Eagle Materials Inc (EXP) 2025 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Good day, everyone, and welcome to Eagle Materials fourth-quarter and fiscal 2024 (sic - see press release, "third-quarter of fiscal 2025") earnings conference call. This call is being recorded. 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.

大家好，歡迎參加 Eagle Materials 2024 財年第四季和（原文如此 - 請參閱新聞稿「2025 財年第三季」）收益電話會議。本次通話正在錄音。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. Good morning. Welcome to Eagle Materials conference call for our third quarter of fiscal year 2025. This is Michael Haack. Joining me today are Craig Kesler, our Chief Financial Officer; and Alex Haddock, Senior 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。早安.歡迎參加 Eagle Materials 2025 財政年度第三季電話會議。這是邁克爾哈克。今天與我一起的還有我們的財務長 Craig Kesler；以及投資者關係、策略和企業發展資深副總裁 Alex Haddock。將會有與本次通話相關的幻燈片簡報。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中所作前瞻性陳述的警告性揭露。這些聲明受到風險和不確定性的影響，可能導致結果與電話會議中討論的結果不同。欲了解更多信息，請參閱此披露，該披露也包含在我們的新聞稿末尾。

Thank you for joining us today to discuss our FY25 third-quarter results. In the third quarter, once again, the operational performance and strategic focus of our team enabled us to deliver positive results and execute on several strategic priorities. This morning, I'd like to start off with some color on several of those strategic initiatives across Eagle Materials. These initiatives demonstrate our approach to investing for the long term to ensure we remain a low-cost producer throughout economic cycles.

感謝您今天加入我們討論我們的 25 財年第三季業績。在第三季度，我們團隊的營運績效和策略重點再次使我們能夠取得積極成果並執行多項策略重點。今天上午，我想先介紹一下 Eagle Materials 的幾個策略性舉措。這些措施顯示了我們的長期投資方針，以確保我們在整個經濟週期中保持低成本生產商的地位。

Let me highlight three areas of particular importance. These are just a few examples of the many things we do to strengthen our core business. First, our primary focus at Eagle is safety. In this regard, I'm happy to report that we ended the calendar year with our lowest total recordable incident rate or TRIR since we began tracking this lagging indicator. While this is an achievement, we don't plan on stopping there.

我要強調三個特別重要的領域。這些只是我們為加強核心業務而採取的眾多措施中的幾個例子。首先，Eagle 的首要關注點是安全。在這方面，我很高興地報告，自從我們開始追蹤這個滯後指標以來，我們以最低的總可記錄事故率或TRIR結束了這一日曆年。雖然這是一項成就，但我們並不打算就此止步。

We continue to build out our company wide safety culture, standardized safety policies and procedures and ensure we tackle all the necessary protocols for keeping our people safe. We will continue our focus on putting engineering controls in place through the use of leading indicators to continue our journey towards zero.

我們將繼續建立全公司範圍的安全文化、標準化的安全政策和程序，並確保我們採取所有必要的協議來保障員工的安全。我們將繼續致力於透過使用領先指標來實施工程控制，繼續向零排放邁進。

Second, we continue to make meaningful progress on our sustainability initiatives. In our cement business, we have completed investments that are getting us closer to our goal of 100% construction grade blended cement for our manufactured product. These projects, like our Mountain Cement expansion and modernization reduce our CO2 intensity while lowering our overall manufacturing costs. We are also making headway on completing our water treatment facility, our Republic Paperboard which should reduce water usage at the plant by 50% and increase the use of recycled water.

第二，我們在永續發展計畫上持續取得有意義的進展。在我們的水泥業務中，我們已經完成了投資，使我們更接近我們所製造的產品 100% 採用建築級混合水泥的目標。這些項目，例如我們的山地水泥擴建和現代化改造，降低了我們的二氧化碳強度，同時降低了我們的整體製造成本。我們在完成水處理設施（共和紙板）方面也取得了進展，這將使工廠的用水量減少 50%，並增加再生水的使用。

The third strategic initiative is our recent acquisition of Bullskin Stone & Lime and its alignment with our overall growth strategy. Bullskin was a rare opportunity to acquire a pure-play aggregate asset that fits nicely within our current heavy materials footprint. This combination provides strategic advantages for us including our ability to serve our regional customers. The acquisition also expands our present and presence in Western Pennsylvania, a market with solid growth fundamentals and healthy DOT spending levels.

第三個策略性舉措是我們最近收購 Bullskin Stone & Lime，並使其與我們的整體成長策略保持一致。Bullskin 是一個難得的機會，可以收購純粹的骨材資產，並且與我們目前的重型材料足跡非常契合。這種結合為我們提供了策略優勢，包括為區域客戶提供服務的能力。此次收購也擴大了我們在賓州西部的現有業務和影響力，該市場具有穩健的成長基礎和健康的交通部支出水準。

Acquisitions such as Bullskin fits squarely in our broader growth strategy. We will continue to seek growth investments that strengthen our footprint and meet our strategic and financial criteria as Bullskin does. The acquisition closed in early January, and integration is well underway. I'm excited to welcome the Bullskin employees to Eagle.

Bullskin 等收購完全符合我們更廣泛的成長策略。我們將像 Bullskin 一樣繼續尋求成長投資，以加強我們的影響力並滿足我們的策略和財務標準。此次收購於一月初完成，目前整合工作正順利進行中。我很高興歡迎 Bullskin 員工加入 Eagle。

Now let me give some details on our operating performance this past quarter and our views on business conditions more broadly. We generated near-record third quarter revenue despite cement volumes being down 7% because of record rainfall in some areas. In key markets, rainfall reached 250% of historical averages.

