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DATE
Wednesday, June 25, 2025 at 5 p.m. ET
CALL PARTICIPANTS
President & Chief Executive Officer — Andi Owen
Chief Financial Officer — Jeff Stutz
President, Americas Contract — John Michael
President, Global Retail — Debbie Propst
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RISKS
Tariff Impact: Jeff Stutz stated, we expect margins to be negatively impacted in the near term by tariffs currently in place, with offsetting pricing actions anticipated later in FY2026. Earnings are projected to decrease by $9 million to $11 million before tax, or $0.09 to $0.11 per share after tax.
Retail Segment Margin Pressure: Adjusted operating margin for the Global Retail segment declined 210 basis points year over year due to "new store opening costs, lower sales in the international regions, unfavorable product mix, and higher variable incentive compensation."
Order Pull-Forward Effect: Jeff Stutz said Order entry was down mid-single digits at a consolidated level year over year during the first three weeks of Q1 FY2026, which is not a surprise given the level of pull-forward seen in Q4 FY2025. indicating near-term order softness tied to the pre-tariff buying advance.
TAKEAWAYS
Consolidated Net Sales: $962 million, up 8.2% reported and 7.8% organically, driven by strength in all segments.
Adjusted Earnings per Share: Adjusted earnings per share were $0.60, outpacing the guidance midpoint. due to better sales and gross margin leverage.
New Orders: $1.04 billion, up 11.1% reported and 10.7% organically.
Quarter-End Backlog: Consolidated backlog increased $78 million to $761 million, driven by improved demand.
Gross Margin: 39.2%, up 130 basis points sequentially, with a $7 million drag from tariff costs.
North America Contract Net Sales: North America Contract net sales were $496 million, up nearly 13% year over year.
North America Contract New Orders: $568 million, up almost 16% year over year, with $55 million to $60 million attributed to order pull-forward prior to tariff actions.
North America Contract Operating Margin: 7.7%, up from breakeven, with Adjusted operating margin for the North America Contract segment was 10%, a 90 basis point improvement, mainly due to sales leverage and product mix.
International Contract Net Sales: $186 million, up 6.9% reported and 5.5% organically.
International Contract New Orders: $190 million, up 3.6% reported and 2.1% organically.
International Contract Adjusted Operating Margin: Adjusted operating margin for the International Contract segment was 12.9%, down 230 basis points, primarily due to product mix and higher incentive compensation.
Global Retail Net Sales: $280 million, up 2.2% reported and 1.4% organically.
Global Retail New Orders: $280 million, up 7.5% reported and 6.7% organically.
Global Retail Adjusted Operating Margin: Adjusted operating margin for the Global Retail segment was 6.5%, down 210 basis points from the prior year. due to new store opening costs, lower sales in international regions, unfavorable product mix, and higher variable incentive compensation.
Cash Flow from Operations: Cash flow from operations was $71 million, supporting reduced long-term debt by $5 million.
Total Liquidity: Total liquidity was $576 million; revolver and term loan A maturities extended to February 19, 2030.
Net Debt to EBITDA: 2.88x, below lending agreement limits.
Full-Year Net Sales: $3.67 billion in net sales.
Full-Year Adjusted EPS: Adjusted earnings per share were $1.95.
Shareholder Returns: $52 million in dividends and $85 million in share repurchases.
Capital Expenditures: Capital expenditures for the full year were $107.6 million; guidance for $120 million–$130 million in capital expenditures.
Q1 FY26 Sales Guidance: $899 million–$939 million, midpoint up 6.7% year over year.
Q1 FY26 Gross Margin Guidance: 37.1%–38.1%.
Q1 FY26 Adjusted EPS Guidance: $0.32–$0.38, including tariff-related cost estimates.
Tariff Exposure: Seventeen to nineteen percent of consolidated cost of goods sold is imported into the US.
New Store Plans: Ten to fifteen new US stores are projected to open, with three scheduled in the first quarter; $4 million–$7 million in operating expenses tied to new store pre-opening.
