UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-K

(Mark One)

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2025

or

For the transition period from ______ to ______

(985) 892-5521

(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act.

Yes X No ☐

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Act.

Yes ☐ No X

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.

Yes X No ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files).

Yes X No ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of "large accelerated filer,” "accelerated filer,” "smaller reporting company,” and "emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report. X

If securities are registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act, indicate by check mark whether the financial statements of the registrant included in the filing reflect the correction of an error to previously issued financial statements. ☐

Indicate by check mark whether any of those error corrections are restatements that required a recovery analysis of incentive-based compensation received by any of the registrant’s executive officers during the relevant recovery period pursuant to §240.10D-1(b). ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Act). Yes ☐ No X

The aggregate market value of voting and non-voting common equity held by non-affiliates of the registrant based on the closing sales price of the registrant’s common stock as of June 30, 2025 was $10,541,563,662.

As of February 20, 2026, there were 36,787,820 shares of common stock outstanding.

Documents Incorporated by Reference

POOL CORPORATION

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PART I.

Item 1. Business

General

Pool Corporation (the Company, which may also be referred to as we, us or our), a member of the S&P 500 Index, is the world’s largest wholesale distributor of swimming pool supplies, equipment and related leisure products and is one of the leading distributors of irrigation and landscape maintenance products in the United States.

As of December 31, 2025, we operated 456 sales centers strategically located in North America, Europe and Australia, from which we sell swimming pool supplies, equipment and related leisure products, irrigation and landscape maintenance products and hardscapes, tile and stone products. Our customer base generally includes pool builders, pool service companies, retail stores, commercial pool operators and landscape contractors. We distribute products through our five distribution networks listed below:

Operating in a fragmented industry, we add considerable value by purchasing products from a large number of manufacturers and then efficiently distributing the products with high levels of customer service on conditions that are generally more favorable than our customers could obtain on their own.

Our Industry

We operate in the outdoor living industry, which services more than 14.0 million swimming pools and hot tubs in the United States alone, including approximately 5.5 million in-ground swimming pools. We anticipate that the outdoor living industry will continue to grow with the increased penetration of new pools at households with the discretionary income and yard capacity to install a swimming pool. These pools present significant growth opportunities requiring continuous maintenance throughout their lifetime and periodic remodeling, equipment replacement and upgrade activities as the installed base of swimming pools ages. The desire for consumers to enhance their outdoor living spaces with water-sensing and battery-powered alternatives, hardscapes, lighting and other outdoor living-related products provides us with additional future growth opportunities, and we continually add products to take advantage of technological advancements and the development of sustainable, energy-efficient and more aesthetically attractive products.

The following table reflects growth in the domestic installed base of in-ground swimming pools over the past 10 years (based on Company estimates for 2025 and information from 2024 P.K. Data, Inc. reports):

We believe that the following favorable demographic and socioeconomic trends have positively impacted our industry over the past several years and will continue over the long term:

We believe our swimming pool business mix underscores the power of the installed base to generate recurring revenue. In 2025, approximately:

Maintaining a safe and consistent water chemistry as well as necessary upkeep and repair of swimming pool equipment, such as pumps, heaters, filters, lights and safety equipment, creates non-discretionary demand for pool chemicals, equipment and other related parts and supplies. The recurring nature of the maintenance and repair market has helped maintain a relatively consistent rate of industry contribution to revenue over time. This characteristic helps support our performance when unfavorable economic conditions, such as higher interest rates and softness in the housing market, adversely impact consumer discretionary spending, including pool construction and major replacement, renovation and upgrade activities. As the installed base of in-ground swimming pools ages, we also believe cosmetic considerations such as a pool’s appearance and the overall look of backyard environments create ongoing demand for our other discretionary and non-discretionary products.

The activity in the remodel, renovation and upgrade market is driven by the aging of the installed base of pools and availability of enhanced feature products such as automated controls, variable speed pumps, robotic cleaners and LED pool and hot tub lighting. Many

new homeowners with existing pools transform older pools into a modern backyard oasis through upgraded pool finishes, tile, decking, equipment and enhanced features. The timing of these types of expenditures is more sensitive to economic factors including home values, existing single-family home sales and consumer confidence as compared to the non-discretionary demand of the maintenance and minor repair market.

The demand for new pools is generally driven by the perceived benefits of pool ownership including increased use of outdoor space, enhanced property value, relaxation, entertainment, family activity, health and wellness and convenience. The industry competes for new pool sales against other discretionary consumer purchases such as kitchen and bathroom remodeling, boats, motorcycles, recreational vehicles and vacations.

The irrigation and landscape maintenance industry shares many characteristics with the pool industry, and we believe that it exhibits similar long-term growth potential. Irrigation system installations often occur in tandem with new single-family home construction making demand for them more susceptible to the economic variables that drive new home sales. Sales of landscape power equipment and related landscape maintenance services offer recurring revenue streams in an industry otherwise closely tied to the new housing market. The irrigation and landscape maintenance distribution business serves both residential and commercial markets, with the majority of sales related to the residential market. In the United States, we provide residential and commercial irrigation systems, landscape maintenance products, power equipment, hardscapes and specialty outdoor products and accessories within the overall addressable market, primarily focused in the Sunbelt.

Economic Environment

Certain trends in the housing market, the cost and availability of consumer credit and general economic conditions (as commonly measured by Gross Domestic Product or GDP) affect our industry, particularly the installation of new pools and irrigation systems, as well as the timing and extent of pool remodels, equipment replacements and upgrades, landscaping projects and outdoor living space renovations. Consumers typically spend more on new pools, new irrigation systems, renovations, replacements and upgrades when general economic conditions are strong.

We believe that over the long term, higher rates of home appreciation and turnover have a positive impact on new pool installations. While most new swimming pools are installed in existing homes, there has also been a correlation of new pool construction activity to new home construction activities over time. We also believe that homeowners’ discretionary spending capacity, availability of consumer credit and favorable borrowing rates are critical factors enabling the purchase of new swimming pools and irrigation systems. Similar to other discretionary purchases, replacement, upgrade and renovation activities are more heavily impacted by economic factors such as consumer confidence, GDP and employment levels.

In recent years, steady increases in home values, lack of affordable new homes and increased mortgage rates have positioned homeowners to stay in their homes longer and upgrade their home environments, including their backyards. Although homeowners’ investment in their houses has moderated from the pandemic heightened levels of 2020 to 2022, homeowners continue to invest in their homes. Based on industry data, we estimate that new in-ground pool construction units decreased 3% to 5% from 62,000 units in 2024 to just below 60,000 units in 2025, primarily due to cautious consumer discretionary spending and elevated financing costs.

We generally pass industry price increases through our supply chain and from time to time may make strategic volume inventory purchases ahead of vendor price increases in order to obtain favorable pricing. Inflationary product cost increases moderated from heightened pandemic levels in 2023, which saw levels at approximately 3% to 4%. In 2024, inflationary product cost increases returned to our historical average of approximately 1% to 2%. Inflationary product cost increases were approximately 2% to 3% in 2025, including a 1% impact from U.S. tariffs enacted during the year. We expect inflationary product cost increases to be approximately 1% to 2% in 2026.

Business Strategy and Growth Strategy

Our mission is to provide exceptional value to our customers and suppliers, creating exceptional return to our shareholders, while providing exceptional opportunities to our employees. Our core strategies are as follows:

We promote the growth of our industry through various advertising and promotional programs intended to raise consumer awareness of new and existing product offerings by our vendors, the benefits and affordability of pool ownership, the ease of pool maintenance and the many ways in which a pool and the surrounding spaces may be enjoyed beyond swimming. These programs include digital and media advertising, industry-oriented website development such as www.swimmingpool.com®, www.hottubs.com® and www.nptpool.com®, social media platforms and other digital marketing initiatives, including our all-inclusive Regal and E-Z Clor Pool Care mobile apps that enable at-home water testing. We use these programs and tools to educate consumers and lead prospective pool owners to our customers. We also promote the growth of our industry by offering a growing selection of energy-efficient and environmentally friendly products, which support sustainability and help pool owners save energy, water, time and money. Our environmentally friendly technology products include variable speed pumps, LED pool and hot tub lights and high-efficiency heat pumps. Our Horizon sales centers offer organic fertilizers, organic pesticides, and irrigation and drainage products that reduce water usage and soil erosion, allowing our customers and homeowners to have less of an impact on freshwater reserves.

We promote the growth of our customers’ businesses by offering the broadest product assortment through the largest number of conveniently located market-based sales centers and through comprehensive support programs that include promotional tools and marketing support to help our customers generate increased sales. We provide in-depth training that allows our customers to expand the scope of their product offerings. We also provide uniquely tailored advertising programs through our EDGE Marketing Portal that include features such as digital marketing, customer lead generation, personalized websites, brochures, direct mailers, marketing campaigns and business development training. We assist certain customers with aspects of their businesses, including site selection, store layout and design, product merchandising, comprehensive product offering selections and efficient ordering and inventory management processes. In addition to these programs, we feature consumer showrooms in many of our sales centers and host our annual Retail Summit. We also function as a day-to-day resource by offering product and market expertise to serve our customers’ unique needs.

In addition to our efforts aimed at promoting industry and customer growth, we strive to operate more effectively by continuously focusing on improvements in our operations, which we define as capacity creation. We create capacity with business-to-business (B2B) development tools and execution aimed at developing best-in-class service and value creation for our customers and suppliers. In particular, our POOL360 and Horizon 24/7 B2B internet and mobile platforms help our customers be more productive by allowing them access to our full inventory network to digitally review and order our products, while leveraging our customer service staff resources, particularly during peak business periods. These tools offer real-time integration into our enterprise resource planning system, creating efficiencies in our business processes and provide our customers graphical catalog presentation in the same platform. Our BlueStreak mobile ordering platform enables our sales associates to process orders faster, often eliminating the need for customers to get out of their vehicles. Similarly, we employ various processes and technologies to enhance the operational efficiencies of our sales centers and warehouses.

We believe that ongoing investments in digital transformation and technology help us provide best-in-class service to our customers by improving the customer experience, enhancing our existing customer relationships and expanding our customer base. Our POOL360 digital ecosystem is a suite of products transforming the way pool professionals do business. POOL360 WaterTest and POOL360 PoolService are tools designed to unlock capacity for our customers and our sales center network. By integrating e-commerce, software applications and data-driven insights, POOL360 enhances both customer experience and operational efficiency. POOL360 WaterTest is a professional water testing software available to our retail customers that incorporates our complete line of proprietary-branded pool and hot tub chemicals into pool owners’ water chemistry maintenance requirements. Our POOL360 PoolService mobile application allows pool professionals to better manage their service business through providing a complete Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tool, routing, billing and other day-to-day management capabilities, while improving their customers’ experiences. Each of

these tools links directly into our POOL360 B2B platform, creating efficiencies for both us and our customers. We plan to continue expanding our POOL360 technologies to provide additional resources for our customers.

