信達思 (CTAS) 2026 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Good day, everyone, and welcome to the Cintas Corporation announces fiscal 2026 first-quarter results conference call. Today's call is being recorded. At this time, I would like to turn the call over to Mr. Jared Mattingley, Vice President, Treasurer, and Investor Relations. Please go ahead, sir.

大家好，歡迎參加辛塔斯公司宣布2026財年第一季業績電話會議。今天的通話正在錄音。現在，我想將電話轉給副​​總裁、財務主管和投資者關係部 Jared Mattingley 先生。先生，請繼續。

Thank you, Ross. Thank you for joining us. With me are Todd Schneider, President and Chief Executive Officer; Jim Rozakis, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer; and Scott Garula, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. We will discuss our fiscal 2026 first-quarter results. After our commentary, we will open the call to questions from analysts. The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 provides a safe harbor from civil litigation for forward-looking statements.

謝謝你，羅斯。感謝您加入我們。與我一起的還有總裁兼執行長 Todd Schneider、執行副總裁兼營運長吉姆‧羅扎基斯 (Jim Rozakis) 和執行副總裁兼財務長 Scott Garula。我們將討論 2026 財年第一季的業績。在我們的評論之後，我們將開始回答分析師的問題。1995 年《私人證券訴訟改革法案》為前瞻性聲明提供了避免民事訴訟的安全港。

This conference call contains forward-looking statements that reflect the company's current views as to future events and financial performance. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those we may discuss. I refer you to the discussion on these points contained in our most recent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. I'll now turn the call over to Todd.

本次電話會議包含前瞻性陳述，反映了公司對未來事件和財務表現的當前看法。這些前瞻性陳述受風險和不確定性的影響，可能導致實際結果與我們討論的結果有重大差異。我請您參閱我們最近向美國證券交易委員會提交的文件中關於這些問題的討論。我現在將電話轉給托德。

Thank you, Jared. We are pleased with our start to fiscal-year 2026, reflecting the strength of our business model and the dedication of our employee partners. Our first-quarter performance is a testament to the strength of our value proposition. First quarter total revenue grew 8.7% to $2.72 billion. The organic growth rate, which adjusts for the impacts of acquisitions and foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations, was 7.8%. This is right where we like to be. Each of our three route-based businesses had strong revenue growth in the quarter. Gross margin as a percent of revenue was 50.3%, a 20-basis-point increase over the prior year. Operating income grew to $617.9 million, an increase of 10.1% over the prior year. Diluted EPS of $1.20 grew 9.1% over the prior year.

謝謝你，賈里德。我們對 2026 財年的開始感到滿意，這反映了我們商業模式的實力和員工合作夥伴的奉獻精神。我們第一季的業績證明了我們的價值主張的強大。第一季總營收成長8.7%，達到27.2億美元。經調整收購和外匯匯率波動的影響後，有機成長率為 7.8%。這正是我們想要的。本季度，我們三項基於航線的業務均實現了強勁的收入成長。毛利率佔收入的百分比為 50.3%，比前一年增加 20 個基點。營業收入成長至 6.179 億美元，比上年增長 10.1%。稀釋每股收益為 1.20 美元，較上年增長 9.1%。

Our culture continues to be our greatest competitive advantage. We've shown an ability throughout the years to perform well in a variety of macroeconomic environments. Our ongoing investments continue to help drive revenue growth and expand margins. These investments include technology to make it easier for our employee partners to do their jobs, whether that is growing the business or making us more efficient.

我們的文化仍然是我們最大的競爭優勢。多年來，我們展現了在各種宏觀經濟環境中表現良好的能力。我們持續的投資將繼續幫助推動收入成長和利潤擴大。這些投資包括技術，使我們的員工合作夥伴更輕鬆地完成工作，無論是發展業務還是提高我們的效率。

Reflecting our strong first-quarter performance, we are raising our fiscal 2026 financial guidance. We expect our revenue to be in the range of $11.06 billion to $11.18 billion, a total growth rate of 7% to 8.1%. We expect diluted EPS to be in the range of $4.74 to $4.86, a growth rate of 7.7% to 10.5%. With that, I'll turn it over to Jim to discuss the details of our first-quarter results.

鑑於我們第一季的強勁表現，我們提高了 2026 財年的財務預期。我們預計我們的收入將在 110.6 億美元至 111.8 億美元之間，總成長率為 7% 至 8.1%。我們預計稀釋每股收益將在 4.74 美元至 4.86 美元之間，成長率為 7.7% 至 10.5%。接下來，我將把時間交給吉姆來討論我們第一季業績的細節。

Thanks, Todd. I want to begin by discussing our strong revenue performance. Our employee partners continue to perform at a high level and demonstrate that our value proposition resonates with all types of customers. We are seeing great success in converting no programmers, selling additional products and services to existing customers as well as retaining our value to customers. Let me provide an example. Recently, there was a department of transportation located in Northwest that was to do-it-yourselfer or what we refer to as a no-programmer.

謝謝，托德。首先我想討論一下我們強勁的營收表現。我們的員工合作夥伴繼續保持高水準的表現，並證明我們的價值主張引起了所有類型客戶的共鳴。我們在轉變無程式設計師、向現有客戶銷售附加產品和服務以及保留對客戶的價值方面取得了巨大成功。讓我舉一個例子。最近，西北地區有一個交通部門，要求人們自己動手，或我們所說的無程式設計師。

The employees purchased the more they're on clothing, while the highway department provided the required high-visibility safety path to be worn over their personal governments. They reached on Express challenges with their Safety Best program, including the time and effort to missing the program budgeting difficulties and inconsistent compliance among workers.

員工們購買了更多的服裝，而公路部門則提供了所需的高可見度安全通道，供他們在個人政府部門穿著。他們透過「最佳安全」計劃遇到了特快挑戰，包括錯過計劃預算困難的時間和精力以及工人之間不一致的遵守情況。

Cintas was able to offer a solution with our recently expanded line of cohort high-visibility safety apparel. These high visibility garments were well received by the employees and have allowed the highway department to receive the benefits of the Cintas rental program by providing an exclusive cohort branded rental garment for daily use, Cintas' reliable service, a reduction in administrative time and effort, more predictive budgeting, the convenience of a laundry service, and improve safety compliance among their workers.

Cintas 能夠透過我們最近擴展的同類高能見度安全服裝系列提供解決方案。這些高可見度服裝受到了員工的一致好評，並讓公路部門享受到了辛塔斯租賃計劃的好處，即提供專屬的日常品牌租賃服裝、辛塔斯可靠的服務、減少管理時間和精力、更具預測性的預算、洗衣服務的便利性，並提高了工人的安全合規性。

This example illustrates how our value proposition continues to resonate with customers in many different verticals and throughout various economic cycles and to customers of all types, including no-programmers. Now turning to our business segments. Organic growth by business was 7.3% for Uniform Rental Facility Services. 14.1% for First Aid and Safety Services, 10.3% for Fire Protection Services and Uniform Direct Sale declined 9.2%. Gross margin percentage by business was 49.7% for Uniform Rental and Facility Services, 56.8% for First Data Safety Services, 48.9% for Fire Protection Services and 41.7% for Uniform Direct Sale. Gross margin of the Uniform Rental Facility Services segment increased 40 basis points from last year. This improvement is a result of strategic sourcing by the supply chain team and process improvement initiatives from our engineering and Black Belt teams.

這個例子說明了我們的價值主張如何持續引起不同垂直領域、不同經濟週期中各類顧客的共鳴，包括非程式設計師。現在轉向我們的業務部門。制服租賃設施服務業務有機成長率為 7.3%，急救和安全服務業務有機成長率為 14.1%，消防服務業務有機成長率為 10.3%，制服直銷業務有機成長率為 9.2%。各業務的毛利率百分比分別為：制服租賃和設施服務 49.7%、第一資料安全服務 56.8%、消防服務 48.9% 和製服直銷 41.7%。制服租賃設施服務部門的毛利率比去年增加了40個基點。這項改進是供應鏈團隊策略採購和工程及黑帶團隊流程改善措施的成果。

In addition, strong revenue growth is helping to generate leverage. Gross margin for the First Aid and Safety Services segment was 56.8%. We are pleased our investments to grow this business are generating strong double-digit revenue growth while maintaining attractive gross margin. Selling and administrative expenses as a percent of revenue was 27.5%, which was a 10-basis-point decrease from last year. With that, I'll turn it over to Scott to discuss our operating income, capital allocation performance. and 2026 guidance assumptions.

此外，強勁的營收成長有助於產生槓桿作用。急救和安全服務部門的毛利率為56.8%。我們很高興為發展這項業務而進行的投資正在產生強勁的兩位數收入成長，同時保持有吸引力的毛利率。銷售和管理費用佔收入的百分比為27.5%，比去年下降了10個基點。接下來，我將把主題交給史考特，討論我們的營業收入、資本配置表現和 2026 年指導假設。

Thanks, Jim, and good morning, everyone. First-quarter operating income was $617.9 million compared to $561 million last year. Operating income as a percentage of revenue was 22.7% in the first quarter of fiscal 2026 compared to 22.4% in last year's first quarter. This was an increase of 30 basis points. Our effective tax rate for the quarter was 17.6% compared to 15.8% last year. The tax rates in both quarters were impacted by certain discrete items, primarily the tax accounting impact for stock-based compensation. Net income for the first quarter was $491.1 million compared to $452 million last year. This year's first quarter diluted EPS was $1.20 compared to $1.10 last year, an increase of 9.1%.

