Yahoo Finance Manitowoc (MTW) Q2 2019 Earnings Call Transcript
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Manitowoc (NYSE: MTW)
Q2 2019 Earnings Call
Aug 09, 2019, 10:00 a.m. ET
Contents:
Prepared Remarks
Questions and Answers
Call Participants
Prepared Remarks:
Operator
Good day, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to The Manitowoc Company's second-quarter 2019 earnings call. Today's conference is being recorded. And at this time for opening remarks and introductions, I'd like to turn the call over to Mr. Ion Warner, vice president, marketing and investor relations.
Please go ahead, sir.
Ion Warner -- Vice President, Marketing and Investor Relations
Thank you. Good morning, everyone, and welcome to The Manitowoc conference call to review the company's second-quarter 2019 performance and 2019 full-year business outlook, as outlined in last evening's press release. With me today are Barry Pennypacker, president and chief executive officer; and David Antoniuk, senior vice president and chief financial officer. Today's webcast includes a slide presentation, which can be found in the Investor Relations section of our website under Events and Presentations.
We will reserve time for questions-and-answers after our prepared remarks. [Operator instructions] Please turn to Slide 2. Before we begin, please note our safe harbor statement in the material provided for this call. During today's call, forward-looking statements as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, are made based on the company's current assessment of its markets and other factors that affect its business.
However, actual results could differ materially from any implied or actual projections due to one or more of the factors among others, described in the company's latest SEC filings. The Manitowoc Company does not undertake any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether the result of new information, future events or other circumstances. And with that, I will now turn the call over to you, Barry.
Barry Pennypacker -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Thanks, Ion, and welcome, everyone. Our sales growth in the quarter was primarily driven by the North American market due to increased shipments into the commercial construction, utility, and energy end markets, and we benefited from improved pricing. Our aftermarket business in Americas remained very strong and contributed to the year-over-year sales growth. This quarter marks our ninth consecutive quarter of year-over-year adjusted EBITDA margin improvement.
And these results were accomplished through strong operational performance and our continued implementation of The Manitowoc Way. We are, however, observing a broader softness in global markets as trade disputes and other macroeconomic factors continue to create uncertainty. Additionally, U.S. and European construction markets are slowing and U.S.
rig counts declined. So, all these factors are negatively impacting customer sentiments. Despite the headwinds, we remain steadfast in our efforts to manage what we can control: strong cost containment, ongoing Kaizens to improve our productivity, new product development, and growing effort to get closer to the customers in order to increase our aftermarket share. In spite of these challenging times, we remained committed to the principles of The Manitowoc Way to continually improve our financial results.
I'll now turn the call over to David to walk us through the financial results and updated guidance.
David Antoniuk -- Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Thanks, Barry, and good morning, everyone. Let's move to Slide 3. Net sales were $505 million for the quarter, which represented a $9 million or 2% increase. On a currency-adjusted basis, net sales for the quarter increased $23 million or 5% year over year.
The increase was driven by higher shipments in North America, partly offset by lower revenue in the Middle East. Our non-GAAP adjusted EBITDA in the quarter was $53 million versus $38 million in prior year, a 42% increase. And the current quarter adjusted EBITDA includes a $9 million benefit associated with settlement of a legal matter. This amount represents a recovery of administrative expenses that were recorded in previous periods as part of adjusted EBITDA.
So, in addition, global pricing initiatives, favorable mix and cost reductions all contributed to the strong second-quarter adjusted EBITDA performance. GAAP net income in the quarter was $46 million or $1.29 per diluted share, as compared to $10 million or $0.27 per diluted share in the prior year. Second-quarter net income included a $25 million benefit from the settlement of a legal matter. And I just mentioned, $9 million or $0.26 per share recorded as a benefit in administrative expenses.
This remaining $16 million or $0.43 per share was recorded in other income. In addition, second-quarter 2019 net income including restructuring expenses of $3 million, predominantly related to headcount reductions in India and Europe. Adjusting for the $16 million settlement recorded in other income, restructuring expenses and the related tax impact, non-GAAP adjusted net income for the quarter was $34 million or $0.94 per diluted share, an improvement of $20 million or $0.54 per diluted share compared to the second quarter of 2018. Cash flows provided in operating activities on a GAAP basis were $32 million for the quarter.
This generation of cash in the quarter was driven by strong net income and receipt of funds from the legal matter previously discussed, partially offset by investments in working capital primarily related to the timing of shipments in the quarter and increased inventory levels. I guess -- we have several initiatives under way to rightsize our global inventories with current demand. Barry will comment on these initiatives shortly. As of June 30, our total liquidity was $340 million, with no borrowings outstanding on our ABL revolver.
