Advanced Energy Industries Inc (AEIS) 2017 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Good day, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Q4 2017 Advanced Energy Industries Earnings Conference Call. (Operator Instructions) As a reminder, today's conference is being recorded. I would now like to turn the call over to Ms. Anne Leschin, Investor Relations. Ma'am, you may begin.

女士們先生們，美好的一天，歡迎參加 2017 年第四季度 Advanced Energy Industries 收益電話會議。 （操作員說明）提醒一下，今天的會議正在錄製中。我現在想把電話轉給投資者關係部的 Anne Leschin 女士。女士，您可以開始了。

Thank you, operator, and good morning, everyone. Welcome to Advanced Energy's Fourth Quarter 2017 Earnings Conference Call. With me on today's call are Yuval Wasserman, President and CEO; Tom McGimpsey, Executive Vice President, Interim CEO (sic) [CFO] and General Counsel; as well as Tom Liguori, Former CFO and Adviser. By now you should have received a copy of the earnings release that was issued yesterday afternoon. For a copy of this release, please visit our website at advanced-energy.com.

謝謝接線員，大家早上好。歡迎來到 Advanced Energy 2017 年第四季度收益電話會議。與我一起參加今天電話會議的有總裁兼首席執行官 Yuval Wasserman； Tom McGimpsey，執行副總裁、臨時 CEO（原文如此）[CFO] 和總法律顧問；以及前首席財務官兼顧問 Tom Liguori。到現在為止，您應該已經收到一份昨天下午發布的收益報告的副本。如需本新聞稿的副本，請訪問我們的網站 advanced-energy.com。

Before we begin, I'd like to remind everyone that except for historical financial information contained herein, matters discussed on this call contain certain forward-looking statements subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statements. Statements that include the terms believe, expect, plan, objective, estimate, anticipate, intent, target, goal or the like should be viewed as forward-looking and uncertain. Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the volatility and cyclicality of the markets we serve, the timing of orders received from our customers and unanticipated changes in our estimates, reserves or allowances as well as other factors listed in our press release. These and other risks are described in Forms 10-Q, 10-K and other forms filed with the SEC.

在我們開始之前，我想提醒大家，除了此處包含的歷史財務信息外，本次電話會議討論的事項包含某些前瞻性陳述，這些陳述受已知和未知的風險和不確定性的影響，這些風險和不確定性可能導致實際結果與表達的結果存在重大差異或由此類陳述暗示。包含相信、預期、計劃、目標、估計、預期、意圖、目標、目標等術語的陳述應被視為前瞻性和不確定性。此類風險和不確定性包括但不限於我們所服務市場的波動性和周期性、從我們的客戶那裡收到訂單的時間、我們的估計、儲備或配額的意外變化以及我們新聞稿中列出的其他因素.這些風險和其他風險在提交給美國證券交易委員會的 10-Q 表格、10-K 表格和其他表格中進行了描述。

In addition, we assume no obligation to update the information that we've provided during this call, including our guidance provided in yesterday's press release. Guidance will not be updated after today's call until our next scheduled quarterly financial release. Aspirational goals and targets discussed on this conference call or in the presentation material should not be interpreted in any respect as guidance. And finally, in today's call, we will be referring to GAAP and non-GAAP results. Non-GAAP measures exclude the impact of noncash-related charges, such as stock-based compensation and the amortization of intangible assets as well as other nonrecurring items, such as acquisition-related costs. A reconciliation of non-GAAP income from operations and per-share earnings is provided in the press release table. We will also be referring to earnings slides posted on the Investor Relations section of our website.

此外，我們沒有義務更新我們在本次電話會議中提供的信息，包括我們在昨天的新聞稿中提供的指導。在我們下一次預定的季度財務發布之前，今天的電話會議之後不會更新指南。在本次電話會議或演示材料中討論的理想目標和目標不應在任何方面被解釋為指導。最後，在今天的電話會議中，我們將提到 GAAP 和非 GAAP 結果。非 GAAP 措施排除了非現金相關費用的影響，例如基於股票的薪酬和無形資產攤銷以及其他非經常性項目，例如與收購相關的成本。新聞稿表中提供了非 GAAP 運營收入和每股收益的對賬。我們還將參考發佈在我們網站投資者關係部分的收益幻燈片。

And with that, I'd like to turn the call over to Yuval Wasserman. Yuval?

