Axcelis Technologies Inc (ACLS) 2024 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Good day ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Axcelis Technologies call to discuss the company's results for the 4th quarter and full year 2024.

女士們、先生們，大家好，歡迎參加 Axcelis Technologies 電話會議，討論公司 2024 年第四季和全年業績。

My name is [Dei], and I will be your coordinator for today.

我的名字是 [Dei]，今天我將擔任您的協調員。

I would now like to turn the presentation over to your host for today's call, David Ryzhik, Senior Vice President of Investor Relations and Corporate Strategy.

現在，我想將演講交給今天電話會議的主持人、投資者關係和企業策略高級副總裁 David Ryzhik。

Thank you, operator.

謝謝您，接線生。

This is David Ryzhik, Senior Vice President of Investor Relations and Corporate Strategy, and with me today is Russell Low, President and CEO, and James Coogan, executive Vice President and CFO.

我是投資者關係和企業策略高級副總裁 David Ryzhik，今天與我在一起的是總裁兼執行長 Russell Low 和執行副總裁兼財務長 James Coogan。

If you have not seen a copy of our press release issued yesterday, it is available on our website.

如果您還沒有看到我們昨天發布的新聞稿，您可以在我們的網站上查閱。

In addition, we've prepared slides accompanying today's call, and you can find those on our website as well.

此外，我們還準備了今天電話會議的幻燈片，您也可以在我們的網站上找到它們。

Playback service will also be available on our website as described in our press release.

正如我們的新聞稿中所述，我們的網站也將提供回放服務。

Please note that comments made today about our expectations for future revenues, profits, and other results are forward-looking statements under the SEC's Safe Harbor provision.

請注意，今天我們對未來收入、利潤和其他結果的預期評論屬於美國證券交易委員會安全港條款下的前瞻性陳述。

These forward-looking statements are based on management's current expectations and are subject to the risks inherent in our business.

這些前瞻性陳述是基於管理階層目前的預期，並受我們業務固有風險的影響。

These risks are described in detail in our Form 10K annual report and other SEC filings, which we urge you to review.

這些風險在我們的 10K 表年度報告和其他 SEC 文件中詳細描述，我們敦促您查看。

Our actual results may differ materially from our current expectations.

我們的實際結果可能與我們目前的預期有重大差異。

We do not assume any obligation to update these forward-looking statements.

我們不承擔更新這些前瞻性聲明的任何義務。

Now I'll turn the call over to the President and CEO Russell Low.

現在我將電話轉給總裁兼執行長 Russell Low。

Russell?

拉塞爾？

Good morning and thank you for joining us for our 4th quarter and full year 2024 results earnings call.

早安，感謝您參加我們的 2024 年第四季和全年業績電話會議。

Beginning on slide number 3, we [exit] the year on a solid note with revenue for the 4th quarter at $252 million and earnings per diluted share of $1.54. Revenue was slightly better than our expectations, a strong demand for our aftermarket CS&I sales partially offset the anticipated sequential decline in system sales.

從第三張投影片開始，我們以穩健的業績結束了這一年：第四季的營收為 2.52 億美元，每股攤薄收益為 1.54 美元。營收略優於我們的預期，售後市場 CS&I 銷售的強勁需求部分抵銷了系統銷售預期的連續下滑。

This strengthen our CSI business was the primary driver behind our better-than-expected margins and EPS in the quarter.

這加強了我們的 CSI 業務，這是我們本季利潤率和每股盈餘優於預期的主要驅動力。

Within our system's sales, a sequential decline in power and image sensors was offset by an improvement in general mature and memory sales.

在我們的系統銷售中，電源和影像感測器的連續下滑被整體成熟和記憶體銷售的改善所抵消。

And backlog declined during the quarter but remained at healthy levels.

本季積壓訂單減少，但仍維持在健康水準。

We also saw bookings stabilize, which came in flat on a sequential basis.

我們也看到預訂量趨於穩定，與上一季持平。

Turning to slide 4 in the quarter as well as for the full year, sales to mature node applications remain the [lion's] share of our business, in particular, power and general mature.

從本季以及全年來看，第 4 張投影片顯示，成熟節點應用程式的銷售仍佔據我們業務的最大份額，尤其是電力和一般成熟應用。

Now let you shift system revenue by end market, and I will begin with mature nodes on slide 5.

現在讓您按終端市場轉移系統收入，我將從幻燈片 5 上的成熟節點開始。

Revenue from our power market was 51% of our mix, down sequentially from 57% in Q3 2024.

我們來自電力市場的收入占我們收入組合的 51%，較 2024 年第三季的 57% 環比下降。

Shipments of silicon carbide applications moderated slightly in the fourth quarter.

第四季碳化矽應用的出貨量略有放緩。

However, on a full year 2024 basis, as systems sales of silicon carbide grew approximately 6% year over year.

然而，以 2024 年全年計算，碳化矽的系統銷售額年增約 6%。

Over the past several years, Axcelis has established itself as a market and technology leader in iron implantation for silicon carbide, one of the defining process steps in device manufacturing.

在過去的幾年中，Axcelis 已成為碳化矽鐵注入領域的市場和技術領導者，而碳化矽鐵注入是設備製造中決定性製程步驟之一。

We were first identified this emerging opportunities several years ago and quickly leveraged our [Purium] platform to drive necessary innovation.

幾年前，我們首次發現了這一新興機遇，並迅速利用我們的 [Purium] 平台來推動必要的創新。

This included the development of a differentiated medium current implanter followed by an extension of capabilities to our [Heiny] tools.

其中包括開發差異化的中等電流注入機，以及擴展我們的[Heiny]工具的功能。

Close collaboration with customers to understand their production needs, and finally we launched our high current implant to optimize the silicon carbide.

與客戶密切合作，了解他們的生產需求，最終我們推出了高電流注入來優化碳化矽。

This all translated into our systems shipments to silicon carbide by growing from approximately $8 million in 2020 to over $300 million in 2024.

這一切意味著我們的系統對碳化矽的出貨量將從 2020 年的約 800 萬美元成長到 2024 年的 3 億多美元。

And while we expect revenue from silicon carbides to decline sequentially in the first quarter of 2025, as customers undergo a digestion period, the fundamental long-term drivers remain intact as we expect adoption of silicon carbide to continue to increase, particularly as costs come down and new applications become economically viable.

雖然我們預計 2025 年第一季碳化矽的收入將環比下降，因為客戶正在經歷消化期，但根本的長期驅動因素仍然完好無損，因為我們預計碳化矽的採用將繼續增加，特別是隨著成本下降和新應用變得具有經濟可行性。

A case in point, we expect the EV industries transition from 400 volts to 800-volt architecture to greatly improved charging times, and this will require silicon carbide.

舉個例子，我們預計電動車產業將從 400 伏特架構過渡到 800 伏特架構，​​以大幅縮短充電時間，而這將需要碳化矽。

We're also closely monitoring power applications in the data centre where the demand for energy is rising rapidly and silicon carbide can be used to deliver more power, more efficiently.

我們也密切關注資料中心的電力應用，該中心的能源需求正在迅速成長，碳化矽可以用來更有效率地提供更多電力。

But our engagement with customers is not just confined to addressing their capacity needs.

但我們與客戶的合作不僅限於滿足他們的容量需求。

We are deeply embedded with the customers on their technology roadmaps, which include the transition from 150 millimetres to 200 millimetres, wafer size, the transition from planer to trench MOSFETs, the transition from trench to super junction, and some customers are even exploring wafer splitting applications to improve yield and lower cost.

我們與客戶深度合作，共同製定技術路線圖，包括從150毫米到200毫米的轉變、晶圓尺寸、從平面到溝槽MOSFET的轉變、從溝槽到超結的轉變，一些客戶甚至在探索晶圓分割應用，以提高良率並降低成本。

In all of these cases, Axcelis is a key enabler, and we believe the need for higher performance devices with higher yield and lower cost will only unlock new opportunities for silicon carbide in power applications.

在所有這些案例中，Axcelis都是關鍵推動因素，我們相信對更高產量、更低成本、更高性能設備的需求只會為碳化矽在電力應用中帶來新的機會。

We believe we're in the early stages of the silicon carbide market growth.

我們相信我們正處於碳化矽市場成長的早期階段。

Turning to Silicon IGBT, system sales declined in the 4th quarter, and we anticipate this market to continue to soften in 2025 as our customers continue to work on managing capacity amid the slower than expected industrial auto recovery.

談到矽 IGBT，系統銷售額在第四季度有所下降，我們預計該市場在 2025 年將繼續疲軟，因為我們的客戶在工業汽車復甦速度低於預期的情況下繼續致力於管理產能。

In general mature, revenue increased sequentially in the 4th quarter, led by investments in China or other regions remained muted.

總體而言，第四季營收環比成長，主要是由於對中國或其他地區的投資保持低迷。

As a reminder, General Mature represents a broad array of semiconductor applications requiring a 28-nanometre process node or above.

提醒一下，General Mature 代表了需要 28 奈米或以上製程節點的廣泛半導體應用。

This includes RF, analog, microcontrollers, and other semiconductor applications.

這包括射頻、類比、微控制器和其他半導體應用。

We continue to monitor key end markets, mainly auto, industrial, and consumer, which generally are drivers of our general mature segment.

我們繼續監測主要的終端市場，主要是汽車、工業和消費市場，這些市場通常是我們成熟細分市場的驅動因素。

Given the recent industry commentary of a slower than expected recovery in the auto and industrial markets, along with an anticipated digestion of mature no capacity in China, we expect our general mature revenue to decline sequentially in the 1st quarter.

鑑於近期行業評論稱汽車和工業市場復甦慢於預期，加上中國預計消化成熟產能，我們預計第一季整體成熟收入將環比下降。

Over the long term, as inventory levels normalize and demand recovers in key end markets, we anticipate a general mature business to benefit accordingly as iron implant intensity is particularly high for process modes of 28 nanometres and above.

從長遠來看，隨著庫存水準正常化和主要終端市場需求復甦，我們預計一般成熟業務將受益，因為對於 28 奈米及以上的製程模式，鐵注入強度特別高。

Turn into image sensors as we anticipated revenue moderated in the 4th quarter following a large customer order in China in the 3rd quarter.

由於第三季中國客戶大量訂單，我們預計第四季度收入將放緩，因此我們轉向影像感測器業務。

In the sense of production will continue to rely on a large part on smartphone volumes, but also to a lesser extent on auto, as we're seeing increased camera content in autos.

從生產意義上來說，很大程度上仍將依賴智慧型手機的產量，但在較小程度上也依賴汽車，因為我們看到汽車中攝影機含量的增加。

As we think about the 1st quarter, we expect image sensor revenue to be flattish on a sequential basis.

回顧第一季度，我們預計影像感測器收入將環比持平。

Turning to slide 6, in Advanced Logic, we shipped the system to a new Advanced Logic customer in the 4th quarter following a previous announced order received in the 2nd quarter, and we had discussions for a follow-on order.

前往投影片 6，在 Advanced Logic，我們在第二季宣布收到訂單之後，於第四季度將系統發送給了新的 Advanced Logic 客戶，並且我們就後續訂單進行了討論。

We continue to work actively with customers as well as with a leading European advanced logic research centre in understanding next generation advanced logic applications for iron implantation.

