Vertiv Holdings Co (VRT) 2020 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Good morning. My name is Rocco, and I will be your conference operator for today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to Vertiv's Second Quarter 2020 Earnings Conference Call. (Operator Instructions) Please note that this call is being recorded.

早安.我是 Rocco，今天將擔任本次電話會議的接線生。現在，我謹代表 Vertiv 歡迎各位參加 2020 年第二季財報電話會議。 （接線生提示）請注意，本次電話會議正在錄音。

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

現在，我將把主持今天的電話會議的主持人交給投資者關係副總裁琳恩·馬克西納。

Great. Thank you, Rocco. Good morning, and welcome to Vertiv's Second Quarter 2020 Earnings Conference Call. Joining me today are Vertiv's Executive Chairman, David Cote; Chief Executive Officer, Rob Johnson; Chief Financial Officer, David Fallon; and Chief Strategy and Development Officer, Gary Niederpruem.

好的。謝謝你，羅科。早安，歡迎參加Vertiv 2020年第二季財報電話會議。今天與我一同出席的有Vertiv執行董事長David Cote、執行長Rob Johnson、財務長David Fallon以及首席策略與發展長Gary Niederpruem。

Before we begin, I'd point out that during the course of this call, we will make forward-looking statements regarding future events including the future financial and operation -- 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 registration statement, our proxy statement and other filings with the SEC. Any forward-looking statements made 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.

在正式開始之前，我想指出，在本次電話會議中，我們將就未來事件（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因素的影響，可能導致實際結果與前瞻性陳述中的結果有重大差異。請參閱今天發布的獲利報告中的相關警示性聲明，您也可以在我們的註冊聲明、委託書以及提交給美國證券交易委員會（SEC）的其他文件中了解更多關於這些風險的資訊。今天所做的任何前瞻性陳述均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 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，我們將同時介紹GAAP和非GAAP財務指標。您可以在我們的獲利新聞稿和投資者關係簡報（可在investors.vertiv.com網站查看）中找到我們的GAAP業績以及GAAP與非GAAP的調節表。

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

接下來，我將把電話交給執行主席大衛·科特。

Thanks, and good morning, everyone. When the last time we spoke in early May, everyone was still trying to determine what the implications of COVID were going to be and exactly what type of recession we were going to have. Well, today, 3 months later, while some things are more clear, there are also many things that are still not clear. What is clear, however, is how Vertiv is executing during this time.

謝謝大家，早安。上次我們五月初通話時，大家都在努力判斷新冠疫情的影響以及我們將面臨何種程度的經濟衰退。如今，三個月過去了，雖然有些事情已經明朗，但仍有許多事情不明朗。然而，Vertiv 在這段時間的執行力卻非常清晰。

As many of you know, one of my mantras in business is growing while holding fixed costs constant. And while that's easy in theory, it's not so easy in practice. What I can tell you is that both Rob and Dave Fallon have fully embraced the concept and are deploying it within Vertiv in an aggressive manner. One of my other beliefs is achieving 2 seemingly conflicting objectives at the same time. Where this seems difficult, it is, in fact, very doable. Inside of Vertiv, we're employing the same mindset by managing our costs very closely, but at the same time, we've been ramping up R&D spending so we continue innovating for our customers today and tomorrow. We're also working on strategy development. Just a few week ago, Rob's team went through a week-long strategy review that I participated in for its entirety. Don't worry, it was all remote. There is absolutely no shortage of ideas on how to grow our top and bottom line. Now there's a lot of work to do to bring this to life, but it sure was a great starting point for the company.

如大家所知，我的商業信條之一是在保持固定成本不變的情況下實現成長。理論上這很容易，但實踐起來並非易事。我可以告訴大家的是，Rob 和 Dave Fallon 都完全接受了這個理念，並在 Vertiv 內部積極推行。我的另一個信念是同時實現兩個看似衝突的目標。這聽起來很難，但實際上完全可行。在 Vertiv 內部，我們秉持著同樣的理念，嚴格控製成本，同時加大研發投入，以便持續為客戶創新，滿足他們當下和未來的需求。我們也在積極制定戰略。就在幾週前，Rob 的團隊進行了一週的策略審查，我全程參與。別擔心，整個過程都是遠端進行的。我們有很多關於如何提升營收和利潤的想法。現在要將這個想法變成現實還有很多工作要做，但這無疑是公司一個很好的起點。

We can't know for sure the economic environment globally over the next several months, but I am very confident in our ability to navigate these waters and come out the other side a significantly better company.

我們無法確定未來幾個月全球經濟環境的走向，但我非常有信心我們能夠渡過難關，並最終成為一家更強大的公司。

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

那麼，接下來我將把電話交給羅布。

Thank you, Dave, and good morning, everyone. Before I get into the slide, I want to tell you about how proud I am of the Vertiv team. Serving customers during the pandemic has not been without its challenges. Employees across the company and located in countries across the globe have addressed issues of all kinds brought on by COVID. And they've done it creatively, they've done it energetically and they've done it passionately. I couldn't ask for a better team, and I'm truly grateful to them and for how they have always put the customer first.

謝謝戴夫，大家早安。在正式開始之前，我想先表達一下我對Vertiv團隊的自豪之情。疫情期間服務客戶並非一帆風順。公司遍佈全球各地的員工齊心協力，應對了新冠疫情帶來的各種挑戰。他們以極富創造力、飽滿的熱情和充沛的精力完成了這些工作。我找不到比這更好的團隊了，我由衷地感謝他們，感謝他們始終把客戶放在第一位。

Let's get into the slides. On Slide 4, overall, the demand side of our business held up as orders were up 5% organically from Q2 2019. Last quarter, we talked about exiting with an all-time high backlog of $1.6 billion. And now I'm proud and happy to report that our backlog is even greater than that at about approximately $1.8 billion. We will talk over the next few slides about both the supply and the demand side of our business.

讓我們來看幻燈片。在第四張投影片中，我們業務的整體需求端表現穩健，訂單量較2019年第二季成長了5%。上個季度，我們提到積壓訂單總額達到了歷史新高16億美元。現在，我非常自豪地宣布，我們的積壓訂單總額甚至超過了這個數字，約為18億美元。接下來的幾張投影片，我們將分別討論我們業務的供應端和需求端。

From a profitability standpoint, we delivered $145 million of adjusted EBITDA, which is relatively flat from last year's Q2. Although Q2 had $128 million lower sales than Q2 of 2019, we managed our contribution margins very well and held our cost in line, as Dave Cote mentioned in his opening comments. We had approximately $30 million year-over-year of favorable cost actions delivered in the quarter, which David Fallon will elaborate on later. From a liquidity standpoint, we had a very strong quarter, ending at $530 million, and we generated over $60 million of free cash flow.

