Metallus Inc. — Call Transcript 2026

Good morning, and welcome to Metallus' first quarter 2026 conference call. I'm Jennifer Beeman, Director of Communications and Investor Relations for Metallus. Joining me today is Mike Williams, Chief Executive Officer, Kris Westbrooks, President and Chief Operating Officer, John Zaranec, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, and Kevin Raketich, Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer. You should have received a copy of our press release, which was issued last night. During today's conference call, we may make forward-looking statements as defined by the SEC. Our actual results may differ materially from those projected or implied due to a variety of factors, which we describe in greater detail in yesterday's release. Please refer to our SEC filings, including our most recent Form 10-Q, which will be filed later today, as well as the risk factors included in our earnings release, all of which are available on the Metallus website. Where non-GAAP financial information is referenced, additional details and reconciliations to its GAAP equivalent are included in the earnings release and the earnings presentation available on the investor page at metallus.com. With that, I'd like to turn the call over to Mike. Mike? Good morning, and thank you for joining us today. I'm encouraged by our team's continued focus on operational priorities, which strengthened our performance in the first quarter. Demand continues to improve across our end markets and our order book grew year-over-year, supported by overall industrial and defense demand, decreasing distribution inventory levels, and onshoring. Section 232 tariffs continue to support our competitive position in the markets we serve. The April 2026 updates to these tariffs applied only to downstream steel containing derivative products and do not affect our products, which are classified as primary steel. Most importantly, the 50% tariff on imported primary steel, including all long bar and tube products, remains in place, reinforcing the long-term competitiveness of U.S.-produced steel. The capital investments and operational system improvements we implemented during the planned shutdown period in the fourth quarter contributed to higher melt utilization on both a sequential and year-over-year basis. Our strategic operational advancements achieved critical milestones during the quarter, highlighted by the safe and successful reheating and rolling of the first blooms from our new bloom reheat furnace. This achievement reflects the dedicated efforts of our internal teams and the support of the Department of War. As a reminder, the new bloom reheat and roller furnaces facilitate more consistent reheating, improved product quality, and more efficient throughput. In fact, the bloom reheat furnace has recently demonstrated a run rate of approximately 150 tons per hour compared with approximately 100 tons per hour using our legacy assets, along with significant improvements in temperature uniformity. These modern and efficient assets position us to better serve growing customer demand across all end markets, and we anticipate they will also improve our operating leverage over time. We expect the bloom reheat furnace to be fully operational in early to mid third quarter and the roller furnace to be fully operational in late third quarter. We also continue to make meaningful progress in strengthening our operating systems, reinforcing consistent and efficient execution across the organization. These institutionalized systems help our teams identify issues faster and drive greater accountability. During the quarter, we expanded this framework into additional areas focusing on reliability and throughput. Safety remains a foundational priority for us and a critical factor in our long-term success. As always, we focus on eliminating serious injuries through stronger controls, training, and leadership accountability. Our health and safety management system continues to mature with stronger proactive reporting, increased near-miss identification, and targeted capability building in higher risk activities such as cranes rigging, lockout tagout, and machine guarding. This shift towards leading indicators in the disciplined risk management reduces variability, lowers long-term costs, and protects our most important asset, our people. Turning to our first quarter performance, shipments increased by 11% sequentially. Adjusted EBITDA for the quarter totaled $24.6 million, reflecting a 39% increase compared to the prior year's first quarter. This strong improvement underscores our disciplined execution against key priorities and operational improvements. Lead times continue to expand, now reaching into the late third quarter for both bars and seamless mechanical tubing. This reflects strengthening demand for domestic steel and provides a clear signal of the momentum we expect to carry throughout 2026. Turning to performance across our key end markets. We're seeing industrial customers take a more deliberate look at how and where they source steel as they navigate a challenging macro environment. Shifts in trade policy and the reassessing of supply chains are driving increased demand with domestic suppliers. With inventories low across the distribution channels and select products returning from offshore sourcing, we're seeing increased opportunities. We believe these dynamics position us well to strengthen new and existing customer relationships and continue gaining share as industrial markets stabilize. Automotive demand remains steady, with volumes up slightly compared to the prior year. Our automotive order book and key customer relationships remain strong, supported by our continued focus on light truck and SUV transmission programs and our success in winning new and emerging platforms. For example, during the quarter, we won two additional programs with existing customers, reinforcing our confidence in the strength of the automotive markets we serve and the importance of our automotive customers to our base business. The energy markets we serve remain cautious as producers continue to seek greater confidence in long-term oil prices before materially increasing investment. Ongoing global conflicts and geopolitical uncertainty are contributing to volatility in energy markets. Favorable trade-related tailwinds, reduced imports, and a gradual increase in domestic oil and gas activity are creating incremental opportunities for Metallus. Turning to Aerospace & Defense, this market continued to be a key source of strength during the quarter. Due to confidentiality, it's always difficult for us to call out new defense programs by name. What I can say is that we were recently awarded an exciting contract with a new entrant in the defense supply chain to begin producing tubing for new rocket motors related to advanced weapon systems. Demand across defense programs continue to grow, supporting our near-term $250 million run rate revenue expectation and the longer-term strategic expansion in the market, allowing us to provide our expertise to existing and new customers in these critical applications. While defense shipment timing can vary quarter to quarter based on program needs and downstream supply chains outside of our control, the underlying fundamentals remain strong in the foreseeable future. We continue to advance targeted investments and operational improvements to support higher defense volumes. Metallus is well-positioned to benefit from growing defense spending and the continued focus on developing secure domestic supply chains. Overall, we remain focused on disciplined execution in 2026. During the quarter, we improved operational performance, strengthened our internal systems and safely advanced strategic investments that support our long-term objectives. Our growing order book, improving operational execution, and U.S.-based manufacturing footprint provide a solid foundation as we move forward. We will continue to prioritize safety, operational discipline, and prudent capital allocation as we work to deliver consistent performance and long-term value for shareholders. With that, I'll turn the call over to John to walk through our financial results in more detail. Thanks, Mike. Good morning, and thank you for joining our first quarter 2026 earnings call. During the quarter, our team delivered improvements in shipments, net sales, and profitability on both a sequential and year-over-year basis, consistent with our expectations. As Mike noted, we also safely advanced operational and strategic investments to support near and long-term business growth while maintaining a strong balance sheet. From a top-line revenue perspective, first quarter net sales totaled $308.3 million, a year-over-year increase of $27.8 million or 10%, primarily driven by higher shipments across most end markets. Net income was $5.4 million in the first quarter, or $0.13 per diluted share. On an adjusted basis, net income was $7.7 million or $0.18 per diluted share in the quarter. Adjusted EBITDA was $24.6 million in the first quarter, a year-over-year increase of $6.9 million or 39%. The increased profitability was primarily driven by higher shipments across most end markets, better price mix, higher raw material spread, and better fixed cost leverage on higher production volume. Slightly offset by an increase in utility costs and a partial quarter of the cost increase related to the ratified union contract. As a reminder, our previous favorable electricity contract expired in May of 2025. The first quarter of 2025 included a full quarter of lower energy costs. As we noted in February, we expected a usage of free cash flow during the first quarter, which is consistent with historical seasonality as the first quarter normally requires a larger amount of pension funding and working capital build. Additionally, this year, our CapEx spend to complete the government projects is the highest in Q1 and is expected to ramp down throughout 2026. In the first quarter, capital expenditures totaled $24.7 million, including approximately $18.3 million of first quarter CapEx, partially funded by the U.S. government. Planned capital expenditures for the full year 2026 are expected to be approximately $70 million, inclusive of approximately $35 million of capital expenditures primarily funded by the U.S. government. At the end of the first quarter, the company's cash and cash equivalents balance was $104 million. As it relates to government funding, during the first quarter, the company received $5.9 million of cash funding from the government, with an additional $9.5 million received during the month of April based on our successful completion of key milestones. As a reminder, these funds are part of the previously announced nearly $100 million funding agreement in support of the U.S. Army's mission of increasing munitions production. Additional government funding of approximately $2 million is expected to be received in 2026 to complete the government funding arrangements contingent on the achievement of the final mutually agreed upon milestone. As a reminder, this funding substantially paid for both the new bloom reheat furnace at the company's Faircrest facility, as well as the new roller furnace at the Gambrinus facility. Switching to pensions. In the first quarter, the company made $19.8 million of required pension contributions, of which the majority related to the U.S. bargaining plan and reflects roughly 2/3 of the expected full year 2026 pension contributions. Subsequent to the first quarter, the company made a required pension contribution of approximately $5 million in April, with an estimated $5 million of required pension contributions expected for the remainder of 2026. Consistent with our expectations in February, total 2026 required pension contributions are expected to decrease by nearly 60% compared to 2025. As part of the USW contract ratified during the first quarter, employees who are currently accruing a pension benefit will have a one-time opportunity between March 30th and May 30th to freeze their pension accrual and begin receiving a market competitive benefit under the 401(k) plan. These actions will allow employees access to their retirement funds earlier while also providing competitive defined contribution benefits and de-risking the long-term pension obligation. As we continue to actively manage the pension, we'll provide further updates as available. In terms of shareholder return activities, in the first quarter, the company repurchased approximately 277,000 shares of common stock at a cost of $4.3 million. At the end of March, a balance of $85.4 million remained under our existing share repurchase authorization. Since the inception of common share repurchases in early 2022, combined with the convertible note repurchase activities, we've reduced diluted shares outstanding by a significant 26% or 13.8 million shares. These actions reflect the strength of the company's balance sheet and confidence in through-cycle cash flow generation. As it relates to liquidity, total liquidity remains strong at $375 million as of March 31st, 2026. Additionally, as of March 31st, 2026, the company had no outstanding borrowings. Moving now to near-term business outlook. Commercially, second quarter shipments are sequentially expected to increase modestly in the low single-digits on a percentage basis, supported by continued strength in the order book and normal seasonality. Through the first four months of 2026, we announced a series of targeted price actions across our bar and tube portfolios. In bar, we implemented two actions totaling $120 per ton, phased in based on customer promise dates. In tube, pricing actions were differentiated by size and product types, averaging about $100 per ton across the product mix. As a reminder, these pricing actions apply only to business not sold under annual price agreements and to new business, which historically represents approximately 30% of our total annual volume. We expect price realization to be gradual, with greater impact toward the second half of the year. Based on lead times and product mix dependent, second quarter price and mix are expected to be similar to the first quarter, with improvement anticipated in the second half of 2026. From an operational perspective, the company anticipates a sequential increase in its second quarter average melt utilization rate, supported by a strong order book. Manufacturing costs are expected to improve sequentially by approximately $2 million in the second quarter as a result of higher melt utilization, resulting in improved cost absorption and net of the full quarter run rate cost increase related to the ratified union contract. Finally, an adjusted effective income tax rate between 27% and 30% is expected for the full year 2026. Given these elements, the company expects second quarter 2026 adjusted EBITDA to be modestly higher sequentially and year-over-year. To wrap up, thank you to all of our employees, customers, and suppliers for their support. We're well-positioned as a high-quality, U.S.