A. O. Smith Q3 2023 Earnings Report

A. O. Smith EPS Results

• Actual EPS: $0.90
• Consensus EPS: $0.79
• Beat/Miss: Beat by +$0.11
• One Year Ago EPS: $0.69

A. O. Smith Revenue Results

• Actual Revenue: $937.50 million
• Expected Revenue: $910.81 million
• Beat/Miss: Beat by +$26.69 million
• YoY Revenue Growth: +7.20%

A. O. Smith Announcement Details

• Quarter: Q3 2023
• Date: 10/26/2023
• Time: Before Market Opens
• Conference Call Date: Thursday, October 26, 2023
• Conference Call Time: 10:00AM ET

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS), based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, is a leading manufacturer of water heating and water treatment products for residential and commercial applications. Since its founding in 1874, the company has built a reputation for producing reliable, energy-efficient water heaters, boilers and pressure vessels. Its product portfolio encompasses gas, electric, condensing and tankless water heaters, as well as specialty boilers designed to meet a variety of building and industrial needs.

The company operates through two primary segments: North America and Asia. In North America, A. O. Smith serves homeowners, contractors and building operators with well-established brands that deliver high performance, safety and long service life. In Asia, the company has expanded its presence with water heating and water purification solutions tailored to rapidly growing urban markets, leveraging local manufacturing facilities and an extensive sales network throughout China and parts of South Asia.

A. O. Smith has grown from its origins as a pump manufacturer into a global enterprise with production plants and research centers in the United States, China and India. The company’s emphasis on product innovation is supported by engineering teams dedicated to improving energy efficiency and reducing environmental impact. Patrick S. Decker has served as President and Chief Executive Officer since 2011, guiding A. O. Smith through periods of expansion and technological advancement.

With a long history of industrial manufacturing expertise, A. O. Smith continues to focus on sustainable solutions and customer support services. Its product offerings increasingly incorporate smart-control technologies and advanced materials to meet evolving regulatory standards and end-user expectations for safety, efficiency and durability.

A. O. Smith Q3 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

Key Takeaways

• Strong Q3 EPS of $0.90 with raised full-year adjusted EPS guidance to $3.70–$3.80, implying ~19% growth over 2022.
• North America water heater sales up 13% drove a 28% increase in segment earnings and a 23.9% operating margin, up 350 bps year-over-year.
• China segment delivered 9% local-currency sales growth led by newly introduced kitchen appliances and higher commercial water treatment, achieving a 10% operating margin.
• Generated $396 million in free cash flow through nine months (over 2× prior year), boosted net cash to $212 million, raised dividend 7%, and repurchased $161 million in shares.
• North America boiler sales declined 18% in Q3 against difficult comparables, though channel inventories are nearing normal levels.

Presentation

[Operator]

Good afternoon, and thank you for joining our call. Please stand by. Good day, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the A. O. Smith Third Quarter 2023 Earnings Call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. After the speaker, speaker's presentation, there will be a question-and-answer session. To ask a question during the session, you will need to press star one one on your telephone. You will then hear an automated message advising that your hand is raised. To withdraw your question, please press star one one again. Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded. I would now like to hand the call over to our first speaker for today, Helen Gurholt. Your line is now open.

[Helen Gurholt, VP of Investor Relations and Financial Planning Analysis at A. O. Smith]

Good morning, and thank you everyone for your patience while we dealt with our technical difficulties. Welcome to our A. O. Smith third-quarter conference call. I'm Helen Gurholt, Vice President, Investor Relations and Financial Planning and Analysis. Joining me today are Kevin Wheeler, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, and Chuck Lauber, Chief Financial Officer. In order to provide improved transparency into our operating results of our business, we provided non-GAAP measures. Free cash flow is defined as cash from operations, less capital expenditures. Adjusted earnings, adjusted earnings per share, adjusted segment earnings, and adjusted corporate expenses exclude the impact of impairment charges, non-operating non-cash pension income and expenses, as well as legal judgment income and terminated acquisition-related expenses. We also provide total segment earnings. Reconciliations from GAAP measures to non-GAAP measures are provided in the appendix at the end of this presentation and on our website.