從獲利能力來看，我們實現了1.45億美元的調整後EBITDA，與去年第二季基本持平。儘管第二季銷售額比2019年第二季減少了1.28億美元，但正如Dave Cote在開場白中提到的，我們很好地控制了邊際貢獻率，並將成本控制在合理範圍內。本季我們採取了約3000萬美元的有利成本控制措施，David Fallon將在後文中詳細說明。從流動性來看，我們本季表現非常強勁，最終流動資金達到5.3億美元，並產生了超過6000萬美元的自由現金流。

Next, on this slide, we do want to provide some range for expected Q3 performance. We are anticipating implications of COVID to continue to fluctuate, but we expect our organic sales to be up between 4% and 6%, and our adjusted EBITDA will be up 10% at the midpoint from Q3 of last year. So while the dynamics can change, we did want to share with you what we are currently seeing playing out in Q3. More on this topic later. Finally, we want to add just a bit of color around 2021. As we see things right now, the demand side is holding up, and our backlog should be robust as we exit the end of this year.

接下來，在本頁投影片中，我們想提供一些關於第三季業績的預期範圍。我們預期新冠疫情的影響將持續波動，但我們預期有機銷售額將成長4%至6%，調整後EBITDA將比去年第三季成長10%（取中間值）。因此，儘管情況可能會發生變化，但我們仍想與您分享我們目前對第三季業績的預測。稍後我們將對此進行更詳細的闡述。最後，我們想對2021年做一些展望。就目前的情況來看，需求方面保持穩定，到今年年底，我們的訂單儲備應該會很充足。

We know the dynamics with COVID could ultimately change the top line, but what is in our control is our cost. In Q3, we will be announcing [restructuring] activities that will save us approximately $50 million to $70 million in 2021, with a cash cost to execute of approximately $50 million to $70 million. We are fine-tuning the details, but we feel confident about the programs that underpin these numbers.

我們知道新冠疫情的發展最終可能會影響營收，但成本控制是我們能夠掌控的。第三季度，我們將宣布一系列重組措施，預計在2021年節省約5,000萬至7,000萬美元，執行這些措施的現金成本也約為5,000萬至7,000萬美元。我們正在完善細節，但我們對支撐這些數字的方案充滿信心。

Turning to Slide 5. We used this slide with our Board last week as a heat map of sorts to illustrate the pockets of strength within each region. The chart is simple, but it relays the real-time view we have on the demand side of things. It is qualitative in nature and to fix our view on the level of health and activity in each of the markets we serve. We continue to see a strong level of activity in every region in the cloud and colocation market, as indicated by the 6 green buttons in the first 2 top rows. Emerging vital applications such as online education, telemedicine, video and gaming are benefiting our cloud and colocation customers, and that surge in demand is benefiting us as well.

翻到第五張幻燈片。上週我們向董事會展示了這張幻燈片，它類似於熱力圖，用來展示各個區域內的優勢區域。圖表雖然簡單，但卻能即時反映我們對需求端的了解。它本質上是定性的，旨在幫助我們了解各個服務市場的健康狀況和活躍程度。正如前兩行六個綠色按鈕所示，我們看到雲端和託管市場在各個區域都保持著強勁的活躍度。線上教育、遠距醫療、視訊和遊戲等新興的關鍵應用程式正在惠及我們的雲端和託管客戶，而這種需求的激增也使我們受益。

In contrast to the cloud and colo business, we see the enterprise and small to medium business continuing to be challenged by COVID, as indicated by the red and yellow buttons in row 3. This segment is spending some money. We have started to see a resurgence from the segment in China, but overall, this classic customer is not spending as they did prior to COVID.

與雲端運算和託管業務相比，我們看到企業和中小企業持續受到新冠疫情的挑戰，正如第三行中的紅色和黃色按鈕所示。儘管這群人仍在支出，但我們已開始看到中國市場的復甦跡象，整體而言，這類傳統客戶的支出水準不如疫情前。

Switching to telecom side of things, both Asia and Americas is strong right now. China has gotten on the 5G bandwagon in a major way, and our telecom customers in the U.S. continue to invest in their network, as you can see, indicated by the 2 green buttons in row 4.

再來看電信方面，目前亞洲和美洲市場都表現強勁。中國已大力發展5G，而我們在美國的電信客戶也持續投資網路建設，正如您在第四行看到的兩個綠色按鈕所示。

Finally, our C&I business, more often than not, as we've always said, will track [approximately to] GDP over the longer run. But sometimes, the quarterly timing can be different. While this segment has held up better than expected, things are relatively flat in this space.

最後，正如我們一直所說，從長遠來看，我們的工商業業務通常會與GDP保持大致同步。但有時，季度走勢可能會有所不同。雖然這項業務板塊的表現優於預期，但整體而言，該領域的成長相對平緩。

So certainly, some puts and takes, but overall, when you consider our mix of data center business, Vertiv is seeing positive growth. The applications people use every day continue to be more and more vital, following the onset of COVID, and those applications need to be processed, stored and transmitted. And all of this continues to be a great backdrop for our business.

當然，期間難免會有一些波動，但總體而言，考慮到我們資料中心業務的多元化組合，Vertiv 的成長勢頭良好。自從新冠疫情爆發以來，人們日常使用的應用程式變得越來越重要，而這些應用程式需要處理、儲存和傳輸。所有這些都為我們的業務發展提供了良好的背景。

Moving on to Slide 6. To reiterate, the overall demand is strong and as evidenced by our strong order rates and record backlog. While our channel business is soft due to the enterprise and small and medium business segment being down, our larger project-based orders rates are on track.

接下來是第六張投影片。重申一下，整體需求強勁，我們強勁的訂單量和創紀錄的積壓訂單量就證明了這一點。雖然由於企業和中小企業市場下滑，我們的通路業務略顯疲軟，但我們的大型專案訂單量保持穩定。

One thing I haven't touched on yet, though, is site access. Site access in some of the markets is very challenging. We see this continuing to be an area of uncertainty, as governments control access to countries and localities and ultimately, customers control our ability to deliver and install. Singapore, for example, continues to be almost entirely shut down from a data center standpoint. In India, things fluctuate day-to-day and sometimes even an hour-to-hour basis.

不過，我還沒提到一點，那就是現場訪問。在某些市場，現場訪問非常困難。我們認為這方面仍有許多不確定因素，因為各國政府控制著進入特定國家和地區的權限，最終，客戶也掌握著我們交付和安裝的能力。例如，新加坡的資料中心幾乎仍然完全關閉。在印度，情況每天都在變化，有時甚至每小時都在變化。

On the supply side, the majority of our operations are running normally, and we continue to ramp production. My prior comment on India is appropriate from both the standpoint of demand and supply, and Mexico continues to be a daily work item for us as we address the labor issue.

在供應方面，我們的大部分業務都在正常運轉，並且我們正在持續提高產量。我之前對印度市場的評論，無論從需求或供應的角度來看都是恰當的；而墨西哥市場，由於勞動力問題，仍然是我們日常工作中需要關注的重點。

Our customers are experiencing constraints by trade industries, which we continue to work through. COVID has strengthened our proficiency in anticipating potential roadblocks and proactively mitigating issues before they become a concern.

我們的客戶目前正面臨貿易業的各種限制，我們正在努力克服這些限制。新冠疫情提升了我們預測潛在障礙並主動規避問題的能力，防患於未然。

With that, I'll turn it over to Dave Fallon to walk us through the financials. David?