The net debt-to-adjusted EBITDA ratio was two times. And capacity and low net debt ratio provides us with ample capital to execute on our growth strategies while meeting ongoing operational needs. As announced last quarter, our board approved a $30 million share repurchase program. During the second quarter, we repurchased approximately 473,000 shares for $7.4 million.
Our second-quarter orders of $372 million resulted in a 14% year-over-year decline, 12% on currency-adjusted basis. We continue to see order rate slow, especially in our mature markets, reflecting our customers' cautious approach to uncertain market conditions. Turning to Slide 4, we updated our 2019 full-year guidance to reflect our first-half results and current market conditions as follows: revenue of approximately $1.88 billion to $1.92 billion; adjusted EBITDA of approximately $140 million to $160 million; depreciation of approximately $35 million to $37 million; restructuring expenses of approximately $10 million to $12 million; interest expense of approximately $29 million to $33 million, excluding debt refinancing costs; income tax expense of approximately $12 million to $16 million, excluding discrete items; and capital expenditures of approximately $35 million. With that, I will now turn the call back to Barry.
Barry Pennypacker -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Thank you, David. First of all, I'd like to thank our team for delivering a very strong first half of the year. Moving forward, we do have some headwinds. Quarters have started to temper, and the second-half mix is not as sustainable as the first half.
If I have one disappointment in the first half of the year, it was the growth of our working capital, particularly our inventory. We have three major initiatives in place to reach our year-end targets for inventory. Number one, we are aggressively managing our used trade-in stock that is accumulated as a result of competitive dynamics in the current market. Number two, we're executing our new product introductions that begin to ship in second half of the year, which will have a dramatic effect on our current inventory levels.
Number three, we are adjusting build schedules and the supply chain to match current market conditions. As we noted on our last quarter call, our new capital structure unlocks exciting new options for long-term profitable growth. And so to reach our stated goal of becoming the world's leading crane company, we now have the ability and flexibility to pursue acquisitions to grow Manitowoc in a number of ways. As I mentioned last quarter, acquisition targets need to provide us with the ability to continue to expand our margins while providing stable recurring revenue streams.
We continue to evaluate opportunities and will remain resolute in our disciplined approach to deploying our capital. As far as our outlook is concerned, while current market conditions and geopolitical activities are made in the forefront of all of thinking, we remain resolute in executing on our four strategic initiatives be in growth, margin expansion, innovation and velocity. I believe over the long-term that the future remains bright, and we remained committed to expanding our margins to 10%. With that, Greg, please open up the lines for the questions.
Questions & Answers:
Operator
[Operator instructions] And first from Jefferies, we have Stephen Volkmann.
Stephen Volkmann -- Jefferies -- Analyst
Good morning, guys.
Barry Pennypacker -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Good morning, Steve.
David Antoniuk -- Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Good morning.
Stephen Volkmann -- Jefferies -- Analyst
Barry, can you just say a little bit more about what you're saying relative to sort of end markets? What we're obviously seeing was fairly broadly. But I'm curious, specifically, if there's certain segments that are kind of more concerning than others or if you actually have any growth still anywhere. Just any color like that would be great.
Barry Pennypacker -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Yes. I mean, there are a lot of factors that are affecting the things that our customers -- that affect our customers' buying decisions. We continue to hear people thinking about the election. And we hear a lot of talk about China, the effect of China's devaluation of the yuan it's having.
We hear about tariffs. We hear about Japan and Korea. Brexit keeps brazing its ugly head. So all those factors, when you put that into global economy, really, it's slowing -- showing signs of slowness and lack of confidence just about everywhere in the globe.
But I would say that if you look at our order rates in the quarter, Europe, by far, decelerated the most. MEAP, the Middle East, continues to virtually be nonexistent. And although there are a lot of programs that are continually to be discussed, within Asia Pac, we're doing very well and continue to see growth and not only in China but in places like Vietnam as well as Australia.
Stephen Volkmann -- Jefferies -- Analyst
OK. That's helpful. And then just on your build schedules that you said you have adjusted, can you just give us a sense of those adjustments? And sort of the quantity as we think about the -- exiting the year?