[Helen Gurholt, VP of Investor Relations and Financial Planning Analysis at A. O. Smith]

A friendly reminder that some of our comments and answers during this conference call will be forward-looking statements that are subject to risks that could cause actual results to be materially different. Those risks include matters that we described in this morning's press release, among others. Also, as a courtesy to those in the question queue, please limit yourself to one question and one follow-up per turn. If you have multiple questions, please rejoin the queue. We will be using slides as we move through today's call. You can access them on our website at investor.aosmith.com. I will now turn the call over to Kevin to begin our prepared remarks. Please turn to the next slide.

[Kevin Wheeler, Chairman and CEO at A. O. Smith]

Thank you, Helen, and good morning, everyone. I'm on slide 4, and we'll review a few of our third-quarter highlights. I'm very pleased with the execution of our team across all of our businesses to deliver a strong third-quarter EPS of $0.90. The performance of our North America segment was particularly strong. We saw resilient demand for our residential water heaters, as well as a year-over-year improvement in our operating margin. China's new products drove year-over-year improvement, as newly introduced kitchen appliance products were well received by the market. Innovative new products, combined with our strong brand, drove growth despite a continued challenging economic backdrop. India entered the year introducing a number of new products in both the water heating and water treatment categories, and has delivered year-to-date sales growth of 17% in local currency. We also acquired Water Tec, a high-quality Arizona-based water treatment company.

[Kevin Wheeler, Chairman and CEO at A. O. Smith]

This acquisition aligns with our strategic growth aspirations to expand water treatment across the U.S. We welcome the Water Tec team to the A. O. Smith family. Please turn to slide five. North America water heater sales increased 13% in the third quarter as a result of continued strength in residential water heater demand. As you may recall, sales in the third quarter of last year were negatively impacted by channel inventory destocking of residential water heaters, primarily in the wholesale channel. Our North America boiler sales declined 18% in the third quarter against a difficult comp in 2022. In the third quarter last year, we worked down our backlog after making significant production and supply chain improvements. We believe channel inventories are approaching normal levels. Demand for our commercial high-efficiency condensing boilers, particularly our Hellcat CREST boilers, remained steady in the quarter.

[Kevin Wheeler, Chairman and CEO at A. O. Smith]

North America water treatment sales increased 5% in the third quarter of 2023, primarily driven by pricing and e-commerce sales. The quarter also benefited from pricing-related margin improvement. In China, third-quarter sales increased 9% local currency compared to the third quarter of 2022, primarily due to our newly introduced dishwasher and steam oven products. The quarter also benefited from higher commercial water treatment sales and positive mix. I'm now on slide 6. We continue to introduce new, innovative products in water filtration. I'm pleased to highlight the launch of our new SmartFlow Reverse Osmosis Filtration System under both our A. O. Smith and Aquasana brands. The product takes up less space and features an easy filter replacement process. Our SmartFlow technology features a multi-stage filtration process that removes up to 99.9% of 90 contaminants, including PFAS, arsenic, microplastics, and lead.

[Kevin Wheeler, Chairman and CEO at A. O. Smith]

It also features our innovative and exclusive Side Stream Reverse Osmosis technology, making this one of the most water-efficient systems in the market. This is one example of our commitment to bringing innovative water heating and water treatment products to the global market. On November 6th, at our Investor Day, each of our businesses will highlight new products that are driving results in the marketplace. I'll now turn the call over to Chuck, who will provide more details on our third-quarter performance.

[Chuck Lauber, EVP and CFO at A. O. Smith]

Thank you, Kevin, and good morning, everyone. I'm on slide 7. Third quarter sales in the North America segment were $710 million, a 9% increase over the same period last year. The increase was primarily driven by higher residential water heater volumes that were partially offset by lower boiler volumes. North America segment earnings of $170 million increased 28% compared with the adjusted segment earnings in the third quarter of 2022. Operating margin of 23.9% improved 350 basis points compared to adjusted segment operating margin in the third quarter of last year. The higher segment earnings and operating margin were primarily due to higher residential water heater volumes and lower steel costs, partially offset by lower boiler volumes. Segment pricing was relatively flat in the quarter compared to last year.

