NYSE:BCC Boise Cascade Q3 2024 Earnings Report $93.37 +0.68 (+0.73%) Closing price 04/17/2025 03:59 PM EasternExtended Trading$94.95 +1.58 (+1.69%) As of 04/17/2025 04:20 PM Eastern Extended trading is trading that happens on electronic markets outside of regular trading hours. This is a fair market value extended hours price provided by Polygon.io. Learn more. Earnings HistoryForecast Boise Cascade EPS ResultsActual EPS$2.33Consensus EPS $2.37Beat/MissMissed by -$0.04One Year Ago EPS$3.58Boise Cascade Revenue ResultsActual Revenue$1.71 billionExpected Revenue$1.72 billionBeat/MissMissed by -$5.84 millionYoY Revenue Growth-6.60%Boise Cascade Announcement DetailsQuarterQ3 2024Date11/4/2024TimeAfter Market ClosesConference Call DateTuesday, November 5, 2024Conference Call Time10:00AM ETUpcoming EarningsBoise Cascade's Q1 2025 earnings is scheduled for Monday, May 5, 2025, with a conference call scheduled on Tuesday, May 6, 2025 at 11:00 AM ET. Check back for transcripts, audio, and key financial metrics as they become available.Conference Call ResourcesConference Call AudioConference Call TranscriptSlide DeckPress Release (8-K)Quarterly Report (10-Q)Earnings HistoryCompany ProfileSlide DeckFull Screen Slide DeckPowered by Boise Cascade Q3 2024 Earnings Call TranscriptProvided by QuartrNovember 5, 2024 ShareLink copied to clipboard.There are 10 speakers on the call. Operator00:00:00Good morning. My name is Grace, and I will be your conference facilitator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to Boise Cascade's Third Quarter 2024 Earnings Call. All lines have been placed on mute to prevent any background noise. After the speakers' remarks, there will be a question and answer period. Operator00:00:20It is now my pleasure to introduce you to Chris Fory, Vice President, Finance and Investor Relations, Boise Cascade. Mr. Fory, you may begin your conference. Speaker 100:00:32Thank you, Grace, and good morning, everyone. I would like to welcome you to Boise Cascade's 3rd quarter 2024 earnings call and business update. Joining me on today's call are Nate Jorgensen, our CEO Kelly Hibbs, our CFO and Treasurer Troy Little, Head of our Wood Products Operations and Jeff Strum, Head of our Building Material Distribution Operations. Turning to Slide 2, this call will contain forward looking statements. Please review the warning statements in our press release, on the presentation slides and in our filings with the SEC regarding the risks associated with these forward looking statements. Speaker 100:01:07Also, please note that the appendix includes reconciliations from our GAAP net income to EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA and segment income to segment EBITDA. I will now turn the call over to Nate. Speaker 200:01:19Thanks, Chris. Good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining us for our earnings call today. I'm on slide number 3. Total U. Speaker 200:01:25S. Housing starts and single family housing starts decreased 3% and 1% respectively compared to the prior year quarter. Our consolidated 3rd quarter sales of $1,700,000,000 were down 7% from Q3 2023. Our net income was $91,000,000 or $2.33 per share compared to net income of $143,100,000 or $3.58 per share in the year ago quarter. Both of our businesses performed well and delivered good financial results in the demand environment that continues to be constrained by home affordability challenges and economic uncertainties. Speaker 200:02:00I want to thank our associates across the company who deliver continue to deliver superior value to our customer and vendor partners no matter the demand environment. In addition, we continue to deploy capital through our organic growth projects and additional returns of capital to our shareholders. Kelly will now walk through our segment financial results, give some insight on the 4th quarter and then provide an update on our capital allocation in more detail, after which I'll provide an outlook before we take your questions. Kelly? Speaker 300:02:27Thank you, Nate. Good morning, everyone. Wood Products sales in the Q3, including sales to our Distribution segment, were $453,900,000 down 12% compared to Q3 2023. Wood Products segment EBITDA was 77 point $4,000,000 compared to EBITDA of $122,900,000 reported in the year ago quarter. The decrease in segment EBITDA was due primarily to lower EWP and plywood sales prices as well as higher conversion costs. Speaker 300:02:56Lower I joist sales volumes also contributed to the decrease in segment EBITDA. EMD sales in the quarter were $1,600,000,000 down 6% from Q3 2023. BMD reported segment EBITDA of $87,700,000 in the 3rd quarter compared to segment EBITDA of $104,900,000 in the prior year quarter. BMD gross margin dollars decreased $7,700,000 from Q3 2023. Selling and distribution expenses increased by $10,000,000 compared to the prior year quarter mainly due to the Brosco acquisition. Speaker 300:03:30Turning to Slide 5, on a year over year and sequential basis, 3rd quarter volumes for LVL were flat and down 2% respectively and I joist volumes over the same comparative periods were down 8% 10%. I joist sales volumes were influenced by multiple factors including the level of housing starts, competition from other wood based products and an increasing proportion of concrete floor applications that limit wood floor opportunity. Sequential pricing for both LVL and I joists was down 2% due to continued pricing pressure in the market. Turning to Slide 6. Our 3rd quarter plywood sales volume was 391,000,000 feet flat with the year ago quarter. Speaker 300:04:10The 333 per 1,000 average plywood net sales price in the 3rd quarter was down 13% year over year and 8% sequentially. We experienced lower plywood pricing in July at approximately $3.20 per 1,000 before rebounding at the end of the quarter with our September average price realizations around $3.50 per 1,000. Moving to Slide 7 and 8. BMD's year over year 3rd quarter sales decline of 6% was driven by sales price decreases as sales volumes were flat. Excluding the impact of the Brasco acquisition, BMD sales would have decreased 9% from Q3 2023. Speaker 300:04:48By product line, commodity sales decreased 12%, general line product sales increased 4% and sales of EWP decreased 14%. As mentioned earlier, gross margin dollar decreased $7,700,000 in Q3 compared to the same quarter last year. As expected, lower margins on commodities and EWP were the principal drivers of the decline in margin dollars. However, BMD's gross margin percentage was 15.7%, up 50 basis points year over year. This increase is reflective of both BMD's ongoing growth in general line sales, which represented 44% of our sales mix in the Q3 as well as year over year margin improvement in that category. Speaker 300:05:32BMD's EBITDA margin was 5.6 percent for the quarter, down from the 6.3% reported in the year ago quarter and down 30 basis points sequentially. We are pleased with BMD's performance in the 3rd quarter given the market landscape. I'm now on Slide 9. Looking forward to Speaker 400:05:52the Speaker 300:05:52Q4, October EWP and plywood volumes were resilient as they were comparable to our Q3 monthly averages. However, we expect seasonally lower volumes as we proceed through the quarter. On EWP pricing, we currently expect low single digit sequential price declines in the 4th quarter. On plywood pricing, October realizations were approximately 5% above 3rd quarter averages, but we'd expect seasonal price erosion as the quarter progresses. With regards to BMD sales expectations, seasonal factors and 2 fewer sales days in Q4 when compared to Q3 will be headwinds for us. Speaker 300:06:31Our daily sales pace through October is approximately 1% below 3rd quarter daily sales averages and is expected to erode further in November December. I'll now slide 10. We had capital expenditures of $136,000,000 in the 9 months ended September 2024 with $62,000,000 of spending in wood products and $73,000,000 of spending in BMD. Some equipment delays related to our previously disclosed multi year projects in the Southeast U. S. Speaker 300:07:00Have reduced our full year 2024 capital spending range. However, we anticipate these projects will still be completed on schedule and our spending pace in the Q4 will accelerate meaningfully as expected. Looking forward to 2025, we expect our capital spending to be between $200,000,000 $220,000,000 Speaking to shareholder returns, we paid $220,000,000 in combined