Ready? Good. All right, welcome back. I'm Larry Biegelsen, the medical device analyst at Wells Fargo, and it's my pleasure to host this fireside chat with the management team from Baxter. With us, we have Joel Grade, the CFO, Clare Trachtman,
Yes.
Vice President of Investor Relations. The format is fireside chat. If you have a question, please raise your hand. Joel and Clare, thanks so much for being here.
Thank you for having us. Thanks for the opportunity.
Yeah, let's Vantive sale.
Sure.
which was, you know, the recent news. Joel, you announced the sale of Vantive to Carlyle for $3.8 billion. What made you decide on a sale versus a spin? Why is that better for shareholder value?
Sure. Yeah, thanks for the question, and again, thanks for everyone's interest in our company. You know, I'd say a couple different things. Number one, we certainly wanted to make sure we were at a place from a valuation perspective where our options were, I'd say, in the right place. And, you know, I feel really good about the process we went through in order to get to this. We certainly we started out obviously thinking it was a spin. We obviously then had interest from private equity that we announced back in March, and we had a very robust process that got us to a place where I felt really comfortable with where we landed from a valuation standpoint. And then why the sale is also really played in a couple different things.
Number one, we get cash earlier. There's an opportunity to deleverage more quickly, to get to a place where we can utilize our balance sheet better, more quickly. And then the second piece is really around what I'd call certainty of valuation. You know, obviously, we killed. The spin option would've actually had some part of a, you know, a retained stake that we would've had. And I think just given some of the volatility in the markets and some of the, yeah, again, questions around, again, from a kidney standpoint and some of the things that have gone through there, I think, you know, there's a certainty in valuation about a sale process that's certainly we felt better about.
I think in the end, all those factors contributed to sort of why we ended up where we are, and we feel really good with the end result.
Thanks. That's great. So can you talk about the timeline and upcoming milestones, including updated financials and things like that, please?
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, so a couple things there. From a closing standpoint, you know, certainly we'd love to get this done in 2024, but it may end up drifting a little bit into 2025, purely due to regulatory reasons. Certainly there's nothing else that would be in the way of closing the deals other than just we're in over 30 countries from a regulatory standpoint, and so that may just take some time. But those are some of the key milestones. We're planning on providing, you know, six quarters of information that gives a perspective on continued ops, discontinued ops. We'll actually plan on doing that prior to our third quarter earnings release.
So that's from a little bit of a perspective on kind of, "Hey, what does this look like?" That's a timing perspective there.
So is that non-GAAP P&L as well, going back six quarters?
Yes. Yes. Yes. It'll be, yes. Yes.
Okay. That-
Correct.
That'll be helpful. So, Joel, in broad strokes, talk about the growth strategy and financial profile of the remaining Baxter post-separation.
Yeah. So a couple things there. I think one of the things that we find ourselves in a place when, with our post-separation, is that we are a more simplified organization, and an organization that has the ability to really focus our investments on those things that drive innovation, that drive growth. And so I think what you'll see is a key focus on innovation and new product launches. I think this is one of the things that's gonna be a key growth driver for us, and not only on our overall top line, but also some of the expansion of our margins as well. You know, I think we look at really across our businesses. Obviously, we've had, you know, the Novum pump that we anticipate continue to be a growth driver in MPT.
You know, in pharma, we continue to have new product launches in our injectables portfolio. From an HST perspective, we look to that as also an opportunity to really have, again, a set of new product launches over the next number of years that's gonna drive that level of growth. And so certainly a focus overall, again, on growth, on continued expansion of our margins, on converting cash, you know, again, a free cash flow conversion, are really the areas that I think about focusing on in a more nimble, focused, simplified organization.
All right, and Joel, you've been at Baxter, and we're gonna dig in more to RemainCo, obviously, later in the conversation.
Sure.
But you've been at Baxter now, I think, for about a year?
Yeah, 10 months.
10 months.
Yep.
So what excites you the most, and what is your focus now?
