Knife River Corp (KNF) 2025 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Knife River Corporation fourth quarter and full year 2025 results conference call. (Operator Instructions) This call is being recorded on Tuesday, February 17, 2026. I would now like to turn the conference over to Dara Dierks, VP of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

女士、先生們，早安，歡迎參加 Knife River Corporation 2025 年第四季及全年業績電話會議。（操作員指示）本次通話於2026年2月17日星期二進行錄音。現在我將把會議交給投資者關係副總裁達拉·迪爾克斯。請繼續。

Thank you, and welcome to everyone joining us for the Knife River Corporation fourth quarter and full-year results conference call. My name is Dara Dierks, VP of IR at Knife River, I'm joined by our President and Chief Executive Officer, Brian Gray; and Chief Financial Officer, Nathan Ring. Today's discussion will contain forward-looking statements about future operational and financial expectations. Actual results may differ materially from those projected in today's forward-looking statements. For further detail, please refer to today's earnings release and the risk factors disclosed in our most recent filings with the SEC which are available on our website and the SEC website.

謝謝各位參加 Knife River 公司第四季及全年業績電話會議，歡迎各位參加。我是 Knife River 的投資者關係副總裁 Dara Dierks，與我一同出席的還有我們的總裁兼執行長 Brian Gray 和財務長 Nathan Ring。今天的討論將包含有關未來營運和財務預期的前瞻性陳述。實際結果可能與今天發布的預測性聲明中所描述的結果有重大差異。更多詳情請參閱我們今天發布的收益報告以及我們最近向美國證券交易委員會提交的文件中披露的風險因素，這些文件可在我們的網站和美國證券交易委員會的網站上查閱。

Except as required by law, we undertake no obligation to update our forward-looking statements. During this presentation, we will make reference to certain non-GAAP information. These non-GAAP measures are defined and reconciled to the most directly comparable GAAP measure in today's earnings release and investor presentation. These materials are also available on our website. For today's call, first, Brian will begin with an overview of our 2025 results, followed by a segment recap and areas of focus for 2026 and beyond. After that, Nathan will provide quarterly details, a capital update, and our 2026 guidance. At the conclusion of our prepared remarks, we will open the line for a question-and-answer session.

除法律要求外，我們不承擔更新前瞻性聲明的義務。在本次示範中，我們將提及某些非GAAP資訊。這些非GAAP指標的定義和與最直接可比較的GAAP指標的調整，已在今天的獲利報告和投資者簡報中公佈。這些資料也可在我們的網站上找到。在今天的電話會議上，首先，Brian 將概述我們 2025 年的業績，然後回顧各個業務板塊，並展望 2026 年及以後的重點領域。之後，Nathan 將提供季度詳情、資本更新以及我們 2026 年的業績指引。在我們發言結束後，我們將開放問答環節。

With that, I'll turn the call over to Brian.

接下來，我將把電話交給布萊恩。

Thank you, Dara. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us. 2025 was a year of meaningful strategic progress. At the start of the year, I mentioned three focus areas.

謝謝你，達拉。各位早安，感謝各位的參與。 2025年是取得意義重大的策略進展的一年。年初時，我提到了三個重點領域。

And today, I'm pleased to report strong progress in all of them. First, we said that we are in a position to have our most profitable year ever, and we did growing adjusted EBITDA 7% to $497 million. Second, we highlighted that our acquisition program was ramping into full swing. We completed five deals in 2025 and expect to have another busy year in 2026. And third, that we will continue to invest in our competitive EDGE initiatives to support long-term growth. We have, and our results reinforce that this strategy is working. There's no question we are a better company today than we were a year ago.

今天，我很高興地報告，所有這些方面都取得了顯著進展。首先，我們說過我們有能力迎來有史以來獲利最高的一年，而我們也確實做到了，調整後的 EBITDA 成長了 7%，達到 4.97 億美元。其次，我們強調了我們的收購計劃正在全面展開。我們在 2025 年完成了五筆交易，預計 2026 年也將是忙碌的一年。第三，我們將繼續投資我們的競爭優勢計劃，以支持長期成長。我們已經進行了嘗試，結果也證實了這個策略是有效的。毫無疑問，我們現在比一年前更強大。

While 2025 started slower than anticipated, we finished strong. Our team advanced our Edge initiatives throughout the year, building momentum in the second half that resulted in a very good fourth quarter. We entered 2026 with confidence and clear sense of momentum. We believe we are well positioned to continue growing our business. We have built the right team, we operate in the right markets, and we're executing the right strategy.

2025 年開局比預期緩慢，但我們最終取得了強勁的收官。我們的團隊全年都在推進我們的Edge計劃，並在下半年積蓄了力量，最終在第四季度取得了非常好的成績。我們滿懷信心地邁入了2026年，並明顯感受到了發展勢頭。我們相信我們已做好充分準備，能夠繼續發展業務。我們組建了合適的團隊，在合適的市場中運營，並且正在執行正確的策略。

There are four components to our growth strategy that we believe differentiate Knife River as the employer, supplier, acquirer, and investment of choice: first is our markets; second is vertical integration; third is the opportunity for self-help to improve margins; and fourth is our life and Knight culture and relentless drive for excellence. These factors are key to growing our business and creating long-term shareholder value. Let me tell you how.

我們相信，Knife River 的成長策略包含四個組成部分，這使它成為雇主、供應商、收購方和投資的首選：第一是我們的市場；第二是垂直整合；第三是自助提高利潤率的機會；第四是我們的生活和騎士文化以及對卓越的不懈追求。這些因素是發展業務和創造長期股東價值的關鍵。讓我來告訴你怎麼做。

First, our markets. Knight River states are forecasted to grow twice as fast as non-Knife River states over the next 20 years. Our strong position in these higher-growth areas present many opportunities for expansion, whether as through the organic growth as people migrate to our states or grow through M&A. There are literally hundreds of opportunities to expand within our territory as family-owned vertically integrated companies look to sell. Often, Knife River is the first call as they want to work with the company they know and they trust.

首先，我們來看市場。預計未來 20 年，奈特河沿岸各州的成長速度將是非奈夫河沿岸各州的兩倍。我們在這些高成長領域的強大地位帶來了許多擴張機會，無論是隨著人們遷移到我們所在的州而實現的自然成長，還是透過併購實現的成長。在我們地區，有數百家家族式垂直整合公司尋求出售，因此存在著數百個擴張機會。通常情況下，Knife River 是客戶的首選，因為他們希望與自己了解和信任的公司合作。

2025 was an active year for acquisitions, and we expect an equally busy year in 2026. We've completed one bolt-on deal already in Montana and expect -- we'll be announcing more deals before the busy construction season starts. We will maintain a disciplined focus on aggregate-based, vertically integrated opportunities in midsized higher-growth markets. Knife River is truly the acquirer of choice in our expanding markets.

2025 年是收購活動活躍的一年，我們預期 2026 年也將是同樣繁忙的一年。我們已經在蒙大拿州完成了一筆附加交易，預計在繁忙的施工季節開始之前，我們將宣布更多交易。我們將繼續專注於中型高成長市場中以總量為基礎的垂直整合機會。在不斷擴張的市場中，Knife River 無疑是首選的收購者。

Moving from markets to vertical integration. We believe our strategy to be an aggregates-based, end-to-end provider enhances our value. Our balanced mix of aggregates (technical difficulty) all aspects of our business. We are taking actions intended to drive EBITDA growth and margin expansion for all of our product lines. We are standardizing best practices, optimizing prices, and controlling costs. Our commercial excellence teams are utilizing our pricing and quoting tools to get the most value for our materials.

從市場轉向垂直整合。我們相信，我們作為一家以聚合為基礎的端到端服務提供者的策略，能夠提升我們的價值。我們均衡的骨材組合（技術難度）涵蓋了我們業務的各個方面。我們正在採取措施，旨在推動所有產品線的 EBITDA 成長和利潤率擴張。我們正在規範最佳實踐，優化價格，並控製成本。我們的卓越商務團隊正在利用我們的定價和報價工具，為我們的材料爭取最大價值。

Our dynamic pricing strategy helped drive 9% improvements in aggregates in 2025, and we'll continue to focus on optimizing pricing in 2026. At the same time, we are intent on managing our costs. In the West and Mountain segments, our aggregates cost per ton were down in the second half of 2025 compared to the same period last year. We continue to find opportunities to lower variable operating costs in aggregates and this is a major focus of our pit crews and production teams in 2026.

我們的動態定價策略幫助推動了 2025 年骨材價格上漲 9%，我們將繼續專注於在 2026 年優化定價。同時，我們也致力於控製成本。在西部和山區，2025 年下半年我們的每噸骨材成本比去年同期有所下降。我們將繼續尋找降低骨材可變營運成本的機會，這也是我們維修團隊和生產團隊在 2026 年的主要工作重點。

Finally, what differentiates Knife River and makes this company so special to me is our life at night culture. We believe that putting people first will retain and attract team members who are driven to win and who are committed to helping us be excellent in everything we do.

