Reliance Inc (RS) 2024 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Greetings, and welcome to the Reliance, Inc. second-quarter 2024 earnings conference call. (Operator Instructions). As a reminder, this conference is being recorded.

您好，歡迎參加 Reliance, Inc. 2024 年第二季財報電話會議。 （操作員說明）。提醒一下，本次會議正在錄製中。

It is now my pleasure to introduce your host, Kim Orlando. Thank you, and you may begin.

現在我很高興向大家介紹你們的主持人金奧蘭多。謝謝您，您可以開始了。

Thank you, operator. Good morning, and thanks to all of you for joining our conference call to discuss Reliance's second-quarter 2024 financial results. I am joined by Karla Lewis, President and Chief Executive Officer; Steve Koch, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer; and Arthur Ajemyan, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer.

謝謝你，接線生。早安，感謝大家參加我們的電話會議，討論 Reliance 的 2024 年第二季財務業績。總裁兼執行長卡拉·劉易斯 (Karla Lewis) 也加入了我的行列； Steve Koch，執行副總裁兼營運長；以及資深副總裁兼財務長 Arthur Ajemyan。

A recording of this call will be posted on the Investors section of our website at investors.reliance.com. Please read the forward-looking statement disclosures included in our earnings release issued this morning and note that it applies to all statements made during this teleconference. The reconciliations of the adjusted numbers are included in the non-GAAP reconciliation part of the earnings release.

本次電話會議的錄音將發佈在我們網站 Investors.reliance.com 的投資者部分。請閱讀我們今天早上發布的收益報告中包含的前瞻性聲明披露內容，並注意它適用於本次電話會議期間發表的所有聲明。調整後數字的調節表包含在收益發布的非公認會計準則調節表部分。

I will now turn the call over to Karla Lewis, President and CEO of Reliance.

我現在將把電話轉給 Reliance 總裁兼執行長 Karla Lewis。

Thanks, Kim. Good morning, everyone, and thank you all for joining us today to discuss our second-quarter 2024 results. Our second-quarter performance once again highlighted the attractiveness of our business model through various market cycles, delivering solid results in a challenging pricing environment. Reliance's growth and diversification strategies coupled with our focus on customer service and relationships increased our shipments ahead of industry levels.

謝謝，金。大家早安，感謝大家今天加入我們討論我們的 2024 年第二季業績。我們第二季的業績再次凸顯了我們的業務模式在不同市場週期中的吸引力，在充滿挑戰的定價環境中取得了堅實的業績。 Reliance 的成長和多元化策略，加上我們對客戶服務和關係的關注，使我們的出貨量領先於行業水平。

Our new acquisitions and focus on smart profitable growth increased our tons shipped. However, carbon steel pricing during the second-quarter declined further than anticipated offsetting the benefits of our increased tonnage. Declining metal pricing was the primary driver of our gross profit margin decrease and sequential reduction in earnings per diluted share $4.67. Despite these challenges, our teams across the company maintained a strong gross profit margin of 29.8% within our long-term sustainable range of 29% to 31% driven in part by the significant investments we have made in value added processing capabilities in recent years.

我們的新收購和對智慧獲利成長的關注增加了我們的出貨量。然而，第二季碳鋼價格的下跌幅度超出預期，抵消了我們增加噸位的好處。金屬價格下跌是毛利率下降和稀釋後每股收益連續下降 4.67 美元的主要原因。儘管面臨這些挑戰，我們整個公司的團隊在 29% 至 31% 的長期可持續範圍內保持了 29.8% 的強勁毛利率，部分原因是我們近年來在增值處理能力方面進行了大量投資。

Our cash flow from operations helped fund two acquisitions in the second quarter and three year-to-date, which collectively added nearly $500 million in annualized net sales based on 2023 results. I will comment more on our acquisitions in a moment. We also invested $98.2 million in capital expenditures during the second quarter. The majority of which were directed towards growth by improving our value-added processing capabilities and increasing our capacity to support future growth. Our CapEx budget for the calendar year 2024 remains $440 million with an expected total cash outlay of approximately $425 million to $450 million.

我們的營運現金流為第二季的兩筆收購和今年迄今為止的三筆收購提供了資金，根據 2023 年的業績，這些收購總共增加了近 5 億美元的年化淨銷售額。我稍後將對我們的收購進行更多評論。第二季我們也投資了 9,820 萬美元的資本支出。其中大部分是透過提高我們的增值加工能力和提高未來成長的能力來實現成長。我們 2024 年的資本支出預算仍為 4.4 億美元，預計現金支出總額約為 4.25 億至 4.5 億美元。

In regard to stockholder returns, we repurchased $519.3 million of common stock during the second quarter and $165.4 million in July, underscoring the confidence our board and management team have in our future, and we paid $62.6 million in dividends to our valued stockholders. In addition to acquiring Cooksey Steel on February 1, followed by American Alloy and MidWest Materials on April 1, on July 15, we announced the acquisition of certain toll processing assets of the FerrouSouth Division of Ferragon Corporation.

在股東回報方面，我們在第二季回購了5.193 億美元的普通股，在7 月回購了1.654 億美元的普通股，這突顯了我們的董事會和管理團隊對我們未來的信心，我們向尊貴的股東支付了6,260 萬美元的股息。除了2月1日收購Cooksey Steel、4月1日收購American Alloy和MidWest Materials外，7月15日，我們也宣布收購Ferragon Corporation FerrouSouth分部的某些來料加工資產。

Subject to customary closing conditions, this will mark our 76th acquisition since our 1994 IPO. We look forward to welcoming FerrouSouth as a division of our wholly owned subsidiary, Ferragon Corporation. FerrouSouth tolling operations will expand Ferroalloy's toll processing capabilities and provide additional capacity to Ferroalloy's existing footprint in the Southeastern United States.

根據慣例成交條件，這將是我們自 1994 年 IPO 以來的第 76 次收購。我們期待 FerrouSouth 成為我們全資子公司 Ferragon Corporation 的一個部門。 FerroSouth 來料加工業務將擴大 Ferroalloy 的來料加工能力，並為 Ferroalloy 在美國東南部的現有業務提供額外的產能。

The completed acquisitions expand our product offerings to our customers and enhance our geographic reach and unique processing capabilities. The M&A pipeline remains robust. And we continue to seek additions to our family of companies that fit our criteria of being immediately accretive to earnings and well positioned for growth with solid management teams in place.

完成的收購擴大了我們向客戶提供的產品範圍，並增強了我們的地理覆蓋範圍和獨特的加工能力。併購通路依然強勁。我們將繼續在我們的公司家族中尋求新成員，這些公司符合我們的標準，即立即增加收益，並在堅實的管理團隊到位的情況下為成長做好準備。

In summary, I'd like to thank our team at Reliance for their dedication to working safely, servicing our customers and growing and managing our businesses well through uncertain markets. It is because of our entire Reliance family that we are able to consistently post solid results throughout economic cycles. While we continue to execute through near term headwinds in demand and pricing affecting certain of our markets, we remain excited about the opportunities that lie ahead and confident in our talented team's ability to successfully continue executing our robust and resilient business model.

