Vertiv Holdings Co (VRT) 2024 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Good morning. My name is Jordan, and I'll be your conference operator today. At this time, I'd like to welcome everyone to Vertiv's First Quarter 2024 Earnings Conference Call. (Operator Instructions) Please note this call is being recorded.

早安.我叫喬丹，今天我將擔任你們的會議操作員。現在，我歡迎大家參加 Vertiv 2024 年第一季財報電話會議。 （操作員說明）請注意此通話正在錄音。

I'd now like to turn the program over to your host for today's conference call, Lynne Maxeiner, Vice President of Investor Relations.

現在我想將會議議程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, Jordan, and good morning and welcome to Vertiv's First Quarter 2024 Earnings Conference Call. Joining me today are Vertiv's Executive Chairman, Dave Cote; Chief Executive Officer, Gio Albertazzi; and Chief Financial Officer, David Fallon.

偉大的。謝謝 Jordan，早安，歡迎參加 Vertiv 2024 年第一季財報電話會議。今天與我一起出席的還有維諦技術 (Vertiv) 執行主席戴夫·科特 (Dave Cote)；執行長吉奧·阿爾貝塔齊；和財務長大衛法倫。

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, and 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.

在開始之前，我想指出，在本次電話會議期間，我們將對未來事件做出前瞻性陳述，包括 Vertiv 未來的財務和營運績效。這些前瞻性陳述存在重大風險和不確定性，可能導致實際結果與前瞻性陳述中的結果有重大差異。我們建議您參考今天的收益發布中包含的警示性語言，您可以在我們的年度和季度報告以及向 SEC 提交的其他文件中了解有關這些風險的更多資訊。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聲明的義務。

During this call, we will also present both GAAP and non-GAAP financial measures. Our GAAP results and GAAP to non-GAAP reconciliations can be found in our earnings press release and in the investor slide deck found on our website at investors.vertiv.com.

在本次電話會議中，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 調整表可在我們的收益新聞稿以及我們網站 Investors.vertiv.com 上的投資者幻燈片中找到。

With that, I'll turn the call over to Executive Chairman, Dave Cote.

接下來，我會將電話轉給執行主席戴夫·科特 (Dave Cote)。

Well, we're pleased to bring a very good morning to our investors. Our performance continues to strengthen. Demand is clearly accelerating, and we're well positioned to capture the growth and to deliver great returns for our investors. We demonstrated the flexibility of our capital deployment strategy, initiating an opportunistic share repurchase in the first quarter, and our current cash flow generation profile provides wonderful opportunity.

好吧，我們很高興為我們的投資者帶來一個美好的早晨。我們的業績持續增強。需求明顯在加速成長，我們已做好充分準備，抓住成長機會，為投資人帶來豐厚回報。我們展示了資本部署策略的靈活性，在第一季啟動了機會性股票回購，而我們目前的現金流量產生狀況提供了絕佳的機會。

We've made great progress, but our focus is on how much further we still have to go. Gio and the team are working process improvement everywhere. Hard work doesn't pay off with our results, so you will see the results in the orders and sales growth, profitability and cash generation. We intend to build a track record of consistency over many years.

我們已經取得了很大的進步，但我們的重點是我們還需要走多遠。 Gio 和團隊正在各地致力於流程改善。努力工作並不會帶來我們的成果，因此您將在訂單和銷售成長、獲利能力和現金產生方面看到成果。我們打算建立多年的一致性記錄。

We're well positioned to further differentiate and gain competitive advantage with the technology shifts underway in the data center industry. Our goal is not just to be better than we were last year or the year before but to be better than everyone at serving our customers and running our business at world-class levels. Essential to accomplishing that is creating a high-performance culture. We can't be great without it. That high-performance culture is starting to take hold, and we are still very early on this journey.

隨著資料中心產業正在進行的技術變革，我們已做好充分準備，進一步實現差異化並獲得競爭優勢。我們的目標不僅是比去年或前年更好，而且在服務客戶和以世界一流水平運營我們的業務方面比所有人都更好。實現這一目標的關鍵是創造高績效文化。沒有它，我們就不可能變得偉大。這種高績效文化正在開始紮根，而我們仍處於這趟旅程的早期階段。

I'm excited about the year ahead. It started off strong. And I'm more excited about 2025 and beyond and the opportunity we have to continue to create tremendous shareholder value. We ain't done yet. I'm also enjoying my discussions with Gio. He in each meeting is saying, for my next trick, and it's working, and I'm enjoying it.

我對未來的一年感到興奮。一開始就很強勁。我對 2025 年及以後以及我們繼續創造巨大股東價值的機會感到更加興奮。我們還沒完成。我也很享受與 Gio 的討論。他在每次會議上都說，我的下一個技巧，它正在發揮作用，我很享受它。

So with that, I'll turn the call over to Gio.

因此，我會將電話轉給 Gio。

Thank you very much, Dave, and good day, everyone. We go to Slide 3. And as Dave mentioned, we had a good start to 2024. Q1 sales were up 8%, and we saw high single-digit growth across the 3 regions. Our orders grew 60% year-on-year and 4% sequentially. More to come on Slide 4. This is an indicator of good market demand and of our very relevant market position.

非常感謝你，戴夫，祝大家美好。我們轉到幻燈片 3。我們的訂單年增 60%，季增 4%。更多內容將在投影片 4 中介紹。

The strength in order drove a very strong Q1 book-to-bill at 1.5x. Important to note, most of the orders overage in Q1 is for deliveries beyond '24. Most of the acceleration comes from large orders, which typically have longer customer-requested lead times. Adjusted operating profit was $249 million, corresponding to an adjusted operating margin of 15.2%, a significant $73 million and 370 bps improvement year-on-year, which demonstrates we are progressing on our road map to operational excellence, as explained at our Investor Day. Our adjusted free cash flow was $101 million, an improvement of $76 million from Q1 last year.

訂單的強勁推動第一季的訂單出貨比達到 1.5 倍，非常強勁。值得注意的是，第一季的大部分訂單超額都是 24 年後的交貨期。大部分的加速來自於大訂單，這些訂單通常具有更長的客戶要求的交貨時間。調整後營業利潤為2.49 億美元，對應調整後營業利潤率為15.2%，同比大幅增長7,300 萬美元和370 個基點，這表明我們正在朝著卓越運營的路線圖邁進，正如我們在投資者日所解釋的那樣。我們調整後的自由現金流為 1.01 億美元，比去年第一季增加了 7,600 萬美元。

In Q1, we repurchased 9.1 million shares at an average weighted price of $66 a share. This included buying back approximately $8 million of the shares from Platinum Advisers as they exited their position in Vertiv. We deployed $600 million of cash to do those share repurchases. We believe it was a favorable time to do so. Our net leverage at the end of the first quarter ticked up slightly to 2.2x driven by the opportunistic share repurchase in Q1. Our '24 guidance suggests that we will return comfortably to our targeted 1x to 2x range as we make our way through the year.

第一季度，我們以每股 66 美元的平均加權價格回購了 910 萬股股票。其中包括在 Platinum Advisers 退出 Vertiv 部位時回購約 800 萬美元的股票。我們部署了 6 億美元現金來進行這些股票回購。我們相信現在是這樣做的有利時機。在第一季機會性股票回購的推動下，我們第一季末的淨槓桿率小幅上升至 2.2 倍。我們的 24 年指引表明，隨著這一年的發展，我們將輕鬆回到 1 倍到 2 倍的目標範圍。

We again raised our full year guidance and expect full year '24 organic growth of 12% and adjusted operating margins to expand to 17.7%. Overall, good progress towards our long-term target of 20-plus percent. I am pleased with the start of the year, and I'm very encouraged by what we see in the data center market and now positioned within that.

我們再次上調全年指引，預計 24 年全年有機成長 12%，調整後營業利益率將擴大至 17.7%。總體而言，我們在實現 20% 以上的長期目標方面取得了良好進展。我對今年的年初感到滿意，並且對我們在資料中心市場中看到的情況以及現在在該市場中的定位感到非常鼓舞。

Let's go to Page -- Slide 4 now. As you may have noticed, we did not include the market environment slide this quarter. It becomes difficult to differentiate shades of color for market over very short periods of time, and our last call was just about 2 months ago. We will continue to provide a view on how we see the market in our future earnings releases material and in our accompanying remarks.