我們繼續積極與客戶以及歐洲領先的先進邏輯研究中心合作，以了解鐵注入的下一代先進邏輯應用。

Growing footprint within the advanced logic market is a strategic goal of ours, which is a multi-year initiative, and we are still in the relatively early stages.

擴大先進邏輯市場的影響力是我們的策略目標，這是一項多年計劃，但我們仍處於相對早期的階段。

Moving to memory, as we anticipated, we saw a sequential improvement in sales to the memory market, specifically for DRAM.

轉向內存，正如我們預期的那樣，我們看到內存市場銷售連續改善，特別是 DRAM。

Looking ahead to the first quarter, we expect sales and memory to be relatively consistent on a sequential basis, entirely in DRAM.

展望第一季度，我們預計銷售額和記憶體將保持相對一致，全部在 DRAM 中。

In the end, we believe customers have ample capacity given current demand trends and expect this to remain the case in 2025.

最後，我們相信，鑑於目前的需求趨勢，客戶擁有充足的產能，並預計這種情況在 2025 年仍將如此。

As we think about our memory business over the long term, we are quite excited about the opportunity both in DRAM and NAND given the following drivers.

當我們從長遠角度考慮我們的記憶體業務時，考慮到以下驅動因素，我們對 DRAM 和 NAND 領域的機會感到非常興奮。

One, growth in AI and its structural impact on high bandwidth memory, which is absorbing DRAM capacity.

一是人工智慧的成長及其對高頻寬記憶體的結構性影響，高頻寬記憶體正在吸收 DRAM 容量。

In fact, not only are AI server unit volumes expected to grow significantly, but HBM content per service also expects to grow, enabling a multiplier effect on HBM capacity.

事實上，不僅 AI 伺服器單元數量預計會大幅成長，而且每個服務的 HBM 內容預計也會成長，對 HBM 容量產生乘數效應。

Two, AI's impact on new data creation, particularly inference whereby new data sets need to be manipulated and stored, which we believe will be a tailwind for DRAM and NAND.

二是人工智慧對新資料創造的影響，特別是需要操作和儲存新資料集的推理，我們認為這將成為 DRAM 和 NAND 的順風。

Three, Rising memory and storage content in smartphones, servers and PCs as devices need to process and store more data and four, device volume growth resulting from improved macro and potential refresh cycles.

三、由於設備需要處理和儲存更多數據，智慧型手機、伺服器和個人電腦中的記憶體和儲存內容不斷增加；四、由於宏觀和潛在刷新周期的改善導致設備容量增長。

We believe that the confluence of these catalysts translates into an attractive long-term market for sellers, and while the market recovery is instrumental to any growth in our memory business, we are not standing still, we're focused on penetrating new customer opportunities in memory where historically had a low share, and I'm pleased to say we've had some initial progress in this regard.

我們相信，這些催化劑的融合將為賣家帶來一個具有吸引力的長期市場，雖然市場復甦對我們內存業務的任何增長都至關重要，但我們並沒有停滯不前，我們專注於在歷史上份額較低的內存領域開拓新的客戶機會，我很高興地說，我們在這方面已經取得了一些初步進展。

Turning to slide 7, as we look back on 2024, I am proud of how our team executed amidst a dynamic demand environment.

翻到第 7 張投影片，當我們回顧 2024 年時，我為我們的團隊在動態需求環境中的表現感到自豪。

The full year we saw continued growth in sales of to silicon carbide, or silicon IGBT softened considerably.

全年我們看到碳化矽或矽IGBT的銷量持續成長，但明顯疲軟。

In memory, demand remains soft as customers navigated through lower utilizations.

記憶中，由於客戶的使用率較低，需求仍然疲軟。

Despite this, we focused on what we can control, and this included, working close to their customers to enable their technology production road maps, placing evaluation units into the field, seeding new opportunities.

儘管如此，我們仍將重點放在我們可以控制的事情上，其中包括與客戶密切合作以實現他們的技術生產路線圖，將評估單元放入現場，播下新的機會。

Continuing to invest in our R&D to maintain a robust pace of innovation and maintaining strong margins due to favorable mix and cost control.

繼續投資於我們的研發，以保持強勁的創新步伐，並由於有利的產品組合和成本控製而保持強勁的利潤率。

In fact, despite a year over year decline in revenue, we grew our gross margins by more than 100 basis points.

事實上，儘管收入同比下降，但我們的毛利率卻增加了 100 個基點以上。

On slide 8, let me now discuss some of our initial perspectives on 2025.

在第 8 張投影片上，現在讓我討論一下我們對 2025 年的一些初步看法。

We anticipate overall revenue in 2025 is decline on a year over year basis.

我們預計 2025 年的總收入將年減。

As we think about the trends by segment, we expect the digestion of capacity in the power and general mature markets, primarily in China.

當我們考慮各個細分市場的趨勢時，我們預期電力和一般成熟市場的產能消化，主要是在中國。

In memory, we expect year over year growth in 2025 specifically time to DRAM investments while NAND remains muted.

在記憶體方面，我們預計 2025 年 DRAM 投資將同比增長，而 NAND 投資將保持低迷。

And we expect modest revenue from our initiatives in advanced logic, consistent with our expectations of being in the early stages of a multi-year growth effort.

我們預期先進邏輯領域的舉措將帶來適度的收入，這與我們處於多年成長努力初期的預期一致。

In summary, while the near-term demand backdrop is muted, the fundamental long-term drivers of our business remain intact, namely, long term secular growth in power, particularly silicon carbide, which we believe will continue to proliferate within an existing and new application, given the world's insatiable demand for more power and greater efficiency.

總而言之，雖然短期需求背景低迷，但我們業務的根本長期驅動力仍然完好無損，即電力的長期增長，特別是碳化矽，我們相信，鑑於世界對更多電力和更高效率的需求，碳化矽將在現有和新的應用中繼續激增。

Market recovery memory in general mature, checking about logic and geographic expansion into Japan, which is a sizeable market for iron plantation where we have relatively low penetration.

市場復甦記憶總體上已經成熟，檢查邏輯和向日本的地理擴張，日本是鐵礦種植園的一個相當大的市場，而我們的滲透率相對較低。

As a result, we are taking actions today to increase our technology engagement with customers to help accelerate their road maps.

因此，我們今天採取行動，加強與客戶的技術合作，以幫助他們加速實現路線圖。

On that note, before I hand over to Jamie, as you can see in slide 9, I'm particularly proud of the Axcelis's team and the recognition we've received from customers in 2024.

在這一點上，在我將權力移交給 Jamie 之前，正如您在幻燈片 9 中看到的那樣，我對 Axcelis 團隊以及我們在 2024 年獲得的客戶認可感到特別自豪。

We received 22 customer rewards covering overall supplier excellence to support safety, health, and others, and this represents a significant increase compared to 2023.

我們獲得了 22 項客戶獎勵，涵蓋了供應商在支援安全、健康等方面的整體卓越表現，與 2023 年相比有顯著成長。

The core of our culture itself is customer first, then company and then sell, and this is a shining endorsement of how we operate.

我們文化的核心本身就是客戶第一、公司第一、銷售第一，這是對我們營運方式的光輝認可。

With that let me turn the call up to Jamie for a closer look at our results and outlook.

因此，請允許我把電話轉給傑米，以便更仔細地了解我們的結果和前景。

Jamie?

傑米？

Thank you, Russell, and good morning, everyone.

謝謝你，拉塞爾，大家早安。

I'll first start with some additional detail on our 4th quarter and full year results before turning to our outlook for Q1.

我將首先詳細介紹我們的第四季和全年業績，然後再介紹我們對第一季的展望。

Starting on slide 10, 4th quarter revenue was $252.4 million with systems revenue at $187.4 million and CS&I at $65 million.

從第 10 張投影片開始，第 4 季營收為 2.524 億美元，其中系統收入為 1.874 億美元，CS&I 為 6,500 萬美元。

This was above our outlook, largely driven by better-than-expected CS&I sales.

這高於我們的預期，主要是由於 CS&I 銷售優於預期。

As a reminder, CS&I is driven by our installed base and represents consumables, spares, services, and upgrades.

提醒一下，CS&I 由我們的安裝基礎驅動，代表消耗品、備件、服務和升級。

In the quarter, we saw stronger upgrade activity as customers are looking for ways to enhance their technology within the same factory footprint.

在本季度，我們看到了更強勁的升級活動，因為客戶正在尋找在同一工廠範圍內增強其技術的方法。

We also executed well on service contracts.

我們也很好地履行了服務合約。

From a geographic perspective, China remained our strongest region at 49% of total ship system sales, with the sequential decline quarter over quarter, primarily due to an anticipated decline in image sensor following a large order in the third quarter, as well as a moderation in sales to the power market.

從地理角度來看，中國仍然是我們最強勁的地區，佔船舶系統總銷售額的 49%，且環比下降，主要原因是第三季大訂單之後影像感測器的預期下降，以及電力市場的銷售放緩。

On the other hand, we saw system sales to Korea improved to 11% in the fourth quarter compared to only 1% in the third quarter, mainly due to improved shipments in memory.

另一方面，我們發現第四季對韓國的系統銷售額成長至 11%，而第三季僅為 1%，這主要歸功於記憶體出貨量的增加。

Bookings in the fourth quarter were $84.5 million or flat on a sequential basis, while backlog exiting the year was $646 million.

第四季的訂單量為 8,450 萬美元，與上一季持平，而年末的積壓訂單量為 6.46 億美元。

On a full year basis, 2024 revenue totalled $1.02 billion consisting of $783 million in systems revenue and $235 million in CS&I revenue.

從全年來看，2024 年收入總計 10.2 億美元，其中包括 7.83 億美元的系統收入和 2.35 億美元的 CS&I 收入。

Turning to slide 11 for additional detail.

請翻到第 11 張投影片來了解更多詳細資訊。

On the fourth quarter in full year results, gross margins in the fourth quarter was 46%, which exceeded our outlook of 42.5%, driven primarily by stronger than expected CS&I revenue, which carries higher than corporate average margins.

從全年業績來看，第四季的毛利率為 46%，超過了我們預期的 42.5%，這主要得益於 CS&I 收入強於預期，其利潤率高於企業平均水平。

Operating expenses totalled $61.7 million slightly above our outlook of $60 million partly due to higher variable compensation associated with our stronger performance.

營業費用總計 6,170 萬美元，略高於我們預期的 6,000 萬美元，部分原因是我們業績強勁導致的浮動薪酬增加。

As a result, operating profit was $54.5 million reflecting a 21.6% operating margin.

結果，營業利潤為 5,450 萬美元，營業利潤率為 21.6%。

We generated approximately $4.1 million in other income, a sequential decline due to an FX gain we saw in the third quarter, and our tax rate in Q4 was 15% in line with our outlook.

我們產生了約 410 萬美元的其他收入，由於第三季度的外匯收益而環比下降，第四季度的稅率為 15%，與我們的預期一致。

Our weighted average diluted share count in the quarter was 32.5 million shares.

本季我們的加權平均攤薄股數為 3,250 萬股。

This all translates into diluted earnings per share of $1.54 which exceeded our outlook of $1.25. The higher-than-expected EPS was primarily due to better than expected revenue and gross margins.

