Stella-Jones Q4 2025 Earnings Report

Stella-Jones EPS Results

• Actual EPS: C$0.91
• Consensus EPS: N/A
• Beat/Miss: N/A
• One Year Ago EPS: N/A

Stella-Jones Revenue Results

• Actual Revenue: $727.00 million
• Expected Revenue: N/A
• Beat/Miss: N/A
• YoY Revenue Growth: N/A

Stella-Jones Announcement Details

• Quarter: Q4 2025
• Date: 2/26/2026
• Time: Before Market Opens
• Conference Call Date: Thursday, February 26, 2026
• Conference Call Time: 10:00AM ET

Stella-Jones (TSE:SJ) Inc produces and sells lumber and wood products. The company operates in two segments: Pressure-treated wood, which includes utility poles, railway ties, residential lumber, and industrial products; and Logs & Lumber segment comprises of the sales of logs harvested in the course of the company's procurement process that is determined to be unsuitable for use as utility poles, it also includes the sale of excess lumber to local home-building markets. The vast majority of its revenue comes from the Pressure-treated wood segment. Its geographical segments are the United States and Canada, of which the majority of its revenue is derived from the United States.

Stella-Jones Q4 2025 Earnings Call Transcript

Key Takeaways

• Positive Sentiment: Acquisitions (Locweld and Brooks) broaden Stella‑Jones' infrastructure addressable market—Brooks added pole fixtures/accessories and was closed for ~CAD 140 million without increasing leverage—and integration is progressing in line with expectations.
• Positive Sentiment: U.S. greenfield lattice tower facility (≈US$50 million) will add ~20,000 tons of capacity (commissioning late 2027, full three‑shift capacity by end‑2028) to support growing U.S. utility demand and complement the Kandiyohi expansion.
• Positive Sentiment: Strong cash generation and margins — FY sales of CAD 3.5 billion, operating cash flow CAD 557 million, free cash flow >CAD 400 million, and an EBITDA margin of ~18.1% (ex insurance); the company returned CAD 506 million to shareholders and raised the quarterly dividend 10% to CAD 0.34.
• Negative Sentiment: Railway tie headwinds — Q4 tie sales fell 16% (full‑year organic ties down ~10%) due to a Class I customer moving to in‑house treatment, project deferrals and heightened competition; management now expects flat tie volumes in 2026 and flags near‑term weakness.
• Neutral Sentiment: CapEx and working capital outlook — baseline maintenance CapEx remains CAD 85–95M, remaining Locweld spend (~CAD 7–8M) and the US facility are split across 2026–27, and management expects to invest roughly 40% of wood‑treating sales growth into additional working capital.

Presentation

[Operator]

Good morning, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to Stella-Jones' fourth quarter and full year 2025 earnings call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. Following the presentation, we will hold a question and answer session. To queue up for questions by phone, please press star 1. If anyone experiences difficulties hearing the conference call, please press star 0 for operator assistance at any time. I would like to remind everyone that this conference call is being recorded on Thursday, February 26, 2026. I will now turn the call over to David Galison, Vice President, Investor Relations of Stella-Jones.

[David Galison, VP of Investor Relations at Stella-Jones]

Thank you, Jenny. Good morning, everyone. Earlier this morning, we issued our press release reporting our results for the fourth quarter and full year of 2025. Along with our MD&A, it can be found in the investor relations section of our website at www.stella-jones.com, as well as on SEDAR+. As a reminder, all figures expressed on today's call are in Canadian dollars, unless otherwise stated. Please note that the comments made on today's call may contain forward-looking information, and this information, by its nature, is subject to risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from the views expressed today. For further information on these risks and uncertainties, please consult the company's relevant filings on SEDAR+. These documents are also available on the investor relations section of Stella-Jones' website at www.stella-jones.com.

[David Galison, VP of Investor Relations at Stella-Jones]

Additionally, during this conference call, the company may refer to non-GAAP measures, which have no standardized meaning under GAAP and are not likely to be comparable to other similar measures presented by other issuers. For more information, please refer to the company's latest MD&A and available on Stella-Jones' website and on SEDAR+. Lastly, we have prepared a corresponding presentation, which we encourage you to follow along with during this call. I'll now hand the call over to Eric Vachon, President and Chief Executive Officer of Stella-Jones, for a strategic business update, followed by Silvana Travaglini, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Stella-Jones, who will provide a more detailed financial overview. Eric, over to you.

[Eric Vachon, President and CEO at Stella-Jones]

Thank you, David. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us today. 2025 was a pivotal year for Stella-Jones. We delivered solid profitability as we advanced our value creation strategy. By completing two strategic acquisitions in the utility space, we have propelled our mission forward to become the supplier of choice for our infrastructure customers. The additions of Locweld and Brooks have broadened our total addressable market. We are now leveraging these new growth avenues to expand our steel lattice tower business in the U.S. as we actively execute the growth priorities outlined at our Investor Day. The results reported today reflect the strength of our infrastructure-focused strategy and our team's unwavering commitment to long-term value. We successfully delivered top-line results within our latest guidance and met our three-year commitment to return CAD 500 million to our shareholders.

[Eric Vachon, President and CEO at Stella-Jones]

I'm especially proud of our team for delivering EBITDA margins over 18%, ahead of guidance amidst a year where all three of our product categories faced softer demand. This full year strength was supported by our performance in the final quarter of the year. As we look at the fourth quarter highlights, our results were bolstered by the volume growth in wood utility poles and the contributions of our newly integrated steel structures and crossarm businesses. This helped offset the lower volumes we saw in railway ties. Although tie sales came in below our forecast, the tie business delivered a solid margin performance and remained a resilient contributor to our overall profitability and margin strength. The operational investments to double our steel structure production capacity at our Kandiyohi facility are well underway.

