NYSE:CXT Crane NXT Q3 2023 Earnings Report $44.65 +0.45 (+1.01%) Closing price 04/17/2025 03:59 PM EasternExtended Trading$44.66 +0.01 (+0.03%) As of 04/17/2025 04:07 PM Eastern Extended trading is trading that happens on electronic markets outside of regular trading hours. This is a fair market value extended hours price provided by Polygon.io. Learn more. Earnings HistoryForecast Crane NXT EPS ResultsActual EPS$1.09Consensus EPS $1.03Beat/MissBeat by +$0.06One Year Ago EPSN/ACrane NXT Revenue ResultsActual Revenue$352.90 millionExpected Revenue$355.10 millionBeat/MissMissed by -$2.20 millionYoY Revenue GrowthN/ACrane NXT Announcement DetailsQuarterQ3 2023Date11/6/2023TimeN/AConference Call DateTuesday, November 7, 2023Conference Call Time10:00AM ETUpcoming EarningsCrane NXT's Q1 2025 earnings is scheduled for Wednesday, May 7, 2025, with a conference call scheduled on Thursday, May 8, 2025 at 10:00 AM ET. Check back for transcripts, audio, and key financial metrics as they become available.Conference Call ResourcesConference Call AudioConference Call TranscriptSlide DeckPress Release (8-K)Earnings HistoryCompany ProfileSlide DeckFull Screen Slide DeckPowered by Crane NXT Q3 2023 Earnings Call TranscriptProvided by QuartrNovember 7, 2023 ShareLink copied to clipboard.There are 8 speakers on the call. Operator00:00:00Greetings and welcome to the Crane NXT Third Quarter 2023 Earnings Call. At this time, all participants are in a listen only mode. A question and answer session will follow the formal presentation. As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. It is now my pleasure to introduce your host, Reema Hyder, Vice President of Investor Relations. Operator00:00:28Thank you. You may begin. Speaker 100:00:30Thank you, operator, and good morning, everyone. I am Reema Hyder, Vice President of Investor Relations, Speaker 200:00:37And I Speaker 100:00:37want to welcome all of you to the Q3 2023 Earnings Call for Crane NXT. Before we begin, the slides we will reference During this presentation, it can be accessed via the Investor Relations section of our website at cranenxt.com. A replay of today's call will also be available on our website. After our prepared remarks, we will open the call to analysts for questions. Additionally, we refer you to the cautionary language at the bottom of our earnings release and also in our Forms 10 ks and 10 Q filings pertaining to forward looking statements. Speaker 100:01:25During the call, we will also We'll be using some non GAAP numbers, which are reconciled to the comparable GAAP numbers in tables at the end of our press release and accompanying slide presentation, both of which are available on our website at cranenxd.com in the Investor Relations section. On our call this morning, we have Aaron Saic, our President and Chief Executive Officer and Cristina Cristiano, our Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Now, let me turn the call over to Aaron. Speaker 300:01:58Thank you, Rima, and good morning to everyone. Yesterday, we reported our Q3 financial results, our 2nd quarter since separation to launch Crane NXT. And I'd like to take a moment to thank all of our associates for their efforts to deliver a strong quarter, driving growth, operational excellence and strong free cash flow generation. You can see the highlights of our Q3 performance on Slide 3. We delivered $353,000,000 in sales with 4% core sales growth, adjusted EPS of 1.09 along with lower corporate costs. Speaker 300:02:45Margin performance was also very strong overall with an adjusted EBITDA margin of over 29% And an adjusted operating margin of 26%, which was approximately 10 basis points higher than prior year. Additionally, adjusted free cash flow was $98,000,000 which supported an additional $125,000,000 pay down in our term loan. Our net leverage ratio is now at 1.3 times giving us substantial financial flexibility for M and A. The strength of our year to date performance gives us confidence to raise the low end of our full year adjusted EPS guidance To a new narrowed range of $4 to $4.15 This narrowed range reflects the strength in the international currency market Where we continue to gain share. At CPI, as we noted last quarter, we continue to see customers adjusting their inventories To reflect reduced lead times resulting in lower orders versus prior year. Speaker 300:03:49As a result, we're continuing to assess demand and adjusting our inventory levels accordingly. Overall, we're on track to deliver the $1,400,000,000 in sales this year that we spoke about earlier With adjusted operating margins above 27% and free cash flow conversion of approximately 100%. So I'm now going to hand the call over to Kristina to walk us through more of the details on our financials. Kristina? Speaker 400:04:17Thank you, Aaron. I would again like to thank our Global Crane NXT Associates for their continued focus and discipline to drive results. We appreciate your hard work. As Aaron mentioned and as summarized on Slide 4, we had a strong quarter with core sales growth of 4%, adjusted operating margin of 20 percent and adjusted EPS of $1.09 We also continue to see strong free cash flow generation and are on track to achieve approximately 100 percent adjusted free cash flow conversion for the full year. Overall, we are pleased with the results this quarter And the continued disciplined operating execution by both segments. Speaker 400:04:57Moving to Slide 5. Crane Payment Innovations reported flat core sales. As we discussed last quarter, continued improvement in our supply chain enabled us to ship more orders out of backlog in Q2 and that impacted Q3 sales. Despite flat core sales, adjusted segment operating margins increased 190 basis points to 29.4% as compared to last year, reflecting strong pricing, productivity and cost savings actions, partially offset by unfavorable product mix. From a market perspective, we are gaining share in our services business with new wins in the quarter in the retail and financial services end markets. Speaker 400:05:38We continue to see solid growth opportunities in services, which drives increased recurring revenue and high share of wallet at key customers. Looking forward, we are seeing softness in new orders across some of CPI's end markets, most pronounced in retail and gaming, as customers continue to adjust their inventory from COVID related supply chain issues. We expect this dynamic to continue over the next several months Until our backlog normalizes to pre pandemic levels. We believe this normalization will occur in the Q2 of 2024. Given this dynamic, we expect sales to decline year over year for CPI in Q4, and we now expect CPI sales to be flat to slightly up for the full year. Speaker 400:06:22With our strong pricing execution and focus on productivity, we expect segment operating profit margin to be in line with our prior guidance. Moving to Crane Currency on Slide 6. The quarter was ahead of our expectations with core sales growth of 12% driven by international sales. As we've noted in the past, this business is project based and revenue in any quarter depends on the timing of shipments to Central Banks. Adjusted segment operating margin was very strong at 28%, but down from the prior year due to unfavorable product mix Related to orders from the U. Speaker 400:06:56S. Government. As we discussed last quarter, we continue to see a greater mix of orders for lower denomination banknotes, which come at a lower margin. We expect this trend to continue for the balance of 2023. In the international market, we continue to win new orders, increasing our backlog 80% from the prior year. Speaker 400:07:17One of the drivers for the strength in international sales is our continued focus to be the technology leader in the market. Specifically, we continue to see growing customer interest in our new Rapid Vision technology, which was launched in Q2 and has already been selected for several new denominations. As a reminder, Rapid Vision is the world's 1st multicolor micro optics security feature. With its eye catching high contrast It is easily authenticated, and its uniquely secure infrared technology facilitates highly secure machine readability. Moving on to our balance sheet. Speaker 400:07:53Our adjusted free cash flow was $98,000,000 in the quarter, providing further confidence in achieving an adjusted free cash flow conversion ratio 100% this year. Given our strong free cash flow, we repaid another $125,000,000 of our term loan during the Q3, Reducing net debt to adjusted EBITDA to approximately 1.3x. We have approximately $1,000,000,000 in M and A capacity and substantial flexibility to deploy capital toward M and A. Moving to full year guidance, as Aaron mentioned, We are narrowing our adjusted EPS guidance to a range of $4 to $4.15 We believe core sales growth will be between 3% to 5% based on the strength of the currency business offset by softness in CPI, as I mentioned earlier. Additionally, we now expect Non operating expenses will be approximately $45,000,000 updated from our previous guidance of