-based specialty metals producer supporting critical markets. As we continue to move forward in 2026, our focus is on safe execution to meet continued rising customer demand. We remain committed to delivering shareholder value through disciplined capital allocation and sustained profitable growth. As always, thank you for your interest in Metallus. We would now like to open the call for questions. To ask a question, simply press star one on your telephone keypad. Again, that is star one to ask a question. Our first question is from the line of John Franzreb with Sidoti. Please go ahead. Good morning, everyone, and thanks for taking the questions. I'd actually like to start with, the recent results reported. You touched on it in your prepared remarks about it's typically a working capital outflow quarter, but I was just curious about the sizable rise in inventory. Is that illustrative of any particular end market demand, or are you building inventory for any particular reason? I'm just curious about that. Yeah. Hey, John, how you doing? Pretty much, you know, we build inventory in Q1 based on the order book demand going into Q2 and with our lead times out to mid to late Q3, depending on product, we can see. We're positioning inventory to service our customers, and we continue to see higher demand, as we mentioned. Year-over-year, the order book is about over 40% greater, which if you did a year-over-year comparison, is about 90,000 more tons. in our order book than we had this year last time. We're positioning inventory to meet the order demand that we have. Got it. That's good to hear. sequentially, you know, you're suggesting that revenue is gonna be up in the low single-digit range. I'm kind of curious, does that suggest maybe one of your key end markets is maybe a little bit slower than you would have thought, say, three months ago, especially considering the visibility you have in A&D? I mean, I don't see anything slower. It's just the timing of when the orders are requested and when we need to ship them on time align with our throughput capability. Okay, fair enough. One last question I'll get back into queue. Regarding the operational improvement of $2 million, I just want to make sure I kind of understand that properly. Is that improvement above the increased cost from the new union contract or is it net. Yeah. Does it net out the increased cost, you know? Yeah. It's net of the increased labor costs with the new agreement, labor agreement. Great. That's an all-in increase. That's offsetting. Yeah. That's offsetting the wages. It's a net positive of $2 million off the wages. I just want to make sure I understand that. Correct. Correct. Great. All right. Thank you. I'll get back into queue. Your next question is from Samuel McKinney with KeyBanc Capital Markets. Please go ahead. Hey, good morning. Morning, Sam. Your first quarter auto shipments were up slightly year-on-year despite the negative SAR comp. Could you just give us a little more color on your ability to outpace that figure and what you're hearing from the SUV and heavy truck customers moving into the summer? Yeah, I mean, those are the predominantly the platforms that we're on, and those are the platforms that are driving the demand where we've seen year-over-year order increases. We expect that to be fairly stable at this point throughout the year, you know, with some typical seasonality towards the end of the year. It's all about the platforms that we're on and the pull rate that they're requesting for their build rates of the powertrain and transmission programs that we're on. Okay. Just wanna turn to A&D and the Army investment. Given other commentary during this earnings cycle, it appears that the U.S. Army's munitions partner doesn't plan to begin production at its facility until sometime during 2027. How does that impact the timing for you to hit your previously stated goal of $250 million in annualized A&D sales this year? I mean, it definitely has an overall impact of them getting to the 100,000 shells per month production, which of course affects us. What we are seeing is we have seen them ramp up their other facilities, as well as we've seen some non-U.S. demand, most of it's still in North America, just not in the U.S., and the offshore inquiries and orders that we're getting. It affects it, but we're working diligently to offset that with other weapon system applications. We mentioned the one new program we just got. It'll most likely ramp up to its full demand in 2027. It'll ramp up throughout the year, this year, but really hit the peak cycles in 2027 and 2028. We continue to work hard to get other programs to kind of offset the original planning process with the new facility coming online for the particular 155 mm munitions. As I said earlier, we're seeing increased demand from existing facilities because they're really trying to ramp it up. If you look at the math, and we kind of calculated based on what we sell in those particular grades, they're operating around 70,000 shells a month right now versus their 100,000 target. That's up from 50,000, you know, six months ago. We do anticipate as they continue to push the other facilities to improve their throughput and capacity, that'll continue to modestly increase throughout the year. Depending on timing, when that other facility gets up and running, it's a win-win for us. Okay. Is there any change to the outlook of hitting $250 million in A&D sales this year? No. We still have that expectation as we said in our comments. Yeah, there is some, you know, variability that we're working towards in the second half to fill some gaps because we were anticipating some type of ramp up out of that, the one facility that still is being worked on to get it up and operational. We're still confident that we're gonna hit that expectation. At least that we strive for higher, as you can imagine, internally, but right now we're confident that we'll meet that expectation. That's a run rate expectation. I mean, some of this is a little bit lumpy to supply chain and order timing. As we talked about last year, that 250 is a run rate that we expect to achieve in the year. Right. Sure. All right. Thanks, Mike and John. Thanks, Sam. Your next question comes from the line of Dave Storms with Stonegate. Please go ahead. Dave, your line is open. Excuse me. Is that better? Yep, we can hear you. Perfect. Thank you. Sorry about that. Just wanted to start with getting your thoughts around lead times. I know you mentioned they go to the third quarter. With the ramping of the bloom reheat furnace, could this maybe be the high water mark, and maybe lead times might start to come down throughout the year? Or does the order book indicate that they might continue to increase? Right now, everything we can see, you know, here we sit in early May, is the fact that, you know, we expect it to continue to have really good demand. We do expect that the seasonality that occurs in the fourth quarter is gonna be there, our maintenance out, et cetera. Yeah, right now what we see, you know, We're halfway through the third quarter. Orders continue to come in at a pretty good rate per week, and we expect that to continue. We just gotta focus on our execution and serve our customers. Understood. Appreciate that. Just also looking at the order book, a lot of strength there. Are you seeing more of the growth coming from maybe price, excuse me, more from price or maybe more from mix, or is it volume that's expected to drive that? Just any commentary of, you know, maybe some of the profile of the order book. Yeah, I mean, I mean, overall it's volume, okay? But our team does a pretty good job trying to manage and maximize, you know, the highest return value creation in mix as we can. I think the area we see, you know, automotive continue to be steady. We continue to expect growth in A&D, and we expect energy. We've seen, you know, positive improvement in energy because of the trade environment and what we call it reshoring, but it's really domestic sourcing of supply. We expect that to potentially continue to modestly grow. As you can imagine, there's a lot of volatility with all the uncertainty, the global conflict, et cetera, affecting the energy market. We have to watch that very closely and align with our customers the best way we can. I think the biggest area of opportunity we see the remainder of this year is really steady growth in the industrial end markets. Understood. Thank you for taking my questions. Thank you. Again, as a reminder, to ask a question, press star one on your telephone keypad. Our next question is from the line of Aaron Reed with Northcoast Research. Please go ahead. Thanks for taking my question here. One of the questions, or the question I really have is, you mentioned that your old energy contract was expiring, and you have a new one. I was wondering if you could give us any more insights into the terms around that. Is that something that's typically paid on spot, or are those longer-term contracts? Okay. We did have a long-term contract that expired at the end of last May. The contracts that we currently operate on, 70% of our electrical demand is fixed under a two-year agreement, which we're actually just the second six months of year one. That'll exist for two-years. The other 30% is spot purchased. That's helpful. Thank you. So that's. And. Yeah, you're welcome. The other question I had is, one of the things that we saw was the new tariffs that went into place here on May 1st for automotives. Do you expect that to have a meaningful impact on automotive demand? I know that's typically not what we're importing from Europe. There's a real lot of overlap of what you're supplying to, but I just wasn't sure in the past, how has that impacted you, and does that give any insights on what the market might look like here going forward? Well, we're heavily influenced based on build rate and platforms. Excuse me. Predominantly most of our steel applications go into powertrains, particularly transmissions, crankshafts, et cetera. We've heavily focused on SUVs and trucks. Those are the vehicles that are selling. That's why we're seeing good, steady demand all last year throughout the volatility of the market, regardless of imports. This year we see the same thing with incremental improvement. What we are seeing is, you know, the move away from the high expected volume of EVs, what we are seeing is more hybrid demand, which is good for us because it has a combustion engine and has a transmission as well as electric motors. That's kind of the move we've seen. I think it still plays good to us 'cause we can play in all three of those platforms, ICE, hybrid, or EV. I think we're in a good spot. Our team's done a pretty decent job of going after the right applications where typically the consumer price effect isn't as influenced based on price movements because these tend to all be high-end vehicles. Super helpful. Thank you. I'll turn it back over. Okay. I'll now hand the call back over to Metallus as we have no further questions. Thank you. Great. Thank you so much. That concludes our call for today. Thank you again for joining us today. This does conclude today's conference call. You may now disconnect.

