Comfort Systems USA Inc (FIX) 2023 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Good day, and thank you for standing by, and welcome to the Q4 2023 Comfort Systems USA earnings conference call. (Operator Instructions) Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded.

美好的一天，感謝您的耐心等待，歡迎參加 2023 年第四季美國舒適系統公司收益電話會議。（操作員指示）請注意，今天的會議正在錄製中。

I would now like to hand the conference over to your speaker today, Julie Shaeff, Chief Accounting Officer. Please go ahead.

現在我想將會議交給今天的發言人、首席會計官 Julie Shaeff。請繼續。

Thanks, Justin. Good morning. Welcome to Comfort Systems USA's fourth-quarter and full-year 2023 earnings call.

謝謝，賈斯汀。早安.歡迎參加 Comfort Systems USA 的 2023 年第四季和全年財報電話會議。

Our comments today, as well as our press releases, contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the applicable securities laws and regulations. What we will say today is based on the current plans and expectations of Comfort Systems USA. Those plans and expectations include risks and uncertainties that might cause actual future activities and results of our operations to be materially different from those set forth in our comments. You can read a detailed listing and commentary concerning our specific risk factors in our most recent Form 10-K, as well as in our press release, covering these earnings.

我們今天的評論以及我們的新聞稿包含適用證券法律和法規含義內的前瞻性陳述。我們今天要說的是基於美國舒適系統公司目前的計劃和期望。這些計劃和預期包括風險和不確定性，這些風險和不確定性可能導致我們未來的實際活動和營運結果與我們的評論中所述的存在重大差異。您可以在我們最新的 10-K 表格以及涵蓋這些收益的新聞稿中閱讀有關我們特定風險因素的詳細清單和評論。

A slide presentation has been provided as a companion to our remarks. The presentation is posted on the Investor Relations section of the company's website found at comfortsystemsusa.com.

我們提供了幻燈片演示作為我們的評​​論的補充。該簡報發佈在該公司網站的投資者關係部分：comfortsystemsusa.com。

Joining me on the call today are Brian Lane, President and Chief Executive Officer; Trent McKenna, Chief Operating Officer; and Bill George, Chief Financial Officer. Brian will open our remarks.

今天和我一起參加電話會議的還有總裁兼執行長 Brian Lane；特倫特·麥肯納，營運長；和財務長比爾·喬治。布萊恩將開始我們的演講。

All right. Thank you, Julie. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us on the call today.

好的。謝謝你，朱莉。大家早安，感謝您今天加入我們的電話會議。

Our teams achieved an amazing finish to 2023 with exceptional results, including unprecedented growth, earnings, and cash flow, as well as a surge in new bookings. We earned $2.55 per share this quarter compared to $1.54 a year ago.

我們的團隊在 2023 年取得了驚人的成績，取得了非凡的成果，包括前所未有的成長、收入和現金流，以及新預訂量的激增。本季我們每股收益為 2.55 美元，去年同期為 1.54 美元。

Current quarter revenue was $1.4 billion, with same-store growth of 18%. During the fourth quarter, both our mechanical and electrical businesses grew and increased margins to drive our annual results to new heights. Construction finished an already strong year on an up note, including notable profit and activity increases in our modular business. Service also continued to grow as we continue to benefit from ongoing service investments.

本季營收為 14 億美元，同店成長 18%。第四季度，機電業務雙雙成長，利潤率提升，全年業績再創新高。建築業以良好的勢頭結束了本已強勁的一年，包括我們的模組化業務的顯著利潤和活動成長。隨著我們繼續受益於持續的服務投資，服務也持續成長。

Backlog is $5.2 billion, up by more than $1 billion from last year, and we had a remarkable sequential increase of $870 million even with strong revenue. Demand remains supportive and is especially robust in our industrial sector. We are carefully selecting work that has good margins and good working conditions for our valuable workforce.

積壓訂單為 52 億美元，比去年增加了 10 億多美元，即使收入強勁，我們仍實現了 8.7 億美元的環比顯著增長。需求仍然具有支撐性，並且在我們的工業領域尤其強勁。我們正在為寶貴的員工精心挑選利潤豐厚、工作條件良好的工作。

Cash flow for the quarter was superb at $149 million, and we finished 2023 with an extraordinary $550 million in free cash flow.

本季的現金流非常出色，達到 1.49 億美元，2023 年結束時我們的自由現金流達到了 5.5 億美元。

Earlier this month, we closed two acquisitions, Summit Industrial and J&S Mechanical. Summit is a specialty industrial mechanical contractor serving the advanced technology, power, and industrial sectors. Summit performs off-site and site-based construction, including process piping, equipment setting, and large pipe rack trestles. Summit is a trusted supplier to some of the world's largest advanced technology, power, and industrial companies and is currently deployed on several major chip fabrication projects.

本月早些時候，我們完成了兩項收購：Summit Industrial 和 J&S Mechanical。Summit 是一家專業工業機械承包商，服務於先進技術、電力和工業領域。Summit進行場外和現場施工，包括製程管道、設備設置和大型管架棧橋。Summit 是一些全球最大的先進技術、電力和工業公司值得信賴的供應商，目前已部署在多個主要晶片製造項目中。

J&S provides mechanical construction services to commercial and industrial sectors across the Mountain West region of the United States and works on many of the largest and most technical construction projects in that area. We are thrilled to have both of these companies as part of the Comfort Systems USA family welcome.

J&S 為美國西部山區的商業和工業部門提供機械施工服務，並參與該地區許多最大、技術含量最高的建築項目。我們很高興這兩家公司成為 Comfort Systems USA 大家庭的一部分。

I will discuss our business and outlook in a few minutes. But first, I will turn this call over to Bill to review our financial performance. Bill?

我將在幾分鐘內討論我們的業務和前景。但首先，我會將這通電話轉交給比爾，以審查我們的財務表現。帳單？

Thanks, Brian. Good morning, everyone.

謝謝，布萊恩。大家，早安。

Revenue for the fourth quarter of 2023 was $1.4 billion, a 22% increase, while same-store revenue increased by 18% or $195 million. Full-year revenue for 2023 increased by 26% compared to 2022 to $5.2 billion. For the full year, our mechanical segment revenue increased by 24%, including a big contribution from our modular business. Our electrical segment increased by an even larger 31%, and we now have a $1.3 billion electrical business.

2023 年第四季營收為 14 億美元，成長 22%，同店營收成長 18%，即 1.95 億美元。全年2023 年營收較 2022 年成長 26%，達到 52 億美元。全年機械業務收入成長24%，其中模組化業務貢獻巨大。我們的電氣業務成長了 31%，目前電氣業務規模達 13 億美元。

Overall, our same-store revenue increased by 23% or $931 million. We are facing tough comparables. However, our best estimate is that we will achieve same-store revenue growth in 2024 in the mid-teens, with growth weighted a bit more heavily to the first half of the year.

整體而言，我們的同店營收成長了 23%，即 9.31 億美元。我們面臨嚴峻的比較。然而，我們的最佳估計是，到 2024 年，我們將實現十幾歲左右的同店收入成長，其中成長對上半年的影響更大。

Gross profit was $280 million for the fourth quarter of 2023, a $68 million improvement compared to a year ago. Our gross profit percentage improved to 20.6% this quarter, compared to 18.9% for the fourth quarter of 2022, driven by improved electrical margins. The quarterly gross profit percentage in our electrical segment improved to 22.9% this year as compared to 18.2% last year. Margins in our mechanical segment also increased in the quarter, 19.8%, as compared to 19.1% in the fourth quarter of 2022. Our mechanical segment includes our modular business, which operates at notably lower margins than our remaining businesses.

