Envista Holdings Corp (NVST) 2024 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Hello. My name is David, and I'll be your conference call facilitator this afternoon. At this time, I'd like to welcome everyone to Envista Holdings Corporation's fourth quarter 2024 earnings results conference call. (Operator Instructions)

你好。我叫戴維，今天下午我將擔任您的電話會議主持人。現在，我歡迎大家參加 Envista Holdings Corporation 2024 年第四季收益業績電話會議。（操作員指令）

I'll now turn the call over to Mr. Jim Gustafson, Vice President of Investor Relations at Envista Holdings. Mr. Gustafson, you may begin your conference call.

現在我將電話轉給 Envista Holdings 投資者關係副總裁 Jim Gustafson 先生。古斯塔夫森先生，您可以開始電話會議了。

Good afternoon. Thanks for joining Envista's fourth quarter 2024 earnings call. We thank you for your interest in our company. With me today are Paul Keel, our President and Chief Executive Officer; and Eric Hammes, our Chief Financial Officer.

午安.感謝您參加 Envista 2024 年第四季財報電話會議。感謝您對我們公司的關注。今天與我在一起的有我們的總裁兼執行長保羅‧基爾 (Paul Keel)；以及我們的財務長 Eric Hammes。

Before we begin, I want to point out that our earnings release, the slide presentation supplementing today's call and the reconciliation and other information required by SEC Regulation G relating to any non-GAAP financial measures provided during the call are all available on the Investors section of our website www.envistaco.com. The audio portion of this call will be archived on the Investors section of our website later today under the heading Events and Presentations.

在我們開始之前，我想指出的是，我們的收益報告、今天電話會議的補充幻燈片演示以及美國證券交易委員會 (SEC) G 條例所要求的與電話會議期間提供的任何非 GAAP 財務指標有關的對帳和其他資訊均可在我們的網站 www.envistaco.com 的投資者部分找到。本次通話的音訊部分將於今天稍後存檔在我們網站的「投資者」部分的「活動和演示」標題下。

During the presentation, we will describe some of the more significant factors that impacted year-over-year performance. The supplemental materials describe additional factors that impacted the year-over-year performance. Unless otherwise noted, references in these remarks to company-specific financial metrics relate to the fourth quarter of 2024 and references to period-to-period increases and decreases in financial metrics are year-over-year.

在演示過程中，我們將描述一些影響同比表現的更重要的因素。補充資料描述了影響同比表現的其他因素。除非另有說明，這些評論中對公司特定財務指標的引用與 2024 年第四季度有關，對財務指標的同期增減的引用均為同比。

During the call, we may describe certain products and devices that have applications submitted and pending certain regulatory approvals or are available only in certain markets. We will also make forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws, including statements regarding events or developments that we believe, anticipate or may occur in the future. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, including those set forth in our SEC filings, and actual results may differ materially from any forward-looking statements that we may make today. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date that are made, and we do not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, except as required by law.

在通話過程中，我們可能會描述某些已提交申請並等待某些監管部門批准或僅在某些市場上銷售的產品和設備。我們還將根據聯邦證券法做出前瞻性陳述，包括有關我們相信、預期或可能發生在未來的事件或發展的陳述。這些前瞻性陳述受多種風險和不確定因素的影響，包括我們向美國證券交易委員會提交的文件中所述的風險和不確定性，實際結果可能與我們今天所做的任何前瞻性陳述有重大差異。這些前瞻性陳述僅代表陳述作出之日的觀點，除非法律要求，否則我們不承擔更新任何前瞻性陳述的義務。

With that, I will turn the call over to Paul.

說完這些，我會把電話轉給保羅。

Thank you, Jim. Good afternoon, and welcome, everyone. We appreciate you taking the time to join us today. We'll cover five items on today's call. I'll kick us off with some opening thoughts on our fourth quarter results, the steps we took in 2024 to improve performance and a summary of our guidance for 2025. Next, I'll turn it over to Eric to take us through the numbers in more detail. I'll wrap things up with some closing remarks and then we'll open it up for your questions.

謝謝你，吉姆。下午好，歡迎大家。感謝您今天抽空加入我們。在今天的電話會議中我們將討論五項內容。我將首先介紹我們第四季度的業績、我們在 2024 年為提高業績所採取的措施以及我們對 2025 年的指導總結。接下來，我將讓 Eric 向我們更詳細地介紹這些數字。我將以一些結束語來結束本次會議，然後我們將開始回答大家的提問。

Slide 4 summarizes three things: Q4 results, 2024 performance and our 2025 outlook. I'll touch on each in turn. Results for Q4 were again in line with our expectations. We delivered core growth of 2% and an adjusted EBITDA margin around 14%. We saw continued improvement in our implants business, including North America, which has been a particular focus for us. We had another quarter of share gains and gross margin improvement in Spark and further operational improvements in areas like working capital and customer service supported by EBS.

投影片 4 總結了三件事：第四季業績、2024 年業績以及我們對 2025 年的展望。我將逐一談及。第四季的業績再次符合我們的預期。我們的核心業務成長了 2%，調整後的 EBITDA 利潤率達到了 14% 左右。我們的植入物業務持續改善，包括北美，這一直是我們特別關注的重點。我們又在一個季度中實現了 Spark 份額成長和毛利率提升，並且在 EBS 支援的營運資金和客戶服務等領域的營運得到了進一步改善。

As has now been the case for the past several quarters, the global dental market was soft but stable. We are seeing some headwinds in specific geographic markets and macro volatility remains high. In terms of full year performance, 2024 was a year of transition for us. We refreshed our leadership team, took numerous actions to support improved performance and delivered against the 2024 guidance we reinstated on our Q2 call. Specific to that, core growth in adjusted EBITDA came in at negative 1.5% and 11.8% for 2024, both within their respective ranges. And we generated just over $300 million of free cash flow, a 35% increase over the prior year.

正如過去幾個季度的情況一樣，全球牙科市場疲軟但穩定。我們看到特定地理市場存在一些阻力，宏觀波動仍然很高。從全年業績來看，2024年對我們來說是轉型的一年。我們更新了領導團隊，採取了多項措施來支持提高績效，並實現了我們在第二季電話會議上重申的 2024 年指導方針。具體來說，2024年調整後EBITDA核心成長率分別為-1.5%和11.8%，皆在各自的範圍內。我們產生的自由現金流略高於 3 億美元，比去年增加了 35%。

With underlying growth in margin around 1% and 14% across 2024, no visible changes yet in the dental market and high macro uncertainty, we're guiding to something similar for 2025, core growth of 1% to 3% and adjusted EBITDA margin of approximately 14%. To provide additional transparency, we're adding a third guidance metric this year, EPS, which we expect to come in between $0.95 and $1.05 per share.

由於利潤率的基本成長率在 2024 年約為 1% 和 14%，牙科市場尚未出現明顯變化且宏觀不確定性較高，我們預計 2025 年將出現類似情況，核心成長率為 1% 至 3%，調整後的 EBITDA 利潤率約為 14%。為了提供額外的透明度，我們今年增加了第三個指導指標，即每股收益，我們預計每股收益將在 0.95 美元至 1.05 美元之間。

Two final items to note. First, our recently completed restructuring is expected to generate roughly $20 million of gross annualized savings moving forward. And second, earlier today, we announced that our Board has authorized share repurchases of up to $250 million over the next two years. While this is something new for our company, Envista is a highly cash-generative business. And as Eric will explain shortly, we feel this is an appropriate addition to our capital allocation priorities.

最後需要注意兩點。首先，我們最近完成的重組預計將在未來產生約 2000 萬美元的年度總節約。第二，今天早些時候，我們宣布董事會已批准在未來兩年內回購最多 2.5 億美元的股票。雖然這對我們公司來說是一個新事物，但 Envista 是一家現金創造能力很強的企業。正如 Eric 稍後將解釋的那樣，我們認為這是對我們的資本配置優先事項的適當補充。

In my first call with you in May, I said we sharpened our focus in three areas: growth, operations and people. Let me give you a quick update on our progress in that regard. Three items with respect to growth. First, we took the decision to invest an incremental $25 million to accelerate growth in our highest margin businesses like Nobel Biocare. We're beginning to see the benefit of this investment with Nobel improving across the year and returning to growth in Q4.

在五月第一次與您通話時，我說我們將重點放在三個領域：成長、營運和人才。讓我簡單向您介紹我們在這方面的進展。與成長有關的三項內容。首先，我們決定增量投資 2,500 萬美元來加速 Nobel Biocare 等利潤率最高的業務的成長。隨著諾貝爾全年業績不斷改善並在第四季度恢復成長，我們開始看到這項投資帶來的好處。

Spark is a second area where we continue to make progress. Excluding the net impact from deferral, Spark grew double digits in 2024 and we've achieved consecutive quarter-on-quarter gross margin improvement across the year. As we've shared previously, we expect this business to turn operating profit positive in the second half of 2025. And third, we are driving increased new product activity across Envista, having launched several new platforms, including Spark on-demand, new DEXIS sensors and the next-generation CBCT platform.

Spark 是我們繼續取得進展的第二個領域。除去遞延的淨影響，Spark 在 2024 年實現了兩位數成長，並且全年毛利率連續幾個季度實現提升。正如我們之前所分享的，我們預計這項業務將在 2025 年下半年實現營業利潤為正。第三，我們正在推動 Envista 新產品活動的增加，已經推出了多個新平台，包括 Spark on-demand、新型 DEXIS 感測器和下一代 CBCT 平台。

On the operational front, we continued to enjoy strong contributions from the Envista Business System, our continuous improvement methodology that is foundational to progress across our entire company. Some examples from 2024 include cutting Spark customer setup times in half and unit costs by over 25%, driving double-digit productivity gains in one of our largest Nobel Biocare plants, and a double-digit reduction in consumables inventory through the use of dynamic kanbans and improved overstock visibility without impacting scrap or service levels.

在營運方面，我們繼續受益於 Envista 業務系統的強大貢獻，這是我們的持續改進方法，也是整個公司進步的基礎。2024 年的一些例子包括將 Spark 客戶設定時間縮短一半、單位成本降低 25% 以上、推動我們最大的 Nobel Biocare 工廠之一的生產力實現兩位數增長，以及透過使用動態看板和提高庫存過剩可見性，在不影響廢品或服務水平的情況下，將消耗品庫存減少兩位數。

Alongside EBS, the work we're doing to capture price and productivity supports operating leverage and strong cash flows support the $250 million share buyback program that I mentioned earlier.

除了 EBS 之外，我們為獲取價格和生產力所做的工作還支持了經營槓桿，強勁的現金流則支持了我之前提到的 2.5 億美元股票回購計畫。

Finally, with respect to people, we refreshed our senior team by quickly onboarding three world-class leaders, all with deep dental market knowledge and global operating experience. We made meaningful investments in engagement and talent development. We continued our support of the Envista Smile project, our philanthropic foundation with over $2 million of contributions in 2024. And we made progress on a host of other people priorities, including a 25% decrease in recordable safety incidents and record participation and employee feedback surveys.

