Powell Industries Inc (POWL) 2025 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Good day and welcome to the Powell Industries fiscal first quarter 2025 earnings conference call. (Operator Instructions) Please note this event is being recorded.

大家好，歡迎參加鮑威爾工業 2025 財年第一季財報電話會議。（操作員指示）請注意，此事件正在被記錄。

I would now like to turn the conference over to Ryan Coleman with Alpha IR. Please go ahead.

現在，我想將會議交給 Alpha IR 的 Ryan Coleman。請繼續。

Thank you, operator, and good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining us for Powell Industries conference call today to review fiscal year 2025 first-quarter results. With me on the call are Brett Cope, Powell's Chairman and CEO; and Mike Metcalf, Powell's CFO. There will be a replay of today's call and it will be available via webcast by going to the company's website, powellind.com, or a telephonic replay will be available until February 14. The information on how to access the replay was provided in yesterday's earnings release.

謝謝接線員，大家早安。感謝您今天參加鮑威爾工業電話會議，回顧 2025 財年第一季的業績。與我一起參加電話會議的還有鮑威爾董事長兼執行長布雷特‧科普 (Brett Cope)；以及鮑威爾首席財務長邁克·梅特卡夫（Mike Metcalf）。今天的電話會議將會重播，可透過公司網站 powellind.com 上的網路直播收聽，或透過電話重播，截止日期為 2 月 14 日。昨天的收益報告中提供了有關如何存取重播的資訊。

Please note that information reported on this call speaks only as of today, February 7, 2025, and therefore, you are advised that any time sensitive information may no longer be accurate at the time of replay listening or transcript reading. This conference call includes certain statements, including statements related to the company's expectations of its future operating results that may be considered forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.

請注意，本次通話中報告的資訊僅截至今天（2025 年 2 月 7 日），因此，請注意，任何時間敏感資訊在重播或閱讀記錄時可能不再準確。本次電話會議包含某些聲明，其中包括與本公司對其未來營運績效預期相關的聲明，這些聲明可被視為《1995 年私人證券訴訟改革法案》所定義的前瞻性聲明。

Investors are cautioned that such forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties and that actual future results may differ materially from those projected in these forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited, to competition and competitive pressures, sensitivity to general economic and industry conditions, international, political and economic risks, availability and price of raw materials and execution of business strategies. For more information, please refer to the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

敬請投資人注意，此類前瞻性陳述涉及風險和不確定性，未來實際結果可能與這些前瞻性陳述中的預測有重大差異。這些風險和不確定性包括但不限於競爭和競爭壓力、對一般經濟和產業狀況的敏感度、國際、政治和經濟風險、原材料的可用性和價格以及商業策略的執行。欲了解更多信息，請參閱該公司向美國證券交易委員會提交的文件。

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

說完這些，我會把電話轉給布雷特。

Thanks, Ryan, and good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining us today to review Powell's fiscal 2025 first-quarter results. I will make a few comments and then turn the call over to Mike for more financial commentary before we take your questions.

謝謝，瑞安，大家早安。感謝您今天加入我們，回顧鮑威爾 2025 財年第一季的業績。我將發表一些評論，然後在回答你們的問題之前將電話轉給麥克以獲得更多財務評論。

Powell recorded a strong start to the fiscal year, highlighted by revenue growth of 24% and new order growth of 36% compared to the prior year. Revenue increased in every one of our major market sectors as revenue from the oil and gas sector increased 14%, while the electric utility and commercial and other industrial sectors grew 26% and 80%, respectively.

鮑威爾本財年開局表現強勁，與前一年相比，營收成長了 24%，新訂單成長了 36%。我們每個主要市場部門的收入都有所增加，其中石油和天然氣部門的收入增加了 14%，而電力部門和商業及其他工業部門的收入分別增加了 26% 和 80%。

Our order total of $269 million also saw broad strength led by an award this quarter for a large domestic LNG project to be located along the US Gulf Coast. New project activity continues to be balanced across our industrial, utility, and commercial sectors. Our strategy in the utility market continues to be a bright spot as the sector once again accounted for nearly one-third of our backlog.

我們的訂單總額達到 2.69 億美元，也體現出廣泛的優勢，這得益於本季度我們獲得位於美國墨西哥灣沿岸的大型國內液化天然氣項目合約。我們的工業、公用事業和商業部門的新專案活動繼續保持平衡。我們在公用事業市場的策略繼續成為亮點，因為該領域再次占到我們積壓訂單的近三分之一。

Gross margin was roughly unchanged from the prior year but lower sequentially. This was in line with our expectations given the seasonal challenges we typically see in the first quarter as well as the benefit of project closeouts we experienced in the fourth quarter of 2024. On the bottom line, we recorded debt income of $35 million in the first quarter or $2.86 per diluted share, which was 44% higher than the prior year.

毛利率與上年基本持平，但較上季下降。考慮到我們通常在第一季看到的季節性挑戰以及我們在 2024 年第四季經歷的專案收尾帶來的好處，這符合我們的預期。整體而言，我們第一季的債務收入為 3,500 萬美元，即每股攤薄收益 2.86 美元，比上年同期高出 44%。

Our backlog of $1.3 billion increased by $48 million compared to the prior year and by $14 million sequentially. We remain very encouraged by the overall composition and project schedules of our backlog, which is well balanced across both the markets and geographies in which we compete and provides revenue visibility into fiscal 2027.

