Sterling Infrastructure Inc (STRL) 2024 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Sterling Infrastructure second-quarter 2024 conference call and webcast. (Operator Instructions)

早安，女士們、先生們，歡迎參加 Sterling 基礎設施 2024 年第二季電話會議和網路廣播。（操作員說明）

As a reminder, this call is being recorded on Tuesday, August 6, 2024. I would now like to turn the conference call over to Noelle Dilts, Vice President in Investor Relations and Corporate Strategy. Please go ahead.

謹此提醒，此通話錄音時間為 2024 年 8 月 6 日星期二。我現在想將電話會議轉交給投資者關係和企業策略副總裁諾埃爾·迪爾茨 (Noelle Dilts)。請繼續。

Thank you. Good morning to everyone joining us, and welcome to Sterling infrastructure's 2024 second-quarter earnings conference call and webcast. I'm pleased to be here today to discuss our results with Joe Cutillo, Sterling's Chief Executive Officer, and Sharon Villaverde, Sterling's Chief Financial Officer.

謝謝。大家早安，歡迎參加 Sterling 基礎設施的 2024 年第二季財報電話會議和網路廣播。我很高興今天能夠與 Sterling 執行長 Joe Cutillo 和 Sterling 財務長 Sharon Villaverde 討論我們的表現。

Joe will open the call with an overview of the company and its performance in the quarter. Sharon will then discuss our financial results and guidance, after which Joe will provide a market and full-year outlook. We will then open the call up for questions.

喬將在電話會議開始時概述公司及其本季的業績。然後，沙龍將討論我們的財務業績和指導，之後喬將提供市場和全年展望。然後我們將開放提問。

As a reminder, there are accompanying slides on the Investor Relations section of our website. The slides includes details on our updated financial guidance. Before turning the call over to Joe, I will read the Safe Harbor statement.

提醒一下，我們網站的投資者關係部分有隨附的幻燈片。這些幻燈片包含有關我們更新的財務指導的詳細資訊。在將電話轉給喬之前，我將閱讀安全港聲明。

The discussion today may include forward-looking statements. Actual results could differ materially from the statements made today. Please refer to Sterling's most recent 10-K and 10-Q filings for a more complete description of risk factors that could affect these projections and assumptions. The company assumes no obligation to update forward-looking statements as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

今天的討論可能包括前瞻性陳述。實際結果可能與今天的聲明有重大差異。請參閱 Sterling 最近的 10-K 和 10-Q 文件，以了解可能影響這些預測和假設的風險因素的更完整描述。本公司不承擔因新資訊、未來事件或其他原因而更新前瞻性陳述的義務。

Please also note that management may reference EBITDA adjusted EBITDA, adjusted net income or adjusted earnings per share on this call, which are all financial measures not recognized under US GAAP.

另請注意，管理層可能會在本次電話會議上參考 EBITDA 調整後 EBITDA、調整後淨利潤或調整後每股收益，這些都是美國公認會計準則未認可的財務指標。

As required by SEC rules and regulations, these non-GAAP financial measures are reconciled to their most comparable GAAP financial measures in our earnings release issued yesterday afternoon. I'll now turn the call over to our CEO, Joe Cutillo.

根據 SEC 規則和法規的要求，這些非 GAAP 財務指標與我們昨天下午發布的收益報告中最具可比性的 GAAP 財務指標進行了調整。我現在將把電話轉給我們的執行長 Joe Cutillo。

Thanks, Noelle. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining Sterling's second-quarter 2024 earnings call. Our second quarter results reflect our commitment to delivering strong bottom line growth and cash flow to our shareholders.

謝謝，諾艾爾。大家早安，感謝您參加 Sterling 的 2024 年第二季財報電話會議。我們第二季的業績反映了我們致力於為股東提供強勁的利潤成長和現金流的承諾。

For the quarter, we delivered EPS of $1.67, up 31% over prior year and a new second quarter record. Our continued focus on margin expansion helped drive gross profit margins to over 19%. We grew operating income 20% on revenue growth of 12% as we continue to shift our mix towards higher margin services.

本季度，我們實現每股收益 1.67 美元，比去年同期增長 31%，創下第二季新紀錄。我們對利潤率擴張的持續關注幫助將毛利率提升至 19% 以上。隨著我們繼續將業務組合轉向利潤率更高的服務，我們的營業收入成長了 20%，收入成長了 12%。

We are seeing strong tailwinds across our markets and bidding activity remains very solid. Backlog at the end of the quarter totaled $2.1 billion, an increase of 21% over prior year and a 2% increase from the beginning of the year.

我們看到整個市場強勁的推動力，投標活動仍然非常活躍。本季末的積壓訂單總額為 21 億美元，比去年同期成長 21%，比年初成長 2%。

Combined backlog, which reflects a more comprehensive view of our awards, was $2.45 billion, a 2.2% increase from the prior year. Our book-to-burn ratio for combined backlog was above 1 for the quarter, and we continue to have very good visibility into the opportunity pipeline ahead.

合併後的訂單金額為 24.5 億美元，比上一年增長 2.2%，這反映了我們對獎項的更全面的看法。本季度，我們的合併積壓訂單的預訂與銷毀比率高於 1，並且我們對未來的機會管道繼續有充分的了解。

Our outlook is even better than what is captured in our backlog metrics. As our work shifts towards large multi-phase projects in both Transportation and e-infrastructure, we have greater visibility into future phases of work.

我們的前景甚至比我們的積壓指標所反映的還要好。隨著我們的工作轉向交通和電子基礎設施領域的大型多階段項目，我們對未來工作階段有了更大的了解。

Though we are not guaranteed to win these future phases, we have historically had a high probability of doing so. This high probability work pipeline now totals over $0.5 billion. We had another great cash generation quarter with operating cash flow of $121 million.

儘管我們不能保證贏得未來的這些階段，但從歷史上看，我們很有可能做到這一點。這一高機率的工作管道目前總價值超過 5 億美元。我們又度過了一個出色的現金產生季度，營運現金流達 1.21 億美元。

Our balance sheet is in great shape, and our net cash position is now $211 million. We are actively seeking acquisitions that will complement our strong platform and accelerate growth.

