Blue Bird Corp (BLBD) 2023 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Hello, everyone, and a warm welcome to the Blue Bird Corporation Fiscal 2023 Second Quarter Earnings Call. My name is Emily, and I'll be coordinating your call today. (Operator Instructions)

大家好，熱烈歡迎參加 Blue Bird Corporation 2023 財年第二季度財報電話會議。我叫艾米麗，今天我會協調你的電話。 （操作員說明）

I will now turn the call over to our host, Mark Benfield, Head of Investor Relations at Blue Bird Corporation.

我現在將把電話轉給我們的主持人，藍鳥公司投資者關係主管馬克本菲爾德。

Please go ahead.

請繼續。

Thank you. And welcome to Blue Bird's Fiscal 2023 Second Quarter Earnings Conference Call.

謝謝。歡迎參加 Blue Bird 2023 財年第二季度收益電話會議。

The audio for our call is webcast live on blue-bird.com, under the Investor Relations tab. You can access the supporting slides on our website by clicking on the presentations box on the IR landing page. Our comments today include forward-looking statements that are subject to risks that could cause actual results to be materially different. Those risks include, among others, matters we have noted on the following 2 slides and in our filings with the SEC. Blue Bird disclaims any obligation to update the information in this call.

我們電話會議的音頻在 blue-bird.com 上的“投資者關係”選項卡下進行網絡直播。您可以通過單擊 IR 登錄頁面上的演示框來訪問我們網站上的支持幻燈片。我們今天的評論包括前瞻性陳述，這些陳述存在可能導致實際結果大不相同的風險。這些風險包括，除其他外，我們在以下兩張幻燈片和我們向美國證券交易委員會提交的文件中註意到的事項。 Blue Bird 不承擔任何更新此電話中信息的義務。

This afternoon, you will hear from Blue Bird's President and CEO, Matthew Stevenson; and CFO, Razvan Radulescu. Then we will take some questions. Let's get started.

今天下午，您將聽到 Blue Bird 總裁兼首席執行官 Matthew Stevenson 的講話；和首席財務官 Razvan Radulescu。然後我們會回答一些問題。讓我們開始吧。

Matt?

馬特？

Thank you, Mark. And good afternoon, everyone.

謝謝你，馬克。大家下午好。

Razvan and I are extremely excited to update you on our results for quarter 2, which was probably the most pivotal quarter for the company in years and begins to highlight the real potential of our business. This quarter, we're going to show a 180-degree turn in our financials as we've been forecasting for some time. I'm pleased to say that we not only delivered as promised but once again delivered results ahead of schedule, a testament to the hard work that our teammates have been doing every day. On Slide 6, you can see some of the key takeaways for the quarter.

Razvan 和我非常高興地向您介紹我們第二季度的業績，這可能是多年來公司最關鍵的一個季度，並開始凸顯我們業務的真正潛力。本季度，我們的財務狀況將發生 180 度大轉彎，正如我們預測了一段時間。我很高興地說，我們不僅兌現了承諾，而且再次提前交付了成果，這證明了我們的隊友每天都在努力工作。在幻燈片 6 上，您可以看到本季度的一些關鍵要點。

Overall industry demand continues to be robust, and the backlog for Blue Bird school buses is at nearly 5,800 units. We are now through most of the legacy priced buses in our backlog. As a reminder: We define these legacy priced units as those at price levels prior to October of 2021. This along with operational improvements drove the significant inflection in our financials. We also reinvested back into the business, putting in over $3 million in wage increases for our frontline teammates this year, starting this quarter, while continuing to improve processes throughout our operations, upgrading our facilities and even opening an all-new EV center which we will talk about in detail during the call.

整體行業需求持續強勁，Blue Bird 校車的積壓量接近 5,800 輛。我們現在已經完成了積壓訂單中的大部分傳統定價巴士。提醒一下：我們將這些舊定價單位定義為 2021 年 10 月之前價格水平的單位。這與運營改進一起推動了我們財務狀況的顯著變化。我們還重新投資於業務，從本季度開始，今年為我們的一線隊友增加了超過 300 萬美元的工資，同時繼續改進我們整個運營的流程，升級我們的設施，甚至開設了一個全新的 EV 中心，我們將在通話期間詳細討論。

Through the efforts of the best workforce in the business, strong leadership, lean process improvements and just playing hardcore tenacity, we are seeing some of the best performance the company has ever seen in a second quarter. And let us not forget the EPA's fantastic Clean School Bus Program that recently closed its first phase and announced its direction for Phase 2. The success of this program has led to a staggering number of EVs in our backlog. The business is performing well and the turnaround is ahead of schedule.

通過業務中最優秀的員工隊伍的努力、強有力的領導、精益流程的改進以及頑強的毅力，我們在第二季度看到了公司有史以來最好的業績。讓我們不要忘記 EPA 出色的清潔校車計劃，該計劃最近結束了第一階段並宣布了第二階段的方向。該計劃的成功導致我們積壓的電動汽車數量驚人。業務表現良好，扭虧為盈提前完成。

Now let's take a look at some of the highlights from the second quarter. The financial performance for fiscal year '23 quarter 2 shows a massive improvement from a year ago. Our units sold were over 2,300, which drove record second quarter revenue for Blue Bird up over $90 million from fiscal year '22. This was a 373-unit increase from the same time period last year. Adjusted EBITDA was $31 million better than this time last year and we posted $20 million for the quarter. As a result, adjusted free cash flow for the quarter was $23 million, up $2 million compared to the second quarter of fiscal year '22, overall a fantastic second quarter for Blue Bird.

現在讓我們來看看第二季度的一些亮點。 23 財年第 2 季度的財務業績與一年前相比有了巨大改善。我們售出的單位超過 2,300 套，這使 Blue Bird 第二季度的收入比 22 財年創紀錄地增長了 9000 萬美元以上。這比去年同期增加了 373 個單位。調整後的 EBITDA 比去年同期高出 3100 萬美元，我們公佈了本季度的 2000 萬美元。因此，本季度調整後的自由現金流為 2300 萬美元，比 22 財年第二季度增加了 200 萬美元，總體而言，藍鳥第二季度表現出色。

On the right-hand side of the slide, you can see some of the ongoing highlights for the business. As I mentioned, demand continues to be strong. Our backlog is incredibly robust at roughly 5,800 units worth over $775 million in revenue. Included in that backlog is $200 million of firm orders for 621 electric school buses, a large uptick from last quarter due to the impact of the EPA's Clean School Bus Program. In fact, we are incredibly proud of some of the recent large EV deployments, including Broward County in South Florida and the city of Boston.

在幻燈片的右側，您可以看到該業務的一些持續亮點。正如我所提到的，需求繼續強勁。我們的積壓訂單非常強勁，大約有 5,800 個單位，收入超過 7.75 億美元。積壓訂單中包括價值 2 億美元的 621 輛電動校車的確定訂單，由於 EPA 清潔校車計劃的影響，較上一季度大幅增加。事實上，我們為最近的一些大型電動汽車部署感到無比自豪，包括南佛羅里達州的布勞沃德縣和波士頓市。

As we have discussed in previous quarters, we have raised pricing considerably since July of 2021. Our average selling price for the quarter is up 22% year-over-year. Our sales for the quarter were 63% alternative power, demonstrating our continued leadership in the space. Part of that was our EV growth, up 175% year-over-year. Now parts sales continues to be another bright spot for us, up 37% year-over-year. The increasing average age of school buses on the road is having a material effect on our aftermarket sales.

