賽莱默 (XYL) 2025 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Good day, everyone, and welcome to Xylem's fourth-quarter 2025 results conference call. (Operator Instructions) Please also note today's event is being recorded.

大家好，歡迎參加賽萊默公司2025年第四季業績電話會議。（操作說明）也請注意，今天的活動正在錄製中。

At this time, I'd like to turn the floor over to Mr. Keith Buettner, Vice President, Investor Relations and FP&A. Please go ahead.

此時，我想把發言權交給投資人關係與財務規劃與分析副總裁 Keith Buettner 先生。請繼續。

Thank you, operator. Good morning, everyone, and welcome to Xylem's fourth-quarter 2025 earnings call. With me today are Chief Executive Officer, Matthew Pine; and Chief Financial Officer, Bill Grogan. They will provide their perspective on Xylem's fourth-quarter full-year 2025 results, and discuss the first quarter and full-year 2026 outlook. Following our prepared remarks, we will address questions related to the information covered on the call. I'll ask that please keep to one question and a follow-up and then return to the queue.

謝謝接線生。各位早安，歡迎參加賽萊默公司2025年第四季財報電話會議。今天陪同我出席的有執行長馬修·派恩和財務長比爾·格羅根。他們將對賽萊默公司 2025 年第四季和全年業績發表看法，並討論 2026 年第一季和全年展望。在宣讀完準備好的演講稿後，我們將回答與本次電話會議所涵蓋資訊相關的問題。請各位每次只提一個問題，並提出一個後續問題，然後返回隊列。

As a reminder, this call and our webcast are accompanied by a slide presentation available in the Investors section of our website. A replay of today's call will be available until midnight, February 24, and will be available for playback via the Investors section of our website under the heading Investor Events.

再次提醒，本次電話會議和網路直播均配有幻燈片演示文稿，可在我們網站的「投資者」版塊查看。今天電話會議的錄音回放將保留至 2 月 24 日午夜，可透過我們網站「投資者」版塊下的「投資者活動」欄位進行回放。

Please turn to slide 2. We will make some forward-looking statements on today's call, including references to future events or developments that we anticipate will or may occur in the future. These statements are subject to future risks and uncertainties such as those factors described in Xylem's most recent annual report on Form 10-K and in subsequent reports filed with the SEC. Please note that the company undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements publicly to reflect subsequent events or circumstances, and actual events or results could differ materially from those anticipated.

請翻到第二張幻燈片。我們將在今天的電話會議上發表一些前瞻性聲明，包括提及我們預期將來會發生或可能發生的事件或發展。這些聲明受到未來風險和不確定性的影響，例如 Xylem 最新年度報告（10-K 表格）以及隨後向美國證券交易委員會提交的報告中所描述的因素。請注意，本公司不承擔公開更新任何前瞻性聲明以反映後續事件或情況的義務，實際事件或結果可能與預期有重大差異。

Please turn to slide 3. We have provided you with a summary of our key performance metrics, including both GAAP and non-GAAP metrics. For the purposes of today's call, all references will be on an organic and/or adjusted basis, unless otherwise indicated. And non-GAAP financials have been reconciled for you and are included in the appendix section of the presentation.

請翻到第3張投影片。我們已向您提供了關鍵績效指標的摘要，其中包括 GAAP 指標和非 GAAP 指標。除非另有說明，否則就今天的電話會議而言，所有參考資料都將基於有機增長和/或調整後的增長。非GAAP財務資料已為您核對完畢，並包含在簡報的附錄部分中。

Now, please turn to slide 4, and I will turn the call over to our CEO, Matthew Pine.

現在，請翻到第 4 張投影片，我將把電話交給我們的執行長馬修·派恩。

Thank you, Keith. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us. The team delivered an outstanding fourth quarter to close a record year for Xylem. We delivered strong Q4 performance across all major metrics. The team executed with discipline across the portfolio, both in the quarter and full year.

謝謝你，基斯。各位早安，感謝各位的參與。該團隊在第四季度表現出色，為賽萊默公司創紀錄的一年畫上了圓滿的句號。我們在第四季度所有主要指標上都取得了強勁的業績。團隊在整個投資組合中執行力強，無論是季度業績或全年業績都表現出色。

The record results demonstrate the impact of our operating model transformation, which represents Phase 1 of our plan to deliver Xylem's long-term framework. That first phase has been about transforming Xylem's operating model; our high-impact culture; a simpler, scalable structure; and improvements in our business processes and cornerstone systems.

創紀錄的業績證明了我們營運模式轉型的影響，這代表了我們實現賽萊默長期框架計畫的第一階段。第一階段的重點是轉變賽萊默的營運模式；打造高影響力文化；建立更簡單、可擴展的架構；以及改善業務流程和核心系統。

We've simplified Xylem, increasing speed and accountability. The numbers we posted this morning reflect the ground we've already taken, and there's more to come in 2026. In parallel, we're entering Phase 2, strengthening our growth engine by leveraging improvements in our operating model, focusing on sales force effectiveness, product management, and innovation.

我們簡化了Xylem流程，提高了速度和責任感。我們今天早上公佈的數據反映了我們已經取得的進展，2026 年將取得更多成就。同時，我們正在進入第二階段，透過改進營運模式來加強我們的成長引擎，並專注於銷售團隊效率、產品管理和創新。

Phase 3 will invest further in long-term competitiveness, building on our core franchises, expanding breakthrough innovation and deepening exposure to the most attractive future water markets. We're tracking to the framework we laid out almost two years ago, and we have plenty of runway ahead. As we sharpen our customer focus and simplify our product offerings, 2026 will be the peak of purposeful walk away from lower quality revenue. That creates a short-term top line headwind as we've communicated previously, but it drives higher quality earnings.

第三階段將進一步投資於長期競爭力，鞏固我們的核心特許經營權，擴大突破性創新，並加深對最具吸引力的未來水務市場的參與。我們正朝著近兩年前製定的框架穩步前進，未來還有充足的時間。隨著我們更加重視客戶體驗並簡化產品供應，2026 年將是我們有目的地放棄低品質收入的頂峰時期。正如我們之前所溝通的那樣，這會在短期內對營收造成不利影響，但會推動更高品質的獲利。

Looking ahead to 2026, we see resilient demand in our largest end markets, strong backlog conversion and continued traction from our transformation efforts. I'll leave the detailed guidance to build, but at a high level, we will build on our commercial and operational momentum, growing the top line and expanding margins again in 2026.

展望 2026 年，我們看到最大的終端市場需求強勁，積壓訂單轉換率高，轉型努力持續進展。我將把具體的指導意見留給後續制定，但總體而言，我們將鞏固我們的商業和營運勢頭，在 2026 年再次提高營收並擴大利潤率。

With that, Bill will take you through the quarter and full year and also our 2026 outlook in more detail. Bill?

接下來，比爾將更詳細地向大家介紹本季和全年情況，以及我們對 2026 年的展望。帳單？

Thanks, Matthew. Please turn to slide 5. We are very pleased with the strong finish to 2025. The team stayed focused and delivered consistently throughout the year, delivering record revenue, EBITDA and earnings per share for the fourth quarter and the full year. Demand remains positive with our backlog finishing at $4.6 billion. Our book-to-bill was [near 1], both in the quarter and for the full year.

謝謝你，馬修。請翻到第5張投影片。我們對2025年取得的強勁成績非常滿意。團隊全年保持專注並持續取得佳績，第四季度和全年均實現了創紀錄的收入、EBITDA 和每股收益。市場需求依然強勁，我們的積壓訂單總額達到 46 億美元。本季和全年的訂單出貨比都接近 1。

Orders were healthy, up 7% in the quarter, driven by over 20% growth in MCS. And for the year, orders were up 2%. Revenue grew 4% in the quarter despite a challenging comparison of 7% growth in the same period last year. Full year revenue growth was solid at 5%. Full-year EBITDA margin expanded 160 basis points to 22.2%, driven by the same factors.

訂單狀況良好，本季成長 7%，其中 MCS 成長超過 20%。今年以來，訂單量增加了 2%。儘管去年同期營收成長7%，面臨嚴峻的業績對比挑戰，但本季營收仍成長了4%。全年營收成長穩健，達5%。受相同因素驅動，全年 EBITDA 利潤率成長 160 個基點至 22.2%。

The team's operational discipline delivered quarterly EBITDA margin of 23.2%, up 220 basis points versus the prior year. The improvement was driven by productivity and price more than offsetting inflation. Full year EBITDA margin expanded 160 basis points to 22.2% driven by the same factors.

