Ascent Industries Co (ACNT) 2025 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Good day, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the Ascent Industries Co. fourth-quarter 2025 earnings conference call. (Operator Instructions).

大家好，感謝各位稍候。歡迎參加 Ascent Industries Co. 2025 年第四季財報電話會議。（接線員指示）。

I would now like to hand the conference over to your speaker today, Bryan Kitchen.

現在我想把會議交給今天的講者 Bryan Kitchen。

Thanks, Josh, and good afternoon, everyone. Before we continue, I would like to remind all participants that the discussion today may contain certain forward-looking statements pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the federal securities laws. These statements are based on information currently available to us and are subject to various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially. Ascent advises all those listings to this call to review the latest 10-Q and 10-K posted on its website for a summary of these risks and uncertainties.

謝謝你，Josh，各位下午好。在我們繼續之前，我想提醒所有與會者，今天的討論可能包含若干前瞻性陳述，並受聯邦證券法「安全港」條款所規範。這些陳述係基於我們目前可取得的資訊，並受各種風險與不確定性影響，可能導致實際結果出現重大差異。Ascent 建議所有收聽本次電話會議的人士，查閱公司網站上最新發布的 10-Q 與 10-K，以了解這些風險與不確定性的摘要。

Ascent does not undertake the responsibility to update any forward-looking statements. Further, the discussion today may include non-GAAP measures. In accordance with Regulation G, the company has reconciled these amounts back to the closest GAAP-based measurement. The reconciliations can be found in the earnings press release issued earlier today and posted on the Investors section of the company's website at www.ascentco.com. Please note that this call is available for replay via our webcast link that is also posted on the Investors section of the company's website.

Ascent 不承擔更新任何前瞻性陳述之責任。此外，今天的討論可能包含非 GAAP 衡量指標。依據 Regulation G，公司已將這些數值調節回最接近的 GAAP 基礎衡量指標。相關調節表可見於今日稍早發布的財報新聞稿，並已張貼於公司網站 www.ascentco.com 的投資人專區。請注意，本次電話會議可透過我們的網路直播連結回放，該連結亦張貼於公司網站的投資人專區。

Now with that, let's talk about the business. We exited 2025 as a pure-play specialty chemical company and a structurally stronger business. Gross margin expanded nearly 1,000 basis points. Gross profit increased 61%. Adjusted EBITDA improved by more than $4 million year over year despite operating on approximately 7% lower revenue. And we delivered these results while fully exiting our legacy Tubular signal. That is not cyclical recovery, that is structural improvement.

接下來，讓我們談談業務。我們在 2025 年結束時，已成為一家純粹的特用化學品公司，且業務結構更為強健。毛利率擴張近 1,000 個基點。毛利增加 61%。儘管營收約年減 7%，調整後 EBITDA 仍較去年提升超過 400 萬美元。同時，我們也完全退出了傳統的 Tubular 業務。這不是景氣循環復甦，而是結構性改善。

The business we are building has a higher earnings power and we are still in the early stages of unlocking it. Fourth quarter results reflected continued end market softness and unfavorable mix, which pressured absorption and led to sequential moderation in margin and adjusted EBITDA. While the quarter did not extend the momentum of Q2 and Q3, it does not alter the trajectory of our business. Importantly, we did not chase volume to protect optics. We protected margin integrity.

我們正在打造的業務具備更高的獲利能力，而我們仍處於釋放這股潛力的早期階段。第四季結果反映終端市場持續疲弱以及不利的產品組合，對產能吸收造成壓力，並導致毛利率與調整後 EBITDA 較前一季趨緩。雖然本季未能延續第二季與第三季的動能，但並不改變我們業務的發展軌跡。重要的是，我們沒有為了維持表面數字而追逐出貨量。我們守住了毛利率的完整性。

We are reshaping our book of business towards higher margin, lower volatility revenue. That transition can create short-term variability, but the earnings foundation today is materially stronger and more durable than what it was 12 months ago.

我們正將業務組合重塑為更高毛利、波動性更低的營收。這項轉型可能在短期內帶來波動，但相較於 12 個月前，如今的獲利基礎已明顯更強、更具韌性。

Against that backdrop, the fourth quarter was defined by several tangible advances that reinforce our structural progress. We permanently exited them on haul, eliminating a legacy drag that will contribute approximately $2.1 million of run rate improvement in 2026. We secured a significant new commercial program expected to generate more than $70 million of incremental annualized revenue that will improve operating leverage across two of our manufacturing sites.

在此背景下，第四季有幾項具體進展，進一步強化我們的結構性改善。我們永久退出了 them on haul，消除一項歷史包袱，預計在 2026 年帶來約 210 萬美元的年化改善。我們取得一項重要的新商業專案，預期可帶來超過 7,000 萬美元的新增年化營收，並提升我們兩座製造據點的營運槓桿。

Our pipeline conversion reached 25% in Q4. we won 38 projects across 23 customers with an average sales cycle of 2.9 months. These wins generated commitments of $9.4 million of annualized revenue. Approximately $7.1 million came from new customer program and 2.3% came from additional wins, carrying margins in excess of 40%. The majority of these wins came from existing customers, reinforcing strong runway with shareable wallet expansion. Product sales represented 47% of the wins with custom manufacturing contributing the balance.