approximately $50,000,000 This decrease is driven by lower interest costs due to the pay down of debt. Speaker 400:08:57All other metrics to which we previously guided for the Full year of 2023 remain unchanged. Overall, our year to date performance continues to support the investment thesis for Crane NXT As a premier industrial technology company with mid single digit growth, strong operating margin and 100% adjusted free cash flow conversion. Let me now hand it back to Aaron for a few closing comments. Speaker 300:09:22All right. Thanks, Christina, and thanks again to everyone who's joining us this morning In summary, we had another strong quarter where we continue to demonstrate core sales growth, Excellence in operational execution and strong free cash flow generation. We raised the low end of our adjusted EPS guidance and believe we are well positioned to achieve our full year results within the guidance range. Additionally, the strength of our balance sheet and our low leverage provides us with the opportunity To create further value for our shareholders through disciplined M and A diversifying the portfolio. As we think about this diversification, I want to reinforce that we've launched the company from a very strong position. Speaker 300:10:06As shown on Slide 10, NXT is an industry leader providing trusted technology solutions to secure, detect and authenticate what matters most to our customers. We have 2 market leading businesses Crane Currency, which provides proprietary technology to secure currency and other high value physical products And CPI, which offers detection equipment and systems, aftermarket services, all focused on detecting and authenticating payment transactions. As I mentioned earlier, we are on track to deliver approximately $1,400,000,000 in sales this year with adjusted operating margins above 27% and free cash flow conversion of approximately 100%. Given our strong free cash flow conversion, Our capital allocation strategy is first to continue to invest and grow the core business, improving operational performance By utilizing the Crane Business System or CBS. The second priority is to pay a competitive dividend. Speaker 300:11:09And finally, we'll continue to deploy capital to M and A following the same playbook that built NXT, targeting adjacent, Resilient and higher growth end markets. As we continue to execute this strategy, over time it will position NXT As a strong compounder creating significant shareholder value. As part of the value creation strategy, We've set very clear goals for the business over the next 5 years. As shown on Slide 11, building off our strong foundation, We plan to grow the business to $3,000,000,000 in revenue and grow core revenue at mid single digit plus. We will maintain adjusted EBITDA margins in the high 20% range along with strong free cash flow conversion of approximately 100%. Speaker 300:11:58Our performance in the 3rd quarter is another important step in our journey as a new company and it gives us confidence in achieving these longer term objectives. Again, I'd like to say thank you to the entire NXT team for their dedication in delivering a strong Q3. Also, thank you to everyone who took their time today to join us on this call. So with that, operator, we're now ready to take our first question. Operator00:12:24Thank you. We will now be conducting a question and answer session. Our first questions come from the line of Ian Zaffino with Oppenheimer. Please proceed with your questions. Speaker 200:13:07Hi, great. Thank you very much. Good morning, Ian. Speaker 300:13:11Just wanted Speaker 200:13:12to ask How are you? Speaker 300:13:14Hey, good, Ian. Good to hear your voice. Speaker 200:13:17Good, good, good. I wanted to ask you on the backlog. Maybe you could talk about what the mix is Of the backlog, by vertical, if you could, have a lot of change from, let's say, the past quarter or so? And then also help us understand that the destocking, what your thoughts are as far as end market destocking And the backlog and how that's going to help you basically mitigate sort of destocking at the customer end? Thanks. Speaker 300:13:50Yes. Sure. No. Hey, thanks for the question, Ian. So just zooming out, I assume your questions both in total, but probably more specific there To CPI, again, currency backlog, as we've said, is fantastic, up close to 80% year over year and feel very good about that. Speaker 300:14:10When you look at CPI and break that down by vertical, really our comments there and how we're thinking about that are primarily around the Gaming segment, when you think about where we're at today in the backlog, we're probably at about 2 times the normal backlog level. And when we look at our run rate to burn that down over the next several months, that's what gets us into 2Q of next year. So these are orders that were placed due to the long lead times that go back to the really middle part of COVID and have extended as Supply chain continue to normalize over the last several months. So really this is primarily a gaming Discussion and we have very good line of sight to the shipment now of that backlog to customers who still need those products and we expect that occur kind of within what we've expected now for the last quarter or so to burn that down over the coming months. When you look at the other verticals, the backlogs are basically expectation kind of where we would expect them to be under normal conditions that feels in line with what we would look at. Speaker 300:15:23And As we said in our prepared remarks, Christina mentioned, services continues to be a bright spot and a strength, and we feel very good about that. So really in essence, it's about this burn down of the gaming backlog. Hope that helps, Ian. Speaker 200:15:39No, that's Great. And then also on the M and A side, I know that's an integral part of the story here. How are we thinking about this as maybe timing or what does the environment look like or multiples, because we're kind of expecting Yes. You guys could do something, I don't know, relatively soon. Thanks. Speaker 300:16:01Yes. I would maybe just to take the last part of your I would say we're very much on track to do what we laid out at our Investor Day, Which was to take the 1st several quarters post launch and operate the company very well and Continue to focus on operational excellence in our core businesses. That's the first pillar of our strategy. And I think that's what we're doing here again in Q3. So that I think as I mentioned in our Q2 earnings call, We're really looking at the 1st part of 'twenty four and the middle part of 'twenty four for the first type of M and A window to be where we would like it If all things equal, and I think we're on track for that. Speaker 300:16:50We feel good about the health of the funnel. We feel Obviously, very good about our balance sheet with the $125,000,000 pay down this quarter, which was just due to our strong free cash flow. So Operator00:17:17Our next questions Speaker 500:17:26Jim, so just going back to CPI, if we can kind of parse this out a little bit, how much of Are you actually seeing a demand issue or is this really just supply chain, inventory And backlogs are all going through this normalization process. And if you could speak to the 4 main end market verticals From a demand standpoint, that would be helpful. Speaker 300:17:53Sure thing, Matt. And good morning. Thanks for the question. Yes, let me start and I'll go through each vertical So I would just put vending and financial services together and say they're performing as expected. I don't think that's the same dynamic that we're seeing in gaming and retail. Speaker 300:18:13And that was similar to my comments To Ian's question earlier. So again, I would pull those to the side and say again, we feel very good about how those end markets are performing both within the quarter and the outlook that we have for the rest of the year. I think gaming is very unique, in that it is really about the burn down of the backlog. When we zoom out and look at those end markets, I think we're as confident as ever that they're performing very well. You see that in the end customers. Speaker 300:18:47You see And how our channel partners are performing and also our relative market share in that market continues to be very strong. So again, gaming At a high level, I think again is a very strong vertical for us and we're just working through the backlog Position that was built up again expecting that to burn down over the next 2.5 quarters, as I said in the earlier remarks. Not as much around order intake and kind of end market demand. So again, unique situation in gaming. Then when you go to retail, I think that's a combination, a little more complicated with 3 different factors. Speaker 300:19:281 is inventory restocking. That's present In retail, again, where the channel is at a higher level of inventory than they would have been ex COVID. We've seen some project push outs that probably speak just to demand at the end With the customer inside the channel. And then