Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.
UFP Industries, Inc. is a holding company with subsidiaries in the United States, Mexico, Canada, Spain, India and Australia that design, manufacture, and supply products made from wood, wood and non-wood composites, and other materials to three segments: retail, packaging, and construction. We are headquartered in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
This report contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act, as amended, that are based on management’s beliefs, assumptions, current expectations, estimates and projections about the markets we serve, the economy and the Company itself. Words like “anticipates,” “believes,” “confident,” “estimates,” “expects,” “forecasts,” “likely,” “plans,” “projects,” “should,” variations of such words, and similar expressions identify such forward-looking statements. These statements do not guarantee future performance and involve certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are difficult to predict with regard to timing, extent, likelihood and degree of occurrence. We do not undertake to update forward-looking statements to reflect facts, circumstances, events, or assumptions that occur after the date the forward-looking statements are made. Actual results could differ materially from those included in such forward-looking statements. Investors are cautioned that all forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainty. Among the factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from forward-looking statements are the following: fluctuations in currency and inflation; fluctuations in the price of lumber; adverse economic conditions in the markets we serve; concentration of sales to customers; vertical integration strategies; excess capacity or supply chain challenges; our ability to make successful business acquisitions; government regulations, particularly involving environmental and safety regulations; adverse or unusual weather conditions; inbound and outbound transportation costs; alternatives to replace treated wood products; cybersecurity breaches; tariffs on import and export sales; and potential pandemics. Certain of these risk factors as well as other risk factors and additional information are included in our reports on Form 10-K and 10-Q on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission, included under Item 1A above.
OVERVIEW
We are pleased to present this overview of 2025. Our results for 2025 include the following highlights:
Our net sales decreased 5% compared to 2024, which was comprised of a 2% decrease in selling prices and a 3% decrease in unit sales. The overall decrease in our selling prices is primarily due to more competitive pricing in our Site-Built business unit. The overall organic unit decline consists of a 7% decrease in our Retail segment and a 1% decrease in our Packaging segment, while unit sales in our Construction segment were flat compared to 2024. An acquired business contributed a 1% unit increase in our Packaging segment. We believe we maintained or gained market share in each of our business units.
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Our gross profits decreased by $167 million, or 14%, compared to last year, exceeding our 3% decrease in unit sales. By segment, gross profits decreased by $81 million in Construction, $36 million in Packaging, and $43 million in Retail. The overall decrease in our gross profits is primarily due to the decline in unit sales as a result of weaker demand, which also resulted in more competitive pricing.
Our operating profits decreased $128 million, or 26%, compared to last year. The overall decrease is a result of the decline in gross profits above which was partially offset by a $44 million decrease in selling, general, and administrative (“SG&A”) expenses. The decrease in SG&A is due to our cost reduction efforts totaling $40 million and our incentive compensation plans (bonus and sales incentives) totaling $24 million. These decreases in SG&A were partially offset by a $20 million increase in advertising costs to build brand awareness of our Deckorators’ Surestone™ composite decking.
Our cash flows from operations in 2025 were $546 million compared to $643 million in 2024. The $97 million decline resulted primarily from the change in our investment in net working capital, which was $54 million higher in 2025 than 2024. In 2025, working capital increased by $3 million, reflecting a $35 million decrease in current assets and a $38 million decrease in current liabilities. The prior year included a $53 million net decrease in working capital comprised of a $54 million decrease in current assets and $3 million decrease in current liabilities. Additionally, net earnings and non-cash expenses decreased $43 million compared to the prior year due to the factors stated above.
We invested $269 million in capital expenditures, which was comprised of expansionary and efficiency capital expenditures, to support and grow our existing businesses, totaling $163 million, maintenance capital expenditures totaling $106 million, and $18 million invested in business combinations.
We returned $82 million to our shareholders through dividends. We repurchased 4,498,835 shares of our common stock for $443 million, at an average price of $98.39 per share. Of this amount, 87,327 shares were repurchased in order to settle tax withholding obligations of long-term stock incentive plan participants’ awards that vested in 2025. These shares were purchased at an average price of $109.83 per share, totaling $10 million.
Our Cash and cash equivalents at the end of 2025 was $914 million compared to $1.2 billion at the end of 2024. Our unused borrowing capacity under our revolving credit facility and a shelf agreement with certain lenders along with our cash resulted in total liquidity of approximately $2.2 billion at the end of December 2025. We plan to continue to pursue a balanced and return driven approach to capital allocation focused on continuing to increase our dividend at a rate that is aligned with our anticipated long-term earnings growth rate, repurchasing our common stock to offset dilution from issuances under our equity-based compensation programs, making capital investments needed to execute our organic growth and operating improvement strategies, and completing business acquisitions that complement our existing businesses and provide new avenues for growth. We will opportunistically increase repurchases of our stock when the price reaches a pre-determined level that we believe represents an attractive investment.
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HISTORICAL LUMBER PRICES
The following table presents the Random Lengths framing lumber composite price.
Random Lengths Composite
Average $/MBF
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December
Annual average
Annual percentage change
In addition, a Southern Yellow Pine (“SYP”) composite price, which we prepare and use, is presented below. Our purchases of this species comprise approximately 75% of our total lumber purchases.
Random Lengths SYP
Average $/MBF
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December
Annual average
Annual percentage change
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Finally, a Spruce Pine Fir (“SPF”) composite price, which we prepare and use, is presented below. Our purchases of this species comprise approximately 12% of our total lumber purchases.
Random Lengths SPF
Average $/MBF
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December
Annual average
Annual percentage change
Overall lumber prices in 2025 have increased compared to 2024 despite overall weak demand in the end markets that primarily consume softwood lumber – new housing, housing repair and remodel activity, and industrial (including packaging) – as a result of higher duties on Canadian lumber imported to the United States and capacity curtailments in the U.S. and Canada.
