Boise Cascade Company - Earnings Call - Q2 2025

Executive Summary

• Q2 revenue was $1.74B and diluted EPS $1.64; both were slightly below Wall Street consensus, with EPS missing by ~$0.10 and revenue by ~0.4% as lower EWP/plywood pricing and Oakdale outage costs weighed on Wood Products. EPS consensus mean was $1.74 and revenue consensus was $1.75B (S&P Global data)*.
• BMD executed well: sales $1.615B (-2% y/y, +15% q/q), gross margin 15.4% (+60 bps y/y), and EBITDA margin 5.7% despite higher selling/distribution expenses; general line product sales rose 4% y/y.
• Management set Q3 guideposts: Wood Products EBITDA expected $20–$30M with sequential EWP price declines and plywood July pricing ~5% below Q2 average; BMD EBITDA “between $70M” with daily sales pace ~3% below Q2.
• Capital allocation remained active: dividend increased 5% to $0.22, H1 share repurchases of $86M plus $10M in July; liquidity stood at $876M with $481M cash and $395M revolver availability.

What Went Well and What Went Wrong

What Went Well

• BMD margin resilience: gross margin 15.4% (+60 bps y/y) on strong general line mix; EBITDA margin improved to 5.7% q/q amid declining prices and stagnant demand. “We are pleased with our gross margin performance… focus to increase the portion of our sales in best in class general line products”.
• Oakdale modernization substantially complete, enhancing efficiency and reliability. CEO: “the completion of this modernization project marks a significant milestone… reinforcing the value of self-sufficient veneer production as a key competitive advantage”.
• Solid balance sheet supports growth and returns. “Our balance sheet remains strong… balanced deployment of capital” and end-market volatility creates a “distribution friendly environment” where two-step distribution can shine.

What Went Wrong

• Wood Products profitability compressed: segment income fell to $14.0M (-81% y/y) on lower EWP/plywood prices, lower plywood volumes, higher per-unit conversion costs from planned downtime, and an unfavorable profit-in-inventory adjustment; EBITDA dropped to $37.3M (-61% y/y).
• EWP pricing erosion continued: sequential declines for LVL and I-joists (low-to-mid single digit expected into Q3); plywood July realizations ~5% below Q2 average, pressuring top line.
• Near-term demand remains muted as affordability and consumer uncertainty constrain single-family activity; y/y single-family starts were down ~8% for Q2, a key demand driver for BCC.

Transcript

Speaker 4

Good morning. My name is Corey, and I will be your conference facilitator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to Boise Cascade's second quarter 2025 earnings conference call. All lines have been placed on mute to prevent any background noise. After the speakers' remark, there will be a question and answer session. To ask your question during the session, you will need to press star one one on your telephone. You will then hear an automated message advising you that your hand is raised. Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded. It is now my pleasure to introduce Chris Forrey, Vice President of Finance and Investor Relations of Boise Cascade. Mr. Forrey, you may begin your conference.

Speaker 1

Thank you, Corey, and good morning, everyone. I'd like to welcome you to Boise Cascade's second quarter 2025 earnings call and business update. Joining me on today's call are Nate Jorgensen, our CEO, Jeff Strom, our COO, Kelly Hibbs, our CFO, Troy Little, Head of our Wood Products Operations, and Jo Barney, Head of our Building Materials Distribution Operations. Turning to slide two, 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. Also, 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 5

Thanks, Chris. Good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining us for our earnings call today. I'm on slide number three. Total U.S. housing starts and single-family housing starts decreased 1% and 8% respectively compared to the prior year quarter. Our consolidated second quarter sales of $1.7 billion were down 3% from second quarter of 2024. Our net income was $62 million, or $1.64 per share, compared to net income of $112.3 million, or $2.84 per share in the year-ago quarter. Included in our second quarter results are $7.7 million of pre-tax gain on asset sales, where I'm happy to report we monetized non-operating properties of both wood products and BMD. We experienced sequential volume growth driven by seasonally stronger activity. However, underlying demand continued to be constrained due to affordability challenges, elevated existing home inventory, and consumer uncertainty.

I'm pleased to share that the modernization project at our Oakdale mill is substantially complete, which represents a significant milestone for our Southeast manufacturing system. I want to thank our associates across our organization who made this project successful. We will benefit from enhanced operational efficiency and reliability while advancing our distinct competitive advantage to drive incremental value creation through our self-sufficient veneer production. As we navigate a dynamic marketplace, our actions will address near-term challenges without sacrificing the service standards that our customer and supplier partners have come to expect from us. At the same time, we are well-positioned to continue to invest in opportunities that drive enduring, sustainable growth in the years ahead, supported by the strong structural demand drivers we see in residential construction over the long term.

