Mettler-Toledo International Inc (MTD) 2023 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Good morning. My name is Audra, and I will be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the Mettler-Toledo Fourth Quarter 2023 Earnings Call. Today's conference is being recorded. (Operator Instructions).

早安.我叫奧德拉，今天我將擔任你們的會議操作員。此時，我謹歡迎大家參加梅特勒-托利多 2023 年第四季財報電話會議。今天的會議正在錄製中。 （操作員說明）。

At this time, I would like to turn the conference over to Adam Uhlman, Head of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

現在，我想將會議交給投資者關係主管 Adam Uhlman。請繼續。

Thanks, Audra, and good morning, everyone. Good afternoon from Switzerland. Thanks for joining our call today. On the line with me is Patrick Kaltenbach, our Chief Executive Officer; and Shawn Vadala, our Chief Financial Officer.

謝謝奧德拉，大家早安。來自瑞士的下午好。感謝您今天加入我們的電話會議。和我一起在線的是我們的執行長 Patrick Kaltenbach；以及我們的財務長肖恩·瓦達拉 (Shawn Vadala)。

Let me cover some administrative matters. This call is being webcast and is available for replay on our website at mt.com. A copy of the press release and the presentation that we will refer to today on the call is available on the website as well. This call will include forward-looking statements within the meaning of the U.S. Securities Act of 1933 and the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934.

讓我談談一些行政事務。該電話會議正在進行網路直播，並且可以在我們的網站 mt.com 上重播。我們今天在電話會議上參考的新聞稿和簡報的副本也可以在網站上找到。本次電話會議將包括《1933 年美國證券法》和《1934 年美國證券交易法》含義內的前瞻性陳述。

These statements involve risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual results, financial condition, performance and achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied by any forward-looking statements. For a discussion of these risks and uncertainties, please see our annual report on Form 10-K and our quarterly and current reports filed with the SEC. The company disclaims any obligation or undertaking to provide any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements, except as required by law.

這些陳述涉及風險、不確定性和其他因素，可能導致我們的實際結果、財務狀況、績效和成就與任何前瞻性陳述明示或暗示的結果有重大差異。有關這些風險和不確定性的討論，請參閱我們的 10-K 表格年度報告以及我們向 SEC 提交的季度和當前報告。除法律要求外，該公司不承擔任何對任何前瞻性陳述進行更新或修訂的義務或承諾。

On today's call, we might use non-GAAP financial measures. A reconciliation of these non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP measure is provided in the 8-K and is also available on our website.

在今天的電話會議上，我們可能會使用非公認會計準則財務指標。 8-K 中提供了這些非 GAAP 財務指標與最直接可比較的 GAAP 指標的調整表，也可在我們的網站上找到。

Let me now turn the call over to Patrick.

現在讓我把電話轉給派崔克。

Thanks, Adam, and good morning, everyone. We appreciate you joining our call today. Last night, we reported our fourth quarter financial results, the details of which are outlined for you on Page 3 of our presentation.

謝謝亞當，大家早安。我們感謝您今天加入我們的電話會議。昨晚，我們報告了第四季度的財務業績，我們的簡報第 3 頁為您概述了詳細資訊。

As previously announced, the transition to a new external European logistics service provider, significantly impacted our fourth quarter results which we expect to largely recapture in the first quarter. Excluding the impact of these delayed shipments, our results were in line with our previous expectations. Market demand has remained weak in China and across our core end markets of pharma and biopharma, food manufacturing and chemicals, but also does not appear to have deteriorated further.

正如先前宣布的那樣，向新的歐洲外部物流服務提供商的過渡對我們第四季度的業績產生了重大影響，我們預計第一季將在很大程度上恢復這一業績。排除這些延遲出貨的影響，我們的結果符合我們先前的預期。中國以及我們的製藥和生物製藥、食品製造和化學品等核心終端市場的市場需求仍然疲軟，但似乎沒有進一步惡化。

Looking forward, we expect market conditions to remain soft in the first half of the year, and we would then expect our sales return to growth in the second half of the year as we begin to lap easier comparisons. We are focused on the things we can control, including increasing our competitive advantages through innovation and continuous improvement of our corporate programs and nurturing our unique global culture.

展望未來，我們預計上半年市場狀況將保持疲軟，然後隨著我們開始進行更容易的比較，我們預計我們的銷售額將在下半年恢復成長。我們專注於我們可以控制的事情，包括透過創新和持續改進我們的企業計劃來提高我們的競爭優勢，以及培養我們獨特的全球文化。

I'm confident these actions will drive market share gains and help us emerge stronger than market recovery. Let me now turn the call over to Shawn to cover the financial results for the quarter and our guidance for the year. And then I will come back with some additional commentary on the business. Shawn?

我相信這些行動將推動市場份額的成長，並幫助我們在市場復甦時變得更強大。現在讓我將電話轉給肖恩，介紹本季的財務表現和我們今年的指導。然後我會帶著一些關於該業務的補充評論回來。肖恩？

Thanks, Patrick, and good morning, everyone. Sales in the quarter were $935 million, which represented a decrease in local currency of 13%. On a U.S. dollar basis, sales declined 12% as currency increased sales growth by 1%.

謝謝派崔克，大家早安。該季度銷售額為 9.35 億美元，以當地貨幣計算下降了 13%。以美元計算，銷售額下降了 12%，而貨幣匯率使銷售額增加了 1%。

On Slide #4, we show sales growth by region. Local currency sales declined 7% in the Americas, 16% in Europe and 18% in Asia/Rest of the World. Local currency sales in China declined 23% in the quarter. Excluding the impact of the previously disclosed shipping delays related to a new logistics provider in Europe, we estimate our sales in Q4 declined about 7%, with the Americas down approximately 3%, Europe down approximately 6% and Asia down approximately 14%.

在投影片 #4 上，我們顯示了按地區劃分的銷售成長。以當地貨幣計算的銷售額在美洲下降了 7%，在歐洲下降了 16%，在亞洲/世界其他地區下降了 18%。本季中國的以當地貨幣計算的銷售額下降了 23%。排除先前揭露的與歐洲新物流供應商相關的運輸延誤的影響，我們估計第四季度的銷售額下降約 7%，其中美洲下降約 3%，歐洲下降約 6%，亞洲下降約 14%。

On Slide #5, we show sales growth by region for the full year 2023. Local currency sales declined 3% in 2023, with sales in the Americas down 1%, Europe down 2% and Asia/Rest of the World down 5%. Local currency sales decreased 10% in China for 2023. Excluding the logistics headwind in Q4, we estimate our full year sales decline approximately 1% with the Americas flat, Europe up 1% and Asia down 5%.

在投影片 #5 中，我們顯示了2023 年全年各地區的銷售額成長情況。2023 年以當地貨幣計算的銷售額下降了3%，其中美洲銷售額下降1%，歐洲下降2%，亞洲/世界其他地區下降5%。以當地貨幣計算，2023 年中國銷售額將下降 10%。排除第四季的物流阻力，我們預計全年銷售額將下降約 1%，其中美洲持平，歐洲成長 1%，亞洲下降 5%。

On Slide #6, we summarize local currency sales growth by product area. For the quarter, Laboratory sales decreased 18% and Industrial decreased 8% with core industrial down 6% and product inspection down 10%. Food Retail grew 9%. Service sales grew 6% in the quarter. Excluding the logistics delays, we estimate Laboratory product sales declined approximately 11%; Industrial declined 5% with core Industrial down 2% and product inspection down 10%; and Food Retail grew 17%.

在投影片 #6 上，我們按產品領域總結了以當地貨幣計算的銷售成長。本季度，實驗室銷售額下降 18%，工業銷售額下降 8%，其中核心工業銷售額下降 6%，產品檢驗銷售額下降 10%。食品零售成長 9%。本季服務銷售額成長 6%。排除物流延誤，我們估計實驗室產品銷售額下降約 11%；工業下降 5%，其中核心工業下降 2%，產品檢驗下降 10%；食品零售成長 17%。

The next slide shows local currency sales growth by product area for the full year 2023. Laboratory sales decreased 7% and Industrial sales declined 1% with core Industrial down 1% and product inspection flat. Food Retail increased 27%. Service sales grew 10% in 2023. Excluding the logistic delays, we estimate Laboratory product sales declined approximately 5%; Industrial was flat across both core Industrial and product inspection; and Food Retail grew 29%.

下一張投影片顯示了2023 年全年按產品領域以當地貨幣計算的銷售額成長情況。實驗室銷售額下降7%，工業銷售額下降1%，核心工業銷售額下降1%，產品檢驗持平。食品零售成長 27%。 2023 年服務銷售額成長 10%。排除物流延誤，我們估計實驗室產品銷售額下降約 5%；工業核心工業和產品檢驗均持平；食品零售成長 29%。

Let me now move to the rest of the P&L, which is summarized on Slide #8. Gross margin was 59%, a decrease of 80 basis points due to our lower volume, offset in part by positive pricing in our cost savings initiatives. R&D amounted to $46.4 million in the quarter, which is a 3% decrease in local currency over the prior year. SG&A amounted to $223.4 million, a 4% decrease in local currency compared to the prior year and benefits from our cost-saving initiatives and lower variable compensation. Adjusted operating profit amounted to $281.8 million in the quarter, a 21% decrease. Adjusted operating margin was 30.1%, which represents a decrease of 380 basis points from the prior year due to our decreased volume.

現在讓我談談損益表的其餘部分，投影片#8 對此進行了總結。由於銷量下降，毛利率為 59%，下降了 80 個基點，但部分被我們成本節約計劃中的積極定價所抵消。本季研發費用為 4,640 萬美元，以當地貨幣計算比去年同期下降 3%。 SG&A 達 2.234 億美元，以當地貨幣計算比上一年下降 4%，這得益於我們的成本節約舉措和較低的可變薪酬。本季調整後營業利潤為 2.818 億美元，下降 21%。調整後營業利益率為 30.1%，由於銷量下降，較上年下降 380 個基點。

A couple of final comments on the P&L. Amortization amounted to $18.1 million in the quarter, interest expense was $19.7 million and other income amounted to $1.6 million. Our effective tax rate was 19% in the quarter. This rate is before discrete items and adjusting for the timing of stock option exercises. Fully diluted shares amounted to 21.7 million which is approximately a 3% decline from the prior year.

關於損益表的一些最終評論。本季攤銷額為 1,810 萬美元，利息支出為 1,970 萬美元，其他收入為 160 萬美元。本季我們的有效稅率為 19%。該比率是在離散項目之前計算的，並根據股票選擇權行使的時間進行調整。完全稀釋後的股份數量為2,170萬股，較上年下降約3%。

Adjusted EPS for the quarter was $9.40, a 22% decrease over the prior year. On a reported basis, EPS was $8.52 as compared to $11.86 in the prior year. Reported EPS in the quarter includes $0.23 of purchased intangible amortization, $0.49 of restructuring costs and a $0.16 tax headwind from the timing of option exercises.