正如我們在前幾個季度所討論的那樣，自 2021 年 7 月以來，我們已大幅提高定價。本季度的平均售價同比上漲 22%。我們本季度的銷售額佔替代能源的 63%，表明我們在該領域的持續領先地位。其中一部分是我們的電動汽車增長，同比增長 175%。現在零部件銷售繼續成為我們的另一個亮點，同比增長 37%。路上校車平均使用年限的增加對我們的售後市場銷售產生了重大影響。

With our EV demand so high and more coming from the EPA's Clean School Bus Program, we had to increase EV chassis capacity, so we recently opened up our -- a new EV buildup center, which we are thrilled about. We are ready for the increasing demand, as the EPA has recently announced Phase 2 of the program, which is another $400 million, this time through a grant program.

由於我們對 EV 的需求如此之高，而且更多來自 EPA 的清潔校車計劃，我們不得不增加 EV 底盤容量，因此我們最近開設了我們的 - 一個新的 EV 組裝中心，我們對此感到非常興奮。我們已準備好應對不斷增長的需求，因為 EPA 最近宣布了該計劃的第二階段，這又是 4 億美元，這次是通過贈款計劃。

As you can see on Slide 8, we are delivering some of the best operational performance in nearly 2 years in several critical areas. Set-ups and throughput are up significantly, as missing parts are down due to our efforts to improve material flow to the plant. Those have included adjusting our warehousing strategy, re-sourcing numerous problematic suppliers and revising production constraints. This has also contributed to the lowest number of hours per bus in the best manufacturing efficiency in 2 years. In turn, this generated a number of all-time records for quarter 2, including revenue, EV bookings, parts sales and adjusted EBITDA. Not only that this proves the company is back on track, but we are now exceeding some historic financial benchmarks for the organization.

正如您在幻燈片 8 中看到的那樣，我們在幾個關鍵領域提供了近 2 年來最好的運營績效。由於我們努力改善工廠的物料流，丟失的零件減少了，因此設置和吞吐量顯著提高。其中包括調整我們的倉儲策略、重新採購大量有問題的供應商以及修改生產限制。這也促成了2年來最佳製造效率中每輛巴士的最低小時數。反過來，這創造了第二季度的多項歷史記錄，包括收入、EV 預訂、零件銷售和調整後的 EBITDA。這不僅證明公司重回正軌，而且我們現在已經超過了該組織的一些歷史財務基準。

Slide 9 is a reminder of our key pillars around care, delight and deliver. Our focus areas within those pillars include our people, lean transformation, expanding our total addressable market and scaling EV. I want to briefly touch on the progress of each of those since our last call. Regarding our teammates, in January, a large-scale wage increase took effect for our hourly teammates. We also increased our paid vacation days to 14 this year, unheard of in most manufacturing environments. We also continued to update our facilities to enhance the working environment, including putting massive air chillers into our facility for the summer months. We are also in the final phase of rolling out a new [self-manufacturing] organizational structure designed to provide more resources for our frontline teammates by narrowing the span of control and offering essential support.

幻燈片 9 提醒我們圍繞關懷、愉悅和交付的關鍵支柱。我們在這些支柱中的重點領域包括我們的人員、精益轉型、擴大我們的總目標市場和擴展電動汽車。我想簡要談談自我們上次通話以來每一個方面的進展。關於我們的隊友，1月份，我們的小時工隊友大規模加薪。今年我們還將帶薪休假天數增加到 14 天，這在大多數製造環境中都是聞所未聞的。我們還繼續更新我們的設施以改善工作環境，包括在夏季月份將大型空氣冷卻器放入我們的設施中。我們還處於推出新的 [自我製造] 組織結構的最後階段，該結構旨在通過縮小控制範圍和提供必要支持來為我們的前線隊友提供更多資源。

Through continued focus on our lean transformation, we are seeing improvements in quality and throughput even while the supply chain environment is still far from normal. The commercial chassis continues to progress while we stay focused on ramping up our EV school bus production, but on this call, we really want to focus on highlighting our all-new EV center. A lot of great work went into this, and it's core to our future.

通過持續關注我們的精益轉型，即使供應鏈環境仍遠非正常，我們也看到了質量和吞吐量的提高。在我們繼續專注於提高 EV 校車產量的同時，商用底盤繼續取得進展，但在這次電話會議上，我們真的想專注於突出我們全新的 EV 中心。在這方面做了很多偉大的工作，它是我們未來的核心。

On Slide 10, you can see photos of our new 40,000-square-foot EV center. Previously this was actually an old coating facility on the Blue Bird campus. Through relatively minimal investment and a lot of hard work by our team, we turned it into a modern EV commissioning center. It's where we install the EV batteries along with some of the final components on the thermal management system and bring up [the state of charge] for the batteries. This new facility will help us meet the EV demand forecasted over the next 5 years. As we have mentioned in previous earnings calls, this will allow us to take EV production from 4 to 12 units per day by the middle of this year, with the ultimate goal of 20 units per day whenever demand warrants it. Plus it is a great example of where we are headed with our entire production footprint rooted in the foundational principles of the Blue Bird production system and lean.

在幻燈片 10 上，您可以看到我們新的 40,000 平方英尺 EV 中心的照片。以前，這實際上是 Blue Bird 校區的一個舊塗層設施。通過相對較少的投資和我們團隊的大量努力，我們把它變成了一個現代化的電動汽車調試中心。這是我們安裝 EV 電池以及熱管理系統上的一些最終組件的地方，並為電池提供 [充電狀態]。這個新設施將幫助我們滿足未來 5 年預測的電動汽車需求。正如我們在之前的財報電話會議中提到的那樣，這將使我們能夠在今年年中之前將電動汽車的產量從每天 4 輛提高到 12 輛，最終目標是在需求允許的情況下每天生產 20 輛。此外，這是一個很好的例子，說明我們的整個生產足跡植根於 Blue Bird 生產系統和精益的基本原則。

Slide 11 is again a reminder of the EPA's clean school bus rebate program. This program allocates $5 billion over 5 years for clean and cleaner-emission school buses. Approximately 2,500 buses were funded in the first phase of this program, with an average rebate of $375,000 per electric bus. Customers had until the end of April to submit payment request forms to the EPA, demonstrating that new buses as well as eligible infrastructure have been ordered. Some of our customers have asked for an extension beyond the April 30 deadline due to delays on the final quotes for their charging infrastructure, but we have already seen many orders come in through this program and fully expect to garner well over 500 orders for the first phase when it is all said and done. The long-term impacts of this program will be well over $1 billion in revenue to our organization.

幻燈片 11 再次提醒人們注意 EPA 的清潔校車回扣計劃。該計劃在 5 年內撥款 50 億美元用於清潔和排放更清潔的校車。該計劃的第一階段大約資助了 2,500 輛公交車，每輛電動公交車平均獲得 375,000 美元的回扣。客戶必須在 4 月底之前向 EPA 提交付款申請表，以證明已經訂購了新公交車和符合條件的基礎設施。由於充電基礎設施的最終報價延遲，我們的一些客戶要求將截止日期延長至 4 月 30 日之後，但我們已經看到許多訂單通過該計劃收到，並且完全有望獲得超過 500 個訂單的第一批訂單一切都說完了的階段。該計劃的長期影響將為我們的組織帶來超過 10 億美元的收入。

The EPA recently launched Phase 2 of their program, and on Slide 12, you can see the details. As we expected in Phase 2, announced in late April, it is a competitive grant program, with an anticipated $400 million to be awarded in this round. Applications will be taken from now through the end of August. And we can expect those grant award winners to be announced in late '23, with orders in the first calendar quarter of '24. We have established substantial resources both internally and externally to work closely with our dealers and end customers in supporting them in this grant-writing process.