IMPACT OF THE LUMBER MARKET ON OUR OPERATING RESULTS
We generally price our products to pass lumber costs through to our customers so that our profitability is based on the value-added manufacturing, distribution, engineering, and other services we provide. As a result, our dollar sales levels (and working capital requirements) are impacted by the lumber costs of our products. Lumber costs were 41.6% and 40.4% of our net sales in 2025 and 2024, respectively.
Our gross margins are impacted by (1) the relative level of the Lumber Market (i.e. whether prices are higher or lower from comparative periods), and (2) the trend in the market price of lumber (i.e. whether the price of lumber is increasing or decreasing within a period or from period to period). Moreover, as explained below, our products are priced differently. Some of our products have fixed selling prices, while the selling prices of other products are indexed to the reported Lumber Market with a fixed dollar adder to cover conversion costs and profits. Consequently, the level and trend of the Lumber Market impact our products differently.
Below is a general description of the primary ways in which our products are priced.
Products with fixed selling prices. These products include value-added products, such as manufactured items, sold within all segments. Prices for these products are generally fixed at the time of the sales quotation for a specified period of time. In order to reduce any exposure to adverse trends in the price of component lumber products, we attempt to lock in costs with our suppliers or purchase necessary inventory for these sales commitments. The time period limitation eventually allows us to periodically re-price our products for changes in lumber costs from our suppliers.
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Products with selling prices indexed to the reported Lumber Market with a fixed dollar "adder" to cover conversion costs and profits. These products primarily include treated lumber, panel goods, other commodity-type items, and trusses sold to the manufactured housing industry. For these products, we estimate customers’ needs and carry appropriate levels of inventory. Because lumber costs are incurred in advance of final sale prices, subsequent increases or decreases in the market price of lumber impact our gross margins. We believe our sales of these products are at their highest relative level in our second quarter, primarily due to pressure-treated lumber sold in our retail segment.
For each of the product pricing categories above, our margins are exposed to changes in the trend of lumber prices. As a result of the balance in our net sales to each of our end markets, we believe our gross profits are more stable than those of our competitors who are less diversified.
The greatest risk associated with changes in the trend of lumber prices is on the following products:
Products with significant inventory levels with low turnover rates, whose selling prices are indexed to the Lumber Market. In other words, the longer the period of time these products remain in inventory, the greater the exposure to changes in the price of lumber. This includes treated lumber, which comprised approximately 21% of our total net sales in 2025. This exposure is less significant with remanufactured lumber, panel goods, other commodity-type items, and trusses sold to the manufactured housing market due to the higher rate of inventory turnover. We attempt to mitigate the risk associated with treated lumber through inventory consignment programs with our vendors. We estimate that 13% of our total purchases for 2025 were completed under these programs. ( Please refer to the “Risk Factors” in Item 1A above for more information. )
Products with fixed selling prices sold under long-term supply arrangements, particularly those involving multi-family construction projects. We attempt to mitigate this risk through our purchasing practices and longer vendor commitments.
In addition to the impact of the Lumber Market trends on gross margins, changes in the level of the market cause fluctuations in gross margins when comparing operating results from period to period. This is explained in the following example, which assumes the price of lumber has increased from period one to period two, with no changes in the trend within each period.
Period 1
Period 2
Lumber cost
Conversion cost
= Product cost
Adder
= Sell price
Gross margin
As is apparent from the preceding example, the level of lumber prices does not impact our overall profits but does impact our margins. Gross margins and operating margins are negatively impacted during periods of high lumber prices; conversely, we experience margin improvement when lumber prices are relatively low. As a result of this factor, we believe it is useful to compare our change in units sold with our change in gross profits, selling, general, and administrative expenses, and operating profits as presented in the following table.
Annual Percentage Change from
Prior Year Ended
December 27,
December 28,
Units sold
Gross profit
Selling, general, and administrative expenses
Earnings from operations
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The results above reflect the impact of generally weaker demand across most of the end markets we serve as well as more competitive pricing and higher material costs for most of 2025. Notwithstanding our recent results, it is our long-term goal to increase our gross profits and earnings from operations at a rate of growth that exceeds our unit sales growth, or in other words, increase our profit per unit sold. We also have a long-term goal of improving our efficiencies and leveraging the fixed costs in our selling, general, and administrative expenses as we grow, which would result in a rate of growth of these expenses which is less than our unit sales growth resulting in a lower cost per unit.
BUSINESS COMBINATIONS AND ASSET PURCHASES
We completed two business acquisitions during 2025 that had annual historical sales of approximately $24 million in aggregate. During 2024 we completed one business acquisition that had approximately $25 million in annual historical sales. These business combinations were not significant to our operating results; consequently pro forma results for 2025 and 2024 are not presented.
See Note C “Business Combinations” of our Consolidated Financial Statements which are presented under Item 8 below for additional information.
RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
The following table presents, for the periods indicated, the components of our Consolidated Statements of Earnings as a percentage of net sales. See “Impact of the Lumber Market on our Operating Results”.
Year Ended
December 27,
December 28,
Net sales
Cost of goods sold
Gross profit
Selling, general, and administrative expenses
Net loss (gain) on disposition and impairment of assets
Other losses (gains), net
Earnings from operations
Interest and other
Earnings before income taxes
Income taxes
Net earnings
Less net earnings attributable to noncontrolling interest
Net earnings attributable to controlling interest
Note: Actual percentages are calculated and may not sum to total due to rounding.