Speaker 3: Good morning, and welcome to Metallus' first quarter 2026 conference call. I'm Jennifer Beeman, Director of Communications and Investor Relations for Metallus. Joining me today is Mike Williams, Chief Executive Officer, Kris Westbrooks, President and Chief Operating Officer, John Zaranec, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, and Kevin Raketich, Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer. You should have received a copy of our press release, which was issued last night. During today's conference call, we may make forward-looking statements as defined by the SEC. Our actual results may differ materially from those projected or implied due to a variety of factors, which we describe in greater detail in yesterday's release. Good morning, and welcome to Metallus' first quarter 2026 conference call. good morning and welcome to metallus' first quarter 2026 conference call I'm Jennifer Beeman, Director of Communications and Investor Relations for Metallus. i'm jennifer beeman director of communications and investor relations for metallus Joining me today is Mike Williams, Chief Executive Officer, Kris Westbrooks, President and Chief Operating Officer, John Zaranec, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, and Kevin Raketich, Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer. joining me today is mike williams chief executive officer kris westbrooks president and chief operating officer john zaranec executive vice president and chief financial officer and kevin raketich executive vice president and chief commercial officer You should have received a copy of our press release, which was issued last night. you should have received a copy of our press release which was issued last night During today's conference call, we may make forward-looking statements as defined by the SEC. during today's conference call we may make forward-looking statements as defined by the sec Our actual results may differ materially from those projected or implied due to a variety of factors, which we describe in greater detail in yesterday's release. our actual results may differ materially from those projected or implied due to a variety of factors which we describe in greater detail in yesterday's release Please refer to our SEC filings, including our most recent Form 10-Q, which will be filed later today, as well as the risk factors included in our earnings release, all of which are available on the Metallus website. Where non-GAAP financial information is referenced, additional details and reconciliations to its GAAP equivalent are included in the earnings release and the earnings presentation available on the investor page at metallus.com. With that, I'd like to turn the call over to Mike. Mike? Please refer to our SEC filings, including our most recent Form 10-Q, which will be filed later today, as well as the risk factors included in our earnings release, all of which are available on the Metallus website. please refer to our sec filings including our most recent form 10-q which will be filed later today as well as the risk factors included in our earnings release all of which are available on the metallus website Where non-GAAP financial information is referenced, additional details and reconciliations to its GAAP equivalent are included in the earnings release and the earnings presentation available on the investor page at metallus.com. where non-gaap financial information is referenced additional details and reconciliations to its gaap equivalent are included in the earnings release and the earnings presentation available on the investor page at metallus.com With that, I'd like to turn the call over to Mike. with that i'd like to turn the call over to mike Mike? mike