現在讓我們轉到第 4 頁。您可能已經注意到，我們沒有包括本季的市場環境幻燈片。在很短的時間內區分市場顏色深淺變得很困難，我們最後一次通話是在大約兩個月前。我們將繼續在未來的收益發布資料和隨附的評論中提供我們如何看待市場的觀點。

Certainly, we have seen a very strong data center market environment, and we feel we have a unique vantage point: our profile of 75% data center exposure and our decades of experience serving the industry. It is an industry that has reliability at its core. And during times of technological transformation, as the one underway now with AI, our customers lean on the knowledge strength Vertiv can offer. Advanced technology, deep domain expertise, global scale, 24/7 local service globally, these are true differentiators we built over the decade serving the data center industry and understanding its truly unique requirements and not easy to replicate.

當然，我們已經看到了非常強大的資料中心市場環境，我們覺得我們擁有獨特的優勢：我們75%的資料中心曝光度和我們數十年的產業服務經驗。這是一個以可靠性為核心的產業。在技​​術變革時期，正如目前正在進行的人工智慧變革一樣，我們的客戶依賴 Vertiv 所能提供的知識力量。先進的技術、深厚的領域專業知識、全球規模、全球 24/7 本地服務，這些是我們在過去十年中為資料中心行業服務並了解其真正獨特的需求且不易複製的真正差異化優勢。

So if we look at the left side of Slide 4, extremely strong order growth, as we said. Pipelines velocity clearly increased as evidenced by backlog being up $800 million in first quarter. This acceleration brought into Q1 some orders we expected for future periods. It is also clear that AI is starting to scale, and that's particularly true in the Americas. We already explained the accelerated dynamics of large projects. So no surprise that most of the impact is on future years. That gives us better visibility as we think about the years ahead. We anticipate orders will remain strong, but I want to caution 60% order growth is not the new expectation. We are -- there are reasons specific to Q1 that supported that very high level of order growth.

因此，如果我們看一下投影片 4 的左側，正如我們所說，訂單成長極為強勁。第一季積壓訂單增加 8 億美元就證明了管道速度明顯增加。這種加速為第一季帶來了我們預計未來一段時間的一些訂單。同樣明顯的是，人工智慧正在開始規模化，在美洲尤其如此。我們已經解釋了大型專案的加速動態。因此，大部分影響都發生在未來幾年也就不足為奇了。當我們思考未來幾年時，這使我們能夠更好地了解。我們預計訂單將保持強勁，但我想提醒一下，60% 的訂單成長並不是新的預期。我們——有一些特定於第一季的原因支持瞭如此高水準的訂單成長。

For example, Q1 was our easiest comparison given that Q1 '23 orders were down 33% year-on-year. The comparison will get tougher as '24 progresses, and precise timing on orders can fluctuate. So while I don't want to suggest false precision, seeing orders down Q1 to Q2 sequentially would not be a surprise. It is expected and not particularly worsen given the very high absolute value of Q1 orders. We are anyway expecting good order growth year-on-year in Q2.

例如，考慮到 23 年第一季訂單年減 33%，第一季是我們最簡單的比較。隨著 24 世紀的到來，這種比較將變得更加困難，訂單的精確時間可能會波動。因此，雖然我不想提出錯誤的精確度，但看到第一季到第二季的訂單依序下降也不足為奇。鑑於第一季訂單的絕對值非常高，這一情況是預期的，而且不會特別惡化。無論如何，我們預計第二季訂單將年增。

Our book-to-bill of 1.5x is very strong. Also here, we're not anticipating that this is the new normal. We believe book-to-bill should remain above 1x throughout the year, which suggests the absolute dollar of orders we are anticipating remains at high levels given the sales guidance range we provided. How that looks quarter-to-quarter depends on multiple factors like pipeline velocity and now customers build schedules.

我們的訂單出貨比達到 1.5 倍，非常強勁。同樣在這裡，我們並不期望這是新常態。我們認為全年訂單出貨比應保持在 1 倍以上，這表明考慮到我們提供的銷售指導範圍，我們預計訂單的絕對金額仍處於較高水平。每個季度的情況取決於多種因素，例如管道速度和現在客戶制定的時間表。

On capacity. I'm comfortable with the investments we are making, and it will support our customers. As a reminder, we have 22 manufacturing plants globally. As explained in the past, we have stringently cadence spend rigorous process to manage further capacity expansion decisions. We previously provided a $75 million to $200 million range for CapEx this year. We expect to be at the high end of that range. So please assume $200 million CapEx in '24, still comfortably within the 2.5% to 3% range of sales we provided at our investor conference.

論容量。我對我們正在進行的投資感到滿意，它將支持我們的客戶。請注意，我們在全球擁有 22 家製造工廠。正如過去所解釋的，我們有嚴格的節奏和嚴格的流程來管理進一步的產能擴張決策。我們先前為今年的資本支出提供了 7,500 萬至 2 億美元的範圍。我們預計將處於該範圍的高端。因此，請假設 24 年的資本支出為 2 億美元，仍在我們在投資者會議上提供的銷售額的 2.5% 至 3% 範圍內。

The ramp-up of production of liquid cooling globally continues as planned, and I'm happy to report we have production underway already at 2 of the 3 plants we shared with you we were planning to activate in '24. We are on track with the capacity ramp-up as shared in February. We continue to see strong momentum with AI-related orders. While we are not disclosing specific detail on our liquid cooling orders, or more broadly AI-related orders, we did see the pipeline for AI projects more than double in the last 2 months.

全球液體冷卻產量的成長正在按計劃繼續進行，我很高興地報告說，我們計劃在 24 年啟動的 3 家工廠中，有 2 家已經開始生產。正如二月所分享的那樣，我們正步入產能提升的軌道。我們繼續看到人工智慧相關訂單的強勁勢頭。雖然我們沒有透露液體冷卻訂單的具體細節，或更廣泛的人工智慧相關訂單，但我們確實看到人工智慧專案的管道在過去兩個月增加了一倍以上。

We are starting to see AI scaling in North America. This is consistent with the GPU road maps, whereby next-generation chips will require liquid cooling. The pipeline is reflecting that technology shift, not only in terms of liquid cooling but in terms of the whole powertrain and thermal chain. We are working closely with our customers to get their infrastructure ready for what is ahead.

我們開始看到人工智慧在北美的擴展。這與 GPU 路線圖一致，即下一代晶片將需要液體冷卻。該管道反映了技術轉變，不僅在液體冷卻方面，而且在整個動力總成和熱鏈方面。我們正在與客戶密切合作，讓他們的基礎設施為未來做好準備。

Now to the right side of Slide 4 still. Supply chains continue to operate as expected, not without an occasional bump, but that's where our constantly improving supply chain resilience comes into play. We continue to build out our supply chain to support deployment of liquid cooling technology with the same rigor and resilience we have built in our existing supply chain. The geopolitical environment is becoming increasingly complex. We are working to constantly increase the resilience of our business. Looking at material inflation, a mixed bag, but we know things can change quickly. We continue to believe we are in an inflationary world, and the price/cost plans we're executing reflect that yet.

現在仍然是幻燈片 4 的右邊。供應鏈繼續按預期運行，偶爾會出現波動，但這就是我們不斷提高的供應鏈彈性發揮作用的地方。我們繼續建立我們的供應鏈，以支援液體冷卻技術的部署，其嚴謹性和彈性與我們在現有供應鏈中建立的相同。地緣政治環境日趨複雜。我們正在努力不斷增強業務的彈性。縱觀物質通膨，情況好壞參半，但我們知道事情可能很快就會改變。我們仍然相信我們正處於一個通貨膨脹的世界，我們正在執行的價格/成本計劃也反映了這一點。

Let's now turn to Slide 5. There is an intense focus on thermal management lately and rightfully so. As the market leader in data center cooling, we are uniquely positioned for that opportunity. But power is also very central to the evolution of data center design and to enable AI deployment and to fuel the overall market acceleration.

現在讓我們轉向幻燈片 5。作為資料中心冷卻領域的市場領導者，我們擁有獨特的優勢來抓住這一機會。但電力對於資料中心設計的發展、實現人工智慧部署以及推動整體市場加速也非常重要。

Vertiv has a complete power offering, the whole powertrain to serve the data center market. We are quite relevant in both the power distribution and power quality segments of the data center market. The acquisition of E&I expanded the Vertiv portfolio to include medium-voltage switchgear, low-voltage switchgear and busway offering.

Vertiv 擁有完整的電源產品和整個動力系統，可服務資料中心市場。我們在資料中心市場的配電和電能品質領域都非常相關。收購 E&I 擴大了 Vertiv 產品組合，包括中壓開關設備、低壓開關設備和母線槽產品。

We often get asked about capacity. We talked about liquid cooling in February. We want to spend a minute on power now. We are expanding our operational capacity significantly across the powertrain to support customer demand. A good example are busbars and switchgears. We have already doubled our capacity since we acquired E&I at the end of '21, and we are on track to double it again by the end of '25 to support the growth we see ahead.