The following table presents, for the periods indicated, our selling, general, and administrative (SG&A) costs as a percentage of gross profit. Over time, we believe this ratio provides an enhanced view of our effectiveness in managing these costs given our strategies to enhance our capabilities and improve our value-added product offering and recognizing the higher relative level of SG&A these strategies require. This ratio also mitigates the impact of changing lumber prices. The increase in the ratio of SG&A as a percentage of gross profit from the prior year is primarily due to the impact of competitive pricing and higher material costs for most of the year, which has reduced our gross profits.
Year Ended
December 27,
December 28,
Gross profit
Selling, general, and administrative expenses
SG&A as percentage of gross profit
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OPERATING RESULTS BY SEGMENT
Our business segments consist of UFP Retail Solutions, UFP Packaging and UFP Construction, and align with the end markets we serve. Among other advantages, this structure allows for a specialized and consistent sales approach, more efficient use of resources and capital, and quicker introduction of new products and services. We manage the operations of our individual locations primarily through a market-centered reporting structure under which each location is included in a business unit, and business units are included in our Retail, Packaging, and Construction segments. The exception to this market-centered reporting and management structure is our International segment, which comprises our packaging operations in Mexico, Canada, Spain, India and Australia and sales and buying offices in other parts of the world. Our International segment and Ardellis (our insurance captive) are included in the “All Other” column of the table below. The “Corporate” includes purchasing, transportation, corporate ventures, and administrative functions that serve our operating segments. Operating results of Corporate primarily consist of over (under) allocated costs and net sales to external customers initiated by UFP Purchasing, which manages supplier relationships and purchases lumber and other materials, UFP Transportation, which owns, leases and operates transportation equipment, and UFP Real Estate, which owns and leases real estate. Inter-company lease and service charges are assessed to our operating segments for the use of these assets and services at fair market value rates.
The following tables present our operating results by segment for December 27, 2025 and December 28, 2024 (in thousands).
Year Ended December 27, 2025
Retail
Packaging
Construction
All Other
Corporate
Total
Net sales
Cost of goods sold
Gross profit
Selling, general, administrative expenses
Net loss (gain) on disposition and impairment of assets
Other losses (gains), net
Earnings from operations
Year Ended December 28, 2024
Retail
Packaging
Construction
All Other
Corporate
Total
Net sales
Cost of goods sold
Gross profit
Selling, general, administrative expenses
Net loss (gain) on disposition and impairment of assets
Other (gains) losses, net
Earnings from operations
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The following tables present the components of our operating results as a percentage of net sales by segment for December 27, 2025 and December 28, 2024.
Year Ended December 27, 2025
Retail
Packaging
Construction
All Other
Corporate
Total
Net sales
Cost of goods sold
Gross profit
Selling, general, administrative expenses
Net loss (gain) on disposition and impairment of assets
Other losses (gains), net
Earnings from operations
Note: Actual percentages are calculated and may not sum to total due to rounding.
Year Ended December 28, 2024
Retail
Packaging
Construction
All Other
Corporate
Total
Net sales
Cost of goods sold
Gross profit
Selling, general, administrative expenses
Net loss (gain) on disposition and impairment of assets
Other (gains) losses, net
Earnings from operations
Note: Actual percentages are calculated and may not sum to total due to rounding.
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NET SALES
We design, manufacture and market wood and wood-alternative products, primarily used to enhance outdoor living environments sold to national home centers and other retailers; engineered wood components, structural lumber, and other products for factory-built and site-built residential and commercial construction; customized interior fixtures used in a variety of retail stores, commercial, and other structures; and structural wood packaging, components and packing materials for various industries. Our strategic long-term sales objectives include:
Maximizing unit sales growth while achieving return on investment goals . The following table presents estimates, for the periods indicated, of our percentage change in net sales attributable to changes in overall selling prices versus changes in units shipped by segment.
% Change
2025 versus 2024
in Sales
in Selling
Prices
in Units
Acquisition Unit Change
Organic Unit Change
Retail
Packaging
Construction
All Other
Corporate
Total Sales
Expanding geographically in our core businesses , domestically and internationally.
Increasing our sales of “value-added” products and enhancing our product offering with new or improved products . Value-added products generally consist of fencing, decking, lattice, and other specialty products sold in the Retail segment; structural and protective packaging and machine-built pallets sold in the Packaging segment; engineered wood components, customized interior fixtures, manufactured and assembled concrete forms sold in the Construction segment; and “wood alternative” products. Engineered wood components include roof trusses, wall panels, and floor systems. Wood alternative products consist of products manufactured with wood and non-wood composites, metals and plastics sold in each of our segments. Although we consider the treatment of dimensional lumber and panels with certain chemical preservatives a value-added process, treated lumber is not presently included in the value-added sales totals. Remanufactured lumber and panels that are components of finished goods are also generally categorized as “commodity-based” products. We estimate that approximately 80% of our sales consist of products we manufacture at our locations, while 20% of our sales consist of products manufactured by suppliers that we inventory and distribute to customers.
The following table presents, for the periods indicated, our percentage of value-added and commodity-based sales to total sales by our segments.
Year Ended December 27, 2025
Year Ended December 28, 2024
Value-Added
Commodity-Based
Value-Added
Commodity-Based
Retail
Packaging
Construction
All Other
Corporate
Total Sales
Note: Certain prior year product reclassifications and the change in designation of certain products as "value-added" resulted in a change in prior year's sales.
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Our overall unit sales of value-added products decreased approximately 1% in 2025 compared to 2024. Our overall unit sales of commodity-based products decreased approximately 3% compared to 2024.
