Vertiv Holdings Co (VRT) 2023 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Good morning. My name is Brika, and I will be your conference operator for today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the Vertiv's Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2023 Earnings Conference Call. (Operator Instructions) Please note that this call is being recorded. I would now like to turn the program over to your host for today's conference call, Lynne Maxeiner, Vice President of Investor Relations.

早安.我叫Brika，今天我將擔任大家的電話會議主持人。現在，我歡迎大家參加Vertiv 2023年第四季及全年業績電話會議。 （接線員指示）請注意，本次電話會議正在錄音中。現在，我將把節目交給今天電話會議的主持人，投資者關係副總裁Lynne Maxeiner。

Great. Thank you, Brika, and good morning, and welcome to Vertiv's Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2023 Earnings Conference Call. Joining me today are Vertiv's Executive Chairman, Dave Cote; Chief Executive Officer, Giordano Albertazzi; and Chief Financial Officer, David Fallon.

太好了！謝謝你，Brika。早安!歡迎參加Vertiv 2023年第四季及全年業績電話會議。今天和我一起參加會議的還有Vertiv執行董事長Dave Cote、執行長Giordano Albertazzi和財務長David Fallon。

Before we begin, I'd like to point out that during the course of this call, we will make forward-looking statements regarding future events including the future financial and operating performance of Vertiv. These forward-looking statements are subject to material risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. We refer you to the cautionary language included in today's earnings release.

在開始之前，我想指出，在本次電話會議中，我們將對未來事件（包括Vertiv未來的財務和營運績效）做出前瞻性陳述。這些前瞻性陳述受重大風險和不確定性的影響，可能導致實際結果與前瞻性陳述中的結果有重大差異。請參考今日財報中的警示性措詞。

You can learn more about these risks in our annual and quarterly reports and other filings made with the SEC. Any forward-looking statements that we make today are based on assumptions that we believe to be reasonable as of this date. We undertake no obligation to update these statements as a result of new information or future events.

您可以在我們提交給美國證券交易委員會 (SEC) 的年度報告、季度報告和其他文件中了解更多關於這些風險的資訊。我們今天所做的任何前瞻性陳述都是基於我們認為截至目前為止合理的假設。我們不承擔因新資訊或未來事件而更新這些陳述的義務。

During this call, we will also present both GAAP and non-GAAP financial measures. Our GAAP results and our GAAP to non-GAAP reconciliations can be found in our earnings press release and in the investors slide deck found on our website at investors.vertiv.com. With that, I'll turn the call over to Executive Chairman, Dave Cote.

在本次電話會議上，我們也將介紹 GAAP 和非 GAAP 財務指標。我們的 GAAP 業績以及 GAAP 與非 GAAP 的對帳表可在我們的獲利新聞稿和我們網站 investors.vertiv.com 上的投資者幻燈片中找到。接下來，我將把電話會議交給執行董事長 Dave Cote。

Well, 2023 was a great year for Vertiv and our shareowners. We created tremendous value. Our stock price increased 252% in 2023, putting us well ahead of the #1 performer in all of the S&P 500, and it's up very well again so far this year. We announced the capital allocation strategy at our November investor conference is very flexible and we believe is structured well to provide additional benefits to shareowners and is a great reflection of the cash-generating capability of the company, a very nice and exceptionally promising change from where we were.

2023年對Vertiv和我們的股東來說都是豐收的一年。我們創造了巨大的價值。我們的股價在2023年上漲了252%，遠遠超過了標普500指數中表現最好的公司，今年迄今為止，股價再次大幅上漲。我們在11月的投資者會議上宣布了非常靈活的資本配置策略，我們相信該策略結構合理，能夠為股東帶來額外收益，並且很好地反映了公司的現金創造能力。與之前相比，這是一個非常好且極具前景的變化。

We finished the year strong, quite strong, in fact, and we fully expect this to set us up well to continue to provide good returns for our shareowners in 2024 and beyond. So Gio and team were off to a very good start, but we still have work to do. You'll hear Gio talk about his focus areas for 2024 and what we plan to accomplish this year to deliver another good year for our investors.

我們以強勁的業績結束了這一年，事實上，相當強勁，我們完全相信這將為我們在2024年及以後繼續為股東帶來豐厚回報奠定良好基礎。 Gio和他的團隊開局非常好，但我們仍有工作要做。您將聽到Gio談論他2024年的重點領域，以及我們計劃在今年實現哪些目標，以便為投資者帶來另一個豐收的一年。

It's getting the important thing customer relationships, technology, BOS, organization resiliency, working capital and capital deployment. We've demonstrated our potential in 2023, but we still have a long way to run, and that's all upside. So with that, I'll turn the call over to Gio.

關鍵在於建立重要的客戶關係、技術、BOS、組織彈性、營運資金和資本部署。我們已經在2023年展現了我們的潛力，但我們還有很長的路要走，而這一切都是正面的。好了，接下來，我將把電話交給Gio。

Well, thanks, Dave. Thanks a lot. As Dave mentioned, our stock was up 252% last year. And as they said, if we were in the S&P 500, we would have been the top performing stock. We believe we meet the criteria, and we believe Vertiv is a good candidate for S&P 500 inclusion.

好的，謝謝，戴夫。非常感謝。正如戴夫所提到的，我們的股票去年上漲了252%。正如他們所說，如果我們被納入標準普爾500指數，我們將會是表現最好的股票。我們相信我們符合標準，我們相信Vertiv是被納入標準普爾500指數的良好候選者。

Let's go to Slide 3. We finished the year strong. Operational execution continues to improve. Q4 sales were up 12% organically. Growth continues to be led by the Americas. Orders grew 23% year-on-year and 18% sequentially, good across all regions. Additionally, book-to-bill was very strong at 1.3x, a demonstration of market strength that gives us confidence in what we believe will be a strong demand environment for '24 and beyond.

我們來看第三張投影片。我們以強勁的業績結束了這一年。營運執行力持續提升。第四季銷售額有機成長12%。美洲地區持續引領成長。訂單年增23%，季增18%，所有地區均表現良好。此外，訂單出貨比非常強勁，達到1.3倍，這反映了市場的強勁成長，讓我們對2024年及以後的強勁需求環境充滿信心。

Adjusted operating profit of $330 million and adjusted operating margin of 17.7%, clearly a step function improvement and a demonstration of our sharpened operational execution. Our adjusted free cash flow was $305 million for a full year at $778 million, resulting in more than $1 billion improvement year-on-year. Our net leverage at the end of the year was 1.9x. So within our target range of 1x to 2x, and we were upgraded by both Moody's and S&P in December.

調整後營業利潤為3.3億美元，調整後營業利潤率為17.7%，這顯然是階梯式的提升，也反映了我們更強勁的營運執行力。全年調整後自由現金流為3.05億美元，達到7.78億美元，年增超過10億美元。年末淨槓桿率為1.9倍，位於我們1倍至2倍的目標區間內。穆迪和標準普爾在12月均上調了我們的評級。

In December, we announced the acquisition of CoolTera that further strengthens our technology leadership in high-density and liquid cooling. More to come on that in a few slides.

去年12月，我們宣布收購CoolTera，這進一步鞏固了我們在高密度和液冷領域的技術領先地位。更多詳情，請見後幾張投影片。

I'm pleased with the strong foundation. As we enter 2024, coupled with strong market demand, we feel good about our trajectory for the year and beyond.

我對堅實的基礎感到滿意。邁入2024年，加上強勁的市場需求，我們對今年及未來發展軌跡充滿信心。

And let's move to Slide 4. We take a look at the market environment here, and it's pretty consistent with what we have been seeing for a while. Cloud hyperscale continues to lead the growth with tangible signs of AI deployment and very strong build plans. We continue to see encouraging signs in enterprise with customers starting to develop AI plans for the business, be it either on-prem or cloud. Either way, it's good for Vertiv. Telecom, not a lot of news here. CapEx is tight and mainly focused on retrofit.

讓我們來看第四張投影片。讓我們來看看目前的市場環境，它與我們一段時間以來的觀察結果基本一致。雲端超大規模持續引領成長，AI部署的跡像明顯，建設計畫也非常強勁。我們繼續看到企業領域令人鼓舞的跡象，客戶開始為業務制定AI計劃，無論是本地部署還是雲端部署。無論如何，這對Vertiv來說都是好消息。電信領域，這方面沒有太多新聞。資本支出緊張，主要集中在改造。

From a regional standpoint, APAC remains soft, but continues to be a story of China and the rest of Asia. The China market continues to be weak, but we saw some small positive signs in terms of orders. We don't think the market is getting weaker, but recovery is slow paced, if at all. In the rest of Asia, including India, we see significant investments happening across the market. Cloud colocation are certainly leading the pack, but enterprise customers are also investing.