We have grown our distribution networks through new sales center openings, acquisitions and the expansion of existing sales centers based on our market presence, existing market capacity and local population trends. For additional information regarding our new sales center openings, acquisitions and closures/consolidations, see Item 7, "Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations,” and Item 8, Note 2 of "Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements,” included in this Form 10-K.

We plan to continue to make strategic acquisitions and open new sales centers to further penetrate existing markets and expand into both new geographic markets and new product categories. We believe that our high customer service levels and expanded product offerings have enabled us to gain market share historically. Going forward, we expect to continue to realize sales growth through market share gains and continued expansion of our product offerings with a focus on our proprietary and exclusive brands, such as our recently expanded Regal, E-Z Clor, SuperPro and PoolStyle lines.

Customers and Products

We proudly serve approximately 125,000 customers, the majority of whom are small, entrepreneurial, family-owned businesses. These customers provide specialized labor and technical services directly to end customers and typically operate as independent contractors, professional pool servicers or specialty retailers. Their modest size and capital base typically make them highly reliant on our broad product selection, competitive pricing and value-added support. While these businesses may also purchase products and services from manufacturers, regional distributors, mass merchants and online retailers, we believe our scale and service excellence set us apart as their preferred partner. Our customer base is well-diversified, with no single customer representing 10% or more of our 2025 sales.

We provide extended payment terms to qualified customers for sales under pre-season early buy programs, which typically occur during the fourth and first quarters. The extended terms usually require payments in equal installments during the second quarter of each year. See Item 7, "Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations - Critical Accounting Estimates - Allowance for Doubtful Accounts” for additional information.

We sell our products primarily to the following types of customers:

We conduct our operations through 456 sales centers in North America, Europe and Australia. Our primary markets with the highest concentration of swimming pools are California, Florida, Texas and Arizona, collectively representing approximately 53% of our 2025 net sales. In 2025, we generated approximately 95% of our sales in North America (including Canada and Mexico), 4% in Europe and less than 1% in Australia. While we continue to expand both domestically and internationally, we expect this geographic mix to be similar over the next few years. References to product line and product category data throughout this Form 10-K generally reflect data related to our North America swimming pool market, as it is more readily available for analysis and represents the largest component of our operations.

Our goal is to be a trusted resource for industry professionals, retailers and consumers in the outdoor living industry. Our sales and marketing personnel focus on developing customer training programs and promotional activities, creating and enhancing sales management tools and providing product and market expertise. Our local sales personnel work from our sales centers as trusted resources for our customers and are charged with understanding and meeting our customers’ specific needs. Our sales center personnel help educate our customers on a variety of topics including the newest, most innovative products and solutions that can elevate their businesses.

We offer our customers more than 200,000 manufacturer, proprietary and exclusive brand products. We sell the following types of products:

We believe that our selection of pool building materials, equipment, supplies, chemicals, replacement parts, irrigation and related products and other pool construction and recreational products is the most comprehensive in the industry. We currently have over 700 product lines and approximately 40 product categories. Based on our 2025 product classifications, sales for our pool and hot tub chemicals product category represented approximately 14% of total net sales in 2025, 15% in 2024 and 14% in 2023. No other product categories accounted for 10% or more of total net sales in any of the last three fiscal years.

We continue to identify new related product categories, and we typically introduce new categories each year in select markets. We then evaluate the performance in these markets and focus on those product categories that we believe exhibit the best long-term growth potential. We expect to achieve continued sales growth for these types of product offerings by expanding the number of locations that offer these products, increasing the number of products offered at certain locations and continuing a modest broadening of these product offerings on a company-wide basis.

Innovative product technologies unlock new opportunities for enhanced energy efficiency, expanded control and greater convenience in leisure activities. We have broadened our selection of energy-efficient and environmentally friendly products, empowering pool owners to save energy, water, time and money while supporting sustainability initiatives. Leading equipment manufacturers consistently develop retrofit kits that allow homeowners to control their pools and hot tubs directly from their smartphones. We pursue these advancements viewing them as strategic growth drivers that strengthen our market position and create value for our shareholders.

Over the last several years, we have increased our product offerings and service abilities related to commercial swimming pools. We consider the commercial market to be a key growth opportunity as we focus more attention on providing products to customers who operate or provide services to large commercial installations such as hotels, condominiums, apartment complexes, universities and community recreational facilities. Additionally, we assist with bid-to-spec design for new projects. In 2025, we designated four commercial warehouses throughout the country to serve these customers more efficiently. We continue to leverage our existing sales center networks and customer and vendor relationships to drive growth for this market.

Operating Strategy

We distribute swimming pool supplies, equipment and related leisure products domestically through our SCP and Superior sales center networks and internationally through our SCP network. We adopted the strategy of operating two distinct distribution networks within the U.S. swimming pool market primarily to offer our customers a choice of distinctive product selections, locations and service personnel. We distribute irrigation, landscape maintenance and related products through our Horizon network.

Swimming pool tile, decking materials and interior pool surfacing products are distributed through our NPT network, as well as through SCP and Superior networks. Our NPT network primarily serves the swimming pool market with our market-leading brand of pool tile and composite pool finish products and also serves the irrigation and landscape industry through NPT hardscapes and other outdoor living products. As consumers create and enhance outdoor living areas and invest more in their outdoor environment, we believe we can capture this demand by leveraging our existing pool and irrigation and landscape maintenance customer base. The ongoing

development of our NPT network serves as a natural extension of our distribution model, strengthening our market reach. In addition to our 19 dedicated NPT sales centers, we operate 124 SCP and Superior sales centers featuring consumer showrooms. These showrooms enable swimming pool and landscape contractors, as well as homeowners, to view and select pool components, including tile, decking and surfacing, in a wide range of styles and grades. Our innovative virtual tools, such as the tools found on www.nptpool.com®, empower homeowners to design, customize, and visualize their pool and outdoor environments alongside their chosen contractors. By combining showroom experiences, local product stocking, specialized delivery equipment and virtual support, we differentiate ourselves in these categories and maintain a distinct competitive advantage. Given the more discretionary nature of these products, this business tends to be more sensitive to external market factors compared to our business overall.

Sun Wholesale Supply distributes swimming pool supplies, equipment and related leisure products, primarily servicing independently owned and operated Pinch A Penny franchise locations. Since our acquisition of this business in December 2021, we have expanded Pinch A Penny franchise operations through additional locations of Pinch A Penny franchised stores and plan to continue these expansion initiatives. Sun Wholesale Supply also owns and operates a specialty chemical re-packaging plant that sells proprietary pool chemical products principally to the Pinch A Penny franchised store network. Sun Wholesale Supply also provides chemical products to our SCP and Superior networks.

We evaluate our sales centers based on their performance relative to predetermined standards that include both financial and operational measures. Our corporate support groups provide our field operations with various services, such as developing and coordinating customer and vendor related programs, real estate support services to find appropriate locations for our sales centers, human resources support, information systems support, support from our logistics and fleet teams, accounting and financial analysis support and expert resources to help them achieve their goals. We believe our incentive programs and feedback tools, along with the competitive nature of our sales center network, stimulate and enhance the performance of our employees.

Distribution

Our sales centers are located within population centers near customer concentrations, typically in industrial, commercial or mixed-use zones. Customers may pick up products at any sales center location, or we may deliver products to their premises or job sites via our trucks or third-party carriers. For additional information on our sales centers, see Item 2, "Properties,” of this Form 10-K.

Our sales centers generally maintain well-stocked inventories to meet our customers’ immediate needs. We utilize warehouse management technology to optimize receiving, inventory control, picking, packing and shipping functions. For additional information regarding our inventory management, see Item 7, "Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations - Critical Accounting Estimates - Inventory Obsolescence,” of this Form 10-K.

We also operate four centralized shipping locations (CSLs) in the United States and one CSL in Europe that redistribute products we purchase in bulk quantities to our sales centers or, in some cases, directly to customers. Our CSLs are regional locations that carry a wide range of outdoor living products.

Purchasing and Suppliers

We believe we enjoy good relationships with our suppliers, who generally offer competitive pricing, return policies and promotional allowances. It is customary in our industry for certain manufacturers to manage their shipments by offering seasonal terms to qualifying purchasers such as Pool Corporation, which are referred to as early buy purchases. These early buy purchases typically allow us to place orders in the fall at a modest discount, take delivery of product during the off-season months and pay for these purchases in the spring or early summer.

Our preferred vendor program encourages our distribution networks to stock and sell products from a smaller number of vendors offering better overall terms and service to optimize profitability and shareholder return. We also work closely with our vendors to develop programs and services to better meet the needs of our customers and to concentrate our inventory investments. These practices, together with a more comprehensive service offering, have positively impacted our selling margins and our returns on inventory investments. See Item 7, "Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations - Critical Accounting Estimates - Vendor Programs,” for additional information.

We regularly evaluate supplier relationships and consider alternate sourcing to ensure competitive cost, service and quality standards. Our largest suppliers include Pentair plc, Zodiac Pool Systems, Inc. and Hayward Holdings, Inc., which accounted for approximately 20%, 12% and 11%, respectively, of the cost of products we sold in 2025.

Competition

We are the largest wholesale distributor of swimming pool and related backyard products (based on industry knowledge and available data) and one of the only national wholesale distributors focused on the swimming pool industry in the United States. We are also one of the leading distributors of irrigation and landscape maintenance products in the United States. We face intense competition from many regional and local distributors in our markets and from a limited number of other national wholesale distributors. We also face competition, both directly and indirectly, from mass market retailers (both store-based and internet) and large pool supply retailers who primarily buy directly from manufacturers.

Some geographic markets we serve, particularly the four largest and higher pool density markets of California, Florida, Texas and Arizona have a greater concentration of competition than others. Barriers to entry in our industry are relatively low. We believe that the principal competitive factors in swimming pool and irrigation and landscape supply distribution are:

Human Capital Management

We strive to be an Employer of Choice by focusing on the engagement, development, retention, and health and well-being of our employees. We believe that our success is a direct result of the contributions and commitment of our employees. We provide competitive pay and benefits, training and continuing education, and professional development and promotional opportunities to engage and reward our team. We have established a set of standard operating procedures to optimize our human capital management function, including recruitment and employee relations policies, training practices and operational instructions. We focus on the following factors in implementing and developing our human capital strategy:

We employed approximately 6,000 people at December 31, 2025 and approximately 90% of our employees were located in the U.S. Given the seasonal nature of our business, our peak employment period is the summer season and, depending on expected sales levels, we add 100 to 200 employees to our work force to meet seasonal demand. We believe that we have good relations with our employees and none of our employees are currently covered under any collective bargaining agreements.