我們經常被問到有關容量的問題。我們在二月討論過液體冷卻。我們現在想花一分鐘時間了解一下電源。我們正在大幅擴展整個動力系統的營運能力，以滿足客戶需求。母線和開關設備就是一個很好的例子。自從我們在 21 年底收購 E&I 以來，我們的產能已經翻了一番，並且預計在 25 年底之前再次翻一番，以支持我們未來的成長。

You heard me talk about always maintaining a circa 25% capacity we have room to cover demand peaks. This on average continues to be the way we manage capacity. The ability to operate end-to-end across the powertrain similar to what we do with a thermal chain is testament to Vertiv having the most complete digital infrastructure solution. This is an important reason why we are a partner of choice for our customers and work with them on designing the infrastructure for the high-density future.

您聽到我談到始終保持約 25% 的產能，我們有空間滿足需求高峰。平均而言，這仍然是我們管理產能的方式。在整個動力系統中進行端到端操作的能力與我們對熱鏈的操作類似，證明了 Vertiv 擁有最完整的數位基礎設施解決方案。這是我們成為客戶首選合作夥伴並與他們合作設計高密度未來基礎設施的重要原因。

And with that, David, over to you.

大衛，接下來就交給你了。

Thanks, Gio. Turning to Page 6. This slide summarizes our first quarter financial results, strong performance to start the year. Organic net sales increased 8% with all 3 regions growing relatively consistently in the high single digits. Sales were above the high end of guidance with EMEA, the primary driver of that overperformance.

謝謝，吉奧。翻到第 6 頁。有機淨銷售額成長了 8%，所有 3 個地區均保持相對穩定的高個位數成長。歐洲、中東和非洲地區的銷售額高於指導上限，這是業績超預期的主要驅動力。

Adjusted operating profit of $249 million was $73 million higher than last year's first quarter mainly due to favorable price/cost and higher volume. We exceeded the high end of guidance driven by the sales beat and higher productivity than expected in our model. Our adjusted operating margin increased 370 basis points to 15.2%, further demonstrating our continued focus on operational excellence, and that is certainly driving results. But as we have mentioned, still plenty of opportunity and much to do.

調整後營業利潤為 2.49 億美元，比去年第一季高出 7,300 萬美元，這主要是由於有利的價格/成本和銷售增加。由於銷售成長和生產力高於我們模型中的預期，我們超越了指導的高端。調整後的營業利潤率增加了 370 個基點，達到 15.2%，進一步表明我們對卓越營運的持續關注，這無疑會推動績效的成長。但正如我們所提到的，仍然有很多機會和很多事情要做。

Moving to the right. Our first quarter adjusted diluted EPS was $0.43, $0.19 higher than last year, primarily driven by the higher adjusted operating profit and also a small tailwind from income taxes. On the far right, adjusted free cash flow was $101 million for the quarter, which was 4x higher than last year's first quarter with the higher profitability flowing through to free cash flow. As Gio mentioned, net leverage was 2.2x at the end of the quarter. And despite the $600 million share repurchase, net leverage is only slightly higher than the 1.9x at year-end as we continue to expand EBITDA while generating cash. And based on forward expectations, we anticipate net leverage to decline to 2x or lower in the third quarter, if not sooner.

向右移動。我們第一季調整後攤薄每股收益為 0.43 美元，比去年高 0.19 美元，主要是由於調整後營業利潤較高以及所得稅帶來的小幅推動。最右邊，該季度調整後的自由現金流為 1.01 億美元，比去年第一季高出 4 倍，更高的獲利能力流向了自由現金流。正如 Gio 所提到的，截至本季末，淨槓桿比率為 2.2 倍。儘管回購了 6 億美元的股票，但淨槓桿率僅略高於年底的 1.9 倍，因為我們在創造現金的同時繼續擴大 EBITDA。根據前瞻性預期，我們預計第三季淨槓桿率將下降至 2 倍或更低，甚至更早。

As mentioned, the $600 million, 9.1 million share repurchase in the quarter included $525 million and approximately 8 million shares from Platinum as they exited their position. All in, we repurchased shares at an average price of $66, which looks pretty good at this point.

如前所述，本季價值 6 億美元的 910 萬股股票回購包括 Platinum 退出時的 5.25 億美元和約 800 萬股股票。總而言之，我們以 66 美元的平均價格回購了股票，目前看來相當不錯。

Turning to Page 7. This slide summarizes our first quarter segment results. We had relatively balanced growth across the regions. Americas grew 7% driven by hyperscale and colocation. And this growth was on top of an extremely challenging comparison to first quarter 2023, where Americas grew over 60% from the prior year. Adjusted operating margin in the Americas expanded 340 basis points from last year's first quarter to 20.3% with the increase primarily driven by favorable price/cost and also productivity.

翻到第 7 頁。我們在各地區的成長相對均衡。在超大規模和託管的推動下，美洲成長了 7%。與 2023 年第一季相比，這一成長極具挑戰性，美洲地區較前一年增長了 60% 以上。美洲地區調整後的營業利潤率比去年第一季擴大了 340 個基點，達到 20.3%，這一增長主要是由有利的價格/成本和生產力推動的。

APAC sales increased 9% organically, a stronger number than we have seen in this region in quite a while with this growth driven by continued strong market demand in India and the rest of Asia with both those subregions growing low double digits. Although not as strong as the rest of the region, China sales grew low single digits in the quarter, encouraging. But as we see China stabilizing, albeit at low levels, and we expect China growth to remain stable but muted throughout 2024.

亞太地區銷售額有機成長9%，這一數字比我們在相當長一段時間內在該地區看到的數字要強，這一增長是由印度和亞洲其他地區持續強勁的市場需求推動的，這兩個次區域的成長都在兩位數左右。儘管不如該地區其他地區那麼強勁，但中國的銷售額在本季度實現了低個位數成長，令人鼓舞。但隨著我們看到中國經濟穩定，儘管處於較低水平，我們預計中國經濟成長將在 2024 年保持穩定，但會放緩。

APAC adjusted operating margin increased 380 points driven by fixed cost leverage and improved contribution margin in China as we continue to focus on costs given the market headwinds there. EMEA grew 10% organically, which was higher than anticipated, partially driven by strength with switchgear and busbar. EMEA adjusted operating margin expanded 510 basis points to 18.4% driven by fixed cost leverage and improved contribution margin both from price cost and productivity. Corporate costs of $40 million increased $7 million from last year's first quarter primarily driven by a onetime benefit last year. For the full year, we expect corporate costs to be in the range of $150 million to $160 million.

由於固定成本槓桿和中國貢獻利潤率的提高，亞太地區調整後的營業利潤率增長了 380 點，鑑於中國市場的不利因素，我們繼續關注成本。歐洲、中東和非洲地區有機成長 10%，高於預期，部分原因是開關設備和母線的實力。歐洲、中東和非洲地區調整後的營業利潤率擴大了 510 個基點，達到 18.4%，這得益於固定成本槓桿以及價格成本和生產力提高的貢獻利潤率。公司成本為 4000 萬美元，比去年第一季增加了 700 萬美元，這主要是由於去年的一次性收益所致。我們預計全年企業成本將在 1.5 億至 1.6 億美元之間。

Next, moving to Slide 8. This is a look at our second quarter guidance. We are expecting organic sales growth of approximately 12% with Americas up mid-teens, APAC high single digits and EMEA low double digits. We anticipate an $18 million year-over-year foreign exchange headwind in the second quarter as the U.S. dollar has strengthened against most foreign currencies over the last several months. We expect second quarter adjusted operating profit between $315 million and $335 million and adjusted operating margin of 16.9%, up 240 basis points at the midpoint with expected benefits from price/cost partially offset by continued growth investments.

接下來，轉到投影片 8。我們預計有機銷售額將成長約 12%，其中美洲地區將實現兩位數成長，亞太地區將實現高個位數成長，歐洲、中東和非洲地區將實現低兩位數成長。由於過去幾個月美元兌大多數外幣走強，我們預計第二季外匯匯率將出現 1,800 萬美元的年減。我們預計第二季調整後營業利潤將在3.15 億美元至3.35 億美元之間，調整後營業利潤率為16.9%，中間值增長240 個基點，價格/成本帶來的預期收益將持續增長的投資部分抵消。

Next, turning to Slide 9, our full year '24 guidance. Based upon a favorable start to the year and visibility into a strong sales pipeline for the rest of the year, we are increasing estimates for organic sales growth from 10% at the midpoint to approximately 12% with higher expectations across all 3 regions. In addition, we are increasing the midpoint of adjusted operating profit guidance from $1.3 billion in our prior guidance to $1.35 billion primarily driven by contribution margin on incremental sales. And as a result, we are increasing midpoint guidance for adjusted operating margin to 17.7% with the primary driver there being fixed cost leverage.

