NASDAQ:CSWI CSW Industrials Q3 2024 Earnings Report $320.94 +4.70 (+1.49%) Closing price 05/2/2025 04:00 PM EasternExtended Trading$321.21 +0.27 (+0.09%) As of 05/2/2025 04:05 PM Eastern Extended trading is trading that happens on electronic markets outside of regular trading hours. This is a fair market value extended hours price provided by Polygon.io. Learn more. Earnings HistoryForecast CSW Industrials EPS ResultsActual EPS$1.07Consensus EPS $1.17Beat/MissMissed by -$0.10One Year Ago EPSN/ACSW Industrials Revenue ResultsActual Revenue$174.97 millionExpected Revenue$180.80 millionBeat/MissMissed by -$5.83 millionYoY Revenue GrowthN/ACSW Industrials Announcement DetailsQuarterQ3 2024Date2/1/2024TimeN/AConference Call DateThursday, February 1, 2024Conference Call Time10:00AM ETUpcoming EarningsCSW Industrials' Q4 2025 earnings is scheduled for Thursday, May 22, 2025, with a conference call scheduled at 9:30 AM ET. Check back for transcripts, audio, and key financial metrics as they become available.Q4 2025 Earnings ReportConference Call ResourcesConference Call AudioConference Call TranscriptSlide DeckPress Release (8-K)Quarterly Report (10-Q)Earnings HistoryCompany ProfileSlide DeckFull Screen Slide DeckPowered by CSW Industrials Q3 2024 Earnings Call TranscriptProvided by QuartrFebruary 1, 2024 ShareLink copied to clipboard.There are 6 speakers on the call. Operator00:00:00Greetings, and welcome to the CSW Industrials Inc. Third Quarter 2024 Earnings Call. At this time, all participants are in a listen only mode. A brief question and answer session will follow the formal presentation. As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. Operator00:00:24It is now my pleasure to introduce your host, Alexa Huerta. Thank you, Ms. Huerta. You may begin. Speaker 100:00:32Thank you, Kat. Good morning, everyone, and welcome to the CSW Industrials Fiscal 20 24 Third Quarter Earnings Call. Joining me today is Joseph Arnd, Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and President of CSW Industrials and James Perry, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. We issued our earnings release, portion of our website at www.cswindustrials.com. This call is being webcast and information on accessing the replay is included in the earnings release. Speaker 100:01:22During this call, we will make forward looking statements. These statements are based on current expectations and assumptions that are subject to various risks and uncertainties. Actual results could materially differ because of factors discussed today in our earnings release, in our comments made during this call, as well as the risk factors identified in our annual report on Form 10 ks and other filings with the SEC. We do not undertake any duty to update any forward looking statements. I will now turn the call over to Jim. Speaker 200:01:57Thank you, Alexa. Good morning, everyone. Impressively, our team continues to outperform the markets we serve despite challenging conditions and again delivered record results in the Q3 and year to date against strong prior year results. The 3rd quarter results demonstrate our continued ability to grow through the cycle and drive notable operating leverage and our bottom line results. Earlier this morning, we announced record 3rd quarter revenue of 175,000,000 record 3rd quarter adjusted earnings per diluted share of $1.07 and record 3rd quarter adjusted EBITDA of $37,000,000 EPS and EBITDA were both adjusted to exclude certain non recurring tax items related to past acquisitions, as we indicated they would be on our last earnings call. Speaker 200:02:56Adjusted EBITDA grew teen% on 2% growth in revenue, delivering 2 70 basis points of adjusted EBITDA margin expansion, up to 21% in the 3rd quarter. On the heels of 2 consecutive quarters of record results, we continued generating record Q3 and year to date results in revenue of $582,000,000 or 3.5% growth and adjusted earnings per diluted share of $4.97 or 11.4% growth and an adjusted EBITDA of 144,000,000 a robust 15.7% growth. For the 3rd consecutive quarter, we delivered outstanding cash flow from operations with a record fiscal 3rd quarter total of $47,000,000 This led to a pay down of $20,000,000 of borrowing under our revolving credit facility in the 3rd quarter and an aggregate reduction of $100,000,000 during the fiscal year. We continue to reduce our interest expense and fortify our balance sheet to provide significant flexibility to pursue future opportunities as they arise. Over the last few quarters, we have seen ocean freight return to normal levels. Speaker 200:04:25We have reduced our domestic freight costs and driven additional operational efficiencies versus the prior year. Recently, we have been monitoring issues in the Red Sea. We have been working closely with our freight forwarders to assess the impact on pricing and transit time for all in transit and potential future shipments. We are assessing the most efficient delivery routes and options, but there could be some temporary upward pressure on shipping rates. We also continue to see increased compensation expense as we staff up for our continued growth and retain the highest caliber team members. Speaker 200:05:08By successfully implementing new and maintaining prior pricing initiatives and increasing our gross margins through freight expense savings, CSWI has been able to achieve meaningful operating leverage and expand further our already healthy margins. We have always and will continue to prioritize capital investments based on the estimated risk adjusted returns With the ultimate goal of increasing long term shareholder value, we evaluate organic and inorganic opportunities for growth that support our generous margins and we continuously maintain pipeline of potential acquisition opportunities. I'm proud of the execution within each of the 3 business segments. So I would like to briefly speak about the performance of each segment, then James will provide additional financial details around the quarter. The 3rd quarter is seasonally our slowest quarter of the year for our Contractor Solutions segment. Speaker 200:06:15But our team did an excellent job by not only delivering another quarter of market outperformance, but also year over year growth despite The HVACR industry experiencing a decline in residential volumes. Contractor Solutions delivered Q3 net revenue of $115,400,000 an increase of 3% over the prior year period. Our competitive advantage in this segment centers around our distribution channel, introducing innovative high value products and focusing On acquisition integration. The power of our distribution model allows CSWI to acquire, integrate, Master distribute and accelerate growth on newly designed products. This results in faster and more profitable sales because our strong relationships with wholesalers, our sales network, logistics leverage, credit and back office support allowing us to focus on serving our customers well. Speaker 200:07:25Our Specialized Reliability Solutions revenue decreased $2,600,000 in the quarter, driven primarily by a temporary shipment delay at the end of the quarter, which we expect to recover in full during this fiscal year. The temporary shipment delay was offset partially by pricing initiatives. The SRS team continues to make improvements in operational efficiency and quality. Strong oil and gas drilling and mining end markets showed growth, But we saw a bit of softening in industrial end markets. Despite passenger rail being down in the Q3, the outlook remains good and the team continues to introduce new innovative products. Speaker 200:08:17Revenue in our Engineered Building Solutions segment up with an increase of 13% in the quarter due to the conversion of bookings into revenue benefiting from our record backlog as well as positive pricing initiatives. For the 8th consecutive quarter, this segment's backlog reached an all time high with our aluminum railings business continuing to drive most of the growth. We continue to see strong growth for multifamily housing in the Canadian market, project mix and our record backlog continues to skew toward larger jobs, which may take 2 years or more to turn into revenue. Our sales and estimation teams continue to focus our bidding and booking on institutional and multifamily projects with the highest quality developers to ensure the greatest likelihood of closing. And I'm proud of the performance of the EBS team. Speaker 200:09:17Before I turn the call