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Kelly Hibbs

Thank you, Nate. Wood Products sales in the fourth quarter, including sales to our distribution segment, were $419.7 million, down 7% compared to fourth quarter 2023. Wood Products segment EBITDA was $56.6 million, compared to EBITDA of $92.7 million reported in the year ago quarter. The decrease in segment EBITDA was due primarily to lower EWP and plywood sales prices.
In BMD, our sales in the quarter were $1.4 billion, down 4% from fourth quarter 2023. BMD reported segment EBITDA of $84.5 million in the fourth quarter, compared to segment EBITDA of $80.6 million in the prior-year quarter. Despite the sales decline, a 60-basis-point increase in gross margin percentage positioned BMD to deliver comparable year-over-year gross margin dollars. In addition, BMD's general and administrative expenses decreased by $3.6 million due primarily to acquisition-related expenses in the prior year quarter for the acquisition of BROSCO.
Turning to slide 5. On a year-over-year basis, fourth quarter volumes for LVL increased an impressive 11% and I-joists volumes were down 2%, both better than the 4% year-over-year decline in single-family starts, which we believe is a testament to the strength of our tightly aligned manufacturing and nationwide distribution capabilities.
As expected, seasonal declines in construction activity drove lower volumes on a sequential basis, with LVL and I-joist volumes down 8% and 10%, respectively. But again, for this comparative period, our volume changes were better than underlying activity than single-family starts would imply. At current demand levels, competition for share is prevalent in the marketplace today, and our sequential LVL pricing for LVL and I-joists were down 2% and 1%, respectively.
Turning to slide 6. Our fourth quarter plywood sales volume was 371 million feet, compared to 363 million feet in fourth quarter 2023. The 350 per 1,000 average plywood net sales price in the fourth quarter was down 7% on a year-over-year basis. However, plywood net sales prices were up 5% sequentially. We experienced higher plywood pricing through the first half of the fourth quarter before expected seasonal declines set in, with December average price realizations of approximately 340 per 1,000.
Moving to slides 7 and 8. BMD's year-over-year fourth quarter sales decline of 4% was driven by a 2% decrease in both sales price and volume. By product line, commodity sales decreased 4%. General line product sales increased 1%, and sales of EWP decreased 11%.
As I alluded to earlier, BMD's fourth quarter gross margin percentage was 15.8%, up 60 basis points year-over-year. In particular, our commodity inventory position, coupled with strengthening commodity markets during the first half of the fourth quarter, provided tailwinds for our commodity margins.
BMD's EBITDA margin was 5.9% for the quarter, up from the 5.4% reported in the year ago and up 30 basis points sequentially. Very strong results in a seasonally slower quarter.
I'm now on slide 9. Weather has made for a difficult start to the quarter as we have had a couple of days of unplanned downtime across several of our manufacturing and distribution locations. As we look forward to our expectations for the first quarter, EWP volumes are expected to increase modestly from fourth quarter levels, and EWP pricing is expected to reflect low single-digit sequential declines.
In plywood, the significant modernization projects at our Oakdale facility are progressing well. As planned, that facility will be down for the entirety of the first quarter and is expected to operate near 50% of capacity in the second quarter. As a result, our plywood volumes and cost absorption will be negatively impacted in the near term.
For the first quarter, we expect plywood volumes to decline mid- to high single digits sequentially and that we will incur negative cost impacts of approximately $7 million due to the Oakdale downtime. On plywood pricing, quarter-to-date realizations are approximately 3% below fourth quarter averages.
With regards to BMD sales, seasonal impacts are evident with our quarter-to-date daily sales pace about 8% below our fourth quarter daily sales averages. We'd expect the activity to strengthen as we move towards the spring building season.
Now on slide 10. We had capital expenditures of $230 million in 2024, with $122 million of spending in Wood Products and $108 million of spending in BMD. Looking forward to 2025, we expect our capital spending to be between $220 million and $240 million. This range includes additional spending on our multiyear investments in support of EWP production capabilities, including adding I-joist production at our Thorsby, Alabama EWP facility and the significant modernization projects at our Oakdale, Louisiana veneer and plywood mill.
In BMD, we are making great progress on our greenfield distribution center in Hondo, Texas. Activity at the Walterboro, South Carolina greenfield has been slow, but we expect to gain momentum there in the back half of 2025.
Speaking to shareholder returns in 2024, we paid $220 million in regular and special dividends, which was comprised of $0.82 per share in regular quarterly dividends and a $5 per share special dividend. Our Board of Directors also recently approved a $0.21 per share quarterly dividend on our common stock. Shareholders of record as of February 24 will receive payment of this dividend on March 19.
For the 13 months ended January 2025, we have repurchased approximately 1.75 million shares or 4.5% of our outstanding shares for approximately $225 million. Today we have about 1.6 million shares available for repurchase under our share repurchase program.
As our actions demonstrate, we continue to strive for a balanced approach to capital allocation that includes ongoing investments in our existing asset base, organic growth projects and returns to our shareholders. Our balance sheet also gives us the flexibility to pursue M&A if opportunities surface that align with our strategy.
I will now turn it back over to Nate to share our business outlook and closing remarks.

