伊頓 (ETN) 2021 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by and welcome to the Eaton Corporation fourth quarter earnings conference call. (Operator Instructions) And as a reminder, this conference is being recorded.

女士們、先生們，感謝大家的支持，歡迎參加伊頓公司第四季財報電話會議。 （操作員指示）提醒一下，本次會議正在錄音。

I would now like to turn the conference over to our host, Senior Vice President of Investor Relations, Mr. Yan Jin. Please go ahead.

現在，我想將會議交給我們的主持人，投資者關係高級副總裁嚴進先生。請繼續。

Good morning, everyone. I'm Yan Jin, Eaton's Senior Vice President of Investor Relations. Thank you all for joining us for Eaton's Fourth Quarter 2021 Earning Call. With me today are Craig Arnold, our Chairman and CEO; and Tom Okray, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Our agenda today, including the opening remarks by Craig, highlighting the company's performance in the fourth quarter. We'll be taking questions at the end of Craig's comments.

大家早安。我是伊頓公司投資者關係資深副總裁嚴進。感謝大家參加伊頓 2021 年第四季財報電話會議。今天與我在一起的有我們的董事長兼執行長克雷格‧阿諾德 (Craig Arnold)；以及執行副總裁兼財務長 Tom Okray。我們今天的議程，包括克雷格的開幕詞，強調了公司​​第四季的業績。我們將在 Craig 發言結束時回答問題。

The press release and the presentation we'll go through today have been posted on our website. This presentation includes the adjusted earnings per share, adjusted free cash flow and other non-GAAP measures that's reconciled in the appendix. A webcast of this call is accessible on our website and will be available for replay.

我們今天要發布的新聞稿和簡報已發佈在我們的網站上。本報告包括調整後的每股盈餘、調整後的自由現金流量以及附錄中核對的其他非公認會計準則指標。本次通話的網路直播可在我們的網站上觀看，並可供重播。

I will remind you that our comments today will include statements related to the expected future results of the company and are therefore forward-looking statements. Our actual results may differ materially from our forecasted projection due to a wide range of risks and uncertainties as outlined in our presentation release and the presentation.

我要提醒您，我們今天的評論將包括與公司預期未來業績相關的陳述，因此是前瞻性陳述。由於我們在簡報和簡報中概述的各種風險和不確定性，我們的實際結果可能與我們的預測有重大差異。

With that, I will turn it over to Craig.

說完這些，我將把麥克風交給 Craig。

Okay. Thanks, Yan. Let's start on Page 3 with a few highlights of the quarter, and I'll begin by saying that, and despite what's now very well publicized and ongoing supply chain issues, our team delivered solid results in the quarter and a record performance for the year. And in Q4, we generated adjusted EPS of $1.72, a fourth quarter record.

好的。謝謝，Yan。讓我們從第 3 頁開始介紹本季度的幾個亮點，首先我要說的是，儘管現在供應鏈問題已經廣為人知且持續存在，但我們的團隊在本季度取得了穩健的業績，並創下了年度創紀錄的業績。在第四季度，我們的調整後每股收益達到 1.72 美元，創下了第四季的最高紀錄。

Our sales of $4.8 billion, up 6% organically. And I'd say here, we had particular strength in residential, data centers and in industrial markets. And I'd say also our aftermarket businesses in both commercial aerospace and vehicle continued to deliver strong growth. We were certainly impacted by supply chain constraints, which had an impact on our revenue, and I'd say especially in our Electrical Americas and our Vehicle segment.

我們的銷售額為 48 億美元，有機成長 6%。我想說的是，我們在住宅、資料中心和工業市場方面特別有優勢。我想說的是，我們的商用航空和汽車售後業務持續保持強勁成長。我們確實受到供應鏈限制的影響，這對我們的收入產生了影響，尤其是在我們的美洲電氣業務和汽車部門。

The good news is the markets remained strong. Order growth accelerated in the quarter, and we ended the year with a record backlog. For our combined Electrical business, orders were up 21% on a rolling 12-month basis, and our backlog was up 56%. Our Aerospace business also had a significant increase in orders, up 19% on a rolling 12-month basis, and the backlog was up 16%.

好消息是市場依然強勁。本季訂單成長加速，我們以創紀錄的積壓訂單結束了這一財年。就我們的綜合電氣業務而言，訂單量在連續 12 個月內成長了 21%，而積壓訂單則增加了 56%。我們的航太業務訂單也大幅增加，過去 12 個月訂單量增加了 19%，積壓訂單量增加了 16%。

We also continue to post strong segment margins, 19.3% in the quarter and a Q4 record. And I'd say here, the actions that we've taken to mitigate inflation, our portfolio changes and the restructuring savings are all contributing to the strong incremental margin performances. I'd also note that we benefited from favorable mix in the quarter. And I'd say that our portfolio changes continue to be an important part of our strategy.

我們的分部利潤率也持續保持強勁，本季為 19.3%，創下了第四季的最高紀錄。我想說的是，我們為緩解通貨膨脹而採取的行動、我們的投資組合變化和重組儲蓄都為強勁的增量利潤表現做出了貢獻。我還要指出的是，我們受益於本季的良好產品組合。我想說，我們的投資組合變化仍然是我們策略的重要組成部分。

We're pleased to have completed the Royal Power Solutions transaction a few weeks ago. And the addition of Royal Power will allow us to accelerate our growth in eMobility, and actually in the broader electrical market as the economy continues to adopt more electric solutions. So I'd say, I think you'd agree that we're not sitting still. We're managing the things that we control operationally, while continuing to advance our strategic agenda.

我們很高興幾週前完成了 Royal Power Solutions 的交易。隨著經濟持續採用更多的電動解決方案，Royal Power 的加入將使我們能夠加速在電動車領域的成長，實際上也將加速我們在更廣泛的電力市場的成長。所以我想說，我想你會同意我們不會坐以待斃。我們正在管理我們在營運上控制的事情，同時繼續推進我們的策略議程。

Moving to Page 4. I'll highlight a few additional points on our quarterly results. First, total revenues of up 2%. We increased operating profit by 14%. So continue to demonstrate strong operating leverage. Second, acquisitions increased revenues by 7%, which was more than offset by the sale of Hydraulics, which was a 10% headwind. And while not complete, we're certainly pleased with our progress on the portfolio. We continue to drive changes to support our overall goals of creating a company with higher growth, higher margins and more earnings consistency.

轉到第 4 頁。一是總收入成長2%。我們的營業利潤增加了14%。因此持續展現強勁的經營槓桿。其次，收購使收入增加了 7%，但是液壓產品的出售抵消了這一增長，帶來了 10% 的不利影響。儘管尚未完成，但我們對投資組合的進展感到非常滿意。我們將繼續推動變革，以支持我們的整體目標：創建一家成長更快、利潤率更高、利潤更穩定的公司。

Third, I'd just point out that our margins of 19.3%, as I noted, were above the guidance range of 18.8% to 19.2% and I think a good indicator of our team's ability to execute operationally while once again, managing the things that are in our control. And lastly, we noted both adjusted EPS of $1.72, and second, margins of 19.3% were Q4 records in the face of these significant supply chain constraints that we've been dealing with.

第三，我想指出的是，我們的利潤率為 19.3%，高於 18.8% 至 19.2% 的指導範圍，我認為這很好地表明了我們團隊的營運執行能力，同時再次管理我們能控制的事情。最後，我們注意到，在我們面臨嚴重的供應鏈限制的情況下，調整後的每股收益為 1.72 美元，利潤率為 19.3%，這兩項均為第四季度的紀錄。

Next, on Page 5, we show the financial results of our Electrical Americas segment. Revenues were up 13%, 5% organic and 8% from the Tripp Lite acquisition. The organic sales growth was really driven by strength in residential, industrial and data center markets. And on a sequential basis, our organic growth did step up from 1% in Q3 to 5%. So we're making progress but still, as I noted, continue to be impacted by supply chain constraints. In some cases, our ability to meet demand was also impacted by labor availability as we had the spike in the Omicron version, certainly at the end of the year.

接下來，在第 5 頁，我們展示了美國電氣部門的財務表現。營收成長了 13%，其中有機成長 5%，收購 Tripp Lite 帶來的營收成長 8%。有機銷售成長的真正推動力是住宅、工業和資料中心市場的強勁表現。從環比來看，我們的有機成長率從第三季的 1% 上升至 5%。因此，我們正在取得進展，但正如我所說，仍然受到供應鏈限制的影響。在某些情況下，我們滿足需求的能力也受到勞動力可用性的影響，因為 Omicron 版本的數量出現了激增，尤其是在年底。

Operating margins of 19.2% were down 190 basis points year-over-year, and the decline was driven really by higher input costs, labor and supply chain inefficiencies and disruptions in our facilities. And on price recovery, we're making good progress. We made good progress in the quarter, but certainly not fast enough to prevent some margin erosion on the net between inflation and price and the way that plays through to operating margins.

營業利益率為 19.2%，較上年下降 190 個基點，下降的主要原因是投入成本增加、勞動力和供應鏈效率低下以及工廠中斷。在價格恢復方面，我們取得了良好進展。我們在本季度取得了良好進展，但速度肯定不夠快，不足以阻止通貨膨脹和價格之間的淨利潤率侵蝕以及對營業利潤率的影響。

And as noted in my opening remarks, market demand remained strong, which was reflected in orders and the growth in our backlog. On a rolling 12-month basis, orders were up some 20%, accelerating from up 17% in Q3 and 13% in Q2. And our backlog reached another record, up 57% from last year, and that's 7% higher than it was in Q3. The strongest markets continue to be residential and data centers. And I'd say here also beyond orders, we also have strong momentum in our negotiation pipeline, which was up some 11% in the quarter.

正如我在開場白中提到的，市場需求依然強勁，這反映在訂單和積壓訂單的成長上。連續 12 個月，訂單成長約 20%，高於第三季的 17% 和第二季的 13%。我們的積壓訂單再創紀錄，比去年增長了 57％，比第三季高出 7％。最強勁的市場仍然是住宅和資料中心。我想說的是，除了訂單之外，我們的談判管道也勢頭強勁，本季成長了約 11%。

Turning to Page 6. We summarize our Electrical Global segment. And as you can see, we delivered really strong results in this segment. Organic growth was 15% with strength in all regions and particular strength in commercial data center and industrial markets. We also delivered significant operating leverage with operating margins of 19.5% and incremental margins of 40%. We did have a little bit of favorable mix here from our exposure to industrial end markets, but we do expect this to continue.

