Carpenter Technology Corp (CRS) 2023 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Good day, and welcome to the Carpenter Technology Corporation Fourth Quarter 2023 Conference Call. (Operator Instructions). Please note that today's event is being recorded.

美好的一天，歡迎參加 Carpenter Technology Corporation 2023 年第四季度電話會議。 （操作員說明）。請注意，今天的活動正在錄製中。

At this time, I would like to turn the conference over to John Huyette, Vice President, Investor Relations. Please go ahead, sir.

現在，我想將會議交給投資者關係副總裁 John Huyette。請繼續，先生。

Thank you, operator. Good morning, everyone, and welcome to the Carpenter Technology Earnings Conference Call for the fiscal 2023 Fourth Quarter ended June 30, 2023. This call is also being broadcast over the internet along with presentation slides. Please note, for those of you listening by phone, you may experience a time delay in slide movement. Speakers on the call today are Tony Thene, President and Chief Executive Officer; and Tim Lain, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer.

謝謝你，接線員。大家早上好，歡迎參加截至 2023 年 6 月 30 日的 2023 財年第四季度的 Carpenter Technology 收益電話會議。本次電話會議還與演示幻燈片一起通過互聯網進行廣播。請注意，對於那些通過電話收聽的人，您可能會遇到幻燈片移動的時間延遲。今天電話會議的發言人是總裁兼首席執行官 Tony Thene；蒂姆·萊恩 (Tim Lain)，高級副總裁兼首席財務官。

Statements made by management during this earnings presentation that are forward-looking statements are based on current expectations. Risk factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from these forward-looking statements can be found in Carpenter Technology's most recent SEC filings, including the company's report on Form 10-K for the year ended June 30, 2022, Forms 10-Q for the quarters ended September 30, 2022, December 31, 2022 and March 31, 2023, and the exhibits attached to those filings. Please note that in the following discussion, unless otherwise noted, when management discusses the sales or revenue, that reference excludes surcharge. I'm referring to operating margins, that is based on adjusted operating income, excluding special items and sales, excluding surcharge.

管理層在本收益報告中發表的前瞻性聲明是基於當前的預期。可能導致實際結果與這些前瞻性陳述存在重大差異的風險因素可以在 Carpenter Technology 最近向 SEC 提交的文件中找到，包括該公司截至 2022 年 6 月 30 日的 10-K 表格報告、截至 2022 年 6 月 30 日的 10-Q 表格報告。截至2022年9月30日、2022年12月31日和2023年3月31日的季度以及這些文件所附的證據。請注意，在下面的討論中，除非另有說明，否則當管理層討論銷售額或收入時，該參考內容不包括附加費。我指的是營業利潤率，即基於調整後的營業收入，不包括特殊項目和銷售額，不包括附加費。

I will now turn the call over to Tony.

我現在將把電話轉給托尼。

Thank you, John, and good morning to everyone on the call today. I will begin on Slide 4 with a review of our safety performance. For fiscal year 2023, our total case incident rate was 1.7. Although 1.7 injury rate would rank as one of the safest metal manufacturing companies, it is not a rate we've come to expect -- or accept at Carpenter Technology. As we've discussed in previous quarters, the rate increase is largely due to the increased employees undertaking new tasks, either as new hires or transfers into new roles. We continue to invest in additional training for any employee new to a job or task with frequent monitoring and follow-up. Our goal continues to be a 0 injury workplace. Despite the increase this year, we believe it is possible, and we will continue to invest and work tirelessly to achieve that goal.

謝謝約翰，今天參加電話會議的每個人早上好。我將從幻燈片 4 開始回顧我們的安全績效。 2023 財年，我們的總病例發生率為 1.7。儘管 1.7 的傷害率可以被列為最安全的金屬製造公司之一，但這並不是我們所期望的，也不是 Carpenter Technology 所接受的。正如我們在前幾個季度所討論的那樣，增長率的主要原因是承擔新任務的員工數量增加，無論是新員工還是調任新角色。我們繼續投資於對任何剛接觸工作或任務的員工進行額外培訓，並進行頻繁的監控和跟進。我們的目標仍然是零傷害工作場所。儘管今年有所增長，但我們相信這是可能的，我們將繼續投資並不懈努力以實現這一目標。

Now let's turn to Slide 5 and a review of the fourth quarter. More than a year ago, we set out the goal to return to pre-pandemic fiscal year 2019 profitability on a run rate basis by fiscal year 2023. It was an important milestone, marking a way point on our growth trajectory to doubling our operating income by fiscal year 2027. Not only did we achieve that goal in the fourth quarter, we exceeded it. And with increased productivity, improved product mix and the realization of higher prices, we demonstrated accelerating momentum on that growth trajectory. Most notably, the SAO segment significantly exceeded expectations for the quarter, delivering $80 million in operating income, above the outlook we provided of $65 million to $70 million. Further, SAO realized an operating margin of 16.8%, a step-up from the 11.9% in the previous quarter.

現在讓我們轉向幻燈片 5 並回顧第四季度。一年多前，我們制定了到 2023 財年按運行率計算，恢復到 2019 財年疫情前盈利能力的目標。這是一個重要的里程碑，標誌著我們實現營業收入翻倍的增長軌跡上的一個里程碑到 2027 財年。我們不僅在第四季度實現了這一目標，而且還超出了目標。隨著生產力的提高、產品組合的改善以及價格的提高，我們在增長軌跡上展現了加速的勢頭。最值得注意的是，SAO 部門本季度營業收入顯著超出預期，達到 8000 萬美元，高於我們預測的 6500 萬至 7000 萬美元。此外，SAO 的營業利潤率達到 16.8%，較上一季度的 11.9% 有所提高。

With increasing high levels of demand, net sales increased across each of the end-use markets. Net sales, excluding surcharge for the quarter, were up 14% sequentially and 39% compared to last year. Driving our performance were continued productivity improvements across our facilities, improving product mix and higher selling prices. In addition to the strong profitability in the quarter, we generated $175 million of cash from operations and $144 million in adjusted free cash flow. This further strengthens our liquidity as we finished the quarter with $393 million in total liquidity.

隨著需求量的不斷增加，每個最終用途市場的淨銷售額均有所增加。本季度淨銷售額（不包括附加費）環比增長 14%，與去年同期相比增長 39%。推動我們業績的因素包括我們工廠的生產力持續提高、產品組合的改善和銷售價格的提高。除了本季度強勁的盈利能力外，我們還從運營中產生了 1.75 億美元的現金，以及 1.44 億美元的調整後自由現金流。這進一步增強了我們的流動性，本季度末我們的流動性總額為 3.93 億美元。

Now let's move to Slide 6 and the end-use market update. The first takeaway is that sales in all of the end-use markets were up year-over-year and sequentially for the quarter. Our near-term and long-term outlook for each of the end-use markets remains positive, and record backlog levels support this outlook. Our aerospace and defense end-use market, accounting for 53% of sales in the current quarter, continues to ramp and was up 22% sequentially and 65% year-over-year. Global aerospace traffic continues to increase, pushing the supply chain to ramp production of new planes to meet the growing demand. To support the growing demand, customers across our commercial aerospace submarkets continue to request higher shipments of material as soon as possible.

