Sterling Infrastructure Inc (STRL) 2025 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Sterling Infrastructure first-quarter webcast and conference call. (Operator Instructions) This call is being recorded on Tuesday, May 6, 2025. I'd now like to turn the conference over to Noelle Dilts. Please go ahead.

女士們、先生們，早安，歡迎參加 Sterling Infrastructure 第一季網路廣播和電話會議。（操作員指示）此通話於 2025 年 5 月 6 日星期二錄製。現在我想將會議交給諾埃爾·迪爾茨 (Noelle Dilts)。請繼續。

Good morning to everyone joining us, and welcome to Sterling Infrastructure's 2025 first 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 Ron Ballschmiede, Sterling's Chief Financial Officer.

各位嘉賓早安，歡迎參加 Sterling Infrastructure 2025 年第一季財報電話會議和網路廣播。我很高興今天能在這裡與 Sterling 執行長 Joe Cutillo 討論我們的業績；以及 Sterling 財務長 Ron Ballschmiede。

Joe will open the call with an overview of the company and its performance in the quarter. Ron 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，羅恩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。然後我們將開始提問。

As a reminder, there are accompanying slides on the Investor Relations section of our website. These slides include details on our full year 2025 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附帶的幻燈片。這些幻燈片包含我們 2025 年全年財務指導的詳細資訊。在將電話轉給喬之前，我會讀安全港聲明。

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.

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 最新的 10-K 和 10-Q 文件，以獲得可能影響這些預測和假設的風險因素的更完整描述。

The company assumes no obligations to update forward-looking statements as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Please 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.

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。請注意，管理階層可能會在本次電話會議上參考 EBITDA、調整後的 EBITDA、調整後的淨收入或調整後的每股盈餘，這些都是美國 GAAP 未確認的財務指標。

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. Our discussion of results today will refer to pro forma figures that adjust prior period results to conform to the current accounting of our RHB JV. As a reminder, at year end 2024, there was a change in the accounting treatment for the JV such that we no longer consolidate revenue and backlog, but it does not change our share of EBITDA that we recognize from the JV.

根據美國證券交易委員會 (SEC) 規則和條例的要求，這些非 GAAP 財務指標與我們昨天下午發布的收益報告中最可比較的 GAAP 財務指標進行了協調。我們今天討論的結果將參考調整前期結果的備考數字，以符合我們 RHB JV 的當前會計。提醒一下，在 2024 年底，合資企業的會計處理發生了變化，我們不再合併收入和積壓訂單，但這並沒有改變我們從合資企業確認的 EBITDA 份額。

Additionally, we may refer to adjusted operating income, EBITDA and EPS figures that adjust for certain noncash and nonrecurring items, please see our press release for a description and reconciliation of these adjustments. All comparisons are to the prior year quarter unless otherwise noted. I'll now turn the call over to our CEO, Joe Cutillo.

此外，我們可能會參考調整後的營業收入、EBITDA 和 EPS 數據，這些數據針對某些非現金和非經常性項目進行了調整，請參閱我們的新聞稿以了解這些調整的描述和對帳。除非另有說明，否則所有比較均與去年同期進行比較。現在我將把電話轉給我們的執行長喬·庫蒂略 (Joe Cutillo)。

Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining today's call. Sterling is off to a great start for the year. In the first quarter, we grew adjusted earnings per share by 29% to $1.63 and delivered adjusted EBITDA of $80 million, a 31% increase.

大家早安，感謝大家參加今天的電話會議。斯特林今年有了一個良好的開端。第一季度，我們的調整後每股盈餘成長 29%，達到 1.63 美元，調整後 EBITDA 達到 8,000 萬美元，成長 31%。

Revenue grew 7% in the quarter on a pro forma basis, fueled by growth of over 18% in our E-Infrastructure Solutions segment and 9% in our Transportation Solutions. Our gross profit margins expanded more than 400 basis points from the prior year to reach 22%. We remain focused on pursuing the most attractive and highest return opportunities. Additionally, operating cash flow generation in the quarter was strong at $85 million.

本季營收以備考基礎計算成長了 7%，這得益於電子基礎設施解決方案部門成長超過 18%，運輸解決方案部門成長 9%。我們的毛利率比前一年擴大了400多個基點，達到22%。我們始終專注於追求最具吸引力和最高回報的機會。此外，本季的營運現金流強勁，達到 8,500 萬美元。

We are pleased to announce that during the quarter, we closed on the acquisition of Drake Concrete, a provider of residential concrete slabs in the Dallas-Fort Worth area for $25 million. This acquisition strengthens our geographic footprint within DFW and expands our customer depth as Drake has limited customer overlap with Tealstone. We anticipate Drake will contribute $55 million of revenue and $6.5 million of EBITDA in 2025.

我們很高興地宣布，本季我們以 2500 萬美元的價格完成了對達拉斯-沃斯堡地區住宅混凝土板供應商 Drake Concrete 的收購。此次收購加強了我們在 DFW 內的地理覆蓋範圍並擴大了我們的客戶深度，因為 Drake 與 Tealstone 的客戶重疊有限。我們預計 Drake 將在 2025 年貢獻 5,500 萬美元的營收和 650 萬美元的 EBITDA。

Looking to the future, we remain extremely positive on our outlook. While we are certainly cognizant of the high levels of uncertainty surrounding trade policies and the economy, we believe we are in markets and geographies that have strong sustainable growth. Additionally, we have limited exposure to foreign sourced materials.

展望未來，我們依然非常樂觀。雖然我們確實意識到貿易政策和經濟存在高度不確定性，但我們相信我們所處的市場和地區具有強勁的可持續成長。此外，我們接觸外國材料的機會有限。

We will continue to build upon the strong base we have established, drive margins and pursue opportunities to enhance our long-term value. We will stay focused on the things that we can control and adapt and react to changing conditions as necessary.

我們將繼續鞏固已建立的堅實基礎，提高利潤率，並尋求機會提升我們的長期價值。我們將繼續專注於我們能夠控制的事情，並根據需要適應和應對不斷變化的條件。

Our backlog position and visibility anchor our confidence in the future. Backlog at the end of the quarter totaled $2.1 billion, a 17% year-over-year increase on a pro forma basis. And our book-to-burn ratio was above 2 times.

