Eagle Materials Inc (EXP) 2024 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Good day, everyone, and welcome to Eagle Materials Second Quarter of Fiscal 2024 Earnings Conference Call. This call is being recorded.

大家好，歡迎參加 Eagle Materials 2024 財年第二季財報電話會議。此通話正在錄音。

At this time, I would like to turn the call over to Eagle's President and Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Michael Haack. Mr. Haack, please go ahead, sir.

現在，我想將電話轉給 Eagle 總裁兼執行長 Michael Haack 先生。哈克先生，請繼續，先生。

Thank you, MJ. Good morning. Welcome to Eagle Materials conference call for our second quarter of fiscal year 2024. This is Michael Haack. Joining me today are Craig Kesler, our Chief Financial Officer; and Alex Haddock, Vice President of Investor Relations, Strategy and Corporate Development. There will be a slide presentation made in connection with this call. To access it, please go to eaglematerials.com and click on the link to the webcast.

謝謝你，喬丹。早安.歡迎參加 Eagle Materials 2024 財政年度第二季電話會議。我是 Michael Haack。今天加入我的是我們的財務長 Craig Kesler；以及投資者關係、策略和企業發展副總裁 Alex Haddock。將進行與本次電話會議相關的投影片簡報。要存取它，請訪問 eaglematerials.com 並點擊網路廣播的連結。

While you're accessing the slides, please note that the first slide covers our cautionary disclosure regarding forward-looking statements made during this call. These statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause results to differ from those discussed during the call. For further information, please refer to this disclosure, which is also included at the end of our press release.

當您存取投影片時，請注意，第一張投影片涵蓋了我們對本次電話會議期間所做的前瞻性陳述的警告性揭露。這些陳述存在風險和不確定性，可能導致結果與電話會議期間討論的結果不同。欲了解更多信息，請參閱本披露，該披露也包含在我們的新聞稿末尾。

Let me start off by saying that I'm excited to highlight another quarter of record operating and financial performance for Eagle Materials. In the second quarter of fiscal 2024, Eagle generated record revenue of $622 million, up 3%. Eagle expanded gross margins to 33.6%, up 150 basis points, and we achieved record net earnings per diluted share of $4.26, up 15%.

首先我要說的是，我很高興地強調 Eagle Materials 又一個季度創紀錄的營運和財務表現。 2024 財年第二季度，Eagle 創造了創紀錄的營收 6.22 億美元，成長 3%。 Eagle 將毛利率擴大到 33.6%，提高了 150 個基點，我們實現了創紀錄的稀釋後每股淨利潤 4.26 美元，增長了 15%。

A key reason for our superior margin performance is our commitment to our long-term sustainability of our plants, our businesses and our employees. On the employee front, I want to highlight an event that we conducted this past quarter, one that I always look forward to attending and participating in. Our Seventh Annual Health, Safety and Environment Conference. This conference brings together our operations and HSE leaders from across all of Eagle. We have an open and honest discussion about where Eagle is currently and where we will be going with regards to HSE.

我們實現卓越利潤率的關鍵原因是我們對工廠、業務和員工的長期永續發展的承諾。在員工方面，我想強調我們在上個季度舉辦的一項活動，我一直期待著出席和參與這項活動。我們的第七屆年度健康、安全和環境會議。這次會議匯集了來自 Eagle 各地的營運和 HSE 領導者。我們就 Eagle 目前的狀況以及 HSE 方面的發展方向進行了公開、誠實的討論。

From the focus and dedication of our people, Eagle has been able to continue to be an industry leader in keeping our employees safe as measured by our total recordable incident rate, reduce emissions through our focused implementation of PLC cement, reduce water usage through the redesign of our systems to ensure that they are closed loop and focus our efforts through best practice sharing and leading indicators to eliminate more serious injuries as demonstrated in our lost time injury rate.

憑藉我們員工的專注和奉獻，Eagle 能夠繼續成為行業領導者，以我們的總可記錄事故率來衡量，確保我們員工的安全，透過重點實施 PLC 水泥減少排放，透過重新設計減少用水量我們的系統，以確保它們是閉環的，並透過最佳實踐共享和領先指標來集中我們的努力，以消除更嚴重的傷害，如我們的損失時間傷害率所示。

I'll now turn to more specifics on our operational and financial performance for this quarter, starting with the Heavy Materials businesses. Revenue increased 10% versus the prior year second quarter. Within our footprint, public highway and infrastructure awards continue to outpace the national average.

我現在將詳細介紹本季的營運和財務業績，首先是重材料業務。第二季營收較去年同期成長 10%。在我們的足跡中，公共高速公路和基礎設施獎項繼續超過全國平均水平。

Similarly, announced manufacturing construction projects of semiconductors, EV batteries, clean energy and heavy industrial projects have been benefiting the markets we serve. These announced projects totaled almost $500 billion nationwide since 2021.

同樣，已宣布的半導體、電動汽車電池、清潔能源和重工業項目的製造建設項目也使我們所服務的市場受益。自 2021 年以來，全國宣布的這些項目總計近 5,000 億美元。

On the supply side, U.S. manufactured cement supply continues to be outpaced by demand. Total capacity has fallen since 2010 when further regulations were enacted known as NESHAP, making new plant construction and capacity expansion challenging.

