Archrock Inc (AROC) 2023 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Ladies and gentlemen, good morning. Welcome to the Archrock Fourth Quarter 2023 Conference Call. Your host for today's call is Megan Repine, Vice President of Investor Relations at Archrock.

女士們、先生們，早安。歡迎參加 Archrock 2023 年第四季電話會議。今天電話會議的主持人是 Archrock 投資者關係副總裁 Megan Repine。

I will now turn the call over to Ms. Repine. You may begin.

我現在將把電話轉給雷平女士。你可以開始了。

Thank you, Abby. Hello, everyone, and thanks for joining us on today's call. With me today are Brad Childers, President and Chief Executive Officer of Archrock; and Doug Aron, Chief Financial Officer of Archrock.

謝謝你，艾比。大家好，感謝您參加今天的電話會議。今天與我在一起的有 Archrock 總裁兼執行長 Brad Childers；以及Archrock 財務長Doug Aron。

Yesterday, Archrock released its financial and operating results for the fourth quarter and full year 2023, as well as annual guidance for 2024. If you have not received a copy, you can find the information on the company's website at www.archrock.com.

昨天，Archrock 發布了 2023 年第四季和全年的財務和營運業績，以及 2024 年年度指引。如果您還沒有收到副本，可以在該公司網站 www.archrock.com 上找到該資訊。

During this call, we will make forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934 based on our current beliefs and expectations, as well as assumptions made by and information currently available to Archrock's management team. Although management believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct.

在本次電話會議中，我們將根據1934 年《證券交易法》第21E 條的含義，根據我們當前的信念和預期，以及Archrock 管理團隊做出的假設和目前可獲得的信息，做出前瞻性陳述。儘管管理階層認為此類前瞻性聲明中反映的預期是合理的，但不能保證此類預期將被證明是正確的。

Please refer to our latest filings with the SEC for a list of factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements made during this call. In addition, our discussion today will reference certain non-GAAP financial measures, including adjusted EBITDA, gross margin, gross margin percentage, free cash flow, free cash flow after dividend and cash available for dividend. For reconciliations of these non-GAAP financial measures to our GAAP financial results, please see yesterday's press release and our Form 8-K furnished to the SEC.

請參閱我們向美國證券交易委員會提交的最新文件，以了解可能導致實際結果與本次電話會議期間做出的前瞻性聲明中的結果有重大差異的因素清單。此外，我們今天的討論將參考某些非公認會計準則財務指標，包括調整後的 EBITDA、毛利率、毛利率百分比、自由現金流、股息後自由現金流和可用於股息的現金。有關這些非 GAAP 財務指標與我們的 GAAP 財務表現的調整表，請參閱昨天的新聞稿和我們向 SEC 提供的 8-K 表格。

I'll now turn the call over to Brad to discuss Archrock's fourth quarter and full year results and to provide an update of our business.

我現在將電話轉給 Brad，討論 Archrock 第四季和全年業績，並提供我們業務的最新情況。

Thank you, Megan, and good morning, everyone. Simply put, 2023 was a tremendous year for Archrock. We exited the year with excellent fourth quarter performance, building significant momentum in utilization, pricing and profitability. As we wrap up a record-breaking year for our company, I want to extend my congratulations to our dedicated employees on an extensive list of accomplishments.

謝謝你，梅根，大家早安。簡而言之，2023 年對 Archrock 來說是非凡的一年。我們以出色的第四季度業績結束了這一年，在利用率、定價和盈利能力方面建立了顯著的勢頭。當我們結束公司破紀錄的一年時，我想向我們敬業的員工表示祝賀，祝賀他們取得了廣泛的成就。

Among the highlights, our teams worked around the clock to meet our customers' sharp increase in demand. We grew our contract compression operating fleet by 214,000 horsepower excluding sales of non-strategic assets, and we increased our exit fleet utilization by 300 basis points to an all-time high of 96%. As we met this demand, we recorded over 4.4 million man hours and drove 22 million miles. In this exceptionally busy environment and despite a dynamic labor market, we continue to deliver industry-leading safety performance, achieving a total recordable incident rate of 0.05. And for the third consecutive year, we achieved zero lost time incidents.

亮點之一是我們的團隊晝夜不停地工作，以滿足客戶急劇增長的需求。不包括非戰略資產的銷售，我們的合約壓縮營運機隊增加了 214,000 匹馬力，我們的退出機隊利用率提高了 300 個基點，達到 96% 的歷史最高水準。當我們滿足這項需求時，我們記錄了超過 440 萬工時並行駛了 2200 萬英里。在這個異常繁忙的環境中，儘管勞動市場充滿活力，我們仍繼續提供業界領先的安全績效，實現了 0.05 的總可記錄事故率。我們連續第三年實現了零損失時間事故。

We more than doubled the net income and earnings per share compared to 2022, and we grew our adjusted EBITDA by 24% year-over-year. This step change in our earnings power enabled us to return more than $105 million in capital to our shareholders through 2 dividend increases and the initiation of a share buyback program. We also concurrently delivered outstanding dividend coverage of 2.4x, and drove our leverage ratio to an all-time low of 3.5x.

與 2022 年相比，我們的淨利潤和每股收益增加了一倍以上，調整後 EBITDA 年成長 24%。我們獲利能力的這一階躍變化使我們能夠透過兩次增加股利和啟動股票回購計畫向股東返還超過 1.05 億美元的資本。我們同時也實現了 2.4 倍的未償股息覆蓋率，並將槓桿率降至 3.5 倍的歷史低點。

From the separation of the international and fabrication operations at the end of 2015, to the navigation of 2 significant market disruptions in 2016 and 2020, and our steps to high-grade our fleets, our technology in our markets, I'm exceptionally proud of the strong market and financial position we've built through multiple years of effort to transform our company. This transformation not only contributed to record successes across multiple metrics in 2023, but we expect will benefit our operations, financial performance and investor returns well into the future.

從 2015 年底國際業務和製造業務的分離，到 2016 年和 2020 年兩次重大市場混亂的應對，以及我們邁向高等級車隊、我們在市場中的技術的步伐，我感到非常自豪我們通過多年的公司轉型努力建立了強大的市場和財務地位。這項轉型不僅有助於 2023 年在多個指標上取得創紀錄的成功，而且我們預計將有利於我們未來的營運、財務表現和投資者回報。

We kick off 2024 in an enviable position. Our fleet quality is first rate. We have a fleet of highly-standardized large horsepower units deployed in the most stable infrastructure segment of the market. Our service quality is excellent. We have the talent, technical expertise and safety processes in place to deliver the high level of service that our customers require. And we've only begun to leverage the capabilities of our innovative technology and process investments to digitize and increasingly automate our operating platform, which will enable us to take our customer service to new heights. Our customer relationships are deep. We have strategic partnerships with key customers that spanned multiple decades, and we are an integral part of their critical midstream operations. And we're preparing for a greener economy. The work we're progressing on methane and carbon capture could contribute meaningfully to the industry's efforts to reduce emissions and create long-term value for Archrock and our shareholders. We're encouraged by the early results in field tests and expect to demonstrate commercialization progress for certain products during 2024. We're proud to continue Archrock's mission to lead our industry in powering a cleaner America.