Employee Health, Safety and Wellness

Our commitment to the health, safety and wellness of our employees ranks at the top of our core operating priorities. We are committed to supporting our employees’ overall well-being and offer a wide range of wellness resources. We aim to achieve zero serious injuries through continued investment in, and focus on, our core safety programs and injury-reduction initiatives. This effort begins at the moment of hire with new employees and is reinforced regularly through online and in-person safety awareness training, frequent communication about risk identification and other essential safety protocols, including regular audits and investigations as needed. We also continue to modernize our fleet with advanced safety features and closely monitor overall workers’ compensation and auto claims, Occupational Safety and Health Administration recordable incidents, Department of Transportation compliance and other internally established safety prevention elements in an effort to make every workday safe.

Talent Empowerment

We value the differences in perspective and lived experience that our thousands of employees bring to work. We strive to attract and retain the best talent by building a culture where people want to work and fostering an environment where everyone feels that their voice is heard and valued.

We demonstrate this by:

We also support our employees with training and development opportunities, which include content aimed at creating and sustaining an inclusive environment and have established a mentoring program to cultivate the growth and development of our high potential employees.

Employee Development

Investing in our employees helps us grow our business and become an Employer of Choice. Our goal is to attract, develop and retain a talented team inspired by our mission to maintain exceptional relationships with our customers and suppliers and create exceptional return to our shareholders, while providing exceptional opportunities for our employees. Our success depends on our employees understanding how their work contributes to the company’s overall strategy and how they have the opportunity to grow.

When our employees succeed, the company succeeds. To help our employees achieve success in their roles, we emphasize continuous training and career development opportunities. These opportunities include annual performance reviews, succession planning, promotion and advancement opportunities, ongoing training in safety and security protocols, updates on new products and service offerings and deployment of technologies. We also provide a series of managerial training to our field and departmental leaders. This coursework covers topics such as recruitment best practices, effective communications, leading and empowering others and managing employee performance.

We provide an entry level training program to prepare managers in training (MITs) for sales and operations management opportunities and build our pipeline for field leadership. Our MITs gain valuable experience during their training program through field-based interaction with customers and operating management. Our program includes interaction with subject matter experts, hands-on projects and role play to provide MITs with practical industry knowledge, leadership skills and the tools necessary to succeed within our organization.

Employees across our organization work together to contribute their time and talents to various outreach programs ranging from disaster relief to support for local food banks and other community initiatives. At the heart of these efforts is SWiMPACT!, a POOLCORP program that provides water safety lessons to underserved children through our partnership with YMCAs around the country.

Employee Compensation and Benefits

We strive to provide market-driven compensation, benefits and services to our employees. Our performance-based compensation philosophy rewards our employees’ individual contributions to our success. Our total compensation package includes cash compensation (base salary and incentive or bonus payments), company contributions toward additional benefits (such as health and disability plans), retirement plans with a company match and paid time off. We also offer the opportunity to become a shareholder through equity grants for certain roles and our employee stock purchase plan. Our employees can take advantage of a range of benefits, including healthcare and wellness programs, tuition reimbursement for eligible employees and multi-year scholarship opportunities for

dependents, and financial wellness programs to help provide education and tools to assist our employees in planning their financial future.

Seasonality and Weather

Our business is seasonal. In general, sales and operating income are highest during the second and third quarters, which represent the peak months of both swimming pool use and installation, as well as irrigation and landscape installations and maintenance. Sales are lower during the first and fourth quarters. In 2025, we generated approximately 61% of our net sales and 78% of our operating income in the second and third quarters of the year.

We typically experience a build-up of product inventories and accounts payable during the winter months in anticipation of the peak selling season. Excluding borrowings to finance acquisitions, dividend payments and share repurchases, our peak borrowing usually occurs during the second quarter, primarily because extended payment terms offered by certain of our suppliers are typically payable in April, May and June, while our peak accounts receivable collections typically occur in June, July and August.

We expect that our quarterly results of operations will continue to fluctuate depending on the timing and amount of revenue contributed by new and acquired sales centers. Based on our peak summer selling season, we generally open new sales centers and close or consolidate sales centers, either in the first quarter before the peak selling season begins or in the fourth quarter after the peak selling season ends.

Weather is one of the principal external factors affecting our business. The table below presents some of the possible effects resulting from various weather conditions.

For discussion regarding the effects seasonality and weather had on our results of operations in 2025 and 2024, see Item 7, "Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations - Seasonality and Quarterly Fluctuations,” of this Form 10-K.

Government Regulations

Our business is subject to a wide variety of regulations, principally under local fire codes and international, federal, state and local environmental and health and safety requirements, including regulation by the Environmental Protection Agency, the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the Department of Transportation, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the National Fire Protection Agency and the International Maritime Organization. Most of these requirements govern the packaging, labeling, handling, transportation, storage and sale of chemicals and fertilizers. We store certain types of chemicals and/or fertilizers at each of our sales centers and the storage of these items is strictly regulated by local fire codes. In addition, we sell algaecides and pest control products that are regulated as pesticides under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act and various state pesticide laws. These laws primarily relate to labeling, annual registration and licensing.

Intellectual Property

We maintain both domestic and foreign registered trademarks and patents, primarily for our proprietary and exclusive brand products that are important to our current and future business operations. We also own rights to numerous internet domain names.

Geographic Areas

See Note 12 of "Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements,” included in Item 8 of this Form 10-K for financial information about geographic areas for the past three years.

Website Access and Additional Information

Our website is www.poolcorp.com. Our website and other websites mentioned in this Form 10-K are for information only and the contents of such websites are not incorporated in, or otherwise to be regarded as part of, this Form 10-K.

Our periodic reports, including our annual report on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K and amendments to those reports filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 are available free of charge on our website at www.poolcorp.com as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file such reports with, or furnish them to, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

We regularly evaluate the possibility of acquiring additional companies or assets, and at any given time may be engaged in discussions or negotiations regarding these transactions. We generally do not announce our acquisitions until they are completed unless it is required by regulatory or other rules to announce when a definitive agreement is reached.

Investors should also be aware that while we customarily provide high-level sales and earnings guidance and may answer questions raised by securities analysts, it is against our policy to disclose any material non-public information or other confidential information. Accordingly, investors should not assume that we agree with any statement or report issued by an analyst with respect to our past or projected performance. To the extent that reports issued by securities analysts contain any projections, forecasts or opinions, such reports are not our responsibility.

Unless otherwise indicated, information contained in this report and other documents filed by us under the federal securities laws concerning our views and expectations regarding the industries in which we operate are based on estimates made by us using data from industry sources and making assumptions based on our industry knowledge and experience. We have not independently verified data from industry or other third-party sources and cannot guarantee its accuracy or completeness.

In this annual report and other of our public disclosures, we may estimate the impact that favorable or unfavorable weather had on our operating results. In connection with these estimates, we make several assumptions and rely on various third-party sources. It is possible that others assessing the same data could reach conclusions that differ from ours.

Item 1A. Risk Factors

Cautionary Statement for Purposes of the "Safe Harbor” Provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995

This report contains forward-looking information that involves risks and uncertainties. Our forward-looking statements express our current expectations or forecasts of possible future results or events, including projections of earnings and other financial performance measures, statements of management’s expectations regarding our strategic, operational and capital allocation plans and objectives, management’s views on economic, industry, competitive, technological and regulatory conditions and other forecasts of trends and other matters. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this filing, and we undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise such statements to reflect new circumstances or unanticipated events as they occur. You can identify these statements by the fact that they do not relate strictly to historic or current facts and often use words such as "anticipate,” "estimate,” "expect,” "intend,” "believe,” "will,” "outlook,” "project,” "may,” "can,” "plan,” "target,” "potential,” "should” and other words and expressions of similar meaning.

No assurance can be given that the expected results in any forward-looking statement will be achieved, and actual results may differ materially from those anticipated due to one or more factors, including the risks described below in this Item 1A, below in Item 7 of this Form 10-K and elsewhere in this Form 10-K. For these statements, we claim the protection of the safe harbor for forward-looking statements contained in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act.

Risk Factors

Investing in our securities involves multiple risks and uncertainties. Certain factors that may affect our business and could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in any forward-looking statement are described below. Investors should carefully consider the risks described below in addition to the other information set forth in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. If any of the events described below were to occur, our business, prospects, financial condition or results of operations could be materially adversely affected and the price of our common stock could decline. The risks discussed below are not the only risks we face. Other risks or uncertainties not presently known to us, or that we currently believe are immaterial, may emerge or materially affect our business if they occur. Further, our business may also be affected by additional factors that generally apply to all companies operating in the U.S. and globally, which we have not included below.

Risks Relating to Macroeconomic Conditions or Events

The demand for our products may be adversely affected by unfavorable economic conditions and changes in discretionary consumer spending.

Demand for our products is subject to fluctuations and is difficult to predict, often due to factors outside of our control. Discretionary consumer spending significantly affects our sales and is impacted by a variety of factors, including changes in general economic conditions, the housing market, unemployment rates, wage levels, interest rate fluctuations, inflation, disposable income levels, consumer confidence and access to credit. Any material decline in discretionary consumer spending could reduce our sales and harm our business. In times of economic uncertainty, the demand for swimming pool, irrigation, landscape and related outdoor living products typically declines, often corresponding with declines in discretionary consumer spending. Currently, we estimate that approximately 64% of our net sales are derived from maintenance and minor repair products, while approximately 22% of our sales are derived from products used to remodel, renovate, and upgrade pools. However, the growth in these portions of our business depends on the expansion of the installed pool base, which has been and could in the future be adversely affected by decreases in construction activities, similar to the trends experienced since the latter half of 2022. Economic weakness or uncertainty may also cause consumers to defer discretionary replacement, renovation and upgrade activity. Even in generally favorable economic conditions, severe or prolonged downturns in the housing market could have a material adverse impact on our financial performance. Such downturns expose us to certain additional risks, including but not limited to the risk of customer closures or bankruptcies, which could shrink our potential customer base and inhibit our ability to collect on those customers’ receivables.

We believe that homeowners’ access to consumer credit at attractive interest rates is a critical factor enabling the purchase of new pools, irrigation systems and outdoor living products and to a lesser extent, major renovations and remodel projects. Unfavorable economic conditions or a downturn in the housing market could result in a significant tightening of credit markets, which can limit the ability of consumers to access financing for these purchases.

Discretionary spending is often adversely affected during times of economic, social or political uncertainty, whether caused by health threats, man-made or natural disasters, technological change or other similar events discussed below in this Item 1A. Likewise, new pool construction and major remodeling projects over the past few years have decreased, impacted by higher interest rates and inflation, increased economic uncertainties, tightened consumer credit and fewer new housing developments. These events could create uncertainties that negatively impact our business in ways that we cannot presently predict.

