Tony Trunzo
Analyst · Bank of America
Thank you, Jay, and good morning, everybody. Both ADI and Products & Solutions exceeded our expectations in Q4. Consolidated revenue was $1.5 billion, an increase of 15% compared to Q4 last year. For the full year 2020, revenue was up 2% as the strong second half offset the negative impact of COVID-19 in the first half of the year. Q4 gross margin of 28.2% was up 420 basis points from Q4 of 2019 due to improved cost absorption, lower inventory expenses and cost savings from transformation programs. Selling, general and administrative expenses for the fourth quarter totaled $271 million, up 12% from Q4 last year. Included in Q4 SG&A was a $29 million increase in bonus expense from improved business performance and a onetime COVID-related bonus as well as increased expenses related to transformation programs and investments in the business. Operating profit for the fourth quarter was $152 million or 10.1% of sales compared to $72 million or 5.5% of sales last year. For all of 2020, operating profit was $311 million or 6.1% of sales, up from $258 million or 5.2% of sales for 2019. We delivered over $50 million of net savings from transformation initiatives in 2020 compared to our target of $30 million to $40 million. Major factors behind these savings include lower SG&A through headcount reductions and savings on indirect spending as well as sales activation and direct procurement programs that positively impacted revenue and COGS. In 2021 and beyond, we will continue to focus on reducing costs while increasing the scalability, efficiency and control in the business. This work will be visible through our progress on expanding gross margin, leveraging our cost base to improve operating margin and driving cash generation. Products & Solutions Q4 revenue of $676 million was up 18% due to improved demand across each of our major channels: OEM, trade, security dealers and retail. Backlog, while lower than at the beginning of Q4, remains above historic levels. This reflects both positive demand and global sourcing constraints that are impacting our manufacturing operations and supply chain. Products & Solutions operating profit in Q4 was $166 million or 24.6% of sales compared with $84 million or 14.6% of sales in Q4 2019. Improved performance reflects operating leverage from higher volume as well as reduced inventory expenses and transformation program savings. ADI revenue of $825 million increased 13% year-over-year in the fourth quarter compared with a strong Q4 2019. Daily sales average for the fourth quarter was $12.5 million, up 10% compared with $11.4 million in Q4 2019. Demand was strong in residential-oriented categories, including intrusion and networking while more commercial centric categories, such as fire and access control saw slower activity. ADI's investments in e-commerce and digital selling tools helped drive e-commerce revenue sales over $100 million in Q4, up nearly 40% year-over-year. ADI will continue to invest in digital sales tools designed to drive sales force effectiveness and enable better customer service in 2021. Over time, these investments will enable a more consultative selling approach and a focus on higher-value transactions. ADI operating profit was $59 million or 7.2% of sales, up 13% from Q4 2019. ADI operating profit benefited from higher revenue and a continued focus on cost management, partially offset by increased investment activity as well as restructuring costs in Europe. Corporate costs for the quarter were $73 million or 4.9% of sales compared with $64 million, also 4.9% of sales in the fourth quarter of 2019. For the full year 2020, corporate costs were $291 million or 5.7% of sales compared with $279 million or 5.6% of sales for 2019. The growth for the full year reflects costs associated with transformation initiatives as well as increased bonus and pension expense, partially offset by transformation program savings and lower spin-related costs. Consolidated cash from operations for the full year 2020 was $244 million compared to $23 million in 2019. This strong performance reflects our improved operating results and lower cash tax payments. As Jay mentioned, we completed a follow-on common equity offering in Q4 that raised $279 million, expanded our research coverage and added several significant new shareholders to our register. As a result of the offering and our strong cash generation, we ended Q4 with cash and cash equivalents of $517 million and total outstanding debt of $1.2 billion. In early February, we refinanced our senior secured credit facilities, consolidating 2 term loans into a single upsized $950 million Term Loan B due in 2028 and extended and increased our revolving credit facility. Separately, we redeemed $140 million of our senior unsecured notes. In connection with the refinancing, Moody's upgraded Resideo's corporate credit rating to Ba3, while Standard & Poor's affirmed its existing issuer rating of BB and changed the credit outlook from -- to stable from negative. These transactions, combined with our strong cash flow, have dramatically improved Resideo's financial structure, reduced net leverage and positioned us for strategic growth initiatives. Moving to our full year outlook. We currently expect 2021 revenue to be in the range of $5.2 billion to $5.4 billion, which implies year-over-year growth in the range of 3% to 6%. Consolidated gross margin is expected to be in the range of 26% to 28% while GAAP operating profit is expected to be in the range of $450 million to $500 million. Our 2021 outlook anticipates corporate expenses of approximately $225 million, capital expenditures of approximately of $90 million, effective tax rate in the mid-20s and net interest expense of approximately $47 million. Note that ADI will have 2 fewer selling days in 2021 compared to 2020, reflecting 3 more days in the first quarter and 5 fewer days in the fourth quarter. As a reminder, our Honeywell reimbursement payments have limited tax deductibility, meaning the calculated tax rate on our pretax income will likely be higher than our effective tax rate. For the first quarter of 2021, we expect revenue in the range of $1.3 billion to $1.35 billion, an increase of 12% at the midpoint compared to Q1 2020. Consolidated gross margin is expected to be in the range of 25% to 27%, an increase at the midpoint of 190 basis points. GAAP operating profit is expected to be in the range of $110 million to $120 million compared to $34 million last Q1. Additionally, in Q1, we expect approximately $26 million of costs related to the early extinguishment of debt, which will be reflected on the other expense line of our P&L. Our outlook for both 2021 and Q1 takes into account supply chain constraints associated with COVID-19, higher freight, material expediting charges and market shortages of certain components such as microprocessors. We are working aggressively to mitigate these impacts, and are pleased with how our supply chain and operations teams have responded to the situation. Also included in our outlook for 2021 are incremental investments across the business. At ADI, these investments include systems to accelerate our e-commerce offerings and sales effectiveness, improved customer experience and drive scalable growth. Within Products & Solutions, we will be investing in incremental engineering and innovation capabilities, customer experience, manufacturing optimization, and processes and systems enhancements aimed at accelerating revenue growth and improving gross margins. As a reminder, moving forward, we will not report adjusted EBITDA and instead will focus on revenue, gross profit, operating profit and operating cash flow. As we've stated previously, we believe these GAAP metrics present a clearer picture of actual results against a known benchmark. I'll now turn the call back to Jay for a few concluding remarks before we take questions. Jay?