Itron Inc (ITRI) 2024 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Good day. Thank you for standing by. Welcome to Itron's second quarter 2024 earnings conference call. (Operator Instructions) Please note that today's conference is being recorded.

再會。謝謝你的支持。歡迎參加 Itron 2024 年第二季財報電話會議。（操作員指示）請注意，今天的會議正在錄製中。

I will now hand the conference over to your speaker host, Paul Vincent, Vice President of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

我現在將會議交給演講主持人、投資者關係副總裁保羅文森 (Paul Vincent)。請繼續。

Good morning, and welcome to Itron's second quarter 2024 earnings conference call, Tom Deitrich, Itron's President and Chief Executive Officer; and Joan Hooper, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, will review Itron's second quarter results and provide a general business update and outlook. Earlier today, the company issued a press release announcing its results. This release also includes details related to the conference call and webcast replay information.

早安，歡迎參加 Itron 2024 年第二季財報電話會議，Itron 總裁兼執行長 Tom Deitrich；高級副總裁兼財務長 Joan Hooper 將審查 Itron 第二季業績並提供整體業務更新和展望。今天早些時候，該公司發布了一份新聞稿，公佈了其業績。此版本還包括與電話會議和網路廣播重播資訊相關的詳細資訊。

Accompanying today's call is a presentation that is available through the webcast and on our corporate website under the Investor Relations tab. Following prepared remarks, the call will open for questions using the process, the operator described.

伴隨今天的電話會議的是一個演示文稿，可透過網路廣播和我們公司網站的「投資者關係」標籤觀看。接線員表示，在準備好發言後，電話會議將開始使用流程提問。

Before Tom begins a reminder that our earnings release and financial presentation include non-GAAP financial information that we believe enhances the overall understanding of our current and future performance.

在湯姆開始之前提醒我們，我們的收益發布和財務報告包括非公認會計準則財務信息，我們相信這些信息可以增強對我們當前和未來業績的整體了解。

Reconciliations of differences between GAAP and non-GAAP financial measures are available in our earnings release and on our Investor Relations website. We will be making statements during this call that are forward looking. These statements are based on current expectations and assumptions that are subject to risks and uncertainties.

公認會計原則和非公認會計原則財務指標之間的差異調節可在我們的收益報告和投資者關係網站上找到。我們將在本次電話會議中發表前瞻性聲明。這些陳述基於當前的預期和假設，存在風險和不確定性。

Actual results could differ materially from these expectations because of factors that were presented in today's earnings release and comments made during this conference call as well as those presented in the risk factors section of our Form 10-K and other reports and filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

由於今天的收益發布中提出的因素和本次電話會議期間發表的評論以及我們的10-K 表格和其他報告以及向證券和證券交易委員會提交的文件中的風險因素部分中提出的因素，實際結果可能與這些預期有重大差異。

All company comments, estimates or forward-looking statements are made in a good faith attempt to provide appropriate insight to our current and future operating and financial environment. Materials discussed today, August 1, 2024 may materially change, and we do not undertake any duty to update any of our forward-looking statements.

本公司的所有評論、估計或前瞻性陳述均真誠地做出，旨在為我們當前和未來的營運和財務環境提供適當的見解。今天（2024 年 8 月 1 日）討論的資料可能會發生重大變化，我們不承擔更新任何前瞻性聲明的義務。

Now please turn to page 4 of our presentation as our CEO, Tom Deitrich begins his remarks.

現在請翻到我們簡報的第 4 頁，我們的執行長 Tom Deitrich 開始講話。

Thank you, Paul. Good morning to everyone, and thank you for joining our call. Itron's second quarter results reflect strong execution and operational discipline by the team. Revenue growth of 13% over the second quarter of last year marks the seventh consecutive quarter of growth with record quarterly revenue in our Network Solutions and Outcomes segments. Operating leverage supported by continued improvements in profitability and free cash flow against the backdrop stable market demand.

謝謝你，保羅。大家早安，感謝您加入我們的通話。Itron 第二季的業績反映了團隊強大的執行力和營運紀律。與去年第二季相比，營收成長 13%，標誌著我們的網路解決方案和成果部門的季度收入連續第七個季度實現成長。在市場需求穩定的背景下，獲利能力和自由現金流的持續改善支撐了營運槓桿。

Financial highlights for the second quarter are shown on slide 5 and include revenue of $609 million, adjusted EBITDA of $77 million, non-GAAP earnings per share of $1.21, free cash flow of $45 million.

第二季的財務亮點如幻燈片 5 所示，包括營收 6.09 億美元、調整後 EBITDA 7,700 萬美元、非 GAAP 每股收益 1.21 美元、自由現金流 4,500 萬美元。

Turning to slide 6, our backlog at the end of the second quarter was $4.1 billion. Bookings for the second quarter were $447 million. Although the second quarter book-to-bill is below our full year target of one to one. We currently have more than $1 billion of customer awards that are working through the appropriate processes to support our bookings discipline.

轉向投影片 6，第二季末我們的積壓訂單為 41 億美元。第二季的預訂量為 4.47 億美元。儘管第二季的訂單出貨比低於我們一比一的全年目標。目前，我們擁有超過 10 億美元的客戶獎勵，這些獎勵正在透過適當的流程來支持我們的預訂紀律。

These processes are progressing at a measured pace, resulting in a larger pending bookings than typical. The timing of these bookings will likely be skewed to later in the second half of the year with our expectation for an annual book-to-bill ratio of one to one or better, assuming progress on the regulatory and governmental funding processes.

這些流程正在以有節奏的速度進行，導致待處理的預訂量比平常要多。這些預訂的時間可能會推遲到今年下半年，假設監管和政府融資流程取得進展，我們預計年度預訂與帳單比率將達到一比一或更好。

The pipeline of new opportunities continues to be strong, driven by our infrastructure, environmental and consumer megatrends. Our global customers face challenges and increasing complexity in power generation and distribution, which is driving in all of the above approach when it comes to technology deployment, use cases.

在我們的基礎設施、環境和消費者大趨勢的推動下，新機會的不斷湧現。我們的全球客戶在發電和配電方面面臨挑戰和日益增加的複雜性，這在技術部署和用例方面推動了上述所有方法。

Itron's great Grid Edge Intelligence platform provides a forward-thinking, agile solution that addresses these critical needs. Examples of customer adoption of high value technology are highlighted by notable additions to our backlog during the second quarter.

Itron 出色的網格邊緣智慧平台提供了具有前瞻性的敏捷解決方案，可滿足這些關鍵需求。第二季我們的積壓訂單顯著增加，凸顯了顧客採用高價值技術的例子。

Rochester Public Utilities in Minnesota have committed to upgrade from an existing drive-by system to our latest Grid Edge Intelligence solution that will address numerous key challenges in their territory, including grid management for the increased adoption of renewable energy resources and electric vehicles, enhanced consumer service through real-time data access and personalized energy management tools.

明尼蘇達州羅徹斯特公用事業公司已承諾從現有的路過式系統升級到我們最新的電網邊緣智慧解決方案，該解決方案將解決其領土上的眾多關鍵挑戰，包括增加採用再生能源和電動汽車的電網管理、增強的消費者體驗透過即時數據存取和個人化能源管理工具提供服務。

Optimize great operations and great planning through edge compute for decision making and asset management. Enhanced safety with automated remote disconnects and anomaly alerts, deployment of a scalable communication network to support future needs.

透過邊緣運算進行決策和資產管理，優化出色的營運和出色的規劃。透過自動遠端斷開和異常警報增強安全性，部署可擴展的通訊網路以支援未來需求。

In Ohio, we will be working with FirstEnergy to support their expansion of advanced metering infrastructure and continued moves towards FirstEnergy's Grid Edge strategy for the deployment of more advanced use cases.

在俄亥俄州，我們將與 FirstEnergy 合作，支援他們擴展先進的計量基礎設施，並繼續朝著 FirstEnergy 的網格邊緣策略部署更先進的用例。

Also during the quarter, Spire Energy committed to adding 100,000 Itron gas endpoints to their active deployment of Itron's ultrasonic technology. This adds to the more than 700,000 installed endpoints and continues the ongoing conversion to Itron technology.

同樣在本季度，Spire Energy 承諾在其積極部署的 Itron 超音波技術中添加 100,000 個 Itron 氣體端點。這增加了超過 700,000 個已安裝端點，並繼續持續向 Itron 技術轉換。

Now, Joan will provide details of our second quarter and an update on our full year guidance.

現在，瓊將提供我們第二季的詳細資訊以及我們全年指導的最新資訊。

Thank you, Tom. Please turn to slide 7 for a summary of consolidated GAAP results. Second quarter revenue of $609 million increased 13% year-over-year and reflects solid operational execution and the conversion of the remaining $40 million of previously supply-constrained revenue.