[Chuck Lauber, EVP and CFO at A. O. Smith]

Moving on to slide 8. Rest of World segment sales of $233 million increased 1% year-over-year and 6% on a constant currency basis. Currency translation unfavorably impacted segment sales by approximately $11 million. Sales of newly introduced kitchen appliance products, higher commercial water treatment sales, and a positive mix in China drove the sales increase in the quarter. India sales grew 13% in local currency in the third quarter compared to last year. Rest of the World segment earnings of $23 million increased 6% compared to segment earnings in the third quarter of 2022. Segment operating margin was 9.9%, an increase of 40 basis points compared to the same period last year, primarily as a result of higher sales of new products and a positive mix. Please turn to slide 9.

[Chuck Lauber, EVP and CFO at A. O. Smith]

We generated free cash flow of $396 billion in the first 9 months of 2023, more than 2x the free cash flow generated in the same period last year. This was largely due to higher earnings and lower working capital cash outlay, primarily related to lower inventory levels and lower 2022 incentive payments paid in 2023. Our cash balance totaled $342 million at the end of September, and our net cash position was $212 million. Our leverage ratio was 6.4%, as measured by total debt to total capital. Our free cash flow and solid balance sheet enable us to focus on capital allocation priorities and return of cash to shareholders.

[Chuck Lauber, EVP and CFO at A. O. Smith]

Earlier this month, our board approved a 7% increase to our quarterly dividend to $0.32 per share. We repurchased 2.4 million shares of common stock in the first nine months of 2023, for a total of $161 million. We expect to repurchase $300 million of our shares for the full year, 2023. Let's now turn to slide 10. In addition to returning capital to shareholders, we continue to see opportunities for organic growth through innovation and new product development across all of our product lines and geographies. The strength of our balance sheet also allows us to pursue strategic acquisitions along with organic growth. Please turn to slide 11, and our revised 2023 earnings guidance and outlook.

[Chuck Lauber, EVP and CFO at A. O. Smith]

We have increased our 2023 outlook with an expected adjusted earnings per share range of $3.70-$3.80 per share. The midpoint of our adjusted earnings per share range represents an increase of 19% compared with 2022 adjusted EPS. Our outlook is based on a number of key assumptions, which include a stable supply chain with limited disruption. We have increased our North America full-year margin, margin guidance to be approximately 25% based on our full-year outlook on volumes and price-cost relationship. We forecast that our Q4 material costs will be similar to our Q3 material costs. Our Rest of World margin guidance of approximately 10% remains unchanged. We expect to generate strong free cash flow of between $575 million and $600 million.

[Chuck Lauber, EVP and CFO at A. O. Smith]

For the year, CapEx should be approximately $65 million. Corporate and other expenses are expected to be approximately $60 million. Our effective tax rate is estimated to be approximately 24%. And with the expectation to repurchase approximately $300 million of shares of our stock, the resulting average outstanding diluted shares is expected to be 151 million at the end of 2023. And I'll turn the call back over to Kevin, who will provide more color on our key markets, top-line growth outlook, and segment expectations for 2023, staying on slide 11. Kevin?

[Kevin Wheeler, Chairman and CEO at A. O. Smith]

Thank you, Chuck. We have narrowed our 2023 sales outlook to grow approximately 2% compared to 2022, which was the high end of our previous guidance. Our outlook includes the following assumptions: residential water heater orders remain strong through October. Therefore, we project 2023 residential water heater industry volumes will increase approximately 4% compared to last year. We continue to monitor proactive replacement and new housing completions, both of which remain favorable. Demand for commercial electric water heaters greater than 55-gallon continue to be robust. Our guidance for commercial water heater industry volumes to increase mid-teens compared to 2022 is unchanged. We maintain our guidance that our sales in China will grow 3%-5% local currency in 2023. Our forecast assumes that the Chinese currency will devalue approximately 6% in 2023 compared to 2022.