Barry Pennypacker -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Yes, so what we do at the beginning of the year, for instance, if we're manufacturing our ATs in Germany, we pick a number and say, this is the number we're going to manufacture for the year based on our plan. And so then we get the supply chain geared up, we get the plant geared up, we get the people geared up. I mean, and then if we have to take 20 or 30 out of that plan by looking at current market conditions halfway through the year, we have to adjust the supply chain first and ensure that their shipments to us match our current needs in the plant. But we also have to adjust the amount of people that we have in the plans operating the machines and doing the assembly in order to ensure that our inventory targets for year-end are met.
Stephen Volkmann -- Jefferies -- Analyst
Right. OK. Maybe just -- can you give us a sense of how much below deliveries you'll be producing? Just roughly, 10%, lower?
Barry Pennypacker -- President and Chief Executive Officer
We don't intend to build inventory, so I would say that our build rate exiting the year will match our current levels of demand.
Stephen Volkmann -- Jefferies -- Analyst
OK. All right. Thank you.
Barry Pennypacker -- President and Chief Executive Officer
You're very welcome.
Operator
And moving on, we have Jamie Cook with Credit Suisse.
Barry Pennypacker -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Good morning, Jamie.
Jamie Cook -- Credit Suisse -- Analyst
Hi. Good morning. I -- good morning. I guess, two questions. One, your -- how should we think about order trajectory for the second half of the year, I guess, given the weakness that we're seeing? So if you could talk to that to sort of over the next two quarters and whether we should expect normal seasonality, I guess, would be my first question.
And then you also -- you didn't mention, obviously wanting to reduce inventory. I'm not sure if I missed this, but can you tell us what the actual target is to reduce inventory by year-end? Thank you.
David Antoniuk -- Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Yes. So Jamie, with regard to the first question, seasonality-wise, Q4, we run a winter campaign in towers. So we would anticipate normal seasonality where Q3 orders are going to be lower -- Q4 orders would pick up because of the seasonality as well. With regard to the inventories, we don't give particular targets.
And we kind of look at our inventory turns, and internally, we have internal metrics that get better on a year-over-year basis. So, there is no doubt that, as Barry mentioned, we will be adjusting build schedule which will also affect, what I'll say is, our factory overhead absorption in the quarter. So and I think -- so what we want to do is we want to come out and match our inventory levels with what I'll say is the projected market conditions going into 2020.
Barry Pennypacker -- President and Chief Executive Officer
So, Jamie, we expect $80 million out of inventory between now and end of the year.
Jamie Cook -- Credit Suisse -- Analyst
OK. That's very helpful. Thank you. I'll get back in queue.
Barry Pennypacker -- President and Chief Executive Officer
You're welcome.
Operator
And moving on, we have Jerry Revich of Goldman Sachs.
Unknown speaker
Hi. Good morning, everyone. This is Dan [Inaudible] on for Jerry.
Barry Pennypacker -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Good morning.
David Antoniuk -- Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Good morning.
Unknown speaker
You guys have had really strong margin expansion year to date around 300 bps year over year in 1Q in 2Q. In your guidance embeds, let's say, about 150 bps of expansion in 3Q, 4Q. And I guess two parts, can you kind of speak to what's driven the strong expansion in the first half? And then can you give us the puts and takes about what's tempering in the back half in terms of mix and other dynamics you're seeing?
Barry Pennypacker -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Yes. In the first half, I mean, we had very strong execution in our plants and we were also very successful in holding on to the pricing that we put into effect in the fourth quarter of last year. We expect to remain disciplined in that approach. However, it all depends upon how irrational some of the competition comes, whether or not we'll be able to hold that but certainly our intention to hold that as time goes on.
With regards to mix in the first half and the second half, I already described we have an inventory reduction plan of $80 million. Part of that inventory reduction plan, and as I said in my prepared remarks, includes a level of used equipment that we've accumulated as a result of doing some deals according to current market conditions. We have to liquidate that over the course of second half of the year. And as you can imagine, the used cranes that we take in on trade, were not going to get these types of margins that we would normally get from a brand-new crane.
You have anything to add, David?
David Antoniuk -- Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Yes. And apart from that, I'd say, the only other item is the seasonality associated with the sales that we're looking at first half, second half as well. But Barry had all the highlights that are the main drivers of why we're seeing the difference in the operating margin percentages.
Unknown speaker
Got it. And then on pricing, obviously, have been a bright point, particularly in aftermarket. Based on that and what you guys just stepped through, can you kind of give us an idea of where pricing is strong around the globe? And maybe in light of your comments just now, Barry, where you're seeing maybe some pressures?
