Building products company Boise Cascade Company (NYSE: BCC) announced better-than-expected revenue in Q3 CY2025, but sales fell by 2.7% year on year to $1.67 billion. Its GAAP profit of $0.58 per share was 16.3% below analysts’ consensus estimates.
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Boise Cascade (BCC) Q3 CY2025 Highlights:
- Revenue: $1.67 billion vs analyst estimates of $1.62 billion (2.7% year-on-year decline, 3.1% beat)
- EPS (GAAP): $0.58 vs analyst expectations of $0.69 (16.3% miss)
- Adjusted EBITDA: $74.38 million vs analyst estimates of $74.47 million (4.5% margin, in line)
- Operating Margin: 1.9%, down from 6.8% in the same quarter last year
- Free Cash Flow Margin: 3.8%, down from 6.6% in the same quarter last year
- Market Capitalization: $2.63 billion
“In the face of subdued demand and commodity pricing headwinds, we were able to post good earnings for the third quarter of 2025,” said Nate Jorgensen, CEO.
Company Overview
Formed through the merger of two lumber companies, Boise Cascade Company (NYSE: BCC) manufactures and distributes wood products and other building materials.
Revenue Growth
A company’s long-term sales performance is one signal of its overall quality. Even a bad business can shine for one or two quarters, but a top-tier one grows for years. Over the last five years, Boise Cascade grew its sales at a tepid 5% compounded annual growth rate. This fell short of our benchmark for the industrials sector and is a poor baseline for our analysis.
We at StockStory place the most emphasis on long-term growth, but within industrials, a half-decade historical view may miss cycles, industry trends, or a company capitalizing on catalysts such as a new contract win or a successful product line. Boise Cascade’s performance shows it grew in the past but relinquished its gains over the last two years, as its revenue fell by 2.3% annually. 
Boise Cascade also breaks out the revenue for its most important segments, Building Material Distribution and Wood products, which are 93.3% and 23.8% of revenue. Over the last two years, Boise Cascade’s Building Material Distribution revenue (plywood, siding, insulation) was flat while its Wood products revenue (lumber and beams) averaged 5.8% year-on-year declines. 
This quarter, Boise Cascade’s revenue fell by 2.7% year on year to $1.67 billion but beat Wall Street’s estimates by 3.1%.
Looking ahead, sell-side analysts expect revenue to remain flat over the next 12 months. Although this projection indicates its newer products and services will catalyze better top-line performance, it is still below average for the sector.
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Operating Margin
Boise Cascade has done a decent job managing its cost base over the last five years. The company has produced an average operating margin of 9.7%, higher than the broader industrials sector.
Analyzing the trend in its profitability, Boise Cascade’s operating margin decreased by 7.1 percentage points over the last five years. This raises questions about the company’s expense base because its revenue growth should have given it leverage on its fixed costs, resulting in better economies of scale and profitability.
This quarter, Boise Cascade generated an operating margin profit margin of 1.9%, down 4.9 percentage points year on year. Since Boise Cascade’s operating margin decreased more than its gross margin, we can assume it was less efficient because expenses such as marketing, R&D, and administrative overhead increased.
Earnings Per Share
We track the long-term change in earnings per share (EPS) for the same reason as long-term revenue growth. Compared to revenue, however, EPS highlights whether a company’s growth is profitable.
Boise Cascade’s unimpressive 4% annual EPS growth over the last five years aligns with its revenue performance. This tells us it maintained its per-share profitability as it expanded.
Like with revenue, we analyze EPS over a more recent period because it can provide insight into an emerging theme or development for the business.
Boise Cascade’s two-year annual EPS declines of 36.7% were bad and lower than its two-year revenue losses.
Diving into the nuances of Boise Cascade’s earnings can give us a better understanding of its performance. Boise Cascade’s operating margin has declined over the last two years. This was the most relevant factor (aside from the revenue impact) behind its lower earnings; interest expenses and taxes can also affect EPS but don’t tell us as much about a company’s fundamentals.
In Q3, Boise Cascade reported EPS of $0.58, down from $2.33 in the same quarter last year. This print missed analysts’ estimates. Over the next 12 months, Wall Street expects Boise Cascade’s full-year EPS of $5.05 to shrink by 10.6%.
Key Takeaways from Boise Cascade’s Q3 Results
We enjoyed seeing Boise Cascade beat analysts’ revenue expectations this quarter. We were also glad its Building Material Distribution revenue topped Wall Street’s estimates. On the other hand, its EPS missed and its Wood products revenue fell short of Wall Street’s estimates. Overall, this quarter could have been better. The stock traded up 2.3% to $69.91 immediately following the results.
Is Boise Cascade an attractive investment opportunity at the current price? We think that the latest quarter is only one piece of the longer-term business quality puzzle. Quality, when combined with valuation, can help determine if the stock is a buy. We cover that in our actionable full research report which you can read here, it’s free for active Edge members.