總而言之，我要感謝 Reliance 團隊致力於安全工作、服務客戶以及在不確定的市場中良好地發展和管理我們的業務。正是因為我們整個 Reliance 家族，我們才能夠在整個經濟週期中始終如一地取得穩健的表現。雖然我們繼續克服短期內影響某些市場的需求和定價逆風，但我們仍然對未來的機會感到興奮，並對我們才華橫溢的團隊成功繼續執行我們強大而有彈性的業務模式的能力充滿信心。

Thank you all for your time today. I'll now turn the call over to Steve, who will review our second-quarter demand and pricing trends.

感謝大家今天抽出時間。我現在將把電話轉給史蒂夫，他將回顧我們第二季度的需求和定價趨勢。

Thanks, Karla, and good morning, everyone. I'd also like to start by thanking our dedicated team at Reliance for their commitments to executing our strategy safely each and every day. I'll now turn to our second-quarter demand and pricing trends. Our tons sold increased 4% compared to the first quarter of 2024, in line with our expectations of up 2.5% to 4.5% and reflecting the benefit of the three acquisitions we've completed so far in 2024.

謝謝卡拉，大家早安。首先，我還要感謝 Reliance 的敬業團隊致力於每天安全地執行我們的策略。我現在將談談第二季的需求和定價趨勢。與 2024 年第一季相比，我們的銷售量增加了 4%，符合我們成長 2.5% 至 4.5% 的預期，並反映了我們在 2024 年迄今完成的三項收購的效益。

On a same-store basis, our tons sold increased 0.9% over the prior quarter. Compared to the prior year, our tons sold were up 4.7% or 0.7% on a same-store basis, significantly outperforming the service center industry decrease of 1.8% as reported by the MSCI. We believe our continued outperformance of our MSCI peers is supported by our diversification strategy, customer service and organic growth in addition to the strategic acquisitions.

以同店計算，我們的銷量比上一季成長了 0.9%。與去年相比，我們的銷量成長了 4.7%，同店銷量成長了 0.7%，明顯優於 MSCI 報告的服務中心產業 1.8% 的下降幅度。我們相信，除了策略性收購之外，我們的多元化策略、客戶服務和有機成長也為我們持續領先 MSCI 同行提供了支持。

Our second-quarter average selling price per ton sold of $2,348 declined by 3.8% compared to the first-quarter 2024. Exceeding our expectations of down 1% to 3%. Carbon steel product prices declined more than anticipated as the quarter progressed. Stainless steel and aluminum average selling prices were minimally impacted second quarter by additional Russian sanctions announced in April as price increases in both commodities were short lived.

我們第二季的每噸平均售價為 2,348 美元，與 2024 年第一季相比下降了 3.8%。隨著本季的進展，碳鋼產品價格的跌幅超出預期。由於俄羅斯 4 月宣布的額外制裁，不銹鋼和鋁的平均售價對第二季的影響微乎其微，因為這兩種商品的價格上漲是短暫的。

Next, I will turn to an overview of trends we saw within key end markets and products. Beginning with non-residential construction. Carbon steel tubing, plate and structural products, which are predominantly sold into the non-residential construction end market represented about one third of our sales in the second quarter and had solid sequential and year-over-year growth in tons sold, outperforming industry shipment levels.

接下來，我將概述我們在關鍵終端市場和產品中看到的趨勢。從非住宅建設開始。主要銷往非住宅建築終端市場的碳鋼管材、板材和結構產品約占我們第二季銷售額的三分之一，且銷售量連續和年比穩健成長，表現優於產業出貨量水準。

Our diversified exposure to non-residential construction markets, including publicly funded infrastructure, data centers and related energy infrastructure, supported steady demand for our carbon steel structure on tubing products, despite negative pricing trends. Our general manufacturing business, which represents roughly one third of our total sales, is highly diversified across products and includes industrial machinery, consumer products, heavy equipment and military.

儘管價格趨勢不佳，但我們對非住宅建築市場的多元化投資，包括公共資助的基礎設施、資料中心和相關能源基礎設施，支持了我們碳鋼結構管材產品的穩定需求。我們的一般製造業務約佔總銷售額的三分之一，產品高度多元化，包括工業機械、消費品、重型設備和軍事。

Demand across the broader general manufacturing sector we serve was relatively consistent on the whole compared to the second-quarter 2023, primarily due to increased activity in industrial machinery and military spending, which offset declines demand for consumer products and heavy equipment, especially agricultural.

與2023 年第二季相比，我們服務的更廣泛的一般製造業的需求總體上相對穩定，這主要是由於工業機械和軍事支出活動的增加，抵消了消費品和重型設備（尤其是農業設備）需求下降的影響。

Our industry outperformance across key product groups, shipping to general manufacturing applications highlights the benefit of our diversified business model in a dynamic demand environment. Aerospace products comprise approximately 9% of our total sales. Commercial aerospace demand remains healthy despite short term supply chain challenges and our defense related aerospace and space program demand remains stable at strong levels.

我們在關鍵產品組的產業表現優於一般製造應用，凸顯了我們多元化業務模式在動態需求環境中的優勢。航空航太產品約占我們總銷售額的 9%。儘管供應鏈面臨短期挑戰，商業航空航太需求仍保持健康，而且我們的國防相關航空航太和太空計畫需求仍然穩定在強勁水準。

We primarily service the automotive market through our toll processing operations, which are not reflected in our tons sold. Our tolling business, which represents 4% of our total revenues, saw improved demand in the Q2 of 2024 compared to the prior year period due to healthy demand in the automotive market in both the United States and Mexico and our ongoing investments to increase capacity.

我們主要透過來料加工業務為汽車市場提供服務，但這並未反映在我們的銷售中。我們的收費業務占我們總收入的 4%，由於美國和墨西哥汽車市場的健康需求以及我們持續投資以增加產能，2024 年第二季的需求比去年同期有所改善。

Semiconductor industry demand continued to contract due to excess inventories in the supply chain but showed signs of stabilization through the second quarter in certain areas. Our long-term outlook for the semiconductor market remains positive, reinforced by both the significant semiconductor fabrication expansion underway in the United States and the CHIPS Act, which continues to guide our investment strategy for additional capacity to meet future demand.

由於供應鏈庫存過剩，半導體產業需求持續萎縮，但某些領域在第二​​季出現了穩定跡象。我們對半導體市場的長期前景仍然樂觀，這得益於美國正在進行的半導體製造大規模擴張和《CHIPS 法案》，該法案繼續指導我們增加產能的投資策略，以滿足未來的需求。

Overall, we are experiencing relatively steady demand with continued strength in certain key end markets, counterbalancing pressures in other end markets. We are very proud of our team's outstanding efforts, which enable our continued industry leading performance. Reliance's unrivaled scale and strong balance sheet makes us a highly attractive partner to our mill suppliers on all market conditions. Reliance continues to win new business from new and existing customers who recognize the quality of our service, breadth of our product offerings and increased diversity of our value-added services.