over to James, I'd like to take a moment to brag on our team for delivering growth through pricing initiatives and even volumes during a period when some of our end markets are declining. The vigor of our business model includes the diversification of our product portfolio, the resilience of the end markets we serve and repeatable consumption of many of our products that are used either in maintenance, repair and replacement applications or to enhance the reliability, performance and lifespan of mission critical assets. The products we sell in Contractor solutions and specialized reliability solutions and the value they provide are often non discretionary fundamental necessities for both homeowners, businesses and the utility sector. We have outperformed the markets we serve All year long, while expanding margins, strengthening our balance sheet and reducing our leverage ratio, CSWI is positioned to overcome market headwinds and pursue growth opportunities that arise across our entire portfolio. At this time, I'll turn the call over to James for a closer look at our results, and then I will conclude our prepared remarks. Speaker 300:10:38Thank you, Joe, and good morning, everyone. During the fiscal year to date period, we delivered record year to date revenue $582,000,000 representing growth of 3.5%. Most of the growth has come organically. The $7,500,000 came from the acquisitions of CoverGuard, ACGuard and Falcon in fiscal 2023. Operating leverage on this revenue drove nearly 16% growth in adjusted EBITDA and over 11% growth in adjusted earnings per diluted share. Speaker 300:11:12Our consolidated revenue during the fiscal Q3 of 2024 was $175,000,000 a 2.3% increase compared to the prior year period. This growth was driven organically through pricing initiatives and increased unit volumes. Consolidated gross profit in the fiscal Q3 was $74,000,000 representing more than 12% growth over the prior year period. Gross profit margin improved to 42% compared to 38.5% in the prior year period, driven by revenue growth from pricing actions, increased unit volumes and lower ocean and domestic freight costs. As mentioned on our last earnings call, as a reminder, we are presenting the fiscal 3rd quarter's profitability figures on an adjusted basis Due to the $8,500,000 or $0.48 per share, release of tax indemnification assets related to True Air and Falcon acquisitions and the related uncertain tax position accrual for Falcon. Speaker 300:12:18This amount is in the Contractor Solutions segment and consolidated results as other expense. Our consolidated adjusted EBITDA for the 3rd quarter increased by $6,000,000 to $37,000,000 or 18% growth when compared to the prior year period. Our adjusted EBITDA margin improved to 21% as compared to 18% in the prior year quarter, driven by revenue growth and gross margin expansion, partially offset by incremental employee expenses and increased travel to drive revenue growth. We continue to strive for additional EBITDA leverage as we grow revenue and prudently manage expenses. Net income attributable to CSWI in the fiscal Q3 was $17,000,000 as adjusted or $1.07 per diluted share compared to $16,000,000 or $1.01 per diluted share in the prior year period, representing growth of 6%. Speaker 300:13:22Our Contractor Solutions segment with $115,000,000 in revenue accounted for 66% of our consolidated revenue and delivered $3,500,000 or 3 percent total growth as compared to the prior year quarter. All growth in the quarter was organic, came from all end markets. It was a result of pricing actions and increased unit volumes. Segment adjusted EBITDA was $33,000,000 or 29 percent of revenue compared to $28,000,000 or 25% of revenue in the prior year period as our margin growth continues. The increasing margins resulted from the company's ability to maintain and even increase some pricing while leveraging the lower year over year freight costs. Speaker 300:14:11Our Specialized Reliability Solutions segment revenue decreased 7% to $34,000,000 primarily due to a temporary delay in shipments at quarter end. We expect to fully recover this missed revenue in our current fiscal 4th quarter. We were able to leverage the segment EBITDA and EBITDA margin of $5,200,000 15% respectively in the fiscal 2024 Q3 compared to $5,100,000 and 14% in the prior year period of managing expenses and driving operating efficiencies. Our SRS team remains focused on top and bottom line growth as well as offering the right mix of high value products to our customer base around the world. Our Engineered Building Solutions segment revenue increased to $28,000,000 a 13% increase as compared to $25,000,000 in the prior year period. Speaker 300:15:10Bidding and booking trends remain solid. In fact, we ended December with our 8th consecutive quarter of record backlog in this segment. At the end of the fiscal Q3, our book to bill ratio for the trailing 8 quarters was about 1.2:one. Segment EBITDA grew 49 percent to $4,000,000 or 14% EBITDA margin in the 3rd quarter compared to $2,700,000 and an 11% EBITDA margin in the prior year period. Transitioning to the continuous strengthening of our balance sheet and cash flow. Speaker 300:15:48We ended our fiscal 2024 Q3 With $25,000,000 of cash and reported record fiscal 3rd quarter cash flow from operations of $47,000,000 compared to $37,000,000 in the same quarter last year. For the current year to date period in fiscal 2024, The company had a record cash flow from operations of $142,000,000 or 69% growth compared to $84,000,000 in the 1st 3 quarters of the prior fiscal year. Our free cash flow Defined as cash flow from operations minus capital expenditures grew 31 percent to $43,000,000 in the fiscal third quarter as compared to $33,000,000 in the same period a year ago. That resulted in free cash flow per share of 2 point $0.76 in the fiscal 3rd quarter as compared to $2.13 in the same period a year ago. This impressive level of free cash flow fuels our capital allocation strategy and ultimately enhances shareholder value. Speaker 300:16:56As Joe mentioned, as part of our broad capital allocation strategy, during the quarter we paid down $20,000,000 of our outstanding debt. We ended the fiscal Q3 with $153,000,000 outstanding on our $500,000,000 revolver. Our bank covenant leverage ratio at quarter end was 0.69 times, an improvement from 1.3 times At the end of fiscal 2023, due to our strong EBITDA growth and the $100,000,000 pay down of our revolver in that timeframe. As a reminder, at the end of the fiscal 2024 Q2, our bank coverage leverage ratio was 0.85 times as the company has been in the lowest tier of our revolver pricing since reporting our fiscal 2024 Q1, reducing our interest rate spread and creating interest expense savings. We continue to maintain strong liquidity in a tough financial environment. Speaker 300:17:59To remind everyone once more, In February of 2023, we entered into an interest rate hedge for the first $100,000,000 of borrowings under our revolver. During the fiscal Q3 and the 1st three quarters of the year, the interest rate hedge saved us approximately $400,000 $1,100,000 respectively in interest expense. Our effective tax rate for the fiscal Q3 was 43.2% on a GAAP basis and 32.5% as adjusted. The higher than normal 32.5% effective adjusted Tax rate was driven by the finalization of the international tax deduction and credits for the fiscal 2023 U. S. Speaker 300:18:43Federal tax return and the effect of seasonality of revenue on our fiscal Q3. We expect our adjusted effective tax rate to be between 27% 28% for fiscal 2024. As we look out to the rest of fiscal 2024, we anticipate delivering full year record revenue growth with continued meaningful operating leverage. We also expect the current full fiscal year to close with a record adjusted EBITDA and adjusted EPS as well as record cash flow. With that, I'll now turn the call back to Joe for closing remarks. Speaker 200:19:19Thank you, James. To summarize, During the 3rd fiscal quarter of 2024, we continue to deliver on our commitments by posting record results across the board, highlighted by organic revenue growth, expanded margins and robust cash flow. While there has been uncertainty in certain key end markets all year long, we still expect to outperform versus the end markets we serve. We will focus on leveraging our strong distributor relationships and delivering earnings growth through expense optimization. We will continue to demonstrate capital discipline, drive