ESCO Technologies Inc (ESE) 2025 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Good day and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the fourth-quarter 2025 ESCO Technologies earnings call. (Operator Instructions) Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded.

您好，感謝您的耐心等待。歡迎參加 ESCO Technologies 2025 年第四季財報電話會議。（操作人員指示）請注意，今天的會議正在錄音。

On the call today, we have Bryan Sayler, President and CEO; Chris Tucker, Senior Vice President and CFO.

今天參加電話會議的有總裁兼執行長 Bryan Sayler；資深副總裁兼財務長 Chris Tucker。

And now, I'd like to turn the conference over to our first speaker today, Kate Lowrey, Vice President of Investor Relations. Kate, you now have the floor.

現在，我謹將會議交給今天的第一位發言人，投資者關係副總裁凱特洛瑞。凱特，現在輪到你發言了。

Thank you. Statements made during this call, which are not strictly historical, are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Safe Harbor provisions of the Federal Securities law. These statements are based on current expectations and assumptions and actual results may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements.

謝謝。本次電話會議中所作的陳述，並非嚴格意義上的歷史陳述，而是符合聯邦證券法安全港條款規定的前瞻性陳述。這些聲明是基於目前的預期和假設，實際結果可能與前瞻性聲明中預測的結果有重大差異。

There are risks and uncertainties that exist in the company's operations and business environment, including but not limited to the risk factors referenced in the company's press release issued today, which will be included as an exhibit to the company to Form 8-K to be filed. We undertake no duty to update or revise these forward-looking statements except as may be required by applicable laws or regulations.

公司營運和商業環境中存在風險和不確定性，包括但不限於公司今天發布的新聞稿中提到的風險因素，這些風險因素將作為附件提交給公司，並附在即將提交的 8-K 表格中。除適用法律或法規可能要求的情況外，我們不承擔更新或修改這些前瞻性聲明的義務。

In addition, during this call, the company may discuss some non-GAAP financial measures in describing the company's operating results. A reconciliation of these measures to the most comparable GAAP measures can be found in the press release issued today and found on the company's website at www.escotechnologies.com, under the link Investor Relations.

此外，在本次電話會議中，本公司可能會在描述公司經營績效時討論一些非GAAP財務指標。這些措施與最可比較的 GAAP 措施的比較情況，可以在今天發布的新聞稿中找到，也可以在公司網站 www.escotechnologies.com 的「投資者關係」連結下找到。

Now, I'll turn the call over to Bryan.

現在，我把電話交給布萊恩。

Thanks, Kate, and thanks, everyone, for joining today's call. We are pleased to meet with you this afternoon to discuss our fourth-quarter results, and, by any measurement, we finished the year strong and closed out another great year at ESCO.

謝謝凱特，也謝謝大家參加今天的電話會議。我們很高興今天下午能與您會面，討論我們第四季的業績。無論從哪個角度來看，我們都以強勁的勢頭結束了這一年，為 ESCO 又一個輝煌的年份畫上了圓滿的句號。

Q4 was the first full quarter to include the Maritime business, which had impressive performance leading to a significant impact on our top and bottom-line results.

第四季度是海事業務全面納入營運的第一個完整季度，該業務表現出色，對我們的營收和利潤產生了重大影響。

But in addition to Maritime's contribution, we delivered 8% organic sales growth in the quarter. This top-line sales growth combined with 100 basis points of adjusted EBIT margin expansion at the bottom line to drive a 30% year-over-year increase in adjusted earnings per share of continuing operations to a record $2.32 per share.

除了 Maritime 的貢獻外，我們本季還實現了 8% 的自然銷售成長。營收成長加上調整後息稅前利潤率提高 100 個基點，推動持續經營調整後每股收益年增 30%，達到創紀錄的每股 2.32 美元。

2025 was a truly transformative year for ESCO. The successful acquisition of Maritime and the divestiture of VACCO were both fiddle steps in the evolution of our portfolio. We now have an expanded presence in the Navy market, offering a broader suite of products across both US and UK platforms. With our exit from the space market, our A&D segment now has a sharper focus on observing the aerospace and Navy end markets, both of which present durable, long-term growth opportunities.

2025年對ESCO來說是具有真正變革意義的一年。成功收購 Maritime 和剝離 VACCO 都是我們投資組合演變過程中的過渡步驟。我們現在在海軍市場擁有了更大的影響力，為美國和英國的平台提供更廣泛的產品組合。隨著我們退出太空市場，我們的航空航太與國防部門現在更加專注於觀察航空航太和海軍終端市場，這兩個市場都提供了持久的長期成長機會。

Our exceptional financial results this year are a testament to the dedication and expertise of our global team. I want to extend my sincere thanks to everyone at ESCO for their hard work and dedication throughout the year. Their commitment enabled us to deliver outstanding operating performance during a period of significant change.