從區域角度來看，亞太地區依然疲軟，但中國和亞洲其他地區的表現仍是主要因素。中國市場持續疲軟，但我們在訂單方面看到了一些小幅的正面跡象。我們認為市場不會走弱，但復甦步伐緩慢，甚至可能停滯。在包括印度在內的亞洲其他地區，我們看到整個市場正在進行大規模投資。雲端託管無疑處於領先地位，但企業客戶也積極投資。

We moved commercial and industrial to green in APAC, really driven by India. The investment in infrastructure are accelerating. The India market is quite exciting, and we are well positioned. Overall, our pipeline formation is good and particularly strong in the colo hyperscale segment. Let's go to the next slide, Slide 5. I am pleased with the order strength we saw in Q4, 23% year-on-year and 18% sequentially. We entered '24 influenced by a strong 2H '23 booking, driven by large projects, reflecting also demand from AI.

在印度的推動下，我們在亞太地區將商業和工業業務轉向綠色環保。印度的基礎設施投資正在加速成長。印度市場令人振奮，我們佔據了有利位置。整體而言，我們的產品線佈局良好，尤其在託管超大規模資料中心領域表現強勁。我們來看下一張投影片，第5張。我對第四季的訂單強度感到滿意，年增23%，季增18%。 2024年伊始，我們受到了2023年下半年訂單強勁的影響，這主要得益於大型專案的推動，同時也反映了人工智慧的需求。

We continue to post record backlog which was up about $0.5 billion from the end of Q3, good visibility for '24 and beyond. We expect Q1 '24 orders to continue to be strong up in the high teens on a year-on-year basis in the first quarter across the portfolio. We anticipate they will be down sequentially from Q4. This is just a normal business pattern. We are working in close collaboration with our customers and suppliers to make sure we have the capacity in place to support the likely strong demand environment for the foreseeable future. We inaugurated a new thermal management plant in India.

我們的積壓訂單量繼續創下紀錄，較第三季末增加了約5億美元，為2024年及以後的業績提供了良好的預期。我們預計，2024年第一季度，整個產品組合的訂單量將持續保持強勁成長，年增幅達10%以上。我們預計訂單量將較第四季季減。這只是正常的商業模式。我們正在與客戶和供應商密切合作，以確保我們擁有足夠的產能來應對可預見的未來可能出現的強勁需求環境。我們在印度開設了一家新的熱管理工廠。

We have significant capacity expansion underway for switchgear and busbars across the thermal portfolio, including, of course, liquid cooling. As I mentioned at Investor Day, on a weekly basis, we look at evolving demand scenarios in a disciplined, rigorous and focused way to make timely investment decisions. The backlog for AI orders continues to grow robustly. The acceleration of the overall order book related to AI is never an exact science, as I explained, matches the expected growth rate for the application, i.e. a growth uplift of 3% to 4% to the overall market, as we mentioned in November.

我們正在進行熱力產品組合中開關設備和母線的大規模產能擴張，當然也包括液體冷卻。正如我在投資者日提到的，我們每週都會以嚴謹、嚴謹和專注的方式審視不斷變化的需求情景，以便及時做出投資決策。人工智慧（AI）的積壓訂單持續強勁成長。正如我所解釋的那樣，與人工智慧相關的整體訂單成長速度並非一門精確的科學，它與該應用的預期成長率相匹配，即像我們在11月份提到的那樣，整體市場的成長速度將提升3%至4%。

I continue to caution what is and what is not AI is fungible to a certain extent. What matters is that we believe that traction is consistent with the market uplift from AI or perhaps a bit ahead, given our strong position in thermal and thermal is a clear differentiator. Continuing on the right side of Slide 5, we believe that supply chains have largely returned to normal, but I'd say normal in a post-pandemic world.

我繼續提醒大家，人工智慧與非人工智慧在某種程度上是可以相互取代的。重要的是，我們相信，鑑於我們在熱成像領域的強勢地位，以及熱成像領域明顯的差異化優勢，其發展勢頭與人工智慧帶來的市場提升相一致，甚至可能略有超前。繼續看投影片5的右側，我們認為供應鏈基本上已經恢復正常，但我認為，這才是後疫情時代的正常。

We are focused on making sure that resiliency is constantly increasing across the supply chain to weather what a quite complicated world can throw at us. So a lot of focus here. Looking at material inflation, we expect materials pricing to be relatively stable year-on-year, but we are very mindful that things can change rapidly. And with that, over to you, David.

我們專注於確保整個供應鏈的韌性不斷提升，以應對這個錯綜複雜的世界可能帶來的挑戰。因此，我們在這方面投入了大量精力。就材料通膨而言，我們預期材料價格年比將相對穩定，但我們也非常清楚，情況可能會瞬息萬變。接下來，就交給你了，David。

Thanks, Gio. Turning to Page 6. This slide summarizes our fourth quarter financial results. We finished the year quite strong. Our organic net sales increased 12%, 5% from volume, 7% from price. And America continues to be the growth engine, which Americas was up 22% in the quarter. Our sales performance was within guidance range, but slightly below midpoint which was mainly attributable to a weaker China and some project delays in EMEA.

謝謝，Gio。翻到第六頁。這張投影片總結了我們第四季的財務表現。我們今年的業績表現相當強勁。我們的有機淨銷售額成長了12%，其中銷量成長了5%，價格成長了7%。美洲地區持續成為成長引擎，本季美洲地區的銷售額成長了22%。我們的銷售業績在預期範圍內，但略低於預期中位數，這主要歸因於中國市場疲軟以及歐洲、中東和非洲地區一些項目的延期。

Adjusted operating profit was $330 million, up $120 million from last year's fourth quarter and that was mainly driven by favorable price cost and the higher volume. We beat the midpoint of our implied fourth quarter adjusted operating profit guidance based upon good commercial execution and material inflation below our modeled assumptions.

調整後營業利潤為3.3億美元，較去年第四季成長1.2億美元，主要得益於有利的價格成本和更高的銷售量。基於良好的商業執行力和低於我們模型假設的實質通膨率，我們超越了隱含的第四季調整後營業利潤預期的中位數。

Our adjusted operating margin was 17.7% in the quarter, a 500-basis-point improvement compared to last year. And that certainly was driven by our continued relentless focus on operational execution, and that clearly showed in the results. As we move to the right, our fourth quarter GAAP diluted EPS includes a $115 million nonrecurring tax benefit related to the release of a valuation allowance, and we have removed that from adjusted diluted EPS. And we provide additional detail on that valuation allowance release on Page 28 in the appendix. But otherwise, the year-over-year increase in adjusted diluted EPS was driven by higher adjusted operating profit.

本季我們的調整後營業利潤率為17.7%，較去年同期提高了500個基點。這無疑得益於我們持續不懈地專注於營運執行，而這在業績中得到了清晰的體現。向右移動，我們第四季的GAAP稀釋每股收益包含與釋放估值準備金相關的1.15億美元非經常性稅收優惠，我們已將其從調整後的稀釋每股收益中剔除。我們將在第28頁的附錄中提供有關該估值準備金釋放的更多詳細資訊。除此之外，調整後稀釋每股盈餘的年增率是由更高的調整後營業利潤所推動的。

To the far right, another very strong quarter for adjusted free cash flow as we generated $305 million in the quarter, more than doubling last year. Certainly, higher profitability contributed to this result, but working capital is also an important part of the story with plenty of opportunity for continued improvement. As Gio mentioned net leverage declined to 1.9x within our target long-term leverage range of 1 to 2x and down from 5.6x at the end of 2022. This leverage level supports the capital deployment framework provided at our investor conference and gives us significant flexibility and optionality to deploy excess cash.

最右邊是調整後自由現金流再次強勁成長的季度，我們本季創造了3.05億美元，比去年成長了一倍多。當然，更高的獲利能力促成了這一業績，但營運資本也是業績成長的重要組成部分，我們擁有充足的持續改善空間。正如Gio所提到的，淨槓桿率已降至1.9倍，低於我們1至2倍的目標長期槓桿率區間，低於2022年底的5.6倍。這個槓桿率水準支持了我們在投資者會議上提出的資本配置框架，並賦予我們極大的靈活性和自主性來配置多餘現金。

Turning to Page 7. This slide summarizes our fourth quarter segment results. The Americas region, as I mentioned, continues to fuel the growth engine with organic net sales up 22% in the quarter. The improvement in adjusted operating margin in the Americas continues, up 640 basis points from last year to 26.9%, with the increase primarily driven by favorable price cost and fixed cost leverage.