在供應方面，美國製造的水泥供應持續超過需求。自 2010 年頒布了名為 NSHAP 的進一步法規以來，總產能一直在下降，這使得新工廠建設和產能擴張面臨挑戰。

This creates the ingredients for a strong pricing environment. Thus, we implemented a second round of cement price increases in early July across half our markets and we have begun announcing the next round of increases for January of next year.

這為強勁的定價環境創造了要素。因此，我們在 7 月初在半數市場實施了第二輪水泥提價，並已開始宣布明年 1 月的下一輪漲價。

This quarter, we also made meaningful progress in our conversion to Portland Limestone Cement, or PLC, surpassing 60% across our system. PLC makes our clinker go further and it is an important lever at our disposal for lowering the carbon intensity of our footprint. So we are excited about the opportunities PLC provides us.

本季度，我們在向波特蘭石灰石水泥 (PLC) 的轉換方面也取得了有意義的進展，整個系統的轉換率超過了 60%。 PLC 讓我們的熟料走得更遠，它是我們降低足跡碳強度的重要槓桿。因此，我們對 PLC 為我們提供的機會感到興奮。

I'd be remiss if I did not add a little color around Texas Lehigh JV operation since it was mentioned in the last quarterly earnings call. I'm happy to say that we have made substantial progress on our kiln system and the plant is performing much better. We still recognize that there is some more work to do, but I'm very pleased with the progress to date.

自從上次季度財報電話會議中提到德克薩斯州利哈伊合資公司的運營以來，如果我沒有為它添加一點色彩，那就是我的失職。我很高興地說，我們的窯爐系統已經取得了實質進展，而且工廠的表現也好多了。我們仍然認識到還有一些工作要做，但我對迄今為止的進展感到非常滿意。

In regards to the mid- and longer-term outlook for cement, concrete and aggregates, we have multiyear visibility into demand and the volume picture for cement remains robust across our end markets. Both public and private nonresidential construction, particularly within manufacturing projects continue to see strong spending.

就水泥、混凝土和骨材的中長期前景而言，我們對需求有多年的了解，我們終端市場的水泥銷售仍然強勁。公共和私人非住宅建築，特別是製造業項目的支出持續強勁。

With the layering of federal infrastructure dollars, there is a meaningful runway for construction projects for years to come. There is often a long tail of demand from these projects as well as communities and other local infrastructure must be built out.

隨著聯邦基礎設施資金的分層，未來幾年的建設項目將有一條有意義的跑道。這些項目通常會產生長尾需求，並且必須建造社區和其他當地基礎設施。

Moving to the supply side outlook for the heavy side of our business. We have very stringent permitting requirements in our industry. Because of this, we do not perceive any significant new plant builds or expansions in our markets that would materially change the supply picture. Since we are so constrained on manufacturing capacity, the sold-out markets around the coastal areas will have to turn to imported cement in order to meet the demand.

我們轉向重型業務的供應面前景。我們的行業有非常嚴格的許可要求。因此，我們認為市場上沒有任何重大的新工廠建設或擴張會實質改變供應狀況。由於產能有限，沿海地區的水泥市場已售罄，只能依靠進口水泥來滿足需求。

To this extent, we have continued the integration of our recently acquired cement import terminal in Northern California to supplement our supply chain on the West Coast. Our manufactured cement footprint is made up of U.S. Heartland network that will remain largely insulated from imports given the high delivered cost to our markets. Because of these dynamics, we are optimistic about our short, mid- and long-term outlook for our heavy side businesses.

為此，我們繼續整合最近收購的北加州水泥進口碼頭，以補充我們在西海岸的供應鏈。我們的製造水泥足跡由美國中心地帶網路組成，鑑於我們市場的交付成本較高，該網路將在很大程度上與進口隔離。由於這些動態，我們對重型側業務的短期、中期和長期前景持樂觀態度。

Now let me turn to our quarterly performance on the light side. For Gypsum Wallboard, sales volume declined 6%, while the average Gypsum Wallboard net sales price was flat with the prior year. It has been encouraging to see shipments, orders and pricing maintain their resiliency to date. Since housing is the most critical end market for us, we recognize the rise in interest rates and unclear path of consumer spending, may mean the environment sees choppy in the short term.

現在讓我談談我們的季度業績。石膏牆板銷售量下降 6%，而石膏牆板平均淨銷售價格與前一年持平。迄今為止，出貨量、訂單和定價保持彈性，令人鼓舞。由於住房是我們最重要的終端市場，我們意識到利率上升和消費者支出路徑不明朗，可能意味著短期內環境會出現波動。

Looking at the mid- and long-term demand outlook for Gypsum Wallboard business, we operate in markets in the Sunbelt in the South. In this market, single-family housing starts have held up relatively well. Similarly, single-family permits in the South coincided with homebuilder orders, given the limited supply of existing homes for sale should translate in the wallboard consumption in 2024.

考慮石膏牆板業務的中長期需求前景，我們在南方陽光地帶的市場開展業務。在這個市場上，單戶住宅開工情況相對較好。同樣，南方的單戶住宅許可證與住宅建築商的訂單同時發生，因為現有待售房屋供應有限，這應該會轉化為 2024 年牆板的消費量。

Looking longer term, we see the structural underbuilt of housing in the U.S. getting worse before it gets better as rate lock-ins keep people in their current homes for longer, creating a tailwind for our businesses as new homes are built for existing homes undergo repair and remodel projects.