現在，讓我詳細介紹一下我們上個季度的營運業績以及我們對更廣泛的商業狀況的看法。儘管部分地區降雨量創歷史新高導致水泥產量下降 7%，但我們第三季的營收仍接近歷史最高水準。在主要市場，降雨量達到了歷史平均值的250％。

Our people and our plants executed impressively amidst these challenging conditions. As discussed last quarter, we undertook major maintenance at both our Tulsa and Texas Lehigh cement plants. The work plan was completed timely at both locations.

在這些充滿挑戰的條件下，我們的員工和工廠表現出色。正如上個季度所討論的，我們對塔爾薩和德克薩斯州利哈伊的水泥廠進行了大修。兩個地點都按時完成了工作計劃。

The increased maintenance costs, which did affect us this past quarter were smart investments for the long term, ensuring increased reliability of both plants and enabled us to get back to a normal maintenance cycle. We also continue to realign our customer portfolio at both our Denver and Kansas City concrete and aggregate sites and feel we can position those businesses well for the future.

增加的維護成本確實對我們在過去的一個季度產生了影響，但從長遠來看，這是明智的投資，確保了兩個工廠的可靠性得到提高，並使我們能夠恢復正常的維護週期。我們也將繼續重新調整丹佛和堪薩斯城混凝土和骨材工廠的客戶組合，並認為我們可以為這些業務的未來做好充分的準備。

With regards to pricing, we have price increase letters out for the majority of our cement markets in our Wallboard operations for the first half of 2025. Despite these tougher operating environments, the demand fundamentals for our products remain solid. In cement, federal infrastructure dollars through the IIJA program are just starting to flow through and private non-residential manufacturing projects should tilt cement consumption higher.

關於定價，我們已向 Wallboard 業務中的大部分水泥市場發出了 2025 年上半年的價格上漲函。儘管經營環境愈加嚴峻，但我們產品的需求基本面依然穩固。在水泥方面，透過 IIJA 計畫的聯邦基礎設施資金剛開始流入，而私人非住宅製造項目應該會推高水泥消費量。

Regarding wallboard demand, we're focused on the widely discussed change in the outlook for interest rates and mortgage rates over the next 12 to 24 months. The path to lower rates and the knock-on effects of increased home buying demand is cloudier today than it was just a quarter ago. Single-family housing, the most important end market for our wallboard businesses, we'll continue to benefit from the drastic need for more housing in the United States.

關於牆板需求，我們關注的是未來 12 至 24 個月內廣泛討論的利率和抵押貸款利率前景變化。與一個季度前相比，目前降低利率的道路和購屋需求增加的連鎖反應更加不明朗。單戶住宅是我們牆板業務最重要的終端市場，我們將繼續受益於美國對更多住房的迫切需求。

The affordability challenges facing today's potential homebuyers are being made worse by the lack of homes and thus, we feel the underlying demand for residential construction will be positive for wallboard consumption. Regardless of the short-term demand picture, we continue to generate a significant amount of free cash flow and to focus on how we best invest our cash over cycles.

由於住房短缺，當今潛在購屋者面臨的負擔能力挑戰更加嚴重，因此，我們認為住宅建築的潛在需求將對牆板消費產生正面影響。無論短期需求情況如何，我們都會繼續產生大量自由現金流，並專注於如何在周期內最好地投資我們的現金。

Over the last five years, Eagle Materials has put over $3 billion of capital to work on a combination of high growth, high-return projects and capital returns through share buybacks. These investments include strategic organic investments to improve the reliability of our plants, including an upgrade to our Republic paper mill as well as replacing or repairing critical equipment across our footprint to keep our plants and like new condition.

過去五年來，Eagle Materials 已投入超過 30 億美元的資金用於高成長、高回報項目以及透過股票回購實現的資本回報。這些投資包括旨在提高我們工廠可靠性的戰略性有機投資，包括對我們共和國造紙廠的升級以及更換或修理我們工廠範圍內的關鍵設備，以保持我們工廠的狀態如新。

Investments in raw material reserves to ensure we have multi-decades of material close to our plans. This is a strategic operational initiative that results in a competitive advantage for Eagle. We also made several strategic inorganic investments to strengthen our low-cost position, including the acquisition of Kosmos Cement, several cement terminals and multiple aggregate sites.

投資原料儲備，以確保我們擁有數十年接近計劃的材料。這是一項策略性營運舉措，為 Eagle 帶來了競爭優勢。我們也進行了幾項策略性無機投資以加強我們的低成本地位，包括收購 Kosmos Cement、多個水泥碼頭和多個骨材場。

We've made those organic and inorganic investments while maintaining a healthy leverage profile and reducing our outstanding shares by 30% through our share repurchase program. Our commitment to executing similar high-return initiatives through the cycle remains firm as it has for many years.

我們進行了這些有機和無機投資，同時保持了健康的槓桿狀況，並透過股票回購計畫將流通股減少了 30%。多年來，我們始終堅定致力於在整個週期中執行類似的高回報措施。

Now let me turn it over to Craig to go through our financial results.

現在，讓我將時間交給 Craig 來介紹我們的財務結果。

Thank you, Michael. Third quarter revenue was $558 million, a slight downtick from the prior year. The decline was driven by lower cement, and concrete and aggregate sales volume partially offset by higher wallboard and paperboard sales volume and pricing.

謝謝你，麥可。第三季營收為 5.58 億美元，較上年略有下降。造成這一下降的主要原因是水泥、混凝土和骨材銷量下降，但牆板和紙板銷量及價格上漲部分抵消了這種影響。

Third quarter earnings per share was $3.56. The quarterly EPS reflects lower earnings, offset by a 3% reduction in fully diluted shares due to our share buyback program. As we highlighted in the press release, we had on nonroutine expense item during the quarter. It was $1.3 million of costs associated with business development and transaction-related activities.