Yeah, I mean, number one, what excites me the most is a little bit back to what I was just talking about is, you know, the company has done an amazing job of working through some really transformative, significant opportunities. In January 2023, we talked about the idea of selling the, you know, the BPS, of verticalizing the business, of separating kidney. And I think where we've landed today, again, is a place that is a wonderful platform for us to now continue to execute, to accelerate growth, again, margin expansion, free cash flow conversion. I really like where we sit as a company today. It's part of what I thought about when I joined this company, and those opportunities, again, are really in a good place today, and so I'm really excited about that.
I think we can continue to do more things to even be better operationally, both from a, again, you know, from a supply chain perspective, from a G&A and kind of just back office perspective. I think we can do a continued better job of driving free cash flows. You know, I think, you know, I recently hired a new shared services leader recently that would. I think that's gonna really allow us to hone in some of our processes around cash collections from receivables. Again, our payable processes, and as well as how we manage inventory.
And so, so those are some of the things that I'll, you know, continue to help us drive as an organization so that we can consistently, every quarter, every year, have that type of execution and do the things that we said we're gonna do.
Perfect. So, so let's move on to the outlook for, RemainCo. Now, what are we gonna call it, Clare? Just to call it Baxter.
Baxter, yes.
Baxter.
We're not changing the name.
Okay.
We're not breaking news here.
So, the remaining Baxter, you know what I mean. And I'm gonna do this in kind of chronologically, starting with kinda H2 outlook, and then move into some of the color you've provided on 2025.
Okay.
So, I think in the H2 of this year, you expect Baxter, the remaining Baxter, to grow 4% to 5%.
Mm-hmm.
And which is a little bit above what you did in the H2 -
Mm-hmm
... about 3%. So talk about the drivers of that growth and the acceleration in the H2 of the year, please.
Yep, sure. So, it's. I'll go by business as well. And so from an MCT perspective, again, we're anticipating some benefit from Novum launch. I think we've talked about the fact that the... We'd anticipate originally a $25 million incremental growth out of that, and I think we're a little bit ahead of schedule on that. Demand has been really good. The launch itself has gone well. I think we find ourselves in a really good place from a product availability perspective, and so we anticipate that contributing to our second half growth. From an HST perspective, you know, I think the...
We have talked about the fact that we've got a really strong order book of things in our CCS business, and so we do anticipate that as a continued incremental growth trajectory, particularly the third quarter. We've got a little bit of a tough comparison for the fourth quarter, as we had an extremely high level of activity in that business last year in the fourth quarter. But again, for the H2 of the year, we continue to see that as a positive trajectory. Front Line Care, you know, there's still some challenges in the primary care markets, but we do anticipate that continuing also to have incrementally positive, you know, movement throughout the H2 of the year. I think, you know, even returning to growth probably later in the year and as we head into next year.
Again, from a pharma perspective, you know, on the put side, continued benefits from some of the incremental product offerings that we've launched this year. We'll probably have, by the end of the year, 10 of them in our injectable space. Somewhat offset a bit in the fourth quarter by what I'll call a you know probably slower compounding growth. But those are some of the kind of the key drivers as we head into the H2 of this year and then into 2025.
That's helpful. Normally, I wouldn't ask about it, but there's a little bit of a difference between, you know, your Q3 expectation and Q4. It sounds like you touched upon some of those factors, like compounding.
Yeah.
The guidance for that remaining Baxter is, like, $5-$6 for Q3. By our math, maybe $3-$4 in Q4.
Yeah, it really is related to... I guess I'll say a couple things, and if there's anything I missed-
Yeah
... Clare, please add it. I mean, I do think the compounding piece is one of those items. We've had fairly substantial growth, I'll say, in that space in the first half of the year. It does create a bit of a mix issue for a margin standpoint for us, and so this is not necessarily a demand shift, but I think we anticipate that being slightly slower as we head into the fourth quarter. I think a second thing is the comp that I referenced in terms of some of the CCS business. And last year, I think their growth was, I think it was around 12% in the fourth quarter, and that's a hefty comparison in that particular quarter.
