Sterling Infrastructure Inc (STRL) 2025 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Sterling Infrastructure second-quarter webcast and conference call. (Operator Instructions) This call is being recorded on Tuesday, August 5, 2025.

女士們、先生們，早安，歡迎參加 Sterling Infrastructure 第二季度網路廣播和電話會議。（操作員指示）此通話於 2025 年 8 月 5 日星期二錄製。

I would now like to turn the conference over to Noelle Dilts. Please go ahead.

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 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 Nick Grindstaff, Sterling's Chief Financial Officer.

各位嘉賓早安，歡迎參加 Sterling Infrastructure 2025 年第二季財報電話會議和網路廣播。我很高興今天能在這裡與 Sterling 首席執行官喬·庫蒂略 (Joe Cutillo) 和 Sterling 首席財務官尼克·格林斯塔夫 (Nick Grindstaff) 討論我們的業績。

Joe will open the call with an overview of the company and its performance in the quarter. Nick 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，尼克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，我將宣讀安全港聲明。

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 also note that management may reference EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA, adjusted net income or adjusted EPS 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。另請注意，管理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 EPS，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 all results today, including revenue and backlog, refer to figures that adjust prior period results to conform to the current accounting of our RHB JV, unless otherwise noted.

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。我們今天討論的所有結果，包括收入和積壓訂單，均指調整前期結果以符合我們 RHB JV 當前會計的數字，除非另有說明。

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. Our press release and filings also include a reconciliation of these adjustments.

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。我們的新聞稿和文件還包括對這些調整的核對。

All comparisons are to the prior year quarter unless otherwise noted. Please also note that our guidance does not include any contributions from the previously announced planned acquisition of CEC Facilities Group, which has not yet closed.

除非另有說明，否則所有比較均與去年同期進行比較。另請注意，我們的指導不包括先前宣布的收購 CEC Facilities Group 計劃中的任何貢獻，該收購尚未完成。

I'll now turn the call over to our CEO, Joe Cutillo.

現在我將把電話轉給我們的執行長喬·庫蒂略 (Joe Cutillo)。

Thanks, Noelle. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining today's call. I'm excited to talk about another great performance by the Sterling team as we continue to drive bottom line growth at a rate roughly double top line growth. Revenue grew 21% in the quarter, fueled by growth of over 29% in our E-Infrastructure Solutions segment and 24% in our Transportation segment.

謝謝，諾艾爾。大家早安，感謝大家參加今天的電話會議。我很高興談論 Sterling 團隊的另一個出色表現，我們繼續以大約兩倍於頂線成長率的速度推動底線成長。本季營收成長 21%，其中電子基礎設施解決方案部門成長超過 29%，運輸部門成長 24%。

We grew adjusted earnings per share by 41% to $2.69 and delivered adjusted EBITDA of $126 million, an increase of 35%. Our gross profit margin expanded 400 basis points from the prior year to reach 23.3%. Additionally, operating cash flow generation in the quarter was again very strong at $85 million.

我們的調整後每股盈餘成長了 41%，達到 2.69 美元，調整後的 EBITDA 達到 1.26 億美元，成長了 35%。我們的毛利率比去年擴大了400個基點，達到23.3%。此外，本季的營運現金流再次強勁，達到 8,500 萬美元。

Looking to the future, we remain extremely positive on our outlook. We are in the markets and geographies that we believe have strong sustainable growth that will continue over the next several years. We will further build upon the strong base we have established and remain focused on pursuing the most attractive and highest return opportunities.

展望未來，我們依然非常樂觀。我們相信，我們所處的市場和地區將在未來幾年內持續保持強勁的可持續成長。我們將進一步鞏固已建立的堅實基礎，並繼續專注於追求最具吸引力和最高回報的機會。

Our backlog position and visibility support our confidence in the future. Backlog at the end of the quarter totaled $2 billion, a 24% year-over-year increase. E-Infrastructure Solutions backlog of $1.2 billion was up a very strong 44%.

我們的積壓狀況和可見度支持了我們對未來的信心。本季末積壓訂單總額為 20 億美元，較去年同期成長 24%。電子基礎設施解決方案積壓訂單達 12 億美元，成長 44%。

Our multiyear visibility is further supported by our pipeline of future phase opportunities tied to our current projects, which remain at approximately $0.75 billion. When you take both our signed backlog and future phase work, we have visibility into a pool of E-Infrastructure revenue approaching $2 billion.

我們與當前專案相關的未來階段機會管道進一步支持了我們多年的可見性，這些機會管道的價值仍約為 7.5 億美元。當您將我們簽署的積壓工作和未來階段的工作結合起來時，我們就能看到接近 20 億美元的電子基礎設施收入池。

Adding to our excitement is our previously announced agreement to acquire CEC Facilities Group. CEC will add mission-critical electrical and mechanical services to the Sterling portfolio. Combined with our best-in-class site development capabilities, this addition will allow us to deliver higher value end-to-end E-Infrastructure solutions to our customers.

令我們更加興奮的是，我們先前宣布了收購 CEC Facilities Group 的協議。CEC 將為 Sterling 產品組合添加關鍵任務電氣和機械服務。結合我們一流的站點開發能力，此次收購將使我們能夠為客戶提供更高價值的端到端電子基礎設施解決方案。

We believe that this service combination will allow us to capture even more value across the full life cycle of a facility, accelerate project time lines, create stickier customer relationships and expand our geographic footprint. 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 and grow the company.

我們相信，這種服務組合將使我們能夠在設施的整個生命週期中獲得更多價值，加快專案時間表，建立更緊密的客戶關係並擴大我們的地理覆蓋範圍。「Sterling Way」是我們致力於照顧我們的員工、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和發展公司時的指導原則。

Now I'd like to discuss our segment results in more details. In E-Infrastructure, second quarter revenue grew 29% over prior year and over 42% sequentially. The data center market was again the primary growth driver in the quarter as revenue from this market more than doubled year-over-year.

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，第二季營收比去年同期成長 29%，比上一季成長 42% 以上。資料中心市場再次成為本季的主要成長動力，該市場的營收年增一倍以上。

Adjusted segment operating income grew 57% and adjusted operating margins reached 28% and an increase of over 500 basis points. This was driven by our continued 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 data centers and manufacturing work continues to represent the vast majority of our E-Infrastructure backlog. However, we saw very strong growth in e-commerce distribution backlog in the quarter.

