Atkore Inc (ATKR) 2023 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Thank you, and good morning, everyone. I'm joined today by Bill Waltz, President and CEO; as well as David Johnson, Chief Financial Officer. We will take your questions after comments by Bill and David.

謝謝大家，早上好。今天，總裁兼首席執行官 Bill Waltz 加入了我的行列；以及首席財務官 David Johnson。我們將在 Bill 和 David 發表評論後回答您的問題。

I would like to remind everyone that during this call, we may make projections or forward-looking statements regarding future events or financial performance of the company. Such statements involve risks and uncertainties such that actual results may differ materially. Please refer to our SEC filings and today's press release, which identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in our projections or forward-looking statements.

我想提醒大家，在本次電話會議期間，我們可能會對公司的未來事件或財務業績做出預測或前瞻性陳述。此類陳述涉及風險和不確定性，因此實際結果可能存在重大差異。請參閱我們提交給美國證券交易委員會的文件和今天的新聞稿，其中確定了可能導致實際結果與我們的預測或前瞻性陳述中包含的結果大不相同的重要因素。

In addition, any reference in our discussion today to EBITDA means adjusted EBITDA. Adjusted EBITDA is a non-GAAP measure. Reconciliations of non-GAAP measures and a presentation of the most comparable GAAP measures are available in the appendix to today's presentation.

此外，我們今天討論中提到的任何 EBITDA 均指調整後的 EBITDA。調整後的 EBITDA 是一項非 GAAP 衡量標準。非 GAAP 措施的對賬和最具可比性的 GAAP 措施的介紹可在今天的報告附錄中找到。

With that, I'll turn it over to Bill.

有了這個，我會把它交給比爾。

Thanks, John, and good morning, everyone. Starting on Slide 3. Atkore is off to a solid start for 2023. Volumes for the quarter were up over 5% and adjusted EPS increased 1% year-over-year in the quarter. We continue to execute our playbook for capital deployment and strategic growth.

謝謝，約翰，大家早上好。從幻燈片 3 開始。Atkore 在 2023 年開局良好。本季度銷量增長超過 5%，調整後每股收益同比增長 1%。我們繼續執行我們的資本部署和戰略增長手冊。

As previously discussed, we expanded our HDPE product offering with the acquisition of Elite Polymer Solutions in November. HDPE represents a significant growth opportunity for us, and I'm pleased with the progress and integration so far.

如前所述，我們在 11 月通過收購 Elite Polymer Solutions 擴大了我們的 HDPE 產品供應。 HDPE 對我們來說是一個重要的增長機會，我對迄今為止的進展和整合感到滿意。

During the first quarter, we repurchased $150 million of shares, and in the second quarter, we've already repurchased over $100 million. Collectively, this brings our year-to-date total for repurchases above $250 million. With our solid start to the year, we are increasing our full year outlook for adjusted EBITDA and adjusted EPS.

第一季度，我們回購了 1.5 億美元的股票，第二季度，我們已經回購了超過 1 億美元。總的來說，這使我們年初至今的回購總額超過 2.5 億美元。憑藉今年的良好開局，我們提高了調整後 EBITDA 和調整後每股收益的全年預期。

It is my pleasure to also announce the release of our 2022 sustainability report, which was published this morning and posted on the ES&G section of our website. This report covers a broad range of topics, and I believe, it demonstrates and articulates why Atkore is a great place to work and truly a special company. I would like to thank all of our employees for everything they do to support our customers and all of our stakeholders. It is because of their tireless efforts that Atkore is able to achieve the results and successes that we have.

我也很高興地宣布發布我們的 2022 年可持續發展報告，該報告於今天上午發布並發佈在我們網站的 ES&G 部分。這份報告涵蓋了廣泛的主題，我相信它展示並闡明了為什麼 Atkore 是一個理想的工作場所和真正特殊的公司。我要感謝我們所有的員工為支持我們的客戶和所有利益相關者所做的一切。正是由於他們的不懈努力，Atkore 才能夠取得今天的成果和成功。

With that, I'll turn the call over to David to talk through the results from the quarter and our outlook for the full year.

有了這個，我會把電話轉給大衛來談談本季度的結果和我們對全年的展望。

Thank you, Bill, and good morning, everyone. Moving to our consolidated results on Slide 4. In the first quarter, net sales were $834 million, and adjusted EBITDA was $264 million. As we have mentioned several times, we expect our business to normalize in 2023 as compared to the past several years of outperformance.

謝謝你，比爾，大家早上好。轉到我們在幻燈片 4 上的合併結果。第一季度，淨銷售額為 8.34 億美元，調整後的 EBITDA 為 2.64 億美元。正如我們多次提到的那樣，與過去幾年的出色表現相比，我們預計我們的業務將在 2023 年恢復正常。

That being said, we are nonetheless pleased with our margin performance in the quarter with adjusted EBITDA margins of 32%. This is down year-over-year, but still a very strong and healthy level. Even with the decline in net sales and adjusted EBITDA, we are pleased to see that our adjusted EPS increased in the quarter up to $4.61.

