Atkore Inc (ATKR) 2023 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Good morning. My name is Krista, and I'll be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the Atkore's Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2023 Earnings Conference Call. (Operator Instructions). As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. Thank you.

早安.我叫克里斯塔，今天我將擔任你們的會議接線生。此時此刻，我歡迎大家參加 Atkore 2023 年第四季和全年財報電話會議。 （操作員說明）。提醒一下，本次會議正在錄製中。謝謝。

I would now like to turn the conference over to your host, John Deitzer, Vice President of Treasury and Investor Relations. Thank you. You may begin.

現在我想將會議交給東道主、財政部和投資者關係副總裁約翰·戴策爾 (John Deitzer)。謝謝。你可以開始了。

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

謝謝大家，大家早安。今天，總裁兼執行長 Bill Walts 也加入了我的行列。以及財務長大衛·約翰遜。我們將在比爾和大衛發表評論後回答您的問題。我想提醒大家，在這次電話會議中，我們可能會對公司未來事件或財務表現做出預測或前瞻性陳述。此類陳述涉及風險和不確定性，實際結果可能存在重大差異。請參閱我們向 SEC 提交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有重大差異的重要因素。

In addition, any reference in our discussion today to EBITDA means adjusted EBITDA. In any reference to EPS or adjusted EPS means adjusted diluted earnings per share. Adjusted EBITDA and adjusted diluted earnings per share are non-GAAP measures. Reconciliations of non-GAAP measures in the presentation of the most comparable GAAP measures are available in the appendix to today's presentation. With that, I'll turn it over to Bill.

此外，我們今天討論中提及的 EBITDA 均指調整後的 EBITDA。在任何提及每股收益或調整後每股收益時，均指調整後稀釋每股收益。調整後的 EBITDA 和調整後的稀釋每股盈餘是非公認會計準則衡量標準。今天簡報的附錄中提供了最具可比性的 GAAP 衡量標準中非 GAAP 衡量標準的調整表。有了這個，我會把它交給比爾。

Thanks, John, and good morning, everyone. Starting on Slide 3. I'm pleased to report that Atkore again delivered strong operating results this year, and we remain confident in the future of our company. During our discussion today, we will discuss the quarterly and full year financials as we normally do, but we will also like to take this opportunity to review our (inaudible) growth opportunities, and provide some exciting updates regarding capital deployment.

謝謝約翰，大家早安。從幻燈片 3 開始。在今天的討論中，我們將像往常一樣討論季度和全年財務狀況，但我們也想藉此機會回顧我們的（聽不清楚）成長機會，並提供一些有關資本部署的令人興奮的更新。

Let me start with a quick review of some of our highlights from the year. Turning to Slide 4. 2023 was a great year for Atkore. We delivered financial results well ahead of our expectations, and we made great progress on many of our strategic initiatives. We continue to be recognized as an employer of choice and I believe that our talented team is a true competitive advantage for our company. I'd like to take this moment to recognize them for their great work and everything they do to support our customers. Thank you.

讓我先快速回顧一下今年的一些亮點。轉向幻燈片 4。2023 年對 Atkore 來說是偉大的一年。我們的財務表現遠遠超出了我們的預期，並且我們在許多策略舉措上取得了巨大進展。我們繼續被公認為首選雇主，我相信我們才華橫溢的團隊是我們公司真正的競爭優勢。我想藉此機會表彰他們的出色工作以及他們為支持我們的客戶所做的一切。謝謝。

David and I are confident in our business, and I'm pleased to report that we repurchased an additional $75 million in stock in the fourth quarter. Over the past 24 months, we have now repurchased over $990 million of our stock. We are proud of our accomplishments, and we worked diligently to evolve Atkore into an industry leader.

David 和我對我們的業務充滿信心，我很高興地報告，我們在第四季度額外回購了 7500 萬美元的股票。在過去 24 個月裡，我們已經回購了價值超過 9.9 億美元的股票。我們為自己的成就感到自豪，我們努力工作，將 Atkore 發展成為行業領導者。

Now I'll turn the call over to David to talk through the results from the fourth quarter and the full year.

現在我將把電話轉給大衛，討論第四季和全年的業績。

Thank you, Bill, and good morning, everyone. Visit to our consolidated results on Slide 5. In the fourth quarter, net sales declined 15% year-over-year to $870 million, and our adjusted EPS decreased 24% to $4.21. For the full year, we achieved $3.5 billion in revenue and our adjusted EPS was $19.40. Adjusted EBITDA for the full year was over $1 billion.

謝謝你，比爾，大家早安。請查看投影片 5 上的綜合業績。全年我們實現了 35 億美元的收入，調整後的每股盈餘為 19.40 美元。全年調整後 EBITDA 超過 10 億美元。

Taking to Slide 6 in our consolidated bridges. Volumes were positive in the quarter and federal profitability was stronger than expected. Looking at the full year, net sales decreased by $395 million due to lower average selling prices. As we have been discussing over the past several years, price normalization, primarily in our PVC business started at the end of FY '22 and has continued through FY '23. However, our profitability on both an adjusted EBITDA and EPS basis was much stronger than originally anticipated. We're extremely pleased with our overall financial performance.

請看我們的綜合橋樑中的幻燈片 6。本季銷售良好，聯邦獲利能力強於預期。縱觀全年，由於平均售價下降，淨銷售額減少了 3.95 億美元。正如我們過去幾年一直在討論的那樣，價格正常化（主要是我們的 PVC 業務）於 22 財年末開始，並持續到 23 財年。然而，我們調整後的 EBITDA 和 EPS 基礎上的獲利能力比最初預期的要強得多。我們對我們的整體財務表現非常滿意。

Moving to Slide 7 in our segment results. Margins compressed in our Electrical segment in the fourth quarter, driven by continued price normalization in our PVC related products. Nonetheless, margins were better than expected and we were encouraged to see volumes in our PVC related price were flat on both a year-over-year and sequential basis. The year-over-year volume declines in the quarter were in our HDPE and cable products.

轉到我們的分段結果中的投影片 7。由於 PVC 相關產品價格持續正常化，第四季度電氣部門的利潤率已壓縮。儘管如此，利潤率好於預期，我們很高興看到 PVC 相關價格的銷量與去年同期相比持平。本季銷量較去年同期下降的是我們的 HDPE 和電纜產品。

Shifting over to our S&I segment. Volumes increased 18%. Net sales for this part of the business declined due to lower average selling prices resulting from the year-over-year declines in raw material input costs, and the impact from solar credits offsetting the strong volume gains. It's important to acknowledge that the declines in invested EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA margins include the recognition of the solar credit adjustment to cost of sales. Under the GDA method, earnings and margins would have been much stronger and closer to 14%. As you may recall from our comments last quarter, we will be using this methodology in FY '24.