Barry Pennypacker -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Pricing, we felt like in the Americas, we were way behind what the value we are providing to the marketplace with our new innovations, our new products. I mean for the North American market, a substantial portion of what we have developed over the course of the last 2.5 years was designated for this market. Those being our new RTs, being our new truck-mounted cranes and investment that have put into our boom truck product line. All of those, we expect that if we're listening to our customer and providing them with superior value and superior performance and over competition, then we should be able to get a premium for that.
And that's our philosophy. And as long as we continue to try and innovate the industry, which we're doing, I mean we got plans to introduce five to six new cranes in the second half of the year. We'll start shipping some of the innovative products that'll get to the market in second half of the year so customers can start to see that, for instance, we'll be shipping for the first time in the second half of the year, a three-axle, 165-ton RT. That's not been done by us in the past.
We've resisted that, but our consumers that have asked us for it, and now we'll start shipping it in the second half of the year. So we're focused. We remain resolute, and we're going to try to hold on as much as we possibly can. But I will say that most of the pricing activities that we enjoyed in the first half of the year have been in the Americas.
Unknown speaker
Understood. Thank you.
Barry Pennypacker -- President and Chief Executive Officer
You're welcome.
Operator
And moving on, from JP Morgan, we have Ann Duignan.
Ann Duignan -- J.P. Morgan -- Analyst
Hi. Maybe you can give us a little bit more color on what you are specifically seeing in the U.S. and the Americas in terms of how the quarter ended up versus your commentary that customers are becoming increasingly anxious?
Barry Pennypacker -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Yes. I think the Americas performed below our expectation in the second half of the quarter from an incoming order standpoint. I can directly attribute to the sentiment that exists out there with all the issues surrounding China and tariffs and oil prices, and the effect of the Middle East on oil prices in the U.S. There's just a pause, I would say, it's because utilization in the Americas remained very strong.
Rates, as far as we can tell, are remaining, their cranes that are working. And in a normal cycle, we would expect that in the second half of the year, we see a rebound in them.
Ann Duignan -- J.P. Morgan -- Analyst
But I think you're saying, now that you sit here in early August, we're not in a normal environment and unlikely things are probably worse today than they were a month or two ago?
Barry Pennypacker -- President and Chief Executive Officer
I would say, from a customer sentiment about pulling the trigger on making an investment, I agree with you 100%. From the underlying market conditions and demand for cranes, I don't believe that's degraded at all in the quarter.
Ann Duignan -- J.P. Morgan -- Analyst
OK. That's helpful. And then on the used equipment inventory liquidation, is there a risk that you will have to take a loss on those sales? And if yes, would they be material or there's so few of them, it's not important?
David Antoniuk -- Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Yes. So, Ann, typically unused, we'll have -- they'll be at lower margins that we enjoy for new products, but I would -- so you're going to have the mix issue that we've talked about in the cranes. But we market, so it's a market value in machine. So no, we don't expect losing money on those used equipments.
It's just that we will not enjoy the typical margin that we have. And most of our inventory in used is within Europe. It's currently reflected in our guidance. Correct.
Ann Duignan -- J.P. Morgan -- Analyst
OK. Perfect. And if I can, just one final quick one. Barry, you were pretty vocal and pretty bullish on an imminent-type acquisition last quarter, you even described the kind of mix you were looking for, etc., etc.
Could you just update us on, I mean, are we still looking at something being imminent or did something disappeared during the quarter?
Barry Pennypacker -- President and Chief Executive Officer
I guess, when you're doing an acquisition, you should be very careful of using the word imminent because there is nothing -- I mean, that word is -- like today, right? And I should have known better to say the word imminent because, quite frankly, I know it takes a while to negotiate and fully understand the potential acquisition is going to do to your overall business. And so the answer to that question is, we are actively pursuing multiple targets. We are negotiating with multiple targets. And I guess -- and I'm looking so forward to being able to release that press release at some point at the end of the day, saying that we've done our first one.
But I remain resolute, and I remain very disciplined in the approach that we're having with regards to capital and where we get the best return is where we will deploy our capital.
Ann Duignan -- J.P. Morgan -- Analyst
So, never call it imminent till the deal is done?
Barry Pennypacker -- President and Chief Executive Officer
No, no. I wouldn't -- imminent was not a good word, I admit that. It's a little over aggressive but that's just who I am.
Ann Duignan -- J.P. Morgan -- Analyst
Well, I think that's a fair call so I'll leave it there. Thank you.
Barry Pennypacker -- President and Chief Executive Officer
You're welcome.