第三季每股收益為 3.56 美元。季度每股收益反映出較低的收益，但由於我們的股票回購計劃導致全面稀釋股份減少 3%，從而抵消了這一影響。正如我們在新聞稿中強調的那樣，本季度我們有一個非例行支出項目。這是與業務發展和交易相關活動相關的 130 萬美元的成本。

Turning now to segment performance highlighted on the next slide. In our heavy materials sector, which includes our cement and concrete and aggregates segments, revenue declined 4%, primarily because of lower cement sales volume, partially offset by cement sales price increases we implemented earlier this year.

現在轉向下一張投影片中重點介紹的細分績效。在我們的重型材料部門（包括水泥、混凝土和骨材部門）中，收入下降了 4%，主要是因為水泥銷量下降，但被我們今年稍早實施的水泥銷售價格上漲部分抵消。

Our third quarter cement sales volume was significantly affected by the exceptionally wet weather in our Midwest and Great Plains during November. Operating earnings were down 20% primarily because of the lower cement sales volume in addition to higher maintenance costs. As we previewed last quarter, we had major maintenance projects at two of our cement plants during the third quarter, which increased maintenance costs by approximately $8 million.

11 月美國中西部和大平原地區異常潮濕的天氣嚴重影響了我們第三季的水泥銷售。營業收入下降了20%，主要是因為水泥銷售量下降以及維修成本上升。正如我們在上個季度預測的那樣，我們在第三季度對兩家水泥廠進行了重大維護項目，這增加了約 800 萬美元的維護成本。

The work of both plants has been completed, improving the plant's long-term reliability. As Michael mentioned, we have cement price increases announced in nearly all of our markets for the first part of calendar '25.

兩座工廠的工程都已完工，提高了工廠的長期可靠性。正如邁克爾所提到的，我們幾乎在所有市場都宣佈在 25 年上半年提高水泥價格。

Moving to the light materials sector on the next slide. Revenue in this sector increased 6% and reflecting higher wallboard and recycled paperboard sales volume and prices. Wallboard sales volume was up 2% and recycled paperboard sales volume increased 7%. In terms of prices, wallboard increased 4% and recycled paperboard 12%. Operating earnings in the sector were also up 18% to $97 million driven by the higher wallboard and recycled paperboard sales volume and higher wallboard and paperboard sales prices.

下一張投影片介紹輕材料領域。該部門的收入增加了6％，反映了牆板和再生紙板銷售量和價格的提高。牆板銷量成長2%，再生紙板銷量成長7%。價格方面，牆板上漲4%，再生紙板上漲12%。由於牆板和再生紙板銷量增加以及牆板和紙板銷售價格上漲，該部門的營業收入也增長了 18%，達到 9,700 萬美元。

Looking now at our cash flow. We continue to generate healthy cash flow and allocate capital in line with our strategic priorities and rigorous financial return criteria. During the first nine months of the year, operating cash flow was $486 million. Capital spending increased to $147 million, primarily because of the modernization and expansion project at our Laramie, Wyoming cement plant. We also acquired a small aggregates business for $25 million last quarter, the acquired operation is complementary to our existing aggregates business in Kentucky.

現在來看看我們的現金流。我們繼續產生健康的現金流，並根據我們的策略重點和嚴格的財務回報標準分配資本。今年前九個月，營運現金流為4.86億美元。資本支出增加至 1.47 億美元，主要原因是我們位於懷俄明州拉勒米的水泥廠的現代化和擴建項目。上個季度我們也以 2,500 萬美元的價格收購了一家小型骨材業務，此次收購的業務對我們在肯塔基州現有的骨材業務形成了補充。

And finally, we repurchased nearly 800,000 shares of our common stock for $201 million in addition to paying our quarterly dividends returning a total of $226 million to shareholders during the first nine months of the year. We have approximately 5.1 million shares remaining under our current repurchase authorization.

最後，除了支付季度股息外，我們還以 2.01 億美元回購了近 80 萬股普通股，今年前九個月共向股東返還了 2.26 億美元。根據目前的回購授權，我們剩餘約510萬股。

And finally, a look at our capital structure, which continues to provide us significant financial flexibility. At December 31, 2024, our net debt-to-cap ratio was 40% and our net debt-to-EBITDA leverage ratio was 1.2 times. We ended the quarter with $31 million of cash on hand, bringing total committed liquidity at the end of the quarter to approximately $686 million. And we have no meaningful near-term debt maturities.

最後，看看我們的資本結構，它繼續為我們提供顯著的財務靈活性。截至 2024 年 12 月 31 日，我們的淨負債與資本比率為 40%，淨負債與 EBITDA 槓桿比率為 1.2 倍。本季末，我們手頭上有 3,100 萬美元的現金，使得本季末的總承諾流動資金達到約 6.86 億美元。我們沒有有意義的短期債務到期。

As Michael mentioned, subsequent to quarter end, we completed the previously announced acquisition of Bullskin Stone & Lime which we funded through a combination of cash on hand and borrowings under our bank credit facility.

正如邁克爾所提到的，在季度末之後，我們完成了先前宣布的對 Bullskin Stone & Lime 的收購，我們透過庫存現金和銀行信貸借款提供資金。

Thank you for attending today's call. We'll now move to the question-and-answer session. Dave?