接下來，轉向幻燈片 9，這是我們 24 年全年的指導。基於今年良好的開局以及對今年剩餘時間強勁銷售管道的了解，我們將有機銷售成長的預期從中點的 10% 提高到約 12%，並對所有 3 個地區提出了更高的預期。此外，我們還將調整後營業利潤指引的中點從先前指引中的 13 億美元提高到 13.5 億美元，這主要是由於增量銷售的邊際貢獻所致。因此，我們將調整後營業利潤率的中點指引提高至 17.7%，主要驅動因素是固定成本槓桿。

The 17.7% full year adjusted operating margin guidance demonstrates our continued relentless focus on operational improvement across the business and is a stepping stone on our path to 20%-plus. But as always, pleased but never satisfied. Our projected 2024 adjusted diluted EPS of $2.32 at the midpoint represents an over 30% increase compared to last year, and that's primarily driven by the higher adjusted operating profit.

全年調整後營業利潤率指引值為 17.7%，這顯示我們對整個業務營運改善的持續不懈關注，也是我們邁向 20% 以上之路的墊腳石。但一如既往，高興但不滿意。我們預計 2024 年調整後稀釋每股收益中點為 2.32 美元，與去年相比將成長超過 30%，主要是由於調整後營業利潤較高所致。

Now there is some noise in our adjusted EPS and effective tax rate calculations for the first quarter and also for full year, to a lesser extent. And those are primarily driven by accounting requirements around the $177 million first quarter charge from change in fair value of warrant liabilities. And instead of investing valuable time on this call, we provided additional information on Slides 21 and 22 in the appendix, and we'll be more than happy to answer questions and review this information with analysts and investors after this call.

現在，我們在第一季和全年的調整後每股盈餘和有效稅率計算中存在一些噪音，但程度較小。這些主要是由第一季因認股權證負債公允價值變動而產生的 1.77 億美元費用的會計要求所推動的。我們沒有在這次電話會議上投入寶貴的時間，而是在附錄中提供了有關幻燈片21 和22 的附加信息，並且我們將非常樂意在這次電話會議之後回答問題並與分析師和投資者一起審查這些資訊。

And finally, moving to the far right on this slide. We are holding the midpoint of our adjusted free cash flow guidance at $825 million, which is approximately 92% free cash flow conversion for the year as we expect higher adjusted operating profit to be offset by higher taxes, higher net cash interest as we use cash for first quarter share repurchases. And as Gio mentioned, we are increasing our full year estimate for CapEx to $200 million to further support capacity for future growth.

最後，移動到這張投影片的最右側。我們將調整後自由現金流指引的中點保持在8.25 億美元，這相當於今年自由現金流轉換率的92%，因為我們預計更高的調整後營業利潤將被更高的稅收和更高的淨現金利息所抵消，因為我們使用現金用於第一季股票回購。正如 Gio 所提到的，我們將全年資本支出預估提高至 2 億美元，以進一步支持未來成長的能力。

And with that said, I turn it back over to Gio.

話雖如此，我把它轉回給吉奧。

Well, thank you, David. Let's go to Slide 10. I was at the Data Center World Conference last week. I would say the excitement was absolutely palpable. So very clear signals from the data center market when it comes to demand. Our thought leadership was on display in power, thermal and specifically liquid cooling as we shared insights and collaborated with some of the industry's technology leaders, collaborated to chart the road map for the future of digital infrastructure.

好吧，謝謝你，大衛。讓我們看投影片 10。我想說，興奮是顯而易見的。在需求方面，資料中心市場發出了非常明確的訊號。當我們分享見解並與一些行業技術領導者合作、共同製定數位基礎設施未來的路線圖時，我們的思想領導體現在電力、熱力和特別是液體冷卻方面。

We value -- the value of know-how strength in serving this market today is unprecedented in my long industry experience. We like that a lot as we become more central to the enablement of AI deployment. We are scaling our global capacity to match the ambitions of the industry. And you need broad shoulders to keep up with that pace. We are moving fast and mobilizing around the globe.

我們重視－在我長期的產業經驗中，服務於當今市場的專業知識力量的價值是前所未有的。我們非常喜歡這一點，因為我們在實現人工智慧部署方面變得更加核心。我們正在擴大我們的全球產能，以適應行業的雄心壯志。你需要寬闊的肩膀才能跟上這個步伐。我們正在全球範圍內快速行動並動員起來。

Our ability to continue to execute well is grounded in the high-performance culture we are creating and in the Vertiv Operating System we are continuing to deploy. The intensity of what we do is rapidly increasing, and the organization, let's continue to do things right and fast. This is the expectation I am driving every single day with a relentless focus and holding the entire Vertiv team, and me in the first place, accountable to deliver results. So the winners will be determined by their portfolio and their strength of execution. I believe you may, we fully intend to keep winning.

我們持續良好執行的能力植根於我們正在創建的高績效文化以及我們持續部署的 Vertiv 作業系統。我們所做的事情的強度正在迅速增加，組織，讓我們繼續正確快速地做事。這是我每天堅持不懈地關注的期望，並讓整個 Vertiv 團隊（首先是我）對交付結果負責。因此，獲勝者將取決於他們的投資組合和執行力。我相信你可能會，我們完全打算繼續獲勝。

With that said, over to you, Jordan, for the Q&A.

話雖如此，喬丹，問答環節就交給你了。

(Operator Instructions) Our first question comes from Jeff Sprague of Vertical Research Partners.

（操作員說明）我們的第一個問題來自Vertical Research Partners 的Jeff Sprague。

I wonder, Gio, if you could just give us a little bit more color on how -- just kind of the AI complexion is playing out as it relates to your suite of products. You've said in the past it's early days, and it's a bit early to know what really changes in your customers' configurations and the like. Is there anything that you would point out or add incremental from your kind of general opening comments there?

我想知道，Gio，您是否可以給我們更多的信息，告訴我們人工智慧的表現如何，因為它與您的產品套件相關。您過去曾說過現在還為時過早，現在了解客戶配置等方面的真正變化還為時過早。您是否想從您的一般性開場評論中指出或添加一些增量內容？

Jeff, thank you for the question. So as I said, we see an acceleration that is certainly quite convincing in the whole AI space. When I was referring to doubling pipeline side in the last 2 months, that in and of itself is a very strong signal. The type of demand that we see is certainly around liquid cooling. And when we think liquid cooling, we think something that is consistent with the capacity curve that we gave a couple of months back.

傑夫，謝謝你的提問。正如我所說，我們看到整個人工智慧領域的加速發展無疑是相當令人信服的。當我提到過去兩個月管道面積翻倍時，這本身就是一個非常強烈的訊號。我們看到的需求類型肯定是圍繞著液體冷卻的。當我們想到液體冷卻時，我們想到的東西與我們幾個月前給出的容量曲線一致。

But truly, the demand is across the board. It's across the board in terms of the entirety of the powertrain and thermal chain. So just like we were expecting, there are some technologies that are specific to high-density compute or anyway GPU-based compute, but there is a market demand expansion that is simply more megawatts being deployed that is impacting the entire range. Again, it's not just one piece of the portfolio. It's the entire range. It's still early in many respects for the industry, and the industry and the design of future -- exact structure is still unfolding, but we are pleased to be able to follow our customers and to support our customer across the entire spectrum of their decision structurally.

但事實上，需求是全面的。就整個動力總成和熱鏈而言，這是全面的。因此，正如我們所預期的那樣，有一些技術專門針對高密度計算或基於 GPU 的計算，但市場需求的擴張只是部署了更多兆瓦，從而影響了整個範圍。再說一次，它不僅僅是投資組合的一部分。這是整個範圍。對於行業、行業和未來的設計來說，在許多方面還處於早期階段——確切的結構仍在展開，但我們很高興能夠跟隨我們的客戶並在整個結構決策範圍內支持我們的客戶。

And then just kind of widening the lens on supply chain. So it sounds like yours is where you need it to be. I'm sure you're working hard to keep it that way. But just kind of the general big picture here, Gio, in terms of site preparation, craft labor, utility feeds to deliver these megawatts and the like. What are you seeing or hearing from the field in terms of the ability to kind of drive revenues higher kind of into '25 and '26? It seems like the demand is there, right? My question is really about being able to put the product in the ground.