這一切意味著每股攤薄收益為 1.54 美元，超過了我們預期的 1.25 美元。每股收益高於預期主要由於收入和毛利率好於預期。

For the full year, we delivered gross margins of 44.7%, a 120 basis points increase year over year, despite lower revenue volume.

全年來看，儘管收入有所下降，但我們的毛利率達到 44.7%，年增 120 個基點。

This was due to favourable mix and the continued focus on cost control.

這是由於良好的產品組合和對成本控制的持續關注。

Operating expenses for the full year of 2024 were $244 million and operating income was $211 million translating into an operating margin of 20.7%.

2024 年全年營業費用為 2.44 億美元，營業收入為 2.11 億美元，營業利益率為 20.7%。

Our full year tax rate was 13% and our full year diluted earnings per share was $6.15.

我們的全年稅率為 13%，全年每股攤薄收益為 6.15 美元。

Moving to our cash flow and balance sheet, we generated $8 million of free cash flow in the quarter.

至於我們的現金流和資產負債表，我們在本季產生了 800 萬美元的自由現金流。

The lower cash flow in the quarter was primarily due to the timing of cash receipts associated with deliveries in the 4th quarter.

本季現金流較低主要是由於第四季度交付相關的現金收據時間所致。

In the quarter, we repurchased $15 million of shares and exited the fourth quarter with $130 million remaining in share repurchase authorization.

本季度，我們回購了價值 1,500 萬美元的股票，在第四季度結束時，剩餘的股票回購授權金額為 1.3 億美元。

For the full year, we repurchased $60 million in shares, which amounted to 47% of our free cash flow.

全年我們回購了價值 6,000 萬美元的股票，占我們自由現金流的 47%。

We exited the year with a strong balance sheet consisting of $571 million of cash, cash equivalents, and short-term investments on hand with no debt.

我們以強勁的資產負債表結束了這一財年，其中包括 5.71 億美元的現金、現金等價物和短期投資，且沒有債務。

This provides a solid foundation for our capital allocation strategy, which falls into three main categories.

這為我們的資本配置策略提供了堅實的基礎，該策略主要分為三類。

First, continued organic investment.

一是持續進行有機投資。

Our strong cast position allows us to continue to invest in product innovation despite the near-term digestion in some of our end markets.

儘管我們的部分終端市場近期有所消化，但我們強大的鑄造地位使我們能夠繼續投資於產品創新。

While the semi-in industry has had many cycles in its history, the overarching trend is one of strong secular growth, and the current environment is a great opportunity to increase our engagement with our customers on their technology roadmaps as we work to best position the company as and when markets return to growth.

雖然半成品行業在歷史上經歷過許多周期，但總體趨勢是強勁的長期增長，當前的環境是一個很好的機會，可以讓我們加強與客戶在技術路線圖上的互動，同時我們努力在市場恢復增長時使公司處於最佳位置。

Second, our strong cash position allows us to continue to execute on our buyback program, which more than offsets the dilution from equity compensation.

其次，我們強大的現金狀況使我們能夠繼續執行回購計劃，這足以抵消股權補償帶來的稀釋。

For historical context, over the past 5 years, we've repurchased more than $200 million in shares.

從歷史背景來看，在過去的五年裡，我們回購了價值超過 2 億美元的股票。

Third, we continue to evaluate opportunities for inorganic growth.

第三，我們持續評估無機成長的機會。

We remain disciplined in our approach and consider opportunities only if they deliver sustainable long-term shareholder value creation.

我們始終嚴守自己的做法，只考慮能夠為股東創造可持續的長期價值的機會。

Before I move to our outlook, I'd like to discuss a few reporting changes beginning with our first quarter, 2025 report.

在談到我們的展望之前，我想討論一下從 2025 年第一季報告開始的一些報告變化。

Following a thorough review of our peers, we've decided to add non-GAAP measures as part of our quarterly reporting process.

在對同業進行全面審查後，我們決定將非公認會計準則指標作為季度報告流程的一部分。

We believe this enhanced layer of disclosure will improve transparency on the underlying performance of the business.

我們相信，加強揭露層面將提高企業基本績效的透明度。

This will also help us align with the practices of our peer group, which can result in an easier benchmarking process by our analysts and investors.

這也將幫助我們與同行的做法保持一致，從而使我們的分析師和投資者更輕鬆地進行基準測試過程。

Second, starting in the 1st quarter, we will begin including image sensor revenue.

第二，從第一季開始，我們將開始包括影像感測器收入。

As part of our general mature category, given the relatively small size of image sensor business, we believe it's a logical fit within our general mature category.

作為我們一般成熟類別的一部分，考慮到影像感測器業務規模相對較小，我們認為它符合我們一般成熟類別的邏輯。

Which already consists of a broad array of applications.

它已經包含廣泛的應用程式。

We believe this further simplifies our disclosures.

我們相信這進一步簡化了我們的揭露。

With that, let me discuss our first quarter outlook on slide 14.

因此，讓我在第 14 頁討論一下我們第一季的展望。

We expect revenue in the first quarter of approximately $185 million.

我們預計第一季的營收約為 1.85 億美元。

The sequential decline is primarily a result of lower systems revenue from China customers for the power and general mature applications, as well as a seasonal decline in our CS&I revenue.

連續下降主要是由於來自中國客戶的電力和一般成熟應用系統收入下降，以及我們的 CS&I 收入季節性下降。

As we think about the balance of the year, we expect revenue in the 2nd quarter to be relatively consistent with the 1st quarter.

考慮到今年的平衡，我們預計第二季的營收將與第一季相對一致。

And based on our discussions with customers and our view into our current backlog, we anticipate that revenue will improve slightly in the second half compared to the 1st.

根據我們與客戶的討論以及對目前積壓訂單的看法，我們預計下半年的收入將比上半年略有改善。

Turning to gross margins, we expect first quarter gross margins to be approximately 40%.

談到毛利率，我們預計第一季的毛利率約為 40%。

The primary driver of lower gross margin is lower overall volumes, as well as anticipated mix.

毛利率下降的主要原因是整體銷售下降以及預期的產品組合。

While gross margin in a one quarter can be dictated by a variety of factors, we expect gross margin in the first quarter to be the low point of the year, and we anticipate a gradual sequential improvement resulting from mix in our continued cost controls flowing through over the balance of the year.

雖然一個季度的毛利率可能受多種因素影響，但我們預計第一季的毛利率將是今年的最低點，並且我們預計，由於我們持續的成本控制將在今年剩餘時間內逐漸實現連續改善。

We expect first quarter operating expenses of approximately $63 million with the slight sequential increase resulting from the seasonal increase in payroll taxes.

我們預計第一季的營運費用約為 6,300 萬美元，由於工資稅的季節性增加，較上季略有增加。

For the full year, we anticipate operating expenses to be relatively flat on a year over year basis as we continue to manage our cost structure with discipline while ensuring we are making the necessary investments to capture the long-term growth opportunities that lie ahead.

我們預計全年營業費用將與去年同期相比相對持平，因為我們將繼續嚴格管理我們的成本結構，同時確保進行必要的投資，以抓住未來的長期成長機會。

We expect our tax rate for the first quarter and the full year to be approximately 15%.

我們預計第一季和全年的稅率約為15%。

This all translates into estimated diluted earnings per share in the first quarter of approximately $0.38.

這一切意味著第一季每股攤薄收益預計約為 0.38 美元。

Finally, on January 10, we filed an AK discussing our preliminary review of the new restrictions put in place by the US government on December 2, 2024.

最後，我們於 1 月 10 日提交了一份 AK，討論我們對美國政府於 2024 年 12 月 2 日實施的新限制的初步審查。

And at that time, we estimated an approximately $20 million to $50 million impact to our revenue to China in 2025.

當時，我們估計這將對我們 2025 年在中國的收入產生約 2,000 萬至 5,000 萬美元的影響。

We now estimate the full year impact to be closer towards the low end of that range, and this is factored into our outlook.

我們現在估計全年影響將更接近該範圍的低端，並且這已計入我們的展望中。

In summary, we are pleased with our performance in 2024.

總而言之，我們對 2024 年的表現感到滿意。

Despite a decline in revenue, we are able to deliver higher gross margins, generate solid free cash flow, return capital to shareholders via our existing $200 million stock buyback program, and exit the year with a stronger balance sheet than we did coming into it.

儘管收入有所下降，但我們能夠提供更高的毛利率，產生穩定的自由現金流，透過現有的 2 億美元股票回購計劃向股東返還資本，並以比年初更強勁的資產負債表結束今年。

With that, let me hand the call back to Russell for closing remarks.

說完這些，請容許我將發言權交還給拉塞爾，請他作最後發言。

Russell?

拉塞爾？

Thank you, Jamie.

謝謝你，傑米。

We exit 2024 on a strong note and are focused on capturing the growth opportunities that lie ahead.

我們將以強勁的勢頭迎接 2024 年，並專注於抓住未來的成長機會。

We're investing in innovation, managing our costs, and working closely with customers on their technology roadmaps, which we believe will help us in an even stronger position for the next upturn.

我們正在投資創新，管理成本，並與客戶密切合作，制定技術路線圖，我們相信這將有助於我們在下一次經濟復甦中佔據更有利的地位。

In closing, I want to thank our customers, employees, shareholders and partners for their continued support and trust in Axcelis.

最後，我要感謝我們的客戶、員工、股東和合作夥伴對Axcelis的持續支持和信任。

With that operator, we are ready to take your questions.

有了這個接線員，我們就可以回答您的問題了。

(Operator Instructions) Charles Shi, Needham & Company, LLC

（操作說明）Charles Shi，Needham & Company，LLC

Hi, good morning.

嗨，早安。

Maybe the first question, want to get a sense, of your assessment, slightly better second half, for the year, I heard you are guiding, I mean, roughly speaking, flatish into Q2, but what are some of the factors you're seeing that could get your second half slightly higher than the first half?

也許第一個問題是，想了解您的評估，對於今年下半年會稍微好一些，我聽說您指導說，粗略地說，第二季度會持平，但是您看到哪些因素可能會讓您的下半年略高於上半年？

That's the first question.

這是第一個問題。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Yeah, hi Charles, it's Russell.

是的，嗨，查爾斯，我是拉塞爾。

Thank you for your question.

感謝您的提問。

So, I think, why do we believe the second half is going to be stronger than the first half?

那麼，我想，我們為什麼相信下半年會比上半年更強勁？

So, this view is based on our backlog, our conversations with customers, and our own internal work.

因此，這種觀點是基於我們的積壓工作、與客戶的對話以及我們自己的內部工作。

So obviously we're continuing to monitor bookings for the course of the year.

因此，顯然我們會繼續監控全年的預訂情況。

They seem to have actually stabilized, and I'd say at this stage of the quarter we're actually ahead of bookings compared to say Q4.

它們似乎已經穩定下來，我想說，在本季度的這個階段，我們的預訂量實際上比第四季度增加。

So that's giving us some encouragement there.

這給了我們一些鼓勵。

Each and every one of the tools in the forecast now actually belongs to a project, a customer project.

現在預測中的每一個工具其實都屬於一個項目，一個客戶專案。

So, with the turn of the year, customers have put their budgets in place.