[Kevin Wheeler, Chairman and CEO at A. O. Smith]

Our boiler business outlook of being down high single digits compared to last year is unchanged. As a reminder, 2022 is a difficult comp. We entered last year with a large backlog, which we worked down and exited the year with a normalized backlog, partially contributing to our boiler business growth of 28% in 2022. Our outlook for North America water treatment sales is to grow approximately 5%-7% for 2023, also has not changed. We project that our sales in India will grow 15% this year. Please turn to slide 12. Again, we are very pleased with our performance in the first 9 months of 2023. In North America, residential commercial water heater demand remained strong through the third quarter.

[Kevin Wheeler, Chairman and CEO at A. O. Smith]

The year is lining up to have a normalized split of approximately 52% of volume in the first half of the year and 48% in the back half of the year. As we expected, North America operating margin was down sequentially in the quarter, but remained strong relative to historical performance at 23.9%, even as we recognized higher steel costs in the quarter compared to the first half of the year. In China, the team continues to execute very well across our various product lines through a balanced go-to-market channel strategy. New product introductions, continued growth in commercial water treatment, and positive mix led to a 10% operating margin in the quarter. India continues to outperform the industry. We see great potential for our India business as it continues to deliver growth through new product introductions and premium customer service.

[Kevin Wheeler, Chairman and CEO at A. O. Smith]

Our focus remains on taking care of our customers as we continue to execute our key strategic objectives to advance our position as a global water technology leader. With that, we conclude our prepared remarks and we are now available for your questions.

[Operator]

Thank you. At this time, we will conduct the question-and-answer session. As a reminder, you will need to press star one, one on your telephone and wait for your name to be announced. To withdraw your question, please press star one, one again. Please stand by while we compile the Q&A roster. Our first question comes from the line of Michael Halloran of Baird. Your line is now open. Our first question comes from the line of Michael Halloran of Baird. Your line is now open. We will now move to our next question. Please stand by. Our next question comes from the line of Saree Boroditsky of Jefferies. Your line is now open.

[Saree Boroditsky, SVP of Multi-Industrials at Jefferies]

Hi, good morning, and congrats on the quarter. Just digging a little bit more about North America residential water demand, it obviously came in much stronger than you initially anticipated at the start of the year. What's been the biggest surprise for you as you went from thinking volumes were going to be down, I think 2%-5% to now up 4%? And how did that set you up as we look into 2024?

[Kevin Wheeler, Chairman and CEO at A. O. Smith]

Well, I'll tell you, and we've been talking about it each quarter. Our biggest surprise has been the proactive replacement side of the business, that we thought that would moderate as we came into 2023, and quite frankly, it stayed, it stayed strong and continues to be strong. And we're very pleased with our number of completions. That's been positive as well. So you put those, those two together, a surprise, yeah, but, you know, along with having that strong emergency replacement, you put the three together and it's been a good year for water heater demand, and we see that continuing into the fourth quarter.

[Saree Boroditsky, SVP of Multi-Industrials at Jefferies]

Then maybe just staying on that similar type of question. Obviously, North America has-- North American margins have been stronger than you expected. It looks like price cost has been better. You know, what was that contribution in the quarter? Is there anything else outside of higher volumes that we should think about with this year's margin performance? Is it a good starting point as we think about 2024?

[Chuck Lauber, EVP and CFO at A. O. Smith]

Yeah, I mean, when you look at our organic growth for the North America segment, this is Chuck, by the way. Good morning. The pricing contributed very little to segment growth. You know, we had a little bit of incremental pricing on the boiler and water treatment side and a slight headwind on the water heating side, but most of the organic growth in North America was contributed to volume.

[Saree Boroditsky, SVP of Multi-Industrials at Jefferies]

Is there any one-time items in this year that we should think about, or is this a good starting point for as we think about 2024?

[Chuck Lauber, EVP and CFO at A. O. Smith]

No, there's nothing significantly, nothing significant from a one-time item. We are, you know, we, we are pleased with how the quarter came out from a margin perspective. It's been, you know, margins remain fairly resilient.