of course, I think as you know very well, Matt, we also have 2 of our bigger customers Going through their own changes over the last several months with an intense focus on cash management for them. So I think all three of those Together, in different proportions are what's driving that softness in retail. Speaker 300:20:11And we're going to continue to assess that obviously in Q4. When you zoom out though and we talk about the tailwinds of the markets, those are unchanged. Automation, Labor scarcity, those continue unabated. We think that positions the retail market long term For continued growth, and we just have these combination of factors here that we're assessing, Obviously, both in Q3 and Q4 as we look ahead. Hopefully that helps, Matt. Speaker 500:20:46Yes, that does. And then maybe over to currency. Aaron, what are your takeaways from the Fed's latest print order for calendar 2024 Versus trends you may have observed over the course of 2023. And to that point, does it make a difference that they're now issuing this based on A calendar year versus the government fiscal year, does that skew any sort of seasonality you may have had in that business? Speaker 300:21:14Yes. Let me start with your first question, just our expectations. Being very close here with BEP and the Fed In our working relationship and with the planning for the Catalyst series, I would say very much met our expectations Is the bottom line, Matt. If anything, and I think as you saw in the report and in your write up, there's a Viewing here versus the prior year to 10, 20 100, which is obviously a benefit for us just as you look at that increased technology That goes into each of those denominations, so particularly the 100, obviously more so than the others. So on a relative basis, that's positive for us. Speaker 300:21:58The total demand is right at the expectation that we had. And I think it also pointed to the continued work going on with Catalyst, Again, which we feel very good about and the continued timeline that they're executing to go into Move out a pilot into production in 2025 for launch in 2026. So that feels pretty good overall, Matt. Moving from the calendar year or moving from the fiscal year to the calendar year, materially no impact. I think It obviously is helpful just from a planning perspective. Speaker 300:22:35For us, that's how we think about a year. So I would call it an aid in simplification, but not a material change in any part of the business. Thank Operator00:22:52you. Our next questions come from the line of Damian Karas with UBS. Please proceed with your question. Speaker 600:23:04Hi, good morning, everyone. Speaker 300:23:06Good morning, Damian. Speaker 600:23:10So, Christina, you gave updated CPI guidance for the rest of the year, I'm just curious how much of a headwind you're expecting that destocking to be in the first Half of 2024. And then once you do get through that in the second quarter, are you kind of would you expect to sort of revert back To the mid single digit type of growth that you target over the longer term? Speaker 400:23:44Hey, Damian. Good morning. Thanks for calling in. Yes, so just on the we're not giving 2020 Guidance today, we're just rolling up our operating plans now. So we're going to be working on that over the next several weeks and we'll put out 2024 guidance In early February with our year end earnings release. Speaker 400:24:05But overall, as I mentioned, For the rest of this year, we're seeing CPI will be down for as compared to last year. And that's just a continuation of this softness in orders relating to the realignment primarily in gaming as Aaron said And also some project delays in retail. And despite that though, we still are on track with our margins as we Just based on overall pricing and productivity. So, that's really what we're saying now for the rest of this year And more to come on next year as we roll up the operating plan. Speaker 300:24:45Okay, understood. And Speaker 600:24:54A few examples that you might be able to provide of the type of projects, the type of business that you're driving. I'm curious, are there any new micro optics customers? Is this more redesigns or just kind of an uptick in production? Really any color that you could provide on that international strength would be appreciated. Speaker 400:25:16Yes, really happy to do that. There's really great strength in the Orders and in the backlog we're seeing for international right now, which includes winning new denominations internationally And we're feeling really good about that for the rest of this year and also, it sets us up very well for next year. So, it's a combination, as you mentioned, of our technology sales, our overall banknote sales And just winning share. So just feeling really good about the currency business overall. Speaker 600:25:52Okay, Operator00:25:58great. Thank you. Our next questions come The line of Bob Labick with CJS Securities. Please proceed with your questions. Speaker 700:26:06Good morning. Thanks for taking my questions. Speaker 300:26:09Good morning, Bob. Speaker 700:26:11Hi. So I was having some technical difficulty there. I apologize. So if you just answered this, I may have missed it. But I just wanted to Ask about currency, obviously, the really strong backlog. Speaker 700:26:23Looking ahead, how does the pipeline of New bidding opportunity internationally and rebids, look now versus a year ago, And what are the other opportunities there? I guess that's part 1. And then part 2 is, how does Catalyst Series impact 24 Operating profit, if at all, I know it's supposed to come out later, but how does it impact the operations in preparation? Speaker 300:26:52Yes. Thanks, Bob. So I would say if to the first question you asked, if you look out to the next year, The activity and the ability for us to continue to bid both in new denominations that are going through a redesign or With incumbent product and denominations we have is largely the same as we've seen in 2023. So that gives us again the ability to kind of continue our trajectory. And that of course at this point We'll be talking about projects that are really set up for bids in 'twenty four and delivery in 'twenty five. Speaker 300:27:33The strength of our backlog, which we're going to bring into 2024 gives us a lot of confidence for that business for next year. This is really a backlog that's at near all time highs in the international side of the business and in total. So I think that again gives us a very firm foundation operationally for performance in 2024 and the market dynamics to your question Are continuing to favor more technology, more sophisticated anti counter Fitting technology and high quality beautiful designs of currency, all of which play to our strengths. So I think that's a nice tailwind for the market that we continue to believe is going to last not only in 'twenty four but beyond. To your last question on Catalyst or the U. Speaker 300:28:26S. Government series as was mentioned in the recent WICO or the annual currency order report, It remains on track. As they call out in that report, they'll be looking at production in 2025, launch in 2016. So it's really not a material item for us in 2020 Speaker 700:28:45Okay, great. And then just following up on earlier comments on M and A, obviously you mentioned that expectation To get something done potentially in 2024, how has the higher interest rate environment helped or hurt your prospects And kind of what key areas are you looking for M and A targets? Speaker 300:29:05Yes. I would answer the last part of your question first of we're still sticking right on the strategy we've talked about since March of Thematically in areas around secure detect and authenticate technology focused, that really reinforce who we are today, but Give us the option to create new pillars or platforms inside the company for the future. And the funnel List has only grown. It continues to grow and we see more deals coming through every quarter. And again, feel very confident To what I said earlier, to Ian's question around, some action in 2024. Speaker 300:29:48I think the interest rate environment has actually helped us Given we've paid down our debt. And so our strong free cash flow is an enormous advantage for us. The low leverage now sitting at 1.3x gives us the right amount of firepower we need for The first few deals, so I think again that has moved in our favor and we feel very good about it. If anything, Bob, it takes other people out of the option To do M and A that takes a little competition off the table. Operator00:30:24Thank you. Our next questions come from the line of Matt Summerville with D. A. Davidson. Please proceed with your question. Speaker 500:30:31Yes. I want to ask a follow-up on CPI and the retail sort of sluggishness. Is there a way If I point to 3 issues, those being the OEM inventory drawdown that we're obviously aware of. We also Are aware that some deployers out there, so the end users of self checkout are evaluating 3rd party options, Potentially elongating the project timeline. And then you also have the If you had to kind of force rank those insignificance relative to what you're seeing in the business, Aaron, how would you kind of think about that? Speaker 300:31:13Yeah. No, that's a fair follow-up, Matt. I would say that inventory stocking issue, the drawdown, as you said, Matt, on OEMs, that's probably number 1, Right. That's where we understand from our own channel checks and understand in talking to those OEMs The position they're in, so that's number 1. I think the project push outs I would put is number 2 or as you said it, the evaluation Of other options, it doesn't change the end result, Matt, that we're going to go install self checkout systems. Speaker 300:31:47It's just Created this push out by a few months from probably where both ourselves and our partners would have expected Some of those installations to occur. I think those are really the 2 big drivers here. Again, all other things Fall in comparison to those 2. Speaker 500:32:09Okay. And then I recollect The currency division in the Q1 of 'twenty four taking a little more downtime up in Massachusetts for new equipment installation. 