[Eric Vachon, President and CEO at Stella-Jones]

We are on track for completion by mid-2026, with a full production ramp-up in the second half of this year. Building on this momentum, we are taking an important step forward by establishing a U.S.-based manufacturing footprint for steel lattice towers. We will invest approximately $50 million to build a new greenfield facility in the Southeast United States, adding approximately 20,000 tons to our total production capacity. The selection is down to a few sites that offer superior access to skilled workforce and proximity to key galvanizing partners. With commissioning expected by late 2027 and full three-shift capacity by the end of 2028, this facility will provide the scalability required to meet the growing demand of U.S. utilities.

[Eric Vachon, President and CEO at Stella-Jones]

In the fourth quarter, we also marked our entry into the pole fixtures and accessory market with the acquisition of Brooks. By adding these complementary products, we are better positioned to serve our utility customers and capture new cross-selling opportunities across our network. This acquisition is a perfect example of our strategy to leverage existing customer relationships for incremental growth. Notably, we completed this $140 million transaction without increasing our debt leverage, a result that underscores the strength of our cash flow and our disciplined approach to capital allocation. Integration of the Brooks acquisition is well underway and is progressing in line with our expectations. From a sustainability perspective, we are excited to share that following year-end, we acquired a one-third equity interest in Lizzie Bay Logging, forming a partnership with local British Columbia First Nations in a forest harvesting company.

[Eric Vachon, President and CEO at Stella-Jones]

This approximately CAD 5 million investment will secure dependable, long-term supply of utility pole fiber, specifically for western red cedar and Douglas fir. It targets large transmission poles, a critical resource that is increasingly in short supply. We view this collaboration as an important advancement in our commitment to building mutually beneficial partnerships with Indigenous communities in Canada. I will now turn to a performance overview of our main product categories, starting with utility products. After navigating a period of softer demand for utility poles that began in Q3, 2024, the pace of purchase for certain customers accelerated in Q3, and that momentum carried into the fourth quarter. The volume growth was driven by our contract business, a direct result of our well-executed multi-year strategy. We have strategically expanded our pole business and focused on partnering with customers who value long-term supply security.

[Eric Vachon, President and CEO at Stella-Jones]

We are now seeing the impact of those new contracts in our sales figures, as well as a pickup in activity from some of our long-standing customers. Our contract business, which represents over 75% of our utility pole sales, has helped mitigate the impact of softer and more competitive spot market. While spot pricing and volume pressures persist, the improvement in volumes in the latter part of the year allowed us to deliver full-year sales growth in the low single-digit range, consistent with our outlook. This positive volume trajectory has created a tailwind that carries us into 2026 with confidence. For our railway tie business, 2025 was a year of transition. We navigated the impact of a Class I railroad's shift to in-house treatment, several project deferrals, and a more aggressive competitive landscape.

[Eric Vachon, President and CEO at Stella-Jones]

As a result, the volume gains anticipated for the fourth quarter did not materialize, and we ended the year with organic sales down 10% below the mid-single-digit decline guidance. I'm, however, encouraged by the team's discipline. Despite these top-line headwinds, we focused on what we can control, improving margins, and maintaining stable profitability. Looking ahead, we expect a more modest growth environment for our tie business. Our Class I customers are currently navigating complex landscape of potential industry consolidation and macroeconomic headwinds, sentiments they have echoed in their recent commentary. While we expect this may result in relatively flat railway tie sales in the near to mid-term, it does not change our long-term outlook. We remain focused on positioning the business to capture long-term growth, and we see a pipeline of opportunities ahead in both Class Is and commercial markets.

[Eric Vachon, President and CEO at Stella-Jones]

2026 also coincides with a cycle of Class I contract renewals. We view these renewals as a strategic opportunity to further align our offerings with our customers' evolving requirements. By leveraging our commitment to quality, availability, and service, we are positioning ourselves as a partner of choice for Class I railroads. At the same time, we will pursue growth of our commercial business. With the uncertainty in 2025 around government funding resolved, we expect more commercial project activity in 2026, and we are ready to meet this demand. Our 3-year outlook remains unchanged, and this is supported by a track record of resilience. Even with the pullback in 2025 sales, railway ties delivered a low single-digit sales growth over a multi-year horizon, underscoring the recurring nature of this maintenance-driven business.

[Eric Vachon, President and CEO at Stella-Jones]

Our residential lumber business demonstrated remarkable resilience this year, delivering a stable performance despite an industry backdrop of significant pricing pressures and muted demand. This is a clear validation of our value-added business model and the strength of our strategic alliance with our primary customer. While volumes were impacted by the market slowdown, we delivered the same sales performance as in 2024 due to higher pricing. This allowed us to recover the higher cost of inventory procured in early 2025. As we move forward, we have full confidence in our ability to deliver on our long-term targets, keeping this business steady within the CAD 600 million-CAD 650 million revenue range. In summary, we recognize that growth is rarely linear, but long-term fundamentals of our business remain intact.

[Eric Vachon, President and CEO at Stella-Jones]

We are well-positioned to benefit from the solid tailwinds in our utility products business, which represents over 50% of our sales. This, paired with our strategic positioning in railway ties and the unique value proposition of residential lumber, reinforces our confidence to deliver on our 2026-2028 financial objectives. With that, I will now ask Silvana to provide a more detailed overview of our fourth quarter and year-end financial results.

[Silvana Travaglini, SVP and CFO at Stella-Jones]

Thank you, Eric, and good morning, everyone. As Eric stated at the top of the call, we ended the year with sales in line with our latest guidance. Sales for the year were up CAD 23 million to CAD 3.5 billion, largely driven by volume gains for wood utility poles, the contribution of our recent acquisitions, and the favorable impact of currency conversion. These drivers were in part offset by volume headwinds for railway ties. For the fourth quarter, organic sales declined 4% compared to the prior year. In Q4, we saw strong volume momentum in utility poles, which delivered a 9% organic sales growth.

[Silvana Travaglini, SVP and CFO at Stella-Jones]

While the strong performance for poles was tempered by softer volume for railway ties, the contribution from our Locweld and Brooks acquisition and the currency impact resulted in total sales that were relatively stable compared to Q4 last year. For utility products, we generated CAD 447 million in sales in the fourth quarter, up 16% from CAD 385 million in the same period last year. The 2025 acquisitions of Locweld and Brooks contributed 7% to the overall sales increase, while volume gains explained the organic sales growth of 9%. Q4 pricing remained relatively stable as softer spot market pricing was largely offset by higher contract pricing.

