Luke Junk

Pinchuk said improvement was visible before tax rebates were expected to play a role. Franchisees did not mention tax rebates in recent conversations. Technicians historically do not let windfall money burn a hole in their pockets, tend to save or pay off debt rather than spend on tools.

Military is one of the top segments within the six critical industry verticals. Was down double digits last year, flat this quarter, improving trend. Pinchuk expects military to expand driven by refurbishment needs after conflicts and national security posture. Emphasized that C&I delivered strong growth even without military contribution.

Pinchuk expressed optimism citing growing custom kit array and capacity. Critical industries didn't fully catch up from shutdown, suggesting spillover into next year. October/November were weak but December came roaring back.

Pinchuk attributed diagnostics decline to launch dynamics, Triton at $4,000-4,500 in Q2/Q3 vs entry-level MT 2600 this quarter at substantially lower price. Not a structural decline but lower revenue per unit sold.

Pinchuk said NanoAxis is a whole different product line with historically long tails. Long-neck ratchet more episodic. Power tools engineers now fully focused on new products after pandemic-era component re-targeting, hitting the ball out of the park with repeatability.

Pinchuk said no special mix insights from SFC orders, hand tools had good order take-up as usual. Cautioned orders go through December and can face cancellations. Packages designed smaller this year to reduce cancellation risk.

Pinchuk confirmed Tools Group diagnostics growth was at least as strong as RS&I's rate. RS&I diagnostics to independents was up double digits. Tools Group diagnostics was every bit as good.

Pinchuk separated internal export business (described as terrible due to supply chain shifts) from local market sales (China, India, Southeast Asia all up). Praised Asian team for overcoming turbulence despite political instability across the region.

Pinchuk attributed Q1 weakness to consumer sentiment shock (20-point drop) that outran the pivot. Q2 stabilization allowed pivot gains to show through. Key learning: nibbling into lower end of big-ticket items (Solus, classic series boxes).

Aldo confirmed April was much slower, with biggest improvements in aviation and military-related non-defense sectors. General industry also started to improve through the quarter.

Pinchuk noted originations decline moderated from ~11.7% to 4.9% but cautioned Triton launch plumped up numbers and tool storage likely down more. Expects accommodation over time but warns Q3 is always squirrelly due to SFC.

Pinchuk outlined strategy of shifting development and promotion resources toward sweet spot of lower-end big-ticket items plus expanding social media with shorter TikTok-style videos on Snap-on network.

Pinchuk acknowledged franchisee cushion is down but not threatening vs pre-pandemic levels. Company not stepping back from any investments and working to keep terminations stable.

Pinchuk confirmed torque as a principal area for both organic and M&A investment, citing Mountz acquisition technology enabling CTM 800 and plans to irrigate technologies across Norbar, Mountz, and power tools.

Pinchuk expressed confidence that the pivot to small-ticket alone can sustain growth trajectory even without big-ticket recovery, calling it almost inexhaustible, but acknowledged full normalization requires uncertainty to break.

Norwitt walked the portfolio from board level power to bus bars and cable assemblies, citing higher voltages, liquid cooling and sensors embedded into connectors.

Norwitt described structural shift in defense spending globally, including next-gen defense contractors. Amphenol's expanded products, capabilities, and capacity position it well for long-term demand.

Norwitt emphasized Amphenol's unique approach: no integration or synergy, instead letting CommScope's existing leadership evolve into the Amphenol family. Visited Shakopee, Minnesota fiber optic hub on day one. Team excited to embrace Amphenol entrepreneurial culture.

Norwitt agreed book-to-bill is less informative at this growth rate. Lead times have come down as capacity built out, naturally reducing book-to-bill ratios.

Norwitt detailed hiring, automation, new facilities and geographic diversification. Even excluding IT datacom, double-digit organic growth across the board.

Norwitt dismissed concerns, saying organic growth opportunities are never turned away. Emphasized acquisitions (CIT, Andrew) deliberately diversify into other markets.

Norwitt gave an enthusiastic answer citing CES experience and convergence of robotics, next-gen vehicles, consumer devices with accelerated computing as the key opportunity.

Terrence emphasized copper-AND-optical future, not either/or. Copper remains workhorse in-rack for cost, power, and reliability benefits. Optics coming first in scale-out. RampPhotonics acquisition adds fiber-to-CPO passive optical connectivity for scale-out applications. TAM growing in copper even as optical inflects. Technology acquisition to hit customer road map inflection points.

Terrence confirmed both ACL and industrial transportation recovering from multi-year downturns. ACL factory automation broadening across all regions. HVAC and appliances still soft. These businesses are naturally better profit pools, so recovery benefits margins. Heath confirmed both segments at 30%+ incremental flow-through for FY26.

Terrence acknowledged content outgrowth has been lighter than 4-6% due to higher Western content mix with declining Western production. As Western production stabilizes, content growth should become more balanced across regions. Different regions have different content drivers (EV in Asia, data connectivity everywhere, electronics/features vary).

Terrence clarified Industrial order improvement is broad-based, not driven by one AI order. AI momentum continuing with existing platforms rather than new incremental customers. Must play across whole ecosystem.

Terrence confirmed appliances growing in all regions. Factory automation orders inflecting upward in Europe and Asia. Taking conservative view on sustainability given tariff uncertainty in capital goods.

Terrence highlighted data connectivity in vehicles as $600M business growing with software-defined architectures. The $1B Chinese OEM win accelerates content levers supporting 4-6% outgrowth.

Terrence detailed $2B China auto revenue, market share similar between local and multinational OEMs. Opening sixth automotive factory in China. Competitive landscape still primarily Western and Japanese.

Revathi distinguished modular IT deployment from modular power, cited Dallas capacity from Crown and new Iowa capacity from EP, and named capacity as the binding constraint.

Revathi addressed the delay risk directly, acknowledged component conversations are planned into the guide, and flagged possible upside on availability.

Revathi described end-to-end growth from embedded power to distributed power and utility-grade infrastructure.

Mike described well-diversified contributions across customers and capabilities but did not break out specific magnitudes.

Capabilities expanding beyond silicon photonics into co-packaged optics, near-pack optics, and co-packaged copper. Demonstrating system integration and next-gen optics from 800G to 1.6T at OFC. Cooling technologies accompany these capabilities.

Internal AI use deepening across inspections, quality, and corrective actions. Leveraging breadth of operational experience across manufacturing sites for cross-site learning. AI at corporate level within functions also progressing. Described as AI for internal consumption.

Gio was bullish on EMEA's second half and return to growth; Craig noted a favorable Ireland margin comp aided the quarter.