最後，在人員方面，我們迅速吸收了三位世界級的領導者，更新了我們的高階團隊，他們都對牙科市場有深入的了解，並擁有全球營運經驗。我們對參與和人才發展進行了有意義的投資。我們繼續支持我們的慈善基金會 Envista Smile 項目，2024 年捐款超過 200 萬美元。我們還在許多其他人員優先事項上取得了進展，包括可記錄的安全事故減少了 25% 以及記錄參與度和員工回饋調查。

Before I turn it over to Eric, I'll touch on the dental market in Q4 as well as our relative performance therein. In total, the global market was flat to slightly up, with implants growing low single digits, ortho and consumables roughly flat and diagnostics down mid-single digits. Our implant business also grew low single digits with Nobel and Challenger, both in positive territory. Orthodontics market growth was impacted by a sharp slowdown in China as industry participants began drawing down inventories in preparation for VBP implementation sometime this year. Excluding China, our brackets and wires business was up low single digits, and our aligner business grew double digits, resulting in continued market share gains for Spark.

在將其交給 Eric 之前，我將談談第四季度的牙科市場以及我們在其中的相對錶現。整體而言，全球市場持平或略有上漲，其中植入物成長低個位數，矯正和消耗品大致持平，診斷產品下降中位數個位數。我們的植入物業務也實現了低個位數成長，Nobel 和 Challenger 均實現了正成長。由於行業參與者開始減少庫存，為今年某個時候實施 VBP 做準備，正畸市場的成長受到了中國經濟急劇放緩的影響。除了中國外，我們的托架和鋼絲業務成長了個位數，而我們的矯正器業務成長了兩位數，從而使 Spark 的市場份額持續成長。

The diagnostics sector contracted again in Q4 as did our business. We experienced negative imaging growth in several key markets, including China and our IOS business contracted as well. While we expect lower interest rates to support increased diagnostics demand, we are not yet seeing compelling evidence of this in our order book.

診斷產業在第四季再次萎縮，我們的業務也同樣萎縮。我們在包括中國在內的幾個關鍵市場的圖像業務都出現了負成長，我們的 IOS 業務也出現了萎縮。雖然我們預計較低的利率將支持診斷需求的成長，但我們尚未在訂單中看到令人信服的證據。

Finally, the consumable sector was flat to slightly positive on a sell-out basis and our performance was roughly the same. Channel inventories were stable quarter-on-quarter, and our service levels remained high, but general dental patient traffic was mostly flat in the quarter.

最後，消耗品部門在銷售基礎上持平至略有正成長，我們的表現大致相同。通路庫存季比穩定，我們的服務水準保持在高位，但本季一般牙科患者流量基本持平。

Having summarized Q4, 2024 and 2025 guidance, I'll now turn it over to Eric to take us through the details.

在總結了第四季、2024 年和 2025 年的指引後，我現在將把時間交給 Eric 來向我們介紹詳細資訊。

Thanks, Paul. In the fourth quarter, we delivered sales of $653 million. Currency exchange rates impacted sales negatively year-over-year by 90 basis points. Adjusting for the impact of currency, core sales in the quarter increased 2%. Our Specialty Products & Technologies segment declined slightly, and Equipment & Consumables segment increased 6.4% year-on-year.

謝謝，保羅。第四季度，我們的銷售額達到 6.53 億美元。匯率對銷售額產生了年比負面的影響，達 90 個基點。經匯率影響調整後，本季核心銷售額成長了 2%。我們的特種產品與技術部門略有下降，設備和消耗品部門較去年同期成長6.4％。

As Paul noted, we delivered positive growth across both of our implant portfolios and Spark delivered another strong quarter of growth, excluding the net impact from our deferral change. In addition, our consumables business posted strong growth in the quarter, although this was off of a low comparable in Q4 2023 when our sell-in was impacted by the cyber attack on our channel partner. We also saw a significant slowdown in China, both in our diagnostics business, where the competitive dynamics are challenging and in our orthodontics business for the reasons Paul just mentioned.

正如保羅所指出的，除去延期變化帶來的淨影響，我們的兩個植入產品組合都實現了正增長，而 Spark 又實現了一個強勁的增長季度。此外，我們的消耗品業務在本季度實現了強勁增長，儘管 2023 年第四季度的可比增長較低，當時我們的銷售受到了針對通路合作夥伴的網路攻擊的影響。我們也看到中國市場的成長明顯放緩，無論是在我們的診斷業務方面，因為競爭情況嚴峻；還是在我們的正畸業務方面，原因正如保羅剛才提到的那樣。

Our fourth quarter adjusted gross margin was 57.2%, an increase of nearly 500 basis points versus the prior year, helped by a transactional foreign exchange benefit. Our adjusted EBITDA margin for the quarter was 13.9%, which was 170 basis points lower than the prior year. Adjusted EPS in the fourth quarter was $0.24, down $0.05 compared to the same quarter of last year.

我們第四季的調整後毛利率為 57.2%，較上年同期成長近 500 個基點，這得益於交易外匯收益。本季我們的調整後 EBITDA 利潤率為 13.9%，比上年下降 170 個基點。第四季調整後每股收益為 0.24 美元，較去年同期下降 0.05 美元。

Finally, we delivered $124 million in free cash flow in Q4 and a total of $303 million in free cash flow for the full year, up 35% versus 2023. We provided two bridges to help break down our year-over-year results. Let's first turn to the sales bridge.

最後，我們在第四季度實現了 1.24 億美元的自由現金流，全年共實現了 3.03 億美元的自由現金流，比 2023 年增長了 35%。我們提供了兩座橋樑來幫助我們分析年比績效。我們首先來談談銷售橋樑。

For year-over-year revenue, exchange rates were a headwind of approximately $6 million due to the dollar strengthening. The Spark revenue deferral change accounted for about $7 million in the quarter. This is consistent with the guidance we provided in the Q3 earnings call. On a full year basis, the net deferral change was a headwind of $45 million. This will turn into a tailwind in 2025, which I'll say more about in a moment.

就同​​比收入而言，由於美元走強，匯率造成約 600 萬美元的不利影響。本季 Spark 營收遞延變化約 700 萬美元。這與我們在第三季財報電話會議上提供的指引一致。從全年來看，淨遞延變化帶來 4,500 萬美元的逆風。這將在 2025 年成為順風，稍後我會詳細介紹。

Consumables sell-in was up high teens in the fourth quarter for the reasons mentioned. Our estimated year-over-year impact from the favorable comparison is $20 million in sales. Excluding this impact, our dental consumables business grew low single digits. The net impact from the remainder of our businesses resulted in flat sales year-over-year. This includes growth in our implant businesses and another growth quarter for Spark, offset by declines in Diagnostics and China.

由於上述原因，第四季消耗品銷售量大幅成長。我們估計，這項有利對比將為銷售額帶來 2,000 萬美元的年比影響。除此影響外，我們的牙科耗材業務成長了低個位數。我們其餘業務的淨影響導致銷售額較去年同期持平。這包括我們的植入物業務的成長和 Spark 的另一個季度的成長，但抵消了診斷和中國業務的下滑。

Turning to the adjusted EBITDA margin bridge. We had a net productivity gain of 80 basis points in the quarter as we continue to drive efficiency in several areas of our operations. We saw an improvement of another 80 basis points coming from positive core growth inclusive of dental consumables and the gross margin benefit noted earlier. The impact from the Spark net deferral change was a headwind of 90 basis points.

轉向調整後的 EBITDA 利潤率橋樑。由於我們持續提高多個營運領域的效率，本季我們的淨生產力提高了 80 個基點。我們看到另外 80 個基點的改善，來自包括牙科耗材在內的正核心成長和前面提到的毛利率收益。Spark 淨延期變化的影響是 90 個基點的逆風。

Investments in the business resulted in a 130 basis point decline in adjusted EBITDA margins. Similar to other quarters, the largest portion of our Q4 investment was in Nobel Biocare where we continued to strengthen our capabilities in commercialization, clinical and R&D. We are also making investments in areas like Challenger implants, R&D, smart commercialization and dental consumables sales coverage.

對該業務的投資導致調整後的 EBITDA 利潤率下降 130 個基點。與其他季度類似，我們在第四季度投資的最大部分是 Nobel Biocare，我們在該領域繼續加強我們在商業化、臨床和研發方面的能力。我們也正在挑戰者植體、研發、智慧商業化和牙科耗材銷售覆蓋等領域進行投資。

Lastly, we had a 110 basis point decline in adjusted EBITDA margins from other items. This includes the foreign currency transaction gain and a year-over-year increase in incentive compensation against a low 2023 payout comparable.

最後，其他項目的調整後 EBITDA 利潤率下降了 110 個基點。這包括外幣交易收益和與 2023 年較低薪酬相比的激勵薪酬同比增長。

Turning to segment performance. Core revenue in the Specialty Products & Technologies segment declined 40 basis points year-on-year. In the orthodontics business, there were a number of puts and takes in the quarter. On the positive side, as Paul described, Spark continued to perform well. Brackets and Wires, however, were down mid-single digits in the quarter as China declined 50% due to VBP preparations. We expect the China orthodontic market to continue to be slow for the next couple of quarters. Excluding the decline in China, brackets and wires were up low single digits with solid growth in both North America and Europe. Implants delivered another quarter of improved performance of growth.

轉向細分市場表現。特種產品與技術部門的核心收入年減了40個基點。在正畸業務方面，本季出現了許多變動。從積極的一面來看，正如保羅所描述的，Spark 繼續表現良好。然而，由於中國因 VBP 準備而下降了 50%，Brackets and Wires 在本季度下降了中等個位數。我們預計未來幾季中國正畸市場將繼續保持低迷。除中國市場的下滑外，支架和電報銷售均呈現個位數低成長，北美和歐洲市場均穩健成長。植入物再創季度佳績，實現成長。

Adding to what Paul said earlier, this marked the fourth straight quarter of growth for Challenger as well as the third straight consecutive quarter of improvement for Nobel in North America. Still more to do here, but we're encouraged by our trajectory. It's also worth noting that the full arch category saw good growth in the quarter, a positive signal for our premium implants business. In the fourth quarter, our Specialty Products & Technology business had an adjusted operating margin of 11.5%, down almost 400 basis points year-over-year. This decline was driven by the net impact from our Spark deferral change in addition to growth investments and the decline in orthodontic China volumes.

