LSI Industries Inc. (NASDAQ:LYTS) Q4 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

Jim Galeese: George, the secular trends in some of our key verticals remain very sound. If you look at fueling c-store, grocery, QSR, the level of inquiry we continue to receive with respect to branding, refresh, strengthening image remains extremely healthy. And that’s driven by two things. We continue to look for more energy-efficient solutions with consideration of environmental factors, that’s where our R-290 plays into, but also the customer experience as things are their competitive environment and so forth. So, these are sectors that have been performing very well. They have done very well financially, and so they continue to invest. So, we see some of these secular trends in some – in our key verticals remaining pretty healthy as to Jim’s point, then it just comes down to timing.

George Gianarikas: Alright. So, no cancellations, just timing issues, so to speak.

Jim Clark: Yes. And like I have said, that kind of popped up in the spring and it hasn’t lengthened anymore, but it’s at an extended level right now because we track this, right. We look – and it’s not perfect science or anything, but we have an expectation from initial inquiry to project development to final spec to order – to actual order and then obviously through manufacturing and delivery. And we have just seen – and to be honest, too, I want to be candid here. It’s not just an extension. It’s kind of a little bit of an accordion. It’s extended. We are in an extended phase and then things can compress on us, so.

George Gianarikas: Alright. And how is the permitting environment, you had expressed some issues with that, I think maybe last quarter, a quarter before that, are you getting permits on time?

Jim Clark: Yes. I think that, that has wholly stabilized. We are still at a very extended permitting time in Mexico. But that’s just may be the new norm for years or months. But it’s just – now it’s just the new norm down there. But domestically, the states in Canada that has stabilized. And yes, it’s less of an issue right now.

George Gianarikas: You gave some kind of qualitative guidance around fiscal ‘24, you discussed the previous question. I am curious as to whether you can help us bridge ‘23 to ‘28. We should – do you think ‘24 will be a growth year?

Jim Clark: I think we are one month into the year right now. So, it’s – I don’t know – we have some limited visibility, but it is premature for me to kind of guess on ‘24 or forecast on ‘24. I will say that I expect that I can tell you in lighting, I think that the signs remain positive within that limited window that we have, let’s say, a two-month window or such, I think that more timing related in the display side. And that has to do with construction schedules and that lengthening timing we talked about from quote to actual order. So, I don’t see any concern about our ability to continue to grow. I do see that timing-related issues could be off 30 days, 60 days. And what I worry about in the public market side is that something that pushes one quarter that will pick up in the next quarter is overreacted at any given time.

So, that’s done of the reasons why we kind of mentioned it. But I don’t see anything – I don’t see anything that’s going to keep us – take us too far off track of where we are going.

Jim Galeese: We feel confident, we will continue to outperform the market, right. So, to Jim’s point, wherever the market may end up being. And we also feel solid about maintaining the quality of our earnings as well.