翻到第 6 頁。如您所見，我們在這一領域取得了非常強勁的業績。有機成長率為 15%，所有地區均表現強勁，尤其是商業資料中心和工業市場。我們也實現了顯著的營業槓桿，營業利潤率為 19.5%，增量利潤率為 40%。由於我們涉足工業終端市場，因此我們確實獲得了一些有利的組合，但我們確實預計這種情況將會持續下去。

Like the Americas, orders remained strong, a 22% increase on a rolling 12-month basis and a step-up from the 17% number we posted in Q3. And our growth -- and our backlog remained above 50%. In this segment, the order strength was especially strong in data centers, residential and utility markets. Yes, so I'd say overall, I'd say that our Electrical Global business had a very strong quarter on top of a strong year and is really carrying a lot of strong momentum into 2022.

與美洲一樣，訂單依然強勁，連續 12 個月成長 22%，較第三季公佈的 17% 有所上升。我們的成長和積壓訂單仍保持在50%以上。在這一領域，資料中心、住宅和公用事業市場的訂單實力尤其強勁。是的，所以總的來說，我們的全球電氣業務在強勁的一年基礎上又度過了一個非常強勁的季度，並且在 2022 年確實保持了強勁的發展勢頭。

Moving to Page 7, we summarize the results for our Aerospace segment. As you can see, we had a strong quarter. The industry recovery has certainly begun. Revenues increased 40%, 4% organic, 37% from the acquisition of Cobham Mission Systems. And currency had a 1% negative impact.

轉到第 7 頁，我們總結了航空航天部門的業績。如您所見，我們本季表現強勁。行業復甦確實已經開始。營收成長了 40%，其中有機成長 4%，收購科巴姆任務系統 (Cobham Mission Systems) 帶來的營收成長了 37%。貨幣則產生了 1% 的負面影響。

Aftermarket and biz jet. This was partially offset by weakness in military markets. Operating margins were 24.9%, an all-time record and up 660 basis points from prior year. In the quarter, we had solid incremental margins of more than 40%, which were helped by favorable mix, particularly the growth in aftermarket and by our portfolio actions.

售後市場和公務機。軍事市場的疲軟部分抵消了這一影響。營業利益率為 24.9%，創歷史新高，較上年成長 660 個基點。本季度，我們的增量利潤率穩定在 40% 以上，這得益於有利的產品組合，特別是售後市場的成長以及我們的投資組合行動。

Another bright spot in the quarter was the growth in orders in backlog. On a rolling 12-month basis, orders turned positive in Q3 and were up 19% in Q4 with particular strength in commercial markets. Commercial transport, biz jets and commercial aftermarket were all up significantly. And lastly, our backlog was up 16% from last year.

本季的另一個亮點是積壓訂單的成長。從連續 12 個月來看，第三季訂單量轉為正值，第四季成長 19%，商業市場表現特別強勁。商用運輸、公務機和商用售後市場均大幅上漲。最後，我們的積壓訂單比去年增加了 16%。

Next, on Page 8, we show the financial results of our vehicle business. Revenue was down 2%: 1% organic, 1% from currency. We had strong organic growth in North America truck and in our South America business, which was offset by weakness in global light vehicle markets. As you're aware, we had certainly significant supply chain constraints in this segment, including a number of customer shutdowns that impacted our revenue. We do have -- we think the worst is behind us here, and we'll see improvement in supply chain-related disruptions this year. Overall, I think our team executed well, delivering solid margins of 16.4% and decremental margins of 30%.

接下來，第 8 頁，我們展示了我們的汽車業務的財務表現。收入下降 2%：其中有機收入下降 1%，貨幣影響下降 1%。我們的北美卡車和南美業務實現了強勁的有機成長，但全球輕型車市場的疲軟抵消了這一成長。如您所知，我們在這一領域確實面臨嚴重的供應鏈限制，包括一些客戶停工，這對我們的收入產生了影響。我們確實認為，最糟糕的時期已經過去，今年我們將看到與供應鏈相關的中斷情況有所改善。總體而言，我認為我們的團隊表現良好，實現了 16.4% 的穩定利潤率和 30% 的遞減利潤率。

Turning to Page 9. We have the results for our eMobility business. Revenues were up 4% with growth in North America and Asia, partly offset by weakness in Europe. Like our vehicle business, we experienced significant supply chain constraints and customer shutdowns in this segment. And operating margins were a negative 9.1% as we continued to invest heavily in R&D and start-up costs associated with new program wins.

翻到第 9 頁。營收成長了 4%，得益於北美和亞洲的成長，但歐洲的疲軟部分抵消了這一成長。與我們的汽車業務一樣，我們在這一領域也經歷了嚴重的供應鏈限制和客戶停工。由於我們繼續在與新專案勝利相關的研發和啟動成本上投入大量資金，營業利潤率為負 9.1%。

As I mentioned earlier, we acquired Royal Power Solutions in January, and it will be reported within the eMobility segment. This is an important acquisition. It's part of our strategy to improve the long-term growth rate of Eaton. First, it expands our addressable market for eMobility with a portfolio of highly engineered terminal connectors for electrical applications.

正如我之前提到的，我們在一月份收購了 Royal Power Solutions，它將在 eMobility 部門內進行報告。這是一項重要的收購。這是我們提高伊頓長期成長率的策略的一部分。首先，它透過一系列專為電氣應用而設計的端子連接器拓展了我們在電動車領域的目標市場。

Second, Royal Power has a strong track record of profitable growth and will continue to grow as the electrical content in vehicles continue to expand. And third, Royal will allow us to offer a more complete customer solution as we bundle their products with our own power protection and power conversion products that we're selling in eMobility markets.

其次，Royal Power擁有強勁的獲利成長記錄，隨著車輛電氣化程度的不斷提高，其獲利成長仍將持續。第三，透過將 Royal 的產品與我們在電動車市場銷售的電源保護和電源轉換產品捆綁在一起，我們可以為客戶提供更完整的解決方案。

And I'd say here, with organic growth momentum, the completion of Royal Power acquisition, we're well positioned to realize our long-term objective here, which is building a new $2 billion to $4 billion eMobility business inside of Eaton. And our cumulative new program wins are now at $800 million of material revenue when you include the impact of new wins from Royal Power.

我想說，憑藉有機成長勢頭和對 Royal Power 收購的完成，我們已準備好實現我們的長期目標，即在伊頓內部建立一個價值 20 億至 40 億美元的新電動車業務。如果算上 Royal Power 新專案勝利的影響，我們累積的新專案勝利物質收入已達 8 億美元。

Moving to Page 10. I'll just take a minute to recap 2021 performance before we turn our focus to 2022. First, we delivered strong organic growth for the year, up 10%, with significant strength in our Electrical Global segment, up 15%; Vehicle, up 21%; and eMobility, up 16%. And I'm especially proud of the team for delivering record segment margins of 18.9%, a 250 basis point improvement over 2020 despite the challenging supply chain environment. Our team executed at a high level and delivered incremental margins of 43%.

轉到第 10 頁。汽車，上漲21%；以及 eMobility，成長 16%。我為團隊感到特別自豪，儘管供應鏈環境充滿挑戰，但公司仍實現了創紀錄的 18.9% 的分部利潤率，比 2020 年提高了 250 個基點。我們的團隊表現出色，實現了 43% 的增量利潤。

We also had one of the most transformative years in the history of the company when you think about the portfolio. We completed $8 billion of portfolio actions towards our goal of building this high-growth, higher-margin company with more earnings consistency. And we're off to a good start in 2022 with another value-enhancing acquisition in Royal Power.

從投資組合來看，這也是公司史上最具變革性的一年。我們完成了 80 億美元的投資組合行動，以實現我們的目標：打造這家高成長、高利潤、獲利更穩定的公司。 2022 年，我們透過對 Royal Power 進行另一項增值收購，取得了良好的開端。

The result of our disciplined execution, the transformative portfolio of actions allowed us to deliver 35% growth in adjusted EPS. And importantly, our shareholders were well rewarded for their commitment to Eaton with a total shareholder return of 47% for the year. Our 2021 results certainly set a high bar for what we expect of ourselves and I'm sure what you expect of others of us as well. But we're up for the challenge, and we think the best years are still in front of us.

由於我們嚴格的執行，變革性的行動組合使我們的調整後每股盈餘實現了 35% 的成長。重要的是，我們的股東對伊頓的承諾獲得了豐厚的回報，全年股東總回報率為 47%。我們的 2021 年業績無疑為我們自己的期望設定了很高的標準，我相信您對我們其他人的期望也是如此。但我們已做好準備迎接挑戰，我們認為最好的時光仍在我們前方。

So let's just turn our focus to 2022. On Page 11, we show organic growth and margin guidance by segment. Overall, we expect organic growth to be 7% to 9%. Starting with our Electrical businesses. Americas and Global are both expected to grow 7% to 9%, and we expect these businesses to see growth really across all end markets, with particular strength continuing in data centers, distributed IT and industrial markets.

因此，讓我們將焦點轉向 2022 年。總體而言，我們預計有機成長率為 7% 至 9%。從我們的電氣業務開始。美洲和全球預計都將成長 7% 至 9%，我們預計這些業務將在所有終端市場實現成長，尤其在資料中心、分散式 IT 和工業市場將持續保持強勁勢頭。

In Aerospace, we expect organic growth of 10% to 12% with strong growth in both commercial OE and aftermarket channels. Our base assumption here is that travel continues to expand from the COVID impact the downturns without any significant new variant. And we expect low single-digit growth in military markets. For Vehicle, we're anticipating organic growth of 7.5% to 9.5% with strength in both light motor vehicles and truck markets. And in eMobility, we're expecting organic growth to be 11% to 13% driven by the continued strength in electric vehicles.

在航空航太領域，我們預計有機成長率將達到 10% 至 12%，商業 OE 和售後市場通路都將強勁成長。我們的基本假設是，在沒有任何重大新變種出現的情況下，旅遊業將繼續從新冠疫情對經濟低迷的影響中擴大。我們預期軍事市場將呈現低個位數成長。對於車輛而言，我們預計有機成長率將達到 7.5% 至 9.5%，輕型機動車輛和卡車市場均將保持強勁成長。在電動車領域，我們預計有機成長率將達到 11% 至 13%，這得益於電動車的持續強勁成長。

And just turning to segment margins. We expect Eaton to be between 19.9% and 20.3%. At the midpoint, this is a 120 basis point improvement over our record margins that we delivered in 2021. And we expect to see margin expansion in all of our segments.

現在只討論分段邊距。我們預計伊頓的股價將在 19.9% 至 20.3% 之間。從中位數來看，這比我們 2021 年實現的創紀錄利潤率提高了 120 個基點。

Turning to Page 12, we cover the balance of our 2022 guidance. Organic growth, as we noted, is expected to be 7% to 9%, with acquisitions and divestitures subtracting 3.5%, and currency is expected to be flat. We're also forecasting cost to be flat and our tax rate to be between 16% and 17%. Adjusted EPS is projected to be in a range of $7.30 to $7.70, at the midpoint of $7.50, a 13% increase. Operating cash flow is expected to be between $3 billion and $3.2 billion, and CapEx will be approximately $650 million.

