ATI Inc. (ATI) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Hello, and welcome to the Allegheny Technologies' 2022 Annual Meeting of Stockholders. Please note that today's meeting is being recorded. [Operator Instructions] It is now my pleasure to turn today's webcast over to Bob Wetherbee, Chair of ATI's Board of Directors. Mr. Wetherbee, the floor is yours.

Thank you, and good morning, ladies and gentlemen. I'm Bob Wetherbee, Chair of the Board of Directors of Allegheny Technologies Incorporated. I'm also ATI's President and Chief Executive Officer. It's 12:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time, and in accordance with the notice of meeting, I call to order the 2022 Annual Meeting of Stockholders of ATI. Today's virtual meeting is a live audio webcast. As previously announced, ATI chose to conduct today's meeting in a virtual-only format in light of ongoing national health concerns. We believe in engaging with our shareholders, and that under the current circumstances, this technology provides the greatest opportunity for your participation in today's meeting regardless of your physical location. We'll conduct the meeting in accordance with the agenda and the rules and procedures of conduct that are available electronically in the meeting center. Before the business of the meeting begins, I'd like to make certain introductions. Participating in today's webcast is Amanda Skov, ATI's Vice President and Corporate Secretary. Welcome, Amanda. Amanda will act as Secretary of this meeting and has been duly sworn to perform the duties of the inspector of elections. Also participating and representing the company's independent auditors is Mike Denove, a partner of Ernst & Young LLP. If questions arise during the discussion period that Ernst & Young and Mike should appropriately address, he'll be glad to respond. I'd also like to welcome the other members of our Board of Directors who are participating in today's meeting in a listening-only mode. I'd now like to ask Amanda to report on the mailing of the notice of this meeting and the presence of a quorum.

Thank you, Bob. This meeting is held pursuant to the printed notice dated March 25, 2022, that was mailed commencing on that date to each stockholder of record as of March 14, 2022. A list of stockholders entitled to vote at this meeting has been available for at least 10 days prior to this meeting in accordance with Delaware law. All documents concerning the call and notice of the meeting will be filed with the records of the meeting. The count of shares present immediately before the meeting began indicated that 115,872,993 shares of the company's common stock were present in person or by proxy. This is approximately 93% of all shares entitled to vote at this meeting. A quorum is, therefore, present at the meeting.

Since the meeting has been duly called and a quorum is present, the meeting is ready to transact business. The polls for each matter to be voted on at this meeting are now open at 12:04 p.m. Eastern Time today, May 12, 2022. If you've not voted or wish to change your vote, you may do so now by clicking on the link provided online. Any stockholder who has already voted and does not want to change that vote need not take any further action at this time. Will the Secretary please introduce the 4 matters for stockholder consideration?

Thank you, Bob. The matters for consideration by the stockholders today are: first, the election of 3 directors; second, a vote to approve the company's 2022 Incentive Plan; third, an advisory vote regarding the 2021 compensation of the company's named executive officers; and fourth, ratification of the selection of Ernst & Young LLP as independent auditors for 2022. These matters are described in detail in the proxy statement. The results of the advisory vote are not binding on the company.

Thank you, Amanda. We'll now allow a few moments for any remaining online voting. [Voting]

I now declare the polls closed for the matters voted on at this meeting as of 12:05 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time today, May 12, 2022. Amanda, will you please report the preliminary results of the voting?

A total of 115,872,993 shares of the company's common stock are present at the meeting in person or by proxy. The preliminary voting results are as follows. First, with respect to the election of directors, the 3 nominees named in the proxy statement for this meeting received the highest number of votes cast. Second, the company's 2022 Incentive Plan is approved. Third, in an advisory vote, the stockholders have voted not to approve the 2021 compensation of the company's named executive officers. And fourth, the stockholders have voted to ratify the selection of Ernst & Young LLP as independent auditors for the year 2022. These voting results are preliminary. Final results will be reported on a Form 8-K to be filed with the SEC next week. The final report of the inspector of elections will be filed with the records of this meeting. That concludes my report of the preliminary results of the voting.

Thank you, Amanda. Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes the official portion of our meeting, and I declare the meeting to be formally adjourned at 12:06 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time today, May 12, 2022. And now I'd like to take the opportunity to provide some quick remarks. Today's ATI is a company with accelerating velocity. We're advancing along the path of our clear and defined strategy, gaining speed every day toward our goal of becoming an aerospace and defense leader. Our customers are blazing the trail of what's possible, advancing the world through their incredible products. ATI is proud to be their partner, providing the materials and solutions to make their achievements possible. Together, we're stretching beyond the boundaries so they can go further and faster, performing in the most extreme conditions. On behalf of our highly committed team of 6,300 employees, here are the 4 things we want you to know about ATI today. First, our strategy keeps us focused on what we do best, solving the world's challenges through materials science. Second, we're in the right markets. Tremendous growth opportunities are made possible by our advanced process technologies and we have the team to win. Number three, ATI holds a strong competitive advantage built on proprietary know-how, unique assets and world-class capabilities. Every day, we're growing more efficient, putting our extraordinary capabilities to use like no one else. It all comes down to execution and ATI delivers. And number four, every day, we're focused on driving shareholder value through improved cash generation and accretive capital deployment. We're focused on cash, generating it, deploying it and using a disciplined capital allocation strategy. Putting it all together, significant top line growth, robust margin expansion and more deployable cash. There's an opportunity to create meaningful value for our shareholders. We're thriving where the expectations are great and the barriers are high. That's where ATI performs the best and is valued the most and were proven to perform. I'll now address your questions as submitted online prior to and during today's meeting. Amanda?

Bob, there have been no questions related to today's agenda at this time that have been submitted. Therefore, this concludes our meeting.

Thank you very much. Our program for the day has concluded. Thank you for your attending today's meeting, and thank you for your continuing interest in ATI.

This concludes today's conference. You may now disconnect.