接下來，我將把麥克風交給戴夫法倫，讓他為我們講解一下財務狀況。戴維？

Thanks, Rob. Turning to Slide 7. This page summarizes our second quarter financial results versus last year. Net sales were down $128 million or 11%, including $28 million due to unfavorable changes in foreign currency, as most global currencies are weaker versus the U.S. dollar compared to last year, including the euro and the RMB, which represent approximately 60% of our foreign currency exposure. The remaining $100 million reduction in net sales was primarily driven by Americas and EMEA, each organically down double digits as a result of COVID-19 and year-over-year timing of larger projects. Despite the $128 million reduction in net sales, second quarter adjusted EBITDA declined just $2 million and actually increased $5 million when adjusted for foreign currency.

謝謝，羅伯。請看第7頁投影片。本頁總結了我們第二季度的財務表現與去年同期相比的情況。淨銷售額下降1.28億美元，降幅11%，其中2,800萬美元是由於外匯匯率不利變動造成的。與去年相比，大多數全球貨幣兌美元匯率走弱，包括歐元和人民幣，這兩種貨幣約占我們外匯風險敞口的60%。淨銷售額剩餘的1億美元降幅主要來自美洲和歐洲、中東及非洲地區，這兩個地區的銷售額均出現兩位數的自然下滑，原因是新冠疫情以及大型項目同比進度調整。儘管淨銷售額下降了1.28億美元，但第二季調整後的EBITDA僅下降了200萬美元，經外匯調整後實際上增加了500萬美元。

Fixed costs were down $35 million from last year's second quarter, primarily as the result of COVID-19 cost actions implemented at the beginning of the quarter, and we still anticipate an approximate $60 million full year benefit from COVID-19 cost actions compared to our beginning of the year guidance, including $35 million in the second quarter, $15 million in the third quarter and $10 million in the fourth quarter.

固定成本較去年第二季下降了 3,500 萬美元，主要原因是本季初實施了 COVID-19 成本控制措施。我們仍然預計，與年初的預期相比，COVID-19 成本控制措施將帶來全年約 6,000 萬美元的收益，其中包括第二季 3,500 萬美元、第三季 1,500 萬美元和第四季 1,000 萬美元。

Second quarter contribution margin improved year-over-year due to continued progress with both pricing and productivity initiatives. Adjusted EBITDA margin improved 150 basis points from last year, primarily driven by this improved contribution margin percentage. Second quarter free cash flow, as we move farthest to the right, improved $128 million from last year's second quarter, in part due to $59 million lower cash interest resulting from the significant debt paydown pursuant to the SPAC transaction and the subsequent debt refinancing. We will review other drivers of higher year-over-year free cash flow in a couple of slides.

由於定價和生產力提升措施持續取得進展，第二季貢獻毛利率年增。調整後 EBITDA 利潤率較去年同期提高 150 個基點，主要得益於貢獻毛利率的提升。第二季自由現金流較去年同期增加 1.28 億美元，部分原因是 SPAC 交易及後續債務再融資導致的巨額債務償還，從而減少了 5,900 萬美元的現金利息支出。我們將在後續幾頁投影片中分析推動自由現金流年成長的其他因素。

Next, turning to Slide 8. This page summarizes our second quarter segment results. Organic net sales in the Americas were down [$79 million] or 14%, primarily driven by the continued negative impact from COVID-19 and from the normal variability of year-over-year timing of larger projects, estimated at about $8 million. It was a very similar story in EMEA, where organic net sales declined $32 million or 13%. EMEA was also negatively impacted by COVID-19 and by approximately $15 million from normal variability of larger projects. Organic net sales in APAC increased $11 million, with between $15 million and $20 million of this increase due to the timing of larger projects. Otherwise, relatively flat year-over-year organic net sales in APAC were driven by double-digit growth in China, which represents between 60% to 70% of APAC's top line, and this growth in China was offset by double-digit declines in the rest of Asia, including India, demonstrating that although China seems to be transitioning from the negative effects of COVID-19, certain other geographies within APAC continue to be challenged.

接下來，請看第8頁投影片。本頁總結了我們第二季的分部業績。美洲地區的有機淨銷售額下降了7,900萬美元，降幅為14%，主要原因是新冠疫情持續帶來的負面影響，以及大型專案進度安排的正常波動（估計約800萬美元）。歐洲、中東和非洲地區的情況也十分類似，有機淨銷售額下降了3,200萬美元，降幅為13%。該地區同樣受到新冠疫情的負面影響，以及大型工程進度安排正常波動造成的約1,500萬美元損失。亞太地區的有機淨銷售額成長了1100萬美元，其中1500萬至2000萬美元的成長是由於大型專案進度安排的調整。否則，亞太地區有機淨銷售額較去年同期相對持平，主要得益於中國兩位數的成長，中國佔亞太地區總收入的 60% 至 70%。而中國的成長被包括印度在內的亞洲其他地區兩位數的下滑所抵消，這表明儘管中國似乎正在擺脫 COVID-19 的負面影響，但亞太地區的某些其他地區仍然面臨挑戰。

From a profitability perspective, adjusted EBITDA, as a percentage of sales, increased across the board in all regions, primarily driven by improved contribution margin in both the Americas and EMEA and from lower fixed costs as a percentage of sales in APAC, as fixed costs in that region declined while net sales were relatively flat.

從獲利能力的角度來看，所有地區的調整後 EBITDA 佔銷售額的百分比均有所增長，這主要得益於美洲和 EMEA 地區的貢獻毛利率提高，以及亞太地區固定成本佔銷售額的百分比降低，因為該地區的固定成本下降，而淨銷售額相對持平。

Next, turning to Slide 9. The chart on this page bridges second quarter free cash flow from last year. But before reviewing free cash flow, we do want to reiterate our direction from the first quarter earnings call that we continue to hold no concerns related to liquidity, and we're actually incrementally more optimistic based upon the $84 million increase in liquidity during the quarter. We anticipate our liquidity position to grow sequentially at the end of each of the third and fourth quarters based on our expectation of strong free cash flow generation in the second half of the year consistent with timing in prior years.

接下來，請看第9張投影片。本頁圖表比較了去年同期第二季的自由現金流。但在分析自由現金流之前，我們想重申我們在第一季財報電話會議上的觀點：我們仍然對流動性沒有任何擔憂，而且由於本季度流動性增加了8400萬美元，我們實際上更加樂觀了。我們預計，基於對下半年強勁自由現金流的預期（與往年同期情況一致），我們的流動性狀況將在第三季末和第四季末持續成長。

Now returning to the chart. Second quarter free cash flow of $62 million increased $128 million from last year's second quarter, driven by $45 million higher net income despite a $22 million increase in noncash charges, including a $12 million ERP impairment. A significant driver of higher net income was lower interest expense, driven by the SPAC transaction and subsequent debt refinancing. And of course, we had a related $59 million reduction in cash interest, which certainly contributed to the higher year-over-year free cash flow.

