Methode Electronics Inc (MEI) 2025 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Greetings. Welcome to the Methode Electronics fourth quarter fiscal 2025 results conference call. (Operator Instructions) Please note, this conference is being recorded. I will now turn the conference over to your host, Robert Cherry, Vice President of Investor Relations. You may begin.

問候。歡迎參加 Methode Electronics 2025 財年第四季業績電話會議。（操作員指示）請注意，本次會議正在錄音。現在我將會議交給主持人、投資者關係副總裁羅伯特·切裡 (Robert Cherry)。你可以開始了。

Thank you, operator. Good morning, and welcome to Methode Electronics fiscal 2025 fourth quarter earnings conference call. For this call, we have prepared a presentation entitled fiscal 2025 fourth quarter financial results, which can be viewed on the webcast of this call or found at methode.com on the Investors page.

謝謝您，接線生。早安，歡迎參加 Methode Electronics 2025 財年第四季財報電話會議。對於本次電話會議，我們準備了一份題為《2025 財年第四季度財務業績》的演示文稿，您可以在本次電話會議的網絡直播中觀看，也可以在 methode.com 的“投資者”頁面上找到。

This conference call contains certain forward-looking statements which reflect management's expectations regarding future events and operating performance and speak only as of the date hereof. These forward-looking statements are subject to the Safe Harbor protection provided under the securities laws.

本次電話會議包含某些前瞻性陳述，這些陳述反映了管理階層對未來事件和營運績效的預期，並且僅代表截至本電話會議當日的觀點。這些前瞻性陳述受到證券法提供的安全港保護。

Methode undertakes no duty to update any forward-looking statement to conform the statement to actual results or changes in Methode's expectations on a quarterly basis or otherwise. The forward-looking statements in this conference call involve a number of risks and uncertainties. The factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from our expectations are detailed in Methode's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, such as our 10-K and 10-Q reports.

Methode 不承擔更新任何前瞻性聲明以使該聲明符合實際結果或 Methode 按季度或其他方式的預期變化的義務。本次電話會議中的前瞻性陳述涉及許多風險和不確定性。Methode 向美國證券交易委員會提交的文件（如我們的 10-K 和 10-Q 報告）詳細說明了可能導致實際結果與我們的預期產生重大差異的因素。

On slide 4, please see an agenda for our call today. We will begin with a business update, then a financial update, followed by a Q&A session. At this time, I'd like to turn the call over to Mr. Jon DeGaynor, President and Chief Executive Officer.

請在投影片 4 上查看我們今天電話會議的議程。我們會先介紹業務更新，然後再介紹財務更新，最後是問答環節。現在，我想將電話轉給總裁兼執行長喬恩·德蓋納先生。

Thanks, Rob, and good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining us for our fourth quarter earnings conference call. I'm also joined today by Laura Kowalchik, our Chief Financial Officer. Let's start with the key messages.

謝謝，羅布，大家早安。感謝您參加我們的第四季財報電話會議。今天，我們的財務長 Laura Kowalchik 也與我們一同出席了會議。讓我們從關鍵訊息開始。

Please turn to slide 5. In my first 12 months, we have achieved a great deal even if there is still much more to do. We've built a strong team and stabilized the organization. The way in which the leadership team and I have been talking about our activities and priorities over this first year is all about earning the right with our shareholders, our customers, and ultimately, with more than 7,000 people that work for Methode.

請翻到投影片 5。在我任職的頭 12 個月裡，儘管還有很多工作要做，但我們已經取得了巨大成就。我們已經建立了一支強大的團隊並穩定了組織。我和領導團隊一直在討論我們第一年的活動和優先事項，這一切都是為了贏得股東、客戶以及 Methode 7,000 多名員工的認可。

What you'll hear on this call and read in the next few slides is the progress that we have made to earn that right. That's the transformation that we're talking about. To earn the right, to write the future story, we must first get the foundation correct. In the fiscal year, we took numerous actions to improve our execution, reduce our costs and respond to external challenges like tariffs and market volatility. Unfortunately, the benefits from these actions were largely masked by a number of items that were onetime or historic in nature, such as the fourth quarter inventory write-off.

您將在本次電話會議中聽到並在接下來的幾張投影片中看到我們為獲得這項權利所取得的進展。這就是我們談論的轉變。為了贏得權利，為了寫下未來的故事，我們必須先打好基礎。在本財政年度，我們採取了多項措施來提高執行力、降低成本並應對關稅和市場波動等外部挑戰。不幸的是，這些行動帶來的好處在很大程度上被一些一次性或歷史性的項目所掩蓋，例如第四季度的庫存註銷。

Regarding market volatility, EV activity in the fourth quarter slowed and fiscal '26 will be a reset due to EV program delays, especially by Stellantis. We do expect fiscal '27 will be a return to growth. Overall, we truly feel that we have put many of the issues of the past year behind us while still maintaining a strict focus on business performance. For instance, we delivered $26 million in free cash flow in the quarter. That's the best quarter that the company has had since Q4 of fiscal '23.

就市場波動而言，第四季度的電動車活動放緩，並且由於電動車計劃延遲（尤其是 Stellantis 的延遲），26 財年將會重新調整。我們確實預計27財年將恢復成長。總體而言，我們確實感到我們已經解決了過去一年中的許多問題，同時仍然嚴格關注業務績效。例如，我們在本季實現了 2,600 萬美元的自由現金流。這是該公司自 2023 財年第四季以來表現最好的季度。

For the full year, our focus on cash drove a $12 million improvement in tooling recovery and a $22 million reduction in accounts receivable. We also set records for the quarter and the full year in data center power product sales with the year finishing at over $80 million. Going forward, we expect this level of activity will continue, and there will be opportunities for growth.

就全年而言，我們對現金的關注推動了工具回收增加 1,200 萬美元，應收帳款減少 2,200 萬美元。我們也創下了本季和全年資料中心電源產品銷售額的記錄，全年銷售額超過 8,000 萬美元。展望未來，我們預計這種活動水準將會持續下去，並且會有成長機會。

The transformation that I spoke about is absolutely progressing and its priorities remain unchanged. However, given the market conditions, we are looking at a somewhat extended timeline for that transformation.

我所說的轉型確實正在取得進展，其優先事項保持不變。然而，考慮到市場狀況，我們認為這種轉變的時間表將會有所延長。

As we look to fiscal 2026, despite all of the challenges that I have cited, the company expects to double its EBITDA as a result of our operational improvements. We expect to achieve this even in the face of approximately $100 million in declining sales, driven by lower EV demand, again, mainly driven by Stellantis.

展望 2026 財年，儘管面臨我所提到的所有挑戰，但由於營運的改進，公司預計其 EBITDA 將翻一番。我們預計，即使銷售額下降約 1 億美元，我們仍可實現這一目標，而下降的主要原因是電動車需求下降（同樣主要由 Stellantis 推動）。

Turning to slide 6 and our specific results for the quarter. Our sales were $257 million, an increase from Q3, but down year over year. $17 million in sales increase from Q3 was driven by record sales for power products and data center applications.

轉到投影片 6 和我們本季的具體結果。我們的銷售額為 2.57 億美元，比第三季有所增加，但年比有所下降。與第三季相比，銷售額增加了 1700 萬美元，這得益於電源產品和資料中心應用創紀錄的銷售額。

The lower sales from the prior year were driven by the impact of two large previously disclosed auto program roll-offs. We have now anniversaried the roll-off of the EV lighting program, but we still have two more quarters of year-over-year comparison headwinds on the GM center console program roll-off.

銷售額較上年同期下降，是受到先前揭露的兩項大型汽車項目取消的影響。現在我們已經慶祝了電動車照明專案的啟動，但通用汽車中控台專案的啟動仍將面臨兩個季度的同比阻力。

We recorded an adjusted loss from operations of $22 million. Of that loss, $15 million was attributable to unplanned inventory adjustments. These adjustments were for an increase in excess and obsolete inventory reserves and for a discrete inventory revaluation in the quarter.

我們記錄的調整後營業虧損為 2,200 萬美元。其中 1500 萬美元的損失是由於計劃外的庫存調整造成的。這些調整是為了增加過剩和過時的庫存儲備，以及本季的離散庫存重估。

The primary driver of these adjustments were reduced, delayed, or canceled programs that did not have sufficient future demand to support the inventory levels. The impact was mostly in North America and included some EV programs.

這些調整的主要驅動因素是減少、推遲或取消了沒有足夠的未來需求來支援庫存水準的項目。其影響主要集中在北美，其中包括一些電動車項目。

Historical warranty and quality issues for existing auto programs contributed approximately $5 million to the loss as well. These historic charges reinforce the actions that we have taken to improve our operations, supply chain, and product launch capabilities.

現有汽車專案的歷史保固和品質問題也造成了約 500 萬美元的損失。這些歷史性的指控強化了我們為改善營運、供應鏈和產品發布能力所採取的行動。

Turning to a true bright spot. As I mentioned, we had record sales for power products and data centers for both the quarter and the full year. The full year sales exceeded $80 million, and we expect a similar year in fiscal '26 with potential for more growth. The full year sales were almost double those of fiscal 2024. We are achieving this performance based on our existing product technology, utilizing our global footprint to serve the customers.

