You are given a text that consists of multiple sentences. Your task is to perform abstractive summarization on this text. Use your understanding of the content to express the main ideas and crucial details in a shorter, coherent, and natural sounding text. 
Text: Today we have Vic Grizzle, our CEO; Brian MacNeal, our CFO to discuss Armstrong World Industries' third quarter 2021 results, our rest of the year outlook, and progress on our growth initiatives.
Both are available on our Investor Relations website.
These statements involve risks and uncertainties that may differ materially from those expected or implied.
We delivered strong third quarter topline growth, up 19% versus 2020 results with Mineral Fiber sales increasing 15% and Architectural Specialties sales improving 31%.
Adjusted EBITDA of $99 million was 8% ahead of prior year results.
We are pleased to have achieved these results against the backdrop of a choppy market recovery, increasing inflation, and supply chain disruptions throughout the construction industry.
Unrelated to these challenges, we also experienced a rare manufacturing equipment failure causing lower-than-expected production rates in September, which Brian will discuss in greater detail in a moment.
Despite these challenges and the rare production issue, we reaffirmed the midpoints of our full-year 2021 guidance and expect to have a strong finish to the year.
To that point, these continue to be unprecedented times.
Inflation remains a strain on raw material, freight, labor, and energy costs throughout the construction industry.
At AWI, we have moved proactively throughout the year to increase prices and stay ahead of these inflationary pressures.
And consistent with our performance over the past decade, we have successfully stayed ahead of inflation.
We recognize this is unique and it's a testament to the strength of our industry-leading service model and the high-quality innovative products we manufacture that allows us to earn those price increases in the marketplace.
Specifically within our Mineral Fiber segment, we reported third quarter AUV growth of 14% which is the highest level we've achieved since we separated from the flooring business in 2016.
And this growth was largely driven by like-for-like pricing improvements.
And not unrelated to inflationary pressures, supply chains throughout the economy have also been under unprecedented pressure.
Again our teams throughout the organization, have been on top of their game.
They have remained agile and dedicated to limiting disruptions to our customers and partners.
This is critical because of our best-in-class service model is an important component of our value proposition to our distributors and to the contractors who depend on them.
Because of this importance, we set a high bar for our service performance.
While many companies may track two or three service performance metrics, we track six as part of what we call our perfect order measure.
These include order fill accuracy, on-time delivery, shipping damage, billing accuracy, product defects, and returns.
And I can share with you with great satisfaction that this measure not only remained above our 90% threshold throughout 2021 for the Mineral Fiber segment in particular but it's improved in the third quarter.
So I'm proud of how our teams have executed to handle these unprecedented challenges internally to meet our customers' needs.
Now externally, these challenges have impacted our business in the form of project delays, impacting both our Mineral Fiber and Architectural Specialties segments.
Despite these challenges, Mineral Fiber sales volumes increased in the third quarter versus prior year on the strength of the R&R part of our business that has more than offset the impact of these project delays and the lower new construction activity.
Our sales rate per shipping day also showed sequential improvement in the quarter.
In fact, September sales rate per day eclipsed that of 2019, and the quarterly results for this metric has now improved sequentially for the last five quarters.
From a profitability perspective, the Mineral Fiber segment generated strong gross margins compared to prior year, reflecting positive like-for-like pricing, improved mix, and our ability to overcome the production headwind I mentioned earlier, with other productivity efforts, and in fact, this was the best gross margin level since 3Q of 2019.
Our WAVE joint venture delivered another strong quarter as they have maintained excellent pricing discipline to stay ahead of inflationary pressures.
We're also pleased with the performance of one of the Group's newest innovation called SimpleSoffit.
Now like many of our innovations, we've introduced SimpleSoffit drive efficiencies for our customers and for those who ultimately install our products.
Soffit framing is a common design feature that requires a significant use of labor and materials on commercial construction jobs and has a variety of complexities based on interior design and the accommodation of HVAC systems.
Given the pressures on labor, we realized creating savings in this area could be a significant value generator for our customers.