regular and special dividends during the 9 months ended September 30, 2024. Our Board of Directors also recently approved a $0.21 per share quarterly dividend on our common stock. Shareholders of record as of December 2 will see payment of this dividend on December 18. Speaker 300:07:43During the Q3, we also funded approximately $70,000,000 of common stock repurchases. Through October, our year to date total share repurchases are approximately $165,000,000 or nearly 1,300,000 shares. In addition, our Board of Directors recently authorized the repurchase of an additional 1,400,000 shares under our common stock repurchase program. Today, we have approximately 2,000,000 shares available for repurchase under our share repurchase program. In summary, our capital deployment strategy continues with ongoing investments in our existing asset base, organic growth projects and returns to our shareholders. Speaker 300:08:19We also have the flexibility to execute M and A if opportunities surface that align with our strategy. I will now turn it back over to Nate to discuss our business outlook. Speaker 200:08:29Thanks, Kelly. I'm on Slide number 11. Current industry forecast for U. S. Housing starts are approximately $1,350,000 for 2024 and ator modestly above $1,400,000 for 2025. Speaker 200:08:42This compares to actual housing starts of 1,420,000 in 2023 as reported by the U. S. Census Bureau. As of September 2024, single family housing starts are outpacing 2023 levels by 10%, whereas multifamily starts have declined sharply from historic levels due to increased capital costs for developers and historic levels of multifamily unit completions in 2024. Home affordability remains a challenge for many consumers due to home prices and the cost of financing with mortgage rate levels limiting the supply of existing housing stock available for sale. Speaker 200:09:16Large homebuilders are addressing affordability challenges by reducing home sizes and planned complexity as well as offering mortgage rate buy downs. New residential construction will continue to be an important source of housing supply moving forward. We expect 2025 to reflect modest growth in home improvement spending as the age of U. S. Housing stock and elevated levels of homeowner equity will continue to provide a favorable backdrop for repair and remodel spending. Speaker 200:09:41While near term growth in demand may prove modest, the value proposition for 2 Step Distribution, particularly our ability to deliver nationwide service across leading brands in the marketplace is unmistakable, we will continue to execute in support of our supplier and customer partners each and every day. As we look past the near term uncertainties, we remain bullish on the medium and longer term view on housing fundamentals, which affords us the ability to maintain a clear focus on our strategy and the execution of our growth initiatives. Thank you for joining us today and your continued support and interest in Boise Cascade. We welcome any questions at this time. Grace, would you please open the phone lines? Operator00:10:18Thank you. At this time, we will conduct the question and answer session. Our first question comes from the line of Michael Roxanne with Truist Securities. Your line is now open. Speaker 400:10:50Yes. Thank you, Nate, Kelly, Chris for taking my questions and congrats on a very good quarter despite the backdrop. Speaker 300:10:57Thank you, Mike. Good morning. Speaker 400:11:00Just first off on BMD, can you talk about the progression of sales in BMD during the quarter? It seems like September was a softer month across many paper and packaging materials. And I'm wondering if you just had stronger sales earlier in the quarter that may have faded in September? Speaker 300:11:17Yes. So, yes, good question, Mike. So, I would say, our activity was levels on a daily sales pace were actually fairly steady through the quarter. July, August September, there really wasn't a whole lot of deviation really just the only impact we saw was in September, we just had 2 fewer sales days. Speaker 400:11:39Perfect. Got it for that. What are you hearing right now from some of your major customers in BMD by product type, like commodity general line, UWP regarding demand and inventory levels? Speaker 500:11:50Hey, this is Jeff. I would just say overall what we're hearing from our customers is truly it's the dealers are saying just proceed very cautiously. The commodity market, obviously, we've got some nice tailwinds in this past month. So there's a lot of direct activity there. We moved a fair amount of commodities into that market. Speaker 500:12:09But from here going forward with the seasonality company, I think they're going to lean in hard on distribution. I think it will be very much a distribution friendly market. Speaker 400:12:17Got it, Jeff. Great. And one last reason before turning it over. Just on EWP, given that up until recently lumber prices have been at cyclical lows, I mean, have you seen a shift or share shift to lumber from EWP that maybe contributed to some of the volume weakness? Speaker 200:12:36Hey, Mike, it's Nate. Yes, I think a good question. I think in terms of how the builders look at what products and services they use on floor systems, they're pretty resilient and kind of stay kind of true kind of independent of the pricing environment. So we haven't seen a lot of drift from I joist or EWP systems to dimensional lumber. It's been a pretty steady and consistent despite the fact obviously lumber prices have certainly come off. Speaker 200:13:02So that would be I guess our view going forward as well. And part of that Mike as we talked in the past that as builders are looking for their challenges are not only building material costs, but also cycle times. And so as they think about how do they take time out of the construction cycle, add simplicity to the cycle, EWP is a really important part of that equation. So it remains pretty stable and we expect that going forward. Speaker 400:13:27Got it. Thanks very much. Speaker 200:13:30Thanks, Mike. Operator00:13:34Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Susan Maklari with Goldman Sachs. Your line is now open. Speaker 600:13:43Thank you. Good morning, everyone. Speaker 200:13:46Good morning, Sue. Speaker 600:13:47My question is also on EWP and perhaps taking the other side of that, which is as lumber does seem to be inflating, especially over the last several weeks and if that continues through next year, can you talk about what that could mean for EWP pricing? How you're thinking about that flowing through? And then I guess, can you also talk to the EWP margins just given the pricing decline that you've been seeing sequentially? Speaker 300:14:15Yes. So, Susan, this is Kelly. Good morning. I'll take that. And in terms of the first part of your question around lumber pricing and increasing and how could that potentially correlate EWP pricing, I don't have a model in front of me, but I don't think there's a lot of statistical correlation there. Speaker 300:14:30I think really EWP pricing will fundamentally be driven by demand and operating rates and particularly single family starts. So I wouldn't draw a correlation there. And then the second part of your question around remind me what it was again please? Speaker 600:14:47Yes. The EWP margins as you saw that pricing decelerate on a sequential basis? Speaker 300:14:54Yes. So we don't speak to margin specific EWP. I would just continue to have you focus on EBITDA margin and Wood Products is in total because of how integrated we are. And we've seen a little bit of degradation there because of plywood pricing remaining fairly weak still and some come off in EWP pricing as well. But we feel good about the business' operating posture and how they're operating and executing at a pretty high level. Speaker 600:15:27Okay. All right. That's helpful, Kelly. And then thinking about the B and B business, some of your key partners there are doing a lot of work in terms of expanding their product offerings, getting perhaps a bit deeper vertically in their businesses. As you think about that strategy coming through, what does that mean for Boise? Speaker 600:15:51And I guess as part of that, when we think about Generalline being, I think it's about 44%, 45% of your sales today. How do you see that helping you to get to perhaps a higher number? Could it become 50% over time? Or how will that all move through? Speaker 200:16:08Hey