Trex Company reports Q2 EPS 71c, consensus 53c

Reports Q2 revenue $356.5M, consensus $318.5M. CEO Bryan Fairbanks says: “This was an excellent quarter for the Trex Company, reflecting resilient consumer demand that resulted in mid-single digit growth in channel sell through. Sales were 5% below comparable year-ago residential levels, when the channel was building inventory. Trex delivered considerable margin expansion driven by production optimization and fast return cost saving programs. Additionally, investments in branding programs, and our expanding decking and railing product portfolio are yielding strong returns. With production optimizations and successful implementations of cost-out projects, we delivered an industry-leading gross margin of 43.9% compared to residential gross margin of 41.7% in the 2022 second quarter. While residential gross margin will vary from quarter-to-quarter, the 220-basis point year-on-year margin expansion achieved in the second quarter on less-than-full capacity is indicative of the substantial leverage inherent in the Trex business model. Our second quarter 2023 EBITDA margin of 32.8% was 180 basis points below residential margin of 34.6% for the comparable period last year and included spending on branding and new product launches, which are key drivers of consumer demand and important contributors to our continued success.”