cash flow conversion and deliver sustainable growth in shareholder value. Speaker 200:20:05Because how we succeed matters, CSWI will continue to focus on our most important asset, which is our people. I would like to share one safety metric that is extremely important to our management team. That is our TRIR, the Total reportable instant rate. The final TRIR for the entire enterprise for calendar year 2023 was 0.9, down significantly compared to 1.9 for the calendar year 2022. Our continued commitment to keeping our team members safe on a daily basis has reduced our TRIR by over 50% for the calendar year. Speaker 200:20:51I want to thank everyone at CSWI for contributing to our continued success and achieving this meaningful milestone for the company and all of our employees. Continuing with our theme of people, you may have seen in a separate news released this morning that we announced the appointment of Jeff Underwood, the Senior Vice President of CSWI and General Manager of the Contractor Solutions segment. Jeff will succeed Don Sullivan in his current role as the Head of Contractor Solutions. Don will remain with CSWI as an Executive Vice President and assume the new role at Corporate of Chief Strategy Officer and ensure a smooth transition of leadership. Very happy to welcome Jeff to the executive leadership team and especially pleased that Don and I will continue to work closely together. Speaker 200:21:46As we approach the end of a record fiscal 2024, we a solid Q4 and we're off to a good start with what appears to have been a strong January for our businesses. We are now preparing our budget for fiscal 2025. And while there's still much work to be done, we as we finalize the budget, We recognize there are variables that can change throughout the year. We do expect to show revenue growth and to maintain or expand our operating margins. We also expect to pursue attractive acquisition opportunities that would supplement our organic growth. Speaker 200:22:23We believe that the future is very bright. While we do have temporary headwinds from time to time, the fundamental thesis for our business remains firmly intact. We remain focused on the long term growth of the company while delivering year over year growth and revenue and profits. In our largest end market, HVACR, we offer innovative high value products that our customers prefer And we remain focused on the products and subcategories that are growing faster than the overall industry. We continue to experience rising temperatures, higher homeowner expectations for Comfort and a growing installed base driven in part by a housing shortage. Speaker 200:23:08We believe these dynamics provide a backdrop where we can deliver long term value for our shareholders. Now as always, I want to close by thanking all of my colleagues here at CSWI who collectively 5% of CSWI through our stock our employee stock ownership plan as well as our shareholders for their continued interest in and support of our company. With that operator, we're now ready to take questions. Operator00:23:49Our first question comes from Jon Tanwanteng from CJS Securities. Please proceed. Speaker 400:23:56Hi, good morning everyone. Thank you for taking my questions and really nice job on the margins especially given that missed shipment. I was wondering if you could tell us what was actually delayed and what was the actual impact on the quarter, number 1. And number 2, if you've already seen that ship out in January or if that's still in the comment and when do you expect to make that up? Speaker 200:24:16Hey, John, it's Joe. It wasn't one shipment. It was a series of shipments. Just Missed opportunity at the end of the quarter. There were some packaging shortages. Speaker 200:24:27There were some staffing shortages and things that did that. Yes, we are already seeing that flow through in January. And as James and I both mentioned, that should be fully realized in the final quarter here. So the back half of the year, the full year is still completely intact. Speaker 400:24:51Got it. Okay. And was it in, just the SRS segment or was that in multiple segments? Speaker 200:24:57No, only in SRS. Speaker 400:24:59Got it. Okay. Could you also quantify the strength you're seeing in January? Is that because of the shipment push outs or is that on an organic Excluding that effect? Speaker 200:25:10I would say excluding that effect. Speaker 400:25:13Okay, got it. And then you mentioned shipping costs going up even despite all the freight improvements you made in the last year. Was wondering, 1, how much do you ship to the Red Sea today, if damaged at all? And how much you expect to see inflation in that shipping and freight for you guys this year? Speaker 300:25:33Yes, John, good morning. It's James. Thanks for being on as always. Yes, we do have some shipments from our Vietnam That will travel through the Suez Canal. Normally, those shipments have all been rerouted. Speaker 300:25:44So they're all going south around the South tip of Africa as most shipments are. We have other shipments that go in different directions, of course, but those have been rerouted. You have seen an increase in pricing. As you know, pricing was down a couple of $1,000 a few years ago, got up to $20,000 plus Back to a couple of 1,000. We're seeing rates out there, call it 4,000 or so you've seen things pop. Speaker 300:26:11We expect that this is rather temporary for now. We'll see it's only been a few weeks. But number 1, our cargo is safe. It's being rerouted. Things take a little longer to get here. Speaker 300:26:22This is also the time that we've spent the last couple of weeks at a lot as a lot of manufacturers have been stocking up because you have the Tet holiday when all production down for 10 or 12 days in Asia, us being no exception. That starts, I think, on Saturday, in fact. So we kind of get ahead of that. So we've had some shipments come through. So you really have a couple of weeks here where things you won't see that impact in that respect. Speaker 300:26:47There was a lot of media the last couple of days around. This seems to be somewhat temporary. It's not fully baked into supply and demand. So we'll see. I'll remind you, however, that when we do put something on a boat and as you know, we ship a few dozen containers over every week from our facility. Speaker 300:27:05It takes several months that to flow through our cost of goods sold. So you're still seeing this last quarter, Q3, the current quarter, Q4, still working off of the lower freight rates. We're still experiencing that year over year delta in the pickup this Q4. Last year, this time rates had come down. So that Delta starting to minimize. Speaker 300:27:25So you'll see this temporary pop more in the 1st part of next year. We're monitoring it closely, working hard on rates, alternative routes and those kind of things with our shipping partners, but still feel good where we are. But that's one of the elements as Joe talked about as we go through our budget, how that will impact things. And most importantly, we Speaker 200:27:42want to be sure we preserve margins. So we'll Speaker 300:27:44take the actions we need to do to be sure that we stay intact from our expectations. Speaker 400:27:50Got it. That was kind of a follow-up. What do you expect to do on pricing, I guess, to reflect these rates? Is it going to be like a surcharge? Is it just part of your normal pricing increases as you go through the year? Speaker 400:27:59And does that also incorporate the increased retention compensation that you were talking about earlier? Speaker 300:28:05Yes, that's dynamic. We've already through our normal annual seasonal price increases. We announced those a few weeks ago and those go into effect here pretty soon. And so that's normal and we achieved normal kind of back to normal prior to hyperinflation pricing increases that we would normally see. Do we need to adjust things to account for shipping rates? Speaker 300:28:27We'll see. If this becomes a permanently higher rate, Then our team is certainly ready to look at that and what the market will bear and what's appropriate. We always, like I said, maintain our margins, do a good job with that. I think we assume labor costs are going to be up. That's already baked into our expectations, those kind of things. Speaker 300:28:46But the dynamic around shipping rates, how long that lasts and what the impact it looks like it will be will determine if we need to take action