"Snap-on Incorporated" Q2 2026 Earnings Call - Record C&I Margins and Tech Pivot to Faster-Payback Tools

Operator: Please note that this event is being recorded. I would now like to turn the call over to Sara Verbsky, Vice President, Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

Sara Verbsky, Vice President, Investor Relations, Snap-on Incorporated: Thank you, Cole. Good morning, everyone. We appreciate you joining us today as we review Snap-on’s second quarter results, which are detailed in our press release issued earlier this morning. We have on the call Nick Pinchuk, Snap-on’s Chief Executive Officer, Aldo Pagliari, Snap-on’s Chief Financial Officer. Nick will kick off our call this morning with his perspective on our performance. Aldo will then provide a more detailed review of the financial results. After Nick provides some closing thoughts, we’ll take your questions. As usual, we’ve provided slides to supplement our discussion. These slides can be accessed under the Downloads tab in the webcast viewer, as well as on our website, snapon.com, under the Investors section. The slides will be archived on our website along with a transcript of today’s call.

Any statements made during this call relative to management’s expectations, estimates or beliefs or that otherwise discuss management’s or the company’s outlook, plans or projections are forward-looking statements. Actual results may differ materially from those made in such statements. Additional information and the factors that could cause our results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements are contained in our SEC filings. This presentation includes non-GAAP measures of financial performance, which are not meant to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for their GAAP counterparts. Additional information regarding these measures is included in our earnings release issued today, which can be found on our website. With that said, I’d now like to turn the call over to Nick Pinchuk. Nick?

Nick Pinchuk, Chief Executive Officer, Snap-on Incorporated: Thanks, Sara. Good morning, everyone. This was some quarter. Testimony that Snap-on executes even in a blizzard, that our operations represent a clear and credible beacon, showing a continuing path for a positive trajectory as we go forward. The quarter, I’d say, was marked with ongoing momentum and more green shoots. Progress against the whirlwind. This is a turbulent time. I don’t know. I’m not sure I’ve seen more elements of uncertainty packed into a single quarter. Ukraine, inflation, fluctuating tariffs, restructured supply chains, now piling on the impasse with Iran. It’s really something. Snap-on shook it all off, punching right through the difficulties or the fog with emphasis.

That was because we were fortified by the inherent and enduring positives our markets, the rising complexity of vehicles, the aging car park, the growing demand for precision and customization in critical industries, and the rise of technology software that makes the special and the proprietary more powerful. When you put all of that together with our decisive advantages in product and brands and people, amplify it with our Snap-on value-creating processes, driving improvements, it makes for a powerful combination that creates an encouraging quarter and a very promising future. It was. I’ll take you through all that and hitting some of the highlights and giving you my perspectives on what it all means. Then Aldo will give you a detailed review of the financials. Let’s start with the results. I believe they testify to all that I just said.

Second quarter as-reported sales were $1,235.1 million, up $55.7 million or 4.7%, including $11.5 million from the recent additions of Hi-Force and Diesel Laptops, $8.7 million in favorable foreign currency translation, and an organic gain of 3%. The OpCo operating margin or OpCo operating income or OI, as we’ll call it from now on, was $268 million. The OpCo operating margin for the quarter was 21.8% compared to the 22% last year, down slightly, but still strong, especially in this environment. The gross margin was an attention-getting 51.4%, 90 basis points higher than last year. The overall story of the period was an encouraging performance, overcoming the cost pressures and funding the investments for the future.

For FinCo, the OI was $67.5 million versus the $68.7 million in 2025. When you combine that with our OpCo OI, it resulted in a consolidated operating margin of 25.2%. The EPS was $4.96, up $0.24 or 5.1%, another positive. Those are the numbers. Let’s turn to the markets. Vehicle repair is still a great place to be. Cars and trucks are essential parts of our lives, but keeping them on the road is more and more of a challenge. The park is getting older every day. The models are getting more complex with each new launch. I would say, I’ve said it before, I think this is the golden age of vehicle repair, and the numbers tell the story. Spending on repair, technician hours worked, and mechanic wages are all up.

The garages are pumping and the techs remain cash rich. In this environment, they still remain confidence poor. The uncertainty hasn’t gone away. A single scan of the morning news will tell you that. Our customers, the technicians, remain reluctant to take on longer-term obligations on big ticket purchases. Tool storage volume and the associated originations are still down. The mechanics need to meet the rising complexity, so our pivot to quicker payback items is working. Overall volumes are up. You see, the technicians really are a great segment. Resilient and period by period. That’s what’s playing out in the Tools Group. Recently, just a sort of anecdotal piece. Recently, I had the opportunity to visit franchisees in the field, speak with some shop owners and technicians, and I’ll tell you, I came away more convinced than ever that this is a great place to be.

The franchisees were pumped and excited about their current prospects and very optimistic about their future. The independent shop owners, they could only talk about how to get more technicians. They wanted as many as they could find. The techs said they were slammed, telling me that repairs are getting way more difficult, especially troubleshooting, accessing, and repairing newer systems. That means complexity is only going to get worse from a repairability level. Getting better access in tight quarters to speed their work was high on their list, and we’re putting them right on target. One tech said, "I have my new" We brought out this new power tool, the NanoAxcess. You can fit it in your pocket. He says, "I have my new NanoAxcess power tool, and the other day it helped me shave 90 minutes off a repair.

We need more tools like that. Snap-on speeds the work and shows everyone I’m a serious professional." This is music to my ears. This is who we are and what we do. We go to where the work is happening, we observe the techs, we identify the toughest and most complex tasks, and we develop customized solutions that make the work easier, faster, and more productive. The techs line up to gain that advantage. One of the reasons why the pivots work. The other side of auto repair is where the Repair Systems & Information Group, or RSI operates. It’s where we’re expanding our presence with repair shop owners and managers, increasing and enabling our broader array of products, all to help the garages meet the broader challenges of today’s vehicles.