Leading Indicators: Year-over-year growth in pricing requests exceeded 35%, and Contract activations rose more than 50% year over year.
Segment Order Trends: Continued strength in public sector and healthcare; banking sector down slightly but cycling a significant prior-year comparison.
SUMMARY
MillerKnoll, Inc. (MLKN -0.62%) delivered sales and order growth across all business lines, with the backlog expanding significantly. Tariff-related costs and order pull-forward were identified as pressures for the upcoming quarters, especially as customers accelerated purchases ahead of price increases, impacting near-term order flow and margins. The company signaled a disciplined approach to capital allocation in fiscal 2026, planning higher capital expenditures focused on new retail locations while prioritizing debt reduction. Management’s outlook for the first quarter of fiscal 2026 forecasts increased sales and earnings compared to the prior-year period, but cites gross margin headwinds due to tariffs and investment in store growth. The retail segment is expected to remain at current margin levels (approximately 5%) through the next few quarters of FY2026, as a result of new store openings and the current market environment, with CEO Andi Owen describing 2026 as "an investment" year for the segment.
Jeff Stutz indicated, "we are limiting our guidance this quarter to the first quarter only." and will consider resuming full-year forecasts as market visibility improves.
John Michael reported, "funnel additions, still very strong."
Debbie Propst specified that the retail side experienced "no real pull forward to speak of." with growth offsetting most incremental costs except for a small impact on the Holly Hunt business.
According to Andi Owen, the company remains "well positioned with cash flow and balance sheet strength to capitalize on opportunities." emphasizing the ability to pursue strategic investments despite macroeconomic volatility.
INDUSTRY GLOSSARY
BIFMA: Business and Institutional Furniture Manufacturers Association; industry group whose published order trends serve as a benchmark for contract furniture sector demand.
Order Pull-Forward: Acceleration of customer orders ahead of anticipated price increases or surcharges, creating a temporary spike in sales followed by a short-term dip.
Operating Margin: Ratio of operating income to net sales, measuring business segment's operating profitability.
Adjusted Earnings per Share (Adjusted EPS): Net earnings per share after excluding specified items such as restructuring, acquisition, or non-recurring charges to better represent core business profitability.
Backlog: Unshipped confirmed orders at period end, serving as a forward-looking revenue indicator.
Full Conference Call Transcript
Andi Owen: Thanks, Wendy. Good evening, everyone, and thank you so much for joining us tonight. We are very pleased with our strong finish to fiscal 2025, with our Q4 results significantly exceeding our expectations. Jeff will share the details of our financial performance with you, but I want to briefly recap a few highlights from the past year that underscore our design leadership, speak to our opportunities ahead, and then discuss what we are currently seeing in our markets. First, I want to thank our teams across MillerKnoll for our accomplishments over the past year. In our contract businesses, we made incredible progress, and we have multiple opportunities to grow our market share both in North America and internationally.
We opened new flagship locations in London and New York that include both contract showrooms and retail stores and have meaningfully elevated how we present the collective strength of our brands and products to customers. With these new locations, we've improved the quality of our customer interactions and have seen a significant increase in customer visits, positioning us to capitalize on our product and brand leadership as trends improve in our markets. We've spent the past year reimagining what our newest flagship in Chicago's Fulton Market could be. We debuted this new comprehensive design center earlier this month at Design Days 2025, a marquee event for the contract furniture industry.
With two buildings at 111144 West Fulton, we brought our collective closer together, making it easier for customers to see what's possible in spaces that reflect the ways people work, gather, heal, and create. Our new space highlights the unique strengths of the Herman Miller and Knoll brands while also featuring our Herman Miller floor and MillerKnoll floor designed to showcase the power of our combined portfolio and real-world solutions through planned and purposeful design. The space also features an expanded healthcare showroom, HAY's first North American showroom, new naughtone and Muuto spaces, as well as enhanced Herman Miller, Knoll, Geiger, DatesWeiser, and Maharam showrooms.