調整後分部營業收入成長57%，調整後營業利益率達28%，成長超過500個基點。這是由於我們不斷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。關鍵任務資料中心和製造工作仍佔據我們電子基礎設施積壓工作的絕大部分。然而，我們看到本季電子商務分銷積壓業務成長非常強勁。

Moving to Transportation Solutions. Second quarter revenue grew 24% and adjusted operating profit grew 78%, driven by strong market demand and the benefit of mix shift towards higher margin services. We ended the quarter with Transportation Solutions backlog of $715 million, a 5% year-over-year increase. Sequentially, segment backlog declined 17%, which reflects the strong revenue burn in the quarter, combined with the seasonally slower awards in the second quarter, which has historically been the low point of the year. Additionally, the wind down of our Texas low-bid heavy highway operation will impact backlog, but ultimately benefit segment margins.

轉向運輸解決方案。受強勁的市場需求和產品組合向利潤率更高的服務轉變的推動，第二季度收入增長 24%，調整後營業利潤增長 78%。本季末，我們的運輸解決方案積壓訂單為 7.15 億美元，年增 5%。與上一季相比，分部積壓訂單下降了 17%，這反映了本季強勁的收入消耗，加上第二季季節性獎勵發放放緩，而第二季歷來是全年的最低點。此外，我們德州低價重型公路業務的逐步結束將影響積壓訂單，但最終有利於部門利潤率。

Shifting to Building Solutions. In the second quarter, segment revenue declined 1% and adjusted operating income declined 28%. Adjusted operating margins in the quarter were 11%. Overall demand for homes has been impacted as potential buyers struggle with affordability challenges. Revenue from our legacy residential business declined 11% driven by softness in the overall housing market.

轉向建築解決方案。第二季度，分部收入下降1%，調整後營業收入下降28%。本季調整後的營業利益率為 11%。由於潛在買家面臨負擔能力的挑戰，住房整體需求受到了影響。由於整體房地產市場疲軟，我們傳統住宅業務的收入下降了 11%。

Even with these headwinds in Building Solutions, the strength of Sterling's diversified portfolio and strategy to focus on growth in high-margin end markets enabled us to deliver another record quarter.

即使建築解決方案面臨這些不利因素，Sterling 多元化投資組合的優勢以及專注於高利潤終端市場成長的策略使我們能夠再創一個創紀錄的季度。

With that, I'd like to turn it over to Nick to give you more details on some of our financial metrics and full year guidance. Nick?

接下來，我想讓尼克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。缺口？

Thanks, Joe, and good morning. First, I would like to say that I'm excited about joining the Sterling team. This is a really great time for the company, and I'm looking forward to helping guide our financial strategy as we continue to grow.

謝謝，喬，早安。首先，我想說我很高興加入 Sterling 團隊。對於公司來說，這是一個非常好的時期，我期待在我們繼續發展的過程中幫助指導我們的財務策略。

Now I'll shift to our consolidated backlog metrics. Our second quarter backlog totaled $2.01 billion, a 23.8% increase from the prior year second quarter. We closed the quarter with combined backlog of $2.25 billion, which was up 17.6% from 2Q '24 and up slightly sequentially. Second quarter 2025 book-to-burn ratios were 0.77 times for backlog and 1.03 times for combined backlog. Year-to-date book-to- burn ratios were 1.36 times for backlog and 1.47 times for combined backlog.

現在我將轉向我們的合併積壓指標。我們第二季的積壓訂單總額為 20.1 億美元，比去年同期第二季成長 23.8%。本季結束時，我們的總積壓訂單金額為 22.5 億美元，較 2024 年第二季成長 17.6%，較上季略有成長。2025 年第二季的訂單與銷售比率為積壓訂單的 0.77 倍，合併積壓訂單的 1.03 倍。年初至今，積壓訂單的購書量與銷書量的比率為 1.36 倍，合併積壓訂單的購書量與銷書量的比率為 1.47 倍。

Moving to our cash flow metrics. Cash flow from operating activities for the first 6 months of 2025 was a strong $170.3 million compared to $170.6 million in prior year period. Cash flow used in investing activities for the first 6 months of 2025 included $28.6 million of net CapEx and $37.9 million for acquisitions, including Drake Concrete.

轉向我們的現金流指標。2025 年前 6 個月的經營活動現金流強勁，達到 1.703 億美元，去年同期為 1.706 億美元。2025 年前 6 個月投資活動所用現金流包括 2,860 萬美元的淨資本支出和 3,790 萬美元的收購（包括 Drake Concrete）。

Year-to-date cash flow from financing activities was a $68.7 million outflow, primarily driven by first quarter share repurchases of $43.8 million at an average price of $128.98 per share. We did not repurchase any additional shares in the second quarter. The remaining availability under the existing repurchase authorization is $85.6 million. We are in great shape from a balance sheet perspective.

年初至今的融資活動現金流為 6,870 萬美元流出，主要由於第一季以平均每股 128.98 美元的價格回購了 4,380 萬美元的股票。我們在第二季沒有回購任何額外股份。現有回購授權下的剩餘可用金額為 8,560 萬美元。從資產負債表的角度來看，我們的狀況良好。

During the quarter, we announced an amendment to our 2019 credit agreement that extended the maturity of the credit facility to June 2028, expanded the size of the facility, improved rates and provided additional flexibility. We ended the quarter with a very strong liquidity position, consisting of $699.4 million of cash and debt of $298.2 million for a cash net of debt balance of $401.2 million. At

本季度，我們宣布對 2019 年信貸協議進行修訂，將信貸額度的期限延長至 2028 年 6 月，擴大信貸額度的規模，提高利率並提供額外的靈活性。本季末，我們的流動性狀況非常強勁，包括 6.994 億美元的現金和 2.982 億美元的債務，現金減去債務餘額為 4.012 億美元。在

close, the CEC transaction is expected to utilize $450 million of cash on hand. Our $150 million revolving credit facility remained undrawn during the period.

交易完成後，CEC 交易預計將動用 4.5 億美元現金。在此期間，我們的 1.5 億美元循環信貸額度尚未提取。

Now I'd like to discuss our guidance. As we look ahead to the remainder of 2025, the strong tailwinds behind our business position us for another record year at Sterling. We are increasing our guidance ranges to revenue of $2.1 billion to $2.15 billion which is a slight increase at the midpoint relative to our previous guidance range, net income of $243 million to $252 million, diluted EPS of $7.87 to $8.13, adjusted diluted EPS of $9.21 to $9.47. This represents an 8% increase at the midpoint of our previous guidance range.