我們以令人羨慕的姿態開啟 2024 年。我們的機隊品質是一流的。我們擁有一支高度標準化的大馬力機組，部署在市場上最穩定的基礎設施領域。我們的服務品質非常好。我們擁有人才、技術專長和安全流程，可以提供客戶所需的高水準服務。我們才剛開始利用我們的創新技術和流程投資的能力來數位化和日益自動化我們的營運平台，這將使我們能夠將我們的客戶服務提升到新的高度。我們的客戶關係深厚。我們與主要客戶建立了長達數十年的策略夥伴關係，並且我們是他們關鍵中游業務不可或缺的一部分。我們正在為綠色經濟做準備。我們在甲烷和碳捕獲方面正在進行的工作可以為產業減少排放的努力做出有意義的貢獻，並為 Archrock 和我們的股東創造長期價值。我們對現場測試的早期結果感到鼓舞，並期望在 2024 年展示某些產品的商業化進展。我們很自豪能夠繼續 Archrock 的使命，引領我們的行業，為更清潔的美國提供動力。

Turning to compression fundamentals. We continue to experience an opportunity-rich market, one that contributes to our ability to grow our earnings and cash flows in the future. Over the long term, our repositioning and investments in technology and processes should also reduce the volatility and further improve the stability of our operational and financial results.

轉向壓縮基礎知識。我們繼續經歷一個機會豐富的市場，這有助於我們未來增加收入和現金流的能力。從長遠來看，我們對技術和流程的重新定位和投資也應該減少波動性，並進一步提高我們營運和財務表現的穩定性。

The opportunities we see in the market for compression and for Archrock are driven by several factors. First, growth in natural gas production. In 2023, U.S. natural gas production grew to a new all-time high of 104 billion cubic feet per day, eclipsing the previous record set in 2022. And the natural gas production forecast we track all continue to show growth in 2024 volumes. Natural gas production growth continues to be led by key Archrock oil-producing markets that have associated gas like the Permian.

我們在壓縮市場和 Archrock 市場看到的機會是由多個因素所驅動的。一是天然氣產量成長。 2023 年，美國天然氣產量將增加至每天 1,040 億立方英尺的歷史新高，超過了 2022 年創下的紀錄。我們追蹤的天然氣產量預測均繼續顯示 2024 年產量的成長。天然氣產量成長持續由擁有二疊紀等伴生天然氣的主要石油生產市場引領。

In the near term, the visible slate of global LNG projects that have already been approved and sanctioned are expected to result in a sustained and secular call on U.S. natural gas production. Longer term, the EIA forecasts U.S. natural gas production growth through 2050.

短期內，已獲得批准和製裁的全球液化天然氣項目的明顯清單預計將導致對美國天然氣生產的持續和長期需求。從長遠來看，EIA 預測到 2050 年美國天然氣產量將增加。

The second factor is the heightened capital discipline across the energy sector. Customers, peers and suppliers are balancing growth with returns to shareholders. Industry-wide, additional investment in compression, a critical piece of infrastructure needed to move gas to market is required to meet current and growing demand. For Archrock, this has created a healthy and visible backlog of customer orders. We are sold out of new build equipment for 2024 and have already begun building a meaningful new order book for 2025.

第二個因素是整個能源產業加強資本紀律。客戶、同業和供應商正在平衡成長與股東回報。在全行業範圍內，需要對壓縮進行額外投資，壓縮是將天然氣推向市場所需的關鍵基礎設施，以滿足當前和不斷增長的需求。對於 Archrock 來說，這創造了健康且可見的客戶訂單積壓。我們 2024 年的新建設備已售罄，並已開始為 2025 年建立有意義的新訂單。

Longer term, the increased level of capital discipline, we're seeing throughout the oil and gas value chain should support higher returns for investors across the entire sector, including in compression and for Archrock.

從長遠來看，我們看到整個石油和天然氣價值鏈中資本紀律水準的提高應該會為整個產業（包括壓縮產業和 Archrock）的投資者帶來更高的回報。

This brings me to a third point, the increasingly critical role natural gas can play to decarbonize energy. We now have the opportunity as an industry to further strengthen the case for natural gas by reducing emissions across the value chain. And at Archrock, we intend to do our part. Our new ventures team is advancing opportunities to bring methane emissions, detection, measurement and capture solutions to market. These opportunities are directly adjacent and complementary to our core contract compression services.

這讓我想到了第三點，天然氣在能源脫碳方面發揮著越來越重要的作用。作為一個產業，我們現在有機會透過減少整個價值鏈的排放來進一步加強天然氣的應用。在 Archrock，我們打算盡自己的一份心力。我們的新企業團隊正在推動將甲烷排放、檢測、測量和捕獲解決方案推向市場的機會。這些機會與我們的核心合約壓縮服務直接相鄰且互補。

Currently, we're in the development pilots and early marketing phases of these investments, which will make their expected financial contributions minimal in the near term. However, we believe they could contribute meaningfully to the industry's efforts to reduce emissions over time and thus, enabling our core operations to continue to expand while providing exciting new markets for growth opportunities for Archrock.

目前，我們正處於這些投資的開發試點和早期行銷階段，這將使他們在短期內的預期財務貢獻微乎其微。然而，我們相信，隨著時間的推移，它們可以為行業減少排放的努力做出有意義的貢獻，從而使我們的核心業務能夠繼續擴大，同時為 Archrock 提供令人興奮的新市場成長機會。

And despite being still in the early days, we believe the potential impact of our proprietary methane capture device is further enhanced by the final (inaudible) rules published by the EPA last December.

儘管仍處於早期階段，但我們相信 EPA 去年 12 月發布的最終（聽不清楚）規則進一步增強了我們專有的甲烷捕獲裝置的潛在影響。

If we, as an industry, succeed in materially reducing emissions associated with natural gas production and use, we believe we help answer the call on all businesses to reduce carbon emissions. We extend our social license to operate, and we extend the use of our affordable and abundant natural gas resource as a low emission source of reliable power generation as well as the value of billions of dollars of existing infrastructure for decades to come.