Like our London and New York locations, our Chicago showrooms include DWR and Herman Miller retail stores. Design Days highlighted the accomplishments of our design, creative, and product teams over the past year. At this year's event, we introduced over 30 new products across our brands. It was an incredibly successful event for MillerKnoll with booked appointments up 11% year over year. As a pioneering tenant of Fulton Market and the founder of Design Days, we are thrilled that more and more customers, dealers, and A&D partners are coming to this event. In our contract product portfolio, we are investing in targeted R&D and innovation.
Four years into the combination of Herman Miller and Knoll, we've had time to strategically review our unmatched product portfolio, understand where there is differentiation, and identify where we have opportunities to add innovative new products or enhanced product lines.
Andi Owen: One of our latest innovations is Knoll Dividend Skyline, which we just introduced at Design Days. It offers a refined, flexible, and holistically integrated system that reimagines the open-plan workplace for today's dynamic and compact office environments. It features new planning typologies and a contemporized material palette empowering architects and designers to deliver a total interior. There are also recession-resilient verticals that we will continue to go after, with targeted R&D and product investment. For example, backed by research and real-world insights, Herman Miller's new Gemma Healthcare Seating Family is thoughtfully designed to support the diverse needs of patients, families, and caregivers.
With a range of options, including a recliner, a sleep chair, and a sleep sofa, Gemma combines intuitive functionality with a warm, modern aesthetic that enhances any care environment. Each piece is easy to use, requiring simple movements to adjust, allowing users to focus on care rather than furniture. Scalable across various room sizes and available in multiple sizes, the Gemma recliner and its counterparts create a cohesive and comforting visual language throughout healthcare spaces. Ultimately, Gemma helps patients, families, and caregivers feel supported and at ease, making it a smart, human-centered choice for today's healthcare environment.
In higher education, Muuto and HAY's extensive assortment of ancillary and hospitality solutions can assist colleges and universities as they build out lounge areas, meeting spaces, and cafeterias for their growing populations. We also see exciting opportunities with Herman Miller Gaming in the higher education space. For example, we recently collaborated with a university on a state-of-the-art esports arena. Turning now to our accomplishments and growth opportunities in our global retail business. In fiscal 2025, we opened four beautiful new stores, including the DWR studio in Palm Springs that opened in concert with Modernism Week, a DWR in Paramus, New Jersey, and a Herman Miller store in Fairfax, Virginia, and one also in Coral Gables, Florida.
In fiscal 2026, we expect to open an additional 10 to 15 new stores in the US as we continue our journey to more than double our DWR and Herman Miller store footprint over the next several years. Earlier this month, as I mentioned, we opened an expanded DWR store and a new Herman Miller store in our Chicago Fulton Market flagship. In the next few months, we plan to open DWR stores in Sarasota, Florida, and Las Vegas, and a Herman Miller store in Philadelphia. We will follow this in the second quarter with a DWR store opening in Salt Lake City, and Herman Miller store openings in Nashville and El Segundo, California.
Andi Owen: In addition to growing our store footprint, we have several growth levers we can pull in the business over the next several years, including continuing to invest in product assortment expansion, increasing our e-commerce penetration, and expanding our brand awareness. These levers will allow us to drive revenue growth and also expand our brand awareness through targeted marketing and investments for new product launches and activities and events designed to introduce our brand to new customers. Additionally, each time we open a new store, we see a compelling halo effect of e-commerce growth and increased brand awareness in these new geographies.
During fiscal 2025, we meaningfully expanded our retail product assortment with new product launches increasing over 50% compared to the prior year. Going forward, we have opportunities to grow the breadth and depth of our product assortment in several key areas of the home. And finally, an accomplishment in the past year that is very personal to me is our new MillerKnoll Archive space at our Michigan headquarters, showcasing over 100 years of design history. The new space has been well received by dealers, customers, and design partners. It's grounded in the belief that we must celebrate our iconic design heritage and learn from our legacy as we continue to innovate for the future.