我們的積壓情況和可見度增強了我們對未來的信心。本季末的積壓訂單總額為 21 億美元，以備考基礎計算年增 17%。我們的書籍焚燒比率是2倍以上。

E-Infrastructure Solutions backlog of $1.2 billion was up 27% in the first quarter. Our customers are not showing any signs of slowing down. Our multiyear visibility is further supported by continued growth in our pipeline of future phase opportunities tied to our current projects.

第一季度，電子基礎設施解決方案積壓訂單為 12 億美元，成長了 27%。我們的客戶沒有表現出任何放緩的跡象。我們目前專案相關的未來階段機會管道的持續成長進一步增強了我們多年的可見性。

At the end of last year, we raised our expectations for future phase work at the end of the first quarter from $0.5 billion to $0.75 billion and we hit the high end of that goal. When you take both our signed backlog and future phase work, we have visibility into a pool of E-Infrastructure work approaching $2 billion, which for us is unprecedented.

去年年底，我們將第一季末未來階段工作的預期從 5 億美元提高到 7.5 億美元，並且已經達到了該目標的上限。當我們同時考慮我們已簽署的積壓工作和未來階段的工作時，我們就能看到價值接近 20 億美元的電子基礎設施工作池，這對我們來說是前所未有的。

We are extremely excited about the future and believe we will continue to drive strong earnings growth over the next few years. The Sterling Way, which is our commitment to take care of our people, our environment, our investors, and our communities, while we work to build America's infrastructure remains our guiding principle as we execute our strategy.

我們對未來感到非常興奮，並相信未來幾年我們將繼續推動強勁的獲利成長。「斯特林之道」是我們致力於照顧我們的人民、我們的環境、我們的投資者和我們的社區，同時我們致力於建立美國的基礎設施，這仍然是我們執行策略的指導原則。

Now, I'd like to discuss our segment results in a little more detail. In E-Infrastructure, first-quarter revenue grew 18% over prior year. The data center market was again the primary growth driver in the quarter, increasing approximately 60% over the prior year period.

現在，我想更詳細地討論一下我們的分部表現。在電子基礎設施方面，第一季營收比去年成長了 18%。資料中心市場再次成為本季的主要成長動力，比去年同期成長約 60%。

Adjusted segment operating income grew 61% and adjusted operating margins reached 23%, a 618 basis point increase. This was driven by our shift towards large mission-critical projects, including data centers, where our superior project management and ability to finish jobs on or ahead of schedule, are extremely valuable to our customers. Mission-critical work continues to represent the vast majority of our E-Infrastructure backlog, including data center work at over 65%.

調整後分部營業收入成長 61%，調整後營業利益率達 23%，增加了 618 個基點。這是由於我們轉向大型關鍵任務專案（包括資料中心）所致，在這些專案中，我們卓越的專案管理和按時或提前完成工作的能力對我們的客戶極為有價值。關鍵任務工作仍佔據我們電子基礎設施積壓工作的絕大部分，其中資料中心工作佔超過 65%。

Moving to Transportation Solutions, first quarter revenue grew 9% on a pro forma basis and adjusted operating profit grew 60%, driven by strong market demand and the benefits of mix shift towards higher margin services.

轉向運輸解決方案，第一季營收按備考基礎成長 9%，調整後營業利潤成長 60%，這得益於強勁的市場需求和向利潤率更高的服務轉變的組合優勢。

We ended the quarter with Transportation Solutions backlog of $861 million, an 11% year-over-year increase on a pro forma basis. Shifting to Building Solutions, in the first quarter, segment revenue declined 14% and adjusted operating income declined 18%. Overall demand for homes has been impacted as potential home buyers struggle with affordability challenges.

本季結束時，我們的運輸解決方案積壓訂單為 8.61 億美元，以備考基礎計算年增 11%。轉向建築解決方案，第一季度，部門收入下降 14%，調整後營業收入下降 18%。由於潛在購屋者面臨負擔能力的挑戰，住房整體需求受到了影響。

Revenue from our legacy residential business declined 19%, driven by softness in the overall housing market, unusually severe weather and a challenging comparison to the first quarter of 2024. With that, I'd like to turn it over to Ron to give you more details on some of our financial metrics and full year guidance. Ron?

由於整體房地產市場疲軟、天氣異常惡劣以及與 2024 年第一季相比面臨挑戰，我們傳統住宅業務的收入下降了 19%。接下來，我想讓羅恩向您提供有關我們的一些財務指標和全年指導的更多詳細資訊。羅恩？

Thanks, Joe, and good morning. I am pleased to discuss our very strong and record first-quarter performance. Let's start with some financial highlights, starting with our consolidated backlog metrics. Our first quarter backlog totaled $2.128 billion, a 26% increase from the year-end 2024. The gross margin of our backlog was 17.7%, a 100 basis point increase from the year-end 2024 levels of 16.7%.

謝謝，喬，早安。我很高興討論我們非常強勁且創紀錄的第一季業績。讓我們從一些財務亮點開始，從我們的合併積壓指標開始。我們第一季的積壓訂單總額為 21.28 億美元，比 2024 年底成長 26%。我們的積壓訂單毛利率為 17.7%，比 2024 年底的 16.7% 增加了 100 個基點。

An increase of both the amount of E-Infrastructure backlog and its margin drove this improvement. We closed the quarter with combined backlog of $2.23 billion which was up 21% from the year-end 2024. First quarter 2025 book-to-burn ratios were 2.23 times for backlog and 2.13 times for combined backlog.

電子基礎設施積壓量及其利潤的增加推動了這項改善。本季結束時，我們的總積壓訂單量為 22.3 億美元，比 2024 年底成長了 21%。2025 年第一季度，積壓訂單的訂單量與消耗量的比率為 2.23 倍，合併積壓訂單的訂單量與消耗量的比率為 2.13 倍。

Turning to our first quarter income statement. Revenue was $430.9 million, a 7% increase, excluding RHB from the prior year period. Consistent with our past seasonal characteristics, our first quarter is expected to be our lowest revenue quarter for the year. Current quarter consolidated gross profit was $94.8 million or 22% of revenues, a 400 basis points increase over the 2024 first quarter.