轉向真正的亮點。正如我所提到的，我們本季和全年的電源產品和資料中心銷售額都創下了歷史新高。全年銷售額超過 8,000 萬美元，我們預計 26 財年的銷售額將與去年持平，並且還有進一步成長的潛力。全年銷售額幾乎是 2024 財年的兩倍。我們基於現有的產品技術，利用我們的全球影響力為客戶提供服務，從而實現這一業績。

What's truly exciting is the opportunity that we have to leverage our power expertise to capture growth that is being driven by the rapid evolution of component designs to enable the vast increases in power density sought by future data center operators.

真正令人興奮的是，我們有機會利用我們的電力專業知識來抓住由組件設計快速發展所推動的增長，從而實現未來數據中心運營商所尋求的功率密度的大幅提升。

It is too early to share any more details on this, but it's very promising for the future growth in our power distribution enterprise. Turning to EV activity. Sales grew year over year. For both the quarter and the full year, they were 20% of our consolidated total, an increase from 14% and 19%, respectively.

現在分享更多細節還為時過早，但這對我們配電企業的未來發展來說非常有前景。轉向電動車活動。銷售額逐年成長。本季和全年，它們占我們合併總額的 20%，分別比 14% 和 19% 成長。

While these year-over-year comparisons improved, our EV sales on a sequential basis from Q3 decreased approximately 10%. We remain bullish on the long-term megatrend in EVs. However, as I mentioned earlier, the near-term outlook is soft, particularly in North America.

雖然年比有所改善，但我們的電動車銷量與第三季相比較上季下降了約 10%。我們仍然看好電動車的長期大趨勢。然而，正如我之前提到的，短期前景疲軟，尤其是在北美。

Weaker market demand is driving lower customer EDI forecast, some program launch delays and a couple of program cancellations. This is causing us to project a 10% to 15% decline in EV sales for fiscal '26, a much different picture than just one quarter ago. However, based on our customer EDI forecast and third-party industry projections, we expect a significant rebound in EV sales in fiscal '27.

市場需求疲軟導致客戶 EDI 預測下降、一些專案啟動延遲以及一些專案取消。這導致我們預測 26 財年的電動車銷量將下降 10% 至 15%，與一個季度前的情況大不相同。然而，根據我們的客戶 EDI 預測和第三方行業預測，我們預計 27 財年電動車銷量將大幅反彈。

Our team has been and will continue to be extremely proactive on any exogenous program delays or changes and actions are underway to recover costs and capital investments related to these program delays. The outcome and timing of these recoveries is yet to be determined.

我們的團隊一直並將繼續積極主動地應對任何外部專案延遲或變更，並採取行動收回與這些專案延遲相關的成本和資本投資。這些恢復的結果和時間尚未確定。

Both free cash flow and debt reduction are good stories for us. Despite all the external factors, the business delivered free cash flow of $26 million in the quarter, which was the second quarter in a row of strong free cash flow. Our relentless drive to reduce working capital is driving this result. In turn, we reduced both our debt and net debt levels by $10 million from Q3.

自由現金流和債務減少對我們來說都是好事。儘管存在各種外部因素，該業務本季仍實現了 2,600 萬美元的自由現金流，這是連續第二季實現強勁的自由現金流。我們不懈地努力減少營運資本，才促成了這個結果。反過來，我們從第三季起將債務和淨債務水準減少了 1,000 萬美元。

We also generated more free cash flow than the prior year Q4 despite $20 million less in sales. This is another clear indicator of an organization whose operating efficiency is improving.

儘管銷售額減少了 2000 萬美元，但我們產生的自由現金流也比去年第四季更多。這是組織營運效率正在提高的另一個明顯指標。

Lastly, our primary focus continues to be on improving operational execution and successfully launching the large pipeline of new programs. As we've communicated before, we are in the midst of a record two-year new program launch window. In fiscal '25, we launched 22 new programs. We expect to launch another 30 new programs in fiscal '26. Our customers continue to count on us, and we plan on continuing to deliver.

最後，我們的主要重點仍然是提高營運執行力並成功啟動大量新專案。正如我們之前所傳達的，我們正處於創紀錄的兩年新項目啟動期。在 2025 財年，我們啟動了 22 個新專案。我們預計在 26 財年將推出另外 30 個新項目。我們的客戶繼續信賴我們，我們也計劃繼續提供服務。

Speaking of new programs for fiscal '25, we had bookings of over $170 million for new and extended programs. About two-thirds of the awards were for power distribution solutions in EV, industrial, and data center applications.

說到 25 財年的新項目，我們為新項目和擴展項目預訂了超過 1.7 億美元的資金。約三分之二的獎項涉及電動車、工業和資料中心應用的配電解決方案。

The Methode team has put a lot of hard work into rebuilding our foundation in fiscal '25, which we expect that work to lead to notable performance and financial improvements in fiscal '26.

Methode 團隊在 25 財年付出了很多努力來重建我們的基礎，我們預計這項工作將在 26 財年帶來顯著的業績和財務改善。

Turning to slide 7. As I mentioned earlier, I'm marking my one-year anniversary as CEO of Methode. I'm truly proud of what we have accomplished as a team, and I want to share some of the reflections on the past year and the road ahead.

翻到幻燈片 7。正如我之前提到的，我即將迎來擔任 Methode 執行長的一周年紀念日。我為我們團隊所取得的成就感到由衷的自豪，我想分享一些對過去一年和未來道路的反思。

Transformations are never easy. I make a decision between transformations and turnarounds. Quite simply, a transformation is about fixing the business in a way that enables it to evolve and positions it for future growth. A turnaround is basically just fixing the business back to some status quo.

轉變從來都不是一件容易的事。我在轉型和扭轉之間做出決定。簡而言之，轉型就是以一種讓業務能夠發展並為未來成長做好準備的方式來修復業務。轉虧為盈基本上就是將業務恢復到現狀。

The Methode journey is undoubtedly a transformation. Like any journey, the path is not smooth nor linear. The first order of business was stabilizing the base, which included the significant organizational changes that we made in previous quarters and focusing on executing program launches, while simultaneously revamping plants and rebuilding the team, all in the face of numerous external distractions.

Methode 之旅無疑是一次轉變。就像任何旅程一樣，這條路並不平坦，也不筆直。第一項任務是穩定基礎，其中包括我們在前幾個季度所做的重大組織變革，並專注於執行專案啟動，同時改造工廠和重建團隊，所有這些都是在面對眾多外部幹擾的情況下進行的。

Business plans are always linear on paper, but the real world curves and bends every day. The past year was no different. Whether it was tariffs, market shifts, geopolitics or other factors, we had to maintain discipline in our focus on our objectives, while conditions were constantly changing.

商業計劃在紙面上總是線性的，但現實世界每天都在曲折。過去的一年也一樣。無論是關稅、市場變化、地緣政治或其他因素，我們都必須保持紀律，專注於我們的目標，因為情況不斷變化。

We worked hard to remediate practices that had atrophied or institute practices where they didn't exist. We now have better visibility into the business and are driving more global collaboration and efficiency, especially around engineering, product management, and supply chain.

我們努力糾正已經萎縮的做法，或在不存在這些做法的地方建立做法。我們現在對業務有了更好的了解，並正在推動更多的全球協作和效率，特別是在工程、產品管理和供應鏈方面。

The work is showing in many areas, but is exemplified in our improved working capital, especially around AR and inventory. As we rebuild our foundation, it positions us well to leverage synergies and utilize core competencies to align with market megatrends like data centers and EV. We can also then optimize our footprint and reevaluate the composition of our portfolio.

這項工作在許多領域都有所體現，但最突出的是我們改善了營運資本，特別是在應收帳款和庫存方面。隨著我們重建基礎，我們可以充分利用協同效應並利用核心競爭力來適應資料中心和電動車等市場大趨勢。我們還可以優化我們的足跡並重新評估我們的投資組合的組成。

While the financial results are not yet what we want, our team has accomplished much over the past year, and our foundation has been laid for us to drive consistent and improved execution.

雖然財務結果還未達到我們的預期，但我們的團隊在過去一年中取得了巨大成就，並為我們推動持續改進的執行奠定了基礎。

On slide 8, I want to spend a little more time giving you an update on our transformation. At a high level, this slide maps out where we are at and where we are going. First and foremost, we've put in the work to improve our fundamentals and reset performance. It can be seen in 100 basis points worth of gross margin improvement, $9 million worth of SG&A reductions and $12 million worth of tooling recoveries, all fiscal '25 year-over-year improvements.

在第 8 張投影片上，我想花更多時間向您介紹我們的轉型最新情況。從高層次來看，這張投影片描繪出了我們現在所處的位置以及我們要去的地方。首先，我們已投入工作來改善基本面並重塑績效。我們可以看出，毛利率提高了 100 個基點，銷售、一般及行政費用減少了 900 萬美元，工具回收了 1200 萬美元，所有這些都是 25 財年的同比增長。

Then there's been a whole series of execution focused improvements like $11 million reduction in freight, reduction in scrap, and a reduction in headcount of over 500 people. All of this complements the execution of customer pricing actions, supplier cost reductions, and material sourcing actions.

