Benzinga | Nov 2, 2021 11:13AM EDT

Louisiana-Pacific Surpasses Q3 Estimates, Announces $500M Buyback

* Louisiana-Pacific Corp (NYSE:LPX) reported third-quarter FY21 net sales growth of 53% year-over-year to $1.219 billion, beating the consensus of $1.11 billion.

* Sales by segments: Siding $312 million (+16.4% Y/Y), Oriented Strand Board $600 million (+63% Y/Y), Engineered Wood Products $201 million (+95.2% Y/Y), and South America $76 million (+68.9% Y/Y).

* The gross margin expanded by 831 bps to 45%. The operating income increased to $488 million (+101.6% Y/Y) and the margin expanded by 959 bps to 40%.

* Adjusted EPS improved to $3.87 from $1.56 in 3Q20, beating the consensus of $3.42.

* Adjusted EBITDA increased to $522 million from $273 million a year ago, and margin expanded by 848 bps to 42.8%.

* Louisiana-Pacific generated cash from operating activities year-to-date of $1.28 billion, compared to $338 million a year ago. It held cash and cash equivalents of $620 million as of September 30, 2021.

* The company announced an additional authorization of $500 million to repurchase LP common stock.

* Q4 Outlook: Louisiana-Pacific expects OSB revenue to be sequentially lower than Q3 by about 30%. Adjusted EBITDA to be greater than $200 million.

* The company reiterated prior guidance of 10% year-over-year revenue growth for Siding Solutions in 2H of 2021 and a full-year EBITDA margin of 25%, with lower volume and higher prices netting to at most 5% revenue growth for Q4.

* The company expects FY21 capital expenditures to be ~$250 million.

* Price Action: LPX shares are trading higher by 0.42% at $60.48 on the last check Tuesday.