Titan Machinery Inc (TITN) 2024 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Greetings. Welcome to the Titan Machinery Inc., fourth-quarter fiscal 2024 earnings call. (Operator Instructions) Please note this conference is being recorded.

問候。歡迎參加 Titan Machinery Inc. 2024 財年第四季財報電話會議。（操作員說明）請注意本次會議正在錄製中。

I'll now turn the conference over to your host, Jeff Sonnek from IR. You may begin.

我現在將會議轉交給主持人、IR 的傑夫·索內克 (Jeff Sonnek)。你可以開始了。

Thank you, and welcome to Titan Machinery's fourth-quarter fiscal 2024 earnings conference call today. We have from the company Bryan Knutson, President and Chief Executive Officer; and Bo Larsen, Chief Financial Officer.

謝謝，歡迎參加泰坦機械今天舉行的 2024 財年第四季財報電話會議。我們有來自公司的總裁兼執行長 Bryan Knutson；和財務長 Bo Larsen。

By now, everyone should have access to the earnings release for the fiscal fourth quarter ended January 31, 2024. If you've not received the release, it's available on the IR tab of Titan's website at ir.titanmachinery.com. This call is being webcast, and a replay will be available on the company's website as well.

到目前為止，每個人都應該可以查看截至 2024 年 1 月 31 日的第四財季收益發布。如果您尚未收到該版本，可以在 Titan 網站 ir.titanmachinery.com 的 IR 標籤上找到該版本。這次電話會議正在網路直播，並且公司網站上也將提供重播。

Additionally, we're providing a presentation to accompany today's prepared remarks, which can be found also on the same website, ir.titanmachinery.com. The presentation is located directly below the webcast information in the middle of the page.

此外，我們還提供了一個演示文稿，以配合今天準備好的發言，該演示文稿也可以在同一網站 ir.titanmachinery.com 上找到。此簡報位於頁面中間網路廣播資訊的正下方。

We would like to remind everyone that the prepared remarks contain forward-looking statements, and management may make additional forward-looking statements in response to your questions. The statements do not guarantee future performance, and therefore, undue reliance should be placed upon them.

我們想提醒大家，準備好的言論包含前瞻性陳述，管理階層可能會針對您的問題做出額外的前瞻性陳述。這些陳述並不能保證未來的業績，因此，應對它們給予不適當的依賴。

These forward-looking statements are based on current expectations of management and involve inherent risks and uncertainties, including those identified in the Risk Factors section of Titan's most recently filed annual report on Form 10-K. These risk factors contain a more detailed discussion of the factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in any forward-looking statements. Except as maybe required by applicable law, Titan assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements that may be made in today's release or call.

這些前瞻性陳述是基於管理層目前的預期，涉及固有風險和不確定性，包括 Titan 最近提交的 10-K 表格年度報告的風險因素部分中確定的風險和不確定性。這些風險因素包含對可能導致實際結果與任何前瞻性陳述中預測的結果有重大差異的因素的更詳細討論。除適用法律可能要求的情況外，泰坦不承擔更新今天的新聞稿或電話會議中可能做出的任何前瞻性聲明的義務。

Please note that during today's call, we may discuss non-GAAP financial measures, including results on an adjusted basis. We believe these adjusted financial measures can facilitate a more complete analysis and greater transparency into Titan's ongoing financial performance, particularly when comparing underlying results from period to period. We have included reconciliations of these non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP measures in today's release.

請注意，在今天的電話會議中，我們可能會討論非公認會計準則財務指標，包括調整後的結果。我們相信，這些調整後的財務指標可以促進對泰坦持續財務表現的更完整的分析和更大的透明度，特別是在比較不同時期的基本結果時。我們在今天的新聞稿中納入了這些非公認會計原則財務指標與最直接可比較的公認會計原則指標的調節表。

At the conclusion of our prepared remarks, we will open the call to take your questions.

在我們準備好的發言結束後，我們將召開電話會議回答您的問題。

And now, I'd like to introduce the company's President and CEO, Mr. Bryan Knutson. Bryan, please go ahead.

現在，我想介紹一下公司的總裁兼執行長布萊恩·克努森先生。布萊恩，請繼續。

Thank you, Jeff. Good morning, everyone. I want to begin today's call by providing some historical context, which will help put our recent earnings performance into perspective, then I will offer some thoughts on our fiscal 2025 outlook that we are providing today, and finish with a summary of our segment performance before passing the call to Bo for his financial review and incremental thoughts on our modeling assumptions.

謝謝你，傑夫。大家，早安。我想在今天的電話會議開始時提供一些歷史背景，這將有助於我們正確看待我們最近的盈利表現，然後我將對我們今天提供的2025 財年展望提出一些想法，最後對我們之前的部門業績進行總結將電話轉給 Bo，詢問他的財務審查以及對我們的建模假設的增量想法。

We finished fiscal year 2024 with a strong performance that was driven by growth across all of our legacy operating segments and resulted in record revenue of $2.8 billion and record earnings per share of $4.93. This marked the third consecutive year of achieving record earnings per share while achieving a pre-tax margin of greater than 5%. Our business remains in a position of strength, and we expect to demonstrate the durability of our earnings through this cycle, following a multi-year effort to implement greater efficiency across our organization.

在我們所有傳統營運部門成長的推動下，我們以強勁的業績結束了 2024 財年，實現了創紀錄的 28 億美元收入和創紀錄的每股收益 4.93 美元。這標誌著連續第三年實現每股盈餘創紀錄，同時實現稅前利潤率超過 5%。我們的業務仍然處於強勢地位，經過多年努力在整個組織內實現更高的效率，我們希望在這個週期中展示我們收益的持久性。

Moreover, this is exactly the level of execution that we outlined at our 2017 Investor Day. I'd remind everyone that, back then, we were working hard on expense and inventory optimization as a means to driving higher levels of profitability through the cycle. At that meeting, we also outlined a path to $2 earnings per share. Conceptually, we wanted to ensure we made the adjustments necessary to drive an acceleration in operating leverage so that we were in a strong position once the next cycle arrived.

此外，這正是我們在 2017 年投資者日概述的執行水準。我想提醒大家，當時，我們正在努力優化費用和庫存，作為在整個週期內提高獲利水準的手段。在那次會議上，我們還概述了實現每股收益 2 美元的路徑。從概念上講，我們希望確保做出必要的調整，以推動營運槓桿加速，以便在下一個週期到來時我們處於有利地位。

Our business today is nearly twice as large as those projections from 2017 in terms of revenue, and I'm proud to say our earnings power of nearly $5 per share is higher by 2.5 times. Those principles remain in place today, thus positioning the business to drive greater and more sustainable levels of profitability in all demand environments, which leads me to some brief commentary on our outlook for fiscal 2025 that we are introducing today.

就收入而言，我們今天的業務幾乎是 2017 年預測的兩倍，我很自豪地說，我們每股近 5 美元的盈利能力提高了 2.5 倍。這些原則至今仍然有效，從而使業務能夠在所有需求環境中推動更高、更可持續的盈利水平，這讓我對我們今天介紹的 2025 財年前景進行一些簡短的評論。

First of all, I'd like to highlight a few key differences between this cycle and the last one for both Titan and the industry in general and why both are in a healthier position today than the previous cycle. First, for the industry as a whole, as has been well documented, supply chain constraints significantly limited OEM production volumes, restricting the amount of new equipment that was going into the market over the past few years. Because of this, fleet age for categories such as high-horsepower tractors are still above long-term averages.

首先，我想強調本週期與上一個週期對於泰坦和整個行業而言的一些關鍵區別，以及為什麼兩者今天都比上一個週期處於更健康的位置。首先，對於整個行業來說，正如有據可查的那樣，供應鏈的限制極大地限制了 OEM 的產量，從而限制了過去幾年進入市場的新設備的數量。因此，大馬力拖拉機等類別的機隊年齡仍高於長期平均水平。

There has been less short-term leasing activity, further limiting the amount of late mile used equipment for sale. Farmers have had three highly profitable years to bolster their balance sheets, and advancements in precision ag technology continued to drive productivity gains, providing ROI and new equipment and aftermarket upgrades.