然後還有一系列以執行為重點的改進，例如減少 1,100 萬美元的運費、減少廢品以及減少 500 多人的員工人數。所有這些都是對客戶定價行動、供應商成本削減和材料採購行動的補充。

None of these activities could have been done without the reset of nearly all of the executive leadership team, the reset in talent lowering the organization as well as bringing in some specific outside help. However, in order for the organization to be a stable, long-term execution, and growth-focused organization, it has to have internal capabilities, especially in plant operations, engineering, and the supply chain.

如果沒有幾乎所有執行領導團隊的重組、組織人才的重新配置以及一些特定的外部幫助的引入，這些活動都不可能完成。然而，為了使組織成為一個穩定、長期執行和注重成長的組織，它必須具備內部能力，特別是在工廠運作、工程和供應鏈方面。

Talent and solid fundamentals are yielding improved rigor and discipline in the way in which we procure material, operate our plants in our launches and in the way in which we develop new products from an engineering standpoint. What that leads to is a change in culture for a company that's almost 80 years old. There's been a lot of change at Methode over the decades.

人才和堅實的基礎使我們在採購材料、營運工廠以及從工程角度開發新產品的方式上更加嚴謹和規範。對於這家已有近 80 年歷史的公司來說，這導致了文化的改變。幾十年來，Methode 發生了許多變化。

What we're trying to bring back is more of a One Methode approach, working much more collaboratively and much more globally, leveraging our best practices to drive numeracy and cost consciousness down throughout the organization and to really drive a sense of urgency.

我們試圖恢復的是一種更單一的方法，以更協作、更全球化的方式開展工作，利用我們的最佳實踐來推動整個組織的數位能力和成本意識，並真正激發一種緊迫感。

Turning to slide 9. So how do we continue to earn the right from here? First, we continue our foundational actions to successfully launch programs, drive improved operational execution and accelerate lower-level team rebuilding, all of which will be enabled by our new global engineering and product management teams.

翻到第 9 張投影片。那麼，我們要如何繼續獲得權利呢？首先，我們繼續進行基礎行動，成功啟動項目，推動改進營運執行，並加速基層團隊重建，所有這些都將由我們新的全球工程和產品管理團隊實現。

Second, we keep refining the organization to harmonize it to market opportunities. That includes the rightsizing of plants and headcount, but also includes footprint consolidations. And finally, we take actions to address our structure and capital discipline like reducing our Board size from 10 to 7 directors, relocating our headquarters to an already owned Methode facility, reducing our dividend, and reviewing our product portfolio.

第二，我們不斷完善組織結構，使其與市場機會協調。其中包括工廠和員工人數的調整，也包括足跡整合。最後，我們採取行動解決我們的結構和資本紀律，例如將董事會規模從 10 名董事減少到 7 名董事、將總部遷至已經擁有的 Methode 工廠、減少股息以及審查我們的產品組合。

All of these actions support Methode's core business in data centers, EV, and lighting, which provide an attractive foundation for value creation in fiscal '26 and beyond.

所有這些舉措都支持 Methode 在資料中心、電動車和照明領域的核心業務，為 26 財年及以後的價值創造奠定了堅實的基礎。

While the transformation is certainly about improving execution and reducing cost, it is also about driving innovation. What drives competitive advantage at the end of the day is the ability for an organization to redeploy the knowledge, resources, and capital it gains from its everyday business into new products and markets.

雖然轉型的目的肯定是為了提高執行力和降低成本，但它也是為了推動創新。最終，推動競爭優勢的是組織將其從日常業務中獲得的知識、資源和資本重新部署到新產品和新市場的能力。

Methode is systematically taking this proactive approach. Whether it is digging deeper into the power needs of our data center customers or optimizing our footprint and portfolio for what the customers and the business will need in the future, we are working hard to refine our business model. We will continue to highlight the milestones on this transformation journey, but does take the passage of time to be fully appreciated and valued.

Methode 正在有系統地採取這種積極主動的方法。無論是深入挖掘資料中心客戶的電力需求，還是優化我們的足跡和產品組合以滿足客戶和企業未來的需求，我們都在努力完善我們的商業模式。我們將繼續強調這項轉型歷程中的里程碑，但需要隨著時間的推移才能得到充分的欣賞和重視。

Everything that I have shared with you today gives us confidence to not only provide guidance for fiscal '26, but to project a doubling of our EBITDA from fiscal '25. Laura will share more details on our guidance later. In summary, I firmly believe that our 2025 actions have positioned Methode for success in 2026 and beyond. At this point, I'll turn the call over to Laura, who will provide more detail on our fourth quarter and full year financial results.

我今天與大家分享的所有內容讓我們不僅有信心為 26 財年提供指導，而且可以預測我們的 EBITDA 將從 25 財年翻一番。勞拉稍後會分享有關我們指導的更多細節。總而言之，我堅信，我們 2025 年的行動將為 Methode 在 2026 年及以後的成功奠定基礎。現在，我將把電話轉給勞拉，她將提供有關我們第四季度和全年財務業績的更多詳細資訊。

Thank you, Jon, and good morning, everyone. Please turn to slide 11. Before I address the financial results (technical difficulty) relative to US tariffs, please note that I will be referring to only the tariffs enacted this calendar year and prior to any specific tariffs announcements from this week.

謝謝你，喬恩，大家早安。請翻到第 11 張投影片。在我討論與美國關稅相關的財務結果（技術難度）之前，請注意，我將僅指今年頒布的關稅以及本週任何具體關稅公告之前的關稅。

First of all, we have had a cross-functional team meeting daily on tariffs from day one. This has not only helped us to navigate the situation, but has also helped to foster team collaboration and drive deeper understanding of how we run our business.

首先，從第一天起，我們每天都會召開跨職能團隊會議討論關稅問題。這不僅幫助我們應對情勢變化，還有助於促進團隊合作，並加深我們對業務運作方式的理解。

From an exposure standpoint, our US sales of imported goods are approximately $265 million, which is our sales that are potentially exposed to US tariffs. This is approximately 25% of our annual global sales. The large majority of those sales come from goods imported from Mexico.

從風險敞口的角度來看，我們在美國進口商品的銷售額約為 2.65 億美元，這是我們可能受到美國關稅影響的銷售額。這約占我們全球年銷售額的25%。其中絕大部分銷售額來自墨西哥進口的商品。

Those goods are subject to the USMCA and over 95% of those goods are compliant. As a result, we are not subject to incremental tariffs on those compliant goods.

這些貨物受 USMCA 約束，其中超過 95% 的貨物符合規定。因此，我們不會對這些合規商品徵收增量關稅。

For everything else, we are targeting 100% mitigation either by passing tariffs through to the customer, leveraging our global footprint to reduce the tariffs to the greatest extent possible or making changes to our supply chain. To be clear, we've communicated to all of our customers that we expect 100% tariff recovery or mitigation. And to be even more clear, this 100% tariff recovery or mitigation expectation also applies to any new tariffs.

對於其他所有方面，我們的目標是 100% 降低關稅，要么將關稅轉嫁給客戶，要么利用我們的全球影響力盡可能降低關稅，要么改變我們的供應鏈。需要明確的是，我們已經向所有客戶傳達了我們預計關稅將 100% 恢復或降低。更明確的是，這種 100% 的關稅恢復或減免預期也適用於任何新的關稅。

The work that the team has done from day one was foundational to dealing with potential future circumstances as well. This is a great example of the One Methode collaboration that Jon mentioned.

團隊從第一天起所做的工作對於應對未來的潛在情況也起到了基礎作用。這是 Jon 提到的 One Methode 合作的一個很好的例子。

Lastly, we are utilizing our global footprint to capture opportunities as a result of our geographic position relative to competitors.

最後，我們正在利用我們的全球影響力來抓住相對於競爭對手的地理位置所帶來的機會。

Please turn to slide 12. The fourth quarter net sales were $257.1 million compared to $277.3 million in the fiscal '24, a decrease of 7%. On a sequential basis, sales increased 7% from the fiscal '25 third quarter. The quarter saw record sales of power products in the data center applications.

請翻到第 12 張投影片。第四季淨銷售額為 2.571 億美元，而 24 財年的淨銷售額為 2.773 億美元，下降了 7%。與上一季相比，銷售額成長了 7%。本季資料中心應用的電源產品銷售創下了歷史新高。

This was the second quarter where the full impact of the GM center console roll-off was felt, but it was also the last quarter to have any impact from a major EV lighting program roll-off. We also experienced sales weaknesses in commercial vehicle and off-road lighting applications.

這是通用汽車中控台專案下線後第二個全面受到影響的季度，但也是受到大型電動車照明專案下線影響的最後一個季度。我們在商用車和越野照明應用方面的銷售也遭遇了疲軟。

Fourth quarter adjusted loss from operations was $21.6 million, a decrease of $11.8 million from fiscal '24. On a sequential basis, adjusted loss from operations declined $20.3 million from the fiscal '25 third quarter. Please see the appendix for all reconciliation of all adjusted measures to GAAP.