We were excited to have the archives opening featured in the CBS Saturday morning segment on June 7. Now I'll turn to what we're seeing in our markets. In both our North America and international contract markets, we are cautiously optimistic while navigating what continues to be a very dynamic macroeconomic environment. Prior to tariffs being reimposed in January, we had seen three consecutive quarters of order growth in the North American Contract segment. While the onset of tariffs interrupted this trend in the third quarter, we were pleased to see a return to order growth in the fourth quarter, which Jeff will detail shortly.
In our international markets, we're especially pleased to see strength and increased activity in Europe and the UK. We are well positioned with our flagship showrooms in the heart of London's Clerkenwell Design District, thousands of customers, A&D partners, dealers, commercial real estate professionals, and project influencers came to our showroom over the three days of Clerkenwell Design Week in May. There's also tremendous opportunity to grow Knoll internationally through their private office and elevated conference room solution. Beyond our internal growth opportunities, we are also encouraged by several external factors that we expect to work in our favor in our contract businesses.
More companies are now working in the office and focused on how to attract associates through upgraded spaces and elevated experiences that support being together. A recent study among Fortune 100 companies showed that days in the office have increased 68% since 2022. Office leasing activity is rising, and rent has fully recovered for Class A space. Since December 2024, BIFMA industry orders have trended up on a year-over-year basis. Our internal indicators also give us reason to be optimistic. We are seeing the ingredients for a return to growth in contract, and we are well-tuned to take advantage as the industry recovers.
We have compelling competitive advantages, including an unmatched suite of products and a formidable distribution channel, world-class dealers who are well-versed in the entire MillerKnoll product collective. In our retail business, while we are similarly cautiously optimistic about the macroeconomic environment, as I have described, we have several levers we are willing to pull for growth now and that will put us in a position of strength when the housing market begins to recover. At the same time, we're investing for growth across our businesses. We will continue to balance our approach for the long term. We are well positioned with cash flow and balance sheet strength to capitalize on opportunities.
We will focus on our customers, we will prudently manage our costs, and we will consistently deliver innovation. And we will invest for profitable growth. To close, I'm so proud of our entire team for all their hard work in fiscal year 2025 and for the strong finish to the year. We are excited to see what we can accomplish together in fiscal 2026. I'll now hand it over to Jeff to discuss our results in more detail and share our perspective on fiscal 2026.
Jeff Stutz: Thanks, Andi, and good evening, everyone. I'll start with an overview of our performance in the fourth quarter and some full-year highlights, followed by our outlook and targets for the first quarter, including our most up-to-date view on tariffs. In the fourth quarter, we generated adjusted earnings of $0.60 per share, significantly outperforming the midpoint of our guidance driven by better-than-expected sales and strong gross margin performance that benefited from leverage on our sales growth. Consolidated net sales in the fourth quarter were $962 million, well above the midpoint of our guidance.
Relative to the same quarter last year, net sales were up 8.2% on a reported basis and up 7.8% organically, driven by relative strength in all segments of the business. In North America contract, we saw both strong orders and sales, which was partially enhanced by pull-forward activity ahead of our recently announced tariff surcharge and list price increase. New orders at the consolidated level in the fourth quarter were $1.04 billion, up 11.1% as reported and 10.7% higher on an organic basis. Our consolidated backlog increased by $78 million to $761 million from improved demand in the quarter. We were very pleased with our consolidated gross margin of 39.2% in the fourth quarter.
While down slightly to last year, gross margin was up 130 basis points sequentially. Gross margin included a drag of approximately $7 million from tariff-related impacts to the cost of goods sold, an amount right in line with the estimate we provided in our fourth quarter earnings back in March. Given the volume of orders pulled forward ahead of our price surcharge and the normal time it takes to begin benefiting from list price changes in our contract businesses, we expect margins to be negatively impacted in the near term by tariffs currently in place but remain confident our pricing actions will offset these later in fiscal 2026.