Nate Jorgensen

Thanks, Kelly. I'm on slide number 11. Current industry forecasts for total US housing starts are around 1.35 million for 2025, essentially flat with actual housing starts in 2024 as reported by the US Census Bureau. Single-family housing starts in 2024 outpaced 2023 levels by 7% and are expected to again be around the 1 million level despite the affordability challenges consumers are facing in the current rate environment.
Multifamily starts declined sharply in 2024, are expected to continue to face headwinds in 2025 due to prohibitive capital costs for developers, combined with elevated levels of multifamily unit completions in both 2023 and 2024.
For home improvement spending, we expect 2025 to reflect modest growth as the age of US housing stock, elevated levels of homeowner equity and some recent improvement in existing home sales will provide a favorable backdrop for repair and remodel spending.
While uncertainties around the macro economy and policy decisions from the new administration make it challenging to predict the near-term demand environment, our constructive view on the medium and longer-term housing fundamentals remains, which affords us the ability to maintain a clear focus on our strategy and the execution of our growth initiatives.
Lastly, I would like to take the opportunity to congratulate Jeff Strom and Jo Barney on their recently announced promotions. Both are seasoned and accomplished leaders and look forward to their continued contributions in their new roles. These changes were part of our intentional strategic succession planning process as we position the company for continued service and support to our shareholders, our stakeholders in the future.
Thank you for joining us on our call today and your continued interest and support in Boise Cascade. We welcome any questions at this time. Josh, would you please open the phone lines?

Question and Answer Session

Operator

(Operator Instructions) Kurt Yinger, D.A. Davidson.

Kurt Yinger

I just wanted to start off on tariffs, and we have pretty robust data on lumber and OSB and how important Canadian supply is there, but EWP is kind of a murkier picture. I guess, first off, could you maybe frame Canadian supply relative to US consumption, maybe where you run into some of those, call it, secondary suppliers in the market? And how are you thinking about opportunities that could arise for Boise if we were to see some sort of tariff implementation?

Nate Jorgensen

Kurt, it's Nate. Let me start that, and Kelly and others can jump in. Yes, I think in terms of the kind of the tariff question, obviously, there's more unknowns than knowns relative to that. To your point, there is clarity in terms of how much volume is moving across, I think, largely from an industry perspective and for Boise Cascade from Canada into the US, and some of that is obviously around some of our commodities.
But as you think about the -- some of the other items that we bring across the board, whether it's web-stock or other items, it's -- I think in terms of the impact, we haven't -- we've done a lot of modeling and a lot of work, Kurt, just to make sure we understand some of the actions and decisions we may need to take as a result of tariffs. But there's nothing that we've kind of concluded at this stage in terms of kind of anything immediate that we'll be doing in the marketplace.
At this point, the other thing that we're looking at is the demand environment in terms of the kind of the ripple effect on affordabilities we've talked about is a potential challenge with tariffs. So as we think about kind of the consequences of what could take place, again, not just on the lumber items but other items as well, that's going to be something that we're watching carefully and closely. But we've done a lot of work just to make sure we're prepared to move forward should that tariff arrive. And again, there's a lot of discussion and debate on when and if that's possible.
So maybe with that, Kelly, anything you would add just in terms of how we're thinking about that and just maybe a backdrop on that?

