Willdan Group Inc (WLDN) 2024 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Greetings, and welcome to the Willdan Group third-quarter 2024 financial results conference call. (Operator Instructions) As a reminder, this conference is being recorded.

大家好，歡迎參加 Willdan Group 2024 年第三季財務業績電話會議。（操作員指示）提醒一下，本次會議正在錄音。

It is now my pleasure to introduce Al Kaschalk. Thank you, Al. You may begin.

現在我很高興介紹 Al Kaschalk。謝謝你，艾爾。你可以開始了。

Thank you, Julian. Good afternoon, everyone, and welcome to Willdan Group's third quarter fiscal 2024 earnings call. Joining our call today are Mike Bieber, President and Chief Executive Officer; and Kim Early, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer.

謝謝你，朱利安。大家下午好，歡迎參加 Willdan Group 2024 財年第三季財報電話會議。今天參加我們電話會議的有總裁兼執行長 Mike Bieber；以及執行副總裁兼財務長 Kim Early。

Our conference call remarks will include both GAAP and non-GAAP financial results. Reconciliations between GAAP and non-GAAP measures can be found in today's press release and in the presentation slides, all of which are available on our website. Please note that year-over-year commentary on variances on revenue, adjusted EBITDA and adjusted EPS discussed during our prepared remarks are on an organic basis.

我們的電話會議評論將包括 GAAP 和非 GAAP 財務結果。您可以在今天的新聞稿和簡報幻燈片中找到 GAAP 和非 GAAP 指標之間的對帳表，所有這些都可以在我們的網站上找到。請注意，我們在準備好的評論中討論的收入、調整後 EBITDA 和調整後 EPS 的同比差異評論都是基於有機基礎的。

We will make forward-looking statements about our performance. These statements are based on how we see things today. While we may elect to update these forward-looking statements at some point in the future, we do not undertake any obligation to do so. As described in our SEC filings, actual results may differ materially due to risks and uncertainties.

我們將對我們的業績做出前瞻性的陳述。這些表述是基於我們今天對事物的看法。雖然我們可能選擇在未來某個時間點更新這些前瞻性陳述，但我們不承擔任何義務。正如我們提交給美國證券交易委員會 (SEC) 的文件所述，由於風險和不確定性，實際結果可能存在重大差異。

With that, I'll hand the call over to Mike.

說完這些，我將把電話交給麥克。

Thanks, Al. We had a record third quarter, exceeding consensus estimates and our own expectations. Contract revenue was up 19% organically and adjusted EBITDA was up 50% year-over-year. Adjusted EPS doubled and GAAP EPS was up more than 4 times year-over-year.

謝謝，艾爾。我們的第三季創下了紀錄，超出了普遍預期和我們自己的預期。合約收入有機成長 19%，調整後 EBITDA 年成長 50%。調整後每股盈餘翻倍，GAAP 每股盈餘年增逾 4 倍。

During Q3, all lines of business were strong. We continue to do a good job of converting revenue into free cash flow. Through three quarters, we have generated $2.30 of free cash flow per share, an outstanding result. I'm proud of the team's consistent excellent performance.

第三季度，所有業務線均表現強勁。我們繼續做好將收入轉化為自由現金流的工作。經過三個季度，我們每股產生了 2.30 美元的自由現金流，這是一個出色的成績。我為球隊持續出色的表現感到自豪。

Given our year-to-date results and our continued momentum, we are raising our full year financial targets, which Kim will expand on later. We are confident in Willdan's growth trajectory as we support our clients in meeting critical energy and efficiency and decarbonization goals. Demand for electrical power is rising, along with a heightened focus on energy security and expanded grid investments.

鑑於我們今年迄今的業績和持續的發展勢頭，我們正在提高全年財務目標，Kim 稍後將對此進行詳細說明。我們對 Willdan 的成長軌跡充滿信心，因為我們支持我們的客戶實現關鍵的能源和效率以及脫碳目標。隨著人們對能源安全的關注度不斷提高以及電網投資的擴大，電力需求正在上升。

On slide 3. Willdan helps transition communities to clean energy and a more sustainable future. For the first time, we are now over 1,700 employees, comprised mostly of scientists, engineers, and technical professionals. We have 53 offices across North America and help clients avoid emissions of 7.8 million metric tons of greenhouse gases. Willdan's work is a significant contributor to US greenhouse gas reductions, particularly in the densely populated coastal states.

