Itron Inc (ITRI) 2025 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Good day, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to Itron's second quarter 2025 earnings conference call. (Operator Instructions) Please note that today's conference is being recorded.

大家好，感謝您的收看。歡迎參加 Itron 2025 年第二季財報電話會議。 （操作員指示）請注意，今天的會議正在錄音。

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

現在，我將會議移交給本次會議的主持人、投資者關係副總裁保羅文森 (Paul Vincent)。請開始。

Good morning, and welcome to Itron's second quarter 2025 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.

早安，歡迎參加 Itron 2025 年第二季財報電話會議。 Itron 總裁兼執行長 Tom Deitrich 和高級副總裁兼財務長 Joan Hooper 將回顧 Itron 第二季度的業績，並提供業務更新和展望。

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. Accompanying today's call is a presentation that is available through the webcast and on our corporate website under the Investor Relations tab.

今天早些時候，該公司發布了一份新聞稿，宣布了其業績。本新聞稿還包含與電話會議和網路直播重播相關的詳細資訊。今天的電話會議附帶一份演示文稿，可透過網路直播或公司網站的「投資者關係」標籤頁取得。

Following prepared remarks, the call will open for questions using the process the operator described. 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.

準備好發言稿後，電話會議將依照接線生所述的流程開始提問。在Tom開始之前，需要提醒的是，我們的收益報告和財務報表包含非公認會計準則 (Non-GAAP) 財務信息，我們相信這些信息有助於全面了解我們當前和未來的業績。

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.

GAAP 和非 GAAP 財務指標之間差異的對帳表可在我們的收益報告和投資者關係網站上查閱。我們將在本次電話會議上做出前瞻性聲明。這些聲明基於當前的預期和假設，可能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.

由於今天的收益報告中提出的因素和電話會議中所作的評論以及我們 10-K 表格和其他向美國證券交易委員會提交的報告和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存在重大差異。

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, July 31, 2025, may materially change, and we do not undertake any duty to update any of our forward-looking statements.

所有公司評論、估計或前瞻性陳述均旨在真誠地提供對我們當前及未來營運和財務環境的恰當洞察。今日（2025年7月31日）討論的資料可能會發生重大變更，我們不承擔更新任何前瞻性陳述的義務。

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

現在請翻到簡報的第 4 頁，我們的執行長 Tom Deitrich 開始他的演講。

Thank you, Paul. Good morning, and thank you for joining our call. Itron delivered solid second quarter results despite ongoing macroeconomic and trade policy uncertainties. The team performed well, achieving revenue in line with expectations and earnings above the outlook.

謝謝保羅。早安，感謝您參加我們的電話會議。儘管宏觀經濟和貿易政策的不確定性持續存在，但Itron第二季的業績依然穩健。團隊表現優異，收入符合預期，獲利也高於預期。

Financial highlights for the second quarter are detailed on slide 4 and include revenue of $607 million, adjusted EBITDA of $90 million, non-GAAP earnings per share of $1.62 and free cash flow of $91 million.

第二季的財務亮點詳見幻燈片 4，包括 6.07 億美元的收入、9,000 萬美元的調整後 EBITDA、1.62 美元的非 GAAP 每股收益和 9,100 萬美元的自由現金流。

Turning to slide 5. Itron set new quarterly records for margins, profitability and cash flow. This improved financial performance resulted from the continued execution of our strategy and the expansion of our customers' infrastructure.

翻到第五張幻燈片。 Itron的利潤率、獲利能力和現金流創下了季度新高。財務績效的提升得益於我們持續執行的策略以及客戶基礎設施的擴展。

Our differentiated outcomes segment continued to drive growth, reinforcing our market leadership in agile distribution infrastructure. During 2Q, demand for Itron's Grid Edge Intelligence platform remains strong. By the end of the second quarter, we had shipped over 15.3 million distributed intelligence endpoints, up from 14.4 million at the end of Q1.

我們的差異化成果業務部門持續推動成長，鞏固了我們在敏捷分散式基礎設施領域的市場領導地位。第二季度，市場對Itron網格邊緣智慧平台的需求仍然強勁。截至第二季末，我們的分散式智慧終端出貨量已超過1,530萬台，高於第一季末的1,440萬台。

The ongoing adoption of DI-capable technology underscores its importance for utilities seeking flexible infrastructure with real-time data capture and analytics. The long-term market outlook remains positive, driven by rising electricity demand, increased resiliency and reliability requirements and ongoing focus on efficiency and safety.

分散式能源 (DI) 技術的持續應用，凸顯了其對於尋求靈活基礎設施並具備即時資料擷取和分析能力的公用事業公司的重要性。受電力需求成長、彈性和可靠性要求提高以及對效率和安全性持續關注的推動，長期市場前景仍然樂觀。

However, in the near term, customers and regulators face a more complex environment, leading to slower project deployments and delayed decisions in certain areas. Consequently, we are lowering our full year revenue outlook midpoint by approximately 3%. At the same time, growing customer demand for high-value solutions, along with operational efficiencies has raised our full year EPS outlook midpoint by 13%.

然而，短期內，客戶和監管機構面臨的環境將更加複雜，導致專案部署放緩，某些領域的決策延遲。因此，我們將全年營收預期中位數下調約3%。同時，客戶對高價值解決方案的需求不斷增長，以及營運效率的提升，已將全年每股收益預期中位數上調13%。

Despite more deliberate customer and regulatory decision-making in the short term, Itron continues to secure business from forward-looking customers adopting new solutions to address emerging challenges.

儘管短期內客戶和監管決策更加慎重，但 Itron 仍能繼續從採用新解決方案來應對新興挑戰的有遠見的客戶那裡獲得業務。

Our second quarter bookings of $454 million are shown on slide 6 and primarily driven by our networked solutions and outcomes segments. As in recent years, we expect annual bookings to be weighted towards the second half of the year.

