Jim Claussen
Analyst · KeyBanc Capital Markets
Thank you, Rick, and good morning, everyone. In the first quarter, we achieved revenue at the top end of our guidance range with same-store volumes increasing as expected and same-store average selling prices exceeding our expectations as aluminum pricing was influenced by geopolitical events. Gross margin expanded as anticipated during the quarter as our contracts began to reset at current market pricing and improved demand conditions supported transactional pricing. Net income for the quarter came in at $4.5 million or $0.10 per diluted share and our adjusted net income for the first quarter, which removes transaction-related expenses and a onetime impairment charge was $13.1 million or $0.30 per diluted share. Our same-store first quarter adjusted EBITDA, excluding LIFO generation of $54.9 million exceeded our expectations, while Olympic Steel contributed an additional $12.5 million, which was in range for the business' post-merger 6-week sub period. Altogether, our adjusted EBITDA, excluding LIFO in the first quarter was $67.4 million. Turning to current expectations. Bookings have remained at healthy levels in recent weeks, and we expect the second quarter to fall in line with typical seasonal demand patterns, producing shipments 1% to 3% higher relative to the first quarter on a same-store basis. We, therefore, anticipate that total company tons shipped will be 18% to 20% higher compared to the first quarter of 2026, with Olympic Steel included in the entire period compared to only 6 weeks at the end of the prior period. Total company revenues are expected to be in the range of $1.86 billion to $1.93 billion, with same-store average selling prices expected to be up 2% to 4% sequentially and overall average selling prices to be up 1% to 3% quarter-over-quarter as our product mix shifts higher in carbon products with the full quarter inclusion of Olympic Steel and average selling prices for carbon products lower than those for aluminum and stainless. In all, we anticipate generating net income for the second quarter in the range of $20 million to $22 million or $0.38 to $0.42 per diluted share. We expect our LIFO expense to be between $14 million and $16 million in the second quarter, leading to adjusted EBITDA, excluding LIFO generation in the range of $88 million to $92 million, with $21 million to $23 million of that attributed to Olympic Steel. Second quarter synergy realization is expected to be in the range of $4 million to $6 million. Turning to our integration with Olympic Steel and our progress on attaining our announced $120 million of annual run rate synergies. In our first 6 weeks together, before the end of the first quarter, we were able to hit the ground running on many of our strategies and are seeing early encouraging progress across our synergy categories. One of our earliest priorities post close was to begin the alignment of our supply chain networks and realize initial harmonization of purchasing programs, which we are confident will lead to meaningful savings and further projected buildup in the future quarters as contracts cycle through and we continue to align our purchasing efforts. We expect that in total, the procurement synergies that we executed during the first quarter will generate annual savings of approximately $15 million, and we are on track to meet our anticipated $40 million 2-year procurement target. We realized efficiency savings during the first quarter through the elimination of overlapping corporate subscriptions and fees, and we have more lined up for the second quarter. We anticipate that in total, the merger will realize approximately $5 million in annualized savings from reduced public company costs alone. We exited 2 leased facilities during the quarter, one in Hansville, Alabama and the other in Waterbury, Connecticut. Those operations moved into other facilities in Alabama and Connecticut, and we expect to realize annual savings of $1.5 million as a result. We are seeing great progress in supply chain mapping and commercial synergies with several actions implemented to leverage our enhanced footprint. For example, our Hickman, Arkansas facility, where we recently had upgraded our Tempur mill, our capabilities are already being leveraged to service current and prospective Olympic customers. We are also exercising Ryerson's strength in Bright Metals to service Olympic accounts through our TSA processing facilities, which would have been brought into the Ryerson family of companies in 2023. In total, we realized about $1 million in savings within the first 6 weeks of integration. As previously mentioned, we expect realization of approximately $4 million to $6 million in Q2, and we are well on our way to achieving our estimated first year attainment of $40 million in annual run rate synergies. As both Eddie and Rick expressed, we are exceedingly pleased with the collaborative efforts of both teams and are looking forward to providing further updates as we drive towards our 2-year target of $120 million in annual run rate synergies. Turning to our investments in the business. In the first quarter, our capital expenditures totaled $12 million and primarily included investments in repair and maintenance projects at our facilities as well as small capability enhancement projects. As a reminder, we anticipated investing approximately $50 million in same-store capital expenditures in '26 with an additional $25 million allocated to Olympic Steel for a total this year of $75 million. Turning to shareholder returns. During the first quarter, Ryerson distributed $9.7 million in the form of dividends or $0.1875 per share distributed to our expanded shareholder base. For the second quarter, we have announced a dividend of the same amount. Additionally, returned $1.6 million to our shareholders during the first quarter by opportunistically repurchasing approximately 74,000 shares from the open market under our share repurchase authorization. We are also pleased to announce that following the expiration of our previous program on April 30, our Board of Directors has approved a new share repurchase program, which provides us with the authorization to repurchase up to $100 million worth of our shares over the next 2 years. We expect to prudently exercise this authority as opportunities in the market are presented. I will now turn the call over to Molly Kannan to discuss our financial performance highlights for the first quarter.