Kelly will now walk through our segment financial results, capital allocation priorities, and guidance on our third quarter results, after which I'll make closing comments before we take your questions. Kelly?

Speaker 4

Thank you, Nate. Good morning, everyone. Wood Products sales in the second quarter, including sales to our distribution segment, were $447.2 million, down 9% compared to second quarter 2024. Wood Products segment EBITDA was $37.3 million compared to EBITDA of $95.1 million reported in the year-ago quarter. The decrease in segment EBITDA was due primarily to lower EWP and plywood sales prices, as well as lower plywood volumes and an unfavorable profit in inventory adjustment. In addition, the scheduled Oakdale outage negatively impacted year-over-year EBITDA comparisons. These decreases in segment EBITDA were offset partially by a $3.9 million gain on the sale of a non-operating property. In BMD, our sales in the quarter were $1.6 billion, down 2% from second quarter 2024. BMD reported segment EBITDA of $91.8 million in the second quarter compared to segment EBITDA of $97.1 million in the prior year quarter.

The decrease in segment EBITDA was driven primarily by increased selling and distribution expenses of $12.1 million. However, BMD's gross margin dollars increased $3.4 million from second quarter 2024, and our gross margin was 15.4%, a 60 basis point year-over-year improvement. In an environment where demand was stagnant and many product prices were declining, we are pleased with our gross margin performance, a reflection of very good execution by our team and our focus to increase the portion of our sales in best-in-class general line products. In addition, segment income benefited from a $3.8 million gain on the sale of a non-operating property. Turning to slide five, year-over-year and sequentially, second quarter LVL volumes were up 8% and 18% respectively, while I-joist volumes for the same comparative periods were down 5% and up 14%.

As referenced earlier, Wood Products' second quarter income included an adjustment to reverse profits associated with inventory sold to our distribution segment that is yet to be sold into the marketplace. This adjustment resulted in an unfavorable sequential variance of approximately $6 million. As it relates to pricing, competitive pressures drove sequential declines for LVL and I-joist of 3% and 2% respectively. Turning to slide six, our second quarter plywood sales volume was 356 million feet compared to 383 million feet in second quarter 2024. The decrease was primarily driven by the planned outage at our Oakdale mill, as well as downtime at our Kettle Falls mill to complete a scheduled maintenance project. The $342 per thousand average plywood net sales price in the second quarter was down 6% on a year-over-year basis and flat compared to first quarter 2025.

Moving to slide seven and eight, BMD's year-over-year second quarter sales decline of 2% was driven by a 2% decrease in prices as sales volumes were flat. By product line, commodity sales decreased 5%, general line product sales increased 4%, and sales of EWP decreased 12%. However, our sequential sales results reflected seasonally stronger activity, with our sales increasing 15% from first quarter. As I mentioned earlier, BMD's second quarter gross margin percentage was 15.4%, up 60 basis points year over year. In particular, gross margin dollars were affected by increased margins on general line products, offset partially by decreased margins on commodity and EWP products. BMD's EBITDA margin was 5.7% for the quarter, down from the 5.9% reported in the year-ago quarter, but up from the 4.5% reported in the first quarter.

After market conditions led to a slow start to the year, increased sales activity in the second quarter and good execution by the BMD team allowed our EBITDA margins to rebound nicely. I'm now on slide nine. We had capital expenditures of $132 million in the six months ended June 2025, with $70 million of spending in wood products and $62 million of spending in BMD. We remained committed to the capital plan presented earlier in the year, with our capital spending range for 2025 unchanged at $220 to $240 million. In wood products, that range includes the multi-year investments in support of our EWP production capabilities in the Southeast. As Nate mentioned earlier, the Oakdale modernization is substantially complete, and startup and optimization activities are going well. The Thorsby I-joist line is expected to be operational in the first half of 2026.

In BMD, part of our capital deployment strategy is to solidify and expand our market-leading national distribution presence. In the second quarter, we completed two lease buyouts of our highly successful distribution centers in Chicago and Minneapolis. In addition, construction on a greenfield distribution center in Hondo, Texas, is nearly complete, and we expect to begin servicing the San Antonio market from there by the end of the third quarter. Speaking to shareholder returns, we paid $18 million in regular dividends in the first half of 2025. Our board of directors also recently approved a $0.22 per share quarterly dividend on our common stock, which represents a $0.01 per share, or approximately 5% increase, that will be paid in mid-September.

