ZEBRA TECHNOLOGIES CORP — Call Transcript 2026

Appreciate everyone joining us. Welcome to Citi's 2026 Global Industrial Tech and Mobility Conference. I am Piyush Avasthy, analyst at Citi. We are starting bright and early with Zebra Technologies. We've got Nathan Winters, who is the CFO. Welcome, Nathan. Yeah, it's great to be here. Thanks for having us. Nathan, Zebra sits at the intersection of automation, digitization, on-demand economy, and AI. As you see your end markets today, and as you are having your customer conversations, would appreciate your thoughts on where you think we are in the cycle and the durability of this cycle. What are your large customers telling you? Do you still sense some uncertainty as you talk to your smaller or medium-sized customers? Yes, if you take a step back and look at the depth and breadth of the portfolio across our two segments, the Connected Frontline, Asset Visibility and Automation, our customers, I think of all sizes, are telling us similar thing, which is, they want to continue to invest in technology that drives efficiency, productivity across our operations, increases visibility to their assets and inventory as they track it across their supply chains, and provide a better experience for their customers. That's what our portfolio does. We say we're the foundation for intelligent operations, meaning, how do we make their operations more intelligent, provide the insights they need, and drive the productivity they're expecting for their frontline associates? If you look at, I think we have a lot of momentum coming out of 2025 here into 2026. At the high end of our guidance for the fourth quarter, grew 6% organically last year, with 17% EPS growth, strong free cash flow, and looking forward to have that momentum continue here in the year. I think that's what our customers are telling us here early on. Just that recently at the National Retail Federation trade show, some of our sales kickoff meetings with our partners. Again, I think people have their heads down, focused on what they need to do for their business and continuing to invest. Got it. And you reported last week, introduced your 2026 guidance. Can we, can we touch on some of the drivers there? Your implied 2026 organic growth guidance of roughly 4% is below your long-term average of 5%-7%. You just said you did 6% in 2025. So as we think about 2026, can we walk through some of the puts and takes? How much is pricing helping versus the volume uptick? I thought you generally sounded good on your earnings call across most of your portfolio in terms of pipeline of opportunities. So where are the areas of caution? And I understand it's still early in the year, so- Yeah. Look, we feel, we feel good about the business. Like I said, there was some nice momentum coming out of year-end. We have a strong pipeline of opportunities, both for this year and starting to see a pipeline build for 2027 as well. We had our European business return to growth in the fourth quarter, which was a positive sign. Manufacturing, which we'll talk about a little bit later, grew high single digits, so it was great to see kind of the-- our manufacturing vertical, get back to solid growth. Then we're seeing continued momentum in areas like RFID and machine vision. So I think all that, along with what I just mentioned around our customer conversations, makes us feel good about how we're entering the year. We think the guide is balanced with those opportunities, along with, let's say, some of just the lingering uncertainty, whether that's inflation, interest rates, the impact of the consumer. But, again, we feel like we're in a good space, entering the year, and we did take some pricing actions last year. That's given us about 0.5 point of growth as it carried over to this year. So what we realized last year carried over into this year. And we just announced another price increase just over a couple weeks ago, and we didn't embed that in incremental revenue into the guidance, just because we had just announced it a few days before earnings. So, again, I think that's incremental opportunity as we look out to the back half of the year. But we wanted to see how that plays out in the market or from a demand perspective before including it in the top-line guide. Gotcha. And you mentioned some of the end markets, but, you know, let's get a little bit more into those and, you know, how they are contributing to your growth this year. You said, like you mentioned, like the relative strength in healthcare, manufacturing, and retail, and e-commerce, like, how are you thinking about these end markets in 2026? Manufacturing has been pressured for some time, but you had a good fourth quarter, as you mentioned. Would you say you are seeing a more pronounced recovery in the underlying demand in manufacturing? And then how do you think about transportation and logistics? Yeah, if you look at in manufacturing, I think we said it was lagging growth, which I think would very get misconstrued as it was declining. It just wasn't growing as fast as some of the other verticals through last year, and that kind of flipped in the fourth quarter. I think some of that is the underlying market. You're seeing that with some of the PMI data, so that's great. And then we've spent quite a bit of time investing in our capabilities around manufacturing. A couple examples, you know, on the go-to-market side, investing in inside sales capabilities, investing in our e-commerce platform, where a lot of small and mid-sized business manufacturers go to purchase. As well as going into this year, changing our rebate structure with our resellers, to have more focus on small and mid-size customers. And again, these are customers that typically buy... It's, you know, it's more transactional-based, less project. So again, you got to be there in contact at that moment where the printer at the end of the line, they need to be replaced, or they're doing a lean workout, and they need to upgrade the line. So you've got to be there at that moment, and have the right solution for them. So, we spent a lot from a go-to-market and seeing that starting to pay off. And I think the other opportunity, I mean, manufacturing is really core to our print and scanning business, which is, you know, kind of the core legacy part of the company. But, those are great businesses, high margins. And now if you look at what we have in machine vision, which we'll talk about, but that's obviously, benefiting from market recovery. Things like RFID are now being embedded more and more into the manufacturing processes, which is an opportunity, and then we look at areas like tablets. So having, supervisors and frontline managers with a mobile device to monitor what's going on in the production line, somewhat replacing kind of the fixed screens you'd see mounted, at the end of a production line. Then the other, with Elo coming on, they have a real opportunity around interactive displays in the production line. So again, I think the portfolio breadth is much broader than it was five years ago, which gives us incremental opportunities to go in and have a different type of conversation with our customers. Gotcha. Any comment on, like, anything different that's happening in transportation and logistics? Yeah. Not so much. You know, T&L had a good year last year, slight decline in the fourth quarter. It's more project-based, so you do see a bit, a bit of lumpiness just around project timing. But we are seeing, you know, T&L was one of the big beneficiaries back during COVID in 2021 and 2022, is of last mile delivery did a lot to refresh their portfolio of mobile computers, and we're seeing that pipeline build, particularly as you look at multi-year deployments beginning in 2027. And one of the areas that I think is differentiating us versus the past is the AI capabilities we're building. So a lot of excitement around what we can do to automate, proof of delivery, which seems pretty, pretty quick, but if they drop the package off at your door, there's a couple steps they need to follow in terms of clicking buttons, and if you can automate that with AI, that saves seconds. You multiply that times thousands of transactions and package deliveries, it's millions of dollars that they can benefit from. So those are some of the different capabilities we're bringing beyond just your normal technology refresh. There's a lot of enhanced capabilities we can deliver for those T&L providers as they're looking to refresh their portfolio. Helpful. Let's dig into the role of AI, and you know, what it means for Zebra. You're obviously at the forefront of introducing AI-enabled applications and integrating AI with your current offerings. Can you talk about some early wins, and how meaningful AI and software broadly will be for Zebra in the next few years? And how far or close is competition with their AI offerings? Do you think AI is a differentiating factor as customers make their investment decisions today? Yeah. We believe we're uniquely positioned to be the AI provider for frontline workers, and we do that across our entire portfolio. If you go to, you know, the foundation of asset visibility, which is giving a digital voice to, you know, customers, assets, inventory, their people, all that data is being fed by... You know, you need printers, scanners, machine vision, RFID, to know where and what those, you know, assets are doing, or where they're at across the supply chain, feeding the data models that allow then the, you know, AI to provide a better insight, and output. And then, on the connected frontline, it's all around unifying workers with the consumer, with our software application. So again, you're doing the right task at the right time or providing better collaboration tools, across the, those, the frontline store associates. So, you know, how do you take that, the insights, from AI that are able to generate, and then get that in the hands of frontline workers, so they can be more productive? We've also introduced a suite, an AI suite of products, still in the pilot phase, but we think these are really differentiators, in the market, and sets us apart. And the way we think about it is three things: One, we call it Enablers, which is think of tools and APIs, no different than we do for most of our other mobile computing solutions, that allow developers, our customers, to develop applications, AI applications, for the device, for their frontline workers, and making that an easy process, for them to execute. And so that thing is a real differentiator. If you do that, you need a higher-end mobile computer, which is-- which will drive the need for a refresh and upgrade of your existing devices. Then we have Blueprints. So think of multiple enablers as a blueprint, so that it's easy to build applications and agents, and that's some of the work we're doing around proof of delivery within T&L. Those are a blueprints so those could be managed by Zebra, they could be managed by the customers, or there could be professional services in terms of how we help set those up. And then the final one is, we call our Companion Suite, so where we have AI agents built for things like sales enablement, operating procedures, product knowledge. So again, we had a wine retailer at National Retail Federation trade show, which is if you go in and ask, and it's you just hope you find the right store associate that may be able to help you with whether you're looking for the right wine or where to find something in a home improvement store. Yeah. You know, now at the touch, they can go, in an intuitive way, ask, you know, what wine should be paired with X at XY- You say, well, any AI application can do that. Well, what the store needs and what those, that retailer wants is it to be customized to what they have in inventory, what they're running a special on, right? So it's, it's built around not only that broader, knowledge that you get from AI, but also custom-built around their application, you know, their product, their procedures, to provide that better consumer experience. Got it. And let's talk about the flip side. There are growing concerns that AI can potentially disrupt existing software offerings. If we can start with how you expect Zebra to defend its market positioning if we begin to see new entrants with AI-infused offerings. And then, there is a push towards fully autonomous and automated warehouses and retail stores. Can you talk about what role will Zebra play when retail stores or warehouses operate without sales associates? Yeah. On the first one, around AI disruption, I think we are in a unique position given our install base, the market share we have, in the markets we serve, and then the relationships we have with the top retail, e-commerce, T&L providers, to understand where are their pain points, how are they thinking about using AI, in a variety of ways to support their frontline stores, so their frontline associates... and us working with them to enable that, right? So I think we can help be the really disruptive force for their processes and procedures. And because of that position, we're, you know, I think as long as we stay close to our customers, continue to adapt to their needs, and not let someone else come in and have that position, we're in a great position to, again, help our customers disrupt versus someone else coming in and doing that for, you know, for them. And I think, you know, two things I'd like to say on both the warehouse side and the retail, you know, I'll look at it a little bit differently versus there's, you know, of the fear of fully, you know, automation. But there's been a couple of surveys that are out, and if you look worldwide, only 25% of worldwide warehouses have any form of automation. So if you think about the, you know, where we're talking about fully autonomous or, you know, dark warehouses and things like that, there is a vast number of warehouses out there that, you know, need our solutions, even the most basic, you know, basic barcode scanning, much less having to utilize RFID or machine vision and other tools that can really drive enhanced productivity. So I think there's still an enormous opportunity out there to continue to automate and digitize. The other one is there's been very recent, you know, announcements over the last six months of large customers backing away from fully autonomous warehouses. You know, they tend to be pretty rigid and unable to adapt to changing customer behaviors, buying propensity. The ROI has been a longer than I think expected. And I'm not saying there's that role is going to go away, but I think, you know, what customers, what they're saying is they need flexibility, modular, quick ROI. And again, we think RFID, machine vision or even just, you know, our scanning capabilities really help provide that and allow them to adapt to their changing customer behaviors. So again, there's a huge role there. And then on the retail side, the one thing we look at is 50% of frontline workers still aren't digitally connected, even with the most basic communication, you know, kind of forms of connectivity. And we think that's, again, a huge opportunity, especially if you think of the role of AI is it's only as good as having all your store associates connected and be able to utilize that. And so we've done a lot of work over the last several years to bringing out the portfolio to have, you know, your highly rugged mobile computer that maybe is used for the back-of-store inventory management, to a wearable that, you know, someone at the, you know, a checkout or, someone, a greeter at a store can have a wearable device that allows them to be connected. They can collaborate, utilize those AI capabilities that are coming to market, and everywhere in between. So again, the value is then, even though they may be different form factors, in terms of the device, they're all supported by the same software layer, same applications, the same user experience. So if you switch between, you know, you go from using a wearable to a fully ruggedized because you change roles, you're gonna have the same experience, just in a different form factor. So again, I think those are two, you know, huge opportunities that still exist. And look, the role of automation is clearly important. If you're growing 5%-10% and you're, you know, a large e-commerce provider, you have to have automation to keep up with demand because quite frankly, you just can't hire that many people, right? So, I don't think this is anything new from the need to drive productivity and robotic automation is one form of that, just to keep up with demand, and especially when, you know, your resources are scarce and trying to find talent to keep up with that demand from the market. Gotcha. Helpful. And let's, let's talk about margins now. You have, like, 50 bps of annualized margin expansion target over its cycle. A lot of it is driven by operating leverage, but you have been talking a bit more about productivity initiatives. There is some restructuring in there. I know you are not, you have not quantified anything, but do you think there are incremental opportunities to take out cost from your operating structure? R&D is a big bucket for you guys. Does AI, like internal use of AI, help you maybe drive more efficiencies within your R&D workflow? Yes, we have, I think, going back, a track record of driving operating leverage. We have a variable cost structure just with our outsourced manufacturing. Our use of resellers and distribution channel gives us a lot of leverage on both sides, to flex up as growth or in a downturn, to be able to take out costs quickly. So I think that's a real advantage for the company. We spent a lot of time around, you know, talking about things like, you know, kind of a common ERP, one distribution network to support, you know, the breadth of the company, which gives, again, a lot of leverage on that fixed cost structure. But again, we always have room to improve and drive incremental productivity. I think the new tools like AI is obviously an opportunity that we're pushing hard on. The restructuring we took in Q4, and we expect a little bit more here in Q1, I'd say it's targeted on a few areas. One was the exit of the robotics business, which will be a $20 million benefit on an annual basis, directly to reduction in R&D expense. So we do expect that, you know, R&D as a percent of revenue to come down below 10%. There was nothing magic around 10%, just happened to be, you know, kind of where it always wasn't like some golden rule that the budget started with 10%. So as we exit the year, I do expect that to come down to, you know, 9%-9.5%, primarily with that exit of the robotics business. And then we took some other actions around our engineering in terms of software development. Like everyone, using the tools that are out there from an AI to be more productive in our software, we're seeing the benefit of that, and the teams are still working through, you know, how to continue to drive more productivity there from our software development capabilities. And then we also took some actions in our go-to-market team, primarily looking at our sales and management structure. With really the goal to reinvest in more frontline resources, expand our inside sales capabilities, really commercialize our AI offerings, like we talked about. Adding the resources in the field who have the expertise and the know-how to help our customers deploy those new AI tools, and then just help offset some general inflation. Like, I think it's something we look at every day, and at times there's a larger restructuring action, when need be, or to help make sure we're reallocating capital to invest in the highest growth opportunities we have. Got you. And I think on your earnings call, you talked about accelerating your investment in RFID, machine vision, and AI, and I think that's what- Yeah ... you were kind of referring to. So can you elaborate a bit more on what you're doing there? And, is this still within the 10% or like now 9%-9.5%- Yep ... R&D spending threshold? And when can we expect these investments to translate to higher earnings potential? Yeah, all three are a little different. So it's definitely within the envelope of that R&D we talked about. If you look at RFID, you know, again, RFID technology has been around for a long time. You know, it's. But it's hit the tipping point over the last couple of years as the cost of the chip made it economically viable, and then now just everyone understanding where are the different use cases and workflows that they can automate with the technology. But there's a lot of work with the, I'd say, the broader ecosystem to help ensure that adoption continues, ensure that the product. You know, the ROI that the customers are expecting. And we all have to work together, from the chip provider to the inlay provider. You know, we'll provide readers and printers, labels, but then you