McGrath RentCorp

NASDAQ:MGRC

Earnings Call Analysis

McGrath RentCorp Reports Strong Growth in Q3 2023

McGrath RentCorp saw a robust third quarter in 2023, with rental revenues up 22%, total revenues climbing 40% to $243.5 million, and adjusted EBITDA jumping 47% to $95.3 million. The integration of Vesta Modular into McGrath's Mobile Modular business is on track, with $8 million in EBITDA synergies confidently anticipated. Commercial and education rental sectors saw significant increases, contributing to a 36% growth in rental revenues and maintaining a solid 79.7% utilization rate. Portable Storage also grew by 18% thanks to aggressive pricing strategies and geographical expansion through acquisitions. However, the TRS-RenTelco segment saw a 10% decline in rental revenues due to continued market softness. Despite economic uncertainty, McGrath forecasts steady demand for the remainder of the year and positive early indicators for 2024.

Revenue Growth Amidst a Turbulent Market

In a challenging climate, marked by semiconductor demand softening and lower rental revenues which saw a 10% drop, the company managed to achieve a modest revenue increase of 2%, up to $39.1 million. This uptick was spurred by a significant 58% surge in sales revenues, although the fruits of these sales were somewhat diminished by a 9% gross profit dip, due to lower margins in 2023 compared to the previous year.

Operational Performance and Capital Discipline

The company displayed a disciplined approach to return on capital amidst tough business conditions, reducing fleet size and focusing on selling used equipment to better match market demand. Despite these challenges, they maintained their equipment capital spending and ended the quarter with a stable utilization rate of 60.3% for their equipment fleet.

Balance Sheet and Debt Position

Financial leverage shows a funded debt to adjusted EBITDA ratio of 2.03 to 1, with net borrowings of $668 million comprising of various notes and credit facilities. The company retains an additional borrowing capacity of $157 million, providing a cushion for future needs.

Forward-looking Financial Projections

The company forecasts full-year revenues between $820 and $830 million, with adjusted EBITDA projected between $312 and $320 million. They anticipate gross rental equipment capital expenditures to range between $190 and $200 million for the year.

Positive Market Trends in Modular Buildings and Classrooms

The business stands to gain from a robust increase in both the number and revenue per unit of new shipments, climbing 13% year-over-year. This upswing, especially notable in the modular buildings and classroom segments, is slated to maintain a strong positive trajectory going forward, bolstered by higher base building pricing and additional services offered.

Solid Educational Funding Across Operating Geographies

A bright spot for future growth lies in the realm of education funding, particularly in states like Florida and Texas where the company anticipates favorable developments in state ballots. These anticipated improvements in educational funding across their operating regions could spell a positive outcome for the company's future operations.

Strategic Growth and Business Development

The company has expressed confidence in executing potential new capital expenditures in 2024, particularly in high utilization areas, to support continued growth. This confidence is underpinned by a robust pipeline for additional 'tuck-in' acquisitions, which forms a strategic part of the company's expansion initiatives.

Earnings Call Transcript 2023-Q3

[Operator]

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by. Welcome to the McGrath RentCorp Third Quarter 2023 Earnings Call. [Operator Instructions] This conference call is being recorded today, Thursday, October 26, 2023.Before we begin, note that the matters the company management will be discussing today that are not statements of historical facts are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements regarding our full year 2023 financial outlook, as well as statements relating to the company's expectations, strategies, prospects, or targets. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve significant risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual results to differ materially from those projected.Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the company's expectations are disclosed under Risk Factors in the company's Form 10-K and other SEC filings. Forward-looking statements are made only as of the date hereof, except as otherwise required by law. We assume no obligation to update any forward-looking statements.In addition to the press release issued today, the company also filed with the SEC the earnings release on Form 8-K and its Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2023.Speaking today will be Joe Hanna, Chief Executive Officer; and Keith Pratt, Chief Financial Officer.I will now turn the call over to Mr. Hanna, go ahead, sir.