翻到第7頁。這張投影片總結了我們第四季各分部業績。正如我之前提到的，美洲地區繼續推動成長引擎，本季有機淨銷售額成長22%。美洲地區調整後營業利潤率持續改善，較去年同期上升640個基點至26.9%，主要得益於有利的價格成本和固定成本槓桿。

APAC sales increased 3% organically, but continues to be weighed down by China, where sales were relatively flat year-over-year, but below expectations included in our quarterly guidance. APAC adjusted operating margin declined 220 points with unfavorable mix and the timing of fixed cost contributory factors.

亞太區銷售額有機成長3%，但持續受到中國市場的拖累。中國市場的銷售額年比基本持平，但低於我們季度指引中的預期。受不利的產品組合和固定成本影響，亞太區調整後營業利潤率下降220個百分點。

EMEA grew 1% organically in the fourth quarter, which was lower than anticipated primarily due to delays on several larger projects. However, we did see an 18% sequential sales increase from the third quarter, which is encouraging and EMEA experienced strong year-over-year fourth quarter orders growth, both which provides confidence for us to project low double-digit organic growth in EMEA for full year 2024. EMEA delivered strong adjusted operating margin of 28.3% in the fourth quarter, an increase of 750 basis points from last year's fourth quarter, although they did benefit from a $6 million nonrecurring gain from an asset sale in the quarter. And as Anand Sanghi, our Americas President, has emphatically reminded us, without that gain, the adjusted operating margin for the Americas and EMEA would have been approximately the same as those 2 regions continue to push each other for highest regional adjusted operating margin.

歐洲、中東和非洲地區第四季有機成長1%，低於預期，主要原因是幾個較大項目的延期。然而，我們的銷售額環比增長了18%，令人鼓舞，而且歐洲、中東和非洲地區第四季度訂單量同比增長強勁，這兩項數據都讓我們有信心預測歐洲、中東和非洲地區2024年全年將實現低兩位數有機增長。歐洲、中東和非洲地區第四季調整後營業利潤率強勁，達到28.3%，較去年第四季增長750個基點，儘管該季度該地區確實受益於一項600萬美元的資產出售非經常性收益。正如我們美洲區總裁Anand Sanghi強調的那樣，如果沒有這項收益，美洲和歐洲、中東和非洲地區的調整後營業利潤率將大致相同，因為這兩個地區仍在相互競爭，爭奪最高的區域調整後營業利潤率。

Next, turning to Page 8, a summary of full year 2023. I can safely say it was a very strong year. It's always a good thing when the orange bars on this slide are significantly higher than the gray bars and that is the case for all financial metrics for this past year. 2023 produced a step function change in financial performance from 2022 that is not often seen in a 12-month period. This significant improvement is a result of a relentless focus on operational execution, which very clearly reads directly through -- to our financial results.

接下來，翻到第8頁，這是2023年全年業績總結。我可以肯定地說，這是非常強勁的一年。當這張投影片上的橘色長條圖明顯高於灰色長條圖時，這總是一件好事，過去一年的所有財務指標都是如此。 2023年的財務表現較2022年實現了階躍式成長，這在12個月內並不常見。這一顯著的進步源於我們對營運執行的不懈關注，這非常清楚地直接體現在我們的財務表現上。

Our full year organic sales up 21%, reflects a great position in a strong end market. Adjusted operating margin of 15.3%, an improvement of 760 basis points from last year, certainly provides a strong foundation to surpass our midterm adjusted operating margin target of 16%, which we expect to do in 2024, with about 110 basis points to spare at the midpoint.

我們全年有機銷售額成長21%，反映出我們在強勁的終端市場中佔有重要地位。調整後營業利潤率為15.3%，較去年提升760個基點，這無疑為超越我們預計在2024年實現16%的中期調整後營業利潤率目標奠定了堅實的基礎，中期目標尚有約110個基點的餘地。

We did well in converting the improved profitability to cash with an over $1 billion improvement year-over-year. And let me repeat that, an over $1 billion improvement in adjusted free cash flow year-over-year, with this improvement driven by the higher profitability and improved working capital management while continuing to invest in CapEx to support growth.

我們在將獲利能力提升轉化為現金方面做得很好，年增超過10億美元。讓我再說一遍，調整後的自由現金流同比增長超過10億美元，這得益於盈利能力的提升和營運資本管理的改善，同時我們繼續投資資本支出以支持增長。

Adjusted free cash flow of $778 million drove an adjusted free cash flow conversion of 114%, with this improved conversion benefiting from a significant increase in deferred revenue primarily from advanced customer payments, which increased $280 million or 80% in the year, while sales were up 21%, which we estimate contributed about 30 percentage points to that conversion. While we expect continued growth in deferred revenue, there are many market dynamics at play, and we should not expect similar growth in 2024, which is one of the primary reasons we are guiding to adjusted free cash flow conversion in the low to mid-90s for full year 2024.

7.78億美元的調整後自由現金流推動調整後自由現金流轉換率達到114%，轉換率的提升得益於遞延收入的大幅增長，這主要源於預付客戶款項，該款項在年內增加了2.8億美元，增幅達80%，而銷售額則增長了21%，我們估計增長對轉換率的貢獻約為30個百分點。雖然我們預期遞延收入將持續成長，但市場動態因素眾多，我們不應預期2024年會出現類似的成長，這也是我們預測2024年全年調整後自由現金流轉換率將在95%左右的主要原因之一。

We have much work to do, and there's plenty of opportunity for continued improvement, but 2023 certainly demonstrates our potential and helps build credibility and confidence that we can execute upon our long-term strategy and deliver the financial targets we introduced at our Investor Conference.

我們還有很多工作要做，也有很多機會繼續改進，但 2023 年無疑展示了我們的潛力，並有助於建立信譽和信心，讓我們能夠執行我們的長期策略並實現我們在投資者會議上提出的財務目標。

Pivoting to 2024 and moving to Slide 9. This is a look at our first quarter guidance. We are expecting first quarter sales to be up approximately 5% organically with Americas up high single digits, APAC's up mid-single digits and EMEA relatively flat. Adjusted operating profit between $200 million and $220 million and adjusted operating margin of 13.1%, up 160 basis points from last year's first quarter. And that is driven by price/cost tailwinds and productivity programs, partially offset by continued growth investments. As you likely have noted in our slide deck, we have not provided the detailed split between price and cost/inflation for 2024. As we emphasized at our Investor Conference, our ambition is to cover all inflation, including labor inflation with price and being price cost positive is an important lever for us to attain our long-term adjusted operating margin target of 20% plus.

展望2024年，請移至第9張投影片。這是我們第一季的業績指引。我們預計第一季銷售額將有機成長約5%，其中美洲地區將成長高個位數，亞太地區將成長中個位數，而歐洲、中東和非洲地區則相對持平。調整後營業利潤在2億至2.2億美元之間，調整後營業利益率為13.1%，較去年第一季成長160個基點。這主要得益於價格/成本的順風和生產力計劃，但持續的成長投資部分抵消了這些影響。正如您可能在我們的幻燈片中註意到的那樣，我們沒有提供2024年價格和成本/通膨之間的詳細劃分。正如我們在投資者會議上所強調的那樣，我們的目標是用價格覆蓋所有通膨因素，包括勞動力通膨，而維持價格成本正增長是我們實現20%以上長期調整後營業利潤率目標的重要槓桿。

As you will see on the next slide, we fully expect to be price/cost positive in 2024, and we expect that to be the case each year going forward. We will continue to price our products commensurate with the increasing value we provide our customers. However, for commercial and competitive reasons, we are not disclosing the specific quantified pricing figure going forward, but rest assured, that commercial excellence actions are a core tenet to our continued profit improvement program, and we believe we are well positioned in a favorable market to continue to execute upon our long-term plans.

正如您在下一張投影片中看到的，我們完全預期2024年的價格/成本比率將為正值，並且我們預計未來每年都將如此。我們將繼續根據我們為客戶提供的不斷增長的價值來調整產品價格。然而，出於商業和競爭的原因，我們不會揭露未來具體的量化定價數字。但請您放心，商業卓越行動是我們持續利潤提升計劃的核心原則，我們相信，我們已做好準備，在有利的市場中繼續執行我們的長期計劃。

Next, turning to Slide 10, our full year guidance, higher across all metrics from the view presented at our November Investor Conference. Organic net sales growth is expected to be 9% to 11%, up from the 8% to 10% we shared in November. We are increasing the midpoint for adjusted operating profit from $1.25 billion to $1.3 billion with adjusted operating margin at 17.1%, well above the previously established midterm target of 16%. And as a reminder, our long-term margin target is 20% plus, and we believe we will take all the necessary next steps in '24 on our path towards that target.