現在讓我們轉到幻燈片 6 和最終用途市場更新。第一個結論是，本季度所有最終用途市場的銷售額均同比和環比增長。我們對每個最終用途市場的近期和長期前景仍然樂觀，創紀錄的積壓水平支持了這一前景。我們的航空航天和國防最終用途市場佔本季度銷售額的 53%，繼續增長，環比增長 22%，同比增長 65%。全球航空航天運輸量持續增加，推動供應鏈加大新飛機的生產力度，以滿足不斷增長的需求。為了滿足不斷增長的需求，我們商業航空航天子市場的客戶繼續要求盡快增加材料的出貨量。

In addition, the defense submarket saw an increase in sales on a sequential basis, driven by next-generation missile, fixed-wing and rotorcraft platforms. The medical end-use market, accounting for 12% of sales in the current quarter, was up 7% sequentially and up 24% year-over-year. The increase in sales was driven by the continued strong customer manufacturing activity to meet the patient demand for elective surgeries. The overall outlook continues to be positive as medical procedures are expected to grow throughout calendar year 2023, supported by a strong procedures backlog. The transportation end-use market, accounting for 7% of total sales in the current quarter was up 8% sequentially and up 12% compared to last year. With high demand and low inventories of light-duty vehicles, build rates are expected to remain strong throughout the second half of calendar year 2023.

此外，在下一代導彈、固定翼和旋翼機平台的推動下，國防子市場的銷售額環比增長。醫療最終用途市場佔本季度銷售額的 12%，環比增長 7%，同比增長 24%。銷售額的增長是由持續強勁的客戶製造活動推動的，以滿足患者對擇期手術的需求。總體前景仍然樂觀，因為在大量手術積壓的支持下，預計 2023 年醫療手術數量將會增長。運輸終端用途市場佔本季度總銷售額的 7%，比上一季度增長 8%，比去年增長 12%。由於輕型汽車的高需求和低庫存，預計 2023 年下半年的建造率將保持強勁。

The energy end-use market, accounting for 6% of sales in the current quarter, was up 22% sequentially and up 66% compared to last year. With the growth in demand for energy continuing to exceed supply, capital investment is expected to increase. And as a result, the demand for our material solutions will rise with it. The industrial and consumer end-use market, accounting for 17% of sales in the current quarter, was up 1% sequentially and up 17% year-over-year. In this end-use market, we remain focused on high-margin, high-growth business, including our material solutions used in semiconductor fabrication and consumer electronics.

能源終端使用市場佔本季度銷售額的 6%，環比增長 22%，與去年相比增長 66%。隨著能源需求的增長持續超過供應，資本投資預計將增加。因此，對我們材料解決方案的需求也將隨之增加。工業和消費終端用途市場佔本季度銷售額的 17%，環比增長 1%，同比增長 17%。在這個最終用途市場中，我們仍然專注於高利潤、高增長的業務，包括我們用於半導體製造和消費電子產品的材料解決方案。

Now I'll go turn it over to Tim for the financial summary.

現在我將把財務摘要交給蒂姆。

Thanks, Tony. Good morning, everyone. I'll start on Slide 8, the income statement summary. Net sales in the fourth quarter were $758.1 million, and sales, excluding surcharge, totaled $560 million. Sales, excluding surcharge, increased 39% from the same period a year ago on 19% higher volume. Sequentially, sales were up 14% on a 7% higher volume. The higher volumes were driven by strong demand and by our improving productivity and throughput across our operations. Consistent with the last several quarters, sales growth continues to outpace volume growth, both sequentially and year-over-year, driven by an improving product mix and increased base prices.

謝謝，托尼。大家，早安。我將從幻燈片 8 開始，即損益表摘要。第四季度淨銷售額為 7.581 億美元，不計附加費的銷售額總計 5.6 億美元。銷售額（不包括附加費）較去年同期增長 39%，銷量增長 19%。隨後，銷售額增長了 14%，銷量增長了 7%。銷量的增加是由強勁的需求以及我們整個運營部門生產力和吞吐量的提高推動的。與過去幾個季度一致，在產品組合改善和基本價格上漲的推動下，銷售增長繼續超過銷量增長，無論是環比增長還是同比增長。

Gross profit was $119 million in the current quarter compared to $72 million in the same quarter of last year and $93.5 million in the third quarter of fiscal year 2023. Gross profit in the current quarter is up 65% compared to the same quarter last year and up 27% sequentially. The improvement in gross profit is primarily driven by higher sales and improving product mix and increased selling prices, partially offset by inflationary cost increases.

本季度毛利潤為 1.19 億美元，去年同期毛利潤為 7200 萬美元，2023 財年第三季度毛利潤為 9350 萬美元。本季度毛利潤較去年同期增長 65%，較上一季度增長 27%。毛利潤的改善主要是由於銷售額增加、產品組合改善以及銷售價格上漲推動的，但部分被通脹成本上漲所抵消。

SG&A expenses were $56.1 million in the fourth quarter, up about $9 million from the same period a year ago and roughly $2 million higher sequentially. The increase in SG&A expenses versus the same quarter last year is primarily driven by investments and higher variable compensation accruals. The SG&A line includes corporate costs, which totaled $22.5 million in the recent fourth quarter. As we look ahead to the upcoming first quarter of fiscal year 2024, we expect corporate costs to be about $20 million to $22 million.

第四季度的 SG&A 費用為 5610 萬美元，比去年同期增加約 900 萬美元，比上一季度增加約 200 萬美元。 SG&A 費用與去年同期相比的增加主要是由投資和較高的可變薪酬應計費用推動的。 SG&A 項目包括公司成本，最近第四季度總計 2250 萬美元。展望即將到來的 2024 財年第一季度，我們預計企業成本約為 2000 萬至 2200 萬美元。

Operating income was $62.9 million in the current quarter. When excluding the impact of special items in the prior year quarter, adjusted operating income was $14.9 million. And in our recent third quarter, operating income was $39.3 million. Again, the improvement in profitability is being driven by the increasing productivity, enabling higher volumes along with mix and price benefits. Our effective tax rate for the recent fourth quarter was 21%, which is slightly below the full year effective tax rate of roughly 22%. Earnings per share for the current quarter was $0.78 per share. The results demonstrate our continued momentum supported by improving productivity and a strong demand environment.

本季度營業收入為 6290 萬美元。排除去年同期特殊項目的影響後，調整後營業收入為 1,490 萬美元。在最近的第三季度，營業收入為 3930 萬美元。同樣，盈利能力的提高是由生產力的提高推動的，從而實現了更高的產量以及組合和價格優勢。我們最近第四季度的有效稅率為 21%，略低於全年約 22% 的有效稅率。本季度每股收益為 0.78 美元。結果表明，生產力的提高和強勁的需求環境為我們提供了持續的動力。

Now turning to Slide 9 and our SAO segment results. Net sales for the fourth quarter were $667 million or $477.2 million, excluding surcharge. Compared to the same period last year, net sales, excluding surcharge, increased 46% on 19% higher volumes. Sequentially, net sales, excluding surcharge, increased 16% on 9% higher volumes.