我們的資產負債表狀況良好，淨現金部位目前為 2.11 億美元。我們正在積極尋求收購，以補充我們強大的平台並加速成長。

The Sterling Way is our commitment to take care of our people, our environment, our investors and our communities, while we build America's infrastructure. This remains our (inaudible) as we grow and diversify our business. I want to personally thank each of our employees for helping us deliver another fantastic quarter.

Sterling Way 是我們在建立美國基礎設施的同時照顧我們的人民、我們的環境、我們的投資者和我們的社區的承諾。隨著我們業務的發展和多元化，這仍然是我們的（聽不清楚）。我個人要感謝我們的每一位員工，感謝他們幫助我們實現了另一個出色的季度。

Now I'd like to discuss our results for the second quarter of 2024. In e-infrastructure, our largest and highest-margin segment, operating profit grew 20% as operating margins expanded over 480 basis points to reach 21.4%. This strong margin expansion reflects our continued focus on large mission-critical projects and excellent execution.

現在我想討論一下我們 2024 年第二季的業績。在我們規模最大、利潤率最高的電子基礎設施領域，營業利潤成長了 20%，營業利益率擴大了 480 個基點，達到 21.4%。這種強勁的利潤成長反映了我們對大型關鍵任務項目的持續關注和卓越的執行力。

As the small commercial and warehouse markets have softened and become less attractive from a margin perspective, we have elected to shift our efforts and resources towards the large project markets, including data centers and manufacturing.

由於小型商業和倉儲市場已經疲軟，從利潤角度來看吸引力下降，我們選擇將我們的努力和資源轉向大型專案市場，包括資料中心和製造。

While this shift is impacting top line growth, we believe it is the best and most efficient use of our resources as we strive to optimize returns. Total e-infrastructure revenue increased by 7% in the second quarter, reflecting this rotation.

雖然這種轉變正在影響營收成長，但我們相信，在我們努力優化回報的過程中，這是對我們資源的最佳、最有效的利用。第二季電子基礎設施總收入成長了 7%，反映了這種輪調。

Our data center revenue, which now represents over 40% of our e-infrastructure backlog, grew more than 100% in the quarter. Small commercial and warehouse work declined over $30 million from the second quarter of 2023. In the manufacturing market, we faced a challenging revenue comparison due to the start-up of a large project in early 2023.

我們的資料中心收入目前占我們電子基礎設施積壓訂單的 40% 以上，本季成長超過 100%。與 2023 年第二季相比，小型商業和倉庫工程減少了超過 3,000 萬美元。在製造市場，由於 2023 年初啟動了一個大型項目，我們面臨著具有挑戰性的收入比較。

Activity on these types of projects tend to be front-end loaded then level out over the remainder of the project duration.

這些類型專案的活動往往是前端加載的，然後在專案持續時間的剩餘時間內趨於平穩。

Work on this project will continue through early 2026, but at moderately lower revenue levels than the peak quarters of Q2 and Q3 2023. e-infrastructure awards were $148 million in the quarter, driving backlog to $868 million, relatively flat to prior year period and a 7% increase from the beginning of the year.

該項目的工作將持續到2026 年初，但收入水平略低於2023 年第二季度和第三季度的高峰季度。去年同期相對持平，較年初成長7%。

The data center market was again the largest driver of awards as customers are racing to build the capacity needed for technology advancements, including AI.

資料中心市場再次成為獎項的最大推動力，因為客戶正在競相建立包括人工智慧在內的技術進步所需的容量。

We continue to leverage our resources across our business segments to expand e-infrastructure into the Rocky Mountain region, where we now have three sizable base of data center projects. We continue to see improvements in the Northeast and have picked up some additional data center awards in the Mid-Atlantic subsequent to quarter end.

我們繼續利用我們各個業務部門的資源，將電子基礎設施擴展到落基山地區，我們現在在那裡擁有三個相當大的資料中心專案基地。我們繼續看到東北地區的進步，並在季度末後在大西洋中部獲得了一些額外的資料中心獎項。

As our work continues to shift towards large projects, our pipeline of high probability future work has expanded, providing strong visibility into 2025 and 2026.

隨著我們的工作繼續轉向大型項目，我們未來工作的可能性已經擴大，為 2025 年和 2026 年提供了強大的可見性。

Moving to transportation solutions, revenues increased 54%, which was entirely organic, and operating profit grew 57%. Margins expanded 11 basis points from the prior year to reach 6.6%. Our markets are the strongest we have seen in our company's history and margin opportunities are very attractive.

轉向運輸解決方案後，收入成長了 54%，這完全是有機的，營業利潤成長了 57%。利潤率較上年增長 11 個基點，達到 6.6%。我們的市場是我們公司歷史上最強勁的市場，利潤機會非常有吸引力。

We ended the quarter with transportation solutions combined backlog of $1.5 billion, a 5% increase from the second quarter of 2023. Second quarter awards for transportation solutions were $88 million and unsigned awards totaled $309 million. However, the picture is stronger than the backlog and unsigned awards reflect.

本季結束時，我們的運輸解決方案積壓總額為 15 億美元，比 2023 年第二季成長 5%。第二季交通解決方案獎勵金額為 8,800 萬美元，未簽署獎勵總額為 3.09 億美元。然而，實際情況比積壓訂單和未簽署的獎項所反映的情況要強。

During the quarter, we were awarded the initial design for multiple large progressive design-build highway projects. The design work and backlog represents only a fraction of the anticipated total value of these projects.

本季度，我們獲得了多個大型漸進式設計建造高速公路專案的初步設計。設計工作和積壓工作僅佔這些項目預期總價值的一小部分。

Like in e-infrastructure, this has very high probability work to the pipeline that is not reflected in the awards in our backlog.

就像在電子基礎設施中一樣，這對管道來說有很高的可能性，而這並沒有反映在我們積壓的獎項中。

Moving to building solutions, total segment revenue declined 2% in the quarter, while operating income grew 2%. Results in the quarter were varied across our markets and geographies. We Revenue for our residential concrete lab business declined 7%.

在建立解決方案方面，該季度的總收入下降了 2%，而營業收入則增加了 2%。本季的結果在我們的市場和地區各不相同。我們住宅混凝土實驗室業務的收入下降了 7%。

This decline was largely driven by heavy rainfall in Texas. In addition, the availability of developed land was challenging for the builders. Builders absorbed much of the available capacity during the very strong first quarter and now we're working to catch up.