翻到第 12 頁，我們介紹了 2022 年指引的其餘內容。正如我們所指出的，有機成長預計為 7% 至 9%，收購和資產剝離將減少 3.5%，而貨幣預計將持平。我們也預測成本將保持不變，稅率將在 16% 至 17% 之間。調整後的每股盈餘預計在 7.30 美元至 7.70 美元之間，中間值為 7.50 美元，增幅為 13%。預計營運現金流在 30 億至 32 億美元之間，資本支出約 6.5 億美元。

At the midpoint, our operating cash flow is expected to increase 15% versus last year. Our free cash flow is expected to be between $2.4 billion and $2.6 billion (sic - see slide 12, "$2.35 billion and $2.55 billion") and at the midpoint of $2.5 billion, also a 15% increase. This represents free cash flow to sales of approximately 12% and free cash flow to net income of approximately 100%. And we expect share repurchases to be between $200 million and $300 million, and this really reflects our pivot to what we think is going to be a higher priority on tuck-in acquisitions.

從中期來看，我們的營運現金流預計將比去年增加 15%。我們的自由現金流預計在 24 億美元至 26 億美元之間（原文如此 - 參見投影片 12，「23.5 億美元至 25.5 億美元」），中間值為 25 億美元，也成長 15%。這意味著自由現金流與銷售額比約為 12%，自由現金流與淨收入之比約為 100%。我們預計股票回購金額將在 2 億至 3 億美元之間，這確實反映了我們對附加收購的重視。

And lastly, our Q1 guidance is as follows. We expect adjusted EPS to be between $1.55 and $1.65, organic revenue growth to be up 7% to 9%, segment margins to come in between 18.4% and 18.8%, and we expect our tax rate to be between 15% and 16%.

最後，我們的第一季指引如下。我們預計調整後的每股盈餘在 1.55 美元至 1.65 美元之間，有機收入成長率將達到 7% 至 9%，分部利潤率將在 18.4% 至 18.8% 之間，我們預計稅率將在 15% 至 16% 之間。

And if you'd just allow me for a moment, if I could just close with, once again, Page 13, which is a brief summary on how we think you should think about the company. I'd say, first, our top line is supported by strong secular growth trends. And I'd say of note, most of this growth impact is just beginning to show up in our revenue. So most of it's still out in front of us.

如果您能允許我停留片刻，那麼我可以再次以第 13 頁作為結束語，這一頁是我們認為您應該如何看待這家公司的簡要總結。我想說，首先，我們的營收受到強勁的長期成長趨勢的支撐。值得注意的是，這種成長影響大部分才剛開始體現在我們的收入中。所以大部分問題仍然在我們面前。

We've proven that we know how to expand margins and are comfortable with our ability to deliver 11% to 13% EPS growth over our planning horizon. We also have clear capital allocation priorities and a disciplined approach to M&A, which we think is paying off. As a result, I'd say we're a different company today. We've transformed our portfolio. We're now a company that will deliver higher growth, better margins, more earnings consistency. And I'd say, once again, we're not done.

我們已經證明，我們知道如何擴大利潤率，並且有信心在規劃期間實現 11% 至 13% 的每股盈餘成長。我們也具有明確的資本配置優先事項和嚴謹的併購方式，我們認為這是有回報的。因此，我想說我們今天已經是一家不同的公司了。我們已經改變了我們的投資組合。我們現在是一家能夠實現更高成長、更高利潤、更穩定獲利的公司。我想再說一遍，我們還沒完成。

We also have a long-standing commitment to ESG. It remains at the forefront of what we do every day. In fact, the sustainability for us is really a part of how we drive growth in the company. Many of you have gotten to know our Chief Sustainability Officer, Harold Jones, and you'll be hearing more from him at our investor meeting next month.

我們也對 ESG 有著長期的承諾。它仍然是我們日常工作中的重中之重。事實上，永續性對我們來說確實是推動公司成長的一部分。你們中的許多人已經認識我們的首席永續發展長哈羅德瓊斯 (Harold Jones)，你們將在下個月的投資者會議上聽到更多他的消息。

In the short term, you can count on us to continue to manage through these operating challenges as a result of COVID, the supply chain disruptions and labor shortages by managing the things we can control. 2021, we think, was an important proof point on our journey to transform the company, and we're proud of our results. More importantly, we're ready to do it again this year.

短期內，您可以相信，我們將透過管理我們能夠控制的事情，繼續應對新冠疫情、供應鏈中斷和勞動力短缺等因素所帶來的營運挑戰。我們認為，2021 年是我們轉型公司歷程中的重要證明點，我們為我們的成果感到自豪。更重要的是，我們準備今年再做一次。

Now I'll turn it back to Yan, and we'll be happy to address your questions.

現在我將話題轉回給 Yan，我們很樂意解答您的問題。

Thank you, Craig. (Operator Instructions) Thank you, once again, for your cooperation. With that, I will turn it over to the operator to give you guys the instructions.

謝謝你，克雷格。 （操作員指示）再次感謝您的合作。說完這些，我將把麥克風交給操作員，讓他給你們指示。

(Operator Instructions) Our first question will come from the line of Josh Pokrzywinski with Morgan Stanley.

（操作員指示）我們的第一個問題來自摩根士丹利的 Josh Pokrzywinski。

I always know if there's a pause it has to be coming to me, so I can start unmuting. So a couple of questions here. I guess first on free cash flow conversion.

我總是知道如果有暫停，它一定是向我走來的，所以我可以開始取消靜音。這裡有幾個問題。我首先想到的是自由現金流轉換。

How should we think about some of the moving pieces around there, working capital or otherwise? And what -- when do you think we start to get back to kind of more historical conversion rates?

我們應該如何考慮周遭的一些變動因素，營運資金或其他因素？您認為什麼時候我們才會開始恢復到更接近歷史水準的轉換率？

So thanks for the question, Josh. Appreciate it. We intentionally used GAAP earnings in our prepared remarks when we said we were close to 100% in our free cash flow conversion. And the reason we did this is it's important to look at GAAP earnings when you're going through multiyear restructurings and doing a lot of M&A.

謝謝你的提問，喬希。非常感謝。當我們說我們的自由現金流轉換率接近 100% 時，我們有意在準備好的評論中使用 GAAP 收益。我們這樣做的原因是，當你經歷多年重組和進行大量併購時，查看 GAAP 收益非常重要。

So there's really 4 main items that you need to think about as it relates free cash flow conversion. One is acquisition, integration and divestiture costs, which are going to generate cash requirements for us in 2022. The other one is the multiyear restructuring program. Now while we're at the tail end of that, we will have cash requirements, which will also be in 2022.

因此，當涉及自由現金流轉換時，您實際上需要考慮 4 個主要事項。一是收購、整合和剝離成本，這將在 2022 年為我們產生現金需求。現在，當我們處於這一階段的尾聲時，我們將有現金需求，這也將在 2022 年出現。

Another element is CapEx. As you probably noted for our guide, we're up $75 million in CapEx investing to grow. And then the final one is a smaller one, but it's relevant, the CARES Act. We still have 50% which is due, which we'll pay in 2022. So if you're using adjusted earnings, you likely got in the low 80s, mid-80s. If you adjust for those 4 items, you're going to be well into the mid-90s. So I don't think it's a departure between what we've done historically. I think it's consistent.

另一個要素是資本支出 (CapEx)。正如您可能在我們的指南中註意到的那樣，我們已投資 7500 萬美元資本支出以實現成長。最後一個法案規模較小，但與之相關，即《關懷法案》。我們還有 50% 的款項到期，我們將在 2022 年支付。如果針對這 4 項進行調整，那麼您將會達到 90 年代中期的水準。所以我不認為這與我們過去所做的事情有什麼不同。我認為它是一致的。

The other thing I would note is we're also growing operating cash flow by $400 million in the year, which is significant.

我還想指出的另一件事是，我們今年的營運現金流還增加了 4 億美元，這是有意義的。

And I'd just add, in addition to that, Josh, I mean we're obviously not through a number of these supply chain-related challenges. And so we're certainly, as we think about today, how do we protect customers? How do we get out in front of some of these supply chain constraints? We're still sitting on a fairly large pile of working capital, specifically in inventory, as we're dealing with some of these supply chain-related issues.

我還要補充一點，喬希，除此之外，我們顯然還沒有克服許多與供應鏈相關的挑戰。因此，當我們今天思考時，當然要如何保護客戶？我們如何擺脫這些供應鏈限制？由於我們正在處理一些與供應鏈相關的問題，我們仍然擁有相當多的營運資金，特別是庫存。

Got it. That's helpful. And then I guess just speaking of supply chain, probably the volume output here is held back. We can see that in the 1Q guide, I guess, specifically in Electrical. But if order rates hold, what sort of volume growth are you guys thinking about as kind of in second half or exit rate? Or as some of these supply chain issues abate, how do you guys think about that in the guide here?

知道了。這很有幫助。然後我想，就供應鏈而言，這裡的產量可能受到了抑制。我想，我們可以在 1Q 指南中看到這一點，特別是在電氣方面。但是，如果訂單率保持不變，你們認為下半年的銷售成長會達到什麼樣的水平，或者退出率會達到什麼樣的水平？或者隨著一些供應鏈問題的消退，你們如何看待這裡的指南？

Yes. I mean it's certainly a tough question to really address, I mean, that you can appreciate. We and others have got this thing wrong in terms of how long these supply chain constraints would be with us. But certainly, the underlying order growth in the businesses is a good proxy for where the real demand is.

是的。我的意思是，這確實是個很難回答的問題，我的意思是，你可以理解。我們和其他人對於這些供應鏈限制會持續多久的判斷都是錯誤的。但可以肯定的是，企業的潛在訂單成長可以很好地反映出真實的需求。

And I'm sure the question that sits just behind this one is that, to what extent do you believe there's over ordering taking place, restocking in the channel? And I can tell you, as we continue to test for that, we're not seeing it. And our distributors are certainly today calling for more inventory than we're currently able to deliver to them. So much of our business is project-driven. And so on projects, you're not over-ordering on a project. A project is a project.

我確信這問題背後的問題是，您認為通路中存在多大程度的過度訂購和補貨？我可以告訴你，當我們繼續測試時，我們沒有發現它。我們的分銷商今天要求的庫存肯定比我們目前能夠交付的要多。我們的大部分業務都是由專案驅動的。對於項目來說，你不會對項目進行過度訂購。項目就是項目。

And so if you just look at the order levels that we're seeing in our business, I mean orders and sales at some point converge to the extent that there isn't a bunch of over-ordering taking place. And so we feel really good about the underlying strength in our markets. We see this tremendous growth in our backlog. And eventually, this stuff is converted to sales.

