Eagle Materials Inc (EXP) 2026 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Good day, everyone, and welcome to the Eagle Materials first quarter of fiscal 2026 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.

大家好，歡迎參加 Eagle Materials 2026 財政年度第一季財報電話會議。此通話正在錄音。現在，我想將電話轉給 Eagle 總裁兼執行長 Michael Haack 先生。

Mr. Haack, please go ahead, sir.

哈克先生，請繼續，先生。

Thank you, Chuck. Good morning. Welcome to Eagle Materials conference call for our first quarter of fiscal year 2026. 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.

謝謝你，查克。早安.歡迎參加 Eagle Materials 2026 財政年度第一季電話會議。這是邁克爾哈克。今天與我一起出席的還有我們的財務長 Craig Kesler 和投資者關係、策略與企業發展資深副總裁 Alex Haddock。

There will be a slide presentation in connection with this call. To access it, please go to eaglematerials.com and click on the link to the webcast. While you're accessing the slides, please note that the first slide covers our cautionary disclosure regarding forward-looking statements made during this call.

本次電話會議將會有投影片簡報。要存取它，請訪問 eaglematerials.com 並點擊網路廣播連結。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前瞻性陳述的警示性揭露。

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.

這些聲明受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，它也包含在我們的新聞稿末尾。

Thank you for joining us today. I'm pleased to report that we had a solid start to our fiscal year 2026. We generated record first quarter revenue of $634.7 million and diluted net earnings per share of $3.76 despite challenging weather conditions across many of our cement, concrete and aggregate markets. Throughout our history, our low-cost producer position and operational focus has helped us weather tougher periods in the cycle and capture the benefits of stronger conditions.

感謝您今天加入我們。我很高興地報告，我們的 2026 財政年度有一個好的開始。儘管我們的許多水泥、混凝土和骨料市場都面臨嚴峻的天氣條件，但我們第一季的營收仍創紀錄地達到 6.347 億美元，每股攤薄淨收益達到 3.76 美元。在我們的歷史上，我們的低成本生產商地位和營運重點幫助我們度過了週期中的艱難時期，並獲得了更強勁條件帶來的好處。

Regardless of specific near-term conditions, our operations maintain the same disciplined focus every quarter and every year. Improving our operational metrics is always a key priority in this long-term multi-cycle approach to operational improvement is an important competitive advantage for Eagle Materials.

無論近期的具體情況如何，我們的營運每季和每年都保持相同的紀律重點。在這種長期多周期營運改善方法中，改善我們的營運指標始終是關鍵優先事項，也是 Eagle Materials 的重要競爭優勢。

For me, that all starts with our safety performance. I'm pleased we continued our safety progress maintaining our total recordable incident rate well below the industry average and near our all-time record as a company. And as always, we aim to do better to establish our safety culture so it is self-sustaining. The progress we've made is tangible and I'm grateful to our employees for their relentless efforts.

對我來說，這一切都始於我們的安全表現。我很高興我們在安全方面繼續取得進步，將總可記錄事故率保持在遠低於行業平均水平並接近公司歷史最高水平。像往常一樣，我們的目標是更好地建立我們的安全文化，使其能夠自我維持。我們所取得的進步是實實在在的，我感謝我們的員工不懈的努力。

We've also made substantial progress in our sustainability initiatives, capturing the economic benefits of being a low-cost producer means sustainability has always been part of our operational DNA. We are always looking for ways to do more with less.

我們在永續發展計畫方面也取得了實質進展，獲得作為低成本生產商的經濟利益意味著永續發展一直是我們營運 DNA 的一部分。我們一直在尋找以更少的投入實現更多產出的方法。

Over the last 5-plus years, we have expanded our investments that offer us good returns, focused on improving our sustainability. I think our progress is evidenced and our results across several initiatives, which can be found in our newly published an updated sustainability report.

在過去五年多的時間裡，我們擴大了投資，為我們帶來了良好的回報，並致力於提高我們的永續性。我認為我們的進步是有證據的，我們在多項措施中也取得了成果，這些都可以在我們新發布的最新永續發展報告中找到。

To highlight just a few examples, we met our 2030 midterm cement CO2e intensity goal early. This does not mean we are done. We'll continue to focus on efforts so we can improve this metric, operate more efficiently and provide a return to our investors. We continue to enhance our reporting.

