Sterling Infrastructure, Inc. (STRL) 2026 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Sterling Infrastructure third quarter webcast and conference call.

各位女士、先生，早安，歡迎參加 Sterling Infrastructure 第三季網路直播與電話會議。

(Operator Instructions) As a reminder, this call is being recorded on Thursday, October 29, 2026.

(接線員指示) 提醒各位，本通話於 2026 年 10 月 29 日（星期四）錄音。

I would like to turn the conference over to Noel Dilts, Vice President, Investor Relations and Corporate Strategy. Please go ahead.

我想將會議交給投資人關係與企業策略副總裁 Noel Dilts。請開始。

Good morning, and welcome to Sterling Infrastructure's third quarter 2026 earnings conference call and webcast. I'm pleased to be here today to discuss our results with Joe Cutillo, Sterling's Chief Executive Officer; Nick Grindstaff, Sterling's Chief Financial Officer; and Dan Govin, Sterling's Chief Operating Officer. As a reminder, accompanying slides are available in the Investor Relations section of our website and include additional information regarding our full year 2026 financial guidance.

各位早安，歡迎參加 Sterling Infrastructure 2026 年第三季財報電話會議與網路直播。今天很高興與 Sterling 執行長 Joe Cutillo、財務長 Nick Grindstaff，以及營運長 Dan Govin 一同向各位說明我們的業績。提醒各位，相關簡報投影片可於我們官網的投資人關係專區取得，並包含 2026 全年財務指引的額外資訊。

Our 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.

我們今天的討論可能包含前瞻性陳述。實際結果可能與今日所述有重大差異。請參閱 Sterling 最新的 10-K 與 10-Q 申報文件，以取得可能影響這些預測與假設之風險因素的更完整說明。公司不因新資訊、未來事件或其他原因而承擔更新前瞻性陳述之義務。

Please note that management may reference certain historical forward-looking and non-GAAP financial measures. Reconciliations of these non-GAAP financial measures to their most directly comparable GAAP financial measures are included in our earnings release and posted in the Investor Relations section of our website. Please refer to the press release for additional information regarding our forward-looking statements and non-GAAP financial measures.

請注意，管理團隊可能會提及某些歷史性的前瞻性資訊以及非 GAAP 財務衡量指標。這些非 GAAP 財務衡量指標與其最直接可比的 GAAP 財務衡量指標之調節表，已收錄於我們的財報新聞稿，並張貼於官網投資人關係專區。有關前瞻性陳述與非 GAAP 財務衡量指標的更多資訊，請參閱新聞稿。

Throughout today's discussion, all third quarter 2026 comparisons are to the third quarter of 2025, unless otherwise noted.

在今天的討論中，除非另有說明，所有 2026 年第三季的比較皆以 2025 年第三季為基準。

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

接下來我把電話交給我們的執行長 Joe Cutillo。

Thanks, Noel, and good morning, everyone. Sterling delivered another outstanding quarter as adjusted diluted EPS grew 118% to reach $7.58. Revenue increased 127% and adjusted EBITDA more than doubled. On top of this, our visibility continues to expand. Our total scoped work, which includes signed backlog, unsigned awards and the next phases being designed on our current projects, now totals nearly $8 billion, up approximately 90% year-over-year.

謝謝 Noel，各位早安。Sterling 再次交出亮眼的一季，調整後稀釋每股盈餘（EPS）成長 118%，達到 7.58 美元。營收成長 127%，調整後 EBITDA 也超過倍增。此外，我們的能見度持續擴大。我們的總範疇工作量（total scoped work）包含已簽約在手訂單（signed backlog）、未簽約得標（unsigned awards），以及目前專案正在設計的下一階段，現已接近 80 億美元，年增約 90%。

These results demonstrate the strength of our market, the great execution of our teams and the continued success of our strategy. While the quarterly performance was exceptional, what's even more important is what these results tell us about the opportunity ahead.

這些成果展現了我們市場的強勁、團隊卓越的執行力，以及策略持續奏效。儘管本季表現非常出色，但更重要的是，這些結果所揭示的未來機會。

Throughout 2026, it has become increasingly clear to us that we are in the early stages of significant multiyear investment in large-scale mission-critical infrastructure across the US. Data centers remain a powerful growth driver, but the opportunity is much broader, spanning semiconductors, advanced manufacturing, energy infrastructure and the broader build-out supporting the next generation of US industrial growth.

在 2026 年期間，我們愈來愈清楚地看到，美國正處於對大型關鍵任務（mission-critical）基礎建設進行重大、為期多年的投資之早期階段。資料中心仍是強勁的成長動能，但機會面更為廣泛，涵蓋半導體、先進製造、能源基礎設施，以及支撐下一代美國工業成長的更廣泛建設擴張。

The magnitude of this opportunity is driving us to think even bigger about how we position Sterling for long-term growth. We are focused on building the capacity, services, geographic reach and customer relationships required to capture more share of this investment.

這項機會的規模，促使我們以更宏觀的角度思考如何為 Sterling 的長期成長定位。我們專注於建立所需的產能、服務能力、地理覆蓋範圍與客戶關係，以在這波投資中取得更高市占。

Importantly, the $8 billion of scoped work does not capture the full development potential of the campuses we are already working on today. Many of these projects span hundreds or even thousands of acres and are being developed in multiple phases over several years. These are tangible opportunities backed by land, permits and power commitments, and is on top of what we already have scoped. In total, these opportunities provide more than five years of additional work.

重要的是，80 億美元的範疇工作量並未涵蓋我們目前已在進行之園區的全部開發潛力。其中許多專案橫跨數百甚至數千英畝，並在數年內以多個階段開發。這些是由土地、許可與電力承諾所支撐的具體機會，且是在我們既有範疇之外的增量。整體而言，這些機會可提供超過五年的額外工作量。

Sterling has never been in a better position. We have significant visibility into future growth, deep relationships with our customers, and the financial and operational resources to capitalize on the opportunities ahead. We are excited about Sterling's future and confident in our ability to compound strong, profitable growth for years to come.

Sterling 從未處於如此有利的位置。我們對未來成長具有高度能見度，與客戶建立深厚關係，並具備財務與營運資源以把握前方機會。我們對 Sterling 的未來感到振奮，並有信心在未來多年持續複利式地累積強勁且具獲利性的成長。

Now I'd like to hand the call over to Dan to discuss our segment results in more detail. Dan?

接下來我想把電話交給 Dan，請他更詳細說明各事業部門的表現。Dan？

Thanks, Joe. I'll begin with E-Infrastructure Solutions, where mission-critical demand, accelerating project activity and outstanding execution drove another excellent quarter. Revenue increased 212% year-over-year, led by continued strength across data center and semiconductor campus projects. Within E-Infrastructure, site development operations more than doubled revenue organically, with strong growth across each of our geographies.

謝謝 Joe。我先從 E-Infrastructure Solutions 開始說起；在此領域，關鍵任務需求、加速的專案活動，以及卓越的執行力，帶動我們再度交出非常出色的一季。營收年增 212%，主要來自資料中心與半導體園區專案持續強勁。在 E-Infrastructure 內，場址開發（site development）業務的營收以有機方式成長逾倍，且我們各地區皆呈現強勁成長。

In the Southeast, customer demand remains robust and projects continue to expand in acreage, number of phases and complexity. This trend plays directly to our strengths, allowing us to leverage our broad self-perform capabilities and proven execution model. In the Northeast, we continue to make excellent progress on our large semiconductor campus and remain ahead of schedule. Our execution on this large-scale project is strengthening our position and reputation in the semiconductor market.

在美國東南部，客戶需求仍然強勁，且專案在面積、階段數量與複雜度上持續擴大。此趨勢正好發揮我們的優勢，使我們能運用廣泛的自營施工（self-perform）能力與經驗證的執行模式。在美國東北部，我們在大型半導體園區專案上持續取得極佳進展，且進度仍領先於計畫。我們在此大型專案的執行，正強化我們在半導體市場的地位與聲譽。

Momentum is building in the Rocky Mountain region, where accelerating activity on recently awarded large projects fueled another quarter of exceptional growth. Our teams are delivering strong execution and are successfully redeploying transportation resources to capitalize on the expanding mission-critical opportunities. Key customers are increasingly engaging us to support their capital plans in Texas, driving significant demand for our site development capabilities. Based on the opportunities we see today, we expect Texas to be a meaningful driver of growth over the next several years.

落磯山脈地區的動能正在形成；近期得標的大型專案活動加速，帶動本季再度出現卓越成長。我們的團隊展現強勁執行力，並成功重新調度運輸相關資源，以把握擴大的關鍵任務機會。主要客戶正日益與我們合作，以支援其在德州的資本計畫，進而帶動對我們場址開發能力的顯著需求。基於我們目前看到的機會，我們預期德州將在未來數年成為重要的成長驅動力。

Turning to CEC, the electrical business delivered $426 million of revenue in the quarter, more than quadrupling its pro forma full quarter revenue in the third quarter of 2025. Accelerating work on major hyperscaler and large co-location projects drove growth. CEC is scaling rapidly and maintaining strong execution. Year-to-date growth has significantly exceeded our initial expectations, and we now believe full year revenue could exceed $1 billion. This momentum is extending beyond 2026 as CEC continues to build high-quality, longer-duration backlog with established customers, positioning the business for continued growth in 2027.

接著談到 CEC，電氣業務本季營收達 4.26 億美元，較 2025 年第三季的備考（pro forma）完整季度營收增加逾四倍。主要超大規模雲端業者（hyperscaler）與大型共置（co-location）專案的工作加速推動成長。CEC 正快速擴張，同時維持強勁的執行力。年初至今的成長顯著超出我們最初預期，我們目前認為全年營收可能超過 10 億美元。這股動能也將延伸至 2026 年之後；CEC 持續與既有客戶建立高品質、期間更長的在手訂單，使該業務具備在 2027 年持續成長的良好定位。

The strong demand and execution across both CEC and site development are translating to significant profit growth for the segment. In the quarter, E-Infrastructure Solutions adjusted operating income increased 171%, with adjusted operating margins of 23%. Margins declined year-over-year, reflecting the significantly higher revenue contribution from CEC, as it represented a third of the segment revenue in the quarter versus 10% in the prior year period.