我們的積壓訂單為 13 億美元，比前一年增加了 4,800 萬美元，比上一季增加了 1,400 萬美元。我們對我們的積壓訂單的整體組成和專案進度感到非常鼓舞，這在我們競爭的市場和地區之間保持了良好的平衡，並為 2027 財年的收入提供了可預見性。

We are making good progress with our capacity initiatives, which are advancing as planned to help facilitate the execution of our current backlog as well as provide room for modest buying growth going forward. Remediation work at the 9 acres we purchased last July continues to progress on schedule and has already freed up important capacity at our largest manufacturing facility based in Houston. We expect this incremental capacity to contribute revenue in fiscal 2025.

我們的產能計畫正在取得良好進展，這些計畫正在按計劃推進，有助於促進我們目前積壓訂單的執行，並為未來適度的購買成長提供空間。我們去年七月購買的9英畝土地的修復工作繼續按計劃進行，並且已經釋放了我們位於休士頓的最大製造工廠的重要產能。我們預計這項增量產能將在 2025 財年貢獻收入。

The expansion and improvement of our electrical products factory in Houston also remains on schedule and is expected to be completed by mid fiscal 2025. The incremental space will be focused on supporting organic development of new products to better position Powell in our key markets. We continue to invest in our R&D function to support those efforts as our R&D spend was up 26% versus one year ago to $2.5 million in the first quarter.

我們位於休士頓的電氣產品工廠的擴建和改進工程也仍在按計劃進行，預計將於2025財年中期完工。增量空間將集中在支持新產品的有機開發，以便 Powell 在我們的關鍵市場中佔據更好的地位。我們繼續投資我們的研發功能以支援這些工作，因為我們的研發支出在第一季比一年前成長了 26%，達到 250 萬美元。

We continue to attract and strengthen our talented workforce and are confident that we are adequately positioned to execute our backlog. Last quarter, we detailed the opening of an engineering satellite office on the far west side of Houston, allowing us to better engage and hire from a wider population of qualified engineers. Efforts like these are critical as we plan over the medium term, allowing us to attract the talent to fuel each of our three strategic growth initiatives.

我們將繼續吸引和加強我們的優秀員工隊伍，並相信我們有足夠的能力完成我們的任務。上個季度，我們詳細介紹了在休士頓最西側開設工程衛星辦公室的計劃，這使我們能夠更好地吸引和聘用更多合格的工程師。在我們的中期規劃中，這樣的努力至關重要，使我們能夠吸引人才來推動我們的三個策略成長計畫。

Looking ahead, we have every reason to expect another solid performance for Powell and fiscal 2025. We are in an incredibly strong financial position and maintain a $1.3 billion order book comprised of projects that are central to what Powell does best.

展望未來，我們有充分的理由期待鮑威爾及其2025財年再次取得出色表現。我們的財務狀況非常強勁，並保持著 13 億美元的訂單，這些訂單都是鮑威爾最擅長的核心項目。

The fundamentals for our oil and gas and petrochemical markets support our expectation for continued strength for these sectors. Specific to the fundamentals of the US natural gas market, price spreads across global markets remain favorable and conducive to US export activity.

我們的石油天然氣和石化市場的基本面支持了我們對這些產業持續走強的預期。具體到美國天然氣市場的基本面，全球市場的價差仍然有利，有利於美國的出口活動。

Activity within our commercial and other industrial market also remains healthy and includes activity within the data center market. We continue our efforts to further penetrate the data center market and expand the total content opportunity for Powell within this market sector. Specifically, we are working to qualify more of our products and services for this important end market. As we also work to build relationships with both new customers and new channels to position Powell to succeed in this market.

我們的商業和其他工業市場內的活動也保持健康，包括資料中心市場內的活動。我們將繼續努力進一步滲透資料中心市場並擴大Powell在該市場領域的整體內容機會。具體來說，我們正在努力為這個重要的終端市場提供更多產品和服務。我們也致力於與新客戶和新管道建立關係，以使鮑威爾在這個市場取得成功。

Last, the outlook for our utility market remains very healthy. The overall volume of projects coming to market is materially higher than past years. And while we have increased our win rate, we continue to drive towards higher levels of success.

最後，我們的公用事業市場的前景仍然非常健康。進入市場的項目總數比過去幾年大幅增加。在我們提高成功率的同時，我們繼續努力實現更高的成功水準。

Expanding our presence in this market has been the result of a deliberate and concerted effort going back more than a decade. Throughout the years, when power demand was flat or falling in the US and new generation projects stalled, we invested considerable time and resources to position ourselves as a market leader and valued partner to utility customers.

擴大我們在這個市場的影響力是我們十多年來深思熟慮和齊心協力的結果。多年來，當美國電力需求持平或下降，新一代專案停滯不前時，我們投入了大量的時間和資源，將自己定位為市場領導者和公用事業客戶的重要合作夥伴。

Today, as electricity demand is rising and new generation capacity must now work to catch up, we are in a prime position to leverage our relationships and capabilities to help power this new era of investment in our energy infrastructure. As a proud Texas-based company with a storied history that stretches back more than seven decades, we believe that the renaissance in building and strengthening America's electrical infrastructure is best served by American manufacturing jobs and companies based right here in the United States. Here at Powell, we are excited to continue to play a leading role in powering our nation's future.