在投影片 3 上。Willdan 幫助社區過渡到清潔能源和更永續的未來。我們的員工人數首次超過 1,700 人，其中大部分是科學家、工程師和技術專業人員。我們在北美設有 53 個辦事處，協助客戶避免排放 780 萬公噸溫室氣體。威爾丹的工作對美國減少溫室氣體排放做出了重大貢獻，特別是在人口稠密的沿海各州。

Commercial customers comprised 7%, government customers are now 50%, and utilities are 43% of our revenue. Demand for our services with all three customer groups is healthy. Our work for commercial customers has largely been related to energy usage at data centers. AI-driven load growth is providing Willdan with many new commercial opportunities to help technology clients navigate electricity constraints. We would like to add additional acquisitions that strengthen our capabilities with commercial customers.

商業客戶占我們收入的 7%，政府客戶佔 50%，公用事業佔 43%。這三類客戶群對我們服務的需求都很旺盛。我們為商業客戶所做的工作主要與資料中心的能源使用有關。人工智慧驅動的負載成長為 Willdan 提供了許多新的商業機會，幫助技術客戶克服電力限制。我們希望透過其他收購來增強我們與商業客戶合作的能力。

Our work for government clients is growing organically at a double-digit pace and has remained surprisingly strong all year, and the outlook is positive. Our work for utilities is primarily under multiyear contracts and remains robust.

我們為政府客戶提供的工作正以兩位數的速度有機增長，並且全年保持著令人驚訝的強勁勢頭，前景樂觀。我們為公用事業所做的工作主要都是多年期合約，並且一直保持強勁。

I also want to mention California's energy affordability crisis. Since 2019, PG&E's electricity rates have risen 87%, SCE has risen 79%, and SDG&E has risen 41%. These electricity rate increases have been driven substantially by wildfire preparedness costs due to climate change. The increases made saving electricity in California more cost-effective. Willdan is the largest provider of energy efficiency services to California utilities, and those programs are growing rapidly.

我還想提一下加州的能源可負擔危機。自2019年以來，PG&E的電價上漲了87%，SCE上漲了79%，SDG&E上漲了41%。電價上漲主要是氣候變遷導致的野火防範成本所致。此次增幅使得加州節約電力更具成本效益。Willdan 是加州公用事業公司最大的能源效率服務供應商，其專案正在迅速發展。

On to slide 4. Our upfront policy and data analytics work informs Willdan strategy. In our upfront work, we are seeing particular demand for integrated resource planning and asset valuation on projects often associated with data center electricity load. In engineering, we saw strong geographic expansion in Florida and Texas and continued demand from Southwestern city customers. In program management, we performed above our plan on utility programs and building energy programs for cities.

轉到投影片 4。我們的前期政策和數據分析工作為 Willdan 策略提供了資訊。在我們的前期工作中，我們發現與資料中心電力負荷相關的項目對綜合資源規劃和資產評估有特別的需求。在工程領域，我們看到佛羅裡達州和德克薩斯州的地理擴張勢頭強勁，西南部城市客戶的需求持續成長。在專案管理方面，我們在城市公用事業專案和建築能源專案方面的表現超越了計劃。

The right side of this slide provides an example of how the business model works. More than 10 years ago, E3 started decarbonization and energy consulting work for New York City. That work led to Willdan developing the implementation plan from Local Law 97, a decarbonization strategy for many of New York's largest buildings. This year, we have significantly expanded our work with the New York Power Authority, NYPA, to implement those plans developed years before. NYPA has grown to become Willdan's fifth-largest client this year. We are managing NYPA programs to decarbonize, electrify, and make New York's public facilities more energy efficient.