短期租賃活動減少，進一步限制了待售二手設備的數量。農民已經度過了三年高利潤的年份來增強他們的資產負債表，精密農業技術的進步繼續推動生產力的提高，提供投資回報率和新設備以及售後升級。

For Titan specifically, as the industry continues to consolidate with larger, higher horsepower, and more technologically advanced equipment, we optimized our footprint and removed costs from the business through these restructuring efforts during the last cycle. We doubled down on our customer care strategy, driving more sustainable growth in our parts and service business, and we bolstered our professional back office team who focus on managing inventory levels and use trading valuations.

特別是對於泰坦來說，隨著行業繼續整合更大、更高馬力和技術更先進的設備，我們在上一個週期透過這些重組工作優化了我們的足跡並降低了業務成本。我們加倍實施客戶服務策略，推動零件和服務業務更永續的成長，並加強了專業的後台團隊，他們專注於管理庫存水準和使用交易估值。

While all of these factors I just mentioned put us in a healthier spot today than we were a decade ago, net farm income is expected to be at or possibly below the 20-year average in calendar year 2024. And interest rates don't appear to be dropping as fast as our customers would like to see.

雖然我剛才提到的所有這些因素使我們今天的處境比十年前更加健康，但預計到 2024 年，農場淨收入將達到或可能低於 20 年平均值。而且利率下降的速度似乎也沒有我們的客戶希望看到的那麼快。

General consensus by industry participants is that ag volumes will be around mid-cycle levels this year. As such, we don't expect to repeat the success we enjoyed over the past two fiscal years, but we remain in a strong position heading into our current fiscal 2025. We believe this year will prove to be best described as year of transition. We have rapidly moved out of a period characterized by restricted supply and high demand to one that reflects ample to even excess supply and mid-cycle demand.

產業參與者普遍認為，今年農產品銷售量將處於週期中期水準左右。因此，我們預計不會重複過去兩個財年所取得的成功，但在進入目前的 2025 財年時，我們仍處於有利地位。我們相信，今年將被證明是最好的過渡年。我們已經迅速擺脫了供應受限和需求旺盛的時期，進入了供應充足甚至過剩和週期中期需求的時期。

We continue to have good visibility into demand for the first half of the fiscal year given healthy backlog and pre-sale activity. However, the supply chain has caught up quickly in recent months and OEM lead times have normalized, whereas they had extended out 12 to 18 months not that long ago.

鑑於良好的積壓和預售活動，我們對本財年上半年的需求持續有良好的了解。然而，供應鏈近幾個月迅速跟上，OEM 交貨時間也已正常化，而不久前還延長了 12 至 18 個月。

In a broader sense, this normalized supply environment is a welcome change after years of excessive delays and the additional uncertainty with allocations. This allows us to significantly improve our in-stock levels of high-horsepower equipment, self-propelled sprayers, and wheel loaders across our footprint. But the pace of the improved supply creates challenges in the near-term as we will be working through a rapid influx of equipment deliveries, which will be visible in our new and used inventory balances throughout this fiscal year.

從更廣泛的意義上講，在經歷了多年的過度延誤和分配的額外不確定性之後，這種正常化的供應環境是一個可喜的變化。這使我們能夠顯著提高我們的大馬力設備、自走式噴霧機和輪式裝載機的庫存水準。但供應改善的步伐在短期內帶來了挑戰，因為我們將努力完成設備交付的快速湧入，這將在我們整個財年的新舊庫存餘額中體現出來。

As we meet demand from our existing backlog, those new unit sales to customers also generate trade-ins of used equipment. The guidance we are providing today reflects anticipated margin compression in part so that we can manage inventory levels through this transitional period. Our team will proactively manage through these factors in order to drive strong financial results and position us to maintain the higher levels of pre-tax margin that we've worked so hard to produce.

當我們滿足現有積壓訂單的需求時，向客戶銷售的新設備也產生了二手設備的折扣。我們今天提供的指導在一定程度上反映了預期的利潤壓縮，以便我們可以在這個過渡時期管理庫存水準。我們的團隊將積極管理這些因素，以推動強勁的財務業績，並使我們能夠維持我們辛苦創造的較高水準的稅前利潤率。

Bo will provide some additional depth on the assumptions that underpin our modeling guidance for fiscal 2025. But before I pass the call to him, I want to briefly walk through our customary update on each of our reporting segments, starting with domestic agriculture.

Bo 將進一步深入闡述支撐我們 2025 財政年度建模指南的假設。但在我把電話轉給他之前，我想簡單介紹一下我們每個報告部分的慣例更新，從國內農業開始。

We had a great finish to the year growing segment same-store revenue by 36% in the fourth quarter. This was largely a function of the team's strong execution on improving the pace of customer deliveries, following a concerted effort to complete pre-delivery inspections on new machinery.

我們為這一年畫上了圓滿的句號，第四季的細分市場同店營收成長了 36%。這在很大程度上歸功於團隊在齊心協力完成新機器的交付前檢查後，在提高客戶交付速度方面的強大執行力。

As we've discussed during the past several quarters, balancing the limitations of our service capacity between our ongoing needs of customers with incremental demands for pre-delivery inspections has been a challenge. So with that in mind, in addition to the strong equipment deliveries, I'm particularly pleased with our ability to continue to advance our customer care strategy and drive a double-digit same-store sales increase in our reoccurring parts and service business.

正如我們在過去幾個季度所討論的那樣，在客戶的持續需求與交付前檢查的增量需求之間平衡我們的服務能力的限制一直是一個挑戰。因此，考慮到這一點，除了強勁的設備交付之外，我對我們繼續推進客戶服務策略並推動重複零件和服務業務同店銷售額實現兩位數增長的能力感到特別滿意。

Investing in people and CapEx to increase our service network capacity remains a key priority for our organization. As such, we will continue to focus on recruiting, hiring, and training skilled technicians in the coming fiscal year, as well as investing in related capital expenditures to support that growth.

投資於人員和資本支出以提高我們的服務網絡能力仍然是我們組織的首要任務。因此，我們將在下一財年繼續專注於招募、聘用和培訓熟練技術人員，並投資相關資本支出以支持這一成長。

Shifting to our domestic construction segment, as expected, our construction segment produced a strong fourth quarter with same-store sales growth of 18%. This was due in part to timing of OEM deliveries this year versus last and our focus on getting these units turned around and out to our customers. We are pleased with the execution of our construction team, who have continued to drive growth and maintain healthy pre-tax margins.

轉向我們的國內建築業務，正如預期的那樣，我們的建築業務在第四季度表現強勁，同店銷售成長 18%。這在一定程度上是由於今年 OEM 的交付時間與去年相比，以及我們專注於將這些設備交付給我們的客戶。我們對施工團隊的執行力感到滿意，他們繼續推動成長並保持健康的稅前利潤。

Although there's been some recent softening, as we look ahead, we see general stability in the construction markets that we serve. Further, we also anticipate benefiting from improved availability of equipment from our OEM partners.

儘管最近出現了一些疲軟，但展望未來，我們看到我們所服務的建築市場整體穩定。此外，我們也預計將受益於 OEM 合作夥伴提供的設備可用性的提高。

Now moving on to an overview of our Europe segment, which represents our business within the countries of Bulgaria, Germany, Romania, and Ukraine. As discussed on our third-quarter call, the growing season varied this year, with timely precipitation driving above-average yields in Germany and Ukraine, while dry conditions create some headwinds in Bulgaria and Romania. As expected, we saw a slowdown in demand in the fourth quarter, but still achieved modest year-over-year sales growth on a same-store basis.

現在讓我們來概述一下我們的歐洲部門，該部門代表我們在保加利亞、德國、羅馬尼亞和烏克蘭的業務。正如我們在第三季度電話會議中討論的那樣，今年的生長季節有所不同，及時的降水推動德國和烏克蘭的產量高於平均水平，而乾燥的天氣給保加利亞和羅馬尼亞帶來了一些阻力。如預期，我們看到第四季的需求放緩，但同店銷售額較去年同期仍實現小幅成長。

Turning to our new Australia segment, the O'Connor's acquisition is now consolidated into our financials for the first time this quarter, so you will be able to monitor our progress in our segment reporting going forward. The segment's fourth quarter came in as expected, and plentiful rainfall has provided healthy subsoil moisture across our footprint heading into the next growing season.

談到我們新的澳洲部門，奧康納的收購現已在本季首次合併到我們的財務報表中，因此您將能夠監控我們未來部門報告的進展。該部門第四季度的業績符合預期，充足的降雨為我們的足跡提供了健康的底土濕度，進入下一個生長季節。

We've completed initial integration discussions across departments, sharing best practices and setting the stage for future collaboration. In the coming months, we will initiate the branding transition to Titan Machinery, and I'd like to reiterate how excited we are to have O'Connor's join the Titan team.