2023 年第四季毛利為 2.8 億美元，比去年同期增加 6,800 萬美元。在電力利潤率改善的推動下，本季我們的毛利率提高至 20.6%，而 2022 年第四季為 18.9%。今年我們電氣業務的季度毛利率從去年的18.2%提高至22.9%。我們機械部門的利潤率在本季也有所成長，達到 19.8%，而 2022 年第四季為 19.1%。我們的機械部門包括我們的模組化業務，該業務的利潤率明顯低於我們的其他業務。

For the full year 2023, gross profit increased $249 million, and our annual gross profit margin was 19.0% in 2023, as compared to 17.9% in 2022. For the full year, segment margins were similar, with mechanical gross margins of 19.0% for the full year, while electrical was 19.1%.

2023年全年，毛利增加2.49億美元，2023年的年度毛利率為19.0%，而2022年為17.9%。全年各分部利潤率相似，全年機械毛利率為 19.0%，而電氣毛利率為 19.1%。

Fourth-quarter EBITDA increased 42% to $141 million. Our full-year 2023 EBITDA increased by an even greater 48%, as our full-year EBITDA was $499 million. As we look to 2024, we are optimistic that overall EBITDA margins will continue to trend in the strong ranges that we achieved in 2023. Gross margins will also continue to be strong, but gross margin percentage may be more variable in 2024 in light of the effect of amortization and certain purchase adjustments arising from our two large acquisitions.

第四季 EBITDA 成長 42%，達到 1.41 億美元。我們的 2023 年全年 EBITDA 成長了 48%，全年 EBITDA 為 4.99 億美元。展望 2024 年，我們樂觀地認為整體 EBITDA 利潤率將繼續維持在 2023 年實現的強勁區間內。毛利率也將繼續保持強勁，但考慮到我們兩次大型收購產生的攤銷和某些購買調整的影響，2024 年毛利率可能會出現更大的變化。

SG&A expense for the quarter was $160 million, compared to $132 million in the prior year. And as a percentage of revenue, SG&A expense was consistent, again, at 11.8%. On a same-store basis, SG&A was up approximately $22 million due to inflation and ongoing investments to support much higher activity levels. For the full year, SG&A expense, as a percentage of revenue, was 11.0% in 2023. That's down from 11.8% for 2022.

本季的 SG&A 費用為 1.6 億美元，去年同期為 1.32 億美元。從佔收入的百分比來看，SG&A 費用再次維持在 11.8%。由於通貨膨脹和持續投資以支持更高的活動水平，以同店計算，SG&A 增加了約 2,200 萬美元。2023 年全年，SG&A 費用佔收入的百分比為 11.0%。這比 2022 年的 11.8% 有所下降。

Fourth-quarter operating income increased by 50% from last year from $80 million in 4Q 2022 to $120 million for the fourth quarter of 2023. With improved gross profit margins, our operating income percentage increased to 8.9% this quarter from 7.2% for the prior year. Our full-year operating income was $418 million, a remarkable increase of $165 million. OI margin increased from 6.1% in 2022 to 8.0% in 2023.

第四季營業收入較去年成長 50%，從 2022 年第四季的 8,000 萬美元增至 2023 年第四季的 1.2 億美元。隨著毛利率的提高，本季我們的營業收入百分比從前一年的 7.2% 增加到 8.9%。我們的全年營業收入為 4.18 億美元，大幅成長 1.65 億美元。OI 利潤率從 2022 年的 6.1% 增至 2023 年的 8.0%。

Our year-to-date tax rate of 16.7% included an incremental benefit of $10 million, or $0.27, of tax gains that related to prior years. Although individual items have affected our tax rate lately, we estimate that a normalized tax rate for us is approximately 20% to 22%.

我們年初至今的稅率為 16.7%，其中包括與往年相關的 1000 萬美元的增量收益，即 0.27 美元的稅收收益。儘管最近個別項目影響了我們的稅率，但我們估計我們的標準化稅率約為 20% 至 22%。

After considering all these factors, net income for the fourth quarter of 2023 was $92 million, or $2.55 per share. This compares to net income for the fourth quarter of 2022 of $55 million, or $1.54 per share. Our full-year earnings per share for 2023 was $9 and 1%. Excluding prior year tax gains in both periods, earnings per share increased to $8.74 per share from $5.29 per share in the prior year, and that's an increase of 65%.

考慮到所有這些因素後，2023 年第四季的淨利潤為 9,200 萬美元，即每股 2.55 美元。相比之下，2022 年第四季的淨利潤為 5,500 萬美元，即每股 1.54 美元。我們 2023 年全年每股收益為 9 美元，成長 1%。剔除上一年兩期間的稅收收益，每股收益從前一年的每股 5.29 美元增至每股 8.74 美元，增幅為 65%。

Full-year 2023 free cash flow was a remarkable $551 million. We continue to benefit from advanced payments for work that we will fund and complete in the upcoming quarters. 2023 operating cash flow exceeded our earnings by an astounding $300 million.

2023 年全年自由現金流達到驚人的 5.51 億美元。我們將繼續受益於我們將在未來幾季資助和完成的工作的預付款。 2023 年的營運現金流超出了我們的收入驚人的 3 億美元。

Over the coming quarters, we expect pre-bookings and equipment advances were normalized, creating some cash flow headwind. In the meantime, these early collections have allowed us to invest heavily and fund acquisitions from current cash flows while, at the same time, significantly lowering our debt and interest costs.

在未來幾個季度，我們預計預訂和設備預付款將正常化，造成一些現金流逆風。同時，這些早期收集的資金使我們能夠進行大量投資，並從當前現金流中為收購提供資金，同時顯著降低了我們的債務和利息成本。

During 2023, we spent $95 million on capital expenditures, almost double the amount we had spent the prior year. The increase includes the buildout of three vast, new modular production facilities and the purchase of mini vehicles to catch up from COVID. In 2024, we estimate that our CapEx spend may be roughly $65 million to $75 million, around the midpoint of the spending levels over the past two years.

2023 年，我們花了 9,500 萬美元的資本支出，幾乎是去年支出金額的兩倍。增加的資金包括擴大三個大型的新模組化生產設施，以及購買微型車輛以應對新冠疫情的影響。到 2024 年，我們估計我們的資本支出可能約為 6,500 萬至 7,500 萬美元，約為過去兩年支出水準的中點。

Our substantial cash flow allowed us to pay down our revolving credit facility to zero and to reduce our overall debt by $212 million over the course of 2023, again, while investing in unprecedented levels of CapEx, buying back shares, increasing our dividend, and fully funding both of our acquisitions, the purchases of Eldeco and DECCO, from cash flow. In 2023, we purchased 139 shares of our common stock at an average price of $153.