今天，隨著電力需求不斷增長，新的發電能力必須跟上，我們處於有利位置，可以利用我們的關係和能力來推動能源基礎設施投資的新時代。作為一家總部位於德克薩斯州、擁有 70 多年悠久歷史的公司，我們相信，美國製造業崗位和總部位於美國的公司最有助於美國電力基礎設施建設和加強的復興。在鮑威爾，我們很高興能夠繼續在推動我們國家的未來方面發揮主導作用。

With that, I'd like to turn the call over to Mike to walk us through our financial results in greater detail.

說到這裡，我想把電話轉給麥克，讓他更詳細地向我們介紹我們的財務表現。

Thank you, Brett, and good morning, everyone. In the first quarter of fiscal 2025, we reported net revenue of $241 million compared to $194 million or 24% higher versus the same period in fiscal 2024. New orders booked in the first fiscal quarter of 2025 were $269 million, which was 36% higher than the same period one year ago and included a large domestic liquefied natural gas project order during the quarter.

謝謝你，布雷特，大家早安。2025 財年第一季，我們報告的淨收入為 2.41 億美元，而 2024 財年同期為 1.94 億美元，成長 24%。2025財年第一季的新訂單為2.69億美元，比去年同期成長36％，其中包括本季的一項大型國內液化天然氣專案訂單。

Notwithstanding this mega ING order, the order's cadence across most of our reported market sectors continues to be active. As a result, our book to bill ratio in the period was 1.1 times with a backlog of $1.3 billion as we exited our first fiscal quarter, which was $48 million higher than one year ago and $14 million higher sequentially.

儘管 ING 發布了巨額訂單，但我們報告的大多數市場領域的訂單節奏仍然很活躍。因此，在我們第一財季結束時，本期間的訂單出貨比為 1.1 倍，積壓訂單量為 13 億美元，比去年同期高出 4,800 萬美元，比上一季高出 1,400 萬美元。

Compared to the first fiscal quarter of 2024, domestic revenues improved by 24% or $38 million to $198 million. While international revenues were 28% or $10 million higher to $44 million in the current fiscal quarter. The increase in our international revenues was driven predominantly by an increase in project volume across our Canadian operations.

與 2024 財年第一季相比，國內收入成長了 24% 或 3,800 萬美元，達到 1.98 億美元。本財季國際營收成長 28%，即 1,000 萬美元，達到 4,400 萬美元。我們的國際收入的成長主要得益於我們加拿大業務項目量的增加。

From a market sector perspective, revenues across our petrochemical, oil and gas, utility, and commercial and other industrial end markets continued their positive momentum from fiscal 2024. Compared with the first fiscal quarter of 2024, our revenues from the petrochemical sector were higher by 17%. While revenues from the oil and gas sector increased by 14% in the current fiscal quarter.

從市場部門的角度來看，我們的石化、石油和天然氣、公用事業以及商業和其他工業終端市場的收入從 2024 財年起繼續保持積極勢頭。與2024財年第一季相比，我們來自石化領域的營收成長了17％。而本財季石油和天然氣產業營收成長了14%。

Additionally, we achieved substantial growth in the electric utility and commercial and other industrial market sectors with increases of 26% and 80%, respectively. These results reflect our continued strategic focus on diversifying and expanding into markets outside of our core industrial end markets. Albeit a small percentage of the total revenues, the light rail traction power market also experienced an increase of 89% on a modest revenue base.

此外，我們在電力公用事業和商業及其他工業市場領域也實現了大幅成長，增幅分別達到26%和80%。這些結果反映了我們持續的策略重點，即多元化和拓展核心工業終端市場以外的市場。儘管輕軌牽引電力市場只佔總收入的一小部分，但在適度的收入基數上也實現了89%的成長。

Gross profit in the current period increased by $11 million to $60 million in the first fiscal quarter versus the same period one year ago. Gross profit as a percentage of revenue was roughly flat versus the same period one year ago at 24.7% of revenues and lower sequentially by 460 basis points in the absence of the strong project closeouts that we experienced in the fourth fiscal quarter, combined with the seasonally lower first-quarter shop activity.

第一財季毛利較去年同期增加 1,100 萬美元，達到 6,000 萬美元。毛利佔營收的百分比與去年同期基本持平，為 24.7%，由於缺乏第四財季強勁的項目收尾，加上第一季店鋪活動受季節性影響較低，毛利比上一季下降 460 個基點。

As we noted in our fourth-quarter release, we anticipated a challenging sequential comparison, considering that our first fiscal quarter is historically the softest quarter across our fiscal year. Selling, general, and administrative expenses were $21.5 million in the current period and were higher by $1.1 million on increased compensation expenses across the business versus the same period a year ago. SG&A as a percentage of revenue decreased 160 basis points to 8.9% in the current fiscal quarter on the higher revenue base versus the same period one year ago.

正如我們在第四季度的新聞稿中指出的那樣，考慮到我們的第一個財季歷來是整個財年中最疲軟的季度，我們預計連續比較將會具有挑戰性。本期銷售、一般及行政開支為 2,150 萬美元，由於全公司薪酬開支增加，較去年同期增加 110 萬美元。由於收入基數較高，與去年同期相比，本財季銷售、一般及行政費用佔收入的百分比下降了 160 個基點，至 8.9%。

In the first fiscal quarter of 2025, we reported net income of $34.8 million, generating $2.86 per diluted share. This represents a 44% increase compared to net income of $24.1 million or $1.98 per diluted share in the same period of fiscal 2024. During the first quarter of fiscal 2025, we generated $37 million of operating cash flow on favorable income generation through the period.