Kelly Hibbs

Yes. Sure, Nate. Good to hear you, Kurt. So yes, for us, you could kind of think about it in our two segments. As you well know, our manufacturing is substantially based in the US. And to Nate's point, we would have some cost pressure from OSB web-stock that we do get from Canada. But we are very well positioned there, and so feel good about our ability to operate, again, given that, to Nate's point, there's a lot more unknowns than there are knowns in that space.
And then in BMD, as we -- if there are tariffs, and we do import a lot of commodity products from Canada, for example, if there were higher costs there, our intent would be to push those through and maintain our normal margin percentage. And that's kind of how we play the market every day, if you will. And so that would be our expectation.
The broader concern is probably if it gets -- if the tariffs end up, to Nate's point, causing further affordability challenges, do we have demand destruction? And that would be a bigger, broader concern.

Nate Jorgensen

Maybe just to kind of close out on that, Kurt, I think the -- when you think about the -- some of the policy uncertainty that's out there, and even kind of the weather that Kelly described, it's just kind of the risk-reward, there's a lot of hesitancy in the marketplace. And so I think we're seeing and experiencing that.
I think for us, the good news is that we're seeing continued strength out of warehouse as people kind of mitigate and manage that risk-reward. So our warehouse business remains steady, but you can certainly hear the influence of that policy risk in the conversations across the industry.

Kurt Yinger

Right. Okay. No, that's great color. I appreciate it. And then moving on to EWP pricing. It's been kind of this slide over the last two years. And maybe some of that's bringing out some excess margin, and now it seems like more supply and demand, finding a balance, you talked about some of the competitive dynamics in terms of securing share.
I guess as we look out to 2025 thinking about maybe a flattish kind of housing starts environment, do you feel like the market is pretty close to finding that equilibrium? Or are there any other big variables on the supply side that you're watching more closely?

Kelly Hibbs

Yes. Kurt, this is Kelly again. I don't think on -- on the supply side, I don't know that there's a lot of variables there. I mean there's no new capacity coming online here in the near term. But I do think if we're in a 1.35 million total or a 1.0 million single-family environment, I think there will continue to be competition per share. And so we've continued to see that in some modest price erosion. And if the environment stays like that, we'd expect to see some erosion.
And then there could be some seasonally stronger periods where maybe it's a little less competitive at times. But I -- there's no reason for us to believe we won't continue to see some level of erosion if demand kind of stays where it is.

Nate Jorgensen

Kurt, maybe the other thing I would just add is when you think about EWP relative to other options, I think it still represents the right answer for the builder, in terms of the cycle time at the job site, the simplicity and relative to other options and materials that might be available.
So as we look at the backdrop of EWP overall, I think, again, it's favorable in terms of what the builder is looking and needing to get done and at the job site. And so we feel good about that being -- continuing to be kind of a tailwind for EWP moving forward.

Kurt Yinger

Got it. And if I could just sneak one more in following up on that. I mean historically, I don't think you guys have ever viewed pricing on lumber as a huge driver of substitution between solid saw and I-joist or open web floor trusses. But if we were to see kind of more upward pressure there on the commodity pricing, is that something on the margin that you think could be a potential positive? Or is there not really any historical evidence to support that?

Nate Jorgensen

Yes. Generally, Kurt, it's -- most of the builders generally stay kind of pretty true to the product that -- whether it's dimensional lumber, to your point, open web floor trusses or EWP. So I think there's a fair bit of consistency there. But to your point, if they're at the margin, that probably -- if there's higher pressure on pricing on dimensional lumber as an example, that will probably create some discussion and some opportunities for potential conversion.
But I think the builder, they'll continue to look at the affordability side of things. That's certainly first and foremost on their mind. And part of that affordability is not just materials but also speed on the job site and simplicity at the job site as well.

Operator

Susan Maklari, Goldman Sachs.

Susan Maklari

Congrats to Jeff.

Jeff Strom

Thank you. I appreciate that.

Susan Maklari

Yes. I want to start by talking a bit about the operating environment. You mentioned the impact to weather that will come through in the first quarter. But can you also talk a bit about how we should think of the weather the macro environment? And what you're hearing as the builders are starting to get into the early parts of the selling season?