我們大量的現金流使我們能夠將循環信貸額度償還為零，並在 2023 年將我們的總債務減少 2.12 億美元，同時投資於前所未有的資本支出水平，回購股票，增加股息，並充分利用我們的兩項收購（即收購Eldeco 和DECCO）均透過現金流提供資金。2023 年，我們以 153 美元的平均價格購買了 139 股普通股。

Finally, as Brian mentioned, we acquired Summit Industrial and J&S Mechanical at the beginning of February. Our best estimate is that Summit will contribute annualized revenues of approximately $375 million to $400 million and EBITDA of $35 million to $40 million. We also estimate J&S will have annualized revenues in the range of $145 million to $160 million and EBITDA of $12 million to $15 million. In light of amortization expense, these acquisitions are expected to make a neutral to slightly accretive contribution to earnings per share in 2024 and 2025. Both of these companies will be included in our mechanical segment.

最後，正如 Brian 所提到的，我們在二月初收購了 Summit Industrial 和 J&S Mechanical。我們的最佳估計是 Summit 將貢獻約 3.75 億至 4 億美元的年化收入，EBITDA 為 3500 萬至 4000 萬美元。我們也估計 J&S 的年化收入將在 1.45 億至 1.6 億美元之間，EBITDA 將在 1,200 萬至 1,500 萬美元之間。考慮到攤銷費用，這些收購預計將對 2024 年和 2025 年的每股盈餘做出中性至小幅成長的貢獻。這兩家公司都將納入我們的機械部門。

That's all I've got, Brian.

這就是我所擁有的一切，布萊恩。

All right. Thanks, Bill. I'm going to discuss our business and outlook.

好的。謝謝，比爾。我將討論我們的業務和前景。

Our backlog surged at the end of 2023 to a record $5.2 billion. Since last year at this time, our same-store backlog has increased by $913 million, around 23%, and the increases were broad based. During the recently completed fourth quarter, our sequential backlog increased by $870 million, and virtually all of the increase was same store. Our pipelines remain strong.

2023 年底，我們的積壓訂單激增至創紀錄的 52 億美元。自去年這個時候以來，我們的同店積壓訂單增加了 9.13 億美元，增幅約 23%，而且成長幅度廣泛。在最近完成的第四季中，我們的積壓訂單連續增加了 8.7 億美元，而且幾乎所有的成長都來自同一家商店。我們的管道仍然強勁。

Our revenue mix continues to trend towards data centers, life science, food, chip fabs, and battery plants. Those industrial customers accounted for 55% of total revenue in 2023, and they are major drivers of pipeline and backlog. Technology, which is included in industrial, was 21% of our revenue, a substantial increase from 13% in the prior year. The technology sector will continue to grow with the recent acquisition of Summit Industrial, as they have several ongoing and large semiconductor projects.

我們的收入組合繼續向資料中心、生命科學、食品、晶片工廠和電池廠發展。這些工業客戶佔 2023 年總收入的 55%，是管道和積壓訂單的主要驅動力。工業中包含的技術占我們收入的 21%，比前一年的 13% 大幅增加。隨著最近收購 Summit Industrial，科技業將繼續成長，因為他們有幾個正在進行的大型半導體專案。

Institutional markets, which include education, healthcare, and government, are also strong and represent 26% of our revenue. The commercial sector remains active, but it is now a smaller part of our business at about 19% of revenue. Majority of our service revenue is for commercial customers. So the proportion of our overall construction revenue from commercial has become relatively small. Construction was 80% of our full-year 2023 revenue, with projects for new buildings at 55%, while existing building construction was 25%.

包括教育、醫療保健和政府在內的機構市場也很強勁，占我們收入的 26%。商業部門仍然活躍，但目前只占我們業務的一小部分，約佔收入的 19%。我們的服務收入大多來自商業客戶。所以商業建築收入占我們整體建築收入的比重就變得比較小了。建築業務占我們 2023 年全年收入的 80%，其中新建築項目佔 55%，而現有建築建築佔 25%。

For the first time, in 2023, Comfort Systems USA achieved $1 billion of annual service revenue. Service was 20% of our total revenue, with service projects providing 9% of total revenue, and pure service, including hourly work, providing 11% of revenue. 2023 service revenue was up by 11%, and with our continuing strong margins, service is a great source of profit and cash flow for us.

2023 年，Comfort Systems USA 首次實現了 10 億美元的年度服務收入。服務占我們總收入的 20%，其中服務項目佔總收入的 9%，純服務（包括小時工）佔收入的 11%。 2023 年服務收入成長 11%，由於我們持續強勁的利潤率，服務是我們利潤和現金流的重要來源。

At Comfort Systems USA, our core purpose is to build legacies with our people, customers, and the companies who join us. To accomplish this, we strive every day to be the best organization in the world: for a craft worker to build a successful career; for construction, service, and administrative professionals to grow and thrive; for customers to meet their crucial building and service needs; and for any company in our industry to join, with the assurance that their people will be respected and nurtured and that their legacy will be perpetuated and built upon. We believe that our commitment to those principles, to our people, and their legacies has been and continues to be the linchpin of our success.

在 Comfort Systems USA，我們的核心目標是與我們的員工、客戶和加入我們的公司一起創造傳奇。為了實現這一目標，我們每天都在努力成為世界上最好的組織：為手工藝工人建立成功的職業生涯；幫助建築、服務和行政專業人員成長和發展；滿足客戶關鍵的建築和服務需求；對於我們行業中的任何公司加入，我們都保證他們的員工將受到尊重和培養，他們的遺產將延續和發揚光大。我們相信，我們對這些原則、對我們的人民及其遺產的承諾一直並將繼續是我們成功的關鍵。

Safety, quality, and innovation remain at the forefront of our operations. We constantly strive to improve and grow our operations to enable sustainable and efficient building environments to improve the productivity of our diverse workforce and to acquire great complementary businesses.

安全、品質和創新仍然是我們營運的首要任務。我們不斷努力改善和發展我們的業務，以實現可持續和高效的建築環境，從而提高我們多元化員工的生產力並獲得巨大的互補業務。

Thanks to our careful and relentless investments in existing and newly acquired businesses, we have the crucial skills and capability to help meet our country's surging needs for mechanical and electrical experts and to build and service buildings, including to grow data capacity for artificial intelligence, to increase our nation's capacity to build its own chips, manufacture its own medicines, supply its batteries, and provide healthcare resources for our aging population.

由於我們對現有和新收購的業務進行了謹慎和不懈的投資，我們擁有關鍵的技能和能力來幫助滿足我國對機械和電氣專家不斷增長的需求以及建造和維修建築物，包括增加人工智能的數據容量，提高我們國家製造自己的晶片、製造自己的藥品、供應電池以及為老齡化人口提供醫療保健資源的能力。

As we look ahead, we remain optimistic about the prospects for service and construction across our vast markets. With our backlog over 20% higher than even the robust levels of the prior year, and with persistent strength across our markets, we believe that we can continue to grow and invest in 2024.

展望未來，我們對廣大市場的服務和建築前景保持樂觀。我們的積壓訂單比上一年的強勁水平高出 20% 以上，而且我們的市場持續強勁，我們相信我們可以在 2024 年繼續成長和投資。

Our number one priority is to preserve and grow the best workforce in our industry. And so as always, I want to close by thanking our over 15,000 employees for their hard work and dedication.

我們的首要任務是保留和培養業界中最優秀的勞動力。像往常一樣，我想最後感謝我們超過 15,000 名員工的辛勤工作和奉獻精神。

I'll now turn the call back over to Justin for questions. Thank you.