最後，Knife River 的獨特之處，也是這家公司對我來說如此特別的原因，在於我們夜生活文化。我們相信，以人為本能夠留住並吸引那些渴望勝利、致力於幫助我們在所有工作中做到卓越的團隊成員。

We believe an engaged team is a safer team and a more profitable team. We just had our safest year ever, and I look forward to the ideas, improvements, and growth opportunities that our engaged team will help us achieve in 2026 and beyond. Combined, we believe these factors will help us generate unprecedented growth for Knife River.

我們相信，積極投入的團隊是更安全的團隊，也是更有獲利的團隊。我們剛剛經歷了有史以來最安全的一年，我期待著我們積極進取的團隊在 2026 年及以後能夠幫助我們實現各種想法、改進和發展機會。我們相信，這些因素結合起來將有助於 Knife River 實現前所未有的成長。

Moving from our strategy to our markets, we continue to enjoy a favorable backdrop. In addition to population growth, we stand to benefit from increased federal, state, and local funding to maintain and rebuild America's infrastructure. Our states are investing in infrastructure at record levels. DOT budgets across our segments are very healthy. And in our 14 states, approximately 46% of IIJA funding remains to be dispersed. Strong public budgets provide multiyear visibility, and we fully expect Congress to reauthorize another long-term infrastructure bill. Because of these strong budgets, we entered 2026 with record backlog of $1 billion, a 38% increase from this time last year. While approximately 90% of our backlog is public work, we're beginning to see more private opportunities. This includes data centers as well as distribution and manufacturing facilities. But again, the bulk of our backlog is lower risk public paving projects with contract values of less than $5 million.

從我們的策略到我們的市場，我們繼續享有有利的環境。除了人口成長之外，我們還將受益於聯邦、州和地方政府增加對美國基礎設施的維護和重建資金。我們各州正以前所未有的規模投資基礎設施。我們各業務部門的交通部預算狀況良好。在我們14個州中，約有46%的IIJA資金尚未發放。強而有力的公共預算能夠提供多年的可見性，我們完全相信國會將重新授權另一項長期基礎設施法案。由於這些強勁的預算，我們進入 2026 年時，積壓訂單額達到了創紀錄的 10 億美元，比去年同期增長了 38%。雖然我們積壓的工作中約有 90% 是公共項目，但我們開始看到越來越多的私人項目機會。這包括資料中心以及分銷和製造設施。但同樣，我們積壓的大部分項目都是風險較低的公共道路鋪設項目，合約金額低於 500 萬美元。

Next, I'll discuss what we see ahead in each of our segments. Starting with the West, we're excited with the progress we made in 2025. Record profitability in our legacy Pacific operations more than offset a softer economy in Oregon. We continue to be the West as being well positioned for growth in 2026. In California, Alaska, and Hawaii, we are seeing elevated levels of public activity including heightened military spending.

接下來，我將討論我們各個板塊的未來發展趨勢。先從西部地區說起，我們對2025年的進展感到興奮。我們在太平洋地區的傳統業務實現了創紀錄的盈利，足以抵消俄勒岡州經濟疲軟的影響。我們仍然認為西方國家在 2026 年擁有良好的成長前景。在加州、阿拉斯加州和夏威夷州，我們看到公共活動水準升高，包括軍事開支增加。

An example of this is the P209 dry dock project in Hawaii, where the Navy is investing approximately $3 billion on much needed infrastructure improvements. We began supplying cement and ready mix of this project in the fourth quarter and anticipate strong volumes in 2026.

例如，海軍在夏威夷的 P209 幹船塢項目上投資了約 30 億美元，用於急需的基礎設施改進。我們從第四季開始為該專案供應水泥和預拌混凝土，預計 2026 年銷售量將大幅成長。

We're also seeing opportunities on the private side, including residential in California and work on the North -- in Alaska. Moving to Oregon, I'm happy to report that our financial results were once again better this quarter than a year ago, and EBITDA margins for the year remained above 20%. The DOT funding landscape continues to be fluid, but Oregon's approved construction budget for 2026 is comparable to (technical difficulty) signs in the private market including increased activity in data centers, warehouses, and pockets of residential development. We will continue monitoring conditions closely. But based on what we know today, we expect Oregon's performance in 2026 to be broadly in line with 2025 results, while the remainder of the West segment continues to grow.

我們也看到了私人領域的機遇，包括加州的住宅項目和阿拉斯加北部地區的項目。搬到俄勒岡州後，我很高興地報告，本季我們的財務表現再次優於去年同期，全年 EBITDA 利潤率維持在 20% 以上。交通部的資金狀況仍然不穩定，但俄勒岡州 2026 年批准的建設預算與（技術難度）私人市場標誌相當，包括資料中心、倉庫和住宅開發項目的增加。我們將繼續密切關注事態發展。但根據我們目前所了解的情況，我們預計俄勒岡州 2026 年的表現將與 2025 年的結果大致持平，而西部其他地區將繼續成長。

In the Mountain segment, we closed out 2025 with a strong fourth quarter. This was driven largely by good weather, which allowed us to work late into December. Construction revenue was up almost 20% for the quarter, compared to the same time last year. The work performed includes asphalt paving, which positively impacted our Upstream Materials division. Asphalt margins for the quarter improved 400 basis points, and we stand to benefit from record backlog entering 2026 which contains more asphalt paving than we performed in all of 2025.

在山區板塊，我們以強勁的第四季業績為 2025 年畫上了圓滿的句號。這主要得益於良好的天氣，使我們能夠一直工作到十二月下旬。本季建築業營收比去年同期成長近 20%。所完成的工作包括瀝青鋪路，這對我們的上游材料部門產生了積極的影響。本季瀝青利潤率提高了 400 個基點，我們將受益於 2026 年創紀錄的積壓訂單，這些訂單包含的瀝青鋪設量將超過我們 2025 年全年的鋪設量。

We also had a strong quarter in ready-mix. Pricing outpaced costs, resulting in margin improvement of 400 basis points. We continue to strengthen our leadership team with more materials focused talent, and we believe these actions have put the region in an even better position to perform work on a growing list of private projects. In particular, days under work in Wyoming and semiconductor construction in Idaho by creating significant new bidding opportunities for the Mountain region.

我們的預拌混凝土業務本季也表現強勁。物價上漲速度超過成本上漲速度，利潤率提高了 400 個基點。我們不斷吸收更多專注於材料領域的優秀人才來加強我們的領導團隊，我們相信這些舉措將使該地區在開展日益增多的私人項目方面處於更有利的地位。具體而言，懷俄明州的施工日和愛達荷州的半導體建設為山區創造了重要的全新投標機會。

Turning to the Central segment, 2025 was a pivotal year. We completed three acquisitions combined the legacy North Central and South regions and made important progress on several competitive edge initiatives. These efforts are enhancing operational success and setting the stage for improved performance this year. The addition of Strata was Knife River's largest acquisition ever and we are pleased with the integration.

就中部地區而言，2025 年是關鍵的年份。我們完成了三項收購，合併了原有的中北部和南部地區，並在幾項競爭優勢舉措中取得了重要進展。這些舉措正在提升營運效率，並為今年業績的提升奠定基礎。Strata 的加入是 Knife River 有史以來最大的收購，我們對整合工作感到非常滿意。

We expect Strata to continue performing well in 2026 as we fully leverage our synergies and take advantage of North Dakota's record DOT budget. We're also expecting meaningful volume growth from the addition of Text Creek, our new ready-mix operations in Central Texas.

我們預計 Strata 在 2026 年將繼續保持良好的業績，因為我們將充分發揮協同效應，並利用北達科他州創紀錄的交通部預算。我們也預計，隨著我們在德克薩斯州中部新成立的預拌混凝土業務 Text Creek 的投產，產量將顯著成長。

The central region continues to see improved public infrastructure spending is expected to have its busiest contracting services a year ever, as our teams start construction on the $112 million highway project in Texas and the $62 million highway 85 project in North Dakota.

中部地區的公共基礎設施支出持續改善，預計今年將是承包服務最繁忙的一年，因為我們的團隊將開始在德克薩斯州建設價值 1.12 億美元的高速公路項目，以及在北達科他州建設價值 6200 萬美元的 85 號公路項目。

Lastly, turning to Energy Services, this segment remains margin accretive and an important component of our vertically integrated business model. We look forward to the second full year of operations at Albina Asphalt as we begin to fully implement and realize the operational improvements we've been making. Also in 2026, we'll continue targeting the sale of higher-margin value-added products, which we manufacture through one of our nine terminals. All in all, we are well positioned for growth in 2026.

