Construction Partners Inc (ROAD) 2025 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Greetings, and welcome to the Construction Partners third quarter earnings conference call. (Operator Instructions) As a reminder, this conference is being recorded.

您好，歡迎參加建築合作夥伴第三季財報電話會議。（操作員指示）提醒一下，本次會議正在錄音。

It is now my pleasure to introduce Rick Black, Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

現在我很高興介紹投資者關係部的 Rick Black。請繼續。

Thank you, operator, and good morning, everyone. We appreciate you joining us for the Construction Partners conference call to review third quarter results for fiscal 2025. This call is also being webcast and can be accessed through the audio link on the Events and Presentations page of the Investor Relations section of constructionpartners.net.

謝謝接線員，大家早安。感謝您參加建築合作夥伴電話會議，回顧 2025 財年第三季的業績。本次電話會議也將進行網路直播，您可以透過constructionpartners.net 投資者關係部分的活動和演示頁面上的音訊連結存取。

Information recorded on this call speaks only as of today, August 7, 2025. Please be advised that any time-sensitive information may no longer be accurate as of the date of any replay listening or transcript reading.

本次通話中記錄的資訊僅截至今天（2025 年 8 月 7 日）有效。請注意，任何時間敏感資訊在重播聆聽或文字記錄閱讀之日起可能不再準確。

I would also like to remind you that statements made in today's discussion that are not historical facts, including statements of expectations or future events or future financial performance are forward-looking statements made pursuant to the Safe Harbor provision of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. We will be making forward-looking statements as part of today's call that, by their nature, are uncertain and outside of the company's control.

我還想提醒您，今天討論中做出的非歷史事實的陳述，包括對預期或未來事件或未來財務表現的陳述，都是根據 1995 年《私人證券訴訟改革法》的安全港條款做出的前瞻性陳述。我們將在今天的電話會議中做出前瞻性陳述，這些陳述本質上是不確定的且不受公司控制。

Actual results may differ materially. Please refer to our earnings press release for our disclosure on forward-looking statements. These factors and other risks and uncertainties are described in detail in the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

實際結果可能存在重大差異。請參閱我們的收益新聞稿，以了解我們對前瞻性陳述的揭露。這些因素以及其他風險和不確定性在公司向美國證券交易委員會提交的文件中進行了詳細描述。

Management will also refer to non-GAAP measures, including adjusted net income, adjusted EBITDA, and adjusted EBITDA margin. Reconciliations to the nearest GAAP measures can be found at the end of our earnings release. Construction Partners assumes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements.

管理階層也將參考非公認會計準則指標，包括調整後的淨收入、調整後的 EBITDA 和調整後的 EBITDA 利潤率。在我們的收益報告末尾可以找到與最近的 GAAP 指標的對帳。Construction Partners 不承擔公開更新或修改任何前瞻性聲明的義務。

And with that, I would now like to turn the call over to Construction Partners' CEO, Jule Smith. Jule?

現在，我想將電話轉給 Construction Partners 的執行長 Jule Smith。朱勒？

Thank you, Rick, and good morning, everyone. We appreciate you all being on the call today. With me this morning are Greg Hoffman, our Chief Financial Officer; and Ned Fleming, our Executive Chairman.

謝謝你，里克，大家早安。感謝大家今天的來電。今天早上和我一起的有我們的財務長 Greg Hoffman 和我們的執行主席 Ned Fleming。

I'd like to begin today by welcoming the 200 employees of Durwood Greene Construction in the Houston area that joined our family of companies earlier this week. As a third-generation family business that will continue to be led by Brad, Jonathan, and Daniel Greene the company has earned its reputation as a well-respected market leader in Houston, the fifth largest and one of the fastest-growing metro areas in the nation. Led by an entire team of knowledgeable and experienced industry veterans, the company operates three hot-mix asphalt plants and a rail service aggregates terminal.

今天，我首先要歡迎休士頓地區 Durwood Greene Construction 的 200 名員工，他們在本週早些時候加入了我們的公司大家庭。作為一家由布拉德、喬納森和丹尼爾格林繼續領導的第三代家族企業，該公司贏得了休士頓備受尊敬的市場領導者的聲譽，休士頓是美國第五大都市區和發展最快的都市區之一。該公司由一支知識淵博、經驗豐富的行業資深人士組成的團隊領導，經營著三家熱拌瀝青廠和一個鐵路服務集料終端。

Durwood Greene provides construction and paving services for a variety of public and private projects throughout the Houston metro area. We expect Durwood Greene to continue its legacy of operational excellence and to benefit from vertical integration opportunities as a subsidiary to our Texas platform company, Lone Star Paving. In Texas, our first year has been exactly as we had hoped.

Durwood Greene 為休士頓大都會地區的各種公共和私人項目提供建築和鋪路服務。我們期望 Durwood Greene 能夠延續其卓越營運的傳統，並作為我們德州平台公司 Lone Star Paving 的子公司從垂直整合機會中受益。在德克薩斯州，我們的第一年正如我們所希望的那樣。

And I want to thank the Lone Star team for their outstanding leadership and dedication as we begin expanding to new markets. We continue to see strong economic growth, favorable demographic trends, and a well-funded transportation program as well as additional opportunities for acquisitive and organic growth. The Durwood Greene acquisition is a great example of our continued execution of the CPI strategy of seeking out growing markets and partnering with an experienced and talented local management team.

我要感謝 Lone Star 團隊在我們開始拓展新市場時所展現的卓越領導和奉獻精神。我們繼續看到強勁的經濟成長、有利的人口趨勢、資金充足的交通運輸計劃以及收購和有機成長的更多機會。Durwood Greene 的收購是我們持續執行 CPI 策略的一個很好的例子，即尋找不斷增長的市場並與經驗豐富且才華橫溢的當地管理團隊合作。

Turning now to the third quarter. Our results demonstrate the strength of our people, where despite persistent weather-related delays in the quarter, our teams executed with discipline and delivered robust operational results, driving a record adjusted EBITDA margin of 16.9%.

現在轉到第三季。我們的業績證明了員工的實力，儘管本季因天氣原因持續出現延誤，但我們的團隊嚴格執行紀律，並取得了強勁的營運業績，推動調整後 EBITDA 利潤率達到創紀錄的 16.9%。

In the Southeast alone, May marked the second wettest month on record, leading to project delays and impacting fixed asset cost recoveries. While we can't control the weather, our team's resilience and operational excellence enabled us to still gain margin on many of our projects, generate strong operational cash flow, and build backlog to $2.94 billion.

僅在東南部，五月就有記錄以來第二個降雨量最大的月份，導致工程延誤並影響固定資產成本回收。雖然我們無法控制天氣，但我們團隊的韌性和卓越的營運能力使我們仍然能夠在許多項目上獲得利潤，產生強勁的營運現金流，並將積壓訂單增加到 29.4 億美元。

Now let's take a closer look at the current market conditions that are driving our ability to build backlog even during our busy construction work season. On the public side of our business, we see strong public contract bidding throughout our eight states in over 100 local markets. Supporting this strong environment are healthy state infrastructure budgets, including many supplementary state programs as well as local city and county infrastructure programs and the IIJA federal program funds that all add up to significant year over year increases in contract awards.