我們在第四季的管線轉換率達到 25%。我們在 23 家客戶中贏得 38 個專案，平均銷售週期為 2.9 個月。這些勝出案帶來 940 萬美元的年化營收承諾。其中約 710 萬美元來自新客戶專案，2.3% 來自額外勝出案，且毛利率超過 40%。多數勝出案來自既有客戶，強化了透過擴大可分享錢包份額所帶來的成長跑道。產品銷售占勝出案的 47%，其餘則由客製化製造貢獻。

In the fourth quarter, we added a record $43.4 million of new selling projects and some setted $40.8 million. Of the projects that we removed, some reflected continued ,mand softness while others were opportunities we chose not to pursue because they did not meet our return thresholds. Finally, in December, we modernized the demand engine. Website traffic increased 218% and contact submissions rose 122% within the weeks of repositioning our digital strategy. These advances were achieved while we're moving more than $5 million of labor, overhead and other costs as compared to 2024, more than offsetting targeted reinvestment.

第四季我們新增創紀錄的 4,340 萬美元新銷售專案，並移除部分專案合計 4,080 萬美元。在我們移除的專案中，有些反映需求持續疲弱，另一些則是我們選擇不追求的機會，因其未達到我們的報酬門檻。最後，在 12 月，我們升級了需求引擎。在重新定位數位策略後的數週內，網站流量增加 218%，聯絡表單提交量上升 122%。在達成這些進展的同時，相較 2024 年，我們已移除超過 500 萬美元的人力、間接費用與其他成本，且足以抵銷我們有針對性的再投資。

We are strengthening the business while lowering the structural cost base. What underpins this progress and gives the durability is a deliberate upgrade of our operating platform across marketing, sales, R&D, and operations. These are not defensive moves. They were intentional investments in people, processes, tools, and capabilities designed to improve coordination, discipline, and earnings quality.

我們在降低結構性成本基礎的同時，也在強化業務。支撐這些進展並帶來韌性的，是我們在行銷、銷售、研發與營運等面向，對營運平台所做的有計畫升級。這些不是防禦性措施。而是對人才、流程、工具與能力的刻意投資，旨在提升協同、紀律與獲利品質。

In marketing, we built a scaled measurable demand engine that did not exist two years ago. This function is tightly integrated with both sales and R&D, considerating quality, qualified opportunities, and strengthening our authority in priority chemistries and markets.

在行銷方面，我們建立了一套可規模化、可衡量的需求引擎，而這在兩年前並不存在。此職能與銷售及研發緊密整合，聚焦於高品質、合格的商機，並強化我們在優先化學領域與市場中的權威性。

In 2025, marketing delivered a return on investment well in excess of 100% across trade shows, digital demand, and inside sales campaigns. And that engine is translating into commercial momentum. In sales resources are directed towards customers and programs that need to find return thresholds and generate durable earnings. We are not managing for pipeline optics. We are managing for margin, cash generation, and long-term retention. Through structured account planning and executive engagement, we are embedding our solutions into customer formulations and validated workflows, increasing defensibility as integration deepens.

在 2025 年，行銷在展會、數位需求開發與內勤銷售活動方面的投資報酬率遠超過 100%。而這套引擎正轉化為商業動能。在銷售方面，資源被導向能符合報酬門檻並產生可持續獲利的客戶與專案。我們不以管線表面數字為管理目標。我們以毛利率、現金創造與長期留存為管理目標。透過結構化的客戶帳戶規劃與高層參與，我們正將解決方案嵌入客戶配方與已驗證的工作流程中，隨著整合加深，提高防禦性。

R&D has become a growth catalyst. Approximately 95% of our fourth quarter wins were driven by or enabled by R&D efforts including formulation development, process optimization, scale-up support, and that gap is elevating conversion quality, strengthening our margins and shortening our sales cycle times.

研發已成為成長催化劑。我們第四季約 95% 的勝出案，皆由研發工作所驅動或促成，包括配方開發、製程最佳化、放大量產支援，而這些能力正在提升轉換品質、強化毛利率並縮短銷售週期。

In operations, we prioritize leverage over expansion. Rather than adding fixed costs, we revitalized existing assets and debottleneck capacity. Guided by a disciplined return on investment mindset, we deployed approximately $435,000 to bring idle equipment back online, capability that would have required more than $3.7 million of new investment. This improves asset utilization and expand capability without increasing structural overhead.

在營運方面，我們優先追求槓桿而非擴張。我們沒有增加固定成本，而是活化既有資產並疏通產能瓶頸。在嚴謹的投資報酬思維指引下，我們投入約 43.5 萬美元讓閒置設備重新上線；若要以新增投資取得同等能力，原本需要超過 370 萬美元。這提升資產利用率並擴大能力，同時不增加結構性間接費用。

What gives us confidence in this next phase is the operating discipline now embedded across the organization. Quality, service reliability across our asset base have never been stronger. Teams are increasing uptime, driving out waste and executing with appropriate urgency. And that execution is the backbone of our margin expansion story. It enables us to grow efficiently, protect profitability, and deliver for customers in any environment.

讓我們對下一階段充滿信心的，是如今已深植於全組織的營運紀律。在我們的資產基礎上，品質與服務可靠性從未如此強勁。團隊正提升稼動率、消除浪費，並以適當的緊迫感執行。而這樣的執行力正是我們毛利率擴張故事的骨幹。它使我們能夠高效率成長、守住獲利能力，並在任何環境下為客戶交付成果。

Every investment we make and people, processes, or technology is deliberate and return driven. And we are doing this from a position of financial strength. We ended the year with significant liquidity, no debt, and a clean balance sheet, and that's after buying back approximately 7% of our outstanding shares. Our strong balance sheet gives us resilience and soft demand environment and flexibility to continue investing in high-return opportunities.