該季度調整後每股收益為 9.40 美元，比去年同期下降 22%。根據報告，每股收益為 8.52 美元，而前一年為 11.86 美元。本季度報告的每股收益包括 0.23 美元的無形資產攤銷、0.49 美元的重組成本和 0.16 美元的選擇權行使時間所帶來的稅收阻力。

The next slide illustrates our year-to-date results. Local currency sales declined 3% for the year, adjusted operating income decreased 3% or flat, excluding unfavorable foreign currency, and our adjusted operating margin was flat at 30.4% for the year. Adjusted EPS declined 4% in 2023, excluding the impact of unfavorable currency for the year, adjusted EPS declined 1%. That covers the P&L, let me now comment on cash flow.

下一張幻燈片展示了我們今年迄今為止的業績。本財年銷售額下降 3%，調整後營業收入下降 3% 或持平（排除不利的外幣因素），全年調整後營業利潤率持平，為 30.4%。 2023年調整後每股盈餘下降4%，排除當年不利貨幣的影響，調整後每股盈餘下降1%。這涵蓋了損益表，現在讓我評論一下現金流。

In the quarter, adjusted free cash flow amounted to $260.1 million, a conversion of approximately 130% of adjusted net income due to favorable working capital. In 2023, free cash flow was $908 million, up 20% over last year on a per share basis due to the reduction in working capital with a conversion of approximately 109% of adjusted net income.

本季度，調整後自由現金流達 2.601 億美元，由於良好的營運資本，約佔調整後淨利潤的 130%。 2023年，由於營運資本減少，自由現金流為9.08億美元，每股比去年成長20%，轉換為調整後淨利的約109%。

Let me now turn to guidance for the first quarter and for the full year. First, while we are extremely disappointed by the shipping delays in the fourth quarter from our third-party logistics provider, we have seen good momentum so far this year in catching up on these delayed shipments and continue to expect to largely recover them in the first quarter.

現在讓我談談第一季和全年的指導。 First, while we are extremely disappointed by the shipping delays in the fourth quarter from our third-party logistics provider, we have seen good momentum so far this year in catching up on these delayed shipments and continue to expect to largely recover them in the first四分之一.

Secondly, given the soft trends across most of our core end markets and the global economy, we expect our customers to be cautious with their investments to start off the year. We're also closely watching events in the Middle East and other potential impacts the war could have on logistics and other costs for our suppliers and customers.

其次，鑑於我們大多數核心終端市場和全球經濟的疲軟趨勢，我們預期客戶在年初的投資將保持謹慎。我們也密切關注中東的事件以及戰爭可能對我們的供應商和客戶的物流和其他成本產生的其他潛在影響。

Lastly, as a reminder, we have implemented many cost savings programs during the second half of last year to mitigate the impact of lower demand. We continue to expect to maintain and add to these savings in 2024, but also face headwinds from resetting variable compensation programs and inflation.

最後，提醒一下，我們在去年下半年實施了許多成本節約計劃，以減輕需求下降的影響。我們仍預計到 2024 年將維持並增加這些節省，但也面臨重置可變薪酬計畫和通貨膨脹的阻力。

Now turning to our guidance. For the first quarter of 2024, we expect local currency sales to decline approximately 4% to 6%. This forecast includes an approximate 5% benefit from the delayed shipments in the fourth quarter. We expect adjusted EPS to be in the range of $7.35 to $7.75. Currency at recent spot rates for the quarter would be less than a 1% headwind to first quarter sales, but a headwind to adjusted EPS of approximately 4%.

現在轉向我們的指導。對於 2024 年第一季度，我們預計以當地貨幣計算的銷售額將下降約 4% 至 6%。該預測包括第四季度發貨延遲帶來的約 5% 的收益。我們預計調整後每股收益將在 7.35 美元至 7.75 美元之間。以當前季度即期匯率計算，對第一季銷售額的影響將小於 1%，但對調整後每股盈餘的影響將達到約 4%。

For the full year 2024, we expect local currency sales to grow approximately 1% to 2%, which is up from our previous guidance of approximately flattish to reflect the shift of our delayed shipments from our European logistics hub from Q4 into Q1 of this year. We expect full year adjusted EPS to be in the range of $39.60 to $40.30 which compares to our prior guidance of $39.10 to $39.80. This includes an expected headwind to adjusted EPS growth of approximately 2% from unfavorable foreign exchange.

對於2024 年全年，我們預計以當地貨幣計算的銷售額將增長約1% 至2%，高於我們之前大致持平的指引，以反映我們從歐洲物流中心延遲發貨的情況從今年第四季度轉移到第一季。我們預計全年調整後每股收益將在 39.60 美元至 40.30 美元之間，而我們先前的指引為 39.10 美元至 39.80 美元。這包括不利的外匯匯率預計將導致調整後每股收益成長約 2%。

Lastly, I'll share a few comments on our 2024 guidance. We expect total amortization, including purchased intangible amortization to be approximately $73 million. Purchased intangible amortization is excluded from adjusted EPS and is estimated at $26 million on a pretax basis or $0.99 per share. Interest expense forecast at $84 million for the year and other income is estimated at approximately $3 million.

最後，我將分享一些關於我們 2024 年指導的評論。我們預計攤銷總額（包括購買的無形攤銷）約為 7,300 萬美元。購買的無形攤銷不包括在調整後每股收益中，稅前估計為 2,600 萬美元，即每股 0.99 美元。今年利息支出預計為 8,400 萬美元，其他收入預計約 300 萬美元。

We expect our tax rate before discrete items will remain at 19% in 2024. We expect free cash flow of approximately $850 million, representing a conversion of approximately 100% of adjusted net income. We continue to expect share repurchases of approximately $850 million in 2024.

我們預計 2024 年不計離散項目的稅率將維持在 19%。我們預計自由現金流約為 8.5 億美元，相當於調整後淨利潤的約 100% 的轉換。我們仍預期 2024 年將回購約 8.5 億美元的股票。

That's it from my side, and I'll now turn it back to Patrick.

這就是我的觀點，現在我將把它轉回給派崔克。

Thanks, Shawn. Let me start with some comments on our operating businesses, starting with Lab. As we had expected, demand trends across most of our Lab customers remained weak in the fourth quarter, especially pharma and biopharma. Sales declined across most product categories, and we continue to see soft demand across all geographies, especially in China.

謝謝，肖恩。讓我先對我們的營運業務進行一些評論，首先是實驗室。正如我們預期的那樣，我們大多數實驗室客戶的需求趨勢在第四季度仍然疲軟，尤其是製藥和生物製藥。大多數產品類別的銷售額均下降，我們繼續看到所有地區的需求疲軟，尤其是在中國。

While market conditions have been weaker, we continue to focus on the things we can control, which includes bringing new innovations to market, enhancing our sales and marketing programs and expanding our service offering and capacity. This past year saw the launch of many exciting new and upgraded products. We are excited about our innovation pipeline, and we believe organizations that maintain their growth investments during market downturns will emerge even stronger during recovery periods. Our investments have had a particular emphasis on supporting our customers' needs for laboratory automation and data integrity requirements, which we are confident will be a significant driver of continued market share gains going forward, and we are excited to share with you additional developments over the coming months.

儘管市場狀況較為疲軟，但我們繼續專注於我們可以控制的事情，包括將新的創新推向市場、加強我們的銷售和行銷計劃以及擴大我們的服務範圍和能力。在過去的一年裡，推出了許多令人興奮的新產品和升級產品。我們對我們的創新管道感到興奮，我們相信在市場低迷時期保持成長投資的組織將在復甦期間變得更加強大。我們的投資特別注重支持客戶對實驗室自動化和資料完整性要求的需求，我們相信這將成為未來市場份額持續成長的重要推動力，我們很高興與您分享未來幾個月未來的更多發展。

Switching to our Industrial business. Sales for the quarter were in line with our previous guidance despite the headwind from delays from -- of our European logistics hub. Core Industrial demand in the Americas and in Europe has been relatively resilient this past year despite declines in purchasing manager indexes. We continue to see solid interest from customers looking for our advanced automation solutions, and we expect to benefit from customer investments in onshoring and near-shoring over the coming year. Regarding our product inspection business, we have seen weak food manufacturing customer demand in Europe and soft demand in the Americas. We continue to target faster-growing segments and have a focus on engaging new customers with a refreshed portfolio of innovative solutions.

轉向我們的工業業務。儘管歐洲物流中心的延誤帶來了阻力，但本季的銷售仍符合我們先前的指引。儘管採購經理指數有所下降，但過去一年美洲和歐洲的核心工業需求相對堅韌。我們繼續看到客戶對我們先進的自動化解決方案表現出濃厚的興趣，我們預計未來一年將從客戶在岸和近岸的投資中受益。關於我們的產品檢驗業務，我們看到歐洲食品製造客戶需求疲軟，美洲需求疲軟。我們繼續瞄準成長更快的細分市場，並專注於透過更新的創新解決方案組合吸引新客戶。

Lastly, Food Retail results were very strong, excluding the negative impact from our European logistics hub. We had solid performance for the year due to strong project activity, particularly in the Americas.

最後，排除歐洲物流中心的負面影響，食品零售業績非常強勁。由於專案活動強勁，特別是在美洲，我們今年取得了穩健的業績。

Now let me make some additional comments by geography. Sales in Europe, excluding the estimated impact from our European logistics hub delays were softer than we had expected, following resilient performance for much of the year. As mentioned earlier, weak demand from European food manufacturing customers weighed on our product inspection business. Additionally, we also saw softer-than-expected demand from our Lab and core Industrial customers in the quarter. We remain cautious on the outlook for Europe due to low PMI readings in the region. The continuing war in the Ukraine and the potential for additional impacts for the economy from the conflict in the Middle East.

現在讓我按地理位置補充一些評論。繼今年大部分時間表現強勁之後，歐洲的銷售（不包括歐洲物流中心延誤的估計影響）低於我們的預期。如前所述，歐洲食品製造客戶的需求疲軟對我們的產品檢驗業務造成壓力。此外，我們也發現本季實驗室和核心工業客戶的需求低於預期。由於歐洲 PMI 數據較低，我們對歐洲前景保持謹慎態度。烏克蘭持續的戰爭以及中東衝突可能對經濟產生額外影響。

Turning now to the Americas. Our results for the quarter, excluding estimated logistic headwinds were slightly better than we had expected due to steady core Industrial demand and robust Food Retail growth. Going forward, we are well positioned to capture increased demand from emerging growth industries and onshoring activities.

現在轉向美洲。由於穩定的核心工業需求和強勁的食品零售成長，我們本季的業績（排除估計的物流阻力）略優於我們的預期。展望未來，我們處於有利地位，可以抓住新興成長產業和境內活動不斷增長的需求。

Finally, Asia and Rest of the World results were slightly better than we had expected as our core Industrial sales declines in China were less than we had anticipated. Pharma and biopharma demand in China has remained very weak and we continue to expect reduced demand for the first half of the year. Our team is doing an excellent job adjusting to the current market conditions. We are confident in the long-term growth opportunity for the -- for our business in the region. That concludes my comments on the fourth quarter results. Now I'd like to share with you some deeper insights on the next wave of sales and marketing initiatives we have introduced to our Spinnaker program and a few examples of enhancements that are underway.