謝謝你，湯姆。請參閱投影片 7，以了解綜合 GAAP 結果摘要。第二季營收為 6.09 億美元，年增 13%，反映出穩健的營運執行以及先前供應受限的剩餘 4,000 萬美元收入的轉換。

Gross margin of 34.6% was 250 basis points higher than last year due to favorable product mix and operational efficiencies. GAAP net income of $51 million or $1.10 per diluted share compares to $24 million or $0.53 per diluted share in the prior year. The improvement was driven by higher levels of operating and interest income, which were partially offset by higher tax expense.

由於有利的產品組合和營運效率，毛利率為 34.6%，比去年高出 250 個基點。GAAP 淨利潤為 5,100 萬美元，即稀釋後每股收益 1.10 美元，而前一年的淨利潤為 2,400 萬美元，即稀釋後每股收益 0.53 美元。這項改善是由較高水準的營業收入和利息收入所推動的，但部分被較高的稅收支出所抵消。

Regarding non-GAAP metrics on slide 8. Non-GAAP operating income of $69 million increased 67% year-over-year. Adjusted EBITDA of $77 million increased 56%. Non-GAAP net income for the quarter was $56 million or $1.21 per diluted share versus $0.65 a year ago. Free cash flow was $45 million in Q2 versus $36 million a year ago. The improvement reflects year-over-year earnings growth.

關於幻燈片 8 上的非 GAAP 指標。非 GAAP 營業收入為 6,900 萬美元，較去年同期成長 67%。調整後 EBITDA 為 7,700 萬美元，成長 56%。該季度非 GAAP 淨利潤為 5,600 萬美元，即稀釋後每股收益 1.21 美元，去年同期為 0.65 美元。第二季自由現金流為 4,500 萬美元，而一年前為 3,600 萬美元。這一改善反映了同比盈利增長。

Year over year revenue growth by business segment is on slide 9. Device Solutions revenue increased 6% on a constant currency basis, driven primarily by growth in EMEA smart water sales. Network solutions revenue grew 14% year-over-year, driven by the catch-up of previously constrained revenue and increased project deployments. Outcomes revenue increased 16% year-over-year, primarily due to higher recurring and services revenue.

依業務部門劃分的年收入成長請參考投影片 9。設備解決方案收入以固定匯率計算成長了 6%，這主要是受到 EMEA 智慧水銷售成長的推動。網路解決方案營收年增 14%，這得益於先前收入有限和專案部署增加的推動。結果收入年增 16%，主要是由於經常性收入和服務收入增加。

Moving to the non-GAAP year-over-year EPS bridge on slide 10. Our Q2 non-GAAP EPS increased $0.56 year-over-year to $1.21 per diluted share. Pretax operating performance contributed $0.7 per share year-over-year improvement, driven by the fall through higher revenue and gross profit, partially offset by higher operating expenses. Higher tax expense had a negative year-over-year impact of $0.11 per share. In foreign currency and share count had a negative impact of $0.03 per share.

轉向幻燈片 10 上的非 GAAP 同比 EPS 橋樑。我們第二季的非 GAAP 每股稀釋每股收益年增 0.56 美元，達到 1.21 美元。稅前經營業績貢獻了每股 0.7 美元的同比改善，這是由於收入和毛利增加而下降，但部分被營運費用增加所抵消。較高的稅收費用對每股 0.11 美元的年比負面影響。以外幣計算，股票數量產生了每股 0.03 美元的負面影響。

Turning to slides 11 through 13, I will review Q2 segment results compared with the prior year, Device Solutions revenue was $119 million. Gross margin was 26.3% and operating margin was 20%. Gross margin was up 450 basis points year-over-year and operating margin was up 760 basis points, reflecting a higher value product mix and operating leverage.

轉向幻燈片 11 到 13，我將回顧第二季度的部門業績與前一年相比，設備解決方案收入為 1.19 億美元。毛利率為 26.3%，營業利益率為 20%。毛利率年增 450 個基點，營業利潤率成長 760 個基點，反映出更高價值的產品組合和營運槓桿。

Network solutions revenue was $413 million with gross margin of 36.9% and operating margin of 28.5%. This quarter was a record revenue level for the Network Segment. Gross margin increased 310 basis points year-over-year, and operating margin was up 400 basis points due to favorable product mix and operational efficiencies.

網路解決方案收入為 4.13 億美元，毛利率為 36.9%，營業利益率為 28.5%。本季網路部門的營收水準創歷史新高。由於有利的產品組合和營運效率，毛利率年增 310 個基點，營業利潤率成長 400 個基點。

Outcomes revenue was $78 million, a quarterly record for the segment with gross margin of 34.8% and operating margin of 13.7%. Gross margin decreased 600 basis points year-over-year and operating margin was down 520 basis points due to a lower margin revenue mix and increased services costs.

結果收入為 7,800 萬美元，創下該部門的季度記錄，毛利率為 34.8%，營業利潤率為 13.7%。由於利潤收入組合下降和服務成本增加，毛利率年減 600 個基點，營業利潤下降 520 個基點。

Turning to slide 14, I'll review liquidity and debt at the end of the second quarter. Total debt was $1.265 billion and net debt was $344 million. This includes our existing $460 million zero coupon convertible notes mature in May 2026, and the recently issued $805 million 1.38% coupon convertible notes maturing in 2030. This recent financing was a well-executed transaction has significantly improved our liquidity and strategic flexibility, particularly as it relates to M&A. As of June 30, net leverage was 1.2 times, and cash and equivalents were $921 million.

轉向投影片 14，我將在第二季末審查流動性和債務。總負債為 12.65 億美元，淨負債為 3.44 億美元。這包括我們現有的將於 2026 年 5 月到期的 4.6 億美元零息可轉換票據，以及最近發行的 8.05 億美元、將於 2030 年到期、年息 1.38% 的可轉換票據。最近的融資是一項執行良好的交易，顯著提高了我們的流動性和策略靈活性，特別是在併購方面。截至6月30日，淨槓桿率為1.2倍，現金及等價物為9.21億美元。

Now please turn to slide 15 for our third quarter outlook. We anticipate third quarter revenue to be between $590 million to $600 million. The midpoint of this range represents growth of $34 million or 6% year-over-year. For non-GAAP EPS, we expect a range of $1.10 to $1.20 per diluted share. At the midpoint this implies an increase of $0.17 versus Q3 of last year.

現在請翻到投影片 15，了解我們的第三季展望。我們預計第三季營收將在 5.9 億至 6 億美元之間。該範圍的中點代表成長 3,400 萬美元，即年增 6%。對於非 GAAP 每股收益，我們預計稀釋後每股收益範圍為 1.10 美元至 1.20 美元。中位數意味著與去年第三季相比增加了 0.17 美元。

Now please turn to slide 16 for an update to our annual 2024 outlook. We now anticipate 2024 full year revenue to be within a range of $2.385 billion to $2.415 billion versus the $2.275 billion to $2.375 billion range we provided in February. At the midpoint this represents an increase of 10% versus 2023 and 3% from our prior 2024 annual guidance.

現在請翻到投影片 16，了解我們 2024 年年度展望的最新情況。我們現在預計 2024 年全年營收將在 23.85 億美元至 24.15 億美元之間，而我們 2 月提供的範圍為 22.75 億美元至 23.75 億美元。中位數顯示，與 2023 年相比增長了 10%，與我們之前的 2024 年年度指導相比增長了 3%。

Continued customer demand and strong operational execution is driving the higher revenue expectations. Earnings will also be positively impacted by the fall-through of higher revenue. Our non-GAAP EPS full year outlook range is $4.45 to $4.65 per diluted share versus the February guidance of $3.40 to $3.80 per share.

持續的客戶需求和強大的營運執行力正在推動更高的收入預期。收入增加的下降也將對獲利產生正面影響。我們的非 GAAP 全年每股攤薄每股收益展望範圍為 4.45 美元至 4.65 美元，而 2 月的指引為每股 3.40 美元至 3.80 美元。

At the midpoint, the updated non-GAAP EPS estimate is up 35% versus 2023 and 26% versus prior guidance. The revised full year guidance assumes a 23% effective tax rate. The actual tax rate could fluctuate based on jurisdictional mix and the timing of tax settlements.

更新後的非 GAAP 每股盈餘預計將較 2023 年成長 35%，較先前指引成長 26%。修訂後的全年指引假定有效稅率為 23%。實際稅率可能會根據司法管轄區組合和稅務結算時間而波動。

The recent financing transaction we completed in May and June will be accretive to our 2024 EPS, given both the net interest income and the share buyback. We estimate the Q3 impact is approximately $0.11 per share and the full year impact is approximately $0.22 per share. This benefit is reflected in the updated guidance.

考慮到淨利息收入和股票回購，我們最近在 5 月和 6 月完成的融資交易將增加我們 2024 年的每股盈餘。我們估計第三季的影響約為每股 0.11 美元，全年影響約為每股 0.22 美元。這項好處反映在更新的指南中。

Our financial performance has accelerated meaningfully over the past year as supply availability recovered in our operations and utilization levels improved. Having realized significant operating leverage over this timeframe for now or in a more normal operating environment versus the catch-up environment of the past six quarters.