感謝您參加今天的電話會議。我們現在進入問答環節。戴夫？

We will now begin the question-and-answer session. (Operator Instructions)

我們現在開始問答環節。（操作員指令）

Trey Grooms, Stephens.

特雷格魯姆斯、史蒂芬斯。

Good morning, Craig and Michael. Thanks for taking my questions. First off, if we could maybe touch on the acquisitions. The pure-play aggregates in Pennsylvania is a Bullskin there and the other tuck-in. Maybe any more color on how it fits geographically, -- are they -- are there other opportunities kind of in that market? Or is this one more kind of a one-off in that Pennsylvania market?

早上好，克雷格和麥可。感謝您回答我的問題。首先，我們可以談談收購嗎？賓州的純粹遊戲集合體是一個 Bullskin 隊，另一個是 tuck in 隊。也許可以從地理位置進一步了解它——那個市場是否還有其他機會？或者這只是賓州市場上的另一個特例？

And then maybe bigger picture, the aggregates has historically been a smaller kind of part of the overall Eagle asset portfolio. But again, you have been maybe a little more active recently on aggregates M&A. Is aggregates a place where we could you all to deploy more capital in a bigger way than you have historically or how should we be thinking about that and your approach there?

然後也許從更大的角度來看，從歷史上看，總量一直是 Eagle 整體資產組合中較小的一部分。但是，您最近可能在整體併購方面更加活躍一些。總量是不是我們可以比歷史上更大規模地部署更多資本的地方，或者我們應該如何考慮這一點以及你在這方面的方法？

Yeah, Trey, I'll answer that for you. When we look at the aggregate assets that we incurred here recently. One is the tuck-in, as you said, and it's in a market that we already have a large quarry for our cement manufacturing. The one we procured actually was right down the road from that gives us just a little bit more flexibility and secures a couple of different things. Let's us participate in the aggregate market there locally, and it also gives us a secondary supply to our cement plant if it was ever needed.

是的，特雷，我會回答你的。當我們查看最近在這裡產生的總資產時。一個是像你所說的那樣，在市場中我們已經有一個大型採石場用於水泥生產。我們採購的實際上是一條很近的道路，它為我們提供了更多的靈活性並確保了一些不同的東西的安全。讓我們參與當地的骨材市場，如果有需要的話，它還能為我們的水泥廠提供二次供應。

We have plenty of reserves at our existing quarry, but just fit several strategic criteria for us. Up in Pennsylvania, the Bullskin asset, it's not as common to find just a pure-play aggregates resource. We're very excited to have that team join the Eagle team. As we build out our network of facilities, this one fits very well. We provide cement up into that market. And so it's right in line with our growth strategy is to have that network and secure that network to make it stronger over time.

我們現有的採石場擁有充足的儲量，但剛好符合我們的幾個策略標準。在賓州的 Bullskin 資產中，找到純粹的骨材資源並不常見。我們非常高興該團隊加入 Eagle 團隊。當我們建造設施網絡時，這個設施非常適合。我們向該市場提供水泥。因此，這完全符合我們的成長策略，即擁有該網絡並保護該網絡，使其隨著時間的推移變得更加強大。

To your second question of aggregates and deploying capital to that we've always been a fan of aggregates. We consider that the heavy side of the business. Our strategy has continuously been to grow the heavy side of the business, primarily. And we see aggregates as a great fit into that and if good quality assets that meet our return criteria come available at the right price, we are interested in those assets.

對於您提出的第二個問題，即總量和資本部署，我們一直是總量的粉絲。我們認為這是業務的沉重一面。我們的策略一直是主要發展重型業務。我們認為總量非常適合這一點，如果符合我們回報標準的優質資產以合適的價格上市，我們會對這些資產感興趣。

Got it. Thank you. That's helpful. I guess, second one, maybe switching gears a little bit on to wallboard. So wallboard volume held in better than we would have expected. And obviously, the rate environment is now more certain, which you mentioned.

知道了。謝謝。這很有幫助。我想，第二個，也許要稍微轉換話題，轉向牆板。因此牆板的體積比我們預期的要好。顯然，正如您所提到的，利率環境現在更加確定了。

But any kind of directional expectations maybe that you could give us for the for overall kind of wallboard demand as we sit here today? Is it fair to think Wallboard volume kind of remains steady, kind of continues to bump along in this range in the medium term until maybe we see some more significant changes on the rate front? Or is there a more significant move expected? Any high-level thoughts there would be helpful. Thank you.

但是，您能否就我們今天所處的整體牆板需求給予一些方向性的預期？是否可以認為 Wallboard 交易量將保持穩定，並在中期內繼續在這個範圍內波動，直到我們看到利率方面出現更顯著的變化？或者預計會有更重要的措施？任何高層次的想法都會有幫助。謝謝。

Right. Trey, I think you actually hit the nail on the head. If you were to look at it over the last four calendar years, wallboard demand has been plus or minus 1% each year over that four-year time frame. So look, we've been in an environment where housing has been pretty tepid, pretty mediocre, and wallboard consumption reflects that.

正確的。特雷，我認為你說到了點子上。如果回顧過去四個日曆年，會發現在這四年的時間範圍內，牆板需求每年都在增加或減少 1%。所以，我們處於一個房屋市場相當不溫不火、相當平庸的環境中，牆板消費就反映了這一點。

We're going to -- I think we finished calendar '24 around 27.3 billion square feet, and that number has been consistent. And so as you look forward, prior cycles, we've been well north of 30 billion square feet of consumption in the US. So we're still at pretty low levels of total consumption.