有了這個，我想把電話轉給 Yuval Wasserman。尤瓦爾？

Thank you, Annie. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us for our Fourth Quarter Earnings Conference Call. The fourth quarter punctuated an exceptional year of growth for AE in the markets we serve, as we exceeded our expectations. Revenue rose 32%, and non-GAAP EPS climbed 24% year-over-year. Rising semiconductor demand and increasing capital intensity solidified and expanded AE's role as a critical enabler for more sophisticated devices throughout the quarter and the year. 2017 saw record performance on both our top and bottom lines, demonstrated the ongoing execution of our growth strategy and the leverage in our model. For the full year, revenue grew 39%, and non-GAAP EPS surged 53%.

謝謝你，安妮。大家早上好，感謝您加入我們的第四季度收益電話會議。第四季度標誌著 AE 在我們所服務的市場中取得了非凡的增長，因為我們超出了我們的預期。收入增長 32%，非 GAAP 每股收益同比增長 24%。不斷增長的半導體需求和不斷增加的資本密集度鞏固並擴大了 AE 在整個季度和全年作為更複雜設備的關鍵推動者的作用。 2017 年我們的營收和利潤均創下歷史新高，證明了我們持續執行增長戰略以及我們模型中的槓桿作用。全年收入增長 39%，非 GAAP 每股收益飆升 53%。

We expanded our Industrial business with the acquisition of Excelsys, grew our market share in existing and new applications and increased our service offering. We also executed on our capital deployment strategy with a $30 million share repurchase. We began 2018 as a larger and stronger company positioned to continue to deliver profitable revenue growth.

我們通過收購 Excelsys 擴大了我們的工業業務，增加了我們在現有和新應用程序中的市場份額，並增加了我們的服務範圍。我們還執行了我們的資本部署戰略，回購了 3000 萬美元的股票。 2018 年伊始，我們作為一家規模更大、實力更強的公司定位於繼續實現盈利性收入增長。

2017 was a phenomenal year for our semiconductor business, with growth of 42% over 2016. Sales of our power solutions outpaced the wafer fab equipment industry as the investment in 3D NAND capacity continued, while advances in technology proceeded at unprecedented levels.

2017 年對我們的半導體業務來說是非凡的一年，比 2016 年增長了 42%。隨著對 3D NAND 產能的持續投資，我們的電源解決方案的銷售額超過了晶圓廠設備行業，同時技術進步以前所未有的水平進行。

For the fourth quarter, revenue grew 28% over the same period last year. These results clearly demonstrate AE's success as the industry leader in precision power, enabling our customers to perform very sophisticated semiconductor manufacturing processes.

第四季度，收入比去年同期增長了 28%。這些結果清楚地證明了 AE 作為精密電源行業領導者的成功，使我們的客戶能夠執行非常複雜的半導體製造工藝。

Underlying demand in semiconductors continue to be strong. Currently, we see multiple vectors driving market growth, all of which [are being] underpinned by accelerating data usage, the continuing conversion from planar to 3D architecture that is underway, the next-generation devices that have more stack layers and advanced technologies, the general need for memory regardless of 3D or planar driven by the conversion of server farms from hard disk to solid state drives and increasing memory content in mobile devices. All of these vectors are driving a significant increase in the number of units we ship, the power level of these units and the advanced features required to deliver the performance level needed. These attributes are accelerators for AE. Plasma-based processes have higher power capital intensity than the rest of the wafer fab equipment in these applications, which is why AE continues to outperform.

半導體的潛在需求繼續強勁。目前，我們看到多個因素推動著市場增長，所有這些都受到加速數據使用、正在進行的從平面到 3D 架構的持續轉換、具有更多堆棧層和先進技術的下一代設備、由服務器群從硬盤轉換為固態驅動器以及移動設備中不斷增加的內存容量驅動的內存需求，無論 3D 還是平面。所有這些因素都在推動我們出貨的裝置數量、這些裝置的功率水平以及提供所需性能水平所需的高級功能的顯著增加。這些屬性是 AE 的加速器。在這些應用中，基於等離子的工藝比其他晶圓廠設備具有更高的電力資本密集度，這就是 AE 繼續跑贏大盤的原因。

With the growing complexity in device structures, the industry is moving to new set of tools and architectures needed to etch 32-, 64- and 96-layer 3D NAND, with an increasing need to improve yield, for which our RF power delivery strategy is critical. At the same time, DRAM investment is ramping and becoming more application-specific. The same is happening with next-generation logic devices as fabs and foundries require advanced dual and quad patterning. Additionally, new materials and device geometries need selective deposition and removal processes, like ALD and ALE. In general, these new device architectures are demanding more deposition and etch steps in more complex power delivery solutions, offering increased control, mixed frequencies and use of higher power. For example, in the fourth quarter, we shipped the first unit of our next-generation solid state match. This product delivers faster tuning time for leading edge sub-10 nanometers ALD and ALE applications and has a broader dynamic operating range for both power levels and frequencies. We believe all these trends will drive incremental investments and growing demand for power delivery solutions not seen before. For these reasons, we anticipate a strong start to 2018.