隨著我們營運中的供應恢復和利用率水準的提高，我們的財務表現在過去一年中顯著加快。目前，或者在與過去六個季度的追趕環境相比的更正常的營運環境中，已經實現了顯著的營運槓桿。

Lastly, as Tom noted, 2024 bookings are expected to skew more to the latter part of this year, which will likely impact 2025 revenue as the projects will now start later than previously anticipated.

最後，正如 Tom 指出的那樣，2024 年的預訂預計將更偏向今年下半年，這可能會影響 2025 年的收入，因為該項目現在的啟動時間將晚於之前的預期。

Now I'll turn the call back to Tom.

現在我將把電話轉回給湯姆。

Thank you, Joan. The need for grid hardening and modernization is clear to us. Our customers and increasingly the public extreme weather and climate disruptions continue to challenge our customers most recently in Houston Texas.

謝謝你，瓊。我們很清楚電網強化和現代化的必要性。我們的客戶以及越來越多的公共極端天氣和氣候幹擾最近繼續給我們在德州休士頓的客戶帶來挑戰。

Hurricane Beryl left millions without power payroll was an uncommonly early and strong start to the hurricane season. Unfortunately, these types of events are expected to increase in frequency, duration and intensity. Itron's technology provides our customers with visibility into what is happening across their distribution assets in an accurate and timely fashion.

颶風「貝裡爾」導致數百萬人失去電力工資，這是颶風季節異常早期和強勁的開始。不幸的是，預計此類事件的頻率、持續時間和強度將會增加。Itron 的技術使我們的客戶能夠準確且及時地了解其分銷資產中發生的情況。

While providing capabilities ranging from support of day-to-day operations to identifying the magnitude and location of customer outages, while also helping to reduce the impacts should these events occur. Digitization of the grid and software driven approaches to problem-solving and asset management like Itron's Grid Edge Intelligence platform can provide critical support for utilities working to maintain access to energy and water during high impact events.

同時提供從支援日常營運到識別客戶中斷的程度和位置等功能，同時也有助於減少這些事件發生時的影響。電網數位化和軟體驅動的問題解決和資產管理方法（例如 Itron 的電網邊緣智慧平台）可以為公用事業公司在高影響事件期間維持能源和水供應提供關鍵支援。

Visibility and control at the edge of the grid continues to be at the forefront of the most effective solutions to cope with the increasing challenges of our customers. At Itron, our commitment to supporting energy and water resource management extends to all stakeholders, and we recently published our 2023 corporate sustainability report, which details our efforts to be responsible stewards.

電網邊緣的可見性和控制仍然是應對客戶日益嚴峻的挑戰的最有效解決方案的前沿。在 Itron，我們對支持能源和水資源管理的承諾延伸到所有利益相關者，我們最近發布了 2023 年企業永續發展報告，詳細介紹了我們為成為負責任的管理者所做的努力。

The report covers Itron's commitment to creating more resourceful world by helping utilities and cities achieve their sustainability goals, improve their environmental footprint and shares the company's progress on advancing its own sustainability initiatives.

該報告涵蓋了 Itron 透過幫助公用事業和城市實現永續發展目標、改善環境足跡來創造更資源豐富的世界的承諾，並分享了該公司在推進自身永續發展計畫方面取得的進展。

Key areas of progress include our technology enables Itron's customers to avoid at least 6.8 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions while enhancing consumer engagement through the dynamic energy savings programs such as demand response and time of use rates.

關鍵進展領域包括我們的技術使 Itron 的客戶能夠避免至少 680 萬噸溫室氣體排放，同時透過需求響應和使用時間率等動態節能計畫來提高消費者參與度。

During 2023, we achieved our initial greenhouse gas emissions goal of a 50% reduction in owned emissions by 2028 a full five years ahead of our target time line. We enabled our customers to avoid 400 times more emissions than our own during 2023 alone.

2023 年，我們實現了最初的溫室氣體排放目標，即到 2028 年將自有排放量減少 50%，比目標時間表提前了整整五年。光是 2023 年，我們就幫助客戶避免了比我們自己多 400 倍的排放量。

Last but certainly not least, our focus on maintaining a safe working environment for our team resulted in the lowest recordable and time lost rates in Itron's history.

最後但並非最不重要的一點是，我們致力於為團隊維護安全的工作環境，從而實現了 Itron 歷史上最低的可記錄率和時間損失率。

On behalf of Itron's management, I am grateful to our team for the demanding work that produced these results. In closing, our second quarter results were encouraging. We have much more to contribute and unfinished work to achieve our goals. We are excited for the future and eager to engage.

我代表 Itron 的管理層，感謝我們的團隊付出的努力才取得了這些成果。最後，我們第二季的業績令人鼓舞。為了實現我們的目標，我們還有很多貢獻和未完成的工作。我們對未來感到興奮並渴望參與其中。

Thank you again for joining our call today. Operator, please open the line for some questions.

再次感謝您今天加入我們的電話會議。接線員，請撥通電話詢問一些問題。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員說明）

Noah Kaye, Oppenheimer.

諾亞凱，奧本海默。

Thanks for taking the questions. So we'll start with outcomes. And I believe this is the first time the segment actually led growth percentage wise amongst all the segments since the first quarter of 2022. So good to see the inflection there. Two parts to this one -- is there, I think a pathway or setup for outcomes to sustainably lead top-line growth over the coming quarters, as was sort of the vision from Investor Day.

感謝您提出問題。所以我們將從結果開始。我相信，自 2022 年第一季以來，這是該細分市場首次在所有細分市場中真正實現成長百分比領先。很高興看到那裡的變化。這個問題有兩個部分——我認為是否有一種途徑或設置可以在未來幾季持續引領營收成長，就像投資者日的願景一樣。

And then on the margins in the segment, I know we talked about this a bit last quarter on your earnings call, but still seeing a lower margin impact, both on gross margin operating income. When does that inflect more positively, and when do you start to see margins trending back towards the targets that you outlined.

然後在該領域的利潤率方面，我知道我們在上個季度的財報電話會議上討論過這一點，但仍然看到利潤率影響較低，無論是對毛利率營業收入的影響。什麼時候這種情況會變得更加積極，什麼時候你開始看到利潤率回到你概述的目標。

Very good. Thank you, Noah. Tom here. I can take that one. So we were very pleased with the revenue growth in outcomes. It's a new record for us on the outcomes revenue line. And really what you're starting to see showing through there is the outcomes portion of various projects accruing to the revenue line.

非常好。謝謝你，諾亞。湯姆在這裡。我可以接受那個。因此，我們對收入的成長結果感到非常滿意。這對我們來說是成果收入的新紀錄。實際上，您開始看到的內容是各種專案的成果部分計入收入線。

We knew networks was growing for the last couple of quarters, given the catch-up on components and the strength of the portfolio there. And now it starts to roll into the outcomes segment. That's what is underlying the growth and what is still ahead of us. What you saw in the margin line, though, was much more tilted towards the services side of things rather than the SaaS or software portion of the outcomes portfolio.

鑑於組件的追趕和產品組合的實力，我們知道過去幾個季度網路正在成長。現在它開始進入結果部分。這就是成長的根本原因，也是我們面臨的挑戰。不過，您在利潤線中看到的內容更傾向於服務方面，而不是成果組合的 SaaS 或軟體部分。

And in particular, it was more onetime services with integration of all of the back-office systems are really starting to show through, and that's what led to a little bit lower gross margin during the quarter. That said, there's nothing structural here that leads us to move off of the 2027 targets that we laid out in Investor Day. So that low 40s kind of gross margin is still the right zip code for the outcomes segment overall.

特別是，與所有後台系統整合的一次性服務真正開始顯現出來，這就是導致本季毛利率略有下降的原因。也就是說，沒有任何結構性因素導致我們放棄在投資者日所訂定的 2027 年目標。因此，40 多歲的低毛利率仍然是整體結果細分市場的正確郵遞區號。

So this isn't structural. It really is much more about the mix of the types of things that we had. What does it take to sustainably get into that margin and growth pattern? It really is a bit more scale to the business itself. It's what we've been working towards, and it's finally starting to happen. I would expect it to continue to be lumpy a little bit longer for several more quarters. That said, the general trajectory is moving in the right direction and we're pleased with the progress.

所以這不是結構性的。這實際上更多的是關於我們擁有的各種事物類型的混合。怎樣才能可持續進入這種利潤和成長模式？對於企業本身來說，這確實是一個更大的規模。這就是我們一直在努力的目標，它終於開始發生。我預計它在接下來的幾個季度中將繼續保持不穩定狀態。也就是說，整體軌跡正在朝著正確的方向發展，我們對進展感到滿意。

Okay. Thanks for that color. Tom. And since during the prepared remarks, there was a discussion of Hurricane Beryl. I wanted to follow up on that.