現在讓我們仔細看看當前的市場條件，即使在繁忙的建築工期，這些條件也推動著我們完成積壓訂單的能力。在我們業務的共同方面，我們看到八個州的 100 多個地方市場的公共合約投標十分強勁。支撐這個強勁環境的是健康的州基礎設施預算，其中包括許多補充州計劃以及地方市縣基礎設施計劃和 IIJA 聯邦計劃資金，所有這些加起來使得合約授予量逐年大幅增加。

As we begin to look to fiscal year 2026, beginning October 1, public spending on roads and bridges, particularly for maintenance and lane expansions is forecasted to once again grow substantially as state and local governments strive to build and maintain the infrastructure necessary to keep up with the migration of both residents and businesses to our Sunbelt footprint.

當我們開始展望從 10 月 1 日開始的 2026 財年時，隨著州和地方政府努力建設和維護必要的基礎設施以跟上居民和企業向陽光地帶遷移的步伐，道路和橋樑的公共支出，特別是維護和車道擴建的支出預計將再次大幅增長。

On Capitol Hill, both houses of Congress continue to work with Secretary Duffy on the five-year reauthorization of the IIJA and Surface Transportation program, and this administration continues to prioritize hard infrastructure investments and decrease permitting delays necessary to support a growing economy.

在國會山，國會兩院繼續與達菲部長合作，對 IIJA 和地面運輸計劃進行五年重新授權，本屆政府繼續優先考慮硬體基礎設施投資，並減少支持經濟成長所需的許可延誤。

In the commercial markets, we continue to have a steady amount of bidding opportunities with developers and general contractors in our local markets. The makeup of our backlog and percentage of public, private work continues to stay remarkably steady over the last several quarters, which indicates that our Sunbelt markets continue to have healthy private economic growth and activity.

在商業市場，我們繼續與當地市場的開發商和總承包商保持穩定的投標機會。過去幾個季度，我們的積壓工作量以及公共和私人工作所佔比例繼續保持相當穩定，這表明我們的陽光地帶市場繼續保持健康的私人經濟成長和活動。

Our bidding activity remains focused on the nonresidential type projects such as warehouses, industrial parks, schools, and manufacturing facilities. We expect economic growth to continue in our current markets, driven by migration to the Sunbelt states by both families and businesses.

我們的投標活動仍然集中在非住宅類型的項目，例如倉庫、工業園區、學校和製造設施。我們預計，在家庭和企業向陽光地帶各州遷移的推動下，我們目前的市場經濟將持續成長。

Finally, we expect to benefit from significant new investments in American manufacturing and our business-friendly states as new tariffs begin to incentivize and accelerate the reshoring trend that began after the pandemic several years ago. Fiscal year 2025 has been a dynamic year of growth for CPI as we've increased the size of our business over 50% through both organic growth and acquisitions.

最後，隨著新關稅開始激勵和加速幾年前疫情後開始的回歸趨勢，我們預計將受益於對美國製造業和商業友善州的大量新投資。2025 財年是 CPI 充滿活力的成長之年，透過有機成長和收購，我們的業務規模成長了 50% 以上。

We understand the benefits of and remain laser-focused on organic growth. We also continue to focus on the best strategic acquisitions in growing markets, and we are having numerous conversations with potential sellers who would like for their employees to experience the culture and opportunities provided by joining the CPI family of companies.

我們了解有機成長的好處並始終專注於有機成長。我們也將繼續專注於成長型市場中的最佳策略性收購，並且我們正在與潛在賣家進行多次對話，他們希望他們的員工能夠體驗加入 CPI 公司大家庭所提供的文化和機會。

In closing, we are now in the heart of our busy work season and all of our local markets are at full capacity and utilization. Having a record backlog to build, adding the Durwood Greene organization and now knowing that our July volumes were strong, gives us the confidence to maintain our FY25 guidance. As we head toward a new fiscal year in the next 60 days, we're excited about the tailwinds at our back, including strong public funding, a growing private economy, and a long strategic growth runway ahead.

最後，我們現在正處於繁忙的工作季節，我們所有的本地市場都處於滿載和充分利用的狀態。擁有創紀錄的積壓訂單、增加 Durwood Greene 組織以及現在知道我們 7 月份的銷量強勁，讓我們有信心維持 FY25 指導。在未來 60 天我們將迎來新的財政年度，我們對背後的順風感到興奮，包括強大的公共資金、不斷增長的私人經濟以及未來長期的戰略成長跑道。

I'd now like to turn the call over to Greg. Greg?

現在我想把電話轉給格雷格。格雷格？

Thank you, Jule. Good morning, everyone. I'll begin with a review of our key performance metrics for the third quarter of fiscal 2025 compared to the third quarter a year ago. Revenue was $779.3 million, an increase of 51% compared to the same quarter a year ago. The mix of our total revenue growth for the quarter was 5% organic revenue and 46% from recent acquisitions.

謝謝你，朱爾。大家早安。我將先回顧我們 2025 財年第三季與去年同期第三季相比的關鍵績效指標。營收為 7.793 億美元，比去年同期成長 51%。本季我們的總收入成長包括 5% 的有機收入和 46% 的近期收購收入。

G&A expenses as a percentage of total revenue in the quarter were 6.6% compared to 7.3% in the third quarter last year. As we continue to build scale, we are targeting G&A expenses for the fiscal year to be approximately 7.2% to 7.3% of revenue. As a reminder, FY24 G&A expenses were 8.3% of revenue.

本季一般及行政費用佔總收入的 6.6%，去年第三季為 7.3%。隨著我們規模的不斷擴大，我們計劃將本財年的一般及行政費用佔收入的比重控制在 7.2% 至 7.3% 左右。提醒一下，24 財年的 G&A 費用佔營收的 8.3%。

Net income for the quarter was $44 million, and adjusted net income was $45.2 million and $0.81 per diluted share in Q3. Adjusted EBITDA was $131.7 million, an increase of 80% compared to Q3 last year. Our adjusted EBITDA margin was 16.9% for the quarter, up 280 basis points over the same quarter last year. In addition, as Jule mentioned, we are reporting a project backlog of $2.94 billion at June 30, 2025. We have approximately 80% to 85% of the next 12 months revenue covered in backlog.

本季淨收入為 4,400 萬美元，第三季調整後淨收入為 4,520 萬美元，每股攤薄收益 0.81 美元。調整後 EBITDA 為 1.317 億美元，較去年第三季成長 80%。本季我們的調整後 EBITDA 利潤率為 16.9%，比去年同期成長 280 個基點。此外，正如 Jule 所提到的，我們報告稱，截至 2025 年 6 月 30 日，專案積壓金額為 29.4 億美元。我們未來 12 個月的收入中大約有 80% 到 85% 是透過積壓訂單來支付的。

Turning now to the balance sheet. We had $114.3 million of cash and cash equivalents and $493.5 million available under our credit facility at quarter end, net of reduction for outstanding letters of credit. On June 30, we amended our credit agreement by providing for a total facility size of $1.1 billion, consisting of a term loan in the amount of $600 million and a revolving credit facility in the amount of $500 million.