整體而言，我們的需求相對穩定，某些關鍵終端市場持續強勁，抵消了其他終端市場的壓力。我們為團隊的傑出努力感到非常自豪，這使我們能夠持續保持行業領先的業績。 Reliance 無與倫比的規模和強大的資產負債表使我們在所有市場條件下都成為對工廠供應商極具吸引力的合作夥伴。 Reliance 不斷贏得新客戶和現有客戶的新業務，他們認可我們的服務品質、產品範圍的廣度以及增值服務的多樣性。

Please refer to our earnings release for additional commentary on our end markets and product diversification.

請參閱我們的收益發布，以了解有關我們的終端市場和產品多元化的更多評論。

I will now turn the call over to Arthur to review our financial results and outlook.

我現在將把電話轉給亞瑟，以審查我們的財務業績和前景。

Thanks, Steve, and good morning, everyone. Our second-quarter non-GAAP diluted earnings per share of $4.65 came in slightly below our guided range as pricing levels retreated further than anticipated and offset the sequential improvement in tons sold, which was in line with our expectations. Despite the difficult pricing environment, we successfully outperformed industry shipment levels across nearly all products as we benefited from our significant scale and diversified product offerings.

謝謝史蒂夫，大家早安。我們第二季度非公認會計原則攤薄每股收益為 4.65 美元，略低於我們的指導範圍，因為定價水平比預期進一步回落，抵消了銷量的連續增長，這符合我們的預期。儘管定價環境困難，但由於我們的龐大規模和多樣化的產品供應，我們幾乎所有產品的出貨量都成功超過了行業水平。

Our organic and inorganic growth initiatives collectively offset the impact of declining selling prices on our revenues in the second quarter. The decrease in our gross profit margin from 31% in the first quarter to 29.8% in the second quarter is due to pricing headwinds and was the main driver of the 12.3% decrease in our non-GAAP diluted earnings per share. Our value-added processing capabilities moderated the decline in our gross profit margin as orders with value-added processing continue to experience significantly less gross profit margin contraction at times of declining prices and orders without processing.

我們的有機和無機成長舉措共同抵消了銷售價格下降對第二季度收入的影響。我們的毛利率從第一季的 31% 下降到第二季的 29.8%，這是由於定價不利因素，也是我們非公認會計準則稀釋每股收益下降 12.3% 的主要原因。我們的增值加工能力減緩了毛利率的下降，因為在價格下降和未加工訂單時，增值加工訂單的毛利率收縮繼續顯著減少。

Our LIFO inventory valuation method provides further stability to our gross profit margin by adjusting our cost of sales to be more in line with current replacement costs. We recorded LIFO income of $50 million in the second quarter, in line with our guidance as we continue to anticipate LIFO income of $200 million for the full-year 2024, including $50 million of LIFO income for the third quarter of 2024. As of June 30, 2024, the LIFO reserve on our balance sheet was $479.3 million which will generate LIFO income and benefit future period operating results to mitigate the impact of potential further declines in metal prices.

我們的後進先出庫存估值方法透過調整我們的銷售成本以使其更符合當前的重置成本，從而進一步穩定我們的毛利率。我們第二季的後進先出收入為5000 萬美元，與我們的指導一致，因為我們繼續預計2024 年全年後進先出收入為2 億美元，其中包括2024 年第三季的5000 萬美元後進先出收入。影響。

Moving along to expenses. Same-store non-GAAP SG&A expenses decreased approximately $18 million or 3% sequentially and $4 million or 1% on a year-over-year basis. These declines were primarily due to lower incentive-based compensation resulting from lower profitability, offset by higher costs associated with increased tons sold and wage inflation for the year-over-year change.

繼續支出。同店非 GAAP SG&A 費用較上季減少約 1,800 萬美元或 3%，較去年同期減少 400 萬美元或 1%。這些下降主要是由於獲利能力下降導致基於激勵的薪酬減少，但與銷售量增加和年比工資上漲相關的成本上升所抵消。

As a reminder, our model inherently normalizes expenses by rightsizing incentives as profits trend down. I'll now move on to discuss our balance sheet and cash flow. Reliance generated $366.3 million in operating cash flow for the second quarter, which helped fund $292.8 million in acquisitions and $98.2 million in capital expenditures.

提醒一下，我們的模型本質上是透過在利潤下降時調整激勵措施來使支出正常化。我現在將繼續討論我們的資產負債表和現金流。 Reliance 第二季度產生了 3.663 億美元的營運現金流，為 2.928 億美元的收購和 9,820 萬美元的資本支出提供了資金。

We also returned $62.6 million to our stockholders through cash dividend and repurchased $519.3 million of our shares at an average cost of approximately $288 per share. In July, we repurchased an additional $165.4 million of our shares at an average cost of approximately $284 per share, which combined with our second-quarter repurchases resulted in more than a 4% reduction in our total shares outstanding. As of July 23, 2024, $755 million remained available under our October 2023 1.5 billion share repurchase authorization, and we have ample liquidity for continued opportunistic repurchases.

我們也透過現金股利向股東返還 6,260 萬美元，並以每股約 288 美元的平均成本回購了 5.193 億美元的股票。 7 月份，我們以每股約 284 美元的平均成本額外回購了 1.654 億美元的股票，加上第二季的回購，我們的流通股總額減少了 4% 以上。截至 2024 年 7 月 23 日，根據我們 2023 年 10 月的 15 億股股票回購授權，仍有 7.55 億美元可用，我們有充足的流動性來持續進行機會性回購。

Turning now to our third-quarter outlook. We anticipate the operating environment will remain challenging in the third quarter from a pricing perspective, with demand remaining relatively stable, subject to seasonal patterns, including decline in shipping volumes as a result of planned customer shutdowns and vacation schedules.

現在轉向我們的第三季展望。我們預計，從定價角度來看，第三季的營運環境仍將充滿挑戰，需求將保持相對穩定，但受季節性模式影響，包括因計劃的客戶停工和假期安排而導致的運輸量下降。

Accordingly, we estimate our tons sold will be down 2.5% to 4.5% in the third quarter compared to the second quarter, but up 4.5% to 6.5% compared to the third quarter of 2023 with approximately 4% of the year-over-year growth coming from our 2023 and 2024 acquisitions. On the pricing side, we expect our average selling price per ton sold for the third quarter to be down 2% to 4% compared to the second quarter, primarily driven by lower prices for carbon steel products.

因此，我們預計第三季的銷量將較第二季下降 2.5% 至 4.5%，但較 2023 年第三季成長 4.5% 至 6.5%，年成長約 4%成長來自我們2023 年和2024 年的收購。在定價方面，我們預計第三季每噸平均售價將比第二季下降 2% 至 4%，這主要是由於碳鋼產品價格下降。

Accordingly, we believe our gross profit margin will remain under pressure in the third quarter of 2024. Based on these expectations, we currently anticipate non-GAAP earnings per diluted share in the range of $3.60 to $3.80 for the third quarter of 2024.