我認為，截至 24 年，我們的建築面積約為 273 億平方英尺，而且這個數字一直保持穩定。因此，展望未來，在先前的周期中，美國的消費量已經遠遠超過 300 億平方英尺。因此我們的總消費水準仍然很低。

We've just got, as Michael pointed out, the affordability issue, certainly, interest rates are a part of that. But there's also good underlying demand. There's healthy employment here in the US, healthy wages and this rate lock-in and the lack of construction activity for many years now, at least a decade, you just got a very low level of inventory. So as we start to see the affordability improve we would expect to see consumption and housing in total increase. We just got to see the affordability improvement.

正如邁克爾指出的那樣，我們面臨的是負擔能力問題，當然利率是其中的一部分。但潛在需求也良好。美國的就業狀況良好，薪資水平健康，利率鎖定，而且多年來（至少十年）建築活動缺乏，庫存水準非常低。因此，當我們開始看到負擔能力改善時，我們預計消費和住房總量將會增加。我們剛剛看到負擔能力的改善。

Okay. Thank you for all that, Craig and Michael. I'll pass it along and best of luck.

好的。謝謝你們，克雷格和麥可。我會傳達它並祝你好運。

Brent Thielman, D.A. Davidson.

布倫特·蒂爾曼（Brent Thielman），地區檢察官戴維森。

Hey, thanks, good morning. Michael or Craig, I know you previously talked about price increase in wallboard slated for November, you're going to delay that to the first part of 2025. I mean any update there? Are you still kind of taking the temperature of the market right now? I'm just going to be curious, any comments around that?

嘿，謝謝，早安。邁克爾或克雷格，我知道您之前談到過計劃於 11 月上漲的牆板價格，您將把這一計劃推遲到 2025 年上半年。我的意思是那裡有任何更新嗎？現在還在關注市場溫度嗎？我只是好奇，對此有什麼評論嗎？

Yeah, Brent, we've got a price increase that we announced for here early February. So shortly after this call, frankly. So we try not to speculate on exact realization and what not, but we do have a price increase in the market, and we're going to move forward with that.

是的，布倫特，我們已經宣布將於 2 月初上調價格。坦白說，這次通話後不久。因此，我們盡量不對確切的實現進行推測，但市場價格確實有所上漲，我們將繼續推進這一進程。

Got it. And then I guess, Craig, in cement, I mean, obviously, a pinch here on volume, which are related to the weather. I just was wondering any other extraordinary costs to flush out when we look at the margin in that segment from a year-on-year perspective. I don't know if there's extra maintenance costs or anything else like that in there?

知道了。然後我想，克雷格，就水泥而言，我的意思是，顯然這裡的體積有點小，這與天氣有關。我只是想知道，當我們從同比角度來看該部分的利潤率時，是否還需要扣除其他額外成本。我不知道這裡面是否有額外的維護費用或其他類似的東西？

Yeah, Brent, certainly, and we talked about it last quarter and highlighted it here. We had two maintenance projects at our facility, one of the facility down in Texas and then in Tulsa, Oklahoma that were very large nontypical maintenance programs related to 50-year-old pieces of equipment and the replacement of those. So that was an $8 million headwind in this quarter. So yes, I would say this quarter had a unique cost impact from those programs. As Michael mentioned, really about improving the long-term reliability of both of those facilities and the team did a good job with those projects.

是的，布倫特，當然，我們上個季度討論過這個問題，並在這裡強調了這一點。我們的工廠有兩個維護項目，一個位於德克薩斯州，另一個位於俄克拉荷馬州的塔爾薩，這兩個項目都是非常大型的非典型維護項目，涉及 50 年歷史的設備及其更換。因此，這是本季 800 萬美元的逆風。所以是的，我想說本季這些項目對成本產生了獨特的影響。正如邁克爾所提到的，這確實是為了提高這兩個設施的長期可靠性，而且團隊在這些項目中做得很好。

Got it. Just last one. I know we're only a month in, not a lot gets done this time of the year anyway, but it doesn't seem like some of these weather conditions have abated from what I can see in the news. Just wondering if you can talk a little bit about that in the current quarter and how we ought to be approaching that as we sit here today.

知道了。只剩最後一個了。我知道才一個月的時間，每年的這個時候也沒什麼事情可做，但是從我在新聞中看到的情況來看，一些天氣狀況似乎並沒有減弱。只是想知道您是否可以談談當前季度的情況以及我們今天應該如何處理這個問題。

Yeah. Look, I've always said it's tough to draw a trend during January and frankly, even February as most of the country is going through winter. This January is no different than that. certainly lots of weather activity across the entirety of the US. So yes, January always has those types of issues, and this year will be no different.

是的。聽著，我一直說，在一月很難畫出趨勢，坦白說，即使在二月也很難畫出趨勢，因為全國大部分地區正處於冬季。今年一月也是如此。整個美國肯定都有很多天氣活動。是的，一月總是會出現這類問題，今年也不會例外。

Yeah. Okay. Thanks guys. I'll pass it on.

是的。好的。謝謝大家。我會傳達的。

Anthony Pettinari, Citigroup.

花旗集團的安東尼‧佩蒂納裡 (Anthony Pettinari)。

Hi, this is Asher Sohnen on for Anthony. Thanks for taking my question. Just on the cement side, can you provide some color maybe on early realization you might be seeing on the January hikes? And then have you had any initial conversations around mid-year or just the sense that customers might be bracing for it?

大家好，我是 Asher Sohnen，代替 Anthony。感謝您回答我的問題。僅就具體方面而言，您能否提供一些關於 1 月份升息的早期跡象？那麼，你們在年中前後有沒有進行過初步對話，或者只是感覺到客戶可能正在為此做好準備？

Probably a little too early to speculate on a second round of a cement price increase. As Michael mentioned, we've got price increases in most of our markets throughout the first part of calendar '25, not all of January, some into the spring time as well. And as I said earlier, certainly, with the weather that we've seen for the first part of January, we'll talk about how we -- what we realized as we get into the fourth quarter and go through those results. But it's kind of sporadic throughout the spring time.