該團隊的營運紀律使季度 EBITDA 利潤率達到 23.2%，比去年同期成長 220 個基點。這項改善主要受生產力和價格上漲的推動，而非通貨膨脹的影響。受相同因素驅動，全年 EBITDA 利潤率成長 160 個基點至 22.2%。

We also achieved a record quarterly EPS of $1.42, a 20% increase over the prior year. Our balance sheet remains in great shape with net debt to adjusted EBITDA of 0.2x. And Year-to-date, free cash flow decreased by 2% from the prior year, in line with expectations, driven by outsourced water projects, system investments and restructuring costs, offset by higher net income.

我們還實現了創紀錄的季度每股收益 1.42 美元，比上年增長了 20%。我們的資產負債表依然穩健，淨債務與調整後 EBITDA 比率為 0.2 倍。今年迄今為止，自由現金流較上年同期下降 2%，符合預期，主要受外包水務專案、系統投資和重組成本的影響，但卻被更高的淨利潤所抵銷。

Let's turn to slide 6. In measurement and control solutions, we continue to convert the backlog with MCS's backlog finishing the year roughly $1.4 billion. Orders were up a robust 22% and driven by smart metering demand across water and energy. However, this was below our expectations with several projects pushing out into 2026. Revenue was up 10% driven by energy metering demand, but supported by high single-digit gains in water as well, which offset softness in analytics related to timing effects caused by the government shutdown.

讓我們翻到第6張投影片。在測量和控制解決方案方面，我們繼續轉換積壓訂單，MCS 的積壓訂單在年底達到了約 14 億美元。訂單量強勁成長 22%，主要得益於水務和能源領域對智慧計量的需求。然而，這低於我們的預期，有好幾個項目都推遲到了 2026 年。受能源計量需求的推動，營收成長了 10%，但水務業務也實現了接近兩位數的成長，這抵消了政府停擺造成的時效性影響導致的分析數據疲軟。

EBITDA margin of 20.2% was 310 basis points higher than prior year, driven by productivity, price and volume more than offsetting mix and inflation.

EBITDA 利潤率為 20.2%，比去年同期高出 310 個基點，主要得益於生產力、價格和銷售的成長，超過了產品組合和通貨膨脹的影響。

In Water Infrastructure, orders were down 1% in the quarter, with softness in treatment primarily in China, mostly offset by strong demand in transport. Revenue was flat with strong double-digit growth in the US, offset by an almost 30% decline in China. EBITDA margin for Water Infrastructure was up a remarkable 510 basis points, driven by productivity, price and mix, offset by inflation, volume and investments.

在水利基礎設施領域，本季訂單量下降了 1%，主要原因是中國水處理需求疲軟，但交通運輸領域的強勁需求基本上抵消了這一疲軟。營收持平，其中美國市場實現了強勁的兩位數成長，但被中國市場近 30% 的下滑所抵消。水利基礎設施的 EBITDA 利潤率顯著提高了 510 個基點，這主要得益於生產力、價格和產品組合的提高，但被通貨膨脹、銷售和投資所抵消。

In Applied Water, orders were up 5% and book-to-bill was roughly 1, lifted by large projects and data center wins in the US Revenues were up 3% versus the prior year, primarily driven by strength in US commercial buildings. Segment EBITDA margin increased 60 basis points year-over-year driven by productivity and price offset by inflation, volume and mix. For some of these items being nonrecurring in nature, we expect Applied Water to be back in the 20% EBITDA range in the first quarter.

在應用水務領域，訂單量成長了 5%，訂單出貨比約為 1，這主要得益於美國大型專案和資料中心專案的中標。營收比上年增長了 3%，主要得益於美國商業建築的強勁表現。分部 EBITDA 利潤率年增 60 個基點，主要得益於生產力和價格的提高，但被通貨膨脹、銷售量和產品組合的變動所抵銷。由於其中一些項目屬於非經常性項目，我們預計應用水務公司第一季的 EBITDA 將恢復到 20% 的水平。

Finally, Water Solutions and Services saw robust demand with orders increasing 7%, driven by strength in services. Revenue growth was strong, up 4% against a tough comp with strength in capital and services. Segment EBITDA margin was 23.9%, up 110 basis points versus the prior year, driven by price, volume and productivity, offset by inflation and mix.

最後，水處理解決方案和服務需求強勁，訂單成長了 7%，這主要得益於服務業務的強勁表現。儘管面臨嚴峻的競爭環境，但營收成長強勁，仍成長了 4%，這主要得益於資本和服務業務的強勁表現。分部 EBITDA 利潤率為 23.9%，比上年增長 110 個基點，主要得益於價格、銷售和生產率的提高，但被通貨膨脹和產品組合所抵消。

Now let's turn to slide 7 for our 2026 segment outlook. Heading into 2026, our markets remain positive, and our teams are delivering on our commitment to simplify Xylem, focus on our customers and drive profitable growth. We are providing full year organic revenue outlook for the segments, and I want to highlight that we are accelerating our 80/20 efforts around product and customer simplification. As a result, we will have an outsized headwind to our top line for the year of roughly 2%, doubling the impact we experienced in 2025. We expect this is a 1-year elevation and we are still committed to delivering on our long-term framework.

現在讓我們翻到第 7 張投影片，看看我們對 2026 年細分市場的展望。展望 2026 年，我們的市場依然保持樂觀，我們的團隊正在履行我們對簡化 Xylem、專注於客戶和推動獲利成長的承諾。我們將提供各業務部門的全年有機收入展望，我想強調的是，我們正在加快推進產品和客戶簡化方面的 80/20 工作。因此，今年我們的營收將面臨約 2% 的巨大逆風，是 2025 年我們受到的影響的兩倍。我們預計這將是一年的提升，我們仍然致力於實現我們的長期框架。

In MCS, we expect growth in the mid-single digits. Overall, demand is positive and our pipeline remains strong but project timing has been more variable and less predictable than we have experienced over the last few years. Our expectation is energy meters will drive a majority of the growth in 2026 and water meters will grow low single digits as expected orders from the fourth quarter pushed out into the first half of 2016. We will also have an impact from our 80/20 actions, primarily in analytics, impacting overall segment growth for the year.

在MCS領域，我們預期成長率將達到中等個位數。整體而言，市場需求良好，我們的專案儲備依然強勁，但專案進度比過去幾年更加不穩定，更難以預測。我們預計，到 2026 年，能源計量表將推動大部分成長，而水錶將以個位數低成長，因為第四季的預期訂單推遲到了 2016 年上半年。我們的 80/20 行動也將產生影響，主要體現在分析方面，進而影響全年的整體業務成長。

The first quarter will be challenged, down low single digits. We expect to see sequential revenue improvement throughout the year as project kickoffs accelerate in the back half of the year. Also, as a reminder, we expect to close on the divestiture of the [international metering] business at the end of the first quarter.

第一季將面臨挑戰，預計成長速度將低於10%。我們預計隨著下半年專案啟動速度加快，全年收入將逐週成長。另外，提醒一下，我們預計將在第一季末完成（國際計量）業務的剝離。

In Water Infrastructure, we expect low single-digit growth. We anticipate resilient OpEx and CapEx demand due to the mission-critical nature of our applications with healthy utility end markets across most regions. However, we will see headwinds from 80/20 actions as we accelerate the simplification of our offerings and expect continued weakness in China's utility market, primarily impacting the first half of the year.

在水利基礎設施領域，我們預期成長率將低於個位數。由於我們的應用具有任務關鍵性，且大多數地區的公用事業終端市場狀況良好，我們預期營運支出和資本支出需求將保持穩定。然而，隨著我們加快簡化產品，80/20 策略將帶來不利影響，預計中國公用事業市場將持續疲軟，主要影響上半年。

In Applied Water, we expect growth in the low single digits. We see growth across developed markets, particularly in the US, with large projects coming online and strong growth in data centers. Similar to the story in Water Infrastructure, growth will be offset in Applied Water by 80/20 actions, exiting unprofitable business and a weak China market impacting the first half of the year.

在應用水處理領域，我們預期成長率將達到個位數。我們看到已開發市場整體成長，尤其是在美國，大型專案陸續上線，資料中心也實現了強勁成長。與水利基礎設施領域的情況類似，應用水務領域的成長將被 80/20 行動所抵消，退出不盈利的業務以及疲軟的中國市場將影響上半年業績。

WSS will deliver mid-single-digit growth driven by strength in outsourced water projects and solid demand in Dewatering. Though we expect this will continue to be a more variable segment quarter-to-quarter due to the project nature of our capital offering. The segment is supported by a $1.4 billion backlog and a strong funnel across all businesses.