Yeah.
And then the third one is really around, we're having a little bit anticipating a bit slower growth in our Advanced Surgery, particularly outside of the U.S., with some supply constraints, potentially there. And, you know, again, a bit of a, you know, some impact from the surgeon strike in Korea.
Got it. And next year, so in the press release, when you announced the sale-
Mm-hmm
... I think you talked about remaining Baxter growing 4% to 5% organically in 2025. Talk about the growth drivers. It's a touch of an acceleration over what's kind of implied for 2024.
Yeah, I think it really starts with some of the ideas we've talked about, driving innovation and the new product launches. I think some of the growth drivers that we've talked about here as we sort of head into the H2 of the year are part of what we see as well, as that's almost a continuation into 2025 and sort of our post-separation era. Again, it really does come down to, you know, again, some of the contributions from the pump and sort of the continued solid growth we're anticipating in MPT. Again, you know, areas of, you know, where we had almost a flat year, we're forecasting and guiding to a flat year in HST.
We do anticipate that being something, you know, above that as we head into next year. And then, obviously, continued growth from a pharma perspective. And so I think a lot of those trends that we've talked about here, heading into the H2 of this year, really continue to apply as well in 2025.
And you also talked about a 16.5% operating margin for RemainCo-
Right
for Baxter in 2025 . Are we... From these financials, I was just curious, are we gonna have a clean kind of, apples-to-apples comparison for 2024 to understand it, what, you know, the base of 16.5% ? No?
So I wouldn't go all the way to clean. This was probably the way I would start there. We purposely guided the 16.5% at the end of the year as what we want to be a really clear view on kinda our new base business heading in there. Now, the challenge from a 2024 perspective is you're essentially in a place where you've got a full stranded cost portfolio that doesn't have any impact from TSAs, that doesn't have any impact of essentially any of the cost reduction activities in it. And so, on a continued outspace-
Yeah
It's really messy on an apples to apples comparison. I don't know if there's anything you'd add to that.
That's exactly right. Yeah. No.
There's no way for us to determine how conservative or aggressive that 16.5% is, really?
Yeah, and I guess the one thing I would say is, it's in some ways actually 17.5%, but we've actually talked about the fact that there's 100 basis points of dilution there as it relates to kind of, you know, the net impact of stranded costs and TSAs, as well as the margin, you know, dilutive impact from the MSAs. Because keep in mind, what we've talked about is a $350 million revenue increase from MSAs is actually not in the 4% to 5% . And so therefore, again, there's a dilutive margin, dilutive effect there that's part of the... But 17.5%, which actually does turn back into the 16.5%.
Got it. And just, I'll throw it out there, I mean, just to see if there's any reaction, but when we added it all up, we got to EPS of about $2.53 for remaining Baxter for, you know, 2025. Any reaction to the math? I mean, do you feel... You've seen numbers, you've seen what people have put out there.
Yeah.
Are people missing anything?
Look, we haven't guided EPS yet at this point, so I guess I don't. There's really not probably a lot to say there.
Yeah.
I don't know, Clare, if there's anything we... So yeah, I-
But if you saw any major disconnect, I assume you would want to call it out.
Yeah. Again, we'll get to a place where we'll actually guide the EPS on that, and so, at this point, we're not prepared to comment on that.
Fair enough. And then margin expansion, how are you thinking about margin expansion beyond 2025? You're gonna have... you did talk in the press release about the 100 basis points of stranded costs-
Yeah
... and the TSA and MSAs.
MSAs, yeah. Yeah.
that going away by 2027 , so that should help. How should we think about margin expansion going forward?
Yeah. So let me just-
Yeah
... be specific and clear on one thing. The what we said is we're gonna actually eliminate. We anticipate stranded costs and the TSAs related to that by being gone by the end of 2027.
That's 100 basis points?
No.
No.