Through the first seven months of 2025, we repurchased approximately $96 million of Boise Cascade common stock, which includes approximately $32 million in the second quarter and another $10 million in July. Today, we have about 850,000 shares available for repurchase under our current share repurchase program. In summary, our balance sheet remains strong, and we continue to be dedicated to a balanced deployment of capital by investing in our existing asset base, pursuing value-enhancing organic and M&A growth opportunities that position the company for sustainable long-term growth, and returning capital to our shareholders. We're fortunate that our solid financial foundation and resilient free cash flow allow us to simultaneously advance each of these objectives. I'm now on slide 10. Looking forward to the third quarter, we expect headwinds for residential construction activity will persist.

With that in mind, and recognizing that even near-term forecasts are difficult to make given the current market dynamics, we have presented a range of potential EBITDA outcomes and related key drivers. For Wood Products, we currently estimate third quarter EBITDA to be between $20 million and $30 million. We expect our EWP volumes will decline high single digits sequentially as home builders moderate their starts pace to align with new home sales and our channel partners reduce inventory levels. On EWP pricing, low to mid-single digit sequential declines are expected as competition per share persists. In plywood, we expect mid-single digit sequential volume increases resulting from the resumption of operations at our Oakdale mill and the avoidance of planned maintenance downtime that we experienced in the second quarter at our Kettle Falls operation. On plywood pricing, July realizations were approximately 5% below our second quarter average.

Partially offsetting changes in Wood Products' top line are somewhat lower expected manufacturing and web stock costs due to improved operating rates at Oakdale and Kettle Falls and weakness in OSB pricing. For BMD, we currently estimate third quarter EBITDA to be between $70 million and $80 million. BMD's daily sales pace in July was approximately 3% below the second quarter sales pace of $25.2 million per day. Our daily sales pace for the balance of the third quarter will be dependent upon end market demand, product pricing, and our customer partners' reliance upon us for next day out of warehouse service. Lastly, in addition to limited near-term clarity for end market demand, there are uncertainties from trade and tariff policy changes that create the potential for meaningful forward pricing volatility for plywood, lumber, and other commodity products.

I'll now turn it back over to Nate to share our business outlook and closing remarks.

Speaker 5

Thanks, Kelly. I'm at slide number 11. No matter the operating conditions, our experienced team remains committed to creating value for our shareholders, as well as our customers and suppliers, by staying resilient, adaptable, and focused on delivering exceptional products and services. Due to our integrated model, we're able to take advantage of increased channel inventory visibility, allowing us to better navigate market uncertainty by aligning production rates and inventory strategies with end market demand. Cross-divisional efficiencies, combined with our robust balance sheet, provide us the ability to stay focused on the execution of our strategy and creation of long-term value for our stakeholders. We remain confident that long-term demand drivers in residential construction, such as the undersupply of housing units, the age of U.S. housing stock, and the high levels of homeowner equity, remain robust.

Additionally, generational tailwinds driven by millennials and Gen Z reaching the peak age for household formation and more seniors opting to age in place continue to support household formation growth. These structural and generational factors underpin the industry's strong core fundamentals. Repair and remodeling activity has been held back by diminished levels of existing home turnover and from homeowners delaying large repair and remodel projects due to the high costs of accessing their equity combined with economic uncertainty. We expect consumer confidence to improve with lower interest rates and greater clarity on U.S. economic policy. These factors collectively create a long runway for growth in repair and remodel projects.

In addition, consistent investment in our Wood Products assets across all phases of the business cycle is critical to driving overall growth as it enhances efficiency during market downturns and enables greater operating rate flexibility and product availability for our customer base when demand regains momentum. Lastly, markets with limited clarity make for distribution-friendly environments, and we look forward to again demonstrating the value proposition of two-step distribution across a broad mix of products and, curious whether there's near-term demand or price uncertainty like we're experiencing today. As always, we stand ready to serve our customers and expect they will place additional reliance on our auto warehouse capabilities given the environment. Thank you for joining us today and for your continued support and interest in Boise Cascade. We would welcome any questions at this time. Corey, would you please open the phone lines?

Speaker 4

Thank you very much. At this time, we will conduct a question and answer session. As a reminder, to ask a question, you will need to press star one one on your telephone and wait for your name to be announced. To withdraw your question, please press star one one again. Please stand by while we compile the Q&A roster. Our first question comes from Kurt Yinger of D.A. Davidson. Kurt, your line is open.