我們已經完成了跨部門的初步整合討論，分享了最佳實踐並為未來的合作奠定了基礎。在接下來的幾個月中，我們將啟動向 Titan Machinery 的品牌轉型，我想重申我們對 O'Connor's 加入 Titan 團隊感到多麼興奮。

Finally, I want to sincerely thank our employees for their tremendous efforts that drove our record revenue and earnings.

最後，我要真誠地感謝我們的員工為推動我們創紀錄的收入和利潤所做的巨大努力。

With that, I will turn the call over to Bo for his financial review.

這樣，我會將電話轉給 Bo 進行財務審查。

Thanks, Bryan, and good morning, everyone. I'll start with a brief review of our fiscal 2024 full-year results.

謝謝布萊恩，大家早安。我首先簡要回顧我們 2024 財年的全年業績。

As Bryan noted in his commentary, we had another exceptional year and are proud of the performance the team delivered. While we don't expect to repeat this performance in the coming year, we are focused on demonstrating improved results relative to that of the previous cycle as we move forward.

正如布萊恩在評論中指出的那樣，我們又度過了非凡的一年，並對團隊的表現感到自豪。雖然我們預計不會在來年重複這種表現，但隨著我們的前進，我們將專注於展示相對於上一個週期的改進結果。

Total revenue increased 24.9% to a record $2.8 billion, driven by balanced growth across each of our revenue categories. Equipment grew 25.3% for the full year and was complemented by solid contributions from our recurring parts and service businesses, which increased 25.6% and 21.2%, respectively. Additionally, rental and other was up 10.4%.

在我們各個營收類別均衡成長的推動下，總營收成長了 24.9%，達到創紀錄的 28 億美元。設備業務全年成長 25.3%，經常性零件和服務業務的強勁貢獻則分別成長 25.6% 和 21.2%。此外，租金及其他上漲10.4%。

Earnings per diluted share increased 9.8% to $4.93 for fiscal 2024. This was a record for Titan, and it was also right in line with the midpoint of the guidance we established at the beginning of fiscal 2024 after adjusting for the O'Connor's acquisition.

2024 財年稀釋後每股收益成長 9.8%，達到 4.93 美元。這是泰坦的記錄，也與我們在對奧康納收購進行調整後在 2024 財年初制定的指導方針的中點一致。

Shifting to our consolidated results for the fiscal 2024 fourth quarter, total revenue was $852.1 million, an increase of 46.2% compared to the prior year period. Growth was driven by a 29.9% increase in same-store sales, with the balance reflecting the contribution from the O'Connor's and other acquisitions. Our equipment revenue increased 51.6% versus the prior year period. Both parts and service revenue each increased 25.7%, and rental and other revenue was up 3.1% versus the prior year period.

轉向 2024 財年第四季的綜合業績，總營收為 8.521 億美元，比上年同期成長 46.2%。成長是由同店銷售額成長 29.9% 推動的，其餘部分反映了 O'Connor's 和其他收購的貢獻。我們的設備收入比去年同期成長了 51.6%。零件和服務收入均成長 25.7%，租賃和其他收入較上年同期成長 3.1%。

Gross profit for the fourth quarter was $141 million, and as expected, gross profit margin contracted year over year to 16.6%, driven primarily by lower equipment margins, which are experiencing some normalization as expected at this stage in the cycle. The fourth quarters of fiscal 2024 and fiscal 2023 included benefits related to manufacturer incentive plans of $7.8 million and $1.8 million, respectively.

第四季毛利為 1.41 億美元，正如預期的那樣，毛利率同比收縮至 16.6%，主要是由於設備利潤率下降，而設備利潤率在周期的現階段正經歷一些正常化。2024 財年及 2023 財年第四季的製造商激勵計畫相關收益分別為 780 萬美元及 180 萬美元。

Operating expenses were $100.3 million for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2024 compared to $83.7 million in the prior year period. The year-over-year increase of 19.9% was driven by additional operating expenses related to our acquisitions that have taken place in the past year, as well as an increase in variable expenses associated with increased sales.

2024 財年第四季的營運支出為 1.003 億美元，而去年同期為 8,370 萬美元。年比成長 19.9% 的原因是與去年發生的收購相關的額外營運費用，以及與銷售額增加相關的可變費用的增加。

Floor plan and other interest expense was $9.3 million as compared to $2.1 million for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2023, with the increase led by a higher level of interest bearing inventory, the usage of existing floor plan capacity to finance the O'Connor's acquisition, and higher interest rates.

平面圖和其他利息支出為 930 萬美元，而 2023 財年第四季為 210 萬美元，增加的原因是計息庫存水準較高、利用現有平面圖產能為 O'Connor 的收購提供資金、和更高的利率。

Net income for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2024 was $24 million or $1.05 per diluted share, which included approximately $0.26 of benefits associated with manufacturer incentive plans. This compares to last year's fourth-quarter net income of $18.1 million or $0.80 per diluted share, which included approximately $0.06 of benefits associated with manufacturer incentive plans.

2024 財年第四季的淨利潤為 2,400 萬美元，即稀釋後每股收益 1.05 美元，其中包括與製造商激勵計畫相關的約 0.26 美元的收益。相比之下，去年第四季淨利潤為 1,810 萬美元，即稀釋後每股收益 0.80 美元，其中包括與製造商激勵計劃相關的約 0.06 美元的收益。

Now turning to our segment results for the fourth quarter, in our agriculture segment, sales increased 40.8% to $620.6 million. Growth was led by strong same-store sales increase of 35.5%, which was further supported by contributions from the acquisitions of Pioneer Farm Equipment in February 2023 and Scott Supply in January 2024. Agriculture segment pre-tax income was $28.8 million and compared to $19.3 million in the fourth quarter of the prior year.

現在來看看我們第四季的部門業績，在農業部門，銷售額成長了 40.8%，達到 6.206 億美元。同店銷售額成長 35.5%，帶動了成長，2023 年 2 月收購 Pioneer Farm Equipment 和 2024 年 1 月收購 Scott Supply 的貢獻進一步支撐了這一成長。農業部門稅前收入為 2,880 萬美元，而去年第四季為 1,930 萬美元。

In our construction segment, same-store sales increased 17.7% to $100.1 million, led by the timing of equipment deliveries, which shifted some revenue into the fourth quarter of this year, as compared to the timing of deliveries to customers in the second half of last year. Pre-tax income was $4.6 million and compared to $5.4 million in the fourth quarter of the prior year.

在我們的建築部門，同店銷售額增長了17.7%，達到1.001 億美元，這主要得益於設備交付時間，與去年下半年向客戶交付的時間相比，這將部分收入轉移到了今年第四季度。稅前收入為 460 萬美元，而去年第四季為 540 萬美元。

In our Europe segment, sales increased 8.1% to $61.6 million, which reflects a 5.5% currency tailwind on the strengthening euro. Net of the effect of these foreign currency fluctuations, revenue increased $2.1 million or 3.6%. Pre-tax loss was $600,000 and compared to pre-tax income of $1.5 million in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2023. The decrease in profitability was driven primarily by a partial normalization of equipment margins and higher operating expenses.

在我們的歐洲部門，銷售額成長 8.1% 至 6,160 萬美元，反映出歐元走強帶來了 5.5% 的貨幣推動力。扣除這些外匯波動的影響，收入增加了 210 萬美元，即 3.6%。稅前虧損為 60 萬美元，而 2023 財年第四季稅前收入為 150 萬美元。獲利能力下降的主要原因是設備利潤率部分正常化和營運費用增加。

In our Australia segment, sales were $69.8 million, and pre-tax income was $4.1 million. This was in line with the lower end of the range we provided on the Q3 call, primarily due to timing of OEM deliveries. This segment is well positioned to start fiscal 2025 with a good amount of pre-sell orders on hand.

在我們的澳洲部門，銷售額為 6,980 萬美元，稅前收入為 410 萬美元。這與我們在第三季電話會議上提供的範圍的下限一致，主要是由於 OEM 交付的時間表。該部門已做好準備，在 2025 財年伊始，手頭上有大量預售訂單。

Now on to our balance sheet and inventory position, we had cash of $38 million and an adjusted debt to tangible net worth ratio of 1.5 times as of January 31, which is well below our bank covenant of 3.5 times. Equipment inventory increased approximately $200 million in the fourth quarter, of which approximately $87 million is attributable to acquisitions made during the fourth quarter.