also have ISVs, and solutions who are pulling that all together and developing the app, the software layer, on top that's, you know, could be very customized to whatever, you know, individual customer is looking at and workflow they're looking at. So there's a lot of work, I think, across the industry just to again, it's all in our best interest for the adoption to continue to accelerate, and we're not going to be able to any one of us can't do that on our own, right? We require, all of everyone working together for the best, interest of our customers, and driving that ROI. So I think that's, that's really the focus, less so on pure incremental dollars, but it's really around that building out of the ecosystem. You know, machine vision, we've invested a lot over the last couple of years, and I know we'll talk a little bit later, but I don't think it's really net incremental investment here in the short term. It's focus, it's executing and delivering on the growth opportunities we see ahead and getting that business back to the growth profile that we expect. And I say, you know, earning the right to continue to invest more, but really making sure we get a return on what we've already invested. And then AI, just particularly on the offering side, our external offering, that's probably where the most investment is going this year. Again, it's just, you know, building out that portfolio, you know, building out the offering, hardening the offering, taking it from pilot to deployment to full scale, and making sure we have the resources in the field to support it. So that's probably where you see the most pure dollar investment going. The other two are, you know, more on focus, and I think that's part of the exit of robotics was, you know, obviously it was returning that those losses back to shareholders in terms of improved profitability, but also just the focus around the overall company and management team on where we see the greatest opportunities for growth in those three areas. Got it. And there were a lot of questions on memory pricing. I'll just ask one. I think you talked about two points of gross margin headwinds from that, but you also expect to fully mitigate it by year-end. I think you have highlighted some supply chain actions, and then you are instituting pricing actions. It seems you have a relatively good handle on it, at least on things that you can control. But is there anything that concerns you, be it in terms of availability, or supply, or higher pricing, potentially leading to some project deferment by your customers? Anything that you would say is still uncertain? Yeah, look, there's always uncertainty. It's obviously a quickly evolving, dynamic environment. But I think our, you know, feels like every year I'm saying our supply chain team is doing a great job, whether it was the first round of tariffs or semiconductor tariffs again, and now back on memory and they're working closely with, you know, our multiple memory suppliers on capacity and making sure we get our fair share of allocation, which we feel good about. Looking ahead at where we see prices, not only today, but going over the next six months, and that's what we've embedded into our guidance. And then a lot of work with our commercial teams, looking out at the pipeline over the next, you know, for the remainder of the year. You know, it's one thing, you know, historically, if you say: I'm gonna... You know, I believe this customer is gonna buy this product, you know, in our case, a mobile computer, that may be okay. But when you're in a world where there's allocation, it matters if they want 6, 8, 12 gig of memory. And making sure that we understand what are those specifications they're really interested in, so that as we work backwards through the supply chain and we get our allocation, that we're getting the right allocation to where those customers want. So, a lot of activity right now going back into the pipeline and double-clicking on, you know, we got to go one layer deeper with our customers, not to order it early, but just to understand what they're thinking and what's the SKU they're probably gonna go with, so that way we can make sure we get the right allocation. So we feel good around the overall allocation. Now, it's the nuance of- Yeah. It matters if you get 6 versus 12, and the customer wants the opposite, right? In terms of how we've worked back through the supply chain. So a lot of great work there. As I mentioned, it's 2-point headwind, as we mentioned, 2-point headwind for the year, really beginning in Q2. Q1, not much of an impact, just given what we had already in inventory and built out. And the way I think about it is twofold: One, the pricing increase we announced over a week ago. Along with some moves we're expecting later in the year around rediverting to different memory types, we expect to fully mitigate on an annual basis. So as we, you know, kind of in the later in the year into next year, you know, fully mitigate with the pricing, the direct pricing actions, as well as some other direct moves around, around memory. And that's what we've done. If you go back, whether it was tariffs, semiconductor, or some of the freight escalations we saw back a couple of years ago. But that takes some time for our pricing to flow through the distribution channel, flow through the P&L. So there's usually an air pocket- Yeah to catch up with the cost and our price increase. I think this year, we're benefiting that we can offset it within the year because of unrelated tailwinds, which unfortunately, what should have been upside to margin rate. But the exit of the robotics business, FX favorability, tariff favorability because of some of the lower rates out of China, as well as the actions our team have taken. Kind of all that, is being absorbed with helping offset the impact this year, while the goal is to fully mitigate with the pricing actions as we exit the year. So helpful. How sticky would you say pricing is for you guys? You know, if you look back, we've had relative success when you go to, you know, the price increases we did back around the, the increases in freight and memory or, or in semiconductor costs, or last year with the tariff, and we, we, executed the price actions we needed to fully mitigate the impact of tariffs as we exited the year. So, you know, but we need to see how it plays out with demand. We're seeing it... You know, we're not the only one, so it's somewhat different than tariffs, where it somewhat mattered where you produced, who may or may not have a competitive advantage. Yeah. Here, everyone's facing the same, the same headwinds, so we're seeing similar actions by our competitors. And, you know, to date, we haven't really seen any noticeable change in, you know, pipeline or someone saying: "Hey, we're just going to wait." But that's the reason we said back in the guidance that we thought it was just prudent and the right thing to do to not bake in that incremental $50-$60 million of pricing to our guidance. And we'll see how that plays out and be able to give an update here in a couple of months, once it starts to be absorbed by the market. Helpful. I'll pause and see if there are any questions from the audience. Yeah. So maybe going back a little bit to RFID and the momentum that you guys are seeing built there. You know, are you guys doing anything different there competitively, or is it really all around that adoption is finally beginning to happen and broaden? Yeah, I think it's both. I mean, one, we, we do continue to see the adoption, whether that's. And you see different announcements on applying the technology on fresh food and produce to track the age. I mean, it's, you know, I think quite a bit of waste, as you would expect within a grocery environment around produce. So really, really able to understand, you know, is that loaf of bread, how old is it really? And the only way to know that is with RFID, 'cause it's you have a unique identifier with that, with that, with that product. And you, you would think on some cases, it's not what are the economics around paying for that extra for an RFID chip? Well, if that's still better than throwing it away, right? Because it's expired and not utilized. So by having that information, there's a lot they can do around shaping demand, making sure they're buying the right amount of whatever the item is, promotions, you know, all the things, you know, grocery stores can do, you know, grocers and retailers can do to move product when it's near expiration. So those type of applications, I think, are continuing to grow. And I think the beauty is, once... If you're a supplier and you're, you know, you've seen these large announcements from some large retailers requiring everyone to tag every all their goods to be tagged. Well, if they tag... You know, now, if you're the garment provider, tagging everything, going to multiple different stores, you may look around your environment, a store who doesn't have RFID readers, and go: You know what? 40%-50% of the articles I have in my store are already tagged. Now, all I need is a reader to take advantage of the productivity I can get. So I think some of this proliferation of things being tagged, a lot of other retailers are looking at it going, "Oh, I can now take advantage of that." Look, so obviously, we're always continue to innovate around the portfolio, different types of fixed readers, moving to new chipsets. But again, back to what I said earlier, a lot of this is around working together with the ecosystem to make sure we're providing the solution for the customer and whatever that customer. You know, the one challenge in it is every customer is a bit unique. The application they want, you know, the software that's required, so some of that's bespoke and very pinpointed to a workflow within a customer, and that's the role of an ISV, right? Software provider, the independent software providers can provide, but then we all need to work with them to make sure our solutions work together. So I think that's, that's the—there's still some of that underlying demand, but also a lot of work just making sure we can bring that ecosystem together to provide the right solution. All right. Any other questions? I'll continue. Can we talk about machine vision? I think you mentioned a return to growth in 2026. Bill mentioned a strong pipeline of opportunities, but this, this is a vertical where you expect longer-term, double-digit growth- Mm-hmm Potential. Based on your customer conversations and the project activity that you see, do you have enough visibility to get to that point, double-digit growth framework this year? And you have made some acquisitions in your machine vision portfolio. Would you say your portfolio is, in quotes, "ready''? Yeah, as you... We've, you know, we're still remaining excited about the long-term prospects for machine vision. Obviously, we made significant investments over the last several years from an M&A perspective and organic investment. And unfortunately, I think there's been a lot of market headwinds, and in particular, the markets where particularly our Matrox acquisition had some real strength, semiconductor. Also where we placed some of our bets around, you know, electrification and automotive, you know, was a huge opportunity that quickly evaporated. And so, you know, now we're starting to see, I think, both the underlying market improve, you're seeing that from others in the market, and the work we've done over the last two years to. You know, it's a, it's a long sales cycle. You gotta create the relationship, win a proof of concept, be designed in, and then you get the real tailwinds for years to come, and that takes time. And now we're starting to see finally all that pay off, right? The work around you're seeing some traction in automotive again. The semiconductor customers are starting to recover and seeing some progress, and some momentum in TNL. So again, where we've focused over the last couple of years have now started, you know, starting to see that traction, both in the underlying recovery as well as those actions. And I think we look at the portfolio today, we feel good about where it's at in terms of being able to compete. You know, we have to pick our spots, but the nice thing about the machine vision market, it's fairly fragmented, you know, from a competitive standpoint. There's also multiple different layers, from 3D to fixed scanning to smart cameras. So it's not just as one ubiquitous market. There's a lot of different submarkets, where you can go and have success, and there's a lot of white space, right? As the overall market grows. So I think the one area we look at is, you know, scale is absolutely critical. So there's multiple ways to drive scale. So I think that's where we're focused at, is executing, delivering, and then understanding where and how we can continue to scale our business to compete as most effectively as possible. Helpful. And, one on Elo, you, you have had Elo, for some time in your portfolio. How do you feel about the cost and sales synergies that you initially telegraphed? On your earnings call, you mentioned some wins for Elo. I think you, you have mentioned potential benefits of running it under the Zebra umbrella and integrating with your own offerings to sell your customers a more comprehensive, solutions. Maybe if you can update us on how that is progressing. Yeah. Well, we're still excited about the acquisition. I mean, it's been five months. I mean, the focus for the last five months, quite frankly, was finish the year strong, execute, and deliver what we needed to at year-end, and get through the holidays. But the teams, I'd say, super impressed with the management team, continue to be a great cultural fit. You're seeing teams work together naturally around, you know, back to memory, you know, sharing their supply chain, our supply chain. What are we doing? Where can we help with our scale with some of the memory providers? But they also have some different things they're doing that we can leverage across our portfolio. So you're seeing those things just naturally happen. We have a combined incentive plan for our sales team to make sure that both sides are incentivized to drive opportunities and leads for the other portfolio. We've already confirmed $10 million. We committed $25 million of synergies by year 3, and we've already confirmed $10 million, meaning we know where it is, how we're going to drive it, and the team, excuse me, the teams are executing that. So I think we feel, feel great about the progress here out of the gate. We got to show a call it a sneak peek of how we think about the portfolio in the future at NRF, where you have, you know, interactive displays, self-service kiosk, working with mobility. You know, obviously, there's a lot of work, you know, kind of putting that together and the opportunity to have, you know, the pane of glass across a storefront, whether that's mobility in the hands of workers, touchscreens, kiosks, and all operating on the same operating platform, where the applications, the security, the maintenance can all be run. Today, those are on two different applications, you know, two different instances. And the work to be able to combine those, that's what our customers were asking for and have asked for for a long time. That's the reason we launched our own kiosk last year. So, again, I think that's down the pipeline in terms from an R&D integration. We're really excited about the differentiation that can bring to market that no one else has the ability to offer. Helpful. And, can we spend some time on your portfolio strategy? We talked about Elo, your exiting robotics business. Maybe talk about, like, why that no longer fits the portfolio. You have done some M&A in machine vision space. You're obviously very close to your customers, so what other opportunities are there to help your customers from a portfolio addition or product standpoint? And as you think of M&A pipeline, you know, what are the top one or two areas of interest? Yeah. I think on robotics, it was pretty straightforward. You know, the market never really evolved as we anticipated, when we did the acquisition back in 2021, which was obviously just the, a lot of momentum at that time around what autonomous robots could do. But the, you know, the unit economics on a deployment and the profitability around that were pretty challenging. And as we took a step back and said, look at the losses we were incurring each year, and being able to, you know, shut it down, sell some of the assets, give that money back to shareholders in terms of improved profitability, and then really focus our efforts around, like I said, where we think there's big automation plays that we have a right to play, and we see a lot of momentum, and we've talked about those, RFID, machine vision, and AI. So it just... Again, and we, we still supply a lot of robotics companies. You know, Photoneo is the eyes for a lot of robotics automation. You know, so for arms that are going and doing the picking, they need to be able to have 3D sensing to see what they're picking, and that's what our Photoneo camera does. We still have a position in several robotics companies within our venture portfolio, so we'll still keep an eye on it, see how the market plays out. But just I think for the portfolio today, it just made sense to be with someone else and for us to focus our energy and effort. Gotcha. And then, tying that to capital deployment priorities- Yeah. You are generating good free cash flow and your leverage is not too high. You just announced a $1 billion share repurchase authorization. In the near term, should we expect you to balance share repurchases and debt profile, or can you be more aggressive on M&A? Yeah, maybe just before that, back, you know, but on the M&A strategy, I think it's. Just to touch on that, it's, you know, one where we're going to continue to look for assets that are closely adjacent, synergistic with the portfolio we have, where we can really scale within the existing businesses of our, you know, connected frontline asset visibility and automation, in higher growth markets that have, you know, we can drive an attractive return on investment. We think both Elo and Photoneo were good examples of that. But that being said, you know, we, you know, we laid out in our last earnings guide that we plan to give back, you know, buybacks 50% of our free cash flow in terms of share buybacks, primarily here in the first half of the year. So I think just given where the stock—our stock price is at, given our debt leverage is at 2x, so we're, you know, very comfortable there, that, you know, we'll give back almost, you know, 100% of our free cash flow here in the first half, as share returns—as share buybacks. And that still puts us in a good position as we enter the second half of the year with another, you know, $450 million of free cash flow to generate, plenty of capacity for, you know, M&A opportunities that may arise in the second half. Maybe a little bit of debt paydown, just debt obligations, but again, no, no, we don't feel any compelling need to pay down a significant amount of debt here in the near term. Gotcha. I'll pause for another second. Any questions from the audience? All right. So this is a question we are asking, like, every company: What are the top two or three innovations and structural changes affecting your company over the next five years? And are there any emerging industry trends that are perhaps being overlooked in your current discourse? Yeah, that's an interesting... It was an interesting question. I, I—you know, what I thought about it was, I don't think it's any different—when I look out at the next five years, I'd say different than what the past five years from an industry and innovative perspective. Meaning, our customers—I mean, every company is out looking at how you drive productivity, how do you digitize, automate workflows, provide a better customer experience, and that's what we do for our customers across, you know, multiple vertical, you know, the vertical markets we serve. And, you know, I think the technology evolves and adapts. I mean, we've, you know, we've talked about RFID. I mean, that's evolved significantly over the last 15 years to where it's at today. And we're going to have to continue to innovate around the portfolio, based on those needs of our customers. So, you know, that's obviously not changing, right? I think just from that need to continue to do it, but that's not different than what our company's built around, which is how do you adapt to those changes in our customers and what they're looking for, and making sure that we're their supplier of choice and a strategic partner as they're thinking about those challenges. I think we're kind of almost on time, so- It was good. We appreciate you spending time with us. Yeah, appreciate it. Thank you. Thanks, everyone.