從長遠來看，我們看到美國住房結構性建設不足的情況在好轉之前會變得更糟，因為利率鎖定使人們在現有房屋中停留的時間更長，這為我們的企業創造了順風車，因為新房屋是為現有房屋進行維修而建造的和改造項目。

With regard to the mid- and long-term supply outlook for our light side businesses, we have spoken many times of the effect of the lack of synthetic gypsum is having on the ability to add capacity to the industry.

關於我們輕質側業務的中長期供應前景，我們多次談到合成石膏缺乏對產業產能增加的影響。

Let me provide an example. Looking at the prior 2 cycles in 1995 through 2000 and 2000 through 2008, represented 2 significant housing demand cycles in the U.S. In both those periods, the wallboard industry added significant new capacity through the cycle and beyond the demand peak. This cycle has played out much differently. The industry has added no new capacity in over a decade even as pricing has reached record levels. This is indicative of the effect of raw material shortages are having on the broader industry.

讓我舉個例子。從1995 年至2000 年和2000 年至2008 年的前兩個週期來看，代表了美國的兩個重要的住房需求週期。在這兩個時期，牆板產業在整個週期和需求高峰之後都增加了大量的新產能。這個週期的表現截然不同。儘管定價已達到創紀錄水平，但該行業十多年來沒有增加任何新產能。這表明原材料短缺正在對更廣泛的行業產生影響。

It needs to be noted that about half the industry supply is designed to utilize synthetic gypsum, because of this, the effective economic viability of the industry capacity is likely lower than nameplate figures imply. Eagle Materials benefits from the surety of raw material supply for all of our wallboard plants insulating us from the cost curve and the capacity pressures facing much of the wallboard industry.

需要指出的是，大約一半的行業供應旨在利用合成石膏，因此，行業產能的有效經濟可行性可能低於銘牌數字所暗示的水平。 Eagle Materials 受益於我們所有牆板工廠原料供應的保證，使我們免受成本曲線和大部分牆板行業面臨的產能壓力的影響。

In fact, the demand-supply dynamics benefiting our Wallboard businesses resemble many of the qualities that make our cement and aggregates businesses so attractive as well.

事實上，有利於我們牆板業務的供需動態與使我們的水泥和骨材業務如此有吸引力的許多品質相似。

Closing out on our business performance through the first half of our fiscal year, I'd like to mention how well we continue to execute our capital allocation playbook.

在結束本財年上半年的業務表現時，我想提一下我們繼續執行資本配置手冊的情況。

Eagle Materials cash flow generation is a key reason why the business is so attractive through cycles. Given our businesses are in a cyclical industries, we focus on cycle management, and on maintaining financial flexibility to create long-term value for our shareholders.

Eagle Materials 現金流的產生是該業務在周期中如此有吸引力的關鍵原因。鑑於我們的業務屬於週期性產業，我們專注於週期管理，並保持財務靈活性，為股東創造長期價值。

Our priorities remain the same, to continue to grow our businesses and improve our low-cost competitive positions through acquisitions and organic investments that meet our strict strategic and financial return criteria. And when those opportunities don't materialize, we use our share repurchase program to return cash to shareholders in a meaningful way. Last quarter, we returned $86 million of cash to shareholders through share repurchases and dividends. We also used our strong cash flow to strengthen our balance sheet, our leverage ratio ended the quarter at 1.3x.

我們的優先事項保持不變，即透過滿足我們嚴格的策略和財務回報標準的收購和有機投資，繼續發展我們的業務並提高我們的低成本競爭地位。當這些機會沒有實現時，我們會利用股票回購計畫以有意義的方式向股東返還現金。上季度，我們透過股票回購和股利向股東返還了 8,600 萬美元現金。我們也利用強勁的現金流來強化我們的資產負債表，本季末我們的槓桿率為 1.3 倍。

With that, I'll turn it over to Craig to go through our financial results in more detail.

這樣，我會將其交給克雷格，以更詳細地查看我們的財務表現。

Thank you, Michael. Second quarter revenue was a record $622 million, an increase of 3% from the prior year. The increase reflects higher cement sales prices and contribution from the recently acquired cement import terminal in Stockton, California, partially offset by lower wallboard and paperboard sales volume.

謝謝你，麥可。第二季營收達到創紀錄的 6.22 億美元，較上年成長 3%。這一增長反映了水泥銷售價格的上漲以及最近收購的加州斯托克頓水泥進口碼頭的貢獻，但部分被牆板和紙板銷售下降所抵消。

Excluding the Stockton acquisition, revenue was up 1%. Again, this past quarter, we generated record earnings per share. Second quarter earnings per share was $4.26, a 15% increase from the prior year. The increase was driven by higher earnings at a 5% reduction in fully diluted shares due to our share buyback program.

不包括斯托克頓收購，收入成長了 1%。上個季度，我們再次創造了創紀錄的每股盈餘。第二季每股收益為 4.26 美元，較上年增長 15%。這一增長是由於我們的股票回購計劃導致完全稀釋股票減少 5%，收益增加所致。

Turning now to our segment performance, highlight on the next slide. In our Heavy Materials sector, which includes our Cement and Concrete and Aggregates segments, revenue increased 10%, driven primarily by the increase in cement sales prices implemented earlier this year, and the contribution from the recently acquired cement import terminal in Northern California.

現在轉向我們的細分市場表現，請在下一張投影片上重點介紹。在我們的重材料部門，包括水泥、混凝土和骨材部門，收入增加了 10%，這主要是由於今年稍早實施的水泥銷售價格上漲以及最近收購的北加州水泥進口碼頭的貢獻。

Operating earnings were up 19%, primarily because of increased cement prices. Given the strong market conditions that Michael discussed, we implemented a second round of cement price increases in early July, and our average cement price increased approximately $5 per ton or 3% sequentially. We've also recently announced cement price increases in most of our markets effective January 1, 2024.