轉向我們的第一季損益表。營收為 4.309 億美元，成長 7%，不包括去年同期的 RHB。與我們過去的季節性特徵一致，預計第一季將是今年收入最低的季度。本季綜合毛利為 9,480 萬美元，佔營收的 22%，比 2024 年第一季增加 400 個基點。

General and administrative expense increased in the quarter by $7.3 million. Approximately $1.6 million of this increase related to one-time separation expenses. Additional drivers of the increase include performance-based compensation, investments in personnel and systems to support our growth. We expect our full year G&A expense to be approximately 6.3% of revenues, which compares to 6.1%, excluding RHB from 2024.

本季一般及行政開支增加了 730 萬美元。其中約 160 萬美元的增加與一次性離職費用有關。成長的其他驅動因素包括基於績效的薪酬、對人員和支持我們成長的系統的投資。我們預計全年的一般及行政費用約佔收入的 6.3%，而從 2024 年起不包括 RHB 則為 6.1%。

Our effective income tax rate for the first quarter was 26.1%. We expect our full year effective income tax rate to be approximately 26%. The net of all these items resulted in a record first quarter with adjusted net income of $50.2 million or $1.63 per diluted share, an improvement of 29% compared to the first quarter of 2024. On a GAAP basis, diluted earnings per share were $1.28 as compared to $1 even in the first quarter of 2024.

我們第一季的有效所得稅率為26.1%。我們預計全年有效所得稅率約為26%。在扣除所有這些項目後，第一季調整後淨收入達到創紀錄的 5,020 萬美元，即每股 1.63 美元，與 2024 年第一季相比增長了 29%。以 GAAP 計算，每股攤薄收益為 1.28 美元，而 2024 年第一季的每股攤薄收益也僅為 1 美元。

Shifting to our cash flow metrics. Cash flow from operating activities for the first quarter of 2025 was a strong $84.9 million compared to $49.6 million in the first quarter of 2024. Cash flow used in investing activities for 2025 included $16.4 million of net CapEx and $37.9 million for acquisitions, including Drake Concrete.

轉向我們的現金流指標。2025 年第一季的經營活動現金流強勁，達到 8,490 萬美元，而 2024 年第一季為 4,960 萬美元。2025 年投資活動所用現金流包括 1,640 萬美元的淨資本支出和 3,790 萬美元的收購費用，包括 Drake Concrete。

Cash flow from financing activities was an outflow of $56.2 million primarily driven by share repurchases of $43.8 million at an average price of $128.98 per share. Remaining availability under the existing repurchase authorization is $85.6 million.

融資活動產生的現金流為 5,620 萬美元，主要由於以平均每股 128.98 美元的價格回購了 4,380 萬美元的股票。現有回購授權下的剩餘可用金額為 8,560 萬美元。

We ended the quarter with a very strong liquidity position. consisting of $638.6 million of cash and debt of $310 million for a cash net of debt balance of $328.6 million. In addition, our $75 million revolving credit facility remains 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 6.386 億美元現金和 3.1 億美元債務，扣除債務後的現金餘額為 3.286 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。

Now I'd like to discuss our guidance. As we look ahead to 2025, the ongoing strength of our business positions us for another record year at Sterling. Our full year 2025 guidance ranges are as follows: Revenue of $2.05 billion to $2.15 billion; net income of $222 million to $239 million; diluted EPS of $7.15 to $7.65; adjusted diluted EPS of $8.40 to $8.90; EBITDA of $381 million to $403 million; and finally, adjusted EBITDA of $410 million to $432 million.

現在我想討論一下我們的指導。展望 2025 年，我們業務的持續強勁發展將使 Sterling 再創紀錄。我們對 2025 年全年的指引範圍如下：營收 20.5 億美元至 21.5 億美元；淨收入2.22億美元至2.39億美元；稀釋每股收益為 7.15 美元至 7.65 美元；調整後的稀釋每股收益為 8.40 美元至 8.90 億美元；為 4.1 億美元至 4.32 億美元。

Considering the diversity and strength of our portfolio of businesses, our strong liquidity position and our comfortable EBITDA leverage, we are well positioned to take advantage of additional opportunities to generate significant shareholder value in 2025 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、我們強大的流動性狀況以及我們舒適的 EBITDA 槓桿，我們完全有能力利用更多機會在 2025 年及以後創造可觀的股東價值。現在，我將把電話轉回給喬。

Thanks, Ron. As we look to the future, we remain very bullish on the multiyear opportunity in each of our markets. Our strong backlog, future phase opportunities, and discussions with our customers contribute to our confidence.

謝謝，羅恩。展望未來，我們仍然非常看好每個市場的多年機會。我們強大的積壓訂單、未來階段的機會以及與客戶的討論增強了我們的信心。

In E-Infrastructure Solutions, we anticipate that the current strength in data center demand will continue for the foreseeable future. Our customers are discussing multiyear capital deployment plans and are focused on how to align with the right partners to support these plans.

在電子基礎設施解決方案方面，我們預計資料中心需求的強勁勢頭將在可預見的未來持續下去。我們的客戶正在討論多年的資本部署計劃，並專注於如何與合適的合作夥伴合作來支援這些計劃。

On the manufacturing front, we believe that in 2025, we'll see a fairly steady pace of mid- to large-sized onshoring project activity. As we look out to 2026 and 2027, there remains a big pool of mega projects on the horizon. This would include planned semiconductor facilities. Given the complexity involved with their development, we believe it will take some time before awards start to flow.

在製造業方面，我們相信到 2025 年，我們將看到中型到大型在岸專案活動保持相當穩定的步伐。展望 2026 年和 2027 年，仍有大量大型專案即將面世。這將包括計劃中的半導體設施。鑑於其發展的複雜性，我們認為獎項的頒發還需要一段時間。

The e-commerce market has strengthened in 2025, and we anticipate that we will see additional awards throughout the year. The small warehouse and commercial market, which began to soften back in 2023 is showing signs of strengthening.