好的。謝謝那個顏色。湯姆.在準備好的發言中，討論了颶風貝裡爾。我想跟進此事。

I think for, and by the way -- we're aware that you have some great customers down there, and ERCOT has always had some challenges, but I think it's pretty public that the response to the storm was broadly criticized. And I think people were without power for several weeks. So when you look at that event, what does it tell you about Itron's capabilities, Itron's evolution of those capabilities and ability to help with improved response to natural disasters.

我認為，順便說一句，我們知道那裡有一些很棒的客戶，ERCOT 一直面臨著一些挑戰，但我認為對風暴的反應受到了廣泛的批評，這是相當公開的。我認為人們已經停電好幾個星期了。因此，當您查看該事件時，它會告訴您有關 Itron 功能的哪些資訊、這些功能的演變以及幫助改善對自然災害響應的能力。

Where do you need to grow your capabilities and where do your customers potentially benefit from using more of the services that you offer? In other words, to what extent is this an opportunity and to what extent is this a challenge for the company?

您需要在哪些方面增強您的能力？換句話說，這對公司來說在多大程度上是一個機會，在多大程度上是一個挑戰？

Again, I definitely put it in the category of opportunity for us. We continue to invest in the Grid Edge Intelligence platform, and you can put that capability to use on grid resiliency as well as outage management, you can figure out where you have an outage and get to the scene of the crime and be able to turn it faster when an outage should occur.

再說一次，我絕對把它歸類為我們的機會類別。我們繼續投資網格邊緣智慧平台，您可以將該功能用於電網彈性以及停電管理，您可以找出停電的位置並到達犯罪現場並能夠扭轉局面當發生斷電時速度更快。

You can put that capability to use for things like vegetation management in a proactive sense. Here's where we've got some trees revving up against stuff, have some critical infrastructure. And now you could roll the truck to take care of that vegetation more fully.

您可以主動將該功能用於植被管理等方面。在這裡，我們有一些樹木在對抗東西，有一些關鍵的基礎設施。現在您可以滾動卡車來更充分地照顧植被。

So we definitely like the direction of our portfolio, and we think that investment in resilience and reliability of utility infrastructure. It is absolutely essential in the new world that we're moving into that those floods and fires and storms are sadly happening more often than not, but it is definitely in the category of opportunity for us overall and something we're eager to engage with our customers to go get deployed.

因此，我們絕對喜歡我們的投資組合的方向，我們認為投資於公用事業基礎設施的彈性和可靠性。在我們正在進入的新世界中，洪水、火災和風暴經常發生，這絕對是必要的，但這對我們整體而言絕對是機遇，也是我們渴望參與的事情我們的客戶要去部署。

That relates back to the question a moment ago, with it, that type of revenue accrues in the outcomes segment and part of the things that we're working with our customers to get deployed now.

這又回到了剛才的問題，這種類型的收入是在結果部分以及我們正在與客戶合作現在部署的部分內容中產生的。

Right. I guess that's what I'm getting at here is that more customers should be utilizing the outage management services, the distributed intelligence capabilities that are embedded in the portfolio. Have you seen that kind of uptick in interest broadly across the customer base over the last call it coming quarters and potentially response to what happened with Beryl?

正確的。我想這就是我在這裡想說的是，更多的客戶應該利用停電管理服務，也就是產品組合中嵌入的分散式智慧功能。在過去的幾個季度中，您是否看到整個客戶群的興趣普遍上升，並可能對 Beryl 發生的事情做出反應？

Absolutely. So we've seen a much broader interest in things like wildfire management, vegetation management for sure, in areas where that type of situation is very prevalent, meaning the West Coast in the US clearly is an opportunity there. So again, the level of conversations with customers clearly has increased. Their interest is high. There's also government funding activities that are in this area as well to invest in resilience and reliability. And again, what gives us a lot of optimism about that portion of our portfolio for the years ahead.

絕對地。因此，我們看到人們對野火管理、植被管理等事情更加廣泛的興趣，在這種情況非常普遍的地區，這意味著美國西海岸顯然是一個機會。因此，與客戶的對話水準明顯提高了。他們的興趣很高。該領域還有政府資助活動，以投資於彈性和可靠性。再說一次，是什麼讓我們對未來幾年投資組合的這一部分感到非常樂觀。

Thank you, Tom. I'll turn it over.

謝謝你，湯姆。我會把它翻過來。

Jeff Osborne, TD Cowen.

傑夫·奧斯本，TD·考恩。

Yeah, thank you. I just wanted to maybe follow up on the prior question around the Houston utility. Tom, aren't the bulk of those meters that have been installed back in like 2007 to '10 not even IP compliant? Would they even work with the existing software set or would the meters itself need to be upgraded or have some kind of migration path?

是的，謝謝。我只是想跟進之前有關休士頓公用事業公司的問題。Tom， 2007 年至 10 年間安裝的大部分儀表甚至不符合 IP 要求嗎？他們是否可以使用現有的軟體集，或者儀表本身是否需要升級或有某種遷移路徑？

Yes, there's a migration path is probably the right terminology to use there. So clearly, if you want to deploy something like distributed intelligence, it would be a new set of hardware that you could deploy that on a selective basis or an ongoing basis. It wouldn't necessarily need to be a full rip and replace kind of setup with a lot of our customers across the territories.

是的，有一個遷移路徑可能是在那裡使用的正確術語。很明顯，如果您想部署分散式智慧之類的東西，那麼這將是一組新的硬件，您可以有選擇地或持續地部署它。對於我們跨地區的許多客戶來說，它不一定需要完全拆除和替換。

Got it. And then maybe just to come up in conversations with a broader customers, I think prior a year or two ago. And in the past, the narrative from you folks was much more around EV and renewable integration. But I'm just curious with the utilities reporting. So far path to earnings call cycles, it's been much more around load growth.

知道了。然後也許只是為了與更廣泛的客戶進行對話，我想是在一兩年前。在過去，你們的敘述更多地圍繞著電動車和再生能源整合。但我只是對公用事業報告感到好奇。到目前為止，財報電話會議週期的重點主要是負載成長。

And so I'm just curious what in particular DI can do to help manage load growth and squeeze sort of inefficiencies and non-wireless alternatives out of the grid in areas that maybe aren't as impacted by renewables and EVs, which seem to be the prior positioning of Itron's at least to investors previously?

因此，我很好奇 DI 可以做些什麼來幫助管理負載增長，並在可能不受可再生能源和電動車影響的地區將低效率和非無線替代方案從電網中擠出，這似乎是至少之前對投資人來說，Itron 的定位是怎麼樣的？

Yeah, certainly the utilities are struggling with a number of different factors. We touch to them already with first in your prior question, resilience and reliability with storms and then changes in overall load growth, more onshoring of manufacturing, more data centers, but also changing load patterns where you have more EVs or PVs or batteries that are behind the meter itself.

是的，當然，公用事業公司正在努力應對許多不同的因素。我們已經在您之前的問題中首先提到了風暴的彈性和可靠性，然後是整體負載增長的變化，更多的製造業外包，更多的數據中心，而且還改變了負載模式，其中您有更多的電動車或光伏或電池在儀表本身後面。

So all of those types of things are happening, but it all goes to exactly the investments we've made in that Grid Edge Intelligence platform. It allows you to use it almost like a Swiss Army knife. What blade do you need to pull out to be able to solve the problem that we have today and it comes down to the capabilities of that platform.

所有這些類型的事情都在發生，但這一切都歸功於我們在網格邊緣智慧平台上所做的投資。它讓您幾乎可以像使用瑞士軍刀一樣使用它。您需要拿出什麼刀片才能解決我們今天遇到的問題，這取決於該平台的功能。

Number one is connectivity. You know, you can connect to assets that are out at the edge of the grid. Two, which you've got visibility into what they are. Three, is you can start to develop control of those assets. And four, you start to optimize them to have them work together. So you can apply that in a non-wireless alternative. So you can coordinate assets, hey, let's use the power from this battery.

第一是連通性。您知道，您可以連接到網格邊緣的資產。第二，你可以清楚地了解它們是什麼。第三，你可以開始發展對這些資產的控制。第四，你開始優化它們以使它們協同工作。因此，您可以將其應用到非無線替代方案中。所以你可以協調資產，嘿，讓我們使用這顆電池的電力。

What's let's start to develop the virtual power plant capability using the customer controlled assets. Let's think about ways that we can use it for resiliency and reliability. So all capabilities that I'm talking about here you can use in a different way and it absolutely helps the utilities deal with the range of complex problems that they're up against is why we think we absolutely have a better mousetrap than others in the industry.