[Saree Boroditsky, SVP of Multi-Industrials at Jefferies]

Well, congratulations on the quarter, and I'll leave it there. Thanks.

[Operator]

Thank you.

[Kevin Wheeler, Chairman and CEO at A. O. Smith]

Thanks.

[Operator]

Please stand by for our next question. Our next question comes from the line of Nathan Jones of Stifel. Your line is now open.

[Nathan Jones, Head of Industrials Research at Stifel]

Good morning, everyone.

[Kevin Wheeler, Chairman and CEO at A. O. Smith]

Good morning, Nathan.

[Nathan Jones, Head of Industrials Research at Stifel]

I just wanted to follow up on the proactive replacement side of the business and just see if you can give any more color or any thoughts around why that continues to be so strong. I mean, I would have—I know part of that is, you know, typically generated when you have sales of existing homes. Obviously, high interest rates discourages the sale of existing homes, but that business has continued to be really strong for you guys. Do you think there's something that's structurally changed in that market? Would you still expect it to go back to a more normal mix, or a more traditional mix of the business? Just any more commentary you can give us on why you think that business is and continues to be so strong.

[Kevin Wheeler, Chairman and CEO at A. O. Smith]

Well, you outlined many of the reasons right now. Certainly, people are staying in homes. There's higher renovation. People aren't moving, so they're taking different actions. There's some anecdotal here that we just have to be careful with. Really, you know, proactive replacement has been trending up since about 2019. And so we don't take one year as a trend, but we're in our, you know, fourth year here, and it hasn't really changed. And there's some anecdotal evidence that there's some generational impact here. And so where you look at a maybe a baby boomer would wait till it breaks, maybe the younger generation, Gen Zs and the millennials, indicate that they do a bit more proactive work than their predecessors.

[Kevin Wheeler, Chairman and CEO at A. O. Smith]

But, I would take that with a, with a grain of salt right now. But it's, it's one trend that we've watched now for 40, you know, for, for a number of months, and, it hasn't changed, and it continues to be strong. So you, you put that together, is there a generational impact there? Maybe, but we'll continue to monitor it. But right now, it's, it's held up surprisingly well now for, for 16 straight quarters.

[Nathan Jones, Head of Industrials Research at Stifel]

That would be a nice tailwind if it's a structural change to the industry. I guess my second question would be on-

[Kevin Wheeler, Chairman and CEO at A. O. Smith]

I will tell you, we do think that as well, but we're not ready to say that. But again, it's something we watch and the data that we use, we've been doing this for a decade plus, so it's been a good guidepost for us long term. But again, we'll see how it plays out. But right now, we see the proactive side of it holding up pretty well.

[Nathan Jones, Head of Industrials Research at Stifel]

That's good news. I guess second question on your cost input. You guys had guided to seeing a bit sequentially lower margins in the second half than the first half, and despite the outperformance, you still are getting a bit lower margins in the second half than the first half, with higher priced steel costs rolling through the P&L in the second half. We did see pretty significant declines in steel costs over the last, you know, six odd months before the last week. Should we expect to see, you know, that start rolling P&L in the first half of 2024, and you should get some nice benefit from a price cost standpoint in the first half of 2024?

[Kevin Wheeler, Chairman and CEO at A. O. Smith]

[audio distortion]

[Nathan Jones, Head of Industrials Research at Stifel]

Great. Thanks for taking my questions.

[Operator]

Thank you. Please stand by for our next question. Our next question comes from the line of Bryan Blair of Oppenheimer. Your line is now open.

[Bryan Blair, Managing Director at Oppenheimer]

Thank you. Good morning, everyone. Solid quarter.

[Kevin Wheeler, Chairman and CEO at A. O. Smith]

Good morning. Thanks.

[Bryan Blair, Managing Director at Oppenheimer]

To help us think about rest of world segment profitability and your potential there, how does the contribution margin on your new China offerings compare to segment average? And, what's the, you know, run rate margin in India, and how does your team think about operating leverage there?

[Chuck Lauber, EVP and CFO at A. O. Smith]

[audio distortion].