現在我想討論一下我們的指導。展望 2025 年剩餘時間，我們業務背後的強勁順風將使 Sterling 再創紀錄一年。我們將營收預期範圍上調至21億美元至21.5億美元，較之前的預期範圍中位數略有上調；淨利潤為2.43億美元至2.52億美元，稀釋每股收益為7.87美元至8.13美元，調整後稀釋每股收益為9.21美元至9.47美元，較之前的預期範圍中值上漲8%。

EBITDA of $406 million to $421 million, adjusted EBITDA of $438 million to $453 million. This represents a 6% increase at the midpoint of our previous guidance range. Please note that our guidance does not include any contribution from CEC as we continue to work towards closing. Our expectations for CEC's full year performance are unchanged.

EBITDA 為 4.06 億美元至 4.21 億美元，調整後 EBITDA 為 4.38 億美元至 4.53 億美元。這比我們之前指導範圍的中點增加了 6%。請注意，我們的指導不包括來自 CEC 的任何貢獻，因為我們將繼續努力完成。我們對 CEC 全年業績的預期保持不變。

From a financial standpoint, we are in an excellent position to continue to take advantage of both organic and inorganic growth opportunities in the years ahead.

從財務角度來看，我們處於有利地位，可以在未來幾年繼續利用有機和無機成長機會。

Now I will turn the call back to Joe.

現在我將把電話轉回給喬。

Thanks, Nick. 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 discussion with our customers contribute to our confidence.

謝謝，尼克。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 the 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. We are getting pulled into new geographies by our customers. including Texas, and believe that the pending CEC acquisition will only accelerate our footprint expansion.

在電子基礎設施解決方案中，我們預計資料中心需求的當前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。我們正被客戶帶入新的地區，包括德州，並相信即將進行的 CEC 收購只會加速我們的業務擴張。

In the manufacturing market, we're seeing a fairly steady pace of activity in 2025. As we look out to 2026 and 2027, there remains a very big pool of mega projects on the horizon. This would include planned semiconductor fabrication facilities. Given the complexity involved with the development, we believe it will take some time before awards start to flow. The e-commerce market has strengthened significantly in 2025. We have built a sizable level of backlog and believe we could see additional awards in the back half of the year.

在製造業市場，我們看到 2025 年的活動步伐相當穩定。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製造設施。鑑於開發過程的複雜性，我們認為獎項的頒發還需要一些時間。2025年電子商務市場將顯著增強。我們已經累積了相當數量的訂單，並相信在今年下半年我們將獲得更多的獎項。

Together, these dynamics support strong growth opportunities over a multiyear period. For 2025, we expect to deliver E-Infrastructure revenue growth of 18% to 20% and adjusted operating profit margins in the mid- to high 20% range as compared to 23.7% in 2024.

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成長 18% 至 20%，調整後的營業利潤率將達到 20% 左右（2024 年為 23.7%）。

In Transportation Solutions, we are approaching the final year of the current federal funding cycle, which concludes in September of 2026. 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，我們即將迎來當前聯邦資助週期的最後一年，該週期將於 2026 年 9 月結束。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 resulting in some moderation of Transportation Solutions top line and backlog, but should drive meaningful margin improvements as we move through the year. We now expect Transportation Solutions revenue growth to be in the low to mid-teens on an adjusted basis for 2025. We forecast adjusted operating profit margins in the low teens compared to 9.6% in 2024.

我們在德州的低價重型公路業務的縮減正在按計劃進行，這導致運輸解決方案的營收和積壓訂單有所減緩，但隨著我們全年的發展，應該會推動利潤率的顯著提高。我們現在預計，到 2025 年，運輸解決方案的收入成長率將在調整後達到 15% 到 16% 之間。我們預測調整後的營業利潤率將處於低位，而 2024 年則為 9.6%。

In Building Solutions, we continue to believe the business is well positioned for growth over a multiyear period. Our key geographies of Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston and Phoenix are expected to see continued population growth driving new home demand. Additionally, there is a significant opportunity for share gain in Houston and Phoenix. In the near term, we are anticipating a continuation of soft market conditions driven by the affordability challenges.

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。我們的主要地理區域達拉斯-沃斯堡、休士頓和菲尼克斯預計將出現持續的人口成長，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。短期內，我們預期受負擔能力挑戰的影響，市場狀況將持續疲軟。

For full year Building Solutions revenue, we forecast a mid- to high single-digit decline. We anticipate adjusted operating margins in the low double digits as compared to 14.8% in 2024. On the acquisition front, closing the CEC transaction is the top priority, but we are continuing to look for small to midsized acquisitions that are the right strategic fit to enhance our service offering and geographic footprint.

對於全年建築解決方案收入，我們預測會出現中高個位數的下降。我們預計調整後的營業利潤率將處於低兩位數水平，而 2024 年則為 14.8%。在收購方面，完成 CEC 交易是首要任務，但我們仍在繼續尋找符合策略需求的中小型收購，以增強我們的服務範圍和地理覆蓋範圍。

The midpoints of our increased 2025 guidance ranges would represent 13% revenue growth as adjusted for RHB, 32% adjusted EPS growth and 30% adjusted EBITDA growth.

我們上調的 2025 年指導範圍的中點將代表根據 RHB 調整後的收入增長 13%、調整後的 EPS 增長 32% 和調整後的 EBITDA 增長 30%。

With that, I'd like to turn it over for questions.

好了，現在我想把這個問題提交給大家提問。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員指示）

Louie DiPalma, William Blair.

路易·迪帕爾馬、威廉·布萊爾。

Joe, Nick, and Noel, good morning. One of the big trends coming out of earnings season thus far has been the major increases in CapEx from the data center hyperscalers. Investors are wondering is a significant portion of these projects expected to land in your core markets? And in the past, you've provided a qualitative color on the data center book-to-burn. Is it fair to assume that the book-to-burn remained above the 1 times level?

喬、尼克和諾埃爾，早安。到目前為止，財報季出現的一大趨勢是資料中心超大規模企業的資本支出大幅增加。投資人想知道這些項目中是否有很大一部分有望進入你們的核心市場？並且在過去，您已經為資料中心的書籍提供了定性色彩。假設焚書量維持在 1 倍以上，這公平嗎？

Yes. So let me start with the first one. We think we're positioned extremely well for a large percentage of the data center capital that's coming out. As we talked about on the call, we are very actively looking at expanding into Texas. We see some very nice opportunities there.

是的。那麼讓我從第一個開始。我們認為，對於即將出現的大部分資料中心資本而言，我們已經佔據了極為有利的地位。正如我們在電話中談到的，我們正在積極考慮向德克薩斯州擴張。我們在那裡看到了一些非常好的機會。

And as we go into 2026 and 2027, we'll start looking to expand up into the Northwest. We think there's going to be some sizable projects based on talking to our customers out in those future years up in the mid -- sorry, Midwest or upper West, Northwest market by geography straight here this morning.