讓我們開始使用客戶控制的資產來開發虛擬發電廠功能。讓我們考慮一下如何使用它來實現彈性和可靠性。因此，我在這裡討論的所有功能都可以以不同的方式使用，它絕對有助於公用事業公司處理他們所面臨的一系列複雜問題，這就是為什麼我們認為我們絕對比其他公司擁有更好的捕鼠器。

Perfect. If I could squeeze one last one. Joan had mentioned that the bookings would be weighted towards the back end of the year. I just wanted a two-part question on that. What are some of the regulatory hurdles or scrutiny the awards that you already have technically are going through? And is there any risk to that in your eyes? And then part two of the question is if you could just remind us on what the typical lag is from regulatory approval to the start of installation. Is that a 6, 9, 12-month process that you see to -- or Joan seem to be implying that maybe a softer first half of the '25 just follow up on the point that she was trying to make?

完美的。如果我能擠掉最後一粒就好了。瓊曾提到，預訂量將在今年底進行加權。我只想問一個由兩個部分組成的問題。您在技術上已經獲得的獎項正在經歷哪些監管障礙或審查？在你看來這有什麼風險嗎？問題的第二部分是您能否提醒我們從監管批准到開始安裝的典型滯後是什麼。您認為這是一個為期 6、9、12 個月的過程嗎？

Right. So our bookings discipline is the award design contract and regulatory approval. And the reason we do that, although it is probably somewhat conservative is it makes the bookings really, really sticky. Once it's booked. It really doesn't go away. It perhaps could shift in time and it, but it's very, very sticky. The 1 billion of pending bookings that I talked about, that number is a lot larger than is normal overall.

正確的。因此，我們的預訂規則是授予設計合約和監管批准。我們這樣做的原因，儘管可能有點保守，是因為它使預訂變得非常非常黏。一旦預定了。它真的不會消失。也許它會隨著時間的推移而改變，但它非常非常黏。我談到的 10 億待處理預訂，這個數字比正常的總體數字要大得多。

And I think there's two reasons that are underneath that. The first one is regulatory approvals tend to be a bit more complex these days, given the challenges that utilities face, as well as commissions. Generation, transmission, distribution are all in need of upgrade and expansion. Interest rates are a little higher. Inflation is higher. Consumers are struggling paying bills.

我認為背後有兩個原因。第一個是考慮到公用事業公司面臨的挑戰以及佣金，如今監管審批往往變得更加複雜。發電、輸電、配電都需要升級和擴建。利率稍微高一點。通貨膨脹率較高。消費者正在為支付賬單而苦苦掙扎。

So As a regulatory commission, how do you think through all of that? As a utility, how do you prioritize all of that? So it makes the rating case a bit more complicated at times. That's part of the answer. The bigger part in the case of some of those larger pending bookings for us has to do with the government funding side of things. Example being IIJA funding.

那麼作為監管委員會，您如何看待這一切？作為一家公用事業公司，您如何確定所有這些的優先順序？因此，有時這會使評級情況變得更加複雜。這是答案的一部分。對我們來說，一些較大的待定預訂的很大一部分與政府資助方面有關。例如 IIJA 資金。

That's an extra step in the process where a portion of the total cost is covered by the federal government, and then the rest of it goes into the rate case. So you've got to get one before you can do the other, so you can do the math across the Board. And that extra step is taking a bit more time in the rate cases, which means that pending bookings category is a little bit larger than usual.

這是這個過程中的一個額外步驟，總成本的一部分由聯邦政府承擔，然後其餘部分進入費率案例。所以你必須先得到一個，然後才能做另一個，這樣你就可以全面地進行數學計算。而這一額外步驟在費率情況下需要花費更多時間，這意味著待處理的預訂類別比平常要大一些。

I do think that given the pace that things are moving, just now we should see those bookings more towards the second half of the year, as Joan mentioned. And then typical lag time from a booking until the project really starts to begin tends to be, I would say, usually in the 6, 9, sometimes 12-month kind of range. but nine being sort of the center portion of that, and then the project ramps from that point. So it does give you that profile or at least thoughts about what '25 ought to look like. We're not trying to guide '25 today. We just want to be transparent about timing and what that may look like.

我確實認為，鑑於事情進展的速度，正如瓊所提到的那樣，我們現在應該會在下半年看到更多的預訂。我想說，從預訂到專案真正開始的典型延遲時間往往是 6 個月、9 個月，有時是 12 個月。但九號是其中的中心部分，然後專案從該點開始逐步推進。所以它確實給了你這樣的形象，或至少讓你思考25歲應該是什麼樣子。今天我們並不是要指導 '25。我們只是想對時間安排和具體情況保持透明。

Perfect. Thank you.

完美的。謝謝。

Ben Kallo, Baird.

本卡洛，貝爾德。

Hey, thanks for taking my question. Good morning, guys. Maybe just going back to outcomes in the record quarter. And, Tom, you mentioned that there were some services there. Maybe if you could just help us talk through what's in your backlog in terms of outcomes and then how we'll see that kind of margin shift to the higher margin piece of the outcomes business, whether that takes, we'll see it next quarter or if it takes into '25, and then I'll have a follow-up question.

嘿，謝謝你回答我的問題。早安，夥計們。也許只是回到創紀錄季度的結果。湯姆，你提到那裡有一些服務。也許您可以幫助我們討論一下您的積壓工作中的成果，然後我們將如何看待這種利潤轉移到成果業務的更高利潤部分，無論是否需要，我們都會在下個季度看到它或者如果需要到25年，然後我會有一個後續問題。

Sure. The backlog, we don't break it out by business unit or by segment overall, but know that 90%-plus is networks and outcomes. The typical profile would be get the network installed and then start to exercise it to do your first use case. Maybe it's just doing a simple [AMI] use case and then start to layer on additional capabilities on top of that.

當然。對於積壓工作，我們不會按業務部門或總體細分來細分，但知道 90% 以上是網絡和成果。典型的設定檔是安裝網絡，然後開始使用它來完成您的第一個用例。也許它只是做一個簡單的 [AMI] 用例，然後開始在此基礎上添加其他功能。

When you start to layer on those additional capabilities, what tends to happen is you've got to get all of the back office systems wired together to be able to use the data. And that tends to be more services revenue to make that work. And then you start deploying the actual capability, which is more on the SaaS software side of the portfolio. So you get that general profile. Mileage varies a little bit project to project, but that profile is important, is generally what happens.

當您開始分層使用這些附加功能時，往往會發生的情況是您必須將所有後台系統連接在一起才能使用資料。為了實現這一目標，往往需要更多的服務收入。然後您開始部署實際功能，這更多是在產品組合的 SaaS 軟體方面。這樣你就得到了一般概況。每個項目的里程數略有不同，但這種情況很重要，通常會發生這種情況。

And that is what you saw in the outcomes revenue and margin for the second quarter. I do think, given the size of that business, it's still a little bit under the scale that we're targeting and will bounce around a little bit quarter to quarter, but feel very good about the margins moving towards that 43%, 45% over the years ahead, exactly as we laid out in the recent Investor Day.

這就是您在第二季的收入和利潤率結果中看到的情況。我確實認為，考慮到該業務的規模，它仍然有點低於我們的目標規模，並且每個季度都會有所反彈，但對利潤率朝著 43%、45% 的方向發展感到非常滿意未來幾年，正如我們在最近的投資者日所闡述的那樣。

And then just talking about the complexity of the utilities that you serve on the load growth, has that changed any of your emphasis on M&A or as you kind of reduce the ability for you guys to do M&A because of valuations out there? Could you just maybe give us an update on the environment on the M&A front? Thank you.

然後只是談論您在負載增長方面所服務的公用事業的複雜性，這是否改變了您對併購的重視，或者因為估值而降低了您進行併購的能力？能為我們介紹一下併購方面環境的最新情況嗎？謝謝。

Yes. So no, change in our aspirations to expand our portfolio organically or inorganically. We wanted to build a flexible platform that allows our customers to put it to use to solve the problems. We know they are up against. So no change there. Clearly, we want to grow that outcomes portion of the portfolio faster. And then what we can do organically, which leads to well to the inorganic options on the M&A front, which are generally in the outcome space.

是的。所以不，我們的願望會改變，有機或無機地擴大我們的投資組合。我們希望建立一個靈活的平台，讓我們的客戶能夠利用它來解決問題。我們知道他們正在對抗。所以那裡沒有變化。顯然，我們希望更快地擴大投資組合的成果部分。然後我們可以有機地做些什麼，這很好地引出了併購方面的無機選擇，這些選擇通常在結果空間中。

I tend to think that valuations, if anything, probably have come down a bit from where they were. But valuations in the software area clearly are higher than for hardware, just in a generalized sense. So no change in our aspiration. What we're looking for is something tilted towards outcomes, something that's truly scalable and really allows us to expand the reach and breadth of that portfolio.

我傾向於認為估值（如果有的話）可能比原來有所下降。但從一般意義上來說，軟體領域的估值顯然高於硬體領域。所以我們的願望沒有改變。我們正在尋找的是偏向結果的東西，真正可擴展的東西，並且真正允許我們擴大該投資組合的範圍和廣度。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Joseph Osha, Guggenheim Securities.