因此，如果您只看我們業務中的訂單水平，我的意思是訂單和銷售額在某個時候會趨於一致，以至於不會出現大量過度訂購的情況。因此，我們對我們市場的潛在實力感到非常滿意。我們看到我們的積壓訂單有了巨大的成長。最終，這些東西被轉化為銷售。

And so we're talking about our guidance of 7% to 9%, which is well below the underlying order rate that we've seen in our Electrical business. And so at some point, those 2 things converge.

因此，我們的預期是 7% 至 9%，這遠低於我們在電氣業務中看到的基本訂單率。所以在某個時候，這兩件事就會融合在一起。

Yes. I guess for perspective, Josh, we estimated in Q4, just in the Americas, we probably lost about $100 million in sales related to supplier disruption.

是的。我想，喬希，從長遠來看，我們估計在第四季度，僅在美洲，我們可能因供應商中斷而損失了約 1 億美元的銷售額。

Yes. Right. Timing. We didn't -- so we think that's one thing those revenues are pushed into 2022 if you just went into the backlog.

是的。正確的。定時。我們沒有 - 因此我們認為如果您只是進入積壓狀態，這些收入將被推遲到 2022 年。

Our next question comes from the line of Andrew Obin with Bank of America.

我們的下一個問題來自美國銀行的安德魯‧奧賓 (Andrew Obin)。

Just a question on backlog. How much visibility do you currently have from your project backlog? And how does the margin profile of those projects look relative to the current input costs? Because sort of mixed message from various folks as to how that's going to play out in '22.

這只是一個關於積壓的問題。您目前對專案積壓的了解程度如何？相對於目前的投入成本，這些項目的利潤狀況如何？因為對於22年的情況將如何，不同的人給了不同的解釋。

Yes. I'd say that we're not -- we're sitting on a lot more visibility today than we have ever in the history of the business. When you think about this 57% -- 56% growth in the backlog for our Global Electrical businesses. And so we have much better visibility today than we would have going into almost any year in the history of the company.

是的。我想說的是，我們今天享有的知名度比我們業務歷史上任何時候都要高得多。您可以想想我們全球電氣業務的積壓訂單成長了 57% - 56%。因此，我們今天的知名度比公司歷史上幾乎任何一年都要高得多。

And I'd say with respect to pricing in the backlog, I mean, we've naturally have seen this inflation trend coming for some time now. We certainly have had the ability to anticipate where it was going as well with respect to commodity inflation. And so we're very comfortable today with pricing in our backlog, and that's certainly reflected in the guidance that we have. But we don't expect, like perhaps you've heard from some others, to have a margin impact as a result of a backlog that's not reflective of today's commodity prices.

我想說的是，關於積壓訂單的定價，我的意思是，我們自然已經看到這種通膨趨勢出現了一段時間。我們當然有能力預測商品通膨的走向。因此，我們今天對積壓訂單的定價非常滿意，這也肯定反映在我們的指導中。但是，正如您可能從其他人那裡聽到的那樣，我們並不認為積壓訂單會對利潤率產生影響，因為積壓訂單不能反映當今的商品價格。

Excellent. And just maybe to build on the previous question. So you are highlighting that sort of the underlying free cash flow conversion is close to 100%. But look, I think cash flow is one of the factors here. As we sort of enter this growth, what looks like an industrial growth period, how generally do you think about sort of investments needed in capacity, working capital, supply chain to keep up with demand in the longer term? And how do you see managing it? And what kind of impact do you foresee it having on margins, free cash flow conversions, return on capital, et cetera? Just big-picture question.

出色的。也許只是為了補充上一個問題。所以你強調的是，底層自由現金流轉換接近 100%。但我認為現金流是其中一個因素。當我們進入這種成長階段，也就是工業成長期時，您通常如何看待在產能、營運資金、供應鏈方面需要哪些投資才能滿足長期需求？您如何看待它的管理？您預期它會對利潤率、自由現金流轉換、資本報酬率等產生什麼樣的影響？這只是宏觀問題。

Yes. I'd say if you think about -- we talk about these important secular growth trends and the fact that we do expect our business as we look forward to be a much faster-growing business than we have historically. And we have had to, and we've talked about some examples before, make some fairly sizable investments in new capacity to deal with some of this growth that we're going to be -- that we're booking today and will be coming into the future.

是的。我想說，如果你想想——我們談論這些重要的長期成長趨勢，以及我們確實期望我們的業務能夠比歷史上成長更快的事實。而且我們必須——我們之前已經討論過一些例子——對新產能進行相當大的投資，以應對我們今天預訂的以及未來的部分成長。

And so I would say as you look into the future, certainly with respect to investments in capacity to support demand, we would expect to see a bit of a tick-up in capital spending requirements. Revenue is going to be growing as well. And so if you think about CapEx as a percentage of sales, it probably won't be a material change, but there'll probably be a bit of a tick-up.

因此我想說，展望未來，當然就投資產能以支持需求而言，我們預期資本支出需求將會略有增加。收入也將成長。因此，如果您將資本支出視為銷售額的百分比，它可能不會發生重大變化，但可能會上升。

On the working capital side, I'd say today, we still have opportunities. We are sitting today on record investments in inventory as we try to protect our customers and protect our sites so that they can keep running. And so I would say I would not anticipate today a large investment in working capital. Once we get through some of the supply chain specific-driven transitory items, I would hope that at some point, it will be a source of cash even as we continue to grow the business. And we literally have built that much inventory inside of the company to really try to protect customers.

在營運資金方面，我想說今天我們仍然有機會。我們今天對庫存進行了創紀錄的投資，試圖保護我們的客戶和我們的網站，以便他們可以繼續運作。因此我想說，我今天不會預期對營運資金進行大量投資。一旦我們完成了一些由供應鏈特定驅動的臨時項目，我希望在某個時候，即使我們繼續發展業務，它也將成為現金來源。我們確實在公司內部建立了這麼多庫存，以真正保護客戶。

But on the working capital -- on the -- excuse me, on the CapEx side, we would anticipate continuing to make investments in capacity in our facilities in resiliency to ensure that we have the ability to support the growth that we see coming.

但在營運資本方面——對不起，在資本支出方面，我們預計將繼續對我們的設施的彈性容量進行投資，以確保我們有能力支持我們所看到的未來​​成長。

Andrew, I think it's also important to note is we're not walking away from our objective of 100% free cash flow conversion and 14% free cash flow as a percentage of sales. That remains something that we're focused on.

安德魯，我認為還需要注意的是，我們不會放棄 100% 自由現金流轉換和 14% 自由現金流佔銷售額的目標。這仍然是我們關注的事情。

Our next question comes from the line of Jeff Sprague with Vertical Research.

我們的下一個問題來自 Vertical Research 的 Jeff Sprague。

If we could just kind of peel the price/cost apart a little bit further. I just wonder, specifically on price, if you can give us some sense of what the realization was in the quarter and what is embedded in your guide. And also as part of that, Craig, you just kind of mentioned you didn't expect price/cost to be a margin headwind. So are we -- it sounds like we're probably positive on a dollar rate, perhaps? Maybe you could confirm that and just clarify the margin impact, if you will.

如果我們可以將價格/成本稍微分開一點。我只是想知道，具體關於價格，您是否可以讓我們了解本季的實現情況以及您的指南中包含的內容。而且作為其中的一部分，克雷格，你剛才提到，你沒想到價格/成本會成為利潤率的阻力。那麼，我們——聽起來我們可能對美元利率持正面態度，對嗎？如果你願意的話，也許你可以確認這一點，並澄清利潤率的影響。

Yes. Appreciate the question, Jeff, and this is obviously one that we're spending a lot of time internally on ensuring that we're recovering all of the commodity inflation that we're seeing in our business. And so my comment -- my opening commentary, I talked about the fact that we saw a margin impact in our Electrical Americas business, specifically as it relates to price and cost, largely because we are, in fact, recovering the dollars, but we're not getting a margin -- at least in the fourth quarter, we did not get a margin on top of the recovery. And so it obviously had a dilutive impact on the margin rate.

是的。感謝傑夫提出這個問題，顯然我們在內部花費了大量時間來確保恢復我們業務中看到的所有商品通膨。因此，在我的開場白中，我談到了我們看到電氣美洲業務利潤率受到影響的事實，特別是與價格和成本相關的影響，這主要是因為我們實際上正在收回成本，但我們沒有獲得利潤——至少在第四季度，我們沒有在復甦的基礎上獲得利潤。因此它顯然對利潤率產生了稀釋作用。

As we look forward, we do expect that we'll be slightly positive in price/cost, we think about 2022, and that will just continue to build from this point forward. So 2022 will be a better year. It will be less of a headwind for sure than we experienced in 2021. And we certainly would expect from an EPS standpoint that it will be positive to our EPS earnings.

展望未來，我們確實預期價格/成本會略有正面變化，我們考慮在 2022 年，而且從現在開始這種趨勢將繼續增強。因此 2022 年將會是更好的一年。與 2021 年相比，這肯定會對我們造成較小的不利影響。

On the specific question on what the dollar percentage, Jeff, as we talked about on the last earnings call, and I know it's a number that everybody is looking for, and I can understand why. But we're in so many different businesses, and we have very different inflation rates. When you think about something in Crouse-Hinds, which has a really heavy content of steel versus something that's in one of our other businesses, and so the inflation rates are quite variable. And so we have chosen not to provide that number so as not to confuse customers around prices they're seeing versus what we're talking about on our earnings call.

關於美元百分比的具體問題，傑夫，正如我們在上次財報電話會議上討論的那樣，我知道這是每個人都在尋找的數字，我可以理解為什麼。但我們的業務範圍非常不同，通貨膨脹率也有很大差異。當您想到 Crouse-Hinds 的產品時，您會發現它的鋼材含量比我們其他業務的產品要高得多，因此通貨膨脹率變化很大。因此，我們選擇不提供該數字，以免讓客戶對他們看到的價格與我們在財報電話會議上談論的價格感到困惑。

Since you mentioned steel, maybe I'll go there with my follow-up. Obviously, the futures are pointing a lot lower. Perhaps you could just give us an update on the likely lag effects of perhaps deflation on steel coming through the system. You do have some big backlogs to work through.

既然您提到了鋼鐵，也許我會在後續討論中談到鋼鐵。顯然，期貨價格正大幅下跌。也許您可以向我們介紹通貨緊縮對鋼鐵業可能產生的滯後影響。您確實還有一些大量積壓工作需要處理。

So certainly, I would suspect it's going to take a couple of quarters. But any color there on steel, specifically? Or just the other key commodity inputs that we're all keeping an eye on here?