因此，隨著今年的到來，客戶已經制定了預算。

They begin to formalize and stabilize their plans for the year, and that's allowing us to work with the customers to make sure we understand their shipping plans.

他們開始正式化和穩定年度計劃，這使我們能夠與客戶合作，以確保我們了解他們的運輸計劃。

So, I would say that we have fairly good confidence that the second half is going to be better than the first half.

因此，我想說，我們有相當好的信心，下半年會比上半年更好。

Yeah, and just to add into that, although we're not giving specific revenue figures for 2025, Charles, and as I said in the prepared remarks, we do expect a slight uptick in the second half of 25.

是的，補充一點，雖然我們沒有給出 2025 年的具體收入數字，但查爾斯，正如我在準備好的發言中所說，我們確實預計 2025 年下半年會略有上升。

But again, all the factors Russell just mentioned are backlogged, the customer conversations.

但是，拉塞爾剛才提到的所有因素都積壓了，也就是客戶對話。

It doesn't take a whole lot of incremental systems for us to sort of be in and around that $800 million number for the full year period.

我們不需要大量的增量系統就能將全年營收控制在 8 億美元左右。

And Charles, as you, as the secular drivers are still very much intact.

查爾斯，就像你一樣，作為世俗的推動者，仍然完好無損。

This is a cycle we've been through many cycles, so, we do expect the cycle to disappear, to start to see growth again, and we'd like to think that 2026 will be a growth year for us as well.

我們已經經歷過許多次這樣的週期，因此，我們確實預計這個週期將會消失，並開始再次看到成長，我們希望 2026 年也將是我們的成長年。

We'd like to see the second half of 25 be better than the first half, and we'd like to see some of that strength continue into 2026.

我們希望 2025 年下半年會比上半年表現更好，並且希望這種強勁勢頭能夠延續到 2026 年。

Thanks, for, walking us through, a few of the market assumptions, behind the outlook.

謝謝您向我們介紹前景背後的一些市場假設。

Maybe another question, maybe this is not a big part of the business.

也許還有一個問題，也許這不是業務的很大一部分。

I want, I do want to ask about memory.

我想，我確實想問有關記憶的問題。

It sounds like you guys still think, vast majority of the memory revenue in 25 is going to come from DRAM, and over the course of last couple of weeks, we did hear a little bit more positive commentary from some of your peers on NAND side of the spending, but sounds like you're not expecting a pickup in NAND wonder if this is still a difference between Greenfield versus no upgrade or maybe there's some hope or maybe at some point you're going to see some upside in NAND I just want to get your thoughts on that.

聽起來你們仍然認為，25 年中絕大多數內存收入將來自 DRAM，並且在過去的幾周中，我們確實聽到一些同行對 NAND 支出方面的積極評價，但聽起來你們並不期待 NAND 的回升，想知道這是否仍然是 Greenfield 與無升級之間的區別，或者可能有一些希望，或者也許在某個時候你會看到 NAND 的一些上升空間，我只是想听聽空間，我只是想聽聽你的看法。

Right, so we do believe that NAND is still going to be very muted in 2025.

是的，所以我們確實相信 2025 年 NAND 仍然會非常低迷。

So yes, you're correct.

是的，你是對的。

What we're seeing in 2025, which, yeah, we are seeing an improved memory situation, 25 relative to 24, [albeit] 24 is a low base, thinking specifically about NANDs, we only sell more implanters to memory in general, both DRAM and NAND, when they expand the number of wafers out.

我們在 2025 年看到的情況是，是的，我們看到了記憶體狀況的改善，25 相對於 24，[儘管] 24 是一個較低的基數，專門考慮 NAND，當它們擴大晶圓數量時，我們只會向記憶體（包括 DRAM 和 NAND）出售更多的注入機。

So, if they change the technology node and in terms of NAND Put more and more layers on that might be great for death and edge.

因此，如果他們改變技術節點並在 NAND 方面增加越來越多的層，那麼這對於死亡和邊緣來說可能會很有幫助。

It's not really helping the number of wafers out.

這對於增加晶圓數量其實也沒什麼幫助。

So right now I'd say that, customers in the quiet times, they use that time to node changes, and those node changes may drive some revenue to our peers, but until we start to see, more capacity and bear in mind a lot of these customers do have actually capacity plans, but until they start filling those new factories, we won't start to see the benefits of that.

所以現在我想說的是，客戶在淡季會利用這段時間進行節點變更，這些節點變更可能會為我們的同行帶來一些收入，但是直到我們開始看到更多的產能，並記住很多客戶確實有產能計劃，但是直到他們開始填充這些新工廠，我們才會開始看到它的好處。

Got it.

知道了。

Maybe a last question about export control.

最後一個問題是關於出口管制的。

I recognize, some of the expected the China weakness probably has very little to do with the export control, but you are actually seeing potentially, the impact that could be at the low end of your previously guided range.

我承認，預期中的中國經濟疲軟可能與出口管制關係不大，但您實際上可能看到，其影響可能處於您先前指導範圍的低端。

Wonder what's the reason for that, and what do you see why you feel like you are able to actually ship some of the, I don't know if it's a product or service, but you are able to sell a little bit more than you thought.

想知道這是什麼原因，為什麼你覺得你實際上能夠運送一些，我不知道它是產品還是服務，但你能夠賣出比你想像的多一點。

Yeah, no, Charles, thanks for the question on that.

是的，查爾斯，謝謝你提出這個問題。

In the AK that we prepared, we ultimately, that was a preliminary estimate based on our, review of the rules and at an abundance of caution, we included some system shipments in that number to build us up to the high end.

在我們準備的 AK 中，最終，這是一個基於我們對規則的審查的初步估計，出於謹慎考慮，我們在該數字中包含了一些系統出貨量，以達到高端。

So you may recall the low end represented sort of the CS&I impact and the high end included some incremental systems that could be at risk based on the interpretation of the rules, since then we've received some incremental information and data that provides confidence in our ability to be able to deliver on those system shipments, which is why we're now predicting the impact to be closer to the low end of that range, and that low end of the range has already been baked into our guidance for the full year.

因此，您可能還記得，低端代表了 CS&I 的影響，而高端包括一些可能根據規則的解釋而面臨風險的增量系統，從那時起，我們收到了一些增量信息和數據，使我們對能夠交付這些系統出貨量的能力充滿信心，這就是為什麼我們現在預測影響會更接近該範圍的低端，並且已經納入了我們對全年低端的指導。

Craig Ellis, B Riley Securities.

克雷格·埃利斯（Craig Ellis），B Riley Securities。

Yeah, thanks for taking the question and congratulations on 2024's risk margin performance guys.

是的，感謝您回答這個問題，並祝賀 2024 年的風險保證金表現。

I wanted to start just focused on some of the near term dynamics.

我想先關註一些近期的動態。

So, what are the things that you're seeing in the business that might indicate that the first quarter would be a bottom for the digestion that's occurring and alternatively, what.

那麼，您在業務中看到的哪些情況可能表明第一季將是正在發生的消化過程的底部，或者是什麼。

Might be indicating that that may play out more in the 2nd quarter and related to digestion since power in general mature digestion is mostly in China.

這可能表明這可能會在第二季度發揮更大的作用，並且與消化有關，因為一般成熟的消化能力主要在中國。

Does that mean there are some more positive things going on in other GOs or just an easier base coming off of the second half of last year?

這是否意味著其他 GO 中正在發生一些更積極的事情，還是只是去年下半年的基礎更容易了？

Hey Craig, thanks for the question.

嘿 Craig，謝謝你的提問。

So, I think we've said that we believe the first half will be lower than the second half.

所以，我認為我們已經說過，我們相信上半年的業績將低於下半年。

We haven't kind of broken it down into quarters at this point.

目前我們還沒有將其分成四個部分。

We do think that you know obviously there's a lot of digestion in mature technologies in China, that digestion isn't necessarily just oversupply in some cases it's getting to grips with the technology ramping and making sure the yield holds together.

我們確實認為，中國顯然在消化大量成熟技術，這種消化並不一定只是供應過剩，在某些情況下，它還意味著掌握技術進步並確保產量保持不變。

So, as China certainly has ambitions to be very self-sufficient, they're not close to that at this stage, So I think right now really, it's all about kind of getting the technology under control before ramping.

儘管中國確實有實現自給自足的雄心，但現階段他們還沒有接近這一目標，所以我認為現在真正的重點是在逐步發展之前對技術進行控制。

Outside of China, I'd say that you know we have it it's been resilient, let's say I'd say that we do see a business outside of China still actually holding together for 2025.

在中國以外，我想說，你知道我們擁有這種韌性，可以說，我們確實看到中國以外的企業在 2025 年仍然能夠保持穩定。

I mean obviously you've heard about automotive and in general IGBTs have been [very soft, but I'd say], in general we're actually seeing positive spots from the US, from Europe, from Korea, and other locations.

我的意思是，顯然你已經聽說過汽車行業，而且總體而言，IGBT 一直 [非常軟，但我想說]，總體而言，我們實際上看到了來自美國、歐洲、韓國和其他地方的積極表現。

Yeah, just that, right?

是啊，就那樣吧？

I guess each of them based on our customer conversations and what we're hearing, right, each of them are at a different point in their investment cycle, Craig, and so, get some who are continuing to push ahead.

我想，根據我們與客戶的對話以及我們所聽到的消息，他們每個人都處於投資週期的不同階段，克雷格，所以，有些人正在繼續前進。

And we think about this in the in the in the vein of silicon carbide, right, that we still have customers outside of China who are pushing ahead with their investments and building out capacity.

我們從碳化矽的角度來思考這個問題，我們在中國以外仍然有客戶正在推進投資並擴大產能。

We have others who are being a little bit more cautious in the spend of those CapEx dollars in 2025.

其他人在 2025 年資本支出方面會更加謹慎一些。

But that mix, as you noted relative to where we were in 24, 2025 outside of China is still going to be relatively resilient as Russell noted.

但正如羅素所指出的，相對於 2024 年中國以外的情況，這種組合仍將相對具有彈性。

We are seeing a bit of weakness in that Silicon IGBT market, and so I think that the level of digestion there is a little bit greater in the Silicon IGBT space.

我們發現矽 IGBT 市場有些疲軟，因此我認為矽 IGBT 領域的消化程度會更高一些。

It's a smaller portion of the business for us coming into 2025, relative to where we had been historically.

相對於我們的歷史水平，到 2025 年，這將成為我們業務的較小部分。

And then generally speaking, memory again looks like there's some, again, continued, uptick relative to where we were in 2024.

總體而言，相對於 2024 年的水平，記憶似乎再次出現持續上升的趨勢。

We do expect memory, specifically in DRAM to be good for us.

我們確實期望內存，特別是 DRAM 對我們有利。

Yeah, and just kind of going on that, so you, we mentioned IGBT power is down.

是的，就這樣，我們提到 IGBT 功率下降了。

So, when we look at our power business, in 2024 we were up in silicon carbide relative to 2023, and even into 2025 we believe.

因此，當我們審視我們的電力業務時，我們相信 2024 年的碳化矽產量將比 2023 年有所增長，甚至到 2025 年也是如此。

But it's still going to be a resilient market for us.