接下來，請翻到第10張投影片，這是我們全年業績指引，所有指標都高於我們在11月投資人會議上提出的觀點。有機淨銷售額成長率預估為9%至11%，高於我們11月公佈的8%至10%。我們將調整後營業利潤的中位數從12.5億美元上調至13億美元，調整後營業利益率將達到17.1%，遠高於先前設定的16%的中期目標。另外，我們的長期利潤率目標是20%以上，我們相信我們將在2024年採取一切必要措施，朝著這個目標邁進。

Our projected 2024 adjusted diluted EPS of $2.23 at the midpoint is approximately 25% higher than 2023, primarily driven by higher adjusted operating profit and partially offset by taxes and a higher share count as the higher share price drives more accounting dilution for employee stock options. We have included some estimates for share repurchases and share price in our estimated '24 diluted share count, but we are not prepared at this point to share specifics for either but we believe the 393 million shares estimate for full year diluted share count is a reasonable and balanced guidance, but certainly subject to change based upon several variables.

我們預期2024年調整後稀釋每股盈餘（中位數為2.23美元）較2023年高出約25%，主要得益於調整後營業利潤的提高，部分抵銷了稅費和股票數量的增加，因為更高的股價會導致員工股票選擇權的會計稀釋度增加。我們在2024年稀釋股數預測中包含了一些股票回購和股價的估算，但目前我們尚未準備好公佈具體細節，但我們認為全年稀釋股數3.93億股的預測是一個合理且均衡的指引，但肯定會根據若干變量進行調整。

Moving to the right on this slide. We are projecting adjusted free cash flow between $800 million and $850 million, representing 94% adjusted free cash flow conversion at the midpoint. As mentioned, this is lower than 2023 conversion primarily due to assumptions with deferred revenue and higher investment in CapEx. And finally, as we introduced at our Investor Conference, there will be a couple of external reporting changes in 2024 to align with how we run the business.

移到這張投影片的右側。我們預計調整後的自由現金流在 8 億美元至 8.5 億美元之間，中間值代表 94% 的調整後自由現金流轉換率。如上所述，此轉換率低於 2023 年，主要是由於遞延收入的假設以及資本支出的增加。最後，正如我們在投資者會議上介紹的那樣，2024 年將進行一些外部報告變更，以與我們的業務運作方式保持一致。

We summarized these changes on Slide 31 in the appendix, and we have provided a historical recasting for these changes going back to 2020 in Exhibit 99.2 of our earnings release. And with that said, I turn it back over to Gio.

我們在附錄第31張投影片中總結了這些變化，並在收益報告的附件99.2中提供了自2020年以來這些變化的歷史重述。至此，我把時間交還給Gio。

Well, thank you. Thanks a lot, David. And we go to Slide 11. Thank you. You saw this slide at our Investor Conference. We are the market leader in thermal management for data centers. We have the most complete portfolio of thermal management solutions, including liquid cooling to lead the industry as a transition to GPU accelerate. We can do this customizing at scale, and we believe in a very strong position.

好的，謝謝。非常感謝，David。我們來看第11張投影片。謝謝。您在我們的投資者會議上看到了這張投影片。我們是資料中心熱管理領域的市場領導者。我們擁有最完整的熱管理解決方案組合，包括引領產業向GPU加速過渡的液冷技術。我們可以進行大規模定制，我們相信自己擁有非常強大的市場地位。

This slide here shows also our high-density liquid cooling portfolio. In November, the technology was both owned and partnership-based, now it's fully owned.

這張投影片也展示了我們的高密度液冷產品組合。去年11月，這項技術既有自有的，也有基於合作夥伴的，現在則完全由我們擁有。

We can go to Slide 12. The 8th of December, we closed the acquisition of CoolTera, which has industry-leading liquid cooling technology. We have now secured that technology with full ownership. We have been close partners of CoolTera for years. Now take CoolTera's premier technology, certified and approved by key chip manufacturers, along with established customer relationships, combine that with Vertiv's reach and you can scale the technology at a pace that will support our customers' aggressive AI deployment plans. We have already started to manufacture CoolTera's CDUs in one of the Vertiv plants, and we expect to have capacity quadrupled by the end of Q1.

我們可以翻到第12張投影片。 12月8日，我們完成了對CoolTera的收購，該公司擁有業界領先的液冷技術。現在，我們已完全擁有該技術。多年來，我們一直是CoolTera的密切合作夥伴。現在，憑藉CoolTera的領先技術（已獲得主要晶片製造商的認證和認可），以及成熟的客戶關係，再加上Vertiv的覆蓋範圍，您可以快速擴展該技術，以支援我們客戶積極的AI部署計劃。我們已經在Vertiv的一家工廠開始生產CoolTera的液冷單元（CDU），預計到第一季末，產能將翻兩番。

We are executing on a plan to scale the production of our liquid cooling solutions more than 40 times by the end of this year. We truly want to make sure we have capacity to cover the most aggressive GPU growth scenarios. That is what Vertiv means by scaling technology, activating our global manufacturing and supply chain footprint.

我們正在執行一項計劃，力爭在今年年底前將液冷解決方案的生產規模擴大40倍以上。我們真心希望確保我們擁有足夠的產能來應對最強勁的GPU成長場景。這正是Vertiv所說的「技術擴展，啟動我們的全球製造和供應鏈佈局」的意思。

Let's go now to Slide 13. This is where we obsessively focus to deliver another very good year. It starts with the customers. We plan to continue leveraging our far-reaching and deep customer relationships and have the technology, the portfolio, the innovation and the capacity to meet their demand. We spoke about the capacity expansion underways. We have allocated additional investments to CapEx to support our customers. Global scale matters and will continue to differentiate us. Vertical Operating System is foundational across the organization, helping us to realize productivity improvements in general and given us a speed. We have started to make progress on trade working capital, but there is more work to do. We are not optimized. It continues to have my full attention, and we are improving.

現在我們來看第13張投影片。在這一部分，我們全心全意地致力於再創佳績。一切從客戶開始。我們計劃繼續利用我們深遠而深入的客戶關係，並擁有滿足他們需求的技術、產品組合、創新和產能。我們談到了正在進行的產能擴張。我們已為資本支出分配了額外資金，以支持我們的客戶。全球規模至關重要，並將繼續使我們脫穎而出。垂直營運系統是整個組織的基礎，它幫助我們實現整體生產力提升，並提高了我們的速度。我們在貿易營運資本方面已開始取得進展，但仍有更多工作要做。我們尚未達到最佳狀態。我將繼續全力投入這項工作，我們正在改進。

Our capital deployment framework provides much flexibility driven by good cash flow generation. So a lot to do in 2024. And the short work is fully underway to continue to execute well on all these focus areas.

我們的資本配置框架在良好的現金流量產生驅動下提供了極大的靈活性。因此，2024年有很多事情要做。短期工作正在全力推進，以繼續在所有這些重點領域取得良好進展。

Now to Slide 14. We started 2024 in a strong positions. Orders in Q1, backlog at the end of the year were very strong. Orders in Q4, backlog at the end of the year were very strong. End markets continue to signal strong and increasing demand for the foreseeable future certainly driven by AI. We expect to have the capacity to support our customers, that is our commitment to them. Investments in capacity and R&D to support the growth of the business will continue.

現在翻到第14張投影片。我們以強勁的勢頭開啟了2024年。第一季的訂單量和年底的積壓訂單量都非常強勁。第四季的訂單量和年底的積壓訂單量都非常強勁。在可預見的未來，終端市場的需求將持續強勁成長，無疑得益於人工智慧的推動。我們期望有能力支持我們的客戶，這是我們對他們的承諾。我們將繼續在產能和研發方面進行投資，以支持業務成長。

Our foundation is stronger today than ever before. Our focus area will continue to strengthen that foundation and increase the resiliency of the organization to navigate, again, an increasingly complicated world. VOS, Vertiv Operating System is a cornerstone for that, a robust, resilient operating system deployed globally.

如今，我們的基礎比以往任何時候都更加牢固。我們的重點領域將繼續鞏固這一基礎，並提升組織的韌性，以應對日益複雜的世界。 VOS，即 Vertiv 作業系統，是實現這一目標的基石，它是一個在全球範圍內部署的強大且富有韌性的作業系統。

I am pleased with the progress, but I see even more opportunity than I did when I stepped into the CEO role, much more. There is work to do, and we look forward to updating you on our progress, and we look forward to your questions now. So over to the operator. And thank you very much.

我對目前的進展感到滿意，但我看到的機會比我剛上任執行長時看到的要多得多。還有很多工作要做，我們期待向大家報告進展，也期待大家的提問。接下來請接線生發言。非常感謝。

(Operator Instructions) We have the first question from Andrew Obin of Bank of America.

（操作員指示）第一個問題來自美國銀行的 Andrew Obin。

Just a question on -- we've got a lot of questions this morning on the pace of savings that you guys are forecasting for next year is just on a net basis, it's just material slowdown versus 2023. And also the big question we got, what kind of pricing. And I know you're not going to talk about it for competitive reasons, but you have disclosed pricing for 2023. So if we sort of plug in any sort of reasonable pricing for '24 right? On a net basis, the $60 million looks fairly conservative, particularly given what you achieved even in the fourth quarter, if you could address that.