約瑟夫‧奧沙，古根漢證券公司。

Thank you, and good morning. I just have one question, folks. Looking at the midpoint of where you've ended up this year with your guide, looking at some of the comments that you've made about these bookings showing up for next year on the midpoint of your '27 guide at this point by my math, you're only looking at a 4% CAGR, which seems conservative to me.

謝謝你，早安。我只有一個問題，各位。看看你今年指南的中點，看看你對這些預訂所做的一些評論，這些預訂顯示在你的 27 年指南的中點，根據我的數學計算，你只看到了4% 的複合年增長率，這對我來說似乎很保守。

So I'm wondering, I suspect the answer is no, but I'm wondering if you might be willing to make a comment about implications that the numbers we're hearing today have for that 2027, not a range that you put out at the analyst meeting? Thank you.

所以我想知道，我懷疑答案是否定的，但我想知道您是否願意對我們今天聽到的數字對 2027 年的影響發表評論，而不是您提出的範圍分析師會議？謝謝。

Yeah, I would say no change to the '27 numbers in the ranges that we put out there a couple of months ago. We never expected it to be a straight line from '23, '24, all the way to '27. So we stand behind the targets that we provided for 2027. The commentary that we made, as Tom just described on bookings, is just to be transparent with if they end up at the end of '24, the rollout of revenue is different than they would have been if they were in the beginning of '24.

是的，我想說的是，我們幾個月前發布的範圍內的 27 個數字沒有變化。我們沒想到它會是一條從 23 年、24 年一直到 27 年的直線。因此，我們支持為 2027 年所訂定的目標。正如湯姆剛剛在預訂中所描述的那樣，我們所做的評論只是為了保持透明，如果他們最終在 24 年底結束，那麼收入的推出將不同於他們在 24 年初的情況。

So, if you look at the current '25 consensus numbers out there, you got to really make sure you normalize for the [$125 million] of catch-up that we had in '24. And just doing that, the current consensus for '25 is already 9% growth. So you're right that if you kind of take the midpoint of the updated '24 guidance to '27, it's more like 4% CAGR. But again, you got to be careful because of that catch-up effect in '24.

因此，如果您查看當前 '25 年的共識數字，您必須真正確保您能夠正常化，以實現我們在 '24 年的追趕 [1.25 億美元]。僅此而已，目前 25 年的共識已經是 9% 的成長。所以你是對的，如果你把更新後的 24 年指導方針的中點取到 27 年，它更像是 4% 的複合年增長率。但同樣，你必須小心，因為 24 年的追趕效應。

Well, okay, but I'm going to drill down on that a bit because, you know, even if you run through that math looking at '26 and '27, then, you know, the midpoint of your guide implies that you fall off, assuming your comments about '25 are correct, to low single-digit growth, which doesn't seem to make sense to me. I mean, doesn't this business organically grow at 4% or 5% even off of that '25 comp?

好吧，但我要深入研究一下，因為，你知道，即使你通過查看“26”和“27”進行數學計算，那麼，你知道，指南的中點意味著你會跌倒假設你對'25的評論是正確的，那麼低個位數的增長，這對我來說似乎沒有意義。我的意思是，即使與 25 年的比較相比，這項業務的有機成長不是 4% 或 5% 嗎？

Well, again, if you look at the market numbers based on kind of ', I think at the time of Investor Day, we were looking off '23 at 5% to 7% kind of growth for the overall company. So, again, if you anchor it off '24, it's probably a bit lower than that. But certainly that's organic. That's no M&A as we described the '27 targets, we also did not put any stimulus in. So hopefully it's higher than that. The numbers that we described back in March still stand.

好吧，再說一次，如果你看一下基於“的市場數據，我認為在投資者日，我們預計 23 年整個公司將實現 5% 到 7% 的增長。”所以，如果你把它固定在 24 年，它可能會比這個低一點。但那肯定是有機的。正如我們所描述的 27 年目標那樣，這不是併購，我們也沒有實施任何刺激措施。所以希望它比這個更高。我們三月描述的數字仍然有效。

Okay, thank you.

好的，謝謝。

Marty Malloy, Johnson Rice & Company LLC.

馬蒂·馬洛伊，Johnson Rice & Company LLC。

So thank you. Sorry about that. Just one question for me this morning. I was wondering if you could maybe give us an update on the partnerships you've announced with the GE Vernova and Schneider and how those are going?

所以謝謝你。對此感到抱歉。今天早上我只有一個問題。我想知道您能否向我們介紹一下您與 GE Vernova 和 Schneider 宣布的合作夥伴關係的最新情況以及進展如何？

Happy to. So those set of partnerships are alive and well and something that we're excited about that underlying thesis behind it is absolutely playing out as we would hope our customers really struggle with that, keeping up in many cases with the speed of technology.

很高興。因此，這些合作夥伴關係仍然存在，而且運作良好，我們對其背後的基本理論感到興奮，因為我們希望我們的客戶真正為此努力，在許多情況下跟上技術的速度。

So new ideas come at them faster than infrastructure changes how can we help them cope with that by doing a lot more, I'll call it pre integration and making sure that our things work better together out of the box and it saves the customer time later on.

因此，新的想法比基礎設施的變化更快地出現在他們面前，我們如何透過做更多的事情來幫助他們應對這一問題，我將其稱為預集成，並確保我們的東西開箱即用更好地協同工作，從而節省客戶時間稍後。

So a number of very fruitful discussions going on with those partners today, in some cases targeting or in concert with very specific customer set and pilot projects and technology demonstrations, which again, we hope will lead to revenue acceleration in the years ahead. So I would say alive and well and that bench of technology partners that we want to use that playbook with is growing up by the quarter.

因此，今天與這些合作夥伴進行了許多富有成效的討論，在某些情況下，針對非常具體的客戶群、試點專案和技術演示或與之配合，我們再次希望這將導致未來幾年的收入加速。因此，我想說的是，我們想要使用該劇本的技術合作夥伴的數量正在逐季度增長。

Great. Thank you. I'll turn it back.

偉大的。謝謝。我會把它轉回來。

Pavel Molchanov, Raymond James.

帕維爾·莫爾恰諾夫，雷蒙德·詹姆斯。

Yes, thanks for taking the question. Can you drill down on kind of sneak preview on of '25 that you gave in the prepared remarks saying that our revenue might shift kind of beyond '25 based on certain utility contracting activity. Can you just explain what you mean by that?

是的，感謝您提出問題。您能否深入了解您在準備好的評論中提到的 25 年的情況，您說，根據某些公用事業合約活動，我們的收入可能會在 25 年之後發生變化。你能解釋一下你的意思嗎？

Sure. So on again, I'd say first of all, it's too early for us to be giving '25 guidance. But given that the profile of the '24 bookings is more skewed to the latter part of the year, we thought it was prudent. Just to remind you that there is a natural time line between something being booked and when it converts into revenue and Tom just described that kind of 6 to 12 month timeframe.

當然。再說一次，我首先要說的是，我們現在給出 25 年指導還為時過早。但考慮到 24 年的預訂情況更傾向於今年下半年，我們認為這是謹慎的做法。只是提醒您，預訂商品和轉化為收入之間存在一個自然的時間範圍，Tom 剛剛描述了這種 6 到 12 個月的時間範圍。

The only other comment again that I just made it in response to an earlier question is be careful when you look at growth '24 to '25, don't forget to normalize for $125 million of catch-up revenue that existed in '24 and so that's kind of the commentary that we had on '25.

我剛剛在回答之前的問題時再次發表的唯一評論是，當您查看 24 年至 25 年的增長時要小心，不要忘記將 24 年和 20 年存在的 1.25 億美元的追趕收入標準化。 25 年的評論。

Okay. Yes, that's useful. And then also kind of looking ahead to '25 from a margin perspective, what's the latest on the post COVID pricing kind of flow through. I remember you obviously have had some kind of legacy contracts that are rolling off. How close are we to that roll off finally?

好的。是的，這很有用。然後，從利潤角度展望 25 年，新冠疫情後定價的最新動態是什麼。我記得你顯然有某種即將到期的遺留合約。我們離最終的實現還有多遠？

Sure, I would say that to start with the pricing side of your question, the pricing model of moving to much more indexed pricing and being able to cope with the changes in the marketplace is working out well and well deployed on up and the new projects that are going into bookings and roll it out.

當然，我想說，首先從你問題的定價方面開始，轉向更多指數定價並能夠應對市場變化的定價模型正在運作良好，並且在新項目上得到了很好的部署正在進入預訂並推出。

I would say price cost overall, it's generally on the positive side of the ledger thus far in '24 and would certainly expect it to stay there based on what we see today. On the backlog itself, we're probably still in the same zip code of 70-30, meaning 30%, that's still left to roll through in some of that pre-priced backlog itself.