現在轉向幻燈片 9 和我們的 SAO 部分結果。第四季度淨銷售額為 6.67 億美元或 4.772 億美元（不包括附加費）。與去年同期相比，淨銷售額（不包括附加費）增長了 46%，銷量增長了 19%。隨後，淨銷售額（不包括附加費）增長了 16%，銷量增長了 9%。

The year-over-year improvement in net sales was driven by higher shipment volumes due to productivity gains, the impacts of higher prices and an improving product mix as demand across our key end-use markets has strengthened even further, as Tony reviewed on the market slide. Sequentially, we continue to drive momentum in net sales as the operating efficiencies drove higher volumes combined with a stronger mix of products.

正如托尼評論的那樣，淨銷售額的同比增長是由於生產力提高、價格上漲的影響以及隨著我們主要最終用途市場的需求進一步增強而改善的產品組合所導致的出貨量增加所推動的。市場下滑。接下來，隨著運營效率的提高以及更強大的產品組合推動銷量增加，我們將繼續推動淨銷售額的增長。

Moving to operating results. SAO reported operating income of $80 million in our recent fourth quarter, outpacing our expectations and resulting in a significant improvement versus both the same quarter last year and our recent third quarter. On a year-over-year basis, the SAO adjusted operating income improvement of $60 million is largely due to higher sales, driven by strong demand and increased production levels, which also improved cost performance.

轉向經營業績。 SAO 報告稱，最近第四季度的營業收入為 8000 萬美元，超出了我們的預期，與去年同期和最近第三季度相比都有顯著改善。與去年同期相比，SAO 調整後的營業收入增加了 6000 萬美元，這主要是由於強勁需求和生產水平提高推動的銷售額增加，這也提高了成本績效。

This was coupled with an improving product mix and price increases. These improvements are evident in the adjusted operating margin, which has increased to 16.8% in the current period as compared to 6.1% in the same period a year ago. On a sequential basis, operating income improved $31 million. The improvement was driven by increased volumes as we continue to ramp our operations to meet the strong demand.

與此同時，產品組合的改善和價格的上漲。這些改善在調整後營業利潤率中體現得淋漓盡致，本期營業利潤率從去年同期的 6.1% 增至 16.8%。營業收入環比增加 3100 萬美元。隨著我們繼續擴大業務以滿足強勁的需求，銷量的增加推動了這一改善。

Looking ahead, the SAO team remains focused on increasing production levels and production flow to maximize the capacity for high-value product mix while managing production schedules to ensure preventative maintenance is performed. Given the strength of demand, incremental improvements in our productivity represents a significant opportunity to further accelerate profitability, and we're pushing to exceed our targets in this area for the coming quarters. Based on current expectations, including productivity increases and planned preventative maintenance, we anticipate SAO will generate operating income in the range of $72 million to $77 million in the upcoming first quarter of fiscal year 2024.

展望未來，SAO 團隊仍然專注於提高生產水平和生產流程，以最大限度地提高高價值產品組合的產能，同時管理生產計劃以確保執行預防性維護。鑑於需求強勁，我們生產力的逐步提高代表著進一步提高盈利能力的重大機會，我們將在未來幾個季度努力超越該領域的目標。根據當前的預期，包括生產力提高和計劃性預防性維護，我們預計 SAO 在即將到來的 2024 財年第一季度將產生 7200 萬至 7700 萬美元的營業收入。

Now turning to Slide 10 and our PEP segment results. Net sales in the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2023 were $118.7 million or $107.6 million, excluding surcharge revenue. Net sales, excluding surcharge, increased 16% from the same quarter last year and 4% sequentially. The year-over-year growth in net sales reflects increased volumes driven by strong demand conditions, primarily in our Dynamet titanium business. More specifically, in our Dynamet titanium business, net sales increased in both the aerospace and defense and medical end-use markets from the same quarter a year ago.

現在轉向幻燈片 10 和我們的 PEP 部分結果。 2023 財年第四季度的淨銷售額為 1.187 億美元或 1.076 億美元，不包括附加費收入。淨銷售額（不包括附加費）較去年同期增長 16%，比上一季度增長 4%。淨銷售額的同比增長反映了強勁需求條件（主要是我們的 Dynamet 鈦業務）推動的銷量增長。更具體地說，在我們的 Dynamet 鈦業務中，航空航天、國防和醫療最終用途市場的淨銷售額比去年同期有所增長。

The sequential increase in net sales primarily reflects increases in both Dynamet titanium sales and additive sales to the aerospace and defense end-use market. In the current quarter, PEP reported operating income of $5.9 million. This compares to adjusted operating income of $8.2 million in the same quarter a year ago and operating income of $10.2 million in the third quarter of fiscal year 2023. The reduction in operating income in the current quarter is primarily the result of near-term timing of operating costs versus production flow in our Dynamet titanium business.

淨銷售額的環比增長主要反映了 Dynamet 鈦合金銷售額以及航空航天和國防最終用途市場添加劑銷售額的增長。本季度，PEP 報告營業收入為 590 萬美元。相比之下，去年同期調整後的營業收入為 820 萬美元，2023 財年第三季度的營業收入為 1,020 萬美元。本季度營業收入的減少主要是由於近期調整的結果我們的 Dynamet 鈦業務的運營成本與生產流程。

As I mentioned, demand for Dynamet's materials continues to strengthen, and we are focused on matching production activities to more closely align to our spending via improving productivity and flow of materials throughout the operations. We currently anticipate that the PEP segment will deliver operating income in the range of $10 million to $11 million for the upcoming first quarter of fiscal year 2024.

正如我所提到的，對 Dynamet 材料的需求持續增強，我們專注於匹配生產活動，通過提高整個運營過程中的生產力和材料流動來更緊密地配合我們的支出。我們目前預計 PEP 部門在即將到來的 2024 財年第一季度將實現 1000 萬至 1100 萬美元的營業收入。

Now turning to Slide 11 and a review of adjusted free cash flow. In the current quarter, we generated $175 million of cash from operating activities or a $170 million sequential improvement. The increase is largely attributable to the higher earnings combined with an inventory reduction of [$73 million] in the current fourth quarter. As we had signaled, we reduced inventory in the second half of the fiscal year, driven by strong shipments, improving productivity and a more balanced flow of materials across our operations.

現在轉向幻燈片 11，回顧調整後的自由現金流。在本季度，我們從經營活動中產生了 1.75 億美元的現金，即連續改善了 1.7 億美元。這一增長主要歸因於當前第四季度收益的增加以及庫存減少[7300萬美元]。正如我們所表示的那樣，在強勁的出貨量、生產力的提高以及整個運營中物料流動更加平衡的推動下，我們在本財年下半年減少了庫存。

In the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2023, we spent $31 million on capital expenditures and finished fiscal year '23 with $82 million in capital expenditures. With those details in mind, we generated adjusted free cash flow of $144 million in the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2023. As a note, in the current quarter, we've modified the definition of adjusted free cash flow to exclude dividends and have updated prior periods to be consistent with this new presentation. Our liquidity remains healthy, and we ended the current quarter with total liquidity of $393 million, including $45 million of cash and $348 million of available borrowings under our credit facility.