除保羅之前所說之外，這標誌著挑戰者連續第四個季度實現成長，同時也是諾貝爾在北美連續第三個季度實現成長。這裡還有很多事情要做，但我們對我們的發展軌跡感到鼓舞。還值得注意的是，本季全牙弓類別實現了良好的成長，這對我們的高端植入物業務來說是一個積極的信號。第四季度，我們的特種產品與技術業務調整後的營業利潤率為 11.5%，年減近 400 個基點。這一下降是由於我們的 Spark 延期變化產生的淨影響以及成長投資和中國正畸銷量的下降造成的。

Moving to our Equipment & Consumables segment. Core sales in the quarter increased by 6.4% versus prior year. As I mentioned on the sales bridge, the main driver of this increase was a low prior year comparable for our dental consumables business.

轉到我們的設備和消耗品部門。本季核心銷售額較上年同期成長 6.4%。正如我在銷售橋上提到的那樣，這一增長的主要驅動力是去年同期我們的牙科耗材業務銷售額較低。

Our diagnostics business declined high single digits. This decline was felt across several geographies, driven by macroeconomic conditions and by low-cost competition in developing markets. China, in particular, continued to experience sharp declines. North America also declined mid-single digits after three straight quarters of growth.

我們的診斷業務下降了個位數。受宏觀經濟狀況和發展中市場低成本競爭的影響，多個地區均受到了這種下滑的影響。尤其是中國，繼續經歷急劇下滑。北美在連續三個季度成長後也出現中個位數下滑。

Our consumables business grew in the high teens year-on-year. Our sell-out was relatively flat year-on-year, consistent with prior quarters and the overall market. Emerging markets were strong, especially Russia, but as with our other businesses, China saw declining sales.

我們的消耗品業務年增了百分之十幾。我們的銷售量較去年同期相對持平，與前幾季和整體市場保持一致。新興市場表現強勁，尤其是俄羅斯，但與我們的其他業務一樣，中國市場的銷售量也在下滑。

Our adjusted operating margin for this segment increased 570 basis points versus Q4 2023, mainly driven by higher consumables volumes and FX transaction gains, partially offset by continued investments in the business.

該部門的調整後營業利潤率較 2023 年第四季增加了 570 個基點，主要原因是消耗品銷售增加和外匯交易收益增加，但部分被對該業務的持續投資所抵消。

As mentioned previously, Q4 cash flows were strong as we generated free cash flow of $124 million compared to $100 million over the comparable period last year. Our full year free cash flows were $303 million, up nearly $80 million over prior year, driven by improved working capital management and lower capital expenditures. The Envista team executed well in Q4.

如前所述，第四季現金流強勁，我們產生的自由現金流為 1.24 億美元，去年同期為 1 億美元。我們的全年自由現金流為 3.03 億美元，比上年增加近 8,000 萬美元，這得益於營運資本管理的改善和資本支出的降低。Envista 團隊在第四季度表現出色。

As many of you know, Envista has an excellent balance sheet and good underlying financial strength. Across the past two quarters, we've worked to improve our capital deployment flexibility. We recently executed on repatriating over $300 million of international cash to the United States at a low incremental tax rate. This tax obligation was accrued in the fourth quarter, impacting our GAAP tax rate and GAAP earnings per share.

眾所周知，Envista 擁有出色的資產負債表和良好的基礎財務實力。過去兩個季度，我們一直致力於提高資本部署的靈活性。我們最近執行了以低增量稅率將超過 3 億美元的國際現金匯回美國的計畫。該稅務義務於第四季度累積，影響了我們的 GAAP 稅率和 GAAP 每股盈餘。

As a reminder, we have three capital priorities. First, we aim to invest in growing our business organically, including meeting growing demand, gaining share and investing in innovation that will drive long-term value creation. Second, we will continue to target accretive M&A opportunities that provide attractive risk-adjusted returns on capital and help us to improve our product portfolio and global reach. Third, we will aim to return surplus cash from these first two priorities to shareholders. Consistent with this, we announced today that our Board of Directors authorized up to $250 million in share repurchases between now and the end of 2026.

提醒一下，我們有三個資本優先事項。首先，我們旨在投資於業務的有機成長，包括滿足不斷增長的需求、獲得份額以及投資於推動長期價值創造的創新。其次，我們將繼續瞄準增值性併購機會，提供有吸引力的風險調整後資本回報，並幫助我們改善產品組合和全球影響力。第三，我們將致力於將前兩個優先事項產生的剩餘現金回饋給股東。與此一致，我們今天宣布，我們的董事會批准從現在到 2026 年底回購最多 2.5 億美元的股票。

As Paul mentioned at the start of the call, we're initiating 2025 guidance, expecting 1% to 3% core growth, EBITDA margins of approximately 14% and adjusted EPS of $0.95 to $1.05. Let me go through a few of the underlying assumptions in our guidance, which we hope are helpful for you all to better understand our business expectations.

正如保羅在電話會議開始時所提到的，我們正在製定 2025 年的指導方針，預計核心成長率為 1% 至 3%，EBITDA 利潤率約為 14%，調整後每股收益為 0.95 美元至 1.05 美元。讓我介紹一下我們指引中的一些基本假設，希望這些假設有助於大家更能理解我們的業務預期。

First, our guidance does not assume significant improvement or for that matter, deterioration in the dental market in 2025. Our guidance assumes FX rates flat with year ending 2024, namely EUR1 to USD1.04. The stronger US dollar represents about a 2% year-on-year headwind to 2025 revenues. On tariffs, this is clearly a fluid situation with uncertainty as to how the situation lands globally.

首先，我們的指導並不認為 2025 年牙科市場會顯著改善或惡化。我們的指導假設是外匯匯率在 2024 年底持平，即 1 歐元兌 1.04 美元。美元走強意味著 2025 年收入將年減約 2%。就關稅而言，這顯然是一個不穩定的情況，全球局勢如何發展仍存在不確定性。

As with anyone who operates in Canada, Mexico, and China, we have some exposure, but we benefit from a balanced global supply chain that allows us to respond flexibly to shifting dynamics. Until there's greater clarity on the tariff landscape, we have not included anything for tariffs in our guidance.

與在加拿大、墨西哥和中國開展業務的任何公司一樣，我們也有一定的影響力，但我們受益於平衡的全球供應鏈，這使我們能夠靈活應對不斷變化的動態。在關稅情況更加明朗之前，我們不會在我們的指引中包含任何有關關稅的內容。

We anticipate orthodontics VBP to be implemented in China at some point in 2025. Therefore, we anticipate bracket and wire sales in China in the first half of 2025 to be slow with the related market dynamics that we just saw in the past quarter.

我們預計正畸VBP將於2025年在中國實施。因此，我們預計 2025 年上半年中國支架和電線銷售將會放緩，就像我們剛剛在上個季度看到的相關市場動態一樣。

For the Spark net deferral change, we expect a modest year-on-year headwind in the first quarter with about two-third of the 2024 deferral impact to be recognized as a benefit in the second half, with the largest amount expected in the third quarter. We expect a gross benefit of $20 million in annualized savings from our recent restructuring with the majority of this benefiting 2025.

對於 Spark 淨遞延變化，我們預計第一季同比將出現溫和阻力，2024 年遞延影響的約三分之二將在下半年確認為收益，其中最大數額預計出現在第三季。我們預計，最近的重組將帶來每年 2,000 萬美元的總收益，其中大部分將受益於 2025 年。

Please note, this benefit will be partially offset by investments in commercialization and R&D aimed at driving long-term growth in the business. We forecast our effective tax rate to be 37% for 2025. We recognize this tax rate is high relative to our history, and we're working on strategies to decrease it. The main factor contributing to the high tax rate is a cap on US interest expense deductibility related to a significant intercompany loan.

請注意，這項收益將被旨在推動業務長期成長的商業化和研發投資部分抵消。我們預測 2025 年的有效稅率為 37%。我們認識到相對於我們的歷史而言這個稅率是較高的，我們正在製定策略來降低稅率。導致高稅率的主要因素是與重大公司間貸款相關的美國利息費用扣除額的限制。

And finally, as mentioned, we expect to execute the buyback across the next two years with a commensurate impact in 2025. As we look at the totality of our 2025 guidance assumptions, we anticipate slower core growth in the first half with Q1 slightly down year-over-year and stronger growth in the second half.

最後，如上所述，我們預計將在未來兩年內實施回購，並在 2025 年產生相應的影響。當我們審視 2025 年指導假設的整體情況時，我們預計上半年核心成長將放緩，第一季同比略有下降，下半年成長將更加強勁。

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

說完這些，我會把電話轉回給保羅。

Thanks, Eric. I'll wrap up with a few closing thoughts before we open it up for your questions. First, while the secular attractiveness of dental remains the same, we do not yet see strong evidence of an uptick in demand to the mid-single-digit range that is more typical of this market over time. Put another way, market growth is currently slow but stable.

謝謝，埃里克。在我們開始回答你們的問題之前，我想做幾點總結。首先，雖然牙科的長期吸引力保持不變，但我們尚未看到強有力的證據表明需求會上升至中等個位數範圍，而這對該市場來說是隨著時間的推移更為典型的。換句話說，目前市場成長緩慢但穩定。

Second, our Q4 and full year results came in as guided. Core growth and margins fell within expected ranges, and we returned to growth in the fourth quarter as promised.

其次，我們的第四季和全年業績符合預期。核心成長和利潤率在預期範圍內，我們按照承諾在第四季恢復成長。

Third, we initiated 2025 guidance consistent with our 2024 trajectory and stable market conditions, 1% to 3% growth and around 14% EBITDA margin.

第三，我們啟動了 2025 年指引，與我們的 2024 年發展軌跡和穩定的市場條件保持一致，成長率為 1% 至 3%，EBITDA 利潤率約為 14%。

Fourth, the economic engine of Envista is strong, generating more cash in 2024 than we consumed. This, coupled with the repatriation work that Eric described earlier, support the share repurchase program that we announced this afternoon.

第四，Envista 的經濟引擎強勁，2024 年產生的現金比我們消耗的還多。這與 Eric 之前描述的遣返工作相結合，支持了我們今天下午宣布的股票回購計畫。

And fifth and maybe most importantly, we're thoughtfully and systematically putting in place the necessary building blocks for continued improvement moving forward.

第五，也許是最重要的一點，我們正在深思熟慮地、有系統地奠定未來持續改善的必要基礎。

I'll close by thanking my 12,000 capable and committed colleagues around the world. I'm grateful and encouraged by the progress we're making together. And in the same way, we appreciate the strong support we enjoy from our customers, our partners and our shareholders.

最後，我要感謝世界各地 12,000 位能幹、敬業的同事。我對我們共同的進步感到感激和鼓舞。同樣，我們也感謝客戶、合作夥伴和股東給予的大力支持。

And with that, we'll open it up for your questions.

現在，我們將開始回答您的問題。

(Operator Instructions) Elizabeth Anderson, Evercore ISI.

