Floor & Decor drew 9 news stories in the 24 hours to 30 October, against a usual 0.1 a day. Reports indicate its third-quarter earnings exceeded the analysts' average estimate, and the stock moved in response. The filings show reported profit and cash moving at different speeds: net income rose 10.6% over the year, while free cash flow rose 1399.1%.
Source: SEC EDGAR XBRL company facts. Latest period shown: FY26 Q3.
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| Period | Revenue growth, TTM YoY | Operating margin (TTM) | FCF margin (TTM) |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY24 Q4 | 0.9% | 5.7% | 3.5% |
| FY25 Q1 | 3.0% | 5.8% | 2.8% |
| FY25 Q2 | 4.9% | 5.9% | 0.8% |
| FY25 Q3 | 6.0% | 5.9% | 0.5% |
| FY25 Q4 | 5.1% | 5.8% | 1.4% |
| FY26 Q1 | 3.5% | 5.5% | 2.3% |
| FY26 Q2 | 2.4% | 6.4% | 4.5% |
| FY26 Q3 | 1.8% | 6.5% | 7.2% |
Profit is outgrowing sales
Profit is growing faster than sales, and reports of a Q3 earnings beat connect to that gap. Net income over the trailing twelve months was $239.7 million, up 10.6% on the year before, while revenue of $4.7 billion grew just 1.8%. The growth rate itself was down 0.6 percentage points from a quarter earlier.
Free cash flow shows the largest year-over-year increase of any figure above. It rose 1399.1% to $342.5 million over the trailing twelve months. Operating cash flow grew 69.7% to $609.4 million, and capital spending of $266.8 million ran at 5.6% of revenue. The average diluted share count fell 0.4% over the year.
Margins are moving apart from each other. The trailing operating margin of 6.5% is up 0.5 percentage points from a year earlier; the free-cash-flow margin of 7.2% is up 6.7 percentage points. The gross margin was 44.9% and the net margin 5.1%. What sits between operating profit and free cash flow is not broken out in the figures presented here.
The company announced a board leadership transition on 29 October, the same day it reported third-quarter results. Over the past month it has also announced new stores in Melbourne, Cape Coral, Raleigh and Florence, Kentucky.
Cash is holding up better than reported profit
The free-cash-flow margin of 7.2% is higher than 92% of the company's own past quarterly readings, which have ranged from −12.3% to 9.9%. The operating margin of 6.5% beats only 23% of past readings, which have ranged from 5.5% to 11.2%. Revenue growth of 1.8% sits above just 11% of past readings, which have ranged from −0.4% to 47.7%.
The value hinges on margins more than growth
In our model, a free-cash-flow margin one percentage point lower would cut the value by 13.3%. Growth five percentage points lower would lower the value by 24.4%, and growth five percentage points higher would raise it by 32.0%.
What the filings cannot tell you at Floor & Decor Holdings
Our figures run to Q3 2026, from the company's own filings; they cannot confirm, explain or rule out anything in the reports. The free-cash-flow margin and revenue growth rate above bear directly on the valuation question captured in the coverage, but the filings do not say whether the margin improvement will persist.