EPA 最近啟動了他們計劃的第 2 階段，您可以在幻燈片 12 上看到詳細信息。正如我們在 4 月下旬宣布的第二階段所預期的那樣，這是一項競爭性贈款計劃，預計本輪將撥款 4 億美元。申請將從現在到八月底進行。我們可以預期這些贈款獲獎者將在 23 年底公佈，並在 24 年第一季度收到訂單。我們已經在內部和外部建立了大量資源，以與我們的經銷商和最終客戶密切合作，支持他們完成此贈款編寫過程。

The focus of this grant program will be larger deployments, and we expect the EPA to fund only 25 to 50 awards. The applications will have a scoring process and priority districts will be given preference in the evaluation criteria. We expect this second phase to fund 900 electric buses, and we conservatively estimate that we will get at least 200 of these. We continue to remain excited about the Clean School Bus Program and look forward to working with our dealers and customers on Phase 2 to deploy more industry-leading electric buses.

該撥款計劃的重點將是更大規模的部署，我們預計 EPA 只會資助 25 到 50 個獎項。申請將有一個評分過程，優先地區將在評估標準中得到優先考慮。我們預計第二階段將資助 900 輛電動公交車，我們保守估計至少會得到 200 輛。我們繼續對清潔校車計劃感到興奮，並期待在第二階段與我們的經銷商和客戶合作，以部署更多行業領先的電動公交車。

I would now like to hand it over to Razvan to walk through our fiscal year '23 quarter 2 financial results in more detail as well as our updated fiscal year '23 guidance.

我現在想把它交給 Razvan，以更詳細地介紹我們的 23 財年第二季度財務業績以及我們更新的 23 財年指南。

Thanks, Matt. And good afternoon.

謝謝，馬特。下午好。

It's my pleasure to share with you the financial highlights from Blue Bird's fiscal 2023 2nd quarter results. The quarter end is based on a close date of April 1, 2023, whereas the prior year was based on a close date of April 2, 2022.

我很高興與您分享 Blue Bird 2023 財年第二季度業績的財務亮點。本季度末基於 2023 年 4 月 1 日的截止日期，而上一年基於 2022 年 4 月 2 日的截止日期。

We will file the 10-Q today, May 11, after the market closes. Our 10-Q includes additional material and disclosures regarding our business and financial performance. We encourage you to read the 10-Q and the important disclosures that it contains. The appendix attached to today's presentation includes reconciliations of differences between GAAP and non-GAAP measures mentioned on this call as well as important disclaimers.

我們將在今天（5 月 11 日）收市後提交 10-Q。我們的 10-Q 包括關於我們的業務和財務業績的額外材料和披露。我們鼓勵您閱讀 10-Q 及其包含的重要披露。今天的演示文稿所附的附錄包括本次電話會議中提到的 GAAP 和非 GAAP 措施之間差異的調節以及重要的免責聲明。

Slide 14 is a summary of the second quarter and year-to-date results for fiscal 2023. It was an excellent operating quarter for Blue Bird with somewhat reduced supply chain disruptions and with an increased number of higher-margin units driving both our top line and our bottom line results. We have exceeded the revenues and adjusted EBITDA of our conservative quarterly guidance provided in the last earnings call, and in fact, we delivered the Q4 expected results 2 quarters earlier.

幻燈片 14 總結了 2023 財年第二季度和年初至今的業績。對於 Blue Bird 來說，這是一個出色的運營季度，供應鏈中斷有所減少，利潤率較高的單位數量增加推動了我們的收入增長以及我們的底線結果。我們已經超過了上次財報電話會議中提供的保守季度指導的收入和調整後 EBITDA，事實上，我們提前 2 個季度交付了第四季度的預期結果。

The team has done a fantastic job and generated 2,304 unit sales volume, which was 373 units or 19% higher than prior year. Consolidated net revenue of $300 million was $92 million or 44% higher than prior year, driven by higher units, higher parts sales, improved mix of electric buses and pricing actions that took hold significantly in this quarter. The adjusted free cash flow was positive at $23 million and $2 million higher than the prior year second quarter. This outstanding performance was driven by the increased profitability combined with strong working capital management; and supports our great liquidity position at the end of this quarter, which was over $100 million.

該團隊完成了出色的工作，創造了 2,304 輛的銷量，比上一年增加了 373 輛或 19%。合併淨收入為 3 億美元，比上年同期增長 9200 萬美元或 44%，這主要得益於銷量增加、零部件銷量增加、電動巴士組合改善以及本季度顯著採取的定價行動。調整後的自由現金流為正，為 2300 萬美元，比去年第二季度高出 200 萬美元。這一出色的業績得益於盈利能力的提高以及強大的營運資金管理；並支持我們在本季度末的流動性狀況良好，超過 1 億美元。

Adjusted EBITDA for the quarter was $20 million given our high volume of now profitable buses, increased part sales and margins, offset by increased labor costs.

本季度調整後的 EBITDA 為 2000 萬美元，因為我們現在盈利的巴士數量眾多，零件銷售額和利潤率增加，但被勞動力成本增加所抵消。

Given the transitional nature of our fiscal '23 Q1 results which included still a large portion of old-backlog low-margin [buses], our year-to-date performance is still solid at 4,261 units sold, thereof 227 EVs, with $536 million in revenues, adjusted EBITDA of $16 million and excellent free cash flow of $43 million.

鑑於我們 23 財年第一季度業績的過渡性質，其中仍然包括很大一部分積壓的低利潤 [公共汽車]，我們今年迄今的業績仍然穩定，售出 4,261 輛，其中 227 輛電動汽車，價值 5.36 億美元在收入方面，調整後的 EBITDA 為 1600 萬美元，自由現金流為 4300 萬美元。

Moving on to Slide 15. As mentioned before by Matt, our backlog at the end of Q2 continues to be extremely strong at nearly 5,800 units, with the vast majority of these units at much higher price levels compared to the fiscal '22 built units.

繼續看幻燈片 15。正如 Matt 之前提到的，我們在第二季度末的積壓訂單仍然非常強勁，接近 5,800 台，其中絕大多數的價格水平比 22 財年建成的單位要高得多。

Breaking down the second quarter $300 million in revenues into our 2 business segments. The bus net revenue was $273 million, up by $85 million versus prior year. Our average bus revenue per unit increased from $98,000 to $119,000 or 22%, which was largely the result of pricing actions taken over the past 18 months as well as a higher mix of electric buses. EV sales in the second quarter were at a level of 135 units or 86 more than last year, a 176% increase. Parts revenue for the quarter was $26 million, representing a growth of $7 million or 37% compared to the prior year. This extraordinary performance was in part due to a large parts backlog reduction due to improved supply chain in aftermarket. And we expect the future fiscal '23 quarters to be in the low 20 million.

將第二季度 3 億美元的收入分解為我們的 2 個業務部門。巴士淨收入為 2.73 億美元，比上年增加 8500 萬美元。我們每輛公共汽車的平均收入從 98,000 美元增加到 119,000 美元，增幅為 22%，這主要是過去 18 個月採取的定價行動以及電動公共汽車組合增加的結果。第二季度電動汽車銷量達到 135 輛，比去年同期增加 86 輛，增長 176%。本季度的零部件收入為 2600 萬美元，比上年增長 700 萬美元或 37%。這種非凡的表現部分是由於售後市場供應鏈的改善導致大量零件積壓減少。我們預計未來的 23 財年季度將低於 2000 萬。

Gross margin for the quarter was approximately 12% or 10.4 percentage points higher than last year due to our improved operational performance and our pricing catching up with the inflationary costs over the last 18 months.

本季度的毛利率比去年高出約 12% 或 10.4 個百分點，這歸功於我們改善的運營績效以及我們的定價趕上了過去 18 個月的通貨膨脹成本。

In fiscal '23 second quarter, adjusted net income was positive $9 million or $19 million higher than last year. Adjusted EBITDA of approximately $20 million or 7% was up compared with prior year by $30 million and 11.7 percentage points.

