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spk06: The Standex International Fiscal First Quarter 2022 Conference Call. All participants will be in listen-only mode. Should you need assistance, please signal a conference specialist by pressing the SCAR key followed by zero. After today's presentation, I have the opportunity to ask questions. Please note that this event will be recorded. I'd like to turn the call over to Mr. Gary Farber of Finney Growth Advisors. Please go ahead.
spk02: Thank you, operator, and good morning. Please note that the presentation accompanying management's remarks can be found on the investor relations portion of the company's website at www.standex.com. Please refer to Standex's safe harbor statement on slide two. Matters that Standex management will discuss on today's call include predictions, estimates, expectations, and other forward-looking statements. These statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially. You should refer to Stanix's most recent annual report of Form 10-K, as well as other SEC filings and public announcements for a detailed list of risk factors. In addition, I'd like to remind you that today's discussion will include references to the non-GAAP measures of EBIT, which is earnings before interest and taxes, adjusted EBIT, which is EBIT excluding restructuring, purchase accounting, acquisition-related expenses and one-time items, EBITDA, which is earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization, adjusted EBITDA, which is EBITDA excluding restructuring, purchase accounting, acquisition related expenses, and one-time items, EBITDA margin, and adjusted EBITDA margin. We will also refer to other non-GAAP measures included adjusted net income, adjusted operating income, adjusted net income from continual operations, adjusted earnings per share, adjusted operating margin, free operating cash flow, and pro forma net debt to EBITDA. These non-GAAP financial measures are intended to serve as a complement to results provided in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States. Stenex believes that such information provides an additional measurement and consistent historical comparison of the company's performance. On the call today is Stenex's Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer, David Dunbar, and Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer, Adamir Sarcevic.
spk01: Thank you, Gary. Good morning and welcome to our fiscal year first quarter 2022 conference call. I'm very pleased with our first quarter results, which reflected solid financial performance and an expanding pipeline of growth opportunities. Standex is a stronger company today as a result of well-executed portfolio moves and a higher level of performance of our businesses. We continue to have a favorable outlook for fiscal 2022 and look forward to further successfully executing on our growth strategy. I want to thank our employees, executive teams, and the board of directors for their dedication and support as we further grow our portfolio of high quality businesses. Now, if everyone can turn to slide three, key messages. Revenue and consolidated adjusted operating margin increased significantly year on year in fiscal first quarter 2022, as we leveraged positive demand trends and converted new business opportunities from our pipeline. Consolidated organic revenue growth of approximately 17% year on year reflected strength at our electronics and scientific segments. Electronics revenue increased approximately 37% year on year, primarily due to a broad-based geographical recovery with continued solid demand for relays in renewable energy and electric vehicle applications, along with positive trends in transportation, appliance, test and measurement, and distribution end markets. Scientific segment revenue increased approximately 29% year-on-year, driven by retail pharmacies, clinical laboratory, and academic institution end markets. Consolidated adjusted operating margin of 13.4% was a 250 basis point year-on-year increase and represented our second consecutive quarter of delivering our highest consolidated margin in STANDEX history. Our results also reinforce the benefit of our continued investment in end markets that have healthy growth prospects and where we can incorporate our innovative solutions and strong customer value propositions. Sequentially, total company backlog realizable in under one year increased approximately 12%, with strength particularly at the electronics, specialty solutions, and engraving segments. At the electronics segment, the new business opportunity pipeline continues to grow, and we are seeing positive trends in such end markets as