謝謝，吉姆，大家早安。第一季營業收入為 6.179 億美元，去年同期為 5.61 億美元。2026 財年第一季，營業收入佔營收的百分比為 22.7%，而去年第一季為 22.4%。這增加了 30 個基點。本季我們的有效稅率為 17.6%，去年同期為 15.8%。兩季的稅率都受到某些離散項目的影響，主要是股票薪資的稅務會計影響。第一季淨收入為 4.911 億美元，去年同期為 4.52 億美元。今年第一季稀釋每股收益為 1.20 美元，去年同期為 1.10 美元，成長 9.1%。

Cash flow provided from operating activities was $414.5 million. Our strong cash generation allows us to have a balanced approach to capital allocation in order to create value for our shareholders. In the first quarter, we continued to invest in our businesses through capital expenditures of $102.0 million. Although not significant, we were able to make acquisitions in all three of our route-based businesses.

經營活動產生的現金流量為4.145億美元。我們強大的現金產生能力使我們能夠採取平衡的資本配置方式，從而為股東創造價值。第一季度，我們繼續透過 1.02 億美元的資本支出對我們的業務進行投資。儘管規模不大，但我們還是能夠對所有三項基於航線的業務進行收購。

We also returned capital to shareholders via our quarterly dividends and announced an increase of 15.4% in our quarterly cash dividend. This marks the 42nd consecutive year that we increased our dividend, meaning we have maintained that practice every year since going public in 1983. Also during the first quarter and as of September 23, we were active in the buyback program with repurchases of $347.4 million of Cintas shares.

我們也透過季度股利向股東返還資本，並宣布季度現金股利增加 15.4%。這是我們連續第 42 年增加股息，這意味著自 1983 年上市以來，我們每年都保持這種做法。此外，在第一季度，截至 9 月 23 日，我們積極參與回購計劃，回購了價值 3.474 億美元的 Cintas 股票。

Earlier, Todd provided our updated guidance for the remainder of the year. That guidance assumes the following expectations: please note both fiscal 2025 and fiscal 2026 have the same number of workdays for the year and by quarter. Our guidance does not assume any future acquisitions, our guidance assumes a constant foreign currency exchange rate, the fiscal 2026 net interest expense of approximately $97.0 million, a fiscal 2026 effective tax rate of 20.0%, which is the same compared to our fiscal 2025. And finally, our guide does not include any future share buybacks or significant economic disruptions or downturns.

此前，托德提供了我們今年剩餘時間的最新指導。該指南假設以下預期：請注意，2025 財年和 2026 財年的全年和季度工作日數相同。我們的指導不假設任何未來的收購，我們的指導假設外匯匯率不變，2026 財年的淨利息支出約為 9,700 萬美元，2026 財年有效稅率為 20.0%，與我們的 2025 財年相同。最後，我們的指南不包括任何未來的股票回購或重大的經濟混亂或衰退。

With that, I'll turn it back to Todd for some closing remarks.

說完這些，我將把話題轉回給托德，讓他做一些結束語。

Thank you, Scott. Looking ahead to the remainder of fiscal 2026, our outlook reflects continued confidence in our strategy and in the value we provide by helping customers meet their image, safety, cleanliness, and compliance needs. We remain committed to delivering exceptional customer experiences and making the investments necessary to sustain growth for fiscal 2026 and well into the future. As always, I want to express my appreciation to our employee partners for their dedication to Cintas and our customers. Our culture remains our strongest competitive advantage. I'll now turn it back over to Jared.

謝謝你，斯科特。展望 2026 財年剩餘時間，我們的前景反映出我們對我們的策略以及透過幫助客戶滿足其形象、安全、清潔和合規需求所提供的價值的持續信心。我們將繼續致力於提供卓越的客戶體驗，並進行必要的投資，以維持 2026 財年及未來的成長。像往常一樣，我要向我們的員工合作夥伴對辛塔斯和客戶的奉獻表示感謝。我們的文化仍然是我們最強大的競爭優勢。現在我將把發言權交還給賈里德。

Thanks, Todd. That concludes our prepared remarks. Now we are happy to answer questions from the analysts. Please ask just one question and a single follow-up if needed. Thank you.

謝謝，托德。我們的準備好的演講到此結束。現在我們很高興回答分析師的提問。如果需要，請只問一個問題並進行一次跟進。謝謝。

(Operator Instructions) Manav Patnaik, Barclays Capital.

（操作員指示）巴克萊資本的 Manav Patnaik。

I just had a question. The highway example, I guess, you gave in converting from no-programmer to your customer was very helpful. In the context of more budget pressures if the macro weakens, I was hoping you could give us some historical anecdotal examples maybe. I think that's a positive for you guys in terms of accelerating the pace of converting no-programmers to your clients?

我只是想問個問題。我想，您給出的高速公路範例對於從非程式設計師轉變為客戶非常有幫助。如果宏觀經濟疲軟，預算壓力就會加大，我希望您能給我們舉一些歷史上的軼事例子。我認為這對你們來說是一個積極的方面，因為它可以加快將非程式設計師轉變為客戶的速度？

Good morning, Manav. I think, we've demonstrated that we can grow in many ways. And certainly, in environments where people are under more pressure then we help customers in those circumstances to free up cash flow, we help them to -- for budgetary purposes, give them back more time. And if you think about an environment where in Jim's example, where the customer was struggling to manage the program.

早安，馬納夫。我認為，我們已經證明我們可以在很多方面實現成長。當然，在人們承受更大壓力的環境中，我們會幫助客戶釋放現金流，出於預算目的，我們會幫助他們，給他們更多的時間。如果你想像吉姆所舉的例子中的環境，客戶正在努力管理程序。

This frees them up and frees them up to focus on other areas. We like to talk about when you outsource to us, it allows our customers to then focus on their customers, gives them back time, gives them back certain times to save them money. Certainly smooth out budgeting and cash flow. So we've demonstrated we have the ability to do that. And we're able -- we're confident we're able to continue to convert no-programmers or the do-it-yourselfers over. And we've been doing that for many years, and we'll continue to do that as well.

這讓他們得以解放出來，專注於其他領域。我們喜歡談論當您將業務外包給我們時，它可以讓我們的客戶專注於他們的客戶，給他們時間，給他們一定的時間來節省他們的錢。當然，預算和現金流也會更順暢。因此，我們已經證明我們有能力做到這一點。而且我們有能力——我們有信心我們能夠繼續轉變非程式設計師或 DIY 愛好者。我們已經這樣做了很多年，我們也會繼續這樣做。

Got it. And just as a follow-up, on the fire side, the decline in gross margins, I'm guessing, is that because the SAP implementation is in full swing now? Or just any updates on that, please?

知道了。順便問一下，從火力來看，毛利率的下降，我猜是不是因為 SAP 實施現在全面展開？或者只是有關於此的任何更新嗎？

Yes. Certainly, we're busy working on SAP for our fire business and there are additional costs that come along with that. But we're quite bullish on that business and we're investing for the future in that business. And that includes all kinds of different investments with bench strength operational capacity technologies around that, not just SAP but other items. So that -- as we expand that business, we're going to continue to make investments. And those investments are smart and important for us to be successful, not just in the near term but in the long term as well.

是的。當然，我們正忙於為消防業務開發 SAP，這會產生額外的成本。但我們對該業務非常看好，並且正在為該業務的未來進行投資。這包括各種不同的投資以及圍繞其的基準強度營運能力技術，不僅僅是 SAP，還有其他項目。因此，隨著我們業務的擴大，我們將繼續進行投資。這些投資是明智且重要的，不僅在短期內，而且在長期內，對我們的成功至關重要。

Got it. Thank you.

知道了。謝謝。

George Tong, Goldman Sachs.

高盛的喬治通 (George Tong)。

Can you provide an update on the overall selling environment, including client budget trends and sales cycles?

您能否提供有關整體銷售環境的最新情況，包括客戶預算趨勢和銷售週期？

Good morning, George, as far as customer behavior, we really -- there's nothing specific to call out. I wouldn't say there's any changes to sales cycles, nothing like that. It is -- we're certainly operating in a, I'll call it, a somewhat uncertain environment. But right now -- but despite that uncertainty, the value proposition that we provide continues to resonate and can, as I referred to earlier, can even improve during uncertain periods.

早安，喬治，就客戶行為而言，我們真的——沒有什麼特別需要指出的。我不會說銷售週期有任何變化，根本不是那樣。是的——我們確實處於一種，我稱之為，有點不確定的環境。但現在——儘管存在不確定性，我們提供的價值主張仍然引起共鳴，並且正如我之前提到的，甚至可以在不確定的時期得到改善。

The outsourcing can improve and steady the cash flow that I talked about. But we continue to sell good new business. We like that very much. Retention rates are still at very attractive levels. And the customer base that you asked about was steady. If anything, I would say, improved slightly during the quarter.