轉向我們的 S&I 部門。銷量增加了 18%。這部分業務的淨銷售額下降，原因是原材料投入成本同比下降導致平均售價下降，以及太陽能信貸的影響抵消了銷售的強勁增長。重要的是要承認投資 EBITDA 和調整後 EBITDA 利潤率的下降包括太陽能信貸對銷售成本的調整。根據 GDA 方法，收益和利潤率會高得多，接近 14%。您可能還記得我們上個季度的評論，我們將在 24 財年使用這種方法。

Turning now to Page 8. We wanted to review some of the volume trends for FY '23 and our outlook for FY '24. In FY '23, we achieved 3% volume growth, which was slightly below our expectations of mid-single-digit percentage growth for the year. During the fourth quarter, there was a clear slowdown in demand coming from the telecom industry. As the market and channel is working through elevated inventory levels and the timing related to some of the government stimulus funding. This slowdown caused an unanticipated impact of volumes for HDPE related products.

現在翻到第 8 頁。 我們想回顧一下 23 財年的一些銷售趨勢以及我們對 24 財年的展望。 23 財年，我們實現了 3% 的銷售成長，略低於我們對今年中個位數百分比成長的預期。第四季度，電信業的需求明顯放緩。由於市場和通路正在努力解決庫存水準升高的問題，並且時機與政府的一些刺激資金有關。這種放緩對 HDPE 相關產品的銷售造成了意想不到的影響。

In addition, the ramp in production of our new facility in Indiana was behind our expectations which led to slightly lower levels of shipments than we had anticipated. This being said, we are working through these production challenges, and we expect sales for solar-related products could double in FY '24.

此外，我們印第安納州新工廠的產量增加低於我們的預期，導致出貨量略低於我們的預期。儘管如此，我們正在努力解決這些生產挑戰，我們預計太陽能相關產品的銷售額在 24 財年可能會翻倍。

This projected growth in our solar-related price is a key driver in our low double-digit growth expectations for the total enterprise in FY '24. This will be a large step-up that we expect the capital investments that we've been making in Indiana in other parts of our organization to deliver for our business in FY '24. In addition, our metal framing, cable management and construction services businesses are very well positioned to support the continued growth of global mega projects. This part of our business grew double digits in FY '23, and we expect continued high single-digit growth this year. This team has done a tremendous job growing Atkore's presence with some of the most recognized companies in the world.

我們對太陽能相關價格的預期成長是我們對 24 財年整個企業實現低兩位數成長預期的關鍵驅動力。這將是一個巨大的進步，我們預計我們在印第安納州對我們組織其他部分的資本投資將在 24 財年為我們的業務帶來好處。此外，我們的金屬框架、電纜管理和建築服務業務處於非常有利的位置，可以支持全球大型專案的持續成長。我們的這部分業務在 23 財年實現了兩位數成長，我們預計今年將繼續保持個位數的高成長。該團隊在擴大 Atkore 與世界上一些最受認可的公司的合作方面做出了巨大的努力。

Turning now to our outlook on Page 9. We anticipate net sales to grow in FY '24, led by the low double-digit volume gains, partially offsetting this growth will be continued pricing normalization, which will lead to lower levels of adjusted EBITDA and adjusted EPS. In FY '24, we will use the [DVAN] method of accounting related to the solar credit, which will bring our tax rate back toward our historical range in the mid-20s.

現在轉向我們對第 9 頁的展望。調整後的每股收益。在 24 財年，我們將使用與太陽能信貸相關的 [DVAN] 會計方法，這將使我們的稅率回到 1920 年代中期的歷史範圍。

We continue to see upside potential in our company, and we're committed to returning at least $200 million in cash to shareholders through repurchases.

我們繼續看到公司的上升潛力，並致力於透過回購向股東返還至少 2 億美元現金。

Moving to Slide 10. We recognize there are a lot of moving parts between our performance in FY '23 and our outlook for FY '24. Therefore, we've outlined some of the critical components and impact to both net sales and adjusted EBITDA. For example, we expect price versus cost to be a headwind of approximately $225 million to $275 million on an adjusted EBITDA basis. Of that amount, we would estimate that nearly $175 million has already occurred when you look at lower margin loans exiting FY '23 versus the start of the year. At the midpoint, this would be approximately $500 million of the $585 million that we outlined last year as total price outperformance.

轉到投影片 10。 我們意識到 23 財年的業績與 24 財年的前景之間存在著許多變化。因此，我們概述了一些關鍵組成部分以及對淨銷售額和調整後 EBITDA 的影響。例如，我們預計，在調整後的 EBITDA 基礎上，價格與成本的差距約為 2.25 億至 2.75 億美元。其中，如果考慮 23 財年退出的保證金貸款與年初相比，我們估計已經發生了近 1.75 億美元。以中點計算，這大約是我們去年概述的總價格表現優異的 5.85 億美元中的 5 億美元。

Turning to Slide 11. Despite these anticipated declines in FY '24, we're extremely pleased with the structural transformation and improvements that we've achieved in the business since our IPO. Last year at this time, we served a historical bridge broke down the different components in our sales and earnings since 2017. When you layer the sustainable pricing improvements that we discussed are still holding and our estimates regarding pricing outperformance are in line with our expectations. The diversity and strength of our product portfolio is a true competitive advantage, and we expect our long-term adjusted EBITDA margins will land in the range of 25%. EBITDA sees lower levels versus our performance in the past 3 years, these margins would be equal or slightly better than best-in-class companies in the electrical industry. With that, turning it back to Bill to give an update on our growth opportunities.

轉向投影片 11。去年的這個時候，我們服務了一座歷史橋樑，分解了自2017 年以來銷售和收入的不同組成部分。符合我們的預期。我們產品組合的多樣性和實力是真正的競爭優勢，我們預計長期調整後 EBITDA 利潤率將在 25% 左右。與我們過去 3 年的業績相比，EBITDA 水準較低，這些利潤率將等於或略好於電氣行業的一流公司。然後，將其轉回給比爾，以提供有關我們成長機會的最新資訊。

Thanks, David. Starting on Slide 13, Atkore is a differentiated company and a great investment opportunity. The financial and portfolio-related achievements we've made since IPO as well as the strong secular tailwinds and growth opportunities that we have ahead of us have positioned Atkore well for continued success.

謝謝，大衛。從投影片 13 開始，Atkore 是一家與眾不同的公司，也是一個巨大的投資機會。自首次公開募股以來，我們所取得的財務和投資組合相關成就以及我們面前的強勁長期順風和成長機會為 Atkore 的持續成功奠定了良好的基礎。

Turning to Slide 14. We have provided a view of our strong financial profile. Our balance sheet and cash flow give us a rock solid foundation from which to grow. In addition, on Slide 15, our products are genuinely all around you, and these are truly essential items where the electrical infrastructure needed in all types of construction. In fact, when you look at our segment sales on Slide 16, we estimate that over 90% of our sales are related to electrical infrastructure. 3/4 of our sales are in our Electrical segment, but a significant portion of our safety and infrastructure products are also directly related to electrical infrastructure. This is especially true when you think about our free fabrication devices and our solar products.