Sue, it's Nate. Let me I'll start that and I'll have Jeff fill in here as well. I think in terms of, to your question on our vendor partners and how they're maybe approaching their business model going forward, Clearly, we are seeing a number of new products and SKUs coming into the mix. And so as we look at kind of the SKU intensity, it continues to grow, which is really to me really supportive of 2 step distribution. Our customers downstream are looking for simplicity in terms of how they fulfill orders and as new products and services are introduced by our key partners, we are an important part of that equation. Speaker 200:16:49So as we think about kind of the new products, new services, we think that puts kind of more responsibility on 2 step distribution and we're looking forward to that. I think the other component to that is as both on the customers, maybe on the supplier side, there is I think measured optimism in terms of where the market is on the demand side. So I think they're going to be pretty measured in terms of their working capital footprint and that dependency on 2 step distribution will be there as well. So as I look at it too, a combination of new products, new SKUs along with the demand environment that's pretty tepid, really speaks really well to who we are and I think the importance that we have with our supplier partners and customers obviously moving forward. I think to your question on kind of the mix on 44% today and what's the upside for that. Speaker 200:17:43I think as you continue to look at who we are and investments that we continue to make, we want to grow the overall franchise in BMD. But general lines are really an important part of that including our door and millwork segment. So we think that represents continued really good opportunity both for our customers and our suppliers in growing that segment. And we want to continue to kind of grow that as we have here over the last couple of years. Speaker 600:18:09Okay. That's very helpful color. And then if I could just squeeze one more in which is you've picked up the share buybacks really nicely this quarter. Can you talk a bit about how you're thinking about capital allocation and shareholder returns from here? And just any thoughts on how that may come through over the next couple of quarters? Speaker 600:18:26Yes. Speaker 300:18:28So this is Kelly again. So yes, I'd say the narrative in the script is very much the same. We got some big capital spending ahead of us as you know in terms of organic growth as well as some needed replacement in certain facilities across the Southeast. So, big spending ahead there that we're excited to continue to exit Keutepawn and we're a little behind in some regards just because of timing in terms of equipment availability, but still very much staying the course there. And then beyond that, we have the flexibility to do M and A if something shows up that makes sense. Speaker 300:19:04And then as we've demonstrated, we've kind of got the quarterly dividend as well as the 2 special components around either special dividends or share repurchases. We did do the special dividend in September, the $5 per share. We did buy some more shares here in the Q3. Near term, not going to put a share number or a dollar value on it, but I expect we'll look to continue to be opportunistic as it relates to share repurchases. Speaker 600:19:32Okay. All right. Thank you for all the color guys and good luck with everything. Speaker 300:19:36Thank you. Operator00:19:42Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Kurt Yinger with D. A. Davidson. Your line is now open. Operator00:19:57Kurt, your line is now open. One moment for our next question. Our next question comes from the line of Jeffrey Stevenson with Loop Capital. Your line is now open. Speaker 700:20:20Hi, thanks for taking my questions today. Good morning, Steve. Good morning. I just wanted to follow-up on Susan's question on general line sales, they continue to hold in well and partially offsetting some of the commodity pricing headwinds you're seeing. Is this really driven by the product and geographic expansion you've had with key suppliers over the last several years, driving the relative outperformance of your general line category? Speaker 300:20:52I'd say it's a combination of things, Jeff. It's some purposeful things we've done around our door and network strategy to not just do acquisitions there like we do with Brosco, but also do some startups like we've done in Dallas, Houston, Denver, Kansas City and then the small Voixy acquisition did recently. So some of that's very purposeful. And then in other regards, we benefit from part of the question earlier around suppliers continuing to add SKUs and our ability to get those into the marketplace for them. So I'd say it's a combination of things, Jeff, driving that. Speaker 700:21:29Okay. No, that's great to hear. And then I'm just wondering how you're approaching inventories in your distribution business over the next 6 months given you continue to face what commodity and EWP pricing headwinds, while at the same time you'll likely see some improvement on the single family housing starts as we kind of move into next year spring selling season. So I'm just wondering how you're balancing those two things? Speaker 500:21:56Hey, Jeff, this is Jeff. I would tell you, it is a balancing act is what it is right now. It is a distribution friendly market. We know we need to be there to serve our customers who want to have the right amount of inventory. But at the same time, you do have a seasonal slowdowns coming right now. Speaker 500:22:11So we're looking at it too. If we're going to on one side, then we're going to on the side of having inventory to serve our customers. Speaker 700:22:18Okay, great. No, that makes sense. And if I missed this, I apologize I got on late. But just the timeline for the Oakdale, Louisiana plant modernization. And are you expecting to largely offset lost plant capacity at other facilities during that time period? Speaker 500:22:36Yes, Jeff. Good morning. This is Troy Little. Yes, the timing on the project is actually this week we'll start demolition on 2 dryers and then go through the Q4 at about 50% capacity, be down during the Q1 and then starting back up in the Q2. In addition to that, we're also working on our log utilization center. Speaker 500:23:03So that work is well underway right now. That will parallel that. Then we also have some activity going on at Thorsby on just some pre spending for the EyeLine project next year. But in terms of your question around being prepared, yes, we accumulated veneers. We did have kind of some spending at the other facilities to make sure they were in order. Speaker 500:23:26And we don't expect any impact in terms of inventory available to our customers during this time. So we're well prepared going into it. Speaker 700:23:38Great to hear. Thank you. Speaker 300:23:41Thank you, Jeff. Operator00:23:47Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Ketan Mamtora from BMO Capital Markets. Your line is now open. Speaker 800:23:57Good morning and thanks for taking my question. Speaker 300:24:01Good morning, Ketan. Speaker 800:24:01Perhaps just to start with, this is sort of as we think about Q4, both on EWP volumes and just sort of activity levels and in DMD, it sounds like October has held in quite well, but you are pointing to sort of seasonal slowdown in demand. How would you have us sort of think about that piece given there are quite a bit of cross currents going on in the market? And sort of cyclically, are you things are you seeing things stabilize, getting better or taking a step down? What is the right way to think about it? Speaker 300:24:43Yes. Those are all the right questions. Good questions, Ketan. So yes, October held up well. I think 2023 sales days, good strong month, really happy with the results in October. Speaker 300:24:58Come November December, certainly fewer sales days could be impacted by weather and then just kind of the continued kind of uncertainty and narrative around mortgage rates and other factors out there in the environment. So I would suspect I think our EWP volumes will they will trend largely with single family housing starts. And so we'd expect them to trend down like we saw last year, last year Q4. And I think in BMD, again, a nice sales pace as I alluded to in October, but we would expect to see that come off in November December. And again, there's