(GNRC) 2023 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Good day. Welcome to Second Quarter 2023 Generac Holdings Inc. Earnings Call.

再會。歡迎參加 Generac Holdings Inc. 2023 年第二季度收益電話會議。

(Operator Instructions). After the speakers' presentation, there will be a question-and-answer session.

（操作員說明）。演講者演講結束後，將進行問答環節。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員說明）

Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded. I would now like to hand the conference over to your speaker today, Mike Harris, SVP, Corporate Development and Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

請注意，今天的會議正在錄製中。現在我想將會議交給今天的發言人，企業發展和投資者關係高級副總裁邁克·哈里斯 (Mike Harris)。請繼續。

Good morning, and welcome to our second quarter 2023 earnings call. I'd like to thank everyone for joining us this morning. With me today is Aaron Jagdfeld, President and Chief Executive Officer; and York Ragen, Chief Financial Officer. We will begin our call today by commenting on forward-looking statements. Certain statements made during this presentation as well as other information provided from time to time by Generac or its employees may contain forward-looking statements and involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in these forward-looking statements.

早上好，歡迎參加我們的 2023 年第二季度財報電話會議。我要感謝大家今天早上加入我們。今天與我在一起的是總裁兼首席執行官 Aaron Jagdfeld；和首席財務官約克·雷根。我們今天將首先對前瞻性陳述發表評論。本演示文稿中的某些陳述以及 Generac 或其員工不時提供的其他信息可能包含前瞻性陳述，並涉及可能導致實際結果與這些前瞻性陳述中的結果存在重大差異的風險和不確定性。

Please see our earnings release or SEC filings for a list of words or expressions that identify such statements and the associated risk factors. In addition, we will make reference to certain non-GAAP measures during today's call. Additional information regarding these measures, including reconciliation to comparable U.S. GAAP measures, is available in our earnings release and SEC filings. I will now turn the call over to Aaron.

請參閱我們的收益報告或 SEC 文件，了解識別此類聲明和相關風險因素的單詞或表達方式列表。此外，我們將在今天的電話會議中參考某些非公認會計原則措施。有關這些措施的更多信息，包括與可比較的美國公認會計準則措施的調節，請參閱我們的收益報告和美國證券交易委員會的文件。我現在將把電話轉給亞倫。

Thanks, Mike. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us today. Our second quarter net sales were in line with our prior expectations as stronger-than-expected C&I product shipments offset residential products which were lower than expected as a result of a softer consumer spending environment that impacted shipments of home standby generators and chore products. This had an unfavorable mix effect on gross margins, resulting in slightly lower adjusted EBITDA margins than previously expected. Year-over-year, overall net sales decreased 23% to $1 billion, and quarter sales declined 26% during the quarter. Residential product sales decreased 44% as compared to a strong prior year quarter that benefited from significant excess backlog reduction for home standby generators. The current year quarter continued to be impacted by elevated levels of field inventory for home standby generators as well as a decline in clean energy product shipments year-over-year.

謝謝，邁克。大家早上好，感謝您今天加入我們。我們第二季度的淨銷售額符合我們之前的預期，因為強於預期的工商業產品出貨量抵消了住宅產品的出貨量低於預期，這是由於消費者支出環境疲軟影響了家用備用發電機和家務產品的出貨量。這對毛利率產生了不利的混合效應，導致調整後的 EBITDA 利潤率略低於之前的預期。與去年同期相比，整體淨銷售額下降 23%，至 10 億美元，本季度銷售額下降 26%。住宅產品銷售額與上年同期相比下降了 44%，這得益於家庭備用發電機的超額積壓訂單大幅減少。本季度繼續受到家用備用發電機現場庫存水平升高以及清潔能源產品出貨量同比下降的影響。

Global C&I product sales increased approximately 24% to an all-time quarterly record with broad-based growth across nearly all regions and channels. Adjusted EBITDA margins were negatively affected by the significant unfavorable sales mix as well as reduced operating leverage driven by lower home standby shipments and continued investments for future growth. Importantly, continued favorable price cost dynamics have created a meaningful margin tailwind in providing a partial offset to the unfavorable sales mix.

全球工商業產品銷售額增長約 24%，創歷史季度記錄，幾乎所有地區和渠道均實現廣泛增長。調整後的 EBITDA 利潤率受到嚴重不利的銷售組合以及家庭備用出貨量下降和對未來增長的持續投資導致的運營槓桿下降的負面影響。重要的是，持續有利的價格成本動態創造了有意義的利潤順風，部分抵消了不利的銷售組合。

Second quarter home standby shipments grew at a strong sequential rate but declined significantly on a year-over-year basis as the second quarter of 2022 included the reduction of excess backlog and we continue to meaningfully under-ship end market demand in the current quarter as we focused on further reducing field inventories of home standby generators. Baseline power outage activity in the U.S. was well above the long-term average but meaningfully weighted toward the final weeks of the quarter. Home consultations or sales leads were roughly flat from the prior year period and increased sequentially off an unseasonably strong first quarter.

第二季度家庭備用出貨量環比增長強勁，但同比大幅下降，因為 2022 年第二季度超額積壓訂單減少，而且我們在本季度繼續大幅滿足終端市場需求，我們的重點是進一步減少家用備用發電機的現場庫存。美國的基準停電活動遠高於長期平均水平，但對本季度最後幾週的影響有意義。上門諮詢或銷售線索與去年同期基本持平，並在第一季度異常強勁的基礎上環比增長。

Additionally, home consultations during the second quarter was still more than 4x higher than the second quarter of 2019, further supporting our view that consumer interest in the product category has achieved a new and higher baseline level. Our residential dealer account returned to sequential growth in the quarter, ending at approximately 8,700, an increase of 500 dealers from the prior year. We continue to invest in growing the installation capacity of our channel partners, and we are making good progress towards our initiatives to increase dealer count, train non-dealer contractors, streamline the installation process and raise home standby category awareness across trade groups.

此外，第二季度的家庭諮詢量仍比 2019 年第二季度高出 4 倍以上，這進一步支持了我們的觀點，即消費者對該產品類別的興趣已達到新的更高基準水平。我們的住宅經銷商賬戶在本季度恢復了環比增長，經銷商數量約為 8,700 個，比上年增加了 500 個。我們繼續投資於提高渠道合作夥伴的安裝能力，並且在增加經銷商數量、培訓非經銷商承包商、簡化安裝流程以及提高整個貿易集團的家庭備用類別意識等舉措方面取得了良好進展。

We believe these efforts are important to the longer-term growth trajectory of the product category as the mega trends that support the demand growth outlook remain firmly intact. Activations, which are a proxy for installs, improved sequentially over the first quarter, but declined from a strong comparable period in 2022 that included the benefit of a backlog of installations in certain regions during the prior year.

我們認為，這些努力對於該產品類別的長期增長軌跡非常重要，因為支持需求增長前景的大趨勢仍然完好無損。作為安裝量代理的激活量比第一季度連續有所改善，但與 2022 年的強勁可比同期相比有所下降，其中包括去年某些地區安裝積壓的好處。

Activations were also below our prior expectations for the quarter, primarily due to the weaker consumer spending environment for home improvement. But despite this relative softness, activations during the quarter were more than double second quarter 2019 levels. Close rates were flat sequentially and remained meaningfully higher than the comparable period of 2022, but underperformed our expectations as a result of the shift in consumer spending patterns. The number of home standby generators in field inventory further declined in the quarter, while days of field inventory relative to historical norms also decreased sequentially.

本季度的激活量也低於我們之前的預期，主要是由於家居裝修的消費者支出環境疲軟。但儘管相對疲軟，本季度的激活量仍是 2019 年第二季度水平的兩倍多。收盤價環比持平，仍顯著高於 2022 年同期，但由於消費者支出模式的轉變，其表現低於我們的預期。本季度現場庫存中的家用備用發電機數量進一步下降，而現場庫存天數相對於歷史正常水平也環比減少。

However, with close rates and activations lower than expected in the quarter, the field inventory normalization process is now expected to extend further into the second half of the year. As a result, we expect the elevated field inventory levels to further impact home standby shipments in the second half relative to our prior expectations with the return to year-over-year growth in home standby shipments now anticipated in the fourth quarter.

然而，由於本季度的成交率和激活率低於預期，現場庫存正常化過程目前預計將進一步延續到今年下半年。因此，我們預計，相對於我們之前的預期，現場庫存水平的上升將進一步影響下半年的家庭備用出貨量，目前預計第四季度家庭備用出貨量將恢復同比增長。

We believe the stronger outage environment in the final weeks of the second quarter and the resulting strength in IHC support this expected return to growth later in the year. Longer term, the mega trends that are driving awareness for backup power solutions are as compelling as ever. Homeowners and business owners are becoming increasingly sensitive to the growing frequency of power outages driven by extreme weather and grid operators are struggling to solve the growing supply demand imbalances that are a byproduct of the accelerated energy transition that is underway. Importantly, these are not short-term issues as the transition to the next-generation power grid will be an uneven process and is expected to take decades to complete. We believe our unparalleled suite of solutions is well positioned to solve many of the energy-related challenges that consumers and businesses will inevitably face.

我們認為，第二季度最後幾週更強勁的停電環境以及由此產生的 IHC 實力支持了今年晚些時候預期的增長恢復。從長遠來看，推動備用電源解決方案意識的大趨勢一如既往地引人注目。房主和企業主對極端天氣導致的停電頻率越來越敏感，電網運營商正在努力解決日益嚴重的供需不平衡問題，這是正在加速的能源轉型的副產品。重要的是，這些都不是短期問題，因為向下一代電網的過渡將是一個不平衡的過程，預計需要數十年才能完成。我們相信，我們無與倫比的解決方案套件能夠很好地解決消費者和企業不可避免地面臨的許多與能源相關的挑戰。

I now would like to provide some commentary on our chore products, which consists of a broad lineup of outdoor specialty power equipment used for property maintenance in large residential and light commercial applications. These products, which are increasingly shifting towards battery-powered solutions experienced significant growth in recent years as homeowners have been spending more time to money on property maintenance since 2020. However, shipments in the second quarter declined from the prior year and were below our prior expectations as higher channel inventories in the industry, unfavorable weather trends and shifting consumer spending patterns impacted demand for our products.

現在，我想對我們的家務產品進行一些評論，這些產品包括用於大型住宅和輕型商業應用中的物業維護的一系列戶外特種電力設備。這些產品越來越多地轉向電池供電解決方案，近年來經歷了顯著增長，因為自2020 年以來房主在房產維護上花費了更多的時間。然而，第二季度的出貨量較上一年有所下降，低於我們之前的預測。由於行業渠道庫存增加、不利的天氣趨勢和消費者支出模式的變化影響了對我們產品的需求，人們的預期。

This weaker than previously expected demand environment is expected to persist in the second half of the year, also contributing to our lower outlook for residential product sales. Now moving to our Residential Energy Technology Products and Solutions. Second quarter sales were in line with our prior expectations and grew at a strong rate sequentially as shipments of our power cell energy storage systems improved and Ecobee sales hit an all-time record for a quarter.

這種弱於此前預期的需求環境預計將在下半年持續，這也導致我們下調住宅產品銷售前景。現在轉向我們的住宅能源技術產品和解決方案。第二季度的銷售額符合我們之前的預期，並且隨著我們的動力電池儲能係統的出貨量改善以及 Ecobee 銷售額創下季度歷史記錄，環比增長強勁。

Ecobee drove strong sales growth over the prior year and continue to take share in the smart thermostat market by strong positioning with professional contractors and new placement with key retailers. The Ecobee team is progressing towards the launch of a smart doorbell camera in the second half of this year which will provide for increased homeowner engagement with our home energy management platform. As the central hub of our home energy ecosystem, we firmly believe that Ecobee's feature-rich devices and significant expertise and user experience will provide to be -- will prove to be key differentiators for Generac's residential energy technology efforts. Although we are making progress in our future product road maps and rebuilding the confidence of solar installers, the broad residential solar and storage market in the U.S. is showing signs of slowing.

Ecobee 在上一年推動了銷售的強勁增長，並通過在專業承包商中的強大定位以及在主要零售商中的新佈局，繼續在智能恆溫器市場中佔據份額。 Ecobee 團隊正致力於在今年下半年推出智能門鈴攝像頭，這將提高房主對我們家庭能源管理平台的參與度。作為我們家庭能源生態系統的中心樞紐，我們堅信 Ecobee 功能豐富的設備以及重要的專業知識和用戶體驗將成為 Generac 住宅能源技術努力的關鍵差異化因素。儘管我們在未來產品路線圖上取得了進展並重建了太陽能安裝商的信心，但美國廣泛的住宅太陽能和存儲市場正在顯示出放緩的跡象。

As a result, we now expect our suite of residential energy technology products and solutions to deliver gross sales at the low end of our previous range between $300 million and $350 million for the full year 2023 as weaker solar and storage industry demand dynamics are expected to persist throughout the balance of the year.

因此，我們現在預計我們的住宅能源技術產品和解決方案套件在2023 年全年的總銷售額將處於之前範圍的低端，即3 億至3.5 億美元之間，因為太陽能和存儲行業需求動態預計將減弱堅持全年剩餘時間。

To better compete in these large and growing market opportunities, we are continuing to invest heavily in the world-class talent and R&D infrastructure that is required to achieve next level quality while developing and commercializing innovative solutions. We believe our competitive advantages when we built around the combination of these ongoing investments, differentiated monitoring and management capabilities and a unique and seamless user experience. combined with our core competencies around sales and marketing, lead generation, distribution, customer support and global sourcing.

為了更好地在這些龐大且不斷增長的市場機會中競爭，我們將繼續大力投資世界一流的人才和研發基礎設施，以實現更高水平的質量，同時開發和商業化創新解決方案。我們相信，當我們將這些持續投資、差異化的監控和管理能力以及獨特且無縫的用戶體驗結合起來時，我們將擁有競爭優勢。結合我們在銷售和營銷、潛在客戶開發、分銷、客戶支持和全球採購方面的核心能力。

I'd now like to provide commentary on our C&I products, which once again outperformed our expectations. Global C&I product sales grew 24% over the prior year to an all-time quarterly record as multiple mega trends continue to support demand for backup power and mobile products around the world. Domestic C&I product sales grew at a robust rate in the second quarter, highlighted by strengthened shipments to a number of key customers for beyond standby applications, industrial distributors and national rental equipment companies.