Speaker 6: Good morning, and thank you for joining us today. I'm encouraged by our team's continued focus on operational priorities, which strengthened our performance in the first quarter. Demand continues to improve across our end markets and our order book grew year-over-year, supported by overall industrial and defense demand, decreasing distribution inventory levels, and onshoring. Section 232 tariffs continue to support our competitive position in the markets we serve. The April 2026 updates to these tariffs applied only to downstream steel containing derivative products and do not affect our products, which are classified as primary steel. Most importantly, the 50% tariff on imported primary steel, including all long bar and tube products, remains in place, reinforcing the long-term competitiveness of U.S.-produced steel. Good morning, and thank you for joining us today. good morning and thank you for joining us today I'm encouraged by our team's continued focus on operational priorities, which strengthened our performance in the first quarter. i'm encouraged by our team's continued focus on operational priorities which strengthened our performance in the first quarter Demand continues to improve across our end markets and our order book grew year-over-year, supported by overall industrial and defense demand, decreasing distribution inventory levels, and onshoring. demand continues to improve across our end markets and our order book grew year-over-year supported by overall industrial and defense demand decreasing distribution inventory levels and onshoring Section 232 tariffs continue to support our competitive position in the markets we serve. section 232 tariffs continue to support our competitive position in the markets we serve The April 2026 updates to these tariffs applied only to downstream steel containing derivative products and do not affect our products, which are classified as primary steel. the april 2026 updates to these tariffs applied only to downstream steel containing derivative products and do not affect our products which are classified as primary steel Most importantly, the 50% tariff on imported primary steel, including all long bar and tube products, remains in place, reinforcing the long-term competitiveness of U.S.-produced steel. most importantly the 50% tariff on imported primary steel including all long bar and tube products remains in place reinforcing the long-term competitiveness of u.s.-produced steel The capital investments and operational system improvements we implemented during the planned shutdown period in the fourth quarter contributed to higher melt utilization on both a sequential and year-over-year basis. Our strategic operational advancements achieved critical milestones during the quarter, highlighted by the safe and successful reheating and rolling of the first blooms from our new bloom reheat furnace. This achievement reflects the dedicated efforts of our internal teams and the support of the Department of War. As a reminder, the new bloom reheat and roller furnaces facilitate more consistent reheating, improved product quality, and more efficient throughput. In fact, the bloom reheat furnace has recently demonstrated a run rate of approximately 150 tons per hour compared with approximately 100 tons per hour using our legacy assets, along with significant improvements in temperature uniformity. The capital investments and operational system improvements we implemented during the planned shutdown period in the fourth quarter contributed to higher melt utilization on both a sequential and year-over-year basis. the capital investments and operational system improvements we implemented during the planned shutdown period in the fourth quarter contributed to higher melt utilization on both a sequential and year-over-year basis Our strategic operational advancements achieved critical milestones during the quarter, highlighted by the safe and successful reheating and rolling of the first blooms from our new bloom reheat furnace. our strategic operational advancements achieved critical milestones during the quarter highlighted by the safe and successful reheating and rolling of the first blooms from our new bloom reheat furnace This achievement reflects the dedicated efforts of our internal teams and the support of the Department of War. this achievement reflects the dedicated efforts of our internal teams and the support of the department of war As a reminder, the new bloom reheat and roller furnaces facilitate more consistent reheating, improved product quality, and more efficient throughput. as a reminder the new bloom reheat and roller furnaces facilitate more consistent reheating improved product quality and more efficient throughput In fact, the bloom reheat furnace has recently demonstrated a run rate of approximately 150 tons per hour compared with approximately 100 tons per hour using our legacy assets, along with significant improvements in temperature uniformity. in fact the bloom reheat furnace has recently demonstrated a run rate of approximately 150 tons per hour compared with approximately 100 tons per hour using our legacy assets along with significant improvements in temperature uniformity These modern and efficient assets position us to better serve growing customer demand across all end markets, and we anticipate they will also improve our operating leverage over time. We expect the bloom reheat furnace to be fully operational in early to mid third quarter and the roller furnace to be fully operational in late third quarter. We also continue to make meaningful progress in strengthening our operating systems, reinforcing consistent and efficient execution across the organization. These institutionalized systems help our teams identify issues faster and drive greater accountability. During the quarter, we expanded this framework into additional areas focusing on reliability and throughput. Safety remains a foundational priority for us and a critical factor in our long-term success. As always, we focus on eliminating serious injuries through stronger controls, training, and leadership accountability. These modern and efficient assets position us to better serve growing customer demand across all end markets, and we anticipate they will also improve our operating leverage over time. these modern and efficient assets position us to better serve growing customer demand across all end markets and we anticipate they will also improve our operating leverage over time We expect the bloom reheat furnace to be fully operational in early to mid third quarter and the roller furnace to be fully operational in late third quarter. we expect the bloom reheat furnace to be fully operational in early to mid third quarter and the roller furnace to be fully operational in late third quarter We also continue to make meaningful progress in strengthening our operating systems, reinforcing consistent and efficient execution across the organization. we also continue to make meaningful progress in strengthening our operating systems reinforcing consistent and efficient execution across the organization These institutionalized systems help our teams identify issues faster and drive greater accountability. these institutionalized systems help our teams identify issues faster and drive greater accountability During the quarter, we expanded this framework into additional areas focusing on reliability and throughput. during the quarter we expanded this framework into additional areas focusing on reliability and throughput Safety remains a foundational priority for us and a critical factor in our long-term success. safety remains a foundational priority for us and a critical factor in our long-term success As always, we focus on eliminating serious injuries through stronger controls, training, and leadership accountability. as always we focus on eliminating serious injuries through stronger controls training and leadership accountability Our health and safety management system continues to mature with stronger proactive reporting, increased near-miss identification, and targeted capability building in higher risk activities such as cranes rigging, lockout tagout, and machine guarding. This shift towards leading indicators in the disciplined risk management reduces variability, lowers long-term costs, and protects our most important asset, our people. Turning to our first quarter performance, shipments increased by 11% sequentially. Adjusted EBITDA for the quarter totaled $24.6 million, reflecting a 39% increase compared to the prior year's first quarter. This strong improvement underscores our disciplined execution against key priorities and operational improvements. Lead times continue to expand, now reaching into the late third quarter for both bars and seamless mechanical tubing. This reflects strengthening demand for domestic steel and provides a clear signal of the momentum we expect to carry throughout 2026. Our health and safety management system continues to mature with stronger proactive reporting, increased near-miss identification, and targeted capability building in higher risk activities such as cranes rigging, lockout tagout, and machine guarding. our health and safety management system continues to mature with stronger proactive reporting increased near-miss identification and targeted capability building in higher risk activities such as cranes rigging lockout tagout and machine guarding This shift towards leading indicators in the disciplined risk management reduces variability, lowers long-term costs, and protects our most important asset, our people. this shift towards leading indicators in the disciplined risk management reduces variability lowers long-term costs and protects our most important asset our people Turning to our first quarter performance, shipments increased by 11% sequentially. turning to our first quarter performance shipments increased by 11% sequentially Adjusted EBITDA for the quarter totaled $24.6 million, reflecting a 39% increase compared to the prior year's first quarter. adjusted ebitda for the quarter totaled $24.6 million reflecting a 39% increase compared to the prior year's first quarter This strong improvement underscores our disciplined execution against key priorities and operational improvements. this strong improvement underscores our disciplined execution against key priorities and operational improvements Lead times continue to expand, now reaching into the late third quarter for both bars and seamless mechanical tubing. This reflects strengthening demand for domestic steel and provides a clear signal of the momentum we expect to carry throughout 2026. lead times continue to expand now reaching into the late third quarter for both bars and seamless mechanical tubing. this reflects strengthening demand for domestic steel and provides a clear signal of the momentum we expect to carry throughout 2026 Turning to performance across our key end markets. We're seeing industrial customers take a more deliberate look at how and where they source steel as they navigate a challenging macro environment. Shifts in trade policy and the reassessing of supply chains are driving increased demand with domestic suppliers. With inventories low across the distribution channels and select products returning from offshore sourcing, we're seeing increased opportunities. We believe these dynamics position us well to strengthen new and existing customer relationships and continue gaining share as industrial markets stabilize. Automotive demand remains steady, with volumes up slightly compared to the prior year. Our automotive order book and key customer relationships remain strong, supported by our continued focus on light truck and SUV transmission programs and our success in winning new and emerging platforms. Turning to performance across our key end markets. turning to performance across our key end markets We're seeing industrial customers take a more deliberate look at how and where they source steel as they navigate a challenging macro environment. we're seeing industrial customers take a more deliberate look at how and where they source steel as they navigate a challenging macro environment Shifts in trade policy and the reassessing of supply chains are driving increased demand with domestic suppliers. shifts in trade policy and the reassessing of supply chains are driving increased demand with domestic suppliers With inventories low across the distribution channels and select products returning from offshore sourcing, we're seeing increased opportunities. with inventories low across the distribution channels and select products returning from offshore sourcing we're seeing increased opportunities We believe these dynamics position us well to strengthen new and existing customer relationships and continue gaining share as industrial markets stabilize. we believe these dynamics position us well to strengthen new and existing customer relationships and continue gaining share as industrial markets stabilize Automotive demand remains steady, with volumes up slightly compared to the prior year. automotive demand remains steady with volumes up slightly compared to the prior year Our automotive order book and key customer relationships remain strong, supported by our continued focus on light truck and SUV transmission programs and our success in winning new and emerging platforms. our automotive order book and key customer relationships remain strong supported by our continued focus on light truck and suv transmission programs and our success in winning new and emerging platforms For example, during the quarter, we won two additional programs with existing customers, reinforcing our confidence in the strength of the automotive markets we serve and the importance of our automotive customers to our base business. The energy markets we serve remain cautious as producers continue to seek greater confidence in long-term oil prices before materially increasing investment. Ongoing global conflicts and geopolitical uncertainty are contributing to volatility in energy markets. Favorable trade-related tailwinds, reduced imports, and a gradual increase in domestic oil and gas activity are creating incremental opportunities for Metallus. Turning to Aerospace & Defense, this market continued to be a key source of strength during the quarter. Due to confidentiality, it's always difficult for us to call out new defense programs by name. For example, during the quarter, we won two additional programs with existing customers, reinforcing our confidence in the strength of the automotive markets we serve and the importance of our automotive customers to our base business. for example during the quarter we won two additional programs with existing customers reinforcing our confidence in the strength of the automotive markets we serve and the importance of our automotive customers to our base business The energy markets we serve remain cautious as producers continue to seek greater confidence in long-term oil prices before materially increasing investment. the energy markets we serve remain cautious as producers continue to seek greater confidence in long-term oil prices before materially increasing investment Ongoing global conflicts and geopolitical uncertainty are contributing to volatility in energy markets. ongoing global conflicts and geopolitical uncertainty are contributing to volatility in energy markets Favorable trade-related tailwinds, reduced imports, and a gradual increase in domestic oil and gas activity are creating incremental opportunities for Metallus. favorable trade-related tailwinds reduced imports and a gradual increase in domestic oil and gas activity are creating incremental opportunities for metallus Turning to Aerospace & Defense, this market continued to be a key source of strength during the quarter. turning to aerospace & defense this market continued to be a key source of strength during the quarter Due to confidentiality, it's always difficult for us to call out new defense programs by name. due to confidentiality it's always difficult for us to call out new defense programs by name What I can say is that we were recently awarded an exciting contract with a new entrant in the defense supply chain to begin producing tubing for new rocket motors related to advanced weapon systems. Demand across defense programs continue to grow, supporting our near-term $250 million run rate revenue expectation and the longer-term strategic expansion in the market, allowing us to provide our expertise to existing and new customers in these critical applications. While defense shipment timing can vary quarter to quarter based on program needs and downstream supply chains outside of our control, the underlying fundamentals remain strong in the foreseeable future. We continue to advance targeted investments and operational improvements to support higher defense volumes. Metallus is well-positioned to benefit from growing defense spending and the continued focus on developing secure domestic supply chains. What I can say is that we were recently awarded an exciting contract with a new entrant in the defense supply chain to begin producing tubing for new rocket motors related to advanced weapon systems. what i can say is that we were recently awarded an exciting contract with a new entrant in the defense supply chain to begin producing tubing for new rocket motors related to advanced weapon systems Demand across defense programs continue to grow, supporting our near-term $250 million run rate revenue expectation and the longer-term strategic expansion in the market, allowing us to provide our expertise to existing and new customers in these critical applications. demand across defense programs continue to grow supporting our near-term $250 million run rate revenue expectation and the longer-term strategic expansion in the market allowing us to provide our expertise to existing and new customers in these critical applications While defense shipment timing can vary quarter to quarter based on program needs and downstream supply chains outside of our control, the underlying fundamentals remain strong in the foreseeable future. while defense shipment timing can vary quarter to quarter based on program needs and downstream supply chains outside of our control the underlying fundamentals remain strong in the foreseeable future We continue to advance targeted investments and operational improvements to support higher defense volumes. we continue to advance targeted investments and operational improvements to support higher defense volumes Metallus is well-positioned to benefit from growing defense spending and the continued focus on developing secure domestic supply chains. metallus is well-positioned to benefit from growing defense spending and the continued focus on developing secure domestic supply chains Overall, we remain focused on disciplined execution in 2026. During the quarter, we improved operational performance, strengthened our internal systems and safely advanced strategic investments that support our long-term objectives. Our growing order book, improving operational execution, and U.S.-based manufacturing footprint provide a solid foundation as we move forward. We will continue to prioritize safety, operational discipline, and prudent capital allocation as we work to deliver consistent performance and long-term value for shareholders. With that, I'll turn the call over to John to walk through our financial results in more detail. Overall, we remain focused on disciplined execution in 2026. overall we remain focused on disciplined execution in 2026 During the quarter, we improved operational performance, strengthened our internal systems and safely advanced strategic investments that support our long-term objectives. during the quarter we improved operational performance strengthened our internal systems and safely advanced strategic investments that support our long-term objectives Our growing order book, improving operational execution, and U.S.-based manufacturing footprint provide a solid foundation as we move forward. our growing order book improving operational execution and u.s.-based manufacturing footprint provide a solid foundation as we move forward We will continue to prioritize safety, operational discipline, and prudent capital allocation as we work to deliver consistent performance and long-term value for shareholders. we will continue to prioritize safety operational discipline and prudent capital allocation as we work to deliver consistent performance and long-term value for shareholders With that, I'll turn the call over to John to walk through our financial results in more detail. with that i'll turn the call over to john to walk through our financial results in more detail