最後，談到能源服務，該業務板塊仍然能夠增加利潤，並且是我們垂直整合業務模式的重要組成部分。我們期待 Albina Asphalt 第二個完整的營運年度，屆時我們將開始全面實施並實現我們一直在進行的營運改善。2026年，我們將繼續瞄準利潤率更高的增值產品的銷售，這些產品是我們透過九個終端中的一個生產的。總而言之，我們已為2026年的成長做好了充分準備。

With that, I'll turn the call over to Nathan to walk through our financial results for the fourth quarter.

接下來，我將把電話交給內森，讓他來介紹我們第四季的財務表現。

Thank you, and good morning, everyone. As Brian mentioned, we finished 2025 with an impressive fourth quarter that produced 47% higher adjusted EBITDA and a 340 basis point improvement in adjusted EBITDA margin. Across our product lines, gross profit was up 27% for the quarter, and we achieved a record gross margin of nearly 19%. These positive results were driven by a combination of our cost controls, acquisition contributions, and more favorable weather. The quarter was especially strong for aggregates, with volumes increasing by 17%, partly related to our recent acquisitions, along with improved market conditions in the west.

謝謝大家，大家早安。正如布萊恩所提到的，我們在 2025 年第四季取得了令人矚目的成績，調整後 EBITDA 成長了 47%，調整後 EBITDA 利潤率提高了 340 個基點。本季度，我們所有產品線的毛利成長了 27%，毛利率創下近 19% 的歷史新高。這些正面成果得益於我們的成本控制、收購貢獻以及更有利的天氣等多方面因素。本季骨材業務表現尤為強勁，銷量成長了 17%，部分原因是由於我們最近的收購以及西部市場狀況的改善。

Aggregates pricing increased by 8%, supported by the Strata acquisition. Even without Strata, prices at our legacy operations would have had a solid increase of mid-single digits and aggregates gross margins increased by 200 basis points related to our ongoing pit crew improvements and recouping preproduction costs incurred earlier in the year.

受 Strata 收購案的推動，骨材價格上漲了 8%。即使沒有 Strata，我們傳統業務的價格也會穩步上漲，達到中等個位數，毛利率也會提高 200 個基點，這與我們持續改進維修團隊以及收回年初產生的生產前成本有關。

For 2026, we expect our aggregates volumes to grow mid-single digits as market demand continues to improve and the amount of our internal paving work increases. We also expect that pricing will increase mid-single digits as we continue our dynamic pricing discipline. With this backdrop and the continued focus on cost control and operational efficiencies, we anticipate continued aggregates margin expansion in 2026 of approximately 200 basis points.

預計到 2026 年，隨著市場需求持續改善和我們內部鋪路工程量的增加，我們的骨材產量將實現中等個位數的成長。我們也預計，隨著我們繼續推行動態定價策略，價格將出現中等個位數的成長。在此背景下，並持續關注成本控制和營運效率，我們預計到 2026 年骨材利潤率將繼續擴大約 200 個基點。

Moving to ready-mix. We saw strong volume increases in the quarter of 20% in gross margin lift of 230 basis points. Similar to aggregates, the volume increase was supported by improved market conditions in the West as well as the acquisitions of Strata and Texcrete in the central. We see these contributions continuing into this year with volumes improving in the mid-teens.

改用預拌混凝土。本季銷售強勁成長 20%，毛利率提升 230 個基點。與骨材類似，西部市場狀況的改善以及對中部 Strata 和 Texcrete 的收購支撐了銷售的成長。我們預計這些貢獻將持續到今年，數量將改善至十幾個百分點。

Margin improvement was balanced across all geographic segments with Mountain showing the strongest gains driven by the implementation of operational efficiencies identified by our pit crews. Asphalt benefited from more paving work in the quarter, producing an increase in internal sales volumes of more than 8%. Lower input costs of liquid asphalt put downward pressure on pricing. However, we manage the price cost spread effectively and maintain margins comparable to the prior year. Looking ahead, we anticipate volumes will increase mid-single digits as we expect more paving work in 2026 than we performed last year.

各地區利潤率均有所提高，其中山區的利潤率提高最為顯著，這得益於我們維修站工作人員提出的營運效率改進措施的實施。本季瀝青路面鋪設工程增多，內部銷售量成長超過 8%。液態瀝青投入成本降低，對價格造成了下行壓力。但是，我們有效地控制了價格成本差，並保持了與去年相當的利潤率。展望未來，我們預計 2026 年的鋪路工程量將比去年增加中等個位數，因為我們預計 2026 年的鋪路工程量將比去年增加。

In contracting services, revenue grew 15%, with many locations enjoying favorable weather and availability of work. Mountain had the largest upside related to this extended season with almost 20% more contracting services revenue. Overall, we did experience an anticipated decline in contracting services gross margin, largely related to lower margin on backlog as well as the timing of project completion and job performance incentives compared to last year.

承包服務收入增加了 15%，許多地區氣候宜人，工作機會也很多。由於賽季延長，山地業務的收益最大，承包服務收入增加了近 20%。總體而言，我們的承包服務毛利率確實出現了預期的下降，這主要是由於積壓訂單的利潤率較低，以及與去年相比，專案完成時間和工作績效激勵措施有所變化。

Looking forward, backlog increased 38% to approximately $1 billion, with 75% expected to be completed in 2026. While expected backlog margins are lower than a year ago, we anticipate higher gross margin in contracting services in 2026 as we expect to self-perform more asphalt paving, which typically results in project performance gains and the opportunity for quality incentives. The increased paving in our backlog also provides the benefit of pulling through our higher-margin upstream materials, positively impacting product line gross margins.

展望未來，積壓訂單增加 38% 至約 10 億美元，預計 75% 將於 2026 年完成。雖然預計積壓訂單利潤率低於一年前，但我們預計 2026 年承包服務的毛利率將更高，因為我們預計將自行完成更多的瀝青鋪路工作，這通常會帶來專案績效的提高和獲得品質激勵的機會。積壓訂單中鋪路工程的增加也帶來了好處，即可以消耗掉利潤率更高的上游材料，從而對產品線毛利率產生積極影響。

Switching to SG&A. The increase over fourth quarter last year was in line with our expectations and primarily related to business development costs associated with acquiring companies and the administrative costs that came with those acquisitions.

改為銷售、一般及行政費用。與去年第四季相比，成長符合我們的預期，主要與收購公司相關的業務發展成本以及這些收購帶來的管理成本有關。

In 2026, we expect SG&A to be in line with 2025 as a percentage of revenue and then begin trending lower in future years as we scale and fully capture synergies from acquisitions. Continuing with our growth strategy and capital deployment, we had a very productive year as we invested $789 million across our growth initiatives, including five acquisitions, four aggregates reserve expansions, and multiple organic projects. We expect these investments to be accretive to our margin profile and help us achieve our EBITDA targets for 2026 and beyond.

我們預計，到 2026 年，銷售、一般及行政費用佔收入的百分比將與 2025 年持平，然後隨著我們擴大規模並充分發揮收購帶來的協同效應，未來幾年將呈下降趨勢。我們繼續推動成長策略和資本部署，今年取得了豐碩成果，我們在各項成長計畫中投資了 7.89 億美元，其中包括五項收購、四項骨材儲量擴張和多個內部項目。我們預計這些投資將提升我們的利潤率，並幫助我們實現 2026 年及以後的 EBITDA 目標。

We also allocated capital to maintain our rolling stock and plants as well as invest in improvements to increase production and efficiency. Our maintenance capital expenditures of $170 million or 6% of revenue were in line with our range of 5% to 7%, given earlier in the year.

我們也撥出資金用於維護我們的鐵路車輛和工廠，並投資進行改進以提高產量和效率。我們的維護性資本支出為 1.7 億美元，佔收入的 6%，與我們年初給出的 5% 至 7% 的範圍相符。

For the full year 2026, the company expects capital expenditures for maintenance and improvement to remain between 5% and 7% of revenue and organic growth projects and reserve additions to be approximately $131 million. Capital expenditures for future acquisitions and new organic growth opportunities would be incremental to the outline capital program. Because of our disciplined capital management, we are in a strong position to continue our strategic growth program.

該公司預計，2026 年全年，用於維護和改進的資本支出將保持在收入的 5% 至 7% 之間，有機成長項目和儲備增加額約為 1.31 億美元。用於未來收購和新的內生成長機會的資本支出將在總體資本計劃之外增加。由於我們採取了嚴格的資本管理措施，我們有能力繼續推進我們的策略性成長計劃。

We ended the year with almost $75 million of unrestricted cash, approximately $475 million available on our revolving credit facility and a net leverage position of 2.2 times, which is below our long-term target of 2.5 times. Looking at 2026, we have solid cash flow, balance sheet capacity, and liquidity to support our growth strategy.