在 23 財年第二季度，調整後的淨收入為正 900 萬美元，比去年高出 1900 萬美元。調整後的 EBITDA 約為 2000 萬美元或 7%，與上一年相比增加了 3000 萬美元和 11.7 個百分點。

Adjusted diluted earnings per share of positive $0.27 was up $0.58 versus the prior year.

調整後每股攤薄收益為 0.27 美元，較上年增長 0.58 美元。

In summary, our operating performance and financial results demonstrated in this quarter are evidence that our turnaround is working. And it sets a new base for our future performance towards our long-term goal of profitable growth.

總而言之，我們在本季度展示的經營業績和財務業績證明我們正在扭虧為盈。它為我們未來實現盈利增長的長期目標奠定了新的基礎。

Moving on to Slide 16. We have positive developments year-over-year also on the balance sheet. We ended the quarter roughly with $18 million in cash and reduced our debt significantly by $17 million. Our liquidity [is strong] above $100 million at the end of fiscal '23 Q2 with a 0 balance on our revolver. The improvements in operating cash flow and adjusted free cash flow were primarily driven by improved operations and margins and were supported by only a small improvement in trade working capital in this quarter.

轉到幻燈片 16。我們在資產負債表上也有同比積極的發展。我們在本季度結束時擁有大約 1800 萬美元的現金，並大幅減少了 1700 萬美元的債務。在 23 財年第二季度末，我們的流動性 [強勁] 超過 1 億美元，我們的左輪手槍餘額為 0。經營現金流和調整後的自由現金流的改善主要是由經營和利潤率的改善推動的，並且受到本季度貿易營運資本的小幅改善的支持。

As a reminder. At the end of November 2022, we entered into the sixth amendment to our credit facility, extending the maturity date through December 31, 2024. The sixth amendment provides for revised covenants, modifications to the revolving credit facility and a new pricing grid. The amended covenants and the extended maturity of our loan provide Blue Bird with both flexibility and stability as our business continues to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic and the associated global supply chain disruptions.

提醒一句。 2022 年 11 月底，我們對信貸安排進行了第六次修正，將到期日延長至 2024 年 12 月 31 日。第六次修正案規定了修訂後的契約、循環信貸安排的修改和新的定價網格。隨著我們的業務繼續從 COVID-19 大流行和相關的全球供應鏈中斷中恢復，修改後的契約和我們貸款的延長期限為 Blue Bird 提供了靈活性和穩定性。

Slide 17 shows the walk from fiscal '22 Q2 adjusted EBITDA to the fiscal '23 Q2 results, starting on the left, at negative $10.7 million. The impact of the bus segment gross profit in total was $27.1 million split between volume and pricing effects, net of material cost increases, of $23.3 million; and operational improvements of $3.8 million. The operational improvements consist of year-over-year manufacturing efficiency improvements and lower [freight in] costs. The favorable development in the parts segment gross profit was $5.4 million, driven by higher sales and improved margins.

幻燈片 17 顯示了從 22 財年第二季度調整後的 EBITDA 到 23 財年第二季度結果的變化，從左側開始，為負 1070 萬美元。公共汽車部門毛利潤總額的影響為 2710 萬美元，在數量和定價影響之間分配，扣除材料成本增加後，為 2330 萬美元；和 380 萬美元的運營改進。運營改進包括逐年提高製造效率和降低 [貨運] 成本。受銷售額增加和利潤率提高的推動，零部件業務毛利的良好發展為 540 萬美元。

Additionally, our Micro Bird joint venture results improvements were more than offset by increases in our fixed costs, mainly personnel related, for a net of negative $2 million compared to Q2 a year ago when very tight cash conservation measures were in effect. The sum total of all of the above-mentioned developments drives our strong fiscal '23 Q2 reported adjusted EBITDA result of $20 million or 7%.

此外，與去年第二季度實施非常嚴格的現金保護措施相比，我們的 Micro Bird 合資企業業績改善被我們固定成本（主要是人員相關）的增加所抵消，淨額為負 200 萬美元。上述所有發展的總和推動了我們強勁的 23 財年第二季度報告調整後 EBITDA 結果為 2000 萬美元或 7%。

On to Slide 18. Looking ahead, we are happy to reiterate that we are now largely past most of the old backlog units with fixed pricing from fiscal '21 orders. And we will continue to benefit, in the second half of fiscal '23, from pricing/mix improvement based on the age and price level of our current backlog.

轉到幻燈片 18。展望未來，我們很高興地重申，我們現在基本上已經擺脫了 21 財年訂單中大多數具有固定定價的舊積壓訂單。在 23 財年下半年，我們將繼續受益於基於我們當前積壓訂單的年齡和價格水平的定價/組合改進。

Our production schedule is now virtually full for the rest of the fiscal '23, with some models, Type D, for example, going already into fiscal '24. However, supply chain and labor inflationary cost pressures still exist. And not all of the upcoming price increases will flow to the bottom line in fiscal '23. Given our large backlog, we already announced for fiscal '24 a model year price increase of $2,500 per bus, net, for all bus types built after October 1, 2023, to cover expected inflationary and raw materials cost increases.

對於 23 財年的剩餘時間，我們的生產計劃現在幾乎已經排滿，例如，一些型號，例如 D 型，已經進入 24 財年。然而，供應鍊和勞動力通脹成本壓力依然存在。並非所有即將到來的價格上漲都會流向 23 財年的利潤。鑑於我們的大量積壓訂單，我們已經宣佈在 24 財年，對於 2023 年 10 月 1 日之後建造的所有類型的公交車，每輛公交車的模型年價格上漲 2,500 美元，以彌補預期的通貨膨脹和原材料成本上漲。

On Slide 19, you can see the spot market development for steel prices over the last 2 years. After the initial reduction in early 2022, steel spot prices shot back up in March and April after the Ukraine war started. However, [that bubble] reversed itself by August. The favorable trend continued through December 2022, and we benefited from this in fiscal '23 Q2. However, the steel prices started to increase again all the way through the end of April. And this will offset a portion of our pricing realization for the remainder of calendar year 2023, as mentioned on the previous slide. Please keep in mind that we have now a comprehensive steel buying strategy. And we are entering in future locked contracts for steel prices with certain tonnages up to 12 months forward, minimizing our exposure.

在幻燈片 19 上，您可以看到過去 2 年鋼材價格的現貨市場發展情況。在 2022 年初的初步下跌之後，鋼材現貨價格在烏克蘭戰爭爆發後的 3 月和 4 月回升。然而，[那個泡沫] 到 8 月就自行逆轉了。這種有利趨勢一直持續到 2022 年 12 月，我們在 23 財年第二季度從中受益。然而，鋼材價格從4月底開始再次上漲。正如上一張幻燈片所述，這將抵消我們在 2023 日曆年剩餘時間實現的部分定價。請記住，我們現在有一個全面的鋼鐵採購策略。我們正在為未來 12 個月的某些噸位的鋼鐵價格簽訂未來鎖定合同，從而最大限度地減少我們的風險敞口。

On Slide 20, looking at fiscal year 2023, we want to share with you our updated forecasts by quarter, which serves as basis for our fiscal '23 total year guidance. As a reminder: We are taking a more transparent and conservative approach this year, as it will still be a somewhat uncertain year from a supply chain perspective. However, we have improved already all the other business levers that we could address, as now demonstrated by our very strong fiscal '23 Q2 actual results.