現在我想對我們的 C&I 產品進行評論，該產品再次超出了我們的預期。全球工商業產品銷售額比上年增長 24%，創歷史季度記錄，多種大趨勢繼續支持全球對備用電源和移動產品的需求。第二季度國內工商業產品銷售強勁增長，突出表現在對超待機應用、工業分銷商和全國租賃設備公司等一些主要客戶的出貨量增加。

Shipments of natural gas generators used in applications beyond traditional emergency standby projects continued to see tremendous growth during the second quarter. We believe we are in the very early innings of this exciting new market opportunity as grid stability concerns and volatile energy markets are expected to further drive demand for these solutions. Leveraging our position as the leading provider of natural gas generators we are building an increasingly comprehensive solution set to enable the deployment of our products in multi-asset applications, such as pairing our smart grid ready generators with our emerging C&I storage, connectivity, advanced controls and grid services solutions.

用於傳統應急備用項目之外的應用的天然氣發電機的出貨量在第二季度繼續出現巨大增長。我們相信，我們正處於這一令人興奮的新市場機遇的早期階段，因為電網穩定性問題和不穩定的能源市場預計將進一步推動對這些解決方案的需求。憑藉我們作為天然氣發電機領先供應商的地位，我們正在構建日益全面的解決方案集，以便在多資產應用中部署我們的產品，例如將我們的智能電網就緒發電機與我們新興的C&I 存儲、連接、高級控制相配對和網格服務解決方案。

Shipments of C&I generators through our North American distributor channel grew once again at a strong rate and channel backlog also increased sequentially during the quarter. Quoting activity for C&I products remains robust, highlighting the ongoing strength in demand for backup power in this important channel that serves a wide range of end markets. In addition, we experienced another quarter of robust growth against a strong prior year comparison with our national and independent rental equipment customers as they continue to refresh and expand their fleets.

通過我們的北美分銷商渠道的工商業發電機出貨量再次強勁增長，渠道積壓訂單在本季度也連續增加。工商業產品的報價活動依然強勁，凸顯了這個服務於廣泛終端市場的重要渠道對備用電源的需求持續強勁。此外，隨著我​​們的國內和獨立租賃設備客戶不斷更新和擴大其機隊，與去年相比，我們又經歷了一個季度的強勁增長。

While order patterns from rental companies have moderated after several quarters of exceptional performance, this end market has substantial runway for growth, supported by the critical need for future infrastructure-related investments. As the leading provider of backup power to the North American telecom market, sales to national telecom customers increased slightly during the second quarter as compared to a strong prior year comparison. Although we continue to expect shipments and order trends for these products to be uneven during the second half of the year, we believe investment in telecom infrastructure remains a secular trend as global tower and network hub counts further expand and the increasingly critical nature of wireless communications requires backup power for resiliency.

儘管租賃公司的訂單模式在幾個季度的出色表現之後有所放緩，但在未來基礎設施相關投資的迫切需求的支持下，該終端市場仍有巨大的增長空間。作為北美電信市場備用電源的領先供應商，第二季度對全國電信客戶的銷售額與去年同期相比略有增長。儘管我們仍然預計下半年這些產品的出貨量和訂單趨勢將參差不齊，但我們相信，隨著全球鐵塔和網絡樞紐數量進一步擴大以及無線通信日益重要的性質，電信基礎設施投資仍然是長期趨勢需要備用電源以實現彈性。

Positive momentum also continued during the second quarter for our International segment as total sales increased 10% year-over-year with the combined impact of acquisitions and favorable foreign currency effects contributing approximately 4% to sales growth. Core total sales growth was driven by strength in nearly all regions as well as global sales of our controls and automation solutions from our Deep Sea and Motortech acquisitions.

第二季度我們的國際業務也繼續保持積極勢頭，總銷售額同比增長 10%，收購和有利的外匯效應的綜合影響對銷售增長貢獻了約 4%。核心總銷售額的增長是由幾乎所有地區的實力以及我們收購 Deep Sea 和 Motortech 所帶來的控制和自動化解決方案的全球銷售推動的。

While energy security concerns in Europe have moderated from peak levels seen in prior quarters, we continue to see positive momentum in important long-term international growth markets, including India, the Middle East and Australia. As the global energy transition accelerates, demand for electricity around the world grows and the threat of increasingly severe and volatile weather persists, we believe that the demand we are seeing in these markets supports our view that the need for power resilience is a global issue. Accordingly, we are continuing to invest and build out our international product and distribution capabilities to serve these large and diverse growth opportunities.

儘管歐洲的能源安全擔憂已較前幾個季度的峰值有所緩解，但我們仍然看到重要的長期國際增長市場（包括印度、中東和澳大利亞）的積極勢頭。隨著全球能源轉型的加速，世界各地對電力的需求不斷增長，以及日益嚴峻和不穩定的天氣威脅持續存在，我們相信，我們在這些市場看到的需求支持了我們的觀點，即電力彈性需求是一個全球性問題。因此，我們將繼續投資並建立我們的國際產品和分銷能力，以服務於這些巨大且多樣化的增長機會。

As disclosed in our press release this morning, we are raising our full year sales growth guidance for global C&I products to mid-teens range from prior expectations for a mid- to high single-digit increase. In addition to the strong second quarter performance, the increased guidance is being primarily driven by continued strong backlog and operational execution for our domestic C&I products.

正如我們今天上午的新聞稿中所披露的，我們將全球 C&I 產品的全年銷售增長指導從之前的中高個位數增長預期提高到中雙位數。除了第二季度強勁的業績外，指引的增加主要是由於我們國內工商業產品的積壓訂單和運營執行持續強勁。

In closing this morning, our C&I product category has continued to perform extremely well as our global teams have driven strong execution, but a softer than previously expected consumer environment impacted second quarter results and is the main driver in the reduction in our second half outlook for residential products. We view the headwinds in our residential product categories as temporary and we remain confident in the robust longer-term outlook for our broad portfolio of backup power products and energy technology solutions.

截至今天上午收盤，我們的C&I 產品類別繼續表現出色，因為我們的全球團隊推動了強勁的執行力，但比之前預期更為疲軟的消費環境影響了第二季度的業績，也是我們下調下半年前景的主要推動因素。住宅產品。我們認為住宅產品類別的不利因素是暫時的，我們對我們廣泛的備用電源產品和能源技術解決方案組合的強勁長期前景仍然充滿信心。

This confidence combined with our history of strong cash flow generation and healthy financial profile allows us to maintain a long-term focus on executing our Powering a Smarter World enterprise strategy. We will continue to make the necessary investments to capitalize on the megatrends that drive the future growth opportunities inherent in this strategy. We look forward to providing a more detailed update on our longer-term strategic vision at our upcoming Investor Day in late September. I'll now turn the call over to York to provide further details on second quarter results as well as the outlook for 2023. York?

這種信心加上我們強大的現金流生成歷史和健康的財務狀況，使我們能夠長期專注於執行我們的“推動智慧世界”企業戰略。我們將繼續進行必要的投資，以利用推動該戰略固有的未來增長機會的大趨勢。我們期待在九月下旬即將舉行的投資者日上提供有關我們長期戰略願景的更詳細的最新信息。我現在將電話轉給約克，提供有關第二季度業績以及 2023 年前景的更多詳細信息。約克？

Thanks, Aaron. Looking at second quarter 2023 results in more detail. Overall, net sales decreased 23% to $1 billion during the second quarter of 2023 as compared to $1.29 billion in the prior year second quarter. The combination of contributions from recent acquisitions and the favorable impact from foreign currency and approximately 3% net favorable impact on revenue growth during the quarter. Briefly looking at consolidated net sales for the second quarter by product class. Residential product sales declined 44% to $499 million as compared to $896 million in the prior year. As Aaron discussed in detail, lower shipments of home standby generators, power cell energy storage systems and chore products drove this decline in residential product sales. In particular, for home standby, the year-over-year declines were due to a tough prior comparison where we were working down excess backlog and combined with the current year that is impacted by field inventory destocking.

謝謝，亞倫。更詳細地了解 2023 年第二季度的業績。總體而言，2023 年第二季度的淨銷售額下降 23%，至 10 億美元，而去年第二季度的淨銷售額為 12.9 億美元。最近收購的貢獻以及外彙的有利影響以及本季度收入增長約 3% 的淨有利影響相結合。按產品類別簡要查看第二季度的綜合淨銷售額。住宅產品銷售額下降 44%，至 4.99 億美元，而上一年為 8.96 億美元。正如亞倫詳細討論的那樣，家用備用發電機、電池儲能係統和家務產品的出貨量下降導致了住宅產品銷售的下降。特別是，對於家庭備用而言，同比下降是由於之前進行了嚴格的比較，當時我們正在減少過多的積壓，再加上今年受到現場庫存去庫存的影響。

Commercial and industrial product sales for the second quarter of 23 increased 24% to $384 million as compared to $309 million in the prior year quarter. Contributions from recent acquisitions and the favorable impact of foreign currency contributed approximately 2% revenue growth in the quarter. This very strong core sales growth was driven by broad-based growth across nearly all regions and channels. Highlighted by an increase in domestic shipments to direct customers for beyond standby applications, industrial distributors and the national rental equipment channel. In addition, international shipments of C&I power generation products and controls and automation solutions also contributed to this growth.

23 月第二季度商業和工業產品銷售額增長 24%，達到 3.84 億美元，而去年同期為 3.09 億美元。近期收購的貢獻和外彙的有利影響為本季度貢獻了約 2% 的收入增長。這種非常強勁的核心銷售增長是由幾乎所有地區和渠道的廣泛增長推動的。突出表現在向超越待機應用的直接客戶、工業分銷商和全國租賃設備渠道的國內出貨量增加。此外，工商業發電產品以及控制和自動化解決方案的國際出貨量也促進了這一增長。

Net sales for other products and services increased 37% to $117 million as compared to $86 million in the second quarter of 2022. This increase was primarily due to the acquisition of electronic environments given their additional service capabilities. We called out if this acquisition closed last year on June 30. Gross profit margin was 32.8% compared to 35.4% in the prior year second quarter due to the significant impact of unfavorable sales mix given the sharp decline in home standby mix compared to the prior year.

其他產品和服務的淨銷售額增長了 37%，達到 1.17 億美元，而 2022 年第二季度為 8600 萬美元。這一增長主要是由於收購了電子環境，因為電子環境具有額外的服務能力。我們指出這項收購是否於去年6 月30 日完成。毛利率為32.8%，而去年第二季度為35.4%，這是由於家庭待機組合與去年同期相比急劇下降，不利的銷售組合產生了重大影響。年。

This was partially offset by previously implemented pricing actions and lower input costs from improved commodities, logistics and efficiencies that are providing an important tailwind to margin trends that are expected to continue in the second half of 2023. Operating expenses increased $2 million or 1% as compared to the second quarter of 2022. This increase was primarily driven by increased employee costs to drive and support future growth, higher marketing and promotion spend and the impact of recurring operating expenses from recent acquisitions. This was mostly offset by lower variable operating expenses on the lower sales volumes.

這部分被之前實施的定價行動以及商品、物流和效率改善帶來的投入成本降低所抵消，這些因素為預計將在2023 年下半年持續的利潤率趨勢提供了重要推動力。運營費用增加了200萬美元，即1%，因為與2022 年第二季度相比。這一增長主要是由於推動和支持未來增長的員工成本增加、營銷和促銷支出增加以及近期收購帶來的經常性運營費用的影響。這主要被銷量下降導致的可變運營費用下降所抵消。

Adjusted EBITDA, before deducting for noncontrolling interest, as defined in our earnings release, was $137 million or 13.6% of net sales in the second quarter as compared to the $271 million or 21% of net sales in the prior year. This lower EBITDA percent was primarily driven by the higher operating expenses as a percent of sales, given the lower sales volumes compared to prior year and to a lesser extent, the lower gross margins.

根據我們的收益發布中的定義，扣除非控股權益之前的調整後EBITDA 為1.37 億美元，佔第二季度淨銷售額的13.6%，而上一年為2.71 億美元，占淨銷售額的21% 。 EBITDA 百分比較低的主要原因是營業費用佔銷售額的百分比較高，因為與上一年相比銷量較低，並且在較小程度上毛利率較低。

I will now briefly discuss financial results for our two reporting segments. Domestic segment total sales, including intersegment sales, decreased 28% to $815 million in the quarter as compared to $1.13 billion in the prior year, with the impact of acquisitions contributing approximately 3% revenue growth for the quarter. Adjusted EBITDA for the segment was $103 million, representing 12.7% of total sales as compared to $242 million in the prior year or 21.5% of total sales.

我現在將簡要討論我們兩個報告分部的財務業績。本季度國內部門總銷售額（包括部門間銷售額）下降 28%，至 8.15 億美元，而上年同期為 11.3 億美元，收購的影響為本季度貢獻了約 3% 的收入增長。該部門調整後 EBITDA 為 1.03 億美元，佔總銷售額的 12.7%，而上一年為 2.42 億美元，佔總銷售額的 21.5%。

The lower domestic EBITDA margin in the quarter was primarily driven by the significant impact of unfavorable sales mix and reduced operating leverage on the lower shipments. The impact of acquisitions and continued investments in future growth also negatively affected margins during the quarter. These margin headwinds were partially offset by favorable price and cost benefits. International segment total sales, including intersegment sales, increased 10% to $224 million in the quarter as compared to $203 million in the prior year quarter. Core sales, which excludes the impact of acquisitions and currency, increased approximately 6% compared to the prior year.

