Yahoo Finance Rogers Corporation (NYSE:ROG) Q1 2024 Earnings Call Transcript
Rogers Corporation (NYSE:ROG) Q1 2024 Earnings Call Transcript April 25, 2024
Rogers Corporation beats earnings expectations. Reported EPS is $0.58, expectations were $0.55. Rogers Corporation isn’t one of the 30 most popular stocks among hedge funds at the end of the third quarter (see the details here).
Operator: Good afternoon. My name is Alicia, and I'll be your conference operator today. At this time, I'd like to welcome everyone to Rogers Corporation's First Quarter 2024 Earnings Conference Call. I'll now turn the call over to your host, Mr. Steve Haymore, Director of Investor Relations. Mr. Haymore, you may begin.
Steve Haymore: Good afternoon, everyone, and welcome to the Rogers Corporation first quarter 2024 earnings conference call. The slides for today's call can be found on the Investor section of our website, along with the news release that was issued earlier today. Please turn to Slide 2. Before we begin, I would like to note that statements in this conference call that are not strictly historical are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and should be considered as subject to the many uncertainties that exist in Rogers' operations and environment. These uncertainties include economic conditions, market demands, and competitive factors. Such factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those in any forward-looking statement made today.
Please turn to Slide 3. The discussions during this conference call will also reference certain financial measures that were not prepared in accordance with U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles. A reconciliation of those non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures can be found in the slide deck for today's call, which are available on our Investor Relations website. Turning to Slide 4, with me today is Colin Gouveia, President and Chief Executive Officer; Ram Mayampurath, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer; and Griffin Gappert, Vice President and Chief Technology Officer. I will now turn the call over to Colin.
Colin Gouveia: Thanks, Steve. Good afternoon to everyone and thank you for joining us today. I will begin with the key messages for the quarter and outlook on Slide 5. Overall, we are encouraged by the improving end market demand that we saw in the first quarter. Sales were nearing the high-end of our guidance expectations, which led to adjusted EPS above the midpoint of the range. The markets were we saw the most growth were aerospace and defense, wireless infrastructure and industrial. The improved industrial demand is significant as it is both our largest end market and was hit hardest by the prolonged cyclical downturn in manufacturing activity. It appears that demand in many of these industrial markets has hit bottom and the gradual market recovery is beginning to take hold.
The improving outlook for industrial demand adds to the likelihood that Q1 sales will be the low point for the year, and that sales should continue to improve into the second half of 2024. Other signs that point to a stronger second half of the year include improving manufacturing PMI data, input from customers, and the typical seasonality in our portable electronics business. Returning to Q1, excess inventory at the customer level remains a challenge for certain product lines. Our curamik power substrate business, which had a record year in 2023, had several high profile customers push out orders in late February due to inventory levels. The sales outlook for power modules used in industrial, renewable energy and EV/HEV inverter applications is very dynamic right now.
And we are closely watching for better indications regarding demand levels in the second half of the year. We do expect this headwind to continue into Q2 based on customer feedback. As we continue to drive improvement in our top line, we are also taking steps to improve profitability and cash flow. These actions include adjusting manufacturing costs, and startup expenses for specific [ph] product lines to match lower near-term demand levels. In some cases, we are taking out more cost where the recovery may be further away, and carrying some cost where we see demand returning sooner. As we manage through the very dynamic near-term environment, we remain firmly focused on executing on our strategic growth plans. This includes continuing to fund our R&D and innovation initiatives and investing in capacity and capabilities to support this growth.
We continue to take a measured approach to capacity investments and we'll adjust the timing of spend to align with demand levels. We are working to strike the right balance between readiness to capitalize on growth opportunities while actively improving margin and cash flow. In terms of innovation, we have a rich opportunity pipeline that we anticipate will help drive our future growth. I'll now turn it over to Griffin to discuss more about our innovation and technology development efforts.
Griffin Gappert: Thank you, Colin. I'm very excited to share our strategy to accelerate innovation at Rogers and the exciting opportunities we have ahead. I'll begin on Slide 6. Rogers has a rich history of innovation, and over the past 9 months, I've observed firsthand the unique skill sets and capabilities that have established Rogers as an innovation leader. These capabilities include our deep material science and applications expertise, which fuels the development of highly engineered and differentiated solutions. This has enabled us to establish technology leadership positions in sector growth markets, and it's why customers repeatedly turn to Rogers for solutions to their most complex materials challenges. Some examples of the types of innovative solutions we have developed in recent years include advanced power substrates, which have helped enable the growth of silicon carbide in electric vehicles and renewable energy markets.
Battery compression pads for EV batteries that enable improved range and lower total cost of ownership for OEMs and miniaturized antenna solutions for the defense market. Our new innovative platform enables reduction of antenna size by 75% to support evolving communication needs. The strengths I've outlined will continue to be the foundation of our innovation strategy as we move forward with continuous improvement initiatives targeted to accelerate and scale our development processes. The first of these initiatives is focused on strengthening our innovation operating model. We are placing increased emphasis on a One Rogers model to drive greater process consistency, and improved execution capabilities across all of our R&D and innovation functions.