在 2023 財年第四季度，我們花費了 3100 萬美元的資本支出，並在 23 財年結束時資本支出為 8200 萬美元。考慮到這些細節，我們在 2023 財年第四季度產生了 1.44 億美元的調整後自由現金流。請注意，在本季度，我們修改了調整後自由現金流的定義以排除股息，並更新了以前的期間與本次新的列報保持一致。我們的流動性保持健康，本季度結束時流動性總額為 3.93 億美元，其中包括 4500 萬美元現金和信貸安排下的 3.48 億美元可用借款。

Let's move to Slide 12 to talk about selected fiscal year 2024 guidance. We're providing this selected information to help modeling for our fiscal year 2024. Depreciation and amortization is expected to be $131 million in fiscal year 2024 or essentially flat from fiscal year 2023. We expect to spend about $125 million to $130 million in capital expenditures in fiscal year 2024. We view this as a normalized annual CapEx spend for our business as operations continue to ramp up. This estimate includes amounts necessary for maintenance-type CapEx but also allows for opportunities to make targeted investments where we can expand capabilities in select areas as well as expand capacity in constrained flow paths.

讓我們轉到幻燈片 12，討論選定的 2024 財年指導。我們提供這些精選信息是為了幫助對 2024 財年進行建模。2024 財年的折舊和攤銷預計為 1.31 億美元，或與 2023 財年基本持平。我們預計資本支出約為 1.25 億至 1.3 億美元2024 財年。隨著業務的不斷增長，我們認為這是我們業務的正常年度資本支出。這一估計包括維護型資本支出所需的金額，但也提供了進行有針對性的投資的機會，我們可以在某些領域擴大能力，並擴大受限流動路徑的能力。

Moving to pension contributions. We expect to make $11 million of pension contributions to our U.S. qualified plan in fiscal 2024. For noncash net pension expense, we expect net pension expense to increase to $24 million compared to $20 million of pension expense in fiscal year 2023. For clarity, about $10 million of the pension expense for next year will be included in operating income, similar to fiscal year 2023. The balance, or approximately $14 million, will be reported in other income expense through the next fiscal year. Next, interest expense is estimated to remain flat to slightly lower at about $52 million to $54 million in fiscal year 2024. Lastly, our reported full year effective tax rate was about 22% in fiscal year 2023. For fiscal year 2024, we expect the effective tax rate to be in the range of 22% to 24%.

轉向養老金繳款。我們預計在 2024 財年向我們的美國合格計劃繳納 1100 萬美元的養老金。對於非現金淨養老金支出，我們預計淨養老金支出將增至 2400 萬美元，而 2023 財年的養老金支出為 2000 萬美元。為清楚起見，大約明年的 1000 萬美元養老金支出將計入營業收入，與 2023 財年類似。餘額（約 1400 萬美元）將在下一財年的其他收入支出中報告。接下來，預計 2024 財年的利息支出將保持持平或略低，約為 5200 萬至 5400 萬美元。最後，我們報告的 2023 財年全年有效稅率約為 22%。對於 2024 財年，我們預計有效稅率在22%至24%之間。

With that, I will turn the call back to Tony.

說完，我會把電話轉回給托尼。

Thanks, Tim. And now to recap our fourth quarter of fiscal year 2023. With operating income of $62.9 million, we exceeded our goal to return to pre-pandemic levels of profitability on a run rate basis by the end of fiscal year 2023, a goal we communicated over a year ago. The current quarter's results represented a significant step forward from the previous quarter's operating income of $39.3 million, demonstrating increasing operating momentum. Driving the performance was improved productivity and capacity optimization, a stronger product mix and higher realized prices, particularly in the SAO segment.

謝謝，蒂姆。現在回顧一下 2023 財年第四季度的情況。我們的營業收入為 6290 萬美元，超出了我們的目標，即到 2023 財年末按運行率恢復到大流行前的盈利水平，這是我們溝通的目標一年前。本季度的業績較上一季度 3,930 萬美元的營業收入向前邁出了一大步，顯示出不斷增長的經營勢頭。推動業績增長的因素包括生產率的提高和產能優化、更強大的產品組合和更高的實現價格，尤其是在 SAO 領域。

We are operating in a strengthening demand environment, with positive near-term and long-term outlooks in each of the end-use markets. Notably, the aerospace submarkets continue to accelerate their recovery. With strong demand and improved productivity, we saw sales increase across each of the end-use markets. And we generated $175 million of cash from operations, further strengthening our liquidity position. Taken all together, with increasing volumes, improving mix, increasing prices and improving productivity, we are accelerating our momentum heading into fiscal year 2024.

我們在需求強勁的環境中運營，每個最終用途市場的近期和長期前景均樂觀。值得注意的是，航空航天子市場繼續加速復蘇。隨著強勁的需求和生產力的提高，我們看到每個最終用途市場的銷售額都在增長。我們通過運營產生了 1.75 億美元的現金，進一步增強了我們的流動性狀況。總而言之，隨著銷量的增加、產品組合的改善、價格的提高和生產率的提高，我們正在加速進入 2024 財年的勢頭。

Let's turn to the next slide and take a closer look at our near-term and long-term outlook. First, let's review our outlook for the first quarter of fiscal year 2024. On our last earnings call, I said that we expected operating income to be flat sequentially in the first quarter of fiscal year 2024, representing a significant improvement over the historical trend of a sequential Q1 decline. For the first quarter of fiscal year 2024, we expect to be in the range of $61 million to $67 million of operating income. This would put us flat to slightly up sequentially, despite the fact that we outperformed the fourth quarter expectations.

讓我們轉到下一張幻燈片，仔細看看我們的近期和長期前景。首先，讓我們回顧一下我們對 2024 財年第一季度的展望。在我們上次的財報電話會議上，我表示，我們預計 2024 財年第一季度的營業收入將環比持平，這比歷史趨勢有了顯著改善。第一季度連續下降。 2024 財年第一季度，我們預計營業收入將在 6100 萬美元至 6700 萬美元之間。儘管我們的表現超出了第四季度的預期，但這將使我們的業績環比持平或略有上升。

Again, this would represent a meaningful step up compared to the historical trend of a sequential decline in profit in the first quarter of the fiscal year and it would exceed the operating income from the first quarter of fiscal year 2020, our most profitable first quarter in recent history. This outlook builds on the momentum we generated in the last quarter. As discussed throughout this call, we see strengthening demand across the end-use markets with customers wanting more material sooner. We saw a significant step up in productivity last quarter and are driving to further improve output across our facilities. Our fiscal first quarter is when we have historically performed our more significant preventive maintenance activities. This year, given the demand environment, we are actively managing preventive maintenance schedules to protect our unique assets while also maximizing shipments.