然後擴大供應鏈的視野。所以聽起來你的就在你需要的地方。我確信你正在努力保持這種狀態。但這只是總體情況，Gio，在場地準備、工藝勞動力、提供這些兆瓦電力等方面的公用設施供應。就 25 年和 26 年推動收入更高的能力而言，您從該領域看到或聽到了什麼？看來需求是有的，對吧？我的問題其實是關於能否將產品埋入地下。

Jeff, I'll be very brief considering the second question. The situation has not dramatically changed from what we were saying -- we were seeing last time. Again, the industry is growing. Could there be kind of a bigger growth in absolute terms? Yes, but let's not forget that this is about building data center. This is about getting permits and getting power. So there is a lot, of course, of public also debate about this. So I'll reference to that.

傑夫，我將非常簡短地考慮第二個問題。與我們上次所說的情況相比，情況並沒有發生巨大的變化。再次，該行業正在成長。從絕對值來看，是否會有更大的成長？是的，但我們不要忘記這是關於建立資料中心的。這是關於獲得許可和獲得權力。當然，大眾對此也有很多爭論。所以我會參考這一點。

Our next question comes from Amit Daryanani of Evercore.

我們的下一個問題來自 Evercore 的 Amit Daryanani。

I guess, Gio, I was hoping you could put some context around (technical difficulty)...

我想，Gio，我希望你能提供一些背景資訊（技術難度）...

Amit, your line has -- you still there? Amit, please go ahead.

阿米特，你的線路已經──你還在嗎？阿米特，請繼續。

Hopefully, you can hear me well.

希望你能聽清楚我的聲音。

We can hear you now.

我們現在可以聽到你的聲音了。

All right. Perfect. Gio, I guess my question was really around the order growth number at 60% is extremely impressive and I get the compares a bit easier. But nonetheless, I was wondering if you could talk about how much of this growth do you think is driven by the duration kind of expanding versus unit uptick that's happening. Is there a way to think about those 2 metrics? And then as you think about these orders really becoming revenues, should we start to think about revenue growth accelerating versus your longer-term targets in '25 and beyond at this point?

好的。完美的。 Gio，我想我的問題實際上是關於 60% 的訂單增長數字，這是非常令人印象深刻的，我更容易進行比較。但儘管如此，我想知道您是否可以談談您認為這種增長有多少是由持續時間的擴張與正在發生的單位上升所驅動的。有沒有辦法考慮這兩個指標？然後，當您考慮這些訂單真正成為收入時，我們是否應該開始考慮收入成長加速與您 25 年及以後的長期目標相比？

Well, good one. Amit, thank you for the question. Certainly, we're very happy about our order number. The majority of the order overage, let's say, as I was saying in -- when we were going through the slides is indeed and the majority of the acceleration is coming from large projects, indeed. And what we have seen in the large projects, that there has been some extension, if you will, of the requested lead time or delivery date.

嗯，很好的一個。阿米特，謝謝你的提問。當然，我們對訂單號碼感到非常高興。可以說，正如我在瀏覽投影片時所說的那樣，大部分訂單超額確實是，而且大部分加速確實來自大型專案。我們在大型專案中看到，如果您願意的話，要求的交貨時間或交貨日期有所延長。

So in the past, I was more talking about a 9- to 18-month window in terms of the requested delivery. Now this -- what we are serving is a little bit longer. So think in terms of 12, 18 months or so. That has been a little bit of a window of coverage changing behind us. But it's good. I mean we have more visibility of what our customers do, and that gives us the possibility to execute even more orderly and punctually, if you will, on everything and align supply chain.

因此，過去我更多地談論的是 9 到 18 個月的交付時間窗口。現在，我們提供的服務有點長。所以考慮 12、18 個月左右。我們身後的報道窗口發生了一些變化。但這很好。我的意思是，我們對客戶的行為有了更多的了解，這使我們有可能在所有事情上更加有序和準時地執行，並調整供應鏈。

What does that mean in terms of the future years? It's probably premature. But again, while we stick still to the conversation we had at Investor Day in terms of the general dynamics of the market, what we see today is on the -- is fairly on the upper end of the ranges that we shared with you. So positive in that respect.

這對未來幾年意味著什麼？可能還為時過早。但同樣，雖然我們仍然堅持在投資者日就市場整體動態進行的對話，但我們今天看到的情況相當處於我們與您分享的範圍的上限。在這方面非常積極。

Our next question comes from Steve Tusa of JPMorgan.

我們的下一個問題來自摩根大通的史蒂夫·圖薩。

Just a question on the market, I guess. What's your -- you guys cover a lot here, and you talked to all the consultants, I mean, what's your estimate of like the kind of quarterly rate of gigawatt adds for the industry here in the U.S., the kind of the run rate we're at just roughly?

我想這只是市場上的一個問題。你們在這裡討論了很多內容，你們與所有顧問進行了交談，我的意思是，你們對美國該行業季度吉瓦增加率的估計是多少，我們的運行率是多少？

Well, look, going into this detail would be given an updated view of what we shared with you back in -- at the end of November. So I will go back to comments I made answering, Amit. So we see that the projection and expectations that we shared with you were still hold through. We gave some headwinds. We see that the tailwinds that, again, we shared are happening. We're happy with what we see. There is so much debate and literature exactly how many gigawatts have been deployed in North America and other parts of the world that I think it's better we reference to that as the market is still in a very dynamic situation right now.

好吧，看，進入這個細節將得到我們在 11 月底與您分享的內容的更新視圖。所以我會回到我回答的評論，阿米特。因此，我們看到我們與您分享的預測和期望仍然有效。我們遇到了一些阻力。我們再次看到我們共同的順風車正在發生。我們對所看到的感到滿意。關於北美和世界其他地區到底部署了多少吉瓦電力，存在著如此多的爭論和文獻，我認為我們最好參考這一點，因為市場目前仍處於非常活躍的情況。

Okay. And then just on orders, I would assume from this level that backlog will absolutely continue to grow every quarter. I mean you talked about the book-to-bill of 1.5x not being sustainable, but that's kind of a wide range. Should we assume that it should remain above 1x every quarter? And then just I know you're not going to particular here. But is the price at this stage now decelerating, stable or accelerating relative to what you guys have talked about in the fourth quarter as far as the orders are concerned?

好的。然後就訂單而言，我認為從這個水平來看，積壓絕對會每季繼續增長。我的意思是，您談到 1.5 倍的訂單出貨比不可持續，但這個範圍很廣。我們是否應該假設它每個季度都應保持在 1 倍以上？然後我知道你不會在這裡特別強調。但就訂單而言，相對於你們在第四季所談論的，現階段的價格是在減速、穩定還是加速？

So second and third question. So on the orders and backlog, I go back, if I'm not so surprised, Steve. So second and third question, backlog we believe for the remainder of the year, we'll be on or above 1x when it comes to book-to-bill. Whether that happens every quarter, it's a little bit premature to say. There are a lot of dynamics at play.

那麼第二個問題和第三個問題。因此，對於訂單和積壓訂單，如果我不那麼驚訝的話，我會回去，史蒂夫。因此，第二個問題和第三個問題，即積壓訂單，我們相信在今年剩餘時間內，訂單出貨率將達到或超過 1 倍。這種情況是否每季都會發生，現在下結論還為時過早。有很多動態在起作用。

Price, I go back to the comments we made in February. What I said, okay, we're not disclosing price. We're talking about price/cost. We're satisfied with the price/cost that we see and certainly is consistent, on the one hand, with the guidance we are giving you now obviously, but also is consistent with, let's say, the direction of travel and the vision that we shared with you at Investor Day.

價格，我回到我們二月份發表的評論。我說的是，好吧，我們不會透露價格。我們談論的是價格/成本。我們對我們看到的價格/成本感到滿意，一方面，顯然與我們現在給您的指導一致，但也與我們的旅行方向和願景一致。

Our next question comes from Scott Davis of Melius Research.

我們的下一個問題來自 Melius Research 的 Scott Davis。

So I know this is a little bit of a obvious question perhaps, but a little color would be helpful. And as it relates to your book-to-bill, is the percentage of cooling as a percent of your backlog increasing proportionally with these new chips like the B200, the GB200, these NVIDIA chips that I don't know much about, but I read about them. It seems that they require a (expletive) ton of cooling, as you said in your Investor Day, but are you seeing that exact dynamic in your book-to-bill?