CEC 與場址開發兩者的強勁需求與執行力，正轉化為該事業部門顯著的獲利成長。本季 E-Infrastructure Solutions 的調整後營業利益年增 171%，調整後營業利益率為 23%。利益率較去年同期下滑，反映 CEC 的營收貢獻大幅提高；本季 CEC 約占該事業部門營收的三分之一，而去年同期為 10%。

Within the segment, site development operating margins remained strong at first half 2026 levels, even though several of our large mission-critical projects are still in the early stages of construction. Margins typically expand as these multiphase campuses move into later construction phases over the coming months and years.

在該事業部門內，場址開發的營業利益率仍維持在 2026 年上半年的水準，儘管我們數個大型關鍵任務專案仍處於施工初期階段。隨著這些多階段園區在未來數月與數年進入後續施工階段，利益率通常會擴張。

CEC operating margins improved both year-over-year and sequentially, and we are encouraged by the margin improvement we are seeing in the core business. As we have previously discussed, we are in the process of winding down some noncore business lines identified during diligence, a process we expect to complete by year-end 2027. We estimate that these noncore operations will be a drag of approximately 160 basis points on full year 2026 CEC margins, masking the roughly equivalent improvement in the core business.

CEC 的營業利益率不論年增或季增皆有所改善，我們也對核心業務所呈現的利益率提升感到鼓舞。如同我們先前所討論，我們正逐步結束在盡職調查期間辨識出的部分非核心業務線，預期於 2027 年底前完成。我們估計，這些非核心營運將使 2026 全年 CEC 利益率約減少 160 個基點，掩蓋核心業務約同等幅度的改善。

At the time of the CEC acquisition, we committed to achieving 300 to 500 basis points of run rate margin improvement at CEC over 18 to 24 months. Progress in the core business and our planned exit from noncore work gives us confidence that we can deliver on this commitment.

在收購 CEC 時，我們承諾在 18 至 24 個月內，讓 CEC 的常態化利潤率提升 300 至 500 個基點。核心業務的進展以及我們計畫退出非核心業務的工作，讓我們有信心能夠兌現這項承諾。

Looking ahead, the opportunity in front of E-Infrastructure continues to strengthen. In aggregate, our scoped work now approaches $7 billion, an increase of more than 130% year-over-year. The vast majority of these opportunities are tied to mission-critical work, providing substantial visibility into continued growth.

展望未來，E-Infrastructure 面前的機會持續增強。整體而言，我們已範疇界定的工作目前接近 70 億美元，較去年同期增加超過 130%。其中絕大多數機會都與關鍵任務型工作相關，為持續成長提供了相當高的能見度。

Turning to Transportation Solutions. Revenue declined 3%, reflecting the redeployment of resources from transportation into higher-margin E-Infrastructure work. This transition continues to accelerate as E-Infrastructure activity builds in the Rocky Mountain and Texas regions. This was the second consecutive quarter in which our Rocky Mountain operation generated more revenue from E-Infrastructure than transportation.

接著談 Transportation Solutions。營收下滑 3%，反映我們將資源自運輸業務重新部署至毛利率更高的 E-Infrastructure 工作。隨著 E-Infrastructure 活動在落磯山脈與德州地區持續擴增，這項轉換仍在加速。這是我們落磯山脈營運單位連續第二個季度，E-Infrastructure 的營收高於運輸業務。

Despite the lower revenue, Transportation Solutions adjusted operating income grew 22%, and adjusted operating margins reached 19.7%. This demonstrates the discipline we are applying to project selection. Transportation Solutions backlog ended the quarter at $964 million, up 31% year-over-year, largely driven by the conversion of unsigned backlog to signed. On a combined backlog basis, the segment declined 22%, again reflecting the shift in resource allocation.

儘管營收較低，Transportation Solutions 的調整後營業利益成長 22%，調整後營業利益率達到 19.7%。這顯示我們在專案選擇上所採取的紀律。Transportation Solutions 的在手訂單於本季末為 9.64 億美元，年增 31%，主要由未簽署在手訂單轉為已簽署所帶動。以合併在手訂單口徑來看，該事業部下滑 22%，同樣反映資源配置的轉移。

In Building Solutions, segment revenue declined 5% as homebuilder activity slowed, and adjusted operating margin was 8%. We expect residential market conditions to remain under pressure through the balance of 2026 and into 2027. We are managing the business carefully through the current environment while positioning the business to capture more market share when conditions improve.

在 Building Solutions 方面，由於住宅建商活動放緩，事業部營收下滑 5%，調整後營業利益率為 8%。我們預期住宅市場狀況在 2026 年剩餘期間並延續至 2027 年仍將承受壓力。我們正審慎管理業務以因應目前環境，同時在條件改善時，讓業務能夠掌握更多市占率。

Stepping back, the quarter provides clear evidence of Sterling's strategy in action. We are benefiting from exceptional demand in our highest return markets, becoming more selective about where we are deploying our resources and building the foundation for multiyear growth.

回過頭來看，本季清楚展現 Sterling 策略正在發揮作用。我們正受惠於最高報酬市場的強勁需求，並在資源投放上更具選擇性，同時為多年期成長奠定基礎。

With that, I'd like to turn it over to Nick to give you more details on some of our financial metrics and 2026 guidance. Nick?

接下來，我想把時間交給 Nick，請他就部分財務指標與 2026 年展望提供更多細節。Nick？

Thanks, Dan, and good morning. I'll begin with our cash flow and balance sheet. For the first nine months of 2026, cash flow from operating activities was $427 million, an increase of 68% compared with the prior year period. One item to note is the increase in accounts receivable at the end of the quarter. Receivables were higher at the end of the quarter due to substantial growth in E-Infrastructure activity, combined with the timing of collections. However, we have already secured a major portion of these outstanding funds in early October, setting us up for robust operating cash flow in the fourth quarter.

謝謝，Dan，大家早安。我先從現金流與資產負債表談起。2026 年前九個月，營業活動現金流為 4.27 億美元，較去年同期增加 68%。有一點需要注意的是，本季末應收帳款的增加。由於 E-Infrastructure 活動大幅成長，加上收款時點因素，季末應收帳款較高。不過，我們已在 10 月初收回其中相當大的一部分未收款項，為第四季強勁的營業現金流奠定基礎。

Investing activities resulted in a $276 million outflow, including $115 million of capital expenditures. We now anticipate full year CapEx of approximately $140 million. Financing activities resulted in a $325 million outflow year-to-date. On July 2, we closed on the extension and expansion of our revolving credit facilities to $1.5 billion and extended the maturity to July 2031. We used this facility and cash on hand to pay off our existing term loan. The expanded facility further strengthens our financial flexibility and provides additional capacity to support both organic growth and M&A.

投資活動造成 2.76 億美元的現金流出，其中包含 1.15 億美元的資本支出。我們目前預期全年資本支出約為 1.40 億美元。截至目前，籌資活動造成 3.25 億美元的現金流出。7 月 2 日，我們完成將循環信用額度延長並擴增至 15 億美元，並將到期日延至 2031 年 7 月。我們使用該額度與手上現金償還既有的定期貸款。擴增後的額度進一步強化我們的財務彈性，並提供額外容量以支持有機成長與併購。

Financing activities included share repurchases of $107 million. At quarter end, $267 million remained available under our existing repurchase authorization. We will continue to take an opportunistic and disciplined approach to share repurchases as part of our broader capital allocation strategy.

籌資活動包含 1.07 億美元的庫藏股回購。截至季末，現有回購授權下仍可用額度為 2.67 億美元。作為更廣泛資本配置策略的一部分，我們將持續以機會主義且具紀律的方式進行庫藏股回購。

Turning to the balance sheet. We ended the quarter with $217 million of cash and debt of $95 million, for a cash net of debt balance of $122 million. Combined with our expanded revolving credit facility and strong cash generation, our balance sheet provides significant capacity to continue investing in the business and pursuing acquisitions.

接著看資產負債表。本季末我們持有現金 2.17 億美元、負債 9,500 萬美元，淨現金（現金扣除負債）為 1.22 億美元。結合我們擴增的循環信用額度與強勁的現金創造能力，我們的資產負債表提供了可觀的能力，持續投資業務並推動收購。

Moving to guidance. Our performance through the first nine months and improved visibility into the fourth quarter give us greater confidence in our full year outlook. We're raising our 2026 guidance ranges as follows: revenue of $4.63 billion to $4.73 billion; diluted EPS of $19.16 to $19.42; adjusted diluted EPS of $21.70 to $21.96; EBITDA of $905 million to $916 million; adjusted EBITDA of $970 million to $981 million.

接下來談展望。我們在前九個月的表現，以及對第四季更佳的能見度，使我們對全年展望更具信心。我們將 2026 年指引區間上調如下：營收 46.3 億至 47.3 億美元；稀釋後 EPS 19.16 至 19.42 美元；調整後稀釋 EPS 21.70 至 21.96 美元；EBITDA 9.05 億至 9.16 億美元；調整後 EBITDA 9.70 億至 9.81 億美元。

Now I will turn the call back to Joe.

現在我把電話會議交回給 Joe。

Thanks, Nick. The trends we've highlighted over the past several quarters have not only continued, they have accelerated. Projects are becoming larger, more technically complex and longer in duration. Our execution continues to build trust and loyalty with our customers, and that is creating opportunities for Sterling to enter new markets, take on more responsibility and have greater participation in our customers' long-term capital planning.