Operator
And next, from RBC Capital Markets, we have Seth Weber.
Seth Weber -- RBC Capital Markets -- Analyst
Hi, guys. [Inaudible]
Barry Pennypacker -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Good morning, Seth. How are you?
Seth Weber -- RBC Capital Markets -- Analyst
[Technical difficulty]
Barry Pennypacker -- President and Chief Executive Officer
I'm very sorry. Operator, we cannot hear.
Seth Weber -- RBC Capital Markets -- Analyst
[Technical difficulty] Hello?
Barry Pennypacker -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Yes, we are here, but we're having a very difficult time hearing you. You're cutting out. Now I can.
Seth Weber -- RBC Capital Markets -- Analyst
Is that better? Sorry.
Barry Pennypacker -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Yes. Much better. Thank you.
Seth Weber -- RBC Capital Markets -- Analyst
OK. Sorry about that. Yes -- no. Sorry, Barry.
So nice job on the margins in the quarter. My question is really in a scenario where revenue is, call it, flat-to-down next year, do you think you could still get 100 -- call it, 100 -basis- points improvement in EBITDA margin next year?
Barry Pennypacker -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Absolutely.
Seth Weber -- RBC Capital Markets -- Analyst
You do? OK. And then, I guess, I noticed the restructuring expense number for this year came down a little bit. And I'm just -- given all the kind of the description, the puts and takes in the end markets, I'm curious, is that just a timing hiccup or how are you thinking about needs to restructure further given the market dynamics?
David Antoniuk -- Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Yes. So Seth, our guidance on the restructuring costs has come down because from a cost standpoint, our execution on restructuring has been less costly than we anticipated. So that benefit is now rolled into the guidance but we have not changed anything to our restructuring programs.
Seth Weber -- RBC Capital Markets -- Analyst
The programs haven't changed. OK.
Barry Pennypacker -- President and Chief Executive Officer
And we -- right. So it really relates to social programs because most of the stuff takes place outside the U.S.
Seth Weber -- RBC Capital Markets -- Analyst
Right. OK. Could I just slide another one in? On the aftermarket growth you guys talked about, can you just size that for us? How big of a percentage of the business is it today? And kind of how fast is it growing?
Barry Pennypacker -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Yes. So I mean, obviously, we've always been around that 20% category. I'd say our growth in the aftermarket has been in North America. I'd say our European and Asia Pac business has been flat.
However, I think that overall, we've been able to increase our margins in the aftermarket products as well.
Seth Weber -- RBC Capital Markets -- Analyst
OK. So is that -- so that's growing, I don't know, is it high single? Low double digits? Kind of an aggregate or -- is that a fair way to think about it?
Barry Pennypacker -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Yes. I mean, we look at it in a full year because you're going to have puts and takes with large orders on the parts business, but -- so we look at it 18% to 20% typically and -- but we are up on a year-over-year basis in both our margins and in our dollars.
Seth Weber -- RBC Capital Markets -- Analyst
Great. OK. Thank you very much, guys. Appreciate it.
Barry Pennypacker -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Thank you.
David Antoniuk -- Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
You're welcome.
Operator
[Operator instructions] Next we have Steven Fisher from UBS.
Steven Fisher -- UBS -- Analyst
Thanks. Good morning, guys.
Barry Pennypacker -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Good morning, Steve.
Steven Fisher -- UBS -- Analyst
Why don't you talk a little bit more about Europe, what you saw happen in the quarter as it unfolded because it sounded like back in May, things are pretty good coming out of bauma. So kind of where did you see it fall off? And maybe if you could talk a little bit about sort of by product categories, is it more weakness in towers, all terrains? Would you differentiate between vertical and horizontal construction, what you're seeing there?
Barry Pennypacker -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Yes. I mean, in Europe, it really truly boils down to France. France was extremely slow because of just the number of political factors that have happened. We are continuing this quarter to monitor that very closely.
But I will say this, our orders in the quarter for Europe, although they decelerated, were in line with our expectations. And as far as particular categories we are concerned, I'll tell you that from a towers' perspective, that continued to where we expected and maybe a little higher than we expected, especially going into the season that we're going into with regards to large vacation times. I mean -- I will say that I thought mobile was a little softer than what we had expected particularly with the new products that we introduced at bauma. So we have to watch that very closely.
Steven Fisher -- UBS -- Analyst
That's helpful. So as you think about sort of the second half of the year in Europe, I mean, are you anticipating that orders would be up year over year? Down or flat?
Barry Pennypacker -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Flat to up. [Inaudible] year over year.