What the team at WAVE introduced are prefabricated soffit framing systems that are engineered using our automated design software to match the design specs and come prepackaged and easy to handle flat boxes.
Because of their design, our SimpleSoffit systems can be installed up to 3 times faster than traditional methods, with less material and labor hours.
SimpleSoffits are making a significant difference in terms of speed and cost on the sites where they have been used, including some high profile projects such as the new PG&E headquarters in California, The Kansas City International Airport and for hockey fans out there, the UBS Arena at Belmont Park, where the New York Islanders will drop the puck for the first time in mid-November.
We're very excited about how this new innovative product has gained traction and the value it's creating for our customers.
In the Architectural Specialties, the segment had a strong top-line quarter as well, improving -- and improving margin performance.
In addition to the contributions from our 2020 acquisitions, sales and earnings from the organic business rebounded nicely from prior year lows.
We've also successfully introduced price increases for these products and that is helping address some of the inflationary pressures on this segment as well.
New construction and major renovation activity improved but was uneven due to project delays, even with those challenges and our continued growth investments in this segment, Architectural Specialties' EBITDA margin improved 350 basis points sequentially and I expect these improvements to continue back above the 20% level.
We remain optimistic about the '22 and '23 outlook for Architectural Specialties, given the fact that we are on track to exit 2021 with a very strong order backlog and bidding activity remains robust.
As new construction activity regains momentum we expect sales growth to further accelerate in this segment.
The broader industry indicators that we track also support our growing optimism for both the AS and the Mineral Fiber segments.
As many of these have continued to improve or remained in positive territory in the third quarter.
GDP forecast remained above 5%, the Architectural Billing Index ended September well into expansionary territory at 56.6, up from August reading of 55.6, similar to the second quarter of Dodge data for both bidding and construction starts improved double-digits.
These are strong indicators for growth in 2022 and 2023 and with our recent investments, we are well-positioned to capture additional growth as the market recovers.
Today, I'll be reviewing our third quarter 2021 results and our updated guidance for the year.
On Slide 5, we begin with our consolidated third quarter 2021 results.
Adjusted net sales of $292 million were up 19% versus prior year.
Adjusted EBITDA grew 8% and EBITDA margins contracted 320 basis points.
EBITDA margins contracted due to continued investments in SG&A and lower manufacturing productivity.
Adjusted diluted earnings per share of $1.17 was 9% above prior year results.
Adjusted free cash flow was 28% above prior year results.
Our balance sheet remains healthy as we ended the quarter with $439 million of available liquidity, including a cash balance of $94 million and $345 million of availability on our revolving credit facility.
Net debt at the end of the quarter was $533 million and our net debt to EBITDA ratio of 1.5, as calculated under the terms of our credit agreement, remains well below our covenant threshold of 3.75.
In the quarter, we repurchased 187,000 shares for $20 million, for an average price of about $107 per share.
As of September 30, we had $544 million remaining under our repurchase program, which expires in December 2023.
Last week, we announced a 10% increase in our quarterly dividend, this is our third increase in the last three years and when paired with our share repurchases, is a reflection of our commitment to our balanced and disciplined capital allocation priorities that continue to be investing in the business, expanding into adjacencies through acquisitions, and returning capital to shareholders.
You can see our consolidated third quarter EBITDA bridge from the prior year results on this slide as well.
The $8 million adjusted EBITDA gain was primarily due to favorable AUV driven by positive like-for-like pricing and favorable channel mix, increased volume driven by the 2020 acquisitions, and contributions from WAVE equity earnings.
This favorability was partially offset by higher SG&A costs, increased input cost on freight raw, materials, and energy, and an increase in manufacturing cost driven by the 2020 acquisitions.
The increase in SG&A was driven by more normalized discretionary spending compared to the prior year cost reductions, an increase in variable compensation, investments for future growth in our Healthy Spaces and digital initiatives, and the 2020 acquisitions.
Not surprisingly, like many other manufacturing companies, we felt inflation impacts throughout our supply chain, albeit less than some other building product companies.
Our strong supplier partnerships have never been more important and our teams have done a great job of managing through this challenge.