現在來看資產負債表。截至本季末，我們擁有 1.143 億美元的現金和現金等價物，扣除未償信用證的減少額，我們的信貸額度下還有 4.935 億美元可用。6 月 30 日，我們修改了信貸協議，規定總貸款規模為 11 億美元，其中包括 6 億美元的定期貸款和 5 億美元的循環信貸額度。

We utilized the proceeds from the increased term loan to pay down the outstanding balance on the revolving credit facility, realizing the full availability on the facility net of reduction for outstanding letters of credit. In addition, the amendment extends the facility maturity date to June 2030.

我們利用增加定期貸款的收益來償還循環信貸額度的未償餘額，從而實現了在扣除未償信用證減少額度後，該信貸額度的全部可用性。此外，該修正案將該貸款到期日延長至2030年6月。

As of the end of the quarter, our debt to trailing 12 months EBITDA ratio was 3.17 times. We remain on pace with our strategy of reducing the leverage ratio to approximately 2.5 times by late fiscal 2026 to support sustained profitable growth. Cash provided by operating activities was $83 million compared to $35 million in the same quarter a year ago. We remain on pace to convert 80% to 85% of EBITDA to cash flow from operations in FY25.

截至本季末，我們的負債與過去 12 個月 EBITDA 的比率為 3.17 倍。我們將繼續按照既定策略，在 2026 財年末將槓桿率降低至約 2.5 倍，以支持持續的獲利成長。經營活動提供的現金為 8,300 萬美元，去年同期為 3,500 萬美元。我們仍有望在 25 財年將 80% 至 85% 的 EBITDA 轉化為經營現金流。

Capital expenditures for the quarter were $36.7 million. We continue to expect total capital expenditures for fiscal 2025 to be in the range of $130 million to $140 million. This includes maintenance CapEx of approximately 3.25% of revenue, with the remaining amount invested in new growth initiatives.

本季資本支出為3670萬美元。我們預計2025財年的總資本支出將在1.3億美元至1.4億美元之間。其中包括約佔收入 3.25% 的維護資本支出，剩餘金額則投資於新的成長計畫。

And finally, we are maintaining our prior outlook with revenue in the range of $2.77 billion to $2.83 billion. In regard to our overall revenue mix for the year, we continue to expect organic revenue to be in the range of 8% to 10%. Net income in the range of $106 million to $117 million. Adjusted net income in the range of $124 million to $135 million. Adjusted EBITDA in the range of $410 million to $430 million, and adjusted EBITDA margin in the range of 14.8% to 15.2%.

最後，我們維持先前的預期，營收將在 27.7 億美元至 28.3 億美元之間。就我們今年的整體收入結構而言，我們仍然預計有機收入將在 8% 至 10% 之間。淨收入在1.06億美元至1.17億美元之間。調整後的淨收入在1.24億美元至1.35億美元之間。調整後 EBITDA 在 4.1 億美元至 4.3 億美元範圍內，調整後 EBITDA 利潤率在 14.8% 至 15.2% 範圍內。

And with that, we will open the call to questions. Operator?

接下來，我們將開始提問。操作員？

(Operator Instructions) Tyler Brown, Raymond James.

（操作員指示）泰勒布朗、雷蒙德詹姆斯。

Jule, so obviously, very solid quarter in the face of what was very challenging weather. I think you talked a little bit about the fixed cost deleveraging, but it doesn't really seem that you guys missed a beat. I mean gross margins were maybe the best they've been in 20 quarters on my math. Can you just kind of talk about how you navigated weather so well? I mean how do you flex costs when you have that lack of paving days?

朱爾，顯然，在極度惡劣的天氣條件下，表現非常穩健。我認為你們談了一些關於固定成本去槓桿的問題，但看起來你們並沒有錯過任何一個細節。我的意思是，根據我的計算，毛利率可能是 20 個季度以來最好的。您能簡單談談您是如何如此出色地應對各種天氣狀況的嗎？我的意思是，當鋪路時間不足時，您如何調整成本？

Yeah, Tyler, we were very pleased with how the quarter -- how the margins came through this quarter. I mean there's no question when you have a quarter with that weather, it's an impact, and we play an outdoor game and weather can impact us negatively or if it's really dry, can impact us positively. But I would say we just really -- our business is clicking on all cylinders. We talk about the three margin levers of building better markets, vertical integration, and scale.

是的，泰勒，我們對本季的利潤率感到非常滿意。我的意思是，毫無疑問，當你遇到這樣的天氣時，它會產生影響，我們進行戶外比賽，天氣可能會對我們產生負面影響，或者如果天氣真的很乾燥，可能會對我們產生積極的影響。但我想說的是，我們的業務確實正在全面發展。我們討論了建立更好的市場、垂直整合和規模的三個利潤槓桿。

And all of those really are kicking in at the same time, which we expected. So even though we had a wet quarter, it didn't really stop those from coming through. It affected the top line, it affected some fixed asset recovery, but those three margin levers are starting to work really well together. And we're expecting that to continue in the fourth quarter.

所有這些因素確實同時顯現，正如我們所預期的。所以，即使本季雨水較多，但這並沒有真正阻止這些因素的出現。它影響了營業收入，影響了一些固定資產的復甦，但這三個利潤槓桿開始真正協同發揮作用。我們預計這種情況將在第四季繼續下去。

Okay. That's great. Curious about your comments. I think in the prepared remarks, right at the end, you mentioned that you were quote-unquote roughly at full utilization. So how do we read that? Will that be a bit of a hindrance to organic growth next year? Or are you going to need to step up CapEx to support that growth? Just any color there.

好的。那太棒了。對您的評論感到好奇。我認為，在準備好的發言最後，您提到您大致已經達到了充分利用的水平。那我們該如何解讀呢？這會對明年的有機成長造成一些阻礙嗎？或者您需要增加資本支出來支持這種成長？任何顏色都可以。

Yeah. No, I wasn't trying to signal any capacity constraints. I just was basically saying we have a full backlog, and we're on full cylinders. And our CapEx program supports our organic growth that we expect. As you know, Greg runs a pretty robust program to look for the best organic growth opportunities and that's where the CapEx dollars flow. So I wasn't trying to communicate any capacity constraints just that as normal, we are at full utilization and building that record backlog.

是的。不，我並不是想表明任何容量限制。我基本上是說，我們有大量積壓工作，而且我們正全力以赴。我們的資本支出計劃支持我們預期的有機成長。如您所知，格雷格運行著一個非常強大的程式來尋找最佳的有機成長機會，而這正是資本支出資金流向的地方。因此，我並不是想傳達任何產能限制，只是說，像往常一樣，我們正在充分利用產能並建立創紀錄的積壓訂單。

Okay. I just wanted to make sure I had that. And then just a quick modeling question, Greg. Just on the M&A contribution, what will the contribution be here in '25 that's expected in the guidance? And then again, kind of based on what we know today with deals that have closed, how much rollover benefit should we see in fiscal '26 already?

