Mirion Technologies, Inc. — Call Transcript 2026

Thank you for joining us again. We're very excited to have Mirion Technologies with us. We've got Tom Logan, who's the CEO and founder, and Brian Schopfer, who's the CFO. So while I walk over to join you guys, Tom, like, it's been about four and a half years since you became public. Maybe talk about, like, and you've come a long way, right? I mean, there's a lot going on, I think a lot to be proud of, but what are you most excited about right now? What are you most proud of? And, you know, is there anything that's been a bit more challenging than you thought over the last four and a half years? Yeah. Thanks for that setup, Andy. I think if any of us look at the last four years, it's been a bit of a crazy ride from a macro standpoint, with just how much the world has changed, the evolving geopolitics and dynamics in the world overall, changes in technological base. But to answer your question, if I had to point to one thing, I think without a doubt, we are most excited about the growth in the nuclear power segment. This is critically important to us as a company. Today, about 47% of our revenue is tied to the commercial nuclear power industry, and that's subdivided between the installed base, which we cover on a global basis. I think we have a presence, a foothold, in more than 95% of the global operating base. It's the utility-scale new builds. It's the small modular reactors, all of which are being propelled by essentially an unsolvable global electrical generating capacity shortage. And this, in our view, is a generational tailwind. We're incredibly excited to be kind of surfing this wave with the position that we have. And that would be top of my list. Behind that would be the implications of AI, which certainly correlates strongly to that trend overall, but just the implications that has for the world in general. But specific implications for us are incredibly exciting. I got a lot of questions for you on AI, but I'll save them. Okay -just for a little later. So, but maybe tell me, Brian, like, just because it's topical, right? You reported earnings last week, provided guidance for 2026, reflects an expectation for accelerating organic growth in both segments for the company overall. And, you know, you do have some crosscurrents that you know about, whether it's DOGE, I guess that's done, but, like, government shutdowns and nuclear lab, you know, slower spend. So maybe talk about the visibility this year and if you've kind of discounted, like, slower environment in some of these areas. Yeah. So I'll, I'll lead in, and then, Brian can, can augment. But the... You know, if we were to look forensically at, at last year, we, firstly, overall, we think it was a great year for the company in terms of, total growth, the, the margin expansion, free cash flow conversion, record, record orders, ending the year with record backlog. Where we had a, some, some, as you called it, crosscurrents, firstly, would be in our, our laboratory, business overall, and that's principally a DOE-related, business. And, as, as many have experienced who, who, who play on that particular field, funding dynamics were very uncertain. You mentioned DOGE. Certainly, that had an impact on, on decision-making, authority and capability and, and willingness. It led to, contract deferrals. It led to a dynamic of uncertainty in general. But the fundamentals of that market for us are very strong. We view that as kind of an episodic event- Mm-hmm ... a transitory event, if you will, and when we look at the long-term view on how that business evolves, we feel very good about it. And in particular, we feel very good about the level of engagement that we have with the DOE and with, you know, kind of that broader lab space. The second crosscurrent would be in our radiation therapy business. This is a business where we provide software services and capital equipment essentially into the cancer care market dominated by external beam therapy overall. Here we had a couple of events internationally. We saw continued softness in the Chinese market, which historically has been an important growth vector for us in that space. We had a transitional issue in Japan, where our long-standing distribution partner in that market was acquired by a large trading company, and just through that integration process, candidly kind of took their eye off the ball. We've done a lot to fix and remediate that. We continue to feel very bullish on that market overall. Then the third element narrowly was in the U.S. hardware market. So to be clear, our software business in radiation therapy had a great year. Services was very, very strong. But in the U.S. healthcare market, because of the fear, uncertainty, and doubt, you know, related to reimbursement dynamics, operating margins for healthcare providers, you know, led to a bit of a clampdown in capital spending. But again, if you look at the fundamental demand drivers for that market, aging Western population, increasing or raising standards of care in developing markets, you know, the macro picture continues to be intact. So on the guidance issue- Mm-hmm ... you know, we've looked through all of those issues, pressure tested them, and feel confident about the range we put out in that business for the year. It's a business we still like very much. It's a very attractive diversification channel or element- Mm-hmm ... of our broader portfolio, which certainly is led by nuclear power, but, we feel good about it. ... Did you want to say something? No, go ahead. So Brian, you know I'm gonna come back to the well in the backlog question, 'cause I asked you last week, and I said I was going to. So I'll just ask it to you like this, right? Like, you had a nice uptick in Q4. Sure. You added Paragon, which is $134 million, so that's all good. I know it's difficult to predict the timing of larger awards, but maybe can you give a thought process to, you know, if we're sitting here next year, would you be disappointed if backlog is not materially up? Great question. So first off, I would just characterize it like this: I think, you know, we put out a $400 million kind of larger order pipeline that we have. You know, 200 of that is stuff that shifted from last year. There's another 200 incremental. You know, I candidly think that number probably evolves and continues to grow as we go through the year. But timing on these things, Andy, unfortunately, if I told you what I thought, it would be wrong- Yeah ... from now. I think the one of the positives I'd point to is, you know, one of the other things I said last week was we'd already won a $10 million-plus SMR order in January. Mm. That would've been in the $400 million. Mm-hmm. Check mark to one. It's small, but the point is, I think we're optimistic that this isn't a December-loaded pipeline like we saw last year. Mm. I would just maybe finish my comments with saying, you know, we only lost two deals last year- Mm ... of larger magnitude. One was to an incumbent, on the defense side, and, you know, the other was in the Asian markets, where maybe it's a little bit more competitive. Mm. Our right to win on every one of these projects, plus, you know, ones that are coming, I would say is very high, and we continue to be very optimistic about how that will evolve through the year. Yeah, no, that's helpful. Look, I think if there is a bear case on commercial nuclear, it's that it's very long dated, right? Like, and that it just takes time to develop, and so that's why kind of we ask you these kind of questions. So I'll ask you, you know, 'cause you've gone to nuclear and safety being flattish in Q1, so then I get the question, well, you know- Sure ... is that because it's such a long-dated business? Well, and everybody knows that labs is weak, you know, in Q1 still and all that kind of stuff, but they still kind of say, because I think, what, 75%-plus of the business is- Mm-hmm ... replacement or recurring or whatever. So how can it be flat? Like, why is there a sensors co- Let, let- You know Let me give you an optimistic perspective. I love optimism. Yeah. I am optimistic. So- I got a- ... that business we have has pretty much the exact same backlog going into last year- Mm ... as we have going into this year. So we don't have. Our backlog's not down, and we need orders- In terms of coverage. Coverage and dollars, actually. Yeah. Yeah. So we are, you know, so it's all about timing in- Right ... in that business. When do things need to be delivered? When do we manufacture those? That business inherently, by the way, comes with amazing operating leverage. Yeah. You know, those things play into when we're able to make product, when we're able to deliver product, and then what that does to our margins and our revenue in the first quarter. Yeah. It just happens last first quarter, we had major product come in in delivery, and the dynamics, you know, a little bit later in the year this year versus what we saw last year. So it's just timing. This isn't a, you know, the quarter-to-quarter dynamics can evolve and change in the business. Yeah ... you know, especially underneath the business. It's not something Tom and I are particularly worried about. Tom, I'm sure you talk to customers all the time, so, like, you've been consistently saying since I've known you, right, basically, install base, double-digit growth, very possible, if not likely. Is that still what you see in the install base? Absolutely. Andy, so if we look at last year, our organic growth in the nuclear business was 11%. Yeah. We also acquired a company called Paragon Energy Solutions last year, and they're, in many respects, more of a leading indicator in terms of what that dynamic is within the installed base. Last year, they grew organically at 20%. Mm. This year, we expect they'll grow at 25%. So, yeah, the fundamentals driving that I think are very, very clear. That, the combination of very strong economic incentives plus what I would characterize as an increasing level of political pressure- Mm-hmm ... is really causing the operators of power plants, not only in the U.S., but on a global basis, to drive toward life extension, capacity operates, and digital modernization. The fundamental mind shift here is that a decade ago, people were thinking about shutting down plants prematurely. Mm. Now they're thinking, not only how do I life extend an asset for 20 years- Mm ... but many are thinking beyond that, that this could go another 40 years or so, and that's what's driving this accelerating cadence in support for that sector. Yeah. So Tom, this market, as we know, like, doesn't change that quickly, right? So versus last year when we were sitting here, of those three things that you talked about, has one gotten ahead of the other, accelerated, like, versus your own expectations? Well, what I would say is they're all accelerating, but they're accelerating at different rates- Mm-hmm ... as, as they will. You know, so again, if you look at the install base, I think, I think Paragon, which, largely, is in support of that, the operating fleet in the U.S., so it's a very clear indication that, that that market is strong and, and arguably accelerating. If you look at the small modular reactor market, last year, we booked $37 million of orders in SMRs. Prior to that, our cumulative total orders in the SMRs were $17 million. So again, it shows you that, the activity in that market is picking up. And then finally, if you look at utility scale, last year, we signed a deal with EDF that will take us in as a sole source supplier in the next eight to 14 reactors they'll then build in France as well as the export market. We are very close to all of the other leading reactor designers, Westinghouse, you know, the broad base of international suppliers. And through any lens that you, where you look at the development plans for gigawatt scale nuclear reactors, it's moving up into the right. Different rate, but it's, you know, all ultimately leads to that recurring and repeat revenue base that that really drives that business for us. Just because I know you're always talking to your customers, for instance, EDF or Westinghouse, are they starting to move more now, like, would you say? They're moving at a very rapid pace. So again, if you look at the development plans, I think one of the broader issues is going to be resource constraints. Mm-hmm. You know, it's clear that from a policy standpoint here in the U.S., there is a strong incentive to build 10 new Westinghouse AP1000s. Two to three years ago, that was not in the cards. So that is a substantial change overall and the support to go with that. If you look at what's happening in France, there are tangible plans for the next three EPRs in France, many more from an export standpoint. And if you look more globally, again, at the line of sight to projects in Poland, in North Africa, in the Arab Gulf region, and potentially in the Ukraine, as and when a peace settlement is achieved. You know, I'm very, very bullish about what that looks like. Yeah, and I, I just real quick, just to add, Andy, before you go on. First off, we've already seen, albeit small, but orders on the French side- Yeah ... on the new reactors. Right. Right. So these aren't huge, but you're starting to see some spend trickle in. Yeah. I think that's important is as we look at our new build opportunity from a pipeline standpoint, you know, there's zero in there for AP1000s in the U.S. Mm. Everything we're looking at on the new build side at a large scale is outside the U.S. So I think that's important. Yeah. Exciting. Now, we're not banking on that coming through this year, but if it does, it's not in our plans. And then your commentary on SMRs, Tom, like, so, I mean, is that a function? Obviously, I think Paragon has good exposure to SMRs, so maybe that helps you a bit more. But, you know, do we start to burn revenue on SMRs then in two years, something like that? Like, how do we think about when that $37 million is gonna turn into something bigger in revenue? So, you know, what I would say is that I, I continue to be surprised and delighted by the, the dynamic in the, in the space right now. It is, to your point, with the acquisition of Paragon, our coverage of the, the, you know, the broad-based SMR population, which numbers well over 100, discrete projects in the world. But in particular, if you look at the best capitalized, most likely to succeed in terms of technological readiness level, you know, we nearly run the tables with that group in terms of where we have exposure and a, and a very high level of engagement, and it's in a comprehensive fashion. And so the activity there is considerable. To be clear, I think we'll go through a cycle here, where right now, all of the focus is on first-of-a-kind instances of these reactor types, much of which will be developed as they are being built- Mm In terms of, you know, the comprehensive specs. Invariably, I think most would expect there will be some type of shakeout in this market where the true long-term leaders will begin to emerge. I expect we'll see it, you know, continue to build up. As these first-of-a-kind events happen, I expect we'll begin to see them gain better insights at that point in terms of what the long-term arc of development looks like and who's going to lead it. If I were just being an analyst, I'd plug like, you know, if it's 1,737, I might say like 90 or something like that. Should I do that? No, we're not gonna give their number, but- Yeah, beware of linear extrapolation. Okay. All right, fair. But there are, I will say, you know, there is SMR in that large order pipeline, for sure. Yeah. Including the one we won in January. The $10 million. I mean- Right ... you know, we're seeing some. 90, here we come. Okay, sorry, I'm just kidding. So then I did wanna ask you about Paragon a little bit more because we're still learning it as it's now being incorporated in the business, and you mentioned 25% growth. So where is that coming from? Because it is growing faster- Yeah ... than your core business. Yeah, so the core business of Paragon is really replacement parts for the operating fleet in North America, which, you know, increasingly is confronted with part obsolescence issues and supply chain constraints. Their core expertise is in fabricating and/or sourcing electromechanical parts to support the operating fleet. And so as, again, these operators are trying to run at higher capacity factors to operate their reactors, life extend, and modernize, there's an increase in call for what they do overall. But importantly, on top of that, they also have a very strong position in instrumentation and control, which is extremely complementary. Mm. with our core capabilities, and really kind of bolsters our position. If you think of this as the central nervous system of a nuclear power plant, which is very important strategically as we look ahead and think about the evolution and augmentation of those capabilities, is something that'll be very, very important to us longer term. Got it. That's helpful. And then I, I wanted to ask you about margins in nuclear and safety, 'cause they did tick up, 40 basis points, 29.4%. It was good to see, but at the same time, you know, maybe more moderate expansion than medical, despite more growth. So, you know, what's going on there, and how are you thinking about the portfolio for margins in, that side of the business? Yeah, what, what I would say is a bit as expected, you know, a couple of headwinds. Firstly, you know, if you look at the aggregate organic growth in that space, again, given the relative weakness of the lab space overall, you know, one of the key drivers of margin expansion is absorption. Mm-hmm. We lever very, very well with volume. Higher the volume, the more margin expansion drive we get out of that. In addition, you had tariffs, which was a new headwind overall. We're actually quite pleased with the margin expansion, which, in the main, was driven by procurement optimization, and we think there's a lot of gas in the tank. As we look ahead, you know, we've talked a lot about our commitment to drive toward 30% EBITDA margins by 2028. Continue to feel good about that as a target. To be clear, it's not gonna be a gimme putt. We have a lot of work to do to get from here to there. But the way we get there is, again, through absorption, through continued optimization of procurement, conversion, distribution capabilities, and importantly, increasingly through AI. Which, I think, you know, I think the consciousness, particularly within the industrial tech sector, is rapidly rising, particularly, you know, in the wake of the release of Claude Code, as people begin to understand how profound the implications of AI will be on internal productivity, you know, holding aside customer-facing AI. So, you know, we have many arrows