如果我們作為一個行業成功地大幅減少與天然氣生產和使用相關的排放，我們相信我們有助於響應所有企業減少碳排放的號召。我們擴大了社會運營許可，並擴大了我們負擔得起且豐富的天然氣資源的使用範圍，作為可靠發電的低排放來源，並在未來幾十年擴大了價值數十億美元的現有基礎設施的價值。

Moving on to our segments. Our Contract Operations business segment is firing on all cylinders. We exited 2023 with a record fleet utilization rate of 96%. For the full year, our operating horsepower grew by approximately 214,000 excluding the active horsepower we sold as part of our fleet high-grading strategy. The fourth quarter marks our ninth consecutive quarter of sequential increases in our monthly revenue per horsepower. In 2024, we will benefit from a full year's impact of these rate increases and we expect to capture additional meaningful increments this year. I'm proud to say that we delivered gross margin dollars for the year of $503 million, up $100 million or 26% compared to 2022. This translated into a 300 basis point increase in our gross margin percentage for the year. Notably, we achieved a quarterly high for 2023 of 64% during Q4. Looking ahead, we remain ambitious about driving additional profitability gains in 2024 and long term, especially as we leverage the capabilities of our technology investments to digitize and increasingly automate our operating platform.

繼續我們的部分。我們的合約營運業務部門正在全速運轉。到 2023 年，我們的機隊利用率將達到創紀錄的 96%。全年，我們的營運馬力成長了約 214,000 匹馬力，不包括我們作為車隊高級策略的一部分所出售的活躍馬力。第四季標誌著我們每馬力每月收入連續第九個季度連續成長。 2024 年，我們將受益於這些升息的全年影響，並且我們預計今年將獲得更多有意義的增量。我很自豪地說，我們今年的毛利率為 5.03 億美元，比 2022 年增加了 1 億美元，即 26%。這意味著我們今年的毛利率百分比增加了 300 個基點。值得注意的是，我們在第四季度實現了 64% 的 2023 年季度新高。展望未來，我們仍然雄心勃勃地致力於在 2024 年和長期內推動額外的盈利能力成長，特別是當我們利用技術投資的能力來數位化和日益自動化我們的營運平台時。

Moving to our Aftermarket Services segment. Full year 2023 activity improved meaningfully compared to 2022, and we saw steady activity in the fourth quarter with solid demand for our services. Profitability remains substantially higher than historical levels as we focus on higher quality and higher-margin work. We expect healthy levels of activity to continue into 2024.

轉向我們的售後服務部門。與 2022 年相比，2023 年全年活動顯著改善，我們看到第四季度的活動穩定，對我們的服務需求強勁。由於我們專注於更高品質和更高利潤的工作，獲利能力仍然大大高於歷史水平。我們預計健康的活動水準將持續到 2024 年。

Shifting to our capital allocation framework for 2024, Doug will walk through our capital investment plans in connection with our full year 2024 guidance later in our call. But I'd like first to review our approach to capital allocation and growth.

轉向 2024 年的資本配置框架，道格將在稍後的電話會議中結合我們的 2024 年全年指導來介紹我們的資本投資計劃。但我想先回顧我們的資本配置和成長方法。

On our third quarter 2023 earnings call, we committed to free cash flow generation in 2024, supported by efficient execution of our operations, price increases and strategically-managed investment in our fleet. Our 2024 budget reaffirms our free cash flow expectations and our commitment to a prudent and returns-based approach to capital allocation, consistent with the following priorities.

在 2023 年第三季財報電話會議上，我們承諾在高效執行業務、漲價和對機隊進行策略管理投資的支持下，到 2024 年實現自由現金流。我們的 2024 年預算重申了我們的自由現金流預期以及我們對審慎和基於回報的資本配置方法的承諾，並符合以下優先事項。

First, increasing capital returns to shareholders. As shareholders ourselves, Management and the Board are committed to maintaining a well-covered dividend that grows along with the profitability increases we are driving in our underlying business. Given our confidence in the outlook for compression, as well as Archrock's sector-leading financial flexibility, we recently announced a 6.5% sequential increase in our quarterly dividend, and share buybacks remain another value creation tool available to us in 2024.

一是提高股東資本回報。作為股東，管理層和董事會致力於維持良好的股息，該股息隨著我們在基礎業務中推動的盈利能力的增長而增長。鑑於我們對壓縮前景的信心，以及 Archrock 行業領先的財務靈活性，我們最近宣布季度股息環比增加 6.5%，股票回購仍然是我們 2024 年可用的另一個價值創造工具。

Second, continuing to meet the needs of our customer base through new build investments. These investments will be funded by operations and supported by attractive returns.

其次，透過新投資持續滿足客戶群的需求。這些投資將由營運提供資金並得到有吸引力的回報的支持。

And finally, third, maintaining an industry-leading balance sheet and leverage position. As fourth quarter performance shows, we are well on our way to achieving consistent leverage ratio of 3 to 3.5x.

最後，第三，維持業界領先的資產負債表和槓桿地位。如第四季業績所示，我們正在順利實現 3 至 3.5 倍的槓桿率。

In summary, we're delivering record performance, reflecting 4 primary drivers, which are also contributing to Archrock's strong outlook. These drivers include: one, our transform platform; two, our incomparable financial position and capital allocation; three, a robust market for compression; and four, the future opportunity for natural gas to meet the growing demand for cleaner energy and the prospect for Archrock to leverage technology for a more digitized, automated and sustainable future.

總之，我們正在創造創紀錄的業績，反映了 4 個主要驅動因素，這也促成了 Archrock 的強勁前景。這些驅動因素包括：一是我們的轉型平台；二是我們無與倫比的財務狀況和資本配置；三、強勁的壓縮市場；第四，天然氣滿足日益增長的清潔能源需求的未來機會，以及 Archrock 利用技術實現更數位化、自動化和可持續的未來的前景。

With that, I'd like to turn the call over to Doug for a review of our fourth quarter and full year performance, and to provide additional color on our 2024 guidance.

因此，我想將電話轉給 Doug，讓他回顧我們第四季度和全年的業績，並為我們的 2024 年指導提供更多資訊。

Thank you, Brad. Good morning, and thanks to all of you for joining us. Let's look at a summary of our fourth quarter and full year results and then cover our financial outlook.

謝謝你，布拉德。早安，感謝大家加入我們。讓我們來看看第四季和全年業績摘要，然後介紹我們的財務前景。

Net income for the fourth quarter of 2023 was $33 million, this included a noncash $4 million long-lived asset impairment as well as a noncash $1 million increase in the fair value of our investment in ECOTEC. We reported adjusted EBITDA of $120 million for the fourth quarter of 2023. Underlying business performance was strong in the fourth quarter as we delivered higher total gross margin dollars for both segments on a sequential basis. Results further benefited from $2 million in net asset sale gains related to non-strategic horsepower sales.