好的。我只是想確保我有這個。然後只是一個快速建模問題，格雷格。僅就併購貢獻而言，預計 25 年的貢獻將是多少？那麼，根據我們今天所了解的已經完成的交易，我們應該在 26 財年看到多少展期收益？

Yeah. So Tyler, the Q4 acquisition revenue impact is going to be somewhere in the $270 million, $280 million range. And then carrying over into 2026, we should see somewhere in the neighborhood of $240 million to $250 million.

是的。因此，泰勒，第四季度收購收入的影響將在 2.7 億美元至 2.8 億美元之間。然後延續到 2026 年，我們應該會看到大約 2.4 億至 2.5 億美元。

Okay. So a good kick start into '26. Okay, my last one. Yeah, so I think you guys are going to do something, call it, like $2.8 billion in revenue, $420 million or so of EBITDA. Those numbers are actually right at or above the targets that you set out less than two years ago and you're achieving them two years early.

好的。所以，26 年開局不錯。好的，這是我的最後一個。是的，所以我認為你們會採取一些措施，例如實現 28 億美元的收入，4.2 億美元左右的 EBITDA。這些數字其實正好達到或超過了你們不到兩年前所訂定的目標，而且你們提前兩年就達成了這些目標。

So just I know the complexion of the business has obviously changed a lot, but does it make sense to maybe reset those targets maybe here in the next couple of months?

所以我知道業務狀況顯然發生了很大變化，但在接下來的幾個月重新設定這些目標是否有意義？

Yeah. Tyler, I do think that the Lone Star acquisition was a transformative acquisition, as we said last October, PRI that joined us in May has had a great two months. The Durwood Greene acquisition is going to be very additive. So yes, I mean, we're -- we need to update and communicate what our business looks like moving forward now after those transformative acquisitions. I'm going to throw it to Ned who's got some big picture thoughts. I think that's a good time to let him weigh in on this.

是的。泰勒，我確實認為 Lone Star 的收購是一次變革性的收購，正如我們去年 10 月所說的那樣，5 月加入我們的 PRI 在過去的兩個月裡表現出色。Durwood Greene 的收購將會帶來很大的附加價值。所以是的，我的意思是，我們需要更新和傳達在那些變革性收購之後我們的業務將如何發展。我要把它交給 Ned，他有一些宏觀的想法。我認為現在是讓他考慮這個問題的好時機。

Tyler, you're a great straight man, I appreciate it. Thank you, sir. But the honest truth is we're trying to make great long-term decisions. We don't run this business on a 90-day increments. We're trying to make great decisions that continue to compound wealth.

泰勒，你是個偉大的直男，我很欣賞你。謝謝您，先生。但事實上，我們正​​在努力做出重大的長期決策。我們並不以 90 天為增量來經營這項業務。我們正在努力做出能夠持續增加財富的重大決策。

A good example of that is Houston, and we probably see every transaction that you can see in this space, and we made a decision to invest in Houston. Houston has 7.2 million people. It was the fastest, more people moved there last year than any metropolitan area in the country, except for Dallas, and Dallas beat it by 16,000 people, I believe. And it looks like it's going to continue to grow. That's more people than a lot of states in the country with that kind of growth.

休士頓就是一個很好的例子，我們可能看到了這個領域的每一筆交易，我們決定在休士頓投資。休士頓有 720 萬人口。它是速度最快的城市，去年它的人口遷移量比除達拉斯之外的全國任何大都市都要多，而我認為達拉斯的人口遷移量比它多 16,000 人。而且看起來它還會繼續成長。這一人口成長速度比全國許多州的人口還要快。

And so the first step is we've got great people there. We've got great growth. You're going to see more things happen in growing areas. So we're trying and we'll continue as we have from the very start to make great long-term decisions that continue to compound wealth, not just for one or two quarters, but for the next 5 to 10 years. So the answer is yes, you will just, I would say, stay tuned.

因此，第一步就是我們在那裡招募優秀人才。我們取得了巨大的進步。你會看到在不斷發展的地區會發生更多的事情。因此，我們正在努力，並將一如既往地做出偉大的長期決策，持續增加財富，不只是一兩個季度，而是未來五到十年。所以答案是肯定的，我想說，請繼續關注。

We will have a little bit of a reset here over the next few months as to what we think we're going to do since we hit the projections so quickly. But make no mistake about it, the Board is paying attention to where we invest it. The several members of the Board met the team in Houston. We're paying attention to who we're in business with, that's our first step, where we're placing capital, and we're going to continue to allocate capital that can compound wealth for the next 5 to 10 years.

由於我們如此迅速地達到了預期目標，因此在接下來的幾個月裡，我們將對下一步的行動進行一些重新調整。但請不要誤會，董事會正在關注我們的投資方向。董事會的幾位成員在休士頓會見了球隊。我們專注於與我們有業務往來的人，這是我們的第一步，我們將資本投入到哪裡，並且我們將繼續分配可以在未來 5 到 10 年內增加財富的資本。

Michael Feniger, Bank of America.

美國銀行的麥可費尼格。

Just I am curious, Jule, you made a comment earlier about public spending for maintenance and lane expansion is forecast to grow substantially in 2026. Is this based on conversations with customers? Or is this based on your understanding of where budgets are looking as we fast forward to next year? I just want to get a sense if you can kind of flesh out your confidence around that comment.

我只是好奇，朱爾，你之前評論說，預計 2026 年用於維護和車道擴建的公共支出將大幅增加。這是基於與客戶的對話嗎？還是這是基於您對明年預算走向的理解？我只是想了解您是否可以對該評論表達出您的信心。

Yeah. Michael, you and I have discussed, when we're talking about public funding, there are several different ways to measure it, and it can get a little confusing. So we're talking about contract awards. When you add the state programs, which include federal money, local and county programs because that's all part of our backlog and our bidding. We feel like even though nationally, the numbers move around, our states this year in FY25, contract awards are up about 14%.

是的。邁克爾，你和我討論過，當我們談論公共資金時，有幾種不同的方法來衡量它，這可能會有點令人困惑。所以我們正在談論合約授予。當您添加州計劃時，其中包括聯邦資金、地方和縣計劃，因為這些都是我們的積壓和競標的一部分。我們感覺，儘管全國範圍內的數字有所波動，但今年我們各州在 2025 財年的合約授予量增長了約 14%。

And so when we look at those programs, the budgets that they have, where they're going in FY26, we think it's going to be up a similar amount. And so that's what I was speaking to is really the contract awards as we look at the budgets and programs in place on the public funding side.

因此，當我們查看這些項目、他們的預算以及 2026 財年的預算去向時，我們認為它們將會增加類似的金額。這就是我所說的，實際上就是合約授予，因為我們在考慮公共資金方面的預算和計劃。

Perfect. And when we think of 2026, I know you're not guiding Jule and Greg, just kind of following up on Tyler's question about the M&A. Just any other puts and takes we should think about for next year. I mean, obviously, if weather normalizes a positive there. Anything on costs that you're seeing on the liquid side, pricing in the backlog, just kind of thinking of the puts and takes as we kind of start looking at the building blocks for 2026.