我們今年取得的優異財務業績，充分證明了我們全球團隊的奉獻精神和專業技能。我要衷心感謝ESCO全體員工一年來的辛勤工作和奉獻精神。他們的敬業精神使我們能夠在重大變革時期取得卓越的營運績效。

Chris takes us through all of the financial details in the quarter, but before we do that, I want to give you a few comments on each of our segments.

Chris 將帶我們了解本季的所有財務細節，但在那之前，我想就我們每個業務板塊做一些說明。

Let's start with Aerospace and Defense. We remain positive regarding the long-term outlook for both the aircraft and Navy markets. We see fundamental drivers across both of these markets, and expect increasing production rates to drive growth going forward.

我們先從航空航太和國防領域說起。我們對飛機和海軍市場的長期前景仍然保持樂觀。我們看到這兩個市場都存在一些根本性的驅動因素，並預計不斷提高的生產力將推動未來的成長。

We continue to see positive momentum on the Navy side, as in addition to contribution from Maritime, organic sales were up 53% in the quarter and 24% year over year. Our US and UK customer bases are highly focused on increasing build rates for submarines, and we see the benefits from this in our sales and our order rates.

我們看到海軍業務繼續保持積極勢頭，除了海事業務的貢獻外，本季有機銷售額成長了 53%，比去年同期成長了 24%。我們的美國和英國客戶群非常注重提高潛艇的建造速度，我們從銷售額和訂單率中看到了這帶來的好處。

We continue to be very pleased with the Maritime acquisition, which had started off 2026 very well, already booking over $200 million in orders in the first month of the new fiscal year. We've been anticipating these orders and it's been a really nice way to start off the new year.

我們對收購 Maritime 一事仍然非常滿意，2026 年伊始便取得了非常好的成績，在新財年的第一個月就獲得了超過 2 億美元的訂單。我們一直期待著這些訂單，這真是一個美好的新年開端。

In aerospace, revenue was up over 10% in the quarter and 14% year over year. It's been good to see Boeing successfully ramp up production and to get approval to take 737 build rates up to 42 per month. As we all know, the end market demand is there and their customers really need more planes. We remain positive on the long-term outlook in the aircraft end markets.

航空航太領域的營收本季成長超過 10%，較去年同期成長 14%。很高興看到波音公司成功提高產量，並獲準將 737 的生產速度提高到每月 42 架。我們都知道，終端市場需求是存在的，他們的客戶確實需要更多的飛機。我們對飛機終端市場的長期前景仍保持樂觀。

Switching over to the Utility Solutions Group, which had a solid quarter highlighted by record orders of over $100 million and a 29% adjusted EBIT margin. Sales growth was a little lower this quarter due to policy headwinds in the renewables market but Doble's revenue was up over 7% over the prior year. As we have discussed previously, there are many factors driving the increase in electricity demand and utilities need to both maintain and expand the grid. On the Doble side, revenue will vary from quarter to quarter, but the long-term growth drivers remain firmly in place.

接下來我們來看看公用事業解決方案集團，本季業績穩健，訂單金額創歷史新高，超過 1 億美元，調整後 EBIT 利潤率達到 29%。由於再生能源市場政策方面的不利因素，本季銷售成長略有下降，但 Doble 的營收比上年同期成長超過 7%。正如我們之前討論過的，推動電力需求成長的因素有很多，電力公司既需要維護電網，也需要擴大電網。Doble方面，營收會因季度而異，但長期成長動力依然穩固。

The renewables market is recalibrating right now as developers focus on completing current projects as tax credits sunset under the new legislation. This has slowed growth domestically in the near term, but we continue to believe that longer-term renewables are a cost-competitive source of generation, and we think that long-term utilities will favor a mix of generation sources, and that renewables will continue to have a vital role to play as utilities work to meet increased demand for electric power.

由於新法規下的稅收抵免政策即將到期，開發商正集中精力完成現有項目，再生能源市場目前正在重新調整。這在短期內減緩了國內的成長，但我們仍然相信，從長遠來看，再生能源是一種具有成本競爭力的發電來源，我們認為，從長遠來看，公用事業公司將傾向於多種發電來源的組合，並且隨著公用事業公司努力滿足不斷增長的電力需求，可再生能源將繼續發揮至關重要的作用。

Finally, I'll touch on the Test business which had a really nice fourth quarter with 10% revenue growth in a high teens EBIT margin. For the year, it was great to see a rebound in orders which were up 25% over the prior year.