Catastrophic events or societal unrest could adversely impact our operations.

An outbreak of disease or similar public health threat, terrorism and other acts of violence, wars, rioting, labor strife, civil disturbances, societal unrest, geopolitical tensions or political instability could negatively impact us directly by interfering with our ability to operate due to adverse impacts on our workforce, supply chain or operations or indirectly by depressing macroeconomic conditions. Our customers could also encounter hardships that negatively impact their ability to make timely payments to us or to continue doing business with us.

Risks Relating to Our Business and Industry

We are susceptible to adverse weather conditions, which could intensify as a result of changing climate patterns.

Given the nature of our business, weather is one of the principal external factors affecting our business and the effect of seasonality has a significant impact on our results. In 2025, we generated 61% of our net sales and 78% of our operating income in the second and third quarters of the year. These quarters represent the peak months of swimming pool use, pool and irrigation installation and maintenance activities. Unfavorable weather during these quarters in our largest geographic regions can significantly affect our results, as further described in "Seasonality and Weather” in Item 1 of this Form 10-K. Natural disasters and other significant weather events can create more variability in our reported results in the short term or otherwise adversely impact our sales or operations. Drought conditions or water management initiatives may lead to government-imposed water use restrictions or an increase in the number of homeowners unwilling to construct or maintain a pool. Such restrictions could result in decreased pool and irrigation system installations which could negatively impact our sales.

Certain extreme weather events and natural disasters, such as hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, tropical storms, floods, intense storms, drought, wildfires and extreme heat, may adversely impact us in several ways, including interfering with our ability to deliver our products and services, interfering with our receipt of supplies from our vendors, reducing demand for our products and services, and damaging our facilities. In the past, we have experienced short-term impacts on our sales due to closures from weather events such as Hurricanes Francine, Helene and Milton in 2024. Similar events in the future could result in similar short-term impacts or potentially result in more severe damage to our business. The areas in which we operate, including Florida, California, Texas and other coastal areas, have experienced, and are expected to continue to experience, natural disasters and extreme weather events. The physical effects of changing climate patterns may increase the frequency or severity of natural disasters and extreme weather events in the future, which would increase our exposure to these risks.

For additional discussion regarding seasonality and weather, see Item 7, "Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations - Seasonality and Quarterly Fluctuations,” of this Form 10-K.

Our distribution business is highly dependent on our ability to maintain favorable and stable relationships with suppliers.

As a distribution company, maintaining favorable relationships with our suppliers is critical to our success. We believe that we add considerable value to the swimming pool and irrigation supply chains by purchasing products from a large number of manufacturers and distributing the products to a highly fragmented customer base on conditions that are more favorable than these customers could obtain on their own. We believe that we currently enjoy good relationships with our suppliers, who generally offer us competitive pricing, return policies and promotional allowances. However, any failure to maintain favorable relationships with our suppliers could have an adverse effect on our business.

Our largest suppliers are Pentair plc, Zodiac Pool Systems, Inc. and Hayward Holdings, Inc., which accounted for 20%, 12% and 11%, respectively, of the costs of products we sold in 2025. A decision by our largest suppliers, acting individually or in concert, to sell their products directly to retailers or other end users, bypassing distribution companies like ours, would have an adverse effect on our business. Additionally, if our suppliers experience difficulties or disruptions in their operations, if there is any material interruption in our supply

chain or if we lose any significant supplier due to financial failure or any other reason, we may experience increased supply costs or delays in establishing replacement supply sources that meet our quality and control standards, which may affect our profitability.

We purchase many of our products from suppliers pursuant to vendor arrangements that entitle us under certain conditions to receive rebates. These rebates effectively reduce the costs of our products. Rebate arrangements are subject to renegotiation with our suppliers from time to time. If we fail to qualify for these rebates or are unable to renew rebate programs at desirable terms, or a supplier materially reduces or stops offering rebates, our costs could increase substantially, and our gross margin and net income could be materially adversely affected.

Failure to achieve and maintain a high level of product and service quality and safety could damage our reputation, expose us to litigation and negatively impact our financial performance.

We rely on a global network of manufacturers and other suppliers to provide us with the products we distribute. To succeed, we must continue to maintain effective business relationships with qualified suppliers who can timely and efficiently supply us with high quality products. Our proprietary and exclusive brand products we distribute also expose us to potential liability claims. Product and service quality issues could negatively impact customer confidence in our brands and our business. If our product and service offerings do not meet applicable safety standards or our customers’ expectations regarding safety or quality, we could experience lost sales, increased costs and be exposed to legal, financial and reputational risks, including litigation, governmental enforcement actions and costly product recalls. Similar concerns impacting our competitors could damage the reputation of our industry and indirectly have an unfavorable impact on our operations.

We face intense competition both from within our industry and from other leisure product alternatives.

Within our industry, we directly compete against national, regional and local distributors for the business of pool owners and other end-use customers. We indirectly compete against store-based mass market retailers and large pool or irrigation supply retailers as they purchase the majority of their supplies directly from manufacturers. We compete to a lesser extent with internet retailers, as they purchase the majority of their supplies from distributors. Outside of our industry, we compete indirectly with alternative suppliers of big-ticket discretionary leisure or homeowner products, such as boat and motor home distributors and with other home and backyard remodelers. We may not be able to compete effectively against our competitors and other leisure and homeowner product alternatives, which could have an adverse impact on our business.

New competitors may emerge as there are low barriers to entry in our industry, which has led to highly competitive markets consisting of various-sized entities, ranging from small or local operators to large regional businesses. If our customers are attracted by the alternatives afforded by any of our competitors, they may be less inclined to purchase products or services from us, impacting our results of operations. Given the density and demand for pool products, some geographic markets that we serve also tend to have a higher concentration of competitors than others, particularly California, Florida, Texas and Arizona. These states encompass our four largest markets and represented approximately 53% of our net sales in 2025. The entry of significant new competitors into these markets could negatively impact our sales.

We may also be unable to market and sell products if they are not competitive, including on the basis of price, quality, technical performance, ease of use, availability, delivery timing and reliability. Competitive pressures may limit our ability to maintain or raise prices, and an inability to maintain revenue or raise prices to offset increases in costs could have a significant adverse effect on our gross margin.

More aggressive competition by store- and internet-based mass merchants and large pool or irrigation supply retailers could adversely affect our sales.

We face competition from both store-based and internet-based mass market retailers, which have greater scale and bargaining power than us. Today these retailers carry a limited range of, and devote a limited amount of shelf space to, merchandise and products targeted to our industry. Historically, mass market retailers have generally expanded by adding new stores and products, but their offering of pool and irrigation related products has remained relatively constant. Should store- and internet-based mass market retailers increase their focus on the pool or irrigation industries or increase the breadth of their pool and irrigation and related product offerings, they would likely become a more significant competitor for our direct customers and end-use consumers, which could have an adverse impact on our business. Additionally, because the internet facilitates competitive entry, online ordering, price transparency and comparison

shopping, increased internet transactions by us or our customers or competitors could increase the level of competition we face, reduce our margins or reduce our customers’ reliance on us. Further, we may face additional competitive pressures if large pool or irrigation supply retailers look to expand their customer base to compete more directly with us.

We depend on our ability to attract, develop and retain highly qualified personnel.

We consider our employees to be the foundation for our growth and success. As such, our future success depends in large part on our ability to attract, retain and motivate qualified personnel. This includes succession planning related to our executive officers and key management personnel. Hiring and retaining such qualified individuals may be adversely impacted by several factors, including (i) uncertainties regarding general economic conditions or industry conditions, (ii) our failure to offer competitive compensation and (iii) increased competition for qualified individuals. If we are unable to attract and retain key personnel, our operating results could be adversely affected.

Given the seasonal nature of our business, we may hire additional employees during the summer months, including seasonal and part-time employees, who generally are not employed during the off-season. If we are unable to attract and hire additional personnel during the peak season, our operating results could be negatively impacted. Additionally, competition for qualified employees could require us to pay higher wages to attract and retain a sufficient number of employees.

Inflation and other events over the past few years have increased employees’ expectations regarding compensation and benefits and workplace flexibility. These developments have made it more difficult and costly for us to attract and retain top talent. While we do not expect these developments to have a material adverse impact on us, we can provide no assurances to this effect.

Past growth may not be indicative of future growth.

Historically, we have experienced substantial sales growth through organic market share gains, new sales center openings, expanded product offerings and acquisitions that have increased our size, scope and geographic footprint. Our various business strategies and initiatives, including our growth initiatives, are subject to business, economic and competitive uncertainties and contingencies, many of which are beyond our control. While we contemplate continued growth through internal expansion and acquisitions, no assurance can be made as to our ability to:

If we do not successfully manage these potential difficulties or successfully execute our business strategies and initiatives, our operating results could be adversely affected.

We are subject to inventory management risks. Insufficient inventory may result in lost sales opportunities or delayed revenue, while excess inventory may negatively impact our gross margin.

We strive to balance the need to maintain inventory levels that are sufficient to maximize operational efficiencies and minimize potential supply chain constraints against the risk of inventory obsolescence due to changing consumer preferences and fluctuating commodity prices. To successfully manage our inventories, we must estimate demand from our customers and purchase products that substantially correspond to consumer demand, which depends in part on our ability to identify and respond to evolving trends in demographics and consumer preferences. If we overestimate demand and purchase too much of a particular product, we face a risk that the price of that product will fall, leaving us with inventory that we cannot sell at optimal profit margins. In addition, we may have to write down such inventory if we are unable to sell it for its recorded value. If we underestimate demand and purchase insufficient quantities of products, inventory shortages could result in delayed revenue or loss of sales opportunities altogether as potential customers turn to competitors’ products that are readily available. If we maintain insufficient inventory levels and prices rise for these products, we could be forced to purchase products at higher prices and forego profitability in order to meet customer demand. Our business, financial condition and

results of operations could be negatively impacted if we fail to (i) timely identify or effectively respond to changing consumer tastes, preferences, spending patterns and swimming pool, irrigation, landscape and related outdoor living products needs, (ii) accurately forecast demand for these products or (iii) successfully manage our inventories.

Changes in our customer base or customer preferences could change the mix of products we sell and reduce our profitability.

Changes in our customer base could impact our revenues or gross margin, reducing our profitability. Our business could be adversely impacted if (i) consolidation of our customers leads to changes in purchasing habits, (ii) more people choose to live in urban settings, rented space or housing complexes with a single community pool or (iii) more homeowners bypass our customers by directly purchasing their own supplies or undertaking their own improvement projects.

Our gross margins vary across our products and can change over time due to a variety of factors, including changes in the mix of products we sell. We derive higher revenues or profits from certain of our products compared to others. If customers or end-users opt to use an increased amount of lower-revenue or lower-margin products, our results of operations would be adversely affected.

