Worthington Enterprises Inc (WOR) 2025 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Good morning and welcome to the Worthington Enterprises second quarter fiscal 2025 earnings conference call. (Operator Instructions) This conference is being recorded at the request of Worthington Enterprises. If anyone objects, you may disconnect at this time.

早安，歡迎參加沃辛頓企業 2025 財年第二季財報電話會議。（操作員指示）本次會議是應沃辛頓企業的要求而錄製的。如果有人反對，你此時可以斷開連線。

I'd now like to introduce Marcus Rogier, Treasurer and Investor Relations Officer.

現在我想介紹財務主管兼投資者關係長 Marcus Rogier。

Mr. Rogier, you may begin.

羅吉爾先生，您可以開始啦。

Thank you, Regina. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us for Worthington Enterprises's second quarter fiscal 2025 earnings call. On our call today, we have Joe Hayek, Worthington's President and Chief Executive Officer; and Colin Souza, Worthington's Chief Financial Officer.

謝謝你，里賈娜。大家早安，感謝您參加沃辛頓企業 2025 財年第二季財報電話會議。今天我們電話會議的嘉賓有沃辛頓總裁兼執行長喬·海耶克 (Joe Hayek)；以及沃辛頓首席財務長科林·索薩（Colin Souza）。

Before we get started, I'd like to note that certain statements made today are forward-looking within the meaning of the 1995 Private Securities Litigation Reform Act. These statements are subject to risk and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ from those suggested. We issued our earnings release yesterday after the market close.

在我們開始之前，我想指出的是，今天發表的某些聲明根據 1995 年《私人證券訴訟改革法案》的規定具有前瞻性。這些聲明受風險和不確定性的影響，可能導致實際結果與建議的結果不同。我們昨天在市場收盤後發布了收益報告。

Please refer to it for more detail on those factors that could cause actual results to differ materially. In addition, our discussion today will include non-GAAP financial measures. A reconciliation of these measures with the most appropriate comparable GAAP measure is included in the earnings press release, which is available on our Investor Relations website.

有關可能導致實際結果產生重大差異的因素的更多詳細資訊請參閱。此外，我們今天的討論還將包括非公認會計準則財務指標。這些指標與最適合的可比較 GAAP 指標的對帳包含在收益新聞稿中，可在我們的投資者關係網站上查閱。

Today's call is being recorded, and a replay will be made available later on our worthingtonenterprises.com website. This point, I will turn the call over to Joe for opening remarks.

今天的通話正在錄音，稍後將在我們的 worthingtonenterprises.com 網站上提供重播。此時，我將把電話轉給喬來致開場白。

Thank you, Marcus, and good morning, everyone.

謝謝你，馬庫斯，大家早安。

Welcome to Worthington Enterprises fiscal 2025 second quarter earnings call. Our second quarter marks the end of our first full year as Worthington Enterprises. I'd like to start by thanking our entire team for their hard work, building this strong foundation and for embracing our philosophy that prioritizes a people-first, performance-based culture to drive shareholder returns.

歡迎參加沃辛頓企業 2025 財年第二季財報電話會議。我們的第二季標誌著沃辛頓企業第一年的完整結束。首先，我要感謝我們整個團隊的辛勤工作，建立了這個堅實基礎，並接受了我們的理念，即以人為本、以績效為基礎的文化，以推動股東回報。

Financially, we had a solid quarter despite mild but persistent macro headwinds. We grew both adjusted EBITDA and earnings per share year-over-year and sequentially from Q1. While we're pleased with our results in Q2, we continue to set our sights higher. We're taking a fresh look at how we do things across the organization, we're thinking more like a startup and we're pursuing initiatives to optimize our margins as we grow Worthington.

從財務角度來看，儘管宏觀經濟逆風輕微但持續，但我們本季的財務表現穩健。我們的調整後 EBITDA 和每股盈餘較上年同期和上一季均有成長。雖然我們對第二季的業績感到滿意，但我們仍將目標設得更高。我們正在重新審視整個組織的工作方式，我們的思維方式更像是一家新創公司，我們正在採取舉措，在發展沃辛頓的同時優化我們的利潤率。

One of the things that sets Worthington apart is our ability to understand our customers' businesses and to partner with them to help drive their success, innovate and open and expand new markets.

沃辛頓的獨特優勢之一是我們能夠了解客戶的業務並與他們合作，幫助他們取得成功、進行創新以及開拓和擴展新市場。

A great example is our partnership with Three-M on the PowerCore engineered cylinder. Our team's engineering prowess, collaborative approach, and relentless energy enabled 3M's October launch of a new water-based adhesive using our power core cylinder, which is intended to make commercial adhesive work for construction and repair remodel roofing more efficient and effective.

一個很好的例子就是我們與 Three-M 在 PowerCore 工程汽缸上的合作。我們團隊的工程實力、協作方式和不懈的努力使得 3M 公司於 10 月推出了一種採用我們動力芯筒的新型水基粘合劑，旨在使用於建築和維修改造屋頂的商業粘合劑工作更加高效、有效。

Innovation like this is a key element of the Worthington Business System that anchors our growth strategy. We continue to innovate in consumer products as well and our HALO Versa pizza oven was recently named one of this year's best gifts for the holiday season by Food and Wine magazine. We have a number of new product launches planned in calendar 2025 and we are committed to continuing to bring innovation to our markets and our customers.

這樣的創新是沃辛頓商業體系的關鍵要素，也是我們成長策略的基礎。我們也在消費產品領域不斷創新，我們的 HALO Versa 披薩烤箱最近被《美食與美酒》雜誌評為今年節日最佳禮物之一。我們計劃在 2025 年推出多款新產品，並致力於持續為我們的市場和客戶帶來創新。

Inorganic growth is an equally important growth driver for us. Our strong balance sheet and ample liquidity position us very well to grow through acquisitions, and we're focused on acquiring market-leading businesses that leverage our strengths and enhance our margins, free cash flows, and competitive position. We've completed the integration of our most recent acquisition, Ragasco, and we are operating as one team in Europe with what we believe is the most comprehensive and sophisticated portfolio of LPG solutions in the world.

