管理層發言
Thank you for joining us. I would like to welcome everyone to the Ameresco, Inc. Third Quarter 2025 Earnings Conference Call. Thank you. I will now hand the call over to Leila Dillon, Chief Marketing Officer. Please proceed.
Thank you, Demi, and good afternoon to everyone. We appreciate you joining us for today's call. Our speakers on the call today will be George Sakellaris, Ameresco's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer; Mark Chiplock, Chief Financial Officer; and Nicole Bulgarino, President of Federal and Utility Infrastructure. In addition, Josh Baribeau, our Chief Investment Officer, will be available during the Q&A to help answer any questions. Before I turn the call over to George, I would like to make a brief statement regarding forward-looking remarks. Today's earnings materials contain forward-looking statements, including statements regarding our expectations; all forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties. Please refer to today's earnings materials, the safe harbor language on Slide 2 of our supplemental information and our SEC filings for a discussion of the major risk factors that could cause our actual results to differ from those in our forward-looking statements. In addition, we use several non-GAAP measures when presenting our financial results. We have included the reconciliations of these measures and additional information in our supplemental slides that were posted to our website. Please note that all comparisons that we will be discussing today are on a year-over-year basis unless otherwise noted. I will now turn the call over to George.
Thank you, Leila, and good afternoon, everyone. We are very pleased to report that this was another quarter of excellent execution for Ameresco. We delivered strong financial results with growth across our key metrics. We also further strengthened our tremendous visibility with significant business development achievements in all our business lines. This is a very exciting time for our industry. A combination of factors, including increasing demand for electricity due to the move to electrification and data center demand, rising utility rates and growing grid instability are driving robust demand for our energy infrastructure solutions. And this demand is not only coming from our traditional federal, municipal, utility, school and hospital customers. We are also seeing considerable opportunities in new end markets, with demand coming from electric co-ops, industrials such as steel manufacturing and cutting-edge industries such as data centers, all of which are looking for quickly deployable, large amounts of highly resilient megawatts. While the customized solutions we are providing have evolved over time, we see Ameresco's domain knowledge and ability to deliver these large and complex solutions as a core capability. We also believe our business model gives us the ability to tailor financial solutions to the needs of our customers and is a meaningful differentiator for Ameresco, setting us apart from engineering, construction and ESCO companies. Our mix of project, O&M and energy asset business enables us to design and build a project, also operate and maintain it, or we can use our balance sheet and all the solutions as an Ameresco energy asset, providing our customer with a long-term offtake agreement. This flexibility we offer to our customers is core to Ameresco's DNA, and we believe it provides us with another important long-term competitive advantage. While we are in the early innings of growth in many of these areas, the impact on our business is already apparent. If you look at our breakdown of total project backlog on our slides, you can see that energy infrastructure-related projects are almost half of our total project backlog. We are also seeing the impact with the energy asset side of our business. You will note the recently aired category of assets called Firm Generation Energy Assets in construction and development side. Firm generation assets such as natural gas generators already account for 22% of our total assets in development. Also note that batteries now account for 41% of our assets in development compared to only 22% of battery-operating assets, showing how we are able to pivot to large and profitable opportunities as they present themselves. Now I would like to turn the call over to Nicole to provide additional commentary on a few of our recent energy infrastructure wins and give an update on our business with the federal government.