fewer sales days. Speaker 300:25:41We're getting a little bit of goodness right now from the margin profile as it relates to commodities. But again, the top line will be a big driver of BMD's bottom line results in terms of how much margin dollars can we generate in the Q4. And then Nate, I think had a follow on here, Ketan. Speaker 200:25:59Yes. Ketan, it's Nate. Just the other thing I would just add is, as you kind of described, it's a pretty volatile marketplace just terms of what's happening on a range of items both our industry and outside of it. And I think what's most important for us is to make sure we've got capability to pivot quickly. And so to respond to the marketplace whatever that might be. Speaker 200:26:19And so as Kelly described, October has been pretty resilient in terms of what's happened and some of the supply decisions on commodities in terms of reduced supply has created a reasonable backdrop here short term. So our commitment and promise both to our customers and suppliers is to be in a position to serve. And so we're in an environment where it's not overly predictable, but we're going to again be in a really good spot to make sure we can pivot appropriately. Speaker 800:26:50Understood. That's helpful. And just a couple of quick ones. Curious how the Brothco business is performing? Speaker 500:27:00Rosco Business so far is it's been rock solid. It's everything we'd hope to be and a little bit more. It has really performed well. Speaker 800:27:09Got it. And then, Kelly, maybe your operating rates in EWP in the 3rd quarter? Speaker 300:27:19Yes. They were right around 80% in the 3rd quarter. Volumes are pretty consistent ish with the 2nd quarter and our operating rates were right around 80%. Speaker 800:27:30Understood. Very helpful. I'll jump back in the queue. Thank you. Speaker 300:27:34Thanks, Operator00:27:50Our next question comes from the line of Kurt Yinger with D. A. Davidson. Your line is now live. Speaker 900:27:57Great. Thank you. Can you hear me? Operator00:27:59Yes. You're good, Kurt. Go right ahead. Speaker 900:28:01Okay. Sorry about that earlier. Just wanted to start off on EWP, clearly just 1 quarter, but in terms of the stability in year over year LVL volumes versus I joist, would you mostly just chalk that up to kind of geographic mix and kind of slab? Speaker 200:28:23Yes, sorry, Kurt. It's Nate. Yes, I would say, when you look at mix on I joists are probably more influenced by that than LBL headers as an example. So to your point, if there's a lot of slab on grade construction, it still represents an opportunity for LBL and obviously and not so especially if it's only a single storey construction for slab on grade. So we view it as very much a geographic mix statement and that's again consistent with expectations. Speaker 900:28:55Got it. And over the last two quarters now, I mean, one of your big customers has kind of talked about a shift maybe back towards I joist versus floor trusses. I'm curious whether you're hearing that sentiment broadly and whether that's something at this stage that you think could be a relative driver of outperformance potentially next year relative to underlying single family starts demand? Speaker 200:29:23Yes, Kurt, it's Nate again. I would say when it comes to competitive floor systems, open web plated floor trusses versus I joists. And again, as I made a comment earlier just in terms of how the builders are thinking about what success has to be for them, They're looking at cycle times and they're looking at how do they create speed and simplicity on the job site and I joist EWP represents that. So as we think about the backdrop and competing against plated floor trusses against Engineered Wood, we feel good about that environment in part given what the builders trying to get accomplished, which is how do they reduce cycle times. Speaker 900:30:03Got it. Okay. Thanks for that Nate. And then appreciate Troy kind of outlining the timeline with Oakdale. Kelly, is there any way to think about kind of temporary P and L impacts related to the downtime? Speaker 900:30:18Obviously, it doesn't sound like it's going to impact volumes, but any discrete cost headwinds we should kind of be aware of over the next couple of quarters? Speaker 300:30:28Yes. Nothing I'd probably have you build in specifically just yet, Kurt. I mean, our 4th quarter is typically we usually take some maintenance and downtime during that quarter anyway. So, wouldn't expect to see a lot of year over year impact from that. We'll continue to assess as we move into 2025. Speaker 300:30:44And if we have anything meaningful to speak of, we'll share that. But at this point, I don't think we'd share anything meaningful. To Troy's point, the team in the Southeast did a great job of making sure we have plenty of veneer to support EWP in that marketplace because Oakdale is a very important veneer supplier in Alexandria, Louisiana. So, we've done a good job of building inventory there. Might we have a little bit of volume impact on plywood into the 1st and second quarter? Speaker 300:31:14Yes, we will. But Oakdale, it's a big veneer supplier. It has much more meaningful impact to Alex EWP than it does to our plywood volumes. Speaker 900:31:24Got it. Okay. That's great. And then finally, just on BMD gross margins, we'll see what November December bring on the commodity pricing front. But is it fair to say that what you've seen in October would still be a little bit better than even what was a pretty strong Q3 gross margin performance? Speaker 300:31:50Yes. I mean October was good. Again, the sales pace was good. The margin was solid, a little bit of energy in commodities. And as you know, we'll see I think that's in my view, the energy and commodities has been much for a supply driven phenomenon than demand. Speaker 300:32:11So we'll see what happens here in November December. Speaker 900:32:15Okay, perfect. And then just last one in terms of EWP kind of installed capacity, obviously, a lot of runway for growth there. I'm curious how you're positioning, going into next year given some of the uncertainty around kind of labor in the facilities and the flexibility to ramp up or ramp down depending on kind of what ultimately materializes on the demand front? Speaker 500:32:42Yes. This is Troy. I mean that kind of speaks to our integrated model. And so in terms of keeping employees, we've got the ability to shift veneer and or some production time over to the plywood side, if we have any need to do that. And so I don't think we have a huge risk there. Speaker 500:33:03In terms of expansion, I mean, there's easing on the labor side a little bit. And so it's a matter of we always have turnover. But to the degree that we need to ramp up for that that's we're prepared in advance relative to any additional shifts that we would add. So I think we're good. Speaker 900:33:24Okay. Sounds good. Appreciate the color guys. Thank you. Speaker 200:33:27Thanks, Kirk. Operator00:33:32I'm showing no further questions at this time. This concludes the question and answer session. And I would now like to turn it back to Nate Jorgensen for closing remarks. Go ahead. Speaker 200:33:43Great. Thanks, Grace. We appreciate everyone joining us this morning for our update and thank you for your continued interest and support of Boise Cascade. Please be safe and be well. Thank you. Operator00:33:58Thank you for your participation in today's conference. This does conclude the program. You may now disconnect.Read morePowered by Conference Call Audio Live Call not available Earnings Conference CallBoise Cascade Q3 202400:00 / 00:00Speed:1x1.25x1.5x2x Earnings DocumentsSlide DeckPress Release(8-K)Quarterly report(10-Q) Boise Cascade Earnings HeadlinesBoise Cascade Enters New $450M Credit AgreementApril 16 at 5:16 PM | tipranks.comBank of America Securities Remains a Sell on Boise Cascade (BCC)April 16 at 4:25 AM | markets.businessinsider.comNow I look stupid. Real stupid... I thought what happened 25 years ago was a once- in-a-lifetime event… but how wrong I was. Because here we are, a quarter of a century later, almost to the exact day, and it’s happening again. April 19, 2025 | Porter & Company (Ad)Loop Capital Cuts Boise Cascade (NYSE:BCC) Price Target to $135.00April 16 at 2:39 AM | americanbankingnews.comLoop Capital Adjusts Boise Cascade (BCC) Price Target Amid Market Challenges | BCC Stock NewsApril 14, 2025 | gurufocus.comBoise Cascade Stock Hits 52-Week Low at $89.1 Amid