現在猜測第二輪水泥價格上漲可能還為時過早。正如麥可所提到的，我們大多數市場的價格在 2025 年上半年都有所上漲，但並不是整個 1 月份，有些市場的價格在春季也有所上漲。正如我之前所說，當然，根據我們在一月初看到的天氣情況，我們將討論我們在進入第四季度時意識到了什麼，並回顧這些結果。但在整個春季，這種情況有點不常見。

Got it, got it. And then just I think if I strip out the increased maintenance costs for the quarter, it looks like maybe cement margins were roughly flat year-over-year, which is encouraging given the volume headwinds. So I just how should we maybe think about the margin opportunity for cement over the next couple of quarters with no more maintenance headwind and potentially weather easing up?

知道了，知道了。然後，我認為，如果我剔除本季增加的維修成本，水泥利潤率可能與去年同期基本持平，考慮到銷售阻力，這是令人鼓舞的。那麼，在沒有更多維護阻力且天氣可能緩解的情況下，我們該如何看待未來幾季水泥的利潤機會？

Yeah. Again, we're optimistic about going into the spring. As we think about the construction activity and bidding activity that we see. A lot of that again, we're down and volumes will be down for the nine months. We're down 4%, 5%.

是的。再次，我們對春季的到來充滿樂觀。當我們思考所看到的施工活動和投標活動時。再一次，我們的銷量下降了，而且未來九個月的銷量還會下降。我們下降了4%、5%。

Again, a lot of that has been weather throughout calendar '24. It's been highlighted the lack of infrastructure spending coming out of IIJA as those funds start to trickle through the system, there's reasons to be optimistic, not just about calendar '25, but '26 and '27 as well and improvement in volumes will certainly go a long way on the margin side as well. And as you said, some of this maintenance has been pretty unique to this year and not necessarily repeatable next year.

再次強調，這在很大程度上與 24 年曆中的天氣有關。人們已經注意到 IIJA 缺乏基礎設施支出，因為這些資金開始在系統中慢慢流出，我們有理由感到樂觀，不僅是對 25 年，而且對 26 年和 27 年也是如此，而且交易量的提高肯定也會對利潤率產生很大影響。正如您所說，今年的一些維護工作非常獨特，明年不一定能重複。

Great, thanks. That's really helpful. I'll turn it over.

太好了，謝謝。這真的很有幫助。我把它翻過來。

Jerry Revich, Goldman Sachs.

高盛的傑瑞·雷維奇（Jerry Revich）。

Yes. Hi, good morning everyone. Michael, Craig, the key question that folks have is really given the outstanding wallboard margin performance and continuing soft resi data points, people are asking what's different about the wallboard pricing and margins in this cycle compared to, call it, the 2015 time frame where we saw pricing give back during a similar mid-cycle pause, I would love your thoughts on that and the level of comfort on the sustainability of the current margin structure in an uneven resi environment, if you don't mind?

是的。大家早安。麥可、克雷格，大家最關鍵的問題是，鑑於牆板利潤率的出色表現和持續疲軟的住宅數據點，人們想知道，與 2015 年時間框架相比，本週期的牆板定價和利潤率有何不同？ 當時，我們看到定價在類似的周期中期停頓期間回落。

Yeah. So good question, Jerry. Look, we've talked about it quite a bit. The industry has changed dramatically. And certainly, the demand side is one point. And as I mentioned earlier, we've been stuck in neutral as it relates to homebuilding here in the US for quite some time, and therefore, wallboard consumption has been pretty consistent at pretty low levels, quite frankly.

是的。傑瑞，你問得真好。瞧，我們已經討論過很多次了。這個行業已經發生了巨大的變化。當然，需求方是一方面。正如我之前提到的，在美國，住宅建築業已經停滯不前很長一段時間了，因此，坦白說，牆板消費量一直穩定在相當低的水平。

But on the flip side, the synthetic gypsum raw material issue, when you're talking about 2015, believe it or not, that's 10 years ago now. And as we've seen coal plant closures, some of the synthetic gypsum inventory that had been on the ground has been used.

但另一方面，合成石膏原料問題，當你談論 2015 年時，不管你信不信，那已經是 10 年前的事了。隨著我們看到煤電廠的關閉，一些地面上的合成石膏庫存已經被使用。

And so you've seen a significant change in the cost structure as that raw material has become more difficult to find and further away, which now has increased maintenance transportation costs. Again, unique -- Eagle and American Gypsum are unique in that we have surety around supply of our raw materials.

因此，您會看到成本結構發生顯著變化，因為原材料變得越來越難找，而且距離越來越遠，這增加了維護運輸成本。再次，獨特性——Eagle 和 American Gypsum 的獨特之處在於我們對原材料的供應有保證。

But when you had roughly half of the industry that was relying on synthetic gypsum as its primary raw material, and the shift away from that is going to have a material impact on their cost structure. So we enjoy these margins because of decisions that were made many moons ago and it's a structural advantage for us. Not everybody is that well positioned.

但當大約一半的產業依賴合成石膏作為主要原料時，轉變原料方式將對其成本結構產生重大影響。因此，我們享有這些利潤空間是因為我們很久以前就做出了決定，這對我們來說是一個結構性優勢。並非每個人都能如此順利。

And Craig, on that note, given the high cost position for some of the competitor base, any strategic opportunities emerging for you folks on the wallboard side of business? Or is our capital deployment focus here still strictly on the heavy side?