現在來看我們的資產負債表和庫存狀況，截至 1 月 31 日，我們擁有 3,800 萬美元的現金，調整後的債務與有形淨值比率為 1.5 倍，遠低於我們銀行承諾的 3.5 倍。第四季設備庫存增加約 2 億美元，其中約 8,700 萬美元歸因於第四季的收購。

As Bryan mentioned, we were pleased to be able to improve the pace of customer deliveries following a concerted effort to complete pre-delivery inspections of new machinery. But as expected, our high volume of deliveries to customers was more than offset by receipts from our OEM partners as they were rapidly catching up on production backlog as they finish the calendar year.

正如布萊恩所提到的，我們很高興在共同努力完成新機器的交付前檢查後能夠提高客戶的交付速度。但正如預期的那樣，我們向客戶交付的大量產品被我們的 OEM 合作夥伴的收入所抵消，因為他們在日曆年結束時正在迅速趕上積壓的生產。

With that, I'll finish by sharing a few comments on our fiscal 2025 full-year guidance, which we are providing today. First, some segment-specific color on the top line, for the agriculture segment, our initial assumption is for revenue to be flat to up 5%. This includes a full-year revenue contribution from Scott Supply, which closed in January of 2024 and achieved revenues of approximately $40 million for calendar year 2023. It also assumes mid- to high-single-digit growth on our parts and service business as we continue to advance our customer care strategy.

最後，我將分享對我們今天提供的 2025 財年全年指導的一些評論。首先，頂線上有一些特定部門的顏色，對於農業部門，我們最初的假設是收入持平至成長 5%。其中包括 Scott Supply 的全年營收貢獻，該公司於 2024 年 1 月關閉，2023 年曆年營收約 4,000 萬美元。隨著我們持續推進客戶服務策略，我們的零件和服務業務也將實現中高個位數成長。

As for equipment revenues, it assumes industry equipment volumes to be down 10% to 15% and pricing on new equipment to be up low single digits. The underlying growth for equipment revenue is expected to be driven by market share gains aided by improved availability of high-horsepower equipment, as well as proactive posture on selling through the used equipment that will be generated through trade-ins.

至於設備收入，它假設行業設備數量將下降 10% 至 15%，而新設備的定價將上漲低個位數。設備收入的基本成長預計將受到市場份額成長的推動，這得益於大馬力設備可用性的提高，以及透過以舊換新產生的二手設備進行銷售的積極態度。

The construction segment has diverse exposure to various end markets, and construction activity in Titan's Midwest footprint remains at levels supporting healthy demand. Our initial assumption is for revenue growth in the range of up 3% to 8%. Here again, we assume mid- to high-single-digit growth of our parts and service business and a low-single-digit increase of pricing on new equipment. Construction should also benefit from improved availability of key equipment categories for which we have been -- not been able to fulfill demand in recent years.

建築部門對各個終端市場都有不同的接觸，泰坦中西部地區的建築活動仍保持在支持健康需求的水平。我們最初的假設是營收成長在 3% 至 8% 範圍內。在這裡，我們再次假設我們的零件和服務業務將出現中高個位數成長，而新設備的定價將出現低個位數成長。建築業也應受益於關鍵設備類別可用性的提高，而近年來我們一直無法滿足這些設備的需求。

For the Europe segment, our initial assumption is for revenue to be flat to up 5%. Our European business, being predominantly ag based, has most of the same thematics as we laid out today for our ag segment. One difference being that each country has its own nuances and are at different points in terms of maturation of our business operations. For instance, while our operations in Romania and Bulgaria are more mature, Ukraine is being impacted by ongoing conflict with Russia, and in Germany, we are in the earlier innings of establishing our presence across our footprint.

對於歐洲部分，我們最初的假設是營收持平至成長 5%。我們的歐洲業務主要以農業為基礎，與我們今天為農業部門制定的主題大部分相同。一個區別是，每個國家都有自己的細微差別，並且在我們的業務運營成熟度方面處於不同的階段。例如，雖然我們在羅馬尼亞和保加利亞的業務更加成熟，但烏克蘭正受到與俄羅斯持續衝突的影響，而在德國，我們正處於在我們的足跡中建立業務的早期階段。

As for the Australia segment, which made its debut in Q4 with the acquisition of O'Connor's, we currently expect FY25 revenue to be in the range of USD250 million to USD270 million, which is right in line with the $258 million that they achieved in their most recently completed fiscal year prior to acquisition. This business has a strong foundation in place with a focused operations team and is positioned well to deliver a solid first year performance as part of Titan Machinery.

至於澳洲業務，該業務在第四季度透過收購 O'Connor's 首次亮相，我們目前預計 2025 財年收入將在 2.5 億美元至 2.7 億美元之間，這與他們在 2017 年實現的 2.58 億美元相符。收購前最近完成的財政年度。該業務擁有堅實的基礎和專注的營運團隊，並且作為泰坦機械的一部分，定位良好，能夠在第一年實現穩健的業績。

Now on for some overall commentary across our segments, from a gross margin perspective, we expect equipment margins to normalize across all four of our segments as there is now ample supply of inventory available for sale on dealer lots. An additional impact on the agriculture side, as the US net farm income is expected to decrease approximately 25%, which has started to impact demand for equipment purchases. As such, we expect incremental compression on equipment margins in this transitionary period.

現在，從毛利率的角度來看，我們各個細分市場的一些總體評論，我們預計所有四個細分市場的設備利潤率將正常化，因為現在經銷商批次上有充足的庫存可供銷售。對農業方面的額外影響是，美國農場淨收入預計將減少約 25%，這已開始影響設備採購需求。因此，我們預計在此過渡時期設備利潤將逐步壓縮。

As for operating expenses, we continue to take action to retain and recruit talent in a consistently tight labor market, especially with service technicians. We also expect a ramp up in IT expenses as we look to complete the rollout of our new ERP across our remaining US locations.

至於營運費用，我們繼續採取行動，在持續緊張的勞動力市場中保留和招募人才，特別是服務技術人員。我們也預期 IT 支出會增加，因為我們希望在美國其餘地點完成新 ERP 的部署。

From a year-over-year comparison perspective, it's also worth noting that our Australia segment has a similar level of operating expenses as a percentage of sales as the rest of the business, implying an annualized run rate of about $30 million for that segment. Taken together, these impacts are expected to result in operating expenses as a percentage of sales about 40 basis points higher than was realized in fiscal 2024 across the company as a whole.

從同比比較的角度來看，還值得注意的是，我們的澳洲部門的營業費用佔銷售額的百分比與其他業務相似，這意味著該部門的年化運作率約為 3000 萬美元。總而言之，這些影響預計將導致整個公司的營運費用佔銷售額的百分比比 2024 財年實現的水平高出約 40 個基點。

Moving to interest expense, I would expect similar levels of quarterly floor plan interest expense in the first half of fiscal 2025 as we incurred in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2024 and then see it reduce from there as OEM interest-free terms normalize and interest rates are expected to reduce modestly in the back half of the year. What I mean by normalization of interest-free terms is that in recent years, due to low equipment availability, OEMs provided shorter-than-typical interest-free periods. But that has started to shift back to more normal terms and is expected to be a benefit to interest expense. Bringing it altogether, on a diluted earnings per share basis, we are introducing a fiscal 2025 range of $3 to $3.50 per share, which implies a pre-tax margin of 3.2% to 3.5%.

說到利息支出，我預計2025 財年上半年的季度平面圖利息支出水準與2024 財年第四季的利息支出水準相似，然後隨著OEM 免息條款正常化和利率上升，利息支出將從那裡開始減少預計下半年將小幅下降。我所說的免息期限正常化是指，近年來，由於設備可用性較低，整車廠提供的免息期限比典型的要短。但這已經開始轉向更正常的情況，預計將有利於利息支出。總而言之，在稀釋每股盈餘的基礎上，我們推出的 2025 財年每股盈餘範圍為 3 至 3.50 美元，這意味著稅前利潤率為 3.2% 至 3.5%。

Overall, we believe the variables just discussed are reasonably factored into the ranges we are providing today, though both risks and opportunities still exist. The midpoint of our guidance at $3.25 earnings per share, which reflects a mid-cycle ag environment, along with some added transitional pressures, would be the third highest EPS in company history and continues to build on a solid foundation for more sustainable and profitable growth through the cycle.