年底，我們擁有近 7,500 萬美元的非限制性現金，循環信貸額度可用額度約為 4.75 億美元，淨槓桿率為 2.2 倍，低於我們 2.5 倍的長期目標。展望 2026 年，我們擁有穩健的現金流、資產負債表能力和流動性，足以支持我們的成長策略。

Turning to our guidance. As Brian mentioned, we have a lot to be excited about for this year. With a strong infrastructure backdrop, ongoing self-help initiatives and the continued growth of the company. For 2026, we expect consolidated revenue between $3.3 billion to $3.5 billion and adjusted EBITDA between $520 million and $560 million, which implies an adjusted EBITDA margin of approximately 16% at the midpoint. As usual, this guidance assumes normal weather, economic, and operating conditions.

請參考我們的指導意見。正如布萊恩所說，今年有很多值得我們興奮的事情。憑藉強大的基礎設施基礎、持續的自助舉措和公司的持續成長。我們預計 2026 年合併收入將在 33 億美元至 35 億美元之間，調整後 EBITDA 將在 5.2 億美元至 5.6 億美元之間，這意味著調整後 EBITDA 利潤率（取中間值）約為 16%。與往常一樣，本指南假設天氣、經濟和營運條件正常。

With that, I'll turn the call over to Brian to share his closing comments.

接下來，我會把電話交給布萊恩，請他發表總結發言。

Thank you, Nathan. Knife River enjoyed considerable growth over the last three years with revenue improving by 24%, adjusted EBITDA by 58%, and adjusted EBITDA margin by 340 basis points. Our growth strategy has been working, and we believe we are just getting started. We like our growing markets, which present both organic and acquisition opportunities. We believe vertical integration enhances our value by supporting resiliency and being a profit multiplier.

謝謝你，內森。過去三年，Knife River 實現了顯著成長，營收成長了 24%，調整後 EBITDA 成長了 58%，調整後 EBITDA 利潤率成長了 340 個基點。我們的成長策略一直行之有效，我們相信這只是個開始。我們喜歡不斷成長的市場，這些市場既提供了自身發展的機會，也提供了收購機會。我們相信，垂直整合能夠增強我們的韌性，並成為利潤倍增器，從而提升我們的價值。

We have opportunities to keep improving our operations and our laser focus on controlling costs and optimizing prices, and we have a skilled team dedicated to making it all happen. We have built good momentum, and we are well positioned to deliver solid growth in 2026 and beyond. I am very excited about our future. We'll now open the call for questions.

我們有機會不斷改進運營，並專注於控製成本和優化價格，我們擁有一支技術精湛的團隊，致力於實現這一切。我們已經累積了良好的發展勢頭，並已做好充分準備，在 2026 年及以後實現穩健增長。我對我們的未來感到非常興奮。現在開始接受提問。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作說明）

Brent Thielman, DA Davidson.

布倫特·蒂爾曼，地方檢察官戴維森。

Congrats on a great finish to the year. Brian, I guess first question was just on (technical difficulty) I mean, look, you've got a great backlog here entering 2026. But the West does carry the highest margins for you and was a bit lower or maybe you could just talk about the opportunities to build on that backlog for that particular region just given its relevance to margins.

恭喜你以精彩的表現為這一年畫下圓滿的句點。布萊恩，我想第一個問題只是關於（技術難題）的。我的意思是，你看，到 2026 年，你們這裡積壓了很多工作。但西部地區的利潤率最高，而西部地區的利潤率略低，或者您可以談談鑑於該地區與利潤率的相關性，如何利用該地區積壓的訂單來增加利潤的機會。

Yes, Brent. We like the position we're in right now, record backlog, up 38% at $1 billion but you're right. We definitely have seen a shift, a geographic shift of that work more in Mountain with a record backlog and Central with a record backlog, but we have very solid funding in California, Hawaii, and Alaska. Now we don't perform per se, contracting services in Hawaii and Alaska, but we definitely supply a lot of contracting materials to subcontractors and suppliers -- contractors up in those states in Hawaii, Alaska. California, we benefited from a great year in California, and that momentum and funding is continuing in our markets.

是的，布倫特。我們對目前的狀況很滿意，積壓訂單創歷史新高，成長了 38%，達到 10 億美元，但你說得對。我們確實看到了工作重心的轉移，工作重心更多地轉移到了山區和中部地區，這兩個地區的積壓工作量都創下了歷史新高，但我們在加利福尼亞州、夏威夷州和阿拉斯加州的資金非常充足。現在我們雖然不在夏威夷和阿拉斯加直接從事承包服務，但我們確實向夏威夷、阿拉斯加這些州的承包商和分包商提供了大量的承包材料。加州市場今年情況大好，我們從中受益匪淺，而且這種勢頭和資金正在我們的市場中持續成長。

Oregon was down and it continues (technical difficulty) our backlog is down. But like I mentioned (technical difficulty) and well, looking for work. And our crews have shown this last year to be nimble and pursue work that fits them. And you can see that in the strong second half that Oregon had. And so not worried, Brent, about the backlog in the West, but there definitely is a geographic shift of that backlog to states in the mountain and the Central region.

俄勒岡州伺服器宕機，而且持續出現（技術故障），我們的積壓訂單也減少了。但正如我之前提到的（技術難題），而且，我正在找工作。過去一年，我們的員工已經展現出這種彈性，能夠找到適合自己的工作。從俄勒岡隊下半場的強勢表現就能看出這一點。所以布倫特，我並不擔心西部的積壓案件，但積壓案件確實正在轉移到山區各州和中部地區。

Okay. Understood. And I guess my follow-up, Brian and Nathan, I mean this is the second year in a row, you've been able to drive aggregates average pricing at 9%. I know there's M&A sprinkled in there and yours and the industry expectations in the mid-single-digit range here for 2026. But maybe if you could just talk about the potential levers to outperform that, just given what you've been able to do here in the last couple of years on the pricing front?

好的。明白了。我想問的是，布萊恩和內森，這已經是你們連續第二年將骨材平均價格推高至 9% 了。我知道其中穿插著一些併購活動，你和業界的預期是 2026 年的併購活動將達到個位數中段水準。但或許您可以談談有哪些潛在的槓桿可以超越目前的水平，考慮到您過去幾年在定價方面所取得的成就？

Brent, this is Nathan. I'll take the first part of that question with the increase that we've seen here in 2025 on the aggregate pricing and then turn to Brian for the levers that we see going forward. You're right, very strong year for us in terms of aggregate pricing, high single digits. And as you maybe heard in the prepared remarks, part of that has to do with Strata. Strata does have higher pricing.

布倫特，這位是內森。我先回答這個問題的第一部分，即我們在 2025 年看到的整體價格上漲，然後再請 Brian 談談我們未來將看到的槓桿作用。你說得對，就整體定價而言，我們今年的表現非常強勁，實現了接近兩位數的成長。正如你可能在事先準備好的演講稿中聽到的那樣，其中一部分與地層有關。Strata的定價確實更高。

Now part of that does relate to the way in which we account for delivery revenue. So they do have areas that they reach and there's revenue included in their average selling price. So it is higher as Strata laps itself here year over year, that's what I mentioned in the prepared remarks, we see that still continuing mid-single digits so very strong core ongoing operations, but you're at high single digits this year, mid-single digits next year, part of that just has to do with Strata overlapping or lapping itself year over year.

這其中一部分確實與我們對配送收入的會計方式有關。所以他們的確有自己的銷售區域，而且他們的平均售價也包含了收入。所以，隨著 Strata 逐年遞增，其增長率也隨之上升，正如我在準備好的發言稿中提到的那樣，我們看到其增長率仍然保持在個位數中段，核心業務持續運營非常強勁，但今年的增長率將達到個位數高段，明年則為個位數中段，部分原因在於 Strata 逐年遞增或遞增。

As far as the levers that we'll pull on, I'll turn that over to Brian.

至於我們要採取哪些措施，我會把這個問題交給布萊恩來討論。

Brent, our commercial excellence teams have been very active, implementing the new dashboards and bidding tools to support our dynamic pricing. And we spent a fair amount of time in the classrooms this year going through a lot of training focused on commercial excellence. So as you know, our dynamic pricing allows us to bid work throughout the year, and so we don't have a single letter that goes out in November, December or second ones midyear. We'll do that throughout the year and continue to optimize prices.

布倫特，我們的商業卓越團隊一直非常積極地實施新的儀錶板和競價工具，以支持我們的動態定價。今年我們花了相當多的時間在教室裡進行了大量以商業卓越為重點的培訓。如您所知，我們的動態定價機制使我們能夠全年投標，因此我們不會在 11 月、12 月或年中發出任何一封投標信。我們將全年持續進行這項工作，並不斷優化價格。

And so that rollout has been very successful. All of our legacy sites now have fully implemented dynamic pricing as we bring on acquisitions roll that out into those new sites. But right now, very good traction on our dynamic pricing going into 2026.