Yes. I mean, that, that part of it is part of that, but the end, there's, there will be MSAs, though, that will still go beyond 2027-
Yes
...potentially. So-
But the 100 basis points is like-
So the 100 basis points is a combination of the impact from the MSAs and the stranded cost net of the TSAs.
Correct.
It's both of those factors.
What goes away by 2027, a basis points goes away by 2027?
The stranded element from the stranded cost. So that portion of the 100 basis points that's related to the stranded cost goes away by the end of 2027.
What portion of the 100 basis points is that?
So we have said the MSAs is a little over half of the 100 basis points.
Okay. Okay, so you have 40 basis points, call it, that goes away by 2027?
Yes. The MSA impact will be reduced by 2027, but it will still be part of-
Got it
... the overall base by 2027.
Okay.
'Cause some of these MSAs extend for multiple years.
Okay, thank you.
But going back to your question, in terms of the margin expansion itself, and so, yes, the stranded cost is obviously a part of that. But we also really a few things. First of all, as you said, the 4% to 5% does represent some level of growth that is over and above what we've had, and so certainly volume leverage on that is an element that absolutely helps expand our margins as well. Certainly the you know the new product launches we anticipate those being margin accretive as part of our growth, as well as obviously the margin expansion. You know, I think the... You know, from a you know we you know certainly in 2025 , we've talked about the impact of the you know GPO renegotiations in MPT.
That's gonna have a pricing, positive pricing impact. I think after that, you know, pricing, think about it as kind of, you know, flat to slight improvement year- over- year. And then we continue to anticipate a positive mix, you know, benefits. Again, we've had some headwind on that as earlier part of this year, but that's something we're continuing- we think will be a kind of continually improved part as we head forward. And then finally, ISC. You know, we've had, again, substantial progress on margin improvement programs in our ISC business. This is something we actually think we have, again, a nice road ahead for a continued improvement in that space as part of margin expansion.
So, I think you combine all those things, it's, again, a good story for the opportunity to both grow and obviously expand our margins as we go beyond.
I mean, so when you sum it up, and you're at 16.5% next year, where do you see margins going over time, or what do you think the cadence is? Is it 50%+ ? Is it 50% to 100% ? If you can't quantify it now, I understand.
Yeah.
We have said we expect annual margin expansion. I think Joel referenced several levers that we have-
Yeah
... to drive that margin expansion going forward, so.
But yeah, we haven't actually quantified that at this point. Something as we, you know, would have eventually have an investor day sometime in, you know, H1 of 2025 , that actually allow us to actually talk further about some of that.
Okay. So no, but then, Clare, did you have a goal of, like, 50% plus before?
Previously, we've had that. I mean, the reality is if given the levers and given some of the reduction in the TSAs, Larry, it's probably fair to say it's above that, so.
You said it's fair to say it's above the fifty?
The 50 basis points. Yeah, that was a prior LRP that we had.
Okay.
Yeah.
Fair enough. And then pricing, Joel, when you said flat to slightly up. I can't remember exactly what you said. Was that inclusive of the renegotiations, or is that the renegotiation of the GPO contract would be on top of it, so it could be better?
Yeah, I would look at that sort of flat to slightly up as kind of a, like, a normal year ongoing view of pricing. I think in the year, for example, in 2025, we have renegotiated our GPO agreements, and we are anticipating. We've talked about the fact that-
Yeah
This year we had a 100 basis points of improvement outside of the U.S. in that space. We're talking about a 100 basis points within the U.S. for our MPT business as it relates to the GPO negotiations. And keep in mind, we had two out of the three of those contracts that we negotiated this year. There'll be another one that will be in 2027 that will be also renegotiated.
Right.
but that 100 basis points that we're talking about for 2025.
Just to be clear, the flat to slightly up, does it get even better, or is that the best what we should think about?
I think that's beyond 2025.
That's beyond 2025.
That's more of, like, a 2026-
I got it.
Type. Yes.