因此，我們認為 2024 年第三季的毛利率仍將面臨壓力。

This concludes our prepared remarks. Thank you all for your time and participation. We'll now open the call to questions. Operator?

我們準備好的演講到此結束。感謝大家的時間和參與。我們現在開始提問。操作員？

(Operator Instructions) Martin Englert, Seaport Research Partners.

（操作員說明）Martin Englert，海港研究合作夥伴。

Looking past the 3Q gross margin weakness due to lower carbon steel pricing, if prices overall are flattish on an ASP basis in 4Q, do you think you're going to be able to work through some of the higher cost inventories so that gross margins will start to converge more towards a normalized level on a FIFO basis?

回顧第三季度由於碳鋼定價較低而導致的毛利率疲軟，如果第四季度的平均售價總體持平，您是否認為您將能夠處理一些成本較高的庫存，從而使毛利率下降開始在FIFO的基礎上更加趨向於標準化水準？

Yes, Martin. So we certainly do. I mean, that's normal cyclicality for us managing through the different pricing cycles. Our people have done this for decades out there in our world. Prices go up and they go down and we try to really focus on managing our inventory well, turning our inventory in line with our shipment levels which staying ahead of that helps us as we go through these cycles. Certainly, there has been some pressure. Prices did fall more than we had anticipated.

是的，馬丁。所以我們當然這樣做。我的意思是，對於我們管理不同的定價週期來說，這是正常的週期性。幾十年來，我們的人民一直在做這件事。價格上漲和下跌，我們努力真正專注於管理我們的庫存，使我們的庫存與我們的發貨水平保持一致，這有助於我們度過這些週期。當然，也有一些壓力。價格的下跌幅度確實超出了我們的預期。

So we had hoped that we would have leveled off a bit more on gross profit margin by now. But as prices continue to decline, we've got to work through that inventory. But it's typically a two, maybe three month lag. Lead times on a lot of our major products right now are normal to short. And so with that, we can work through our inventory a little faster too.

因此，我們曾希望現在毛利率能夠更加趨於平穩。但隨著價格繼續下降，我們必須處理庫存。但這通常會有兩個月甚至三個月的延遲。目前我們許多主要產品的交貨時間通常都很短。這樣，我們也可以更快地處理我們的庫存。

Thank you for that. Coming back to the share repurchases, that were substantial in 2Q. I believe that eclipsed what was done in all '23. There was 755 million remaining on the authorization, ended the quarter with $350 million of cash. Maybe if you could touch on expectations for 3Q working capital, company's availability to continue repurchases at an elevated level and if there's a minimum cash balance that you'd be targeting?

謝謝你。回到股票回購，第二季的回購規模很大。我相信這讓 23 年所做的事情黯然失色。授權餘額為 7.55 億美元，本季末現金為 3.5 億美元。也許您可以談談第三季營運資金的預期、公司是否有能力繼續以較高水準回購，以及您的目標是否有最低現金餘額？

Yes, Martin. So Reliance has always been a growth company and also a company to return value to our stockholders. So we try to continuously execute on all of that in an opportunistic manner. We felt the market gave us a great opportunity to be in repurchasing Reliance shares during the second quarter. We heard from everyone on the first quarter when we were not in the market, there was a lot of surprise. But again, that goes with our opportunistic approach to how we're repurchasing the shares. We also completed three acquisitions already this year and announced another small one.

是的，馬丁。因此，Reliance 一直是一家成長型公司，也是一家為股東回報價值的公司。因此，我們嘗試以機會主義的方式不斷執行所有這些。我們認為市場給了我們一個在第二季回購 Reliance 股票的絕佳機會。第一季我們不在市場的時候就收到大家的回饋，有很多驚喜了。但這又與我們回購股票的機會主義方法一致。今年我們也完成了三項收購，並宣布了另一項小型收購。

We're in a financial position where we're able to execute on all of our different capital allocation and growth strategies and we expect to be able to continue doing that in third quarter, fourth quarter and beyond. So we're still in really good shape to execute, but I'll let Arthur address your working capital part of your question.

我們的財務狀況能夠執行所有不同的資本配置和成長策略，我們預計能夠在第三季、第四季及以後繼續這樣做。因此，我們仍然處於良好的執行狀態，但我會讓 Arthur 解決您問題中的營運資金部分。

Yes. So Martin, while we don't necessarily put out a guidance for cash flow, you could look at typical seasonality for our business. Typically in the first half, there's working capital build in the second half. Just given the seasonality of the business, there's working capital release. And then you can take our assumptions for pricing and volume. So as prices go down, you'd have slightly more working capital release than just from purely adjusting volume and inventory on hand levels. Hope that answers your question.

是的。因此，馬丁，雖然我們不一定會提供現金流量指南，但您可以查看我們業務的典型季節性。通常在上半年，下半年會建立營運資金。鑑於業務的季節性，有營運資金釋放。然後您可以採用我們對定價和數量的假設。因此，隨著價格下降，與純粹調整數量和現有庫存水準相比，您將釋放更多的營運資金。希望能回答您的問題。

Yes, that's helpful. I appreciate it. If I could one more, could you take a moment and highlight specific areas of your businesses that have higher exposure to grid electrification, grid expansion, and that is an end market?

是的，這很有幫助。我很感激。如果我可以再問一遍，您能否花點時間強調一下您的業務中對電網電氣化、電網擴張有較高敞口的特定領域，即終端市場？

Yes. Hi, Martin. The electrification, the grid, I mean those are parts of end markets that we service. There is definitely metal used in a lot of different components and ways a lot of the different metals that we sell, will go into those markets. I think Steve can maybe comment a little more specifically on some areas where we participate.

是的。嗨，馬丁。電氣化、電網，我的意思是這些是我們服務的終端市場的一部分。金屬肯定被用於許多不同的部件中，並且我們銷售的許多不同金屬將進入這些市場。我認為史蒂夫也許可以對我們參與的某些領域進行更具體的評論。

So Martin, we've been in this business for quite some time servicing that market through our mission tower manufacturers that we have in Texas and then a couple other places throughout the United States. Also our flat rolled companies who provide galvanized steel to electrical enclosure and panel makers and transformer box manufacturers. So we don't -- we're not exactly sure every order where it goes, but the trend when we do our end market conversations is that end of the business is steady to growing.

馬丁，我們從事這項業務已經有一段時間了，透過我們在德克薩斯州和美國其他幾個地方的任務塔製造商為該市場提供服務。此外，我們的扁鋼公司還為電氣外殼和麵板製造商以及變壓器箱製造商提供鍍鋅鋼。因此，我們不確定每個訂單的去向，但當我們進行終端市場對話時，趨勢是業務終端正在穩定成長。

Okay. Appreciate that. Nice to see the buybacks. Thanks for your time.

好的。很欣賞這一點。很高興看到回購。感謝您抽出時間。

Phil Gibbs, KeyBanc Capital Markets.