Nate Jorgensen

Yes. Sue, it's Nate. I think the builders, there's -- the affordability remains probably first and foremost in the conversation. And so I think when you look at home prices, when you look at cost of money, that remains front and center. And they've been -- some of the builders, as you know, have been active in terms of buying down rates. So I think that's been an important part of what we experienced as we closed 2024, and I think what the builders are describing in terms of 2025.
I think in terms of kind of the medium to longer term, I think there's still a lot of optimism and believe that we still are underbuilt as a country. And so that -- I think that narrative remains, if more, again, probably for the medium to longer term.
In the short term, again, I think there's some complexity and unknowns, and part of that is certainly around the economy and what could be happening there, including things like tariffs that could drive that. But this -- that kind of maybe hesitancy is maybe more of the theme that we've heard here over the past couple of weeks.
So I don't think that's, for me, there's a lot of anxiety. It's simply people are probably a little bit more measured, at least in the short term, until they have a better view of what the environment is. So I think the homebuilders remain, I think, still optimistic about certainly the future. And I think in the near term, they're going to kind of manage it on a day-by-day basis to make sure that they're making the right choices and decisions for each of their stakeholders, including their shareholders.

Susan Maklari

Yes. Okay. That's helpful color. And then thinking about the environment and the fact that maybe there's some increasing competition on commodity EWP products, can you talk about the potential benefits and the more resilient nature of the general line part of the business, and how that could perhaps be a relative offset in this kind of situation?

Jeff Strom

This is Jeff. The general line, it continues to hold up very well. That being said, it is competitive out there. And as things slow down and people are looking for market share, it does get incredibly competitive, and we're having to keep our eye on that rack where we need to.

Susan Maklari

Okay. That's helpful. And then I just want to sneak one more in, which is, it was nice to see the buybacks that came through in 2024. As you do think about your approach to capital allocation for this year, can you talk a bit about shareholder returns and how you're thinking about buybacks versus perhaps special dividend? Just any color there?

Kelly Hibbs

Yes, sure, Sue. So let me, I guess, start maybe a little more broadly and then we can work our way to your specific questions. So capital allocation, as you've seen in the materials, we have the second year of a, for us, a pretty heavy capital spending program. So that is going to be the main focus here, is to make sure we execute on our capital spending objectives. Go get M&A if we find something that makes sense.
Specific to shareholder returns, we're going -- I expect us to opportunistically stay in the market in buying shares on a more consistent basis, and then -- like we've seen recently. And then special dividend, that will be a conversation with the board, but I'd anticipate that to be more later in the year, more like a third quarter event, if we -- if the Board chooses to do that. And again, that could be also dependent upon what might we find in the M&A space and -- or do we seek out and find some additional organic growth opportunities.

Susan Maklari

Okay. Well, I got an answer from all three of you, which I appreciate. And so good luck to everyone. We'll talk soon.

Operator

Mike Roxland, Truist Securities.

Mike Roxland

Congrats on all the progress. Kelly, as you noted, BMD margin was strong in 4Q, certainly better than we expected, despite some sales pace deterioration during the quarter. Mix is also a little more unfavorable versus 3Q. So can you help us understand then how you generated a higher sequential margin, especially as margins are seasonally lower sequentially? Was any of that due to, to Nate's point, on increasing warehouse sales? Just any color you can provide about the -- around the margin and how you're able to achieve the type of margin in 4Q?

Kelly Hibbs

Yes. There are several components in there, and you hit on several of them, Mike. The one is warehouse, and again, the uncertainty in the marketplace and how that increases reliance from our customers on our inventory position, so that helped.
And then I would also say, commodities had a decent little run kind of the first part -- the first half of the fourth quarter, and that really gave us some tailwinds that we were able to capture in the fourth quarter.

Mike Roxland

Got it. So when you think about the transition from 4Q to 1Q in terms of EBITDA margin, how should we think about it? Because obviously, you're guiding to a sales pace that has deteriorated further in 1Q relative to 4Q. Obviously, you said the winter weather, there's uncertainty. I get all that. But are you able to maintain that level in 4Q? Or should we see some type of erosion because of the sales pace deterioration relative to 4Q?

Kelly Hibbs

Yes. We will see erosion from fourth quarter, for sure, Mike, I mean, given the 8% sales base decline that we've seen so far in the first quarter compared to the fourth quarter. And that coupled with no tailwinds in terms of across any product lines in terms of price appreciation. Yes, we will not report that same level of EBITDA margin here in the first quarter.