最後，亞洲和世界其他地區的業績略優於我們的預期，因為我們在中國的核心工業銷售下降幅度小於我們的預期。中國的製藥和生物製藥需求仍然非常疲弱，我們仍然預計今年上半年的需求將減少。我們的團隊在適應當前市場狀況方面做得非常出色。我們對該地區業務的長期成長機會充滿信心。我對第四季業績的評論到此結束。現在，我想與您分享一些關於我們在 Spinnaker 計劃中引入的下一波銷售和行銷舉措的更深入見解，以及一些正在進行的增強功能的範例。

To start, and as a reminder, the significant ability of our business and the fragmented customer base means we need to set a set of sophisticated tools, analytics and processes to identify, prioritize and pursue the most attractive and profitable growth opportunities for our sales teams. We have a specific focus on new customer opportunities and cross-selling opportunities within our existing customers.

首先，提醒一下，我們業務的強大能力和分散的客戶群意味著我們需要設定一套複雜的工具、分析和流程來為我們的銷售團隊識別、優先考慮和追求最具吸引力和利潤的成長機會。我們特別關注新客戶機會和現有客戶的交叉銷售機會。

Spinnaker is our global excellence program in sales, service and marketing that enables us to drive sales growth and gain market share. Continuous improvement is an important part of our strategy and culture, and it is very much at the heart of our Spinnaker program. We constantly enhance and refine our initiatives, releasing new waves of enhancements to the program periodically that builds on previous waves of initiatives, reinforcing our strong foundation and increasing our competitive advantages.

Spinnaker 是我們在銷售、服務和行銷方面的全球卓越計劃，使我們能夠推動銷售成長並獲得市場份額。持續改善是我們策略和文化的重要組成部分，也是我們 Spinnaker 計畫的核心。我們不斷增強和完善我們的舉措，定期發布新一波的計劃增強功能，這些增強功能建立在之前幾波舉措的基礎上，從而鞏固我們堅實的基礎並提高我們的競爭優勢。

We are currently launching the sixth wave of Spinnaker, which is focused on leveraging new possibilities offered by digitalization of processes and further enhancing the customer experience. I'd like to share with you some tangible examples of the initiatives we have underway.

我們目前正在推出第六波 Spinnaker，其重點是利用流程數位化提供的新可能性並進一步增強客戶體驗。我想與大家分享一些我們正在採取的措施的具體例子。

Starting with our digitalization efforts. This year, we are making multiple improvements to our topK and sales force guidance programs. As a reminder, in addition to generating sales leads through our various marketing activities, our topK program provides our field teams with tailored and actionable investment alerts about specific sales opportunities that are generated by proprietary data analytics and deep learning software solutions, leveraging external data sources and our own internal databases. These sales opportunity alerts are created fully automatically, qualified and are fed into our CRM.

從我們的數位化努力開始。今年，我們對 topK 和銷售人員指導計畫進行了多項改進。提醒一下，除了透過我們的各種行銷活動產生銷售線索外，我們的topK 計畫還為我們的現場團隊提供有關特定銷售機會的客製化且可操作的投資警報，這些機會是由專有數據分析和深度學習軟體解決方案利用外部資料來源產生的以及我們自己的內部資料庫。這些銷售機會提醒完全自動建立、合格並輸入到我們的 CRM 中。

In addition to expanding our topK program to more areas of our business, this next wave of Spinnaker features a significant expansion of data sources to feed our big data warehouse, enabling Spinnaker to provide intelligent prioritization of target sites for our field sales teams. This also enables real-time smart profile reports to ensure timely follow-up and the most accurate background on potential customers, including data on the digital engagements with us. Other improvements include expanded capabilities to optimize and prioritize our marketing activities, including campaigns for replacing aging equipment across our installed base.

除了將我們的topK 計劃擴展到更多業務領域之外，下一波Spinnaker 還顯著擴展了數據源，為我們的大數據倉庫提供數據，使Spinnaker 能夠為我們的現場銷售團隊提供目標站點的智能優先排序。這也使得即時智慧檔案報告能夠確保及時跟進和最準確的潛在客戶背景，包括與我們進行數位互動的數據。其他改進包括擴大優化和優先考慮我們的行銷活動的能力，包括在我們的安裝基地中更換老化設備的活動。

This wave of Spinnaker also features additional big data capabilities to support our sales team cross-selling efforts. With each of our product categories having their own dedicated sales specialists, cross-selling is a very important growth opportunity for us because leads generated by colleagues in other product areas have high conversion rates.

這波 Spinnaker 還具有額外的大數據功能，以支援我們銷售團隊的交叉銷售工作。我們的每個產品類別都有自己的專門銷售專家，交叉銷售對我們來說是一個非常重要的成長機會，因為其他產品領域的同事產生的銷售線索具有很高的轉換率。

Today, our cross-selling penetration of existing customers is still rather low but big data analytics across our CRM and various processes is helping us unlock sales leads across our businesses, including from our service teams and Spinnaker is an excellent tool to help provide additional transparency on these sales opportunities.

如今，我們對現有客戶的交叉銷售滲透率仍然相當低，但我們的CRM 和各種流程中的大數據分析正在幫助我們釋放整個業務的銷售線索，包括來自我們的服務團隊的銷售線索，而Spinnaker 是幫助提供額外透明度的出色工具關於這些銷售機會。

Now from a customer perspective, we are also advancing several important enhancements to Spinnaker to improve our customer experience. We have previously focused on increasing our digital connectivity with our customers. However, we now see additional opportunities to provide advanced platforms that will create impactful experiences that further strengthen our customer relationship and overall value proposition. Examples include offering customers the ability to gain deep insights across their installed base of Mettler-Toledo instruments, be it access to calibration certificates or known last service dates or contract coverage or renewal agreements.

現在，從客戶的角度來看，我們也對 Spinnaker 進行了幾項重要的增強功能，以改善我們的客戶體驗。我們之前一直致力於增強與客戶的數位連結。然而，我們現在看到了提供先進平台的更多機會，這些平台將創造有影響力的體驗，進一步加強我們的客戶關係和整體價值主張。例如，讓客戶能夠深入了解其梅特勒-托利多儀器的安裝基礎，無論是取得校準證書還是已知的最後服務日期或合約範圍或續約協議。

We have also enhanced our integrations into customer systems to streamline the entire procure-to-pay process. By offering various levels and types of integration from punch out to order and invoice integration, we aim to increase productivity and drive process efficiencies for our customers. We already receive about 40% of our product orders, mainly consumables and less complex products through digital interfaces today, providing a seamless and efficient buying experience for our customers.

我們還增強了與客戶系統的集成，以簡化整個採購到付款流程。透過提供從打孔到訂單和發票集成的各種級別和類型的集成，我們的目標是提高客戶的生產力並提高流程效率。如今，我們已經透過數位介面收到了約 40% 的產品訂單，主要是消耗品和不太複雜的產品，為我們的客戶提供了無縫、高效的購買體驗。

Our customer portal allows customers to browse personalized product catalogs, review real-time inventory levels and manage orders all in one place. Our end-to-end order management systems include efficient tracking and management of both online and offline orders and includes an intuitive product selection and configuration process. For less complex products that do not require support from our specialists, customers can easily find specific products and use our smart configuration tool to simplify their ordering.

我們的客戶入口網站可讓客戶在一處瀏覽個人化產品目錄、查看即時庫存水準並管理訂單。我們的端到端訂單管理系統包括線上和離線訂單的高效追蹤和管理，以及直覺的產品選擇和配置流程。對於不需要我們專家支援的不太複雜的產品，客戶可以輕鬆找到特定產品並使用我們的智慧配置工具來簡化他們的訂單。

One element of the next wave of Spinnaker includes improving the order process by leveraging new technologies to facilitate assisted experience with a Mettler-Toledo expert. This includes enhanced chat functionality, click to book a meeting with a tailored sales representative or digital sales rooms that automatically guides customers through the product selection process and provide them all the information they need at any time to make an informed decision.

下一波 Spinnaker 浪潮的一個要素包括利用新技術改進訂單流程，以促進梅特勒-托利多專家的輔助體驗。這包括增強的聊天功能、點擊預訂與客製化銷售代表的會議或數位銷售室，自動引導客戶完成產品選擇過程，並隨時為他們提供做出明智決策所需的所有資訊。

For more complex solutions, in addition to providing on-site demonstrations of our instruments, we also provide virtual demonstrations to customers that are very effective. As part of our continuous improvement, we have revamped the studio setups of our virtual demos, making it more efficient and focused, significantly reducing preparation time by curating a series of demonstration menus based on customers' most frequently asked questions. This helps deliver a comprehensive demo that addresses customers' questions in a very concise way.

對於更複雜的解決方案，除了提供我們儀器的現場演示外，我們還為客戶提供非常有效的虛擬演示。作為我們持續改進的一部分，我們改進了虛擬演示的工作室設置，使其更加高效和集中，並根據客戶最常見的問題策劃了一系列演示菜單，從而顯著減少了準備時間。這有助於提供全面的演示，以非常簡潔的方式解決客戶的問題。

Customers have already reported an enhanced experience, gaining a deeper, more intuitive understanding of our instruments and our representatives find it easier to showcase our product features, and it makes technical details more accessible and adjustable with this new approach.

客戶已經報告了增強的體驗，對我們的儀器有了更深入、更直觀的了解，我們的代表發現更容易展示我們的產品功能，並且透過這種新方法使技術細節更容易存取和調整。

Lastly, to ensure we are meeting and exceeding our customers' expectations through every step of their journey with our sales teams, we have also begun to implement customer feedback loops and Net Promoter Scores for product sales in addition to what we are already doing -- what we already do for our service teams. This has proven to be a very effective source of opportunities for process improvements, and we expect improved results with our expanded program.

最後，為了確保我們在銷售團隊的每一步中滿足並超越客戶的期望，除了我們已經在做的事情之外，我們還開始實施客戶回饋循環和產品銷售淨推薦值——我們已經為我們的服務團隊做了什麼。事實證明，這是流程改進的一個非常有效的機會來源，我們預期我們的擴展計畫會帶來更好的結果。

So I hope these few examples give you a flavor for the much broader set of new initiatives that are underway with our new Spinnaker program. We believe they will continue to expand our sales and marketing lead over our competition and ensure our teams are spending their time with the most attractive opportunities and optimize our win rates while further strengthening our customer relationship.

因此，我希望這幾個例子能讓您了解我們新的 Spinnaker 計畫正在進行的更廣泛的新舉措。我們相信，他們將繼續擴大我們在競爭中的銷售和行銷領先優勢，並確保我們的團隊將時間花在最具吸引力的機會上，優化我們的獲勝率，同時進一步加強我們的客戶關係。

So that is the conclusion of our prepared remarks. Operator, I'd like now to open the line for questions.

這就是我們準備好的發言的結論。接線員，我現在想開通提問線路。

(Operator Instructions) We'll go first to Jack Meehan at Nephron Research.