舉幾個例子，我們提前實現了 2030 年中期水泥二氧化碳當量強度目標。這並不意味著我們已經完成了。我們將繼續努力，以便改善這一指標，更有效率地運作並為我們的投資者帶來回報。我們將繼續加強我們的報道。

For example, in our most recent report, we separate cement, GHG emissions by fuel and process for the first time. We also made investment in Terra CO2 as a lead investor to further our efforts to produce low-carbon supplementary cementitious material to help meet the expected future demand for cement more broadly. Overall, I'm pleased with our progress and believe we still are in the early innings and will show further improvements.

例如，在我們最近的報告中，我們首次按燃料和製程流程分別列出水泥的溫室氣體排放。我們也作為領投方對Terra CO2進行了投資，以進一步致力於生產低碳補充膠凝材料，幫助更廣泛地滿足未來對水泥的預期需求。總的來說，我對我們的進步感到滿意，並相信我們仍處於早期階段，並將取得進一步的進展。

With that, let me turn to a few comments on our business environment. First, from a demand perspective, despite headline macroeconomic and policy uncertainty, we saw stable order trends across each of our major business lines. Our aggregates volumes improved meaningfully year-over-year, both from the integration of our two recently acquired quarries and on an organic basis.

接下來，請容許我對我們的商業環境發表一些評論。首先，從需求角度來看，儘管宏觀經濟和政策存在不確定性，但我們看到各主要業務線的訂單趨勢保持穩定。我們的骨材產量較去年大幅提高，這既得益於我們最近收購的兩家採石場的整合，也得益於有機成長。

Our cement volumes also improved year-over-year, which is especially impressive given the major weather disruptions in several of our cement markets. This is the first quarter since December 2023 that we've seen a year-over-year increase in cement sales volumes.

我們的水泥產量也較去年同期成長，考慮到我們幾個水泥市場受到嚴重天氣影響，這一點尤其令人印象深刻。這是自 2023 年 12 月以來水泥銷量首次年增。

Our heavy side customers continue to express cautious optimism for their business outlooks as DOT state budgets remain healthy and infrastructure awards accelerate. Against this backdrop, once cement sales volumes rebound from the slower than anticipated consumption we had in calendar 2023 and 2024, we believe the high capacity utilization rates across the cement industry should also lead to an improved pricing environment.

由於交通部州預算保持健康且基礎設施獎項加速頒發，我們的重型客戶繼續對其業務前景表示謹慎樂觀。在此背景下，一旦水泥銷售量從 2023 年和 2024 年低於預期的消費量中反彈，我們相信整個水泥產業的高產能利用率也應該會導致定價環境的改善。

Our near-term outlook on volumes for the Wallboard business remains more subdued. Single-family new homebuilding constraints persist primarily driven by affordability challenges for the new home buyer. For wallboard volumes to recover, interest rates and/or home prices will need to come down to aid buyer demand more broadly.

我們對牆板業務銷售的近期展望仍然較為低迷。單戶新房建設的限制持續存在，主要是由於新房買家的負擔能力不足。為了恢復牆板銷量，利率和/或房價需要下降，以更廣泛地刺激買家需求。

However, putting the current environment into context, annual consumption of wallboard sits at levels again to the late 1990s when the US had a much lower population base. And despite the tougher residential construction environment, our wallboard business has performed exceptionally well.

然而，從當前環境來看，牆板的年消費量又回到了20世紀90年代末的水平，當時美國的人口基數要低得多。儘管住宅建築環境更加嚴峻，我們的牆板業務仍然表現優異。

Even against a softer demand environment, we have been able to maintain our margin profile across our businesses given our operational advantages. Our cement footprint is more modern than prior cycles, thanks to strategic acquisitions and in cement and Wallboard structural constraints on adding supply remain.