隨著器件結構日益複雜，業界正在轉向蝕刻 32、64 和 96 層 3D NAND 所需的一套新工具和架構，並且對提高良率的需求也越來越大，為此我們的 RF 功率傳輸策略是批判的。與此同時，DRAM 投資正在增加並變得更加針對特定應用。同樣的情況也發生在下一代邏輯設備上，因為晶圓廠和代工廠需要先進的雙重和四重圖形。此外，新材料和器件幾何形狀需要選擇性沉積和去除工藝，例如 ALD 和 ALE。總的來說，這些新的設備架構需要在更複雜的功率傳輸解決方案中使用更多的沉積和蝕刻步驟，以提供增強的控制、混合頻率和更高功率的使用。例如，在第四季度，我們交付了我們下一代固態火柴的第一台。該產品為領先的亞 10 納米 ALD 和 ALE 應用提供更快的調諧時間，並具有更寬的功率水平和頻率動態工作範圍。我們相信所有這些趨勢都將推動增量投資和對電力傳輸解決方案不斷增長的需求，這是前所未有的。基於這些原因，我們預計 2018 年會有一個強勁的開端。

At 39% growth in 2017, our Industrial business had a strongest performance on record, far exceeding our long-term goal of GDP plus 2 to 3 points. Our sophisticated power suppliers are enabling highly engineered materials, such as decorative, optical and functional coatings for consumer electronics, while our PV solar cell business continues to make headway in China and acquisitions add to our Specialty Power business. As expected, fourth quarter revenue dipped sequentially, while customers digested a significant investment in consumer electronic coating lines made in prior quarters.

2017 年，我們的工業業務實現了 39% 的增長，創下了有記錄以來最強勁的表現，遠超我們的 GDP 長期目標 2 至 3 個百分點。我們成熟的電源供應商正在開發高度工程化的材料，例如用於消費電子產品的裝飾、光學和功能性塗層，而我們的光伏太陽能電池業務在中國繼續取得進展，並且收購增加了我們的特種電源業務。正如預期的那樣，第四季度收入環比下降，而客戶消化了前幾個季度對消費電子塗層生產線的大量投資。

Also, in thin film industrial, we saw an increase in major PV solar projects and gained significant share for solar cell manufacturing equipment as the majority of the large Chinese OEMs selected our power suppliers, making AE the #1 supplier to this market. In flat panel display, we expanded our prices in China with capacity increases in the production of mobile OLED devices.

此外，在薄膜工業方面，我們看到主要光伏太陽能項目有所增加，並在太陽能電池製造設備方面獲得了顯著份額，因為大多數大型中國原始設備製造商選擇了我們的電源供應商，使 AE 成為該市場的第一供應商。在平板顯示器方面，隨著移動 OLED 設備產能的增加，我們擴大了在中國的價格。

Finally, the adoption of new technology in the glass coating market with our Ascent product is resulting in continued upgrades and purchases of new equipment. In Specialty Power, requirements for more rigorous safety and inspection processes in global markets are growing and becoming increasingly important, driving the need for highly sensitive analytical tools. AE's high-voltage power solutions providing low noise and ripple, combined with small form factor, are gaining traction in medical, life science, mass spectrometry and scanning electron microscope applications for chemical and physical analysis and inspection.

最後，我們的 Ascent 產品在玻璃鍍膜市場採用新技術，導致不斷升級和購買新設備。在特種電源領域，全球市場對更嚴格的安全和檢查流程的要求不斷增長並變得越來越重要，這推動了對高靈敏度分析工具的需求。 AE 的高壓電源解決方案提供低噪聲和紋波，結合小尺寸，在醫療、生命科學、質譜分析和掃描電子顯微鏡應用中的化學和物理分析和檢查中越來越受歡迎。

Our low-voltage customized power solutions from a recently added Excelsys line are allowing us to expand our presence in the highly regulated clinical instrumentation market. We expect first quarter industrial revenues to be consistent with the fourth quarter, while year-over-year growth continues for market share gains in new products and applications. Excelsys continues to be strong contributor, and we look to make further inorganic additions in the future as we expand our product portfolio and provide new market opportunities worldwide.