（操作員指示）伊麗莎白·安德森（Elizabeth Anderson），Evercore ISI。

Congrats on the quarter, and thanks for all the details around the guide for '25. Your '25 guide came in line with what you've been indicating as sort of the run rate and sort of what we've been expecting. Can you talk us a little bit more -- tell us a little bit more about where you could sort of outperform versus sort of that initial expectation and sort of any risks to that guidance as we think about the year?

恭喜本季度取得佳績，並感謝您提供有關'25 年指南的所有詳細資訊。您的 25 指南與您所指出的運行率以及我們的預期一致。您能否再多談談—告訴我們更多關於您在哪些方面可以超越最初的預期，以及在今年的預期中存在哪些風險？

Thanks for the question, Elizabeth. Sure. Let me quickly recap the framework for the guidance, and then I'll cover the upsides on the growth side, and maybe I'll ask Eric to do the same thing for margins. So the framework for the guide, pretty straightforward. It centers on the same three things that we discussed in our prepared remarks. First, when you normalize out for the various puts and takes in '24, we saw fairly consistent underlying growth in margins across the year. That's the 1% top line and 14% EBITDA that we've talked about.

謝謝你的提問，伊麗莎白。當然。讓我快速回顧一下指導框架，然後我將介紹成長方面的優勢，也許我會要求 Eric 對利潤率做同樣的事情。因此，本指南的框架非常簡單。它圍繞著我們在準備好的發言中討論的三個相同的事情。首先，當你對 24 年的各種看跌和看漲進行標準化時，我們看到全年利潤率的基本成長相當穩定。這就是我們談論的1%的營業收入和14%的EBITDA。

Second, importantly, the dental market conditions for 2025 are expected to be broadly similar to 2024. And then thirdly, as recent events have reminded us, there is a fair bit of macro uncertainty at the moment. So you put all three of those together, and that gets you to the 1% to 3% growth and 14% margin guide.

其次，重要的是，預計 2025 年的牙科市場狀況將與 2024 年大致相似。第三，正如最近發生的事件提醒我們的那樣，目前存在相當大的宏觀不確定性。因此，將這三者放在一起，就可以得到 1% 到 3% 的成長率和 14% 的利潤率指導值。

Now in terms of potential upside to that, I would note three in particular. You'd have to start with Spark, consistently taking share and expanding gross margins. Add to that, that the vast majority of ortho cases are treated by orthodontists where we have a particularly strong position. So we feel like we have good momentum on the Spark side.

現在，就其潛在的優勢而言，我要特別指出三點。你必須從 Spark 開始，不斷佔領市場份額並擴大毛利率。此外，絕大多數的牙齒矯正病例都是由牙齒矯正醫師治療的，而我們在牙齒矯正方面具有特別強的地位。因此我們覺得 Spark 方面發展勢頭良好。

Implants is another potential upside, having turned positive in Q4. We recognize that one point is far from a trend, but the positive growth and the continued progress across the year have been the expected outcome of the work that we're doing and the investments that we're making. So we like our progress there.

植入物是另一個潛在的上升空間，在第四季度已轉為正值。我們認識到，一個點遠非趨勢，但全年的積極成長和持續進步是我們所做的工作和所做的投資的預期結果。所以我們喜歡我們在那裡取得的進展。

And then third, I think I'd point to diagnostics. It's another area where we have a strong leadership position, particularly in North America. Now that sector, of course, has been under pressure for a while now, but the market will come back. Every new clinic needs diagnostic equipment. Every dental procedure begins with a 2D, 3D and/or intraoral scan. So if that market returns quicker than as currently expected, that, of course, would be constructive for Envista as well.

第三，我想我會指出診斷。這是我們擁有強大領導地位的另一個領域，尤其是在北美。當然，現在該行業已經承受壓力一段時間了，但市場將會復甦。每個新診所都需要診斷設備。每個牙科手術都從 2D、3D 和/或口內掃描開始。因此，如果該市場復甦速度比目前預期的要快，那麼這對 Envista 來說當然也是有利的。

Eric, maybe I'll turn it over to you for thoughts on the margin side.

艾瑞克，也許我會把它交給你，讓你談談對邊際方面的想法。

Yes, excellent. Thanks, Paul. Elizabeth, thanks for the forward-leaning question. Appreciate it.

是的，非常好。謝謝，保羅。伊莉莎白，謝謝你提出這個前瞻性的問題。非常感謝。

So I would say three things in terms of opportunity for profit and margin. First, I would just -- on the back of Paul's comment on growth, anything we can do, of course, relative to core growth, volume, price connected with the upside that Paul talked about, Spark, implants, diagnostics. Everybody on the call here is aware we've got strong gross margins across our portfolio. And every point of growth is helpful for us to grow profits and to a degree, margin rate. So growth would be one possible upside.

因此，就獲利機會和利潤而言，我想說三件事。首先，我只是想 - 基於保羅關於增長的評論，我們可以做任何事情，當然，與核心增長、數量、價格以及保羅談到的上行空間相關的，Spark、植入物、診斷。參加電話會議的人都知道，我們整個投資組合的毛利率都很高。每一個成長點都有助於我們提高利潤，並在一定程度上提高利潤率。因此，成長可能是一個可能的好處。

Second opportunity, I would say, would be overdelivery on Spark profitability. I think we've shown in the past multiple quarters that we've made good progress here. We've talked about many quarters of cost down sequentially. We've talked about multiple quarters of gross margin improvement, largely driven by that cost. And I think the foundation that we have of a really great manufacturing technology platform of automation kind of against the backdrop of our global network for manufacturing is an opportunity. We will be stepping up our investments there capitally in 2025. We, of course, have our commitment out there for Spark profitability in 2025. But if we can go further faster, that's upside for us.

我想說的第二個機會是超額完成 Spark 的獲利能力。我認為我們在過去多個季度已經表明我們在這裡取得了良好的進展。我們已經討論過多個季度的成本連續下降。我們已經討論過多個季度的毛利率改善，這主要是由成本推動的。我認為，在我們全球製造網路的背景下，我們擁有一個真正偉大的自動化製造技術平台的基礎是一個機會。我們將在 2025 年加大對那裡的資本投資。當然，我們承諾 2025 年 Spark 能夠實現盈利。但如果我們能夠走得更快，對我們來說就是有利的。

And then I think the third area I would point out would be G&A costs. We talked on the prepared remarks around an announced restructuring. It's mostly focused on G&A. It's embedded in our guidance, but we think that there's more that we can do there.

然後我認為我要指出的第三個領域是一般及行政費用。我們就宣布的重組所準備的發言進行了討論。它主要關注的是 G&A。它已融入我們的指導中，但我們認為我們可以做得更多。

On the risk side, maybe again, just extending Paul's comment on the macro tariffs, FX, interest rates, these are all examples of risk to our outlook. We saw, as many did, the strong dollar strengthening in Q4. That's consistent with our guide. It took about 2 points off in terms of FX or growth. It also hits us with about 50 basis points of a headwind on margin rate. It's in our guide again, but recent announcements and sort of what we're seeing in the political landscape just gives us a bit of pause and maybe there's some risk there.

在風險方面，也許再次延伸保羅對宏觀關稅、外匯、利率的評論，這些都是我們前景面臨風險的例子。我們和許多人一樣，看到美元在第四季走強。這與我們的指南一致。從外匯或成長方面來看，它下降了約 2 個百分點。這也為我們的保證金率帶來了約 50 個基點的不利影響。它再次出現在我們的指南中，但最近的公告以及我們在政治格局中看到的情況讓我們有點猶豫，也許其中存在一些風險。

So I'll pause there, Elizabeth. Again, thanks for the question, getting us kicked off and for the forward lean.

所以我就在這裡暫停一下，伊莉莎白。再次感謝您的提問，讓我們開始行動並向前邁進。

Yes. That's super helpful. I was wondering if we could maybe drill down also on the implant business. It was obviously really nice to see that return to low single-digit growth this year. How do you think about your expectations for that business? And can you give us a little bit more detail about the incremental investments, whether that was in the product development in what areas or on the go-to-market strategy?

是的。這非常有幫助。我想知道我們是否可以深入探討植入物業務。顯然，看到今年恢復到低個位數成長確實令人欣喜。您對於該業務的期望是怎樣的？您能否向我們詳細介紹增量投資，無論是在哪些領域的產品開發還是在市場進入策略上？

So sure. Like Spark, we like the momentum that we're seeing on the implant side. We talked about the positive growth for both the Challenger business as well as premium in Q4 and then the four successive quarters of growth for Challenger. I guess that's helpful in a couple of regards. So first, you like to see the positive growth. But second, it gives us confidence that the changes we're making and the investments that we're putting in are bearing fruit.

當然可以。與 Spark 一樣，我們喜歡在植入物方面看到的勢頭。我們討論了挑戰者業務和高端產品在第四季度的積極成長，以及挑戰者連續四個季度的成長。我想這在幾個方面都是有幫助的。所以首先，你希望看到正面的成長。其次，它讓我們相信，我們正在進行的改變和投入的投資正在取得成果。

So of course, these things are more than just putting money into the business. We had a leadership change in Nobel. That trickled down to a change in the way our go-to-market approach some of our commercial activities in North America. We're doing more on the clinical side. We're stepping up our game on the innovation side. All of those things helped in the quarter, but they also build momentum heading here into '25.

當然，這些事情不僅僅是投入資金給企業。諾貝爾的領導階層發生了變動。這逐漸導致我們在北美的一些商業活動的行銷方式的改變。我們在臨床方面做更多工作。我們正在加大創新方面的力道。所有這些因素都對本季產生了幫助，同時也為進入25年累積了動力。

Jon Block, Stifel.

喬恩·布洛克（Jon Block），斯蒂費爾（Stifel）。

Maybe the first one, Eric, I thought I heard you correctly, the 50% decline in China wires and brackets as the industry participants sort of drew down for VBP. Where are you with the size of that China wires and brackets business? And maybe I'll try to be somewhat brave. I don't know, pre-VBP hit was just around $50 million to $60 million. And anything more on the cadence to '25 when they're done drawing down? And I'm guessing you think you're a beneficiary of that from a voles perspective into '26. So a lot there, but I'll pause.

也許是第一個，艾瑞克，我想我沒聽錯，中國電線和支架的銷量下降了 50%，因為行業參與者對 VBP 的需求有所下降。中國的電線和支架業務規模如何？也許我會嘗試表現得勇敢一點。我不知道，VBP 之前的損失大約是 5,000 萬到 6,000 萬美元。當他們完成撤軍後，還有什麼關於 25 年節奏的更多資訊嗎？而且我猜你認為從田鼠的角度來看，你是 26 年的受益者。就說這麼多，不過我會暫停一下。

Yeah. Sounds good, Jon. Yes. So you heard it right. Q4, I mentioned in the prepared remarks about 50% reduction year-over-year in brackets and wires. I won't talk kind of in depth about the size of our China business. But the way to think about our view of 2025 is that as the market prepares, so as, call it, procedures or customers slow their purchases, we saw a version of that in Q4. We think we'll continue to see a version of that in Q1 and Q2 in addition to the fact that the channel is sitting with sort of a normal level of inventory, but that has to get repriced for a preparatory VBP somewhere midyear. That's perspective.