即使在需求疲軟的環境下，憑藉我們的營運優勢，我們仍能維持各項業務的利潤率。由於策略性收購以及水泥和牆板結構性供應限制的增加，我們的水泥足跡比前幾個週期更加現代化。

We believe long-term demand fundamentals favor the consumption of our products, US infrastructure assets and the US housing stock continue to age and the replenishment of our roads, bridges and homes will require cement, concrete and aggregates in wallboard. That is why as we look out over the next three to five years, we believe we can continue to grow and expand our margins further.

我們相信長期需求基本面有利於我們產品的消費，美國基礎設施資產和美國住房存量繼續老化，我們的道路、橋樑和住宅的補充將需要水泥、混凝土和牆板骨料。這就是為什麼展望未來三到五年，我們相信我們可以繼續成長並進一步擴大利潤率。

We also continue to prudently invest our substantial excess free cash flow. I recently visited our Laramie, Wyoming cement plant, and I'm happy with the progress we are making on modernizing and expanding the plant. The project remains on budget and on schedule for late calendar 2026 commissioning.

我們也將繼續審慎地投資我們大量的過剩自由現金流。我最近參觀了我們位於懷俄明州拉勒米的水泥廠，我對我們在工廠現代化和擴建方面取得的進展感到滿意。該項目仍在預算之內，並按計劃於 2026 年底投入使用。

Construction for our Duke, Oklahoma Wallboard plant modernization will also commence this summer, and we have already begun purchasing major equipment. Both projects highlight our investment philosophy well. We plan to continue to seek strategic projects, whether acquisitions or organic opportunities that meet our financial return criteria and position our company for the next 40 years or more.

我們位於俄克拉荷馬州杜克市的牆板工廠現代化改造工程也將於今年夏天開始，我們已經開始購買主要設備。這兩個項目都很好地體現了我們的投資理念。我們計劃繼續尋求策略項目，無論是收購還是有機機會，以滿足我們的財務回報標準並為我們公司未來 40 年或更長的時間做好準備。

Alongside these projects, we plan to continue to invest in our company through opportunistic share repurchases as well. There's a lot of meaningful value-creating work underway at Eagle Materials, and I'm excited to share our progress along the way.

除了這些項目之外，我們還計劃透過機會性股票回購繼續投資我們的公司。Eagle Materials 正在進行許多有意義的創造價值的工作，我很高興分享我們在這過程中取得的進展。

With that, Craig, I'll pass it over to you.

克雷格，有了這個，我就把它交給你了。

Thank you, Michael. As mentioned, first quarter revenue was a record $635 million, an increase of 4% and -- the increase primarily reflects higher cement and Wallboard sales volume as well as the contribution from the recently acquired aggregates businesses. Excluding the acquired businesses, consolidated revenue was up 2%.

謝謝你，麥可。如上所述，第一季營收達到創紀錄的 6.35 億美元，成長 4%，這一成長主要反映了水泥和牆板銷量的增加以及最近收購的骨料業務的貢獻。不包括收購的業務，綜合收入成長了 2%。

First quarter earnings per share were down 5% to $3.76. The decrease was driven by lower earnings, mostly in cement as a result of higher operating costs, partially offset by a 3% reduction in fully diluted shares due to our share buyback program.

第一季每股收益下降5%至3.76美元。下降的主要原因是收益下降，主要是由於營運成本上升導致水泥業務收益下降，但股票回購計畫導致完全稀釋股份減少3%，部分抵銷了收益下降的影響。

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 was up 5%, driven primarily by increased cement sales volume and a 21% increase in concrete and aggregates revenue. Aggregate sales volume was up 117%, including the contribution from the recently acquired aggregates businesses. Organic aggregate sales volume was up 29%. Operating earnings in the sector were down 5%, primarily because of the impact of lower production volumes on fixed costs as well as increased raw material costs.

現在轉向下一張投影片中重點介紹的細分市場表現。在我們的重型材料部門（包括水泥、混凝土和骨料部門），收入增長了 5%，主要原因是水泥銷量增加以及混凝土和骨料收入增長了 21%。總計銷售量成長了 117%，其中包括最近收購的骨材業務的貢獻。有機總銷量成長了29%。該行業的營業收入下降了 5%，主要是因為產量下降對固定成本的影響以及原材料成本的增加。

Moving to the Light Materials sector on the next slide. First quarter revenue in our Light Materials sector increased 1%, reflecting higher wallboard sales volume, partially offset by lower wallboard sales prices. Operating earnings in the sector were down slightly reflecting lower net sales prices, partially offset by lower input costs, primarily for recycled fiber.