所以我知道這可能是一個有點明顯的問題，但一點顏色會有所幫助。由於它與您的訂單到帳單相關，隨著 B200、GB200 等新晶片（我對這些 NVIDIA 晶片我不太了解，但我不太了解），冷卻佔積壓訂單的百分比是否會成比例增加閱讀有關他們的訊息。正如您在投資者日所說，它們似乎需要（咒罵）大量的冷卻，但您是否在訂單到賬單中看到了這種確切的動態？

Yes, without going too much into the details and the direction in industry is going certainly not defined by a single quarter worth of orders mix. We are happy with our -- with the trajectory of liquid cooling. But when -- and when we look in general to -- we look in general at the mix of our bookings, we see it balanced across our portfolio. The cooling, the power, the modular, the service. So a pretty balanced picture.

是的，無需過多討論細節，行業的發展方向肯定不是由單季的訂單組合來定義的。我們對液體冷卻的發展軌跡感到滿意。但是，當我們總體上審視我們的預訂組合時，我們發現我們的投資組合中的情況是平衡的。冷卻、電力、模組化、服務。這是一個非常平衡的畫面。

Think back to what we were saying is that there is an element of TAM expansion on the thermal side, the cooling side, as we said when we were talking about moving between $2.5 million, $3 million per megawatt to $3 million, $3.5 million. So that is probably also something that one may assume underlying. But again, it's early in, let's say, just look at 1 quarter. But we are happy about the trajectory of our liquid cooling orders.

回想一下我們所說的，在熱側、冷卻側存在TAM 擴展的一個元素，正如我們在談論每兆瓦250 萬美元、300 萬美元到300 萬美元、350 萬美元之間移動時所說的那樣。因此，這也可能是人們可能認為的潛在因素。但再說一遍，現在還處於早期階段，比如說，只看一季。但我們對液體冷卻訂單的發展軌跡感到滿意。

Okay. That's interesting. And Gio, as a follow-up in your liquid cooling capacity, is there anything particularly complicated about the production processes, the manufacturing? Is this kind of in your wheelhouse? Or is it a little bit of a different animal raising the risk profile of adding capacity?

好的。那很有意思。 Gio，作為你們液冷產能的後續，在生產流程、製造方面有沒有什麼特別複雜的地方？你的駕駛室裡有這種狀況嗎？還是有點不同的動物提高了增加容量的風險狀況？

We've been manufacturing, engineering, designing thermal management products across the board, whether it's liquid, whether it's refrigerant, whether it's a small or ginormous chillers or whatnot. So certainly, it takes our know-how, but we see a know-how that is consistent with our experience and certainly also benefiting from the experience of the team we onboarded recently. But all in all, we feel confident in the consistency of this technology with what we have learned over the decades.

我們一直在製造、工程、設計熱管理產品，無論是液體、冷媒、小型或大型冷水機或其他產品。當然，這需要我們的專業知識，但我們看到了與我們的經驗一致的專業知識，當然也受益於我們最近加入的團隊的經驗。但總而言之，我們對這項技術與我們幾十年來所學到的知識的一致性充滿信心。

Okay. That's helpful. Best of luck, guys, and congrats on a good start.

好的。這很有幫助。祝你們好運，夥計們，恭喜你們有一個好的開始。

Thank you. Thank you.

謝謝。謝謝。

Our next question comes from Andy Kaplowitz of Citigroup.

我們的下一個問題來自花旗集團的安迪·卡普洛維茨。

Gio, can you talk about what's going on by region? You mentioned some encouraging low single-digit growth in China. So has it turned the corner there? And then is India becoming big enough now that it matters for your Asia Pac growth moving forward?

Gio，可以談談各地區的狀況嗎？您提到了中國一些令人鼓舞的低個位數成長。那麼它已經轉危為安了嗎？那麼，印度現在是否已經變得足夠強大，以至於對亞太地區的未來成長至關重要？

Well, in general, we clearly closed 2023 with about 55% of revenue in the Americas. So the Americas is and continues to be the biggest region. And if you think about AI accelerated predominantly in the Americas, North America, Americas will continue to be very, very, very strong.

嗯，總的來說，到 2023 年我們顯然有大約 55% 的收入來自美洲。因此，美洲現在並將繼續是最大的地區。如果你想到人工智慧主要在美洲加速，北美、美洲將繼續非常、非常、非常強大。

We like what we see in Asia. David was explaining the situation in China. So some encouraging early signs, but early to say. Again, EMEA, it's -- I want to talk in terms of what the AI impact is. We start to see some movements in Asia. India is an important location for us. It's an important location also in terms of manufacturing capabilities and capacity. So we are pretty optimistic that AI will eventually roll over and activate them and also in Asia. EMEA may be a little bit behind in AI, but that's something that I already commented upon something like a 9- to 12-month lag. And again, we -- 2 months later, that's what we see in full.

我們喜歡在亞洲看到的一切。大衛正在解釋中國的情況。因此，有一些令人鼓舞的早期跡象，但現在說還為時過早。再說一次，歐洲、中東和非洲地區，我想談談人工智慧的影響是什麼。我們開始看到亞洲發生了一些變化。印度對我們來說是一個重要的地點。就製造能力和產能而言，它也是一個重要的地點。因此，我們非常樂觀地認為，人工智慧最終將顛覆並激活它們，在亞洲也是如此。歐洲、中東和非洲地區在人工智慧方面可能有點落後，但我已經評論過類似 9 到 12 個月的延遲。兩個月後，我們再次看到了完整的情況。

And Gio, just a quick follow-up. I think we know what hyperscalers are doing. In November, you mentioned the split in revenue, I think, was 50-50 with enterprise. Is that now toping more to hyperscalers given their growth? What are the enterprise customers doing?

Gio，只是一個快速跟進。我認為我們知道超大規模企業在做什麼。 11 月份，您提到與企業的收入分成是 50-50。鑑於超大規模企業的成長，現在這是否比超大規模企業更重要？企業客戶在做什麼？

So we -- just to caveat that question. When we talk about hyperscalers, we typically combine hyperscalers and colocation. So we do not give separate numbers. So it's -- that's kind of the big players. A lot of acceleration, as I said last time, is happening in that part of the business. So we -- also, in November, when we gave our projection of -- or our projection of the market dynamics, we saw that part of the market to accelerate the most. And that's still what we see. And so very happy with what we indicated back then. Eventually, I'm convinced the AI acceleration and impact will benefit the enterprise part of the market. But when that is happening, it's still a bit premature to say. And for the time being, we go back to the range that we gave back then, enterprise and distributed IT around 3% to 5% growth.

所以我們——只是為了警告這個問題。當我們談論超大規模時，我們通常將超大規模和託管結合起來。所以我們不給出單獨的數字。這就是——這就是大玩家。正如我上次所說，這部分業務正在加速發展。因此，當我們在 11 月給出了市場動態的預測時，我們看到這部分市場加速最快。這仍然是我們所看到的。對我們當時所表示的內容非常滿意。最終，我相信人工智慧的加速和影響將使市場的企業部分受益。但當這種情況發生時，現在下結論還為時過早。目前，我們回到當時的範圍，企業和分散式 IT 成長約 3% 到 5%。

Our next question comes from Mark Delaney of Goldman Sachs.

我們的下一個問題來自高盛的馬克·德萊尼。

I think incremental margins are now tracking to be in the high 30% range for 2024 based on the new annual guidance compared to the mid-30% range that had been assumed previously. Is that type of leverage in the high 30% range something that might be sustained beyond 2024, especially with Vertiv's bookings and backlog coverage giving it more visibility and likely putting it in a better position to execute on price/costs?

我認為，根據新的年度指導，2024 年的增量利潤率目前將達到 30% 的高位，而先前假設的為 30% 的中位數。這種高達30% 的槓桿率是否可能會持續到2024 年之後，尤其是考慮到Vertiv 的預訂量和積壓訂單覆蓋範圍使其更具可見性，並可能使其在執行價格/成本方面處於更有利的位置？

Yes. So this is David. For the full year, our incremental is estimated to be right around 40%. It was 62% in the first quarter. We guided 38% in the second quarter. And that does ramp down as you go through the year primarily driven by some more challenging comparables from a contribution margin year-over-year in the second half. But we're certainly pleased with those incrementals that we're guiding to.