現在回到圖表。第二季自由現金流為6,200萬美元，較去年同期成長1.28億美元，主要得益於淨利潤成長4,500萬美元，儘管非現金支出增加了2,200萬美元，其中包括1,200萬美元的ERP減值。淨利成長的一個重要驅動因素是利息支出減少，這主要得益於SPAC交易和後續的債務再融資。當然，現金利息支出也相應減少了5,900萬美元，這無疑也促進了自由現金流的年增長。

Cash used for [working capital] declined $44 million, but a good portion of this benefit in the quarter was due to the timing of favorable cash receipts at the end of June, we estimate between $20 million and $30 million that we otherwise expected to receive in the third quarter. Second quarter free cash flow also benefited from lower capital expenditures, but a good portion of this reduction was also due to timing as we deferred CapEx investment to the second half of the year based on the COVID-19 uncertainty we were managing at the beginning of the quarter.

營運資金的現金減少了4,400萬美元，但本季的大部分收益得益於6月底收到的一筆有利現金收入，我們估計這筆收入在2,000萬美元至3,000萬美元之間，而我們原本預計這筆收入將在第三季收到。第二季度自由現金流也受益於資本支出的減少，但這一減少的大部分也是由於時間安排的原因，因為在本季度初，考慮到新冠疫情帶來的不確定性，我們將資本支出投資推遲到了下半年。

Next, turning to Slide 10. This page summarizes our financial guidance for the third quarter, as we illustrated in the earnings release. Although uncertainty surrounding COVID-19 has certainly mitigated since we spoke in early May, there is still lack of sufficient visibility to provide specific financial guidance beyond a few months. Accordingly, we provide our expectations for only third quarter, and this guidance assumes that what we experienced in July continues through August and September, which, of course, is subject to change based upon uncertainty with COVID-19. We are effectively approaching financial guidance for this year, 1 quarter at a time.

接下來，請看第10頁投影片。本頁總結了我們在獲利報告中闡述的第三季財務預期。儘管自5月初以來，圍繞新冠疫情的不確定性已有所緩解，但目前仍缺乏足夠的資訊來提供未來幾個月的具體財務預期。因此，我們僅提供第三季的預期，並且該預期假設7月份的情況將持續到8月和9月，當然，這會根據新冠疫情的不確定性而有所變化。我們實際上是按季度逐步製定今年的財務預期。

Based upon what we know today, we expect third quarter organic net sales to increase between 4% and 6% from last year's third quarter. And although projected organic growth from prior year differs by region, with Americas expected to be relatively flat and APAC and EMEA expected to grow mid- to upper single digits, all 3 regions should grow sequentially from the second quarter in upper single digits. This sequential growth is not driven by seasonality as our third quarter net sales declined sequentially from the second quarter in each of the last 2 years. Of course, we expect third quarter net sales in all 3 regions to continue to be negatively influenced by COVID-19 and our top line results will be dependent upon access to customer sites and our customers' ability and willingness to accept shipments.

根據我們目前掌握的信息，我們預計第三季有機淨銷售額將比去年同期成長4%至6%。儘管各地區的有機成長預期有所不同（美洲地區預計基本持平，亞太和歐洲、中東及非洲地區預計實現中高個位數成長），但所有三個地區的環比成長預計都將達到接近兩位數。這種環比成長並非受季節性因素驅動，因為過去兩年我們的第三季淨銷售額均較上季下降。當然，我們預計所有三個地區的第三季淨銷售額將繼續受到新冠疫情的負面影響，最終業績將取決於能否順利進入客戶現場以及客戶接收貨物的能力和意願。

We expect third quarter adjusted EBITDA of approximately $150 million at the midpoint, 10% higher than last year's third quarter, and adjusted EBITDA margin to expand approximately 90 basis points at the midpoint, primarily driven by relatively flat fixed cost, fixed cost constant, while top line is growing mid-single digits.

我們預計第三季調整後 EBITDA 中位數約為 1.5 億美元，比去年第三季成長 10%；調整後 EBITDA 利潤率中位數約為 90 個基點，主要原因是固定成本相對持平，固定成本保持不變，而營收則以中等個位數成長。

Comparing our third quarter guidance to our second quarter results, although top line is expected to grow approximately 10% sequentially at the midpoint, adjusted EBITDA is expected to expand less than 5%. Relatively lower profit growth is driven by higher projected fixed costs in the third quarter versus the second quarter, primarily due to a $20 million reduction in the benefit from COVID-19 cost actions. In addition, we plan that despite the uncertainty related to COVID-19 to continue the ramp-up of R&D and growth initiative spending in the third quarter. Third quarter contribution margin as a percentage of sales is expected to remain relatively consistent with the second quarter.

與第二季業績相比，儘管我們預期第三季營收將季增約10%（取中間值），但調整後EBITDA預計增幅不足5%。利潤成長相對放緩的主要原因是第三季度預計固定成本高於第二季度，這主要是由於新冠疫情相關成本控制措施的收益減少了2000萬美元。此外，儘管新冠疫情存在不確定性，我們仍計劃在第三季繼續加大研發和成長計畫的投資。預計第三季貢獻毛利率（佔銷售額的百分比）將與第二季保持基本一致。

With that said, I turn it back over to Rob.

說完這些，我把麥克風交還給羅布。

Thanks, David. Turning to Slide 11. Here's a bit more detail regarding our perspective on 2021. From our radar screen right now, we see the cloud, colocation and telecom markets continuing to be pretty healthy entering into 2021. It's clearly too early to call what the enterprise market will look like, but the total data center landscape we are still expecting to see a growth.

謝謝，David。請看第11張投影片。這裡更詳細地介紹一下我們對2021年的看法。根據我們目前的觀察，雲端運算、託管和電信市場在進入2021年後仍將保持相當健康的態勢。現在預測企業市場的發展趨勢顯然還為時過早，但我們仍然預期整個資料中心領域將保持成長。

Our record backlog of $1.8 billion gives us good visibility and confidence on the revenue side. And towards the back half of 2021, we will start seeing the R&D investments pay off with even more products and solutions hitting the market. On the margin side, as we've discussed several times, we are firm believers and practicers of holding fixed cost constant, and those efforts will be in full swing during 2021. To this end, we plan to announce restructuring actions in Q3, which we will expect to reduce fixed costs by approximately $50 million to $70 million, plus additional variable cost benefit. These projects are varied and are entering into the final scoping stages.

我們創紀錄的18億美元積壓訂單讓我們對營收前景充滿信心。 2021年下半年，研發投入將開始產生回報，更多產品和解決方案將陸續上市。在利潤率方面，正如我們多次強調的，我們始終堅持並實踐保持固定成本不變的策略，並將在2021年全面推進。為此，我們計劃在第三季宣布重組計劃，預計將節省約5,000萬至7,000萬美元的固定成本，並帶來額外的變動成本效益。這些項目種類繁多，目前正處於最終的方案製定階段。

To support these fixed cost reduction projects, we anticipate incurring cash costs between $50 million and $70 million, including capital, and we will evaluate these cash costs for a likely restructuring reserve to be recorded in third quarter. So while it's too early, we did want to provide you with a glimpse of what we potentially are seeing play out in 2021, at least based on what we know today.

