Janus International Group, Inc. (NYSE:JBI) Q3 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

Anselm Wong: Yeah. I think, Dan, what I’d add is that, as you know, in our new construction business, it’s nine to 12 months for any project to get through that backlog. So, there’s obviously some timing in terms of what some people might say what’s happening there. But as a reminder, I think if we look at our REITs and our institutional customers, they’re well-capitalized or well-funded. And even our regular customer set, if they take advantage of our Nokē solution, they have an upper advantage in terms of ROI, because it helps them improve their running costs. So, I think there’s a blend of both that is still happening and keeping the industry strong for us.

Daniel Moore: Very helpful. And then, Nokē, obviously, it was great to see the one large customer accelerate, the Screen rollout. What are you seeing in — obviously, it’s a crystal ball question, but might we see a little bit more of a snowball effect with the larger folks maybe pushing one another on conversions? Are you seeing any increased dialogues from others as a result of that one or two?

Anselm Wong: Great question. I think what you’re seeing a lot is Nokē coming up even more or so, because there’s a big pressure on what do you do with costs? Our customers, obviously, labor costs is their number one, number two cost in any one of their facilities, and a lot of them are looking at solutions that will help them reduce that cost. And obviously, as you said in the past, Nokē is that one solution that really helps them reduce the need for the amount of labor in their site. So, a lot of discussion on that. And I think there’s — what I would tell you, in this past, even more discussion about, hey, how do we leverage that solution to actually get those savings.

Daniel Moore: All right. Last one, I’ll jump out. But obviously, with the work on the leverage and the cash generation, you’re in a lot more position of strength and flexibility. I appreciate the color on M&A. Anything else from a capital allocation perspective? Given the valuation of your own shares, is that something you might consider in a significant way as well?

Anselm Wong: I think everything is on the table like we’ve always said. I think I want to restress, M&A is a priority for us. I think, like we said earlier, deals are starting to come with a bit more realistic expectations on pricings. So hopefully, we’ll see some more come down through the pipeline that we have. And hopefully, we can actually execute. It’s one of those things where we know that we do a great job of executing once we find the right target. So hopefully, that will happen.

Daniel Moore: Okay. I’ll jump back if there are any follow-ups. Thanks again.

Anselm Wong: Thanks, Dan.

Ramey Jackson: Thank, Dan.

Operator: Next question, Jeff Hammond with KeyBanc Capital Markets. Please go ahead.

David Tarantino: Hey, good morning, everyone. This is David Tarantino on for Jeff.

Anselm Wong: Hey, David.

Ramey Jackson: Hey, David.

David Tarantino: Maybe on — I’ll start on the margins. It looks like the guidance applies a little bit of step back in 4Q, and it sounds like there was some unusually strong mix in self-storage. Is it this kind of just implying this rolls off into 4Q? And then, maybe on that, can you maybe talk about the sustainability of kind of these gross margin levels in particular going into next year?

Anselm Wong: Yeah, great question. I think there’s a small roll off. We had said that prior quarter, we had very favorable mix. We saw, still seeing some of that favorable mix, and like you said, between higher self-storage growth there. I think for a long-term sustainability, one of the things we’ve already said is that we’re always looking at productivity, constantly opportunities, and they are still there. Our two factories that we’re working on putting in place are not up yet. And once those two go up, we’ll get further productivity. So, I think there’s definitely more sustained productivity to help continue margin improvement.