Developing new products . We define new products as those that will generate sales of at least $1 million per year within 4 years of launch and are still growing and gaining market penetration and meet our internal definition of value-added products. New product sales in 2025 increased 6% compared to the prior year, primarily due to an increase in unit sales in our Deckorators business unit. Approximately $76.2 million of new product sales for 2024, while still sold, were sunset in 2025 and excluded from the table below because they no longer meet the definition above. Our goal was to achieve annual new product sales of at least $550 million in 2025. Our short-term goal is to achieve annual new product sales of at least $560 million for 2026. On a long-term basis, our goal is for new product sales to comprise at least 10% of our total net sales.
The table below presents new product sales in thousands:
New Product Sales by Segment
Year Ended
December 27,
% of Segment
December 28,
% of Segment
% Change
Net Sales
Net Sales
in Sales
Retail
Packaging
Construction
All Other
Corporate
Total New Product Sales
Note: Certain prior year product reclassifications and the change in designation of certain products as "new" resulted in a change in prior year's sales.
Retail Segment:
Net sales from the Retail segment decreased 6% in 2025 compared to 2024 due to a 1% increase in selling prices and a 7% decrease in units. Unit changes within this segment consisted of decreases of 27% in UFP Edge, as we complete the closure of our Bonner, Montana plants and transition production to other facilities, and 6% in ProWood; while Deckorators unit sales were flat. Additionally, our unit sales to big box customers, which we believe are more closely correlated with repair and remodel activity, decreased approximately 7%, while unit sales to independent retailers, which we believe are more closely correlated to new housing starts, decreased approximately 9%. The decline in ProWood volume is primarily due to higher interest rates and weaker consumer sentiment resulting in a softening of demand to complete repair and remodel projects.
Within our Deckorators business unit, our sales of wood-plastic composite decking and Surestone™ mineral-based-composite decking increased 20%. Of the 20% increase in net sales for our Deckorators business unit, wood-plastic composite decking and mineral based-composite decking (sold under our new Surestone™ tradename) increased 5% and 36% from the prior year, respectively. The increases were offset by railings, which declined 23% from the prior year. The decline in our railing sales is due to lost market share with a big box customer which began impacting sales at the beginning of the year. However, we gained market share with another big box customer which began to more favorably impact the sales of our mineral-based composite decking products beginning in July with most of the growth from these market share gains expected to be realized in 2026. Our long-term goal is to double our market share of composite decking and railing over the next 5 years.
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Gross profits declined by $43 million, or 11%, and totaled $346 million in 2025 compared to $389 million in 2024. The change in gross profit was attributable to the following:
The gross profit of our ProWood pressure-treated products decreased by $25 million, primarily due to falling lumber prices in our primary selling season. Additionally, gross profits associated with our Edge products declined by $9 million due to inefficiencies and the closure of our Edge manufacturing facilities in Bonner, MT and the shift of that volume to other locations.
The gross profit of our Deckorators business unit decreased by $9 million due to lower railing sales and inefficiencies associated with adding new capacity to produce our mineral-based composite decking. In the future, we believe this new, more efficient technology will allow us to achieve our targeted cost per unit. Additionally, our wood plastic composite plant has experienced an unfavorable change in sales mix.
Selling, general and administrative expenses (“SG&A”) within our Retail segment increased $9 million, or 4%, in 2025 compared to 2024. This increase is a result of a $20 million increase in advertising expenses primarily related to Deckorators. The increase was partially offset by a decrease in wages and benefits of $5 million, a decrease in accrued bonus expense of $5 million, and decreases across several other accounts totaling $1 million. Accrued bonus expense varies with the overall profitability and return on investment of the segment, and totaled approximately $42 million in 2025.
Earnings from operations of the Retail segment decreased in 2025 compared to 2024 by $64 million, or 36%, as a result of the factors mentioned above as well as a foreign exchange loss totaling $1 million and an increase in the net loss on disposition and impairment of assets, which was comprised of machinery and equipment impairments and losses of $11 million, lease impairment charges of $2 million and intangible asset impairment charges of $1 million, partially offset by a gain on the sale of real estate totaling $5 million. The prior year included a $3 million net loss on disposition and impairment of assets which was comprised of lease impairment charges and intangible asset impairments, offset by foreign exchange gains of $3 million.
Packaging Segment:
Net sales from the Packaging segment decreased 2% in 2025 compared to 2024 due to a 2% decrease in selling prices, and a 1% decrease in organic unit sales, partially offset by an acquired business which contributed 1% to unit growth. The decrease in prices is primarily due to competitive price pressure. The decrease in units was due to organic unit declines of 3% in Structural Packaging and 2% in PalletOne, which was partially offset by an increase in unit sales of 8% in Protective Packaging due to geographic expansion and market share gains.
Gross profits decreased by $36 million, or 12%, to $266 million in 2025 compared to 2024. The decrease in gross profits was attributable to the following:
The gross profit of our PalletOne business unit decreased by a total of $17 million. The decline in gross profit is attributable to competitive price pressure as we continue to execute our strategy to gain market share.
The gross profit of our Structural Packaging business unit decreased by $15 million primarily due to lower unit sales and competitive price pressure due to lower demand.
The gross profit of our Protective Packaging business unit decreased by $4 million due to fixed manufacturing costs resulting in unfavorable cost variances related to new greenfield locations which more than offset the sales increase resulting from increased prices and unit sales.
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SG&A expenses within the Packaging segment decreased by approximately $11 million, or 6%, in 2025 compared to 2024. The decrease in SG&A was due to decreases in insurance expense of $3 million, sales incentive compensation of $2 million, travel expenses of $2 million, accrued bonus expense of $2 million, and several smaller decreases in many accounts totaling $2 million. Accrued bonus varies with the overall profitability and return on investment of the segment, and totaled approximately $29 million for 2025.
