Builders FirstSource revenues dip
Builders FirstSource, the biggest supplier of building products in the U.S., announced its Q2 results for 2024. Numbers were largely down from this time last year, though CEO Dave Rush expressed optimism for better days ahead on a company webcast. “Our resilient business model allows us to win in any environment,” Rush said, adding that “We are the unquestioned leader at addressing our customers’ pain points.”
The company’s Q2 highlights, which describe year-over-year changes, include:
- Net sales were $4.5 billion, a 1.6 percent decrease, with core organic sales down 3.8 percent as multi-family housing continues trending downward, partially offset by growth from acquisitions and single-family construction.
- Gross profit margin percentage decreased 240 basis points to 32.8 percent, primarily driven by ongoing normalization, particularly in multi-family.
- Gross profit was $1.5 billion, a decrease of 8.3 percent.
- Net income decreased 15 percent to $344.1 million, or $2.87 per diluted share compared to $3.16 per diluted share in the prior year period, which is a 9.2 percent decline in net income per diluted share.
- Cash provided by operating activities was $452.1 million, up $60.8 million compared to the prior year period, while free cash flow increased 35.9 percent to $366.7 million, compared to $269.9 million in the prior year period.
Builders FirstSource also noted that it repurchased 5.8 million shares of common stock at an average price of $170.01 for a grand total of $989.6 million. Since launching its buyback program in August 2021, the company has repurchased 93 million shares of its common stock at an average price of $76.65 per share for a total cost of $7.1 billion.
Rush shared his view of the company’s path forward amid ongoing economic uncertainty and spiraling costs creating an affordability crunch.
“While we continue to see weaker than expected single-family starts, slowing multi-family and broader housing affordability challenges, we are executing our strategy by controlling what we can control, investing in value-added solutions and driving adoption of our industry-leading digital platform. Our ability to solve industry pain points with our best-in-class product portfolio and delivering exceptional customer service makes us trusted partners to our customers as they navigate this uncertain macro landscape.”
Looking ahead to the rest of 2024, Builders FirstSource forecasts the following figures:
- Net sales to be in a range of $16.4 billion to $17.2 billion.
- Gross profit margin to be in a range of 31.5 percent to 32.5 percent.
- Free cash flow in the range of $1 billion to $1.2 billion.
You can view the company’s Q2 financial presentation here and read more here.