但對我們來說這仍是一個有彈性的市場。

So, it's the silicon IGBT bit that is soft, the silicon carbide part, it seems to be remaining resilient for us.

因此，矽 IGBT 位是柔軟的，而碳化矽部分，對我們來說似乎仍然具有彈性。

That’s really helpful color guys.

這對色彩愛好者來說真的很有幫助。

And then Jamie, I wanted to follow up with some of the for your color that was provided on the shape of potential revenues to see if you could provide some color, not precise guidance, but some color on what the contours of gross margin and OpEx would look like.

然後 Jamie，我想跟進一下您對潛在收入形態的一些描述，看看您是否可以提供一些描述，不是精確的指導，而是一些關於毛利率和營運支出輪廓的描述。

Especially on the former, does it look like 2025 can be a year where the business realizes another material gaining gross margin year on year.

尤其是前者，2025 年是否看起來可以成為該企業實現另一種材料毛利率逐年提高的一年。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Yeah, so coming into the quarter we expect gross margins to be at the low point in Q1 here.

是的，因此進入本季度，我們預計毛利率將處於第一季的最低點。

There's some cost absorption flowing through as well as mixed within the period and a little bit lower CS&I is, we saw some nice volumes in CS&I in the 4th quarter, Craig, specifically in the upgrade space as customers were going through and getting those throughput efficiencies and better utilizing the factory footprint they have.

有一些成本吸收流入以及期間混合，並且 CS&I 略低，Craig，我們在第四季度看到 CS&I 有一些不錯的銷量，特別是在升級領域，因為客戶正在經歷並獲得這些生產效率並更好地利用他們擁有的工廠足跡。

That is not uncommon for us to see, sort of a little bit of a tick up in the 4th quarter as folks are going through their budgets for the full year and trying to sort of clear some of those budgets out and stock up on the shelves, so we're going to see a little bit offset here in Q1 on lower CS&I mix.

對我們來說，這並不罕見，在第四季度，由於人們正在審查全年預算，並試圖清理部分預算並補充庫存，因此會出現小幅上漲，因此，我們將在第一季度看到 CS&I 組合下降帶來的小幅抵消。

We are expecting memory to be a little bit higher in Q1 as well, which is going to add to some of that gross margin pressure.

我們預計第一季的記憶體價格也會略高一些，這將增加一些毛利率壓力。

But ultimately, the team does a really nice job of trying to control costs relative to volume and as those plans go into place and continue, we do expect the margins to uptick throughout the course of the year, given the mix and the volume that we see in the back half of the year.

但最終，團隊在嘗試控制相對於產量的成本方面做得非常好，隨著這些計劃的實施和延續，考慮到我們在下半年看到的組合和產量，我們確實預計利潤率將在全年上升。

On the OpEx front, right, I think it's important that, we've talked about our capital allocation strategy a lot, and we've said time and again that our number one priority is organic growth and making sure that this business is positioned to be able to hit the long-term technology trends that our customers expect from us.

在營運支出方面，我認為重要的是，我們已經多次談論我們的資本配置策略，我們一次又一次地說過，我們的首要任務是有機成長，並確保這項業務能夠滿足客戶對我們的長期技術趨勢的期望。

So, we're going to use 25 really as an opportunity to continue to make those investments, and so OpEx is going to be slightly higher as we see our D&E.

因此，我們將真正利用 25 作為機會繼續進行這些投資，因此，正如我們所看到的 D&E，OpEx 將會略高一些。

Our research development and engineering expenses, as a percentage of sales, probably uptick relative to where they were in 24.

我們的研發和工程費用佔銷售額的百分比可能與 24 年相比有所上升。

We're going to continue to make investments in that space.

我們將繼續在該領域進行投資。

We want to make sure that we're positioned to meet those customer ramp, cycles that we know are coming, just given the sort of transitory nature of what we believe is the current situation in the market.

我們希望確保我們能夠滿足那些我們知道即將到來的客戶成長週期，因為我們認為當前的市場狀況具有暫時性。

And really, a nice little proof point on this is if you look back it's like 2018, 2019. 2019 was a down year for us, we maintained OpEX at, similar and consistent levels to what we had in that 2018 time frame and, not predicting that we're going to see the same level of growth, but, in the period that followed, we grew revenue by almost, 300%, coming out of 2019, given the fact that we positioned the business to be able to execute and hit the markets in the way that we needed to.

實際上，一個很好的證據是，如果你回顧 2018 年、2019 年，你會發現 2019 年對我們來說是低迷的一年，我們將運營支出維持在與 2018 年相似且穩定的水平，並且，我們並沒有預測會看到相同水平的增長，但是，在隨後的時期內，考慮到我們將業務定位為進入市場的增長

So that's our plan on OpEX as always though.

這就是我們一如既往的 OpEX 計劃。

We'll manage cost, if this seems to be longer than normal, we'll continue to look at our cost structure as appropriate and manage cost accordingly, as we move forward, this seems to be more prolonged than it currently is.

我們會管理成本，如果這似乎比正常情況要長，我們將繼續適當地審視我們的成本結構，並相應地管理成本，隨著我們的前進，這似乎比現在更長。

Thanks for the granularity on those guys.

感謝這些人的詳細說明。

Jed Dorsheimer, William Blair.

傑德·多斯海默、威廉·布萊爾。

Hi, thanks for taking my question.

你好，謝謝你回答我的問題。

I guess, first one, if we look at the silicon carbide business and we look at last year, roughly about 60 tools, that you guys did, as you're looking forward, is China still about half of.

我想，首先，如果我們看一下碳化矽業務，並看看去年，你們生產的大約 60 種工具，正如你們所展望的那樣，中國仍然佔了其中的一半。

Or was China roughly half of that.

或者中國大約只有這個數字的一半。

I'm just trying to gauge, as you look into 25, the total exposure.

我只是想衡量一下，當你查看 25 時，總的曝光量。

I know you talked about the AK and, around trade, but I'm looking in absolute terms what that exposure may look like and then I have a follow up.

我知道您談到了 AK 以及貿易問題，但我正在從絕對角度考慮這種風險暴露可能會是什麼樣子，然後再進行跟進。

Yeah, hey Jed, it's Russell.

是的，嘿，傑德，我是拉塞爾。

So, just to kind of recap on silicon carbide, so you know we're up in 24 to 23, and we're basically saying, we'll be down slightly in 25, but it's like we say, it's still a robust business for us.

因此，只是對碳化矽進行回顧，您知道我們在 24 到 23 年期間會上漲，而我們基本上是說，我們在 25 年會略有下降，但就像我們說的那樣，這對我們來說仍然是一項強勁的業務。

I would say that we are, we have exposure to every silicon carbide project globally.

我想說的是，我們接觸過全球的每一個碳化矽計畫。

China is a piece of it.

中國是其中的一部分。

Obvious it's a very important piece to it.

顯然這是非常重要的部分。

But we don't necessarily break out our silicon carbide out of power by region.

但我們不一定會按地區詳細列出碳化矽產能。

What I would say is that when you talk about the export compliance issues, the most recent export compliance issues were released on the 2, December, we have had the opportunity to have a kind of a Q&A with the BIS guys to help clarify, and coming away from that is, it's very apparent that it's very similar to the previous administration.

我想說的是，當您談到出口合規問題時，最新的出口合規問題已於 12 月 2 日發布，我們有機會與 BIS 人員進行某種問答，以幫助澄清，從中可以看出，它與上一屆政府的情況非常相似。

And you know that the continuation of the trend, which is 300 millimetre equipment going into advanced memory and advanced logic.

你知道這個趨勢的延續，就是 300 毫米設備進入先進記憶體和先進邏輯領域。

So, the silicon carbide business at this stage, we do not believe will be impacted by that.

因此，我們認為現階段的碳化矽業務不會受到影響。

So, the silicon carbide, like I've said it obviously varies from customer to customer.

所以，就像我說的，碳化矽顯然因客戶而異。

We've talked about the low penetration of silicon carbide into EVs and the low penetration of EVs into the automotive industry.

我們討論過碳化矽在電動車中的滲透率低以及電動車在汽車產業的滲透率低。

The Chinese definitely want to be self-sufficient; they do have some capacity, it's not a huge amount of capacity, and I think a lot of them are at the moment trying to optimize [their Of] the devices they're looking to improve their yields, and I think you know you're going to see the digestion in certain carbide that would occur in China is not necessarily because of oversupply.

中國人肯定希望自給自足；他們確實有一些產能，但不是巨大的產能，我認為他們中的許多人目前正在嘗試優化他們的設備，以提高產量，而且我認為你會看到中國某些碳化物的消化並不一定是因為供應過剩。

It might be the fact they haven't got the applications they're looking for qualified like automotive, or they may not have got the yield, and the process is fully wrung out.

事實可能是他們尚未獲得他們所尋求的符合汽車等條件的應用程序，或者他們可能尚未獲得產量，而該流程已經完全陷入困境。

That’s helpful.

這很有幫助。

Russell then just two parts follow up if you will, I guess, and maybe for Jamie, what percentage of your backlog is secured by customer deposits and then Russell, just as you mentioned on some of the DRAM and advanced logic, is there a technology trend that you've developed that we should be aware of in medium current and, in high current, that positions Axcelis [us vis a vis] the competition of what we saw with high energy for silicon carbide.

那麼 Russell，我想如果您願意的話，就只跟進兩個部分，也許對於 Jamie 來說，您的積壓訂單中有多少百分比是由客戶存款擔保的，然後 Russell，正如您提到的一些 DRAM 和先進邏輯，您是否開發了一種技術趨勢，我們應該注意中等電流和高電流，這使 Axcelis [我們相對於高功率] 在高能量方面處於碳化方面的位置。

Thanks.

謝謝。

Yeah, Jed, thanks for the question on the, again I would say the majority of our backlog to new entrants into the market and new geographies into the space that's where you're going to find our customer deposits as we sort of manage the collection risk associated with that, and the more traditional semiconductor customers, that may be domestic or European based, we're less likely to secure customer deposits on those just given the long tenure of our relationships.

是的，傑德，謝謝你的提問，我再次要說的是，我們的大部分積壓訂單都來自新進入市場的客戶和新進入該領域的地區，在那裡你會發現我們的客戶存款，因為我們會管理與此相關的收款風險，而更傳統的半導體客戶，可能是國內或歐洲的客戶，鑑於我們長期的關係，我們不太可能從這些客戶那裡獲得存款。

And the strength of their balance sheets that they have in place, we haven't broken out specifically that number to kind of give a frame of reference for that, but the backlog itself, I'd say it is a smaller portion of the backlog than you would imagine, all things being equal.

至於他們現有的資產負債表實力，我們還沒有具體列出具體數字來提供參考框架，但就積壓訂單本身而言，我想說，在其他條件相同的情況下，它的佔比比你想像的要小。

Hi Jed, so just to clarify, so you're talking about, do we have a differentiation in a high current and medium current product that we believe will allow us to take market share in memory and logic.

嗨，傑德，只是為了澄清一下，你在談論的是，我們是否在高電流和中電流產品方面存在差異，我們相信這將使我們在記憶體和邏輯領域佔據市場份額。

Was that the crux of your question?

這就是你問題的關鍵嗎？

Yeah.