無機成長對我們來說是一個同樣重要的成長動力。我們強大的資產負債表和充足的流動性使我們非常適合透過收購實現成長，我們專注於收購能夠利用我們的優勢並提高我們的利潤率、自由現金流和競爭地位的市場領導者。我們已經完成了最近收購的Ragasco公司的整合，我們作為一個團隊在歐洲運營，我們認為我們擁有世界上最全面、最複雜的液化石油氣解決方案組合。

Another key component of the Worthington Business System is sustainability. We see sustainability as both an obligation and a source of strategic advantage for us. Yesterday, we announced that Amtrol-Alfa, located in Portugal will produce and bring to market the first sustainable or green propane cylinder made with ArcelorMittal's low carbon emission steel, which has a 73% lower carbon footprint than traditional steel.

沃辛頓商業體系的另一個關鍵組成部分是永續性。我們認為永續性既是一項義務，也是我們的策略優勢的來源。昨天，我們宣布位於葡萄牙的 Amtrol-Alfa 將生產並向市場推出首個採用安賽樂米塔爾低碳排放鋼製成的可持續或綠色丙烷氣瓶，其碳足跡比傳統鋼低 73%。

Last month, we announced an initiative we're calling the West Africa Clean Cooking Fund, along with a $1 million commitment to that initiative from the Worthington company's foundation, that we along with our industry partners, hope will encourage and facilitate the adoption of clean and safe cooking with LPG in a region where over 250 million people are still dependent on traditional biomass for cooking, which presents significant health, deforestation, and environmental risks.

上個月，我們宣布了一項名為「西非清潔烹飪基金」的倡議，沃辛頓公司的基金會也承諾為該倡議提供 100 萬美元的捐贈。

Finally, Newsweek again, just recognized Worthington Enterprises as one of America's most responsible companies. I'm very proud to work with people that earn these honors every day because they are committed to being creative, thoughtful, and to doing our part in society. Looking into 2025, we believe our best days are ahead of us. Our people-first culture, market-leading brands, outstanding value propositions, and our commitment to the Worthington Business System, our core tenants of who we are, and they position us very well moving forward.

最後，《新聞週刊》再次將沃辛頓企業評為美國最負責任的公司之一。我非常自豪能夠每天與獲得這些榮譽的人一起工作，因為他們致力於發揮創造力、深思熟慮並為社會盡一份心力。展望2025年，我們相信最好的日子就在眼前。我們以人為本的文化、市場領先的品牌、卓越的價值主張以及對沃辛頓商業體系的承諾，這些都是我們的核心原則，它們為我們未來的發展奠定了良好的基礎。

I’ll now turn it over to Colin, who will provide you with some details on our financial performance in the quarter.

現在我將把話題交給科林，他將向您提供本季度我們財務業績的一些詳細資訊。

Thank you, Joe, and good morning, everyone. In Q2, we reported GAAP earnings from continuing operations of $0.56 per share versus $0.36 in the prior year quarter. There were a few unique items that impacted our quarterly results, including the following. The current quarter was negatively impacted by net pre-tax restructuring charges of $3 million or $0.04 per share, primarily due to charges related to an executive retirement.

謝謝你，喬，大家早安。在第二季度，我們報告的 GAAP 持續經營收益為每股 0.56 美元，去年同期為 0.36 美元。有幾個獨特因素影響了我們的季度業績，其中包括：本季受到 300 萬美元或每股 0.04 美元的淨稅前重組費用的負面影響，主要由於高階主管退休相關的費用。

Results in the prior year quarter were negatively impacted by $0.21 per share due to several items, the largest being corporate costs eliminated at the time of separation and transaction costs associated with separating our steel processing business. These were partially offset by a pre-tax gain within equity income from a divestiture and our cabs joint venture. Excluding these items, we generated adjusted earnings from continuing operations of $0.60 per share in the current quarter compared to $0.57 per share in Q2 of the prior year.

受多項因素影響，去年同期的業績受到每股 0.21 美元的負面影響，其中最大的影響是分離時消除的公司成本以及分離鋼鐵加工業務所產生的交易成本。這些收益被資產剝離和計程車合資企業產生的稅前股權收益部分抵銷。除這些項目外，我們本季的調整後持續經營收益為每股 0.60 美元，而去年同期的調整後持續經營收益為每股 0.57 美元。

The current quarter was also negatively impacted by $2 million or $0.03 per share due to an increase in our bad debt reserves specific to two customers who recently declared bankruptcy. Consolidated net sales in the quarter of $274 million decreased 8.1% from $298 million in the prior year.

由於我們對最近宣布破產的兩家客戶的壞帳準備金增加，本季也受到了 200 萬美元或每股 0.03 美元的負面影響。本季綜合淨銷售額為 2.74 億美元，較去年同期的 2.98 億美元下降 8.1%。

The decrease was largely driven by the deconsolidation of our former sustainable energy solution segment which contributed $28 million in sales in the prior year quarter. Our gross profit for the quarter increased to $74 million compared to $63 million in the prior year quarter, and gross margin increased approximately 580 basis points to 27% in the current quarter. Adjusted EBITDA in Q2 was $56 million, up slightly from $55 million in Q2 of last year, and up sequentially from $48 million in Q1.

下降的主要原因是我們先前的可持續能源解決方案部門的拆分，該部門在去年同期的銷售額貢獻了 2800 萬美元。本季我們的毛利從去年同期的 6,300 萬美元增至 7,400 萬美元，毛利率在本季增加了約 580 個基點，達到 27%。第二季調整後 EBITDA 為 5,600 萬美元，較去年同期的 5,500 萬美元略有上升，較第一季的 4,800 萬美元環比上升。

Our TTM adjusted EBITDA is now $235 million and TTM adjusted EBITDA margin is 20.1%. With respect to cash flows in our balance sheet, cash flow from operations was $49 million in the quarter and free cash flow was $34 million. During the quarter we invested $15 million on capital projects which included $5 million related to our facility modernization projects. We paid $9 million in dividends and spent $8 million to repurchase 200,000 shares of our common stock at an average price of $40.40. We received $39 million in dividends from our unconsolidated JVs during the quarter, which represents a 112% cash conversion rate on that equity income.