因此，此次推廣活動非常成功。我們所有的原有網站現在都已全面實施動態定價，隨著收購的推進，我們將把動態定價推廣到這些新網站中。但就目前而言，我們面向 2026 年的動態定價策略取得了非常好的進展。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作說明）

Trey Grooms, Stephens Inc.

Trey Grooms，Stephens Inc.

Brian, Nathan, this is Ethan on for Trey. I wanted to dive further into the puts and takes on the margin outlook that's baked into the guidance because the full year guidance seems to imply relatively modest EBITDA margin improvement. I know you mentioned that there's a geographic mix shift within the backlog, but it sounds like materials margins will be strong and services margins will also see a step up. And then of course, we know weather was a pretty large headwind to 2025. So any more color on the puts and takes on the margin guidance for 2026 would be helpful.

Brian，Nathan，我是Ethan，替Trey發言。我想更深入地探討業績指引中隱含的利潤率前景的買賣觀點，因為全年業績指引似乎暗示 EBITDA 利潤率的改善幅度相對較小。我知道你提到積壓訂單的地域組成發生了變化，但聽起來材料利潤率會很強勁，服務利潤率也會提高。當然，我們也知道天氣是 2025 年實現目標的一個相當大的不利因素。因此，如果能提供更多關於 2026 年保證金指引的看漲和看跌觀點的信息，將會很有幫助。

Yes. I'll take that one. And so good talking to you. Yes, our EBITDA mid-margin for the midpoint is going up 10 to 20 basis points from last year. And so if you look at our individual product lines, gross profit, as Nathan mentioned, we're expecting to see somewhere in that 200 basis point margin improvement in aggregates.

是的。我選那個。很高興和你聊天。是的，我們 EBITDA 中間值的利潤率比去年提高了 10 到 20 個基點。因此，如果你看我們各個產品線的毛利，正如 Nathan 所提到的，我們預計總毛利將提高 200 個基點左右。

And frankly, we're seeing margin improvements in our budgets in all of our product lines. And that really is coming from our dynamic pricing model and our pit crew initiatives fitting into up. Because -- total contribution to the Mountain and the Central regions. And those have slightly lower EBITDA margins even though -- so they too are seeing good traction and good movement in margin expansion in those regions. They are at a lower margin in the West.

坦白說，我們所有產品線的預算利潤率都提高了。這確實源自於我們的動態定價模式和我們的維修團隊計畫與此相契合。因為——對山區和中部地區的總貢獻。儘管這些地區的 EBITDA 利潤率略低，但它們在這些地區的利潤率擴張方面也取得了良好的進展和良好的勢頭。他們在西方的利潤率較低。

And so that's what's going on with that, but good traction, good movement on all of our product lines for gross profit improvements.

所以情況就是這樣，我們所有產品線都取得了良好的進展，毛利有所提高。

Got it. That's super helpful. And for the follow-up, quickly, just a question on Oregon. So at what point could we return to year-over-year growth in Oregon? And how important is funding clarity to achieving this sort of leveling out given that the easy comps, especially in the 2Q and the 3Q of 2025.

知道了。這太有幫助了。最後，快速問一個關於俄勒岡州的問題。那麼，俄勒岡州何時才能恢復到年成長呢？考慮到比較容易，尤其是在 2025 年第二季和第三季度，資金的透明度對於實現這種平衡有多重要？

And also considering the private side in Oregon seems to be doing pretty well. So any more color there would be helpful.

而且，俄勒岡州的私人企業似乎也發展得相當不錯。所以，如果能多一些顏色就更好了。

Yes. The private side definitely rebounded well in the late third quarter and benefited us well into the fourth quarter and was a big part of the success that we had in quarter-over-quarter improvements in the fourth quarter and the third quarter. Public funding is a big part of our success also in Oregon and clarity on that will be important. I can, I think, relatively safely say that we don't expect any major shifts at all at this point in time for 2026 and a stable budget in Oregon with the tons that have already either been let or in the bidding schedule to be relatively flat to last year. And so I feel comfortable saying that the results for Oregon in 2026 should be in line with what we had in 2025.

是的。私人業務在第三季末期明顯反彈，並對我們第四季大有裨益，也是我們在第四季和第三季環比業績提升取得巨大成功的重要因素。公共資金也是我們在俄勒岡州成功的重要因素，因此明確公共資金的使用至關重要。我認為，我可以比較有把握地說，目前我們預計 2026 年不會出現任何重大變化，俄勒岡州的預算將保持穩定，已經招標或列入招標計劃的噸位將與去年基本持平。因此，我可以自信地說，俄勒岡州在 2026 年的選舉結果應該與 2025 年的結果一致。

And so yes, we're very hopeful the legislature is currently discussing infrastructure funding, literally in their short session, it's in session now and expect that, that conversation will really build into next year's longer session where we anticipate they would have a robust conversation and pass a longer term, much larger build than the $4.3 billion stop gap that they passed earlier that should happen in (technical difficulty)

所以，我們非常希望立法機構目前正在討論基礎設施建設資金問題，就在他們短暫的會期內，現在正在開會，我們預計這一討論將真正延續到明年更長的會期，屆時我們將看到他們進行深入的討論，並通過一項比之前通過的43億美元臨時撥款規模更大、期限更長的建設方案。（技術難題）

(technical difficulty) You had in your prepared commentary, I talked a bit about self-help versus pricing and transitioning from not just focusing on pricing, but also acute focus on cost controls to drive margins. When you look at a regional standpoint for both your West and your Mountain divisions, which showed barely outsized performance in the quarter. What drove these outside gains? And how much was self-help versus pricing?

（技術難題）在您準備好的評論中，我談到了一些關於自助與定價以及從僅僅關注定價過渡到更加關注成本控制以提高利潤率的問題。從區域角度來看，西部和山區部門在本季的表現都略顯遜色。這些外部收益的驅動因素是什麼？自助服務佔比與定價佔比是多少？

I appreciate that, Kathryn. Yes, we had a fantastic fourth quarter. It was up 47% over last year. And I would say, Kathryn, I think you could just put that in three big buckets that variance year over year. The first one is we certainly had favorable weather.

謝謝你，凱瑟琳。是的，我們第四季表現非常出色。與去年相比上漲了47%。凱瑟琳，我想說，你可以把每年的變化歸納為三大類。首先，我們確實遇到了非常有利的天氣。

And in particular, in the Mountain region, which allowed us to do more asphalt paving. We also -- it benefited really a lot of our regions as it relates to just staying out and working aggregate sales, ready-mix sales were solid. We were able to utilize our equipment pool more efficiently in that fourth quarter. And so one of those large benefits and variances for the fourth quarter was definitely favorable weather.

尤其是在山區，這使我們能夠進行更多的瀝青鋪設工作。我們也受益匪淺——這確實惠及了我們許多地區，因為我們得以留在當地開展骨料銷售工作，預拌混凝土的銷售情況也很穩健。第四季度，我們能夠更有效地利用我們的設備資源。因此，第四季的一大利好和差異因素無疑是有利的天氣。

The second one was we had good contributions from our acquisitions, led by Strata (technical difficulty) but we also had another (technical difficulty) four other very nice acquisitions last year. Texcrete came in mid-December and very excited about that acquisition and the other contributions from the acquisitions. That recouping some of those preproduction costs that we incurred earlier in the year, those came back to benefit us in the fourth quarter.

第二點是，我們的收購貢獻良好，其中 Strata 的收購（技術困難）尤為突出，但去年我們還有另外四項非常好的收購（技術困難）。Texcrete 於 12 月中旬加入，對此次收購以及其他收購帶來的貢獻感到非常興奮。我們收回了年初產生的一些前期製作成本，這些成本在第四季度為我們帶來了收益。

But more importantly, it was our teams executing on our Edge initiatives and really looking at their cost and controlling our costs very tightly and very proud of the team and the work they did and the focus on cost controls that really are going to bleed into this year is a big part of our focus in 2026 to continue those cost control measures. And looking at KPIs and just really focus specifically on aggregates, but frankly, all the product lines will benefit from that this year.

但更重要的是，我們的團隊執行了我們的 Edge 計劃，真正審視了成本，並嚴格控制了成本，我為團隊及其工作感到非常自豪，對成本控制的重視將延續到今年，這也是我們 2026 年繼續採取這些成本控制措施的重要部分。我們會關注關鍵績效指標，尤其要關注整體指標，但坦白說，今年所有產品線都會從中受益。

Okay. Great. I also talked about getting called capital allocation or capital planning capital to deploy into calendar 2026. Could you just tell us a little bit more or give some broader stroke color on what you're seeing in your pipeline for M&A or so inorganic. And then other organic initiatives that you're hoping to execute and to share.