是的。

Your market share in high energy is materially different than medium current and high current and so I'm just wondering if you start focusing on these applications for medium and high current, has there been a recent development in the use of the linear accelerator, for example, or something that's that differentiates, you [visa visa] competition and for those other Applications.

你們在高能領域的市場份額與中電流和高電流領域有著本質區別，因此我想知道，你們是否開始關注中電流和高電流的應用，比如說，直線加速器的使用是否有所進展，或者你們與競爭對手以及其他應用之間是否存在什麼區別。

Right, absolutely.

對，絕對如此。

So advanced logic, for example, you're absolutely right, it doesn't use high energy really is high current and medium current.

因此，以高級邏輯為例，你完全正確，它不會使用高能量，實際上只是高電流和中電流。

The real opportunities are in high current that's where a lot of the sales are, and I would say that the front end as an established [competitor], so really when we look at advanced logic, we're looking at new application in the middle of the line and the end of line.

真正的機會在於當前的高電流，那裡有很多銷售，而且我會說前端是一個既定的[競爭對手]，所以當我們看先進的邏輯時，我們實際上是在看生產線中間和末端的新應用。

So think about the kind of applications that would have been in the back end, the metallization of, for example, backside power, so that's where we're looking to go and a lot of that is material modification.

所以想想後端的應用類型，例如背面電源的金屬化，這就是我們所尋求的方向，其中很多是材料改性。

So, we are always looking to get very close to our customers, make sure we innovate, we can solve their valuable problems, and that's, exactly what we're doing.

因此，我們始終致力於貼近客戶，確保我們能夠創新，能夠解決他們寶貴的問題，而這正是我們正在做的事情。

In addition, I should point out that not only are we working with our customers on advanced logic problems, but we're also working with a very advanced institute in Europe to work out what are going to be the next set of issues as the architectures change.

此外，我應該指出的是，我們不僅與客戶合作解決高階邏輯問題，而且還與歐洲非常先進的研究所合作，研究隨著架構的變化下一步會出現哪些問題。

So, we're always looking to see an inflection point where we can take advantage of that.

因此，我們一直在尋找可以利用的轉折點。

And we've said in the past, we do have architectural differentiation in our products, and in some cases, we've been able to take really good advantage of that like in our music technology where that really is architectural, entitlement.

我們過去曾說過，我們的產品確實存在架構差異化，在某些情況下，我們能夠很好地利用這一點，例如在我們的音樂技術中，這確實是一種架構差異化、權利差異化。

Regarding memory, I think it's fair to say that the tool has been.

至於記憶，我認為可以公平地說，該工具已經存在。

Hardened for memory and what you see from memory is a bunch of specific applications and in many cases, what looks like dedication of species and our tool has been optimized to really perform well under those situations.

針對內存進行了強化，您從內存中看到的是一堆特定的應用程序，在許多情況下，看起來像物種的專用，並且我們的工具已經過優化，可以在這些情況下真正表現良好。

So, you know basically since it's been battle tested and fielded high current and actually medium current.

所以，您基本上知道它已經經過實戰測試並且能夠承受高電流和中電流。

But specifically high current, we're now looking to fan that out to, other customers who are in that same memory segment.

但具體來說是高電流，我們現在希望將其擴展到同一記憶體段的其他客戶。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Jack Egan, Charter Equity Research, Inc.

傑克·伊根（Jack Egan），Charter Equity Research, Inc.

Great, thanks for taking the question.

太好了，謝謝您回答這個問題。

I was hoping you could go over the big increase in CS&I I mean 17% sequential growth is pretty big for that business.

我希望您能談談 CS&I 的大幅成長，我的意思是 17% 的連續成長對該業務來說相當大。

So, you mentioned that it was stronger upgrade activity and execution on some of your service contracts.

因此，您提到，您的一些服務合約的升級活動和執行力度有所加強。

Was that strength particularly pronounced in any end market or region?

這種優勢在任何終端市場或地區是否特別明顯？

Yeah, no, I mean, honestly it was fairly broad based in the 4th quarter.

是的，不，我的意思是，老實說，它在第四季度表現得相當廣泛。

It was multiple customers across multiple regions where we saw the strength.

我們在多個地區的多個客戶身上看到了其實力。

I think, we did see people taking advantage we've talked a lot about how, as our customers start to slow down, they try to find ways, they take advantage of these points to find ways to improve the efficiency and yield and throughput of their devices and to optimize the current (In audible) Space that they're utilizing and this is, I think the [yin and the yang] to our business at the end of the day.

我認為，我們確實看到人們在利用我們已經討論過很多的話題，當我們的客戶開始放慢速度時，他們會嘗試尋找方法，利用這些點來尋找方法來提高設備的效率、產量和吞吐量，並優化他們正在利用的當前（音頻）空間，我認為，歸根結底，這就是我們業務的[陰與陽]。

We've increased the number of [Purian] products out into the field very fairly materially over the last few years.

過去幾年來，我們大幅增加了 [Purian] 產品的數量。

The power of that install base is what provides us the opportunity to take advantage of these cycles and get our team goes in specifically targeting upgrades as we have them available.

安裝基礎的強大功能為我們提供了利用這些週期的機會，並讓我們的團隊在有升級可用時專門針對升級進行升級。

We focus on making sure that our research development engineering team is working on, differentiated upgrades that provide efficiencies to our customers and to their fab space.

我們專注於確保我們的研發工程團隊致力於差異化升級，為我們的客戶及其晶圓廠空間提供效率。

And so, I think that's kind of what we were seeing here in the 4th quarter as well as a little bit of the budgeting as we talked about before, some of our, fab partners and customers were, looking through and working through their budget opportunities for the period.

所以，我認為這就是我們在第四季度看到的情況，以及我們之前談到的一些預算，我們的一些晶圓廠合作夥伴和客戶正在研究和研究該期間的預算機會。

Going into 25.

進入 25。

We've got some relative expectations for upgrades throughout the course of the year, although we're not going to, we don't are not currently forecasting the same level of upgrade activity in the first quarter of this year, which is why we, are seeing a little bit of moderation in margin.

我們對全年的升級有一些相對預期，儘管我們不會這樣做，但我們目前並沒有預測今年第一季的升級活動水平，這就是為什麼我們看到利潤率略有放緩。

Upgrades typically provide our highest margin relative to the consolidated average, just given, how valuable they can be to the customer at the end of the day.

升級通常會為我們提供相對於合併平均值的最高利潤率，這取決於它們最終對客戶有多大的價值。

Yes, I can just kind of follow on from that, this is a very focused strategy.

是的，我可以繼續說，這是一個非常有針對性的策略。

We have been investing heavily in upgrades because it's a great opportunity for us, and the good thing about an upgrade is you get to sell it to the entire industry base.

我們一直在大力投資升級，因為這對我們來說是一個很好的機會，而升級的好處是你可以將其推銷給整個產業。

So, and then obviously we've been making progress on contracts as well as we try to look to kind of create an annuity stream of aftermarket.

所以，顯然我們在合約方面取得了進展，同時我們也試圖尋找一種售後市場的年金流。

Right, yeah, that's super helpful.

是的，是的，這非常有幫助。

And then on silicon carbide, we're seeing more weakness crop up there, specifically like in the financial results of the device manufacturers, but you mentioned that silicon carbide is still generally pretty resilient and that I think you said it'd only be down a bit in 2025, but with that lower EV adoption and industrial demand kind of starting to flow through the financials for that industry, could that be kind of a riskier guidance for the second half to be slightly better than the first half, or is that largely contemplated in your guidance as it is today?

然後對於碳化矽，我們看到它出現了更多的弱點，特別是在設備製造商的財務結果中，但您提到碳化矽總體上仍然相當有彈性，我認為您說過它到 2025 年只會下降一點，但隨著電動汽車採用率的降低和工業需求開始影響該行業的財務狀況，這是否會對下半年的表現略好於下半年的表現略好？

Yeah, I think it's, Jack, it's, as we sit here and say it's expectations relative today based on customer conversations, discussions, reviewing the current backlog as well as, some of the bookings activity we've seen through the first quarter, so far your date, as Russell sort of said earlier, where we sit right now, we're, a little bit of an encouraging sign, probably too early to call it a victory, but encouraging signs relative to bookings where, at the same point in the 4th quarter we're ahead of our bookings rate, in 2025 where we were at the same time in the Q4 time frame.

是的，傑克，我認為，正如我們坐在這裡所說的，這是基於與客戶的對話、討論、審查當前積壓訂單以及我們在第一季度看到的一些預訂活動的預期，到目前為止，正如羅素之前所說的那樣，我們現在所處的位置，有一個令人鼓舞的跡象，雖然稱之為勝利可能還為時過早，但相對於預訂量，這是一個時間在第。

As we think about silicon carbide broadly, right, I think what we are seeing is truly diversity in the way our customers are engaging with the product, right?

當我們廣泛地思考碳化矽時，我認為我們看到的是客戶與產品互動方式的真正多樣性，對嗎？

So, some of them align very well with their public commentary in terms of how they're thinking about making investments going for the course of 2025, whereas others, again not that they're inconsistent, but they have a path in place to spend the CapEx dollars and build out the capacity and we see those in our expectations for 2025.

因此，他們中的一些人對 2025 年投資的看法與他們的公開評論非常一致，而其他人，同樣不是說他們不一致，而是他們有一條路徑來花費資本支出並建立產能，我們在 2025 年的預期中看到了這些。

So, I, what I think helps us is, we have a broad range of customers in the silicon carbide space and we're not, overly tied to one in particular customer, in order for us to meet our financial results and objectives in the course of the year.

因此，我認為對我們有幫助的是，我們在碳化矽領域擁有廣泛的客戶，而且我們不會過度依賴某個特定的客戶，這樣我們才能在全年實現財務業績和目標。

And I think that is really what maybe differentiates the expectations of our performance relative to, a single, customer's expectations are public.

我認為這也許就是我們對業績的期望與單一客戶的期望之間的區別，這些期望是公開的。

I think that's exactly right.

我認為這是完全正確的。

Each customer is slightly different.

每個顧客都略有不同。

So, you've got some that want to build ahead of demand, some that are optimizing their yield because they want to get into opportunities, some that are looking to gain market share.

因此，有些人希望在需求之前進行建設，有些人正在優化收益，因為他們想抓住機會，有些人正在尋求獲得市場份額。

But it's difficult given the time it takes to get qualified.

但考慮到獲得資格所需的時間，這很困難。

Some are taking the opportunity to transition to 200 millimetre, go to 400-to-800-volt architectures, which would be trench and super junction.

有些公司正藉此機會過渡到 200 毫米、400 至 800 伏特的架構，即溝槽和超結。

So, a lot of customers are doing different things, so I would say that it is very customer specific.

所以，很多客戶正在做不同的事情，所以我想說這是非常針對客戶的。

Great, that's super helpful thanks guys.

太好了，這非常有幫助，謝謝大家。

Dave Duley, Steelhead Securities.

Steelhead Securities 的 Dave Duley。

Yeah, thanks for taking my questions.

是的，感謝您回答我的問題。

I guess first, just a clarification, can you help us with what silicon carbide revenue was in Q4 and for calendar 2024, Dollar or percentage?

我想先澄清一下，您能否幫助我們了解第四季以及 2024 年碳化矽的收入是多少，以美元還是百分比計算？

And then as a follow up.