儘管如此，我們對本季度的利潤率表現感到滿意，調整後的 EBITDA 利潤率為 32%。這是同比下降，但仍然是一個非常強勁和健康的水平。儘管淨銷售額和調整後的 EBITDA 有所下降，但我們很高興看到本季度調整後的每股收益增加至 4.61 美元。

Turning to Slide 5 and our consolidated bridges. Volumes were up over 5% in the quarter and our recent acquisitions contributed an additional 7% of growth. These gains were offset by the decline in our average selling prices. Our average selling prices have declined as we continue to see normalization of pricing and a continued downward trend for several of our key input costs. During the quarter, we saw very strong pockets of performance related to data centers and several large chip fabrication projects globally. In addition, we are very pleased with the execution and integration performance from our recent acquisitions.

轉向幻燈片 5 和我們的綜合橋樑。本季度銷量增長超過 5%，我們最近的收購又貢獻了 7% 的增長。這些收益被我們平均售價的下降所抵消。我們的平均售價有所下降，因為我們繼續看到定價正常化以及我們的幾個關鍵投入成本持續下降的趨勢。在本季度，我們看到與數據中心和全球幾個大型芯片製造項目相關的業績非常強勁。此外，我們對最近收購的執行和整合表現感到非常滿意。

Moving to Slide 6. Those segments had positive volume growth. Margins compressed in our Electrical segment with the previously mentioned normalization of pricing. However, we saw very strong margin growth on the S&I side. Our S&I business had 22% growth in adjusted EBITDA.

轉到幻燈片 6。這些細分市場的銷量呈正增長。由於前面提到的定價正常化，我們電氣部門的利潤率受到壓縮。然而，我們看到 S&I 方面的利潤率增長非常強勁。我們的 S&I 業務調整後的 EBITDA 增長了 22%。

Turning to our outlook for fiscal year 2023 on Page 7. We continue to expect volumes to be up mid single digits for FY '23. We expect net sales to be down approximately 5% to 10% in 2023, as prices normalize and we see declines in several of our key input cost categories. However, with the strong performance in the quarter and the resiliency of our Atkore business as a model, we are increasing our outlook for adjusted EBITDA and adjusted EPS.

轉向我們在第 7 頁上對 2023 財年的展望。我們繼續預計 23 財年的銷量將達到中個位數。我們預計 2023 年淨銷售額將下降約 5% 至 10%，因為價格正常化並且我們看到我們的幾個關鍵投入成本類別有所下降。然而，憑藉本季度的強勁表現以及我們作為模型的 Atkore 業務的彈性，我們正在提高調整後 EBITDA 和調整後 EPS 的前景。

For FY '23, we expect adjusted EBITDA of $1 billion at the midpoint, with a range of plus or minus $50 million. This is an increase of $100 million versus our prior outlook. In addition, we are increasing our expectations for adjusted EPS up to a range of $15.85 to $17.75.

對於 23 財年，我們預計調整後的 EBITDA 中點為 10 億美元，上下波動範圍為 5000 萬美元。這比我們之前的預期增加了 1 億美元。此外，我們將調整後每股收益的預期上調至 15.85 美元至 17.75 美元。

As we mentioned last quarter, this outlook does not include any expected benefits from the tax credits associated with the Inflation Reduction Act, as we expect the majority of these credits will flow through to our customers. With the strength of our cash flow and our commitment to returning cash to stockholders, we are also increasing our expectations for share repurchases in the fiscal year.

正如我們上個季度提到的那樣，該展望不包括與《降低通貨膨脹法案》相關的稅收抵免的任何預期收益，因為我們預計這些抵免中的大部分將流向我們的客戶。憑藉我們強勁的現金流和我們向股東返還現金的承諾，我們也提高了對本財年股票回購的預期。

With that, I'll turn it back to Bill.

有了這個，我會把它轉回比爾。

Thanks, David. We are very pleased with what we've accomplished this quarter and our outlook for this fiscal year, but we're even more excited about all the opportunities ahead.

謝謝，大衛。我們對本季度取得的成就和本財年的展望感到非常滿意，但我們對未來的所有機遇更加興奮。

Moving to Slide 8. As we said before, we believe that sustainability is central to the strength, safety and longevity of Atkore. This morning, we released our third sustainability report, and seeing all the great work that our team has accomplished, truly inspires me. This report details our initiatives involving our products, customers and employees, and I would encourage everyone to read it. Inside the report and highlighted here is the progress we've made against our 4 external sustainability targets.

轉到幻燈片 8。正如我們之前所說，我們認為可持續性對於 Atkore 的實力、安全性和壽命至關重要。今天早上，我們發布了第三份可持續發展報告，看到我們團隊所完成的所有出色工作，真的讓我深受鼓舞。這份報告詳細介紹了我們涉及產品、客戶和員工的舉措，我鼓勵大家閱讀它。在報告中並在此突出顯示的是我們在實現 4 個外部可持續發展目標方面取得的進展。

As you may recall, we introduced these 4 targets last year and set very smart goals that, we believe, will help guide and focus our efforts to enable sustainable value creation. We are making good strides for our targets for each of these goals, and we are confident in our ability to meet or even potentially exceed some of these items by 2025.

