Rayonier Advanced Materials Inc. 2026 Q2 Earnings Call

Good morning, and welcome to RYAM's second quarter 2026 earnings conference call. Joining me today are Dan Krofchek, our President and Chief Executive Officer, and Marcus Moeltner, our Senior Vice President of Finance, Chief Financial Officer, and Treasurer. Last evening, we released our earnings report and accompanying presentation materials, which are available on our website at ryam.com. These materials provide key insights into our financial performance and strategic priorities. During today's discussion, we may make forward-looking statements subject to risks and uncertainty that could cause actual results to differ materially. These risks are outlined in our earnings release, SEC filings, and on slide two of the presentation. We will also reference certain non-GAAP financial measures to offer additional perspective on our operational performance. Reconciliations to the most directly comparable GAAP measures can be found in our presentation on slides 17 through 19.

We appreciate your participation today and your ongoing interest in RYAM. I'll now turn the call over to Dan.

Thanks, Cody. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us. It's a privilege to be with you today for my first call as President and Chief Executive Officer of RYAM. Before discussing the quarter or my background, I want to address the company's strategic review directly. The comprehensive review of strategic alternatives remains a top priority for RYAM. It's active, it's progressing with urgency and discipline, and it's focused on evaluating the full range of strategic and financial alternatives available to the company to determine the path forward that best maximizes value for the shareholders. The review is advancing through the appropriate stages, and we're encouraged by the constructive engagement to date. We currently expect to conclude the strategic review and communicate a clear path forward during the fourth quarter.

I recognize that my appointment in the middle of this process has led some shareholders to ask whether the company remains fully committed to the review. Let me be clear. My appointment does not alter, delay, or narrow the process. The board asked me to bring an operational lens, strategic perspective, and transaction experience to a clear mandate: maximize value for the shareholders. My responsibility is to support the rigorous strategic process, strengthen the performance and market position of the business during the process, and ensure the company is prepared to execute effectively under the path ultimately selected. Those responsibilities are closely connected. A comprehensive strategic review requires a clear understanding of the company's underlying value, its commercial and operational opportunities, and actions needed to realize that value. It also requires a stable leadership capable of operating the business during the review and executing decisively once a path is established.

Throughout my career, I have led manufacturing businesses through periods of transformation, portfolio change, and value creation. Over the past 35 years, I have managed global operations across specialty chemicals, minerals, and advanced materials with responsibility for improving operating performance, allocating capital, developing differentiated products, and evaluating strategic opportunities. That experience is a strong fit for RYAM and for this moment in the company's history. Since joining the company, I've spent significant time with our employees, customers, leadership team, and advisors, as well as interested parties participating in the strategic review and other stakeholders. I have also visited our facilities, reviewed the broader manufacturing network, and assessed the opportunities across the portfolio. Those discussions and visits have reinforced my conviction that RYAM possesses substantial untapped value.

At the center of that value is a highly differentiated Cellulose Specialties franchise with leading market positions, specialized and difficult to replicate assets, deep technical expertise, and strong customer relationships built over decades. Our products serve demanding applications where purity, consistency, technical performance, and continuity of supply are critical. These are durable competitive advantages. Our customers are critical partners, and the relationships we have built with them are an important asset for the company. We intend to work collaboratively to respond to their evolving needs, support continued innovation, and create value together. Those capabilities and partnerships support a broad range of end markets, including pharmaceuticals, food, filtration, construction, coatings, consumer products, and other industrial applications. RYAM is also an important North American supplier of nitrocellulose-grade dissolving wood pulp used in defense and industrial applications, reinforcing the strategic relevance of our assets and technical capabilities.

I have also been impressed by the depth of the expertise and commitment of our employees. Their specialized operating and technical knowledge, together with their focus on safety, quality, reliability, and customer service, is a critical part of the company's competitive position and underlying value. At the same time, there is meaningful opportunity to improve the performance across our manufacturing network. We have identified a tangible pipeline of reliability, productivity, and cost initiatives, including energy efficiency, process optimization, and automation. These are clear, actionable levers within our control and can improve the earnings and cash generation capability of the network. The objective is not simply to operate the mills at higher volume, but it's to operate them more reliably and efficiently by aligning production with the most attractive product mix and prioritizing markets where RYAM has the strongest competitive position.