然後作為後續行動。

It should be in the slide presentation.

它應該在幻燈片演示中。

I think we can pull that up.

我認為我們可以做到這一點。

36% for the quarter and 41% for the full year for so yeah.

本季成長了 36%，全年成長了 41%，所以是的。

6% of year every year.

每年的 6%。

Okay.

好的。

And then.

進而。

Do you expect the silk and carbide business to be part of the second half improvements or I was a little, this is a follow on to Charles's question is, what exact geographic regions or is silk and carbide expected to be up in the second half of the calendar year?

您是否預計絲綢和碳化物業務將成為下半年改善的一部分，或者我有點這樣認為，這是對查爾斯問題的後續詢問，具體哪些地理區域或絲綢和碳化物預計在日曆年下半年會上升？

Yeah, so, geography wise, if we talked about, right, again, we're very broad based across the board in silicon carbide, Dave, and so again, we are seeing digestion, we expect China to be a lower portion of our revenue base right across the entirety of the portfolio in 2025 and so you know that there are strengths that there are other geographies that are having strength in in the product offer to offset some of that but we haven't given specific details on geographical expectations or anything like that.

是的，從地理方面來看，如果我們再說一次，我們在碳化矽領域的覆蓋面非常廣泛，戴夫，所以我們再次看到消化，我們預計中國在我們整個 2025 年的收入基礎中所佔比例會較低，所以你知道其他地區在產品供應方面具有優勢，可以抵消其中的一些地理細節，但我們還沒有提供有關預期或類似內容的具體細節。

But what we can tell you, Dave is now that things customers have worked out their plans for the year, we are working very close to them, we are looking at bookings, we are looking at the forecasts, and so we do know pretty much project by project where we believe these tools are going to go to.

但是，戴夫，我們可以告訴你的是，現在客戶已經制定了今年的計劃，我們正在與他們密切合作，我們正在查看預訂，我們正在查看預測，因此我們確實非常清楚每個項目的情況，我們相信這些工具將會用在何處。

And we've double checked that the fab will be ready for the tools, etc. So, this is, and I say that, we Talked about the first half being a China digestion, we've talked about being very broad based on silicon carbide, we've talked about outside of China actually remaining, relatively resilient, I'd say.

我們已經仔細檢查了晶圓廠是否已準備好使用工具等。

Yeah, and just, again, it's, broadly speaking, it's going to be, down on year on year, down year on year, but not as much as other parts of the mature book of business for us, Dave.

是的，從廣義上講，它將比去年同期下降，但不會像我們成熟業務的其他部分那樣下降那麼多，戴夫。

Yeah.

是的。

So other general mature is going to be down more than and other power stuff is going to be down more than [SIC] is your message.

因此，其他一般成熟產品的下降幅度將會超過其他電力產品的下降幅度，[SIC] 這是您的資訊。

And now, didn't, you talked about not wanting to break things out on geographic regions.

現在，您不是說過不想按地理區域劃分嗎？

Do you expect silk and carbide to be up in the second half of the year, even though there's digestion in the first half?

儘管上半年有所消化，但您是否預計下半年絲和碳化物價格會上漲？

Yeah, we're not going to get in that level of granularity just yet, Dave.

是的，我們現在還不能深入這個詳細程度，戴夫。

Okay, thanks.

好的，謝謝。

Tom Diffely, DA Davidson.

湯姆·迪菲利，DA 戴維森。

Yes, good morning, thanks for the question.

是的，早上好，感謝您的提問。

Russell, I was hoping you could give us a little bit of an update on your plans to expand more into Japan, in that geographic region.

拉塞爾，我希望您能向我們介紹一下你們在日本等地區進一步擴張的計劃。

Hey Tom, thanks for the question and good morning.

嘿，湯姆，謝謝你的提問，早安。

So yes, so, there Japan represents about $450 million in any given year, our percentage of that is, as 5%, so it's a really good opportunity for us.

是的，日本每年的銷售額約為 4.5 億美元，我們的佔比為 5%，所以這對我們來說是一個非常好的機會。

We've actually managed to make a bit of a beachhead there in power, and actually in some other areas as well, but like power has been a great opportunity, so obviously the local vendors of our implantation.

我們實際上已經在電力領域取得了一些進展，實際上在其他一些領域也是如此，但電力是一個很好的機會，所以顯然我們的植入者是當地的供應商。

Often had the [lion's] share of the business.

往往擁有大部分業務。

They haven't innovated and moved forward as quickly, so as Japan got into power, silicon and silicon carbide, they were looking for the right equipment that you need to get into high volume, which is the whole portfolio you can't just have a medium current need the high and the high energy, and that's what we've been able to come in.

他們沒有快速地進行創新和進步，因此當日本進入電力、矽和碳化矽領域時，他們正在尋找實現大批量生產所需的正確設備，也就是整個產品組合，你不能只有中等電流，需要高電流和高能量，而這正是我們能夠做到的。

And so now we're working with those customers, working on their road maps and you know making sure that we continue to expand in those applications of power, but obviously it's not just power, I think it's interesting, we just shipped a so I think in Q2 we mentioned we've got a system shipping into Japan for advanced logic, so that's all shipped in Q4 and we're now in discussions for actually follow on businesses there as well.

因此，現在我們正在與這些客戶合作，制定他們的路線圖，並確保我們繼續擴大電力應用，但顯然不僅僅是電力，我認為這很有趣，我們剛剛發貨，所以我想在第二季度我們提到我們有一個用於高級邏輯的系統運往日本，所以這一切都將在第四季度發貨，我們現在正在討論在那裡開展實際的後續業務。

So naturally we want to build our footprint through our strongest products, but as once we get in with the product, we want to find out the applications and bring the rest of our product portfolio through with us.

因此，我們自然希望透過我們最強大的產品來建立我們的足跡，但是，一旦我們進入產品領域，我們就希望找出應用程式並將我們其餘的產品組合帶給我們。

So, I think year over year we're going to see a modest improvement in revenue in Japan, and this is what I consider to be the seeds you want to get into these projects early in where it's a mini line and then when that mini line starts to ramp up, you want to make sure you get the volume there.

因此，我認為我們將會看到日本的收入逐年小幅增長，而我認為這就是您希望在早期進入這些項目的種子，即一條迷你生產線，然後當該迷你生產線開始加速時，您要確保在那裡獲得銷量。

So hopefully that gives you a little bit more clarity there, Tom.

所以希望這能讓你更清楚地了解一點，湯姆。

Yeah, so is it safe to assume that both Japan and advanced Logic are more of a 2026, 207 story?

是的，那麼是否可以安全地假設日本和高階邏輯都更像是 2026 年、207 年的故事？

I think so, we haven't, so when we built our $1.6 billion model back in the summer, we did actually have, we want to see secular growth in silicon carbide, we've talked about that, we want to see recovery and memory in general mature.

我認為是的，我們還沒有，所以當我們在夏天建立我們的 16 億美元模型時，我們確實有，我們希望看到碳化矽的長期增長，我們已經討論過這個問題，我們希望看到復甦和記憶總體成熟。

When it came to advanced logic in Japan, we had modest numbers in the model for that in 2027.

當談到日本的先進邏輯時，我們在 2027 年的模型中給出了適中的數字。

So, you're going to see again a modest improvement year over year building towards a modest component in our $1.6 billion business.

因此，您將再次看到我們的業務同比略有改善，並朝著 16 億美元業務的適度成長邁進。

And remember that $1.6 billion we're expecting say $400 of that to be aftermarket.

請記住，我們預計 16 億美元中的 4 億美元將用於售後市場。

So really, we're looking to have a very modest amount of equipment in advanced logic where we're sowing seeds in Japan where we're sowing seeds as a component of that.

所以實際上，我們希望擁有少量的先進邏輯設備，我們將在日本播種，播種是其中的一部分。

Great and then just add a quick follow up, Jamie, on the backlog side, have you seen an extension or expansion of the duration of your backlog and, has anything fallen off the backlog?

太好了，然後快速跟進一下，傑米，在積壓方面，您是否看到積壓持續時間的延長或擴展，以及是否有任何積壓事項？

So, and we see customer pushouts occur, right, and so these will be for purchase orders in backlog time, and you know that was some of the activity that we saw between our 3rd quarter call and 4th quarter call here was, it's the customer request to push out some delivery dates and expectations.

所以，我們看到客戶推遲交貨的情況，對吧，這些將是積壓時間內的採購訂單，你知道這是我們在第三季度電話會議和第四季度電話會議之間看到的一些活動，這是客戶要求推遲一些交貨日期和預期。

Not inconsistent, with what, our customers have said externally relative to their views on this.

這與我們的客戶對外發表的對此的看法並不矛盾。

So yeah, and to some extent there's a bit of extension of the duration, in the backlog as a result of that.

是的，從某種程度上來說，積壓的工作時間確實有所延長。

Okay, but does the backlog represent, the next 12 months or is it total backlog going forward?

好的，但是積壓訂單代表的是未來 12 個月的訂單還是未來的總積壓訂單？

Some of it goes to the first couple of quarters 2026, yeah.

是的，其中一部分將流向 2026 年前幾個季度。

All right, thank you.

好的，謝謝。

Thanks Tom thanks.

謝謝湯姆，謝謝。

Mark Miller, Benchmark Company.

馬克‧米勒 (Mark Miller)，Benchmark Company。

Thank you for your question.

感謝您的提問。

I just had a question.

我剛才有個問題。

You're projecting to significantly lower sales in the first quarter and OpEx is going to be somewhat higher.

您預計第一季的銷售額將大幅下降，而營運支出將略有上升。

I'm just wondering if you can kind of break that down in terms of

我只是想知道你是否可以從以下方面來解釋一下

[SGNA and R&D].

[SGNA 與研發]。

What's going on there?

那兒發生什麼事了？

Yeah, so as it relates, I think the general commentary is our view is to have, to kind of in the first quarter inherent, it's specifically it's going to be relatively flat to what we saw with a slight uptick just given the seasonal component of some of the way the expenses roll through and that impacts all the line items, fairly equally across the board.

是的，就其相關而言，我認為總體評論是，我們的觀點是，在第一季度，它將與我們所看到的相對持平，略有上升，只是考慮到部分費用滾動方式的季節性成分，這會對所有項目產生相當平等的影響。

And then, throughout the rest of the year we anticipate, finding ways to continue to invest in our RD&E business and we'd expect as a percentage of sales that number to be slightly higher than what we've had historically for that business, sort of compensating that would be the difference would go through the [SG&A] line out.

然後，我們預計在今年剩餘時間裡，我們會尋找方法繼續投資於我們的研發與設計業務，並且我們預計該數字佔銷售額的百分比將略高於我們過去該業務的水平，這種補償的差額將通過 [銷售、一般及行政費用] 項目支出。

Yeah, Mark.

是的，馬克。

I think it's clear that, we believe investing in our products and services, working close to their customers is one of the best returns we can have.

我認為很明顯，我們相信投資我們的產品和服務、密切與客戶合作是我們能夠獲得的最好的回報之一。

So, we actually kind of the downturn slightly is an opportunity in the sense that customers have more bandwidth.