謝謝，Nick。我們在過去幾個季度所強調的趨勢不僅延續，還加速了。專案規模變得更大、技術複雜度更高、工期也更長。我們的執行力持續建立客戶對我們的信任與忠誠，並因此為 Sterling 創造機會，進入新市場、承擔更多責任，並更深度參與客戶的長期資本規劃。

The opportunity in front of us is larger than ever. Increasingly, the question is not whether the opportunity is there, but how quickly we can add capacity to capture it. We are investing in our people, equipment and our capabilities while maintaining the execution discipline and focus on returns that have driven our success.

我們面前的機會比以往任何時候都更大。愈來愈多時候，問題不在於機會是否存在，而在於我們能多快增加產能以把握它。我們正投資於人才、設備與能力，同時維持推動我們成功的執行紀律與報酬聚焦。

As we look to the remainder of 2026, we are confident that we will deliver another record year. The midpoints of our revised guidance ranges would represent 88% revenue growth year-over-year, 101% adjusted EPS growth and 94% adjusted EBITDA growth. Our guidance continues to assume a more pronounced weather impact in the fourth quarter than we experienced in 2025.

展望 2026 年剩餘期間，我們有信心將再創紀錄的一年。以我們上調後指引區間的中位數計算，將代表營收年增 88%、調整後 EPS 年增 101%、調整後 EBITDA 年增 94%。我們的指引仍假設第四季的天候影響將比 2025 年更為明顯。

Stepping back, our multiyear growth strategy is built around two complementary drivers: strong organic growth and disciplined strategic acquisitions. We are targeting annual organic profitability growth of 20% to 30% over the next several years, with M&A providing an additional opportunity to accelerate that growth. Together, these drivers support an aspiration to grow earnings by approximately 50% per year. We believe 2027 is shaping up to be another year that meets or exceeds this organic framework.

回過頭來看，我們的多年期成長策略建立在兩個相輔相成的驅動因素之上：強勁的有機成長與具紀律的策略性併購。未來幾年，我們目標每年有機獲利成長 20% 至 30%，而併購也提供額外機會以加速成長。合併而言，這些驅動因素支持我們每年約 50% 的獲利成長願景。我們相信 2027 年正逐步成形，將是另一個符合或超越此有機成長架構的一年。

On the acquisition front, we remain very active and encouraged by the quality of opportunities in the market. We will continue to pursue acquisitions that expand our capacity and geographic presence and enhance the value we can bring to our customers. Our strong balance sheet, significant cash generation and disciplined approach to capital allocation give us the flexibility to fund organic growth and pursue strategic acquisitions, supporting our multiyear growth ambition. We're confident in Sterling's ability to deliver sustained, profitable growth and long-term value to our shareholders.

在收購方面，我們仍非常積極，並對市場上機會的品質感到鼓舞。我們將持續尋求能擴大產能與地理布局、並提升我們為客戶帶來價值的收購案。我們強健的資產負債表、可觀的現金創造能力，以及具紀律的資本配置方式，使我們具備彈性以資助有機成長並推動策略性收購，支持我們的多年期成長企圖。我們對 Sterling 持續提供可持續、具獲利性的成長，以及為股東創造長期價值的能力充滿信心。

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

接下來，我想把時間交給提問環節。

(Operator Instructions)

（接線員指示）

Manish Somaiya, Cantor.

Manish Somaiya，Cantor。

Good morning, gentlemen. Good morning, Noel. Joe, when I look at the margin guidance for the full year, it implies 19% or so in the fourth quarter. And clearly, that's down from 21.6% that you had in 3Q. So I was just hoping if you can just help us bridge that. I know you talked about the CEC shedding of non-core businesses that's going to impact the margins.

各位早安，先生們。早安，Noel。Joe，當我看你們全年利潤率指引時，意味著第四季大約是 19% 左右。而很明顯地，這低於你們第三季的 21.6%。所以我希望你們能幫我們把這之間的差異銜接說明一下。我知道你提到 CEC 剝離非核心業務會影響利潤率。

And then just staying on this topic, more specifically, would fourth quarter represent the trough in margins? And how should we sort of think about 2027 as we enter 2027 with strong backlog and, obviously, to your point, 20% to 30% organic growth?

接著延續這個主題，更具體地說，第四季是否會代表毛利率的谷底？另外，當我們在強勁的在手訂單支撐下進入2027年，且如你所說有20%到30%的有機成長時，我們應該如何看待2027年？

I appreciate it, Manish. Yes. So in the fourth quarter, we have a couple of dynamics. We have the natural seasonality that we go through, and we've done that every year. As we've said, we're being a little conservative on weather for the quarter compared to 2025. Just to remind everybody, 2025 was about the easiest, softest winter we've had since I've been here. We basically didn't shut down anything and were able to run through the entire winter.

謝謝你，Manish。是的。第四季我們有幾個動態因素。我們有每年都會經歷的自然季節性。如同我們所說，相較於2025年，我們對本季的天候假設會稍微保守一些。提醒大家，2025年是我在這裡以來最容易、最溫和的冬天。我們基本上沒有停工，整個冬季都能持續運轉。

We don't anticipate that happening again. If it does happen again, that's good. We'll have upside. We'll all be happy. So we have margin erosion just from the seasonality in that. But we also have the growth of CEC, which I want to step back and talk about for a second here, because everybody's looking at this as a negative, and it's really baffling to me.

我們不預期這種情況會再發生。如果真的又發生了，那當然是好事。我們會有上行空間。大家都會很開心。因此，僅就季節性而言，我們的毛利率會有一些侵蝕。但我們也有CEC的成長；我想先退一步談一下，因為大家都把它看成負面，這真的讓我很困惑。

And some people have called it mix, and I wouldn't call it mix. We have an electrical business which is very different than our site civil business. It requires a heck of a lot less capital, and we've been able to grow it significantly faster than we ever imagined. That is a great thing. We've more than doubled the business, yet everybody is looking at it as a negative because it's bringing down the total margins.

有些人把它稱為產品組合（mix），但我不會這麼稱呼。我們有一個電氣業務，和我們的場地土木（site civil）業務非常不同。它需要的資本投入少得多，而我們能以遠超過原先想像的速度把它做大。這是一件很棒的事。我們把這個業務規模翻倍以上，但大家卻因為它拉低整體毛利率而把它視為負面。

We have invested very little to zero capital in the business to double it. We've been much more successful at hiring electricians than we ever anticipated, which is a great sign. We've got the next phases and next levels of projects from our customers. So we've been successful in executing and delivering, yet we're beat up for it. It makes no sense to me.

我們幾乎沒有、甚至是零資本投入就把這個業務翻倍。我們在招募電工方面的成效遠超預期，這是很好的訊號。我們也從客戶那裡拿到下一階段、下一層級的專案。所以我們在執行與交付上都做得很成功，卻反而因此被批評。這對我來說毫無道理。

So as we grow that business -- look, we've had great growth in our site civil business, but as we grow that at a much greater rate, the bottom line is those margins are less. They will always be less. A significant piece of their business is material, and you're not going to be able to get the margins on material that you get in executing the work.

所以當我們擴大那個業務——你看，我們的場地土木業務也有很好的成長，但當電氣業務以更快的速度成長時，結論就是：那些毛利率比較低。而且它們永遠都會比較低。其業務中很大一部分是材料，你不可能在材料上取得像執行工程作業那樣的毛利率。

Now, another positive thing is we've made great progress in what we said early on, is we were going to improve margins in that business 300 to 500 basis points in 18 to 24 months. I will tell you, we're a long way on that path. We're ahead of schedule. And if you remove the legacy business, which we know we have until the end of 2027, and hopefully we're able to do some things to get out of that a little quicker, if you remove that, we're on track, and we've seen over 150 basis points of improvement in CEC already.

另外一個正面因素是：我們在先前提到的目標上取得很大進展——也就是在18到24個月內把該業務的毛利率提升300到500個基點。我可以告訴你，我們在這條路上已經走了很遠。我們進度超前。如果把我們知道會持續到2027年底的既有（legacy）業務排除在外——也希望我們能做些事情更快退出——若排除它，我們是符合軌道的，而且CEC的毛利率已經改善超過150個基點。

So that's -- I just want to use this opportunity to talk a little bit about that because I think people are really confusing kind of the goodness that's come out of the position and, as a result, are penalizing us for really no reason whatsoever. The second question -- repeat that, Manish.

所以——我只是想藉這個機會多談一點，因為我認為大家把這個定位帶來的正面效益搞混了，結果反而在毫無理由的情況下懲罰我們。第二個問題——再說一次，Manish。

No, Joe, the second question I had was just on the trajectory of margins. Would 4Q sort of represent a trough in margins? And how should we sort of think about margin trajectory as we enter 2027? And I guess while I have the mic, if you can also just touch on backlog. How much of that unsigned backlog that you have, which is quite significant, can move into signed backlog? What's sort of the cadence for that? Thank you.

不，Joe，我的第二個問題是關於毛利率的走勢。第四季是否大致代表毛利率的谷底？以及當我們進入2027年時，應該如何看待毛利率走勢？另外，既然我在發言，也請你談談在手訂單。你們有相當可觀的未簽署在手訂單，其中有多少能轉為已簽署在手訂單？大概會以什麼節奏發生？謝謝。

Yes. So let me start with the trough. We certainly have seasonality in our margins. That will continue. Now as we grow the business and we grow in other regions, could that soften it a little bit or change it? Sure. But we will have seasonality, so we don't have a flat margin across four quarters.

好的。我先從谷底談起。我們的毛利率確實有季節性。這會持續存在。當我們擴大業務、並在其他地區成長時，是否可能讓季節性影響稍微緩和或有所改變？當然。但我們仍會有季節性，因此四個季度不會是平坦的毛利率。

I will also say we have pretty high expectations for the site civil growth in 2027, but we also think electrical has the opportunity to continue some of these growth rates. And if that happens, again, the blended margin will be the blended margin. I can't predict it because I don't know what the revenue is going to be. But theoretically, and I say theoretically, in reality, the margins of site will continue to improve and the margins of electrical will continue to improve.

