Encore Wire Corporation

Good morning. My name is Emma and I will be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the Encore Wire Corporation first quarter 2023 earnings conference call. All lines have been placed on mute to prevent any background noise. After the speaker's remarks, there will be a question and answer session. If you'd like to ask a question during this time, simply press star followed by the number one on your telephone keypad. If you'd like to withdraw your question, again, press the star one. Thank you. Brett Eckert, you may begin your conference.

Thanks, Emma. Good morning, and welcome to the Encore Wire Corporation quarterly conference call. I'm Brett Eckert, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Encore Wire. With me this morning is Daniel Jones, President, CEO, and Chairman of the Board. In a minute, we will review Encore's financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2023. After the financial review, we will take any questions you may have. Before we review the financials, let me indicate that throughout this conference call, we may be making certain statements that might be considered to be forward-looking. In order to comply with certain securities legislation, and instead of attempting to identify each particular statement as forward-looking, we advise you that all such statements involve certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those discussed today. I refer each of you to the company's SEC reports and news releases, for a more detailed discussion of these risks and uncertainties. Also, reconciliations of non-GAAP financial measures discussed during this conference call to the most directly comparable financial measures presented in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, including EBITDA, which we believe to be useful supplemental information for investors, are posted on our website. I'll now turn the call over to Daniel for some opening remarks. Daniel?

Good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining us on the call. If you're interested in Encore Wire, we appreciate your continued investment, confidence, and support. The strong results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2023. Mark our eighth consecutive quarter of elevated margins. Stable demand in the quarter coupled with continued domestic and global uncertainties and persistent tightness in the availability of copper drove metal prices higher in the quarter, while other raw materials costs remained fairly flat. Our key suppliers continue to perform at a high level, which positioned us favorably to meet customer demand in a timely manner. By continuing to execute on our core values of providing unbeatable customer service and high order fill rates, ongoing margin abatement remained gradual in the first quarter of 2023. I continue to believe that our operational agility, speed to market, and deep supplier relationships remain competitive advantages in serving our customers' evolving needs. We remain committed to reinvesting in our business with current and planned projects focused on increasing capacity, efficiency, and vertical integration across our campus. We also remain committed to shareholder capital return as evidenced by our significant share repurchases in the quarter. Copper unit volumes were flat in the first quarter of 2023 versus the first quarter of 2022. Copper spreads decreased 4.2% on a sequential quarter basis as compared to the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2022. We continue to believe Encore Y remains well positioned to capture market share in the current economic environment. As we address the near-term challenges, we remain focused on the long-term opportunities for our business, including improving our position as a sustainable, environmentally responsible company in our industry. We believe that our superior order fill rates and deep vertical integration continue to enhance our competitive position. As orders come in from electrical contractors, our distributors can continue to depend on us for quick deliveries coast-to-coast. I'll now turn the call over to Brett to cover the financial results. Brett?