Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO), the largest distributor of air conditioning, heating, and refrigeration equipment in the United States, has reported strong financial results for the first quarter of 2024. Despite facing softer market conditions, the company has shown improved sales trends and a fortified balance sheet, thanks to record cash flow and a successful equity raise. Watsco also announced a 10% increase in annual dividends to $10.80 per share.
The company's sales gains were attributed to a richer mix of high-efficiency products, including heat pumps, and the expansion of its network through new locations and acquisitions. Watsco remains committed to pursuing further acquisitions to expand its scale in North America and is optimistic about its long-term growth opportunities.
Key Takeaways
- Watsco achieved improved sales trends in April, indicating a strong start to the summer selling season.
- The company's balance sheet was strengthened through record cash flow and an equity raise.
- Annual dividends increased by 10%, reaching $10.80 per share.
- Sales were driven by a richer mix of high-efficiency products and the addition of new locations.
- Gross margins remained strong, while SG&A expenses saw a slight increase.
- Watsco expanded its network by acquiring three businesses with a combined $200 million in sales.
- Executives discussed inventory levels, pricing strategies, and the potential impact of the Inflation Reduction Act.
- Residential unit volumes were down mid-single-digits, while commercial sales outperformed residential.
- The company is optimistic about the long-term prospects and impact of A2L products.
Company Outlook
- Watsco plans to continue its growth through acquisitions in the North American market.
- The company is focused on long-term investments and growth opportunities.
Bearish Highlights
- Inventory levels are slightly higher, but the company is working to achieve its inventory goals.
- Residential unit volumes were down mid-single-digits.
Bullish Highlights
- Watsco has a strong competitive position with high-quality inventory and best-in-class technology.
- The company is optimistic about the long-term impact of A2L products on the market.
- Commercial sales are performing better than residential sales.
Misses
- Watsco did not provide specific details on their ATM drawdown or plans for capital deployment.
Q&A Highlights
- Executives expressed confidence in their inventory position for the upcoming busy summer season.
- There have been no significant changes in technology spending, and the company continues to innovate.
- Watsco does not have visibility into the credit quality of loans facilitated through their platforms.
Watsco's positive performance in the first quarter of 2024 reflects the company's strategic focus on high-efficiency product offerings and geographic expansion. The commitment to dividend growth and acquisitions underscores the company's confidence in its financial health and market position. While facing some challenges such as inventory management and uncertain market share predictions for A2L products, Watsco's leadership remains optimistic about future prospects. The company's emphasis on maintaining a strong balance sheet and investing in technology innovation positions it well for continued success in the HVAC industry.
InvestingPro Insights
Watsco, Inc. (WSO) has demonstrated resilience and strategic foresight in its first quarter of 2024, with a focus on high-efficiency products and geographic expansion. The company's commitment to dividend growth is further evidenced by an InvestingPro Tip that WSO has raised its dividend for 10 consecutive years, showcasing a reliable return to shareholders. Moreover, the company's financial health is highlighted by its ability to maintain more cash than debt on its balance sheet, an important factor for investors considering the stability of their investments.
The InvestingPro Data reveals a robust market capitalization of $16.17 billion, indicating a strong market presence. WSO's P/E ratio stands at 34.19, reflecting investor confidence in future earnings potential. Additionally, the dividend yield is currently at 2.45%, which is attractive to income-seeking investors, especially given the company's history of dividend growth.
For those interested in deeper analysis, InvestingPro offers further insights with additional tips available, which could help investors make more informed decisions. To access these valuable insights, consider using the coupon code PRONEWS24 to get an additional 10% off a yearly or biyearly Pro and Pro+ subscription.
The company's strategic initiatives and financial metrics are a testament to its solid market position and commitment to shareholder value, making WSO a noteworthy consideration for investors looking at the HVAC industry.
Full transcript - Watsco Inc (WSO) Q1 2024:
Operator: Good morning, and welcome to the Watsco First Quarter 2024 Earnings Conference Call. All participants will be in listen-only mode. [Operator Instructions] After today's presentation, there will be an opportunity to ask questions. [Operator Instructions] I would now like to turn the conference over to Al Nahmad, Chairman and CEO. Please go ahead.