是的。聽起來不錯，喬恩。是的。所以你沒聽錯。Q4，我在準備好的評論中用括號和線表示了同比減少 50% 左右。我不會深入談論我們中國業務的規模。但我們思考 2025 年的觀點是，隨著市場做好準備，也就是所謂的程式或顧客放慢購買速度，我們在第四季看到了這種情況。我們認為，除了通路庫存處於正常水平之外，我們還將在第一季和第二季繼續看到這種情況，但必須在年中某個時候為準備性的 VBP 重新定價。這就是觀點。

So the way we think net-net about brackets and wires next year is it will be down in the first half. We hope it will be up in the second half as VBP comes around. And we're modeling it based on how we saw our implant business in China over the last two years basically move through VBP. Lots of variables that can play out there, but that's how we're thinking about it next year.

因此，我們認為明年上半年的括號和接線的淨額將會下降。我們希望隨著 VBP 的到來，下半年它會上升。我們根據過去兩年在中國的植入業務基本上透過 VBP 發展的狀況來建立模型。有很多變數可能會發生，但這就是我們對明年的看法。

Okay. Very helpful. And maybe I'll pivot for the other question, Paul, your implant portfolio certainly seem to close the gap to market growth quicker than certainly we were thinking. Congrats there. I think maybe just to take a step back, what's embedded in the 2025 guidance? I don't think you touched upon this from two perspectives. One, market growth for implants, which I think the slides show a bit around low single digits. But what's embedded for Envista's growth relative to market? I mean you've already gotten there. So is it more of the same? Or just trying to figure out what's the assumption within the top line guide?

好的。非常有幫助。也許我會轉到另一個問題，保羅，你的植入物組合似乎確實比我們想像的更快地縮小了與市場成長的差距。恭喜你。我認為也許只是退一步來看，2025 年指引中包含了什麼？我認為你沒有從兩個角度談論這一點。第一，植入物的市場成長，我認為幻燈片顯示的成長速度在個位數左右。但是，相對於市場而言，Envista 的成長背後隱藏著什麼呢？我的意思是你已經到達那裡了。那麼情況是否大致相同呢？或者只是想弄清楚頂線指南中的假設是什麼？

Yeah. I mean I'd be lying if I said that our guide gets down to specific market shares in specific categories and what we think is going to happen with that market.

是的。我的意思是，如果我說我們的指南涉及到特定類別的特定市場份額以及我們認為該市場將會發生什麼，那我就是撒謊了。

But generally speaking, Jon, we think we'll continue to gain momentum in our implant business for all the reasons that I addressed in Elizabeth's call. We're not expecting a dramatic change in the implants market in '25 relative to '24. If the market does turn more quickly, of course, that will be constructive for us, and that would be an upside to the guide.

但總的來說，喬恩，我們認為我們的植入業務將繼續獲得發展勢頭，原因我在伊麗莎白的電話中已經提到過。我們預計2025年的植入物市場相對於2024年不會發生劇烈變化。當然，如果市場確實轉變得更快，對我們來說是有益的，而且這對指南來說也是一個好處。

But broadly speaking, while the leading indicators of the market, all the green shoots that you're well familiar with, consumer confidence, interest rates, employment levels, all of that, while they're favorable, we're just not seeing a tangible uptick in patient flows or in our own order book. So same conditions, market conditions, 25% to 24% in the guide. If that happens quicker, that would be an upside.

但從總體上講，雖然市場的領先指標、所有大家熟悉的復甦跡象、消費者信心、利率、就業水平等等都是有利的，但我們並沒有看到患者流量或我們自己的訂單量出現明顯的上升。因此，在相同的條件和市場條件下，指導值為 25% 至 24%。如果這種情況發生得更快，那將是一個好處。

Michael Cherny, Leerink partners.

Michael Cherny，Leerink 合夥人。

This is Ahmed Muhammad on for Mike Cherny. First, I want to ask about Spark profitability and how it will impact total operating margin when it does become profitable in 2H, I think you mentioned. So like what's the contribution on that kind of immediately and then also like in the long term?

這是邁克·切爾尼 (Mike Cherny) 的艾哈邁德·穆罕默德 (Ahmed Muhammad)。首先，我想問一下 Spark 的獲利能力，以及當它在下半年實現盈利時它將如何影響總營業利潤率，我想您提到過。那麼，這種直接貢獻是什麼？

Yes. I mean I think -- Michael, thanks for the question. I think we've disclosed previously, Spark is about a $250 million business for us. So it's about 10% of sales. So the math is easy there. Every point of margin improvement gives you 10 basis points of benefit at the Envista level. So rule of thumb, that's probably a good way to think about it.

是的。我的意思是我認為——邁克爾，謝謝你的提問。我想我們之前已經披露過，Spark 對我們來說是一項價值約 2.5 億美元的業務。所以它約佔銷售額的10%。因此這裡的數學很簡單。利潤率每提高一點，您就會在 Envista 層面獲得 10 個基點的收益。所以根據經驗法則，這或許是一種思考的好方法。

Got it. And does the guidance assume diagnostics getting better for Envista? I know you said that the market is soft, but like what point does the numbers sort of bottom out? Is it driven by visits being depressed? Is it driven by a need for more innovation? Any color there would be helpful.

知道了。該指導意見是否假設 Envista 的診斷效果會越來越好？我知道您說過市場疲軟，但是數字什麼時候會觸底呢？這是由於訪問量下降導致的嗎？這是由更多創新的需求所驅動嗎？任何顏色都有幫助。

Sorry, Michael, you're asking what's causing the market softness? Or what was the nut of the question?

抱歉，邁克爾，你問的是導致市場疲軟的原因是什麼？或者說這個問題的核心是什麼？

I said -- sorry, what does the guide assume for diagnostics? What point do numbers kind of bottom out? And is the weakness due to -- for Envista, is the weakness due more to -- more because of visits? Or is it a need for more innovation?

我說——抱歉，該指南對於診斷的假設是什麼？數字在什麼時候會降至最低？對於 Envista 而言，其疲軟是否更多地歸因於訪問量？或者說需要更多創新？

Yes, I can take that. So I mean, just as a reminder, our diagnostics business in 2024 was down mid- to high single digits. Fourth quarter, we talked about it being down high single digits. We expect the Diagnostics business clearly to be better, say, flat to low single-digit type of growth. And that's multiple factors. So we don't expect significant market recovery from the fourth quarter, but the market has improved a little bit as we've gone through the year. And then many of the participants on the call know that we also had some favorable comps, if you will, in 2024. So we exited a few geographies -- that was to help the profitability of the business. Some of those things will help us to deliver a modestly better growth rate next year.

是的，我可以接受。所以我的意思是，提醒一下，我們 2024 年的診斷業務下降了中高個位數。第四季度，我們談到了落後個位數。我們預期診斷業務顯然會更好，例如持平至低個位數的成長。這是有多種因素的。因此，我們預計第四季市場不會出現明顯復甦，但隨著今年的到來，市場確實有所改善。然後，許多電話會議參與者都知道，如果你願意的話，我們在 2024 年也有一些有利的業績。因此我們退出了一些地區——這是為了提高業務的獲利能力。其中一些因素將有助於我們明年實現略高的成長率。

And then as Paul opened in his remarks to Elizabeth's question, this is a market we would hope gets a little bit better in 2025. But again, we're assuming that it trends flat versus effectively how we exited the year.

正如保羅在回答伊莉莎白的問題時所說，我們希望這個市場在 2025 年會變得更好一些。但是，我們再次假設其趨勢與我們今年結束時的實際趨勢相比持平。

Jeff Johnson, Baird.

傑夫·約翰遜，貝爾德。

So I guess just a couple of clarifying questions here. Eric, if I could. On Spark, I'm just trying to understand the message here just on kind of clear aligner market and kind of Spark's performance relative to the market, which I think was above market, obviously. But you talked about in the press release that Spark revenue down double digits with the deferred revenue. In your slide deck, Spark is up double digits ex the deferred headwind.

因此我想這裡只需要澄清幾個問題。艾瑞克，如果可以的話。關於 Spark，我只是想了解這裡的信息，關於透明矯正器市場，以及 Spark 相對於市場的表現，我認為它顯然高於市場。但您在新聞稿中提到，Spark 的收入由於遞延收入而下降了兩位數。在您的幻燈片中，Spark 在除延後逆風之外還實現了兩位數的成長。

In your e-mail you sent out, it sounds like cases for Spark were up mid-single digits. Do I just connect those dots that pricing was up or ASPs were up 5 to 7 points or something in the quarter? Just one, can you confirm that ballpark accuracy? And two, if cases are growing mid-single digits, how do you think that's performing relative to the clear aligner broader market?

在您發出的電子郵件中，聽起來 Spark 的案例數量上升了中等個位數。我是否應該將這些點聯繫起來，即本季度價格上漲或 ASP 上漲了 5 到 7 個點，或者其他什麼？只有一個問題，可以確認一下大概的準確性嗎？第二，如果病例數以中位數個位數成長，您認為其相對於透明矯正器大盤的表現如何？

Yeah, Jeff, thanks. Let me just lay out -- there are a lot of numbers in your question. Let me just lay out the facts and then I'll turn it over to Eric to add color.

是的，傑夫，謝謝。讓我簡單說一下——你的問題裡有很多數字。讓我先陳述事實，然後再交給 Eric 補充說明。

So on Spark, revenues for deferral neutral ex neutral, I think you said grew double digits in Q4 and in 2024. That was correct. The number of ordering doctors also grew double digits in Q4 and 2024. And that's now many successive quarters now, both of margin gain and we think above-market growth or market share gains. So hopefully, that clarifies it.

因此，對於 Spark 而言，我認為您說過，延期中性（不包括中性）的收入在第四季度和 2024 年將實現兩位數增長。那是正確的。第四季和2024年訂購醫生的數量也實現了兩位數成長。現在已經連續多個季度實現利潤率成長，我們認為成長率或市佔率均超過市場水準。希望這能解釋清楚。

Eric, is there anything more you wanted to add to that?

艾瑞克，您還有什麼要補充的嗎？

No, I think you got it, Paul. Jeff, maybe just another leg to that. So as we go into then 2025, we gave this detail in the sort of the guidance assumptions or the guidance considerations, 2/3 of the 2024 Spark deferral headwind, that's about $45 million turns accretive next year. We've been giving the same number for the last couple of months.