轉向投影片 14。我們的資產負債表和現金流為我們的發展奠定了堅實的基礎。此外，在幻燈片 15 上，我們的產品確實就在您身邊，這些是所有類型的建築中所需的電氣基礎設施真正必不可少的物品。事實上，當您查看投影片 16 上我們的細分市場銷售額時，我們估計超過 90% 的銷售額與電力基礎設施相關。我們 3/4 的銷售額來自電氣部門，但我們的安全和基礎設施產品的很大一部分也與電氣基礎設施直接相關。當您考慮我們的免費製造設備和太陽能產品時尤其如此。

Turning to Slide 17, there are strong secular trends related to electrical infrastructure that we trust will support our market for years to come. Underlying many of these trends are also a large government stimulus programs and with some of them have a spending profile through the end of the decade. David has said this many times before and even just several of you and I could not agree more with them. So electrical industry is a great place to be.

轉向幻燈片 17，與電力基礎設施相關的強勁長期趨勢我們相信將在未來幾年支持我們的市場。許多這些趨勢的背後還有大規模的政府刺激計劃，其中一些計劃的支出狀況將持續到本世紀末。大衛以前已經說過很多次了，甚至只是你們幾個人和我都非常同意他們的觀點。所以電氣業是一個很好的地方。

Moving to Slide 18. We remain focused on executing the conduits of growth that we've discussed at this time last year, which emphasized M&A, category expansion initiatives and product innovation. Today, we wanted to provide an update on our key category expansion initiatives, which are an important aspect of executing our conduit of growth for years to come. In FY '24, we anticipate the investments that we made in Indiana will start to demonstrate considerable financial benefits. We expect growth and benefits from our investments in our retail service centers and HDPE will start to materialize in FY '25 and beyond.

轉向幻燈片 18。今天，我們希望提供有關我們關鍵品類擴張計劃的最新信息，這是我們未來幾年實現成長管道的一個重要方面。 24 財年，我們預期在印第安納州的投資將開始展現出可觀的經濟效益。我們預計我們對零售服務中心和 HDPE 的投資將在 25 財年及以後開始實現成長和收益。

On Slide 19, we wanted to highlight our new facility in Hobart, Indiana. This is really a great achievement for all of us, and I could not be more pleased with the team.

在投影片 19 上，我們想重點介紹我們位於印第安納州霍巴特的新工廠。這對我們所有人來說確實是一項偉大的成就，我對團隊感到非常滿意。

On Slide 20, as mentioned before, we're expanding our service and distribution capabilities in Texas, and we are now planning to add in additional service capabilities outside of the Greater Atlanta region.

在投影片 20 上，如前所述，我們正在擴展我們在德州的服務和分銷能力，並且我們現在計劃在大亞特蘭大地區之外增加額外的服務能力。

Moving to Slide 21. We're pleased with the integration and investments we've made in our HDPE-related acquisition. This business is now operating cohesively as one unit, and we continue to drive the adoption of the Atkore business system throughout the network.

轉向投影片 21。該業務現在作為一個整體統一運營，我們將繼續推動 Atkore 業務系統在整個網路中的採用。

Yes, there are challenges as you've heard about the industry and inventory. (inaudible) stimulus funding and so on. However, I'm confident in our team and the long-term value this business will drive for our company.

是的，正如您所聽說的，行業和庫存存在挑戰。 （聽不清楚）刺激資金等等。然而，我對我們的團隊以及這項業務將為我們公司帶來的長期價值充滿信心。

We estimate that we're #2 in the power and telecom part of the market, which is probably less than 20% of the overall HDPE market when you think about other applications like oil and gas and water. Atkore is an outstanding company and a compelling investment opportunity. With our exceptionally strong balance sheet and diverse product portfolio, we are well positioned to deliver long-term value for all of our stakeholders. With that, I'll turn it over to David to give some exciting updates about our capital deployment plans.

我們估計，我們在電力和電信部分市場排名第二，考慮到石油、天然氣和水等其他應用，該市場可能佔整個 HDPE 市場的比例不到 20%。 Atkore 是一家傑出的公司，也是一個引人注目的投資機會。憑藉我們異常強勁的資產負債表和多樣化的產品組合，我們有能力為所有利害關係人提供長期價值。接下來，我將把它交給 David，以提供有關我們的資本部署計劃的一些令人興奮的最新資訊。

Thanks, Bill. Yes, I'm excited to announce on Slide 23 that our Board has added plans for a regular quarterly dividends in our capital deployment model. Introduction of this dividend is supported by our strong performance over the past several years and our confidence in the future.

謝謝，比爾。是的，我很高興在幻燈片 23 上宣布，我們的董事會已在我們的資本部署模型中添加了定期季度股息的計劃。我們過去幾年的強勁業績以及對未來的信心支持了此次股息的推出。

Turning to Slide 24, our updated capital deployment plans reflect our intention to invest and grow our business while consistently returning cash to shareholders. We are being quite collective in our approach to M&A as we continue to have a high level of confidence in our current business and demonstrated through the nearly $1 billion we have deployed to share repurchases over the past 24 months.

轉向投影片 24，我們更新的資本部署計畫反映了我們投資和發展業務的意圖，同時持續向股東返還現金。我們在併購方面採取了相當集體的態度，因為我們對當前業務仍然充滿信心，過去 24 個月我們部署了近 10 億美元用於股票回購，這證明了這一點。

Moving to Slide 25. We anticipate elevated levels of capital expenses in FY '24, similar to FY '23 as we build out our RFC network that Bill mentioned, and continue to invest in our digital tools and capabilities.

轉到投影片 25。

Next, on Slide 26. Looking back on the version of the slide we presented a year ago, some things have changed for the positive and negative. Despite these changes, we believe our growth investments and our capital deployment level support our ability to deliver more than $18 per share of adjusted EPS in FY '25. With that, I'll turn it back to Bill for Slide 27.

接下來是投影片 26。儘管發生這些變化，我們相信我們的成長投資和資本部署水準支持我們在 25 財年實現每股 18 美元以上調整後每股收益的能力。 接下來，我會將投影片 27 轉回給 Bill。

Thanks, David, and we are very pleased with what we've achieved over the past several years, and we're even more excited about the opportunities ahead. With our outstanding financial profile and differentiated product portfolio supported by strong secular trends. We are a compelling investment opportunity for anyone looking for a company with strong growth initiatives and a commitment to returning cash to shareholders. I'm confident in the team, the strategy and processes we put in place to continue Atkore's strong trajectory. With that, we'll turn it over to the operator to open the line for questions.

謝謝大衛，我們對過去幾年所取得的成就感到非常滿意，並且對未來的機會更加興奮。憑藉我們出色的財務狀況和差異化的產品組合，並受到強勁的長期趨勢的支持。對於任何尋找一家具有強勁成長計劃並致力於向股東返還現金的公司的人來說，我們是一個極具吸引力的投資機會。我對團隊、我們為延續 Atkore 的強勁發展軌跡而製定的策略和流程充滿信心。這樣，我們將把它交給接線員來打開提問線路。

(Operator Instructions) Your first question comes from the line of Alex Rygiel from B. Riley.