2025 年電子商務市場將會更加強勁，我們預計全年將會看到更多的獎項。小型倉庫和商業市場自 2023 年開始走軟，目前正顯示出走強的跡象。

Together, these dynamics support strong growth opportunities over a multiyear period. For 2025, we expect to deliver strong E-Infrastructure revenue growth in the mid- to high teens and adjusted operating profit margins in the mid-20% range.

這些動態共同支撐了未來多年的強勁成長機會。到 2025 年，我們預計電子基礎設施收入將強勁成長，達到中高水平，調整後的營業利潤率將達到 20% 左右。

In Transportation Solutions, we are now in the second half of the federal funding cycle. We have built over two years of backlog and continue to see good levels of bid activity. For 2025, we anticipate continued growth in our core Rocky Mountain and Arizona markets.

在交通解決方案方面，我們目前正處於聯邦資助週期的後半段。我們已經累積了兩年多的訂單，並且繼續看到良好的投標活動水平。到 2025 年，我們預計核心落基山和亞利桑那市場將繼續成長。

The downsizing of our low bid heavy highway business in Texas is progressing according to plan. which is resulting in some moderation of Transportation Solutions top line and backlog in 2025, which should drive meaningful margin improvements as we move through the rest of the year. We now expect Transportation Solutions revenue growth in the mid-single digits on a pro forma basis in 2025. We anticipate operating profit growth in the mid-teens on an adjusted basis.

我們在德克薩斯州的低價重型公路業務的縮減正在按計劃進行。這將導致 2025 年運輸解決方案的營收和積壓訂單有所放緩，但在今年剩餘時間內，這應該會推動利潤率的顯著提高。我們現在預計，2025 年運輸解決方案的收入成長率將達到中等個位數。我們預計調整後的營業利益成長率將達到十五六個百分點。

In Building Solutions, we continue to believe the business is well positioned for growth over a multi-year period. Our key geographies of Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston and Phoenix are all expected to see continued population growth, driving demand for new homes. Additionally, there is a significant opportunity for share gains in Houston and Phoenix.

在建築解決方案方面，我們始終相信該業務在未來幾年內將保持良好的成長動能。我們重點關注的地區達拉斯-沃斯堡、休士頓和鳳凰城預計人口將持續成長，從而推動新房需求。此外，休士頓和鳳凰城的市佔率也有很大成長機會。

The Drake acquisition positions us well for when the market does begin to recover. For 2025, we continue to anticipate slight revenue growth overall in Building Solutions driven by acquisition contributions. We are forecasting an organic decline in the legacy residential business. In addition, we anticipate our commercial work will continue to decline at previously mentioned rates.

當市場開始復甦時，對 Drake 的收購將為我們帶來良好的結果。到 2025 年，我們仍然預計在收購的推動下，建築解決方案的整體收入將略有成長。我們預測傳統住宅業務將出現有機下滑。此外，我們預計我們的商業工作將繼續以前面提到的速度下降。

We're working hard to find the right acquisition to grow the company and enhance our service offerings. The E-Infrastructure market remains our top priority for M&A. Additionally, we are seeing some interesting opportunities in Building Solutions. We will remain patient and disciplined in our inorganic growth strategy.

我們正在努力尋找合適的收購機會，以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首要重點。此外，我們在建築解決方案領域看到了一些有趣的機會。我們將在無機成長策略中保持耐心和自律。

The midpoint of our 2025 guidance would represent 12% revenue growth as adjusted for RHB, 22% adjusted EPS growth, and 23% adjusted EBITDA growth. With that, I'd like to turn it over for questions.

我們 2025 年指引的中點將代表 RHB 調整後的營收成長 12%、調整後的 EPS 成長 22% 以及調整後的 EBITDA 成長 23%。好了，現在我想把這個問題提交給大家提問。

(Operator Instructions) Brent Thielman, Davidson.

（操作員指示）布倫特·蒂爾曼，戴維森。

Thank you. Good morning. Great quarter. Joe, maybe just on the E-Infrastructure business group, could you talk around the 35% of the backlog that's not data center. It sounds like you still have pretty good visibility in manufacturing, and that continues and maybe warehouse activity is starting to pick up and contribute to you more. But maybe just how firm you feel like that backlog is and whether or not you can continue to build on that side of the business?

謝謝。早安.很棒的一個季度。喬，也許只是在電子基礎設施業務組，您能否談談非資料中心的 35％ 積壓訂單。聽起來您在製造業仍然擁有相當好的知名度，而且這種情況還會持續下去，也許倉庫活動開始回升並為您帶來更多貢獻。但也許您只是覺得積壓訂單有多堅定，以及您是否可以繼續開展這方面的業務？

Yeah. We feel good about it. There's really kind of three parts to that. We got -- manufacturing is going to stay pretty steady through the year. We've seen the e-commerce coming back and picking up actually even faster and a little more than we anticipated. So that's exciting for us.

是的。我們對此感覺很好。這實際上分為三個部分。我們知道－全年製造業將保持相當穩定。我們看到電子商務正在復甦，而且實際上成長速度甚至比我們預期的還要快一些。這對我們來說是令人興奮的。

And we are starting to see more activity around what we call the small industrial and warehousing stuff. We think that trend is going to continue through the back half of the year. So we feel very good about that 35%. And I think we still have some potential upside opportunities on projects that look like they're going to bid in the second half of the year kind of across all pieces of E-Infrastructure.

我們開始看到圍繞小型工業和倉儲業務的更多活動。我們認為這一趨勢將持續到今年下半年。所以我們對這 35% 感到非常滿意。我認為，我們仍然有一些潛在的上升機會，這些項目看起來將在下半年對所有電子基礎設施領域進行競標。

Okay. Great. And then, Joe, when you think about just tariffs from a high level, maybe just where you're most exposed and least exposed from a direct sort of cost perspective and what's embedded in the outlook relative to that?

