nVent Electric plc — Call Transcript 2026

Great. We're gonna get rolling again with nVent. Great pleasure to welcome back to the conference Gary Corona, CFO of nVent, and we also have Tony Riter, Head of IR, on stage as well. Gary, thank you very much for being here, and I'll hand over to you for some opening remarks. Yeah. Thanks, Nigel. Thrilled to be here. Actually my second conference with you and the team. It's been an exciting year for nVent. tremendous growth acceleration that we've had as a company. Just for those of you who don't know nVent, we finished last year with a little over $4 billion in revenue. Just under. Thank you. really finished the year with great growth. Organic growth over 10% and both sales, EPS and cash flow at 30% or higher. We finished up a great Q1 with revenue over 40%, and organic over 30%, EPS at $0.60 and $1.00 of adjusted EPS for the quarter, which is the first time that we were able to do that. Our strategy has been very consistent, which is about gaining exposure to more high growth verticals, particularly the infrastructure vertical of data centers and power utilities. We finished Q1 with over 55% exposure to that vertical. We've made a lot of progress reshaping the portfolio since our spin, where we were about $2 billion in revenue, and Industrial was by far our largest vertical, and actually infrastructure our smallest. That's completely flipped to where we were in the first quarter where we had infrastructure, like I said, over 55%. We had an Investor Day where we essentially doubled our targets from an intermediate growth perspective after doing a great job of over-delivering what we said we were gonna do in our last Capital Markets Day. Thrilled to be here, thrilled to have your interest in nVent, and I'll turn over to Nigel for the Q&A. Thanks, Gary. I think you just joined nVent last, this time last year. You had just over a year in the job, not a bad year to be CFO at nVent. Quite a year. Yeah, it's exciting and, you know, when I joined, the team had, you know, visibility to this significant acceleration that was about to occur, you know, in the infrastructure vertical and with our, you know, new exposure, you know, we had, you know, divested our Thermal Management business and then acquired Trachte and Avail EPG. It really reshaped the portfolio and got us more exposure to growth. You know, very exciting. You know, we continue to invest to support that growth, you know, not just for the short term, but also in the intermediate term. Thrilled to be part of the team and excited to have a chance to talk about it. When you think about the sustainability of this extraordinary growth, I mean, 20%, more than 20% this year, you just put up a couple of 30% organic growth numbers. When you look at the pipelines or the negotiations or however you wanna frame it, I mean, what gives you confidence that this sustains not just for this year but beyond? Yeah. You know, I'll start with the portfolio and the exposure. You know, exposure to the infrastructure vertical has given us more long cycle exposure. Now we're really balanced between the long and the short cycle, and we really like that. We finished the quarter with a $2.6 billion backlog, we have nice visibility to the next 12 months. And as I think about the long term, you know, we feel like, you know, a lot of these verticals have really nice long-term, you know, growth exposure. You know, starting with power utilities, which we really got into with Trachte and Avail EPG, you know, we see a multi-decade, you know, growth exposure there. You know, in the data centers, you know, we just keep seeing upward revisions. It's also worth mentioning, you know, the mix that we have between the white space and the gray space in data centers where we really feel like that white space, which is approximately 80% of our portfolio, has a long-term growth as, you know, not only we build new data centers, but we turn over the tech inside them and, you know, that certainly leverages a lot of our portfolio. We supply both, you know, really feel good about that exposure. You mentioned backlog's $2.6 billion. The Q says majority of that converts in the next 12 months. I mean, are we talking here about the vast majority of that? Yeah converts? I would say the vast majority converts in the next 12 months, and that's You know, we have some that's north of, north of 12 months, primarily with our power utility customers. Yeah. Yeah, we're, we've got nice visibility to both the short and intermediate term. You know, it's worth mentioning, you know, both in power utilities and data centers, we have a nice, you know, nice discussions with all of our customers, you know, not just about what's on the books, but what's to come. You know, we talked at our, at the Supercomputing conference about our, you know, our liquid cooling technology being future-proofed out to 2030. We, you know, we have that really by working with our, you know, working closely with our customers and ensuring that we have, you know, good, you know, good visibility to those roadmaps. When you think about the growth, obviously data solutions is driving the outsized growth. Power utilities is definitely part of that as well. If you then sort of double-click into data solutions, would you call out, I mean, liquid cooling or would you call out Avail as disproportionate drivers of that growth? I would say, you know, in the quarter, as we said on the call, you know, really almost all of our businesses exceeded our expectations, so really nice, you know, really nice growth. Certainly, data centers leading the way and in both the gray space and the white space, and in the white space certainly anchored by liquid cooling, where we've seen, you know, tremendous performance. Yeah. Okay. You mentioned future-proofing the business. I want to come back to it in a second. A couple of important things are happening this year. You've got the new facility in Blaine, you know, picking up. I think that went live, if I'm not mistaken, earlier this quarter. That seems to be releasing more capacity to sell. We've got the new lineup of products, the Modeler, you know, kind of launching real-time now. I'm just wondering, how should we think about the impact of those two items on order rates and maybe growth in the back half of this year? You know, we're really excited about the new factory that we have up and running in Blaine. We cut the ribbon just a few weeks ago, but it's been producing product, you know, in the first quarter. That'll continue to ramp throughout the year, and what we've estimated is that'll, you know, double our capacity on liquid cooling. The team has done a great job, you know, going from, you know, signing the lease to getting up and running in around 100 days. Really a great effort there. From an innovation perspective, we showed a lot of new products at the Supercomputing show. Those will really start to hit in the middle of this year, you know, as we ramp capacity. There's tremendous interest in those products. Okay. would they be part of the order book for, 1 Q, or is that more? No, it's more on the horizon. On the horizon. as we look to, Q2 and Q3. Doubling your liquid cooling capacity, that's quite a big number. I mean, we'd estimate, I don't know, $3 million-$4 million of capacity. I don't know if you can confirm or deny that. Would you expect to be sold out on that capacity by year-end? I mean, are we gonna be in a situation where Blaine is sold out by year-end? Yeah. What I can say is that, you know, we continue to have discussions with customers and they tell us that, you know, they would like more and they would like more faster. I'm sure you're hearing that pretty broadly. You know, as this builds out, you know, certainly, we are already looking at, you know, what comes next and, you know, when we're ready to make those decisions and, you know, we'll certainly, we'll let you know. Okay. Coming back to the point about future-proofing through 2030. We're seeing obviously NVIDIA's the big, you know, gorilla in the market right now, you've got Google with its TPUs and others. I mean, how well-positioned is, you know, is nVent across the different chip manufacturers? Yeah. I'll start, maybe I'll ask Tony to pick up. You know, we, you know, we work with all the chip manufacturers in a broad variety of customers and you know, many of them have, you know, very bespoke solutions and work with us very closely and we're, you know, pleased with our partnership and certainly work with them to develop those solutions. Yeah, I mean, as you think about go back to Supercomputing, that portfolio, you even see how that kind of spreads across, whether it's hyperscalers or the chip suppliers, right? You think of those two large CDUs. There's the Project Deschutes 5.0, you know, CDU that's on the horizon. You saw that design at Supercomputing November, kind of that hallmark CDU that was next to it, part of that new portfolio. You know, that's designed to support, as Gary mentioned, you know, the additional chips, whether it's, you know, coming from NVIDIA, AMD out to 2030. Really kind of having that breadth of that portfolio both for the hyperscalers, also as you think of as it moves more and more into the neoclouds and the multi-tenants, you know, have a portfolio that supports them. Okay. Okay. It feels to me like the 10%-13% organic growth you put out in March for the next three years already feels a bit stale. Is that fair? Maybe after another mess day get taken off this year. Well, you know, what I would say is that we were really excited to set those targets, a significant increase in trajectory for us as a company. You know, we're thrilled with the start that we've gotten off to, both in the quarter as well as in 2026. Yep. Yep. not just ready to set new targets here. No as eight weeks in. No, I was half joking. You know, the decision to disclose backlog on a quarterly basis, maybe just talk about that. Is that because the orders are so massive and are lumpy, is it that because you want to refocus investors on backlog as opposed to order growth? Yeah. It really came two ways. One is the change in the portfolio and the change where we're much more long cycle than we were before. You know, our previous disclosure, we feel like wasn't giving, you know, a clear picture on what that looked like from a backlog perspective. That's what we, you know, that's what we decided is to give visibility to that and worked with the accounting experts, and that's where we landed. Yep. No, I think that's a great great disclosure. First of all, any more questions on data solutions before we move on? Okay. You do have an industrial and commercial business. I, you know, I'd be remiss if I didn't touch on that. I think you're guiding for commercial up low singles, industrial up mid singles this year. That's correct. How is that looking right now? I mean, I ask it in the context of there's concerns that maybe some of the strength that we saw in 1 Q might have been pre-buy activity, et cetera, et cetera. Maybe just touch on that as well. Yeah, sure. You know, I'll start by saying, you know, we came into the year with a guide of mid singles for industrial and low singles for commercial. We had a very good Q1. You know, we feel good about the performance of those businesses. You know, at the quarter, you know, while we had a good Q1, we kept our guidance in line. We feel really