我也要說，我們對2027年場地土木業務的成長有相當高的期待，但我們也認為電氣業務有機會延續部分這些成長率。如果真是如此，那麼合併後的毛利率就是合併後的毛利率。我無法預測，因為我不知道營收會是多少。但理論上——我說理論上——在實務上，場地土木的毛利率會持續改善，電氣的毛利率也會持續改善。

Now, whatever those revenues come out will determine the end margin, but we're very positive on the margin trajectory in each piece of our infrastructure segment.

至於最終毛利率會是多少，取決於各項營收的結果；但我們對基礎建設事業群中每一個組成部分的毛利率走勢都非常正向。

On the backlog, I wish somehow we could get out of backlog altogether because it's really a meaningless number for us. We have to look at what we have in backlog. That's jobs that we're actively working on. We have what we call unsigned awarded contracts. That's predominantly in transportation and some in electrical.

關於在手訂單，我真希望我們能想辦法完全不要談在手訂單，因為對我們來說那其實是個沒有太大意義的數字。我們必須看的是在手訂單裡面到底有哪些內容。那是我們正在積極執行的工作。我們還有所謂未簽署但已授標的合約（unsigned awarded contracts）。那主要在交通運輸領域，電氣也有一些。

And what those are, is those are jobs that we have been given. We're negotiating final pricing or negotiating final terms and contracts. So those will roll into the backlog. They could roll in the quarter. If there's some design work involved, it may take a couple of quarters. But we have won those jobs. We're in the final negotiation, so those will happen. We have what we're calling the next phase or --

那些是什麼呢？就是我們已經拿到的案子。我們正在協商最終價格，或協商最終條款與合約。因此它們會轉入在手訂單。可能在當季就轉入。如果涉及一些設計工作，可能需要一兩個季度。但我們已經贏得這些案子。我們在最後協商階段，所以這些都會發生。我們還有所謂下一階段或——

Phases in design.

設計中的階段。

Phases in design, I guess, is what we're calling it. I apologize. But that's work that's really in the site civil side. That is work that we are in the design phase or in the pricing phase to customers that we know is coming right after these existing phases end.

我想我們稱之為「設計中的階段」。抱歉。但那是比較偏場地土木端的工作。那是我們正處於設計階段或報價階段的工作，面對的是我們知道在現有階段結束後、緊接著就會到來的客戶需求。

But there's another piece that everybody's missing. And for those that were on the tour and are on the call, we literally have thousands of acres of land that is permitted, powered and ready to go. And when the existing phases end, they will design, build out those next phases. Those represent over five years of work for us. So when we talk about backlog, it represents a very small piece of work that we have sitting in front of us.

但還有另一塊是大家忽略的。對於那些參加過參訪、也在線上聽電話會議的人，我們實際上有數千英畝的土地，已取得許可、已通電，且隨時可以開工。當現有階段結束後，他們就會設計並建置下一階段。那對我們而言代表超過五年的工作量。所以當我們談在手訂單時，它只代表我們眼前工作的一小部分。

And as we're talking about building capacity, I'm sure somebody is saying, well, your backlog is not growing at the rate that your capacity build needs are saying. It's because of that future land and that longevity of these projects that we know we're required to build this capacity to handle these new projects that are coming. I hope that helps, Manish.

而當我們在談擴建產能時，我相信有人會說：你的在手訂單成長速度，沒有你所說的產能擴建需求那麼快。原因就在於那些未來土地，以及我們已知這些專案的長期性；我們必須建立這些產能，才能承接即將到來的新專案。希望這能幫到你，Manish。

Thanks, Joe. Thank you so much.

謝謝，Joe。非常感謝。

Brent Thielman, Oppenheimer.

Brent Thielman，Oppenheimer。

Hey, thanks. Good morning. Great quarter. Hey, Joe, maybe just to follow up on that last point on E-Infrastructure, maybe to address some of the other concerns out there. I mean, you've got all these campuses with phases going on for years. Presumably, those have power. When you look at everything else out there, I guess just in terms of new campuses that could be potentially in your pipeline to work on, do those have power connections figured out as well? Just trying to address that concern.

嗨，謝謝。早安。本季表現很棒。Joe，或許就你剛才提到的 E-Infrastructure 那點再追問一下，也想回應外界一些其他疑慮。我的意思是，你們有這些園區分期開發、持續好幾年。照理說，那些應該都有電力。但看其他情況，我想就你們可能納入管線、準備承接的新園區而言，那些電力接入也都已經規劃好了嗎？只是想針對那個疑慮做個釐清。

Yes. I'm not aware that we've ever started a campus that didn't already have power on it. So these are all permitted, all powered, already ready to go. And as we're looking at the ones coming, they are obviously working on permitting the power, and as soon as that's released, they generally turn it over to us, and we start working.

是的。我不記得我們曾經在一個園區還沒有電力的情況下就開工。所以這些案子都已取得許可、都已通電，已經準備就緒可以開始。而我們在看接下來要進來的案子時，他們顯然也正在辦理電力相關許可；一旦核發，通常就會交給我們，我們就開始施工。

The incremental land that we're talking about is part of that package. And what we've seen in a lot of cases, where they're able to get more power associated with the project, they're buying up incremental land around that area. So a lot of these jobs are actually continuing to get bigger than they originally started when we started on the project. So that's not uncommon at all.

我們所談的新增土地也是那個整體方案的一部分。而我們在很多案例中看到，當他們能為專案爭取到更多電力時，就會在周邊再買一些額外土地。所以不少工作其實在我們開始做之後，規模還會比原先更大。這一點一點也不罕見。

Okay. And then maybe on CEC, obviously, massive growth here this year. Joe, given some of the constraints out there, kind of help us think about how you get more out of this business, whether it's capacity investments, et cetera. And I think, ultimately, what I'm trying to get to is what's sort of a realistic growth assumption when you think about that 20% to 30% you threw out there for a business like this, just given the demand --

了解。那再談 CEC，今年顯然成長非常驚人。Joe，考量到外部的一些限制，能否幫我們理解你們要如何讓這個事業做得更大，例如產能投資等等？我最終想問的是，當你提到這類業務有 20% 到 30% 的成長假設時，在需求強勁、同時又有供給端限制的情況下，什麼樣的成長才算是比較務實的假設——

Yes.

是的。

-- and supply side constraints?

——以及供給端的限制？

I'll tell you a couple of things, Brent. We've been very happy with the ability of CEC to obtain electricians. The last number I saw, we were hiring roughly 80 a week just in the state of Texas. We think we can continue to be successful at that into 2027. I will tell you, we have some pretty aggressive growth opportunities with CEC in 2027.

Brent，我跟你說幾點。我們對 CEC 招募電工的能力非常滿意。我看到的最新數字是，光是在德州我們大約每週招募 80 人。我們認為這樣的招募成效可以一路延續到 2027 年。我也可以說，CEC 在 2027 年有一些相當積極的成長機會。

But in addition, we're looking for small to mid-size, and if we found a large, that would be great, acquisitions that we can convert their labor force. What they're working on existingly may be small commercial projects or small industrial projects, where we can convert those labor forces to our mission-critical customers and add capacity there.

此外，我們也在尋找小到中型的併購標的；如果能找到大型的當然更好。我們可以把他們的勞動力轉換過來。他們目前可能在做小型商用案或小型工業案，我們可以把這些人力轉到我們的關鍵任務型（mission-critical）客戶上，並在那裡增加產能。

In addition, we talked about, we tripled the size, and we're building out our IMS facility, which does prefab and modules. Every time we can do prefabs or modules, it takes a significant amount of the work required out of the project, which, in turn, turns into capacity for us. So those are the things that we're really focused on. We're happy with the progress. I think CEC will have great growth numbers in 2027 as well.

另外，我們也提到過，我們把 IMS 廠房的規模擴大到原來的三倍，並持續擴建；那裡做的是預製（prefab）與模組化（modules）。每當我們能用預製或模組化，就能把專案中需要現場完成的大量工作移除，進而為我們釋放產能。所以這些就是我們真正聚焦的方向。我們對進展很滿意。我認為 CEC 在 2027 年也會有很好的成長數字。

Last quick one, just on site development. I think you mentioned maybe you didn't see the step-up in margin into 3Q from preceding quarters, just kind of given project timing, early-stage projects. Could you talk about maybe the other elements, like new geographies you're ramping up on? Are those a margin drag? Are they approaching kind of core legacy margins? And just talk through that.

最後一個快問，關於場地開發（site development）。我想你提到第三季的毛利率沒有比前幾季明顯上升，主要是因為專案時點、以及一些處於早期階段的專案。你能談談其他因素嗎，例如你們正在爬坡的新地理區域？那些會拖累毛利率嗎？它們是否正在接近你們核心、既有市場的毛利水準？請你說明一下。

Yes. So the new geographies, we're certainly not near what I'll call our most established geographies' margins, but we're seeing nice improvement in them. The other thing to keep in mind, we talked about the Micron project and the high burn in the quarter. And I don't know, Brent, if we've talked about this specifically with you, but one of the uniquenesses of that particular project is the first $600 million or so had 4 million cubic yards of rock that we had to buy and put on that.

是的。新的地理區域，我們的毛利率當然還沒接近我所稱的最成熟市場的水準，但我們看到不錯的改善。另外要記得，我們談到 Micron 專案，以及本季的高消耗（high burn）。我不確定我們是否有特別跟你談過，但那個專案有個獨特之處：前大約 6 億美元的部分，需要 400 萬立方碼的岩石，我們必須採購並鋪設在那個案子上。

So it was a large material purchase, and the margins are lower on the material side. So their margins on that job are not at the levels of our traditional job. Now as we get into future phases, that turns into a more traditional job for us. So that definitely was lower as a blended margin.