Speaker 2: Appreciate everyone joining us. Welcome to Citi's 2026 Global Industrial Tech and Mobility Conference. I am Piyush Avasthy, analyst at Citi. We are starting bright and early with Zebra Technologies. We've got Nathan Winters, who is the CFO. Welcome, Nathan. Appreciate everyone joining us. appreciate everyone joining us Welcome to Citi's 2026 Global Industrial Tech and Mobility Conference. welcome to citi's 2026 global industrial tech and mobility conference I am Piyush Avasthy, analyst at Citi. i am piyush avasthy analyst at citi We are starting bright and early with Zebra Technologies. we are starting bright and early with zebra technologies We've got Nathan Winters, who is the CFO. we've got nathan winters who is the cfo Welcome, Nathan. welcome nathan

Speaker 1: Yeah, it's great to be here. Thanks for having us. Yeah, it's great to be here. yeah it's great to be here Thanks for having us. thanks for having us

Speaker 2: Nathan, Zebra sits at the intersection of automation, digitization, on-demand economy, and AI. As you see your end markets today, and as you are having your customer conversations, would appreciate your thoughts on where you think we are in the cycle and the durability of this cycle. What are your large customers telling you? Do you still sense some uncertainty as you talk to your smaller or medium-sized customers? Nathan, Zebra sits at the intersection of automation, digitization, on-demand economy, and AI. nathan zebra sits at the intersection of automation digitization on-demand economy and ai As you see your end markets today, and as you are having your customer conversations, would appreciate your thoughts on where you think we are in the cycle and the durability of this cycle. as you see your end markets today and as you are having your customer conversations would appreciate your thoughts on where you think we are in the cycle and the durability of this cycle What are your large customers telling you? what are your large customers telling you Do you still sense some uncertainty as you talk to your smaller or medium-sized customers? do you still sense some uncertainty as you talk to your smaller or medium-sized customers

Speaker 1: Yes, if you take a step back and look at the depth and breadth of the portfolio across our two segments, the Connected Frontline, Asset Visibility and Automation, our customers, I think of all sizes, are telling us similar thing, which is, they want to continue to invest in technology that drives efficiency, productivity across our operations, increases visibility to their assets and inventory as they track it across their supply chains, and provide a better experience for their customers. That's what our portfolio does. We say we're the foundation for intelligent operations, meaning, how do we make their operations more intelligent, provide the insights they need, and drive the productivity they're expecting for their frontline associates? Yes, if you take a step back and look at the depth and breadth of the portfolio across our two segments, the Connected Frontline, Asset Visibility and Automation, our customers, I think of all sizes, are telling us similar thing, which is, they want to continue to invest in technology that drives efficiency, productivity across our operations, increases visibility to their assets and inventory as they track it across their supply chains, and provide a better experience for their customers. yes if you take a step back and look at the depth and breadth of the portfolio across our two segments the connected frontline asset visibility and automation our customers i think of all sizes are telling us similar thing which is they want to continue to invest in technology that drives efficiency productivity across our operations increases visibility to their assets and inventory as they track it across their supply chains and provide a better experience for their customers That's what our portfolio does. that's what our portfolio does We say we're the foundation for intelligent operations, meaning, how do we make their operations more intelligent, provide the insights they need, and drive the productivity they're expecting for their frontline associates? we say we're the foundation for intelligent operations meaning how do we make their operations more intelligent provide the insights they need and drive the productivity they're expecting for their frontline associates If you look at, I think we have a lot of momentum coming out of 2025 here into 2026. At the high end of our guidance for the fourth quarter, grew 6% organically last year, with 17% EPS growth, strong free cash flow, and looking forward to have that momentum continue here in the year. I think that's what our customers are telling us here early on. Just that recently at the National Retail Federation trade show, some of our sales kickoff meetings with our partners. Again, I think people have their heads down, focused on what they need to do for their business and continuing to invest. If you look at, I think we have a lot of momentum coming out of 2025 here into 2026. if you look at i think we have a lot of momentum coming out of 2025 here into 2026 At the high end of our guidance for the fourth quarter, grew 6% organically last year, with 17% EPS growth, strong free cash flow, and looking forward to have that momentum continue here in the year. at the high end of our guidance for the fourth quarter grew 6% organically last year with 17% eps growth strong free cash flow and looking forward to have that momentum continue here in the year I think that's what our customers are telling us here early on. i think that's what our customers are telling us here early on Just that recently at the National Retail Federation trade show, some of our sales kickoff meetings with our partners. just that recently at the national retail federation trade show some of our sales kickoff meetings with our partners Again, I think people have their heads down, focused on what they need to do for their business and continuing to invest. again i think people have their heads down focused on what they need to do for their business and continuing to invest

Speaker 2: Got it. And you reported last week, introduced your 2026 guidance. Can we, can we touch on some of the drivers there? Your implied 2026 organic growth guidance of roughly 4% is below your long-term average of 5%-7%. You just said you did 6% in 2025. So as we think about 2026, can we walk through some of the puts and takes? How much is pricing helping versus the volume uptick? I thought you generally sounded good on your earnings call across most of your portfolio in terms of pipeline of opportunities. So where are the areas of caution? And I understand it's still early in the year, so- Got it. got it And you reported last week, introduced your 2026 guidance. and you reported last week introduced your 2026 guidance Can we, can we touch on some of the drivers there? can we can we touch on some of the drivers there Your implied 2026 organic growth guidance of roughly 4% is below your long-term average of 5%-7%. your implied 2026 organic growth guidance of roughly 4% is below your long-term average of 5%-7% You just said you did 6% in 2025. you just said you did 6% in 2025 So as we think about 2026, can we walk through some of the puts and takes? so as we think about 2026 can we walk through some of the puts and takes How much is pricing helping versus the volume uptick? how much is pricing helping versus the volume uptick I thought you generally sounded good on your earnings call across most of your portfolio in terms of pipeline of opportunities. i thought you generally sounded good on your earnings call across most of your portfolio in terms of pipeline of opportunities So where are the areas of caution? so where are the areas of caution And I understand it's still early in the year, so- and i understand it's still early in the year so-

Speaker 1: Yeah. Look, we feel, we feel good about the business. Like I said, there was some nice momentum coming out of year-end. We have a strong pipeline of opportunities, both for this year and starting to see a pipeline build for 2027 as well. We had our European business return to growth in the fourth quarter, which was a positive sign. Manufacturing, which we'll talk about a little bit later, grew high single digits, so it was great to see kind of the-- our manufacturing vertical, get back to solid growth. Then we're seeing continued momentum in areas like RFID and machine vision. So I think all that, along with what I just mentioned around our customer conversations, makes us feel good about how we're entering the year. Yeah. yeah Look, we feel, we feel good about the business. look we feel we feel good about the business Like I said, there was some nice momentum coming out of year-end. like i said there was some nice momentum coming out of year-end We have a strong pipeline of opportunities, both for this year and starting to see a pipeline build for 2027 as well. we have a strong pipeline of opportunities both for this year and starting to see a pipeline build for 2027 as well We had our European business return to growth in the fourth quarter, which was a positive sign. we had our european business return to growth in the fourth quarter which was a positive sign Manufacturing, which we'll talk about a little bit later, grew high single digits, so it was great to see kind of the-- our manufacturing vertical, get back to solid growth. manufacturing which we'll talk about a little bit later grew high single digits so it was great to see kind of the-- our manufacturing vertical get back to solid growth T hen we're seeing continued momentum in areas like RFID and machine vision. t hen we're seeing continued momentum in areas like rfid and machine vision So I think all that, along with what I just mentioned around our customer conversations, makes us feel good about how we're entering the year. so i think all that along with what i just mentioned around our customer conversations makes us feel good about how we're entering the year We think the guide is balanced with those opportunities, along with, let's say, some of just the lingering uncertainty, whether that's inflation, interest rates, the impact of the consumer. But, again, we feel like we're in a good space, entering the year, and we did take some pricing actions last year. That's given us about 0.5 point of growth as it carried over to this year. So what we realized last year carried over into this year. And we just announced another price increase just over a couple weeks ago, and we didn't embed that in incremental revenue into the guidance, just because we had just announced it a few days before earnings. So, again, I think that's incremental opportunity as we look out to the back half of the year. We think the guide is balanced with those opportunities, along with, let's say, some of just the lingering uncertainty, whether that's inflation, interest rates, the impact of the consumer. we think the guide is balanced with those opportunities along with let's say some of just the lingering uncertainty whether that's inflation interest rates the impact of the consumer But, again, we feel like we're in a good space, entering the year, and we did take some pricing actions last year. but again we feel like we're in a good space entering the year and we did take some pricing actions last year That's given us about 0.5 point of growth as it carried over to this year. that's given us about 0.5 point of growth as it carried over to this year So what we realized last year carried over into this year. so what we realized last year carried over into this year And we just announced another price increase just over a couple weeks ago, and we didn't embed that in incremental revenue into the guidance, just because we had just announced it a few days before earnings. and we just announced another price increase just over a couple weeks ago and we didn't embed that in incremental revenue into the guidance just because we had just announced it a few days before earnings So, again, I think that's incremental opportunity as we look out to the back half of the year. so again i think that's incremental opportunity as we look out to the back half of the year But we wanted to see how that plays out in the market or from a demand perspective before including it in the top-line guide. But we wanted to see how that plays out in the market or from a demand perspective before including it in the top-line guide. but we wanted to see how that plays out in the market or from a demand perspective before including it in the top-line guide

Speaker 2: Gotcha. And you mentioned some of the end markets, but, you know, let's get a little bit more into those and, you know, how they are contributing to your growth this year. You said, like you mentioned, like the relative strength in healthcare, manufacturing, and retail, and e-commerce, like, how are you thinking about these end markets in 2026? Manufacturing has been pressured for some time, but you had a good fourth quarter, as you mentioned. Would you say you are seeing a more pronounced recovery in the underlying demand in manufacturing? And then how do you think about transportation and logistics? Gotcha. gotcha And you mentioned some of the end markets, but, you know, let's get a little bit more into those and, you know, how they are contributing to your growth this year. and you mentioned some of the end markets but you know let's get a little bit more into those and you know how they are contributing to your growth this year You said, like you mentioned, like the relative strength in healthcare, manufacturing, and retail, and e-commerce, like, how are you thinking about these end markets in 2026? you said like you mentioned like the relative strength in healthcare manufacturing and retail and e-commerce like how are you thinking about these end markets in 2026 Manufacturing has been pressured for some time, but you had a good fourth quarter, as you mentioned. manufacturing has been pressured for some time but you had a good fourth quarter as you mentioned Would you say you are seeing a more pronounced recovery in the underlying demand in manufacturing? would you say you are seeing a more pronounced recovery in the underlying demand in manufacturing And then how do you think about transportation and logistics? and then how do you think about transportation and logistics

Speaker 1: Yeah, if you look at in manufacturing, I think we said it was lagging growth, which I think would very get misconstrued as it was declining. It just wasn't growing as fast as some of the other verticals through last year, and that kind of flipped in the fourth quarter. I think some of that is the underlying market. You're seeing that with some of the PMI data, so that's great. And then we've spent quite a bit of time investing in our capabilities around manufacturing. A couple examples, you know, on the go-to-market side, investing in inside sales capabilities, investing in our e-commerce platform, where a lot of small and mid-sized business manufacturers go to purchase. Yeah, if you look at in manufacturing, I think we said it was lagging growth, which I think would very get misconstrued as it was declining. yeah if you look at in manufacturing i think we said it was lagging growth which i think would very get misconstrued as it was declining It just wasn't growing as fast as some of the other verticals through last year, and that kind of flipped in the fourth quarter. it just wasn't growing as fast as some of the other verticals through last year and that kind of flipped in the fourth quarter I think some of that is the underlying market. i think some of that is the underlying market You're seeing that with some of the PMI data, so that's great. you're seeing that with some of the pmi data so that's great And then we've spent quite a bit of time investing in our capabilities around manufacturing. and then we've spent quite a bit of time investing in our capabilities around manufacturing A couple examples, you know, on the go-to-market side, investing in inside sales capabilities, investing in our e-commerce platform, where a lot of small and mid-sized business manufacturers go to purchase. a couple examples you know on the go-to-market side investing in inside sales capabilities investing in our e-commerce platform where a lot of small and mid-sized business manufacturers go to purchase As well as going into this year, changing our rebate structure with our resellers, to have more focus on small and mid-size customers. And again, these are customers that typically buy... It's, you know, it's more transactional-based, less project. So again, you got to be there in contact at that moment where the printer at the end of the line, they need to be replaced, or they're doing a lean workout, and they need to upgrade the line. So you've got to be there at that moment, and have the right solution for them. So, we spent a lot from a go-to-market and seeing that starting to pay off. As well as going into this year, changing our rebate structure with our resellers, to have more focus on small and mid-size customers. as well as going into this year changing our rebate structure with our resellers to have more focus on small and mid-size customers And again, these are customers that typically buy... and again these are customers that typically buy It's, you know, it's more transactional-based, less project. it's you know it's more transactional-based less project So again, you got to be there in contact at that moment where the printer at the end of the line, they need to be replaced, or they're doing a lean workout, and they need to upgrade the line. so again you got to be there in contact at that moment where the printer at the end of the line they need to be replaced or they're doing a lean workout and they need to upgrade the line So you've got to be there at that moment, and have the right solution for them. so you've got to be there at that moment and have the right solution for them So, we spent a lot from a go-to-market and seeing that starting to pay off. so we spent a lot from a go-to-market and seeing that starting to pay off And I think the other opportunity, I mean, manufacturing is really core to our print and scanning business, which is, you know, kind of the core legacy part of the company. But, those are great businesses, high margins. And now if you look at what we have in machine vision, which we'll talk about, but that's obviously, benefiting from market recovery. Things like RFID are now being embedded more and more into the manufacturing processes, which is an opportunity, and then we look at areas like tablets. So having, supervisors and frontline managers with a mobile device to monitor what's going on in the production line, somewhat replacing kind of the fixed screens you'd see mounted, at the end of a production line. And I think the other opportunity, I mean, manufacturing is really core to our print and scanning business, which is, you know, kind of the core legacy part of the company. and i think the other opportunity i mean manufacturing is really core to our print and scanning business which is you know kind of the core legacy part of the company But, those are great businesses, high margins. but those are great businesses high margins And now if you look at what we have in machine vision, which we'll talk about, but that's obviously, benefiting from market recovery. and now if you look at what we have in machine vision which we'll talk about but that's obviously benefiting from market recovery Things like RFID are now being embedded more and more into the manufacturing processes, which is an opportunity, and then we look at areas like tablets. things like rfid are now being embedded more and more into the manufacturing processes which is an opportunity and then we look at areas like tablets So having, supervisors and frontline managers with a mobile device to monitor what's going on in the production line, somewhat replacing kind of the fixed screens you'd see mounted, at the end of a production line. so having supervisors and frontline managers with a mobile device to monitor what's going on in the production line somewhat replacing kind of the fixed screens you'd see mounted at the end of a production line Then the other, with Elo coming on, they have a real opportunity around interactive displays in the production line. So again, I think the portfolio breadth is much broader than it was five years ago, which gives us incremental opportunities to go in and have a different type of conversation with our customers. Then the other, with Elo coming on, they have a real opportunity around interactive displays in the production line. then the other with elo coming on they have a real opportunity around interactive displays in the production line So again, I think the portfolio breadth is much broader than it was five years ago, which gives us incremental opportunities to go in and have a different type of conversation with our customers. so again i think the portfolio breadth is much broader than it was five years ago which gives us incremental opportunities to go in and have a different type of conversation with our customers