最後，我將談談測試業務，該業務在第四季度表現非常出色，收入成長了 10%，息稅前利潤率達到了兩位數以上。今年訂單量出現反彈，比去年增加了 25%，令人欣喜。

One of the strengths of our Test business is the diversity of the end markets that it serves. And with the exception of wireless, we are now back to seeing strong activity across all of our test and measurement and shielding industrial markets. The key takeaway here is that the Test business is stabilized and we feel good about their trajectory as we move into 2026.

我們測試業務的優勢之一在於其所服務的終端市場的多樣性。除了無線領域之外，我們現在在所有測試測量和屏蔽工業市場都看到了強勁的市場活動。關鍵在於，測試業務已經穩定，我們對該業務在 2026 年的發展軌跡感到樂觀。

In summary, we're excited about the future as we continue to see robust growth drivers across our core aerospace, Navy, and electric power markets. Supported by record backlog, a strong balance sheet, and entrenched positions in our served markets, we are well positioned to deliver continued value for our shareholders.

總而言之，我們對未來充滿信心，因為我們在核心航空航太、海軍和電力市場持續看到強勁的成長動力。憑藉創紀錄的訂單儲備、強勁的資產負債表以及在我們所服務市場中穩固的地位，我們完全有能力為股東創造持續的價值。

With that, I'll turn it over to Chris who run you through all of the financial details for the quarter.

接下來，我將把麥克風交給克里斯，由他為大家詳細介紹本季的所有財務細節。

Thanks, Bryan. Everyone can follow along on the chart presentation. We will start on page 3, which shows the financial highlights for the quarter.

謝謝你，布萊恩。每個人都能透過圖表演示進行理解。我們將從第 3 頁開始，該頁顯示了本季的財務亮點。

The bar chart on page 3 illustrates that this was a strong quarter for ESCO. You'll see, as we go through the results, our recurring theme of the Maritime acquisition having a sizable impact, but also seeing strong underlying performance from core operations, beginning with orders, which increased by 30% on a reported basis and delivered organic growth of 13%.

第 3 頁的柱狀圖顯示，對於 ESCO 而言，這是一個強勁的季度。在分析結果的過程中，您將會看到，我們反覆強調的“海事收購產生了相當大的影響”，但核心業務也表現出強勁的業績，首先是訂單，按報告計算增長了 30%，實現了 13% 的內生增長。

Sales for the quarter were $353 million, which represented 29% growth and organic growth came in at 8%. So for orders and sales, you can see, it was a great quarter.

本季銷售額為 3.53 億美元，年增 29%，其中有機成長率為 8%。所以從訂單和銷售額來看，這是一個非常棒的季度。

Moving to profitability. Adjusted EBIT improved by 100 basis points to 23.9%, and adjusted earnings per share increased by 30% to $2.32.

邁向盈利。調整後 EBIT 提高了 100 個基點至 23.9%，調整後每股收益成長了 30% 至 2.32 美元。

Next, we will go through the segment highlights, starting with Aerospace and Defense on chart 4. Orders were quite good with growth of 60% on a reported basis and organic growth of 12%. In total, we delivered $142 million of orders, which led to ending backlog of just over $800 million, a good indicator of future growth for the business.

接下來，我們將介紹各領域的亮點，首先從圖表 4 的航空航太和國防開始。訂單情況相當不錯，報告顯示成長了 60%，自然成長了 12%。我們總共交付了價值 1.42 億美元的訂單，最終積壓訂單略高於 8 億美元，這預示著公司未來的成長前景良好。

Sales for A&D in the quarter came in at just over $170 million, or growth of 72% on a reported basis, and organic growth was 13%. Organic growth was driven by growth in the commercial aerospace and Navy end markets.

本季 A&D 的銷售額略高於 1.7 億美元，按報告數據計算成長了 72%，有機成長率為 13%。有機成長主要由商業航空航太和海軍終端市場的成長所驅動。

Adjusted EBITDA dollars grew by nearly 63% in the quarter and margins came in at 28.6%. Margins were down slightly from last year's record level in Q4 as we saw slight dilution from the Maritime acquisition and core margins down 80 basis points compared to last year's fourth quarter.

本季調整後 EBITDA 金額成長近 63%，利潤率為 28.6%。第四季利潤率較去年同期創紀錄水準略有下降，原因是海事收購略微稀釋了利潤，核心利潤率較去年第四季下降了 80 個基點。

Moving to the next chart, we have the Utility Solutions Group, which once again saw good order activity and delivered 17% growth compared to last year's fourth quarter. The order growth was driven by Doble, which saw strength across the business.

接下來來看下一張圖表，我們來看看公用事業解決方案集團，該集團的訂單活動再次表現良好，與去年第四季相比成長了 17%。訂單成長主要由 Doble 推動，該公司各業務板塊均表現強勁。

Backlog for the Utility Group ended at just over $143 million, which represents growth of 20% compared to prior year-end. Sales growth was more muted with 2% growth in the quarter. Once again, the growth came from Doble, which was up 7%, while NRG was down 20%.