1, is that still happening? And is what I said, I guess, accurate? And 2, is there an impact we should think about to the P and L High level, as we try and capture that. Speaker 400:32:36Yes. Hey, Matt, it's Christina. So that is correct. So as we There'll be downtime just to prepare for the new series trials and testing in advance of that production In 2025, as we discussed earlier. And so how you should think about it is that on the U. Speaker 400:32:55S. Side will be Down right in volume and a little bit still in mix right as we saw this year with the lower denomination bills until that starts to kick in and may follow what the new order implied, which is that there'll be a more favorable mix in 2024. So you can expect to see on the U. S. Side down In Q1, which is consistent with what we had this year in Q1. Speaker 400:33:21But this will really be Offset by the strength in international currency, just like we saw this year and based on our backlog and orders, we expect to continue well into next year. Operator00:33:37Thank you. Our next questions come from the line of Damian Karas with UBS. Please proceed with your question. Speaker 600:33:45Hey, everyone. Just a follow-up question here on U. S. Currency. I know you can't get in the weeds You know the nature of that contractual relationship, but could you give us a sense for thinking about $10.20 denominations versus $1.5 denomination Kind of maybe the relative content per bill difference between There's 1s and 5s and the 10s and 20s? Speaker 300:34:21Yes. Damian, happy to answer that in part. As you rightfully said at the beginning, we can't Get in specifically to those details of the contract with the U. S. Government. Speaker 300:34:32The best thing I can point to is What the government publishes and their cost to produce the bills, that's public information that's out there for anyone to look at. Really for us, the key differentiator is more at the $100 bill where our micro optics or the blue strip that we all know adds a lot of Anti counterfeiting technology to that product for the BEP, that's a significant add As you can see visually to the bill, so it's a much bigger differentiator than the lower end or the lower dollar denomination bills. Speaker 200:35:13So I Speaker 300:35:13would kind of think of this as there's really 2 main categories. There's the 100 and there's all other, where you see this delineation. So a little bit less of an impact for us when you get into the differences between a 5 or a 10, As an example. But I think as you look at those public records of how much it costs for each denomination, you can assume that scales Proportionately to the amount of technology that goes into those different denominations. And I think that's why we're excited about the new design in the new series, right? Speaker 300:35:48We're working very closely with the BEP and the Fed. We feel very good about that relationship. And just like the rest of our international business, Every new redesign of the currency, both in the United States and around the world, adds on more technology. And so that's why this new series is so important for us and for Crane Currency as a Significant tailwind to the business really for the next decade. But as I think Bob asked, in 2024, We don't see that as a material item inside the P and L. Speaker 600:36:24Got it. Thanks. That's really helpful, Aaron. And then just a Follow-up question on M and A. You mentioned earlier you'd really expect to execute some deals in 2024. Speaker 600:36:36Can you just clarify, so you're is it you're not actively pursuing any deals at the moment, just kind of keeping an eye on what's out there until you're ready? Or are you actively looking and just don't anything to expect anything to close anytime soon? Speaker 300:36:51Well, I think it's a little bit of a combination of both, Damian, right? If you look at the Of both, Damian, right. If you look at the cycle time for a deal, it's months, it's not days or weeks. So I would say we're very active In reviewing and cultivating deals inside the market, there's some we passed on over the last Several months. And I mentioned that in Q2, I believe, that we've been active and we passed on some. Speaker 300:37:16I think the key to any M and A is it's not about doing the deal, but it's doing it in a very disciplined way that adds value to the portfolio and Ultimately, value to the shareholder. And I think that's hard to disagree with. So from the very beginning, we've set out criteria that started with our market work To go into spaces where we could be good owners of the asset and then had very strict financial considerations around those, both in revenue size, size of the deal itself in terms of enterprise value, and where we could drive synergies. So that's a process I would say we're very actively pursuing. And just based on what I know we're doing and what I see coming to fruition, It gives me confidence that we will be doing something in 2024. Speaker 300:38:06And I think you can take to heart the deals we passed Because we don't think those would have been good deals for our shareholder. And we want to be prudent capital allocators here. And that's our number one priority. Operator00:38:22Thank you. We have reached the end of our question and answer session. I would now like to turn the floor back over to Aaron Sake for closing remarks. Speaker 300:38:31All right. Well, thank you very much. Thank you, operator, for handing it back over. And again, I'd just like to end the call today by thanking all the NXT team For their efforts to produce very strong results in Q3. Earlier this month, we launched our new core values for the company. Speaker 300:38:49And the first one is titled People Matter. And I know we cannot achieve these results without having a dedicated And also thanks to everyone who joined the call today and for your questions. We appreciate those. And so with that, I hope you have a great rest of your morning And we look forward to speaking to you again next quarter. Thank you. Operator00:39:19Thank you. This does conclude today's teleconference. You may disconnect your lines at this time. We appreciate your participation. I hope you enjoy the rest of yourRead morePowered by Conference Call Audio Live Call not available Earnings Conference CallCrane NXT Q3 202300:00 / 00:00Speed:1x1.25x1.5x2x Earnings DocumentsSlide DeckPress Release(8-K) Crane NXT Earnings HeadlinesCrane Stock Price, Quotes and Forecasts | NYSE:CR | BenzingaApril 18 at 3:52 AM | benzinga.comIs Crane NXT, Co. (CXT) The Best Beaten Down Stock to Buy According to Analysts?April 3, 2025 | insidermonkey.comCrypto’s crashing…but we’re still profitingMost traders are panicking right now. Bitcoin’s dropping. Altcoins are bleeding. The stock market’s a mess. The news is screaming fear. But while most traders watch their portfolios tank…April 19, 2025 | Crypto Swap Profits (Ad)3 Reasons to Sell CXT and 1 Stock to Buy InsteadApril 1, 2025 | msn.comCrane NXT Announces Dates for First Quarter 2025 Earnings Release and Earnings CallMarch 26, 2025 | globenewswire.comAre Options Traders Betting on a Big Move in Crane NXT, Co. Stock?March 7, 2025 | msn.comSee More Crane NXT Headlines Get Earnings Announcements in your inboxWant to stay updated on the latest earnings announcements and upcoming reports for companies like Crane NXT? Sign up for Earnings360's daily newsletter to receive timely earnings updates on Crane NXT and other key companies, straight to your email. Email Address About Crane NXTCrane NXT (NYSE:CXT), Co. operates as an industrial technology company that provides technology solutions to secure, detect, and authenticate customers' important assets. The company operates through Crane Payment Innovations and Crane Currency segments. The Crane Payment Innovations segment offers electronic equipment and associated software, as well as advanced automation solutions, processing systems, field service