總體而言，我們認為剛剛討論的變數已合理地納入我們今天提供的範圍內，儘管風險和機會仍然存在。我們指引的中點為每股收益3.25 美元，反映了中期的農業環境，以及一些額外的轉型壓力，這將是公司歷史上第三高的每股收益，並將繼續為更可持續和盈利的成長奠定堅實的基礎通過循環。

To provide more color on this important topic, we have added a slide in the back of our earnings presentation, which provides a comparison of recent years versus the prior ag cycle. It also summarizes some of the key reasons for the improved profitability as has already been discussed today. Overall, we are focused on executing the plan and driving higher levels of profitability through the cycle.

為了給這個重要的主題更多的色彩，我們在收益演示的後面添加了一張幻燈片，其中提供了近年來與先前農業週期的比較。它還總結了今天已經討論過的盈利能力提高的一些關鍵原因。總體而言，我們的重點是執行該計劃並在整個週期內提高獲利水準。

This concludes our prepared remarks. Operator, we are now ready for the question-and-answer session of our call.

我們準備好的演講到此結束。接線員，我們現在已準備好進行電話問答環節。

(Operator Instructions) Ted Jackson, Northland Securities.

（操作員指令）Ted Jackson，北國證券。

Thanks very much. Congratulations on the quarter, and congratulations on all the work you've done in the last several years to position yourself to work your way through changing the cycle, if you would.

非常感謝。恭喜這個季度，也恭喜你在過去幾年中為改變週期所做的所有工作（如果你願意的話）。

I just wanted to touch base quickly on some of the commentary around margin. I know you highlighted that you are going to see more pressure on margin on the equipment side as farm income goes down and there is lesser demand. First of all, with regards to that, is this across the board with regards to both new and used? I assume that a bigger driver of this would be used more than new.

我只是想快速了解一些關於保證金的評論。我知道您強調，隨著農場收入下降和需求減少，設備方面的利潤率將面臨更大壓力。首先，對於新的和二手的來說，這是否都是一刀切的？我認為更大的驅動程式將比新的使用得更多。

My second point within margin is, what does it mean with regards to rental? And then in my third, kind of looking at your parts and services in the last quarter, it was a little below margin relative to kind of recent periods when we see margin pressure with regards to parts and services also. Thanks.

我關於保證金的第二點是，它對於租金意味著什麼？然後，在我的第三個季度中，我們查看了上個季度的零件和服務，與最近一段時期相比，利潤率略低於近期，當時我們也看到了零件和服務方面的利潤率壓力。謝謝。

Yeah, good morning, Ted. Thanks for the question.

是的，早安，泰德。謝謝你的提問。

From an overall margin perspective, in terms of new and used, we don't really split that out. And it's really a function of how you evaluate the used, which impacts the new. Overall, your commentary makes sense. The pressure comes from selling through the used side. So we don't really split it out, but I mean, that's how we're thinking about it. And overall, that's why we talk about a total equipment margin.

從整體利潤率的角度來看，就新的和二手的而言，我們並沒有真正將其分開。這實際上取決於你如何評估二手產品，這會影響新產品。總的來說，你的評論有道理。壓力來自於二手方的銷售。所以我們並沒有真正將其分開，但我的意思是，這就是我們的想法。總的來說，這就是我們談論總設備利潤的原因。

From a parts and service perspective, I would expect similar margins this next year as we had in fiscal '24, maybe slightly down. But we're not talking about the same factors that are impacting our equipment margins. And then from a rental perspective, also feeling good about where that's at and would expect similar margins to last year.

從零件和服務的角度來看，我預計明年的利潤率與 24 財年的利潤率相似，可能會略有下降。但我們談論的並不是影響我們設備利潤的相同因素。然後從租金的角度來看，我們也對目前的情況感到滿意，並預期利潤率與去年相似。

I think you were maybe also referencing there margin changes in Q4 specifically for parts and service and maybe mainly service. Some of that can really be a function of the seasonality which we really see in the business and where our team is focusing their time between delivering new equipment versus service revenue, and I wouldn't read anything into that. The margins we have seen are pretty similar to what we would expect, perhaps slightly down, again, as we have seen some pressure and we are wanting to make sure that we're one of the ones in front leading the labor market in recruiting and retaining our service techs.

我認為您可能還提到了第四季度的利潤變化，專門針對零件和服務，也許主要是服務。其中一些確實可能是我們在業務中真正看到的季節性的函數，以及我們的團隊將時間集中在提供新設備與服務收入之間，我不會對此進行任何解讀。我們看到的利潤率與我們的預期非常相似，可能再次略有下降，因為我們看到了一些壓力，我們希望確保我們是在招聘和培訓方面領先勞動力市場的公司之一。

Okay, that's really it for me. Thanks very much.

好吧，對我來說真的就是這樣。非常感謝。

Ted, this is Bryan. I would just add on the rental, as Bo commented. Recall that if you go back to FY18, we had a much higher rental fleet, and we've gotten that really lean and reduced it down by over 35% down to just under the $80 million that we have today and really driven, over the last few years, much higher utilization rates both in terms of dollar and physical utilization. And so we expect that to continue again with our very lean and agile rental fleet that we have today.

泰德，這是布萊恩。正如 Bo 所說，我只想加上租金。回想一下，如果你回到 2018 財年，我們的租賃車隊要高得多，而且我們已經做到了真正精益，並將其減少了 35% 以上，降至我們今天實際駕駛的 8000 萬美元以下。幾年，美元利用率和實體利用率都提高了許多。因此，我們希望我們今天擁有的非常精簡和靈活的租賃車隊能夠再次繼續這種情況。

Okay. Thank you very much.

好的。非常感謝。

Larry De Maria, William Blair.

拉里·德·瑪麗亞，威廉·布萊爾。

Thanks. Good morning. I have a few questions. First, I guess, can you talk about -- I know you talked about lead times to some degree. Can you talk about are there any pockets where they're still extended or is everything normal at this point? And are you guys significantly slowing down or canceling orders at this point?

謝謝。早安.我有幾個問題。首先，我想，你能談談——我知道你在某種程度上談到了交貨時間。您能談談是否有任何口袋仍在延伸，或者目前一切正常嗎？你們現在是否大幅放慢或取消訂單？

Hey, Larry. This is Bryan. Good morning. Thank you for the question. Yeah, generally, everything across the board is now normalized, Larry. As you know, domestic Midwest plants versus overseas production plants always have varying lead times, but the supply chain, as we mentioned, has really quickly caught up here. And so going from -- even towards the last -- at the end of last year still being extended out to now generally everything normalized.

嘿，拉里。這是布萊恩。早安.感謝你的提問。是的，總的來說，所有事情現在都已經正常化了，拉里。如您所知，國內中西部工廠與海外生產工廠的交貨時間總是不同，但正如我們所提到的，供應鏈確實很快就趕上了。因此，從去年年底開始，甚至到了去年，仍然在延長到現在，一切都基本上正常化。

Okay. Even though it's large four-wheel drive, it staggers and all that stuff is relatively easy to get.

好的。儘管它是大型四輪驅動，但它搖搖晃晃，而且所有這些東西都相對容易獲得。

Yeah, there is -- not easy for the OEM still. Still, some production challenges for them, but yeah, now, no longer allocation, I believe, from any of the OEMs on any product categories.

是的，對於 OEM 來說仍然不容易。儘管如此，他們仍然面臨一些生產挑戰，但是，是的，現在，我相信，任何原始設備製造商都不再對任何產品類別進行分配。

Yeah. And just to make sure we address the one point, I mean, there is not a cancellation of our shareholder rate. What we have done right is adjust the dials, and that started last year. So we're just -- we've kind of referred to this as a transitionary period when the supply chain catches up and you see kind of a condensing of when that equipment arrives. So it's kind of a matter of timing, and it will play itself through, but feel good about our ability to do so. And that's one of the main focuses this year.

是的。為了確保我們解決這一點，我的意思是，我們的股東稅率不會被取消。我們做的正確的事情就是調整刻度盤，從去年開始就開始了。所以我們只是——我們將其稱為供應鏈迎頭趕上的過渡時期，您將看到設備到達時間的濃縮。所以這只是一個時間問題，它會自行發揮作用，但對我們這樣做的能力感到滿意。這是今年的主要焦點之一。

Yeah. And Larry, I'd just add, as you know, we were short on inventory for -- in many categories, for two-plus years, we've talked a lot about that over the past two years. And so it took us a long time to get here.