Al Nahmad: Thank you. Good morning, everyone. Welcome to our first quarter earnings call. And this is Al Nahmad, Chairman and CEO. And with me is A.J. Nahmad, President; Paul Johnston, Barry Logan and Rick Gomez. Now, before we start, I will state our cautionary statement as usual. This conference call has forward-looking statements as defined by SEC laws and regulations that are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of these various laws. Ultimate results may differ materially from the forward-looking statements. Now on to the performance. Watsco delivered good results despite softer market conditions. As a reminder, the first quarter is traditionally the low season for sales in our industry. Although it is early, we are encouraged by the improved sales trends in April ahead of the summer selling season. We believe our technology, breadth of brands and products and the expansion of our network have generated market share gains. Our balance sheet strengthened during the quarter through a combination of record cash flow and an equity raise using our ATM program. And once again, we boosted our annual dividends by 10% to $10.80 per share beginning April of 2024. This year marks Watsco's 50th consecutive year of paying dividends. Now, commentary and highlights on the quarter. Although residential equipment unit demand remains low, our price realization, a richer sales mix of heat pumps as well as high-efficiency products and new locations contributed to record sales in the quarter. Commercial end markets experienced growth and our backlog of projects remained healthy. Sales of ductless systems, an increasingly important component of our business, grew and offset declines in the conventional ductless residential business. Gross margins performed well and are consistent with our near-term target of 27%, though we believe higher margins are achievable over time. Turning to expenses. SG&A increased 2% on an adjusted same-store basis. Variable SG&A expenses were lower for the fourth consecutive quarter and our teams across Watsco have implemented a number of actions to improve efficiency and reduce SG&A. And to that end, we have equipped leaders with the necessary tools and data to improve productivity and most importantly of all, we possess an entrepreneurial culture to execute change in a responsible way. Since the beginning of last year, we expanded our network through acquisition with three -- through acquisitions with three terrific businesses joining the Watsco family. Collectively, their aggregate sales are approximately $200 million per year and more importantly, they expand Watsco's reach into new markets. These businesses will retain their culture, their leadership, and teams and uniqueness in the market, which is consistent with our long-term practice of sustaining great legacy and investing to drive additional growth. Our industry remains highly fragmented, and we will continue to pursue other great companies to grow scale in our $64 billion North American market. Watsco's technology advantage, industry-leading scale, equity culture and the strength of our balance sheet are all great reasons to join the Watsco family. And finally, before getting into Q&A, as always, I want to emphasize that our focus remains on the long term. Our balance sheet is strong, and we stand ready to invest in the right growth opportunity. We have an immense technology advantage, and we are investing to grow that advantage. Watsco's broad array of products and brands is also a competitive advantage that allows us to serve contractors in most any environment. And we are also fortunate to operate in an industry that benefits from regulation changes and fundamental catalysts that will play out in the years ahead. With that, let's go out to Q&A.
Operator: We will now begin the question-and-answer session. [Operator Instructions] Our first question today is from Jeff Hammond with KeyBanc Capital Markets. Please go ahead.
Jeff Hammond: Hey, good morning.
Al Nahmad: Hi, Jeff. How are you doing?
Jeff Hammond: Doing great. Well, I'll ask first about this equity raise. Just wondering why now and does it signal some kind of imminent M&A coming or what's just the rationale?
Al Nahmad: Well, it's an opportunity that we had from an institution that has a reputation for being a long-term holder. And we wanted to have them engage with us for the long term because that's a reputation. That's all it is.
Jeff Hammond: Okay. And then one of the things we were picking up in our channel checks is repair, replace, kind of shifting more to repairs, kind of consumers struggle with higher rates, et cetera and the increased cost. Just wondering what you're seeing on that end?
Al Nahmad: Paul?
Paul Johnston: Yeah, we're really not -- excuse me, we're really not seeing a lot of repair pickup in the first quarter. And we saw a little bit on the motor side, but not on the compressor side. The weather just wasn't there to really institute any real change in the market dynamics right now.
Jeff Hammond: Okay. And then just finally, Al, you mentioned April being better. Maybe put a little more context around what you're seeing.
Al Nahmad: Yeah, sure. I'll let Barry answer that.
Barry Logan: Good morning, Jeff. Yeah, again, it's been a nice pickup and it's in the -- I would call it, characterize it as the high-single-digit range that includes the new branches. If I look at things on a same-store basis, it's in the mid-single-digits is how I'd put it and unit growth thus far in the month.
Jeff Hammond: Okay. Thanks so much, guys.
Al Nahmad: Sure.
Operator: The next question is from Tommy Moll with Stephens Inc. Please go ahead.
Tommy Moll: Good morning.
Al Nahmad: Hello, Tommy.
Tommy Moll: Good morning, Al. Thank you for taking my questions.
Al Nahmad: Of course.