所以那是一筆很大的材料採購，而材料端的毛利率較低。因此那個案子的毛利率不在我們傳統案子的水準。不過當我們進入後續階段後，就會變成對我們而言更傳統的案型。所以在綜合毛利率上，這確實造成了較低的水準。

But we're very happy with the progress of all the margins because we were able, even with that, even with the new geographies, to keep the site civil margins flat quarter-over-quarter. So it says we're making a lot of progress in a lot of areas. We would have thought, based on that burn of Micron, that the margins could have gone down for the quarter.

但我們對所有毛利率的進展非常滿意，因為即便有這些因素、即便有新地理區域，我們仍能讓場地土木（site civil）毛利率季對季持平。這表示我們在很多面向都取得了很大進展。以 Micron 那樣的消耗強度來看，我們原本以為本季毛利率可能會下滑。

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

是的。好的，非常好。我把問題交給下一位。謝謝。

Noel Levitz, William Blair.

Noel Levitz，William Blair。

Great. Good morning, Joe, Dan, Nick and Noel. Thanks for taking my questions. To start off, last quarter, you alluded to the softness in Q3 bookings and then kind of a resurgence in Q4 and early 2027. And sorry if I missed it, but can you give us some color on those potential bookings? Are they still expected to occur this quarter or early next year?

很好。早安，Joe、Dan、Nick 和 Noel。謝謝你們回答我的問題。先從這裡開始：上季你們提到第三季接單（bookings）偏弱，然後在第四季與 2027 年初會回升。如果我漏聽了先說抱歉，但你們能否就這些潛在接單提供一些說明？它們仍預期會在本季或明年初發生嗎？

And then given that different customers award phases and sizes differently, are you confident that these potential expected bookings are going to be as large, or is it just more confidence that they will occur in this time frame?

另外，考量不同客戶在授予分期與規模上做法不同，你們是否有信心這些潛在、預期的接單金額會同樣大？還是說，你們只是更有信心它們會在這個時間範圍內發生？

Here's what I'll tell you, and this is, again, why we don't like backlog. I could theoretically book a $1 billion project and put $10 million in backlog, and you wouldn't see the $900-and-whatever million left. Okay? What I can tell you is all the projects that we've talked about coming out in the fourth quarter and first quarter are still there. They're still coming out.

我可以這樣跟你說，這也是我們再次強調為什麼我們不喜歡用在手訂單（backlog）。理論上我可以簽下一個 10 億美元的專案，但只把 1,000 萬美元放進 backlog，你就看不到剩下那 9 億多美元。對吧？我能告訴你的是，我們談到會在第四季與第一季釋出的所有專案都還在。它們仍會釋出。

We will see timing. I always hate timing because if something moves one week, it can miss a quarter and be in the next quarter. But those projects are still progressing and moving forward. Those projects are bigger than projects that we've seen in the past and will last longer than projects have in the past. We're extremely optimistic that they will be contributors in 2027.

我們會看到時點上的差異。我一向不喜歡談時點，因為只要延後一週，就可能跨季，從本季變成下季。但這些專案仍在推進、仍在往前走。這些專案比我們過去看到的案子更大，且工期也會比過去更長。我們非常樂觀，它們會在 2027 年成為貢獻來源。

How fast they start and everything, it's the same typical thing, right? They're working through permits. They're working through all that. And as soon as they get everything done, they're going to pull the trigger and get us going as fast as possible. So nothing's changed on the outlook there. Nothing's changed on the project types or size. And we're still moving forward. So we feel very good about the prospects here in front of us and the impact that's going to have on 2027.

至於啟動速度等等，還是同樣的典型流程，對吧？他們在處理許可。他們在處理所有那些事情。一旦全部完成，他們就會扣下扳機，讓我們以最快速度進場開工。所以展望沒有改變。專案類型或規模也沒有改變。我們仍在持續推進。因此我們對眼前的機會以及其對 2027 年的影響都感到非常有信心。

Great. Thanks. That makes a ton of sense. And then can you give us, just like, drill down on the geographic expansion, specifically, like, how has your penetration of Texas been going in light of the ERCOT audit? And then, like, differentiate between West Texas exposure with your Rocky Mountains business, as well as, I guess, Stoneridge has exposure there, and then your East Texas exposure with Plateau.

很好。謝謝。這非常有道理。接著能不能請你再更深入談一下地理擴張，特別是考量到 ERCOT 稽核，你們在德州的滲透進展如何？另外，也請區分一下你們在西德州的曝險（與你們的落磯山脈業務相關，我想 Stoneridge 在那邊也有曝險）以及你們在東德州、與 Plateau 相關的曝險。

And then also, like, have you already started to expand into the Pacific Northwest, or is that more of a 2027 event? You've talked about customers dragging you into that geography, as well as other geographies. So just an update on specifically Texas and then the Pacific Northwest and then other ancillary geographies. Thanks.

還有，你們是否已經開始擴展到太平洋西北地區，還是那比較像是 2027 年才會發生的事？你們談過客戶把你們「拉」進那個地理區域，以及其他地區。所以想請你更新一下，特別是德州、太平洋西北地區，以及其他周邊地理區域的情況。謝謝。

Yes. Well, Texas is going to be the biggest data center state in the next five years. So the magnitude of projects coming out are huge. They're in what I'll call the early phases of a lot of these projects, and that's what we see coming out, potentially fourth quarter, first quarter of next year, some of those, both in West Texas and what we call East Texas, which is really North Central Texas.

是的。嗯，德州在未來五年將會是最大的資料中心州。所以釋出的專案規模非常龐大。我會說很多專案都還在早期階段，而我們看到的情況是，可能在第四季、或明年第一季會有一些專案出來，涵蓋西德州以及我們所稱的東德州（其實是德州北中部）。

And we've made great progress on the ones we're on. The CEC business has got the second phases. We continue with the site developments. We've got the total packages on those. And we continue to get asked by our customers to do more. So we're very bullish on Texas.

而且我們在目前參與的專案上進展非常好。CEC 業務已經拿到第二期。我們持續進行場址開發。這些案子我們拿到的是整包（total packages）。而且客戶也持續要求我們做更多。所以我們對德州非常樂觀。

Our bigger challenge right now is how do we grow capacity fast enough to capture as much of Texas as is being thrown at us, right? So we've got more -- I guess a simple way to put it is we've got more opportunity than we have capacity right now. We're trying to figure out how to get more capacity to take that.

我們現在更大的挑戰是：我們要怎麼把產能拉升得夠快，才能把丟到我們面前的德州機會盡可能吃下來，對吧？所以我們現在——我想簡單講就是——機會比產能還多。我們正在想辦法如何增加更多產能來承接這些需求。

The Upper Northwest or Pacific Northwest, we're up -- we're doing work. One of the first jobs we're doing work on happens to be a Micron chip plant up there. We got pulled into the Micron chip plant because of the work we've done in New York. We see that as the beginning. The data centers we're talking about haven't come out yet. We think that's going to be late 2027 or 2028 before we start seeing that activity. But the good news is we're positioned with Stoneridge, positioned with our RLW business and the work we're doing up in Idaho. And we'll be ready for that when it comes.

至於上西北或太平洋西北地區，我們已經——我們正在做一些工作。我們正在做的第一批案子之一，剛好是在那邊的 Micron 晶片廠。我們之所以被拉進 Micron 晶片廠，是因為我們在紐約做過的工作。我們把這視為一個起點。我們所談的那些資料中心案子目前還沒有釋出。我們認為要到 2027 年底或 2028 年才會開始看到那樣的活動。但好消息是，我們透過 Stoneridge、透過我們的 RLW 業務，以及我們在愛達荷州所做的工作，已經就位。等到機會來的時候，我們會準備好。

Great. Thanks. And then just a final quick question. You guided to CapEx of $140 million for 2026, which implies $20 million sequential step-down. Given we're having a lot of conversations today about capacity, and then in the past, you've alluded to some of the heavy machinery providers having some supply tightness, is that kind of the contributor to why CapEx is stepping down sequentially? Or how are you kind of looking at growth CapEx and kind of your ability to build capacity to meet all of this tremendous demand?

很好。謝謝。最後一個很快的問題。你們對 2026 年的資本支出（CapEx）指引是 1.4 億美元，這意味著較前一期序列性下降 2,000 萬美元。鑑於我們今天談了很多關於產能的議題，而且過去你們也提到一些重型機械供應商供給偏緊，這是否是 CapEx 序列性下滑的原因？或者你們如何看待成長型 CapEx，以及你們建立產能以滿足這些龐大需求的能力？

Yes. I'll let Nick give you some color on it, but it's just timing. I wouldn't look at it as stepping down. I think as we go to next year, we'll need more CapEx to help with our growth rates. But Nick, you want to give some --

是的。我讓 Nick 補充一些細節，但這只是時間點的問題。我不會把它看成是在下滑。我認為到了明年，我們會需要更多 CapEx 來支撐我們的成長率。不過 Nick，你要不要補充一些——

Yes. So, and look, we have other things in our toolbox here, too, as far as procuring equipment. We've got a leasing program. Obviously, we've got rentals, too. But so it's just not all -- it's not all captured in the CapEx number. And so we'll supplement that CapEx with our leasing program.

是的。你看，我們在取得設備方面也還有其他工具。我們有租賃（leasing）方案。當然，我們也有租用（rentals）。所以不會——不會全部都反映在 CapEx 這個數字裡。因此我們會用租賃方案來補充這部分的 CapEx。

Great. Thank you.

很好。謝謝你。

Kurt Yinger, D.A. Davidson.

Kurt Yinger，D.A. Davidson。

Great. Thank you, and good morning, everyone. Just quickly on CEC. I think, kind of year-to-date, that's a little bit over $800 million in revenue. I know you have kind of that $1 billion number out there. I guess, is there any reason to believe that, like, Q3 kind of burn is maybe something that couldn't be repeated? Or is that maybe just a little bit of conservatism, thinking about kind of the end of the year?