2023 年第四季的淨利潤為 3,300 萬美元，其中包括 400 萬美元的非現金長期資產減損以及我們對 ECOTEC 投資的公允價值增加 100 萬美元的非現金。我們報告的 2023 年第四季度調整後 EBITDA 為 1.2 億美元。第四季度的基本業務表現強勁，因為我們兩個部門的總毛利率環比增長。業績進一步受益於與非策略性馬力銷售相關的 200 萬美元淨資產銷售收益。

Included in our quarterly results was a $4 million increase in selling, general and administrative expenses during the fourth quarter. We do not anticipate this level of expense will continue as it was largely related to the increase in performance-based, short-term and long-term incentive compensation expense given the outstanding year our employees delivered and the dramatic outperformance relative to earlier expectations in 2023.

我們的季度業績包括第四季度銷售、一般和管理費用增加了 400 萬美元。我們預計這種支出水準不會持續下去，因為這在很大程度上與基於績效的短期和長期激勵薪酬支出的增加有關，因為我們的員工在這一年中表現出色，並且2023 年的業績相對於先前的預期大幅超出。

Turning to our business segments. Contract Operations revenue came in at $213 million in the fourth quarter, up 3% compared to the third quarter. This increase was primarily driven by higher pricing. Compared to the third quarter, we grew our gross margin dollars by 4%. This resulted in a gross margin percentage of 64% for the second straight quarter.

轉向我們的業務部門。第四季合約營運收入為 2.13 億美元，比第三季成長 3%。這一成長主要是由定價上漲所推動的。與第三季相比，我們的毛利率成長了 4%。這使得毛利率連續第二季達到 64%。

In our Aftermarket Services segment, we reported fourth quarter 2023 revenue of $47 million, up slightly compared to the third quarter despite typical seasonal softness, and up 12% on a year-over-year basis. Fourth quarter AMS gross margin of 22%, compared to the third quarter of 20% and 17% versus the prior year period.

在售後服務部門，我們報告 2023 年第四季營收為 4,700 萬美元，儘管存在典型的季節性疲軟，但與第三季相比略有成長，年增 12%。第四季AMS毛利率為22%，第三季則為20%，去年同期則為17%。

We exited the year with total debt of $1.6 billion, and strong available liquidity of $458 million.

今年結束時，我們的債務總額為 16 億美元，可用流動性強勁，達 4.58 億美元。

Variable rate debt continues to represent less than 20% of our total debt. Our leverage ratio at year-end was 3.5x, calculated as year-end 2023 total debt divided by our trailing 12-month EBITDA. This was down significantly compared to 4.4x in the fourth quarter of 2022.

可變利率債務仍占我們總債務的不到 20%。我們年底的槓桿率為 3.5 倍，計算方法為 2023 年底總債務除以我們過去 12 個月的 EBITDA。與 2022 年第四季的 4.4 倍相比，這一數字大幅下降。

As Brad mentioned earlier, while we initially targeted a leverage ratio range of 3 to 3.5x by the end of 2024, stronger-than-expected earnings performance and continued capital discipline has allowed us to achieve this industry-leading milestone earlier than anticipated. And we are focused on maintaining a consistent leverage ratio of 3 to 3.5x through cycles.

正如布拉德之前提到的，雖然我們最初的目標是到2024 年底將槓桿率範圍提高到3 至3.5 倍，但強於預期的盈利表現和持續的資本紀律使我們能夠比預期更早地實現這一行業領先的里程碑。我們致力於在整個週期中保持 3 至 3.5 倍的槓桿率。

The strong financial flexibility I just described continue to support increased capital returns to shareholders. Following 2 dividend increases during 2023, we recently declared an increased fourth quarter dividend of $0.165 per share or $0.66 on an annualized basis. This is up 6.5% from the third quarter dividend level and 10% versus the year ago period. Cash available for dividend for the fourth quarter of 2023 totaled $71 million, leading to impressive quarterly dividend coverage on the increased dividend of 2.8x.

我剛才描述的強大的財務靈活性繼續支持股東增加資本回報。繼 2023 年期間兩次增加股息後，我們最近宣布將第四季度股息增加至每股 0.165 美元，或按年化計算增加 0.66 美元。這比第三季股息水準成長 6.5%，比去年同期成長 10%。 2023 年第四季可用於股息的現金總計 7,100 萬美元，季度股息覆蓋率令人印象深刻，股息增加了 2.8 倍。

In addition to increasing the dividend this quarter, we repurchased approximately 174,000 shares for $2.4 million, at an average price of $13.58 per share. This leaves $41.1 million in remaining capacity for additional share repurchases.

除了增加本季的股息外，我們還以 240 萬美元的價格回購了約 174,000 股股票，平均價格為每股 13.58 美元。這留下了 4,110 萬美元的剩餘能力用於額外的股票回購。

Archrock introduced 2024 annual guidance with our earnings release yesterday. All of the customary detail can be found in the materials published last night, and for the purposes of this call, I will keep my comments high level. We announced a 2024 adjusted EBITDA guidance range of $500 million to $530 million. At the midpoint, this represents an increase of $65 million compared to the $450 million in 2023 or 14%.

Archrock 在昨天發布的財報中介紹了 2024 年年度指引。所有慣例細節都可以在昨晚發布的資料中找到，出於本次電話會議的目的，我將保持高水準的評論。我們宣布 2024 年調整後 EBITDA 指引範圍為 5 億至 5.3 億美元。與 2023 年的 4.5 億美元相比，這意味著增加了 6,500 萬美元，即 14%。

In Contract Operations, we expect full year revenue to be in the range of $890 million to $915 million, a year-over-year increase of 11% at the midpoint, driven by continued tight utilization and higher pricing. We expect gross margin percentage to a range between 64% and 65.5% for the year. This reflects not only top line growth, but also continued efforts to maximize our profitability by leveraging technology and focus -- focusing on controlling expenses even during this upcycle.

在合約營運方面，我們預計全年營收將在 8.9 億美元至 9.15 億美元之間，在利用率持續緊張和定價上漲的推動下，中位數年增 11%。我們預計今年毛利率將在 64%至 65.5%之間。這不僅反映了營收的成長，也反映了我們透過利用技術和專注力來最大化獲利能力的持續努力——即使在這個上升週期中，也專注於控制費用。

In our AMS business, we forecast full year revenue of $170 million to $185 million, consistent with the healthy activity we experienced in 2023. We also expect to defend the profitability gains we've worked hard to achieve, with an expectation for gross margin percentage between 19% and 20.5%.