Great, thank you, and good morning, everyone. Morning, Kurt. Just wanted to start off on EWP. Your to-date LVL volumes up to even I-joist down four is nicely outperforming kind of what we're seeing in terms of single-family starts. Can you talk a little bit about what's driven that performance gap and, similarly, you know, what we should maybe take from the difference between kind of LVL and I-joist volume trends?

Speaker 5

Hey, Kurt. It's Nate. Let me start that. I think when it comes to, you know, the laminated veneer lumber market, I think it has probably a little bit better resiliency in terms of just the different application opportunities that exist in the marketplace today. When you think about, you know, obviously beams and headers, wall framing, those are all, you know, growth, continue to be growth opportunities for, I think, our laminated veneer lumber category. I-joist is pretty much, you know, centered on floor systems, and that can have maybe a more limited opportunity or upside, just given, you know, kind of some of the dynamics of there, including some of the competitive factors on plated floor trusses and dimensional lumber, as well as slab on grade construction. I think overall we feel really good about our footprint and representation at both laminated veneer lumber and I-joist.

I-joist will have a little bit different cadence in terms of takeaway, in some cases dependent upon where those housing starts are, as well as some of the competitive challenges that might be out there.

Okay. Is it fair then, Nate, to say, in terms of even I-joist kind of outperforming on the single-family side, maybe that's a mix of where starts are occurring, maybe a little bit of share shift, kind of back from plated floor truss, or as you think about your dealer partnerships and things like that, do you feel like you're kind of gaining wallet share?

Speaker 4

One moment for a technical difficulty. We'll be right back. Please stand by while we get them back on the line. We're going to just go ahead and click back in from the link. Thank you. I can hear you again. Corey, can you hear us now?

Yes, sir. I can hear you again. Thank you very much. Sorry. Just following up there, Nate, in terms of, you talked about kind of geographic mix of starts, the competitive dynamics in terms of floor systems. I guess as you look across the customer landscape, whether it's builders or dealers, do you still feel like you're gaining wallet share there, or the relative performance is mostly due to those other factors? One moment while we work through technical difficulties. Corey, can you hear us? You said, say. I'm not hearing you.

Speaker 5

One moment, please. All right. Now we're getting feedback loop, though. Click on the link. We're going to try the link again. One moment. You can hear the room. We just can't hear this. He's muted or light.

Speaker 4

Kurt, will you please ask your question one more time?

Yes, sure. Maybe just switching gears. In terms of kind of the EWP restock referenced in Q3, is there, I guess, a good way to think about the sizing of that and whether that might spill into Q4 as well?

Speaker 5

Maybe the way I would think about that is not just on EWP, but other products as well, is the purchase profile that's going to be likely changing. There is going to be less mill directs, but there's going to be more activity in terms of units and job packs and pieces on a distribution. That theme has been really clear from our customers in terms of how they're going to manage their working capital as they go through the course of 2025 and probably early into 2026 on a range of products. Even though the inventory may change a little bit or the order patterns may change a little bit out of our mills, we think the consumption will be heavy out of distribution out of our warehouse, which, again, we're really well set up to go perform and execute to that standard.

Appreciate the color, Nate. I'll send it back to you. Thank you.

Speaker 4

Thank you very much. One moment for our next question. Our next question comes from George Staphos of Bank of America Securities. George, your line is open.

Hey, good morning, guys. This is Brad Barton on for George. Thanks for taking the question. Just starting off quickly, if you guys could just talk to the operating rates across the business and relatedly, how do you see EWP pricing going forward given the trend downward over the last several quarters? At what point do we see a bottom and what's the catalyst to inflect there?

Speaker 2

Yeah, this is Troy. In terms of operating rates in the second quarter, we entered the quarter with the idea that we would run full out to be prepared for the building season. Obviously, late in the quarter, that started to play out. During the quarter, our operating rates were in the low 80% on the engineered wood products side. With Oakdale out, we just wanted to maintain the inventory to not get caught off guard. Now that we've got Oakdale back up, the plywood side, and we finished the quarter in the probably 70% range. Without Oakdale, we're probably closer to 80%. That quarter, to Nate's point that he just made, our operating rates probably are going to be down, 70%, 65%, 70% type range, depending on demand and that restocking and the effects of that.

Okay, great. One follow-up from me. To the extent that you guys can comment, we saw the news about the strike at the Billings, Montana facility. If you can give any update there and any color on that facility in terms of the size or potential impact, that'd be very helpful. Thanks, and good luck in the quarter.