The acquisition of Diesel Laptops, giving our team more to sell in the heavy duty arena, is a great example of that effort. We like RSI’s potential to moving forward. The repair shop footprint is changing and upgrading, both at dealerships and independent shops. RSI is making the most of that trend with proprietary data-driven solutions that are the engines behind our intelligent diagnostic software and our Mitchell 1 software offerings. For right now, independent shops are continuing to invest in adopting products that expand their capabilities. For example, this quarter, our new AC recycling machine, aligned with the refrigerants used in modern vehicles, and at the same time, offer new autonomous features that boost shop productivity. New design helps garages drive more repair orders, and it was quite popular with the independents. For our OEM dealers, there’s some hesitancy for capital expenditures.

Owners and managers know they need upgrades to match the new model, but a lot of them are keeping their power dry, waiting to take their lead from the manufacturers. The automakers have slowed their program launches. The dealer side of the business is in a low spot. Having said that, RSI understands the market, and it has an unrivaled product portfolio that is unique and positioned to take full advantage of the segment as it evolves. Let’s speak of the world outside the garage in critical industries. This is where commercial and industrial operates. The Commercial & Industrial, C&I Group operates. This is our business with the largest international presence, serving the critical and the essential, where the penalty for failure is high, and that world is advancing, adopting new technologies and creating systems that are more and more sophisticated.

It’s an environment where the appetite for precision and customization is growing every day, C&I is right on that trend. Sales were up big across a number of sectors and geographies at C&I. The critical industries are booming, our custom-built kits aimed at specific challenges are in strong demand. It’s also a time for our specialty torque division. Because the rising of automated systems requires tighter tolerances. Our expanding torque operation can fill that bill exactly. From large hydraulic and tensioning systems to lighter force applications where speed and control are challenging, like in our Mountz acquisition, which we acquired a couple of years ago, and essential. Challenging and essential. Snap-on increasingly has the product lines to cover the waterfront and meet the growing trend for precision.

To the international landscape outside the garage, the Asia-Pacific and European operations rebounded nicely and stabilized against the backdrop of a still ever-changing supply chain. In that war, Snap-on is advantaged by making in the markets where we sell and by our 36 factories around the world giving us considerable flexibility. Those strengths were clearly in play in this quarter, the C&I results are a dramatic confirmation. Overall, on both vehicle repair and the critical industries, the quarter demonstrates the strong resilience of our markets and our significant ability to take advantage. The period also shows the power of Snap-on value creation processes, safety, quality, customer connection, innovation, and rapid continuous improvement, RCI. It all came together, creating popular new products and continuing improvements. I mean, gross margins are up 90 basis points. Well, that’s the macro overview. Now let’s move to the segments.

I think we’ll start with C&I. Sales were $394.8 million, an increase of $48 million, or 13.8%. That includes $6.8 million from our Hi-Force acquisition, $2.5 million of favorable foreign currency, and an organic gain of 11%. 11%. Now, hearing that, there’s only one reasonable thing to say, "Boom shakalaka!" I’m telling you, we love it. I’ll tell you, there are gains and improvements all across the business. Double-digit increases in Asia-Pacific, in the European hand tools business, in specialty torque and power tools. Wowza. The demand for custom kits and precision torque and innovative power tools is strong. What we always said would happen.

Finally, the industrial business was up mid-single digits, that includes continued weakness in the military sector, which somewhat attenuated as a demonstration of considerable strength, and I mean considerable strength, in heavy-duty natural resources and in both the U.S. and international aviation. From an earnings perspective, C&I operating income was $66.5 million, improved $19.6 million or 41.8%. Yes, 41.8%. The operating margin, it was a new record, 16.8%, 330 basis points above last year. The gross margin, in the midst of material cost inflation and inflation, it was 42.6%. That’s up 260 basis points over last year. We said Snap-on could extend out of the garage it’s doing just that. It’s doing it profitably. Innovative new products from our Murphy, North Carolina, were a major driver of that. One example was our all-new CTR829.

That’s a quarter-inch drive, 14.4V ratchet with an extra long wrench, stretching out 11 inches to reach into those isolated spaces. It’s the little brother of the previously launched three-eighths inch model, but that doesn’t mean it’s weak. I mean, this baby produces 40 foot-pounds of torque and operates at 400 RPMs, all out of a small, compact frame that houses a bright LED ring illuminating the workspace. Now, techs can reach further under the dash and between fenders, engaging bolts with ease. When they hit the paddle trigger, boom. The 829 makes quick work of the task. Reach, power, and speed. It’s a winning tool, and I’ll tell you, the techs say it so. During the quarter, we also released the new three-eighths inch digital torque wrench. Remember I said precision is important.

The ATECH 135 is the latest entry in our already popular ATECH product line. It’s loaded with popular features that make a difference. Easy navigation, a durable housing, compact head design, and incredible precision. It was designed in our City of Industry facility in California. It offers a new color display, a brilliant screen that provides better viewing from any angle, and makes a crystal clear image, this is important, even in direct sunlight. The unit boasts 135 foot-pounds of torque. It’s the biggest in the ratchet industry. The 135 is another tool that makes torque tasks much easier. Precision torque is on the rise, and Snap-on is leading the way. Well, that’s C&I. Significant growth across the global footprint. Sales up 13.8%, 11% organically. The second straight quarter of big increases in sales. Operating income of 16.8% of 330 basis points improvement.

A C&I all-time record. The Snap-on brand is extending out of the garage to serve the critical. C&I is the rocket ship that’s making it so. Now let’s turn to the Tools Group. Group sales were $508.8 million, up organically 3%. The green shoots continue. Increases in both the U.S. and international operations, pivoting to quicker payback items, the power tools and the torque wrenches in their lineup. Operating income was $115.1 million compared to $116.7 million last year. The operating margin was a respectable, but still down 22.6%. Volumes were strong. They were driven from products made by the other Snap-on divisions, like the aforementioned power tools and torque. Where strong corporate margins for those tools as a whole are shared across the operations, making the Tools Group margins thinner. The group’s stronger sales this quarter were part of the pivot to match the customer’s changing preferences.