Steven Fisher -- UBS -- Analyst
And then, I guess, similarly in North America, is there any differentiation that you would make in terms of public sector versus private sector in terms of that -- I assume that the hesitation and trigger pulling is more on sort of private markets, but at this point, what would you differentiate there if anything?
Barry Pennypacker -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Yes, I mean I think our dealer inventory continues to be healthy, and we're in a good position to capitalize when the market conditions become more salient. So -- and I think we're in pretty good shape in North America. We still have a great backlog that we have to execute on in the second half of the year but we just got to watch very carefully.
Steven Fisher -- UBS -- Analyst
OK. Thanks a lot.
Barry Pennypacker -- President and Chief Executive Officer
You're very welcome.
Operator
OK. Next we have Mig Dobre with Baird.
Barry Pennypacker -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Hello? Hello?
Operator
Mig, if you can hear us, you may be on mute. We're unable to [Inaudible]
Mig Dobre -- Robert W. Baird -- Analyst
Can you hear me now?
Barry Pennypacker -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Yes. Now, we can hear you.
Mig Dobre -- Robert W. Baird -- Analyst
My goodness. All right. Great. Good morning.
I just wanted a little more color on North America, Barry, if you would. How demand has been progressing there through the quarter? And what are you hearing from your customers going forward?
Barry Pennypacker -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Well, as I mentioned, dealer inventory is healthy, and they're positioned for the inevitable confidence coming back. I think as you look at utilization, it's been extremely high and continuing to improve quarter over quarter. So the customers I talk to just say that they have this feeling in their gut that they need to hold off in pulling the trigger until some of these other issues get worked out. I think the fundamental underlying market conditions, particularly in North America, remain very strong for things.
Mig Dobre -- Robert W. Baird -- Analyst
OK. That's helpful. And then maybe going back to that question that was asked on margins. I'm trying to sort of understand the moving pieces here.
I presume that your input costs are coming down. You're talking about good pricing that you're getting in the market still. So on that comment that you're able to -- you expect to be able to expand margins even in a more lackluster environment. What are some of the things that you can control in that you expect to be doing into next year that can add maybe a little more confidence to us that, that margin target, that margin goal of yours is achievable if you would?
Barry Pennypacker -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Well, one of the things that we've really stepped up our effort on and we haven't really talked too much about is low-country sourcing. We have a dedicated team that is working extremely hard that will allow us to source things in a much more effective manner than we have in the past. That continues to provide me great confidence about the future. And also as I continue to visit all of our plans on a global basis, and we still have many, many, many triggers to pull with regards to The Manitowoc Way to improve our overall throughput and our overall production capabilities.
That remains a confidence of mine and I'm sure David has a few words -- things that he'd like to add.
David Antoniuk -- Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
So, Mig, I think, generally speaking, Barry hit the big one on the inventory costs. Obviously, commodity prices regarding steel have come down, albeit in the last week or so, they've spiked up at different levels. We buy steel based upon a variety of methods, growing averages in over years, and some of the steel we buy is price fixed for a period of time as we have order. There's a number of dynamics in that approach but at this point in time, we do believe that we've covered everything for the year and we believe that we can make continued efforts going into 2020.
Mig Dobre -- Robert W. Baird -- Analyst
Good. Thank you.
Barry Pennypacker -- President and Chief Executive Officer
You're very welcome.
Operator
[Operator instructions] All right. And it appears that we have no further questions from the audience. I'd like to turn the floor back to Ion Warner for any additional or closing remarks.
Ion Warner -- Vice President, Marketing and Investor Relations
Thank you, Greg. Before we conclude today's call, please note that a replay of our second-quarter 2019 earnings conference call will be available later this morning by accessing the Investor Relations section of our website at www.manitowoc.com. Thank you, everyone, for joining us today and for your continued interest in The Manitowoc Company. We look forward to speaking with you again next quarter.
Have a good day, everyone.
Operator
[Operator signoff]
Duration: 36 minutes
Call participants:
Ion Warner -- Vice President, Marketing and Investor Relations
Barry Pennypacker -- President and Chief Executive Officer
David Antoniuk -- Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Stephen Volkmann -- Jefferies -- Analyst
Jamie Cook -- Credit Suisse -- Analyst
Unknown speaker
Ann Duignan -- J.P. Morgan -- Analyst
Seth Weber -- RBC Capital Markets -- Analyst
Steven Fisher -- UBS -- Analyst
Mig Dobre -- Robert W. Baird -- Analyst
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