我們的 TTM 調整後 EBITDA 現在為 2.35 億美元，TTM 調整後 EBITDA 利潤率為 20.1%。就我們資產負債表中的現金流而言，本季的營運現金流為 4,900 萬美元，自由現金流為 3,400 萬美元。本季度，我們在資本項目上投資了 1500 萬美元，其中包括與設施現代化項目相關的 500 萬美元。我們支付了 900 萬美元的股息，並花費 800 萬美元以平均價格 40.40 美元回購了 20 萬股普通股。我們在本季從非合併合資企業獲得了 3,900 萬美元的股息，這意味著該股權收入的現金轉換率達到了 112%。

Turning to our balance sheet and liquidity, we closed the quarter with $296 million in long-term funded debt at an average interest rate of 3.6% along with $194 million in cash. Our leverage remains extremely low with ample liquidity supported by a $500 million undrawn bank credit facility, positioning us well for the future. Net debt at quarter end was $102 million resulting in a net debt to trailing adjusted EBITDA leverage ratio of less than a half turn.

談到我們的資產負債表和流動性，本季末我們擁有 2.96 億美元的長期融資債務，平均利率為 3.6%，同時擁有 1.94 億美元現金。我們的槓桿率仍然非常低，並由 5 億美元的未提取銀行信貸額度支持充足的流動性，為我們的未來做好了準備。季度末的淨債務為 1.02 億美元，導致淨債務與調整後 EBITDA 的槓桿率不到半倍。

Yesterday the Worthington Enterprises Board of Directors declared a quarterly dividend of $0.17 per share payable in March 2025. We'll now spend a few minutes on each of the businesses. In consumer products, Q2 net sales were $117 million down 2% year-over-year, primarily due to a shift in product mix, despite a 3% increase in volumes.

昨天，沃辛頓企業董事會宣布季度股息為每股 0.17 美元，將於 2025 年 3 月支付。我們現在將花幾分鐘來討論每項業務。在消費品方面，第二季淨銷售額為 1.17 億美元，年減 2%，主要原因是產品結構的變化，儘管銷量成長了 3%。

Adjusted EBITDA for the segment was $15 million with an adjusted EBITDA margin of 13.3% compared to $13 million and 10.7% respectively in the prior year. The current quarter was negatively impacted by $2 million due to an increased bad debt reserve I mentioned earlier. Despite continued macro headwinds our consumer team delivered solid results achieving year-over-year growth and adjusted EBITDA and EBITDA margins.

該部門的調整後 EBITDA 為 1,500 萬美元，調整後 EBITDA 利潤率為 13.3%，而去年同期分別為 1,300 萬美元和 10.7%。由於我之前提到的壞帳準備金增加，本季受到了 200 萬美元的負面影響。儘管宏觀環境持續不利，我們的消費者團隊仍然取得了穩健的業績，實現了同比增長以及調整後的 EBITDA 和 EBITDA 利潤率。

We are very bullish on the business's growth potential as market conditions improve, bolstered by strong retail partnerships and a commitment to providing essential products for outdoor living, celebrations, and home improvement. Building products reported Q2 net sales of $157 million, a 4% increase from $151 million in the prior year. This growth was primarily driven by the recent acquisition of Ragasco, which contributed $18 million in sales for the quarter. Partially offset by lower volumes, particularly in heating and cooking.

隨著市場條件的改善，加上強大的零售合作夥伴關係以及致力於提供戶外生活、慶祝活動和家居裝修必需產品的承諾，我們對業務的成長潛力非常看好。建築產品部門公佈第二季淨銷售額為 1.57 億美元，較去年同期的 1.51 億美元成長 4%。這一成長主要得益於最近收購 Ragasco，該公司為本季貢獻了 1,800 萬美元的銷售額。部分抵消了較低的銷量，特別是在加熱和烹飪方面。

The large format heating business returned to year-over-year growth, but that growth was offset by some softness in our gas grill tank business due to production limitations as we completed our facility modernization project there. Adjusted EBITDA for the quarter was $47 million with an adjusted EBITDA margin of 30% compared to $46 million and 30% respectively in the same quarter last year.

大型加熱業務恢復了同比增長，但由於我們完成了設施現代化項目，導致生產限制，燃氣燒烤爐業務的一些疲軟抵消了這一增長。本季調整後 EBITDA 為 4,700 萬美元，調整後 EBITDA 利潤率為 30%，而去年同期分別為 4,600 萬美元和 30%。

Sequentially, the business showed solid improvement with adjusted EBITDA and margin increasing over 17% from $40 million and 28.4% in Q1. The year-over-year increase in adjusted EBITDA was primarily driven by the inclusion of Ragasco, which added $4 million offsetting year-over-year declines in the remaining European business and higher equity earnings from WAVE.

與上一季相比，業務呈現穩步改善，調整後的 EBITDA 和利潤率分別較第一季的 4,000 萬美元和 28.4% 成長超過 17%。調整後 EBITDA 年成長率主要得益於 Ragasco 的加入，其貢獻了 400 萬美元，抵消了剩餘歐洲業務的同比下滑以及 WAVE 帶來的更高股權收益。

ClarkDietrich contributed $10 million in the current quarter compared to $14 million in the prior year quarter. The ClarkDietrich team has done an admirable job navigating a challenging demand environment, and we are encouraged by the sequential improvement from Q1.

ClarkDietrich 本季貢獻了 1000 萬美元，而去年同期貢獻了 1400 萬美元。ClarkDietrich 團隊在應對充滿挑戰的需求環境中表現出色，第一季的連續改善也令我們感到鼓舞。

WAVE continued its strong performance, delivering $25 million in equity earnings for the quarter, up from $21 million in the prior year quarter, as that team continues to execute at a high level. The building products team is navigating the current environment well. We have strengthened our value proposition to customers with new products and responsive and reliable service, enabling us to gain market share.

WAVE 持續保持強勁表現，本季實現股權收益 2,500 萬美元，高於去年同期的 2,100 萬美元，這得益於該團隊繼續保持高水準的執行力。建築產品團隊正在很好地適應當前環境。我們透過新產品和敏捷可靠的服務加強了對客戶的價值主張，從而獲得了市場份額。

We are also seeing steady performance from our joint ventures, and we are very well positioned as we head into the second half of our fiscal year. At this point, we are happy to take any questions.