I guess it’s not changing now. They’ve been there for a little while. Launching products that simplify some of the non-standard solutions that challenge repair on modern cars. Actually, when I was talking to the techs, they talked about this quite effusively. They said, "Well, we love your product that attacks some of the special and more difficult tasks we have." For instance, something as simple as removing lug nuts can evolve into a thorny procedure. Several OEMs put chrome covers on the wheel nuts for appearance. Well, these caps often swell and deform from exposure to moisture, or if you sit around here in Kenosha, harsh winters. When that happens, traditional sockets won’t fit. Valuable garage time is wasted cutting that material away, all for a very routine procedure.

Seeing the problem, we developed a seven-piece drive socket set that has in-between metric sizes from 16.5 millimeters to 22.5 millimeters, providing just enough change in size to fit the task, and providing solid engagement, enabling rapid improvement, and driving a quick repair. I know it seems trivial, but it’s a manufacturing challenge to make these special sockets that was accommodated by the unique flexibility of our Milwaukee plant, and it was a tremendous hit with the techs. It’s quickly become one of our million-dollar hit products. We also recently introduced this seven-piece swivel Torx impact flex socket set. It’s ideal for difficult jobs where techs have to access high-strength Torx fasteners in tight and obstructed areas. That’s a combination that’s quite common in European high-performance vehicles, places like Volkswagen alloy steering columns, BMW caliper brackets, Mercedes front brake calipers, and Jaguar drive shafts.

The design’s equipped with a laser welded swivel joint offering up to 30 degrees of flex, enabling a power tool to operate quite effectively in confined spaces by offsetting its position and still getting to the fastener. All this makes the repair possible without time-consuming disassembly. The set was just introduced, and it’s clear the techs are big fans once again. That’s the tools group. Rowing against the winds of uncertainty, pivoting to faster payback items, observing work, and developing solutions that solve the complex. Now let’s turn to RS&I. Sales in the quarter were $480.3 million, up 2.5%, including $4.7 million from the Diesel Laptops acquisition and $3.8 million in favorable foreign currency translation. Organic sales were up slightly over last year. Momentum in our diagnostic and under care equipment for independent garages was attenuated by lower volumes in the OEM dealership segment.

Operating earnings for the quarter were $115.1 million compared to $119.8 million last year. The group’s operating income, OI margin, was 24% versus 25.6% last year, down but still strong. What that decrease represents the effect of higher sales in lower margin equipment products and ongoing investments in our proprietary database, advancing with our large language models. An effort that we know will all pay dividends going forward. The independent shops were the bright spot, and a big reason was the recent launch of our Apollo handheld diagnostic unit. It’s a new entry point for the techs wanting the power of intelligent diagnostics at a moderate cost. The phrase entry level doesn’t do it justice. The Apollo has a number of great features.

The full power of our industry-leading proprietary information, expansive manufacturer and model coverage, Fast-Track intelligent diagnostics for guided workflow, and our SureTrack database, powered by 660 billion vehicle events and 3.4 billion repair records. Apollo. It’s whip smart, it’s also easy, with improved display visibility and extended battery life and wireless connection to the vehicle, so techs can roam freely in the bay without being tethered in the driver’s compartment. The increased storage makes it clearly faster. The new Apollo is a winning combination, smarter, easier, and faster. Sales out of the van were strong and the momentum is the important thing. After the launch, the momentum remains robust. That’s RS&I. Powerful hardware and software differentiated by proprietary data with more speed and more accuracy than ever before. Wielding new products to conquer the complex repairs of today’s cars. That’s Snap-on second quarter.

Overall sales, $1,235.1 million, an all-time record for the second quarter. Organic sales up 3%. Gross margin 51.4%, up 90 basis points. Powerful. The C&I Group, organic sales up 11%, gross margin up 260 basis points, and the operating margin up 320 basis points. Up, up. Game busters. It’s a great quarter at C&I. The Tools Group, organic sales up 3%. The pivot working against the uncertainty. Gross margin is strong. RS&I, organic sales up slightly, but the as-reported numbers setting a new record for overall sales in the second quarter, profits down but still quite strong. In the overall corporation, EPS of $4.96, up $0.24 versus last year.

Snap-on was rolling down our runways for growth, enhancing the van channel, the pivot’s working, expanding repair shop owners and managers, strengthening our proprietary advantages, and extending to critical industries, taking Snap-on out of the garage with emphasis and profitability. It was another encouraging quarter. I’ll turn the call over to Aldo. Aldo?

Aldo Pagliari, Chief Financial Officer, Snap-on Incorporated: Thanks, Nick. Our consolidated operating results for the second quarter are summarized on slide six. Net sales of $1,235.1 million in the quarter represented an increase of 4.7% from 2025 levels. Reflecting a 3% organic gain, $11.5 million of sales from the acquisitions of Hi-Force Hydraulic Tools and Diesel Laptops that occurred during that period, and $8.7 million of favorable foreign currency translation. Sales in our Commercial & Industrial sector, or the C&I Group, were up double digits versus last year, with progress made across North America, Asia, and in Europe. In our automotive repair market, sales gains were achieved through our franchise van channel in the U.S. as well as international. Consolidated gross margin of 51.4% compared to 50.5% in the second quarter last year. The improvement of 90 basis points primarily reflected the benefit of increased volume and savings from the company’s RCI initiatives.