不，我想你明白了，保羅。傑夫，也許這只是另一條腿而已。因此，當我們進入 2025 年時，我們在指導假設或指導考慮中給出了詳細的信息，2024 年 Spark 延期逆風的 2/3，相當於明年增加約 4500 萬美元。過去幾個月我們一直給出相同的數字。

So no big change there with a little bit of color just around the first half, second half. First half will be a little bit of a headwind. Second half will be a tailwind, and that gets us effectively to the same numbers you mentioned in the beginning.

因此，沒有什麼大的變化，只是前半部和後半部有一點顏色。上半年將會有些逆風。下半場將會是順風，這將使我們有效地達到你在開始時提到的相同數字。

Yes. Got it. That all connects. Okay. That's helpful. And then just, I guess, one other bigger picture question in the diagnostics side. Hearing a little chatter out there that you might have a new iOS you're coming out with this year internally developed through the DEXIS brand. One, anything you can talk about there? It seems like the Carestream product that you acquired hasn't really picked up much share in the last 1.5 years that you've owned that asset or so. Just any thoughts there on whether or not this might help you better participate in that iOS market?

是的。知道了。這一切都是有連結的。好的。這很有幫助。然後，我想，診斷方面還有另一個更大的問題。聽到一些傳言說，你們今年可能會推出一款透過 DEXIS 品牌內部開發的全新 iOS 系統。第一，您可以談論什麼嗎？看起來，您收購的 Carestream 產品在您擁有該資產的過去 1.5 年裡並沒有真正佔據太多的市場份額。您認為這是否有助於您更好地參與 iOS 市場？

Yes. So let's see, a couple of questions in there specific to diagnostics. First, you picked up on -- there have been a lot of new product introductions on the diagnostics side. There were some additional functionality to the current version of the iOS we launched last year. There was also new sensors, 2D sensors, and we introduced a new 3D CBCT platform. So a lot of innovation work on the diagnostic side.

是的。讓我們看看，其中有幾個與診斷有關的問題。首先，您了解到，在診斷方面已經有許多新產品推出。我們去年發布的 iOS 當前版本有一些附加功能。還有新的感測器、2D 感測器，我們還推出了新的 3D CBCT 平台。因此，在診斷方面有許多創新工作。

And yes, the chatter you're picking up is correct. The iOS market, a lot of innovation in the category, and you got to keep up. So we will be introducing additional functionality, additional version of that iOS moving forward. So per usual, your G2 is right, Jeff.

是的，你所聽到的閒聊是正確的。iOS 市場中有很多這類創新，你必須跟上。因此，我們將在未來推出附加功能和 iOS 的附加版本。所以像往常一樣，你的 G2 是正確的，傑夫。

Yes. Anything you can say on that, Paul, as far as how it might differ from the current care stream? Or is that something you don't want to talk about yet?

是的。保羅，您對此有什麼看法？還是這是你還不想談論的事情？

Well, there will be a couple of dental shows coming up. We got Chicago coming up. We got IDS. So we'll be saying more soon.

嗯，接下來將會有幾場牙科展覽。芝加哥即將到來。我們得到了 IDS。因此我們很快就會透露更多內容。

Kevin Caliendo, UBS.

瑞銀的凱文‧卡利恩多 (Kevin Caliendo)。

Paul, you've been in the job for nine months. And I think it's been -- I don't want to say shocking, but I think investors have to be happy with the fact that guidance has been very consistent with your commentary, and there haven't been a lot of surprises. And now we're a month or so away from an Analyst Day, which I suspect is going to be you providing some kind of long-term guidance. One, I wanted to confirm that.

保羅，你已經任職九個月了。我認為這是——我不想說令人震驚，但我認為投資者應該對這一事實感到高興，即指引與你的評論非常一致，並且沒有太多意外。現在距離分析師日還有一個月左右的時間，我猜你們會提供某種長期指導。首先，我想確認這一點。

And two, -- what should we be expecting at this Analyst Day in terms of not specifics, but like what -- how comfortable are you making long-term projections about the market? And have there been any surprises or anything that either you feel better about or worse about when you think about putting together long-term plans for the company?

第二，在本次分析師日上我們應該期待什麼，不只是具體細節，而是您對市場做出長期預測的信心有多大？當您考慮為公司製定長期計劃時，有沒有什麼意外或讓您感覺更好或更壞的事情？

Thanks for the question, Kevin. Let's see, you had two parts in there. First, any surprises in the first nine months? And then second, what should you expect for the Capital Markets Day here one month from today, in fact. So you're right, the first nine months, no major surprises. Both Eric and I have been in and around dental for decades, and we came back to it because of three principal beliefs.

謝謝你的提問，凱文。讓我們看看，其中有兩個部分。首先，前九個月有什麼驚喜嗎？第二，事實上，您對一個月後的資本市場日有何期待？所以你說得對，前九個月沒有什麼大的意外。我和艾瑞克都從事牙科行業幾十年了，我們重返這個行業是因為三個主要的信念。

First is that it is a secularly attractive market. All of the long-term growth drivers we're aware of, pretty much all levels of the value chain have favorable economics. And that aside from COVID and maybe one year after the -- or post the global financial crisis, this market always grows. So good market was point number one.

首先，這是一個具有長期吸引力的市場。我們所知的所有長期成長動力、幾乎所有價值鏈層級都有良好的經濟效益。除了新冠疫情以外，也許在全球金融危機爆發一年後，這個市場一直在成長。因此良好的市場是第一點。

Point number two is it's a great portfolio of businesses. Every one of the pieces of Envista has a good market position, and all of them can be made better, which is the third reason we jumped to the opportunity. You look at the continuous improvement mindset that's embedded at Envista and the culture where people here really want to get better each and every day, you can just see how you could turn that potential into improved performance moving forward.

第二點是，它擁有出色的業務組合。Envista 的每一款產品都擁有良好的市場地位，而且都可以做得更好，這是我們抓住機會的第三個原因。看看 Envista 所秉持的持續改善思維，以及這裡的人們真正希望每天都進步的文化，你就能看到如何將這種潛力轉化為未來績效的提升。

So with that as a backdrop, that brings us to next month's CMD. We had the good fortune to speak to a lot of folks who are on this call. And you guys told us you're interested in four things. So we just put together an agenda that responds directly to that. First is embedded in your question, people want to know what's our thought on long-term value creation here. And how does it -- how do you operationalize that? So I'll start with that.

因此，以此為背景，我們將迎來下個月的 CMD。我們非常榮幸能與參加此次電話會議的許多朋友進行交談。你們告訴我們你們對四件事感興趣。因此，我們制定了一個直接針對該議題的議程。首先，正如你剛才的問題所暗示的，人們想知道我們對長期價值創造的想法是什麼。那麼它是如何實現的——您如何實現它？因此我就從那開始。

Secondly, investors told us they'd like a deeper dive into our two biggest businesses, implants and ortho. So you'll hear from Stefan and from Veronica on that front.

其次，投資者告訴我們，他們希望更深入地了解我們最大的兩大業務，即植入物和矯正。因此您將會聽到史蒂芬和維羅妮卡對此的看法。

And then third, also embedded in your question, we owe the market reinstated medium-term targets. So Eric will finish up the agenda on March 5th with the financial wrapper to the plan, including medium-term guidance.

第三，也包含在你的問題中，我們欠市場恢復中期目標。因此，Eric 將於 3 月 5 日完成議程，並提供計劃的財務摘要，包括中期指導。

The fourth item, of course, is you guys would like some exposure to the broader management team. So we'll have the full group there, both folks who are newer to Envista, but also some of our longer-standing colleagues. So that's our plan. New York Stock Exchange nine until noon on March 5, we sent out a press release today, and we hope all you guys can make it.

第四件事，當然是你們想要接觸更廣的管理團隊。因此，我們將有整個團隊在那裡，既有剛加入 Envista 的新人，也有一些資深的同事。這就是我們的計劃。紐約證券交易所3月5日上午9點到中午12點，我們今天發出了新聞稿，希望大家能看到。

Erin Wright, Morgan Stanley.

摩根士丹利的艾琳·賴特。

So on the equipment and consumables side, there were some moving pieces, I think, in the quarter in terms of sell-in versus sell-out trends. I think some of that's just from a comp perspective. But what are you seeing right now year-to-date? And how do we think about that quarterly progression across that segment for the balance of the year?

因此，在設備和消耗品方面，我認為本季的銷售趨勢與銷售趨勢之間存在一些變動。我認為其中一些只是從公司的角度來看。但今年迄今為止你看到了什麼？我們如何看待今年剩餘時間內該領域各季度的進展？

Yeah. Yeah, perfect. So I'll hit your point on the growth piece, and then I'll just talk about margins a little bit if that's embedded in the question. So I think we've been pretty transparent as we've gone through the last many quarters. So the first point maybe to make here is in the consumables business relative to distribution, relative to the channel. Nothing really dramatically changed there as we move through the quarters.

是的。是的，完美。因此，我將談談您關於成長的問題，然後我將稍微談一談利潤率（如果問題涉及了利潤率的話）。所以我認為，在過去的幾個季度裡，我們的表現一直相當透明。因此這裡要提出的第一點可能是消耗品業務與分銷、與通路的關係。隨著我們進入新季度，情況並沒有太大的變化。

So from second quarter to third quarter to fourth quarter, we've had very consistent inventory levels, I would say, relatively lean inventory levels. And we see that as positive because our overall delivery performance, service performance is strong even with lean working capital management with our distributed partners. So that's point number one.

因此，從第二季度到第三季度再到第四季度，我們的庫存水準一直非常穩定，我想說，庫存水準相對精益。我們認為這是正面的，因為即使我們與分散式合作夥伴進行精實營運資本管理，我們的整體交付績效和服務績效仍然強勁。這是第一點。

Most of the revenue move we're talking about then, and we show that in our revenue bridge, that is primarily due to last year's cyberattack on the distribution channel. It's about $20 million. It drove a good portion of the consumables and the E&C business. Underlying, we had sell-out within dental consumables roughly in line with where it's been the last several quarters, flat to low single digits, which we see as being in line with the market. So that's kind of point number two.

我們當時談論的大部分收入變動，以及我們在收入橋中顯示的情況，主要是由於去年分銷管道遭受的網路攻擊。大約是2000萬美元。它帶動了很大一部分消耗品和 E&C 業務。基本而言，我們的牙科耗材銷售情況與過去幾季的情況大致相同，持平至個位數低位，我們認為這與市場情況一致。這就是第二點。

And then on the margins, the margins, we were up about 570 basis points year-over-year. We were also up sequentially. A lot of that comes from the volume that I just mentioned on a year-over-year basis. We also had a pretty significant transaction gain. So as the dollar strengthened, our net monetary assets provided us a gain basically in the exchange, and that was partially offset by incentive comp.