完美的。當我們想到 2026 年時，我知道您並沒有指導 Jule 和 Greg，只是在跟進 Tyler 關於併購的問題。我們應該考慮明年的其他事項。我的意思是，顯然，如果天氣恢復正常，那就太好了。您在流動性方面看到的任何成本、積壓定價，只是在我們開始研究 2026 年的基礎時考慮投入和產出。

Yeah. Well, Mike, it's getting about that time. So I'll talk to the backlog, and I'll let Greg speak to the cost that he's seeing. As we look forward into 2026, obviously, as Greg just said, we've got a lot of acquisitive revenue rolling over into '26. We expect organically to be up high single digits like we expect to be this year.

是的。嗯，麥克，差不多就是那個時候了。因此，我將討論積壓問題，並讓格雷格談談他所看到的成本。展望 2026 年，顯然，正如格雷格剛才所說，我們將獲得大量收購收入，這些收入將延續到 2026 年。我們預計有機成長率將達到今年的高個位數。

We don't really see any change in that. So from a growth standpoint, 2026 is looking like a typical CPI year, being up 15% to 20%, if not a little more. So that's good on the top line side. Greg, do you want to speak to what you see on the margin and cost side?

我們確實沒有看到任何變化。因此，從成長的角度來看，2026 年看起來就像是個典型的 CPI 年，上漲 15% 至 20%，甚至更多。這對於營收而言是件好事。格雷格，你想談談你在利潤和成本方面看到的情況嗎？

Sure. I said in the remarks that our backlog covers the next 80% to 85% of our 12-month revenue. And the cost is built in there for the appropriate margin as we think about 40 to 50-basis-point improvement in margin. So those costs are set and built in. Certainly, there's some energy pricing that could impact that.

當然。我在發言中說過，我們的積壓訂單涵蓋了未來 12 個月收入的 80% 到 85%。當我們考慮將利潤率提高 40 到 50 個基點時，成本已計入適當的利潤率。因此這些成本是已設定並已包含在內的。當然，一些能源定價可能會對此產生影響。

We do talk about a slight headwind if energy prices go up and the reverse is true if they go down. And so currently, right now, what we see is liquid AC being very stable. Diesel has been very stable. Natural gas is up a little bit, but we do, do enough hedging to make that a minimal impact on us. So we feel pretty good about cost in the future.

如果能源價格上漲，我們確實會面臨輕微的阻力；如果能源價格下跌，我們也會面臨相反的情況。因此，目前，我們看到液態 AC 非常穩定。柴油一直非常穩定。天然氣價格略有上漲，但我們確實做了足夠的對沖，以將其對我們的影響降至最低。因此我們對未來的成本感到十分滿意。

Great. And I'll just sneak one more in there. Just the free cash flow was really strong in the quarter. Just when we look at that and we think about your leverage, any update on the timeline on where you -- when you think you get inside your range? And Jule, do you feel okay still doing some acquisitions while also trying to deleverage? Or are they mutually kind of exclusive as we kind of turn the page and go through one more quarter and go into 2026?

偉大的。我再偷偷地放進去一個。本季的自由現金流確實非常強勁。當我們看到這一點並考慮你的槓桿作用時，有任何關於你認為何時進入你的範圍的時間表更新嗎？朱爾，您是否覺得在嘗試去槓桿的同時，仍可以進行一些收購？或者，當我們翻過這一頁，再過一個季度，進入 2026 年時，它們是互相排斥的嗎？

Yeah, Michael, good question. It's something we think about a lot. We're committed to getting back into the target range on our leverage. But at the same time, we want to continue to run our business. As Ned said, we're making decisions for 5, 10, 15 years.

是的，邁克爾，這個問題問得好。這是我們經常思考的事情。我們致力於將槓桿率恢復到目標範圍。但同時，我們希望繼續經營我們的業務。正如內德所說，我們正在做出 5 年、10 年、15 年的決策。

And so as we look at the acquisitive opportunities, we're passing on some. We're working with sellers to accommodate our timing as much as we can. But at the same time, there are several -- as we've made this year, there are several key strategic acquisitions that we think are crucial and important to the long-term health of our business. And so we're going to deliver, and at the same time, we're going to continue to make good strategic decisions for the business.

因此，當我們考慮收​​購機會時，我們會放棄一些。我們正在與賣家合作，盡可能適應我們的時間表。但同時，正如我們今年所做的那樣，我們認為幾項關鍵的策略收購對於我們業務的長期健康至關重要。因此，我們將實現這一目標，同時，我們將繼續為企業做出良好的策略決策。

And so in terms of our -- what I mentioned in my remarks, Mike, leverage ratio is 3.17 times, we're expecting based on normal cash generation through to the end of fiscal 2026 to be near that 2.5 times leverage ratio. So yeah, to your point, we're going to generate 80% to 85% cash flow from operations -- 80% to 85% -- I'm sorry, 80% to 85% of our EBITDA into cash flow from operations. And the trailing 12 months right now is almost there, 79%. So we'll continue to do what we've done, deleverage over time.

因此就我們的而言 - 我在發言中提到的，邁克，槓桿率為 3.17 倍，我們預計到 2026 財年末，基於正常現金產生情況，槓桿率將接近 2.5 倍。是的，正如您所說，我們將從營運中產生 80% 到 85% 的現金流——80% 到 85%——抱歉，80% 到 85% 的 EBITDA 將轉化為營運現金流。而目前過去 12 個月的成長速度已接近 79%。因此，我們將繼續做我們已經在做的事情，隨著時間的推移而去槓桿。

Andy Wittmann, Robert W. Baird.

安迪威特曼、羅伯特W貝爾德。

With all the good demand for your services in your markets driving good growth, I was just wondering how this is affecting the competitive environment as it relates to your competitors, maybe also realizing that the services are scarce and they might have some pricing power. Obviously, Jule, this has been a really important part of your strategy to build these better markets.

由於您所在市場對貴公司的服務有良好的需求，從而推動了良好的成長，我只是想知道這會如何影響與貴公司的競爭對手相關的競爭環境，或許還意識到這些服務很稀缺，而他們可能具有一定的定價權。顯然，朱爾，這是您建立更好市場的策略中非常重要的一部分。

And I was just wondering if you could assess for us what you're seeing in your markets to the extent that you've been able to or see the building of those markets being better and what you're seeing in the marketplace today?

我只是想知道您是否可以為我們評估一下您在市場上看到的情況，或者您認為這些市場建設是否變得更好，以及您目前在市場上看到的情況？

Yeah, Andy, you're right. One of our three margin levers is building better markets, and we see that the demand side is helping us with that. When there's a good bidding environment, as you would expect, margins stay healthy. And I think you saw that rolling through this quarter, is even though our crews and our teams really did a great job growing margin on projects, which we expect, and they had a great quarter doing that. It's really nice to start off with healthy margins at the beginning.

是的，安迪，你是對的。我們的三個利潤槓桿之一是建立更好的市場，我們看到需求方正在幫助我們實現這一目標。當競價環境良好時，正如您所期望的，利潤率會保持健康。我想您已經看到了本季度的情況，儘管我們的工作人員和團隊確實在提高專案利潤率方面做得很好，這也是我們所期望的，而且他們在這個季度做得很好。一開始就擁有健康的利潤率真是太好了。

And so the demand environment on the public side and the private side gives us the opportunity to be patient at the bid table to add projects in our backlog at good margins. And so I think we continue to see that. It's been something that's been pretty steady for several years now, and we're busy and able to stay patient at the bid table and our competitors are also.