外包可以改善和穩定我所說的現金流。但我們繼續銷售優質的新業務。我們非常喜歡這個。保留率仍然處於非常有吸引力的水平。您所詢問的客戶群是穩定的。如果有什麼變化的話，我想說的是，本季略有改善。

Got it. That's helpful. And then you increased revenue guidance as well as your EPS guidance. Can you elaborate on parts of the business that outperformed your initial expectations to drive this increase in the outlook?

知道了。這很有幫助。然後您提高了收入預期以及每股收益預期。您能否詳細說明哪些業務表現超出了您最初的預期，從而推動了前景的成長？

Great question, George. Thank you for that. The guide first off is right where we like to be. We're performing really well, and we like the momentum we have in the business. I'd just like to point out the implied growth in Qs 2 through 4 is higher than the opening guide at all points within the range. And we like the range that we're in, especially with this, as I mentioned, somewhat uncertain environment. But our three route-based businesses are all performing very well and we like the momentum we have in each of those. And we're encouraged by that momentum. And again, our value proposition is continuing to resonate and has in all kinds of environments, and it's showing a strength in the current operating environment.

喬治，問得好。謝謝你。首先，指南正好位於我們想要的位置。我們的表現非常好，我們喜歡我們在業務中擁有的發展勢頭。我只是想指出，第 2 至第 4 季的隱含成長高於範圍內所有點的開盤指南。我們喜歡我們所處的範圍，特別是像我提到的那樣，在這個有點不確定的環境中。但我們的三條航線業務都表現良好，我們對每條航線的勢頭感到滿意。這種勢頭令我們感到鼓舞。而且，我們的價值主張在各種環境中繼續產生共鳴，並在當前的營運環境中顯示出優勢。

Tim Mulrooney, William Blair.

提姆·穆魯尼、威廉·布萊爾。

This is Luke McFadden on for Tim Mulrooney. So we've seen growth in on-farm payrolls decelerate somewhat meaningfully over the last few months. I'm curious if this showed up at all in net wearer levels across your rental business during the quarter.

這是盧克·麥克法登 (Luke McFadden)，代替蒂姆·穆爾羅尼 (Tim Mulrooney因此，我們看到過去幾個月農場就業人數的成長明顯放緩。我很好奇，這是否體現在了本季整個租賃業務的淨配戴者水準。

Yes, Luke, thanks for the question. Certainly, when we've seen that -- we're reading the same information that you're reading about the employment levels. But our team continues to execute at a very high level. I mentioned the uncertainty environment can create opportunities for us. And we've demonstrated that we can grow in excess of jobs growth in GDP. So we would way rather swim downstream and have jobs be incredibly abundant, but we've demonstrated that we can win in many ways. Certainly, converting over no-programmers is a very important component of our growth. selling additional products and services into our existing customers.

是的，盧克，謝謝你的提問。當然，當我們看到這一點時——我們正在閱讀有關就業水平的與您閱讀的相同的信息。但我們的團隊繼續保持非常高的執行力。我提到不確定性環境可以為我們創造機會。我們已經證明，我們的 GDP 成長可以超過就業成長。因此，我們寧願順流而下，讓工作機會變得異常豐富，但我們已經證明，我們可以在很多方面取得勝利。當然，吸引非程式設計師是我們成長的一個非常重要的組成部分，向現有客戶銷售以外的產品和服務。

I mentioned we have -- our retention levels are really good. And we do take business from the competition, all that, although that's not our major focus. M&A has been important to us over the past few quarters, and we can talk about that more, but we like the pipeline there, and pricing is included as well. But we have the ability to grow. And we'd love employment to pick up dramatically, but we're not counting on that, and we're going to continue to run our business and grow it successfully. Sure, we'd love for it to be easier, but it's -- we're doing it in an impressive manner.

我提到過——我們的保留水準非常好。我們確實從競爭對手那裡搶走了業務，儘管這不是我們的主要關注點。在過去的幾個季度中，併購對我們來說非常重要，我們可以更多地談論這一點，但我們喜歡那裡的管道，其中也包括定價。但我們有能力成長。我們希望就業率大幅上升，但我們並不指望這一點，我們將繼續經營我們的業務並使其成功發展。當然，我們希望它變得更容易，但是——我們正在以一種令人印象深刻的方式做到這一點。

Really helpful. And if I can just build off of that, I heard the comment earlier about strength just in terms of demand actually growing through the quarter. Could you perhaps just elaborate on that a little bit and maybe talk about just demand trends through the first few weeks of the second quarter here?

真的很有幫助。如果我能以此為基礎，我之前聽過關於本季度需求實際上增長強勁的評論。能否稍微詳細說明一下，並談談第二季前幾週的需求趨勢？

Yes. Nothing really, I would say different in the start of the quarter compared to the results that we're posting. But you see that our rental business is performing well. And you referred to earlier, the employment levels. Again, as I mentioned, we'd like to swim downstream with employment. But we're continuing to grow our business at attractive levels without that. But nothing -- no real changes in the demand from Q1 to 2 so far. But we like the momentum we have in each of our route-based businesses were into, as you saw, is performing well, but they're all performing well. So we're encouraged by that.

是的。沒什麼，我想說的是，與我們發布的結果相比，本季初的情況有所不同。但你看我們的租賃業務表現良好。您之前提到了就業水準。再次，正如我所提到的，我們希望透過就業順流而下。但即使沒有這些，我們的業務仍會繼續以有吸引力的水平成長。但到目前為止，第一季到第二季的需求並沒有任何實際變化。但我們喜歡我們在每個航線業務中所擁有的勢頭，正如您所見，它們都表現良好。所以我們對此感到鼓舞。

Andrew Steinerman, JPMorgan.

摩根大通的安德魯·斯坦納曼。

This is Alex Hess on for Andrew. I wanted to start with the comment about -- to refocus on the customer base being steady or if anything, improving slightly. When you guys make that call out, like what are you actually looking to make that? Is that anecdotal? Is that based on any piece of data you look at? Like we all see the jobs number. We all see the macro data -- just trying to understand exactly what you're trying to point investors to when you make that call out? And then I'll ask my follow-up.

我是 Alex Hess，代替 Andrew 發言。我想先評論一下——重新關注客戶群的穩定，或者如果有的話，略有改善。當你們發出這個呼籲時，你們實際上想要做什麼？這是軼事嗎？這是基於您所看到的任何數據嗎？就像我們都看到的就業人數一樣。我們都看到了宏觀數據——只是想了解一下，當您發出這樣的呼籲時，您到底想向投資者指出什麼？然後我會問後續情況。

Yes. Thank you, Alex. Sir, [wears] matter to us for sure, but we have many ways to grow our business. And I think it would probably be appropriate. Jim, if you have an example to maybe share on how we go about doing that?

是的。謝謝你，亞歷克斯。先生，[穿著]對我們來說當然很重要，但我們有很多方法可以發展我們的業務。我認為這可能是合適的。吉姆，你能舉個例子來說明我們是如何做到這一點的嗎？

Yes, sure. I think that we could talk a little bit about our strategy to expand our relationship with our current customers. We brought that up a little bit on the last call. And effectively, we said we don't really matter. It doesn't matter to us which business line we start with the customer. Our objective is to get a business line into a customer to create an exceptional customer experience to build a relationship to become a trusted resource for that customer. So how does that play out over time? Well, we have, again, an example here of a customer out in the Southwest. That was a manufacturing customer. I've been a long-term customer of ours, utilizing our uniform mental program.

是的，當然。我認為我們可以稍微談談我們擴大與現有客戶關係的策略。我們在上次通話中稍微提到了這一點。實際上，我們說我們並不重要。對我們來說，從哪條業務線開始服務客戶並不重要。我們的目標是將業務線延伸到客戶，創造卓越的客戶體驗，建立關係，成為客戶值得信賴的資源。那麼隨著時間的推移，情況又會如何發展呢？好吧，讓我們再舉一個西南地區客戶的例子。那是一位製造業客戶。我一直是我們的長期客戶，使用我們統一的思維方案。

They are going through an exciting time, and they're expanding their business. opening on online and opening another building. In during those conversations, our folks are actively involved in conversations with them on a day to day. And again, trusted resource, they asked about setting up the garments, the rental program, uniform rental program in the new building. And during those conversations, the customer expressed how busy they were. It's an exciting time, but obviously a lot on their plate, and they needed some help and ask what other items we can help out with. And we were able to go ahead and add facility service line to the new building.

他們正在經歷一段激動人心的時期，並且正在擴展業務。在網路上開幕並開設另一棟建築。在這些對話中，我們的員工每天都會積極地與他們進行對話。再次，值得信賴的資源，他們詢問有關在新大樓中設置服裝、租賃計劃、制服租賃計劃的情況。在談話過程中，顧客表達了他們有多忙。這是一個激動人心的時刻，但顯然他們有很多事情要做，他們需要一些幫助，並詢問我們還能提供哪些幫助。我們能夠繼續為新大樓添加設施服務線。

We're able to add our first at safety services to a new building and fire protection services to the new building. So this is an example of us being in the door, having a great relationship, the customer looking at us as a trusted resource and in a time of a lot of work and being a little bit slightly overwhelmed with the new assignment. They look at us to say how can you help? And we were able to go in and provide all those resources, add value to the relationship. And in many cases, this is things that we're going to have to spend money on anyhow. So just diverting that spend to us because we've established ourselves as a trusted resource.