我們所做的每一項投資，無論是在人員、流程或技術上，都是經過深思熟慮並以報酬為導向。而且我們是在財務穩健的基礎上推進這些工作。我們在年底擁有充足流動性、零負債與乾淨的資產負債表，且這是在回購約 7% 流通在外股份之後。我們強健的資產負債表，使我們在需求疲弱的環境中具備韌性，並保有持續投資高報酬機會的彈性。

Stepping back, as I reflect on 2025, I'm proud of what the team has delivered. We improved margins and earnings in a difficult market, while reshaping the portfolio and reinforcing the foundation of the business. And that doesn't happen by accident. It reflects ownership, accountability, and disciplined execution across the organization.

回過頭來，當我回顧 2025 年，我為團隊所交出的成果感到自豪。我們在艱困的市場中提升了毛利率與獲利，同時重塑產品組合並強化業務根基。而這並非偶然。這反映了全組織的主人翁精神、責任承擔與有紀律的執行。

As we look ahead, our priorities are clear: keeping customer partnerships through innovation, reliability, and speed; fill available capacity with high-margin organic growth; and preserve balance sheet strength and allocate capital with discipline. We are not waiting on the market to recover. The market didn't do it to us and the market is not going to fix it for us. We are building a stronger company regardless of the cycle and positioning it to compound. Our company looks very different today than when we began this journey two short years ago. It is stronger, more disciplined, and built for durability.

展望未來，我們的優先事項很明確：透過創新、可靠性與速度維繫客戶夥伴關係；以高毛利的有機成長填補可用產能；並維持資產負債表的強健，以紀律分配資本。我們不會坐等市場復甦。這不是市場對我們造成的，市場也不會替我們把問題解決。不論景氣循環如何，我們都在打造一家更強的公司，並讓它具備持續複利成長的定位。與兩年前我們開始這段旅程時相比，今天的公司已大不相同。它更強、更有紀律，並以長期韌性為基礎打造。

To the entire Ascent team, thank you. You are our unfair advantage. And with that, I'll turn it over to Ryan to walk through the financials in more detail. Ryan?

致整個 Ascent 團隊，謝謝你們。你們是我們的不公平優勢。接下來我把時間交給 Ryan，請他更詳細地說明財務狀況。Ryan？

Thanks, Bryan, and good afternoon, everyone. Starting with net revenue. The key takeaway for the quarter is that we delivered year-over-year growth despite an uneven demand environment. Net sales increased 4%, supported by a 6% lift in shipments at several higher throughput programs ramped. As expected, that benefit came with a mix shift. Incremental pounds skewed toward lower priced, lower margin wins, which compressed spreads on a consolidated basis.

謝謝你，Bryan，各位下午好。先從淨營收談起。本季最重要的重點是：儘管需求環境不均衡，我們仍實現了年對年成長。淨銷售額成長 4%，主要受惠於多個較高產能利用率的專案放量，使出貨量提升 6%。如預期，這項效益也伴隨產品組合的變化。新增出貨磅數偏向價格較低、毛利較低的訂單，導致合併基礎的價差收斂。

Turning to the full year. Net sales declined 7.2% and as a 17.7% contraction in demand more than offset 10.9% in pricing action. In that context, we remain disciplined on value and continue to sharpen mix and execution, positioning the book to participate as volumes normalize.

接著看全年。淨銷售額下滑 7.2%，因需求萎縮 17.7% 的影響，遠大於 10.9% 的價格調整所帶來的抵銷效果。在此背景下，我們仍維持價值紀律，並持續優化產品組合與執行力，讓訂單結構在量能回歸常態時能夠參與成長。

From a profitability standpoint in the quarter, while mix in the broader cycle remained uneven, gross profit was essentially flat year over year, down less than $50,000, and gross margin declined by approximately 90 basis points. Holding margin movement to that level, given the spread compression and demand variability, is a solid outcome. And it reinforces that we're scaling throughput without compromising the earnings profile we're building.

就本季獲利能力而言，雖然整體循環中的產品組合仍不均衡，毛利基本上與去年同期持平，減少不到 5 萬美元，毛利率約下降 90 個基點。在價差收斂與需求波動的情況下，能把毛利率變動控制在這個程度，是相當不錯的結果。這也再次證明，我們在擴大產能吞吐量的同時，並未犧牲正在建立的獲利結構。

Stepping back to the full year, gross profit increased by $6.5 million and gross margin expanded by nearly 1,000 basis points driven by a 2.5% improvement in material profit as our sourcing initiatives product line management and operating execution took hold across the portfolio.

拉回來看全年，毛利增加 650 萬美元，毛利率擴張近 1,000 個基點，主要由材料利潤提升 2.5% 所帶動，因為我們的採購策略、產品線管理與營運執行在整個產品組合中逐步發揮成效。

Moving to SG&A. Expenses were $6.5 million compared to $5.4 million in the prior year period. The year over year comparison is influenced by merit accrual reversals in the fourth quarter of 2024, along with an unfavorable impact from litigation settlement expenses in the current period.