Speaker 2: Gotcha. Any comment on, like, anything different that's happening in transportation and logistics? Gotcha. gotcha Any comment on, like, anything different that's happening in transportation and logistics? any comment on like anything different that's happening in transportation and logistics

Speaker 1: Yeah. Not so much. You know, T&L had a good year last year, slight decline in the fourth quarter. It's more project-based, so you do see a bit, a bit of lumpiness just around project timing. But we are seeing, you know, T&L was one of the big beneficiaries back during COVID in 2021 and 2022, is of last mile delivery did a lot to refresh their portfolio of mobile computers, and we're seeing that pipeline build, particularly as you look at multi-year deployments beginning in 2027. And one of the areas that I think is differentiating us versus the past is the AI capabilities we're building. Yeah. yeah Not so much. not so much You know, T&L had a good year last year, slight decline in the fourth quarter. you know t&l had a good year last year slight decline in the fourth quarter It's more project-based, so you do see a bit, a bit of lumpiness just around project timing. it's more project-based so you do see a bit a bit of lumpiness just around project timing But we are seeing, you know, T&L was one of the big beneficiaries back during COVID in 2021 and 2022, is of last mile delivery did a lot to refresh their portfolio of mobile computers, and we're seeing that pipeline build, particularly as you look at multi-year deployments beginning in 2027. but we are seeing you know t&l was one of the big beneficiaries back during covid in 2021 and 2022 is of last mile delivery did a lot to refresh their portfolio of mobile computers and we're seeing that pipeline build particularly as you look at multi-year deployments beginning in 2027 And one of the areas that I think is differentiating us versus the past is the AI capabilities we're building. and one of the areas that i think is differentiating us versus the past is the ai capabilities we're building So a lot of excitement around what we can do to automate, proof of delivery, which seems pretty, pretty quick, but if they drop the package off at your door, there's a couple steps they need to follow in terms of clicking buttons, and if you can automate that with AI, that saves seconds. You multiply that times thousands of transactions and package deliveries, it's millions of dollars that they can benefit from. So those are some of the different capabilities we're bringing beyond just your normal technology refresh. There's a lot of enhanced capabilities we can deliver for those T&L providers as they're looking to refresh their portfolio. So a lot of excitement around what we can do to automate, proof of delivery, which seems pretty, pretty quick, but if they drop the package off at your door, there's a couple steps they need to follow in terms of clicking buttons, and if you can automate that with AI, that saves seconds. so a lot of excitement around what we can do to automate proof of delivery which seems pretty pretty quick but if they drop the package off at your door there's a couple steps they need to follow in terms of clicking buttons and if you can automate that with ai that saves seconds You multiply that times thousands of transactions and package deliveries, it's millions of dollars that they can benefit from. you multiply that times thousands of transactions and package deliveries it's millions of dollars that they can benefit from So those are some of the different capabilities we're bringing beyond just your normal technology refresh. so those are some of the different capabilities we're bringing beyond just your normal technology refresh There's a lot of enhanced capabilities we can deliver for those T&L providers as they're looking to refresh their portfolio. there's a lot of enhanced capabilities we can deliver for those t&l providers as they're looking to refresh their portfolio

Speaker 2: Helpful. Let's dig into the role of AI, and you know, what it means for Zebra. You're obviously at the forefront of introducing AI-enabled applications and integrating AI with your current offerings. Can you talk about some early wins, and how meaningful AI and software broadly will be for Zebra in the next few years? And how far or close is competition with their AI offerings? Do you think AI is a differentiating factor as customers make their investment decisions today? Helpful. helpful Let's dig into the role of AI, and you know, what it means for Zebra. let's dig into the role of ai and you know what it means for zebra You're obviously at the forefront of introducing AI-enabled applications and integrating AI with your current offerings. you're obviously at the forefront of introducing ai-enabled applications and integrating ai with your current offerings Can you talk about some early wins, and how meaningful AI and software broadly will be for Zebra in the next few years? can you talk about some early wins and how meaningful ai and software broadly will be for zebra in the next few years And how far or close is competition with their AI offerings? and how far or close is competition with their ai offerings Do you think AI is a differentiating factor as customers make their investment decisions today? do you think ai is a differentiating factor as customers make their investment decisions today

Speaker 1: Yeah. We believe we're uniquely positioned to be the AI provider for frontline workers, and we do that across our entire portfolio. If you go to, you know, the foundation of asset visibility, which is giving a digital voice to, you know, customers, assets, inventory, their people, all that data is being fed by... You know, you need printers, scanners, machine vision, RFID, to know where and what those, you know, assets are doing, or where they're at across the supply chain, feeding the data models that allow then the, you know, AI to provide a better insight, and output. And then, on the connected frontline, it's all around unifying workers with the consumer, with our software application. So again, you're doing the right task at the right time or providing better collaboration tools, across the, those, the frontline store associates. Yeah. yeah We believe we're uniquely positioned to be the AI provider for frontline workers, and we do that across our entire portfolio. we believe we're uniquely positioned to be the ai provider for frontline workers and we do that across our entire portfolio If you go to, you know, the foundation of asset visibility, which is giving a digital voice to, you know, customers, assets, inventory, their people, all that data is being fed by... if you go to you know the foundation of asset visibility which is giving a digital voice to you know customers assets inventory their people all that data is being fed by You know, you need printers, scanners, machine vision, RFID, to know where and what those, you know, assets are doing, or where they're at across the supply chain, feeding the data models that allow then the, you know, AI to provide a better insight, and output. you know you need printers scanners machine vision rfid to know where and what those you know assets are doing or where they're at across the supply chain feeding the data models that allow then the you know ai to provide a better insight and output And then, on the connected frontline, it's all around unifying workers with the consumer, with our software application. and then on the connected frontline it's all around unifying workers with the consumer with our software application So again, you're doing the right task at the right time or providing better collaboration tools, across the, those, the frontline store associates. so again you're doing the right task at the right time or providing better collaboration tools across the those the frontline store associates So, you know, how do you take that, the insights, from AI that are able to generate, and then get that in the hands of frontline workers, so they can be more productive? We've also introduced a suite, an AI suite of products, still in the pilot phase, but we think these are really differentiators, in the market, and sets us apart. And the way we think about it is three things: One, we call it Enablers, which is think of tools and APIs, no different than we do for most of our other mobile computing solutions, that allow developers, our customers, to develop applications, AI applications, for the device, for their frontline workers, and making that an easy process, for them to execute. And so that thing is a real differentiator. So, you know, how do you take that, the insights, from AI that are able to generate, and then get that in the hands of frontline workers, so they can be more productive? so you know how do you take that the insights from ai that are able to generate and then get that in the hands of frontline workers so they can be more productive We've also introduced a suite, an AI suite of products, still in the pilot phase, but we think these are really differentiators, in the market, and sets us apart. we've also introduced a suite an ai suite of products still in the pilot phase but we think these are really differentiators in the market and sets us apart And the way we think about it is three things: One, we call it Enablers, which is think of tools and APIs, no different than we do for most of our other mobile computing solutions, that allow developers, our customers, to develop applications, AI applications, for the device, for their frontline workers, and making that an easy process, for them to execute. and the way we think about it is three things one we call it enablers which is think of tools and apis no different than we do for most of our other mobile computing solutions that allow developers our customers to develop applications ai applications for the device for their frontline workers and making that an easy process for them to execute And so that thing is a real differentiator. and so that thing is a real differentiator If you do that, you need a higher-end mobile computer, which is-- which will drive the need for a refresh and upgrade of your existing devices. Then we have Blueprints. So think of multiple enablers as a blueprint, so that it's easy to build applications and agents, and that's some of the work we're doing around proof of delivery within T&L. Those are a blueprints so those could be managed by Zebra, they could be managed by the customers, or there could be professional services in terms of how we help set those up. And then the final one is, we call our Companion Suite, so where we have AI agents built for things like sales enablement, operating procedures, product knowledge. If you do that, you need a higher-end mobile computer, which is-- which will drive the need for a refresh and upgrade of your existing devices. if you do that you need a higher-end mobile computer which is-- which will drive the need for a refresh and upgrade of your existing devices Then we have Blueprints. then we have blueprints So think of multiple enablers as a blueprint, so that it's easy to build applications and agents, and that's some of the work we're doing around proof of delivery within T&L. so think of multiple enablers as a blueprint so that it's easy to build applications and agents and that's some of the work we're doing around proof of delivery within t&l Those are a blueprints so those could be managed by Zebra, they could be managed by the customers, or there could be professional services in terms of how we help set those up. those are a blueprints so those could be managed by zebra they could be managed by the customers or there could be professional services in terms of how we help set those up And then the final one is, we call our Companion Suite, so where we have AI agents built for things like sales enablement, operating procedures, product knowledge. and then the final one is we call our companion suite so where we have ai agents built for things like sales enablement operating procedures product knowledge So again, we had a wine retailer at National Retail Federation trade show, which is if you go in and ask, and it's you just hope you find the right store associate that may be able to help you with whether you're looking for the right wine or where to find something in a home improvement store. So again, we had a wine retailer at National Retail Federation trade show, which is if you go in and ask, and it's you just hope you find the right store associate that may be able to help you with whether you're looking for the right wine or where to find something in a home improvement store. so again we had a wine retailer at national retail federation trade show which is if you go in and ask and it's you just hope you find the right store associate that may be able to help you with whether you're looking for the right wine or where to find something in a home improvement store

Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah. yeah

Speaker 1: You know, now at the touch, they can go, in an intuitive way, ask, you know, what wine should be paired with X at XY- You say, well, any AI application can do that. Well, what the store needs and what those, that retailer wants is it to be customized to what they have in inventory, what they're running a special on, right? So it's, it's built around not only that broader, knowledge that you get from AI, but also custom-built around their application, you know, their product, their procedures, to provide that better consumer experience. You know, now at the touch, they can go, in an intuitive way, ask, you know, what wine should be paired with X at XY- You say, well, any AI application can do that. you know now at the touch they can go in an intuitive way ask you know what wine should be paired with x at xy- you say well any ai application can do that Well, what the store needs and what those, that retailer wants is it to be customized to what they have in inventory, what they're running a special on, right? well what the store needs and what those that retailer wants is it to be customized to what they have in inventory what they're running a special on right So it's, it's built around not only that broader, knowledge that you get from AI, but also custom-built around their application, you know, their product, their procedures, to provide that better consumer experience. so it's it's built around not only that broader knowledge that you get from ai but also custom-built around their application you know their product their procedures to provide that better consumer experience

Speaker 2: Got it. And let's talk about the flip side. There are growing concerns that AI can potentially disrupt existing software offerings. If we can start with how you expect Zebra to defend its market positioning if we begin to see new entrants with AI-infused offerings. And then, there is a push towards fully autonomous and automated warehouses and retail stores. Can you talk about what role will Zebra play when retail stores or warehouses operate without sales associates? Got it. got it And let's talk about the flip side. and let's talk about the flip side There are growing concerns that AI can potentially disrupt existing software offerings. there are growing concerns that ai can potentially disrupt existing software offerings If we can start with how you expect Zebra to defend its market positioning if we begin to see new entrants with AI-infused offerings. if we can start with how you expect zebra to defend its market positioning if we begin to see new entrants with ai-infused offerings And then, there is a push towards fully autonomous and automated warehouses and retail stores. and then there is a push towards fully autonomous and automated warehouses and retail stores Can you talk about what role will Zebra play when retail stores or warehouses operate without sales associates? can you talk about what role will zebra play when retail stores or warehouses operate without sales associates