隨著我們進入 2026 年和 2027 年，我們將開始尋求向西北地區擴張。我們認為，根據與中部地區（抱歉，是中西部或上西部、西北地區）客戶交談的結果，我們今天早上就直接談到一些規模可觀的項目。

So yes, I think we're positioned extremely well today. And I will tell you, from a strategic planning standpoint and what we're working on, we are following those customers into some new markets. On the data center front, we saw very good bookings again in the quarter. Data centers are now 62% of our total backlog and E- Infrastructure.

所以是的，我認為我們今天的定位非常好。我會告訴你，從策略規劃的角度和我們正在做的工作來看，我們正在跟隨這些客戶進入一些新的市場。在資料中心方面，我們在本季再次看到非常好的預訂量。資料中心目前占我們總積壓訂單和電子基礎設施的 62%。

And that's up a couple of points, but it's even more impressive when you look at the growth of our e-commerce distribution businesses in the quarter. We were up almost 700% in the quarter for backlog in e-commerce.

這已經上升了幾個百分點，但當你看到本季我們電子商務分銷業務的成長時，這更令人印象深刻。本季度，我們的電子商務積壓訂單成長了近 700%。

Great. And related to those comments in terms of expansion into Texas and the Northwest, do you need any additional acquisitions for that to happen? Or is the general blueprint to expand organically.

偉大的。關於向德克薩斯州和西北地區擴張的評論，您是否需要進行任何額外的收購才能實現這一目標？或是有機擴張的整體藍圖。

Yeah. I think we'll do both. We've got very nice reach out of Utah. We almost touch some of the far Northwest markets out of our Utah business today. So it's another few hundred miles for us to go. But we're also looking at potential acquisitions in those markets. Similarly with Texas, believe it or not, West Texas is much closer to our Utah operation that people realize with the size of Texas.

是的。我想我們會兩者兼顧。我們在猶他州的影響力非常大。今天，我們的業務幾乎觸及了猶他州以外的一些遙遠的西北市場。所以我們還要走幾百英哩。但我們也在尋找這些市場的潛在收購。德州的情況也類似，不管你信不信，人們從德州的面積就可以看出，西德州離我們猶他州的業務更近。

So we can strike and do work in West Texas and we've bid work and won work all the way over to kind of the Dallas, Oklahoma region. So we have the ability to do that organically. But long term, we either need to establish a beachhead in Texas and up in the Northwest. So we're not traveling quite as far or make an acquisition. So the bottom line is we're looking at both.

因此，我們可以在西德克薩斯州罷工並開展工作，而且我們已經競標並贏得了到達拉斯、俄克拉荷馬州地區的工作。所以我們有能力有機地做到這一點。但從長遠來看，我們要么需要在德克薩斯州，要么在西北部建立灘頭陣地。所以我們不會走那麼遠或進行收購。所以，最重要的是，我們正在考慮兩者。

Great. And are there any expectations in terms of the timing in terms of how long will it take for Sterling to start winning like large jobs in the Texas and Northwest markets as you already have customer relationships, but how long will it take to hire than necessary workforce?

偉大的。鑑於您已經與客戶建立了關係，對於 Sterling 需要多長時間才能開始贏得德克薩斯州和西北市場的大型項目，您有什麼預期嗎？但是需要多長時間才能僱用到所需的勞動力？

Yes. I think the Northwest is further out. The projects haven't come there, they're future projects. So we're, I'll call it, preplanning 12 to 18 months before those projects start to get released. But in Texas, I'd be disappointed if we didn't have some wins for the end of this year with the bid activity that we're seeing and what we're being asked to put project plans together for.

是的。我認為西北地區更遠。這些項目還沒有實現，它們是未來的項目。因此，我稱之為在這些項目開始發布之前 12 到 18 個月進行預先規劃。但在德克薩斯州，如果我們在今年年底之前沒有從我們所看到的投標活動和我們被要求制定的項目計劃中取得一些勝利，我會感到失望。

So we're excited about the Texas market that will only accelerate with bringing on CEC once we can start talking to customers jointly. I think we're going to see some very nice not only opportunities, but some very nice wins in Texas. Similarly, I don't think it's going to be very long before we start pulling them into the Southeast more and more with our existing customer base.

因此，我們對德州市場感到非常興奮，一旦我們能夠開始與客戶共同交談，該市場將隨著 CEC 的引入而加速發展。我認為我們不僅會看到一些非常好的機會，而且還會在德克薩斯州看到一些非常好的勝利。同樣，我認為不久之後我們就能利用現有的客戶群將越來越多的客戶吸引到東南部。

Great. That is helpful. Thanks everyone.

偉大的。這很有幫助。謝謝大家。

Brent Thielman, DA Davidson

布倫特·蒂爾曼（DA Davidson）

Hey thanks. Good morning. Great quarter. Joe, maybe just sticking on E-Infrastructure, especially the margins just continue to surpass expectations here. Could you talk about how these mission-critical projects continue to evolve for you? Maybe just comparing the work you're doing today relative to the work that you're adding to backlog now. Maybe how that or other factors give you conviction just in sustaining or even expanding out these obviously, really impressive margins?

嘿，謝謝。早安.很棒的一個季度。喬，也許只是堅持電子基礎設施，特別是利潤率繼續超出預期。您能談談這些關鍵任務項目對您來說是如何繼續發展的嗎？也許只是將您今天所做的工作與您現在添加到積壓的工作進行比較。也許是這個或其他因素讓您有信心維持甚至擴大這些顯然非常令人印象深刻的利潤率？

Yes. We -- just to be clear, we believe very strongly with the backlog we have, the future phases we have and the projects we have on the books, we will continue to expand margins. I can tell you that. The thing that we really like that's going on as we talk -- let's not talk about what we have in backlog today, but projects that are coming out because, again, I'm very confident that we'll continue to expand the margins with what we have. But as power becomes more and more of a limiting factor, we are continuing to see these sites become larger and larger with more phases.

是的。我們——需要明確的是，我們堅信，憑藉我們現有的積壓訂單、未來階段以及現有項目，我們將繼續擴大利潤率。我可以告訴你。我們真正喜歡的事情是我們談話時所發生的事情——我們不要談論我們今天積壓的項目，而是談論即將推出的項目，因為我非常有信心，我們將繼續利用現有的資源來擴大利潤率。但隨著電力越來越成為限制因素，我們繼續看到這些站點變得越來越大，並且包含更多的階段。

And if you remember, we are able to drive productivity through those future phases. So the bigger it is, the more phases there are, the more upside we have for margin throughout the course of the project. So the first site in it's happening in Texas, where they're putting self-contained power related to some mini nukes is getting ready to become underway. As we look at some of the future sites even up in the Northwest, our customers are talking about 1,000-plus acre sites, and that's driven by this power.