本季度國內 EBITDA 利潤率較低，主要是由於不利的銷售組合以及運營槓桿降低對出貨量下降的重大影響。收購和持續投資對未來增長的影響也對本季度的利潤率產生了負面影響。這些利潤率不利因素被有利的價格和成本效益部分抵消。本季度國際部門總銷售額（包括部門間銷售額）增長了 10%，達到 2.24 億美元，而去年同期為 2.03 億美元。排除收購和貨幣影響的核心銷售額比上年增長約 6%。

Adjusted EBITDA for the segment before deducting for noncontrolling interest was $33 million or 14.9% of net sales as compared to $30 million or 14.5% of net sales in the prior year. This stronger margin performance was primarily driven by favorable price and cost benefits. Now switching back to our financial performance for the second quarter of 2023 on a consolidated basis. As disclosed in our earnings release, GAAP net income for the company in the quarter was $45 million, as compared to $156 million for the second quarter of 2022. The current year net income includes approximately $15 million of additional interest expense compared to the prior year due to higher borrowings and interest rates. In addition, GAAP income taxes during the current year second quarter was $16 million or an effective tax rate of 25.9% as compared to $46 million or an effective tax rate of 22.5% for the prior year.

扣除非控股權益之前，該部門調整後的 EBITDA 為 3,300 萬美元，占淨銷售額的 14.9%，而上一年為 3,000 萬美元，占淨銷售額的 14.5%。這種強勁的利潤率表現主要是由有利的價格和成本效益推動的。現在轉回我們 2023 年第二季度的合併財務業績。正如我們在財報中披露的那樣，該公司本季度的GAAP 淨利潤為4500 萬美元，而2022 年第二季度為1.56 億美元。與上一年相比，本年度淨利潤包括約1500 萬美元的額外利息費用由於借款和利率上升。此外，本年度第二季度的 GAAP 所得稅為 1,600 萬美元，或有效稅率為 25.9%，而上一年為 4,600 萬美元，或有效稅率為 22.5%。

The increase in effective tax rate was primarily due to a lower benefit from equity compensation in the current year quarter. Diluted net income per share for the company on a GAAP basis was $0.70 in the second quarter of 2023 compared to $2.21 in the prior year. Adjusted net income for the company, as defined in our earnings release, was $68 million in the current year quarter or $1.08 per share. This compares to adjusted net income of $185 million in the prior year or $2.86 per share.

有效稅率的增加主要是由於本季度股權補償的收益較低。 2023 年第二季度，按照 GAAP 計算，公司稀釋後每股淨利潤為 0.70 美元，而上一年為 2.21 美元。根據我們的收益發布中的定義，該公司本季度調整後淨利潤為 6800 萬美元，即每股 1.08 美元。相比之下，上一年調整後淨利潤為 1.85 億美元，即每股 2.86 美元。

Cash flow from operations was $83 million as compared to $24 million in the prior year second quarter, and free cash flow, as defined in our earnings release, was $54 million as compared to $6 million in the same quarter last year. The increase in free cash flow was primarily due to significantly lower working capital investment in the current year quarter as inventory levels have stabilized, partially offset by lower operating earnings, higher interest payments and higher CapEx. Total debt outstanding at the end of the quarter was $1.62 billion, resulting in a gross debt leverage ratio at the end of the second quarter of 2.8x on an as-reported basis which is expected to moderate in the second half of the year as LTM EBITDA begins to increase.

運營現金流為 8300 萬美元，而去年第二季度為 2400 萬美元；根據我們的收益發布中的定義，自由現金流為 5400 萬美元，而去年同期為 600 萬美元。自由現金流的增加主要是由於庫存水平趨於穩定，本季度營運資本投資大幅減少，但部分被營業收入下降、利息支付增加和資本支出增加所抵消。本季度末未償債務總額為 16.2 億美元，導致第二季度末的總債務槓桿率為報告的 2.8 倍，預計下半年將隨著 LTM 的增長而放緩EBITDA 開始增加。

With that, I will now provide further comments on our outlook for 2023. As disclosed in our press release this morning, we are updating our outlook for the full year 2023. The softer than previously expected consumer spending environment for home improvement has impacted our outlook for residential products most notably for shipments of home standby generators.

至此，我現在將對2023 年的前景做出進一步評論。正如我們今天上午的新聞稿中所披露的，我們正在更新2023 年全年的前景。家居裝修的消費者支出環境比之前預期的更為疲軟，影響了我們的前景對於住宅產品，尤其是家用備用發電機的運輸。

As a result of the software consumer, we are seeing lower close rates and activations relative to prior expectations which is causing higher field inventories and lower distributor sentiment compared to our previous guidance commentary. As a result of these factors, we now expect residential product sales for the full year 2023 to decline in the mid-20% range compared to the prior year, which compares to our prior expectation for a decline in the high teens range. Partially offsetting this incremental weakness in residential products, we are raising our outlook for C&I product sales which are now expected to grow at a mid-teens rates during the year as compared to our prior guidance of a mid- to high single-digit rate.

由於軟件消費者的原因，我們看到相對於之前的預期較低的成交率和激活率，這導致與我們之前的指導評論相比更高的現場庫存和較低的經銷商情緒。由於這些因素，我們現在預計 2023 年全年住宅產品銷售額與上一年相比將下降 20% 左右，而我們之前的下降預期將在 10% 左右。為了部分抵消住宅產品日益疲軟的影響，我們正在提高對工商業產品銷售的預期，目前預計今年將以中位數的速度增長，而我們之前的指導為中高個位數增長率。

Overall net sales for the full year are now expected to decline between minus 10% to minus 12% as compared to the prior year, which includes approximately 2% net favorable impact from acquisitions and foreign currency. This compares to the previous guidance range of a decline between minus 6% to minus 10%. From a quarterly pacing perspective, we now expect a slight year-over-year decline in overall net sales for the third quarter with the return to year-over-year growth in the fourth quarter.

目前預計全年總體淨銷售額將比上年下降-10%至-12%，其中包括收購和外匯帶來的約2%的淨有利影響。相比之下，之前的指導範圍為-6% 至-10%。從季度節奏來看，我們現在預計第三季度整體淨銷售額同比略有下降，第四季度將恢復同比增長。

This guidance assumes a level of power outage activity during the remainder of the year that is in line with the long-term baseline average. And consistent with our historical of course, this outlook does not assume the benefit of a major power outage event during the year. Looking at our gross margin expectations for the full year 2023, we now anticipate approximately 100 basis points of gross margin improvement over 2022 levels. We still expect sequential quarterly improvements in gross margins in the third and fourth quarters with third quarter gross margins projected to be approximately 150 to 200 basis points higher than the second quarter of 2023. The anticipated sequential improvement in gross margins in the second half is expected to be driven by improved sales mix with higher shipments of home standby generators, lower input costs and the realization of cost reduction initiatives as compared to the first half of the year.

本指南假設今年剩餘時間內的停電活動水平與長期基線平均值一致。當然，與我們的歷史一致，這一前景並未假設年內發生重大停電事件的好處。看看我們對 2023 年全年毛利率的預期，我們現在預計毛利率將比 2022 年水平提高約 100 個基點。我們仍預計第三季度和第四季度的毛利率將環比改善，預計第三季度毛利率將比 2023 年第二季度高出約 150 至 200 個基點。預計下半年毛利率將環比改善與上半年相比，銷售組合的改善、家用備用發電機出貨量的增加、投入成本的降低以及成本削減舉措的實現推動了這一增長。

Given the significant megatrends that support our long-term growth opportunities, we remain focused on driving innovation, executing our strategic initiatives, and investing for the future. As a result of these ongoing investments, we expect operating expenses as a percentage of net sales to be approximately 20% to 21% for the full year 2023. Given these gross margin and operating expense expectations, adjusted EBITDA margins before deducting for noncontrolling interests are now expected to be approximately $15.5 million to 16.5% for the full year 2023 compared to the previous guidance range of 17% to 18%. From a quarterly pacing perspective, we still expect adjusted EBITDA margins to improve throughout the remainder of the year, primarily driven by sequentially improving gross margins as previously discussed, and to a lesser extent, improved leverage of operating expenses on an expected higher sales volumes.

鑑於支持我們長期增長機會的重大大趨勢，我們將繼續專注於推動創新、執行我們的戰略舉措以及投資未來。由於這些持續投資，我們預計 2023 年全年運營費用占淨銷售額的比例約為 20% 至 21%。考慮到這些毛利率和運營費用預期，扣除非控股權益之前的調整後 EBITDA 利潤率為目前預計2023 年全年約為1550 萬美元至16.5%，而之前的指導範圍為17% 至18%。從季度節奏的角度來看，我們仍然預計調整後的EBITDA 利潤率將在今年剩餘時間內有所改善，這主要是由於毛利率的連續改善（如前所述），以及在較小程度上由於預期更高的銷量而提高了運營費用的槓桿率。

Accordingly, we now expect third quarter adjusted EBITDA margins to be approximately 300 to 350 basis points higher than the second quarter of 2023. And the exit EBITDA margins for the fourth quarter of 2023 are expected to be in the low 20% range. Additionally, as Aaron discussed, we continue to make significant operating expense investments in our residential energy technology products and solutions to capitalize on the significant opportunities presented by the rapidly growing solar storage and energy management markets.

因此，我們現在預計第三季度調整後EBITDA 利潤率將比2023 年第二季度高出約300 至350 個基點。並且2023 年第四季度的退出EBITDA 利潤率預計將在20% 的較低範圍內。此外，正如亞倫所討論的，我們繼續對住宅能源技術產品和解決方案進行大量運營費用投資，以利用快速增長的太陽能存儲和能源管理市場帶來的重大機遇。

As a result, we currently expect these investments to unfavorably impact our EBITDA margins by approximately 400 basis points for the full year 2023. We continue to expect operating and free cash flow generation to follow historical seasonality of being disproportionately weighted towards the second half of the year in 2023. For the full year, we expect adjusted net income to free cash flow conversion to be strong at well over 100% as working capital moderates off of peak levels.

因此，我們目前預計這些投資將對我們2023 年全年的EBITDA 利潤率產生約400 個基點的不利影響。我們仍然預計運營和自由現金流的產生將遵循歷史季節性，在下半​​年的權重不成比例。 2023 年。就全年而言，隨著營運資本從峰值水平放緩，我們預計調整後淨利潤與自由現金流的轉換將遠超 100%。

We're also providing updated guidance details to assist with modeling adjusted earnings per share and free cash flow for the full year 2023. Importantly, to arrive at appropriate estimates for adjusted net income and adjusted earnings per share, add-back items should be reflected net of tax using the expected effective tax rate. For 2023, our GAAP effective tax rate is still expected to be approximately 25% and as compared to the 19.6% full year GAAP tax rate for 2022. The year-over-year increase is driven primarily by expectations for lower share-based compensation deductions and increased mix of income in higher tax jurisdictions, higher tax on foreign income in 2023 compared to 2022.

我們還提供更新的指導細節，以幫助對2023 年全年的調整後每股收益和自由現金流進行建模。重要的是，為了對調整後淨利潤和調整後每股收益做出適當的估計，應反映回加項目使用預期有效稅率扣除稅額。 2023 年，我們的 GAAP 有效稅率預計仍約為 25%，而 2022 年全年 GAAP 稅率為 19.6%。同比增長主要是由於對股權薪酬扣除額的預期降低與2022 年相比，高稅收司法管轄區的收入組合有所增加，2023 年的外國收入稅更高。

Interest expense is now expected to be approximately $92 million compared to the prior guidance of approximately $90 million, assuming no additional term loan principal prepayments during the year, and current expectations for SOFR rates throughout 2023. Interest expenses is expected to moderate in the third and fourth quarters as cash flows on our interest rate swaps become more favorable and as we expect to pay down a portion of our outstanding revolver indebtedness. Our capital expenditures are still projected to be approximately 3% of our forecast in net sales for the year. Depreciation expense is now forecast to be approximately $62 million compared to the previous guidance of approximately $60 million in 2023. GAAP intangible amortization expense is now expected to be approximately $102 million during the year as compared to previous guidance of approximately $100 million.

假設年內沒有額外的定期貸款本金預付款，以及目前對2023 年SOFR 利率的預期，利息支出預計約為9200 萬美元，而之前的指導約為9000 萬美元。預計利息支出將在第三年和第三年有所放緩。第四季度，我們的利率掉期現金流變得更加有利，並且我們預計將償還部分未償還的循環債務。我們的資本支出預計仍占我們今年淨銷售額預測的 3% 左右。目前預計 2023 年折舊費用約為 6,200 萬美元，而之前的指導為約 6,000 萬美元。年內 GAAP 無形攤銷費用預計為約 1.02 億美元，而之前的指導為約 1 億美元。

Stock compensation expense is still expected to be between $40 million to $43 million for the year, and our full year weighted average diluted share count is still expected to approach 63 million shares as compared to 64.7 million shares in 2022, which reflects the share repurchases that were completed in 2022.

預計今年的股票補償費用仍將在 4000 萬美元至 4300 萬美元之間，我們的全年加權平均稀釋股份數量預計仍將接近 6300 萬股，而 2022 年為 6470 萬股，這反映了股票回購於2022年完成。

Finally, this 2023 outlook does not reflect potential additional acquisitions or share repurchases that could drive incremental shareholder value. As a reminder, we have $278 million of authorization remaining on our current share repurchase program. This concludes our prepared remarks. At this time, we'd like to open up the call for questions.

最後，2023 年的展望並未反映出可能增加股東價值的潛在額外收購或股票回購。提醒一下，我們當前的股票回購計劃還剩 2.78 億美元的授權。我們準備好的發言到此結束。此時，我們想開放提問。

(Operator Instructions). Our first question comes from the line of Tommy Moll with Stephens Inc.

（操作員說明）。我們的第一個問題來自湯米·莫爾 (Tommy Moll) 與斯蒂芬斯公司 (Stephens Inc.) 的關係。

Aaron, I wanted to start on the topic of channel inventory for the home standby product category. Last quarter, I think you were at about 1.5x normal. Where do you sit now? And am I hearing you correctly that embedded in your outlook is that, that converges to the normal level by fourth quarter?