WSS 將實現中等個位數成長，這主要得益於外包水務專案的強勁成長和脫水業務的穩健需求。儘管我們預計由於我們資本發行的項目性質，這一部分每季仍將呈現較大波動。該業務板塊擁有 14 億美元的積壓訂單，並且所有業務部門都有強勁的銷售管道。

Now let's turn to slide 8 for our full year and Q1 guidance for 2026. The growth outlook by segment translates into 2026 full-year revenue of $9.1 billion to $9.2 billion, resulting in revenue growth of 1% to 3% and organic revenue growth of 2% to 4%. Again, this is on the low end of our long-term framework through the 80/20 actions we are taking across our segments. We're continuing to increase the quality of our earnings and simplifying our businesses to outperform our markets for the long term. EBITDA margin is expected to be 22.9% to 23.3%.

現在讓我們來看看第 8 張投影片，了解我們對 2026 年全年和第一季的業績展望。按業務板塊劃分的成長前景表明，2026 年全年收入將達到 91 億美元至 92 億美元，收入成長率為 1% 至 3%，有機收入成長率為 2% 至 4%。再次強調，這只是我們透過各個業務板塊採取的 80/20 行動所建構的長期框架中的較低水準。我們將持續提高獲利質量，簡化業務，以實現長期超越市場的表現。預計 EBITDA 利潤率為 22.9% 至 23.3%。

This represents 70 to 110 basis points of expansion versus the prior year, driven by productivity, volume and price offsetting inflation with productivity continuing to benefit from our simplification efforts.

與去年相比，這相當於成長了 70 至 110 個基點，主要得益於生產力、銷售和價格的成長抵消了通貨膨脹，而生產力也繼續受益於我們的簡化措施。

This yields an EPS range of $5.35 to $5.60, up 8% at the midpoint over the prior year. As a reminder, we are committed to low double-digit free cash flow margin in our long-term financial framework, and we will make additional progress in 2026.

這推算出每股收益範圍為 5.35 美元至 5.60 美元，中點數值比上年增長 8%。再次提醒大家，我們在長期財務框架中致力於實現兩位數的低自由現金流利潤率，我們將在 2026 年取得進一步進展。

Drilling down on the first quarter. We anticipate reported revenue growth will be in the 1% to 2% range on a reported basis and flat organically. We expect first quarter EBITDA margin to be approximately 20.5% to 21%, up 25 basis points at the midpoint, driven by productivity gains and impacts from simplification efforts, offset by mix. This yields first quarter EPS of $1.06 to $1.11. We are entering the year with momentum and in a position of strength.

深入分析第一季的情況。我們預計，以報告數據計算，營收成長將在 1% 至 2% 之間，而以自然成長計算則持平。我們預計第一季 EBITDA 利潤率約為 20.5% 至 21%，中間值上升 25 個基點，主要得益於生產力的提高和簡化措施的影響，但會被產品組合的變化所抵消。這預示著第一季每股收益為1.06美元至1.11美元。我們帶著強勁的發展勢頭和優勢進入新的一年。

Our balanced outlook reflects strong commercial positioning, the durability of our portfolio and further benefits from simplification. Though we are monitoring broader market conditions and volatility, including tariffs. Overall, our expectations for the year remain positive as we build on our strong results.

我們均衡的前景反映了強大的商業地位、我們產品組合的持久性以及簡化帶來的進一步好處。儘管我們正在密切關注更廣泛的市場狀況和波動，包括關稅。總體而言，我們對今年的預期依然樂觀，因為我們將延續先前的強勁勢頭。

With that, please turn to slide 9, and I'll turn the call back over to Matthew for closing comments.

接下來，請翻到第 9 張投影片，我將把發言權交還給馬修，讓他做總結發言。

Thanks, Bill. Before we open for questions, let me close with a broader lens. Xylem participated in the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting at Davos for the first time this year. The headlines were all about AI and geopolitics, but water emerged as a significant underlying theme. More than a dozen sessions framed water is foundational to economic growth, energy systems, and geopolitical stability.

謝謝你，比爾。在正式開始提問之前，我想先從更廣闊的視角來談談我的看法。今年，賽萊默公司首次參加了在達沃斯舉行的世界經濟論壇年會。新聞頭條都在討論人工智慧和地緣政治，但水資源卻成為了一個重要的潛在主題。十幾場會議都強調水是經濟成長、能源系統和地緣政治穩定的基礎。

That aligns directly with the research we released last month, Watering the New Economy, which makes a simple point. As AI accelerates growth in power generation data centers and microelectronics, water strategy becomes business strategy. These sectors are wrestling with availability, reliability, and efficiency. They need reuse at scale, dramatic reductions in network leagues and adaptive infrastructure that automatically optimizes performance. And that's where Xylem is uniquely positioned, covering the full water value chain with practical solutions. That breadth differentiates us at a time when customers are looking for credible scalable partners.

這與我們上個月發布的《為新經濟澆水》研究報告完全一致，該報告闡述了一個簡單的觀點。隨著人工智慧加速發電、資料中心和微電子產業的成長，水資源策略正成為商業策略。這些行業正在努力解決可用性、可靠性和效率問題。他們需要大規模的重複使用、大幅減少網路層級以及能夠自動優化效能的自適應基礎設施。而這正是賽萊默公司獨特的優勢所在，它以切實可行的解決方案覆蓋了整個水資源價值鏈。這種廣度使我們在客戶尋求可靠、可擴展的合作夥伴的時代中脫穎而出。

As we pivot further into growth, we'll keep building capability where we have structural advantage. Mission-critical utility and industrial applications where reliability, compliance and life cycle costs matter most. Digital platforms that help customers optimize network performance and make resilience affordable. Advanced treatment and reuse that support economic growth without increasing freshwater withdrawals or compromising communities. In services that turn our technology and installed base into dependable high-value outcomes for customers and durable revenues for Xylem.

隨著我們進一步轉向成長，我們將繼續在我們具有結構性優勢的領域中增強能力。可靠性、合規性和生命週期成本至關重要的關鍵性公用事業和工業應用。幫助客戶優化網路效能並降低網路彈性成本的數位化平台。先進的水處理和再利用技術，既能促進經濟成長，又不會增加淡水取用量或損害社區利益。在服務方面，我們將我們的技術和已安裝的基礎轉化為客戶可靠的高價值成果，並為賽萊默帶來持久的收入。

We're already doing this work at scale, helping cities and industries recover water they already have, reuse what they once discarded and run their assets more efficiently. We're helping Los Angeles [produce] 58 million gallons of recycled water per day with plans to deliver 260 million gallons more. Smaller communities, like Hot Springs, Arkansas, are reducing water losses by 50% or more with far less digging costs.

我們已經大規模地進行這項工作，幫助城市和企業回收他們已有的水資源，重新利用他們曾經丟棄的水資源，並更有效地運作他們的資產。我們正在幫助洛杉磯每天生產 5,800 萬加侖再生水，並計劃再增加 2.6 億加侖。像阿肯色州溫泉城這樣的小社區，在大大降低挖掘成本的情況下，減少了 50% 甚至更多的水資源損失。

On the industrial side, Silfex, a microelectronics manufacturers reusing 80% of its processed water with a Xylem ultrapure water system. One of our aerospace customers is now avoiding more than $30 million in wastewater disposal cost with 0 liquid discharge technology, reusing more than 66 million gallons of water annually. All of these examples are responses to intensifying water trends, driving sustained demand for the solutions we provide across the water value chain. We are confident in the strength of our team and our platform to capitalize on that demand and to deliver sustainable, high-quality growth over the long term.

在工業領域，微電子製造商 Silfex 使用 Xylem 超純水系統重複利用其 80% 的處理水。我們的一位航空航太客戶現在透過零液體排放技術，每年可重複利用超過 6,600 萬加侖的水，從而避免了超過 3,000 萬美元的廢水處理成本。所有這些例子都是對日益加劇的水資源趨勢的回應，從而推動了對我們在整個水資源價值鏈中提供的解決方案的持續需求。我們對團隊和平台的實力充滿信心，能夠抓住這項需求，並在長期內實現可持續的高品質成長。

With that, we'll open the call for your questions.

接下來，我們將開始接受大家的提問。

(Operator Instructions) Deane Dray, RBC Capital Markets.

（操作員說明）迪恩‧德雷，加拿大皇家銀行資本市場。

Matthew, as we do the calendar flip and as you start Phase 2, maybe you can give us a 2-year progress report, if you could. Just kind of reflect on the initiatives regarding margin improvement, portfolio optimization and how you are also trying to keep your eye on growth opportunities.

馬修，隨著日曆翻頁，你開始進入第二階段，如果你方便的話，能不能給我們一份兩年的進度報告？請您反思一下在提高利潤率、優化投資組合以及關注成長機會方面所採取的舉措。

Yes. So first, we've got a lot of work to do in front of us. I'll start there. But if we look back over the past few years, the results have really exceeded expectations from my perspective. Maybe just even starting firstly with not long ago, we were talking about the integration of [Evoqua] and Xylem.

