Richard J. Westenberg
Analyst · UBS
Thank you, Jon, and good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining. As Robin mentioned, my comments today will focus on adjusted performance excluding the impact of rationalization charges and other onetime items. Turning to Slide 8. Sales in the second quarter decreased 2% but were in line with the prior year, excluding the impact of our divestiture of Kichler and favorable currency. Our divestiture of Kichler in the third quarter of 2024 decreased sales by 3% year- over-year in the second quarter of 2025, while currency represented a 1% increase in sales. In local currency, North American sales decreased 3% but were in line with the prior year excluding the divestiture impact. International sales increased 1% in local currency. Gross margin increased 10 basis points in the quarter to 37.7%. SG&A decreased $27 million driven by our divestiture and lower employee-related expenses. SG&A as a percent of sales improved 90 basis points to 17.6% in the quarter. Operating profit increased 4% to $413 million in the quarter, and our margin expanded 100 basis points to 20.1%. Operating profit was driven by cost productivity initiatives, favorable SG&A and a positive price/cost relationship, partially offset by lower volume. Lastly, our EPS increased 8% to $1.30 per share. Turning to Slide 9. Plumbing sales increased 5% in the second quarter or 4% excluding the favorable impact of currency largely driven by pricing, which increased sales by 3%. In local currency, North American plumbing sales increased 5% in the quarter. This performance was primarily driven by Delta Faucet, which delivered strong growth in both the trade and e-commerce channels. In local currency, international plumbing sales increased 1%, driven by pricing actions. Hansgrohe achieved growth in many of its European markets, including its key market of Germany. This was largely offset by softness in other markets, particularly China. Segment operating profit in the second quarter increased 11% and to $276 million and operating margin expanded 110 basis points to 21%. Operating performance was driven by cost savings initiatives and a favorable price/cost relationship. Turning to Slide 10. Decorative Architectural sales decreased 12% in the second quarter. The divestiture of Kichler reduced sales by 8%. In the quarter, total paint sales decreased mid-single digits due to lower volume. PRO Paint sales were up mid-single digits and DIY Paint sales decreased high single digits. Given the continued softness in the overall DIY market and the unfavorable impact of inventory timing this year versus 2024, as discussed on prior earnings calls, we anticipate our total paint sales for the full year to decrease mid-single digits. We anticipate our full year DIY Paint business to decrease high single digits. In our PRO Paint business, we expect sales to increase mid-single digits for the full year. Operating profit in the second quarter was $157 million impacted by lower volume and an unfavorable price/cost relationship, partially offset by cost savings initiatives. Operating profit margin was 21.3% and was favorably impacted by the divestiture of Kichler. Turning to Slide 11. Our balance sheet remains strong with gross debt-to-EBITDA at 2x at quarter end. We ended the quarter with $1.3 billion of liquidity including cash and availability under our revolving credit facility. Working capital was 20.1% of sales at quarter end. Working capital was impacted by tariff-related dynamics including higher material costs and pricing, increasing our working capital balances. As a result of these tariff-related impacts, we anticipate that our working capital as a percent of sales will be approximately 17.5% at year-end. Given our strong cash generation, we returned $167 million to shareholders in the second quarter through dividends and share repurchases, including the repurchase of $101 million in stock. As it relates to capital allocation, we expect to invest approximately $175 million through capital expenditures to pay a dividend of $1.24 per share and currently anticipate deploying at least $450 million towards share repurchases or acquisitions in 2025. Now let's turn to Slide 12 and review our outlook for the full year. The market environment remains volatile and uncertain, particularly related to tariffs. That said, there has been some improved visibility since our Q1 earnings. Based on this visibility, we are reinstating our 2025 guidance. Please note that the guidance being provided today includes the impact of currently enacted tariffs in effect in July. We estimate the total annualized cost impact of these incremental tariffs to be approximately $210 million before mitigation, down from $675 million as of our Q1 earnings call. Of the $210 million annualized cost impact, approximately $140 million relates to the incremental 30% China tariffs, while the remaining $70 million is driven by the 10% global reciprocal tariffs and 50% tariff on steel and aluminum. Of this approximately $210 million total annual cost, we expect a 2025 in-year impact of approximately $140 million before mitigation, with the impact largely occurring in the second half of the year. Our teams continue to actively work to mitigate these additional costs through a combination of levers. These include cost reductions, continued efforts to change our sourcing footprint and pricing where necessary. We anticipate that these mitigation actions will largely offset the direct cost impact of the currently enacted tariffs in 2025. It is important to note that our guidance does not attempt to estimate the impact of potential future tariffs, including on copper, or any changes in existing tariffs. Turning to the overall market. Our expectation is that the U.S. and international repair and remodel markets will decrease low single digits in 2025. For Masco, we expect our sales in 2025 to decrease low single digits, impacted by the 2024 divestiture of Kichler, which will reduce sales by approximately 2% year-over-year. We anticipate currency will have a favorable impact of approximately 1%, similar to the favorable impact experienced in the second quarter. Excluding the impacts of divestiture and currency, we anticipate Masco's overall sales to be roughly flat year-over-year with lower volumes largely offset with pricing. We will continue to invest in our business for future growth while also maintaining cost discipline. As a result, we expect SG&A as a percent of sales to be in line with 2024. As always, we will take appropriate actions to address our cost as the year develops based on market conditions. We anticipate total company operating margin to be approximately 17% in 2025, including the impacts of tariffs and lower volume. As we think about our results in the first half of the year versus our expected second half performance, we anticipate there to be some headwinds in the second half, particularly as it relates to tariff costs and commodity inflation. In addition, we experienced some favorability in certain cost items in the second quarter such as lower employee-related costs that are not expected to repeat in the second half of the year. Finally, as a reminder, fourth quarter sales will face a challenging year-over-year comparison due to the favorable inventory timing impact we experienced in our paint business in the fourth quarter of last year. In our plumbing segment, we expect 2025 full year sales to be up low single digits. We anticipate the full year plumbing margin will be approximately 18.5%. In our Decorative Architectural segment, we expect 2025 sales to decrease low double digit or mid-single digits excluding the impacts of our divestiture. We anticipate the full year Decorative Architectural margin to be approximately 18%. Finally, as Jon mentioned earlier, our 2025 EPS estimate is $3.90 to $4.10 per share. This assumes a 211 million average diluted share count for the year and a 24.5% effective tax rate, which is consistent with our 2024 effective tax rate. With that, I would like to open up the call for questions. Operator?