going forward. Speaker 400:28:55Okay, great. Thanks guys. I'll jump back in queue. Appreciate it. Speaker 300:28:58Thank you, John. Operator00:29:03Our next question comes from Julio Romero from Sidoti and Speaker 500:29:12Thank you and good morning, Joe, James and Alexa. Maybe to start on Contractor Solutions. Nice job once again growing unit volumes there. I wanted to ask What the 1st month of calendar 2024 has kind of told you about how the remainder of the calendar year will shape up in regards to HVAC, our demand, What you're hearing from customers and what your boots on the ground are seeing? Speaker 300:29:36Sure, Julio. This is James. Good morning. Thanks for being on the call as always. Yes, we wanted to give you a little Peek into January to give you a sense of what Q4 looks like. Speaker 300:29:45It's just 1 month. We're literally starting to close the books today, but across the board, we felt really good about January. And As Joe mentioned earlier to John, that's not just on the heels of making up for the lost shipments in SRS in December. Right now we feel good. We're at the very beginning of the early buying season for Contractor Solutions. Speaker 300:30:05That HVAC market We'll start really stocking up the next couple of months. A lot of us were at the industry show just last week. A lot of people reported it was record attendance, a A lot of mixed conversations when you talk to folks, but we continue to outperform the market. We are indexed to the subcategories, as Joe mentioned, that grow faster than the unitary ducted HVAC OEM market. There's some expectations that could be down this year, some relatively flat. Speaker 300:30:34But like we said, we expect growth. The ductless market continues to grow as a percent of share. And the number of products as you and our shareholders know that we have tied to that ductless market continues to grow. Areas like surge protection continue to grow and we're indexed that space more and more as we go along. So our commercial team continues to find products to introduce and innovate that will outperform the market. Speaker 300:31:00So it's hard to say that January, the strength that we've seen, is a precursor to an entirely great season, But we will certainly take a good January. One thing I will say without getting too deep into it, we'll report back in May when we have a good sense of how the start of the year looked out. We can never predict the weather, but we talked a lot the last couple of quarters about destocking. And we've said that generally it feels like that's behind us. And I think the fact that we saw in Contractor Solutions in Solutions in January tells us that folks are stocking up for what they anticipate to be a good season. Speaker 500:31:36Thanks very much. That's really helpful color there. And you talked about your efforts to outperform the market on the HVAC side. Some of that's related to your efforts to increase sales of some previously acquired product lines, taking them nationwide. Can you just speak to that and maybe how much more runway you have with that? Speaker 300:31:56I still think there's runway. It's a great question. You go back to even TrueAir over 3 years ago now, we're still introducing that product to some new customers because We want to be really sure that when we introduce a product and they're going to displace a competitor that we're going to give them the highest level of customer service, the highest availability of inventory, the pricing that makes sense for us and them. So we're still converting customers from True Air and Shoemaker from 3 2 years ago respectively. One example I'll give you though of a recent one is Falcon. Speaker 300:32:26That's now organic because Falcon is more than a year old. So we call that organic. That was a West Coast centered product for the most part under marketed, under commercialized because of the ownership did a great job innovating and selling the product, but they were somewhat limited. And it's a great example of our model of shipping that out to more distributors. That was a slow introduction. Speaker 300:32:48We got the product in our catalog immediately and moved the inventory over. It was literally a couple of 100 mile move. But we now have introduced that nationwide. Now it's in all of our warehouses. Now the customers are more aware of the product. Speaker 300:33:00So our ability To now kind of own the water heater, so to speak, and have a full package of things around the water heater that the Falcon connectors attached to is now a full product. We had a whole part of our booth at the show last week in fact around the water heater and Falcon is prominent. So it takes time. So there is certainly runway for those acquisitions we made about 18 months ago as well as still runway for True Aaron Shoemaker. So, yes, I appreciate you recognizing that. Speaker 300:33:26Don't get all that day 1, you don't get it all quarter 1 or year 1. It is a long cycle of introduction and continued opportunity for growth. Speaker 500:33:37Very helpful there. And then just wanted to ask about the other press release you had this morning regarding the appointments. Can you maybe talk a little bit about Jeff's background and what he brings to the role of GM of Contractor Solutions and same question about Don and what he brings to the Strategy Officer role. Speaker 200:33:54Yes, this is Joe. We'll start I'll start with Jeff. I mean Jeff's been here for 5 years now, in charge of sales and marketing. And when we talk about Professionalization of our go to market strategy for the Contractor Solutions segment, that's been Jeff's initiatives. And the growth and the really the increase in size Scale of that business has been, in large part, attributable to those initiatives and the great work that's been done there. Speaker 200:34:26So a real strong track record here. Jeff comes from came to us from Goodman where he'd worked with Don Before that, Jeff had been at Bain and just a really strong background, A lot of experience, well known in the marketplace and the industry has been very, very integral to our acquisition strategy for that business. And so a perfect kind of transition from Don to Jeff They're just the way you'd like to have it. Internal, somebody who's been here, had a lot of success internally, well known by our team and by our customers and really expect just a completely seamless transition there on April 1. Don, being a big part of that as well. Speaker 200:35:18It takes both of them to have a seamless transition. Don has been The most senior operating exec that we've had around here for a while and has just a tremendous track record of success. We have leaned on him to integrate these acquisitions and to make them successful, and he has done a phenomenal job with that. So Just expanding that kind of the opportunity here for him to work across the segments. But really, I think Don's going to spend a lot of time looking for that next meaningful acquisition and hopefully have an opportunity to integrate another high profile scale acquisition that will be really, really accretive for our shareholders. Speaker 500:36:16Helpful. Well, congrats to Jeff and Don and I'll pass it on. Speaker 400:36:21Thanks, Julio. Operator00:36:27This concludes our question and answer session. I would like to turn the floor back over to Joseph Armes for closing comments. Speaker 200:36:36Great. Thank you everyone for joining us for this Q3 call. We appreciate your interest and look forward to speaking to you again in May. So thank you.Read morePowered by Conference Call Audio Live Call not available Earnings Conference CallCSW Industrials Q3 202400:00 / 00:00Speed:1x1.25x1.5x2x Earnings DocumentsSlide DeckPress Release(8-K)Quarterly report(10-Q) CSW Industrials Earnings HeadlinesCSW Industrials, Inc. 