是的。拉里，我想補充一點，正如你所知，兩年多來，我們在許多類別中都缺乏庫存，過去兩年我們對此進行了很多討論。所以我們花了很長時間才到這裡。

And so as things have rapidly normalized, it's going to take a while to manage through these. And so that's why you hear us talking about the transition year and just -- it's become a lot of equipment coming in a short period of time, orders that we have placed all throughout 2023 and even back into 2022 coming in a short period here.

因此，隨著事情迅速正常化，需要一段時間才能解決這些問題。這就是為什麼你會聽到我們談論過渡年，並且在短時間內出現了很多設備，我們在 2023 年甚至 2022 年都下過訂單，在短時間內就會出現在這裡。

But just to your point about the dialing back, and as Bo said, as we saw some of the markets starting to soften late last summer, we started to pull levers and dial things back and put actions into place. So we feel really good about the proactive measures we've taken and the visibility we have into the order board for the first half of the year and the strong pre-sales coming in. And so again, there is just -- will be a lot of inventory that's recently come in and will be coming out in throughout this year that we've got built into our modeling that we are just going to get after and sell through.

但正如博所說，當我們看到去年夏末一些市場開始疲軟時，我們開始拉動槓桿，調整政策並採取行動。因此，我們對我們採取的積極措施、上半年訂單板的可見性以及強勁的預售感到非常滿意。再說一遍，最近將有大量庫存進入，並將在今年全年出現，我們已將其內置到我們的模型中，我們將對其進行追蹤和銷售。

Got you. Thanks for the color. And then -- and maybe asking from the customer's perspective, are -- how did orders kind of come in through the quarter if they -- I guess to understand, have they fallen off a cliff? Are they slowly continuing to get weak? And have they sort of felt like they have bottomed stabilized? And are we seeing any cancellations from customers?

明白你了。謝謝你的顏色。然後，也許從客戶的角度來問，這個季度的訂單是如何進來的，如果它們——我想可以理解，它們是否已經從懸崖上掉下來了？他們是否正在慢慢地繼續衰弱？他們是否覺得自己已經觸底穩定了？我們是否看到客戶取消訂單？

Yeah. So the cancellations are very low. Generally, as we talked in the past, that tied back to a death or a divorce or unexpected health issues, and so those just continue, but it has not fallen off a cliff by any means. Commodity prices have been pretty steady here for the last few weeks. And so farmers again had three really good years here, and balance sheets are really strong, recording a lot of record land sale prices throughout our footprint. And they're carrying over a lot of good income into this year, and that will help stabilize as well, and then just -- a lot of the new products from our OEMs and the technology that's really helping with the productivity and supporting demand as well.

是的。所以取消的情況非常低。一般來說，正如我們過去所說，這與死亡、離婚或意外的健康問題有關，所以這些都會繼續，但無論如何都沒有掉下懸崖。過去幾週這裡的大宗商品價格一直相當穩定。因此，農民在這裡再次度過了非常美好的三年，資產負債表非常強勁，在我們的足跡中記錄了許多創紀錄的土地銷售價格。他們今年將帶來大量良好的收入，這也將有助於穩定，然後，我們的原始設備製造商提供的許多新產品以及真正有助於提高生產力和支援需求的技術出色地。

Okay, fantastic. If I could just ask one final question, sorry for asking for more. But in the chart where you show the margins, a future trough in revenue and you have breakeven margins at sales about half of where we're looking now, is it meant to be indicative of where you think the market is going or is that more illustrative of what you've -- of the work you've done cycle to cycle?

好吧，太棒了。如果我只能問最後一個問題，很抱歉再提出更多問題。但在圖表中，您顯示了利潤率、未來收入的低谷，並且您的銷售盈虧平衡利潤率約為我們現在所看到的一半，這是否意味著您認為市場的走向或更多說明您所做的事情－你循環往復地完成的工作？

Yeah. No, I appreciate the opportunity to clarify that, and it was a bit challenging to perfectly capture something that you couldn't digest relatively quickly. That future state in that trough there is not trying to provide any indication on the level of revenue. It's simply trying to provide the pre-tax margin percentage range. And we also have the budget in there as a reference. So we are coming off of our recent peaks, and we saw an ability to produce pre-tax north of 6%. This year budgeting, a mid-cycle assumption with some added transitionary pressure at the midpoint about 3.4%. The guidance range here, from zero to 3% is supposed to be indicative of kind of that pre-tax range.

是的。不，我很高興有機會澄清這一點，而要完美地捕捉到一些你無法相對快速消化的東西是有點挑戰性的。未來的低谷狀態並沒有試圖提供任何有關收入水平的跡象。它只是試圖提供稅前利潤百分比範圍。我們還有預算作為參考。因此，我們正在走出最近的峰值，我們看到稅前生產能力超過 6%。今年的預算採用了中期假設，並在中點約 3.4% 增加了一些過渡壓力。這裡的指導範圍從零到 3% 應該是稅前範圍的指示。

And in terms of where it falls in that range, all comes down to kind of the timing and the factors at the time, like what is the trough, what does that look like, where equipment inventory levels, at where interest rates at that point in time. But overall, what we're trying to illustrate is both from peak-to-peak perspective and then trough-to-trough perspective and all the way through the cycle, delivering significantly higher profitability. And that's what we're excited and focused on executing here over the next few years.

就其在該範圍內的位置而言，一切都取決於當時的時機和因素，例如波谷是什麼，波谷是什麼樣子，設備庫存水平在哪裡，當時的利率在哪裡及時。但總的來說，我們試圖說明的是從峰到峰的角度，然後是谷到谷的角度，以及整個週期的整個週期，帶來顯著更高的獲利能力。這就是我們在未來幾年裡感到興奮並專注於執行的事情。

Okay, perfect. Thank you very much, and good luck.

好的，完美。非常感謝，祝你好運。

Mig Dobre, R.W. Baird.

米格·多布雷，R.W.貝爾德。

Hey. Good morning guys. It's Joe Grabowski on for Mig this morning. So I guess I wanted to start with the quarter, the guidance you gave in late November would have implied your ag revenue would have been up about 20% in the fourth quarter. It came in up over 40%. I guess I am just checking, did the equipment availability really improve that much more than you were expecting in late November? What played out in the quarter? And did you maybe pull any revenue forward that you might have gotten in the current fiscal year?

嘿。早上好傢伙。今天早上由喬·格拉博夫斯基替補米格。所以我想我想從這個季度開始，你在 11 月底給出的指導意味著你的農業收入在第四季將成長約 20%。漲幅超過 40%。我想我只是在檢查，設備可用性的改善是否真的比您在 11 月底預期的要好得多？本季發生了什麼事？您是否可能將本財年可能獲得的收入提前？

Yeah. I think just quickly from me, and I will have Bo expand further, Joe. But to your question, yes, the equipment has been really tricky to forecast timing of deliveries in the past two years. And so with supply chain improving and so on, it did come in better than anticipated, so that certainly was a part of it. And then also, again, as I have mentioned in our prepared comments, just credit to our team who really worked hard to reduce our backlog that has been at record levels in the past two years and putting in the hours and getting that equipment out to our customers.

是的。我想我很快就會讓 Bo 進一步擴展，喬。但對於你的問題，是的，設備在過去兩年中預測交付時間確實很棘手。因此，隨著供應鏈的改善等，它確實比預期的要好，所以這肯定是其中的一部分。然後，正如我在準備好的評論中提到的那樣，這要歸功於我們的團隊，他們確實努力減少了過去兩年中創紀錄水平的積壓工作，並投入了時間並將設備交付給我們的顧客。

Yeah, I don't think I have anything to add there. I think you covered it well.

是的，我認為我沒有什麼好補充的。我認為你覆蓋得很好。

Okay, great. Thank you. And my next question is, you walked through why your ag revenue guidance for the current fiscal year is so much better than the OEMs' industry forecasts. And it seems like a big component of that is the market share gains that you're expecting. Maybe talk about your confidence in those market share gains, and I guess if it's predicated on better equipment availability, I mean, isn't equipment availability improving for everybody? So just your thoughts on that.