Risks Relating to Technology, Cybersecurity, Artificial Intelligence and Data Privacy

We rely on information technology systems to support our business operations. A significant disruption, breach or cybersecurity attack of our technological infrastructure could adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.

Information technology supports several aspects of our business, including among others, transaction processing, customer service, pricing, product sourcing, inventory management, financial reporting, collections and cost management. Our ability to operate effectively on a day-to-day basis, communicate with our customers and accurately report our results depends on a reliable technological infrastructure, which is inherently susceptible to internal and external threats. We are vulnerable to interruption, including by fire, natural disaster, extreme weather events, power loss, telecommunication failures, internet failures, security breaches and other catastrophic events. Exposure to various types of cyber-attacks such as malware, computer viruses, worms, ransomware, social engineering or other malicious acts, as well as human error, could also potentially disrupt our operations, result in a significant interruption in the delivery of our goods and services or result in the loss of sensitive data.

We are making, and expect to continue to make, investments in technology to maintain and update our computer systems and to expand our ability to engage in e-commerce with our customers. We may experience delays in making these updates and may not implement these changes as quickly or successfully as our customers expect, or as quickly or successfully as changes implemented by our competitors. In addition, implementing significant system changes increases the risk of computer system disruption. The potential problems and interruptions associated with implementing technology initiatives or conversions, as well as providing training and support for those initiatives, could disrupt or reduce our operational efficiency. Advances in computer and software capabilities, encryption technology and other discoveries increase the complexity of our technological environment, including how each interact with our various software platforms. Such advances could delay or hinder our ability to process transactions or could compromise the integrity of our data, resulting in a material adverse impact on our financial condition and results of operations. We also may experience occasional system interruptions and delays that make our information systems unavailable or slow to respond, including the interaction of our information systems with those of third parties or the failure of software provided by third parties that we do not control. A lack of sophistication or reliability of our information systems could adversely impact our operations and customer service and could require major repairs or replacements, resulting in significant costs and foregone revenue. Increasing complexity of technology could increase our cost of doing business.

We devote significant resources to protect our systems and data from cyber-attacks. Refer to Item 1C, "Cybersecurity” of this Form 10-K for further information on our cybersecurity risk management, strategy and governance. In recent years we have faced, and expect to continue to face, various attempted cyber-attacks of increasing sophistication. To date, we are not aware of any cybersecurity incident or threat that materially impacted or could reasonably be anticipated to materially affect our business, results of operations or financial condition. However, we cannot guarantee that we will not experience such an incident in the future. The risk of breaches is likely to continue to increase due to several factors, including (i) the increasing use of machine learning, artificial intelligence (AI) and other sophisticated techniques to initiate cyber attacks and social engineering threats, such as phishing or deepfake schemes, (ii) the wider accessibility of cyber-attack tools that can circumvent security controls and evade detection, (iii) the expanded size, scope, use and complexity of our systems, and (iv) our increased reliance on e-commerce, open source software, cloud computing services and work-from-home staffing. Consequently, we may not be able to implement security barriers or other preventative measures that repel all

future cyber-attacks or detect such attacks in a timely manner, which may result in significant expenses from system downtime, lower sales, increases in insurance costs, fines and fees, lost business relationships, managerial distractions, litigation, increases to regulatory oversight, expenditures for additional threat prevention technologies or reputational harm, any of which could materially impact us. We also participate in a broader ecosystem of supply chain partners, both digital and physical, who face similar risks. Cyber-attacks on our partners could negatively impact our business.

Although we maintain insurance coverage that may, subject to policy terms and conditions (including self-insured deductibles, coverage restrictions and monetary coverage caps), cover certain aspects of our cyber risks, such insurance coverage may be unavailable or insufficient to cover our losses.

We use AI in our business, which could result in reputational harm, competitive harm and legal liability, and adversely affect our business, results of operation and financial condition.

As part of our broader digital transformation strategy, we are integrating artificial intelligence to support our internal business functions and exploring additional uses for the future. AI presents risks and challenges and may result in unintended consequences, including producing inaccurate data. AI algorithms and training methodologies may be flawed. While we aim to develop and use AI responsibly, we may be unsuccessful in identifying or resolving issues and risks before they arise. The AI-related legal and regulatory landscape is evolving and remains uncertain and may be inconsistent from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. Our obligations to comply with the evolving legal and regulatory landscape could entail significant costs or limit our ability to incorporate certain AI capabilities into our operations and products. AI-related issues, deficiencies and failures could also give rise to legal or regulatory action (including with respect to proposed legislation regulating AI in jurisdictions such as the European Union and others, and as a result of new and different applications of existing data protection, privacy, intellectual property and other laws), damage our reputation or otherwise materially harm our business.

Failure to maintain the security of confidential information could damage our reputation and expose us to litigation. Additionally, changes in data privacy laws and our ability to comply with them could have a material adverse effect on us.

In the course of doing business, we collect and store data that is sensitive to us and our employees, customers and vendors. The failure to prevent unauthorized access to our data or the personal data of our customers or suppliers could put us at a competitive disadvantage. Such a breach could result in damage to our reputation and subject us to potential litigation, liability, fines and penalties and require us to incur significant expense to address and remediate or otherwise resolve these issues, resulting in a possible material adverse impact on our financial condition and results of operations.

A variety of state, national, foreign and international laws and regulations apply to the collection, use, retention, protection, security, disclosure, transfer and other processing of personal and other data. The European Union and other international regulators, as well as state governments, have enacted or enhanced data privacy regulations, such as the California Consumer Privacy Rights Act, and other governments are considering establishing similar or stronger protections. These regulations impose certain obligations for handling specified personal information in our systems and for apprising individuals of the information we have collected about them. Many of these laws are complex and change frequently and often conflict with the laws in other jurisdictions. Despite our best efforts to comply, any noncompliance could result in incurring potential substantial penalties and reputational damage.

Risks Relating to Legal, Regulatory and Compliance Matters

The nature of our business subjects us to potential non-compliance with employment, environmental, health, transportation, safety and other governmental regulations. Changes in, expanded enforcement of, or adoption of new federal, state, local or international laws and regulations could increase our costs of doing business.

We are subject to numerous federal, state, local and international laws and regulations, many of which are complex and subject to varying interpretations, including regulations related to employment, environmental, health, transportation and safety requirements, which govern such things as packaging, labeling, handling, transportation, storage and sale of chemicals and fertilizers. These laws and regulations, and related enforcement levels, may change as a result of a variety of factors, including political, economic or social events. Changes in, expanded enforcement of, or adoption of new federal, state, local or international laws and regulations, including those governing minimum wage or living wage requirements, the classification of exempt and non-exempt employees or other wage, labor or workplace regulations, could adversely impact our results of operations.

We sell algaecides and pest control products that are regulated as pesticides under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act and various state pesticide laws. These laws primarily relate to labeling, annual registration and licensing. Management has processes in place to facilitate and support our compliance with these requirements. However, failure to comply with these laws and regulations may result in investigations, the assessment of administrative, civil and criminal fines, damages, seizures, disgorgements, penalties or the imposition of injunctive relief. Although we presently do not expect to incur any capital or other expenditures relating to regulatory matters in amounts that may be material to us, we may be required to make such expenditures in the future. These laws and regulations have changed substantially and rapidly over the years, and we anticipate that there will be continuing changes. It is possible that the costs of compliance with increasingly prescriptive laws and regulations will continue to increase. We might not be able to successfully anticipate and remain in compliance with evolving future regulatory requirements, which could adversely impact our results of operations.

Governmental actions designed to address changing climate patterns or the failure to comply with climate-related and other sustainability requirements could adversely affect our business and increase our costs of doing business.

Concerns over changing climate patterns have led to, and may in the future continue to lead to, new or increased legal and regulatory requirements designed to reduce or mitigate the effects of changing climate patterns, which could increase our compliance obligations. In particular, advocates of change are continuing to explore ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. These changes over time could affect the availability and cost of certain consumer products, commodities and energy, which in turn may impact our ability to procure certain products or services required for the operation of our business at the quantities and levels we require. The regulation of greenhouse gas emissions could result in additional taxes or other costs to us or require us to modify our facilities or vehicle fleet. Changes in customers’ attitudes toward the environmental impact of a pool’s energy consumption or pool chemical products could reduce demand for our products.

Climate-related and other sustainability disclosures we make reflect our current plans and aspirations, and it is possible that we may not be able to achieve our desired impact, which may cause us to suffer from legal claims, reputational damage or a loss of demand for our products. Investors or other stakeholders could react negatively to disclosures we make on climate-related and other sustainability matters, which could negatively impact our relationships with such stakeholders or result in claims that our disclosures harmed them or us.

Various governmental bodies in Europe and the United States, particularly in the state of California, have adopted or proposed laws or regulations increasing the obligations of companies to disclose information about climate-related and other sustainability matters. We expect that these initiatives will expose us to additional compliance costs and potential risks.

We handle and store chemicals, fertilizers and other combustible materials that involve fire, safety and casualty risks.

We handle and store chemicals and fertilizers, including certain combustibles and oxidizing compounds, at our sales centers and at our chemical re-packaging plant. In addition to training our employees on safety protocols and procedures, we follow local fire marshal regulations at our facilities, which vary by jurisdiction and are subject to change, and assess the need for sprinklers and chemical storage vaults. A fire, explosion or flood affecting one of our facilities could give rise to safety and casualty losses and related liability claims. We also maintain what we believe is prudent insurance protection. However, we cannot guarantee that our insurance coverage will be

adequate to cover future claims that may arise or that we will be able to maintain adequate insurance in the future at rates we consider reasonable. Successful claims for which we are not fully insured may adversely affect our working capital and profitability. In addition, changes in the insurance industry have generally led to higher insurance costs and decreased availability of coverage.

We conduct business internationally, which exposes us to additional risks.

Our ability to successfully conduct operations in, and source products and materials from, international markets is affected by many of the same risks we face in our U.S. operations, as well as unique costs and difficulties of managing international operations. Our international operations, including Canada and Mexico, accounted for 7% of our total net sales in 2025 and expose us to certain additional risks, including:

For foreign-sourced products, we may be subject to certain trade restrictions that would prevent us from obtaining products, as well as delivery delays or failures if we order products from vendors with whom we have no prior relations. Fluctuations in other factors relating to international trade, such as tariffs, trade restrictions, transportation costs and inflation are additional risks for our international operations.

We do not have operations in the Middle East, Russia, Ukraine or South America. However, the contributory effects of the geopolitical conflicts in these and other areas globally may result in higher inflation, labor costs, energy and commodity prices and costs of materials and services (together with shortages or inconsistent availability of materials and services), which could negatively affect our business (particularly our European operations), results of operations and financial condition.

Changes in import policy or trade relations, interruptions in our supply chain or increased commodity or supply chain costs could adversely affect our results of operations.