solutions, remote diagnostics, and productivity software solutions. The Crane Currency segment provides advanced security solutions based on proprietary technology for securing physical products, including banknotes, consumer goods, and industrial products. Crane NXT, Co. was incorporated in 2021 and is based in Waltham, Massachusetts.View Crane NXT ProfileRead more More Earnings Resources from MarketBeat Earnings Tools Today's Earnings Tomorrow's Earnings Next Week's Earnings Upcoming Earnings Calls Earnings Newsletter Earnings Call Transcripts Earnings Beats & Misses Corporate Guidance Earnings Screener Earnings By Country U.S. Earnings Reports Canadian Earnings Reports U.K. Earnings Reports Latest Articles Archer Aviation Unveils NYC Network Ahead of Key Earnings Report3 Reasons to Like the Look of Amazon Ahead of EarningsTesla Stock Eyes Breakout With Earnings on DeckJohnson & Johnson Earnings Were More Good Than Bad—Time to Buy? Why Analysts Boosted United Airlines Stock Ahead of EarningsLamb Weston Stock Rises, Earnings Provide Calm Amidst ChaosIntuitive Machines Gains After Earnings Beat, NASA Missions Ahead Upcoming Earnings Tesla (4/22/2025)Intuitive Surgical (4/22/2025)Verizon Communications (4/22/2025)Canadian National Railway (4/22/2025)Novartis (4/22/2025)RTX (4/22/2025)3M (4/22/2025)Capital One Financial (4/22/2025)General Electric (4/22/2025)Danaher (4/22/2025) Get 30 Days of MarketBeat All Access for Free Sign up for MarketBeat All Access to gain access to MarketBeat's full suite of research tools. Start Your 30-Day Trial MarketBeat All Access Features Best-in-Class Portfolio Monitoring Get personalized stock ideas. Compare portfolio to indices. Check stock news, ratings, SEC filings, and more. Stock Ideas and Recommendations See daily stock ideas from top analysts. Receive short-term trading ideas from MarketBeat. Identify trending stocks on social media. Advanced Stock Screeners and Research Tools Use our seven stock screeners to find suitable stocks. Stay informed with MarketBeat's real-time news. Export data to Excel for personal analysis. Sign in to your free account to enjoy these benefits In-depth profiles and analysis for 20,000 public companies. Real-time analyst ratings, insider transactions, earnings data, and more. Our daily ratings and market update email newsletter. Sign in to your free account to enjoy all that MarketBeat has to offer. Sign In Create Account Your Email Address: Email Address Required Your Password: Password Required Log In or Sign in with Facebook Sign in with Google Forgot your password? Your Email Address: Please enter your email address. Please enter a valid email address Choose a Password: Please enter your password. Your password must be at least 8 characters long and contain at least 1 number, 1 letter, and 1 special character. Create My Account (Free) or Sign in with Facebook Sign in with Google By creating a free account, you agree to our terms of service. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
There are 8 speakers on the call. Operator00:00:00Greetings and welcome to the Crane NXT Third Quarter 2023 Earnings Call. At this time, all participants are in a listen only mode. A question and answer session will follow the formal presentation. As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. It is now my pleasure to introduce your host, Reema Hyder, Vice President of Investor Relations. Operator00:00:28Thank you. You may begin. Speaker 100:00:30Thank you, operator, and good morning, everyone. I am Reema Hyder, Vice President of Investor Relations, Speaker 200:00:37And I Speaker 100:00:37want to welcome all of you to the Q3 2023 Earnings Call for Crane NXT. Before we begin, the slides we will reference During this presentation, it can be accessed via the Investor Relations section of our website at cranenxt.com. A replay of today's call will also be available on our website. After our prepared remarks, we will open the call to analysts for questions. Additionally, we refer you to the cautionary language at the bottom of our earnings release and also in our Forms 10 ks and 10 Q filings pertaining to forward looking statements. Speaker 100:01:25During the call, we will also We'll be using some non GAAP numbers, which are reconciled to the comparable GAAP numbers in tables at the end of our press release and accompanying slide presentation, both of which are available on our website at cranenxd.com in the Investor Relations section. On our call this morning, we have Aaron Saic, our President and Chief Executive Officer and Cristina Cristiano, our Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Now, let me turn the call over to Aaron. Speaker 300:01:58Thank you, Rima, and good morning to everyone. Yesterday, we reported our Q3 financial results, our 2nd quarter since separation to launch Crane NXT. And I'd like to take a moment to thank all of our associates for their efforts to deliver a strong quarter, driving growth, operational excellence and strong free cash flow generation. You can see the highlights of our Q3 performance on Slide 3. We delivered $353,000,000 in sales with 4% core sales growth, adjusted EPS of 1.09 along with lower corporate costs. Speaker 300:02:45Margin performance was also very strong overall with an adjusted EBITDA margin of over 29% And an adjusted operating margin of 26%, which was approximately 10 basis points higher than prior year. Additionally, adjusted free cash flow was $98,000,000 which supported an additional $125,000,000 pay down in our term loan. Our net leverage ratio is now at 1.3 times giving us substantial financial flexibility for M and A. The strength of our year to date performance gives us confidence to raise the low end of our full year adjusted EPS guidance To a new narrowed range of $4 to $4.15 This narrowed range reflects the strength in the international currency market Where we continue to gain share. At CPI, as we noted last quarter, we continue to see customers adjusting their inventories To reflect reduced lead times resulting in lower orders versus prior year. Speaker 300:03:49As a result, we're continuing to assess demand and adjusting our inventory levels accordingly. Overall, we're on track to deliver the $1,400,000,000 in sales this year that we spoke about earlier With adjusted operating margins above 27% and free cash flow conversion of approximately 100%. So I'm now going to hand the call over to Kristina to walk us through more of the details on our financials. Kristina? Speaker 400:04:17Thank you, Aaron. I would again like to thank our Global Crane NXT Associates for their continued focus and discipline to drive results. We appreciate your hard work. As Aaron mentioned and as summarized on Slide 4, we had a strong quarter with core sales growth of 4%, adjusted operating margin of 20 percent and adjusted EPS of $1.09 We also continue to see strong free cash flow generation and are on track to achieve approximately 100 percent adjusted free cash flow conversion for the full year. Overall, we are pleased with the results this quarter And the continued disciplined operating execution by both segments. Speaker 400:04:57Moving to Slide 5. Crane Payment Innovations reported flat core sales. As we discussed last quarter, continued improvement in our supply chain enabled us to ship more orders out of backlog in Q2 and that impacted Q3 sales. Despite flat core sales, adjusted segment operating margins increased 190 basis points to 29.4% as compared to last year, reflecting strong pricing, productivity and cost savings actions, partially offset by unfavorable product mix. From a market perspective, we are gaining share in our services business with new wins in the quarter in the retail and financial services end markets. Speaker 400:05:38We continue to see solid growth opportunities in services, which drives increased recurring revenue and high share of wallet at key customers. Looking forward, we are seeing softness in new orders across some of CPI's end markets, most pronounced in retail and gaming, as customers continue to adjust their inventory from COVID related supply chain issues. We expect this dynamic to continue over the next several months Until our backlog normalizes to pre pandemic levels. We believe this normalization will occur in the Q2 of 2024. Given this dynamic, we expect sales to decline year over year for CPI in Q4, and we now expect CPI sales to be flat to slightly up for the full year. Speaker 400:06:22With our strong pricing execution and focus on productivity, we expect segment operating profit margin to be in line with our prior guidance. Moving to Crane Currency on Slide 6. The quarter was ahead of our expectations with core sales growth of 12% driven by international sales. As we've noted in the past, this business is project based and revenue in any quarter depends on the timing of shipments to Central Banks. Adjusted segment operating margin was very strong at 28%, but down from the prior year due to unfavorable product mix Related to orders from the U. Speaker 400:06:56S. Government. As we discussed last