您可能還記得，我們去年推出了這 4 個目標並設定了非常明智的目標，我們相信這些目標將有助於指導和集中我們的努力，以實現可持續的價值創造。我們在實現這些目標中的每一個目標方面都取得了長足的進步，我們有信心在 2025 年之前達到甚至可能超過其中一些項目。

Turning to Slide 9. We sincerely appreciate the external recognition that we've recently received from several leading independent organizations. We believe these acknowledgments demonstrate that we have the company culture and employees who are able to truly make Atkore a great place to work and a compelling investment opportunity. I'm confident in the team, strategy and processes we put in place to continue Atkore's strong trajectory, and I firmly believe the best is yet to come for our company.

轉到幻燈片 9。我們真誠地感謝我們最近從幾個領先的獨立組織那裡獲得的外部認可。我們相信這些認可表明我們擁有能夠真正使 Atkore 成為理想工作場所和引人注目的投資機會的公司文化和員工。我對我們為延續 Atkore 的強勁發展軌跡而製定的團隊、戰略和流程充滿信心，我堅信我們公司的最佳時機尚未到來。

With that, we'll turn it over to the operator to open the line for questions.

有了這個，我們將把它交給接線員打開問題熱線。

(Operator Instructions) Our first question comes from Andy Kaplowitz with Citigroup.

（操作員說明）我們的第一個問題來自花旗集團的 Andy Kaplowitz。

So, Bill, you recorded good volume growth, as you said you would, based on data center chip fabrication demand, is what you highlighted. But could you talk about the resilience of those end markets? Obviously, we've seen a bit of a slowdown in the tech sector. But we know [non-restarts] have been very strong over the last year. So is that helping? And what is the duration of customer backlogs and how much confidence do they give you in extended volume visibility for Atkore?

因此，比爾，正如您所說，根據數據中心芯片製造需求，您記錄了良好的銷量增長，這就是您所強調的。但你能談談這些終端市場的彈性嗎？顯然，我們已經看到科技行業出現了一些放緩。但我們知道 [非重啟] 在過去一年中非常強勁。那有幫助嗎？客戶積壓的持續時間是多少？他們對 Atkore 的擴展量可見性有多大信心？

Yes, we're still optimistic or consistent on volume going forward in the -- let's call it, the mid-single digits for the rest of the year. When I'm out talking with our customers -- I just flew back from a convention here late last night. 6 months, 9 months, a year of backlog with our distributor partners. So I would continue to see others. As you mentioned, there's going to be a delayed job here or there, either because of somebody getting equipment in or someone reconsidering things, yes. But there's enough volume there. There's enough Atkore capabilities to drive our fair share of growth beyond the market that I would estimate mid single digits. So nothing has really changed, Andy, which is kind of nice.

是的，我們仍然對未來的交易量保持樂觀或一致 - 讓我們稱之為今年剩餘時間的中個位數。當我出去與我們的客戶交談時——我昨晚剛從這裡的一個會議飛回來。我們的經銷商合作夥伴積壓了 6 個月、9 個月、一年。所以我會繼續看其他人。正如你所提到的，這里或那裡的工作會有所延遲，要么是因為有人要設備，要么是因為有人正在重新考慮事情，是的。但是那裡的音量足夠了。 Atkore 有足夠的能力推動我們在市場之外的公平增長份額，我估計是中個位數。所以什麼都沒有真正改變，安迪，這很好。

And then, you recorded just over the high end of your guidance for the quarter, I think at $264 million in EBITDA, but you raised your '23 guidance by $100 million without adjusting volume as we just talked about. So what is it about the price versus cost equation that has changed to allow you to adjust your guidance pretty early in the year, pretty significantly? Are you retaining more price so far than that waterfall chart that you gave us last quarter? And does that potentially change the trajectory of the $600 million or so in price giveback you gave us in that waterfall?

然後，您記錄的本季度指導值剛好超過 2.64 億美元的 EBITDA，但您將 23 年的指導值提高了 1 億美元，而沒有像我們剛才談到的那樣調整銷量。那麼，價格與成本方程式發生了什麼變化，使您可以在今年年初調整您的指導，非常顯著？到目前為止，你們保留的價格是否比上個季度給我們的瀑布圖高？這是否有可能改變您在那個瀑布中給我們的 6 億美元左右的價格回饋的軌跡？

Yes. I would say for this year, we are seeing more price that we're holding on to, and/or just commodity costs drop them faster, different things like that and our value equations, that we are able to raise, as you mentioned, our whole year forecast for EBITDA of around $100 million. To sit here and project out further, I think -- we're not giving comments on '24. We're still comfortable as we can be on the $18 plus for the long term. But for this year, Andy, there's enough comfort in the year to raise the guidance by the $100 million.

是的。我想說今年，我們看到更多的價格我們堅持，和/或只是商品成本下降更快，不同的東西和我們的價值方程，我們能夠提高，正如你提到的，我們對 EBITDA 的全年預測約為 1 億美元。我認為，坐在這裡進一步規劃——我們不會對 24 年發表評論。我們仍然很舒服，因為我們可以長期保持在 18 美元以上。但對於今年，安迪，這一年有足夠的安慰來將指導提高 1 億美元。

Yes. And Andy, as you know, the second half is usually a little bit stronger as construction season starts in full force. So when you look at the first half after first quarter actuals and our second quarter guide, we felt comfortable in raising that full year guide.