[Silvana Travaglini, SVP and CFO at Stella-Jones]

For volumes, we continued to benefit from the incremental commitments that we secured back in 2023 and 2024, and from an increase in purchase activity by some utilities. Volumes in the second half of the year were up 8%, resulting in full year sales growth in the low single-digit range, consistent with our outlook. Sales of railway ties were down 16% or CAD 31 million in Q4 to CAD 162 million, largely attributable to lower sales volumes. The timing of shipments, along with more competitive pressures, impacted volumes more than expected, resulting in full year organic sales declining 10% compared to the mid-single digit decrease previously disclosed.

[Silvana Travaglini, SVP and CFO at Stella-Jones]

For the full year, our railway tie volumes were also impacted by a Class I customer now treating railway ties at their own company-owned facility, as well as the execution of non-Class I projects. Market railway ties remained solid. Residential sales in Q4, CAD 8 billion, compared to a particularly strong Q4 last year, which benefited from a seasonally warm quarter. The decrease was primarily volume-driven, as pricing remained relatively stable. For the year, despite unfavorable weather conditions in the first half of 2025 and general market softness, pricing remained above 2024 levels, supported by elevated inventory costs from purchases made earlier in the year. The company ended 2025 with residential lumber sales of CAD 650 million, comparable to the CAD 614 million generated last year. Turning now to profitability.

[Silvana Travaglini, SVP and CFO at Stella-Jones]

The business continued to generate strong EBITDA and robust margins in Q4, reflecting solid execution and the resilience of our business. EBITDA in Q4 increased to CAD 122 million, and we delivered an EBITDA margin of 16.8%, compared to CAD 150 million in the fourth quarter last year, and a margin of 15.8%. The uplift in EBITDA and margin was attributable to increased volumes of utility products, which carry a higher margin and a better profitability performance from railway ties. For the year, we maintained a robust EBITDA margin of 18.1%, excluding the insurance gain, consistent with our performance over the past two years. Moving on to cash flows.

[Silvana Travaglini, SVP and CFO at Stella-Jones]

Q4 cash flows contributed to the strong full year of cash generated from operations of CAD 557 million and free cash flow of over CAD 400 million. Our robust cash generation in 2025 reflected our disciplined focus on working capital, particularly as we optimized our inventory levels. Over the past 12 months, we deployed the cash generated to make 2 strategic acquisitions, totaling CAD 260 million, while continuing to invest in the safety and reliability of our operations. We also returned CAD 158 million to shareholders in 2025, achieving our 3-year CAD 500 million commitment, returning a total of CAD 506 million to shareholders.

[Silvana Travaglini, SVP and CFO at Stella-Jones]

By reducing our share count by over 4 million shares since 2023, we have successfully driven a 13% EPS growth, outpacing our growth in both sales and EBITDA over the same period. In 2025, we increased the dividend payout by 11% to CAD 1.24 per share. Yesterday, the board of directors announced a 10% increase in the company's quarterly dividend to CAD 0.34 per share. This marks our 22nd consecutive annual increase, which speaks to our commitment to shareholders and the confidence in the long-term fundamentals of our business. We continue to view share buybacks as a valuable capital allocation tool. As such, during Q4, we initiated another normal course issuer bid to repurchase up to 1.5 million shares.

[Silvana Travaglini, SVP and CFO at Stella-Jones]

Given the company's growth strategy, we will continue to consider buybacks based on the timing of M&A activity, and we will return excess capital to shareholders when it makes sense. We ended the year with CAD 635 million in available liquidity and a net debt-to-EBITDA ratio within our target range. These metrics underscore the strong cash-generating power of our business. Even after the payment of CAD 260 million for the acquisitions of Locweld and Brooks, our financial position remains robust, demonstrating our ability to fund significant growth while maintaining a strong balance sheet to support our long-term objectives. In summary, we are very pleased with our performance and the strategic evolution of Stella-Jones this year. We have made significant strides in our value creation strategy, underpinned by two pivotal acquisition and solid volume momentum in our utility pole business.

[Silvana Travaglini, SVP and CFO at Stella-Jones]

As we scale our steel structure capacity and launch our first greenfield manufacturing facility in the US, our focus remains on the long term. Backed by a strong cash flow profile and a healthy balance sheet, we have the financial flexibility to continue pursuing both organic and inorganic growth. Stella-Jones has never been better positioned for sustained success. I will now turn the call back to Eric for his concluding remarks.

[Eric Vachon, President and CEO at Stella-Jones]

Thank you, Silvana. Exiting 2025, we are stronger and a more diversified organization. We head into 2026 with a broader infrastructure offering and a clear roadmap to growth. We will scale our steel structure business, leverage our customer-focused approach and contractual strength to navigate evolving market dynamics, and continue to reinforce our position as a supplier of choice for North America's infrastructure. We also remain committed to identifying strategic growth opportunities that enhance our portfolio and extend our market reach. We have the right strategy, the right team, and a solid financial foundation to continue driving long-term value and ensure Stella-Jones continue to be a leader in the market and deliver exceptional value for years to come.

[Eric Vachon, President and CEO at Stella-Jones]

I want to thank our employees for their dedication and hard work, our shareholders for their continued trust as we move into this next chapter of the Stella-Jones story. Finally, we look forward to connecting and exchanging with investors at the 2026 Raymond James Institutional Investor Conference in Orlando, Florida, which will be held next week. This concludes today's prepared remarks. I will now open the line for questions.

[Operator]

Thank you. As a reminder, to queue up for questions by phone, please press star followed by the number one on your telephone keypad. Your first question is from Benoit Poirier, from Desjardins Capital Markets. Your line is now open.

