On Aug. 1, Marietta, Georgia-based building products distributor BlueLinx reported its 2023 second-quarter earnings, which showed a 34% decline in sales revenue compared with the same period last year.

The company said net sales for 2Q 2023 were $816 million, a decrease of $423 million from last year. Gross profit was $136 million, a decrease of $66 million, or 33%, year-over-year, and gross margin was 16.6%, up 30 basis points from the same period last year.

Net sales of specialty products — which includes products such as engineered wood, siding, millwork, outdoor living, specialty lumber and panels and industrial products — were $571 million, a decrease of $217 million, or 28% when compared to 2Q 2022. BradyIFS said the decline was due to a combination of deflation and lower volume, primarily related to engineered wood products.

Gross profit from specialty product sales was $109 million, a decrease of $71 million, or 40% when compared to 2Q 2022. Gross margin was 19.1% compared to 22.9% in the prior year period, the company said.

BlueLinx’s 2023 first-quarter sales dropped 39% compared with 1Q 2022.

“During the second quarter, we maintained both our price and cost discipline to deliver solid results in a market that continues to be soft when compared to last year,” said Shyam Reddy, President, and CEO of BlueLinx. “Our specialty product gross margins improved to just over 19%, and we generated operating cash of $64 million during the period, further strengthening our overall financial condition. I am very pleased with the team’s focus on our strategic initiatives and the quality of their execution.”

Reddy continued, “The building products market is improving, and two step distribution will continue to play a meaningful role given our product mix and value proposition. We remain focused on the execution of our growth strategy and consistent in our approach to capital allocation to drive long-term value creation. During the second quarter, we invested $5 million in capital expenditures and returned $12 million to shareholders through repurchases of the company’s common stock under our existing $100 million share repurchase program. Our liquidity is exceptional and at the end of the period, net leverage was 0.6x.”

In MDM’s 2023 Top Distributors Lists, the company ranks No. 10 among Building Materials/Construction distributors.