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Louisiana-Pacific (LPX) Q2 Earnings & Net Sales Beat, Up Y/Y

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Louisiana-Pacific Corporation (LPX - Free Report) , or LP, reported stellar second-quarter 2024 results. Earnings and net sales beat the respective Zacks Consensus Estimate and increased on a year-over-year basis.

Several key factors propelled the impressive quarterly performance. There was a notable surge in demand for Siding and OSB, highlighted by a significant increase in volume. Record-breaking volumes for ExpertFinish and BuilderSeries underscored the robust market appetite. Moreover, higher commodity prices, enhanced operational efficiency and a decline in freight, raw materials and labor costs were pivotal in driving margin expansion.

Given the solid demand trend, the company increased its Siding net sales year-over-year growth range.

Detailed Discussion

Louisiana-Pacific reported adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of $2.09, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.86 by 12.4%. The bottom line increased a whopping 280% from the year-ago quarter’s figure of 55 cents on the back of strong adjusted EBITDA.

Net sales of $814 million topped the consensus estimate of $802 million by 1.5% and grew 33% from the prior-year figure, owing to solid Siding and OSB sales.

Adjusted EBITDA of $229 million was up 146.2% from the prior-year quarter’s level, backed by higher OSB selling prices and decreases in inflationary costs (including freight, raw materials and labor).

Segmental Analysis

Siding: The segment’s sales of $415 million were up 30% from the prior-year period. A 6% rise in the average net selling price (ASP) and a 22% increase in volume from the prior-year level led to the improvement.

Adjusted EBITDA was $105 million, a 78% increase from $59 million reported a year ago. The growth was attributable to higher net sales accompanied by a decrease in costs, including freight, raw materials and labor. These were partially offset by an increase in mill overhead.

OSB: Sales in the segment increased 53% year over year to $351 million, owing to a rise in OSB prices of 34% and 38% in structural solutions and commodities, respectively. Also, 10% higher shipments in OSB-Structural Solutions and 17% in OSB-Commodity led to the increase.

The segment’s adjusted EBITDA surged 239% year over year to $125 million, driven by higher OSB prices and sales volumes, partially offset by increased mill-related costs.

LP South America (LPSA): Sales of $46 million decreased 12% due to 16% lower ASPs in OSB-Structural Solutions and 15% in Siding.

Adjusted EBITDA plunged 17% from the year-ago quarter to $10 million due to unfavorable currency fluctuations, partially offset by local currency revenues.

Financials

At the second quarter-end, Louisiana-Pacific had $867 million in liquidity. As of Jun 30, 2024, cash and cash equivalents were $317 million compared with $222 million in 2023-end. Long-term debt was $347 million, in line with the 2023-end level.

At the end of the first six months of 2024, net cash provided by operations was $317 million against $30 million of cash used in operating activities a year ago.

During the second quarter, LPX repurchased 1.2 million of its common shares for a total of $102 million. This left 71 million common shares outstanding at the end of Jun 30. Consequently, the company paid an additional $64 million for repurchasing 0.7 million common shares after the quarter end and as of Aug 6. About $271 million remains under the pre-existing share repurchase authorizations.

Q3 Outlook

For the third quarter, the company expects Siding Solutions’ revenues to grow in the band of 16-18% from the year-ago period. It anticipates consolidated adjusted EBITDA in the range of $105-$125 million, of which, $95-$105 million is likely to be contributed by Siding and $10-$20 million is anticipated to be added by OSB.

2024 Guidance Revised

The company now expects Siding Solutions’ revenues to rise year over year between 14% and 16%, up from the prior expected range of 11-13%.

LPX now projects consolidated adjusted EBITDA in the range of $580-$620 million compared with the prior projection of $655-$685 million. Of the guided range, $355-$375 million is likely to be contributed by Siding and $225-$245 million is likely to be added by OSB. Siding adjusted EBITDA was previously expected to be between $340 million and $360 million while OSB was expected between $315 million and $325 million.

LPX still anticipates capital expenditures between $200 million and $220 million.

Zacks Rank & Recent Construction Releases

Louisiana-Pacific currently sports a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

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