因此，公共和私人方面的需求環境使我們有機會在投標桌上耐心等待，以良好的利潤率在我們的積壓項目中添加項目。所以我認為我們會繼續看到這種情況。幾年來，情況一直相當穩定，我們很忙，能夠在投標桌上保持耐心，我們的競爭對手也是如此。

And Andy, strategically, Jule and the team have done a great job of picking markets that are healthy. That's an important part of it, growing healthy markets. Houston is a great example.

安迪，從策略上講，朱爾和團隊在選擇健康市場方面做得非常出色。這是其中一個重要的部分，即發展健康的市場。休斯頓就是一個很好的例子。

Yeah. And you heard that in Jule's response previously, there are some key markets that you guys want to be in. It sounds like you've identified the next ones that are the good markets that you want to be in as well, right, Jule?

是的。您在之前的 Jule 的回答中聽過，有一些關鍵市場是您想要進入的。聽起來你已經確定了接下來你想進入的良好市場，對嗎，朱爾？

Yes. Andy, as Ned said, Houston is a great example. You say metro area and you think they're all pretty much the same. Houston, I mean, it's just incredible the amount of people there and the rate of growth when you look at how fast that metro area is growing on an annual basis. So not all states are equal, not all metro areas are equal. And so for us to generate organic growth, which is a big part of our story, we need to be in places that are growing.

是的。安迪，正如內德所說，休士頓就是一個很好的例子。您說的是大都市區，您認為它們都差不多。休士頓，我的意思是，當你看到這個都市區每年的成長速度時，你會發現那裡的人口數量和成長率真是令人難以置信。因此，並非所有州都是平等的，並非所有大都市地區都是平等的。因此，為了實現有機成長（這是我們故事的重要組成部分），我們需要進入正在成長的地方。

And so as we look to allocate capital, Ned and I talk a lot about where do we want to be in the United States. Where do we want to direct our growth? We've got a lot of opportunities, we can't do them all. And so we just try to make the best decisions on where we can be that allows our business to grow and have healthy margins.

因此，當我們考慮分配資本時，內德和我經常討論我們希望在美國達到什麼水準。我們希望將我們的成長導向何處？我們有很多機會，我們不可能全部抓住。因此，我們只是盡力做出最佳決策，讓我們的業務能夠成長並獲得健康的利潤。

Okay. Greg, a follow-up one for you. The One Big Beautiful allows 100% bonus depreciation, and so we're seeing a lot of companies that buy things, equipment like you do. Increasing their cash flow guidance as a result of that. I was wondering if you could help us understand what the benefit is to your cash flow from this year or maybe on an ongoing basis, at least while this law is in effect from that bonus depreciation.

好的。格雷格，還有後續問題要問。One Big Beautiful 允許 100% 的獎金折舊，所以我們看到很多公司像你們一樣購買物品和設備。因此增加了他們的現金流指導。我想知道您是否可以幫助我們了解從今年開始或至少在該法律生效期間，獎金折舊會對您的現金流產生什麼好處。

And maybe refresh my memory, but I don't know that you updated your cash flow guidance for this. So maybe you did, maybe you didn't, but could you just clarify if there was any change to your cash flow guidance as a result of the OBBA?

也許可以讓我回憶一下，但我不知道您是否為此更新了現金流指引。所以也許您知道，也許沒有，但您能否澄清一下，由於 OBBA，您的現金流指導是否有任何變化？

Yeah. I think the guide we've been saying is, like I said earlier, 80% to 85% converting that EBITDA to cash flow. So I think we still fall within that range, Andy. How it specifically impacts us, yes, we do take bonus depreciation. This year, it is down to 60% so that was certainly reflected in what we originally talked about in our guide.

是的。我認為我們一直在說的指導是，就像我之前說的，將 80% 到 85% 的 EBITDA 轉化為現金流。所以我認為我們仍然處於這個範圍內，安迪。它對我們的具體影響是，是的，我們確實會考慮獎金折舊。今年，這一比例下降到了 60%，這肯定反映在我們最初在指南中談到的內容中。

When asked about what that -- what our cash taxes would be, I've said in the $15 million range. Now that this bill has passed, interestingly, it's acquisitions for us and or equipment purchases that have occurred after January 15, '25. So unfortunately, we don't get to pull Lone Star in that so it's still at 60%. But other acquisitions post 1/15/25 as well as those equipment purchases will be at 100% bonus depreciation. So that $15 million goes down dramatically, probably $10 million or $12 million or $13 million. I mean, obviously, we're still going to pay state, it doesn't impact the state. So yeah, a nice lift.

當被問及我們的現金稅是多少時，我回答說在 1500 萬美元左右。現在該法案已經通過，有趣的是，它是我們在 2025 年 1 月 15 日之後進行的收購和/或設備購買。所以不幸的是，我們無法將 Lone Star 納入其中，所以它仍然只有 60%。但 2025 年 1 月 15 日之後的其他收購以及這些設備購買將以 100% 的獎金折舊計算。因此，1500 萬美元會大幅下降，可能降至 1000 萬美元、1200 萬美元或 1300 萬美元。我的意思是，顯然我們仍然要向國家支付費用，這不會對國家產生影響。是的，這是一次不錯的提升。

Yes. So you're down from $15 million, down $12 million. So you're repaying just a few million dollars in federal taxes, what you're saying?

是的。所以從 1500 萬美元下降到了 1200 萬美元。所以你只償還了幾百萬美元的聯邦稅，你的意思是什麼？

That's right.

這是正確的。

Brian Biros, Thompson Research Group.

布萊恩·比羅斯（Brian Biros），湯普森研究小組。

This is Brian on for Kathryn Thompson. Q2 obviously had some tough weather, you guys put up a great result, though. I was curious to hear about trends in July so far. We've heard that July was a great quarter for many in the industry. I'm seeing volumes up double digits. So just curious if you could touch on how July trended for you?

我是凱瑟琳·湯普森的布萊恩。Q2 顯然遇到了一些惡劣的天氣，但你們還是取得了很好的成績。我很好奇想了解七月份迄今為止的趨勢。我們聽說七月對許多業內人士來說是一個好季度。我看到交易量增加了兩位數。我只是好奇，您能否談談七月的流行趨勢？

Yeah. Brian, so as I said in my prepared remarks, July had really good volumes. And it started out the first week, especially in North Carolina and Texas, it was wet. But the last three weeks, and especially the last two weeks were really good volume months. So as we look at how to guide for the fourth quarter, we obviously don't know the weather in August and September.

是的。布萊恩，正如我在準備好的演講中所說的那樣，七月份的交易量確實很大。第一周開始，尤其是北卡羅來納州和德克薩斯州，天氣潮濕。但過去三週，特別是過去兩週，是交易量非常好的月份。因此，當我們研究如何指導第四季時，我們顯然不知道八月和九月的天氣狀況。

Our guide normally just we assume normal weather, right? But we know July, we had really good volumes, and so we felt like it was important to communicate that. So we saw what, as you said, some of the other folks in our industry have seen is that after a very wet spring quarter, it was nice for July to be -- to have some weather that we could get out and work.