We expect inflationary pressure to continue into the fourth quarter, we now see cost of goods sold inflation somewhere in the 4.5% to 5% range for the full year 2021.
As demonstrated historically and in this quarter, we will work to drive like-for-like pricing above inflation.
Our Mineral Fiber segment results are on Slide 6.
In the quarter, sales increased 15%, mostly due to favorable AUV previously mentioned.
We saw sequential improvement in our sales per shipping day metric and continue to track this closely in comparison to both 2020 and 2019.
AUV fell through to EBITDA at historical highs, as a result of the price increases we announced in February, May and August, and again is the outcome of our ability to price ahead of inflation.
Mineral Fiber segment adjusted EBITDA increased 10%, driven by the AUV gains and another strong quarter of equity earnings from the WAVE joint venture.
The team at WAVE has done a great job of pricing ahead of the steel inflation and managing issues across the supply chain.
These gains were partially offset by higher SG&A spending due to the return of prior-year cost reductions, increased variable compensation and investments to support our growth initiatives.
Input cost trended higher this quarter due to raw material, energy and freight inflation, which remains a top focus area for us as we end the year and prepare for 2022.
In addition, we experienced a $3 million headwind due to unplanned maintenance activities at two of our larger plants.
This caused downtime at both plants and drove lost productivity, higher scrap costs and additional freight cost to maintain our best-in-class service levels.
Both situations where remediated during the quarter and I'm happy to report that the plants are running very well in October.
This is an atypical event for AWI.
As many of you know, we consistently drive plant productivity year after year.
Moving to Architectural Specialties or AS segment on Slide 7.
Third quarter adjusted net sales grew 31% or $19 million with the 2020 acquisitions in terms of Turf, Moz, Arktura, contributing $16 million and organic sales increasing $3 million.
AS segment adjusted EBITDA increased 1% as improved sales from the 2020 acquisitions and the organic business more than offset project push outs, higher SG&A, and increased manufacturing costs.
The adjusted EBITDA margin for the segment improved 350 basis points sequentially from the second quarter but contracted 500 basis points when compared to the third quarter 2020 results.
This segment is still being pressured by inflationary conditions continued along with a recent spike in project delays due to commercial construction labor disruptions and supply chain challenges.
The project push outs are delaying some revenue to Q4 and 2022.
In September, we announced an additional round of price increases for AS products, which have already gone into effect.
We've had AS price increases in each quarter of 2021.
Slide 8 shows the drivers of our consolidated results for the nine-month period, including a breakout of the impact for our 2020 acquisitions.
Sales for the first nine months of the year were up 18% and adjusted EBITDA increased 10%.
The year-to-date results are driven by higher volumes as the second quarter lapped a prior year more significantly impacted by the pandemic, favorable AUV, and increased WAVE equity earnings, which were partially offset by higher SG&A spend and increased manufacturing in input costs.
Adjusted diluted earnings per share increased 12% to $3.28.
Slide 9 shows year-to-date adjusted free cash flow performance, which is flat versus the prior year.
Increases in cash earnings, working capital improvements, and WAVE-related dividends were offset by an increase in income tax payments and higher capex spending following a reduced prior year in an effort to manage cash and liquidity during the pandemic.
Our cash generation through the first nine months is in line with our expectations.
We summarize our updated guidance for 2021 on Slide 10.
Please note, this guidance update assumes no significant pandemic-related shutdowns or material job delays due to supply chain issues.
We are narrowing our guidance ranges for all key metrics and now we expect year-over-year revenue growth of 17% to 18%, adjusted EBITDA growth of 13% to 15%, adjusted earnings per share growth of 14% to 16%, and adjusted free cash flow of down 7% to 2%.
The right side of the page highlights updates for the prior -- from the prior guidance communicated in July.
You'll notice the increase in Mineral Fiber AUV range from 9% to 11% as our teams continue to do a great job of realizing price from our three Mineral Fiber increases this year.
We're bringing down the range of our Mineral Fiber volume to 1% to 2% as near-term choppiness remains and projects are delayed into the out months and 2022.