此投影片的右側提供了商業模式如何運作的範例。十多年前，E3 就開始為紐約市進行脫碳和能源諮詢工作。這項工作促使威爾丹制定了《地方法規 97》的實施計劃，這是紐約許多大型建築的脫碳策略。今年，我們大大擴展了與紐約電力局 (NYPA) 的合作，以實施多年前製定的計劃。NYPA 今年已發展成為 Willdan 的第五大客戶。我們正在管理紐約公共設施管理局 (NYPA) 計劃，以實現脫碳、電氣化並提高紐約公共設施的能源效率。

On to slide 5. We had several notable wins this quarter. We won Phase 2 at Clark County School District, the fifth-largest school district in the country. This $103 million contract is for facility energy upgrades. With SCE, we were awarded a contract expansion for our commercial energy optimization program. In New York, we were awarded a $9 million public building energy efficiency contract with NYPA, one of several NYPA projects we've been awarded this year. We won several contracts in civil engineering, including two contracts with the city of Phoenix and Bellflower. Recently, we have also won several regional and state climate action and TMD studies.

轉到投影片 5。本季我們取得了幾項顯著的勝利。我們贏得了克拉克縣學區（全美第五大學區）第二階段的勝利。這份價值1.03億美元的合約用於設施能源升級。我們與 SCE 簽訂了商業能源優化計劃的合約擴展。在紐約，我們與紐約電力局簽訂了一份價值 900 萬美元的公共建築節能合同，這是我們今年獲得的幾個紐約電力局項目之一。我們贏得了多項土木工程合同，其中包括與鳳凰城和貝爾弗勞爾市簽訂的兩份合約。最近，我們還贏得了許多地區和州氣候行動和 TMD 研究。

Turning to slide 6. We expanded our highly differentiated commercial energy consulting business through the acquisition of Enica Engineering. Enica is a trusted engineering adviser, providing energy, operations, and building automation solutions. Their client base includes global pharmaceutical companies, Regeneron and Novartis; private health care providers, such as Sloan-Kettering; and higher education research institutes, such as NYU. Consistent with our strategy to expand our commercial capabilities, Enica is expected to generate about $10 million in revenue in 2024, and be accretive to 2025 margins, earnings, and EPS.

翻到幻燈片 6。我們透過收購 Enica Engineering 擴展了我們高度差異化的商業能源諮詢業務。Enica 是值得信賴的工程顧問，提供能源、營運和建築自動化解決方案。他們的客戶群包括全球製藥公司、Regeneron 和 Novartis；私人醫療保健提供者，例如斯隆凱特琳癌症中心；以及紐約大學等高等教育研究機構。與我們擴大商業能力的策略一致，Enica 預計將在 2024 年創造約 1,000 萬美元的收入，並在 2025 年實現利潤率、收益和每股收益的成長。

On slide 7. Electricity load growth is creating exciting new opportunities for Willdan, and we believe will help drive our growth for years to come. On the left side of this slide, for the first time in many decades, material electricity load growth has started to occur in the US. Experts are uncertain about the future speed and scale of this load growth, but there's widespread consensus now that higher load growth will occur and has already begun. The main drivers for this growth include the electrification of cities, buildings and transportation; the reshoring of industrial manufacturing facilities in the US; and electricity consumed by data centers powering AI.

在第 7 張投影片上。電力負荷的成長為Willdan創造了令人興奮的新機遇，我們相信這將有助於推動我們未來幾年的成長。在這張投影片的左側，幾十年來美國首次出現實質的電力負荷成長。專家們不確定未來負載成長的速度和規模，但現在普遍的共識是，更高的負載成長將會發生，而且已經開始了。這一增長的主要驅動力包括城市、建築和交通的電氣化；美國工業製造設施的回流；以及為人工智慧提供動力的資料中心所消耗的電力。

The map on the right shows that AI is expected to drive more power demand from data centers in certain pockets of the US, the DC area especially. The Southeastern United States, Midwest, and the West Coast are projecting far more rapid growth than average areas. Low electricity transfer capabilities between these regions is a key risk for reliability, particularly as electricity load shapes change.

右側地圖顯示，人工智慧預計將推動美國某些地區（尤其是華盛頓特區）資料中心的電力需求增加。美國東南部、中西部和西海岸的成長速度將遠遠快於平均值。這些地區之間電力傳輸能力低下是可靠性的一個主要風險，特別是在電力負荷形狀改變時。

I'm excited to share that we are nearing the release of a significant enhancement to our LoadSEER grid planning software. We have integrated artificial intelligence into LoadSEER's new API and are poised to launch new products that are quicker to deploy and scalable beyond the large investor-owned utilities. This advancement allows us to penetrate new markets, creating value for smaller co-op utilities, municipalities, and virtual power plant owners. The new AI version also provides computational power for complex scenarios not possible to model today.