因此我當然懷疑這將需要幾個季度的時間。但是鋼材上具體有什麼顏色嗎？還是只是我們都在關注的其他關鍵商品投入？

Yes. We appreciate the question as well. And like you mentioned, we are, in fact, seeing steel prices kind of retrench a little bit versus where they were last year and certainly where they were in the fourth quarter. And the typical lag time on that can be anywhere from 30 days to 90 days, depending upon which segment of the business and what type of agreement we have with our suppliers.

是的。我們也非常感謝您的提問。正如您所說，我們實際上看到鋼鐵價格與去年同期相比有所回落，尤其是與第四季度相比。而典型的延遲時間可能是 30 天到 90 天，這取決於業務的哪個部分以及我們與供應商簽訂了什麼類型的協議。

But I would say with respect to commodities overall is that we're really not seeing commodities overall essentially improve. Copper is up. Resin costs are still high. The cost of semiconductors, if you can get them, are up dramatically. And so we are still living in this inflationary environment. And we would anticipate for much of 2022 that we continue to operate in this elevated environment of input costs.

但我想說，就大宗商品整體而言，我們確實沒有看到大宗商品整體出現實質改善。銅價上漲。樹脂成本仍然很高。如果你能買到半導體的話，其成本將會大幅上漲。因此我們仍然生活在這種通貨膨脹的環境中。我們預計，在 2022 年的大部分時間裡，我們將繼續在這種投入成本高企的環境中運作。

Steel is the one kind of good guy right now, but there are more than enough other bad guys out there in terms of where we're still seeing inflation that are offsetting the benefits that we're going to see from steel.

目前來說，鋼鐵是一種好東西，但是，從我們仍然看到的通貨膨脹來看，還有足夠的其他壞東西在抵消鋼鐵帶來的好處。

Our next question comes from the line of Nicole DeBlase with Deutsche Bank.

我們的下一個問題來自德意志銀行的 Nicole DeBlase。

I just kind of want to go back to the free cash flow and working capital discussion. So completely understand that this is an area of opportunity, and that's kind of been reflected over a lot of companies that we've heard from over the past few weeks. But I guess when we think about your 2022 guidance, have you embedded continued working capital build? Or are you anticipating that it will be a source of cash for this year?

我只是想回到自由現金流和營運資本的討論。所以完全可以理解這是一個充滿機會的領域，過去幾週我們聽到的許多公司的情況都反映了這一點。但我想，當我們考慮您的 2022 年指導時，您是否已經嵌入了持續的營運資本建設？或者您預計它將成為今年的現金來源？

I think what's embedded -- correct me if I'm wrong, Tom, but I think it's a slight positive what's embedded in our forecast.

我認為，如果我錯了，請糾正我，湯姆，但我認為我們的預測中隱含著一點正面的東西。

We're looking at some net working capital improvement, primarily as it relates to inventory.

我們正在研究一些淨營運資本的改善，主要是與庫存相關的。

Right. So it's not a big needle mover for us in 2022. It is a slight positive is what I'd say. And once again, it could be an area of opportunity. If we get through some of these supply chain-related challenges more quickly than we're currently anticipating, it certainly could be an opportunity to generate stronger free cash flow.

正確的。因此，這對我們 2022 年來說不是什麼大事。再一次，這可能是個機會領域。如果我們能夠比目前預期的更快克服一些與供應鏈相關的挑戰，這無疑可以成為一個產生更強勁自由現金流的機會。

Of course. Got it. And then I guess, just kind of following up and finishing up the price/cost discussion. Craig, you specifically called out Americas, which makes sense. Are you having price/cost headwinds at the margin line in any of your other segments? Or is this just really isolated as predominantly an Americas issue?

當然。知道了。然後我想，只是跟進並完成價格/成本討論。克雷格，你特別提到了美洲，這很有道理。你們的任何其他部門的利潤線上是否也遇到了價格/成本方面的阻力？或者這實際上只是孤立的、主要存在於美洲的問題？

I'd say we're having price/cost headwinds in all of our businesses for the most part. It is just most acute in the Americas. And so I'd say we haven't -- we just -- if you think about today what's going on, and it's kind of interesting what's going on around the world, it's really the U.S. businesses in general that have had the biggest challenges around price/cost, and that's largely on the input side. The inflation that we've experienced in our Americas businesses and our U.S.-based businesses has been significantly higher than what we've seen in other markets around the world. But we're having, let's say, inflationary pressures every place. It's just most acute in the U.S.-based businesses.

我想說，我們所有業務中大部分都面臨著價格/成本的阻力。美洲的情況最為嚴重。所以我想說我們沒有——我們只是——如果你想想今天發生的事情，世界各地發生的事情很有趣，你會發現，美國企業總體上在價格/成本方面面臨的最大挑戰，而這主要是在投入方面。我們在美洲業務和美國業務中經歷的通貨膨脹明顯高於我們在全球其他市場所看到的通貨膨脹。但是，我們每個地方都面臨通貨膨脹的壓力。美國企業的情況最為嚴重。

Our next question comes from the line of John Walsh with Credit Suisse.

我們的下一個問題來自瑞士信貸的約翰沃爾什。

Maybe the first one, can you give us a little more detail on what you're seeing in the data center market globally and if you are actually booking out now to 2023 on some of those projects?

也許是第一個問題，您能否向我們詳細介紹一下您在全球資料中心市場看到的情況，以及您是否實際上已經預訂了其中一些項目到 2023 年？

Yes. John, the data center market has been extraordinarily strong for us during the course of the year and on the back of really what's been a multiyear trend of really strong market. And whether we're looking at hyperscale, whether we're looking at colocations, whether we look at even on-prem, each of those markets have been extremely strong and as has been the IT channel in general.

是的。約翰，今年，資料中心市場對我們來說異常強勁，這得益於多年來市場真正強勁的趨勢。無論我們是專注於超大規模，還是專注於主機託管，還是專注於本地部署，每個市場都表現得非常強勁，IT 通路總體而言也是如此。

And so I'd say today, if we think about where we're challenged around our ability to really service customer demand to these really strong markets of data centers and residential that certainly have built very large backlogs. And today, we're struggling to keep up with demand. And quite frankly, we think that market, those stay strong for a very long period of time.

所以今天我想說，如果我們思考一下我們面臨的挑戰，即我們是否有能力真正滿足資料中心和住宅等強大市場的客戶需求，這些市場肯定已經累積了大量的積壓訂單。今天，我們正在努力滿足需求。坦白說，我們認為市場將在很長一段時間內保持強勁。

And you link it back to some of the earlier conversations of where are you're going to need to make some capital investments to really deal with some of these longer-term growth trends, it's going to be in markets like data centers, which we think is going to be strong for a very long period of time as the world continues, so as I've said before, generate, consume, process, store just increasing amounts of data.

您可以將其與之前的一些討論聯繫起來，即您需要在哪些方面進行一些資本投資才能真正應對這些長期增長趨勢，這些投資將出現在數據中心等市場，我們認為，隨著世界的發展，數據中心市場將在很長一段時間內保持強勁，正如我之前所說的那樣，生成、消費、處理和存儲的數據量不斷增加。

And so I -- and we're sitting on kind of the verge of another big growth wave when we think about 5G, when you think about autonomous vehicles. And so we think that market is going to be strong for a very long time, and we're going to have to continue to invest to keep up with the growth.

所以，當我們想到 5G、想到自動駕駛汽車時，我們正處於另一波巨大成長浪潮的邊緣。因此我們認為市場將會長期保持強勁，我們將不得不繼續投資以跟上成長步伐。

Great. And then maybe one on Aerospace margins. If I did the math right, it looks like there's a little pressure on the conversion. Obviously, absolute numbers, a nice improvement. Is that mix? Or is there something else happening there?

偉大的。然後也許還有一個關於航空航太利潤的問題。如果我算得沒錯的話，看起來轉換時會有一點壓力。顯然，從絕對數字來看，這是一個很好的進步。那是混合物嗎？還是那裡有其他事情發生？

So when you say pressure on conversion, you're talking about incremental margins in the quarter?

那麼，當您說轉換壓力時，您指的是本季的增量利潤率嗎？

Yes. The incremental margins, maybe that's just mix with OE growing faster or something happening, commercial, military. I'm calculating something in like the upper 20s -- mid- to upper 20s.

是的。增量利潤可能只是與 OE 成長更快或某些商業、軍事事件有關。我計算的數字大概在 20 多歲到 20 多歲之間。

The incremental margins for Aerospace business was 40%, 4-0.

航空航太業務的增量利潤率為40%，4-0。

Oh, I'm saying in the guide, sorry, in the forward look for 2022.

哦，我說的是指南中，對不起，是展望 2022 年。

Why don't you let us get back to you on that in terms of the incremental margins in the guidance? I think you have an acquisition impact on that as well. So -- and I'm not sure what you're assuming in terms of stripping out acquisitions, which obviously don't come at a normal incremental. They come at the underlying margin rate of the business. So why don't you let us get back to you on that one and maybe deal with that off-line.

為什麼不讓我們就指導中的增量利潤率問題回覆您呢？我認為你對此也有收購影響。所以 - 我不確定你在剝離收購方面做出了什麼假設，這顯然不會以正常的增量實現。它們以企業的基本利潤率計算。所以你為什麼不讓我們就這個問題與你聯繫，也許可以線下處理呢？

Sure.

當然。

Our next question comes from the line of Joe Ritchie with Goldman Sachs.

我們的下一個問題來自高盛的喬·里奇。

So Craig, look, interesting dynamic occurring in the market right now on the inventory side. And saw you guys build inventories this quarter, which makes a ton of sense, obviously, to be able to supply the market. But I kind of want to try to square the comments on distributor inventories being lean. Clearly, no inventories if you're doing a project.

克雷格，你看，現在市場在庫存方面出現了有趣的動態。並且看到你們本季建立了庫存，這顯然非常有意義，能夠滿足市場需求。但我想嘗試回應關於分銷商庫存不足的評論。顯然，如果你正在做一個項目，就不能有庫存。

What's your sense on the OEMs? Because we are hearing from some of our companies that they are building inventories, but everybody is also saying that the market is still very lean out there.

您對 OEM 有什麼看法？因為我們從一些公司聽說他們正在建立庫存，但大家也都說市場仍然非常疲軟。

Yes. And I'd say that -- I mean, I think it's fair to say everybody would like to build inventory, and we're getting lots of requests to get back to historical levels of inventory with our distributors. And where OEs carry inventory, many of them don't, some of them do. But keep in mind, so much of what we do today is project business in our electrical. And projects, you typically are not finding, obviously, any inventory build there.

