Comfort Systems USA, Inc. (NYSE:FIX) Q4 2023 Earnings Conference Call February 23, 2024 11:00 AM ET

Company Participants

Julie Shaeff - Chief Accounting Officer

Brian Lane - President and Chief Executive Officer

Bill George - Chief Financial Officer

Conference Call Participants

Alex Dwyer - KeyBanc Capital Markets

Julio Romero - Sidoti & Company

Adam Thalhimer - Thomson Davis

Josh Chan - UBS

Jean Ramirez - D.A. Davidson

Operator

Good day, and thank you for standing by, and welcome to the Q4 2023 Comfort Systems USA Earnings Conference Call. At this time, our participants are on a listen-only mode. After the speaker's presentation, there will be a question-and-answer session. [Operator Instructions] Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded.

I would now like to hand the conference over to your speaker today, Julie Shaeff, Chief Accounting Officer. Please go ahead.

Julie Shaeff

Thanks, Justin. Good morning. Welcome to Comfort Systems USA's fourth quarter and full-year 2023 earnings call. Our comments today as well as our press releases contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the applicable securities laws and regulations.

What we will say today is based on the current plans and expectations of Comfort Systems USA. Those plans and expectations include risks and uncertainties that might cause actual future activities and results of our operations to be materially different from those set forth in our comments. You can read a detailed listing and commentary concerning our specific risk factors in our most recent Form 10-K as well as in our press release covering these earnings.

A slide presentation has been provided as a companion to our remarks. The presentation is posted on the Investor Relations section of the company's website found at comfortsystemsusa.com.

Joining me on the call today are Brian Lane, President and Chief Executive Officer; Trent McKenna, Chief Operating Officer; and Bill George, Chief Financial Officer.

Brian will open our remarks.

Brian Lane

All right. Thank you, Julie. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us on the call today. Our teams achieved an amazing finish to 2023 with exceptional results, including unprecedented growth, earnings and cash flow as well as a surge in new bookings. We earned $2.55 per share this quarter compared to $1.54 a year ago. Current quarter revenue was $1.4 billion, with same-store growth of 18%.

During the fourth quarter, both our mechanical and electrical businesses grew and increased margins to drive our annual results to new heights. Construction finished an already strong year on an up note, including notable profit and activity increases in our modular business. Service also continued to grow as we continue to benefit on ongoing service investments. Backlog is $5.2 billion, up by more than $1 billion from last year, and we had a remarkable sequential increase of $870 million even with strong revenue.