我很高興告訴大家，我們即將發布 LoadSEER 電網規劃軟體的重大增強功能。我們已將人工智慧整合到 LoadSEER 的新 API 中，並準備推出部署更快、可擴展性超越大型投資者擁有的公用事業的新產品。這項進步使我們能夠進入新的市場，為較小的合作公用事業公司、市政當局和虛擬發電廠所有者創造價值。新的人工智慧版本也為今天無法建模的複雜場景提供了運算能力。

We're excited about the energy transition capabilities that we've assembled: planning, software, energy efficiency, and engineering. We plan to add even more capabilities through future acquisitions in the quarters ahead.

我們對所匯集的能源轉型能力感到非常興奮：規劃、軟體、能源效率和工程。我們計劃在未來幾季透過收購來增加更多功能。

Jim, over to you.

吉姆，交給你了。

Thanks, Mike, and good afternoon, everyone. Slide 8 shows our key metrics for our third quarter performance. We delivered $158 million in contract revenue, up 19%; and net revenue, net of subcontractors and material of $76 million, an increase of 16%.

謝謝，麥克，大家下午好。幻燈片 8 展示了我們第三季業績的關鍵指標。我們實現合約收入1.58億美元，成長19%；扣除分包商和材料後的淨收入為 7,600 萬美元，成長 16%。

Adjusted EBITDA increased 50% over the prior year to $15.2 million as we benefited from higher utility revenues and project management activities, as well as G&A expenses, which increased at a slower pace than our revenue growth.

調整後的 EBITDA 較上年增長 50%，達到 1520 萬美元，這得益於我們更高的公用事業收入和專案管理活動，以及 G&A 費用，但其增長速度低於我們的收入增長。

With reduced net interest costs and an exceptionally low tax rate, our adjusted earnings per share nearly doubled to $0.73 per share. The third quarter results were favorably impacted by growth in municipal engineering, project management revenues and expanded utility program management revenue.

由於淨利息成本降低和極低的稅率，我們的調整後每股盈餘幾乎翻了一番，達到每股 0.73 美元。市政工程、專案管理收入的成長以及公用事業專案管理收入的擴大對第三季的業績產生了積極影響。

Lower leverage and higher cash balances reduced net interest costs and discrete impacts related to building energy incentives and stock-based compensation aided in lowering the effective tax rate for the quarter to only 2%, driving a substantial bottom line improvement for that quarter compared to last year.

較低的槓桿率和較高的現金餘額降低了淨利息成本，而與建築能源激勵和股票薪酬相關的離散影響有助於將該季度的有效稅率降低至僅 2%，從而推動該季度的利潤與去年同期相比大幅改善。

Turning to slide 9. For the nine months to date, we generated $422 million in contract revenue and $217 million in net revenue, up 19% and 15%, respectively. The revenue mix resulted in a slightly lower gross profit margin versus last year. But higher activity from our construction management projects, expanded utility programs, and higher municipal engineering services resulted in a 38% increase in adjusted EBITDA to $39.1 million for the nine months compared to $28.2 million last year. The increased adjusted EBITDA, reduced net interest expense, and the lower effective tax rate, enabled adjusted earnings per share to grow by 79% to $1.70 per share.

翻到第 9 張投影片。迄今為止的九個月，我們創造了 4.22 億美元的合約收入和 2.17 億美元的淨收入，分別成長了 19% 和 15%。收入結構導致毛利率較去年同期略有下降。但是，由於我們的建築管理項目活動增加、公用事業計劃擴大以及市政工程服務增加，調整後的 EBITDA 前九個月增長 38%，至 3910 萬美元，而去年同期為 2820 萬美元。調整後 EBITDA 增加、淨利息支出減少以及有效稅率降低，使得調整後每股收益成長 79% 至每股 1.70 美元。

From a balance sheet perspective on slide 10. Our net debt balance at the end of the quarter was $39 million, down from $75 million at year-end 2023, reflecting the strong earnings and efficient working capital management, resulting in a net leverage ratio, meaning total debt less cash, of 0.7 times the adjusted EBITDA. This is down nearly one full turn from the 1.6 times in December 2023.