Aaron，我想從家庭待機產品類別的渠道庫存話題開始。上個季度，我認為您的水平約為正常水平的 1.5 倍。你現在坐在哪裡？我是否正確地聽到了您的觀點，即到第四季度將趨於正常水平？

Yes, Tommy, it's -- I mean that's obviously the central question here and has been a topic, as we've discussed over the last several quarters. You're right. We said, I think, somewhere in the 1.4x to 1.5x range is where we were last time we talked in April. Today, we believe that number is closer to 1.2x to 1.3x as we exited the first half. And with the assumption of a softer consumer spending environment, in particular around kind of residential investment, these types of projects, how improve the projects, we're really looking at a more moderated close rate it's interesting because we actually are seeing a lot of inbound activity. In terms of sales leads, they're just not -- the close rate on those leads is not growing at the rate that we thought it would, and that's really the kind of -- and then it just becomes a math problem from there.

是的，湯米，這——我的意思是，這顯然是這裡的核心問題，並且一直是一個話題，正如我們在過去幾個季度所討論的那樣。你說得對。我們說過，我認為 1.4 倍到 1.5 倍範圍內的某個位置就是我們 4 月份上次談話時所處的位置。今天，我們認為隨著上半年的結束，這個數字接近 1.2 倍到 1.3 倍。假設消費者支出環境更加疲軟，特別是圍繞住宅投資類型，這些類型的項目，如何改進項目，我們確實正在考慮更加溫和的成交率，這很有趣，因為我們實際上看到了很多入境活動。就銷售線索而言，它們只是沒有——這些線索的成交率沒有以我們想像的速度增長，這確實是這樣的——然後它就變成了一個數學問題。

We're not going to drain the inventory as quickly because we're not going to convert those leads to activations at the rate that we thought we would here in the second half. And that's going to create basically a situation where that elevated field inventory is going to persist a bit longer than we had originally thought. So through -- really kind of through the year here, it will start to taper off. And there's definitely -- and I think you've done this with channel checks. We do our own channel checks and we know what field inventory looks like really with a high degree of accuracy region to region and dealer-to-dealer, wholesale to wholesale or retailer to retailer. And so we see regions where actually, there isn't a field inventory issue anymore. And we see other regions where field inventories are still higher than normal.

我們不會那麼快耗盡庫存，因為我們不會以我們認為下半年會出現的速度將這些潛在客戶轉化為激活。這基本上會造成一種情況，即現場庫存增加的持續時間比我們最初想像的要長一些。因此，在這一年裡，它將會開始逐漸減少。肯定有——我認為你已經通過渠道檢查做到了這一點。我們進行自己的渠道檢查，並且我們以高精度了解區域與區域、經銷商與經銷商、批發與批發或零售商與零售商的現場庫存情況。因此，我們看到實際上不再存在現場庫存問題的地區。我們看到其他地區的現場庫存仍然高於正常水平。

So it's become more of a mixed bag, if you will, around the field inventory story, whereas I would say, you wind the clock back 2 or 3 quarters, it was 2 or 3 quarters ago, it was everywhere. So the field was full of inventory in all regions. So now we're starting to see some of that normalization be achieved in certain regions. And in fact, go beyond that. We've got a couple of regions we get up into Canada in Quebec markets, where, in particular, where they've had a number of outages and we can't get them in a product. They don't have the installation band with. So we get back to that issue, and that's obviously another area we've been focused on. So hopefully, that gets to answer to your question.

因此，如果你願意的話，它變得更像是一個混合體，圍繞現場庫存故事，而我會說，你把時鐘撥回兩三個季度，那是兩三個季度前，它無處不在。所以各個地區的場內都充滿了庫存。因此，現在我們開始看到某些地區實現了部分正常化。事實上，還不止於此。我們已經進入加拿大魁北克市場的幾個地區，特別是那些地區發生了多次停電，我們無法將其納入產品中。他們沒有安裝帶。所以我們回到這個問題，這顯然是我們一直關注的另一個領域。希望這能回答你的問題。

And the next question comes from the line of Michael Halloran with Baird.

下一個問題來自邁克爾·哈洛倫（Michael Halloran）和貝爾德（Baird）的對話。

Good morning, everyone. So following up a little bit on that... the distribution channel is growing to -- can you hear me.

大家，早安。因此，對此進行一點跟進……分銷渠道正在發展到——你能聽到我說的嗎？

Mike, we lost you there for a second. Can you repeat your question?

邁克，我們暫時失去了你。你能重複一下你的問題嗎？

Yes, no problem. There's a lot of moving pieces here from a channel perspective and in the home standby side and kind of taken along to the inventory question, but you got high inventory, you've taken your outlook down a little bit, lower consumer conversion. But the IHCs are higher, you're gaining distribution inventory that is normalizing a little bit. Can you help think from a forward commentary how you think the demand curve starts playing out? Maybe just a little behind the hood on the sellout from a channel perspective, how you think those sequentials kind of work from a sellout perspective versus what normal might look like? And just kind of any context to what the true underlying run rate might look like if you try to normalize for these moving pieces?

是沒有問題。從渠道角度來看，在家庭待機方面，有很多變化，以及庫存問題，但庫存很高，你的前景有所下降，消費者轉化率較低。但 IHC 更高，您獲得的分銷庫存稍微正常化了。您能幫忙從前瞻性評論中思考一下您認為需求曲線是如何開始發揮作用的嗎？也許只是從渠道的角度來看售罄的幕後，你認為從售罄的角度來看這些連續劇的運作方式與正常情況相比如何？如果您嘗試對這些移動部件進行標準化，那麼真正的潛在運行率可能會是什麼樣子？

Yes, Mike, there are a lot of moving pieces, as you said. And when you think about the sell-in versus sell-out, again, we're channel to channel when we look at kind of the different metrics that we look at in every channel, we see some different things going on channel to channel. We do see our dealer channels, which are more turnkey project channels feel like they're in -- and the metrics bear this out, but they're in better shape than some of the other channels. So when we look at our wholesale channels and in particular, our retail channels, retail would be -- is lagging for us right now. So we look through at sell-through at retail, and we look at the kind of the foot traffic at retailers, and I think you guys have -- those on the call here have heard some of the more recent commentary from some of the larger retailers, I think the foot traffic has slowed, and we are definitely seeing that in our residential product categories that we sell through retail.

是的，邁克，正如你所說，有很多令人感動的事情。當你考慮賣出與賣出時，再次，當我們查看每個渠道中不同的指標時，我們會在各個渠道之間看到一些不同的事情。我們確實看到我們的經銷商渠道，這些渠道更像是交鑰匙項目渠道，指標也證實了這一點，但它們的狀況比其他一些渠道更好。因此，當我們審視我們的批發渠道，特別是我們的零售渠道時，零售渠道目前對我們來說是滯後的。因此，我們研究了零售業的銷售情況，研究了零售商的人流量，我想你們已經聽到了一些來自一些較大的公司的最新評論。零售商，我認為人流量已經放緩，我們在通過零售銷售的住宅產品類別中肯定看到了這一點。

With maybe the notable exception being Ecobees we called out in our prepared remarks this morning, which is interesting. And that really is probably more owed to higher energy prices the opportunity to use those Ecobee products to reduce your energy costs. But on the moving pieces that are in this and kind of thinking about the pacing, that's more your question, Mike, what we see here is as the kind of fog clears of the steel inventory issue, we think that the dealers are kind of first to recover here. followed by likely by wholesale. And then we got a little bit further to go with retailers. They are the ones that are probably at the -- when we talk about normalization at 1.2x to 1.3x is across everything, right?

也許值得注意的例外是 Ecobees，我們在今天早上準備好的發言中提到了這一點，這很有趣。這實際上可能更多地歸功於能源價格的上漲，因此有機會使用這些 Ecobee 產品來降低能源成本。但是，關於其中的移動部分以及對節奏的思考，這更多是你的問題，邁克，我們在這裡看到的是，隨著鋼鐵庫存問題的迷霧消散，我們認為經銷商是第一個在這裡恢復。其次可能是批發。然後我們與零售商進一步合作。當我們談論 1.2 倍到 1.3 倍的標準化時，它們可能是在所有方面，對吧？

So -- and we sell kind of on an omnichannel basis. So dealers are better than that. Wholesalers are probably somewhere maybe a little worse than that, and retailers are quite a bit worse than that at this stage. We do believe this will start to normalize here as we go throughout the third quarter. And as we get into the fourth quarter in particular, we should start to see -- we should start to see that abate. The end market demand part of your question is interesting because as we said, sales leads, IHCs remained strong.

所以——我們在全渠道的基礎上進行銷售。所以經銷商比這更好。現階段，批發商的情況可能比這更糟，而零售商的情況則更糟。我們確實相信，隨著第三季度的到來，這種情況將開始正常化。尤其是當我們進入第四季度時，我們應該開始看到這種情況有所減弱。您問題中的終端市場需求部分很有趣，因為正如我們所說，銷售線索、IHC 仍然強勁。

In fact, they were even up sequentially from in Q1, and they're just not converting quite at the same level. Now what we're not sure of at this point is if that conversion is just delayed or if that conversion is more of the result primarily of the consumer just saying they're not going to buy at all, right? Are they just not going to buy today or they're not going to buy at all. And so as we continue to work on that, we've stood up an entire group here, we call it our Nurturing Team for lack of a better terminology. But these are a team of dedicated salespeople that reach back out to unclosed leads. We've got quite a house file that we've built here of unclosed leads, the number of leads we've generated over the last several years is tremendous.

事實上，它們甚至比第一季度連續上升，只是轉換水平不完全相同。現在我們不確定的是，這種轉化是否只是被延遲了，或者這種轉化是否更多地是消費者只是說他們根本不會購買的結果，對吧？他們是今天不買還是根本不買？因此，當我們繼續致力於此時，我們在這裡成立了一個完整的團隊，我們將其稱為我們的培育團隊，因為缺乏更好的術語。但他們是一支由敬業的銷售人員組成的團隊，他們會聯繫未關閉的潛在客戶。我們在這裡建立了相當多的未關閉線索的內部檔案，過去幾年我們產生的線索數量是巨大的。

And as you can imagine, a high percentage don't close. So the opportunity to reengage with those homeowners at the right time with perhaps the right offer is growing. And we think that, that represents an area of opportunity for us and one that we're leaning into. But that's something that we're still kind of in development phase on.

正如您可以想像的那樣，很大比例的人沒有關閉。因此，在合適的時間以合適的報價重新與這些房主接觸的機會正在增加。我們認為，這對我們來說是一個機遇領域，也是我們正在關注的領域。但這是我們仍處於開發階段的事情。

I would tell you it's not we haven't perfected it yet, but we're doing a ton of work around that to see how we can continue to stimulate demand, in particular, around those customers that have already gone through the in-home consultation process. So I don't know if I'm getting to the heart of your question or not, but we see end market demand as strong, at least at this point, awareness is strong. We need to see conversion improve to help us accelerate the clearing of the field inventory levels, but we are making good progress there. It's just not as quickly as we had hoped.

我想告訴你，這並不是我們還沒有完善它，而是我們正在圍繞這個問題做大量的工作，看看我們如何能夠繼續刺激需求，特別是那些已經經歷過家庭消費的客戶。諮詢過程。所以我不知道我是否觸及了你問題的核心，但我們認為終端市場需求強勁，至少在這一點上，意識很強。我們需要看到轉化率的提高，以幫助我們加快現場庫存水平的清理，但我們在這方面取得了良好的進展。只是沒有我們希望的那麼快。

Yes. I think the key is, seasonally, we do expect the home standby category to pick up in the second half of the year versus the first half. Especially as inventory begins to normalize towards the second half. I think it's to Aaron's point, though, it's just -- maybe it's not going to improve as much as we thought relative to 3 months ago because of the softer consumer that we're seeing.

是的。我認為關鍵是，從季節性來看，我們確實預計家庭待機類別將在今年下半年比上半年有所回升。特別是隨著下半年庫存開始正常化。我認為這符合 Aaron 的觀點，不過，由於我們看到消費者疲軟，與 3 個月前相比，情況可能不會像我們想像的那樣改善。

One moment for your next question. And the next question comes from the line of Jeff Hammond with KeyBanc Capital Markets.

請稍等一下，回答你的下一個問題。下一個問題來自 KeyBanc Capital Markets 的 Jeff Hammond。

Just back on this close rate dynamic. I'm just wondering if you're getting feedback from your dealer network on kind of why the close rates are lower? Is it financing costs or the higher cost? Because I know you had been contemplating lead time or close rates getting better as lead times shorten. So that seems to be the big surprise and just looking for more feedback color.

回到這個收盤價動態。我只是想知道您是否從經銷商網絡獲得了關於為什麼成交率較低的反饋？是融資成本還是更高的成本？因為我知道您一直在考慮隨著交貨時間的縮短，交貨時間或成交率會變得更好。所以這似乎是一個很大的驚喜，只是在尋找更多的反饋顏色。

Yes, sure, Jeff. That is a surprise to us as well, although as we look at, I would say, kind of maybe comparable industries where you've got bigger ticket types of home improvement projects, pools, patios, furniture, things of that nature, we're maybe not seeing -- I think you're hearing commentary, but we're all not seeing maybe the consumer step up to the same level that we all expected. And that, I think, is indicative of perhaps just the work that the Federal Reserve is doing here to tamp down inflation with higher rates. I think it's starting to bite in some of these areas, in particular, on these bigger ticket type of purchases so that -- for the home, anything tied to residential investment.