好的，太好了。謝謝。我的下一個問題是，您詳細說明了為什麼本財年的農業收入指導比原始設備製造商的行業預測好得多。其中一個重要組成部分似乎是您所期望的市場份額的成長。也許談談您對這些市場份額成長的信心，我想如果這是基於更好的設備可用性，我的意思是，設備可用性不是對每個人都有改善嗎？所以只是你對此的想法。

Yeah. So stripping everything back and setting the acquisition to the side, equipment revenues on the ag segment is about flat to slightly down versus, I think, you're referencing the industry volume expectation of like 10% to 15%. And yeah, we are better positioned with our equipment and specifically for customers we serve.

是的。因此，剝離所有內容並將收購放在一邊，農業領域的設備收入大約持平或略有下降，我認為，您所指的是行業銷售預期的 10% 至 15%。是的，我們的設備處於更好的位置，特別是針對我們服務的客戶。

So it's really looking at those relationships and the equipment that they are looking for and, in some cases, our inability to get it in previous years and now our ability to execute and serve those specific customers. So it's not just a broad statement, and we feel pretty good with line of sight, and as we mentioned, with our pre-sale activity through the first half of the year, what we're looking to achieve here.

因此，我們真正關注的是這些關係和他們正在尋找的設備，在某些情況下，我們在前幾年無法獲得這些設備，而現在我們有能力執行和服務這些特定客戶。因此，這不僅僅是一個廣泛的聲明，我們對視線感覺非常好，正如我們所提到的，透過今年上半年的預售活動，我們希望在這裡實現的目標。

All right. And my last question, any early learnings from the O'Connors acquisition and your -- maybe your broader thoughts about the Australia market?

好的。我的最後一個問題是，從奧康納斯收購中獲得的任何早期經驗以及您對澳洲市場的更廣泛的想法？

Yeah. I think just as we continue to get to know the team better and collaborate with them on our best practice, sharing and leveraging each other's knowledge and skill sets, it's just all been extremely positive. We're really pleased with the acquisition. We are really pleased with the leadership team and the employees over there and very similar business philosophies our two companies have, and so that's really helped with the integration and transition.

是的。我認為，隨著我們繼續更了解團隊並與他們合作實施最佳實踐，分享和利用彼此的知識和技能，這一切都是非常積極的。我們對這次收購非常滿意。我們對那裡的領導團隊和員工以及我們兩家公司非常相似的商業理念感到非常滿意，因此這確實有助於整合和過渡。

We really like the market over there. We're very excited to grow over there and continue to invest over in Australia. And yeah, we just couldn't be happier, Joe, and really pleased with that acquisition, excited about it going forward.

我們真的很喜歡那裡的市場。我們很高興能夠在那裡發展並繼續在澳洲投資。是的，喬，我們真是高興極了，對這次收購非常滿意，對它的未來感到興奮。

All right. Great. Thank you.

好的。偉大的。謝謝。

Ben Klieve, Lake Street Capital Markets.

Ben Klieve，湖街資本市場。

All right. Thanks for taking my questions. A couple from me. First of all, regarding the '25 outlook, I'm wondering if you can kind of help us a bit with top-line seasonality. Last year was a very lumpy one. I'm wondering if you can kind of point to any historic year, give us kind of a bit of a benchmark for kind of how we should look at seasonality here in fiscal '25 because I suspect it's going to be off quite a bit from fiscal '24.

好的。感謝您回答我的問題。我的一對。首先，關於 25 年的前景，我想知道您是否可以在營收季節性方面為我們提供一些幫助。去年是非常坎坷的一年。我想知道您是否可以指出任何歷史性的一年，為我們提供一些基準，讓我們了解如何看待 25 財年的季節性，因為我懷疑它會與 25 財年的季節性有很大偏差。 '24。

Yeah. So certainly, when you look at it, and things like the strength of the fourth quarter, definitely come into play there with your comments. Big picture wise, surprisingly, and as we look at things average over the last six years, last three years, last couple of years, a whole bunch of different ways. But as we see it, traditionally, our revenues are about 45% in the first half of the year, 55% in the second half of the year. And Australia, even when you overlay Australia with our financials, we expect something very similar with 45%-ish in the first half of the year, 55%-ish in the second half of the year.

是的。所以當然，當你看到它時，像第四季度的實力這樣的事情，肯定會與你的評論一起發揮作用。從大局來看，令人驚訝的是，當我們從過去六年、過去三年、過去幾年的平均情況來看，有很多不同的方式。但正如我們所看到的，傳統上我們的收入大約是上半年的45%，下半年的55%。而澳大利亞，即使你用我們的財務數據覆蓋澳大利亞，我們預計上半年的情況也非常相似，約為 45%，下半年約為 55%。

The nuance here, I think, is you are definitely right; there was some strength in the fourth quarter in our US ag segment, which kind of made Q4 stand out. So I think that that normalizes a bit, and Q3 and Q4 look more similar in FY25 than they did in FY24. But overall, back half of the year about 55%.

我認為這裡的細微差別是你絕對是對的；我們的美國農業部門在第四季度表現強勁，這使得第四季度脫穎而出。所以我認為這有點正常化，25 財年的第三季和第四季看起來比 24 財年更相似。但整體來說，下半年回升55%左右。

And then from a first half of the year perspective, that first 45%, Q1 is traditionally and expected to be lower than Q2, and a lot of that is seasonality and timing of activity and purchasing. So overall, big picture wise, it won't change drastically from what we've seen. But there is some nuance and certainly more of a level setting between Q3 and Q4 is probably the best expectation at this point.

然後從今年上半年的角度來看，第一季的前 45% 傳統上預計會低於第二季度，其中很大一部分是季節性以及活動和採購的時間表。因此，總體而言，從大局來看，它不會與我們所看到的發生太大變化。但存在一些細微差別，當然，第三季和第四季之間的水平設定可能是目前最好的預期。

Got it. That's very helpful. Thanks, Bo. And then one more from me, and I'll get back in queue. I am wondering if you can talk about the M&A opportunities today, and maybe in the context of kind of how the M&A environment was at mid-cycle in the -- assuming midpoint of the previous cycle as well, is the outlook kind of more favorable, less favorable than it was at this point in the prior cycle? Or any big takeaways you can point to there?

知道了。這非常有幫助。謝謝，博。然後我再發一封，我會重新排隊。我想知道您是否可以談論今天的併購機會，也許在併購環境處於週期中期的背景下——假設上一個週期的中點，前景是否更加有利，比上一個週期此時的情況更不利？或者您可以指出其中的任何重大要點嗎？

Yeah. Thanks, Ben. Yeah, certainly, I believe there is -- there will start to be a greater amount of opportunities here as we go forward. And also, we could see a little bit of a change in the multiples and so on as we go more towards mid-cycle here and as margins come down a little bit for the other dealers as well.

是的。謝謝，本。是的，當然，我相信隨著我們的前進，這裡將開始出現更多的機會。而且，隨著我們更接近週期中期，並且其他經銷商的利潤率也有所下降，我們可以看到市盈率等發生一些變化。

But the real drivers still remain in place, all the back office challenges in the -- a lot of the single store, the smaller, and the traditional operations struggling with the technology and all the HR and government regulations and just a lot of that back office function that really ties in nicely with our models. And so those drivers just continue to be ever present. And as we, again, go towards more mid-cycle here, those get highlighted even further. So we do believe there will be an increased amount of opportunities as we go forward here.

但真正的驅動因素仍然存在，所有後台挑戰仍然存在——許多單一商店、規模較小的商店和傳統營運部門正在與技術、所有人力資源和政府法規作鬥爭，等等。的辦公功能。因此，這些驅動程式將繼續存在。當我們再次進入周期中期時，這些問題就會進一步突出。因此，我們確實相信，隨著我們的前進，將會有更多的機會。

But I would reiterate, for the immediate year here, as we laid out in our prepared comments, we're really focused on our customer care strategy and continuing to focus on driving our parts and service business and increasing our parts and service revenues, increasing our support capabilities for our customers. And we are going to continue to invest in that and be really focused on our customer care strategy and just really keen on expenses and, again, inventory management.

但我要重申，在接下來的一年裡，正如我們在準備好的評論中所闡述的那樣，我們真正專注於我們的客戶服務策略，並繼續專注於推動我們的零件和服務業務，增加我們的零件和服務收入，增加我們為客戶提供的支援能力。我們將繼續對此進行投資，並真正專注於我們的客戶服務策略，並且真正熱衷於支出以及庫存管理。

So those are the three priorities we certainly will be opportunistic with acquisitions. And as we manage through that inventory, that will free up room on the balance sheet that will generate quite a bit of cash as we exit the year and go throughout next year as well. So we will certainly be ready and going to be very selective with acquisitions as we go forward.

