Vulcan Materials Company

Good morning, everyone. Welcome to the Vulcan Materials Company second quarter 2026 earnings call. My name is Beau and I will be your conference call coordinator today. Please be reminded that today's call is being recorded and will be available for replay later today at the company's website. All lines have been placed in a listen-only mode. After the company's prepared remarks, there will be a question and answer session. Now I would like to turn the call over to your host, Mr. Mark Warren, Vice President of Investor Relations for Vulcan Materials. Please go ahead, sir.

Thank you, operator. I'm joined today by Ronnie Pruitt, Chief Executive Officer, and Mary Andrews Carlisle, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Before we begin our prepared remarks, please note that a press release and a supplemental presentation related to this call are available at our website, vulcanmaterials.com. Today's discussion may include forward-looking statements, which are subject to risks and uncertainties. Details on these risks, other legal disclaimers and reconciliations of any non-GAAP financial measures are defined and described in our earnings release, supplemental presentation and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. For the question and answer session, we kindly ask that you limit your participation to one question. This will help us address as many questions as possible during the time we have available. And with that, I'll turn the call over to Ronnie.

Thanks, Mark, and thank you all for your interest in Vulcan Materials. The resiliency of our aggregates-led business and the importance of our strategic disciplines are evident in periods of inflationary pressure. I am proud of how our commercial and operating teams have navigated the first half of the year to deliver adjusted EBITDA growth and aggregates cash growth profit return expansions. and most importantly, they did so while keeping each other safe. In the quarter, we generated $654 million of adjusted EBITDA, approximating the prior year despite energy headwinds of almost $40 million. Our teams executed well, earning higher prices for our products in each segment and driving operational efficiencies to help offset inflationary increases in our input costs. Second quarter aggregates cash gross profit per ton top $12 and was 14 cents higher than the prior year. Shipments increased 1% compared to the prior year and varied widely across geographies depending upon weather conditions. Aggregates freight adjusted selling prices moved higher both sequentially and year over year. On a mixed adjusted basis, average selling prices in the quarter improved 5% compared to the prior year with improvement widespread across geographies. Our commercial teams continue to execute our Vulcan way of selling disciplines to capture value for our products and deliver solutions for our customers. Excluding diesel, aggregate freight adjusted unit cash cost of sales increased 3% compared to the prior year. Our Vulcan way of operating disciplines were executed well to drive efficiencies and control spending Even with lower than expected volumes in many areas due to wet weather. From coast to coast, our teams are aligned with a relentless focus to drive compounding improvements in the profitability of our existing portfolio and to win the future in aggregates. Winning the future will also mean continuing to strategically add to our portfolio through acquisitions and greenfield projects. Both of these growth pipelines remain active, including numerous acquisition opportunities likely to be finalized this year. The strength of our balance sheet gives us the financial flexibility to pursue those opportunities that will drive the most value for our shareholders. During the second quarter, we completed several strategic portfolio actions. We finalized the divestitures of our concrete operations in California and our non-core operations in the U.S. Virgin Islands, generating cash proceeds that can be redeployed to strategically grow our aggregates business. A clear example was our acquisition of an aggregate operation from Brannon Sand and Gravel in early June. This acquisition expanded our reach into southern Colorado and strengthened our distribution network in Dallas-Fort Worth. Our team is already hard at work capturing synergies and driving value from this strategic acquisition. In terms of the demand environment, what I see ahead of us is similar to what the views that I shared on the last call. We still expect strong public activity in our markets and improving private large project opportunities to drive year-over-year shipments growth in 2026. Trading 12 months highway awards in bulk in markets remain up double digits from a year ago, The same is true for public infrastructure awards, which are up 20% year over year in Vulcan markets, yet down in other markets. The amount of work in the pipeline bodes well for public shipments for the next several years, providing good demand visibility, which is important for a healthy pricing environment. With the August recess upon us, as expected, there will likely be a continuing resolution to fund federal highway swimming while Congress completes this work. The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee passed its Build America 250 Act with overwhelming bipartisan support in late May. The bill enhanced the focus on aggregate intensive construction and shifted to a Formula First distribution approach compared to the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act Both changes benefiting Vulcan. While the final text and timing remain uncertain, we anticipate a smooth transition between funding programs given the significant amount of IIJ funds that are yet to be spent. On the private side, large project opportunities continue to drive non-residential activity, particularly data centers. Our footprint is well aligned with data center activity in addition to power infrastructure expansion, recently announced L&D projects, and other manufacturing opportunities. Our scale, quality, and customer service make us a supplier of choice for these large, complex projects. Residential construction continues to struggle due to the ongoing lack of affordability. Longer term, there remains a fundamental need for additional housing, and our footprint is well positioned to benefit from an eventual recovery. With a continued expectation of modest growth in aggregate shipments in 2026, a healthy pricing environment, and a solid year-to-date execution from our operating teams, we reiterate our full-year adjusted EBITDA guidance range of $2.4 to $2.6 billion. Now I'll turn the call over to Mary Andrews to provide some additional commentary on our second quarter performance before we take your questions.