好的。偉大的。然後，喬，當您從高層次考慮關稅時，也許從直接成本角度來看，您最容易受到影響和最不容易受到影響，而與此相關的前景又是什麼？

Yes. I think the good news is if we didn't go through COVID and see the, I'll call it, rapid fire increases that we saw a couple of years ago, I'd probably be a little more cautious and more concerned about the tariffs. But we -- people have to remember, we saw 200%, 300% price increases in less than six months. And the impact on the business was minimal at the end of the day.

是的。我認為好消息是，如果我們沒有經歷 COVID，也沒有看到幾年前那樣的快速增長，我可能會對關稅更加謹慎和更加擔憂。但我們——人們必須記住，我們在不到六個月的時間內看到價格上漲了 200% 甚至 300%。最終，這對業務的影響微乎其微。

So when we look at the tariffs, I'll just kind of go through each segment, just so people understand them. In our Transportation segment, we'll start there. First, the major items, the steel and those components all have to be made in America for the most part on our contracts. And we lock those in at the beginning of the contract.

因此，當我們研究關稅時，我會逐一介紹每個部分，以便人們可以理解。在我們的運輸領域，我們將從這裡開始。首先，根據我們的合同，主要產品、鋼材和零件大部分都必須在美國製造。我們在合約開始時就鎖定了這些。

So our upfront pricing may appear higher than what market pricing is, but it's guaranteed for that. In addition, on some of the other items, if we see increases above a certain percent, there's actually some indexing that takes place. And throughout COVID, we saw virtually no impact through Transportation Solutions. So we think we'll see minimal there.

因此，我們的預付定價可能看起來高於市場定價，但這是可以保證的。此外，對於其他一些項目，如果我們看到增幅超過一定百分比，那麼實際上就會發生一些索引。在整個 COVID 期間，我們幾乎沒有看到運輸解決方案受到任何影響。因此我們認為我們在那裡看到的將是最少的。

Obviously, there in both Building Solutions, there's risk of concrete powder going up and concrete prices. But again, there's some indexing that offsets and protects that. In the E-Infrastructure, we really have a couple of major components, all the piping in underground components that go into the contracts or into the builds and fuel. Those are two biggest items.

顯然，在這兩種建築解決方案中，都存在混凝土粉末上漲和混凝土價格上漲的風險。但同樣，有一些索引可以抵消和保護這一點。在電子基礎設施中，我們確實有幾個主要組成部分，所有涉及合約或建設和燃料的地下管道。這是最大的兩件物品。

We have learned from COVID and in our major contracts, we have indexing in our fuel pricing. If it exceeds, I believe it's 5%. We then pass that on. But similarly, if it goes down, more than a certain amount, we give money back to the customer. So we're not trying to make money off of fuel. We just don't want to lose money on fuel.

我們從 COVID 中吸取了教訓，在我們的主要合約中，我們對燃料價格進行了指數化。如果超過的話，我相信是5%。然後我們將其傳遞下去。但同樣，如果下降幅度超過一定金額，我們就會把錢退還給客戶。所以我們並不是想透過燃料來賺錢。我們只是不想在燃料上虧錢。

For the underground stuff, the bigger issue during COVID was availability. That cost us a lot more money than the price increases. Because our projects are phased, this is what we love about them. We only price one phase at a time. So we're generally buying the material for that phase while we're pricing it so we can build that in.

對於地下音樂來說，疫情期間更大的問題是可用性。這比價格上漲對我們造成的損失大得多。因為我們的專案是分階段的，這就是我們喜歡它們的原因。我們每次只為一個階段定價。因此，我們通常會在定價的同時購買該階段的材料，以便將其納入其中。

So I won't say there's 0 exposure, but worst-case scenario would be kind of two to three months of exposure on a project if we got locked into something and didn't have the material pre-bought. I would tell you, our guys are probably pretty buying material more than they have in the past just to ensure that doesn't happen.

所以我不會說曝光率為 0，但如果我們被困在某個項目上並且沒有預先購買材料，最壞的情況就是項目曝光時間為兩到三個月。我想告訴你，我們的員工可能比過去購買了更多的材料，只是為了確保這種情況不會發生。

And then in Building Solutions, concretes our biggest material as of two weeks ago, I didn't check on it last week. Prices were still coming down on concrete across the board for us. So we've seen the opposite take place there.

然後在建築解決方案中，混凝土是我們兩週前最大的材料，我上週沒有檢查它。對我們來說，混凝土的價格仍然全面下降。所以我們在那裡看到了相反的情況發生。

So that would be our biggest risk. But again, those are very quick turn projects. We're pricing as increases come out. So in COVID, we saw about a 60- to 90-day lag because we saw the rapid fire if we get a 60- to 90-day price increase notice, we're usually able to pass that on to the customer in that time frame.

所以這將是我們最大的風險。但同樣，這些都是非常快速的項目。隨著價格上漲，我們會進行定價。因此，在 COVID 中，我們看到了大約 60 到 90 天的滯後，因為我們看到了快速的反應，如果我們收到 60 到 90 天的價格上漲通知，我們通常能夠在該時間範圍內將其轉交給客戶。

Very good. I'll pass it on. Thank you.

非常好。我會傳達的。謝謝。

Julio Romero, Sidoti.

胡里奧·羅梅羅、西多蒂。

Thanks. Hi, good morning, Joe Ronnae. Really nice margin performance here in Transportation Solutions in the quarter. Can you maybe talk a little bit about the drivers of that margin? How much of that margin strength is from the shift away from low bid versus other kind of drivers there? And how should the cadence of margins and transportation flow for the remainder of the year?

謝謝。嗨，早安，Joe Ronnae。本季運輸解決方案的利潤表現確實非常好。能否稍微談一下這利潤的驅動因素？相對於其他類型的驅動因素，利潤率優勢有多少是來自於低價競標的轉變？今年剩餘時間的利潤和運輸節奏該如何變化？

Yeah. We're -- I would say we're seeing very little from the shift away from low bid. We're still finishing out projects and that sort of stuff. The vast majority of that margin improvement is around as we continue to shift our mix towards higher-margin end products, whether that's alternative delivery in the highway space, more and more aviation in the mix of rail. Those all have much higher margins.