我們的合資企業也表現穩定，在進入財年下半年時，我們已做好充分準備。現在，我們很樂意回答任何問題。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員指令）

Kathryn Thompson, Thompson Research Group.

凱瑟琳·湯普森，湯普森研究小組。

Hi, thank you for taking my questions today.

你好，謝謝你今天回答我的問題。

Good morning. First, I wanted to get kicked off on your gross margins, which were up a healthy clip in the quarter and definitely higher than most recent quarters. And you've touched on some aspects of it in the prepared commentary, but could you help us understand the larger drivers, even if you have, say half is from some categories or another, but really looking at mix shift from the stock and comps, M&A, or just better environment. Just help rank order what drove the margin performance.

早安.首先，我想先了解你們的毛利率，本季的毛利率健康成長，肯定高於最近幾季。您已經在準備好的評論中談到了它的一些方面，但您能否幫助我們了解更大的驅動因素，即使您說有一半來自某些類別或其他類別，但真正關注的是股票和同類產品、併購或更好的環境的混合轉變。僅有助於對推動利潤表現的因素進行排序。

Sure. Thanks, Kathryn. So just a few more details there. You know, the gross margin was up 580 basis points. If you recall, you know, we had a -- recall of a product in the prior year quarter. And then we're also excluding sales and margin from our SES business unit, which we formed a joint venture here in our Q4. And that really led to 300 basis points approximately of margin expansion just with those items. And then we layer on the inclusion of Ragasco, which we acquired in June.

當然。謝謝，凱瑟琳。這裡僅剩一些細節。您知道，毛利率上升了 580 個基點。如果你還記得的話，你知道，我們在去年上一季召回過一款產品。然後，我們也排除了 SES 業務部門的銷售額和利潤，該部門是我們於第四季在此成立的合資企業。光是這些項目就確實導致利潤率擴大了約 300 個基點。然後我們分層納入了我們六月收購的 Ragasco。

And then in addition to that, some positive kind of makeshift in our higher margin products. So we're overall pleased with, where margins are this quarter at 27%. And that's about what we would kind of expect our margins to be at this time.

除此之外，我們的高利潤產品也採取了一些積極的臨時措施。因此我們總體上感到滿意，本季的利潤率為 27%。這正是我們目前預期的利潤率。

Okay. Helpful. And with the addition of Ragasco and just kind of shift overall structurally this year, how should we think about SG&A kind of just given different focus as we look forward?

好的。很有幫助。隨著 Ragasco 的加入以及今年整體結構的轉變，我們該如何看待銷售、一般及行政開支，展望未來我們應該給予不同的關注點？

So Kathryn, when we think about SG&A, it's really in the context of how we're running the business, right. And so a lot of the things that we've been after strategically are bearing fruit. You look at the way that we've strengthened our value propositions over the last year. We talked about the 3M partnership in the consumer business.

所以凱瑟琳，當我們考慮銷售、一般和行政費用時，它實際上是與我們經營業務的方式有關的，對吧。因此，我們一直追求的許多策略目標正在取得成果。看看我們去年加強價值主張的方式。我們討論了3M在消費業務領域的合作關係。

We continue to work with our partners and bring point-of-sale data and analytics to them so that they can have adequate levels of inventory as they prepare for winter weather or storms and so that's really helping think about things you did mention this earlier on the kind of de-stocking having run its course. That's more on the large format propane tank. But when we think about SG&A, obviously we inherited the SG&A that comes from Ragasco, but we're really focused on thinking about things and taking a fresh look at things.

我們繼續與我們的合作夥伴合作，為他們提供銷售點數據和分析，以便他們在為冬季天氣或風暴做準備時能夠擁有足夠的庫存水平，所以這真的有助於思考你之前提到的去庫存化的事情。這是有關大尺寸丙烷罐的更多資訊。但當我們考慮銷售、一般和行政費用時，顯然我們繼承了來自 Ragasco 的銷售、一般和行政費用，但我們真正專注於思考事情並以新的眼光看待事物。

When we think about kind of optimizing and growing Worthington, we have taken a step back and we're thinking about things a little differently and that's going to allow us to be successful in any demand environment. You know, the one that we're in now, we characterize as kind of flat and steady sequentially, but when some of the markets that we participate in return to growth, that discipline is going to really manifest itself, we think, in some great things.

當我們考慮優化和發展沃辛頓時，我們退後一步，以稍微不同的方式思考問題，這將使我們能夠在任何需求環境中取得成功。你知道，我們現在所處的市場，我們將其描述為連續平穩，但當我們參與的一些市場恢復成長時，我們認為，這種紀律將真正體現在一些偉大的事情上。

Okay. Great. Thank you. Just to follow up on WAVE, the WAVE JV, it continues to perform well, double digits for six of the past seven quarters. Obviously, there's more than just office and -- but could you talk about just expand on trends that are driving this performance and how we should think about growth as we face tougher comps going to the next calendar year? Thank you.

好的。偉大的。謝謝。繼續關注 WAVE，WAVE JV 繼續表現良好，過去七個季度中有六個季度都保持兩位數的成長。顯然，不僅僅是辦公室——但您能否談談推動這一表現的趨勢，以及在面臨下一個日曆年更嚴峻的競爭時我們應該如何看待增長？謝謝。

Sure. Well, WAVE, as you know, is a terrific business with a great leadership team and it's a great JV that between ourselves and Armstrong that I think both companies are very proud of. And one of the reasons that they can continue to do as well as they're able to -- is their value proposition which really comes back to understanding their customers and being able to create and supply reliably solutions that save their end user contractors time and labor.

當然。嗯，正如你所知，WAVE 是一家很棒的公司，擁有一支很棒的領導團隊，它是我們和阿姆斯壯共同組建的一家很棒的合資公司，我認為兩家公司都對此感到非常自豪。他們之所以能繼續取得如此出色的成績，原因之一是他們的價值主張，而這種價值主張實際上在於了解客戶，並能夠創造並提供可靠的解決方案，從而節省最終用戶承包商的時間和勞動力。

And so you can buy the WAVE product, which is a portion of the overall spend, but then as you're installing those ceilings in different areas, your labor costs is an even bigger spend. And so, we think about, you're right, commercial and on offices is a little soft. We've seen continued of strength, and this applies to an extent to ClarkDietrich as well, but education, healthcare, data centers, and transportation, specifically the larger airports or train stations or things like that.