我想說的是整體價格成本，24 年到目前為止，它總體上處於積極的一面，並且根據我們今天所看到的情況，肯定會期望它保持在那裡。就積壓訂單本身而言，我們可能仍處於 70-30 的相同郵遞區號，即 30%，這仍然需要在一些預先定價的積壓訂單本身中進行滾動。

Again, you got a numerator and denominator change in that with new bookings coming in and revenue going out overall. But 70-30 still not a bad place to be when we get to 2025, we will have the benefit of those factories that are closing in the second half of this year. So that's helpful. Overall and pricing is helpful for us. So we like the direction the business is moving and the team is executing well.

同樣，隨著新預訂的增加和整體收入的減少，分子和分母也發生了變化。但到 2025 年，70-30 仍然是一個不錯的數字，我們將從今年下半年關閉的工廠中受益。所以這很有幫助。整體而言，定價對我們很有幫助。因此，我們喜歡業務的發展方向以及團隊的良好執行力。

All right. Thanks very much.

好的。非常感謝。

Kashy Harrison, Piper Sandler.

卡希·哈里森，派珀·桑德勒。

Good morning and thank you for taking my questions. So apologies if I missed this earlier, but I was wondering if you could just speak to the drivers of the increased revenue expectations this year. How much of that is just a pull forward or faster conversion of backlog versus increased demand.

早上好，感謝您回答我的問題。如果我之前錯過了這一點，我很抱歉，但我想知道您是否可以談談今年收入預期增加的驅動因素。其中有多少只是積壓訂單與需求增加之間的提前或更快的轉換。

Yes, I can start and then Tom may want to add in. So if I look at the devices segment, which has really outperformed our initial expectations, I would say it's some unexpected growth in particularly in Europe, in water sales. So there's a lot of upgrades to a new technology going on in Europe for our water customers. And that's a pretty big growth for us this year that we would not have planned down. So that's the first one.

是的，我可以開始，然後湯姆可能想加入。因此，如果我看看設備領域，它的表現確實超出了我們最初的預期，我會說這是一些意想不到的成長，特別是在歐洲，在水銷售方面。因此，歐洲正在為我們的水客戶進行大量新技術升級。今年對我們來說這是一個相當大的成長，我們不會計劃下來。這是第一個。

The second one is just some of the network deployments gone a little bit faster than we would have expected now that we've caught up. Outcomes is probably about where we expected.

第二個是一些網路部署的速度比我們預期的要快一點，因為我們已經趕上了。結果可能與我們預期的差不多。

I think that's a good and accurate summary overall.

我認為總體而言這是一個很好且準確的總結。

Got it. I appreciate the added color. And then yes, just and then my second one, I know this is a little bit fresh, given that it just happened a couple of days ago, but PJM recent had recently had a record auction for power just given the plant retirements and certain demand. And I was wondering if events like this factor into your discussions with customers and theoretically, how you think about the implications to demand within that area for your products, just if we continue to see events like this?

知道了。我很欣賞添加的顏色。然後是的，就在我的第二個，我知道這有點新鮮，因為它剛剛發生在幾天前，但考慮到工廠退役和一定的需求，PJM 最近進行了創紀錄的電力拍賣。我想知道這樣的事件是否會影響您與客戶的討論，從理論上講，如果我們繼續看到這樣的事件，您如何看待該領域內的需求對您的產品的影響？

Yes, I think it's absolutely on the mind of all of our customers no matter which part of the US that they are in. If I isolate my comments to be US centric for the moment. So not only PGM, JM territories, but more broadly. Load growth is very different over the next, I'll call it 10 or 20 years than it has been on the previous 10 or 20 years where it was flat and now it's growing.

是的，我認為我們所有的客戶都絕對關心這一點，無論他們身在美國的哪個地區。如果我暫時將我的評論以美國為中心的話。因此，不僅是 PGM、JM 領域，而是更廣泛的領域。接下來的負載成長將非常不同，我將其稱為 10 或 20 年，與之前 10 或 20 年相比，負載成長持平，而現在正在成長。

Everyone can speculate about that rate of growth, but the fact that it was essentially zero and now it's growing, it changes things. You could see it showing up in terms of private power purchases where you've got big megatech companies. Megacap tech companies just buying bulk power and taking it off of the grid, shall we say, and how would that cope with things?

每個人都可以推測這個成長率，但事實是它基本上是零，而現在它正在成長，它改變了一切。你可以看到它出現在大型高科技公司的私人電力採購方面。大型科技公司只是購買大量電力並將其從電網中取出，我們可以說，這將如何應對？

But it puts tremendous pressure on the overall system, and it really means that you've got to wring out a lot more efficiency out of your existing setup as well as hustle to improve generation and transmission. We clearly play on the distribution side and distribution upgrades to improve efficiency, but also when that bulk generation comes online, get it to where it needs to be.

但這給整個系統帶來了巨大的壓力，這確實意味著您必須從現有的設定中榨取更多的效率，並努力改善發電和傳輸。我們顯然在分銷方面和分銷升級方面發揮作用，以提高效率，而且當大量發電上線時，將其送到需要的地方。

This is an area we've invested in for a number of years, and we're excited to have that investment pay off in the years ahead. So I would say that not unique to any portion of the country. Everybody's got some level of problems associated with it. It's a tremendous opportunity for us to help our customers.

這是我們多年來投資的一個領域，我們很高興能夠在未來幾年獲得投資回報。所以我想說這並不是全國任何地區獨有的。每個人都會遇到某種程度的與之相關的問題。這對我們來說是幫助客戶的絕佳機會。

Appreciate it. Thank you.

欣賞它。謝謝。

Chip Moore, Roth.

奇普摩爾、羅斯。

Yes, thanks for taking the question. Hey everybody. I wanted to go back to the trajectory on 2027. I think you framed out dynamics for next year very well. And Tom, I think you mentioned government funding starting to play a role here and some of the approvals. Just maybe how should we think about that potential benefit of stimulus if that's not embedded in the longer term view?

是的，感謝您提出問題。嘿大家。我想回到2027年的軌跡。我認為你很好地規劃了明年的動態。湯姆，我想你提到了政府資助開始在這裡發揮作用以及一些批准。如果刺激措施的潛在好處沒有體現在長期觀點中，那麼我們該如何考慮刺激措施的潛在好處呢？

Yeah. It's very difficult for me to really trying to handicap exactly what that looks like. We didn't try to put it into those 2027 targets, knowing the uncertainty on timing and what it looks like. Clearly, the awards are starting to happen. If I use just a very small segment of IIJA funding with the GRIP program, The first round awards came out, I think it was the fourth quarter of last year.

是的。對我來說，真正嘗試去阻止它看起來是什麼樣子是非常困難的。我們沒有嘗試將其納入 2027 年的目標，因為我們知道時間上的不確定性以及它的情況。顯然，獎項已經開始頒發。如果我只使用 IIJA 資金的一小部分與 GRIP 計劃，第一輪獎項出來，我認為是去年第四季度。

The very first agreement between the grid deployment office that administers those funds was made with a customer and just became public just in the last month, I will say. So from the time the bill was announced in '21 until the first round of awards and call it fourth quarter of '20, to the first actual agreement getting signed off in the second quarter of 2022.

我想說的是，管理這些資金的電網部署辦公室之間的第一份協議是與客戶達成的，並且在上個月才公開。因此，從 21 年宣布該法案到第一輪授予（稱為 20 年第四季），再到 2022 年第二季簽署第一份實際協議。

You can see that the time lag that '24 second quarter, that you can see the time lag of that money flowing through. I'm hopeful now that maybe it'll start to accelerate, but still very difficult to call what it looks like. A lot of money is going to get spent, and it should flow through to our customers and eventually to us, but timing is difficult to call, and that's why we kept it out of the '27 numbers. When it comes, it's only upside.

你可以看到 24 年第二季的時間落後，你可以看到資金流動的時間落後。我現在希望它可能會開始加速，但仍然很難說它是什麼樣子。將會花費大量資金，這些資金應該流向我們的客戶並最終流向我們，但時機很難確定，這就是為什麼我們將其排除在「27」數字之外。當它到來時，只有好處。

Perfect. That's helpful. Appreciate Tom, and maybe just and last one from me. Just in terms of your conversations, I guess, with sort of leaders and laggards in this space in terms of edge intelligence adoption, have you seen those conversations evolve? And how do you think I guess about that tail opportunity developing over time?

完美的。這很有幫助。感謝湯姆，也許這只是我的最後一篇。就您的對話而言，我想，在邊緣智慧採用方面，您與該領域的領先者和落後者進行了對話，您是否看到了這些對話的演變？您認為我對隨著時間的推移而發展的尾部機會有何看法？

The conversations only continue to accelerate. I can't think of a nearly any customer in the electricity space that isn't thinking about how they could use this capability and why they need it. We see the same thing on the competitive side, where competitors are starting to create or at least talk about the things that they would do in this area.