我們的導遊通常只是假設天氣正常，對嗎？但我們知道七月我們的銷售量非常好，所以我們覺得傳達這一點很重要。所以，正如你所說，我們看到了我們行業中的其他一些人也看到的是，在經歷了一個非常潮濕的春季之後，7 月份的天氣很好，我們可以出去工作。

Got it. And then so Q2 record margins, I think, up 280 basis points, again, in a tough weather quarter. I mean is there a way to frame how much they would have been without weather? I know you mentioned the three levers that are really kind of just driving the performance, not irregardless of weather, but taking the weather impact to be not as great. But just trying to think through the exercise of if you had normal weather in Q2, what kind of numbers could we have seen, trying to think then for Q3 and even just for next year?

知道了。因此，我認為第二季的利潤率創下了歷史新高，在惡劣天氣的季度中再次上漲了 280 個基點。我的意思是，有沒有辦法描述如果沒有天氣，它們會變成什麼樣子？我知道您提到了三個槓桿，它們實際上只是推動著性能，並不是不受天氣影響，而是使天氣的影響不那麼大。但是，試想一下，如果第二季的天氣正常，我們會看到什麼樣的數字，然後試想第三季甚至明年的情況？

Yeah. That's a good question, Brian, and it's not an exact science. Greg and I could sit here and argue for an hour about exactly what may have happened had we had normal weather. But there's no question, our quarter would have been better. We would have had more revenue in the summer where we over-recover on our fixed assets, it would have been higher. And so that's what we're looking forward to happening in the fourth quarter.

是的。這是個好問題，布萊恩，而且這不是一門精確的科學。格雷格和我可以坐在這裡爭論一個小時，討論如果天氣正常的話到底會發生什麼事。但毫無疑問，我們的季度表現會更好。當我們的固定資產恢復到正常水準時，夏季我們的收入會更高。這就是我們期待在第四季發生的事情。

Got it. And then last one for me, maybe on the Houston market. You touched a bit on the call so far, massive market. Can you touch on how you plan that market now, kind of like what services you offer and kind of what adjacent services are still out there for bolt-ons? I guess, really just the opportunity set there and maybe how that market looks between public and private trends?

知道了。對我來說最後一個，也許是在休士頓市場。到目前為止，您在電話中已經談到了巨大的市場。您能否談談您現在如何規劃該市場，例如您提供哪些服務以及還有哪些相關服務可供附加？我猜，實際上只是存在機會，也許那個市場在公共和私人趨勢之間看起來如何？

Yeah. So Brian, as we start in Houston here this week, really is our first week with the Durwood Greene organization, they look a lot like our typical CPI company. They do paving services, they do some other concrete paving services, which is a characteristic of the Houston market. And they run three asphalt plants, do a lot of FOB sales. So very much like a typical CPI company.

是的。布萊恩，本週我們從休士頓出發，這實際上是我們與 Durwood Greene 組織合作的第一周，他們看起來很像我們典型的 CPI 公司。他們提供鋪路服務，也提供一些其他混凝土鋪路服務，這是休士頓市場的一個特色。他們經營三家瀝青廠，進行大量離岸價銷售。非常像一家典型的 CPI 公司。

And as we've said, as we get going in that market, today's acquisitions drive tomorrow's organic growth. So we're going to look for organic growth opportunities in the Houston market, just like we do everywhere else.

正如我們所說，隨著我們進入該市場，今天的收購將推動明天的有機成長。因此，我們將在休士頓市場尋找有機成長機會，就像我們在其他地方所做的那樣。

Brent Thielman, D.A. Davidson.

布倫特·蒂爾曼、D.A.戴維森。

Congrats working through some tough conditions here, good showing here. Jule, I wanted to maybe ask a different way around the weather and that I'm trying to think about the markets that were less impacted for you through the quarter. And really, this is kind of in the context of kind of the bigger organic growth outlook for the year.

恭喜你克服了這裡的一些艱難條件，表現得很好。朱爾，我想換個角度問一下天氣問題，我正在嘗試思考本季對您影響較小的市場。事實上，這是在今年更大的有機成長前景背景下的。

But I mean, do you -- could you give any context on markets that are just really hitting on all cylinders right now, maybe potentially beyond kind of this 8% to 10% organic growth rate you've talked about for the year? Just trying to think through where are you really seeing some great momentum in the business.

但我的意思是，您能否提供一些關於目前真正全面發展的市場的背景信息，也許可能超過您談到的今年 8% 到 10% 的有機增長率？只是想想你在哪裡真正看到了業務的巨大發展勢頭。

Yeah, Brent, we've got 100 different markets. And so I'm trying to think of which ones I would call out because there's a lot of them doing really well. Clearly, Florida and Texas are great growth states, but South Carolina, North Carolina, I mean Tennessee, there's a lot of -- I would say, clearly, the Lone Star markets of Austin and San Antonio and Temple-Calen are big growth areas, the Panhandle of Florida, the Research Triangle here in North Carolina. But we see a lot of growth in all of our markets. They're not all equal, but it's hard to call out just a few.

是的，布倫特，我們有 100 個不同的市場。因此，我正在想我會點名哪些人，因為其中有很多人做得非常好。顯然，佛羅裡達州和德克薩斯州是增長迅速的州，但南卡羅來納州、北卡羅來納州，我的意思是田納西州，有很多——我想說，顯然，奧斯汀、聖安東尼奧和坦普爾-卡倫的孤星市場都是增長迅速的地區，佛羅裡達州的狹長地帶，北卡羅來納州的研究三角區。但我們看到所有市場都實現了大幅成長。它們並不完全相同，但很難只說幾個。

The Southeast as a whole, just the region as I said in the prepared remarks, just continues to see a lot of migration. The states are trying to keep up with the growth, and that's what you see coming through on the public side in the funding. And then as I said, I think with this -- the tariffs incentivizing American manufacturing, I think CPI is going to be a big beneficiary of companies saying, hey, we're going to make things in America. And where do we want to locate, I think the Southeast and the Sunbelt is going to get an outsized share of that investment.

正如我在準備好的演講中所說，整個東南部地區繼續出現大量移民。各州正在努力跟上成長的步伐，這就是你在公共資金方面看到的成果。正如我所說的，我認為，關稅將激勵美國製造業，我認為消費者物價指數將成為企業的一個巨大受益者，因為企業會說，嘿，我們要在美國製造東西。至於我們想把工廠設在哪裡，我認為東南部和陽光地帶將獲得巨大的投資份額。

Okay. Yeah, that's interesting and kind of a good follow-on there, Jule. I guess what I wanted to ask is as that likely plays out here over the next few years, does the acquisition strategy that you have in place today, I mean, the types of companies that you're buying go quite well into leveraging that -- those private markets that could certainly pick up in your geographies?

好的。是的，這很有趣，而且是一個很好的後續，朱爾。我想問的是，由於這種情況可能會在未來幾年內發生，您目前實施的收購策略，我的意思是，您所購買的公司類型是否能夠很好地利用這些策略——那些肯定會在您所在地區興起的私人市場？

In other words, can you continue under the same program you're doing? Are you looking at different types of deals that could potentially leverage those -- that opportunity down the road?

