Operator
Operator
Good day, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Sturm, Ruger Second Quarter 2018 Earnings Conference Call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. Later, we will conduct a question-and-answer session, and instructions will be given at that time. As a reminder, this conference call may be recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to Chris Killoy, President and CEO. You may begin. Christopher John Killoy - Sturm, Ruger & Co., Inc.: Good morning and welcome to the Sturm, Ruger & Company second quarter 2018 conference call. I would like to ask Kevin Reid, our General Counsel, to read the caution on forward-looking statements,. Then Tom Dineen, our Chief Financial Officer, will give an overview of the second quarter financial results. And then I will discuss the state of the market and update you on our operations, and then we'll get to your questions. Kevin, let's get started. Kevin B. Reid, Sr. - Sturm, Ruger & Co., Inc.: Sure, Chris. We like to remind everyone that statements made in the course of this meeting that state the company's or management's intentions, hopes, beliefs, expectations, or predictions of the future are forward-looking statements. It is important to note that the company's actual results could differ materially from those projected in such forward-looking statements. Additional information concerning factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements is contained from time to time in the company's SEC filings, including, but not limited to, the company's reports on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2017 and, of course, the Form 10-Q for the fiscal ended June 30, 2018. Copies of these documents may be obtained by contacting the company or the SEC, or on the company website at www.ruger.com/corporate, or the SEC website at www.sec.gov. We do reference non-GAAP EBITDA. Please note that the reconciliation of GAAP net income to non-GAAP EBITDA can be found in our Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2017 and our Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2018, which are also posted to our website. Furthermore, the company disclaims all responsibility to update forward-looking statements. Chris? Christopher John Killoy - Sturm, Ruger & Co., Inc.: Thank you, Kevin. Now, Tom will provide a financial summary of the second quarter. Thomas A. Dineen - Sturm, Ruger & Co., Inc.: Thanks, Chris. For the second quarter of 2018, net sales were $128.4 million and diluted earnings were $0.86 per share. For the comparable prior year period, net sales were $131.9 million and diluted earnings were $0.57 per share. In the second quarter of 2018, earnings per share benefited by the following. The adoption of the new revenue recognition standard, known as ASC 606, increased EPS by $0.05. The reduced federal income tax rate from 35% to 21% increased EPS by $0.12. And the repurchase of 1.3 million shares of common stock in 2017 increased EPS by $0.06. For the first half of 2018, net sales were $259.6 million and diluted earnings were $1.68 per share. For the corresponding period in 2017, net sales were $299.2 million and diluted earnings were $1.79 per share. For the second quarter of 2018, our EBITDA was $28.2 million, or 22% of sales, compared to $25.0 million, or 19% of sales, in the second quarter of 2017. The balance sheet, at June 30, 2018, our cash and cash equivalents totaled $131.7 million. Our current ratio was 3.3:1, and we have no debt. At June 30, 2018, stockholders' equity totaled $249.4 million, which equates to a book value of $14.29 per share. In the first half of 2018, we generated $81 million of cash from operations. Cash returned to shareholders, in the first half of 2018, the company returned $9.6 million to its shareholders through the payment of dividends. Our board of directors declared a $0.34 per share quarterly dividend for shareholders of record as of August 17, 2018, payable on August 31, 2018. As a reminder, our quarterly dividend is approximately 40% of net income, and therefore varies quarter-to-quarter. That's the financial updates for the second quarter. Chris? Christopher John Killoy - Sturm, Ruger & Co., Inc.: Thanks, Tom. We are pleased with the second quarter financial results and our financial condition as we enter the second half of the year. In the second quarter of 2017, we implemented a strategy to lower production and reduce our workforce. As a result, we performed well in the latter half of 2017, a period of relatively soft demand, without becoming overextended with promotions and discounts. We ended the year with a strong balance sheet, reduced inventories in our warehouses and at the independent distributors, and a healthy sell-through at distributor level. Demand, the estimated unit sell-through of our products from the independent distributors to retailers in the second quarter of 2018 increased 5% from the comparable prior year period. For the same period, the National Instant Criminal Background Check System background checks, or NICS checks, decreased 8%. The estimated unit sell-through of our products from the independent distributors to retailers decreased 1% in the first half of 2018 from the comparable prior year period. For the same period, NICS checks decreased 3%. We believe our outperformance of NICS in both the second quarter and first half of 2018 is attributable to the strong reception of four major new products that we launched this past December, the Pistol Caliber Carbine, commonly referred to as PCC, the EC9s pistol, the Security-9 pistol, and the Precision Rimfire Rifle. New product sales represented $75.5 million, or 29% of firearm sales, in the first half of 2018. New products sales include only major new products that were introduced in the past two years, like the four that I just mentioned. Derivatives and line extensions are not included in the new product sales calculation. Production and inventory, we base our production and manage our inventory levels primarily through semimonthly reviews of the estimated sell-through of our products from the independent distributors to retailers. We also review our inventory and the independent distributors' inventories. Based on these reviews, we increased the second quarter total unit production by 7% from the first quarter of 2018. Despite this increase, our total unit production for the first half of 2018 was 17% below the first half of last year. The reduced production levels allowed our finished goods inventory to decrease 48,200 units in the first half of 2018. Distributor inventories of our products decreased by 38,600 units during the same period. The combined inventory in our warehouses and at the independent distributors decreased over 200,000 units since last June. This is a reduction of almost 40%. We plan to increase production in the latter half of 2018 to replenish inventories of the products in the strongest demand. Remember, unlike most of our competitors, effectively all of our domestic firearm sales go through distribution. Capital expenditures, capital expenditures in the first half of the year were $2.4 million, which is very low for us. However, this is not indicative of a lack of activity related to new product development nor a change in our mindset about the importance of new products. Rather, it can be attributed to two key factors. First, the first is timing. Earlier we discussed the four major new products that we introduced last December. The capital expenditures related to those new products were recognized in the fourth quarter of 2017. Consequently, our capital expenditures in that quarter totaled $20 million, which is uncommonly high. If one or two of those products lagged into 2018, our year-to-date 2018 capital expenditures would have been significantly greater. The second reason is the repurposing of machinery and equipment. Remember, we built 2.1 million units in 2016. Production has been reduced over the past couple of years and we are working to better employ underutilized equipment. Cash, as Tom mentioned a few minutes ago, our cash generation in the first half of the year was very strong. The key contributors were our solid operating performance, the cash generation of which was bolstered by the reduced federal income tax rate; the $16 million inventory reduction, as demand outstripped production in the first half of the year; continued solid accounts receivable collections, despite some headwinds in the industry; and the relatively low level of capital expenditures, which we just covered. Our cash balance of $132 million is more than we need to support our normal daily operations. Nevertheless, our capital allocation philosophy has not changed. Our primary responsibility is the stewardship of our shareholders' assets and the creation of shareholder value. We are constantly looking for opportunities to generate strong returns with our capital. If we get to a point where we decide that we will not be able to employ our capital, we will return the cash to our shareholders in the form of dividends. Operator, may we have the first question?