我們能夠在新建築中首次添加安全服務，並在新建築中增加消防服務。這就是一個例子，我們剛進門，與客戶建立了良好的關係，客戶將我們視為值得信賴的資源，在工作繁忙且對新任務感到有點不知所措的時候。他們看著我們問你能幫上什麼忙嗎？我們能夠介入並提供所有這些資源，為這種關係增添價值。在很多情況下，無論如何我們都必須花錢買這些東西。因此，只需將這些支出轉移給我們，因為我們已經將自己確立為值得信賴的資源。

Understood. Appreciate that. And then just thinking about positioning for -- everybody's got peak job fears right now, but maybe the other side of that if we are at something like trough unemployment or trough nonfarm payroll growth and that reaccelerates, maybe helping us think to where you guys can go from here? And then if you don't mind, I'll throw one quick more. Any comments on sort of the inventory and uniforms and service injection that we saw this quarter?

明白了。非常感謝。然後只是考慮定位——現在每個人都對就業市場達到頂峰感到擔憂，但另一方面，如果我們處於失業率低谷或非農就業增長低谷，並且這種情況再次加速，也許可以幫助我們思考你們接下來可以走向何方？如果你不介意的話，我會再快速投一次。對我們本季看到的庫存、制服和服務注入有何評論？

Yes. So Alex, regarding employment, we're not in the prediction and business of what will happen with there. I would delight us. If our customers all we're hiring a lot more people, but we're not forecasting for that. And then we're planning to grow our business in the -- I'll say, with the current environment. And our guide reflects I think attractive growth without the employment picture being real favorable. So yes, we'd love that. That would be super. Regarding the inventory items, Scott, do you want to take that?

是的。所以亞歷克斯，關於就業，我們無法預測未來會發生什麼事。我會讓我們高興。如果我們的客戶全部都是這樣，我們就會僱用更多的人，但我們不會對此進行預測。然後我們計劃在當前環境下發展我們的業務。我認為我們的指南反映出有吸引力的成長，但就業情況並不十分樂觀。是的，我們很樂意。那真是太棒了。關於庫存物品，史考特，你想拿走嗎？

Yes. Thanks, Todd. I would just answer that question that you've seen a nice steady uptick in growth in our rental business really over the last 4 quarters. We continue to see strong growth out of both our First Aid and Safety business as well as our Fire business. And when that happens, we've stated in the past that we're going to have a use of capital, and that would include the injection of garments for the Uniform Rental business. So I would say that's just reflective of the growth that you're seeing in all 3 of our route-based businesses.

是的。謝謝，托德。我只想回答這個問題，在過去的四個季度裡，您確實看到我們的租賃業務穩步成長。我們的急救和安全業務以及消防業務持續保持強勁成長。當這種情況發生時，我們過去曾表示，我們將使用資本，其中包括為制服租賃業務注入服裝。所以我想說這只是反映了我們所有三條航線業務的成長。

Joshua Chan, UBS.

瑞銀集團 Joshua Chan。

Great job growing through an HP environment I guess I'm wondering, as you look at the different verticals within your business, are you seeing customers behave differently in some of the more stressed verticals, recognizing that you can kind of grow through any of the environment, but just wondering if there's any subtle behavior change kind of by vertical?

在 HP 環境中成長得很好，我想知道，當您查看業務中的不同垂直領域時，您是否看到客戶在某些壓力更大的垂直領域中的行為有所不同，認識到您可以在任何環境中成長，但只是想知道垂直領域是否存在任何微妙的行為變化？

Josh, good question. We're not seeing really any change in behavior in each of the verticals. Again, we think we've chosen those verticals really well. They're all accretive to our growth. And just as a reminder, we don't just sell into them. We organize around them and spend an inordinate amount of time with those customers trying to help them run their business. So -- but I wouldn't speak to any real change in behavior there. As a reminder, it's health care is a great vertical for hospitality business as well. the education vertical and then the state and local governments. All are performing well and pretty consistently as well.

喬希，好問題。我們實際上並沒有看到每個垂直領域的行為有任何變化。再次強調，我們認為我們選擇這些垂直產業非常好。它們都有助於我們的成長。需要提醒的是，我們不只是向他們銷售產品。我們圍繞著他們進行組織，並花費大量時間與這些客戶在一起，試圖幫助他們開展業務。所以——但我不會談論那裡的行為有任何真正的改變。提醒一下，醫療保健對於酒店業來說也是一個很好的垂直領域，其次是教育垂直領域，然後是州和地方政府。所有產品都表現良好，並且相當穩定。

Great. And I noticed that on the EPS guidance, it's a little wider at this juncture of the year than it was last year at this time. Is there any color regarding that or kind of the thought process behind that?

偉大的。我注意到，就每股盈餘指引而言，今年此時的指引比去年同期的指引略寬。這背後有什麼色彩或思考過程嗎？

No, I wouldn't say, Josh, I wouldn't read anything into that. We like where our guide is. We like where our business is performing. And as we think about that, it is a -- we're in a position where the guide would explain to you that we're in a spot where we think our incrementals are attractive. We're able to grow the business nicely. It's right where we like to be, meaning we're performing really well and like the momentum the -- we've increased the guide at all points in the within the range. Q2 through four implied guide also increases at all points within the range. And then also the incrementals are right where we like them to be at that stated 25% to 35% range. And it also implies margin expansion within there as well. This range, Josh, allows us to make the investments that we need for the long term. And -- but being able to make those investments while improving margins at the exact same time, it's real strength of our business.

不，我不會這麼說，喬希，我不會對此做出任何解讀。我們喜歡我們的導遊所在的地方。我們對我們的業務表現感到滿意。當我們考慮這一點時，指南會向您解釋，我們處於我們認為增量具有吸引力的位置。我們的業務能夠順利發展。這正是我們想要的，這意味著我們的表現非常好，並且喜歡這種勢頭——我們已經增加了範圍內所有點的指導。Q2 透過四個隱含的指南也在範圍內的所有點上增加。而且增量也正好在我們希望的 25% 到 35% 的範圍內。這也意味著利潤率的擴大。喬希，這個範圍使我們能夠進行長期所需的投資。而且——能夠進行這些投資並同時提高利潤率，這是我們業務的真正優勢。

Jasper Bibb, Truist Securities.

賈斯柏·比布（Jasper Bibb），Truist Securities。

I joined a little bit late, so apologies if you already covered this, but I was just hoping you could update us on what you're seeing on the tariff-driven expense growth front at this point, and maybe how that's compared to your initial expectations for the year?

我加入得有點晚，所以如果您已經報道過這個問題，我很抱歉，但我只是希望您能告訴我們您目前在關稅驅動的費用增長方面看到的情況，以及這與您對今年的初步預期相比如何？

Jasper, thanks for joining the call, and that subject has not come up yet. So glad you asked. As you know, the situation around tariffs has been really dynamic, and we certainly aren't immune from any impact of higher costs as a result of tariffs. However, I'll say our global supply chain is a true competitive advantage for us. And our team really exemplifies our corporate culture. Our traits are positive discontent and competitive urgency, they fuel our process improvements and drive us, and frankly, to be more efficient. So we don't simply accept product costs are increasing and then pass along to our customers. That's not our culture, and that's not how we run our business. But we also have some other built-in advantages there. We've got, as you can imagine, significant purchasing power.

賈斯珀，感謝您參加電話會議，這個主題還沒有被提及。很高興你問了這個問題。如您所知，關稅情況一直非常動態，我們當然也無法免受關稅導致的成本上升的影響。然而，我想說我們的全球供應鏈對我們來說是一個真正的競爭優勢。我們的團隊真正體現了我們的企業文化。我們的特點是積極的不滿和競爭的迫切性，它們推動我們改進流程，坦白說，推動我們提高效率。因此，我們不會簡單地接受產品成本上漲，然後將其轉嫁給我們的客戶。這不是我們的文化，也不是我們經營業務的方式。但我們也有一些其他內在優勢。正如您所想像的，我們擁有強大的購買力。

We also have great geographic diversity. We also -- 90% plus of our products, I have two or more providers. All of this gives us optionality. When tariffs go across the board, they go up, the geographic diversity can give you some advantage, but not as much. But our -- what doesn't change is our drive for process improvement and our drive for more efficiencies so that we can extract those out of our organization. And I'd just like to remind you that our guide contemplates the current environment for tariffs as well.

我們的地理多樣性也十分豐富。我們的 90% 以上的產品都有兩個或更多供應商。所有這些都為我們提供了選擇權。當關稅全面上漲時，地理多樣性可以為你帶來一些優勢，但優勢不會那麼多。但是，不變的是我們對流程改進和提高效率的追求，以便我們可以將這些從我們的組織中提取出來。我只是想提醒您，我們的指南也考慮了當前的關稅環境。

Got it. And then curious about sales cycles for no-programmers. Has there been any change there so far this year and what you're seeing in customer behavior?