因此，您可以購買 WAVE 產品，這只是總支出的一部分，但是，當您在不同區域安裝這些天花板時，您的勞動成本將是更大的支出。所以，我們認為，你是對的，商業和辦公室有點軟。我們看到了持續的強勢，這在一定程度上也適用於 ClarkDietrich，但也適用於教育、醫療保健、資料中心和交通，特別是較大的機場或火車站或諸如此類的東西。

And so, you know, I think we would expect on a WAVE to -- WAVE and ClarkDietrich to both kind of be around here sequentially for the next couple quarters with on the ClarkDietrich side, you know, a caveat being what happens with steel prices. But based on what we can see, you know, we think steady as she goes for both of the JVs.

所以，您知道，我認為我們預計 WAVE 和 ClarkDietrich 在接下來的幾個季度中都會按順序出現，而對於 ClarkDietrich 方面，您需要注意的是鋼鐵價格的變化。但根據我們所看到的情況，我們認為她會穩步推進這兩家合資企業。

Okay, perfect. And then just final question, you know, one thing that we have seen in terms of talking to some of our industry contacts in the field and the construction industrial value chain is that it just transfer kind of lackluster in the spring and into the summer. But man over the past [coup] one to two months, you've seen a definite [pay cut] in activity. What are you seeing in terms of your businesses, or are there some areas that are performing better more recently versus others? Thanks so much, and best of luck.

好的，完美。最後一個問題，您知道，在與該領域和建築工業價值鏈中的一些行業聯繫人交談時，我們發現，從春季到夏季，建築工業價值鏈的轉型顯得有些乏善可陳。但在過去一到兩個月的時間裡，你已經看到了明顯的減薪跡象。就您的業務而言，您看到了什麼？非常感謝，祝你好運。

Thank you, Kathryn. Yeah, I think it's probably a little bit of a similar answer to the one that we just walked through. I think that some of the infrastructure-oriented spending and some of the stimulus from, gosh, now a couple, two years, three years ago has started to make its way into projects. The CHIPS Act and some of the money that's being allocated for some of these infrastructure project has helped with some of the larger projects that are out there. Generally speaking, when we get into talking about residential spends and things like that, it'll be a little different.

謝謝你，凱瑟琳。是的，我認為這可能與我們剛剛討論的答案有點類似。我認為，一些基礎設施導向的支出和一些刺激計劃，例如兩年或三年前製定的計劃，已經開始應用到專案中。《CHIPS法案》和分配給部分基礎設施項目的資金已經為一些大型項目提供了幫助。一般來說，當我們談論住宅支出之類的事情時，情況會有所不同。

But yeah, I would absolutely agree that there's still some, as we referred to them, it's kind of mild but persistent headwinds, but we are starting to see some green shoots in certain areas.

但是的，我完全同意仍然存在一些，正如我們所說的，這是一種溫和但持續的逆風，但我們開始在某些領域看到一些綠芽。

Great. Thanks so much.

偉大的。非常感謝。

Daniel Moore, CJS Securities.

丹尼爾·摩爾（Daniel Moore），CJS 證券。

Thank you. Good morning Joe. Good morning Colin. I appreciate the color.

謝謝。早安，喬。早安，科林。我很欣賞這個顏色。

Good morning, Dan.

早上好，丹。

Maybe start with building products. Just elaborate and maybe differentiate from what you're seeing. I said building products, but just more generally, I should say, on the heating and cooking space, you know, between I guess the large format on the one side and, you know, kind of smaller consumer on the other. And I know this is, you know, seasonally not the strongest period, but, you know, what are you seeing in terms of maybe bottoming and expectations as we think about calendar '25?

也許從製造產品開始。只是詳細說明一下，也許與您所看到的內容有所區別。我說的是建築產品，但更一般地說，我應該說，在加熱和烹飪領域，一方面是大型格式，另一方面是較小的消費者格式。而且我知道，從季節角度來看，這並非最強勁的時期，但是，當我們考慮 25 年日曆時，您看到可能的底部和預期是什麼？

Yeah, great question. And Colin mentioned it when we talk about heating and cooking. One of the core tenets of our growth strategy is transformation. And we have been focused pretty resolutely on our, I call it the gas grill market, the barbecue market, right, the smaller kind of propane tank market. And we saw in the quarter a return to growth and return to more seasonally normal and growth in the large format heating tanks.

是的，很好的問題。當我們談論加熱和烹飪時，科林提到了這一點。我們的成長策略的核心原則之一是轉型。我們一直堅定地專注於我們的市場，我稱之為燃氣燒烤爐市場，燒烤市場，對，小型丙烷罐市場。我們在本季度看到了成長的恢復，並恢復到季節性正常狀態和大型加熱罐的成長。

In the smaller tanks, we had a handful of things that we needed to get done on that facility modernization project. And in the quarter, that hampered our ability to produce as much as we would have liked to. And as you would imagine in a manufacturing environment, volume matters both because there are sales to be had and there are also conversion costs and things like that. So through that transformational project and as that's completed, we upgraded that facility, put in robotics and automated that facility.

在較小的水箱中，我們需要在設施現代化專案中完成一些事情。在本季度，這妨礙了我們實現預期生產的能力。正如你所想的，在製造環境中，產量很重要，因為既有銷售額，也有轉換成本等因素。因此，透過該轉型項目，並在其完成之後，我們升級了該設施，引入了機器人技術並實現了該設施的自動化。

And so as we look forward, that project is done. And we feel much better about that business moving forward. Given that one, we finished that project, and two, we've had some market share wins in the interim.

因此，我們期待著該項目能夠完成。我們對該業務的未來發展感到更加信心十足。一方面，我們完成了該專案；另一方面，我們在此期間贏得了一些市場份額。

Really helpful. And maybe kind of taking it back up to 30,000 feet, but one of the comments you made was trying to think more like a startup. I'm wondering if you can elaborate on that and then just talk about any meaningful differences or in strategic direction now that you've been at the helm of CEO for a couple of months and both organically and in terms of where you're focused from an M&A perspective.