在幻燈片 20 上，展望 2023 財年，我們希望與您分享我們按季度更新的預測，這是我們 23 財年全年指導的基礎。提醒一下：我們今年採取了更加透明和保守的方法，因為從供應鏈的角度來看，今年仍然是不確定的一年。然而，我們已經改善了我們可以解決的所有其他業務槓桿，正如我們非常強勁的 23 財年第二季度實際業績所證明的那樣。

Looking forward at fiscal '23 Q3 and Q4, we are increasing our forecasted revenues in the range of $275 million to $300 million for each quarter as well as increasing our EBITDA margin by approximately 1 percentage point each quarter. For Q3, we are projecting adjusted EBITDA of $21 million, with a range of $19 million to $23 million. For Q4, we are projecting adjusted EBITDA of $23 million, with a range of $20 million to $26 million.

展望 23 財年第三季度和第四季度，我們將每個季度的預測收入增加 2.75 億美元至 3 億美元，並將每個季度的 EBITDA 利潤率提高約 1 個百分點。對於第三季度，我們預計調整後的 EBITDA 為 2100 萬美元，範圍為 1900 萬至 2300 萬美元。對於第四季度，我們預計調整後的 EBITDA 為 2300 萬美元，範圍為 2000 萬至 2600 萬美元。

Putting it all together, for the total year, we expect revenues in excess of $1.1 billion; and an increased mid-point adjusted EBITDA of $60 million, with a range of $55 million to $65 million.

總而言之，我們預計全年的收入將超過 11 億美元；中點調整後的 EBITDA 增加了 6000 萬美元，範圍在 5500 萬至 6500 萬美元之間。

Moving to Slide 21. In summary, we are forecasting a significant improvement year-over-year in all aspects, with revenues up more than 35% to approximately $1.1 billion, adjusted EBITDA in the range of $55 million to $65 million and positive free cash flow of $30 million to $40 million.

轉到幻燈片 21。總而言之，我們預計在各個方面都將同比顯著改善，收入增長超過 35% 至約 11 億美元，調整後的 EBITDA 在 5500 萬至 6500 萬美元之間，自由現金為正3000萬至4000萬美元的流量。

On Slide 22, we wanted to reiterate our long-term outlook. We are very happy about the results of our turnaround taking hold and our prospects ahead. And we are looking forward to share with you in our next earnings call our first indications regarding fiscal year '24. Looking a bit beyond that, once the supply chain normalizes, which has not happened yet, we expect to sell 9,500 units, including 1,500 units EVs; and generate $100 million or 8% adjusted EBITDA on $1.25 billion in revenue.

在幻燈片 22 上，我們想重申我們的長期前景。我們對扭虧為盈的結果和未來的前景感到非常高興。我們期待在下一次財報電話會議上與您分享我們關於 24 財年的第一個跡象。再往前看，一旦供應鏈正常化（尚未發生），我們預計將售出 9,500 輛，其中包括 1,500 輛電動汽車；並在 12.5 億美元的收入中產生 1 億美元或 8% 的調整後 EBITDA。

Looking further to the medium term. Our EV growth and operational improvements can support volumes of 10,500 to 11,000 units, including EVs in the range of 2,500 to 3,500 units, generating revenues of $1.5 billion to $1.75 billion with adjusted EBITDA of $150 million to $200 million or 10% to 11%. Our long-term target remains to drive profitable growth towards $2 billion in revenues comprising of 12,000 units, of which 5,000 are EVs; and generate EBITDA of $250 million or 12%.

進一步展望中期。我們的電動汽車增長和運營改進可以支持 10,500 至 11,000 輛的銷量，包括 2,500 至 3,500 輛電動汽車，產生 15 億至 17.5 億美元的收入，調整後的 EBITDA 為 1.5 億至 2 億美元或 10% 至 11%。我們的長期目標仍然是將利潤增長推向 20 億美元的收入，包括 12,000 輛，其中 5,000 輛是電動汽車；並產生 2.5 億美元或 12% 的 EBITDA。

We are incredibly excited about Blue Bird's future. And now I will turn it over back to Matt to further expand on this.

我們對 Blue Bird 的未來感到無比興奮。現在我將把它轉回給 Matt 進一步擴展。

All right, thank you, Razvan.

好的，謝謝你，拉茲萬。

On to Slide 24. As detailed in the fiscal year '23 guidance that Razvan just walked through, we are again now raising guidance based on the strong performance of the business. All the hard work the Blue Bird team has put in for nearly 2 years is paying off. We plan on booking at least 8,350 units, a 22% increase over fiscal year '22; and driving a top line of $1.1 billion. That's a 37% increase year-over-year. Parts sales will be ahead of plan, delivering at least $88 million in revenue, up 15%.

轉到幻燈片 24。正如 Razvan 剛剛完成的 23 財年指導中所詳述的那樣，我們現在再次根據業務的強勁表現提高指導。青鳥團隊近2年的努力終於有了回報。我們計劃至少預訂 8,350 套，比 22 財年增長 22%；並推動了 11 億美元的收入。同比增長 37%。零部件銷售將超過計劃，帶來至少 8800 萬美元的收入，增長 15%。

We now expect the adjusted EBITDA performance to be approximately $60 million, up nearly fivefold compared to fiscal year '22. EV bookings continue to be on plan, and we expect those to more than double year-over-year.

我們現在預計調整後的 EBITDA 業績約為 6000 萬美元，與 22 財年相比增長近五倍。電動汽車預訂繼續按計劃進行，我們預計這些訂單將同比增長一倍以上。

Now there have been no significant changes in the ACT retail sales forecast for fiscal year '23. It continues to be supply chain constrained across the industry. And our targeted bookings will put us right where we want to be around that 30% market share. As other industries are slowing down, we are just heating up with incredible demand in front of us. As we have touched on in past calls, industry retail sales have been off from their average of 32,000 units per year for the past 3 years in a row. And the national school bus fleet is aging. The market was first constrained by COVID and school closures, and it has been held up more recently by the supply chain. This aging fleet must be replaced. And we expect substantially robust years ahead of us to address this pent-up demand. ACT is forecasting a compound annual growth rate of 10% from our fiscal year '23 through our fiscal year '27.

現在，ACT 23 財年的零售銷售預測沒有重大變化。它繼續受到整個行業供應鏈的限制。我們有針對性的預訂將使我們處於我們希望達到 30% 左右的市場份額的位置。隨著其他行業的發展放緩，我們面臨著令人難以置信的需求。正如我們在過去的電話會議中提到的那樣，在過去的三年裡，行業零售額已經連續 3 年低於每年 32,000 單位的平均水平。全國校車車隊正在老化。市場首先受到 COVID 和學校停課的限制，最近又受到供應鏈的阻礙。必須更換這個老化的機隊。我們預計未來幾年將迎來強勁增長，以解決這一被壓抑的需求。 ACT 預測從我們的 23 財年到 27 財年的複合年增長率為 10%。

Our business is performing well after 2 long years, and we look forward to executing on the robust market ahead. The future is incredibly bright for Blue Bird, so let's turn to Slide 25 as a summary reminder of the strong investment highlights around our company. We are a great countercyclical play to many companies and industries being affected by the slowdown in consumer spending. Plus, not only are the fundamentals of our industry strong. It is just starting to heat up, with this 10% compound annual growth rate expected over the next 5 years. Second, there is commitment from the highest level of government to electrify this country's school bus fleet. In addition to the $5 billion from the federal government, there is another $5 billion in other federal, state, provincial and local programs, $10 billion in total to accelerate this transition to electric school buses.