我們第二季的訂單量為4.54億美元，如幻燈片6所示，主要由網路解決方案和成果業務部門推動。與近年來一樣，我們預計全年訂單量將主要集中在下半年。

We maintain our outlook for the full year book-to-bill ratio of 1:1 or higher. Some of the key bookings for the quarter include a large European utility, Greece's Hellenic Electricity Distribution Network Operator, or HEDNO, selected Itron to assist its efforts to enhance consumer experience, improve operational efficiency and support Greece's goal of net zero emissions by 2050.

我們維持全年訂單出貨比為1:1或更高的預期。本季的一些關鍵訂單包括一家大型歐洲公用事業公司—希臘電力配電網路營運商（HEDNO），該公司選擇Itron來協助其提升消費者體驗、提高營運效率，並支持希臘到2050年實現淨零排放的目標。

Itron's solution will help HEDNO future-proof its infrastructure and enable the adoption of Grid Edge Intelligence platforms while establishing a strong operational foundation. Tucson, Arizona selected Itron for a large-scale initiative that will support the city's critical water conservation goals. This network as a service deployment will enable the city to efficiently collect and manage water consumption data without the burden of maintaining additional infrastructure.

Itron 的解決方案將有助於 HEDNO 實現其基礎設施的未來發展，並支援採用電網邊緣智慧平台，同時建立強大的營運基礎。亞利桑那州圖森市選擇 Itron 來支持一項大規模項目，該項目將支持該市實現關鍵的節水目標。這項網路即服務的部署將使該市能夠有效率地收集和管理用水數據，而無需維護額外的基礎設施。

Now Joan will provide details about our second quarter and our outlook for the third quarter and the full year.

現在瓊將提供有關我們第二季的詳細資訊以及對第三季和全年的展望。

Thank you, Tom. Please turn to slide 7 for a summary of consolidated GAAP results. Second quarter revenue of $607 million was within the range we expected and slightly lower than the prior year, which included a significant amount of constrained revenue catch-up. Gross margin of 36.9% is an all-time quarterly record and was 230 basis points higher than last year due to favorable mix.

謝謝，湯姆。請翻到第7張投影片查看合併GAAP業績摘要。第二季營收6.07億美元，符合我們的預期，略低於去年同期，其中包括大量受限的營收追趕。毛利率達36.9%，創下季度歷史新高，得益於良好的產品組合，比去年同期高出230個基點。

GAAP net income of $68 million or $1.47 per diluted share compares to $51 million or $1.10 per share in the prior year. The improvement was driven by higher levels of operating and interest income. Regarding non-GAAP metrics on slide 8, non-GAAP operating income of $82 million was an all-time record and increased 19% year over year. Adjusted EBITDA of $90 million or 14.8% of revenue was also a new record and increased 16% year over year.

GAAP 淨利潤為 6,800 萬美元，即每股 1.47 美元，去年同期為 5,100 萬美元，即每股 1.10 美元。這一增長得益於營業收入和利息收入的提高。關於第 8 張投影片上的非 GAAP 指標，非 GAAP 營業利潤達到 8,200 萬美元，創歷史新高，較去年同期成長 19%。調整後 EBITDA 為 9,000 萬美元，佔營收的 14.8%，也創下新高，年增 16%。

Non-GAAP net income for the quarter was $75 million or $1.62 per diluted share versus $1.21 a year ago. Q2 free cash flow of $91 million was a new record and compares to $45 million a year ago. This improvement reflects strong year over year operational earnings growth, higher interest income and lower tax payments.

本季非公認會計準則淨利為7,500萬美元，即每股攤薄收益1.62美元，去年同期為1.21美元。第二季自由現金流達9,100萬美元，創歷史新高，去年同期為4,500萬美元。這一成長反映了強勁的同比營運獲利成長、更高的利息收入以及更低的納稅額。

Year over year revenue growth by business segment is on slide 9. Device Solutions revenue decreased 8% on a constant currency basis, primarily due to the expected decline in legacy electric product sales, partially offset by continued growth in water.

各業務部門的年收入成長情況列於第 9 張投影片中。設備解決方案收入以固定匯率計算下降了 8%，這主要是由於傳統電氣產品銷售額預計會下降，但被水業務的持續成長部分抵消。

Networked Solutions revenue decreased 1% year over year, primarily due to the nonrecurrence of revenue catch-up that occurred in Q2 of last year. Outcomes revenue increased 9% year over year due to continued growth of recurring revenue and software licenses.

網路解決方案營收年減1%，主要原因是去年第二季出現的營收追趕現象，但未能如期實現。成果收入年增9%，這得益於經常性收入和軟體授權的持續成長。

Moving to the non-GAAP year over year EPS bridge on slide 10. Our Q2 non-GAAP EPS increased $0.41 year over year to $1.62 per diluted share. This was primarily driven by strong pretax operational performance, which contributed $0.39 year over year improvement.

轉到第 10 張投影片上的非 GAAP 每股盈餘同比變動圖。我們第二季的非 GAAP 每股盈餘年增 0.41 美元，達到稀釋後每股 1.62 美元。這主要得益於強勁的稅前營運業績，其年增了 0.39 美元。

Turning to slides 11 through 13, I'll review Q2 segment results compared with the prior year. Device Solutions revenue was $113 million with gross margin of 29.8% and operating margin of 22.6%. Gross margin increased 350 basis points year over year, and operating margin was up 260 basis points due to the favorable change in product mix.