真的很有幫助。也許可以把它重新提升到 30,000 英尺的高度，但您所說的其中一條評論是試圖以更像新創公司的方式去思考。我想知道您是否可以詳細說明這一點，然後談談現在您擔任執行長幾個月以來在有機方面和在併購方面所關注的任何有意義的差異或戰略方向。

Sure, so It's a great honor and a privilege to lead this company. And I would say we start with what's not going to change our culture. I get people first performance based culture. It's a huge advantage for us. It's something that we're pretty proud of and we're pretty protective of, but it's also something that we leverage. We have great people. We also have really solid strategies and value propositions.

當然，能夠領導這家公司是我的莫大的榮幸。我想說，我們應該從那些不會改變我們文化的事情開始。我理解以人為本的績效文化。這對我們來說是一個巨大的優勢。這是我們引以為傲的事情，我們非常保護它，但我們也會利用它。我們擁有優秀的人才。我們還有非常完善的策略和價值主張。

We talked about the example I gave you in building products and then what we talked about in consumer. And so those things are fundamental to who we are and it's something we're very proud of and we're not going to change.

我們討論了我在建立產品方面給您舉的例子，然後討論了消費者方面的例子。所以這些事情對我們來說是根本的，也是我們引以為傲的事情，我們不會改變。

With respect to thinking more like a startup, we're a 70 year old company, but we're a one year old company as Worthington Enterprises. And so it gives us the opportunity to look back and to think about what, you know, we want the next five years to look like and what we're trying to do ultimately is optimize and grow the company and as you optimize sometimes you need to reset a little bit and think about things differently.

從更像新創公司的角度來看，我們是一家擁有 70 年歷史的公司，但作為沃辛頓企業，我們是一家成立僅一年的公司。因此，這讓我們有機會回顧並思考我們希望未來五年是什麼樣子，而我們最終要做的是優化和發展公司，而在優化的過程中，有時你需要稍微調整一下，用不同的方式思考問題。

The way that we have historically done things matters a lot, but the way that we do things now and trying ultimately to optimize our business in the current environment is going to prepare us to really be able to focus on growth.

我們過去做事的方式很重要，但我們現在做事的方式以及最終在當前環境下優化業務的方式將使我們真正專注於成長。

And as we look at what's possible for us from a margin perspective, if we are able in the next 12 months to 18 months to really position ourselves the way that we want to, it's going to lead to really good things in any environment, but particularly as growth returns to some of our end markets.

當我們從利潤率的角度審視我們的可能性時，如果我們能在未來 12 個月到 18 個月內真正按照我們想要的方式定位自己，那麼在任何環境下都會帶來真正的好處，特別是當我們的一些終端市場恢復成長時。

It's helpful, maybe one or two quick ones. Just housekeeping, but the sustainable energy, now JV, was just above breakeven. You expect to remain around those levels. Just wondering if you expect it to be a modest drag or a modest contributor as we think about the next sort of four to eight quarters.

這很有幫助，也許有一兩個簡單的。雖然只是家務，但可持續能源（現在是合資企業）剛好高於損益平衡點。您希望保持在這些水平附近。只是想知道，當我們考慮接下來的四到八個季度時，您是否預計它會成為一個適度的拖累或適度的貢獻者。

I'd say you're right on, it'll probably be flattish.

我想說您說得對，它可能會比較平坦。

Got it. And then lastly, from a capital allocation perspective, you know, bought back 2,00,000 shares, still have, you know, well over 5 million remaining on the authorization. The shares still trading relatively depressed valuations. My words, not yours, but wondering what their aggressiveness from a buyback perspective might be going forward. Thanks again for all the color.

知道了。最後，從資本配置的角度來看，您知道，回購了 20 萬股，授權金額仍遠遠超過 500 萬股。該股仍在以相對低的估值進行交易。這是我的話，不是你的話，但我想知道從回購的角度來看，他們的積極性在未來會如何。再次感謝所有的色彩。

It's a great question. Dan, when we think about capital allocation, you know, we still have a bias for growth. If you look at our CapEx in the quarter on, I'll call it our run rate CapEx was closer to $5 million on top of $5 million in Q1. And so you're kind of run rating at a CapEx level of, you know, [25-ish] to [$30 million] in relative to our sales. When we get through our facility modernization projects, we're going to be able to generate a fair amount of additional free cash flow.

這是一個很好的問題。丹，當我們考慮資本配置時，你知道，我們仍然偏向成長。如果您查看本季的資本支出，我會稱之為我們的運行率資本支出接近 500 萬美元，而第一季為 500 萬美元。因此，相對於我們的銷售額，您的資本支出評級在 [2500 萬美元左右] 到 [3000 萬美元] 之間。當我們完成設施現代化專案時，我們將能夠產生相當數量的額外自由現金流。

And we have, as we've talked about, we have kind of goals for our free cash flow conversion rates that are out there. So when we think about capital allocation, we're still going to have a bias for growth. But when we look at M&A, the M&A market in 2024 was expected to be a big, breaking of the [logjam] and it turned out that interest rates were stubbornly high and then there was some uncertainty around the election. That's passed us.

正如我們所討論的，我們對自由現金流轉換率有一定的目標。因此，當我們考慮資本配置時，我們仍然會偏向成長。但當我們審視併購時，預計 2024 年的併購市場將大幅突破 [僵局]，但事實證明，利率持續居高不下，而且選舉周圍也存在一些不確定性。這已經過去了。

And so now I think a lot of folks are suggesting that 2025 will be that more active market for M&A. Our M&A criteria, I think, we've talked about companies that make us better, improve our margins and our free cash flows. But if ultimately we look at our stock price or our ability to think about what that looks like from a buyback versus how expensive M&A is or how attainable M&A is, that's always a toggle that we can go back and forth on. I would expect us to at least buy back shares that will offset dilution, but anything above and beyond that, our authorization is still pretty healthy. And we have that lever we can pull if we deem it appropriate.