好的。偉大的。我還談到了所謂的資本配置或資本規劃，即在 2026 年部署資本。您能否再詳細介紹一下，或大致說明一下您在併購或其他非有機成長方面看到的情況？以及其他你希望執行和分享的有機成長計劃。

Yes. We're very excited about our growth strategy, and I'll start off talking about the pipeline and the organic opportunities and then turn it over to Nathan to talk about our strong balance sheet and capacity to go out and continue our growth strategy. So we have a very disciplined approach, and we're looking for strategic fits that fit both our cultural fit and a financial expectation that we'd have all the deals we did last year, Kathryn and the deals we're looking at our pipeline.

是的。我們對我們的成長策略感到非常興奮，我將首先談談我們的產品線和有機成長機會，然後把麥克風交給 Nathan，讓他談談我們強大的資產負債表以及我們繼續推進成長策略的能力。因此，我們採取了非常嚴謹的方法，我們正在尋找既符合我們文化又符合財務預期的戰略合作夥伴，以期實現我們去年完成的所有交易，凱瑟琳，以及我們正在關注的那些項目。

In our pipeline, when I say it looks very similar to last year. I'm talking about the types of deals in there, the size of the deal and the location of the deals. They're aggregate-based many of them are vertically integrated. Most of them are infill bolt-ons to our existing operations.

就我們的產品線而言，我指的是它與去年非常相似。我指的是交易的類型、交易的規模、交易的地點。它們都是聚合型企業，其中許多都是垂直整合型企業。它們大多是我們現有營運的補充性附加設施。

We certainly will look at states adjacent to our current footprint or current states or regions that we do business in. They're in these midsized higher-growth markets, and we are looking to continue to balance our portfolio -- and the nice thing about this is it all starts at the local level with local relationships. And just like all of the deals we did last year, they are negotiated deals directly with the sellers at those high single-digit multiples, very attractive multiples. So the pipeline is robust. The pipeline is full.

我們當然會關注與我們目前業務範圍相鄰的州，或我們目前開展業務的州或地區。它們位於這些中等規模的高成長市場，我們希望繼續平衡我們的投資組合——而這樣做的好處是，這一切都始於本地層面，始於本地關係。就像我們去年完成的所有交易一樣，這些都是直接與賣家協商達成的交易，成交價倍數都在個位數以上，非常有吸引力。所以這條管道很穩健。管道已滿。

I've talked about the hundreds of opportunities in our states that we do business in and because we're vertically integrated where we will look at aggregates, ready-mix, asphalt and contracting services opportunities as long as we can continue to focus on the supply of aggregates to those operations, either from new resources or from our existing resources. I would say that the last thing before I turn it over to Nathan, that is a very important part of this process. is just a playbook that is proven and one that we've been using for over 30 years. We continue to refine it. We've done almost 100 deals now since the early '90s.

我談到了我們在各州開展業務的數百個機會，而且由於我們是垂直整合的，我們將關注骨料、預拌混凝土、瀝青和承包服務方面的機會，只要我們能夠繼續專注於向這些業務供應骨料，無論是來自新的資源還是我們現有的資源。我想說，在把工作交給內森之前，最後一點也是非常重要的一點，就是一套經過驗證、我們已經使用了30多年的操作手冊。我們會繼續改進它。自上世紀90年代初以來，我們已經完成了近100筆交易。

And really, it's just very focused on getting the right deals in the pipeline being very disciplined at the deals we put in the pipeline and going out and courting those relationships. The second part of that is doing a very thorough job, disciplined job of due diligence. And both of those activities are led by our local regional teams, which then feeds into the third phase, which is integration. And that is also a heavy influence with the local team at the regional level with oversight and support from corporate. And so very proud of our M&A program, our growth strategy, what we've done in the last two years since the spin.

實際上，我們非常注重在交易流程中找到合適的交易，對我們進入交易流程的交易保持高度的紀律性，並積極維護這些關係。第二部分是認真、嚴謹地進行盡職調查。這兩項活動均由我們當地的區域團隊領導，然後進入第三階段，即整合階段。而且，在公司監督和支持下，區域層級的本地團隊也受到了很大的影響。我為我們的併購計劃、成長策略以及分拆後兩年來所取得的成就感到非常自豪。

Organically, we have identified a number of very exciting projects that have, frankly, higher returns than even our M&A opportunity. and continue to go out and execute on the organic growth. We are entering new markets in Idaho. We've expanded our capacity as we see more asphalt paving coming on. We've added capacity to Texas, in South Dakota.

我們已經自主發掘出一些非常令人振奮的項目，坦白說，這些項目的回報甚至高於我們的併購機會。我們將繼續推進並執行這些自主成長項目。我們正在進軍愛達荷州的新市場。隨著瀝青鋪設工程的增多，我們也擴大了產能。我們在德克薩斯州和南達科他州都增加了產能。

So it's certainly spending some money organically as well. So with that, Nat, I'll just let you talk a little bit about the capacity.

所以它肯定也在進行一些自然成長的支出。那麼，納特，我就讓你簡單談談容量問題。

So good news here is that to support the capital deployment, all the good things we've got going on that Brian talked about. We've been disciplined in how we've maintained our balance sheet and we have solid cash flow. So Kathryn, I'll put it into three buckets for you. that give me confidence in what we've got from a balance sheet or a support perspective for this growth that we've talked about.

好消息是，為了支持資金部署，我們正在進行布萊恩提到的所有良好工作。我們在維護資產負債表方面一直秉持嚴謹的態度，並且擁有穩健的現金流。凱瑟琳，我把它分成三類給你參考。這讓我對我們目前所擁有的資產負債表或對我們討論過的成長的支持充滿信心。

First, we have the liquidity to act quickly. As I mentioned, we've got -- ended the year with $75 million of cash on hand, $475 million available on our revolver. So as deals come up, we have the ability to move quickly on them. Secondly, we expect solid cash flows from our operations. In fact, for this year, 2026, we expect our cash flow from operations to be about closer to the historical average of two-thirds of EBITDA. And so we've got cash flow coming from operations.

首先，我們有足夠的流動資金迅速採取行動。正如我之前提到的，我們年底手頭上有 7500 萬美元現金，循環信貸額度為 4.75 億美元。因此，一旦有交易機會出現，我們就能迅速採取行動。其次，我們預期營運將帶來穩定的現金流。事實上，對於今年（2026 年），我們預計經營活動產生的現金流量將接近 EBITDA 的歷史平均值的三分之二。因此，我們有了來自營運的現金流。

And then the third part is the balance sheet itself, the net leverage position. We ended the year at 2.2 times net leverage (technical difficulty) long term, go back to 2.5 (technical difficulty) . So we got the liquidity, the cash flows and the balance sheet, all the support deals, and that's where we want to put our capital to work as growing this company that Brian outlined for us.

第三部分是資產負債表本身，即淨槓桿狀況。我們年底的淨槓桿率為 2.2 倍（技術難度），長期來看，要回到 2.5 倍（技術難度）。所以我們有了流動性、現金流和資產負債表，以及所有支持性交易，這就是我們希望將資本投入到發展這家公司的地方，就像布萊恩為我們概述的那樣。

Garik Shmois, Loop Capital.

Garik Shmois，Loop Capital。

Congrats on the quarter. First off, just on SG&A, just to piggyback off on the last set of questions. How should we think about SG&A inflation this year, both from an underlying standpoint plus any incremental that you have with respect to the inorganic growth plan?

恭喜你本季取得佳績。首先，關於銷售、一般及行政費用，就順便問一下上一組問題。今年我們該如何看待銷售、管理及行政費用通膨？既要考慮其基本面，也要考慮您在非有機成長計劃方面可能產生的任何增量？

Yes, I'll take that one. Garik, good to hear from you. So SG&A, the first part here is we take a look at 2025 and the increase that we had this year. I'll just identify the key buckets there, and we talked about them in a fair amount throughout the year. And kind of back to the last question.

是的，我要那個。Garik，很高興收到你的來信。所以，SG&A（銷售、一般及行政費用）的第一部分，讓我們來看看 2025 年以及我們今年的成長情況。我只想指出其中的關鍵類別，我們在過去一年中也多次討論過這些類別。有點像是回到上一個問題。

They all relate to growing this company, which is the exciting part of it. So the largest increase that we had, the largest bucket for the increase we had in SG&A was really related to the administrative costs that came with our acquisitions, did five acquisitions last year, and they brought some SG&A with them. So that was the largest piece. The second largest also relates to growth, and we talked about this throughout the year, that onetime step-up related to our business development team and is, as I shared before, the -- the ongoing cost -- operations or the SG&A grew mid-single digits, which is what I shared at the beginning of the year.