quarter, we continue to see a greater mix of orders for lower denomination banknotes, which come at a lower margin. We expect this trend to continue for the balance of 2023. In the international market, we continue to win new orders, increasing our backlog 80% from the prior year. Speaker 400:07:17One of the drivers for the strength in international sales is our continued focus to be the technology leader in the market. Specifically, we continue to see growing customer interest in our new Rapid Vision technology, which was launched in Q2 and has already been selected for several new denominations. As a reminder, Rapid Vision is the world's 1st multicolor micro optics security feature. With its eye catching high contrast It is easily authenticated, and its uniquely secure infrared technology facilitates highly secure machine readability. Moving on to our balance sheet. Speaker 400:07:53Our adjusted free cash flow was $98,000,000 in the quarter, providing further confidence in achieving an adjusted free cash flow conversion ratio 100% this year. Given our strong free cash flow, we repaid another $125,000,000 of our term loan during the Q3, Reducing net debt to adjusted EBITDA to approximately 1.3x. We have approximately $1,000,000,000 in M and A capacity and substantial flexibility to deploy capital toward M and A. Moving to full year guidance, as Aaron mentioned, We are narrowing our adjusted EPS guidance to a range of $4 to $4.15 We believe core sales growth will be between 3% to 5% based on the strength of the currency business offset by softness in CPI, as I mentioned earlier. Additionally, we now expect Non operating expenses will be approximately $45,000,000 updated from our previous guidance of approximately $50,000,000 This decrease is driven by lower interest costs due to the pay down of debt. Speaker 400:08:57All other metrics to which we previously guided for the Full year of 2023 remain unchanged. Overall, our year to date performance continues to support the investment thesis for Crane NXT As a premier industrial technology company with mid single digit growth, strong operating margin and 100% adjusted free cash flow conversion. Let me now hand it back to Aaron for a few closing comments. Speaker 300:09:22All right. Thanks, Christina, and thanks again to everyone who's joining us this morning In summary, we had another strong quarter where we continue to demonstrate core sales growth, Excellence in operational execution and strong free cash flow generation. We raised the low end of our adjusted EPS guidance and believe we are well positioned to achieve our full year results within the guidance range. Additionally, the strength of our balance sheet and our low leverage provides us with the opportunity To create further value for our shareholders through disciplined M and A diversifying the portfolio. As we think about this diversification, I want to reinforce that we've launched the company from a very strong position. Speaker 300:10:06As shown on Slide 10, NXT is an industry leader providing trusted technology solutions to secure, detect and authenticate what matters most to our customers. We have 2 market leading businesses Crane Currency, which provides proprietary technology to secure currency and other high value physical products And CPI, which offers detection equipment and systems, aftermarket services, all focused on detecting and authenticating payment transactions. As I mentioned earlier, we are on track to deliver approximately $1,400,000,000 in sales this year with adjusted operating margins above 27% and free cash flow conversion of approximately 100%. Given our strong free cash flow conversion, Our capital allocation strategy is first to continue to invest and grow the core business, improving operational performance By utilizing the Crane Business System or CBS. The second priority is to pay a competitive dividend. Speaker 300:11:09And finally, we'll continue to deploy capital to M and A following the same playbook that built NXT, targeting adjacent, Resilient and higher growth end markets. As we continue to execute this strategy, over time it will position NXT As a strong compounder creating significant shareholder value. As part of the value creation strategy, We've set very clear goals for the business over the next 5 years. As shown on Slide 11, building off our strong foundation, We plan to grow the business to $3,000,000,000 in revenue and grow core revenue at mid single digit plus. We will maintain adjusted EBITDA margins in the high 20% range along with strong free cash flow conversion of approximately 100%. Speaker 300:11:58Our performance in the 3rd quarter is another important step in our journey as a new company and it gives us confidence in achieving these longer term objectives. Again, I'd like to say thank you to the entire NXT team for their dedication in delivering a strong Q3. Also, thank you to everyone who took their time today to join us on this call. So with that, operator, we're now ready to take our first question. Operator00:12:24Thank you. We will now be conducting a question and answer session. Our first questions come from the line of Ian Zaffino with Oppenheimer. Please proceed with your questions. Speaker 200:13:07Hi, great. Thank you very much. Good morning, Ian. Speaker 300:13:11Just wanted Speaker 200:13:12to ask How are you? Speaker 300:13:14Hey, good, Ian. Good to hear your voice. Speaker 200:13:17Good, good, good. I wanted to ask you on the backlog. Maybe you could talk about what the mix is Of the backlog, by vertical, if you could, have a lot of change from, let's say, the past quarter or so? And then also help us understand that the destocking, what your thoughts are as far as end market destocking And the backlog and how that's going to help you basically mitigate sort of destocking at the customer end? Thanks. Speaker 300:13:50Yes. Sure. No. Hey, thanks for the question, Ian. So just zooming out, I assume your questions both in total, but probably more specific there To CPI, again, currency backlog, as we've said, is fantastic, up close to 80% year over year and feel very good about that. Speaker 300:14:10When you look at CPI and break that down by vertical, really our comments there and how we're thinking about that are primarily around the Gaming segment, when you think about where we're at today in the backlog, we're probably at about 2 times the normal backlog level. And when we look at our run rate to burn that down over the next several months, that's what gets us into 2Q of next year. So these are orders that were placed due to the long lead times that go back to the really middle part of COVID and have extended as Supply chain continue to normalize over the last several months. So really this is primarily a gaming Discussion and we have very good line of sight to the shipment now of that backlog to customers who still need those products and we expect that occur kind of within what we've expected now for the last quarter or so to burn that down over the coming months. When you look at the other verticals, the backlogs are basically expectation kind of where we would expect them to be under normal conditions that feels in line with what we would look at. Speaker 300:15:23And As we said in our prepared remarks, Christina mentioned, services continues to be a bright spot and a strength, and we feel very good about that. So really in essence, it's about this burn down of the gaming backlog. Hope that helps, Ian. Speaker 200:15:39No, that's Great. And then also on the M and A side, I know that's an integral part of the story here. How are we thinking about this as maybe timing or what does the environment look like or multiples, because we're kind of expecting Yes. You guys could do something, I don't know, relatively soon. Thanks. Speaker 300:16:01Yes. I would maybe just to take the last part of your I would say we're very much on track to do what we laid out at our Investor Day, Which was to take the 1st several quarters post launch and operate the company very well and Continue to focus on operational excellence in our core businesses. That's the first pillar of our strategy. And I think that's what we're doing here again in Q3. So that I think as I mentioned in our Q2 earnings call, We're really looking at the 1st part of 'twenty four and the middle part of 'twenty four for the first type of M and A window to be where we would like it If all things equal, and I think we're on track for that. Speaker 300:16:50We feel good about the health of the funnel. We feel Obviously, very good about our balance sheet with the $125,000,000 pay down this quarter, which was just due to our strong free cash flow. So Operator00:17:17Our next questions Speaker 500:17:26Jim, so just going back to CPI, if we can kind of parse this out a little bit, how much of Are you actually seeing a demand issue or is this really just supply chain, inventory And backlogs are all going through this normalization process. And if you could speak to the 4 main end market verticals From a demand standpoint, that would be