下一張投影片將轉到輕質材料部分。我們輕質材料部門第一季的營收成長了 1%，這反映了牆板銷售量的增加，但被牆板銷售價格的下降部分抵消。該行業的營業利潤略有下降，反映出淨銷售價格下降，但部分被投入成本下降（主要是再生纖維）所抵消。

Looking now at our cash flow. We continue to generate substantial cash flow and allocate capital in a disciplined way. In the first quarter, operating cash flow increased by 3% to $137 million, reflecting improved working capital management. Capital spending increased to $76 million as we continue to invest in and improve our operations.

現在看看我們的現金流。我們繼續產生大量現金流並以嚴謹的方式分配資本。第一季度，營運現金流成長 3% 至 1.37 億美元，反映營運資金管理有所改善。隨著我們繼續投資和改善運營，資本支出增加至 7,600 萬美元。

Most of the increase was associated with the modernization and expansion of our Mountain cement plant and equipment purchases for the project to modernize our Duke, Oklahoma Wallboard facility. These two projects as well as our sustaining capital spending -- we continue to expect total company capital spending in fiscal 2026 to be in the range of $475 million to $525 million. We repurchased 358,000 shares of our common stock for $79 million and paid our quarterly dividend, returning $87 million to shareholders during the first quarter. We have 4.3 million shares remaining under our current repurchase authorization.

大部分成長與我們的山地水泥廠的現代化和擴建以及為俄克拉荷馬州杜克市牆板工廠的現代化項目購買的設備有關。這兩個項目以及我們的持續資本支出——我們繼續預計 2026 財年公司總資本支出將在 4.75 億美元至 5.25 億美元之間。我們以 7,900 萬美元回購了 358,000 股普通股，並支付了季度股息，在第一季度向股東返還了 8,700 萬美元。我們目前的回購授權還剩下 430 萬股。

Finally, a look at our capital structure, which continues to give us significant financial flexibility. At June 30, our net debt-to-cap ratio remained at 46%, and our net debt-to-EBITDA leverage ratio was 1.6 times. We ended the quarter with $60 million of cash on hand. Total committed liquidity at the end of the quarter was approximately $525 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 6 月 30 日，我們的淨負債與資本比率維持在 46%，淨負債與 EBITDA 槓桿比率為 1.6 倍。本季末我們手頭上有 6,000 萬美元現金。本季末的承諾流動資金總額約為 5.25 億美元，且我們沒有重大的短期債務到期。

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

感謝您參加今天的電話會議。我們現在進入問答環節。謝謝。

(Operator Instructions) Trey Grooms, Stephens.

（操作員指示）Trey Grooms，Stephens。

Good morning, everyone. Hey, if you could maybe touch on Wallboard here. I mean you guys are clearly outperforming the market. Maybe touch on some of the drivers there. And maybe what you're seeing on the demand front, housing continues to be pretty weak. But I'd say you guys are outperforming there. So any color you could give us around that.

大家早安。嘿，如果你能在這裡談談 Wallboard 的話。我的意思是，你們的表現明顯優於市場。也許會觸及那裡的一些驅動因素。您可能從需求方面看到，房屋市場持續疲軟。但我想說你們的表現非常出色。所以您可以提供我們任何顏色。

Yes, Trey. Look, I think some of it is our geographic position continues to do well. And you've heard me say this many times, also looking at volumes on a trailing 12-month basis is important quarter-to-quarter, you could have weather issues, you could have projects that shift around.

是的，特雷。看起來，我認為部分原因是我們的地理位置繼續保持良好。你已經聽我說過很多次了，查看過去 12 個月的交易量也是很重要的，因為你可能會遇到天氣問題，你可能會遇到項目轉移的問題。

But we're happy with where our businesses are positioned. Our facilities are in good condition and the team is performing well. No doubt, and as Michael mentioned, the affordability issues continue to plague the housing industry, but -- and wallboard volumes are still at very low levels in the grand scheme of things. So we like our position. And as we can improve the affordability issue in the United States, I think our business is positioned very, very well.