知道了。然後對非程式設計師的銷售週期感到好奇。今年到目前為止有什麼改變嗎？您看到客戶行為有什麼改變嗎？

No real change on the sales cycle for build no-programmers -- frankly in general, I'd say the sales cycle has remained pretty consistent, and we're continuing to invest for the future that we're prepared to be successful ongoing.

對於無需程式設計師的建構來說，銷售週期沒有真正的變化——坦白說，總的來說，我想說銷售週期保持相當一致，我們將繼續為未來投資，為持續取得成功做好準備。

Andrew Wittmann, RW Baird.

安德魯威特曼、RW 貝爾德。

Maybe, Scott, one for you. On the First Aid segment gross margins, they were down a decent amount year-over-year. And I was wondering if you could help us understand what either happened this quarter that caused them to be down or maybe in the prior year, if there was a comp issue just so we had a better understanding about the gross margins there in first aid.

也許，斯科特，有一個適合你。急救部門的毛利率較去年同期下降幅度較大。我想知道您是否可以幫助我們了解本季度發生了什麼導致他們業績下滑的事情，或者在去年是否存在補償問題，以便我們更好地了解急救領域的毛利率。

Yes, Andrew, thanks for the question. I'll go back to some comments that Todd mentioned. Nothing really to call out here. We continue to invest in all of our route-based businesses, specifically in both our First Aid and Fire business. I think you're seeing the benefits of those investments show up and the double-digit growth rates that we're enjoying in both our First Aid and Fire business. Jim, I don't know if you want to comment further on that first business.

是的，安德魯，謝謝你的提問。我將回顧托德提到的一些評論。這裡確實沒什麼好說的。我們將繼續投資所有基於路線的業務，特別是急救和消防業務。我想您已經看到了這些投資的收益以及我們在急救和消防業務中享有的兩位數的成長率。吉姆，我不知道您是否想對第一件事做進一步評論。

Andy, appreciate the question. And so our gross margin for data safety is actually flat sequentially. We did have a little bit of a challenging comp from Q1 of last fiscal year to this fiscal year. But we really love what our business is positioned, and we continue to make investments, specifically in areas like route capacity, leadership bench strength, technology, selling resources and managing trainees. So I would just call that more of a timing issue around the businesses and linear and we want to make the investments for the future, we really like the outlook of that business.

安迪，感謝您的提問。因此，我們的資料安全毛利率實際上是環比持平的。從上一財年第一季到本財年，我們確實遇到了一些挑戰。但我們確實熱愛我們業務的定位，我們將繼續進行投資，特別是在航線容量、領導層實力、技術、銷售資源和管理學員等領域。因此，我認為這更多的是圍繞業務和線性的時間問題，我們希望為未來進行投資，我們真的很喜歡該業務的前景。

Got it. So just to build on that then, Jim, do you think that fiscal '26 is a higher investment year in some of these things like route leadership, management trainees, technology than it was in 2025. Obviously, '25 margins was a big story for the year. They were so impressive, you way above the incrementals. And I know that tell me, this is kind of more like what you've talked about for the long term. But I'm just wondering like as you compare this year to last year in terms of the P&L investments that you're making, is this a higher year than last year? Is that part of the reason why we're seeing the margins be good, but not quite as good as last year in terms of the improvement year-over-year?

知道了。那麼，吉姆，在此基礎上，您是否認為 2026 財年在路線領導力、管理培訓生、技術等方面的投資比 2025 年更高？顯然，「25% 的利潤率」是今年的一件大事。他們真是令人印象深刻，遠遠超出了增量。我知道這更像是您所談論的長期問題。但我只是想知道，就您所做的損益投資而言，今年與去年相比，今年是否比去年更高？這是否是我們看到利潤率不錯，但比去年同期改善的原因之一？

Andy, I would more call out a little bit of timing, meaning there's investments that are made periodically. I think you saw us begin to invest a little heavier in the fourth quarter of last fiscal year. continuing to put on those selling resources and adding the rock capacity. So more of a timing issue. But yes, we are continuing to invest in that business, and we really like the outlook on it.

安迪，我更想強調一點時間因素，也就是定期進行投資。我想您已經看到我們在上一財年第四季開始加大投資，繼續投入銷售資源並增加岩石產能。所以更多的是一個時間問題。但是的，我們會繼續投資該業務，並且我們真的很看好它的前景。

Jason Haas, Wells Fargo.

傑森‧哈斯，富國銀行。

This is Jun Yi (inaudible) on for Jason Haas. Curious, are you seeing any change in the competitive environment? I know historically, most of your wins come from no programmers, but we're seeing a lot of your peers struggle in this environment with one of your peers laying off a big portion of their sales force recently. So curious if you see a growing opportunity to win share from your competitors?

我是 Jun Yi（聽不清楚），為 Jason Haas 播報。好奇的是，您是否看到競爭環境有任何變化？我知道，從歷史上看，你們的大多數勝利都源於沒有程式設計師，但我們看到很多同行在這種環境下苦苦掙扎，其中一位同行最近裁掉了很大一部分銷售人員。那麼，您是否好奇，您是否看到了從競爭對手手中奪取市場份額的越來越大的機會？

Yes. Thank you, Jun Yi, for the question. The overall market remains very competitive. Our retention rates are still very strong. The new business wins come, as you know, from -- mostly from no-programmers. More so than the competition, and we love that huge TAM of that unserved market that do-it-yourselfers or no-programmers. We will certainly take business from traditional competitors, but that's not really where our focus is, not where we focus our time and our efforts. We recognize that one of our particular competitors is working on their foundations. But again, it's not where our focus is. We see this huge TAM of opportunity with people that are do-it-yourselfers, the 16 million, 17 million businesses out there in the US and Canada. We're servicing a little over $1 million. There is a massive opportunity. So that's really where we spend our time to focus to help expand that market. And it's worked force quite well, and that's our plan for the future as well.

是的。謝謝君毅的提問。整體市場競爭仍十分激烈。我們的保留率仍然很高。如您所知，新業務的成功主要來自於非程式設計師。與競爭對手相比，我們更喜歡那個尚未服務的市場中龐大的 TAM，即 DIY 愛好者或非程式設計師。我們肯定會從傳統競爭對手那裡搶奪業務，但這並不是我們真正關注的重點，也不是我們集中時間和精力的地方。我們認識到我們的一個特定競爭對手正在致力於他們的基礎建設。但這不是我們的重點。我們看到，對於喜歡自己動手的人來說，這個巨大的潛在市場蘊藏著巨大的商機，美國和加拿大共有 1,600 萬到 1,700 萬家企業。我們的服務金額略高於 100 萬美元。這是一個巨大的機會。因此，我們確實將時間花在了幫助擴大該市場。而且它的效果非常好，這也是我們未來的計畫。

Great. And for my follow-up, can you talk about what's driving the softness in the operating margins for the -- all other segment.

偉大的。接下來，您能否談談導致所有其他部門的營業利潤率疲軟的原因？

Well, the all other segment, as you know, is the Fire and the Design Collective business. Our gross margin in the All Other is -- was up 10 bps sequentially, down 30 year-over-year. But we're investing appropriately in all of those businesses. And we like the returns that we're getting in our three route-based businesses specifically. And we're investing for the future because we see the opportunity that's out there. And so we're going to continue to, as Jim mentioned, invest in bench strength capacity. We're going to invest in leadership, management trainees, sales resources, all those. And we're doing that because we see the opportunity ahead Certainly, we do have some additional costs with SAP in the Fire business as we are still going through that process. And -- but those are -- again, are investments for the future. And we think the future is quite bright. So we're going to invest appropriately.

嗯，如你所知，所有其他部分都是 Fire 和 Design Collective 業務。我們所有其他業務的毛利率較上月上升 10 個基點，較去年同期下降 30 個基點。但我們對所有這些業務都進行了適當的投資。我們特別喜歡在三條航線業務中獲得的回報。我們正在為未來進行投資，因為我們看到了未來存在的機會。因此，正如吉姆所提到的，我們將繼續投資於板凳實力。我們將對領導力、管理培訓生、銷售資源等進行投資。我們這樣做是因為我們看到了未來的機會。當然，由於我們仍在經歷這個過程，因此在 SAP 的 Fire 業務中我們確實會產生一些額外成本。但這些又是對未來的投資。我們認為未來是十分光明的。所以我們將進行適當的投資。

Ashish Sabadra, RBC.

Ashish Sabadra，RBC。

Maybe just a quick one on the Uniform Direct sales. I know that can be pretty choppy quarter-to-quarter, but I was just wondering if you could talk more about some of the softness that we saw in the quarter, but also any comments on the trend going forward.