2025 財年第一季度，我們報告淨收入為 3,480 萬美元，每股攤薄收益 2.86 美元。與 2024 財年同期的淨收入 2,410 萬美元或每股 1.98 美元相比，成長了 44%。在 2025 財年第一季度，我們在此期間創造了 3,700 萬美元的經營現金流，創造了良好的收入。

Investments in property, plant, and equipment totaled $2.2 million as we continue to fund the large facility expansion and improvement project at our breaker facility in Houston. At December 31, 2024, we had cash and short term investments of $373 million compared to $358 million at September 30, 2024. And the company does not hold any debt.

我們繼續為位於休士頓的斷路器工廠的大型設施擴建和改進項目提供資金，對物業、廠房和設備的投資總額達到 220 萬美元。截至 2024 年 12 月 31 日，我們的現金和短期投資為 3.73 億美元，而 2024 年 9 月 30 日為 3.58 億美元。且該公司並無任何債務。

And finally, earlier this week, we announced an annualized $0.01 per share increase to our common stock dividend. This is the third consecutive year that the Board has taken this action. This action demonstrates our commitment to continually improving shareholder returns while also ensuring sufficient liquidity to fund our CapEx and working capital requirements, in addition to the growth aspirations for the business.

最後，本週早些時候，我們宣布普通股股息每股年化上漲 0.01 美元。這是董事會連續第三年採取這項行動。此舉顯示我們致力於不斷提高股東回報，同時確保有足夠的流動性來資助我們的資本支出和營運資金需求，以及業務的成長意願。

As we look ahead to the remainder of fiscal 2025, we are encouraged by the sustained commercial momentum across our end markets through the first fiscal quarter of 2025, which has allowed us to maintain both the quality and the quantity of our backlog. Combined with our ongoing focus on optimizing margin levers in addition to the strength of our balance sheet, Powell is well positioned to deliver robust revenue and earnings throughout the rest of fiscal 2025.

展望 2025 財年剩餘時間，我們對 2025 財年第一季整個終端市場持續的商業發展勢頭感到鼓舞，這使我們能夠保持積壓訂單的品質和數量。結合我們持續專注於優化利潤率槓桿以及強勁的資產負債表，Powell 完全有能力在 2025 財年剩餘時間內實現強勁的收入和收益。

At this point, we'll be happy to answer your questions.

此時，我們很樂意回答您的問題。

We will now begin the question-and-answer session. (Operator Instructions) Chip Moore, Roth.

我們現在開始問答環節。（操作員指示）Chip Moore，Roth。

Thanks for taking the questions. But Mike, maybe we could start on the project pipeline you're seeing here in the new year post elections in -- particularly, I guess, what you're seeing on LNG and any more color on that order you won this quarter.

感謝您回答這些問題。但是麥克，也許我們可以從您在新年選舉後看到的項目管道開始——特別是，我想，您看到的關於液化天然氣的情況，以及您本季度贏得的訂單的任何更多細節。

Good morning, Chip. This is Brett. Yeah, nice award in the first quarter, roughly $75 million, give or take, of the first quarter booking number. I think I noted last quarter that the funnel activity on the market started to pick up, I think in anticipation of the change of the administration. Nice to see that they started permitting process again, at least, as the new DOE secretary has gotten in there. And I'd say that in line with that, from the end of the year until this Q1, activity has picked up that much more. So we -- very encouraged by the outlook for that particular market.

早上好，奇普。這是布雷特。是的，第一季的獎勵不錯，大約為 7500 萬美元，佔第一季預訂金額的 7500 萬美元左右。我上個季度就注意到，市場上的漏斗活動開始回暖，我認為這是為了預期政府的變動。很高興看到他們再次啟動許可程序，至少新任能源部長已經到任。我想說，與此相符的是，從今年年底到今年第一季度，活動已經進一步活躍起來。因此，我們對該特定市場的前景感到非常鼓舞。

Great. And if I could ask on margins, obviously, your seasonally weaker quarter with shutdowns on holidays and things like that. Can you talk a little bit more? Are you seeing any competitive pressures out there or anything like that? And then on the go forward, should we be thinking about potential margin expansion this year? I know Q2 last year was sort of flattish quarter over quarter. Anything to call out there? And then any impact on tariffs or any thoughts on tariffs?

偉大的。如果我可以問一下利潤率的話，顯然，你們的這個季度是季節性疲軟的季度，因為假期停工等原因。你能再講一點嗎？您是否感受到任何競爭壓力或類似的東西？那麼，展望未來，我們是否應該考慮今年潛在的利潤率擴張？我知道去年第二季的業績與上一季相比持平。有什麼要喊的嗎？那麼這對關稅有什麼影響嗎？

Yeah. Hi, Chip. This is Mike. I'll start off by addressing your question on margins. First is as we noted in the prepared comments, our first fiscal quarter historically is softer versus the remainder of the fiscal year due to the under-recovery resulting from the holiday seasonal period. We see it really every year. And it really -- it results in a much lower operating leverage number compared to 2Q, 3Q and 4Q.