in the quiver. We are hyper-committed to that, driving hard internally, and feel that we've got a pathway to get there. So I wanted to... I mean, that was kind of my next question about the 30%. You still feel like you can do it, even though Paragon is gonna maybe dilute you right, you know, before it gets better, like, yeah? We do, you know, for all the reasons I just articulated, as well as the fact that, you know, we have a long history. We've done nearly 20 acquisitions in the last decade. Mm. And if you're to look at our scorecard in terms of driving margin expansion, it's, you know, a very solid record. We have, again, a strong view regarding our ability to make Paragon, firstly, margin neutral, and then ultimately margin accretive, and I think we can drive that, you know, at a good clip. So yes, that has an effect on our pathway overall, but on the other hand, you know, the tailwinds that support that broader target continue to be real viable, and I think get us there. Maybe just to add some, a proof point to that. Mm-hmm. I mean, Paragon to me reminds me of Sun Nuclear when we bought it back in 2020. Mm. Almost the exact same setup, candidly. It's a $100 million business in the low 20s EBITDA. Mm. Today, it's more than $150 million, but the EBITDA margins are in the mid-30s. Mm. Yeah, that's pretty good expansion- Yeah ... in five years, candidly. And it's really just about, you know, operating discipline, you know, levering on the fixed cost base you have, making sure you're pushing price, we're doing the procurement synergies, et cetera. So there, there's a lot of parallels here, and, I think, you know, if you want proof, you know, well, let's look at history and see what we've done on an asset that's, you know, fairly similar in size and scale. Yeah. So I want to open up to the audience, but, you've talked about AI a few times, so let's just talk about it. So first of all, I think, you know, you and I have talked about AI long ago now. I think you have a particular interest in AI and sort of what it does for the company. So maybe you can talk about sort of the initiatives you've had to sort of drive, as you've said, productivity internally and stuff, 'cause I, I think you've been sort of early to that. But then also, you know I get the question about disruption, right? So how are you protecting Mirion from disruption? Maybe can you tell us how much software exposure you really have, so we can clear all that up? Okay. Mm. So firstly, in terms of how I think about AI, you know, I really view it in two channels, the internal channel and the customer-facing channel overall. As we look at the internal channel, last year we launched 17 internal AI applications with another seven in development, and they're all over the map, ranging from the ability to, you know, take a 100-page RFQ and ingest the data and optimize a design layout for radiation monitoring system, to translation, to legal support, contractual review, all over the map. But clear, immediate, and tangible impact on productivity overall. The funnel for those internal applications continues to swell, and the enabling tools, particularly as we think about Claude Code and the other functional derivatives of that in the market, almost make your head spin. I think we're all trying to understand it, we're all trying to get our heads around the implications. This is a major, major theme, not only for Mirion, but for all of industrial tech, and I would argue for equities in general. The productivity and margin accretion that will accrue from this, and accrue far more quickly than people believe, is profound. On the customer-facing side, you know, I wanna be a little bit careful about what I say, but I'll just give some thematic guide in terms of how we think about it. Very tangible example is that we bought a company called Certrec last year, which has essentially 100% share of outsourced regulatory and compliance support in the American nuclear industry, and in addition, they're a material player in the bulk electrical grid in general. They deliver the support in the main through a SaaS software platform that they developed over the span of a decade or so. And importantly, they possess 15 TB of historical data. Every filing, every design drawing ever made for any nuclear power plant in the U.S.. And so they are better at guiding compliance efforts, both routine and episodic in nuclear power than candidly many of the fleet operators as well. I think it's intuitive when you think about what that data set looks like, the leverage that we will gain from ingesting that data and essentially AI-enabling that, which will allow us to serve our customers better, provide greater utility to them, and improve operating efficiency overall. The other theme I would throw out there is, again, just keying on the integration of Mirion and Paragon, as we think about that central nervous system of nuclear power plants. It's very clear, and we've done a lot of work on physics-constrained neural networks and neural radiance and computer vision that support this overall. But the evolving theme of being able to take our native position in the installed base, in terms of installed instrumentation and detectors, and to leverage that ultimately to help our customers to gain more thermal output out of their power plants, to reduce downtime, to potentially help with load balancing, all of those things are very, very clear. And those are examples of the things that we are focused on as we look ahead, but to be clear, there are many, many more. Now, in terms of our exposure, from a software standpoint, you know, recognizing the, you know, the big revaluation of the cloud-based software players here overall, I think there's an important distinction here. Firstly, our software exposure overall is- Like somewhere between 5% and 7%. Yeah, so it's modest and growing, but the key distinction here, and the thing that I think protects us from disruption, again, is that native installed base, where because of the regulatory climate that we compete in, the criticality of safety in not only nuclear power, but really every vertical that we play in, that core platform and connectivity gives us a significant advantage relative to some early-stage company that may come in and say, "Hey, I can do great things with AI. You know, I'd love to, you know, I'd love to play around- ... Sure in your reactor. Sure. I think there's a big distinction there. Mm-hmm. That's a really important, not only moat for us, but I think an opportunity for us. Tom, to the extent you wanna disclose, like... 'cause again, I think you've been very on top of the efficiency side. Can you give us an example or quantify at all, like, what AI has meant to Mirion in 2025? Or... You know, I think the needle's just beginning to move. You know, I think we're all trying to really grasp the implications, not only of AI, but, you know, what we talk about internally is the singularity, the confluence of AI, robotics, and big data, and the leverageability- Of that big data overall. So, you know, in 2025, it's been a really important year for us in terms of how we have advanced our hierarchy of priorities, both internally and externally, how we have developed our capabilities, you know, most dramatically through the naming of our inaugural Chief AI Officer to really drive this effort directly. We've begun to see some productivity benefits, which I think are going to swell in a meaningful fashion over time. So, you know, a year where, again, we moved the needle, but it's just the beginning of what we think will be a rich vein. Got it. Any audience questions? Anybody want to ask a question? Any questions? Okay, maybe let's move to medical then. Again, here, rebound to mid-single-digit organic that's expected in 2026. Maybe you can sort of talk about that, you know, confidence in getting there. Obviously, you mentioned sort of, you know, the radiation therapy business. Like, do you see the U.S. getting any better on the hardware side, or how do you think about that? He looked at me, and I'll- I'll take it. No, go ahead. You know, what I would say is that, again, you have to start with the macro. And, again, fundamentally, as the population demographic in the U.S. and in the developed world ages, more people are going to get cancer. You know, as we see standards of care rise in the developing world, we're going to see more radiation therapy clinics overall. Specifically, in the U.S., you know, we've been through a disruptive year with DOGE, with healthcare dynamics overall. You know, we assume a degree of normalisation, if not an equilibrium, we expect a degree of normalisation. But importantly, you know, most businesses don't grow in a ratable linear fashion. Mm-hmm. You know, they, they grow, plateau, grow, plateau, grow, plateau. And if you were to look at our radiation therapy business, again, which we acquired in 2020, that was their history. You know, long-term CAGR of double digits, but the strongest growth cycles typically correlate with new product launches. And again, noting that services and software in this business were strong last year, this is a year in 2026, where we've got a great new product pipeline. We're very excited about what we're going to launch this year, and we think that'll be another important factor in undergirding that forecast. Yeah, I think we continue to bolster the team on the commercial side as well. You know, we've done some reorganization. Our former Chief Revenue Officer has come back into the business on a full-time basis, running our international business, which has always been a, you know, a epicenter of growth for us. We're very excited to have him back, kind of fully engaged. We have an AI product actually being introduced into the market in the first half of the year, along with a number of new products. You know, I think we're focused on doing the right thing, and I think that'll be beneficial. I would remind you, in the rest of the business, you know, nuclear medicine's gonna grow double digits. That's what we've committed to. It grew double digits last year, and, you know, we have a little bit of a headwind on the dosimetry business this year. We had more hardware sales last year than our services business. Mm. We're lapping that. We just- there- it just- that business, te- it can be a little bit more lumpy. We like the dynamic we're seeing on the InstadoseVUE product ramp. We're actually seeing good inbounds on the nuclear power- from a nuclear power customer base on our InstadoseVUE product, which I think we're encouraged about, but it takes time in that business to see the growth rates go because, you know, you're talking low... You need high quantities at lower dollars from a per badge perspective. Yeah, we're very focused on turning the ship, but we don't want to get too far ahead of ourselves. Got it. You feel good about nuclear medicine, like, still incubation phase, big growth phase? Like, how do you... Yeah, we do. Again, if you look at the nuclear medicine market, the key driver here is the revolution that's taking place and what's generally referred to as theranostics or radioligand therapy or radiopharmaceutical therapy, which fundamentally is the linkage of more powerful therapeutic radioisotopes with a binding agent, typically a ligand, with a specific type of cancer, a specific cancer culture. The blockbuster drug, and really the leading drug right now in this market, is the Novartis drug Pluvicto, which is for prostate cancer. You know, that really is the bellwether in this market. But behind that, there's incredible excitement about what's in the FDA approval pipeline, you know, continued evolution in the way that people are thinking about different classes of therapeutic isotopes, beta emitters versus alpha emitters. And importantly, our position is broad and it's deep in terms of not only the processing equipment, things like dose calibration instruments and shielding, and a variety of other elements in that play, the laboratory instruments, but also the clinical instrumentation. But on top of that, our software position, where we are a leader in the data management software in nuclear medicine, connecting isotope producers, drug makers, radio pharmacies, CDMOs, the contract manufacturers, and clinicians. Importantly, we have just moved one of our leading executives, Shelia Webb, who here at Forest has been our Chief Digital Officer, into a leadership position overseeing both of those two business to really integrate them further, recognising the growth dynamic in this market overall, but also the unique capability set that we bring to bear here. Interesting. Brian, you did have good margin in medical. Mm-hmm. North of 42%, quite high in Q4. If hardware does improve again in 2026, is that a mix issue? I mean, how do we think about margin improvement in medical? Because it's been pretty good. Yeah. I mean, look, I expect growth in margins next year, but definitely not at the rate what we saw in 2025. Yeah. I think that mix will be a headwind for us, but the team's focused on this. I mean, I'm proud in the face of what was a tough growth year, what they did, you know, for us on margins. You know, every quarter, they delivered. We continue to believe we can grow and grow margins in that space, but growth matters more than anything else. The beauty is the leverage in that business, 'cause our gross margins are so high. Mm ... is very good for us. So yeah, I expect growth, but I don't think you'll see it at the rate that we saw last year, no. Got it. And Brian, I've got to give you kudos for free cash flow conversion. You know, I used to ask you about that. Can't really ask you about that anymore. You've done improved pretty significantly, 57% of EBITDA versus 32%, I think, in 2024. But you're not, again, if I'm picking at something, you're not really forecasting much improvement from here. So maybe talk about, now are you just stable at this higher level? Like- Yeah … how do you think about it? I mean, look, we continue to believe 60%'s a good target and beyond. You know, this year, in 2025, we made a ton of structural improvements that hold over into 2026. And, you know, I think the reality is we, you know, we're gonna deliver, what? 25% growth or something like that on the free cash flow metrics at the midpoint. That's pretty good. We'll do everything we can to do better. That's our job. Mm. But I like the trend we're going on, and, I mean, there is plenty of stuff for us to do to continue to improve that from a productivity standpoint across basically every metric on the balance sheet. ... Got it. And then, Tom, I think you guys have talked about your, you've done a lot, a couple deals. I think you're up to 3.2x EBITDA leverage, right? A little bit above your target, and maybe should we expect some sort of pause here while you wait? I think the likelihood, Andy, is that if you were to look at, you know, firstly, if we went pencils down on M&A, then, you know, we'd be- That wouldn't be you. We would be back below 2.5x, you know, within a 12-month period of time. But to be clear, there's more we'd like to do. You know, I noted last year that, you know, we're kind of doubling down on our nuclear exposure. You know, again, 47% of our revenue, I think we're one of the better plays on sector growth in nuclear power for all the reasons we've talked about. I'd like to nudge that number up a little bit more. But if you were to look within our M&A pipeline right now, you know, I think it's a year that'll be characterized by small ball. You know, I don't expect to see larger deals of the size of Paragon or bigger. But I do expect that we'll, you know, we will be active, probably in some smaller, more digestible deals that will allow us to continue to deleverage as we do that. I, I would just remind you, too, Andy, that, yes, the leverage number is at 3.2, but our cost of debt is sub 3. Yeah. Down from 7.5. So yes, a little bit higher leverage. I understand that screens that way, but the actual cost of that's, you know, at a pretty good number. Yeah, no, that makes sense. Are there any places in nuclear that you'd like to have but you don't have? Or you feel pretty covered on- You know, our core focus is on instrumentation and control and radio protection. You know, we have important niches in other segments, including regulatory compliance, security, laboratory instruments, radiation-tolerant cameras. And so I think, you know, we really look at those core areas of focus as well as the adjacencies, just for goodness of fit. We're not looking to expand more broadly into things like pumps and valves and other infrastructure components, but, you know, rather, how do we build out our current position, make it stronger, more robust, more scalable globally? And then just last question: What are the top two or three innovations and structural changes affecting your company over the next five years? Are there any emerging industry trends that are perhaps being overlooked in the current discourse? Yeah, a couple of things. Firstly, you know, I think the continued stress on the electrical generating capacity is gonna become more profound. It will become more politically charged, given the backlash that will come from retail ratepayers. And so the drive to move faster, to augment grid capabilities, augment generating capacity, will continue to accelerate and, you know, continue to add to the spin up of the flywheel- Mm-hmm ... in nuclear power, overall. Secondly, AI, I think we've covered that. Incredibly important trend, really, you know, one of the most impactful, if not the most impactful, revolutions in in human history. Harnessing that, understanding it, directing it, surviving it, will be, will be, very important overall. In terms of things that, again, I, I think are important to call out, looking at Mirion in terms of how we play these trends, what we represent, again, I think if you look at our, our exposure to nuclear power, in comparison with other names that are often looked at as, as ways to play the the nuclear industry, I think we're one of the best. We play the full 100-year life cycle of a nuclear power plant in fuel cycle and decommissioning, everything that goes in and around that. We have a very high degree of recurring revenue and repeat revenue that comes from the installed base overall. We are strongly represented, not only in the U.S., but globally, in utility scale or gigawatt scale, new build opportunities. We are also broadly secured or represented in the emerging small modular market overall. So, you know, recognizing again, we're still a relatively young public company, we're still working hard to get our name out there and, you know, really tell our story, but that's the key point I would leave behind. Well, thank you very much, Tom, Brian. Appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you, Andy.