也許只是統一直銷的簡單介紹。我知道季度與季度之間可能會有相當大的波動，但我只是想知道您是否可以更多地談論我們在本季度看到的一些疲軟現象，以及對未來趨勢的任何評論。

Yes. Thank you, Ashish. The Uniform Direct Sale business is a strategic business for us. not so much in the size of it because it's only 2.6% of our revenue but in the nature of those customers. meaning we sell all of our route-based businesses into those customers. An example would be if you think about a hotel, the front of the house with the front desk, the belt top, the concierge, if you're doing business with them in the front of the house, that can lead to the back of the house opportunities which tend to be in rental, which would be housekeeping, maintenance culinary. So this is a strategic business for us. And it allows us, again, not just sell rental, but to sell first aid into those customers and to sell fire as well. So very important. Certainly, the farm direct cell business can be a bit lumpy with rollouts of large programs. But we like the business, and it's a strategic business for us.

是的。謝謝你，阿希什。統一直銷業務對我們來說是一項策略性業務。這並不是因為它的規模，因為它只占我們收入的 2.6%，而是因為這些客戶的性質。這意味著我們將所有基於路線的業務賣給這些客戶。舉個例子，如果你考慮一家酒店，房子的前面有前台、腰帶頂部、禮賓部，如果你在房子前面與他們做生意，那麼這可能會帶來房子後面的機會，這些機會往往是租賃，包括客房服務、維護和烹飪。所以這對我們來說是一項策略性業務。而且，它使我們不僅可以銷售租賃產品，還可以向這些客戶銷售急救產品和消防產品。所以非常重要。當然，隨著大型專案的推出，農場直銷細胞業務可能會有點不順暢。但我們喜歡這項業務，它對我們來說是一項策略性業務。

That's very helpful information. Maybe just switching gears on M&A. Wondering if you could talk about the M&A pipeline, not just for more tuck-in deals, but also larger deals. And would you consider diversifying into newer areas? Any color on that front?

這是非常有用的信息。也許只是在併購方面轉變思路。想知道您是否可以談論併購管道，不僅僅是更多的小額交易，還有更大的交易。您是否會考慮進軍新領域？前面有顏色嗎？

Yes. Thanks for the question, Ashish. First off, M&A is important to us. We have I think, demonstrated that we can leverage our balance sheet to buy really good companies. And when we do that, we either get a really good capacity or we get really good synergies, sometimes a combination. So M&A is important to us. We didn't have as much M&A in Q1 as -- so what we have over the last 12 months. But the funnel looks good. We like where we are. and it will be an important component for us.

是的。謝謝你的提問，Ashish。首先，併購對我們來說很重要。我認為，我們已經證明我們可以利用我們的資產負債表來收購真正優秀的公司。當我們這樣做時，我們要么獲得非常好的產能，要么獲得非常好的協同效應，有時甚至是兩者的結合。因此併購對我們很重要。我們第一季的併購交易量不如過去 12 個月那麼多。但漏斗看起來不錯。我們喜歡我們所處的位置。它將成為我們的重要組成部分。

That being said, it's tough to predict those items. And because when a seller wants to sell, it's up to them, and we just want to make sure we're there and have great relationships and do exactly what we say we'll do so that we can make sure that the pipeline looks attractive. As far as getting outside of our current businesses, we're always looking at those opportunities. But the great news is we don't have to. The opportunity that we have in our current business is immense. So we're primarily focused there. But we're certainly always evaluating opportunities.

話雖如此，預測這些項目仍然很困難。因為當賣家想要出售時，這取決於他們，我們只是想確保我們在那裡，建立良好的關係，並按照我們所說的去做，這樣我們就可以確保管道看起來有吸引力。至於拓展現有業務，我們一直在尋找機會。但好消息是我們不需要這麼做。我們目前的業務中擁有巨大的機會。所以我們主要集中在那裡。但我們當然一直在評估機會。

Faiza Alwy, Deutsche Bank.

德意志銀行的 Faiza Alwy。

Yes. I wanted to ask about the First Aid business again. And I'm curious, as you're making these investments sort of how your outlook for top line growth here has maybe changed or evolved? Because you've talked about you're seeing the opportunity? I know historically, we've talked about this business as a maybe low double-digit grower. So curious how you think about top line growth moving forward over the next 3 to 5 years?

是的。我想再次詢問有關急救業務的問題。我很好奇，當您進行這些投資時，您對這裡的收入成長前景可能發生了怎樣的變化或演變？因為您說過您看到了機會？我知道，從歷史上看，我們曾討論過這個業務，認為它可能是低兩位數的成長業務。那麼好奇您對未來 3 到 5 年的營收成長有何看法？

Thanks for the question. We are making investments in that business, and we think we're doing so smartly. We do see it as a double digit -- low double-digit growth business, and it's performed really well over the last year. And we would expect that low double-digit number to be a good number for us. We are encouraged by how the business is performing, and we are going to continue to invest there, because the future is quite attractive for us. So we think about investments in the manner of Well, we want to make sure we're positioned for the long term. And so we're making those investments so that we can provide great customer service and position our employee partners to be highly successful. And doing so while increasing operating margins is, again, we think a real strength of our business. But we're investing in all of them of our route-based businesses in the First Aid is performing very attractively, again, but I would think about it as a low double-digit growth business for us moving forward.

謝謝你的提問。我們正在對該業務進行投資，我們認為我們的做法是明智的。我們確實認為這是一個兩位數——低兩位數成長的業務，而且它在去年的表現非常好。我們預期這個較低的兩位數對我們來說是一個好數字。我們對業務表現感到鼓舞，我們將繼續在那裡投資，因為未來對我們來說相當有吸引力。因此，我們以這樣的方式考慮投資，我們希望確保我們能夠做好長期投資的準備。因此，我們進行這些投資是為了能夠提供優質的客戶服務，並讓我們的員工合作夥伴獲得巨大的成功。我們認為，這樣做的同時提高營業利潤率是我們業務的真正優勢。但是，我們對所有基於路線的業務都進行了投資，急救業務的表現非常有吸引力，但我認為這對於我們未來的發展來說是一個低兩位數增長的業務。

Understood. And then just you talked about timing as it relates to the investments. So -- and it sounded like even in the fourth quarter of last year because you talked about sequential margins being similar give us a bit more color on the timing? Like is this -- are you -- when do you expect to be sort of true with those? And do you -- how should we think about the incremental margins in that business going forward?

明白了。然後您談到了與投資相關的時機。那麼——聽起來就像是去年第四季的情況一樣，因為您談到連續利潤率相似，這能讓我們更清楚地了解時間安排嗎？就像這樣——你是——你預計什麼時候這些會成為現實？您應該如何看待該業務未來的增量利潤？

Yes. So Faiza, it is -- from a timing standpoint, we certainly have different initiatives in each of our businesses. First Aid is no different. We'll have certain rollouts of product, which might affect the mix. But we're planning to grow that business attractively. And I'll just remind you that, that 56.8% gross margin is really attractive. We're quite happy with it.

是的。所以，Faiza，從時間角度來看，我們在每個業務中肯定都有不同的舉措。急救也不例外。我們將推出某些產品，這可能會影響產品組合。但我們計劃以更具吸引力的方式發展該業務。我只想提醒你，56.8% 的毛利率確實很有吸引力。我們對此非常滿意。

We've had a significant increase over the last few years in that area. And we're going to continue to get leverage there. But it's a high level. And we think it's really good and the mix of the business has been attractive for us. But we're providing more and more value to those customers. And then we're selling other items into those customers outside the First Aid business. So it all works quite nicely. And so I wouldn't be thinking of it as ages, the first aid margin is going to pop after certain timing. These are -- we'll get leverage. And we'll grow that business attractively and provide more value to customers, but we like where it is and in the future as well.

在過去幾年裡，我們在該領域取得了顯著的成長。我們將繼續在那裡發揮影響力。但這是一個很高的水平。我們認為這真的很好，而且業務組合對我們來說很有吸引力。但我們正在為這些客戶提供越來越多的價值。然後，我們也向急救業務以外的客戶銷售其他產品。所以一切都運作得相當順利。因此，我不會認為急救裕度會在一段時間後消失。這些是——我們將獲得槓桿。我們將以極具吸引力的方式發展該業務，並為客戶提供更多價值，但我們也喜歡它的現狀和未來。

Stephanie Moore, Jefferies.

史蒂芬妮摩爾，傑富瑞集團。

Hi, good morning. Thank you. I wanted to maybe follow up a question that was asked earlier in regards to M&A and kind of compare that to some commentary you made about growing your maybe other segments, Fire and Safety, for example. Maybe just talk about your appetite as you think about other areas within your total company as you look to expand. What is your appetite to further expand your fire and safety business? And how do you leverage both doing so organically as well as potentially opportunistic M&A?

嗨，早安。謝謝。我想跟進之前提出的有關併購的一個問題，並將其與您對發展其他部門（例如消防和安全部門）的一些評論進行比較。也許只是談論一下您的胃口，同時考慮整個公司內其他領域的擴張。您對進一步擴大消防和安全業務有何興趣？您如何利用有機的方式以及潛在的機會性併購？

Yes. Stephanie, thank you for the question. Our fire business, we think the future is quite bright there. And we are very active in M&A in that business and growing it organically. And those, again, can just like any M&A can be a little lumpy, but we're quite active there. And we make I would say, acquisitions almost every quarter in that business. Some of them are smaller, many of them are smaller. Some might give us an additional footprint and many of them are also tuck-ins. And when we -- we love both when we get the additional footprint.