從投影片 10 中的資產負債表角度來看。我們本季末的淨債務餘額為 3,900 萬美元，低於 2023 年底的 7,500 萬美元，這反映了強勁的盈利和高效的營運資本管理，導致淨槓桿率（即總債務減去現金）為調整後 EBITDA 的 0.7 倍。這比 2023 年 12 月的 1.6 倍下降了近一倍。

Double-digit earnings growth and an increase in noncash working capital contributed to $38.6 million in net cash provided from operations through the first nine months of the year, up from $24.1 million a year ago. Our total liquidity was $103 million and included our $50 million untapped line of credit and $53 million cash balance.

兩位數的獲利成長和非現金營運資本的增加，使得今年前九個月的營運活動淨現金流為 3,860 萬美元，高於去年同期的 2,410 萬美元。我們的總流動資金為 1.03 億美元，其中包括 5,000 萬美元尚未使用的信用額度和 5,300 萬美元的現金餘額。

We've begun to deploy this liquidity to enhance our growth and future potential through acquisition as exemplified by the acquisition of Enica Engineering. We're excited about the expanded skills for our customer base and the potential synergies that Enica brings to our Energy segment and the prospects for additional acquisitive investments to broaden and strengthen Willdan.

我們已經開始部署這種流動資金，透過收購來增強我們的成長和未來潛力，收購 Enica Engineering 就是一個例子。我們對客戶群技能的擴展、Enica 為我們的能源部門帶來的潛在協同效應以及透過額外收購投資來擴大和加強 Willdan 的前景感到非常興奮。

In terms of our guidance on slide 11. Recall that the fourth quarter of 2023 was a record quarter for Willdan in terms of the revenue and EBITDA. In that quarter, we delivered on our clients' request for expanded energy efficiency services, which we estimated would be a $15 million headwind to comparisons of 2024 and 2023 Q4 net revenue and a $3 million headwind to those same adjusted EBITDA comparisons.

就第 11 張投影片中的指導而言。回想一下，2023 年第四季是 Wi​​lldan 營收和 EBITDA 創紀錄的一個季度。在該季度，我們滿足了客戶擴大能源效率服務的要求，我們估計，這將對 2024 年和 2023 年第四季度淨收入造成 1500 萬美元的阻力，對相同調整後的 EBITDA 造成 300 萬美元的阻力。

Based on our year-to-date performance and the continued momentum, we are raising our full year guidance. We now expect net revenue between $285 million and $295 million, adjusted EBITDA between $52 million and $54 million, and adjusted diluted earnings per share of between $2.15 and $2.25, assuming a full year tax rate of about 14%, and 14.2 million shares.

根據我們今年迄今的表現和持續的發展勢頭，我們上調了全年業績預期。我們現在預計淨收入在 2.85 億美元至 2.95 億美元之間，調整後的 EBITDA 在 5,200 萬美元至 5,400 萬美元之間，調整後的每股攤薄收益在 2.15 美元至 2.25 美元之間，假設全年稅率約為 14%，股票數量為 1,420 萬股。

Operator, we're now ready to take questions.

接線員，我們現在可以回答問題了。

(Operator Instructions) Craig Irwin, ROTH Capital Partners.

(操作員指示) Craig Irwin，ROTH Capital Partners。

Hi, Good evening. Thank you for taking my questions. So Mike, first, I should say congratulations, another really solid quarter here. Most investors right now are looking to next week and the uncertainty around policy in North America. Energy policy could pivot away from renewables, or maybe a little bit more enthusiasm could be seen actually across the federal customer base and the states as well in the other potential outcome.

嗨，晚上好。感謝您回答我的問題。所以麥克，首先我應該說聲祝賀，這是一個非常穩健的季度。目前大多數投資者都在關注下週以及北美政策的不確定性。能源政策可能會遠離再生能源，也許聯邦客戶群和各州實際上可能會在另一個潛在結果中看到更多的熱情。

Can you maybe (technical difficulty) for us the sensitivity of Willdan to federal policy? Or do you see more of an impact from state policy and state support for different programs? And if we did see a change in administration, is there maybe an incremental opportunity on some of the consulting work that you do as grid planning and renewables planning maybe takes a different path?

