Neil Ashe on capital allocation
From $AYI Acuity Inc Q2 2026 Earnings Conference Call · · EARNMOAR
“So our priorities remain the same. will invest to grow the current businesses. Um and that's you know kind of through things like capex maybe through things like opex if we want to accelerate organic product development uh number one. Number two um as you saw we increase the dividend in January for the year. Um number three we have a strong pipeline for acquisitions. And then number four, when we see ourselves in situations like this where the multiple compresses so dramatically, um, we see an opportunity to repurchase and we do.”
On , Neil Ashe, Chairman, President & Chief Executive Officer at ACUITY INC, spoke about capital allocation during $AYI Acuity Inc Q2 2026 Earnings Conference Call on EARNMOAR.
About Neil Ashe
During Acuity’s fiscal 2026 second quarter earnings call on April 2, 2026, Neil Ashe described himself and the company as “AI maximalists,” stating he is “incredibly positive on the impact it’s going to have on our business.” He said that while the benefits of AI will be spread broadly, the companies that will see “tremendous benefit” are those with “the scale, resources and ability to use the technology to change their businesses.” Ashe also addressed market conditions, noting that the lighting market is looking for “consistency or at least consistent direction around policy around tariffs around rates.” He said Acuity has “the most dynamic well-executed supply chain in the industry” and has adapted by qualifying new suppliers, identifying appropriate locations, and re-engineering products. Ashe reported that Acuity now expects full-year ABL sales to be “flat to down low single digits year-over-year,” while maintaining that the company is “managing gross profit margin through the combination of strategic pricing and product and productivity improvements.” He stated that there was no change to the AIS growth outlook of “low to mid-teens” or to the EPS guidance range. In his closing remarks, Ashe said he was “pleased and proud of the execution that our company is showing through these dynamic market environments,” adding that at ABL the company is “clearly the market leader” and at AIS it is “differentiated” and continues to “grow and change the industry.”