換句話說，您可以繼續執行您正在執行的相同程序嗎？您是否正在尋找可能利用這些未來機會的不同類型的交易？

Yeah, Brent, I would tell you, we're talking to a lot of potential sellers right now as we have been. That's a big part of my job is just to get to know these sellers. And I would tell you, they look very much just like the businesses we have for 20 years that CPI has looked at. They're good construction companies.

是的，布倫特，我會告訴你，我們現在正在與許多潛在賣家進行談判。我工作的很大一部分就是了解這些賣家。我想告訴你，它們看起來非常像我們 20 年來 CPI 所關注的企業。他們是優秀的建築公司。

Some of them don't have hot-mix asphalt, they're more service related. Those are very value-added acquisitions in the -- where we're already in the market. But when you look at PRI or a Mobile Asphalt or Durwood Greene, there's just really some still -- a lot of still strategic opportunities in our space that do exactly what we do.

有些公司沒有熱拌瀝青，更多是服務型的。這些收購在我們現有的市場中，具有很高的增值價值。但是，當你看看 PRI 或 Mobile Asphalt 或 Durwood Greene 時，你會發現我們的領域中仍然有很多戰略機遇，它們正是我們所做的事情。

Adam Thalhimer, Thompson Davis.

亞當泰爾希默，湯普森戴維斯。

Nice quarter considering the weather. I was curious, given how wet the summer has been, Jule, would you say you have any color or thoughts on the potential that the construction season could extend further into the December quarter?

考慮到天氣，這是一個不錯的季度。我很好奇，考慮到今年夏天的潮濕天氣，朱爾，您是否對施工季節可能延續到 12 月季度有任何看法或想法？

Well, Adam, that's an interesting thought. I mean, obviously, every year, when we get into November and December, we have customers that are just begging us to get their projects done. It's a very, very busy time for our different markets. So we're going to extend into the winter as much as we can.

嗯，亞當，這是一個有趣的想法。我的意思是，顯然，每年到了 11 月和 12 月，就會有客戶懇求我們完成他們的專案。對於我們不同的市場來說，這是一個非常非常忙碌的時期。因此我們將盡可能延長至冬季。

Obviously, weather starts to play a factor but I don't envision us going into November and December without a full plate of work with the backlog we already have and what we're bidding now. I think it's going to be very busy and if we get a good warm November and December, you're going to see us make a lot of hay in those months.

顯然，天氣開始發揮作用，但考慮到我們現有的積壓工作和目前的招標項目，我預計11月和12月我們不會手忙腳亂。我覺得會非常忙碌，如果11月和12月天氣溫暖，我們就能在這幾個月賺大錢。

That's what I figured. And then I wanted to ask about your recently acquired states. So Texas, Oklahoma, to some extent, Tennessee. How would you say that transportation spending is trending versus your initial expectation?

我就是這麼想的。然後我想問您最近獲得的狀態。因此，德州、俄克拉荷馬州，某種程度上，還有田納西州。與您最初的預期相比，您認為交通支出的趨勢如何？

I think that there -- we try to study the spending and the budgets before making acquisitions. And so I would say that on all three states, it's playing out exactly as we expected. Texas, Oklahoma, and Tennessee all have very healthy programs. I think Tennessee is up quite a bit year over year. So we're seeing a lot of bidding activity there.

我認為，在進行收購之前，我們會嘗試研究支出和預算。所以我想說，這三個州的情況都正如我們預期的那樣。德克薩斯州、俄克拉荷馬州和田納西州都有非常健康的計劃。我認為田納西州的成長率比去年同期有大幅提升。因此我們看到那裡有很多競標活動。

And Texas, I mean, frankly, their program draws every other state in the nation. And so -- and we're benefiting from that, and we're happy to be in Houston. So I would say all three states are doing very well.

而德州，坦白說，他們的計畫吸引了全國其他所有州。所以——我們從中受益，我們很高興來到休士頓。所以我想說這三個州都做得很好。

That's good to hear. And then lastly, I wanted to ask on labor. There's got to be a lot of value in your assembled labor force of 6,200 plus. I'm just curious, there's been any changes in the availability of labor either for you or your competitors. What's your sense on that?

聽到這個消息真好。最後，我想問一下關於勞動力的問題。你們擁有 6,200 多名勞動力，他們身上一定蘊藏著巨大的價值。我只是好奇，您或您的競爭對手的勞動力供應情況有什麼變化嗎？您對此有何感想？

I think, Adam, with labor, it's a twofold answer. The labor shortages we saw coming out of COVID, those have dissipated. We're back to a normal labor market when we were struggling to find truck drivers three and four years ago, that's gone. And labor is available, we're able to build our backlog. But the longer-term picture, as you've heard me say before, is we're going through a generational shrinking slowly but surely of our workforce, and we have a lot of gray hair out on our crews that are retiring.

亞當，我認為，對勞動力來說，答案是雙重的。我們看到的因新冠疫情而出現的勞動力短缺問題已經消失。我們回到了正常的勞動市場，三、四年前我們很難找到卡車司機，但現在這種情況已經不存在了。而且如果有勞力的話，我們就可以完成我們的積壓訂單。但從長期來看，正如你之前聽我說過的那樣，我們的勞動力隊伍正在緩慢但肯定地一代代萎縮，我們的許多員工即將退休，頭髮都花白了。

And so that has forced CPI to be proactive in saying how do we attract and retain a workforce, whether it be the culture that we have in our companies, whether it be the compensation that we offer our workers or whether it be the career opportunities. We call it the 3Cs, Culture, Compensation, and Career.

因此，這迫使 CPI 積極主動地考慮如何吸引和留住勞動力，無論是我們公司的文化，還是我們為員工提供的薪酬，還是職業機會。我們稱之為 3C，即文化、薪資和職業。

And we feel like that if we can do a good job attracting and retaining a workforce, it's actually going to become a competitive advantage for us because the businesses in our industry that can attract and retain a workforce are going to be able to keep bidding and growing.

我們認為，如果我們能夠很好地吸引和留住勞動力，這實際上將成為我們的競爭優勢，因為我們行業中能夠吸引和留住勞動力的企業將能夠繼續競標和發展。

And those that don't attract and retain a workforce are not going to be able to keep bidding and growing. And so it's something long term that we know we have to be proactive. And if we are proactive, it's actually going to help us be one of the winners in our industry. And so workforce is a huge part of what we focus on every day.

那些無法吸引和留住勞動力的企業將無法繼續競標和發展。因此，我們知道這是一件長期的事情，我們必須積極主動。如果我們積極主動，這實際上將幫助我們成為行業中的贏家之一。因此，勞動力是我們每天關注的重點之一。

I would like to turn the floor over to management for closing remarks.

我想將發言權交給管理階層來做最後發言。

Yes. Thanks to everyone for being with us, and we look forward to speaking with you next quarter. Thank you.

是的。感謝大家的支持，我們期待下個季度與您交談。謝謝。

This concludes today's teleconference. You may disconnect your lines at this time, and thank you for your participation.

今天的電話會議到此結束。此時您可以斷開您的線路，感謝您的參與。