（操作員說明）您的第一個問題來自 B. Riley 的 Alex Rygiel。

Very nice quarter and lots of love for really helpful slides here. So thank you very much for that. First question here is kind of your visibility as it relates to both the solar market and the HDPE market or the telecom markets. How confident are you that you feel like you've got pretty good visibility as it relates to either existing inventory and how that's getting worked through the channel and then customer demand over the next, call it, 12 to 18 months?

非常好的季度，非常喜歡這裡非常有用的幻燈片。非常感謝您。這裡的第一個問題是您的知名度，因為它涉及太陽能市場和 HDPE 市場或電信市場。您對自己擁有良好的可見性有多大信心，因為它與現有庫存以及如何透過管道運作以及接下來（即 12 到 18 個月）的客戶需求有關？

Alex, this is David. I'll take the solar question. And I just want to (inaudible) part of the Inflation Reduction Act with the incentives made for domestic manufacturing of torque tubes. That market essentially beginning last year doubled domestically, even if the amount of solar being deployed was the same. So I think for that one, we're very comfortable. We have really good relationships with some of the large tracker OEMs, that volume is there and continues to be there. Now our challenge is probably more on just production on that side of the business.

亞歷克斯，這是大衛。我來回答太陽能問題。我只想（聽不清楚）《減少通貨膨脹法案》的一部分，為國內扭力管製造提供激勵措施。即使部署的太陽能數量相同，該市場從去年開始基本上在國內翻了一番。所以我認為對於這一點，我們感到非常舒服。我們與一些大型追蹤器原始設備製造商有著非常良好的關係，這個數量已經存在並且將繼續存在。現在我們的挑戰可能更在於業務方面的生產。

Yes. So just one other though, David, because of the IRA just moving volume from China to the U.S. double the size of market. So market is exceptionally healthy. It's all about us and just keeping factories up. And then for HDPE, that's a little bit more triangulation, but I think everybody from fiber optic [public] operations, I won't call out individuals, but that are out there that have already announced their earnings and their estimates on when the funding will get deployed to our competitors that are public that have announced to things like the fiber optic BEAD association and so forth have all estimated their second half of next year. So from that to talking to customers, we're pretty optimistic.

是的。大衛，還有另一個問題，因為愛爾蘭共和軍剛剛將交易量從中國轉移到美國，是市場規模的兩倍。所以市場異常健康。這一切都與我們有關，只是讓工廠保持運作。然後對於HDPE 來說，這需要更多的三角測量，但我認為來自光纖[公共]運營的每個人，我不會點名個人，但那些已經公佈了他們的收入以及他們對何時融資的估計的人將部署到我們的公開競爭對手，這些競爭對手已經宣佈光纖 BEAD 協會等都預計明年下半年的部署。因此，從這一點到與客戶交談，我們都非常樂觀。

Again, it's $65 billion of what's called BEAD part of the IIJA so it's a huge amount of funding. It's just a question of getting that "shovel-ready " taking longer than expected. But we're ready, and it's really what's going to help carry us fiscal year '25 and beyond.

同樣，這是 IIJA 所謂 BEAD 部分的 650 億美元，因此這是一筆巨額資金。這只是一個「準備好鏟子」需要比預期更長的時間的問題。但我們已經準備好了，這確實有助於我們度過 25 財年及以後的日子。

Very helpful. And as some of maybe your smaller competitors figure out ways to digest the weaker pricing environment that you've worked through very, very well. Do you see even more attractive M&A targets developing from a pricing standpoint and whatnot from those private entities that are having trouble accessing capital?

非常有幫助。也許您的一些較小的競爭對手想出了一些方法來消化您已經非常非常好的應對的疲軟定價環境。從定價角度來看，您是否認為更具吸引力的併購目標正在發展，以及那些難以獲得資本的私人實體？

Yes. So two things, Alex, I'm going to answer your specific question and then go a little bit broader, a little on M&A. Absolutely, yes. And we just had our Board meeting and they had the same exact (inaudible) -- classically, this is a perfect time to potentially acquire and so forth. So we are out, we are working deals. To the one chart that David did with capital deployment, the good news also with Atkore as we give our estimates for this year and reaffirm the $18-plus for next year, is there's so many organic opportunities where we're spending $200 million plus on capital that even without M&A, you're comfortable with the $18 EPS for next year, and our management is so focused on that, that we're not going to opportunistically describe acquisitions for the sake of acquisitions. But I think we've always been disciplined and we'll continue to be disciplined as we quite frankly, absorb all the stuff of start-up of factories, deploying capital for technology, the regional service centers and so forth.

是的。所以有兩件事，亞歷克斯，我將回答你的具體問題，然後再更廣泛一些，關於併購。絕對是的。我們剛剛召開了董事會會議，他們也進行了同樣的會議（聽不清楚）——從傳統意義上講，這是潛在收購等的最佳時機。所以我們退出了，我們正在進行交易。在David 製作的一張關於資本部署的圖表中，Atkore 的好消息是，我們給出了今年的估計，並重申明年的18 美元以上，我們在這些方面花費了2 億美元以上，有如此多的有機機會。但我認為我們一直遵守紀律，我們將繼續遵守紀律，坦白說，我們吸收了開設工廠、部署技術資金、區域服務中心等的所有內容。

Your next question comes from the line of Deane Dray from RBC.

您的下一個問題來自加拿大皇家銀行 (RBC) 的 Deane Dray。

Can we go through pricing dynamics in the quarter and then the implications on the path to normalization that you talked about in the prepared remarks. So for the quarter, pricing ended up being not down as much as we thought it would be. So better on pricing. And just that -- how does that factor in lead times, what you're seeing in terms of competition, input costs and so forth?

我們能否回顧一下本季的定價動態，以及您在準備好的演講中談到的正常化道路的影響。因此，就本季而言，定價最終並未像我們想像的那樣下降。所以在定價上更好。就是這樣——這對交貨時間、你在競爭、投入成本等方面看到的情況有何影響？

Yes. So Deane, I think Q4 was slightly better as we expected, and the whole year was slightly better. If you go back and David (inaudible) correct me or you, Deane, we started the year with around $850 million EBITDA. So again, this was a strong year that our expectations and guide, analyst expectations and guide, this quarter that we just wrapped up, analysts guide for EPS and EBITDA and so forth. And prices still remains good, better than what we forecasted. But I also wanted as David walked through in the prepared remarks, we continue to see PVC slowly go down. So that's the part of the estimate as we go forward. But really, the stuff that we presented in November a year ago is playing out other than slightly better -- then exactly you go, hey, over a 2-year period, here's what we think we're going to keep because of our service, our regional service centers, the ability for 1 order, 1 delivery, 1 invoice. We're going to keep some of the price, but we're also going to get back some.