Our strategy is to build on these strengths through disciplined commercial execution, closer customer collaboration, and continued product innovation, helping our customers differentiate their products and compete more effectively in the markets they serve. We are also selectively advancing biomaterials opportunities where the commercial potential and risk-adjusted return support further development. The most important point I want shareholders to take away from this slide is that executing the business and completing the strategic review are not competing priorities. Stronger operations, disciplined commercial execution, and improved cash generation enhance the value of the company and support the full range of alternatives being evaluated. Turning to slide five, our priorities for 2026 are clear and directly aligned with that objective. First, conclude the strategic review and communicate a clear path forward during the fourth quarter. This remains a top priority.

Second, continue executing our Cellulose Specialties leadership strategy by deepening our customer partnerships and aligning product performance, service, and value with evolving customer needs while maintaining disciplined commercial execution. Third, build on sequential improvement already delivered. Strengthen business fundamentals across the portfolio and deliver positive free cash flow for 2026. That means advancing commercial execution, new product commercialization, reliability, product mix, and cost performance. Our full-year free cash flow trajectory remains aligned with our prior expectations. Fourth, exit 2026 with momentum, supported by a stronger earnings run rate and greater financial flexibility entering 2027, including positioning the company to evaluate potential refinancing alternatives. These priorities are intentionally connected. Together, they strengthen the company's earnings and cash flow profile, improve financial flexibility, and enhance value under any potential outcome of the strategic review.

With that, I'll turn it over to Marcus to walk you through our second quarter results, segment performance, and balance sheet. I'll come back to you on slide 10 to discuss the outlook and the actions positioning the company for a stronger performance in 2027.

Thank you, Dan. Turning to slide six, second quarter net sales were $376 million, up 18% sequentially and 11% year-over-year. Loss from continuing operations improved to $33 million from $81 million in the first quarter and included a $13 million non-cash asset impairment charge related to High-Yield Pulp. Adjusted EBITDA increased to $40 million from $8 million in the first quarter and $28 million in the prior year quarter. On a year-over-year basis, High Purity Cellulose Adjusted EBITDA increased $12 million to $57 million. Paperboard and High-Yield Pulp declined $8 million to negative $10 million, while corporate and other improved $8 million to negative $7 million. In total, Adjusted EBITDA increased $12 million or 43% compared with the prior year quarter.

Turning to slide seven, High Purity Cellulose net sales increased $38 million sequentially and $29 million year-over-year to $301 million. Adjusted EBITDA increased $33 million sequentially and $12 million year-over-year to $57 million, with margin expanding to 19% from 9% in the first quarter and 17% in the prior year quarter. CS pricing increased 8% sequentially and 21% year-over-year, while sales volumes improved 19% from the first quarter. Compared with the prior year, volumes remained lower as we continued to execute our value-based pricing initiatives. In Cellulose Commodities, pricing improved 6% sequentially, but remained 11% below prior year levels. Volumes nearly doubled year-over-year as operating rates improved and production shifted toward commodities. The improvement in Adjusted EBITDA was driven by higher CS pricing, improved operating rates, and lower wood and fixed costs.

These benefits were partially offset by lower CS volumes, higher commodity mix, and inflation. We also continue to advance trade actions to support fair and competitive conditions in RYAM's U.S. markets. Turning to slide eight. Paperboard & High-Yield Pulp net sales increased $19 million sequentially and $7 million year-over-year to $75 million. Adjusted EBITDA was negative $10 million compared with negative $5 million in the first quarter and negative $2 million in the prior year quarter. As higher volumes were more than offset by lower pricing, as well as planned maintenance and market-related downtime. Paperboard pricing increased 3% sequentially, and volumes improved 11%. Tighter market conditions supported the sequential pricing improvement and are supporting a firmer outlook, although pricing remained below the prior year quarter. High-Yield Pulp volumes nearly doubled sequentially and increased 29% year-over-year, primarily due to shipment timing while pricing remained under pressure.