Speaker 1: Thank you for joining us again. We're very excited to have Mirion Technologies with us. We've got Tom Logan, who's the CEO and founder, and Brian Schopfer, who's the CFO. So while I walk over to join you guys, Tom, like, it's been about four and a half years since you became public. Maybe talk about, like, and you've come a long way, right? I mean, there's a lot going on, I think a lot to be proud of, but what are you most excited about right now? What are you most proud of? And, you know, is there anything that's been a bit more challenging than you thought over the last four and a half years? Thank you for joining us again. thank you for joining us again We're very excited to have Mirion Technologies with us. we're very excited to have mirion technologies with us We've got Tom Logan, who's the CEO and founder, and Brian Schopfer, who's the CFO. we've got tom logan who's the ceo and founder and brian schopfer who's the cfo So while I walk over to join you guys, Tom, like, it's been about four and a half years since you became public. so while i walk over to join you guys tom like it's been about four and a half years since you became public Maybe talk about, like, and you've come a long way, right? maybe talk about like and you've come a long way right I mean, there's a lot going on, I think a lot to be proud of, but what are you most excited about right now? i mean there's a lot going on i think a lot to be proud of but what are you most excited about right now What are you most proud of? what are you most proud of And, you know, is there anything that's been a bit more challenging than you thought over the last four and a half years? and you know is there anything that's been a bit more challenging than you thought over the last four and a half years

Speaker 3: Yeah. Thanks for that setup, Andy. I think if any of us look at the last four years, it's been a bit of a crazy ride from a macro standpoint, with just how much the world has changed, the evolving geopolitics and dynamics in the world overall, changes in technological base. But to answer your question, if I had to point to one thing, I think without a doubt, we are most excited about the growth in the nuclear power segment. This is critically important to us as a company. Today, about 47% of our revenue is tied to the commercial nuclear power industry, and that's subdivided between the installed base, which we cover on a global basis. Yeah. yeah Thanks for that setup, Andy. thanks for that setup andy I think if any of us look at the last four years, it's been a bit of a crazy ride from a macro standpoint, with just how much the world has changed, the evolving geopolitics and dynamics in the world overall, changes in technological base. i think if any of us look at the last four years it's been a bit of a crazy ride from a macro standpoint with just how much the world has changed the evolving geopolitics and dynamics in the world overall changes in technological base But to answer your question, if I had to point to one thing, I think without a doubt, we are most excited about the growth in the nuclear power segment. but to answer your question if i had to point to one thing i think without a doubt we are most excited about the growth in the nuclear power segment This is critically important to us as a company. this is critically important to us as a company Today, about 47% of our revenue is tied to the commercial nuclear power industry, and that's subdivided between the installed base, which we cover on a global basis. today about 47% of our revenue is tied to the commercial nuclear power industry and that's subdivided between the installed base which we cover on a global basis I think we have a presence, a foothold, in more than 95% of the global operating base. It's the utility-scale new builds. It's the small modular reactors, all of which are being propelled by essentially an unsolvable global electrical generating capacity shortage. And this, in our view, is a generational tailwind. We're incredibly excited to be kind of surfing this wave with the position that we have. And that would be top of my list. Behind that would be the implications of AI, which certainly correlates strongly to that trend overall, but just the implications that has for the world in general. But specific implications for us are incredibly exciting. I think we have a presence, a foothold, in more than 95% of the global operating base. i think we have a presence a foothold in more than 95% of the global operating base It's the utility-scale new builds. it's the utility-scale new builds It's the small modular reactors, all of which are being propelled by essentially an unsolvable global electrical generating capacity shortage. it's the small modular reactors all of which are being propelled by essentially an unsolvable global electrical generating capacity shortage And this, in our view, is a generational tailwind. and this in our view is a generational tailwind We're incredibly excited to be kind of surfing this wave with the position that we have. we're incredibly excited to be kind of surfing this wave with the position that we have And that would be top of my list. and that would be top of my list Behind that would be the implications of AI, which certainly correlates strongly to that trend overall, but just the implications that has for the world in general. behind that would be the implications of ai which certainly correlates strongly to that trend overall but just the implications that has for the world in general But specific implications for us are incredibly exciting. but specific implications for us are incredibly exciting

Speaker 1: I got a lot of questions for you on AI, but I'll save them. I got a lot of questions for you on AI, but I'll save them. i got a lot of questions for you on ai but i'll save them

Speaker 3: Okay Okay okay

Speaker 1: -just for a little later. So, but maybe tell me, Brian, like, just because it's topical, right? You reported earnings last week, provided guidance for 2026, reflects an expectation for accelerating organic growth in both segments for the company overall. And, you know, you do have some crosscurrents that you know about, whether it's DOGE, I guess that's done, but, like, government shutdowns and nuclear lab, you know, slower spend. So maybe talk about the visibility this year and if you've kind of discounted, like, slower environment in some of these areas. -just for a little later. -just for a little later So, but maybe tell me, Brian, like, just because it's topical, right? so but maybe tell me brian like just because it's topical right You reported earnings last week, provided guidance for 2026, reflects an expectation for accelerating organic growth in both segments for the company overall. you reported earnings last week provided guidance for 2026 reflects an expectation for accelerating organic growth in both segments for the company overall And, you know, you do have some crosscurrents that you know about, whether it's DOGE, I guess that's done, but, like, government shutdowns and nuclear lab, you know, slower spend. and you know you do have some crosscurrents that you know about whether it's doge i guess that's done but like government shutdowns and nuclear lab you know slower spend So maybe talk about the visibility this year and if you've kind of discounted, like, slower environment in some of these areas. so maybe talk about the visibility this year and if you've kind of discounted like slower environment in some of these areas

Speaker 3: Yeah. So I'll, I'll lead in, and then, Brian can, can augment. But the... You know, if we were to look forensically at, at last year, we, firstly, overall, we think it was a great year for the company in terms of, total growth, the, the margin expansion, free cash flow conversion, record, record orders, ending the year with record backlog. Where we had a, some, some, as you called it, crosscurrents, firstly, would be in our, our laboratory, business overall, and that's principally a DOE-related, business. And, as, as many have experienced who, who, who play on that particular field, funding dynamics were very uncertain. You mentioned DOGE. Certainly, that had an impact on, on decision-making, authority and capability and, and willingness. It led to, contract deferrals. Yeah. yeah So I'll, I'll lead in, and then, Brian can, can augment. so i'll i'll lead in and then brian can can augment But the... but the You know, if we were to look forensically at, at last year, we, firstly, overall, we think it was a great year for the company in terms of, total growth, the, the margin expansion, free cash flow conversion, record, record orders, ending the year with record backlog. you know if we were to look forensically at at last year we firstly overall we think it was a great year for the company in terms of total growth the the margin expansion free cash flow conversion record record orders ending the year with record backlog Where we had a, some, some, as you called it, crosscurrents, firstly, would be in our, our laboratory, business overall, and that's principally a DOE-related, business. where we had a some some as you called it crosscurrents firstly would be in our our laboratory business overall and that's principally a doe-related business And, as, as many have experienced who, who, who play on that particular field, funding dynamics were very uncertain. and as as many have experienced who who who play on that particular field funding dynamics were very uncertain You mentioned DOGE. you mentioned doge Certainly, that had an impact on, on decision-making, authority and capability and, and willingness. certainly that had an impact on on decision-making authority and capability and and willingness It led to, contract deferrals. it led to contract deferrals It led to a dynamic of uncertainty in general. But the fundamentals of that market for us are very strong. We view that as kind of an episodic event- It led to a dynamic of uncertainty in general. it led to a dynamic of uncertainty in general But the fundamentals of that market for us are very strong. but the fundamentals of that market for us are very strong We view that as kind of an episodic event- we view that as kind of an episodic event-

Speaker 1: Mm-hmm Mm-hmm mm-hmm

Speaker 3: ... a transitory event, if you will, and when we look at the long-term view on how that business evolves, we feel very good about it. And in particular, we feel very good about the level of engagement that we have with the DOE and with, you know, kind of that broader lab space. The second crosscurrent would be in our radiation therapy business. ... a transitory event, if you will, and when we look at the long-term view on how that business evolves, we feel very good about it. a transitory event if you will and when we look at the long-term view on how that business evolves we feel very good about it And in particular, we feel very good about the level of engagement that we have with the DOE and with, you know, kind of that broader lab space. and in particular we feel very good about the level of engagement that we have with the doe and with you know kind of that broader lab space The second crosscurrent would be in our radiation therapy business. the second crosscurrent would be in our radiation therapy business This is a business where we provide software services and capital equipment essentially into the cancer care market dominated by external beam therapy overall. Here we had a couple of events internationally. We saw continued softness in the Chinese market, which historically has been an important growth vector for us in that space. We had a transitional issue in Japan, where our long-standing distribution partner in that market was acquired by a large trading company, and just through that integration process, candidly kind of took their eye off the ball. This is a business where we provide software services and capital equipment essentially into the cancer care market dominated by external beam therapy overall. this is a business where we provide software services and capital equipment essentially into the cancer care market dominated by external beam therapy overall Here we had a couple of events internationally. here we had a couple of events internationally We saw continued softness in the Chinese market, which historically has been an important growth vector for us in that space. we saw continued softness in the chinese market which historically has been an important growth vector for us in that space We had a transitional issue in Japan, where our long-standing distribution partner in that market was acquired by a large trading company, and just through that integration process, candidly kind of took their eye off the ball. we had a transitional issue in japan where our long-standing distribution partner in that market was acquired by a large trading company and just through that integration process candidly kind of took their eye off the ball We've done a lot to fix and remediate that. We continue to feel very bullish on that market overall. Then the third element narrowly was in the U.S. hardware market. So to be clear, our software business in radiation therapy had a great year. Services was very, very strong. But in the U.S. healthcare market, because of the fear, uncertainty, and doubt, you know, related to reimbursement dynamics, operating margins for healthcare providers, you know, led to a bit of a clampdown in capital spending. But again, if you look at the fundamental demand drivers for that market, aging Western population, increasing or raising standards of care in developing markets, you know, the macro picture continues to be intact. So on the guidance issue- We've done a lot to fix and remediate that. we've done a lot to fix and remediate that We continue to feel very bullish on that market overall. we continue to feel very bullish on that market overall Then the third element narrowly was in the U.S. hardware market. then the third element narrowly was in the u.s hardware market So to be clear, our software business in radiation therapy had a great year. so to be clear our software business in radiation therapy had a great year Services was very, very strong. services was very very strong But in the U.S. healthcare market, because of the fear, uncertainty, and doubt, you know, related to reimbursement dynamics, operating margins for healthcare providers, you know, led to a bit of a clampdown in capital spending. but in the u.s healthcare market because of the fear uncertainty and doubt you know related to reimbursement dynamics operating margins for healthcare providers you know led to a bit of a clampdown in capital spending But again, if you look at the fundamental demand drivers for that market, aging Western population, increasing or raising standards of care in developing markets, you know, the macro picture continues to be intact. but again if you look at the fundamental demand drivers for that market aging western population increasing or raising standards of care in developing markets you know the macro picture continues to be intact So on the guidance issue- so on the guidance issue-

Speaker 1: Mm-hmm Mm-hmm mm-hmm

Speaker 3: ... you know, we've looked through all of those issues, pressure tested them, and feel confident about the range we put out in that business for the year. It's a business we still like very much. It's a very attractive diversification channel or element- ... you know, we've looked through all of those issues, pressure tested them, and feel confident about the range we put out in that business for the year. you know we've looked through all of those issues pressure tested them and feel confident about the range we put out in that business for the year It's a business we still like very much. it's a business we still like very much It's a very attractive diversification channel or element- it's a very attractive diversification channel or element-

Speaker 1: Mm-hmm Mm-hmm mm-hmm

Speaker 3: ... of our broader portfolio, which certainly is led by nuclear power, but, we feel good about it. ... of our broader portfolio, which certainly is led by nuclear power, but, we feel good about it. of our broader portfolio which certainly is led by nuclear power but we feel good about it

Speaker 1: ... Did you want to say something? ... Did you want to say something? did you want to say something

Speaker 3: No, go ahead. No, go ahead. no go ahead

Speaker 1: So Brian, you know I'm gonna come back to the well in the backlog question, 'cause I asked you last week, and I said I was going to. So I'll just ask it to you like this, right? Like, you had a nice uptick in Q4. So Brian, you know I'm gonna come back to the well in the backlog question, 'cause I asked you last week, and I said I was going to. so brian you know i'm gonna come back to the well in the backlog question 'cause i asked you last week and i said i was going to So I'll just ask it to you like this, right? so i'll just ask it to you like this right Like, you had a nice uptick in Q4. like you had a nice uptick in q4

Speaker 2: Sure. Sure. sure

Speaker 1: You added Paragon, which is $134 million, so that's all good. I know it's difficult to predict the timing of larger awards, but maybe can you give a thought process to, you know, if we're sitting here next year, would you be disappointed if backlog is not materially up? You added Paragon, which is $134 million, so that's all good. you added paragon which is $134 million so that's all good I know it's difficult to predict the timing of larger awards, but maybe can you give a thought process to, you know, if we're sitting here next year, would you be disappointed if backlog is not materially up? i know it's difficult to predict the timing of larger awards but maybe can you give a thought process to you know if we're sitting here next year would you be disappointed if backlog is not materially up

Speaker 2: Great question. So first off, I would just characterize it like this: I think, you know, we put out a $400 million kind of larger order pipeline that we have. You know, 200 of that is stuff that shifted from last year. There's another 200 incremental. You know, I candidly think that number probably evolves and continues to grow as we go through the year. But timing on these things, Andy, unfortunately, if I told you what I thought, it would be wrong- Great question. great question So first off, I would just characterize it like this: I think, you know, we put out a $400 million kind of larger order pipeline that we have. so first off i would just characterize it like this i think you know we put out a $400 million kind of larger order pipeline that we have You know, 200 of that is stuff that shifted from last year. you know 200 of that is stuff that shifted from last year There's another 200 incremental. there's another 200 incremental You know, I candidly think that number probably evolves and continues to grow as we go through the year. you know i candidly think that number probably evolves and continues to grow as we go through the year But timing on these things, Andy, unfortunately, if I told you what I thought, it would be wrong- but timing on these things andy unfortunately if i told you what i thought it would be wrong-