很好。謝謝，各位早安。快速問一下 CEC。我想年初至今的營收大概略高於 8 億美元。我知道你們對外有提到 10 億美元這個數字。我想問的是，有沒有任何理由認為第三季那種消化／執行速度（burn）可能無法重複？或者這只是基於年底因素而稍微保守一些？

Yes. As we said, no, there's no reason that we can't do Q3 and other quarters. We have factored in some conservativeness on weather. The other thing that people tend to forget is we have a couple of big holidays called Thanksgiving and Christmas. And our guys work all year long and don't get vacation, and we try to force schedule vacations around those holidays. It's a lot easier for us to manage.

是的。就像我們說的，沒有，沒有理由我們不能在第三季以及其他季度做到同樣的表現。我們確實把天氣因素納入了一些保守假設。另外一件大家常忘記的是，我們有幾個大型假期叫感恩節和聖誕節。我們的人全年都在工作、也不太休假，所以我們會盡量把休假排在這些假期前後。這樣對我們管理起來容易很多。

So part of the seasonality is just labor management and resource management. It's a lot easier, frankly, for us to say we're going to shut down these two weeks or reduce crews these two weeks and reduce crews these two weeks, so everybody gets their vacation in and can hit the ground running in the next year.

所以部分季節性其實只是人力管理與資源管理。坦白說，對我們來講更容易的是：我們就說這兩週要停工，或這兩週縮減工班、那兩週也縮減工班，讓大家把假休完，隔年就能馬上全力開跑。

So nothing unique about Q3. What you're seeing is that CEC's continued to have very strong bookings and growth. They got the next buildings of several projects within Texas, and you're just seeing that revenue kick in.

所以第三季沒有什麼特別。你看到的是 CEC 持續有非常強勁的接單與成長。

Understood. Okay. And then second, on just kind of the competitive environment more broadly in the site development side. You've talked about the desire to plant the flag on those projects that are longer in duration, making sure that you're aligned with the right customers. I guess, is there any trade-off you have to make from a margin perspective to extend that visibility and ensure you're partnered with those right customers? Or is that service, speed, execution, all of those things still showing up in terms of the margin profile of the work that you're bidding, or new work, so to speak?

了解。好。第二個問題，關於場址開發（site development）這一端更廣泛的競爭環境。你們談過希望在那些工期較長的專案上「插旗」，確保與正確的客戶對齊。我想問的是，為了延長可見度並確保與合適客戶合作，你們在毛利率角度是否需要做任何取捨？或者說，服務、速度、執行等因素，仍然會反映在你們投標的工作或新增工作（new work）的毛利結構上？

A couple of things to keep in mind. First of all, our first phase is always the lowest margin phase. And as these projects advance and we get further in phases, our margins go up over time, okay? And a lot of that, everybody thinks it's pricing. It's really about productivity and things we can do along the line in earlier phases, which either help us or eliminates things we have to do in future phases. That's one.

有幾點要記住。第一，我們的第一期永遠是毛利最低的一期。隨著專案推進、我們進入更後面的階段，我們的毛利會隨時間上升，好嗎？很多人以為那是因為定價。其實更多是生產力，以及我們在前期沿線能做的一些事情，這些要嘛幫助我們、要嘛能消除我們在後續階段必須做的事情。這是第一點。

The other piece of it is, if we plant a flag in Texas, where we're not 100% vertically integrated, those initial margins will be lower than in the Southeast, where we're vertically integrated and we perform everything. However, we've talked strategically that once we get enough critical mass, and we're getting there very quickly, we will begin vertical integration in Texas or in new geographies that we are and continue to ramp up that margin profile.

第二點是，如果我們在德州插旗，而我們還沒有做到 100% 垂直整合，那麼那些初期毛利會比東南部低；在東南部我們是垂直整合、所有項目都由我們執行。不過我們也談過策略上，一旦我們達到足夠的臨界規模——而我們很快就會到——我們就會開始在德州或我們進入的新地理區域做垂直整合，並持續拉升那個毛利結構。

So you get a double ramp. You've got the natural progression of the phases over that five-year period or seven years, whatever that project takes. And then you've got an incremental ramp, which is around, as we continue to vertically integrate the other ancillary services and stuff required on that project, you get another pickup. So you look at it as this is the best way for us to have not only long-term growth, but also long-term margin expansion opportunities because the margins will go up on those projects over time.

所以你會得到一個雙重爬坡。你有在那五年或七年（不管該專案需要多久）期間，各階段自然推進的爬坡。然後你還有一個增量式的爬坡，也就是當我們持續把該專案所需的其他周邊服務等進一步垂直整合時，你會再看到一次額外的拉升。因此你可以把它視為：這是我們不僅實現長期成長、同時也取得長期毛利率擴張機會的最佳方式，因為這些專案的毛利率會隨時間上升。

And maybe just one quick follow-up on that. I mean, you've talked about a lot of these new geographies, Texas in particular. Like, when you think about the timeline for kind of vertically integrating some of those new areas, is that something that you would kind of think about as a 2027 timing, or probably think further out in terms of when that happens?

也許就這點再快速追問一下。我的意思是，你談到很多新的地理區域，尤其是德州。像是，當你思考把其中一些新區域做垂直整合的時間表時，你會把它視為大概在 2027 年左右發生，還是可能要更往後，才會發生？

Yes. Unfortunately, it's not a toggle switch. It's kind of a duration time. It took us -- well, I will tell you, we're still not finished in the Southeast. We continue to look at other services we can add that are parts of the project, but it's really a 24- to 36-month kind of runway, if I was going to give kind of a ballpark average.

是的。不幸的是，這不是一個切換開關就能完成的事。它比較像是一段時間的累積。我們花了——我可以告訴你，我們在東南部其實還沒做完。我們仍在持續尋找還能加入哪些屬於該專案組成部分的其他服務，但如果要給一個大概的平均值，通常需要 24 到 36 個月的跑道期。

What we have to do, just to kind of understand it, is we've got to have enough critical mass that when we buy a company, we can keep them busy 100% of the time on projects. Otherwise, we'll have underutilization, negative productivity, and it'll actually drag down margins.

我們必須做的事，為了讓你更好理解，就是我們得有足夠的規模臨界量，這樣當我們收購一家公司時，才能讓他們在專案上 100% 保持忙碌。否則就會出現產能利用不足、負向生產力，反而會拖累毛利率。

So what we like to do, which makes it take a little more time, but it's a much more successful model, is we like to partner with subcontractors and test drive. And the ones that we think are the best, we then continue to grow until the point that they can't keep up with us, and then it's a logical time to buy, right? And it's good for them, and it's good for us.

所以我們喜歡採取的做法——這會多花一點時間，但成功率高得多——是先與分包商合作、先試跑。我們認為最優秀的那些，我們就持續一起成長，直到他們跟不上我們的節奏，然後那就是一個合乎邏輯的收購時點，對吧？這對他們好，對我們也好。

And we have great success rate, not only on acquiring them, but we double or triple them in 12 to 18 months by putting more revenue and volume on. So it's worked out really well. So as soon as we get enough critical mass, whether that's in blasting or soil stabilization, or I can name 10 other things, we'll start looking at how to vertically integrate that. Or in some cases, we may organically try to put a small business together to support that.

而且我們的成功率很高，不僅在收購上；我們在 12 到 18 個月內，透過導入更多營收與工作量，能把他們的規模做成兩倍或三倍。所以整體運作得非常好。因此一旦我們在某個領域累積到足夠的規模臨界量，不管是爆破、土壤穩定，或我還能再列出 10 個項目，我們就會開始評估如何把它垂直整合進來。或者在某些情況下，我們也可能以有機方式組建一個小型事業來支援。

Okay. That makes sense. Thank you very much for the color.

好的。這很合理。非常感謝你提供的補充說明。

Brian Brophy, Stifel.

Brian Brophy，Stifel。

Hi, this is Quinten Helmer on for Brian Brophy. So Stoneridge outperformed quite meaningfully, it seems. You touched a bit on the drivers already. Is this kind of a one-off because of the large project that you mentioned earlier? What's kind of the trajectory we should be thinking about as you continue to execute on tuck-ins on the site development side? Like, what are some things you're seeing there? Any color would be appreciated.

嗨，我是代替 Brian Brophy 的 Quinten Helmer。看起來 Stoneridge 的表現相當明顯地優於預期。你剛才已經稍微提到一些驅動因素。這是否算是一次性的情況，因為你先前提到的那個大型專案？當你持續在場地開發（site development）端執行這些補強式併購（tuck-ins）時，我們應該如何看待其走勢軌跡？你在那邊看到哪些現象？如果能提供一些補充說明會很感謝。

I'm sorry, what was the question around Stoneridge you mentioned?

不好意思，你剛才提到 Stoneridge 的問題是什麼？

Yes. And just kind of how it outperformed. Obviously, the Micron plant is part of it. I'm kind of trying to see what's the trajectory we should be thinking about as you kind of continue to execute on these tuck-ins. And yes, any color there would be appreciated.

是的，就是它表現優於預期的部分。顯然 Micron 的廠是其中一部分。我想了解的是，當你持續執行這些補強式併購時，我們應該如何看待未來的走勢軌跡。對，若能提供一些補充說明會很感謝。

Yes. So the Micron job really isn't related to Stoneridge. The Micron job is related to -- the reason we got that, how we got that, is the performance that we have on the New York job. And if you guys remember, we delivered the September package in July, and we delivered the January, February package back in September. So we're several months ahead on that project.

是的。所以 Micron 這個案子其實和 Stoneridge 沒有關聯。Micron 這個案子之所以能拿到、以及我們如何拿到，是因為我們在紐約那個案子的表現。如果各位還記得，我們在 7 月就交付了原本 9 月的工作包（package），而原本 1、2 月的工作包我們在 9 月就交付了。所以我們在那個專案上領先了好幾個月。

Not only was Micron impressed, but the GCs on there were so impressed on how far ahead we were. We were asked to go take a look at the job that's taking place in Idaho, and since have started doing some work on that job. We're actually using our RLW business on that. They were doing another data center up in that region, in that area, so we just moved them over there.