翻到第11至13張投影片，我將回顧第二季各部門業績與去年同期的比較。設備解決方案部門收入1.13億美元，毛利率29.8%，營業利益率22.6%。毛利率年增350個基點，營業利益率因產品組合的有利變動而成長260個基點。

Networked Solutions revenue was $409 million with gross margin of 38.5% and operating margin of 29.6%. Gross margin increased 160 basis points year over year and operating margin was up 110 basis points due to improved products and customer mix.

網路解決方案業務營收為4.09億美元，毛利率為38.5%，營業利益率為29.6%。得益於產品和客戶結構的最佳化，毛利率年增160個基點，營業利益率年增110個基點。

Outcomes revenue was $85 million. Gross margin was 38.5% and operating margin was 18.4%. Gross margin increased 370 basis points year over year and operating margin was up 470 basis points due to a higher margin revenue mix.

成果收入為8500萬美元。毛利率為38.5%，營業利益率為18.4%。毛利率年增370個基點，營業利潤率年增470個基點，這得益於利潤率更高的收入結構。

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 $41 million. As of June 30, net leverage was 0.1 times and cash and equivalents were $1.2 billion.

翻到第14張投影片。我將回顧第二季末的流動性和債務。總債務為12.65億美元，淨債務為4,100萬美元。截至6月30日，淨槓桿率為0.1倍，現金及等價物為12億美元。

Now please turn to slide 15 for our third quarter outlook. As Tom noted, our customers are becoming more deliberate in their decision-making and slowing their activity levels in response to economic uncertainty, driven in part by the evolving trade policies.

現在請翻到第15張投影片，看看我們第三季的展望。正如Tom所說，我們的客戶在決策時變得更加謹慎，並放慢了活動水平，以應對經濟不確定性，這在一定程度上是由於不斷變化的貿易政策所致。

Although our long-term market expectations remain unchanged, we now anticipate a period of slower activity levels in the near term as our customers take time to assess the impact of emerging macroeconomic crosswinds on their business.

儘管我們的長期市場預期保持不變，但我們預計短期內市場活動水準將出現一段放緩時期，因為我們的客戶需要時間來評估新興宏觀經濟逆風對其業務的影響。

Given this background, we now anticipate third quarter revenue to be between $570 million to $585 million. The midpoint of this range is down 6% versus Q3 of 2024. For non-GAAP earnings per share, we expect a range of $1.45 to $1.55 per diluted share. At the midpoint, this is a decrease of 18% versus Q3 of last year, which had an unusually low effective tax rate of just 4.5%.

有鑑於此，我們目前預計第三季營收將在5.7億美元至5.85億美元之間。該區間的中位數較2024年第三季下降6%。我們預計非公認會計準則每股收益將介於1.45美元至1.55美元之間。以中位數計算，與去年第三季相比下降了18%，而去年第三季的有效稅率異常低，僅4.5%。

Normalized for a 25% effective tax rate, the midpoint of this range is up 4% versus Q3 of last year. Now please turn to slide 16 for an update to our annual 2025 outlook. We now anticipate 2025 full year revenue to be within a range of $2.35 billion to $2.4 billion versus the $2.4 billion to $2.5 billion range we provided in February.

以25%的有效稅率標準化後，該區間的中點較去年第三季上漲了4%。現在請翻到第16張投影片，查看我們對2025年年度展望的最新預測。我們目前預計2025年全年收入將在23.5億美元至24億美元之間，而我們2月份給出的區間為24億美元至25億美元。

At the midpoint, this represents a 3% decline versus our initial full year outlook. It also represents a 3% decrease versus 2024, which had approximately $125 million of catch-up revenue. Normalizing for the 2024 catch-up revenue, the midpoint of our updated guidance is approximately 3% year over year growth.

以中位數計算，這比我們最初的全年預期下降了3%。與2024年（約1.25億美元的補課收入）相比，也下降了3%。以2024年的補課收入為基準，我們更新後的指引中位數約為年增3%。

Our non-GAAP earnings per share full year outlook range is increasing versus prior estimates. Our current expectations for 2025 non-GAAP earnings per share is a range of $6 to $6.20 per diluted share versus our February outlook of $5.20 to $5.60 per share.

我們對全年非公認會計準則每股收益的預期範圍較先前的預測有所上調。我們目前對2025年非公認會計準則每股收益的預期範圍為每股攤薄收益6美元至6.20美元，而我們2月份的預期為每股5.20美元至5.60美元。

At the midpoint, the updated non-GAAP earnings per share estimate is up 9% versus 2024 and 13% versus prior guidance. We are proud of the work we have done to improve the margin profile of the business, which has allowed us to drive higher profitability on lower revenue. The revised full year guidance assumes a 22% effective tax rate.

以中位數計算，更新後的非公認會計準則每股收益預測較2024年成長9%，較先前的指引成長13%。我們為改善業務利潤率所做的努力感到自豪，這使我們能夠在較低的收入水平下實現更高的盈利能力。修訂後的全年指引假設有效稅率為22%。

The actual tax rate could fluctuate based on jurisdictional mix and the timing of tax settlements. Clearly, there has been more uncertainty in the market environment than expected when we started this year. Our teams have and will continue to make the tactical adjustments necessary to support our customers' priorities as we maintain our long-term strategic course.

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。顯然，市場環境的不確定性比我們今年初預期的還要大。我們的團隊已經並將繼續進行必要的戰術調整，以支援客戶的優先事項，同時我們保持長期策略方針。

Now I'll turn the call back to Tom.

現在我將把電話轉回給湯姆。

Thank you, Joan. Our teams effectively managed macroeconomic and trade policies uncertainty in the second quarter, achieving expansion in both margins and free cash flow. Our intelligent connectivity and Grid Edge Intelligence offerings continue to scale in line with our strategic objectives.

