CTS Corporation (NYSE:CTS) Q1 2024 Earnings Conference Call May 1, 2024 10:00 AM ET

Company Participants

Kieran O’Sullivan - President & Chief Executive Officer
Ashish Agrawal - Chief Financial Officer

Conference Call Participants

Justin Long - Stephens
John Franzreb - Sidoti & Company
Hendi Susanto - Gabelli Funds

Operator

Hello all, and welcome to CTS Corporation's First Quarter 2024 Conference Call. My name is Lydia, and I'll be your operator today's. All lines have been placed on mute to prevent any background noise and after the prepared remarks, there will be an opportunity to ask questions. [Operator Instructions] I'll now hand you over to Kieran O'Sullivan, CEO, to begin. Please go ahead.

Kieran O’Sullivan

Thank you, Lydia. Good morning, and thank you for joining our first quarter 2024 earnings call. Sales were in line with our expectations for the quarter, as non-transportation sales started to stabilize from the ongoing reduction in customer inventory. In the quarter, we also saw an improved booking trend for non-transportation markets.

Sales to commercial vehicle markets declined as expected, driven by softer demand and a more competitive environment. Light vehicle sales were stable across most regions, except in China, where our sales to transplant OEMs were softer. While defense sales were lower, due primarily to the timing of shipments, we expect good momentum for the rest of 2024. Across medical, we saw solid performance. Ashish, our CFO, will take us through the Safe Harbor statement. Ashish?

Ashish Agrawal

I would like to remind our listeners that this conference call contains forward-looking statements. These statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements. Additional information regarding these risks and uncertainties is contained in the press release issued today, and more information can be found in the company's SEC filings. To the extent that today's discussion refers to any non-GAAP measures under Regulation G, the required explanations and reconciliations are available with today’s earnings press release and supplemental slide presentation, which can be found in the Investors section of the CTS website.

I'll now turn the discussion back over to our CEO, Kieran O'Sullivan.

Kieran O’Sullivan

Thanks, Ashish. We finished the first quarter with sales of $126 million, a decline of 14% from the first quarter of 2023. For the quarter, non-transportation sales were down 17% and transportation sales were down 10% from the same period last year. Sequentially, non-transportation sales were up 7%, as we see some early signs of recovery in the industrial end market. Sales to the transportation end market were down 4% versus the fourth quarter of 2023.