公用事業集團的積壓訂單總額略高於 1.43 億美元，比上年末成長了 20%。本季銷售成長較為溫和，僅成長了2%。再一次，Doble 的股價上漲了 7%，而 NRG 的股價則下跌了 20%，推動了股價的成長。

Bryan mentioned this in his comments, but we continue to see the renewables market scuffle a bit throughout 2025. Margins were very good for the utility business in the quarter with adjusted EBIT dollars increasing 12% and and adjusted EBIT margins expanding by 270 basis points to 29.1%. This is a great performance as price increases, favorable mix, and good cost containment all contributed to the margin result.

布萊恩在他的評論中提到了這一點，但我們預計到 2025 年，再生能源市場仍將經歷一些波折。本季公用事業業務的利潤率非常高，調整後的息稅前利潤增長了 12%，調整後的息稅前利潤率增長了 270 個基點，達到 29.1%。這是一個非常好的業績，因為價格上漲、有利的產品組合和良好的成本控制都對利潤率結果做出了貢獻。

Moving to chart 6, we have the Test business. Order activity here was solid with growth of 6%. This business ended the year with $187 million of backlog, so it's been a nice year of recovery here and great to see the backlog up nearly 20% compared to September of last year. Sales growth was strong in the quarter with a 10% increase to $72 million. Adjusted EBIT margins came in at 17.5%, a reduction compared to last year's record quarter as unfavorable mix and inflation were more than offset by leverage on the sales growth.

接下來看圖表 6，這裡是測試業務。這裡的訂單活動表現穩健，成長了6%。這家公司年底積壓訂單達 1.87 億美元，所以今年的復甦情況不錯，很高興看到積壓訂單比去年 9 月增加了近 20%。本季銷售額成長強勁，成長10%至7,200萬美元。經調整後的息稅前利潤率為 17.5%，與去年創紀錄的季度相比有所下降，原因是不利的產品組合和通貨膨脹被銷售成長帶來的槓桿效應所抵消。

Next is chart 7, where we show full-year results for continuing operations. The data here is impressive with strong double-digit performance on all key metrics demonstrating the strength of our core portfolio and the clear benefits of the Maritime acquisition.

接下來是圖表 7，其中顯示了持續經營的全年表現。這裡的數據令人印象深刻，所有關鍵指標均實現了強勁的兩位數成長，這表明我們核心投資組合的實力以及海事收購帶來的明顯好處。

You can see the note at the bottom highlighting that we have achieved record performance in 2025 on all key metrics. Orders finished in excess of $1.5 billion, growth of over 56%. Organic order growth was 11% with double-digit organic order growth from the Utility and Test businesses.

您可以在底部看到註釋，其中強調我們在 2025 年所有關鍵指標上都取得了創紀錄的成績。訂單總額超過 15 億美元，成長超過 56%。有機訂單成長率為 11%，其中公用事業和測試業務的有機訂單成長率達到兩位數。

Reported sales increased 19% to nearly $1.1 billion, with A&D and Test both delivering double-digit organic sales growth. On the profitability side, adjusted EBIT margin improvement was significant with 20.3%, representing an increase of 180 basis points. All three businesses delivered increased adjusted EBIT margins in 2025. This led to adjusted earnings per share of $6.03, representing growth of 26%.

據報道，銷售額成長了 19%，達到近 11 億美元，其中 A&D 和 Test 兩大業務板塊均實現了兩大有機銷售的成長。在獲利能力方面，調整後的息稅前利潤率顯著提高至 20.3%，相當於提高了 180 個基點。這三家企業在 2025 年均實現了調整後 EBIT 利潤率的成長。這使得調整後的每股盈餘達到 6.03 美元，成長了 26%。

Next is chart 8 with our cash flow highlights. ESCO had a breakout year in operating cash flow, delivering just over $200 million from continuing operations, which compares to nearly $122 million in the prior year. Earnings growth and good working capital performance drove the 2025 increase.

接下來是圖表 8，其中重點介紹了我們的現金流狀況。ESCO 的營運現金流在去年實現了突破性成長，持續經營活動帶來了超過 2 億美元的現金流，而上一年這一數字接近 1.22 億美元。獲利成長和良好的營運資本表現推動了 2025 年預期成長。

The teams across ESCO have focused sharply on working capital improvement, and we are starting to see nice benefits from that activity in our operating cash flow results. Capital spending increased to just over $36 million in 2025 as we saw modest increases from all three segments.

ESCO 各團隊都高度重視改善營運資金，我們開始在經營現金流結果中看到這些措施帶來的良好效益。2025 年資本支出增加至略高於 3,600 萬美元，這得益於三個部門的溫和成長。

We finished the year with an EBITDA to net debt ratio of 0.56 times, and as we saw strong cash generation and also proceeds from the VACCO divestiture facilitate a large debt paydown during the fourth quarter.