[Joseph Hanna, executive]

Thank you. Travis. Good afternoon, everyone. Thank you for joining us on our call today.Our third quarter 2023 reported earnings reflect further progress with our strategic growth focus on the Modular business. We delivered impressive results for a third consecutive quarter this year. Rental revenues increased 22%, total revenues increased 40%, and adjusted EBITDA from continuing operations increased 47% in the third quarter.Once again, our teams executed very well. My sincere thank you to all our team members for your hard work and focus on what matters to our customers, our shareholders, and to each other, with your incredible team coverage and delivery.As a reminder, on February 1 this year, we simultaneously acquired Vesta Modular and sold our Adler Tank business. Since then, we've been focused on integrating Vesta into our Mobile Modular business. Progress on key integration milestones is on schedule. All aspects have gone extremely well.During the third quarter, we completed our organization work and associated changes and have now fully integrated the Vesta team into our McGrath operating structure. Our new team members are very capable and engaged. In each of the key integration areas, we have been impressed with a number of ideas generated towards achieving our synergy targets. We have completed a bottom-up synergy analysis and feel confident in our ability to achieve our $8 million EBITDA synergy target.While still early, the cross-selling and geographic expansion opportunities we anticipated with the Vesta acquisition are being realized. Across the country, both Mobile Modular and Vesta sales reps have won incremental orders by being able to access our broader combined fleet. Our combined sales teams are working well together to leverage relationships in national accounts to win orders. They have begun sharing contacts in key accounts where one party may have had a stronger presence, resulting in more [ one ] business and sturdier relationships.Shifting now to provide a few highlights specific to our Modular business. We were very pleased with overall business performance in the quarter. Rental revenues grew 36% and reflected not only more units on rent, but also continued benefit of the pricing appreciation trends that we have been realizing in prior quarters. Keith will provide more details on these trends in his remarks.Both our commercial business as well as our education Rentals grew during the quarter. The wins we experienced are geographically broad-based and in a wide variety of market verticals, including government and technology. We also won business as a result of customers' investments in plants and manufacturing capacity that is reshoring. Our education business benefited from modernization in growth projects and encompass both public and private school customers.We maintained our focus on solid execution. Our team actively managed pricing, fleet utilization, and deployment of new capital, and achieved a healthy 79.7% utilization at quarter end.In addition to our positive core revenue drivers, we also continued expansion of our revenues in the services portion of our customer offerings. Revenues from Mobile Modular Plus, site-related services, and our custom modular sales group, all grew nicely in the quarter and we remain excited about the opportunities these additional services offer our customers.Portable Storage rental revenues grew 18% in the quarter. We are also quite pleased at the pace that this business is growing. We continue to make progress on pricing, with new shipment pricing up considerably compared to fleet averages. The acquisition of Design Space in 2021 and the acquisition of Vesta this year, opened up opportunities for us to expand the Portable Storage business into new geographies. The Colorado market tuck-ins this year were also strategic initiatives to support this growth. They have been fully integrated and are performing to expectations.Turning now to TRS-RenTelco. The softness we experienced earlier in the year around the semiconductor and computer business has not yet abated. Rental revenues decreased 10% for the quarter. We continue to take countermeasures to account for these business conditions and we are moving the needle. We have reduced our capital expenditures for new fleet considerably and continue to execute consistent fleet sales of underutilized equipment to a net positive result as we ended the quarter with utilization up over 60%. Our efforts to rightsize the fleet for current market conditions are an important step to manage the business responsibly.Finally, on a macroeconomic level, we recognize that there is some uncertainty in the economic outlook and some softening conditions as indicated by the recent ABI reporting. However, we are generally seeing steady business demand at McGrath for the remainder of the year and early indicators into 2024 appear positive.I'm very pleased with our progress this year. We have good momentum with our pricing and services initiatives, which have considerable growth potential ahead. Additionally, with our acquisitions, we have the opportunity for densification at locations with low presence currently. So we remain very positive on the future growth potential for the business. We will be working hard to maximize every dollar we spend over the months ahead and are looking forward to finishing 2023 on a good note.With that, I will turn the call over to Keith who will expand on my overall comments with greater financial detail.