是的。我想說的是——我的意思是，我認為可以公平地說，每個人都想建立庫存，我們收到了很多請求，要求我們的分銷商恢復到歷史庫存水平。雖然 OE 有庫存，但很多都沒有，只有少數有。但請記住，我們今天所做的許多工作都是電氣領域的專案業務。而對於專案來說，你通常顯然不會發現那裡有任何庫存建設。

And so I'd say that this is one that -- is certainly been one that we've been concerned about. We've been watching. We've been testing for in terms of whether or not there is over-inventory in the system, whether or not there's double ordering in the system. And I can just tell you, having talked with and been engaged with a number of our teams and our distributors, that's not what we're hearing or seeing. They would like more inventory, and their inventory levels today are below where they'd like them to be given their forward look on revenue growth.

所以我想說，這確實是我們一直擔心的問題。我們一直在觀察。我們一直在測試系統中是否存在庫存過剩，以及系統中是否存在重複訂購。我可以告訴你們，在與我們的許多團隊和經銷商進行交談和接觸後，我們發現事實並非如此。他們想要更多的庫存，但目前的庫存水準低於他們預期收入成長所需的水準。

Yes. That makes sense, Craig. I appreciate the comments there. I guess my one follow-on question, I guess, would be more around like Electrical Americas margins. And clearly understand the pressures that you're feeling this quarter. I think lots of other companies were feeling the same.

是的。這很有道理，克雷格。我很感謝那裡的評論。我想，我的後續問題將更多地涉及 Electrical Americas 的利潤率。並清楚了解您本季感受到的壓力。我想許多其他公司也有同樣的感受。

How do you think -- I know that you guys have pretty healthy margin expansion baked in to 2022. At what point does that start to turn positive year-over-year? And then -- and maybe just perhaps providing a little bit more color on the cadence would be helpful.

您覺得怎麼樣－我知道你們在 2022 年實現了相當健康的利潤率擴張。然後——也許提供更多關於節奏的詳細資訊會很有幫助。

So when do margins turn positive year-over-year? I mean, what quarter do the margins turn positive?

那麼利潤率何時才會年比變成正值呢？我的意思是，利潤率在哪個季度會轉為正值？

Yes. Just cadence around like the puts and takes on margins as we progress through 2022 in Electrical Americas?

是的。隨著我們進入 2022 年美國電氣產業的發展，利潤率的漲跌節奏是否會有所改變？

Yes. I'd say that certainly, by the time we hit Q2, we would expect that our margins would turn positive. I mean, obviously, we're dealing with a number of factors right now in the business. And obviously, what's getting a lot of attention right now is supply chain-related issues.

是的。我可以肯定地說，到第二季時，我們預計我們的利潤率將會轉為正值。我的意思是，顯然，我們目前正在處理業務中的許多因素。顯然，目前受到廣泛關注的是與供應鏈相關的問題。

But I could tell you also a part of the challenge, as I mentioned in my speaking -- opening commentary that we're seeing significant labor-related issues and inefficiencies at our plants, too. We had pretty large absenteeism in a number of our facilities at the end of last year, the beginning part of this year as a result of COVID.

但我也可以告訴你部分挑戰，正如我在開場白中提到的，我們的工廠也存在嚴重的勞動力相關問題和效率低下問題。由於新冠疫情的影響，去年年底和今年年初，我們的許多工廠都出現了大量缺勤現象。

Our suppliers are seeing the same thing. And so it's not just supply chain and we can't get parts. And in many cases, we were challenged to get labor and to run our factories efficiently. And so all of these inefficiencies today are kind of built into the results in Q4, and to a certain extent, in Q1 as well.

我們的供應商也看到了同樣的情況。所以這不僅僅是供應鏈的問題，我們無法獲得零件。在很多情況下，我們面臨的挑戰是取得勞動力和高效運作工廠。所以，今天的所有這些低效率都被某種程度上影響到了第四季度的業績，並且在一定程度上也影響了第一季的業績。

So I think it's really Q2 by the time we really get beyond some of the labor inefficiencies. We do think that supply chain continues to get better every quarter. But in some cases, we think we're going to be dealing with supply chain challenges for the entire year when you think about components like semiconductors. But other components, whether that's copper, steel or resins, we do think those things continue to get better every quarter.

因此我認為要到第二季我們才能真正解決一些勞動力效率低下的問題。我們確實認為供應鏈每季都會繼續變得更好。但在某些情況下，當您想到半導體等組件時，我們認為我們將在全年應對供應鏈挑戰。但其他部件，無論是銅、鋼還是樹脂，我們確實認為這些部件每季都會繼續變得更好。

It's important to note at the midpoint, which you saw in our prepared remarks, we're 90 bps above the prior year margins in Electrical Americas. So that reflects bullishness that we feel about things correcting throughout the year.

值得注意的是，正如您在我們準備好的評論中所看到的，在中間點，我們的電氣美洲業務的利潤率比去年同期高出 90 個基點。這反映了我們對全年事態修正的樂觀態度。

Our next question comes from the line of Julian Mitchell with Barclays.

我們的下一個問題來自巴克萊銀行的朱利安·米切爾。

One starting point perhaps was just within the Electrical Americas business. I just wanted to try and understand sort of on the residential side of that, how much was residential as a whole as a proportion of that business today? And how strongly was the business up last year? And when you're thinking about this year ahead, are you dialing in any kind of slowdown there? I think people are obviously pretty cautious about a number of other resi-facing product categories in multi-industry right now.

一個起點可能就在電氣美洲業務內部。我只是想嘗試了解住宅方面的情況，目前住宅業務在整個業務中所佔的比例是多少？去年業務成長得怎麼樣？當您考慮今年的情況時，您是否認為會出現任何形式的放緩？我認為人們現在顯然對多行業中許多其他面向住宅的產品類別非常謹慎。

Sure. Appreciate the question. I mean resi today, I think we'd say 18% roughly of our business would go into residential markets. And that market did grow strongly during the course of 2021. I'd say that business was probably up double digit...

當然。我很感謝你提出這個問題。我的意思是，今天的住宅，我認為我們可以說大約 18% 的業務將進入住宅市場。而該市場在 2021 年確實強勁成長。

It's around 10%, yes, around 10%.

大約是 10%，是的，大約是 10%。

Double digit, yes. So -- and we're clearly expecting that market to see somewhat of a slowdown, which is baked into our guidance for 2022. Still growth in the market, but not at the heavy levels that we experienced on the course of 2021.

是的，兩位數。因此 — — 我們顯然預期市場會出現一定程度的放緩，這已包含在我們對 2022 年的預期中。

Now the other thing I think it's important, though, as you think about residential markets to keep in mind, as you really think about this market over the near and the longer term is that it's not just the growth in the housing stock. It really is also the growth in the electrical content in buildings, residential buildings, multifamily buildings. As they adopt the new electrical codes, it requires additional electrical content.

現在，我認為另一件重要的事情是，當你考慮住宅市場時要記住，當你真正考慮這個市場的短期和長期發展時，它不僅僅是住房存量的增長。這其實也是建築物、住宅建築和多戶建築中用電量的成長。當他們採用新的電氣規範時，它需要額外的電氣內容。

And as we really start moving seriously into energy transition, we think the opportunities continue to grow at a really attractive rate. As consumers have put electric cars in their garages and they have to change their electrical infrastructure support the electric vehicles, as consumers continue to look at things to improve their resiliency, whether that's solar, the ability to island the home, the ability to sell energy back to the grid, all of these things, all of these kind of secular growth trends that are taking place more broadly in the economy are going to also have an impact on residential.

當我們真正開始認真地邁向能源轉型時，我們認為機會將繼續以非常具有吸引力的速率成長。隨著消費者將電動車放入車庫，他們必須改變電力基礎設施來支持電動車，隨著消費者繼續尋找提高其彈性的方法，無論是太陽能、家庭孤島能力還是將能源賣回電網的能力，所有這些，所有這些在經濟中更廣泛地發生的長期增長趨勢也將對住宅產生影響。

And even though, let's say, the housing numbers are not going to grow dramatically, the electrical content we think is going to grow at some multiple of that. That's what we've seen over the last, let's say, 10 to 15 years. And that really didn't even have the impact of some of these energy transition-related trends that we're talking about.

儘管住房數量不會大幅增長，但我們認為電力含量將會以住房數量的幾倍增長。這就是我們在過去10至15年中所看到的情況。而這其實甚至沒有受到我們正在談論的一些能源轉型相關趨勢的影響。

Now resi for us, we think, continues to be a really attractive market. We have great position in residential, and it's one we'll continue to invest in.

我們認為，現在房地產對我們來說仍然是一個非常有吸引力的市場。我們在住宅領域佔有重要地位，我們會繼續在該領域進行投資。

And then my second question, I guess, is touching on what Joe had mentioned earlier about inventories. Because I guess if I look at -- say, automotive is one area or light vehicles where we've heard about all the constraints. But there was a very large OEM earlier this week who said wholesale volumes are up 20% plus in 2022, and they could liquidate inventory early in the year.

那麼我想我的第二個問題涉及喬之前提到的有關庫存的問題。因為我想如果我看一下——比如說，汽車是一個領域，或者輕型車輛，我們已經聽說過所有的限制。但本週早些時候，一家大型 OEM 表示，2022 年批發量將成長 20% 以上，他們可能會在年初清算庫存。

So that I thought was interesting because it suggests that's a massive OEM who feels like they have enough goods on hand to satisfy double-digit growth this year. And so I just want to sort of push a little bit on that point and ask, are there any areas when you look across different regions or different markets where your salespeople or your channel partners may think, maybe there has been a good amount of inventory built up? I don't know if there's any kind of broad views you had on end markets that had more or less inventory relative to norms as you look today.

所以我認為這很有趣，因為這表明這是一個大型 OEM，它覺得他們手頭上有足夠的貨物來滿足今年兩位數的增長。因此，我想就這一點稍微展開一下，問一下，當您查看不同地區或不同市場時，您的銷售人員或通路合作夥伴是否會認為某些領域可能已經積累了大量庫存？我不知道您對目前終端市場的庫存相對於常態是多還是少有什麼廣泛的看法。

I'm sure they're out there, some place, Julian. I can tell you that if they're out there, their voices are being drowned out by probably 100 to 1 on the other side of customers asking us for more. And specifically, as it relates to automotive inventory levels, I mean the inventory levels today continue to run at record-low levels.

我確信他們就在那裡，某個地方，朱利安。我可以告訴你，如果他們在那裡，他們的聲音很可能會被另一邊要求我們提供更多服務的客戶的聲音所淹沒，而且這種聲音的比例很可能是 100:1。具體來說，就汽車庫存水準而言，我的意思是今天的庫存水準繼續處於歷史低點。

I mean you think about an industry in the U.S. that has typically run 75 days of inventory has been running under 30 days of inventory. And so I'm surprised that any automotive OEM would say that they're comfortable with the levels of inventories. We're not hearing that from any of our customers. And so that, I think, is a bit of an outlier.