Operating expenses as a percentage of net sales of 29.6% rose from 28.5% in 2025, primarily due to increased personnel and other costs as we continue to invest in support of our brand and our business opportunities. Operating earnings before financial services of $268.9 million in the quarter compared to $259.1 million last year. As a percentage of net sales, operating margin before financial services of 21.8% compared to 22% reported in 2025. Financial services revenue of $99.7 million in the second quarter compared to $101.7 million last year, while operating earnings of $67.5 million compared to $68.2 million in 2025. Consolidated operating earnings of $336.4 million compared to $327.3 million last year. As a percentage of revenues, the operating earnings margin 25.2% compared to 25.5% in 2025. Our second quarter effective income tax rate was 21.9% in 2026 and 22.5% last year.

Net earnings of $260.6 million or $4.96 per diluted share compared to $250.3 million or $4.72 per diluted share in 2025, reflecting a 5.1% increase in earnings per share. Let’s turn to our segment results for the quarter. Starting with the C&I Group on slide seven, sales of $395.8 million rose $48 million compared to 2025 levels, reflecting an 11% organic gain, $6.8 million of acquisition-related sales, and $2.5 million of favorable foreign currency translation. The organic volume improvement includes advancements in our Asia-Pacific and European-based handhelds businesses, which have better tailored their cross-border supply chain activities in response to the current trade environment. The group also benefited from double-digit gains in our specialty torque and power tools operations. Sales to customers in critical industries rose mid-single digits in the period, led by robust activity in international and U.S. aviation and including gains in heavy-duty fleets and technical education.

Shipments serving military applications remain attenuated both in the quarter and year-to-date. Gross margin improved 260 basis points to 42.6% in the quarter from 40% last year, mostly due to the increased sales and savings from the segment’s RCI initiatives. Operating expenses as a percentage of sales of 25.8% in the quarter improved 70 basis points from last year, primarily reflecting the higher sales volumes. Operating earnings for the C&I Group of $66.5 million compared to $46.9 million in 2025 and the operating margin of 16.8% improved 330 basis points from last year. Turning to slide eight. Sales of the Snap-on Tools Group of $508.8 million compared to $491 million last year, reflecting a 3% organic sales gain and $2.9 million of favorable foreign currency translation. The organic increase was due to low double-digit gains both in the United States and in the segment’s international operations.

Activity in the quarter included higher sales of featured new items, including those in the power tools, air conditioning service, and diagnostics product lines. As a reminder, the tools group serves as a distributor for these products, which are made by our C&I and RS&I groups. Gross margin of 48% in the quarter compared to 48.3% last year. The 30 basis point decline primarily reflected a year-over-year shift in product mix, partially offset by savings from the segment’s RCI initiatives. Operating expenses as a percentage of sales of 25.4% compared to 24.5% in 2025. The increase was due to higher personnel, freight, and other costs. Operating earnings for the Snap-on Tools Group of $115.1 million compared to $116.7 million in 2025. The operating margin of 22.6% compared to 23.8% last year. Turning to the RS&I Group shown on slide nine.

Sales of $480.3 million compared to $468.6 million a year ago, reflecting a $3.2 million organic gain, $4.7 million of acquisition-related sales, and $3.8 million of favorable foreign currency translation. On an organic basis, low single-digit increases in undercar equipment and in sales of diagnostics and repair information products to independent repair shop owners and managers were mostly offset by decreased activity with OEM dealerships. Gross margin for the RS&I Group of 46.3% decreased 50 basis points from last year, primarily reflecting higher sales of lower gross margin products. Operating expenses as a percentage of sales of 22.3% compared to 21.2% in 2025. The increase was due to higher personnel and other costs, expanded technology investments, as well as 20 basis points from the recently completed acquisition of Diesel Laptops. Operating earnings of $115.1 million compared to $119.8 million last year.

The operating margin of 24%, compared to 25.6% reported in 2025. Turning to slide 10. Revenue from financial services of $99.7 million decreased $2 million from last year, primarily due to lower interest income resulting from a year-over-year decrease in the size of the average finance receivable portfolio in the period. Financial service expenses of $32.2 million decreased from $33.5 million in 2025, mostly due to $1 million of lower provisions for credit losses. As a result, financial services operating earnings were $67.5 million, compared to $68.2 million last year. In the second quarter, the respective average yields on finance receivables were 17.6% and 17.5% in 2026 and 2025. While the average yields on contract receivables were 9% in 2026 and 9.1% in 2025. Total loan originations of $281 million in the second quarter represented a decrease of $12 million, or 4.1% from 2025 levels.

Originations of extended credit loans were $237.6 million in the period, reflecting a decrease of $5.9 million, or 2.4% from last year. Moving to slide 11. Our quarter end balance sheet includes approximately $2.5 billion of gross financing receivables, with $2.1 billion from our U.S. operation. For extended credit or finance receivables, the U.S. 60-day plus delinquency rate of 1.7% is down 10 basis points from the second quarter of 2025. Additionally, the rate is down 20 basis points from last quarter. Trailing 12-month net losses for the overall extended credit portfolio of $71.9 million represented 3.7% of outstandings at quarter end, down sequentially from 3.75% in the first quarter of this year. We believe that these portfolio performance metrics are encouraging considering the current environment. Turning to slide 12. Cash provided by operating activities of $271.5 million in the quarter, compared to $237.2 million last year.

Net cash used by investing activities of $195.1 million mostly reflected business acquisitions during the quarter of $154 million, net of cash acquired, consisting of $99.1 million for Diesel Laptops and $54.9 million for Hi-Force. Additionally, the company incurred $23.1 million in capital expenditures. Net cash used by financing activities of $185.8 million included cash dividends of $126.4 million and the repurchase of 241,000 shares of common stock for $91.4 million under our existing share repurchase programs. As of quarter end, we had remaining availability to repurchase up to an additional $185.5 million of common stock under existing authorizations. Turning to slide 13. Trade and other accounts receivable of $942.2 million represented an increase of $60.8 million from 2025 year-end levels, mostly due to higher sales and $12.2 million from acquisitions. Days sales outstanding were 70 days at the end of the second quarter and 67 days at 2025 year-end.