接著談 SG&A（銷售、一般及行政費用）。費用為 650 萬美元，去年同期為 540 萬美元。年對年比較受到 2024 年第四季績效調薪（merit）應計回轉的影響，此外本期也受到訴訟和解費用的不利影響。

On a full year basis, was up $3.2 million, largely driven by $2.1 million related to legacy Mono-palmer activity that was reclassed SG&A in the second quarter, as well as stock compensation and incentive payouts, partially offset by reductions in professional fees.

以全年來看，SG&A 增加 320 萬美元，主要來自 210 萬美元與歷史 Mono-palmer 活動相關的費用（於第二季重分類至 SG&A），以及股票酬勞與獎金發放；部分被專業服務費用下降所抵銷。

Adjusted EBITDA for the quarter was a loss of $1.1 million, a decrease of roughly $600,000 year over year. Full year EBITDA was a loss of $570,000, an improvement of $4.1 million year over year. '

本季調整後 EBITDA 為虧損 110 萬美元，年對年減少約 60 萬美元。全年 EBITDA 為虧損 57 萬美元，年對年改善 410 萬美元。'

Turning to the balance sheet. We ended the quarter with $57.6 million of cash, no debt and $11.4 million of incremental availability under our revolver. We finished the year with significant liquidity and a clean balance sheet, which gives us flexibility and staying power as we move through this part of the cycle.

接著看資產負債表。本季末我們持有現金 5,760 萬美元，無負債，且在循環信貸（revolver）下另有 1,140 萬美元的可用額度。我們以充足流動性與乾淨的資產負債表結束全年，這讓我們在景氣循環的這個階段具備彈性與續航力。

And with the cash conversion cycle down to 61 days, we're demonstrating tighter working capital discipline, building confidence that the business is getting more resilient even as demand softens.

此外，現金轉換週期降至 61 天，顯示我們在營運資金管理上更為嚴謹，也讓市場更有信心：即使需求轉弱，業務仍在變得更具韌性。

With that, I'll turn it back to the operator for questions.

接下來我把時間交回給主持人進行提問。

(Operator Instructions) Adam Waldo with Managing Member, Lismore Partners, LLC.

（主持人指示）Lismore Partners, LLC 的管理成員 Adam Waldo。

Okay. Thanks. So I wanted to dig in a little bit more on the cadence of the quarter by month, as you released your third quarter results. Now, were you starting to see some of the soft inserted that developed really late in the quarter? And how is the macro environment as we sit here two months into the into the first quarter? Obviously, some geopolitical developments in the last few days, but before that, were you seeing an improving macro environment?

好的。謝謝。我想更深入了解一下本季按月份的節奏，因為你們已公布第三季的結果。那麼，你們是否開始看到一些在季末才出現的疲弱跡象？另外，站在現在這個時間點——第一季已過了兩個月——宏觀環境如何？當然，過去幾天有一些地緣政治發展，但在那之前，你們是否看到宏觀環境正在改善？

Yeah, I really appreciate the question. So related to the demand build inside of 2025, what we're dealing with is still some inherent seasonality challenges with the legacy book of business, really strong Q2, really strong Q3, and a little bit of softness in Q4 and Q1. So as I mentioned in the script, one of the things that we're working on is building a more stable, ratable book of business throughout the year so we can minimize the impact of some of the seasonality of volatility that we have.

是的，非常感謝這個問題。關於 2025 年內的需求走勢，我們面對的仍是既有業務組合本身的季節性挑戰：第二季很強、第三季很強，而第四季與第一季會稍微偏弱。因此如我在講稿中提到的，我們正在做的一件事，就是打造全年更穩定、可均衡分布的業務組合，以降低我們所面臨的季節性波動影響。

Related to the most recent conflict that emerged over the weekend, what I'd say is, look, with the cost of petroleum, input raw material costs will go up --will likely go up. And if and when, when they do, we already have demonstrated the ability to pass along those raw material increases to customers. So we're pretty well protected on that.

至於週末出現的最新衝突，我想說的是：隨著石油成本上升，原物料投入成本會上升——很可能會上升。而且一旦上升，我們已經證明有能力把這些原物料漲幅轉嫁給客戶。所以在這方面我們的防護相當到位。

That's very helpful. Now as we're sort of building up our outlook for 2026, just directionally, I know you don't give specific forward guidance. But you issued a press release on December 1 about the sizable new client win of over $10 million in annualized revenue, which portended mid-teens or better revenue growth in 2026 if the existing same client revenues would be flattish year over year in '26 relative to '25. Is -- are you still comfortable that the company, based on that win? And the existing new business pipeline and backlog can deliver double-digit revenue growth for 2026?

這很有幫助。那麼，當我們在建立 2026 年展望時，就方向性而言，我知道你們不提供具體的前瞻指引。但你們在 12 月 1 日發布新聞稿，提到一筆可觀的新客戶訂單，年化營收超過 1,000 萬美元；若 2026 年既有同一客戶的營收相較 2025 年大致持平，這意味著 2026 年營收成長可能達到十幾個百分點或更高。基於這筆訂單，你們目前仍有信心嗎？以及，憑藉現有的新業務管線與在手訂單（backlog），公司是否能在 2026 年實現雙位數營收成長？

That's certainly the plan, yes. That piece of new business that we won has started. It's beginning to scale. And I think we're on track for getting that to full run rate early Q2.

是的，這確實是我們的計畫。我們拿下的那部分新業務已經開始了。目前正在逐步放量。我認為我們正按計畫在第二季初達到完整的運行水準（full run rate）。

Okay. And last question, thank you for allowing the questions. Are we feeling pretty good about the ability to deliver a consolidated gross margin that's sort of at/or above the low-30s or better level to which Ryan had so the company kind of on a steady-state basis is aspiring on a consolidated basis now, pro forma for the tubular divestitures, and having moved the Munhall facility off the books?