是的。首先，我們面前還有很多工作要做。我就從這裡開始。但回顧過去幾年，從我的角度來看，結果確實超出了預期。也許早在不久前，我們還在討論[Evoqua]和Xylem的整合。

And we've built a great deal of muscle in terms of M&A and integration, and we really enhanced our combined culture along the way, and we delivered synergies 18 months early. So I give the team a lot of credit there starting with that integration. And at the same time, we've made significant progress in our operational model transformation, which is really about -- really our culture, our high-impact culture, improving our processes and systems and our structure. And maybe I'll just maybe point to a few [proof] points on the progress that we've made.

我們在併購和整合方面累積了強大的實力，並在此過程中真正提升了我們的企業文化，而且我們提前 18 個月實現了協同效應。因此，我非常讚賞團隊在整合工作上所做的努力。同時，我們在營運模式轉型方面取得了重大進展，這實際上關乎——真正關乎我們的文化，我們高影響力的文化，改善我們的流程、系統和結構。或許我還可以舉幾個例子來證明我們所取得的進展。

The first and significant amount of change that we've been going through the past couple of years, I looked at our engagement rating the other day. In essence, an engagement rating in your employee survey is, would you recommend Xylem as a great place to work. Almost 90% of our top 150 leaders said they would, [and overall company was 74]. When you're going through a significant transformation, I think that's a really good outstanding result. And the industrial sector average is around 37%, and so I think this speaks to the resilience of our team and the culture that we're creating.

前幾天我查看了我們的員工敬業度評分，發現過去幾年我們經歷了第一次也是最重要的變化。從本質上講，員工調查中的敬業度評分是：您是否會將 Xylem 推薦為一個理想的工作場所。在我們排名前 150 名的領導者中，近 90% 的人表示他們會這樣做。[公司整體評分為 74 分]。當你經歷重大轉變時，我認為這是一個非常優秀的結果。工業部門的平均水準約為 37%，所以我認為這體現了我們團隊的韌性和我們正在創造的企業文化。

Another good measure that I talk about a lot is on-time [performance] in terms of how we're really moving our operating model forward. And we've gained 500 basis points on-time performance, delivering products to customers more effectively over the past couple of years. And structurally, we've really improved moving from a highly matrix structure to a more 4 segments, 16 divisions, a single [axis], reducing our spans and layers. And we reduced our -- we had several micro teams, I think, 1,500 micro teams. We reduced that by 40%, so that's -- folks that have four or less direct reports. And so we've really improved our structure, (inaudible) processes and our systems along the way.

我經常提到的另一個重要指標是準時交付率，它反映了我們如何真正推動我們的營運模式。在過去的幾年裡，我們的準時交貨率提高了 500 個基點，更有效地向客戶交付了產品。在結構上，我們確實從高度矩陣結構轉變為 4 個部分、16 個部門、單一[軸]的結構，減少了跨度和層數，從而得到了很大的改進。我們減少了——我們之前有好幾個微型團隊，我想，大概有 1500 個微型團隊。我們將其減少了 40%，也就是——直接下屬人數為四人或以下的人。因此，我們一路走來，確實改善了我們的組織結構、（聽不清楚）流程和系統。

Maybe I would just -- like I said in the prepared remarks, we've taken a lot of ground on what I would call Phase 1. It's not over. We have more work to do, but we're starting to transition into what I would call Phase 2, which is really about leveraging that simplicity that we've created, the focus, the speed and accountability to really build a growth engine in the company.

也許我會像我在準備好的演講稿中所說的那樣，我們在我稱之為第一階段的領域取得了很大進展。還沒結束。我們還有更多工作要做，但我們正在開始過渡到我所謂的第二階段，這一階段的重點是利用我們所創造的簡單性、專注性、速度和責任感，真正為公司打造成長引擎。

And that's focused on a few areas I would highlight at a high level. One is our sales force effectiveness. We need our sales teams, 75%, 80% of the time facing the customer versus 40 or 50 or 60 doing back-office work. We need to improve our product life cycle management and innovation, really speed to customer value. So those are areas that we're -- as we pivot, we're going to be keenly focused on this year and building capabilities.

以上內容主要集中在幾個方面，我會重點介紹一下。一是我們銷售團隊的效率。我們需要銷售團隊 75% 到 80% 的時間與客戶面對面交流，而不是 40%、50% 或 60% 的時間從事後台工作。我們需要改善產品生命週期管理和創新，真正加快為客戶創造價值的速度。所以，隨著我們轉型，今年我們將專注於這些領域並提升自身能力。

So we can leverage the simplicity and get back to growth. But I'm just -- I'm very proud of the team. I appreciate the question and really the resilience they've shown not only with all the change that we had to deal with, but also the change that's been external to the company as we've dealt with over the past couple of years. So maybe I'll end it there. Thanks for the question.

所以我們可以利用這種簡單性，重新回到成長軌道上。但我真的——我為這支隊伍感到非常自豪。我很感謝這個問題，也十分讚賞他們所展現的韌性，不僅應對了我們必須面對的所有變化，也應對了過去幾年公司外部帶來的變化。所以，也許我就此打住吧。謝謝你的提問。

That's really helpful. And then as a follow-up for Bill, maybe you can expand on the point of increasing the 80/20 walkaway revenues in the second year. Maybe it's a surprise to me, I think, because I would have thought in the first year, there'd be more opportunities for less -- identifying less profitable businesses, not having it accelerate into the second year. So maybe just kind of help put that into context.

這真的很有幫助。然後，作為對比爾的後續提問，也許你可以進一步闡述如何提高第二年 80/20 退出收入這一點。或許這讓我感到意外，因為我原本以為在第一年會有更多機會去尋找利潤較低的企業，而不是讓利潤加速成長到第二年。所以，或許這樣能幫助大家更理解它的背景。

(inaudible) Yes. No, sure. Let me step back first and just talk about how 80/20 is really taking hold in the organization kind of 2 years into the transformation that Matthew highlighted. Each quarter, we take another step in simplifying Xylem, shifting from just leveraging 80/20 as a tool set to be a critical piece of how we run the company with a real focus on resource allocation, putting our best people and investments around their largest value-creating opportunities.

（聽不清楚）是的。不，當然。首先，我想退一步，談談馬修強調的轉型實施兩年後，80/20 法則是如何在組織中真正紮根的。每個季度，我們都會在簡化賽萊默的過程中邁出一步，不再僅僅將 80/20 法則作為一套工具，而是將其作為我們公司運營的關鍵組成部分，真正專注於資源分配，將我們最優秀的人才和投資投入到他們最大的價值創造機會中。

We've got about 80% of the business in some phase of implementation right now with the capital and services piece of WSS, the only part of the company not fully launched, and they'll start at the end of this year after they get through their [ERP] upgrade. And the team continues to make solid progress leveraging the tool set, right? We started this year with redesigning the organization and putting P&L leaders in charge of the division so they can have a good perspective and drive a lot of this change. They looked at the cost that they needed to support the business and optimize that overhead to get our foundation as lean as possible to make sure that we're focused on simplifying that organizational construct.

目前，WSS 的資本和服務部分已進入實施的某個階段，約占公司業務的 80%。這是該公司唯一尚未完全啟動的部分，他們將在今年年底完成 [ERP] 升級後啟動。團隊利用這套工具持續取得穩定進展，對嗎？今年年初，我們重新設計了組織架構，並讓損益負責人負責該部門，以便他們能夠從更宏觀的角度看待問題，並推動許多變革。他們審視了維持業務所需的成本，並優化了管理費用，使我們的基礎盡可能精簡，以確保我們專注於簡化組織結構。

As for the 2% headwind, right, a lot of that comes with an evaluation of the [product and] customer portfolio, really understanding the geographies where you might be underperforming putting in a commercial filter getting the sales and engineering teams developed and leveraging that filter to make sure that we're not taking business that we shouldn't. We're looking at parts of the business where we have significant pass-through revenue that doesn't have significant margin.

至於 2% 的逆風，沒錯，這很大程度上源於對產品和客戶組合的評估，真正了解你可能表現不佳的地區，引入商業篩選機制，發展銷售和工程團隊，並利用該篩選機制來確保我們不會承接不應該承接的業務。我們正在研究業務中那些轉嫁收入很高但利潤率不高的部分。

And all of those decisions take a little bit of time because you want to make sure you bleed the inventory, you don't have an excess. [If you] want to partner with your customers to make sure they're supported through the transition. So there's the cultural and adoption part of it that extends it. And then there's just a customer coordination, which really pushes it into 2026. So excited about the team's taking these actions and ultimately, I think it's going to free up our organizational and economical capacity to better support and facilitate our longer-term growth trajectory.