[Bryan Blair, Managing Director at Oppenheimer]

All makes sense. Any quick color you'd offer on your M&A pipeline? You've executed some bolt-ons that are, you know, pretty down the middle in terms of your water treatment strategy. It's been an interesting year with, you know, macro uncertainty in the rate environment and you just that overall mosaic. Just curious how your deal funnel has progressed and how your team's thinking about actionability over the near term.

[Chuck Lauber, EVP and CFO at A. O. Smith]

[audio distortion]

[Bryan Blair, Managing Director at Oppenheimer]

Understood. Thanks again.

[Operator]

Thank you. Please stand by for our next question. Our next question comes from the line of Susan Maklari of Goldman Sachs. Your line is now open.

[Susan Maklari, Senior Equity Research Analyst at Goldman Sachs]

Thank you. Good morning, everyone.

[Chuck Lauber, EVP and CFO at A. O. Smith]

Good morning.

[Susan Maklari, Senior Equity Research Analyst at Goldman Sachs]

Maybe to start with, I'm not sure if maybe it's our line, but I think you broke up a little bit when you were talking about the previous question on raw materials and how we should be thinking about steel over the next coming quarters. Can you just maybe perhaps go back and reiterate some of those key points for us?

[Chuck Lauber, EVP and CFO at A. O. Smith]

[audio distortion]

[Susan Maklari, Senior Equity Research Analyst at Goldman Sachs]

Yeah, no, you're, you're very clear right now, so it's all good.

[Chuck Lauber, EVP and CFO at A. O. Smith]

[audio distortion]

[Susan Maklari, Senior Equity Research Analyst at Goldman Sachs]

Okay, that, that's very helpful. Thank you. And then, following up on, on the conversation earlier as well, on, thinking of proactive replacement versus, so, you know, the more non-discretionary pieces of there. Can you give a bit more color, perhaps, on how you're defining one versus the other? And as you're thinking about that, that potential structural shift that's coming through, any thoughts on what portion of the volumes today or the demand today is really sort of coming from that proactive replacement relative to the, the sort of non-discretionary side of it?

[Kevin Wheeler, Chairman and CEO at A. O. Smith]

[audio distortion]

[Susan Maklari, Senior Equity Research Analyst at Goldman Sachs]

Okay. All right.

[Chuck Lauber, EVP and CFO at A. O. Smith]

[audio distortion]

[Susan Maklari, Senior Equity Research Analyst at Goldman Sachs]

Okay, that's very helpful color. Thank you. Good luck with everything.

[Operator]

Thank you. Please stand by for our next question. Our next question comes from the line of Andy Kaplowitz of Citigroup. Your line is now open.

[Andrew Kaplowitz, Managing Director at Citi]

Good morning, everyone.

[Chuck Lauber, EVP and CFO at A. O. Smith]

Good morning, Andy.

[Andrew Kaplowitz, Managing Director at Citi]

Kevin and Chuck, can you give us more color into the components of China growth in terms of the strength in commercial water treatment and the new products growth you're seeing, as well as the mixed benefit you're getting? And then how do you think about the durability of that growth going into 2024?

[Kevin Wheeler, Chairman and CEO at A. O. Smith]

[audio distortion]

[Andrew Kaplowitz, Managing Director at Citi]

It's very helpful. And then, you know, maybe shifting back to North America, commercial water heaters, you know, you've kept up pretty impressive strength. Maybe the expected duration of that strength, have you still seen reasonably good quoting activity? You know, any sort of conversations you're having given the rise in rates lately? Any color would be helpful.

[Kevin Wheeler, Chairman and CEO at A. O. Smith]

[audio distortion]

[Andrew Kaplowitz, Managing Director at Citi]

Appreciate it.

[Operator]

Thank you for your question. Please stand by for our next question. Our next question comes from the line of Matt Summerville of D.A. Davidson and Company. Your line is now open.

[Matthew Summerville, Managing Director and Senior Research Analyst at D.A. Davidson]

Can you guys hear me?

[Kevin Wheeler, Chairman and CEO at A. O. Smith]

We can.