好的。最後一個問題，謝謝你們讓我提問。我們是否對於達成合併毛利率大致在 30% 出頭、或高於 30% 出頭的水準感到相當有把握？也就是 Ryan 提到公司在穩態（steady-state）下、以合併口徑所追求的目標——在管材（tubular）資產處分的擬制（pro forma）基礎上，並且已將 Munhall 廠房自帳上移除之後？

Yes, I'll start and Ryan, you can jump in. I mean, certainly, that's what we're running on guiding towards what we said from day one is we were targeting margins in that 30% to 35% range that flow through to SG&A at 15%.

是的，我先回答，Ryan 你也可以補充。我的意思是，當然，這就是我們目前的運作方向；我們從第一天就說過，我們的目標是毛利率在 30% 到 35% 的區間，並使其在 SG&A 端落在 15%。

Obviously, we need to grow into that SG&A and then flow through all the way down to 15% EBITDA margins that wasn't an immediate target. That was, hey, we're going to fulfill that this month or this quarter or even this year, that was more of a long-term target. But you could do a quick look back and look at our performance in Q2 and Q3, and what we delivered was squarely in the upper-20s to the lower-30s range.

當然，我們需要透過成長來攤提並達到那個 SG&A 水準，然後一路往下實現 15% 的 EBITDA 利潤率；那不是立即性的目標。也不是說這個月、這一季，甚至今年就要達成；那更偏向長期目標。不過你可以快速回顧我們第二季與第三季的表現，我們交出的成果確實落在 20% 高段到 30% 低段的區間。

Okay. And the new business you're bringing on more recently is it higher gross margins. So is it reasonably conservative, but plausible to expect to consolidate gross margin for 2026 in at least that high-20s to low-30s range that you articulated, Bryan?

好的。而你們最近帶進來的新業務，毛利率是不是更高。所以，對於你剛才提到的區間，Bryan，合理保守但仍具可行性地預期 2026 年合併毛利率至少能落在你所說的高 20% 到低 30% 的範圍內嗎？

Yeah, I think so. I mean, look, it's really -- there's always going to be puts and takes along the way. We'll see how the year shapes. But certainly, the mid-20s to lower-30s is still our target.

是的，我想是的。我的意思是，你看，這確實——一路上總會有一些利多與利空因素。我們會看看今年的走勢如何。但可以確定的是，中 20% 到低 30% 仍然是我們的目標。

Okat. Thanks so much.

好的。非常感謝。

Gregory Kitt, Pinnacle.

Gregory Kitt，Pinnacle。

Hi, Bryan and Ryan. Thanks for taking my questions.

嗨，Bryan 和 Ryan。謝謝你們回答我的問題。

Hey, Greg.

嗨，Greg。

Hey, Greg.

嗨，Greg。

First, congratulations on a good year in which you had to accomplish a lot with divestitures in managing the portfolio. And through that, you were still continuing to win new business. I've read your comment that you're exiting with a clean and focused platform, focused on are capable of delivering higher quality earnings and operating leverage.

首先，恭喜你們度過了表現不錯的一年；在管理投資組合、進行資產剝離的同時，你們必須完成很多事情。而在這個過程中，你們仍持續贏得新業務。我讀到你們的評論，說你們在退出後擁有一個乾淨且聚焦的平台，專注於能夠帶來更高品質的獲利與營運槓桿。

If I could kind of break it down into revenue margins and operating leverage, kind of piggyback on some of Adam's questions, on revenue, just to make sure that I understood, did you say that you won $9.4 million of business in the quarter? And then how do I reconcile that with the December 1 announcement of that $10 million plus that you announced? I was a little confused.

如果我把它拆成營收、毛利率與營運槓桿，並延續 Adam 的一些問題：在營收方面，為了確認我理解正確，你是說你們本季贏得了 940 萬美元的業務嗎？那我該如何把這個數字和 12 月 1 日公告的 1,000 萬美元以上那筆做對照？我有點困惑。

Yeah, that's right. So what we flashed was $9.4 million of wins in the fourth quarter, of which I believe it was $7.1 million of that was attributed to that new customer program. $2.3 million or the balance of that came from additional new customer wins outside of the programmatic window we announced.

對，沒錯。所以我們揭露的是第四季贏得 940 萬美元的訂單，其中我相信有 710 萬美元歸因於那個新客戶專案。其餘的 230 萬美元，或說剩下的部分，來自我們公告的專案期間之外、其他新增的新客戶訂單。

Okay. And so that $7.1 million, there was an opportunity, there's an opportunity for that to continue to grow to reach that $10 million potential?

好的。那麼那 710 萬美元，是否有機會持續成長，達到你們所說的 1,000 萬美元潛力？

Absolutely. Yes.

絕對有。是的。

Okay. Okay. Great. And so is there some way to think about you had talked about somewhere in the range of a combined $30 million of wins, a little north of $30 million of wins over the course of '25. Is there any way to think about how much, if any, of that contributed to results last year?

好的。好的。太好了。那麼，有沒有什麼方式可以理解：你們曾談到 2025 年全年合計大約 3,000 萬美元、略高於 3,000 萬美元的贏單；其中有多少（如果有的話）在去年就已對業績有所貢獻？

It's a good question. Let me take an action, and I'll follow up with you on that on our follow-up call. I don't want to spit all a number.