謝謝，瓊。我們的團隊在第二季有效應對了宏觀經濟和貿易政策的不確定性，實現了利潤率和自由現金流的成長。我們的智慧互聯和電網邊緣智慧產品持續擴展，符合我們的策略目標。

Although customers and regulators have recently slowed their activity to address increased decision complexity and policy uncertainty alongside their existing operational priorities, the outlook for market growth remains strong. Itron remains confident in delivering value for stakeholders through disciplined capital allocation and sustainable returns.

儘管客戶和監管機構近期放緩了業務活動，以應對日益複雜的決策和政策不確定性，並兼顧現有的營運重點，但市場成長前景仍然強勁。 Itron 始終堅信，透過嚴謹的資本配置和可持續的回報，能夠為利害關係人創造價值。

Thank you for joining our call today. Operator, please open the line for some Q&A.

感謝您今天參加我們的電話會議。接線員，請您打開電話線，進行一些問答。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員指示）

Noah Kaye, Oppenheimer.

諾亞·凱伊，奧本海默。

Hi folks, thanks for taking the questions. I do want to get to the revenue outlook, but I have to start with margins. I think the -- I know you don't guide to EBITDA margins, but backing into something like 15% for the year. So you'd be seeing almost a couple of hundred bps expansion on lower revs.

大家好，感謝你們回答問題。我確實想談談收入前景，但我必須先從利潤率開始。我知道你們沒有給出EBITDA利潤率的預測，但預計全年利潤率應該在15%左右。所以，在較低的轉速下，你們會看到近幾百個基點的成長。

And you commented some on it, Tom and Joan, in the prepared remarks. But I just want to understand, is there anything atypically beneficial to kind of the mix this year? Or do you think these are kind of the right margins as a jumping off point as we look at next year?

湯姆和瓊，你們在準備好的演講稿中對此發表了一些評論。但我只是想了解一下，今年的這種組合是否存在一些非同尋常的有利因素？或者，你們認為這些利潤率是否是我們展望明年的起點？

I would say the EBITDA margin is a little bit higher than we would have expected when we started the year. We have definitely benefited from the structural changes we made in the device business. So we shut an electric factory in France at the end of last year. Those products and the customers that were supported out of that factory were lower than average margins for the segment.

我想說，EBITDA利潤率比我們年初預期的略高一些。我們確實受益於設備業務的結構性調整。去年年底，我們關閉了法國的一家電氣工廠。該工廠生產的產品以及支援的客戶利潤率低於該部門的平均水平。

And obviously, we've done some things over the years, whether it was sell the Latin America business or sell the business we did a couple of years ago, the gas business. Structurally, we have been very focused on getting devices margins up. So they being close to 30% is certainly ahead of what we would have expected. But at this point, that's probably a good level for them.

顯然，這些年來我們做了一些事情，無論是出售拉丁美洲業務，還是出售我們幾年前所做的天然氣業務。從結構上講，我們一直非常注重提高設備利潤率。所以他們接近30%的利潤率肯定高於我們的預期。但就目前而言，這對他們來說可能是一個不錯的水平。

Networks margins will tend to go vary quarter-to-quarter depending on the specific deployment and the phase of the deployment. So again, we're -- they're on their path to hitting the margins we expect this quarter, a little bit higher than we would have expected.

網路利潤率往往會根據具體部署情況和部署階段而逐季度變化。因此，我們再次強調，他們正在朝著我們本季預期的利潤率邁進，略高於我們的預期。

And Outcomes, as we've talked about, is going to fluctuate quarter to quarter based on the software mix. So we feel really good about the gross margin trajectory that we're on, still stand behind the '27 targets. And obviously, that had an EPS range of 15% to 17%. And as you say, we're already close to 15% now.

正如我們之前提到的，Outcomes 的業績會根據軟體組合逐季度波動。因此，我們對目前的毛利率走勢非常滿意，仍然符合 2027 年的目標。顯然，當時的每股盈餘在 15% 到 17% 之間。正如您所說，我們現在已經接近 15% 了。

Yeah. I did want to ask about the near-term outlook. Is the implication here that some of the kind of faster book and ship business is just really what's seeing the slowing? Or is there anything in kind of the backlog and networks where there's some delay, whether it's sort of funding availability for projects, government funding or the like. Just give us a little bit of color on kind of whether this is a push out of backlog or kind of more book and ship?

是的。我確實想問短期前景。這是否意味著一些較快的預訂和運輸業務才是導致成長放緩的真正原因？或是否有積壓訂單和網路方面的延遲，無論是專案資金可用性、政府資金或其他方面。請您稍微解釋一下，這是否是積壓訂單的減少，還是預訂和運輸業務的增加？

Yeah. It's more the backlog portion rather than the book and ship portion of the business. Book and ship is at least through 2Q has been humming along at the level that we would expect, plus or minus. On the project side of things, meaning the things that flow through longer-term backlog, customers are really bumping into some constraints here and there, whether it's labor constraints or project sequencing, they got to finish this before they start that, and they're stretching out time lines on projects a bit to live within a constrained capital budget for the year.

是的。這更多是積壓訂單部分，而不是訂單和出貨部分。訂單和發貨至少到第二季度一直在我們預期的水平上，或多或少。在專案方面，也就是那些長期積壓訂單，客戶確實會遇到一些限制，無論是勞動力限制還是專案排序，他們必須先完成這個，然後再開始那個，而且他們正在稍微延長專案時間表，以便在有限的年度資本預算內完成。

So none of the backlog is going away. That's not the point. We're not seeing any project cancellations at all. I would say it's just more of a little bit slower deployment pace than what we saw in the first half of the year. That said, the things that they are prioritizing, the things that they are buying and driving through are grid efficiency, resiliency, reliability types of solutions, which tends to accrue towards the higher-margin portfolio -- portion of our portfolio.