Market ChallengesApril 7, 2025 | investing.comSee More Boise Cascade Headlines Get Earnings Announcements in your inboxWant to stay updated on the latest earnings announcements and upcoming reports for companies like Boise Cascade? Sign up for Earnings360's daily newsletter to receive timely earnings updates on Boise Cascade and other key companies, straight to your email. Email Address About Boise CascadeBoise Cascade (NYSE:BCC) Company engages in manufacture of wood products and distribution of building materials in the United States and Canada. It operates through two segments, Wood Products and Building Materials Distribution. The Wood Products segment manufactures laminated veneer lumber and laminated beams used in headers and beams; I-joists for residential and commercial flooring and roofing systems, and other structural applications; structural, appearance, and industrial plywood panels; and ponderosa pine shop lumber and appearance grade boards. The Building Materials Distribution segment distributes a line of building materials, including oriented strand boards, plywood, and lumber; general line items, such as siding, composite decking, doors, metal products, insulation, and roofing; and engineered wood products. It markets and sells its products to dealers, home improvement centers, wholesalers, specialty distributors, and industrial converters for use in the construction of new residential housing, repair-and-remodeling of existing housing, construction of light industrial and commercial buildings, and other industrial applications. Boise Cascade Company was incorporated in 2004 and is headquartered in Boise, Idaho.View Boise Cascade ProfileRead more More Earnings Resources from MarketBeat Earnings Tools Today's Earnings Tomorrow's Earnings Next Week's Earnings Upcoming Earnings Calls Earnings Newsletter Earnings Call Transcripts Earnings Beats & Misses Corporate Guidance Earnings Screener Earnings By Country U.S. Earnings Reports Canadian Earnings Reports U.K. Earnings Reports Latest Articles Archer Aviation Unveils NYC Network Ahead of Key Earnings Report3 Reasons to Like the Look of Amazon Ahead of EarningsTesla Stock Eyes Breakout With Earnings on DeckJohnson & Johnson Earnings Were More Good Than Bad—Time to Buy? 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There are 10 speakers on the call. Operator00:00:00Good morning. My name is Grace, and I will be your conference facilitator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to Boise Cascade's Third Quarter 2024 Earnings Call. All lines have been placed on mute to prevent any background noise. After the speakers' remarks, there will be a question and answer period. Operator00:00:20It is now my pleasure to introduce you to Chris Fory, Vice President, Finance and Investor Relations, Boise Cascade. Mr. Fory, you may begin your conference. Speaker 100:00:32Thank you, Grace, and good morning, everyone. I would like to welcome you to Boise Cascade's 3rd quarter 2024 earnings call and business update. Joining me on today's call are Nate Jorgensen, our CEO Kelly Hibbs, our CFO and Treasurer Troy Little, Head of our Wood Products Operations and Jeff Strum, Head of our Building Material Distribution Operations. Turning to Slide 2, this call will contain forward looking statements. Please review the warning statements in our press release, on the presentation slides and in our filings with the SEC regarding the risks associated with these forward looking statements. Speaker 100:01:07Also, please note that the appendix includes reconciliations from our GAAP net income to EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA and segment income to segment EBITDA. I will now turn the call over to Nate. Speaker 200:01:19Thanks, Chris. Good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining us for our earnings call today. I'm on slide number 3. Total U. Speaker 200:01:25S. Housing starts and single family housing starts decreased 3% and 1% respectively compared to the prior year quarter. Our consolidated 3rd quarter sales of $1,700,000,000 were down 7% from Q3 2023. Our net income was $91,000,000 or $2.33 per share compared to net income of $143,100,000 or $3.58 per share in the year ago quarter. Both of our businesses performed well and delivered good financial results in the demand environment that continues to be constrained by home affordability challenges and economic uncertainties. Speaker 200:02:00I want to thank our associates across the company who deliver continue to deliver superior value to our customer and vendor partners no matter the demand environment. In addition, we continue to deploy capital through our organic growth projects and additional returns of capital to our shareholders. Kelly will now walk through our segment financial results, give some insight on the 4th quarter and then provide an update on our capital allocation in more detail, after which I'll provide an outlook before we take your questions. Kelly? Speaker 300:02:27Thank you, Nate. Good morning, everyone. Wood Products sales in the Q3, including sales to our Distribution segment, were $453,900,000 down 12% compared to Q3 2023. Wood Products segment EBITDA was 77 point $4,000,000 compared to EBITDA of $122,900,000 reported in the year ago quarter. The decrease in segment EBITDA was due primarily to lower EWP and plywood sales prices as well as higher conversion costs. Speaker 300:02:56Lower I joist sales volumes also contributed to the decrease in segment EBITDA. EMD sales in the quarter were $1,600,000,000 down 6% from Q3 2023. BMD reported segment EBITDA of $87,700,000 in the 3rd quarter compared to segment EBITDA of $104,900,000 in the prior year quarter. BMD gross margin dollars decreased $7,700,000 from Q3 2023. Selling and distribution expenses increased by $10,000,000 compared to the prior year quarter mainly due to the Brosco acquisition. Speaker 300:03:30Turning to Slide 5, on a year over year and sequential basis, 3rd quarter volumes for LVL were flat and down 2% respectively and I joist volumes over the same comparative periods were down 8% 10%. I joist sales volumes were influenced by multiple factors including the level of housing starts, competition from other wood based products and an increasing proportion of concrete floor applications that limit wood floor opportunity. Sequential pricing for both LVL and I joists was down 2% due to continued pricing pressure in the market. Turning to Slide 6. Our 3rd quarter plywood sales volume was 391,000,000 feet flat with the year ago quarter. Speaker 300:04:10The 333 per 1,000 average plywood net sales price in the 3rd quarter was down 13% year over year and 8% sequentially. We experienced lower plywood pricing in July at approximately $3.20 per 1,000 before rebounding at the end of the quarter with our September average price realizations around $3.50 per 1,000. Moving to Slide 7 and 8. BMD's year over year 3rd quarter sales decline of 6% was driven by sales price decreases as sales volumes were flat. Excluding the impact of the Brasco acquisition, BMD sales would have decreased 9% from Q3 2023. Speaker 300:04:48By product line, commodity sales decreased 12%, general line product sales increased 4% and sales of EWP decreased 14%. As mentioned earlier, gross margin dollar decreased $7,700,000 in Q3 compared to the same quarter last year. As expected, lower margins on commodities and EWP were the principal drivers of the decline in margin dollars. However, BMD's gross margin percentage was 15.7%, up 50 basis points year over year. This increase is reflective of both BMD's ongoing growth in general line sales, which represented 44% of our sales mix in the Q3 as well as year over year margin improvement in that category. Speaker 300:05:32BMD's EBITDA margin was 5.6 percent for the quarter, down from the 6.3% reported in the year ago quarter and down 30 basis points sequentially. We are pleased with BMD's performance in the 3rd quarter given the market landscape. I'm now on Slide 9. Looking forward to Speaker 400:05:52the Speaker 300:05:52Q4, October EWP and plywood volumes were resilient as they were comparable to our Q3 monthly averages. However, we expect seasonally lower volumes as we proceed through the quarter. On EWP pricing, we currently expect low single digit sequential price declines in the 4th quarter. On plywood pricing, October realizations were approximately 5% above 3rd quarter averages, but we'd expect seasonal price erosion as the quarter