[Keith E. Pratt, executive]

Thank you, Joe, and good afternoon, everyone.As Joe highlighted, we delivered strong results in the third quarter, driven by the performance in our Mobile Modular segment. Looking at the overall corporate results for the third quarter, total revenues increased 40% to $243.5 million and adjusted EBITDA increased 47% to $95.3 million. Before the contributions from Vesta, McGrath had 20% total revenue growth and 25% higher adjusted EBITDA.During the third quarter, the company sold 2 properties used by the recently divested Adler Tanks business, which resulted in a $3.6 million net gain on sale and increased earnings per diluted share by $0.11. The total diluted earnings per share for the quarter excluding this transaction was $1.54, an increase of $0.43 when compared to a year ago. These property sales are reflected in other income on the income statement.Turning now to review of Mobile Modular's operating performance as compared to the third quarter of 2022. Mobile Modular had an impressive quarter with adjusted EBITDA increasing 83% to $73 million. Total revenues increased $69 million or 55% to $194.9 million. There were increases across all revenue streams, including 36% higher rental revenues, 45% higher rental-related services revenues, and sales revenues, which more than doubled.Vesta contributed $34.9 million total revenue and $14.4 million adjusted EBITDA to the current quarter results. Before these contributions from Vesta, Mobile Modular also had an impressive 27% total revenue growth and 47% higher adjusted EBITDA.In addition to the contribution from the Vesta acquisition, our rental operations experienced strong organic growth across our commercial, education, and Portable Storage customer bases. Sales revenues increased $29.9 million to $58.9 million demonstrating good progress with our initiatives to grow Modular sales projects. Vesta contributed $16.2 million or roughly half of the increase.We continued our disciplined fleet management on a much larger fleet and achieved a 30% higher average rental equipment on rent with average fleet utilization of 79.4%, down from 80.1% a year ago. Keep in mind that we have achieved this healthy total fleet utilization while integrating Vesta suite, which was utilized in the mid-70s at the time of acquisition.The average monthly rental rate for the portfolio was 2.92%, which was 5% higher than a year ago and reflects our focus on pricing optimization, as well as continued healthy market conditions. Rental revenues increased by 36%, while inventory center costs increased 2%, and depreciation expense increased 30%, resulting in rental margins of 65%, up from 56% a year ago.Similar to last quarter, I will share additional data that help illustrate our progress with our Modular business strategic focus. Third quarter monthly revenue per unit on rent increased year-over-year from $633 to $695, a 10% increase. For new shipments over the last 12 months, the average monthly revenue per unit was $1,027. 1 year earlier, this last 12-month average revenue was $905. So we see a positive trend with new unit pricing, which is up 13% on a full year-over-year basis.Similar to last quarter, this data is for our legacy Modular building and classroom fleet, excluding Vesta. These pricing dynamics are significant, positive, long-term revenue drivers. As the rental fleet churns, we expect a rental revenue tailwind as the average rental unit pricing for all units on rent moves towards current market rates.Our early progress with Mobile Modular Plus is embedded in these data points and is an additional growth opportunity for us. We continue to make progress with our Modular services offerings. For our legacy Modular business, excluding Vesta and Portable Storage, Mobile Modular Plus contributed $20 million revenue year-to-date, up from $13.7 million a year earlier.Site-related services contributed $18.3 million revenue year-to-date, up from $11 million a year earlier. We are in the early innings with these initiatives and they are making positive growing contributions.Turning to review of TRS-RenTelco. Adjusted EBITDA was $21.9 million, a decrease of 9% compared to last year. Total revenues increased $0.6 million or 2% to $39.1 million. We saw an increase in sales revenues, partly offset by a softening in rental operations revenues.Rental revenues for the quarter decreased 10% as we experienced continued softness in semiconductor-related demand. The average monthly rental rate was comparable to the previous year, which reflects generally stable pricing conditions for both communications and general purpose equipment in the current market.Average utilization for the quarter was 59.4% compared to 65.3% a year ago and rental margins were 40% compared to 44% a year ago. Sales revenues increased 58% year-over-year to $8.7 million with gross profit decreasing 9% to $3.1 million due to lower gross margins in 2023.The increase in sales revenues demonstrates our focus on reducing inventory to better align with current market demand. To address the currently challenging business conditions at TRS, we maintained our return on capital discipline with our actions to reduce new equipment capital spending and continued focus on sales of used equipment. We have reduced fleet size based on original cost of equipment from $398 million at the end of March to $384 million at the end of September and ended the quarter with utilization at 60.3%.The remainder of my comments will be on a total company basis from continuing operations. Third quarter selling and administrative expenses increased $11.6 million to $48.5 million. The addition of Vesta Modular increased selling and administrative expenses by $6 million, which included $1.2 million amortization of intangibles.Interest expense was $11 million, an increase of $7.7 million as the result of higher average interest rates and $242 million higher average debt levels during the quarter, which was primarily the result of funding our acquisitions. The third quarter provision for income taxes was based on an effective tax rate of 27.3% compared to 25.3% a year earlier.Turning to our year-to-date cash flow highlights. Net cash provided by operating activities was $119 million compared to $133 million in the prior year with transaction expenses accounting for most of the reduction. Rental equipment purchases, excluding equipment received from recent acquisitions, were $171 million compared to $130 million in the prior year.The total cash paid for acquisitions year-to-date of Vesta, Brekke, Dixie, and the Inland was $462 million, emphasizing our strategic initiatives to grow the Modular and Portable Storage businesses. Proceeds from the sale of Adler Tank Rentals earlier this year was $268 million.In addition to significant investments in new fleet and the acquisitions, healthy cash generation allowed us to pay $34 million in shareholder dividends. At quarter end, we had net borrowings of $668 million comprised of $175 million notes outstanding and $493 million under our credit facility with capacity to borrow an additional $157 million under our lines of credit. The ratio of funded debt to the last 12 months actual adjusted EBITDA was [ 2.03:1 ].Finally, our updated 2023 financial outlook. For the full year, we currently expect results from continuing operations to be, total revenue between $820 million and $830 million, adjusted EBITDA between $312 million and $320 million, gross rental equipment capital expenditures between $190 million and $200 million.Our outlook reflects the following expectations for the final quarter of the year. Modular rental revenues up sequentially from the third quarter. Modular rental-related services revenues at a level comparable to the first quarter of 2023. We expect fewer site-related services project in the fourth quarter compared to the seasonally busier second quarter and third quarters.Modular sales revenues comparable to the fourth quarter of 2022. Modular other direct costs of rental operations comparable to the third quarter as we continue to prepare buildings for new rental opportunities. Overall, TRS performance comparable to the third quarter with the potential for some normal seasonal reduction in business levels towards year-end. Total McGrath selling and administrative expenses up sequentially from the third quarter. We are very proud of McGrath's strong third quarter performance and we are fully focused on solid execution for the remainder of the year.That concludes our prepared remarks. Travis, you may now open the lines for questions.