就一個問題——今天早上我們收到了很多關於你們預測明年節支速度的問題，這些只是基於淨值，與2023年相比，只是實質性的放緩。還有一個大問題是，定價會是什麼樣的。我知道出於競爭原因，你們不會談論這個問題，但你們已經揭露了2023年的定價。那麼，我們能否為2024年設定一個合理的定價呢？從淨值來看，6000萬美元看起來相當保守，尤其是考慮到你們在第四季取得的成績，能否請你們解釋一下這個問題？

Thank you, Andrew. I'll start. And David, if you want to chip in. I mean, we've been pretty vocal about the strength of our pricing muscle over the -- built over the last 12-plus months. It's something that continues just simply, it's just (inaudible) have been vocal about the fact that while we continue to believe that we operate in a price favorable environment, but the marginal price gains will diminish for obvious reasons and a different inflationary environment we're in.

謝謝安德魯。我先開始。大衛，如果你想插嘴的話。我的意思是，我們一直在強調我們在過去12個多月裡建立的定價能力的強大程度。這種能力會持續下去，只是（聽不清楚）我們一直在強調這樣一個事實：雖然我們仍然相信我們處於一個價格有利的環境中，但由於顯而易見的原因以及我們所處的不同通膨環境，邊際價格收益將會減少。

But we operate -- the biggest part of our business operates in a favor from a demand supply balance environment. So we continue to count on price. The pace of that price will, again, price gains diminish, but we're confident it will continue to be positive. And I don't know if you want to add something, David.

但我們的業務－我們大部分業務的營運都受惠於供需平衡的環境。所以我們仍然依賴價格。價格上漲的速度會再次放緩，但我們相信它會繼續保持正成長。大衛，我不知道您是否想補充一點。

No, just for avoidance it out, that $60 million certainly is a price cost or price inflation number. And when we look at price cost, we include labor inflation in that number, which we have disclosed previously, that's in the $100 million range, and we certainly expect both material and freight to contribute some inflation next year. So you got to take that into consideration when you're looking at that price/cost dynamic including looking at price.

不，為了避免這個問題，6000萬美元肯定是一個價格成本或價格通膨的數字。當我們考慮價格成本時，我們會將勞動力通膨也納入其中，我們之前已經披露過，這個數字在1億美元左右，我們預計明年材料和運費都會帶來一些通膨。所以，在分析價格/成本動態，包括價格時，你必須考慮到這一點。

Got you. And just a follow-up question on North America. You are guiding North America revenue up high single digits in the first quarter, but 22% growth in the fourth quarter, orders up 23% in the fourth quarter of '23. Is there any specific dynamic taking place in the first quarter? Why you think North America is only going to be up high single digits given the strength in the fourth quarter?

明白了。還有一個關於北美的後續問題。您預計北美第一季營收將成長高個位數，但第四季將成長22%，訂單量也將成長23%。第一季有什麼特別的動態嗎？鑑於第四季的強勁表現，您為什麼認為北美只會成長高個位數？

Well, we continue to believe that -- we believe and we have a strong business in North America pipeline is very, very encouraging. Just want to remind that the Q1 last year in North America, but -- in Americas, sorry, particularly was particularly strong. You remember, we were coming out of 2022, where we had a lot of, let me say, pent-up backlog. So that's also reason. But we feel very good about our America -- our business in America.

嗯，我們仍然相信這一點——我們相信，我們在北美的業務強勁，這非常非常令人鼓舞。只是想提醒一下，去年第一季在北美，尤其是在美洲，表現尤其強勁。你還記得，我們剛走出2022年，當時我們有很多積壓的訂單。這也是原因之一。但我們對我們在美國的業務非常滿意。

We now have Lance Vitanza of TD Cowen.

現在我們請到的是 TD Cowen 的 Lance Vitanza。

Congrats on the performance. It looks like book-to-bill not only improved in the fourth quarter, but accelerated. So I'm thinking about the organic sales growth guide for 2024, which certainly terrific in an absolute sense is obviously a lot lower than what you achieved in 2023. So I'm wondering to what extent does the guidance for '24 reflect potential bottlenecks, both from the standpoint of perhaps your customers' ability to source permitting and utility power on the one hand. And then also, of course, your own supply chain with respect to fans and IGBTs and breakers and so forth?

恭喜您的業績。看起來訂單出貨比在第四季不僅有所改善，而且還在加速成長。所以我在考慮2024年的有機銷售成長指南，雖然從絕對意義上來說這無疑是非常棒的，但顯然比你們2023年的水平要低得多。所以我想知道，2024年的指引在多大程度上反映了潛在的瓶頸，一方面是從客戶獲得許可和公用事業電力的能力的角度。另一方面，當然還有你們自己的風扇、IGBT、斷路器等產品的供應鏈。

Thank you, Lance. So the -- as you noticed, of course, we are very happy about our book-to-bill and our backlog. We have dynamics in the sense that certainly our second half orders '23 were strong and good. And that reflects in the way the shape of our backlog in general. We do not see a supply chain bottleneck at our end. I mean, it's never infinite, but the constraining factor, if you will, if we can call it. So is the fact that simply there's large projects and we -- large project we're talking have relatively long requested lead times from our customers.

謝謝，蘭斯。正如您所注意到的，我們對訂單出貨比和積壓訂單非常滿意。我們2023年下半年的訂單表現強勁，這反映在我們積壓訂單的整體狀況。我們沒有發現我們這邊有供應鏈瓶頸。我的意思是，它永遠不會無限，但如果你願意，如果我們可以稱之為限制的話。事實上，我們談論的大型項目，客戶要求的交付週期相對較長。

So it's a natural cycle. We were vocal in the past and we'll continue to be vocal that the whole industry needs to confront itself with power availability, permitting, et cetera. But I would say that in the 12, 18 months is really the natural pace of build-outs and sites, et cetera. So we pretty much deliver on what our customers' request right now.

所以這是一個自然循環。我們過去一直強調，並將繼續強調，整個產業需要應對電力供應、許可等等問題。但我想說，在未來12到18個月內，建設、選址等等才是自然的節奏。因此，我們現在基本上可以滿足客戶的需求。

We now have Nigel Coe of Wolfe Research.

現在我們請到 Wolfe Research 的 Nigel Coe。

I'll keep it to 1 question. So if I'm doing the math right, it looks like $2.4 billion of orders in the quarter, up from $1.9 billion in the third quarter. I'm guessing you're going to say America is hyperscale, et cetera, but maybe just give us some context on what drove that sequential acceleration. But more importantly, can you maybe talk about the front log of the funnel, the fund log where you want to call it of opportunities you see coming up in the next quarter or two?

我只問一個問題。如果我沒算錯的話，本季的訂單量看起來是24億美元，高於第三季的19億美元。我猜你會說美國是超大規模的，等等，但請你先給我們講講是什麼推動了這種連續的增長。更重要的是，你能不能談談漏斗的前端日誌，也就是你認為未來一兩個季度會出現的機會的資金日誌？

And then David, just maybe just address this very specifically. You said deferred revenues will continue to grow in '24. Does that indicate that backlog continues to expand from here.

然後，David，請您具體談談這個問題。您說遞延收入將在2024年繼續成長。這是否意味著積壓訂單量將從現在開始持續增加？

I'll start, Nigel, to answer your 3 questions in one. So clearly, we like the acceleration. We like the acceleration in orders. And the -- you remember, we were vocal about the strength of pipeline, both at the earnings call in October and in November at the Investor Day. That continues to be true. What we have positively noticed is an increased velocity in the pipeline.

奈傑爾，我先來一一回答你的三個問題。顯然，我們喜歡這種加速成長。我們喜歡訂單的成長。而且—你還記得，我們在10月份的財報電話會議和11月份的投資者日上都強調了通路的強勁成長。現在依然如此。我們積極地註意到，渠道的增速有所加快。

So we believe that's a capacity rate of the pipeline that will stay with us. So that is through the final continues to grow, and that's true pretty much globally, certainly for the Americas, EMEA and many parts of Asia. So we're positive about that. So we see opportunity out there. Do you want to comment on the other part of the other question?

因此，我們相信，管道的產能率將保持不變。也就是說，到最後，產能率還會繼續成長，這幾乎是全球範圍內的情況，尤其是在美洲、歐洲、中東和非洲地區以及亞洲許多地區。因此，我們對此持樂觀態度。我們看到了機會。您想對另一個問題的另一部分發表評論嗎？

Yes. Yes. So as it relates to deferred revenue, and I may oversimplify this, but deferred revenue can grow for 2 reasons. One, is, as you mentioned, backlog grows. The other is just improved execution and further penetrating customers with those advanced payments. And frankly, we would hope for both. But we feel pretty good that we'll see continued growth in those customer advanced payments.