因此，這就是我們肯定會伺機收購的三個優先事項。當我們管理這些庫存時，這將釋放資產負債表上的空間，當我們退出今年並持續到明年時，這將產生大量現金。因此，我們肯定會做好準備，並且在前進的過程中會非常有選擇性地進行收購。

Very good. I appreciate that color. Thanks for taking my questions. I'll get back in queue.

非常好。我很欣賞那種顏色。感謝您回答我的問題。我會回到隊列中。

Alex Rygiel, B. Riley.

亞歷克斯·里吉爾，B.萊利。

Thank you. Good morning. A couple of quick questions here. First, can you talk a little bit about your expectations for inventory increasing throughout the year?

謝謝。早安.這裡有幾個簡單的問題。首先，您能談談您對全年庫存成長的預期嗎？

Yeah. I mean from -- the color we are trying to provide today is generally that we still have inventory coming in, and obviously, we have expectations for good sales pull-through. In terms of quarter to quarter, that remains to be seen a little bit. Again, as we have said, lead times have normalized some, but there is still some inconsistency in terms of when things would arrive.

是的。我的意思是——我們今天試圖提供的顏色通常是我們仍然有庫存進來，顯然，我們對良好的銷售拉動抱有期望。從季度來看，這還有待觀察。正如我們所說，交貨時間已經正常化，但貨物到達時間仍然存在一些不一致。

But as it stands, I would expect that we do see some uptick in inventory here in the first half of the year, assuming that all of those things stay on schedule. And then we would play it out and see some inventory reduction from there in the back half of the year. All of that subject to, again, the timing of how everything plays out, and we will continue to provide an update for you on a quarterly basis.

但就目前情況而言，假設所有這些事情都按計劃進行，我預計今年上半年我們的庫存確實會增加。然後我們會看到下半年庫存減少。所有這些都取決於一切進展的時間安排，我們將繼續每季為您提供更新。

Thank you. And then what's your appetite these days to increase investment into your rental fleet?

謝謝。那麼，您最近有什麼興趣增加租賃車隊的投資呢？

Yeah. So Alex, we monitor that closely on a real time basis, and it just ultimately is a function of our utilization. And so our team does a great job building relations and relationships and being out there in the market. And we really look to continue to push and promote our rental fleet. It continues to improve every year, and so we are just very mindful, though, of the utilization rates.

是的。所以亞歷克斯，我們實時密切監控，它最終只是我們利用率的函數。因此，我們的團隊在建立關係和關係以及進入市場方面做得非常出色。我們確實希望繼續推動和推廣我們的租賃車隊。它每年都在持續改善，因此我們非常關注利用率。

And as long as we can keep those up and keep improving those, we will continue to add fleet. And as we see them start to taper off or pull back a little bit, we will turn the valves -- decrease the valves back down. And again, just really a function of the utilizations.

只要我們能夠保持這些並不斷改進，我們就會繼續增加機隊。當我們看到它們開始逐漸減小或向後拉一點時，我們將轉動閥門 - 將閥門減小回來。再說一次，這實際上只是利用率的函數。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Ted Jackson, Northland Securities.

特德傑克遜，北國證券。

Thanks. You kind of touched on it a little bit with your inventory comments, but I did want to circle back with regards to kind of working capital levels as we roll through fiscal 2025, and that's obviously tied to inventory levels. A little bit surprised that you would see inventories trending up, like in the first half, given the jump you had in the fourth quarter.

謝謝。您在庫存評論中稍微提到了這一點，但我確實想回顧一下 2025 財年的營運資本水平，這顯然與庫存水平相關。考慮到第四季度的跳躍式增長，您會看到庫存呈上升趨勢，就像上半年一樣，這讓您感到有點驚訝。

But kind of taking that and now tying it together, is it fair to assume that we'll see a drop in working capital and an improvement in free cash flow during fiscal 2025? And will we -- what kind of -- what can we expect in terms of free cash flow number for the year, and how would that be weighted out in terms of sort of first half to second half? Thanks.

但現在將其聯繫在一起，可以公平地假設我們將在 2025 財年看到營運資本下降和自由現金流改善嗎？我們對今年的自由現金流數字有何預期，以及如何在上半年和下半年之間進行權衡？謝謝。

Yeah. So I mean, overall, at the heart of your question is would we see better operating cash flow generation. And ultimately, that all comes down to what the inventory balance is going to look like. So this year, we saw a significant increase year over year in inventory. We certainly wouldn't expect to see the same thing occur in FY25. So that's going to be a real positive to the dynamics on the cash flow side.

是的。所以我的意思是，總的來說，你問題的核心是我們是否會看到更好的營運現金流產生。最終，這一切都取決於庫存平衡的情況。所以今年，我們看到庫存年比大幅增加。我們當然不會期望在 2025 財年看到同樣的事情發生。因此，這將對現金流方面的動態產生真正的正面影響。

Just a bit more on that, I guess as we as we look at this. So again, we have mentioned a little bit earlier, about 45% of revenue in the first half of the year, 55% in the back half of the year, well, kind of the inverse is true in terms of expectations for deliveries, again, because of the supply chain cash up. So when you have more -- a larger portion of inventory coming in in the period where you have a lower portion of your sales, that's just mathematically -- again, as said, that would lead to a continued increase here in the near term.

我想當我們看到這個問題時，再多講一點。所以，我們之前已經提到過，上半年收入的 45% 左右，下半年收入的 55%，嗯，就交付預期而言，情況正好相反。因此，當你有更多的庫存時，在你的銷售量較低的時期，這只是數學上的，正如前面所說，這將導致短期內的持續增長。

But overall, as we step back and take a look at this and we talk about the team that we have in place and the controls we have in place and everything that we focus on, the dynamics that have kind of come together here in terms of the cycle turning and then the catch up with the supply chain, ultimately just lead to a situation where it takes a little time to play through. So big picture wise, we talk about maintaining healthy inventory turns and staying out of interest-bearing inventory.

但總體而言，當我們退後一步來審視這一點時，我們會談論我們現有的團隊、我們現有的控制措施以及我們關注的一切，以及在這裡匯集的動力週期的轉變，然後是供應鏈的追趕，最終只會導致需要一點時間才能完成的情況。從大局來看，我們談論的是保持健康的庫存週轉率並遠離生息庫存。

And I think this year, we will see that inventory turns are lower than our targeted levels. And it probably takes working through FY26 to get the turns back up, just the dynamics with how those ratios were even calculated. So we see the transitionary period in kind of a two-year journey to get back on that term level, but very much seeing it play out something we can manage, deliver the higher profitability that we are talking about today, be well positioned for FY26 and beyond. And ultimately, all of that is going to lead to better cash flow generation that we had seen recently. But in terms of specifically now in the quarters, I mean, we'll have to continue to see how that plays out here in '25.

我認為今年，我們將看到庫存週轉率低於我們的目標水準。可能需要整個 2026 財年的努力才能使周轉率回升，只是這些比率的計算方式的動態變化。因此，我們認為過渡期需要兩年的時間才能恢復到這一水平，但我們很高興看到它發揮了我們可以管理的作用，實現了我們今天討論的更高的盈利能力，為26 財年做好了準備超越。最終，所有這些都將帶來我們最近看到的更好的現金流產生。但就目前而言，我的意思是，我們必須繼續看看 25 年的情況如何。

Do you think you can generate positive free cash flow for the entire year?

您認為全年可以產生正的自由現金流嗎？

Yeah. Again, it ultimately all comes down to inventory levels, but we feel good about being able to manage those and achieve them.

是的。同樣，這最終都取決於庫存水平，但我們對能夠管理這些水平並實現這些目標感到很高興。

Okay. Thanks, Bo.

好的。謝謝，博。

Thank you. And we have reached the end of the question-and-answer session. I'll now turn the call back over to management for closing remarks.

謝謝。我們的問答環節已經結束了。現在，我將把電話轉回給管理階層，讓其結束語。

Okay. Thank you for your interest in Titan Machinery, and we look forward to updating you with our progress on our next call. Thank you and have a great day, everyone.

好的。感謝您對泰坦機械的興趣，我們期待在下次電話會議上向您通報我們的最新進展。謝謝大家，祝大家有美好的一天。

And this concludes today's conference, and you may disconnect your lines at this time. Thank you for your participation.

今天的會議到此結束，大家可以掛斷電話了。感謝您的參與。