同樣，與本財年第一季度利潤連續下降的歷史趨勢相比，這將是一個有意義的進步，並將超過 2020 財年第一季度的營業收入，這是我們盈利最多的第一季度。最近的歷史。這一前景建立在我們上季度產生的勢頭之上。正如本次電話會議中所討論的那樣，我們看到最終用途市場的需求不斷增強，客戶希望盡快獲得更多材料。上季度我們的生產力顯著提高，並正在努力進一步提高我們工廠的產量。從歷史上看，第一財季是我們進行更重要的預防性維護活動的時候。今年，考慮到需求環境，我們正在積極管理預防性維護計劃，以保護我們獨特的資產，同時最大限度地提高出貨量。

Now let's take a look at the longer-term earnings growth projection. If you recall from our Investor Day in May, I discussed the trajectory of our earnings growth between fiscal year 2023 and fiscal year 2027. The chart on the right demonstrates that. These figures imply a 40% CAGR on the operating income from fiscal year 2023 through fiscal year 2027, a very strong growth target. I also noted that this growth wasn't going to be back-end loaded and that we expected to make significant progress toward this goal in fiscal year 2024. And clearly, with momentum from our fourth quarter results, and strong first quarter guidance, we are setting ourselves up to take that meaningful step towards this goal in fiscal year 2024. Additionally, we expect the second half of fiscal year 2024 to be stronger than the first half, which is consistent with historical performance. And we are working to accelerate our productivity gains to push earnings even higher.

現在讓我們來看看長期盈利增長預測。如果您還記得 5 月份的投資者日活動，我討論了 2023 財年至 2027 財年的盈利增長軌跡。右圖證明了這一點。這些數字意味著從 2023 財年到 2027 財年，營業收入的複合年增長率為 40%，這是一個非常強勁的增長目標。我還指出，這種增長不會是後端負載，我們預計將在 2024 財年實現這一目標取得重大進展。顯然，憑藉我們第四季度業績的勢頭以及強勁的第一季度指導，我們我們正準備在 2024 財年朝著這一目標邁出有意義的一步。此外，我們預計 2024 財年下半年將強於上半年，這與歷史表現一致。我們正在努力加快生產力的提高，以進一步推高收入。

This is an exciting time for Carpenter Technology. Macro trends are driving increased demand across our end-use markets for our broad portfolio of specialized solutions. We have leading capabilities with a difficult-to-replicate system of assets, and we continue to drive improved productivity to unlock additional capacity to capture the demand. This quarter, we demonstrated a significant improvement in our operations. And looking ahead, we are well on our way to achieving our long-term goal.

對於 Carpenter Technology 來說，這是一個激動人心的時刻。宏觀趨勢正在推動我們的最終用途市場對我們廣泛的專業解決方案組合的需求不斷增加。我們擁有領先的能力和難以復制的資產系統，我們將繼續提高生產力，釋放額外的能力來滿足需求。本季度，我們的運營取得了顯著改善。展望未來，我們正在穩步實現我們的長期目標。

Thank you. And now I'll turn the call back to the operator.

謝謝。現在我將把電話轉回給接線員。

(Operator Instructions). Today's first question comes from Gautam Khanna with TD Cowen.

（操作員說明）。今天的第一個問題來自 Gautam Khanna 和 TD Cowen。

I had a couple of questions. Tony, maybe I missed it in the opening remarks, but the backlog in the quarter, how did that trend maybe sequential or...

我有幾個問題。托尼，也許我在開場白中錯過了這一點，但是本季度的積壓，這種趨勢是如何連續或......

Yes. The backlog was up 4% sequentially, 38% year-over-year. That number is going to become less relevant, Gautam, because we've closed the order book a couple of times now already just to control the flow. So you're at a very strong level and anticipate it staying there for quite some time.

是的。積壓訂單環比增長 4%，同比增長 38%。高塔姆，這個數字將變得不那麼重要，因為我們已經關閉了訂單簿幾次，只是為了控制流量。所以你處於一個非常強的水平，並預計它會保持相當長的一段時間。

Okay. That's helpful. And then Tony, I hate to ask, but just do you have any directional commentary on the December quarter just given that you're kind of not -- you're bucking normal seasonal trends in the September quarter, but then you do have the maintenance dynamics. So I'm just curious what are you thinking for December directionally?

好的。這很有幫助。然後托尼，我不想問，但你對 12 月季度有任何方向性評論嗎？考慮到你在 9 月季度違背了正常的季節性趨勢，但你確實有維護動態。所以我只是好奇你對 12 月的方向有什麼想法？

Yes. Directionally, our goal is to -- the floor would be the first quarter that we just guided to. As you all know, historically, the second half is going to be a jump up for us, especially since we see significant ramps in productivity. Again, Gautam, what really drives the message here is that the demand is there. In many ways, that's locked in. So it's really all about our ability to continue to improve the productivity. So I would anticipate -- our goal is for another step up and then hitting the second half in a very good position.

是的。從方向上來說，我們的目標是——我們剛剛指導的第一季度。眾所周知，從歷史上看，下半年對我們來說將是一個飛躍，特別是因為我們看到生產力的顯著提升。高塔姆，再次強調，真正傳達的信息是需求的存在。在很多方面，這是鎖定的。因此，這實際上取決於我們繼續提高生產力的能力。所以我預計——我們的目標是再進步，然後在下半場處於一個非常好的位置。

And just following up on the productivity comments, what changed sequentially? What kind of explained the throughput increase? What happened in the productivity?

就生產力評論而言，接下來發生了什麼變化？吞吐量增加的原因是什麼？生產力發生了什麼？

Yes. Specifically in SAO, the team is doing a really nice job just eliminating bottlenecks, understanding the flow. Remember, the products that we're making now are quite different than what they were in 2019. A lot of people don't realize that. Customers have moved to different diameters. There's different specifications, different testing that's required now that changes the production flow quite a bit. That's a big challenge that they've been able to get on top of. And number two, it was just another quarter we've made some great hires, some great operators and they just got another quarter under their belt of learning that system, learning how to operate safely, and you see it come through in the numbers.

是的。特別是在 SAO 中，團隊在消除瓶頸、理解流程方面做得非常出色。請記住，我們現在生產的產品與 2019 年的產品有很大不同。很多人沒有意識到這一點。客戶已經轉向不同的直徑。現在需要不同的規格、不同的測試，這極大地改變了生產流程。這是他們能夠克服的巨大挑戰。第二，又過了一個季度，我們僱傭了一些優秀的員工，一些優秀的操作員，他們又花了一個季度的時間來學習該系統，學習如何安全操作，你可以在數字中看到它。

And lastly, on the Performance Engineering segment. It was a little bit below the expectation you laid out. Could you elaborate on what explain to that?

最後是性能工程部分。這比你提出的預期有點低。您能詳細說明一下對此的解釋嗎？

Yes. It's one of those items that we'd never speak about, Gautam, quite frankly, in the whole company, it wasn't material. But with PEP, the size of PEP it was, and that's just given a little misalign with the cost and the production flow. I see that coming back. That's not a market problem. And we see PEP, quite frankly, as we get through FY '24 could see a big improvement in their profitability. So no red flags, not an issue. It's disappointing, not happy with the way we paced our product flow for the quarter, but we'll get that back next quarter.

是的。這是我們永遠不會談論的項目之一，高塔姆，坦率地說，在整個公司中，這並不重要。但就 PEP 而言，PEP 的規模確實與成本和生產流程略有偏差。我看到它又回來了。這不是市場問題。坦率地說，我們認為 PEP 在 24 財年的盈利能力方面可能會出現大幅改善。所以沒有危險信號，不是問題。這令人失望，對我們本季度產品流程的節奏不滿意，但我們將在下個季度恢復這一點。

The next question comes from Josh Sullivan with the Benchmark Company.