Okay. Okay, understood. Okay, and then the margins, Joel, for the H2 of the year, I know I'm going jumping around kind of chronologically here, but you do have a, you know, 200 basis point margin improvement in the H2 of the year, I believe, versus the H1 . What are the drivers there and just confidence in that?
Yeah, I think some of the drivers in that, again, we had a, I guess, an undershot margin in the first quarter, particularly as it relates to HST. And so I think some of that is actually what I'll call continually expanding margins in our HST business over the course of the year. And so that's one of the main drivers of that impact. And so, and I also think, you know, again, as we, the prior year, we had some pretty large cost impacts that we've had that we're actually gonna be, you know, in the H2 of this year, moving away from.
So I think we'll. You know, that continued trajectory of our margin improvement is. I wouldn't call it seasonal, but it's actually going over the course of the year that we had, you know, some impacts in the H1 . We won't have again in the H2 .
Right. So feeling good about the margin-
We are.
-in the H2. That's good. And then, moving to MPT, Medical Products and Therapies.
Mm-hmm.
Novum IQ, it sounds like it's going well. Yeah, I guess maybe just talk about, you know, just the receptivity that you're seeing in the market for that product. You know, with new pumps, sometimes, like, it takes time for hospitals to get comfortable with a completely new pump. It sounds like you guys are having some early success. What's resonating, you know, with customers?
Yeah, I mean, I actually think we're off to a really good start in that. I think the demand has been at levels probably even above what we expected. We've had kind of a mix of wins between our existing customers as well as some competitive wins. You know, we had originally talked about the impact of that starting in the third quarter. We had a little bit early start on that and had some impact in the second quarter as well from Novum. So I think for all those reasons, I think the demand side is really good. I think the product availability is in a really good place.
You know, we've reworked a number of, you know, our inventory that we had on hand and also manufactured new products. So I think in order to supply that demand, we've actually got ourselves in a good place from that perspective. I'd say the other thing, too, that I think, you know, is kind of something we haven't talked about that much, but I think is an important part of this, is that, you know, that product was actually launched in Canada for a couple years. And so we actually had the ability to... You know, if there are some bugs or some tweaks that we had to do within that product, we got a lot of that taken care of by the time we actually launched it in the US.
And so I think the reception of that has been really strong, and the launch itself has gone well, and the demand for the product has been outstanding.
What's resonating with customers?
I'll take this.
Yeah, I mean, I think the features of Novum, it has over-the-air, you know, firmware updates that we can remote- You know, we can obviously apply those remotely, so it allows for many of the pumps to be, you know, remote serviceability. So 95% of our pumps will be able to be, you know, serviced that way. It's also. You know, we have the standard platform between the LVP and syringe, which we didn't offer. We have the most, advanced safety features and the largest drug library out there, which again, any changes to the drug library can be applied wirelessly as well. I'd say those are a lot of the features that resonate. Again, we also talked about, we look at it just overall, just the value and quality proposition that we provide to the hospitals as well, across the portfolio.
Got it. That is, that's helpful. Joel, maybe then to move on to HST, the, what is it? Front Line Care, FLC.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Talk about the issues there. You touched upon it earlier, but when do you see, you know, turning the corner?
Yeah. I mean, I think the issues we've had in FLC have been really around the primary care markets, and it's. I'll call it macro things. You know, I'll just touch on a few of them, and, you know, I think there's been some, you know, some slowness in government orders. I think there was a fair bit of COVID funding that fell off in the H2 of 2023. There's been a, you know, slowdown in construction starts. Some of the, you know, some of the big box retailers that actually had put some of those types of businesses within their box have actually been exiting some of that due to, you know, shortage of primary care physicians. And so there's kind of a conglomeration of macro factors that have had some impact on that.
I think the positive, though, from our perspective, again, we have not lost share in that space. I think there is certainly an anticipation that the business itself will start to turn. We've had incremental improvements as the quarters have gone by. And I think by the end of this year, anticipating being back to a place where we're actually in a low level of growth, and then, you know, beyond that, as we head into 2025 . And so I think, you know, that's really been a bit of a softness, almost I'll call it a rebalancing, that's happened in that business in 2024 , that allows us to continue now back to growth in that space in 2025 .
