Armstrong World Industries Inc

And after the speaker's remarks, there will be a question and answer session. If you would like to ask a question during that time, simply press the star key, followed by the number one on your telephone keypad. If you would like to withdraw your question, press star one a second time. Thank you. And I would now like to turn the conference over to Theresa Womble, Vice President of Investor Relations and Corporate Communications. You may begin.

Thank you, Abby, and welcome everyone to our call this morning. Today, we have Vic Grizzle, our CEO, and Chris Calzaretta, our CFO, to discuss Armstrong World Industries' second quarter 2024 results and rest of year outlook. We have provided a presentation to accompany this call, and it's available on our investor relations section of the Armstrong World Industries website. Our discussion of operating and financial performance will include non-GAAP financial measures within the meaning of SEC Regulation G. A reconciliation of these measures with the most directly comparable GAAP measure is included in the earnings press release and in the appendix of the presentation issued this morning. Both are available on the Investor Relations website. During this call, we will be making forward-looking statements that represent the view we have of our financial and operational performance as of today's date, July 30, 2024. These statements involve risks and uncertainties that may differ materially from those expected or implied. We provide a detailed discussion of the risks and uncertainties in our SEC filings, including the 10Q we filed this morning. We undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statements beyond what is required by applicable Securities Law. Now, I'll turn the call over to Vic.

Thank you, Theresa, and good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining our call today. Today, we reported another quarter of strong and record-setting results and an increase in our guidance for the full year 2024. It was a quarter of strong execution on all fronts as we continue to drive consistent growth from our initiatives and operate very efficiently. So let me begin by thanking our nearly 3,500 employees, now including our team members of Freeform, for their continued efforts and commitment to the execution of our strategy, to the production of the highest quality products and the best-in-class service levels that differentiate Armstrong in the marketplace every day. Together with their commitment to excellence and winning the right way with integrity and respect, Armstrong will continue to be successful for many years to come. Turning to our financial results this quarter, we generated total company revenue growth of 12% and adjusted EBITDA growth of 13% with total company margin expansion. This marks five quarters in a row that we have achieved year-over-year adjusted EBITDA margin expansion for the company. Adjusted net earnings per share increased 17%, marking the sixth consecutive quarter of year-over-year adjusted EPS growth. all against a muted market backdrop. Our mineral fiber segment delivered net sales growth of 7% year-over-year with strong average unit value, or AUV, along with increased sales volumes driven by stabilizing market demand, which I will talk more about shortly, and contributions from our growth initiatives. These initiatives include our automated design platform, Project Works, and Canopy, our online platform, and new product innovation efforts both innovative digital platforms are advancing in their capabilities and are making an increasing impact on our business in the quarter canopy sales increased over 20 percent from prior year results and had its largest shipment month ever in june canopy also positively contributed to epa dot in the second quarter with project works we continue to integrate more of our products into our digital catalog expanding our coverage, and increasing the number of projects where we can improve the design to construction process. More and more architects and contractors are using Project Works, and for the first half of the year, the quoted value of projects moving through this platform has increased a remarkable 52% from the first half of 2023. Further, Project Works is strengthening our engagement with architects and contractors, positioning us to win more specifications, and sell more product into more spaces. The growth of both of these digital initiatives is further differentiating Armstrong in our industry. With these contributions from our growth initiatives and contributions from continued AUV growth, moderating input costs and earnings from our wave joint venture, mineral fiber EBITDA increased 10% and our EBITDA margin percent improved by 130 basis points, reaching nearly 42% in a quarter. Our plants also continue to operate at a high level, operating efficiently and delivering high quality products. Again, these results reflect another quarter of strong performance and execution. Now turning to our architectural specialty segment, net sales increased 26% year over year, largely due to the inclusion of our three-form acquisition in April, as well as contribution from our 2023 acquisition of Boke Modern. In addition to the inorganic contribution, we saw growth in custom project sales across several product categories. Now, as previously reported, we've been awarded large airport projects, including Pittsburgh and Seattle International airports. And now, more recently, we have been awarded projects at the Tampa and Fort Myers airports, as well as other smaller regional airports across the country. We continue to expect federally funded transportation projects to be a multi-year opportunity for our AS segment. Our quarter-to-quarter sales in this segment are likely to continue to be choppy and uneven due to the project timeline variability due to a variety of dynamics. These include labor availability, inflation, and speed of project funding. That said, quoting activity remains healthy, and our backlog remains strong for the overall segment. Adjusted EBITDA for the AS segment with the inclusion of 3FORM increased 25% with a margin of 18.4%. Importantly, adjusted EBITDA margin for the organic AS results continue to improve. We look forward to continuing the integration of 3FORM onto the Armstrong platform and expect to see margin improvements as we do this. Although it is still early days in the three-form integration, we are pleased with their performance in the second quarter and how the integration is progressing. We continue to be excited by the unique capabilities of three-form, using color, texture, and light to elevate the design of a space. Our other recent acquisition, Bulk Modern, also has performed in line with our expectations, and we believe their ability to design and develop integrated architectural metal systems for interior and exterior applications positions us well for further growth in this category. Now, before I turn the call over to Chris for additional financial details, I'd like to comment on the underlying market conditions we are experiencing. Broadly speaking, market conditions seem to have stabilized and have a sideways moving field to them. With this and feedback from our customers, we have modestly improved the outlook for the second half of the year. Although a level of uncertainty remains around interest rates, inflation, and the overall impact on the economy. While the office sector continues to be challenged, it is stabilizing with pockets of improved regional activity. We're seeing the early signs of renewed activity in some of the depressed markets like San Francisco with the rise in AI demand for office space. We've also seen tech projects that had been paused throughout the Pacific Northwest start up again. And we're seeing a rebound in project bidding in the bid Atlantic in the New York metros. These activities are in the early stages, but are encouraging signs. Other verticals like healthcare and education are holding steady. Transportation continues to be strong and data centers remain an area of rapid growth and provide higher value grid and component sale opportunities. We are currently tracking over 100 data center projects across the country. We're also seeing steady growth in new construction bidding activity, and the latest Dodge forecast for new construction starts in 2024 remains in positive territory. These are good signals for 2025 and into 2026. And as we've demonstrated over the past several years, the benefit of our balanced set of end markets is one of the key stabilizing attributes of our business, enables us to deliver consistent, profitable growth. Now I'll pause and turn it over to Chris for some more details on our financials.