是的。所以迪恩，我認為第四季比我們預期的要好一些，而且全年都稍微好一些。如果你回過頭來，大衛（聽不清楚）糾正我或你，迪恩，我們年初的 EBITDA 約為 8.5 億美元。再說一次，今年是我們的預期和指導、分析師預期和指導、我們剛結束的這個季度、分析師對 EPS 和 EBITDA 等的預期和指導的強勁一年。價格仍然不錯，比我們的預測要好。但我也希望，正如大衛在準備好的演講中所講的那樣，我們繼續看到聚氯乙烯慢慢下跌。這就是我們接下來的估計的一部分。但實際上，我們一年前11 月推出的內容除了稍微好一點之外，效果還不錯——然後你就可以看到，嘿，在兩年的時間裡，這就是我們認為由於我們的服務而將保留的東西，我們的區域服務中心，有能力處理 1 個訂單、1 個交貨、1 個發票。我們將保留一些價格，但我們也會收回一些。

And again, PVC, we talk about because that's the biggest product from the price up you have those dynamics across all the other products with, by the way, some products, I won't call out specifically, we see giving up some price. Other ones, probably the strongest price either ever or at least in the last year or 2. And we just put price increases out on I guess I can share on metal conduit yesterday here as steel costs go up, we're raising our metal conduit prices.

再說一次，我們談論 PVC，因為這是價格上漲最大的產品，所有其他產品都有這些動態，順便說一句，有些產品，我不會具體指出，我們看到放棄一些價格。其他的，可能是有史以來最強勁的價格，或者至少在去年或兩年內。管道價格。

So I don't want to say business as usual, but it's a headwind but it's very much playing out like we estimated at this time.

所以我不想說一切照舊，但這是一個逆風，但它的結果非常像我們目前估計的那樣。

And then, remember, we always said that the volume in the PVC business obviously has a component of what drives some pricing element. And in Q4, our PVC volumes were flat year-over-year, which was certainly better. We're trending better throughout the year, but we started pretty significantly down year-over-year. So I think that's a positive. Going into Q1, we have seasonality. That business probably has more seasonality than anybody given that it does go into the ground, so on and so forth. So I think, as Bill mentioned, pretty much in line, maybe slightly better than what we expected.

然後，請記住，我們總是說 PVC 業務的銷售顯然是推動某些定價因素的一個組成部分。第四季度，我們的 PVC 銷量與去年同期持平，當然是更好的情況。我們全年的趨勢都在好轉，但一開始的情況卻比去年同期大幅下降。所以我認為這是積極的。進入第一季度，我們有季節性。鑑於該業務確實進入地下，因此可能比任何業務都具有更多的季節性，依此類推。所以我認為，正如比爾所提到的，幾乎符合預期，也許比我們預期的要好一些。

And the other thing, Dean, not part of your question, but what I'm excited about that shareholders should be is the chart that we walk through where we're forecasting double-digit organic growth, which to me was that and the dividend or 2 things that should be very positively received by our shareholders as we go forward. And that's the 2 things. In fairness, destocking happened last year, so we don't have that happening again in the market. And then the fact that we are the self-help of all these different initiatives are starting to pay off there. So that's really when we make the statement about we're excited about the future of Atkore. These are some of the reasons for that.

另一件事，迪恩，不是你問題的一部分，但我對股東應該感到興奮的是我們預測兩位數有機增長的圖表，對我來說這就是股息和股息或者在我們前進的過程中，有兩件事應該受到我們的股東的積極歡迎。這就是兩件事。公平地說，去庫存去年就發生過，所以市場上不會再有這種情況。事實上，我們是所有這些不同舉措的自助者，這一事實開始在那裡得到回報。因此，我們確實在此時發表聲明，表示我們對 Atkore 的未來感到興奮。這是其中的一些原因。

That's all good to hear, and that's great color. And just a quick clarification on Alex's question regarding volume. If we were looking for mid-single-digit volume this quarter, you came in low single. How much of that, if you were to size the shortfall there was the timing of the government stimulus and the telecom choppiness there. Is that -- does that account for all of it?

聽起來很高興，而且顏色很棒。快速澄清亞歷克斯關於音量的問題。如果我們正在尋找本季中個位數的銷量，那麼您的銷量就處於低個位數。如果你要衡量缺口的大小，其中有多少是政府刺激措施的時機和那裡的電信波動。這是——這可以解釋所有的事情嗎？

Yes, I can. I would say maybe half to maybe a little bit more than half was due to the HDPE environment. And then the other portion, Deane, would be our slower-than-anticipated startup for our solar plant.

是的，我可以。我想說，也許一半到一半多一點是由於 HDPE 環境。然後，迪恩的另一部分將是我們太陽能發電廠的啟動速度慢於預期。

Good. Okay. So...

好的。好的。所以...

One of (inaudible) within our control and the other one, as we mentioned, is probably (inaudible) market that's going to take a little bit to get back to where we expect it to be.

其中一個（聽不清楚）在我們的控制範圍內，另一個，正如我們所提到的，可能是（聽不清楚）市場需要一點時間才能回到我們預期的位置。

All right. That clarification is helpful. And then just last question for me is on cash flow was seasonally for your fiscal fourth quarter a bit light. Can you just kind of take us through the dynamics there. And I also just want to give a shout out, great to see you initiate the dividend.

好的。這個澄清很有幫助。對我來說，最後一個問題是，第四財季的現金流季節性有點清淡。您能帶我們了解那裡的動態嗎？我也想大聲疾呼，很高興看到你發起股息。

All right. Thank you very much. Overall, for the full year, our operating cash flow is actually above last year, even though we were $300 million of EBITDA below last year. So I think that was very positive. The timing in Q4 this year, again, relates to the start-up of (inaudible) Indiana, where it's a little bit slower than we expected, so we have the steel ready to go. So we had a little bit higher elevated inventory levels probably in solar. And I would argue the same price -- is the same in HDPE.

好的。非常感謝。總體而言，全年的營運現金流實際上高於去年，儘管 EBITDA 比去年低了 3 億美元。所以我認為這是非常積極的。今年第四季的時間再次與（聽不清楚）印第安納州的啟動有關，該州的啟動速度比我們預期的要慢一些，因此我們已準備好鋼鐵。因此，我們的太陽能庫存水準可能略高一些。我認為 HDPE 的價格是相同的。

Your next question comes from the line of Andy Kaplowitz from Citigroup.

您的下一個問題來自花旗集團的安迪·卡普洛維茨（Andy Kaplowitz）。

Maybe just a little more color into your markets. Just inventory of your products. I mean, I think you've talked about it being reasonably low in PVC and metal conduit as it still the case. Are you seeing any impact on larger projects, either non res or res from the higher rates. I know you talked about stimulus and HDPE, but anything sort of more macro that you could talk about? And I think last quarter, you mentioned you were having a strong July. Did you see any change in the cadence of your businesses as you went through Q4 and now here in Q1?