electric and heavy-duty vehicles, defense, industrial, and aerospace. In addition, Renko Electronics, which we acquired a little over a year ago, is contributing to the growth of our opportunity pipeline as we realize sales synergies from cross-selling opportunities in our expanded customer base. At the scientific segment, we are also introducing a new product family, blood bank refrigerators and plasma freezers. leveraging our expertise in life sciences and refrigeration to expand into adjacent markets. Execution on our active funnel of productivity and efficiency initiatives is further adding to our success. We are driving manufacturing and supply chain productivity with actions including new lean programs and mitigating inflationary trends through price realization and value engineering. In addition, our reed switch production and material substitution project of the electronics segment continues to mitigate some of the material inflation we are seeing and remains on track to be substantially complete by the end of fiscal 2022. We continue to have significant financial flexibility to pursue new organic and inorganic growth opportunities given our strong balance sheet and liquidity position and consistent cash flow generation. Adam here will discuss our financial performance in greater detail later in the call. In regard to our financial outlook, we are off to a solid start to the fiscal year and continue to expect stronger financial performance year-on-year in fiscal 2022. In the second quarter, we expect revenue and operating margin to increase slightly compared to fiscal first quarter 2022, and significantly compared to the year-ago quarter. Now, please turn to slide four, and I will begin to discuss our segment financial performance, beginning with electronics. Revenue increased approximately $20.6 million, or 37.2% year-on-year, including 36.1% organic growth, reflecting continued broad-based geographic and end-market strength, as well as a 1.1% positive contribution from foreign exchange. Operating income increased approximately $9.1 million, or 100.2% year-on-year, due to operating leverage associated with revenue growth and productivity initiatives, partially offset by increased raw material and freight costs. Looking ahead, we have a very active new business opportunity funnel of approximately $61 million, which is expected to deliver first-year sales of $19 million, with positive trends across all major geographic areas and business units, and are well-positioned to further capture additional customer business. Electronics backlog, realizable under a year sequentially, increased approximately $13 million, or 11%, in fiscal first quarter 22. The picture on slide four highlights the success of our customer intimacy sales model in moving up the value stack in a customer's product. In this example, we addressed a customer application in 2015 by supplying a packaged read switch. This led to the opportunity to develop an entire sensor in 2018, which expanded by incorporating additional functions in 2021. As our collaboration evolves, so does our value provided, reinforcing the importance of our strong technical and applications expertise. Regarding our fiscal second quarter 2022 outlook, we expect a slight sequential decrease in electronics revenue and operating margin, reflecting a lower number of production and shipping days and product mix in the quarter. Please turn to slide five for a discussion of the engraving segment. Year-on-year revenue decreased approximately $1.2 million, or 3.4%, and operating income was nearly $1 million lower, or a 17% decrease, due to the timing of projects and geographic mix partially offset by productivity actions. Laneway sales of approximately $14.9 million represented a 27% increase year on year, including a positive demand outlook for soft trim tools, laser engraving, and tool finishing. Sequentially, backlog realizable under a year increased $5.9 million, or approximately 44% in fiscal first quarter 22. The picture highlighted on slide five shows a Tesla Model Y version. Through cross-regional collaboration within the segment and based upon our soft trim proprietary technology, we are able to supply two sets of tools substantially faster than our competitors' production capability, further driving our growth opportunity in the China market. In fiscal second quarter 22, we expect a slight sequential increase in engraving segment revenue and operating margin. This is due to the timing of projects, regional mix, and demand for soft trim tooling, complemented by the impact of additional productivity initiatives. Turning to slide six, the scientific segment. Revenue increased approximately $4.9 