Inventories, including $17.6 million from acquisitions, increased by $20.1 million from 2025 year-end. On a trailing 12-month basis, inventory turns of 2.4 were the same in both periods. Our quarter-end cash position of $1,644.7 million compared to $1,624.5 million at the end of 2025. That concludes my remarks on our second quarter performance. I’ll now review a few outlook items for the remainder of 2026. With respect to corporate cost, we currently believe that expenses will approximate $28 million for each of the remaining two quarters of 2026. As a reminder, in the third quarter of 2025, our diluted earnings per share of $5.02 included a $0.31 non-recurring one-time benefit from an RS&I group legal settlement. We expect that capital expenditures for the year will be approximately $100 million, and we currently anticipate that our full year 2026 effective income tax rate will approximate 22%.

I’ll now turn the call back to Nick for his closing thoughts. Nick?

Nick Pinchuk, Chief Executive Officer, Snap-on Incorporated: Thanks, Aldo. Well, that’s the second quarter. Continuing momentum in the midst of extreme turbulence. To use an ancient reference, now suddenly contemporary, it feels like we’re moving between the Scylla of international conflicts and the Charybdis of supply chain revisions. Although it’s challenging, we are making headway, and so it is. C&I coming into its own. Sales up organically 11%, gross margins 42.6%, up 260 basis points, OI 16.8%, an all-time high. C&I on a trend demonstrating that opportunities and rolling the Snap-on brand out of the garage are substantial, as we always said they were. Tools Group, sales up 3% organically. The momentum continues, and the green shoots grow. RS&I sales up 2.5% as reported, up 0.7% organically, robust with independents impacted by the OEM doldrums. OI margin’s 24%, down but still strong, all while managing the turbulence and funding increased investments.

It all came together for the corporation. Sales up 4.7% as reported, 3% organically. Gross margins 51.4%, OI margin 21.8%. Both robust. The results taken individually or collectively are marked by momentum, strength, and continuing green shoots. It was an encouraging quarter, and we believe it speaks volumes about the possibilities of our path forward. These are exceedingly turbulent and interesting times, yet our markets remained quite resilient. Both vehicle repair and critical industries, anchored in the essential nature of the task, activities that are needed, come what may. The quarter showed we can participate fully in that resilience, wielding our decisive advantages in product, brand, and in people. Product, we really do make critical tasks easier. You heard that echoed in the great new offerings we just discussed. Brand, Snap-on really does define the professional like no other brand.

You could hear it in the voices of the techs we visited. People, the Snap-on team really is uniquely capable, deeply experienced, and relentlessly committed to achieve. You can see it in the engagement day after day. With the opportunities of our resilient markets and the power of our advantage, we are confident. Confident in our belief that we will extend our progress, maintain it even in the turbulence, and drive a positive trajectory on through the year and well beyond. Now, before I turn the call over to the operator, I’ll speak directly to our franchisees and associates. You are those who really do make a difference. Snap-on’s storied past, exciting now, and promising future is rooted in your commitment. For the enthusiasm you bring to our enterprise every day, you have my admiration. For the success you’ve achieved this encouraging quarter, you have my congratulations.

For the unfailing dedication you hold to our team, and the firm conviction you have in our days and decades ahead for our enterprise, you have my thanks. Now I’ll turn the call over to the operator. Operator?

Operator: Thank you. We will now begin the question and answer session. To ask a question, you may press star then one on your touch tone phone. If you are using a speakerphone, please pick up your handset before pressing the keys. To withdraw your question, please press star then two. At this time, we’ll pause momentarily for the first question. Our first question today will come from David MacGregor with Longbow Research. Please go ahead.

David MacGregor, Analyst, Longbow Research: Yes, good morning, everyone. Good morning, Nick.

Nick Pinchuk, Chief Executive Officer, Snap-on Incorporated: Morning.

David MacGregor, Analyst, Longbow Research: Good morning. I want to start off by just asking about the gross profit upside in C&I, 220 basis points. How much of that do you think was mix driven versus maybe other factors?

Nick Pinchuk, Chief Executive Officer, Snap-on Incorporated: 260 basis points, by the way. Anyway.

David MacGregor, Analyst, Longbow Research: 220.

Nick Pinchuk, Chief Executive Officer, Snap-on Incorporated: Why quibble over this?

David MacGregor, Analyst, Longbow Research: 260.

Nick Pinchuk, Chief Executive Officer, Snap-on Incorporated: Isn’t it 260?

David MacGregor, Analyst, Longbow Research: It is 260.

Nick Pinchuk, Chief Executive Officer, Snap-on Incorporated: You’re right. My mistake. I think I know my numbers. Anyway, yeah, 260. Not so much. I mean, the thing is, the highest profitability business, which is the critical industries industrial business, was the business that grew mid-single digits, so it grew below the average. That’s far and away the most profitable. Then, you had movements upwards in a lot of those businesses because a couple of them brought out great new product, particularly power tools and torque. Torque’s day has come, so they’re making hay while the sun shines here. Then you had recovery in Asia Pacific and SNA Europe, where you got good absorption in that situation. I think that was the factors.

David MacGregor, Analyst, Longbow Research: Okay. Seems like there was probably a pretty good pull-through to the Snap-on Tools segment on some of these bigger ticket items like diagnostics and maybe specialty torque. The originations were down 4%. Do you think the franchisees are just restocking in these items? Which would be a little surprising ahead of the SFC, what’s your perspective?

Nick Pinchuk, Chief Executive Officer, Snap-on Incorporated: No, I don’t know. Look, I think if you step back and you look at what happened, there was pull-through. I think you have to parse between torque and diagnostics, because torque isn’t that big an origination product. You kind of have to take that. I would diminish that in the mix. You’re talking about diagnostics versus tool storage. Diagnostics was up nicely, tool storage was down, and tool storage is a bigger piece of the pie. When it’s down, there’s more volume flowing through there. That’s what happens in origination. Now, originations, what were they down? A couple of three points, something like that. It’s small. It’s low single digits. It was slightly less originations year-over-year than last time, not so big a change. I don’t think we’re surprised by it too much.