（操作員說明）我們先去找 Nephron Research 的 Jack Meehan。

Shawn, just want you to start -- it would be great to get your forecast by segment for the first quarter and for the year?

肖恩，只是想讓你開始——如果能得到你對第一季和今年各細分市場的預測，那就太好了？

Yes, sure. So let me start with the Lab business. So we expect Lab in Q4 -- I mean, I'm sorry, in Q1 2024 to be down low to mid-single digit. And for the full year, we expect it to be up low single digit. For core Industrial, we expect Q1 to be down mid-single digit and for the full year to be flattish. Product inspection, we expect to be down mid-single digit for Q1 and for the full year, flattish. And then Retail, we expect to be down about 10% in Q1 and for the full year, down mid- to high single digit.

是的，當然。讓我從實驗室業務開始。因此，我們預計 2024 年第四季的實驗室——我的意思是，很抱歉，2024 年第一季將降至低至中個位數。就全年而言，我們預計該數字將成長低個位數。對於核心工業，我們預計第一季將下降中個位數，全年將持平。產品檢驗，我們預期第一季和全年將下降中個位數，持平。然後是零售業，我們預計第一季和全年零售業將下降約 10%，下降幅度為中高個位數。

And then if we look at the geographies, we expect the Americas to be down low single digit in Q1 and then for the full year, up low single digit. We expect Europe to be up low single digit in Q1, but in -- up low to mid-single digit in the -- for the full year. We expect China to be down low to mid-20s in Q1 and down high single digit for the full year.

然後，如果我們看一下地區，我們預計美洲第一季將出現低個位數下降，然後全年將出現低個位數成長。我們預計歐洲第一季的經濟成長將低至個位數，但全年將成長至中個位數。我們預計中國第一季的經濟成長將下降至 20 多歲左右，全年將下降至個位數高點。

Excellent. And then just as a follow-up, what does your first quarter guidance assumed for EBIT margins? And can you just walk us through like the pacing throughout the year, what kind of bridges to the full year forecast?

出色的。接下來，您對第一季息稅前利潤率的指導假設是多少？您能否向我們介紹全年的節奏，以及通往全年預測的橋樑是什麼？

Yes, sure. So in the first quarter -- I mean, of course, the first quarter, we're going to have a significant volume decline in the -- well, I guess, in the first half of the year. So for the first quarter, we're going to be down over 200 basis points, probably in like the 230, 240 kind of basis point range.

是的，當然。因此，在第一季——我當然是指第一季度，我們的銷量將大幅下降——我想是在今年上半年。因此，第一季度，我們將下調 200 個基點以上，可能在 230、240 個基點範圍內。

Now it's important to understand, too, like currency has a pretty big effect on the first quarter. So it's probably like 100% negative headwind to our margin in the first quarter. And I think we called out in the press release a 4% headwind to earnings per share. But that's going to change quite a bit as we get into the second half of the year, especially the fourth quarter.

現在了解這一點也很重要，例如貨幣對第一季的影響相當大。因此，第一季我們的利潤率可能面臨 100% 的負面阻力。我認為我們在新聞稿中指出每股收益將面臨 4% 的阻力。但隨著進入下半年，尤其是第四季度，這種情況將會發生很大變化。

And so for the full year, we're looking at the operating margin to be up in the kind of like 30 bps kind of a range. And if you exclude currency, it's probably in like the 70-plus kind of bps kind of a range.

因此，對於全年而言，我們預計營業利潤率將上漲 30 個基點左右。如果你排除貨幣，它可能在 70 多個基點的範圍內。

We'll move to our next question from Dan Arias at Stifel.

我們將轉向 Stifel 的 Dan Arias 提出的下一個問題。

Shawn, maybe just going back to the guide, if you take out the $58 million and you add it to 2024, it does get you to that up a point or 2 that you're guiding to. But in order to have the dollars be the same, it seems like the outlook would need to be for 3 points or so of growth. So is there something else that's amounting to a partial offset? How do you see the outlook now versus last quarter when you exclude the logistics issue?

Shawn，也許回到指南，如果你取出 5800 萬美元，並將其添加到 2024 年，它確實會讓你達到你所指導的一兩個點。但為了讓美元不變，前景似乎需要成長 3 個百分點左右。那麼還有其他什麼東西相當於部分抵銷嗎？排除物流問題後，與上季相比，您如何看待現在的前景？

Yes. Dan, it's a fair point. Like as you mentioned, we built the -- we expect the shipping delays to largely benefit the first quarter of this year. And so we acknowledge there's upside to the full year guidance because in addition to that benefit, there's also like a growth rate benefit as we get to the end of the year in the fourth quarter, given the base that we're kind of growing off of.

是的。丹，這是一個公平的觀點。就像您提到的那樣，我們預計運輸延誤將在今年第一季很大程度上受益。因此，我們承認全年指引有上行空間，因為除了這一好處之外，考慮到我們正在增長的基礎，到第四季度年底時，還有增長率方面的好處的。

But when we kind of step back from all that, we just kind of felt like it's still very early in the year. And while we're not seeing anything new in the business -- I mean, Patrick talked about in the prepared remarks that yes, there's still challenges in the market. But I just want to confirm, we're not seeing anything new at this point, but it's still early in the year. We just prefer to be a little bit cautious given various uncertainties in the back weighting of the year.

但當我們從這一切中退一步時，我們只是覺得現在還為時過早。雖然我們在業務中沒有看到任何新東西 - 我的意思是，帕特里克在準備好的演講中談到，是的，市場仍然存在挑戰。但我只是想確認一下，目前我們還沒有看到任何新的情況，但現在還為時過早。考慮到今年後期權重的各種不確定性，我們只是希望保持一點謹慎。

But when we look at the second half of the year, we still feel good. We feel like we're really well positioned for the second half. We talked about some of these new product launches in the prepared remarks. We have a lot of really exciting programs that we're launching. I mean, we spent a little bit of time talking about Spinnaker 6 in the prepared remarks, but there's other corporate programs that we're working on as well.

但當我們回顧下半年時，我們仍然感覺良好。我們覺得我們在下半場處於有利的位置。我們在準備好的發言中討論了其中一些新產品的發布。我們正在推出許多非常令人興奮的計劃。我的意思是，我們在準備好的發言中花了一點時間討論 Spinnaker 6，但我們也正在開發其他公司專案。

So we feel like we are well positioned for the second half. And just to acknowledge, I think there's a little bit of upside. Yes, we're being a little bit cautious as we start the year, but we just want to see how things play out a little bit.

所以我們覺得我們在下半場處於有利的位置。需要承認的是，我認為有一點好處。是的，我們在年初時有點謹慎，但我們只是想看看事情會如何發展。

Okay. So just to be clear here, you're not passing along the full amount of the logistics offset, but you also don't see anything in the end market makeup that has you feeling less confident than before or that has you looking for less growth than before. Is that a fair estimation?

好的。因此，這裡需要澄清的是，您並沒有傳遞全部的物流補償，但您也沒有看到最終市場組成中的任何內容讓您感覺比以前信心不足，或者讓您尋求更少的增長比以前。這是一個公平的估計嗎？

Yes, I think that's fair.

是的，我認為這是公平的。

Okay. And then just as a follow-up, maybe from an end market standpoint, it would be great if you could just give any color you could on the degree to which sentiment on China has changed in the quarter versus last quarter. Maybe it hasn't at all, but it would just get -- it would be good to get a sort of an updated view on the word on the street when it comes to ground level conversation, thoughts on rebound, et cetera.

好的。然後，作為後續行動，也許從終端市場的角度來看，如果您能就本季度與上季度相比對中國的情緒發生的變化程度給出任何顏色，那就太好了。也許根本沒有，但它會得到——當涉及到地面對話、關於反彈的想法等等時，獲得對街頭言論的最新看法將是件好事。

I'll take that. Look, Shawn and I had been in China in December. And of course, we're in continued conversations with the local team there -- with the sales management team to see if there are any changes. I would say China at the moment is still quite weak, especially in pharma, biopharma. But from our perspective, the situation has not deteriorated from what we reported on at the JPMorgan conference.

我會接受的。聽著，我和肖恩十二月份去過中國。當然，我們正在與當地的銷售管理團隊持續對話，看看是否有任何變化。我想說中國目前仍然很弱，特別是在製藥、生物製藥方面。但從我們的角度來看，情況並沒有像我們在摩根大通會議上報導的那樣惡化。

Clearly, they have seen -- still facing many headwinds as perhaps has been very significant spending and growth during the COVID period. But right now, we're facing a situation where there's a lack of stimulus from the government, there's a lot of uncertainty still there. There is some reduced foreign investment as well. So overall, a weaker economy that is focused on stabilizing the real estate market. And I think that in itself leads to just also softer demand at the moment.

顯然，他們已經看到，仍然面臨許多阻力，因為在新冠疫情期間，支出和成長可能非常巨大。但目前我們面臨的情況是，政府缺乏刺激，仍有許多不確定性。外國投資也有所減少。因此，總體而言，經濟疲軟的重點是穩定房地產市場。我認為這本身就會導致目前的需求疲軟。

But overall, it hasn't changed. As I said in my comments, core Industrial has been actually a bit better than expected in Q4, but we remain -- a bit cost on our outlook still in the first half of '24 and there is -- the second half will be easier for us because we have much easier compares. As a reminder, we had -- we had been down 25% in Q3 last year, 23% in Q4.

但總體來說，沒有改變。正如我在評論中所說，核心工業在第四季度實際上比預期要好一些，但我們仍然認為 24 年上半年的前景仍然存在一些成本，而且下半年會更容易對我們來說，因為我們有更容易的比較。提醒一下，我們去年第三季下降了 25%，第四季下降了 23%。

This year, we told you that the first half will be down. And so the second half will be -- now for us in 2024 will be an easier compare. I think we have a lot of good strategic drivers there. We have a very strong team, and we are confident that we'll be able to continue to gain market share with our programs, our products that we have there. And there's also long term that the market in China has -- as we told you before, has high single-digit growth opportunities.

今年，我們告訴你上半年會下降。因此，對我們來說，2024 年下半年將是一個更容易比較的情況。我認為我們有很多良好的策略驅動因素。我們擁有一支非常強大的團隊，我們相信我們將能夠繼續透過我們的專案和產品獲得市場份額。正如我們之前告訴您的那樣，從長遠來看，中國市場擁有較高的個位數成長機會。

We'll go next to Derik De Bruin at Bank of America.

我們將前往美國銀行的德里克·德布魯因 (Derik De Bruin)。

So -- can you talk a little bit about more about what you had to do just to sort of like fix the logistical issues and what's your third party is? And I guess, just are you confident that these are not going to be it for that. And you made some sort of allusion to -- or comment about the Middle East. Are you seeing -- I mean, what do you think is really sort of the risk there? You -- I mean I don't think you ship much through the Red Sea, but can you just sort of talk about sort of like what you've done as to ameliorate and fix some of the issues around that?