第四季調整後的營業虧損為 2,160 萬美元，較 24 財年減少 1,180 萬美元。以環比計算，調整後的營業虧損較 2025 財年第三季減少了 2,030 萬美元。請參閱附錄，了解所有調整後指標與 GAAP 的對帳情況。

In the fourth quarter, the company recorded an excess and obsolete inventory expense of $13 million, mainly in the automotive segment and a discrete inventory revaluation of $2.2 million. As Jon described, the excess and obsolete expenses were related to reduced, delayed or canceled programs that impacted future demand projections.

第四季度，該公司記錄了 1,300 萬美元的多餘和過時庫存費用，主要集中在汽車領域，以及 220 萬美元的離散庫存重估費用。正如喬恩所描述的，超額和過時的開支與影響未來需求預測的減少、延遲或取消的項目有關。

The effect of excluding these two impacts totaling $15.2 million in the quarter can be seen on the chart. The lower sales had a $6.2 million impact on the year-over-year comparison. A partial offset was a $4.2 million year-over-year improvement in S&A. Overall, the inventory adjustments had a significant impact on the quarter and masked operational improvements.

圖表上可以看到本季排除這兩項影響總計 1,520 萬美元的效果。銷售額下降對年比產生了 620 萬美元的影響。部分抵銷是 S&A 年比增加 420 萬美元。總體而言，庫存調整對本季產生了重大影響，並掩蓋了營運的改善。

Please turn to slide 13. Shifting to EBITDA, a non-GAAP financial measure. Fourth quarter adjusted EBITDA was a negative $7.1 million, down $12.4 million from the same period last year. On a sequential basis, adjusted EBITDA declined $19.4 million from the fiscal '25 third quarter.

請翻到第 13 張投影片。轉向非 GAAP 財務指標 EBITDA。第四季調整後EBITDA為負710萬美元，較去年同期下降1,240萬美元。以環比計算，調整後的 EBITDA 較 25 財年第三季下降 1,940 萬美元。

As with loss from operations, the inventory adjustments and lower sales drove the year-over-year decline. They were only partially offset by a reduction in S&A and other operational improvements.

與營業虧損一樣，庫存調整和銷售額下降導致了同比下降。這些影響僅被 S&A 的減少和其他營運改善部分抵消。

Please turn to slide 14. Fourth quarter adjusted pretax loss was $28.6 million, a decrease of $14.8 million from fiscal '24. On a sequential basis, adjusted pretax loss declined $21.3 million from the fiscal '25 third quarter.

請翻到第 14 張投影片。第四季調整後稅前虧損為 2,860 萬美元，較 24 財年減少 1,480 萬美元。以環比計算，調整後的稅前虧損較 2025 財年第三季減少了 2,130 萬美元。

Again, the inventory adjustments and lower sales drove the decline year over year. Excluding the inventory adjustment impacts, operational execution improvements minimized the year-over-year impact despite sales being $20 million lower.

再次，庫存調整和銷售下降導致銷售額同比下降。排除庫存調整的影響，儘管銷售額下降了 2000 萬美元，但營運執行的改進最大限度地減少了同比影響。

Historical warranty and quality issues in Europe for existing auto programs contributed $4.5 million to the loss as well. Fourth quarter adjusted diluted loss per share was $0.77, down $0.54 from the prior year and down $0.56 from the fiscal third quarter of '25. Overall, while operational improvements helped minimize the impact, our fourth quarter loss was primarily driven by the inventory adjustments.

歐洲現有汽車專案的歷史保固和品質問題也造成了 450 萬美元的損失。第四季調整後每股攤薄虧損為 0.77 美元，較上年下降 0.54 美元，較 25 財年第三季下降 0.56 美元。總體而言，雖然營運改善有助於最大限度地減少影響，但我們第四季度的損失主要是由庫存調整造成的。

Please turn to slide 15. The fourth quarter's net cash from operating activities was $35.4 million as compared to $24.9 million in fiscal '24.

請翻到第 15 張投影片。第四季的營運活動淨現金為 3,540 萬美元，而 24 財年為 2,490 萬美元。

Fourth quarter capital expenditure was $9.1 million, unchanged from fiscal '24. Fourth quarter free cash flow, a non-GAAP financial measure, was $26.3 million as compared to $15.8 million in fiscal '24, an increase of $10.5 million. This increase was mainly due to the lower working capital. This was our second quarter in a row of strong free cash flow.

第四季資本支出為 910 萬美元，與 24 財年持平。第四季自由現金流（非 GAAP 財務指標）為 2,630 萬美元，而 24 財年的自由現金流為 1,580 萬美元，增加了 1,050 萬美元。這一增長主要是由於營運資本減少所致。這是我們連續第二季實現強勁的自由現金流。

Please turn to slide 16. Debt was down $10.3 million from the third quarter. We ended the quarter with $103.6 million in cash, down slightly from the third quarter of fiscal '25. The strong cash generation in the quarter allowed us to pay down debt. Net debt, a non-GAAP financial measure, decreased by $10.1 million from the third quarter to $214 million. After the end of the fourth quarter, we entered into an amendment to our credit agreement.

請翻到第 16 張投影片。債務較第三季減少了 1,030 萬美元。本季末，我們的現金為 1.036 億美元，較 25 財年第三季略有下降。本季強勁的現金產生使我們能夠償還債務。淨債務（非 GAAP 財務指標）較第三季減少 1,010 萬美元至 2.14 億美元。第四季結束後，我們對信貸協議進行了修訂。

The amendment reduced the capacity of the facility to $400 million, which is still in excess of our needs. It revised covenant ratios and updated pricing and other details. The amendment waived any default that may have occurred due to noncompliance with covenants for the fourth quarter that were in effect prior to the amendment. Following the amendment, we were in compliance with all covenants. For further information, please see our 10-K filing.

該修正案將該設施的容量減少到 4 億美元，但這仍然超出了我們的需求。它修改了契約比率並更新了定價和其他細節。該修正案免除了因不遵守修正案之前有效的第四季度契約而可能發生的任何違約。修訂後，我們遵守了所有契約。欲了解更多信息，請參閱我們的 10-K 文件。

Please turn to slide 17. The full year fiscal '25 net sales were $1.048 billion compared to $1.115 billion in fiscal '24, a decrease of 6%. The net sales decline was primarily driven by the GM center console and EV lighting program roll-offs that I previously mentioned. Together, their year-over-year impact was $111 million. Partially offsetting those declines was a record year for sales of over $80 million of power products for data centers.

請翻到第 17 張投影片。25 財年全年淨銷售額為 10.48 億美元，而 24 財年的淨銷售額為 11.15 億美元，下降了 6%。淨銷售額的下降主要是由於我之前提到的通用汽車中控台和電動車照明計畫的取消。總計，其年比影響為 1.11 億美元。資料中心電源產品銷售額創下歷史新高，超過 8,000 萬美元，部分抵消了這些下降的影響。

Adding back the year-over-year inventory adjustment of $12.2 million, operational improvements minimized the impact of the $67 million decline in sales as seen on the chart.

加上去年同期 1,220 萬美元的庫存調整，營運改善最大限度地減少了 6,700 萬美元銷售額下降的影響（如圖所示）。

Please turn to slide 18. Next, I want to provide an update on our sales bridge from fiscal '24 to '26. As previously mentioned, the GM T1 integrated center console program has gone end of life. The result was a significant sales headwind in fiscal '25 and a slightly lesser one in fiscal '26.

請翻到第 18 張投影片。接下來，我想提供一下從 24 財年到 26 財年的銷售情況更新。如前所述，通用汽車 T1 整合式中央控制台計畫已經終止。結果是 25 財年銷售遭遇重大阻力，而 26 財年阻力則略有減輕。

The other major legacy program roll-off we previously communicated was for EV lighting. That program went end of life at the end of fiscal '24 and was thus only a headwind for us in fiscal '25. The major update on this bridge concerns the launching of several EV programs for Stellantis.

我們先前溝通的另一個主要遺留項目是電動汽車照明。該計劃於 24 財年末終止，因此對我們 25 財年來說只是一個阻力。這座橋樑的主要更新涉及為 Stellantis 啟動幾個電動車專案。

In fiscal '25, those launches generated $46 million of incremental sales. You may recall that back in Q1, we projected Stellantis to generate a total of $84 million in fiscal '25 and then another incremental $125 million in fiscal '26.

在 2025 財年，這些產品的推出帶來了 4,600 萬美元的增量銷售額。您可能還記得，在第一季，我們預測 Stellantis 將在 25 財年創造總計 8,400 萬美元的收入，並在 26 財年再創造 1.25 億美元的收入。

However, due to severe reductions and delays from Stellantis, we now expect fiscal '26 to see a decrease of $40 million, essentially a $200 million swing from our Q1 projection.