這是個好問題。我先記下來，之後在我們的後續電話會議再跟你回覆。我不想隨口報一個數字。

But I did want to go back, Greg, to your prior question around the $7.1 million versus the $10 million, trying to reconcile that. Of the $9 million million that we referenced, that is predicated on us actually receiving for a purchase order or for shipment. So part of that $10 million, we've shipped out a number of SKUs, but we haven't shipped out all of them. And because of that, there's going to be some bleed over into the first quarter.

不過 Greg，我想回到你前一個關於 710 萬美元與 1,000 萬美元如何對得上的問題。我們提到的那約 900 萬美元，是以我們實際收到採購訂單或完成出貨為前提。所以在那 1,000 萬美元當中，我們已經出了一些 SKU，但還沒有全部出完。因此會有一部分延續到第一季。

Okay. Okay. That's great. Yeah. Thank you for that interpretation. Yeah, I think the big thing for me is not to say that you were distracted, but you did have other operational focuses with the divestitures that you don't have anymore. And so I think I look at the platform and say, hey, you can just focus on winning business. And something that you said in your prepared remarks, it was interesting, was that you invested some amount of dollars to effectively expand your capacity in EBITDA in a cost-effective manner rather than having to buy new equipment.

好的。好的。太好了。是的。謝謝你這樣解釋。對我來說重點是，不是說你們分心，但你們確實還有其他營運重點要處理，例如資產剝離，而現在你們不再需要分心於此。所以我看這個平台會覺得，嘿，你們可以專注在贏得業務。另外你在事先準備的講稿中提到一點很有意思：你們投入了一些資金，以具成本效益的方式在 EBITDA 層面有效擴充能力，而不是必須購買新設備。

What are you looking at? Or maybe walk us through that decision because you've talked about how your assets are relatively underutilized, just that decision-making process in investing in to effectively expand your capacity now, what's giving you that confidence to do that?

你們在看的是什麼？或者能否帶我們走一遍這個決策？因為你們談過資產相對未充分利用；那麼現在投資以有效擴充能力的決策流程是什麼？是什麼讓你們有信心這麼做？

Yeah. So just to be clear, what I said was to expand our capability, not our capacity. So this isn't a faring rig of adding additional reactors to the mix, because as you know, we have a fair amount already that are grossly underutilized. So what this really refers to is putting old storage tanks back into commission to support new business that we have won.

是的。先澄清一下，我說的是擴充我們的「能力」（capability），不是「產能」（capacity）。所以這不是像你說的那種再加反應器的擴建，因為如你所知，我們現有的反應器數量不少，而且利用率嚴重偏低。所以這裡真正指的是把舊的儲槽重新啟用，以支援我們已贏得的新業務。

Another example is, in Virginia, we had rail capability going inbound into our multipurpose plant that at some point in time, had been paved over with asphalt. Well, the team in Virginia done a really creative way in partnership with the local railroads to get that back in service for nominally $20,000, right? So that's just another example. But these are not materialize where we're going out and adding net new capacity. It's all about capabilities to support existing and new business.

另一個例子是，在維吉尼亞，我們的多用途工廠原本有鐵路進料能力，但在某個時間點被瀝青鋪面覆蓋了。結果維吉尼亞的團隊以非常有創意的方式，與當地鐵路公司合作，用大約 2 萬美元就讓它恢復運作，對吧？這只是另一個例子。但這些都不是我們出去新增淨新增產能的重大資本支出。重點完全在於提升能力，以支援既有與新業務。

Okay. Great. Thank you. On the gross margin side, I would guess that that was the only piece where I said, I can't wait to learn more, because I think you'd had great linear progress in Q2 and Q3 of last year. And this is a -- it's going to be revenue based. You're absorbing fixed overhead. And so I expected margins to be down this quarter.

好的。太好了。謝謝。在毛利率方面，我猜這是唯一一塊我會說「我等不及想了解更多」的部分，因為我認為你們去年第二季與第三季有很好的逐季改善。而這會是——以營收為基礎的。你們在吸收固定製造費用。所以我原本預期本季毛利率會下滑。

Can you give us any sort of way to think about gross margins going forward? Did anything this quarter make you -- I heard what you said to Adam, but did anything you saw in the fourth quarter make you revisit your margin targets and say, hey, this might take a little bit longer than we thought or might be more challenging than we thought.

你們能否提供一些方式讓我們思考未來的毛利率走勢？本季有沒有任何事情讓你們——我聽到你對 Adam 的回答，但第四季你們看到的任何狀況，有沒有讓你們重新檢視毛利率目標，覺得可能需要比原先想的更久，或可能比原先想的更具挑戰？

No, I'll let Ryan jump in on that. Ryan?

沒有，我讓 Ryan 來回答。Ryan？

Yeah. I mean nothing in the quarter. I mean we have some inventory adjustments and accruals and things like that. So there was a handful of onetime items building of stock some customers there, where we control the raw material spend. So you see raw material costs come up, the margins are actively the same. But those types of things came through in the fourth quarter.

是的。我的意思是，本季沒有什麼。我們有一些存貨調整、應計項目之類的。所以有少數一次性項目，例如為某些客戶建立庫存，在那些情況下原料支出是由我們控制。所以你會看到原料成本上升，但毛利率其實是相同的。但這類事情在第四季有反映出來。

Nothing that we saw, in my opinion, is structural. It's more just timing and predominantly just mix. Some of our newer customers, we've gone on win we were aware that there was a volume aspect that we were willing to trade for margin. We won't always do that, but in the scenarios where our plants are still grossly underutilized. These are deals that's come few and far between in this kind of macro environment where you can go out and find large chunks of volume we are willing to kind of move.