也許只是為您的市場增添一點色彩。只是您的產品庫存。我的意思是，我認為您已經談到 PVC 和金屬導管的含量相當低，現在情況仍然如此。您是否看到較大項目受到任何影響，無論是非資源還是來自較高費率的資源。我知道您談到了刺激措施和 HDPE，但是您可以談論任何更宏觀的內容嗎？我想上個季度，您提到您的七月表現強勁。從第四季到第一季度，您的業務節奏有什麼變化嗎？

Yes. So I'll start, and then David may have to help me, it feels like years ago for the last quarter already but (inaudible) go a different direction though large projects overall are really strong. I would even say, if you look at any macro indicator, ABI, Dodge and so forth, the amount of large projects that are starting with some of the stimulus to go, whether it's new factories going up, the chips, data centers being driven by artificial intelligence. And that's just in the United States. (inaudible) again, we do have a global presence here, really drive some of the optimism that we have with the forecast for double-digit growth.

是的。所以我會開始，然後大衛可能需要幫助我，感覺上一個季度已經是幾年前的事了，但（聽不清楚）走向不同的方向，儘管大型專案總體上非常強大。我甚至會說，如果你看一下任何宏觀指標，ABI、道奇等，你會發現在一些刺激措施的推動下啟動的大型項目的數量，無論是新工廠的建設、晶片、數據中心的推動通過人工智慧.這只是在美國。 （聽不清楚）再說一遍，我們確實在全球範圍內開展業務，這確實推動了我們對兩位數成長預測的樂觀情緒。

So overall, we're optimistic on the markets going forward, especially with these large projects that we're involved in. And then I don't recall anything specifically, say, July versus August.

所以總的來說，我們對未來的市場持樂觀態度，尤其是我們參與的這些大型計畫。

No, I don't think it's a pretty consistent. But I would also say, Andy, the other thing that we're really encouraged about is other players in our industry have announced quite a bit of capital investment, not for our products, but for other products that we would argue is slowing down just the volumes in the whole industry. So the fact that they're investing hundreds of millions of dollars in capacity in the U.S. to help expand the electrical capacity. I think that's a very big positive for us maybe not this quarter but -- year just power to this next year.

不，我認為這不太一致。但我還要說，安迪，另一件令我們感到鼓舞的事情是，我們行業的其他參與者已經宣布了相當多的資本投資，不是針對我們的產品，而是針對我們認為正在放緩的其他產品。事實上，他們正在美國投資數億美元來幫助擴大電力容量。我認為這對我們來說是一個非常大的正面因素，也許不是這個季度，而是明年的動力。

Got it. But just to be clear, David, you're not calling for some sort of big inflection in PVC conduit volume. It's more easy comps? Or is there more of an inflection that you're calling for when you get the change in growth here?

知道了。但要澄清的是，David，您並不是要求 PVC 導管體積發生某種大的變化。比較容易比較嗎？或者當你在這裡看到成長的變化時，你是否需要更多的變化？

No. I think it is more just one, we don't have the destocking year-over-year, and so we see some positive sequential volumes there. I think you are starting to see continued investment in grid hardening, which I think is another positive. I mean, if we happen to have any slight increase in single-family housing or anything like that, that would be helpful, but we're certainly not counting on that. And then we do have some new products, which we think our customers like. And so I think there's a little bit of opportunity there.

不，我認為這只是一個問題，我們沒有逐年去庫存，所以我們看到了一些積極的連續銷售。我認為您開始看到對網格強化的持續投資，我認為這是另一個積極因素。我的意思是，如果我們碰巧單戶住房或類似的東西略有增加，那將會有所幫助，但我們當然不會指望這一點。然後我們確實推出了一些我們認為客戶喜歡的新產品。所以我認為那裡有一些機會。

Yes. Andy, I'll also take the same question from that. I'd like to call the negative, but it's a positive to go. The markets are there. In other words, the amount of construction backlog is within 22 months plus or minus as high as it's ever been, architectural billing (inaudible) was slightly down. But the amount if you actually look in to how many months of backlog does an [architect] have is still as strong as it's ever been. So all the volume is there little alone when we start getting more of the infrastructure from the IRA and so forth, the IIJA. So it's really becomes what are the limiting factors, and it's been labor. So in some ways, one could argue a little bit softer labor market that we can get more people working, construction will help and then it's other people's products like switch gear and so forth. So the more that they get to David's earlier point, get out of their backlog, the quicker our products will flow and then just David mentioned, yes, I would say, we do have eases. Easier comps because we don't have the destock going on. So we get the factory up. We get some of these projects moving ahead. We get our growth initiatives. We are optimistic as we go forward, obviously.

是的。安迪，我也會回答同樣的問題。我想稱之為消極，但這是積極的。市場就在那裡。換句話說，22 個月內的施工積壓量達到了歷史最高水平，建築帳單（聽不清楚）略有下降。但如果你真正調查一下[建築師]有多少個月的積壓，這個數字仍然和以前一樣強勁。因此，當我們開始從 IRA 等 IIJA 獲得更多基礎設施時，所有的數量都很少了。所以真正成為了限制因素，那就是勞動力。因此，在某些方面，人們可能會認為勞動市場稍微疲軟，我們可以讓更多的人工作，建築業會有所幫助，然後是其他人的產品，如開關設備等。因此，他們越了解大衛之前的觀點，擺脫積壓，我們的產品就會流動得越快，然後大衛提到，是的，我想說，我們確實有緩解措施。比較容易，因為我們沒有進行去庫存。所以我們把工廠建起來了。我們正在推進其中一些項目。我們得到了我們的成長計劃。顯然，我們對前進持樂觀態度。

Great. And then I wanted to focus on your guide for the '24, 25% to 26% EBITDA margin. It's obviously up significantly, as you've showed us from mid- to high teens pre-pandemic. Maybe a little more color on sort of it seems like you're saying, okay, that's basically the trough. I want to sort of clarify that or at least that sort of new run rate going forward? And then if I look at that chart that you have, you did say there's a down arrow regarding potential future pricing normalization versus what you gave us last year around that bridge to $18 plus. So is pricing normalization still you're going to retain $400 million or did something change there?

偉大的。然後我想專注於您的 24 年 EBITDA 利潤率指南，即 25% 至 26%。正如您向我們展示的那樣，這一數字顯然顯著上升，從大流行前的青少年中到高中。也許再多一點顏色，看起來就像你在說，好吧，這基本上就是低潮。我想澄清一下，或至少是未來的新運行率？然後，如果我看一下您擁有的圖表，您確實說過，與您去年圍繞 18 美元以上的橋樑提供的價格標準化相比，有一個關於未來潛在定價正常化的向下箭頭。那麼，定價正常化後，您是否仍會保留 4 億美元，還是發生了一些變化？

That's very good question. Those arrows going from where we are to the $18, more than necessarily vis-a-vis versus what we said last time, it's more or less what we think the actual bridge will be. But with that, I mean I think the only thing that, that arrow recognized is we did say $585 million in total. And if you midpoint our current guide plus last year's actuals, you'd be around $500 million. So we're giving ourselves a little bit of an area saying there could be some continuation in that last year, FY '25 to get that $85 million or so. Obviously, and you will see as the year progresses.