Thank you, George, and good afternoon, everyone. Ameresco has delivered energy infrastructure solutions since its founding, but recent industry dynamics, like those that George mentioned, are driving a surge in large-scale opportunities. While data center wins often make headlines, the demand for resilient firm power spans a wide range of customers, including utilities, government agencies, industrial firms and tech companies. Among these markets, data center customers also present a compelling growth area for Ameresco, and our opportunities in this space extend well beyond federal-sided projects; but the common driver across our customer segments is clear. We are seeing a critical need for an increasing supply of resilient firm power. An example of this need is the 40-megawatt firm power plant we are building for Hawaiian Electric on Maui. This project, which includes multiple dual fuel engines, is designed to bring resilient firm energy, enhance power grid reliability and provide a highly flexible capacity resource. In addition, it will enable the island to reduce its dependence on foreign sources of fuel. Another great example is the recently announced 50-megawatt battery energy storage system with Nucor, North America's largest steel producer. As Nucor continues to expand production at its Arizona facility, driving increased electricity demand, a behind-the-meter battery energy storage solution was a natural choice for the company and its utility. The project was completed in just under 1 year and will supply rapidly deployable on-demand power as well as provide significant resilience to that facility. We will also be adding solar to the facility, providing additional on-site generation as the plant continues to scale its production. As I have just highlighted, we are seeing tremendous interest from a variety of customer segments, including industrials, looking for rapidly deployable and highly resilient solutions. And with the recent push to scale onshore industry in the U.S., these opportunities are expected to grow. And of course, I'm excited to share more about our Lemoore data center initiative with CyrusOne for which we are finalizing the agreement. This solution will be designed to deliver cutting-edge energy infrastructure tailored for AI-driven, high-density computing environments serving hyperscalers. CyrusOne will build and operate the data center while Ameresco will provide the energy infrastructure through a long-term offtake agreement to meet its 24/7 power demands. Our solution will combine firm energy via fuel cells, solar, and battery storage that will complement local utility power. As the facility scales, we will install up to 350 megawatts, making this one of our largest deployments to date. We expect to own a portion of the asset, and the balance will be owned by a financial partner. And this is just the beginning. We have a strong pipeline of future opportunities with data center developers, gas providers, real estate partners, and direct tenants. Notably, these projects are not just cited on better land but also on customer properties. Before I turn the call over to Mark, I want to briefly address the current federal government shutdowns. Since this was anticipated, we were able to proactively coordinate with our agency partners to implement contingency plans, which has enabled us to maintain operations with minimal disruption. Ameresco has successfully navigated previous shutdowns in the past, and our team is well prepared. Although a prolonged shutdown could delay some project award conversions and shift some revenue timing, we do not anticipate a material impact on our Q4 results. Now I will turn over the call to Mark to provide financial commentary on this quarter's results and our outlook for the remainder of the year.
Thank you, Nicole. I would like to emphasize that we have delivered another quarter of strong performance, achieving growth across all key metrics. Ameresco has produced solid results despite a challenging operating environment, showcasing the strength and adaptability of our diversified business model. Our revenue increased by 5% compared to the previous year, thanks to effective execution across our project portfolio, ongoing momentum in our energy assets segment, and consistent recurring income from our O&M business. Adjusted EBITDA rose by 13% year-over-year, led by improved project margins, increased contributions from Europe and our energy asset portfolio, along with disciplined operating cost management. Project revenue grew by 6%, buoyed by strong performance from our European joint venture with Sunel. This partnership plays a crucial role in our strategy to diversify revenue sources and expand our international presence. Additionally, as Nicole noted, we have not seen a significant slowdown in our operations despite the current federal government shutdown. The projects team has remained focused on converting awards into contracts and contracts into revenue. There has been strong demand for our comprehensive energy infrastructure solutions that combine efficiency, generation, and resilience, leading to substantial growth in our total project backlog, which now stands at $5.1 billion. Importantly, we secured an additional $450 million in new project awards this quarter and converted $467 million of awards into signed contracts, pushing our contracted project backlog up by 33% to $2.5 billion. Energy asset revenue also saw a 6% increase, largely driven by the growth of our operating assets portfolio. During the quarter, we put an additional 16 megawatts into operation, including the [indiscernible] facility, bringing our total operating assets to 765 megawatts. We also added 32 megawatts in the quarter, resulting in 626 megawatts of net energy assets in development. We are on track to achieve our annual target of placing 100 to 120 megawatts of additional assets into operation. Our recurring O&M revenue increased by 8% this quarter as we continue to secure more long-term O&M contracts associated with our completed projects. These wins contributed over $158 million to our long-term O&M backlog, which