是的。你好，Chip。這是麥克。我將首先回答您關於利潤的問題。首先，正如我們在準備好的評論中所指出的，由於假期季節導致的復甦不足，我們第一財季的業績歷來比財年剩餘時間更為疲軟。我們每年都確實會看到這種情況。事實上，與第二季、第三季和第四季相比，這導致營業槓桿率大幅降低。

So as we look forward, of the -- the right barometer, I think, to use is if you look at the trailing 12 months of margins that we're exiting backlog, excluding those strong project closeouts that we saw in the second half of fiscal 2024, which on an annualized basis probably contributes 100 basis points of lift in margins. That's probably the right barometer to align to on a merchant basis.

因此，展望未來，我認為正確的衡量標準是，查看過去 12 個月的利潤率，看看我們退出積壓訂單的情況，不包括我們在 2024 財年下半年看到的那些強勁的項目收尾，按年率計算，這可能為利潤率帶來 100 個基點的提升。這或許是對商家而言正確的衡量標準。

And yeah, I'll come in quick on tariffs and have Mike jump back in. Watching it really closely, I'd remind everybody that we don't direct source anything out of the Far East, China, specifically. Relative to North America, Mexico, and Canada, there is some intercompany -- not significant part as we -- under one roof philosophy with commodities in and product out in all our factory locations, so a little bit of intercompany.

是的，我會快速介入關稅問題，並讓麥克回來。密切注意此事後，我想提醒大家，我們並沒有直接從遠東，特別是中國採購任何東西。相對於北美、墨西哥和加拿大，存在一些公司間（雖然不是很重要）的合作，我們所有工廠都採用同一屋簷下的理念，商品進出均來自同一屋簷下，所以存在一點公司間合作。

It would really be more of any indirect impact. What we saw years ago when some of this went on was logistic challenges sort of back up or indirect effect. And so that's kind of where we're watching. We do have some aluminum every now and then specific to a certain couple of products that could get impacted. But we feel pretty good with our sourcing strategies that we can go to other areas and acquire it.

這實際上會產生更大的間接影響。幾年前，當發生此類事件時，我們看到後勤挑戰產生了間接影響。這就是我們所關注的地方。我們確實時不時地會有一些特定於某些產品的鋁受到影響。但我們對我們的採購策略感到非常滿意，我們可以去其他地區採購。

So it's really that indirect effect that probably would have us most concerned. And anything direct, we feel like we could handle pretty well in the model.

因此，真正讓我們最擔心的可能是這種間接影響。我們覺得我們可以在模型中很好地處理任何直接的事情。

Yeah. And just to follow on there, Chip, we were staying very close to both the imported material costs as well as any foreign currency fluctuations as it may result from the threat of tariffs that may or may not materialize. Fortunately, as Brett mentioned, the majority of our product costs are sourced domestically in each one of our geographies that we operate in. And in the event that we do encounter tariff cost headwinds, these will be passed along in the form of price through our pricing models. So we're staying very close to it.

是的。接下來，Chip，我們非常密切地關注進口材料成本以及任何外匯波動，因為這可能是由於可能實現或可能不實現的關稅威脅造成的。幸運的是，正如 Brett 所提到的，我們大部分的產品成本都來自於我們經營所在的每個地區的國內市場。如果我們確實遇到關稅成本阻力，這些阻力將透過我們的定價模型以價格的形式轉嫁出去。因此我們會密切關注這一情況。

Got it, very helpful. If I could ask one more, I guess, on commercial -- particularly data center, it sounded like I think you said 80% increase, so very strong. Is that mostly still cable bus out of Chicago? And then in terms of new channels to market and new relationships there, new customers, maybe expand on that opportunity where that's headed.

明白了，很有幫助。如果我可以再問一個問題，關於商業 - 特別是資料中心，聽起來我認為你說的是成長 80％，所以非常強勁。芝加哥大部分地區還有纜車嗎？然後，就新的市場管道、新的關係和新客戶而言，也許可以擴大這個機會。

Yeah, no, also very encouraged. We're still early in the total impact to our total revenue number. But within quarter-to-quarter growth and activity and opportunity, we continue to build the channels, continue to build direct and client relationships as we continue to make our way into that market.

是啊，不，也很受鼓舞。我們對其總收入數字的整體影響仍處於早期階段。但在季度成長、活動和機會方面，我們將繼續建立管道，繼續建立直接和客戶關係，同時繼續進入該市場。

We are beyond the cable bus product. We are definitely supplying gear through different channels into that market. There were some nice wins within the quarter bookings. And so I feel good where we're headed in that market. It's a huge opportunity. Notwithstanding global macro things that happened over the last couple weeks, I think this market's going to be good for Powell over the mid to long term.

我們超越了有線總線產品。我們確實透過不同的管道向該市場供應設備。本季度的預訂量取得了一些不錯的勝利。因此，我對我們在該市場的發展前景感到十分滿意。這是一個巨大的機會。儘管過去幾週發生了一些全球宏觀事件，但我認為從中長期來看這個市場對鮑威爾來說還是有利的。

John Franzreb, Sidoti.

約翰‧弗朗茨雷布、西多蒂。

Good morning, Brett and Mike, and congratulations on another great quarter. I guess, Brett, I'd like to hear your thoughts about the capacity expansion, maybe a little bit an update. I know it's largely geared towards new product development, but is there any thoughts about expanding overall production capacity? And if so, can you kind of quantify that?