Turning to cash flow and the balance sheet, we generated $71 million in cash flow from operations in the fourth quarter, driven by our strong sales and earnings performance, and we reduced our long-term debt by $5 million. We ended the quarter with $576 million of liquidity, and in April, we amended our revolving credit facility and term loan A to extend their maturities to February 19, 2030. We finished the quarter with a net debt to EBITDA ratio of 2.88 turns, an amount comfortably under the maximum limit defined in our lending agreements. With that, I'll now move to our performance by segment in the fourth quarter.
Within our North America Contract segment, net sales for the quarter were $496 million, up just under 13% from the same quarter a year ago. New orders in the period were $568 million, reflecting growth of almost 16% over last year. We estimate new orders in the fourth quarter benefited from between $55 million and $60 million in demand pull-forward in advance of implementing our tariff-related surcharge on April 21 and our price increase on June 2. Importantly, we believe these price actions have created a sense of urgency in the customers of our North America contract business, and our internal demand indicators in the quarter reflected this customer activity.
Fourth-quarter operating margin in the North America contract segment was 7.7% compared to breakeven performance in the prior year. Adjusted operating margin improved 90 basis points in the quarter to 10%, primarily due to the benefit of fixed expense leverage from higher net sales and favorable product mix, partially offset by the tariff-related cost increases. In the International Contract segment, net sales for the quarter improved to $186 million, up 6.9% on a reported basis and up 5.5% on an organic basis year over year. New orders during the quarter were $190 million, an increase of 3.6% on a reported basis and a 2.1% organic increase compared to the prior year.
We were very pleased with the widespread sales and order growth in the quarter, with particular strength in our European markets. Our Latin America region also delivered strong sales growth in the quarter. In contrast to the North American segment, we do not believe our international contract business experienced any meaningful order pull-ahead activity related to our previously announced list price increase. Reported operating margin for the International segment in the fourth quarter was 11.7%, compared to 10.9% in the prior year. On an adjusted basis, segment operating margin was 12.9%, down 230 basis points primarily from regional and product mix of sales and higher variable incentive compensation in the quarter versus last year.
Turning to our Global Retail segment, net sales in the fourth quarter were $280 million, up 2.2% on a reported basis and up 1.4% organically. New orders in the quarter improved to $280 million, up 7.5% to last year on a reported basis, and up 6.7% on an organic basis compared to the prior year. Operating margin in the Retail segment was 5.3% in the quarter, compared to 6% last year. On an adjusted basis, the operating margin was 6.5% this quarter, 210 basis points lower than in the prior year, primarily from new store opening costs, lower sales in the international regions, unfavorable product mix, and higher variable incentive compensation.
We opened two new stores in the fourth quarter: a DWR in Paramus, New Jersey, and a new Herman Miller store in Coral Gables, Florida. And as Andi highlighted in her prepared comments, we have exciting plans to grow this segment further in the coming quarters through additional new store openings and expansion of our product assortment. For the full fiscal year, on a consolidated basis, net sales were $3.67 billion, and adjusted earnings per share were $1.95. During fiscal 2025, we paid approximately $52 million in dividends, returned approximately $85 million to our shareholders in the form of share repurchases, and reduced our total outstanding debt by $10.8 million. Capital expenditures for the full year were $107.6 million.
In fiscal 2026, we expect capital expenditures to range between $120 million and $130 million. And as I mentioned, we closed fiscal 2025 with a strong balance sheet, including $576 million of available liquidity. Against the dynamic macroeconomic conditions we faced in 2025, I'm really proud of the efforts of our teams across MillerKnoll to continue to deliver the best products and experiences in our industry, allowing us to finish the year with strength. Now let's turn to fiscal 2026 and Q1 guidance and outlook, which is informed by our most up-to-date information on tariffs and related mitigation efforts.
Our outlook reflects the normal seasonality we experience in the global retail segment as consumers shift spending to experiences and travel in the summer months. Given what remains a rather volatile environment with respect to tariff policies and geopolitical issues around the world, we are limiting our guidance this quarter to the first quarter only. We do, however, remain committed to being transparent and resuming our full-year outlook for sales and earnings as visibility improves. Taking this into consideration, in the first quarter of fiscal 2026, we expect net sales to range between $899 million and $939 million, up 6.7% versus the prior year at the midpoint of $919 million. Gross margin is expected to range from 37.1% to 38.1%.