million, or 29.2% year-on-year, reflecting positive trends at pharmaceutical channels, clinical laboratories, and academic institutions. Operating income increased approximately $.4 million, or 10.6% year-on-year, due to volume growth and pricing initiatives balanced with investments to support future growth opportunities and higher freight costs. Sequentially, backlog realizable under a year increased $1.6 million, or approximately 27% in fiscal first quarter and fiscal 22. Significant orders in the quarter were placed to support replacement of aging cabinets from retail pharmacy locations, a phenomenon we expect to expand as our installed base grows. As highlighted on slide six, we have applied our growth discipline processes in a two-year development project to leverage our expertise and intellectual property in life sciences and refrigeration into adjacent product categories and are introducing a new product family, blood bank refrigerators and plasma freezers. This product launch includes two sizes of refrigerators and freezers designed for hospitals, blood banks, and other medical, clinical, and research facilities. These products comply with all relevant industry requirements, including those from the FDA and the Association for the Advancement of Blood Biotherapies. In fiscal second quarter 22, we expect scientific revenue and operating margin to be similar to our first quarter, reflecting continued demand for vaccine storage, accompanied by the return of demand from traditional end segments and pricing actions partially offset by increased freight costs. Turning to the engineering technology segment of slide seven. First quarter revenue at $17.6 million was similar year on year due to positive trends in the space and market, balanced with the absence of the recently divested and genetics business, and to the economic impact of COVID-19 on this segment and the markets. Operating income increased approximately $.4 million, representing a 91.7% increase year on year, reflecting product mix and ongoing productivity initiatives offset by a $1.1 million one-time project-related charge. We have an active new business opportunity pipeline in both space and aviation. In addition, as highlighted on slide seven, our opportunities are also expanding in international defense and markets. As shown here, we are collaborating with customers to develop bulkhead assembly and additional solutions for domestic and international armored vehicles, and have also captured customer wins to develop nose cone adjacent products in next generation missile programs. Regarding our outlook, in fiscal second quarter 22, we expect revenue to be sequentially similar with positive commercial aviation and defense trends partially offset by project timing in the space and market. However, we expect a significant increase in operating margin due to project mix, productivity initiatives, and the absence of the one-time project related charge which occurred in the first quarter. Please turn to slide eight, specialty solutions. On a year-on-year basis, specialty solutions revenue increased approximately $0.2 million, or slightly under 1%, and the operating income decreased $1.1 million, or 27.9%. First quarter results reflected end market recovery, particularly in food service markets, offset by the impact of a prior work stoppage, which has since been resolved. In addition, we experienced material inflation, which we are seeking to recover through pricing actions. We have a very strong backlog position, realizable under a year, which sequentially increased $8.7 million, or approximately 33% in the first quarter. We also continue to expand our merchandising product portfolio. Highlighted on slide 8 is the recently launched Vision Series, available in heated, refrigerated, and non-refrigerated options. Developed through STANDEX's GDP Plus growth process, this is a ground-up redesign of our core product. The new version of this product has several attractive features, including modern styling with a very viewable and accessible product area. The Vision Series can accommodate a significant amount of food product in a highly efficient footprint and is capable of running under a variety of conditions, including high temperature and humidity. In regard to our second quarter specialty solutions outlook, We expect a moderate sequential increase in revenue and operating margin due to execution on our strong backlog position and the absence of the financial impact of the prior work stoppage. We can continue to focus on recovering material inflation through pricing actions. I will now turn the call over to Ademir, who will discuss our financial performance in greater detail.