然後在利潤率方面，我們的利潤率年增了約 570 個基點。我們的業績也連續上漲。其中很大一部分來自於我剛才提到的年增長量。我們的交易收益也相當可觀。因此，隨著美元走強，我們的淨貨幣資產基本上為我們帶來了匯率收益，而這部分收益被激勵補償所抵消。

So let me pause there and see if there's any further questions to dig into.

所以讓我在這裡暫停一下，看看是否還有其他問題需要深入探討。

Yes. So that was really helpful. Can you talk a little bit, too, about your positioning as it relates to tariffs and potential offsets? And have you been able to do anything kind of proactively to better position yourself in terms of exposure or anything you can quantify as well on that front?

是的。這真的很有幫助。您能否也談談您對關稅和潛在抵銷的定位？您是否能夠主動採取一些措施來提高自己的曝光率或在這方面採取一些可以量化的措施？

Yes. Maybe I'd say three things, Aaron, on the tariff side. We'll start with the obvious. It is a pretty fluid situation. With the Canada and the Mexico pieces on hold for 30 days, I guess, as of today, only the China piece is currently in place and the impact to Envista from that is relatively small.

是的。亞倫，關於關稅方面，我想說三件事。我們從顯而易見的事情開始。這是一個相當不穩定的情況。由於加拿大和墨西哥的部分暫停了 30 天，我猜，截至今天，只有中國的部分目前還在實施中，這對 Envista 的影響相對較小。

That, of course, could change at any time. which brings me to the second thought, and it's one that Eric mentioned in his prepared remarks, until there's greater clarity and stability as to how things might play out on the tariff front, I just want to underline that we don't include any tariff-related impacts in our 2025 guide.

當然，這種情況隨時可能改變。這讓我想到了第二個想法，也是埃里克在他的準備好的演講中提到的，在關稅方面的情況更加明朗和穩定之前，我只想強調的是，我們不會在我們的 2025 年指南中包含任何與關稅相關的影響。

And then third, maybe most importantly, I think what the nut of your question was, while we are a global business, and so by definition, we're exposed to various uncertainties, tariffs included, we're also fairly well positioned to respond to any shifting landscapes. So we've long architected our supply chains with a local-for-local mindset, meaning we aim to source materials in the same country or region where we manufacture.

第三，也許是最重要的，我認為你問題的核心是，雖然我們是一家全球性企業，因此根據定義，我們面臨各種不確定因素，包括關稅，但我們也相當有能力應對任何不斷變化的情況。因此，我們長期以來一直以本地服務本地的思維來建立我們的供應鏈，這意味著我們的目標是在我們生產的同一國家或地區採購材料。

And then we try to serve our customers in a particular country or region from local sources of supply. So all of our big product categories, all of our largest supply chains have manufacturing on multiple continents. For example, we make Spark in Mexico, in Czech Republic and in China. We make consumables in three different countries. We make implants in three different countries, et cetera.

然後我們嘗試透過當地的供應源為特定國家或地區的客戶提供服務。因此，我們所有的大產品類別、所有最大的供應鏈都在多個大洲設有製造基地。例如，我們在墨西哥、捷克共和國和中國生產 Spark。我們在三個不同的國家生產消耗品。我們在三個不同的國家生產植入物等等。

So the -- while the bad news is that uncertainty is high, the good news is that we're fairly nimble and able to respond to what shifts. That just comes down to moving with urgency and executing well. And I think that's something we're pretty good at.

因此，雖然壞消息是不確定性很高，但好消息是我們相當靈活，能夠對變化做出反應。歸根結底就是要緊急行動並且好好執行。我認為這是我們非常擅長的事情。

Allen Lutz, Bank of America.

美國銀行的艾倫·盧茨。

This is Dev on for Alan Lutz at BofA. I had a couple here. Just on Spark, multiple quarters of margin expansion there. I think you guys have discussed that quite thoroughly. I'm just trying to quantify that a bit. I think you've mentioned double-digit declines in unit costs in the last quarter. Is that the right way to think about the cadence of the margin improvement there? Would love some help trying to framing the pace of that gross margin expansion, whether year-over-year or quarterly, that would be great.

這是美國銀行艾倫盧茨 (Alan Lutz) 的 Dev。我這裡有一對夫婦。僅就 Spark 而言，其利潤率就擴大了多個季度。我認為你們已經討論得非常透徹了。我只是想稍微量化一下這一點。我記得您提到過上個季度單位成本出現了兩位數的下降。這是思考利潤率提高節奏的正確方法嗎？希望能夠得到一些幫助，以確定毛利率擴張的速度，無論是同比還是季度，那都很好。

So I think you're asking, is there -- should you model a double-digit unit reduction every quarter for Spark? Now you're testing my math. No, I think there's probably some diminishing returns as we move down that cost curve. But you should plan on continued unit cost improvement on Spark. And as we talked about on previous calls, certainly an improvement in the market would help, but our improvement to date has not been driven by that. It has been driven by a very organized manufacturing technology strategy. All of the lines have the same design across the three sites. We have a pilot plant in California where we design the innovation and then we roll it out across the lines, across the plants.

所以我想你會問，你是否應該為 Spark 每季模擬兩位數的單位減少量？現在你在測驗我的數學。不，我認為隨著成本曲線下降，收益可能會遞減。但您應該計劃繼續改進 Spark 的單位成本。正如我們在之前的電話會議上談到的那樣，市場改善肯定會有所幫助，但我們迄今為止的改善並非由此推動的。它是由一個非常有組織的製造技術策略所推動的。三個站點的所有線路均採用相同的設計。我們在加州有一個試驗工廠，我們在那裡設計創新，然後將其推廣到整個生產線和工廠。

And so that leads to not only predictable improvement, but it also leads to that flexibility that was in Aaron's question. similar equipment, similar lines, similar regulatory filings for all the sites. So if things require a response here moving forward, we're relatively well positioned to do that.

因此，這不僅會帶來可預見的改進，而且還會帶來 Aaron 問題中提到的靈活性。所有站點都採用類似的設備、類似的線路、類似的監管文件。因此，如果事情需要在未來做出回應，我們相對來說處於有利地位。

That's helpful. And then just one cleanup question here on the dealer inventory reduction. I think it was $18 million headwind in 2Q, $12 million in 3Q. I'm just trying to figure out, is that a onetime headwind in full year '24? Is there a portion of that, that's considered as maybe a reversal or a tailwind in '25? Or should we maybe think of that as just consumables growth moving more in line with sell-out as we move forward?

這很有幫助。然後這裡只問一個關於經銷商庫存減少的清理問題。我認為第二季的逆風是 1800 萬美元，第三季的逆風是 1200 萬美元。我只是想知道，這是 24 年全年的一次性逆風嗎？其中是否有一部分被視為 25 年的逆轉或順風？或者我們應該認為這只是消耗品的成長隨著我們前進而與銷售成長更加一致？

Yes. So the latter is really the right point. So since Q2, we've been at the inventory -- the months of inventory, the weeks of inventory in the channel that we see as healthy and our distribution partners see as healthy. We effectively moved sideways. So no change to that in inventory dollars or in overall weeks on hand in Q3 and Q4. And then to your point, we would like that very much to be similar, consistent in line into 2025. So no, no real major comp issues to deal with, if you will, when we get into 2025.

是的。所以後者才是正確的觀點。因此，自第二季以來，我們一直在關注庫存——我們認為健康的庫存月數、我們認為健康的通路庫存週數以及我們的分銷合作夥伴也認為健康的庫存。我們有效地橫向移動。因此，第三季和第四季的庫存金額或總庫存週數沒有變化。然後回到您的觀點，我們非常希望這一點能夠保持相似，並與 2025 年保持一致。因此，當我們進入 2025 年時，沒有什麼真正重大的競爭問題需要處理。

Steven Valiquette, Mizuho Securities.

瑞穗證券的史蒂文‧瓦利奎特 (Steven Valiquette)。

So I listened to a couple of calls simultaneously here, but I'm wondering if anybody touched on the cadence of the EBITDA margin for 2025 yet. I guess with the 14% EBITDA margin guidance for the full year '25 coming in, essentially in line with the just reported 4Q result. Just curious whether that EBITDA margin will be in a sort of a tight range quarterly throughout this year? Or does it step down then re-ramp? Just want to get more color on that, that you can expand on that further.

所以我在這裡同時聽了幾通電話，但我想知道是否有人談到 2025 年 EBITDA 利潤率的節奏。我猜測，25 年全年 EBITDA 利潤率預期為 14%，與剛剛報告的第四季業績基本一致。只是好奇今年全年每季的 EBITDA 利潤率是否會處於狹窄的範圍內？或先下降再上升？只是想對此獲得更多詳細信息，以便您可以進一步擴展它。

Yes. Great question. And we haven't specifically talked about margin cadence. What we did cover in our prepared remarks, and we talked about a bit in a couple of the opening questions and comments is -- we do expect slightly lower core growth in the first half. We expect slightly better core growth in the second half.

是的。好問題。我們還沒有具體討論保證金節奏。我們在準備好的發言中確實涵蓋了這一點，並且在幾個開場問題和評論中也討論過這一點——我們確實預計上半年核心增長率將略有下降。我們預計下半年核心成長將略有改善。

For us, a lot of that is based on how we see the progression of China overall and VBP and effectively a version of what we saw in fourth quarter, which was slower bracket and wire market, slower purchases in Q4 playing out in the first half. And our business is sizable enough in China that, that has an impact on the overall Envista growth rate. So slower core growth first half, a little bit better second half. Spark deferral is also something that we get the headwind back as a tailwind next year in the second half.

對我們來說，這很大程度上取決於我們如何看待中國和 VBP 的整體發展，以及我們在第四季度看到的情況，即支架和線材市場發展放緩，第四季度的購買量放緩，這在上半年有所體現。我們在中國的業務規模足夠大，這對 Envista 的整體成長率有影響。因此，上半年核心成長較慢，下半年略有改善。Spark 的延遲也是我們明年下半年逆風轉化為順風的事情。

And then to your question on margin, I would just say we won't talk about specific quarter or half margin guide. But because of the healthy gross margins that we have, we will have slightly lower margins than the average in the first half and slightly better in the second half as well. I think that's the easiest way to play it out for now.

然後回答你關於利潤率的問題，我想說我們不會談論具體的季度或半數利潤率指南。但由於我們的毛利率較高，因此上半年的利潤率將略低於平均水平，下半年的利潤率將略好於平均水平。我認為這是目前最簡單的解決方法。

Brandon Vasquez, William Blair.