我們以 0.56 倍的 EBITDA 與淨債務比率結束了這一年，並且由於強勁的現金流以及 VACCO 資產剝離所得，我們在第四季度得以大幅償還債務。

Our last chart is number 9, which contains our fiscal 2026 guidance. We are expecting to show another strong year financially, with reported sales growth in the range of 16% to 20%. This is comprised of 6% to 8% organic growth from our A&D businesses and Maritime revenue in the range of $230 million to $245 million.

最後一張圖表是第 9 張，其中包含了我們 2026 財年的業績指引。我們預計今年的財務業績將再創新強勁，銷售額成長預計在 16% 至 20% 之間。這包括來自我們航空航太和國防業務的 6% 至 8% 的有機成長，以及海事收入在 2.3 億美元至 2.45 億美元之間的成長。

For the Utility Group, we expect growth of 4% to 6%, which includes Doble growing in a range of 6% to 8%, partially offset by NRG. For Test, we expect top-line growth to be in the range of 3% to 5%.

對於公用事業集團，我們預計將成長 4% 至 6%，其中包括 Doble 成長 6% 至 8%，但部分被 NRG 的成長所抵消。對於測試業務，我們預計營收成長率將在 3% 到 5% 之間。

Additionally, we expect nice improvements from adjusted EBIT and adjusted EBITDA margins to drive overall adjusted earnings per share to a range of $7.50 to $7.80, which would represent growth of 24% to 29%. The bar chart at the bottom here show a real nice trend for ESCO on sales and adjusted earnings per share growth.

此外，我們預計調整後的 EBIT 和調整後的 EBITDA 利潤率將有顯著改善，從而推動整體調整後每股收益達到 7.50 美元至 7.80 美元，這將代表 24% 至 29% 的成長。底部的長條圖顯示了 ESCO 在銷售額和調整後每股收益成長方面非常良好的趨勢。

The four-year compound annual sales growth through 2025 is 16%, and the adjusted earnings per share CAGR is 27.5%. The company has delivered very well, and we feel strongly that 2026 will continue these great trends.

到 2025 年，四年複合年銷售額成長率為 16%，調整後每股盈餘複合年增長率為 27.5%。公司業績表現非常出色，我們堅信2026年將持續保持這些良好動能。

That completes the financial summary, and now I'll turn it back over to Bryan.

財務摘要到此結束，現在我將把發言權交還給布萊恩。

Thanks, Chris. So as you've heard from our commentary, FY25 was a great year. And ESCO's future remains bright as we continue to see a path for value creation and enhancement as we move forward.

謝謝你，克里斯。正如您從我們的評論中聽到的那樣，2025財年是輝煌的一年。隨著我們不斷向前發展，ESCO 的未來依然光明，我們將繼續看到創造和提升價值的道路。

With that, we are finished with our prepared remarks, and we'll turn it over to Q&A.

至此，我們的發言稿就結束了，接下來將進入問答環節。

(Operator Instructions) Tommy Moll, Stephens.

（操作說明）湯米·莫爾，史蒂芬斯。

Good afternoon. This is Zack on for Tommy, and thank you for taking my questions.

午安.這裡是札克，替湯米發言，感謝您回答我的問題。

Hi, Zach.

嗨，扎克。

Could you please give context on how we should think about growth rates and margin trends at the segment level going forward?

能否請您就未來我們該如何看待細分市場的成長率和利潤率趨勢提供一些背景資訊？

Yeah. So if you look at the guide we had in there, I mean, we've got the A&D business on a core basis, growing in that 6% to 8% range, and then we've got the Maritime addition on top of there. Then we've got -- we've got what we have for --

是的。所以，如果你看看我們當時的指導方針，我的意思是，我們的核心業務是航空航天與國防業務，增長率在 6% 到 8% 之間，然後我們在此基礎上又增加了海事業務。然後我們就有了——我們就有了我們所擁有的。--

Doble was 6% to 8%.

多布爾的佔比為 6% 至 8%。

6% to 8% for Doble and then 3% to 5% for Test. We would expect margin improvement from all three of the segments next year. So I would say, generally, we see '26 as on trend with how we've communicated where the businesses all have been running for the last couple of years and where we are in the cycle.

Doble 佔 6% 至 8%，Test 佔 3% 至 5%。我們預計明年這三個業務板塊的利潤率都會提高。所以總的來說，我認為 '26' 符合我們過去幾年對所有企業的營運情況以及我們所處週期階段的溝通趨勢。

Awesome. Thank you. And then can you please give an update on the integration of SM&P? Obviously, there was a delay getting the deal closed. But since the close, are you tracking ahead or behind what you had planned?

