Hayward Holdings, Inc. (HAYW) Stock Price & How to Invest

Hayward Holdings designs and manufactures equipment for residential and commercial swimming pools, including pumps, filters, heaters, cleaners, sanitization systems, and connected controls such as its OmniLogic automation platform. The company sells largely through a channel of pool builders, distributors (notably Pool Corp), and service professionals, and it holds a leading share of the North American residential pool-equipment market alongside Pentair and Fluidra. A meaningful slice of demand is non-discretionary aftermarket replacement of aging installed equipment, which cushions the more cyclical new-construction and remodel demand.

The investment picture is a market-leading franchise with strong gross margins working through a normalization after the pandemic-era pool boom. Trailing revenue is about $1.17 billion, gross margin is near 48 percent, and net income over the last twelve months is roughly $161 million. The June quarter (Q2 2026) brought revenue growth of about 6 percent and adjusted EPS of $0.26 against a $0.24 estimate, the fourth straight small beat. The market has not rewarded it: as of October 16, 2026 the shares were down about 26% year to date and 23% over one year, trading near $11.73 versus a 52-week range of $11.24-17.73. Third-quarter results are due October 28, with consensus near $0.15 of EPS on about $252 million of revenue. The debate centers on the pace of recovery in new-pool construction (which remains well below peak), the durability of pricing gains, tariff and input-cost exposure, and the roughly $1 billion of debt carried over from its buyout heritage.

Demand is discretionary and cyclical, tied to housing activity, consumer confidence, and interest rates, so a weak economy can push out both new pools and big-ticket remodels. The share price already reflects some of that worry: HAYW fell about 17% over the three months to mid-October 2026 and trades near its 52-week low. The stock carries balance-sheet leverage inherited from its private-equity history (about $1.01 billion of debt against $487 million of cash), which amplifies earnings swings and interest-cost sensitivity. Roughly triopoly competition with Pentair and Fluidra, plus private-label pressure from distributor Pool Corp, can compress pricing. Tariffs, input-cost inflation, and channel inventory swings (distributors overstocking then destocking) add volatility. Weather and seasonality also concentrate results in the spring and summer selling season, which makes the September quarter seasonally small.

7 analysts publish price targets on HAYW, averaging $16.50 against a $11.83 price as of October 2026, or +39.5%. The published targets run from $13.00 to $19.50, a moderate spread, and the ratings split 3 buy, 7 hold, 0 sell. Over the last six months there have been 0 raises and 1 cut among the published actions. A price target is what an analyst published on a date, not a prediction, and sell-side ratings skew positive across the whole market.

Read the full HAYW forecast and price target for the target table, the recent rating actions by firm, and how the consensus has shifted.

We give no verdict on Hayward Holdings, Inc.. Both cases are real, which is why the question is contested at all, so here is the strongest version of each.

The case for buying. Aftermarket replacement base. A large installed base of North American pools requires periodic replacement of pumps, filters, heaters, and cleaners regardless of new-construction activity. The most optimistic published target, $19.50, assumes this works close to its best case.

The case against. Demand is discretionary and cyclical, tied to housing activity, consumer confidence, and interest rates, so a weak economy can push out both new pools and big-ticket remodels. The most pessimistic target, $13.00, is roughly what HAYW is worth if this bites instead.

Read the full bull and bear case on HAYW, including what would have to change to break either one. Walnut is not an investment adviser.

No. Hayward Holdings, Inc. (HAYW) has not split its stock in the last 10 years. That is a statement about the window we check rather than about the company’s entire history, so an older split is possible. It also matters less than it once did: fractional shares mean a high price per share no longer keeps smaller investors out, which removed most of the practical reason to split.

A simple financial snapshot. These are approximations and refresh quarterly; for current figures see Hayward Holdings, Inc.'s investor relations page or your broker.

• Revenue (TTM): ~$1.17B (latest quarter up ~6% YoY)
• Gross / operating margin: ~48% / ~24%
• Net income (TTM): ~$161M (~14% margin)
• Q2 2026 EPS vs estimate: $0.26 vs $0.24
• Market cap: ~$2.5B
• Trailing / forward P/E: ~16x / ~12x
• Cash / debt: ~$487M / ~$1.01B
• Dividend: None

After a roughly 26% slide in 2026, Hayward trades near 16x trailing and about 12x forward earnings, below the high-teens to 20x range it held earlier in the year, even as quarterly results kept edging past estimates. Analysts expect 2026 adjusted EPS near $0.86 on about $1.18 billion of revenue, rising to about $0.95 in 2027. The valuation debate hinges on how quickly new-pool construction recovers, whether pricing and mix hold as volumes normalize, and what the October 28 report says about the seasonally slow third quarter.

Other names that sit close to HAYW: same theme, named as a direct competitor, or held beside it in the same funds. Each entry says which. Worth a look if you are thinking about diversification within a thesis rather than concentration on one ticker.

There are three common ways to get HAYW exposure. Buy shares (or fractional shares) directly at any major broker. Hold an ETF that includes it, which spreads the position across many companies. Or build it into a focused thematic portfolio, so HAYW sits alongside other stocks that express the same thesis.

Walnut takes the portfolio route. Describe a thesis where HAYW fits (for example “AI infrastructure” or “dividend-growth large-caps”) and the AI proposes 5 to 6 constituents with target weights. You review the plan and fund it through your own broker when you're ready.

New to this? Start with how to invest in stocks, see how to analyze a stock with AI, or compare the best AI stock analyzers.

HAYW is a profitable, roughly $2.5 billion pool-equipment leader whose fortunes rise and fall with a cyclical, discretionary end market. The business keeps beating modest earnings estimates while the share price has fallen about 26% in 2026, so the picture depends on where you think the pool cycle and new-construction demand are headed, and on whether a low-teens forward P/E already prices in the weakness.

Whether HAYW is worth buying today depends more on your time horizon and what you already hold than on any single call. We walk through valuation, what would have to go right, and the risks in is HAYW a buy or a sell?, and where the stock could go from here in the HAYW stock forecast.

For income investors, whether HAYW pays a dividend and how the payout looks is covered in does HAYW pay a dividend? And to weigh HAYW against a peer, read the full side-by-side comparisons: HAYW vs PNR and HAYW vs POOL.