我的意思是，想像一下美國一個產業的庫存量通常為 75 天，而目前的庫存量卻不到 30 天。因此，我很驚訝任何汽車原始設備製造商都會說他們對庫存水準感到滿意。我們沒有從任何客戶那裡聽過這種說法。所以，我認為這有點異常。

Our next question comes from Nigel Coe with Wolfe Research.

我們的下一個問題來自 Wolfe Research 的 Nigel Coe。

You did 9% growth across Electrical in '21. You're forecasting 7% to 9% in '22. Your long-term target is 4% to 6%. So I don't want to get too far ahead of March -- the March Investor Day, but how are you thinking about growth beyond '22 in Electrical? I'm assuming it might be above 4% to 6%.

你們在 21 年的電氣業務實現了 9% 的成長。您預測 22 年成長率將達到 7% 至 9%。您的長期目標是4%到6%。所以我不想在三月投資者日之前談論太多，但是您如何看待電氣行業在 22 年以後的成長？我估計它可能高於 4% 到 6%。

But -- and then kind of allied to that is you're highlighting utility, data center, resi. A little bit surprised you're not highlighting industrial and commercial institutional turning around because we are seeing some strength in orders there. So just wondering what you're seeing in those 2 specific end markets.

但是 — 與此相關的是，你強調的是實用程式、資料中心、住宅。有點驚訝您沒有強調工業和商業機構的好轉，因為我們看到那裡的訂單增加。所以只是想知道您在這兩個特定的終端市場中看到了什麼。

Yes. I mean, first of all, appreciate your question around the longer-term growth outlook in our Electrical businesses. And to your point, we will be addressing that at our Investor Day next month. And I do think it's reasonable to assume that we've seen certainly more strength than we anticipated, and it would be fair to -- we anticipate that, that number is going to move up slightly.

是的。我的意思是，首先，感謝您關於我們電氣業務長期成長前景的問題。關於您的問題，我們將在下個月的投資者日上討論這個問題。我確實認為，我們可以合理地假設，我們看到的力量肯定比我們預期的要大，而且公平地說——我們預計，這個數字將會略有上升。

With respect to the end markets, and I'd say for us, certainly, we talked about industrial. Industrial markets are doing well. And we talked about that as being one of the strong markets for us in general. And so we are seeing the strength in industrial. We're certainly seeing the strength in utility, resi, data centers.

關於終端市場，我想說，我們當然談論的是工業。工業市場表現良好。我們說過，總的來說，這是我們最強勁的市場之一。因此我們看到了工業領域的實力。我們確實看到了公用事業、住宅和資料中心的實力。

Even in commercial, I'd say, if you think about commercial, we've talked about this before. We're still seeing growth in office, low single-digit growth. It's not huge there, but we're still seeing positive growth in the office segment. And -- but also what goes into commercial is things like warehouses.

即使在商業領域，我想說，如果你考慮商業，我們之前已經討論過這個問題了。我們仍然看到辦公室的成長，低個位數的成長。雖然規模不是很大，但我們仍然看到辦公領域呈現積極成長。而且——但商業領域也包括倉庫之類的東西。

And as you think about the continued expansion of the Amazons of the world and the warehouse segments that have much higher, once again, electrical intensity than an office building or a retail store, we continue to think that there's going to be positive mix associated with -- as we continue to move more and more of our retail activity online.

當您想到亞馬遜在全球的持續擴張以及倉庫部分的用電強度比辦公大樓或零售店高得多時，我們繼續認為，隨著我們繼續將越來越多的零售活動轉移到線上，將會產生積極的影響。

And so as we said, we think all of the markets are going to be growing next year. But we will see some -- what we think would be outsized strength in data centers, in industrial markets, in utility markets. But every market, we would anticipate would see positive growth.

正如我們所說，我們認為明年所有市場都將成長。但我們會看到一些——我們認為在資料中心、工業市場、公用事業市場會出現超乎尋常的優勢。但我們預期每個市場都會出現正面成長。

I mean to Craig's point, commercial and institutional, we saw high single digit this year growth in the overall market. And for industrial, we saw mid-teens growth. So very strong.

我的意思是，正如克雷格所說，無論是商業還是機構，今年我們看到整體市場都實現了高個位數的成長。對於工業而言，我們看到了中等程度的成長。非常強大。

That's great. That's great color. And then a follow-on for Tom on free cash conversion. Sorry to go back to this one. But the 4 things you called out make total sense. I see $0.25 or $0.30 coming orders on restructuring charges and also kind of acquisition charge of the things, what you call it, in the GAAP to headline earnings.

那太棒了。顏色真棒。然後湯姆繼續討論免費現金轉換的問題。很抱歉再次回到這個問題。但你提到的四件事完全有道理。我認為重組費用以及所謂的收購費用將在 GAAP 中占主導收益的 0.25 美元或 0.30 美元。

But is there stuff wrapped up in purchase accounting on the balance sheet that's going to have cash outflows this year? Is this more of a purchase accounting issue?

但是，資產負債表上購買會計中包含的內容今年是否會出現現金流出？這更像是採購會計問題嗎？

No. No, it's really the 4 things that I described: the acquisition, integration and divestiture; the multiyear restructuring; the CapEx; and the CARES Act. And I think you're probably alluding to pension funding and those types of things. Nothing extraordinary there.

不，不，實際上是我所描述的四件事：收購、整合和剝離；多年的重組；資本支出；以及《關懷法案》。我想您可能指的是退休金和諸如此類的事情。沒有什麼特別的。

Our next question comes from the line of Scott Davis with Melius Research.

我們的下一個問題來自 Melius Research 的 Scott Davis。

Most of my questions have been asked, but I'm kind of curious, it's been a while since we had an up cycle in Crouse-Hinds. Is -- how -- what's your order book look like in that part of the world? And I would imagine you've probably taken some costs out of that business since the last peak. And perhaps you can just give us a little bit of color on that specific business.

我的大部分問題都已經被問過了，但我還是有點好奇，自從 Crouse-Hinds 出現上升週期以來已經有一段時間了。你們在那個地方的訂單狀況是怎麼樣的？我想，自上次業務高峰以來，你可能已經從該業務中削減了一些成本。也許您可以向我們簡單介紹一下該具體業務。

Yes. Appreciate the question, Scott. And for those of you who follow Crouse-Hinds over the year know that, that business that we acquired many years ago from Cooper was a very profitable business, went through a cyclical industry downturn. But when we think about industrial, when you talk about industrial strengthening, that's where a lot of the Crouse-Hinds business goes.

是的。非常感謝你提出這個問題，斯科特。對於多年來一直關注克勞斯-海因茲的人來說，我們知道，我們多年前從庫柏收購的業務是一項非常有利可圖的業務，經歷了週期性的行業衰退。但是當我們考慮工業時，當我們談論工業加強時，這正是克勞斯-海因茲 (Crouse-Hinds) 業務所涉足的領域。

I mean many of you think about it as an oil and gas business, but a lot of what they do today goes into industrial markets. And that business is, in fact, growing. And so we are clearly seeing a rebound in the Crouse-Hinds business. A lot of the industrial markets that they support and serve are growing nicely. And so we certainly think we're at the, once again, the front end of what should be a pretty attractive recovery in those markets.

我的意思是，很多人認為這是石油和天然氣業務，但他們今天所做的很多事情都進入了工業市場。而且該業務確實正在成長。因此我們明顯看到 Crouse-Hinds 業務的反彈。他們支持和服務的許多工業市場都發展良好。因此，我們確實認為，我們再次處於這些市場相當有吸引力的復甦的前沿。

Okay. Good. And then as a follow-on, just thinking in terms of the projects that are out there that you're bidding on, has -- are there less people bidding on projects today than perhaps a couple of years ago just given the reality that everybody's kind of sold out? Or is the competitive dynamic not really changed much?

好的。好的。然後作為後續問題，僅就您正在競標的項目而言，考慮到每個人都已售罄的現實情況，如今競標項目的人是否比幾年前少？或者競爭態勢其實沒有太大變化？

I would say that the fact that everybody sold out means that I think everybody is being more selective around the projects that they take, and it obviously changes the price dynamic in the marketplace. And so I'd say that I can't necessarily say that we're seeing less competition on projects. Lead times are being pushed out for lots of companies.

我想說的是，每個人都賣光了這一事實意味著，我認為每個人在選擇項目時都更加挑剔，這顯然改變了市場的價格動態。因此我想說，我不能肯定地說我們看到的項目競爭減少了。許多公司的交貨時間都被延長了。

And like I said, it's never easy to recover inflation, but we're in an environment today where, given how well-known the issue is and how public and visible it is, it's probably as easy as it's ever been in my professional career because everybody kind of understands what we're dealing with.

正如我所說，控制通貨膨脹從來都不是一件容易的事，但考慮到通貨膨脹問題如此眾所周知、如此公開和可見，如今的環境下，控制通貨膨脹可能比我職業生涯中任何時候都容易，因為每個人都明白我們在處理什麼。

But I'd say I can't really speak to whether or not we're seeing fewer bidders on projects. But I think every company, ourselves included, have the ability to be a bit more selective today given the fact that there's more demand than there is capacity.

但我想說，我無法確切地說出我們是否看到專案投標者人數減少。但我認為，考慮到需求大於產能的事實，包括我們自己在內的每家公司今天都有能力更加謹慎地進行選擇。

Our next question comes from the line of Brett Linzey with Mizuho America.

我們的下一個問題來自瑞穗美國公司的 Brett Linzey。

I wanted to come back to capital deployment. This is probably the lowest share repo guide we've seen in a number of years, and you mentioned a focus on bolt-ons. Could you just spend a moment and talk about the actionability of the pipeline, some of the sizes you're shopping? And just trying to understand where you're looking within the portfolio.

我想重新回到資本部署的話題。這可能是我們多年來見過的最低的股票回購指南，而且您提到了對附加功能的關注。您能否花一點時間談論管道的可操作性以及您正在購買的一些尺寸？只是想了解你在投資組合中關注的是什麼。

Yes. Appreciate the question. I mean you've probably observed over the course of the last 24 months, we've done quite a bit of portfolio transformation, selling businesses, Lighting, Hydraulics. And we've done a number of acquisitions. And we continue to prioritize our Electrical business and certainly making investments in Electrical that are really tied to these big secular growth trends that we've talked about of electrification, digitalization, energy transition. And we'll continue to look for things in that space.