Speaker 3

Yeah, hi, this is Jo. I can comment on that. On July 29, we had 19 union-represented employees at our BMD facility in Billings, Montana, that initiated the strike. That strike is still ongoing as of today. It's limited to just one of our 38 BMD locations. We have implemented business continuity protocols, and our Billings team is doing a very good job of avoiding any disruptions to our customers. At this time, the situation is really limited in scope, and we don't anticipate that there will be a material impact.

Great. Thanks, guys.

Speaker 4

Thank you. One moment for our next call. Our next call comes from the line of Susan Maklari of Goldman Sachs. Your line is open.

Thank you. Good morning, everyone. My first question is on the general line part of the business. You saw some really nice results there despite all the pressures that are coming through. Can you talk a bit about how you're thinking about the next couple of quarters there, given some of your suppliers' focus on getting price and also maintaining inventories on the ground given the conditions?

Speaker 2

I'm sorry. I missed my call.

Speaker 4

Can you ask your question, please, ma'am?

Sure. Can you guys hear me okay?

Yes.

The question is on the general line part of the business. Given the conditions that you're seeing out there, can you talk about how that is performing? Also, as you see some suppliers that are looking to get pricing and control inventory, how that is going to impact results over the next couple of quarters?

Speaker 3

Oh, hi, Steve. This is Jo. Yeah. In Q2, our general line category actually held up really well. We feel like we're well positioned there from an inventory perspective. As our customers have leaned out their inventories going into Q2, and there's disruption and uncertainty in the market, our customers have leaned heavier onto our inventories and distribution. We saw our sales out of warehouse pick up in Q2 pretty significantly. Our general line categories remain strong. We think that they will remain strong going into the balance of the year. Don't really see any changes happening there.

Okay. That's helpful. In your prepared remarks, you talked about aligning production to demand. As you think about the operating backdrop across the business, can you talk about some of those efforts, how we should think about the cost structure of the business, and the potential benefits to the margins as those efforts come through to results?

Speaker 2

Yeah, this is Troy. In terms of just the operating posture, like I mentioned, we went into the quarter planning on running full. Right now, coming out of Q2, our inventory at the mill level are at the higher end on the EWP side. We're now positioned to, if the demand is there, which looks like it may not be what we expected, we would end up just moving veneer over to the plywood side first. If we can do that and continue to move that veneer, we would essentially continue to run our veneer operation somewhat full. We did take some time in early July, and we would anticipate some down market-related downtime. We would anticipate if we needed to do that, we would line up around major holidays as necessary.

Speaker 0

Maybe one other comment to add on would be, you know, we don't expect to obviously have the drag on Oakdale being down like it was in the first half of the year. Included in that, the value of self-sufficient veneer versus having to buy some on the open market, we will get the benefit of that. If OSB prices stay where they are, we would expect some tailwinds also for wedge stock costs for I-joist.

Okay. That's helpful, Kelly. Can I squeeze one more in on EWP? As you think of, as the builders talk to going into 2026 with less inventory on the ground, can you talk about the competitive backdrop and what that could imply for the dynamics within that business as we think about the upcoming quarters?

Speaker 5

Hey, Steve. Steve, it's Nate. Sorry. I think just in terms of the, you know, kind of the competitive dynamics on whether it's EWP or other products, I think it's going to be, you know, the goal remains, it's probably challenged as we go through the course of this year and early next year, just given, you know, again, what we expect in terms of the demand environment. With that said, I think when you think about EWP and what the builders are still looking to do on the job site, cycle times remain important. We know that I-joist and EWP create a better deliverable in terms of reduced cycle times at the job site.

I think that in combination with the design flexibility, you know, again, we still feel really good about, you know, how we're set up in terms of EWP going through the balance of the year and early next year. The other thing I would just comment on is when you think about engineered wood products, really the importance of great two-step distribution as part of that product. We are really well set up as an organization with our Boise Cascade EWP franchise. We've got great distribution in the marketplace. Having not only product on the ground, but the ability for, you know, drawings and services, we feel really good about how we're positioned to serve the marketplace even at a higher level as we close out this year.

It's going to be, I think, in terms of the competitive landscape, nothing will change, but I think we're well positioned to compete and win in that kind of environment as well.

Okay. That's great color. Thank you all, and good luck with the quarter.

Speaker 4

Thank you very much. At this time, I'm showing no further calls. I would like to turn it back to Nate Jorgensen for closing remarks.

Speaker 5

Okay. We appreciate everyone that joined us today, and our apologies for the technical challenges. Thank you for your patience as well, and your continuing interest and support of Boise Cascade. With that, we'll close up the call. Please be safe and be well. Thank you.

Speaker 0

Bill, I'm so welcome.

Speaker 4

Thank you very much for your participation. This does conclude the call.