驚人的。謝謝。那麼，您能否介紹一下SM&P的整合進展呢？顯然，這筆交易的完成有所延誤。但自從收盤以來，你的進度是超前還是落後於計劃？

Yeah. I'd say that in terms of the cultural integration and financial integration, operations and all that stuff, I think we're on plan, maybe it's a little bit ahead of plan. I would say things are going very, very well on that front.

是的。就文化融合、財務融合、營運等等方面而言，我認為我們一切都在按計劃進行，甚至可能比計劃略微超前一些。我認為這方面進展非常順利。

In terms of financial results, I would say that the Maritime business is ahead of what we originally communicated when the deal was announced.

就財務表現而言，我認為海事業務的表現已經超過了我們在宣布交易時最初所傳達的預期。

We had some -- I would say we're prudent and gave the advertised plan a little bit of a haircut. And as we've gotten through the regulatory approval and into the business, what we found is that they're actually performing at or above their originally advertised plan. So that's been a very welcome result.

我們做了一些——我想說我們很謹慎，對廣告宣傳的計劃進行了一些削減。隨著監管部門的批准和業務的開展，我們發現他們的實際業績達到了甚至超過了最初宣傳的計劃。所以這是一個非常令人欣喜的結果。

Since then, we've had some real positive new order activity in the fourth quarter and then just here in the early innings of the first quarter of '26. So yeah, we would say that everything is going great here and probably better than we had expected.

從那以後，我們在第四季以及 2026 年第一季初期都出現了一些非常積極的新訂單活動。是的，我們認為這裡一切進展順利，甚至比我們預期的還要好。

Good to hear. That's all I had and I'll turn it back.

很高興聽到這個消息。這就是我全部的家當，我會把它還回去。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Thanks, Zach.

謝謝你，扎克。

Jon Tanwanteng, CJS.

Jon Tanwanteng，CJS。

Hi. Tood afternoon. Thank you for taking my questions and really nice quarter and outlook, really good job there. I was wondering if you could expand on on the previous comment. I think you said something about $200 million in ESCO Maritime orders. What programs were those associated with, number one? And how are you -- number 2, thinking about growth going forward for that business that you've acquired?

你好。下午太晚了。感謝您回答我的問題，本季和展望都非常棒，做得非常好。我想請您詳細解釋一下先前的評論。我想你之前說過ESCO Maritime的訂單額達到了2億美元。第一，這些項目都與哪些項目有關？那麼，作為第二位，您如何看待您收購的那家企業未來的發展？

Yeah. So the $200 million. It was more than $200 million but it came in in the first quarter. So Jon, it's in the UK and so we're operating under a little bit of a different security scheme there so we're not going to be able to give precise details on programs and contexts and things like that. But suffice it to say that these were UK submarine-related programs.

是的。所以就是2億美元。雖然超過2億美元，但這筆收入是在第一季到達的。喬恩，因為項目在英國，所以我們在那裡採用的是略有不同的安全方案，因此我們無法提供有關項目、背景等的確切細節。但可以肯定的是，這些都是英國與潛水艇相關的項目。

Okay. Great. Can you disclose what timeframe those are supposed to revenue over?

好的。偉大的。能否透露一下這些收益預計在多長時間內產生？

Yeah. Those will run out for over two years, Jon, so we'll start to book a little bit of revenue in, let's say, the second, third quarter and then we start to ramp it a little bit in the fourth, and then it would run out through '27 and beyond. So those are long-term programs.

是的。喬恩，這些資金要兩年多才能用完，所以我們會在第二、第三季開始確認一些收入，然後在第四季開始逐步增加收入，然後這些資金就會一直用到 2027 年及以後。所以這些都是長期專案。

Got it. Thank you very much. And then just on the aerospace side, are you expecting any headwinds from just the canceled flights you've been seeing with the shutdowns in the TSA, executed ATCs, or is that not really significant for you, number one?

知道了。非常感謝。那麼就航空航天方面而言，您是否預計 TSA 停擺和 ATC 執行等原因導致的航班取消會對您造成任何不利影響？或者，對您來說，這其實並不重要？

And number two, as you look into '26, that's 6% to 8% growth rate, can you just tell us maybe what the underlying assumptions are, especially with the build rates at the OEMs going up as much as I think they're forecasting?

第二，展望 2026 年，成長率預計為 6% 至 8%，您能否告訴我們其基本假設是什麼，特別是考慮到 OEM 的產量成長幅度可能與他們的預測相符？

Sure, sure. Yeah. So on the shutdown, we really didn't see any impact from the shutdown and certainly not in the aircraft manufacturing or MRO space. So we are thinking that that's moved forward without any delay.