progresses. With regards to BMD sales expectations, seasonal factors and 2 fewer sales days in Q4 when compared to Q3 will be headwinds for us. Speaker 300:06:31Our daily sales pace through October is approximately 1% below 3rd quarter daily sales averages and is expected to erode further in November December. I'll now slide 10. We had capital expenditures of $136,000,000 in the 9 months ended September 2024 with $62,000,000 of spending in wood products and $73,000,000 of spending in BMD. Some equipment delays related to our previously disclosed multi year projects in the Southeast U. S. Speaker 300:07:00Have reduced our full year 2024 capital spending range. However, we anticipate these projects will still be completed on schedule and our spending pace in the Q4 will accelerate meaningfully as expected. Looking forward to 2025, we expect our capital spending to be between $200,000,000 $220,000,000 Speaking to shareholder returns, we paid $220,000,000 in combined regular and special dividends during the 9 months ended September 30, 2024. Our Board of Directors also recently approved a $0.21 per share quarterly dividend on our common stock. Shareholders of record as of December 2 will see payment of this dividend on December 18. Speaker 300:07:43During the Q3, we also funded approximately $70,000,000 of common stock repurchases. Through October, our year to date total share repurchases are approximately $165,000,000 or nearly 1,300,000 shares. In addition, our Board of Directors recently authorized the repurchase of an additional 1,400,000 shares under our common stock repurchase program. Today, we have approximately 2,000,000 shares available for repurchase under our share repurchase program. In summary, our capital deployment strategy continues with ongoing investments in our existing asset base, organic growth projects and returns to our shareholders. Speaker 300:08:19We also have the flexibility to execute M and A if opportunities surface that align with our strategy. I will now turn it back over to Nate to discuss our business outlook. Speaker 200:08:29Thanks, Kelly. I'm on Slide number 11. Current industry forecast for U. S. Housing starts are approximately $1,350,000 for 2024 and ator modestly above $1,400,000 for 2025. Speaker 200:08:42This compares to actual housing starts of 1,420,000 in 2023 as reported by the U. S. Census Bureau. As of September 2024, single family housing starts are outpacing 2023 levels by 10%, whereas multifamily starts have declined sharply from historic levels due to increased capital costs for developers and historic levels of multifamily unit completions in 2024. Home affordability remains a challenge for many consumers due to home prices and the cost of financing with mortgage rate levels limiting the supply of existing housing stock available for sale. Speaker 200:09:16Large homebuilders are addressing affordability challenges by reducing home sizes and planned complexity as well as offering mortgage rate buy downs. New residential construction will continue to be an important source of housing supply moving forward. We expect 2025 to reflect modest growth in home improvement spending as the age of U. S. Housing stock and elevated levels of homeowner equity will continue to provide a favorable backdrop for repair and remodel spending. Speaker 200:09:41While near term growth in demand may prove modest, the value proposition for 2 Step Distribution, particularly our ability to deliver nationwide service across leading brands in the marketplace is unmistakable, we will continue to execute in support of our supplier and customer partners each and every day. As we look past the near term uncertainties, we remain bullish on the medium and longer term view on housing fundamentals, which affords us the ability to maintain a clear focus on our strategy and the execution of our growth initiatives. Thank you for joining us today and your continued support and interest in Boise Cascade. We welcome any questions at this time. Grace, would you please open the phone lines? Operator00:10:18Thank you. At this time, we will conduct the question and answer session. Our first question comes from the line of Michael Roxanne with Truist Securities. Your line is now open. Speaker 400:10:50Yes. Thank you, Nate, Kelly, Chris for taking my questions and congrats on a very good quarter despite the backdrop. Speaker 300:10:57Thank you, Mike. Good morning. Speaker 400:11:00Just first off on BMD, can you talk about the progression of sales in BMD during the quarter? It seems like September was a softer month across many paper and packaging materials. And I'm wondering if you just had stronger sales earlier in the quarter that may have faded in September? Speaker 300:11:17Yes. So, yes, good question, Mike. So, I would say, our activity was levels on a daily sales pace were actually fairly steady through the quarter. July, August September, there really wasn't a whole lot of deviation really just the only impact we saw was in September, we just had 2 fewer sales days. Speaker 400:11:39Perfect. Got it for that. What are you hearing right now from some of your major customers in BMD by product type, like commodity general line, UWP regarding demand and inventory levels? Speaker 500:11:50Hey, this is Jeff. I would just say overall what we're hearing from our customers is truly it's the dealers are saying just proceed very cautiously. The commodity market, obviously, we've got some nice tailwinds in this past month. So there's a lot of direct activity there. We moved a fair amount of commodities into that market. Speaker 500:12:09But from here going forward with the seasonality company, I think they're going to lean in hard on distribution. I think it will be very much a distribution friendly market. Speaker 400:12:17Got it, Jeff. Great. And one last reason before turning it over. Just on EWP, given that up until recently lumber prices have been at cyclical lows, I mean, have you seen a shift or share shift to lumber from EWP that maybe contributed to some of the volume weakness? Speaker 200:12:36Hey, Mike, it's Nate. Yes, I think a good question. I think in terms of how the builders look at what products and services they use on floor systems, they're pretty resilient and kind of stay kind of true kind of independent of the pricing environment. So we haven't seen a lot of drift from I joist or EWP systems to dimensional lumber. It's been a pretty steady and consistent despite the fact obviously lumber prices have certainly come off. Speaker 200:13:02So that would be I guess our view going forward as well. And part of that Mike as we talked in the past that as builders are looking for their challenges are not only building material costs, but also cycle times. And so as they think about how do they take time out of the construction cycle, add simplicity to the cycle, EWP is a really important part of that equation. So it remains pretty stable and we expect that going forward. Speaker 400:13:27Got it. Thanks very much. Speaker 200:13:30Thanks, Mike. Operator00:13:34Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Susan Maklari with Goldman Sachs. Your line is now open. Speaker 600:13:43Thank you. Good morning, everyone. Speaker 200:13:46Good morning, Sue. Speaker 600:13:47My question is also on EWP and perhaps taking the other side of that, which is as lumber does seem to be inflating, especially over the last several weeks and if that continues through next year, can you talk about what that could mean for EWP pricing? How you're thinking about that flowing through? And then I guess, can you also talk to the EWP margins just given the pricing decline that you've been seeing sequentially? Speaker 300:14:15Yes. So, Susan, this is Kelly. Good morning. I'll take that. And in terms of the first part of your question around lumber pricing and increasing and how could that potentially correlate EWP pricing, I don't have a model in front of me, but I don't think there's a lot of statistical correlation there. Speaker 300:14:30I think really EWP pricing will fundamentally be driven by demand and operating rates and particularly single family starts. So I wouldn't draw a correlation there. And then the second part of your question around remind me what it was again please? Speaker 600:14:47Yes. The EWP margins as you saw that pricing decelerate on a sequential basis? Speaker 300:14:54Yes. So we don't speak to margin specific EWP. I would just continue to have you focus on EBITDA