這一下降主要是由於德克薩斯州的強降雨造成的。此外，已開發土地的可用性對建築商來說也是一個挑戰。在非常強勁的第一季度，建築商吸收了大部分可用產能，現在我們正在努力迎頭趕上。

PPG continues to perform very well, with pro forma organic growth of 8% and strong margins. Our commercial business declined $14 million from the prior year period, which is in line with our expectations.

PPG 持續表現出色，預計有機成長率為 8%，利潤率強勁。我們的商業業務比去年同期減少了 1,400 萬美元，符合我們的預期。

The continued mix shift towards residential slabs and plumbing has a favorable impact on the segment's operating margins, which expanded 57 basis points to 12.7%. With that, I'd like to turn it over to Sharon to give you more details on the quarter and our full year guidance. Sharon?

持續向住宅樓板和管道的組合轉變對該部門的營業利潤產生了有利影響，營業利潤率擴大了 57 個基點，達到 12.7%。說到這裡，我想將其交給莎倫，向您提供有關本季度和全年指導的更多詳細資訊。莎倫？

Thanks, Joe, and good morning. I'd like to take you through some of the details of our financial results, beginning with our backlog metrics. Our second quarter backlog totaled $2.1 billion, a 20.9% increase over the year ago period.

謝謝，喬，早安。我想向您介紹我們財務表現的一些細節，首先是我們的積壓指標。我們第二季的積壓訂單總額為 21 億美元，比去年同期成長 20.9%。

The gross margin of this backlog was 16%, a 50 basis point improvement from the same quarter last year. a higher level of e-infrastructure backlog and an increase of both the amount of Transportation backlog and its backlog margin drove this improvement.

本次積壓訂單的毛利率為16%，較去年同季提高50個基點。電子基礎設施積壓水準的提高以及運輸積壓數量及其積壓利潤的增加推動了這一改善。

Unsigned awards totaled $347.2 million in the quarter. We closed the quarter with combined backlog of $2.4 billion, a 2.2% increase from the prior year second quarter and up modestly over the first quarter of 2024 to a new record.

本季未簽署的獎金總額為 3.472 億美元。本季末，我們的積壓訂單總額為 24 億美元，比去年第二季成長 2.2%，比 2024 年第一季小幅成長，創下新紀錄。

Second quarter 2024 book-to-burn ratios were 0.49 times for backlog, and 1.05 times for combined backlog. Award timing is inherently lumpy in our business and is best viewed over a multi-quarter period. Year-to-date, book-to-burn ratios were 1.04 times for backlog and 1.09 times for combined backlog.

2024 年第二季積壓訂單的預訂銷毀比率為 0.49 倍，合併積壓訂單的預訂銷毀比率為 1.05 倍。在我們的業務中，獎勵時間本質上是不穩定的，最好在多個季度的時期內進行觀察。年初至今，積壓訂單的預訂與銷毀比率為 1.04 倍，合併積壓訂單的預訂銷毀比率為 1.09 倍。

Turning to our second quarter income statement, revenue was $582.8 million, an increase of 11.6% over the prior year quarter. Organic revenue growth was 8.4%. Current quarter consolidated gross profit was $112.7 million, an increase of 22.2% over the 2023 period. Gross margin increased to 19.3%, a 160 basis point improvement over the second quarter of 2023.

轉向我們第二季的損益表，營收為 5.828 億美元，比去年同期成長 11.6%。有機收入成長率為 8.4%。本季綜合毛利為 1.127 億美元，較 2023 年同期成長 22.2%。毛利率增至 19.3%，較 2023 年第二季提高 160 個基點。

This margin increase primarily reflects improvements in e-infrastructure and transportation. General and administrative expense was 4.8% of revenue in the quarter. G&A expenses increased in the quarter by $3.8 million to $27.9 million. The increase reflects the PPG acquisition, general inflation and growth. Operating income for the second quarter was $72.7 million, a 20.7% increase over the prior year quarter.

這一利潤率的成長主要反映了電子基礎設施和交通的改善。本季一般及管理費用佔營收的 4.8%。本季的一般管理費用增加了 380 萬美元，達到 2,790 萬美元。這一增長反映了 PPG 的收購、整體通膨和成長。第二季營業收入為 7,270 萬美元，比去年同期成長 20.7%。

Our operating margin increased 94 basis points to 12.5%. Our effective income tax rate for the second quarter was 24.8%. We continue to expect our full year effective income tax rate to be approximately 25%.

我們的營業利益率成長了 94 個基點，達到 12.5%。我們第二季的有效所得稅率為 24.8%。我們仍然預計全年有效所得稅率約為 25%。

The net effect of these items resulted in a record second quarter with net income of $51.9 million or $1.67 per diluted share, an improvement of 31.4% and 31.5%, respectively, compared to the second quarter of 2023. The second quarter EBITDA totaled $87 million, an increase of 18.3% over the prior year quarter.

這些項目的淨效應導致第二季創紀錄的淨利潤為 5,190 萬美元或每股攤薄收益 1.67 美元，與 2023 年第二季相比分別增長 31.4% 和 31.5%。第二季 EBITDA 總計 8,700 萬美元，比去年同期成長 18.3%。

EBITDA margin improved to 14.9%, up from 14.1% in the prior year quarter. Cash flow from operating activities for the first half of 2024 was a strong $170.6 million compared to $181.1 million in the prior year period. Cash flow used in investing activities for the first half of 2024 included $44.4 million of net CapEx.

EBITDA 利潤率從去年同期的 14.1% 提高至 14.9%。2024 年上半年經營活動產生的現金流量高達 1.706 億美元，而去年同期為 1.811 億美元。2024 年上半年投資活動所用現金流包括 4,440 萬美元的淨資本支出。

As a result of the significant growth in our Transportation segment, we are raising our expected net CapEx for the year to $60 million to $65 million. Cash flow from financing activities was $56.8 million outflow, primarily driven by share repurchases of $30.1 million at an average price of $100.70 per share.

由於運輸部門的顯著成長，我們將今年的預期淨資本支出提高至 6,000 萬至 6,500 萬美元。融資活動產生的現金流量為 5,680 萬美元，主要是因為以每股 100.70 美元的平均價格回購了 3,010 萬美元的股票。

We ended the quarter with a very strong liquidity position consisting of $540 million of cash and debt of $328.9 million for a cash net of debt balance of $211.1 million. In addition, our $75 million revolving credit facility remained unused during the period.