那麼，您能否多談談您必須做的事情，例如解決後勤問題以及您的第三方是什麼？我想，只是你有信心這些不會是這樣的嗎？你對中東做了某種暗示或評論。你是否看到——我的意思是，你認為那裡真正存在的風險是什麼？你——我的意思是，我認為你並沒有在紅海航行太多，但是你能談談你為改善和解決相關問題所做的事情嗎？

Derik, maybe I'll start off. So maybe I'll start off with the latter part of the question with the Red Sea and the Middle East. I mean, of course, we do have things coming from Asia that are on boats and on ships going through the Red Sea that -- so we will have higher freight costs a little bit as we kind of go over this year. But I think the bigger thing is really what does that mean to our customers? It's not really directly related to us, as you say, it's really about what does it mean to our customers.

德里克，也許我可以開始了。所以也許我會從紅海和中東問題的後半部開始。我的意思是，當然，我們確實有來自亞洲的東西，這些東西是透過船隻和穿過紅海的船隻運來的——所以今年我們的貨運成本會稍微更高。但我認為更重要的是這對我們的客戶意味著什麼？正如您所說，這與我們並沒有直接關係，而是對我們的客戶意味著什麼。

So I think there's still an unknown there. I know especially in Europe, there's been a lot of sensitivity around various inflationary topics over the last couple of years, whether it's all the geopolitics that have put pressure on energy costs or whether it's just inflation in general. This is just another thing kind of in the mix.

所以我認為那裡仍然有一個未知數。我知道，尤其是在歐洲，過去幾年，各種通膨話題都非常敏感，無論是地緣政治因素對能源成本帶來壓力，還是只是整體通膨。這只是混合中的另一件事。

In terms of our business, just to be clear, you're right, we don't sell very much at all into that region. So it's not a direct impact at all. In terms of what are we doing to improve the logistical situation. Patrick, do you want to take that -- yes.

就我們的業務而言，需要明確的是，您是對的，我們在該地區的銷售量並不多。所以這根本不是直接影響。就我們正在採取哪些措施來改善後勤狀況而言。派崔克，你想接受嗎——是的。

Yes, sure. I can take that one. We are making -- actually, we are quite pleased with the ongoing progress that we're making, and we are also expecting really to work down the backlog during Q1. We have a lot of our own experts there on site as well to help the local management team of our service partner there to get all the processes in place and stabilized, which what had been an issue during Q4 when we transferred the full 100% of the volume from our former logistics provider to this new logistics provider.

是的，當然。我可以接受那個。事實上，我們對正在取得的進展感到非常滿意，我們也期望在第一季真正減少積壓工作。我們在現場也有很多自己的專家，幫助我們服務合作夥伴的當地管理團隊將所有流程落實到位並穩定下來，這在第四季度我們轉讓全部 100% 的資產時一直是一個問題從我們以前的物流提供商到新的物流提供者的交易量。

There are a lot of more comprehensive processes involved on-site there like mini finished processes, et cetera, and they can be brought our expert there -- by experts there to help them understand these processes, build enough capacity and making sure that everything from product into the logistics center to product out of logistics center, that process flow is stable and really matching the volumes that we are expecting.

現場涉及許多更全面的流程，例如小型成品流程等，他們可以將我們的專家帶到那裡——由那裡的專家幫助他們了解這些流程，建立足夠的能力並確保一切都從產品進入物流中心到產品離開物流中心，流程穩定，真正符合我們預期的數量。

As I said, we're making good progress there. We expect the backlog to go down and having a more stable operation clearly at the end of Q1. And while it still might maintain some more oversight from us during the next couple of quarters, we are confident that this is a very good logistics partner moving forward and that they can deliver the performance that we expect from them.

正如我所說，我們在那裡取得了良好進展。我們預計第一季末積壓訂單將減少，營運將更加穩定。儘管在接下來的幾個季度中，我們仍可能會對其進行更多的監督，但我們相信，這是一個非常好的物流合作夥伴，並且他們能夠提供我們期望的績效。

Got it. And then just one follow-up. I -- are we done with the -- I mean where are we on the stocking issues in pipette tips and sensors and all that. Can you just sort of like give us an update? I mean, you saw -- is there still waiting for customers to burn down inventory?

知道了。然後只有一個後續行動。我——我們已經解決了嗎——我的意思是，我們在移液器吸頭和感測器等的庫存問題上處於什麼位置。能為我們介紹一下最新情況嗎？我的意思是，你看到了——還有客戶在等待銷毀庫存嗎？

Yes, I'll start with it and Shawn, feel free to join in. When you mentioned pipette tips, I think we're done with the pipette tips stocking issue. And the reason why I'm saying that is that we see now more normal order patterns, meaning customers are ordering more frequently, not at very high volumes, but the order pattern is back to normal. So while the volume is still a bit lower than during -- still lower than during the pandemic, the frequency of orders has normalized. And that, for me, is an indication that the overstocking of pipette tips is behind us.

是的，我將從這裡開始，Shawn，請隨意加入。當您提到移液器吸頭時，我認為我們已經解決了移液器吸頭庫存問題。我這麼說的原因是，我們現在看到更正常的訂單模式，這意味著客戶的訂單更加頻繁，數量不是非常大，但訂單模式已經恢復正常。因此，儘管成交量仍略低於疫情期間，但訂單頻率已正常化。對我來說，這表明移液器吸頭庫存過剩的情況已經過去。

We still are working down, or our customers are still working down some inventory more on the process analytics business with the sensors, they have ordered mainly also in the biopharma area, and we expect that to remain through Q1 and Q2. And then by the end of Q2 or towards the second half of the year, that's at least what we're hearing right now from the channels, they should also have worked off that inventory as well.

我們仍在減少工作，或者我們的客戶仍在減少感測器流程分析業務的庫存，他們也主要在生物製藥領域訂購，我們預計這一情況將持續到第一季和第二季。然後到第二季末或下半年，至少我們現在從頻道中聽到的是，他們也應該已經消除了庫存。

We'll go next to Joshua Waldman at Cleveland Research.

接下來我們將採訪克里夫蘭研究中心的約書亞‧沃爾德曼 (Joshua Waldman)。

Patrick, just wondering if -- Patrick, I'll start with you. Wondering if you could give an update on just how you perceive visibility in the business. Has visibility improved or deteriorated over the last 90 days. I guess like you commented that market conditions seem to have stabilized or are not getting worse, but maybe also mentioned seeing a softer start to the year. Can you just kind of unpack what you're seeing there?

派崔克，只是想知道是否——派崔克，我從你開始。想知道您是否可以提供有關您如何看待業務可見性的最新資訊。過去 90 天內能見度是否有改善或惡化。我想就像您評論的那樣，市場狀況似乎已經穩定或沒有變得更糟，但也許也提到今年開局會比較疲軟。你能解開你在那裡看到的東西嗎？

Sure, absolutely. And again, I'll probably give you some insights into the different regions, but also in different end markets. So what we are seeing is a lot of very good activity out there, meaning customers are really interested, especially in the new products that we have launched over the last year, and that's why we are so excited about the future. There is good customer engagement. We have a lot of discussions.

當然，絕對。再說一遍，我可能會給您一些關於不同地區以及不同終端市場的見解。因此，我們看到有很多非常好的活動，這意味著客戶真的很感興趣，特別是對我們去年推出的新產品，這就是為什麼我們對未來如此興奮。有良好的客戶參與度。我們有很多討論。

Still, it takes longer than normal to close the opportunities to orders, and that's also a sign that our customers are still reluctant to really -- to spend the budgets that they have now at hand or maybe they have some reduced budgets. But there's really very good activity. And if I look into the leads and the funnel that we have the opportunities, I think we are quite positive about the momentum we are seeing there. But -- and we don't see any further deterioration from what we had seen last year.

儘管如此，完成訂單機會所需的時間比正常情況要長，這也表明我們的客戶仍然不願意真正花掉他們現在手頭上的預算，或者可能他們的預算有所減少。但確實有非常好的活動。如果我研究我們有機會的線索和漏斗，我認為我們對在那裡看到的勢頭非常樂觀。但是，與去年相比，我們沒有看到任何進一步惡化。

So that's why we position in saying -- the underlying market position had been deteriorated further, whether it's in the pharma, biopharma market, where it's still soft, whether it's in industrial space where we see actually very good demand for industrial automation and digitalization efforts, and we have a great portfolio there as well.

因此，這就是為什麼我們的立場是——潛在的市場地位進一步惡化，無論是在製藥、生物製藥市場，仍然疲軟，還是在工業領域，我們看到對工業自動化和數位化工作的需求實際上非常好，我們在那裡也有很棒的產品組合。

We saw a bit softening, especially in Europe on product inspection towards -- or throughout Q4 and also now starting into Q1. And that's largely in Europe, and it's big -- customers in the food area that are still holding back budgets. They have projects but they are not ready to spend the money yet. And I think that's also based on the fact that they are under pressure. I mean, if you read the news, you hear a lot of news about these packaged food customers that are also under pressure with reduced profits and weaker demand as well.

我們看到了一些軟化，特別是在歐洲的產品檢驗方面，或整個第四季度，現在也開始進入第一季。這主要是在歐洲，而且是食品領域的大客戶，他們仍在削減預算。他們有項目，但還沒準備好花錢。我認為這也是基於他們面臨壓力的事實。我的意思是，如果您閱讀新聞，您會聽到很多有關這些包裝食品客戶的新聞，他們也面臨著利潤減少和需求疲軟的壓力。

But otherwise, I would say markets are stable. The regions have developed as we expected it. And China, I outlined already; the U.S., good demand and Shawn has outlined the growth for the year for the different regions as well. The EU is a bit softer at the moment. It was very resilient last year. At the moment, it's a bit softer than we have seen it last year, especially in Germany.

但除此之外，我想說市場是穩定的。這些地區的發展符合我們的預期。還有中國，我已經概述過了；美國需求良好，肖恩也概述了不同地區今年的成長。歐盟目前的態度比較溫和。去年它非常有彈性。目前，情況比我們去年看到的要軟一些，尤其是在德國。

Okay. Okay. And then, Shawn, for the follow-up. I wondered if you could walk through the moving pieces on the '24 EPS raise? How much of the raise was from the shipping-related revenue push out versus other inputs like FX and maybe margin. I guess the impetus of the question is you missed the Q4 guide by, call it, $1.20, shouldn't have that been added to the '24 guide? Or were there other moving pieces that we're missing?

好的。好的。然後，肖恩，進行後續跟進。我想知道您能否詳細介紹一下 24 年 EPS 上漲的動人部分？漲幅中有多少是來自與航運相關的收入，而不是外匯和利潤等其他投入。我想這個問題的動力是你錯過了第四季度指南，稱之為 1.20 美元，難道不應該將其添加到 '24 指南中嗎？還是我們還遺漏了其他可動的部分？

Yes, it's very much related to how we position sales. I mean like -- and I think I go back to Dan's question towards the beginning. It's very much how we position our sales guidance. I mean in terms of margins and costs, I mean, there's, of course, some moving pieces within there. There's a couple of nits and nats, but I'd say, in the end, I feel like the margin is actually -- I feel good about our margin guidance for the year. I mean, I think we had already mentioned it earlier, but for the operating margin should go up about 30 basis points on a full year basis. And if you exclude currency, it's up probably about 70 basis points.

