Michael J. Hoffman
Analyst · Raymond James
Thank you, Renee. F '15 is off to a good start, and we're encouraged by the prospects for growth for the remainder of the year. We have a number of exciting new products to cross our businesses that are either currently hitting the market or will be unveiled at leading industry trade shows in the weeks ahead. As always, the timely arrival of spring is important. While we've not enjoyed a normal spring for the past 2 seasons, we are hopeful that our businesses will benefit from more favorable spring weather patterns this year. We remain prepared to adjust to whatever weather comes our way in order to capitalize on demand for our latest innovations. As we stated during our last call, we are confident that we are well positioned to take advantages of our opportunities ahead in 2015. Let's take a few minutes to consider the prospects for each business. Next week, we will be meeting with golf customers from around the world during the Golf Industry Show in San Antonio. Based on industry reports I mentioned earlier and the positive outlook superintendents shared when I recently visited a number of golf courses, we anticipate a heightened degree of enthusiasm among golf show attendees. We also look forward to seeing many of you next week in San Antonio for the show. While touring our booth, you will have an opportunity to see all of our latest entries in the golf equipment and irrigation fields, including our exciting new hybrid fairway mower, the Reelmaster 5010-H. The 5010-H offers the ultimate in precision operation and cutting performance in a highly efficient hybrid design. We're confident that superintendents and golf course operators will strongly approve of the hybrid Reelmaster along with other exciting product innovations that will be featured during the show. Our golf irrigation line will also garner its share of attention next week, as customers continue to flock to our award-winning water management solutions like the INFINITY sprinklers. Although they were only released this past March, the INFINITY sprinklers have become a significant factor in the marketplace. Their sales momentum shows no signs of slowing down. This month, we were pleased to learn that we have once again been selected by the United States Army to provide golf course maintenance equipment to help care for the nearly 50 golf facilities worldwide. These facilities are enjoyed by members of the armed services and their families in the United States, Germany, Japan and Korea. Similar to golf customers, landscape contractors are optimistic about business prospects for the spring. Booking orders for our enhanced zero-turn riding platforms and our new stand-on spreader/sprayer units are strong. Cash flow generated from contractor snowplowing activity should help fund additional spring purchases. Our professional grounds business continues to benefit from our focus on working with states and local government agencies to supply their turf maintenance needs. We also continue to proudly serve all levels of sports facilities around the world. For example, we're proud to take part in Super Bowl 49 held this month at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. Every year since 1967, when we helped prepare the field at Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles for the first world championship game, Toro has helped NFL ground crews prepare every Super Bowl game field as well as multiple practice sites and fan recreational areas like the NFL Experience. Toro has provided not only equipment but expert agronomic consultation on managing the myriad of special challenges hosting such a mega sports event poses for turf. Demonstrating the global reach of our sports presence, last week it was announced that a full array of our grounds equipment utility vehicles and irrigation systems will be used by grounds crews across Australia and New Zealand as they host the 2015 international cricket world cup. From Arizona to Australia, you can count on Toro to help care for the finest playing fields on earth. Market conditions look positive for the rental and specialty construction businesses as well, fueled in part by the continued growth of commercial and residential construction activity. As I mentioned, for 2015, the Rental Association forecast growth level is similar to what the industry achieved last year. To participate in that growth, next week, we will unveil a new compact utility loader, equipped with unique features designed with customer input that we believe will be enthusiastically received, along with other new construction items at the American Rental Association tradeshow. The strength of the construction market should also present opportunities for our residential and commercial irrigation and lighting businesses. If more normal spring weather patterns prevails, residential and commercial irrigation projects will likely pick up. Sales of our LED offerings, including our Element's line of professionally installed aluminum lighting fixtures, continue to grow and complement our strong core copper and brass product lines. Our team at BOSS is busy preparing for the National Truck Equipment Association show in March, when we will unveil a number of new products to the trade. The late heavy snows we have recently experienced have helped round out an already good winter for the snow and ice management business. Like our snow thrower position, this late activity should help set up a promising preseason later this year for BOSS. Finally, in our residential business, we enjoyed another good snow thrower season, the combination of very strong preseason demand for the fourth quarter of 2014, the more modest in-season gains and the inventory clearing snowfalls of late adds up to a solid position for next winter's preseason sales later this year. Increased placements of spring products and strong market demand for all of our new offerings present meaningful opportunities. As spring product production ramps up and we move beyond the early supply inefficiencies, we're focused on catching up and meeting the robust demand for our new residential steering wheel and stick equipped zero-turn riding products. Our All-Wheel Drive Recycler walk power mower has also generated solid orders and early channel demand. Turning to our outlook, overall, the stage is set for another successful year. We recognize that unfavorable shifts in the economy or weather could pose challenges to our plans. As always, we are prepared to respond to the changing conditions. The company continues to expect revenue growth of about 8% to 10% for fiscal 2015 and now expects net earnings of about $3.35 to $3.45 per share. For the second quarter, the company expects net earnings per share of about $1.58 to $1.63. This concludes our formal remarks. We'll take your questions at this time. Chris, back to you.