所有這些決定都需要一些時間，因為你需要確保庫存盡快消化，並避免庫存積壓。 [如果你]想要與客戶合作，確保他們在過渡期間得到支持。所以，文化和接受程度也是它延伸發展的一個面向。然後還有客戶協調的問題，這真的把專案推遲到了 2026 年。我對團隊採取這些行動感到非常興奮，最終我認為這將釋放我們的組織和經濟能力，從而更好地支持和促進我們的長期發展軌跡。

Scott Davis, Melius Research.

Scott Davis，Melius Research。

I wanted to follow up on that question because there's a certain point where 80/20 goes from being a headwind to a tailwind, meaning that you're doing better with the customers that matter the most and perhaps gaining share and such. But when is that point? Do you start to see some impacts like 2027, 2028, is it -- or is it just too hard to say at this point now that you're kind of in the middle of it.

我想就這個問題繼續探討，因為 80/20 法則在某個臨界點會從逆風變為順風，這意味著你在最重要的客戶群體中做得更好，並且可能獲得市場份額等等。但這個臨界點是什麼時候呢？您是否開始看到一些影響，例如 2027 年、2028 年？或者現在處於其中，很難說清楚？

I would say that really 2026 is kind of an inflection point, Scott, for us. The operational transformation never ends, as you know, but we've taken enough ground where we started in the back half of 2025 and it will come into '26 with a bit more momentum around, I would say, building the growth engine and focusing on 8 customers, what we call [raving fans] and actually building out our enterprise selling organization. So all that is in flight.

史考特，我認為 2026 年對我們來說確實是一個轉捩點。如你所知，營運轉型永無止境，但我們在 2025 年下半年起步時已經取得了足夠的進展，進入 2026 年，我們將更有動力，我認為，我們將建立成長引擎，專注於 8 位客戶（我們稱之為「鐵桿粉絲」），並真正建立我們的企業銷售組織。所以這一切都在飛行中。

I think the big thing this year is about building sales force effectiveness and helping our sales organization get more oriented toward the customer, the majority of the time, meaning today, a lot of our sales teams are doing a lot of admin work and they don't get in front of the customer maybe 30%, 40% of the time. The goal over the first half of this year is to change that, to say, 75%, 80%. So I think we're building momentum. And I'd say we exit 2026 with a lot of, again, momentum around building the growth engine and starting to move towards growth and leveraging this simplicity that we've created.

我認為今年最重要的事是提高銷售團隊的效率，幫助我們的銷售組織更以客戶為中心，這意味著目前我們許多銷售團隊都在做大量的行政工作，他們可能只有 30% 到 40% 的時間能真正接觸到客戶。今年上半年的目標是改變這一現狀，比如說，達到 75% 或 80%。所以我覺得我們正在積蓄力量。我認為，到 2026 年底，我們將再次擁有強大的勢頭，建立成長引擎，開始朝著成長方向發展，並利用我們所創造的這種簡潔性。

Okay. Yes, that makes sense. And I have to ask, your balance sheet is starting to look a little bit too good, and it looks like your stock might open up a little bit light today. I mean what are you guys thinking as far as buyback and -- or do we want to keep the dry powder for M&A?

好的。是的，這很有道理。我不得不問，你們的資產負債表看起來有點太好了，看來你們的股票今天開盤可能會有點疲軟。我的意思是，你們對股票回購有什麼想法？還是我們想把資金留作併購？

Yes. Maybe just to highlight that our priorities continue to be investing in our core business, followed by M&A, dividends and then lastly, share buybacks. So I've said this on some other calls that our acquisition process that we put in place a couple of years ago is really maturing nicely. It's much more bottoms up. We've got a very strong actionable funnel as an outcome of this process.

是的。或許只是想強調，我們的首要任務仍是投資核心業務，其次是併購、分紅，最後才是股票回購。我在其他一些電話會議上也說過，我們幾年前製定的收購流程正在穩步成熟。更像是把酒杯朝上喝。透過這個過程，我們得到了一個非常有效且可操作的銷售漏斗。

And we deployed about [$250] million of capital last year towards M&A in the second half of the year. And we have much more than that that's already in process for the first half of '26. So seeing good momentum there.

去年下半年，我們投入了約 2.5 億美元的資金用於併購。而且，我們在 2026 年上半年還有更多項目正在籌備中。所以，目前看來發展勢頭良好。

And we'll continue to target around $1 billion a year of capital deployment towards M&A. We won't not entertain a transformational deal, but it's not something we're focused on right now. It's more medium bolt-ons. With regard to your thoughts on share buybacks, we'll continue to be opportunistic. But again, we're going to be more forward leaning towards investing in the core and M&A. However, at low leverage levels, like we're seeing now, we're going to be much more active in buying back shares.

我們將繼續每年投入約 10 億美元資金用於併購。我們不會完全排除達成變革性交易的可能性，但這並不是我們目前的重點。它更像是中等大小的改裝零件。關於您對股票回購的看法，我們將繼續抓住機會。但是，我們將繼續更加重視核心業務和併購的投資。然而，在像我們現在看到的這種低槓桿水平下，我們將更加積極地回購股票。

Mike Halloran, Baird.

麥克哈洛蘭，貝爾德。

So (inaudible) the backlog exiting the year in context, what it means for this year in the phasing for the year is where the backlog exit rate was? Is that part of the 1Q softness? How do those sequentials work through the year? And then related maybe just a little bit about the hesitancy on the project side and compare that to what the customers are saying, the pipeline, verbal orders, however you want to put it?

所以（聽不清楚）積壓工作在年底結束時，就今年的進度安排而言，積壓工作的完成率是多少？這是第一季產品軟化的一部分嗎？這些順序是如何貫穿全年的？然後，或許可以稍微談談專案方面的猶豫不決，與客戶的說法、專案進度、口頭訂單等等進行比較？

Yes. Maybe I'll touch first just on the backlog positioning. And, Matthew, you can comment on the project side. So first off, right, obviously, [we've] got backlog as we progress through this year and the lower backlog directly impacts the 2026 cadence and revenue guide. First, on MCS, we talked about them working down their backlog throughout the year, getting to a more normalized level.

是的。或許我可以先簡單談談待辦事項的定位。馬修，你也可以對專案方面發表意見。首先，很明顯，隨著今年的推進，我們積壓了一些訂單，而訂單量的減少會直接影響 2026 年的生產節奏和收入預期。首先，在 MCS 上，我們討論了他們如何全年逐步減少積壓的工作，使其達到更正常的水平。

We highlighted really strong orders in the fourth quarter. but we actually anticipated a few larger projects to book that push out in the first half. We'll put you a little bit pressure on our ending backlog and then pressure on kind of our first and second quarter revenue.

我們重點介紹了第四季度非常強勁的訂單，但實際上我們預計一些較大的項目會推遲到上半年才能完成。我們會對期末積壓訂單施加一些壓力，然後再給第一季和第二季的收入施加一些壓力。

[We've talked] China has been really weak, especially in treatment, which is a bigger backlog business for us. that probably put us at a lower backlog position. And then we talked about the walk away revenue. Obviously, that's impacted orders first before it impacts revenue. So we've seen just a lower backlog associated with some of those actions as we progress through the back half of the last year.

[我們討論過]中國市場一直很疲軟，尤其是在治療領域，而治療領域是我們積壓訂單最多的業務。這可能導致我們的訂單積壓情況下降。然後我們討論了離職補償金。顯然，這首先影響的是訂單，然後才會影響收入。因此，隨著去年下半年的推進，我們看到與這些行動相關的積壓工作有所減少。

So I think we're in good shape to start the year. We've talked about healthy commercial funnels for both MCS and WSS, our largest backlog businesses, what we have line of sight to relative to commercial funnel, I think, reasonable confidence in line of sight to improved progression as we go through the year.

所以我覺得我們今年開局不錯。我們已經討論了 MCS 和 WSS（我們最大的積壓業務）的健康商業管道，以及我們對商業管道的展望，我認為，我們有合理的信心，隨著今年的推進，我們將取得更好的進展。

And then maybe some thoughts on China. I know you've done a lot of work already because of the environment. But what are the steps you're taking from here given the softness and how do you see that shaking out over the next couple of years in terms of the commitment to the market, ability to manage that market given the local headwinds, both by local as well as softer end markets and kind of what changes are you making?

然後或許可以談談我對中國的看法。我知道你已經為環境保護做了很多工作。但鑑於目前的疲軟態勢，您接下來將採取哪些措施？您認為未來幾年市場會如何發展？考慮到本地市場和疲軟的終端市場帶來的不利因素，您如何管理市場？您正在做出哪些改變？

Yes. So I think consistent with the commentary we provided for the last couple of quarters, China remains a challenging market for us, both on the orders and revenue side. it did accelerate that decline as we progress through the back half. Q4 orders were down almost 70%. Sales declined almost 30%.