早安，布雷特和麥克，恭喜你們又一個偉大的季度。我想，布雷特，我想聽聽你對產能擴張的想法，也許可以稍微更新一下。我知道這主要是為了新產品開發，但有沒有關於擴大整體生產能力的想法？如果是的話，您能量化一下嗎？

Yeah, good question. Thank you, John. Yeah, the product factory, as we noted in prepared comments the last two quarters, on track, so mid fiscal '25, which will be another couple of months. Building's up, ropes on, cranes are in. So just over there a couple days ago, checking it out, looks great, so as the products roll out organically R&D.

是的，好問題。謝謝你，約翰。是的，正如我們在過去兩個季度的準備好的評論中所指出的那樣，產品工廠的運作進展順利，所以在 25 財年中期，也就是再過幾個月就會恢復正常。建築物已建成，繩索已係好，起重機已到位。就在幾天前，我檢查了一下，看起來很棒，所以產品是有機研發推出的。

We -- including the 9 acres that we bought in June of last year for other capacity options for Powell can quickly spin up, there's -- about half that space has other potential. We could -- we're currently doing some soil sampling over there right now to maybe consider pivoting a little bit on that for optionality. And in addition to that, so that's about half of that 9 acres.

我們 — — 包括我們去年 6 月為鮑威爾的其他產能選擇購買的 9 英畝土地可以快速啟動，大約有一半的空間具有其他潛力。我們可以 — — 我們目前正在那裡進行一些土壤採樣，也許會考慮在此基礎上稍微改變一下選擇。除此之外，這大約佔了 9 英畝的一半。

And then if you look elsewhere and pilot the offshore channel and then even at the product factory, we have another 20 acres -- all in all, about 30 acres that we can convert and move, especially on substation opportunities. If we needed to move, say -- to be able to take more opportunity there, move more outside of the under one roof and free up for gear.

然後，如果你把目光投向其他地方，試行海上通道，甚至在產品工廠，我們還有另外 20 英畝 - 總共大約 30 英畝的土地可以轉換和移動，特別是在變電站機會方面。如果我們需要搬家，比如說——為了能夠在那裡獲得更多的機會，將更多的精力放在同一屋簷下以外的地方，從而騰出時間來裝備。

So kind of alluded to that a little bit in Q1 back in December that we are looking at the footprint, continue to do it as well as maybe other inorganic opportunities more mid term. So it's more active and we're watching it very closely and understanding how quick and how much CapEx and just kind of matching that to the market. So if we do pull the trigger, we can maximize the return.

因此，我們在去年 12 月第一季就曾稍微提到過，我們正在關注足跡，並將繼續關注，或許還會關注中期其他無機機會。因此它更加活躍，我們正在密切關注它，了解其速度和資本支出有多少，並將其與市場相匹配。所以如果我們確實扣下板機，我們就可以最大化回報。

All right. That's great to hear. Can you talk a little bit about the pricing environment with the demand profile so high? Are you are you able to implement higher prices on the projects?

好的。我很高興聽到這個消息。您能否談談需求如此之高的情況下的定價環境？您能對這些項目實施更高的價格嗎？

Yes and no. When you look at the capital side of the gear and the substations, that has been pretty consistent over the last -- well over a year. They're not -- we've talked before about watching any erosion in that market. It's something we watch very closely; seems to be holding overall. We're looking for value-add opportunities right now expanding the service side of the equation, the strategy around the OpEx side. We're starting to get some good momentum built there. And then on the automation front, which continues to bring in heavy calories. We are quietly growing that business as well within the company.

是也不是。當您查看設備和變電站的資本方面時，會發現過去一年多來，這種情況一直相當穩定。他們不是——我們之前已經談論過關注該市場的任何侵蝕。這是我們密切關注的事情；整體看來還算維持。我們現在正在尋找增值機會，擴展等式的服務方面，即圍繞營運支出方面的策略。我們開始在那裡建立一些良好的勢頭。然後是自動化方面，這繼續帶來巨大的熱量。我們也在公司內部悄悄地發展這項業務。

And so we're looking for the value additions into the model there where we can go in and around a capital job and extend it to the brownfield side. But no real -- it would be tough, I think, at this point to say we could see any more upside on the big capital jobs. They're kind of holding, which is good. We're kind of more watching if there's any threat to the downside.

因此，我們正在尋找模型中的增值部分，以便我們可以進入資本工作內部並圍繞資本工作，並將其擴展到棕地方面。但事實並非如此——我認為，目前很難說我們能夠看到大型資本工作有任何上行空間。他們有點堅持，這很好。我們會更加關注是否有任何下行威脅。

Oh, really, okay. Fair enough. And it's hard to ignore the fact that the cash is up nearly fourfold since the first quarter of 2023. What are your thoughts about cash?

噢，真的，好的。很公平。而且很難忽視這樣一個事實：自 2023 年第一季以來，現金成長了近四倍。您對現金有何看法？

Kind of last quarter, yes on the M&A. I took off the long term, kind of more bracketed it more near to mid term. I'd hold those comments. Mike and I started that work years ago and talking with yourself. I think you followed the story. We've expanded within the team of the folks that are involved with us in that, and the activity across that team has picked up.