Earnings from operations of the Packaging segment decreased by $15 million in 2025, or 15%, compared to 2024 due to the factors discussed above. The losses were offset by net gains on the disposition of assets totaling $3 million, compared to a $7 million loss in 2024.
Construction Segment:
Net sales from the Construction segment decreased 5% in 2025 compared to 2024 due to a 5% decrease in selling prices, while unit sales remained flat. Increases in unit sales of 7% in each of our Factory-Built, Commercial, and Concrete Forming business units were fully offset by a decrease in unit sales of 11% in Site-Built.
Gross profits decreased by $81 million, or 18%, to $358 million in 2025 compared to 2024. The decrease in our gross profit was comprised of the following:
The gross profit of our Site-Built business unit decreased by $92 million due to a decline in unit sales and competitive price pressure due to weaker demand.
The gross profit of our Concrete Forming and Commercial business units increased by $5 million and $3 million, respectively, due to the favorable impact of unit sales growth. The gross profit of our Factory-Built business unit increased by $4 million due to an increase in unit sales.
SG&A expenses within the Construction segment decreased by approximately $25 million, or 9%, in 2025 compared to 2024. Accrued bonus expense, which varies with the overall profitability of the segment and return on investment, decreased approximately $10 million compared to last year and totaled approximately $36 million for 2025. The decline in SG&A was also due to decreases in wages and benefits of $4 million, sales incentives of $4 million, insurance costs of $2 million, gains on insurance settlements of $2 million, and several smaller decreases in many accounts totaling $3 million.
Earnings from operations of the Construction reportable segment decreased by $56 million in 2025 compared to 2024, or 32%, due to the factors mentioned above.
All Other Segment:
Our All Other reportable segment consists of our International and Ardellis (our insurance captive) segments that are not significant.
Corporate:
The Corporate segment consists primarily of over (under) allocated costs which are not significant and net sales to external customers initiated by UFP Purchasing, UFP Transportation, and UFP Real Estate.
INTEREST EXPENSE
Interest expense in 2025 decreased by $2 million compared to 2024 due to a $40 million debt repayment at the end of 2024 on our Series 2012 Senior Note Tranche B, which matured on December 17, 2024. See “Note E of our Consolidated Financial Statements” which are presented under Item 8 below.
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INTEREST AND INVESTMENT INCOME
Interest and investment income decreased by $22.0 million in 2025 compared to 2024 due to the decrease in cash and a lower interest rate earned on those deposits as well as an impairment loss of $6.5 million on an investment in our Innov8 Fund recorded in the fourth quarter.
INCOME TAXES
Effective tax rates differ from statutory federal income tax rates, primarily due to provisions for state and local income taxes, and permanent tax differences. Our effective tax rate was 24.5% in 2025 compared to 22.5% in 2024. The increase was primarily due to an increase in our state income tax expense as a result of timing differences in the deductibility of R&D costs between federal and state, as well as an increase in nondeductible officer compensation relative to overall income.
OFF-BALANCE SHEET COMMITMENTS AND CONTRACTUAL OBLIGATIONS
We have no significant off-balance sheet commitments. The following table summarizes our contractual obligations as of December 27, 2025 (in thousands).
Payments Due by Period
Less than
After
Contractual Obligation
1 Year
Years
Years
5 Years
Total
Long-term debt and finance lease obligations
Estimated interest on long-term debt and finance lease obligations
Operating leases
Capital project purchase obligations
Total
As of December 27, 2025, we also had $40.4 million in outstanding letters of credit issued during the normal course of business, as required by some vendor contracts.
LIQUIDITY AND CAPITAL RESOURCES
The table below presents, for the periods indicated, a summary of our cash flow statement (in thousands):
Year Ended
December 27,
December 28,
Cash from operating activities
Cash used in investing activities
Cash used in financing activities
Effect of exchange rate changes on cash
Net change in all cash and cash equivalents
Cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash, beginning of period
Cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash, end of period
In general, we fund our growth through a combination of operating cash flows, our revolving credit facility, and issuance of long-term notes. We have not issued equity to finance growth except in the case of a large acquisition that occurred many years ago. We manage our capital structure by attempting to maintain a targeted ratio of debt to equity and debt to earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. We believe these financial ratios are among many other important factors to maintaining a strong credit profile, which in turn helps ensure timely access to capital when needed.
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Seasonality has a significant impact on our working capital due to our primary selling season occurring during the period from March to September. Consequently, our working capital increases during our first and second quarters resulting in negative or modest cash flows from operations during those periods. Conversely, we experience a substantial decrease in working capital once we move beyond our peak selling season which typically results in significant cash flows from operations in our third and fourth quarters.
Due to the seasonality of our business and the effects of the Lumber Market, we believe our cash cycle (days of sales outstanding plus days supply of inventory less days payables are outstanding) is a good indicator of our working capital management. As indicated in the table below, our cash cycle increased to 63 days in 2025 from 60 days in 2024.
Year Ended
December 27,
December 28,
Days of sales outstanding
Days supply of inventory
Days of payables outstanding
Days in cash cycle
The increase in our days supply of inventory in 2025 is due to additional safety stock inventory resulting from anticipated supply chain disruptions and new stocking programs in the Deckorators business unit. The increase in our days of sales outstanding is primarily due to the UFP Edge business unit resulting from a decline in sales due to restructuring. We continue to focus on past due account balances with customers, and the percentage of our accounts receivable that are current was 90% in both 2025 and 2024.
Our cash flows from operating activities in 2025 were $546 million, which was comprised of net earnings of $296 million, $253 million of non-cash expenses, and a $3 million increase in working capital since the end of December 2024. Our cash flows from operations decreased by $97 million compared to last year primarily due to a $54 million increase in our investment in net working capital compared to the prior year period and a decrease in our net earnings and non-cash expenses of $43 million.