是的。我想說的是，我們很少看到低價競標的轉變。我們仍在完成專案和諸如此類的事情。利潤率的提高絕大部分源自於我們繼續將產品組合轉向利潤率更高的最終產品，無論是公路領域的替代運輸，還是鐵路組合中越來越多的航空運輸。這些產品的利潤率都高得多。

So we continue to push our efforts to blend that mix more towards that portfolio. And as we do that, we'll continue to see margin increases. We should start seeing more of an impact from the low bid as we get towards the end of this year into early next year.

因此，我們將繼續努力，將這種組合進一步融入投資組合中。當我們這樣做時，我們將繼續看到利潤率的成長。從今年年底到明年年初，我們應該會開始看到低價投標帶來更多的影響。

Great. Really helpful there. And then great color you gave on going around the portfolio and talking about kind of your tariff exposure across all three segments. Maybe if you can talk about your level of comfort in bidding for new projects going forward and accepting new work and just kind of execution in this broader operating environment.

偉大的。真的很有幫助。然後，您非常詳細地介紹了投資組合以及三個細分市場的關稅風險。也許您可以談談您對未來競標新專案、接受新工作以及在更廣泛的營運環境中執行工作的舒適程度。

Yeah. I would tell you, part of our margins in the quarter for Transportation and E-Infrastructure, frankly, as our teams continue to execute extremely well and all the things we're doing to continue to drive, whether it's technology or other things to improve project performance, continue to pay off. And I'm excited about some of the stuff we're working on that will start paying off next year and the year after as well.

是的。我想告訴你，坦白說，本季度我們在交通運輸和電子基礎設施方面的部分利潤率，是因為我們的團隊繼續表現得非常出色，而且我們為繼續推動而做的所有事情，無論是技術還是其他提高專案績效的事情，都繼續獲得回報。我對我們正在進行的一些工作感到很興奮，這些工作明年和後年就會開始產生回報。

So if you look at the performance side, all good. When we look at the bid activity side, we still got a little over a year left on IIJA. There's -- that spend continues to increase. They approved the budget for 2025. That was up, I forget the number, Noelle, was it up 8%,

因此，如果從性能方面來看，一切都很好。從競標活動來看，IIJA 仍然剩下一年多的時間。支出還在持續增加。他們批准了2025年的預算。漲了，我忘了具體數字了，諾埃爾，漲了 8% 嗎？

I think, is what it was for total spend approximately. And so bid activity remains good in Transportation and E-Infrastructure. I would tell you our front-end guys wish it would slow down. These poor guys are working 7 days a week, 12 hours a day right now with bid activity that's coming in. So we're very optimistic on what's going on there.

我認為，這大約就是總支出。因此，交通運輸和電子基礎設施領域的投標活動仍然良好。我想告訴你，我們的前端人員希望它能慢下來。這些可憐的傢伙現在每週工作 7 天，每天工作 12 個小時，處理不斷湧入的投標活動。因此，我們對那裡發生的事情非常樂觀。

If you take a look at our backlog in E-Infrastructure, we're really looking at how do we finish filling 2026 and filling 2027. It's not that we can't take more in 2025, we will take more, but we're really starting to focus much further out, making sure we're solid on a long-term basis. The area of weakness for us, the headwinds we're seeing is certainly in the residential side.

如果你看一下我們在電子基礎設施方面的積壓工作，你會發現我們真正關心的是如何完成 2026 年和 2027 年的任務。並不是說我們不能在 2025 年取得更多成就，我們將會取得更多成就，但我們確實開始關注更長遠的未來，確保我們長期穩固。我們的弱點、我們看到的阻力肯定是在住宅方面。

That market has been soft, probably a little softer than we even anticipated in the quarter. But the difference there is there's tremendous pent-up demand. Somebody is going to figure out this affordability piece in some way, shape or form, whether that's interest rates coming down or some pricing coming down on the builder side to get people in.

該市場一直疲軟，可能比我們本季預期的還要疲軟。但不同之處在於存在著巨大的被壓抑的需求。有人會以某種方式、形式解決這個負擔能力問題，無論是降低利率或是降低建築商的價格來吸引人們。

So we're bullish long term on that market over a multiyear period. We may go through a little bit of a slow period. We see it as an opportunity to build our capabilities and potentially expand during this time, and we'll come out of it even stronger on the back end.

因此，我們對該市場多年期的長期前景持樂觀態度。我們可能會經歷一段緩慢的時期。我們將此視為一個機會，讓我們能夠在此時期建立能力並實現潛在擴張，並且我們將從中變得更加強大。

Makes a lot of sense. Thank you for the color. I'll pass it on.

很有道理。謝謝你的顏色。我會傳達的。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Adam Thalhimer, Thompson Davis.

亞當泰爾希默，湯普森戴維斯。

Hey, good morning, guys. Nice quarter. Ron, I wanted to follow up on -- you mentioned that E-Infrastructure was your top priority for M&A. Would that be for geographic expansion?

嘿，大家早安。不錯的季度。羅恩，我想跟進一下——你提到電子基礎設施是你的併購首要任務。這是為了地理擴張嗎？

Well, I think we look at it in multiple facets. First of all, there's a couple of geographies we really would like to get into and are working hard to find a potential acquisition or come up with an organic growth plan for those. One of those, frankly, is Texas. It's -- we sit in Texas and the amount of activity that's going on, whether it's data centers or chip plants or anything else is astronomical. And for the most part, we've foregone that.

嗯，我認為我們應該從多個方面來看待這個問題。首先，有幾個地區是我們非常想進入的，並且正在努力尋找潛在的收購對像或為這些地區制定有機成長計劃。坦白說，其中之一就是德克薩斯州。我們位於德州，無論是資料中心、晶片工廠或其他任何設施，這裡正在進行的活動數量都是天文數字。在很大程度上，我們已經放棄了這一點。

Now, I'll talk about how we've -- how we're actually conquering some of that organically with some jobs. But so doing site development with geographical extensions, looking at acquisitions for that, I should say, is something we are definitely looking at.