營業利潤成長 19%，主要是由於水泥價格上漲。鑑於麥可所討論的強勁市場狀況，我們在 7 月初實施了第二輪水泥價格上漲，我們的平均水泥價格環比上漲約每噸 5 美元，即 3%。我們最近也宣布從 2024 年 1 月 1 日起在大多數市場上調水泥價格。

Moving to the Light Materials sector on the next slide. Revenue in our Light Materials sector decreased 8%, reflecting lower wallboard and recycled paperboard sales volume, while wallboard sales prices were flat. Operating earnings in the sector declined 2% to $93 million, reflecting lower wallboard sales volume, partially offset by reduced input costs, primarily for recycled fiber and energy.

轉到下一張投影片的輕質材料部門。輕質材料部門的收入下降了 8%，反映出牆板和再生紙板銷量下降，而牆板銷售價格持平。該行業的營業利潤下降 2%，至 9,300 萬美元，反映出牆板銷量下降，但部分被投入成本（主要是再生纖維和能源）的下降所抵消。

Looking now at our cash flow. We continue to generate strong cash flow and allocate capital in a disciplined way. During the first 6 months of our fiscal year, operating cash flow improved 4% to $313 million, while capital spending increased to $66 million, and we acquired the cement import terminal in Stockton for $55 million.

現在看看我們的現金流。我們繼續產生強勁的現金流並以嚴格的方式分配資本。在本財年的前 6 個月，營運現金流成長了 4%，達到 3.13 億美元，而資本支出增加到 6,600 萬美元，我們以 5,500 萬美元收購了斯托克頓的水泥進口碼頭。

We also repurchased a total of 917,000 shares or 2.5% of our outstanding for $151 million in addition to paying our quarterly dividends, returning a total of $169 million to shareholders during the first half of our fiscal year. We have approximately 6.8 million shares remaining under our current repurchase authorization. Finally, we used our strong cash flow to strengthen our balance sheet.

除了支付季度股息外，我們還以 1.51 億美元回購了總計 917,000 股股票，即已發行股票的 2.5%，並在上半財年向股東返還了總計 1.69 億美元。根據我們目前的回購授權，我們仍有約 680 萬股股票。最後，我們利用強勁的現金流來強化我們的資產負債表。

Let's look at our capital structure. At September 30, 2023, our net debt-to-cap ratio was 45%, and our net debt-to-EBITDA leverage ratio was 1.3x. We ended the quarter with $47 million of cash on hand. Total committed liquidity at the end of the quarter was approximately $627 million and we have no meaningful near-term debt maturities, giving us substantial financial flexibility.

讓我們看看我們的資本結構。截至2023年9月30日，我們的淨負債與上限比率為45%，淨負債與EBITDA槓桿率為1.3倍。本季末，我們手頭現金為 4700 萬美元。本季末承諾的流動資金總額約為 6.27 億美元，我們沒有有意義的短期債務到期日，這給我們帶來了巨大的財務靈活性。

Thank you for attending today's call. MJ, we're ready to move to the question-and-answer session.

感謝您參加今天的電話會議。 MJ，我們準備好進入問答環節了。

(Operator Instructions) Today's first question comes from Trey Grooms with Stephens.

（操作員說明）今天的第一個問題來自 Trey Grooms 和 Stephens。

So we've seen volume down in wallboard now for, I guess, the last 2 quarters and no surprise, and I think it's actually holding in better than most would have thought. And Michael, you gave a little color on the demand outlook there, but understandably with the backdrop of higher rates, this clearly creates more uncertainty, at least around the residential backdrop here.

因此，我想，我們現在看到牆板的銷量在過去兩個季度有所下降，這並不奇怪，而且我認為它實際上比大多數人想像的要好。邁克爾，你對那裡的需求前景做了一些描述，但可以理解的是，在利率上升的背景下，這顯然會帶來更多的不確定性，至少在住宅背景方面是如此。

But given what we've seen from starts and completions on the residential side. To the extent that you can talk about it, how are you thinking about the wallboard volume outlook in the near term? And then at what point do you expect that we could start to see some stabilization there?

但考慮到我們從住宅方面的開工和竣工情況來看。就您可以談論的而言，您如何看待近期牆板銷售前景？那麼您預計我們什麼時候可以開始看到一些穩定性？

Yes, Trey, you bring up a lot of interesting points. Look, the higher interest rate environment it will navigate through. And there's factors on the other side, most notably, a shortage of homes in many markets across the U.S. of existing homes which is a very different environment than we've seen in prior cycles.

是的，特雷，你提出了很多有趣的觀點。看，它將度過更高的利率環境。另一方面還有一些因素，最值得注意的是，美國許多市場的現有房屋短缺，這與我們在先前的周期中看到的環境非常不同。

It's also important to note where we operate in the southern part of the U.S. where activity has been more robust than other parts of the country. And I think that's our core market. And look, we continue to have homeowners requiring to live somewhere. So there are a lot of factors and -- we've seen homebuilder orders improved this quarter and again last quarter as well. So it's hard to predict right now, but we think we're positioned pretty well.