在我們的 AMS 業務中，我們預計全年收入為 1.7 億至 1.85 億美元，這與我們在 2023 年經歷的健康活動一致。我們還期望捍衛我們努力實現的盈利能力增長，預計毛利率百分比19%至20.5% 之間。

Turning to capital. On a full year basis, we expect total 2024 capital expenditures to be approximately $275 million to $290 million. Of that, we expect growth CapEx to total between $175 million and $180 million, to support investment in new build horsepower and repackaged CapEx to meet continued strong customer demand. This compares to growth CapEx of $190 million in 2023, and preliminary growth capital expenditure of approximately $160 million that we provided last November. The change reflects growth CapEx, underspend and carry forward from 2023, due to some supplier equipment delays as well as incremental new build horsepower investment supported by multiyear contracts to satisfy key customer demand.

轉向資本。以全年為基礎，我們預計 2024 年資本支出總額約為 2.75 億至 2.9 億美元。其中，我們預計成長資本支出總額將在 1.75 億美元至 1.8 億美元之間，以支持對新建馬力和重新包裝資本支出的投資，以滿足持續強勁的客戶需求。相較之下，2023 年的成長資本支出為 1.9 億美元，我們去年 11 月提供的初步成長資本支出約為 1.6 億美元。這項變更反映了資本支出的成長、支出不足以及從 2023 年結轉的情況，這是由於一些供應商設備延遲以及由多年合約支持的增量新建馬力投資以滿足關鍵客戶需求所致。

Maintenance CapEx is forecasted to be approximately $80 million to $85 million, down from $92 million compared to 2023 due to reduced make-ready activity. We also anticipate approximately $20 million to $25 million in other CapEx, primarily for new vehicles. Total capital expenditures are expected to be fully funded by operations, with the potential for additional support from modest nonstrategic asset sale proceeds as we continue to high-grade our fleet.

由於準備活動減少，維護資本支出預計約 8,000 萬至 8,500 萬美元，低於 2023 年的 9,200 萬美元。我們也預計其他資本支出約為 2,000 萬至 2,500 萬美元，主要用於新車。總資本支出預計將完全由營運提供資金，隨著我們繼續對機隊進行高評級，有可能從適度的非策略性資產出售收益中獲得額外支持。

Before we open up the line for questions, I will conclude by saying we believe a durable upcycle for our business has arrived, and we are focused on maintaining our position at Archrock, the premier compression company in America, for our employees, customers and investors. We expect 2024 performance to benefit from a full year of record high utilization and pricing, and we look forward to delivering on our promise of consistent execution, earnings growth and free cash flow generation.

在我們開始提問之前，我最後要說的是，我們相信我們業務的持久升級週期已經到來，我們致力於為我們的員工、客戶和投資者維持我們在美國首屈一指的壓縮公司 Archrock 的地位。我們預計 2024 年的業績將受益於全年創紀錄的高利用率和定價，我們期待兌現我們一致執行、獲利成長和自由現金流產生的承諾。

With that, Abby, we'd now like to open up the line for questions.

艾比，我們現在要開通提問專線。

(Operator Instructions) And we will take our first question from Jim Rollyson with Raymond James.

（操作員說明）我們將回答吉姆·羅利森和雷蒙德·詹姆斯提出的第一個問題。

Brad, if I just kind of step back and look at guidance for the year for EBITDA, for CapEx, it's pretty obvious you're going to get to that 3x leverage by year-end and obviously throw off a lot of free cash flow as we go through this year. And I'm just kind of curious, you kind of hit some of your targets on the leverage side, and you have an awful lot of opportunity to not only supply customer demands for incremental horsepower in your CapEx budget, but you're going to have a lot of opportunity to provide capital back to shareholders, which you've been doing.

布拉德，如果我退後一步，看看今年的 EBITDA 和資本支出指引，很明顯，到年底你將達到 3 倍的槓桿率，並且顯然會失去大量自由現金流，因為我們經歷了這一年。我只是有點好奇，你在槓桿方面達到了一些目標，你有很多機會不僅可以在你的資本支出預算中滿足客戶對增量馬力的需求，而且你將有很多機會向股東提供資本，正如你們一直在做的那樣。

Just curious, as that -- you kind of get down the road here, how do you think about allocating that between the buyback program between growing dividends, the Board and yourselves have been pretty conservative on raising dividends and not getting too far out of your skis. But it seems like a lot of things are lining up for that to kind of crescendo into more capital returns. So just maybe how you think about that as we go forward given the outlook for the year.

只是好奇，您在這裡走上這條路，您如何考慮在不斷增長的股息之間分配回購計劃，董事會和您自己在提高股息方面一直相當保守，並且沒有超出您的預期。滑雪板。但似乎有很多事情正在排隊，以期增加更多的資本回報。考慮到今年的前景，也許您在我們前進時會如何看待這一點。

Sure. Thanks, Jim. I'll speak and then let Doug top me up. Number one, we're super excited about the financial flexibility that we've built to put us in this position to offer the level of returns that we can now deliver in this business and to our shareholders.

當然。謝謝，吉姆。我會說話，然後讓道格給我加油。第一，我們對我們所建立的財務靈活性感到非常興奮，這種靈活性使我們能夠為這項業務和我們的股東提供現在可以提供的回報水平。

As I stated in the prepared comments, when we look at the financial flexibility, our option set to return capital to shareholders is really good. And we're going to use a returns-based approach to decide whether the -- where that incremental cash can best go to maximize returns for our investors. Growth in the core business, which we're investing at really nice returns right now, and our customer base wants our services. In some ways, they can't get enough compared to increases in the dividend or share buybacks. So it's all going to be driven by our analysis of where we can obtain the best returns for our investors.

正如我在準備好的評論中所說，當我們考慮財務靈活性時，我們向股東返還資本的選擇確實很好。我們將使用基於回報的方法來決定增量現金是否可以最好地用於為我們的投資者帶來最大化回報。核心業務的成長，我們現在投資的回報非常好，我們的客戶群需要我們的服務。在某些方面，與股利或股票回購的增加相比，他們獲得的還不夠。因此，這一切都將取決於我們對如何為投資者獲得最佳回報的分析。

Yes. And Jim, I just wouldn't top it up by saying it's -- there's obviously a bit of a "what have you done for me lately", right? But as I said in my remarks, our year-over-year dividend increase represents 10%. So look, we're going to keep looking for ways to add value, and that will be a bit dynamic. It's -- we said we intend to be sort of a steady presence on share buybacks. And I think all of the above are the boxes at the moment that we plan to check.