spk00: Well, thank you, David, and good morning, everyone. First, I will provide a few key takeaways from our fiscal first quarter 2022 results which exhibited strength across several important metrics. Organic revenue growth of approximately 17% year-on-year reflected solid demand trends at our electronics and scientific segments. In addition, we continue to see overall healthy order trends across the company as we enter our fiscal second quarter. From a margin standpoint, adjusted consolidated operating margin of 13.4% increased both sequentially and year-on-year and represented our second consecutive quarter of highest margin in Standard 6 history. This strong operating performance reflects several factors, including effectively leveraging volume growth, realizing the benefits of price and productivity action, and the positive impact of our prior strategic portfolio moves. Also, our financial strength is supported by consistent free cash flow generation, which increased year on year. In summary, we are entering our fiscal second quarter with positive order trends, active funnel of productivity initiatives, and an expectation for continued solid cash generation in fiscal 2022, all further adding to our strong financial position. Now let's turn to slide nine, first quarter 2022 income statement summary. On a consolidated basis, total revenue increased 16.1% year-on-year from $151.3 million in fiscal first quarter 2021 to $175.6 million this quarter. This revenue increase primarily reflected strong organic growth at the electronics and scientific segments and a positive contribution from foreign exchange. Revenue growth was partially offset by the divestiture of the InGenetics business, which occurred in the third quarter of fiscal 2021, and trends at the engraving segment, which reflects the timing of projects. InGenetics contributed approximately $3 million in revenue in the fiscal first quarter of 2021. On a year-on-year basis, our adjusted operating margin increased 250 basis points to 13.4%, reflecting operating leverage associated with revenue growth and the readout of price and productivity actions. This was partially offset by a $1.1 million one-time project-related charge at engineering technology segment and the financial impact of work stoppage in the specialty solution segment, which has since been resolved. As expected, our tax rate increased to 25% compared to 22% in the first quarter of 2021. We expect the second quarter tax rate will be similar to the first quarter rate and that the overall tax rate for fiscal 2022 to be in the 24% range. Adjusted earnings per share were $1.34 in the first quarter of 2022 compared to $0.96 a year ago. Now please turn to slide 10, first quarter 2022 free cash flow. We generated free cash flow of approximately 8.1 million in the first quarter of 2022 compared to free cash flow of 4.4 million in the first quarter of 2021. We continue to successfully execute on our financial initiatives with working capital terms of 5.6 times, representing a 33% increase year on year. Next, please turn to slide 11 for a summary of Standard CIS capitalization structure and liquidity statistics, which remains strong. Standex had net debt of $68.9 million at the end of September, compared to $63.1 million at the end of June, reflecting free cash flow of approximately $8.1 million, offset by $9.5 million of stock repurchases, along with dividends and changes in foreign exchange. Our net debt for fiscal first quarter of 2022 consisted primarily of long-term debt of $199.6 million. Cash and cash accrual totaled $130.7 million, with approximately 102 million held by foreign subs. We had approximately 267 million of available liquidity at the end of September. Our net debt to adjusted EBITDA leverage ratio was approximately 0.58 times with the net debt to total capital ratio of 11.8%. We expect that we will repatriate approximately 35 million in cash in fiscal 2022. From a capital allocation perspective, We repurchased approximately 97,000 shares for $9.5 million in fiscal first quarter 2022, with approximately $12.5 million remaining on our current repurchase authorization. We also declared our 229th consecutive quarterly cash dividend on October 28 of $0.96 per share, approximately 8% increase over the prior four quarterly dividend payments. Finally, we expect capital expenditures of approximately $25 million to $30 million in fiscal 2022. I will now turn the call over to David for closing comments.
spk01: Thank you, Adamir. If everyone can please turn to slide 12 for key takeaways. In fiscal 22, we expect stronger financial performance year on year as we execute on the positive end market trends we are seeing and further drive ongoing productivity initiatives across our significantly strengthened portfolio. Underpinning this outlook is a very active pipeline of growth opportunities with a positive trajectory in our new business opportunity funnel and new product introductions. We are leveraging the significant number of growth opportunities in front of us through ongoing manufacturing and supply chain productivity actions, including initiatives such as new lean programs and mitigating inflationary trends through price realization and cost consolidation efforts. Our strong balance sheet and liquidity position and consistent free cash flow generation position us very well to pursue both organic and inorganic growth opportunities and we remain opportunistic and disciplined in allocating capital. As highlighted by some of the order trends discussed today, our approach is resonating with customers, reflecting the strength of our deep technical and applications expertise, and innovative solutions, and reinforcing the value of our high-quality businesses. Operator, I will now open the line for questions.
spk06: And I'll begin the question and answer session. To ask a question, you may press star then one on your touch-tone phone. If you're using a speakerphone, please pick up your handset before pressing the keys. To withdraw your question, please press star then 2. This time we'll pause momentarily to assemble the roster. First question comes from Chris Moore of CJS Securities. Please go ahead.