是的。我很感謝你提出這個問題。我的意思是，你可能已經注意到，在過去的 24 個月裡，我們做了相當多的投資組合轉型，出售業務、照明、液壓等。我們已經完成了一些收購。我們將繼續優先考慮我們的電氣業務，並肯定會在電氣方面進行投資，這些投資與我們談到的電氣化、數位化、能源轉型等長期成長大趨勢息息相關。我們會繼續在那個空間裡尋找事物。

You saw us acquire this company called Green Motion last year, which is a play into electric vehicle charging infrastructure. You've seen us do a number of transactions in the Asia Pacific region to really participate in a very fast-growing Chinese market and participate in what we call the Tier 3, Tier 2 market, where we historically have not played. So you're going to see us do things geographically that allow us to penetrate underserved markets.

去年我們收購了一家名為 Green Motion 的公司，該公司主要業務是電動車充電基礎設施。你已經看到我們在亞太地區進行了許多交易，真正參與了快速成長的中國市場，並參與了我們所謂的三線、二線市場，而我們以前從未涉足過這些市場。因此，你會看到我們在地理上採取措施，使我們能夠滲透到服務不足的市場。

You've seen us do the Tripp Lite acquisition, which is obviously an important play into data centers in the IT channel. And so I think what you can expect as we move forward is for us to continue to do transactions in this kind of size and scale and really focus on kind of these really important aspects of where we think the future growth is going to.

您已經看到我們對 Tripp Lite 的收購，這顯然是對 IT 通路資料中心的重要一擊。因此我認為，隨著我們不斷前進，大家可以期待的是，我們將繼續進行這種規模的交易，並真正專注於我們認為未來成長方向的這些真正重要的方面。

We said that Aerospace continues to be a priority, and we've done a number of important acquisitions in Aerospace. We like the composition of Aerospace businesses. These are technology, highly-differentiated businesses. You get paid for your technology. They have very strong aftermarkets. We want to make sure that we're on growth platforms, and that was essentially the play with Cobham.

我們說過航空航太仍然是我們的首要任務，而且我們在航空航太領域進行了許多重要的收購。我們看好航空航太業務的組成。這些都是技術型、高度差異化的企業。您將因您的技術而獲得報酬。他們擁有非常強大的售後市場。我們希望確保我們處於成長平台上，而這基本上就是科巴姆的做法。

They're sole-sourced on virtually every platform that they're on. They have a growth outlook for that business that takes it from $700 million to $1 billion based upon programs that they've already won. And it's a very profitable business with a strong aftermarket.

他們在幾乎所有平台上都是單一來源。根據他們已經贏得的項目，他們對該業務的成長前景看好，其價值將從 7 億美元增加到 10 億美元。這是一項利潤豐厚的業務，擁有強大的售後市場。

And so you can count on us to continue to look for acquisitions that are very much consistent with what you've seen us do over the last few years. And I'd say the pipeline today is better than it's been in a while. We're looking at a number of opportunities to really buttress our capabilities in and around some of these spaces that we talked about.

因此，您可以信賴我們，我們將繼續尋找與過去幾年我們所做的事情非常一致的收購。我想說，今天的管道比過去幾年好。我們正在尋找一些機會來真正增強我們在我們所談論的一些領域及其周圍的能力。

Obviously, we're not in a position to talk about anything or to announce anything, but what you're seeing from us is a pivot towards as we think about how do we deploy our capital and how we can create the most value for shareholders, we think that we can find value-creating acquisitions, pay a fair price for them and generate more value today incrementally than perhaps buying back our stock.

顯然，我們現在還不能談論任何事情或宣布任何事情，但您從我們這裡看到的是，當我們思考如何配置我們的資本以及如何為股東創造最大價值時，我們認為我們可以找到創造價值的收購，為它們支付公平的價格，並逐步創造比回購股票更多的價值。

But having said that, we said before, we're not going to let cash build up on the balance sheet. If we can't get deals done, we will go back into the market and buy our stock back. And so we're just always just trading off. How do we create the most value for shareholders? Either through M&A or stock buyback or similar way of returning capital to shareholders.

但話雖如此，我們之前就說過，我們不會讓現金在資產負債表上累積。如果我們無法達成交易，我們將重返市場並回購股票。所以我們總是在權衡利弊。我們如何為股東創造最大價值？無論是透過併購或股票回購或類似的方式向股東返還資本。

But it has been a great time I've seen from us, and we like what we're looking at in front of us. And we would hope to be able to deploy more capital towards value-creating M&A.

但我看到我們度過了一段美好的時光，我們喜歡眼前所看到的一切。我們希望能夠投入更多資本用於創造價值的併購。

And the only thing I would add is that secular trends give us some really exciting opportunities, such as Royal Power that we can leverage across eMobility, Aerospace and our Electrical sectors. So it's exciting, and we're seeing read across.

我唯一想補充的是，長期趨勢為我們提供了一些真正令人興奮的機會，例如我們可以在電動車、航空航太和電氣領域利用的皇家電力。這很令人興奮，而且我們看到了廣泛的關注。

That's great. And then just one last one for me on utility T&D. You noted as a driver of the order activity within international. It didn't get a call-out in the Americas business. So I'm just curious, what are you hearing from customers around CapEx? Any change in tone there at all?

那太棒了。最後我再問一個關於公用事業輸配電的問題。您指出，這是國際範圍內訂單活動的推動者。該公司在美洲業務方面並未接到任何電話。所以我很好奇，您從 CapEx 周圍的客戶那裡聽到了什麼？那裡的語氣有任何變化嗎？

Yes. I'd say that the T&D market continues to be an attractive market. I think as you think about a place where it's in desperate need of some significant investments in aging infrastructure on the one hand, but also, once again, the changing nature of the grid, which is also driving the need and requirement for some fairly significant investments and upgrades in the grid and grid resiliency.

是的。我想說，輸配電市場仍然是一個有吸引力的市場。我認為，一方面，這個地方迫切需要對老化的基礎設施進行大量投資，但另一方面，電網的性質也在不斷變化，這也推動了對電網和電網彈性進行一些相當重大的投資和升級的需求。

And so yes, we think that in the Americas as well continues to be a really positive story for some years to come.

所以是的，我們認為未來幾年美洲地區的情況也將持續保持積極態勢。

Grew mid-single digits last year. We expect it to grow the same in 2022.

去年成長了中等個位數。我們預計 2022 年將實現同樣的成長。

And our final question today will come from the line of Markus Mittermaier with UBS.

今天的最後一個問題來自瑞銀的 Markus Mittermaier。

Craig, you mentioned in your opening remarks that in the Electrical Americas, your negotiation pipeline is up 11%, if I remember the number right. Is there anything already in there on some of the semiconductor activity that we see? We've heard from some machine builders that there's some early activity there. Just wanted to check if that's already part of that pipeline.

克雷格，您在開場白中提到，如果我沒記錯的話，在電氣美洲區，您的談判管道增加了 11%。我們是否已經看到了一些有關半導體活動的資訊？我們從一些機械製造商那裡獲悉，那裡已經有一些早期活動。只是想檢查這是否已經是該管道的一部分。

Yes. I mean I appreciate the question. I don't -- it's a question I can't really answer. I don't have that information on my fingertips right now in terms of where the additional negotiations are coming from -- down to that level of specificity. But maybe, Yan -- we'll ask Yan Jin to follow up with you on that question to give you the color on the composition of where those negotiations are coming from.

是的。我很感謝你提出這個問題。我不知道——這是一個我無法回答的問題。關於額外談判的來源，我目前還沒有掌握足夠的具體資訊。但也許，我們會請嚴進跟進您的這個問題，讓您了解這些談判的背後原因。

Absolutely. But the semiconductor opportunity obviously still remains sort of an interesting one.

絕對地。但半導體機會顯然仍然是一個有趣的機會。

There's no question. I mean to the extent that you end up with a fairly sizable infrastructure, build-out, reshoring and semiconductors and the like, those are all markets that need our electrical switch gear. And so they certainly create great growth opportunities for us.

毫無疑問。我的意思是，如果你最終擁有相當規模的基礎設施、建設、回流和半導體等，這些都是需要我們的電氣開關設備的市場。因此他們確實為我們創造了巨大的成長機會。

Great. And then just maybe a very quick one on Electrical Global. You mentioned on Crouse-Hinds earlier the strong growth, obviously, that you see there. Should I interpret the very strong margin profile largely as an effect of Crouse-Hinds? Or is it more broad-based inside of Electrical Global here in the quarter?

偉大的。然後可能只是對 Electrical Global 的一個非常快速的介紹。您之前在 Crouse-Hinds 上提到過，顯然您看到了那裡的強勁增長。我是否應該將非常強勁的利潤率狀況主要解釋為 Crouse-Hinds 的影響？或者本季電氣全球內部的情況更為廣泛？

It's definitely broad-based, yes. Crouse-Hinds is helping, but our Electrical Europe business and Electrical is doing a great job of expanding margins. And so we're seeing it both in the, let's call it, the traditional Electrical business, and we're seeing it in Crouse-Hinds as well.

是的，它確實是廣泛的。 Crouse-Hinds 確實提供了幫助，但我們的歐洲電氣業務和電氣在擴大利潤率方面也做得很好。我們在傳統的電氣行業和 Crouse-Hinds 行業都看到了這種情況。

The 19.5% margins in the quarter, I mean, which is an all-time record for our Global and it's really contributions from them and, quite frankly, contributions from our Asia team as well, I mean, our Asia business as well. Dramatic improvement in profitability over the last number of years.

本季的利潤率為 19.5%，這是我們全球的歷史最高紀錄，這確實來自他們的貢獻，坦白說，也來自我們亞洲團隊的貢獻，我的意思是，我們的亞洲業務也是如此。過去幾年來獲利能力顯著提高。

Since we're really seeing it, if you think about what makes up Global, it is what we do regionally in Asia, what we do regionally in Europe and then it's the global Crouse-Hinds business that these tend to be global businesses. But all 3 of those businesses saw a significant improvement in profitability during the course of 2021.

因為我們確實看到這一點，如果你想想是什麼構成了全球，那就是我們在亞洲區域所做的事情，我們在歐洲區域所做的事情，然後是全球 Crouse-Hinds 業務，這些往往是全球性業務。但這三家企業的獲利能力在 2021 年都實現了顯著提高。

Good. Thanks, guys. As always, Chip and I will be available to address your follow-up questions. Have a good day. Thanks.

好的。謝謝大家。像往常一樣，Chip 和我將隨時解答您的後續問題。祝你有美好的一天。謝謝。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Ladies and gentlemen, that does conclude our conference for today. We thank you for your participation and for using AT&T Conferencing Service. You may now disconnect.

女士們、先生們，今天的會議到此結束。感謝您的參與和使用 AT&T 會議服務。您現在可以斷開連線。