Speaker 1: Yeah Yeah yeah

Speaker 2: ... from now. I think the one of the positives I'd point to is, you know, one of the other things I said last week was we'd already won a $10 million-plus SMR order in January. ... from now. from now I think the one of the positives I'd point to is, you know, one of the other things I said last week was we'd already won a $10 million -plus SMR order in January. i think the one of the positives i'd point to is you know one of the other things i said last week was we'd already won a $10 million -plus smr order in january

Speaker 1: Mm. Mm. mm

Speaker 2: That would've been in the $400 million. That would've been in the $400 million. that would've been in the $400 million

Speaker 1: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. mm-hmm

Speaker 2: Check mark to one. It's small, but the point is, I think we're optimistic that this isn't a December-loaded pipeline like we saw last year. Check mark to one. It's small, but the point is, I think we're optimistic that this isn't a December-loaded pipeline like we saw last year. check mark to one it's small but the point is i think we're optimistic that this isn't a december-loaded pipeline like we saw last year

Speaker 1: Mm. Mm. mm

Speaker 2: I would just maybe finish my comments with saying, you know, we only lost two deals last year- I would just maybe finish my comments with saying, you know, we only lost two deals last year- i would just maybe finish my comments with saying you know we only lost two deals last year-

Speaker 1: Mm Mm mm

Speaker 2: ... of larger magnitude. One was to an incumbent, on the defense side, and, you know, the other was in the Asian markets, where maybe it's a little bit more competitive. ... of larger magnitude. of larger magnitude One was to an incumbent, on the defense side, and, you know, the other was in the Asian markets, where maybe it's a little bit more competitive. one was to an incumbent on the defense side and you know the other was in the asian markets where maybe it's a little bit more competitive

Speaker 1: Mm. Mm. mm

Speaker 2: Our right to win on every one of these projects, plus, you know, ones that are coming, I would say is very high, and we continue to be very optimistic about how that will evolve through the year. Our right to win on every one of these projects, plus, you know, ones that are coming, I would say is very high, and we continue to be very optimistic about how that will evolve through the year. our right to win on every one of these projects plus you know ones that are coming i would say is very high and we continue to be very optimistic about how that will evolve through the year

Speaker 1: Yeah, no, that's helpful. Look, I think if there is a bear case on commercial nuclear, it's that it's very long dated, right? Like, and that it just takes time to develop, and so that's why kind of we ask you these kind of questions. So I'll ask you, you know, 'cause you've gone to nuclear and safety being flattish in Q1, so then I get the question, well, you know- Yeah, no, that's helpful. yeah no that's helpful Look, I think if there is a bear case on commercial nuclear, it's that it's very long dated, right? look i think if there is a bear case on commercial nuclear it's that it's very long dated right Like, and that it just takes time to develop, and so that's why kind of we ask you these kind of questions. like and that it just takes time to develop and so that's why kind of we ask you these kind of questions So I'll ask you, you know, 'cause you've gone to nuclear and safety being flattish in Q1, so then I get the question, well, you know- so i'll ask you you know 'cause you've gone to nuclear and safety being flattish in q1 so then i get the question well you know-

Speaker 2: Sure Sure sure

Speaker 1: ... is that because it's such a long-dated business? Well, and everybody knows that labs is weak, you know, in Q1 still and all that kind of stuff, but they still kind of say, because I think, what, 75%-plus of the business is- ... is that because it's such a long-dated business? is that because it's such a long-dated business Well, and everybody knows that labs is weak, you know, in Q1 still and all that kind of stuff, but they still kind of say, because I think, what, 75%- plus of the business is- well and everybody knows that labs is weak you know in q1 still and all that kind of stuff but they still kind of say because i think what 75%- plus of the business is-

Speaker 2: Mm-hmm Mm-hmm mm-hmm

Speaker 1: ... replacement or recurring or whatever. So how can it be flat? Like, why is there a sensors co- ... replacement or recurring or whatever. replacement or recurring or whatever So how can it be flat? so how can it be flat Like, why is there a sensors co- like why is there a sensors co-

Speaker 2: Let, let- Let, let- let let-

Speaker 1: You know You know you know

Speaker 2: Let me give you an optimistic perspective. Let me give you an optimistic perspective. let me give you an optimistic perspective

Speaker 1: I love optimism. I love optimism. i love optimism

Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah. yeah

Speaker 1: I am optimistic. I am optimistic. i am optimistic

Speaker 2: So- So- so-

Speaker 1: I got a- I got a- i got a-

Speaker 2: ... that business we have has pretty much the exact same backlog going into last year- ... that business we have has pretty much the exact same backlog going into last year- that business we have has pretty much the exact same backlog going into last year-

Speaker 1: Mm Mm mm

Speaker 2: ... as we have going into this year. So we don't have. Our backlog's not down, and we need orders- ... as we have going into this year. as we have going into this year So we don't have. so we don't have Our backlog's not down, and we need orders- our backlog's not down and we need orders-

Speaker 3: In terms of coverage. In terms of coverage. in terms of coverage

Speaker 2: Coverage and dollars, actually. Coverage and dollars, actually. coverage and dollars actually

Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. yeah Yeah. yeah

Speaker 2: So we are, you know, so it's all about timing in- So we are, you know, so it's all about timing in- so we are you know so it's all about timing in-

Speaker 1: Right Right right

Speaker 2: ... in that business. When do things need to be delivered? When do we manufacture those? That business inherently, by the way, comes with amazing operating leverage. ... in that business. in that business When do things need to be delivered? when do things need to be delivered When do we manufacture those? when do we manufacture those That business inherently, by the way, comes with amazing operating leverage. that business inherently by the way comes with amazing operating leverage

Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah. yeah

Speaker 2: You know, those things play into when we're able to make product, when we're able to deliver product, and then what that does to our margins and our revenue in the first quarter. You know, those things play into when we're able to make product, when we're able to deliver product, and then what that does to our margins and our revenue in the first quarter. you know those things play into when we're able to make product when we're able to deliver product and then what that does to our margins and our revenue in the first quarter

Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah. yeah

Speaker 2: It just happens last first quarter, we had major product come in in delivery, and the dynamics, you know, a little bit later in the year this year versus what we saw last year. So it's just timing. This isn't a, you know, the quarter-to-quarter dynamics can evolve and change in the business. It just happens last first quarter, we had major product come in in delivery, and the dynamics, you know, a little bit later in the year this year versus what we saw last year. it just happens last first quarter we had major product come in in delivery and the dynamics you know a little bit later in the year this year versus what we saw last year So it's just timing. so it's just timing This isn't a, you know, the quarter-to-quarter dynamics can evolve and change in the business. this isn't a you know the quarter-to-quarter dynamics can evolve and change in the business

Speaker 1: Yeah Yeah yeah

Speaker 2: ... you know, especially underneath the business. It's not something Tom and I are particularly worried about. ... you know, especially underneath the business. you know especially underneath the business It's not something Tom and I are particularly worried about. it's not something tom and i are particularly worried about

Speaker 1: Tom, I'm sure you talk to customers all the time, so, like, you've been consistently saying since I've known you, right, basically, install base, double-digit growth, very possible, if not likely. Is that still what you see in the install base? Tom, I'm sure you talk to customers all the time, so, like, you've been consistently saying since I've known you, right, basically, install base, double-digit growth, very possible, if not likely. tom i'm sure you talk to customers all the time so like you've been consistently saying since i've known you right basically install base double-digit growth very possible if not likely Is that still what you see in the install base? is that still what you see in the install base

Speaker 3: Absolutely. Andy, so if we look at last year, our organic growth in the nuclear business was 11%. Absolutely. absolutely Andy, so if we look at last year, our organic growth in the nuclear business was 11%. andy so if we look at last year our organic growth in the nuclear business was 11%

Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah. yeah

Speaker 3: We also acquired a company called Paragon Energy Solutions last year, and they're, in many respects, more of a leading indicator in terms of what that dynamic is within the installed base. Last year, they grew organically at 20%. We also acquired a company called Paragon Energy Solutions last year, and they're, in many respects, more of a leading indicator in terms of what that dynamic is within the installed base. we also acquired a company called paragon energy solutions last year and they're in many respects more of a leading indicator in terms of what that dynamic is within the installed base Last year, they grew organically at 20%. last year they grew organically at 20%

Speaker 1: Mm. Mm. mm

Speaker 3: This year, we expect they'll grow at 25%. So, yeah, the fundamentals driving that I think are very, very clear. That, the combination of very strong economic incentives plus what I would characterize as an increasing level of political pressure- This year, we expect they'll grow at 25%. this year we expect they'll grow at 25% So, yeah, the fundamentals driving that I think are very, very clear. so yeah the fundamentals driving that i think are very very clear That, the combination of very strong economic incentives plus what I would characterize as an increasing level of political pressure- that the combination of very strong economic incentives plus what i would characterize as an increasing level of political pressure-

Speaker 1: Mm-hmm Mm-hmm mm-hmm

Speaker 3: ... is really causing the operators of power plants, not only in the U.S., but on a global basis, to drive toward life extension, capacity operates, and digital modernization. The fundamental mind shift here is that a decade ago, people were thinking about shutting down plants prematurely. ... is really causing the operators of power plants, not only in the U.S., but on a global basis, to drive toward life extension, capacity operates, and digital modernization. is really causing the operators of power plants not only in the u.s but on a global basis to drive toward life extension capacity operates and digital modernization The fundamental mind shift here is that a decade ago, people were thinking about shutting down plants prematurely. the fundamental mind shift here is that a decade ago people were thinking about shutting down plants prematurely

Speaker 1: Mm. Mm. mm

Speaker 3: Now they're thinking, not only how do I life extend an asset for 20 years- Now they're thinking, not only how do I life extend an asset for 20 years- now they're thinking not only how do i life extend an asset for 20 years-

Speaker 1: Mm Mm mm

Speaker 3: ... but many are thinking beyond that, that this could go another 40 years or so, and that's what's driving this accelerating cadence in support for that sector. ... but many are thinking beyond that, that this could go another 40 years or so, and that's what's driving this accelerating cadence in support for that sector. but many are thinking beyond that that this could go another 40 years or so and that's what's driving this accelerating cadence in support for that sector

Speaker 1: Yeah. So Tom, this market, as we know, like, doesn't change that quickly, right? So versus last year when we were sitting here, of those three things that you talked about, has one gotten ahead of the other, accelerated, like, versus your own expectations? Yeah. yeah So Tom, this market, as we know, like, doesn't change that quickly, right? so tom this market as we know like doesn't change that quickly right So versus last year when we were sitting here, of those three things that you talked about, has one gotten ahead of the other, accelerated, like, versus your own expectations? so versus last year when we were sitting here of those three things that you talked about has one gotten ahead of the other accelerated like versus your own expectations

Speaker 3: Well, what I would say is they're all accelerating, but they're accelerating at different rates- Well, what I would say is they're all accelerating, but they're accelerating at different rates- well what i would say is they're all accelerating but they're accelerating at different rates-

Speaker 1: Mm-hmm Mm-hmm mm-hmm

Speaker 3: ... as, as they will. You know, so again, if you look at the install base, I think, I think Paragon, which, largely, is in support of that, the operating fleet in the U.S., so it's a very clear indication that, that that market is strong and, and arguably accelerating. If you look at the small modular reactor market, last year, we booked $37 million of orders in SMRs. Prior to that, our cumulative total orders in the SMRs were $17 million. So again, it shows you that, the activity in that market is picking up. ... as, as they will. as as they will You know, so again, if you look at the install base, I think, I think Paragon, which, largely, is in support of that, the operating fleet in the U.S., so it's a very clear indication that, that that market is strong and, and arguably accelerating. you know so again if you look at the install base i think i think paragon which largely is in support of that the operating fleet in the u.s so it's a very clear indication that that that market is strong and and arguably accelerating If you look at the small modular reactor market, last year, we booked $37 million of orders in SMRs. if you look at the small modular reactor market last year we booked $37 million of orders in smrs Prior to that, our cumulative total orders in the SMRs were $17 million. prior to that our cumulative total orders in the smrs were $17 million So again, it shows you that, the activity in that market is picking up. so again it shows you that the activity in that market is picking up And then finally, if you look at utility scale, last year, we signed a deal with EDF that will take us in as a sole source supplier in the next eight to 14 reactors they'll then build in France as well as the export market. We are very close to all of the other leading reactor designers, Westinghouse, you know, the broad base of international suppliers. And through any lens that you, where you look at the development plans for gigawatt scale nuclear reactors, it's moving up into the right. Different rate, but it's, you know, all ultimately leads to that recurring and repeat revenue base that that really drives that business for us. And then finally, if you look at utility scale, last year, we signed a deal with EDF that will take us in as a sole source supplier in the next eight to 14 reactors they'll then build in France as well as the export market. and then finally if you look at utility scale last year we signed a deal with edf that will take us in as a sole source supplier in the next eight to 14 reactors they'll then build in france as well as the export market We are very close to all of the other leading reactor designers, Westinghouse, you know, the broad base of international suppliers. we are very close to all of the other leading reactor designers westinghouse you know the broad base of international suppliers And through any lens that you, where you look at the development plans for gigawatt scale nuclear reactors, it's moving up into the right. and through any lens that you where you look at the development plans for gigawatt scale nuclear reactors it's moving up into the right Different rate, but it's, you know, all ultimately leads to that recurring and repeat revenue base that that really drives that business for us. different rate but it's you know all ultimately leads to that recurring and repeat revenue base that that really drives that business for us

Speaker 1: Just because I know you're always talking to your customers, for instance, EDF or Westinghouse, are they starting to move more now, like, would you say? Just because I know you're always talking to your customers, for instance, EDF or Westinghouse, are they starting to move more now, like, would you say? just because i know you're always talking to your customers for instance edf or westinghouse are they starting to move more now like would you say

Speaker 3: They're moving at a very rapid pace. So again, if you look at the development plans, I think one of the broader issues is going to be resource constraints. They're moving at a very rapid pace. they're moving at a very rapid pace So again, if you look at the development plans, I think one of the broader issues is going to be resource constraints. so again if you look at the development plans i think one of the broader issues is going to be resource constraints