helpful. Speaker 300:17:53Sure thing, Matt. And good morning. Thanks for the question. Yes, let me start and I'll go through each vertical So I would just put vending and financial services together and say they're performing as expected. I don't think that's the same dynamic that we're seeing in gaming and retail. Speaker 300:18:13And that was similar to my comments To Ian's question earlier. So again, I would pull those to the side and say again, we feel very good about how those end markets are performing both within the quarter and the outlook that we have for the rest of the year. I think gaming is very unique, in that it is really about the burn down of the backlog. When we zoom out and look at those end markets, I think we're as confident as ever that they're performing very well. You see that in the end customers. Speaker 300:18:47You see And how our channel partners are performing and also our relative market share in that market continues to be very strong. So again, gaming At a high level, I think again is a very strong vertical for us and we're just working through the backlog Position that was built up again expecting that to burn down over the next 2.5 quarters, as I said in the earlier remarks. Not as much around order intake and kind of end market demand. So again, unique situation in gaming. Then when you go to retail, I think that's a combination, a little more complicated with 3 different factors. Speaker 300:19:281 is inventory restocking. That's present In retail, again, where the channel is at a higher level of inventory than they would have been ex COVID. We've seen some project push outs that probably speak just to demand at the end With the customer inside the channel. And then of course, I think as you know very well, Matt, we also have 2 of our bigger customers Going through their own changes over the last several months with an intense focus on cash management for them. So I think all three of those Together, in different proportions are what's driving that softness in retail. Speaker 300:20:11And we're going to continue to assess that obviously in Q4. When you zoom out though and we talk about the tailwinds of the markets, those are unchanged. Automation, Labor scarcity, those continue unabated. We think that positions the retail market long term For continued growth, and we just have these combination of factors here that we're assessing, Obviously, both in Q3 and Q4 as we look ahead. Hopefully that helps, Matt. Speaker 500:20:46Yes, that does. And then maybe over to currency. Aaron, what are your takeaways from the Fed's latest print order for calendar 2024 Versus trends you may have observed over the course of 2023. And to that point, does it make a difference that they're now issuing this based on A calendar year versus the government fiscal year, does that skew any sort of seasonality you may have had in that business? Speaker 300:21:14Yes. Let me start with your first question, just our expectations. Being very close here with BEP and the Fed In our working relationship and with the planning for the Catalyst series, I would say very much met our expectations Is the bottom line, Matt. If anything, and I think as you saw in the report and in your write up, there's a Viewing here versus the prior year to 10, 20 100, which is obviously a benefit for us just as you look at that increased technology That goes into each of those denominations, so particularly the 100, obviously more so than the others. So on a relative basis, that's positive for us. Speaker 300:21:58The total demand is right at the expectation that we had. And I think it also pointed to the continued work going on with Catalyst, Again, which we feel very good about and the continued timeline that they're executing to go into Move out a pilot into production in 2025 for launch in 2026. So that feels pretty good overall, Matt. Moving from the calendar year or moving from the fiscal year to the calendar year, materially no impact. I think It obviously is helpful just from a planning perspective. Speaker 300:22:35For us, that's how we think about a year. So I would call it an aid in simplification, but not a material change in any part of the business. Thank Operator00:22:52you. Our next questions come from the line of Damian Karas with UBS. Please proceed with your question. Speaker 600:23:04Hi, good morning, everyone. Speaker 300:23:06Good morning, Damian. Speaker 600:23:10So, Christina, you gave updated CPI guidance for the rest of the year, I'm just curious how much of a headwind you're expecting that destocking to be in the first Half of 2024. And then once you do get through that in the second quarter, are you kind of would you expect to sort of revert back To the mid single digit type of growth that you target over the longer term? Speaker 400:23:44Hey, Damian. Good morning. Thanks for calling in. Yes, so just on the we're not giving 2020 Guidance today, we're just rolling up our operating plans now. So we're going to be working on that over the next several weeks and we'll put out 2024 guidance In early February with our year end earnings release. Speaker 400:24:05But overall, as I mentioned, For the rest of this year, we're seeing CPI will be down for as compared to last year. And that's just a continuation of this softness in orders relating to the realignment primarily in gaming as Aaron said And also some project delays in retail. And despite that though, we still are on track with our margins as we Just based on overall pricing and productivity. So, that's really what we're saying now for the rest of this year And more to come on next year as we roll up the operating plan. Speaker 300:24:45Okay, understood. And Speaker 600:24:54A few examples that you might be able to provide of the type of projects, the type of business that you're driving. I'm curious, are there any new micro optics customers? Is this more redesigns or just kind of an uptick in production? Really any color that you could provide on that international strength would be appreciated. Speaker 400:25:16Yes, really happy to do that. There's really great strength in the Orders and in the backlog we're seeing for international right now, which includes winning new denominations internationally And we're feeling really good about that for the rest of this year and also, it sets us up very well for next year. So, it's a combination, as you mentioned, of our technology sales, our overall banknote sales And just winning share. So just feeling really good about the currency business overall. Speaker 600:25:52Okay, Operator00:25:58great. Thank you. Our next questions come The line of Bob Labick with CJS Securities. Please proceed with your questions. Speaker 700:26:06Good morning. Thanks for taking my questions. Speaker 300:26:09Good morning, Bob. Speaker 700:26:11Hi. So I was having some technical difficulty there. I apologize. So if you just answered this, I may have missed it. But I just wanted to Ask about currency, obviously, the really strong backlog. Speaker 700:26:23Looking ahead, how does the pipeline of New bidding opportunity internationally and rebids, look now versus a year ago, And what are the other opportunities there? I guess that's part 1. And then part 2 is, how does Catalyst Series impact 24 Operating profit, if at all, I know it's supposed to come out later, but how does it impact the operations in preparation? Speaker 300:26:52Yes. Thanks, Bob. So I would say if to the first question you asked, if you look out to the next year, The activity and the ability for us to continue to bid both in new denominations that are going through a redesign or With incumbent product and denominations we have is largely the same as we've seen in 2023. So that gives us again the ability to kind of continue our trajectory. And that of course at this point We'll be talking about projects that are really set up for bids in 'twenty four and delivery in 'twenty five. Speaker 300:27:33The strength of our backlog, which we're going to bring into 2024 gives us a lot of confidence for that business for next year. This is really a backlog that's at near all time highs in the international side of the business and in total. So I think that again gives us a very firm foundation operationally for performance in 2024 and the market dynamics to your question Are continuing to favor more technology, more sophisticated anti counter Fitting technology and high quality beautiful designs of currency, all of which play to our strengths. So I think that's a nice tailwind for the market that we continue to believe is going to last not only in 'twenty four but beyond. To your last question on Catalyst or the U. Speaker 300:28:26S. Government series as was mentioned in the recent WICO or the annual currency order report, It remains on track. As they call out in that report, they'll be looking at production in 2025, launch in 2016. So it's really not a material item for us in 2020 Speaker 700:28:45Okay, great. And then just following up on earlier comments on M and A, obviously you mentioned that expectation To get something done