但我們對我們的業務定位感到滿意。我們的設施狀況良好，團隊表現良好。毫無疑問，正如邁克爾所提到的，負擔能力問題繼續困擾著住房行業，但是——從總體來看，牆板產量仍然處於非常低的水平。所以我們喜歡我們的立場。而且，由於我們能夠改善美國的負擔能力問題，我認為我們的業務定位非常非常好。

Okay. And then kind of sticking with Wallboard, the margins there continue to be really good. Can you talk about anything on the cost front we should be kind of keeping an eye out for on the wallboard side? Any swings there or any changes that you're expecting on that front?

好的。然後繼續使用 Wallboard，那裡的利潤率仍然很好。您能談談在成本方面我們應該關注的牆板方面的事情嗎？您預計這方面會出現什麼變化或改變嗎？

Look, natural gas has pretty been range-bound for quite some time now. It's a little over $3 million. OCC prices have come down. I think they probably stabilized at this level for a little while. We're fortunate with our natural gypsum reserves and having plenty of those for many years, many decades. And so I don't see anything on the immediate horizon one way or the other on the cost side.

瞧，天然氣價格目前已在區間波動相當長一段時間了。略高於300萬美元。 OCC價格已經下降了。我認為他們可能會在這個水平上穩定一段時間。我們很幸運，擁有豐富的天然石膏儲量，可供我們開採很多年、很多年。因此，我認為近期成本方面不會出現任何變化。

All right. Well, thanks for taking my questions. I'll pass it on and jump back in queue. Thank you.

好的。好的，感謝您回答我的問題。我會將其傳遞下去並重新回到隊列中。謝謝。

Brian Brophy, Stifel.

布萊恩·布羅菲（Brian Brophy），Stifel。

Yeah, thanks. Good morning, everybody. The JV operating earnings were a little bit lower than -- the Street was. I guess just curious to what extent that was a continuation of a drag from the slight facility ramp up? And just any update on how you guys are thinking about that ramp moving forward here?

是的，謝謝。大家早安。合資公司的營業利潤略低於華爾街的預期。我只是好奇這在多大程度上是設施輕微增加所造成的拖累的延續？你們對於這條坡道的推進有什麼看法嗎？

Yes. Look, I think there were two things in the quarter. You hit on one of them certainly as we commissioned that facility during the winter, and it's really in start-up mode as we've gone through the spring and early summer -- so that did continue to be a drag on earnings. The business is starting up and will continue to improve. I think as we go along this year.

是的。看，我認為本季有兩件事。您肯定碰到了其中之一，因為我們在冬季委託了該設施，並且隨著春季和初夏的到來，它確實處於啟動模式 - 所以這確實繼續拖累了盈利。業務正在起步並將繼續改善。我想隨著我們今年的進展。

The other point, and you see it in the release, sales volumes were down 12%. Texas continued to see some weather issues across the whole state. And that's certainly contributed to the decline in volumes.

另一點，正如您在新聞稿中看到的，銷售量下降了 12%。德州全州繼續遭遇一些天氣問題。這無疑導致了銷量的下降。

That's helpful. And then on the flip side, obviously, there was a nice bounce back in profitability on the concrete and ag side -- is this a good run rate to think about margins moving forward in that segment? Or is there any kind of one-off benefits to call out this quarter? Thanks.

這很有幫助。另一方面，混凝土和農業方面的獲利能力顯然出現了良好的反彈——這是否是一個良好的運作率，可以用來考慮該領域未來的利潤率？或者本季是否有任何一次性福利值得關注？謝謝。

Yes. No onetime issues or onetime benefits. I would tell you like many of these businesses that are outdoor sports. There will be some seasonality as you get into the December and certainly in the March quarter. But here in the June and September quarter, those businesses performed well.

是的。沒有一次性問題或一次性好處。我想告訴你，許多這樣的企業都與戶外運動有關。進入 12 月，尤其是 3 月季度，會出現一些季節性現象。但在六月和九月季度，這些業務表現良好。

We had some unique items last year that we had highlighted several times. I think we're past many of those -- so you're right, the business did perform very well. They'll have natural seasonality to it, but very happy.

