Clearfield, Inc. (NASDAQ:CLFD) Q4 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

Cheri Beranek: I think BEAD is going to be behind the seasonality because we’re – I think we’ll start to see engineering companies get their money, but like I talked about in regard to the shovel ready initiatives, at best case we’re six months behind engineering for shovel ready. And the engineering dollars will start next summer. So it’ll be a seasonal warming for us. And then the BEAD numbers should come behind that and help us then over the course of the winter. As a result, I think the recovery is going to be messy. And messy not in a bad way, just in a way in which it’s going to be difficult to probably see some of the leading indicators from the generalized marketplace because you’re going to have so many competing data points on it. But the recovery will absolutely come into play. It’s just a matter of timing.

Tim Savageaux: Got it. Thanks very much.

Operator: Thank you. I will now turn the call over to Cheri for closing comments.

Cheri Beranek: Thank you for the opportunity to speak with you today. This is an amazing time in the marketplace. As I talked about earlier, the pendulum swing from demand that appeared insatiable to demand today, which is much more measured and unpredictable. But Clearfield over the last 15 years has been, I think a leader in execution. This is a company that is pragmatic, prudent, and strategic in our outlook and we could not be more disciplined to what we are looking to make happen. As we outlined in the materials, there is more market in front of us than we have behind us. And more importantly, the market that is in front of us is our market, the rural market, the underserved market, and the place in which Clearfield was designed and built to fulfill. And so we are patient, but we are also in a standpoint of being tenacious. And we look forward to delivering shareholder value in the future.

Operator: This concludes today’s teleconference. You may disconnect your lines at this time, and thank you for your participation.