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Sign up for Earnings360's daily newsletter to receive timely earnings updates on CSW Industrials and other key companies, straight to your email. Email Address About CSW IndustrialsCSW Industrials (NASDAQ:CSWI) operates as a diversified industrial company in the United States and internationally. It operates through three segments: Contractor Solutions, Engineered Building Solutions, and Specialized Reliability Solutions. The Contractor Solutions segment provides condensate pads, pans, pumps, switches, and traps; cements, diffusers, grilles, registers, solvents, thread sealants, and vents; line set covers; refrigerant caps; wire pulling head tools; electrical protection, chemical maintenance, and installation supplies for HVAC; ductless mini-split systems installation support tools and accessories; and drain waste and vent system products for use in HVAC/R, plumbing, general industrial, architecturally specified building products. The Engineered Building Solutions segment offers architectural railings and associated services; fire and smoke protection solutions; and pre-engineered and custom architectural building components for use in architecturally specified building products. The Specialized Reliability Solutions segment provides compounds, lubricants, lubricant management products, and sealants; desiccant breather filtration products; and contamination control, industrial maintenance and repair, rail friction modifiers, sealants, and operations solutions for use in energy, general industrial, mining, and rail transportation. The company was incorporated in 2014 and is headquartered in Dallas, Texas.View CSW Industrials ProfileRead more More Earnings Resources from MarketBeat Earnings Tools Today's Earnings Tomorrow's Earnings Next Week's Earnings Upcoming Earnings Calls Earnings Newsletter Earnings Call Transcripts Earnings Beats & Misses Corporate Guidance Earnings Screener Earnings By Country U.S. Earnings Reports Canadian Earnings Reports U.K. Earnings Reports Latest Articles Amazon Earnings: 2 Reasons to Love It, 1 Reason to Be CautiousMeta Takes A Bow With Q1 Earnings - Watch For Tariff Impact in Q2Palantir Earnings: 1 Bullish Signal and 1 Area of ConcernVisa Q2 Earnings Top Forecasts, Adds $30B Buyback PlanMicrosoft Crushes Earnings, What’s Next for MSFT Stock?Qualcomm's Earnings: 2 Reasons to Buy, 1 to Stay AwayAMD Stock Signals Strong Buy Ahead of Earnings Upcoming Earnings Palantir Technologies (5/5/2025)Vertex Pharmaceuticals (5/5/2025)Realty Income (5/5/2025)Williams Companies (5/5/2025)CRH (5/5/2025)Advanced Micro Devices (5/6/2025)American Electric Power (5/6/2025)Constellation Energy (5/6/2025)Marriott International (5/6/2025)Energy Transfer (5/6/2025) Get 30 Days of MarketBeat All Access for Free Sign up for MarketBeat All Access to gain access to MarketBeat's full suite of research tools. 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There are 6 speakers on the call. Operator00:00:00Greetings, and welcome to the CSW Industrials Inc. Third Quarter 2024 Earnings Call. At this time, all participants are in a listen only mode. A brief question and answer session will follow the formal presentation. As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. Operator00:00:24It is now my pleasure to introduce your host, Alexa Huerta. Thank you, Ms. Huerta. You may begin. Speaker 100:00:32Thank you, Kat. Good morning, everyone, and welcome to the CSW Industrials Fiscal 20 24 Third Quarter Earnings Call. Joining me today is Joseph Arnd, Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and President of CSW Industrials and James Perry, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. We issued our earnings release, portion of our website at www.cswindustrials.com. This call is being webcast and information on accessing the replay is included in the earnings release. Speaker 100:01:22During this call, we will make forward looking statements. These statements are based on current expectations and assumptions that are subject to various risks and uncertainties. Actual results could materially differ because of factors discussed today in our earnings release, in our comments made during this call, as well as the risk factors identified in our annual report on Form 10 ks and other filings with the SEC. We do not undertake any duty to update any forward looking statements. I will now turn the call over to Jim. Speaker 200:01:57Thank you, Alexa. Good morning, everyone. Impressively, our team continues to outperform the markets we serve despite challenging conditions and again delivered record results in the Q3 and year to date against strong prior year results. The 3rd quarter results demonstrate our continued ability to grow through the cycle and drive notable operating leverage and our bottom line results. Earlier this morning, we announced record 3rd quarter revenue of 175,000,000 record 3rd quarter adjusted earnings per diluted share of $1.07 and record 3rd quarter adjusted EBITDA of $37,000,000 EPS and EBITDA were both adjusted to exclude certain non recurring tax items related to past acquisitions, as we indicated they would be on our last earnings call. Speaker 200:02:56Adjusted EBITDA grew teen% on 2% growth in revenue, delivering 2 70 basis points of adjusted EBITDA margin expansion, up to 21% in the 3rd quarter. On the heels of 2 consecutive quarters of record results, we continued generating record Q3 and year to date results in revenue of $582,000,000 or 3.5% growth and adjusted earnings per diluted share of $4.97 or 11.4% growth and an adjusted EBITDA of 144,000,000 a robust 15.7% growth. For the 3rd consecutive quarter, we delivered outstanding cash flow from operations with a record fiscal 3rd quarter total of $47,000,000 This led to a pay down of $20,000,000 of borrowing under our revolving credit facility in the 3rd quarter and an aggregate reduction of $100,000,000 during the fiscal year. We continue to reduce our interest expense and fortify our balance sheet to provide significant flexibility to pursue future opportunities as they arise. Over the last few quarters, we have seen ocean freight return to normal levels. Speaker 200:04:25We have reduced our domestic freight costs and driven additional operational efficiencies versus the prior year. Recently, we have been monitoring issues in the Red Sea. We have been working closely with our freight forwarders to assess the impact on pricing and transit time for all in transit and potential future shipments. We are assessing the most efficient delivery routes and options, but there could be some temporary upward pressure on shipping rates. We also continue to see increased compensation expense as we staff up for our continued growth and retain the highest caliber team members. Speaker 200:05:08By successfully implementing new and maintaining prior pricing initiatives and increasing our gross margins through freight expense savings, CSWI has been able to achieve meaningful operating leverage and expand further our already healthy margins. We have always and will continue to prioritize capital investments based on the estimated risk adjusted returns With the ultimate goal of increasing long term shareholder value, we evaluate organic and inorganic opportunities for growth that support our generous margins and we continuously maintain pipeline of potential acquisition opportunities. I'm proud of the execution within each of the 3 business segments. So I would like to briefly speak about the performance of each segment, then James will provide additional financial details around the quarter. The 3rd quarter is seasonally our slowest quarter of the year for our Contractor Solutions segment. Speaker 200:06:15But our team did an excellent job by not only delivering another quarter of market outperformance, but also year over year growth despite The HVACR industry experiencing a decline in residential volumes. Contractor Solutions delivered Q3 net revenue of $115,400,000 an increase of 3% over the prior year period. Our competitive advantage in this segment centers around our distribution channel, introducing innovative high value products and focusing On acquisition integration. The power of our distribution model allows CSWI to acquire, integrate, Master distribute and accelerate growth on newly designed products. This results in faster and more profitable sales because our strong relationships with wholesalers, our sales network, logistics leverage, credit and back office support allowing us to focus on serving our customers well. Speaker 200:07:25Our Specialized Reliability Solutions revenue decreased $2,600,000 in the quarter, driven primarily by a temporary shipment delay at the end of the quarter, which we expect to recover in full during this fiscal year. The temporary shipment delay was offset partially by pricing initiatives. The SRS team continues to make improvements in operational efficiency and quality. Strong oil and gas drilling and mining end markets showed growth, But we saw a bit of softening in industrial end markets. Despite passenger rail being down in the Q3, the outlook remains good and the team