now totals approximately $1.5 billion. Together, our project backlog along with our recurring O&M and operating energy asset portfolios provide us with long-term revenue visibility exceeding $10 billion. Additionally, while revenues from the remaining businesses in our other revenue segment continue to grow, this segment saw a decline year-over-year due to the divestiture of our AEG business at the end of 2024. Our gross margin improved to 16%, reflecting both sequential and year-over-year growth, and highlighting our focus on higher-margin projects and assets along with disciplined cost management. Net income attributable to common shareholders was $18.5 million, with both GAAP and non-GAAP EPS at $0.35. As I mentioned, adjusted EBITDA increased by 13% to $70.4 million, resulting in an adjusted EBITDA margin of 13.4%. Looking at our balance sheet and cash flows, we finished the quarter with approximately $95 million in cash and $340 million in total corporate debt. Our debt-to-EBITDA leverage ratio under our senior secured facility was 3.2x, remaining below the covenant level of 3.5x. We continue to support our growth mainly through nonrecourse project debt and partner capital at the energy asset level, which preserves our corporate capacity for working capital and strategic investments. During the quarter, the company secured about $180 million in new project financing commitments. Our cash generation this quarter remained robust with adjusted cash flows from operations of roughly $64 million, showing improvement both sequentially and year-over-year. This performance reflects our disciplined approach to working capital management, ensuring vendor payments align closely with project milestones and progress. Although some of this increase is due to timing, it emphasizes our commitment to effective liquidity management in a dynamic operating environment. Over the longer term, our 8-quarter rolling average adjusted cash from operations was about $52 million, demonstrating the consistency of our cash generation and the strength of our financial controls. Now, I'd like to take a moment to discuss our guidance for 2025. The third quarter once again showcased Ameresco's ability to perform well in a complex environment while enhancing our strategic positioning. Our strong performance year-to-date, coupled with robust demand, a growing presence in data centers and resilience infrastructure, and an expanding energy asset portfolio, gives us solid momentum and clear visibility as we approach the end of the year. While an extended government shutdown could potentially delay the conversion of some project awards and impact the timing of revenue, we do not expect it to significantly affect our Q4 results. Therefore, we are reaffirming our guidance ranges for 2025.
Thank you, Mark. As the Ameresco team continues to deliver excellent results, we are also building our strong foundation for future growth by expanding our backlogs and building our energy asset business. Our strong visibility, along with what we expect to be very favorable industry dynamics for our energy infrastructure solutions, supports our confidence in delivering our long-term growth targets of 10% and 20% revenue and adjusted EBITDA, respectively. In closing, I would like to once again thank our employees, customers, and stockholders for their continued support. Operator, we would like to open the call to questions.
分析師問答
And your first question comes from the line of Noah Kaye with Oppenheimer & Company.
Can we start with data centers? Nicole, you mentioned in your prepared remarks a strong pipeline that extends beyond the federal government to other customers. Could you elaborate on the opportunities here? Should we expect the scope of these projects to be similar to Lemoore, where you are providing the energy infrastructure, or are there additional possibilities? Also, when can we expect to see some of these projects start to result in orders?
Yes, you're correct. They're similar to what we're doing. Our focus is on the energy infrastructure for the data centers. So and on the commercial side, we're looking to do similar things, providing power solutions to the data center customers and speed to power for them.
Okay. It seems you are in the process of finalizing details for the first project. Can you provide some insight into the size of the commitment regarding the combination of Ameresco and partner capital, and when you expect to have those details ready for the market?
Noah, it's Josh. I might jump in here. So we have the updated assets and development at the footnote that it's in there at about 10% of its value, a little bit for conservatism, a little bit because, as George and Mark mentioned, that we're probably going to bring an equity partner for this one just because it is so large, so the increase was about 35 megawatts. So the total opportunity could be as large as 350 just for Lemoore and we're not quite ready to disclose CapEx figures, but it's in line with what we've talked about between battery and solar cost per megawatt. So it's a pretty large project.
Next question comes from the line of Eric Stine with Craig-Hallum.
So maybe for Nicole and just sticking with the data center with that theme. Can you just talk about this first project? I mean it seems to me that given the timing of the announcement, this would have been underway for quite some time even though it does fit pretty much perfectly with the executive orders and what the government is looking to do on leased land, so maybe just talk about that and once you've announced this, what that's kind of meant in terms of pipeline as you see it?
Yes. I mean the announcement has been a great opportunity for us to provide a good anchor project of what we're trying to do and accomplish being able to provide behind-meter energy solutions for data center customers. We have been working on it with the permitting and the other things that go into these large projects in the development side of it. So it's been good, and I think we expect to be able to kind of build and leverage future opportunities using a very similar model.