Speaker 1: Yeah. On the first one, around AI disruption, I think we are in a unique position given our install base, the market share we have, in the markets we serve, and then the relationships we have with the top retail, e-commerce, T&L providers, to understand where are their pain points, how are they thinking about using AI, in a variety of ways to support their frontline stores, so their frontline associates... and us working with them to enable that, right? So I think we can help be the really disruptive force for their processes and procedures. Yeah. yeah On the first one, around AI disruption, I think we are in a unique position given our install base, the market share we have, in the markets we serve, and then the relationships we have with the top retail, e-commerce, T&L providers, to understand where are their pain points, how are they thinking about using AI, in a variety of ways to support their frontline stores, so their frontline associates... and us working with them to enable that, right? on the first one around ai disruption i think we are in a unique position given our install base the market share we have in the markets we serve and then the relationships we have with the top retail e-commerce t&l providers to understand where are their pain points how are they thinking about using ai in a variety of ways to support their frontline stores so their frontline associates and us working with them to enable that right So I think we can help be the really disruptive force for their processes and procedures. so i think we can help be the really disruptive force for their processes and procedures And because of that position, we're, you know, I think as long as we stay close to our customers, continue to adapt to their needs, and not let someone else come in and have that position, we're in a great position to, again, help our customers disrupt versus someone else coming in and doing that for, you know, for them. And I think, you know, two things I'd like to say on both the warehouse side and the retail, you know, I'll look at it a little bit differently versus there's, you know, of the fear of fully, you know, automation. But there's been a couple of surveys that are out, and if you look worldwide, only 25% of worldwide warehouses have any form of automation. And because of that position, we're, you know, I think as long as we stay close to our customers, continue to adapt to their needs, and not let someone else come in and have that position, we're in a great position to, again, help our customers disrupt versus someone else coming in and doing that for, you know, for them. and because of that position we're you know i think as long as we stay close to our customers continue to adapt to their needs and not let someone else come in and have that position we're in a great position to again help our customers disrupt versus someone else coming in and doing that for you know for them And I think, you know, two things I'd like to say on both the warehouse side and the retail, you know, I'll look at it a little bit differently versus there's, you know, of the fear of fully, you know, automation. and i think you know two things i'd like to say on both the warehouse side and the retail you know i'll look at it a little bit differently versus there's you know of the fear of fully you know automation But there's been a couple of surveys that are out, and if you look worldwide, only 25% of worldwide warehouses have any form of automation. but there's been a couple of surveys that are out and if you look worldwide only 25% of worldwide warehouses have any form of automation So if you think about the, you know, where we're talking about fully autonomous or, you know, dark warehouses and things like that, there is a vast number of warehouses out there that, you know, need our solutions, even the most basic, you know, basic barcode scanning, much less having to utilize RFID or machine vision and other tools that can really drive enhanced productivity. So I think there's still an enormous opportunity out there to continue to automate and digitize. The other one is there's been very recent, you know, announcements over the last six months of large customers backing away from fully autonomous warehouses. You know, they tend to be pretty rigid and unable to adapt to changing customer behaviors, buying propensity. The ROI has been a longer than I think expected. So if you think about the, you know, where we're talking about fully autonomous or, you know, dark warehouses and things like that, there is a vast number of warehouses out there that, you know, need our solutions, even the most basic, you know, basic barcode scanning, much less having to utilize RFID or machine vision and other tools that can really drive enhanced productivity. so if you think about the you know where we're talking about fully autonomous or you know dark warehouses and things like that there is a vast number of warehouses out there that you know need our solutions even the most basic you know basic barcode scanning much less having to utilize rfid or machine vision and other tools that can really drive enhanced productivity So I think there's still an enormous opportunity out there to continue to automate and digitize. so i think there's still an enormous opportunity out there to continue to automate and digitize The other one is there's been very recent, you know, announcements over the last six months of large customers backing away from fully autonomous warehouses. the other one is there's been very recent you know announcements over the last six months of large customers backing away from fully autonomous warehouses You know, they tend to be pretty rigid and unable to adapt to changing customer behaviors, buying propensity. you know they tend to be pretty rigid and unable to adapt to changing customer behaviors buying propensity The ROI has been a longer than I think expected. the roi has been a longer than i think expected And I'm not saying there's that role is going to go away, but I think, you know, what customers, what they're saying is they need flexibility, modular, quick ROI. And again, we think RFID, machine vision or even just, you know, our scanning capabilities really help provide that and allow them to adapt to their changing customer behaviors. So again, there's a huge role there. And then on the retail side, the one thing we look at is 50% of frontline workers still aren't digitally connected, even with the most basic communication, you know, kind of forms of connectivity. And we think that's, again, a huge opportunity, especially if you think of the role of AI is it's only as good as having all your store associates connected and be able to utilize that. And I'm not saying there's that role is going to go away, but I think, you know, what customers, what they're saying is they need flexibility, modular, quick ROI. and i'm not saying there's that role is going to go away but i think you know what customers what they're saying is they need flexibility modular quick roi And again, we think RFID, machine vision or even just, you know, our scanning capabilities really help provide that and allow them to adapt to their changing customer behaviors. and again we think rfid machine vision or even just you know our scanning capabilities really help provide that and allow them to adapt to their changing customer behaviors So again, there's a huge role there. so again there's a huge role there And then on the retail side, the one thing we look at is 50% of frontline workers still aren't digitally connected, even with the most basic communication, you know, kind of forms of connectivity. and then on the retail side the one thing we look at is 50% of frontline workers still aren't digitally connected even with the most basic communication you know kind of forms of connectivity And we think that's, again, a huge opportunity, especially if you think of the role of AI is it's only as good as having all your store associates connected and be able to utilize that. and we think that's again a huge opportunity especially if you think of the role of ai is it's only as good as having all your store associates connected and be able to utilize that And so we've done a lot of work over the last several years to bringing out the portfolio to have, you know, your highly rugged mobile computer that maybe is used for the back-of-store inventory management, to a wearable that, you know, someone at the, you know, a checkout or, someone, a greeter at a store can have a wearable device that allows them to be connected. They can collaborate, utilize those AI capabilities that are coming to market, and everywhere in between. So again, the value is then, even though they may be different form factors, in terms of the device, they're all supported by the same software layer, same applications, the same user experience. And so we've done a lot of work over the last several years to bringing out the portfolio to have, you know, your highly rugged mobile computer that maybe is used for the back-of-store inventory management, to a wearable that, you know, someone at the, you know, a checkout or, someone, a greeter at a store can have a wearable device that allows them to be connected. and so we've done a lot of work over the last several years to bringing out the portfolio to have you know your highly rugged mobile computer that maybe is used for the back-of-store inventory management to a wearable that you know someone at the you know a checkout or someone a greeter at a store can have a wearable device that allows them to be connected They can collaborate, utilize those AI capabilities that are coming to market, and everywhere in between. they can collaborate utilize those ai capabilities that are coming to market and everywhere in between So again, the value is then, even though they may be different form factors, in terms of the device, they're all supported by the same software layer, same applications, the same user experience. so again the value is then even though they may be different form factors in terms of the device they're all supported by the same software layer same applications the same user experience So if you switch between, you know, you go from using a wearable to a fully ruggedized because you change roles, you're gonna have the same experience, just in a different form factor. So again, I think those are two, you know, huge opportunities that still exist. And look, the role of automation is clearly important. If you're growing 5%-10% and you're, you know, a large e-commerce provider, you have to have automation to keep up with demand because quite frankly, you just can't hire that many people, right? So, I don't think this is anything new from the need to drive productivity and robotic automation is one form of that, just to keep up with demand, and especially when, you know, your resources are scarce and trying to find talent to keep up with that demand from the market. So if you switch between, you know, you go from using a wearable to a fully ruggedized because you change roles, you're gonna have the same experience, just in a different form factor. so if you switch between you know you go from using a wearable to a fully ruggedized because you change roles you're gonna have the same experience just in a different form factor So again, I think those are two, you know, huge opportunities that still exist. so again i think those are two you know huge opportunities that still exist And look, the role of automation is clearly important. and look the role of automation is clearly important If you're growing 5%-10% and you're, you know, a large e-commerce provider, you have to have automation to keep up with demand because quite frankly, you just can't hire that many people, right? if you're growing 5%-10% and you're you know a large e-commerce provider you have to have automation to keep up with demand because quite frankly you just can't hire that many people right So, I don't think this is anything new from the need to drive productivity and robotic automation is one form of that, just to keep up with demand, and especially when, you know, your resources are scarce and trying to find talent to keep up with that demand from the market. so i don't think this is anything new from the need to drive productivity and robotic automation is one form of that just to keep up with demand and especially when you know your resources are scarce and trying to find talent to keep up with that demand from the market

Speaker 2: Gotcha. Helpful. And let's, let's talk about margins now. You have, like, 50 bps of annualized margin expansion target over its cycle. A lot of it is driven by operating leverage, but you have been talking a bit more about productivity initiatives. There is some restructuring in there. I know you are not, you have not quantified anything, but do you think there are incremental opportunities to take out cost from your operating structure? R&D is a big bucket for you guys. Does AI, like internal use of AI, help you maybe drive more efficiencies within your R&D workflow? Gotcha. gotcha Helpful. helpful And let's, let's talk about margins now. and let's let's talk about margins now You have, like, 50 bps of annualized margin expansion target over its cycle. you have like 50 bps of annualized margin expansion target over its cycle A lot of it is driven by operating leverage, but you have been talking a bit more about productivity initiatives. a lot of it is driven by operating leverage but you have been talking a bit more about productivity initiatives There is some restructuring in there. there is some restructuring in there I know you are not, you have not quantified anything, but do you think there are incremental opportunities to take out cost from your operating structure? i know you are not you have not quantified anything but do you think there are incremental opportunities to take out cost from your operating structure R&D is a big bucket for you guys. r&d is a big bucket for you guys Does AI, like internal use of AI, help you maybe drive more efficiencies within your R&D workflow? does ai like internal use of ai help you maybe drive more efficiencies within your r&d workflow

Speaker 1: Yes, we have, I think, going back, a track record of driving operating leverage. We have a variable cost structure just with our outsourced manufacturing. Our use of resellers and distribution channel gives us a lot of leverage on both sides, to flex up as growth or in a downturn, to be able to take out costs quickly. So I think that's a real advantage for the company. We spent a lot of time around, you know, talking about things like, you know, kind of a common ERP, one distribution network to support, you know, the breadth of the company, which gives, again, a lot of leverage on that fixed cost structure. But again, we always have room to improve and drive incremental productivity. Yes, we have, I think, going back, a track record of driving operating leverage. yes we have i think going back a track record of driving operating leverage We have a variable cost structure just with our outsourced manufacturing. we have a variable cost structure just with our outsourced manufacturing Our use of resellers and distribution channel gives us a lot of leverage on both sides, to flex up as growth or in a downturn, to be able to take out costs quickly. our use of resellers and distribution channel gives us a lot of leverage on both sides to flex up as growth or in a downturn to be able to take out costs quickly So I think that's a real advantage for the company. so i think that's a real advantage for the company We spent a lot of time around, you know, talking about things like, you know, kind of a common ERP, one distribution network to support, you know, the breadth of the company, which gives, again, a lot of leverage on that fixed cost structure. we spent a lot of time around you know talking about things like you know kind of a common erp one distribution network to support you know the breadth of the company which gives again a lot of leverage on that fixed cost structure But again, we always have room to improve and drive incremental productivity. but again we always have room to improve and drive incremental productivity I think the new tools like AI is obviously an opportunity that we're pushing hard on. The restructuring we took in Q4, and we expect a little bit more here in Q1, I'd say it's targeted on a few areas. One was the exit of the robotics business, which will be a $20 million benefit on an annual basis, directly to reduction in R&D expense. So we do expect that, you know, R&D as a percent of revenue to come down below 10%. There was nothing magic around 10%, just happened to be, you know, kind of where it always wasn't like some golden rule that the budget started with 10%. I think the new tools like AI is obviously an opportunity that we're pushing hard on. i think the new tools like ai is obviously an opportunity that we're pushing hard on The restructuring we took in Q4, and we expect a little bit more here in Q1, I'd say it's targeted on a few areas. the restructuring we took in q4 and we expect a little bit more here in q1 i'd say it's targeted on a few areas One was the exit of the robotics business, which will be a $20 million benefit on an annual basis, directly to reduction in R&D expense. one was the exit of the robotics business which will be a $20 million benefit on an annual basis directly to reduction in r&d expense So we do expect that, you know, R&D as a percent of revenue to come down below 10%. so we do expect that you know r&d as a percent of revenue to come down below 10% There was nothing magic around 10%, just happened to be, you know, kind of where it always wasn't like some golden rule that the budget started with 10%. there was nothing magic around 10% just happened to be you know kind of where it always wasn't like some golden rule that the budget started with 10% So as we exit the year, I do expect that to come down to, you know, 9%-9.5%, primarily with that exit of the robotics business. And then we took some other actions around our engineering in terms of software development. Like everyone, using the tools that are out there from an AI to be more productive in our software, we're seeing the benefit of that, and the teams are still working through, you know, how to continue to drive more productivity there from our software development capabilities. And then we also took some actions in our go-to-market team, primarily looking at our sales and management structure. With really the goal to reinvest in more frontline resources, expand our inside sales capabilities, really commercialize our AI offerings, like we talked about. So as we exit the year, I do expect that to come down to, you know, 9%-9.5%, primarily with that exit of the robotics business. so as we exit the year i do expect that to come down to you know 9%-9.5% primarily with that exit of the robotics business And then we took some other actions around our engineering in terms of software development. and then we took some other actions around our engineering in terms of software development Like everyone, using the tools that are out there from an AI to be more productive in our software, we're seeing the benefit of that, and the teams are still working through, you know, how to continue to drive more productivity there from our software development capabilities. like everyone using the tools that are out there from an ai to be more productive in our software we're seeing the benefit of that and the teams are still working through you know how to continue to drive more productivity there from our software development capabilities And then we also took some actions in our go-to-market team, primarily looking at our sales and management structure. and then we also took some actions in our go-to-market team primarily looking at our sales and management structure With really the goal to reinvest in more frontline resources, expand our inside sales capabilities, really commercialize our AI offerings, like we talked about. with really the goal to reinvest in more frontline resources expand our inside sales capabilities really commercialize our ai offerings like we talked about Adding the resources in the field who have the expertise and the know-how to help our customers deploy those new AI tools, and then just help offset some general inflation. Like, I think it's something we look at every day, and at times there's a larger restructuring action, when need be, or to help make sure we're reallocating capital to invest in the highest growth opportunities we have. Adding the resources in the field who have the expertise and the know-how to help our customers deploy those new AI tools, and then just help offset some general inflation. adding the resources in the field who have the expertise and the know-how to help our customers deploy those new ai tools and then just help offset some general inflation Like, I think it's something we look at every day, and at times there's a larger restructuring action, when need be, or to help make sure we're reallocating capital to invest in the highest growth opportunities we have. like i think it's something we look at every day and at times there's a larger restructuring action when need be or to help make sure we're reallocating capital to invest in the highest growth opportunities we have

Speaker 2: Got you. And I think on your earnings call, you talked about accelerating your investment in RFID, machine vision, and AI, and I think that's what- Got you. got you And I think on your earnings call, you talked about accelerating your investment in RFID, machine vision, and AI, and I think that's what- and i think on your earnings call you talked about accelerating your investment in rfid machine vision and ai and i think that's what-

Speaker 1: Yeah Yeah yeah

Speaker 2: ... you were kind of referring to. So can you elaborate a bit more on what you're doing there? And, is this still within the 10% or like now 9%-9.5%- ... you were kind of referring to. you were kind of referring to So can you elaborate a bit more on what you're doing there? so can you elaborate a bit more on what you're doing there And, is this still within the 10% or like now 9%-9.5%- and is this still within the 10% or like now 9%-9.5%-

Speaker 1: Yep Yep yep

Speaker 2: ... R&D spending threshold? And when can we expect these investments to translate to higher earnings potential? ... R&D spending threshold? r&d spending threshold And when can we expect these investments to translate to higher earnings potential? and when can we expect these investments to translate to higher earnings potential