[Operator]

[Operator Instructions] We do have a question from Scott Schneeberger, Oppenheimer.

[Scott Schneeberger, analyst]

I'd like to -- focusing most on Mobile Modular, what was volume in the quarter? It looks like it was plus 3%. And Joe, did you say that you think you're taking market share gains? And then, one more question on that. Joe, you mentioned positive indicators into 2024. Please elaborate on that as far as the business momentum?

[Joseph Hanna, executive]

Sure. I mean as far as business volume, Scott, you know, shipments have been up sequentially each quarter from Q2 to Q3 and we are estimating that, that is going to be the case again in Q4. So, I mean our shipment volume has been healthy and we anticipate that for the remainder of the year. Also back that up to say that our [ quote ] volumes are healthy, and the business has been very steady.So, we feel very confident about how we're going to end this year. In looking at 2024, I would say that -- based on what I just said, our -- since our [ quote ] volumes are healthy, our commercial activity is steady, we are seeing just very high levels of funding for construction projects across the country. The Infrastructure and Jobs Act has funded projects across all 50 states.We're seeing the benefit of that in road and bridge and airport and other government projects and we expect this to be a tailwind well into next year and beyond. And the same goes for the CHIPS Act, which -- we're actively working on projects that are funded by that right now.Over on the education side, the demand has been very healthy. And to give you an example, Texas is expected to have over $17 billion in facilities bonds on the local election ballots in November. So these types of funding dynamics really fuel our growth and will do so for a long time.The other thing that I'll add in there too is, with our services offerings that we touched on, they are growing very, very nicely. Mobile Modular Plus, site-related services, and custom Modular sales, we have very nice pipelines there. So I feel very, very confident that we're going to see a nice continued momentum into 2024 based on these dynamics that I just reviewed.

