Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co

Greetings and welcome to the Reliance, Inc. First Quarter 2026 Earnings Call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. A question and answer session will follow the formal presentation. If anyone should require operator assistance during the conference, please press star zero on your telephone keypad. Please note this conference is being recorded. I will now turn the conference over to your host, Kim Orlando, with Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

Thank you, Operator. Good morning, and thanks to all of you for joining our conference call to discuss Reliance's first quarter 2026 financial results. I am joined by Carla Lewis, President and Chief Executive Officer, Steve Cook, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, and Arthur Jemmian, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. A recording of this call will be posted on the Investors section of our website at investor.reliance.com. Please read the forward-looking statement disclosures included in our earnings release issued yesterday and note that it applies to all statements made during this teleconference. The reconciliations of the adjusted numbers are included in the non-GAAP reconciliation part of our earnings release. I will now turn the call over to Carla Lewis, President and CEO of Reliance.

Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us to discuss our first quarter 2026 results. Reliance is off to a strong start to 2026, capitalizing on favorable market fundamentals with first quarter volumes, pricing, and earnings exceeding our expectations. Strong pricing and demand momentum continued to build throughout the quarter across our diversified product and end market portfolio. Our first quarter tons sold were a record and were up both sequentially and year over year. a result that's especially notable given the unusually strong tariff-driven demand pull forward in the prior year period. For the 13th consecutive quarter, we significantly outperformed broader industry shipments. Average selling price per ton sold also rose over the prior quarter, surpassing our expectations. Strong execution converted a 15% increase in sales driven by higher shipments and prices, into significant operating leverage, driving over 30% year-over-year growth in our non-GAAP pre-tax income and nearly 37% year-over-year growth in non-GAAP earnings per share to $5.16. As previously announced, we also secured two significant government contracts in the first quarter, to supply the Department of Homeland Security border wall and Joint Strike Fighter projects through our AMI Metals wholly owned subsidiary. We were excited to win these contracts, which collectively represent up to approximately $3 billion in revenue and further reinforce Reliance's role as a trusted partner on critical U.S. infrastructure and defense programs. These wins illustrate our ability to support large and complex projects by leveraging the scale, logistics capabilities, processing expertise, deep supply chain relationships, and existing operating infrastructure of the Reliance family of companies. Our diversified platform allows us to concurrently meet the needs of large program partners as well as small-order, quick-turn customers. As a reminder, our first quarter results did not include any contributions from the border wall contract. Our disciplined capital deployment and strong cash profile give us the flexibility to execute on both our growth and stockholder return activities concurrently. In the first quarter, we generated strong operating cash flow, even with a typical seasonal build in working capital. Our full-year 2026 outlook for capital expenditures is approximately $300 million, with a little less than half directed towards strategic growth investments that enhance our processing capabilities, strengthen our ability to serve customers, expand our footprint, and grow volumes in attractive markets. In the first quarter, we increased our dividend rate by 4% to an annualized $5 per share, and repurchased $234 million of our shares. Our strong balance sheet and liquidity position remain key competitive advantages, affording us the ability to invest in our business, pursue strategic acquisitions, and return capital to our stockholders while maintaining our disciplined approach to capital deployment. In summary, we are encouraged by rising customer optimism and activity across our broad end markets with continued momentum in the infrastructure, data center, energy, and defense sectors. As we enter the second quarter, extending lead times at our mill suppliers also bode well for a continued strong pricing environment where access to metal becomes a strategic advantage. Reliance's unique scale and capabilities, along with our domestic mill relationships and exceptional teams, position us well to further capitalize on the opportunities ahead in 2026. I'll now turn the call over to our COO, Steve Cook.