是的，當然，傑夫。這對我們來說也是一個驚喜，儘管我想說的是，在類似的行業中，你有更大的門票類型的家居裝修項目、游泳池、露台、家具等類似性質的東西，我們'我們可能沒有看到——我想你們聽到的是評論，但我們都沒有看到消費者可能會達到我們預期的水平。我認為，這也許只是美聯儲正在為通過提高利率來抑制通貨膨脹所做的工作的體現。我認為它開始在其中一些領域產生影響，特別是在這些大額購買類型上，因此，對於房屋，任何與住宅投資相關的東西。

I would tell you that we did see to get to the point that we've made in the past and that you're making here, we thought that close rates previously had come down because of the long lead times in the product, which we believe we're kind of at the root of that. They bounced off the bottom kind of Q1 of 2022. And improved nicely, sequentially, up until this quarter. And this quarter, they kind of flattened out.

我想告訴你，我們確實看到了我們過去所做的事情以及你在這裡所做的事情，我們認為之前的成交率已經下降，因為產品的交貨時間很長，我們相信我們就是這個問題的根源。它們從 2022 年第一季度的底部反彈。直到本季度，它們都連續良好地改善。而本季度，他們的表現有些趨於平緩。

And we're -- basically our guidance here contemplates that they don't go up any further this year. That's really -- that's the change, right? We had our previous guidance had contemplated that close rates would continue to improve, albeit not dramatically so. And as we said on the last call, it's going to take some time to return to those pre-COVID close rates. But the feedback from the channel around close rates is that homeowners are -- they're struggling to, again, with bigger ticket types of purchases, and they're just -- they're taking more time to think through that. And so we just think that, that phase of the project.

基本上我們的指導認為今年它們不會進一步上升。這確實是——這就是改變，對吧？我們之前的指導意見認為，成交率將繼續改善，儘管幅度不會很大。正如我們在上次電話會議中所說，需要一段時間才能恢復到新冠疫情之前的收盤價。但有關接近價格的渠道的反饋是，房主們再次努力購買更大的門票類型，他們只是花更多的時間來考慮這個問題。所以我們只是認為項目的那個階段。

And again, I think the good news is we've got a sales lead even if it didn't close, we have the opportunity to reengage with that customer. And friction in the past, when we look at reengagement, our close rates are better if we choose the right time to reengage, right, i.e., if another outage moves through a local market, and our team engages with all those unclosed IHCs, those unclosed opportunities in that market, perhaps over the last 12, 24, even 36 months we see a much higher close rate the second time around.

再說一遍，我認為好消息是我們已經獲得了銷售線索，即使它沒有關閉，我們也有機會重新與該客戶互動。過去，當我們考慮重新參與時，如果我們選擇正確的時間重新參與，即，如果另一次停電通過本地市場，並且我們的團隊與所有那些未關閉的IHC 進行接觸，那麼我們的關閉率會更好。那個市場上未關閉的機會，也許在過去的 12、24、甚至 36 個月裡，我們第二次看到了更高的成交率。

So it's kind of like the friction is lower because that process of the in-home sales consultation has already been -- has already taken place. And so that just leads to an easier time to get to closure at least historically. So we're going to -- that's really where we're putting a lot of our efforts here in the second half of this year is into that nurturing effort that I talked about before, to really work on how do we get more unclosed IHCs to closure.

所以這有點像摩擦較小，因為上門銷售諮詢的過程已經發生了。因此，至少從歷史上看，這只會導致更容易結束。因此，我們將——這確實是我們今年下半年投入大量精力的地方，即我之前談到的培育工作，真正致力於如何獲得更多未封閉的 IHC至關閉。

One moment to your next question. And your next question comes from the line of Mark Strouse with JPMorgan.

請稍等一下，回答下一個問題。你的下一個問題來自摩根大通的馬克·斯特勞斯（Mark Strouse）。

Sorry to beat a dead horse here. I just want to ask on field inventory levels again. A different way of looking at it, just how you're thinking about what normal inventory levels are? The 1.2 to 1.3 that you're talking about today, does your outlook kind of assume that, that goes back to 1.0 or based on the channel checks that you mentioned earlier, is there a chance that, that potentially goes even lower, at least temporarily, given kind of what you're talking about with the macro.

很抱歉在這裡打了個死馬。我只想再次詢問現場庫存水平。從不同的角度來看，您如何看待正常的庫存水平？您今天談論的 1.2 到 1.3，您的前景是否假設，回到 1.0 或基於您之前提到的通道檢查，是否有可能甚至更低，至少暫時，考慮到您正在談論的宏。

And then can I sneak in a quick follow-up? Just -- just to be clear, what I'm hearing the margin issues are -- at least the margin headwinds you're talking about in guidance, that is a mix issue. You're not signaling any changing in pricing? I just want to make sure that that's clear.

然後我可以快速跟進嗎？只是——澄清一下，我所聽到的利潤問題是——至少是你在指導中談論的利潤逆風，這是一個混合問題。您沒有表示價格有任何變化嗎？我只是想確保這一點清楚。

Yes, Mark, thanks for the question. So I'll take the first part which is the field. Again, just kind of expanding on the field inventory, we said 1.2 to 1.3. Our assumption is that 1.0 is "normal." I think the key question there is, is 1.0 the right number, right? So -- and what is 1.0 based on. And so what it is, is we went back, I think it was around 2019 levels for pre-COVID, if you will, levels of field inventory just to kind of pick our point of normal, right? And that's a debatable point. Could the channel decide that their normal is lower potentially. Recall, though, that in our world, the field inventory there's very -- it's not a ton of field inventory at the dealer level, especially when you get into smaller dealers. They just don't have the financial capacity or even the physical space to put product in.

是的，馬克，謝謝你的提問。所以我將討論第一部分，即字段。再說一遍，只是對現場庫存的擴展，我們說的是 1.2 到 1.3。我們的假設是 1.0 是“正常”。我認為關鍵問題是 1.0 是正確的數字嗎？那麼——1.0 的基礎是什麼。那麼，我們回顧一下，我認為，如果你願意的話，現場庫存水平大約是 2019 年新冠疫情前的水平，只是為了選擇我們的正常點，對嗎？這是一個有爭議的點。頻道是否可以認為他們的正常值可能較低。不過，請記住，在我們的世界中，經銷商級別的現場庫存非常多，尤其是當您進入較小的經銷商時。他們只是沒有財力，甚至沒有物理空間來放置產品。

So in their world, maybe normal is 0. And that would be contemplated of course, in the 1.0. It's going to be the other channel players, the retailers, the wholesalers that are generally more stocking channels and then our larger dealers that regionally will also stock product just to keep a constant flow to their teams, in particular, their install teams just to keep product moving.

所以在他們的世界裡，也許正常就是 0。當然，在 1.0 中會考慮到這一點。其他渠道參與者、零售商、批發商通常是更多的庫存渠道，然後我們的大型經銷商也會在區域內庫存產品，只是為了保持源源不斷地流向他們的團隊，特別是他們的安裝團隊，只是為了保持產品穩定。產品移動。

And so we do this on a days adjusted basis though, just to be clear, because there is seasonality to this. So as we think about this, the second half of the year is seasonally our stronger period for home standby generators. So we would see velocity typically pick up in the second half of the year. Year ago, when you look at it on a days basis, that field inventory calculation will adjust accordingly. And then in the first half of the year, in particular first quarter, which typically is our seasonally low period, that's when you'd see kind of that days of field inventory adjust to reflect lower installation pace.

因此，我們會根據天數進行調整，但需要明確的是，因為這存在季節性。因此，當我們考慮這一點時，下半年是家庭備用發電機季節性強勁的時期。因此，我們會看到速度通常會在下半年加快。一年前，當您按天查看時，現場庫存計算會相應調整。然後在今年上半年，特別是第一季度，這通常是我們的季節性低谷時期，那時您會看到現場庫存的天數進行調整以反映較低的安裝速度。

But the key question is not lost on us in terms of what's normal. Is there a risk there around the fact that maybe channel partners decide that normal is something less. Potentially, I don't think it would be long lived. I'd be probably short line if that's the case. But we're trying to be, I think, balanced in how we're viewing this. And we think that, that kind of 1.0x is a good reflection point of -- is reflective of a good point in the curve in terms of what's normal.

但我們並沒有忽視什麼是正常的關鍵問題。渠道合作夥伴可能會認為正常是不那麼正常的，這一事實是否存在風險？我認為它可能不會長久存在。如果是這樣的話，我可能會短線。但我認為，我們正在努力平衡看待這一問題的方式。我們認為，這種 1.0x 是一個很好的反映點——就正常情況而言，反映了曲線中的一個好點。

On the margin side, yes, in terms of the EBITDA percent guidance down. On the gross margin side, it's all mix. So there's no pricing reduction assumptions in our guide. So it's all mixed. And then when you get to OpEx, there's a little bit of operating deleverage on the lower sales. So that's a smaller piece of the puzzle, but there's no reduction in price in our guidance.

在利潤方面，是的，就 EBITDA 百分比指引而言，是下降的。在毛利率方面，一切都是好壞參半。因此，我們的指南中沒有降價假設。所以一切都是混合的。然後，當你談到運營支出時，銷售額下降會帶來一些運營去槓桿化。因此，這只是拼圖中的一小部分，但我們的指導中並沒有降低價格。

And the next question comes from the line of Jerry Revich with Goldman Sachs.

下一個問題來自高盛的傑里·雷維奇（Jerry Revich）。

Yes, I wonder if you're just -- so margins are going to be at about 16% this year. Your targets for 2024 were in the mid-20s. And obviously, a lot has changed since, but I'm wondering, is there an opportunity for margin expansion off of current levels? How would you bridge what's reasonable to expect compared to that 24% to 25% margin target you laid out at the Analyst Day. York, I think you alluded to it in terms of 400 basis points of drag from the solar investments. But can you expand on that? And what you folks view as a reasonable margin expectation in the medium term?

是的，我想知道您是否認為今年的利潤率約為 16%。您 2024 年的目標是 20 多歲。顯然，自那以後發生了很多變化，但我想知道，利潤率是否有機會在當前水平上擴大？與您在分析師日制定的 24% 至 25% 的利潤率目標相比，您將如何平衡合理預期。約克，我認為您提到了太陽能投資造成的 400 個基點的拖累。但你能擴展一下嗎？你們認為中期內合理的利潤預期是多少？

Yes. In a couple of things. I know I did mention in my prepared comments that Q4 exit rate Q4 EBITDA margins are expected to be in that low 20% range. So we expect, obviously, things to pick up from here, especially as home standby shipments normalize. I guess, if you think about that previous Investor Day target for 2024, I know that our energy technology business, things are just taking a little bit longer than maybe we originally laid out back in 2020 -- September of 2021 for that business. That's -- this is more of a reset year for our clean energy business. And it will grow from here. So I think we're going to level set what those, I guess, revised expectations are going to look like on September 27 when we have our Investor Day next month. September 27 next month. And I think we'll be able to give clear updated targets for the long term at that point. But I guess, those are some data points that you can use for now.

是的。有幾件事。我知道我在準備好的評論中確實提到，第四季度退出率、第四季度 EBITDA 利潤率預計將在 20% 的低範圍內。因此，我們顯然預計情況會有所好轉，特別是在家庭備用出貨量正常化的情況下。我想，如果你考慮一下之前的 2024 年投資者日目標，我知道我們的能源技術業務的進展時間可能比我們最初在 2020 年（即 2021 年 9 月）制定的時間要長一些。也就是說，今年更像是我們清潔能源業務的重置年。它將從這裡開始增長。因此，我認為我們將在 9 月 27 日下個月的投資者日時確定這些修訂後的預期。下個月9月27日。我認為屆時我們將能夠給出明確的更新的長期目標。但我想，這些是您現在可以使用的一些數據點。

Our next question call is from the line of Kashy Harrison with Piper handler.

我們的下一個問題電話來自 Kashy Harrison 和 Piper handler。

Just a few quick ones here. Can you just give us a sense of the revenue gap between sales into the channel and sales out of the channel? Are you under selling this year by $100 million, $200 million, $300 million. And then on the C&I side of the business, just how do you think about the repeatability into 2024 just given some of these cross currents surrounding construction from the infrastructure bill, maybe improved the ADI, maybe later ends of 5G. Just how do you think about the repeatability of C&I.

這裡只是一些快速的。您能否讓我們了解一下渠道內銷售與渠道外銷售之間的收入差距？今年你的銷售額是否低於 1 億美元、2 億美元、3 億美元？然後在商業和工業方面的業務，考慮到基礎設施法案中圍繞建設的一些逆流，您如何看待 2024 年的可重複性，也許會改善 ADI，也許會在 5G 的後期結束。您如何看待 C&I 的可重複性？

Yes. Thanks, Kashy. So yes, we haven't disclosed the kind of gap between sell-in and sellout. So -- but we are significantly undershipping the market here. Market demand here in the first half as we work through that fuel inventory, and that really is the pull down in guidance here on the residential side as a result.

是的。謝謝，卡什。所以，是的，我們還沒有透露賣出和賣出之間的差距。所以——但我們在這裡的市場出貨量嚴重不足。當我們處理燃料庫存時，上半年的市場需求確實是住宅方面指導的下降。

We can see field inventory coming down in all of our data. So we we're undershipping the market.

我們可以看到所有數據中的現場庫存都在下降。所以我們的市場出貨量不足。

We know we're undershipping the market pretty dramatically at this point. So -- and that's why we think that we're going to continue to grow here sequentially through the year because that field inventory drag will reduce as we get to the back half of the year. So again, haven't put a fine number on it, just kind of from a disclosure standpoint, but we definitely see that. And then on C&I, I think the question was a little broken up for -- sorry about that. But I think the question was just kind of about the sustainability of C&I and what we're seeing there. I think as we said kind of in our remarks, Obviously, we're starting to come up against tougher comps, right? We've been -- the C&I business has been very strong for a long time. It was another great quarter for our C&I business.

我們知道目前市場的出貨量嚴重不足。因此，這就是為什麼我們認為我們將在今年繼續連續增長，因為隨著下半年的到來，現場庫存的拖累將會減少。再說一次，只是從披露的角度來看，我們還沒有給出一個具體的數字，但我們確實看到了這一點。然後關於 C&I，我認為這個問題有點被打破了——對此感到抱歉。但我認為問題只是關於工商業的可持續性以及我們在那裡看到的情況。我認為正如我們在講話中所說的那樣，顯然，我們開始面臨更艱難的競爭，對吧？我們的工商業業務長期以來一直非常強勁。對於我們的工商業業務來說，這是又一個出色的季度。

Some of our national account customers, in particular, on the rental side, we're starting to see some moderation of those order patterns here. But what we've heard from the -- largely from our large rental customers is that utilization rates and equipment are still doing quite well. They're holding in there.