如果您還記得的話，我們能夠透過未來階段來提高生產力。因此，專案越大，階段越多，整個專案過程中的利潤空間就越大。第一個專案地點位於德克薩斯州，他們在那裡安裝了與一些微型核電廠相關的自給電源，並準備開始運作。當我們考察西北地區的一些未來場地時，我們的客戶正在談論 1,000 多英畝的場地，而這正是由這種電力驅動的。

So we really like, obviously, the larger, the more phases, the more complex and power is driving that. As soon as they start putting self-contained power on, it's just more economical for them to make the sites larger. If you're going to put self-contained, whether it's gas or nuclear or anything else, it doesn't matter. The incremental cost to grow that data campus 40% or 50% isn't doubling the power cost or input. So that's what's really driving that.

因此，我們真的很喜歡，顯然，規模越大，階段越多，越複雜，推動力就越大。一旦他們開始使用自給自足的電力，擴大場地對他們來說就更經濟了。如果你要自給自足，無論是天然氣、核能或其他任何能源，都沒關係。將資料園區擴大 40% 或 50% 的增量成本並不是使電力成本或投入增加一倍。這就是真正的推動因素。

As we talk about some of the mega projects out there even bigger than these around the chip plants and those sort of things, again, the premise is the exact same. It doesn't matter the end customer. It's how complex and how many phases are on there, which gives us a great opportunity to drive that productivity from one phase to the other.

當我們談論一些比晶片工廠更大的大型專案和諸如此類的事情時，前提是完全相同的。最終客戶並不重要。它的複雜性和階段數量為我們提供了絕佳的機會，將生產力從一個階段提升到另一個階段。

Okay. That's great color, Joe. I appreciate that. The -- maybe just the status of the were -- I guess, the e-commerce opportunities, which seem to be reemerging in the segment. When did those start to become kind of more accretive to the bottom line to the segment, Joe? Do you start executing on those now? Or is this really more of a 2026 event?

好的。喬，顏色真好看。我很欣賞。我猜，也許只是電子商務機會的現狀，它似乎正在該領域重新出現。喬，這些什麼時候開始對該部門的底線產生更大的增值作用？您現在開始執行這些嗎？或者這實際上更像是 2026 年的事件？

Yes. We're in some of the early phases on a couple of these. Several of them will start in the back half of this year and go into 2026. And we think the bid activity will continue through 2026. We had told everybody, this is back in 2023 that Amazon sitting down with some of their key executives at the time had told us that their program would start back up in 2025. We saw our first bid and activity take place in the fourth quarter of '24, which was exciting. We anticipated two to three projects in total in 2025 that would fall into our footprint.

是的。其中一些我們尚處於早期階段。其中一些將於今年下半年開始，持續到 2026 年。我們認為競標活動將持續到 2026 年。我們告訴過所有人，這是在 2023 年，當時亞馬遜與一些主要高管坐在一起告訴我們，他們的計劃將在 2025 年重新啟動。我們看到我們的第一次競標和活動在 24 年第四季進行，這令人興奮。我們預計 2025 年將有兩到三個項目落入我們的足跡。

I think we'll end up by the end of this year having 7, 8, maybe even 9 of these projects. That's the good news. The better news is these projects based on what they're building, they're building a bigger warehouse than they have historically done. They're four stories, but it's 90-foot tall.

我認為到今年年底我們將擁有 7 個、8 個甚至 9 個這樣的項目。這是個好消息。更好的消息是，這些項目是基於他們正在建造的內容，他們正在建造一個比以往更大的倉庫。它們有四層樓，但高 90 英尺。

The size and scope of these projects compared to our historicals are almost 2 times the amount of revenue per project. So that makes it even better for us. So you put all those together, we'll have very nice margins on those, and it's a nice additional tailwind on top of data centers and manufacturing and everything else that we're seeing.

與我們的歷史相比，這些項目的規模和範圍幾乎是每個項目收入的兩倍。這對我們來說就更好了。所以，把所有這些放在一起，我們將獲得非常好的利潤率，這是資料中心、製造業和我們所看到的其他一切之上的一個很好的額外順風。

Yes. Understood. Well, maybe at least one on one of the tougher areas right now just on Building Solutions. Obviously, you've got some more challenging end market dynamics there. Maybe also, I'm guessing some poor weather here in the quarter, which I know you didn't call out, but I will.

是的。明白了。好吧，也許至少是目前最困難的領域之一，即建築解決方案。顯然，終端市場動態面臨一些更具挑戰性的問題。或許，我猜這個季度這裡的天氣會很糟糕，我知道你沒說出來，但我會說出來的。

What is the kind of implied organic for the segment going into the second half? Joe, to the extent that you're getting any other feedback from customers or maybe good guys of that story? It'd be interesting to hear as well.

進入下半年，該細分市場隱含的有機成長是什麼樣的？喬，您是否從客戶或該故事的好人那裡得到了其他回饋？聽起來也很有趣。

Yes. I mean that's certainly the headwind that we have. I think on a positive front, we're going to remain pretty focused on what can we do to maintain margins there. I think we'll see for the year, we'll see double-digit operating income in that even being down double digits on the revenue front.

是的。我的意思是這確實是我們面臨的阻力。我認為從積極的方面來看，我們將繼續關注如何保持利潤率。我認為，我們會看到，今年的營業收入將實現兩位數成長，即便收入方面出現兩位數的下降。

Here's the bottom line. That market certainly is softer than we would like. The second quarter was slightly softer than what we saw than the first. We think we're close to bottom on it and will continue through the back half of the year. And the biggest thing for us is how do we maintain pricing and margins on the work that we have.

這是底線。那個市場肯定比我們所希望的還要疲軟。第二季的表現比第一季略微疲軟。我們認為我們已經接近底部，並將持續到今年下半年。對我們來說最重要的事情是如何維持現有工作的定價和利潤。

Now the good news is with the model that we have, we talked about our labor is highly variable. Our labor is all subcontracted. So if volume decreases, we eliminate labor. If it increases, we bring them back. We've continued to see price decreases on material. So that certainly has helped. We don't see any major increases coming forward on the material front. So that will continue to help us.

現在的好消息是，根據我們現有的模型，我們談到勞動力具有高度的可變性。我們的勞動都是分包的。因此，如果產量減少，我們就會減少勞動力。如果數量增加，我們就把它們帶回來。我們持續看到材料價格下降。這肯定是有幫助的。我們沒有看到材料方面有任何大幅增長。這將繼續幫助我們。

On a positive front, we have not seen the developers or our big customers slow down on their land development, which tells us they are optimistic with the pent-up demand out there once interest rates start to drop once the cost starts coming down for a customer in total, that this thing will take off very quickly.