Speaker 5: Thanks, Mike. Good morning, and thank you for joining our first quarter 2026 earnings call. During the quarter, our team delivered improvements in shipments, net sales, and profitability on both a sequential and year-over-year basis, consistent with our expectations. As Mike noted, we also safely advanced operational and strategic investments to support near and long-term business growth while maintaining a strong balance sheet. From a top-line revenue perspective, first quarter net sales totaled $308.3 million, a year-over-year increase of $27.8 million or 10%, primarily driven by higher shipments across most end markets. Net income was $5.4 million in the first quarter, or $0.13 per diluted share. On an adjusted basis, net income was $7.7 million or $0.18 per diluted share in the quarter. Thanks, Mike. thanks mike Good morning, and thank you for joining our first quarter 2026 earnings call. good morning and thank you for joining our first quarter 2026 earnings call During the quarter, our team delivered improvements in shipments, net sales, and profitability on both a sequential and year-over-year basis, consistent with our expectations. during the quarter our team delivered improvements in shipments net sales and profitability on both a sequential and year-over-year basis consistent with our expectations As Mike noted, we also safely advanced operational and strategic investments to support near and long-term business growth while maintaining a strong balance sheet. as mike noted we also safely advanced operational and strategic investments to support near and long-term business growth while maintaining a strong balance sheet From a top-line revenue perspective, first quarter net sales totaled $308.3 million, a year-over-year increase of $27.8 million or 10%, primarily driven by higher shipments across most end markets. from a top-line revenue perspective first quarter net sales totaled $308.3 million a year-over-year increase of $27.8 million or 10% primarily driven by higher shipments across most end markets Net income was $5.4 million in the first quarter, or $0.13 per diluted share. net income was $5.4 million in the first quarter or $0.13 per diluted share On an adjusted basis, net income was $7.7 million or $0.18 per diluted share in the quarter. on an adjusted basis net income was $7.7 million or $0.18 per diluted share in the quarter Adjusted EBITDA was $24.6 million in the first quarter, a year-over-year increase of $6.9 million or 39%. The increased profitability was primarily driven by higher shipments across most end markets, better price mix, higher raw material spread, and better fixed cost leverage on higher production volume. Slightly offset by an increase in utility costs and a partial quarter of the cost increase related to the ratified union contract. As a reminder, our previous favorable electricity contract expired in May of 2025. The first quarter of 2025 included a full quarter of lower energy costs. As we noted in February, we expected a usage of free cash flow during the first quarter, which is consistent with historical seasonality as the first quarter normally requires a larger amount of pension funding and working capital build. Adjusted EBITDA was $24.6 million in the first quarter, a year-over-year increase of $6.9 million or 39%. adjusted ebitda was $24.6 million in the first quarter a year-over-year increase of $6.9 million or 39% The increased profitability was primarily driven by higher shipments across most end markets, better price mix, higher raw material spread, and better fixed cost leverage on higher production volume. the increased profitability was primarily driven by higher shipments across most end markets better price mix higher raw material spread and better fixed cost leverage on higher production volume Slightly offset by an increase in utility costs and a partial quarter of the cost increase related to the ratified union contract. As a reminder, our previous favorable electricity contract expired in May of 2025. slightly offset by an increase in utility costs and a partial quarter of the cost increase related to the ratified union contract. as a reminder our previous favorable electricity contract expired in may of 2025 The first quarter of 2025 included a full quarter of lower energy costs. the first quarter of 2025 included a full quarter of lower energy costs As we noted in February, we expected a usage of free cash flow during the first quarter, which is consistent with historical seasonality as the first quarter normally requires a larger amount of pension funding and working capital build. as we noted in february we expected a usage of free cash flow during the first quarter which is consistent with historical seasonality as the first quarter normally requires a larger amount of pension funding and working capital build Additionally, this year, our CapEx spend to complete the government projects is the highest in Q1 and is expected to ramp down throughout 2026. In the first quarter, capital expenditures totaled $24.7 million, including approximately $18.3 million of first quarter CapEx, partially funded by the U.S. government. Planned capital expenditures for the full year 2026 are expected to be approximately $70 million, inclusive of approximately $35 million of capital expenditures primarily funded by the U.S. government. At the end of the first quarter, the company's cash and cash equivalents balance was $104 million. Additionally, this year, our CapEx spend to complete the government projects is the highest in Q1 and is expected to ramp down throughout 2026. additionally this year our capex spend to complete the government projects is the highest in q1 and is expected to ramp down throughout 2026 In the first quarter, capital expenditures totaled $24.7 million, including approximately $18.3 million of first quarter CapEx, partially funded by the U.S. government. in the first quarter capital expenditures totaled $24.7 million including approximately $18.3 million of first quarter capex partially funded by the u.s government Planned capital expenditures for the full year 2026 are expected to be approximately $70 million, inclusive of approximately $35 million of capital expenditures primarily funded by the U.S. government. planned capital expenditures for the full year 2026 are expected to be approximately $70 million inclusive of approximately $35 million of capital expenditures primarily funded by the u.s government At the end of the first quarter, the company's cash and cash equivalents balance was $104 million. at the end of the first quarter the company's cash and cash equivalents balance was $104 million As it relates to government funding, during the first quarter, the company received $5.9 million of cash funding from the government, with an additional $9.5 million received during the month of April based on our successful completion of key milestones. As a reminder, these funds are part of the previously announced nearly $100 million funding agreement in support of the U.S. Army's mission of increasing munitions production. Additional government funding of approximately $2 million is expected to be received in 2026 to complete the government funding arrangements contingent on the achievement of the final mutually agreed upon milestone. As a reminder, this funding substantially paid for both the new bloom reheat furnace at the company's Faircrest facility, as well as the new roller furnace at the Gambrinus facility. Switching to pensions. As it relates to government funding, during the first quarter, the company received $5.9 million of cash funding from the government, with an additional $9.5 million received during the month of April based on our successful completion of key milestones. as it relates to government funding during the first quarter the company received $5.9 million of cash funding from the government with an additional $9.5 million received during the month of april based on our successful completion of key milestones As a reminder, these funds are part of the previously announced nearly $100 million funding agreement in support of the U.S. as a reminder these funds are part of the previously announced nearly $100 million funding agreement in support of the u.s Army's mission of increasing munitions production. army's mission of increasing munitions production Additional government funding of approximately $2 million is expected to be received in 2026 to complete the government funding arrangements contingent on the achievement of the final mutually agreed upon milestone. additional government funding of approximately $2 million is expected to be received in 2026 to complete the government funding arrangements contingent on the achievement of the final mutually agreed upon milestone As a reminder, this funding substantially paid for both the new bloom reheat furnace at the company's Faircrest facility, as well as the new roller furnace at the Gambrinus facility. as a reminder this funding substantially paid for both the new bloom reheat furnace at the company's faircrest facility as well as the new roller furnace at the gambrinus facility Switching to pensions. switching to pensions In the first quarter, the company made $19.8 million of required pension contributions, of which the majority related to the U.S. bargaining plan and reflects roughly 2/3 of the expected full year 2026 pension contributions. Subsequent to the first quarter, the company made a required pension contribution of approximately $5 million in April, with an estimated $5 million of required pension contributions expected for the remainder of 2026. Consistent with our expectations in February, total 2026 required pension contributions are expected to decrease by nearly 60% compared to 2025. As part of the USW contract ratified during the first quarter, employees who are currently accruing a pension benefit will have a one-time opportunity between March 30th and May 30th to freeze their pension accrual and begin receiving a market competitive benefit under the 401(k) plan. In the first quarter, the company made $19.8 million of required pension contributions, of which the majority related to the U.S. bargaining plan and reflects roughly 2/3 of the expected full year 2026 pension contributions. in the first quarter the company made $19.8 million of required pension contributions of which the majority related to the u.s bargaining plan and reflects roughly 2/3 of the expected full year 2026 pension contributions Subsequent to the first quarter, the company made a required pension contribution of approximately $5 million in April, with an estimated $5 million of required pension contributions expected for the remainder of 2026. subsequent to the first quarter the company made a required pension contribution of approximately $5 million in april with an estimated $5 million of required pension contributions expected for the remainder of 2026 Consistent with our expectations in February, total 2026 required pension contributions are expected to decrease by nearly 60% compared to 2025. consistent with our expectations in february total 2026 required pension contributions are expected to decrease by nearly 60% compared to 2025 As part of the USW contract ratified during the first quarter, employees who are currently accruing a pension benefit will have a one-time opportunity between March 30th and May 30th to freeze their pension accrual and begin receiving a market competitive benefit under the 401(k) plan. as part of the usw contract ratified during the first quarter employees who are currently accruing a pension benefit will have a one-time opportunity between march 30th and may 30th to freeze their pension accrual and begin receiving a market competitive benefit under the 401(k) plan These actions will allow employees access to their retirement funds earlier while also providing competitive defined contribution benefits and de-risking the long-term pension obligation. As we continue to actively manage the pension, we'll provide further updates as available. In terms of shareholder return activities, in the first quarter, the company repurchased approximately 277,000 shares of common stock at a cost of $4.3 million. At the end of March, a balance of $85.4 million remained under our existing share repurchase authorization. Since the inception of common share repurchases in early 2022, combined with the convertible note repurchase activities, we've reduced diluted shares outstanding by a significant 26% or 13.8 million shares. These actions reflect the strength of the company's balance sheet and confidence in through-cycle cash flow generation. These actions will allow employees access to their retirement funds earlier while also providing competitive defined contribution benefits and de-risking the long-term pension obligation. these actions will allow employees access to their retirement funds earlier while also providing competitive defined contribution benefits and de-risking the long-term pension obligation As we continue to actively manage the pension, we'll provide further updates as available. as we continue to actively manage the pension we'll provide further updates as available In terms of shareholder return activities, in the first quarter, the company repurchased approximately 277,000 shares of common stock at a cost of $4.3 million. in terms of shareholder return activities in the first quarter the company repurchased approximately 277,000 shares of common stock at a cost of $4.3 million At the end of March, a balance of $85.4 million remained under our existing share repurchase authorization. at the end of march a balance of $85.4 million remained under our existing share repurchase authorization Since the inception of common share repurchases in early 2022, combined with the convertible note repurchase activities, we've reduced diluted shares outstanding by a significant 26% or 13.8 million shares. since the inception of common share repurchases in early 2022 combined with the convertible note repurchase activities we've reduced diluted shares outstanding by a significant 26% or 13.8 million shares These actions reflect the strength of the company's balance sheet and confidence in through-cycle cash flow generation. these actions reflect the strength of the company's balance sheet and confidence in through-cycle cash flow generation As it relates to liquidity, total liquidity remains strong at $375 million as of March 31st, 2026. Additionally, as of March 31st, 2026, the company had no outstanding borrowings. Moving now to near-term business outlook. Commercially, second quarter shipments are sequentially expected to increase modestly in the low single-digits on a percentage basis, supported by continued strength in the order book and normal seasonality. Through the first four months of 2026, we announced a series of targeted price actions across our bar and tube portfolios. In bar, we implemented two actions totaling $120 per ton, phased in based on customer promise dates. In tube, pricing actions were differentiated by size and product types, averaging about $100 per ton across the product mix. As it relates to liquidity, total liquidity remains strong at $375 million as of March 31st, 2026. as it relates to liquidity total liquidity remains strong at $375 million as of march 31st 2026 Additionally, as of March 31st, 2026, the company had no outstanding borrowings. additionally as of march 31st 2026 the company had no outstanding borrowings Moving now to near-term business outlook. moving now to near-term business outlook Commercially, second quarter shipments are sequentially expected to increase modestly in the low single- digits on a percentage basis, supported by continued strength in the order book and normal seasonality. commercially second quarter shipments are sequentially expected to increase modestly in the low single- digits on a percentage basis supported by continued strength in the order book and normal seasonality Through the first four months of 2026, we announced a series of targeted price actions across our bar and tube portfolios. through the first four months of 2026 we announced a series of targeted price actions across our bar and tube portfolios In bar, we implemented two actions totaling $120 per ton, phased in based on customer promise dates. In tube, pricing actions were differentiated by size and product types, averaging about $100 per ton across the product mix. in bar we implemented two actions totaling $120 per ton phased in based on customer promise dates. in tube pricing actions were differentiated by size and product types averaging about $100 per ton across the product mix As a reminder, these pricing actions apply only to business not sold under annual price agreements and to new business, which historically represents approximately 30% of our total annual volume. We expect price realization to be gradual, with greater impact toward the second half of the year. Based on lead times and product mix dependent, second quarter price and mix are expected to be similar to the first quarter, with improvement anticipated in the second half of 2026. From an operational perspective, the company anticipates a sequential increase in its second quarter average melt utilization rate, supported by a strong order book. Manufacturing costs are expected to improve sequentially by approximately $2 million in the second quarter as a result of higher melt utilization, resulting in improved cost absorption and net of the full quarter run rate cost increase related to the ratified union contract. As a reminder, these pricing actions apply only to business not sold under annual price agreements and to new business, which historically represents approximately 30% of our total annual volume. as a reminder these pricing actions apply only to business not sold under annual price agreements and to new business which historically represents approximately 30% of our total annual volume We expect price realization to be gradual, with greater impact toward the second half of the year. we expect price realization to be gradual with greater impact toward the second half of the year Based on lead times and product mix dependent, second quarter price and mix are expected to be similar to the first quarter, with improvement anticipated in the second half of 2026. based on lead times and product mix dependent second quarter price and mix are expected to be similar to the first quarter with improvement anticipated in the second half of 2026 From an operational perspective, the company anticipates a sequential increase in its second quarter average melt utilization rate, supported by a strong order book. from an operational perspective the company anticipates a sequential increase in its second quarter average melt utilization rate supported by a strong order book Manufacturing costs are expected to improve sequentially by approximately $2 million in the second quarter as a result of higher melt utilization, resulting in improved cost absorption and net of the full quarter run rate cost increase related to the ratified union contract. manufacturing costs are expected to improve sequentially by approximately $2 million in the second quarter as a result of higher melt utilization resulting in improved cost absorption and net of the full quarter run rate cost increase related to the ratified union contract Finally, an adjusted effective income tax rate between 27% and 30% is expected for the full year 2026. Given these elements, the company expects second quarter 2026 adjusted EBITDA to be modestly higher sequentially and year-over-year. To wrap up, thank you to all of our employees, customers, and suppliers for their support. We're well-positioned as a high-quality, U.S.-based specialty metals producer supporting critical markets. As we continue to move forward in 2026, our focus is on safe execution to meet continued rising customer demand. We remain committed to delivering shareholder value through disciplined capital allocation and sustained profitable growth. As always, thank you for your interest in Metallus. We would now like to open the call for questions. Finally, an adjusted effective income tax rate between 27% and 30% is expected for the full year 2026. finally an adjusted effective income tax rate between 27% and 30% is expected for the full year 2026 Given these elements, the company expects second quarter 2026 adjusted EBITDA to be modestly higher sequentially and year-over-year. given these elements the company expects second quarter 2026 adjusted ebitda to be modestly higher sequentially and year-over-year To wrap up, thank you to all of our employees, customers, and suppliers for their support. to wrap up thank you to all of our employees customers and suppliers for their support We're well-positioned as a high-quality, U.S.-based specialty metals producer supporting critical markets. we're well-positioned as a high-quality u.s.-based specialty metals producer supporting critical markets As we continue to move forward in 2026, our focus is on safe execution to meet continued rising customer demand. as we continue to move forward in 2026 our focus is on safe execution to meet continued rising customer demand We remain committed to delivering shareholder value through disciplined capital allocation and sustained profitable growth. we remain committed to delivering shareholder value through disciplined capital allocation and sustained profitable growth As always, thank you for your interest in Metallus. as always thank you for your interest in metallus We would now like to open the call for questions. we would now like to open the call for questions

