Veralto Corporation (NYSE:VLTO) Q1 2024 Earnings Call Transcript

That’s going to really reflected in Q1. And the question that Scott and Deane had us over the gross margin side. We saw a big uplift from that side as well. I think really, going forward, having the operating discipline, making sure we are doing less of the smart buy I would say, inflationary pressures are there. We are managing, managing them really well but it’s also about the operating discipline to make sure we are minimizing any smart [ph] which can really have a big impact on the market side. So I would say pricing. We’re doing the value in used pricing and it’s showing up in the market side for the price side, there’s a lot of discipline that all starts all the way from operating discipline.

Andrew Krill: And then for a follow-up on free cash flow conversion, it’s nice to see the conversion boosted for the year from 100% to 110%. Just any more insight into like what changed to give you cost through 1 quarter? And looking ahead, should we be maybe thinking of like 100% conversion as lower like legacy Danaher was very consistently over 100.

Sameer Ralhan: Yes. Andrew, if you look at free cash flow conversion, right, just as a reminder, we do give the conversion on the basis of the GAAP metrics, right, not on any adjusted metrics. So essentially, when you look at that, just add the amortization and the share compensation or the stock-based compensation, I think based on all that stuff, we should be a little bit on the 100, a little over 100% but really going towards 100% to 110% range this quarter for the full year for us. That guidance is really driven by getting more conviction on the margin side. As Jennifer mentioned, our margin will be towards the high end on the 50 to 75 basis points that kind of flows down that gave us a more conviction. And also, there’s a noncash charge in there as well, right, this quarter that’s flowing to the GAAP net income which is tied to the sole divestiture [ph]. So that’s kind of just from a math perspective and adds cash flow conversion as well.

Operator: And we’ll take our next question from Nathan Jones with Stifel.

Nathan Jones: I’m going to follow up on Deane’s [ph] question on distribution but I’m going to come at it from the PQI side because I would have thought there might actually be some more opportunities to leverage the distribution model and maybe reduce the cost to serve on the PQI side than on the water side, potentially maybe in lasers where there’s not the same kind of consumable revenue or some of the smaller customers that maybe don’t need that super high level of service from you guys. So any commentary you could make on maybe the potential from that side of the business to leverage distribution a bit more?

Jennifer Honeycutt: Yes. I mean I think it’s probably the same answer as for water. I mean we do have distribution and we do consider use of distribution depending upon where we’re selling in the world and what types of products are in the portfolio. This is something that we always consider in terms of when we when we decide to make investments and which product lines actually require a more significant level of applications, knowledge and insight. But I will tell you that like in water, there are pretty significant insights to be gained from understanding customer problems in a direct way for any kind of customer who’s on the packaging and color side or on the marking and coding side. And it actually spurs a great deal of our innovation.

You will recall from our fourth quarter call that Videojet launched 7 new products last year; they additionally launched another 2 in the first quarter and these are on the back of innovations for direct to customer feedback. So I continue to be a little bit biased here towards our direct model because I do think it creates a customer intimacy required to have those untapped insights relative to some of the problems that they face. But we do use distribution and we selectively consider that in the course of every strategic planning cycle.

Nathan Jones: I wanted to ask a follow-up on recycling reuse in industrial markets which is a market, I think, has significant growth potential over the next 5, 10, 20 years and would certainly be a market that’s right in the bull’s eye for a lot of your water quality business. So maybe some commentary on trends in industrial recycle and reuse markets, what you’re seeing going on there and what the opportunities are for Veralto to play in those markets?

Jennifer Honeycutt: This is a great question and absolutely. We see a great deal of activity, interest and growth potential in both recycle and reuse. And it’s one that is pan-operating company, I would say, across our water quality businesses. So the intersection of ChemTreat, Trojan and Hach can all play in that space. And in fact, do have conversations amongst themselves and amongst the sales folks in the field relative to solving those kinds of applications. But increasingly, by virtue of the importance of ESG amongst our customers. We do have them coming to us saying, “Look, my company has just said, I’ve got to use 25% less water and of the water that’s not used in the process. They’ve got to recycle 50% of it, right? So can you help me with both reduction and recycling. And those are great — those are sweet spots for us. We’ve got a great product portfolio that can be deployed to these applications. And so we continue to be excited about the space.

Operator: And we’ll take our next question from Andrew Buscaglia with BNP Paribas.