This will help us accelerate our development cycles and make the innovation function more scalable as we grow. In addition, we are taking a portfolio approach with how we allocate resources and invest in opportunities over multiple innovation horizons. For Horizon 1 innovations, we are prioritizing key near-term projects focused on extending our core businesses. For Horizon 2, the focus is on developing capabilities needed to capitalize on technologies and applications adjacent to our core. And with Horizon 3, we focus on the exploration of nascent technologies, which have longer timelines, but high potential for disruptive solutions. With this portfolio approach, we are investing resources across multiple time horizons to make sure we continue to support the growth of the business today and into the future.
We are also placing a greater emphasis on leveraging technologies such as digital modeling and machine learning to innovate faster and with better outcomes. We also continue to leverage our innovation ecosystem partnerships, including relationships with academic and government institutions, suppliers and startups. We expect these best-in-class techniques to drive improved results that will help accelerate the growth of the business with future innovations. Some examples include process innovations in both our AES and EMS business units. One example in our curamik business is a process improvement that further enhances the quality and reliability of our AMB substrates. Next generation automotive radar technology, which can increase detection range by 40%, while lowering the total cost the radar system by 20% and multiple engagements with key OEMs and battery manufacturers on emerging EV batteries, where our polyurethane and silicone materials can solve pressure management and other needs.
We're very excited about the opportunities in our innovation pipeline and the improvements we are making to further strengthen our innovation and technology leadership positions. I'll now pass it back to Colin.
Colin Gouveia: Thanks, Griffin. Turning to Slide 7, I will next provide more detail on our first quarter results. Sales of $213 million increased approximately 4% from the prior quarter and were near the top end of our guidance, led by higher aerospace and defense and industrial markets. As mentioned, we are seeing indications of further sales improvement ahead. Gross margin was at the low end of our range, primarily resulting from unfavorable product mix. We carefully managed operating expenses to achieve adjusted EPS above the midpoint of our guidance. Touching on our gross margin results of 32% in Q1, we expect significant improvement in coming quarters. With higher volumes and the structural cost improvements we've made, we could see margins above 35% later this year.
As inventories and volumes stabilize, the work we have done in operations, supply chain procurement and pricing will enable margins to grow towards our long-term financial targets. I will next provide some more color on each of our major end market, starting with the EV/HEV segment, our significant growth category. Total EV/HEV sales declined in Q1 with lower AES sales, offsetting strong growth in our EMS business unit. EMS EV sales reached a new quarterly record in Q1 on improved demand for EV battery solutions from our global customer base. Sales increased at one key OEM customer beginning to achieve more substantial production volumes following supply chain challenges in 2023. We expect EMS EV sales to increase further in Q2. As I touched on earlier, our curamik sales decline versus the fourth quarter as our power substrate customers managed inventory levels due to software and market demand.
This decline was consistent across most of our customer base. Based on indications from our customers, we expect that power substrate sales will continue at similar levels in Q2 before strengthening in the second half of the year. In our high growth markets, A&D sales were strong in the AES business, driven by demand for our high frequency circuit materials for defense applications. EMS sales also increased versus the fourth quarter from stronger commercial aerospace sales. Renewable energy revenues increased from lower Q4 levels and ADAS decreased slightly. As expected, portable electronics demand declined from the prior quarter due to normal seasonality. In our core markets, we saw improvement in both industrial and wireless infrastructure sales.
Industrial sales improved at a high single-digit rate led by our EMS business. As mentioned, we are seeing encouraging signs of less customer inventory destocking as well as improving order patterns. Wireless infrastructure sales improved from stronger demand in India, which we expect will continue into Q3. Lastly, I'll touch on some of the recent wins we have secured as we continue to see good design and activity across our business. First, we secure two wins with our curamik advanced substrate technology. In the EV space, a customer in Asia designed our high performance substrates into their silicon carbide power module solution for electric vehicles. In the renewable energy market, our substrates were selected by a leading U.S power module manufacturer for new solar and wind programs.
In EMS, our highly engineered pour on polyurethane foams were selected to be used in the latest smartphone models by two leading Asian OEMs. Our battery cover pads solution will provide advanced vibration management and impact protection in these devices. In closing, I'll recap today's key messages. We have navigated through some challenging markets over the past several quarters and are now encouraged with the signs of recovery that are emerging in our industrial markets. There are still challenges which is evident in certain segments of the EV/HEV market or inventory and softening demand will likely limit sales for at least another quarter. Longer term, we continue to feel very confident in our strategy and growth opportunities. We believe that electrification will be a very strong growth area for us and will be complemented by our high growth and core markets.
We are focused on growth, but also taking the necessary steps to improve margins more rapidly. We are also carefully managing costs, CapEx investments and managing our strong balance sheet to maximize cash flow. Now I'll turn it over to Ron to discuss our Q1 financial performance and Q2 outlook.