所以積壓訂單不會消失。這不是重點。我們根本沒有看到任何項目取消。我想說的是，部署速度只是比上半年略慢一些。話雖如此，他們優先考慮、正在購買和推動的是電網效率、彈性和可靠性等類型的解決方案，這些解決方案往往會累積到利潤率更高的投資組合中——也就是我們投資組合的一部分。

So again, we feel good about what customers are buying. They're -- we're working with them as they manage through some of the constraints on their side of the business. Not slowing down the outlook for the market longer term. I think this is a temporal thing that will roll through the business.

所以，我們對客戶的購買行為感到滿意。我們正在與他們合作，幫助他們克服業務方面的一些限制。長期來看，這不會減緩市場前景。我認為這只是暫時現象，會持續影響整個業務。

Right. And I guess just the final observation to make sure I got it right is that if this is just sort of a pushout of revenues that are kind of in the bag that sets up an easier comp moving into next year. Is that a fair way to think about it?

對。為了確保我理解正確，我想最後再說一句：如果這只是某種程度上將已經確定的收入擠出去，為明年的業績成長奠定基礎，這樣想合理嗎？

Yeah. I think as you -- it's a little too early to get ahead of where we will land next year. It will depend a little bit on what the trajectory of bookings are for the back half of the year as to where '26 will ultimately go. But your view of -- the revenue isn't going away. It's just phased out in time. We do still expect growth over the year ahead.

是的。我認為，正如你所說——現在預測我們明年的業績還為時過早。 2026年的最終走向將在一定程度上取決於下半年的預訂情況。但你認為——收入不會消失。它只是隨著時間的推移而逐漸減少。我們仍然預計未來一年會有所成長。

Okay. Thank you. I'll turn it over.

好的。謝謝。我會翻過來的。

Jeff Osborne, TD Cowen.

傑夫·奧斯本，TD Cowen。

Yeah. Thank you. Good morning. Maybe just a follow-up to Noah's line of questioning, Tom. I think you count backlog when you get regulatory approval. Can you just talk about the sequencing or the pace of technical approval, which oftentimes has a lag between when you're receiving that notification versus when the regulator approves it?

是的，謝謝。早安.湯姆，我想跟進諾亞的問題。我認為獲得監管部門批准時，積壓的申請也會被計算在內。您能否談談技術審批的順序或速度？通常情況下，從收到通知到監管機構批准，中間會有一個時間差？

Yeah. I would say that we're in the normal-ish range for things that have been awarded, but not yet regulatory approved. So it is not yet in our backlog. Sometimes that number gets to be very, very large, as I had talked about towards the back end of last year. There's usually a couple of hundred million dollars plus or minus that is in the category of awarded not yet approved nor in backlog, and that's kind of the level that we're sitting at now.

是的。我想說，對於已授予但尚未獲得監管部門批准的項目，我們的項目數量處於正常水平。所以它還沒有被列入我們的積壓訂單中。有時這個數字會非常非常大，就像我在去年年底談到的那樣。通常有幾億美元左右的項目屬於已授予但尚未獲得批准或積壓訂單的範疇，而我們現在的水平大致就是這樣。

The opportunities that are planned for the back half of the year to ultimately come into bookings. There are some reasonable sized projects that are inside of there that will require regulatory approval. So pace of regulatory approvals continuing to move forward is important for the back half of the year, but things look to be lined up to achieve a book-to-bill for the full year of 1:1 or greater, as I mentioned in the prepared remarks.

計劃在下半年進行的項目最終都會進入訂單階段。其中有一些規模適中的項目需要監管部門的批准。因此，監管部門審批的持續推進對下半年至關重要，但正如我在準備好的發言稿中提到的，全年訂單出貨比有望達到1:1或更高。

Got it. And then maybe just reconciling your answers to Noah's question relative to the prepared remarks. In the prepared remarks, you seem to blame the delays and the lower revenue guidance on tariffs and trade uncertainty and sort of big macro political things was the way I interpreted it. I think the majority of your customers are actually increasing their CapEx budgets.

明白了。然後，也許只是把你對Noah問題的回答與準備好的發言稿進行核對。在準備好的演講稿中，你似乎將延遲和收入預期的下降歸咎於關稅、貿易不確定性以及一些宏觀政治因素，這是我的解讀。我認為你們的大多數客戶實際上都在增加資本支出預算。

And then in response to Noah, you mentioned more reprioritization of projects, things taking a bit longer and labor availability. Can you just sort of weigh the two, like big picture macro things versus micro things at the utility level as to what the delays are?

然後，在回答諾亞的問題時，您提到了專案優先順序的進一步調整、專案耗時更長以及勞動力的可用性。您能否權衡一下這兩者，例如從宏觀層面和公用事業層面的微觀層面來判斷延誤的原因？

Yeah. So take it one step at a time, it's -- I agree with you that as a general rule, CapEx budgets for our customer base at large are increasing. Those CapEx budgets and when you see those announcements, they tend to be multiyear types of things.

是的。所以，一步一步來吧——我同意你的觀點，總的來說，我們客戶群的資本支出預算都在增加。這些資本支出預算，以及你看到的那些公告，往往是多年期的。

Hey, we used to have X, now we have X plus Y over the next three years. What causes slowdowns or constraints relative to budgets that I was mentioning when it comes to revenue in the next quarter or two really has more to do with CapEx budget for this year.

嘿，我們以前有X，現在未來三年有X加Y。我之前提到的關於未來一兩個季度收入的放緩或預算限制，實際上更多地與今年的資本支出預算有關。

So they tend to live within that annualized bucket. So I think that there's a difference there in terms of the dividing line of folks having to live within their means for this year, even though that the total bucket is going up over a multiyear period.