您能否（由於技術困難）為我們介紹威爾丹對聯邦政策的敏感度？或者您認為國家政策和國家對不同項目的支持產生更大的影響？如果我們確實看到政府發生變化，那麼您所做的一些諮詢工作是否可能會有增量機會，因為電網規劃和再生能源規劃可能會走上不同的道路？

Yeah, Craig. Great question, and timely. We have always said that state policy dominates the type of work that we do. And it actually dominates most of the electricity decisions made in the United States right now. So the public utility commissions in those states make those types of decisions.

是的，克雷格。這個問題問得好，而且很及時。我們一直說，國家政策主導我們的工作。事實上，它目前主導著美國大部分電力決策。因此這些州的公用事業委員會做出了此類決定。

With regard to federal policy, we've sort of seen this show before. Business was good under the Trump administration and business was good under the Biden-Kamala Harris administration. So we've seen them both business was healthy under both. You're right, though. The dominant amount of policy fluctuations we see really affect at the state level and not the federal level.

關於聯邦政策，我們以前似乎已經看過這樣的情況。川普政府執政期間，商業發展良好；拜登-卡馬拉哈里斯政府執政期間，商業發展也良好。因此，我們看到兩家公司的業務都很健康。但你說得對。我們看到的大部分政策波動實際上影響的是州一級，而不是聯邦一級。

Excellent. So my next question is another big picture question. Rising energy prices are something on all state governors' minds, right? If they're Republican or Democrat, really doesn't matter. Energy costs are pressuring consumers. Are you seeing any change in attitudes around utility commissions as far as holding utilities accountable for the implementation of their energy efficiency programs and efforts to control prices, particularly given the very strong load growth that we're seeing from AI and data center demand?

出色的。所以我的下一個問題是另一個大問題。能源價格上漲是所有州長都關心的問題，對嗎？無論他們是共和黨人還是民主黨人，這都無關緊要。能源成本給消費者帶來壓力。在要求公用事業公司負責實施其能源效率計劃和控制價格的努力方面，您是否看到公用事業委員會的態度有任何變化，特別是考慮到我們看到的人工智慧和資料中心需求的強勁負載增長？

Yeah. It's a big issue with the public utility commissions. For the first time, we've seen a number of rate cases that were not approved by the PUCs. We've seen that around the country, where rates were proposed to increase and the PUC pushed back.

是的。這是公共事業委員會面臨的一大問題。這是我們第一次看到如此多的費率案例未獲公共事業委員會批准。我們在全國各地都看到過這種情況，有人提議提高利率，但公共事業委員會卻拒絕了。

We've also seen increased focus on saving electricity, as you mentioned. The importance of electrical efficiency becomes more valuable as electric prices rise. So places like California, as an example, now have electricity prices just behind Hawaii. They're the second highest in the nation right now. And so the value of energy efficiency in California increases. We're seeing that around the country as well.

正如您所說，我們也看到人們越來越關注節約電力。隨著電價上漲，電力效率的重要性變得更加重要。以加州為例，現在其電價僅次於夏威夷。目前，其數量在全國排名第二。因此，加州的能源效率價值將會提高。我們在全國各地也看到了這種情況。

Okay. And then my last question, if I may. I know it's a little tricky to -- when you haven't put out guidance for '25, right? But everybody is going to be scratching their heads and saying you had well over 10% growth in '24. And you've always been careful in the way you give guidance and spoken pretty much consistently about a growth outlook that I think is achievable.

好的。如果可以的話，這是我的最後一個問題。我知道這有點棘手——當你還沒有發布 25 年的指導時，對吧？但每個人都會疑惑地問，『24年的成長率怎麼會超過10%呢？您始終以謹慎的方式提供指導，並幾乎始終如一地談論我認為可以實現的成長前景。

Is it possible we see something north of 10% growth in '25 on an organic basis? I mean, is there potential for similar results, similar growth, in net revenue for '25 to what we actually saw reported in '24 -- or it looks like we'll see reported in '24, I guess, as a way to clarify.

