As Wall Street wrestles with the limits of the AI boom, some entrepreneurs are doubling down on industries that may lack flash but can shine under the right growth strategy. Enter Brad Jacobs, a veteran dealmaker who has built a reputation for turning overlooked, fragmented sectors into high-preforming, scalable companies.
All eyes are now on his latest venture, QXO, Inc.
Jacobs is working to reshape the building-products distribution business using the same roll-up blueprint that helped scale United Rentals and XPO Logistics into multibillion-dollar companies.
The playbook, in short, centers on buying up regional distributors, integrating them into a unified network, and layering in advanced logistics.
Analysts say Jacobs has refined this model to such an extent that many investors believe the projected $7.4 billion company could become his next big win.
“Jacobs faces strong competitive forces in a cyclical industry, but his acquisition discipline and integration track record speak for themselves,” said David MacGregor, analyst at Longbow Research.
At the Economic Club of New York Tuesday, Jacobs downplayed competitive risk and cast the building-products sector as a “safe bet” compared with frothier AI-driven firms.
After reviewing 600 companies across 55 industries, he said building products like roofing and insulation was the only one to “check every box” with predictable long-term demand amplified by the U.S. housing shortage and a fragmented landscape ripe for consolidation.
The transformation at QXO became most visible in its third-quarter 2025 earnings, its first full quarter reflecting the $11 billion acquisition of Beacon Roofing Supply, the company’s largest move to date.
Net sales surged to $2.73 billion from just $13 million a year earlier. The company posted a GAAP loss due to acquisition and integration expenses but delivered strong adjusted profitability, easing early concerns about execution risk.
Investors have reacted positively. QXO shares are up 20.4% year-to-date, even as analysts understand the company is still very much in its early stages.
Competition no less remains an unavoidable factor. In June, QXO’s roughly $5 billion unsolicited offer for GMS Inc. was outbid by Home Depot’s SRS Distribution, which secured the deal at $5.5 billion. Jacobs brushed off the loss, noting that Home Depot must decide whether a deeper move into distribution aligns with its long-term strategy.
“Even if they become a competitor for the pro customer, that’s just one segment of a much broader market,” he said at the city luncheon.
Jacobs argues that QXO’s edge isn’t about outbidding rivals but about disciplined dealmaking and the operational lift that comes from weaving separate businesses into a high-efficiency platform.
He is also bullish on AI’s potential to disrupt virtually every industry and says he is eagerly employing AI tools to his own distribution infrastructure to accelerate his trajectory as the “fastest growing distributor over the next five or ten years.” He has publicly targeted $50 billion in revenue within a decade, a goal that will undoubtedly require a steady pace of acquisitions.
“Jacobs sticks to a strict acquisition discipline and has repeatedly shown he can integrate deals and drive efficiencies,” MacGregor said. But investors will expect follow-through. To maintain confidence, he added, QXO will need to demonstrate “a relatively stable cadence of transactions” as it builds toward scale.