Phil Gibbs，KeyBanc 資本市場。

Can you just help us understand the LIFO dynamic a little bit better, if pricing inherently missed what you were expecting, why didn't this change to a higher income accrual in the quarter?

您能否幫助我們更好地理解後進先出的動態，如果定價本質上不符合您的預期，為什麼本季沒有改變為更高的應計收入？

Yes, great question, Phil. So when we put out a quarterly guidance, it's for pricing, that's just pricing for the quarter. LIFO guidance is an annual estimate where basically what we're doing is forecasting inventory costs on hand at the end of the year.

是的，很好的問題，菲爾。因此，當我們發布季度指導時，它是為了定價，這只是該季度的定價。後進先出指導是年度估計，基本上我們所做的就是預測年底現有的庫存成本。

So as we were making our annual LIFO projection at the end of the first quarter, we're certainly looking at pricing expectations, not just through the end of the second quarter but through the balance of the year. So what we experienced through the second quarter, certainly there was more price contraction, but at a high level when we looked at our estimates through the end of the year, they did not change materially, so we kept our LIFO estimate unchanged.

因此，當我們在第一季末進行年度後進先出預測時，我們當然會考慮定價預期，不僅是到第二季末，而是到今年的剩餘時間。因此，我們在第二季度經歷的情況肯定是價格收縮更多，但在高水平上，當我們查看年底的估計時，它們沒有發生重大變化，因此我們保持後進先出的估計不變。

Now we're going to revisit this at the end of the third quarter and see where we are with our assumptions and then adjust as needed. And at the end of the year, the numbers are what they are based on actual costs on hand. So then typically in the fourth quarter, you have a true up to the estimate that you're making.

現在我們將在第三季末重新審視這一點，看看我們的假設處於什麼位置，然後根據需要進行調整。到年底，這些數字是根據現有的實際成本得出的。因此，通常在第四季度，您就會真正達到您所做的估計。

Thanks, Arthur. And clearly about a buyback activity during the second quarter and early in third. It looks like the share count didn't fall all that much, which tells me you bought a lot back in the latter part of Q2. If we were just to still assume that you didn't make any further repurchases in the quarter, where would that shake us out for share count in Q2?

謝謝，亞瑟。並明確指出第二季和第三季初的回購活動。看起來股票數量並沒有下降那麼多，這告訴我你在第二季後期買了很多。如果我們仍然假設您在本季沒有進行任何進一步的回購，那麼第二季的股票數量會對我們產生什麼影響？

So I think we provided the total shares purchased in the earnings release, Phil. So it's roughly $2.4 million through July. So yes, I mean, you're right, the weighted average shares that you used for EPS calculations, that's weighted. So Q3 is going to have the benefit of all Q2 share repurchases and then anything that was purchased in July, that will be weighted. But you'll get the full benefit of Q2 buybacks on Q3.

所以我認為我們在財報發布中提供了購買的總股份，菲爾。所以到 7 月為止大約是 240 萬美元。所以是的，我的意思是，你是對的，你用於每股收益計算的加權平均股票，是加權的。因此，第三季將受益於第二季所有股票回購，然後是 7 月購買的任何股票，這些都將被加權。但您將在第三季獲得第二季回購的全部好處。

I should point out that offsetting some of that benefit is the lower interest income that you get from lower cash on hand. So it's not just purely incremental, so there's some offsetting impact there.

我應該指出，抵銷部分好處的是手頭現金減少所帶來的利息收入減少。因此，這不僅僅是純粹的增量，因此存在一些抵消影響。

Understood. And then lastly for me, I know you have a lot of balls in the air with CapEx and new sites, new processing and fabrication and distribution sites. Are there still a few of those that are in relatively, call it, low rate production or startup mode that you don't have full or near full contribution on?

明白了。最後對我來說，我知道你們對資本支出、新場地、新加工、製造和分銷場地有很多疑問。是否還有一些處於相對低速生產或啟動模式，您沒有全額或接近全額貢獻？

I know the mills like to call them startup costs, but for you, I know it's just everyday business until they get to full adoption. But are there a handful of your facilities or your new key facilities that are still in that level? Are they starting to contribute?

我知道工廠喜歡稱其為啟動成本，但對您來說，我知道這只是日常事務，直到它們得到全面採用。但你們的一些設施或新的關鍵設施是否仍處於該水準？他們開始做出貢獻了嗎？

Yes, Phil. So we have as you commented on when you were asking the question. As you've known from following us for many years, we don't go build $2 billion projects. So we have a lot of different projects very meaningful for us in each of our business, but certainly, not at the scale of our suppliers and people like that.

是的，菲爾。因此，正如您在提出問題時所評論的那樣。正如您多年來關注我們所知道的那樣，我們不會建造價值 20 億美元的項目。因此，我們有很多不同的項目對我們的每個業務都非常有意義，但當然，不是我們的供應商和這樣的人的規模。

But we have had quite a few growth activities. I mean, we've talked over the last few years about our on campus Greenfields in Sinton and in Gallatin. And Gallatin is pretty fully ramped. Sinton, we produce at the levels the mills are. So we've seen improvement there, probably a little more to go there.

但我們已經開展了很多增長活動。我的意思是，過去幾年我們一直在談論我們位於辛頓和加勒廷的校園綠地。加勒廷已經相當全面了。 Sinton，我們的生產水準與工廠相同。所以我們已經看到了那裡的進步，可能還會有更多進步。

Our toll processing operations here in the US, we've added some capacity through some lines and expansions. A couple of those are still pretty early processing, but still more room to grow on those lines. We've got another US toll processing expansion that probably won't come on until late this year, beginning of next year to really contribute. Down in Mexico, our tolling operations there, we've continued to expand and add equipment in all of those locations. So they're continuing to contribute. We just opened a larger EMJ facility down in Atlanta.

我們在美國的來料加工業務透過一些線路和擴建增加了一些產能。其中一些仍處於相當早期的處理階段，但在這些方面仍有更大的發展空間。我們在美國又進行了另一項收費處理擴展，可能要到今年年底、明年初才會真正做出貢獻。在墨西哥，我們在那裡的收費業務，我們繼續在所有這些地點擴大和增加設備。所以他們會繼續做出貢獻。我們剛在亞特蘭大開設了一家更大的 EMJ 設施。

We have an Infra Metals larger facility in Georgia that is not going to probably be operating until next year. We've got our semiconductor expansions in Texas. So a lot of different things going on. We're at the pace we've been going and with the length of time it takes to get some of these operations up and running, we have multiple things coming online consistently throughout the year.

我們在喬治亞州擁有一家規模更大的 Infra Metals 工廠，該工廠可能要到明年才會投入運作。我們在德克薩斯州進行了半導體擴張。所以發生了很多不同的事情。我們正按照我們一直在進行的步伐進行，並且由於啟動和運行其中一些操作所需的時間很長，因此我們全年都會有多項內容持續上線。

Thank you. And one more if I could. Just what are you and I know you commented a bit on in your prepared remarks, but can you give us a little bit more detail in terms of what you're seeing in aerospace and defense given the volatility and the build rates and maybe your position as a distributor/processor versus someone who might be shipping more more mill direct? How are you managing through the volatility? Thanks.

