BWX Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:BWXT) Q1 2024 Earnings Conference Call May 6, 2024 5:00 PM ET

Corporate Participants

Chase Jacobson - Vice President of Investor Relations
Rex Geveden - President and Chief Executive Officer
Robb LeMasters - Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer

Conference Call Participants

Scott Deuschle - Deutsche Bank
Bob Labick - CJS Securities
Josh Korn - Barclays
Peter Arment - Baird
Pete Skibitski - Alembic Global
Michael Ciarmoli - Truist Securities
Ron Epstein - Bank of America

Operator

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the BWX Technologies First Quarter 2024 Earnings Conference Call. At this time, all participants are in listen-only mode. Following the company's prepared remarks, we will conduct a question-and-answer session. And instruction will be given at the time.

I would like to turn the call over to our host, Chase Jacobson of BWXT's Vice President of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

Chase Jacobson

Thank you, Kathleen. Good evening and welcome to today's call. Joining me are Rex Geveden, President and CEO, and Robb LeMasters, Senior Vice President and CFO.

On today's call, we will reference the first quarter 2024 earnings presentation that is available on the investor section of the BWXT website. We will also discuss certain matters that constitute forward-looking statements. These statements involve risks and uncertainties including those described in the Safe Harbor provision found in the investor materials in the company's SEC filings.

We will frequently discuss non-GAAP financial measures which are reconciled to GAAP measures in the appendix of the earnings presentation that can be found on the investor section of the BWXT website.

I would now like to turn the call over to Rex.

Rex Geveden

Thank you, Chase, and good evening to all of you. This afternoon, we reported the BWXT first quarter results. We delivered 6% organic revenue growth, 9% adjusted earnings per share growth, and remarkably good cash flow compared to historical seasonal patterns.

Operating performance was in line with our expectations, and we are reaffirming our full-year guidance, calling for mid-single-digit revenue and adjusted EBITDA growth, leading to adjusted earnings per share of $3.05 to $3.20.

Before I get into the segment discussion, I'd like to spend a few minutes on our recent announcement to expand the Cambridge plant, which is already North America's largest heavy nuclear equipment manufacturing facility.

As we discussed on recent calls, demand in the commercial nuclear markets is robust with new and ongoing life extensions of CANDU reactors in Canada and the international market, the potential for large new builds, and the incipient demand for small modular reactors. With this tangible future demand and our existing commercial nuclear backlog of over $700 million, we are moving forward with a project to increase the Cambridge facility footprint by 25% and upgrade it with advanced manufacturing equipment. Over the next two years, we will invest about $60 million with construction starting in the third quarter of this year and planned completion in mid-2026.