有點像上個季度的情況，關於併購。我放棄了長期目標，而是將其更多地放在中期目標上。我會保留這些評論。我和麥克幾年前就開始了這項工作並與你交談。我想你了解這個故事。我們已經擴大了參與其中的團隊，整個團隊的活動也已經開始活躍起來。

So I think that would be -- we've identified some pretty good opportunities and working hard to figure out if we can make them go.

所以我認為那將是——我們已經發現了一些非常好的機會並且正在努力弄清楚我們是否能夠抓住它們。

And John, I would also note that it's prudent to understand given our $1.3 billion backlog in our ability to execute roughly half of that, probably a little less than half, probably $175 million or so, will be at some point deployed to working capital. So that's a good chunk of the cash that will be deployed to working capital.

約翰，我還要指出，考慮到我們的 13 億美元積壓訂單，明智的做法是，我們能夠執行其中大約一半，可能略少於一半，大概 1.75 億美元左右，將在某個時候部署為營運資金。因此，這筆現金的很大一部分將被用作營運資金。

So about half the cash gets drawn down as you execute a new project. So really what's available is roughly half of that. Okay. Fair enough. And just, Brett, would you care frame the size of acquisitions you're kind of looking at? Is it niche? Is it -- any way you could kind of qualify it?

因此，當你執行一個新專案時，大約一半的現金會被消耗。因此實際可用資源大約只有這個數字的一半。好的。很公平。布雷特，您願意確定一下您正在考慮的收購規模嗎？它是小眾的嗎？是嗎－您能用什麼方法限定它？

Well, I'll go back to the strategy to start with. We're always looking for opportunities on the product side. We're certainly up on the R&D spend organically. I think Q1, you're still running a percent of revenue, but as the business is growing, the absolute dollar has grown. The automation space, there's some things there that we feel could be added in the model. When I look at total potential with the Board, it's in the $50 million to $75 million range right now. We could lever up higher if we really found something that was that attractive. But in terms of accretion and look at what's affordable out there and what really helps our strategy take a step forward, that's currently the area that I'd say is most attractive to us.

好吧，我先回到最初的策略。我們一直在尋找產品方面的機會。我們的研發支出確實在自然成長。我認為第一季您的收入仍佔一定比例，但隨著業務的成長，絕對美元金額也成長了。在自動化領域，我們覺得有些東西可以加入模型中。當我與董事會一起考慮總潛力時，目前它在 5,000 萬美元到 7,500 萬美元之間。如果我們確實發現瞭如此有吸引力的東西，我們可以提高槓桿。但就增值而言，看看市場上什麼是可以承受的，什麼真正有助於我們的策略向前邁進，我認為這是目前對我們最有吸引力的領域。

Jon Braatz, Kansas City Capital.

堪薩斯城資本公司的喬恩‧布拉茲 (Jon Braatz)。

Brett, Just -- there's been a lot of noise in the LNG sector and just -- I just want to make sure the $75 million award in this quarter has all the necessary permits, requirements, and so on, so forth to move forward, and that there's nothing that they're waiting for.

布雷特，液化天然氣領域一直有很多動靜，我只想確保本季度的 7500 萬美元獎項擁有所有必要的許可、要求等等，以便繼續推進，確保他們沒有任何等待。

Yeah. No, this one has all the permits. It is a full go. It's one that historically was out there for years, paused for different reasons other than permitting, but their permits always been good.

是的。不，這個有所有許可證。一切順利。從歷史上看，它已經存在多年，除了許可之外還因各種原因而暫停，但他們的許可證一直很好。

Okay. And then secondly, again, as we think about the prospects ahead, the DOE issued a report in December that wasn't too flattering for LNG, although they didn't say they were against it. And as I understand it, the administration has to come up with a rebuttal, so to speak. But when you speak to your LNG clients, how optimistic are they indeed will be able to move forward, maybe in March, April, so on with some of their proposals and not be hit with some lawsuits that put a snag into everything? How are they thinking about that?

好的。其次，當我們再次思考未來的前景時，美國能源部在 12 月發布的一份報告對液化天然氣並不太樂觀，儘管他們沒有表示反對。據我了解，政府必須提出反駁。但是當您與液化天然氣客戶交談時，他們對於能夠取得進展（可能在三月、四月等）並且不會遭遇使一切陷入障礙的訴訟有多樂觀？他們是怎麼想的？

Yeah. So we are talking with a lot of those folks at the senior levels to understand all the puts and takes that you're sharing with in the question. I'd say what I could share is there is absolutely in the last 60 days, a heightened renewed encouragement within the sector. It's not to say timing as we've kind of indicated over the last 12 months isn't going to be somewhat more suspect than that gig wave that hit us back in all '22, '23 at once.

是的。因此，我們正在與許多高層人士進行交談，以了解您在這個問題中分享的所有優點和缺點。我想說的是，在過去的 60 天裡，該行業確實出現了新的鼓勵跡象。這並不是說，正如我們在過去 12 個月中所指出的那樣，時機不會比 2022 年和 2023 年同時襲擊我們的零工浪潮更加可疑。

So I think there's still that question of timing and dotting Is and crossing Ts to get through it. But I think Mike and I, from the engagements we've had with the clients and the sector, as we kind of look out what people are planning to do when we look at the activity, we're being asked to support for that planning process. It's definitely taken a step up towards, getting going in a much more encouraging way over the next couple of years.