That's helpful, and pharma was a standout in the H1 , 11% growth, but you only expect, you know, implied low single digits, call it 3% in the H2 . Is that all because of compounding?
That is primarily because of compounding. The other part of it, though, we've had some slowness in our businesses and our inhaled anesthetics.
Mm-hmm.
That's been something that's been slowing. And I'd say has probably accelerated a little faster than we thought from a slowness perspective. But really, it's the puts are the positives of the new product launches we've had in the injectable space. And again, the compounding is something we're anticipating to slow down. And again, that's really more on us than it is on the market. You know, I think to some extent, you know, that business for us is all outside the US, in select countries outside the US. And there's a very high level of demand for that service from our perspective.
But again, it's, you know, margin dilutive, if you will, so we're, I guess, you know, growing it at a really accelerated rate is not necessarily what we're trying to do there.
I was gonna ask a follow-up on that. Compounding, I know with compounding, it's a low margin business. Why does, and you just mentioned that, what's the strategic rationale for Baxter to stay in a business like that?
Number one, it's still not a small business in our portfolio. And so, I mean, I think there's, you know, by, you know, exiting that would certainly be, would leave a stranded cost element of that. It's one thing to say it's low margin, but it's also again, a piece of, a decent piece of business. That's number one. I think the second part is, just strategically, I think in certain, you know, the parts of the world that we're in, having that business is actually an inroad, if you will, to some of those, you know, hospital systems and medical systems to have access to other things that we then sell. And so I think it's...
I'm not sure it's quite as easy to look at it just purely in isolation and say, "Hey, we should or shouldn't do that." I think it's a lead-in for other things that are part of our portfolio.
When you're talking about-
...
No, I completely agree.
When you're talking about the pharma launches, I was, you know, saying to myself, we don't have great visibility on these pharma launches, so it's pretty difficult to model. It's. Have you guys thought about how you could kind of enhance the visibility to some of these new injectable launches so people can have an appreciation of kind of what the growth trajectory might look like? Because it just, you know, it's not easy for us to have visibility, right, on what's gonna happen there.
Again, a lot of these, Larry, are already generic injectables, so it's not, these aren't pharmacies or branded pharmaceuticals where there's a market. I'd say a lot of what the team is focused on right now is existing molecules that are already generic, that are in a vial or amp presentation, and putting them into a differentiated format, like a premixed injectable. So a lot of it is filing those types of molecules. We had a lot of success with norepinephrine. We put norepinephrine in a premix, and that's been one of our, you know, growth drivers. And so those are the types of products we'll launch.
So it's a little bit about, you know, the steady cadence of new product launches, driving, you know, hopefully close to mid-single digit growth for this business, which is volume gains more than offsetting any sort of annual price erosion that is anticipated for these types of products.
Okay, um-
If I could just add one thing to that. I think the other part of it, though, too, is that, you know, again, this year, you know, we've launched seven new molecules. And I think, again, by the end of the year, likely to get to 10. I think next year, in 2025, we're also forecasting to get to 10 launches. And I'd say that's a, that's an uptick in the number of those type of product launches relative to where we've been in the past. So I understand and appreciate the comment you made. I just want to clarify, though, there is, there is an element of this that actually has, you know, resources moving towards that, that actually has accelerated the growth in that space.
Okay, five and a half minutes left. I want to ask about capital allocation.
Sure.
Before that, though, just one other question on... So back to Novum IQ. And so the US infusion therapies and technologies was a little soft in the H1 . That, I assume that's the line where we're gonna see an acceleration from Novum IQ?
It will accelerate in the back half in the US, yes.