Capital expenditures of $269 million comprised most of our cash used in investing activities during 2025. Capital spending primarily consists of several projects to expand capacity to manufacture new and value-added products, primarily in our Deckorators and ProWood business units, and Packaging segment. Additionally there were investments to achieve efficiencies through automation in all segments and to make improvements to a number of facilities. On December 27, 2025, we had outstanding purchase commitments on capital projects of approximately $135.4 million. We intend to fund capital expenditures and purchase commitments through our operating cash flows. Cash used for acquisitions during the year totaled $18 million compared to $30 million in 2024. In 2025, we completed two acquisitions, RWP West, LLC and National Supply, LLC. See Note C “Business Combinations” of our Consolidated Financial Statements which are presented under Item 8 below for additional information. Our cash used in investing activities was partially offset by $31 million of proceeds from sale of property, plant and equipment as we divest assets that do not meet our profitability targets and strategic objectives.
Cash flows used in financing activities primarily consisted of:
Cash paid for repurchases of common stock of $443 million. We repurchased 4,498,835 shares of our common stock for the year at an average share price of $98.39. Of this amount, 87,327 shares were repurchased in order to settle tax withholding obligations of long-term stock incentive plan participants’ awards that vested in 2025. These shares were purchased at an average price of $109.83 per share, totaling $10 million.
Dividends paid during 2025 totaled $82 million, reflecting a quarterly rate of $0.35 per share, a 6% increase over the prior year.
Distributions to noncontrolling interests of $3 million.
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As of December 6, 2022, we entered into a five-year, $750 million unsecured revolving credit facility with a syndicate of U.S. banks. This facility includes up to $60 million which may be advanced in the form of letters of credit, and up to $100 million (U.S. dollar equivalent) which may be advanced in Canadian dollars, Australian dollars, Sterling, Euros and such other foreign currencies as may subsequently be agreed upon among the parties. Cash borrowings are charged interest based upon an index selected by the Company, plus a margin that is determined based upon the index selected and upon the financial performance of the Company and certain of its subsidiaries. We are charged a facility fee on the entire amount of the lending commitment, at a per annum rate ranging from 15.0 to 30.0 basis points, also determined based upon our performance.
On December 27, 2025, we had no amount outstanding on our $750 million revolving credit facility. The revolving credit facility also supports letters of credit totaling $39.2 million which includes approximately $3.3 million related to industrial development revenue bonds. As a result, we have approximately $710.8 million in remaining availability. We also had approximately $1.3 million of outstanding letters of credit that were issued outside of the revolving credit facility. Financial covenants on the unsecured revolving credit facility and unsecured notes include minimum interest tests and a maximum leverage ratio. The agreements also restrict the amount of additional indebtedness we may incur and the amount of assets which may be sold. We were in compliance with all our covenant requirements on December 27, 2025.
ENVIRONMENTAL CONSIDERATIONS AND REGULATIONS
See Note L “Commitments, Contingencies, and Guarantees” of our Consolidated Financial Statements which are presented under Item 8 below.
CRITICAL ACCOUNTING POLICIES
In preparing our consolidated financial statements, we follow accounting principles generally accepted in the United States. These principles require us to make certain estimates and apply judgments that affect our financial position and results of operations. We continually review our accounting policies and financial information disclosures. Following is a summary of our more significant accounting policies that require the use of estimates and judgments in preparing the financial statements.
GOODWILL
We evaluate goodwill for indicators of impairment when events or circumstances indicate that this risk may be present. Our judgments regarding the existence of impairment are based on market conditions, operational performance and estimated future cash flows. Determining whether an impairment has occurred requires the valuation of the respective reporting unit, which we have consistently estimated using primarily a weighted average between income and market valuation approaches. We believe this approach is the most appropriate and accurate method to measure the fair value of our intangible assets. We use discounted cash flow analysis with the following assumption: a business is worth today what it can generate in future cash flows; cash received today is worth more than an equal amount of cash received in the future; and future cash flows can be reasonably estimated. The discounted cash flow analysis is based on the present value of projected cash flows and residual values.
If the carrying value of goodwill is considered impaired, an impairment charge is recorded to adjust it to its fair value. Changes in forecasted operations and changes in discount rates can materially affect these estimates. In addition, we test goodwill annually for impairment or more frequently if changes in circumstances or the occurrence of other events suggest impairments exist. The test for impairment requires us to make several estimates about fair value, most of which are based on projected future cash flows and market valuation multiples. Changes in these estimates may result in the recognition of an impairment loss.
On our annual testing date of September 27, 2025, the fair values exceeded the carrying values for all reporting units and there were no indicators for impairment. We believe we have sufficient available information, both current and historical, to support our assumptions, judgments and estimates used in the goodwill impairment test.
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REVENUE RECOGNITION
Revenue for product sales is recognized at the time the performance obligation is satisfied, which is primarily when the goods are delivered to the carrier, Free On Board (FOB) shipping point. Generally, title passes at the time of shipment. In certain circumstances, the customer takes title when the shipment arrives at the destination. However, our shipping process is typically completed the same day.
Performance on construction contracts is reflected in operations using over time accounting, under either the cost to cost or units of delivery methods, depending on the nature of the business at individual operations. Under over time accounting using the cost to cost method, revenues and related earnings on construction contracts are measured by the relationships of actual costs incurred related to the total estimated costs. Under over time accounting using the units of delivery method, revenues and related earnings on construction contracts are measured by the relationships of actual units produced related to the total number of units. Revisions in earnings estimates on the construction contracts are recorded in the accounting period in which the basis for such revisions becomes known. Projected losses on individual contracts are charged to operations in their entirety when such losses become apparent.