經過 2 年的漫長歲月，我們的業務表現良好，我們期待著在未來強勁的市場上執行。 Blue Bird 的未來非常光明，所以讓我們轉到幻燈片 25，作為對我們公司強大投資亮點的總結提醒。對於許多受到消費者支出放緩影響的公司和行業來說，我們是一個很好的反週期遊戲。此外，我們行業的基本面不僅強大。它剛剛開始升溫，預計未來 5 年的複合年增長率為 10%。其次，最高級別的政府承諾為該國的校車車隊提供電氣化服務。除了來自聯邦政府的 50 億美元之外，還有另外 50 億美元用於其他聯邦、州、省和地方計劃，總計 100 億美元用於加速向電動校車的過渡。

Blue Bird will be a direct beneficiary of this, as we have more electric school buses on the road today than anyone. We also have a proven reputation as a leader in our alternative-powered school buses for over a decade, as evidenced by the 20,000-plus propane-powered Blue Birds on the road today. Our exclusive partnership with Ford and ROUSH offers us a distinct performance advantage no one else has with propane. And on EV, our collaboration with Cummins offers a proven partner investing billions in alternative fuel solutions, something no other electric school bus manufacturer has to offer.

Blue Bird 將是這方面的直接受益者，因為我們今天在路上行駛的電動校車比任何人都多。十多年來，我們作為替代動力校車的領導者也享有盛譽，今天路上行駛的 20,000 多輛丙烷動力 Blue Birds 就是證明。我們與福特和 ROUSH 的獨家合作夥伴關係為我們提供了丙烷所沒有的獨特性能優勢。在電動汽車方面，我們與康明斯的合作提供了一個成熟的合作夥伴，投資數十億美元用於替代燃料解決方案，這是其他電動校車製造商無法提供的。

And as impressive as the outlook is for school buses, we are still looking for more growth opportunities and want to expand our total addressable market. The commercial stripped chassis offering could eventually add a few thousand units per year on top of our projected long-term forecast. And with our lean transformation efforts, we are removing non-value-added processes and reducing standard production hours per bus. We are continuously looking for ways to take out costs and at the same time increase quality. As we touched on today, our pricing is now aligned to market economics and we are through the majority of legacy priced buses.

儘管校車的前景令人印象深刻，但我們仍在尋找更多的增長機會，並希望擴大我們的總體目標市場。在我們預計的長期預測之上，商業剝離底盤產品最終可能每年增加幾千台。通過我們的精益轉型努力，我們正在消除非增值流程並減少每輛公共汽車的標準生產時間。我們一直在尋找降低成本並同時提高質量的方法。正如我們今天談到的那樣，我們的定價現在與市場經濟保持一致，並且我們正在通過大多數傳統定價的公交車。

All these factors will provide us with 10%-plus adjusted EBITDA margins in the mid-term normalized operating environment. As you saw in the guidance we provided for the fourth quarter of fiscal year '23, we get to approximately 9% adjusted EBITDA on supply-constrained volume, proving that, in a normalized operating environment, double-digit adjusted EBITDA margin will be in reach. As I mentioned at the beginning of this call, the hard work by the Blue Bird team has paid off and the business is ahead of plan and even exceeding historical performance benchmarks.

所有這些因素將為我們在中期正常化運營環境中提供 10% 以上的調整後 EBITDA 利潤率。正如您在我們為 23 財年第四季度提供的指導中看到的那樣，我們在供應受限的情況下達到約 9% 的調整後 EBITDA，這證明在正常的運營環境中，兩位數的調整後 EBITDA 利潤率將在抵達。正如我在本次電話會議開始時提到的，Blue Bird 團隊的辛勤工作得到了回報，業務超前於計劃，甚至超過了歷史績效基準。

I want to thank the nearly 1,800 teammates for all their hard work; as well as our outstanding dealer body, who sacrificed with us over the last 2 years. We couldn't have done it without them, and they are and will always be critical to our success.

感謝近1800名隊友的辛勤付出；以及我們傑出的經銷商團體，他們在過去 2 年中與我們一起犧牲。沒有他們，我們不可能做到這一點，他們現在並將永遠對我們的成功至關重要。

We now would like to open up the line for questions. Thank you.

我們現在想開通提問熱線。謝謝。

(Operator Instructions) The first question today comes from the line of Eric Stine with Craig-Hallum.

（操作員說明）今天的第一個問題來自 Eric Stine 和 Craig-Hallum 的對話。

Great to see the results.

很高興看到結果。

Thank you, Eric. Appreciate it.

謝謝你，埃里克。欣賞它。

Just curious -- yes, yes. And just curious. I mean obviously supply chain is still an issue. Seeing it ease a little bit, I mean, I guess I'll start with probably a near-impossible question to answer, but I mean, is there -- do you have any thoughts about this kind of seeing the light at the end of the tunnel? Or is this kind of a new norm? It's just going to drag on and it's something you're expecting to have to deal with, yes, for a long time.

只是好奇——是的，是的。只是好奇。我的意思是顯然供應鏈仍然是一個問題。看到它稍微緩和了一點，我的意思是，我想我可能會從一個幾乎不可能回答的問題開始，但我的意思是，你對這種在結束時看到曙光有什麼想法嗎？隧道？或者這是一種新常態？它只會拖延下去，這是你期望必須處理的事情，是的，很長一段時間。

Yes, thanks for the question, Eric. This is Matt Stevenson. I mean we definitely are seeing some improvements. And some of it is moderating, but there still is volatility in the supply chain; and really it isn't one specific component. It's kind of across the board. Of course, as you know, we use the same set of suppliers the commercial truck industry uses. And that industry is still going pretty strong. And most of the challenges reside around our Tier 1s and Tier 2s getting frontline labor. So we as a team have just gotten a lot better dealing with it, so we remain optimistic on our ability to continue to deliver.

是的，謝謝你的問題，埃里克。這是馬特史蒂文森。我的意思是我們肯定看到了一些改進。其中一些正在緩和，但供應鏈仍然存在波動；實際上它不是一個特定的組件。這有點全面。當然，如您所知，我們使用商用卡車行業使用的同一組供應商。這個行業仍然非常強勁。大多數挑戰都圍繞著我們的第 1 層和第 2 層獲得一線勞動力。因此，作為一個團隊，我們剛剛更好地處理了它，因此我們對我們繼續交付的能力保持樂觀。

I guess, kind of a follow-up on that, if I look back, think back a couple of years. I mean the norm was certainly not to carry this much backlog, which obviously is related to the supply chain. I mean, do you envision a scenario where -- if you'd play this out a while, that you'd kind of catch up and you will get back to more normal levels? Or again, I mean, is this -- do you kind of think that this is the norm where you've got this elevated level of backlog? Which, I mean, I guess, is a good problem to have, but it would also be nice to be able to work that down.

我想，如果我回頭看，那是一種跟進，回想幾年。我的意思是，規範肯定不會積壓這麼多，這顯然與供應鏈有關。我的意思是，你是否設想過這樣一種情況——如果你玩了一段時間，你會趕上來，你會回到更正常的水平？或者，我的意思是，這是——您是否認為這是積壓程度如此之高的常態？我的意思是，我想這是一個很好的問題，但能夠解決這個問題也很好。

Yes. Based on sort of pent-up demand that we reviewed there and what ACT is forecasting and a lot of robust years in front of us, we expect to still have a healthy backlog. We, of course, monitor the situation weekly, if not daily, in terms of our ability to ramp up production, but we continue to be conservative and ramping up our production to make sure we're watching all of inbound material and getting buses out the door.

是的。基於我們在那裡審查的某種被壓抑的需求以及 ACT 的預測以及我們面前的許多強勁年份，我們預計仍然會有健康的積壓。當然，就提高產量的能力而言，我們每週（如果不是每天）監測情況，但我們繼續保持保守並提高產量，以確保我們關注所有入境材料並讓公共汽車離開門。

And do you feel -- I mean obviously you're almost through the low-price backlog and you're putting through the price increases for fiscal '24. Do you feel like, I mean, the market is basically conditioned for that? I mean, are you sensing any pushback? I know steel prices have started to turn higher again. I mean, what's your thought on price going forward?