同樣重要的是要注意我們在美國南部開展業務的地區，那裡的活動比該國其他地區更活躍。我認為這是我們的核心市場。看，我們仍然有房主要求住在某個地方。因此，有許多因素——我們看到房屋建築商的訂單在本季度有所改善，上季度也有所改善。所以現在很難預測，但我們認為我們的定位非常好。

Okay. And I guess with that, just kind of sticking with the demand picture. On the cement side, granted, there's maybe some more -- or quite a bit more visibility there into the demand picture, which sounds like it's still pretty good.

好的。我想這樣一來，就可以堅持需求圖景了。在水泥方面，當然，需求情況可能還有更多，或者更多的可見性，這聽起來仍然相當不錯。

But as we look into maybe the calendar '24, with this kind of increased uncertainty again that's created by the rate situation. Is it your expectation that we should continue to stay in what is kind of a sold-out position or at least nearly sold-out position as we kind of look over the foreseeable future?

但當我們考慮到24年的日曆時，利率情勢再次造成了這種不確定性的增加。展望可預見的未來，您是否期望我們應該繼續保持售空狀態或至少接近售空狀態？

Yes. As opposed to the wallboard industry, which is more residentially oriented, cement and aggregates demand is more driven by infrastructure spending. And obviously, with the multiyear highway bill that those funds are starting to really benefit of highway awards and that activity, that should more than offset the residential impact on the heavy side.

是的。與更以住宅為導向的牆板產業相反，水泥和骨材需求更受基礎設施支出的推動。顯然，隨著多年的高速公路法案的實施，這些資金開始真正受益於高速公路獎勵和這項活動，這應該足以抵消住宅對重型的影響。

Not to mention, and Michael pointed to them out, several large kind of manufacturing/industrial type projects for battery plants, semiconductor facilities, that activity is at a multi-decade high. So that's what gives us some confidence around the outlook for the heavy side demand not just for '24, but beyond that, given those projects are multiyear in nature.

更不用說，麥可指出，電池廠、半導體設施的幾個大型製造/工業類型項目的活動處於數十年來的最高水平。因此，考慮到這些項目本質上是多年期的，這讓我們對重側需求的前景充滿信心，不僅是對 24 年的需求，而且對以後的需求也是如此。

Okay. And I've got to sneak one more in here, if I could. You mentioned you went out with a cement pricing announcement for early January. Any additional color you could give us on maybe magnitude or maybe how widespread these announcements are?

好的。如果可以的話，我還得再偷偷帶一個進來。您提到您發布了一月初的水泥定價公告。您可以就這些公告的嚴重程度或廣泛程度向我們提供任何其他資訊嗎？

Yes. It's across most of our markets, January 1, still evaluating all of our markets, but the announcements have ranged between $10 to $15 a ton.

是的。 1 月 1 日，我們的大部分市場仍在評估我們所有的市場，但公告的價格範圍在每噸 10 美元到 15 美元之間。

Perfect. I'll turn it over.

完美的。我會把它翻過來。

The next question comes from Stanley Elliott with Stifel.

下一個問題來自 Stanley Elliott 和 Stifel。

And congratulations. I was just curious, when you talk about the wallboard pricing has been so resilient. Is there a way to quantify kind of the differences that you're seeing in the East and the West? And you spoke a little bit about some of the synthetic piece. I was curious as to what that might be having an impact on it.

恭喜你。我只是很好奇，當你談論牆板定價如此有彈性時。有沒有辦法量化您在東方和西方看到的差異？您談到了一些合成。我很好奇這可能會對它產生什麼影響。

Yes, Stanley, look, and Michael mentioned it, it's such a different environment this cycle than what we've seen in prior cycles where not only were you facing demand pressures but there has been a significant amount of new supply being added and most of that was centered around the availability of synthetic gypsum as the source of gypsum has declined significantly as we've reduced the power generation vehicle that's reduced that raw material.

是的，史丹利，你看，麥可提到過，這個週期的環境與我們在之前的周期中看到的環境非常不同，在之前的周期中，你不僅面臨著需求壓力，而且還增加了大量的新供應，而且大部分這是圍繞合成石膏的可用性展開的，因為石膏的來源已顯著下降，因為我們減少了發電車輛，從而減少了原材料。

And it's more predominant in the eastern half of the U.S., no doubt. But again, the western and southern part of the country is where a lot of the construction activity has been more robust. So it's a balance. And I'd say pricing has kind of held in pretty well nationally and different factors across the country for sure.

毫無疑問，它在美國東半部更為主導。但同樣，該國西部和南部的建築活動更為活躍。所以這是一個平衡。我想說的是，定價在全國範圍內都保持得很好，而且全國各地的因素也各不相同。

And you talked a little bit about the balance sheet kind of 1.3x. You should be generating a bunch of cash on a go-forward basis. Help us again with kind of what's happening with the M&A pipeline, you've been active buying shares. Just curious a little -- if we get a little more color on plans around that? Or should we see the leverage continue to tick down with the thought of maybe something larger coming down the pipe? Just really more curious than anything.

您談到了 1.3 倍的資產負債表。你應該在未來的基礎上產生大量現金。再次幫助我們了解併購管道中發生的情況，您一直在積極購買股票。只是有點好奇——我們是否能在這方面的計劃上得到更多的色彩？或者我們應該看到槓桿率繼續下降，因為考慮到可能會有更大的事情發生？真的比什麼都好奇。

Yes. Stanley, it's a great question. The capital allocation is an area where we spend a lot of time and focus because we are generating a high level of free cash flow. And as we've always said, maintaining the assets is paramount and a bedrock function of Eagle as is the capital structure management, which we put ourselves in a good position in both of those fronts.