布蘭登·巴斯克斯、威廉·布萊爾。

I wanted to start on dental implants. You guys have had a nice couple of quarters here of improvements, especially on the Nobel side, which is really encouraging. I'm curious if you can -- I know this might be a hard exercise, but maybe parse out, as you guys look at improvements, is this simply a factor of your year-over-year comps are a little bit easier? Or are you actually seeing commercial improvements? Or are you seeing improvement in end markets? You had made an interesting comment that full arch cases actually had good growth that suggested to me that there might have been a little bit of macro in there. So I'm just curious if you could parse any of those out to give a better understanding of how durable the Nobel improvements can be going into '25.

我想要開始進行植牙。你們在過去幾季裡取得了不錯的進步，特別是在諾貝爾方面，這真的令人鼓舞。我很好奇你是否可以——我知道這可能是一個艱難的練習，但也許可以分析一下，當你們看到改進時，這是否只是你們同比變化的一個因素，稍微容易一些？或者您實際上看到了商業上的改進？或者您看到終端市場有改善嗎？您曾提出一個有趣的評論，即全牙弓病例實際上都有良好的生長，這表明其中可能存在一些宏觀因素。所以我只是好奇，你是否可以分析其中任何一個，以便更好地理解諾貝爾獎的改進在 25 年能持續多久。

Yes. Let me see if I can drill down into that. So maybe three things. First, we don't see a marked improvement in the underlying market, but we did see continued improvement of our business across the year, turning to positive in Q4 for both premium and Challenger, both in North America and globally. So without improvement in the market, but improvement across our business, we do think that the work we're doing, the investments we're making are driving that improvement, and we're confident in them, and we think that will continue moving forward.

是的。讓我看看是否能夠深入探討這個問題。所以可能是三件事。首先，我們沒有看到基礎市場有明顯的改善，但我們確實看到我們的業務在全年持續改善，第四季度北美和全球的高端市場和挑戰者市場均轉為正成長。因此，雖然市場沒有改善，但我們的業務卻有所改善，我們確實認為，我們正在做的工作、正在進行的投資正在推動這種改善，我們對此充滿信心，我們認為這種改善將繼續向前發展。

The second thing I would say is that we focus a lot understandably on the implant side of Nobel, but we're seeing good strength across that entire portfolio. Our regenerative and digital solutions businesses, both were up nicely in 2024, and our Prostera -- our prosthetics business was also doing very well. So pretty good progression across that portfolio.

我想說的第二件事是，我們可以理解地將重點放在諾貝爾的植入物方面，但我們看到整個產品組合都具有良好的實力。我們的再生和數位解決方案業務在 2024 年均取得了良好的成長，我們的 Prostera—我們的義肢業務也表現良好。因此整個投資組合的進展相當不錯。

Now moving into 2025, if we do get a faster return to pre-COVID levels for implants, all of this work that we're doing in strengthening the business, of course, will benefit us. The rising tide will be better positioned to take advantage of it.

現在進入 2025 年，如果我們確實能夠更快地讓植入物恢復到疫情之前的水平，那麼我們為加強業務所做的所有工作當然都會使我們受益。潮流的崛起將使我們更好地利用它。

Great. That's helpful. And on the Spark side, can you just bridge us a little bit on to what are the main contributors to get from where you are today to operating profitability in the back half of 2025?

偉大的。這很有幫助。在 Spark 方面，您能否稍微介紹一下從現在的狀況到 2025 年下半年實現營運獲利的主要因素是什麼？

Yes. I mean our base plan, what we stand behind in our guide to return to profitability in the second half is mostly within our control. It is those manufacturing improvements that I mentioned. We have a whole pipeline of automation steps, lean manufacturing steps, and we just roll those out one by one in a very organized, consistent way. And so we have predictable improvements in the unit cost. That's the main driver of it.

是的。我的意思是，我們的基本計劃，以及我們在下半年恢復盈利的指導方針基本上都在我們的控制範圍內。這就是我提到的那些製造業的改進。我們有完整的自動化步驟、精實製造步驟，而且我們只是以非常有組織、一致的方式逐一推出這些步驟。因此我們的單位成本有了可預見的改善。這是其主要驅動力。

On top of that, additional value, additional volume, if our share gains accelerate, that can only help. If the market recovers more quickly, that can only help. And we have been getting a little bit of price on our clear aligner business, and that adds to it as well, of course. So a lot of different vectors pointed in a positive direction. And I think you hear that in our enthusiasm for the business. The team is just doing a great job there.

除此之外，如果我們的份額加速成長，那麼額外的價值和額外的數量只會有所幫助。如果市場復甦得更快，那隻會有所幫助。我們的透明矯正器業務已經獲得了一些收益，當然這也增加了收益。因此，許多不同的向量都指向正方向。我想您可以從我們對這項事業的熱情中聽出來。該團隊在那裡表現出色。

Vik Chopra, Wells Fargo

喬普拉（Vik Chopra），富國銀行

Just two for me. I guess maybe on the first one, on your top line guidance, can you talk about what gets you to the high end versus the low end of that guidance? And then I had a follow-up question, please.

對我來說只要兩個。我想也許第一個問題，關於您的頂線指導，您能否談談是什麼讓您達到了該指導的高端和低端？然後我還有一個後續問題。

What gets us to the high end of our revenue guide versus the low end? I think it goes back to those upsides that we talked about before. And I would point to the same three, Vik. Spark, as we talked about, a lot of ways that could go better than what's in the base guide.

什麼因素使我們的收入達到指南的高端而不是低端？我認為這又回到了我們之前談到的那些好處。我也會指出同樣的三點，維克。正如我們所討論的，Spark 有很多方法可以比基礎指南中的內容更好。

Our second thing we talked about was implants that was embedded in the previous question.

我們談論的第二件事是上一個問題中嵌入的植入物。

And then the third, I guess we don't talk a lot about diagnostics because that category has been under pressure, but we have a strong position in it. And the category, we think, has to come back. You can't operate a dental clinic without diagnostic equipment. You can't start a dental procedure without some type of diagnostic step. So some version of those breaking the right way would get you to the higher end of that range.

第三，我想我們不太會談論診斷，因為這個類別一直面臨壓力，但我們在其中佔有強勢地位。我們認為，這一類別必須回歸。沒有診斷設備就無法經營牙醫診所。如果沒有某種診斷步驟，就無法開始牙科手術。因此，以正確的方式打破這些限制將使您達到該範圍的更高水平。

Great. That's helpful. And then a good segue into my follow-up question. Maybe just talk about the dental capital equipment environment. What are you hearing from your sales forces as they're out there talking to dental practices and DSOs?

偉大的。這很有幫助。然後很好地過渡到我的後續問題。也許只是談論牙科資本設備環境。當您的銷售人員與牙科診所和 DSO 進行交流時，您聽到了什麼消息？

I think the question is capital equipment sales to DSOs. Is that.

我認為問題在於向 DSO 銷售資本設備。是嗎？

Yeah. What are you seeing in the field? What are you hearing from your sales folks? Just maybe high-level commentary on the capital equipment environment.

是的。你在田裡看到了什麼？您從銷售人員那裡聽到了什麼？也許只是對資本設備環境的高層評論。

So let me just take two parts of it. Let me say what are we hearing from DSOs and then what are we hearing about capital equipments. The DSO market, I think, is doing pretty well. The strong are getting stronger in that. The biggest players, the Heartlands, the Aspens, the MV2s of the world, these are well-run companies. And they have many sites and they're often in several categories. So the population of suppliers that can really serve them at the levels they need is relatively small. You need to have good national coverage, a consistent product, sales force coverage. And if you can do it across multiple dental categories, that's helpful. So we think DSOs are a big opportunity for us.

我僅討論其中的兩個部分。讓我說一下我們從 DSO 那裡聽到了什麼，然後我們聽到了有關資本設備的消息。我認為 DSO 市場表現相當不錯。強者愈強。世界上最大的參與者，Heartlands，Aspens，MV2s，這些都是運作良好的公司。他們有很多網站，而且通常分為幾個類別。因此，真正能夠滿足他們所需水平的供應商數量相對較少。您需要有良好的全國覆蓋範圍、一致的產品和銷售隊伍覆蓋範圍。如果您可以跨多個牙科類別進行此操作，那將會很有幫助。因此我們認為 DSO 對我們來說是一個巨大的機會。

With respect to capital equipment, it's consistent with the commentary we had on the diagnostic side. You need it to open a clinic, you need it to expand a DSO, but it happens to be a financed category. So it's sensitive to interest rates. Now there's been, what, three interest rate cuts since the fall. That's helpful, but interest rates are still up several hundred basis points from where they were during COVID and pre-COVID. So I think we still need to see cheaper money out there before there's going to be a sharp inflection in the diagnostic equipment market.

就資本設備而言，這與我們在診斷方面的評論一致。您需要它來開設診所，您需要它來擴展 DSO，但它恰好是一個融資類別。因此它對利率很敏感。自秋季以來，已進行了三次降息。這很有幫助，但利率仍比新冠疫情期間和疫情之前高出數百個基點。因此，我認為在診斷設備市場出現急劇轉變之前，我們仍然需要看到更便宜的資金。

With that, I think we are up against the time. So I'm going to wrap things up here and thank all of you for participating and for your questions.

因此，我認為我們已經趕不上時間了。我要在這裡結束本次演講，並感謝大家的參與和提問。

Maybe I'll close just with a couple of high-level thoughts, reminding everyone why we are so excited about the opportunity we see in front of us. First, at the highest level, dental is a fundamentally attractive category. All of the structural long-term drivers we've talked about over time and the high gross margins and the opportunity for pretty attractive economics.

最後，我可能只想說幾點高層的想法，提醒大家為什麼我們對眼前的機會如此興奮。首先，從最高層面來說，牙科是一個從根本上具有吸引力的類別。我們一直以來討論的所有結構性長期驅動因素、高毛利率以及相當有吸引力的經濟學機會。

Second, Envista is a great company, leadership positions in some of the very best categories in that attractive dental market.

其次，Envista 是一家優秀的公司，在極具吸引力的牙科市場的一些最佳產品類別中佔據領導地位。

And then third, having been on Board now for nine months, it's clear to me that we have both the capabilities and the culture to turn that potential into improved performance. Hopefully, you're seeing elements of that across 2024, and I want you to know we're committed to building on that momentum here in 2025.

第三，加入董事會已經九個月了，我清楚地意識到，我們有能力和文化將這種潛力轉化為更高的績效。希望您能在 2024 年看到這些元素，我想讓您知道，我們致力於在 2025 年繼續保持這一勢頭。

With that, we'll wrap it up. Hope you guys can join us on the 5th next month at the Capital Markets Day, and wish everybody a good day and a great week. Thank you.

至此，我們就結束本次演講了。希望大家能於下個月 5 號參加資本市場日活動，並祝大家有個愉快的一天和美好的一週。謝謝。

This does conclude today's program. Thank you for your participation, and you may now disconnect.

今天的節目到此結束。感謝您的參與，您現在可以斷開連接。