good about the performance of those businesses. They're not only, you know, I would say the execution on from these teams has been solid. We feel, you know, we feel like that Sell-in and sell-out was very much in line with expectations, so comfortable with that. You know, feel like we're gonna have a good year in those businesses. Yeah. No concerns that we're seeing a weakening there. In the Middle East, you know, we're getting the situation now where, you know, energy shortages are starting to become a bit more pronounced perhaps as a risk. Any concerns in, I don't know, Europe, Asia? I know those aren't big regions for you guys. Yeah. They're not big regions for us. You know, in Europe, our business was up low single digits. You know, honestly, we have higher expectations for that region. Certainly it was impacted modestly by what was going on in the region. You know, certainly from a supply chain perspective globally, you know, our teams are working on a variety of challenges as they always are. You know, this is one of them that we feel like we can manage. You know, certainly it's not making any easier for us to operate. You know, I also talked a bit, you probably would get a go to inflation, but, you know, we did incorporate a higher expectation for fuel into our guidance. You know, that combined with copper, you know, brought us up, you know, just under 1 point for inflation for the year. We're offsetting that with a bit of additional pricing. Yep. I guess the other side of the growth ramp is that it does create some investment spending pressures, some margin pressures. Maybe just bring us up to speed in terms of where we are on overcoming the inflation, tariffs, and some of the investment spending. As we came into the year, you know, what we talked about is, you know, the first half would, you know, continue to have a bit more from a headwind perspective, primarily from inflation and tariffs. The second half would be a little bit better. You know, we'll continue to invest pretty consistently across the year to support our growth. You know, the first half has our incrementals about 20%, the second half will be around mid-20s, very much in line with our intermediate term guidance. We feel good about the growth and the returns that we're delivering on the business. How does Blaine filter into the SP margins? Does that cause a little bit of pressure as you ramp it up, and then you absorb some of that? Yeah, exactly. That investment will pick up in the second quarter then, you know, start to really contribute to SP. You know, they had a great quarter in Q1 on margin. That helped us balance out the overall margin performance for the firm. Yeah, Blaine will, you know, continue to ramp. We'll continue to invest, not just behind, you know, capacity, but also capability as we look to support what is now a very sizable business for us. Yeah. We get questions about the actual kind of the raw margins for the liquid cooling portfolio. You know, when we look at, say, I don't know, Boyd, you know, look at some of the other acquisitions we've seen out there, it seems that the margins are in the low to mid-twenties for some of those comparable companies. Is that where you see the margins for your liquid cooling portfolio? I think what we've said, historically is that, you know, liquid cooling and our data center business is in line with segment. Yeah with segment averages for both segments. Yeah. Yeah. Liquid cooling would be similar to systems protection. Yeah. Okay. Including all the investments that we're making. Okay. On EBITDA basis, that would be in line. Yeah. Okay. Got it. EC margins come under a bit of pressure, Gary, in 1Q. Yeah. Maybe just talk about that and the. You're guiding for a pretty sharp recovery. Just conference on that. Yeah. You know, we saw the inflation really pick up in EC, you know, primarily driven by copper at the back half of the fourth quarter. You know, that ramped in the beginning of the first quarter. The team took action on price. That pricing began to roll in towards the end of the first quarter. We saw the margins really improve in EC as we got to the back half of the first quarter, and we expect those to bounce back to where EC has been traditionally in the high 20s in the balance of the year. That's great. Price cost in 2Q fairly neutral at this point? Yeah. We feel, you know, we feel good about price cost for Q2 through Q4. As I said, a bit behind in EC in Q1. You know, pricing in aggregate in Q1 was higher than it was in Q4. It continues to be at a healthy level. Okay, great. M&A. You guys have done a good job of, you know, with Trachte, Avail, others as well. How does the pipeline look at this point for future deals? Are we still gonna be concentrated very much in that data solutions, power utility, infrastructure segments? M&A is, you know, a big part of capital allocation. As we talked about our capital allocation strategy at our investor day, we made it very clear that the first priority is growth, organic growth, and you're seeing that on the CapEx side from us. As we, as we think about M&A, the team has done 8 deals, in addition, the spin-off of the sale of Thermal Management, and the team has been very disciplined in the acquisitions that we've made. The last two have been nice chunky deals that have contributed, you know, really well from an accretion perspective, both from the top line as well as EPS, and we're very pleased with Trachte and Avail EPG. The initial strategy there was to get us more exposure into power utility, you know, a sub-vertical that we are really, you know, really excited about. Had some data center exposure that kinda top spin that growth and has helped us. You know, exceed expectations. You know, as we look forward, we've got a full pipeline. You know, we'll continue to be, you know, very disciplined on M&A. You know, certainly it's competitive, as you can see from what folks have announced. You know, we're pleased. We'll continue to be disciplined and, you know, we expect that infrastructure will continue to be a focus. Have you been surprised by the extent of deal flow amongst your competitors in the thermal management space? Yeah. You know, what I would say is as we think about these deals and fairly sizable deals in the space, you know, it gives us confidence because of what we've been able to do organically. You know, there's been a lot of interest in the space and a lot of, you know, very impressive companies and deep companies technologically, you know, that have decided to enter via M&A. You know, we're not surprised. It's a very attractive space, you know, one that we see, you know, multi years of growth. It doesn't surprise us that it's attractive. You know, we feel really good about the business that we've built over the past decade plus, you know, behind great technology, quality, and our ability to scale. The trend has been power companies buying thermal management companies. This consolidation across the, you know, sort of the whole kind of infrastructure spectrum within data center seems to be where the market's gravitating towards. Do you see that for nVent? Do you think there's logic to being a much bigger player, or can you pick your spots in the data center? Yeah. I mean, I'll use your term. I haven't used it, but, you know, we like to focus on what we do best. Right now those are very, you know, discrete product lines that are, you know, differentiated technologically and, you know, that's been our, you know, that's been our focus. You know, we're not a big power company. That's not, that's not what nVent. Yeah. That's not what nVent does. No ambitions to be a big power company. That's not on the roadmap, certainly. Okay. When we think about the contours of future M&A, would past be prologue? Yeah, we like- The last few deals. We like chunky deals that are, you know, that are accretive, on the top and bottom line. Yeah, we like the last couple deals we've done. We like the size, and we like that vertical. Yep. Free cash conversion, you're targeting 99.5% conversion this year, which given the growth rates would be pretty darn heroic, quite frankly. I mean, maybe talk about how you're managing working capital given the growth pressures. Yeah, I mean, we delivered north of 100 last year, you know, with tremendous growth, especially in the, in the second half. You know, our CapEx will, you know, will be elevated. You know, we had cash flow was up, you know, certainly in the first quarter. You know, so we feel good about, cash and being efficient with our cash. It's a, it's a bit of a capital light business, you know, for us. You know, so we'll, the team has traditionally done a very nice job on cash conversion, and we're focused on revenue, earnings, and profit delivery as well as cash delivery. Yep. CapEx has been stepping up progressively, I think by $130 million this year. Does that continue to step higher next year, or do you think we can maintain this kind of plateau? Yeah, I mean, we've continued to ramp CapEx as we've needed capacity and, while I'm not ready to talk about, you know, 27 and 28 CapEx, we certainly will continue to invest to support growth. You know, and as a % of sales, again, it's pretty efficient capital structure from a CapEx investment perspective. Yep. Yep. Got a full room here, so just wanna make sure there's no questions from the. There's one in the back here. Can we get a mic to the back, please? Yeah. Hey, guys. I was just wondering if you could talk a little bit, I think on the Q1 call, you guys talked a little bit about European expansion potential as sort of data centers and things take off there. Maybe if you could just give a little more color around kind of the broad strokes of what you're thinking about Europe. Yeah, sure. You know, the growth for us in data centers has been almost exclusively in North America, and there's been tremendous growth. You know, however, going forward, we do see nice growth opportunity in Europe. You know, we're investing, you know, behind capability as well as capacity, you know, as we think about that market. An attractive market that we expect to grow, but more in the future, you know, as North America has really driven, you know, our growth as a company here recently. Good question. Anything else? One more perhaps? Nope. Okay. One question we get a lot, Gary, is, you know, there's a lot of, you know, new entrants in the CDU markets, you know, the HVAC companies, you know, integrating towards the rack, and there's some niche players there. Any concerns on competition, of capacity in that market? As I said earlier, it's an attractive market, and you know, attractive markets attract competitive entrants. For us, having been in the business for a long time, you know, we feel good about our what we bring to the market from a capability perspective, quality, reliability as well as our scale. It doesn't surprise us, and you know, we're feeling pretty good about our position. That's great. Well, Gary, I'll hand it back to you for closing remarks. Yeah, no, thank you, Nigel, and thanks for all of, all of you in the room. We'll speak with many of you throughout the day. We have tremendous momentum at nVent and excited about delivering growth on the top line, on the bottom line, and through cash flow. Thanks for your interest. Look forward to talking more. Thanks, Gary. Thanks, Tony. That was a great discussion. Thank you. Thank you.