Yes. I mean it's almost as if you kind of patterned to this after exactly what the government was looking to do. So I guess anyways, we'll stay tuned on that, but a great development.
Yes, we have been providing energy solutions for federal customers for years. We are able to apply this model, similar to what we did in Hawaii with a large solar and battery project on federal land, and have a third-party offtake in place. We initiated this model, and there are opportunities with excess land that are well-suited for data center customers.
We have been actively engaged in several projects beyond our existing work, especially when responding to RFPs for enhanced use leases. For instance, we’ve worked on sites like Pearl Harbor and Lemoore, both of which present significant development potential. We have been progressing on these projects for a couple of years and plan to announce additional ones as we approach completion. A key aspect to highlight is the rising need for resilient power among industrial clients, similar to what we accomplished for Nucor. There is a substantial demand for electricity, leading many to seek improved backup solutions. This is why we provided Nucor with 50 megawatts of power last year and similarly added 100 megawatts for United Power through battery storage. We are collaborating with numerous large industrial customers who prioritize resiliency, and you can expect to see considerable investments in battery storage moving forward. After implementing their battery storage, Nucor recognized the need for increased capacity, prompting us to develop a 25-megawatt solar farm for them, marking the emergence of a new business line that didn’t exist a year ago.
Yes, that's great insight. Just a final question for me regarding the guidance. Could you elaborate a bit on the factors influencing it? I know there were many uncertainties surrounding the federal business at the start of the year, which turned out to be overblown. Even though you believe the government shutdown will have a minimal impact on the fourth quarter, my calculations suggest that a down quarter would follow, as traditionally, you’ve seen sequential growth from an EBITDA perspective in the past few years. Could you share your thoughts on this situation or the assumptions you’re making?
The thing that you have to remember is that we have been able to diversify our business so much in the federal government right now, it only represents 20%, and even though it might be some contracts going from the award to be executed. It might be some slippage on the revenue, but it's not that much that has a material impact. And that's why we were able to say that even the cadence for next year, the 10% on top line growth and 20% EBITDA growth, we feel pretty good about it.
Yes. We've been discussing this extensively throughout the year regarding 2025 and how we’re managing guidance. We’ve had to maintain discipline all year, and this applies to Q4 as well. While visibility is strong, it's still a quarter that requires significant execution effort, with many project milestones to achieve. Currently, we believe that the guidance we're maintaining is realistic.
Next question comes from the line of Ben Kallo with Baird.
Congratulations on your achievements and the opportunities ahead. I have two quick questions. First, as you engage more with data centers, could you discuss any differences from an engineering and construction perspective? Specifically, should we be aware of any increased risks or additional expertise required for this new market? Secondly, since storage is becoming a significant part of your energy backlog, can you share insights on battery procurement? How has that process evolved, and what should we consider for next year and beyond, particularly regarding tariffs or any concerns related to foreign entities?
On the first answer, I would say this is very similar to our work with the federal government regarding the requirements for 24/7 reliability and resiliency in mission-critical operations on military bases. The main difference might be the scale, as there are larger opportunities and a slightly quicker need for speed. This can be a positive aspect, but the approach to developing the projects is not fundamentally different from what we do for our other utility and federal customers. Now, regarding the second question about battery procurement, please go ahead.
I believe the answer to the second question regarding batteries and our supply efforts is that, like others, we are looking to diversify our supply chain. We have made significant progress on the safe harboring side to mitigate some of the impending CIAC restrictions, which remain a bit vague. We have worked hard to safeguard certain projects from a physical construction viewpoint as much as possible. As we advance, we hope to position ourselves to benefit from the decreasing costs of batteries and the potential impact of tariffs or ITC changes, which may provide a natural hedge for our upcoming projects.
Next question comes from the line of Dushyant Ailani with Jefferies.
It's Julien here. Can you guys hear me okay?
Yes.
Excellent job. I wanted to revisit the guidance at a high level. You mentioned '25, but considering the significant contribution from the data center and the increase projected in '27, how do you view the path to returning to a high teens or 20% EBITDA CAGR? Historically, you have operated within that range. Admittedly, it's been somewhat quieter lately, but it seems there's a more inconsistent pattern in the business, possibly related to this or the battery opportunity, which appears linked to the supply chain that aims to be utilized in the near term as well.