為了支持這些固定成本削減項目，我們預計將產生 5,000 萬至 7,000 萬美元的現金支出，其中包括資本支出。我們將評估這些現金支出，並可能在第三季計入重組準備金。雖然現在下結論還為時過早，但我們還是想讓您初步了解一下 2021 年可能出現的情況，至少根據我們目前掌握的資訊來看是這樣。

Now turning to Slide 12 and in closing. I want to thank you for your support over the past quarter and in the quarters to come. We participate in a great industry where we have a leadership position and never has critical digital infrastructure to support vital application been so important as it is now. Our backlog, the fixed cost constant approach we have implemented and our liquidity positions are in great shape as we continue to operate during this dynamic time. We continue to invest in the future while simultaneously managing for today. This strategic approach will prepare us to even be more successful when we emerge from this pandemic, and the world adapts to a new normal.

現在請看第12張投影片，也是最後，我要感謝各位在過去一個季度以及未來幾季給予的支持。我們身處一個偉大的產業，並佔據著領先地位。如今，支撐關鍵應用的數位化基礎設施的重要性前所未有。我們目前的訂單儲備、我們實施的固定成本策略以及流動性狀況都非常良好，我們將繼續在這個充滿挑戰的時期穩步發展。我們將繼續投資未來，同時也兼顧當下的營運。這種策略方針將幫助我們在疫情結束後，在世界適應新常態時，取得更大的成功。

Thank you for your support. Stay healthy. I'll now turn the call over to the operator, who will open it up for questions.

感謝您的支持。祝您身體健康。現在我將把電話轉交給接線員，由他/她來回答問題。

(Operator Instructions) Today's first question comes from Scott Davis with Melius Research.

（操作說明）今天的第一個問題來自 Melius Research 的 Scott Davis。

It looks encouraging, the results look encouraging. Outlook looks encouraging. So happy about that. Anyway, I want to get color on a couple of things, if you don't mind, and I hope you can hear me okay. We still have a power outage here in -- where I live in the Northeast, but...

看起來令人鼓舞，結果令人鼓舞。前景令人鼓舞。真高興。總而言之，我想補充幾件事，如果您不介意的話，希望您能聽清楚。我住在東北部，這裡仍然停電，但是…

We can hear fine.

我們聽力很好。

Good. The $60 million cost out for the year, that -- is there any of that $60 million that you think you could hold on to into 2021? I assume these are mostly like lower T&E and things like that, lower comp accruals. But are there parts of that you think that could become permanent, not temporary?

好的。今年支出6000萬美元，這其中有多少可以留到2021年？我猜這主要是差旅費之類的支出，以及較低的薪資預提。但你認為其中哪些部分可以變成永久性的，而不是暫時的？

Yes, Scott, this is David. Absolutely. So you hit it on the head, about $20 million of that is discretionary related to T&E, and that is certainly the bucket of costs that we are targeting to effectively keep out of the business heading into next year. And we certainly have learned a new way of doing our business while doing things virtually. So that $20 million, we certainly would target to keep out of the business. But just a quick point. With the macro goal of keeping fixed costs constant, we will target to even offset the other $40 million. So that $40 million, if it does come back into the business, our planning heading into 2021 would be to identify other reductions to offset it. So effectively realizing the benefit of the full $60 million heading into 2021.

是的，史考特，我是大衛。沒錯。你說得對，其中約2000萬美元是與差旅相關的可自由支配支出，這當然是我們明年要努力避免納入業務成本的重點。而且，我們確實在遠距辦公方面學到了一種新的業務模式。所以，這2000萬美元，我們一定會努力避免納入業務。但還有一點要說明。考慮到保持固定成本不變的宏觀目標，我們的目標是抵銷另外4000萬美元。所以，如果這4000萬美元最終納入業務，我們2021年的計劃是尋找其他削減項目來抵消它。這樣，我們就能有效利用2021年全部6000萬美元的收益。

Okay. Helpful. And then just kind of technical question here. The 5G projects, I would imagine they would be somewhat lumpy, maybe not as visible as traditional data center, but I really don't know. It's a newer market, obviously. But can you help us understand what those projects typically look like? And how they might differ from a traditional data center project?

好的，很有幫助。接下來我有個技術方面的問題。我猜想5G專案可能會比較複雜，也許不像傳統資料中心那麼顯而易見，但我也不確定。畢竟這是一個新興市場。您能幫我們了解一下這些項目通常是什麼樣的嗎？它們與傳統資料中心專案有何不同？

Sure. Scott, this is Rob Johnson. Yes, what we're seeing -- China announced a while back during the COVID, part of their stimulus was to really go after 5G and expand. So they put tens of billions of dollars into doing that. Those projects tend to be smaller, but tend to be tens of thousands of sites. And basically, with 5G, what you have to do is go into that cell tower, upgrade the power system because 5G does require more power and maybe upgrade the thermal. So the opportunity for us is lots of little sites, but tens of thousands of those. And that's what we're seeing certainly happen in China, and we participate really well in China when it comes to the 5G rollout.

當然。史考特，我是羅伯約翰遜。是的，我們看到──中國在新冠疫情期間宣布，其刺激計畫的一部分是大力發展和擴展5G網路。為此，他們投入了數百億美元。這些專案規模通常較小，但往往涉及數萬個基地台。基本上，5G的建造需要對基地台進行改造，升級電力系統，因為5G需要更高的功率，可能還需要升級散熱系統。因此，我們的機會在於建造許多小型基地台，但數量卻有數萬個。這正是我們在中國看到的，而且我們在5G部署方面也積極參與其中。

Same thing in the U.S., what you're finding is the networks get very constrained because of all the work-from-home, school-from-home. People are upgrading those networks, upgrading, maintaining and upgrading the equipment there. And 5G is, as you know, kind of a race between China and the U.S. of who can get there faster. So we're enjoying that, and I think that trend will continue, not necessarily lumpy, but pretty steady over the next couple of years.

美國的情況也一樣，由於居家辦公和居家學習的普及，網路頻寬變得非常緊張。人們正在升級網路、維護和更新設備。眾所周知，5G 的發展目前是中美兩國之間的一場競賽，看誰能更快實現。我們正在享受這一發展帶來的便利，我認為這種趨勢將會持續下去，未來幾年應該會比較穩定，不會出現波動。

Okay. Good luck, guys. And congrats Dave Cote on the book. It's a great read. I loved it.

好的。祝你們好運。也祝賀戴夫·科特的新書出版。這本書很棒，我非常喜歡。

You're very kind, Scott, and I appreciate the plug for the book and please, I have to admit I enjoyed yours also, especially that Honeywell chapter. And we hope that in the next book you write, Vertiv will show up.

史考特，你真是太好了，謝謝你推薦我的書。說實話，我也很喜歡你的書，特別是關於霍尼韋爾的那一章。我們希望在你的下一本書裡能看到Vertiv的身影。

I hope so. Good luck. I hope it works out.

但願如此。祝你好運。希望一切順利。

And our next question today comes from Nicole DeBlase with Deutsche Bank.

今天的下一個問題來自德意志銀行的妮可·德布萊斯。

Yes. I thought that the framework around 3Q was helpful, some of the regional color by the top line. But following up on that, is it possible for you guys to kind of parse out -- do you expect to see EBITDA margins up year-on-year across all 3 regions like you were able to do this quarter? Or is there any lumpiness things that we should be aware of?

