Integer Holdings Corporation (NYSE:ITGR) Q4 2022 Earnings Call Transcript

Joe Dziedzic: Sure. Great question. We tried to convey that we expect the first quarter to sales compared to fourth quarter deck to first quarter, we expect a little bit of a step down in the first quarter in sales. We highlighted that on our financial outlook. I think it was Slide number 12, I think, where with the second half of last year was €“ 2022 was about 358 million. That’s really what we expect to be in that range when we look at the first quarter of 2023 because the fourth quarter did have some sales in it that really we ideally would have shipped in the third quarter had we not had some of the supply chain issues. So, we would expect first quarter 2023 to look a bit more like the second half average of 2022 and then go from there.

Now that’s going to be a really strong year-over-year, first quarter 2023 to first quarter 2022, a really strong year-over-year growth rate, remembering what happened in the first quarter of 2022, the world, particularly the U.S. and Europe and Asia had a spike in COVID absenteeism. In January that impacted our sales a bit in the first quarter. So, I would expect a very strong year-over-year first quarter, but the nominal sales will look a bit like the second half of 2022. And then we would expect to build off of that nominal level of sales in the second, third and fourth quarter. And then you would expect margin rates to mirror that growth profile. So, the first quarter margin rate will probably be a little lower because the sales are a little lower, volume is a little lower and then picking up as the year progresses.

Jason Garland: And just for clarity, Joe is referencing Slide 27. Sorry.

Matthew Mishan: Okay. And then going back to margins, and I appreciate Jason’s commentary around like waiting for the supply chain to fully normalize and productivity to be better in the plans. But when you think about where you guys were in kind of 2019 and kind of where you are expecting 2023 to start off. And I mean should we be thinking about this as like a new base of margin where you get 2x sales growth from here? Or do you think you have an ability to recapture some of the lost margin from 2019 versus where you are today at a more accelerated pace as things get a little bit better?

Joe Dziedzic: Yes. Great question, Matt. I think you’ve heard from most of our customers, as they talk about what 2023 outlook looks like, if you point all the way back to pre-COVID 2019. I think you’ve heard everybody say there’s order of magnitude about a 300-plus basis point delta that will take some time to fully get back to that. I think one of our largest customers said don’t expect it anytime soon. I’m paraphrasing, but I think that was a clear message. On their last earnings call, I think you have to consider those supply disruption that everyone’s been through and the material inflation of the labor environment where wages have gone up and there has been inefficiencies created by the environment of the past three years.

Without a doubt, we are confident we can expand margins going forward in this environment, which is still a challenging supply chain environment. It’s definitely better than it was, but recognizing it was an incredibly challenging supply chain environment. It’s improving, but it remains challenging. And so, we’re confident we can expand margins in 2023. And as the macro environment for labor and supply chain continue to improve and stabilize, we believe we can continue to expand margins. So, without putting a time frame on getting back to 2019 margins as we continuously expand margins, we believe we will get back there. I can’t put a time frame on it because the labor environment and the supply chain environment matter with respect to getting back to those levels of efficiency.