當然，當然。是的。所以，就停工而言，我們真的沒有看到停工帶來任何影響，當然在飛機製造或MRO領域更是如此。所以我們認為這件事已經順利推進，沒有任何延誤。

Overall, I think you asked about the 6% to 8% at Doble. And what we're seeing there is that we're seeing continued strong spending from the utilities that are really focused on grid infrastructure. It's less about the AI piece. It's way more about the reliability and maintaining their existing aging assets.

總的來說，我認為你問的是 Doble 的 6% 到 8% 的情況。我們看到，公用事業公司持續增加對電網基礎設施的投資。關鍵不在於人工智慧。更重要的是可靠性以及維護現有老舊資產的問題。

And so that spending is really up. We had a record fourth quarter of orders and here in the early part of the first quarter, it looks like that trend is continuing. So we feel pretty good about the Doble business.

因此，支出確實大幅上升。我們第四季的訂單量創下了歷史新高，而現在，在第一季初期，這一趨勢似乎仍在繼續。所以我們對 Doble 的業務感覺相當不錯。

I think the challenge here is that the renewable side of the business is definitely seeing a little bit of a challenge as we move forward.

我認為，我們面臨的挑戰在於，隨著業務的推進，再生能源領域無疑會遇到一些挑戰。

Got it. I think I might have misspoke. I was referring to the 6% to 8% in --

知道了。我想我可能說錯話了。我指的是6%到8%--

For aircraft?

用於飛機？

For aircraft, yes.

對飛機來說，是的。

Yeah. So that wasn't -- what's happening there is we're seeing really good growth in the build rates for the -- for the various platforms that we're on. And I would say from our perspective, in particular, we're seeing growth on 787. We're seeing growth on 737. And then we are seeing broad-based growth. We are seeing some military content that's coming through in our benefit. There's more F15s, some of the newer sixth-generation platforms. So all of that stuff is really working to our benefit in the aircraft business.

是的。所以，實際情況是，我們看到我們所在各個平台的建置速度都出現了非常好的成長。尤其從我們的角度來看，我們看到 787 機型正在成長。我們看到737機型的銷量正在成長。然後我們看到的是全面成長。我們看到一些軍事內容正在向我們湧現，這對我們有利。還有更多F15戰機，其中一些是更新的第六代平台。所以所有這些因素都對我們航空業的發展大有裨益。

Okay. Great. Thank you.

好的。偉大的。謝謝。

(Operator Instructions) Jon, CJS.

（操作說明）Jon，CJS。

Hi. I was just wondering if you could expand on the energy business a little bit. Just -- do you see an inflection point at some point, or is there might be further downside as companies digest what the new policy laid a little bit? Yeah.

你好。我只是想請您再詳細介紹一下能源產業的狀況。只是——您認為會出現轉折點嗎？還是說，隨著企業逐漸消化新政策的影響，可能會出現進一步的下行風險？是的。

Well, I think it's -- yes, so our assessment as follows. I don't think it's a big secret that the Inflation Reduction Act in 2022 really turbocharge that entire industry. And so we were seeing a 25% to 30% growth rates in '23, '24. And then with the new administration coming in, they certainly got a different perspective.

嗯，我認為——是的，所以我們的評估如下。我認為，2022 年的《通貨膨脹抑制法案》極大地推動了整個產業的發展，這應該不是什麼秘密。因此，我們在 2023 年和 2024 年看到了 25% 到 30% 的成長率。隨著新政府上台，他們的觀點肯定改變了。

And then with the One Big Beautiful Bill, the tax credits that we're driving a lot of that activity are set to expire, I think, mid next year. So what we're seeing from the developers there is really a focus right now on trying to get everything that they currently have under construction qualified for those tax credits.

此外，隨著《一項偉大的法案》的出台，我們推動這項法案實施的稅收抵免政策也將在明年年中到期。所以我們看到，開發商現在真正關注的是，他們正在努力讓所有在建項目都符合稅收抵免的條件。

So the fundamentals of renewable energy relative to other forms of energy are still pretty positive from a cost and availability perspective. But right now, the focus is really on those existing programs.

因此，從成本和可用性的角度來看，再生能源相對於其他能源形式的基本面仍然相當積極。但目前，重點確實還是在現有的那些項目上。

So what we think is going to happen is there's going to be a downstroke for the industry broadly this year. And that beginning, let's say, call it, this time next year, I think we would begin to see a little bit of a turn back to what I would call normal growth, so that would be high single-digit growth.

所以我們認為今年整個產業將會經歷一次下滑。而從明年這個時候開始，我認為我們將開始看到經濟回升，恢復到我所說的正常成長水平，也就是接近兩位數的成長。

It's really driven by the fact that we just need a lot more generation that people are going to be able to get built out of natural gas, given all the constraints in that industry. And the solar, in particular, pretty affordable. I think domestically, terrestrial win, it's going to be very challenged in the current environment. But internationally, it's still a pretty thriving business.