Mike Roxland

Got it. And then one last one for me. Can you help us understand what drove the growth in LVL? Obviously, very strong growth in 4Q, up 11%. I think single-family starts are down 4% to 5%. Why -- did you gain share against your peers? Is that something that you expect to continue? Just help us frame what happened and how we should think about the go-forward.

Kelly Hibbs

Yes. The -- yes, that's a great segue for me to give a great shout out to the combined efforts of the Wood Products and BMD sales teams. Very active this year in getting out and selling our value proposition. And we -- that's really showing up in our volumes. And like I alluded to in my comments, volumes better than what underlying single-family starts would imply. And so, really good execution, and again, that linkage between our manufacturing and distribution showed up really well.

Nate Jorgensen

The other thing, Mike -- it's Nate. As you think about LVL and kind of the applications for that in terms of beams and headers, it's really -- it's a steady and probably growing application opportunities. So we talked in times about competitiveness on EWP specifically with I-joist and open web floor trusses and dimensional lumber, the complexity of designs as such continues to support beam and header use.
And so I think in terms of the backdrop on the opportunity and how that shows up for that product category specifically, we feel good about what that represents. And obviously, that's consistent with how we thought about continuing to invest and grow that part of our business from a production standpoint. So yes, thanks for kind of calling that out. And again, we feel good about where we finished and really what's in front of us. It's somewhat independent of the housing market.

Operator

George Staphos, Bank of America Securities.

George Staphos

Congrats to Jeff and Joe. I guess my first question, maybe I'll segue off of the discussion we were just having with Mike. So given the complexity of homes and the way that this is supporting greater demand for beam and header use, on the other hand, you talk about inflation, affordability. What can you talk to about, whether size of home, conservation materials, how that might be impacting, if at all, demand for EWP as you're seeing it right now?
Relatedly, guys, I know it's hard to parse this precisely, right, but are you seeing more of the price erosion coming from competition against other products in the market? Or is it coming from dimensional, is it coming from trusses? How should we think about that?

Kelly Hibbs

Yes. So I'll start, George. So to answer your second question first. Yes, the price erosion is related to competition for light EWP products. It's not from -- it's not from competing products like dimension lumber as you referenced. It's EWP.
And then you're right, in terms of the, gee, how does the demand environment or how does the size of homes impact demand, yes, it will. If you have smaller homes, that will create less footage used in a home, not necessarily in terms of the applications or products that home -- that builders will use, but if the footprint is smaller, the usage will be smaller.

Nate Jorgensen

George, it's Nate. Maybe to Kelly's point -- good morning. When you think about the square footage, I think that's, to me, probably focuses more on the I-joist kind of statement in terms of that kind of consumption and, certainly, beams and headers are part of that and wall framing. But again, when you look at the designs today, even though those footprints are getting a little bit smaller, the complexity continues to grow, in terms of the open spaces and the expectations around that. So I think that backdrop and theme remains, and that's really supportive of the beams and our LVL growth as a result.
The other piece of it, as you know, is housing starts are really -- the consumption of EWP is really dependent on the geography basis. So consumption in Florida is different than Colorado. And so as you think about where that housing start resides, that has influence in terms of what's expected as well. But overall, I think the beam and header market is generally has a little more stability around it in part based upon some of the construction techniques that remain out there.

George Staphos

So Nate, I mean, just to summarize it, and look, we're never going to hold you to this, we just want to understand what you're seeing in terms of the market, even with some of the headwinds on square footage and the like. Your view, holding everything else constant, dangerous phrase there, is that you should see incrementally better demand for EWP because of those points on complexity of design and related factors, would that be fair?

Nate Jorgensen

Yes. I would say more on the kind of the beam and header side of things, George, as opposed to the floor system. So I would say pretty kind of separated -- separate those two product categories. But again, I-joists do have a role in terms of again creating that simplicity and that speed at the job site, and that's important to the builder. It always has been and certainly is today. So I think that's going to be favorable relative to other options that are out there.

George Staphos

Kelly, you called out Oakdale, and I think it's kind of a $7 million impact in the quarter coming up. Is there any residual effect that we should build into the model?
And then relatedly, you -- and we appreciate it, you qualitatively called out, hey, it's a little bit tougher start to the 1Q from weather than would normally be the case for weather in 1Q. Is there any sort of number you would sort of give us, hey, this has been the effect above and beyond a normal 1Q. Anything that we could do to size our models?
And then really my last question, and again, I appreciate all the color, kind of where is your inventory position right now in BMD relative to where you'd like it to be?