continues to introduce new innovative products. Speaker 200:08:17Revenue in our Engineered Building Solutions segment up with an increase of 13% in the quarter due to the conversion of bookings into revenue benefiting from our record backlog as well as positive pricing initiatives. For the 8th consecutive quarter, this segment's backlog reached an all time high with our aluminum railings business continuing to drive most of the growth. We continue to see strong growth for multifamily housing in the Canadian market, project mix and our record backlog continues to skew toward larger jobs, which may take 2 years or more to turn into revenue. Our sales and estimation teams continue to focus our bidding and booking on institutional and multifamily projects with the highest quality developers to ensure the greatest likelihood of closing. And I'm proud of the performance of the EBS team. Speaker 200:09:17Before I turn the call over to James, I'd like to take a moment to brag on our team for delivering growth through pricing initiatives and even volumes during a period when some of our end markets are declining. The vigor of our business model includes the diversification of our product portfolio, the resilience of the end markets we serve and repeatable consumption of many of our products that are used either in maintenance, repair and replacement applications or to enhance the reliability, performance and lifespan of mission critical assets. The products we sell in Contractor solutions and specialized reliability solutions and the value they provide are often non discretionary fundamental necessities for both homeowners, businesses and the utility sector. We have outperformed the markets we serve All year long, while expanding margins, strengthening our balance sheet and reducing our leverage ratio, CSWI is positioned to overcome market headwinds and pursue growth opportunities that arise across our entire portfolio. At this time, I'll turn the call over to James for a closer look at our results, and then I will conclude our prepared remarks. Speaker 300:10:38Thank you, Joe, and good morning, everyone. During the fiscal year to date period, we delivered record year to date revenue $582,000,000 representing growth of 3.5%. Most of the growth has come organically. The $7,500,000 came from the acquisitions of CoverGuard, ACGuard and Falcon in fiscal 2023. Operating leverage on this revenue drove nearly 16% growth in adjusted EBITDA and over 11% growth in adjusted earnings per diluted share. Speaker 300:11:12Our consolidated revenue during the fiscal Q3 of 2024 was $175,000,000 a 2.3% increase compared to the prior year period. This growth was driven organically through pricing initiatives and increased unit volumes. Consolidated gross profit in the fiscal Q3 was $74,000,000 representing more than 12% growth over the prior year period. Gross profit margin improved to 42% compared to 38.5% in the prior year period, driven by revenue growth from pricing actions, increased unit volumes and lower ocean and domestic freight costs. As mentioned on our last earnings call, as a reminder, we are presenting the fiscal 3rd quarter's profitability figures on an adjusted basis Due to the $8,500,000 or $0.48 per share, release of tax indemnification assets related to True Air and Falcon acquisitions and the related uncertain tax position accrual for Falcon. Speaker 300:12:18This amount is in the Contractor Solutions segment and consolidated results as other expense. Our consolidated adjusted EBITDA for the 3rd quarter increased by $6,000,000 to $37,000,000 or 18% growth when compared to the prior year period. Our adjusted EBITDA margin improved to 21% as compared to 18% in the prior year quarter, driven by revenue growth and gross margin expansion, partially offset by incremental employee expenses and increased travel to drive revenue growth. We continue to strive for additional EBITDA leverage as we grow revenue and prudently manage expenses. Net income attributable to CSWI in the fiscal Q3 was $17,000,000 as adjusted or $1.07 per diluted share compared to $16,000,000 or $1.01 per diluted share in the prior year period, representing growth of 6%. Speaker 300:13:22Our Contractor Solutions segment with $115,000,000 in revenue accounted for 66% of our consolidated revenue and delivered $3,500,000 or 3 percent total growth as compared to the prior year quarter. All growth in the quarter was organic, came from all end markets. It was a result of pricing actions and increased unit volumes. Segment adjusted EBITDA was $33,000,000 or 29 percent of revenue compared to $28,000,000 or 25% of revenue in the prior year period as our margin growth continues. The increasing margins resulted from the company's ability to maintain and even increase some pricing while leveraging the lower year over year freight costs. Speaker 300:14:11Our Specialized Reliability Solutions segment revenue decreased 7% to $34,000,000 primarily due to a temporary delay in shipments at quarter end. We expect to fully recover this missed revenue in our current fiscal 4th quarter. We were able to leverage the segment EBITDA and EBITDA margin of $5,200,000 15% respectively in the fiscal 2024 Q3 compared to $5,100,000 and 14% in the prior year period of managing expenses and driving operating efficiencies. Our SRS team remains focused on top and bottom line growth as well as offering the right mix of high value products to our customer base around the world. Our Engineered Building Solutions segment revenue increased to $28,000,000 a 13% increase as compared to $25,000,000 in the prior year period. Speaker 300:15:10Bidding and booking trends remain solid. In fact, we ended December with our 8th consecutive quarter of record backlog in this segment. At the end of the fiscal Q3, our book to bill ratio for the trailing 8 quarters was about 1.2:one. Segment EBITDA grew 49 percent to $4,000,000 or 14% EBITDA margin in the 3rd quarter compared to $2,700,000 and an 11% EBITDA margin in the prior year period. Transitioning to the continuous strengthening of our balance sheet and cash flow. Speaker 300:15:48We ended our fiscal 2024 Q3 With $25,000,000 of cash and reported record fiscal 3rd quarter cash flow from operations of $47,000,000 compared to $37,000,000 in the same quarter last year. For the current year to date period in fiscal 2024, The company had a record cash flow from operations of $142,000,000 or 69% growth compared to $84,000,000 in the 1st 3 quarters of the prior fiscal year. Our free cash flow Defined as cash flow from operations minus capital expenditures grew 31 percent to $43,000,000 in the fiscal third quarter as compared to $33,000,000 in the same period a year ago. That resulted in free cash flow per share of 2 point $0.76 in the fiscal 3rd quarter as compared to $2.13 in the same period a year ago. This impressive level of free cash flow fuels our capital allocation strategy and ultimately enhances shareholder value. Speaker 300:16:56As Joe mentioned, as part of our broad capital allocation strategy, during the quarter we paid down $20,000,000 of our outstanding debt. We ended the fiscal Q3 with $153,000,000 outstanding on our $500,000,000 revolver. Our bank covenant leverage ratio at quarter end was 0.69 times, an improvement from 1.3 times At the end of fiscal 2023, due to our strong EBITDA growth and the $100,000,000 pay down of our revolver in that timeframe. As a reminder, at the end of the fiscal 2024 Q2, our bank coverage leverage ratio was 0.85 times as the company has been in the lowest tier of our revolver pricing since reporting our fiscal 2024 Q1, reducing our interest rate spread and creating interest expense savings. We continue to maintain strong liquidity in a tough financial environment. Speaker 300:17:59To remind everyone once more, In February of 2023, we entered into an interest rate hedge for the first $100,000,000 of borrowings under our revolver. During the fiscal Q3 and the 1st three quarters of the year, the interest rate hedge saved us approximately $400,000 $1,100,000 respectively in interest expense. Our effective tax rate for the fiscal Q3 was 43.2% on a GAAP basis and 32.5% as adjusted. The higher than normal 32.5% effective adjusted Tax rate was driven by the finalization of the international tax deduction and credits for the fiscal 2023 U. S. Speaker 300:18:43Federal tax return and the effect of seasonality of revenue on our fiscal Q3. We expect our adjusted effective tax rate to be between 