Speaker 2: Great. We're gonna get rolling again with nVent. Great pleasure to welcome back to the conference Gary Corona, CFO of nVent, and we also have Tony Riter, Head of IR, on stage as well. Gary, thank you very much for being here, and I'll hand over to you for some opening remarks. Great. great We're gonna get rolling again with nVent. we're gonna get rolling again with nvent Great pleasure to welcome back to the conference Gary Corona, CFO of nVent, and we also have Tony Riter, Head of IR, on stage as well. great pleasure to welcome back to the conference gary corona cfo of nvent and we also have tony riter head of ir on stage as well Gary, thank you very much for being here, and I'll hand over to you for some opening remarks. gary thank you very much for being here and i'll hand over to you for some opening remarks

Speaker 1: Yeah. Thanks, Nigel. Thrilled to be here. Actually my second conference with you and the team. It's been an exciting year for nVent. tremendous growth acceleration that we've had as a company. Just for those of you who don't know nVent, we finished last year with a little over $4 billion in revenue. Yeah. yeah Thanks, Nigel. thanks nigel Thrilled to be here. thrilled to be here Actually my second conference with you and the team. actually my second conference with you and the team It's been an exciting year for nVent. tremendous growth acceleration that we've had as a company. it's been an exciting year for nvent tremendous growth acceleration that we've had as a company Just for those of you who don't know nVent, we finished last year with a little over $4 billion in revenue. just for those of you who don't know nvent we finished last year with a little over $4 billion in revenue

Speaker 2: Just under. Just under. just under

Speaker 1: Thank you. really finished the year with great growth. Organic growth over 10% and both sales, EPS and cash flow at 30% or higher. We finished up a great Q1 with revenue over 40%, and organic over 30%, EPS at $0.60 and $1.00 of adjusted EPS for the quarter, which is the first time that we were able to do that. Our strategy has been very consistent, which is about gaining exposure to more high growth verticals, particularly the infrastructure vertical of data centers and power utilities. We finished Q1 with over 55% exposure to that vertical. Thank you. really finished the year with great growth. thank you really finished the year with great growth Organic growth over 10% and both sales, EPS and cash flow at 30% or higher. organic growth over 10% and both sales eps and cash flow at 30% or higher We finished up a great Q1 with revenue over 40%, and organic over 30%, EPS at $0.60 and $1.00 of adjusted EPS for the quarter, which is the first time that we were able to do that. we finished up a great q1 with revenue over 40% and organic over 30% eps at $0.60 and $1.00 of adjusted eps for the quarter which is the first time that we were able to do that Our strategy has been very consistent, which is about gaining exposure to more high growth verticals, particularly the infrastructure vertical of data centers and power utilities. our strategy has been very consistent which is about gaining exposure to more high growth verticals particularly the infrastructure vertical of data centers and power utilities We finished Q1 with over 55% exposure to that vertical. we finished q1 with over 55% exposure to that vertical We've made a lot of progress reshaping the portfolio since our spin, where we were about $2 billion in revenue, and Industrial was by far our largest vertical, and actually infrastructure our smallest. That's completely flipped to where we were in the first quarter where we had infrastructure, like I said, over 55%. We had an Investor Day where we essentially doubled our targets from an intermediate growth perspective after doing a great job of over-delivering what we said we were gonna do in our last Capital Markets Day. Thrilled to be here, thrilled to have your interest in nVent, and I'll turn over to Nigel for the Q&A. We've made a lot of progress reshaping the portfolio since our spin, where we were about $2 billion in revenue, and Industrial was by far our largest vertical, and actually infrastructure our smallest. we've made a lot of progress reshaping the portfolio since our spin where we were about $2 billion in revenue and industrial was by far our largest vertical and actually infrastructure our smallest That's completely flipped to where we were in the first quarter where we had infrastructure, like I said, over 55%. that's completely flipped to where we were in the first quarter where we had infrastructure like i said over 55% We had an Investor Day where we essentially doubled our targets from an intermediate growth perspective after doing a great job of over-delivering what we said we were gonna do in our last Capital Markets Day. we had an investor day where we essentially doubled our targets from an intermediate growth perspective after doing a great job of over-delivering what we said we were gonna do in our last capital markets day Thrilled to be here, thrilled to have your interest in nVent, and I'll turn over to Nigel for the Q&A. thrilled to be here thrilled to have your interest in nvent and i'll turn over to nigel for the q&a

Speaker 2: Thanks, Gary. I think you just joined nVent last, this time last year. You had just over a year in the job, not a bad year to be CFO at nVent. Quite a year. Thanks, Gary. thanks gary I think you just joined nVent last, this time last year. i think you just joined nvent last this time last year You had just over a year in the job, not a bad year to be CFO at nVent. you had just over a year in the job not a bad year to be cfo at nvent Quite a year. quite a year

Speaker 1: Yeah, it's exciting and, you know, when I joined, the team had, you know, visibility to this significant acceleration that was about to occur, you know, in the infrastructure vertical and with our, you know, new exposure, you know, we had, you know, divested our Thermal Management business and then acquired Trachte and Avail EPG. It really reshaped the portfolio and got us more exposure to growth. You know, very exciting. You know, we continue to invest to support that growth, you know, not just for the short term, but also in the intermediate term. Thrilled to be part of the team and excited to have a chance to talk about it. Yeah, it's exciting and, you know, when I joined, the team had, you know, visibility to this significant acceleration that was about to occur, you know, in the infrastructure vertical and with our, you know, new exposure, you know, we had, you know, divested our Thermal Management business and then acquired Trachte and Avail EPG. yeah it's exciting and you know when i joined the team had you know visibility to this significant acceleration that was about to occur you know in the infrastructure vertical and with our you know new exposure you know we had you know divested our thermal management business and then acquired trachte and avail epg It really reshaped the portfolio and got us more exposure to growth. it really reshaped the portfolio and got us more exposure to growth You know, very exciting. you know very exciting You know, we continue to invest to support that growth, you know, not just for the short term, but also in the intermediate term. you know we continue to invest to support that growth you know not just for the short term but also in the intermediate term Thrilled to be part of the team and excited to have a chance to talk about it. thrilled to be part of the team and excited to have a chance to talk about it

Speaker 2: When you think about the sustainability of this extraordinary growth, I mean, 20%, more than 20% this year, you just put up a couple of 30% organic growth numbers. When you look at the pipelines or the negotiations or however you wanna frame it, I mean, what gives you confidence that this sustains not just for this year but beyond? When you think about the sustainability of this extraordinary growth, I mean, 20%, more than 20% this year, you just put up a couple of 30% organic growth numbers. when you think about the sustainability of this extraordinary growth i mean 20% more than 20% this year you just put up a couple of 30% organic growth numbers When you look at the pipelines or the negotiations or however you wanna frame it, I mean, what gives you confidence that this sustains not just for this year but beyond? when you look at the pipelines or the negotiations or however you wanna frame it i mean what gives you confidence that this sustains not just for this year but beyond

Speaker 1: Yeah. You know, I'll start with the portfolio and the exposure. You know, exposure to the infrastructure vertical has given us more long cycle exposure. Now we're really balanced between the long and the short cycle, and we really like that. We finished the quarter with a $2.6 billion backlog, we have nice visibility to the next 12 months. And as I think about the long term, you know, we feel like, you know, a lot of these verticals have really nice long-term, you know, growth exposure. You know, starting with power utilities, which we really got into with Trachte and Avail EPG, you know, we see a multi-decade, you know, growth exposure there. Yeah. yeah You know, I'll start with the portfolio and the exposure. you know i'll start with the portfolio and the exposure You know, exposure to the infrastructure vertical has given us more long cycle exposure. you know exposure to the infrastructure vertical has given us more long cycle exposure Now we're really balanced between the long and the short cycle, and we really like that. now we're really balanced between the long and the short cycle and we really like that We finished the quarter with a $2.6 billion backlog, we have nice visibility to the next 12 months. we finished the quarter with a $2.6 billion backlog we have nice visibility to the next 12 months And as I think about the long term, you know, we feel like, you know, a lot of these verticals have really nice long-term, you know, growth exposure. and as i think about the long term you know we feel like you know a lot of these verticals have really nice long-term you know growth exposure You know, starting with power utilities, which we really got into with Trachte and Avail EPG, you know, we see a multi-decade, you know, growth exposure there. you know starting with power utilities which we really got into with trachte and avail epg you know we see a multi-decade you know growth exposure there You know, in the data centers, you know, we just keep seeing upward revisions. It's also worth mentioning, you know, the mix that we have between the white space and the gray space in data centers where we really feel like that white space, which is approximately 80% of our portfolio, has a long-term growth as, you know, not only we build new data centers, but we turn over the tech inside them and, you know, that certainly leverages a lot of our portfolio. We supply both, you know, really feel good about that exposure. You know, in the data centers, you know, we just keep seeing upward revisions. you know in the data centers you know we just keep seeing upward revisions It's also worth mentioning, you know, the mix that we have between the white space and the gray space in data centers where we really feel like that white space, which is approximately 80% of our portfolio, has a long-term growth as, you know, not only we build new data centers, but we turn over the tech inside them and, you know, that certainly leverages a lot of our portfolio. it's also worth mentioning you know the mix that we have between the white space and the gray space in data centers where we really feel like that white space which is approximately 80% of our portfolio has a long-term growth as you know not only we build new data centers but we turn over the tech inside them and you know that certainly leverages a lot of our portfolio We supply both, you know, really feel good about that exposure. we supply both you know really feel good about that exposure