因此，我們實際上將經濟衰退視為一種機遇，因為客戶將擁有更多的頻寬。

We can work with them, we can develop new products, get those products qualified so then when the upturn arrives, we have new products and services to offer, and that's where we take advantage.

我們可以與他們合作，開發新產品，並使這些產品符合標準，這樣當經濟好轉時，我們就有新的產品和服務可以提供，這就是我們的優勢。

So yeah, we are definitely, as Jamie mentioned, focused on products and services working with our customers.

是的，正如 Jamie 所提到的，我們確實專注於為客戶提供產品和服務。

Yeah, and through this transitory cyclical digestion period, right, we do expect to kind of resumed growth in 2026, and so.

是的，透過這個暫時的周期性消化期，我們確實預計 2026 年會恢復成長，等等。

We want to make sure that we're positioned for that, Mark.

我們希望確保我們已做好準備，馬克。

Okay, so basically for the first quarter, both [SGNA] and [R&D] is flat to slightly up, is that correct?

好的，那麼基本上第一季度，[SGNA] 和 [R&D] 都持平或略有上漲，對嗎？

Yes.

是的。

Okay, thank you.

好的，謝謝。

Christian Schwab, Craig-Hallum Capital Group LLC.

克里斯蒂安·施瓦布（Christian Schwab），Craig-Hallum Capital Group LLC。

Great, thanks guys.

太好了，謝謝大家。

Just in the mix of business if we look at it by in market, call it auto and industrial, is it as simple as, taking silicon carbide and IGBT versus, general mature to get the mix of business between, and market shipments to say auto and industrial.

僅在業務組合中，如果我們從市場角度來看，將其稱為汽車和工業，是否就這麼簡單，將碳化矽和 IGBT 與一般成熟的業務組合進行比較，以及市場出貨量可以說汽車和工業。

So, I think yeah, I don't fully follow the question, but I would say, Christian, that basically our general mature nodes are very driven by consumer, industrial automotive, and the biggest use of silicon carbide is number one, the biggest market is automotive, but the second market that's growing actually really quite quickly is the industrial part.

所以，我想是的，我並不完全明白這個問題，但我想說，克里斯蒂安，基本上我們一般成熟的節點是由消費者、工業汽車驅動的，而碳化矽的最大用途是第一，最大的市場是汽車，但實際上增長相當快的第二個市場是工業部分。

So that was my question.

這就是我的問題。

I'm just trying to get in market exposure.

我只是想獲得市場曝光。

So, in 2024 what percentage of your revenue do you believe went to automotive and what percentage went to, industrial slash consumer applications?

那麼，您認為 2024 年您的收入中有多少比例用於汽車應用，又有多少比例用於工業和消費應用？

Yeah, we, that's not how we track it, so we don't know.

是的，我們不是這樣追蹤的，所以我們不知道。

Yeah, it's very hard for us to know what our customers ship their products into.

是的，我們很難知道客戶將產品運送到哪裡。

Correct.

正確的。

We don't get discrete data like that from the customers on the where they're ultimately putting, so we're using the same sort of, general data on the utilization of silicon IGBT and silicon carbide in making those general assumptions.

我們沒有從客戶那裡獲得關於他們最終放置位置的離散數據，因此我們在做出這些一般假設時使用了相同類型的有關矽 IGBT 和碳化矽利用率的一般數據。

We don't have specific end product applications necessarily.

我們不一定有特定的最終產品應用。

Great and then follow up to that on your automotive exposure.

很好，然後繼續關注您的汽車曝光。

What percentage of that do you think services the domestic Chinese market versus global players?

您認為其中有多少比例是為中國國內市場和服務全球市場而準備的？

Okay, on silicon carbide products we sell, right?

好的，我們銷售的是碳化矽產品，對嗎？

I would say our European customers are largely the ones putting those silicon carbide devices into the automotive.

我想說，我們的歐洲客戶主要是將這些碳化矽設備應用到汽車領域的人。

It's fair to say that the domestic Chinese manufacturers, even the BYDs as well, we don't believe they're qualified yet to put their devices because of the reliability requirements into their own electric cars.

公平地說，我們認為中國國內製造商，甚至比亞迪，還沒有資格將他們的設備安裝在自己的電動車上，以滿足可靠性要求。

I can think of maybe one company in China that may be ahead of the curve, but ultimately, pretty much if you're going to put silicon carbide into an electric vehicle, it's going to come from the North Americans, Europeans, and the Japanese.

我認為也許中國的一家公司可能走在了前面，但最終，如果你要將碳化矽放入電動車中，它將來自北美、歐洲和日本。

Perfect, thank you for that clarity.

非常好，謝謝你的澄清。

So sorry, bear in mind that's for the all-important [moss] be in the drive system.

非常抱歉，請記住，這是驅動系統中最重要的 [moss]。

Remember there's an awful lot of [diodes] that go into these cars as well, and I think the Chinese, do manufacture a large part of those components that the car by

請記住，這些汽車中也有很多二極管，我認為中國人確實製造了汽車所需的大部分元件。

[diodes].

[二極體].

Correct, yes, got it.

正確，是的，明白了。

And then we talked about an investment year for customer ramps.

然後我們討論了客戶成長的投資年。

I guess I'm kind of confused on what technology investments you're investing for.

我猜我有點困惑您投資的技術是什麼。

Is this, for new upgrades to machines and if you could provide greater clarity of what that exactly means, is there transitions in.

這是針對機器的新升級嗎？

And what you're providing as far as a box structure, for different applications, current energy, etc. For 400 to 800 gigs, volt changing transition.

至於您提供的箱體結構，適用於不同的應用、電流能量等。

I'm trying to understand what the investments that you're making to drive future growth. what's changing that you're sustaining the investment?

我想了解您為推動未來成長所做的投資是什麼。發生了什麼變化讓您繼續投資？

Yeah, so part of it's a little bit all of the above right at the end of the day.

是的，所以歸根究底，部分原因還是以上幾點。

So, part of it is incremental upgrade opportunities that then flow into new product development and technology.

因此，其中一部分是增量升級機會，然後流入新產品開發和技術。

So, as we think about, our power customers very broadly.

因此，我們認為我們的電力客戶範圍非常廣泛。

Our team is working through solving some of their critical challenges to improve throughput efficiency, reliability of the devices at the end of the day.

我們的團隊正在努力解決一些關鍵挑戰，以提高生產效率和設備的可靠性。

And so, we're making investments to ensure that, one, we can go back and upgrade the suite of tools that we have available for those and continue to transition our products, to sort of the next generation of the technology.

因此，我們正在進行投資以確保：首先，我們可以回頭升級我們現有的工具套件，並繼續將我們的產品過渡到下一代技術。

There's examples of investments we're making.

這是我們正在進行的投資的例子。

In memory tools and technologies to meet our customer road maps in that space.

在記憶體工具和技術方面，我們能夠滿足該領域的客戶路線圖。

Yeah.

是的。

I think it's fair to say, even though we might call these like mature technologies, the equipment that goes into them are anything but.

我認為可以公平地說，儘管我們可能稱這些為成熟的技術，但用於其中的設備卻並非如此。

So, if you think about what we've been going through with silicon carbide, started off with a medium current machine, but we knew that as people moved to trenches and super junctions, they needed a high energy.

所以，如果你想想我們在碳化矽方面所經歷的一切，從中等電流機器開始，但我們知道，隨著人們轉向溝槽和超結，他們需要高能量。

In fact, the energy's actually been creeping up and up and up.

事實上，能量一直在不斷上升。

So that's an example of where we have to develop the right equipment and that's where we're putting our resources.

這就是我們必須開發合適的設備並且將我們的資源投入其中的一個例子。

The other thing is, I mean, we haven't talked much about it, but proton implantation for IGBTs, those energies have gone up significantly, and that takes a lot of innovation to be able to support our customers with a highly productive tool that can achieve the energies.

另一件事是，我的意思是，我們還沒有談論太多，但對於 IGBT 的質子注入，這些能量已經顯著增加，這需要大量的創新才能為我們的客戶提供能夠實現這些能量的高效工具。

As stated, strategy of driving with the secular growth in silicon carbide, making sure we have a recovery in memory and general mature, and that still takes work while actually expanding into advanced logic and Japan, all of that strategy is very well aligned with our spending on our products and services.

如上所述，推動碳化矽長期成長的策略，確保我們的記憶體復甦和整體成熟，並且在實際擴展到先進邏輯和日本的同時仍然需要努力，所有這些策略都與我們在產品和服務上的支出非常一致。

Yeah, those are multi-year projects that you know we're committed to.

是的，這些都是我們致力於的多年專案。

Right, and then my last question, your implied guidance for revenue in 25 call it $800 million plus or minus, is substantially below your 2027 goal of 1.6 billion.

好的，然後我的最後一個問題，您對 25 年收入的隱含指導是 8 億美元左右，遠低於您 2027 年 16 億美元的目標。

I'm having a tough time reconciling what would have to happen in in markets for that to still be an attainable objective.

我很難理解市場需要發生哪些變化才能實現這一目標。

Right, so that was the model we provided back in July, and we showed a very kind of clear path from where we were to where we need to get to.

好的，這就是我們在七月提供的模型，我們展示了從我們所在的位置到我們需要到達的位置的一條非常清晰的路徑。

Yeah, it's fair to say that things have changed, but that was a very thoughtful model, and what I would say about that model is like one, we're not looking to update it every quarter.

是的，公平地說事情已經發生了變化，但這是一個非常深思熟慮的模型，我想說的是，我們並不打算每個季度都更新它。

But the strategy remains exactly the same, the strategy that we've outlined doesn't change.

但策略是完全相同的，我們所概述的策略並沒有改變。

So, we actually feel fairly comfortable with the 1.6 if the timing that's a little bit uncertain.

因此，如果時間有點不確定，我們實際上對 1.6 感到相當滿意。

So, obviously trying to predict the timing in the middle of a downturn when people are all kind of doom and gloom wouldn't be productive.

因此，顯然，在經濟低迷、人們都感到悲觀時試圖預測時機是不會有幫助的。

So, I think you know we are focused on the long-term secular growth in power, market recovery in memory and general mature, shared gain in advanced logic and geographic expansion in Japan, and we believe, like I say, that will get us to 1.6%.

因此，我想你知道我們專注於電力的長期成長、記憶體市場的復甦以及先進邏輯和日本地理擴張的普遍成熟和共享收益，我們相信，正如我所說的，這將使我們達到 1.6%。

The timing is unclear right now.

目前具體時間還不清楚。

No other questions.

沒有其他問題。

Thank you, guys.

謝謝你們。

Thank you.

謝謝。

This concludes our question-and-answer session.

我們的問答環節到此結束。

I would like to turn it back to David Ryzhik at this time for closing remarks.

現在我想請 David Ryzhik 作最後發言。

Thank you,

謝謝你，

[Dee].

[迪伊]。

I want to thank everyone for joining our call and your interest in Axcelis. [Dei] you can now close the call.

我要感謝大家加入我們的電話會議並感謝大家對 Axcelis 的關注。 [Dei]你現在可以結束通話了。

Thank you.

謝謝。

This concludes the presentation.

本次演講到此結束。

Thank you for your participation in today's conference, and you may now disconnect.

感謝您參加今天的會議，現在您可以斷開連接了。

Good day.

再會。