27% 28% for fiscal 2024. As we look out to the rest of fiscal 2024, we anticipate delivering full year record revenue growth with continued meaningful operating leverage. We also expect the current full fiscal year to close with a record adjusted EBITDA and adjusted EPS as well as record cash flow. With that, I'll now turn the call back to Joe for closing remarks. Speaker 200:19:19Thank you, James. To summarize, During the 3rd fiscal quarter of 2024, we continue to deliver on our commitments by posting record results across the board, highlighted by organic revenue growth, expanded margins and robust cash flow. While there has been uncertainty in certain key end markets all year long, we still expect to outperform versus the end markets we serve. We will focus on leveraging our strong distributor relationships and delivering earnings growth through expense optimization. We will continue to demonstrate capital discipline, drive cash flow conversion and deliver sustainable growth in shareholder value. Speaker 200:20:05Because how we succeed matters, CSWI will continue to focus on our most important asset, which is our people. I would like to share one safety metric that is extremely important to our management team. That is our TRIR, the Total reportable instant rate. The final TRIR for the entire enterprise for calendar year 2023 was 0.9, down significantly compared to 1.9 for the calendar year 2022. Our continued commitment to keeping our team members safe on a daily basis has reduced our TRIR by over 50% for the calendar year. Speaker 200:20:51I want to thank everyone at CSWI for contributing to our continued success and achieving this meaningful milestone for the company and all of our employees. Continuing with our theme of people, you may have seen in a separate news released this morning that we announced the appointment of Jeff Underwood, the Senior Vice President of CSWI and General Manager of the Contractor Solutions segment. Jeff will succeed Don Sullivan in his current role as the Head of Contractor Solutions. Don will remain with CSWI as an Executive Vice President and assume the new role at Corporate of Chief Strategy Officer and ensure a smooth transition of leadership. Very happy to welcome Jeff to the executive leadership team and especially pleased that Don and I will continue to work closely together. Speaker 200:21:46As we approach the end of a record fiscal 2024, we a solid Q4 and we're off to a good start with what appears to have been a strong January for our businesses. We are now preparing our budget for fiscal 2025. And while there's still much work to be done, we as we finalize the budget, We recognize there are variables that can change throughout the year. We do expect to show revenue growth and to maintain or expand our operating margins. We also expect to pursue attractive acquisition opportunities that would supplement our organic growth. Speaker 200:22:23We believe that the future is very bright. While we do have temporary headwinds from time to time, the fundamental thesis for our business remains firmly intact. We remain focused on the long term growth of the company while delivering year over year growth and revenue and profits. In our largest end market, HVACR, we offer innovative high value products that our customers prefer And we remain focused on the products and subcategories that are growing faster than the overall industry. We continue to experience rising temperatures, higher homeowner expectations for Comfort and a growing installed base driven in part by a housing shortage. Speaker 200:23:08We believe these dynamics provide a backdrop where we can deliver long term value for our shareholders. Now as always, I want to close by thanking all of my colleagues here at CSWI who collectively 5% of CSWI through our stock our employee stock ownership plan as well as our shareholders for their continued interest in and support of our company. With that operator, we're now ready to take questions. Operator00:23:49Our first question comes from Jon Tanwanteng from CJS Securities. Please proceed. Speaker 400:23:56Hi, good morning everyone. Thank you for taking my questions and really nice job on the margins especially given that missed shipment. I was wondering if you could tell us what was actually delayed and what was the actual impact on the quarter, number 1. And number 2, if you've already seen that ship out in January or if that's still in the comment and when do you expect to make that up? Speaker 200:24:16Hey, John, it's Joe. It wasn't one shipment. It was a series of shipments. Just Missed opportunity at the end of the quarter. There were some packaging shortages. Speaker 200:24:27There were some staffing shortages and things that did that. Yes, we are already seeing that flow through in January. And as James and I both mentioned, that should be fully realized in the final quarter here. So the back half of the year, the full year is still completely intact. Speaker 400:24:51Got it. Okay. And was it in, just the SRS segment or was that in multiple segments? Speaker 200:24:57No, only in SRS. Speaker 400:24:59Got it. Okay. Could you also quantify the strength you're seeing in January? Is that because of the shipment push outs or is that on an organic Excluding that effect? Speaker 200:25:10I would say excluding that effect. Speaker 400:25:13Okay, got it. And then you mentioned shipping costs going up even despite all the freight improvements you made in the last year. Was wondering, 1, how much do you ship to the Red Sea today, if damaged at all? And how much you expect to see inflation in that shipping and freight for you guys this year? Speaker 300:25:33Yes, John, good morning. It's James. Thanks for being on as always. Yes, we do have some shipments from our Vietnam That will travel through the Suez Canal. Normally, those shipments have all been rerouted. Speaker 300:25:44So they're all going south around the South tip of Africa as most shipments are. We have other shipments that go in different directions, of course, but those have been rerouted. You have seen an increase in pricing. As you know, pricing was down a couple of $1,000 a few years ago, got up to $20,000 plus Back to a couple of 1,000. We're seeing rates out there, call it 4,000 or so you've seen things pop. Speaker 300:26:11We expect that this is rather temporary for now. We'll see it's only been a few weeks. But number 1, our cargo is safe. It's being rerouted. Things take a little longer to get here. Speaker 300:26:22This is also the time that we've spent the last couple of weeks at a lot as a lot of manufacturers have been stocking up because you have the Tet holiday when all production down for 10 or 12 days in Asia, us being no exception. That starts, I think, on Saturday, in fact. So we kind of get ahead of that. So we've had some shipments come through. So you really have a couple of weeks here where things you won't see that impact in that respect. Speaker 300:26:47There was a lot of media the last couple of days around. This seems to be somewhat temporary. It's not fully baked into supply and demand. So we'll see. I'll remind you, however, that when we do put something on a boat and as you know, we ship a few dozen containers over every week from our facility. Speaker 300:27:05It takes several months that to flow through our cost of goods sold. So you're still seeing this last quarter, Q3, the current quarter, Q4, still working off of the lower freight rates. We're still experiencing that year over year delta in the pickup this Q4. Last year, this time rates had come down. So that Delta starting to minimize. Speaker 300:27:25So you'll see this temporary pop more in the 1st part of next year. We're monitoring it closely, working hard on rates, alternative routes and those kind of things with our shipping partners, but still feel good where we are. But that's one of the elements as Joe talked about as we go through our budget, how that will impact things. And most importantly, we Speaker 200:27:42want to be sure we preserve margins. So we'll Speaker 300:27:44take the actions we need to do to be sure that we stay intact from our expectations. Speaker 400:27:50Got it. That was kind of a follow-up. What do you expect to do on pricing, I guess, to reflect these rates? Is it going to be like a surcharge? Is it just part of your normal pricing increases as you go through the year? Speaker 400:27:59And does that also incorporate the increased retention compensation that