是的，是的。至於遞延收入，我可能有點簡化了，但遞延收入成長有兩個原因。一是，正如你所提到的，積壓訂單的成長。二是執行力的提升，以及透過預付款進一步滲透客戶。坦白說，我們希望兩者兼得。但我們對客戶預付款的持續成長感到非常樂觀。

Your next question comes from Amit Daryanani of Evercore.

您的下一個問題來自 Evercore 的 Amit Daryanani。

Gio, I was hoping you would talk about -- I think you talked about AI activity broadly in line, if not slightly better than you had expected, and that's the way you described it. Can you maybe just talk about -- and I realize you said it's not easy for you to be precise, but how much of your orders or your backlog you think are AI-driven today?

吉奧，我希望你能談談——我認為你談到的人工智慧活動大致符合你的預期，甚至略好於你的預期，你就是這樣描述的。你能不能簡單談談——我知道你說的很難準確描述，但你認為目前有多少訂單或積壓訂單是由人工智慧驅動的？

And as you engage with these cloud customers, do you see them sort of preferring more the route of direct-to chip or full immersion? Just sort of love to get clever what your customers are looking to build their data center technology with as they go forward?

在與這些雲端客戶接觸時，您是否發現他們更喜歡直接晶片化還是完全沉浸式部署？您是否很想知道客戶未來希望用什麼技術來建立他們的資料中心？

Thank you, and a good day to you. As I said in the couple of occasions, it's very hard for us, and I think for everyone truly to be exact. It's not an exactly as I said in -- where we're going through the slides, not exact signs deciding what goes to or being sure of what goes through AI applications or not. As I said, there are some product lines that are univocally destined to high-density GPU AI like, any sort of high-density cooling or liquid cooling, some elements of in rack power distribution.

謝謝，祝您愉快。正如我之前幾次所說，對我們來說，我想對每個人來說，這都很難做到準確。這並非像我在投影片中所說的那樣，只是透過一些確切的指標來決定哪些數據會被應用到AI應用中，或者確定哪些數據不會被應用到AI應用中。正如我所說，有些產品線明確地面向高密度GPU AI，例如任何類型的高密度冷卻或液體冷卻，以及一些機架配電元件。

But so to say, we want to make sure that we don't go to the side of too much detail, too much details also from a competitive standpoint. But we are very happy about the trajectory of the backlog and the trajectory of the pipeline. But the vast majority of -- the vast majority of our portfolio is really fungible, as I said, in the sense that also a lot of what you see built today and designed today is not univocally one or the other.

但也就是說，我們要確保不要過於細節化，從競爭的角度來看也是如此。我們對積壓訂單和產品線的進度非常滿意。正如我所說，我們投資組合中的絕大多數實際上是可替代的，也就是說，今天建造和設計的許多東西並非非此即彼。

It is data centers that needs to be hybrid in their very nature because they will host both traditional, let's say, CPU and GPU with configurations that may and will actually change over time. So the mix of loads in the same data center changes.

資料中心本質上需要混合，因為它們將同時承載傳統的CPU和GPU，而這些配置可能會隨著時間的推移而改變。因此，同一資料中心內的負載組合會改變。

The challenge here for all in the industry, and that's why we operate very, very strongly with the hyperscalers and the largest colors is how do you design it in a way that you can transition that way? How can you build that intrinsic flexibility there? So that's why it's very difficult for me to answer in a credible way to your question.

業界所有人都面臨挑戰，這也是我們與超大規模企業和最大彩色電視公司密切合作的原因。挑戰在於，如何設計出能夠順利過渡的方式？如何建構內在的彈性？因此，我很難以令人信服的方式回答你的問題。

And I would invite the entire industry to be less [biunivocally] black and white on this because I don't think you can. Having said that, we're very happy about the trajectory. We are very happy about the trajectory of what is univocally destined to AI, but also the pull-through of what we now believe, see is AI-driven medium, long term in our pipeline.

我希望整個行業不要在這個問題上（非黑即白）地一刀切，因為我認為你做不到。話雖如此，我們對目前的軌跡感到非常滿意。我們對人工智慧注定的發展軌跡感到非常滿意，也對我們目前所認為的、我們所認為的、在中長期內由人工智慧驅動的策略的推進感到非常滿意。

Direct or [emotion]? That's what we hear. In spades, that's the discussions that we have predominantly with all. Does it mean that there is no room for emotion ? No, but just we just see more direct than anything else. But again, the fun part of the -- or a lot of the -- a very interesting part of our job today is that we really figure out and design with the big players across the world what the future looks like, and that is a highly cooperative activity. It was a bit long answer, sorry about that, but hopefully.

直接還是[情感]？我們聽到的就是這樣。毫無疑問，我們與所有人的討論主要都是這樣。這是否意味著沒有情感的空間？不，只是我們比其他人更直接地看待問題。不過，我們今天工作的有趣之處——或者說很多——非常有趣之處，在於我們真正地與世界各地的巨頭們一起規劃和設計未來，這是一個高度合作的活動。我的回答有點長，抱歉，但希望如此。

We now have Scott Davis with Melius Research.

現在我們請到 Melius Research 的 Scott Davis。

Congratulations on the year. This might be a little hard to answer, but do you guys have a view or a vision, either one, but what percentage of the mix liquid cooling would be in a couple of years? Is it -- I'm trying to just get a sense of size and materiality of it, I think, is the question.

恭喜你度過新的一年。這個問題可能有點難回答，但你們有什麼看法或願景嗎？幾年後，液體冷卻在混合冷卻中的比例會是多少？我想，我只是想了解它的規模和重要性，我想，這就是問題所在。

Scott, it's very much -- we do not deviate very much from what we were saying at Investor Day quite honestly. So if I go back to those thought process, we would see, let's say, go into a 15% to 20% of the overall let's say, thermal part over time, as that builds up. Okay. But again, it's really still a bit early.

史考特，說實話，我們與投資者日上所說的話並沒有太大偏差。所以，如果我回顧當時的思考過程，我們會看到，隨著時間的推移，熱能部分佔整體熱能部分的15%到20%。好的。但話說回來，現在還太早。

Okay. And again, I know you've got a lot of different SKUs, but can you give us a sense of your capacity utilization by region? And maybe the real question I'm trying to get at is how much did lack of capacity kind of slow down your growth in '23 or perhaps impact your growth in even the first couple of quarters here at '24 before your new capacity comes online?

好的。我知道你們有很多不同的SKU，但能否介紹一下各地區的產能利用率？我真正想問的問題是，在新產能上線之前，產能不足在多大程度上減緩了你們23年的成長速度，或者在多大程度上影響了你們24年前幾個季度的成長？

Capacity and capacitization is ongoing. I would say that with the open -- the big steps were opening, talked also many times, India and Monterrey. After that, it's more of a gradual expansion, adding lines, adding chefs, improving utilization, improving output, investing more in assembly lines and tools. So in general, we do not see -- in this moment, we do not see for 2024 capacity or beyond, of course, capacity as a limiting factor not in any kind of a material fashion.

產能和產能提升仍在持續進行中。我想說，隨著印度和蒙特雷工廠的開放，我們邁出了重要的一步，我們也多次談到了這一點。之後，我們更多的是逐步擴張，增加生產線、增加廚師、提高利用率、提高產量，並在組裝線和工具上增加投資。所以總的來說，目前，我們預計2024年或以後的產能不會成為任何實質的限制因素。

Clearly, as I mentioned, we make capacity decisions almost on a weekly basis because never have we experienced a market that is dynamic to this extent. And I want to make sure we have kind of a very robust process to be there and to provide our customers with the right capacity.

顯然，正如我所提到的，我們幾乎每週都會做出產能決策，因為我們從未經歷過如此劇烈的市場波動。我希望確保我們擁有一套非常穩健的流程，能夠為客戶提供合適的產能。

We now have the question from Jeff Sprague of Vertical Research.

我們現在來回答來自 Vertical Research 的 Jeff Sprague 提出的問題。

Maybe just coming back to the Slide 12, Gio. Just help us get our head around what exactly this means. Obviously, you're increasing capacity off a very, very low base. But if we go back to the Investor Day, you said you had $100 million of really direct AI revenue exposure. And there was another $250 million, which was kind of in that fungible category that was maybe AI, but you didn't know for sure.

回到第12張投影片，Gio。請幫我們理解這到底是什麼意思。顯然，你們是在非常低的基數上增加產能。但如果回到投資者日，你說你們有1億美元的真正直接的人工智慧收入敞口。另外還有2.5億美元，這部分收入屬於可替代類別，可能是人工智慧，但你當時並不確定。

I don't think you're telling us here that $100 million is going to $4.5 billion, multiplying it by 100 by 45. But what are you telling us here? It's obviously a pretty dramatic chart.