我現在會把電話轉回給賈斯汀詢問問題。謝謝。

(Operator Instructions) Alex Dwyer, KeyBanc Capital Markets.

（操作員說明）Alex Dwyer，KeyBanc 資本市場。

Hi, guys. Thanks for taking my question. So I wanted to ask about the backlog increase in the quarter and specifically the modular orders. And was that one order or multiple orders? Was it one customer or multiple customers? And do you think there's the opportunity to see more of these larger modular orders as we go into 2024?

嗨，大家好。感謝您提出我的問題。所以我想詢問本季的積壓訂單成長情況，特別是模組化訂單。這是一份訂單還是多份訂單？是一個客戶還是多個客戶？您認為進入 2024 年，是否有機會看到更多這類大型模組化訂單？

Alex, the way that -- so if you look at the sequential backlog increase, a little over 60% of that was an increase in modular. So that was $800 million-something. If you look at the year-over-year increase in backlog, about 20% of it was modular. So we have a situation where we had some big bookings in the fourth quarter of last year, which was -- actually, last year, it was more than all of our sequential increase and then big bookings in the fourth quarter of this year.

Alex，這樣的話，如果你觀察一下積壓訂單的連續成長，你會發現其中 60% 多一點是模組化的成長。那就是 8 億美元左右。如果你看看積壓訂單的同比增長，你會發現其中大約 20% 是模組化的。因此，我們面臨的情況是，去年第四季度我們有一些大額預訂，實際上，去年，它超過了我們所有的連續成長，然後是今年第四季的大額預訂。

And of course, over the course of the year, we burned down -- we performed a lot of that modular. We're back to higher-than-ever levels of modular backlog with these new bookings. But 80% of our year-over-year backlog increase is broad based. So honestly, we just couldn't be happier with the breadth, the composition, et cetera. And as far as additional bookings, absolutely, right now, we're taking as much as we can. But the people who are buying these services from us tell us they would like to give us more.

當然，在這一年裡，我們精疲力盡——我們執行了許多模組化的工作。透過這些新預訂，我們的模組化積壓量恢復到了前所未有的水平。但我們 80% 的積壓訂單年增長是廣泛的。老實說，我們對它的廣度、構圖等等都非常滿意。至於額外的預訂，絕對是現在，我們正在盡可能地接受。但從我們這裡購買這些服務的人告訴我們，他們願意為我們提供更多服務。

Got it. And then the press release mentions an increase in modular profitability. I don't think we get the disclosures for this. But how was the margin performance this year in modular? And should we expect continued margin expansion in that business this year?

知道了。然後新聞稿提到了模組化獲利能力的提高。我認為我們沒有得到這方面的披露。但今年模組化的利潤率表現如何？我們是否應該預期今年該業務的利潤率將繼續擴大？

So modular margins for the full year were just a little higher than the prior year, but they're at very, very good levels. You may have heard in my script that I mentioned, the gross profit for modular is lower than it is for any of our other businesses. And that's a combination of it. It does have a high component of materials and the passthrough.

因此，全年的模組化利潤率僅比上一年高一點，但處於非常非常好的水平。您可能在我的腳本中聽說過，模組化的毛利低於我們任何其他業務的毛利。這是它的組合。它確實具有較高的材料成分和直通性。

It's also performed -- the work we do in the field is performed with licensed electricians and certified medical gas technicians. The work that we perform in our plants is highly skilled, but it isn't as difficult to find that labor. So we're very happy with those margins.

它也是執行的——我們在現場所做的工作是由有執照的電工和經過認證的醫用氣體技術人員執行的。我們在工廠從事的工作技術含量很高，但要找到這樣的勞動力並不難。所以我們對這些利潤非常滿意。

As far as margin expansion in modular, we'll be thrilled if it stays the same. Of course, we're always working for margin expansion. But man, when you -- after a quarter like this, it's pretty hard to talk about doing better.

就模組化的利潤擴張而言，如果它保持不變，我們將感到興奮。當然，我們始終致力於擴大利潤。但是，夥計，當你經歷了這樣一個季度之後，就很難談論做得更好了。

Yeah. We're really happy with the modular business, Alex.

是的。我們對模組化業務非常滿意，亞歷克斯。

Got it. And then just last one on the margin outlook for 2024, I think we're talking EBITDA margins more so this year than gross margin. There's the deal amortization. I think inflation could be a tailwind to margins this year. And then maybe like a mix versus the early-stage versus the later-stage jobs could be like a swing factor. Can we just talk about like the puts and takes in margins this year?

知道了。最後是 2024 年利潤率展望，我認為今年我們更多地談論 EBITDA 利潤率，而不是毛利率。這是交易攤銷。我認為通貨膨脹可能會成為今年利潤率的推動因素。然後，早期工作和後期工作的混合可能會成為一個搖擺因素。我們可以只討論今年的看跌期權和買入利潤嗎？

So if you look at this overall, I just want to comment on the margin performance we've been getting over really since 2016. We've been pretty consistently having 18% to 20%, leaving the amortization aside for a minute. So I am personally thrilled with the level of performance we're getting in executing our work. I mean, if I was running this work, I'd be really happy myself. So I consider that we'll keep going.

因此，如果你從整體上看，我只想評論一下我們自 2016 年以來真正克服的利潤率表現。我們一直保持 18% 到 20% 的比例，暫且不考慮攤提。因此，我個人對我們在執行工作中所取得的績效水準感到非常興奮。我的意思是，如果我負責這項工作，我自己會很高興。所以我認為我們會繼續下去。

Bill, if you want to add on --

比爾，如果你想補充的話--

I think you made all the right points. The one thing I'll just refine a little bit for everyone, so if you think about it, amortization is always big at Comfort because we buy companies on a fairly regular basis. And the companies we buy come with a lot of backlog. So for example, Summit will roll into Comfort with something like $400 million of backlog. And the accounting rules require us to put a value on that backlog and amortize it as an expense.

我認為你提出了所有正確的觀點。我將為每個人改進一點，所以如果你想一想，康福特的攤銷總是很大，因為我們相當定期地購買公司。我們購買的公司有大量積壓訂單。例如，Summit 將進入 Comfort 階段，積壓金額約為 4 億美元。會計規則要求我們對積壓的訂單進行評估，並將其作為費用進行攤銷。

In addition to things like customer list and trade name that all businesses have, our amortization is higher than most. Obviously, it's non-cash, the money is gone. It's never coming back. So in a way, it's not sensible to worry about it because you own what you own today, and it's going to earn what it earns. But we're required to reduce the earnings that we present -- the margins we present to you guys for that.

除了所有企業都有的客戶名單和商號等資訊外，我們的攤銷比大多數企業都高。顯然，它不是現金，錢沒了。它永遠不會回來。所以在某種程度上，擔心它是不明智的，因為你擁有你今天所擁有的東西，而且它會賺到它賺到的錢。但我們需要減少我們提供的收入——我們為此向你們提供的利潤。

And the reason we wanted to call it out is, last year, we had less acquisitions than we have had over the last three or four years proportionate to the size of Comfort Systems. So amortization was probably the lowest and definitely the lowest, proportionate to the size of the company, that has been in a long time. Well, on February 1, we did our biggest deal ever. We did another top five or six deal ever. And so amortization is going to come back in a very notable way over the next 18 months.