是的。我認為第三季的框架很有幫助，尤其是按營收劃分的區域性數據。但我想進一步探討一下，你們能否詳細分析一下——你們預計所有三個區域的 EBITDA 利潤率是否都能像本季一樣較去年同期成長？或者是否有任何需要我們注意的波動因素？

Yes. Nicole, this is David Fallon. I would say, although we don't want to necessarily give guidance in particular by region, our expectation would be that, that would be spread across all 3 regions. Implicit in the guide is effectively that fixed cost will be flat this year versus last year. And based on the leverage across the 3 regions, we would anticipate EBITDA margins to increase globally. And that's even with contribution margin likely staying relatively flat. So we would anticipate higher adjusted EBITDA margins to be spread across all 3 regions.

是的，妮可，我是大衛法倫。雖然我們不想具體針對某個地區給出業績指引，但我們預計，所有三個地區的業績都將有所提升。該指引的隱含前提是，今年的固定成本將與去年持平。基於三個地區的槓桿水平，我們預計全球 EBITDA 利潤率將有所提高。即使邊際貢獻利潤率可能保持相對穩定，我們也能做出同樣的預測。因此，我們預計所有三個地區的調整後 EBITDA 利潤率都將有所提高。

Got it. Okay. And then totally understand the lack of visibility here in the current environment. But just as we're framing our own models into the fourth quarter, what kind of seasonality do you guys typically see that we should be aware of? And I guess on top of that, the large project lumpiness, is there anything to think about with respect to year-on-year versus 4Q '19?

明白了。好的。我也完全理解目前環境下資訊不明朗的問題。但就在我們建構第四季模型的時候，你們通常會觀察到哪些季節性因素是我們應該注意的？另外，除了大型專案帶來的波動之外，與去年同期相比，還有什麼需要考慮的嗎？

Yes. Nicole, I'll start, and then David can chime in. Typically, the second half of the year is bigger than the first half. So that's kind of -- and fourth quarter, it's typically our largest quarter in the year. The big projects ebb and flow, and sometimes we talk about that and say, we had a big project in EMEA this year, and we didn't -- that didn't repeat itself. But what I would say is what we're seeing is strength, as we talked about, Nicole, and hyperscale, which tend to be larger projects, and we're seeing that not just in any particular region, but all the regions. And what's going to be important for us going forward for the second half is how site access and how delivery and how the availability of the trades are there to be able to deliver. There's certainly, as you can see by our backlog, a pent-up demand and trade constraints can be a problem, inside access can be a problem. But in general, we'll see for certain a larger Q3 and then a larger Q4.

是的。妮可，我先說，然後大衛可以補充。通常來說，下半年的業績會比上半年好。所以，第四季通常是我們一年中業績最大的季度。大型專案有起有落，我們有時會談到這一點，例如今年我們在歐洲、中東和非洲地區有一個大項目，但之後就沒再出現。但我想說的是，正如我們之前妮可提到的，我們看到的是強勁的增長勢頭，以及超大規模項目（通常規模更大）的增長，而且這種增長不僅出現在某個特定地區，而是所有地區都出現了。展望下半年，對我們來說，關鍵在於現場准入、交付以及各工種人員的可用性，以確保能夠按時交付。當然，正如你從我們的積壓訂單中看到的，需求積壓和人員短缺可能會造成問題，內部存取也可能成為問題。但總的來說，我們肯定會看到第三季和第四季的業績都比上半年更好。

And our next question today comes from Lance Vitanza with Cowen.

今天的下一個問題來自 Cowen 公司的 Lance Vitanza。

I guess I want to just sort of better understand the 3Q guide for adjusted EBITDA. In the context, just given how strong the performance was in the second quarter and the favorable revenue guide for Q3, I thought that the adjusted EBITDA guide seemed -- actually seemed a little light as you have margin on a quarter-on-quarter basis actually going down about 75 basis points or so despite sequential sales growth.

我想更深入地了解第三季調整後 EBITDA 的預期。考慮到第二季強勁的業績以及第三季較為樂觀的營收預期，我認為調整後 EBITDA 的預期似乎——實際上似乎有點低，因為儘管銷售額環比增長，但利潤率卻環比下降了約 75 個基點。

So I'm just wondering, I know, obviously, you talked a little bit about the COVID cost actions, the $30 million that benefited the second quarter. And I guess I would have thought -- I know you talked about this a couple of seconds ago, but a little bit more would have kind of carried into the third quarter. So I'm just wondering, to what extent are you -- are you giving yourselves just some room to maneuver here? Or is there something in particular that we should be thinking about that would lead to that kind of a margin performance in the third quarter?

所以我想問一下，我知道您剛才提到了一些新冠疫情相關的成本控制措施，例如第二季節省的3000萬美元。我原本以為──我知道您剛才也提到了──這些措施應該能更延續到第三季。所以我想問的是，你們是否給自己留了一些迴旋餘地？或者說，我們是否應該特別關注某些因素，才能在第三季達到這樣的利潤率表現？

Yes. Thanks, Lance. This is David. And first, I'll lead off. We always like the midpoint of our guidance. We likely will provide ranges, but we're generally comfortable at the midpoint. And I can help you with the $150 million adjusted EBITDA at the midpoint and how that walks from the $145 million from the second quarter. So being a finance guy, we try to get things as quantitative as possible. So we have about $100 million increase in sales from Q2 to Q3. And if you throw a 40% to 45% contribution margin against that, you get about $40 million, $45 million of benefit. And the headwind is certainly going to be on the fixed cost side as we talked about on -- in the prepared remarks. And that could be in that $35 million plus range. And $20 million of that is going to be related to lower benefits from the COVID actions. And these are things that we benefited from in Q2 that we won't benefit in -- from -- in Q3, including furloughs and in certain geographies, we were able to receive some government subsidies. So that's a good portion of the higher fixed costs.

是的，謝謝，蘭斯。我是大衛。首先，我先說。我們通常喜歡採用業績指引的中點。我們可能會給出一個區間，但一般來說，我們對中點比較滿意。我可以幫您解釋一下，調整後 EBITDA 中點為 1.5 億美元，與第二季的 1.45 億美元相比是如何變化的。身為財務人員，我們力求盡可能量化分析。第三季銷售額比第二季成長了約 1 億美元。如果加上 40% 到 45% 的貢獻毛利率，那麼收益大約在 4,000 萬到 4,500 萬美元之間。正如我們在準備好的演講稿中所提到的，不利因素肯定在於固定成本方面。這部分成本可能在 3500 萬美元以上。其中 2,000 萬美元與新冠疫情因應措施帶來的收益減少有關。這些是我們第二季受益的因素，在第三季將不再適用，包括員工休假以及在某些地區獲得的政府補貼。因此，這構成了固定成本上升的很大一部分。

The other component is our commitment to continue to invest in strategic initiatives. And this is something that we talked about on the last couple of calls. Heading into this year, our plan was to continue to invest in R&D. As we continue to increase that spend as a percentage of sales, we continue to invest in markets that we believe have higher potential and profitable growth, including the channel. In addition, we have some digital projects that we continue to invest in. So the spending for those strategic initiatives ramp-up in the third quarter. And that explains the remainder of the fixed costs increase sequentially from Q2 to Q3.

