Avnet, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVT) Q1 2024 Earnings Call Transcript

Ken Jacobson: Yes. I think you’ll see another quarter – next quarter should be another elevated quarter of cash – of CapEx similar to this past quarter as that warehouse gets constructed. And then you start to see it taper off in the first half of 2024, I guess, similar to what I would say at historical levels. From a free cash flow standpoint, as Phil said, going to be challenging on the inventory side to really work it down over the next couple of quarters. So we’d expect cash flow from our earnings and some collection of receivables from the sales decline. So we’d expect cash flow over the next couple of quarters – trailing 12-month cash flow, I think I mentioned was about $110 million usage. So, I think there’s another bad quarter falling off of cash flow usage from a year ago. So that’s how I think we should think about it.

Ruplu Bhattacharya: Okay, thank you for all the details. Appreciate it.

Phil Gallagher: Thanks, Ruplu.

Operator: Thank you. Our next question is from Joe Quatrochi with Wells Fargo. Please proceed with your question.

Joe Quatrochi: Yes, thanks for taking the questions. I just wanted to kind of understand talking about maybe a cycle correction kind of last until mid-2024. And in the context of kind of maintaining revenue above $6 billion, and that’s kind of the low end of your guide for the December quarter. Are we to take that as you’re kind of viewing things bouncing along the bottom here? Or should we think about the potential of further correction as we get into the first half of next year?

Phil Gallagher: Yes. Thanks, Joe. Good question. I think it’s going to be more bouncing along the bottom. I mean – and Ken, I think it’s just what I just shared, I think with Melissa, maybe with Ruplu, the mixed signals in the market. Again, we are still seeing – as of today, we’re still seeing transportation overall pretty positive. The industrial segment had a few bumps in it. But again, part of the – industrial is so broad. Parts of that customer base is still really good and other parts, a little bit softer. And defense/aero, unfortunately, what’s going on in the world is going to continue to be a pretty strong market for us, and that’s sizable for us in the Americas. So – and sooner or later, I guess the wildcard is China and Asia Pac, right?

I mean – so what happens there is that pops back sooner than people think. That could have a greater lift. So right now, we’re just rolling up what we see. We do a rolling forecast with our teams, and what we’re sharing is what we’re getting from them. And looking at the backlog in a 0 to 30, 31 to 90, 91 to 180 day and look at it daily and see what is our backlog today versus a year ago, and it’s telling us that’s about where we’re going to be. And again, you’re going to have the mix shifts, too, Joe. As Ken pointed out, Asia is going to be stronger this quarter. It typically comes back down in the March quarter. So we have a stronger mix in the West. So…

Joe Quatrochi: Got it. And then maybe – yes, sure. I appreciate that. Maybe just a question on the Farnell side in terms of the cost actions you’re taking. I think in the past, you had chose to leave the lead facility open or online just given the demand you’re seeing. Is that part of the cost actions of closing that? And then can you revise it is [ph]? Can you remind us of the cost savings related to that?

Ken Jacobson: Yes. No, what we’re talking about is separate from that. What you’re referring to, Joe, would have been bringing up a new warehouse in leads and shutting down the old warehouse. And a lot of that’s behind us, although I’d say some of the – now with that warehouse online, there’s more optimization on the broader warehouse footprint. So it’s maybe more adjacent warehouses, not primary warehouses that provide some of the cost savings. So, I think it was a subcomponent of some of those numbers we talked about before.