我們想要指出這一點的原因是，去年我們的收購數量比過去三、四年少，與舒適系統的規模成比例。因此，與公司規模成比例，攤銷可能是長期以來最低的，絕對是最低的。嗯，2 月 1 日，我們完成了有史以來最大的一筆交易。我們又完成了有史以來排名前五或六的交易。因此，攤銷將在未來 18 個月內以非常顯著的方式回歸。

And so obviously, that pushes down gross margins because it's an expense. You put tens of millions of the dollars -- many tens of millions of dollars of expense through your cost of goods sold, and it's all non-cash. So the cash flow still does great. EBITDA is still -- EBITDA really is what I look at, still looks good. So we're comfortable with the cadence of our EBITDA margins. We are going to have choppiness in the gross profit margins.

顯然，這會壓低毛利率，因為這是一項支出。你將數千萬美元——許多數千萬美元的費用計入你的銷售商品成本，而且都是非現金的。所以現金流還是很不錯的。EBITDA 仍然—— EBITDA 確實是我所看到的，看起來仍然不錯。因此，我們對 EBITDA 利潤率的節奏感到滿意。我們的毛利率將會波動。

Sorry, that's a little bit longer. But it's just -- I think it bears -- given the size of the deals we just did and the fact that we were at a low ebb last year, I just wanted to mention all of that.

抱歉，有點長了。但我認為這是有道理的，考慮到我們剛剛完成的交易規模以及去年我們處於低谷的事實，我只想提及所有這些。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Julio Romero, Sidoti & Company.

胡里奧·羅梅羅，西多蒂公司。

Hey. Good morning, guys, Maybe staying on gross margins for a second. You mentioned the same-store revenue for the year should be looking like first half weighted. How about the gross margin cadence? Should that also be first half weighted, or how would you have us think about that?

嘿。早安，夥計們，也許我們可以暫時停留在毛利率上。您提到今年的同店收入應該看起來像是上半年加權的。毛利率節奏如何？這也應該是前半加權嗎？或者您會讓我們如何考慮這一點？

No. I mean, if I'm excluding what Bill just went through, just in terms of purely operational, I think we'll be pretty consistent at the gross margin level that we've been at. They'll fluctuate up and down quarter to quarter, but I think we'll be in that 18% to 20% range for sure.

不。我的意思是，如果我排除比爾剛剛經歷的事情，僅就純粹的營運而言，我認為我們的毛利率水平將非常一致。它們會每個季度上下波動，但我認為我們肯定會在 18% 到 20% 的範圍內。

I mean, the effects on gross margin from like backlog amortization will be immediate. And then there's also a chance of purchase adjustments later in the year that could make -- could be a little lumpy in a quarter here or there. But if you just -- the business is going to earn a lot; it's going to do well. But there would just be a little more noise in those gross margin lines.

我的意思是，積壓攤銷對毛利率的影響將是即時的。然後，今年稍後也有可能進行購買調整，這可能會在某個季度內出現一些波動。但如果你──企業就會賺很多錢；會做得很好。但這些毛利率線只會有更多的噪音。

Okay, got it. What does your capacity look like?

好，知道了。你的能力如何？

Just for the record, that noise can go either direction. You shouldn't just hear it's all bad. Now, the amortization will always be an expense. But anyway, go ahead, I'm sorry.

鄭重聲明一下，噪音可以往任何一個方向傳播。你不應該只是聽到這一切都很糟糕。現在，攤銷將永遠是一項費用。但無論如何，請繼續吧，對不起。

No, great point. I'm just thinking about -- there's also a lot of cost passthrough in modular too and how that could -- depending on whether you do it first half weighted or second half weighted, it would affect the cadence of things.

不，很好的一點。我只是在想 - 模組化也有很多成本傳遞以及如何實現 - 取決於你是前半權重還是後半權重，這會影響事情的節奏。

Yeah.

是的。

Maybe just turning to capacity, how does that look for you guys? Can you continue to take on orders? And how far out are you booked these days?

也許只是轉向容量，你們覺得怎麼樣？可以繼續接訂單嗎？您這些天的預訂時間是多久？

Well, in terms of our capacity, we're in good shape right now. The backlog, the projects are a little bit bigger, so we're in good shape for this year for sure, winning a fair amount of work, about 30% of our backlogs, into 2025. So in terms of the work we have, obviously, we're spending a lot of time making sure we can execute properly, selecting the right work, et cetera. But in terms of capacity, the workload we have, the workload we see, we're in good shape right now.

嗯，就我們的能力而言，我們現在狀況良好。積壓的項目有點大，所以我們今年的狀態肯定良好，到 2025 年贏得了相當多的工作，約佔積壓的 30%。因此，就我們現有的工作而言，顯然，我們花費了大量時間來確保我們能夠正確執行、選擇正確的工作等等。但就容量、我們擁有的工作量、我們所看到的工作量而言，我們現在狀況良好。

Okay, that's helpful. And then last one for me is a little bit of a broader question. But industrial and institutional are making up a bigger portion of new construction, as you said earlier, Brian. And I would imagine a good majority of those are owner-occupied buildings, not necessarily spec building.

好的，這很有幫助。最後一個對我來說是一個更廣泛的問題。但正如你之前所說，布萊恩，工業和機構在新建築中所佔的比例越來越大。我想大部分都是業主自住的建築，不一定是規格建築。

So what are you hearing from those customers in regards to costs? Are these kind of owner-occupied projects just having to swallow a higher cost of capital and tougher project economics just to get Comfort to take on the project?

那麼您從這些客戶那裡聽到的有關成本的資訊是什麼？這些類型的業主自住專案是否必須承受更高的資本成本和更艱難的專案經濟才能讓 Comfort 承接該專案？

So I don't think they're worried about the cost of capital. We're talking the big tech companies, the big pharma companies, they have capital. Frankly, they want to deploy capital. As far as pricing, pricing is up, it is. And it's not a -- we have to charge people more because we pay our guys, we need to pay our workers very, very well right now. They deserve it. They've worked for us, many of them, for generations in some cases, but for decades. And that's what it takes to get the work done.

所以我認為他們並不擔心資金成本。我們談論的是大型科技公司、大型製藥公司，他們有資本。坦白說，他們想配置資本。就定價而言，定價確實上漲了。這不是——我們必須向人們收取更多費用，因為我們付給我們的員工，我們現在需要非常非常好的付給我們的工人。他們應得的。他們中的許多人為我們工作了幾代人，在某些情況下，甚至幾十年了。這就是完成工作所需要的。

So I would say pricing is definitely up. We're making sure that we get -- in a sense, we're taking more risk because we're promising to do something at a time when we're already full. We have to make sure that we get pricing that compensates us for that risk and allows us to do a good job for our customers.

所以我想說定價肯定漲了。我們確保我們得到——從某種意義上說，我們承擔了更多的風險，因為我們承諾在我們已經吃飽的時候做一些事情。我們必須確保我們的定價能夠補償我們的風險，並使我們能夠為客戶做好工作。

But for sure, if you thought -- if you started planning a building two years ago and you're building it today, it is costing you a lot more than you were budgeting two years ago. And by the way, that's true in a lot of parts of the economy, but I think it's especially true in anything that's using skilled labor.