[Benoit Poirier, Managing Director and Senior Equity Research Analyst at Desjardins Capital Markets]

Yes, thank you very much. Good morning, everyone. First question is on railway tie. When we look at the volume reduction in Q4, would it be fair to say that it was mostly driven by some special purchase made by some Class I customer that did not repeat in Q4?

[Eric Vachon, President and CEO at Stella-Jones]

Well, good morning, Benoit. To a slight extent, yes. As I, you know, commented in my remarks, we did have a shift of a few commercial orders that got pushed into early 2026. To your point, yes, there's been a slight impact of that year-end pre-ordering effect that you're referring to. Obviously a bit more competitive landscape as, you know, Class Is have tightened up a bit their maintenance programs, and there's a lot of competition in the market with inventory to sell, we have seen some competition or enhanced competition in the market.

[Benoit Poirier, Managing Director and Senior Equity Research Analyst at Desjardins Capital Markets]

Okay. When we look at 2026 for this segment, given the RTA, the RTA conference is calling for flat volume, Class Is reducing overall CapEx, and looks like there's more competition. Could you even deliver the negative organic growth for railway ties in 2026, Eric?

[Eric Vachon, President and CEO at Stella-Jones]

Our view is flat. I, you know, so I sort of agree with the Railway Tie Association and how. You know, we're looking at the orders that are coming in and what Class Is are communicating to us. We believe it'll be a flat year. Yeah.

[Benoit Poirier, Managing Director and Senior Equity Research Analyst at Desjardins Capital Markets]

Okay. utility pole, great performance in the quarter. Could you walk us through the what could be some reasonable expectation in 2026? You finished at 9%, and given that you're gonna be lapping very easy comps in the first 3 quarters of the year, just wondering if there's an opportunity to show a higher single-digit growth for 2026 for utility pole.

[Eric Vachon, President and CEO at Stella-Jones]

you know, let's talk about the infrastructure products. Well, utility poles, so slight distinction versus utility products. If I exclude, you know, the steel business and the crossarm business, you know, we've been guiding to mid-single digit growth, you know, in our guidance. I think that still holds very well. As I've mentioned, you know, we saw some good momentum in Q4 or the back half of last year. It's carrying into this year, and it's a greater diverse group of customers actually, sort of, you know, stepping up right now, when I compare it to the last few months of 2025.

[Eric Vachon, President and CEO at Stella-Jones]

If you layer on top of that, obviously, you know, steel structures and crossarms, yeah, we definitely, which we expect a very good year here in 2026. We just talked about the railroad business. For Class Is flat-ish. You know, we do see some very positive dynamics in the commercial markets. We understand that the federal-funded CRISI grants, you know, are still in effect here for at least a couple of more years, coming our way, and we're definitely seeing our customers positively re-reacted at available funding. I remain quite optimistic about what we can realize in 2026.

[Benoit Poirier, Managing Director and Senior Equity Research Analyst at Desjardins Capital Markets]

Okay, last one for me. On the steel side, Eric, we've seen several transmission line projects with Hydro-Québec, Hydro One, BC Hydro, that will likely involve a lattice steel products. Any thoughts whether your upcoming capacity in Candiac would be enough to meet those requirements? With respect to the new facility in the U.S., with $50 million of CapEx, could you, what should we be thinking in terms of potential revenue contribution and maybe the timing around the ramp up? Yeah.

[Eric Vachon, President and CEO at Stella-Jones]

As I mentioned, our CapEx plan is progressing very well in the Candiac facility. You know, roughly when we acquired the facility, we mentioned that it was a 10,000 ton business. You know, if we round up numbers, it'll be 15 this year and 20 in 2027. Doing the math of what we had disclosed on the sales when we acquired, you could think about CAD 100 million in total sales for the facility. Our plans for the U.S. is a copy-paste of the footprint, you could extrapolate, you know, along those lines. On the demand side, things are going extremely well. The capacity in our Quebec facility is sold out for 2026 and sold out for 2027. Definitely...

[Eric Vachon, President and CEO at Stella-Jones]

We're talking with customers now about projects in 2027, 2028, up to 2030. The new facility will actually be very positive for us. We're welcome because we do think we'll be able to sell that capacity, and it would ultimately give us an opportunity to shift some Canadian production destined for US customers into the US. Very favorable for our customers, to your point, freeing up to support Canadian needs as well. We have a few cards to play here to optimize and fill up this capacity, and we're very excited with this new project.

[Benoit Poirier, Managing Director and Senior Equity Research Analyst at Desjardins Capital Markets]

Okay. Thank you very much for the time.

[Eric Vachon, President and CEO at Stella-Jones]

My pleasure, Benoit.

[Operator]

Thank you. Your next question is from Maxim Sytchev from National Bank Capital Markets. Your line is now open.

[Maxim Sytchev, Managing Director, Research Industrial Products at National Bank Financial]

Hi, good morning.

[Eric Vachon, President and CEO at Stella-Jones]

Good morning, Maxim.

[Maxim Sytchev, Managing Director, Research Industrial Products at National Bank Financial]

I was wondering if it's possible to get a bit more color on the working capital movement, because I think, we had a bit of a free-up on inventory in 2025, and as well, looking into 2026, and those volumes being pretty healthy, how, I guess, should we think about that interplay this year? Thank you.

[Silvana Travaglini, SVP and CFO at Stella-Jones]

Maxim, this is Silvana. Hi. Basically, I think you could look at it as we've kind of guided in the past, where the growth that we would be seeing in the wood treating business, you would have to assume that we would have to invest about 40% of the sales growth in our wood treating business as additional working capital, depending on the assumptions that you put there. Just want to make sure that I did mention wood treating business, because obviously the investment in the working capital for the steel is different, right? Brooks is pretty much a stable business that we just acquired, just wanted to make sure that that's sort of taken into account as those calculations are done.

[Maxim Sytchev, Managing Director, Research Industrial Products at National Bank Financial]

Okay, no, that's fair. Thank you so much. Eric, I was wondering, because I think in the past, obviously, you mentioned that there's going to be some cross-selling, you know, opportunities between Locweld-Brooks, et cetera. I'm just wondering if you could maybe mention some of the early potential discussions with clients, any early wins, anything you can telegraph, that would be great. Thank you.

