Valmont Industries, Inc. (NYSE:VMI) Q4 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

Avner Applbaum: Yes. Thanks Nathan, and that it’s very critical for us. What we’ve done with this org design really helps our organization to be more agile, we can make quicker decisions. We can move quickly. We have better access to data. We were quicker than the market. We have better visibility into the market. And we’re able to work in this organization with better transparency, and better collaboration will help us drive innovation. So overall, we have an organization now that it’s structured, so we can capitalize on these market trends and keep driving innovation and drive strong returns. So we are already seeing some of that impacts on our business and excited about our ability to move forward and capitalize on these strong markets.

Nathan Jones: Okay, thanks for taking my questions. I’ll pass it on.

Operator: Thank you. [Operator Instructions]. Our next question comes from the line of Chris Moore with CJS Securities. Please proceed with your question.

Chris Moore: Hey, good morning, guys. Thanks for taking a couple. Maybe I’ll start with the long-term financial targets. Obviously, they don’t include 2024. Do they begin in 2025? Or is that a function of some recovery in markets like ag and telecom?

Avner Applbaum: Yes. So when we look at our overall long-term targets, what we’ve done here, we’ve taken a more flexible long-term approach, to our whole commitment of driving sustainable, profitable growth and value creation. So we’re really not looking specifically at a beginning or an end point. It’s to account for cyclicality of these businesses. It aligns well with the industry practices. So we’re looking at – through the cycle, is how we’re looking at it. It allows us – gives us the ability to keep on investing, innovating, not even for the short term, but beyond five years. So overall, I wouldn’t look at it as a specific time horizon. It’s through this cycle. And our overall goal is to continue to drive sustainable profitable growth, create shareholder value, and we will provide periodic updates on how we’re doing on our strategy and how we’re responding to the market dynamics.

Chris Moore: Got it. Appreciate it. The only metric I don’t see from last May is the 12% to 15% EPS growth, is that correct?

Avner Applbaum: Yes. We’ve not provided an EPS guidance. I mean we’re, of course, expecting earnings to increase. However, since there are so many elements of EPS that are tied to overall your capital allocation, our capital allocation strategy, such as share buyback, dividends, acquisitions were not included, we felt that it would not provide any – would not provide any benefits or providing an EPS guidance at this time.

Chris Moore: Got it. And maybe just a last one for me with – on the ag side, you had talked about, I think parts as a percentage of revenue last year was, I think, 18%. The goal was 27% roughly in 2027. Is that still a goal moving forward?

Avner Applbaum: Yes. So overall, what we’re looking at is, we are growing our overall agriculture business and focusing on growing our part sales, right? The way we’re looking at it overall in the Agriculture segment, we’re going to grow above the market, above mid-single digit with the overall focus on how do we help our growers provide them with solution as it relates to our products offering and solutions, including all the aspects. And it is an important part of our business. It does have better-than-average margin. But overall, we’re looking at the whole irrigation in agriculture as a whole.

Chris Moore: Got it. I appreciate Avner. I’ll leave it there.

Operator: Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Brian Wright with ROTH Capital Partners. Please proceed with your question.

Brian Wright: Thanks. Good morning. I just wanted to follow up on the Slide 18 in your prior comments about not including capital allocation and the long-term financial targets. I understand that gives you a lot of flexibility. But just wanted to kind of think just big picture, how you think about kind of rank ordering share buybacks, dividends, acquisitions and how you – what your relative hurdle rates for each of those capital allocation decisions?

Avner Applbaum: Yes. So overall, when we provided our long-term goals, we expect to generate strong cash flows, which we’ll use for our capital allocation, and we specifically look at our long-term targets as organic and areas like acquisitions and share market are not included. But when I look at our capital allocation priorities, number one is, we invest in ourselves. It is CapEx. We know our business, the best those organic opportunities we have today are significant. When you kind of look at those market drivers the energy transition, the aging infrastructure, technology, data and consumption around the infrastructure and agriculture around food security, population growth sustainability. There is a lot of opportunity for us to invest in our own – in ourselves, in our own footprint and in our own innovation.