這是一個很好的問題。這些箭頭從我們所在的位置指向 18 美元，與我們上次所說的相比，這或多或少是我們所認為的實際橋樑的樣子。但我的意思是，我認為箭頭所識別的唯一一件事是我們確實說過總計 5.85 億美元。如果將我們目前的指南與去年的實際值相加，則收入約為 5 億美元。因此，我們給自己留出了一點空間，說去年（即 25 財年）可能會繼續獲得約 8500 萬美元的資金。顯然，隨著時間的推移，你會看到這一點。

Got it. And then I just wanted to ask you about conduits of growth in the context of you mentioned the solar facility doubling. Are you past the sort of start-up issues that you had there? And -- is it possible to size when you look at '24, how much the conduits of growth are helping you sort of make your forecast on revenue or EBITDA ?

知道了。然後我只是想問您在您提到太陽能設施翻倍的背景下的成長管道。您是否已經克服了在那裡遇到的那種啟動問題？而且，當您查看 24 年時，是否可以確定成長管道在多大程度上幫助您對收入或 EBITDA 進行預測？

Yes. So we're still working through some of the start-ups, but we have that in our forecast for this quarter and expect as we go into the next calendar year to be having these things behind us. By the way, we're seeing -- we get weekly our leadership our President and so forth, daily metrics, but David and I weekly, weekly metrics. And we're seeing the pickup, and we're seeing the hey, here's the next part being run and the turnover time and bringing on another shift to employees. So everything basically going as expected, we are probably just way too optimistic in July of the time it takes to start up a whole factory of whole other workforce, but we're on schedule for that now.

是的。因此，我們仍在研究一些新創企業，但我們在本季度的預測中對此進行了預測，並預計當我們進入下一個日曆年時，這些事情就會被拋在身後。順便說一句，我們看到 - 我們每週都會得到我們的領導力，我們的總統等等，每日指標，但大衛和我每週都會得到每週指標。我們看到了提貨，我們看到了嘿，這是正在運行的下一部分和周轉時間，並為員工帶來了另一個輪班。所以一切基本上都按預期進行，我們可能對 7 月啟動一整座由其他勞動力組成的工廠所需的時間過於樂觀了，但我們現在正按計劃進行。

And then for the conduits of growth, Andy, I'm going to wing something I know David wants to probably speak to it is, the way I look at it is absolutely driving because we're forecasting double-digit growth organic next year and pick whatever number, 2%, 3% for just what the markets naturally drive. So that extra growth, whether it is solar torque to, whether it is new product development, whether it is the service centers and be able to drive that 1 order, 1 delivery, 1 invoice with comprehensive pricing and products. That's what's driving Atkore and our optimism in the future to grow more than the markets.

然後，對於成長的管道，安迪，我要說一些我知道大衛可能想談論的事情，我看待它的方式絕對是驅動性的，因為我們預測明年將實現兩位數的有機增長，根據市場自然驅動的情況選擇任意數字，2%、3%。如此額外的成長，無論是太陽能扭矩，無論是新產品開發，無論是服務中心，都能夠透過全面的定價和產品來推動 1 個訂單、1 個交貨、1 個發票。這就是推動 Atkore 和我們對未來成長超過市場的樂觀態度的原因。

Exactly. And I would add to the global mega projects are all setting a part of that. So On Slide 10, Andy, you can go through it. I think we did a couple of other things here. I just want to mention that we did outline kind of FY '23 solar credit so that we can isolate that. And then we gave you what we think the solar credit will add to our bottom line for FY '24. So we would look at that as more of like a normal year-over-year as the solar credits around, so you can model that in FY '25 or so on.

確切地。我想補充一點，全球大型專案都是其中的一部分。安迪，您可以在幻燈片 10 上瀏覽它。我想我們在這裡還做了一些其他的事情。我只想提一下，我們確實概述了 23 財年太陽能信貸，以便我們可以將其隔離。然後我們向您提供了我們認為太陽能信貸將增加我們 24 財年利潤的資訊。因此，我們會認為這更像是正常的逐年變化，就像太陽能積分一樣，因此您可以在 25 財年左右對其進行建模。

But we do still have for further bit of investment this year. And again, that's highlighted in digital and our additional 2 retail service centers, so on and so forth.

但今年我們仍需要進一步投資。同樣，這一點在數位化和我們額外的 2 個零售服務中心等方面得到了強調。

Our next question comes from the line of Chris Dankert from Loop Capital.

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

Just to pull the thread on pricing a little bit more perhaps. Thanks for the color. Again, just on what the expectation is on '24 and kind of some of the lingering impact on '25 just when we're thinking about the actions taken to kind of fully reset price cost to that, the $585 million you've talked about in the past, should we assume that those actions are fully complete this year and just kind of the rollover impact that ripples into '25?

也許只是為了稍微拉動定價的線索。謝謝你的顏色。再說一遍，就在我們考慮採取行動以完全重置價格成本時，對 24 年的預期以及對 25 年的一些揮之不去的影響，即您談到的 5.85 億美元在過去，我們是否應該假設這些行動今年已完全完成，並且只是一種延續影響，波及到'25？

I would say no. So of our midpoint of our guide for price cost this year, we said $250 million essentially. And we did the calculation at about $175 million of that was already baked in when every figure that you exit the year lower than we began in FY '23. So that would suggest there's still a little bit more normalization. There's really no action. This is a some (inaudible) the way that the market over time goes between volume and price and opportunities and what have you. We've seen a general decline down. Probably a lot slower than we probably would have said 3 years ago. But...

我會說不。因此，我們今年的價格指南中位數基本上是 2.5 億美元。我們計算了大約 1.75 億美元，當你退出這一年的每一個數字都低於我們 23 財年開始的數字時，這一數字已經被計算在內了。因此，這表明正常化程度還需要進一步提高。實在是沒有什麼動作。這是市場隨著時間的推移在數量、價格、機會和你擁有的東西之間變化的某種（聽不清楚）方式。我們看到總體下降。可能比我們三年前所說的慢很多。但...

Yes, which is a good thing from extra capital will be deployed or stock buyback. And then also, Chris, if your question was more '25 versus '24, our current thought process is this would mostly normalize in '24. Now if you think about it, if we gave slightly more price, let's say, in April of '24, from a comp perspective at the beginning of '25, you're still going to have some discussion about it. And that's where I would just go back and say, we've been (inaudible) been amazing. I'll be able to look out 3 years, (inaudible) explain pricing gone down, explain what we're driving and basically been on every forecast and/or exceed most things. So right now, everything looks to be playing out as we expect it to be. But there will be a little bit of a price discussion even in next fiscal year.

是的，這是一件好事，因為額外的資本將被部署或股票回購。另外，克里斯，如果你的問題更多的是“25 年”與“24 年”，我們目前的思維過程是，這將在“24 年”大部分正常化。現在如果你想一想，如果我們在 24 年 4 月給出稍微更高的價格，從 25 年初的比較角度來看，你仍然會對此進行一些討論。這就是我回過頭來說，我們（聽不清楚）太棒了。我將能夠展望 3 年，（聽不清楚）解釋價格下降，解釋我們正在推動什麼，基本上每一個預測和/或超過大多數事情。所以現在，一切看起來都按照我們的預期進行。但即使在下一財年，也會有一些價格討論。

And again, thank you for just the level of candidness you've kind of approached on whole price cost conversation with -- and then when I think about growth into '24 here, how do we think about the impact of the large mega projects and kind of what's assumed in the guide? Should we be kind of assuming a stronger than seasonal back half just given the timing of some of these projects?