Tommy Moll: So, believe it or not, I'm not going to start on gross margin today. I wanted to focus on SG&A.
Al Nahmad: Well, we hope we haven't let you down on gross margin.
Tommy Moll: No, no. But on the SG&A point, I think even if we strip out the $5 million in change of non-recurring items that you called out, that expense item did grow faster on a same-store basis versus the top line. And I know driving leverage there has been a priority over the past year or so. So what can you tell us about what you saw in the first quarter and how you think that might unfold going forward?
Al Nahmad: Mr. Logan?
Barry Logan: Good morning, Tommy. Yeah, well first, it is the first quarter, and a lot of actions were taken in terms of streamlining the branch and the headcount and, again, the general conditions that leaders went out and did. They tended to take those actions at the beginning of this year as opposed to before the holidays. So that makes common sense. And again, that's part of the mindset is to start the year with that kind of momentum going on. So much of that played out in February and March. And I would expect the rest of the year -- the remainder of the year to reflect some reductions in some of our major categories. Transportation, freight, logistics were down in the quarter. That's been consistent now for several quarters. On the headcount side, which is the largest of the contributors to SG&A, I think you'll see some results from what was done for the remainder of the year.
Tommy Moll: That's helpful. Thank you. And I guess a question just on the A2L transition here. What is the State of the Union you can offer there in terms of how you're thinking about managing inventory for this year and maybe even into next year where there will be some portion of the market on the 410A still and then another portion on the A2L. Just what can you tell us about the strategy here? Thank you.
Al Nahmad: That's a good one for you, Paul.
Paul Johnston: Okay. Well, it's going to be an interesting time. We're still waiting to hear from the EPA whether or not there's going to be all the sell-through that people anticipate with the old 410A units. Will they be allowed as components? So that's kind of a fly in the ointment right now. Right now, what we're looking at is probably to start incorporating the A2L units, probably third and fourth quarter, we'll probably see some sales pickup in the first and second quarter of 2025. I think it's going to be a phase-down, phase-up between the two product lines. Right now, it's a question mark as far as when each one of the manufacturers that we represent is going to be introducing their A2L products.
Tommy Moll: And then in the midst of all of that, is it fair to say just from a turns perspective, you may need to run that a little higher than typical as you get into the middle or back half -- middle part or back half of this year?
Paul Johnston: Yes, it would be contrary to what Mr. Nahmad would like, but yes, we're probably going to have some lower turns as we transition from the old 410 over to the new A2L product. We're going to see how much of that we can mitigate, but definitely there's going to be some uptick in inventory.
Tommy Moll: Okay. Thank you very much. I'll turn it back.
A.J. Nahmad: Can I -- this is A.J. Just if I can add one more piece of color there, speak to our culture a little bit and being a little more conservative. One thing we will not do which some other maybe smaller independent distributors may do is speculate and take huge positions either way on the 410A product or the 454 product, our job is to meet the market and meet the expectations of our customers. We're not trying to speculate for some short-term giant swing one way or the other, so -- because we are long-term players.
Al Nahmad: That’s a good point.
Tommy Moll: Thank you. Appreciate the context.
Operator: The next question is from Jeff Sprague with Vertical Research. Please go ahead.
Jeff Sprague: Hey, thanks. Good morning, everyone. Hey, I wanted to come back to inventory again if I could. Just from my historical vantage point, it still looks a touch high in Q1 relative to, I guess, my estimate of full-year sales and maybe that may differ from what you're planning. But anything else going on there? You've got some new distributors, I'm sure, as a role. It doesn't sound like the 454B stuff is impacting you, but perhaps it is. Just any other color on kind of where your inventories stand today relative to how the year might play out.
Al Nahmad: I'm going to give you a…
Paul Johnston: Go ahead.
Al Nahmad: Okay, Paul. I was just going to give a big picture and then turn to you. I agree with you that the inventory may be slightly higher and we're not going to stop until we achieve the goals that we had set for that. But more -- but in more detail, Paul, you want to deal with that?
Paul Johnston: Yeah, it's -- a lot of it is pricing that we're seeing in the marketplace. We had a price increase in April -- excuse me, we had a price increase in February and another one in March from various manufacturers. We've seen copper go up to $4.50 a pound. So we've seen a lot of upward thrust as far as our cost is concerned. As far as the number of units that we have -- outdoor units that we have in inventory, that's actually down year-over-year. So we feel like we're managing our inventory. It's a little bit tough out there right now with the price increases.