我們有可能看到 25 年有機成長率達到 10% 以上嗎？我的意思是，2025 年的淨收入是否有可能出現與我們在2024 年實際報告的類似的結果、類似的增長——或者看起來我們將在2024 年看到報告，我想，作為一種澄清的方式。

I'll stick with the answer that we've been providing all year long, which is, if you're modeling 2025, assume a high single-digit organic growth rate, 7%, 8%, 9%. It seems more reasonable. We haven't changed our tune on that.

我會堅持我們全年提供的答案，那就是，如果你模擬 2025 年，假設一個高個位數的有機成長率，7%、8%、9%。這看起來更合理。我們對此並沒有改變態度。

Having said that, yes, it's possible that we could exceed that. We'll enact guidance really five months from now in early March of next year. So we haven't done the bottoms-up yet. We don't quite know exactly what that looks like. So we'll stick with our answer of high single-digit organic growth rate. I think that's a more reasonable assumption and gives us a chance to beat that as we have all year this year. It's been a great year. We're on a tear, and we're doing exceptionally well.

話雖如此，是的，我們有可能超越這個數字。我們將在五個月後，也就是明年三月初頒布指導意見。所以我們還沒有完成自下而上的工作。我們不太清楚它到底是什麼樣子。因此，我們堅持我們的答案，即高個位數的有機成長率。我認為這是一個更合理的假設，並且使我們有機會像今年全年一樣擊敗它。這是美好的一年。我們正在大步前進，而且我們做得非常好。

Well, I look forward to a continuation of this trend, and congratulations. It's just another really solid quarter.

好吧，我期待這種趨勢繼續下去，恭喜你。這又是一個真正穩健的季度。

Thanks, Craig.

謝謝，克雷格。

Jay McCanless, Wedbush Securities.

韋德布希證券公司的傑伊·麥坎利斯（Jay McCanless）。

Hey. Good afternoon. Thanks for taking my questions. The first one, I was wondering if you guys could delve a little more into the Florida and Texas comments you made about halfway through the prepared comments. And knowing especially in Florida, where they're still trying to rebuild, I guess, maybe could you size up those opportunities? And what parts of those different states you're talking to at this point?

嘿。午安.感謝您回答我的問題。第一個問題，我想知道你們是否可以更深入地談談你們在準備好的評論中進行到一半時對佛羅裡達州和德克薩斯州的評論。尤其了解佛羅裡達州，他們仍在努力重建，我想，也許您能評估一下這些機會嗎？您現在談論的是不同州的哪些部分？

Yeah. Great question, Jay. To put this in context, five years ago, between Florida and Texas, I want to say we had maybe 10 employees at Willdan working. Today, that number is in excess of 50 and it's our fastest-growing area. We are hiring in both of those states.

是的。很好的問題，傑伊。具體來說，五年前，在佛羅裡達州和德克薩斯州之間，Willdan 大概有 10 名員工。如今，這個數字已超過 50，而且它是我們成長最快的地區。我們正在這兩個州招募員工。

There's enormous growth at the state and local level for the services that we provide. Work around Texas, providing work around the state. And in Florida, most of that's in Northern Florida right now, up around the Orlando area. We're doing a bit of work in Florida under framework contracts to help rebuild after the last two hurricanes. We're seeing some opportunities there under existing contracts that we already had in place with several of the cities there. It's a relatively small part of the business right now, but it's rapidly growing, and we're hiring in those states.

我們在州和地方層級所提供的服務取得了巨大的成長。在德克薩斯州各地工作，為該州提供工作。在佛羅裡達州，目前大部分都在佛羅裡達州北部，奧蘭多地區附近。我們根據框架合約在佛羅裡達州開展了一些工作，以幫助重建過去兩次颶風。我們在與當地多個城市簽訂的現有合約中看到了一些機會。目前這只是業務中相對較小的一部分，但正在快速成長，我們正在這些州招募員工。

That's great. And then maybe talk also about the -- apologies, I'm not pronouncing this correctly, but the Enica acquisition. What other types of acquisitions might be on the horizon?