Adjusted operating expenses are expected to range from $290 million to $300 million, and adjusted diluted earnings per share are expected to range between $0.32 and $0.38. The gross margin and EPS outlook includes our estimate of net tariffs currently in place. In total, we expect tariff-related costs to reduce Q1 earnings by between $9 million and $11 million before tax, or between $0.09 and $0.11 per share after tax. To give some further context, currently approximately 17% to 19% of our consolidated cost of goods sold is imported into the US from other countries. We expect the impact from the tariff-related cost to decrease over time as our pricing actions layer into the results.
Further, we believe our collective mitigation actions will fully offset these costs as we move into the second half of the fiscal year. Another factor to keep in mind that is included in our expectations for operating expense and EPS are the costs associated with planned new store openings in our Global Retail segment. Given the time it takes to prepare a new store for daily operation, we normally begin to incur occupancy and other pre-opening expenses one to two quarters before the first products are sold in-store. As Andi mentioned, we're opening three new stores this quarter. We estimate approximately $4 million to $7 million in operating expenses tied to these new locations in the first quarter.
Further, we would expect to incur similar expenses in each quarter this year consistent with our planned new store openings. For all other details related to our outlook, please refer to our press release. And with that overview of the performance and outlook, I'll now turn the call over to the operator. And we'll take your questions.
Operator: Thank you. We will now begin the question and answer session. If you have dialed in and would like to ask a question, please press star 1 on your telephone keypad to raise your hand and join the queue. If you are called upon to ask your question and are listening via speakerphone on your device, please pick up your handset to ensure that your phone is not mute when asking your question. Again, press star 1 to join the queue. Our first question comes from the line of Greg Burns with Sidoti and Company. Your line is open.
Greg Burns: Good afternoon. So I just wanted to kind of dig into the pull-forward effect from the pricing actions you've taken. Obviously, strong order this quarter. Can you just give us maybe a little bit of insight into what you've seen in the early part of the current quarter? Has that slowed down? Are orders going to do you expect orders, I guess, to be down year over year because of the pull-forward? How has that dynamic played out since the quarter ended?
Jeff Stutz: Yeah, Greg, this is Jeff. So we're three weeks, we've got three weeks of data. And as we would fully expect, we're down mid-single digits in order entry. In total, at a consolidated level year over year during that period of time, which is in no way a surprise given the level of pull-forward that we saw in the fourth quarter. So it's lined right up with our expectations. Time will tell. As we progress through the quarter, our expectation is that we're going to resume growth, but we'll see where it goes.
Greg Burns: Okay. And then in terms of the retail store openings, can you just talk about your confidence level and, you know, such like, I guess, aggressive expansion this year or accelerating the expansion of the retail footprint this year given kind of the softer demand environment that we're currently in? And then could you just talk about how long it takes a store to fully mature and start to absorb some of those incremental upfront costs? And then lastly, I guess, just what are your expectations in the near term given all for the margin profile of the retail business? Thank you.
Andi Owen: You may have to repeat that three-part question, Greg, as we lean into it. So first, let me talk a little bit about the confidence in the retail business. It takes time to land real estate and open stores. So as we pace these 10 to 15 stores over the next twelve to eighteen months, we anticipate that we will start to see a little bit better housing market. And we'll start to see things calm down a little bit. So we have great confidence in that. But more importantly, we believe that our retail prospect and our stores, both the DWR brand and the Herman Miller brand, lean into white space in the market that we do not see.
So right now we are very under-stored compared to our competitors. We are under-assorted. And if you compare us to many of the folks out there in the residential home furnishings market, we're filling a need. So that gives us great confidence to open and expand. I would say we are not moving any more quickly than we think is prudent. And we're certainly getting the best real estate as we do this. So we feel confident in how we're expanding. What would you add? I think there was a question on margin profile.