Our construction contracts are generally entered into with a fixed price and completion of the projects can range from 6 to 18 months in duration. Therefore, our operating results are impacted by, among many other things, labor rates and commodity costs. During the year, we update our estimated costs to complete our projects using current labor and commodity costs and recognize losses to the extent that they exist.
SHORT-TERM DEMAND AND OUTLOOK
We believe improvements in demand in the end markets we serve and effectively executing our strategies will allow us to achieve our long-term goals below. However, in the short-term, demand in our markets has contracted due to a variety of macro-economic factors, which will continue to impact our results to varying degrees depending on the severity and duration of this cycle. As a result of these more challenging conditions, we have developed and are executing plans to reduce or eliminate capacity at locations that are not meeting our profitability targets and reduce our SG&A costs. At the beginning of 2025, we announced that our goal through these actions was to improve our operating profits by $60 million by the end of 2026. In 2025, we achieved $35 million of targeted SG&A cost reductions and $7 million of profitability improvements due to capacity consolidations that reduced our cost of goods sold. The reductions in SG&A were partially offset by an additional $20 million of investments in advertising to build our Surestone™ brand of mineral-based composite decking. In 2026, we anticipate capacity consolidations completed in 2025 will reduce our cost of goods sold and improve our profitability by $25 million, primarily in our Retail segment. Therefore, we currently anticipate achieving cumulative cost reductions in 2025 and 2026 totaling $67 million, exceeding our original goal.
The following factors should be considered when evaluating our future results:
We anticipate lumber prices will remain near current levels, and experience typical seasonal trends, until there is a substantial change in the balance of supply and demand. In the event new tariffs are enacted on imports, we anticipate lumber prices will increase accordingly. We believe we are currently in a strong position to adapt quickly to new tariffs without adverse financial impact after a short adjustment period. Approximately 84% of our purchases of lumber are from domestic sources.
Retail segment sales accounted for 39% of our net sales in 2025. When evaluating future demand for the segment, we analyze data such as the same-store sales growth of national home improvement retailers and forecasts of home remodeling activity. Based on this data, we currently anticipate market demand to be flat to slightly down in the first half of 2026. We anticipate market share gains in our composite decking and railing products will contribute approximately $100 million of sales growth in our Deckorators business unit. In addition, we anticipate recent investments in equipment to improve the manufacturing throughput and lower the cost of our Surestone™ decking products will result in margin improvements in those products in 2026 as the new capacity is effectively brought on-line and once the higher cost inventory is sold.
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Packaging segment sales accounted for 25% of our net sales in 2025. When evaluating future demand, we consider a number of metrics, including the Purchasing Managers Index (PMI), durable goods manufacturing, and U.S. real GDP. We currently believe overall demand in the markets we serve to be flat to slightly down in the first half of 2026.
Construction segment sales accounted for 32% of our net sales in 2025.
The site-built business unit accounted for 11% of our net sales in 2025. Our sales mix of single-family and multi-family homes builders is approximately 70% and 30%, respectively. The industry consensus estimate of national housing starts for 2026 is 1.34 million, with estimates generally predicting flat to slightly negative growth in the coming year with a softer single-family outlook more than offsetting an improving multi-family outlook. We anticipate demand in the regions we operate to be slightly down in the first half of 2026.
The factory-built business unit accounted for 13% of our net sales in 2025. When evaluating future demand, we analyze data from production and shipments of manufactured housing. The National Association of Home Builders forecast the manufactured home shipments in 2026 to be flat to slightly down.
The commercial and concrete forming business units accounted for 8% of our net sales in 2025. When evaluating future demand, we analyze data from non-residential construction spending. We anticipate the slightly positive trends seen in 2025 will carry through into the first half of 2026.
LONG-TERM OUTLOOK
GOALS
Our long-term financial goals include:
Growing our annual unit sales by 7 to 10 percent (including smaller tuck-in acquisitions) with at least 10 percent of all sales coming from new products;
Achieving and sustaining a 12.5 percent EBITDA margin by continuing to enhance our capabilities and grow our portfolio and sales of value-added products, expanding geographically in our higher margin business units, and achieving operating improvements;
Earning an incremental return on new investment over our hurdle rate of 15 percent; and
Maintaining a conservative capital structure.
RETAIL SEGMENT
The Home Improvement Research Institute (“HIRI”) anticipates growth in home improvement spending and has forecasted 4.0% annual growth from 2026 through 2029. Markets remain competitive and we target market share gains with certain retail customers by introducing new value-add products and focusing on customer service.
Our long-term goal is to achieve sales growth by:
Increasing our market share of value-added products, including our Deckorators business unit, which is focused on capitalizing on the advantages of our Surestone™ technology. Continued investment in capacity for Deckorators is expected to contribute to this increase.
Developing new products and increasing our emphasis on product innovation and product differentiation in order to counter commoditization trends and influences.
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Acquiring businesses in core product categories.
Adding new products and customers through business acquisitions that strengthen our core business and meet our strategic objectives.
PACKAGING SEGMENT
Our goal is to increase our sales of wood, wood alternative, and protective packaging products to a wide variety of packaging customers and manufactured wood components for OEM users. We believe the vast amount of hardwood and softwood lumber consumed for packaging applications, combined with the highly fragmented nature of this market, provides us with market share growth opportunities as a result of our competitive advantages in manufacturing, purchasing, and material utilization.
In addition, purchasers of packaging products with a wide geographic footprint increasingly desire to reduce the number of suppliers they buy from, which provides an opportunity to gain market share due to our international presence. We plan to continue to obtain market share by expanding our manufacturing capacity, enhancing our capabilities and product offerings to enhance the solutions we offer our customers, and improving our ability to serve large regional and international customers in targeted markets.