To answer your question directly, I’m not sure you can read too much into that in terms of stocking.

David MacGregor, Analyst, Longbow Research: Okay. Then I think we’ve talked in the past about you increasing your insourcing since the whole tariff sort of situation developed. Can you talk about the extent to which that may have helped you on the margin side this quarter?

Nick Pinchuk, Chief Executive Officer, Snap-on Incorporated: Well, yeah, I can’t give you any direct numbers. Well, you heard the 14.4-volt ratchet and that we launched that. Our whole 14.4-volt line had been made in Kunshan and was eating, for a period of time, a lot of tariffs. We don’t have that many tariffs. We have some of them. We brought that whole line home, and we were able to start sourcing again with more volume in Murphy, which is the power tools plant, and that started to help us. Same kind of things happening in Torque. We’re doing that in Torque. It’s really up and down. Diagnostics was ahead of the curve on that. They were already bringing stuff home, so they had the thing established. They didn’t get much out of this in terms of even though they did a great job of avoiding any kind of tariff entanglements.

I think you saw good news in both power tools and Torque, and the numbers show it. Their profitability is up considerable number of basis points.

David MacGregor, Analyst, Longbow Research: Okay, last question for me is just on gross margins in RS&I and in Snap-on Tools were down year-over-year. I realize there’s some mixed discussion there as well. I’m just wondering, Aldo had characterized the gross margins as having benefited from RCI. I’m just wondering at what point you need to lean more aggressively into the market on pricing in order to protect these margins.

Nick Pinchuk, Chief Executive Officer, Snap-on Incorporated: I don’t know. Look, I could do that. I’m not so anxious to do that. The gross margin, look, Dave, the gross margin in Tools Group is down 30 basis points.

90 of those basis points was an OE margin deterioration, about how much they were down in the quarter. The 22.6% was down 120 basis points. We didn’t think gross margins were that much out of whack in the Tools Group. Now, you always have more pricing you want to do, but I don’t like that. I like to beat it with RCI and sourcing changes, especially in this environment. Plus, actually, I like to hammer it with good new tools. The big thing about the margin deterioration of Tools Group was it was principally tieable to the fact that all the big hits this quarter were made by somebody else.

David MacGregor, Analyst, Longbow Research: Yep.

Nick Pinchuk, Chief Executive Officer, Snap-on Incorporated: They had to share the margins. That’s really the cadence of the Tools Group. Actually, I’ll tell you, we haven’t seen a quarter quite this dominant for the other products. They all came out with hits that they sold. I didn’t mention Polartek, the air conditioning, but that’s made by the RS&I business, and that was shared through the Tools Group. That’s really it. Tools Group margins aren’t much of a concern for us.

David MacGregor, Analyst, Longbow Research: Got it. Thanks a lot, Nick. Good luck.

Nick Pinchuk, Chief Executive Officer, Snap-on Incorporated: Yeah.

Operator: Our next question will come from Christopher Glynn with Oppenheimer. Please go ahead.

Christopher Glynn, Analyst, Oppenheimer: Yeah, thanks. Good morning, everyone. Just wanted.

Nick Pinchuk, Chief Executive Officer, Snap-on Incorporated: Morning, Chris.

Christopher Glynn, Analyst, Oppenheimer: take a look at it. Good morning. Just want to use kind of storage as kind of a barometer for discussing the market for SOT. Storage had a really nice quarter last quarter. Seemed to be some optimism it would hold. Maybe the first quarter was just a little bit of isolated success that sort of defied the characterization of the market as fast payback. Do I have that right, would you say?

Nick Pinchuk, Chief Executive Officer, Snap-on Incorporated: Yeah, sort of. I think it’s in the first quarter we launched that special Semiquincentennial boxes that gave some oomph to tool storage.

Christopher Glynn, Analyst, Oppenheimer: Yeah.

Nick Pinchuk, Chief Executive Officer, Snap-on Incorporated: I really believe we only made like 776 of them. They were numbered. People were crawling all over each other to get them. I think that overcame the reticence. People saw it as a once in a lifetime opportunity to get them, they kind of overcame the reticence. You saw some of that. Look, I think this quarter, this uncertainty is about the same. I don’t know. If you want to play the uncertainty game, you could have said in the first quarter things were rolling along. Maybe you saw uncertainty was a little weaker, then you poured the oil of Iran on top of it. Maybe you saw some a little bit more reinforcement of the uncertainty. Although we didn’t think we saw it in our numbers. We think it’s about the same.

The first quarter, we chalked up, Chris, to some incandescent new product that you can only get once in a lifetime.

Christopher Glynn, Analyst, Oppenheimer: Got it. Great. Semiquincentennial. I like that turn of phrase there.

Nick Pinchuk, Chief Executive Officer, Snap-on Incorporated: Yes. You like it?

Christopher Glynn, Analyst, Oppenheimer: I do, in fact. On the C&I, APAC and Europe, really pretty encouraging there. The volume leverage, definitely notable. Appreciate your comments that that business is on a trend. That’s about as far as you go in terms of forecasting. Appreciate that. Anything interesting to say about market share in APAC and Europe?

Nick Pinchuk, Chief Executive Officer, Snap-on Incorporated: No. If you were in ordinary times, I think we had a number. We don’t like to talk about market share. It’s pretty squishy for us, actually.

Christopher Glynn, Analyst, Oppenheimer: I’m going to ask it anyway.