Jeff Stutz: Yeah, we've shared that our long-term goal is to be in the mid-teens from an operating income performance for the segment. And our growth strategy models us towards that over the next few years. And I think if you look at where some of our competitors were when they were the fleet size that we have today, our operating income today is in line with where they were when they were at the fleet size that we have now. So we're confident in the modeling much because we're conservative in the expectation we have from these stores on the basis of current market conditions. So if market conditions improve, then we have instant upside to that strategy.
And I would also add that the assortment growth is an important lever too alongside store growth. Because our entire fleet will become more productive. As we grow our assortment, and our expectations around store performance in the new markets will also improve as our assortment grows. And I think he also wanted to know about store, time to maturity.
Andi Owen: Yeah. So the type of mature in our current FY '26 planning, the new store possessions become less of a drag in the back half of this year. So right now we're carrying in Q1 we'll carry seven possessions that we don't have open yet. So the time to maturity on well, the time from possession to opening a Herman Miller is only about two to four months. And it's about three to six months on a DWR. And then the stores become profitable within the first year. Faster for Herman Miller. Just because it's a smaller footprint.
Greg Burns: Okay, great. And just to clarify, I appreciate kind of the long-term model and where you see the operating margins heading. But should we just expect kind of margins to be around that 5% level, I guess, in the near term until these stores mature and then you start to see leverage, like for the next couple of quarters is it should our expectation be that models, that margin stay at these current levels?
Andi Owen: Yes. Would hold there as we look at this year as an investment, Greg, and just from a cautious standpoint, I think certainly in year February, we'll see that start to pump up, or right now that feels like a safe place to bet.
Greg Burns: Okay. Great. Thank you.
Operator: Our next question comes from the line of Reuben Garner with Benchmark Company. Your line is open.
Reuben Garner: Thanks. Good evening, guys. Good evening. Jeff, can you clarify? Did you say that you guys estimated that North American pull forward was in the range of $55 million to $60 million in the quarter. Is that right?
Jeff Stutz: Yep. That's accurate.
Reuben Garner: Well, and Reuben, just to clarify, that's for that's that's North America, but that's our estimate for the consolidated enterprise as well because we just there was there was no meaningful pull ahead at all that we estimate in the international side of the business. So yes.
Reuben Garner: Okay. And is there any way to gauge, like, you know, what period that was actually pulled forward from? In other words, like, was that all pulled out of the month of June? Was it pulled from things that were you guys have kinda given us in the pipeline for the rest of the year? And then in the past, some of your internal metrics, like the twelve-month funnel and otherwise, how have those trended? I know last quarter was a little bit more mixed, but are those still tracking positively?
John Michael: Yeah. Yeah. Go ahead, John. Sure. Hi, Reuben. It's John. From a in terms of where the where the orders are gonna fall when they start to ship. Significant amount in Q1 and Q2. And obviously a lesser amount in the back half of the year. You might recall in the last couple of quarterly calls, pointed at a funnel called awarded not ordered yet. And so those were things where customers were just hesitating for whatever reason. And I think the pricing action sort of provided some motivation sort of get off the fence and get the orders placed. From a leading indicator's perspective, looking at the funnel, I think if you look at funnel additions, still very strong.
Pricing requests were up over 35%. Year over year. Contract activations were actually up over 50%. Year over year. That's from the time we let pricing to the time we actually see an order. Macapac activity was still very robust. So I think overall, all the leading indicators still continue to point in the right direction.
Reuben Garner: And does anything jump out whether it's geographically or in terms of end markets within the North American contract channel that stand out in the quarter. Or size of customers, size of projects, or anything like that?
John Michael: Yeah. We're still seeing a lot of strength in the key verticals that we're focused on, those being public sector and healthcare. In terms of order or project size, we've seen growth in the $1 million to $5 million category. And really across all the all the different vertical segments, pretty strong growth. The only one that's down slightly is banking. But that's off of a very significant comp. From against last year.
