Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) Q3 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

So this is the next step in that process. So our expectations aren’t that this creates a new line of revenue, but it is – our expectations are that will create a lot more efficiency for them as well as for us. And then finally, we can isolate made to order. So when we isolate made to order, then we can treat it as such, which is made to order. And we can price it accordingly, we can — and we can service it accordingly. So that’s the import of creating those different buckets, is ultimately that we’re trying to make the light and lighting control business more predictable, repeatable and scalable.

Tim Wojs: Okay. Okay. Very good. Appreciate the commentary. Thanks guys. Good luck on next year.

Neil M Ashe: Thanks Jim.

Operator: Our next question comes from Joe O’Dea with Wells Fargo. Joe, your line is now open.

Joe O’Dea: Hi, good morning. Thanks for taking my questions. Wanted to start on the margin front. Really strong gross margins during the quarter. I think just sort of if you could unpack a little bit on the price cost dynamic. And maybe if we go back a couple of years, you were talking about a gross margin target of around 42%. It looks like you should be north of 43% this year, so how do we think about the sustainability of that? And then what you might be seeing on the price side, any sort of incoming pressure you’re seeing there?

Karen Holcom: Joe, thanks for the question this morning. I’ll start and then I’ll pass it over to Neil to add on. So as we talked about on the call, at ABL, we’re really focused on strategic pricing, continued productivity improvements and managing material costs. So we’ve demonstrated discipline in all these areas this year, which is resulting in the strong gross margin that you see in the third quarter, and that’s going to continue to be our focus. And the other thing I would add is that we’re having continued growth at ISG, and so that’s helping us as well.

Neil Ashe: Yes. And I would only build on that a little bit, Karen. I think you summarized it well to say that, Joe, I think we have made an improvement from where we were when we were targeting the 42%. So clearly, we’ve improved the business since then. And I would just pick up on two things that Karen pointed out there. First, around strategic pricing, so that’s where on the Contractor Select portfolio, we can compete with anyone that wants to enter the market through those channels, which is very effective. And we can choose which projects we want to participate in based on pricing. So we’re significantly more strategic about how we’re pricing. Second is that we’re really working hard, and our teams have done a nice job on the combination of productivity improvements and material cost savings.

That’s a combination of our product vitality efforts and the work that we’re doing in our supply chain to level load. And then finally, I’d emphasize that the continued growth of ISG is growth accretive, margin accretive and returns accretive.