下一個問題來自 Benchmark 公司的 Josh Sullivan。

Just wanted to follow up on that comment about closing the order book. When you close the order book, what's the gating factor to reopen it? Is it customers meeting your price? Or is it your ability to supply?

只是想跟進有關關閉訂單簿的評論。當您關閉訂單簿時，重新打開它的限制因素是什麼？客戶滿足你的價格嗎？還是你的供應能力？

Neither one, it's really about how far out those orders are, right? So it's about -- we'll open it back up once, for example, another quarter goes by and you're 12 months out in advance and say, "Okay, now it's time to open it up again." So it's really from a timing standpoint, not to get too far ahead of us to get orders too far out there.

兩者都不是，真正重要的是這些訂單離我們有多遠，對嗎？所以，我們會重新打開一次，例如，又一個季度過去了，你提前 12 個月說，“好吧，現在是時候再次打開它了。”因此，這實際上是從時間的角度來看，不要領先我們太遠，以獲得太遠的訂單。

Got it. And then just a follow-up on PEP as well. The dynamic that you're talking about, did it impact the volume of titanium wire that was supplied to the market? Or was it more related to a Carpenter cost issue?

知道了。然後也是 PEP 的後續行動。您所說的動態是否影響了市場上鈦絲的供應量？還是與木匠成本問題更相關？

Yes. Not to -- it didn't impact our sales. We got the sales out. It's just where you have the product in the process flow and how your cost accounting works. Again, this isn't the story, really, of the quarter. This is a small event. It just stands out because we have a smaller PEP segment, so not an issue here at all for us.

是的。不，這並沒有影響我們的銷售。我們把銷量拿出來了。這只是產品在流程中的位置以及成本核算的運作方式。再說一遍，這實際上不是本季度的故事。這是一個小事件。它之所以引人注目，是因為我們的 PEP 細分市場較小，所以對我們來說根本不是問題。

Got it. And then just as the high-value aerospace products take more and more of your capacity, can you talk about your non-aerospace markets. What's the ceiling on how far you can push that pricing mix or maybe historically, when aerospace was commanding significant share, how much of a mix shift could you get out of those non-aerospace markets?

知道了。然後，正如高價值的航空航天產品佔用了越來越多的產能一樣，您能談談你們的非航空航天市場嗎？您可以將定價組合推向多遠的上限是多少？或者從歷史上看，當航空航天佔據了相當大的份額時，您可以從這些非航空航天市場中獲得多少混合轉變？

Well, I'll answer it this way. We have some very attractive markets outside of aerospace. Medical being at the forefront. We're looking for ways to grow our medical business now, excellent margins, excellent customers. So we want to continue to grow that market. On the energy side, you have customers now competing to get time on the mill with aerospace customers, for example. So margins have gone up significantly in the energy market, Josh, different from what we saw back in 2018, 2019. So that's a market that we'll continue to stay active in, albeit at a much lower level than aerospace, for sure.

嗯，我就這樣回答吧。除了航空航天之外，我們還有一些非常有吸引力的市場。醫療走在前列。我們現在正在尋找發展醫療業務的方法、豐厚的利潤和優秀的客戶。所以我們希望繼續擴大這個市場。例如，在能源方面，客戶現在正在與航空航天客戶爭奪工廠的時間。因此，喬希，能源市場的利潤率大幅上升，與我們在 2018 年和 2019 年看到的不同。因此，我們將繼續保持活躍在這個市場，儘管其水平肯定比航空航天低得多。

And then when you look at our industrial market, those are very good submarkets for us as well. So we see very high-end valves and fittings in very unique and complex applications. So we're very happy that we have a broad portfolio. We think it insulates us from different macro changes. And the key is that we're always going to operate at the very, very top of the pyramid in very difficult environment, very unique applications. So we're looking across all of our markets and how we can move even higher up that supply chain.

然後，當你看看我們的工業市場時，這些對我們來說也是非常好的子市場。因此，我們在非常獨特和復雜的應用中看到了非常高端的閥門和配件。因此，我們很高興我們擁有廣泛的產品組合。我們認為它使我們免受不同宏觀變化的影響。關鍵是我們總是要在非常困難的環境、非常獨特的應用程序中在金字塔的最頂端進行操作。因此，我們正在審視所有市場，以及如何向供應鏈的更高層邁進。

And maybe just one last one on free cash flow. Just what do you think about the cadence throughout 2024? Any difference or just any thoughts there would be great.

也許只是關於自由現金流的最後一項。您對 2024 年全年的節奏有何看法？任何差異或只是任何想法都會很棒。

Yes. Well, we have the opportunity, as you well know, as we talked in the Investor Day to generate significant amount of cash. Now we're going to be prudent throughout the year because we want to make sure we serve our customers to the best of our ability, especially in this environment. And there could be times that in a quarter, the way a quarter ends that we'll build some inventory because we have the opportunity in our schedules. And we're going to do that.

是的。嗯，正如您所知，正如我們在投資者日所說的那樣，我們有機會產生大量現金。現在，我們將全年保持謹慎，因為我們希望確保盡最大努力為客戶提供服務，尤其是在這種環境下。有時，在一個季度，一個季度結束時，我們會建立一些庫存，因為我們的日程安排中有機會。我們將會這麼做。

So you could see some quarters that are down a bit because of that or just the opposite. So I mean, at the end of the day, we want to serve our customers the best we can. You know this better than most over that 3- to 4-year period, that's going to be significant cash generation. So I think that's the best way to look at it.

因此，您可能會看到一些季度因此而略有下降，或者恰恰相反。所以我的意思是，歸根結底，我們希望盡我們所能為客戶提供最好的服務。您比大多數人更清楚這一點，在 3 至 4 年內，這將產生大量現金。所以我認為這是最好的看待它的方式。

Our next question comes from Michael Leshock with KeyBanc Capital Markets.

我們的下一個問題來自 KeyBanc Capital Markets 的 Michael Leshock。

First, I wanted to ask on your 1Q guidance. I know that's typically a heavier planned maintenance quarter and weaker seasonality. And you called out planned maintenance as a priority. So I want to better understand the moving pieces that drive that flat to up EBIT guide. Is there going to be some sort of element of seasonality maybe on the volume side that's going to be offset by pricing mix, just given some of the planned maintenance that you're taking?

首先，我想問一下您的第一季度指導。我知道這通常是計劃維護季度較重且季節性較弱的情況。您將計劃維護列為優先事項。因此，我想更好地了解推動息稅前利潤指南持平上升的因素。考慮到您正在進行的一些計劃維護，銷量方面是否會存在某種季節性因素，這些因素可能會被定價組合所抵消？

Well, I think guiding the $61 million to $67 million answers your question, right? I mean, usually, the first quarter is down significantly because of seasonality. Now off of a very strong fourth quarter, we're saying it's flat to sequentially up. So that kind of takes off the plate any issues around seasonality.