是的。因此，我認為與我們過去幾季的評論一致，中國市場對我們來說仍然是一個充滿挑戰的市場，無論從訂單還是收入來看都是如此。隨著下半年的到來，這種下滑趨勢確實加速了。第四季訂單量下降近70%。銷售額下降了近30%。

Part of that is just the reflecting of the economic headwinds impacting utility and commercial building and industrial end markets and primarily impacting us within Water Infrastructure and Applied Water, right? Local competition continues to drive intense price competition due to the capacity that they've built. But our teams are applying 80--20 lens to focus on higher quality, more profitable opportunities. which is creating some of the top line pressure, right? I mean we're calling that within the China bucket, but you could probably put a little bit of that in the walk away just as we're deliberately exiting some of that low-margin negative margin business within China.

部分原因在於經濟逆風影響了公用事業、商業建築和工業終端市場，主要影響我們水利基礎設施和應用水務領域，對吧？由於產能的提升，本地競爭持續引發激烈的價格競爭。但我們的團隊正在運用80/20法則，專注於更高品質、更有利可圖的機會。這造成了一定的營收壓力，對嗎？我的意思是，我們把這部分歸入中國市場，但你也可以把其中一部分放到「退出」市場，因為我們正在有意退出中國一些利潤率低、利潤率為負的業務。

As we talked about last quarter, China restructured its operations. We reduced our head count by over 40%, just to better align with that volume contraction. But right, we're looking to reallocate the resources that are on the ground just around targeted opportunities where we think we have a technological advantage, we could provide some differentiation in certain applications where we can win and deliver stronger margin performance. because of that differentiation.

正如我們上個季度所討論的，中國對其營運進行了重組。為了更好地適應業務量縮減，我們減少了 40% 以上的員工人數。但是，我們正在考慮重新分配現有資源，重點關注我們認為擁有技術優勢的特定領域，在這些領域我們可以提供差異化優勢，從而贏得市場並帶來更高的利潤率。正是因為這種差異化優勢。

Ultimately, right, China is a very large economy. We don't think there's going to be a material improvement here over the next year or two. But longer term, it's a place that we think that Xylem will be able to get back to growth at a much higher margin profile.

最終來說，沒錯，中國是一個非常龐大的經濟體。我們認為未來一兩年內情況不會有實質改善。但從長遠來看，我們認為賽萊默公司能夠在這裡恢復成長，並實現更高的利潤率。

Andy Kaplowitz, Citigroup.

安迪‧卡普洛維茨，花旗集團。

[Bill], so just maybe a little more color on what's going on in smart meters. You did have solid orders, but Bill, you mentioned orders were still below what you expected. And I think peers have had even a harder time than you and [water smart meters]. So what are you seeing in the market between water and energy? Is your mid-single-digit revenue growth forecast for '26 contingent on converting some of these delayed projects to backlog in the first half and the availability of memory chips impact the look at all?

[比爾]，那麼或許可以更詳細地介紹一下智慧電錶的情況。你們確實收到了一些訂單，但是比爾，你提到訂單量仍然低於你的預期。而且我認為同齡人比你更不容易。[智慧水錶]。那麼，您如何看待水資源和能源市場之間的關係？您對 2026 年中等個位數營收成長的預測是否取決於能否在上半年將一些延期項目轉化為積壓訂單，以及記憶體晶片的供應情況是否會對這一預測產生影響？

Yes. Maybe I'll just maybe start at a high level, Andy, then I'll let Bill get into a little bit of color. But I just want to tell everyone on the call, we remain very confident in M&CS to achieve high single digits long term. segment. The near-term outlook really reflects project timing and some of the backlog normalization coming out of COVID and walk away revenue.

是的。安迪，或許我可以先從高水準的層次開始，然後再讓比爾加入一些色彩。但我只想告訴所有參加電話會議的人，我們仍然非常有信心M&CS業務能夠實現長期高個位數成長。短期前景確實反映了專案進度安排、新冠疫情後積壓訂單的正常化以及預期收入的下降。

So it's not a change so much in underlying demand. The biggest area of walk away in the segment is in analytics. [Is 1 of the] last divisions to go into the 80/20 tool, and they're in the process of shedding organic business right now. Although we do have a little bit of walk away in smart [metering] as well in 2026, and we've exited mechanical meters and we've made a decision to be a bit more selective when we do the meter installation A lot of times, that comes at low margin or no margin pass-through and is a drag on earnings and margins, so we've been a bit forward leaning into that.

所以，這與其說是潛在需求的變化，不如說是潛在需求的改變。該領域流失最嚴重的是數據分析部門。 [是]最後幾個採用80/20工具的部門之一，他們目前正在剝離自然成長業務。儘管我們在 2026 年也稍微退出了智慧電錶領域，並且已經退出了機械電錶，我們決定在進行電錶安裝時更加謹慎。很多時候，這會導致利潤率低或沒有利潤率傳遞，從而拖累收益和利潤率，因此我們一直在積極應對這種情況。

Bidding remains strong and customers are still ordering and our win rates higher than it has been in the past, so I think in general, things are healthy. But maybe one other comment I would make is, again, going back to this post-COVID, the backlog helped to smooth and some of the unevenness that we typically get in this segment, and that can have. So I do -- I think we do expect a bit more variability in quarter-to-quarter going forward.

競標依然強勁，客戶仍在下單，我們的得標率也比以往更高，所以我認為總體而言，情況良好。但或許我還要補充一點，那就是，回到新冠疫情後的狀態，積壓的工作有助於緩解我們在這個領域通常會遇到的一些不平衡現象，而這可能會造成影響。所以我認為——我們預計未來每季的波動性會更大一些。

So maybe one other point I would make is I would highlight that in, the Xylem Vue business, which doubled in 2025, we're expecting that digital business to grow 30-plus in 2026. So as we exit this year, that will continue momentum and help drive the top line of this segment as well.

所以，我可能還要補充一點，那就是，Xylem Vue 業務在 2025 年翻了一番，我們預計該數位業務在 2026 年將成長 30% 以上。因此，隨著今年的結束，這種勢頭將繼續保持，並有助於推動該業務板塊的營收成長。

And Andy, I think your question on the memory piece, we don't see that as a material impact either from an availability or significant increase in inflation for us to have to pass on the customers.

安迪，關於你提出的記憶體問題，我們認為無論是由於可用性問題還是通貨膨脹的大幅上升，都不會對我們造成實質性的影響，因此我們無需將成本轉嫁給客戶。

Helpful, guys. And then maybe a follow-up for you. You're guiding to 70 to 110 basis points of margin (inaudible). As you know, basically [take you past] your 23% and change adjusted EBITDA margin goal for '27 in '26. So where do you go from here?

謝謝你們。接下來或許會給你一些後續問題。您的指導價差為 70 至 110 個基點。（聽不清楚）如你所知，基本上[讓你超過]你2027年23%的調整後EBITDA利潤率目標，在2026年就實現了。那接下來你該怎麼做呢？

Are you going to have an Investor Day, maybe you just set new targets and maybe the entitlement of the business from when you started here. Is it mid-20s or higher? How do you think about that?

你們打算舉辦投資者日嗎？或許你們剛設定了新的目標，或許你們重新檢視了公司自成立以來的發展方向。是25度以上嗎？你對此有何看法？

Yes. I'll take it, Andy. I think from my perspective, we're already outlining an Investor Day for 2027. We'll update strategy and targets at that point. It's probably sometime in the spring of next year.

是的。我收下了，安迪。我認為，從我的角度來看，我們已經在為 2027 年的投資者日做規劃了。屆時我們將更新策略和目標。大概會在明年春季的某個時候。

We have some work ahead of us to deliver this year, and we don't want to get too far out over our [skis]. But as a reminder, we laid out the is a long-range plan at our last Investor Day in May of '24 that we -- to your point, that we would move from 20%, which is the forecast of 2024 margins to 23% by the end of '27.

今年我們還有一些工作要做，我們不想把時間安排得太遠。[滑雪板]但需要提醒的是，我們在 2024 年 5 月的上次投資者日上製定了一項長期計劃，正如您所說，我們將從 2024 年的 20% 利潤率預測值到 2027 年底提高到 23%。

So we're guiding this year just over 23% at the midpoint. So we're tracking ahead and there's likely upside to our long-term targets as we exit '27. We've made a lot of great progress. And I give the team a tremendous amount of credit, as I said, with Deane's question at the beginning, a lot of a lot of change, and we've been able to execute. So I think, Andy, about just over a year from now, we'll be in a better position to update the framework and talk about margins.