Speaker 1: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. mm-hmm

Speaker 3: You know, it's clear that from a policy standpoint here in the U.S., there is a strong incentive to build 10 new Westinghouse AP1000s. Two to three years ago, that was not in the cards. So that is a substantial change overall and the support to go with that. If you look at what's happening in France, there are tangible plans for the next three EPRs in France, many more from an export standpoint. And if you look more globally, again, at the line of sight to projects in Poland, in North Africa, in the Arab Gulf region, and potentially in the Ukraine, as and when a peace settlement is achieved. You know, I'm very, very bullish about what that looks like. You know, it's clear that from a policy standpoint here in the U.S., there is a strong incentive to build 10 new Westinghouse AP1000s. you know it's clear that from a policy standpoint here in the u.s there is a strong incentive to build 10 new westinghouse ap1000s Two to three years ago, that was not in the cards. two to three years ago that was not in the cards So that is a substantial change overall and the support to go with that. so that is a substantial change overall and the support to go with that If you look at what's happening in France, there are tangible plans for the next three EPRs in France, many more from an export standpoint. if you look at what's happening in france there are tangible plans for the next three eprs in france many more from an export standpoint And if you look more globally, again, at the line of sight to projects in Poland, in North Africa, in the Arab Gulf region, and potentially in the Ukraine, as and when a peace settlement is achieved. and if you look more globally again at the line of sight to projects in poland in north africa in the arab gulf region and potentially in the ukraine as and when a peace settlement is achieved You know, I'm very, very bullish about what that looks like. you know i'm very very bullish about what that looks like

Speaker 2: Yeah, and I, I just real quick, just to add, Andy, before you go on. First off, we've already seen, albeit small, but orders on the French side- Yeah, and I, I just real quick, just to add, Andy, before you go on. yeah and i i just real quick just to add andy before you go on First off, we've already seen, albeit small, but orders on the French side- first off we've already seen albeit small but orders on the french side-

Speaker 1: Yeah Yeah yeah

Speaker 2: ... on the new reactors. ... on the new reactors. on the new reactors

Speaker 1: Right. Right. right

Speaker 2: Right. So these aren't huge, but you're starting to see some spend trickle in. Right. right So these aren't huge, but you're starting to see some spend trickle in. so these aren't huge but you're starting to see some spend trickle in

Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah. yeah

Speaker 2: I think that's important is as we look at our new build opportunity from a pipeline standpoint, you know, there's zero in there for AP1000s in the U.S. I think that's important is as we look at our new build opportunity from a pipeline standpoint, you know, there's zero in there for AP1000s in the U.S. i think that's important is as we look at our new build opportunity from a pipeline standpoint you know there's zero in there for ap1000s in the u.s

Speaker 1: Mm. Mm. mm

Speaker 2: Everything we're looking at on the new build side at a large scale is outside the U.S. So I think that's important. Everything we're looking at on the new build side at a large scale is outside the U.S. everything we're looking at on the new build side at a large scale is outside the u.s So I think that's important. so i think that's important

Speaker 1: Yeah. Exciting. Yeah. yeah Exciting. exciting

Speaker 2: Now, we're not banking on that coming through this year, but if it does, it's not in our plans. Now, we're not banking on that coming through this year, but if it does, it's not in our plans. now we're not banking on that coming through this year but if it does it's not in our plans

Speaker 1: And then your commentary on SMRs, Tom, like, so, I mean, is that a function? Obviously, I think Paragon has good exposure to SMRs, so maybe that helps you a bit more. But, you know, do we start to burn revenue on SMRs then in two years, something like that? Like, how do we think about when that $37 million is gonna turn into something bigger in revenue? And then your commentary on SMRs, Tom, like, so, I mean, is that a function? and then your commentary on smrs tom like so i mean is that a function Obviously, I think Paragon has good exposure to SMRs, so maybe that helps you a bit more. obviously i think paragon has good exposure to smrs so maybe that helps you a bit more But, you know, do we start to burn revenue on SMRs then in two years, something like that? but you know do we start to burn revenue on smrs then in two years something like that Like, how do we think about when that $37 million is gonna turn into something bigger in revenue? like how do we think about when that $37 million is gonna turn into something bigger in revenue

Speaker 3: So, you know, what I would say is that I, I continue to be surprised and delighted by the, the dynamic in the, in the space right now. It is, to your point, with the acquisition of Paragon, our coverage of the, the, you know, the broad-based SMR population, which numbers well over 100, discrete projects in the world. But in particular, if you look at the best capitalized, most likely to succeed in terms of technological readiness level, you know, we nearly run the tables with that group in terms of where we have exposure and a, and a very high level of engagement, and it's in a comprehensive fashion. And so the activity there is considerable. So, you know, what I would say is that I, I continue to be surprised and delighted by the, the dynamic in the, in the space right now. so you know what i would say is that i i continue to be surprised and delighted by the the dynamic in the in the space right now It is, to your point, with the acquisition of Paragon, our coverage of the, the, you know, the broad-based SMR population, which numbers well over 100, discrete projects in the world. it is to your point with the acquisition of paragon our coverage of the the you know the broad-based smr population which numbers well over 100 discrete projects in the world But in particular, if you look at the best capitalized, most likely to succeed in terms of technological readiness level, you know, we nearly run the tables with that group in terms of where we have exposure and a, and a very high level of engagement, and it's in a comprehensive fashion. but in particular if you look at the best capitalized most likely to succeed in terms of technological readiness level you know we nearly run the tables with that group in terms of where we have exposure and a and a very high level of engagement and it's in a comprehensive fashion And so the activity there is considerable. and so the activity there is considerable To be clear, I think we'll go through a cycle here, where right now, all of the focus is on first-of-a-kind instances of these reactor types, much of which will be developed as they are being built- To be clear, I think we'll go through a cycle here, where right now, all of the focus is on first-of-a-kind instances of these reactor types, much of which will be developed as they are being built- to be clear i think we'll go through a cycle here where right now all of the focus is on first-of-a-kind instances of these reactor types much of which will be developed as they are being built-

Speaker 1: Mm Mm mm

Speaker 3: In terms of, you know, the comprehensive specs. Invariably, I think most would expect there will be some type of shakeout in this market where the true long-term leaders will begin to emerge. I expect we'll see it, you know, continue to build up. As these first-of-a-kind events happen, I expect we'll begin to see them gain better insights at that point in terms of what the long-term arc of development looks like and who's going to lead it. In terms of, you know, the comprehensive specs. in terms of you know the comprehensive specs Invariably, I think most would expect there will be some type of shakeout in this market where the true long-term leaders will begin to emerge. invariably i think most would expect there will be some type of shakeout in this market where the true long-term leaders will begin to emerge I expect we'll see it, you know, continue to build up. i expect we'll see it you know continue to build up As these first-of-a-kind events happen, I expect we'll begin to see them gain better insights at that point in terms of what the long-term arc of development looks like and who's going to lead it. as these first-of-a-kind events happen i expect we'll begin to see them gain better insights at that point in terms of what the long-term arc of development looks like and who's going to lead it

Speaker 1: If I were just being an analyst, I'd plug like, you know, if it's 1,737, I might say like 90 or something like that. Should I do that? If I were just being an analyst, I'd plug like, you know, if it's 1,737, I might say like 90 or something like that. if i were just being an analyst i'd plug like you know if it's 1,737 i might say like 90 or something like that Should I do that? should i do that

Speaker 2: No, we're not gonna give their number, but- No, we're not gonna give their number, but- no we're not gonna give their number but-

Speaker 3: Yeah, beware of linear extrapolation. Yeah, beware of linear extrapolation. yeah beware of linear extrapolation

Speaker 1: Okay. All right, fair. Okay. okay All right, fair. all right fair

Speaker 2: But there are, I will say, you know, there is SMR in that large order pipeline, for sure. But there are, I will say, you know, there is SMR in that large order pipeline, for sure. but there are i will say you know there is smr in that large order pipeline for sure

Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah. yeah

Speaker 2: Including the one we won in January. Including the one we won in January. including the one we won in january

Speaker 1: The $10 million. The $10 million. the $10 million

Speaker 2: I mean- I mean- i mean-

Speaker 1: Right Right right

Speaker 2: ... you know, we're seeing some. ... you know, we're seeing some. you know we're seeing some

Speaker 1: 90, here we come. Okay, sorry, I'm just kidding. So then I did wanna ask you about Paragon a little bit more because we're still learning it as it's now being incorporated in the business, and you mentioned 25% growth. So where is that coming from? Because it is growing faster- 90, here we come. 90 here we come Okay, sorry, I'm just kidding. okay sorry i'm just kidding So then I did wanna ask you about Paragon a little bit more because we're still learning it as it's now being incorporated in the business, and you mentioned 25% growth. so then i did wanna ask you about paragon a little bit more because we're still learning it as it's now being incorporated in the business and you mentioned 25% growth So where is that coming from? so where is that coming from Because it is growing faster- because it is growing faster-

Speaker 3: Yeah Yeah yeah

Speaker 1: ... than your core business. ... than your core business. than your core business

Speaker 3: Yeah, so the core business of Paragon is really replacement parts for the operating fleet in North America, which, you know, increasingly is confronted with part obsolescence issues and supply chain constraints. Their core expertise is in fabricating and/or sourcing electromechanical parts to support the operating fleet. And so as, again, these operators are trying to run at higher capacity factors to operate their reactors, life extend, and modernize, there's an increase in call for what they do overall. But importantly, on top of that, they also have a very strong position in instrumentation and control, which is extremely complementary. Yeah, so the core business of Paragon is really replacement parts for the operating fleet in North America, which, you know, increasingly is confronted with part obsolescence issues and supply chain constraints. yeah so the core business of paragon is really replacement parts for the operating fleet in north america which you know increasingly is confronted with part obsolescence issues and supply chain constraints Their core expertise is in fabricating and/or sourcing electromechanical parts to support the operating fleet. their core expertise is in fabricating and/or sourcing electromechanical parts to support the operating fleet And so as, again, these operators are trying to run at higher capacity factors to operate their reactors, life extend, and modernize, there's an increase in call for what they do overall. and so as again these operators are trying to run at higher capacity factors to operate their reactors life extend and modernize there's an increase in call for what they do overall But importantly, on top of that, they also have a very strong position in instrumentation and control, which is extremely complementary. but importantly on top of that they also have a very strong position in instrumentation and control which is extremely complementary

Speaker 1: Mm. Mm. mm

Speaker 3: with our core capabilities, and really kind of bolsters our position. If you think of this as the central nervous system of a nuclear power plant, which is very important strategically as we look ahead and think about the evolution and augmentation of those capabilities, is something that'll be very, very important to us longer term. with our core capabilities, and really kind of bolsters our position. with our core capabilities and really kind of bolsters our position If you think of this as the central nervous system of a nuclear power plant, which is very important strategically as we look ahead and think about the evolution and augmentation of those capabilities, is something that'll be very, very important to us longer term. if you think of this as the central nervous system of a nuclear power plant which is very important strategically as we look ahead and think about the evolution and augmentation of those capabilities is something that'll be very very important to us longer term

Speaker 1: Got it. That's helpful. And then I, I wanted to ask you about margins in nuclear and safety, 'cause they did tick up, 40 basis points, 29.4%. It was good to see, but at the same time, you know, maybe more moderate expansion than medical, despite more growth. So, you know, what's going on there, and how are you thinking about the portfolio for margins in, that side of the business? Got it. got it That's helpful. that's helpful And then I, I wanted to ask you about margins in nuclear and safety, 'cause they did tick up, 40 basis points, 29.4%. and then i i wanted to ask you about margins in nuclear and safety 'cause they did tick up 40 basis points 29.4% It was good to see, but at the same time, you know, maybe more moderate expansion than medical, despite more growth. it was good to see but at the same time you know maybe more moderate expansion than medical despite more growth So, you know, what's going on there, and how are you thinking about the portfolio for margins in, that side of the business? so you know what's going on there and how are you thinking about the portfolio for margins in that side of the business

Speaker 3: Yeah, what, what I would say is a bit as expected, you know, a couple of headwinds. Firstly, you know, if you look at the aggregate organic growth in that space, again, given the relative weakness of the lab space overall, you know, one of the key drivers of margin expansion is absorption. Yeah, what, what I would say is a bit as expected, you know, a couple of headwinds. yeah what what i would say is a bit as expected you know a couple of headwinds Firstly, you know, if you look at the aggregate organic growth in that space, again, given the relative weakness of the lab space overall, you know, one of the key drivers of margin expansion is absorption. firstly you know if you look at the aggregate organic growth in that space again given the relative weakness of the lab space overall you know one of the key drivers of margin expansion is absorption

Speaker 1: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. mm-hmm

Speaker 3: We lever very, very well with volume. Higher the volume, the more margin expansion drive we get out of that. In addition, you had tariffs, which was a new headwind overall. We're actually quite pleased with the margin expansion, which, in the main, was driven by procurement optimization, and we think there's a lot of gas in the tank. As we look ahead, you know, we've talked a lot about our commitment to drive toward 30% EBITDA margins by 2028. Continue to feel good about that as a target. To be clear, it's not gonna be a gimme putt. We have a lot of work to do to get from here to there. But the way we get there is, again, through absorption, through continued optimization of procurement, conversion, distribution capabilities, and importantly, increasingly through AI. We lever very, very well with volume. we lever very very well with volume Higher the volume, the more margin expansion drive we get out of that. higher the volume the more margin expansion drive we get out of that In addition, you had tariffs, which was a new headwind overall. in addition you had tariffs which was a new headwind overall We're actually quite pleased with the margin expansion, which, in the main, was driven by procurement optimization, and we think there's a lot of gas in the tank. we're actually quite pleased with the margin expansion which in the main was driven by procurement optimization and we think there's a lot of gas in the tank As we look ahead, you know, we've talked a lot about our commitment to drive toward 30% EBITDA margins by 2028. as we look ahead you know we've talked a lot about our commitment to drive toward 30% ebitda margins by 2028 Continue to feel good about that as a target. continue to feel good about that as a target To be clear, it's not gonna be a gimme putt. to be clear it's not gonna be a gimme putt We have a lot of work to do to get from here to there. we have a lot of work to do to get from here to there But the way we get there is, again, through absorption, through continued optimization of procurement, conversion, distribution capabilities, and importantly, increasingly through AI. but the way we get there is again through absorption through continued optimization of procurement conversion distribution capabilities and importantly increasingly through ai Which, I think, you know, I think the consciousness, particularly within the industrial tech sector, is rapidly rising, particularly, you know, in the wake of the release of Claude Code, as people begin to understand how profound the implications of AI will be on internal productivity, you know, holding aside customer-facing AI. So, you know, we have many arrows in the quiver. We are hyper-committed to that, driving hard internally, and feel that we've got a pathway to get there. Which, I think, you know, I think the consciousness, particularly within the industrial tech sector, is rapidly rising, particularly, you know, in the wake of the release of Claude Code, as people begin to understand how profound the implications of AI will be on internal productivity, you know, holding aside customer-facing AI. which i think you know i think the consciousness particularly within the industrial tech sector is rapidly rising particularly you know in the wake of the release of claude code as people begin to understand how profound the implications of ai will be on internal productivity you know holding aside customer-facing ai So, you know, we have many arrows in the quiver. so you know we have many arrows in the quiver We are hyper-committed to that, driving hard internally, and feel that we've got a pathway to get there. we are hyper-committed to that driving hard internally and feel that we've got a pathway to get there