嗯，我認為將 6100 萬美元引導至 6700 萬美元可以回答你的問題，對嗎？我的意思是，通常情況下，由於季節性因素，第一季度會大幅下降。現在，在經歷了非常強勁的第四季度之後，我們可以說它是持平到環比上升。這樣就解決了有關季節性的任何問題。

But is the seasonality on the volume side going to be similar to what you've seen in the past and the pricing and mix is going to offset that?

但是，銷量方面的季節性是否會與您過去看到的類似，並且定價和組合會抵消這種季節性嗎？

No. It's as I just said, I think this puts to rest any seasonality for the first quarter. You've got customers now that are wanting as much material as we can get them sooner. Of course, there's going to be some work stoppages or whatever from some of our customers as they do those, but the demand environment now just overshadows that. So I don't see that. I think the gating factor or the factor if you look over the next several quarters from results because demand is so robust that I can ship everything I produce. And many times, the difference between quarter-to-quarter is going to be when I strategically take preventive maintenance outages. That's going to be one of the driving factors as well as a continuing increase of productivity.

不，正如我剛才所說，我認為這將消除第一季度的季節性因素。現在，您的客戶需要盡可能多的材料，我們可以盡快提供。當然，我們的一些客戶在這樣做時會出現一些停工或其他情況，但現在的需求環境掩蓋了這一點。所以我不這麼認為。我認為，如果你從結果來看未來幾個季度，那麼這個因素就是門控因素，因為需求如此強勁，我可以運送我生產的所有產品。很多時候，季度與季度之間的差異在於我策略性地採取預防性維護中斷的時間。這將成為生產力持續提高的驅動因素之一。

Got it. And then on SAO, how do you see margins there progressing throughout fiscal '24. 4Q was a very strong quarter. And I know you have some price increases flowing through on a lag. So just wondering how much further do you see SAO margins progressing? And what needs to occur for that to happen?

知道了。然後在 SAO 上，您如何看待整個 24 財年利潤率的進展。第四季度是一個非常強勁的季度。我知道你們的價格上漲有些滯後。那麼我想知道您認為 SAO 的利潤率能進一步提高多少？為了實現這一點需要發生什麼？

Well, I think it was approximately a 5 percentage point increase quarter-over-quarter this time. Prior to the pandemic, SAO was in the 20% range. That's our target to get back there. That's -- we have line of sight to that. And where we're at right now, where the market is so strong, it really is about our ability to drive productivity, which the translation of that is higher margins. And we're running many pieces of our equipment above nameplate capacity, and we'll continue to find ways to get more and more out of the equipment in a very efficient manner. So that's what they do out on the manufacturing floor every day is trying to get more and more out of that system because we know we have very good customers that want it.

嗯，我認為這次環比增長了大約 5 個百分點。在大流行之前，SAO 處於 20% 的範圍內。這是我們回到那裡的目標。那是——我們已經看到了。我們現在所處的位置，市場如此強勁，這確實關係到我們提高生產力的能力，這意味著更高的利潤率。我們正在運行許多超出銘牌容量的設備，我們將繼續尋找方法以非常有效的方式從設備中獲得越來越多的收益。因此，他們每天在生產車間所做的就是試圖從該系統中獲得越來越多的成果，因為我們知道我們有非常好的客戶想要它。

And then lastly for me on jet engine sales. Could you provide that number for the quarter, either sequentially or year-over-year?

最後是關於噴氣發動機的銷售。您能否提供該季度的連續數字或同比數字？

Jet engines, up 92% year-over-year, 34% sequentially.

噴氣發動機同比增長 92%，環比增長 34%。

The next question is a follow-up from Gautam Khanna with TD Cowen.

下一個問題是 Gautam Khanna 和 TD Cowen 的後續問題。

Yes. Tony, you mentioned the medical demand being pretty strong. What are you seeing in terms of aerospace fastener demand, 787-related titanium and non-titanium feedstock?

是的。托尼，你提到醫療需求非常強勁。您對航空航天緊固件需求、787相關鈦和非鈦原料有何看法？

Both of those are increasing for us, Gautam. I can tell you that sequentially fastener submarket was up 31%; year-over-year, 135%.

對於我們來說，這兩者都在增加，高塔姆。我可以告訴你，緊固件子市場環比增長了31%；同比增長135%。

Okay. And you expect that to continue? I mean, at least at these absolute levels to continue to rise?

好的。您預計這種情況會持續下去嗎？我的意思是，至少在這些絕對水平上繼續上升？

Well, I think you'll look -- we'll start looking at sequential, right, because the year-over-year is going to fall off. In many cases that year-over-year were still compared to very low quarters, obviously, a year ago. So as those roll off, I think we'll focus on the sequential growth. But we know we're not at the top there as far as satisfying demand across many of the aerospace submarkets.

好吧，我想你會看到——我們會開始考慮順序，對吧，因為逐年下降。在許多情況下，同比仍與一年前的非常低的季度相比。因此，隨著這些的推出，我認為我們將重點關注連續增長。但我們知道，在滿足許多航空航天子市場的需求方面，我們並沒有處於領先地位。

And Tony, you've talked about pricing being more favorable and not quoting business out too far in advance as a result. Could you remind us on the engine side, how much of the business is under long-term contract? And maybe how much of that business turns over every year in terms of pricing? Just to give us a sense for what the potential tailwind would be in the outer years.

托尼，您談到定價更加優惠，因此不會提前太早報價。您能否提醒我們，在發動機方面，有多少業務是長期合同？就定價而言，該業務每年的營業額可能有多少？只是為了讓我們了解未來幾年的潛在推動力。

Yes, it's a difficult question. The contracts are spaced out differently. It seems like every year, 1.5 years, there is a significant one that comes up. I will tell you all of the primary customers, customers that you would consider the largest or the most strategic in the industry are under some form of long-term contract with us.

是的，這是一個很難的問題。合同的間隔時間不同。似乎每年，1.5 年，都會出現一個重要的事件。我會告訴您所有主要客戶，您認為行業中最大或最具戰略意義的客戶都與我們簽訂了某種形式的長期合同。

Okay. I guess -- and so given that, do you expect kind of pricing to continue to be a tailwind as we move out 12 months, 24 months, et cetera? Or have we had the reset and from here it's just kind of stay?

好的。我想，鑑於此，您是否預計在 12 個月、24 個月等之後，定價會繼續成為順風車？或者我們已經重置了，從這裡開始就只是停留？

Yes, there's still some over the next year that will reset. So there are still significant contracts to be negotiated over the next 12 months.

是的，明年仍然有一些會重置。因此，未來 12 個月仍有重要合同需要談判。

And can you give us an update on Athens. I know you view the production system across the three major facilities, but any sense for like utilization levels, how much -- where are you at Athens with respect to output and where do you expect to be over the next year?

您能給我們介紹一下雅典的最新情況嗎？我知道您查看了三個主要設施的生產系統，但是對於類似的利用率水平有什麼意義嗎？您在雅典的產出水平如何？您預計明年會達到什麼水平？

Yes, we're still ramping up Athens. Obviously, we run a subset of our aerospace business through there. The energy business that I spoke about earlier getting more attention there and we do a fair amount of conversion work through there as well. In terms of ramping up, I will tell you right now, we are still hiring people at Athens. So we still have a fair amount of people that we want to hire at Athens right now, maybe another 10% on the current workforce to be able to even push more volume out of that plant.