以我看來，我們看到的沒有任何結構性的問題。更多只是時間點因素，且主要是產品組合（mix）。我們有些新客戶，在我們拿下案子時就知道有一個量的面向，我們願意用量去換取毛利。我們不會一直這麼做，但在我們工廠仍嚴重未充分利用的情境下，在這種總體環境裡，能出去找到大塊量的案子其實不多見；我們願意在某種程度上做一些調整。

So we took on that business, and we did see some of that mix effects, which did compress March in the quarter, but nothing that happened in this quarter, would make me think that our targets of plus 30% are unachievable. We'll still continue to march that way. But sometimes the quarters will get choppy and the mix will throw that off in kind of take away that kind of linear progression you saw where we were kind of ramping up margins every quarter. So we should get back to that mid-20s, low-20s here for the first half and hopefully start to ramp back up as capacity increases and utilization increases or capacity utilization increases.

因此我們承接了那項業務，也確實看到一些產品組合效應，這在本季使 3 月的表現受到壓縮，但本季發生的任何事情都不會讓我認為我們「+30%」的目標無法達成。我們仍會持續朝那個方向前進。但有時季度表現會比較顛簸，產品組合會造成偏移，某種程度上會打斷你先前看到的那種線性進展——也就是我們每季逐步拉升毛利率的走勢。所以在上半年，我們應該會回到 20% 中段、20% 低段的水準，並希望隨著產能增加、稼動率提升（或產能稼動率提升）而開始再度往上爬升。

Two more for me, quick ones. On SG&A. Is there any way to think about that litigation settlement, how material that could have been in the quarter?

我還有兩個問題，很快的。關於 SG&A。有沒有什麼方式可以理解那筆訴訟和解在本季的影響有多重大？

It's about $200,000 -- a little over $200,000. So that was a legacy issue we've been working on. We finally got it wrapped up. It was it's a good win for us in the end of where we thought it could be at. So call it, $200,000, a little over that.

大約是 20 萬美元——略高於 20 萬美元。那是一個我們一直在處理的歷史遺留問題。我們終於把它收尾了。就我們原先認為可能的結果而言，最後對我們來說是一次很好的勝利。所以就算 20 萬美元，略高於此。

And then you announced you and the Board announced that share repurchase authorization back in November, not a ton of traction in the fourth quarter. Can you help us think about capital allocation? I'm assuming you're still continuing to look at potential acquisitions? And how you weigh that versus share repurchases?

另外，你和董事會在 11 月宣布了股票回購授權，但第四季執行得不多。你能幫我們理解一下資本配置嗎？我猜你們仍在持續評估潛在併購？以及你們如何在併購與股票回購之間權衡？

Yeah. I mean for the first thing we focused on is reinvestments in the assets. As Bryan mentioned, some of that can be capacity capability enhancements, process improvements, first time in spec, things like that, we're able to streamline and be more efficient. So we'll always allocate dollars to that first.

是的。我的意思是，我們首先聚焦的是對資產的再投資。如 Bryan 提到的，其中一部分可能是產能與能力的提升、製程改善、一次就做到符合規格（first time in spec）之類的事情，讓我們能夠精簡流程、提高效率。所以我們永遠會優先把資金配置到這些項目。

When we looked at share buybacks, the stock was trading sub-15%, we thought there was a really good opportunity from where we felt we could be in a few years and then the stock did run a little bit up. So it kind of came out of our buybacks for a little bit. So we'll still have that in our quiver, but it was much more attractive in the places where we were quite a bit more active.

當我們評估股票回購時，股價當時的交易水準低於我們認為的價值約 15%，我們覺得以我們對未來幾年的判斷來看，那是個非常好的機會，之後股價也確實上漲了一些。所以我們就暫時減少了回購。因此回購仍會是我們的工具之一，但在當時那些價位時，它的吸引力更高，我們也更積極。

So we'll continue to look at that, be opportunistic where we can in buybacks. We've in ourselves to do that. And then M&A is always there.

所以我們會持續關注，並在可能時以機會主義方式進行回購。我們本身也具備這樣做的能力。然後併購（M&A）也一直都在考量範圍內。

Right now, there is so much capacity not only within our own assets, but within the broader industry as a whole and specifically in North America. So we haven't seen anything attractive to this point. We're continuing to be open and looking, but again, our first, second, and third focus is filling up our own assets.

目前不只是我們自己的資產，整個產業、尤其是北美，都有非常多的閒置產能。所以到目前為止，我們還沒有看到任何具吸引力的標的。我們會持續保持開放並持續尋找，但同樣地，我們第一、第二、第三優先都是把自有資產的產能填滿。

We're hesitant and we'll be cautious when we see assets come along that looks similar in utilization to our own. We don't need that added problem. So we'll continue to kind of look at things that way and that priority order, invest in our assets and people first, opportunistically buy shares where we can and where the price looks right. And then if an attractive asset comes along or a product portfolio comes along, we're in a position to make that move quickly.