去年我們有一些獨特的商品，我們曾多次強調。我認為我們已經度過了許多難關——所以你是對的，業務確實表現得很好。他們會有自然的季節性，但非常高興。

Thanks. I'll pass it on.

謝謝。我會傳達的。

Anthony Pettinari, Citigroup.

花旗集團的安東尼佩蒂納裡。

Yeah, good morning. I was wondering with the strength you saw in cement volumes, if there was anything notable in terms of the cadence in the three months of the quarter and then maybe quarter-to-date here in July, whether -- I don't know, the strength has built or there's any pattern there?

是的，早安。我想知道，鑑於您所看到的水泥銷量強勁增長，那麼在本季度三個月以及 7 月份當季至今的節奏方面是否有任何值得注意的地方，我不知道，這種強勁增長是否已經形成，或者是否存在某種模式？

And then I'm wondering if you could talk a little bit more about maybe some of the regional or state-by-state dynamics that you're seeing in the cement market.

然後我想知道您是否可以再多談談您所看到的水泥市場的一些地區或各州的動態。

Yes. Thanks, Anthony. Look, like I would tell you, the volume cadence was pretty consistent throughout the quarter. And as we've highlighted for a while now, the underpinning of cement demand is driven by infrastructure spending. Those awards have continued to accelerate.

是的。謝謝，安東尼。瞧，就像我告訴你的那樣，整個季度的銷量節奏相當一致。正如我們一段時間以來所強調的，水泥需求的基礎是由基礎設施支出所推動的。這些獎項的頒發還在持續加速。

And so feel good about where that business is from a volume perspective. I think it's been pretty consistent throughout the quarter and expect it to remain so even in light of some weather pressures and Michael mentioned that we had some some areas of the country, especially in places like Oklahoma, where they saw a year's worth of rain in the first half of the year. So even with that environment, we continue to see a nice improvement in cement volumes steady.

因此從業務量的角度來看，我對該業務的現狀感到滿意。我認為整個季度的降雨量相當穩定，即使面臨一些天氣壓力，預計降雨量仍將保持穩定。麥可提到，在全國某些地區，特別是俄克拉荷馬州等地，上半年的降雨量相當於一年的降雨量。因此，即使在這樣的環境下，我們仍然看到水泥產量穩定成長。

Great, great. And is there any notable dynamic that you call out in the states that you serve, areas that are stronger or maybe weaker?

太好了，太好了。在您服務的各州中，您是否注意到一些值得注意的動態，哪些地區更強或更弱？

No. Really, if you look across the country, it's pretty consistent across the country with it. We don't have anything that I'd call out as specific that's a big deviation compared to any other location.

不。確實，如果你放眼全國，你會發現全國各地的情況都相當一致。我們沒有任何可以稱之為與其他任何地點相比有很大偏差的具體事物。

Okay, that's helpful. I'll turn it over.

好的，這很有幫助。我把它翻過來。

Adam Thalhimer, Thompson Davis.

亞當泰爾希默，湯普森戴維斯。

Hey, good morning guys. Nice quarter. Craig, can you give us any high-level thoughts on wallboard volumes going forward?

嘿，大家早安。不錯的季度。克雷格，您能否就未來牆板銷售給出一些高層次的想法？

Yes, Adam. Look, again, very happy with how the business performed through the June quarter as well chronicled and we've discussed here a little bit. I mean, housing has been under some pressure given where interest rates are, just general affordability issues.

是的，亞當。再看看，我們對 6 月季度的業務表現非常滿意，我們也在這裡進行了一些討論。我的意思是，考慮到利率水平以及普遍的負擔能力問題，住房一直承受著一定的壓力。

So look, I don't see a major change one way or the other in wallboard demand frankly. But it's kind of a hard crystal ball right now to figure out where homebuilding is going. Certainly, I think the spring selling season wasn't as strong as the homebuilders had hoped for, but still feel good about kind of the medium and longer-term housing issue here in the US with -- we still feel like we are underbuilt -- and as long and we've got healthy consumers, healthy balance sheets. So when we do see affordability improve, I think that's when wallboard volumes can really meaningfully move forward.