你是否覺得 - 我的意思是顯然你幾乎已經完成了低價積壓，並且你正在經歷 24 財年的價格上漲。你覺得，我的意思是，市場基本上已經適應了這種情況嗎？我的意思是，你感覺到任何阻力了嗎？我知道鋼鐵價格又開始走高了。我的意思是，你對未來的價格有何看法？

Eric, this is Razvan. Thank you for the question. We are monitoring carefully the cost development. And as long as there is still inflationary pressure, whether it's from labor costs or steel prices going back up, we will consider pricing actions to offset for these upcoming increasing costs. So it's a bit too early to know very long term how the situation will develop, but at least for fiscal '24, we took the first step in order to cover for these inflationary costs.

埃里克，這是拉茲萬。感謝你的提問。我們正在仔細監控成本的發展。只要仍然存在通脹壓力，無論是來自勞動力成本還是鋼鐵價格回升，我們都會考慮採取定價行動來抵消這些即將增加的成本。因此，從長遠來看情況將如何發展還為時過早，但至少在 24 財年，我們邁出了第一步，以彌補這些通貨膨脹成本。

Yes. Okay, that's great. I'll take the rest offline.

是的。好的，那太好了。我會把剩下的離線。

Our next question comes from Mike Shlisky with D.A. Davidson.

我們的下一個問題來自 D.A. 的 Mike Shlisky。戴維森。

I guess I wanted to ask first about some comments you made on EV, Matt, and the EPA awards. I guess I'm -- some of your comments around, for example, the 2022 awards. You mentioned you're getting at least 500 out of the full amount. And for the 2023 awards that are already out there, so far, you think you can get about 200. And it just sounded like that's below the historical 30% share you had on the overall school bus market, so could you comment on what might be driving your market share there? Or is it just [conceptions] and we're just like rounding? I'm just kind of curious whether [you're all] confident you can actually match or beat your share on EVs that you have on the overall bus market.

我想我想先問一下您對 EV、Matt 和 EPA 獎項的一些評論。我想我是——你的一些評論，例如 2022 年的獎項。你提到你從全額中得到至少 500。對於已經頒發的 2023 年獎項，到目前為止，你認為你可以獲得大約 200 個。聽起來這似乎低於你在整個校車市場上擁有的 30% 的歷史份額，所以你能評論一下什麼可能在那裡推動你的市場份額？還是只是 [conceptions] 而我們只是四捨五入？我只是有點好奇 [你們都] 是否有信心可以真正匹配或擊敗您在整個公共汽車市場上擁有的電動汽車份額。

Mike, in -- this is Matt. Thank you for the question. Really it's just our conservative nature, much like, you'd probably recall, on the first phase of the program, the '22 program, we said 500 to 700. We're just taking a very conservative approach here when we look at the '23 grant -- or the grant program for Phase 2. And that has a reduced amount of money. That's anticipated to be only $400 million versus the roughly $1 billion that was in the first phase, but still again it's really just the conservative nature of our approach. And our target is to go after and get at least that 30% or more, but for these purposes, we say 200 or more.

邁克，這位是馬特。感謝你的提問。真的，這只是我們的保守本性，就像，你可能還記得，在計劃的第一階段，'22 計劃，我們說 500 到 700。當我們看'23 撥款 - 或第 2 階段的撥款計劃。而且金額減少了。與第一階段的大約 10 億美元相比，預計只有 4 億美元，但這仍然只是我們方法的保守性質。我們的目標是追求並獲得至少 30% 或更多，但出於這些目的，我們說 200 或更多。

Great. Can you guys hear me okay?

偉大的。你們能聽到我說話嗎？

Yes.

是的。

Yes, we got you, Mike.

是的，我們找到你了，邁克。

Great. Sorry. Next question I want to ask about: Kind of the last 2 weeks, we had an announcement out in California, an advanced clean fleet rule where private fleets of all types, and that includes buses, have to be 10% EV by the end of next year. I assume that it includes school buses because you confirmed that, one. And maybe secondly, you have a lot of private fleets that you work with in California. Or is it almost all public over there at this point?

偉大的。對不起。我想問的下一個問題：大約在過去兩週，我們在加利福尼亞州發布了一項先進的清潔車隊規則，其中包括公共汽車在內的所有類型的私人車隊必須在年底前達到 10% 的電動汽車明年。我假設它包括校車，因為你確認了，一輛。也許其次，你在加州有很多私人車隊。還是此時幾乎所有公共場所都在那裡？

Mike, that's -- does include school buses. And we do have some private fleets that we work with in California. And that market was one of the first movers on EV. So we don't see that being difficult for the customers or that market out there just given how they had first-mover advantage in putting EVs in for well over -- or close to 5 years now.

邁克，那是——確實包括校車。我們在加利福尼亞確實有一些合作的私人車隊。該市場是電動汽車的先行者之一。因此，我們認為這對客戶或那裡的市場來說並不困難，因為他們在將電動汽車投入使用超過 5 年或接近 5 年方面具有先發優勢。

Great. And just as a quick follow-up there. I think in your comments you had mentioned the coming non-bus products, the Class 5-6 stripped chassis. I'm curious if you can give us an update as to some of the time lines specific there. Because obviously there's a big opportunity coming in California; and possibly 12, 13 and 14 other states. Curious if you'll have something that could be sellable by the first part of next calendar year.

偉大的。就像那裡的快速跟進一樣。我認為在您的評論中您提到了即將推出的非總線產品，即 5-6 類剝離底盤。我很好奇你是否可以向我們提供一些特定時間線的更新。因為顯然加利福尼亞有很大的機會；可能還有 12、13 和 14 個其他州。好奇你是否會有一些東西可以在下一個日曆年的第一部分出售。

Our goal, Mike, as we've stated previously, is to have prototypes, by the end of this calendar year, on the road. And so that's where our focus is right now.

邁克，正如我們之前所說，我們的目標是在本日曆年年底之前讓原型車上路。這就是我們現在關注的重點。

(Operator Instructions) Our next question comes from Craig Irwin with ROTH MKM.

（操作員說明）我們的下一個問題來自 Craig Irwin 和 ROTH MKM。

So first, congratulations on the solid results. It's really nice to see that pricing working so well for you guys. Slide 11, where you gave some details about the '22 lottery results: It's nice to see you guys tracking this very, very closely. I wanted to just dig in, if we can, a little bit on these 1,200 unallocated units. Can you talk about the different parties that maybe received these vouchers, when they [needed] to place their orders by and whether or not any of them actually have prior experience with Blue Bird and the alternative fuels markets and whether or not there is a potential for some of these to land as customers for Blue Bird and obviously the mechanics of how they need to issue those RFPs and ink the necessary contracts to book that -- for you to book that as an order?

首先，祝賀您取得了不錯的成績。很高興看到定價對你們如此有效。在幻燈片 11 中，您提供了有關 22 年彩票結果的一些詳細信息：很高興看到你們非常、非常密切地跟踪此事。如果可以的話，我想深入挖掘一下這 1,200 個未分配的單元。您能否談談可能收到這些代金券的不同各方，他們何時 [需要] 下訂單，以及他們中的任何人是否確實有過 Blue Bird 和替代燃料市場的經驗，以及是否有潛力讓其中一些成為 Blue Bird 的客戶，很明顯，他們需要如何發布這些 RFP 並簽署必要的合同來預訂——您可以將其作為訂單預訂嗎？

Thank you for the question, Craig. It's Matt Stevenson. So on that graph on 11, you see that kind of top right corner is approximately that 500 to 700 of ones we either had a hand in and directly working with our dealers and the customers on applying for the rebate or were loyal Blue Bird customers or channel partners. So that is there on that top right. And then relative to your specific question on those 1,200 that are unallocated, we've worked with a number of customers there to target those rebates. One of the things that we have found, and we have a few customers that did this as well, is they submitted for an extension, some of them 60 days, some of them 90 days, as they're waiting for the final quotes to their infrastructure because the infrastructure and the buses have been submitted together. So we're still hopeful there's opportunity on those unallocated ones as well. And there's still a lot left up for grabs here over the next 30 to 60 days.