是的，這與我們如何定位銷售有很大關係。我的意思是──我想我回到了丹一開始的問題。這在很大程度上是我們定位銷售指導的方式。我的意思是，就利潤和成本而言，當然，其中有一些變化。有一些小問題，但我想說，最後，我覺得利潤率實際上是——我對我們今年的利潤率指導感到滿意。我的意思是，我認為我們之前已經提到過，但全年營業利潤率應該會上升約 30 個基點。如果排除貨幣因素，它可能會上漲約 70 個基點。

So Josh, I kind of go back, it's very much to how we were thinking of -- a reflection of how we guided on the top line.

所以喬什，我有點回去，這在很大程度上與我們的想法有關——反映了我們如何指導營收。

Next, we'll go to Vijay Kumar with Evercore ISI.

接下來，我們將前往 Evercore ISI 的 Vijay Kumar。

A couple of guidance questions. Your Q1, minus 6% to minus 7%, guidance. Look, if I go back to Q4, pre-logistics, I think the guide was minus high single. And if we assume the first half of '24 to be similar to last year. One would have assumed Q1 to be down high singles, would -- given timing of these logistics push out -- the revenues push out, shouldn't Q1 have been a little bit better than the minus 6% to minus 7%? I'm just trying to think about the year-on-year versus the sequential cadence and how you're looking at Q1 guidance.

幾個指導性問題。你的第一季指引值是負 6% 到負 7%。看，如果我回到第四季度，前物流，我認為指南是負高單。如果我們假設 24 年上半年與去年相似。人們會假設第一季的單項下降率很高，那麼——考慮到這些物流推出的時間——收入推出，第一季不應該比-6%到-7%好一點嗎？我只是想考慮同比與環比的節奏以及您如何看待第一季的指導。

Yes. Sure, Vijay. I'm happy to answer that one. So just to clarify, our Q1 guidance in constant currency is minus 4% to minus 6%. So it's minus 4% to minus 6%. And as we mentioned, there is about a 5% benefit here from the shipping delays, which I can understand asking a question about that. But I think there's also a few things that are very important to our first quarter.

是的。當然，維傑。我很高興回答這個問題。因此，需要澄清的是，我們第一季的指導值（以固定匯率計算）為負 4% 至負 6%。所以是負4%到負6%。正如我們所提到的，運輸延誤大約帶來了 5% 的好處，我可以理解對此提出問題。但我認為還有一些事情對我們第一季非常重要。

The first one is that comps really do matter. Yes, Q1 was our strongest quarter last year, we grew 7%, but I think it's important to kind of go back to the couple of years before that, like what we're growing on top of. And we're really cycling a very difficult multiyear comparison. If you kind of go back, we grew 14% in Q1 of 2022, and that was on top of 18% growth in Q1 of 2021. So I think it's hard for us to ignore that as we're looking at the first quarter here.

第一個是比較確實很重要。是的，去年第一季是我們最強勁的季度，我們成長了 7%，但我認為回顧一下之前的幾年很重要，就像我們在此基礎上成長的那樣。我們確實正在進行一次非常困難的多年比較。如果你回顧一下，我們在 2022 年第一季成長了 14%，高於 2021 年第一季 18% 的成長。所以我認為我們很難忽視這一點，因為我們在這裡關注第一季度。

China, of course, we were happy that it came in a little bit better than what we expected if you excluded the effect of the shipping delay. But nonetheless, it's still down over 20%. And as we kind of like look here at the first quarter, we have 20% of our business kind of down low to mid-20s in the first quarter. So that's another thing that's a bit on our mind. And again, that's a bit of a comparison topic as well as kind of like this resetting that's going on in the country.

當然，我們很高興中國的表現比我們預期的要好一些，如果排除運輸延誤的影響的話。但儘管如此，它仍然下降了20%以上。正如我們在第一季看到的那樣，第一季我們的業務有 20% 下降到了 20% 左右。這是我們關心的另一件事。再說一遍，這有點像比較話題，也有點像國內正在發生的重置。

And then -- but just to be clear, we're not seeing anything new in our end markets, but we do assume that customers here are going to likely start the year a bit more cautious with a more normalized budget flush at the end of the year. But of course, it's -- we acknowledge it's early. It's difficult for us to tell at this point in time. March is a very important month in the first quarter, but that's kind of how at least we were thinking about Q1 at this point in time.

然後，但需要明確的是，我們在終端市場上沒有看到任何新的東西，但我們確實假設這裡的客戶可能會在今年開始時更加謹慎，並在年底時進行更加正常化的預算充裕。那一年。但當然，我們承認現在還為時過早。目前我們很難判斷。三月是第一季非常重要的一個月，但這至少是我們此時對第一季的看法。

Understood. And then one on what's being assumed for share count, share repurchases? And is free cash conversion expected to be similar to fiscal '23?

明白了。然後是關於股票計數和股票回購的假設是什麼？自由現金轉換預計與 23 財年類似嗎？

Yes. So our share buyback assumption is $850 million, which I think is the same or similar number as we're thinking free cash flow for this year. And that's also assuming plus or minus right around 100% free cash flow conversion. So we're really happy with the focus around the company on cash flow. I mean it's something we always like to focus on and very pleased with the teams around the world, all the efforts on working capital and all the other things that go into efficient end-to-end processes that can drive an order-to-cash cycle. So it's something we're going to continue to focus on this year.

是的。因此，我們的股票回購假設為 8.5 億美元，我認為這個數字與我們考慮的今年自由現金流相同或相似。這也是假設正負約 100% 自由現金流轉換。因此，我們對公司對現金流的關注感到非常滿意。我的意思是，這是我們一直喜歡關注的事情，並且對世界各地的團隊非常滿意，所有在營運資本上的努力以及所有其他進入高效端到端流程的事情，可以推動訂單到現金循環。所以這是我們今年將繼續關注的事情。

We'll take our next question from Dan Leonard at UBS.

我們將回答瑞銀集團的 Dan Leonard 提出的下一個問題。

Two questions. First off, what was the pricing benefit in Q4? And what is your outlook for 2024?

兩個問題。首先，第四季的定價優勢是什麼？您對 2024 年有何展望？

Yes. So for Q4, we came in pretty much as we expected. It was about 4%. That put us on a full year basis in 2023 at about 5%. And as we kind of mentioned in previous quarters, we were benefiting a bit in the first half of the year from some pricing actions that we did in the second half of 2022. But we're very pleased with how things came together this year. I think it really shows the value proposition that we have to customers. I feel -- I've said it many times, but I do feel like our value proposition is very much increased over the last few years especially as the markets have moved towards topics like automation and digitalization, it really plays to a lot of the strengths of our portfolio that can provide tangible paybacks to customers.

是的。因此，對於第四季度，我們的表現幾乎符合我們的預期。大約是4%。這使得 2023 年全年成長率約為 5%。正如我們在前幾個季度提到的，我們在上半年從 2022 年下半年採取的一些定價行動中受益匪淺。但我們對今年的進展感到非常滿意。我認為這確實展示了我們對客戶的價值主張。我覺得——我已經說過很多次了，但我確實覺得我們的價值主張在過去幾年里大大增加了，特別是隨著市場已經轉向自動化和數位化等主題，它確實對很多人產生了影響。我們的產品組合的優勢可以為客戶提供切實的回報。

All the things that we're doing from an innovation perspective also will really help fuel that going forward, too. So that's something that we feel good about. And then in terms of 2024, we're consistent with how we were thinking about pricing with our earlier guidance for the year, and we're expecting price realization to be around 2%.

我們從創新角度所做的所有事情也將真正有助於推動這一進步。所以這是我們感覺良好的事情。就 2024 年而言，我們對定價的思考方式與之前的今年指導一致，我們預計價格實現約為 2%。

Appreciate that. And my follow-up, I'm curious on your outlook for pipette tips, and really any other part of your business that suffered from destocking, does growth normalize back to trend? Or is there an above-trend growth period since you're comping an inventory burn down?

感謝。我的後續問題是，我很好奇你們對移液管吸頭的前景，以及你們業務中因去庫存而遭受損失的任何其他部分，增長是否恢復正常？或者，自從您進行庫存消耗以來，是否存在高於趨勢的增長期？

No. I mean I'll start and let Patrick jump in if he wants to. I think the challenge with pipettes right now is that there is just weak market demand in general. Like we don't have at Mettler-Toledo a significant exposure to early research or to biotech R&D, but we certainly deal in pipette tips, and so we're not immune to those trends right now at the moment. So there are softer market conditions there. But I think we're more optimistic as we get into the second half of the year. As Patrick mentioned, ordering patterns are looking a little bit better as well.

不，我的意思是，如果帕特里克願意的話，我會開始並讓他加入。我認為目前移液器面臨的挑戰是市場需求整體疲軟。就像我們在梅特勒-托利多沒有大量參與早期研究或生技研發一樣，但我們確實經營移液管吸頭，因此我們目前也不能免受這些趨勢的影響。因此，那裡的市場狀況較為疲軟。但我認為進入下半年我們會更樂觀。正如帕特里克所提到的，訂購模式看起來也好一些了。

And just similar to my comments on innovation, we have a couple of things there as well, too, that we were actually out at our facilities recently last month and it was really fun to spend some time with the team there and look at some of the things they're working on. Some of them are more medium term, but some of them are things that we have in the market this year.

就像我對創新的評論一樣，我們也有一些事情，上個月我們實際上在我們的設施中，花一些時間與那裡的團隊一起看看一些東西真的很有趣他們正在做的事情。其中一些是中期的，但其中一些是我們今年市場上的東西。

We'll move next to Matt Sykes at Goldman Sachs.

我們將搬到高盛的馬特·賽克斯旁邊。

Maybe just the first one, just going back to the logistics issue, you've outlined the revenue impact, and that seems isolated to Q1. Could you maybe talk about any cost implications that could bleed into Q2. My understanding is that there had to be some temporary changes in how things are being shipped out of Europe. And I'm just wondering if you think any lingering costs that could impact margins in Q2 or beyond?

也許只是第一個，回到物流問題，您已經概述了收入影響，這似乎與第一季無關。您能否談談可能影響第二季的任何成本影響。我的理解是，貨物從歐洲運出的方式必須進行一些暫時的改變。我只是想知道您是否認為任何揮之不去的成本可能會影響第二季或以後的利潤率？

Yes. I mean, of course, there's some incremental costs associated with it. A lot of the costs are really opportunity cost because we're reallocating resources to support the transition, I mean, the incremental travel cost, those things are less of an issue. Yes, there's some higher transportation costs. But when you step back from it, I'd say it's not overall significant to our overall financial statements and certainly something we kind of considered as we provided guidance here for the first quarter.

