So, there’s lots of signs that are pointing to, a stable office market in particular. And then that’s again complemented by some additional strength that we’re seeing in education, and the retail in particular. So again, I would say overall, Phil, the market that we’re experiencing in the back half of last year is what we’re seeing so far. And again, it’s very early in the year, but that’s what we expect to see in the first half of this year. In the back half and to the second part of your question, so I think this is both informed by our customers who have less visibility in their backlogs into the back half of the year. Although it’s a different than it was at the beginning of 2023 where there was a lot more concern about the back half of the year.
There’s still, it’s still informed by our customers who have less comfort I think in their backlogs for the back half of the year. And again that’s where some of the indicators lagged would say that’s where some of the weakness could show up. Again, a lot of this is probably more on the discretionary side. So, we’ll have to get closer to the back half to see exactly, what happens on the discretionary side of this, which again, we have a lot less visibility on some of that smaller discretionary project work.
Philip Ng: Okay. That’s incredible color, Vic. And then for your AS business, you’re guiding to call it 6% to 9% growth in 2024. I believe roughly about two points of the M&A, but nonetheless that’s pretty strong growth. So, I’m just curious where you’re seeing some of the strength from end-market standpoint. You certainly called out infrastructure and transportation being a big part of that. Any way to kind of help us parse out how big is that piece of the business for AS?
Vic Grizzle: What I would point to Phil is the, on the new construction side, if you recall in the back half of 2022, we had pretty good new construction positive, new construction starts. We should benefit from that, in 2024 continue to benefit from the lag of those new construction projects coming through. I think in the larger alteration projects, office and education again were positive and I believe we’re going to continue to see some, some of that benefit, in both office and education. And you mentioned transportation. It’s a relatively small from a square footage standpoint segment, but it has big dollar opportunities when it comes to the Architectural Specialty segment. We remain very busy with our bidding activity there. We expect transportation to be a meaningful contributor to the overall Architectural Specialty segment growth in 2024 and as I outlook, I think beyond.
Philip Ng: Okay. Thank you, guys. Really appreciate it.
Vic Grizzle: You bet. Thank you.
Operator: Our next question comes from the line of John Lovallo with UBS. Please go ahead.
John Lovallo: Good morning, guys. Thank you for taking my questions as well. The first one is just on the comps in the first half, in Mineral Fiber in particular. I mean, they’re a little bit tricky with, I think, a plus nine in the first quarter. I think on a volume load and then a minus seven, in the second quarter. How should we sort of think about those as we move into the first half of this year? And then along the same along similar lines, input cost inflation, there’s a lot of moving pieces with energy and other items. How are you kind of thinking about that through the year?
Chris Calzaretta: Hey, John, it’s Chris. Thanks for the question. Yes, on the volumes, Mineral Fiber, so looking at first half, second half, splits, we’re guiding to Mineral Fiber volume being down in that low-single-digit range with a little more softness in the back half than the front half. And that really mirrors the, remarks that Vic made about the overall market. And, you’re right. First quarter, we’re lapping a really strong comp of the first quarter of ‘23 where we saw some of that inventory build in retail. So, a little bit of softness in Q1 and then, kind of just the opposite in Q2, to the comp that you point pointed out. But I’d overall, say back half a little bit softer on the volume side than the first part of the year.
On input costs, you’re right. We’re basically out looking for full-year total input cost inflation to be inflationary in the low-single-digit ranges range on a percentage basis and kind of break that out a little bit. Raw materials, we expect those to be inflationary low-single-digits, freight to be slightly inflationary. And then, deflation in the area of energy driven primarily by nat gas. So again, total input costs inflationary in that low-single-digit range for ‘24.
John Lovallo: That’s really helpful. Okay. And then maybe just taking a step back here, the Investor Day targets you guys outlined 2% to 4% Mineral Fiber growth. I mean, 2024, the expectation is for it to be down low-single-digits. As we progress through this year, how should we sort of think about the drivers of the improvement in Mineral Fiber volume and maybe as you see the cadence over the next couple of years, if possible?
Vic Grizzle: Yes. John, let me take that. I think that, when we think about those, of course, the world kind of changed in 2022 right after that Investor Day, conference. But, when you look back at the building blocks of that guidance and we sit here today and look at those building blocks, they haven’t changed. They really are the same building blocks. I think we’ve got to get to the stabilization of the market. We did outlook, one of the building blocks is a recovering commercial construction market. And so, as we get on the other side of ‘24 and move into a more positive backdrop for commercial construction with lower interest rates and so forth, I think then we start to see the materialization of one of the main building blocks there, which is the overall recovery of the commercial construction marketplace.
Again and then our growth initiatives on top of that, and then acquisitions coming along the way, we think the building blocks are still there for, positive Mineral Fiber bond growth, which is your specific question, but the other building blocks for overall profitable growth for the Company.