從積極的方面來看，我們並沒有看到開發商或大客戶放慢土地開發的步伐，這表明，一旦利率開始下降、客戶總成本開始下降，他們對被壓抑的需求持樂觀態度，認為這個項目將會迅速發展。

So we're kind of fighting the battle. We think organically, through the back half of the year, it will be down kind of low to mid-teens for the back half. But we get some interest rate drops and a couple of positive things, maybe we could see a strong fourth quarter. We're not betting on it though. We don't have any of that in our numbers. If anything, I think we're probably very conservative in our forecast versus what we anticipate happening.

所以我們就像是在戰鬥。我們認為，從有機角度來看，今年下半年的銷售額將下降 15% 到 17% 左右。但我們看到了一些利率下降和一些積極因素，也許我們會看到強勁的第四季。但我們不會打賭。我們的數字中不存在這些。如果有的話，我認為我們的預測相對於我們預期會發生的情況來說可能非常保守。

Yes, okay, understood. I'll pass it on thanks all. Thanks man.

是的，好的，明白了。我會傳達的，謝謝大家。謝謝老兄。

Julio Romero, Sidoti.

胡里奧·羅梅羅、西多蒂。

Thanks morning Joe, Nick, and Noel. Maybe staying on E-Infrastructure for a little bit. As these E-Infrastructure projects that you talked about, Joe, down the pipe get larger and larger and become more complex, there's only as far as I know on sterling out there. Is it fair to say that the value they place on your reliability to keep the project on time rises with that complexity? And then what's your level of confidence in securing better pricing that reflects that value premium?

早上好，謝謝喬、尼克和諾埃爾。或許會在電子基礎設施上停留一段時間。喬，隨著您談到的這些電子基礎設施項目變得越來越大，越來越複雜，據我所知，那裡只有英鎊。是否可以說，他們對於您確保專案按時完成的可靠性的重視程度會隨著複雜性的增加而增加？那麼，您對獲得反映價值溢價的更優惠定價有多大信心？

Yes. It's certainly -- the more complex, the more risk they have, which helps us, right? Our certainty is a critical thing. On pricing, again, we get a slight premium and maybe we should get more of a premium, but our goal isn't to take advantage of the situation. It's really to be fair on pricing, loyal to our customers that are loyal to us and make it up on the productivity side. And as these projects get bigger, we will continue to make margins on the productivity side.

是的。確實如此——越複雜，風險就越大，這對我們有幫助，對吧？我們的確定性是至關重要的。在定價方面，我們再次獲得了輕微的溢價，也許我們應該獲得更高的溢價，但我們的目標不是利用這種情況。這確實是為了公平定價，忠於我們的客戶，並在生產力方面彌補這一點。隨著這些項目變得越來越大，我們將繼續在生產力方面獲得利潤。

And strategically, we feel like that enables us to limit people wanting to enter the market and take the risk. It limits the customers wanting to take the risk because our prices upfront are egregious and puts the onus on us to do what we do best and that's execute, integrate new technologies and drive ways that improve our profitability.

從策略上講，我們認為這使我們能夠限制那些想要進入市場並承擔風險的人。由於我們的預付價格過高，它限制了願意承擔風險的客戶，並迫使我們做我們最擅長的事情，即執行、整合新技術並推動提高盈利能力的方法。

And it's -- let's talk a little bit about CEC and about some of the upfront stuff, it was really interesting. We just had our management meeting, our quarterly management meeting last week, and we were having our Plateau team explained to our other businesses how valuable the small acquisition we made on dry utilities has been and how fast it's growing and where CEC will come into play.

讓我們來談談 CEC 和一些前期的事情，這真的很有趣。我們剛剛召開了管理會議，也就是上週的季度管理會議，我們讓 Plateau 團隊向我們的其他業務部門解釋了我們在乾式公用設施方面進行的小規模收購的價值、其增長速度以及 CEC 將發揮作用的地方。

And to put it in perspective, on a data center, we talk about time being critical. And we talk about how we believe we could take out months of time. Interestingly enough, we're working on data centers now that we pulled our dry utility business into that we actually have all the dry utilities in, dug, put in concrete poured, finished before the electrician is even selected for the project.

從這個角度來看，在資料中心，時間至關重要。我們討論瞭如何才能節省數月的時間。有趣的是，我們現在正在建造資料中心，我們將乾式公用設施業務納入其中，實際上我們已經將所有乾式公用設施都挖好了，挖好了，澆築了混凝土，甚至在為專案選定電工之前就完成了。

You think about that. Think of how much time that can pick up and think of how much productivity that could pick up. As I said, I think on the last call, we're seeing 40% improvement on profitability in that business because of the productivity we can drive and do things simultaneously. Now what's exciting in that meeting, we started talking about some other opportunities for us is our Building Solutions business is down.

你想想看。想想這可以節省多少時間，想想這可以提高多少生產力。正如我所說，我認為在上次通話中，我們看到該業務的盈利能力提高了 40%，因為我們可以提高生產力並同時做事。現在，會議上令人興奮的是，我們開始談論我們的一些其他機會，因為我們的建築解決方案業務正在下滑。

We have traveling crews from our commercial side that can do concrete work. We're starting to look at using those crews in infrastructure to do that concrete work of those duct banks. The margins on it are even better than our Building Solutions margins, and it's another complement that we can add to the customer, and it takes time out of the process, right?

我們商業方面的流動工作人員可以從事具體工作。我們開始考慮使用基礎設施中的這些人員來完成這些管道組的具體工作。它的利潤率甚至比我們的建築解決方案利潤率還要高，這是我們可以向客戶增加的另一種補充，而且它需要花費一些時間，對嗎？

So this is the thing that we're constantly looking at and we're constantly kind of driving. And when you focus on margins, it's amazing how your different business units can come together and come up with ideas that we wouldn't even have to drive margins higher, leverage capacity and leverage what we do.

所以這是我們一直在關注並且一直在推動的事情。當你專注於利潤率時，你會驚訝地發現，不同的業務部門竟然能夠齊心協力，提出各種想法，而我們甚至不需要這些想法就能提高利潤率、利用產能和利用我們所做的事情。

Great answer. Really helpful there. And then you touched on it a little bit as data center CapEx and manufacturing CapEx as that opportunity increases. Can you speak a little bit to the competitive environment? Are you seeing any new entrants kind of trying to do what you do? And then also, could you speak to your competitive positioning a little bit more relative to those potential new entrants? And how the tuck-ins like CEC kind of help you stand out?