是的。我的意思是，當然，有一些與之相關的增量成本。很多成本實際上是機會成本，因為我們正在重新分配資源來支持過渡，我的意思是，增量差旅成本，這些都不是問題。是的，運輸成本較高。但當你退後一步時，我想說這對我們的整體財務報表總體來說並不重要，當然我們在為第一季度提供指導時也考慮過這一點。

Got it. And then just on Europe, you've talked pretty cautiously about it, but I still think, unless I misheard, that you're expecting positive growth this year. Could you maybe just talk about sort of your cautious comments versus sort of the growth you're expecting this year in Europe and what's driving that?

知道了。然後就歐洲而言，您的談論非常謹慎，但我仍然認為，除非我聽錯了，否則您預計今年會出現正增長。您能否談談您的謹慎評論以及您預計今年歐洲的成長以及推動這一成長的因素？

Yes. That's a good question. Europe, of course, is going to benefit the most from the shipping delay. So I think if you exclude that, you get to a different answer and it's probably -- if you take the effect of the Q1 and if you also look at maybe the easier comp in Q4, Europe is probably more flattish on the year if you exclude those 2 things. So it's marginally a bit softer than what we were originally expecting. But we'll caution again like we -- it's early in the year. We -- it was softer in the fourth quarter than we expected. A lot of it had to do with product inspection, as Patrick mentioned. But we did see just generally weaker market conditions.

是的。這是個好問題。當然，歐洲將從運輸延誤中受益最多。所以我認為，如果你排除這一點，你會得到一個不同的答案，如果你考慮第一季的影響，如果你也看看第四季度可能更容易的比較，那麼歐洲今年可能會更加平坦，如果你排除那兩件事。所以它比我們最初預期的要軟一些。但我們會再次警告——現在是今年年初。我們——第四季的情況比我們預期的要軟。正如帕特里克所提到的，其中很大一部分與產品檢驗有關。但我們確實看到市場狀況普遍疲軟。

We've been very pleased with how resilient Europe was in 2023. If you would have asked us a year ago out of the major regions of the world, we would have probably expected things to be a little bit softer there, just given all the concerns with the energy crisis and what that impact might be to our customers. So we're very pleased with how the business performed in 2023. But just sitting here today, we're just a little bit more cautious on it.

我們對 2023 年歐洲的復原力感到非常滿意。如果你在一年前問我們世界主要地區的情況，我們可能會預期那裡的情況會稍微溫和一些，因為考慮到所有關注能源危機及其對我們客戶可能產生的影響。因此，我們對 2023 年的業務表現非常滿意。但今天坐在這裡，我們只是對此更加謹慎。

We'll go next to Catherine Schulte at Baird.

我們將前往貝爾德的凱瑟琳舒爾特 (Catherine Schulte) 旁邊。

Maybe first just on the revenue guide. I get that you want to leave a little bit of a cushion given where we are in the year. But if we looked at your outlook by segment, excluding the shipping delays, I guess, which segments are you baking in some extra conservatism into?

也許首先只是收入指南。我知道，考慮到我們今年的處境，您想留下一點緩衝。但如果我們按細分市場來看待您的前景，排除運輸延誤，我想您會在哪些細分市場中加入一些額外的保守主義？

Yes. Good question. I'd say PI, and I guess you can see that one because it doesn't have as much of an impact, if any, from the shipping delay. So I think we were saying that was up slightly the last time we guided for the full year. And this time, we're saying it's flat -- about flattish.

是的。好問題。我想說的是 PI，我想您可以看到這一點，因為它不會因運輸延遲而產生太大的影響（如果有的話）。所以我認為我們上次指導全年時說的是略有上升。這一次，我們說它是平的——大約是平的。

And then this comment on Europe, Europe is a little bit lighter than what we would have guided before. And then when you kind of break it into divisions, it kind of trickles into Lab a little bit. And so Lab might be excluding the shipping delays more instead of staying up slightly, it's probably more flattish.

然後，關於歐洲的評論，歐洲比我們之前指導的要輕一些。然後當你把它分成幾個部分時，它就會一點點流入實驗室。因此，實驗室可能會更多地排除運輸延誤，而不是稍微熬夜，它可能會更加平坦。

Okay. Got it. And then maybe on the margin guide, what should we be expecting for gross margins for the first quarter and the full year?

好的。知道了。然後，也許在利潤率指南上，我們應該對第一季和全年的毛利率有何預期？

Yes. For the first quarter, we should be down about 40 basis points, and there's a lot of currency in the margin in Q1. So if you excluded the currency, it would probably be up about 20 bps. And then if you look at the full year for gross margin, we'll be up -- our estimate is, we'll be up around 50 basis points. And again, currency has an impact on that. So if you excluded that, it would be up probably more like 90 bps.

是的。對於第一季度，我們應該下降約 40 個基點，並且第一季的保證金中有大量貨幣。因此，如果排除該貨幣，它可能會上漲約 20 個基點。然後，如果你看看全年的毛利率，我們將會上升——我們的估計是，我們將上升約 50 個基點。同樣，貨幣對此也有影響。因此，如果排除這一點，它可能會上漲 90 個基點左右。

We'll go next to Rachel Vatnsdal vast at JPMorgan.

接下來我們將前往摩根大通的雷切爾·瓦特斯達爾 (Rachel Vatnsdal)。

So you mentioned that you're expecting customers to be more cautious with investments starting off the year. We've heard that from some of your peers as well. So can you just dig into what you specifically have been hearing from customers in January and now into the first week of February here? And then which markets and geographies have you been seeing more of that cautious spending to kick off the year as well?

您提到您預計客戶從今年開始對投資會更加謹慎。我們也從您的一些同行那裡聽到了這一點。那麼，您能否深入了解一月份和現在二月第一周從客戶那裡聽到的具體情況？那麼，在今年伊始，哪些市場和地區的謹慎支出也有所增加呢？

Yes. Thanks, Rachel. And I'll start and then Shawn if you have some additional comments, feel free to chime in. So I think -- the majority of cautiousness, we have purposed in Europe and also down in what we told you in the PI business in the food segment, where we see customers not releasing budgets as fast as we had expected. Again, there is a good engagement, proper sales teams. We have launched very -- a great fleet of new products, also mid-range products that help us to get to access new market segments but the whole conversion from opportunity to final sale still takes longer than we expected. And that's part of what we're hearing in the European market. Otherwise, I think that as we said, it's not a big change. Shawn, do we -- anything else? No? Okay.

是的。謝謝，雷切爾。我將開始，然後肖恩，如果您有任何其他意見，請隨時插話。所以我認為 - 大多數謹慎，我們在歐洲的目的，以及我們在 PI 業務中告訴您的內容食品領域，我們看到客戶發布預算的速度沒有我們預期的那麼快。同樣，這裡有良好的參與度和適當的銷售團隊。我們推出了非常多的新產品，還有中端產品，幫助我們進入新的細分市場，但從機會到最終銷售的整個轉換仍然比我們預期的要長。這就是我們在歐洲市場聽到的部分情況。否則，我認為正如我們所說，這並不是一個很大的變化。肖恩，我們還有什麼嗎？不？好的。

Great. And then just on my follow-up, given that you're expecting most of this logistics issue to really benefit 1Q. Can you just walk us through the sequentials on how should we be thinking about 2Q and the step up there and then kind of bleeding into the back half on top line as well.

偉大的。然後就我的後續行動而言，考慮到您預計大部分物流問題將真正使第一季受益。你能告訴我們我們應該如何考慮2Q和那裡的步驟，然後也滲透到頂線的後半部嗎？

Yes. I mean -- I think it's a little early for us to provide too much color on Q2, but we kind of stick to what we said before is that we expect the first half of the year to be down. I expect Q2 to still be down. A big part of that is going to be China, we still have to lap, I think, a full cycle in China for Q2. So that's something that's very much on our minds.

是的。我的意思是——我認為現在對第二季度提供太多的信息還為時過早，但我們還是堅持之前所說的，即我們預計今年上半年會出現下滑。我預計第二季仍將下降。其中很大一部分將來自中國，我認為我們仍然需要在第二季在中國完成一個完整的週期。所以這是我們非常關心的事情。

But I think when we get to the second half, we do have -- with a company that only typically sits on 1.5 months of backlog, it's hard to have too much confidence when you're starting to go out several months, but I do think we feel encouraged by lapping these comps as we get into the second half of the year as we just feel maybe the organization, looking at the initiatives, looking at how we're trying to position things, a lot of our focus has always been on coming out of this stronger. And I think we try to focus on the things we can control and when we talk about all these product launches, all these launching of corporate programs, Spinnaker 6, things we're doing with the customer experience, there's a lot of good things that I think should help us out for the second half of the year. And we'll get through the first quarter, and then we'll provide a little bit more color as to how we're seeing things at that point in time.

但我認為，當我們進入下半年時，我們確實擁有 - 對於一家通常只有 1.5 個月積壓訂單的公司，當你開始出去幾個月時，很難有太多信心，但我確實我認為，當當我們進入下半年時，我們對這些比較感到鼓舞，因為我們只是覺得組織，看看這些舉措，看看我們如何嘗試定位事物，我們的許多重點一直是走出困境後變得更加堅強。我認為我們會努力專注於我們可以控制的事情，當我們談論所有這些產品發布、所有這些企業計劃的發布、Spinnaker 6、我們在客戶體驗方面所做的事情時，有很多好的事情我認為應該對我們下半年有幫助。我們將完成第一季度，然後我們將提供更多關於我們當時如何看待事物的資訊。

We'll go next to Brandon Couillard at Jefferies.

我們將前往傑富瑞 (Jefferies) 的布蘭登庫亞爾 (Brandon Couillard)。

Patrick, the service business remains pretty healthy. I mean you grew 10% last year against the double-digit comp. Where are you having the most success driving attach rates? And what's your outlook for that business in '24?

帕特里克，服務業務仍然相當健康。我的意思是，去年你們的成長率比兩位數的競爭對手高了 10%。您在哪裡最能成功地提高附加率？您對 24 年該業務的前景有何看法？

Yes. Very good question, Brandon, thanks for that. I mean, services, again, I'm super excited about our service opportunity. And by the way, it's also an organization that we continue to invest in -- throughout 2023, while we had to make some adjustments in other areas. We continued to invest in service because we see a big opportunity out there. Broadening our service portfolio, there's good demand from our customers. We have a large installed base.

是的。非常好的問題，布蘭登，謝謝你。我的意思是，服務，我對我們的服務機會感到非常興奮。順便說一句，這也是我們在 2023 年繼續投資的組織，同時我們必須在其他領域做出一些調整。我們繼續投資服務，因為我們看到了巨大的機會。客戶的需求旺盛，擴大了我們的服務組合。我們擁有龐大的安裝基礎。

Last year, if you said we grew 10%, and we expect it to grow in the mid-single digit range this year again. So another year where you will see services going ahead of products. We continue to work with our sales teams to make sure that they can sell services at the point of sale, trained them about the value of services, about they -- make sure they have the value proposition when they talk to customers, increasing the connect rates. And of course, these are different from product category to better product category, but we continue to make improvements there. And I still see a lot of opportunity for us moving forward to increase our share of services.