Jeff Stutz: Yeah, Reuben, this is Jeff. If I could just give I'm sorry. I just wanna jump in and add one more bit of color on the pull ahead. We still have, if normalize for that pull ad, there was still mid single digit order growth in Americas contract segment for the quarter. I wouldn't want you to walk away and assume that all the pull ahead if you normalize for it, creates negative story. We still felt really good about the underlying demand. Indicators.
Reuben Garner: Great. And then, next question is on the profitability. So what you're suggesting is because of the pull forward, you're facing the tariffs, but you don't have the surcharge to offset it. How long is that just a one quarter dynamic, or is that kinda bleed into Q2 and Q3 as well when these orders are ultimately shipped?
Andi Owen: That's typically a two-quarter dynamic for us, so we imagine that will be the biggest impact in Q1. It will lessen a bit in Q2, and then we should see pretty healthy coverage in Q3 and Q4. Jeff, would you add to Yeah. Think right. And I think it's important to note that the issue with pull ahead the nature of pull ahead is that customers are trying to get their order in front of the effectivity of these price changes, be it a surcharge or a list price increase. So what you have is, we grew backlog $78 million in the quarter. A large portion of that backlog, the large majority of that backlog was pre-pricing.
So that's part of the reason why as we go through Q1 and Q2, we're gonna see, you know, the sales book not have the full benefit of pricing because of that pull ahead. And that's not an unusual dynamic in this business.
Reuben Garner: Okay. And then if I could sneak one more in on the balance sheet and cash flow. Starting a new fiscal year. Jeff, any thoughts on the puts and takes of what might impact free cash flow this year and or kind of targeted leverage levels by the end of the year?
Jeff Stutz: Yeah. I think what I'll what I'll I'll say is, you know, in my prepared comments, highlighted the fact that we were we leaned into share buybacks in fiscal 2025. We have We've made a real conscious effort to turn our attention to two primary areas, part of which is informing a higher cap CapEx estimate. And that is the build-out of these stores that we've talked about. But also, a focus on paying down debt. We were opportunistic with the share buybacks, but we also acknowledge the need to manage that debt level down, particularly in an environment like this where you have geopolitical uncertainty and so forth. So we think that's the prudent approach.
So those are gonna be fundamental areas we're going to focus on.
Reuben Garner: Great. Thank you, guys. Good luck in the new fiscal year.
Operator: Next question comes from the line of Brian Gordon with Water Tower Research. Your line is open.
Brian Gordon: Hey. Good afternoon, everyone. First, I just kinda wanted to dig in a little bit on what you saw in the in the sales and the order growth, for North American contract. And I'm trying to get a handle on how much of, that, you know, pretty robust growth was kind of more transactional or shovel-ready projects, and how much of it was, you know, genuine pull forward of larger projects.
John Michael: Brian, this is John. I would say that, much of it obviously had been in the funnel for a period of time. So you would consider that more project-oriented business. Did we pick up some day-to-day business as a result? Of the pricing actions. I'm sure we did. But the vast majority of it came from project opportunities.
Brian Gordon: Okay. Thank you. And the my next question maybe, is best for Debbie. I was kinda wondering, did you see any indications of, like, significant demand pull forward on the retail side? And then kind of maybe as a quick follow-up to that, has the environment been getting more promotional from your standpoint?
Debbie Propst: Thanks for the question. So maybe I'll just start by saying we're really happy with the quarter because across all of our retail brands, channels, and regions, we saw growth first this last year. With pricing increasing, offsetting incremental where that did exist. And no real pull forward to speak of. Outside of a small amount in our Holly Hunt business, we do have a surcharge that was implemented in the quarter.
Brian Gordon: Great. Thank you very much.
Operator: There are no further questions. Turn the floor back to President and CEO, Andi Owen, for any closing remarks.
Andi Owen: Great. Thank you all so much for your support at MillerKnoll, and we look forward to updating you again next quarter. Have a good night.
Operator: Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes today's conference call. Thank you all for joining, and you may now disconnect.