但可以肯定的是，如果您認為，如果您兩年前開始規劃一棟建築物並且今天正在建造它，那麼您的成本將比兩年前的預算高得多。順便說一句，這在經濟的許多領域都是如此，但我認為在使用熟練勞動力的任何領域尤其如此。

Helpful. Thanks very much.

有幫助。非常感謝。

Adam Thalhimer, Thompson Davis.

亞當·塔爾希默、湯普森·戴維斯。

Hey. Good morning, guys. Great quarter. Just since there's so much interest, do you mind just talking high level about data center demand?

嘿。早上好傢伙。很棒的季度。既然大家對此如此感興趣，您介意從高層次討論一下資料中心的需求嗎？

Well, I'll go first, and Bill can comment. But data center demand is still strong. Everything you read or hear, Adam, it still has a lot of legs to it. So right now, we see no let up, and the stuff we're looking at are the opportunities presenting themselves. And I think it's going to be good for a number of years.

好吧，我先走了，比爾可以發表評論。但資料中心需求依然強勁。亞當，你讀到或聽到的一切，仍然有很多道理。因此，現在我們並沒有看到任何放鬆的跡象，我們正在關注的是出現的機會。我認為這會持續很多年。

So you look at tech whip from 13% to 21% of our revenue. Really, we're doing a lot of chip and some other stuff, but that is overwhelmingly data centers. We're seeing data centers not just in our modular business. They're very big in Texas in our electrical business. They're very big in the mid-Atlantic, Virginia, and we're turning -- we're disappointing people. We're favoring people who've given us -- been partners with us for a long time.

所以你看看技術鞭子從我們收入的 13% 到 21%。確實，我們正在做很多晶片和其他一些東西，但絕大多數是資料中心。我們不僅在我們的模組化業務中看到資料中心。他們在德克薩斯州的電力業務中規模很大。他們在大西洋中部的弗吉尼亞州非常大，我們正在轉變——我們讓人們失望了。我們偏愛那些給予我們幫助並長期與我們合作的人。

But we just -- the demand for data centers is going to force the build to be pushed out over time. And that's one of the great things about modular. Modular is -- if you're a big data hyperscale, especially data center provider, you really -- people say, well, which modality of building data centers is going to work, who is going to win. And the answer is it's an all-of-the-above world right now.

但我們只是——隨著時間的推移，對資料中心的需求將迫使建設被推遲。這就是模組化的偉大之處之一。模組化是——如果你是一個超大規模的大數據，特別是數據中心提供商，你真的——人們會說，哪種構建數據中心的方式會起作用，誰會贏。答案是現在是一個萬事俱備的世界。

They want to do it modular. They want to do it stick-built. They want to do third party. They want to do repurposing. They want to do up, adding -- reconfiguring buildings to support more. Every way that they can do it is how they're doing it. It reminds me of the way we -- people say, how do you hire people? And the answer is, we hire people every possible way we can think of. They're building data centers every possible way they can think of.

他們希望將其模組化。他們想要堅持建造。他們想做第三方。他們想要重新利用。他們想要做一些改進，增加——重新配置建築物以支援更多。他們能做到的每一種方式都是他們正在做的。這讓我想起我們的方式——人們說，你如何僱用員工？答案是，我們用一切我們能想到的方式來招募員工。他們正在以他們能想到的一切可能的方式建造資料中心。

And for the foreseeable future, if you can help them meet those needs, and especially if you can do a really good job, there just seems to be no end to that demand. The demand was big even before artificial intelligence. Artificial intelligence isn't data center demand; it's incremental data center.

在可預見的未來，如果你能幫助他們滿足這些需求，特別是如果你能做得非常好，那麼這種需求似乎永無止境。甚至在人工智慧出現之前，需求就很大。人工智慧不是資料中心的需求；而是資料中心的需求。它是增量資料中心。

Right. And then you said three new modular facilities last year. That was higher than -- I didn't realize that. I thought it was one. But what would be your thoughts about expanding modular capacity further?

正確的。然後你去年提到了三個新的模組化設施。這比——我沒有意識到這一點還要高。我以為是一個。但您對進一步擴大模組化產能有何看法？

I mean, you got to see what the demand is and see what kind of commitments we get from our customers. We've got the three up and running now. So I mean, we'll see how I think it plays out, which customers would want us to do it.

我的意思是，你必須了解需求是什麼，並了解我們從客戶那裡得到了什麼樣的承諾。我們現在已經啟動並運行了這三個。所以我的意思是，我們將看看我認為結果如何，哪些客戶希望我們這樣做。

So round numbers, we did about a 400,000-square-foot facility in North Carolina, and we did a 400,000- and a 200,000-square-foot facility here in Houston. And it's even -- those sizes are great, but these are also buildings that have much bigger volume. They're taller, so you can build -- you have the option sometimes of building at levels because, remember, this is volumetric. You're building buildings that get stacked on top of each other. So this new space is really, really great for our guys.

因此，我們在北卡羅來納州建造了大約 40 萬平方英尺的工廠，在休士頓建造了 40 萬平方英尺和 20 萬平方英尺的工廠。甚至——這些尺寸很大，但這些建築的體積也更大。它們更高，所以你可以建造——有時你可以選擇按水平建造，因為請記住，這是體積的。您正在建造的建築物彼此堆疊。所以這個新空間對我們的球員來說真的非常非常好。

We had an opportunity when we came into this space to really take the lessons we have learned in deploying robots and robotic arms and the kind of equipment that can make robotic arms more efficient and faster. And so far, it's going very, very well. As far as increasing the space, I think we certainly have conversations with existing and new customers about what would get us to do that. I think we're probably not going to make serious decisions about that before the middle of the year. But the opportunity is for certain, it's out there right now.

當我們進入這個領域時，我們有機會真正吸取在部署機器人和機械手臂以及可以使機械手臂更有效率、更快的設備方面學到的經驗教訓。到目前為止，進展非常非常順利。至於增加空間，我認為我們肯定會與現有客戶和新客戶進行對話，討論如何讓我們做到這一點。我認為我們可能不會在年中之前就此做出認真的決定。但機會是肯定的，現在就存在。

But one of the things about Comfort is we really want to do a good job for people. And one thing we never want to do is promise more than we can really deliver at an absolutely industry-standard level. So our number one consideration in taking work is can we do it and do it right, our number.

但 Comfort 的一個特點是我們真的想為人們做好工作。我們永遠不想做的一件事就是承諾的內容超出了我們在絕對行業標準水平上真正能夠提供的內容。因此，我們在接受工作時首要考慮的是我們能否做到這一點，並且做得正確，我們的人數。

And almost similar -- almost the same level of consideration is, is this work that will be good for our workforce, then with people who will treat them fairly and work with them, where there will be good efficiency, so that they can be successful. Is the geography onerous for them or good for them? I mean, in construction right now, a huge consideration is retaining your workforce. And you retain your workforce by considering the things that are going to be important to your workforce. So that's actually a very important consideration right now with our best operators.

幾乎相似 - 幾乎相同程度的考慮是，這項工作是否對我們的員工有利，然後與那些會公平對待他們並與他們一起工作的人有利，那裡會有良好的效率，以便他們能夠成功。地理環境對他們來說是繁重還是有利？我的意思是，目前在建築業，一個重要的考慮因素是留住勞動力。您可以透過考慮對您的員工來說重要的事情來留住您的員工。因此，這實際上是我們最好的操作員現在需要考慮的一個非常重要的因素。

Okay, super helpful. Last one, backlog expectations, I'm just curious if could backlog continue to build in Q1. Or are you basically -- I would imagine you're kind of full for the 2024 construction season.