[Scott Schneeberger, analyst]

With regard to -- I think you said every sequential quarter volume has been improving. Is it, in fact, Joe, improving on a year-over-year basis as well? It sounds like it is. If you could hit that? And then just speak to deliveries versus pickups, are you seeing more deliveries than pickups in Modular and Storage? Please address both?

[Joseph Hanna, executive]

Sure. Yes, I would say that the answer to the first question is, yes. We are shipping more than we did in the prior year. I would say that from a returns and shipments dynamic, it's -- it kind of varies from quarter-to-quarter, but I would say that we're in a healthy state right now.We're not seeing anything from a return dynamic or looming returns out there in each of the businesses that are really concerning me at this point. So, I'm feeling pretty good about both our shipment and return numbers that we're seeing right now and the projections that we have.

[Scott Schneeberger, analyst]

And that was that -- Joe just to clarify, that was for Modular and Storage. Any unique comments on either of those to asset classes on delivery pickups or any other topic?

[Joseph Hanna, executive]

No, not really. I would say it's fairly similar for both businesses.

[Scott Schneeberger, analyst]

Lastly, in Mobile Modular, you mentioned very steady quote activity and it sounds like you feel good about that as far as this momentum carrying into next year. Could you elaborate a little bit with -- I saw some metrics you gave on pricing and that sounds pretty powerful. Could you just elaborate on what you're seeing with the pricing trend comparing to recent quarters and any comments you can share about potentially extrapolating?

[Joseph Hanna, executive]

Sure. I'll just start off and maybe Keith can add in here. I mean, really what we look at is a differential between our average fleet pricing and what we are shipping new orders at, and that is a fairly significant delta. And as long as we -- that delta is in place and actually continues to get more favorable as we continue to increase pricing on new shipments.We feel very good that that's going to be a long-term tailwind for us and just a built-in revenue growth opportunity for the business. And so, I feel really good about that, very positive revenue driver for us. Keith, I don't know if there's anything you want to add there.

[Keith E. Pratt, executive]

Sure, I'll just recap, Scott, the data and you'll see these numbers in our investor relations presentation that is available on the IR website. But again, I think the biggest indicator for overall revenue trend is the metric we are quoting for monthly revenue per unit on rent. And as I mentioned in the prepared remarks, that metric is up from $633 to $695. That's a 10% increase and that's for all the units on the fleet.Again, this is Modular buildings and classrooms, that excludes Vesta at this point, but very healthy. And then those numbers by the way, last quarter were $613 and $670, which was a 9% increase. So again, all the number is moving up and in this particular quarter, the percentage increase is actually a little higher than last quarter. And then, the other item we keep our eye on is new shipments and what's the revenue per unit that is in a new shipment.That was over $1,000 on an LTM basis for the third quarter, actually $1,027, up 13% compared to a year ago, again on an LTM basis. We saw similar numbers last quarter and the trends again are very positive. So we're putting a lot of work into this. As I mentioned, it includes the benefit of Mobile Modular Plus, which are really additional services we're including with the unit.But the bulk of that increase -- both for units on rent and for new ships, the bulk of the increase is what I would call the core base building pricing. So, these are good numbers, good trends, and again, we think they have a longer-term positive tailwind for the business.

[Scott Schneeberger, analyst]

And it sounds very good. Just one more, and then I'll move up Mobile Modular, but it sounds like pricing is -- you're getting pricing and that's going very well. Joe, at the beginning of your comments, you mentioned that there was an adverse move last month and [ AVI ] we'll see what we get next month. So there's concern out there, because there is various macro indicators going in different directions. But how is the firmness of the pricing? Is it a major area of customer pushback or is it just a very disciplined industry and the price discussion is rational?