這實際上是由這樣一個事實驅動的：鑑於天然氣行業的種種限制，我們需要更多的天然氣發電設施。而且太陽能產品尤其價格實惠。我認為在國內，陸地賽事的勝利在當前環境下將面臨巨大挑戰。但在國際上，這仍然是一項相當蓬勃發展的業務。

And Jon, remember, we did not have any exposure in our business to any of the offshore wind stuff or any of the rooftop solar. And that's a lot of carnage in those spaces today.

喬恩，記住，我們的業務沒有任何涉及離岸風電或屋頂太陽能的專案。如今這些地方傷亡慘重。

So listen, we think our business right now is very well managed. We've been able to maintain margins. And we believe even though our top line is down a little bit, we think we're taking market share in a down market. And so we're going to be well positioned to take advantage of that normalized growth when it returns in '27.

所以，聽著，我們認為我們目前的業務管理得非常好。我們一直能夠保持利潤率。我們相信，儘管我們的營收略有下降，但即便在市場低迷的情況下，我們仍然在搶佔市場份額。因此，當2027年經濟恢復正常成長時，我們將處於有利地位，能夠充分利用這一成長。

Got it. Thank you. And then last one for me. Just any thoughts on capital allocation from here. Looks like you're generating really solid cash flow. It looks like you'll have the debt from Maritime payoff in about a year. What are your priorities at this point?

知道了。謝謝。最後，也是我最後一個問題。關於接下來的資本配置，大家有什麼想法嗎？看來你的現金流非常穩定。看來你大概一年左右就能還清Maritime的債務了。你目前的首要任務是什麼？

Yeah. We're -- yeah. So listen, we've been successful with the acquisition and divestiture and put ourselves right back in a position where we've got a tremendous balance sheet and a lot of firepower. So we are very active in the M&A space. I don't have anything to announce. But I would say that the M&A market has significantly improved in the last half of the year.

是的。我們是——是的。所以聽著，我們在收購和剝離方面取得了成功，使我們重新擁有了雄厚的資產負債表和強大的實力。因此，我們在併購領域非常活躍。我沒有什麼要宣布的。但我認為，併購市場在今年下半年已經有了顯著改善。

There's definitely a lot of very attractive assets that either are coming to market or are rumored to be coming to market here in the early next year. So we're looking at those things carefully.

明年年初，肯定會有很多非常有吸引力的資產即將上市，或者據傳即將上市。所以我們正在仔細研究這些問題。

Now I want to be clear that we're going to continue to be pretty disciplined about this stuff. We really are most interested in businesses that would fit squarely into our aerospace, our Navy or our utility end markets.

現在我想明確一點，我們會繼續在這方面保持高度的自律。我們真正最感興趣的是那些能夠完全契合我們航空航太、海軍或公用事業終端市場的企業。

And the reason for that is because we assess that those markets have -- first of all, we understand them, but second of all, we assess that those markets have very durable, long-term, secular growth characteristics that provide us a really good opportunity to really grow up a business like that added to our portfolio.

原因在於，我們評估認為這些市場具有——首先，我們了解它們；其次，我們評估認為這些市場具有非常持久、長期、持續的成長特徵，這為我們提供了一個非常好的機會，讓我們能夠真正發展壯大添加到我們投資組合中的這類企業。

That's our focus. We've got the balance sheet to go do it, and we're starting to build that pipeline up again.

這是我們的重點。我們有足夠的資金去做這件事，我們正在重新建立起這條產品線。

Okay. Great. Thank you, again.

好的。偉大的。再次感謝。

Thank you, Jon.

謝謝你，喬恩。

Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, I'm showing no further questions in the queue. I would now like to turn the call back over to Bryan for closing remarks.

謝謝。女士們先生們，隊列中不再顯示任何問題。現在我想把電話交還給布萊恩，請他做總結發言。

Well, thanks, everyone. Again, a really tremendous year, transformational. One more shout out to all the employees of ESCO who really have made this possible. It's been a lot of work, but our team is good at their jobs and we've been very, very successful, and we'll continue to be in the years to come. So thanks a lot.

謝謝大家。再次強調，這是意義非凡、改變人生的一年。再次向ESCO的所有員工致以崇高的敬意，正是他們的辛勤付出才使得這一切成為可能。雖然工作量很大，但我們的團隊工作得很好，我們取得了非常非常大的成功，而且在未來的幾年裡，我們將繼續取得成功。非常感謝。

Ladies and gentlemen, that concludes today's conference call. Thank you for your participation. You may now disconnect.

女士們、先生們，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了。