是的。吉姆，我只是不會補充說——顯然有一點“你最近為我做了什麼”，對吧？但正如我在發言中所說，我們的股息年增了 10%。所以看，我們將繼續尋找增加價值的方法，這將是動態的。我們說過，我們打算在股票回購方面保持穩定。我認為以上所有內容都是我們目前計劃檢查的內容。

Certainly. It's a high-class problem to have. And Brad, on the market, it's interesting, it kind of feels like you've had a market that's been tight because of underinvestment industry has been picking up investment.

當然。這是一個高級問題。布拉德，在市場上，這很有趣，感覺市場一直很緊張，因為投資不足的行業一直在增加投資。

But as we roll into '25 and the next few years beyond because of the LNG build-out you referenced, obviously, volume demand for gas is going to go up, which kind of implies compression demand should proportionately go up. And yet when I look at what yourselves and your peers are doing, growth CapEx across the space for the public guys, at least, it seems like it's actually coming down a little bit in '24 versus '23, which kind of feels like it maybe sets up for this tightness to continue. I'm curious how you think about that, what your customers are thinking about that because it obviously could be a challenge for the industry.

但隨著我們進入 25 年以及未來幾年，由於您提到的液化天然氣擴建，天然氣的需求顯然將會增加，這意味著壓縮需求應該會相應增加。然而，當我看看你們自己和你們的同行正在做什麼時，至少公眾的整個空間的增長資本支出似乎在 24 年與 23 年實際上有所下降，感覺就像這樣也許會導致這種緊張狀態持續下去。我很好奇您對此有何看法，您的客戶對此有何看法，因為這顯然可能對該行業構成挑戰。

Sure. I cannot speak for the industry. But what I can suggest is that capital remains very disciplined and tightly allocated in the space. And I think there are a few reasons for that, that are really good for the industry overall, and certainly good for compression and for Archrock and our investors.

當然。我不能代表這個行業說話。但我可以建議的是，資本在該領域仍然非常有紀律和嚴格分配。我認為這有幾個原因，這對整個行業確實有好處，當然也有利於壓縮以及 Archrock 和我們的投資者。

Number one, cost of capital is up a bit. Everybody knows that right now. Cost of equipment is up quite a bit. And so just the overall returns that the marketplace is going to offer has to take into account those increased costs. That means prices, rates, returns have to go up.

第一，資本成本略有上升。現在每個人都知道這一點。設備成本上漲了不少。因此，市場將提供的整體回報必須考慮到這些增加的成本。這意味著價格、利率和回報必須上漲。

Second, it's not just about the cost, it's also about the allocation. Investors are demanding better returns from our industry. And let's face it, for the last decade, our industry has not had a fantastic track record. Returns must go up across the sector, that includes in compression, just to meet industrial expectations. And for these reasons that I think, that equipment and new investment equipment is going to remain tight and constructive for the industry overall.

其次，這不僅是成本的問題，還涉及分配的問題。投資者要求我們行業獲得更好的回報。讓我們面對現實吧，在過去的十年裡，我們的行業並沒有出色的業績記錄。整個產業的回報必須上升，包括壓縮，才能滿足產業預期。由於這些原因，我認為設備和新的投資設備將保持緊張且對整個行業具有建設性。

Makes perfect sense. And then last, just you highlighted kind of being still in the fairly early days in your investment in digitizing and automating operations. Curious kind of how you think about the long-term impact on margins from that investment?

很有道理。最後，您強調了數位化和自動化營運投資仍處於相當早期的階段。好奇您如何看待該投資對利潤率的長期影響？

Thanks for the question. I like the question a lot. So first, I'm going to say that what we've done to really transform our platform is going to be great for our customers. The level of service, the level of uptime that we can generate and deliver to our customers with our improved platform is going to be tremendous.

謝謝你的提問。我非常喜歡這個問題。首先，我要說的是，我們為真正改變我們的平台所做的一切將對我們的客戶非常有利。透過我們改進的平台，我們可以產生並交付給客戶的服務水準和正常運作時間水準將是巨大的。

And second, the platform is now in place. But what isn't in place is we're not practicing it yet as well as we can. We have this new business model in place and our employees are just now adapting to a fully-functioning platform, and we're going to be finding opportunities to deliver improved performance for -- I think, for years to come with all the tools that we've now put in place that gives us a flood of good information. It gives us live feed information that we can respond in real time. It gives us much more data that we can analyze from a predictive maintenance perspective. So the power of the tool, I think, is tremendous.

其次，該平台現已到位。但不足的是我們還沒有盡我們所能地實踐它。我們已經建立了這種新的業務模式，我們的員工剛剛適應了一個功能齊全的平台，我們將尋找機會來提供改進的性能——我認為，在未來的幾年裡，使用所有工具我們現在已經到位，為我們提供了大量有用的信息。它為我們提供了即時回饋訊息，我們可以即時回應。它為我們提供了更多數據，我們可以從預測性維護的角度進行分析。所以我認為這個工具的力量是巨大的。

And then finally, directly to your question, what this should do for investors in the future is that, with this new service offering with the quality of service that we can deliver to our customers, we believe we should be earning higher margins and better returns because we're delivering more value to our customers. So over time, I think that we're going to see both revenue impacts, but certainly also cost efficiency impacts on the new platform.

最後，直接回答你的問題，這對未來投資者來說應該做的是，透過這項新服務以及我們可以向客戶提供的服務質量，我們相信我們應該獲得更高的利潤和更好的回報因為我們正在為客戶提供更多價值。因此，隨著時間的推移，我認為我們不僅會看到收入影響，而且肯定還會看到新平台的成本效率影響。

And we'll take our next question from Selman Akyol with Stifel.

我們將回答 Selman Akyol 和 Stifel 提出的下一個問題。

I guess, first, just starting off, can you just talk about the supply chain? And is there any improvement there? Or are you still seeing long lead times and constraints there?

我想，首先，您能談談供應鏈嗎？那裡有什麼改進嗎？或者您仍然看到交貨時間長且有限制嗎？

Thanks, Selman. Yes, there actually has been some improvement. We see that Caterpillar's lead times are into the 40- to 45-week time frame. We still see on the electric motor side, longer lead times of a year or so on the VFDs that are required, the variable frequency drives that come and required to operate those units. So -- but overall, Caterpillar is in, the VFDs are still out.

謝謝，塞爾曼。是的，實際上已經有了一些改進。我們看到 Caterpillar 的交貨時間為 40 至 45 週。我們仍然看到，在電動馬達方面，所需的 VFD 以及操作這些設備所需的變頻驅動器的交貨時間較長，需要一年左右。所以，但總體而言，卡特彼勒已進入市場，但 VFD 仍處於淘汰狀態。

And then other supply chain bottlenecks that were pervasive last year have, for the most part abated with single individual spots where we may have some individual supplier issues but nothing that we were not able to or have not been able to work through pretty efficiently to not impact our offering to our customers.