我覺得你不是在告訴我們，1億美元乘以100乘以45，就能變成45億美元。但你到底在告訴我們什麼？這顯然是一張相當引人注目的圖表。

What we are saying is that here, we will -- in the space of the 12 months, our plan is to make sure that we have the necessary demand to cover the needs -- the direct-to chip liquid cooling needs of the industry and making sure that we do not limit our ability of our customers to grow their direct-to-chip liquid cooling.

我們在這裡所說的是，我們將在 12 個月內，確保我們擁有必要的需求來滿足產業對直接晶片液體冷卻的需求，並確保我們不會限制客戶發展直接晶片液體冷卻的能力。

That means that we indeed start from a relatively low base when we were talking about $100 million at Investor Day of course. That doesn't mean it's all liquid cooling, by the way. The -- we were talking about a backlog that was spread over months and quarters. So it's not necessarily a peak point realized in -- at the beginning of the year.

當然，這意味著，當我們在投資者日討論1億美元時，我們的起點確實相對較低。順便說一句，這並不意味著一切都是液體冷卻。我們討論的是分佈在幾個月和幾季的積壓訂單。所以，它不一定是在年初就達到高峰。

The fact is we start from a low base. We believe that we'll be able to bring the capacity that the industry needs and plus, and that's done activating 3 vertical plants across all continents and with a rapidity and with a broad reach of our supply chain. So the message is, without going in exactly in the numbers for obvious reasons, but the message is we will have capacity, and we have capacity. And our -- we have the technology -- and that's why we see a lot of conversation and a lot of pipeline forming in this moment.

事實上，我們起點較低。我們相信，我們能夠提供產業所需的產能，而且，我們已經在各大洲啟動了三家垂直工廠，速度之快，供應鏈覆蓋範圍之廣，實現了這一點。因此，我們想要傳遞的訊息是，出於顯而易見的原因，我們不會透露確切的數字，但我們的訊息是，我們將擁有產能，而且我們確實擁有產能。而且，我們擁有技術——這就是為什麼我們看到目前有很多討論，並且有很多項目正在醞釀。

We have the next question from Nicole DeBlase of Deutsche Bank.

下一個問題來自德意志銀行的 Nicole DeBlase。

Just maybe on EMEA. You guys alluded to some shipment delays that took place in the fourth quarter. And I guess, can you talk a little bit about maybe quantify that, talk about the impact if you can kind of recoup all of that in the first quarter. And talk about the quarterly cadence of growth to get to low double digits for 2024.

可能只是在歐洲、中東和非洲地區。你們提到了第四季的一些出貨延遲。我想，您能否稍微量化一下，如果您能在第一季收回所有損失，會造成什麼影響？以及到2024年，實現低兩位數成長所需的季度成長節奏。

The line was very, very noisy. I believe -- we believe that we have understood your question. So Q4 was -- for EMEA was predominantly a question of customer readiness and site readiness, so not so much an internal capacity, but it was more us more the customer side receiving. When it comes to the sequence of quarters going into 2024 for EMEA, probably a little bit premature. We certainly will have a challenging comparison in Q1.

電話那頭的人非常非常吵鬧。我相信我們已經理解了你的問題。所以，對於歐洲、中東和非洲地區來說，第四季主要取決於客戶準備和場地準備情況，因此與其說是內部產能問題，不如說是客戶方面的接收情況。至於歐洲、中東和非洲地區2024年季度的順序，現在可能有點為時過早。我們肯定會在第一季進行一次具有挑戰性的比較。

So (inaudible) this acceleration that we shared with you happen necessarily in Q1. But as I said, we are -- this and we are very happy about the pipeline, and we are happy about the example and specifically refer to our order intake in Q1. So we are quite opportunistic about it. Some noise there. Brika, you still there?

所以（聽不清楚）我們之前分享的這種加速發展必然會在第一季發生。但正如我所說，我們對這個管道非常滿意，我們對這個例子感到滿意，特別是指我們第一季的訂單量。所以我們對此抱持相當樂觀的態度。有一些動靜。 Brika，你還在嗎？

We will move on to the next question of Mark Delaney of Goldman Sachs.

我們接下來將討論高盛的馬克·德萊尼的下一個問題。

Yes. Backlog grew 16% to reach a record high of $5.5 billion. Can you talk about how much of the backlog is supporting sales in 2024? And how much is for 2025? And as you think about the order of backlog strength, does that imply that in the next few years, where this revenue would be at the higher end or maybe even above the 8% to 11% long-term revenue CAGR target provided at the Investor Day?

是的。積壓訂單增加了16%，達到了創紀錄的55億美元。能談談有多少積壓訂單可以支撐2024年的銷售嗎？ 2025年的銷售額又有多少？當您考慮積壓訂單的強度排序時，這是否意味著未來幾年，這些收入將達到更高的水平，甚至可能超過投資者日提供的8%至11%的長期收入複合年增長率目標？

Our long-term, let's say, vision stays -- stays what we shared with you at Investor Day. And of course, with a good Q4 under our belt. Backlog 16%, obviously something that makes us certainly very happy and that is heading in the right direction. When it comes to the -- this year vis-a-vis future years or next year and future years, I would say that we do not see a distribution that is anyway much difference than what we saw a year ago in the same condition. So I would say pretty natural -- pretty regular split, let's say, this year and next year. Is the backlog good? Yes, is the backlog, let's say, encouraging? Absolutely, absolutely.

我們的長期願景，也就是我們在投資者日與大家分享的願景，沒有改變。當然，我們第四季的業績表現也不錯。積壓訂單量達到16%，這顯然讓我們非常高興，而且我們正朝著正確的方向發展。至於今年與未來幾年，或明年與未來幾年的比較，我想說，我們並沒有看到與一年前相同條件下的分佈有太大差異。所以，我認為今年和明年的分佈相當正常。積壓訂單量好嗎？是的，積壓訂單量令人鼓舞嗎？絕對是如此。

You saw -- you know our long-term view. You have your -- our 2024 plan. And yes.

您看到了－您了解我們的長遠眼光。您有我們的2024年計畫。是的。

We now have Sahil Manocha of Citi.

現在我們請到的是花旗銀行的 Sahil Manocha。

This is Sahil Manocha on for Andy Kaplowitz. It's now been roughly 3 months since the CoolTera transaction, and you mentioned that asset integration and vigorous production acceleration will continue through 2024. To the extent possible, could you please clarify the impact of the CoolTera acquisition has had on the '24 guide since the Analyst Day was pre-acquisition. More specifically, what is the revenue and cost impact of the CoolTera acquisition on the '24 guide?

我是 Sahil Manocha，接替 Andy Kaplowitz 的節目。 CoolTera 交易至今已過去約三個月，您之前提到資產整合和強勁的生產加速將持續到 2024 年。請問您能否盡可能地解釋一下，自從分析師日是在收購前舉行的以來，CoolTera 收購對 2024 年指南的影響。更具體地說，CoolTera 收購對 2024 年指南的營收和成本有何影響？

We closed CoolTera acquisition on the 8th of December. So yes, it's not 3 months yet. But yes, I would tell you that our plan and our Investor Day vision of the future included certainly an important acceleration in liquid cooling and AI. It was already part of our portfolio. The difference is with the acquisition and one may think that we probably kind of aware that things would may have evolved that direction on the 29th of November.

我們在12月8日完成了對CoolTera的收購。沒錯，現在還不到3個月。不過，我可以告訴你們，我們的計畫和投資者日對未來的願景無疑包括加速液體冷卻和人工智慧領域的發展。這兩項業務當時就已經是我們投資組合的一部分了。不同之處在於收購，有人可能會認為，我們可能在11月29日就已經意識到事情可能會朝著這個方向發展。

But that gives us, again, more, let's say, confidence in the ability and the speed to execute on that plan. So nothing revolutionary, nothing dramatically different is -- are we in a better position because we have secured something that was likely but not sure? Yes, absolutely.

但這再次讓我們對執行該計劃的能力和速度更有信心。所以，沒有什麼革命性的東西，也沒有什麼顯著的差異——我們是否因為獲得了一些可能但不確定的東西而處於更有利的地位？是的，絕對是如此。

And just one more. I see that your views for the Communications segment end market was unchanged, and you mentioned that CapEx remains tight. Could you please provide a bit more color on what you're seeing in the end market in terms of outlook for '24. How are you seeing the still elevated rate environment impact your telecom-related customers? Any further color there would be much appreciated.