Speaker 1: Yeah, all three are a little different. So it's definitely within the envelope of that R&D we talked about. If you look at RFID, you know, again, RFID technology has been around for a long time. You know, it's. But it's hit the tipping point over the last couple of years as the cost of the chip made it economically viable, and then now just everyone understanding where are the different use cases and workflows that they can automate with the technology. But there's a lot of work with the, I'd say, the broader ecosystem to help ensure that adoption continues, ensure that the product. You know, the ROI that the customers are expecting. And we all have to work together, from the chip provider to the inlay provider. Yeah, all three are a little different. yeah all three are a little different So it's definitely within the envelope of that R&D we talked about. so it's definitely within the envelope of that r&d we talked about If you look at RFID, you know, again, RFID technology has been around for a long time. if you look at rfid you know again rfid technology has been around for a long time You know, it's. you know it's But it's hit the tipping point over the last couple of years as the cost of the chip made it economically viable, and then now just everyone understanding where are the different use cases and workflows that they can automate with the technology. but it's hit the tipping point over the last couple of years as the cost of the chip made it economically viable and then now just everyone understanding where are the different use cases and workflows that they can automate with the technology But there's a lot of work with the, I'd say, the broader ecosystem to help ensure that adoption continues, ensure that the product. but there's a lot of work with the i'd say the broader ecosystem to help ensure that adoption continues ensure that the product You know, the ROI that the customers are expecting. you know the roi that the customers are expecting And we all have to work together, from the chip provider to the inlay provider. and we all have to work together from the chip provider to the inlay provider You know, we'll provide readers and printers, labels, but then you also have ISVs, and solutions who are pulling that all together and developing the app, the software layer, on top that's, you know, could be very customized to whatever, you know, individual customer is looking at and workflow they're looking at. So there's a lot of work, I think, across the industry just to again, it's all in our best interest for the adoption to continue to accelerate, and we're not going to be able to any one of us can't do that on our own, right? We require, all of everyone working together for the best, interest of our customers, and driving that ROI. So I think that's, that's really the focus, less so on pure incremental dollars, but it's really around that building out of the ecosystem. You know, we'll provide readers and printers, labels, but then you also have ISVs, and solutions who are pulling that all together and developing the app, the software layer, on top that's, you know, could be very customized to whatever, you know, individual customer is looking at and workflow they're looking at. you know we'll provide readers and printers labels but then you also have isvs and solutions who are pulling that all together and developing the app the software layer on top that's you know could be very customized to whatever you know individual customer is looking at and workflow they're looking at So there's a lot of work, I think, across the industry just to again, it's all in our best interest for the adoption to continue to accelerate, and we're not going to be able to any one of us can't do that on our own, right? so there's a lot of work i think across the industry just to again it's all in our best interest for the adoption to continue to accelerate and we're not going to be able to any one of us can't do that on our own right We require, all of everyone working together for the best, interest of our customers, and driving that ROI. we require all of everyone working together for the best interest of our customers and driving that roi So I think that's, that's really the focus, less so on pure incremental dollars, but it's really around that building out of the ecosystem. so i think that's that's really the focus less so on pure incremental dollars but it's really around that building out of the ecosystem You know, machine vision, we've invested a lot over the last couple of years, and I know we'll talk a little bit later, but I don't think it's really net incremental investment here in the short term. It's focus, it's executing and delivering on the growth opportunities we see ahead and getting that business back to the growth profile that we expect. And I say, you know, earning the right to continue to invest more, but really making sure we get a return on what we've already invested. And then AI, just particularly on the offering side, our external offering, that's probably where the most investment is going this year. You know, machine vision, we've invested a lot over the last couple of years, and I know we'll talk a little bit later, but I don't think it's really net incremental investment here in the short term. you know machine vision we've invested a lot over the last couple of years and i know we'll talk a little bit later but i don't think it's really net incremental investment here in the short term It's focus, it's executing and delivering on the growth opportunities we see ahead and getting that business back to the growth profile that we expect. it's focus it's executing and delivering on the growth opportunities we see ahead and getting that business back to the growth profile that we expect And I say, you know, earning the right to continue to invest more, but really making sure we get a return on what we've already invested. and i say you know earning the right to continue to invest more but really making sure we get a return on what we've already invested And then AI, just particularly on the offering side, our external offering, that's probably where the most investment is going this year. and then ai just particularly on the offering side our external offering that's probably where the most investment is going this year Again, it's just, you know, building out that portfolio, you know, building out the offering, hardening the offering, taking it from pilot to deployment to full scale, and making sure we have the resources in the field to support it. So that's probably where you see the most pure dollar investment going. The other two are, you know, more on focus, and I think that's part of the exit of robotics was, you know, obviously it was returning that those losses back to shareholders in terms of improved profitability, but also just the focus around the overall company and management team on where we see the greatest opportunities for growth in those three areas. Again, it's just, you know, building out that portfolio, you know, building out the offering, hardening the offering, taking it from pilot to deployment to full scale, and making sure we have the resources in the field to support it. again it's just you know building out that portfolio you know building out the offering hardening the offering taking it from pilot to deployment to full scale and making sure we have the resources in the field to support it So that's probably where you see the most pure dollar investment going. so that's probably where you see the most pure dollar investment going The other two are, you know, more on focus, and I think that's part of the exit of robotics was, you know, obviously it was returning that those losses back to shareholders in terms of improved profitability, but also just the focus around the overall company and management team on where we see the greatest opportunities for growth in those three areas. the other two are you know more on focus and i think that's part of the exit of robotics was you know obviously it was returning that those losses back to shareholders in terms of improved profitability but also just the focus around the overall company and management team on where we see the greatest opportunities for growth in those three areas

Speaker 2: Got it. And there were a lot of questions on memory pricing. I'll just ask one. I think you talked about two points of gross margin headwinds from that, but you also expect to fully mitigate it by year-end. I think you have highlighted some supply chain actions, and then you are instituting pricing actions. It seems you have a relatively good handle on it, at least on things that you can control. But is there anything that concerns you, be it in terms of availability, or supply, or higher pricing, potentially leading to some project deferment by your customers? Anything that you would say is still uncertain? Got it. got it And there were a lot of questions on memory pricing. and there were a lot of questions on memory pricing I'll just ask one. i'll just ask one I think you talked about two points of gross margin headwinds from that, but you also expect to fully mitigate it by year-end. i think you talked about two points of gross margin headwinds from that but you also expect to fully mitigate it by year-end I think you have highlighted some supply chain actions, and then you are instituting pricing actions. i think you have highlighted some supply chain actions and then you are instituting pricing actions It seems you have a relatively good handle on it, at least on things that you can control. it seems you have a relatively good handle on it at least on things that you can control But is there anything that concerns you, be it in terms of availability, or supply, or higher pricing, potentially leading to some project deferment by your customers? but is there anything that concerns you be it in terms of availability or supply or higher pricing potentially leading to some project deferment by your customers Anything that you would say is still uncertain? anything that you would say is still uncertain

Speaker 1: Yeah, look, there's always uncertainty. It's obviously a quickly evolving, dynamic environment. But I think our, you know, feels like every year I'm saying our supply chain team is doing a great job, whether it was the first round of tariffs or semiconductor tariffs again, and now back on memory and they're working closely with, you know, our multiple memory suppliers on capacity and making sure we get our fair share of allocation, which we feel good about. Looking ahead at where we see prices, not only today, but going over the next six months, and that's what we've embedded into our guidance. And then a lot of work with our commercial teams, looking out at the pipeline over the next, you know, for the remainder of the year. Yeah, look, there's always uncertainty. yeah look there's always uncertainty It's obviously a quickly evolving, dynamic environment. it's obviously a quickly evolving dynamic environment But I think our, you know, feels like every year I'm saying our supply chain team is doing a great job, whether it was the first round of tariffs or semiconductor tariffs again, and now back on memory a nd they're working closely with, you know, our multiple memory suppliers on capacity and making sure we get our fair share of allocation, which we feel good about. but i think our you know feels like every year i'm saying our supply chain team is doing a great job whether it was the first round of tariffs or semiconductor tariffs again and now back on memory a nd they're working closely with you know our multiple memory suppliers on capacity and making sure we get our fair share of allocation which we feel good about Looking ahead at where we see prices, not only today, but going over the next six months, and that's what we've embedded into our guidance. looking ahead at where we see prices not only today but going over the next six months and that's what we've embedded into our guidance And then a lot of work with our commercial teams, looking out at the pipeline over the next, you know, for the remainder of the year. and then a lot of work with our commercial teams looking out at the pipeline over the next you know for the remainder of the year You know, it's one thing, you know, historically, if you say: I'm gonna... You know, I believe this customer is gonna buy this product, you know, in our case, a mobile computer, that may be okay. But when you're in a world where there's allocation, it matters if they want 6, 8, 12 gig of memory. And making sure that we understand what are those specifications they're really interested in, so that as we work backwards through the supply chain and we get our allocation, that we're getting the right allocation to where those customers want. You know, it's one thing, you know, historically, if you say: I'm gonna... you know it's one thing you know historically if you say i'm gonna You know, I believe this customer is gonna buy this product, you know, in our case, a mobile computer, that may be okay. you know i believe this customer is gonna buy this product you know in our case a mobile computer that may be okay But when you're in a world where there's allocation, it matters if they want 6, 8, 12 gig of memory. but when you're in a world where there's allocation it matters if they want 6 8 12 gig of memory And making sure that we understand what are those specifications they're really interested in, so that as we work backwards through the supply chain and we get our allocation, that we're getting the right allocation to where those customers want. and making sure that we understand what are those specifications they're really interested in so that as we work backwards through the supply chain and we get our allocation that we're getting the right allocation to where those customers want So, a lot of activity right now going back into the pipeline and double-clicking on, you know, we got to go one layer deeper with our customers, not to order it early, but just to understand what they're thinking and what's the SKU they're probably gonna go with, so that way we can make sure we get the right allocation. So we feel good around the overall allocation. Now, it's the nuance of- So, a lot of activity right now going back into the pipeline and double-clicking on, you know, we got to go one layer deeper with our customers, not to order it early, but just to understand what they're thinking and what's the SKU they're probably gonna go with, so that way we can make sure we get the right allocation. so a lot of activity right now going back into the pipeline and double-clicking on you know we got to go one layer deeper with our customers not to order it early but just to understand what they're thinking and what's the sku they're probably gonna go with so that way we can make sure we get the right allocation So we feel good around the overall allocation. so we feel good around the overall allocation Now, it's the nuance of- now it's the nuance of-

Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah. yeah

Speaker 1: It matters if you get 6 versus 12, and the customer wants the opposite, right? In terms of how we've worked back through the supply chain. So a lot of great work there. As I mentioned, it's 2-point headwind, as we mentioned, 2-point headwind for the year, really beginning in Q2. Q1, not much of an impact, just given what we had already in inventory and built out. And the way I think about it is twofold: One, the pricing increase we announced over a week ago. Along with some moves we're expecting later in the year around rediverting to different memory types, we expect to fully mitigate on an annual basis. It matters if you get 6 versus 12, and the customer wants the opposite, right? it matters if you get 6 versus 12 and the customer wants the opposite right In terms of how we've worked back through the supply chain. in terms of how we've worked back through the supply chain So a lot of great work there. so a lot of great work there As I mentioned, it's 2-point headwind, as we mentioned, 2-point headwind for the year, really beginning in Q2. as i mentioned it's 2-point headwind as we mentioned 2-point headwind for the year really beginning in q2 Q1, not much of an impact, just given what we had already in inventory and built out. q1 not much of an impact just given what we had already in inventory and built out And the way I think about it is twofold: One, the pricing increase we announced over a week ago. and the way i think about it is twofold one the pricing increase we announced over a week ago Along with some moves we're expecting later in the year around rediverting to different memory types, we expect to fully mitigate on an annual basis. along with some moves we're expecting later in the year around rediverting to different memory types we expect to fully mitigate on an annual basis So as we, you know, kind of in the later in the year into next year, you know, fully mitigate with the pricing, the direct pricing actions, as well as some other direct moves around, around memory. And that's what we've done. If you go back, whether it was tariffs, semiconductor, or some of the freight escalations we saw back a couple of years ago. But that takes some time for our pricing to flow through the distribution channel, flow through the P&L. So there's usually an air pocket- So as we, you know, kind of in the later in the year into next year, you know, fully mitigate with the pricing, the direct pricing actions, as well as some other direct moves around, around memory. so as we you know kind of in the later in the year into next year you know fully mitigate with the pricing the direct pricing actions as well as some other direct moves around around memory And that's what we've done. and that's what we've done If you go back, whether it was tariffs, semiconductor, or some of the freight escalations we saw back a couple of years ago. if you go back whether it was tariffs semiconductor or some of the freight escalations we saw back a couple of years ago But that takes some time for our pricing to flow through the distribution channel, flow through the P&L. but that takes some time for our pricing to flow through the distribution channel flow through the p&l So there's usually an air pocket- so there's usually an air pocket-

Speaker 2: Yeah Yeah yeah

Speaker 1: to catch up with the cost and our price increase. I think this year, we're benefiting that we can offset it within the year because of unrelated tailwinds, which unfortunately, what should have been upside to margin rate. But the exit of the robotics business, FX favorability, tariff favorability because of some of the lower rates out of China, as well as the actions our team have taken. Kind of all that, is being absorbed with helping offset the impact this year, while the goal is to fully mitigate with the pricing actions as we exit the year. to catch up with the cost and our price increase. to catch up with the cost and our price increase I think this year, we're benefiting that we can offset it within the year because of unrelated tailwinds, which unfortunately, what should have been upside to margin rate. i think this year we're benefiting that we can offset it within the year because of unrelated tailwinds which unfortunately what should have been upside to margin rate But the exit of the robotics business, FX favorability, tariff favorability because of some of the lower rates out of China, as well as the actions our team have taken. but the exit of the robotics business fx favorability tariff favorability because of some of the lower rates out of china as well as the actions our team have taken Kind of all that, is being absorbed with helping offset the impact this year, while the goal is to fully mitigate with the pricing actions as we exit the year. kind of all that is being absorbed with helping offset the impact this year while the goal is to fully mitigate with the pricing actions as we exit the year

Speaker 2: So helpful. How sticky would you say pricing is for you guys? So helpful. so helpful How sticky would you say pricing is for you guys? how sticky would you say pricing is for you guys

Speaker 1: You know, if you look back, we've had relative success when you go to, you know, the price increases we did back around the, the increases in freight and memory or, or in semiconductor costs, or last year with the tariff, and we, we, executed the price actions we needed to fully mitigate the impact of tariffs as we exited the year. So, you know, but we need to see how it plays out with demand. We're seeing it... You know, we're not the only one, so it's somewhat different than tariffs, where it somewhat mattered where you produced, who may or may not have a competitive advantage. You know, if you look back, we've had relative success when you go to, you know, the price increases we did back around the, the increases in freight and memory or, or in semiconductor costs, or last year with the tariff, and we, we, executed the price actions we needed to fully mitigate the impact of tariffs as we exited the year. you know if you look back we've had relative success when you go to you know the price increases we did back around the the increases in freight and memory or or in semiconductor costs or last year with the tariff and we we executed the price actions we needed to fully mitigate the impact of tariffs as we exited the year So, you know, but we need to see how it plays out with demand. so you know but we need to see how it plays out with demand We're seeing it... we're seeing it You know, we're not the only one, so it's somewhat different than tariffs, where it somewhat mattered where you produced, who may or may not have a competitive advantage. you know we're not the only one so it's somewhat different than tariffs where it somewhat mattered where you produced who may or may not have a competitive advantage

Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah. yeah

Speaker 1: Here, everyone's facing the same, the same headwinds, so we're seeing similar actions by our competitors. And, you know, to date, we haven't really seen any noticeable change in, you know, pipeline or someone saying: "Hey, we're just going to wait." But that's the reason we said back in the guidance that we thought it was just prudent and the right thing to do to not bake in that incremental $50-$60 million of pricing to our guidance. And we'll see how that plays out and be able to give an update here in a couple of months, once it starts to be absorbed by the market. Here, everyone's facing the same, the same headwinds, so we're seeing similar actions by our competitors. here everyone's facing the same the same headwinds so we're seeing similar actions by our competitors And, you know, to date, we haven't really seen any noticeable change in, you know, pipeline or someone saying: "Hey, we're just going to wait." But that's the reason we said back in the guidance that we thought it was just prudent and the right thing to do to not bake in that incremental $50-$60 million of pricing to our guidance. and you know to date we haven't really seen any noticeable change in you know pipeline or someone saying "hey we're just going to wait." but that's the reason we said back in the guidance that we thought it was just prudent and the right thing to do to not bake in that incremental $50-$60 million of pricing to our guidance And we'll see how that plays out and be able to give an update here in a couple of months, once it starts to be absorbed by the market. and we'll see how that plays out and be able to give an update here in a couple of months once it starts to be absorbed by the market