spk03: Hey, good morning, guys. Thanks for taking a few questions. Good morning, Chris. Good morning. Another excellent quarter. It seems like most of the conversation on earnings calls this quarter are focused on supply chain, inflation, and labor. Any thoughts how Standex is able to kind of avoid that as a focus?
spk01: Yeah, there's a couple important perspectives there, Chris. You know, a year ago, two years ago, how much we were struggling with rhodium in the electronics business. And as the team got their arms around that, they completely changed their – the cost management of the rhodium, and more importantly, the pricing process. So they used to have a lot of 12-month pricing agreements. They went to monthly pricing. All quotes were reviewed by management. So that really started by last November. The last 12-month agreement had sunsetted. And you've seen the results have been very effective in managing the prices. Well, we have been communicating that across all the businesses of StandX, and it's really emboldened all of our businesses to be a little more bold, I guess, about passing price through, whether it's from freight or material. So we're seeing that margin play. It's never easy to have those discussions with customers. I don't want to say that it's easy, but we've really improved our practice in the last year or that. The second thing on supply chain is, Most of our businesses, their supply chain, we source in a region for plants, in a region for customers, in the region. We have a couple businesses, though, that are dependent on a global supply chain, scientific and hydraulics. And you saw the scientific results. They're doing a very nice job managing through those challenges, managing international freight. So I think it's limited to those two businesses. That's why at a corporate level, you know, you haven't seen us hit as much by those issues.
spk03: Got it. Very helpful. Let me just switch to electronics. Obviously, you know, such an important component of revenue and profitability. Maybe you could talk a little bit more about visibility in this specific segment, you know, any feel for, you know, kind of distributor inventory levels, just kind of any additional thoughts in terms of what you're seeing there?
spk01: Well, we have, you know, we serve a wide variety of end markets here. And our sales to distributors is about 20% of the sales of the entire business. And distributor levels have been kind of growing consistent with the rest of the business. We haven't seen any dramatic swing in the mix of our sales by channel. Some people have asked us, are you seeing any excessive buying as customers are trying to get ahead of potential supply issues? There may be some of that in there. However, we see growth in our MBOs, our new applications are ramping up quickly, growth in relay products. the overall mix of the business still remains good. And, in fact, in October, sales remained strong, and our book-to-bill ratio in October was 1.2. So whatever is going on in distribution, it's not enough to dampen the overall demand we're seeing in that market, that business.
spk03: Got it. I appreciate that. Last one for me. Just trying to better understand the end markets where, you know, you might still be in a little bit of a catch-up mode from COVID and could provide a tailwind at some point in time. Any more thoughts there?
spk01: Yeah, let's see here. So we had thought all along that the slowest and the latest to catch up would be the food service equipment markets. And we had thought that by next quarter, starting calendar 22, those markets would be caught up. I think ProCon and Federal got back to pre-COVID levels. I think this quarter, the aviation market, our shipments into aviation will be back to pre-COVID levels this quarter. Everything else, I think, is at or above pre-COVID levels.
spk00: Yeah, Chris, I agree. I think for the most part, we're already there. And to David's point, we are seeing really good order rates across our businesses, across the market, which is a positive sign for sure.
spk03: Fantastic. I'll jump back in line. Thanks, guys.
spk01: Thank you.
spk06: Thank you. The next question comes from Chris Howell of Barrington Research. Please go ahead. Good morning, David. Good morning, Adamir.
spk01: Good morning, Chris.