去年普遍存在的其他供應鏈瓶頸在很大程度上已經在單一地點得到緩解，在這些地點我們可能會遇到一些個別供應商問題，但我們無法或無法非常有效地解決這些問題。影響我們為客戶提供的服務。

Got it. And then I know you already said you're sold out for new equipment in 2024. Curious, just anything on Make-Ready. Do you have any additional horsepower sitting around that you can put back in the field?

知道了。然後我知道您已經說過 2024 年的新設備已經售罄。很好奇，Make-Ready 上的任何東西都可以。您是否有任何額外的馬力可以重新投入使用？

Yes, at 96% utilization, we're highly utilized, but we are not 100%, and we still have some horsepower that we can reinvest in and get made ready and put to work in the market. We're certainly going to work on that.

是的，利用率為 96%，我們的利用率很高，但不是 100%，我們仍然有一些能力可以再投資、做好準備並投入市場。我們當然會努力解決這個問題。

Got it. And then you talked about 2025 in terms of having initial discussions, but I'm wondering, can you just maybe elaborate, are you seeing price improvements over '24? Is there a tenor lengthening on any of the contracts? Are you getting inflation pass-throughs in any of those conversations?

知道了。然後您談到了 2025 年的初步討論，但我想知道，您能否詳細說明一下，與 24 年相比，您是否看到價格有所改善？是否有合約期限延長的情形？您在這些對話中是否得到了通膨傳導？

A couple of questions there. Let me try to take them in order. So I'll just start with pricing, and then I'll turn to 2025. So for pricing, we absolutely are going to get in 2024, the full year benefit of all the price increases we implemented in 2023, which, as you know, when you implement them in the year, you only get partial uplift in the year you're implementing the price increase. So we'll get 12 months of those prior price increases in 2024.

有幾個問題。讓我試著按順序排列它們。因此，我將從定價開始，然後轉向 2025 年。因此，就定價而言，我們絕對會在 2024 年獲得我們在 2023 年實施的所有提價的全年收益，正如您所知，當您在當年實施這些措施時，您只能在實施價格上漲的當年獲得部分漲價。因此，我們將在 2024 年獲得之前 12 個月的價格上漲。

Second, we still see pricing pressure and the opportunity to get current market pricing on our fleet as it rolls over in 2024. So there's some more pricing momentum that we're going to capture in 2024 as the fleet rolls over and as some units benefit from pricing mechanisms built into the contracts that get an annual price increase. So yes, we absolutely see pricing opportunity in 2024. We expect to capture it.

其次，我們仍然看到定價壓力，並且在 2024 年機隊結轉時獲得當前市場定價的機會。因此，隨著機隊結轉以及一些單位受益，我們將在 2024 年抓住更多定價動力來自合約中內建的定價機制，每年都會漲價。所以，是的，我們絕對會在 2024 年看到定價機會。我們希望抓住它。

And then finally, on 2025, these are not just early discussions. These are bookings. 2025 is already with committed horsepower moving into that year.

最後，到 2025 年，這些不僅僅是早期的討論。這些是預訂。 2025 年已經是承諾的馬力進入那一年。

Selman, just for the avoidance of doubt here, what I'll add to that is, I think Brad and I both mentioned in our prepared remarks, we've seen 9 consecutive sequential quarters of revenue per horsepower growth. That number on our fleet is still below the current spot price. Not going to share the difference between those 2 prices, as much as I know, that would be your next question. So I'll preempt it.

Selman，為了避免產生疑問，我要補充的是，我認為布拉德和我在準備好的發言中都提到過，我們已經看到每馬力收入連續 9 個季度增長。我們機隊的這個數字仍然低於目前的現貨價格。據我所知，不會分享這兩個價格之間的差異，這將是你的下一個問題。那我就搶先了。

But just to simply say that again, Brad made a great point, I think, in response to the first question around both cost of capital and still, albeit abated some inflation on new build horsepower, yes, pricing in 2025 and where those contracts are coming is still ahead of what you're seeing in reported results and in some cases, moderately to significantly ahead.

但只是簡單地說一遍，我認為布拉德在回答關於資本成本的第一個問題時提出了一個很好的觀點，儘管新建造馬力的通貨膨脹有所減輕，但2025 年的定價以及這些合同的位置即將到來的結果仍然領先於您在報告結果中看到的結果，並且在某些情況下，適度領先到顯著領先。

And we will take our next question from Steve Ferazani with Sidoti.

我們將回答史蒂夫·費拉扎尼和西多蒂提出的下一個問題。

Just want to talk about the -- first about the sold-out 2024. I'm just -- I'm sure I know the answer, just checking anyway. Is this all going to the Permian? Or is it overwhelmingly going to the Permian?

只是想談談——首先是關於 2024 年售罄的問題。我只是——我確定我知道答案，只是檢查一下。這一切都會流向二疊紀嗎？還是絕大多數都流向二疊紀？

60% of our new bookings and new equipment are going to the Permian. So that's a very, very easy answer. We're excited about the growth we're accomplishing there. I mean, the basin is unrelenting right now in its demand, and we're happy to provide the equipment for it.

我們 60% 的新訂單和新設備都銷往二疊紀盆地。所以這是一個非常非常簡單的答案。我們對在那裡實現的成長感到興奮。我的意思是，該盆地目前的需求量很大，我們很樂意為其提供設備。

Great. The 96% utilization, obviously, you're benefiting from your lack of returns. And I think you've indicated that's predicated in part on the elevated lead times, which still are long. However, there was some thought that some of the gas plays would start coming back this year ahead of LNG export demand. Now with natural gas prices where they are, are you seeing any risk or any movement in some of these gassier plays to return equipment, knowing even with a year lead time, they're not going to need it?

偉大的。顯然，96% 的利用率讓您受益於缺乏回報。我認為您已經指出，這部分取決於交貨時間的延長，而交貨時間仍然很長。然而，有人認為，今年一些天然氣業務將在液化天然氣出口需求前開始恢復。現在，隨著天然氣價格的上漲，您是否認為這些天然氣開採項目在返還設備方面有任何風險或任何動向，因為您知道即使有一年的準備時間，他們也不會需要它？

I want to address the first part of your premise first and then come to the gas, the dry gas plays. And that is that, as I tried to emphasize in a comment a minute ago, I do not believes that the tightness in this market, the high utilization in the compression space, which is pretty consistent across our peers and us, is driven solely by a tight supply chain. I think that the capital allocation that the industry is pursuing right now to constrain capital that's now more expensive is a major part, and the difference is important because if it's just a supply chain issue, then it's going to get fixed. If on the other hand, it's that the market is demanding higher returns, which I believe it is. And that we, our peers in the industry are allocating capital more prudently in a more disciplined way, then I believe the returns for our investors as a sector and as an industry remain higher. I just think that I don't -- I'm not in the position of agreeing with the supply chain being the driver of this comment. I want to make sure that we're communicating that clearly.