是的。史蒂芬妮，謝謝你的提問。我們認為，我們的消防業務前景十分光明。我們非常積極地開展該業務的併購，並使其有機成長。就像任何併購一樣，這些可能會有點不順利，但我們在那裡相當活躍。我想說，我們幾乎每季都會在該業務上進行收購。有些比較小，很多都比較小。有些可能會為我們帶來額外的空間，其中許多也是可以塞進去的。當我們獲得額外的足跡時，我們喜歡這兩者。

That gives us an opportunity to invest in sales organizations and other resources and to self-serve that many more customers. And then when we do tuck-ins in that business, we get synergies from back office and other areas. And then how we go about running a business tends to be -- that we're able to extract out some efficient inefficiencies and run it in a more productive manner. So that's all part of our strategy. We really like that business. And we are acquisitive and will continue to be.

這使我們有機會投資銷售組織和其他資源，並為更多客戶提供自助服務。然後，當我們在該業務中進行整合時，我們會從後台和其他領域獲得協同效應。然後，我們經營企業的方式往往是──我們能夠消除一些效率低下的現象，並以更有成效的方式經營企業。這都是我們策略的一部分。我們真的很喜歡那項業務。我們積極進取，並將繼續如此。

And then just one follow-up question. I think it's pretty well understood that based on your investments over 10-plus years. You have a very strong tech stack and have really invested back into your technology capability. So as you think about what you have in place now and the ability to leverage AI and machine learning and the likes of everything that we're talking about now. What are the conversations like internally as you think about the opportunity? Is it pretty incremental, just given you're already at such a such an advanced state from a technology standpoint to really leverage AI to either improve productivity or drive incremental business?

然後只有一個後續問題。我認為根據您十多年的投資經驗，這一點很容易理解。您擁有非常強大的技術堆疊，並且真正投資於您的技術能力。因此，當您思考一下您現在所擁有的東西以及利用人工智慧和機器學習以及我們現在所談論的一切的能力時。當您考慮這個機會時，內在的對話是什麼樣的？鑑於你們從技術角度已經處於如此先進的狀態，可以真正利用人工智慧來提高生產力或推動增量業務，這是否是相當漸進的？

Good question, Stephanie. As you pointed out, investing in technology has been a key part of our strategy for many, many years and certainly not slowing. Our investment in SAP has created a really valuable foundation for which we can build upon. So we're really focusing our investments to help us in those areas. And I'll just call it technology umbrella. AI is a component, analytics is a component, algorithms, large language models, all that is part of it. But we're focused in really in two areas, making it easier for our customers to do business with us, via managing their account, getting answers to questions faster, making it easier for them to purchase additional products and services, paying their bill would all be components of it.

問得好，史蒂芬妮。正如您所指出的，多年來，投資技術一直是我們策略的重要組成部分，而且這一趨勢從未放緩。我們對 SAP 的投資為我們未來的發展奠定了非常寶貴的基礎。因此，我們確實集中投資來幫助我們解決這些領域的問題。我將其稱為技術傘。人工智慧是一個組成部分，分析是一個組成部分，演算法、大型語言模型，所有這些都是它的一部分。但我們真正關注的是兩個領域，透過管理他們的帳戶，讓客戶更容易與我們做生意，更快地獲得問題的答案，讓他們更容易購買額外的產品和服務，支付他們的帳單都是其中的一部分。

And then the second area is making our employee partners more successful, putting information in their hands to make them more valuable to the customer. Spending their time in a more productive manner by eliminating administrative time and pointing them in the right direction to where to spend their time with the right products, the right prospects, the right areas of the business.

第二個面向是讓我們的員工合作夥伴更成功，將資訊交到他們手中，使他們對客戶更有價值。透過消除行政時間並引導他們將時間花在正確的產品、正確的前景和正確的業務領域上，以更有效的方式利用他們的時間。

So it's all important to us. Very important. It's part of our investment for the future, and we think it's going to be -- we'll continue to invest and will be attractive for us. But you've seen some of it with SmartTruck, myCintas, the best product, best prospect and there's -- that's all ongoing and not slowing down. And we see a real opportunity for -- to leverage that tech stack and to also leverage our engineering and Black Belt resources our Six Sigma team, all goes into play with that, so it's not just a technology, it's positioning the technology to make it easier for our customers to do business with us and make our people that much more successful.

所以這一切對我們來說都很重要。非常重要。這是我們對未來投資的一部分，我們認為這將是——我們將繼續投資，並且對我們來說將具有吸引力。但您已經看到了 SmartTruck、myCintas 的一些優點，它們是最好的產品、最好的前景，而且這一切都在持續進行，不會放緩。我們看到了一個真正的機會——利用該技術堆疊並利用我們的工程和黑帶資源我們的六西格瑪團隊，所有這些都將發揮作用，所以它不僅僅是一項技術，而是將技術定位為使我們的客戶更容易與我們開展業務，並使我們的員工更加成功。

Scott Schneeberger, Oppenheimer.

史考特‧施內伯格，奧本海默。

I had two questions. I guess I'll ask them both upfront, though they're quite different. The first one is kind of playing off on some of these M&A questions. in the past and many years ago, you all had considered going international to a much greater degree and kind of doing so via existing customers who may large multinationals, who may have needed service outside of the US Just curious, is that -- it has been quiet on the M&A front. Is that a consideration? And if so, what would be your approach. And then the second question is just on myCintas. We just love to hear any update on how that's progressing, maybe mix of what percent of sales is running through that now? What percent of payments, any other metrics you may be offered to provide? Because you've been at that for a little while, and I imagine it's providing good productivity leverage.

我有兩個問題。我想我會提前問他們兩個，儘管他們有很大不同。第一個問題與一些併購問題有關。在過去，很多年前，你們都考慮過更大程度地走向國際，並透過現有客戶來實現，這些客戶可能是大型跨國公司，可能需要美國以外的服務。只是好奇的是——併購方面一直很平靜。這是一個考慮嗎？如果是的話，您的方法是什麼？第二個問題是關於 myCintas 的。我們只是想聽到有關進展的最新消息，也許現在有多少百分比的銷售額是透過這種方式實現的？付款百分比是多少，您可以提供其他什麼指標嗎？因為你已經這樣做了一段時間，我想它提供了一個良好的生產力槓桿。

Yes. Thank you, Scott. First off, on the M&A front, I wouldn't say it's been quiet on the M&A front. We had our very best year last year with the exception of in the last 20 years, with the exception of the year, we bought G&K. So we've been very active and the pipe continues to be attractive. On the international front, we certainly -- we have relationships, and we evaluate that on an ongoing basis. But the best news is we don't have to. We don't see a need to do that in order to grow our business. If the right opportunity showed up, we would, but we don't need to. We are -- as I mentioned, we're servicing a little over 1 million businesses and in the US and Canada are 16 million, 17 million businesses. The white space of opportunity out there is immense. So we love the spot we're in, in the geography we're in. But that being said, we have those relationships, and we continue to cultivate those. And if the right opportunity presents itself, we would certainly evaluate it.

是的。謝謝你，斯科特。首先，在併購方面，我不會說併購方面一直很平靜。去年是我們過去 20 年業績最好的一年，除了收購 G&K 那一年。因此我們一直非常活躍，並且管道仍然具有吸引力。在國際方面，我們當然有關係，我們會持續評估這種關係。但最好的消息是我們不需要這麼做。我們認為沒有必要這樣做來發展我們的業務。如果出現合適的機會，我們會這麼做，但我們不需要這麼做。正如我所提到的，我們為 100 多萬家企業提供服務，其中美國和加拿大有 1600 萬到 1700 萬家企業。那裡的機會空間是巨大的。所以我們熱愛我們所處的位置和地理環境。但話雖如此，我們擁有這些關係，我們會繼續培養這些關係。如果有合適的機會出現，我們肯定會評估它。

And we have the ability. We have the bench. We have the culture. We have the balance sheet and the know-how and the ability to do something like that if we want to. Regarding the myCintas portal, that's really a platform that we use, not just for our customers for paying, but also for them to manage their account. And then we expanded so for other areas for our partners to be able to become that much more successful and productive to -- for handling customer requests. So that's -- I won't go into great detail about any metrics on that area for competitive reasons. But I'll just say it's an area where we continue to invest, and we see it as a competitive advantage, and our customers really like it. So when your customers like it and your employee partners like it, we think we've got something there and we're going to continue to invest because we see the opportunity to continue to provide additional value there.

我們有能力。我們有替補席。我們有文化。如果我們願意的話，我們有資產負債表、專業知識和能力來做這樣的事情。關於 myCintas 門戶，這實際上是我們使用的平台，不僅供我們的客戶付款，還供他們管理他們的帳戶。然後，我們將其擴展到其他領域，以便我們的合作夥伴能夠更成功、更有效率地處理客戶請求。所以——出於競爭原因，我不會詳細介紹該領域的任何指標。但我只想說，這是我們將繼續投資的領域，我們將其視為一種競爭優勢，我們的客戶也非常喜歡它。因此，當您的客戶喜歡它並且您的員工合作夥伴喜歡它時，我們認為我們已經取得了一些成果並且我們將繼續投資，因為我們看到了繼續在那裡提供額外價值的機會。

Toni Kaplan, Morgan Stanley.