spk04: Hey, I guess starting with the scientific segments, you continue to do well in that segment, coming ahead of expectations here. We know we have the tougher comparisons going against last year, but you mentioned continuing demand for vaccine storage, as well as some other initiatives there. Can you just talk about the puts and takes that led to the quarter and your outlook on
spk01: Yeah, a couple of positive things in the quarter. I have to say, if you were to look at our internal discussions a quarter or so ago, the business exceeded our internal estimates. A couple of things happened in the quarter. We are seeing continued orders for COVID vaccine storage. Not as great as last winter, but we're seeing the orders come through the distributors that serve small clinics, physicians' offices, and with the approval of vaccinations for children aged 5 to 11, most of those vaccines will be given in doctors' offices, and most doctors' offices don't have a storage unit. So we do think there's kind of a steady, probably a steady runway of sales through that channel. A second thing that really is important for us is we received quite a large order for about a six- to eight-month period to deliver cabinets to replace units that were installed four or five years ago. And as our install base increases and there are more cabinets around the country, these cabinets have a four- to seven-year service life, and we expect to see a more sustained kind of replacement business. And so that was a factor, too.
spk04: That's very interesting. Certainly some positive dynamics there. You finished the quarter at about a 20.9% operating margin. You've kind of hinted that it's around 20% continuing to make investments along that segment. How should we think about margin or am I too far in the weeds?
spk01: We continue to kind of peg people's expectations. We've got a low 20% margins in this business. Quarter by quarter, of course, there's some variation. This last quarter, this is a business that is facing headwinds in their supply chain. The cost of freight from Asia, gosh, a year and a half ago was $4,000 a container, $15,000, even $20,000 at a spot price. They're dealing with that. They're passing price through. We're also making investments. We had about three, four years ago, we had one or two engineers in this business. We've got a team of 15 now that are working an active pipeline of new products. And on this page, you see our new products, the blood bank and plasma freezers. This is a brand-new market segment for us. It's a very attractive segment. This is a more than two-year development, and I'm very proud of the team. They're very excited about this. And in quarters past, we've referenced the fact that we're developing new products, and the release of these new products could get us into new segments to provide the next leg of growth for this business. So this is just the beginning, and we have a blood bank and blood plasma. It's another gear that this business can shift into.
spk04: Okay. And my last question, just following up on – On the previous questions about the supply chain, certainly this is a fantastic quarter, in my view, given the challenges that we all face with freight and supply chain delays. How would you assess how you balance optimism over caution in this environment? Certainly, we'd like this trend to continue from Q1 versus expectations. And I guess more specifically, is there a way to put a number on the challenges that you had to offset in the quarter?
spk01: Yeah, let me take a stab at that. And Adam, I can correct everything I get wrong. How we balance optimism versus caution, our internal targets are always higher than what we communicate. I think as we get better at forecasting and And we just implemented a new consolidation system across our businesses. We have much better visibility to the cost structure month by month with all of our businesses. So we think we're tightening up our ability to forecast. And over time, maybe that buffer between our internal estimates and what we communicate externally will get narrower. On the headwinds we faced, in the quarter, Our estimate that we rolled up from our business is supply chain issues. There was maybe $4 million across the corporation of shipments that we couldn't get because we were missing a component or there was some supply chain issues. So that maybe gives you an idea of the order of magnitude across our business. Adam, you can fill in any of that.
spk00: Actually, I've got nothing to correct. This is the good way to summarize it. We expect we're going to continue to see supply chain issues like in all other companies, but I think one point that we want to make sure doesn't get lost, you know, we are really turning the corner and becoming an operating company where we can manage our costs really well when we have productivity initiatives in place. And, you know, to David's point, we have a forecast A, B, and C, you know, and we know how to manage or try to manage against, you know, different curveballs that the market has controlled us. So, you know, we are trying to do the best we can.
spk04: Okay, great. Thanks for taking my questions. Appreciate it.
spk00: Yeah, thank you, Chris. Thanks, Chris.
spk06: Thank you. The next question comes from Chris McGinnis. Well, good morning, company. Please go ahead.
spk05: Hey, good morning. Thanks for taking my questions and congrats on obviously a really strong quarter. David, would you mind just maybe talking a little bit about, you know, you made some management changes last quarter with Flavio. And can you just talk a little bit about, you know, maybe how they're progressing in the new roles? If you don't mind spending a couple minutes on that. Thanks.