是的。安迪，正如你所知，隨著施工季節的全面開始，下半場通常會更強一些。因此，當您查看第一季度實際數據和我們的第二季度指南後的上半年時，我們對提高全年指南感到很自在。

And then, just one more question for me. You mentioned the rebound in metal electrical conduit volumes that you're seeing. Is that because demand is improving? Or was that more of a supply constraint issue that's now being relieved? And then just asking the same question on PVC markets. Pricing there still looks like maybe it's been dropping a little but stabilizing, but how do you define demand in PVC as non-resin demand outweighing resi weakness?

然後，再問我一個問題。您提到了您所看到的金屬電氣導管數量的反彈。那是因為需求正在改善嗎？或者更多的是現在正在緩解的供應限制問題？然後就 PVC 市場提出同樣的問題。那裡的定價看起來仍然可能有所下降但趨於穩定，但是您如何將 PVC 的需求定義為非樹脂需求超過樹脂疲軟？

Yes. So I'll do in reverse order there. I think there is enough opportunity -- well, let me back up. There is residential weakness. That should not be a surprise [already], right. But that's single-family home. Multifamily homes, we're telling -- so going really strong. And then there's enough other markets, all those electrification trends, [Car g], the grid in the varying lines and 5G networks, that for all of our products.

是的。所以我會在那里以相反的順序進行。我認為有足夠的機會 - 好吧，讓我備份。有住宅弱點。這應該不足為奇了，對吧。但那是單戶住宅。多戶住宅，我們說 - 所以非常強勁。然後還有足夠多的其他市場，所有這些電氣化趨勢，[Car g]，不同線路和 5G 網絡中的電網，適用於我們所有的產品。

Almost Andy, to your first question, we're still cautiously optimistic for growth, both for the industry and for Atkore going forward. And then from there, with steel conduit, yes, I think it was a good quarter, but I won't overplay any one market for a short time period.

幾乎是安迪，對於你的第一個問題，我們仍然對行業和 Atkore 的未來增長持謹慎樂觀態度。然後從那裡開始，有了鋼管，是的，我認為這是一個很好的季度，但我不會在短時間內誇大任何一個市場。

Yes. I mean, to me, the -- only 2 things may be there, Andy, is the fact that we feel very strongly destocking and for steel conduits over. And so, what we're seeing right now is the real demand in the market. And then also, you're starting to see steel costs rise in the future and expectations rise. So folks are getting ahead maybe a little bit and getting their orders in and probably a more typical way than they were in the last 3, 6 months.

是的。我的意思是，對我來說，安迪，可能只有兩件事是我們感到非常強烈的去庫存和鋼管的事實。因此，我們現在看到的是市場的真正需求。然後，你開始看到未來鋼鐵成本上升，預期上升。因此，與過去 3 個月、6 個月相比，人們可能取得了一些進展並收到了他們的訂單，這可能是一種更典型的方式。

Our next question comes from Deane Dray with RBC.

我們的下一個問題來自 RBC 的 Deane Dray。

I appreciate all that color through Andy's questions because that really does strike at the storyline here. And certainly, we like what we've seen for the first start of the year. And maybe we can just drill down a bit because -- on what normalization is and whether we have a clear read? And I know it's still early in the year, but here's kind of the way I think investors have been looking at it, versus fiscal '22 and your prior guide on EBITDA. It was looking at a 33% decline. And there was this worry it would be falling off a cliff in January. And obviously, that's not happening. You've boosted. It's now a 25% decline using the mid-point. But it's also $1 billion, which I think is interesting in terms of that mid-point you and I talked about, how that's an important milestone. So look, it's still early in the year. Where does that normalization trend line go from here in -- for fiscal '23 on an EBITDA basis?

我很欣賞安迪的問題所帶來的所有色彩，因為這確實觸及了這裡的故事情節。當然，我們喜歡我們在今年的第一個開始所看到的。也許我們可以深入了解一下，因為 - 關於什麼是規範化以及我們是否有清晰的閱讀？而且我知道現在還早，但我認為投資者一直在關注它，與 22 財年和您之前的 EBITDA 指南相比，這是一種方式。它正在尋找 33% 的下降。人們擔心它會在一月份掉下懸崖。顯然，這不會發生。你提升了現在使用中點下跌 25%。但它也是 10 億美元，我認為就你和我談到的那個中點而言很有趣，這是一個重要的里程碑。所以看，現在還早。在 EBITDA 的基礎上，23 財年的正常化趨勢線從何而來？

Deane, it's like, if you want to follow up, we're comfortable with the mid-point of the guide. I think there will be some pressure continuing on some of our pricing. But I think there's enough other things that we're doing well, i.e., the volume growth, new product development or new products that typically have higher margin, our value equation for customers that are driving -- in some places we're getting margin, even more as we go forward, that we're comfortable raising our guide for the year, but -- and also very comfortable still on the FY '25 guide.