所以現在我認為很多人都認為 2025 年會成為更活躍的併購市場。我認為，我們的併購標準是，我們討論的是那些讓我們變得更好、提高我們的利潤率和自由現金流的公司。但如果最終我們看看我們的股價或我們思考回購的能力與併購的成本或可實現性，這總是一個我們可以來回切換的開關。我希望我們至少回購能夠抵銷稀釋的股票，但除此之外，我們的授權仍然相當健康。如果我們認為合適，我們可以拉動這個槓桿。

Susan Maklari, Goldman Sachs.

高盛的蘇珊馬克拉里 (Susan Maklari)。

Thank you. Good morning, everyone.

謝謝。大家早安。

Morning, Susan.

早安，蘇珊。

Good morning, Joe and congrats to you and calling on both of your new roles there.

早安，喬，恭喜你並任命你擔任新職務。

Very nice of you to say. Thank you.

您這麼說真是太好了。謝謝。

Yeah. My first question is, can you talk a bit about price cost as we think about the deflation that's come through steel, just where we are in that process of realizing those moves and then how you're thinking about price as we look to the next couple of quarters?

是的。我的第一個問題是，在我們考慮通貨緊縮對鋼鐵業造成的影響時，您能否談談價格成本問題，我們在實現這些舉措的過程中處於什麼位置，以及您對未來幾季的價格有何看法？

Sure. So, input costs, you know, for us, you know, part of transformation for us is ultimately thinking about how we approach our inputs, right, how we approach manufacturing, how we approach purchasing, and things like that. Relatively speaking, the deflationary environment, I think you're probably mostly talking about steel, we would expect that to be relatively flat year-over-year.

當然。所以，投入成本，你知道，對我們來說，轉型的一部分最終是思考我們如何處理我們的投入，我們如何對待製造，如何對待採購等等。相對而言，在通貨緊縮環境下，我想你可能主要談論的是鋼鐵，我們預計其同比將相對持平。

We are absolutely doing everything we can to keep our costs down, to decrease what we need to put into getting our products out the door with deficiencies and things like that. But the market for pricing generally is I would say okay. I don't think that it, you know, as it is more of a macro-economic statement that -- nobody wants reignited inflation. You know, we'll see what comes in the next three months with the new administration. But I don't think that we anticipate our prices going up, very, very significantly, because we're working on the back end and our efficiencies and trying to be sensitive to the elasticity that's out there as well.

我們絕對會盡力降低成本，減少導致產品缺陷等問題所需的投入。但我認為市場的定價整體來說還可以。我不這麼認為，因為這更像是一個宏觀經濟聲明——沒有人希望再次出現通貨膨脹。你知道，我們將拭​​目以待未來三個月新政府將採取什麼措施。但我不認為我們的價格會大幅上漲，因為我們正在努力提高後端效率，同時也試圖對現有的彈性保持敏感。

Okay. That's helpful color and then maybe thinking about the administration that will come in next year and some of the policies that they could implement, as you think about the global competitive environment that you operate within and the potential for some tariffs or some other trade actions to come through, what could that mean for Worthington? How are you positioning the business relative to that? Any thoughts there strategically on how things could come together?

好的。這是一種很有幫助的色彩，然後也許想想明年將要上任的政府和他們可能實施的一些政策，當你想到你所處的全球競爭環境以及可能出現的一些關稅或其他貿易行動時，這對沃辛頓意味著什麼？您對業務的定位是怎樣的？對於如何才能讓所有事情順利結合在一起，您有何策略性的想法？

Well, it's a great question and you know, we don't think anybody actually roots for tariffs, but I think it's that everybody wants a level playing field so that their businesses can compete on their merits in it, we don't speculate on being incoming ministrations goals or their likely actions but I think they're smart people and in our senses that they want that same thing which is that level playing field so in that context you know the Susan the majority of our revenue in the US comes from products that we manufacture domestically. And we do absolutely face price competition from imports.

嗯，這是一個很好的問題，你知道，我們認為沒有人真正支持關稅，但我認為每個人都希望有一個公平的競爭環境，以便他們的企業能夠在其中憑藉自己的優勢進行競爭，我們不會推測即將上任的政府目標或他們可能採取的行動，但我認為他們都是聰明人，在我們看來，他們想要同樣的東西，也就是蘇珊的競爭我們確實面臨進口的價格競爭。

And so we potentially be a net beneficiary of actions that help create and sustain that level playing field and support US manufacturing. We have spent a lot of time on this and will continue preparing for various scenarios around trade policy, so that we can more effectively anticipate and adjust to dynamics as they present themselves but bottom-line, I think which is your question is that we think, we were pretty well positioned in any scenario.

因此，我們有可能成為有助於創造和維持公平競爭環境以及支持美國製造業的行動的淨受益者。我們在這方面花了很多時間，並將繼續為貿易政策的各種情況做準備，以便我們能夠更有效地預測和適應出現的動態，但底線是，我想，這也是你的問題是，我們認為，在任何情況下，我們都處於相當有利的位置。

And we also think that the -- and we're pretty confident that the incoming administration is really focused on what we think would be the best case scenario, which is creating that level playing field while not igniting new inflationary pressures, which wouldn't be good for anybody.

我們也認為——我們非常有信心，新政府將真正專注於我們認為的最佳情況，即創造公平的競爭環境，同時不引發新的通膨壓力，因為這對任何人都沒有好處。

Yeah. Okay. I appreciate all the color. Thank you. Good luck with everything.

是的。好的。我欣賞這一切的色彩。謝謝。祝一切順利。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Brian McNamara, Canaccord Genuity.

Canaccord Genuity 的 Brian McNamara。

Good morning guys. Thanks for taking our questions.

大家早安。感謝您回答我們的問題。

Absolutely, Brian, good morning.

當然，布萊恩，早安。

Congrats to Joe and Colin on the promotions. I'm curious, was this the plan all along in terms of succession, and does anything change in terms of your longer-term financial targets, particularly the 6% to 8% kind of top-line growth target?