因此，我們預計今年的漲幅中位數為略高於 23%。因此，我們目前進展順利，隨著 2027 年的結束，我們的長期目標可能會有上漲空間。我們取得了許多重大進展。正如我之前所說，迪恩在開頭提出的問題，我們做了很多改變，而我們成功地執行了這些改變，所以我對團隊給予了極大的讚揚。所以我認為，安迪，大約一年多以後，我們將更有能力更新框架並討論利潤率。

Nathan Jones, Stifel.

內森瓊斯，斯蒂費爾。

I'll start with a follow-up on the MCS orders and the smart native projects that have pushed out. Maybe a little bit more color on what the cause of those pushing out are if you have any insights there, degree of confidence that those things kind of come through in the first half in order to support the outlook for improved growth in the second half?

我將首先跟進 MCS 訂單和已經推出的智慧原生項目。如果您對導致員工離職的原因有任何見解，能否再詳細闡述？您對這些因素在上半年有所改善，從而支撐下半年成長前景的信心程度如何？

Yes. I think there's -- there are several projects and all of them have a little bit different reasons for pushing out. There's not a common thread around it. Some of them are just relative to where they're at with several other projects going on, so I want to push out a [couple of months]. Some of them have reshaped the scope of the project relative to just increased inflation they've seen from tariffs and other inflation creeping up over time.

是的。我認為有好幾個項目，它們推遲發布的原因都略有不同。這其中並沒有什麼共同點。有些項目只是相對於它們目前所處的位置而言的，因為它們還涉及其他幾個正在進行的項目，所以我希望盡快發布。[幾個月]。一些企業已經根據關稅和其他通膨因素導致的通膨上升情況，重新調整了專案的範圍。

So it's -- for us, it's a handful of things that we're intimately involved with the customers. We understand kind of their project plans and some of the hesitancy and we're working with them to shape an implementation that works with them economically and then still has an ability for us to drive that incremental revenue this year.

所以對我們來說，這是我們與客戶密切相關的幾件事。我們大致了解他們的專案計畫和一些猶豫之處，我們正在與他們合作，制定一個既能滿足他們的經濟需求，又能讓我們在今年實現增量收入的實施方案。

So I think we have reasonable visibility. Again, this isn't 50 different projects. It's have kind of 5 to 10 that we're working with the end customer that we have confidence in based upon our guide and our revenue progression for MCS through the year that we'll be able to deliver on.

所以我覺得我們有一定的能見度。再次強調，這不是 50 個不同的項目。我們有大約 5 到 10 個與最終客戶合作的項目，根據我們的指導和 MCS 全年的收入成長情況，我們有信心能夠交付這些項目。

Okay. I guess next question on divestitures. You guys have talked about up to 10% of revenue being a potential candidate for divestiture. Anything we should expect action on that in 2026. And if you could provide the EPS impact from the divestiture of the international automated business, that would be helpful as well.

好的。我想下一個問題是關於資產剝離的。你們之前討論過，最多 10% 的收入可能被剝離。我們應該會在 2026 年看到這方面的進展。如果您還能提供剝離國際自動化業務對每股盈餘的影響，那就太好了。

Yes. I think talked about, Nate, we were evaluating about 10% of the portfolio. Last year, we exited a business in the first quarter. That was about 1%. International metrology is about another 1%.

是的。內特，我想我們之前討論過，我們正在評估大約 10% 的投資組合。去年第一季度，我們退出了一項業務。那大約佔1%。國際計量學約佔1%。

There's probably two or three, assets that maybe another couple of percent. So I don't think we're going to hit the 10% number that we were looking at. But obviously, portfolio valuation, something that we do on a recurring basis as businesses shift strategy or they want to double down in certain parts of the business, maybe an area becomes less important.

可能還有兩三項資產，收益可能再增加幾個百分點。所以我覺得我們達不到之前預期的10%的目標。但很顯然，投資組合估值是我們經常進行的工作，因為企業會改變策略，或者他們想在某些業務領域加倍投入，而某個領域的重要性可能會降低。

So I think it's an ongoing activity with I don't think anything significant outside of international metrology for the year. And then the EPS impact for international metrologies is fairly small for the year. We talked about it's a $250 million business at less than 10% EBITDA margin. We'll close it at the end of the third quarter -- excuse me, at the end of the first quarter. So you kind of got 3 quarters.

所以我認為這是一項持續進行的活動，除了國際計量之外，我認為今年不會有任何重大進展。此外，國際計量業務對每股盈餘的影響在本年度相當小。我們討論過，這是一個價值 2.5 億美元的企業，但 EBITDA 利潤率不到 10%。我們將在第三季末關閉它——抱歉，是在第一季末。所以你大概得到了四分之三。

So it's [$0.02, $0.03].

所以是[$0.02，$0.03]。

Joseph Giordano, TD Cowen.

Joseph Giordano，TD Cowen。

This is Michael on for Joe. On the last call, you mentioned there was a path to higher margins for the energy meter side MC&S since it's mixed negative versus water meters, can you just unpack that glide path higher? And what's the status of the transformation?

這裡是邁克爾，代替喬發言。上次通話中，您提到由於能源計量表業務的利潤率與水錶業務相比存在混合負收益，因此能源計量表業務的利潤率存在提升空間，您能否詳細解釋一下這條利潤率提昇路徑？轉型進展如何？

And your question specifically around just the improvement on the energy meter margin?

您具體的問題是關於提高電能表裕量方面的嗎？

Yes. I believe in the last call, you mentioned there was a path higher for energy meters on the margin side. So I would just love to better understand where we are in that cycle.

是的。我相信在上次通話中，您提到能源計量表在利潤方面還有上漲空間。所以我很想更了解我們目前處於這個週期的哪個階段。

Yes. I think there's a couple of things. One, there are some structural changes on the energy side from an engineering and a technology perspective that are going to level up. [Value-add value] engineering projects that will lift the margin profile. We did highlight there's a couple of projects that are legacy within energy that they're working through their backlog that put pressure on margins in 2025.

是的。我覺得有兩件事。首先，從工程和技術角度來看，能源領域的一些結構性變化將帶來水平提升。 [增值]工程項目將提高利潤率。我們確實強調，能源領域有幾個遺留項目，他們正在努力解決這些積壓項目，這將對 2025 年的利潤率造成壓力。

That will continue in the first half, first three quarters of 2026. So you'll see a margin progression with MCS down slightly overall in the first quarter and then sequentially build. It's a pretty robust margin as it exits the fourth quarter with water balance the water meter balance being back to more legacy rates and then some of the progress on the energy margin improvement taking hold.

這種情況將持續到 2026 年上半年和前三個季度。因此，你會看到利潤率在第一季整體略有下降，然後逐季成長。第四季末，水錶平衡恢復到更傳統的費率，加上能源利潤率改善方面取得的一些進展，使得利潤率相當穩健。

Great. And then orders for the year ended pretty strongly. The organic kind of implies [a rent the back] half. Can you just unpack organic expectations when you kind of mentioned this a little bit in the beginning of the call, but by segment for Q1? Just want to understand, it came in a little bit lighter than probably most were expecting. I would appreciate the color.

偉大的。之後，全年的訂單情況都相當強勁。有機的那種意味著[租下後面的]一半。您能否在電話會議開始時稍微提到一下，然後按細分市場，分別針對第一季度，詳細闡述一下有機預期？我只是想確認一下，它到貨時比大多數人預期的要輕一些。我喜歡這個顏色。

Yes. I think the biggest variable is probably MCS. They'll be down kind of a point or two in the first quarter relative to probably the external expectations. WSS, we talked about just the lumpiness of that business. They'll be kind of flattish with Water Infrastructure and Applied Water a little bit below their full year guide just with some of the first half pressure that they have from China.

是的。我認為最大的變數可能是 MCS。與外界預期相比，他們第一季的成績可能會下降一到兩個百分點。WSS，我們當時只是討論了該業務的不穩定性。由於上半年來自中國的一些壓力，他們的業績將略低於全年預期，水利基礎設施和應用水務業務的表現將較為穩定。

William Grippin, Barclays.

威廉·格里平，巴克萊銀行。

Just the first one here, I did want to ask about the 4Q operating margin step-down across Applied Water, MCS and WSS. Is there seasonality inherent in this business? And then maybe how should we think about that, I guess in relation to the ongoing tailwinds of 80/20 execution?

我在這裡就問第一個問題，我想問Applied Water、MCS和WSS第四季營業利潤率下降的情況。這個行業是否存在季節性？那麼，我們該如何看待這個問題呢？我想，這與目前 80/20 執行策略帶來的順風有關嗎？

Yes. And I would say really for WSS, it's more of a mix of business between quarters. So nothing structural there. Within Applied Water, obviously, Q4 is a bit of a [blood] relative to their performance that they experienced through the first half of the year. It really reflected just some negative project mix and a little bit of execution timing and some onetime items.

