Brad Jacobs

Brad Jacobs argues the TopBuild acquisition is an out-of-consensus pivot that adds installation to QXO's distribution business. The combined company has a few hundred thousand customers, creating a large cross-sell opportunity, especially into data centers, which buy nearly everything the company sells except windows. He also sees procurement overlap making the combined company a billion-dollar-plus customer for many vendors. Brad says the market has not yet fully appreciated how good the deal is and that it may be his best deal yet.

Brad Jacobs describes the Con-way acquisition as a contrarian pivot from non-asset brokerage into LTL trucking. Con-way had made three large acquisitions without integrating them, leaving duplicate HR, IT, and sales organizations. XPO removed those duplicative costs, then improved service quality, on-time delivery, and damage rates. EBIT doubled in two years, the stock recovered sharply, and Brad says the LTL unit now has a shot at an operating ratio in the 70s versus 96% at acquisition.