Nick Pinchuk, Chief Executive Officer, Snap-on Incorporated: I know you are. I think the rebound in Europe, though, for our hand tools business, our hand tool-based business, was large enough so you would start thinking you must have made some gains in ordinary times. In these times, I don’t know. You don’t know. I think as Europe is up and down, the markets are positive one quarter, certain markets are positive one quarter, and then it shifts. I think it’s very difficult to predict. What we do know is we seem to be getting more efficacious, so that’s good. Same thing happened in Asia, actually.

Christopher Glynn, Analyst, Oppenheimer: Okay. What do you mean by more efficacious?

Nick Pinchuk, Chief Executive Officer, Snap-on Incorporated: Well, I think our product lines are getting stronger.

Christopher Glynn, Analyst, Oppenheimer: Okay.

Nick Pinchuk, Chief Executive Officer, Snap-on Incorporated: The product lines are getting stronger. I think we are having more direct customization in Europe than other places. Same in Asia. That’s working pretty well. In Asia, we’re selling more of what we call premium tools, which are Snap-on tools, which are pretty good. We have some of the intelligent boxes moving around there.

Christopher Glynn, Analyst, Oppenheimer: Okay, great. Appreciate that color. Last one, RS and I margin. First half run rate is a step down from what I’d call the normal 25%-26% range. You’ve called out the investments in technology. Just curious if we should think of these maybe sub-normalized run rates as kind of the near term picture continuing, or do you see some lift into the second half?

Nick Pinchuk, Chief Executive Officer, Snap-on Incorporated: Look, I don’t know. It’s hard for me to say. I think we’ve had three quarters of about the same sales growth in RS and I, actually. For government work, you could say that. In that situation, the OE with the investments in people and our technology and so on, starts to run pretty well. To put it in perspective, RS and I was down 150 basis points, but 50 of it was in gross margin, 110 was in OE. If you want to talk about going forward improvement, I think you concentrate on the 50 basis points in gross margin, not so much the OE.

Christopher Glynn, Analyst, Oppenheimer: Thank you.

Nick Pinchuk, Chief Executive Officer, Snap-on Incorporated: Sure.

Operator: Our next question will come from Scott Stember with ROTH MKM. Please go ahead.

Scott Stember, Analyst, ROTH MKM: Good morning, thanks for taking my questions.

Nick Pinchuk, Chief Executive Officer, Snap-on Incorporated: Good morning, Scott.

Scott Stember, Analyst, ROTH MKM: Good morning. Yeah. Questions on some of the green shoots that you’ve talked about. Last quarter heading into this quarter, seems like there’s some higher ticket items related to new products that are doing well in tools. Tool storage is still soft. Just trying to get a sense of how much of the growth that we’re seeing right now in tools is pivot driven, and how much of it is a potential thawing in demand for some of these higher ticket items outside of tool storage?

Nick Pinchuk, Chief Executive Officer, Snap-on Incorporated: I don’t know. Look, I think that’s hard to say. I do believe that the products are helping the pivot. You’ve got power tools and you’ve got certainly torque. Part of the pivot, Scott, is to enhance those product lines, and you are seeing the fruits of that enhancement play out in the market. That’s the biggest piece of the increase. The other piece of the increase is you had a good quarter for Apollo, it was very appealing. Apollo traditionally, if you really have expertise, Apollo traditionally doesn’t launch as well as the other diagnostics because of the lower price point. Still it’s expensive. It’s at an entry level for intelligent diagnostics, but this one did. We’re encouraged by the big launch. That wouldn’t have been the pivot. That would’ve come out come hell or high water, whether we’re pivoting or not.

The growth in power tools and torque are clearly pivot items. I would say you could say two-thirds of the growth or more was the pivot.

Scott Stember, Analyst, ROTH MKM: Got it. Moving over to C&I, obviously a lot of good stuff going on, but there’s been some noise made about you guys’ opportunity within the current AI data center build-out. Can you maybe talk about that a little? Have you seen anything? If not, just maybe talk about some of the green shoots that you see there.

Nick Pinchuk, Chief Executive Officer, Snap-on Incorporated: Scott, I told myself I wasn’t going to mention the word data center on this call because I thought it was shameless. We did have a pretty good quarter serving some of the data centers, which we expect to drive going forward and expand because the data centers, I think we’ll get more business there, but one business that seems to be heating up now is low precision torque. This is the Mountz product line, which we acquired it for, and that’s selling the data centers in quite big proportion. Part of the increase in C&I was that particular business. When I said appetite for precision, I meant big equipment in a lot of different places, aircraft and so on, but I also meant data center.

Scott Stember, Analyst, ROTH MKM: I’m glad I asked.

Nick Pinchuk, Chief Executive Officer, Snap-on Incorporated: I just didn’t want to mention it because it’d be too humiliating to say it again.

Scott Stember, Analyst, ROTH MKM: Got it. Then just last, you guys called out increased personnel expense across the board, or at least in a couple of the segments. Is that more driven to growing the business, or is there anything else there?

Nick Pinchuk, Chief Executive Officer, Snap-on Incorporated: No. We’re looking to grow the business. Sometimes when you look at these things, you say, "Geez, maybe if I could put a little more energy as a point of attack in certain places, it’s going to break through some of the bonds." We did some of that in the Tools Group and in the RS&I Group. That’s why you see some of their OpEx up the personnel costs there.

Scott Stember, Analyst, ROTH MKM: Got it. That’s all I have. Thanks, guys.

Nick Pinchuk, Chief Executive Officer, Snap-on Incorporated: All right, sure.

Operator: Our next question will come from Gary Prestopino with Barrington Research. Please go ahead.

Gary Prestopino, Analyst, Barrington Research: Hi. Good morning, all.

Nick Pinchuk, Chief Executive Officer, Snap-on Incorporated: Good morning, Gary.

Gary Prestopino, Analyst, Barrington Research: Most of the questions have been answered. I want to ask about Diesel Laptops. Was this acquisition, does this give you your first foray into the Class A truck business with a database like that?