我們的一些國民賬戶客戶，特別是在租賃方面，我們開始看到這些訂單模式有所放緩。但我們從——主要是從我們的大型租賃客戶那裡聽到的是，利用率和設備仍然表現良好。他們堅守在那裡。

That said, I think proactively a couple of those larger customers have cut their CapEx guidance for the year. We're pretty well locked and loaded for this year in terms of orders just in terms of our backlog. So we're not expecting much to change there. The question will be 2024. Is that -- does that roll over? Or does it -- is there a significant change to that? We don't have create visibility into that yet and wouldn't be in a position to provide that guidance. On the telecom side, as we talked in the last call, and we mentioned in our prepared remarks this morning, our large national telecom customers, that demand tends to be -- we've referred to it sometimes in the past is lumpy. I think we used the term on even this morning.

也就是說，我認為一些較大的客戶已經主動削減了今年的資本支出指導。僅就我們的積壓訂單而言，今年我們的訂單已經鎖定並加載完畢。因此，我們預計不會有太大變化。問題是 2024 年。那是——會滾動嗎？或者說，這方面有重大改變嗎？我們還沒有了解這一點，也無法提供該指導。在電信方面，正如我們在上次電話會議中談到的，以及我們在今天早上準備好的發言中提到的，我們的大型全國電信客戶的需求往往是——我們過去有時提到過它是不穩定的。我想我們甚至今天早上也使用過這個詞。

But from quarter-to-quarter, it can accelerate and decelerate quite quickly, which would seem surprising, but I think because they -- the way they manage projects and certain things can come and go in terms of their CapEx spending capabilities, it can be turned on very quickly and turned off very quickly.

但從季度到季度，它可以很快地加速和減速，這似乎令人驚訝，但我認為因為他們管理項目和某些事情的方式可以根據他們的資本支出支出能力來來去去，它可以非常快地打開和關閉。

And so we've seen some of that kind of manifest itself here and was expected in the second half of the year. So nothing unexpected there, but I think the long-term setup when we talk to all the telecom customers is we're in kind of a multiyear up cycle for telecom spending. We think just near term kind of unevenness in the way that CapEx is going to be deployed. But they have a lot of hardening to do with their networks here yet over the next several years. So we think that's a run that's going to be -- it's going to continue.

因此，我們已經看到了其中的一些表現，預計會在今年下半年出現。因此，這並不意外，但我認為，當我們與所有電信客戶交談時，長期的設置是我們正處於電信支出的多年上升週期。我們認為近期資本支出的部署方式會出現不平衡。但在接下來的幾年裡，他們的網絡還有很多強化工作要做。所以我們認為這種趨勢將會持續下去。

And then I would tell you that within our core C&I products domestically and globally, in particular, where our products are now being deployed for what we refer to as beyond standby applications. So a generator could be used to be called upon at times of stress for the grid, right? So you've got very high temperature extremes or low temperature extremes or other points in the curve where the grid is under duress, the generator can be called into action by perhaps a local utility or grid operator and can -- that power then can be flowed into the grid for support.

然後我會告訴您，在我們國內和全球的核心 C&I 產品中，特別是我們的產品現在被部署用於我們所說的超待機應用程序。因此，在電網出現壓力時可以使用發電機，對嗎？因此，當您遇到非常高的極端溫度或極端低溫或曲線上的其他點時，電網會受到脅迫，發電機可以由當地公用事業公司或電網運營商啟動，並且可以 - 然後電力可以流入網格尋求支持。

And that is -- those products are becoming much more popular. In fact, we've had a really good run there. We think we're in the early innings of the use of these products. And really, what it is, is it allows customers who would otherwise be looking at a generator strictly from a -- when you look at it from an economic standpoint, it's about risk mitigation, either loss of revenue, loss of inventory, loss of process, something like that. You have to weigh that against the initial capital cost of the equipment and the ongoing maintenance of the equipment over its life.

也就是說，這些產品變得越來越受歡迎。事實上，我們在那裡的表現非常好。我們認為我們正處於使用這些產品的早期階段。事實上，它的本質是，它允許那些原本嚴格從經濟角度看待發電機的客戶，它是關於風險緩解的，要么是收入損失，庫存損失，要么是損失。過程，類似的東西。您必須權衡設備的初始資本成本以及設備在其使用壽命內的持續維護成本。

You can now essentially buy down that first piece cost, which has always been a barrier to ownership for the category by allowing for that product to be used in these beyond standby applications, and thereby monetizing that asset in a way that didn't exist previously. So we think that as the grid continues to transition, that these assets that we're formerly stranded basically, right? They were not connected to the grid necessarily only connected to -- for emergency backup purposes for a property that they can be monetized in a way they couldn't before. And that's I think, an exciting opportunity for us, and we're seeing more of that manifest itself here in the C&I markets.

現在，您基本上可以降低首件成本，這一直是該類別所有權的障礙，因為允許該產品用於這些超出待機的應用程序，從而以以前不存在的方式將該資產貨幣化。因此，我們認為，隨著電網的繼續轉型，我們以前擱淺的這些資產基本上已經擱淺了，對吧？它們不一定連接到電網，只是出於緊急備用目的，可以以前所未有的方式將財產貨幣化。我認為這對我們來說是一個令人興奮的機會，我們在工商業市場上看到了更多這樣的機會。

And your next question comes from the line of George Gianarikas with Canaccord Genuity.

您的下一個問題來自 Canaccord Genuity 的 George Gianarikas。

I think I heard as part of your strategy to close -- increased close rates, you did not contemplate price reductions across the residential portfolio. My question is, why not? Why isn't that an option that's on the table to help improve close rates, particularly in an environment where your input costs are going down?

我想我聽說，作為您成交策略的一部分——提高成交率，您沒有考慮降低整個住宅組合的價格。我的問題是，為什麼不呢？為什麼這不是一個可以幫助提高成交率的選項，特別是在投入成本下降的環境下？

Yes. Thanks for the question, George. Actually, we do have -- when we talk about price, you probably need to talk about net price, but the promotion dollars end up down in kind of operating expense in some cases. So -- it's not really just from an accounting -- a technical accounting standpoint, it's not always price. But we are using more promotion than we used maybe a year ago, certainly more than 2 or 3 years ago.

是的。謝謝你的提問，喬治。事實上，我們確實有——當我們談論價格時，你可能需要談論淨價，但在某些情況下，促銷費用最終會以運營費用的形式下降。因此，這不僅僅是從會計角度來看，從技術會計的角度來看，它並不總是價格。但我們使用的促銷活動可能比一年前更多，當然超過兩三年前。

And that is included in our guidance.

這已包含在我們的指南中。

And that is included in the guidance. So I think to maybe put a finer point on it, those teams that we've unleashed here on our unclosed IHC file continue to work on different types of promotional activities. We're doing a lot of testing around what works, what doesn't work. We've run some national promos. We ran one earlier this year, and we'll have one on our schedule here at some point later this year. So that's -- those things are certainly included in the guidance. There's a question, of course, do we need to do more? I think at this point, we believe we've got the right level in there to support the close rates that we've built into the most recent guidance.

這已包含在指南中。因此，我認為也許可以更詳細地說，我們在未封閉的 IHC 文件中釋放的那些團隊繼續致力於不同類型的促銷活動。我們正在圍繞什麼有效、什麼無效進行大量測試。我們舉辦了一些全國促銷活動。我們今年早些時候進行了一次，今年晚些時候我們將在我們的日程安排中進行一次。所以，這些內容肯定包含在指南中。當然，還有一個問題，我們還需要做更多嗎？我認為在這一點上，我們相信我們已經達到了正確的水平來支持我們在最新指導中建立的收盤價。

At some level, you just -- you can't promote perhaps to your way to a consumer that if the consumer is going to be stubborn and it's going to be painful for them to spend because they're concerned about, obviously, a lot of things around inflation around their employment status. I mean there's so many things that go into that. That make up why and when a consumer feels confident to do that. Certainly, power outages and historically for us, softer consumer environments, we generally have been able to break away from when you get outages. And so that still exists here as an opportunity. Our guidance contemplates kind of a normal outage environment. And we have been experiencing kind of above normal outage activity here through -- at least through the -- late in the second quarter, we saw that tick up and actually July in and of itself has been somewhat active as well. So continue to watch that and see what impact that will have on close rates. But we do have a level of promotion in our guidance around trying to improve close rates for the balance of the year.

在某種程度上，你可能無法向消費者推銷你的方式，如果消費者很頑固，那麼他們花錢就會很痛苦，因為他們顯然擔心很多事情圍繞通貨膨脹的事情圍繞著他們的就業狀況。我的意思是，這涉及到很多事情。這就是消費者有信心這樣做的原因和時間。當然，對於我們來說，歷史上的停電和較疲軟的消費環境，我們通常能夠在停電時擺脫困境。所以這仍然是一個機會。我們的指南考慮了一種正常的停電環境。至少在第二季度末，我們一直在經歷高於正常水平的停電活動，我們看到這種情況有所增加，實際上 7 月份本身也有些活躍。因此，請繼續關注這一情況，看看這會對收盤價產生什麼影響。但我們確實在努力提高今年剩餘時間的成交率方面進行了一定程度的促銷。

And your next question comes from the line of Donovan Schafer with Northland Capital Markets.

您的下一個問題來自 Northland Capital Markets 的 Donovan Schafer。

I want to talk about chore portables. So chore usually doesn't get much attention, but this quarter, you guys actually called it out in a high level. Well, of course, some pack up, of course, it just (inaudible) that was the main driver. But do you think these smaller pieces can unfold in ways that kind of nudge things. I remember, I think, with the polar vortex in Texas. At the time, I think a lot of folks thought that's great news, but you won't be in that quarter because you were supply constrained. You considering that manufacturing HSB, but you did end up beating and it came down to the portables because you had that ready and so these can add up in ways that matter. So talking about chore products, the California ban on small-sized gasoline engines under 25 horsepower, that goes into effect at the end of this year. I think old mowers and everything get grandfathered in. It's not like if you own a gasoline lawnmower, you got a ditch it come January 1.

我想談談便攜式家務活。所以家務活通常不會引起太多關注，但這個季度，你們實際上在高水平上大聲疾呼。嗯，當然，有些人收拾行李，當然，這只是（聽不清）這是主要驅動力。但你認為這些較小的部分可以以推動事物的方式展開嗎？我想，我記得德克薩斯州的極渦。當時，我想很多人都認為這是個好消息，但你不會在那個季度，因為供應有限。你考慮製造 HSB，但你最終還是失敗了，這歸結於便攜式設備，因為你已經準備好了，所以這些可以以重要的方式加起來。說到家務產品，加州禁止 25 馬力以下小型汽油發動機的禁令將於今年年底生效。我認為舊割草機和所有東西都會被繼承。這並不像如果你擁有一台汽油割草機，到 1 月 1 日你就會發現一條溝渠。

But any new purchases, I believe you need to be electric. So I'm curious if -- because it's a smaller piece of the revenue mix, something like this has to almost like double or something to really become meaningful. And with portables, when the polar vortex hit Texas, it's kind of like what happened is you had this just massive surge in portables and getting shipped to that state. So in the case of something like this, I don't think come January 1, you're going to suddenly -- you get like a sudden doubling in chore products. But with Mean Green mowers and the other clean energy chore products you have in this California law going into effect, is that something where you see jumping to a 10%, 20% growth or a 2x, 3x over a number of years, kind of a broader magnitude there?

但任何新購買的東西，我相信你都需要電動的。所以我很好奇，因為它在收入組合中所佔的比例較小，所以像這樣的東西必須幾乎翻倍或其他東西才能真正變得有意義。對於便攜式設備來說，當極地渦旋襲擊德克薩斯州時，發生的情況就像是便攜式設備數量大幅增加並被運送到該州。因此，在這種情況下，我認為 1 月 1 日到來時，家務產品不會突然增加一倍。但隨著加州法律中的 Mean Green 割草機和其他清潔能源雜務產品的生效，你會看到在幾年內增長 10%、20% 或 2 倍、3 倍，有點像那裡有更廣泛的規模？

And then same thing on portables because you've launched the portable battery product, a larger portable generator and a dual fuel generator, which those are all significant feature additions in those product categories. So anything on kind of -- the next year or so growth rate you would expect around those, approximately.

然後在便攜式設備上也是如此，因為您推出了便攜式電池產品、更大的便攜式發電機和雙燃料發電機，這些都是這些產品類別中的重要功能補充。因此，您預計未來一年左右的增長率大約會圍繞這些增長率。

Yes. Thanks, Donovan. So obviously, the regulatory environment continues to change an outright ban on small engines in California, you're spot on with that. California is pushing ahead with that. I think that like all kind of regulatory actions, sometimes there are unintended consequences of that, whether they be maybe advanced purchases, maybe pull in of demand around that. We're not seeing anything today for people who are loading up on kind of internal combustion engine-driven chore or generator products. Just to be clear, by the way, it would only impact the portable generators and chore products, home standby is not part of that ban at this point. So just to be clear.

是的。謝謝，多諾萬。顯然，監管環境繼續改變加州對小型發動機的徹底禁令，你說得對。加州正在推動這一進程。我認為，就像所有類型的監管行動一樣，有時會產生意想不到的後果，無論是提前購買，還是拉動需求。對於那些正在使用內燃機驅動的家務或發電機產品的人來說，我們今天沒有看到任何東西。順便說一句，需要明確的是，它只會影響便攜式發電機和家務產品，家庭待機目前不屬於該禁令的一部分。所以要明確一點。

And you're right, it's a smaller part of our business. I mean we did call out chore this time because, frankly, they had a terrible second quarter and terrible first half, very much in line with the residential portions of many of the other public companies that serve that market. I will say it's part of our strategy there, the strategy behind the Mean Green acquisition is those are electrified zero-turn radius commercial mowing piece of equipment, and we have seen a dramatic rise in interest around those products, but they're expensive.