克雷格，考慮到部分競爭對手的成本較高，在牆板業務方面，你們有何策略機會？或者我們的資本配置重點仍然嚴格偏重於重型？

As Michael has always said, we continue to look at ways to put our free cash flow and our balance sheet to work. And take advantage of the position that we have across our wallboard network. So we continue to look at those opportunities with our facilities that are in the western part of the country that sit on decades worth of raw materials and gypsum. Those are things that we continue to explore, how do we improve those facilities and take advantage of the cost position that we do have.

正如邁克爾一直所說，我們將繼續尋找方法來讓我們的自由現金流和資產負債表發揮作用。並利用我們在牆板網路中所佔據的優勢。因此，我們將繼續利用位於該國西部的工廠尋找這些機會，這些工廠擁有數十年的原材料和石膏。這些都是我們繼續探索的事情，我們如何改善這些設施並利用我們現有的成本優勢。

And can we shift gears and talk about cement. So your shipments in the quarter, I thought were pretty good given the maintenance, normally, your shipments are down 20% sequentially, you were down just 17% sequentially. As we think about the cadence of demand into calendar '25, it feels like you still have a tough comparison for volumes in the first quarter, but quite the easy one, applying normal seasonality in the second quarter and just would love to get your views on how that normal seasonality math stacks up versus your expectations for volumes in terms of tough comp in the March quarter and then very easy comp looks like in June?

我們能不能換個話題來談水泥？因此，我認為本季你們的出貨量相當不錯，考慮到維護情況，正常情況下，你們的出貨量環比下降 20%，但你們的出貨量環比僅下降了 17%。當我們考慮 25 年的需求節奏時，感覺您仍然需要對第一季度的銷量進行艱難的比較，但在第二季度應用正常季節性因素會相當容易，我只是想听聽您對正常季節性數學的看法，與您對 3 月份季度銷量的預期相比，6 月份的銷量預期如何？

Yeah. Sitting here today, you'd expect to see pretty normal seasonality. The March quarter is always a difficult quarter, just given that two-third of it is January and February, which are particularly the hardest winter months and January certainly proved that out here this year. But yeah, as you get into June and get into September, that's when the construction season really starts to kick off and sitting here today, have optimism around the beginning of the construction season, so ready to get there.

是的。今天坐在這裡，你會看到相當正常的季節性現象。三月季度總是比較艱難，因為其中有三分之二是一月和二月，而這兩個月份正是最難熬的冬季月份，今年一月無疑證明了這一點。但是的，隨著六月和九月的到來，建築季節才真正開始拉開帷幕，今天坐在這裡，對建築季節的開始抱持樂觀的態度，為到達那裡做好準備。

Yeah, appreciate the conversation. Thank you.

是的，很感謝這次談話。謝謝。

Adam Thalhimer, Thompson Davis.

亞當塔希默、湯普森戴維斯。

Hey, good morning guys. On cement prices, were there any push through in January? Or are those more for April?

嘿，大家早安。就水泥價格而言，1月有什麼上漲嗎？還是這些更多是針對四月的？

It's a combination across our plants across our networks. Some markets are in January. Some markets are going in April and some in between. So it's kind of across the board depending upon the market that you're in.

這是我們各個工廠和網路的組合。有些市場是在一月。有些市場將在四月開放，有些則在四月和四月之間。所以這取決於你所在的市場。

Okay. And then Craig, for Bullskin, how much should we add for aggregates tonnage? And is their pricing kind of similar to your corporate average?

好的。然後 Craig，對於 Bullskin，我們應該增加多少骨材噸位？他們的定價和你們公司的平均定價相似嗎？

Good question, Adam. Look, I would tell you, from a pricing perspective, I don't -- consistent with kind of the average across our markets. In terms of volume, we've owned it for less than a month here, so we'll give you a better update on volumes as we can have a little more time with the business.

問得好，亞當。看，我會告訴你，從定價的角度來看，我並不認為這與我們整個市場的平均價格一致。就銷量而言，我們擁有它還不到一個月，因此，當我們有更多的時間處理這項業務時，我們將為您提供更好的銷售更新。

Okay. And then lastly, on the paperboard price, the average pricing jumped up quite a bit in Q3. I'm curious, was that mechanical and that will reverse or is that kind of the new norm over $600?

好的。最後，就紙板價格而言，第三季的平均價格大幅上漲。我很好奇，這是機械的嗎？

No, that is mechanical dealing with the price adjustments in the supply agreements within that business. So that price improvement is a function of OCC prices earlier in the year, having been higher OCC prices here in October, November and December actually came down and so as we go into the March quarter, you'll see that pricing probably dip back below $600 a ton. Again, it's not a market change. It's just a function of the pricing mechanisms in the long-term contracts.

不，那是機械地處理該業務內的供應協議中的價格調整。因此，價格上漲是今年稍早 OCC 價格的結果，10 月、11 月和 12 月的 OCC 價格較高，但實際上有所下降，因此，當我們進入 3 月季度時，您會看到價格可能會回落至每噸 600 美元以下。再說一遍，這不是市場變化。這只是長期合約中定價機制的功能。

Understood. Okay. Thanks Craig.

明白了。好的。謝謝克雷格。

Philip Ng, Jefferies.

傑富瑞 (Jefferies) 的 Philip Ng。

Hey guys. There's been a lot of headlines with funding being paused, whether it's for IIJA or [IRA] since Trump has been back in office. Appreciating this is a super fluid situation. What's the Eagle House view? And what this all means? Have you seen any noticeable positive activity projects?