因此，我認為仍然存在著時機和一絲不苟地解決問題的問題。但我認為，從我們與客戶和該部門的接觸來看，麥克和我會在觀察活動時了解人們計劃做什麼，我們會被要求支持這個規劃過程。它無疑向前邁進了一步，並將在未來幾年以更令人鼓舞的方式發展。

Not to say timing won't be an issue. I can't sit here today and the ones that we are tracking and say exactly when FID and permitting everything gets full clear for your first question, but the activity level is very optimistic.

並不是說時間不是問題。我今天無法坐在這裡，無法確切地說出我們正在追蹤的 FID 和許可證何時能夠完全明確地回答您的第一個問題，但活動水平非常樂觀。

Okay. Obviously, you guys are a player at the table now. And should the floodgates open up, would you have to say no to some projects?

好的。顯然，你們現在都是牌桌上的玩家了。如果閘門打開，您是否必須拒絕某些項目？

I hope not. And that's coming from -- sure, John Franzreb's earlier question. It's the reason we put renewed energy into the acreage that we own here in Houston. And how quick can we -- we did -- if you look at the last capital expansion, we did it offshore. The team came up with a great idea of how to not just minimize the capital, but deploy the capital so that we could maximize, lay down area, unlike previous expansions we've done out there. We've gone deeper with more engineered soil. We were -- we came up with a way to kind of only go 1.5 foot down as opposed to a 3-foot dig that Powell historically has done over the years out there that supports the need for the weight displacement that we require.

我希望不會。這是來自 — — 當然，約翰·弗朗茨雷布之前的問題。這就是我們為休士頓所擁有的土地投入新活力的原因。我們能多快做到呢？團隊想出了一個好主意，不僅可以最大限度地減少資本，還可以部署資本，以便我們可以最大限度地利用面積，這與我們以前所做的擴展不同。我們對土壤進行了更深入的工程研究。我們 — — 我們想出了一種方法，只向下挖掘 1.5 英尺，而不是像鮑威爾多年來所做的那樣挖掘 3 英尺，這滿足了我們所需的重量位移需求。

And so -- and we've got some really good supplier folks, contractors and good [quarry] -- spend some time on the quarry materials. So we put all that together. We're kind of refreshing that and going, okay, what can we really do next wave and make sure that you look at the engineering process and when you get through the drawing process, so we can time if that were to happen. And all along with that engineering office that we noted the last couple quarters, we want to have the upfront engineering resource so that as the drawings get done, you get through the process, we have the area to lay down the sub that if and when that wave were to kind of pile up on each other that we can maximize.

所以 — — 我們有一些非常優秀的供應商、承包商和優秀的採石場 — — 花了一些時間在採石場材料上。因此我們將所有這些放在一起。我們正在刷新這一點，好的，我們下一波能做什麼，並確保您查看工程流程，並完成繪圖流程，以便我們可以安排時間。在我們過去幾季提到的工程辦公室裡，我們希望擁有前期的工程資源，這樣在圖紙完成之後，我們就可以完成整個流程，我們有地方安放潛艇，如果海浪相互堆積，我們就可以最大限度地利用這些資源。

Okay. So when you look back at your -- the slew of projects that you were awarded back in 2022, '23, when you look at it in aggregate and the opportunities are out there that are out there, would you see it being materially larger than what you saw back a few years ago?

好的。因此，當您回顧您在 2022 年和 2023 年獲得的大量項目時，當您從總體上看，並且存在許多機會時，您是否會認為它比幾年前的規模大得多？

Yes. My answer to that is yes although it won't come in one big wave. So I think I shared last couple calls intermittently in my comments that I believe that the amount that's out there in front of us is definitely bigger than the way you just noted. I just think the timing of that will be -- is uncertain, but there is definitely more planned over -- I'll say maybe more mid term versus, say, all going to happen in the next two years. But it's -- there's a lot of potential that we're tracking.

是的。我的答案是肯定的，儘管它不會一下子湧來。因此，我認為我在我的評論中斷斷續續地分享了最後幾次通話，我相信我們面前的數量肯定比你剛才指出的要大。我只是認為，具體時間尚不確定，但肯定有更多的計劃——我會說，也許更多的是中期計劃，而不是全部在未來兩年內發生。但我們正在追蹤很多潛力。

This concludes our question-and-answer session. I would like to turn the conference back over to Brett Cope for any closing remarks.

我們的問答環節到此結束。我想將會議交還給 Brett Cope 來做最後發言。

Thank you, Betsy. I would like to thank our valued customers and our supplier partners for their continued trust and support of Powell. And to our employees, thank you for your incredible energy and commitment as we have risen together to meet opportunity with open minds and a healthy dose of Powell can do spirit. We are very pleased with our first quarter and expect another strong year for Powell.

謝謝你，貝琪。我要感謝我們尊貴的客戶和供應商合作夥伴對鮑威爾的持續信任和支持。對於我們的員工，感謝你們令人難以置信的活力和奉獻精神，我們一起以開放的心態和鮑威爾精神迎接機會。我們對第一季的表現非常滿意，並期待鮑威爾明年再創佳績。

Thank you for joining this morning. Mike and I look forward to updating you all next quarter.

感謝您今天上午的參與。麥克和我期待下個季度向大家報告最新情況。

The conference is now concluded. Thank you for attending today's presentation. You may now disconnect.

會議現已結束。感謝您參加今天的演講。您現在可以斷開連線。