Speaker 2: You mentioned backlog's $2.6 billion. The Q says majority of that converts in the next 12 months. I mean, are we talking here about the vast majority of that? You mentioned backlog's $2.6 billion. you mentioned backlog's $2.6 billion The Q says majority of that converts in the next 12 months. the q says majority of that converts in the next 12 months I mean, are we talking here about the vast majority of that? i mean are we talking here about the vast majority of that

Speaker 1: Yeah Yeah yeah

Speaker 2: converts? converts? converts

Speaker 1: I would say the vast majority converts in the next 12 months, and that's You know, we have some that's north of, north of 12 months, primarily with our power utility customers. I would say the vast majority converts in the next 12 months, and that's You know, we have some that's north of, north of 12 months, primarily with our power utility customers. i would say the vast majority converts in the next 12 months and that's you know we have some that's north of north of 12 months primarily with our power utility customers

Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah. yeah

Speaker 1: Yeah, we're, we've got nice visibility to both the short and intermediate term. You know, it's worth mentioning, you know, both in power utilities and data centers, we have a nice, you know, nice discussions with all of our customers, you know, not just about what's on the books, but what's to come. You know, we talked at our, at the Supercomputing conference about our, you know, our liquid cooling technology being future-proofed out to 2030. We, you know, we have that really by working with our, you know, working closely with our customers and ensuring that we have, you know, good, you know, good visibility to those roadmaps. Yeah, we're, we've got nice visibility to both the short and intermediate term. yeah we're we've got nice visibility to both the short and intermediate term You know, it's worth mentioning, you know, both in power utilities and data centers, we have a nice, you know, nice discussions with all of our customers, you know, not just about what's on the books, but what's to come. you know it's worth mentioning you know both in power utilities and data centers we have a nice you know nice discussions with all of our customers you know not just about what's on the books but what's to come You know, we talked at our, at the Supercomputing conference about our, you know, our liquid cooling technology being future-proofed out to 2030. you know we talked at our at the supercomputing conference about our you know our liquid cooling technology being future-proofed out to 2030 We, you know, we have that really by working with our, you know, working closely with our customers and ensuring that we have, you know, good, you know, good visibility to those roadmaps. we you know we have that really by working with our you know working closely with our customers and ensuring that we have you know good you know good visibility to those roadmaps

Speaker 2: When you think about the growth, obviously data solutions is driving the outsized growth. Power utilities is definitely part of that as well. If you then sort of double-click into data solutions, would you call out, I mean, liquid cooling or would you call out Avail as disproportionate drivers of that growth? When you think about the growth, obviously data solutions is driving the outsized growth. when you think about the growth obviously data solutions is driving the outsized growth Power utilities is definitely part of that as well. power utilities is definitely part of that as well If you then sort of double-click into data solutions, would you call out, I mean, liquid cooling or would you call out Avail as disproportionate drivers of that growth? if you then sort of double-click into data solutions would you call out i mean liquid cooling or would you call out avail as disproportionate drivers of that growth

Speaker 1: I would say, you know, in the quarter, as we said on the call, you know, really almost all of our businesses exceeded our expectations, so really nice, you know, really nice growth. Certainly, data centers leading the way and in both the gray space and the white space, and in the white space certainly anchored by liquid cooling, where we've seen, you know, tremendous performance. I would say, you know, in the quarter, as we said on the call, you know, really almost all of our businesses exceeded our expectations, so really nice, you know, really nice growth. i would say you know in the quarter as we said on the call you know really almost all of our businesses exceeded our expectations so really nice you know really nice growth Certainly, data centers leading the way and in both the gray space and the white space, and in the white space certainly anchored by liquid cooling, where we've seen, you know, tremendous performance. certainly data centers leading the way and in both the gray space and the white space and in the white space certainly anchored by liquid cooling where we've seen you know tremendous performance

Speaker 2: Yeah. Okay. You mentioned future-proofing the business. I want to come back to it in a second. A couple of important things are happening this year. You've got the new facility in Blaine, you know, picking up. I think that went live, if I'm not mistaken, earlier this quarter. That seems to be releasing more capacity to sell. We've got the new lineup of products, the Modeler, you know, kind of launching real-time now. I'm just wondering, how should we think about the impact of those two items on order rates and maybe growth in the back half of this year? Yeah. yeah Okay. okay You mentioned future-proofing the business. you mentioned future-proofing the business I want to come back to it in a second. i want to come back to it in a second A couple of important things are happening this year. a couple of important things are happening this year You've got the new facility in Blaine, you know, picking up. you've got the new facility in blaine you know picking up I think that went live, if I'm not mistaken, earlier this quarter. i think that went live if i'm not mistaken earlier this quarter That seems to be releasing more capacity to sell. that seems to be releasing more capacity to sell We've got the new lineup of products, the Modeler, you know, kind of launching real-time now. we've got the new lineup of products the modeler you know kind of launching real-time now I'm just wondering, how should we think about the impact of those two items on order rates and maybe growth in the back half of this year? i'm just wondering how should we think about the impact of those two items on order rates and maybe growth in the back half of this year

Speaker 1: You know, we're really excited about the new factory that we have up and running in Blaine. We cut the ribbon just a few weeks ago, but it's been producing product, you know, in the first quarter. That'll continue to ramp throughout the year, and what we've estimated is that'll, you know, double our capacity on liquid cooling. The team has done a great job, you know, going from, you know, signing the lease to getting up and running in around 100 days. Really a great effort there. From an innovation perspective, we showed a lot of new products at the Supercomputing show. You know, we're really excited about the new factory that we have up and running in Blaine. you know we're really excited about the new factory that we have up and running in blaine We cut the ribbon just a few weeks ago, but it's been producing product, you know, in the first quarter. we cut the ribbon just a few weeks ago but it's been producing product you know in the first quarter That'll continue to ramp throughout the year, and what we've estimated is that'll, you know, double our capacity on liquid cooling. that'll continue to ramp throughout the year and what we've estimated is that'll you know double our capacity on liquid cooling The team has done a great job, you know, going from, you know, signing the lease to getting up and running in around 100 days. the team has done a great job you know going from you know signing the lease to getting up and running in around 100 days Really a great effort there. really a great effort there From an innovation perspective, we showed a lot of new products at the Supercomputing show. from an innovation perspective we showed a lot of new products at the supercomputing show Those will really start to hit in the middle of this year, you know, as we ramp capacity. There's tremendous interest in those products. Those will really start to hit in the middle of this year, you know, as we ramp capacity. those will really start to hit in the middle of this year you know as we ramp capacity There's tremendous interest in those products. there's tremendous interest in those products

Speaker 2: Okay. would they be part of the order book for, 1 Q, or is that more? Okay. would they be part of the order book for, 1 Q, or is that more? okay would they be part of the order book for 1 q or is that more

Speaker 1: No, it's more on the horizon. No, it's more on the horizon. no it's more on the horizon

Speaker 2: On the horizon. On the horizon. on the horizon

Speaker 1: as we look to, Q2 and Q3. as we look to, Q2 and Q3. as we look to q2 and q3

Speaker 2: Doubling your liquid cooling capacity, that's quite a big number. I mean, we'd estimate, I don't know, $3 million-$4 million of capacity. I don't know if you can confirm or deny that. Would you expect to be sold out on that capacity by year-end? I mean, are we gonna be in a situation where Blaine is sold out by year-end? Doubling your liquid cooling capacity, that's quite a big number. doubling your liquid cooling capacity that's quite a big number I mean, we'd estimate, I don't know, $3 million-$4 million of capacity. i mean we'd estimate i don't know $3 million-$4 million of capacity I don't know if you can confirm or deny that. i don't know if you can confirm or deny that Would you expect to be sold out on that capacity by year-end? would you expect to be sold out on that capacity by year-end I mean, are we gonna be in a situation where Blaine is sold out by year-end? i mean are we gonna be in a situation where blaine is sold out by year-end