margin and Wood Products is in total because of how integrated we are. And we've seen a little bit of degradation there because of plywood pricing remaining fairly weak still and some come off in EWP pricing as well. But we feel good about the business' operating posture and how they're operating and executing at a pretty high level. Speaker 600:15:27Okay. All right. That's helpful, Kelly. And then thinking about the B and B business, some of your key partners there are doing a lot of work in terms of expanding their product offerings, getting perhaps a bit deeper vertically in their businesses. As you think about that strategy coming through, what does that mean for Boise? Speaker 600:15:51And I guess as part of that, when we think about Generalline being, I think it's about 44%, 45% of your sales today. How do you see that helping you to get to perhaps a higher number? Could it become 50% over time? Or how will that all move through? Speaker 200:16:08Hey Sue, it's Nate. Let me I'll start that and I'll have Jeff fill in here as well. I think in terms of, to your question on our vendor partners and how they're maybe approaching their business model going forward, Clearly, we are seeing a number of new products and SKUs coming into the mix. And so as we look at kind of the SKU intensity, it continues to grow, which is really to me really supportive of 2 step distribution. Our customers downstream are looking for simplicity in terms of how they fulfill orders and as new products and services are introduced by our key partners, we are an important part of that equation. Speaker 200:16:49So as we think about kind of the new products, new services, we think that puts kind of more responsibility on 2 step distribution and we're looking forward to that. I think the other component to that is as both on the customers, maybe on the supplier side, there is I think measured optimism in terms of where the market is on the demand side. So I think they're going to be pretty measured in terms of their working capital footprint and that dependency on 2 step distribution will be there as well. So as I look at it too, a combination of new products, new SKUs along with the demand environment that's pretty tepid, really speaks really well to who we are and I think the importance that we have with our supplier partners and customers obviously moving forward. I think to your question on kind of the mix on 44% today and what's the upside for that. Speaker 200:17:43I think as you continue to look at who we are and investments that we continue to make, we want to grow the overall franchise in BMD. But general lines are really an important part of that including our door and millwork segment. So we think that represents continued really good opportunity both for our customers and our suppliers in growing that segment. And we want to continue to kind of grow that as we have here over the last couple of years. Speaker 600:18:09Okay. That's very helpful color. And then if I could just squeeze one more in which is you've picked up the share buybacks really nicely this quarter. Can you talk a bit about how you're thinking about capital allocation and shareholder returns from here? And just any thoughts on how that may come through over the next couple of quarters? Speaker 600:18:26Yes. Speaker 300:18:28So this is Kelly again. So yes, I'd say the narrative in the script is very much the same. We got some big capital spending ahead of us as you know in terms of organic growth as well as some needed replacement in certain facilities across the Southeast. So, big spending ahead there that we're excited to continue to exit Keutepawn and we're a little behind in some regards just because of timing in terms of equipment availability, but still very much staying the course there. And then beyond that, we have the flexibility to do M and A if something shows up that makes sense. Speaker 300:19:04And then as we've demonstrated, we've kind of got the quarterly dividend as well as the 2 special components around either special dividends or share repurchases. We did do the special dividend in September, the $5 per share. We did buy some more shares here in the Q3. Near term, not going to put a share number or a dollar value on it, but I expect we'll look to continue to be opportunistic as it relates to share repurchases. Speaker 600:19:32Okay. All right. Thank you for all the color guys and good luck with everything. Speaker 300:19:36Thank you. Operator00:19:42Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Kurt Yinger with D. A. Davidson. Your line is now open. Operator00:19:57Kurt, your line is now open. One moment for our next question. Our next question comes from the line of Jeffrey Stevenson with Loop Capital. Your line is now open. Speaker 700:20:20Hi, thanks for taking my questions today. Good morning, Steve. Good morning. I just wanted to follow-up on Susan's question on general line sales, they continue to hold in well and partially offsetting some of the commodity pricing headwinds you're seeing. Is this really driven by the product and geographic expansion you've had with key suppliers over the last several years, driving the relative outperformance of your general line category? Speaker 300:20:52I'd say it's a combination of things, Jeff. It's some purposeful things we've done around our door and network strategy to not just do acquisitions there like we do with Brosco, but also do some startups like we've done in Dallas, Houston, Denver, Kansas City and then the small Voixy acquisition did recently. So some of that's very purposeful. And then in other regards, we benefit from part of the question earlier around suppliers continuing to add SKUs and our ability to get those into the marketplace for them. So I'd say it's a combination of things, Jeff, driving that. Speaker 700:21:29Okay. No, that's great to hear. And then I'm just wondering how you're approaching inventories in your distribution business over the next 6 months given you continue to face what commodity and EWP pricing headwinds, while at the same time you'll likely see some improvement on the single family housing starts as we kind of move into next year spring selling season. So I'm just wondering how you're balancing those two things? Speaker 500:21:56Hey, Jeff, this is Jeff. I would tell you, it is a balancing act is what it is right now. It is a distribution friendly market. We know we need to be there to serve our customers who want to have the right amount of inventory. But at the same time, you do have a seasonal slowdowns coming right now. Speaker 500:22:11So we're looking at it too. If we're going to on one side, then we're going to on the side of having inventory to serve our customers. Speaker 700:22:18Okay, great. No, that makes sense. And if I missed this, I apologize I got on late. But just the timeline for the Oakdale, Louisiana plant modernization. And are you expecting to largely offset lost plant capacity at other facilities during that time period? Speaker 500:22:36Yes, Jeff. Good morning. This is Troy Little. Yes, the timing on the project is actually this week we'll start demolition on 2 dryers and then go through the Q4 at about 50% capacity, be down during the Q1 and then starting back up in the Q2. In addition to that, we're also working on our log utilization center. Speaker 500:23:03So that work is well underway right now. That will parallel that. Then we also have some activity going on at Thorsby on just some pre spending for the EyeLine project next year. But in terms of your question around being prepared, yes, we accumulated veneers. We did have kind of some spending at the other facilities to make sure they were in order. Speaker 500:23:26And we don't expect any impact in terms of inventory available to our customers during this time. So we're well prepared going into it. Speaker 700:23:38Great to hear. Thank you. Speaker 300:23:41Thank you, Jeff. Operator00:23:47Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Ketan Mamtora from BMO Capital Markets. Your line is now open. Speaker 800:23:57Good morning and thanks for taking my question. Speaker 300:24:01Good morning, Ketan. Speaker 800:24:01Perhaps just to start with, this is sort of as we think about Q4, both on EWP volumes and just sort of activity levels and in DMD, it sounds like October has held in quite well, but you are pointing to sort of seasonal slowdown in demand. How would you have us sort of think about that piece given there are