Al Nahmad: Yeah. And I'll add there was some, I guess, on the margins -- opportunistic buying that our business units took advantage of. So that -- and as a result of, I'd say, some smoothing out of supply chain, which has been chaotic for the last three years in COVID, I believe our business units feel that they are very well prepared for the busy summer selling season as far as inventory goes. They've got the right mix of products and they've got a healthy quality of inventory. So the expectation is that as the selling season begins and runs its course, we should be well positioned to take care of our customers and move products.
Paul Johnston: Yeah, I'll just say this, I think a year ago in this call, we lamented one of our major vendors and not being in a strong inventory position for the season and lamented about lost sales and so on. And obviously a year later, the channel for that particular vendor has filled in a very good competitive condition. It grew nicely in the early stage of the year here and there's a lot more work to do, but that's also an inventory position. If you look at a year-over-year basis, that contributes to some of our current position.
Jeff Sprague: And then on just price -- OEM price, obviously on 454B, there's going to be a different price regime. But on kind of like-for-like product, do you see kind of a bias for kind of OEMs to be looking for more than one increase during the year? As you noted, copper is moving up or we've kind of gotten to something like a little bit more normal on kind of like-for-like units in terms of what's going on with OEM price increases?
Paul Johnston: Well, we're just starting to see the prices roll in from the OEMs on the new A2L products. So I would say we're going to see one price increase on the A2L products and then, I think that's going to be probably it for the year. I'm hoping.
Al Nahmad: Yeah, the like-for-like products are going away, right? I mean, the 410A products will not be sold to us again next year?
Paul Johnston: Right.
Jeff Sprague: And just one other one from me. These kind of Oxbox branded products, you just address how significant, if at all this is to your strategy in particular and the interest in the channel in these products and how they're selling through?
Paul Johnston: There's -- like every market there's a good, better, best selection of products out there. And Oxbox generally fits the value portion of that market. So that's where I think Trane has got that product positioned right now. We've got a number of other products such as Payne, some of our ICP products, some of our private label products that compete in that marketplace. And it's a market segment.
Barry Logan: Yeah, I was going to emphasize that. It's a crowded space, the value segment. There are a lot of brands that are sold in the market. Watsco itself sells probably half a dozen brands in that segment. And so it's a crowded space and it is a way for an OEM to diversify its price points in the market. But again, it's a crowded space.
Jeff Sprague: Okay, great. Thank you for the color. I appreciate it.
Operator: The next question is from Dave Manthey with Baird. Please go ahead.
Al Nahmad: Good morning, Dave.
Dave Manthey: Thank you. Good morning, Al. Hi. Hi, everyone.
Al Nahmad: I think you have a cold.
Dave Manthey: Yeah, first question is on the non-recurring SG&A, just what was that? And then second, on the 27% gross margin, anything about that that makes you more or less positive about hitting 27% for the full year?
Al Nahmad: Wow. Okay, Barry, you're the numbers guy.
Barry Logan: On the -- first on the gross profit side, I think we -- I think I chimed in on that probably 2.5 years ago when we said what we thought the long term would look like and it's held up pretty well. So I'll sustain my opinion and what our capabilities are in the near term and for this year. Obviously, there is always 10, 15 variables coming up with that that are subject to change, but I don't think our conviction has changed at all for this year, if that answers your question. On the non-recurring side, we -- and we mentioned all of our stores, all of our leadership across Watsco in a responsible way reduced headcount in the first quarter. There's obviously some costs incurred in making those decisions and those reductions. So that would be a component of that, probably the major component of the number. And as far as other things, there's no one item [Technical Difficulty], it's probably four or five $0.5 million items that are just in our minds, clearly something that is behind us and not a recurring item.
Dave Manthey: Okay. And second, it looks like Florida is now going to accept the IRA funding to the tune of about $346 million. And some of our contacts are saying in different states that that might start to benefit in maybe the fourth quarter this year or something. Can you give us a read, anything you're seeing in terms of when consumers might start to see that help from the Inflation Reduction Act?
Paul Johnston: Yes. I think you're correct. Probably the third quarter, fourth quarter, depends on what part of the country. Right now, New York is the one that's been funded. And so we're hoping to see what that -- what sort of impulse that generates so that we can find out what the impact of it is going to be. And then from there, I think it's going to be California, we'll probably be in second place. So it's going to be a gradual spreading of the wealth throughout the US as this thing rolls forward. So it's going to be interesting to see what the first two states lay out before we really jump in and say it's going to be a big deal.
Al Nahmad: Yeah. I was going to say something similar, Paul, that it should be a good thing, but how good and when we don't know.