Speaker 1: So I wanted to... I mean, that was kind of my next question about the 30%. You still feel like you can do it, even though Paragon is gonna maybe dilute you right, you know, before it gets better, like, yeah? So I wanted to... so i wanted to I mean, that was kind of my next question about the 30%. i mean that was kind of my next question about the 30% You still feel like you can do it, even though Paragon is gonna maybe dilute you right, you know, before it gets better, like, yeah? you still feel like you can do it even though paragon is gonna maybe dilute you right you know before it gets better like yeah

Speaker 3: We do, you know, for all the reasons I just articulated, as well as the fact that, you know, we have a long history. We've done nearly 20 acquisitions in the last decade. We do, you know, for all the reasons I just articulated, as well as the fact that, you know, we have a long history. we do you know for all the reasons i just articulated as well as the fact that you know we have a long history We've done nearly 20 acquisitions in the last decade. we've done nearly 20 acquisitions in the last decade

Speaker 1: Mm. Mm. mm

Speaker 3: And if you're to look at our scorecard in terms of driving margin expansion, it's, you know, a very solid record. We have, again, a strong view regarding our ability to make Paragon, firstly, margin neutral, and then ultimately margin accretive, and I think we can drive that, you know, at a good clip. So yes, that has an effect on our pathway overall, but on the other hand, you know, the tailwinds that support that broader target continue to be real viable, and I think get us there. And if you're to look at our scorecard in terms of driving margin expansion, it's, you know, a very solid record. and if you're to look at our scorecard in terms of driving margin expansion it's you know a very solid record We have, again, a strong view regarding our ability to make Paragon, firstly, margin neutral, and then ultimately margin accretive, and I think we can drive that, you know, at a good clip. we have again a strong view regarding our ability to make paragon firstly margin neutral and then ultimately margin accretive and i think we can drive that you know at a good clip So yes, that has an effect on our pathway overall, but on the other hand, you know, the tailwinds that support that broader target continue to be real viable, and I think get us there. so yes that has an effect on our pathway overall but on the other hand you know the tailwinds that support that broader target continue to be real viable and i think get us there

Speaker 2: Maybe just to add some, a proof point to that. Maybe just to add some, a proof point to that. maybe just to add some a proof point to that

Speaker 3: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. mm-hmm

Speaker 2: I mean, Paragon to me reminds me of Sun Nuclear when we bought it back in 2020. I mean, Paragon to me reminds me of Sun Nuclear when we bought it back in 2020. i mean paragon to me reminds me of sun nuclear when we bought it back in 2020

Speaker 3: Mm. Mm. mm

Speaker 2: Almost the exact same setup, candidly. It's a $100 million business in the low 20s EBITDA. Almost the exact same setup, candidly. almost the exact same setup candidly It's a $100 million business in the low 20s EBITDA. it's a $100 million business in the low 20s ebitda

Speaker 3: Mm. Mm. mm

Speaker 2: Today, it's more than $150 million, but the EBITDA margins are in the mid-30s. Today, it's more than $150 million, but the EBITDA margins are in the mid-30s. today it's more than $150 million but the ebitda margins are in the mid-30s

Speaker 3: Mm. Mm. mm

Speaker 2: Yeah, that's pretty good expansion- Yeah, that's pretty good expansion- yeah that's pretty good expansion-

Speaker 1: Yeah Yeah yeah

Speaker 2: ... in five years, candidly. And it's really just about, you know, operating discipline, you know, levering on the fixed cost base you have, making sure you're pushing price, we're doing the procurement synergies, et cetera. So there, there's a lot of parallels here, and, I think, you know, if you want proof, you know, well, let's look at history and see what we've done on an asset that's, you know, fairly similar in size and scale. ... in five years, candidly. in five years candidly And it's really just about, you know, operating discipline, you know, levering on the fixed cost base you have, making sure you're pushing price, we're doing the procurement synergies, et cetera. and it's really just about you know operating discipline you know levering on the fixed cost base you have making sure you're pushing price we're doing the procurement synergies et cetera So there, there's a lot of parallels here, and, I think, you know, if you want proof, you know, well, let's look at history and see what we've done on an asset that's, you know, fairly similar in size and scale. so there there's a lot of parallels here and i think you know if you want proof you know well let's look at history and see what we've done on an asset that's you know fairly similar in size and scale

Speaker 1: Yeah. So I want to open up to the audience, but, you've talked about AI a few times, so let's just talk about it. So first of all, I think, you know, you and I have talked about AI long ago now. I think you have a particular interest in AI and sort of what it does for the company. So maybe you can talk about sort of the initiatives you've had to sort of drive, as you've said, productivity internally and stuff, 'cause I, I think you've been sort of early to that. But then also, you know I get the question about disruption, right? So how are you protecting Mirion from disruption? Maybe can you tell us how much software exposure you really have, so we can clear all that up? Yeah. yeah So I want to open up to the audience, but, you've talked about AI a few times, so let's just talk about it. so i want to open up to the audience but you've talked about ai a few times so let's just talk about it So first of all, I think, you know, you and I have talked about AI long ago now. so first of all i think you know you and i have talked about ai long ago now I think you have a particular interest in AI and sort of what it does for the company. i think you have a particular interest in ai and sort of what it does for the company So maybe you can talk about sort of the initiatives you've had to sort of drive, as you've said, productivity internally and stuff, 'cause I, I think you've been sort of early to that. so maybe you can talk about sort of the initiatives you've had to sort of drive as you've said productivity internally and stuff 'cause i i think you've been sort of early to that But then also, you know I get the question about disruption, right? So how are you protecting Mirion from disruption? but then also you know i get the question about disruption right so how are you protecting mirion from disruption Maybe can you tell us how much software exposure you really have, so we can clear all that up? maybe can you tell us how much software exposure you really have so we can clear all that up

Speaker 3: Okay. Okay. okay

Speaker 1: Mm. Mm. mm

Speaker 3: So firstly, in terms of how I think about AI, you know, I really view it in two channels, the internal channel and the customer-facing channel overall. As we look at the internal channel, last year we launched 17 internal AI applications with another seven in development, and they're all over the map, ranging from the ability to, you know, take a 100-page RFQ and ingest the data and optimize a design layout for radiation monitoring system, to translation, to legal support, contractual review, all over the map. But clear, immediate, and tangible impact on productivity overall. The funnel for those internal applications continues to swell, and the enabling tools, particularly as we think about Claude Code and the other functional derivatives of that in the market, almost make your head spin. So firstly, in terms of how I think about AI, you know, I really view it in two channels, the internal channel and the customer-facing channel overall. so firstly in terms of how i think about ai you know i really view it in two channels the internal channel and the customer-facing channel overall As we look at the internal channel, last year we launched 17 internal AI applications with another seven in development, and they're all over the map, ranging from the ability to, you know, take a 100-page RFQ and ingest the data and optimize a design layout for radiation monitoring system, to translation, to legal support, contractual review, all over the map. as we look at the internal channel last year we launched 17 internal ai applications with another seven in development and they're all over the map ranging from the ability to you know take a 100-page rfq and ingest the data and optimize a design layout for radiation monitoring system to translation to legal support contractual review all over the map But clear, immediate, and tangible impact on productivity overall. but clear immediate and tangible impact on productivity overall The funnel for those internal applications continues to swell, and the enabling tools, particularly as we think about Claude Code and the other functional derivatives of that in the market, almost make your head spin. the funnel for those internal applications continues to swell and the enabling tools particularly as we think about claude code and the other functional derivatives of that in the market almost make your head spin I think we're all trying to understand it, we're all trying to get our heads around the implications. This is a major, major theme, not only for Mirion, but for all of industrial tech, and I would argue for equities in general. The productivity and margin accretion that will accrue from this, and accrue far more quickly than people believe, is profound. On the customer-facing side, you know, I wanna be a little bit careful about what I say, but I'll just give some thematic guide in terms of how we think about it. I think we're all trying to understand it, we're all trying to get our heads around the implications. i think we're all trying to understand it we're all trying to get our heads around the implications This is a major, major theme, not only for Mirion, but for all of industrial tech, and I would argue for equities in general. this is a major major theme not only for mirion but for all of industrial tech and i would argue for equities in general The productivity and margin accretion that will accrue from this, and accrue far more quickly than people believe, is profound. the productivity and margin accretion that will accrue from this and accrue far more quickly than people believe is profound On the customer-facing side, you know, I wanna be a little bit careful about what I say, but I'll just give some thematic guide in terms of how we think about it. on the customer-facing side you know i wanna be a little bit careful about what i say but i'll just give some thematic guide in terms of how we think about it Very tangible example is that we bought a company called Certrec last year, which has essentially 100% share of outsourced regulatory and compliance support in the American nuclear industry, and in addition, they're a material player in the bulk electrical grid in general. They deliver the support in the main through a SaaS software platform that they developed over the span of a decade or so. And importantly, they possess 15 TB of historical data. Every filing, every design drawing ever made for any nuclear power plant in the U.S.. And so they are better at guiding compliance efforts, both routine and episodic in nuclear power than candidly many of the fleet operators as well. Very tangible example is that we bought a company called Certrec last year, which has essentially 100% share of outsourced regulatory and compliance support in the American nuclear industry, and in addition, they're a material player in the bulk electrical grid in general. very tangible example is that we bought a company called certrec last year which has essentially 100% share of outsourced regulatory and compliance support in the american nuclear industry and in addition they're a material player in the bulk electrical grid in general They deliver the support in the main through a SaaS software platform that they developed over the span of a decade or so. they deliver the support in the main through a saas software platform that they developed over the span of a decade or so And importantly, they possess 15 TB of historical data. and importantly they possess 15 tb of historical data Every filing, every design drawing ever made for any nuclear power plant in the U.S.. every filing every design drawing ever made for any nuclear power plant in the u.s And so they are better at guiding compliance efforts, both routine and episodic in nuclear power than candidly many of the fleet operators as well. and so they are better at guiding compliance efforts both routine and episodic in nuclear power than candidly many of the fleet operators as well I think it's intuitive when you think about what that data set looks like, the leverage that we will gain from ingesting that data and essentially AI-enabling that, which will allow us to serve our customers better, provide greater utility to them, and improve operating efficiency overall. The other theme I would throw out there is, again, just keying on the integration of Mirion and Paragon, as we think about that central nervous system of nuclear power plants. It's very clear, and we've done a lot of work on physics-constrained neural networks and neural radiance and computer vision that support this overall. I think it's intuitive when you think about what that data set looks like, the leverage that we will gain from ingesting that data and essentially AI-enabling that, which will allow us to serve our customers better, provide greater utility to them, and improve operating efficiency overall. i think it's intuitive when you think about what that data set looks like the leverage that we will gain from ingesting that data and essentially ai-enabling that which will allow us to serve our customers better provide greater utility to them and improve operating efficiency overall The other theme I would throw out there is, again, just keying on the integration of Mirion and Paragon, as we think about that central nervous system of nuclear power plants. the other theme i would throw out there is again just keying on the integration of mirion and paragon as we think about that central nervous system of nuclear power plants It's very clear, and we've done a lot of work on physics-constrained neural networks and neural radiance and computer vision that support this overall. it's very clear and we've done a lot of work on physics-constrained neural networks and neural radiance and computer vision that support this overall But the evolving theme of being able to take our native position in the installed base, in terms of installed instrumentation and detectors, and to leverage that ultimately to help our customers to gain more thermal output out of their power plants, to reduce downtime, to potentially help with load balancing, all of those things are very, very clear. And those are examples of the things that we are focused on as we look ahead, but to be clear, there are many, many more. Now, in terms of our exposure, from a software standpoint, you know, recognizing the, you know, the big revaluation of the cloud-based software players here overall, I think there's an important distinction here. Firstly, our software exposure overall is- But the evolving theme of being able to take our native position in the installed base, in terms of installed instrumentation and detectors, and to leverage that ultimately to help our customers to gain more thermal output out of their power plants, to reduce downtime, to potentially help with load balancing, all of those things are very, very clear. but the evolving theme of being able to take our native position in the installed base in terms of installed instrumentation and detectors and to leverage that ultimately to help our customers to gain more thermal output out of their power plants to reduce downtime to potentially help with load balancing all of those things are very very clear And those are examples of the things that we are focused on as we look ahead, but to be clear, there are many, many more. and those are examples of the things that we are focused on as we look ahead but to be clear there are many many more Now, in terms of our exposure, from a software standpoint, you know, recognizing the, you know, the big revaluation of the cloud-based software players here overall, I think there's an important distinction here. now in terms of our exposure from a software standpoint you know recognizing the you know the big revaluation of the cloud-based software players here overall i think there's an important distinction here Firstly, our software exposure overall is- firstly our software exposure overall is-

Speaker 2: Like somewhere between 5% and 7%. Like somewhere between 5% and 7%. like somewhere between 5% and 7%

Speaker 3: Yeah, so it's modest and growing, but the key distinction here, and the thing that I think protects us from disruption, again, is that native installed base, where because of the regulatory climate that we compete in, the criticality of safety in not only nuclear power, but really every vertical that we play in, that core platform and connectivity gives us a significant advantage relative to some early-stage company that may come in and say, "Hey, I can do great things with AI. You know, I'd love to, you know, I'd love to play around- Yeah, so it's modest and growing, but the key distinction here, and the thing that I think protects us from disruption, again, is that native installed base, where because of the regulatory climate that we compete in, the criticality of safety in not only nuclear power, but really every vertical that we play in, that core platform and connectivity gives us a significant advantage relative to some early-stage company that may come in and say, "Hey, I can do great things with AI. yeah so it's modest and growing but the key distinction here and the thing that i think protects us from disruption again is that native installed base where because of the regulatory climate that we compete in the criticality of safety in not only nuclear power but really every vertical that we play in that core platform and connectivity gives us a significant advantage relative to some early-stage company that may come in and say "hey i can do great things with ai You know, I'd love to, you know, I'd love to play around- you know i'd love to you know i'd love to play around-