另一個組成部分是我們致力於持續投資策略舉措。我們在最近幾次電話會議上也談到了這一點。今年年初，我們的計畫是繼續加大研發投入。隨著研發支出佔銷售額比例的不斷提高，我們將繼續投資於我們認為具有更高潛力和獲利成長的市場，包括通路。此外，我們也持續投資一些數位化專案。因此，這些策略舉措的支出將在第三季大幅增加。這也解釋了為什麼固定成本從第二季到第三季較上季成長。

Super helpful. If I could just squeeze in one more on liquidity. You mentioned that you're less worried about -- even less worried about liquidity, given the outperformance on cash flow in the second quarter. So the implication of that is that, that $60 million of cash was not pulled forward from what you otherwise would have expected to generate in the second half. And I know you talked about you're still expecting a good second half. But it sounds like this is really like just incremental to what you would have expected when you were making your budget, say, at the beginning of the year. Is that fair?

非常有用。如果可以的話，我想再補充一點關於流動性的問題。您提到，鑑於第二季現金流表現優異，您對流動性的擔憂有所減少——甚至可以說是完全沒有擔憂。這意味著，這6000萬美元的現金並非來自您原本預期在下半年產生的資金。我知道您說過您仍預期下半年會表現良好。但這聽起來更像是您在年初制定預算時預期之外的額外增長。這樣理解對嗎？

I think that's partially fair. Mr. Cote always reminds us how conservative finance guys can be. And when we look at cash flow, we certainly error on the side of being a little bit more conservative. But our second quarter free cash flow performance certainly was encouraging. I think at this time in May, we hint it towards maybe a slightly negative free cash flow for Q2. So we certainly outperformed that. I did mention some of the favorable performance was based on timing of cash receipts. So we received between $20 million and $30 million literally in the last day of the month that we had anticipated to receive sometime mid-July. So that's helped and certainly would borrow from Q3.

我認為這部分說得有道理。科特先生總是提醒我們，財務人員通常都很保守。在分析現金流時，我們當然會更加謹慎。但我們第二季的自由現金流表現確實令人鼓舞。我記得五月的時候，我們曾預測第二季的自由現金流可能會略微為負。所以我們目前的業績確實超出了預期。我之前也提到過，部分利多因素在於現金到帳的時間。我們在五月底的最後一天就收到了原本預計在七月中旬才能收到的2000萬到3000萬美元。這筆款項確實有所幫助，而且肯定會對第三季的業績有所好處。

But even with that taken into account, our Q2 free cash flow was better than what we anticipated. And certainly, lends to the optimism that we have both for liquidity and related free cash flow generation for Q3 and Q4.

但即便考慮到這些因素，我們第二季的自由現金流仍然比預期好。這無疑增強了我們對第三季和第四季流動性及相關自由現金流的樂觀態度。

And Lance, just one little -- just further color on that, I would say that you, I think, used the words maybe less worried. We're not worried about our liquidity. We actually feel really good about our liquidity position, where we're going through this COVID-19 time. So there's no worries, and we only see that getting stronger as we get to finish throughout the rest of this second half of the year.

蘭斯，我再補充一點——我想說的是，你剛才用了「或許沒那麼擔心」這個詞。我們並不擔心流動性問題。事實上，我們對目前的流動性狀況非常滿意，尤其是在新冠疫情期間。所以我們沒有任何擔憂，而且我們預計，隨著下半年的推進，我們的流動性狀況只會越來越好。

(Operator Instructions) Our next question today comes from Mark Delaney at GS.

（操作說明）我們今天的下一個問題來自 GS 公司的 Mark Delaney。

I was hoping first to better understand the comments the company was making about backlog. And if I understood properly, the company is expecting backlog to be at a good level exiting the year. Can you elaborate on what's giving the company the confidence that the backlog is going to stay high as you move through the rest of this year?

我首先希望能更好地理解貴公司關於積壓訂單的評論。如果我理解正確的話，貴公司預計年底積壓訂單量將保持在良好水準。您能否詳細說明一下，貴公司為何如此確信今年剩餘時間積壓訂單量將保持在高位？

And perhaps you could also speak more specifically to your expectations for the hyperscale portion of your business. And how you're thinking about the sustainability of that end market which certainly has a lot of good secular growth over the long term, as how Dave has described it in the past. But there's some debate in the investment community about whether some of the spending going on in hyperscale this year is pull ahead of demand.

或許您也可以更具體地談談您對公司超大規模業務的預期，以及您如何看待這個終端市場的可持續性。正如戴夫之前所描述的那樣，這個市場在長期內無疑擁有良好的成長前景。但投資界目前存在一些爭議，認為今年超​​大規模領域的一些支出是否超過了實際需求。

Mark, this is Rob Johnson. I'll start off here. First of all, what gives us confidence in the continued strong backlog going into 2021 is our visibility in both our pipeline, which is very strong globally. And what we're seeing from an orders and expectation for orders growth. So we do expect to see orders grow in the second half. And -- so that gives us the confidence going through, those 2 things that I look at, which pipeline is a huge indicator of where things are going. I can't anticipate what's going to happen on the enterprise and small to medium business, but that's even a plus if they come -- the recovery comes faster, I would say, in the second half.

馬克，我是羅伯‧強森。我先來說說。首先，我們對2021年持續強勁的訂單儲備充滿信心，這主要基於我們對全球銷售管道的清晰認知，以及我們從訂單和預期中獲得的成長數據。我們預計下半年訂單量將持續成長。正是這兩點讓我們對未來充滿信心，而銷售通路是衡量市場走向的重要指標。我無法預測企業和中小企業市場的具體情況，但如果它們在下半年能夠更快復甦，那當然是好事。

As it relates to hyperscale, what we're seeing globally is a combination of things. It's not just the hyperscale building out to build out. There's a lot of data sovereignty. You've seen a lot of stuff around people wanting data to stay in their country. So what we're seeing is a proliferation of data centers, and we'll continue to see that really data centers in-country, for-country type of thing. And there's a lot of build out going on in Europe. Europe is red hot when it comes to that. Certainly seeing it in the Middle East, Africa. And then just really around the world, South America. So we continue to see data is not slowing down, the rate of growth of data that has to be processed and stored. So we're not looking at this as a bubble that hyperscale is building out or colocation is building out too much capacity.

就超大規模資料中心而言，我們目前在全球範圍內看到的是多種因素的綜合作用。這不僅是超大規模資料中心為了擴張而擴張的問題。數據主權問題也十分突出。我們看到很多人希望資料留在本國境內。因此，我們看到資料中心數量激增，而且這種「在地化、服務於本國」的資料中心趨勢還將持續下去。歐洲的資料中心建設尤為火熱。當然，中東、非洲以及世界各地，包括南美洲，也都在積極推動這個趨勢。因此，我們看到資料成長速度並未放緩，需要處理和儲存的資料量仍在持續成長。所以我們並不認為超大規模資料中心或託管資料中心的過度擴張是個泡沫。

From our lens, the next 18, 24 months, we see just a strong demand and a need for data centers. There was a pause as we talked about last year, a little bit of digestion, as I'd say. I'd say we're probably a little bit behind now in order to fulfill the capacity that's needed. So we do expect to see hyperscale grow. But we lump hyperscale and colocation together because a lot of the colocation companies, certainly outside of the U.S., are providing that capacity for those hyperscalers.