摩根士丹利的東尼卡普蘭。

In light of all the news on Visa requirements, are you expecting any impact from changes to impact your customers' hiring? I know it could be a little bit further out, but just wanted to understand how you're thinking about that.

鑑於有關 Visa 要求的所有新聞，您是否預計這些變更會對您的客戶的招募產生影響？我知道這可能有點遙遠，但我只是想了解你是如何考慮這個問題的。

Yes. Toni, it's a good question. We're certainly paying attention to integration policy, but I can't tell you that we're seeing any material impact at all. Is there some impact? There might be, but we're not really hearing it much from our customers. We're not seeing it in the results. And certainly, the H1B subject is a -- more of a technology that seems as more of a technology subject. So no real impact from the Visas or the immigration that we can really refer to.

是的。東尼，這是個好問題。我們當然關注融合政策，但我不能告訴你我們看到了任何實質的影響。有影響嗎？可能有，但我們並沒有從客戶那裡聽到太多。我們沒有在結果中看到這一點。當然，H1B 主題更像是一門技術，看起來更像是技術主題。因此，簽證或移民政策並沒有為我們帶來真正的影響。

Okay. Great. And then just a follow-up on all other. You mentioned continuing to invest. We saw SG&A step up there in the quarter. Should we expect a similar level of investment throughout the year that would be really helpful to understand how SG&A in particular, should continue to progress as we proceed through this fiscal year.

好的。偉大的。然後對所有其他事項進行跟進。您提到繼續投資。我們看到本季銷售、一般及行政開支有所增加。如果我們預期全年的投資水準相似，這將非常有助於了解銷售、一般及行政費用在本財年將如何持續成長。

Yes. We think our SG&A investment is appropriate right now where it is. So I don't think you'll see a ramp up or ramp down from there. from that perspective. So we're -- we like the spot that we're in. We like the levels of bench that we're at. And we think in totality that we got a 10 basis point improvement on SG&A for the company going from 27.6% to 27.5% year over prior. So I wouldn't overreact to the all other more of just a timing subject there. But we think we're in a good spot from an SG&A investment and plan to get leverage on that over time.

是的。我們認為，我們的銷售、一般及行政開支 (SG&A) 投資目前是適當的。因此，從這個角度來看，我認為你不會看到成長或下降。所以我們——我們喜歡我們所處的位置。我們喜歡我們現在所處的水平。我們認為，總體而言，公司的銷售、一般及行政費用比上年提高了 10 個基點，從 27.6% 提高到了 27.5%。因此，我不會對其他僅涉及時間的問題反應過度。但我們認為，銷售、一般和行政費用投資為我們帶來了好處，並計劃隨著時間的推移充分利用這一優勢。

Kartik Mehta, Northcoast Research.

Kartik Mehta，Northcoast Research。

I know you've answered the question I'm going to ask in parts, but I thought maybe if I could get you to give a comprehensive answer or just maybe a summary of all the answers you gave will be a good perspective. And the economy, it seems like has changed in the last 6 months. And I'd be curious from your perspective, at least the key metrics you look at for each of the businesses, what you think has improved, what hasn't changed? And maybe what might have gotten a little worse?

我知道您已經部分回答了我將要提出的問題，但我想，如果我能讓您給出一個全面的答案，或者只是對您給出的所有答案進行總結，這將是一個很好的視角。過去六個月裡，經濟狀況似乎發生了變化。從您的角度來看，我很好奇，至少在您關注的每項業務的關鍵指標中，您認為哪些方面有所改進，哪些方面沒有改變？或許情況會變得更糟？

Yes, Kartik. Our business is performing really well, and we like the momentum. You've seen that the rental business is continuing to improve. We're really encouraged by that. But each of our three route-based businesses are performing at a high level, Uniform Direct Sale business, the performance there was a 30 basis point headwind for the company on growth. So if you solve for that, then the business would have grown at 9%. So that would be really good. So we like where we are. And as I mentioned earlier, Kartik we are investing for the future because we think the future is bright because of all the opportunity ahead for us in the position that we're trying to put our partners in -- our employee partners in and the value we're trying to provide for our customers.

是的，卡爾蒂克。我們的業務表現非常好，我們喜歡這種勢頭。你已經看到租賃業務正在持續改善。我們對此感到非常鼓舞。但我們的三項以路線為基礎的業務都表現良好，統一直銷業務的表現為公司的成長帶來了 30 個基點的阻力。所以如果你解決了這個問題，那麼業務就會成長 9%。那真是太好了。所以我們喜歡我們現在的處境。正如我之前提到的，Kartik，我們正在為未來進行投資，因為我們認為未來是光明的，因為我們面前充滿了機遇，我們正努力讓我們的合作夥伴——我們的員工合作夥伴——處於這樣的位置，並努力為我們的客戶提供價值。

And just a follow-up. You talked about M&A and obviously, you are very active in the M&A world. I'm wondering if you're changing any change in prices for M&A in either of the businesses. And if maybe sellers are getting a little bit maybe flooring prices because of what's going on.

這只是後續行動。您談到了併購，顯然您在併購領域非常活躍。我想知道您是否會改變這兩家公司的併購價格。如果賣家因為目前的情況而獲得一些底價的話。

Good question, Kartik. No, I wouldn't say there's any real change in prices. It's trying to predict when someone is ready to sell their business is really challenging. There's all kinds of items that come into play, succession planning, health maybe what they look at for how their business is going to perform in the future. There's all kinds of things. So trying to predict that one is challenging. What we can control is making sure that we're in a position to leverage our relationships. And we've invested over the years to make sure that we are in a position to do that. and we'll continue to do that. Jim and I are very involved with those because of what we've known many of those people for decades. So -- and we think that our reputation is such that we're well positioned for when those opportunities come to the table.

問得好，卡蒂克。不，我不會說價格有任何實際變化。試圖預測某人何時準備出售其企業確實很有挑戰性。有各種各樣的因素需要考慮，繼任計畫、健康狀況也許都是他們考慮未來企業表現的因素。有各種各樣的事情。因此，嘗試預測這一點是很有挑戰性的。我們能夠控制的是確保我們能夠利用我們的關係。多年來，我們一直進行投資以確保我們能夠做到這一點，並且我們將繼續這樣做。吉姆和我非常關注這些事情，因為我們認識其中的許多人已經幾十年了。所以——我們認為，憑藉我們的聲譽，當這些機會出現時，我們已做好充分準備。

Leo Carrington, Citigroup.

花旗集團的 Leo Carrington。

Just one follow-up for me. If you could elaborate, please, on the points you made on tariffs. I think you probably were focusing more on the uniform rental costs, but have you seen any effects on your cost base in terms of CapEx? Any changes to your CapEx expectations?

對我來說只有一個後續行動。請您詳細說明您提出的有關關稅的觀點。我認為您可能更關注制服租賃成本，但您是否看到資本支出對成本基礎有任何影響？您的資本支出預期有任何變化嗎？

Yes. Thank you, Leo, for the question. The tariffs are -- as I mentioned, we're not immune from them. But our supply chain organization supports our entire business, not just our rental business, and they're doing a great job. So when I talk about a great job, all those items of the geographic diversity, the having optionality with all the different providers that applies to each of our businesses and as a result, we're finding ways to become more efficient. So that culture is shining through. And when you go through really challenging times, like what tariffs throw at you, it gives our organization opportunity to shine. And our supply chain is doing just that. And they're continuing to fight through what is a challenging environment. From a CapEx standpoint, we've -- our 4% targeted CapEx, I think you'll see that be consistent we would expect that, that would be where we plan to be moving forward.

是的。謝謝 Leo 提出的問題。正如我所提到的，我們也無法免受關稅的影響。但我們的供應鏈組織支持我們的整個業務，而不僅僅是我們的租賃業務，他們做得很好。因此，當我談論一份偉大的工作時，所有這些項目都涉及地理多樣性，以及適用於我們每項業務的所有不同供應商的可選性，因此，我們正在尋找提高效率的方法。因此，這種文化正在閃耀光芒。當你經歷真正具有挑戰性的時期時，例如關稅給你帶來的影響，這會為我們的組織帶來閃光的機會。我們的供應鏈正在這樣做。他們正在繼續與充滿挑戰的環境作鬥爭。從資本支出的角度來看，我們的 4% 目標資本支出，我想你會看到這是一致的，我們期望的，這也是我們計劃向前發展的方向。

And at this time, there are no further questions. I would like to now turn the call back over to Jared for closing remarks.

目前，沒有其他問題。現在我想將電話轉回給賈里德，請他做最後發言。

Thank you, Ross. Thank you for joining us this morning. We will issue our second quarter of fiscal 2026 financial results in December. We look forward to speaking with you again at that time. Thank you.

謝謝你，羅斯。感謝您今天上午加入我們。我們將於 12 月發布 2026 財年第二季的財務表現。我們期待屆時再次與您交談。謝謝。

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

今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝您的參與。您現在可以斷開連線。