所以，坦白說，我沒有看到牆板需求有重大變化。但現在很難預測房屋建設的走向。當然，我認為春季銷售季並不像房屋建築商所希望的那樣強勁，但仍然對美國的中長期住房問題感到樂觀——我們仍然覺得我們的建設不足——只要我們有健康的消費者和健康的資產負債表。因此，當我們確實看到負擔能力提高時，我認為這就是牆板銷售真正有意義的成長的時候。

Okay. And then on Cement, I was curious if the higher operating costs you called out, were those temporary in the quarter?

好的。然後關於水泥，我很好奇，您所說的營運成本上升是否是本季的暫時現象？

Yes, Adam, great question. This is our quarter where we performed the vast majority of our annual maintenance programs and production was lower during this quarter. And so on a per unit basis, that lower production volume really hurts your fixed cost absorption.

是的，亞當，這個問題問得好。這是我們執行絕大多數年度維護計畫的季度，本季的產量較低。因此，從單位基礎來看，較低的生產量確實會損害您的固定成本吸收。

So pretty unique to this quarter. I wouldn't call out anything. Energy was pretty flat even both on a fuel and electricity basis. It was just really the lower production volumes associated with those annual maintenance programs.

所以這個季度相當獨特。我不會喊出任何聲音。無論是燃料還是電力，能源都相當平穩。這實際上只是與這些年度維護計劃相關的生產量較低。

Got it. Thanks, Craig.

知道了。謝謝，克雷格。

Philip Ng, Jefferies.

傑富瑞的 Philip Ng。

Hey guys, on cement, Michael, I think if I heard you correctly, your commentary on the outlook with capacity utilization high, you were pretty upbeat on cement prices. I don't know if that was a medium to longer-term comment, but I'd love to get your thoughts on how you're seeing cement prices evolve over the course of the year. It sounds like demand is reasonably good, but prices slipped modestly sequentially. So just kind of give us a lay of how you're thinking about cement prices this year.

嘿夥計們，關於水泥，邁克爾，如果我沒聽錯的話，你對產能利用率高的前景的評論，你對水泥價格相當樂觀。我不知道這是否是中長期評論，但我很想聽聽您對今年水泥價格走勢的看法。聽起來需求相當不錯，但價格卻較上季略有下滑。那麼請您簡單介紹一下您對今年水泥價格的看法。

Yes, Phil, thanks for the question. When we look at it, if we look at the -- what I continue to focus on is kind of the midterm and the long-term side, of the market. And when we look at it, demand is staying pretty consistent and pretty stable. We're happy with the volumes we were able to ship. And as I stated earlier, it's pretty consistent across the country.

是的，菲爾，謝謝你的提問。當我們觀察它時，如果我們觀察——我繼續關注的是市場的中期和長期方面。當我們觀察它時，我們會發現需求保持相當一致和穩定。我們對能夠運送的貨物數量感到非常滿意。正如我之前所說，全國各地的情況都相當一致。

So from what we're hearing from customers and everything, we think the demand profile in the midterm and the long-term would be good, which would lead to more pricing potential in the future as those supply-demand dynamics tighten with it.

因此，從我們從客戶那裡聽到的信息來看，我們認為中期和長期的需求狀況會很好，隨著供需動態的收緊，這將在未來帶來更多的定價潛力。

In the shorter-term time frame, we have a good supply demand dynamic right now. But I think the shorter-term, I won't say we'll be a little bit more challenged in getting price increases through, but it will be -- will be more pacing them looking at the fall to see what we do and what we implement during that timeframe. So really, what I'm looking for is the midterm and the long-term that has really more potential and upside on that.

從短期來看，目前的供需動態良好。但我認為，從短期來看，我不會說我們在推動價格上漲方面會面臨更多挑戰，但我們會更加關注秋季，看看我們會做什麼以及在這段時間內實施什麼。所以實際上，我所尋找的是中期和長期的、具有更多潛力和優勢的事物。

Okay. Just I'm interpreting you correctly, Michael, the spring increase TBD t's fairly muted, and it kind of depends on how the demand backdrop supply demand on fall kind of materializes and potentially that could give you some event on pricing for cement?