Speaker 7: To ask a question, simply press star one on your telephone keypad. Again, that is star one to ask a question. Our first question is from the line of John Franzreb with Sidoti. Please go ahead. To ask a question, simply press star one on your telephone keypad. to ask a question simply press star one on your telephone keypad Again, that is star one to ask a question. again that is star one to ask a question Our first question is from the line of John Franzreb with Sidoti. our first question is from the line of john franzreb with sidoti Please go ahead. please go ahead

Speaker 4: Good morning, everyone, and thanks for taking the questions. I'd actually like to start with, the recent results reported. You touched on it in your prepared remarks about it's typically a working capital outflow quarter, but I was just curious about the sizable rise in inventory. Is that illustrative of any particular end market demand, or are you building inventory for any particular reason? I'm just curious about that. Good morning, everyone, and thanks for taking the questions. good morning everyone and thanks for taking the questions I'd actually like to start with, the recent results reported. i'd actually like to start with the recent results reported You touched on it in your prepared remarks about it's typically a working capital outflow quarter, but I was just curious about the sizable rise in inventory. you touched on it in your prepared remarks about it's typically a working capital outflow quarter but i was just curious about the sizable rise in inventory Is that illustrative of any particular end market demand, or are you building inventory for any particular reason? is that illustrative of any particular end market demand or are you building inventory for any particular reason I'm just curious about that. i'm just curious about that

Speaker 6: Yeah. Hey, John, how you doing? Pretty much, you know, we build inventory in Q1 based on the order book demand going into Q2 and with our lead times out to mid to late Q3, depending on product, we can see. We're positioning inventory to service our customers, and we continue to see higher demand, as we mentioned. Year-over-year, the order book is about over 40% greater, which if you did a year-over-year comparison, is about 90,000 more tons. Yeah. yeah Hey, John, how you doing? hey john how you doing Pretty much, you know, we build inventory in Q1 based on the order book demand going into Q2 and with our lead times out to mid to late Q3, depending on product, we can see. pretty much you know we build inventory in q1 based on the order book demand going into q2 and with our lead times out to mid to late q3 depending on product we can see We're positioning inventory to service our customers, and we continue to see higher demand, as we mentioned. we're positioning inventory to service our customers and we continue to see higher demand as we mentioned Year-over-year, the order book is about over 40% greater, which if you did a year-over-year comparison, is about 90,000 more tons. year-over-year the order book is about over 40% greater which if you did a year-over-year comparison is about 90,000 more tons in our order book than we had this year last time. We're positioning inventory to meet the order demand that we have. in our order book than we had this year last time. in our order book than we had this year last time We're positioning inventory to meet the order demand that we have. we're positioning inventory to meet the order demand that we have

Speaker 4: Got it. That's good to hear. sequentially, you know, you're suggesting that revenue is gonna be up in the low single-digit range. I'm kind of curious, does that suggest maybe one of your key end markets is maybe a little bit slower than you would have thought, say, three months ago, especially considering the visibility you have in A&D? Got it. got it That's good to hear. sequentially, you know, you're suggesting that revenue is gonna be up in the low single- digit range. that's good to hear sequentially you know you're suggesting that revenue is gonna be up in the low single- digit range I'm kind of curious, does that suggest maybe one of your key end markets is maybe a little bit slower than you would have thought, say, three months ago, especially considering the visibility you have in A&D? i'm kind of curious does that suggest maybe one of your key end markets is maybe a little bit slower than you would have thought say three months ago especially considering the visibility you have in a&d

Speaker 6: I mean, I don't see anything slower. It's just the timing of when the orders are requested and when we need to ship them on time align with our throughput capability. I mean, I don't see anything slower. i mean i don't see anything slower It's just the timing of when the orders are requested and when we need to ship them on time align with our throughput capability. it's just the timing of when the orders are requested and when we need to ship them on time align with our throughput capability

Speaker 4: Okay, fair enough. One last question I'll get back into queue. Regarding the operational improvement of $2 million, I just want to make sure I kind of understand that properly. Is that improvement above the increased cost from the new union contract or is it net. Okay, fair enough. okay fair enough One last question I'll get back into queue. one last question i'll get back into queue Regarding the operational improvement of $2 million, I just want to make sure I kind of understand that properly. regarding the operational improvement of $2 million i just want to make sure i kind of understand that properly Is that improvement above the increased cost from the new union contract or is it net. is that improvement above the increased cost from the new union contract or is it net

Speaker 6: Yeah. Yeah. yeah

Speaker 4: Does it net out the increased cost, you know? Does it net out the increased cost, you know? does it net out the increased cost you know

Speaker 6: Yeah. It's net of the increased labor costs with the new agreement, labor agreement. Yeah. yeah It's net of the increased labor costs with the new agreement, labor agreement. it's net of the increased labor costs with the new agreement labor agreement

Speaker 4: Great. Great. great

Speaker 5: That's an all-in increase. That's offsetting. That's an all-in increase. that's an all-in increase That's offsetting. that's offsetting

Speaker 6: Yeah. Yeah. yeah

Speaker 5: That's offsetting the wages. That's offsetting the wages. that's offsetting the wages

Speaker 4: It's a net positive of $2 million off the wages. I just want to make sure I understand that. It's a net positive of $2 million off the wages. it's a net positive of $2 million off the wages I just want to make sure I understand that. i just want to make sure i understand that

Speaker 5: Correct. Correct. Correct. correct Correct. correct

Speaker 4: Great. All right. Thank you. I'll get back into queue. Great. great All right. all right Thank you. thank you I'll get back into queue. i'll get back into queue