不只 Micron 印象深刻，現場的總承包商（GCs）也對我們領先的幅度非常驚訝。他們請我們去看看在愛達荷州進行中的那個案子，之後我們也開始在那個案子上做一些工作。我們實際上是用我們的 RLW 事業來做。他們原本就在那個區域、那一帶做另一個資料中心，所以我們就把他們調過去。

What was the next question?

下一個問題是什麼？

No, that was pretty much it. Thank you for the clarification. That's very helpful. I'll pass it on.

沒有，差不多就是這些。謝謝你的澄清。這非常有幫助。我把問題交回去。

Yes. I think the important takeaway of that is exactly what we did in data centers, we're doing in semiconductors. And the semiconductor tidal wave hits around 2030. So for us to have this much work today in semiconductors is a huge bonus, but more of a credit to our teams on the value they can bring to customers. And we believe we will be the go-to company on the big semiconductor jobs when they come.

是的。我認為這裡重要的重點是：我們在資料中心做的事情，現在也正在半導體領域複製。而半導體的巨大浪潮大約在 2030 年左右到來。所以對我們而言，今天就能在半導體拿到這麼多工作量是一個很大的加分，但更重要的是，這也歸功於我們團隊能為客戶帶來的價值。我們相信，當大型半導體專案到來時，我們會成為首選的合作公司。

Sangita Jain, KeyBanc Capital Markets.

Sangita Jain，KeyBanc Capital Markets。

Great. Thanks for taking my question. Joe, can I ask you a bigger picture question on the dynamics that you're seeing in the market right now with reference to the pushback to rural data center activity, and if that is changing in any way how you manage risks as you consider terms and conditions for these large bookings?

很好。謝謝讓我提問。Joe，我可以問一個更宏觀的問題嗎？關於你目前在市場上看到的動態，特別是針對鄉村地區資料中心活動的反彈（pushback），以及這是否在任何程度上改變你在考量這些大型訂單（bookings）的條款與條件時，管理風險的方式？

Yes. So a couple of things. There is so much noise out there, and I can't wait for next week to be over on permitting and everything else. And in fairness to our customers, we've got these projects, they've got them sitting there, they're ready to get going, but they're trying to figure out, like, is something going to change, right? And my answer is, I don't know, and they don't know.

是的。有幾點。外面雜音非常多，我真希望下週關於許可（permitting）和其他事情能告一段落。而且公平地說，對我們的客戶而言，他們手上有這些專案，專案就放在那裡，已經準備要開工了，但他們正在試著釐清：是不是會有什麼改變，對吧？我的答案是：我不知道，他們也不知道。

Right now, in some instances -- I'll give you a perfect example. In Texas, there is all the buzz around permitting and having to go back through everything. And one of the things that was happening is TCEQ, who hands out all the water permits for the state of Texas, has an automated process for permits. Well, guess what? Data centers were still submitting applications for permits through the automated system, and they were getting permits.

目前在某些情況下——我給你一個很典型的例子。在德州，大家都在談許可的議題，以及必須回頭重新走一遍流程。其中一件正在發生的事是：TCEQ（德州環境品質委員會）負責核發德州全州的用水許可，他們有一套自動化的許可流程。那你猜怎麼著？資料中心仍然透過這套自動化系統提交許可申請，而且他們也拿到了許可。

Some group stepped in and said, wait a second, this isn't what the governor said. You have to manually review the permits. And TCEQ said, well, we don't really have a process to manually review. The customer said, I got permits. Are they valid or not valid? I will tell you, they're debating back and forth right now on whether they are. So it's a little bit of limbo.

有某個團體介入說，等一下，這不是州長說的。你們必須人工審查許可。而 TCEQ 說，嗯，我們其實沒有人工審查的流程。客戶說，我已經拿到許可了。那它到底有效還是無效？我可以告訴你，他們現在正在來回爭論到底算不算有效。所以目前有點處於懸而未決的狀態。

So are those projects going to go? Absolutely, are they going to go. Is there confusion in the system right now for things like that? Absolutely there is. I think after the election, a lot of this goes away, and it will become very clear. But we're not seeing anybody backing off projects. We're not seeing anybody change strategies or anything else.

所以那些專案會繼續推進嗎？當然，會繼續推進。目前系統裡對這類事情有混亂嗎？絕對有。我認為選舉之後，很多這些情況就會消失，事情會變得非常清楚。但我們沒有看到任何人撤回專案。我們也沒有看到任何人改變策略或其他任何事情。

But let's just say we're all wrong. Worst-case scenario, something like that happens. Here's what's going to happen as a result. That 1,000 acres that I have left on the job that has power and permitting, they are going to figure out how to either build that out faster or buy more land around it until they get the other stuff worked out.

但假設我們都判斷錯了。在最壞的情況下，真的發生了類似的事。那麼結果會是這樣：我在那個案子上還剩下的那1,000英畝土地，已經具備電力與許可，他們會想辦法要嘛更快把它開發建設起來，要嘛在周邊再買更多土地，直到把其他問題都解決為止。

So we're sitting here looking at it with five-plus years of work in our grasp on projects we're working on, saying, could there be some noise? Probably. Do we hear anything about the work slowing down or getting smaller? The answer is absolutely not. So we'll get through it, and it'll be fine.

所以我們坐在這裡看著手上正在做的專案，等於未來五年以上的工作量都握在手裡，然後在想：會不會有一些雜音？可能會。我們有聽到任何工作放緩或規模縮小的消息嗎？答案是絕對沒有。所以我們會挺過去，一切都會沒問題。

All right. Thanks. And then if I can ask one on the entire margin discussion that has happened so far. You spoke about site prep margins, the puts and takes. You're in early stages on several jobs, and those stages tend to be a little bit margin dilutive. You're also moving into new geographies. So can you tell us how you're thinking about which one goes first, whether the existing jobs go into advanced stages and show more margin, or whether the geographic expansion takes over and we continue to see margins in the flattish range for a while?

好。謝謝。另外，如果我可以就目前整體毛利率的討論再問一題。你提到場地整備（site prep）毛利率的增減因素。你們在好幾個案子都處於早期階段，而這些階段通常會對毛利率有些稀釋。你們也正在進入新的地理區域。所以你能否談談你們如何思考哪個會先發生：是既有案子進入更進階階段、毛利率更好地展現出來；還是地理擴張的影響更大，讓我們在一段時間內仍看到毛利率維持在較為持平的區間？

Well, I'd have to do a pretty deep analysis on it. Here's what I would tell you, is in the quarter, you would have thought our margins would have gone down on site, and they didn't, which says the combination of the advancements in margins in the new geographic expansions are improving very nicely.

嗯，我得做相當深入的分析。但我可以告訴你的是，在這一季，你原本會以為我們在場地業務的毛利率會下滑，但並沒有，這表示新地理擴張帶來的毛利率提升與專案推進的組合，改善得非常不錯。

We're in the early phases of a lot of projects. I would have thought that would have brought it down, and the Micron project, which is a unique one. We know that shifts into a different set of phases as we get into 2027, probably around the second quarter. We know we'll continue to make advancements. So I don't see us having site margins going backwards. The question is, how fast do they go forward, right? And as those kick in, they're all positive tailwinds, not negative tailwinds.

我們有很多專案都在早期階段。我原本以為這會把毛利率拉低，而Micron專案又是個特殊案例。我們知道，隨著進入2027年，它會轉入另一組不同的階段，大概在第二季左右。我們也知道我們會持續取得進展。所以我不認為我們的場地毛利率會倒退。問題是，它往前走的速度有多快，對吧？而當那些因素開始發酵時，全部都是正向順風，不是逆風。

Understood. Thank you so much.

了解。非常感謝。

Adam Thalhimer, Thompson Davis.

Adam Thalhimer，Thompson Davis。

Hey, good morning, guys. Hey, Joe, you talked about growing earnings 50%-plus with acquisitions. Was that a multiyear comment or a 2027 comment?

嗨，早安，各位。Joe，你提到透過併購讓獲利成長50%以上。那是指多年期的說法，還是指2027年的說法？

Well, Adam, over the last six years, we've grown at 48% on the bottom. I don't like to go backwards. And I think we have a multiyear opportunity here to continue to grow based on what we're seeing coming out of the marketplace. Yes, everybody talks about data centers. We feel very bullish on what we're seeing over the next three to five years coming out of data centers. We feel like we are positioning ourselves extremely well for the semiconductor wave that starts coming out around 2030.

Adam，過去六年，我們在獲利端的成長是48%。我不喜歡往後退。而且我認為，基於我們從市場端看到的情況，這裡有一個多年期的機會可以持續成長。是的，大家都在談資料中心。我們對未來三到五年資料中心帶來的趨勢非常看多。我們也覺得自己在為大約2030年開始出現的半導體浪潮做非常好的布局。

So you start putting those together, plus all the -- nobody's talking about the one-off manufacturing plants here and there. We've got the Rivian plant. They just announced the Audi plant. They just announced four or five others. We don't have those, but we'll see where they fall and if we do them. We're passing on the pharma plants right now just because we don't have the capacity to go after them. So we have plenty of opportunity to do that.

把這些加總起來，再加上——其實沒有人在談那些零星分布的製造工廠。我們有Rivian工廠。他們剛宣布了Audi工廠。他們也剛宣布了另外四、五個。我們目前沒有拿到那些案子，但我們會看它們最後落在哪裡，以及我們是否會承接。我們現在暫時不接製藥工廠的案子，純粹是因為我們沒有足夠產能去追那些案子。所以我們有很多機會可以做。

The biggest wild card is the acquisition. I feel very good about our organic side. The acquisitions are always a wild card. Can we find the right ones in the right place at the right price? I feel very good about the market today. We've seen some high-quality businesses out there, both in site and electrical, and excited about 2027. So it's not 2027. This is what we think we can do over a multiyear period.