好的。邁克爾，我只是正確地理解了你的意思，春季的增長有待確定，但幅度相當小，這取決於秋季的需求背景供應需求如何實現，這可能會給你帶來一些水泥價格事件的影響？

That's exactly correct, Phil.

完全正確，菲爾。

Okay. Perfect. And perhaps a question for you, Craig, with the build change out there, and you guys are obviously making real investments in both your cement and wall business. Anything to be mindful of from a cash flow standpoint and potentially cash tax implications?

好的。完美的。克雷格，也許我想問您一個問題，隨著建築業的變革，你們顯然在水泥和牆體業務上進行了真正的投資。從現金流量角度和潛在的現金稅影響來看，有什麼需要注意的嗎？

You hit the nail on the head, fill. Yes, from a P&L perspective, not a big change, but with the accelerated depreciation being extended, that should help reduce cash taxes paid not as significant here in fiscal '26. But when you consider a project like the Mountain Cement modernization, a $430 million investment expected to be put in place in fiscal '27 that would be an immediate full deduction.

您說到點子上了，填補。是的，從損益表的角度來看，這不是一個很大的變化，但隨著加速折舊延長，這應該有助於減少 26 財年支付的現金稅。但是，當你考慮像 Mountain Cement 現代化這樣的項目時，預計在 27 財年投入 4.3 億美元的投資將立即獲得全額扣除。

So it would significantly lower our cash taxes paid. So -- and then the following year, you have the Duke Wallboard expansion project coming online in addition to your normal sustaining capital spending. So it will -- yes, it will be a nice boost to cash flow.

因此這將大大降低我們所繳納的現金稅。所以——然後第二年，除了正常的維持資本支出外，Duke Wallboard 擴建計畫也將上線。是的，這將對現金流產生很大的促進作用。

Is there a way to kind of size what that cash tax rate could look like in the next few years?

有沒有辦法可以估算未來幾年的現金稅率是多少？

Our cash taxes paid, frankly, aren't that much different than our provision, so kind of the low 20s. And so pretax income that could be a pretty meaningful number.

坦白說，我們繳納的現金稅與我們的撥備相差不大，差不多都在 20% 以下。因此稅前收入可能是一個非常有意義的數字。

Okay. All right, thank you. Appreciate the color, guys.

好的。好的，謝謝。欣賞這顏色，夥計們。

Keith Hughes, Truist.

基斯·休斯，Truist。

Thank you. I just want to shift over to wallboard pricing was down in the quarter. You talked about was there any mix impact on the numbers and what's in the near term, what do you think pricing will do?

謝謝。我只是想轉到本季牆板價格下降的問題。您談到了混合因素是否會對數字產生影響，以及短期內價格會產生什麼影響？

Yes, Keith. Really the decline year-over-year, yes, sequentially, pretty much flat. And so we had already seen that decline really in the second half of calendar '24 and into our Q4. So been pretty range-bound here with wallboard prices for quite some time. And I think our outlook is for a similar type of range bound until you have a meaningful move in volume.

是的，基斯。是的，確實同比有所下降，但環比來看，基本上持平。因此，我們在 2024 年下半年和第四季確實已經看到了這種下降趨勢。因此，牆板價格在相當長的一段時間內一直處於波動區間。我認為我們的前景是類似的區間波動，直到交易量出現有意義的變動。

Okay, thank you.

好的，謝謝。

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

我們的問答環節到此結束。我想將會議交還給麥可·哈克先生，請他作最後發言。先生，請繼續。

Thank you, Chuck. The first quarter was a solid start to our year, which is a testament to our operational resilience. We have maintained our clear operational, strategic and financial goalposts even as the economy and construction conditions evolve.

謝謝你，查克。第一季是我們今年的一個好開端，證明了我們的營運韌性。即使經濟和建設條件發生變化，我們仍然保持明確的營運、策略和財務目標。

Eagle continues to position itself for growth throughout the cycle, and we will keep focused on executing for outperformance. Thanks also for everyone for joining the call today. We look forward to discussing our results again with you next quarter.

Eagle 在整個週期中繼續為成長做好準備，我們將繼續專注於實現卓越績效。也感謝大家今天參加電話會議。我們期待下個季度再次與您討論我們的業績。

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。