Speaker 2: Helpful. I'll pause and see if there are any questions from the audience. Helpful. helpful I'll pause and see if there are any questions from the audience. i'll pause and see if there are any questions from the audience

Speaker 3: Yeah. So maybe going back a little bit to RFID and the momentum that you guys are seeing built there. You know, are you guys doing anything different there competitively, or is it really all around that adoption is finally beginning to happen and broaden? Yeah. yeah So maybe going back a little bit to RFID a nd the momentum that you guys are seeing built there. so maybe going back a little bit to rfid a nd the momentum that you guys are seeing built there You know, are you guys doing anything different there competitively, or is it really all around that adoption is finally beginning to happen and broaden? you know are you guys doing anything different there competitively or is it really all around that adoption is finally beginning to happen and broaden

Speaker 1: Yeah, I think it's both. I mean, one, we, we do continue to see the adoption, whether that's. And you see different announcements on applying the technology on fresh food and produce to track the age. I mean, it's, you know, I think quite a bit of waste, as you would expect within a grocery environment around produce. So really, really able to understand, you know, is that loaf of bread, how old is it really? And the only way to know that is with RFID, 'cause it's you have a unique identifier with that, with that, with that product. And you, you would think on some cases, it's not what are the economics around paying for that extra for an RFID chip? Well, if that's still better than throwing it away, right? Because it's expired and not utilized. Yeah, I think it's both. yeah i think it's both I mean, one, we, we do continue to see the adoption, whether that's. i mean one we we do continue to see the adoption whether that's And you see different announcements on applying the technology on fresh food and produce to track the age. and you see different announcements on applying the technology on fresh food and produce to track the age I mean, it's, you know, I think quite a bit of waste, as you would expect within a grocery environment around produce. i mean it's you know i think quite a bit of waste as you would expect within a grocery environment around produce So really, really able to understand, you know, is that loaf of bread, how old is it really? so really really able to understand you know is that loaf of bread how old is it really And the only way to know that is with RFID, 'cause it's you have a unique identifier with that, with that, with that product. and the only way to know that is with rfid 'cause it's you have a unique identifier with that with that with that product And you, you would think on some cases, it's not what are the economics around paying for that extra for an RFID chip? and you you would think on some cases it's not what are the economics around paying for that extra for an rfid chip Well, if that's still better than throwing it away, right? well if that's still better than throwing it away right Because it's expired and not utilized. because it's expired and not utilized So by having that information, there's a lot they can do around shaping demand, making sure they're buying the right amount of whatever the item is, promotions, you know, all the things, you know, grocery stores can do, you know, grocers and retailers can do to move product when it's near expiration. So those type of applications, I think, are continuing to grow. And I think the beauty is, once... If you're a supplier and you're, you know, you've seen these large announcements from some large retailers requiring everyone to tag every all their goods to be tagged. Well, if they tag... You know, now, if you're the garment provider, tagging everything, going to multiple different stores, you may look around your environment, a store who doesn't have RFID readers, and go: You know what? So by having that information, there's a lot they can do around shaping demand, making sure they're buying the right amount of whatever the item is, promotions, you know, all the things, you know, grocery stores can do, you know, grocers and retailers can do to move product when it's near expiration. so by having that information there's a lot they can do around shaping demand making sure they're buying the right amount of whatever the item is promotions you know all the things you know grocery stores can do you know grocers and retailers can do to move product when it's near expiration So those type of applications, I think, are continuing to grow. so those type of applications i think are continuing to grow And I think the beauty is, once... and i think the beauty is once If you're a supplier and you're, you know, you've seen these large announcements from some large retailers requiring everyone to tag every all their goods to be tagged. if you're a supplier and you're you know you've seen these large announcements from some large retailers requiring everyone to tag every all their goods to be tagged Well, if they tag... well if they tag You know, now, if you're the garment provider, tagging everything, going to multiple different stores, you may look around your environment, a store who doesn't have RFID readers, and go: You know what? you know now if you're the garment provider tagging everything going to multiple different stores you may look around your environment a store who doesn't have rfid readers and go you know what 40%-50% of the articles I have in my store are already tagged. Now, all I need is a reader to take advantage of the productivity I can get. So I think some of this proliferation of things being tagged, a lot of other retailers are looking at it going, "Oh, I can now take advantage of that." Look, so obviously, we're always continue to innovate around the portfolio, different types of fixed readers, moving to new chipsets. But again, back to what I said earlier, a lot of this is around working together with the ecosystem to make sure we're providing the solution for the customer and whatever that customer. You know, the one challenge in it is every customer is a bit unique. 40%-50% of the articles I have in my store are already tagged. 40%-50% of the articles i have in my store are already tagged Now, all I need is a reader to take advantage of the productivity I can get. now all i need is a reader to take advantage of the productivity i can get So I think some of this proliferation of things being tagged, a lot of other retailers are looking at it going, "Oh, I can now take advantage of that." Look, so obviously, we're always continue to innovate around the portfolio, different types of fixed readers, moving to new chipsets. so i think some of this proliferation of things being tagged a lot of other retailers are looking at it going "oh i can now take advantage of that." look so obviously we're always continue to innovate around the portfolio different types of fixed readers moving to new chipsets But again, back to what I said earlier, a lot of this is around working together with the ecosystem to make sure we're providing the solution for the customer and whatever that customer. but again back to what i said earlier a lot of this is around working together with the ecosystem to make sure we're providing the solution for the customer and whatever that customer You know, the one challenge in it is every customer is a bit unique. you know the one challenge in it is every customer is a bit unique The application they want, you know, the software that's required, so some of that's bespoke and very pinpointed to a workflow within a customer, and that's the role of an ISV, right? Software provider, the independent software providers can provide, but then we all need to work with them to make sure our solutions work together. So I think that's, that's the—there's still some of that underlying demand, but also a lot of work just making sure we can bring that ecosystem together to provide the right solution. The application they want, you know, the software that's required, so some of that's bespoke and very pinpointed to a workflow within a customer, and that's the role of an ISV, right? the application they want you know the software that's required so some of that's bespoke and very pinpointed to a workflow within a customer and that's the role of an isv right Software provider, the independent software providers can provide, but then we all need to work with them to make sure our solutions work together. software provider the independent software providers can provide but then we all need to work with them to make sure our solutions work together So I think that's, that's the—there's still some of that underlying demand, but also a lot of work just making sure we can bring that ecosystem together to provide the right solution. so i think that's that's the—there's still some of that underlying demand but also a lot of work just making sure we can bring that ecosystem together to provide the right solution

Speaker 2: All right. Any other questions? I'll continue. Can we talk about machine vision? I think you mentioned a return to growth in 2026. Bill mentioned a strong pipeline of opportunities, but this, this is a vertical where you expect longer-term, double-digit growth- All right. all right Any other questions? any other questions I'll continue. i'll continue Can we talk about machine vision? can we talk about machine vision I think you mentioned a return to growth in 2026. i think you mentioned a return to growth in 2026 Bill mentioned a strong pipeline of opportunities, but this, this is a vertical where you expect longer-term, double-digit growth- bill mentioned a strong pipeline of opportunities but this this is a vertical where you expect longer-term double-digit growth-

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

Speaker 2: Potential. Based on your customer conversations and the project activity that you see, do you have enough visibility to get to that point, double-digit growth framework this year? And you have made some acquisitions in your machine vision portfolio. Would you say your portfolio is, in quotes, "ready''? Potential. potential Based on your customer conversations and the project activity that you see, do you have enough visibility to get to that point, double-digit growth framework this year? based on your customer conversations and the project activity that you see do you have enough visibility to get to that point double-digit growth framework this year And you have made some acquisitions in your machine vision portfolio. and you have made some acquisitions in your machine vision portfolio Would you say your portfolio is, in quotes, "ready''? would you say your portfolio is in quotes "ready''

Speaker 1: Yeah, as you... We've, you know, we're still remaining excited about the long-term prospects for machine vision. Obviously, we made significant investments over the last several years from an M&A perspective and organic investment. And unfortunately, I think there's been a lot of market headwinds, and in particular, the markets where particularly our Matrox acquisition had some real strength, semiconductor. Also where we placed some of our bets around, you know, electrification and automotive, you know, was a huge opportunity that quickly evaporated. And so, you know, now we're starting to see, I think, both the underlying market improve, you're seeing that from others in the market, and the work we've done over the last two years to. You know, it's a, it's a long sales cycle. Yeah, as you... yeah as you We've, you know, we're still remaining excited about the long-term prospects for machine vision. we've you know we're still remaining excited about the long-term prospects for machine vision Obviously, we made significant investments over the last several years from an M&A perspective and organic investment. obviously we made significant investments over the last several years from an m&a perspective and organic investment And unfortunately, I think there's been a lot of market headwinds, and in particular, the markets where particularly our Matrox acquisition had some real strength, semiconductor. and unfortunately i think there's been a lot of market headwinds and in particular the markets where particularly our matrox acquisition had some real strength semiconductor Also where we placed some of our bets around, you know, electrification and automotive, you know, was a huge opportunity that quickly evaporated. also where we placed some of our bets around you know electrification and automotive you know was a huge opportunity that quickly evaporated And so, you know, now we're starting to see, I think, both the underlying market improve, you're seeing that from others in the market, and the work we've done over the last two years to. and so you know now we're starting to see i think both the underlying market improve you're seeing that from others in the market and the work we've done over the last two years to You know, it's a, it's a long sales cycle. you know it's a it's a long sales cycle You gotta create the relationship, win a proof of concept, be designed in, and then you get the real tailwinds for years to come, and that takes time. And now we're starting to see finally all that pay off, right? The work around you're seeing some traction in automotive again. The semiconductor customers are starting to recover and seeing some progress, and some momentum in TNL. So again, where we've focused over the last couple of years have now started, you know, starting to see that traction, both in the underlying recovery as well as those actions. And I think we look at the portfolio today, we feel good about where it's at in terms of being able to compete. You gotta create the relationship, win a proof of concept, be designed in, and then you get the real tailwinds for years to come, and that takes time. you gotta create the relationship win a proof of concept be designed in and then you get the real tailwinds for years to come and that takes time And now we're starting to see finally all that pay off, right? and now we're starting to see finally all that pay off right The work around you're seeing some traction in automotive again. the work around you're seeing some traction in automotive again The semiconductor customers are starting to recover and seeing some progress, and some momentum in TNL. the semiconductor customers are starting to recover and seeing some progress and some momentum in tnl So again, where we've focused over the last couple of years have now started, you know, starting to see that traction, both in the underlying recovery as well as those actions. so again where we've focused over the last couple of years have now started you know starting to see that traction both in the underlying recovery as well as those actions And I think we look at the portfolio today, we feel good about where it's at in terms of being able to compete. and i think we look at the portfolio today we feel good about where it's at in terms of being able to compete You know, we have to pick our spots, but the nice thing about the machine vision market, it's fairly fragmented, you know, from a competitive standpoint. There's also multiple different layers, from 3D to fixed scanning to smart cameras. So it's not just as one ubiquitous market. There's a lot of different submarkets, where you can go and have success, and there's a lot of white space, right? As the overall market grows. So I think the one area we look at is, you know, scale is absolutely critical. So there's multiple ways to drive scale. So I think that's where we're focused at, is executing, delivering, and then understanding where and how we can continue to scale our business to compete as most effectively as possible. You know, we have to pick our spots, but the nice thing about the machine vision market, it's fairly fragmented, you know, from a competitive standpoint. you know we have to pick our spots but the nice thing about the machine vision market it's fairly fragmented you know from a competitive standpoint There's also multiple different layers, from 3D to fixed scanning to smart cameras. there's also multiple different layers from 3d to fixed scanning to smart cameras So it's not just as one ubiquitous market. so it's not just as one ubiquitous market There's a lot of different submarkets, where you can go and have success, and there's a lot of white space, right? there's a lot of different submarkets where you can go and have success and there's a lot of white space right As the overall market grows. as the overall market grows So I think the one area we look at is, you know, scale is absolutely critical. so i think the one area we look at is you know scale is absolutely critical So there's multiple ways to drive scale. so there's multiple ways to drive scale So I think that's where we're focused at, is executing, delivering, and then understanding where and how we can continue to scale our business to compete as most effectively as possible. so i think that's where we're focused at is executing delivering and then understanding where and how we can continue to scale our business to compete as most effectively as possible

Speaker 2: Helpful. And, one on Elo, you, you have had Elo, for some time in your portfolio. How do you feel about the cost and sales synergies that you initially telegraphed? On your earnings call, you mentioned some wins for Elo. I think you, you have mentioned potential benefits of running it under the Zebra umbrella and integrating with your own offerings to sell your customers a more comprehensive, solutions. Maybe if you can update us on how that is progressing. Helpful. helpful And, one on Elo, you, you have had Elo, for some time in your portfolio. and one on elo you you have had elo for some time in your portfolio How do you feel about the cost and sales synergies that you initially telegraphed? how do you feel about the cost and sales synergies that you initially telegraphed On your earnings call, you mentioned some wins for Elo. on your earnings call you mentioned some wins for elo I think you, you have mentioned potential benefits of running it under the Zebra umbrella and integrating with your own offerings to sell your customers a more comprehensive, solutions. i think you you have mentioned potential benefits of running it under the zebra umbrella and integrating with your own offerings to sell your customers a more comprehensive solutions Maybe if you can update us on how that is progressing. maybe if you can update us on how that is progressing