Paul Johnston: Yeah. But I will say this, absent a benefit right now in the first quarter, for example, and we'll see how this plays out in the trend in the summer, but at least the first quarter, if I look at heat pump growth versus everything else, it's remarkably better. If that's one of the promises of incentives and so on, we're seeing improved heat pump sales period without necessarily a benefit coming. And the second is part of the recalibration of all the new products last year was essentially a reinvention of all the higher-efficiency products that the industry makes. So 16th year, 17th year and above are new products essentially this year. And again, growth rates in that higher mix category grew nicely in the quarter. So those are just good things without a regulatory incentive. I'll accept it as good things, and again, it needs to play out for the full year. And if the incentives can add to that, that's a good thing. But right now, it's been nice to see the mix improving in the early part of the year and could be good for the rest of the year if it continues.
Dave Manthey: Sounds good. Thanks a lot, guys.
Operator: The next question is from Ryan Merkel with William Blair. Please go ahead.
Al Nahmad: Good morning, Ryan.
Ryan Merkel: Hey, everyone. Hey, good morning. I wanted to start on gross margin and I'm curious if the second quarter will see a sequential lift from the first quarter. My thinking is some of the OEM pricing came a little later this year. Is that the right way to think about it?
Al Nahmad: Gosh. You have a fortune ball there, Barry? Who knows? I mean you can take a shot at it if you wish.
Barry Logan: Yeah, Ryan, there are pricing actions that came in later, you're right. And obviously, it's still -- it's a better market, but it's still not a strong market. So I will always handicap some conservatism just because of what the market is doing and if I'm wrong, it will be hopefully on the upside of that discussion. So I'm not -- I want to change the tune this early in the season. We'll be conservative about our commentary and the market will educate us over the next six months of really what's going on.
Paul Johnston: Yeah. And like you said earlier, Barry, there is half a dozen -- a dozen different things that make up gross margin. So that's an important one, but it's not alone.
Ryan Merkel: Okay. No, thank you for that. That's helpful. And then I wanted to ask about the A2L pricing. I think you mentioned you're starting to get some of the letters from the OEMs. Just what range are we seeing, I think 10% to 15% is what we've heard? And then the other question I had is, do you expect to get the full list price increase because it's a transition in new equipment because sometimes you don't get full list if it's just a normal increase. I don't know if that's hard to answer, but...
Barry Logan: Yeah, that's really tough. But the initial wins we've gotten in are in the 10% to 15% range. And in fact, they're right in the middle. And so that pretty much held true. I didn't think that would vary. Are we going to see a variance on that price as we move into the season? And if we do, it's going to be, like I said, very late this year, early next year before we really see an adjustment to that. I think we're going to have four, 10 units to sell right through and then we'll start seeing some of the A2L units moving into the marketplace probably in the third quarter, fourth quarter.
Al Nahmad: Yeah, I’ll just add quickly. I mean with our advanced pricing systems, which are relatively new to the company still, we do expect to capture price increases at a rate -- a more complete rate than previously, if that makes sense?
Ryan Merkel: Yeah, it does. Yeah. And then just quickly, one of your competitors is forecasting that A2L next year will be 50%, 65% of the market. Does that seem fair to you?
Al Nahmad: Boy, it'd be great if it would. I don't think anybody has got a crystal ball that's going to allow them to see exactly what the impact of the A2L product is going to be next year. I would say it would be somewhere between 50% and 60%.
Ryan Merkel: Okay. Great. I'll pass it on. Thanks a lot.
Al Nahmad: It's a positive move. All these are major moves that are positive, which a little difficult is to summarize on the timing of it all. But long term, it's all good.
Ryan Merkel: Thank you.
Operator: The next question is from Patrick Bauman with JPMorgan. Please go ahead.
Patrick Bauman: Good morning, Al. Thanks for letting me in here. A couple of quick ones. The -- what you saw in the quarter in terms of the HVAC equipment sales being down 1% on a same-store basis. Any way to give us more color on the residential equipment unit volumes versus the average selling prices year-over-year in the quarter?
Rick Gomez: Yeah, Patrick, this is Rick. Good morning. On the residential side, we saw unit declines of mid-single-digits and that mirrors sort of what's happening with broader industry trends and sell-in to the channel. Actually, I think we're outperforming that trend a little bit. And price was positive, not hugely positive, but it was positive. And commercial continues to do better than residential. The backlog there is still very healthy and a lot of strength in Latin America to support that. So that's the color we would give.