Speaker 2: ... Sure ... sure Sure sure

Speaker 3: in your reactor. in your reactor. in your reactor

Speaker 2: Sure. Sure. sure

Speaker 3: I think there's a big distinction there. I think there's a big distinction there. i think there's a big distinction there

Speaker 2: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. mm-hmm

Speaker 3: That's a really important, not only moat for us, but I think an opportunity for us. That's a really important, not only moat for us, but I think an opportunity for us. that's a really important not only moat for us but i think an opportunity for us

Speaker 1: Tom, to the extent you wanna disclose, like... 'cause again, I think you've been very on top of the efficiency side. Can you give us an example or quantify at all, like, what AI has meant to Mirion in 2025? Or... Tom, to the extent you wanna disclose, like... 'cause again, I think you've been very on top of the efficiency side. tom to the extent you wanna disclose like 'cause again i think you've been very on top of the efficiency side Can you give us an example or quantify at all, like, what AI has meant to Mirion in 2025? can you give us an example or quantify at all like what ai has meant to mirion in 2025 Or... or

Speaker 3: You know, I think the needle's just beginning to move. You know, I think we're all trying to really grasp the implications, not only of AI, but, you know, what we talk about internally is the singularity, the confluence of AI, robotics, and big data, and the leverageability- You know, I think the needle's just beginning to move. you know i think the needle's just beginning to move You know, I think we're all trying to really grasp the implications, not only of AI, but, you know, what we talk about internally is the singularity, the confluence of AI, robotics, and big data, and the leverageability- you know i think we're all trying to really grasp the implications not only of ai but you know what we talk about internally is the singularity the confluence of ai robotics and big data and the leverageability- Of that big data overall. So, you know, in 2025, it's been a really important year for us in terms of how we have advanced our hierarchy of priorities, both internally and externally, how we have developed our capabilities, you know, most dramatically through the naming of our inaugural Chief AI Officer to really drive this effort directly. We've begun to see some productivity benefits, which I think are going to swell in a meaningful fashion over time. So, you know, a year where, again, we moved the needle, but it's just the beginning of what we think will be a rich vein. Of that big data overall. of that big data overall So, you know, in 2025, it's been a really important year for us in terms of how we have advanced our hierarchy of priorities, both internally and externally, how we have developed our capabilities, you know, most dramatically through the naming of our inaugural Chief AI Officer to really drive this effort directly. so you know in 2025 it's been a really important year for us in terms of how we have advanced our hierarchy of priorities both internally and externally how we have developed our capabilities you know most dramatically through the naming of our inaugural chief ai officer to really drive this effort directly We've begun to see some productivity benefits, which I think are going to swell in a meaningful fashion over time. we've begun to see some productivity benefits which i think are going to swell in a meaningful fashion over time So, you know, a year where, again, we moved the needle, but it's just the beginning of what we think will be a rich vein. so you know a year where again we moved the needle but it's just the beginning of what we think will be a rich vein

Speaker 1: Got it. Any audience questions? Anybody want to ask a question? Any questions? Okay, maybe let's move to medical then. Again, here, rebound to mid-single-digit organic that's expected in 2026. Maybe you can sort of talk about that, you know, confidence in getting there. Obviously, you mentioned sort of, you know, the radiation therapy business. Like, do you see the U.S. getting any better on the hardware side, or how do you think about that? Got it. got it Any audience questions? any audience questions Anybody want to ask a question? anybody want to ask a question Any questions? any questions Okay, maybe let's move to medical then. okay maybe let's move to medical then Again, here, rebound to mid-single-digit organic that's expected in 2026. again here rebound to mid-single-digit organic that's expected in 2026 Maybe you can sort of talk about that, you know, confidence in getting there. maybe you can sort of talk about that you know confidence in getting there Obviously, you mentioned sort of, you know, the radiation therapy business. obviously you mentioned sort of you know the radiation therapy business Like, do you see the U.S. getting any better on the hardware side, or how do you think about that? like do you see the u.s getting any better on the hardware side or how do you think about that

Speaker 2: He looked at me, and I'll- He looked at me, and I'll- he looked at me and i'll-

Speaker 3: I'll take it. I'll take it. i'll take it

Speaker 2: No, go ahead. No, go ahead. no go ahead

Speaker 3: You know, what I would say is that, again, you have to start with the macro. And, again, fundamentally, as the population demographic in the U.S. and in the developed world ages, more people are going to get cancer. You know, as we see standards of care rise in the developing world, we're going to see more radiation therapy clinics overall. Specifically, in the U.S., you know, we've been through a disruptive year with DOGE, with healthcare dynamics overall. You know, we assume a degree of normalisation, if not an equilibrium, we expect a degree of normalisation. But importantly, you know, most businesses don't grow in a ratable linear fashion. You know, what I would say is that, again, you have to start with the macro. you know what i would say is that again you have to start with the macro And, again, fundamentally, as the population demographic in the U.S. and in the developed world ages, more people are going to get cancer. You know, as we see standards of care rise in the developing world, we're going to see more radiation therapy clinics overall. and again fundamentally as the population demographic in the u.s and in the developed world ages more people are going to get cancer. you know as we see standards of care rise in the developing world we're going to see more radiation therapy clinics overall Specifically, in the U.S., you know, we've been through a disruptive year with DOGE, with healthcare dynamics overall. specifically in the u.s you know we've been through a disruptive year with doge with healthcare dynamics overall You know, we assume a degree of normalisation, if not an equilibrium, we expect a degree of normalisation. you know we assume a degree of normalisation if not an equilibrium we expect a degree of normalisation But importantly, you know, most businesses don't grow in a ratable linear fashion. but importantly you know most businesses don't grow in a ratable linear fashion

Speaker 2: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. mm-hmm

Speaker 3: You know, they, they grow, plateau, grow, plateau, grow, plateau. And if you were to look at our radiation therapy business, again, which we acquired in 2020, that was their history. You know, long-term CAGR of double digits, but the strongest growth cycles typically correlate with new product launches. And again, noting that services and software in this business were strong last year, this is a year in 2026, where we've got a great new product pipeline. We're very excited about what we're going to launch this year, and we think that'll be another important factor in undergirding that forecast. You know, they, they grow, plateau, grow, plateau, grow, plateau. you know they they grow plateau grow plateau grow plateau And if you were to look at our radiation therapy business, again, which we acquired in 2020, that was their history. and if you were to look at our radiation therapy business again which we acquired in 2020 that was their history You know, long-term CAGR of double digits, but the strongest growth cycles typically correlate with new product launches. you know long-term cagr of double digits but the strongest growth cycles typically correlate with new product launches And again, noting that services and software in this business were strong last year, this is a year in 2026, where we've got a great new product pipeline. and again noting that services and software in this business were strong last year this is a year in 2026 where we've got a great new product pipeline We're very excited about what we're going to launch this year, and we think that'll be another important factor in undergirding that forecast. we're very excited about what we're going to launch this year and we think that'll be another important factor in undergirding that forecast

Speaker 2: Yeah, I think we continue to bolster the team on the commercial side as well. Yeah, I think we continue to bolster the team on the commercial side as well. yeah i think we continue to bolster the team on the commercial side as well You know, we've done some reorganization. Our former Chief Revenue Officer has come back into the business on a full-time basis, running our international business, which has always been a, you know, a epicenter of growth for us. We're very excited to have him back, kind of fully engaged. We have an AI product actually being introduced into the market in the first half of the year, along with a number of new products. You know, I think we're focused on doing the right thing, and I think that'll be beneficial. I would remind you, in the rest of the business, you know, nuclear medicine's gonna grow double digits. That's what we've committed to. It grew double digits last year, and, you know, we have a little bit of a headwind on the dosimetry business this year. We had more hardware sales last year than our services business. You know, we've done some reorganization. you know we've done some reorganization Our former Chief Revenue Officer has come back into the business on a full-time basis, running our international business, which has always been a, you know, a epicenter of growth for us. our former chief revenue officer has come back into the business on a full-time basis running our international business which has always been a you know a epicenter of growth for us We're very excited to have him back, kind of fully engaged. we're very excited to have him back kind of fully engaged We have an AI product actually being introduced into the market in the first half of the year, along with a number of new products. we have an ai product actually being introduced into the market in the first half of the year along with a number of new products You know, I think we're focused on doing the right thing, and I think that'll be beneficial. you know i think we're focused on doing the right thing and i think that'll be beneficial I would remind you, in the rest of the business, you know, nuclear medicine's gonna grow double digits. i would remind you in the rest of the business you know nuclear medicine's gonna grow double digits That's what we've committed to. that's what we've committed to It grew double digits last year, and, you know, we have a little bit of a headwind on the dosimetry business this year. it grew double digits last year and you know we have a little bit of a headwind on the dosimetry business this year We had more hardware sales last year than our services business. we had more hardware sales last year than our services business

Speaker 3: Mm. Mm. mm

Speaker 2: We're lapping that. We just- there- it just- that business, te- it can be a little bit more lumpy. We like the dynamic we're seeing on the InstadoseVUE product ramp. We're actually seeing good inbounds on the nuclear power- from a nuclear power customer base on our InstadoseVUE product, which I think we're encouraged about, but it takes time in that business to see the growth rates go because, you know, you're talking low... You need high quantities at lower dollars from a per badge perspective. Yeah, we're very focused on turning the ship, but we don't want to get too far ahead of ourselves. We're lapping that. we're lapping that We just- there- it just- that business, te- it can be a little bit more lumpy. we just- there- it just- that business te- it can be a little bit more lumpy We like the dynamic we're seeing on the InstadoseVUE product ramp. we like the dynamic we're seeing on the instadosevue product ramp We're actually seeing good inbounds on the nuclear power- from a nuclear power customer base on our InstadoseVUE product, which I think we're encouraged about, but it takes time in that business to see the growth rates go because, you know, you're talking low... we're actually seeing good inbounds on the nuclear power- from a nuclear power customer base on our instadosevue product which i think we're encouraged about but it takes time in that business to see the growth rates go because you know you're talking low You need high quantities at lower dollars from a per badge perspective. you need high quantities at lower dollars from a per badge perspective Yeah, we're very focused on turning the ship, but we don't want to get too far ahead of ourselves. yeah we're very focused on turning the ship but we don't want to get too far ahead of ourselves

Speaker 1: Got it. You feel good about nuclear medicine, like, still incubation phase, big growth phase? Like, how do you... Got it. got it You feel good about nuclear medicine, like, still incubation phase, big growth phase? you feel good about nuclear medicine like still incubation phase big growth phase Like, how do you... like how do you

Speaker 3: Yeah, we do. Again, if you look at the nuclear medicine market, the key driver here is the revolution that's taking place and what's generally referred to as theranostics or radioligand therapy or radiopharmaceutical therapy, which fundamentally is the linkage of more powerful therapeutic radioisotopes with a binding agent, typically a ligand, with a specific type of cancer, a specific cancer culture. The blockbuster drug, and really the leading drug right now in this market, is the Novartis drug Pluvicto, which is for prostate cancer. You know, that really is the bellwether in this market. Yeah, we do. yeah we do Again, if you look at the nuclear medicine market, the key driver here is the revolution that's taking place and what's generally referred to as theranostics or radioligand therapy or radiopharmaceutical therapy, which fundamentally is the linkage of more powerful therapeutic radioisotopes with a binding agent, typically a ligand, with a specific type of cancer, a specific cancer culture. again if you look at the nuclear medicine market the key driver here is the revolution that's taking place and what's generally referred to as theranostics or radioligand therapy or radiopharmaceutical therapy which fundamentally is the linkage of more powerful therapeutic radioisotopes with a binding agent typically a ligand with a specific type of cancer a specific cancer culture The blockbuster drug, and really the leading drug right now in this market, is the Novartis drug Pluvicto, which is for prostate cancer. the blockbuster drug and really the leading drug right now in this market is the novartis drug pluvicto which is for prostate cancer You know, that really is the bellwether in this market. you know that really is the bellwether in this market But behind that, there's incredible excitement about what's in the FDA approval pipeline, you know, continued evolution in the way that people are thinking about different classes of therapeutic isotopes, beta emitters versus alpha emitters. And importantly, our position is broad and it's deep in terms of not only the processing equipment, things like dose calibration instruments and shielding, and a variety of other elements in that play, the laboratory instruments, but also the clinical instrumentation. But on top of that, our software position, where we are a leader in the data management software in nuclear medicine, connecting isotope producers, drug makers, radio pharmacies, CDMOs, the contract manufacturers, and clinicians. But behind that, there's incredible excitement about what's in the FDA approval pipeline, you know, continued evolution in the way that people are thinking about different classes of therapeutic isotopes, beta emitters versus alpha emitters. but behind that there's incredible excitement about what's in the fda approval pipeline you know continued evolution in the way that people are thinking about different classes of therapeutic isotopes beta emitters versus alpha emitters And importantly, our position is broad and it's deep in terms of not only the processing equipment, things like dose calibration instruments and shielding, and a variety of other elements in that play, the laboratory instruments, but also the clinical instrumentation. and importantly our position is broad and it's deep in terms of not only the processing equipment things like dose calibration instruments and shielding and a variety of other elements in that play the laboratory instruments but also the clinical instrumentation But on top of that, our software position, where we are a leader in the data management software in nuclear medicine, connecting isotope producers, drug makers, radio pharmacies, CDMOs, the contract manufacturers, and clinicians. but on top of that our software position where we are a leader in the data management software in nuclear medicine connecting isotope producers drug makers radio pharmacies cdmos the contract manufacturers and clinicians Importantly, we have just moved one of our leading executives, Shelia Webb, who here at Forest has been our Chief Digital Officer, into a leadership position overseeing both of those two business to really integrate them further, recognising the growth dynamic in this market overall, but also the unique capability set that we bring to bear here. Importantly, we have just moved one of our leading executives, Shelia Webb, who here at Forest has been our Chief Digital Officer, into a leadership position overseeing both of those two business to really integrate them further, recognising the growth dynamic in this market overall, but also the unique capability set that we bring to bear here. importantly we have just moved one of our leading executives shelia webb who here at forest has been our chief digital officer into a leadership position overseeing both of those two business to really integrate them further recognising the growth dynamic in this market overall but also the unique capability set that we bring to bear here

Speaker 1: Interesting. Brian, you did have good margin in medical. Interesting. interesting Brian, you did have good margin in medical. brian you did have good margin in medical