去年，如果你說我們成長了 10%，那麼我們預計今年將再次實現中個位數成長。因此，再過一年，您將看到服務領先於產品。我們繼續與我們的銷售團隊合作，確保他們可以在銷售點銷售服務，對他們進行有關服務價值的培訓，確保他們在與客戶交談時提出價值主張，增加聯繫費率。當然，這些與產品類別和更好的產品類別不同，但我們會繼續在那裡進行改進。我仍然看到我們有很多機會繼續增加我們的服務份額。

And then just one more, Shawn, on China. If I bake in the first quarter being down in the, call it, low to mid-20s. Does this imply that China is back to kind of double-digit growth in the second half of the year? How should we think about cadence first half versus second half?

肖恩，還有一個關於中國的問題。如果我在第一季烘焙時的烘焙溫度是在 20 多歲左右。這是否意味著中國下半年將恢復兩位數成長？我們該如何看待上半場和下半場的節奏？

Yes. I mean, again, I don't want to get too specific, but I think if you do the math, you'd probably kind of get into that neighborhood for the second half of this year. But we'll provide more guidance on our next call depending on how we're thinking about the pacing with Q2 and everything.

是的。我的意思是，我不想說得太具體，但我認為如果你算一下，你可能會在今年下半年進入那個社區。但我們將在下一次電話會議中提供更多指導，具體取決於我們如何考慮第二季的節奏和一切。

Right now, we do see for the full year, Lab being down more than the Industrial business. So kind of looking at Lab being down more like low teens, while Industrial would be down like more mid-single digits. So the Industrial business was a pleasant surprise in the fourth quarter. We're a little bit more cautious on it for Q1, but we'll see how things play out here.

目前，我們確實看到全年實驗室業務的下滑幅度超過工業業務。因此，實驗室的跌幅更像是十幾歲左右，而工業股的跌幅更像是個位數左右。因此工業業務在第四季是一個驚喜。我們對第一季的情況更加謹慎，但我們會看看事情會如何發展。

Great...

偉大的...

Yes. And just to read correctly, Brandon, that doesn't mean that the algorithm going forward, we're expecting double-digit growth in China. We just know that not only they have an easier comp, we know that they're lapping a lot of things in the market.

是的。布蘭登，正確地理解，這並不意味著未來的演算法，我們預期中國將實現兩位數的成長。我們只知道他們不僅擁有更容易的競爭，而且我們知道他們正在市場上做很多事情。

I think one of the topics -- there's a few topics there, right? One of them was all the spending during COVID, potentially an acceleration of replacement cycles. But then the other thing is I think there's just a lot of inventory throughout the customers. And I think just given the nature of the lockdowns during COVID and all the logistical challenges, there's just more people purchasing a lot more inventory than in other regions. And I think that's one of the things that is kind of on our mind as well for the second half of the year.

我認為其中一個主題——那裡有幾個主題，對嗎？其中之一是新冠疫情期間的所有支出，這可能會加速更換週期。但另一件事是我認為客戶中有大量庫存。我認為，考慮到新冠疫情期間封鎖的性質以及所有後勤挑戰，購買庫存的人比其他地區多得多。我認為這也是我們下半年要考慮的事情之一。

So as we kind of go forward, I mean, just to reiterate what we said in the past, we kind of view China as more of a high single-digit growth opportunity more longer term.

因此，當我們繼續前進時，我的意思是，重申我們過去所說的，我們認為中國在更長期的情況下更像是一個高個位數的成長機會。

Next, we'll move to Patrick Donnelly at Citi.

接下來，我們將邀請花旗銀行的 Patrick Donnelly。

Shawn, I wanted to pick up on that kind of the ramp question. I think Rachel and Brandon both hit on a little bit there. If we just back out the comps because that's pretty formulaic. Just in terms of the sequential dollar improvement as you work your way through the year into the second half, China being obviously one example.

肖恩，我想回答這類坡道問題。我認為雷切爾和布蘭登在那裡都有點投緣。如果我們只是取消比較，因為那是非常公式化的。就下半年美元的連續改善而言，中國顯然就是一個例子。

You mentioned the 1 month, 1.5 months of backlog. Can you just talk about, I guess, the visibility into it? Is it just a confidence level that there was a lot of inventory in the channel in areas like China and that's just -- you guys are confident it normalizes as you get to the second half and dollars come back. Maybe just talk about, again, the confidence, comps excluded, on that dollar ramp as we work our way through the year, China and otherwise.

你提到了1個月、1.5個月的積壓。我想你能談談它的可見性嗎？這是否只是一種信心水平，即中國等地區的渠道中有大量庫存？你們相信，隨著下半年的到來，美元會回升，這種情況會正常化。也許只是再次談論我們對今年美元上漲的信心（排除比較因素），中國和其他地區。

Yes. I mean, of course, there's also a lot of noise in sequentials right now, right? Like you have a lack of a budget flush in Q4 of 2023. Now we add more complexity with the shipping delays. And then we probably throw another one at you saying like we just expect customers to potentially start a little bit slower in Q4 -- I mean, Q1 of this year with a more normalized seasonality in the back half. So -- but I think if you kind of cut through all that and you look at maybe longer-term, sequentials for us, I think we're actually very consistent. And so that's one thing.

是的。我的意思是，當然，現在序列中也有很多噪音，對吧？就像您在 2023 年第四季缺乏預算一樣。現在我們因運輸延​​誤而增加了更多複雜性。然後我們可能會向您拋出另一個問題，說我們只是希望客戶在第四季度的啟動速度可能會慢一些 - 我的意思是，今年第一季後半段的季節性更加正常化。所以，但我認為，如果你把所有這些都考慮在內，然後看看我們的長期連續情況，我認為我們實際上非常一致。這是一回事。

I think when we look at like multiyear comps and multiyear CAGRs and just kind of like cut through the whole COVID period, and you look at that by quarter, I think that gives us a lot of more confidence as well, too. And then you kind of layer in some of these things that we know like the 1-year comps and some of these destocking topics, the comments I just made on China.

我認為，當我們看到多年比較和多年複合年增長率，就像貫穿整個新冠疫情期間，並且按季度查看時，我認為這也給了我們更多的信心。然後你將我們知道的一些事情分層，例如一年期比較和一些去庫存主題，以及我剛剛對中國發表的評論。

And then the final thing is I think we are doing a lot inside the company to drive growth, too. And so I think nothing drives growth like new products, and we have some really cool things that we're launching right now. We're going to probably spend more time talking about that on our next call next quarter. And I think those are types of things that will help.

最後一件事是，我認為我們在公司內部也做了很多事情來推動成長。所以我認為沒有什麼比新產品更能推動成長了，我們現在正在推出一些非常酷的東西。我們可能會在下個季度的下一次電話會議上花更多時間討論這個問題。我認為這些都是有幫助的。

And of course, Spinnaker 6, right? There's a reason why we're talking about it in the call. It's kind of like, I think, a preface to like a lot of things we're doing to focus on growth in the company and the combination of all these digitalization things that are -- just continue to improve, plus all the things that we're doing to further enhance that relationship with a customer, it's a very powerful combination. And we think those things will gain momentum as we kind of get into the second half of the year as well.

當然還有 Spinnaker 6，對吧？我們在電話中討論這個問題是有原因的。我認為，這有點像序言，喜歡我們正在做的很多事情，專注於公司的成長，以及所有這些數位化事物的結合——只是繼續改進，加上我們所做的所有事情。我們正在努力進一步加強與客戶的關係，這是一個非常強大的組合。我們認為，隨著進入下半年，這些事情將會獲得動力。

Okay. That's helpful. And then maybe just on the cost structure. I think you mentioned a few times you guys want to come out of this stronger. Can you just talk about, I guess, the level of investments you're making currently with a softer backdrop versus trying to be mindful of protecting the margins? How nimble can you be on the cost side? And how are you guys approaching that?

好的。這很有幫助。然後也許只是成本結構。我想你曾多次提到你們想要變得更堅強。我想，您能談談您目前在經濟疲軟的背景下進行的投資水準與努力保護利潤率的投資水準嗎？您在成本方面的彈性如何？你們是如何做到這一點的？

Yes. I mean, this has been a very important balancing act for us, something that we've been spending a lot of time as an executive team really thinking about and reviewing over the last year. I feel like we have a really good balance. On one hand, we're really looking at parts of the organization where we've lost productivity over the last year. And so we're working on those areas. On the other hand, there are growth opportunities that we're trying to make sure that we're continuing to invest for those. I mean, Patrick mentioned service, as an example, on a full year basis, we continue to invest in service throughout the year, and that's something that we'll continue to do in 2024.

是的。我的意思是，這對我們來說是一個非常重要的平衡行為，去年我們作為執行團隊花了很多時間來真正思考和審查這一點。我覺得我們的平衡非常好。一方面，我們確實在關注去年組織中生產力下降的部分。所以我們正在這些領域開展工作。另一方面，我們正在努力確保我們繼續投資成長機會。我的意思是，帕特里克提到了服務，作為一個例子，在全年的基礎上，我們全年繼續投資於服務，這是我們將在 2024 年繼續做的事情。

But it's not just service. There's different regions of the world. There is different -- and there's also things like innovation that we talked about a few times already today, as well as other things that I think will help make us a stronger organization going forward. So when you kind of step back from that, I feel very good.

但這不僅僅是服務。世界上有不同的地區。有不同之處——還有我們今天已經討論過幾次的創新之類的事情，以及我認為將有助於使我們成為一個更強大的組織的其他事情。因此，當你從這一點退一步時，我感覺非常好。

Of course, we do have a headwind next year, too, with variable comp coming back to more normalized levels. So there's a lot of moving parts. But when you look through it all, I feel like good that we can still expand margins even though it's maybe a little bit lower than what we normally do, we can still expand margins next year with a low growth year. And then if you look at 2023, we were able to hold our margins flat for the full year despite a lot of the challenges that we had as well, too. So I feel like in the end, we have a good balance.

當然，明年我們也確實面臨阻力，可變薪酬將回到更正常化的水平。所以有很多移動部件。但當你回顧這一切時，我感覺很好，我們仍然可以擴大利潤率，儘管它可能比我們通常做的要低一點，我們仍然可以在明年低成長的情況下擴大利潤率。然後，如果你看看 2023 年，我們能夠保持全年利潤率持平，儘管我們也面臨著許多挑戰。所以我覺得最終我們達到了很好的平衡。

And there are no further questions at this time. I would like to turn the conference over to Adam Uhlman for closing remarks.

目前沒有其他問題。我想請亞當烏爾曼 (Adam Uhlman) 致閉幕詞。

Thanks, Audra, and thank you, everybody, for joining our call today. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to me. I hope you have a great rest of your day, and we'll talk to you soon. Thank you.

謝謝奧德拉，也謝謝大家今天加入我們的電話會議。如果您有任何疑問，請隨時與我聯繫。希望您今天休息愉快，我們很快就會與您聯繫。謝謝。

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

今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝您的參與。您現在可以斷開連線。