再次感謝您在整個價格成本對話中所表現出的坦誠程度，然後當我考慮到 24 年的成長時，我們如何考慮大型專案的影響以及指南中的假設是什麼？考慮到其中一些項目的時間安排，我們是否應該假設後半段會比季節性更強？

Yes. I'll jump right into that, yes, there's a lot of projects without getting too specific on what customer. But we have -- I mean, compliment our team here, just an amazing job on relationship seen the value that we bring to them, brand names that are global. And in this case, they want global providers. So whether it's Europe, the United States, Middle East, wherever it is, we're hooked in. But at this stage, it's really with some of these large projects that probably all close on is getting the PO. Not that we don't have ticket number, don't lock in on this number, about $100 million of ongoing global mega projects to earlier questions. The data centers and chip manufacturers are, in my opinion, exploding or at least for us, they are. But we will see a much larger impact in the second half of this upcoming fiscal year from a year-over-year perspective.

是的。我會直接進入這一點，是的，有很多項目，但沒有太具體地說明哪些客戶。但我們——我的意思是，讚美我們的團隊，在關係方面做得非常出色，看到了我們為他們帶來的價值，全球品牌。在這種情況下，他們需要全球供應商。因此，無論是歐洲、美國、中東，無論在哪裡，我們都被迷住了 但在現階段，這些大型專案中的一些可能都即將獲得採購訂單。並不是說我們沒有票號，不要鎖定這個數字，大約 1 億美元的正在進行的全球大型項目到了之前的問題。在我看來，資料中心和晶片製造商正在爆炸式增長，至少對我們來說是這樣。但從同比角度來看，我們將在即將到來的財年下半年看到更大的影響。

Your next question comes from the line of Chris Moore from CJS Securities.

您的下一個問題來自 CJS 證券的 Chris Moore。

Maybe we just get a little deeper into CapEx, going to be elevated again in fiscal '24. You're talking about the $200 million range. Can you maybe talk a little bit further in terms of where you'll be focusing there?

也許我們只是更深入地研究資本支出，並在 24 財年再次提高。你說的是2億美元的範圍。您能否進一步談談您將重點關注的領域？

Yes, go ahead. I mean, essentially, we still have some digital investments we're making, I think that they're adding, and you can see for some of our customers are pretty excited for some of our new capabilities. Our 2 new warehouses or regional service centers will be another piece of the CapEx. And then there is a little bit, obviously, the support to growth of mega projects and what have you, you do need to add some capacity in those areas. So I think, generally speaking, (inaudible) will be the through.

是的，繼續吧。我的意思是，本質上，我們仍在進行一些數位投資，我認為它們正在增加，你可以看到我們的一些客戶對我們的一些新功能感到非常興奮。我們的 2 個新倉庫或區域服務中心將成為資本支出的另一部分。顯然，還有一點對大型專案成長的支持，你確實需要在這些領域增加一些能力。所以我認為，一般來說，（聽不清楚）將會是徹底的。

Got it. I appreciate that. And on the HDPE side, obviously, lots of talk about the telecom softness from multiple avenues. Beyond that, in terms of the end markets you're seeing kind of some thoughts there, perhaps?

知道了。我很欣賞這一點。顯然，在 HDPE 方面，人們從多個途徑談論了電信業的疲軟狀況。除此之外，就終端市場而言，您也許看到了一些想法？

I think they're good. I mean it was good with the following things. I would say low single-digit growth in general, not now us as a manufacturer. In fact, that's the end market like what is being installed. From there, we won't have some of the destocking occurred earlier in our fiscal year. So therefore, that will help Atkore as you kind of almost did my own CEO bridge, so to speak to go, how do you go from low single digit to double digit -- low double-digit growth, you have that headwind of last year going away. So that's going to help.

我認為他們很好。我的意思是它對以下事情很好。我想說的是，總體而言，成長率較低，而不是現在我們作為製造商。事實上，這就是正在安裝的終端市場。從那時起，我們將不會在本財年早些時候進行一些庫存削減。因此，這將有助於Atkore，因為你幾乎為我自己的執行長搭建了橋樑，可以這麼說，你如何從低個位數增長到兩位數——低兩位數增長，你遇到了去年的逆風走開。所以這會有幫助。

And then as David and I mentioned that you -- every investor should understand, but you won't see if you just looked at square feet or some other metric is the electrification. I think every one of our peers, no matter where you are in the electrical industry, this is going to be the best decade ever with just everything from PGD, I think just yesterday in the Wall Street Journal, we announced 1,000 miles or some number around there bearing electrical cables, the grid hardening in general, the BEADs act when it comes.

然後，正如大衛和我所提到的，每個投資者都應該理解，但如果你只看平方英尺或其他一些指標，你就看不到電氣化。我認為我們的每一位同行，無論您在電氣行業的哪個位置，這都將是有史以來最好的十年，擁有PGD 的一切，我想就在昨天的《華爾街日報》上，我們宣布了1,000 英里或某個數字周圍有電纜，網格總體硬化，珠子在它到來時起作用。

There's just so many different things to go the intensity of a data center for the matter of electrical products that we will put into that would be more than what a hotel would cost to put up period. I mean, so like when you win one of these jobs, its intent. So I think as our conduit, it's a growth, so hope on a really good just secular trends tailwind that we have that kind of bridges us from there, markets up low single digit to Atkore we're aspiring to be low double-digit growth this year.

就電氣產品而言，資料中心的強度有很多不同的東西，我們投入的電氣產品將比飯店投入的成本還要多。我的意思是，就像當你贏得其中一份工作時，它的意圖。因此，我認為作為我們的管道，這是一種增長，因此希望有一個真正良好的長期趨勢順風，我們可以從那裡起橋樑，市場上漲到Atkore 的低個位數，我們渴望實現低兩位數的成長今年。

This concludes the question-and-answer session. I would now like to turn the call back over to Bill Waltz for closing remarks.

問答環節到此結束。我現在想將電話轉回給比爾·沃爾茲（Bill Waltz）發表結束語。

Before we conclude, let me summarize my 3 key takeaways from today's discussion. First, fiscal 2023 was a very good year for Atkore. Second, we are well positioned to build on our positive business momentum and have a strong outlook for fiscal year 2024. Third, our strategy will drive further value creation into the future as we continue to execute on our growth opportunities and deliver on our updated capital deployment model. 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.

在結束之前，讓我總結一下今天討論的 3 個要點。首先，2023 財年對 Atkore 來說是非常好的一年。其次，我們處於有利位置，可以鞏固我們積極的業務勢頭，並對2024 財年抱有樂觀的前景。創造價值部署模型。在此，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中與您交談。今天的電話會議到此結束。

This concludes today's conference call. Thank you for your participation, and you may now disconnect.

今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝您的參與，您現在可以斷開連接。