那太棒了。然後也許還會談論——抱歉，我的發音不正確，但關於 Enica 的收購。還有哪些類型的收購即將發生？

And I think you said for Enica, this helps expand your opportunities in commercial. Is that kind of the line you want to be heading down? Is more opportunities there, especially with AI and which you talked about with some of the data warehouse centers coming online and requiring more power?

我認為您說過對於 Enica 來說，這有助於擴大您在商業領域的機會。這就是你想要走的路線嗎？那裡是否有更多的機會，特別是人工智慧，以及您談到的一些資料倉儲中心上線並需要更多電力？

Yeah. Another great question, Jay. We're really happy that the Enica team has joined us. 7% of our revenue right now is focused on the commercial sector. It's underweighted in our portfolio. We'd like to further diversify by increasing that commercial area. Enica will help with that by a percentage or 2. We would like to add other acquisitions that focus specifically on the data center opportunities we're seeing. And we've got a good pipeline of those.

是的。又一個好問題，傑伊。我們非常高興 Enica 團隊加入我們。我們目前 7% 的收入集中在商業領域。它在我們的投資組合中佔比較低。我們希望透過擴大商業區域來進一步多樣化。Enica 將提供 1% 或 2% 的協助。我們希望增加其他收購，專門針對我們看到的資料中心機會。我們已擁有一套完善的管道。

So more news to come on that. It's an area of investment, one of the several areas we'd like to invest in. It's front of mind, though, because that's only 7% of the business, and we're seeing enormous opportunity there with some of the big tech players and the work that's done around providing power to these large data centers.

有關該問題的更多新聞即將發布。這是一個投資領域，也是我們想要投資的幾個領域之一。不過，這是最值得關注的，因為這只佔業務的 7%，我們看到一些大型科技公司在其中蘊藏著巨大的機遇，它們為這些大型資料中心提供電力。

Great. And then could you talk to -- and congrats on raising the guidance. Just maybe again walk through what you're thinking in terms of where that revenue is -- the revenue growth is going to come from? Is it mostly going to be on the government side? Or maybe just give us a little more depth there on how those targets are moving up, please.

偉大的。然後您可以談談——並祝賀您提高了指導。也許您再想想一下，收入來自哪裡——收入成長將從何而來？這主要是在政府方面嗎？或者請您更深入地介紹一下這些目標是如何實現的。

State and local has actually been the standout in terms of customer segments thus far. I think that's going to continue. We're also going to have a very strong quarter this year in Q4 with utility revenue. Kim, can you think of anything else there?

到目前為止，就客戶細分而言，州和地方實際上一直表現突出。我認為這種情況將會持續下去。今年第四季度，我們的公用事業收入也將非常強勁。金，你還能想到其他什麼嗎？

No, that's -- I think that's right. It's pretty broad-based. We have remained growing faster in that state and local government side, where we're working directly for the cities, both in terms of the engineering work that we're doing and the energy efficiency work that we're doing in the buildings. So it has been a standout. But it's pretty broad-based across all of our customer base.

不，那是——我認為那是對的。它的範圍相當廣泛。我們在州和地方政府方面保持著更快的成長，我們直接為城市服務，包括我們所做的工程工作以及我們在建築中所做的能源效率工作。因此它非常引人注目。但它在我們所有的客戶群中都具有相當廣泛的基礎。

Okay. Great. That's all I had. Thank you.

好的。偉大的。這就是我所擁有的一切。謝謝。

(Operator Instructions) Okay. Well, if there are no further questions at this time, I would like to turn the floor back to Mike Bieber for closing remarks.

（操作員指令）好的。好吧，如果現在沒有其他問題了，我想把發言權交還給麥克比伯，請他作最後發言。

Great. I just want to thank everyone for following us and being a shareholder of Willdan. We'll talk to you when we announce our Q4 earnings, and that will be in March of next year, along with our 2025 guidance at that point. So talk to you then.

偉大的。我只是想感謝大家關注我們並成為 Willdan 的股東。我們將在宣布第四季度收益時與您交談，那將是明年 3 月，屆時還將發布我們的 2025 年指引。那麼再跟你聊聊。

Thank you. This does conclude today's teleconference. We thank you for your participation. You may disconnect your lines at this time.

謝謝。今天的電話會議到此結束。我們感謝您的參與。現在您可以斷開您的線路。