所以他們傾向於在年度預算範圍內生活。所以我認為，在人們今年必須量入為出的分界線上存在差異，儘管總體預算在多年期間一直在上升。

That gives us confidence in the long-term trajectory of the marketplace for sure. We have confidence in the strength of the portfolio based on the prioritization that we see customers making around the constraints that they are living within. They're buying the margin accretive portion of the portfolio.

這無疑讓我們對市場的長期走勢充滿信心。基於我們看到客戶根據自身所處環境的限製而做出的優先排序，我們對投資組合的實力充滿信心。他們購買的是投資組合中能夠增加利潤的部分。

My last one is just, I think in the past, you gave a rule of thumb of sort of 9 to 12 months lag between regulatory approval and the start of revenue recognition for Itron. Just given that this is highly complex stuff requires a lot of IT modernization. Are you seeing any lengthening out of that time line? Just as people work with consultants and handle what data will be done at the enterprise level versus the cloud, et cetera?

我的最後一個問題是，我記得過去您曾給出一個經驗法則，即從監管部門批准到 Itron 開始確認收入之間會有 9 到 12 個月的延遲。鑑於這方面非常複雜，需要大量的 IT 現代化改造。您是否認為這個時間線會延長？就像人們會與顧問合作，處理哪些資料需要在企業層級處理，哪些需要雲端處理等等？

We've seen that in certainly some isolated cases. And I kind of mentioned that, I think, in response to Noah's question where projects are getting sequenced. If you do have a delay in an IT project, for example, you may not want to start the next one until you finished up the prior. So there is some sequencing that we have seen going on overall. So I think that general rule in the air thumb of 9 to 12 months, we're probably pushing more towards the 12 than the 9 based on the pace of what we see in the marketplace today.

我們確實在一些個別案例中看到過這種情況。我提到這一點，大概是為了回答Noah關於項目排序的問題。例如，如果一個IT專案確實延期了，你可能要等到前一個專案完成後再開始下一個專案。所以，我們看到總體上存在一些排序問題。所以，我認為，9到12個月的普遍規律，根據我們目前在市場上看到的節奏，我們可能更傾向於12個月而不是9個月。

Great. Thanks for the detailed response. That's all I had.

太好了。謝謝你的詳細回覆。我了解的就這麼多。

Sure.

當然。

Ben Kallo, Baird.

本卡洛，貝爾德。

Hey, good morning guys. Thanks for taking my question. Maybe just following along the previous questions. On the M&A front, has any of this -- the regulatory stuff changed your view on M&A? And as you build up more cash, maybe you could just remind us the priorities of capital deployment right now. Thank you.

大家早安。感謝您回答我的問題。或許我只是想順著之前的問題繼續問。關於併購，監管方面有什麼改變您對併購的看法嗎？隨著您累積了更多現金，能否提醒我們目前資本配置的優先事項。謝謝。

Sure. So the regulatory environment hasn't changed our view on M&A at all. We remain very active in the space and are looking for the right asset to add to our portfolio. Consistent with comments that I have made in the past, we're looking for something that is accretive towards our software services portion of the portfolio. I think more Outcomes-oriented types of acquisitions is what we are looking for. Count on us to be disciplined with the capital allocation that we would make, but still an area that we're very active in.

當然。所以監管環境絲毫沒有改變我們對併購的看法。我們在該領域仍然非常活躍，正在尋找合適的資產來充實我們的投資組合。正如我過去所說，我們正在尋找能夠提升我們軟體服務投資組合價值的資產。我認為我們尋求的是更具成果導向的收購。我們會嚴格控制資本配置，但這仍然是我們非常活躍的領域。

And then maybe a follow-up, just as we look at the backlog and then into next year, how do we think about your ability to grow earnings, I guess, more -- and revenue, I guess? We used to have a 12 month backlog, but just how -- if you can give us any kind of thoughts on -- into next year?

接下來還有個問題，我們來看看積壓訂單的情況，以及明年的情況。您覺得貴公司能否進一步提升獲利，或者說收入呢？我們之前的積壓訂單是12個月，您能不能跟我們談談對明年積壓訂單的看法？

Yeah. We stopped talking about on the call the 12 month backlog a quarter ago because we thought it was actually getting confusing to investors because it is essentially a snapshot in time of the timing the customer wants in terms of the deployment, and it changes all the time.

是的。我們一個季度前就不再在電話會議上討論12個月的積壓訂單了，因為我們認為這實際上會讓投資者感到困惑，因為它本質上是客戶在部署方面所期望時間的一個快照，而且它一直在變化。

If I think about the broader question, kind of what's the trajectory going into next year, as Tom said, it's a little too soon to say here's what we expect for '26. We do expect growth year over year from '26 over the '25 numbers we've just provided. A lot is going to depend on how back-end loaded the bookings are this year.

如果我考慮一個更廣泛的問題，例如明年的發展軌跡，正如湯姆所說，現在就預測2026年的業績還為時過早。我們確實預計2026年業績會比我們剛剛提供的2025年數據年增。這很大程度取決於今年的預訂量。

So obviously, last year was very back-end loaded with by far the biggest percentage of our bookings in Q4. If that were to repeat itself, that tends to push the revenue out a little bit. If Q3 is a really strong bookings quarter, that tends to make it more -- potentially more growth in '26.

顯然，去年我們的預訂量很大，第四季的預訂量佔比最高。如果這種情況再次發生，收入往往會略微下降。如果第三季的預訂量非常強勁，那麼2026年的營收成長可能會更大。

But again, a little too soon to talk about that. We're comfortable we've got a good pipeline of opportunities to get to the 1:1 bookings that Tom mentioned.

不過，現在談論這個還為時過早。我們很確定，我們有很多機會可以實現湯姆提到的1:1預訂量。

Thanks, Joe. Thanks, Tom.