好的，超級有幫助。最後一個，積壓預期，我只是好奇積壓是否會在第一季繼續增加。或者你基本上 - 我想你對 2024 年的施工季節已經很滿了。

We're in really good shape of backlog this year for sure. You can still grow it because projects are getting let longer. But back to what Bill just said, if it works, given with our good customers, we're going to see what we can do to fill it in. But there's still plenty of stuff to look at, Adam, no shortage of opportunities.

毫無疑問，今年我們的積壓狀況非常好。你仍然可以成長它，因為專案的租期越來越長。但回到比爾剛才所說的，如果它有效，考慮到我們的好客戶，我們將看看我們能做些什麼來填補它。但亞當，還有很多東西值得一看，不乏機會。

Great update. Thanks, guys.

很棒的更新。多謝你們。

Josh Chan, UBS.

喬許陳，瑞銀。

Hi. Good morning, Brian, Bill, and Julie. Thanks for taking my questions. Maybe could we contextualize your margin strength in the quarter for a quick minute here. I appreciate the guidance that you gave into next year. What are some of the factors that drove the margins this quarter? And can those factors pretty much continue into 2024?

你好。早上好，布萊恩、比爾和朱莉。感謝您回答我的問題。也許我們可以在這裡快速了解您在本季的利潤率實力。我感謝您對明年的指導。推動本季利潤率成長的因素有哪些？這些因素能在很大程度上持續到 2024 年嗎？

So the factors were remarkably broad based, remarkably diffused. It's really just good execution, good work at reasoned and fair prices, and our guys are doing a great job of performing it. There is very -- it's not like -- sometimes, historically, when you see stuff like this, there's two or three drivers. And certainly, every month and every quarter, there are companies that have an especially good month or quarter, but it's really remarkable right now how broad based this is. So I think that makes you more optimistic that it can continue.

因此，這些因素的基礎非常廣泛，而且非常分散。這實際上只是良好的執行力，以合理且公平的價格完成的出色工作，而且我們的人員在這方面做得很好。從歷史上看，有時，當你看到這樣的東西時，有兩三個司機。當然，每個月和每個季度都有一些公司的月份或季度表現特別好，但現在這種情況的基礎如此廣泛確實令人矚目。所以我認為這讓你對它能夠繼續下去更加樂觀。

And also, our service business is up to $1 billion, so we continue to grow that with higher margins, too, which is helping our margins as well, Josh.

而且，我們的服務業務高達 10 億美元，因此我們將繼續以更高的利潤率來成長這項業務，這也有助於我們的利潤率，喬許。

Okay. Yeah, that's helpful. Thank you for the color there. And then on the same-store growth that you're projecting for next year, I guess, if it's mid-teens for the full year and stronger in the first half, could your growth accelerate in Q1 beyond what you achieved in Q4? Just wanted to get the shape right versus what you're thinking in terms of how you get to that full year of mid-teens.

好的。是的，這很有幫助。謝謝你那裡的顏色。然後，就您預計明年的同店成長而言，我想，如果全年為十幾歲左右，上半年更強勁，那麼您在第一季的成長速度是否會超過第四季的成長速度？只是想讓形狀正確，而不是你所想的關於如何進入青少年中期的全年。

So it's lumpier than you think, so it's harder to answer that question than you think because the range -- you might think we're within -- we can narrow it to a percentage of it. It's really there's -- to get to 1.5 standard deviations, I think you might go from 14% to 23% or something. So I would say it is certainly the case that if you made me -- if you said Comfort was going to grow 15%, you made me quarterize that, I'd put 1% or 2% more the first two quarters than I put in the last two quarters.

所以它比你想像的更複雜，所以回答這個問題比你想像的更難，因為這個範圍——你可能認為我們在這個範圍內——我們可以將它縮小到它的一個百分比。確實存在——為了達到 1.5 個標準差，我想你可能會從 14% 到 23% 之類的。所以我想說，如果你讓我——如果你說舒適度將增長 15%，你讓我將其季度化，我會在前兩個季度投入比我投入的多 1% 或 2% 的資金在過去的兩個季度中。

But I will also say, all of the factors that drove us to do better are still in evidence. Our guys are really killing it. So honestly, one of the reasons we say it's weighted more heavily towards the first half is we just have more visibility on the first half -- [you promised something].

但我還要說，所有促使我們做得更好的因素仍然顯而易見。我們的人真的很殺戮。老實說，我們說上半場的權重更大的原因之一是我們對上半場的能見度更高-- [你答應過某件事]。

Okay. Yeah, that's really helpful. Thank you for that. And maybe last one for me, beyond what's in the backlog now, could you talk about what opportunities you see in terms of things that you're bidding on -- you've been working on trying to get to the backlog or the early part of the bidding process? What are you seeing on that front? Thank you.

好的。是的，這真的很有幫助。謝謝你。也許對我來說最後一個，除了現在積壓的內容之外，您能否談談您在競標的事物方面看到的機會 - 您一直在努力解決積壓或早期部分投標過程？你在前面看到了什麼？謝謝。

Well, we're seeing still a tremendous amount of activity. We're being very selective, as we've spoken about, and it's heavy and a lot of manufacturing, a lot of industrial, a lot of technology. We're also seeing education backlog, and that is the highest it's been in years, particularly university work, some K-12, and also healthcare -- medical, newbuild hospitals -- we're seeing come up. So this is a wide range of opportunities in addition to the food, life sciences, pharma, et cetera, that we've talked about. So pretty broad range, Josh.

嗯，我們仍然看到大量的活動。正如我們所說，我們非常有選擇性，而且它很重，有很多製造業、很多工業、很多技術。我們還看到教育積壓，這是多年來的最高水平，特別是大學工作、一些 K-12，以及醫療保健——醫療、新建醫院——我們都看到了積壓。因此，除了我們討論過的食品、生命科學、製藥等領域之外，還有廣泛的機會。範圍非常廣泛，喬許。

That's great to hear. Congrats on a great quarter and great year.

聽到這個消息我很高興。恭喜您度過了美好的季度和美好的一年。

Jean Ramirez, D.A. Davidson.

讓·拉米雷斯，D.A.戴維森。

This is Jean Ramirez on for Brent Thielman. Congrats on the quarter by the way. As a percentage of revenue, what was modular's contribution for the year?

我是讓·拉米雷斯 (Jean Ramirez) 替補布倫特·蒂爾曼 (Brent Thielman)。順便說一句，恭喜這個季度。模組化今年的貢獻佔營收的百分比是多少？

20%.

20%。

18%, I believe.

18%，我相信。

18%, is that correct?

18%，這個正確嗎？

18%, yeah.

18%，是的。

There's a pie chart [out that presents this range].

有一個圓餅圖[出表示這個範圍]。

Perfect. Sorry if I missed that. And just continuing on the conversation around backlog, is there any concerns or any major concerns around your markets near term? Or perhaps maybe just taking a look at your capacity or labor or any other inputs, is there anything to share there?

