Q4 Revenue Growth
Consolidated net sales increased 1.6% year-over-year to $351.4 million in the fourth quarter.
Improved Adjusted EBITDA Margin (Q4)
Adjusted EBITDA margin rose to 12.1% in the quarter versus 11.9% a year ago, driven by lower incentive compensation, lower risk-related insurance expense, productivity improvements and Fortify Phase 2 cost savings.
Adjusted Diluted EPS Beat
Adjusted diluted EPS was $0.92 for the quarter, slightly ahead of expectations and up year-over-year, supported by lower amortization and interest expense.
Successful Acquisition Integration (Performance Services / UW Solutions)
Performance Services integrated UW Solutions and achieved the first-year financial targets: $100 million in revenue and adjusted EBITDA margin of at least 20%; the total Performance Services segment delivered nearly $200 million of revenue and was accretive to the company.
Services Segment Momentum
Services delivered its eighth consecutive quarter of year-over-year net sales growth and ended the quarter with a $694 million backlog (down ~4% YoY but still substantial).
Operational and Productivity Gains
Apogee Management System and Fortify Phase 2 drove manufacturing and productivity improvements (e.g., Tubelite value stream redesign and Linetec finishing reconfiguration), with embedded AI initiatives and Copilot rollout beginning to increase productivity.
Strong Cash Generation and Capital Returns
Operating cash flow improved in the quarter to $55.8 million (vs. $30.0 million prior-year quarter) and full-year operating cash flow was $122.5 million. The company repurchased $15 million of stock in Q4 and returned $37.2 million to shareholders for the full year via dividends and repurchases.
Healthy Balance Sheet
Consolidated leverage ratio was 1.3x with no near-term debt maturities and available capital for future deployment.