QXO Inc. posted a net loss in its first full quarter as a public company — yet executives made clear the company’s aggressive digital strategy is only just beginning.
The Greenwich, Connecticut-based firm is a digital-first building products distributor led by logistics veteran Brad Jacobs. QXO reported $13.5 million in revenue for Q1 2025, down 6.4% year over year from $14.4 million. The results reflect a transition period for QXO following its $11 billion acquisition of Beacon Roofing Supply, which closed earlier this year.
“This was always going to be a transition quarter,” said Brad Jacobs, QXO’s chairman and CEO. “We’ve completed the Beacon acquisition, and now it’s about implementing our playbook — driving operational leverage through technology, integrating the teams, and positioning QXO to be the long-term leader in the $800 billion building products distribution industry.”
QXO revenue in Q1
In Q1, QXO service revenue declined 8.8% in Q1, to $10 million. Meanwhile, revenue from software products inched up 1.1% to $3.5 million.
Despite the overall revenue decline, QXO posted a net income of $8.8 million in Q1. That compares to just $138,000 in the first quarter of 2024, due to $56.6 million in interest income on its cash reserves. The company’s adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) swung to a loss of $8.9 million. That’s down from a positive $504,000 a year ago. The company attributed the loss to rising costs tied to executive hiring and foundational technology investments.
Jacobs said the company is “laser focused” on transforming a traditionally fragmented, low-tech market into a streamlined, software-enabled ecosystem for professional buyers.
“We are digitizing the full customer lifecycle — from quote to cash,” Jacobs said. “Our customers want speed, visibility, and control, and we intend to deliver that through intuitive, frictionless experiences powered by technology.”
That vision is already taking shape. QXO is building a proprietary ecommerce platform tailored to contractors and builders, giving users access to real-time inventory, pricing, order placement, and delivery tracking. The company is also investing heavily in AI-driven procurement tools that will automate replenishment and optimize warehouse inventory levels.
“We’re not building a traditional distributor — we’re creating the modern operating system for building materials,” Jacobs said. “That means putting digital at the core of everything we do.”
QXO and Beacon Roofing’s digital transformation
A key part of that effort involves replacing Beacon’s legacy enterprise resource planning systems with cloud-native platforms that enable rapid feature deployment and integration with suppliers and logistics partners. QXO is also developing custom portals for large accounts, allowing enterprise buyers to manage multiple job sites, track invoices, and analyze spending across their organizations.
To support this digital overhaul, QXO expanded its leadership team significantly in the first quarter. In doing so, it incurred $20.3 million in stock-based compensation as part of a broader hiring push. General and administrative expenses jumped to $44.4 million, up from just $5.2 million a year ago.
Jacobs dismissed concerns about short-term losses, pointing instead to the company’s strong cash position — $5.1 billion in cash and equivalents — and the long-term opportunity to consolidate a fragmented sector through a scalable tech platform.
“Our ambition is clear,” Jacobs said. “We want to build a tech-enabled, scaled distribution platform that rivals the best in the B2B ecommerce world.”
QXO’s long-term plans
Looking ahead, QXO is targeting $50 billion in annual revenue over the next decade through a combination of organic growth and acquisitions. Technology will be central to that mission, Jacobs emphasized. The company aims to rewire a supply chain still dependent on paper invoices, phone orders, and disjointed systems.
“We’re taking the long view,” he said. “The investments we’re making now — especially in digital — are essential to building a platform that’s not just bigger, but smarter and more resilient.”
While QXO is still early in its transformation journey, analysts say the model has potential.
“QXO is trying to do for building products what Amazon Business did for office supplies — streamline the experience through tech,” said one logistics consultant familiar with the company’s roadmap. “If they execute, they could dramatically raise the bar for how building materials are bought, tracked, and delivered.”
Jacobs, for his part, is betting big that QXO’s software-centric approach will set it apart from legacy players.
“We’re bringing technology to a space that’s been overlooked for too long,” he said. “And we’re just getting started.”
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