[Matthew Summerville, Managing Director and Senior Research Analyst at D.A. Davidson]

Is it clear? Because every answer is really garbled on my end, and it's happening to at least one other sell-side counterpart that I'm aware of, just FYI. No, I appreciate that. If this has already been asked, I completely apologize, but channel inventories, can you give us kind of what you're thinking as a year-end assessment, channel inventories will look like in North America in resi water heaters, commercial water heaters, boilers, and treatment, and how that may inform you as to the volume outlook for each respectively, high-level for next year?

[Chuck Lauber, EVP and CFO at A. O. Smith]

[audio distortion]

[Matthew Summerville, Managing Director and Senior Research Analyst at D.A. Davidson]

Very. Yes. Yes, I can.

[Chuck Lauber, EVP and CFO at A. O. Smith]

[audio distortion]

[Matthew Summerville, Managing Director and Senior Research Analyst at D.A. Davidson]

Thank you. And then just as a follow-up, and again, my apologies if you answered this already. You've obviously kind of been benefiting from this product cycle, if you will, in China as it relates to your kitchen-related offering. When did those products launch, and how should we think about the duration of that cycle on the top line, just in the context of the macro environment in China? Thank you.

[Kevin Wheeler, Chairman and CEO at A. O. Smith]

[audio distortion]

[Matthew Summerville, Managing Director and Senior Research Analyst at D.A. Davidson]

Got it. Thank you, guys.

[Operator]

Thank you. Please stand by for our last question. Our last question comes from the line of Damian Karas of UBS. Your line is now open.

[Damian Karas, Senior Equity Research Analyst of Industrials / Tech at UBS]

Hey, good morning, everyone.

[Kevin Wheeler, Chairman and CEO at A. O. Smith]

Good morning. Can you hear us?

[Damian Karas, Senior Equity Research Analyst of Industrials / Tech at UBS]

I can hear you guys loud and clear now, but I do echo Matt's comment. I literally haven't been able to understand a lick of anything you've said since we started the Q&A. I think what's going on is, like, you know, the analyst that asked the question, can hear you, but it's, it's very kind of garbled for everybody else. So, I do apologize for, you know, touching on ground you've already covered here, but, I wanted to ask about the proactive replacement. Just to follow up, you know, are - I'm just trying to think if, like, to what extent maybe IRA, and, and some of these efficiency credits are factoring in. So I, I'm curious if you're actually seeing any notable mix shift, mix shifts on the efficiency scale, in that proactive replacement or, or not really?

[Chuck Lauber, EVP and CFO at A. O. Smith]

[audio distortion]

[Damian Karas, Senior Equity Research Analyst of Industrials / Tech at UBS]

Okay, great. That's helpful. And just having seen steel prices move lower since where we started earlier in the year, how are you thinking about the next, you know, potential price cost impact from that? You know, just realizing that you do have some floating price, but also index price.

[Chuck Lauber, EVP and CFO at A. O. Smith]

[audio distortion]

[Damian Karas, Senior Equity Research Analyst of Industrials / Tech at UBS]

Okay, got it. Thanks a lot for the color. Best of luck.

[Operator]

Thank you. This concludes the question-and-answer session. I would now like to turn the call back over to Helen Gurholt for closing remarks.

[Helen Gurholt, VP of Investor Relations and Financial Planning Analysis at A. O. Smith]

[audio distortion]

[Operator]

Thank you for your participation in today's conference. This does conclude the program. You may now disconnect.

Participants

Executives

• Chuck Lauber, EVP and CFO
• Helen Gurholt, VP of Investor Relations and Financial Planning Analysis
• Kevin Wheeler, Chairman and CEO

Analysts

• Andrew Kaplowitz, Managing Director at Citi
• Bryan Blair, Managing Director at Oppenheimer
• Damian Karas, Senior Equity Research Analyst of Industrials / Tech at UBS
• Matthew Summerville, Managing Director and Senior Research Analyst at D.A. Davidson
• Nathan Jones, Head of Industrials Research at Stifel
• Saree Boroditsky, SVP of Multi-Industrials at Jefferies
• Susan Maklari, Senior Equity Research Analyst at Goldman Sachs