Lear Corporation (NYSE:LEA) Q1 2024 Earnings Conference Call April 30, 2024 8:30 AM ET

Company Participants

Ed Lowenfeld – Vice President-Investor Relations
Ray Scott – President and Chief Executive Officer
Jason Cardew – Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Carl Esposito – Senior Vice President and President-E-Systems

Conference Call Participants

Joe Spak – UBS
John Murphy – Bank of America
Colin Langan – Wells Fargo
James Picariello – BNP Paribas
Chris McNally – Evercore
Trevor Young – Barclays

Operator

Good morning, and welcome to the Lear Corporation First Quarter 2024 Earnings Conference Call. All participants will be in listen-only mode. [Operator Instructions] Please also note today's event is being recorded.

At this time, I'd like to turn the floor over to Ed Lowenfeld, Vice President, Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

Ed Lowenfeld

Thanks, Jamie. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us for Lear's first quarter 2024 earnings call. Presenting today are Ray Scott, Lear President and CEO; and Jason Cardew, Senior Vice President and CFO. Other members of Lear's senior management team have also joined us on the call.

Following prepared remarks, we will open the call for Q&A. You can find a copy of the presentation that accompanies these remarks at ir.lear.com.

Before we begin, I'd like to take this opportunity to remind you that as we conduct this call, we will be making forward-looking statements to assist you in understanding Lear's expectations for the future. As detailed in our Safe Harbor statement on Slide 2, our actual results could differ materially from these forward-looking statements due to many factors discussed in our latest 10-Q and other periodic reports.

I also want to remind you that, during today's presentation, we will refer to non-GAAP financial metrics. You are directed to the slides in the appendix of our presentation for the reconciliation of non-GAAP items to the most directly comparable GAAP measures.

The agenda for today's call is on Slide 3. First, Ray will review highlights from the quarter and provide a business update. Jason will then review our first quarter financial results. Finally, Ray will offer some concluding remarks. Following the formal presentation, we will be happy to take your questions.

Now, I'd like to invite Ray to begin.

Ray Scott

Sure Ed, thanks. Please turn to Slide 5, which highlights key financial metrics for the first quarter of 2024. We started the year strong, delivering higher revenue and adjusted earnings in the first quarter compared to last year. Sales increased 3% to $6 billion, and core operating earnings grew by 6% to $280 million. Adjusted earnings per share was $3.18, an increase of 14%, driven by stronger operating performance and the benefit of our share repurchase program. Operating cash flow was in line with the first quarter of last year.