對話只會繼續加速。我想不出電力領域幾乎所有客戶不考慮如何使用此功能以及為什麼需要它。我們在競爭方面也看到了同樣的情況，競爭對手開始創造或至少談論他們將在該領域做的事情。

So I think we were absolutely up ahead in the market and continue to be there today, there's about to 10 customers or thereabouts that are in active deployment are already booked, and we have over 8,000 customers on a global scale. So you can see the runway that's still ahead in terms of being able to deploy this. I'm much beyond the early movers that are in the game today.

因此，我認為我們在市場上絕對處於領先地位，並且今天仍然處於領先地位，大約有 10 個或大約 10 個正在積極部署的客戶已經被預訂，我們在全球範圍內擁有 8,000 多個客戶。因此，您可以看到在部署此功能方面仍然處於領先地位。我遠遠超出了今天遊戲中的先行者。

Great. Appreciate it. Thank you.

偉大的。欣賞它。謝謝。

Austin Moeller, Canaccord.

奧斯汀·莫勒，Canaccord。

Hi, good morning. Nice quarter. Just my first question here. Are there any specific projects either with a specific utility or in terms of contract size that we should be thinking about driving more momentum in the backlog over the next year?

嗨，早安。不錯的季度。這只是我的第一個問題。是否有任何具有特定公用事業或合約規模的特定項目，我們應該考慮在明年推動積壓工作的成長？

Yes. Well, there clearly there are a number of them. It wouldn't be appropriate for me to call them out by name, but to that $1 billion of pending bookings that that I talked about, there's a I don't know, rough roughly [10] or so that were before I stopped counting that are in that to that category. So a pretty broad range. It's not to wildly dependent on a single customer.

是的。嗯，顯然有很多這樣的人。我不適合直呼其名字，但對於我談到的 10 億美元的待定預訂，有一個我不知道，大約是在我停止計數之前的 [10] 左右屬於該類別。所以範圍相當廣。它不會過度依賴單一客戶。

Okay. That's helpful. And just another question where we are in terms of the old backlog that was not inflation index, is that flowing out pretty evenly as of Q2 or should we expect to be more and [loaded Q3, Q4?]

好的。這很有幫助。另一個問題是，我們的舊積壓不是通膨指數，截至第二季的流出量相當均勻，或者我們是否應該預期更多[已載入第三季、第四季？

I would say it's flowing out of overall. It's some portions of it clearly are pushing ahead based on deployment timeframe. So it's still roughly in that 70-30 kind of range where we are today the majority of that 30, if you will, that still out there flows through in the in the '24, '25 range. So not wildly different than what we've spoken about before, maybe a few things have slid a quarter or two, but overall tracking to our expectations.

我想說它是整體流出的。其中的某些部分顯然正在根據部署時間框架進行推進。所以它仍然大致在 70-30 的範圍內，我們今天的 30 中的大部分，如果你願意的話，仍然在 24、25 的範圍內流動。因此，與我們之前談到的情況並沒有太大不同，也許有些事情已經下滑了一兩個季度，但總體上符合我們的預期。

Great. Thanks for all the details.

偉大的。感謝您提供所有詳細資訊。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員說明）

Scott Graham, Seaport Research Partners.

斯科特·格雷厄姆，海港研究合作夥伴。

Hi, good morning and nice quarter. I wanted to just maybe speak, Joan, just a second on the incremental margin, which it seems to be creeping up each quarter on even as your sales are just a little bit slower, obviously because of the stack comparisons and all that. And I'm just wondering, is it just the case here where you have that past due now behind you, and it's just sort of, you know --

你好，早安，美好的季度。瓊，我想談談增量利潤，儘管您的銷售速度稍微慢一點，但增量利潤似乎每個季度都在攀升，顯然是因為堆疊比較等原因。我只是想知道，這是否就是這種情況，你現在已經逾期了，這只是一種，你知道的--

People are normalized in their seats or on your production lines is that what we're seeing here in the incremental margin rise well, again, I would look at it by our segments. So if you look at devices, it's a significant improvement in devices go on going back to the last couple of years, particularly compared to where they were they were mid 10s a few years ago and now are in the 20s last year and in the 20s this year, that's really a comp.

人們在座位上或在生產線上的正常化是我們在這裡看到的增量利潤率上升良好，再次，我會按我們的細分市場來看待它。因此，如果你看一下設備，你會發現過去幾年設備的顯著改進，特別是與幾年前的 10 多歲和現在的 20 多歲相比，去年和 20 多歲今年，這確實是一個比較。

It's really primarily driven by pruning the portfolio. So we were a much bigger company and devices. Several years ago, we've been very active getting out of unprofitable product lines. I'm asking that business to focus not on top line growth but on margin improvement and they've done a fabulous job doing that. In the case of networks, they've had really strong margin the last few quarters, I think it's a combination of product mix.

它實際上主要是由修剪投資組合驅動的。所以我們是一家更大的公司和設備。幾年前，我們一直非常積極地退出無利可圖的產品線。我要求該企業不要關注營收成長，而是關注利潤率的提高，他們在這方面做得非常出色。就網路而言，過去幾季他們的利潤率非常高，我認為這是產品組合的結合。

So certain of our products form are more kind of margin rich than others. And then of course, as you mentioned, as we've caught up on the previously constrained revenue that gives us more volume in the factories. And so from an absorption standpoint, you get a margin benefit. So think about that as both product mix and operational efficiencies associated with the volumes coming in.

因此，我們的某些產品形式比其他形式的利潤更豐富。當然，正如您所提到的，我們已經趕上了之前有限的收入，這使我們的工廠產量增加了。因此，從吸收的角度來看，您可以獲得邊際收益。因此，請將此視為與進來的數量相關的產品組合和營運效率。

And Tom covered outcomes. Outcomes actually is down a little bit, and that's really more of a function of the mix of the various solutions that are within the outcomes segment.

湯姆報道了結果。結果實際上下降了一點，這實際上更多是結果部分內各種解決方案組合的結果。

Okay, thank you for that. Appreciate it. To you, Tom, just was hoping that that's a big number in the award pipeline there and congratulations on that. I was hoping you would unbundle it for us a little bit though, is it you guys you're getting into and solving a lot more. So you're more solutions oriented today than you've ever been. And I'm just maybe you can just share some of the bigger parts of those of that $1 billion?

好的，謝謝你。欣賞它。湯姆，對你來說，只是希望這是獎項管道中的一個大數字，並祝賀你。我希望你們能為我們稍微解開它，你們正在參與並解決更多問題。因此，您今天比以往任何時候都更加重視解決方案。我只是也許你可以分享這 10 億美元中較大的部分？

The biggest portion of it is the Grid Edge Intelligence platform. It's this notion of putting out a networking capability that gives you connectivity to assets at the edge of the network and being able to get visibility and control of those assets out at the edge, being able to grab much more much richer data to be able to make intelligent decisions around outage management or vegetation management or wildfires or being able to control edge assets fluid to optimize usage out at the edge.

其中最大的部分是網格邊緣智慧平台。正是這種提供網路功能的概念，使您能夠連接到網路邊緣的資產，並能夠在邊緣獲得這些資產的可見性和控制，能夠獲取更豐富的數據，從而能夠圍繞停電管理、植被管理或野火做出明智的決策，或能夠控制邊緣資產流動以優化邊緣的使用。

So that bar none, the largest portion of that backlog or pending projects is that Grid Edge Intelligence platform that you've heard us speak about quite often.

因此，毫無疑問，積壓或待處理項目的最大部分是您經常聽到我們談論的網格邊緣智慧平台。

Yeah. So the endpoints there are probably going to jump up in 2025 then.

是的。因此，到 2025 年，終點可能會大幅上升。

Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, you'll see steady growth overall and every quarter. That's clearly what's in backlog today. And as we book new projects, it will still be growing that portion of it. So I do think the number of DI-enabled endpoints that we talk about a little over [11 million] I think today that will continue to grow quarter after quarter.

是的，絕對是。是的，您會看到整體和每季的穩定成長。這顯然就是今天積壓的工作。當我們預訂新項目時，這部分仍然會成長。因此，我確實認為我們談論的啟用 DI 的端點數量略多於 [1100 萬]，我認為今天這個數量將繼續逐季增長。

Thanks a lot.

多謝。

Thank you. And I see no further questions in the queue at this time. I will now turn the call back over to Mr. Tom Dietrich for any closing remarks.

謝謝。目前我在隊列中沒有看到更多問題。現在，我將把電話轉回給湯姆·迪特里希先生，讓他發表結束語。

Thank you all for joining the call today, and we look forward to updating you again next quarter.

感謝大家今天加入電話會議，我們期待下季再次為您提供最新消息。

Ladies and gentlemen, that does conclude our conference for today. Thank you for your participation and you may now disconnect.

女士們、先生們，今天的會議到此結束。感謝您的參與，您現在可以斷開連接。