Big picture, historically, US infusion system sales have been about a $600 million business for you. Should we, when we look back, when you launch a new pump, that business grows at a double-digit rate for, you know, a number of quarters, Clare, if you think back with Spectrum IQ and is that how we should think about the? But if people are trying to think, well, what does Novum IQ contribute to Baxter? How do we think about it? We, we know the $25 million, but it's probably some of it cannibalized from-
Yeah.
Right.
Novo, Novum sales are higher than $25 million this year.
I see.
There's cannibalization.
Incremental.
Incremental.
That's incremental. Mm-hmm. Yeah.
So is there any way, if people are trying to say, "What does Novum IQ mean to Baxter on a go-forward basis?" Did I describe the way I described it, is that the best way?
I think Novum, the launch of Novum, gives us confidence in achieving above market growth for the next couple of years.
Within?
... within the total segment, within MPT and total?
In MPT in total?
Yes.
The market growth is?
We're in an accelerated upgrade cycle right now. I think there was pent-up demand within the market. I mean, 'cause the overall infusion systems market, Larry, does not grow. I mean, it's a replacement cycle.
Right.
So, I think that there is pent-up demand, which will lead to, I think, several quarters and potentially, you know, several years of growth faster than what you would normally have on an annual basis.
Okay, fair enough. Yeah, you understand?
Yeah. No, I understand. Yeah.
Okay, cool. Joel, capital allocation, the dividend. You know, you talked about reevaluating the dividend, at least in the slides. What, maybe could you shed some, you know, light on what you meant by that in the slides?
Sure. Yeah, so number one, to reiterate, we are committed to a dividend post-separation, so we'll just start with that. What we talked about is essentially resizing the dividend to, I'd say, more properly reflect the size of our business, and so we plan to actually announce that in December for our January dividend, and so we haven't yet come out with and said, "Hey, what does, what are the specifics of what that looks like from an actual size perspective?" But certainly something we're giving a lot of thought to and more to come on that.
I mean, the way it's been played back to me from investors is, well, it's about 20% dilutive, Vantiv, ballpark. That's our math. I mean, you know, investor math, if you will. And so that's like the back of the envelope, all the dividend, that's what people are assuming the cut will be. Is there anything you would add to that in terms of that line of thinking?
Yeah, you know, again, Larry, I'll look forward to giving you that information. We just haven't gotten to a place we're ready to share that yet.
Okay. Anything else on capital allocation, when you'll be, you know, capacity for M&A and things like that?
Yeah, I mean, I think the key point there is, number one, we talked about the idea that we're gonna get back to a 3x leverage or below, a little bit below 3x leverage by the end of 2025 .
You are now at?
We're in the, you know, the lower to mid threes at this point. And so, and what we plan to do there, though, once we achieve that, is get to a place where we have a very balanced capital allocation. It's, that really starts with innovation, investing in innovation, investing for growth. We've already talked about the dividend. We also, you know, at, that point would certainly, reinstitute a buyback program. That would certainly start by offsetting, you know, dilution and then obviously opportunistic from there. And so, and then from an M&A perspective, you know, I think the, you know, I, I would not be looking for us to be doing some, any type of large transformational deals. Over time, we would, you know, hopefully earn the right to do some more bolt-on, tuck-in type deals.
I think that would enhance our portfolio. But that's the way I think about it. Then I would also say this: I think running the company around that 3x leverage is actually, you know, an appropriate way to do so. I think it allows for a balanced capital allocation and actually, it'll get balance to investing in our company, returning value to shareholders. I think that would be well supported by our generation of cash flows.
A couple. Clare, I know you talked to a lot of investors. What didn't we talk about? You know, you've gotten a lot of questions since the, you know, the Vantive sale. What else do you want to add to that?
I think we hit on the main questions that we've been receiving, and we've just done two days of meetings, and I would say, your list of 34 questions fairly, you know, addressed most of the questions that we're receiving.
Good. I'm glad we got through almost all of my 34 questions. I think all of them.
Perfect.
Thank you for being here. Good luck.
Thank you, Larry.
Thank you for everything.
Thank you.
All right. Bye.