恭喜喬和科林晉升。我很好奇，從繼任的角度來看，這是否一直是計劃？

Yeah, well, you're nice to say that, Brian. The plan ultimately is typically the plan right before a plan happens. And so timing-wise, we're very blessed and appreciative and grateful for the work that Andy did and our entire teams continue to do. But to your other question, as we look forward, you know, those targets, I would say that based on the way that we're trying to drive the business and we're trying to optimize the business, our goal ultimately is to kind of, maintain or grow our gross margins and over time work down our SG&A, as a percentage of sales. That's going to create margin expansion for us.

是的，布萊恩，你這麼說真是太好了。該計劃最終通常是計劃實施之前的計劃。因此從時間角度來看，我們非常幸運，非常感激安迪所做的工作以及我們整個團隊繼續做的工作。但對於您的另一個問題，當我們展望這些目標時，我想說，基於我們試圖推動業務和優化業務的方式，我們的最終目標是維持或增加我們的毛利率，並隨著時間的推移降低銷售、一般和行政費用佔銷售額的百分比。這將為我們的利潤帶來擴大。

Again, this isn't happening tomorrow, but as we look out into the next kind of 12 months to 18 months, 24 months, we think that's something that we're going to be pretty committed to doing. And really the only place where maybe we need a little help on those goals that we have out there is just the markets themselves. You note that we're relatively flat year-over-year and that's a function of markets that are flat, steady.

再說一遍，這不會在明天發生，但當我們展望未來 12 個月到 18 個月、24 個月時，我們認為這是我們將非常致力於做的事情。而實際上，我們實現這些目標唯一需要幫助的地方就是市場本身。您會注意到，我們的業績與去年同期相比相對持平，這是市場平穩、穩定的表現。

I think actually I've heard this I think maybe Susan mentioned this on one of her notes but repair model markets is steady but slow and so our growth in those environment is more around our value propositions and our ability to take share. It's certainly around de-stocking having run its course. But ultimately, it'll be much easier to get to those targets, and it won't be necessarily linear. So if you think about five years, if you're flat for a couple, there's likely to be a catch up at some point. And so that six day clearly isn't where we're at right now.

我認為實際上我已經聽說過這一點，我想蘇珊可能在她的一篇筆記中提到過這一點，但修復模型市場雖然穩定但進展緩慢，因此我們在這些環境中的增長更多地圍繞著我們的價值主張和獲取份額的能力。這肯定與去庫存化進程有關。但最終，實現這些目標會容易得多，而且不一定是線性的。因此，如果您考慮五年的話，如果您的夫妻生活停滯不前，那麼在某個時候就有可能趕上。所以那六天顯然不是我們現在所處的階段。

But as we've talked, Brian, some of that's from M&A, and some of that's organic. And the markets as they get on stuck, will help us really drive that top-line organically and we're certainly focused on making good strategic M&A decisions which hopefully kind of gets us the rest. But that's really the one thing I would say right now is as you look at it, we're probably not where we'd like to be, mostly because of the markets that we're in.

但正如我們所說，布萊恩，其中一些來自併購，有些是有機的。當市場陷入困境時，這將有助於我們真正推動營收有機成長，我們當然會專注於做出良好的策略性併購決策，希望這能讓我們獲得其餘的收益。但我現在真正想說的是，你看一下，我們可能還沒有達到我們想要的水平，主要是因為我們所處的市場。

Great, appreciate the color on that. Secondly, on gross margin. I just want to confirm, I think Colin said 27% is where you expect to be moving forward. Is that, did I hear that? Right.

太好了，欣賞它的色彩。其次，關於毛利率。我只是想確認一下，我認為柯林說 27% 是你預期的未來發展目標。是嗎，我聽到沒了？正確的。

Yeah, I don't, yeah -- without sort of giving guidance, quote unquote, we were at 27% and, as we look forward, the dynamics that he mentioned that were the year-over-year comp will be in place as we go forward.

是的，我不知道，是的 - 沒有給出任何指導，我們的增長率為 27%，展望未來，他提到的同比動態將在我們前進的過程中保持不變。

And then just one final one on M&A particularly in consumer, you're in three pretty different end markets with tools, outdoor living celebrations. Where are the M&A opportunities as you see them today? And kind of where in consumer do you want a bigger pres presence in order priority? Thank you.

最後一個關於併購的問題，特別是在消費者領域，你處於三個非常不同的終端市場，包括工具、戶外生活慶典。您認為目前併購機會在哪裡？您希望在哪些消費者群體中優先考慮更大的宣傳力度？謝謝。

Sure. It's a great question. Our consumer business is doing exceptionally well and their value proposition is so sophisticated. And so when we think about consumer, we think about adding companies to our umbrella, it's really one companies that we can make better. And so that is utilizing our relationships with either our retail partners or distribution partners if it's going into the more the professional channel.

當然。這是一個很好的問題。我們的消費者業務表現非常出色，他們的價值主張非常複雜。因此，當我們考慮消費者時，我們會考慮將公司納入我們的保護傘下，這實際上是我們可以做得更好的公司。因此，如果要進入更專業的管道，這就是利用我們與零售合作夥伴或分銷合作夥伴的關係。

You know, this, Brian, a lot of our customers in the consumer space are do-it-yourselfers or their contractors that happen to shop in various places. And so we want to be where they are. But again, it's, I would say, it's more going to be focused on the value added tool space and in those markets as opposed to some of the others that we're in today.

布萊恩，您知道，我們消費領域的許多客戶都是 DIY 愛好者，或是碰巧在各個地方購物的承包商。所以我們希望達到他們所達到的水平。但我想說的是，它將更專注於增值工具領域和那些市場，而不是我們今天所處的其他一些市場。

And that will conclude our question and answer session and I'll hand the call back over to Joe Hayek for any closing remarks.

我們的問答環節到此結束，我將把電話交還給喬·哈耶克，讓他做最後發言。

Thank you, Regina and thank you everyone. For joining us this morning. Please have a safe and a very happy holiday season and we look forward to speaking to everybody again soon.

謝謝你，里賈娜，也謝謝大家。感謝您今天早上加入我們。請您度過一個安全快樂的假期，我們期待很快能再次與大家交談。

And that does conclude our call today. Thank you all for joining you. May now disconnect.

今天的通話到此結束。感謝大家的加入。現在可以編輯。