Deane，就像，如果你想跟進，我們對指南的中間點很滿意。我認為我們的一些定價將繼續面臨一些壓力。但我認為還有足夠多的其他事情我們做得很好，即銷量增長、新產品開發或通常具有更高利潤率的新產品、我們為正在推動的客戶提供的價值等式——在某些地方我們正在獲得利潤，甚至在我們前進的過程中，我們很樂意提高今年的指南，但是 - 並且仍然非常滿意 FY '25 指南。

Now, could some product lines continue to have some drop in margin quarter-over-quarter and so forth? Yes. But overall, I would tell you almost where you started, we're comfortable enough 3 months in to say, you know what, pricing is holding better. Your whole -- the beginning of 33% drop and 25% drop, that $1 billion like you mentioned, sounds good to me and it was good how we would offer that in the $18 EPS and then we'll talk about how we continue to drive it forward from there. So hopefully, I answered, but it's hard to say product by product being with that much crystal ball.

現在，一些產品線的利潤率是否會繼續出現環比下降等等？是的。但總的來說，我會告訴你幾乎是從哪裡開始的，我們在 3 個月後已經足夠自在地說，你知道嗎，定價保持得更好。你的整體 - 33% 下降和 25% 下降的開始，就像你提到的 10 億美元，對我來說聽起來不錯，我們將如何在 18 美元的每股收益中提供它很好，然後我們將討論我們如何繼續從那裡推動它前進。所以希望如此，我回答說，但很難說一個產品一個產品有那麼多水晶球。

And for David, it came up a couple of times about the decline in input costs and it looks as though that is bigger than what the decline we've seen in pricing. So just kind of take us through that dynamic, the key input costs, how much they've gone down and how that factors into your pricing?

對於大衛來說，它曾多次提到投入成本的下降，而且看起來這比我們在定價方面看到的下降幅度更大。那麼就讓我們了解一下這種動態，關鍵投入成本，它們下降了多少以及這些因素如何影響您的定價？

Sure, Deane. So if you look at Slide 5 of our deck and you look at the bottom in the EBITDA bridge, you'll see that cost changes year-over-year for Q1 were down $70 million. Now obviously, pricing was down more than that, and that has a lot to do with the normalization we've been talking about, that you have seen from where we were a year ago, especially in things like steel, tremendously lower now than they were a year ago.

當然，迪恩。因此，如果您查看我們的幻燈片 5 並查看 EBITDA 橋的底部，您會發現第一季度的成本同比變化下降了 7000 萬美元。現在顯然，價格下降的幅度不止於此，這與我們一直在談論的正常化有很大關係，你已經從一年前的情況中看到了這一點，尤其是在鋼鐵等方面，現在比他們低得多是一年前。

Now, sequentially, you're starting to see steel, like I mentioned earlier, come up a little bit. And so, there's different dynamics in S&I as to when price changes in some of our other pipelines of how long we hold on the price versus the commodities coming down and what have you -- But in general, I would say that, that $70 million is a pretty significant reduction year-over-year.

現在，依次地，你開始看到鋼鐵，就像我之前提到的那樣，出現了一點。因此，S&I 有不同的動態，當我們的其他一些管道的價格發生變化時，我們持有價格與商品下跌的時間以及你有什麼 - 但總的來說，我會說，那 7000 萬美元同比大幅減少。

Sorry, Deane. I don't know if it was part of your question, but I know there's -- especially on the buy-side questions out there, on the whole dynamic of cost versus our price. Just as a reminder, I know you understand this [Deane], but that -- the things that drive our ability to price are supply-demand competition. So what are your competitors doing compared to how much demand is in the industry, and then Atkore's value prop, which I think is [bar-none] the best in the industry with our ability to co-load in one order, one delivery, one invoice or electronics, our customer service, those types of things.

對不起，迪恩。我不知道這是否是你問題的一部分，但我知道有——特別是關於買方的問題，關於成本與我們價格的整體動態。提醒一下，我知道你理解這個 [Deane]，但是 - 推動我們定價能力的是供需競爭。那麼，與行業中的需求量相比，您的競爭對手在做什麼，然後是 Atkore 的價值支撐，我認為這是行業中最好的 [bar-none] 我們有能力在一個訂單中共同裝載，一次交付，一張發票或電子產品，我們的客戶服務，這些類型的東西。

So as sometimes buy side looks at commodity costs, yes, that's a factor, because maybe one of our competitors is out there thinking, well, if my cost went down, I can lower my price and still make a margin, and we have to react. But that's just not a major contributor to how we price in the market for any of our [product] cost.

因此，有時買方會考慮商品成本，是的，這是一個因素，因為也許我們的一個競爭對手在那裡思考，好吧，如果我的成本下降，我可以降低價格並仍然賺取利潤，我們必須反應。但這並不是我們如何在市場上為任何 [產品] 成本定價的主要因素。

Yes. Bill, you and I had this exact discussion last quarter, first question, and you gave a, what I thought a comprehensive tutorial on the dynamics and how you have to look well beyond just the input costs. And so, I've been referring people to that transcript and sending it, and thank you for the reminder.