you were talking about earlier? Speaker 300:28:05Yes, that's dynamic. We've already through our normal annual seasonal price increases. We announced those a few weeks ago and those go into effect here pretty soon. And so that's normal and we achieved normal kind of back to normal prior to hyperinflation pricing increases that we would normally see. Do we need to adjust things to account for shipping rates? Speaker 300:28:27We'll see. If this becomes a permanently higher rate, Then our team is certainly ready to look at that and what the market will bear and what's appropriate. We always, like I said, maintain our margins, do a good job with that. I think we assume labor costs are going to be up. That's already baked into our expectations, those kind of things. Speaker 300:28:46But the dynamic around shipping rates, how long that lasts and what the impact it looks like it will be will determine if we need to take action going forward. Speaker 400:28:55Okay, great. Thanks guys. I'll jump back in queue. Appreciate it. Speaker 300:28:58Thank you, John. Operator00:29:03Our next question comes from Julio Romero from Sidoti and Speaker 500:29:12Thank you and good morning, Joe, James and Alexa. Maybe to start on Contractor Solutions. Nice job once again growing unit volumes there. I wanted to ask What the 1st month of calendar 2024 has kind of told you about how the remainder of the calendar year will shape up in regards to HVAC, our demand, What you're hearing from customers and what your boots on the ground are seeing? Speaker 300:29:36Sure, Julio. This is James. Good morning. Thanks for being on the call as always. Yes, we wanted to give you a little Peek into January to give you a sense of what Q4 looks like. Speaker 300:29:45It's just 1 month. We're literally starting to close the books today, but across the board, we felt really good about January. And As Joe mentioned earlier to John, that's not just on the heels of making up for the lost shipments in SRS in December. Right now we feel good. We're at the very beginning of the early buying season for Contractor Solutions. Speaker 300:30:05That HVAC market We'll start really stocking up the next couple of months. A lot of us were at the industry show just last week. A lot of people reported it was record attendance, a A lot of mixed conversations when you talk to folks, but we continue to outperform the market. We are indexed to the subcategories, as Joe mentioned, that grow faster than the unitary ducted HVAC OEM market. There's some expectations that could be down this year, some relatively flat. Speaker 300:30:34But like we said, we expect growth. The ductless market continues to grow as a percent of share. And the number of products as you and our shareholders know that we have tied to that ductless market continues to grow. Areas like surge protection continue to grow and we're indexed that space more and more as we go along. So our commercial team continues to find products to introduce and innovate that will outperform the market. Speaker 300:31:00So it's hard to say that January, the strength that we've seen, is a precursor to an entirely great season, But we will certainly take a good January. One thing I will say without getting too deep into it, we'll report back in May when we have a good sense of how the start of the year looked out. We can never predict the weather, but we talked a lot the last couple of quarters about destocking. And we've said that generally it feels like that's behind us. And I think the fact that we saw in Contractor Solutions in Solutions in January tells us that folks are stocking up for what they anticipate to be a good season. Speaker 500:31:36Thanks very much. That's really helpful color there. And you talked about your efforts to outperform the market on the HVAC side. Some of that's related to your efforts to increase sales of some previously acquired product lines, taking them nationwide. Can you just speak to that and maybe how much more runway you have with that? Speaker 300:31:56I still think there's runway. It's a great question. You go back to even TrueAir over 3 years ago now, we're still introducing that product to some new customers because We want to be really sure that when we introduce a product and they're going to displace a competitor that we're going to give them the highest level of customer service, the highest availability of inventory, the pricing that makes sense for us and them. So we're still converting customers from True Air and Shoemaker from 3 2 years ago respectively. One example I'll give you though of a recent one is Falcon. Speaker 300:32:26That's now organic because Falcon is more than a year old. So we call that organic. That was a West Coast centered product for the most part under marketed, under commercialized because of the ownership did a great job innovating and selling the product, but they were somewhat limited. And it's a great example of our model of shipping that out to more distributors. That was a slow introduction. Speaker 300:32:48We got the product in our catalog immediately and moved the inventory over. It was literally a couple of 100 mile move. But we now have introduced that nationwide. Now it's in all of our warehouses. Now the customers are more aware of the product. Speaker 300:33:00So our ability To now kind of own the water heater, so to speak, and have a full package of things around the water heater that the Falcon connectors attached to is now a full product. We had a whole part of our booth at the show last week in fact around the water heater and Falcon is prominent. So it takes time. So there is certainly runway for those acquisitions we made about 18 months ago as well as still runway for True Aaron Shoemaker. So, yes, I appreciate you recognizing that. Speaker 300:33:26Don't get all that day 1, you don't get it all quarter 1 or year 1. It is a long cycle of introduction and continued opportunity for growth. Speaker 500:33:37Very helpful there. And then just wanted to ask about the other press release you had this morning regarding the appointments. Can you maybe talk a little bit about Jeff's background and what he brings to the role of GM of Contractor Solutions and same question about Don and what he brings to the Strategy Officer role. Speaker 200:33:54Yes, this is Joe. We'll start I'll start with Jeff. I mean Jeff's been here for 5 years now, in charge of sales and marketing. And when we talk about Professionalization of our go to market strategy for the Contractor Solutions segment, that's been Jeff's initiatives. And the growth and the really the increase in size Scale of that business has been, in large part, attributable to those initiatives and the great work that's been done there. Speaker 200:34:26So a real strong track record here. Jeff comes from came to us from Goodman where he'd worked with Don Before that, Jeff had been at Bain and just a really strong background, A lot of experience, well known in the marketplace and the industry has been very, very integral to our acquisition strategy for that business. And so a perfect kind of transition from Don to Jeff They're just the way you'd like to have it. Internal, somebody who's been here, had a lot of success internally, well known by our team and by our customers and really expect just a completely seamless transition there on April 1. Don, being a big part of that as well. Speaker 200:35:18It takes both of them to have a seamless transition. Don has been The most senior operating exec that we've had around here for a while and has just a tremendous track record of success. We have leaned on him to integrate these acquisitions and to make them successful, and he has done a phenomenal job with that. So Just expanding that kind of the opportunity here for him to work across the segments. But really, I think Don's going to spend a lot of time looking for that next meaningful acquisition and hopefully have an opportunity to integrate another high profile scale acquisition that will be really, really accretive for our shareholders. Speaker 500:36:16Helpful. Well, congrats to Jeff and Don and I'll pass it on. Speaker 400:36:21Thanks, Julio. Operator00:36:27This concludes our question and answer session. I would like to turn the floor back over to Joseph Armes for closing comments. Speaker 200:36:36Great. Thank you everyone for joining us for this Q3 call. We appreciate your interest and look forward to speaking to you again in May. So thank you.Read morePowered by