Julien, it's Josh. You're absolutely right. The data center opportunity will definitely help us maintain that 10% to 20% range. We have been a bit light on that over the past year, but we've never claimed that it would be guaranteed annual guidance. It's more of a guideline over a 3- to 5-year business cycle. All the tailwinds discussed by our speakers today, along with the visibility from our existing contracts and awards, give us a lot of confidence that we can achieve those long-term targets. If there's ever a potential upside or something else we need to share with investors, we'll do that when we update our formal guidance, which we aren't ready to do at the moment. But it certainly helps us maintain that target.
Nicely done, Josh and team, I got to say. Can you guys talk a little bit more about the ability to replicate this model here? I know someone asked you kind of a similar question earlier. But as it pertains to taking the data center model and running with it, obviously, time to power is front and center. I mean, what's the ability to take this? And what kind of pipeline or sense do you have from other potential customers who want to leverage this model approach here, if you will? How would you set expectations on another lumpy announcements like us?
Yes, this is Nicole. So I think the important thing is with the AI market and the growth that we're seeing, it's also just transitioning energy supply. And with the amount of capacity that keeps increasing, there's limited utility power. So this sets the opportunity for us to be able to do these bridge solutions and behind-meter power solutions very much like the Lemoore project. So this is what's pushing and driving the pipeline even more because the hyperscalers are in need for this immediate power solution and that's going to be accomplished behind meter versus their utility theaters, the traditional way that they were getting power in the past.
All right, guys. Any sense on margin on that one on the data center front?
Julien, there's no reason to believe it's going to be any different than our regular corporate margins. So it's a little bit of a mix between asset and project as we talked about, but no reason to believe it's not within the corporate average.
Right. And with the long-term operation maintenance with these.
Next question comes from the line of Ryan Pfingst with B. Riley.
I'll just follow up on the last question on the CyrusOne deal and kind of the subsequent ones that are potentially coming. Just curious how well positioned Ameresco is right now operationally to support multiple projects like that, just given the size.
Yes. We began this process last year when we established the unit for utility-scale projects. Nicole has taken the lead, and we have organized this unit by adding additional staff. We are also increasing personnel from the federal side. Nicole can provide further details on this. We recognize it as a significant opportunity for us, and we have the necessary expertise. Nicole, in particular, is a strong candidate for this role, and she has made substantial progress in both human resources and development, creating a solid pipeline.
Yes. I would like to add that, as George mentioned, we have redirected resources from our federal team to focus exclusively on this area. Additionally, we utilized some of the resources from the Bright Canyon acquisition made a couple of years ago. This has allowed us to receive immediate support in the power sector and continue to grow our capabilities. We have also expanded our construction team, procurement teams, engineers, and other front-end partners, including the nuclear experts we brought on earlier this year, as our power solutions continue to develop.
Got it. Appreciate that detail. And then my second question, you guys announced a second nuclear partner a few weeks ago with Terra Innovatum that they're really excited about. Is that starting to feel like more of a real opportunity on the nuclear side that could turn into orders or real work for Ameresco here and maybe '26 or '27 or still feels farther away?
It certainly seems more tangible. I wouldn't say 2026 or 2027 is likely, that's a bit too soon even for a traditional power plant. However, we are very enthusiastic about this new partnership because it involves a different type of nuclear technology compared to what we developed with Terrestrial; this one is a microreactor as opposed to a small modular reactor. These are distinct technologies. We've always maintained a neutral stance on technology solutions and aim to have various partners to meet our needs, particularly on the federal side. We're optimistic about this opportunity, especially in light of the recent Army announcement and additional information from the Department of Energy. We believe it's definitely in our future, but it may take a few more years beyond 2027.
Next question comes from the line of George Gianarikas with Canaccord Genuity.
Yes, operator, let's reprompt. Folks, I see a lot of you coming in and out. Right now, the queue is not showing anybody.
Seeing no further questions at this time, that concludes today's call. Thank you all for joining. You may now disconnect.