是的。比爾，你和我在上個季度進行了這個確切的討論，第一個問題，你給出了一個，我認為是關於動態的綜合教程，以及你必須如何超越輸入成本。因此，我一直在向人們推薦該抄本並發送，感謝您的提醒。

And just last question for me. Talk about the pipeline of M&A? And are you seeing any other competition coming in? Because, obviously, this is a really attractive niche and the surprise for some investors to say, how come you haven't seen anyone else trying to elbow their way in?

最後一個問題問我。談談併購的管道？您是否看到有其他競爭者加入？因為，很明顯，這是一個非常有吸引力的利基市場，一些投資者會驚訝地說，你怎麼沒看到其他人試圖擠進來？

Yes. So, to that great question, Deane, and for whoever also thinking of those questions -- But no, we haven't -- let's put it this way. There is no increased trend that we've seen as people bought other companies that we've passed by, yes. But again, I think Atkore is unique that most companies we buy are privately owned family enterprises, small enough on the radar that a large private equity firm wouldn't have the management structure to put in place with them, are large electrical peers to have different niches than we do in this set of, call it, Raceway products, that I think we are uniquely in a position to acquire most of these companies as they come up to market.

是的。所以，對於這個偉大的問題，Deane，以及對於那些也想到這些問題的人——但不，我們沒有——讓我們這樣說。是的，當人們購買我們已經路過的其他公司時，我們沒有看到增加的趨勢。但同樣，我認為 Atkore 的獨特之處在於，我們購買的大多數公司都是私營家族企業，規模小到大型私募股權公司無法與他們建立管理結構，是大型電氣同行與我們在這組產品中所做的不同的利基市場，稱之為 Raceway 產品，我認為我們處於獨特的位置，可以在這些公司進入市場時收購它們中的大多數。

So they never say never or something hasn't been sold to somebody else, of course, but no increased trend and the market is still active. We're actively pursuing things. We've actually increased the size of our M&A team here in the last month, just to continue to expand, whether different products in the States look more aggressively into Canada, look more aggressively into Europe. So we are deploying our capital well between M&A, internal investments, and obviously, stock buyback. So it's a good time to be with that corp.

所以他們從不說永不或某些東西還沒有賣給其他人，當然，但沒有增加的趨勢，市場仍然活躍。我們正在積極追求事物。實際上，上個月我們在這裡增加了併購團隊的規模，只是為了繼續擴大，無論美國的不同產品是否更積極地進入加拿大，更積極地進入歐洲。因此，我們在併購、內部投資以及顯然是股票回購之間很好地部署了我們的資本。所以現在是加入那個公司的好時機。

Our next question comes from Chris Dankert with Loop Capital.

我們的下一個問題來自 Loop Capital 的 Chris Dankert。

I guess, first off, in safety and infrastructure, in particular, volume was up nice, and obviously, the comp was a bit easier. But anything in particular you'd call out on the demand side kind of fueling that volume in S&I?

我想，首先，在安全和基礎設施方面，尤其是音量增加得很好，而且顯然，比較容易一些。但是，您會在需求方面提出什麼特別的建議來推動 S&I 的交易量？

Yes. So whenever we reference a little bit about data centers and [fab] plants, a lot of that, when you start thinking about the metal framing, our wire basket products -- even in a different part of their business, security was pretty strong this quarter. So pretty broadly speaking, they've had solid growth across all their product lines this quarter.

是的。因此，每當我們提到一點關於數據中心和 [晶圓廠] 工廠時，很多，當你開始考慮金屬框架時，我們的線籃產品 - 即使在他們業務的不同部分，安全性也非常強大四分之一。所以從廣義上講，本季度他們的所有產品線都實現了穩健增長。

And then, maybe to follow up. Obviously, there's a lot of different governmental actions going on right now. You've got the IRA, infrastructure jobs, RDOF, et cetera. I guess, first off, what impact is baked into that kind of mid single digit volume guide from those at? I know it's hard to -- break it [hard] that way, but if you can kind of give any sense for, is that more of a 2024 dynamic, I assume, for the majority of it, but any sense on is some of that showing up? What's based in the guide? And any comments on just kind of that environment.

然後，也許要跟進。顯然，現在有很多不同的政府行動正在進行。你有 IRA、基礎設施工作、RDOF 等等。我想，首先，來自那些人的那種中個位數音量指南有什麼影響？我知道很難 - 以這種方式打破它 [hard]，但如果你能給出任何意義，我認為更多的是 2024 年的動態，我認為，對於其中的大部分，但任何意義都是一些那出現了？指南中的內容是什麼？以及對那種環境的任何評論。

Yes. I think, Chris, I'll just paraphrase back what we said. I think it will be more impactful in 2024, just because a lot of these things like the Inflation Reduction act with credits and so forth, just literally kicked in, in January. But there's probably a little bit in there, but nothing major, but we are definitely knowing that these things are coming along, positioning ourselves, and that's again where I say Atkore is a company to invest in and grow with as we go forward.

是的。我想，克里斯，我只是轉述一下我們所說的話。我認為它會在 2024 年產生更大的影響，因為很多這樣的事情，比如在 1 月份才真正開始實施的通貨膨脹減免等等。但那裡可能有一點，但沒什麼大不了的，但我們肯定知道這些事情正在發生，為我們自己定位，這也是我說 Atkore 是一家在我們前進的過程中投資和成長的公司。

And like the fiber investments and all that dynamics, how these -- I think the deadline is pretty soon and they can sign up for the money and see what their need is. So we're still a little ways before that actually gets to action. So to this point, a little bit, but not the majority of our volume growth this year.