從我們的角度來看，未來18到24個月，資料中心的需求仍然強勁。正如我們去年提到的，市場出現了一段停滯期，可以說是需要一些時間來消化。我認為，目前我們在滿足市場所需容量方面可能略有滯後。因此，我們預計超大規模資料中心將會成長。但我們將超大規模資料中心和託管資料中心放在一起討論，因為許多託管資料中心公司，尤其是在美國以外的地區，都在為這些超大規模資料中心提供容量。

That's very helpful. For my second question, I was hoping to better understand some of the dynamics in the channel business. And the company talked about it being soft. I think that was just from a cyclical and end market perspective, but taking share within channel has been one of the opportunities the company has focused on. Has that share gain opportunity been disruptive because of the COVID challenges and some of that end market weakness? Or do you still feel confident about the company's ability to take share within the channel business over time?

這很有幫助。我的第二個問題是，我希望更了解通路業務的一些動態。公司提到通路業務目前疲軟。我認為這只是從週期性和終端市場角度來看的，但提升通路份額一直是公司關注的重點機會之一。新冠疫情帶來的挑戰以及終端市場的疲軟是否對提升通路份額造成了乾擾？或者您仍然對公司長期提升通路份額的能力充滿信心？

Yes. No, great question. And you know channel is a huge part of our strategy and a huge investment for us. Pre-COVID, we felt really good about our execution in the channel on a global basis that we were taking share, and we're doing that through providing innovative products and new solutions.

是的。沒錯，問得好。您也知道，通路是我們策略的重要組成部分，也是我們一項龐大的投資。在新冠疫情爆發前，我們對全球通路的執行情況非常滿意，市場份額不斷擴大，而我們正是透過提供創新產品和全新解決方案來實現這一目標的。

We've had a plethora of launches and we'll continue to launch throughout this year and broaden our scope of offering of innovative products and solutions, as well as being that easy-to-do, easy-button-to-go-to company. And being less distributed or, I would call, under distributed, not over distributed, like some of our competition and picking who we want to do business with has really helped us concentrate, focus and gain share and get closer and tighter with them.

我們已經推出了一系列產品，今年也將繼續推出新品，拓展創新產品和解決方案的範圍，同時努力成為一家操作便利、用戶可以輕鬆上手的公司。與一些競爭對手過度分散（或我更願意稱之為「分散程度較低」）不同，我們採取的是精簡型分銷模式，而不是過度分散。我們謹慎選擇合作夥伴，這確實幫助我們集中精力，提升市場份額，並與他們建立更緊密的合作關係。

So what I would say is while the overall channel has been impacted by the small and medium business, we expect that to come back at some point in time, and we'll continue to execute and be in a much stronger position because we continue to launch new products and programs in the channel.

因此，我想說的是，雖然整個管道都受到了中小企業的影響，但我們預計這種情況會在某個時候恢復，我們將繼續執行計劃，並處於更強大的地位，因為我們將繼續在通路中推出新產品和項目。

So I'm very bullish on a global basis that we'll see, as the recovery comes back, us doing what we said we're going to do, and that's take share and grow in some new categories in the channel space.

因此，我對全球市場前景非常樂觀，隨著經濟復甦，我們將實現我們所說的目標，即在通路領域的一些新類別中搶佔份額並實現成長。

Just lastly for me. I do want to better understand the impact of COVID on your business this year. I think in the first quarter call, the company had talked about $80 million of revenue and $30 million of EBITDA that was negatively impacted because of COVID. And I apologize if I just missed it, I didn't catch an update on what COVID may have done to fundamentals in the second quarter. Is there any more quantitative or qualitative color you can provide about how COVID may be impacting your ability to complete projects in 2Q or in the 3Q guidance from a revenue and a cost perspective?

最後，我想更深入了解新冠疫情對貴公司今年業務的影響。我記得在第一季財報電話會議上，貴公司提到受疫情影響，營收減少了8,000萬美元，EBITDA減少了3,000萬美元。如果我錯過了相關信息，請見諒，我沒有聽到關於疫情對第二季度基本面影響的更新。您能否提供更多關於疫情如何影響貴公司第二季度專案完成能力以及第三季營收和成本預期方面的量化或定性數據？

Yes. I think as Rob mentioned in his prepared remarks that certain geographies certainly continue to be negatively impacted. And certainly, if you look at lower year-over-year sales, those are a lot easier to attribute directly to COVID. I would say, universally, if you look at our production and operations that we had a minimal impact, being able to procure supply and produce product and we had very little operational issues, if you will. So we didn't specifically call out a dollar impact on the top line related to COVID. And that's primarily because we look at everything that we're dealing with today as kind of fungible with COVID-19.

是的。正如羅佈在事先準備好的演講稿中所提到的，某些地區確實持續受到負面影響。當然，如果看同比銷售額下降，這更容易直接歸因於新冠疫情。但就整體而言，如果我們審視一下我們的生產和運營，就會發現受到的影響微乎其微，我們能夠採購原材料並生產產品，而且幾乎沒有遇到任何營運問題。因此，我們沒有明確指出新冠疫情對營收造成了具體的金額影響。這主要是因為我們認為目前面臨的所有問題都與新冠疫情密切相關。

So overall, I think, organically, our sales were off $100 million versus last year. One of the things that we called out specifically in the first quarter year-over-year was the impact of large projects. And that certainly impacted us in Q2, but it was more regional based. If you look at it overall, we probably only had about a $5 million headwind from the timing of large projects from last year's second quarter. So if you want to attribute the remainder reduction of the $95 million to COVID, I wouldn't stop you, but it's really hard for us to specifically say what subcomponents of that $90 million is COVID or that we otherwise would have been able to deliver to customers.

所以總的來說，我認為，就自然成長而言，我們的銷售額比去年同期減少了1億美元。我們在第一季同比報告中特別提到了大型專案的影響。這確實對我們第二季的業績產生了影響，但這種影響更體現在區域層面。從整體來看，去年第二季大型專案的進度安排可能只為我們帶來了約500萬美元的負面影響。因此，如果您想將剩餘的9500萬美元減少歸因於新冠疫情，我不會阻止您，但我們很難具體指出這9000萬美元中的哪些部分是新冠疫情造成的，哪些部分是我們原本可以交付給客戶的。

There are no further questions at this time. So that ends the Q&A session. I would like to turn the conference back over to Rob Johnson for any closing remarks.

目前沒有其他問題了。問答環節到此結束。現在我將會議交還給羅伯·約翰遜，請他作總結發言。

Thank you, operator. I'm going to close the call by thanking our 19,000 plus employees around the world for their hard work that they're doing every day to take care of our customers. We appreciate everyone's time today. As I said earlier, please stay safe, and we look forward to speaking with you again. Thank you.

謝謝接線生。我要結束這通通話，並感謝我們全球超過19,000名員工每天為客戶服務所付出的辛勤努力。感謝大家今天抽出時間。正如我之前所說，請注意安全，我們期待再次與您通話。謝謝。

The conference has now concluded. Thank you for attending today's presentation. You may now disconnect, and have a wonderful day.

會議到此結束。感謝您參加今天的報告。您可以斷開連接了，祝您度過美好的一天。