現在，我將談論我們如何——我們如何透過一些工作自然而然地克服其中的一些問題。但是，我們應該說，進行具有地理擴展的網站開發並考慮收購是我們肯定會考慮的事情。

In addition, we believe, there is high value and high opportunity in us adding electrical and mechanical and potentially specialty piping along with some other skill sets to the portfolio. We have experimented with a small little dry utility business. We'll triple that business or maybe even quadruple it in the next 12 months just by bringing it to the customers and contracts we have and getting that built into those contracts.

此外，我們相信，將電氣、機械和潛在的專業管道以及其他一些技能組合添加到產品組合中具有很高的價值和很大的機會。我們已經嘗試過一個小型的乾公用事業業務。只要我們將這項業務帶給我們現有的客戶和合同，並將其融入這些合約中，我們就能在未來 12 個月內使這項業務增長三倍甚至四倍。

So we think that there's an opportunity if we can provide an entire electrical and mechanical package that we could bring those solutions to our core customers as well. That's not something that would happen overnight, but the next round of projects that we do, we would obviously work hard to try to get those built in. So the answer is we're doing both. We're looking at geographic expansion and additional services.

因此，我們認為，如果我們能夠提供整套電氣和機械解決方案，那麼我們就有機會將這些解決方案帶給我們的核心客戶。這不是一朝一夕就能實現的事情，但在我們開展的下一輪專案中，我們顯然會努力嘗試實現。所以答案是，我們兩個都在做。我們正在尋求地理擴張和附加服務。

And then with that -- those additional services, would you start offering those potentially on a stand-alone basis? Or would it only be for your existing infrastructure projects as an add-on?

那麼，有了這些附加服務，您是否會開始以獨立的方式提供這些服務？或者它只是作為您現有基礎設施項目的附加元件？

No. So what we see is, we certainly could use them with our customer base. We would use them outside of our customer base. And we look at it as potentially an opportunity if the right acquisition came along with the right end customer mix may pull us into different end markets on the site Solutions side.

不。因此，我們看到的是，我們當然可以將它們用於我們的客戶群。我們會在我們的客戶群之外使用它們。如果正確的收購加上正確的最終客戶組合可能會將我們帶入網站解決方案方面的不同最終市場，我們認為這是一個潛在的機會。

All right. And then just last one for me. Just kind of confused me because you put up a 22% gross margin in Q1. That's also the guidance for the year. I was just curious why you wouldn't see maybe a seasonal uptick in gross margins during the summer and fall.

好的。對我來說，這是最後一個。只是有點讓我困惑，因為你在第一季公佈的毛利率是 22%。這也是今年的指導。我只是好奇為什麼在夏季和秋季你不會看到毛利率出現季節性上升。

Yes. We will see an uptick in summer and fall, and we see the dip in the fourth quarter. So it kind of comes out pretty close to that. It's a little higher for a while --

是的。我們將在夏季和秋季看到上升趨勢，並在第四季度看到下降趨勢。所以它的結果與此非常接近。暫時有點高--

Understood. I'll turn it over. Thank you.

明白了。我把它翻過來。謝謝。

Noah Levitz, William Blair.

諾亞·萊維茨、威廉·布萊爾。

Joe, Ron, and Noelle congrats on strong numbers. Yeah. So the IIJA bill, you have two years left in backlog. It's coming to an end, probably in the next year. Some other peers have talked about IIJA part 2, the next bill. Can you talk a little bit if you're seeing anything in Congress and what you would hope to see or expect in the next bill?

喬、羅恩和諾艾爾對取得的優異成績表示祝賀。是的。因此，IIJA 法案還有兩年的積壓時間。它即將結束，可能在明年。其他一些同行談到了 IIJA 第 2 部分，即下一項法案。您能否談談您在國會看到了什麼以及您希望在下一項法案中看到什麼或期待什麼？

Yeah. So I think people worry that the bill ends and everything stops. It's just -- it's the next bill comes out, right? And the worst-case scenario if there is a gap, they usually do a transition year or a bridge. Generally, they've taken the prior year's number, adjusted for inflation and continue until the next bill goes.

是的。所以我認為人們擔心該法案一旦結束，一切都會停止。這只是——下一項法案即將出台，對嗎？最糟糕的情況是，如果存在差距，他們通常會安排一個過渡年或橋樑。一般來說，他們會採用前一年的數字，根據通貨膨脹進行調整，並持續到下一張帳單出台。

But here's what I will tell you. And I was supposed to be in DC this week. But with the earnings call and Board meeting, it's not working out. There is more activity further in advance on the next infrastructure build going on right now, bipartisan activity in DC than I've seen in the last two bills by a whole lot.

但這就是我要告訴你的。我本週應該在華盛頓特區。但在收益電話會議和董事會會議上，它並沒有發揮作用。目前，下一項基礎建設正在進一步推進，華盛頓的兩黨合作活動比我在過去兩項法案中看到的要多得多。

So I would tell you that the Head of Transportation was told to make a bigger, more beautiful infrastructure bill than has ever been done before. And there are a lot of people in D.C. running around trying to figure that out right now, including, for the first time, talking about some longer-term ways to pay this with fees, federal fees for registrations of electric vehicles, hybrid vehicles, and even gas vehicles at different rates.

所以我想告訴你，交通運輸主管被要求制定一項比以往更大、更漂亮的基礎設施法案。現在華盛頓特區有很多人正在四處奔波試圖解決這個問題，包括首次討論一些長期支付費用的方法，即對電動車、混合動力汽車甚至燃氣汽車的註冊徵收不同的聯邦費用。

So far, so good. Again, they're much further ahead. They seem to be much more rational in their thought process. And I think they've been given an edict to do something bigger and better. So I -- it's still a year away, a little 1.5 years probably. But I would tell you, it looks better than it has historically.