就像光纖投資和所有這些動態一樣——我認為最後期限很快就會到來，他們可以報名參加這筆錢，看看他們需要什麼。因此，在真正採取行動之前，我們還有一段路要走。所以到目前為止，有一點，但不是我們今年銷量增長的大部分。

I guess if nothing else, it certainly gives you confidence at that 2025 target number on $18.

我想如果沒有別的，它肯定會讓你對 2025 年 18 美元的目標數字充滿信心。

Our next question comes from Chris Moore with CJS Securities.

我們的下一個問題來自 CJS 證券公司的 Chris Moore。

Most of it is covered. I was hoping maybe you could just give some updated thoughts on the HDPE market opportunity. You talked about it a little bit, but obviously, lots of acquisitions there and a lot's going on that front. Maybe just any updated thoughts you have there?

大部分都被覆蓋了。我希望您能就 HDPE 市場機會提供一些最新的想法。你談了一點，但很明顯，那裡有很多收購，而且在這方面也有很多進展。也許你有任何更新的想法？

Yes, Chris, really excited for that market. Every facet of it, first, almost -- the other Chris had just asked the question. I think the best is yet to come here with funding for and getting things ready for fiber optic and so forth. And without mentioning specific customers, we have a great general manager that was just talking to some of the largest electrical distributors in the nation yesterday. And while they're optimistic for '23, they're even more optimistic for 2024, and we are well positioned, and we have a kick ass team that very much reminds me as a complement to Atkore, the PBC division of a decade ago where you take 5, 6 of the best run companies and you bring together those management teams. They get to compare now best practices, manufacturing, how we have a national footprint, how we can, therefore, work with national customers that a lot of other people can't, just because they're regional. And this is why, almost back to the previous analyst questions, we have high comfort at this stage with our 2025, $18 plus EPS. So economy is going in the right direction, secular trends going in the right direction, and Atkore is getting well positioned. So long-winded answer and say we're excited for HDPE.

是的，克里斯，對那個市場真的很興奮。它的每個方面，首先，幾乎——另一個克里斯剛剛問了這個問題。我認為最好的是為光纖等提供資金和準備。在沒有提到具體客戶的情況下，我們有一位偉大的總經理昨天剛剛與全國一些最大的電氣分銷商交談。雖然他們對 23 年持樂觀態度，但他們對 2024 年更加樂觀，我們處於有利地位，我們擁有一支非常棒的團隊，這讓我想起了十年前 PBC 部門 Atkore 的補充你選擇了 5、6 家經營最好的公司，然後將這些管理團隊聚集在一起。他們現在可以比較最佳實踐、製造、我們如何在全國范圍內開展業務，以及我們如何才能與許多其他人無法做到的全國客戶合作，因為他們是區域性的。這就是為什麼，幾乎回到之前分析師的問題，我們在現階段對 2025 年 18 美元加上每股收益感到非常滿意。因此，經濟正朝著正確的方向發展，長期趨勢正朝著正確的方向發展，而 Atkore 正處於有利地位。如此冗長的回答，並說我們對 HDPE 感到興奮。

Last one for me, just kind of cash flow related. So cash flow from operations, I think just under $200 million for the quarter. Inventory was down a little bit, but $11.5 million. What are kind of your thoughts in terms of inventory levels for the balance of the year?

最後一個對我來說，只是一種與現金流相關的。因此，我認為本季度來自運營的現金流量不到 2 億美元。庫存略有下降，但下降了 1150 萬美元。您對今年餘下時間的庫存水平有何看法？

I mean, I think from a [days] standpoint, we're kind of where we want to be, but you will see a little bit here -- as we talked about in the back half of the year, we expect a lot more solar volume coming up with our new facilities. So we will have a little bit of an inventory build there. So when you look at it on, say, a day's level, it's going to be fairly level between now and end of the year, but that does mean a little bit of a dollar increase for the next, I'd say, quarter or two.

我的意思是，我認為從 [days] 的角度來看，我們有點像我們想要的，但你會在這裡看到一點——正如我們在今年下半年談到的那樣，我們期望更多我們新設施的太陽能量。因此，我們將在那裡建立一些庫存。所以當你看它時，比如說，一天的水平，從現在到今年年底，它會相當水平，但這確實意味著下一個季度或下一個美元會增加一點點二。

Our last question comes from Alex Rygiel with B. Riley.

我們的最後一個問題來自 Alex Rygiel 和 B. Riley。

To follow up on that last question, can you comment on sort of the trend in solar demand in the near term as well as telecom conduit demand in the near term, appreciating the very positive long-term outlook?

