Flowserve Corp Q4 2020 Earnings Call Summary

The following is excerpted from the question-and-answer section of the transcript.

Question: Nathan Hardie Jones - Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, Incorporated, Research Division - Analyst : Just a follow-up here first on the guidance. It looks to me like the lower starting backlog is really responsible for all of the guided revenue decline in 2021, which then implies that kind of your book and turn business in 2021 is flat with 2020. We've seen there are a few tailwinds that you should have on the book and turn business relative to 2Q '20 COVID, maybe it's a headwind in the first quarter but improving oil prices and all those kinds of things. Is there some conservatism built in that 4% to 7% kind of more likely to see upside than downside?

Question: Nathan Hardie Jones - Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, Incorporated, Research Division - Analyst : Okay. I think that's fair. My follow-up question is on the bigger focus put back on the growth side of Flowserve 2.0 going into 2021. Is there an increase in the investments that are running through the P&L that's potentially a headwind to margins in 2021? And if there is, what kind of ramp up are you looking at? And should we see that continue to increase as we go into 2022?

Question: Nathan Hardie Jones - Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, Incorporated, Research Division - Analyst : Because not only do you plan on increasing that spending in 2022 and beyond, but you also think you've got better processes in order to be more efficient with that spending?