很好的答案。真的很有幫助。然後，隨著機會的增加，您稍微提到了資料中心資本支出和製造業資本支出。能簡單談談競爭環境嗎？您是否看到任何新進入者試圖做您所做的事情？另外，您能否再多談談您相對於那些潛在新進入者的競爭定位？那麼 CEC 等促銷活動如何幫助您脫穎而出呢？

Yes. So I mean, we'll always see people pop up here and there. And as I remind people that in the Southeast, there were two or three metas that were started by someone else. I would tell you, we finished all of those meta projects. So occasionally, someone comes in and tries to make a jump at it.

是的。所以我的意思是，我們總是會看到人們在這裡或那裡出現。我提醒大家，在東南部，有兩三個元世界是由其他人開創的。我想告訴你，我們完成了所有這些元項目。因此偶爾會有人進來並試圖搶佔它。

Our biggest competitor, candidly, is local content. If we have a local entity, whether that's a county or a state require -- it could be a local contractor that's licensed there. It could be a minimum amount of local labor on a particular job. That's where we run into the biggest challenge, right? That's where we out.

坦白說，我們最大的競爭對手是本地內容。如果我們有一個當地實體，無論是縣還是州要求的——它都可能是在那裡獲得許可的當地承包商。這可能是某項特定工作所需的最低當地勞動力數量。這就是我們遇到的最大挑戰，對嗎？那就是我們要去的地方。

But that's kind of the dynamic today. As we look forward, with CEC and continue to add electrical and mechanical capabilities, again, cost is always critical to customers, but speed is the most important thing. And by integrating these businesses together, we really believe we could take months out of the development of this project in months out of the total cycle time to build these. And that value to the customer in that certainty that customer for the small premium that we charge is well worth that in return.

但這就是今天的動態。展望未來，隨著 CEC 的不斷增加，電氣和機械能力也不斷增強，成本對客戶來說始終至關重要，但速度才是最重要的。透過將這些業務整合在一起，我們確實相信我們可以從整個週期時間中節省數月的時間來開發這個專案。而且，對於客戶而言，我們收取的少量額外費用是絕對值得的。

Now what does that do to the competition? If we're offering both of those and the time reduction, and you have one of those you're kind of on the outside looking in. The only thing you can try to compete with is price. And we don't compete with price. We don't gouge, but at the same time, we want a fair price and we feel we can add more value to that. So we think the CEC add just is another barrier to entry on the site development side. And we think ultimately will help on the electrical side, pull them into more projects.

那麼這對競爭有什麼影響呢？如果我們同時提供這兩項服務以及時間減少，而您只提供其中一項，那麼您就只能站在局外觀看了。你唯一可以嘗試競爭的是價格。我們不進行價格競爭。我們不會敲詐顧客，但同時，我們希望獲得一個公平的價格，我們覺得我們可以為此增加更多價值。因此我們認為 CEC 附加功能只是網站開發方面的另一個進入障礙。我們認為這最終將在電氣方面提供幫助，吸引他們參與更多項目。

Makes sense. Last one for me, if I could. Just what's your best guess of when CEC closes? And if you could just touch on the pipeline to maybe add more tuck-ins over the near to medium term?

有道理。如果可以的話，這是我的最後一個。您能猜測一下 CEC 何時關閉嗎？您是否可以談談管道問題，也許可以在中短期內增加更多內容？

Yes. We're certainly -- we're building a list of potential candidates. I can tell you where we want to focus strategically. We certainly like geographic expansions into the Southeast further. And then we'll look at as we go up to the Northwest, how do we continue to expand. They're currently in Utah with us right now. We're working on a job together in Wyoming. So they've shown the capabilities to expand where we are.

是的。我們當然正在建立一份潛在候選人名單。我可以告訴你我們的戰略重點是什麼。我們當然希望進一步向東南地區擴張地理範圍。然後，我們將研究如何向西北地區繼續擴張。他們現在和我們一起在猶他州。我們正在懷俄明州一起做一份工作。因此他們已經展現出拓展我們業務的能力。

So geographically, Southeast and kind of moving towards that Northwest. From a skill set and capabilities, they've got a nice modular operation up in Dallas. I think there's other things from a modular capability that we can add, again, taking out time and reducing the pressure on a lot of labor on these sites, right? Those are always great things.

從地理位置上看，是向東南方向，然後向西北方向移動。從技能和能力來看，他們在達拉斯擁有良好的模組化營運。我認為模組化功能還可以增加其他功能，從而節省時間並減輕這些網站上大量勞動力的壓力，對嗎？這些都是很棒的事。

And then the other piece that is really critical as we think long term, in controlling and having the total life cycle of these facilities that are being built is further service capabilities once the facilities are built and what can we add and keep people at those locations for a long period of time.

然後，當我們從長遠角度考慮時，另一個真正關鍵的因素是控制和擁有正在建造的這些設施的整個生命週期，即設施建成後的進一步服務能力，以及我們可以增加什麼，並讓人們長期留在這些地點。

On the closing front, making good progress. We're to the point now where we're really through all of the main things. We're waiting for states to bring back licenses and permits fundamentally. We're through everything else. So as you can imagine, we like that to be done -- we would like that to have been done before today so we could talk about it and all that stuff. But whenever you're dealing with state licensing and permit agencies, it never happens as fast as you want.

在收尾階段，進展順利。現在我們已經真正完成了所有主要的事情。我們正在等待各州從根本上恢復執照和許可證。我們已經度過了其他一切。所以你可以想像，我們希望這件事能夠完成——我們希望這件事能夠在今天之前完成，這樣我們就可以討論它和所有那些事情。但無論何時與國家許可和許可證機構打交道，事情都不會像您希望的那樣快。

We've got everything submitted. And some have progressed. We're through probably 65%, 70% of those right now and are waiting to get through the rest. So progressing well, never as fast as you want, but we don't see any major hangups. It's just really getting, I call it, through the process and the time of state and local agencies at this point.

我們已經提交了所有資料。其中一些已經取得了進步。目前我們大概已經完成了其中的 65% 到 70%，正在等待完成剩下的部分。進展順利，雖然沒有達到你想要的速度，但我們沒有看到任何重大障礙。我稱之為，這實際上只是透過州和地方機構的流程和時間。

Great. Thanks very much.

偉大的。非常感謝。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Adam Thalhimer, Thompson.

