Patrick Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:PATK) Q3 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

Daniel Moore: Thank you. Good morning. Thanks for all the color. Maybe shift gears toward the margins. Gross margins are remarkably strong given the current level of demand. You expect to maintain those levels as we look to Q4 and into maybe H1 fiscal ’24? Or are you seeing any pricing pressure work its way back to the supply chain at this stage?

Andy Nemeth: Yes. Dan, this is Andy. I think as it relates to the margins, we expect a little bit of choppiness in Q4. It typically is one of the softer quarters seasonally for us. And would expect just a little bit of choppiness as it relates to that, but that’s built into our model. I think as we look at 1H 2024, we’re still feeling like our margin profile is solid. The investments that we’ve made in automation without question are paying off. Our team has done a fabulous job of managing the labor force. And we’ve also sized the businesses according to the revenue stream that we’re seeing today. So I think when we look across the spectrum in all of our businesses and we look at where the industries are at we feel like we’ve modeled the business to that platform and can flex up or down if we need to.

But the leverageability going up for us will be solid. But I think as we look at our gross margins, a lot of the investments. The team has just done an absolutely fantastic job of managing the business, taking out costs, relying on the automation to generate throughput and efficiency and then continuous improvement initiatives that we’ve implemented across the spectrum continue to help drive those. So we’re going to stay focused on that. And the goal would be to continue to, again, drive efficiencies and throughput and then really be able to leverage when we see the markets pick up.

Daniel Moore: Excellent. And obviously — great color on your outlook for each of the verticals as we look into next year. In terms of just cadence, do you expect much of a difference, if any, in terms of shipments, H1 to H2? Do you see things kind of slow — starting out a little slower and then picking up in either of the three main businesses were relatively consistent across the year?

Andy Nemeth: I think what we expect is a more normal seasonality than we’ve seen in the past as it relates to production and retail. And I think when you kind of look at where inventory is at today, low, low level of weeks on hand, dealers being very, very thoughtful about the inventories that they’re carrying. The OEs matched up to be able to produce. We would expect a more seasonal cadence. But again, like I said, I think we’re balanced with what we see today as it relates to production levels and sized appropriately. So as we look at it, what I would tell you is we’re watching retail certainly. But with the balance and the calibration that we see in the field today, between manufacturing, production and retail. We feel really good about the ability to flex across the spectrum.

Daniel Moore: Excellent. Last one, I’ll jump out. Free cash flow has been exceptional. Is there any more working capital left to unwind? Or should we expect it to be more neutral going forward, at least until demand starts to recover? Thank you.

Andy Nemeth: Yes. I think that from a working capital perspective, our team, again, has done an absolutely fantastic job of managing inventories in partnership with our customers. And I don’t know that there’s a ton of working capital to ring out. We do expect to be — have over $400 million of operating cash at the end of this year, which is really in line with where our expectations were at. In fact, I think, as we look out into the future, one of the things that we’re in a really advantageous position as it relates to the strength of our balance sheet in our liquidity is we’re looking and saying, okay, if the manufacturing does go up, we want to make sure that we’re positioned and we can be positioned with the appropriate levels of inventory when it does flex up.