謝謝。如果可以的話，再來一張。你到底是什麼？ 我知道你在準備好的發言中評論了一些，但是考慮到波動性和建造率，也許還有你的立場，你能否給我們更多關於你在航空航天和國防領域看到的情況的細節作為分銷商/加工商，還是直接向工廠發貨的人？您如何應對波動？謝謝。

Yes. So certainly the defense projects, the programs that we participate in, those have been strong. They continue to be strong. Whether it's aerospace, military defense or more general military and defense. Unfortunately, because of what's going on in the world, we see strong demand continuing in those pockets. But specifically on the aerospace side that continues to be strong.

是的。當然，我們參與的國防項目和計劃都很強大。他們繼續堅強。無論是航空航太、軍事防禦或更一般的軍事和國防。不幸的是，由於世界上正在發生的事情，我們看到這些地區的需求持續強勁。但特別是在航空航天方面，它仍然表現強勁。

Commercial aerospace certainly with some of the manufacturers not producing at the announced build rates that they've been buying to. We're anticipating some pressure potentially on just on the activity on the flow. We've still been busy so far. Our shipments have been pretty steady, but we think there could be some pressure coming on the supply chain just because of the dynamics that are out there.

商業航空航太領域肯定有一些製造商沒有按照他們所宣布的購買速度進行生產。我們預計流量活動可能會面臨一些壓力。到目前為止我們仍然很忙。我們的出貨量一直相當穩定，但我們認為，由於目前的動態，供應鏈可能會面臨一些壓力。

Timna Tanners, Wolfe Research.

蒂姆納坦納斯，沃爾夫研究。

I wanted to dig in a little bit. Hello, I wanted to dig in a little bit more on the pricing outlook, if I could. Does that reflect like today's spot price for carbon steel and the retreat in some of the base metals tied products? Or if I'm missing something, is there any other items that could explain that guidance?

我想深入挖掘一下。您好，如果可以的話，我想進一步了解定價前景。這是否反映了今天碳鋼的現貨價格以及一些基本金屬相關產品的回落？或者，如果我遺漏了某些內容，是否有其他項目可以解釋該指南？

Yes, Timna. So as we commented, the prices in Q2 primarily for some of the major carbon items that we sell, plate, beam, tubing. We saw those prices fall further, flat roll included as well, fall further than we had anticipated for the quarter. We thought we were at a point earlier in the quarter where we had hit the bottom, but then prices went down further from there.

是的，提姆納。正如我們所評論的，第二季的價格主要針對我們銷售的一些主要碳產品，板材、梁、管材。我們看到這些價格進一步下跌，包括平卷價格，下跌幅度超出了我們對本季的預期。我們認為本季早些時候我們已經觸底，但隨後價格進一步下跌。

For our guide for Q3, yes, a lot of that the decline we're talking about is for the average for Q3 compared to the average of Q2. So it does for the most part reflect where prices are currently. It's not anticipating significant declines from where we are today.

對於我們第三季的指南，是的，我們談論的大部分下降是第三季的平均值與第二季的平均值相比。因此，它在很大程度上反映了當前的價格水平。預計不會比今天的情況大幅下降。

Okay. That's helpful. Thanks. And then maybe as backing up, is there much impact from the roller coaster back down from the aluminum and other base metals prices? Or is the aluminum segment almost entirely toll processing?

好的。這很有幫助。謝謝。那麼也許作為支撐，鋁和其他基本金屬價格的過山車回落是否會產生很大影響？還是鋁材部分幾乎完全是來料加工？

Yes. We certainly do a lot of toll processing of automotive aluminum. But we're selling all the different metal products. Aerospace, heat treat plate, mainly that we sell into aerospace, that pricing doesn't follow the LME the way common alloy does. And with the Russian sanctions that were announced in Q2, there was more of a bump than we had anticipated in a positive way to aluminum and stainless, but we've seen those pull back. It was a short lived increase in the pricing.

是的。我們當然對汽車鋁材進行了大量的來料加工。但我們銷售所有不同的金屬產品。航空航天，熱處理板材，主要是我們銷售給航空航天的，其定價不像普通合金那樣遵循倫敦金屬交易所。隨著第二季宣布的俄羅斯制裁，鋁和不銹鋼的增長超出了我們的預期，但我們已經看到這些增長有所回落。這是價格的短暫上漲。

Sorry, Timna. I was just going to say they're roughly 16% of our sales. And to Karla's point, when you look at some of the aerospace products included in that 16%, those don't follow the LME pricing. So that's where you might get a little different pricing trends on the aluminum side of the business.

對不起，提姆娜。我只是想說它們大約占我們銷售額的 16%。對於卡拉的觀點，當你查看這 16% 中包含的一些航空航天產品時，你會發現它們並不遵循 LME 定價。因此，您可能會在鋁業務方面獲得一些不同的定價趨勢。

Okay. Thank you. Wanted to also look into the SG&A a little bit more. I know from history and from your prepared remarks, you look to temper that with declining earnings. But if we just look year over year, it hasn't really come down as much as your overall profits have.

好的。謝謝。我還想進一步了解 SG&A。我從歷史和你準備好的言論中知道，你希望透過收入下降來緩和這種情況。但如果我們只看逐年情況，就會發現它的下降幅度並沒有你的整體利潤那麼大。

So I know you mentioned that there's wage inflation, but also less profit sharing, but are there other steps that you can take, given your guidance and where the market is? Are there other steps that you can take to take a deeper hit to some of that overhead to manage it with what's happening in the broader market?

所以我知道你提到薪資上漲，但利潤分享也減少，但根據你的指導和市場狀況，你還可以採取其他措施嗎？您是否可以採取其他措施來進一步減少部分管理費用，以便根據更廣泛的市場發生的情況進行管理？

Yes, Timna, on the expense side we feel our teams throughout the companies are doing a good job managing. I mean, one of the things that we can do is sell more metal profitably. So that's part of our smart profitable growth we talk about to make up and cover some of the higher costs.

是的，蒂姆納，在費用方面，我們認為我們整個公司的團隊在管理方面做得很好。我的意思是，我們可以做的事情之一就是出售更多金屬以獲取利潤。因此，這是我們明智的獲利成長的一部分，我們談論的是彌補和覆蓋一些較高的成本。

Everyone's operating with higher costs now. We're continuously in each of our businesses looking at ways to become more efficient. But a lot of times it really is company-by-company. We do have some of our businesses who recently have had to lay off some employees because their business volumes are down.

現在每個人的營運成本都更高。我們在每項業務中不斷尋找提高效率的方法。但很多時候，這確實是各家公司之間的事。我們確實有一些企業最近因為業務量下降而不得不解僱一些員工。

That's one of the ways that we manage our expenses, although we do very much value our employees and the skills that they have. So we try to retain them as long as we can, but sometimes business conditions in certain markets require us to do some layoffs. But I think we continue to try to manage expenses and we'll continue to look for ways. But there's not one magic bullet we have that applies across all of our companies to do that.

