Rockwell Automation Earnings Call Insights: Process in China and Share Repurchases

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) recently reported its first quarter earnings and discussed the following topics in its earnings conference call.

Process in China

Stephen Tusa – JPMorgan: Can you just maybe provide some color on process in China?

Keith Nosbusch – Chairman and CEO: Well, specifically process in China I think was the impact there was mainly in project delays and really in the backlog where there was a delay in customers because of liquidity in some cases, delay in shipments, but probably the bigger impact of it was simply the large backlog depletion that we had in the fourth quarter left us with less to be able to ship in the first quarter. So, I think that was probably the bigger portion. We saw some additional delays throughout the quarter I would say the encouraging thing about process in China was the orders that we had during the quarter where we have rebuilt some of that backlog. So, I think it was a quarter – at this point we believe it was a quarter phenomenon.

Stephen Tusa – JPMorgan: Just a follow-up to that on the backlog build. The CPS solutions business seems like it had instantaneously here with your backlog, that 1.23 book-to-bill I guess you’re saying through the balance of the year, how much of this comes through in the second quarter, because that would imply quite a nice just like you had a pretty significant downdraft in the first quarter here would suggest CP&S bounces back pretty strongly in the second quarter, Yet you’re kind of guiding to moderate year-over-year growth which looks like it doesn’t account for that kind of bounce back in the second quarter on revenues?