你是對的，這只是我們業務的一小部分。我的意思是，我們這次確實喊出了苦差事，因為坦率地說，他們的第二季度和上半年都很糟糕，與服務於該市場的許多其他上市公司的住宅部分非常一致。我想說這是我們戰略的一部分，收購 Mean Green 背後的戰略是那些電動零轉彎半徑商用割草設備，我們已經看到人們對這些產品的興趣急劇上升，但它們價格昂貴。

And so conversion is more difficult. Now the IRA Inflation Reduction Act has provided for some subsidy for those products. And we expect that, that will be clarified through treasury here over the back half of this year, which will certainly help. We are the leader in that commercial segment when it comes to electrified commercial mowers. And that is going to be an exciting part of the business to watch. And we're electrifying the rest of our tour products platform using the technology that we acquired with Mean Green is again, part of what we're -- the brush cutting platforms and things that are so important to us there into our products are being electrified as well. So we think we'll be prepared as these bans take place, the one in California, certainly, as you said, into this year and we'll have to see how it plays out. California also has on top of the federal subsidies, some state-level subsidies for the purchase of those types of products to incentivize the switch from internal combustion engine-driven products to electrified products.

因此轉換更加困難。現在，愛爾蘭共和軍通貨膨脹削減法案已經為這些產品提供了一些補貼。我們預計，這一點將在今年下半年通過財政部予以澄清，這肯定會有所幫助。在電動商用割草機方面，我們是該商業領域的領導者。這將成為該行業值得關注的令人興奮的部分。我們正在使用我們從 Mean Green 獲得的技術，讓我們的旅遊產品平台的其餘部分再次電氣化，這也是我們的一部分——割灌平台以及對我們產品來說非常重要的東西正在被採用。也帶電了。因此，我們認為，隨著這些禁令的實施，我們會做好準備，當然，正如您所說，加州的禁令將持續到今年，我們必須看看它的效果如何。除了聯邦補貼之外，加州還為購買此類產品提供一些州級補貼，以激勵從內燃機驅動產品轉向電動產品。

So we'll continue to watch that. Portable generators different type of category, right? Like -- and this is where I think the unintended consequences of regulation, you have a multi-day outage, you're just -- you can't buy a battery to get you through that. Sorry, to California regulators they're not thinking that through. They should have left open products that are used for emergency use. And in their infinite wisdom, they probably will create waivers when they run into problems like they've done in the past for other areas of the market. They have the strict regulations and then they waive them when there are emergencies. And I wouldn't be surprised to see the same happen here.

所以我們將繼續關注。便攜式發電機有不同類型的類別吧？就像 - 這就是我認為監管帶來的意想不到的後果，你會遇到多天的停電，你只是 - 你無法購買電池來幫助你渡過難關。抱歉，對於加州監管機構來說，他們沒有考慮清楚。他們應該保留用於緊急使用的開放產品。以他們無限的智慧，當他們遇到像過去在市場其他領域所做的那樣的問題時，他們可能會創建豁免。他們有嚴格的規定，但在緊急情況下他們會放棄這些規定。如果在這裡發生同樣的事情我不會感到驚訝。

There's generating power is different than storing power. That's alters to it. That said, we do have storage products, portable storage products that we're introducing in the marketplace that are good for temporary short duration outages, outage protection, but they also are expensive relative to the cost of internal combustion engine-driven generators, which, again, for emergency use, like those products are used primarily, that is the most cost-effective way to serve the market.

發電與儲存電力不同。這就是對它的改變。也就是說，我們確實有存儲產品，我們在市場上推出的便攜式存儲產品，適用於臨時短時間停電、停電保護，但相對於內燃機驅動發電機的成本來說，它們也很昂貴。再次強調，對於緊急使用，像那些主要使用的產品一樣，這是最經濟有效的服務市場的方式。

And fortunately, those types of regulations only hurt the part of the market that has less flexibility with their pocketbook in their checkbook around buying a product during an emergency. So that's unfortunate. And hopefully, regulators will use their heads and clear heads prevail there if emergencies do present as we believe will be the case long term here as the grid, in particular in California, goes through a transition.

幸運的是，這些類型的法規只會傷害部分市場，因為他們在緊急情況下購買產品時的錢包靈活性較差。所以這很不幸。希望監管機構能夠在出現緊急情況時保持清醒的頭腦，因為我們相信，隨著電網（特別是在加利福尼亞州）經歷轉型，長期來看，情況會如此。

And your next question comes from the line of Praneeth Satish with Wells Fargo.

你的下一個問題來自富國銀行的普拉尼思·薩蒂什 (Praneeth Satish)。

Maybe I just wanted to get an update on the international market? And I guess, where do you stand on rollouts into countries like India, I guess, what are the competitive dynamics look like overseas? Are you introducing new HSB or new products, C&I product offerings for these regions? And then I guess, finally, when do you think we could see maybe an acceleration of revenue contributions in the International segment?

也許我只是想了解國際市場的最新情況？我想，您對向印度等國家推出產品的立場如何，我想，海外的競爭動態是什麼樣的？您是否正在為這些地區推出新的 HSB 或新產品、C&I 產品？最後，我想，您認為我們什麼時候可以看到國際部門的收入貢獻加速？

Yes. Thanks for the question. So internationally, today, it's mainly a C&I market for us. And internationally, we've done very well. Our Pramac subsidiary, a very well-respected brand, very well-run company. Covers our geographies really outside the U.S. and Canada for us. And I mean, they've been on a tear. And they continue to gain market share the EBITDA margin profile of that company has improved dramatically over the course of our ownership here, which I think spans now something on the order of 8 years, 8, 9 years, something like that. And so we continue to make really good progress there. And we're actually getting quite a good benefit out of our global scale with C&I products here even domestically.

是的。謝謝你的提問。所以在國際上，今天對我們來說主要是一個工商業市場。在國際上，我們做得很好。我們的 Pramac 子公司是一個備受推崇的品牌，運營良好的公司。涵蓋了美國和加拿大以外的地區。我的意思是，他們一直在流淚。他們繼續獲得市場份額，該公司的 EBITDA 利潤率在我們擁有所有權的過程中得到了顯著改善，我認為現在的時間跨度約為 8 年、8 年、9 年，類似的時間。因此，我們繼續在這方面取得良好進展。實際上，我們從全球範圍內甚至國內的 C&I 產品中獲得了相當大的收益。

So the ability to consolidate purchases on engine platforms, some of the alternator platforms and obviously, be able to -- the ability to use our Deep Sea controls across our global platforms and get the -- gain the benefit of scale there as well. That said, that market internationally, as I said, is primarily C&I and it's primarily diesel. So diesel-powered generators are still, at least outside the U.S. and Canada, the primary kind of legacy solution for emergency backup.

因此，整合發動機平台、一些交流發電機平台的採購能力，顯然，能夠在我們的全球平台上使用我們的深海控制系統並獲得規模優勢。也就是說，正如我所說，國際市場主要是工商業和柴油市場。因此，至少在美國和加拿大之外，柴油發電機仍然是緊急備用的主要傳統解決方案。

And those products, in fact, I would say, like in the U.S., natural gas backup power represents for C&I anyway, about 40% of the market here with about 60% diesel. Outside the U.S. and Canada, it's more like 98% diesel, 2% gas. So the opportunity that exists is to introduce gas products, of which we're the leader globally in introduce those gas products into new regions and into the hands of new customers that we believe could benefit from connecting those products to natural gas pipelines as opposed to reliant on diesel refueling. There are benefits there far beyond just the continuity of fuel supply but also the emissions profile of those products and gas is -- tends to be cleaner than that of diesel. And so you see some real benefits there. You see customers who are now focused more on that.

事實上，我想說的是，這些產品就像在美國一樣，無論如何，天然氣備用電源代表了 C&I，約佔這里市場的 40%，柴油占約 60%。在美國和加拿大之外，它更像是 98% 柴油，2% 汽油。因此，存在的機會是推出天然氣產品，我們是全球領先的將這些天然氣產品引入新地區並交付給新客戶的人，我們相信這些產品可以從將這些產品連接到天然氣管道中受益，而不是通過天然氣管道。依賴柴油加油。其好處遠遠超出了燃料供應的連續性，而且這些產品的排放情況和天然氣往往比柴油更清潔。所以你會看到一些真正的好處。您會看到客戶現在更加關注這一點。

Regionally, we've really focused here, I would say, in the last few years on India in particular, through an acquisition of a company called Captiva. Pramac acquired Captiva several years ago, and we continued to invest heavily in that market, and we're seeing very nice growth, albeit off of a small base, but very nice growth there. That's an area that we're going to continue to focus on. I think we mentioned Australia. It's another great opportunity for us. The Middle East has been a great market in terms of growth. On the home standby side, if you look at residential sales, we actually have an interesting level of HSB that we're shipping into all parts of the world, which is really interesting. You see this in our activation data, we can see exactly where products are being installed.

從區域來看，我想說，過去幾年我們特別關注印度，通過收購一家名為 Captiva 的公司。 Pramac 幾年前收購了 Captiva，我們繼續在該市場進行大量投資，我們看到了非常好的增長，儘管基數很小，但那裡的增長非常好。這是我們將繼續關注的一個領域。我想我們提到了澳大利亞。這對我們來說是另一個很好的機會。就增長而言，中東一直是一個巨大的市場。在家庭備用方面，如果你看看住宅銷售，我們實際上有一個有趣的 HSB 水平，我們正在將其運送到世界各地，這真的很有趣。您可以在我們的激活數據中看到這一點，我們可以準確地看到產品的安裝位置。

And it's just overshadowed by 2 things: one, by the size of the HSB business here in North America. But two, the growth rates of C&I internationally have just kind of been so good. You just -- we haven't talked a lot about the kind of growing HSB base that's underneath all of that. But it is growing. We've introduced -- we just introduced a product and HSB product in India, and that is getting some nice traction already. We're continuing to introduce those products. Again, we've now got products that are compliant with very strict gas codes in Australia. And so we're really kind of -- when we say we're the only kind of company that serves Australia, that's true because the gas codes are very strict there. None of our competitors are able to meet the strict code requirements in Australia, and we see that as a wide open market and opportunities for good growth.

它只是被兩件事所掩蓋：第一，北美 HSB 業務的規模。但第二，國際上工商業的增長率非常好。你只是 - 我們還沒有過多談論這一切背後不斷增長的 HSB 基礎。但它正在增長。我們剛剛在印度推出了一款產品和 HSB 產品，並且已經獲得了一些不錯的關注。我們將繼續推出這些產品。同樣，我們現在的產品符合澳大利亞非常嚴格的天然氣法規。因此，當我們說我們是唯一一家為澳大利亞提供服務的公司時，我們確實是這樣，因為那裡的天然氣法規非常嚴格。我們的競爭對手都無法滿足澳大利亞嚴格的規範要求，我們認為這是一個廣闊的開放市場和良好增長的機會。

And then the Latin American markets, which represent a, we believe, a really good opportunity for us getting good penetration in places like Argentina, even places like Brazil, where we're seeing the product really get -- start to get the awareness levels start to increase. That's really what we have to focus on. We're kind of back to the early days of HSB back in North America, if you wind the clock bag. So we got a lot of work to do, but we are seeing pockets of that. I don't think it will be anything that will kind of contribute meaningfully to our international segment results here in the near term. But longer term, we believe the gas product, gas C&I products and HSB products, we see higher growth rates for those products than we do for the traditional C&I products.

然後是拉丁美洲市場，我們相信，這對我們在阿根廷等地甚至巴西等地獲得良好滲透來說是一個非常好的機會，我們在這些地方看到該產品真正開始獲得認知度開始增加。這確實是我們必須關注的重點。如果你給時鐘上發條的話，我們有點回到了北美 HSB 的早期時代。所以我們還有很多工作要做，但我們看到了其中的一部分。我認為短期內這不會對我們的國際業務業績做出任何有意義的貢獻。但從長遠來看，我們認為天然氣產品、天然氣工商業產品和 HSB 產品的增長率高於傳統工商業產品。

One moment for your next question. And your next question comes from the line of Stephen Gengaro with Stifel.

請稍等一下，回答你的下一個問題。你的下一個問題來自 Stephen Gengaro 和 Stifel 的對話。

So just one for me. When we look at the inventory, the HSB inventories that everybody has been talking about, is there any detail you can give us on sort of location of inventory relative to recent power outages?

所以只給我一個。當我們查看庫存時，每個人都在談論的 HSB 庫存，您能否向我們提供有關與最近停電相關的庫存位置的任何詳細信息？

Yes. I mean we haven't talked about field inventories at that level of granularity. But I think I may have mentioned in my response to a previous question that we are seeing evidence where there are regions, certainly pockets locally where field inventories are at normal levels or frankly, are quite a bit below what we might say would be normal because of elevated activity. So Canada has been a really interesting market here as of late with a lot of outage activity. And we see field inventories in Canada quite low versus other areas of the country. We see some other areas of the country, particularly like the Midwest, is another area. Michigan is just a state that continues to get pummeled by both summer weather and winter weather. And this is -- the interesting thing is, I think there's a misconception somehow that our best home standby markets are in Gulf Coast states or areas where you're more prone to hurricanes.