這是我們管理開支的方式之一，儘管我們非常重視我們的員工及其所擁有的技能。因此，我們會盡力留住他們，但有時某些市場的業務狀況會要求我們進行一些裁員。但我認為我們將繼續努力管理開支，並將繼續尋找方法。但我們沒有一種靈丹妙藥可以適用於我們所有的公司來做到這一點。

Okay. Thank you. One last one for me, if I could. I know you mentioned A&D and discussed that, but that seems like in the last couple of days, we're seeing growing caution around the auto end market, and some disappointment there. Can you just elaborate a little bit more on if you're seeing any of it or if you feel like you might have some offsetting factors that can keep your business more stable?

好的。謝謝。如果可以的話，給我最後一張。我知道您提到了 A&D 並對此進行了討論，但似乎在過去幾天裡，我們看到人們對汽車終端市場越來越謹慎，並且有些失望。如果您看到其中任何一個，或者您覺得可能有一些抵消因素可以使您的業務更加穩定，您能否詳細說明一下？

Yes. As you know, Timna, most of what we do with automotive is on the toll processing side and so we're inspecting them out over, processing the metal, we're storing the metal, we're doing logistics. We've seen that business, which we have a lot here in the US also in Mexico.

是的。正如你所知，蒂姆納，我們對汽車所做的大部分工作都是在收費加工方面，所以我們正在檢查它們，加工金屬，我們存儲金屬，我們正在做物流。我們已經看到了這樣的業務，在美國和墨西哥都有很多這樣的業務。

We've seen those markets remain stable and they've grown over last year. We hear the same comments maybe a little more cautious, but our businesses are still doing well with the aluminum toll processing that we do.

我們看到這些市場保持穩定，並且比去年有所成長。我們聽到同樣的評論，可能會更加謹慎一些，但我們的鋁來料加工業務仍然表現良好。

That we believe is still growing. Our carbon side of the business has grown as well, but we think that we may be positioned a little better. And on the carbon side too, the different platforms that we're on, we're not concerned. We think the market is still stable for us there.

我們相信這一點仍在增長。我們的碳業務也有所成長，但我們認為我們的定位可能會更好一些。在碳方面，我們所處的不同平台也不關心。我們認為那裡的市場仍然穩定。

Okay. Thanks for all the color.

好的。感謝所有的顏色。

Katja Jancic, BMO Capital Markets.

Katja Jancic，BMO 資本市場。

Karla, you mentioned the investments in the semiconductor expansion. Can you talk a bit about what the status of that project is and also especially given the market has slowed down?

卡拉，您提到了半導體擴張的投資。您能否談談該專案的現狀，特別是考慮到市場已經放緩？

Yes, Katja. So we have been dealing for, I think a little over a year now with a weaker market from the record levels that the semiconductor industry had been operating at globally. And that's again part of what we have to deal with, really a buildup in the supply chain when a lot of factors impacted the semiconductor flow, especially from some products in the US going globally. So our folks have been managing through that.

是的，卡佳。因此，我認為我們已經應對了一年多一點的市場疲軟，而半導體產業的全球營運水準已經達到創紀錄的水準。這又是我們必須處理的問題的一部分，當許多因素影響半導體流動時，尤其是美國的一些產品走向全球時，供應鏈中的累積確實如此。所以我們的員工一直在努力解決這個問題。

We think the supply glut is starting to be worked out and we're seeing a little better activity with some of the equipment manufacturers. As far as the investments we're making, we are still very bullish on the semiconductor industry in the long-term. It does take some time to build our facilities. These are probably a little more advanced facilities than some of our other service centers. So our smaller expansion in Texas has been up and running.

我們認為供應過剩的問題已經開始解決，我們看到一些設備製造商的活動有所改善。就我們正在進行的投資而言，我們仍然非常看好半導體產業的長期發展。建造我們的設施確實需要一些時間。這些設施可能比我們其他一些服務中心更先進一些。因此，我們在德克薩斯州的規模較小的擴張已經啟動並運行。

It's still ramping a bit, but that one is producing. Our larger investment in Texas has been continuing through the process. I think probably late this year, beginning of next year, we'll be starting to operate in that facility. And we're comfortable with the timing and with the investments that we've made there and excited about what we'll be able to provide in the US semiconductor market.

它仍在一點點增長，但那個正在生產。我們在德克薩斯州的較大投資一直在整個過程中持續進行。我想可能會在今年年底、明年初，我們將開始在該設施中運作。我們對時機和我們在那裡所做的投資感到滿意，並對我們將能夠在美國半導體市場提供的產品感到興奮。

And then maybe shifting gears a little bit to the M&A environment. What are you seeing there? How does your pipeline look like right now?

然後也許會稍微轉向併購環境。你在那裡看到什麼？您的管道現在怎麼樣？

Yes, I mean, we're really happy. We've been able to add some really good companies to the Reliance family this year with the acquisitions we've already completed and announced. They're all pretty strategic helping us with our growth plans and working with some of our existing Reliance companies.

是的，我是說，我們真的很高興。今年，透過我們已經完成並宣布的收購，我們已經為 Reliance 家族增添了一些非常優秀的公司。他們都非常具有戰略意義，幫助我們制定成長計劃並與我們現有的一些 Reliance 公司合作。

And we continue to see opportunity. It's been a pretty good flow for the last year or so. And I would say especially with what we would talk about the service centers who fit Reliance's model, we've been happy to see a continuous flow there.

我們繼續看到機會。在過去一年左右的時間裡，這是一個非常好的流程。我想說的是，特別是在我們談論適合 Reliance 模式的服務中心時，我們很高興看到那裡的持續流動。

Perfect. Thank you.

完美的。謝謝。

Lawson Winder, Bank of America Securities.

勞森溫德，美國銀行證券公司。

So first off, I just wanted to get an idea of whether or not you're seeing any pickup in ordering activity from carbon steel customers. So like understanding there's a bit of seasonality involved, but feedback from the mills has indicated that after a pretty weak Q2 activity has potentially started to pick up in recent weeks. Are you seeing that?

首先，我只是想了解碳鋼客戶的訂購活動是否有增加。因此，就像理解其中涉及一些季節性一樣，但工廠的反饋表明，在相當疲弱的第二季度活動之後，最近幾周可能開始回升。你看到了嗎？

Yes, hi, Lawson. So as we've talked about, we talked about in Q1 and continued in Q2 when there are price decreases happening, sometimes buyers will hold back, but they can only do that for so long and they need metal. So I would say we did see second quarter was a little uncertain.

是的，嗨，勞森。正如我們所討論的，我們在第一季度討論過，並在第二季度繼續討論，當價格發生下跌時，有時買家會猶豫不決，但他們只能這樣做這麼長時間，而且他們需要金屬。所以我想說我們確實看到第二季有點不確定。

I think some of our companies talked about like June. It seemed uncertainty increased a little bit, and there may have been a pullback, but then we saw people coming back in. I've seen the comments from the mills about the service center industry, not Reliance. We try to buy based on what we're shipping.