potentially in 2024, how has the higher interest rate environment helped or hurt your prospects And kind of what key areas are you looking for M and A targets? Speaker 300:29:05Yes. I would answer the last part of your question first of we're still sticking right on the strategy we've talked about since March of Thematically in areas around secure detect and authenticate technology focused, that really reinforce who we are today, but Give us the option to create new pillars or platforms inside the company for the future. And the funnel List has only grown. It continues to grow and we see more deals coming through every quarter. And again, feel very confident To what I said earlier, to Ian's question around, some action in 2024. Speaker 300:29:48I think the interest rate environment has actually helped us Given we've paid down our debt. And so our strong free cash flow is an enormous advantage for us. The low leverage now sitting at 1.3x gives us the right amount of firepower we need for The first few deals, so I think again that has moved in our favor and we feel very good about it. If anything, Bob, it takes other people out of the option To do M and A that takes a little competition off the table. Operator00:30:24Thank you. Our next questions come from the line of Matt Summerville with D. A. Davidson. Please proceed with your question. Speaker 500:30:31Yes. I want to ask a follow-up on CPI and the retail sort of sluggishness. Is there a way If I point to 3 issues, those being the OEM inventory drawdown that we're obviously aware of. We also Are aware that some deployers out there, so the end users of self checkout are evaluating 3rd party options, Potentially elongating the project timeline. And then you also have the If you had to kind of force rank those insignificance relative to what you're seeing in the business, Aaron, how would you kind of think about that? Speaker 300:31:13Yeah. No, that's a fair follow-up, Matt. I would say that inventory stocking issue, the drawdown, as you said, Matt, on OEMs, that's probably number 1, Right. That's where we understand from our own channel checks and understand in talking to those OEMs The position they're in, so that's number 1. I think the project push outs I would put is number 2 or as you said it, the evaluation Of other options, it doesn't change the end result, Matt, that we're going to go install self checkout systems. Speaker 300:31:47It's just Created this push out by a few months from probably where both ourselves and our partners would have expected Some of those installations to occur. I think those are really the 2 big drivers here. Again, all other things Fall in comparison to those 2. Speaker 500:32:09Okay. And then I recollect The currency division in the Q1 of 'twenty four taking a little more downtime up in Massachusetts for new equipment installation. 1, is that still happening? And is what I said, I guess, accurate? And 2, is there an impact we should think about to the P and L High level, as we try and capture that. Speaker 400:32:36Yes. Hey, Matt, it's Christina. So that is correct. So as we There'll be downtime just to prepare for the new series trials and testing in advance of that production In 2025, as we discussed earlier. And so how you should think about it is that on the U. Speaker 400:32:55S. Side will be Down right in volume and a little bit still in mix right as we saw this year with the lower denomination bills until that starts to kick in and may follow what the new order implied, which is that there'll be a more favorable mix in 2024. So you can expect to see on the U. S. Side down In Q1, which is consistent with what we had this year in Q1. Speaker 400:33:21But this will really be Offset by the strength in international currency, just like we saw this year and based on our backlog and orders, we expect to continue well into next year. Operator00:33:37Thank you. Our next questions come from the line of Damian Karas with UBS. Please proceed with your question. Speaker 600:33:45Hey, everyone. Just a follow-up question here on U. S. Currency. I know you can't get in the weeds You know the nature of that contractual relationship, but could you give us a sense for thinking about $10.20 denominations versus $1.5 denomination Kind of maybe the relative content per bill difference between There's 1s and 5s and the 10s and 20s? Speaker 300:34:21Yes. Damian, happy to answer that in part. As you rightfully said at the beginning, we can't Get in specifically to those details of the contract with the U. S. Government. Speaker 300:34:32The best thing I can point to is What the government publishes and their cost to produce the bills, that's public information that's out there for anyone to look at. Really for us, the key differentiator is more at the $100 bill where our micro optics or the blue strip that we all know adds a lot of Anti counterfeiting technology to that product for the BEP, that's a significant add As you can see visually to the bill, so it's a much bigger differentiator than the lower end or the lower dollar denomination bills. Speaker 200:35:13So I Speaker 300:35:13would kind of think of this as there's really 2 main categories. There's the 100 and there's all other, where you see this delineation. So a little bit less of an impact for us when you get into the differences between a 5 or a 10, As an example. But I think as you look at those public records of how much it costs for each denomination, you can assume that scales Proportionately to the amount of technology that goes into those different denominations. And I think that's why we're excited about the new design in the new series, right? Speaker 300:35:48We're working very closely with the BEP and the Fed. We feel very good about that relationship. And just like the rest of our international business, Every new redesign of the currency, both in the United States and around the world, adds on more technology. And so that's why this new series is so important for us and for Crane Currency as a Significant tailwind to the business really for the next decade. But as I think Bob asked, in 2024, We don't see that as a material item inside the P and L. Speaker 600:36:24Got it. Thanks. That's really helpful, Aaron. And then just a Follow-up question on M and A. You mentioned earlier you'd really expect to execute some deals in 2024. Speaker 600:36:36Can you just clarify, so you're is it you're not actively pursuing any deals at the moment, just kind of keeping an eye on what's out there until you're ready? Or are you actively looking and just don't anything to expect anything to close anytime soon? Speaker 300:36:51Well, I think it's a little bit of a combination of both, Damian, right? If you look at the Of both, Damian, right. If you look at the cycle time for a deal, it's months, it's not days or weeks. So I would say we're very active In reviewing and cultivating deals inside the market, there's some we passed on over the last Several months. And I mentioned that in Q2, I believe, that we've been active and we passed on some. Speaker 300:37:16I think the key to any M and A is it's not about doing the deal, but it's doing it in a very disciplined way that adds value to the portfolio and Ultimately, value to the shareholder. And I think that's hard to disagree with. So from the very beginning, we've set out criteria that started with our market work To go into spaces where we could be good owners of the asset and then had very strict financial considerations around those, both in revenue size, size of the deal itself in terms of enterprise value, and where we could drive synergies. So that's a process I would say we're very actively pursuing. And just based on what I know we're doing and what I see coming to fruition, It gives me confidence that we will be doing something in 2024. Speaker 300:38:06And I think you can take to heart the deals we passed Because we don't think those would have been good deals for our shareholder. And we want to be prudent capital allocators here. And that's our number one priority. Operator00:38:22Thank you. We have reached the end of our question and answer session. I would now like to turn the floor back over to Aaron Sake for closing remarks. Speaker 300:38:31All right. Well, thank you very much. Thank you, operator, for handing it back over. And again, I'd just like to end the call today by thanking all the NXT team For their efforts to produce very strong results in Q3. Earlier this month, we launched our new core values for the company. Speaker 300:38:49And the first one is titled People Matter. And I know we cannot achieve these results without having a dedicated And also thanks to everyone who joined the call today and for your questions. We appreciate those. And so with that, I hope you have a great rest of your morning And we look forward to speaking to you again next quarter. Thank you. Operator00:39:19Thank you. This does conclude today's teleconference. You may disconnect your lines at this time. We appreciate your participation. I hope you enjoy the rest of yourRead morePowered by