是的。史丹利，這是一個很好的問題。資本配置是我們花費大量時間和精力的領域，因為我們正在產生高水準的自由現金流。正如我們一直所說，維護資產至關重要，是 Eagle 的基本職能，資本結構管理也是如此，我們在這兩方面都處於有利地位。

And so the next use is to continue to grow the enterprise. As you know, we have very high strict criteria, both financially and strategically for that investment. And when those investments don't meet that criteria, we're happy to continue to return cash to shareholders.

所以下一個用途就是繼續發展企業。如您所知，我們對該投資在財務和策略上都有非常嚴格的標準。當這些投資不符合該標準時，我們很樂意繼續向股東返還現金。

We obviously saw value in the shares this past quarter, and continue to balance that capital allocation between those 2 opportunities, and it's dependent upon the balance of whether the investment in front of us meets those criteria or not. And that's kind of the way we've operated for a long time.

顯然，我們在上個季度看到了股票的價值，並繼續平衡這兩個機會之間的資本分配，這取決於我們面前的投資是否符合這些標準。這就是我們長期以來的運作方式。

The next question comes from Brent Thielman with D.A. Davidson.

下一個問題來自 D.A. 的 Brent Thielman。戴維森。

I just wanted to come back to wallboard. I guess I'd just be curious if what you've seen sort of fiscal year-to-date considering your sort of conversations with customers, what you see around your regions and then we have these prevailing mortgage rates. I mean, does this still feel like sort of a down mid-single-digit environment for volume over the short term? Are you actually more optimistic than that?

我只是想回到牆板。我想我只是好奇，考慮到您與客戶的對話，您在本財年迄今為止看到了什麼，您在您所在地區看到了什麼，然後我們有這些現行的抵押貸款利率。我的意思是，短期內成交量是否仍感覺處於中位數下降的環境？你實際上比這更樂觀嗎？

Yes, Brent, as we said in our prepared comments, look, I think you got to recognize the recent increase in interest rates. And traditionally, what that -- how that would impact home building. There's just some other factors today that are in place that are very different than as we pointed them out, the shortage of homes, existing homes that are at very, very low levels across the country. And you have this idea where you've got a significant amount of the mortgages that are outstanding that are sub-4%.

是的，布倫特，正如我們在準備好的評論中所說，你看，我認為你必須認識到最近利率的上升。傳統上，這將如何影響住宅建設。今天還有一些其他因素與我們指出的非常不同，房屋短缺，全國現有房屋處於非常非常低的水平。你有這樣的想法，你有大量未償還抵押貸款，比例低於 4%。

And so folks just aren't moving like they once were and which just puts more pressure on the need to build new homes. And so it's hard to predict. We've kind of been running in this down mid-single digit. It would surprise me that you're in that range for a little while. But again, it's not -- it's very different than what we've seen in prior cycles.

因此，人們不再像以前那樣搬家，這給建造新房子的需求帶來了更大的壓力。所以很難預測。我們一直在這個中個位數的水平上運行。讓我驚訝的是你在這個範圍內有一段時間了。但同樣，這與我們在先前的周期中看到的情況非常不同。

Understood. And Craig, the wallboard margins, I mean, considering some top line pressure in the business, we're comparably strong or a little better than last year. I wonder if you could just sort of flesh out a few of the variables there that are allowing you to keep margins up.

明白了。克雷格，我的意思是，考慮到業務中的一些頂線壓力，牆板利潤率相對強勁，或者比去年好一點。我想知道您是否可以充實一些可以讓您保持利潤率的變數。

Yes. Look, again, it's not a big volume oriented business. It's not a high fixed cost business. So down volumes doesn't hurt as much. And paper prices, which is a large input are down year-over-year. That continued to be a benefit, a nice tailwind as is energy.

是的。再說一次，這不是一個以大批量為導向的業務。這不是一項固定成本很高的業務。因此，成交量下降並沒有那麼嚴重。作為重要投入的紙張價格年減。這仍然是一個好處，就像能源一樣，是一個很好的順風車。

So energy is down a couple of dollars a million versus where we were last year and seems to be continuing to track that direction. So what had been tailwind or headwinds a year ago have kind of turned around and help keep margins pretty flat.

因此，與去年相比，能源價格每百萬美元下降了幾美元，似乎將繼續沿著這個方向發展。因此，一年前的順風或逆風已經扭轉，有助於維持利潤率相當穩定。

The next question comes from Anthony Pettinari with Citi.

下一個問題來自花旗銀行的安東尼‧佩蒂納裡 (Anthony Pettinari)。

Can you talk a little bit more about the rationale for the Stockton terminal acquisition, what was attractive about that asset and how it supplements your system? And then just following up on Stanley's question on M&A. You had a lot of success with the Kosmos acquisition. Are there heavy-side assets out there that could potentially be attractive? Or are those just kind of so scarce to kind of once in a blue moon?

您能否多談談收購斯托克頓碼頭的理由、該資產的吸引力以及它如何補充您的系統？然後跟進史丹利關於併購的問題。你們在收購 Kosmos 方面取得了巨大的成功。是否存在具有潛在吸引力的重資產？或者說，這些東西實在太稀缺了，簡直是千載難逢？

Yes. So this is Michael. I appreciate the question. Yes, when we look at -- first, I'll take your second question first. We're always involved if any acquisition work come to light. We evaluate a bunch of stuff. But as Craig and I both mentioned, we have some strict financial performance criteria that are there.