嘿，大家好。自從川普重返總統職位以來，許多頭條新聞都報道暫停向 IIJA 或 IRA 提供資金。欣賞這是一個非常不穩定的情況。Eagle House 的景觀怎樣？這一切意味著什麼？您有看到什麼值得注意的積極活動項目嗎？

And then separately, if there are any tariffs potentially being implemented on cement, how do you think that actually impacts your business clear or bad?

然後另外，如果對水泥可能徵收關稅，您認為這會對您的業務產生什麼明顯或負面的影響？

Yeah. Phil, on your first question, look, a change in administration always has some speed bumps and bumps in the road as they're going through that transition, this is certainly no different, a lot of noise here in recently. But as it relates to the things that matter to Eagle, we don't think there's much of an issue there. Again, a lot of noise, but things that mattered Eagle or we would expect to see infrastructure continue and other construction activity continue.

是的。菲爾，關於你的第一個問題，你看，政府的變動總會在過渡期間遇到一些障礙和坎坷，這次當然也不例外，最近這裡就出現了很多噪音。但就 Eagle 所關心的事情而言，我們認為不存在什麼大問題。再次，有很多噪音，但對 Eagle 來說重要的事情是，我們希望看到基礎設施繼續建設並且其他建設活動繼續進行。

In terms of tariffs on cement imports, [TBD] of course, but it would certainly impact the cost of imported product into the US, not necessarily a dramatic impact to us directly. But indirectly, it would cause the marginal supply to be a higher cost ton.

就水泥進口關稅而言，當然還有待確定，但它肯定會影響美國進口產品的成本，但不一定會對我們造成直接的巨大影響。但間接地，這將導致邊際供給成本更高。

Super. But it doesn't sound like you've seen any pause in projects on the public side thus far? I mean I know there's not a lot getting done in the winter months of the year, but you haven't seen much activity to slow down on that front?

極好的。但到目前為止，聽起來您似乎沒有看到公共方面的項目有任何暫停？我的意思是，我知道一年中的冬季幾個月裡沒有太多事情可做，但你沒有看到這方面的活動放緩嗎？

No, no.

不，不。

Okay. Super. And then on the wallboard side of things, once again, the quarter was pretty impressive. Demand was pretty resilient. And the way do you kind of characterize this environment, muted growth, but pretty steady.

好的。極好的。然後從牆板方面來看，本季的表現再次令人印象深刻。需求相當強勁。您如何描述這種環境？ 成長緩慢，但相當穩定。

Is that what you're seeing on the order front as well because some of the distributors out there have talked about demand softening in single-family as well as commercial, but I think the way you've kind of message seems pretty steady, but I just want to make sure we're being thoughtful about this?

您在訂單方面也看到這種情況嗎？

Yeah. Again, even though wallboard is an indoor sport, it's always hard to generate a lot of trend activity, whether it's orders, shipments in January. But we haven't seen any dramatic swings one way or the other within the wallboard business.

是的。再說一遍，儘管牆板運動是一項室內運動，但總是很難產生大量的趨勢活動，無論是訂單還是一月份的出貨量。但我們尚未看到牆板業務出現任何劇烈波動。

Okay. I appreciate all the great color guys. Thank you.

好的。我感謝所有出色的色彩師。謝謝。

Jonathan Bettenhausen, Truist Securities.

喬納森·貝滕豪森（Jonathan Bettenhausen），Truist Securities。

Hey, guys, I'm on for Keith this morning. Thanks for taking my question. On wallboard, it looks like the wallboard volumes outperformed the industry manufacturer shipment number once again. What are the main drivers of that? Is this more of like a regional focus? Or are there some share gains going on? Just any color here would be helpful.

嘿，夥計們，今天早上我代替 Keith 上場。感謝您回答我的問題。就牆板而言，牆板銷量似乎再次超過了行業製造商的出貨量。其主要驅動因素為何？這是否更像是區域焦點？或股價是否有上漲？這裡的任何顏色都會有幫助。

No. Look, I would say right on the margin. I think the industry was down 1.5% or so, and we're up slightly. So very close to being in line with that. Our share hasn't changed much in the last five years.

不。你看，我想說的是，就在邊緣。我認為整個行業下降了 1.5% 左右，而我們的收入略有上升。因此非常接近於此。過去五年我們的份額沒有太大變化。

There are certainly regional activities that we benefit from, just given our footprint in the southern part of the country where construction activity is generally more robust. So I think it's more of that.

鑑於我們的業務範圍遍布該國南部，而那裡的建築活動總體而言更為活躍，我們無疑從區域活動中受益。所以我認為，情況還不止於此。

Okay. That's helpful. Thank you.u

好的。這很有幫助。謝謝你。

This concludes our question-and-answer session. I would like to turn the conference back over to Mr. Haack for any closing remarks.

我們的問答環節到此結束。我想將會議交還給哈克先生，請他作最後發言。

Thank you, Dave. Next quarter marks the end of our fiscal year, and we look forward to reflecting on the year we had while also laying out our strategic priorities for the year ahead. Until then, and as always, we will focus on excellent operational execution and capitalizing on opportunities for our businesses. Thanks to everyone who joined the call today.

謝謝你，戴夫。下個季度標誌著我們財政年度的結束，我們期待回顧過去的一年，同時制定來年的戰略重點。在此之前，我們將一如既往地專注於卓越的營運執行並為我們的業務抓住機會。感謝今天參加電話會議的所有人。

The conference has now concluded. Thank you for attending today's presentation. You may now disconnect.

會議現已結束。感謝您參加今天的演講。您現在可以斷開連線。