它們都與公司的發展息息相關，而這正是最令人興奮的部分。因此，我們最大的成長，也就是銷售、一般及行政費用成長的最大部分，實際上與收購帶來的管理成本有關。去年我們進行了五項收購，這些收購也帶來了一些銷售、一般及行政費用。這是最大的一塊。第二大因素也與成長有關，我們全年都在討論這個問題，一次性的成長與我們的業務發展團隊有關，正如我之前分享的那樣，持續成本——營運或銷售、一般及行政費用增長了中等個位數，這與我年初分享的內容一致。

So Garik, '24 to '25, those are the three buckets that caused the increases. As we look forward, I mentioned earlier that we expect SG&A as a percent of revenue to be in line year-over-year. If you look closer at that, Again, similarly, the ongoing costs in there, we see growing mid-single digits, very comparable to what we see throughout the organization, a mid-single-digit increase in cost, maybe towards the lower end of that range. And if you're wondering well, what else could be impacting that. One thing that I'd add to it is that in '25, we did have higher gains on the sale of assets, most notably that East Texas sale that we started a few years ago, we finished that.

所以，Garik，24 年到 25 年，這三個年份是造成成長的主要原因。展望未來，正如我之前提到的，我們預期銷售、一般及行政費用佔收入的百分比將與前一年持平。如果你仔細觀察一下，你會發現，同樣地，其中的持續成本也在以中等個位數的速度增長，這與我們在整個組織中看到的成本增長非常相似，成本增長幅度為中等個位數，可能接近該範圍的下限。如果你想知道還有什麼其他因素會影響這種情況的話。我還要補充一點，2025 年，我們在資產出售方面獲得了更高的收益，最值得一提的是幾年前我們開始的東德州資產出售，我們已經完成了這項交易。

So that's a gain that we don't obviously anticipate for '26 that would be part of the increase you see going from '25 to '26 but outside of that, the underlying costs increasing mid or maybe on the low end of that mid-range single digits. Hopefully, that's helpful.

所以，我們顯然預計 2026 年不會出現這種增長，這部分增長將來自 2025 年到 2026 年的增長，但除此之外，基本成本的增長幅度可能在中等個位數，甚至可能在中等個位數的低端。希望這能有所幫助。

No, that is. My follow-up question is on volumes. Your guidance is considerably stronger than other public peers. I was wondering if you can unpack that a little bit more. You talked a little bit about the regions a little bit about some of the infrastructure projects and the pull-through from contracting services.

不，正是如此。我的後續問題是關於體積的。您的指導比其他公立學校的同行強得多。我想請您再詳細解釋一下。您稍微談到了各個地區的情況，也談到了一些基礎設施項目以及承包服務帶來的效益。

Wondering if there's anything else maybe on the private side? And then also, is there any weather catch-up considering there was such a headwind, particularly through the first three quarters of '25.

想知道私下還有沒有其他消息？此外，考慮到 2025 年前三個季度一直存在逆風，天氣是否有所改善？

Garik, this is -- we had that benefit a little bit in the fourth quarter with positive -- favorable weather in the fourth quarter. And so I would say that the backlog that we've got going into next year would not be a lot of delayed work. It certainly impacted to the beginning of the year and caused us some challenges at the beginning of the year, but we had a strong fourth quarter and have good backlog going into next year. The volumes being up mid-single digits for aggregates. I'll start with that one.

Garik，這是——我們在第四季度受益於有利的天氣。因此，我認為我們明年積壓的工作不會有很多延誤。這確實對年初造成了影響，也給我們帶來了一些挑戰，但我們在第四季度表現強勁，明年還有良好的訂單儲備。總體而言，成交量成長了中等個位數。我先從那一個開始。

Really is also related to ready-mix volumes being up mid-teens. The addition of Texcrete more than doubles our supply in the Texas Triangle. And so that would be a large part of our mid-teen increase and being supply aggregates to that operation would also be part of the mid-single-digit increase on aggregates. But (technical difficulty) it's not just Texcrete, Nathan and I talked about the additional asphalt paving that we have in our backlog as we see strong pull-through of aggregates going into our asphalt plants and then the aggregate sales are just (technical difficulty) are becoming stronger in markets like Oregon.

這其實也與預混料銷量成長十幾倍有關。Texcrete的加入使我們在德州三角地區的供應量增加了一倍以上。因此，這將是我們十幾個百分點成長的很大一部分，而為該業務供應骨材也將是骨材個位數成長的一部分。但是（技術難題）不僅僅是 Texcrete，Nathan 和我討論了我們積壓的額外瀝青鋪路訂單，因為我們看到進入瀝青廠的骨料需求強勁，然後骨料銷售（技術難題）在俄勒岡州等市場變得越來越強勁。

And you saw that again in the fourth quarter results those higher-margin third-party aggregate sales in the metropolitan market in Portland certainly benefited us. So we continue to focus additional third-party sales in central region. So I would say all of those factors gives me good confidence in our volume projections of mid-single digits for aggregates and the mid-teens on ready-mix.

您在第四季度業績中再次看到了這一點，波特蘭都市市場利潤率較高的第三方骨材銷售確實使我們受益匪淺。因此，我們將繼續專注於中部地區的第三方銷售。因此，我認為所有這些因素都讓我對我們關於骨材銷量將達到個位數中段和預拌混凝土銷量將達到十幾中段的預測充滿信心。

Ian Zaffino, Oppenheimer.

伊恩·扎菲諾，奧本海默。

Why don't you just kind of drill in on the comment about data centers, can you give us a little bit more color there, be it growth rates that you're seeing kind of portion of the backlog you're seeing or maybe how quickly do these jobs convert? So what's happening as far as backlog into conversion? And then any other kind of margins? And any other type of color you could give us on that.

您能否更深入探討一下關於資料中心的評論？能否提供我們更多細節，例如您看到的成長率、積壓訂單的比例，或是這些工作崗位的轉換速度？那麼，積壓訂單轉化為實際訂單的進度如何？那麼還有其他類型的利潤空間嗎？以及您能提供的任何其他顏色。

Yes. Thanks, Ian. I would say that virtually zero amount of dollars in our backlog related to data centers. We have a lot of data centers that we're working on right now, but most of that would be on the material supply of the business. have some very small paving projects, but that would not move the dial at all on our record backlog of $1 billion.

是的。謝謝你，伊恩。我想說，我們積壓的訂單中幾乎沒有與資料中心相關的金額。我們目前正在推進許多資料中心項目，但其中大部分都與業務的材料供應有關。我們也有一些規模很小的鋪路項目，但這絲毫不會影響我們高達10億美元的創紀錄積壓訂單。

We are currently working on 21 data centers. And again, most of that would be through the supply of aggregates or concrete mostly to those projects. And I think that is the tip of the iceberg. If you look at the amount of work that we have out there pending, bids that are out there that we have provided in the last, say, two months is significantly more than what we currently have supply contracts for. And so a very big upside.

我們目前正在興建21個資料中心。而且，其中大部分收入將來自向這些項目供應骨材或混凝土。我認為這只是冰山一角。如果你看看我們目前待處理的工作量，例如我們在過去兩個月裡提交的投標書數量，你會發現它遠遠超過了我們目前已簽訂供應合約的數量。所以這是一個非常大的優勢。

Each one of our states, several of our states are, Wyoming has a lot of opportunities. North Dakota is currently working on some data centers, organic working on data centers. So we're in the heart of our -- some of our home operations where we have local aggregates and ready-mix plants, data centers are being built.

我們每個州，或者說我們幾個州，懷俄明州，都有很多機會。北達科他州目前正在建造一些資料中心，有機地建造資料中心。所以我們現在位於我們一些本土業務的核心地帶，那裡有當地的骨材廠和預拌混凝土廠，資料中心也正在興建中。

And so we see that as a very bright spot, frankly, all -- anything that we would be securing as new work would be on the upside of our range as a guidance. And so we've not baked in any expectations we've got out there and very good negotiations going on right now. And they're higher-margin upstream materials. For the most part, it's aggregate supply, ready-mix supply with either an on-site batch plant or a local batch plant close by, and then asphalt paving going into some of these new greenfield sites. So very excited about the opportunities in data centers.

因此，坦白說，我們認為這是一個非常光明的前景——任何我們能夠獲得的新工作都將是我們業務範圍的積極方面。因此，我們沒有預設任何預期，目前談判進展非常順利。而且它們是利潤率更高的上游原料。大部分情況下，是骨材供應、預拌混凝土供應（要么在現場設有攪拌站，要么在附近設有攪拌站），然後是瀝青鋪設，用於一些新的綠地項目。我對資料中心領域的機會感到非常興奮。

Okay. So then how do we then think about just margins going forward, right? So you're getting a favorable mix from this, you're getting your success on the EDGE program. There's a lot of other initiatives that are kind of firing on, call it, all cylinders. And so how do we kind of put this all together as you try to hit your 20% margin target?

好的。那麼，我們接下來該如何考慮利潤率呢？所以你從中獲得了有利的組合，你在 EDGE 計劃中獲得了成功。還有許多其他舉措也都在如火如荼地進行，可以說是全面展開。那麼，當你努力實現 20% 的利潤率目標時，我們該如何將所有這些因素結合起來呢？

Is this -- are you accelerating it? Or when do we actually kind of see you achieve those levels?

