remodel will get — we'll get new equipment, but the vast majority of the products that we sell are related to a — one of the critical components on the pool failed and had to be replaced, whether it was a pump or whether it was a heater or filter, lights."

"Sales through the tool represented an all-time high of 17% of our total sales for the third quarter, which demonstrate the customer's desire for technology that creates value."

"We were at 17% for the quarter, which is an all-time high for us. We have people that are nearly double that... Do I think we could be as a company 25%, 30%? Yeah, I think we could — I think we absolutely could do that."

"We realized a 3% benefit from pricing, reflecting the full-quarter impact of price realization on the mid-season vendor price increases implemented in April and May. Trichlor selling prices continued to be impacted by the lower level of spend in the industry."

"We were very pleased to see positive sales growth in the second quarter, along with stable gross margins and steady operating margins versus the prior year. Given all the challenges affecting the broader economy and industry dynamics, I consider these results to be very solid."

"Without an interest rate cut, that will address the greater housing market. I think it would be tough to say that we believe that new pool construction is going to rebound this year."

"One of the shining stars is the fact that the maintenance and repair business of the growing install base is still very resilient. People still love their pools."

"Our parts sales are outpacing total sales growth in almost every market. So I think that there are some trade-offs being made with, well, can I fix it versus replace it?"

"If your pump has failed, whether your pump is 10% more or 5% more or 2% more than it was last year, I really think it's irrelevant. You have to replace the pump."

"Chemicals, specifically Trichlor, are seeing selling prices less than what we saw in the second quarter of prior year. This pricing, although lower than last year, still represents a significant premium over 2020."

"POOL360 platform transactions now represent 17% of net sales, up from 14.5% last year, reflecting enthusiastic customer adoption and creating durable competitive advantages that are hard to replicate."

"In the absence of an interest rate cut or external catalyst, we are updating our diluted earnings per share guidance for the year to a range of $10.80 to $11.30, which includes a $0.10 realized benefit from the ASU year-to-date."

"At the time of our last call, there appeared to be some signs of macro stability approaching, but we have seen the challenging economic environment continue to weigh on new pool construction and, to a lesser degree, renovation activities."

"Since our last earnings call, our largest equipment vendors announced and implemented an in-season price increase that ranged from 3% to 4% that took effect in April to address the March tariff announcements, and we increased our selling prices accordingly. We observed similar patterns during the pandemic years, and those increases passed through the channel with no reversals."

"Our exposure to direct imports in total is relatively small and would amount to less than 1% of revenue... The biggest tariff impact in our business is being felt in the equipment area, where the manufacturers have exposure for whole goods or components that are impacting their costs."

"People are still very tech, the demand for tech for new pool equipment, especially if somebody's going to spend that kind of money to replace something that should have a 10-year lifespan, they're not looking to go backwards and say, hey, give me old technology and mechanical time clocks and no automation."

"The competitiveness from a price perspective is nothing new. Most of our competitors that we have, whether it's the newer folks that have entered the market or the traditional players, in terms of their value proposition to the market, don't have what we do. So the way that they compete with POOLCORP is they walk in and say, whatever POOLCORP is selling you for, we will sell it to you for less."

"We saw some instances of aggressive competitive pricing for certain orders that appears to be in response to continued softness in the market."