[Joseph Hanna, executive]

Sure. I would say our pricing discussions are rational. I would say that, we are not the low-cost leader. And so, we're off times having discussions with customers about moving pricing up, but we give the value for the services that we offer and the buildings that we provide. And so, in our case, that conversation tends to go relatively well, because customers -- and we have tremendous amount of repeat business.They know what it is like to deal with us. And so, typically we are able to live comfortably in the higher end of the pricing spectrum. So, we have not been getting pushed back. But we watch that very, very closely and we watch our close ratios very, very closely in conjunction with the pricing that we're trying to get.And so, if any of those get out of line, we can very quickly make adjustments to our approach in the market and we do so, and some of that's targeted region-by-region. But overall, we've had success and I presume that we will continue to do that.

[Scott Schneeberger, analyst]

Just real quick over to TRS. I think the best way to ask the question of what's occurring there is, could you provide some color on what you've seen in past cycles? We're obviously in a bit of a down cycle, and maybe elaborate a little bit on what's driving that? But what's getting at here? And the question is, what's the typical duration of a down cycle? Does this look like a typical downcycle for TRS? When would be your anticipation of return and how much visibility might you have?

[Joseph Hanna, executive]

Yes, here's what's interesting about what's happening right now, Scott. From my perspective, it really doesn't feel like a down cycle. If you look at our rental revenues in the business, they've actually been going sideways. And so, we anticipate that. In Q4, we will actually kind of go sideways again, and what we're actually not experiencing is the typical lift that we get in the business during Q3 and Q4, which are typically our stronger rental revenue quarters for TRS.So, we actually are kind of going sideways, and so, we're just not seeing the growth that we've experienced before. And I believe that in 2024 we're going to come out of this, I really do. Because I think that the semiconductor demand, which just doesn't last for long periods of time historically that we've seen in the business, I don't think it's going to last historically long this time and I think we're going to be back to better opportunities once we get into next year. That's my outlook on this part of the business.

[Scott Schneeberger, analyst]

And you mean well in demand in semiconductors, correct?

[Joseph Hanna, executive]

Yes.

[Scott Schneeberger, analyst]

Well, sounds good. Yes, it doesn't -- yes. I wasn't saying that it's down, it's just in a lull. But it sounds like you anticipate improvement in next year potentially just because you don't see a long duration of the lull.

[Joseph Hanna, executive]

Correct.

[Operator]

Our next question comes from Marc Riddick, Sidoti.

[Marc Riddick, analyst]

So one of the things that you touched on that I wanted to follow-up on, you mentioned of Texas and the education funding on the ballot there. I was wondering if you could talk a little bit about maybe your overall thoughts of use as far as education funding, if there are any other potential hotspots for the upcoming election cycle? And then, of course I have a few follow-ups on that?

[Joseph Hanna, executive]

Yes, so the other big market of course for us is California and then Florida. In California, there is not going to be any bond measures on a ballot this particular year. That will be next year. But I can tell you that California has actually funneled well over $1 billion from other revenue sources into facilities funding, because they need the money to go there.And so what you have in a state like this is a lack of funding at the state level that is actually being addressed through other funding sources. So that's a good thing. Then you have Texas, which I just mentioned, and then you have Florida which-- the sales tax initiatives and things like that that they have on ballots should receive favorable voter turnouts.And so, we're expecting that, that should be good for a state like that too. So across our operating geographies, we're seeing education funding in a good place. We anticipate that'll be the case next year.

[Marc Riddick, analyst]

And then, one of the things you mentioned in your prepared remarks were some of the findings and learnings that you've had with some of your new Vesta colleagues, and just wonder if you could talk a little bit about that and elaborate on that as far as how that plays into the future opportunity set?

[Joseph Hanna, executive]

Well, one of the things that we are diligently working on is achieving our $8 million synergies target that we have committed to. And what we're seeing when we bring our 2 teams together is that there are a lot of really good ideas that people and teams are generating that are going to enable us to hit that target. So, it ranges from how we interact, procedures that we have for maintaining equipment, procedures that we have for utilizing fleet between both of our companies, the passing of sales leads, how all that system works,I mean, all those things have just really gone very, very well. And so, I've been very pleased at the progress we've made there, and we just have a team that is leaning forward and doing a really wonderful job to try to have us be successful in our commitment to hit that $8 million synergy target.