Speaker 1: Yeah. Well, we're still excited about the acquisition. I mean, it's been five months. I mean, the focus for the last five months, quite frankly, was finish the year strong, execute, and deliver what we needed to at year-end, and get through the holidays. But the teams, I'd say, super impressed with the management team, continue to be a great cultural fit. You're seeing teams work together naturally around, you know, back to memory, you know, sharing their supply chain, our supply chain. What are we doing? Where can we help with our scale with some of the memory providers? But they also have some different things they're doing that we can leverage across our portfolio. So you're seeing those things just naturally happen. Yeah. yeah Well, we're still excited about the acquisition. well we're still excited about the acquisition I mean, it's been five months. i mean it's been five months I mean, the focus for the last five months, quite frankly, was finish the year strong, execute, and deliver what we needed to at year-end, and get through the holidays. i mean the focus for the last five months quite frankly was finish the year strong execute and deliver what we needed to at year-end and get through the holidays But the teams, I'd say, super impressed with the management team, continue to be a great cultural fit. but the teams i'd say super impressed with the management team continue to be a great cultural fit You're seeing teams work together naturally around, you know, back to memory, you know, sharing their supply chain, our supply chain. you're seeing teams work together naturally around you know back to memory you know sharing their supply chain our supply chain What are we doing? what are we doing Where can we help with our scale with some of the memory providers? where can we help with our scale with some of the memory providers But they also have some different things they're doing that we can leverage across our portfolio. but they also have some different things they're doing that we can leverage across our portfolio So you're seeing those things just naturally happen. so you're seeing those things just naturally happen We have a combined incentive plan for our sales team to make sure that both sides are incentivized to drive opportunities and leads for the other portfolio. We've already confirmed $10 million. We committed $25 million of synergies by year 3, and we've already confirmed $10 million, meaning we know where it is, how we're going to drive it, and the team, excuse me, the teams are executing that. So I think we feel, feel great about the progress here out of the gate. We got to show a call it a sneak peek of how we think about the portfolio in the future at NRF, where you have, you know, interactive displays, self-service kiosk, working with mobility. We have a combined incentive plan for our sales team to make sure that both sides are incentivized to drive opportunities and leads for the other portfolio. we have a combined incentive plan for our sales team to make sure that both sides are incentivized to drive opportunities and leads for the other portfolio We've already confirmed $10 million. we've already confirmed $10 million We committed $25 million of synergies by year 3, and we've already confirmed $10 million, meaning we know where it is, how we're going to drive it, and the team, excuse me, the teams are executing that. we committed $25 million of synergies by year 3 and we've already confirmed $10 million meaning we know where it is how we're going to drive it and the team excuse me the teams are executing that So I think we feel, feel great about the progress here out of the gate. so i think we feel feel great about the progress here out of the gate We got to show a call it a sneak peek of how we think about the portfolio in the future at NRF, where you have, you know, interactive displays, self-service kiosk, working with mobility. we got to show a call it a sneak peek of how we think about the portfolio in the future at nrf where you have you know interactive displays self-service kiosk working with mobility You know, obviously, there's a lot of work, you know, kind of putting that together and the opportunity to have, you know, the pane of glass across a storefront, whether that's mobility in the hands of workers, touchscreens, kiosks, and all operating on the same operating platform, where the applications, the security, the maintenance can all be run. Today, those are on two different applications, you know, two different instances. And the work to be able to combine those, that's what our customers were asking for and have asked for for a long time. That's the reason we launched our own kiosk last year. So, again, I think that's down the pipeline in terms from an R&D integration. We're really excited about the differentiation that can bring to market that no one else has the ability to offer. You know, obviously, there's a lot of work, you know, kind of putting that together and the opportunity to have, you know, the pane of glass across a storefront, whether that's mobility in the hands of workers, touchscreens, kiosks, and all operating on the same operating platform, where the applications, the security, the maintenance can all be run. you know obviously there's a lot of work you know kind of putting that together and the opportunity to have you know the pane of glass across a storefront whether that's mobility in the hands of workers touchscreens kiosks and all operating on the same operating platform where the applications the security the maintenance can all be run Today, those are on two different applications, you know, two different instances. today those are on two different applications you know two different instances And the work to be able to combine those, that's what our customers were asking for and have asked for for a long time. and the work to be able to combine those that's what our customers were asking for and have asked for for a long time That's the reason we launched our own kiosk last year. that's the reason we launched our own kiosk last year So, again, I think that's down the pipeline in terms from an R&D integration. so again i think that's down the pipeline in terms from an r&d integration We're really excited about the differentiation that can bring to market that no one else has the ability to offer. we're really excited about the differentiation that can bring to market that no one else has the ability to offer

Speaker 2: Helpful. And, can we spend some time on your portfolio strategy? We talked about Elo, your exiting robotics business. Maybe talk about, like, why that no longer fits the portfolio. You have done some M&A in machine vision space. You're obviously very close to your customers, so what other opportunities are there to help your customers from a portfolio addition or product standpoint? And as you think of M&A pipeline, you know, what are the top one or two areas of interest? Helpful. helpful And, can we spend some time on your portfolio strategy? and can we spend some time on your portfolio strategy We talked about Elo, your exiting robotics business. we talked about elo your exiting robotics business Maybe talk about, like, why that no longer fits the portfolio. maybe talk about like why that no longer fits the portfolio You have done some M&A in machine vision space. you have done some m&a in machine vision space You're obviously very close to your customers, so what other opportunities are there to help your customers from a portfolio addition or product standpoint? you're obviously very close to your customers so what other opportunities are there to help your customers from a portfolio addition or product standpoint And as you think of M&A pipeline, you know, what are the top one or two areas of interest? and as you think of m&a pipeline you know what are the top one or two areas of interest

Speaker 1: Yeah. I think on robotics, it was pretty straightforward. You know, the market never really evolved as we anticipated, when we did the acquisition back in 2021, which was obviously just the, a lot of momentum at that time around what autonomous robots could do. But the, you know, the unit economics on a deployment and the profitability around that were pretty challenging. Yeah. yeah I think on robotics, it was pretty straightforward. i think on robotics it was pretty straightforward You know, the market never really evolved as we anticipated, when we did the acquisition back in 2021, which was obviously just the, a lot of momentum at that time around what autonomous robots could do. you know the market never really evolved as we anticipated when we did the acquisition back in 2021 which was obviously just the a lot of momentum at that time around what autonomous robots could do But the, you know, the unit economics on a deployment and the profitability around that were pretty challenging. but the you know the unit economics on a deployment and the profitability around that were pretty challenging And as we took a step back and said, look at the losses we were incurring each year, and being able to, you know, shut it down, sell some of the assets, give that money back to shareholders in terms of improved profitability, and then really focus our efforts around, like I said, where we think there's big automation plays that we have a right to play, and we see a lot of momentum, and we've talked about those, RFID, machine vision, and AI. So it just... Again, and we, we still supply a lot of robotics companies. You know, Photoneo is the eyes for a lot of robotics automation. You know, so for arms that are going and doing the picking, they need to be able to have 3D sensing to see what they're picking, and that's what our Photoneo camera does. And as we took a step back and said, look at the losses we were incurring each year, and being able to, you know, shut it down, sell some of the assets, give that money back to shareholders in terms of improved profitability, and then really focus our efforts around, like I said, where we think there's big automation plays that we have a right to play, and we see a lot of momentum, and we've talked about those, RFID, machine vision, and AI. and as we took a step back and said look at the losses we were incurring each year and being able to you know shut it down sell some of the assets give that money back to shareholders in terms of improved profitability and then really focus our efforts around like i said where we think there's big automation plays that we have a right to play and we see a lot of momentum and we've talked about those rfid machine vision and ai So it just... so it just Again, and we, we still supply a lot of robotics companies. again and we we still supply a lot of robotics companies You know, Photoneo is the eyes for a lot of robotics automation. you know photoneo is the eyes for a lot of robotics automation You know, so for arms that are going and doing the picking, they need to be able to have 3D sensing to see what they're picking, and that's what our Photoneo camera does. you know so for arms that are going and doing the picking they need to be able to have 3d sensing to see what they're picking and that's what our photoneo camera does We still have a position in several robotics companies within our venture portfolio, so we'll still keep an eye on it, see how the market plays out. But just I think for the portfolio today, it just made sense to be with someone else and for us to focus our energy and effort. We still have a position in several robotics companies within our venture portfolio, so we'll still keep an eye on it, see how the market plays out. we still have a position in several robotics companies within our venture portfolio so we'll still keep an eye on it see how the market plays out But just I think for the portfolio today, it just made sense to be with someone else and for us to focus our energy and effort. but just i think for the portfolio today it just made sense to be with someone else and for us to focus our energy and effort

Speaker 2: Gotcha. And then, tying that to capital deployment priorities- Gotcha. gotcha And then, tying that to capital deployment priorities- and then tying that to capital deployment priorities-

Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah. yeah

Speaker 2: You are generating good free cash flow and your leverage is not too high. You just announced a $1 billion share repurchase authorization. In the near term, should we expect you to balance share repurchases and debt profile, or can you be more aggressive on M&A? You are generating good free cash flow and your leverage is not too high. you are generating good free cash flow and your leverage is not too high You just announced a $1 billion share repurchase authorization. you just announced a $1 billion share repurchase authorization In the near term, should we expect you to balance share repurchases and debt profile, or can you be more aggressive on M&A? in the near term should we expect you to balance share repurchases and debt profile or can you be more aggressive on m&a

Speaker 1: Yeah, maybe just before that, back, you know, but on the M&A strategy, I think it's. Just to touch on that, it's, you know, one where we're going to continue to look for assets that are closely adjacent, synergistic with the portfolio we have, where we can really scale within the existing businesses of our, you know, connected frontline asset visibility and automation, in higher growth markets that have, you know, we can drive an attractive return on investment. We think both Elo and Photoneo were good examples of that. But that being said, you know, we, you know, we laid out in our last earnings guide that we plan to give back, you know, buybacks 50% of our free cash flow in terms of share buybacks, primarily here in the first half of the year. Yeah, maybe just before that, back, you know, but on the M&A strategy, I think it's. yeah maybe just before that back you know but on the m&a strategy i think it's Just to touch on that, it's, you know, one where we're going to continue to look for assets that are closely adjacent, synergistic with the portfolio we have, where we can really scale within the existing businesses of our, you know, connected frontline asset visibility and automation, in higher growth markets that have, you know, we can drive an attractive return on investment. just to touch on that it's you know one where we're going to continue to look for assets that are closely adjacent synergistic with the portfolio we have where we can really scale within the existing businesses of our you know connected frontline asset visibility and automation in higher growth markets that have you know we can drive an attractive return on investment We think both Elo and Photoneo were good examples of that. we think both elo and photoneo were good examples of that But that being said, you know, we, you know, we laid out in our last earnings guide that we plan to give back, you know, buybacks 50% of our free cash flow in terms of share buybacks, primarily here in the first half of the year. but that being said you know we you know we laid out in our last earnings guide that we plan to give back you know buybacks 50% of our free cash flow in terms of share buybacks primarily here in the first half of the year So I think just given where the stock—our stock price is at, given our debt leverage is at 2x, so we're, you know, very comfortable there, that, you know, we'll give back almost, you know, 100% of our free cash flow here in the first half, as share returns—as share buybacks. And that still puts us in a good position as we enter the second half of the year with another, you know, $450 million of free cash flow to generate, plenty of capacity for, you know, M&A opportunities that may arise in the second half. Maybe a little bit of debt paydown, just debt obligations, but again, no, no, we don't feel any compelling need to pay down a significant amount of debt here in the near term. So I think just given where the stock—our stock price is at, given our debt leverage is at 2x, so we're, you know, very comfortable there, that, you know, we'll give back almost, you know, 100% of our free cash flow here in the first half, as share returns—as share buybacks. so i think just given where the stock—our stock price is at given our debt leverage is at 2x so we're you know very comfortable there that you know we'll give back almost you know 100% of our free cash flow here in the first half as share returns—as share buybacks And that still puts us in a good position as we enter the second half of the year with another, you know, $450 million of free cash flow to generate, plenty of capacity for, you know, M&A opportunities that may arise in the second half. and that still puts us in a good position as we enter the second half of the year with another you know $450 million of free cash flow to generate plenty of capacity for you know m&a opportunities that may arise in the second half Maybe a little bit of debt paydown, just debt obligations, but again, no, no, we don't feel any compelling need to pay down a significant amount of debt here in the near term. maybe a little bit of debt paydown just debt obligations but again no no we don't feel any compelling need to pay down a significant amount of debt here in the near term

Speaker 2: Gotcha. I'll pause for another second. Any questions from the audience? All right. So this is a question we are asking, like, every company: What are the top two or three innovations and structural changes affecting your company over the next five years? And are there any emerging industry trends that are perhaps being overlooked in your current discourse? Gotcha. gotcha I'll pause for another second. i'll pause for another second Any questions from the audience? any questions from the audience All right. all right So this is a question we are asking, like, every company: What are the top two or three innovations and structural changes affecting your company over the next five years? so this is a question we are asking like every company what are the top two or three innovations and structural changes affecting your company over the next five years And are there any emerging industry trends that are perhaps being overlooked in your current discourse? and are there any emerging industry trends that are perhaps being overlooked in your current discourse

Speaker 1: Yeah, that's an interesting... It was an interesting question. I, I—you know, what I thought about it was, I don't think it's any different—when I look out at the next five years, I'd say different than what the past five years from an industry and innovative perspective. Meaning, our customers—I mean, every company is out looking at how you drive productivity, how do you digitize, automate workflows, provide a better customer experience, and that's what we do for our customers across, you know, multiple vertical, you know, the vertical markets we serve. And, you know, I think the technology evolves and adapts. I mean, we've, you know, we've talked about RFID. I mean, that's evolved significantly over the last 15 years to where it's at today. Yeah, that's an interesting... yeah that's an interesting It was an interesting question. it was an interesting question I, I—you know, what I thought about it was, I don't think it's any different—when I look out at the next five years, I'd say different than what the past five years from an industry and innovative perspective. i i—you know what i thought about it was i don't think it's any different—when i look out at the next five years i'd say different than what the past five years from an industry and innovative perspective Meaning, our customers—I mean, every company is out looking at how you drive productivity, how do you digitize, automate workflows, provide a better customer experience, and that's what we do for our customers across, you know, multiple vertical, you know, the vertical markets we serve. meaning our customers—i mean every company is out looking at how you drive productivity how do you digitize automate workflows provide a better customer experience and that's what we do for our customers across you know multiple vertical you know the vertical markets we serve And, you know, I think the technology evolves and adapts. and you know i think the technology evolves and adapts I mean, we've, you know, we've talked about RFID. i mean we've you know we've talked about rfid I mean, that's evolved significantly over the last 15 years to where it's at today. i mean that's evolved significantly over the last 15 years to where it's at today And we're going to have to continue to innovate around the portfolio, based on those needs of our customers. So, you know, that's obviously not changing, right? I think just from that need to continue to do it, but that's not different than what our company's built around, which is how do you adapt to those changes in our customers and what they're looking for, and making sure that we're their supplier of choice and a strategic partner as they're thinking about those challenges. And we're going to have to continue to innovate around the portfolio, based on those needs of our customers. and we're going to have to continue to innovate around the portfolio based on those needs of our customers So, you know, that's obviously not changing, right? so you know that's obviously not changing right I think just from that need to continue to do it, but that's not different than what our company's built around, which is how do you adapt to those changes in our customers and what they're looking for, and making sure that we're their supplier of choice and a strategic partner as they're thinking about those challenges. i think just from that need to continue to do it but that's not different than what our company's built around which is how do you adapt to those changes in our customers and what they're looking for and making sure that we're their supplier of choice and a strategic partner as they're thinking about those challenges

Speaker 2: I think we're kind of almost on time, so- I think we're kind of almost on time, so- i think we're kind of almost on time so-

Speaker 1: It was good. It was good. it was good

Speaker 2: We appreciate you spending time with us. We appreciate you spending time with us. we appreciate you spending time with us

Speaker 1: Yeah, appreciate it. Thank you. Thanks, everyone. Yeah, appreciate it. yeah appreciate it Thank you. thank you Thanks, everyone. thanks everyone