然而，由於 Stellantis 的嚴重削減和拖延，我們現在預計 26 財年將減少 4,000 萬美元，與我們的 Q1 預測相比，基本上有 2 億美元的波動。

We have also seen EV program reductions for fiscal '26 from two other major OEMs. As Jon mentioned, our team has been proactive on these customer program changes and actions are underway to recover costs and capital investments related to them. The magnitude and timing of these recoveries is yet to be determined, but it is our intention to maximize our recovery.

我們還看到另外兩家主要原始設備製造商削減了 26 財年的電動車計畫。正如喬恩所提到的，我們的團隊一直積極主動地進行這些客戶計畫變更，並採取行動收回與之相關的成本和資本投資。這些復甦的規模和時間尚未確定，但我們的目的是最大限度地實現復甦。

While we do expect growth from our fiscal '26 launches with other key customers as well as potential growth from data centers, they are not enough to overcome the drop in demand from Stellantis and other EV customers, given the soft market outlook. Consequently, we now expect sales for our fiscal '26 to be approximately $100 million lower than fiscal '25 rather than the organic growth we previously expected.

雖然我們確實預計 26 財年與其他主要客戶推出的產品以及資料中心的潛在成長將帶來成長，但考慮到疲軟的市場前景，這些還不足以克服 Stellantis 和其他電動車客戶的需求下降。因此，我們現在預計 26 財年的銷售額將比 25 財年低約 1 億美元，而不是我們先前預期的有機成長。

A byproduct of this revised outlook is that we expect fiscal '26 to see an improved diversity of OEM customers given the forecasted mix.

此次修改後的展望的一個副產品是，根據預測的組合，我們預計 26 財年的 OEM 客戶多樣性將有所提高。

Please turn to slide 19. Regarding forward-looking guidance, it is based on management's best estimates and is subject to change due to a variety of factors as noted on the bottom of the slide. For fiscal '26, we expect sales to be in the range of $900 million to $1 billion. Please note that fiscal '25 was a 53-week fiscal year and fiscal '26 will be a typical 52-week fiscal year.

請翻到第 19 張投影片。關於前瞻性指引，它基於管理層的最佳估計，並且可能會因幻燈片底部所述的各種因素而發生變化。對於 26 財年，我們預計銷售額將在 9 億至 10 億美元之間。請注意，25 財年為 53 週的財政年度，而 26 財年則為典型的 52 週的財政年度。

So we will have one less week in fiscal '26 as compared to the prior year. We expect EBITDA to be in the range of $70 million to $80 million, and we expect the second half of the year to be higher than the first half.

因此，與前一年相比，26 財年我們將少一週時間。我們預計 EBITDA 在 7,000 萬至 8,000 萬美元之間，並且我們預計下半年將高於上半年。

As you can see from the charts on the right of this slide, we expect fiscal '26 EBITDA to be higher than both fiscal '24 and '25 despite a significant reduction in sales over that same time period. Specifically, in fiscal '26, the downward conversion from the lower sales will be offset by operational improvements, and we'll actually see almost a doubling of EBITDA margin from 4.1% to 7.9%.

從這張投影片右側的圖表可以看出，儘管 26 財年的銷售額大幅下降，但我們預計 26 財年的 EBITDA 將高於 24 財年和 25 財年。具體來說，在 26 財年，銷售額下降帶來的下行轉換將被營運改善所抵消，我們實際上將看到 EBITDA 利潤率幾乎翻倍，從 4.1% 增加到 7.9%。

The fourth quarter guidance assumes the current market outlook based on third-party forecast and customer projections, the current US tariff policy, depreciation, and amortization of $58 million to $63 million, CapEx of $24 million to $29 million, interest expense of $21 million to $23 million, and a tax expense of $17 million to $21 million, most of which is related to a valuation allowance on deferred tax assets and is noncash. It is worth noting that our interest expense is expected to be essentially flat year-over-year despite the amended credit facility agreement.

第四季指引假設當前市場前景基於第三方預測和客戶預測、當前美國關稅政策、折舊和攤銷為 5800 萬美元至 6300 萬美元、資本支出為 2400 萬美元至 2900 萬美元、利息支出為 2100 萬美元至 2300 萬美元，稅費為 1700 萬美元萬美元，其中大部分與遞延稅務資產的估價準備金有關，且為非現金。值得注意的是，儘管信貸安排協議有所修改，但我們的利息支出預計將比去年同期基本持平。

This is mainly a factor of lower year-over-year benchmark European interest rates. One last note on fiscal '25. Back in fiscal '24, we identified three material weaknesses in our internal controls. We are pleased to inform you that all three of these material weaknesses were remediated in fiscal '25. For more details, please see our 10-K filing.

這主要是由於歐洲基準利率年減所致。關於 25 財年的最後一點說明。早在 24 財年，我們就發現了內部控制有三個重大缺陷。我們很高興地通知您，這三個重大缺陷均已在 25 財年得到糾正。如欲了解更多詳情，請參閱我們的 10-K 文件。

So to echo Jon, we have driven improved operational execution this past year that was often masked by various external or historical challenges. The result is a solid foundation for the Methode team to build on into the future. That concludes my comments, and we can now open it up to questions.

因此，與喬恩的觀點一致，我們在過去的一年裡推動了營運執行的改進，而這項改進常常被各種外部或歷史挑戰所掩蓋。結果為 Methode 團隊的未來發展奠定了堅實的基礎。我的評論到此結束，現在我們可以開始提問了。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員指示）

Luke Junk, Baird.

盧克·簡克，貝爾德。

Jon, hoping to start with certainly the key message this morning that you expect sales to come down $100 million, but EBITDA to go in the opposite direction and rise into fiscal '26. I'm just trying to understand some of the key earnings levers at a high level, given that sales decline. I would assume most of the improvement we should be thinking about operationally would be within automotive.

喬恩，希望首先傳達今天早上的關鍵訊息，即您預計銷售額將下降 1 億美元，但 EBITDA 將朝著相反的方向發展，並在 26 財年上升。我只是試著從高層次來了解銷售額下滑情況下的一些關鍵獲利槓桿。我認為我們在營運上應該考慮的大部分改進是在汽車領域。

And I guess if I look at what's going on in that business exiting this year, a pretty weak jumping off point coming out of 4Q fiscal '25, even if I back out the inventory charges and warranty quality expense, I know you're still launching more programs. So how should we just think about balancing cost saves versus some incremental costs coming in the P&L for launches?

我想，如果我看看今年該業務的退出情況，25 財年第四季的起點相當薄弱，即使我取消庫存費用和保固品質費用，我知道你仍會啟動更多專案。那麼，我們應該如何考慮平衡成本節省與產品發布損益表中的一些增量成本呢？

Thanks, Luke. And by the way, good morning, thanks for your question. I think we talked about some of the base performance improvements during my section. Laura will give you a little more detail on the bridge on the top level. We've done a lot to improve how we launch. And so I think the incremental costs, if you will, for these new launches, I've got less concern about.

謝謝，盧克。順便說一句，早上好，感謝您的提問。我想我們在我的部分討論了一些基本的效能改進。勞拉將向您詳細介紹頂層橋樑。我們做了很多工作來改進我們的發布方式。因此，我認為，對於這些新產品的增量成本，我並不太擔心。

The challenge that we have is our reaction, our ability to react in such short order to a fairly significant drop in demand on the EV side makes the revenue hole a little more stark. But if you think about the one-off expenses that would give you confidence in why 2026 should be so much better. We talked about the warranty reserve. And while we talked about $15 million in the quarter. Full year is $22 million.

我們面臨的挑戰是我們的反應，我們在如此短的時間內對電動車方面的需求大幅下降做出反應的能力，使得收入缺口更加明顯。但如果你考慮一次性支出，你會相信為什麼 2026 年的情況會好得多。我們討論了保固儲備金。我們當時談論的是本季的 1500 萬美元。全年為2200萬美元。

We had $12 million worth of quality and warranty issues in fiscal 2025. We had $9 million with AlixPartners and $5 million worth of legal expenses and another $3 million worth of restructuring. All of those things are either eliminated or improved year-over-year in -- as a basis for our guidance.

2025 財年，我們遇到了價值 1,200 萬美元的品質和保固問題。我們與 AlixPartners 簽訂了 900 萬美元的協議，支付了 500 萬美元的法律費用，另外還支付了 300 萬美元的重組費用。所有這些因素要么被消除，要么逐年改善——作為我們指導的基礎。

So there are one-off things that are eliminated and there is expectations of performance based on what we see in the plants and what we see in our supply chain, and what we see in our launch execution that give us the basis for why we believe we can, on lower sales, double our EBITDA.

因此，有些一次性的事情被消除了，並且根據我們在工廠和供應鏈中看到的情況以及我們在產品發布執行中看到的情況，我們對業績有所預期，這為我們相信在銷售額較低的情況下我們能夠將 EBITDA 翻一番提供了基礎。

All helpful commentary, especially all those individual expense items. Second question, just in terms of the launch activity into fiscal '26, 30 launches, how should we think about those in terms of the percentage that are EV platforms specifically?