Because we source certain products from outside the United States, major changes in tax policy, import or export regulations, other trade restrictions or trade relations, such as the imposition of tariffs or duties on imported products, could adversely affect our business, results of operations, effective income tax rate, liquidity and net income. Additionally, following annual administrative reviews, final duty rates determined by the U.S. Department of Commerce may be higher or lower than rates paid at import. As a result, we may receive refunds or owe additional duties on imported product. The outcome can vary by year and by product.

The variability and complexity of tariffs and duties exposes us to the risk of higher costs and inadvertent noncompliance associated with our imported products. Moreover, in recent years, the United States has increased its tariff rates or imposed new tariffs or trade restrictions. Changes in laws, court rulings or differences in interpretation on product classification could lead to changes in duty and tariff rates on these or other imported products.

Excess tax benefits or deficiencies recognized from our accounting for share-based awards impact our reported earnings.

In 2017, we adopted Accounting Standards Update (ASU) 2016-09, Improvements to Employee Share-Based Payment Accounting. Our projections of financial statement impacts related to ASU 2016-09 are subject to several assumptions, including our estimated share price and the period that our employees will exercise vested stock options. Our actual results may vary significantly from our projected results. Excess tax benefits or deficiencies recognized under ASU 2016-09 vary from quarter to quarter and past results may not be indicative of future results.

Financial Risks

The cost of servicing our debt could reduce our profitability if interest rates increase or remain at elevated levels.

Our unsecured syndicated senior credit facility, term facility and receivables securitization facility bear interest at variable rates. We have entered into interest rate swap contracts to reduce our exposure to fluctuations in variable interest rates on current and future interest payments that we owe on a portion of our variable rate borrowings. While the Federal Reserve has been cutting interest rates since the latter parts of 2024, interest rates remain relatively high compared to the recent past. If interest rates remain elevated or increase, the cost of servicing our variable rate debt not covered by our interest rate swaps could materially reduce our profitability and cash flows. For additional information regarding our interest rate risk, see Item 7A, "Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk” of this Form 10-K.

Changes in tax laws and accounting standards related to tax matters have caused, and may in the future cause, fluctuations in our effective tax rate.

We file income tax returns in the U.S. federal jurisdiction and various state and foreign jurisdictions. Changes in tax laws, tax policy, tax rates, tax law interpretations and accounting standards and guidance related to tax matters may cause fluctuations in or adversely affect our effective tax rate. Our effective tax rate may also be impacted by changes in the geographic mix of our earnings.

We cannot assure you we will continue paying dividends or repurchasing shares at the current rates, or at all.

We cannot assure you we will continue periodic dividends on our capital stock at the current rates, or at all. Any quarterly dividends on our common stock will be paid from funds legally available for such purpose when, and if, declared by our Board of Directors. Decisions on whether, when and in which amounts to continue making any future dividend distributions will remain at all times entirely at the discretion of our Board of Directors, which reserves the right to change or terminate our dividend practices at any time and for any reason without prior notice. Holders of our common stock should be aware they have no contractual or other legal right to receive dividends.

Similarly, holders of our common stock should be aware that repurchases of our common stock under any repurchase plan then in effect are completely discretionary and may be suspended or discontinued at any time for any reason regardless of our financial position.

Lapses in our disclosure controls and procedures or internal control over financial reporting could materially and adversely affect us.

We maintain disclosure controls and procedures designed to provide reasonable assurances regarding the accuracy and completeness of our reports filed with the SEC and internal control over financial reporting designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability and compliance of our financial statements with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles. We cannot assure you these measures will be effective.

Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments

None.

Governance

Item 2. Properties

We lease our corporate offices, which consist of approximately 60,000 square feet of office space in Covington, Louisiana, from an entity in which we have a 50% ownership interest. We own fifteen sales center facilities, which includes seven sales center facilities in Florida, two in Texas, two in Alabama, and one in each of California, Georgia, Mississippi and Tennessee.

As part of our 2021 acquisition of Porpoise Pool & Patio, Inc., we own the corporate headquarters, which consist of approximately 46,000 square feet and the Sun Wholesale Supply facilities located in Florida, which consist of approximately 209,000 square feet. We also own a chemical re-packaging plant in Florida, which is approximately 105,000 square feet, and lease two additional properties for storage space, measuring 39,000 square feet and 122,000 square feet.

We lease all of our other properties, and the majority of our leases have three-to-seven year terms. As of December 31, 2025, we had sixteen leases with remaining terms longer than seven years that expire between 2033 and 2036. Most of our leases contain renewal options, some of which involve rent increases. In addition to minimum rental payments, which are set at competitive rates, certain leases require reimbursement for taxes, maintenance and insurance. We do not believe that any single lease is material to our operations.

Our sales centers range in size from approximately 2,000 square feet to 95,000 square feet and generally consist of warehouse, counter, display and office space. Our centralized shipping locations (CSLs) range in size from approximately 115,000 square feet to 185,000 square feet.

We believe that our facilities are well maintained, suitable for our business and occupy sufficient space to meet our operating needs. As part of our normal business, we regularly evaluate sales center performance and site suitability and may relocate a sales center or consolidate multiple locations if a sales center is redundant in a market, underperforming or otherwise deemed unsuitable. We do not believe that any single lease is material to our operations.

The table below summarizes the changes in our sales centers during the year ended December 31, 2025:

The tables below identify the number of sales centers in each state, territory or country by distribution network as of December 31, 2025:

Item 3. Legal Proceedings

From time to time, we are subject to various claims and litigation arising in the ordinary course of business, including product liability, personal injury, commercial, contract and employment matters. While the outcome of any litigation is inherently unpredictable, based on currently available facts, we do not believe that the ultimate resolution of any of these matters will have a material adverse impact on our financial condition, results of operations or cash flows.

Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures

Not applicable.

PART II.

Item 5. Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities

Common Stock

Our common stock is traded on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the trading symbol "POOL.” On February 20, 2026, there were approximately 842 holders of record of our common stock and a significantly larger number of beneficial holders of our common stock.

Common Stock Dividends

We initiated quarterly dividend payments to our shareholders in the second quarter of 2004 and we have continued payments in each subsequent quarter. Our Board has increased the dividend amount twenty times, most recently in the second quarters of 2011 through 2025. Our Board may declare future dividends at its discretion, after considering various factors, including our earnings, capital requirements, financial position, contractual restrictions and other relevant business considerations. For a description of restrictions on dividends in our Credit Facility, Term Facility and Receivables Facility, see Note 5 of "Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements,” included in Item 8 of this Form 10-K. We cannot assure shareholders or potential investors that dividends will be declared or paid any time in the future if our Board determines that there is a better use of our funds.

Stock Performance Graph

The information included under the caption "Stock Performance Graph” in this Item 5 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K is not deemed to be "soliciting material” or to be "filed” with the SEC or subject to Regulation 14A or 14C under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the 1934 Act) or to the liabilities of Section 18 of the 1934 Act, and will not be deemed to be incorporated by reference into any filing under the Securities Act of 1933 or the 1934 Act, except to the extent we specifically incorporate it by reference into such a filing.

The following graph compares the cumulative total shareholder return on our common stock for the last five fiscal years with the total return on the S&P 500 Index (of which we have been a member since 2020) and the Nasdaq Index for the same period, in each case assuming the investment of $100 on December 31, 2020 and the reinvestment of all dividends. We believe the S&P 500 Index is comprised of similar-sized public companies that represent the most likely alternative investments for investors. Additionally, we chose the S&P 500 Index for comparison, as opposed to an industry index, because we do not believe that we can reasonably identify a peer group or a published industry or line-of-business index that contains a sufficient number of companies in a similar line of business.

As shown in the graph above, our cumulative total shareholder return for the five-year period ended December 31, 2025 trailed both the S&P 500 Index and the Nasdaq Index in recent periods. During the COVID-19 pandemic (generally 2020 through 2022), we experienced unprecedented demand, driving up sales and earnings. Since the latter half of 2022, these trends moderated resulting in significantly reduced discretionary spending on new pool construction and remodeling activities. Our full-year 2025 results include a fifth consecutive year of sales exceeding $5.0 billion, diluted earnings per share of $10.85 and double-digit operating margin.

Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities

The table below summarizes the repurchases of our common stock in the fourth quarter of 2025:

Unregistered Sales of Equity Securities

There were no unregistered sales of equity securities during the three months ended December 31, 2025.

Item 6. [RESERVED]

Not applicable.

Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations

For a discussion of our base business calculations, see the RESULTS OF OPERATIONS section below.

2025 FINANCIAL OVERVIEW

Financial Results

Net sales were $5.3 billion for 2025, comparable to 2024 net sales. Sales of non-discretionary products were steady throughout the year. In the back half of the year, we noticed improved sales trends for discretionary products.

Gross margin was 29.7% in 2025 and 2024. Gross margin in 2024 included a 20 basis points benefit from the reversal of $12.6 million for estimated import taxes. Without this benefit included in our 2024 gross margin, our 2025 gross margin improved 20 basis points, reflecting positive impacts from price increases and disciplined supply chain management.

Selling and administrative expenses (operating expenses) increased 4% to $992.3 million in 2025 compared to $958.1 million in 2024. The growth in expenses was primarily driven by incremental investments in our technology initiatives and sales center network expansion, as well as inflationary impacts, particularly on base wages and facility costs.

Operating income of $580.2 million for the year was 6% lower than $617.2 million in 2024.

Net income decreased to $406.4 million in 2025 compared to $434.3 million in 2024. Without the impact of the 2024 import tax reversal discussed above, 2025 operating income was 4% lower than in 2024.

Earnings per diluted share declined 4% to $10.85 in 2025 compared to $11.30 in 2024, which included a $0.25 benefit from the import tax reversal discussed above. We recorded a $4.6 million, or $0.12 per diluted share, tax benefit from Accounting Standards Update (ASU) 2016-09, Improvements to Employee Share-Based Payment Accounting, in 2025 compared to an $8.8 million, or $0.23 per diluted share, tax benefit in 2024. Adjusting for the impact from ASU 2016-09 in both years, earnings per diluted share decreased 3% to $10.73 in 2025 compared to $11.07 in 2024. See RESULTS OF OPERATIONS below for definitions of our non-GAAP measures and reconciliations of our non-GAAP measures to GAAP measures.

Financial Position and Liquidity

Net cash provided by operations was $365.9 million in 2025. Our cash flows were impacted by working capital investments, including increases in inventory and $68.5 million in federal tax payments from 2024 that were deferred into 2025 due to relief granted by the IRS. The deferred tax payment increased operating cash flows in 2024 and decreased operating cash flows in 2025. Our 2025 operating cash flows helped to fund $184.9 million of quarterly cash dividend payments to shareholders and net capital expenditures and acquisitions of $67.2 million.