是的，我們仍在加強雅典的建設。顯然，我們的航空航天業務的一部分是通過那裡運營的。我之前談到的能源業務在那裡得到了更多關注，我們也通過那裡做了相當多的轉換工作。在擴大規模方面，我現在就告訴你，我們仍在雅典招聘人員。因此，我們現在仍然想在雅典僱傭相當多的員工，也許在現有勞動力的基礎上再招聘 10%，以便能夠從該工廠生產更多的產品。

And is it still kind of a lower-cost facility as you have been ramping it? Is it proving out to be that way?

正如你們一直在擴大的那樣，它仍然是一種成本較低的設施嗎？事實證明是這樣嗎？

Well, it's a lower-cost facility just because the flow is much more compact and much more efficient. It's a straight line. So that by itself gives us advantages over our other facilities. They share some of the same costs when it comes to energy and supplies and some of that. But certainly from a flow standpoint is more efficient.

嗯，這是一個成本較低的設施，只是因為流程更加緊湊且更加高效。這是一條直線。因此，這本身就給我們帶來了優於其他設施的優勢。在能源和供應等方面，它們有一些相同的成本。但從流量的角度來看，肯定更有效。

Okay. And just lastly on -- I know you're not a huge beneficiary of VSMPO being, kind of, displaced. But in the titanium wire, bar, coil world, have you seen any kind of inroads maybe with the medical customers where they had some traction switching over to Carpenter or...

好的。最後，我知道你並不是 VSMPO 流離失所的巨大受益者。但在鈦絲、鈦棒、鈦線圈領域，您是否看到醫療客戶取得了任何進展，他們有一些牽引力轉向卡彭特或……

We see a large increase in our demand in the titanium side regardless of what's going on with VSMPO. So we're driving market share mainly because of the solutions that we provide. Certainly, out there in the market, I mean we're not melters of titanium. So this whole VSMPO scenario really plays to areas -- to entities that melt titanium and certainly, you're seeing a shift there.

無論 VSMPO 發生什麼情況，我們都看到鈦方面的需求大幅增加。因此，我們主要通過提供的解決方案來推動市場份額。當然，在市場上，我的意思是我們不是鈦熔化商。因此，整個 VSMPO 場景確實適用於熔化鈦的實體領域，當然，您會看到那裡的轉變。

Yes, but not so much on the downstream where they stood up a facility 7, 8 years ago.

是的，但在下游，他們七、八年前建立了一個設施，情況就不那麼嚴重了。

I'm not -- we're at sold-out levels, customers wanting more and it has nothing to do with VSMPO. It's just that we have a good product. The market is growing, and they're looking to Carpenter Technology to be that supplier.

我不是——我們已經賣完了，顧客還想要更多，這與 VSMPO 無關。只是我們有一個好的產品。市場正在增長，他們希望 Carpenter Technology 成為該供應商。

Last one for me. Just any update on soft magnetics and automotive penetration there? What you guys...

最後一張給我。關於軟磁和汽車滲透率有什麼更新嗎？你們什麼...

Yes, thanks. I appreciate the question. A lot of that gets lost because aerospace is so dynamic right now. But we're doing really well as far as filling up that new mill there in Reading. A lot of interest from the eVTOL crowd as these companies try to get FAA certification even quicker. So you're seeing a lot more activity there, and we're very happy with the pace there. Obviously, that's a little longer term than the current aerospace market we have today. But we feel it's important for us to always be involved in some of these other submarkets that will have significant growth maybe past the 12-month period that we're always looking at to continue to enhance our earnings going forward.

對了謝謝。我很欣賞這個問題。由於航空航天業現在如此充滿活力，其中很多都被遺失了。但就裝滿雷丁的新工廠而言，我們做得非常好。 eVTOL 人群對此非常感興趣，因為這些公司試圖更快地獲得 FAA 認證。所以你會看到那裡有更多的活動，我們對那裡的速度非常滿意。顯然，這比我們目前的航空航天市場要長一些。但我們認為，對我們來說，始終參與其中一些其他子市場很重要，這些子市場可能會在 12 個月之後出現顯著增長，我們一直在尋求繼續提高我們未來的收益。

The next question is a follow-up from Josh Sullivan with the Benchmark Company.

下一個問題是 Benchmark Company 的 Josh Sullivan 的後續問題。

I just wanted to follow up on that as well. So the consumer electronics demand you called out in the presentation, is that eVTOL? Or is that something else for the hot strip mill?

我也只是想跟進此事。那麼您在演示中提出的消費電子產品需求是 eVTOL 嗎？還是熱軋帶鋼軋機的其他用途？

Well, it's different, right? There's -- it's really on the electrification side. I just mentioned the eVTOL is one area. That's not a lot of volume in that area right now, as you well know because that's going to be muted until they get FAA certification. But that's one area that's very attractive for us going forward. In the more immediate mode, that's not having the same impact, obviously. And it's more on some of the traditional electrification areas that's driving that growth. And on the semiconductor side, it's still strong.

嗯，這是不同的，對吧？這確實是在電氣化方面。我剛才提到 eVTOL 是一個領域。正如您所知，目前該領域的業務量並不大，因為在他們獲得美國聯邦航空管理局 (FAA) 認證之前，這一業務量將會被抑制。但這是對我們未來非常有吸引力的領域。顯然，在更直接的模式下，這不會產生相同的影響。推動這種增長的更多是一些傳統的電氣化領域。而在半導體方面，它仍然很強勁。

And on the semiconductor side, I mean, some others have -- material providers have called that out as a softer market. So just curious the strength you're seeing there, is that on some of these new capital builds? Or just where in the semiconductor market are you seeing the strength?

在半導體方面，我的意思是，其他一些材料供應商稱其為市場疲軟。所以只是好奇你在那裡看到的力量，是在這些新的資本建設中嗎？或者您在半導體市場的哪些方面看到了優勢？

Yes. I've seen that. We've not experienced that at all. Remember, our product goes into manufacturing the equipment that then makes the semiconductor. So a very harsh environment, and that's where our product goes into. And we've not seen any softness in that area.

是的。我見過那個。我們根本沒有經歷過。請記住，我們的產品用於製造隨後製造半導體的設備。這是一個非常惡劣的環境，這就是我們的產品所處的環境。我們在該領域沒有看到任何疲軟。

At this time, I am showing no further questioners in the queue, and this does conclude our question-and-answer session. I would now like to turn the conference back over to John Huyette for any closing remarks.

此時，隊列中不再有提問者，我們的問答環節就此結束。現在我想將會議轉回約翰·休耶特（John Huyette）發表閉幕詞。

Thank you, operator, and thank you, everyone, for joining us today for our fiscal year 2023 4th quarter conference call. Have a great rest of your day.

謝謝運營商，也謝謝大家今天參加我們的 2023 財年第四季度電話會議。祝您度過愉快的一天。

The conference has now concluded. Thank you for attending today's presentation, and you may now disconnect.

會議現已結束。感謝您參加今天的演示，您現在可以斷開連接了。