Ram Mayampurath: Thanks, Colin. I'll begin on Slide 8 with highlights of our results for q1. Our results for the quarter were in line with the guidance we provided in our earnings call. Sales were near the top end of our guidance range and adjusted EPS above the midpoint. As Colin touched on, we saw some encouraging signs in the market such as AMD, industrial and wireless infrastructure. At the same time, there are still some markets where customers are managing inventory levels and demand has been softer. The demand environment remains uneven, but we see it trending up beginning in Q2 with further improvements expected in Q3. We remain committed to improving our gross margin and managing our operating expenses, while ensuring readiness to capitalize on the strong demand asset returns.
On Slide 9, I'll discuss our Q1 results in more detail. Net sales of $213 million increased 4% versus the prior quarter, due to higher volumes of approximately 7 million and favorable foreign currency fluctuations of close to $2 million. On a reportable segment basis, AES revenues increased from the prior quarter by 4.1% to $122 million. Sales improved in the aerospace and defense in wireless infrastructure, industrial and renewable energy markets. This was partially offset by lower EV/HEV and ADAS sales. The lower EV/HEV sales are a symptom of near-term inventory management by our curamik power module customers, and not a reflection of the very compelling growth opportunities in this market as demand recovers. EMS revenues increased by 3% to $86 million resulting from higher general industrial and commercial aerospace demand.
Sales in our materials for EV batteries also increased from stronger demand from some of our OEM customers. Portable Electronic sales were lower and in line with normal seasonality. Turning to Slide 10, Q1 gross margins were 32% and declined from the fourth quarter primarily due to weaker product mix, including seasonally lower portable electronic sales. Lower volume and unfavorable product mix have impacted our gross margins in the recent quarters. Looking over a multi quarter horizon, the high point of our gross margin was the third quarter of 2023 when we achieved 35.1%. The 300 basis points change from then to Q1 2024 was primarily due to these two factors. During the same timeframe, margins were also reduced by 150 basis points of under absorbed costs.
However, this was offset by operational excellence and procurement savings actions. To address under absorbed costs in Q1, which resulted from inventory adjustments by our curamik customers, we have taken actions to better match AES costs to demand. These actions are in part contributing to the higher gross margin in our guidance outlook. In some parts of our business, we will continue to carry a small amount of excess cost as we see demand returning in a shorter timeframe, and we want to ensure that the -- that we have the ability to respond. Let me emphasize that improving gross margins is among our highest priorities. And that we have made the structural cost changes needed to improve gross margins over 35% by Q3 of this year, assuming sales greater than 230 million.
Q1 adjusted net income decreased slightly to just under 11 million, Q1 adjusted earnings per share was $0.58 compared to $0.60 in the prior quarter. The decrease in Q1 adjusted net income was primarily a result of higher income tax expenses in the quarter, which more than offset higher gross profit, lower adjusted operating expenses and lower interest expenses. Continuing to Slide 11, ending cash at March 31 was approximately 117 million, a decrease of 15 million from the end of 2023. We generated an operating cash flow of $28 million in Q1 and now had capital expenditures of $9 million in the quarter. As Colin referenced, given our current view of demand in certain markets, we are adjusting the timing of our capital expenditure to better match anticipated demand.
We now expect CapEx to be in the range of $60 million to $70 million for the year. With our sound cash position, we elected to pay down the remaining $30 million of our revolving credit facility. As we look ahead, the first priority of our capital allocation strategy will remain funding organic growth. We will be measured in any investments ensuring sufficient visibility to demand with no outstanding, we are in a strong position to execute on the right strategic M&A opportunity. As always, we are looking at targets that are the right fit and meet our financial return requirements. Returning cash to shareholders will remain a priority and will continue and we will continue to look at this opportunistically. We have been repurchasing some shares in the recent weeks, and this will remain a key priority going forward.
Next on Slide 12, I will discuss our guidance for the second quarter. Net sales are expected to range between $210 million and $220 million. The midpoint of this range is slightly higher than Q1 primarily related to growth expected from EMS in the EV/HEV and general industrial markets. We are guiding gross margin in the range of 32.5 to 33.5 for Q2, with improvements coming from cost reductions actions in our AES business, higher volumes and better product mix. As mentioned earlier, we will be carrying a small amount of excess cost in anticipation of stronger demand in the coming quarters. Similar to adjustments mentioned earlier on capital expenditure, we're also adjusting the timing of our startup expenses. Startup costs are projected to be between 1 million and 2 million in Q2.
Depending on how demand levels evolve, these startup cost may be adjusted further. Earnings per share is expected to range from $0.34 to $0.54, and adjusted EPS from $0.50 to $0.70. We project our full year tax rate to be around 26%. In conclusion, our sales have been impacted by challenging market conditions in the past several quarters. However, we have taken actions to lower our cost and manage our profitability. As stated earlier, we believe that we are on a path to exceed 35% by Q3, assuming certain revenue range. Also, we have set a strong foundation of cost control and financial discipline that will enable us to focus our resources and continue our investments in an efficient way. We remain committed to our long-term financial objectives.
With that, I will now turn the call back to the operator for questions.
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