本季結束時，我們的流動性狀況非常強勁，其中包括 5.4 億美元的現金和 3.289 億美元的債務，扣除債務後的現金餘額為 2.111 億美元。此外，我們的 7,500 萬美元循環信貸額度在此期間仍未使用。

With our strong first half results and significant opportunities in each of our operating segments, we are raising our financial guidance for the year. Our updated guidance ranges are as follows. Revenue of $2.15 billion to $2.225 billion, gross profit margin of 18.5% to 19%, net income of $175 million to $180 million, diluted EPS of $5.60 to $5.75, EBITDA of $300 million to $310 million.

憑藉我們上半年的強勁業績和每個營運部門的重大機遇，我們正在提高今年的財務指導。我們更新的指導範圍如下。營收為21.5億美元至22.25億美元，毛利率為18.5%至19%，淨利潤為1.75億美元至1.8億美元，稀釋後每股收益為5.60美元至5.75美元，EBITDA為3億美元至3.1億美元。

Considering the diversity and strength of our portfolio of businesses, our strong liquidity position and our comfortable onetime EBITDA leverage, we are well positioned to take advantage of additional opportunities to generate significant shareholder value in 2024 and beyond. Now I'll turn the call back to Joe.

考慮到我們業務組合的多樣性和實力、強大的流動性狀況以及舒適的一次性 EBITDA 槓桿，我們完全有能力利用更多機會在 2024 年及以後創造可觀的股東價值。現在我會把電話轉回給喬。

Thanks, Sharon. We see years of opportunity ahead associated with the revitalization of America's infrastructure. Sterling is playing a critical role in building the data infrastructure that enables today's way of life, the manufacturing production coming back to the US, the highways, the bridges, and the airports that connect us and the homes we live in.

謝謝，莎倫。我們看到未來數年與美國基礎設施振興相關的機會。Sterling 在建設資料基礎設施方面發揮關鍵作用，這些基礎設施使當今的生活方式、製造業生產回流美國、連接我們和我們居住的家庭的高速公路、橋樑和機場成為可能。

In e-infrastructure solutions, we anticipate continued strength in data centers as current capacity represents only a fraction of what is needed to support artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies. On the manufacturing front, we anticipate that in the remainder of 2024 and 2025, we will see a fairly steady pace of mid to large-sized onshoring related projects.

在電子基礎設施解決方案中，我們預計資料中心將繼續保持強勢，因為當前容量僅佔支援人工智慧和其他新興技術所需容量的一小部分。在製造方面，我們預計在 2024 年剩餘時間和 2025 年，我們將看到大中型在岸相關專案的穩步推進。

As we look out to 2026 and 2027, there is a very big pool of mega projects on the horizon. This would include planned chip plants. The size and duration of these projects is staggered, and will absorb a significant amount of the industry capacity.

展望 2026 年和 2027 年，大量大型專案即將出現。這將包括計劃中的晶片工廠。這些項目的規模和持續時間參差不齊，將吸收大量的產業產能。

Given the complexity involved in developing these projects, we believe it will take some time before awards start to flow. We expect that e-commerce and small warehouse markets will remain soft in 2024, but are encouraged by the preliminary activity we are seeing in these markets for 2025.

考慮到開發這些項目的複雜性，我們相信獎項開始流動還需要一些時間。我們預計 2024 年電子商務和小型倉庫市場將保持疲軟，但我們看到這些市場 2025 年的初步活動令人鼓舞。

These dynamics support strong profitability growth opportunities over a multiyear period for e-infrastructure. For 2024, we expect to deliver operating profit growth approaching 20%. In transportation solutions, we are now halfway through the current federal funding cycle, have built over two years of backlog, and continue to see a very robust level of bid activity.

這些動態為電子基礎設施在多年內提供了強勁的獲利成長機會。2024 年，我們預計營業利潤成長將接近 20%。在交通解決方案方面，我們目前的聯邦融資週期已過半，已經積壓了兩年多，並且繼續看到非常強勁的投標活動水平。

We believe we are now in a market environment where we can sustain elevated growth relative to historical levels, as long as margins remain at current levels or higher. We are very confident that our transportation business will deliver strong growth and margin expansion in 2024 and 2025.

我們相信，只要利潤率維持在當前水準或更高，我們現在所處的市場環境就可以維持相對於歷史水準的高速成長。我們非常有信心我們的運輸業務將在 2024 年和 2025 年實現強勁成長和利潤率擴張。

In building solutions, the business is well-positioned for growth over a multiyear period. Our key geographies of Dallas, Houston and Phoenix are expected to see continued population growth, driving demand for new homes.

在建立解決方案方面，該業務已做好多年成長的準備。我們的達拉斯、休士頓和鳳凰城等關鍵地區預計人口將持續成長，從而推動新房的需求。

Additionally, there are significant runway for share gain in our Houston and Phoenix markets. In the short term, builders are facing challenges associated with affordability and land availability that may tamper activity. The biggest variable in our growth outlook is interest rates.

此外，休士頓和鳳凰城市場的份額成長還有很大的空間。短期內，建築商面臨著與負擔能力和土地供應相關的挑戰，這可能會影響活動。我們成長前景中最大的變數是利率。

Any future cuts could accelerate new home demand. We anticipate modest top line growth in building solutions in 2024 with operating profit growth of over 20%.

未來的任何削減都可能加速新房需求。我們預計 2024 年建構解決方案的營收將出現適度成長，營業利潤成長將超過 20%。

On the M&A front, we are working hard to find the right deals to grow the company and enhance our service offering. The e-infrastructure market remains our top priority for M&A. We will remain patient and disciplined in our inorganic growth strategy.

在併購方面，我們正在努力尋找合適的交易來發展公司並增強我們的服務。電子基礎設施市場仍然是我們併購的重中之重。我們將在無機成長策略中保持耐心和紀律。

As it relates to share repurchases, we will continue to take an opportunistic approach. As a result of our strong first half performance and backlog position, we are raising full year guidance. The midpoint of our new guidance would represent 11% revenue growth, 28% diluted EPS growth and 18% EBITDA growth. With that, I'd like to turn it over for questions.