Paul Johnston: I mean -- I’m very sorry. We provided a little bit of data on top of this. So just to be helpful. So kind of the unitary product, deducted product that is the OEM -- US OEM type product, price and mix was up around 3% for the quarter. I use the word mix, price and mix purposely in that. And as we've said routinely now, those pricing actions happen ultimately later in the quarter as opposed to early. So that gives you some read of it. Our ductless products, which is part of our unit discussion, pricing there is a bit more flat. But in that case, our largest vendor this year decided to have April 1 pricing action. So that kind of makes sense. And on commercial, as Rick said, it's outperformed. It grew in the quarter-end, is in a steady state, I think, at this point of, call it, mid-single-digit growth.
Patrick Bauman: And the comment on resi, I mean I'm sorry, on units trending up in April, that applies to resi as well?
Rick Gomez: Yes. That's only resi when I say that.
Patrick Bauman: Yeah, okay. And then I know HVAC products is a bunch of different things going on in that sub-segment. Is there any color you can give on the sales decline you saw in the quarter? Was it volumes or price or maybe any color on like what you're seeing in commodity products like refrigerants?
Barry Logan: Sure. I'll give a color. It's probably our third quarter where we've had essentially commodity deflation going on and average selling price just being simply a headwind during a quarter. And when we use the word commodities, that's refrigerant, copper tubing and sheet metal products as a category. It's around between 5% and 6% of Watsco's total sales to give a context, but it does have a bigger imputation of reality in that non-equipment products category. The good news is that margins and pricing have stabilized. The good news is copper is increasing in price. And the better news is that we're kind of getting through this year-over-year cycle and expect less impact if in fact no impact and perhaps even positive impact as we get into the rest of this year. So this seems to be the end of the line with some of that discussion I'm hoping so and expect so based on kind of what we're seeing as we look into the spring -- the spring time here.
Patrick Bauman: Super helpful. And then last one for me, just on the same-store SG&A side. I think last time we talked you were thinking maybe flat to down slightly for the year. Is that still a reasonable expectation on a same-store basis?
Paul Johnston: Well, it's a good aspiration and goal and it's not a dictate. That's not how we manage Watsco. We manage it through our leadership who if they want to find investments or do something that's important for a market or a customer, they'll do it. But I think from a mindset, from a cultural point of view, it's what we've been after. But again, carrying that out in a market -- if there's sales generation going on to the extent that there is today, let's say, variable costs are going to increase and we'll probably violate that concept of flat SG&A, which is not a bad thing. Variable expenses would drive -- would go along with the sales growth. So it's early days. I'm glad there's growth going on. I will tell, there was some noise in the first quarter SG&A that we've quantified to an extent and I would expect better performance as the year goes on.
Patrick Bauman: Super helpful. Thanks so much. Best of luck.
Operator: The next question is from Damian Karas with UBS. Please go ahead.
Al Nahmad: Good morning, Damian.
Damian Karas: Hey, good morning. How you all doing?
Al Nahmad: Good.
Damian Karas: So I'd say really encouraging to hear about the pickup in demand you're seeing in April. You mentioned, I think mid-single-digit same-store sales growth. Do you have an -- have the comparable for last year in April, like what the same-store sales growth was in April 2023? And could you just remind us kind of like in the second quarter, what the -- like, what the seasonal shaping looks like April, May, June?
Al Nahmad: That's a lot of forecasting and which we don't like to engage with because of the nature of the industry. I don't know if anybody wants to take a shot from Watsco side.
Paul Johnston: I don’t think if we can break out months. Yeah, I don't think we break out months.
Al Nahmad: We're not going to do that.
Damian Karas: Okay. The comp from last year for April, you don't happen to have that?
Al Nahmad: That what?
Paul Johnston: We have it, but it's not something we'd like to talk about.
Al Nahmad: Yeah, we're just not going to give you a monthly.
Damian Karas: Okay, fair enough. Totally understand. Well, maybe I could just ask you about, so you guys have put your pricing through, I think, from your OEMs, March and April. One thing that we've heard is that maybe some of the contractors are struggling to pass on some of the price increases. I just wanted to hear your thoughts on like whether you agree with that, you've kind of experienced that in your customer base? And if so, is that pretty much just kind of a short-term demand-related issue right now and the summer is going to end up resolving that? Or is that maybe a kind of a cumulative by product of just like all of the inflation that you'd be -- there's been in equipment and wages over the last few years?
Al Nahmad: I mean that is an enormous question looking into the future, and I don't think we have even a need to respond to that because things will have to happen as they happen. So we're going to pass on the question.