所有評論都很有幫助，尤其是那些個人開支項目。第二個問題，僅就 26、30 財年的發布活動而言，我們應該如何考慮電動車平台所佔的百分比？

And then on the EV side of the house, just how can we conceive the materiality of those launches? And maybe given the Stellantis experience this year, and I know you mentioned other EV program delays and what not, just how you attenuate for that potential risk, either timing or volume as you put together the guidance?

那麼在電動車方面，我們如何看待這些產品發表的重要性呢？也許考慮到今年 Stellantis 的經驗，而且我知道您提到了其他電動車計劃的延遲等等，您在製定指導時如何減輕這種潛在風險，無論是時間還是數量？

Well, as we've said each time, we have used third party, third party as a basis for how we give our guidance. So we try to tie back and sense check what our customers told us with third-party evaluations, and that's what's in the guidance.

嗯，正如我們每次所說的那樣，我們利用第三方，第三方作為我們提供指導的基礎。因此，我們嘗試將客戶告訴我們的內容與第三方評估聯繫起來並進行檢驗，這就是指南中的內容。

As we said, EV as a percent of sales is 20% this year, and we'll actually -- the challenge that we have is in past quarters, we've talked about it being an expansion year over year. Now we're talking about it being relatively flat based on some of the program delays or cancellations.

正如我們所說，今年企業價值佔銷售額的百分比為 20%，而我們實際上面臨的挑戰是，在過去的幾個季度中，我們已經談到了企業價值的逐年擴張。現在，我們討論的是，由於一些項目的延遲或取消，情況相對平穩。

What we have, however, is we have other areas where we're driving growth, and we have the ability to use our footprint that some of the tariff challenges have highlighted actually the power of our global footprint to deliver on power products, and we're taking advantage of that, and we'll continue to take advantage of that on the data center side from a power side.

然而，我們擁有的是，我們在其他領域正在推動成長，我們有能力利用我們的足跡，一些關稅挑戰實際上凸顯了我們全球足跡在電力產品上的力量，我們正在利用這一點，我們將繼續在數據中心方面從電力方面利用這一點。

So some of the investment that was made for EV programs, particularly in our North American footprint, we're actually going to put to work the capabilities there, we're going to put to work to support our data center customers.

因此，我們為電動車專案進行的一些投資，特別是在北美地區的投資，實際上將在那裡發揮作用，我們將努力為我們的資料中心客戶提供支援。

So the attenuation that we've done is there's been a series of headcount reductions and cost reductions that have been taken against the EV programs where there have been delays or where there have been cancellations. We are going back to customers as we talked about. That's the second piece of the attenuation.

因此，我們採取的措施是，針對延誤或取消的電動車項目，進行了一系列裁員和降低成本的措施。我們將按照我們討論過的方法回覆客戶。這是衰減的第二部分。

And then the third side is finding other ways to utilize our engineering capability and our fixed assets to support other pieces -- other markets that we touch, and that's particularly on the data center side.

第三方面是尋找其他方法來利用我們的工程能力和固定資產來支援其他部分——我們接觸的其他市場，特別是資料中心方面。

Just to be clear, so I totally get what you're saying in terms of checking customer schedules with third-party data in terms of EV launches. Should we think that you're then haircutting that further as well? Or are you mainly kind of relying on that third-party data?

只是為了清楚起見，我完全理解您所說的關於使用第三方數據檢查客戶電動車發佈時間表的意思。我們是否應該認為您還會進一步削減這筆金額？或者您主要依賴第三方資料？

Yeah, I mean, we're -- when we say sense checking it, we're trying to take multiple sources of data and be as conservative as possible without -- I'm not a big fan of haircutting it on top because then it comes down to our judgment as opposed to a compilation of expert judgment.

是的，我的意思是，當我們說進行意義檢查時，我們試圖獲取多種數據來源，並儘可能保持保守，而不是——我不太喜歡在上面進行削減，因為這取決於我們的判斷，而不是專家判斷的彙編。

So we look at it, try to use the best sources of data that we can get and make an evaluation from there. But we don't -- unless we have better information, that's where communications with customers and other things, unless we have validated better information, we don't just take haircuts.

因此，我們對其進行研究，嘗試使用我們能夠獲得的最佳資料來源，並從中進行評估。但我們不會——除非我們有更好的訊息，那就是與客戶和其他事物的溝通，除非我們驗證了更好的訊息，否則我們不會只是進行理髮。

Understood. Last question for me, just on the balance sheet, Laura. Can you help us understand the leverage waiver? I think that's in effect until the -- yes, late July, early August next year. I know it was discussed qualitatively in the 10-K, but I didn't see any specifics yet.

明白了。我的最後一個問題是關於資產負債表的，蘿拉。您能幫助我們理解槓桿豁免嗎？我認為這個政策將持續到明年七月底或八月初。我知道在 10-K 中對此進行了定性討論，但我還沒有看到任何具體內容。

Yeah. As far as the leverage, our covenants were relaxed through next year, and we feel confident that we will meet those covenants over the next year.

是的。就槓桿而言，我們的契約在明年會放寬，我們有信心在明年履行這些契約。

Yeah. What specifically is the covenant level, Laura, can you say?

是的。蘿拉，你能具體說一下契約等級是什麼嗎？

Yeah. It is starting at 4.25 for Q4 of fiscal year '25 and then is at 3.75. That was before the amendment. After the amendment is at 4.25 in Q1 and then goes up after that.

是的。2025財年第四季的初始利率為4.25，之後降至3.75。這是修訂前的利率。修正後第一季為 4.25，之後有所上升。

Okay. I can take that offline.

好的。我可以將其離線。

Gary Prestopino, Barrington.

加里·普雷斯托皮諾，巴林頓。

A lot here, all right? So first of all, what I want to ask is -- and I think I know the answer to this question, you didn't back out these inventory charges in adjusted EBITDA. So that $7 million that you did in adjusted EBITDA, you would add back that $15 million to get kind of a recurring number on your cost?

這裡有很多，好嗎？所以首先，我想問的是——我想我知道這個問題的答案，你沒有在調整後的 EBITDA 中取消這些庫存費用。那麼，您在調整後的 EBITDA 中實現了 700 萬美元，您會將那 1500 萬美元加回去以獲得成本的經常性數字嗎？

Yeah. We did not adjust those out, Gary.

是的。我們沒有調整這些，加里。

Did you not adjust those out because of why? I mean it's a non-recurring charge. I just want to get an idea of what the thought process there? Is it something you can't adjust that out?

您沒有調整這些是因為什麼原因？我的意思是，這是一筆非經常性費用。我只是想了解那裡的思考過程是怎麼樣的？這是你不能調整的事情嗎？

Well, so I'm not the best accounting person, but based on our judgment, it's an operational issue and so that we don't back those things out. That's why we tried to make it very clear to you and all of our shareholders that these are onetime events even if we didn't adjust them out.

好吧，我不是最好的會計人員，但根據我們的判斷，這是一個操作問題，所以我們不會放棄這些事情。這就是為什麼我們試圖向您和所有股東明確表示，即使我們沒有調整它們，這些都是一次性事件。

Okay. That's fine. And then you went very quickly through all the onetime items in fiscal '25. So could we just take that slowly? You had $15.2 million of inventory. What else did you have there? I think you cited four.

好的。沒關係。然後你很快就瀏覽了 25 財年的所有一次性項目。那我們可以慢慢來嗎？你有價值 1520 萬美元的庫存。你那裡還有什麼？我認為你列舉了四個。

So the $15.2 million is just in the quarter. The total inventory reserve in fiscal 2025 is $22 million. And we had $12 million worth -- so $22 million of inventory reserves -- $22 million worth of inventory reserves, $12 million worth of warranty and quality charges, $9 million for AlixPartners, $5 million worth of legal expenses, and $3 million of restructuring charges.

因此，這 1,520 萬美元只是本季的金額。2025財年的總庫存儲備為2,200萬美元。我們的庫存儲備價值為 2,200 萬美元，其中保固和品質費用為 1,200 萬美元，AlixPartners 費用為 900 萬美元，法律費用為 500 萬美元，重組費用為 300 萬美元。

Okay. And then $3 million of restructuring. All right. Okay. That's fine. And then I know Luke kind of answered -- asked this question, but I want to get an understanding. Of these 30 new awards that you got in '25, how much of those are dealing with the EV market itself?

好的。然後進行 300 萬美元的重組。好的。好的。沒關係。然後我知道盧克回答了這個問題——問了這個問題，但我想得到理解。在 2025 年獲得的 30 個新獎項中，有多少與電動車市場本身有關？

It's in our 10-K from a detailed standpoint, but I believe it's about 50% of the total. What we talked about -- and we talked about in the conversation that from a bookings standpoint, our bookings are about two-thirds power products, be that across the board. So yes, it still is overweight from an EV standpoint, about 50%. But I'm really -- I'm actually really pleased on where we are with regard to our split of bookings and the opportunities for growth in data centers.