謝謝，喬。謝謝，湯姆。

Joseph Osha, Guggenheim Partners.

古根漢合夥人公司約瑟夫‧奧沙。

Thank you. Good morning. I have two questions. First, I'm wondering if some of this greater complexity that regulators are talking about might reflect a change in the nature of the projects themselves, the services and products that you're delivering becoming more complicated and perhaps a little more difficult for regulators to understand. Is that maybe part of what's going on here?

謝謝。早安.我有兩個問題。首先，我想知道監管機構所說的這種日益複雜的局面，是否反映了專案本身性質的變化，你們提供的服務和產品也變得更加複雜，或許監管機構也更難理解。這是否是目前情況的一部分？

No, I don't think so. I would look at it in a broader context, Joe. It's the regulators are primarily focused on what is the rate that ultimately would be flowing through to the consumers in their territory. They're primarily economic regulators.

不，我不這麼認為。喬，我會從更廣闊的角度來看這個問題。監管機構主要關注的是最終流向其管轄範圍內消費者的電價。他們主要是經濟監管機構。

So they're trying to balance the pressure that consumers are under from a cost perspective with the needs of new technology that utilities are trying to deploy to achieve their mandate of more resilient and reliable service overall.

因此，他們試圖從成本角度平衡消費者所承受的壓力與公用事業公司試圖部署的新技術的需求，以實現其整體上更具彈性和更可靠的服務的要求。

So it is that natural push and pull, if you will, that is present on the minds of the regulators. The value that we provide our customers is what we work on to make sure that we help the customer put the right rate case forward to make sure that the regulator can clearly see the return on any investment they would make.

所以，如果你願意這麼說的話，這就是監管機構心中自然而然的推拉關係。我們為客戶提供的價值正是我們努力的方向，以確保我們幫助客戶提出正確的利率方案，確保監管機構能夠清楚地看到他們所做的任何投資的回報。

And generally, rate cases are being approved when they are put forward. So I haven't seen the process stall. That isn't the point that we wanted to make. But it is a bit more complicated just in a general sense as utilities are trying to juggle some pretty big CapEx deployment to be able to keep up with demand as well as cope with the supply constraints that are out there.

一般來說，費率方案一提出就會獲得批准。所以我沒有看到流程停滯。這不是我們想要表達的觀點。但總體而言，情況確實有點複雜，因為公用事業公司正在努力平衡一些相當大的資本支出部署，以滿足需求並應對現有的供應限制。

Regulators are trying to make sure that it is a reasonable deal with the right return on investment, and it isn't going to cause undue consumer spending constraints overall. So that's more the environment. It has less to do with Itron's specific portfolio.

監管機構正努力確保這是一筆合理的交易，能夠帶來合理的投資回報，並且不會對整體消費者支出造成過度的限制。所以，這更多的是環境因素，與Itron的具體投資組合關係不大。

Okay. Well, that's interesting because I feel like there's another point coming out here. If I go back to, I think it was Jeff's point earlier about utility CapEx generally going up, which it is. It sounds like you're saying, yes, it is, but you're getting some PUC pushback because of ratepayer and political unhappiness with retail rates. Is that part of it? It's just this intersection of the need to spend money with, I think what we all know are very, very high retail rates at the moment?

好的。嗯，這很有意思，因為我覺得這裡還有另一個問題。回過頭來看，我想應該是傑夫之前提到的公用事業資本支出普遍上漲的問題，事實確實如此。聽起來你的意思是，是的，確實如此，但由於納稅人和政界人士對零售電價的不滿，公共事業委員會（PUC）也受到了一些阻力。這是原因之一嗎？這只是需要花錢的因素，我想我們都知道，目前的零售電價非常非常高。

Yes.

是的。

Okay. That's interesting. Thank you very much.

好的。這很有趣。非常感謝。

Sure.

當然。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員指示）

Chip Moore, Roth Capital Partners.

羅斯資本合夥公司的奇普摩爾 (Chip Moore)。

Morning. Thanks for taking the question. Maybe just on -- a little bit more on Europe. It looks like you're starting to see some early traction at least on edge intelligence over there. Just how to think about that opportunity over the next, call it, four to five years?

早安.感謝您回答這個問題。我想再多談談歐洲的情況。看起來您至少在那裡看到了邊緣智慧的一些初步進展。您如何看待未來四、五年內這個機會？

You're correct. We have seen a re-emergence of interest on the European side of things where they had gotten through their original, call it, AMI 1.0 deployment, which was a pretty basic meter to cash kind of setup. And they absolutely are understanding the need now to get more value out of the distribution network with things like distributed intelligence and just edge intelligence overall.

你說得對。我們看到歐洲方面對此事重新燃起了興趣，他們之前已經完成了最初的AMI 1.0部署，這是一種非常基本的電錶到現金的設置。現在他們完全理解需要利用分散式智慧和邊緣智慧等技術，從配電網路中獲取更多價值。

So we have been mindful of making sure we are getting the right margin profile associated with these things. We're focused on selling complete solutions rather than individual piece parts to make sure that it does generate the right return. And as we work with customers on that, we absolutely have seen more success in this particular area.

因此，我們一直致力於確保獲得與這些產品相關的合理利潤率。我們專注於銷售完整的解決方案，而非單一零件，以確保其能夠產生合理的回報。隨著我們與客戶在這方面的合作，我們在這一領域取得了顯著的成功。

I would say that it's important for us to keep the right balance here. We want to make sure that the associated value that we create for our shareholders and our customers is well aligned when we do those arrangements.

我想說，保持適當的平衡對我們來說很重要。我們希望確保在進行這些安排時，我們為股東和客戶創造的相關價值能夠協調一致。

But I do see the European market, Western Europe specifically as a more active place for us in the years to come. That's on top of the water business, which -- yeah, just -- I don't want to gloss over it. It is on top of the water business, which continues to hum along at a pretty nice clip for us.