由於涉及股票回購，我們將繼續採取機會主義的態度。由於我們上半年的強勁表現和積壓情況，我們正在提高全年指導。我們新指引的中點將代表 11% 的營收成長、28% 的稀釋每股收益成長和 18% 的 EBITDA 成長。說到這裡，我想把它轉過來供大家提問。

(Operator Instructions) Brent Thielman from Davidson.

（操作員說明）Davidson 的 Brent Thielman。

Hey, thanks, good morning. Great quarter. Joe, I understand the shift you're making in e-infrastructure, obviously driving significant margins here. I guess my question is, at what point do those projects in commercial, kind of warehouse start to make sense for you to pursue again, even if they are potentially dilutive to the margins you're putting up today?

嘿，謝謝，早安。很棒的季度。喬，我了解您在電子基礎設施方面所做的轉變，顯然在這裡帶來了可觀的利潤。我想我的問題是，在什麼時候這些商業、倉庫類型的專案開始對你來說再次有意義，即使它們可能會稀釋你今天投入的利潤？

Yes. So the shift is what I'll call a somewhat of a temporary shift as the margins have declined on those commercial and warehouse projects. When they get back -- so there's a combination of things, Brent. There's obviously less projects coming out. Those projects are very dependent on interest rates.

是的。因此，這種轉變我稱之為暫時的轉變，因為這些商業和倉庫項目的利潤率已經下降。當他們回來時——布倫特，事情是結合在一起的。顯然，出來的項目越來越少。這些項目非常依賴利率。

So we saw that starting to slow down from an activity standpoint and pricing standpoint, second quarter of last year and just continue up till now. When those margins get back to close or historical levels with the improved margins we have in the other areas, we'll start going back after those.

因此，從去年第二季的活動角度和定價角度來看，我們看到這種趨勢開始放緩，並且一直持續到現在。當這些利潤率回到接近或歷史水平並且我們在其他領域的利潤率有所改善時，我們將開始恢復這些水平。

And I'll tell you, we're encouraged, just with the conversations around interest rates dropping and with some of the economic news, it certainly looks like it's much more probable and maybe better than greater reductions than we anticipated.

我會告訴你，我們很受鼓舞，只是隨著圍繞利率下降的討論和一些經濟新聞，它看起來確實比我們預期的更大程度的降息更有可能，甚至更好。

We've started seeing just over the last 30 days, projects that we've known be out there coming back and having conversations about pricing and timing and those sort of things. So we think realistically, kind of first quarter next year, we'll start seeing those projects coming back.

就在過去 30 天裡，我們開始看到我們已知的項目回來了，並就定價和時間安排等問題進行了對話。因此，我們現實地認為，明年第一季度，我們將開始看到這些項目回歸。

We won't go from 0 to 100 where we were overnight, but we're encouraged with what we're seeing, and that's kind of what we anticipate.

我們不會一夜之間從 0 升至 100，但我們對所看到的情況感到鼓舞，這也是我們的預期。

Yes. That's encouraging and helpful, Joe. As a follow-up, this $500 million pipeline framework associated with kind of these multi-phase projects. Joe, if you looked at that over time, is there a way for us to think about how quickly that converts into a signed contract?

是的。這是令人鼓舞和有幫助的，喬。作為後續行動，這個價值 5 億美元的管道框架與此類多階段項目相關。喬，如果你隨著時間的推移觀察這一點，我們是否有辦法考慮將其轉化為已簽署的合約的速度？

Just kind of wondering, as you've looked at it, how does that correspond with your reported backlog over time?

只是有點想知道，正如您所看到的，這與您報告的隨著時間推移的積壓工作有何對應？

Yes. I think what's -- here's the good and the confusing part of this. Strategically, we have been moving towards this over time. Our e-infrastructure business, the way the contracts are structured, as you know, Brent, is they have multiple phases. So we know that the total project could be multiple hundred millions of dollars, but the first phase release might be $30 million, $40 million, $50 million.

是的。我認為這就是其中的好處和令人困惑的部分。從戰略上講，我們一直朝著這個方向努力。我們的電子基礎設施業務，合約的結構方式，如你所知，布倫特，它們有多個階段。所以我們知道整個項目可能是數億美元，但第一階段發布可能是3000萬美元、4000萬美元、5000萬美元。

And to give you an example on a data center job, it's not uncommon for the initial piece to be around $30 million, and then that grows well over $100 million through the course of the project. Why we like it, just so everybody understands, is we bid and complete a phase, and then when the next phase comes out, we did and complete that.

舉一個資料中心工作的例子，最初的費用約為 3000 萬美元，然後在專案過程中這一金額將遠遠超過 1 億美元，這種情況並不少見。為什麼我們喜歡它，每個人都明白，我們投標並完成一個階段，然後當下一階段出現時，我們就這樣做並完成它。

So if there's inflation spikes or any changes in material availability or market conditions, we're locked into a very short period of time and having the ability to change that for e-infrastructure.

因此，如果出現通貨膨脹高峰或材料供應或市場狀況發生任何變化，我們就會被鎖定在很短的時間內，並且有能力改變電子基礎設施的情況。

On transportation, these progressive design build projects are even a little more confusing upfront, the design phase of a multi-hundred million dollar project might be $1 million to $2 million. And that's what we'll put in. Once the design is complete, we price the first phase.

在交通方面，這些漸進式的設計建造項目在前期就更令人困惑了，一個耗資數億美元的項目的設計階段可能需要 100 萬至 200 萬美元。這就是我們要放入的內容。設計完成後，我們將對第一階段進行定價。

So let's say, if it's a $200 million project, $30 million or $40 million, maybe $50 million comes into the first phase. We execute that and another $50 million comes in. So the timing is hard to give you an exact amount of time. What ends up happening is the backlog becomes more stable in the sense when we burn it down to 0.

