Lincoln Electric Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) Q1 2024 Results Conference Call April 25, 2024 10:00 AM ET
Company Participants
Amanda Butler - Vice President of Investor Relations & Communications
Steven Hedlund - President, CEO & Director
Gabriel Bruno - Executive VP, CFO & Treasurer
Conference Call Participants
Bryan Blair - Oppenheimer
Saree Boroditsky - Jefferies
Nathan Jones - Stifel
Mig Dobre - Baird
Steve Barger - KeyBanc Capital Markets
Angel Castillo - Morgan Stanley
Walt Liptak - Seaport Research
Operator
Greetings, and welcome to the Lincoln Electric 2024 First Quarter Financial Results Conference Call [Operator Instructions]. And this call is being recorded.
It is my pleasure to introduce your host, Amanda Butler, Vice President of Investor Relations and Communications. Thank you. You may begin.
Amanda Butler
Thank you, Sarah, and good morning, everyone. Welcome to Lincoln Electric's First Quarter 2024 Conference Call. We released our financial results earlier today and you can find our release in this call's slide presentation at lincolnelectric.com in the investor relations section.
Joining me on the call today is Steve Hedlund, President and Chief Executive Officer; and Gabe Bruno, our Chief Financial Officer. Following our prepared remarks, we're happy to take your questions.
But before we start our discussion, please note that certain statements made during this call may be forward-looking, and actual results may differ materially from our expectations due to a number of risk factors and uncertainties, which are provided in our press release and in our SEC filings on Forms 10-K and 10-Q.
In addition, we discuss financial measures that do not conform to U.S. GAAP and a reconciliation of non-GAAP measures to the most comparable GAAP measure is found in the financial tables in our earnings release, which again is available in the Investor Relations section of our website at lincolnelectric.com. And with that, I'll turn the call over to Steve Hedlund. Steve?
Steven Hedlund
Thank you, Amanda. Good morning, everyone. Turning to Slide 3. I am pleased to report that we continue to demonstrate solid execution in the quarter. We achieved record gross profit margin performance, a 120 basis point increase in our adjusted operating income margin and record earnings and cash flows. ROIC remained top quartile, and we doubled returns to shareholders, led by $110 million in share repurchases, all while navigating a challenging portion of the cycle was slower than expected sales start to the year.
In this environment, we are staying focused on serving our customers and investing for a long-term growth. We are diligently managing costs and working to accelerate productivity gains from our higher standard 2025 strategies operational initiatives. This positions us well to continue to drive profit and earning expansion in 2024 despite softer end market conditions.