UFP Industries, Inc.

Good day, and welcome to the Q4 2024 UFP Industries, Inc. Earnings Conference Call and Webcast. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. After the speaker presentation, there will be a question and answer session. To ask a question during the session, you will need to press star 1-1 on your telephone. You will then hear an automated message advising your hand is raised. To withdraw your question, press star 1-1 again. Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded. I would now like to hand the conference over to your speaker, Mr. Stanley Elliott, Director of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us to discuss our fourth quarter and full year 2024 results. Joining me today on the call are Matt Massad, our Executive Chairman of the Board. Will Schwartz, our Chief Executive Officer, and Mike Cole, our Chief Financial Officer. This conference call is available simultaneously to all interested investors in news media through the investor relations section of our website, ufpi.com. A replay of the call will be posted to our website as well. Before I turn the call over, let me remind you that today's press release and presentation include forward-looking statements as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations. These risks and uncertainties also include but are not limited to those factors identified in the press release and in the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. I will now turn the call over to Matt.

Thank you, Stanley, and good morning, everyone. We appreciate you joining us for our fourth quarter and year-end 2024 earnings call. In recognition of basketball season, This morning's call will feature a three-man weave. I will give a brief overview of Q4, then I will pass the ball to our new CEO, Will Schwartz, who will talk about our markets and plans for 2025 and beyond. Will will pass to Mike Cole for a more detailed financial discussion before we open the line for questions. The fourth quarter of 2024 saw a similar declining sequential demand trend in most areas of our business. This continued weak demand decreased operating efficiency and increased competitive pressure. Both of these factors compressed operating profits. In response to these trends, our leadership team have been executing the cost reductions and facility reductions we outlined in Q4. They are also identifying and planning for additional cost containment and prioritization of projects and administrative initiatives to ensure that those that are not mandated by regulations or higher risk factors are implemented based on the highest return to the company. And in spite of these challenges, the team finished 2024 with sales of 6.7 billion and EBITDA of 682.3 million, a 10.3% EBITDA margin. More importantly, the balance sheet is exceptionally strong with nearly 1.2 billion in cash and an equivalent amount of debt capacity. This liquidity positions the company to aggressively pursue its growth strategy, as well as to take advantage of more reasonably priced M&A opportunities should they arise. It also allows us to continue returning capital to shareholders in the form of cash dividends and share repurchases. Our teammates are not happy with the overall performance, which they feel personally in the decline in their incentive compensation. This, however, is consistent with our philosophy to reward our team when business is great and to share the pain when it is not. Obviously, we are all highly motivated to improve the results and drive shareholder value to new heights. As you can imagine, our leadership team, like Queen and David Bowie, feels the pressure coming down on them. Fortunately, I have seen them under pressure, and I am very confident that Will and the team whose veins are like ice, ice, baby, will succeed in spite of the pressure. Now I'll turn it over to Will Schwartz.