謝謝你的問題，克雷格。我是馬特史蒂文森。所以在 11 的圖表上，你看到右上角大約有 500 到 700 個我們參與並直接與我們的經銷商和客戶合作申請回扣，或者是忠實的 Blue Bird 客戶或渠道合作夥伴。所以它就在右上角。然後相對於您關於未分配的 1,200 個的具體問題，我們已經與那裡的許多客戶合作以針對這些回扣。我們發現的一件事是，我們有一些客戶也這樣做了，他們提交了延期申請，有些是 60 天，有些是 90 天，因為他們正在等待最終報價他們的基礎設施，因為基礎設施和公共汽車是一起提交的。所以我們仍然希望那些未分配的也有機會。在接下來的 30 到 60 天內，這裡還有很多東西等待爭奪。

Okay, excellent. So if I could ask another question related to the EPA vouchers. Last year, they started off saying that they were going to do $500 million. The chatter that we were getting from talking to a bunch of people [at ACT Expo] was it could be increased to $750 million. Some people are saying it could be increased to $1 billion; and then lo and behold, they gave us just under $1 billion in vouchers, which was a fantastic move. The official number is $400 million. We were hearing potential that this could be upped, but would you be surprised if EPA maybe went to a bigger voucher, at least this year, and maybe did more than those 25 to 50 awards and we saw materially more than $400 million in vouchers issued?

好的，優秀。所以，如果我可以問另一個與 EPA 代金券相關的問題。去年，他們開始說他們將投入 5 億美元。我們 [在 ACT Expo] 與一群人交談時聽到的喋喋不休是它可以增加到 7.5 億美元。有人說可以增加到 10 億美元；然後你瞧，他們給了我們不到 10 億美元的代金券，這是一個了不起的舉動。官方數字是4億美元。我們聽說這可能會被提高，但如果 EPA 可能獲得更大的代金券，至少在今年，並且可能比那些 25 到 50 個獎勵更多，並且我們看到發行了超過 4 億美元的代金券，你會感到驚訝嗎？ ？

Yes, Craig. I mean that's quite possible. I mean the -- well, the EPA, I, we think, has done a great job with this program. And I think, if they get a lot of high-quality applications here, that can be quite possible, that they up that amount. And we're also -- there's potential for more of a rebate program for that other roughly half of the $1 billion per year that they're allocating for this year. So we just stay in close contact with the EPA and work closely with our dealers and customers in anticipation of what may happen.

是的，克雷格。我的意思是這很有可能。我的意思是 - 好吧，我認為 EPA 在這個項目上做得很好。而且我認為，如果他們在這裡獲得大量高質量的應用程序，那麼他們很有可能會增加這個數量。而且我們也有可能為他們今年分配的每年 10 億美元中的大約一半的其他人提供更多的回扣計劃。因此，我們只是與 EPA 保持密切聯繫，並與我們的經銷商和客戶密切合作，以預測可能發生的情況。

Great. Got it. And then as we look sort of out on the horizon: You've had 22% price. You did put through 25% with your new price increase of $2,500 for fiscal '24. It looks like we'll be back to pretty much normalized margins. What do you see as the biggest risk to gross margin and cash flow outside of the steel items that you identified in your presentation and on the call?

偉大的。知道了。然後當我們看起來有點像地平線時：你有 22% 的價格。您確實通過 24 財年 2,500 美元的新價格上漲實現了 25%。看起來我們將回到幾乎正常化的利潤率。除了您在演示文稿和電話會議中確定的鋼鐵項目之外，您認為毛利率和現金流的最大風險是什麼？

Craig, this is Razvan. I will take this question. So we addressed a lot of levers on the pricing side, as far as the -- derisking the margin profile going forward for the quotes that we have out there. And there is, as you mentioned, some uptick risk on raw material prices; and we are controlling that as well to the -- in the best way possible. So I think, in terms of margins, we have pretty good visibility on the backlog and the -- probably the short- to mid-term horizon. And we are going to watch closely and take another appropriate pricing measure if it's necessary at the right point in time.

克雷格，這是拉茲萬。我會回答這個問題。因此，我們在定價方面解決了很多槓桿，就我們現有的報價而言，降低保證金概況的風險。正如你所提到的，原材料價格存在一些上漲風險；我們也在以最好的方式控制它。所以我認為，就利潤率而言，我們對積壓訂單和 - 可能是短期到中期的視野有很好的了解。如果有必要，我們將密切關注並在適當的時候採取其他適當的定價措施。

Got it. That makes complete sense. All right, I'll take the rest of my questions offline. Congratulations on the progress here. We look forward to a successful execution on President Biden's priority on EV school bus.

知道了。這是完全有道理的。好吧，我會把剩下的問題放到離線狀態。祝賀這裡取得的進展。我們期待拜登總統關於電動校車優先事項的成功執行。

All right. Thank you, Craig. We appreciate it.

好的。謝謝你，克雷格。我們很感激。

At this time, we have no further questions registered, so I'll turn the call back over to Matthew Stevenson for closing remarks.

目前，我們沒有登記進一步的問題，所以我會把電話轉回給馬修史蒂文森作結束語。

All right, thank you, Emily. And thank you to all those joining us on the call today.

好的，謝謝你，艾米麗。感謝今天加入我們電話會議的所有人。

As you heard during our prepared remarks, Blue Bird is in a great position with extremely positive momentum. Through massive improvements in how we operate this business across the board, we closed Q2 with record revenue and adjusted EBITDA and have again raised our full year guidance. As we have forecasted for nearly a year, the Clean School Bus Program is generating meaningful orders for us and has produced a large backlog of EVs. To capitalize on this demand, we recently opened our new EV center to fuel our growth now and into the future. And we are doing all this while investing back in our most important asset, our teammates.

正如您在我們準備好的發言中所聽到的那樣，Blue Bird 處於有利地位，勢頭非常積極。通過全面改進我們經營這項業務的方式，我們以創紀錄的收入結束了第二季度並調整了 EBITDA，並再次提高了我們的全年指導。正如我們近一年的預測，清潔校車計劃正在為我們帶來有意義的訂單，並產生了大量積壓的電動汽車。為了利用這一需求，我們最近開設了新的電動汽車中心，以推動我們現在和未來的發展。我們正在做這一切，同時對我們最重要的資產——我們的隊友進行投資。

For nearly 2 years, we have focused on our first pillar, taking care of teammates. We did this through increasing communication, transparency, leadership visibility on the floor and listening more, all while making facility improvements and increasing wages and benefits. We are reinvigorating our frontline teammates. The future is electric for Blue Bird in more ways than one.

近 2 年來，我們一直專注於我們的第一個支柱，即照顧隊友。我們通過增加溝通、透明度、領導層的知名度和更多的傾聽來做到這一點，同時改進設施並增加工資和福利。我們正在重振我們的前線隊友。對於 Blue Bird 來說，未來充滿電的方式不止一種。

Should you have any follow-up questions, please do not hesitate to contact our Head of Investor Relations, Mark Benfield. Thank you again for your time, and we look forward to updating you on the continued progress of Blue Bird next quarter. Have a great evening.

如果您有任何後續問題，請隨時聯繫我們的投資者關係主管 Mark Benfield。再次感謝您的寶貴時間，我們期待在下個季度向您通報 Blue Bird 的持續進展。祝你有個愉快的夜晚。

Thank you, everyone, for joining us today. This concludes our call, and you may now disconnect your lines.

謝謝大家今天加入我們。我們的通話到此結束，您現在可以斷開您的線路。