Damian Karas: Okay. Thanks for your time, guys.
Operator: [Operator Instructions] The next question is a follow-up from Jeff Sprague with Vertical Research. Please go ahead.
Al Nahmad: Hi, Jeff.
Jeff Sprague: Hey, just sort of a follow-up. I don't know, maybe it rhymes with Damian's question there. But Al, you said a couple of times, you hope not to see any more price increases this year. So I'm wondering if that is an indication that you're seeing some stress out there in terms of the ability to just handle this stuff. You noted that the repair versus replace dynamics have not eroded, but is this something that's just kind of on your radar screen as a watch item or are you seeing some maybe early signs that, maybe that is happening?
Al Nahmad: No. I mean it's -- the market does what the market does. I mean what's happening is the market -- the market pricing has gone up. And now we're waiting for the A2L pricing to come in. That was the only insinuation that we had there.
Barry Logan: Yeah. I mean, I've got to chime in on this because it's an important, like, backbone to what we've talked about already and I want to emphasize it. First, if we said earlier that the higher-priced heat pumps are outperforming everything else, that's a statement about what's going on in the market with contractors installing higher-priced systems, right? Secondly, if I've said in the call that the mix of higher efficiency is also increasing remarkably, that too is an early-stage -- at least an early-stage indicator of what's going on in the market. And again, I'd rather be October and report on how it went. But I like the early signs of what's going on. And third of all, we -- no one ever asks ever about credit quality, about what's going on with our contractor. It's never a question. It's remarkable to me. And so I feel like I have to talk about it or bring it up. If you look at the bad debt expense for the quarter versus a year ago, it's less. And overall credit quality and how our contractors are behaving with us when they pay us $7 billion or more a year is very healthy. So that's an April view, it's not an October view. But I really -- I don't look at this as like a binary thing of on or off. It's the subtlety of what's going on in the market, obviously and the contractors at the end of the day are going to do the best job they can to get the job if they have to discount their services or go to a lower brand or go to a product that they need. I know we're going to have it. There's not a location in Watsco that doesn't have multiple brands in it to serve that local market. And we have very few competitors who do have the same variety of brands across markets. So in a softer market or a trickier market, I like our competitive position even more if I kind of round out the conversation.
Jeff Sprague: That's a great additional perspective. I appreciate it. Thanks a lot, guys.
Paul Johnston: I just have to -- I love your answer there, Barry, and I'll build on it. I love our competitive position on the whole. And we talked about, we have high-quality inventory deployed in the field. We've got best-in-class technology that our competitors can't match. We've got a balance sheet that's strong and ready to invest in any size opportunity. We've got -- like Barry said, we've got every product that a contractor could need. I just think that we're very well-positioned here in the market and expect a good year and expect a good tenure.
Operator: The next question is from Nigel Coe with Wolfe Research. Please go ahead.
Nigel Coe: Thanks. Good morning, guys.
Al Nahmad: Good morning, Nigel.
Nigel Coe: Okay. Good morning. Sorry, I was late joining. So I apologize if you've addressed this already, but I think on the ATM drawdown, I'd be really curious on the timing of that. Al, you obviously got the cash on the balance sheet, got a lot of optionality, et cetera. But why do that in March unless you got a line of sight on kind of options out there, but I'd just be curious on the timing and I've got a follow-up question as well, please.
Al Nahmad: I’m sorry, why do what in March?
Nigel Coe: The ATM draw, the [indiscernible] issue.
Al Nahmad: As I said earlier, we didn't do it, somebody wanted it and the opportunity came up and we took it because of the -- who we believe the holder is would be if we supplied him the shares and we believe he is a high-quality holder, long-term holder and we wanted to meet what he wanted at that time. We did decide that.
Nigel Coe: Okay. Okay. That's fair. And then on the opportunity set out there to deploy the capital, I'm sure you're not in a rush or anything, but I'd be curious, the [line of sight] (ph) you have to take in full control of Russell Sigler or maybe taking up some of the equity within the carrier enterprises. I mean, are there any sort of big opportunities out there you see to deploy that capital?
Al Nahmad: If we did, we would tell you.
Nigel Coe: Okay. So you just keep the cash in the balance sheet.
Al Nahmad: Sorry.
Nigel Coe: So you just keep the cash?
Al Nahmad: What would you like for us to do? Of course, we're going to keep the cash. What would you like for me to do? I don't understand the question. We told you we do -- we took it because we had an opportunity to bring in a significant important investor. We do not -- we have a long term goal of expansion in this program so the cap will be very useful.