是的。我的意思是我們還沒有討論過這種粒度的現場清單。但我想我可能在回答之前的問題時提到過，我們看到的證據表明，有些地區，當然是當地的一些地區，實地庫存處於正常水平，或者坦率地說，遠遠低於我們所說的正常水平，因為活動升高。因此，加拿大最近一直是一個非常有趣的市場，有很多停電活動。我們發現加拿大的現場庫存與該國其他地區相比相當低。我們看到該國的其他一些地區，特別是中西部，是另一個地區。密歇根州只是一個持續受到夏季和冬季天氣打擊的州。有趣的是，我認為存在一種誤解，認為我們最好的家庭備用市場位於墨西哥灣沿岸各州或更容易遭受颶風的地區。

And that, of course -- those kinds of demand drivers, of course, are important for the category, but actually, where we see greatest kind of penetration rates and growth rates are in those states that have kind of 2 seasons of weather, both winter and summer have other kind of factors that play into an elevated level of outages. And Michigan is just one of those areas. I'd say it has a lot of outages caused by different extremities of weather, but also the grid is mainly above ground in Michigan. It's older. It was built around the automotive industry, so it was built out over 100 years ago. It's underinvested in, in a more significant way than in other areas because it's much more fragmented. There are many more independent grid operators in the state of Michigan than you would imagine. And so the grid doesn't kind of heal itself well when you do run it outages.

當然，這些需求驅動因素對該類別很重要，但實際上，我們看到滲透率和增長率最高的是那些有兩個季節天氣的州，無論是冬季和夏季還有其他一些因素會導致停電率升高。密歇根州只是其中之一。我想說的是，由於不同的極端天氣造成了很多停電，而且電網主要位於密歇根州的地面上。年紀大了。它是圍繞汽車行業而建立的，所以它是 100 多年前建造的。與其他領域相比，它的投資不足更為嚴重，因為它更加分散。密歇根州的獨立電網運營商比您想像的要多得多。因此，當你確實發生斷電時，電網並不能很好地自我修復。

And there's a lot of trees in Michigan. So trees are part of the equation with outages. So you put all of that together and some of the states that we see the best growth and the best penetration are in states like Michigan, states like Maine. We see Ohio, Pennsylvania, those types of areas are actually very strong in the context of our growth rate. So again, as you would expect, where we're seeing stronger rates of growth. Those are the areas that are getting to normalization of field inventory quicker. And that's -- again, without providing more detail, that's how I would give you some context around the question.

密歇根州有很多樹。因此，樹木是停電等式的一部分。因此，將所有這些放在一起，我們看到增長最快和滲透率最高的一些州是密歇根州、緬因州等州。我們看到俄亥俄州、賓夕法尼亞州，這些類型的地區在我們的增長率背景下實際上非常強勁。再次，正如您所期望的那樣，我們看到了更強勁的增長率。這些領域正在更快地實現現場庫存正常化。這就是——在不提供更多細節的情況下，我將如何向您提供有關該問題的一些背景信息。

And the next question comes from the line of Blake Keating with William Blair.

下一個問題來自布萊克·基廷和威廉·布萊爾的台詞。

This is Blake on for Brian. Just quickly, I wanted to ask about -- you previously mentioned that your largest piece of customers and home standby are generally older and less affected by the macro environment. I'm just looking to get some additional color there. Are they actually impacted by the macro environment and just trying to understand what's causing the slowdown and the consumer outlook for Home Standby.

這是布萊克為布萊恩代言的。很快，我想問一下——您之前提到過，您最大的客戶和家庭備用客戶普遍年齡較大，受宏觀環境的影響較小。我只是想在那裡獲得一些額外的顏色。他們是否真的受到宏觀環境的影響，只是想了解導致經濟放緩的原因以及家庭待機的消費者前景。

Yes. Thanks, Blake. We have seen the demographic over time as the category has grown, the category used to skew much older when you kind of wind the clock back. And over time, as it's broadened out, we have seen the average age of buyers come down, but it still indexes to an older demographic people who have -- and home ownership tends to skew that direction as well. And yes, they may, in fact, be somewhat more resilient, if you will, to changes in the economy. But I think nonetheless, they also -- inflation does impact people that are on a fixed income, perhaps even more. Like you can make an argument that perhaps a portion of that segment is maybe a little more vulnerable to certainly trends in inflation.

是的。謝謝，布萊克。隨著時間的推移，我們看到了人口統計隨著類別的增長，當你把時鐘倒流時，這個類別過去會變得更加古老。隨著時間的推移，隨著範圍的擴大，我們看到買家的平均年齡有所下降，但它仍然反映了老年人口的年齡——而住房所有權也往往會扭曲這個方向。是的，事實上，如果你願意的話，它們可能對經濟變化更具彈性。但我認為，儘管如此，通貨膨脹確實對固定收入的人產生了影響，甚至可能更大。就像您可以提出的論點一樣，也許該細分市場的一部分可能更容易受到通貨膨脹趨勢的影響。

We haven't seen -- I wouldn't say like from this point last year to this year, we haven't seen any major shift in the demographic underpinning kind of the buyers of the category at this point. We'll continue to watch that as the -- as time goes on here, certainly this year and into the future.

我們還沒有看到——我不會說從去年的這個時候到今年，我們目前還沒有看到該類別買家的人口結構發生任何重大變化。隨著時間的推移，我們將繼續關注這一點，尤其是今年和未來。

But I think right now, what we're just -- what we're seeing is that more broadly, the consumer spending environment around home improvement is softening, right? And I think that we're getting a little bit caught up in that. And that's what I think is impacting. Again, close rates aren't dropping. I think that's an important point here. They're just not growing back to the levels that we saw pre-pandemic. We do think they'll get back there eventually, but they've kind of flattened out here. So I think the challenge is that we thought they would continue to grow, and that's the -- perhaps the new piece of information this morning.

但我認為現在，我們所看到的是，更廣泛地說，圍繞家居裝修的消費者支出環境正在疲軟，對嗎？我認為我們有點陷入其中。我認為這就是影響力。同樣，成交率並沒有下降。我認為這是很重要的一點。它們只是沒有恢復到大流行前的水平。我們確實認為他們最終會回到那裡，但他們在這裡已經變平了。所以我認為挑戰在於我們認為它們會繼續增長，這也許就是今天早上的新信息。

Your next question comes from the line of Keith Housum with Northcoast Research.

您的下一個問題來自 Northcoast Research 的 Keith Housum。

I know we're running long so us keeps the one question here. Just in terms of the Clean Energy solution set in the redesign of the product portfolio going into 2024. If you guys just provide an update on if you guys are up to date on that or on track? And then some of the challenges that, that segment is facing right now in terms of dropping demand.

我知道我們的時間很長，所以我們把一個問題留在這裡。就到 2024 年重新設計產品組合時設定的清潔能源解決方案而言。你們能否提供最新信息，說明你們是否了解最新情況或步入正軌？然後，該細分市場目前面臨需求下降的一些挑戰。

Yes. Thanks. It was -- that category of product for us, well documented. We entered that market, had some struggles. We had a lot of growth. We had a lot of success early on, hit kind of our challenges with the loss of a major customer last Q3 and then some of the product quality challenges with the SnapRS device is really the product that we talked about here. We are going through our -- we're on a next-generation road map for our battery solutions, our storage solutions. I'm very excited about that product. We're going to talk more about that in our upcoming Investor Day. We're going to talk about some of those products. We won't be able to get too granular there because we don't want to tip our hat maybe to some of our competitors in the market, but we have some really exciting things. We've been -- as we said on the call kind of in the prepared remarks, we're investing very heavily to 400 basis point drag on EBITDA margin right now, which is challenging, of course, especially as the residential business is going through a cycle here that becomes even more challenging to stomach.

是的。謝謝。對我們來說，這是一類產品，有據可查。我們進入這個市場時遇到了一些困難。我們有很大的成長。我們早期取得了很大的成功，但在上個第三季度失去了一位主要客戶，我們遇到了一些挑戰，然後 SnapRS 設備的一些產品質量挑戰確實是我們在這裡討論的產品。我們正在製定我們的電池解決方案、存儲解決方案的下一代路線圖。我對該產品感到非常興奮。我們將在即將到來的投資者日更多地討論這一點。我們將討論其中一些產品。我們無法對此進行太細化，因為我們不想向市場上的一些競爭對手致敬，但我們有一些真正令人興奮的事情。正如我們在準備好的講話中在電話會議上所說的那樣，我們正在大力投資，目前 EBITDA 利潤率已被拖累 400 個基點，這當然具有挑戰性，尤其是在住宅業務正在發展的情況下在這裡經歷一個更加難以忍受的循環。

But we're very excited about the future of those products. The market, in general, as you're indicating, and as we've seen from other participants in the market is a tougher market right now than it has been. Again, higher interest rates being probably at the root cause of that and then maybe more recently, the NEM 3.0 decision in California specifically, those two things are weighing on kind of solar and storage -- solar plus storage demand here and are reflected kind of in our updated guidance this morning, we have been targeting a $300 million to $350 million for those -- that portfolio of products for the year. We now are thinking we're going to come in on the low end of that range. Primarily because of the softening dynamics, demand dynamics that are going on that we're seeing in the industry. But we still are very optimistic long term, and that's why we're spending heavily against this opportunity.

但我們對這些產品的未來感到非常興奮。總的來說，正如您所指出的，以及我們從市場其他參與者那裡看到的，現在的市場比以往任何時候都更加艱難。同樣，較高的利率可能是造成這種情況的根本原因，然後可能是最近，特別是加利福尼亞州的NEM 3.0 決定，這兩件事正在對太陽能和存儲產生壓力——這裡的太陽能加存儲需求，並反映了這一點在我們今天上午更新的指導中，我們的目標是為這些產品組合今年提供 3 億至 3.5 億美元的資金。我們現在認為我們將進入該範圍的低端。主要是因為我們在行業中看到的動態和需求動態疲軟。但從長遠來看，我們仍然非常樂觀，這就是為什麼我們要花巨資抓住這個機會。

We think that we know that it's going to take a different level of investment to become proficient and excellent in these products. We now know that after going through our experience. and we are dedicated to doing that. And we're going to see those results. You should see some of those products, as we'll talk in September, really going to start hitting in 2024, and we're pretty excited about the future there without getting too specific.

我們認為我們知道需要不同水平的投資才能精通和卓越地使用這些產品。經過我們的經驗之後，我們現在知道了這一點。我們致力於做到這一點。我們將會看到這些結果。正如我們將在 9 月份討論的那樣，您應該會看到其中一些產品將在 2024 年真正開始流行，我們對未來感到非常興奮，但沒有說得太具體。

And your next question comes from the line of Vikram Bagri from Citigroup.

您的下一個問題來自花旗集團的 Vikram Bagri。

When talking about margin improvement talked about better product mix, cost cuts and lower input costs and the absence of promotions to clear the inventory was not a driver. So it seems like you plan on continuing promotions given persistently high inventories and your target of improving the conversions. Can you, one, just directionally what the impact of these promotions was on gross margins and operating margins, dollar terms or percentage terms? And then two, how long what sort of the magnitude of promotions do you plan on running to achieve both those targets, improving the conversion rates and reduce inventories?

當談到利潤率改善時，談到更好的產品組合、成本削減和更低的投入成本，而缺乏清理庫存的促銷活動並不是驅動因素。因此，考慮到庫存持續居高不下以及提高轉化率的目標，您似乎計劃繼續促銷。您能否直接介紹一下這些促銷活動對毛利率和營業利潤率、美元計算或百分比計算的影響？第二個問題，您計劃進行多長時間的促銷活動來實現這兩個目標，提高轉化率並減少庫存？

This is York. Yes. No, the promotions that we're talking about, again, we run promotion in the ordinary course when we're not in backlog and just again to drive awareness of the category and help get homeowners over the tipping point to make -- to go ahead and make the purchase of a home standby generator. So I wouldn't say it's -- I would say it's a modest impact to margins overall. Again, these are our highest margin products. So you sort of -- as you sell more of these products, you mix you get a significant mix benefit, which sort of overshadow whatever promotion we may be offering. So I think that's the key there. And what promotion we do have layered into the guidance is not a significant part of the story or a significant impact to our margins. I think when you think about the cadence of EBITDA margins over -- from first half to second half, I think just mixing -- getting a higher level of home standby shipments out the door, that will have a significant impact. The additional operating leverage on our fixed SG&A will have a big impact.

這是約克。是的。不，我們正在談論的促銷活動，當我們沒有積壓訂單時，我們會在正常過程中進行促銷活動，只是為了提高對該類別的認識，並幫助房主跨越臨界點——去提前購買一台家用備用發電機。所以我不會說這對整體利潤率的影響不大。同樣，這些是我們利潤率最高的產品。因此，當您銷售更多這些產品時，您會獲得顯著的混合效益，這會掩蓋我們可能提供的任何促銷活動。所以我認為這就是關鍵。我們在指南中所做的促銷並不是故事的重要組成部分，也不是對我們的利潤產生重大影響。我認為，當你考慮 EBITDA 利潤率的節奏時 - 從上半年到下半年，我認為只是混合 - 獲得更高水平的家庭備用出貨量，這將產生重大影響。額外的運營槓桿對我們的固定銷售及管理費用將產生重大影響。

And then we're just going to continue to realize improved input costs as we sort of work through our inventory levels, and we'll start seeing the realization of lower commodities and logistics costs what not. So, that's really what's going to drive the sequential improvement in EBITDA margins for first half, second half. And promotions will only have a slight drag relative to that performance.

然後，當我們調整庫存水平時，我們將繼續實現投入成本的改善，並且我們將開始看到商品和物流成本的降低。因此，這確實將推動上半年和下半年 EBITDA 利潤率的連續改善。相對於業績而言，促銷只會產生輕微的拖累。

And we have no further questions at this time. I will now turn the call back over to Mike Harris.

目前我們沒有進一步的問題。我現在將把電話轉回邁克·哈里斯。

We want to thank everyone for joining us this morning. We look forward to discussing our third quarter 2023 earnings results with you in early November as well as providing an update on our longer-term strategic vision at our upcoming Investor Day on September 27. Thank you again, and goodbye.

我們要感謝大家今天早上加入我們。我們期待在 11 月初與您討論我們的 2023 年第三季度盈利結果，並在即將到來的 9 月 27 日投資者日上提供我們長期戰略願景的最新信息。再次感謝您，再見。

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

今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝您的參與。您現在可以斷開連接。