[Marc Riddick, analyst]

And then, you've mentioned as far as the units on rent that are going out and the gains that you're seeing there and the benefits of Plus, so why don't you talk a little bit about sort of how that's played out, particularly with maybe geographic mix? Are certain areas a little stronger in that than others, are there certain customer groups that are more receptive to that, or is it just kind of been across the board?

[Joseph Hanna, executive]

Yes, well, as I said, we're in the early innings. We have some geographies that are just doing a better job than others and that's as we continue to get our arms around this initiative. That's part of our -- the gains that we know that we have, that are out there, are getting everyone on the same sheet of music and everybody rowing in the same direction.And so, those are just normal implementation issues that we have when we roll out something like this. And we're -- I think we're doing a very nice job of it. I'm not concerned about any particular customer groups that are pushing back, or any particular geographies that are not being receptive to this. It's actually going quite well for us, and we're very excited about what the future holds there.

[Keith E. Pratt, executive]

Yes, Marc, I'd just add, if we look at how applicable the new Mobile Modular Plus services are to the different customer groups, there's more that's applicable on the commercial side compared to the education side. So when you look at some of the gains we're getting, you can think of it [ as ] a lot of the opportunity near term is being recognized with a commercial customer base.

[Marc Riddick, analyst]

And then, one thing that I was sort of thinking about -- and with everything that's sort of going really well so far with Modular in particular, I was sort of thinking about sort of should we be rethinking what the general feeling is when it comes to utilization, or is it more the gains are going to be more focused on the pricing side? Which certainly seems to be the case. I was wondering if you -- what you've seen so far changes, any thoughts or views as to what the utilization floor and ceiling is going forward for Modular?

[Joseph Hanna, executive]

Yes, Marc, I mean, running the business at the 80% level is pretty good, and we like it when it's in that range. We do have room to go up a bit. But due to the geographic diversity and the fleet diversity that we have, it's tough to run at much, much higher than that. So what do we do in that case, that's where we, in some locations have very, very high utilization. That's where we fund new capital expenditures.And we've done that very, very carefully this year and anticipate that we'll have opportunities to do that in 2024. So, we have the line time, we've got the relationships with suppliers to be able to make that happen. And so that's our kind of lever that we can pull there to make sure that we continue to fund our growth.

[Marc Riddick, analyst]

And then the last one from me. I was wondering if you could sort of give us an update -- and you made mention of some of the acquisitions that you've done since Vesta and some of the tuck-in opportunities and the like. So wondering if you could give us maybe an update and maybe what you're seeing there and as far as -- potential targets as far as what's out there, or whether the pricing has changed, or is it fairly similar to what we were experiencing earlier in the year?

[Joseph Hanna, executive]

Sure. Well, first of all the acquisitions that we've done outside of Vesta, the tuck-ins, we've been very pleased with. They're integrated. They're growing the way we have expected them to grow. And so, that's been a very nice add to the business. As far as our pipeline, we have an active and robust pipeline for additional tuck-ins. And we'd like to continue to utilize tuck-ins in certain areas as another way to grow the business. Pricing for those opportunities, I would say, generally doesn't really change much depending on economic conditions because you have sellers that are -- position their business to be sold in a variety of different circumstances. A lot of times it's related to a change in a life event or somebody that wants to retire out of their business, and they want a good price for it. And they're not going to sell in an environment that's not something where they can get a good price. So I would say that, that has not changed much. I don't anticipate that changing much.But we're very careful about what we spend on these tuck-ins and we spend it for quality businesses in locations that we want to be in and that have fleet that's in good working condition and not too old. So, we're going continue to watch those metrics as we discuss and enter into more tuck-in acquisition opportunities.

[Marc Riddick, analyst]

And I also want to say, just as [ aside ], Slide 28 is an absolute work of art, I really appreciate it.

[Operator]

Ladies and gentlemen, that appears to be the last question. Let me now turn the call back over to Mr. Hanna for any closing remarks.

[Joseph Hanna, executive]

I'd like to thank everyone for joining us on the call today and for your continuing interest in our company. We look forward to speaking with you again in late February to review our fourth quarter results.

[Operator]

Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes today's conference call. Thank you for your participation. You may now disconnect.