quite a bit of cross currents going on in the market? And sort of cyclically, are you things are you seeing things stabilize, getting better or taking a step down? What is the right way to think about it? Speaker 300:24:43Yes. Those are all the right questions. Good questions, Ketan. So yes, October held up well. I think 2023 sales days, good strong month, really happy with the results in October. Speaker 300:24:58Come November December, certainly fewer sales days could be impacted by weather and then just kind of the continued kind of uncertainty and narrative around mortgage rates and other factors out there in the environment. So I would suspect I think our EWP volumes will they will trend largely with single family housing starts. And so we'd expect them to trend down like we saw last year, last year Q4. And I think in BMD, again, a nice sales pace as I alluded to in October, but we would expect to see that come off in November December. And again, there's fewer sales days. Speaker 300:25:41We're getting a little bit of goodness right now from the margin profile as it relates to commodities. But again, the top line will be a big driver of BMD's bottom line results in terms of how much margin dollars can we generate in the Q4. And then Nate, I think had a follow on here, Ketan. Speaker 200:25:59Yes. Ketan, it's Nate. Just the other thing I would just add is, as you kind of described, it's a pretty volatile marketplace just terms of what's happening on a range of items both our industry and outside of it. And I think what's most important for us is to make sure we've got capability to pivot quickly. And so to respond to the marketplace whatever that might be. Speaker 200:26:19And so as Kelly described, October has been pretty resilient in terms of what's happened and some of the supply decisions on commodities in terms of reduced supply has created a reasonable backdrop here short term. So our commitment and promise both to our customers and suppliers is to be in a position to serve. And so we're in an environment where it's not overly predictable, but we're going to again be in a really good spot to make sure we can pivot appropriately. Speaker 800:26:50Understood. That's helpful. And just a couple of quick ones. Curious how the Brothco business is performing? Speaker 500:27:00Rosco Business so far is it's been rock solid. It's everything we'd hope to be and a little bit more. It has really performed well. Speaker 800:27:09Got it. And then, Kelly, maybe your operating rates in EWP in the 3rd quarter? Speaker 300:27:19Yes. They were right around 80% in the 3rd quarter. Volumes are pretty consistent ish with the 2nd quarter and our operating rates were right around 80%. Speaker 800:27:30Understood. Very helpful. I'll jump back in the queue. Thank you. Speaker 300:27:34Thanks, Operator00:27:50Our next question comes from the line of Kurt Yinger with D. A. Davidson. Your line is now live. Speaker 900:27:57Great. Thank you. Can you hear me? Operator00:27:59Yes. You're good, Kurt. Go right ahead. Speaker 900:28:01Okay. Sorry about that earlier. Just wanted to start off on EWP, clearly just 1 quarter, but in terms of the stability in year over year LVL volumes versus I joist, would you mostly just chalk that up to kind of geographic mix and kind of slab? Speaker 200:28:23Yes, sorry, Kurt. It's Nate. Yes, I would say, when you look at mix on I joists are probably more influenced by that than LBL headers as an example. So to your point, if there's a lot of slab on grade construction, it still represents an opportunity for LBL and obviously and not so especially if it's only a single storey construction for slab on grade. So we view it as very much a geographic mix statement and that's again consistent with expectations. Speaker 900:28:55Got it. And over the last two quarters now, I mean, one of your big customers has kind of talked about a shift maybe back towards I joist versus floor trusses. I'm curious whether you're hearing that sentiment broadly and whether that's something at this stage that you think could be a relative driver of outperformance potentially next year relative to underlying single family starts demand? Speaker 200:29:23Yes, Kurt, it's Nate again. I would say when it comes to competitive floor systems, open web plated floor trusses versus I joists. And again, as I made a comment earlier just in terms of how the builders are thinking about what success has to be for them, They're looking at cycle times and they're looking at how do they create speed and simplicity on the job site and I joist EWP represents that. So as we think about the backdrop and competing against plated floor trusses against Engineered Wood, we feel good about that environment in part given what the builders trying to get accomplished, which is how do they reduce cycle times. Speaker 900:30:03Got it. Okay. Thanks for that Nate. And then appreciate Troy kind of outlining the timeline with Oakdale. Kelly, is there any way to think about kind of temporary P and L impacts related to the downtime? Speaker 900:30:18Obviously, it doesn't sound like it's going to impact volumes, but any discrete cost headwinds we should kind of be aware of over the next couple of quarters? Speaker 300:30:28Yes. Nothing I'd probably have you build in specifically just yet, Kurt. I mean, our 4th quarter is typically we usually take some maintenance and downtime during that quarter anyway. So, wouldn't expect to see a lot of year over year impact from that. We'll continue to assess as we move into 2025. Speaker 300:30:44And if we have anything meaningful to speak of, we'll share that. But at this point, I don't think we'd share anything meaningful. To Troy's point, the team in the Southeast did a great job of making sure we have plenty of veneer to support EWP in that marketplace because Oakdale is a very important veneer supplier in Alexandria, Louisiana. So, we've done a good job of building inventory there. Might we have a little bit of volume impact on plywood into the 1st and second quarter? Speaker 300:31:14Yes, we will. But Oakdale, it's a big veneer supplier. It has much more meaningful impact to Alex EWP than it does to our plywood volumes. Speaker 900:31:24Got it. Okay. That's great. And then finally, just on BMD gross margins, we'll see what November December bring on the commodity pricing front. But is it fair to say that what you've seen in October would still be a little bit better than even what was a pretty strong Q3 gross margin performance? Speaker 300:31:50Yes. I mean October was good. Again, the sales pace was good. The margin was solid, a little bit of energy in commodities. And as you know, we'll see I think that's in my view, the energy and commodities has been much for a supply driven phenomenon than demand. Speaker 300:32:11So we'll see what happens here in November December. Speaker 900:32:15Okay, perfect. And then just last one in terms of EWP kind of installed capacity, obviously, a lot of runway for growth there. I'm curious how you're positioning, going into next year given some of the uncertainty around kind of labor in the facilities and the flexibility to ramp up or ramp down depending on kind of what ultimately materializes on the demand front? Speaker 500:32:42Yes. This is Troy. I mean that kind of speaks to our integrated model. And so in terms of keeping employees, we've got the ability to shift veneer and or some production time over to the plywood side, if we have any need to do that. And so I don't think we have a huge risk there. Speaker 500:33:03In terms of expansion, I mean, there's easing on the labor side a little bit. And so it's a matter of we always have turnover. But to the degree that we need to ramp up for that that's we're prepared in advance relative to any additional shifts that we would add. So I think we're good. Speaker 900:33:24Okay. Sounds good. Appreciate the color guys. Thank you. Speaker 200:33:27Thanks, Kirk. Operator00:33:32I'm showing no further questions at this time. This concludes the question and answer session. And I would now like to turn it back to Nate Jorgensen for closing remarks. Go ahead. Speaker 200:33:43Great. Thanks, Grace. We appreciate everyone joining us this morning for our update and thank you for your continued interest and support of Boise Cascade. Please be safe and be well. Thank you. Operator00:33:58Thank you for your participation in today's conference. This does conclude the program. You may now disconnect.Read morePowered by