當看到一些資產出現、其稼動率看起來和我們自己的相近時，我們會猶豫並保持謹慎。我們不需要再增加那樣的問題。所以我們會以這樣的方式與優先順序來看：先投資我們的資產與人才；在可行且價格合適時，機會主義地回購股票。然後如果出現有吸引力的資產或產品組合，我們也有能力快速採取行動。

Thank you very much.

非常感謝。

(Operator Instructions) [Howard Root, Fare Hope Capital].

（接線員指示）[Howard Root，Fare Hope Capital]。

Good afternoon and thanks for taking my call, Bryan and Ryan. A little follow-up on the gross profit. I mean, I was kind of surprised going from 29% in Q3 down to 18% in Q4. Was any of that related to new contracts you took on? Or is it -- you just talked about one time, it wasn't for the onetime expenses you had, would that have been closer to the 23% you had for the year? Or how much of that can we look at as onetime, one quarter? Or how much of that might be continuing into 2026?

下午好，謝謝接我的電話，Bryan 和 Ryan。我想再追問一下毛利。我的意思是，我有點驚訝，從第三季的 29% 降到第四季的 18%。其中有任何部分是因為你們承接了新合約嗎？或者——你剛才提到一次性因素，如果不是那些一次性費用，是否會更接近你們全年 23% 的水準？或者其中有多少可以視為一次性、單一季度的影響？又有多少可能會延續到 2026 年？

I'd say about, call it, a little over $0.5 million was kind of what I would consider onetime. Are they normal course of business things like inventory accruals and things like that? Yes, but they were things that were headwinds and normally they are. When we look at comps year over year, there were some tailwinds in '24 that we did in '25.

我會說大約——就算略高於 50 萬美元——是我認為的一次性項目。它們是正常營運過程中的事項嗎，例如存貨提列（inventory accruals）之類？是的，但它們是逆風因素，而通常也確實會發生。當我們做年對年比較時，2024 年有一些順風因素，但 2025 年沒有。

So I think if you stripped all that out, we would probably have spent somewhere in that low-20% margin. So definitely a compression compared to Q3. And again, some of that's just mix-driven, right, where we have these kind of higher volume, lower mix customers, that mix just shifted a little bit for us in you compound that with some of the things we did to clean up the inventory and things like that, and that's what pulled things back.

所以我認為如果把那些都剔除，我們的毛利率大概會落在 20% 低段。因此相較第三季確實是壓縮。同樣地，其中一部分只是組合驅動，對吧？我們有一些高出貨量、較低毛利組合的客戶，對我們而言組合稍微移動了一點；再加上我們為了清理存貨所做的一些事情等等，這些就把表現拉回來了。

So again, these aren't structural margin compression we're seeing these are more just timing and mix related. -- we should get back into that 20% going forward and then start to get to get back on that ramp closer to 30% is where we hope to be long term.

所以再說一次，我們看到的不是結構性的毛利率壓縮，而是更多與時點與產品組合相關。我們未來應該會回到 20% 左右，然後再開始回到那條爬坡曲線，長期希望能接近 30%。

Okay. Great. Thanks. And then just a general question on the M&A environment. What are you seeing out there in terms of the size of targets and valuation and kind of also your appetite for it as you another quarter in? Do you see that it's something you want to do this year, you would do for the exact right thing or are things getting into the right price range for you to do something now?

好的。很好。謝謝。另外一個關於併購環境的通用問題。你們目前看到的標的規模、估值大概如何？以及隨著你們又多經歷了一個季度，你們對併購的意願如何？你們覺得今年想做一筆交易嗎？還是只有在完全合適的情況下才會做？或者現在價格已經到你們覺得可以出手的區間了？

Yeah. Look, I would say that we're always in the hunt, but it's got to be the right opportunities. So as Ryan mentioned, the last thing that we want to do is go out and buy another, let's say, a distressed asset that has relatively low utilization when all that would do is effectively compound our existing problem statement. So what we really like is a product line or product lines that we could acquire and then integrate into our manufacturing base that utilization up and get that dual bump.

是的。我想說我們一直都在尋找，但必須是對的機會。所以如 Ryan 提到的，我們最不想做的就是出去再買一個——比如說——處於困境的資產、而且稼動率相對偏低，因為那樣做只會實質上加劇我們現有的問題。所以我們真正喜歡的是能收購一條或多條產品線，然後整合進我們的製造基地，提高稼動率，形成雙重提升。

We haven't found that right opportunity just yet. We're not running away from M&A, but we certainly don't have any dollars burning a hole in our pocket, Howard.

我們還沒有找到那個合適的機會。我們並不是排斥併購，但我們也絕對沒有什麼資金急著非花不可，Howard。

Great. All right. And thanks, again, for all the hard work last year getting this set on the right path forward. So I look forward to a great 2026 for you guys.

很好。好。也再次感謝你們去年為了讓公司走上正確道路所付出的努力。所以我期待你們在 2026 年有很棒的表現。

Thank you. I would now like to turn the call back over to Bryan Kitchen for any closing remarks.

謝謝。我現在想把電話交回給 Bryan Kitchen，請他做結語。

Okay, Josh. We'd like to thank everyone for listening to today's call, and we look forward to speaking with you all again when we report our first quarter 2026 results. Thanks very much, and have a great day.

好的，Josh。我們要感謝各位收聽今天的電話會議，也期待在我們公布 2026 年第一季業績時，再次與各位交流。非常感謝，祝各位有美好的一天。

Thank you. This concludes the conference. Thank you for your participation. You may now disconnect.

謝謝。本次電話會議到此結束。感謝各位的參與。您現在可以掛線。