是的。這就是麥可。我很欣賞這個問題。是的，當我們先考慮你的第二個問題時。如果有任何收購工作曝光，我們總是會參與其中。我們評估很多東西。但正如克雷格和我都提到的，我們有一些嚴格的財務績效標準。

But again, if anything were to come to light, we would be interested in it, one of our cash allocation criteria is to keep our existing assets and like new condition and grow through acquisition if something were to come available. We look at a lot of different businesses out there. And we only select the ones that really fit our network the best.

但同樣，如果有什麼事情曝光，我們會對它感興趣，我們的現金分配標準之一是保留我們現有的資產，喜歡新的條件，並在有東西可用時透過收購來成長。我們研究了很多不同的業務。我們只選擇最適合我們網路的。

As for Stockton, if you look at the West Coast and everything where we stand, we have a business on that side. That import terminal really supports our business as we grow with our Nevada Cement opportunity. We were already bringing cement into California from Nevada.

至於斯托克頓，如果你看看西海岸和我們所在的一切，我們在那邊有業務。隨著我們利用內華達水泥機會不斷成長，該進口碼頭確實為我們的業務提供了支持。我們已經從內華達州將水泥運送到加州。

And as Nevada continues to grow and some of the surrounding areas there continue to grow, we're finding -- we were a little light on supporting our customers. So we saw this as a great opportunity to bring in a product to support our customers and continue to grow in that market that supports one of our cement facilities there.

隨著內華達州的不斷發展以及那裡的一些週邊地區的不斷發展，我們發現——我們在支持客戶方面有點鬆懈。因此，我們認為這是一個很好的機會，可以引入一種產品來支持我們的客戶，並在支持我們在那裡的水泥設施的市場中繼續發展。

Okay. That's very helpful. I'll turn it over.

好的。這非常有幫助。我會把它翻過來。

The next question comes from Jerry Revich with Goldman Sachs.

下一個問題來自高盛的傑瑞·雷維奇（Jerry Revich）。

This is Jatin Khanna on behalf of Jerry Revich. How are you thinking about cement pricing for 2024 in light of the extreme volatility in diesel prices and overall inflation?

我是賈汀·卡納 (Jatin Khanna)，代表傑瑞·雷維奇 (Jerry Revich)。鑑於柴油價格和整體通膨的劇烈波動，您如何看待 2024 年的水泥定價？

Just to be clear, diesel prices don't have as much of an impact on us in our cement business. And -- so we have announced price increases in cement for early January, as we said earlier, kind of between $10 and $15 a ton depending upon the market. And that's our announced plans at this point.

需要明確的是，柴油價格對我們的水泥業務沒有太大影響。而且，我們已經宣布 1 月初水泥價格上漲，正如我們之前所說，根據市場情況，每噸價格上漲 10 至 15 美元。這就是我們目前宣布的計劃。

The next question comes from Adam Thalhimer with Thompson, Davis.

下一個問題來自亞當·塔爾希默和湯普森·戴維斯。

Nice quarter. Craig, what was the exit price in Wallboard for Q2?

不錯的季度。克雷格，Wallboard 第二季的退出價格是多少？

It was pretty consistent with the quarterly average.

這與季度平均相當一致。

Got it. And then cement volumes down 1% year-over-year, you cited weather. How are you thinking about the December quarter, you have an easy comp. You were down 13% last year. I don't remember what that was, probably weather. But how are you thinking about that comp and then kind of early 2024 cement volumes?

知道了。然後，由於天氣原因，水泥產量比去年同期下降了 1%。您對 12 月季度的看法如何，您的薪資很簡單。去年你的股價下跌了 13%。我不記得那是什麼，可能是天氣。但您如何看待這項比較以及 2024 年初的水泥產量？

Brent, yes, look, there's always weather in different quarters. But look, the underlying fundamental demand for cement continue to go in the right direction, whether that's infrastructure, the highway awards that continue to grow these large industrial facilities.

布倫特，是的，看，不同地區的天氣總是不同的。但看，對水泥的潛在基本需求繼續朝著正確的方向發展，無論是基礎設施還是繼續發展這些大型工業設施的高速公路獎勵。

It's hard to predict quarter-to-quarter depending upon when certain things happen or project delays or whatnot. But we continue to see an environment where utilization rates should remain high across our network, and there's a good demand backdrop for us.

很難根據某些事情發生的時間或專案延遲或其他情況來預測每季的情況。但我們仍然看到整個網路的利用率應該保持高位的環境，並且我們有良好的需求背景。

Do you see any more variability than normal geographically?

您是否發現地理上比正常情況有更多的變化？

No, I don't think so. There's -- again, for us, it's interesting if you were to think through the prior cycle, we're nearly 3x the size that we were back then. We got exposure from Northern California, East Ohio, South Texas. So we very much more represent a national average today versus where we were a decade or so ago, where we were kind of a very -- smallest regional player. So we just operate more markets today than we ever had before.

不，我不這麼認為。再說一次，對我們來說，如果你仔細考慮上一個週期，就會很有趣，我們的規模幾乎是當時的 3 倍。我們從北加州、東俄亥俄州、南德克薩斯州得到了曝光。因此，與大約十年前的情況相比，今天我們更代表了全國平均水平，當時我們是一個非常小的區域參與者。因此，我們今天經營的市場比以往任何時候都多。

Got it. And then I'm trying to back into because the cement margins -- the cement margins remain exceptional. But I'm wondering, do you have any thoughts on cement cost per ton in the back half of the year?