假設這是一個 2 億美元的項目，那麼第一階段可能需要 3000 萬美元或 4000 萬美元，也許 5000 萬美元。我們執行了該計劃，另外 5000 萬美元就進來了。所以時間上很難給你一個準確的時間。最終發生的事情是，當我們將積壓降到 0 時，積壓變得更加穩定。

We put another $50 million in. We've burned that $50 million, we put another $50 million in. So it doesn't look like we've got this big win. If we put $200 million in day 1, everybody would be really excited about the backlog increase, we know we have the $200 million, but it shows up is $1.5 million (technical difficulty)

我們又投入了 5000 萬美元。我們已經燒掉了那 5000 萬美元，我們又投入了 5000 萬美元。所以看起來我們並沒有取得這麼大的勝利。如果我們在第一天投入 2 億美元，每個人都會對積壓的增加感到非常興奮，我們知道我們有 2 億美元，但顯示的是 150 萬美元（技術難度）

-- Talk about not only why we raised guidance, but as we talk about the tailwinds and the strength that we're seeing in the markets, we certainly have more visibility into future work than we ever had. And I would tell you, 18 months ago, that $500 million number was probably $100 million.

——不僅要談論我們提出指導意見的原因，而且當我們談論我們在市場上看到的順風和力量時，我們當然比以往任何時候都對未來的工作有更多的了解。我會告訴你，18 個月前，5 億美元的數字可能是 1 億美元。

I don't have the exact number, but it's grown significantly. And I think over the next 6 to 12 months, that will grow even further.

我沒有確切的數字，但它已經顯著增長。我認為在未來 6 到 12 個月內，這一數字將會進一步成長。

Okay. That's great. Maybe just the last one, Joe. Transportation, I know can kind of be inherently a lumpy bookings business. I guess, as you look at the schedules over the regions that you predominantly serve through the rest of the year.

好的。那太棒了。也許只是最後一個，喬。我知道，交通運輸本質上是一個不穩定的預訂業務。我想，當你查看今年剩餘時間裡主要服務的地區的時間表時。

Are there some pretty good opportunities for additions here to the backlog in the second half?

下半年是否有一些很好的機會來增加積壓的訂單？

Yes. I will tell you, I have approved for us to bid more work in the last 30 days than we did in the whole first six months prior to that. So just about six months for transportation. There's a lot of jobs, very good jobs coming out. We're very encouraged about don't know where our backlog is today, but about where that's going.

是的。我會告訴你，我已經批准我們在過去 30 天內投標的工作量比之前整個前六個月的工作量還要多。所以運輸時間大概只有六個月。有很多工作機會，非常好的工作機會出現。令我們深受鼓舞的是，我們不知道今天的積壓工作在哪裡，但知道它的去向。

And I think one of the things we forget as we talk about kind of growth and growing things, Transportation is a perfect example, and we'll see the same thing with the e-infrastructure. Where we said all along, we had the rains on the growth of transportation at kind of 3% to 5% until we hit a margin hurdle.

我認為，當我們談論成長和成長事物時，我們忘記的一件事是，交通運輸就是一個完美的例子，我們將在電子基礎設施中看到同樣的事情。正如我們一直所說的那樣，運輸業的成長受到了 3% 至 5% 的影響，直到我們達到了利潤率障礙。

We hit that margin hurdle and we grew over 50% this quarter. We can turn on the growth rates very, very quickly. I think people grossly underestimate how fast we can grow the business.

我們達到了利潤率障礙，本季成長了 50% 以上。我們可以非常非常快速地提高成長率。我認為人們嚴重低估了我們業務發展的速度。

When the margins are right, we will grow the business like heck transportation is there. We're going to continue growing that and take full advantage of the market. e-infrastructure will be there again, we think, early next year, and we will accelerate the heck out of that when that time comes.

當利潤合適時，我們將像交通運輸一樣發展業務。我們將繼續發展並充分利用市場。我們認為，電子基礎設施將在明年初再次出現，到那時我們將加速實現這一目標。

I'll get back in queue. Sorry, go ahead, Noelle.

我會回到隊列中。抱歉，請繼續，諾艾爾。

The backlog for transportation is when you look at the formal backlog or the signed backlog, the awards look lower in the quarter. But recall, we moved a lot of work from unsigned and backlog into signed backlog in the first quarter, and we're sort of rebuilding that pipeline.

運輸積壓是指當您查看正式積壓或簽署的積壓時，該季度的獎勵看起來較低。但回想一下，我們在第一季將大量工作從未簽署和積壓的工作轉移到已簽署的積壓工作中，我們正在重建該管道。

So really, the better metrics to look at for the quarter would be combined backlog because it's really more reflective of the core demand for that business.

因此，實際上，本季需要考慮的更好指標是合併積壓訂單，因為它確實更能反映該業務的核心需求。

That's helpful. Thanks Noelle.

這很有幫助。謝謝諾艾爾。

Thanks, Brent.

謝謝，布倫特。

Adam Thalhimer, Thompson, Davis.

亞當·塔爾希默、湯普森、戴維斯。

Very good morning, guys. Great quarter.

早安，夥計們。很棒的季度。

Thanks, Adam.

謝謝，亞當。

All right. Joe, do you see any recovery possible in the Northeast next year?

好的。喬，你認為明年東北地區有可能復甦嗎？

Yes. I think if you look at -- if you remember back, the margin profile of our Northeast business is lower than our Southeast business, a combination of things. They do more broader work on these jobs, being just designed walls, curb and gutter. And they tend to do more smaller -- we call smaller projects, $15 million type projects. And a lot of those are really dependent on these interest rates.

是的。我想如果你看一下——如果你還記得的話，我們東北業務的利潤率低於東南業務，這是多種因素的結合。他們在這些工作上做更廣泛的工作，只是設計牆壁、路緣和排水溝。他們傾向於做更小的項目——我們稱之為小型項目，1500 萬美元類型的項目。其中很多確實依賴這些利率。

We saw the Northeast slowdown, the fastest release last year. But just like the Southeast, there's projects out there, we're seeing them. And as a result, we think they will be coming out as interest rates start to fall.

我們看到東北地區成長放緩，是去年增速最快的。但就像東南部一樣，那裡有一些項目，我們正在看到它們。因此，我們認為隨著利率開始下降，它們將會出現。

But the other thing we did with the Northeast that's really getting ready to start paying dividends as we've moved them further down to the mid-Atlantic. If you recall, we've been asked for several years to go into the Mid-Atlantic. We haven't had the capacity for those size projects. Now that we've got freed up some capacity, we have expanded down to the Mid-Atlantic.