Total net receivables, including pledged receivables, increased 10% compared to December 31, 2024, primarily due to higher sales in December 2025. Our allowance for doubtful accounts was $8.0 million at December 31, 2025 and $8.6 million at December 31, 2024. Our days sales outstanding ratio, as calculated on a trailing four quarters basis, was 26.3 days at December 31, 2025 and at December 31, 2024.

Our inventory balance increased 13% to $1.5 billion at December 31, 2025 compared to $1.3 billion at December 31, 2024. This growth was primarily driven by increased purchasing ahead of price increases. Our inventory balance also reflects increases from inflation (including mid-season vendor price increases) and the addition of new and acquired sales centers. Our reserve for inventory obsolescence was $23.9 million at December 31, 2025 compared to $26.7 million at December 31, 2024. Our inventory turns, as calculated on a trailing four quarters basis, were 2.7 times at December 31, 2025 and 2.8 times at December 31, 2024.

Total debt outstanding of $1.2 billion at December 31, 2025 increased $249.1 million compared to December 31, 2024, primarily to fund open market share repurchases of $341.1 million in 2025 and working capital needs.

Current Trends and Outlook

Consumers’ investments in their homes, including backyard renovations, continue to be favorable. In recent years, steady increases in home values, lack of affordable new homes and increased mortgage rates have positioned homeowners to stay in their homes longer and upgrade their home environments, including their backyards. During the COVID-19 pandemic (generally 2020 through 2022), we experienced unprecedented demand as families spent more time at home and sought opportunities to create or expand home-based outdoor living and entertainment spaces. This trend had a positive impact on our financial performance during 2020 through 2022. Beginning in the latter half of 2022, these trends moderated resulting in lagging new pool construction and remodeling activities. Based on industry data, we estimate that new in-ground pool construction units decreased 3% to 5% from 62,000 units in 2024 to just below 60,000 units in 2025.

As in 2024, market conditions during the majority of 2025 were challenged by generally higher interest rates than the recent past, and product cost and labor inflation, which led to consumer hesitancy on discretionary spending and some cyclical suppression of demand. These market conditions impacted new pool construction and remodeling projects, particularly in the first half of the year. Throughout the year, non-discretionary maintenance product sales were stable. As lower housing turnover and market conditions encourage consumers to stay in their homes longer, we expect that consumers will continue to invest in outdoor living spaces as they consider backyards an extension of their home space. We believe that we are well positioned to benefit from the inherent long-term growth opportunities in our industry fueled by favorable population migration trends, and product developments and technological advancements as consumers focus on more sustainable and energy-efficient products.

In view of current trends, we established our outlook for 2026 based on reasonable expectations for industry demand, pricing and inflationary conditions, variable expense reductions, realization of our digital transformation initiatives and leverage of existing investments in our business. We also plan to broaden our geographic presence by opening 5 to 8 new sales centers in 2026 and by making selective acquisitions if and when appropriate opportunities arise.

We base our assumptions on normal weather conditions and do not incorporate alternative weather predictions into our guidance. Favorable weather positively impacts industry activity by accelerating growth in any given year, expanding the number of available construction days, extending the pool season and pool usage and positively impacting demand for discretionary products. Conversely, unfavorable weather typically impedes growth.

The following summarizes our outlook for 2026:

In 2026, we expect our effective tax rate will be around 25% without the impact of ASU 2016-09. Our effective tax rate is dependent upon our results of operations and may change if actual results are different from our current expectations. Due to ASU 2016-09, we expect our effective tax rate will fluctuate from quarter to quarter, particularly in periods when employees elect to exercise their vested stock options or when restrictions on share-based awards lapse. We recorded a $4.6 million benefit in our provision for income taxes for the year ended December 31, 2025 related to ASU 2016-09.

We project that 2026 earnings will be in the range of $10.85 to $11.15 per diluted share. Our 2026 guidance does not include any estimated unrealized tax benefits related to stock option exercises, stock option expirations or restricted stock awards vesting in 2026. We expect to continue to use cash for the payment of dividends as and when declared by our Board and to fund opportunistic share repurchases at our discretion over the next year.

The forward-looking statements in this Current Trends and Outlook section and elsewhere in this report are based on current market conditions and our current business plans, speak only as of the filing date of this report, are based on several assumptions and are subject to significant risks and uncertainties, including the sensitivity of our business to weather conditions; changes in the economy, consumer discretionary spending, the housing market, inflation, or interest rates; our ability to maintain favorable relationships with suppliers and manufacturers; competition from other leisure product alternatives or mass merchants; our ability to continue to execute our growth strategies; changes in the regulatory environment; new or additional taxes, duties or tariffs; excess tax benefits or deficiencies recognized under ASU 2016-09 and other risks detailed in Item 1A of this Form 10-K. Also see "Cautionary Statement for Purposes of the Safe Harbor Provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995” prior to the heading "Risk Factors” in Item 1A.

CRITICAL ACCOUNTING ESTIMATES

Critical accounting estimates are those estimates made in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles that involve a significant level of estimation uncertainty and have had, or are reasonably likely to have, a material impact on our financial condition or results of operations.

Management has discussed the development, selection and disclosure of our critical accounting estimates with the Audit Committee of our Board. Our critical accounting estimates are discussed below, including, to the extent material and reasonably available, the impact such estimates have had, or are reasonably likely to have, on our financial condition or results of operations.

Allowance for Doubtful Accounts

We maintain an allowance for doubtful accounts based on an estimate of the losses we will incur if our customers do not make required payments. We perform periodic credit evaluations of our customers and typically do not require collateral. Consistent with industry practices, we generally require payment from our North American customers within 30 days, except for sales under early buy programs for which we provide extended payment terms to qualified customers. The extended terms usually require payments in equal installments in April, May and June or May and June, depending on geographic location. Credit losses have generally been within or better than our expectations.

Similar to our business, our customers’ businesses are seasonal. Sales are lowest in the winter months and our past due accounts receivable balance as a percentage of total receivables generally increases during this time. We provide reserves for uncollectible accounts based on our accounts receivable aging. These reserves range from 0.05% for amounts currently due to up to 100% for specific accounts more than 60 days past due.

At the end of each quarter, we perform a reserve analysis of all accounts with balances greater than $20,000 and more than 60 days past due. Additionally, we perform a separate reserve analysis on the balance of our accounts receivables with emphasis on past due accounts. We estimate future losses based upon historical bad debts, customer receivable balances, age of customer receivable balances, customers’ financial conditions and current economic trends, including certain trends in the housing market, the availability of consumer credit and general economic conditions (as commonly measured by GDP). We monitor housing market trends through review of the House Price Index as published by the Federal Housing Finance Agency, which measures the movement of single-family home prices.

During the year, we write off account balances when we have exhausted reasonable collection efforts and determined that the likelihood of collection is remote. These write-offs are charged against our allowance for doubtful accounts. In the past five years, write-offs have averaged approximately 0.10% of net sales annually. Write-offs as a percentage of net sales approximated 0.10% in 2025, 0.16% in 2024 and 0.12% in 2023. We expect that write-offs will approximate 0.10% of net sales in 2026.

At the end of each fiscal year, we prepare a hindsight analysis by comparing the prior year-end allowance for doubtful accounts balance to (i) current year write-offs and (ii) any significantly aged outstanding receivable balances. Based on our most recent hindsight analysis, we concluded that the prior year allowance was within a range of acceptable estimates and that our estimation methodology is appropriate.

If the allowance for doubtful accounts increased or decreased by 20% at December 31, 2025, pretax income would change by approximately $1.6 million and earnings per share would change by approximately $0.03 per diluted share (based on the number of weighted average diluted shares outstanding for the year ended December 31, 2025).

Inventory Obsolescence

Product inventories represent the largest asset on our balance sheet. Our goal is to minimize stock-outs to provide the highest level of service to our customers. To do this, we maintain an adequate inventory of stock keeping units (SKUs) with the highest sales volumes. At the same time, we continuously strive to better manage our slower moving classes of inventory, which are not as critical to our customers and thus, inherently turn at slower rates.

We establish our reserve for inventory obsolescence based on inventory with lower sales velocity and inventory with no sales for the past 12 months, which we believe represent some exposure to inventory obsolescence. The reserve is intended to reflect the value of inventory at net realizable value. We have not changed our methodology from prior years.

In evaluating the adequacy of our reserve for inventory obsolescence, we consider a combination of factors, including:

We periodically adjust our reserve for inventory obsolescence as changes occur in the above-identified factors. At the end of each fiscal year, we prepare a hindsight analysis by comparing the prior year-end obsolescence reserve balance to (i) current year inventory write-offs and (ii) the value of products with no sales for the past 12 months that remain in inventory. Based on our most recent hindsight analysis, we concluded that our prior year reserve was within a range of acceptable estimates and that our estimation methodology is appropriate.

If the reserve for inventory obsolescence increased or decreased by 20% at December 31, 2025, pretax income would change by approximately $4.8 million and earnings per share would change by approximately $0.10 per diluted share (based on the number of weighted average diluted shares outstanding for the year ended December 31, 2025).

Vendor Programs

Many of our vendor arrangements provide for us to receive specified amounts of consideration when we achieve certain measures. These measures generally relate to the volume level of purchases from our vendors, or our net cost of products sold, and may include negotiated pricing arrangements. We account for consideration under vendor programs as a reduction of the prices of the vendor’s products and therefore a reduction of product inventories until we sell the product, at which time we recognize such consideration as a reduction of cost of sales in our income statement.

Throughout the year, we estimate the amount earned based on our expectation of total purchases for the fiscal year relative to the purchase levels that mark our progress toward earning consideration under each program. We accrue vendor program benefits on a monthly basis using these estimates provided that we determine they are probable and reasonably estimable. Our estimates for annual purchases, future inventory levels and sales of qualifying products are driven by our sales projections, which can be significantly impacted by a number of external factors including changes in economic conditions and weather. Changes in our purchasing mix also impact our estimates, as certain program rates can vary depending on our volume of purchases from specific vendors.

We continually revise these estimates throughout the year to reflect actual purchase levels and identifiable trends. As a result, our estimated quarterly vendor program benefits accrual may include cumulative catch-up adjustments to reflect any changes in our estimates between reporting periods. These adjustments have a greater impact on gross margin in the fourth quarter since it is our seasonally slowest quarter and because the majority of our vendor arrangements are based on calendar year periods. We update our estimates for these arrangements at year end to reflect actual annual purchase or sales levels. In the first quarter of the subsequent year, we prepare a hindsight analysis by comparing actual vendor credits received to the prior year vendor receivable balances. Based on our most recent hindsight analysis, we concluded that our vendor program estimates were within a range of acceptable estimates and that our estimation methodology is appropriate.