Speaker 7: Your next question is from Samuel McKinney with KeyBanc Capital Markets. Please go ahead. Your next question is from Samuel McKinney with KeyBanc Capital Markets. your next question is from samuel mckinney with keybanc capital markets Please go ahead. please go ahead

Speaker 8: Hey, good morning. Hey, good morning. hey good morning

Speaker 6: Morning, Sam. Morning, Sam. morning sam

Speaker 8: Your first quarter auto shipments were up slightly year-on-year despite the negative SAR comp. Could you just give us a little more color on your ability to outpace that figure and what you're hearing from the SUV and heavy truck customers moving into the summer? Your first quarter auto shipments were up slightly year-on-year despite the negative SAR comp. your first quarter auto shipments were up slightly year-on-year despite the negative sar comp Could you just give us a little more color on your ability to outpace that figure and what you're hearing from the SUV and heavy truck customers moving into the summer? could you just give us a little more color on your ability to outpace that figure and what you're hearing from the suv and heavy truck customers moving into the summer

Speaker 6: Yeah, I mean, those are the predominantly the platforms that we're on, and those are the platforms that are driving the demand where we've seen year-over-year order increases. We expect that to be fairly stable at this point throughout the year, you know, with some typical seasonality towards the end of the year. It's all about the platforms that we're on and the pull rate that they're requesting for their build rates of the powertrain and transmission programs that we're on. Yeah, I mean, those are the predominantly the platforms that we're on, and those are the platforms that are driving the demand where we've seen year-over-year order increases. yeah i mean those are the predominantly the platforms that we're on and those are the platforms that are driving the demand where we've seen year-over-year order increases We expect that to be fairly stable at this point throughout the year, you know, with some typical seasonality towards the end of the year. we expect that to be fairly stable at this point throughout the year you know with some typical seasonality towards the end of the year It's all about the platforms that we're on and the pull rate that they're requesting for their build rates of the powertrain and transmission programs that we're on. it's all about the platforms that we're on and the pull rate that they're requesting for their build rates of the powertrain and transmission programs that we're on

Speaker 8: Okay. Just wanna turn to A&D and the Army investment. Given other commentary during this earnings cycle, it appears that the U.S. Army's munitions partner doesn't plan to begin production at its facility until sometime during 2027. How does that impact the timing for you to hit your previously stated goal of $250 million in annualized A&D sales this year? Okay. okay Just wanna turn to A&D and the Army investment. G iven other commentary during this earnings cycle, it appears that the U.S. just wanna turn to a&d and the army investment. g iven other commentary during this earnings cycle it appears that the u.s Army's munitions partner doesn't plan to begin production at its facility until sometime during 2027. army's munitions partner doesn't plan to begin production at its facility until sometime during 2027 How does that impact the timing for you to hit your previously stated goal of $250 million in annualized A&D sales this year? how does that impact the timing for you to hit your previously stated goal of $250 million in annualized a&d sales this year

Speaker 6: I mean, it definitely has an overall impact of them getting to the 100,000 shells per month production, which of course affects us. What we are seeing is we have seen them ramp up their other facilities, as well as we've seen some non-U.S. demand, most of it's still in North America, just not in the U.S., and the offshore inquiries and orders that we're getting. It affects it, but we're working diligently to offset that with other weapon system applications. We mentioned the one new program we just got. It'll most likely ramp up to its full demand in 2027. It'll ramp up throughout the year, this year, but really hit the peak cycles in 2027 and 2028. I mean, it definitely has an overall impact of them getting to the 100,000 shells per month production, which of course affects us. i mean it definitely has an overall impact of them getting to the 100,000 shells per month production which of course affects us What we are seeing is we have seen them ramp up their other facilities, as well as we've seen some non-U.S. demand, most of it's still in North America, just not in the U.S., and the offshore inquiries and orders that we're getting. what we are seeing is we have seen them ramp up their other facilities as well as we've seen some non-u.s demand most of it's still in north america just not in the u.s and the offshore inquiries and orders that we're getting It affects it, but we're working diligently to offset that with other weapon system applications. it affects it but we're working diligently to offset that with other weapon system applications We mentioned the one new program we just got. we mentioned the one new program we just got It'll most likely ramp up to its full demand in 2027. it'll most likely ramp up to its full demand in 2027 It'll ramp up throughout the year, this year, but really hit the peak cycles in 2027 and 2028. it'll ramp up throughout the year this year but really hit the peak cycles in 2027 and 2028 We continue to work hard to get other programs to kind of offset the original planning process with the new facility coming online for the particular 155 mm munitions. As I said earlier, we're seeing increased demand from existing facilities because they're really trying to ramp it up. If you look at the math, and we kind of calculated based on what we sell in those particular grades, they're operating around 70,000 shells a month right now versus their 100,000 target. That's up from 50,000, you know, six months ago. We do anticipate as they continue to push the other facilities to improve their throughput and capacity, that'll continue to modestly increase throughout the year. Depending on timing, when that other facility gets up and running, it's a win-win for us. We continue to work hard to get other programs to kind of offset the original planning process with the new facility coming online for the particular 155 mm munitions. we continue to work hard to get other programs to kind of offset the original planning process with the new facility coming online for the particular 155 mm munitions As I said earlier, we're seeing increased demand from existing facilities because they're really trying to ramp it up. as i said earlier we're seeing increased demand from existing facilities because they're really trying to ramp it up If you look at the math, and we kind of calculated based on what we sell in those particular grades, they're operating around 70,000 shells a month right now versus their 100,000 target. if you look at the math and we kind of calculated based on what we sell in those particular grades they're operating around 70,000 shells a month right now versus their 100,000 target That's up from 50,000, you know, six months ago. that's up from 50,000 you know six months ago We do anticipate as they continue to push the other facilities to improve their throughput and capacity, that'll continue to modestly increase throughout the year. we do anticipate as they continue to push the other facilities to improve their throughput and capacity that'll continue to modestly increase throughout the year Depending on timing, when that other facility gets up and running, it's a win-win for us. depending on timing when that other facility gets up and running it's a win-win for us

Speaker 8: Okay. Is there any change to the outlook of hitting $250 million in A&D sales this year? Okay. okay Is there any change to the outlook of hitting $250 million in A&D sales this year? is there any change to the outlook of hitting $250 million in a&d sales this year

Speaker 6: No. We still have that expectation as we said in our comments. Yeah, there is some, you know, variability that we're working towards in the second half to fill some gaps because we were anticipating some type of ramp up out of that, the one facility that still is being worked on to get it up and operational. We're still confident that we're gonna hit that expectation. At least that we strive for higher, as you can imagine, internally, but right now we're confident that we'll meet that expectation. No. no We still have that expectation as we said in our comments. we still have that expectation as we said in our comments Yeah, there is some, you know, variability that we're working towards in the second half to fill some gaps because we were anticipating some type of ramp up out of that, the one facility that still is being worked on to get it up and operational. yeah there is some you know variability that we're working towards in the second half to fill some gaps because we were anticipating some type of ramp up out of that the one facility that still is being worked on to get it up and operational We're still confident that we're gonna hit that expectation. we're still confident that we're gonna hit that expectation At least that we strive for higher, as you can imagine, internally, but right now we're confident that we'll meet that expectation. at least that we strive for higher as you can imagine internally but right now we're confident that we'll meet that expectation

Speaker 5: That's a run rate expectation. I mean, some of this is a little bit lumpy to supply chain and order timing. As we talked about last year, that 250 is a run rate that we expect to achieve in the year. That's a run rate expectation. that's a run rate expectation I mean, some of this is a little bit lumpy to supply chain and order timing. i mean some of this is a little bit lumpy to supply chain and order timing As we talked about last year, that 250 is a run rate that we expect to achieve in the year. as we talked about last year that 250 is a run rate that we expect to achieve in the year

Speaker 8: Right. Sure. All right. Thanks, Mike and John. Right. right Sure. sure All right. all right Thanks, Mike and John. thanks mike and john

Speaker 6: Thanks, Sam. Thanks, Sam. thanks sam

Speaker 7: Your next question comes from the line of Dave Storms with Stonegate. Please go ahead. Dave, your line is open. Your next question comes from the line of Dave Storms with Stonegate. your next question comes from the line of dave storms with stonegate Please go ahead. please go ahead Dave, your line is open. dave your line is open

Speaker 2: Excuse me. Is that better? Excuse me. excuse me Is that better? is that better

Speaker 6: Yep, we can hear you. Yep, we can hear you. yep we can hear you

Speaker 2: Perfect. Thank you. Sorry about that. Just wanted to start with getting your thoughts around lead times. I know you mentioned they go to the third quarter. With the ramping of the bloom reheat furnace, could this maybe be the high water mark, and maybe lead times might start to come down throughout the year? Or does the order book indicate that they might continue to increase? Perfect. perfect Thank you. thank you Sorry about that. sorry about that Just wanted to start with getting your thoughts around lead times. just wanted to start with getting your thoughts around lead times I know you mentioned they go to the third quarter. i know you mentioned they go to the third quarter With the ramping of the bloom reheat furnace, could this maybe be the high water mark, and maybe lead times might start to come down throughout the year? with the ramping of the bloom reheat furnace could this maybe be the high water mark and maybe lead times might start to come down throughout the year Or does the order book indicate that they might continue to increase? or does the order book indicate that they might continue to increase