Speaker 1: Yeah. What I can say is that, you know, we continue to have discussions with customers and they tell us that, you know, they would like more and they would like more faster. I'm sure you're hearing that pretty broadly. You know, as this builds out, you know, certainly, we are already looking at, you know, what comes next and, you know, when we're ready to make those decisions and, you know, we'll certainly, we'll let you know. Yeah. yeah What I can say is that, you know, we continue to have discussions with customers and they tell us that, you know, they would like more and they would like more faster. what i can say is that you know we continue to have discussions with customers and they tell us that you know they would like more and they would like more faster I'm sure you're hearing that pretty broadly. i'm sure you're hearing that pretty broadly You know, as this builds out, you know, certainly, we are already looking at, you know, what comes next and, you know, when we're ready to make those decisions and, you know, we'll certainly, we'll let you know. you know as this builds out you know certainly we are already looking at you know what comes next and you know when we're ready to make those decisions and you know we'll certainly we'll let you know

Speaker 2: Okay. Coming back to the point about future-proofing through 2030. We're seeing obviously NVIDIA's the big, you know, gorilla in the market right now, you've got Google with its TPUs and others. I mean, how well-positioned is, you know, is nVent across the different chip manufacturers? Okay. okay Coming back to the point about future-proofing through 2030. coming back to the point about future-proofing through 2030 We're seeing obviously NVIDIA's the big, you know, gorilla in the market right now, you've got Google with its TPUs and others. we're seeing obviously nvidia's the big you know gorilla in the market right now you've got google with its tpus and others I mean, how well-positioned is, you know, is nVent across the different chip manufacturers? i mean how well-positioned is you know is nvent across the different chip manufacturers

Speaker 1: Yeah. I'll start, maybe I'll ask Tony to pick up. You know, we, you know, we work with all the chip manufacturers in a broad variety of customers and you know, many of them have, you know, very bespoke solutions and work with us very closely and we're, you know, pleased with our partnership and certainly work with them to develop those solutions. Yeah. yeah I'll start, maybe I'll ask Tony to pick up. i'll start maybe i'll ask tony to pick up You know, we, you know, we work with all the chip manufacturers in a broad variety of customers and you know, many of them have, you know, very bespoke solutions and work with us very closely and we're, you know, pleased with our partnership and certainly work with them to develop those solutions. you know we you know we work with all the chip manufacturers in a broad variety of customers and you know many of them have you know very bespoke solutions and work with us very closely and we're you know pleased with our partnership and certainly work with them to develop those solutions

Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, as you think about go back to Supercomputing, that portfolio, you even see how that kind of spreads across, whether it's hyperscalers or the chip suppliers, right? You think of those two large CDUs. There's the Project Deschutes 5.0, you know, CDU that's on the horizon. You saw that design at Supercomputing November, kind of that hallmark CDU that was next to it, part of that new portfolio. You know, that's designed to support, as Gary mentioned, you know, the additional chips, whether it's, you know, coming from NVIDIA, AMD out to 2030. Really kind of having that breadth of that portfolio both for the hyperscalers, also as you think of as it moves more and more into the neoclouds and the multi-tenants, you know, have a portfolio that supports them. Yeah, I mean, as you think about go back to Supercomputing, that portfolio, you even see how that kind of spreads across, whether it's hyperscalers or the chip suppliers, right? yeah i mean as you think about go back to supercomputing that portfolio you even see how that kind of spreads across whether it's hyperscalers or the chip suppliers right You think of those two large CDUs. you think of those two large cdus There's the Project Deschutes 5.0, you know, CDU that's on the horizon. there's the project deschutes 5.0 you know cdu that's on the horizon You saw that design at Supercomputing November, kind of that hallmark CDU that was next to it, part of that new portfolio. you saw that design at supercomputing november kind of that hallmark cdu that was next to it part of that new portfolio You know, that's designed to support, as Gary mentioned, you know, the additional chips, whether it's, you know, coming from NVIDIA, AMD out to 2030. you know that's designed to support as gary mentioned you know the additional chips whether it's you know coming from nvidia amd out to 2030 Really kind of having that breadth of that portfolio both for the hyperscalers, also as you think of as it moves more and more into the neoclouds and the multi-tenants, you know, have a portfolio that supports them. really kind of having that breadth of that portfolio both for the hyperscalers also as you think of as it moves more and more into the neoclouds and the multi-tenants you know have a portfolio that supports them

Speaker 2: Okay. Okay. It feels to me like the 10%-13% organic growth you put out in March for the next three years already feels a bit stale. Is that fair? Maybe after another mess day get taken off this year. Okay. okay Okay. okay It feels to me like the 10%-13% organic growth you put out in March for the next three years already feels a bit stale. it feels to me like the 10%-13% organic growth you put out in march for the next three years already feels a bit stale Is that fair? is that fair Maybe after another mess day get taken off this year. maybe after another mess day get taken off this year

Speaker 1: Well, you know, what I would say is that we were really excited to set those targets, a significant increase in trajectory for us as a company. You know, we're thrilled with the start that we've gotten off to, both in the quarter as well as in 2026. Well, you know, what I would say is that we were really excited to set those targets, a significant increase in trajectory for us as a company. well you know what i would say is that we were really excited to set those targets a significant increase in trajectory for us as a company You know, we're thrilled with the start that we've gotten off to, both in the quarter as well as in 2026. you know we're thrilled with the start that we've gotten off to both in the quarter as well as in 2026

Speaker 2: Yep. Yep. Yep. yep Yep. yep

Speaker 1: not just ready to set new targets here. not just ready to set new targets here. not just ready to set new targets here

Speaker 2: No No no

Speaker 1: as eight weeks in. as eight weeks in. as eight weeks in

Speaker 2: No, I was half joking. You know, the decision to disclose backlog on a quarterly basis, maybe just talk about that. Is that because the orders are so massive and are lumpy, is it that because you want to refocus investors on backlog as opposed to order growth? No, I was half joking. no i was half joking You know, the decision to disclose backlog on a quarterly basis, maybe just talk about that. you know the decision to disclose backlog on a quarterly basis maybe just talk about that Is that because the orders are so massive and are lumpy, is it that because you want to refocus investors on backlog as opposed to order growth? is that because the orders are so massive and are lumpy is it that because you want to refocus investors on backlog as opposed to order growth

Speaker 1: Yeah. It really came two ways. One is the change in the portfolio and the change where we're much more long cycle than we were before. You know, our previous disclosure, we feel like wasn't giving, you know, a clear picture on what that looked like from a backlog perspective. That's what we, you know, that's what we decided is to give visibility to that and worked with the accounting experts, and that's where we landed. Yeah. yeah It really came two ways. it really came two ways One is the change in the portfolio and the change where we're much more long cycle than we were before. one is the change in the portfolio and the change where we're much more long cycle than we were before You know, our previous disclosure, we feel like wasn't giving, you know, a clear picture on what that looked like from a backlog perspective. you know our previous disclosure we feel like wasn't giving you know a clear picture on what that looked like from a backlog perspective That's what we, you know, that's what we decided is to give visibility to that and worked with the accounting experts, and that's where we landed. that's what we you know that's what we decided is to give visibility to that and worked with the accounting experts and that's where we landed

Speaker 2: Yep. No, I think that's a great great disclosure. First of all, any more questions on data solutions before we move on? Okay. You do have an industrial and commercial business. I, you know, I'd be remiss if I didn't touch on that. I think you're guiding for commercial up low singles, industrial up mid singles this year. Yep. yep No, I think that's a great great disclosure. no i think that's a great great disclosure First of all, any more questions on data solutions before we move on? first of all any more questions on data solutions before we move on Okay. okay You do have an industrial and commercial business. you do have an industrial and commercial business I, you know, I'd be remiss if I didn't touch on that. i you know i'd be remiss if i didn't touch on that I think you're guiding for commercial up low singles, industrial up mid singles this year. i think you're guiding for commercial up low singles industrial up mid singles this year

Speaker 1: That's correct. That's correct. that's correct

Speaker 2: How is that looking right now? I mean, I ask it in the context of there's concerns that maybe some of the strength that we saw in 1 Q might have been pre-buy activity, et cetera, et cetera. Maybe just touch on that as well. How is that looking right now? how is that looking right now I mean, I ask it in the context of there's concerns that maybe some of the strength that we saw in 1 Q might have been pre-buy activity, et cetera, et cetera. i mean i ask it in the context of there's concerns that maybe some of the strength that we saw in 1 q might have been pre-buy activity et cetera et cetera Maybe just touch on that as well. maybe just touch on that as well