還有一點。我看到您對通訊終端市場的看法沒有改變，並且您提到資本支出仍然緊張。能否請您進一步闡述您對2024年終端市場的展望？您認為目前仍高漲的利率環境將如何影響您的電信相關客戶？如能提供進一步的說明，我們將不勝感激。

Yes. The telecom is, let's say, it ebbs and flows depending on the technology waves. 5G, of qcourse, created acceleration a few years ago and then slowed down. And that's typically the type of cycle that business is. We do not see any imminent cycles and hence, we continue to believe that, that market will be pretty slow. We do not think that would be shrinking.

是的。電信業可以說是隨著科技浪潮而起伏不定。當然，5G在幾年前創造了一個加速，然後就放緩了。這通常是行業週期的一種。我們目前還沒有看到任何即將到來的周期，因此，我們仍然相信，這個市場將會相當緩慢。我們不認為它會萎縮。

In the future, there will be new technology, new acceleration, certainly an area where a very distributed edge could, at a certain stage, have a positive impact, and we're there with the technology, with the presence with the go-to-market, with the capacity. But again, in our guide and our vision for the future, we are very prudent with this space.

未來將會有新技術、新的加速發展，當然，高度分散式的優勢在某個階段可能會產生正面的影響，而我們擁有技術、市場佔有率、市場准入和產能。但同樣，在我們的指導方針和未來願景中，我們對這個領域非常謹慎。

You now have Steve Tusa of JPMorgan.

現在有摩根大通的史蒂夫圖薩。

The -- just a question on the orders outlook. I mean do you guys expect to grow orders in 2024? And I think you said you'd grow that deferred balance, but it would be growing just slower than the 80% that you saw this year? And then I have a follow-up.

關於訂單前景，我有個問題。你們預計2024年的訂單量會成長嗎？我記得您說過遞延餘額會增加，但增速會比今年80%的增速慢一些。然後我還有一個後續問題。

Yes, we believe that orders will grow. We started, of course, mentioning that Q1 will be sequentially up sorry, it will be year-on-year up, not sequentially -- year-on-year up in high teens, as explained during the slide show. But we believe that overall the year will be up.

是的，我們相信訂單會成長。當然，我們一開始就提到，第一季的訂單量會環比增長，抱歉，是同比增長，而不是環比增長——正如幻燈片中解釋的那樣，同比增長將達到10%左右。但我們相信，全年整體而言會成長。

And the deferred balance? And then I have a follow-up to that.

還有遞延餘額嗎？然後我對此有一個跟進。

Yes. We would generally expect that deferred balance to be very much correlated with the growth of sales or orders, one being the proxy for the other. So we would expect growth in that account commensurate with what we see the growth being in both orders and sales.

是的。我們通常認為遞延餘額與銷售額或訂單的成長密切相關，銷售額或訂單是另一個指標的替代指標。因此，我們預期該帳戶的成長與訂單和銷售額的成長一致。

Got it. And I appreciate you guys talking about pricing in a little bit more of a sensitive way. But then you were pretty clear that like supply/demand remains relatively favorable. You guys are offering greater value for the customer. Are you guys planning on getting just roughly any sequential price increases in orders this year?

明白了。我很感謝你們在定價問題上更加謹慎地討論。不過，你們之前也明確表示，供需關係仍然相對有利。你們正在為客戶提供更高的價值。你們今年的訂單價格會大致上月上漲嗎？

We are talking about an environment going forward with price cost is up. And we believe in an environment in which price remains positive, as I explained. That necessarily translates in the same equation being true for orders. Otherwise, that would be a short-lived statement.

我們討論的是未來價格成本上漲的環境。正如我解釋的那樣，我們相信價格會保持正成長。這必然意味著訂單量也會呈現同樣的情況。否則，這種說法將只是曇花一現。

But I guess is there any time this year that you would expect price declines in orders year-over-year?

但我想，今年您是否會預期訂單價格會比去年同期下降？

We do not expect that.

我們並不期望如此。

We have the next question from Nigel Coe, a follow-up, of Wolfe Research.

下一個問題來自 Wolfe Research 的 Nigel Coe。

Thanks for the second part of the cherry here. So yes, my question is actually partially addressed by Jeff but the 45x increase in capacity on the CoolTera CDUs, mean any kind of conservative read of your current capabilities would suggest you're planning for $1 billion plus kind of revenue line here in 2025. Just wondering if that complete your base. But just more broadly, on capacity, it seems to me that adding second shift would be a big meaningful increase in your capacity capabilities. So just curious what you're seeing and what you're doing along partnerships across your overall footprint.

謝謝你補充的第二部分。是的，Jeff 確實部分回答了我的問題，但 CoolTera CDU 的容量提升了 45 倍，這意味著以任何保守的視角來解讀你們目前的產能，都表明你們計劃在 2025 年實現 10 億美元以上的收入。我只是想知道這是否完成了你們的計劃。但更廣泛地說，就容量而言，我認為增加第二班次將顯著提升你們的產能。我很好奇你們目前的情況，以及你們在與合作夥伴的合作方面做了哪些努力。

Sure. Let me start. I'm not sure I fully -- I heard you very well on the first part of the other question. But when it comes to capacity, it's never adding a second shift or when I say they're adding more shifts in general, adding more capacity, utilization of the asset. So think about our capacity increase as exactly a combination of more net-net, more square feet, square meters, more utilization, investment going up. And you have seen our CapEx projections go up year-on-year.

當然。讓我先說說。我不確定我是否完全理解了你關於另一個問題的第一部分。但說到產能，我從來不會說增加第二個班次，或者說，當我說他們通常會增加更多班次時，他們通常指的是增加產能和資產利用率。所以，想想我們的產能成長，其實就是淨資產增加、平方英尺增加、平方公尺增加、利用率增加、投資增加的組合。而且你已經看到，我們的資本支出預測逐年上升。

And there is VOS, Vertiv Operating System productivity certainly plays a big role, and there is an ability to utilize more the capacity that at any given instance, we have available, and this is not different from what we shared already in October and indeed at Investor Day. So there is flexibility in that respect and flexibility we are using. But the first part, I couldn't capture very well, so real quick as we're at time. Can you ask again?

還有VOS，Vertiv作業系統的生產力無疑發揮著重要作用，並且能夠充分利用我們在任何特定情況下的可用容量，這與我們在10月份以及投資者日分享的內容並無不同。因此，在這方面我們擁有靈活性，而且我們正在運用這種靈活性。但關於第一部分，我沒能很好地表達清楚，因為我們的時間太短了。能再問一次嗎？

Yes, look, Slide 12, the 45x increase. It seems like $1 billion plus of capacity is what you'll point to here, but just wondering if there's any more detail on that.

是的，你看第12張投影片，45倍的成長。你似乎指的是10億美元以上的產能，但我還想知道是否還有更多細節。

So I think we are reading too much into that, read it like the industry has a growth rate in direct-to- chip. We want to make sure that we provide capacity over and above that growth rate so that whatever the industry needs, we will be able to cover that.

所以我認為我們對此過度解讀了，好像產業在晶片直接生產方面有一個成長率。我們希望確保我們提供的產能高於這個成長率，這樣無論產業需要什麼，我們都能滿足。

Thank you. This does conclude our question-and-answer session. I would like to turn the conference back over to Giordano Albertazzi for any closing remarks.

謝謝。我們的問答環節到此結束。我想將會議交還給 Giordano Albertazzi，請他做最後發言。

Well, thank you. Thank you very much, and thanks, everyone, for your questions. And looking forward to more interaction in the next few days. I want to thank the Vertiv team globally, hard work in 2023, and we have executed well. We -- as we mentioned a few times in the recent past and continues to do, we are shifting our culture towards high-performance culture.

好的，謝謝。非常感謝，也感謝大家的提問。期待接下來幾天有更多互動。我要感謝Vertiv全球團隊在2023年的辛勤工作，我們取得了優異的成績。正如我們最近多次提到並將繼續做的那樣，我們正在將我們的文化轉變為高績效文化。

It doesn't happen overnight, but certainly happening at Vertiv gradually, a lot more to do. We are heading in the right direction. We started to develop the right sense of urgency across the organization, and you can see that. As I like to say, I'm pleased, but absolutely never satisfied. Good year 2023. Looking forward for a stronger year yet, in 2024. A lot of potential, very excited. Thanks, everyone, for joining us, and we'll speak soon.

這不是一朝一夕就能實現的，但在Vertiv，這無疑正在逐步推進，還有很多工作要做。我們正朝著正確的方向前進。我們開始在整個組織內培養正確的緊迫感，這大家都能看到。正如我常說的，我感到高興，但絕不滿足。 2023年是美好的一年。期待2024年會更加強勁。潛力無限，我非常興奮。感謝各位的參與，我們很快會再聊。

Thank you. The conference has now concluded. Thank you all again for attending today's presentation. You may now disconnect.

謝謝大家。會議現已結束。再次感謝大家參加今天的演講。現在您可以斷開連線了。