Nigel Coe: Great. Thank you very much for your time.
Operator: The next question is from Steve Tusa with JPMorgan. Please go ahead.
Al Nahmad: Hey, Steve.
Steve Tusa: Hey guys, good morning. Sorry. I just wanted to follow-up on Pat's question and I was another call. So wanted to join and say hi, first and foremost.
Al Nahmad: Hi.
Steve Tusa: So just on this -- these pricing dynamics and mix, I mean, would you -- so you would expect pricing to obviously accelerate over the course of the year given the timing of the increase? I mean, I thought the carrier increase was like early March, not exactly April 1st. So maybe just some color on how you would expect that to play out?
Barry Logan: The March increase we had from Carrier was on the 410A equipment. And then subsequent to that, we've also received pricing on what they're going to be -- what we're going to see on the on the new A2L products. But we have not received any of the A2L products yet. No.
Steve Tusa: Got it. And you will be taking those like -- at what point do you expect to be kind of filling those products in the warehouses.
Barry Logan: We are probably -- excuse me, depending on what the operating units will do, it would probably be third quarter, fourth quarter before we see any significant amount of A2L product?
Steve Tusa: Got it. Okay. And then just on this inventory question, I mean, I guess there's a bunch of ways you can really cut it. I mean, do you think your inventories are now normal or you took on a little bit of extra ahead of the pre-buy, they're lean. How would you kind of characterize your inventories now relative to demand?
Paul Johnston: I think we're a little bit ahead, don't you?
Steve Tusa: Yeah.
Paul Johnston: I think we're a little bit ahead of inventory right now. We've got some pre-buys that came in on the 410A products and we also had some additional products that we purchased.
Steve Tusa: Okay. And then just one last one just on from an end-market demand perspective and putting weather aside, are you seeing anything on repair versus replace any kind of change-up there?
Al Nahmad: Nope. Not yet. Still too early. There just hasn't been any -- if you put weather aside, there is nothing.
Steve Tusa: Yeah, okay. Thanks. Thanks as always for the color. Appreciate it.
Operator: The next question is from Chris Dankert with Loop Capital. Please go ahead.
Chris Dankert: Hey, good morning, guys. Just one quick question for you here, I guess. Explicit technology spending in the quarter, is that still kind of running at about a $14 million run-rate? And is there anything that you'd kind of be teasing us with or anything explicit worth highlighting in the quarter on the technology side beyond on call air or just anything else on that technology front?
Al Nahmad: I’m sorry I didn’t understand the question. Do you A.J.?
A.J. Nahmad: Are there new things to talk about on the technology side? Is that the question?
Chris Dankert: And then just the spending run-rate and then is there anything new you're introducing or would call-out here?
Al Nahmad: No, well, if we're going to introduce it, we'll introduce it. We're not going to -- I mean, we're constantly introducing new ideas. As far as the pure SG&A, if that's your question, there's not much change in the technology spend this quarter sequentially from last quarter, if that's your question.
Chris Dankert: It was. Thank you. Well, thanks, fella. Appreciate it.
Paul Johnston: You can expect us to keep innovating on the technology side though, for sure.
Operator: The next question is from Stephen Volkman with Jefferies. Please go ahead.
Al Nahmad: Good morning, Stephen.
Stephen Volkman: Great. Thanks for fitting me and good morning, everybody. Barry, I wanted to ask you about credit quality, if that's okay. So…
Al Nahmad: Very good.
Stephen Volkman: I mean, all seriousness aside, I was curious, I know that you guys -- I'm help -- grateful for that commentary, but I know you guys also do sort of some origination, I don't know brokering, how you want to think about it for the end-customer financing as well. I think that's available through some of your platforms. And I'm curious if you have visibility into how that credit quality looks.
Barry Logan: Well, we don't hold. Yeah, go ahead, A.J.
A.J. Nahmad: I was going to say the same thing. So it's not origination, it's really matchmaking between our customers and their -- well, actually our customers’ customers and financing sources. We do a small amount of that and it's pretty stable, I would say, but we do not. Once we make that matchmaking, we are out of the picture and don't have visibility, frankly, into the performance of those loans.
Stephen Volkman: Okay, got it. Thanks. That's all I had.
Operator: This concludes our question and answer session. I would like to turn the conference back over to Al Nahmad for any closing remarks.
Al Nahmad: Once again, thanks very much for your interest in our company. We look-forward to conversing with you as time goes on. Bye-bye.
Operator: The conference has now concluded. Thank you for attending today's presentation. You may now disconnect.
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