If market conditions were to change, vendors may change the terms of some or all of these programs. Although such changes would not affect the amounts we have recorded related to products already purchased, they may lower or raise our cost for products purchased and sold in future periods.

Income Taxes

We record deferred tax assets and liabilities based on differences between the financial reporting and tax basis of assets and liabilities using currently enacted rates and laws that will be in effect when we expect the differences to reverse. Due to changing tax laws and state income tax rates, significant judgment is required to estimate the effective tax rate expected to apply to tax differences that are expected to reverse in the future.

We record Global Intangible Low Tax Income (GILTI) on foreign earnings as period costs if and when incurred. We have not realized any impacts since the December 2017 enactment of U.S. tax reform.

As of December 31, 2025, U.S. income taxes were not provided on the earnings or cash balances of our foreign subsidiaries, outside of the provisions of the transition tax from U.S. tax reform. As we have historically invested or expect to invest the undistributed earnings indefinitely to fund current cash flow needs in the countries where held, additional income tax provisions may be required. Determining the amount of unrecognized deferred tax liability on these undistributed earnings and cash balances is not practicable due to the complexity of tax laws and regulations and the varying circumstances, tax treatments and timing of any future repatriation.

We operate in 41 states, 1 United States territory and 11 foreign countries. We are subject to regular audits by federal, state and foreign tax authorities, and the amount of income taxes we pay is subject to adjustment by the applicable tax authorities. We recognize a benefit from an uncertain tax position only after determining it is more likely than not that the tax position will withstand examination by the applicable taxing authority. Our estimate for the potential outcome of any uncertain tax issue is highly judgmental. We regularly evaluate our tax positions and incorporate these expectations into our reserve estimates. We believe we have adequately provided for any reasonably foreseeable outcome related to these matters. However, our future results may include favorable or unfavorable adjustments to our estimated tax liabilities in the period the assessments are made or resolved, or when statutes of limitation on potential assessments expire. These adjustments may include changes in valuation allowances that we have established. As a result of these uncertainties, our total income tax provision may fluctuate on a quarterly basis.

Each year, we prepare a return to provision analysis upon filing our income tax returns. Based on our most recent hindsight analysis, we concluded that our prior year income tax provision was within a range of acceptable estimates and that our provision calculation methodology is appropriate. Differences between our effective income tax rate and federal and state statutory tax rates are primarily due to excess tax benefits associated with the exercise of deductible nonqualified stock options and the lapse of restrictions on deductible restricted stock awards.

On July 4, 2025, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) was signed into law in the U.S., including a broad range of tax reform provisions. We currently do not expect the changes resulting from the OBBBA to have a material impact on our income tax provision.

Performance-Based Compensation Accrual

The Compensation and Human Capital Management Committee of our Board (Compensation Committee) and our management have designed compensation programs intended to create a performance culture. The primary objectives of our compensation programs are to attract, motivate, reward and retain our employees without leading to unnecessary risk taking. Our compensation packages include bonus plans that are specific to groups of eligible participants and their levels and areas of responsibility. The majority of our bonus plans consist of annual cash payments that are based primarily on objective performance criteria. We calculate bonuses based on the achievement of certain key measurable financial and operational results, including operating income.

We use an annual cash performance award (annual bonus) to focus corporate behavior on short-term goals for growth, financial performance and other specific financial and business improvement metrics. Management sets the company’s annual bonus objectives at the beginning of the bonus plan year using both historical information and forecasted results of operations for the current plan year. Management also establishes specific business improvement objectives for both our operating units and corporate employees. The Compensation Committee approves objectives for annual bonus plans involving executive management.

We record annual performance-based compensation accruals based on operating income achieved in a quarter as a percentage of total expected operating income for the year. Our estimate of full-year operating income incorporates management’s assessment of expected incentive payouts under the bonus plan objectives and is regularly updated throughout the year.

Our quarterly performance-based compensation expense and accrual balances may vary relative to actual annual bonus expense and payouts due to differences between estimated and actual performance and the discretionary components of the bonus plans.

We generally make bonus payments at the end of February following the most recently completed fiscal year. Each year, we compare the actual bonus payouts to amounts accrued at the previous year’s end to determine the accuracy of our performance-based compensation estimates. Based on our most recent hindsight analysis, we concluded that our performance-based compensation accrual balances were within a reasonable range of acceptable estimates and that our estimation methodologies are appropriate.

Impairment of Goodwill and Other Indefinite-Lived Intangible Assets

Goodwill is our largest intangible asset. At December 31, 2025, our goodwill balance was $707.3 million, representing approximately 20% of total assets. Goodwill represents the excess of the amount we paid to acquire a company over the estimated fair value of tangible assets and identifiable intangible assets acquired less liabilities assumed.

We perform a goodwill impairment test in the fourth quarter of each year or on a more frequent basis if events or changes in circumstances occur that indicate potential impairment. We have the option of first analyzing qualitative factors to determine whether it is more likely than not that the fair value of a reporting unit is less than its carrying amount. When a qualitative goodwill test is performed, we analyze factors to determine whether it is more likely than not that the fair value of a reporting unit is less than the carrying amount as a basis for determining whether it is necessary to perform a quantitative goodwill impairment test. The evaluation of qualitative factors includes an assessment of relevant facts, events and circumstances including but not limited to: macroeconomic conditions, industry and market conditions, and the current and forecasted financial performance of the reporting unit. In combination with our qualitative test, we also estimate the fair value of our reporting units by projecting company-wide future cash flows using management’s assumptions for sales growth rates, operating margins and discount rates. Estimated earnings multiples are then used to estimate the fair value of each reporting unit. These estimates can significantly affect the outcome of our impairment test.

To the extent our qualitative test indicates it is more likely than not that the fair value of a reporting unit is less than the carrying amount or for any reporting unit where we only perform a quantitative test, we perform a discounted cash flow analysis at the reporting unit level to estimate its fair value. If the carrying value of the reporting unit exceeds the fair value, we record a goodwill impairment charge for the difference, up to the carrying value of the goodwill. The fair value estimates used in our impairment test are determined using discounted cash flow models, which require the use of significant unobservable inputs, representative of a Level 3 fair value measurement. Since we define an operating segment as an individual sales center and we do not have operations below the sales center level, we define a reporting unit as an individual sales center.

To test the reasonableness of our fair value estimate, we compared our company-wide estimated fair value to our market capitalization as of the date of our annual impairment test. In 2025, our company-wide estimated fair value was in line with our market capitalization. To facilitate a sensitivity analysis, we reduced our consolidated fair value estimate to reflect more conservative discounted cash flow assumptions, the sensitivity of a 50 basis point increase in our estimated weighted average cost of capital or a 50 basis point decrease in the estimated perpetuity growth rate. Our sensitivity analysis resulted in a fair value modestly lower than our market capitalization and did not result in the identification of additional locations for which it is more likely than not that the fair value is less than the carrying amount.

If our assumptions or estimates in our fair value calculations change or if operating results are less than forecasted, we could incur impairment charges in future periods. Impairment charges would decrease operating income, negatively impact diluted EPS and result in lower asset values on our balance sheet.

As of October 1, 2025, we had 253 reporting units with allocated goodwill balances. Our most significant goodwill balance of $401.6 million was related to our Porpoise Pool & Patio reporting unit. The average goodwill balance of our remaining reporting units was $1.2 million.

In October 2025, we performed our annual goodwill impairment test and recorded an aggregate goodwill impairment charge of $0.3 million related to our reporting unit in Germany and the closure of a Horizon reporting unit in Florida. We performed a discounted cash flow analysis for these reporting units and determined that the estimated fair value of the reporting units no longer exceeded their carrying value. In connection with our testing, we also identified one of our reporting units in Tennessee with goodwill of $12.1 million as most at risk for goodwill impairment due to marginal results in recent years. We performed a discounted cash flow analysis for this reporting unit and its estimated fair value exceeded its carrying value by 7.0%. The most sensitive assumptions related to our fair value for this location relate to the timing of macroeconomic market improvements and their impact on future projected sales growth.

In October 2024, we performed our annual goodwill impairment test and did not record any goodwill impairment at the reporting unit level.

In September 2023, we recorded an aggregate goodwill impairment charge of $0.6 million, primarily related to one of our Horizon reporting units in Texas that we previously identified as being most at risk of goodwill impairment. We had been monitoring this location’s results, which came in below expectations at the end of the 2023 season. We performed an interim goodwill impairment analysis, which included a discounted cash flow analysis, and determined that the estimated fair value of the reporting unit no longer exceeded its carrying value. Following this, in October 2023, we performed our annual goodwill impairment test and did not recognize any goodwill impairment at the reporting unit level.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

See Note 1 of "Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements,” included in Item 8 of this Form 10-K for details.

RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

The table below summarizes information derived from our Consolidated Statements of Income expressed as a percentage of net sales for the past three fiscal years:

Note: Due to rounding, percentages may not add to operating income or income before income taxes and equity in earnings.

Our discussion of consolidated operating results includes the operating results from acquisitions in 2025, 2024 and 2023. We have included the results of operations in our consolidated results since the respective acquisition dates.

Fiscal Year 2025 compared to Fiscal Year 2024

Base Business

When calculating our base business results, we exclude for a period of 15 months sales centers that are acquired, opened in new markets or closed. We also exclude consolidated sales centers when we do not expect to maintain the majority of the existing business and existing sales centers that are consolidated with acquired sales centers.

We generally allocate corporate overhead expenses to excluded sales centers on the basis of their net sales as a percentage of total net sales. After 15 months, we include acquired, consolidated and new market sales centers in the base business calculation including the comparative prior year period.

We have not provided separate base business income statements within this Form 10-K as base business results for the quarter and year ended December 31, 2025 closely approximated consolidated results. Excluded sales centers contributed less than 1% to the change in our reported net sales.

The table below summarizes the changes in our sales center count during 2025:

For information about our recent acquisitions, see Note 2 of "Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements,” included in Item 8 of this Form 10-K.

Net Sales

Net sales in 2025 were consistent with 2024. During 2025, maintenance product sales held steady, indicating stable demand for non-discretionary products. Sales volumes for discretionary products declined, impacted by unfavorable macroeconomic conditions.

The following factors impacted our 2025 sales and are listed in order of estimated magnitude:

In 2025, sales of equipment for maintenance, renovation and new construction activities, including swimming pool heaters, pumps, lights, filters and automation devices, were flat compared to 2024 and represented approximately 31% of net sales in 2025. Sales of building materials, which are primarily used in new pool construction and remodeling, were also comparable to 2024 and represented approximately 12% of net sales in 2025.

2025 Quarterly Sales Performance Compared to 2024 Quarterly Sales Performance

In addition to the sales discussion above, see further details of significant weather impacts under the subheading Seasonality and Quarterly Fluctuations below.

Gross Profit