從詳細的角度來看，它在我們的 10-K 中，但我相信它約佔總數的 50％。我們在談話中談到，從預訂的角度來看，我們的預訂量約有三分之二是電力產品，這是全面的。所以，是的，從電動車的角度來看，它仍然超重，約 50%。但我真的——我對我們的預訂分擔情況以及資料中心的成長機會感到非常滿意。

I think it's important to note, we think about 2024 versus 2025, a doubling of our data center revenue and the opportunities that we talk about briefly with regard to 2025 versus 2026, I think it gives us the ability to better balance the business than where we were 12 months ago.

我認為值得注意的是，我們考慮 2024 年與 2025 年相比，我們的資料中心收入將翻一番，而我們簡要談到的 2025 年與 2026 年相比的機會，我認為這使我們有能力比 12 個月前更好地平衡業務。

Are these new EV awards still with Stellantis?

這些新的 EV 獎項仍歸 Stellantis 所有嗎？

No. As we talked about, we've got launches around the world, Asia, Europe as well as a couple of programs in North America with other customers. But if you look at the bridge that Laura has, I believe it's on slide 18, that shows you that we have had to haircut the majority of the launches in North America, not just the Stellantis launches.

不。正如我們所說的，我們已經在世界各地、亞洲、歐洲推出了產品，也與其他客戶在北美進行了幾個專案。但如果你看一下勞拉的橋樑，我相信它在第 18 張幻燈片上，它向你展示了我們不得不削減北美大部分的發射，而不僅僅是 Stellantis 的發射。

The Stellantis launch is the biggest impact, but there are other launches that have been delayed with other customers. So we're having conversations with all of our customers with regard to how do we offset what we've done for these launches.

Stellantis 的發布受到的影響最大，但其他客戶的發布也被推遲了。因此，我們正在與所有客戶討論如何彌補我們為這些發布所做的努力。

Okay. And that's what I wanted to go back to this bridge because a lot of numbers here. But I just want to get an idea of the Stellantis. So as of fiscal Q1 '25, you thought you were going to get $84 million of Stellantis revenue. As of Q4, that actually materialized to $46 million. Is that correct?

好的。這就是我想要回到這座橋的原因，因為這裡有很多數字。但我只是想了解 Stellantis。因此，截至 25 財年第一季度，您認為您將獲得 8,400 萬美元的 Stellantis 收入。截至第四季度，這一數字實際上達到 4,600 萬美元。對嗎？

Correct.

正確的。

Okay. So then if we go to the next slide, you have $125 million of Stellantis revenue in that number. And that was what you figured you would -- I'm trying to understand going from slide to slide here. So it looks like to me -- excuse me, Jon, I don't want to -- it looks like you almost had a $165 million reduction in what you expected from Stellantis.

好的。那麼如果我們看下一張投影片，你會發現其中有 1.25 億美元的 Stellantis 收入。這就是你所想的——我正試著理解這張投影片的內容。所以在我看來——對不起，喬恩，我不想——看起來你對 Stellantis 的預期幾乎減少了 1.65 億美元。

That's exactly -- it's actually more than that. It's roughly $200 million. So the way to think about it, Gary, is -- and it's -- the way to think about this for all the investors is this wasn't something that was foreseeable because if you look at what the customer was talking about as well as IHS.

確實如此——事實上不只這些。大約是2億美元。所以，加里，所有投資者思考這個問題的方式是——這不是可以預見的事情，因為如果你看看客戶和 IHS 所談論的內容。

In January of 2025, now I'm not talking fiscal, now I'm talking calendar. January 2025, the volumes for those programs were between large and frame, the two big Stellantis programs were combined 169,000 vehicles.

2025 年 1 月，現在我不是在談論財政，而是在談論日曆。截至 2025 年 1 月，這些項目的數量介於大型和框架之間，兩個大型 Stellantis 項目合計生產了 169,000 輛汽車。

In May of 2025, this is for 2025, that goes back to the bridge. So in January, it was 169,000 vehicles. In May, this is for 2025. In May, it was 58,000 vehicles. And in July, it dropped to 15,000 vehicles.

2025 年 5 月，這是 2025 年，這又回到了橋上。1 月份銷量為 169,000 輛。五月，是 2025 年。5月為5.8萬輛。而到了7月份，這數字又下降到了1.5萬輛。

So we had a huge drop quarter over quarter, which is why Q4 had such a revenue hole and also what drove some of the inventory because we had built a pipeline. We built our plants and we built our pipeline to respond to long -- when you have long lead time items like copper, we built a pipeline based on what the customers have told us and what IHS said.

因此，我們的季度環比下降幅度很大，這就是第四季度出現如此大的收入缺口的原因，也是我們建立管道後推動部分庫存的原因。我們建造了工廠，建立了管道來應對長週期需求——當你擁有像銅這樣交貨週期較長的物品時，我們會根據客戶告訴我們的情況和 IHS 的說法建立管道。

You take those same numbers for fiscal 2026 in January -- so for fiscal -- excuse me, calendar year fiscal 2026, in January 2025, that number was 259,000 between the two programs. In May, it dropped to 176,000 and in July, it dropped to 63,000.

如果你把 2026 財年 1 月份的相同數字拿來用——那麼對於財政年度——對不起，是 2026 財年，即 2025 年 1 月份，這兩個項目之間的數字是 259,000。5月份下降至17.6萬，7月下降至6.3萬。

So we have been reacting within a quarter to huge drops both in the quarter and in the following fiscal year, which is why our ability to adjust and overcome that it's just not possible within a quarter. So what we're trying to do, we're in conversations with the customers.

因此，我們在一個季度內就對本季和下一財年的大幅下滑做出了反應，這就是為什麼我們不可能在一個季度內調整並克服這個問題。所以我們正在嘗試做的是與客戶進行對話。

We're trying to work with them, and it's not just with Stellantis, work with all of our customers and at the same time, be able to use our capabilities, use our engineering, use our operations, use our supply chain to support growth in other areas.

我們正在嘗試與他們合作，而且不僅僅是與 Stellantis 合作，還要與我們所有的客戶合作，同時能夠利用我們的能力、我們的工程、我們的營運、我們的供應鏈來支援其他領域的成長。

So if you think about Slide 18 and 19 and say they've had a huge hole punched in the revenue from Methode's perspective, but the performance on a year-over-year basis, you have negative downward conversion that you should expect in any company when you take $100 million worth of revenue out or the better part of $100 million worth of revenue out.

因此，如果您考慮幻燈片 18 和 19，並說從 Methode 的角度來看，他們的收入出現了巨大的損失，但與去年同期相比，您會看到任何公司在拿出 1 億美元收入或 1 億美元的大部分收入時都會出現負向下轉換的情況。

And on top of the downward conversion, we're driving what, $32 million worth of EBITDA improvement in our midpoint of our guidance.

除了向下轉換之外，我們還在推動價值 3200 萬美元的 EBITDA 改善，這是我們指導中位數。

So I mean, in the numbers that you're citing for this year, I guess it's very easy to assume there's negative growth from Stellantis, in other words.

所以我的意思是，從您引用的今年的數據來看，我猜很容易推斷 Stellantis 出現了負增長。

Yes.

是的。

Big time.

大時代。

Absolutely. That's what slide 18 -- if you look at -- the top of slide 18 is what we knew when I first started talking to you. Q1. That's what we knew at the time. The bottom of the slide shows you what we know now.

絕對地。這就是第 18 張投影片 — — 如果你看一下 — — 第 18 張投影片的頂部就是我第一次和你談話時所知道的內容。問1.這是我們當時所知道的。幻燈片底部展示了我們現在所知道的內容。

Okay. I just want to clear that up. All right. And then I -- just one more quick question. I saw the report that you're paying a $0.07 dividend, so it was $0.14. So safe to assume you've cut the dividend. And was that having to do with some of the issues you had to get with some amendment changes or leverage covenant changes or whatever? Because the cash flow is still pretty strong.

好的。我只是想澄清一下。好的。然後我──再問一個簡單的問題。我看到報告說你們的股息是0.07美元，所以實際上是0.14美元。所以可以肯定你們削減了股息。這是否與您必須解決的一些修正案變更或槓桿契約變更等問題有關？因為現金流仍然相當強勁。

Yeah. So actually -- but Gary if you look at it based -- the dividend has historically been set. First, the dividend policy is set by the Board. But let's just talk about it. If you look at it, this change in the dividend still puts us with a yield, the dividend yield very much in line with our peers.

是的。所以實際上——但是加里，如果你看一下——股息在歷史上就已經確定了。首先，股利政策由董事會制定。但我們只是談論它。如果你看一下，你會發現股息的這種變化仍然為我們帶來了收益率，股息收益率與同業非常一致。

That initial dividend on a per share basis was set back when the stock was much higher. So the new dividend rate, one, is in line with our peers. It gives us back some flexibility from a working capital perspective. And yes, of course, it did consider what we had to do from a covenants perspective.

當股價大幅上漲時，每股初始股利就會被削減。因此，新的股息率首先與我們的同業一致。從營運資金的角度來看，它為我們提供了一定的彈性。是的，當然，它確實從契約的角度考慮了我們必須做什麼。

Okay. That's fine. I just want to make sure I was on the right track there.