為了跟進最後一個問題，您能否評論一下近期太陽能需求的趨勢以及近期的電信管道需求，並欣賞非常積極的長期前景？

Yes. Both short term and long term, really optimistic. It almost ties back to some of the other questions with what are we seeing. Again, some of the background that David talked about in our prepared remarks, is, solar credits are out there. They just started with Inflation Reduction Act. So I think it is something that -- the people that make the solar arrays, the people that buy them for the solar farms are aware of, and that is a great stimulus, and well, I'll kick on here on January 1. But we're [for][Atkore] well positioned. I think we've talked in previous conference calls where we actually -- some intelligence, quite frankly, some done lot, but we had started up a whole facility dedicated to making the solar torque tubes, and that's coming online for us here kind of in the beginning of Q3. So another quarter out, but that will both help with organic growth, help with our EPS, and the demand is absolutely out there, both just people wanting to be green. And these tax credits are probably shipped on a lot of business that used to be made offshore to U.S. manufacturing. So good for the economy, good for the U.S., good for green and good for Atkore.

是的。短期和長期，真的很樂觀。它幾乎與我們所看到的其他一些問題有關。同樣，大衛在我們準備好的發言中談到的一些背景是，太陽能積分就在那裡。他們剛剛開始實施通貨膨脹減少法案。所以我認為這是——製造太陽能電池板的人，為太陽能農場購買太陽能電池板的人都知道的，這是一個很好的刺激，好吧，我將從 1 月 1 日開始。但我們 [for][Atkore] 處於有利位置。我想我們在之前的電話會議上談過我們實際上 - 一些情報，坦率地說，一些做了很多，但我們已經啟動了一個專門用於製造太陽能扭矩管的整個設施，並且它正在為我們上線在第三季度初。所以再過一個季度，但這將有助於有機增長，有助於我們的每股收益，而且需求絕對存在，兩者都只是人們想要綠色。這些稅收抵免可能會轉移到過去離岸到美國製造業的許多業務上。對經濟、美國、綠色和 Atkore 都有好處。

Yes. So, Alex, one way to think about it is, like the solar industry itself could stay flat year-over-year. The volume for domestic torque tubes is still going to be up substantially because it just doesn't make any financial sense to import torque tubes anymore compared to buying someone domestically.

是的。所以，亞歷克斯，一種思考方式是，太陽能行業本身可能會同比持平。國內扭矩管的銷量仍將大幅增長，因為與在國內購買相比，進口扭矩管不再具有任何經濟意義。

And then, is it time for you to update your 2025 target or comment -- confidence towards achieving it?

然後，是時候更新您的 2025 年目標或評論——實現它的信心了嗎？

I'll just say -- I don't know what to say. And [if you] -- for the thought process on the optimism, when we get to the 10 multiple on that, then we'll talk about where we go as we continue to drive forward. I will say, because we have great management teams literally across the board -- like, you look at what David spoke about with S&I, just an amazing quarter that for David, myself and the executive staff, we're having an all-day media on Thursday, and it's all about 2025 and 2028. That's the focus, how do you keep this [fly] wheel spinning faster and faster. So who knows. I don't think we're going to do -- re-up our numbers for a while, Alex, but it's definitely a thing of how we continue to grow and take it to the next level.

我只想說——我不知道該說什麼。 [如果你]——關於樂觀的思考過程，當我們達到 10 倍時，我們將討論我們繼續前進的方向。我會說，因為我們在各個方面都擁有出色的管理團隊——比如，你看看 David 與 S&I 談到的內容，這是一個令人驚嘆的季度，對於 David、我自己和執行人員來說，我們正在度過一整天星期四的媒體，都是關於 2025 年和 2028 年的。這就是重點，你如何讓這個[飛輪]旋轉得越來越快。所以誰知道呢。我不認為我們會做 - 重新增加我們的數字一段時間，亞歷克斯，但這絕對是我們如何繼續成長並將其提升到一個新水平的事情。

Yes. We pretty formally will update it again at the --

是的。我們將非常正式地再次更新它——

November.

十一月。

November like we normally would. But I just would remind you that we did put a greater than signed in front of the ['18]. So we were thinking about that as we were putting that together.

像往常一樣十一月。但我只想提醒你，我們確實在 ['18] 前面放了一個大於符號的符號。所以我們在把它放在一起的時候就在考慮這個問題。

There are no further questions at this time. I'll now turn the call over back to Bill Waltz.

目前沒有其他問題。我現在將電話轉回 Bill Waltz。

Before we conclude, let me summarize my 3 key takeaways from today's discussion. First, Q1 was a solid start to the year, with volumes up over 5%. Second, we are increasing our expectations for the full year earnings and share repurchases. Third, we're excited about the progress we've made in regards to sustainability and ESG, and we're very excited about what lies ahead in this area for our products, customers and employees.

在我們結束之前，讓我總結一下我從今天的討論中得出的 3 個要點。首先，第一季度開局良好，銷量增長超過 5%。其次，我們正在提高對全年收益和股票回購的預期。第三，我們對我們在可持續性和 ESG 方面取得的進展感到興奮，我們對我們的產品、客戶和員工在這一領域的前景感到非常興奮。

With that, thank you for your support and interest in our company, and we look forward to speaking with you during our next quarterly call. This concludes the call for today.

至此，感謝您對我們公司的支持和興趣，我們期待在下一個季度電話會議上與您交談。今天的呼籲到此結束。