亞當泰爾希默，湯普森。

Good morning, guys. Congrats on the strong quarter. And Nick, welcome to the call. Joe, can you comment on. So in the E-Infrastructure business, at one point last year, we were talking about small fill-in projects. And I guess the question is, are we at the point where you're able to just better manage the mega projects, the finish dates and the start dates on the next one? You're just to get better manage the timing --

大家早安。恭喜本季業績強勁。尼克，歡迎您參加電話會議。喬，你能評論一下嗎？因此，在電子基礎設施業務中，去年某個時候，我們正在討論小型填充項目。我想問題是，我們是否能夠更好地管理大型專案、確定下一個專案的完成日期和開始日期？你只是為了更好地管理時間--

Yes. We certainly are getting -- we continue to get better at managing that. The other thing that's really it's comical we joke about internally, it's fantastic for us. Historically, we've talked about filling projects being kind of $3 million to $10 million projects.

是的。我們確實正在取得進步——我們正在不斷改進管理方式。另一件真正有趣的事情是我們內部開玩笑說的，這對我們來說太棒了。從歷史上看，我們討論的填充項目是價值 300 萬美元到 1000 萬美元的項目。

Right now, our guys call the e-commerce distribution projects, which are anywhere from $40 million to $90 million, they're fill-in projects, right? That's kind of how the size and scope of the business has changed. So they've helped and they will continue to help as they're coming on, be some of that fill in.

目前，我們的人把電子商務分銷項目稱為填充項目，這些項目的價值在 4000 萬美元到 9000 萬美元之間，對嗎？這就是業務規模和範圍所發生的變化。所以他們已經提供了幫助，並且會繼續提供幫助，填補一些空缺。

We're still -- we still would like to see a higher amount of the, what I call the $5 million to $10 million projects that are very quick for us that we can fill in and be more effective and more efficient. It's why in the fourth quarter last year, while we did get some of the fill-in projects, everybody expected our margins to go down and they went up, right? So those underutilized assets and capabilities that we have.

我們仍然——我們仍然希望看到更多所謂的 500 萬到 1000 萬美元的項目，這些項目對我們來說非常快，我們可以完成得更有效、更有效率。這就是為什麼在去年第四季度，雖然我們確實獲得了一些填補項目，但每個人都預計我們的利潤率會下降，但結果卻上升了，對嗎？這就是我們擁有的未充分利用的資產和能力。

Now the good news is in the Southeast, our assets are certainly more utilized than they were last year. I won't say they're full. We can always add more, but they're significantly fuller and we're seeing some of the increased margin associated with that.

現在的好消息是，在東南部，我們的資產利用率肯定比去年更高。我不會說它們已經滿了。我們總是可以添加更多，但它們明顯更加飽滿，我們看到了與此相關的一些利潤成長。

In the Northeast, we haven't seen the rebound nearly as much. However, what is very encouraging is several of these e-commerce distribution jobs that we're winning and are coming out in the back half of this year are in the Northeast, along with a couple of very nice sizable projects that should kick off towards the end of this year, first quarter of next year.

在東北地區，我們幾乎沒有看到那麼明顯的反彈。然而，非常令人鼓舞的是，我們贏得的、將於今年下半年推出的幾個電子商務分銷工作都在東北地區，同時還有幾個非常好的大型項目，預計將於今年年底或明年第一季啟動。

Hopefully, we have those tied up in the next quarter. We feel very confident on winning those. So I think we're going to see a really nice rebound of the Northeast as we start fourth quarter and first quarter next year, which is only going to help drive those margins up further.

希望我們能在下個季度解決這些問題。我們對贏得這些勝利充滿信心。因此我認為，明年第四季和第一季開始時，我們將看到東北地區出現非常好的反彈，這只會進一步幫助提高利潤率。

And is it too early --

現在還太早嗎--

Adam it's really nice sitting at the margins we have, knowing they're going up. It's a very comfortable spot right now.

亞當，坐在我們擁有的邊緣位置上，知道它們不斷上升，感覺真的很好。現在這是一個非常舒適的地方。

I'm sure. Is it too early to start talking about E-Infrastructure top line expectations in '26?

我敢肯定。現在談談 26 年電子基礎設施的營收預期是否為時過早？

Yes, a little bit. And the reason is there's a lot of stuff in the back half of this year that was coming. So I don't want to get over my skis one way or the other. But it's going up. It's not coming down. So I'm confident on that. It's just how much.

是的，有一點。原因是今年下半年有很多事情要做。所以我不想以任何方式放棄我的滑雪板。但它正在上升。它不會掉下來。所以我對此很有信心。只是有多少而已。

And then just a quick -- some time I'm actually just confused about in the transportation segment as your transportation subsidiaries start to do more E-Infrastructure work, how does that impact the reported results in transportation Solutions?

然後簡單說一下——有時我實際上只是對運輸領域感到困惑，因為您的運輸子公司開始做更多的電子基礎設施工作，這對運輸解決方案的報告結果有何影響？

Yes. So it's not -- so none of that work goes into transportation, it all hits E-Infrastructure. So the margin improvement that we're seeing in transportation is pure transportation margin improvement. What it's going to do is as we allocate more and more assets towards the E-Infrastructure, it will slow down our revenue growth in transportation, may slow down our backlog growth in transportation, but that's a good thing. We're swapping $3 for $1 of earnings. So we will continue to look at doing that.

是的。所以事實並非如此——這些工作都不涉及交通運輸，而是涉及電子基礎設施。因此，我們在運輸領域看到的利潤率提高是純粹的運輸利潤率提高。隨著我們向電子基礎設施分配越來越多的資產，它將減緩我們在交通運輸方面的收入增長，可能會減緩我們在交通運輸方面的積壓增長，但這是一件好事。我們用 3 美元兌換 1 美元的收益。因此我們將繼續考慮這樣做。

Now if transportation margins are good enough, we'll add capacity for that, and we'll do both. But my first kind of desire is get a higher return on the people and equipment that we have today. And if that shifts from one segment to another, that's just okay.

現在，如果運輸利潤夠好，我們就會增加運力，並且我們會同時做這兩件事。但我的首要願望是利用我們現有的人力和設備來獲得更高的回報。如果這種轉變從一個部分轉移到另一個部分，那也沒關係。

Good color. Thanks.

顏色不錯。謝謝。

Thank you. We have no further questions at this time. I will turn the call back over to Joe Cutillo closing comments.

謝謝。目前我們沒有其他問題。我將把電話轉回給喬·庫蒂略 (Joe Cutillo) 做最後發言。

Great. I want to thank everybody again for joining today's call. If you have any follow-up questions, please reach out to Noelle Dilts. Her contact information can be found in the press release, and I hope everybody has a great day. Thank you.

偉大的。我要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，請聯絡 Noelle Dilts。她的聯絡方式可以在新聞稿中找到，我希望大家度過愉快的一天。謝謝。

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

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。