Plexus Corp. (NASDAQ:PLXS) Q1 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

Matt Sheerin: Okay. Thank you for that. And then I wanted to just ask about the inventory and the working capital and the cash flows, which have also been, in terms of free cash flow, obviously below where you could be. And I know Pat, you’re expecting net inventory days or inventory or cycle days to be up again, up significantly year-over-year, despite the cash deposits being up. So, how should we think about that inventory position as we get through the rest of the year, given that you look like you’re looking at sequential growth in the back half. And then what could we think about free cash flows as we get through the year?

Pat Jermain: Yes, okay. So, I’ll start by saying, I think we’re starting to level off our inventory, Matt. If you look at the increase from year-end to Q1, we were up $42 million in inventory. Really good to see cash deposits up $31 million, so almost a full offset. Q2 could see increase of $25 million to $50 million in inventory to support new program ramps. I think the back half, as we see more sequential revenue growth, is an opportunity to bring down our days. And let me step back and just – we ended fiscal 22 at 100 days of net cash cycle days, and our goal is to finish fiscal €˜23 down five to 10 days from that. So, even though Q2 is forecasted to be higher, we expect reductions in the back half of this year. It’ll come mainly from inventory reductions.

I think inventory could come down 10 to 15 days from where we ended fiscal €˜22. But it’s important to keep in mind, some of that inventory we’re liquidating, there’s cash deposits associated with that inventory, that those deposits will be returned. So, again, net-net, I think we can reduce our cash cycle five to 10 days from the fiscal €˜22 level of 100 days. By doing that, we’ll see free cash flow generation in the second half of the year and approaching that $50 million of free cash flow. The last thing I’d say is, Oliver is working with our regions and the supply chain teams on a number of initiatives, which he can touch on, but it revolves around aged inventory, demand signals from customers, and obviously trying to secure those golden screws from our suppliers.

So, there can be a lot of variability with mix and demand that could change our projections, but that’s what we’re forecasting at this point. Oliver, anything you want to add?

Oliver Mihm: Yes, I’ll add one thing there just to note that I think we previously talked about our variable incentive compensation program, and that has a 20% component that is aligned to essentially a management objective. And so, for that population of individuals, a significant portion of that population, either a significant piece of, or all of that 20%, has been aligned to inventory reduction targets through the fiscal year.

Matt Sheerin: Okay, great. Very helpful. Thank you.

Operator: Our next question comes from Paul Chung with JPMorgan. Your line is now open.

Paul Chung: Hi. Thanks for taking my question. So, just on Warehouse and factory automation, can you speak to kind specific products you’re seeing demand strength? How’s the firm positioned kind of versus competitors in the market? And are you seeing any pauses in demand from – after strong investments by end customers over the past couple of years?

Steve Frisch: This is Steve. I’ll take that one. I wouldn’t say we’re seeing any significant changes, positive or negative, with the ramp of the factory automation products. Obviously, we see a few ebbs and flows with specific customers as they get new orders and do new installs. And so, I guess from my perspective, we have several programs we talked about ramping. They continue to ramp, and we always anticipated and knew that some of these would be a bit bumpy as they get orders for new installs. So, I wouldn’t say there’s any specific trend that I could highlight, positive or negative, with that area.