Speaker 2: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. mm-hmm

Speaker 1: North of 42%, quite high in Q4. If hardware does improve again in 2026, is that a mix issue? I mean, how do we think about margin improvement in medical? Because it's been pretty good. North of 42%, quite high in Q4. north of 42% quite high in q4 If hardware does improve again in 2026, is that a mix issue? if hardware does improve again in 2026 is that a mix issue I mean, how do we think about margin improvement in medical? i mean how do we think about margin improvement in medical Because it's been pretty good. because it's been pretty good

Speaker 2: Yeah. I mean, look, I expect growth in margins next year, but definitely not at the rate what we saw in 2025. Yeah. yeah I mean, look, I expect growth in margins next year, but definitely not at the rate what we saw in 2025. i mean look i expect growth in margins next year but definitely not at the rate what we saw in 2025

Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah. yeah

Speaker 2: I think that mix will be a headwind for us, but the team's focused on this. I mean, I'm proud in the face of what was a tough growth year, what they did, you know, for us on margins. You know, every quarter, they delivered. We continue to believe we can grow and grow margins in that space, but growth matters more than anything else. The beauty is the leverage in that business, 'cause our gross margins are so high. I think that mix will be a headwind for us, but the team's focused on this. i think that mix will be a headwind for us but the team's focused on this I mean, I'm proud in the face of what was a tough growth year, what they did, you know, for us on margins. i mean i'm proud in the face of what was a tough growth year what they did you know for us on margins You know, every quarter, they delivered. you know every quarter they delivered We continue to believe we can grow and grow margins in that space, but growth matters more than anything else. we continue to believe we can grow and grow margins in that space but growth matters more than anything else The beauty is the leverage in that business, 'cause our gross margins are so high. the beauty is the leverage in that business 'cause our gross margins are so high

Speaker 1: Mm Mm mm

Speaker 2: ... is very good for us. So yeah, I expect growth, but I don't think you'll see it at the rate that we saw last year, no. ... is very good for us. is very good for us So yeah, I expect growth, but I don't think you'll see it at the rate that we saw last year, no. so yeah i expect growth but i don't think you'll see it at the rate that we saw last year no

Speaker 1: Got it. And Brian, I've got to give you kudos for free cash flow conversion. You know, I used to ask you about that. Can't really ask you about that anymore. You've done improved pretty significantly, 57% of EBITDA versus 32%, I think, in 2024. But you're not, again, if I'm picking at something, you're not really forecasting much improvement from here. So maybe talk about, now are you just stable at this higher level? Like- Got it. got it And Brian, I've got to give you kudos for free cash flow conversion. and brian i've got to give you kudos for free cash flow conversion You know, I used to ask you about that. you know i used to ask you about that Can't really ask you about that anymore. can't really ask you about that anymore You've done improved pretty significantly, 57% of EBITDA versus 32%, I think, in 2024. you've done improved pretty significantly 57% of ebitda versus 32% i think in 2024 But you're not, again, if I'm picking at something, you're not really forecasting much improvement from here. but you're not again if i'm picking at something you're not really forecasting much improvement from here So maybe talk about, now are you just stable at this higher level? so maybe talk about now are you just stable at this higher level Like- like-

Speaker 2: Yeah Yeah yeah

Speaker 1: … how do you think about it? … how do you think about it? … how do you think about it

Speaker 2: I mean, look, we continue to believe 60%'s a good target and beyond. You know, this year, in 2025, we made a ton of structural improvements that hold over into 2026. And, you know, I think the reality is we, you know, we're gonna deliver, what? 25% growth or something like that on the free cash flow metrics at the midpoint. That's pretty good. We'll do everything we can to do better. That's our job. I mean, look, we continue to believe 60%'s a good target and beyond. i mean look we continue to believe 60%'s a good target and beyond You know, this year, in 2025, we made a ton of structural improvements that hold over into 2026. you know this year in 2025 we made a ton of structural improvements that hold over into 2026 And, you know, I think the reality is we, you know, we're gonna deliver, what? 25% growth or something like that on the free cash flow metrics at the midpoint. and you know i think the reality is we you know we're gonna deliver what 25% growth or something like that on the free cash flow metrics at the midpoint That's pretty good. that's pretty good We'll do everything we can to do better. we'll do everything we can to do better That's our job. that's our job

Speaker 1: Mm. Mm. mm

Speaker 2: But I like the trend we're going on, and, I mean, there is plenty of stuff for us to do to continue to improve that from a productivity standpoint across basically every metric on the balance sheet. But I like the trend we're going on, and, I mean, there is plenty of stuff for us to do to continue to improve that from a productivity standpoint across basically every metric on the balance sheet. but i like the trend we're going on and i mean there is plenty of stuff for us to do to continue to improve that from a productivity standpoint across basically every metric on the balance sheet

Speaker 1: ... Got it. And then, Tom, I think you guys have talked about your, you've done a lot, a couple deals. I think you're up to 3.2x EBITDA leverage, right? A little bit above your target, and maybe should we expect some sort of pause here while you wait? ... Got it. got it And then, Tom, I think you guys have talked about your, you've done a lot, a couple deals. and then tom i think you guys have talked about your you've done a lot a couple deals I think you're up to 3.2 x EBITDA leverage, right? i think you're up to 3.2 x ebitda leverage right A little bit above your target, and maybe should we expect some sort of pause here while you wait? a little bit above your target and maybe should we expect some sort of pause here while you wait

Speaker 3: I think the likelihood, Andy, is that if you were to look at, you know, firstly, if we went pencils down on M&A, then, you know, we'd be- I think the likelihood, Andy, is that if you were to look at, you know, firstly, if we went pencils down on M&A, then, you know, we'd be- i think the likelihood andy is that if you were to look at you know firstly if we went pencils down on m&a then you know we'd be-

Speaker 1: That wouldn't be you. That wouldn't be you. that wouldn't be you

Speaker 3: We would be back below 2.5x, you know, within a 12-month period of time. But to be clear, there's more we'd like to do. You know, I noted last year that, you know, we're kind of doubling down on our nuclear exposure. You know, again, 47% of our revenue, I think we're one of the better plays on sector growth in nuclear power for all the reasons we've talked about. I'd like to nudge that number up a little bit more. But if you were to look within our M&A pipeline right now, you know, I think it's a year that'll be characterized by small ball. We would be back below 2.5 x, you know, within a 12-month period of time. we would be back below 2.5 x you know within a 12-month period of time But to be clear, there's more we'd like to do. but to be clear there's more we'd like to do You know, I noted last year that, you know, we're kind of doubling down on our nuclear exposure. you know i noted last year that you know we're kind of doubling down on our nuclear exposure You know, again, 47% of our revenue, I think we're one of the better plays on sector growth in nuclear power for all the reasons we've talked about. you know again 47% of our revenue i think we're one of the better plays on sector growth in nuclear power for all the reasons we've talked about I'd like to nudge that number up a little bit more. i'd like to nudge that number up a little bit more But if you were to look within our M&A pipeline right now, you know, I think it's a year that'll be characterized by small ball. but if you were to look within our m&a pipeline right now you know i think it's a year that'll be characterized by small ball You know, I don't expect to see larger deals of the size of Paragon or bigger. But I do expect that we'll, you know, we will be active, probably in some smaller, more digestible deals that will allow us to continue to deleverage as we do that. You know, I don't expect to see larger deals of the size of Paragon or bigger. you know i don't expect to see larger deals of the size of paragon or bigger But I do expect that we'll, you know, we will be active, probably in some smaller, more digestible deals that will allow us to continue to deleverage as we do that. but i do expect that we'll you know we will be active probably in some smaller more digestible deals that will allow us to continue to deleverage as we do that

Speaker 2: I, I would just remind you, too, Andy, that, yes, the leverage number is at 3.2, but our cost of debt is sub 3. I, I would just remind you, too, Andy, that, yes, the leverage number is at 3.2, but our cost of debt is sub 3. i i would just remind you too andy that yes the leverage number is at 3.2 but our cost of debt is sub 3

Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah. yeah

Speaker 2: Down from 7.5. So yes, a little bit higher leverage. I understand that screens that way, but the actual cost of that's, you know, at a pretty good number. Down from 7.5. down from 7.5 So yes, a little bit higher leverage. so yes a little bit higher leverage I understand that screens that way, but the actual cost of that's, you know, at a pretty good number. i understand that screens that way but the actual cost of that's you know at a pretty good number

Speaker 1: Yeah, no, that makes sense. Are there any places in nuclear that you'd like to have but you don't have? Or you feel pretty covered on- Yeah, no, that makes sense. yeah no that makes sense Are there any places in nuclear that you'd like to have but you don't have? are there any places in nuclear that you'd like to have but you don't have Or you feel pretty covered on- or you feel pretty covered on-

Speaker 3: You know, our core focus is on instrumentation and control and radio protection. You know, we have important niches in other segments, including regulatory compliance, security, laboratory instruments, radiation-tolerant cameras. And so I think, you know, we really look at those core areas of focus as well as the adjacencies, just for goodness of fit. We're not looking to expand more broadly into things like pumps and valves and other infrastructure components, but, you know, rather, how do we build out our current position, make it stronger, more robust, more scalable globally? You know, our core focus is on instrumentation and control and radio protection. you know our core focus is on instrumentation and control and radio protection You know, we have important niches in other segments, including regulatory compliance, security, laboratory instruments, radiation-tolerant cameras. you know we have important niches in other segments including regulatory compliance security laboratory instruments radiation-tolerant cameras And so I think, you know, we really look at those core areas of focus as well as the adjacencies, just for goodness of fit. and so i think you know we really look at those core areas of focus as well as the adjacencies just for goodness of fit We're not looking to expand more broadly into things like pumps and valves and other infrastructure components, but, you know, rather, how do we build out our current position, make it stronger, more robust, more scalable globally? we're not looking to expand more broadly into things like pumps and valves and other infrastructure components but you know rather how do we build out our current position make it stronger more robust more scalable globally

Speaker 1: And then just last question: What are the top two or three innovations and structural changes affecting your company over the next five years? Are there any emerging industry trends that are perhaps being overlooked in the current discourse? And then just last question: What are the top two or three innovations and structural changes affecting your company over the next five years? and then just last question what are the top two or three innovations and structural changes affecting your company over the next five years Are there any emerging industry trends that are perhaps being overlooked in the current discourse? are there any emerging industry trends that are perhaps being overlooked in the current discourse

Speaker 3: Yeah, a couple of things. Firstly, you know, I think the continued stress on the electrical generating capacity is gonna become more profound. It will become more politically charged, given the backlash that will come from retail ratepayers. And so the drive to move faster, to augment grid capabilities, augment generating capacity, will continue to accelerate and, you know, continue to add to the spin up of the flywheel- Yeah, a couple of things. yeah a couple of things Firstly, you know, I think the continued stress on the electrical generating capacity is gonna become more profound. firstly you know i think the continued stress on the electrical generating capacity is gonna become more profound It will become more politically charged, given the backlash that will come from retail ratepayers. it will become more politically charged given the backlash that will come from retail ratepayers And so the drive to move faster, to augment grid capabilities, augment generating capacity, will continue to accelerate and, you know, continue to add to the spin up of the flywheel- and so the drive to move faster to augment grid capabilities augment generating capacity will continue to accelerate and you know continue to add to the spin up of the flywheel-

Speaker 1: Mm-hmm Mm-hmm mm-hmm

Speaker 3: ... in nuclear power, overall. Secondly, AI, I think we've covered that. Incredibly important trend, really, you know, one of the most impactful, if not the most impactful, revolutions in in human history. Harnessing that, understanding it, directing it, surviving it, will be, will be, very important overall. In terms of things that, again, I, I think are important to call out, looking at Mirion in terms of how we play these trends, what we represent, again, I think if you look at our, our exposure to nuclear power, in comparison with other names that are often looked at as, as ways to play the the nuclear industry, I think we're one of the best. ... in nuclear power, overall. in nuclear power overall Secondly, AI, I think we've covered that. secondly ai i think we've covered that Incredibly important trend, really, you know, one of the most impactful, if not the most impactful, revolutions in in human history. incredibly important trend really you know one of the most impactful if not the most impactful revolutions in in human history Harnessing that, understanding it, directing it, surviving it, will be, will be, very important overall. harnessing that understanding it directing it surviving it will be will be very important overall In terms of things that, again, I, I think are important to call out, looking at Mirion in terms of how we play these trends, what we represent, again, I think if you look at our, our exposure to nuclear power, in comparison with other names that are often looked at as, as ways to play the the nuclear industry, I think we're one of the best. in terms of things that again i i think are important to call out looking at mirion in terms of how we play these trends what we represent again i think if you look at our our exposure to nuclear power in comparison with other names that are often looked at as as ways to play the the nuclear industry i think we're one of the best We play the full 100-year life cycle of a nuclear power plant in fuel cycle and decommissioning, everything that goes in and around that. We have a very high degree of recurring revenue and repeat revenue that comes from the installed base overall. We are strongly represented, not only in the U.S., but globally, in utility scale or gigawatt scale, new build opportunities. We are also broadly secured or represented in the emerging small modular market overall. So, you know, recognizing again, we're still a relatively young public company, we're still working hard to get our name out there and, you know, really tell our story, but that's the key point I would leave behind. We play the full 100-year life cycle of a nuclear power plant in fuel cycle and decommissioning, everything that goes in and around that. we play the full 100-year life cycle of a nuclear power plant in fuel cycle and decommissioning everything that goes in and around that We have a very high degree of recurring revenue and repeat revenue that comes from the installed base overall. we have a very high degree of recurring revenue and repeat revenue that comes from the installed base overall We are strongly represented, not only in the U.S., but globally, in utility scale or gigawatt scale, new build opportunities. we are strongly represented not only in the u.s but globally in utility scale or gigawatt scale new build opportunities We are also broadly secured or represented in the emerging small modular market overall. we are also broadly secured or represented in the emerging small modular market overall So, you know, recognizing again, we're still a relatively young public company, we're still working hard to get our name out there and, you know, really tell our story, but that's the key point I would leave behind. so you know recognizing again we're still a relatively young public company we're still working hard to get our name out there and you know really tell our story but that's the key point i would leave behind

Speaker 1: Well, thank you very much, Tom, Brian. Appreciate it. Thank you. Well, thank you very much, Tom, Brian. well thank you very much tom brian Appreciate it. appreciate it Thank you. thank you

Speaker 3: Thank you, Andy. Thank you, Andy. thank you andy