但我們在東北部所做的另一件事確實準備好開始支付股息，因為我們已將它們進一步移至大西洋中部。如果你還記得的話，幾年來我們一直被要求進入大西洋中部。我們沒有能力進行這些規模的專案。現在我們已經釋放了一些運力，我們已經擴展到大西洋中部。

We've won a couple of very nice jobs subsequent to the end of the quarter that are data centers and one is going to be a manufacturing (technical difficulty) is going to offset that small business, and that small business will come back next year.

在本季末後，我們贏得了幾個非常好的工作，其中一個是資料中心，一個是製造業（技術難度），這將抵消小型企業的影響，而小型企業明年將回來。

Okay. And then can you just touch on the data centers that you're seeing today. Are they larger in the data centers of 12, 18, 24 months ago?

好的。然後您可以談談您今天看到的資料中心嗎？12、18、24 個月前的資料中心是否更大？

Yes. The trend continues. You have to think of markets. Historically, if you thought of Virginia, Dallas was another one, very strong data center markets, but they were one building, small footprints. Those markets are still building, okay?

是的。這種趨勢仍在持續。你必須考慮市場。從歷史上看，如果你想到維吉尼亞州，達拉斯是另一個非常強大的資料中心市場，但它們是一棟建築，佔地面積很小。這些市場仍在建設中，好嗎？

So when we do a data center in Virginia, it's not a multi-$100 million dollar job. It's more like a $40 million job or a $20 million drop depending on the particular one. Outside of that, the driving factors to this are power and water, which is driving these data centers to go further out to rural areas.

因此，當我們在維吉尼亞州建造一個資料中心時，這並不是一項耗資數億美元的工作。這更像是一份 4000 萬美元的工作或 2000 萬美元的下降，取決於具體的工作。除此之外，電力和水的驅動因素正在推動這些資料中心進一步向農村地區延伸。

And when they get out to rural areas, they find that they can buy larger plots of land and can build data campuses. So instead of a single data center, the stuff we generally are working on have anywhere from three to five data centers on it.

當他們到農村時，他們發現可以購買更大的土地並可以建造資料園區。因此，我們通常正在開發的東西不是單一資料中心，而是擁有三到五個資料中心。

I will tell you, there are some really crazy concepts out there for some really big mega projects that would be 5 times to 10 times bigger than any data center we've done that we're paying close attention to that probably won't happen for another year or so. But the size and scope keeps getting bigger. Yes. And that's, for us, we couldn't ask for anything better.

我會告訴你，對於一些非常大的大型項目，有一些非常瘋狂的概念，這些項目比我們已經完成的任何資料中心大 5 倍到 10 倍，我們正在密切關注，但這可能不會再過一年左右。但規模和範圍不斷擴大。是的。對我們來說，我們不能要求更好的事情了。

Perfect. That's what I was thinking. Okay. And then in transportation, I'm trying to get a sense for what do you think your revenue capacity is in Transportation? And where do you think the margins could ultimately go?

完美的。我就是這麼想的。好的。然後在交通運輸方面，我試圖了解您認為您在交通運輸方面的收入能力如何？您認為利潤最終會去向哪裡？

Yes. We don't have unlimited capacity in Transportation. I would tell you, what we do is we're -- we still have capacity. We still have room to grow, and we are still raising our pricing on our bids and knock on wood. So far, we've still been winning.

是的。我們的運輸能力不是無限的。我想告訴你，我們所做的是——我們仍然有能力。我們仍然有成長的空間，我們仍然在提高我們的出價和敲門磚的價格。到目前為止，我們仍然取得勝利。

So I still think there's 100 to 200 basis points of margin expansion (technical difficulty) over the next probably 12 to 24 months. And we will figure out how to add capacity if the margins are right. That's easy for us to do. We don't like adding capacity when margins are right, right?

因此，我仍然認為在接下來的 12 到 24 個月內，利潤率將擴大 100 到 200 個基點（技術難度）。如果利潤合適，我們將弄清楚如何增加產能。這對我們來說很容易做到。我們不喜歡在利潤適當的情況下增加產能，對嗎？

So we'll figure it out. We have yet to turn down work when we have really good margins on it in any of our segments.

所以我們會弄清楚的。當我們在任何細分市場上都有非常好的利潤時，我們還沒有拒絕工作。

Okay. And then just lastly, can you update us on capital allocation? Like you're seeing anything interesting on the M&A side?

好的。最後，可以為我們介紹一下資本配置的最新情況嗎？您在併購方面看到了什麼有趣的事嗎？

Yes, we've looked at --i f people do how many deals we looked at, probably shocking. We look at a lot. There's a lot of businesses for sale. That's a good news. There's not as many buyers as we've seen in the past.

是的，我們已經研究過——如果人們做了我們研究過的多少筆交易，可能會令人震驚。我們看了很多。有很多企業出售。這是一個好消息。買家數量沒有我們過去看到的那麼多。

So that's also good news. But there's not a lot of great businesses out there right now. We're looking hard. We're optimistic that we should get something done here this year. Maybe multiple would be nice. But we've got enough on the horizon that I think something will come in before year-end.

所以這也是個好消息。但目前並沒有很多偉大的企業。我們正在努力尋找。我們樂觀地認為今年我們應該在這裡完成一些事情。也許多個會很好。但我們已經做好了足夠的準備，我認為年底前會有所進展。

We seem to always push them the year-end, which is, to me, not by at least favorite time to do it, but we should get something this year.

我們似乎總是把他們推到年底，對我來說，這至少不是最喜歡的時間，但我們今年應該有所收穫。

Okay. Great report. Thank you.

好的。很棒的報告。謝謝。

Thanks.

謝謝。

Julio Romero, Sidoti.

胡里奧·羅梅羅，西多蒂。

Good morning, Joe, Sharon and Noel. Thanks for taking the questions. Really nice to see the margins -- sure. Really nice to see the margins in the e-infrastructure kind of surpassed 20% in the quarter.

早安，喬、莎倫和諾埃爾。感謝您提出問題。很高興看到邊緣——當然。很高興看到本季電子基礎設施的利潤率超過 20%。

Can you maybe talk about the drivers of that in this quarter and maybe the sustainability of the margin in e-infrastructure going forward?

您能否談談本季的驅動因素以及未來電子基礎設施利潤率的可持續性？

Yes. So the biggest driver is this mix shift, right? Just a larger percentage of our revenue is coming from these mega centers, whether that's data centers or manufacturing or something similar.