Speaker 1: Yeah, sure. You know, I'll start by saying, you know, we came into the year with a guide of mid singles for industrial and low singles for commercial. We had a very good Q1. You know, we feel good about the performance of those businesses. You know, at the quarter, you know, while we had a good Q1, we kept our guidance in line. We feel really good about the performance of those businesses. They're not only, you know, I would say the execution on from these teams has been solid. We feel, you know, we feel like that Sell-in and sell-out was very much in line with expectations, so comfortable with that. Yeah, sure. yeah sure You know, I'll start by saying, you know, we came into the year with a guide of mid singles for industrial and low singles for commercial. you know i'll start by saying you know we came into the year with a guide of mid singles for industrial and low singles for commercial We had a very good Q1. we had a very good q1 You know, we feel good about the performance of those businesses. you know we feel good about the performance of those businesses You know, at the quarter, you know, while we had a good Q1, we kept our guidance in line. you know at the quarter you know while we had a good q1 we kept our guidance in line We feel really good about the performance of those businesses. we feel really good about the performance of those businesses They're not only, you know, I would say the execution on from these teams has been solid. they're not only you know i would say the execution on from these teams has been solid We feel, you know, we feel like that Sell-in and sell-out was very much in line with expectations, so comfortable with that. we feel you know we feel like that sell-in and sell-out was very much in line with expectations so comfortable with that You know, feel like we're gonna have a good year in those businesses. You know, feel like we're gonna have a good year in those businesses. you know feel like we're gonna have a good year in those businesses

Speaker 2: Yeah. No concerns that we're seeing a weakening there. In the Middle East, you know, we're getting the situation now where, you know, energy shortages are starting to become a bit more pronounced perhaps as a risk. Any concerns in, I don't know, Europe, Asia? I know those aren't big regions for you guys. Yeah. yeah No concerns that we're seeing a weakening there. no concerns that we're seeing a weakening there In the Middle East, you know, we're getting the situation now where, you know, energy shortages are starting to become a bit more pronounced perhaps as a risk. in the middle east you know we're getting the situation now where you know energy shortages are starting to become a bit more pronounced perhaps as a risk Any concerns in, I don't know, Europe, Asia? any concerns in i don't know europe asia I know those aren't big regions for you guys. i know those aren't big regions for you guys

Speaker 1: Yeah. They're not big regions for us. You know, in Europe, our business was up low single digits. You know, honestly, we have higher expectations for that region. Certainly it was impacted modestly by what was going on in the region. You know, certainly from a supply chain perspective globally, you know, our teams are working on a variety of challenges as they always are. You know, this is one of them that we feel like we can manage. You know, certainly it's not making any easier for us to operate. You know, I also talked a bit, you probably would get a go to inflation, but, you know, we did incorporate a higher expectation for fuel into our guidance. Yeah. yeah They're not big regions for us. they're not big regions for us You know, in Europe, our business was up low single digits. you know in europe our business was up low single digits You know, honestly, we have higher expectations for that region. you know honestly we have higher expectations for that region Certainly it was impacted modestly by what was going on in the region. certainly it was impacted modestly by what was going on in the region You know, certainly from a supply chain perspective globally, you know, our teams are working on a variety of challenges as they always are. you know certainly from a supply chain perspective globally you know our teams are working on a variety of challenges as they always are You know, this is one of them that we feel like we can manage. you know this is one of them that we feel like we can manage You know, certainly it's not making any easier for us to operate. you know certainly it's not making any easier for us to operate You know, I also talked a bit, you probably would get a go to inflation, but, you know, we did incorporate a higher expectation for fuel into our guidance. you know i also talked a bit you probably would get a go to inflation but you know we did incorporate a higher expectation for fuel into our guidance You know, that combined with copper, you know, brought us up, you know, just under 1 point for inflation for the year. We're offsetting that with a bit of additional pricing. You know, that combined with copper, you know, brought us up, you know, just under 1 point for inflation for the year. you know that combined with copper you know brought us up you know just under 1 point for inflation for the year We're offsetting that with a bit of additional pricing. we're offsetting that with a bit of additional pricing

Speaker 2: Yep. I guess the other side of the growth ramp is that it does create some investment spending pressures, some margin pressures. Maybe just bring us up to speed in terms of where we are on overcoming the inflation, tariffs, and some of the investment spending. Yep. yep I guess the other side of the growth ramp is that it does create some investment spending pressures, some margin pressures. i guess the other side of the growth ramp is that it does create some investment spending pressures some margin pressures Maybe just bring us up to speed in terms of where we are on overcoming the inflation, tariffs, and some of the investment spending. maybe just bring us up to speed in terms of where we are on overcoming the inflation tariffs and some of the investment spending

Speaker 1: As we came into the year, you know, what we talked about is, you know, the first half would, you know, continue to have a bit more from a headwind perspective, primarily from inflation and tariffs. The second half would be a little bit better. You know, we'll continue to invest pretty consistently across the year to support our growth. You know, the first half has our incrementals about 20%, the second half will be around mid-20s, very much in line with our intermediate term guidance. We feel good about the growth and the returns that we're delivering on the business. As we came into the year, you know, what we talked about is, you know, the first half would, you know, continue to have a bit more from a headwind perspective, primarily from inflation and tariffs. as we came into the year you know what we talked about is you know the first half would you know continue to have a bit more from a headwind perspective primarily from inflation and tariffs The second half would be a little bit better. the second half would be a little bit better You know, we'll continue to invest pretty consistently across the year to support our growth. you know we'll continue to invest pretty consistently across the year to support our growth You know, the first half has our incrementals about 20%, the second half will be around mid-20s, very much in line with our intermediate term guidance. you know the first half has our incrementals about 20% the second half will be around mid-20s very much in line with our intermediate term guidance We feel good about the growth and the returns that we're delivering on the business. we feel good about the growth and the returns that we're delivering on the business

Speaker 2: How does Blaine filter into the SP margins? Does that cause a little bit of pressure as you ramp it up, and then you absorb some of that? How does Blaine filter into the SP margins? how does blaine filter into the sp margins Does that cause a little bit of pressure as you ramp it up, and then you absorb some of that? does that cause a little bit of pressure as you ramp it up and then you absorb some of that

Speaker 1: Yeah, exactly. That investment will pick up in the second quarter then, you know, start to really contribute to SP. You know, they had a great quarter in Q1 on margin. That helped us balance out the overall margin performance for the firm. Yeah, Blaine will, you know, continue to ramp. We'll continue to invest, not just behind, you know, capacity, but also capability as we look to support what is now a very sizable business for us. Yeah, exactly. yeah exactly That investment will pick up in the second quarter then, you know, start to really contribute to SP. that investment will pick up in the second quarter then you know start to really contribute to sp You know, they had a great quarter in Q1 on margin. you know they had a great quarter in q1 on margin That helped us balance out the overall margin performance for the firm. that helped us balance out the overall margin performance for the firm Yeah, Blaine will, you know, continue to ramp. yeah blaine will you know continue to ramp We'll continue to invest, not just behind, you know, capacity, but also capability as we look to support what is now a very sizable business for us. we'll continue to invest not just behind you know capacity but also capability as we look to support what is now a very sizable business for us

Speaker 2: Yeah. We get questions about the actual kind of the raw margins for the liquid cooling portfolio. You know, when we look at, say, I don't know, Boyd, you know, look at some of the other acquisitions we've seen out there, it seems that the margins are in the low to mid-twenties for some of those comparable companies. Is that where you see the margins for your liquid cooling portfolio? Yeah. yeah We get questions about the actual kind of the raw margins for the liquid cooling portfolio. we get questions about the actual kind of the raw margins for the liquid cooling portfolio You know, when we look at, say, I don't know, Boyd, you know, look at some of the other acquisitions we've seen out there, it seems that the margins are in the low to mid-twenties for some of those comparable companies. you know when we look at say i don't know boyd you know look at some of the other acquisitions we've seen out there it seems that the margins are in the low to mid-twenties for some of those comparable companies Is that where you see the margins for your liquid cooling portfolio? is that where you see the margins for your liquid cooling portfolio

Speaker 1: I think what we've said, historically is that, you know, liquid cooling and our data center business is in line with segment. I think what we've said, historically is that, you know, liquid cooling and our data center business is in line with segment. i think what we've said historically is that you know liquid cooling and our data center business is in line with segment

Speaker 2: Yeah Yeah yeah

Speaker 1: with segment averages for both segments. with segment averages for both segments. with segment averages for both segments

Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. yeah Yeah. yeah

Speaker 1: Liquid cooling would be similar to systems protection. Liquid cooling would be similar to systems protection. liquid cooling would be similar to systems protection

Speaker 2: Yeah. Okay. Yeah. yeah Okay. okay

Speaker 1: Including all the investments that we're making. Including all the investments that we're making. including all the investments that we're making

Speaker 2: Okay. On EBITDA basis, that would be in line. Okay. okay On EBITDA basis, that would be in line. on ebitda basis that would be in line

Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah. yeah

Speaker 2: Okay. Got it. EC margins come under a bit of pressure, Gary, in 1Q. Okay. okay Got it. got it EC margins come under a bit of pressure, Gary, in 1Q. ec margins come under a bit of pressure gary in 1q

Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah. yeah

Speaker 2: Maybe just talk about that and the. You're guiding for a pretty sharp recovery. Just conference on that. Maybe just talk about that and the. maybe just talk about that and the You're guiding for a pretty sharp recovery. you're guiding for a pretty sharp recovery Just conference on that. just conference on that