是的。這就是大衛。全年增量預計在 40% 左右。第一季為62%。我們第二季的指引值為 38%。隨著下半年的貢獻率年增，這一數字確實會有所下降，這主要是受到一些更具挑戰性的可比較因素的推動。但我們當然對我們所引導的這些增量感到滿意。

And consistent with what we said in the November Investor Day, our long-term target is to get to 20%-plus AOP, and that's in the time frame of '26 to '28. If we get there earlier in that period, in '26, we estimated mid-30% incrementals, maybe a little bit south of that, if it's '27 or '28. But of course, those incrementals become a little bit more challenging every year that we do increase that contribution margin. But we're still very optimistic that we'll be able to hit that long-term range in that time frame.

與我們在 11 月投資者日所說的一致，我們的長期目標是在 26 年至 28 年的時間範圍內達到 20% 以上的 AOP。如果我們在那個時期早些時候到達那裡，在 26 年，我們估計增量為 30%，如果是 27 年或 28 年，可能會稍微偏南一點。但當然，隨著我們確實提高邊際貢獻，這些增量每年都會變得更具挑戰性。但我們仍然非常樂觀，認為我們能夠在這段時間內達到這個長期範圍。

That's helpful context. My other question was thinking about the addressable market opportunity. You talked about the full powertrain on Slide 5 of your deck and showed various -- a variety of opportunities to address. Maybe you can help us understand how much of that addressable market Vertiv can serve today. And are there areas you can augment with either R&D or perhaps tuck-in M&A to improve the same you're addressing?

這是有用的背景。我的另一個問題是考慮潛在的市場機會。您在幻燈片 5 上談到了完整的動力系統，並展示了各種需要解決的機會。也許您可以幫助我們了解 Vertiv 目前可以服務多少目標市場。您是否可以透過研發或併購來增強某些領域，以改善您正在解決的問題？

Two aspects. We've been vocal about what we think the TAM per megawatt is probably the easiest thing to say. We believe it will be available for us. I want to remind everyone, we believe we have the most complete portfolio of digital critical infrastructure. But again, a TAM that is on the traditional, let's say, data center design at $2.5 million to $3 million per megawatt going up $0.5 million with AI and high density. That's what we see.

兩個方面。我們一直直言不諱地表達了我們認為每兆瓦的 TAM 可能是最容易說出來的事情。我們相信它將為我們所用。我想提醒大家，我們相信我們擁有最完整的數位關鍵基礎設施組合。但同樣，傳統的 TAM 資料中心設計價格為每兆瓦 250 萬至 300 萬美元，採用人工智慧和高密度技術後，價格將上漲 50 萬美元。這就是我們所看到的。

And of course, as you know and as we said several times, we are continuing to invest in engineering and R&D, a CAGR of approximately 13%. And clearly, acquisitions -- and acquisitions, certainly, as we have demonstrated with CoolTera, that enabled us to add technologies to our portfolio is something that is a part of our capital allocation strategy. But again, it's never binary. It's like technologies that we work on organically, and sometimes that organic then matches very well and inorganic opportunity. And again, instead of speculating about the future, I would refer back to what we did with CoolTera and liquid cooling by which we had both in indirect -- sorry in inorganic and organic, let's say, orchestrated that.

當然，如您所知，正如我們多次所說的，我們將繼續投資於工程和研發，複合年增長率約為 13%。顯然，收購——當然，正如我們在 CoolTera 中所展示的那樣，收購使我們能夠將技術添加到我們的投資組合中，這是我們資本配置策略的一部分。但同樣，它從來都不是二進制的。這就像我們有機地研究的技術，有時有機的機會與無機的機會非常匹配。再說一次，我不會猜測未來，而是回顧我們對 CoolTera 和液體冷卻所做的事情，我們透過間接冷卻——對不起，在無機和有機方面，可以說，精心策劃了這一點。

Our next question comes from Andrew Obin of Bank of America.

我們的下一個問題來自美國銀行的安德魯·奧賓。

You guys put out a press release on the NVIDIA relationship. Can you comment what's exactly the nature of the relationship? Are you being standardized from that product? And also, how are you guys getting ready for the Blackwell product? Do you need to do anything technologically to be ready for higher-power conduction there?

你們發布了 NVIDIA 關係的新聞稿。您能否評論一下這種關係的本質是什麼？您是否正在從該產品中標準化？另外，你們為 Blackwell 產品做好了哪些準備？您需要在技術上做些什麼來為更高功率的傳導做好準備嗎？

Well, it's a multifaceted relationship. And in a nutshell I would say that's certainly been part of the network -- partner network of NVIDIA, which is certainly essential from a commercial and go-to-market standpoint. There is an element of certification of our liquid cooling, but very, very importantly is the relationship that we have working together at engineering level. So still very, very important.

嗯，這是一種多方面的關係。簡而言之，我想說這肯定是 NVIDIA 合作夥伴網路的一部分，從商業和進入市場的角度來看，這無疑是必不可少的。我們的液體冷卻有一個認證要素，但非常非常重要的是我們在工程層面的合作關係。所以還是非常非常重要的。

When it comes to the future technologies and specifically Blackwell technology, it's clear. That's a technology that requires liquid cooling. So that's also the fact that we have now in the market a clear leader with something that is vocally liquid cooled as a chip. That will drive liquid cooling into band. And if you want to draw -- connect the dots with what I said about the liquid cooling that, that is legitimate.

當談到未來的技術，特別是 Blackwell 技術時，這一點是顯而易見的。這是一項需要液體冷卻的技術。因此，這也是一個事實，我們現在在市場上擁有一個明顯的領導者，其產品是作為晶片進行液體冷卻的。這將推動液體冷卻進入帶內。如果你想畫出——將這些點與我所說的關於液體冷卻的內容聯繫起來，這是合理的。

Now in terms of our portfolio, our portfolio is the right portfolio for the next generation. And next generation today -- there will be more generations, and we talked in several occasions about certain level going to 2-phase instead of just single-phase liquid cooling. And again, as we been vocally and publicly explaining, we are on that part of the technology, though.

現在就我們的產品組合而言，我們的產品組合是適合下一代的產品組合。今天的下一代——將會有更多世代，我們在多個場合談到了一定程度的兩相冷卻，而不僅僅是單相液體冷卻。再次，正如我們口頭和公開解釋的那樣，我們正在研究這部分技術。

Got you. And as we think about the ramp of this new technology, right? Because I think as of last year, it was a fairly small percentage of your portfolio. And I completely understand how you are very well positioned to continue to have very strong position there from a technology standpoint. But is this ramp in technology? Do you need to invest? And the question we get from investors basically, given that it's brand-new technology, should we expect it to be margin-dilutive, at least in the first stage as you ramp up to full production?

明白你了。當我們思考這項新技術的發展時，對吧？因為我認為截至去年，它只佔你投資組合的一小部分。我完全理解從技術的角度來看，你們如何處於非常有利的地位，能夠繼續保持非常強大的地位。但這是技術進步嗎？你需要投資嗎？我們從投資者那裡得到的問題基本上是，鑑於它是全新的技術，我們是否應該期望它會稀釋利潤，至少在全面生產的第一階段？

So the fact it was small in the past in general for the industry is that the current generations can very well be air cooled. So the majority of deployments of GPU were air-cooled using the infrastructure. And that's true across the industry. I'm not talking about Vertiv here. When it comes to the investment in CDU capacity, and I refer back to our February earnings call, well, that is pretty well explained, and we are progressing in that capacity growth. When it comes to margins, it's a new technology. What we indicated already back then is the margin profile, I would say, is consistent with our thermal business, certainly consistent with the long-term trajectory to 20-plus percent that we shared with you as our long-term goal.

因此，過去該行業總體規模較小的事實是，當前幾代產品可以很好地採用空氣冷卻。因此，大多數 GPU 部署都是使用基礎設施進行風冷。整個產業都是如此。我在這裡談論的不是維諦技術 (Vertiv)。當談到對 CDU 產能的投資時，我回顧一下我們 2 月的財報電話會議，這已經得到了很好的解釋，而且我們在產能成長方面正在取得進展。說到利潤，這是一項新技術。我想說的是，我們當時已經顯示的利潤狀況與我們的熱力業務一致，當然也與我們與您分享的長期目標 20% 以上的長期軌跡一致。

Our next question comes from Nigel Coe of Wolfe Research.

我們的下一個問題來自沃爾夫研究中心的奈傑爾·科。

So there's a lot of -- quite a few investor questions out there on the backlog aging. How much of the backlog is set for 2025 and beyond? So maybe some color on that would be helpful. My question was really more about maybe some color on the on-prem. Gio, you mentioned, obviously, a lot of the focus right now is on the AI GPUs and the hyperscales. But what we've seen on the on-prem side? And then finally, the other thing that caught my attention was the capacity increase on switchgear. So I'm just wondering what that doubling in capacity sort of underwrites in terms of your outlook for E&I over the next couple of years.