我認為我們的一些公司談論過類似六月的事情。不確定性似乎增加了一點，可能出現了回調，但隨後我們看到人們回來了。我們嘗試根據我們運送的貨物進行購買。

And so that's how we manage our business and how we place our orders. We try to be as consistent as we can subject to our customers' buying patterns. So and overall, we still see demand pretty stable subject to the seasonal impacts. But I don't know that we can really comment much on what's happening really outside of Reliance.

這就是我們管理業務和下訂單的方式。我們盡力維持客戶購買模式的一致性。因此，整體而言，我們仍然認為受季節性影響，需求相當穩定。但我不知道我們是否真的可以對 Reliance 之外發生的事情發表太多評論。

Yes, I agree, Lawson. Hi, it's Steve. We'd like to -- we've understood from the mills over the years that they want a consistent order book. So instead of we're not a company that goes in and buys 50,000 tons in one quarter than is out of the market the next quarter.

是的，我同意，勞森。嗨，我是史蒂夫。我們希望——多年來我們從工廠了解到，他們想要一份一致的訂單。因此，我們不是一家在一個季度進入並購買 50,000 噸的公司，而是在下一個季度退出市場的公司。

So we're buying consistently each and every month. We've not heard from the mills that they're having trouble filling our orders or that they're being extended with big orders coming from our competitors. So we've not seen any spike in the carbon activity at the mill level.

所以我們每個月都會持續購買。我們沒有聽到工廠說他們在履行我們的訂單時遇到困難，或者他們正在接受我們競爭對手的大訂單。因此，我們沒有看到工廠層級的碳活動出現任何高峰。

Okay. Thanks, Karla. Thanks, Steve, for adding that color and totally fair. It's all helpful color. I wanted to follow-up on the M&A question and just ask it a slightly different way, which is how are you perceiving value?

好的。謝謝，卡拉。謝謝史蒂夫添加了這種顏色，而且完全公平。都是有用的顏色。我想跟進併購問題，只是以稍微不同的方式問它，即您如何看待價值？

I mean, particularly given that I mean this year fuel activity for Reliance has really, really picked up after a bit of a lull for a number of years. Are the weaker steel prices perhaps helping bring those bid ask spreads back to an area that's a little bit more digestible or comfortable for Reliance? And are you seeing opportunities in any particular region, or is it fairly spread?

我的意思是，特別是考慮到今年信實公司的燃料活動在經歷了幾年的平靜之後確實確實有所回升。鋼材價格走軟是否可能有助於將買賣價差拉回信實集團更容易消化或更舒適的區域？您是否在某個特定地區看到了機會，或者機會是否相當分散？

Yes, on the M&A side and valuation at Reliance, we've had a pretty consistent approach for many years to how we value companies. And we focus on what we think a normalized pretax income or EBITDA level is for the long-term. When Reliance acquires companies, we're bringing them into the family really more on a permanent basis.

是的，在 Reliance 的併購和估值方面，多年來我們對公司估值的方法一直非常一致。我們關注的是我們認為長期正常化的稅前收入或 EBITDA 水準。當 Reliance 收購公司時，我們實際上是在將它們永久地納入我們的大家庭。

So we really take a long-term view and certainly market conditions outlooks can impact that a bit. But we've been in the business a long time, so we did not believe that the 2021, 2022 record metal prices would hold for the long-term. We certainly enjoyed it while it was here, but we weren't comfortable valuing companies at that level.

因此，我們確實著眼長遠，當然市場狀況前景可能會對此產生一些影響。但我們已經從事這個行業很久了，所以我們不相信 2021 年、2022 年創紀錄的金屬價格會長期維持。我們當然很喜歡它在這裡的時候，但我們對這種水平的公司估值感到不舒服。

So with our normalized long-term approach, our valuation methodology stayed consistent and so we didn't get some of those deals. Some of those deals just didn't get done in the market anyway because others had the same view on pricing outlooks. And so I think overall expectations are more in line now between buyers and sellers and a more realistic outlook on earnings levels going forward.

因此，透過我們標準化的長期方法，我們的估值方法保持一致，因此我們沒有獲得其中一些交易。其中一些交易無論如何都沒有在市場上完成，因為其他人對定價前景持有相同的看法。因此，我認為現在買家和賣家之間的整體預期更加一致，並且對未來收益水準的前景更加現實。

Okay, great. Very, very helpful. And then if I might try a bit of a trickier question, which is just thinking about the election coming up in November, and for your business, how might we think about risks and opportunities for Reliance?

好的，太好了。非常非常有幫助。然後，如果我可以嘗試一個更棘手的問題，即考慮 11 月即將到來的選舉，對於您的業務，我們如何考慮 Reliance 的風險和機會？

There are always risks and opportunities out there in our business. That's what we manage through. That's what our people do well every day. I would say good news for Reliance is we're in many different products. We've got a diverse product base, diverse geographies, diverse end markets and many, many things if you look around require metal.

我們的業務始終存在風險和機會。這就是我們的管理方式。這就是我們的人民每天都做得很好的事情。我想說，對於 Reliance 來說，好消息是我們擁有許多不同的產品。我們擁有多元化的產品基礎、多元化的地理位置、多元化的終端市場，如果你環顧四周，有很多很多東西都需要金屬。

So even if there's a shift on energy priorities or various other markets, most of those still require metal and we sell many metals that are used out there. So we'll manage through it just like anything else and don't have a bias or preference in any direction.

因此，即使能源優先事項或其他各種市場發生變化，其中大多數仍然需要金屬，而我們出售許多在那裡使用的金屬。因此，我們將像其他任何事情一樣處理它，並且在任何方向上都沒有偏見或偏好。

Okay, fair. Very diplomatic response. Thank you for your color and helpful responses Karla and team.

好吧，公平。非常外交的回應。感謝您的色彩和有用的回覆卡拉和團隊。

Thank you. There are no further questions at this time. I would like to turn the floor back over to Karla Lewis for closing comments.

謝謝。目前沒有其他問題。我想把發言權交還給卡拉·劉易斯以徵求結束意見。

Great. So thanks again for joining our call today and thank you to each of our 15,000 Reliance employees for all that you do every day to drive our company forward. Please be safe.

偉大的。再次感謝您今天加入我們的電話會議，並感謝我們 15,000 名 Reliance 員工每天為推動我們公司前進所做的一切。請注意安全。

And before we close out the call, I'd like to remind everyone that next month we'll be participating in Seaport's Annual Virtual Summer Conference. Thank you again for your continued support of Reliance and we are more than metal.

在我們結束電話會議之前，我想提醒大家，下個月我們將參加海港的年度虛擬夏季會議。再次感謝您對 Reliance 的持續支持，我們不僅僅是金屬。

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

謝謝。今天的電話會議到此結束。此時您可以斷開線路。感謝您的參與。