Kelly Hibbs

Yes. Sure, George. So yes, I guess kind of on the Q1 indicators, I would point you towards the table there in terms of the volume and price expectations for Wood Products. And then for BMD, yes, the sales pace is really going to matter. That's very important and that will very much have an impact on how we close out the quarter. And we've had multiple locations with multiple down days. Even several locations this week were down because of some very tough weather. So yes, it's created some challenges for us.
And then Oakdale, that's -- we've been working that project for some time now. So as expected, that facility is down and will be down for the entirety of this quarter as we do that significant modernization project that we're excited to do. And again, that's a big, important veneer supplier to Alexandria, Louisiana EWP mill.
And so yes, we will lose some volume from that. And certainly, that will have -- give us some negative sequential cost impacts. But again, it was part of the plan, and we're on schedule. And then we'll see probably some of that continue into the second quarter because we'll be running at 50%-ish in the second quarter as we work towards completion of those projects by the end of the second quarter.
And then I think inventory position, I'll send that over to Mr. Strom.

Jeff Strom

George, it's Jeff. On our inventory position, overall, I feel pretty good. Right now, with all the uncertainty and lack of clarity out there, people are pulling more and more material out of our warehouse. And talking to our dealers, in years I've been doing this, I've never heard so much conversation from that level about net working capital in days on hand, so there is a real reliance. And so we're seeing that ready to serve every single day.

George Staphos

Good luck on the quarter.

Operator

Ketan Mamtora, BMO Capital Markets.

Ketan Mamtora

Maybe to start with, on the BMD side, you have the slide where you look at sort of the last five years EBITDA margins. Clearly, the operating environment in '24, and certainly, looks like, the start of this year, is kind of tougher probably below normalized levels. Would you say, given what you guys have done over the last few years in terms of the product mix, that you can say that trough-level margins in BMD are sort of a little bit above 5%? Is that -- would that be sort of a fair characterization?

Kelly Hibbs

Yes. So our expectation and our strategy with the investments we've made and with the product mix shifts that we've made is that BMD's margin is, through a cycle, is in the mid-5s, and we've demonstrated that. And then -- and now we could have periods like, for example, here in the first quarter, with challenges on the top line, we may not hit 5% here in the first quarter because of this pretty significant erosion here in the sales pace in the first quarter. But yes, over time, absolutely, the strategy is we're mid-5s.

Ketan Mamtora

Understood. Got it. And then curious, as you look at sort of your M&A pipeline, is that something that would be sort of an area of interest as seller expectations moderate either on the distribution side or on the Wood Products side? And then just related to that, are there any other product categories within distribution that you think would make sense for you guys?

Kelly Hibbs

Yes. So on the M&A front, Ketan, the short answer is yes, we would have interest if it aligns with our strategy. And I would say there's probably more potential opportunity on the distribution side than there would be on the Wood Products side.
And then as it relates to new product categories, and I think you were kind of focused towards the BMD side, I think, we're -- as we've talked before, we're very fortunate to be aligned with a lot of really world-class suppliers, and oftentimes they're continuing to add products to their SKU set and we get some natural growth -- organic growth opportunity from there.

Nate Jorgensen

Ketan, it's Nate. Maybe just to add to Kelly's comments, is I think as we look at new opportunities, we always try to start the conversation with the customer in market as to, okay, what do they need? What are they experiencing? Where are there opportunities where Boise Cascade can step in? And we try to have the same conversation with the suppliers, as Kelly described, and in many cases they're bringing out new products, new SKUs, which is exciting. So I think it's a deliberate conversation we always look to have. And where customers ask us to step into a different opportunity, it needs to kind of fit with our strategy and our competencies, but that's been an important part of our growth story, and I think we'll continue as we move forward.

Operator

Thank you. I would now like to turn the call back over to Nate Jorgensen for any closing remarks.

Nate Jorgensen

Great. Thank you. I appreciate everyone's time on the call today and interest in Boise Cascade. And we look forward to getting caught up with this team here at the end of the first quarter. So again, thank you, and have a great day.

Operator

Thank you. This concludes the conference. Thank you for your participation. You may now disconnect.