因此，投資人對積壓訂單老化提出了許多疑問。 2025 年及以後的積壓量是多少？所以也許一些顏色會有所幫助。我的問題實際上更多的是關於本地的一些顏色。 Gio，您提到，顯然，現在許多關注點都集中在 AI GPU 和超大規模上。但我們在本地看到了什麼？最後，引起我注意的另一件事是開關設備容量的增加。所以我只是想知道產能翻倍對未來幾年 E&I 的前景有何影響。

3-in-1. Thank you, Nigel. So when it comes to the backlog agent, we will not go too much in the details about -- the indication we have is we have an element of a strategy a little bit of -- on the requested delivery dates and lead times that makes our coverage longer. On-prem versus hyperscale, certainly, we see, at this stage, the acceleration and dominantly in hyperscale and colo type of cloud for high density and AI. But I mentioned Data Center World, that's predominantly and mainly an enterprise type of show. It was a very, very, very crowded. So I leave it to that. When it comes to switchgear and busways/busbars, we're very happy. And again, that is a testament to the importance of the acquisition to make sure that we really have the entire portfolio and the entire powertrain from medium-voltage switchgear, all the way to distribution and inside-track PDUs.

三合一。謝謝你，奈傑爾。因此，當涉及到積壓代理時，我們不會過多介紹 - 我們所掌握的跡像是我們有一個戰略要素 - 要求的交付日期和交貨時間，這使得我們的覆蓋時間更長。當然，在現階段，我們看到本地部署與超大規模的比較，高密度和人工智慧的加速和主導是超大規模和託管類型的雲端。但我提到了《資料中心世界》，它主要是企業類型的展覽。那裡非常、非常、非常擁擠。所以我就這樣吧。當談到開關設備和母線槽/母線時，我們非常高興。這再次證明了此次收購的重要性，以確保我們真正擁有從中壓開關設備、一直到配電和內軌 PDU 的整個產品組合和整個動力系統。

Our next question comes from Nicole DeBlase of Deutsche Bank.

我們的下一個問題來自德意志銀行的 Nicole DeBlase。

I guess maybe just when you guys have -- based on what you've received from an order perspective related to AI so far, has that been mostly focused on upgrades of existing data centers? Or would you say it's kind of a balance between that and actual new AI data center construction?

我想，根據你們迄今為止從與人工智慧相關的訂單角度收到的訊息，也許你們主要關注的是現有資料中心的升級？或者你會說這是一種與實際的新人工智慧資料中心建設之間的平衡？

We feel a bit of 2, but it's still predominantly new data center for the time being.

我們感覺有點像2，但目前仍以新資料中心為主。

Okay. Got it. That's clear. And then I guess with respect to the outlook for order growth, I know you guys said in the slide that you're expecting like sequentially down Q-on-Q, makes sense. I guess, what gives you conviction that there was a pull-forward? Like I mean, obviously, like every time we look at data center CapEx, it continues to rise higher. Why do you think it was a pull-forward into 2Q? Is that a direct customer comment? And any other color on like quantifying the level of order growth you guys are expecting in 2Q? I know I'm trying to pin you down, but there's obviously a lot of investor sensitivity to like expectations into the next quarter.

好的。知道了。很清楚。然後我想關於訂單成長的前景，我知道你們在幻燈片中說過，你們預計訂單量會逐季度下降，這是有道理的。我想，是什麼讓你確信有拉動？就像我的意思一樣，顯然，就像我們每次查看資料中心資本支出一樣，它都會繼續上升。您認為為什麼會提早到第二季？這是直接的顧客評論嗎？還有其他顏色可以量化你們預期第二季的訂單成長水準嗎？我知道我試圖讓你下定決心，但顯然投資者對下一季的預期非常敏感。

Absolutely. I mean the commercial side of that is not an exact science. Let's put it this way. We try to make the science statistically relevant using pipelines and stacks on the pipeline. So we call an order that lands in Q2 probably very granted, but there are things that are not necessarily in our control or Q2 or any other moment of time. So what we do is be very diligent in the way we manage pipeline and very diligent in the way we analyze pipeline statistically. This is something that characterized pipeline last quarter in Q4, and I was vocal about that was an acceleration. So the time it takes to -- in order to -- opportunities, sorry, to become an order. And we see statistically the same is true here.

絕對地。我的意思是，這在商業方面並不是一門精確的科學。讓我們這樣說吧。我們嘗試使用管道和管道上的堆疊使科學具有統計相關性。因此，我們稱第二季的命令可能是非常理所當然的，但有些事情不一定在我們或第二季或任何其他時刻的控制範圍內。因此，我們所做的就是在管理管道的方式上非常勤奮，在統計分析管道的方式上非常勤奮。這是上個季度第四季度管道的特點，我直言不諱地說這是一個加速。因此，抱歉，需要時間才能將機會變成訂單。我們從統計上看到，這裡也是如此。

Now we are happy about our pipeline size. But from there to make an exact state of what future will look like is difficult. But our comments about pull-ins, if you will, are statistically based on things happening more rapidly than historically they've had, if it makes sense.

現在我們對管道規模感到滿意。但從那時起，要準確預測未來會是什麼樣子是很困難的。但如果你願意的話，我們對拉入的評論是基於統計數據，這些事情發生得比歷史上發生的速度更快，如果它有意義的話。

Our next question comes from Noah Kaye of Oppenheimer.

我們的下一個問題來自奧本海默的諾亞·凱伊。

I would like to just maybe revisit Mark's question around the relationship between the longer lead time on the orders and margins. The company has done so much work over the last year-plus to improve management processes around pricing and sourcing. So as we see this backlog continuing to grow, how are you protecting margins in backlog? Do we indeed have higher visibility to the margin profile?

我想重新討論馬克關於較長的訂單交貨時間和利潤之間關係的問題。該公司在過去一年多時間裡做了很多工作來改善定價和採購方面的管理流程。因此，當我們看到積壓訂單持續成長時，您如何保護積壓訂單的利潤？我們確實對利潤狀況有更高的了解嗎？

We multiple times have indicated and been vocal about our strengthened and continuously strengthening pricing muscle. And that also includes being factoring in dynamics on the material cost side of the equation and factoring in our targets of price/cost positivity, if you will, but also in terms of better contractual terms that allow us to react to something that is unforecasted. Well, that's also -- it's a commercial relationship. But we are in a much stronger place than we were, and we are happy with the trajectory in which we are and the actions and the mechanisms that we have implemented in the way we price and approve price.

我們多次表示並直言不諱地表示我們已加強並持續加強定價能力。這還包括考慮等式中材料成本方面的動態因素，以及我們的價格/成本正性目標（如果您願意的話），而且還包括更好的合約條款，使我們能夠對不可預測的事情做出反應。嗯，這也是一種商業關係。但我們現在的處境比以前要強大得多，我們對目前的發展軌跡以及我們在定價和批准價格方面所採取的行動和機制感到滿意。

Okay. And a related housekeeping item. The guide last quarter was for $60 million positive price/cost for the year. Is it fair to say that it's still the assumption? Any changes to that? Is it also possible to say what it was for 1Q?

好的。以及相關的家務用品。上一季的指導值為 6000 萬美元，全年正價/成本。可以說這仍然是假設嗎？有什麼改變嗎？是否也可以說出 1Q 的情況？

The -- our expectation for full year has not changed significantly from what we shared in the first quarter, if anything, trending a little bit more favorable, but not significantly different.

我們對全年的預期與我們在第一季分享的預期相比沒有顯著變化，如果有的話，趨勢會更有利一些，但沒有顯著不同。

This concludes our question-and-answer session. I'd like to turn the conference back over to Giordano Albertazzi for any closing remarks.

我們的問答環節到此結束。我想將會議轉回給佐丹奴·阿爾貝塔齊 (Giordano Albertazzi) 致閉幕詞。

Well, thank you, everyone, for your questions -- multiple questions. But first and foremost, I'd like to thank the Vertiv team around the world. The focus on innovation, the customer service and execution is certainly something that is very palpable and strong. So thank you for the progress. Thanks for joining us today. And we really appreciate everybody's support, and have a very good day.

好的，謝謝大家提出的問題—多個問題。但首先，我要感謝世界各地的 Vertiv 團隊。對創新、客戶服務和執行的關注無疑是非常明顯和強烈的。所以感謝你的進步。感謝您今天加入我們。我們非常感謝大家的支持，祝您有個愉快的一天。

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

會議現已結束。感謝您參加今天的演講。您現在可以斷開連線。