[Eric Vachon, President and CEO at Stella-Jones]

With pleasure, Maxim. We have laid out a plan, and then we're completing a bit of a restructure of our sales team. Obviously, we don't want three different sales force calling on our customers, you know, from the same company. We've restructured our sales team, branding Stella-Jones now as a with a broader product offering and introducing the specialists and opening doors. The team in Candiac, formerly Locweld, has benefited from the introduction to several new customers in the U.S., and these customers have engaged very positively, have certified the Quebec facility to produce for them. Back to my earlier comment of the capacity being sold out very quickly, so that has been very positive. Same for the crossarms.

[Eric Vachon, President and CEO at Stella-Jones]

We're making introductions of the Brooks sales team to customers that they were not necessarily involved with in the past. Brooks didn't have a presence in Canada, and we're actually now, you know, quoting and bidding some business in Canada, which I find is very interesting to be able to expand that offering into our Canadian footprint. Good indications so far, and, you know, ultimately, if we need to, we could actually bring some of the treating in Canada at some of our facilities to better support some customers, but all very positive indications so far.

[Maxim Sytchev, Managing Director, Research Industrial Products at National Bank Financial]

Oh, that's good to hear. One quick one for Silvana, if I may. Given the fact that, you know, we're greenlighting a facility in the U.S., is it possible to get an updated CapEx number for 2026 and 2027, by any chance?

[Silvana Travaglini, SVP and CFO at Stella-Jones]

The regular CapEx, as you say, remains between $85 million and $95 million. In 2026, we would need to add, as you know, the Locweld facility. We had said $15 million, half of it was spent in 2025, the other half will be completed in 2026. For the U.S. Lattice tower, half of it is probably going to be completed in 2026.

[Maxim Sytchev, Managing Director, Research Industrial Products at National Bank Financial]

Yeah.

[Silvana Travaglini, SVP and CFO at Stella-Jones]

The second half in 2027.

[Maxim Sytchev, Managing Director, Research Industrial Products at National Bank Financial]

Okay. Thank you so much for clarifying. That's it for me.

[Operator]

Thank you. Your next question is from James McGarragle from RBC Capital Markets. Your line is now open.

[James McGarragle, Equity Research Analyst at RBC Capital Markets]

Hey, thanks for having me on.

[Eric Vachon, President and CEO at Stella-Jones]

Morning, James.

[James McGarragle, Equity Research Analyst at RBC Capital Markets]

Yeah, I just had a quick question on the tie business. You know, Koppers today, they plagued, you know, some headwinds, you know, which you talked about in your opening remarks. But they also alluded to, you know, what seemed to be like a significant, you know, share gain, maybe a customer win. They also talked about, you know, to get that they, you know, had to enact some pretty meaningful, you know, price reduction. You know, I guess with that, it seems like you have a good line of sight to 2026, but can you just comment, you know, what you expect in terms of the outlook for pricing longer term, you know, as a result of some of your these competitive actions, but by your competitor?

[Eric Vachon, President and CEO at Stella-Jones]

Well, thank you for the question, James. You know, the comment you're making actually refers to one of my earlier thoughts when I'm referring to competitive dynamics in the market. To your point, though, there's some business that we did not win because the pricing was not attractive for us. As I also highlighted, you know, although our top-line number has declined in the fourth quarter, we maintain dollar profitability for our railway tie division, obviously, because of the sales dynamics, the percentage has increased. We remain very disciplined in how we approach the market. We've got, you know, very strong relationship with our customers, you know, our competitors have their own game plan, I guess.

[Eric Vachon, President and CEO at Stella-Jones]

Then we leverage what we sell based on, you know, the quality, the service, and the availability of our products and, you know, fully confident with our strategy, and I don't plan on, you know, giving up some return on our investment for the Railway Tie division. It's a key metrics for our organization. I do believe our shareholders care about the returns that we provide to them as a whole, and obviously, the Railway Tie division is part of that dynamics. That's how I view our business.

[James McGarragle, Equity Research Analyst at RBC Capital Markets]

Yeah, that makes sense. That's, you know, clearly evidenced in your, you know, your returns on invested capital that you guys put up. Then just on the utility poles, it seems like, you know, maybe coming a little bit higher than the range you put out a year yesterday in 2026, just given, you know, how strong Q4 was. It seems like that strength carrying into early in the year. Can you just provide some additional insights into, you know, the spot pricing? It seems like it's a little bit weaker. You know, how much weaker is it versus contract rates?

[James McGarragle, Equity Research Analyst at RBC Capital Markets]

When you talk to your customers who have these, you know, very long-term contracts, is there any, you know, pressure by them to say, "Hey, you know, spot pricing is this, you know, can you work with us a little bit on the contract side of things?

[Eric Vachon, President and CEO at Stella-Jones]

For the full year 2025, you know, the spot market is maybe 7%-10% lower. Again, you know, the spot market is selling a treated wood pole and, you know, sometimes the customer picks it up or we deliver it, versus what we offer to a contract customer is, you know, minimum inventories, logistics services, finished good yards. There's lots of services that go into it. It's not an apples to apples comparison when you look at the spot market versus what we do for our contract customers. Because of the long-term relationship, you know, we're ready to stretch ourselves out, and, well, we go that extra mile if you want.

[Eric Vachon, President and CEO at Stella-Jones]

You know, the security of supply is key for many of our customers, especially, you know, for whether storm events, spikes in demand, you know. For simply logistics reason, we have customers coming to us, you know, asking for, you know, peak volume. We had some of that in the fourth quarter, you know, when one customer came to us saying like: "Look, I'm setting up logistically, can you deliver this type of volume in the last, like, 3, 4 years of 2025?" Which we did because we had the depth of inventory, so we were able to step up. You know, but those are the things we do because we have that availability, and we stock for our customers.

[Eric Vachon, President and CEO at Stella-Jones]

To explain your question on the percentage, we had a bit of a peak with a customer, although we know we're seeing a lot of customers get active here in 2026. That might explain the above guidance number you're referring to. Then the flip side is, you know, trying to compare spot to contract is a bit difficult 'cause it's not the same, it not the same offering.