知道了。然後我試著回到水泥利潤率，因為水泥利潤率仍然很高。但我想知道，您對下半年噸水泥成本有何看法？

Yes. So yes, as you pointed out, our margin profile continues to do very well in that business. And as we've said, what the tailwinds a year ago were around energy, specifically fuel, those have abated. Certainly here in FY '24 as you start looking beyond FY '24 certainly, in fuel costs, which for us is today predominantly solid fuels have trended lower. So you should see some benefit there.

是的。所以，是的，正如您所指出的，我們的利潤狀況在該業務中繼續表現良好。正如我們所說，一年前能源（特別是燃料）的順風已經減弱。當然，在 24 財年，當你開始關注 24 財年之後的燃料成本時，對我們來說，今天主要是固體燃料已經呈下降趨勢。所以你應該會看到一些好處。

Maintenance costs, we've seen inflation across parts and services, I would hope that, that might start to turn and go the other direction or at least become less inflationary. So it should be a reasonable environment for us.

維護成本，我們已經看到零件和服務的通貨膨脹，我希望，這可能會開始轉向另一個方向，或者至少變得不那麼通貨膨脹。所以這對我們來說應該是一個合理的環境。

The next question comes from Phil Ng with Jefferies.

下一個問題來自 Phil Ng 和 Jefferies。

This is actually Colin on for Phil. I just wanted to touch on Stockton terminal really quickly. It was a nice contributor to the Cement segment this quarter. Can you just help us think about the volume contribution from that plant going forward? Does it have the ability to ramp up from its fiscal 2Q contribution? Or is it at capacity at this point? And then any color as to how those margins look versus your wholly owned margins?

這其實是科林為菲爾代言的。我只是想盡快接觸斯托克頓航站樓。這是本季水泥業務的一個很好的貢獻者。您能否幫我們考慮一下該工廠未來的產量貢獻？它是否有能力在第二季財年的基礎上增加貢獻？或者說目前已經滿了？然後，這些利潤與您全資擁有的利潤相比有何不同？

Look, imported margins are going to be lower than your normal manufacturing margins. It's just a function of it's a distribution business versus manufacturing business, but it is operating with a good margin profile. And as we had expected, we pointed out in the earnings release, there is some kind of purchase price allocation still flowing through there this quarter, but that's largely behind us and a good amount of depreciation.

看，進口利潤將低於正常的製造利潤。這只是分銷業務與製造業務的一個功能，但它的營運利潤率很高。正如我們所預期的那樣，我們在收益報告中指出，本季仍有某種購買價格分配，但這在很大程度上已經落後於我們，並且存在大量貶值。

But in terms of the volume profile, I expect it to remain in this level in the immediate term. And there are some opportunities to expand that that we are exploring, but we've not made any decisions on that quite yet.

但就成交量而言，我預計短期內將維持在這個水準。我們正在探索一些擴展的機會，但我們尚未就此做出任何決定。

Great. That's helpful. And just going to the wallboard side of the business, you've seen wallboard EBIT margins north of 40% for the fifth consecutive quarter now. I guess how sustainable is this level of margin just given the uncertain macro backdrop that we're in?

偉大的。這很有幫助。就牆板業務而言，您會發現牆板息稅前利潤率已連續第五個季度超過 40%。我想考慮到我們所處的不確定的宏觀背景，這種利潤水平的可持續性如何？

Colin, look, it's a function of price and cost. And price, as we've said, has been much more resilient, pretty much flat and almost exactly flat year-over-year. And again, we just don't face some of the other uncertainties that we had in prior cycles. So not surprised to see pricing more resilient here.

科林，看，這是價格和成本的函數。正如我們所說，價格更具彈性，幾乎持平，並且與去年同期相比幾乎完全持平。再說一遍，我們只是沒有面臨之前週期中遇到的一些其他不確定性。因此，看到這裡的定價更具彈性並不奇怪。

And then on the cost side, as we pointed out, paper prices have stabilized here at least sequentially, gas prices for us, natural gas has remained pretty stable here, $3 or a little below that on an MMBtu basis. Those are the primary inputs into the manufacturing of wallboard and don't see any significant changes on the horizon as we sit here today. So those are the biggest factors, and they've been very supportive so far.

然後在成本方面，正如我們所指出的，紙張價格至少連續穩定在這裡，對我們來說，天然氣價格在這裡保持相當穩定，按 MMBtu 計算，為 3 美元或略低於該價格。這些是牆板製造的主要投入，當我們今天坐在這裡時，並沒有看到任何重大變化。所以這些是最重要的因素，到目前為止他們一直都非常支持。

Appreciate the color.

欣賞顏色。

This concludes our question-and-answer session. I would now like to hand the call back over to Mr. Michael Haack for closing remarks.

我們的問答環節到此結束。現在我想將電話轉回給邁克爾·哈克先生致閉幕詞。

Thank you, MJ. I just want to say I appreciate everybody joining us for the call today, and we will talk to you in our early 2024.

謝謝你，喬丹。我只想說，我感謝大家今天參加我們的電話會議，我們將在 2024 年初與您交談。

The conference has now concluded. Thank you for your participation. You may now disconnect.

會議現已結束。感謝您的參與。您現在可以斷開連線。