我想先解決你的前提的第一部分，然後談談煤氣，乾燥煤氣。也就是說，正如我在一分鐘前試圖在評論中強調的那樣，我不認為這個市場的緊張和壓縮空間的高利用率（這在我們的同行和我們之間非常一致）只是由供應鏈緊張。我認為，該行業目前正在追求的資本配置，以限制現在更昂貴的資本是一個主要部分，而且差異很重要，因為如果這只是一個供應鏈問題，那麼它就會得到解決。另一方面，那就是市場要求更高的回報，我相信確實如此。而且我們，我們的行業同行正在以更嚴格的方式更加謹慎地配置資本，那麼我相信我們的投資者作為一個部門和一個行業的回報仍然會更高。我只是認為我不同意——我不同意供應鏈是這個評論的驅動力。我想確保我們能夠清楚地溝通。

As for pricing, the gas price and the impact on dry gas plays, we are not seeing much of a pullback. Remember that in our business, we're 70% to 75% tied to much more liquids-prone, liquids-rich plays with associated gas. And for the remaining part of our business that does have direct dry gas exposure were highly leveraged to production, and while the drill [bit] influences the level of production over a longer period of time, these short-term fluctuations do not come through in our business very sharply.

至於定價、天然氣價格以及對乾天然氣業務的影響，我們沒有看到太多的回檔。請記住，在我們的業務中，我們 70% 到 75% 與更容易產生液體、富含液體的伴生氣有關。對於我們直接接觸乾氣的業務的其餘部分來說，生產的槓桿率很高，雖然鑽頭會在較長時間內影響生產水平，但這些短期波動不會在生產中體現出來。我們的生意非常火爆。

And finally, even with the current low natural gas price, we incrementally grew our horsepower in a couple of the dry gas plays in the fourth quarter, which just shows that people are still investing and getting ready for the increased production that LNG is going to require in the future.

最後，即使當前天然氣價格較低，我們在第四季度的幾個乾氣項目中也逐漸增加了馬力，這表明人們仍在投資並為液化天然氣將增加的產量做好準備。將來需要。

Great. That's helpful. I know it's probably way too early for this since you just gave 2024 guidance, but you opened your books a couple of months ago on 2025 bookings. Anything you can give us on early color.

偉大的。這很有幫助。我知道現在可能還為時過早，因為您剛剛給出了 2024 年的指導，但您在幾個月前就開始了 2025 年的預訂。您可以向我們提供有關早期顏色的任何資訊。

Not knowing exactly what color you're looking for. I'm serious, what I would suggest that it's really a continuation of what we saw in '23, what we saw for bookings for '24 moving into 2025, it's going to be weighted heavily as you open with for Permian bookings, but we're booking large horsepower only and electric motor drives, is the combination of equipment that we see the market really wanting from us and our customer base wanting from us for 2025.

不確切知道您要尋找什麼顏色。我是認真的，我建議這實際上是我們在23 年看到的情況的延續，我們在24 年看到的預訂進入2025 年，當你開始二疊紀預訂時，它會受到很大的重視，但我們我們只預訂大馬力和電動馬達驅動器，這是我們看到市場真正需要我們以及我們的客戶群在 2025 年需要我們的設備組合。

And we will take our next question from Elvira Scotto with RBC Capital Markets.

我們將回答加拿大皇家銀行資本市場 Elvira Scotto 提出的下一個問題。

I just had one follow-up question to the previous question. With the capital discipline that we're seeing within the compression, Archrock and your peers? And then with supply chain issues easing, is there any risk that we would see a shift to more owned compression?

我只是對上一個問題提出了一個後續問題。鑑於我們在壓縮中看到的資本紀律，Archrock 和您的同行？隨著供應鏈問題的緩解，我們是否會看到轉向更多自有壓縮的風險？

Elvira, thank you for the question. The market, as I said in the past, we believe, from an overall perspective, is about 70% owned and about 30% outsourced. And what we see right now is that, that ratio is not really changing, with the exception of -- in the Permian Basin, we think that the amount of lease horsepower and horsepower provided by providers like Archrock and our peers, is a lot higher than that 30% mark in the space overall.

埃爾維拉，謝謝你的提問。正如我過去所說，我們認為，從整體角度來看，這個市場大約有 70% 是自有的，大約 30% 是外包的。我們現在看到的是，這個比率並沒有真正改變，除了——在二疊紀盆地，我們認為像 Archrock 和我們的同行這樣的供應商提供的租賃馬力和馬力要高得多比整個空間的30 % 標記要高。

The final thing I'll point out is that for customers that wish to go buy their horsepower, they're still going to be paying a lot more. We've seen about 30% inflation in the cost of a new build unit over the last 3 years. So costs are up sharply for them to acquire it.

我要指出的最後一件事是，對於想要購買馬力的客戶來說，他們仍然需要支付更多費用。過去 3 年，我們發現新建單位的成本上漲了約 30%。因此，他們獲得它的成本急劇上升。

The second gating item is going to be access to trained labor to operate the equipment. And so it's not just about capital allocation. It's also about the expense and the ability to deploy the right expertise to operate the equipment in the field that's really supporting growth by growth in our sector and for the compression outsourced service providers and Archrock right now.

第二個門控項目是獲得經過訓練的勞動力來操作設備。因此，這不僅僅是資本配置的問題。它還涉及部署正確的專業知識來操作現場設備的費用和能力，這真正支持我們行業以及壓縮外包服務提供者和 Archrock 目前的成長。

And that concludes today's question-and-answer session. I'd now like to turn the call back to Mr. Childers for final remarks.

今天的問答環節到此結束。現在我想將電話轉回給奇爾德斯先生，請他發表最後的評論。

Great. Thank you, everyone, for participating in our Q4 review call. I'm excited about the value of our franchise can deliver today and well into the future. We hope you'll join us for what we expect to be a lucrative ride. I look forward to updating you on our progress next quarter. Thank you, everyone.

偉大的。感謝大家參與我們的第四季審核電話會議。我對我們的特許經營權能夠在今天和未來實現的價值感到興奮。我們希望您能加入我們，享受我們期望的利潤豐厚的旅程。我期待著向您通報下季度我們的最新進展。謝謝大家。

Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes today's call, and we thank you for your participation. You may now disconnect.

女士們、先生們，今天的電話會議到此結束，我們感謝你們的參與。您現在可以斷開連線。