[James McGarragle, Equity Research Analyst at RBC Capital Markets]

No, that's great color. I appreciate that. I'll turn the line over. Thank you.

[Eric Vachon, President and CEO at Stella-Jones]

Thank you, James.

[Operator]

Thank you. Once again, please press star one for questions. Your next question is from Martin Pradier from Veritas Investment Research. Your line is now open.

[Martin Pradier, Equity Research Analyst, Materials at Veritas Investment Research]

Hi. Thank you. So I have two questions. The first one is, in terms of utility poles, when you're saying single digit, does that include Brooks and, you know, the steel division? If you could break down a little bit, you know, how much would be the utility poles without the two acquisitions, and how much will the two acquisitions, each of them, grow your expectation, are they going to grow like 10%, 15%, or each of them, if you can give us some color on that breakdown?

[Eric Vachon, President and CEO at Stella-Jones]

Certainly. Thank you. Thank you, Martin. The guidance we're giving, the mid-single digit, is for wood utility products only, distribution and transmission poles. With regards to the two other divisions, you know, as we had mentioned, you know, Locweld, you know, average out for a full year at full capacity, you know, was gonna be like a, let's say, $100 million in growth. For the Brooks business, you know, we're still in the early days, but we bought this at, you know, $85 million US dollar sales annually. I won't put forward a percentage 'cause we don't segment, you know, to that detail. You'll see the acquisitions, but at one point, they'll be reported in the utilities product. It'll get difficult to carve out.

[Eric Vachon, President and CEO at Stella-Jones]

As I just explained, to the previous caller, with our intentions to expand into Canada and offer to other customers, we're definitely hoping at least that mid-single-digit growth, I would say, at the minimum.

[Martin Pradier, Equity Research Analyst, Materials at Veritas Investment Research]

Okay, that's fair. No, that gives us an idea. You benefit a little bit on the residential side because you bought the wood at a fairly price, good price last year, and then you maintained that in the contract. Now, this year, I'm guessing the wood is going to be bought at much lower price because you're buying around this time. How much of a difference that would be?

[Eric Vachon, President and CEO at Stella-Jones]

Well, it's a great question. Obviously, the lumber is a commodity, and it fluctuates over time, and if you track lumber prices for the last five years, they do vary significantly. That's why we bookend the sales of the division from CAD 615, from CAD 600 to CAD 615. You're right, we should see some pricing compression here in the coming year. I would say relatively marginal and then, you know, talking with our main customer, who they do expect some growth in the category of products that we service them, it should be an offset, still very confident of the similar range in pricing. Then we'll see where the market goes. You know, lumber prices have been slightly upticking here since the beginning of the year.

[Eric Vachon, President and CEO at Stella-Jones]

We know we have a few months ahead of us, but we'll be replenishing. Well, we replenish every month, but as our inventory average cost trends up, if the market keeps going, then we'll be adjusting that pricing. For now, I guess my first part of my answer holds.

[Martin Pradier, Equity Research Analyst, Materials at Veritas Investment Research]

Okay, great. Thank you.

[Eric Vachon, President and CEO at Stella-Jones]

Thank you, Martin.

[Operator]

Thank you. Your next question is from Michael Tupholme from TD Cowen. Your line is now open.

[Michael Tupholme, Director, Equity Research at TD Cowen]

Thank you. Good morning.

[Eric Vachon, President and CEO at Stella-Jones]

Good morning, Michael.

[Michael Tupholme, Director, Equity Research at TD Cowen]

Hi, Eric. Can you help us understand the company's CapEx profile over 2026 and 2027? I know you'd given some information about maintenance CapEx annually at your Investor Day. There was also this announcement today about the U.S. $50 million for your new lattice facility. Just wondering if you can talk about CapEx expectations for each of the next two years, how that breaks down across maintenance versus growth, and then what sort of the phasing of that CapEx spend over the two years looks like in terms of the quarterly progression?

[Eric Vachon, President and CEO at Stella-Jones]

Certainly. Thank you, Michael. I'll walk you through it. Well, for 2026, you know, we start with our regular CapEx allocation, you know, maybe for the upkeep of asset quality, health and safety enhancements, but also productivity gains. As we explained at the Investor Day, that was sitting, you know, at the, call it, CAD 85 million-CAD 95 million bracket. Locweld, the Locweld investment is over and above. On that, we had disclosed a CAD 15 million investment initially. Seven of that was done in 2025, this year, 2026, we expect like, let's say, seven or CAD 8 million to complete the Locweld project, which will be done by mid-year.

[Eric Vachon, President and CEO at Stella-Jones]

The U.S. Lattice facility, we probably think it's about 50/50 you know, the $50 million U.S. would be split between 2026 and 2027, so call it $25 million U.S. for each of those years, and I'll let you pick your FX rate to, to convert it.

[Michael Tupholme, Director, Equity Research at TD Cowen]

Okay.

[Eric Vachon, President and CEO at Stella-Jones]

Hopefully, that's helping you.

[Michael Tupholme, Director, Equity Research at TD Cowen]

Yeah, no, that's very helpful. Just, sorry, to be, to clarify, the Locweld remaining spend is concentrated in the first part of 2026 here?

[Eric Vachon, President and CEO at Stella-Jones]

Yes, 100%, because we plan on being complete by mid-year to be able to wrap up, have the full impact of the new capacity for the back half of the year.

[Michael Tupholme, Director, Equity Research at TD Cowen]

Yeah, then the $50 million, that's split roughly evenly. Should I just sort of assume that's kind of evenly spread over the quarters for both years, with a bit of a ramp-up period here, I guess, in the first part of the year?

[Eric Vachon, President and CEO at Stella-Jones]

If, if you want to trend it like we announced it today, obviously there's deposits that. You know, you could probably spread it over, let's say, Q2, Q3, Q4 for this year, and for 2027, you could do Q1, Q2, Q3, because I do expect, you know, the ramp up to start in that back half there, of 2027. I guess that would be my best guidance there.