是的。而且我認為，對於 WSS 來說，各季度之間的業務更像是多種因素的混合。所以這方面沒有結構性問題。對於應用水務公司而言，顯然，第四季相對於其上半年的業績而言，是一個[血]問題。這確實反映出一些專案組合不佳、執行時間安排欠佳以及一些一次性事項的問題。

Yes, these are transitional factors, and we expect EBITDA margin to be back up in the 20% range in the first quarter and then sequentially improve throughout the year with volume increases and other productivity initiatives ramping up. So yes, it's more of a short term than anything structural. Applied Water, I think it's back to some pretty robust margin expansion in 2026.

是的，這些都是過渡性因素，我們預計第一季 EBITDA 利潤率將回升至 20% 左右，然後隨著銷售成長和其他生產力提升措施的推進，全年將逐步改善。所以，是的，這更多的是一種短期措施，而不是結構性問題。我認為應用水務公司在 2026 年將恢復強勁的利潤率擴張。

Got it. And then I wanted to ask also about the recent report you folks published in partnership with GWI on water demand management for data centers. I would just be curious to hear sort of your thoughts on what surprised you from that report and perhaps where you think the biggest opportunities for Xylem to accelerate its growth might come from?

知道了。然後，我還想問一下你們最近與 GWI 合作發布的關於資料中心用水需求管理的報告。我很想聽聽您對這份報告中哪些內容讓您感到驚訝，以及您認為賽萊默公司加速成長的最大機會可能來自哪裡？

Yes. Thanks for the question. When I was at Davos, 2026 was deemed kind of the year of artificial intelligence. There were a lot of talk of pilot projects now scaling in the productivity solutions and that's why a lot of the AI build-out is racing ahead. Actually, Gartner had a recent prediction that 2026 hyperscalers would invest over $2 trillion in new data centers.

是的。謝謝你的提問。我在達沃斯的時候，2026 年被認為是人工智慧元年。現在有許多關於試點計畫在生產力解決方案中規模化的討論，這就是為什麼人工智慧的建設正在快速推進的原因。事實上，Gartner 最近預測，到 2026 年，超大規模資料中心營運商將在新建資料中心方面投資超過 2 兆美元。

But I think one big thing from the report that was pointed out that there's 2 big constraints to that $2 trillion investment, and that's energy and water. Up until now, energy has gotten the majority of the attention, and I think water is starting to finally be brought up in the discussion.

但我認為報告中指出的一點很重要，那就是這 2 兆美元的投資面臨兩大限制因素，那就是能源和水。到目前為止，能源問題一直備受關注，我認為水資源問題終於開始被提上討論的舞台了。

So the reason we commissioned the report is we have a pretty good view of the whole water value chain and we were trying to figure it out ourselves what is the impact of this new economy and the broader AI ecosystem on the water sector. So we couldn't really find any good data. So we partnered with Global Water Intelligence and commissioned a report and we kicked it off at Davos.

我們委託撰寫這份報告的原因是，我們對整個水資源價值鏈有相當清晰的了解，我們想弄清楚這種新經濟和更廣泛的人工智慧生態系統對水資源產業的影響。所以我們實在找不到什麼有用的數據。因此，我們與全球水資源情報機構合作，委託撰寫了一份報告，並在達沃斯論壇上啟動了這項工作。

But maybe the first opening stat I would point to is the demand is soaring, and it's really not so much that this new economy is more water-intensive to say some of the first or second industrial revolutions around textiles or steel mills or pulp and paper, it's really more about where the data centers and ship fabs are located is the biggest issue. But the AI ecosystem, which is data centers, it excludes mining the data centers, power and semiconductors we'll need about 30 trillion liters of water each year by 2050. That's a 130% increase in water demand and kind of frame it for everybody on the call, that's 1 [late a year] in the western part of the US So it's 12 million Olympic swimming pool. So it's a significant amount of water.

但我想指出的第一個數據是，用水需求正在飆升，而真正的問題不在於這種新經濟比紡織、鋼鐵廠或紙漿和造紙等第一或第二工業革命時期更加耗水，而在於數據中心和造船廠的選址才是最大的問題。但是，人工智慧生態系統（即資料中心）不包括資料中心的採礦、電力和半導體，到 2050 年，我們每年將需要約 30 兆公升水。這意味著用水需求增加了 130%，為了讓所有在場的人都能理解，這相當於美國西部地區 1 個（到年底）1200 萬個奧運游泳池的用水量。所以這是相當多的水。

The interesting finding was the data centers, the actual direct use is not really the culprit. It's only 4% of the water that's needed. The other 96% is power and chip fabrication, which is predominantly actually power-driven but chip fab is set to grow by roughly 600%. So that was probably one of the biggest takeaways. I think the second -- and I don't like to be [chicken little].

有趣的發現是，資料中心才是罪魁禍首，實際的直接使用並不是真正的原因。這僅佔所需水量的4%。其餘 96% 為電力和晶片製造，其中主要由電力驅動，但晶片製造預計將成長約 600%。所以這大概是我們最大的收穫之一。我認為第二個——我不喜歡這樣[小雞快跑]

I want to -- the second point is we can solve the problem, and we have the technology and solutions to manage the demand today and quite frankly, offset the 30 trillion extra leaders that we need. And that's largely through water reuse.

第二點是，我們可以解決這個問題，我們擁有管理當前需求的技術和解決方案，坦白說，還可以抵消我們需要的 30 兆個額外領導者。這主要得益於水的再利用。

And I talked about in my opening remarks, what we're doing in Los Angeles with reuse water there to help recharge their [occupiers] and also leak mitigation. These are not hard things to do. I mean, they're hard to implement. They're not hard things to do, though. And over -- almost 30% of water that's generated today, freshwater to send out to businesses, industry and residences what gets leaked into the ground. And we have solutions to solve those problems like the project we talked about in the last call with Amazon.

我在開場白中談到了我們在洛杉磯如何利用再生水來幫助居民恢復體力，以及如何減少洩漏。這些事情並不難做。我的意思是，它們很難實施。這些事做起來並不難。而且，如今產生的淡水，也就是輸送給企業、工業和居民的淡水，有近 30% 都滲入了地下。我們有解決這些問題的方案，例如我們在上次與亞馬遜通話中討論的項目。

But maybe one example I'll leave you with, as I wrap this up is, in Arizona, we were out there a few years ago, [Intel in the city of Chandler], partnered together. So we need much more public private partnerships. 90% of the reject water that they generate. So when you have to provide ultra-pure water in chip fabrication, you reject water is very high to get to that purity. So all that reject water, intel invested capital and OpEx to build a recycling plant that they hand it over to the city to run and manage, and 96% of that water is being reused.

最後，我想舉一個例子來結束今天的分享。幾年前，我們在亞利桑那州錢德勒市與英特爾公司合作。所以我們需要更多公私合作項目。他們產生的廢水中有90%會被處理掉。因此，當需要在晶片製造過程中提供超純水時，要達到這種純度，所需的水量會非常高。因此，英特爾投入資金和營運支出建造了一座水回收廠，並將其移交給市政府營運和管理，其中 96% 的水被重新利用。

So we need more of that at scale to solve the problem. So again, the solutions there, it's just about getting the stakeholders at the table early in the data center planning, where we talk mostly about energy, we've got to talk about water. So thanks for the question.

所以我們需要大規模地推廣這種做法來解決這個問題。所以，解決方案在於讓利害關係人儘早參與資料中心規劃，我們通常談論的是能源，但我們也必須談論水。謝謝你的提問。

And maybe I think the second part of your question, I'll answer. For us, it really inside the four walls of the data center, yes, we do some business, but it's really outside the four walls and it's largely in our WSS segment around mining, around power generation and around chip fabrication is where you're going to see the growth within Xylem.

至於你問題的第二部分，我想我可以回答。對我們來說，真正的業務並非在資料中心的四面牆內，是的，我們也做一些業務，但真正的業務在資料中心之外，主要在我們圍繞採礦、發電和晶片製造的WSS部門，你會看到Xylem的成長。

And ladies and gentlemen, with that, we'll be concluding today's question-and-answer session. I'd like to turn the floor back over to Matthew Pine for any closing remarks.

女士們、先生們，今天的問答環節到此結束。現在我把發言權交還給馬修·派恩，讓他做最後的總結發言。

Thanks for your questions. We'll wrap it up there and thank everyone who joined today. And as always, we appreciate your interest in Xylem. All the very best.

謝謝你的提問。我們就到此為止，感謝今天所有參與的人。一如既往，我們感謝您對賽萊默公司的關注。祝一切順利。

And with that, we'll conclude today's conference call. We thank you for attending today's presentation. You may now disconnect your lines.

今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝各位蒞臨今天的報告會。現在您可以斷開線路了。