到目前為止，一切都很好。再次，他們遙遙領先。他們的思考過程似乎更加理性。我認為他們已經接到命令去做更大更好的事。所以我認為──還需要一年，或是大概一年半的時間。但我想告訴你，它看起來比歷史上任何時候都要好。

Normally, at this point in time, everybody is trying to get Congress to think about it because it's coming up and they say, we still have over a year, why would we think about it? So that all looks positive.

通常，在這個時候，每個人都試圖讓國會考慮這個問題，因為它即將到來，他們說，我們還有一年多的時間，為什麼我們要考慮這個問題？一切看起來都是正面的。

Great. That makes sense. And then shifting back over to E-Infrastructure, you mentioned in your prepared remarks about the semiconductor opportunity and onshoring I think over the past few months, in particular, there's been a lot of capital investment plan, a very sizable ones from pharmaceutical companies, bringing back manufacturing to the US, expanding their existing capabilities.

偉大的。這很有道理。然後回到電子基礎設施問題，您在準備好的發言中提到了半導體機會和在岸化，我認為在過去的幾個月裡，特別是在過去的幾個月裡，有很多資本投資計劃，其中很大一部分來自製藥公司，將製造業帶回美國，擴大他們現有的能力。

And last quarter, you mentioned that you had a project going on in that biopharma space. So I was wondering, could you provide some color about conversations related to these particular builds, the biopharma one potential size of these projects, and whether or not you have capacity constraints that could potentially inhibit your ability on these projects just because of how exposed you are to data centers and how well that's been ramping? Thank you.

上個季度，您提到您在生物製藥領域有一個正在進行的專案。所以我想知道，您能否提供一些有關這些特定構建的對話的詳細信息，這些項目的生物製藥潛在規模，以及您是否有容量限制，這些限制可能會因為您對數據中心的暴露程度和增長情況而潛在地抑制您在這些項目上的能力？謝謝。

Yes, I'll start with the end. We'll do everyone that comes our way that we think is a good project. So we -- the great thing is the business is growing well. The margins continue to expand. I would tell you if the right projects came and we had to grow our capacity 25% to 30%. Right now, we could do it. I think that's a good thing. And as we go into next year, we'll have more capacity. So we're not worried about that.

是的，我從結尾開始。我們會盡力做好每一個我們認為好的項目。因此，最棒的是業務成長良好。利潤率持續擴大。如果有合適的項目，我會告訴你，我們必須將產能提高 25% 到 30%。現在，我們就能做到。我認為這是一件好事。進入明年，我們的產能將進一步增加。所以我們並不擔心這一點。

What I will tell you whether it's pharma or it's auto or it's electronics or pick your poison of manufacturing and reshoring or onshoring. What we haven't seen is a wave of an industry. And what I mean by that is we haven't seen 10 pharma plants coming back. And all of a sudden, there's this big pharma build. We haven't seen 10 auto plants.

我會告訴你，無論是製藥業、汽車業或電子業，或是選擇製造業、回流或在岸生產。我們還沒有看到一個產業的浪潮。我的意思是，我們還沒有看到 10 家製藥廠恢復營運。突然之間，大型製藥公司開始崛起。我們還沒看到10家汽車工廠。

We're seeing kind of onesie, twosies. We'll see one here, we'll see one there, and they're all different. We're waiting for this wave that says we're going to bring back 20 pharma plants, right, and watch them get ready to break ground. We think it's coming, but it's still early. It takes a while. I think people underestimate that from the time you say you want to build a factory in the US how much time it takes to get land, get it permitted, get everything ready before you can actually break ground.

我們看到的是連身衣和兩體衣。我們會在這裡看到一個，在那裡看到一個，它們都是不同的。我們正在等待這波浪潮，說我們將恢復 20 家製藥廠，對，並看著他們準備破土動工。我們認為它即將到來，但現在還為時過早。這需要一段時間。我認為人們低估了從你說要在美國建廠開始到真正破土動工需要多長時間才能獲得土地、獲得許可、做好一切準備。

Candidly, if the administration wanted to do something to speed up manufacturing or onshoring or reshoring faster than anything else, it would be get rid of the political process and the permitting. It is taking much longer to get permits through than ever before.

坦白說，如果政府想採取某種措施來加快製造業或在岸或回岸的速度，那麼就必須擺脫政治程序和許可。獲得許可證所需的時間比以前要長得多。

Ever since COVID happened, the agencies have never come back to work. They're working from home, which is very complicated to get a permit that took weeks now takes months, permits it took months now take a year. If they could clean up that process, we would see plants built at a much faster rate and a much greater rate, I think.

自從新冠疫情爆發以來，這些機構就再也沒有恢復工作。他們在家工作，獲得許可證非常複雜，以前需要幾週時間，現在需要幾個月時間，以前需要幾個月時間，現在需要一年。我認為，如果他們能夠改善這項流程，我們將看到工廠的建設速度更快、更迅速。

But to answer your question, Again, we've seen kind of onesie, twosies. We're talking to the big engineering firms that are working on the front end of the stuff. Food is another one, food and pharma. We keep hearing about all the designs taking place. We're just waiting for that wave to come to shore.

但要回答你的問題，我們再一次看到了連身衣和兩體衣。我們正在與從事該領域前端工作的大型工程公司進行洽談。食品是另一個，食品和製藥。我們不斷聽到有關正在進行的所有設計的消息。我們只是在等待海浪湧上岸。

Thank you. There are no further questions. I will turn the call back over to Joe Cutillo for closing comments.

謝謝。沒有其他問題了。我將把電話轉回給喬·庫蒂略 (Joe Cutillo) 進行最後發言。

Thanks, Joanna. I'd like to thank everybody again for joining today's call. If you have any follow-up questions or wish to schedule a call with us, please feel free to contact Noelle or contact information can be find in our press release. Again, I want to thank everybody, and hope you have a great day.

謝謝，喬安娜。我想再次感謝大家參加今天的電話會議。如果您有任何後續問題或希望與我們安排通話，請隨時聯絡 Noelle，或在我們的新聞稿中找到聯絡資訊。再次感謝大家，祝福大家有個愉快的一天。

Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes your conference call for today. We thank you for participating and we ask that you please disconnect your line.

女士們、先生們，今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝您的參與，請您斷開線路。