[Michael Tupholme, Director, Equity Research at TD Cowen]

Okay. No, that's helpful. Thank you for the detail. I apologize if this was already addressed, but just as it relates to the railway ties business and the decline you saw there, sounds like it's, you know, it's all shipment driven. Did you give a breakdown between pricing and shipments for that decline? Can you comment on that if you haven't already?

[Eric Vachon, President and CEO at Stella-Jones]

It was all volume, Michael. Slight gain on pricing, because obviously we did have a bit, but well, we maintained or improved margins on a percentage basis. As I explained earlier, the margin dollars remained the same, although we had lower sales. It's all volume.

[Michael Tupholme, Director, Equity Research at TD Cowen]

Okay. I guess the competitive pressures you're alluding to is, you know, is what's allowing this volume to sort of go elsewhere as opposed to staying with you. Is there any sense as to how that looks going forward? Is there any letup in that competitive dynamic, or how do we think about that going forward?

[Eric Vachon, President and CEO at Stella-Jones]

We've guided, you know, I guess, as I mentioned, 2025 was a year of reset for the railway ties. I want to think this is behind us. We guided earlier in the call at flat for 2026. There's a bit less on the Class I side, not much, but very positive on the commercial side. You know, very active bidding going on right now for projects. You know, grants in the U.S. have been reconfirmed here for this year and actually for a couple of more years. It's creating a lot of giving a lot of confidence to our customers to invest in their infrastructure. We were calling it flat for now.

[Eric Vachon, President and CEO at Stella-Jones]

Obviously, we're waiting to see what happens. You know, understand a bit more with consolidation in the market. You know, what is that free trade deadline going to look like and the impact, you know? A lot of our Class I customers have referred to these, two events if you want. That's why I'm calling them out, because it seems to be a theme with our Class I customers.

[Michael Tupholme, Director, Equity Research at TD Cowen]

Okay, got it. Thank you. I will leave it there.

[Eric Vachon, President and CEO at Stella-Jones]

Thank you, sir.

[Operator]

Thank you. Your next question is from Hamir Patel, from CIBC Capital Markets. Your line is now open.

[Hamir Patel, Analyst at CIBC Capital Markets]

Hi. Good morning, Eric. I just wanted to follow up on the tie side. I mean, you know, Koppers clearly pointing to some a significant share gain with one customer. You're pointing to relatively flat tie sales this year, maybe a bit softer on the Class I side. Could you just confirm, you haven't lost a major book of business with the Class I? Is that fair to say?

[Eric Vachon, President and CEO at Stella-Jones]

Yes. We saw a readjustment in one Class I contract in the back half of the year, but I would say that's behind us here going into 2026.

[Hamir Patel, Analyst at CIBC Capital Markets]

Okay. Just given that they're clearly been more competitive on price, I know your agreements are sort of staggered, but how many of your Class I agreements are coming up for renewal this year, and how many in 2027?

[Eric Vachon, President and CEO at Stella-Jones]

We have 4 this year and 1 in 2027.

[Hamir Patel, Analyst at CIBC Capital Markets]

Okay. The timing of when maybe if any adjustments are made there, would that really affect more 27 pricing?

[Eric Vachon, President and CEO at Stella-Jones]

Yes, most likely it will.

[Hamir Patel, Analyst at CIBC Capital Markets]

Okay, fair enough. Just turning to res lumber, you know, we've seen Home Depot and some of the other R&R players in the U.S. kind of point to a flattish market this year. I know Home Depot also pointed to negative comps in Canada, at least in Q4. What, what are your customers' expectations around volumes for res lumber in 2026?

[Eric Vachon, President and CEO at Stella-Jones]

Yeah, well, specifically for, you know, so obviously, treated lumber, you know, we don't sell the general lumber market. You know, it's, you know, low single digit growth. We've seen. Well, our main customer has invested a lot in the department we service, giving us more base to sell products. Are bringing in, you know, different types of products, such as composites that we distribute, but now they're holding some more stock in the store. You know, there is a good belief from our customers, and it's true on the dealer side that we service, that, you know, we could see a year with a small pickup, but low single digits.

[Hamir Patel, Analyst at CIBC Capital Markets]

Okay, great. Just a last question I had, Eric, I know the multiyear EBITDA margin objectives, 17.5%-18.5%. Would you expect to be near the higher end of that range this year, just given you're coming off 2025, that was closer to 19%?

[Eric Vachon, President and CEO at Stella-Jones]

Well, just to call it out, the higher percentage you see does have an insurance gain in there, right? If you adjust for the insurance gain, the EBITDA margin for this year is 18.1%, pretty much in the middle of that guidance. I don't know if you picked up on it, might not have time to read through it, the whole thing, and it's still early on the West Coast. All to say, if we adjust for that insurance gain, it's sitting at 18.1% in the middle of the range. Really happy we actually delivered 3 years in a row at 18%.

[Eric Vachon, President and CEO at Stella-Jones]

We're smack in the middle of that guidance, which, you know, it's, I guess, is where most likely, you know, analysts, yourself and colleagues, will sort of end up for now until we get better color around the year. Yeah, that's pretty happy with our results.

[Hamir Patel, Analyst at CIBC Capital Markets]

Okay. And any maybe unusual weather-related headwinds in Q1 in the US to point to?

[Eric Vachon, President and CEO at Stella-Jones]

Far, I mean, there's been some snow events, but nothing to impact our business per se. As you know, Q1 is always, obviously a soft, a slower quarter. Although, you know, we're seeing some good tailwinds from our Locweld business going into the next year. The different ice storm events that we saw in the Southeast, Texas, for example, pulled lines down, but not really utility poles. You know, it's pretty normal business for us with a bit of, obviously, an uptick because of pickup with for customers to do extra maintenance.

[Hamir Patel, Analyst at CIBC Capital Markets]

Great. Thanks, that's all I had. Thanks, sir.

[Eric Vachon, President and CEO at Stella-Jones]

Great. Thank you, Amir.