spk01: Yeah, so the changes we highlighted last quarter were moving Flavio into this innovation and technology role, which I'd actually wanted to do a couple years ago, but we had so much portfolio management we had to do that it just wasn't the right time. So Flavio's primary focus is hitting some key deadlines on that solar energy project we referred to last quarter. which in the next couple of months are some important milestones there. He has started a process with all the businesses to develop a pipeline of technology ideas that will now start moving through the pipeline for evaluation and maybe eventually to new product development. Most of our new product development has come from our current products, our current customers, and sort of the next step for those things. So very customer input focused. Flavio is bringing a technology view of how new technologies may be threats or opportunities for us. So I'd say he's off to a good start. And just as we're now beginning to communicate we have new products coming out of our pipeline, in the coming quarters, I'd expect that we'll be coming and communicating output of that technology role. And as Flavio moved into this role, we moved Jim Hoeven from the corporate ops role to lead the engraving business. You know, it's always, I guess, interesting and fun and rewarding to see what happens when there's a management change in an organization because everybody brings a different set of skills and a different perspective. I'll say the transition has gone very smoothly. I think Jim and the engraving team are working together very well. And Jim brings a deep toolkit of operational discipline and operational practices that that are being applied across the business to improve forecasting, improve labor management. So, you know, we're very pleased with the early returns on both of those moves.
spk05: Great. Just given the strength of the balance sheet, would you mind commenting on the M&A environment as well? Thanks.
spk01: Yeah. We have an active pipeline. We're working it pretty hard. And there's an old saying, I've been quoting it, it's maybe going to cliche, but you have to kiss a lot of frogs to find a handsome prince, and we are, I guess I'm the chief frog kisser, chief frog kissing officer. We are working a lot of opportunities, and we, I think we've made 11 acquisitions since I've been here, many more good ones than bad ones, and on the whole, we're very pleased with the discipline we've created in identifying businesses that meet our strategic criteria and valuing them fairly, paying a fair price, and then getting value out of them. So we apply all those same principles as we evaluate these opportunities. And I have, I guess, a final point to make, Chris, is in recent years, you know, I have mentioned this. I should maybe restate it. We are working to get larger businesses into our pipeline. As we have more track record, especially in electronics, of of integrating businesses, you know, we think we can start to bring in more sales in larger, larger businesses at a time where our typical acquisition was family, family-owned businesses that were 10, 15, 20, $30 million in sales. You know, we're, we're, we're widening the aperture of our, of our funnel.
spk05: I appreciate that. And then just one last question. Obviously you, you've really handled the external environment pretty well in terms of, you know, the inflationary environment, supply chain, What most concerns you when you look out at the kind of the global economy versus your business? And I guess where are your concerns, David? Thanks.
spk01: Well, I guess my concern, I may answer a slightly different question than you asked. My main concern is our businesses are in a great situation now. We have good positions in our markets. We have a great portfolio. You see the performance of this portfolio is reading through now. We have a collection of really good businesses. we are pivoting a lot of our attention to identifying new opportunities, developing new products, bringing new technology to market. And I want to use this opportunity we have now to invest those funds wisely to provide the next leg of growth for the company in the coming years. So I guess what keeps me awake at night is are we going hard enough, going fast enough, are we putting a place to discipline and really being smart about investing for growth?
spk05: Great. I appreciate that. Thanks again for taking my questions. Congrats on the quarter and good luck to you too.
spk01: Thank you.
spk06: Again, if you have a question, please press star then one. This time we have no further questions. I'd like to turn the conference back over to Mr. David Denbar for closing remarks. Please go ahead.
spk01: All right. Thank you. Thank you to all for your interest in STANDEX. I just want to send, again, a thank you and a great appreciation to the employees of Standex who are managing very well through a difficult environment. And we look forward to reporting back to you three months from now on our second quarter. Thank you.
spk06: The conference is now concluded. Thank you for attending today's presentation. You may now disconnect.
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