最大的變數是併購。我對我們的有機成長面非常有信心。併購永遠是個變數。我們能不能在對的地方、以對的價格找到對的標的？我對目前的市場感覺非常好。我們看到一些高品質的企業，不論是在場地或電氣領域，對2027年也很期待。所以這不是指2027年。這是我們認為在多年期期間內可以做到的事。

Okay. Good color. And then to what extent were margins negatively impacted in Q3 by diesel or other inflation?

好的。很有幫助。另外，第三季毛利率在多大程度上受到柴油或其他通膨的負面影響？

Yes. It's really interesting. Nobody's heard us talk about diesel. Nobody's heard us talk about inflation. And the reality is, what we love about our contract structure and the way these things are phased is that really mitigates a big part of that risk. If we won a seven-year $1 billion project and we put that all in backlog, we'd be whining and crying on every one of these calls about diesel prices, about concrete prices, about something else.

是的，這很有意思。大家從沒聽過我們談柴油。也沒聽過我們談通膨。而現實是，我們很喜歡我們的合約結構以及這些專案的分期方式，因為它確實能大幅降低那部分風險。如果我們拿下一個七年期、10億美元的專案，然後把它全部放進在手訂單（backlog），那我們每次電話會議都會為柴油價格、混凝土價格或其他東西哀號抱怨。

So is it a negative? The outside world just -- no one believes we have $1 billion, but we know we do. It's a positive because the contract structure really mitigates the risk on that stuff. So I won't tell you that we've had zero impact. That would be false. But we're not going to talk about it because our job is to overcome it, and it's such a small impact. We're moving forward.

所以這是負面嗎？外界就是——沒人相信我們有10億美元，但我們知道我們確實有。這反而是正面，因為合約結構確實降低了這些事情的風險。所以我不會告訴你完全沒有影響。那會是假的。但我們不會特別拿出來講，因為我們的工作就是克服它，而且影響非常小。我們會繼續往前走。

Perfect. Thanks, guys.

太好了。謝謝各位。

Julio Romero, Sidoti & Company.

Julio Romero，Sidoti & Company。

Hey, good morning. Thanks for taking my questions, Joe, Nick, Dan, Noel. A lot of good questions about capacity today. Just over the next four to five years, how would you have us think about the pace of capacity adds and what kind of visibility you have to that pace?

嗨，早安。謝謝讓我提問，Joe、Nick、Dan、Noel。今天有很多關於產能的好問題。就未來四到五年而言，你們希望我們如何看待產能增加的節奏，以及你們對這個節奏有多大的能見度？

Joe, you said that you've been very successful at hiring and adding electricians. You said CEC is a great returns business, relatively less fleet needed, more about adding headcount. So clearly, with the demand outlook being very strong and multiyear, it sounds more and more like the pace of capacity adds is increasingly important to the growth runway in, say, 2028, 2029 and the next decade. So if you could speak to the pace and visibility of that.

Joe，你說你們在招募並增加電工人力方面非常成功。你說CEC是一個報酬率很好的業務，相對不太需要車隊設備，更重要的是增加人頭。所以很明顯，在需求展望非常強勁且是多年期的情況下，產能增加的節奏聽起來對於例如2028、2029以及下一個十年的成長跑道變得愈來愈重要。所以如果你能談談這個節奏與能見度。

Yes, Julio, it's a good question. The question no one's asked, and I'm glad because it's kind of a delusional question, is we've grown at much -- we said over the next several years, we can grow 20% to 30% organically and feel comfortable with that. We've grown a hell of a lot more than that organically over the last couple of years. Now, you can only keep that sort of pace for so long. We feel good on the 20% to 30% organic pace over the next several years.

是的，Julio，這是個好問題。沒有人問、而我也很高興沒人問的問題——因為這有點像是個不切實際的問題——是：我們的成長速度遠遠超過了——我們說過在未來幾年，我們可以在有機成長方面達到20%到30%，而且對此感到有把握。過去幾年我們的有機成長其實遠遠超過這個水準。不過，你只能在有限的時間內維持那樣的速度。對於未來幾年維持20%到30%的有機成長速度，我們感覺很好。

Certainly, internally, we're going to try to do a hell of a lot more than that. But you really start getting stretched on some of the internal resources and some of the capabilities. To beat that pace, it's really going to require us to do more on the acquisition front and really add more capacity, whether that's in new geographies or within geographies that we're in. For us to even come close to keeping up with the pace of stuff coming out in Texas, we're going to have to make those acquisitions.

當然，在內部我們會努力做到遠遠超過那個水準。但你很快就會在一些內部資源與能力上感到吃緊。要超越那個速度，確實需要我們在併購方面做得更多，並真正增加更多產能，不論是在新的地理區域，或是在我們既有的地理區域內擴充。若要讓我們甚至接近跟上德州那邊釋出的業務量增速，我們就必須進行那些併購。

Now, as we talked about in the site tour a couple of weeks ago, there are things we can do with acquisitions that are not even in Texas that can help us with capacity in Texas. What I mean by that is we have two types of crews. We have traveling crews and we have local crews. And for us, a traveling crew, it doesn't matter if they're in Virginia or Texas or Ohio or wherever you want to pick, okay? They travel, and they do work.

另外，正如我們在幾週前的場地參訪中談到的，有些我們可以透過併購來做的事情，即使不在德州，也能幫助我們提升德州的產能。我的意思是，我們有兩種類型的施工團隊。我們有外派（巡迴）團隊，也有在地團隊。對我們而言，外派團隊不管是在維吉尼亞、德州、俄亥俄，或你想選的任何地方都一樣，好嗎？他們會移動，並執行工作。

So one of the things we're looking at is if we have a concentration of either a traveling crew that's on a mega project and it's going to be there for a long period of time or multiple traveling crews in a geography, does it make sense for us to make an acquisition within that geography, of which we can then lever to do the work of the traveling crew and grow that business quite substantially very quickly? And that then frees up the capacity of that traveling crew.

所以我們正在評估的一件事是：如果我們在某個地區有一個外派團隊集中在一個超大型專案上、而且會在那裡待很長一段時間，或是在某個地區有多個外派團隊，那麼我們是否應該在該地區進行併購？如此一來，我們就能運用被併購公司的資源來承接外派團隊的工作，並在很短時間內大幅擴張該業務。而這也會釋放該外派團隊的產能。

So I can make an acquisition in an area, grow the business very rapidly, double it in probably three years, free up a traveling crew that now frees up $500 million-plus of capacity for me and put them in a new geography. So those are some of the things we're looking at to increase the pace of growth beyond that 20% to 30%.

因此，我可以在某個區域做一筆併購，讓業務非常快速地成長，可能在三年內翻倍，並釋放出一個外派團隊；這樣一來就能為我釋放出超過5億美元的產能，然後把他們派到新的地理區域。所以，這些就是我們正在評估的一些做法，用以把成長速度提升到超過20%到30%。

Very helpful. Thank you. And then have you seen any changes in how customers are financing or committing to future phases or negotiating payment terms? And just talk about more broadly how customer financial quality influences your customer selection process.

非常有幫助。謝謝。接著，你們是否看到客戶在融資方式、對未來階段的承諾，或在付款條件談判上有任何變化？也請更廣泛地談談，客戶的財務品質如何影響你們的客戶篩選流程。

Yes. No, we haven't seen anything. The lion's share of our customers are the top-tier guys, one tier down, that are all financially very stable. I know everybody panics when Meta or Amazon or somebody goes to get financing. I look at that as that's more money that they're going to spend on us to build more stuff, right? That's the greatest thing that can happen every time I see that happen. So we have not seen anything along those lines.

是的。沒有，我們沒有看到任何變化。我們絕大多數客戶都是最頂級、或次一級的客戶，他們的財務狀況都非常穩健。我知道每次Meta、Amazon或其他公司去做融資時，大家都會緊張。但我把那看作是：他們會有更多錢花在我們身上、去建更多東西，對吧？每次我看到那種情況發生，我都覺得那是最棒的事。所以我們沒有看到任何類似的情況。

The step-up in receivables in the quarter really is more timing and starting the first phase of a lot of these projects. And as you can imagine, you start a project, you get going, even if you have a 30-day billing cycle, by the time you get everything done, billed and in, it's 60 days minimum before you're going to get your first payment. So unless you start those right at the beginning of the quarter, you're not going to see them. And we had a pretty strong first couple of weeks in October, so it's just kind of weighed out with what we've seen in the past.

本季應收帳款的增加，主要是時點因素，以及許多這些專案第一階段的啟動所致。而且如你所想像的，你一開始啟動專案、開始推進，即便你的開立帳單週期是30天，等到你把所有事情做完、開單並送出，至少也要60天你才會收到第一筆款項。所以除非你在季度一開始就啟動那些專案，否則你不會在當季看到收款。而我們在10月前幾週表現相當強勁，所以整體看起來只是與我們過去看到的情況大致相符。

Great. Thank you.

很好。謝謝。

Thank you, Julio. There are no further questions on the phone line. I'll turn it back to Joe for some closing comments.

謝謝你，Julio。電話線上沒有其他問題了。我把時間交回給Joe做一些結語。

Great. Thanks, Paul. I want to thank everybody again for joining the call today. If you have any follow-up questions, please contact Noel Dilts. Her contact information is in the press release. I hope everybody has a great day. We'll be talking to a lot of you this afternoon. Thanks.

很好。謝謝，Paul。我想再次感謝各位今天參加這通電話會議。如果你有任何後續問題，請聯絡Noel Dilts。她的聯絡資訊在新聞稿中。祝大家今天愉快。我們今天下午會和其中許多人再聊。謝謝。

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

各位女士、先生，今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝各位的參與，並請各位掛斷電話線。祝大家今天愉快。