[Operator]

Thank you. Your next question is from Jonathan Goldman from Scotiabank. Your line is now open.

[Jonathan Goldman, Equity Research Analyst at Scotiabank]

Hey, good morning, team, thanks for taking my questions. Eric, if we look at the waterfall that you guys put out with the Investor Day, going from CAD 3.5 billion of sales to CAD 4 billion in 2028, just a few questions here. The capacity expansion you have going on there in the U.S., is that factored into this CAD 4 billion? If not, would it increase the upper end then, as that comes online at the end of 2027?

[Eric Vachon, President and CEO at Stella-Jones]

Yeah. The I guess two parts to your question. One, it is not included in our guidance, and it would definitely positive... Oh, no, it's not that it would be actually. Sorry, it would be in the following year, right? 'Cause if it's online at the end of 2027, we'd see most of the benefits in 2028, in 2029.

[Jonathan Goldman, Equity Research Analyst at Scotiabank]

Right. Okay. Maybe moving to railway ties, and not to beat a dead horse here, but, you know, kind of lower this year than expected. You're calling for flat in 26. It seems like you kept the guidance of 2%-3% annual CAGR. That does imply a reacceleration, I guess, in 27 and 28. I mean, the industry is pretty flattish generally. What gives you confidence that you're gonna see the growth come back at a higher level to compensate for the shortfall this year and last year?

[Eric Vachon, President and CEO at Stella-Jones]

Well, it's a good question. Thank you. As I mentioned earlier, we have four contracts being negotiated this year, you know, we're looking at different opportunities to increase our volume with our Class I customer base. Commercial business will remain, you know, strong till 2027, 2028, as far as we can see right now with the federal grants being available. I do think once our Class I customers have a better understanding of the impacts of, you know, industry consolidation, and hopefully, we can normalize or have a better line of sight of how the North American Free Trade Agreement will sort of pan out, you know, we should see some greater activity, right? I think the...

[Eric Vachon, President and CEO at Stella-Jones]

Sorry to call them out, the CPKC, who services Canada, U.S., and Mexico, feel that, you know, they will get better activity on their network once we have a clearer line of sight as where that agreement goes. As an example, because other Class Is have referred to the same phenomenon, I guess, or the same aspects.

[Jonathan Goldman, Equity Research Analyst at Scotiabank]

Okay, I guess relatedly then, maybe it's the same answer. I think you're talking about like flattish ties this year, and that seems to be on volume, consistent with the industry. I think going back to Benoit's earlier question, if the industry is flat and there's some competitive dynamics going on, do you see some pricing pressure on top of that could take negative organic growth this year?

[Eric Vachon, President and CEO at Stella-Jones]

Not really. I think, you know, with the guidance for the year, the business is, as you said, it is flat. We've actually discussed our price, our pricing, some pricing adjustments for this year with many customers. We have mechanisms that adjust pricing. Obviously, the spot market is one thing, but the Class I contract business is pretty, you know, per the mechanics of the agreements. Obviously, and I've said it a few times in the past, as we renegotiate these contracts, I'm actually looking for pricing reset, just to make sure that we capture inflationary impacts that we've sort of absorbed in the last few years.

[Eric Vachon, President and CEO at Stella-Jones]

You know, that's how I think, you know, let's say, once we're past this year, in 27, 28, we should see, we should benefit from some better pricing.

[Jonathan Goldman, Equity Research Analyst at Scotiabank]

Okay, that makes sense. I guess one more from me. If we can get an update on capital allocation priorities, specifically, maybe you can give us an update on the M&A pipeline and how that's looking today?

[Eric Vachon, President and CEO at Stella-Jones]

Certainly. I'll let Silvana answer that question.

[Silvana Travaglini, SVP and CFO at Stella-Jones]

In terms of the capital allocation, obviously, you know, we talked about on the previous, with the previous callers, the CapEx. That is always the first priority for the business, the maintenance, plus these additional two projects that we have. You know, we will continue, as we said, the buybacks based on, you know, the pipeline of M&A, and the dividend is always, you know, that staple that we rely on every year, and then that the shareholders have confidence and that we can keep that stable. You know, I think for now, it's pretty consistent with what we've said, and then I'll let Eric, you know, discuss a little bit more the M&A pipeline.

[Eric Vachon, President and CEO at Stella-Jones]

Thank you, Silvana. You know, obviously not much we can disclose, but definitely active in talking with, you know, potential targets in our new addressable market and our traditional wood treating business on the infrastructure part, obviously. We keep having discussions, healthy ones, and I would like to think that we could execute some acquisitions, you know, in the coming year. Always difficult to promise a deadline on these things, because obviously, you have to, you know, dance a while with your new partner to understand the dynamics of a transaction. Yeah, we're definitely still active in looking at the acquisitions.

[Jonathan Goldman, Equity Research Analyst at Scotiabank]

Okay, thanks for all the color. I'll get back in queue.

[Eric Vachon, President and CEO at Stella-Jones]

Thank you, sir.

[Operator]

Thank you. We have no further questions in the queue. Please proceed.

[Eric Vachon, President and CEO at Stella-Jones]

Thank you, Jenny. Thank you, everyone, for joining us today, and we look forward to updating you when we release our first quarter results.

[Operator]

Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. This concludes today's call. Thank you for your participation. You may now disconnect your line.

Participants

Executives

• David Galison, VP of Investor Relations
• Eric Vachon, President and CEO
• Silvana Travaglini, SVP and CFO

Analysts

• Benoit Poirier, Managing Director and Senior Equity Research Analyst at Desjardins Capital Markets
• Hamir Patel, Analyst at CIBC Capital Markets
• James McGarragle, Equity Research Analyst at RBC Capital Markets
• Jonathan Goldman, Equity Research Analyst at Scotiabank
• Martin Pradier, Equity Research Analyst, Materials at Veritas Investment Research
• Maxim Sytchev, Managing Director, Research Industrial Products at National Bank Financial
• Michael Tupholme, Director, Equity Research at TD Cowen