We continue to invest in our Healthy Spaces and digital initiatives and believe they will be meaningful contributors to our future growth.
But the larger impact on volume for the current year is the project delays previously discussed.
This is a shift in contribution between the 2020 acquisitions and the organic business to the AS segment as revenue impacts are felt from the project delays.
We now expect the 2020 acquisitions to contribute about 30% growth and AS organic in the mid-to-high single-digit range.
In conclusion, I'm proud of the work our teams have accomplished throughout the third quarter in the face of supply chain challenges and a renewal of COVID-19 concerns.
It certainly wasn't easy but they delivered a solid quarter.
These are challenging times but I remain optimistic that our investments in the future, whether it's in people, growth initiatives, innovation, or partnerships, will unlock the next level of growth for AWI.
Before we get into the Q&A session, let me share a little bit more about how we see our current position and the progress on key initiatives and what that means for the future here at Armstrong.
Inflation and supply chain challenges are likely to persist into next year.
But at AWI, we're demonstrating that we can manage our way through this, successfully delivering price ahead of inflation and minimizing the impact from supply chain disruptions.
Market conditions are continuing to improve albeit and an uneven and choppy-like fashion.
Despite the unevenness in the recovery, we have remained focused on strengthening our competitive advantage and improving our long-term growth trajectory.
Our strong financial position has allowed us to continue investing in our growth initiatives, such as Healthy Spaces and digital innovation and those efforts are progressing well and gaining traction.
Our Healthy Spaces product sales have continued to improve quarter-on-quarter and there are clear signs of the growing recognition of the role ceilings can play in ensuring indoor spaces are healthy.
For example, we have seen a significant uptick in our demand for health zone products.
This is the first line of our Healthy Spaces solutions.
As a reminder, these products were introduced a few years back to meet the needs of the healthcare environments in terms of disinfectibility and washability, which are now attributes important to any and all indoor spaces.
On a year-to-date basis, sales of these products have increased 38% versus 2020 and over 20% versus 2019 levels.
What's most encouraging is that approximately 60% of these sales are now coming from outside of the healthcare vertical.
This is validating the broader need and the transferability of existing Healthy Spaces solutions to more general-purpose applications such as offices, schools, and hospitality.
VidaShield and AirAssure, the two products that we introduced at the end of last year, again still early days, but the progress is encouraging.
Sales of these products in the third quarter doubled from the second quarter sales levels.
And we have more than doubled the number of active projects in the quarter and are conducting several trials on large-scale projects.
On the digital front, we continue to invest across several initiatives with a focus on speed and cost benefits for our customers.
One such initiative is project Works, which is our digital design and pre-construction service.
This service automates the design process from concept to builder materials, drastically increasing the speed of design while allowing design iterations along the way in minutes or in hours versus days.
In addition, once the design is complete, we can provide an accurate builder materials that makes the lives of contractors much easier.
This is a service that is deepening our collaboration with architects, designers, and contractors in a mutually beneficial way.
It's helping us secure additional specifications and ultimately to sell more products into more commercial spaces.
We are excited about the number of projects being processed by project Works and how it's strengthening Armstrong's leadership position in the commercial construction industry.
In summary, our advancement of digital and product innovation, despite the ongoing challenges of the evolving COVID pandemic is a testament to the power of focus we have as an America's-only ceiling and specialty walls company.
This power and focus has been critical throughout the pandemic as we kept all of our plants in operation and made no cuts to our sales and marketing efforts.
Our unique and powerful focus has also helped us manage through the challenges of inflation and supply chain disruptions to maintain our long track record of achieving price over inflation and maintaining our best-in-class service levels.
Throughout this uncertain period, we have not slowed our efforts to execute on our company strategy.
Our customer relationships are stronger now than ever and our ongoing product in digital innovation is providing important top-line growth opportunities.
As our markets continue to recover, we are in an excellent position to capitalize on this recovery and to deliver increased levels of value creation for our shareholders.

user
compname reports q3 adjusted earnings per share $1.17.
qtrly adjusted earnings per share $1.17.

assistant