好的。沒關係。我只是想確保我走在正確的軌道上。

John Franzreb, Sidoti.

約翰‧弗朗茨雷布、西多蒂。

We just stick with slide 18 here. And I guess I want to focus on that $48 million net other launches and pricing in market. I guess my biggest curiosity is how much of that $48 million has pricing benefits embedded in?

我們只堅持這裡的第 18 張幻燈片。我想重點關註一下 4800 萬美元的淨其他發布和市場定價。我想我最大的好奇心是這 4800 萬美元中有多少包含定價優勢？

You mean as far as versus its new programs, it just price, price to price?

您的意思是，就其新計劃而言，它只是價格，價格對價格？

On the right-hand side of the column, it's $48 million, down from $107 million. I'm just curious how much is pricing because I figure that's going to be one of the hardest things to execute.

在該欄的右側，該數字為 4800 萬美元，低於 1.07 億美元。我只是好奇定價是多少，因為我認為這將是最難執行的事情之一。

No, no, no. It's not that. This is as we said to you, we've had other programs that have either been delayed or canceled. So the downdraft between the $107 million and the $48 million is due to delays or cancellations. Pricing is incremental plus. Data centers is incremental plus.

不，不，不。不是那樣的。正如我們向您所說的那樣，我們還有其他項目被推遲或取消了。因此，1.07 億美元和 4,800 萬美元之間的下降是由於延誤或取消造成的。定價是漸進式的。資料中心是增量優勢。

So what you have to look at is the combination of the Stellantis plus the other delays, it's basically a hole that's been punched in our revenue plan based on largely North American EV program delays or cancellations, not pricing that we didn't get.

因此，你必須考慮的是 Stellantis 加上其他延遲的綜合影響，這基本上是我們收入計劃中的一個漏洞，主要是基於北美電動車計劃的延遲或取消，而不是我們沒有得到的定價。

Okay. Right, which brings me to my other question. With so much of the revenue coming out of the automotive side of the business, does that suggest that you're assuming growth in the industrial side of the business in the coming year?

好的。好的，這讓我想到了我的另一個問題。由於如此多的收入來自汽車業務，這是否意味著您預計來年工業業務將會成長？

Yeah. It does. And not only does it assume growth, but what you'll see is you see that ultimately, this business is going to be about 50% automotive and 50% other. The -- and we're excited about opportunities to grow our lighting business, the industrial activities as well as the data center work, both on base data center activity as well as future data center activity.

是的。確實如此。它不僅預期會成長，而且你會看到，最終這項業務將由 50% 的汽車業務和 50% 的其他業務組成。我們對發展照明業務、工業活動以及資料中心工作的機會感到非常興奮，包括基礎資料中心活動以及未來的資料中心活動。

Okay. So that's largely come from data center given what's going on in the truck market?

好的。那麼，考慮到卡車市場的情況，這主要來自資料中心嗎？

Yeah. Well, so lighting would be data centers and lighting for things other than trucks, not off-highway lighting as well.

是的。那麼，照明將是資料中心和卡車以外的照明，而不是非公路照明。

Since you brought that up, I am curious how Nordic Lights is performing relative to expectations. Maybe just summarize 2025.

既然你提到了這一點，我很好奇 Nordic Lights 的表現相對於預期如何。也許只是總結一下 2025 年。

I'm very proud of the team at Nordic Lights. Antti and the team there do a fantastic job in a challenging market. The base market, the equipment suppliers aren't blowing the doors off, but Nordic Lights is performing well, and the team there has been a good addition.

我為 Nordic Lights 團隊感到非常自豪。Antti 和他的團隊在充滿挑戰的市場中做出了出色的工作。在基礎市場方面，設備供應商並沒有取得太大的成績，但 Nordic Lights 表現良好，其團隊也得到了很好的補充。

And as we talked about briefly with some of the engineering and program management team, program management changes, the team at Nordic Lights is actually contributing more broadly within broader Methode. I'm pleased with it.

正如我們與一些工程和專案管理團隊簡要討論過的專案管理變革，Nordic Lights 團隊實際上在更廣泛的 Methode 中做出了更廣泛的貢獻。我對此很滿意。

Good. Good to hear. Question about slide 9, so we can move from 18. It seems like there's -- it sounds to me as if there's still more to come, right? The 2026 priorities, including further plant consolidation, SG&A rightsizing, portfolio review, things of that nature. Can you give us a sense of some of the timing of those projects? When do you expect to execute or realize them? Are they all going to materialize in 2026? Any kind of more color would be appreciated.

好的。很高興聽到這個消息。關於投影片 9 的問題，所以我們可以從投影片 18 開始。在我看來，似乎還有更多的事情要做，對嗎？2026 年的優先事項包括進一步工廠合併、銷售、一般及行政開支調整、投資組合審查等。能向我們介紹一下這些項目的時間安排嗎？您預計何時執行或實現它們？這些目標都會在 2026 年達成嗎？如果有更多顏色就更好了。

Well, the program launches and the operational execution and the team rebuilding that first one, those foundational actions, those are ongoing. And of course, we expect them to impact in 2026.

嗯，該計劃啟動、營運執行以及團隊重建，這些基礎行動正在進行中。當然，我們預計它們將在 2026 年產生影響。

Plant and SG&A rightsizing, we're in the process of that right now. None of them are large enough where they would be 8-K-able announcements, but we're moving forward with those activities in each of our sites in each of our regions to size the business based on what product development we need and where we're going.

工廠和銷售、一般及行政費用的調整，我們現在正在進行中。它們都還不夠大，不足以發布 8-K 公告，但我們正在每個地區、每個站點推進這些活動，根據我們需要開發什麼產品以及我們的發展方向來確定業務規模。

Aligning the portfolio, more to come on that, but I expect activity to happen within the fiscal year. And addressing the business structure, the Board size reduction, that will happen after the annual meeting in the next forthcoming months.

調整投資組合，還有更多內容，但我預計活動將在財政年度內發生。解決業務結構、董事會規模縮減等問題將在未來幾個月的年度會議之後進行。

The headquarters relocation, we expect to have done within fiscal 2026. We talked to you about the dividend adjustment and as I just said, the portfolio review. So yes, these are all things that we're actively working on in fiscal 2026.

我們預計總部搬遷將在 2026 財年內完成。我們與您討論了股息調整以及我剛才所說的投資組合審查。是的，這些都是我們在 2026 財政年度積極努力的事情。

Okay. Most of my other questions were already answered. I'll get back in queue.

好的。我的其他問題大部分都已經得到解答了。我會回到隊列中。

Gary Prestopino, Barrington.

加里·普雷斯托皮諾，巴林頓。

Yeah. I just wanted to kind of ask just for our purposes of modeling, and I don't want to get too specific. But on a sequential basis, I mean, how are we looking at the sales plotting out quarter to quarter to quarter sequentially? Should we expect the same seasonality that we saw a couple of years ago? Or is there something here where you're going to -- it just kind of puts out where it just constantly gets better as we go along in the year?

是的。我只是想問我們的建模目的，我不想問得太具體。但從連續的角度來看，我的意思是，我們如何看待逐季度連續的銷售情況？我們是否應該期待出現與幾年前相同的季節性現象？或者這裡有什麼東西是您要做的——它只是在某種程度上表明，隨著時間的推移，它會不斷變得更好？

Gary, we're checking our notes. But typically, with the launches and the ramp-up of timing, that's why we've talked about the improvement second half versus first half. We don't typically provide quarterly revenue guidance. But yes, you would expect to see a -- there is a level of seasonality, particularly in Q3 because of our Q3 being with holidays, but a fairly significant step-up in Q4 versus Q1.

加里，我們正在檢查筆記。但通常情況下，隨著發布和時間的增加，這就是我們談論下半年相對於上半年的改進的原因。我們通常不提供季度收入指引。但是的，你會看到——存在一定程度的季節性，特別是在第三季度，因為第三季度正值假期，但第四季度與第一季相比有相當顯著的增長。

Okay. So the answer would be that probably sequentially, we're going to continue to see increases as we go along.

好的。因此答案可能是，隨著時間的推移，我們可能會繼續看到成長。

Yeah.

是的。

And the back half of the year is where you're really going to shine. Okay.

今年下半年才是你真正大放異彩的時候。好的。

We have reached the end of the question-and-answer session, and I will now turn the call over to Jon DeGaynor for closing remarks.

問答環節已經結束，現在我將把電話交給喬恩·德蓋納 (Jon DeGaynor) 作結束語。

I want to thank everybody for your attendance today. I'll just conclude it by saying we're really proud of what we've achieved in 2025, and we know that we have a lot more to do in 2026, and we look forward to speaking with you in the next earnings call to describe that progress. So thank you all.

我要感謝大家今天的出席。最後，我想說，我們對 2025 年的成就感到非常自豪，我們知道 2026 年還有很多事情要做，我們期待在下次財報電話會議上與您交談，描述這一進展。謝謝大家。

This concludes today's conference, and you may disconnect your lines at this time. Thank you for your participation.

今天的會議到此結束，大家可以斷開連線了。感謝您的參與。