完美的。抱歉，如果我錯過了。繼續圍繞積壓問題進行對話，近期您的市場是否有任何擔憂或重大擔憂？或者也許只是看看您的能力、勞力或任何其他投入，有什麼可以分享的嗎？

In terms of backlog on our markets, I don't have any concerns. Of course, commercial, in terms of office buildings, you're obviously not seeing a new lot of office buildings. We still have a lot of service, small project work, the exception in Dallas -- in the Wall Street Journal, earlier this week, Dallas is still pretty busy on office buildings. But in terms of the sectors themselves, I don't have any real concern at all.

就我們市場上的積壓而言，我沒有任何擔憂。當然，就商業而言，就辦公大樓而言，你顯然不會看到大量新的辦公室。我們仍然有很多服務、小型專案工作，達拉斯是個例外——據《華爾街日報》報道，本週早些時候，達拉斯的辦公大樓仍然非常繁忙。但就產業本身而言，我根本沒有任何真正的擔憂。

In terms of our labor capacity, we're hiring all the time. We increased our workforce in the fourth quarter as well. We brought a couple of new companies on that brings us more resources, too. And then we have a temporary labor organization that we have. So in terms of capacity and the backlog, we feel pretty confident about us doing the work and doing the work that we like and that we can do well.

就我們的勞動力能力而言，我們一直在招募。我們在第四季也增加了勞動力。我們引入了幾家新公司，這也為我們帶來了更多資源。然後我們有一個臨時勞工組織。因此，就產能和積壓而言，我們對我們所做的工作以及做我們喜歡的工作以及我們能夠做好的工作非常有信心。

So just one correction. Modular was, for the full year, 15%. I was getting the quarterly number mixed up. So 15% of our total revenue came through our two modular operations.

所以只有一處更正。全年模組化比例為 15%。我把季度數字搞混了。因此，我們總收入的 15% 來自我們的兩個模組化營運。

Perfect. Thank you. I appreciate that. And just one more for me. Could you discuss, from the latest acquisition, the Summit Industrial Constructions, what are the opportunities the company sees to grow this business beyond the revenues ranges discussed?

完美的。謝謝。我很感激。還給我一個。您能否討論一下，從最近收購的 Summit Industrial Constructions 來看，該公司認為將業務發展到超出所討論的收入範圍的機會有哪些？

Well, it's productive capacity. Both of those two companies have more work available if they can take it. The revenue ranges we put in is the amount that's supported by their current backlog. It wouldn't be surprising if they did a little more. They can't do orders of magnitude more because there's a time space mass problem with the number of people. But certainly, virtually every acquisition we've done within a couple of years was bigger. So we're hoping that happens again.

嗯，就是生產能力。如果可以的話，這兩家公司都有更多的工作機會。我們輸入的收入範圍是他們目前積壓訂單所支持的金額。如果他們多做一點，也就不足為奇了。他們不能做得更多，因為人數有時空品質問題。但可以肯定的是，實際上我們在幾年內完成的每一次收購都規模更大。所以我們希望這種情況再次發生。

But they're really good companies.

但他們確實是好公司。

Understood. Thank you.

明白了。謝謝。

One of the things is we don't push people's revenue. We push them for -- they could do -- frankly, close to half the time, as of a year or two ago, I took a look, companies shrunk the first full year we owned them. Close to half the time, they were smaller the first full year we own them. But with almost -- I don't think with any exception, the third full year we own them, they're noticeably bigger. So hopefully, that could keep happening.

其中之一是我們不增加人們的收入。我們推動他們——他們可以做——坦率地說，接近一半的時間，截至一兩年前，我看了一下，公司在我們擁有它們的第一個完整年裡就縮水了。接近一半的情況是，在我們擁有它們的第一年，它們就變小了。但我認為毫無例外，在我們擁有它們的第三個完整年裡，它們明顯更大了。所以希望這種情況能夠繼續發生。

Got it. Thank you so much for the additional comments there. Appreciate it.

知道了。非常感謝您的補充評論。欣賞它。

Alex Dwyer, KeyBanc Capital Markets

Alex Dwyer，KeyBanc 資本市場

Hi, guys. Just one more if I can squeeze one in. So the free cash flow conversion in 2023, I'm just doing the math, it was 175% to net income. Do you have any sense of like where this could shake out in 2024? Should we be expecting something lower than 100%? Or just any thoughts on visibility and cash flow conversion this year.

嗨，大家好。如果我能擠進一顆的話，就再多一顆吧。所以 2023 年的自由現金流轉換，我只是做了數學計算，它是淨利的 175%。您是否知道 2024 年這種情況會發生什麼變化？我們應該預期低於 100% 的結果嗎？或只是對今年的可見性和現金流轉換的任何想法。

So that's a really hard question because you have to predict the timing. So we have two things going on. One, we have really, really good payment terms on almost all of our work. And that is -- we're overbilled at unprecedented levels, et cetera. But the big different thing that's going on right now is just, when we take these modular orders, we have the right to receive advanced payments when we accept the order. So we have significant amounts of money that are being paid to us sometimes a year in advance of when the work will be done. So it's very, very hard to predict when those orders will come in.

所以這是一個非常困難的問題，因為你必須預測時間。所以我們有兩件事正在發生。第一，我們幾乎所有的工作都有非常非常好的付款條件。也就是說，我們的收費過高，達到了前所未有的水平，等等。但現在發生的最大的不同之處在於，當我們接受這些模組化訂單時，我們有權在接受訂單時收到預付款。因此，有時我們會在工作完成前一年向我們支付大量資金。因此，很難預測這些訂單何時會到來。

I will say we just had big orders in the fourth quarter. So some of that money was collected in the fourth quarter. Some of that money will still be collected in the first quarter. So we'll start the year off in a good position. And then I believe sometime, maybe later this year in the third, fourth, or first quarter the next year, we'll have a quarter or two where our cash flows are less than our earnings.

我想說的是，我們第四季剛剛接到了大訂單。因此，其中一些資金是在第四季度收到的。其中部分資金仍將在第一季收取。因此，我們將以良好的狀態開始新的一年。然後我相信某個時候，也許是今年晚些時候，明年第三、第四或第一季度，我們將有一兩個季度的現金流量低於我們的收益。

But I will say this time last year, I thought the same thing, and the orders kept coming and we stayed ahead. So that's why it's so hard to predict because when my Board asks me that, I just tell them, let's just enjoy this.

但我想說去年的這個時候，我也這麼想，訂單源源不斷地湧來，我們保持領先。這就是為什麼預測如此困難，因為當我的董事會問我這個問題時，我只是告訴他們，讓我們享受這個。

All right. Thanks.

好的。謝謝。

And I am showing no further questions. I would now like to turn the call over to Brian Lane for closing remarks.

我沒有提出任何進一步的問題。我現在想將電話轉給布萊恩·萊恩 (Brian Lane) 發表結束語。

All right. Thanks, Justin, and I really want to, once again, thank all our amazing employees. It's a great industry, and we really appreciate everything everybody does in this organization. Thank you all for your interest in Comfort Systems. I hope everyone has a terrific weekend and look forward to seeing everybody soon. Thank you.

好的。謝謝賈斯汀，我真的想再次感謝我們所有出色的員工。這是一個很棒的行業，我們非常感謝每個人在這個組織中所做的一切。感謝大家對舒適系統的關注。我希望每個人都有一個愉快的周末，並期待很快見到大家。謝謝。

Thanks, everybody.

謝謝大家。

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

今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝您的參與。您現在可以斷開連線。