Pool Corporation

Pool Corporation is the largest wholesale distributor of swimming pool supplies and equipment. It does not build or install pools. It buys chemicals, parts, and equipment from manufacturers, and resells them to pool builders, retailers, and service companies.

It also sells irrigation and landscape products through its Horizon network, and tile and stone through National Pool Trends. It supplies the independent Pinch A Penny franchise stores. The company earns money on the markup between its purchase cost and its resale price.

Investors discount Pool Corporation because they fear the pandemic-era pool-building boom is over for good. A sudden CEO change and Berkshire Hathaway's full stock exit add to this caution. But most of Pool Corporation's sales come from maintenance and repair, not new construction.

Pool owners buy chemicals and replace parts every year, whether or not new pools get built. For the discount to close, maintenance demand must keep growing even while new construction stays weak. New CEO John Watwood must also show he can run the company without disruption after a sudden leadership change.

Investors get an early read in the Q3 2026 report on October 22, 2026, which covers the peak pool season. A fuller picture, including whether new-pool construction has found a bottom, likely needs two to four more quarters. If maintenance demand proves durable and margins stabilize, the discount can close over that time.

1. Oct 22, 2026Pending

   Q3 2026 results: peak-season maintenance sales and gross marginSales growth from maintenance products, a gross margin in line with the 2026 guidance of about 29.4% and confirmed 2026 adjusted EPS guidance of $10.87 to $11.17 pass; lower sales or a guidance cut fails.
2. Feb 2027 · est.Pending

   Full-year 2026 results and first 2027 outlook from new CEOA 2027 outlook with EPS growth and signs that new-pool construction has stopped falling passes; flat or lower EPS guidance or a new strategy that disrupts operations fails.
3. Jul 2027 · est.Pending

   Q2 2027 results: second peak season under CEO WatwoodSales and operating income above Q2 2026 with stable margins pass; a second year of falling operating income fails.

Every passed and failed checkpoint across all picks

Pool Corporation has no public bonds, and all its debt is variable-rate bank and securitization debt, mostly at the parent level. The debt is seasonal: it peaks in the second quarter, when supplier payments for winter inventory fall due, and it falls as customers pay in the summer. Read more

• New in-ground pool construction fell to just below 60,000 units in 2025, about half of the peak of about 117,000 units in 2021. High interest rates keep making this discretionary purchase harder to finance. A further drop would cut sales of building materials and equipment.
• The company installed a new, first-time CEO in 2026 after the previous CEO's sudden departure. A leadership transition adds execution risk at a time when the business already faces soft discretionary demand.
• Gross margin stayed at 29.7% in 2024 and 2025, but it fell in the first half of 2026 because of higher inbound freight costs and customer mix. The Q2 2026 10-Q expects the 2026 gross margin to be about 0.3 points below 2025. Continued margin pressure would offset revenue gains from the more stable maintenance business.

• October 8, 2026Pool Corporation confirmed that it will report Q3 2026 results on October 22, 2026, before the market opens.
• September 25, 2026Pool Corporation added Jean-Marc Germain, the former CEO of Constellium, to its board as an independent director from September 30, 2026.
• August 25, 2026Pool Corporation extended its receivables securitization facility to August 25, 2028. The facility can now fund up to $400 million from March to September and up to $300 million in the other months.