Why Martin Marietta (MLM) Is Expanding Its Aggregates Footprint

Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) is one of the best stocks to buy for global infrastructure spending. The company’s April 30 update gives the stock a direct materials-side link to infrastructure demand, especially through aggregates, which are used across construction and public works projects. Martin Marietta said first-quarter revenue rose 17% year-over-year to $1.36 billion, while aggregates shipments increased 12.4% to a first-quarter record 43.9 million tons. CEO Ward Nye said organic aggregates shipment growth of 7% exceeded expectations, helped by an early construction-season start in the Midwest and Colorado, as well as strong infrastructure and heavy nonresidential demand across the company’s footprint.

The company is also reshaping its portfolio around aggregates. On February 23, Martin Marietta completed an asset exchange with QUIKRETE, acquiring aggregates operations that produce about 20 million tons annually in Virginia, Missouri, Kansas, and Vancouver, British Columbia. On April 19, it also signed a definitive agreement to acquire New Frontier Materials, a St. Louis-area aggregates-led producer with more than 8 million tons of annual aggregates output. That makes the story less about one quarter and more about expanding supply in construction-materials markets tied to infrastructure and heavy nonresidential demand.

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Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) is an American-based supplier of aggregates and other building materials, with operations across 28 states, Canada, and The Bahamas. The company also operates a Specialties business that provides high-purity magnesia and dolomitic lime products for environmental, industrial, agricultural, and specialty applications.

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