We plan to continue to pursue acquisition opportunities that meet our strategic criteria and help us meet these objectives.
Market indicators that should be considered when evaluating future demand for our products in the packaging segment include industrial production, durable goods manufacturing, the PMI, U.S. GDP growth, and others.
CONSTRUCTION SEGMENT
The industry consensus estimate of national housing starts for 2026 is 1.34 million, with estimates generally predicting flat to slightly negative growth in 2026 with a softer single-family and multi-family outlook. Housing starts are projected to increase low single-digits in 2027.
The National Association of Home Builders forecasts a 1% decrease in manufactured home shipments from 2025 to 2026 and a 1% to 2% compounded annual growth rate through 2027.
Non-residential construction spending is a market indicator that should be considered when evaluating future demand for our products in our Commercial and Concrete Forming business units within our Construction segment.
GROSS PROFIT
As a result of more challenging market conditions, we continue to reduce or eliminate capacity at locations that are not meeting our profitability targets and to better align capacity with current demand. We anticipate these actions will improve operating profits by $25 million in 2026.
In addition, we believe the following factors are likely to impact our gross profits and margins in the future:
End market demand and our ability to grow and leverage fixed costs and price our products based on the value we offer our customers.
Our ability to maintain market share and gross margins on products sold to our largest customers. We believe our level of service, geographic diversity, and quality of products provides an added value to our customers. However, if our customers are unwilling to pay for these advantages, our sales and gross margins may be reduced.
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Sales mix of value-added and commodity products and our ability to sell new products. We anticipate significant growth in our Deckorators branded products that use our patented Surestone™ technology and believe recent investments in more efficient manufacturing capabilities will lower our costs per unit.
Fluctuations in the relative level of the Lumber Market and trends in the market price of lumber. (See “Impact of the Lumber Market on our Operating Results.”)
Fuel and transportation costs.
Rising labor and benefit costs.
Our ability to continue to achieve productivity improvements as our unit sales increase and planned cost reductions through continuous improvement activities, automation, and other operating improvement initiatives, including our investments to improve the manufacturing throughput and reduce the cost of our Surestone™ decking products.
Changes in the cost of complying with new or increased government regulations.
SELLING, GENERAL, AND ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES
As indicated above, we are taking actions to reduce our cost structure to better align it with current demand. We are also investing in the resources needed to achieve our long-term objectives for growth, product innovation, building brand awareness for certain products, and improving our efficiency through technology. With these considerations in mind, we have targeted “core” selling, general, and administrative expenses (SG&A) totaling approximately $570 million in 2026, excluding highly variable sales incentive and bonus expenses tied to profitability and return on investment, compared to approximately $550 million in 2025 excluding insurance settlement gains. We expect an increase of $20 million in core SG&A primarily due to increases in compensation and related benefits. Additionally, we anticipate sales incentives will be 3% of gross profits (3% of gross profits in 2025) and bonus expense will range from 17% to 18% of pre-bonus operating profits (17% of pre-bonus operating profits in 2025) plus approximately $21 million associated with the vesting expense of shares granted in prior years under our bonus plan ($29 million in 2025). See Note H “Common Stock” of our Consolidated Financial Statements which are presented under Item 8 below for a discussion of future compensation costs related to long-term share-based bonus awards.
On a long-term basis, we expect that our SG&A expenses will primarily be impacted by:
Our growth in sales in the Packaging and the Construction segments. Our sales in these segments require a higher ratio of SG&A costs due, in part, to product design and engineering requirements.
Sales of new and value-added product and branded products in the Retail segment, which generally require higher product development, marketing, advertising, and other selling costs.
Our incentive compensation programs which are tied to gross profits, pre-bonus earnings from operations and threshold levels of return on investment.
Our growth and success in achieving continuous improvement and automation objectives designed to improve our productivity and leverage our fixed costs as we grow.
LIQUIDITY AND CAPITAL RESOURCES
Our cash cycle will continue to be impacted in the future by our mix of sales by segment. Sales from our Construction and Packaging segments generally require a greater investment in receivables than sales in our Retail segment, while our Retail segment generally requires a greater investment in inventory. Also, our net investment in trade receivables, inventory, and accounts payable will continue to be impacted by the level of lumber prices.
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Additionally, we expect to spend approximately $300 million to $325 million on capital expenditures, incur depreciation of approximately $153 million, and incur amortization and other non-cash expenses of approximately $50 million in 2026.
On December 27, 2025, we had outstanding purchase commitments on capital projects of approximately $135.4 million. We intend to fund capital expenditures and purchase commitments through our operating cash flows and availability under our revolving credit facility which is considered sufficient to meet these commitments and working capital needs.
Our dividend rates are typically reviewed and approved at each of our February, April, July, and October board meetings and payments are typically made in March, June, September, and December of each year. On February 12, 2026, our board approved a quarterly cash dividend of $0.36 per share, which represents a 3% increase from the quarterly dividend of $0.35 per share paid in 2025. This dividend will be payable on March 16, 2026, to shareholders of record on March 2, 2026. Our board considers our dividend yield, payout ratios relative to earnings and operating cash flow, and potential variability of future results, among other factors, as part of its decision-making process. Future declarations of dividends and the establishment of future record and payment dates are subject to approval by the Board of Directors.
We have a share repurchase program approved by our Board of Directors, and on July 23, 2025, our board authorized the repurchase of up to $300 million worth of shares of outstanding stock through July 31, 2026. As of February 25, 2026, we have approximately $125 million of remaining availability under this authorization. In the past, we have repurchased shares in order to offset the effect of issuances resulting from our employee benefit plans and at opportune times when our stock price falls to predetermined levels.