Speaker 6: Right now, everything we can see, you know, here we sit in early May, is the fact that, you know, we expect it to continue to have really good demand. We do expect that the seasonality that occurs in the fourth quarter is gonna be there, our maintenance out, et cetera. Yeah, right now what we see, you know, We're halfway through the third quarter. Orders continue to come in at a pretty good rate per week, and we expect that to continue. We just gotta focus on our execution and serve our customers. Right now, everything we can see, you know, here we sit in early May, is the fact that, you know, we expect it to continue to have really good demand. right now everything we can see you know here we sit in early may is the fact that you know we expect it to continue to have really good demand We do expect that the seasonality that occurs in the fourth quarter is gonna be there, our maintenance out, et cetera. we do expect that the seasonality that occurs in the fourth quarter is gonna be there our maintenance out et cetera Yeah, right now what we see, you know, We're halfway through the third quarter. yeah right now what we see you know we're halfway through the third quarter Orders continue to come in at a pretty good rate per week, and we expect that to continue. orders continue to come in at a pretty good rate per week and we expect that to continue We just gotta focus on our execution and serve our customers. we just gotta focus on our execution and serve our customers

Speaker 2: Understood. Appreciate that. Just also looking at the order book, a lot of strength there. Are you seeing more of the growth coming from maybe price, excuse me, more from price or maybe more from mix, or is it volume that's expected to drive that? Just any commentary of, you know, maybe some of the profile of the order book. Understood. understood Appreciate that. appreciate that Just also looking at the order book, a lot of strength there. just also looking at the order book a lot of strength there Are you seeing more of the growth coming from maybe price, excuse me, more from price or maybe more from mix, or is it volume that's expected to drive that? are you seeing more of the growth coming from maybe price excuse me more from price or maybe more from mix or is it volume that's expected to drive that Just any commentary of, you know, maybe some of the profile of the order book. just any commentary of you know maybe some of the profile of the order book

Speaker 6: Yeah, I mean, I mean, overall it's volume, okay? But our team does a pretty good job trying to manage and maximize, you know, the highest return value creation in mix as we can. I think the area we see, you know, automotive continue to be steady. We continue to expect growth in A&D, and we expect energy. We've seen, you know, positive improvement in energy because of the trade environment and what we call it reshoring, but it's really domestic sourcing of supply. We expect that to potentially continue to modestly grow. As you can imagine, there's a lot of volatility with all the uncertainty, the global conflict, et cetera, affecting the energy market. We have to watch that very closely and align with our customers the best way we can. Yeah, I mean, I mean, overall it's volume, okay? yeah i mean i mean overall it's volume okay But our team does a pretty good job trying to manage and maximize, you know, the highest return value creation in mix as we can. but our team does a pretty good job trying to manage and maximize you know, the highest return value creation in mix as we can I think the area we see, you know, automotive continue to be steady. i think the area we see you know automotive continue to be steady We continue to expect growth in A&D, and we expect energy. we continue to expect growth in a&d and we expect energy We've seen, you know, positive improvement in energy because of the trade environment and what we call it reshoring, but it's really domestic sourcing of supply. we've seen you know positive improvement in energy because of the trade environment and what we call it reshoring but it's really domestic sourcing of supply We expect that to potentially continue to modestly grow. we expect that to potentially continue to modestly grow As you can imagine, there's a lot of volatility with all the uncertainty, the global conflict, et cetera, affecting the energy market. as you can imagine there's a lot of volatility with all the uncertainty the global conflict et cetera affecting the energy market We have to watch that very closely and align with our customers the best way we can. we have to watch that very closely and align with our customers the best way we can I think the biggest area of opportunity we see the remainder of this year is really steady growth in the industrial end markets. I think the biggest area of opportunity we see the remainder of this year is really steady growth in the industrial end markets. i think the biggest area of opportunity we see the remainder of this year is really steady growth in the industrial end markets

Speaker 2: Understood. Thank you for taking my questions. Understood. understood Thank you for taking my questions. thank you for taking my questions

Speaker 6: Thank you. Thank you. thank you

Speaker 7: Again, as a reminder, to ask a question, press star one on your telephone keypad. Our next question is from the line of Aaron Reed with Northcoast Research. Please go ahead. Again, as a reminder, to ask a question, press star one on your telephone keypad. again as a reminder to ask a question press star one on your telephone keypad Our next question is from the line of Aaron Reed with Northcoast Research. our next question is from the line of aaron reed with northcoast research Please go ahead. please go ahead

Speaker 1: Thanks for taking my question here. One of the questions, or the question I really have is, you mentioned that your old energy contract was expiring, and you have a new one. I was wondering if you could give us any more insights into the terms around that. Is that something that's typically paid on spot, or are those longer-term contracts? Thanks for taking my question here. thanks for taking my question here One of the questions, or the question I really have is, you mentioned that your old energy contract was expiring, and you have a new one. one of the questions or the question i really have is you mentioned that your old energy contract was expiring and you have a new one I was wondering if you could give us any more insights into the terms around that. i was wondering if you could give us any more insights into the terms around that Is that something that's typically paid on spot, or are those longer-term contracts? is that something that's typically paid on spot or are those longer-term contracts

Speaker 6: Okay. We did have a long-term contract that expired at the end of last May. The contracts that we currently operate on, 70% of our electrical demand is fixed under a two-year agreement, which we're actually just the second six months of year one. That'll exist for two-years. The other 30% is spot purchased. Okay. okay We did have a long-term contract that expired at the end of last May. we did have a long-term contract that expired at the end of last may The contracts that we currently operate on, 70% of our electrical demand is fixed under a two-year agreement, which we're actually just the second six months of year one. the contracts that we currently operate on 70% of our electrical demand is fixed under a two-year agreement which we're actually just the second six months of year one That'll exist for two- years. that'll exist for two- years The other 30% is spot purchased. the other 30% is spot purchased

Speaker 1: That's helpful. Thank you. That's helpful. that's helpful Thank you. thank you

Speaker 6: So that's. So that's. so that's

Speaker 1: And. And. and

Speaker 6: Yeah, you're welcome. Yeah, you're welcome. yeah you're welcome

Speaker 1: The other question I had is, one of the things that we saw was the new tariffs that went into place here on May 1st for automotives. Do you expect that to have a meaningful impact on automotive demand? I know that's typically not what we're importing from Europe. There's a real lot of overlap of what you're supplying to, but I just wasn't sure in the past, how has that impacted you, and does that give any insights on what the market might look like here going forward? The other question I had is, one of the things that we saw was the new tariffs that went into place here on May 1st for automotives. the other question i had is one of the things that we saw was the new tariffs that went into place here on may 1st for automotives Do you expect that to have a meaningful impact on automotive demand? do you expect that to have a meaningful impact on automotive demand I know that's typically not what we're importing from Europe. i know that's typically not what we're importing from europe There's a real lot of overlap of what you're supplying to, but I just wasn't sure in the past, how has that impacted you, and does that give any insights on what the market might look like here going forward? there's a real lot of overlap of what you're supplying to but i just wasn't sure in the past how has that impacted you and does that give any insights on what the market might look like here going forward

Speaker 6: Well, we're heavily influenced based on build rate and platforms. Excuse me. Predominantly most of our steel applications go into powertrains, particularly transmissions, crankshafts, et cetera. We've heavily focused on SUVs and trucks. Those are the vehicles that are selling. That's why we're seeing good, steady demand all last year throughout the volatility of the market, regardless of imports. This year we see the same thing with incremental improvement. What we are seeing is, you know, the move away from the high expected volume of EVs, what we are seeing is more hybrid demand, which is good for us because it has a combustion engine and has a transmission as well as electric motors. That's kind of the move we've seen. Well, we're heavily influenced based on build rate and platforms. well we're heavily influenced based on build rate and platforms Excuse me. excuse me Predominantly most of our steel applications go into powertrains, particularly transmissions, crankshafts, et cetera. predominantly most of our steel applications go into powertrains particularly transmissions crankshafts et cetera We've heavily focused on SUVs and trucks. we've heavily focused on suvs and trucks Those are the vehicles that are selling. those are the vehicles that are selling That's why we're seeing good, steady demand all last year throughout the volatility of the market, regardless of imports. that's why we're seeing good steady demand all last year throughout the volatility of the market regardless of imports This year we see the same thing with incremental improvement. this year we see the same thing with incremental improvement What we are seeing is, you know, the move away from the high expected volume of EVs, what we are seeing is more hybrid demand, which is good for us because it has a combustion engine and has a transmission as well as electric motors. what we are seeing is you know the move away from the high expected volume of evs what we are seeing is more hybrid demand which is good for us because it has a combustion engine and has a transmission as well as electric motors That's kind of the move we've seen. that's kind of the move we've seen I think it still plays good to us 'cause we can play in all three of those platforms, ICE, hybrid, or EV. I think we're in a good spot. Our team's done a pretty decent job of going after the right applications where typically the consumer price effect isn't as influenced based on price movements because these tend to all be high-end vehicles. I think it still plays good to us 'cause we can play in all three of those platforms, ICE, hybrid, or EV. i think it still plays good to us 'cause we can play in all three of those platforms ice hybrid or ev I think we're in a good spot. i think we're in a good spot Our team's done a pretty decent job of going after the right applications where typically the consumer price effect isn't as influenced based on price movements because these tend to all be high-end vehicles. our team's done a pretty decent job of going after the right applications where typically the consumer price effect isn't as influenced based on price movements because these tend to all be high-end vehicles

Speaker 1: Super helpful. Thank you. I'll turn it back over. Super helpful. super helpful Thank you. thank you I'll turn it back over. i'll turn it back over

Speaker 7: Okay. I'll now hand the call back over to Metallus as we have no further questions. Thank you. Okay. okay I'll now hand the call back over to Metallus as we have no further questions. i'll now hand the call back over to metallus as we have no further questions Thank you. thank you

Speaker 3: Great. Thank you so much. That concludes our call for today. Great. great Thank you so much. thank you so much That concludes our call for today. that concludes our call for today

Speaker 7: Thank you again for joining us today. This does conclude today's conference call. You may now disconnect. Thank you again for joining us today. thank you again for joining us today This does conclude today's conference call. this does conclude today's conference call You may now disconnect. you may now disconnect