Speaker 1: Yeah. You know, we saw the inflation really pick up in EC, you know, primarily driven by copper at the back half of the fourth quarter. You know, that ramped in the beginning of the first quarter. The team took action on price. That pricing began to roll in towards the end of the first quarter. We saw the margins really improve in EC as we got to the back half of the first quarter, and we expect those to bounce back to where EC has been traditionally in the high 20s in the balance of the year. Yeah. yeah You know, we saw the inflation really pick up in EC, you know, primarily driven by copper at the back half of the fourth quarter. you know we saw the inflation really pick up in ec you know primarily driven by copper at the back half of the fourth quarter You know, that ramped in the beginning of the first quarter. you know that ramped in the beginning of the first quarter The team took action on price. the team took action on price That pricing began to roll in towards the end of the first quarter. that pricing began to roll in towards the end of the first quarter We saw the margins really improve in EC as we got to the back half of the first quarter, and we expect those to bounce back to where EC has been traditionally in the high 20s in the balance of the year. we saw the margins really improve in ec as we got to the back half of the first quarter and we expect those to bounce back to where ec has been traditionally in the high 20s in the balance of the year

Speaker 2: That's great. Price cost in 2Q fairly neutral at this point? That's great. that's great Price cost in 2Q fairly neutral at this point? price cost in 2q fairly neutral at this point

Speaker 1: Yeah. We feel, you know, we feel good about price cost for Q2 through Q4. As I said, a bit behind in EC in Q1. You know, pricing in aggregate in Q1 was higher than it was in Q4. It continues to be at a healthy level. Yeah. yeah We feel, you know, we feel good about price cost for Q2 through Q4. we feel you know we feel good about price cost for q2 through q4 As I said, a bit behind in EC in Q1. as i said a bit behind in ec in q1 You know, pricing in aggregate in Q1 was higher than it was in Q4. you know pricing in aggregate in q1 was higher than it was in q4 It continues to be at a healthy level. it continues to be at a healthy level

Speaker 2: Okay, great. M&A. You guys have done a good job of, you know, with Trachte, Avail, others as well. How does the pipeline look at this point for future deals? Are we still gonna be concentrated very much in that data solutions, power utility, infrastructure segments? Okay, great. okay great M&A. m&a You guys have done a good job of, you know, with Trachte, Avail, others as well. you guys have done a good job of you know with trachte avail others as well How does the pipeline look at this point for future deals? how does the pipeline look at this point for future deals Are we still gonna be concentrated very much in that data solutions, power utility, infrastructure segments? are we still gonna be concentrated very much in that data solutions power utility infrastructure segments

Speaker 1: M&A is, you know, a big part of capital allocation. As we talked about our capital allocation strategy at our investor day, we made it very clear that the first priority is growth, organic growth, and you're seeing that on the CapEx side from us. As we, as we think about M&A, the team has done 8 deals, in addition, the spin-off of the sale of Thermal Management, and the team has been very disciplined in the acquisitions that we've made. The last two have been nice chunky deals that have contributed, you know, really well from an accretion perspective, both from the top line as well as EPS, and we're very pleased with Trachte and Avail EPG. M&A is, you know, a big part of capital allocation. m&a is you know a big part of capital allocation As we talked about our capital allocation strategy at our investor day, we made it very clear that the first priority is growth, organic growth, and you're seeing that on the CapEx side from us. as we talked about our capital allocation strategy at our investor day we made it very clear that the first priority is growth organic growth and you're seeing that on the capex side from us As we, as we think about M&A, the team has done 8 deals, in addition, the spin-off of the sale of Thermal Management, and the team has been very disciplined in the acquisitions that we've made. as we as we think about m&a the team has done 8 deals in addition the spin-off of the sale of thermal management and the team has been very disciplined in the acquisitions that we've made The last two have been nice chunky deals that have contributed, you know, really well from an accretion perspective, both from the top line as well as EPS, and we're very pleased with Trachte and Avail EPG. the last two have been nice chunky deals that have contributed you know really well from an accretion perspective both from the top line as well as eps and we're very pleased with trachte and avail epg The initial strategy there was to get us more exposure into power utility, you know, a sub-vertical that we are really, you know, really excited about. Had some data center exposure that kinda top spin that growth and has helped us. You know, exceed expectations. You know, as we look forward, we've got a full pipeline. You know, we'll continue to be, you know, very disciplined on M&A. You know, certainly it's competitive, as you can see from what folks have announced. You know, we're pleased. We'll continue to be disciplined and, you know, we expect that infrastructure will continue to be a focus. The initial strategy there was to get us more exposure into power utility, you know, a sub-vertical that we are really, you know, really excited about. the initial strategy there was to get us more exposure into power utility you know a sub-vertical that we are really you know really excited about Had some data center exposure that kinda top spin that growth and has helped us. You know, exceed expectations. had some data center exposure that kinda top spin that growth and has helped us. you know exceed expectations You know, as we look forward, we've got a full pipeline. you know as we look forward we've got a full pipeline You know, we'll continue to be, you know, very disciplined on M&A. you know we'll continue to be you know very disciplined on m&a You know, certainly it's competitive, as you can see from what folks have announced. you know certainly it's competitive as you can see from what folks have announced You know, we're pleased. you know we're pleased We'll continue to be disciplined and, you know, we expect that infrastructure will continue to be a focus. we'll continue to be disciplined and you know we expect that infrastructure will continue to be a focus

Speaker 2: Have you been surprised by the extent of deal flow amongst your competitors in the thermal management space? Have you been surprised by the extent of deal flow amongst your competitors in the thermal management space? have you been surprised by the extent of deal flow amongst your competitors in the thermal management space

Speaker 1: Yeah. You know, what I would say is as we think about these deals and fairly sizable deals in the space, you know, it gives us confidence because of what we've been able to do organically. You know, there's been a lot of interest in the space and a lot of, you know, very impressive companies and deep companies technologically, you know, that have decided to enter via M&A. You know, we're not surprised. It's a very attractive space, you know, one that we see, you know, multi years of growth. It doesn't surprise us that it's attractive. Yeah. yeah You know, what I would say is as we think about these deals and fairly sizable deals in the space, you know, it gives us confidence because of what we've been able to do organically. you know what i would say is as we think about these deals and fairly sizable deals in the space you know it gives us confidence because of what we've been able to do organically You know, there's been a lot of interest in the space and a lot of, you know, very impressive companies and deep companies technologically, you know, that have decided to enter via M&A. you know there's been a lot of interest in the space and a lot of you know very impressive companies and deep companies technologically you know that have decided to enter via m&a You know, we're not surprised. you know we're not surprised It's a very attractive space, you know, one that we see, you know, multi years of growth. it's a very attractive space you know one that we see you know multi years of growth It doesn't surprise us that it's attractive. it doesn't surprise us that it's attractive You know, we feel really good about the business that we've built over the past decade plus, you know, behind great technology, quality, and our ability to scale. You know, we feel really good about the business that we've built over the past decade plus, you know, behind great technology, quality, and our ability to scale. you know we feel really good about the business that we've built over the past decade plus you know behind great technology quality and our ability to scale

Speaker 2: The trend has been power companies buying thermal management companies. This consolidation across the, you know, sort of the whole kind of infrastructure spectrum within data center seems to be where the market's gravitating towards. Do you see that for nVent? Do you think there's logic to being a much bigger player, or can you pick your spots in the data center? The trend has been power companies buying thermal management companies. the trend has been power companies buying thermal management companies This consolidation across the, you know, sort of the whole kind of infrastructure spectrum within data center seems to be where the market's gravitating towards. this consolidation across the you know sort of the whole kind of infrastructure spectrum within data center seems to be where the market's gravitating towards Do you see that for nVent? do you see that for nvent Do you think there's logic to being a much bigger player, or can you pick your spots in the data center? do you think there's logic to being a much bigger player or can you pick your spots in the data center

Speaker 1: Yeah. I mean, I'll use your term. I haven't used it, but, you know, we like to focus on what we do best. Right now those are very, you know, discrete product lines that are, you know, differentiated technologically and, you know, that's been our, you know, that's been our focus. You know, we're not a big power company. That's not, that's not what nVent. Yeah. yeah I mean, I'll use your term. i mean i'll use your term I haven't used it, but, you know, we like to focus on what we do best. i haven't used it but you know we like to focus on what we do best Right now those are very, you know, discrete product lines that are, you know, differentiated technologically and, you know, that's been our, you know, that's been our focus. right now those are very you know discrete product lines that are you know differentiated technologically and you know that's been our you know that's been our focus You know, we're not a big power company. you know we're not a big power company That's not, that's not what nVent. that's not that's not what nvent

Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah. yeah

Speaker 1: That's not what nVent does. That's not what nVent does. that's not what nvent does

Speaker 2: No ambitions to be a big power company. No ambitions to be a big power company. no ambitions to be a big power company