這是──你在加速嗎？或者說，我們什麼時候才能真正看到你達到這些水準？

Yes. I think we are proud of the progress we've made in call it, 2.5 years since we've spun in 3 years, really since we started implementing our Edge initiatives. And let me just give you the success some numbers here of the progress we've made in those three years. For gross profit margins on aggregates, we've improved 450 basis points in three years. On ready-mix, we've improved 300 basis points, asphalt 570 basis points, liquid asphalt 450 basis points and contracting services 280 basis points from the end of 2022 to the end of 2025.

是的。我認為我們為過去兩年半以來的進展感到自豪，自從我們開始實施 Edge 計劃以來，已經過去了三年半的時間。讓我用一些數據來展示我們在過去三年的進展。三年以來，我們的骨材毛利率提高了 450 個基點。從 2022 年底到 2025 年底，我們在預拌混凝土方面提高了 300 個基點，瀝青提高了 570 個基點，液態瀝青提高了 450 個基點，承包服務提高了 280 個基點。

And so Ian, I mean I think we've been pulling hard on obviously, the pricing dynamic, commercial excellence levers, shifting our attention more focused on the operational excellence and the cost controls and it's not linear. As you know, you pick up some lower-hanging fruits sometimes. And so we do expect margin expansion to continue in all of these product lines. And we're very excited about that. Now yes, I just -- I would leave it at that.

所以伊恩，我的意思是，我認為我們一直在努力調整定價策略、提升商業卓越性，並將注意力更多地集中在營運卓越性和成本控制上，但這並非線性發展。如你所知，有時候你會先摘取一些容易摘的果實。因此，我們預計所有這些產品線的利潤率將繼續擴張。我們對此感到非常興奮。是的，我就──我就說到這裡吧。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作說明）

Garrett Greenblatt, JPMorgan.

Garrett Greenblatt，摩根大通。

Just as we think about 2026 and the outlook you provided, I was wondering if you could go into a little more detail or quantification around the impact of acquisitions you did in 2025 and what that organic assumptions look like to 2026?

鑑於我們展望 2026 年以及您提供的展望，我想知道您能否更詳細地說明或量化一下您在 2025 年進行的收購的影響，以及這些自然增長假設對 2026 年的影響？

Yes. So I think the acquisition that we did late in the year, Texcrete, you could look at the contributions from Texcrete in 2026, to offset the seasonal losses that we did not incur earlier in the year last year in the first quarter from the acquisition of Strata that was in March. And so that comes with a headwind in the first three months that we will experience this year and the benefits of the full year of Texcrete more than offsets that. And so if you look at our growth year over year, really, you could look at all of that growth as being organic at this point in time. I mean we've not included any future acquisitions in our guidance.

是的。所以我認為，我們今年稍後收購的 Texcrete，可以看看 Texcrete 在 2026 年的貢獻，以抵消我們去年第一季因 3 月收購 Strata 而未產生的季節性損失。因此，今年前三個月我們將面臨一些不利因素，但 Texcrete 全年帶來的收益將遠遠抵消這些不利因素。因此，如果你看一下我們每年的成長情況，實際上，你可以把所有這些成長都看作是目前為止的自然成長。我的意思是，我們的業績指引中並未包含任何未來的收購計畫。

And our guidance of midpoint of $540 million would imply about a 9% growth rate really on that organic business. And then I've mentioned that Oregon is going to be flat. And you take Oregon being flat, that would imply that we're mid-single -- mid-teens 14%, 15% on the remainder part of that business, which would be Central Mountain, Legacy Pacific.

我們給出的中位數預期為 5.4 億美元，這意味著該有機業務的實際成長率約為 9%。然後我又提到，俄勒岡州地勢平坦。考慮到俄勒岡州地勢平坦，這意味著我們剩餘業務的單身人士比例在 14% 到 15% 之間，這部分業務指的是 Central Mountain 和 Legacy Pacific。

And so we see solid growth going into this year as it relates to the organic business and the contributions from the acquisitions we did last year.

因此，我們看到今年有機業務和去年收購帶來的貢獻都將穩健成長。

Ivan Yi, Wolfe Research.

Ivan Yi，Wolfe Research。

Yes. Now I know you guys don't provide quarterly guidance, but can you give some color on the trajectory of your full --

是的。我知道你們不提供季度業績指引，但能否簡單介紹一下你們的整體業績發展軌跡？--

I'll start with the seasonality piece of that, and then we can get into the ag volumes and the outlook for the maybe quarter and for the year. So we did share last year at this point, Ivan, you might be able to go back and take a look of the seasonality change that we did have coming with Strata. And so that did increase at that time we said would be the seasonal loss that we have for the first quarter now with Strata in place. Now Brian just mentioned two pieces that do kind of offset each other. He mentioned Texcrete for the full year.

我先從季節性因素說起，然後我們再來談談農業產量以及未來一個季度和一年的展望。所以，去年這個時候，我們分享過，伊万，你或許可以回顧一下我們當時與 Strata 一起經歷的季節性變化。因此，當時我們所說的季節性虧損確實有所增加，而現在有了 Strata 的幫助，第一季的虧損也隨之增加。布萊恩剛才提到了兩件事，這兩件事其實有點矛盾。他提到了Texcrete公司全年的業績。

But he had mentioned that we do have that loss with Strata, that was baked in last year. So maybe some of the benefit from Texcrete this year softens that 8%. But that does give you an idea of what the seasonality would be for the first quarter. And then the benefit of that coming later in the year, probably predominantly in the third quarter, maybe a little bit in the fourth.

但他提到，我們在Strata確實有虧損，這部分虧損去年就已經計入了帳。所以，今年Texcrete帶來的收益或許能抵銷一部分8%的虧損。但這確實能讓你對第一季的季節性變化有所了解。然後，這項措施帶來的好處將在今年稍後顯現，可能主要在第三季度，也許第四季也會有一點。

Yes. As my follow-on. You've got -- you provided guidance on the volumes for ready-mix and asphalt. Can you give more color on our expectations for the pricing for those two segments?

是的。作為我的後續。你已經提供了關於預拌混凝土和瀝青用量的指導。您能否詳細說明一下我們對這兩個細分市場定價的預期？

Yes. So as you know, the input costs have a pretty big impact on our cost, and therefore, pricing. And so on ready-mix, the two biggest factors that really are outside of our control is the cement pricing and then the products that our customers are asking for, which would be mixed design, different mix designs. And so you could look at a job like we have right now, that P209 project that I mentioned in Hawaii. The price of that material is much, much higher than it would be for, let's say, residential, which is a lot of what the Texcrete acquisition does.

是的。如您所知，投入成本對我們的成本，進而對定價，有著相當大的影響。因此，對於預拌混凝土而言，我們無法控制的兩個最大因素是水泥價格，以及客戶要求的產品，也就是混合設計、不同的混合設計。所以你可以看看我們現在正在做的這個項目，就是我在夏威夷提到的 P209 項目。這種材料的價格比用於住宅用途的價格高得多，而 Texcrete 的收購很大程度上就是用於住宅用途。

And so what I can tell you on ready-mix pricing and asphalt pricing because it's a big influence by liquid asphalt is that our commercial excellence initiatives, our teams, our sales teams are totally focused on optimizing prices. They're continuing to use dynamic pricing and we see that momentum that we've had in the previous years continue forward as we roll out and continue to implement the new dashboards and tools that we've given to our sales team.

因此，關於預拌混凝土定價和瀝青定價（因為液態瀝青對其影響很大），我可以告訴大家的是，我們的商業卓越計劃、我們的團隊、我們的銷售團隊都完全專注於優化價格。他們繼續採用動態定價，我們看到，隨著我們向銷售團隊推出並繼續實施新的儀表板和工具，前幾年取得的勢頭仍在繼續。

So solid traction on pricing going forward, but heavily influenced by product mix and by input costs such as cement and liquid asphalt.

因此，價格方面未來將保持穩健的成長勢頭，但會受到產品組合和水泥、液態瀝青等投入成本的嚴重影響。

We have no further questions. I will turn the call back over to Brian Gray for closing comments.

我們沒有其他問題了。我將把電話轉回給布萊恩·格雷，請他做總結發言。

Well, thank you again for joining us today. Thank you to our Knife River team members, a fantastic job last year. We really appreciate that. We have good momentum going into 2026. I'm excited about what we accomplished in the year ahead.

再次感謝您今天收看我們的節目。感謝 Knife River 團隊的成員們，你們去年做得非常出色。我們非常感謝。進入2026年，我們勢頭良好。我對我們未來一年的成就感到興奮。

With that, I'll say goodbye. Thank you.

就這樣，我要說再見了。謝謝。

Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes your conference call for today. Good day. We thank you for participating, and we ask that you please disconnect your lines.

女士們、先生們，今天的電話會議到此結束。再會。感謝您的參與，請您斷開線路。