Nick Pinchuk, Chief Executive Officer, Snap-on Incorporated: It gives us our first database in that area, in terms of it provides database. We have positions in some of the bigger products in places like Mexico and some of our other, but this one greatly enhances it. You talk about distribution and data that’s in both of the situations. We like it from that perspective. Really what we’re talking about here is we think that Diesel Laptops are a big, I don’t know, a good opportunity for us, and we haven’t mined it as comprehensively as other places. This was a way to bulk up our offerings where Diesel Laptops has a lot of good relationships with the diesel customers, with those big truck customers, and it does have a database which provides you the beginnings of trying to do just what we did for cars, only in trucks.

Gary Prestopino, Analyst, Barrington Research: Okay. You mentioned it added about $2.7 million of sales this quarter, I think, in your narrative.

Nick Pinchuk, Chief Executive Officer, Snap-on Incorporated: I didn’t say that. I don’t know if anybody said that. I don’t think we said how much it would add.

Gary Prestopino, Analyst, Barrington Research: It’s 4.7.

Nick Pinchuk, Chief Executive Officer, Snap-on Incorporated: 4.7. I knew that number. I wasn’t sure that I was authorized to say it, Gary, you know what I mean?

Gary Prestopino, Analyst, Barrington Research: I’m sorry. There’s a lot of people talking about it. Somebody said four point something.

Nick Pinchuk, Chief Executive Officer, Snap-on Incorporated: $4.7 million.

Gary Prestopino, Analyst, Barrington Research: Okay.

Aldo Pagliari, Chief Financial Officer, Snap-on Incorporated: Gary, for Aldo, just remember, it was only a partial month. It was only in our results for a partial month-

Nick Pinchuk, Chief Executive Officer, Snap-on Incorporated: Yeah

Aldo Pagliari, Chief Financial Officer, Snap-on Incorporated: in the month of June.

Gary Prestopino, Analyst, Barrington Research: Yeah, that’s what I’m kind of getting at, what kind of contribution it would make to the top line, and I would assume it’s somewhat margin accretive.

Nick Pinchuk, Chief Executive Officer, Snap-on Incorporated: Yeah. Now, well, it’s EPS accretive.

Gary Prestopino, Analyst, Barrington Research: It’s EP, right.

Nick Pinchuk, Chief Executive Officer, Snap-on Incorporated: Not margin accretive.

Gary Prestopino, Analyst, Barrington Research: Okay. All right. Thank you.

Operator: Our next question will come from Bret Jordan with Jefferies. Please go ahead.

Bret Jordan, Analyst, Jefferies: Hey, good morning, guys.

Nick Pinchuk, Chief Executive Officer, Snap-on Incorporated: Morning.

Bret Jordan, Analyst, Jefferies: Hey, Nick, on your shop tours, I think you talked about the golden age of vehicle repair. Do you have any color as to what the contribution of car count versus price is in sort of the underlying industry growth? Are these shop owners you talk to saying they’re seeing more traffic, or is it a lot of pricing benefit?

Nick Pinchuk, Chief Executive Officer, Snap-on Incorporated: Well, I think, look, Bret, it seems like, of course, it’s a windshield survey. The technicians I talked to said, the word they used was slammed. They acted like they were busy. I’m not sure the car count is the operative thing. I don’t even know if you can tie it to pricing because there’s one other factor. How complicated is each repair? See, repairs per vehicle are getting more complicated. I don’t know if you can say that’s price. I’m sure there’s pricing, but I think what we’re hearing is everything these days has alternate ideas. I think the whole idea, I saw something the other day, one of the car lines has a brake system where without a special tool that we provide, you have to dismantle the brakes to get to the bolts, to make the repair.

That adds a lot of time. I think this kind of inconvenience is spread throughout the vehicles. The OEMs are not doing a good job of repairability. I think that’s adding cost. I’m not sure which it is.

Bret Jordan, Analyst, Jefferies: Similar question on the OEM side, since you called out the dealers as a weaker section. Is that driven by individual dealer sentiment, or is there sort of direction from the OEMs as far as, is it driven by their creation of demand for more complex tools and diagnostics? Is it OE-driven softness, or is it dealer rooftop-driven softness?

Nick Pinchuk, Chief Executive Officer, Snap-on Incorporated: I think it’s hard to pinpoint, but I think it’s like this. The OEMs have stopped launching programs. Have reduced, I don’t want to say stopped, but it’s substantially reduced. They were launching a lot of them. They were catapulting them into the market around electric vehicles. I think if you write off $53 billion, it kind of daunts you on this kind of thing. I think they took a pause on this because my view is they’re regrouping to have a future product line that adjusts for that difficulty or the hole that electric vehicles might’ve made. You see those. You’re not getting as many programs, and that affects us because we enable the programs. That drives some of our volume down.

The other places, I do believe when we talk to the dealerships, this is a time for them that’s a little uncertain. What are the cars? What are the new cars they’re going to get? I’m not sure they know. I think that creates a little bit of uncertainty psychologically. I think they’re kind of waiting a little bit. Now, what I’ve said I think is that our idea about weakness in OEMs doesn’t mean that the dealers are so bad. It’s that the dealers in combination with the OEMs backing down on programs have created a, I would call, a flat spot in our sales.

Bret Jordan, Analyst, Jefferies: Great. Thank you.

Nick Pinchuk, Chief Executive Officer, Snap-on Incorporated: Sure.

Operator: This will conclude our question and answer session. I’d like to turn the conference back over to Sara Verbsky for any closing remarks.

Sara Verbsky, Vice President, Investor Relations, Snap-on Incorporated: Thank you all for joining us today. A replay of this call will be available shortly on snapon.com. As always, we appreciate your interest in Snap-on. Have a good day. Goodbye.

Operator: The conference is now concluded. Thank you for attending today’s presentation. You may now disconnect your lines at this time.