但我確實認為歐洲市場，尤其是西歐市場，在未來幾年對我們來說會更活躍。這還是在水務業務之上，是的，只是——我不想掩蓋這一點。它在我們水務業務之上，而水務業務目前正以相當不錯的速度發展。

Thanks, Tom. I appreciate it.

謝謝，湯姆。我很感激。

Sure.

當然。

Scott Graham, Seaport Research Partners.

格雷厄姆（Scott Graham），海港研究合作夥伴。

Yes, hi, good morning. I want to see if you're able to answer this question. Your '27 aspirational goal of $2.6 billion to $2.8 billion in sales. Does this sort of near-term couple, three quarters of uncertainty change that?

是的，早安。我想看看您能否回答這個問題。您2027年的銷售目標是26億美元到28億美元。這種短期內幾季的不確定性會改變這個目標嗎？

No. There's no change to the targets we have for '27. We never expected when we set these in early '24 that it would be a straight line, but we still feel very confident in the '27 targets.

不。我們2027年的目標沒有改變。我們在2024年初設定這些目標時，從未想到它會是一條直線，但我們仍然對2027年的目標充滿信心。

Got it. Thank you for that. And then while I have you, Joan, the mix factors, obviously, mix played a big role. Could you maybe isolate the one, two, three mix factors across the businesses, which drove the gross margin, largest ones?

明白了。謝謝你。瓊，既然你這麼說，那麼組合因素顯然發揮了很大的作用。你能不能從各個業務中分別列出一、二、三個組合因素，看看它們對毛利率的影響有多大？

Well, again, one of the earlier comments I kind of made by segment, they're really different in each segment. In the case of devices versus a year ago, we had some low-margin electricity products that we essentially end of life when we closed that factory.

嗯，再次強調，我之前提到過，每個細分市場的情況確實不同。就設備而言，與一年前相比，我們有一些低利潤的電力產品，當我們關閉那家工廠時，這些產品基本上就停產了。

So the device business has done really well with water in general, the water margins are higher than the electric product margins. So structurally, that has taken place as we expected and in fact, a little faster than we expected. In the case of Networks, there's a lot going on under Networks. It's different customers with different price points of their deployments, different stages of their deployments.

整體而言，設備業務在水務方面表現良好，水務利潤率高於電力產品利潤率。因此，從結構上看，這符合我們的預期，實際上比我們預期的要快一些。就網路業務而言，網路業務有很多業務。不同的客戶，其部署價格點不同，部署階段也不同。

But in general, all of our segments have been focused on pruning their portfolio to accelerate margin growth. And I think they've all done a really nice job of doing that. Outcomes margins has more room to go up. And as we've talked about in the past, if you get a higher software content quarter, you'll end up with higher margins, but I think they're on their pace to hit the margin targets for '27 as well.

但總體而言，我們所有部門都專注於精簡產品組合，以加速利潤率成長。我認為他們在這方面做得都非常好。成果利潤率還有更大的上升空間。正如我們之前提到的，如果一個季度的軟體內容收入更高，最終利潤率也會更高，但我認為他們也正在穩步實現2027年的利潤率目標。

Great. Thank you. And if I may just sneak this last one in the Outcomes sales sub-10% for the first time in a number of quarters. Is there anything we should read into that? Because that, as you have talked about, is led by Networks on the delay there and Networks was really strong for up until fourth quarter, double digit. Is the second half outlook for Outcomes kind of the same high single? Or do we get back to double digit?

太好了，謝謝。最後我想提一下，Outcomes 的銷售額在幾個季度以來首次低於 10%。我們該從中解讀出什麼？正如您所說，這是因為 Networks 的延遲導致的，而 Networks 的銷售額在第四季度之前一直表現強勁，達到了兩位數。 Outcomes 下半年的預期會是同樣的高個位數成長嗎？還是會回到兩位數？

So, again, we don't guide by segment, but I would say I don't think there's anything structurally different with the Outcomes business. And to the extent it's been continuing to grow year over year, we would continue to see that.

所以，再次強調，我們不會根據細分市場來制定指導，但我認為，Outcomes 業務在結構上並沒有什麼不同。而且，就其逐年持續成長而言，我們預計這種情況會持續下去。

Right. The real drivers inside of that, things like DI-capable endpoints being up 36% year over year. We still have [$10 million-plus in backlog. We've got 18 million-plus] license that -- applications that have been licensed. That's up about 140% year over year. So the business is still ticking along as we would like. I wouldn't read into 1 point below the 10% threshold as anything other than just normal ebb and flow on a quarterly basis.

對。其中真正的驅動因素是，支援 DI 的終端同比增長了 36%。我們仍有 [1000 多萬美元的積壓訂單。我們已經獲得了 1800 多萬個應用程式的許可。這比去年同期增長了約 140%。所以，業務仍在以我們希望的方式發展。我不會將低於 10% 門檻的 1 個百分點解讀為其他什麼，而只是季度性的正常波動。

Appreciate your responses. Thank you.

感謝您的回覆。謝謝。

Thank you. I'm showing no further questions in the Q&A queue at this time. I will now turn the call back over to Mr. Tom Deitrich for any closing remarks.

謝謝。目前在問答環節沒有其他問題了。現在我將把電話轉回給湯姆·迪特里希先生，請他做最後發言。

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

謝謝你，莉迪亞。感謝大家參加我們的電話會議，我們期待下個季度再次向大家報告最新情況。

This concludes today's conference. Thank you for your participation, and you may now disconnect.

今天的會議到此結束。感謝您的參與，現在可以斷開連接了。