是的。所以最大的驅動力是這種混合轉變，對嗎？我們收入的很大一部分來自這些大型中心，無論是資料中心還是製造中心還是類似的中心。

Again, it doesn't matter to us what type of (technical difficulty) like the larger it is, the better efficiencies we can get and generally, we can extract better margins out of the jobs. So we don't see anything in those markets going backwards.

同樣，對我們來說，什麼類型的（技術難度）並不重要，它越大，我們可以獲得的效率就越高，而且一般來說，我們可以從工作中獲得更好的利潤。因此，我們沒有看到這些市場出現任何倒退。

As a matter of fact, we think over the next couple of years, capacity gets tighter in those markets, so we should be able to maintain that margin and actually maybe pick up a little more.

事實上，我們認為在未來幾年中，這些市場的產能將變得更加緊張，因此我們應該能夠維持這一利潤率，實際上可能會增加一點。

As the mix shift comes back with these smaller industrial projects and commercial projects, those margins are lower, right? So you just do the math on the blend. So our hope is that we can continue to grow the large projects at a rate that when the small ones come on, we maintain the total margin, right? We may not see as much increase, but we shouldn't see a significant decrease.

隨著這些小型工業項目和商業項目的混合轉變回歸，這些利潤率會降低，對嗎？所以你只需對混合進行數學計算即可。因此，我們的希望是，我們能夠繼續以這樣的速度發展大型項目，即當小型項目出現時，我們可以維持總利潤率，對嗎？我們可能不會看到那麼多的成長，但我們也不應該看到顯著的下降。

Got it. That's helpful. And then, you mentioned data centers make up about 40% of segment backlog at this point. What's your best guess as to how much of the 2024 segment sales and e-infrastructure end up being comprised of data center sales? And then as that pool of mega projects comes to bid in '26 and '27, how do you envision that, that mix of data center-related revenue trending?

知道了。這很有幫助。然後，您提到資料中心目前約佔該部門積壓的 40%。您對 2024 年細分市場銷售和電子基礎設施最終由資料中心銷售組成的最佳猜測是多少？然後，隨著大型專案在 26 和 27 年進行投標，您如何看待與資料中心相關的收入趨勢組合？

Yes. So we're up over 40% now, and I think that's going to continue to grow. With the activity we're seeing, we're really confused because we keep hearing people say data centers are slowing or that. I can tell you, we have more data center activity on the horizon than we would have ever imagined. There's no way I can predict it this much.

是的。所以我們現在成長了 40% 以上，而且我認為這一成長將會繼續成長。對於我們所看到的活動，我們真的很困惑，因為我們不斷聽到人們說資料中心速度正在放緩之類的。我可以告訴您，我們即將進行的資料中心活動比我們想像的還要多。我無法預測這麼多。

There's more players coming in from a builder perspective to do this. It is continuing to grow, and there's nothing on the capital planning, we see slowing down. As a matter of fact, we see the really big guys starting to have conversations with core contractors on what can we do to commit multiyear capacity to them, because they're afraid that everybody is going to run out of capacity.

有更多的玩家從建設者的角度來做這件事。它正在繼續增長，而且資本規劃沒有任何變化，我們看到成長正在放緩。事實上，我們看到真正的大公司開始與核心承包商討論我們可以做些什麼來向他們承諾多年的產能，因為他們擔心每個人都會耗盡產能。

And they're right. If they don't do this, they're going to have trouble. So we're excited about where this is going. So data centers will continue (technical difficulty) to of our backlog. And I think we'll probably have run the numbers, but backlog turns into revenue.

他們是對的。如果他們不這樣做，他們就會遇到麻煩。所以我們對事情的發展感到興奮。因此，資料中心將繼續（技術困難）我們的積壓工作。我認為我們可能已經計算過這些數字，但積壓的訂單會轉化為收入。

So it's going to be pretty close, I would imagine you guys have any numbers on that?

所以它會非常接近，我想你們有這方面的數字嗎？

This is rough, but we'll be about two-thirds large projects (technical difficulty) for 2024. For the year.

這很粗糙，但到 2024 年我們將完成大約三分之二的大型專案（技術難度）。今年。

Okay. That's helpful. Understood. And then it was nice to see you folks to deploy the share repurchase of $30 million in the quarter. Can you maybe just touch on how we should think about you deploying cash towards repurchases, especially with the recent pullback in the broader market?

好的。這很有幫助。明白了。然後很高興看到你們在本季部署了 3000 萬美元的股票回購。您能否談談我們應該如何考慮您將現金用於回購，特別是在最近大盤回檔的情況下？

Well, I don't have the numbers, but I bet we bought something yesterday, and we will continue to buy at the rates we've been buying in the past. We've got a ladder. Maybe ladder, that's not the right term. But we've got price points. And at those price points, we have automatic share purchases built in. We turned that all over.

好吧，我沒有數字，但我打賭我們昨天買了一些東西，我們將繼續以過去購買的價格購買。我們有一個梯子。也許梯子，這不是正確的術語。但我們有價格點。在這些價位上，我們內建了自動股票購買功能。我們把這一切都扭轉了。

It just happens and executes. We still believe that the share price is grossly undervalued. And the best thing we can do right now is until we get an acquisition lined up and is buy back some more shares.

它只是發生並執行。我們仍然認為股價被嚴重低估。我們現在能做的最好的事情就是直到我們完成收購併回購更多股票。

Really helpful. I'll pass it on. Thanks very much.

真的很有幫助。我會把它傳遞下去。非常感謝。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員說明）

We don't have further questions at this time. I would now like to turn the call back to Mr. Cutillo.

目前我們沒有其他問題。我現在想把電話轉回給卡蒂略先生。

Thanks, Ivo. I want to thank everybody for joining today's call. If you have any follow-up questions or like to schedule a call (tecnical difficulty) her contact information is in the press release. Everybody, have a great day, and we appreciate you participating. Thanks.

謝謝，伊沃。我要感謝大家參加今天的電話會議。如果您有任何後續問題或想安排通話（技術困難），她的聯絡資訊位於新聞稿中。祝大家有美好的一天，我們感謝您的參與。謝謝。

That concludes today's conference call and thank you for your participation. You may now disconnect.

今天的電話會議到此結束，感謝您的參與。您現在可以斷開連線。