Speaker 1: That's not on the roadmap, certainly. That's not on the roadmap, certainly. that's not on the roadmap certainly

Speaker 2: Okay. When we think about the contours of future M&A, would past be prologue? Okay. okay When we think about the contours of future M&A, would past be prologue? when we think about the contours of future m&a would past be prologue

Speaker 1: Yeah, we like- Yeah, we like- yeah we like-

Speaker 2: The last few deals. The last few deals. the last few deals

Speaker 1: We like chunky deals that are, you know, that are accretive, on the top and bottom line. Yeah, we like the last couple deals we've done. We like the size, and we like that vertical. We like chunky deals that are, you know, that are accretive, on the top and bottom line. we like chunky deals that are you know that are accretive on the top and bottom line Yeah, we like the last couple deals we've done. yeah we like the last couple deals we've done We like the size, and we like that vertical. we like the size and we like that vertical

Speaker 2: Yep. Free cash conversion, you're targeting 99.5% conversion this year, which given the growth rates would be pretty darn heroic, quite frankly. I mean, maybe talk about how you're managing working capital given the growth pressures. Yep. yep Free cash conversion, you're targeting 99.5% conversion this year, which given the growth rates would be pretty darn heroic, quite frankly. free cash conversion you're targeting 99.5% conversion this year which given the growth rates would be pretty darn heroic quite frankly I mean, maybe talk about how you're managing working capital given the growth pressures. i mean maybe talk about how you're managing working capital given the growth pressures

Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, we delivered north of 100 last year, you know, with tremendous growth, especially in the, in the second half. You know, our CapEx will, you know, will be elevated. You know, we had cash flow was up, you know, certainly in the first quarter. You know, so we feel good about, cash and being efficient with our cash. It's a, it's a bit of a capital light business, you know, for us. You know, so we'll, the team has traditionally done a very nice job on cash conversion, and we're focused on revenue, earnings, and profit delivery as well as cash delivery. Yeah, I mean, we delivered north of 100 last year, you know, with tremendous growth, especially in the, in the second half. yeah i mean we delivered north of 100 last year you know with tremendous growth especially in the in the second half You know, our CapEx will, you know, will be elevated. you know our capex will you know will be elevated You know, we had cash flow was up, you know, certainly in the first quarter. you know we had cash flow was up you know certainly in the first quarter You know, so we feel good about, cash and being efficient with our cash. you know so we feel good about cash and being efficient with our cash It's a, it's a bit of a capital light business, you know, for us. it's a it's a bit of a capital light business you know for us You know, so we'll, the team has traditionally done a very nice job on cash conversion, and we're focused on revenue, earnings, and profit delivery as well as cash delivery. you know so we'll the team has traditionally done a very nice job on cash conversion and we're focused on revenue earnings and profit delivery as well as cash delivery

Speaker 2: Yep. CapEx has been stepping up progressively, I think by $130 million this year. Does that continue to step higher next year, or do you think we can maintain this kind of plateau? Yep. yep CapEx has been stepping up progressively, I think by $130 million this year. capex has been stepping up progressively i think by $130 million this year Does that continue to step higher next year, or do you think we can maintain this kind of plateau? does that continue to step higher next year or do you think we can maintain this kind of plateau

Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, we've continued to ramp CapEx as we've needed capacity and, while I'm not ready to talk about, you know, 27 and 28 CapEx, we certainly will continue to invest to support growth. You know, and as a % of sales, again, it's pretty efficient capital structure from a CapEx investment perspective. Yeah, I mean, we've continued to ramp CapEx as we've needed capacity and, while I'm not ready to talk about, you know, 27 and 28 CapEx, we certainly will continue to invest to support growth. yeah i mean we've continued to ramp capex as we've needed capacity and while i'm not ready to talk about you know 27 and 28 capex we certainly will continue to invest to support growth You know, and as a % of sales, again, it's pretty efficient capital structure from a CapEx investment perspective. you know and as a % of sales again it's pretty efficient capital structure from a capex investment perspective

Speaker 2: Yep. Yep. Got a full room here, so just wanna make sure there's no questions from the. There's one in the back here. Can we get a mic to the back, please? Yep. yep Yep. yep Got a full room here, so just wanna make sure there's no questions from the. got a full room here so just wanna make sure there's no questions from the There's one in the back here. there's one in the back here Can we get a mic to the back, please? can we get a mic to the back please

Speaker 4: Yeah. Hey, guys. I was just wondering if you could talk a little bit, I think on the Q1 call, you guys talked a little bit about European expansion potential as sort of data centers and things take off there. Maybe if you could just give a little more color around kind of the broad strokes of what you're thinking about Europe. Yeah. yeah Hey, guys. hey guys I was just wondering if you could talk a little bit, I think on the Q1 call, you guys talked a little bit about European expansion potential as sort of data centers and things take off there. i was just wondering if you could talk a little bit i think on the q1 call you guys talked a little bit about european expansion potential as sort of data centers and things take off there Maybe if you could just give a little more color around kind of the broad strokes of what you're thinking about Europe. maybe if you could just give a little more color around kind of the broad strokes of what you're thinking about europe

Speaker 1: Yeah, sure. You know, the growth for us in data centers has been almost exclusively in North America, and there's been tremendous growth. You know, however, going forward, we do see nice growth opportunity in Europe. You know, we're investing, you know, behind capability as well as capacity, you know, as we think about that market. An attractive market that we expect to grow, but more in the future, you know, as North America has really driven, you know, our growth as a company here recently. Yeah, sure. yeah sure You know, the growth for us in data centers has been almost exclusively in North America, and there's been tremendous growth. you know the growth for us in data centers has been almost exclusively in north america and there's been tremendous growth You know, however, going forward, we do see nice growth opportunity in Europe. you know however going forward we do see nice growth opportunity in europe You know, we're investing, you know, behind capability as well as capacity, you know, as we think about that market. you know we're investing you know behind capability as well as capacity you know as we think about that market An attractive market that we expect to grow, but more in the future, you know, as North America has really driven, you know, our growth as a company here recently. an attractive market that we expect to grow but more in the future you know as north america has really driven you know our growth as a company here recently

Speaker 2: Good question. Anything else? One more perhaps? Nope. Okay. One question we get a lot, Gary, is, you know, there's a lot of, you know, new entrants in the CDU markets, you know, the HVAC companies, you know, integrating towards the rack, and there's some niche players there. Any concerns on competition, of capacity in that market? Good question. good question Anything else? anything else One more perhaps? one more perhaps Nope. nope Okay. okay One question we get a lot, Gary, is, you know, there's a lot of, you know, new entrants in the CDU markets, you know, the HVAC companies, you know, integrating towards the rack, and there's some niche players there. one question we get a lot gary is you know there's a lot of you know new entrants in the cdu markets you know the hvac companies you know integrating towards the rack and there's some niche players there Any concerns on competition, of capacity in that market? any concerns on competition of capacity in that market

Speaker 1: As I said earlier, it's an attractive market, and you know, attractive markets attract competitive entrants. For us, having been in the business for a long time, you know, we feel good about our what we bring to the market from a capability perspective, quality, reliability as well as our scale. It doesn't surprise us, and you know, we're feeling pretty good about our position. As I said earlier, it's an attractive market, and you know, attractive markets attract competitive entrants. as i said earlier it's an attractive market and you know attractive markets attract competitive entrants For us, having been in the business for a long time, you know, we feel good about our what we bring to the market from a capability perspective, quality, reliability as well as our scale. for us having been in the business for a long time you know we feel good about our what we bring to the market from a capability perspective quality reliability as well as our scale It doesn't surprise us, and you know, we're feeling pretty good about our position. it doesn't surprise us and you know we're feeling pretty good about our position

Speaker 2: That's great. Well, Gary, I'll hand it back to you for closing remarks. That's great. that's great Well, Gary, I'll hand it back to you for closing remarks. well gary i'll hand it back to you for closing remarks

Speaker 1: Yeah, no, thank you, Nigel, and thanks for all of, all of you in the room. We'll speak with many of you throughout the day. We have tremendous momentum at nVent and excited about delivering growth on the top line, on the bottom line, and through cash flow. Thanks for your interest. Look forward to talking more. Yeah, no, thank you, Nigel, and thanks for all of, all of you in the room. yeah no thank you nigel and thanks for all of all of you in the room We'll speak with many of you throughout the day. we'll speak with many of you throughout the day We have tremendous momentum at nVent and excited about delivering growth on the top line, on the bottom line, and through cash flow. we have tremendous momentum at nvent and excited about delivering growth on the top line on the bottom line and through cash flow Thanks for your interest. thanks for your interest Look forward to talking more. look forward to talking more

Speaker 2: Thanks, Gary. Thanks, Tony. That was a great discussion. Thank you. Thanks, Gary. thanks gary Thanks, Tony. thanks tony That was a great discussion. that was a great discussion Thank you. thank you

Speaker 1: Thank you. Thank you. thank you