REX American Resources Corporation ($REX)

Good morning, and welcome to the REX American Resources First Quarter 2026 Conference Call. As a reminder, today's call is being recorded. [Operator Instructions] I would now like to turn the call over to Mr. Doug Bruggeman, Chief Financial Officer of Rex American. Please go ahead.

Good morning, and thank you for joining REX American Resources' First Quarter 2026 Conference Call. With me on our call today are Stuart Rose, REX's Executive Chairman; and Zafar Rizvi, REX's Chief Executive Officer. We'll get to our presentation and comments momentarily as well as your questions, but first, I will review the safe harbor disclosure. In addition to historical facts or statements of current conditions, today's conference call contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements reflect the company's current expectations and beliefs but are not guarantees of future performance. As such, actual results may vary materially from expectations. The risks and uncertainties associated with the forward-looking statements are described in today's news announcement and in the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, coding the company's reports on Form 10-K and 10-Q. REX American Resources assumes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements. I'd now like to turn the call over to our Executive Chairman, Stuart Rose.

Good morning, and thank you to everyone for joining us today. First quarter of 2026 continued to showcase REX's operational excellence and strategic discipline, our team has once again demonstrated the ability to deliver outstanding results while advancing our key growth initiatives. As proof of this the first quarter of 2026 was the most profitable first quarter on a net income per share basis in our company's history. This consistent approach provides us with the flexibility to pursue value-creating opportunities while maintaining a thoughtful approach to capital allocation. Both of our major growth projects, the carbon capture and sequestration initiative and the ethanol production capacity expansion in our net energy facility continued to advance. We remain focused on executing what is within our control, while adopting while adapting to external factors as they evolve. Shareholder value creation remains a top priority. REX is particularly keen to take advantage market tailwinds and driven by both domestic policy and international export markets and to maximize our profit potential. We believe that our team is incredibly well positioned and prepared to do this. I now turn the call over to our CEO, Zafar Rizvi, to provide updates on our ongoing projects. .

Thank you, Stuart. Our ethanol facility expansion at Gibson City continues to progress on schedule, and we remain on track for completion by the end of 2026. This expansion represent an important steps in strengthening our production capabilities and positioning the company a long-term growth. We are pleased to announce record profitable first quarter on a net income or share basis. Regarding our carbon capture and sequestration initiative, we continue to work closely with the EPA on our Class VI injection well permit application. The permitting process remains ongoing and we are addressing all regulatory requirements to move the project forward fine. At the state level, the Illinois moratorium on carbon pipeline permitting is scheduled to expire on July 1, 2026. We have maintained engagement with the Illinois Commerce Commission and plan to submit our application, totally volume expiration of the moratorium. We are also closely monitoring ongoing federal policy discussion related to carbon capture incentives under Section 45D. We began recognizing 45D production tax credits in the fourth quarter of 2025. And during the first quarter of 2026, we recorded an additional $7.5 million in production tax credit. For the first quarter, we maintained booking the credit at $0.10 per gallon at the consolidated plants as we continue to monitor the 45D regulations. As of the end of the first quarter of 2026, our total investment in the carbon capture and ethanol expansion projects was approximately $176.3 million. We continue to operate within our combined project budget, range of $220 million to $230 million, subject to potential adjustments related to inflation and other market factors as the project advance. I will now turn the call over to Doug Bruggeman to discuss our financial results.

Thanks, afar. During the first quarter of fiscal 2026, our ethanol sales volumes reached 71.1 million gallons compared to 70.9 million gallons in the first quarter of 2025. The average selling price for ethanol was $1.66 per gallon during the quarter compared to $1.76 in the prior year's first quarter. Drive distillers grain sales volumes were approximately 155,000 tons for Q1 with an average selling price of $155.86 per ton versus $145.65 in the prior year. Modified distilled grain volumes totaled approximately 13,427 tons with an average selling price of $76.94 per ton. Corn oil sales volumes were approximately 23.9 million pounds during the quarter with an average selling price of $0.54 per pound compared to $0.46 in the prior year. The company reported $7.5 million and 45Z production tax credit income in the first quarter of fiscal 2026, reflecting our change in accounting principles we now report that as operating income from our consolidated plants. Gross profit for the first quarter was $29.1 million compared to $14.3 million in Q1 2025. This improvement primarily reflects the benefit of 45Z tax credits and reduced corn pricing. Selling, general and administrative expenses were approximately $9.7 million for the quarter compared to $5.9 million in Q1 2025. The increase was primarily due to higher incentive compensation and recording unpaid stock bonuses from 2025 at fair value. Our equity and income of unconsolidated affiliates increased from $1 million to $3.6 million, with approximately $1.8 million of the increase due to income from 45Z tax credits. Interest and other income totaled $3.2 million for the quarter compared to $4.2 million in Q1 2025. Income before taxes and noncontrolling interest was approximately $26.1 million compared to $13.6 million in Q1 2025. The Net income attributable to REX shareholders was $18.5 million or $0.56 per diluted share compared to $8.7 million or $0.26 per diluted share in Q1 2025. This represents our 23rd consecutive profitable quarter. We ended the first quarter with cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments of $364.3 million. The reduction from the previous quarter primarily reflects our ongoing capital investments in our growth projects. REX continues to maintain its strong financial position with no bank debt. I'll now turn things back to Zafar.

Thank you, Doug. REX team continues to execute successfully against our long-term strategic objectives. Our core focus remains on building and operating a consistently profitable business. The first quarter of 2026 marked the strongest first quarter earnings per share in our company's history and represented our 23rd consecutive profitable quarter. This performance reflects our team's ability to capitalize on opportunities, navigate changing market conditions and consistently deliver value for our shareholders. We continue to position REX sustainable long-term growth through disciplined organic expansion initiatives, all funded through our strong balance sheet with no debt. Out ethanol capacity expansion and carbon captain project continue to advance as planned despite permitting delays and certain regulatory headwinds. We remain focused on optimizing these investments, expecting to drive future operational excellence and enhanced financial performance for our shareholders. We also plan to continue evaluate the best use of our cash, including investments that complement our existing platform. In addition, we continue to closely monitoring policy developments at both the federal and state levels. The anticipated expiration of the Illinois carbon pipeline moratorium in July represents an important regulatory milestone. While policy outcomes remain outside our control, we believe we are well informed and working diligently to respond effectively to regulatory developments. Market fundamentals for the ethanol industries remain constructive. Domestic demand continues to be stable while export markets remained strong, according to the Renewable Fuel Association, [indiscernible] ethanol export to March increased by 20% and compared to the same period last year. As we move through the second quarter, we continue to see stable operating conditions and remain confident in our ability to deliver and other profitable for our shareholders. With that, I would now like to open the call for questions. Operator?

[Operator Instructions] Thank you. There are no questions at this time. I would like to hand the floor back over to Stuart Rose for any closing comments.

Thank you. Anyway, sorry, there's no questions, but I want to reiterate, we have great plants, great locations, and I feel the best employees in the business led by our CEO, Zafar Rizvi. Again, I think they're better than anyone else in the industry and our earnings prove it. And we've been public for over 40 years, and we had our greatest first quarter in earnings per share in our public history. Again, best people, best plans, in my opinion. We're optimistic for future growth, both in ethanol and receiving Section 45 tax credits and [indiscernible]. We look forward to talking to everyone at the next call. And again, thank you for listening. Bye.

This concludes today's conference. You may disconnect your lines at this time. Thank you again for your participation.