我們最近添加的 Excelsys 系列的低壓定制電源解決方案使我們能夠擴大我們在高度監管的臨床儀器市場的影響力。我們預計第一季度的工業收入將與第四季度保持一致，而新產品和應用的市場份額將繼續同比增長。 Excelsys 仍然是強大的貢獻者，隨著我們擴大產品組合併在全球範圍內提供新的市場機會，我們希望在未來進一步添加無機物。

Our constant innovation is critical to maintaining our leadership semi market position, growing share, penetrating new applications and expanding our SAM. By consistently investing in the future and leveraging our growing R&D presence close to our customers both in U.S., EMEA and Asia, not only are we staying at the forefront of power delivery and control technology, we are capturing new opportunities to be designed into next-generation tools and secure income from other new sources. A clear example is the momentum we are seeing in our dielectric etch business, where just a few years ago, we had very limited exposure. Today, our presence in dielectric etch continues to grow rapidly, while etch, in general, is one of the most important and fastest-growing areas of our semiconductor business.

我們不斷的創新對於保持我們的半市場領先地位、增加份額、滲透新應用和擴展我們的 SAM 至關重要。通過持續投資於未來並利用我們在美國、歐洲、中東和非洲和亞洲的客戶附近不斷擴大的研發實力，我們不僅保持在電力傳輸和控制技術的前沿，我們還在抓住新的機會設計成下一個——生成工具並從其他新來源獲得收入。一個明顯的例子是我們在電介質蝕刻業務中看到的勢頭，就在幾年前，我們的曝光率非常有限。今天，我們在電介質蝕刻領域的業務繼續快速增長，而蝕刻通常是我們半導體業務中最重要和增長最快的領域之一。

In the fourth quarter, we demonstrated our dominant presence in the semiconductor market by winning virtually all of the designs pursued in advanced memory, both NAND and DRAM, and logic applications in deposition and etch. In particular, we had wins for etch designs on 3 different platforms for advanced memory and secured a PECVD win to expand our business in logic with a key customer.

在第四季度，我們贏得了幾乎所有先進存儲器（包括 NAND 和 DRAM）以及沉積和蝕刻中的邏輯應用的設計，證明了我們在半導體市場的主導地位。特別是，我們贏得了 3 個不同平台的先進內存蝕刻設計，並獲得了 PECVD 勝利，以擴展我們與關鍵客戶的邏輯業務。

This quarter, we saw momentum for our power solutions across a broad spectrum of our industrial markets as well. The highlight in thin film industrial was our multiple wins in solar PV applications in China, primarily with a new Ascent platform. Additionally, we had wins in flat panel display, OLED and advanced coating for consumer electronics. In Specialty Power, we continued to gain share and displaced competitors. In thermal, we secured wins in solar cell manufacturing in China and won a design for lithium-ion battery manufacturing with our complete certified solution in Korea. In high voltage, we had wins in applications, including mass spectrometry, medical and security. Aided by a recent acquisition, we also won designs in medical equipment for therapeutic and advanced diagnostic, opening up new markets, such as low-voltage power solution design for cardiac imaging.

本季度，我們在廣泛的工業市場上也看到了我們的電源解決方案的發展勢頭。薄膜工業的亮點是我們在中國的太陽能光伏應用中多次獲勝，主要是新的 Ascent 平台。此外，我們在平板顯示器、OLED 和消費電子產品的先進塗層方面也取得了成功。在 Specialty Power 中，我們繼續獲得份額並取代競爭對手。在熱能方面，我們在中國贏得了太陽能電池製造，並在韓國憑藉我們完整的認證解決方案贏得了鋰離子電池製造設計。在高壓方面，我們在質譜、醫療和安全等應用領域取得了勝利。借助最近的收購，我們還贏得了用於治療和高級診斷的醫療設備設計，開闢了新市場，例如用於心臟成像的低壓電源解決方案設計。

Our service business had a third consecutive record year, growing 26% in 2017. Our highly engineered service products and non-break fix strategy are driving market share gains as customers recognize the advantage of AE's service to lower their total cost of ownership over the product's life cycle. During this incredible period of growth in the semiconductor industry, we've expanded our capabilities, achieved economies of scales and improved the responsiveness, flexibility and quality of our services. This, combined with opening of a new service and repair facility in Japan, led to another quarter of growth, as we ended the year with a 29 year-over-year increase in the fourth quarter.

我們的服務業務連續第三年創紀錄，2017 年增長 26%。我們高度工程化的服務產品和不間斷修復策略正在推動市場份額的增長，因為客戶認識到 AE 服務的優勢，可以降低他們相對於產品的總擁有成本生命週期。在半導體行業這段令人難以置信的增長時期，我們擴展了我們的能力，實現了規模經濟，並提高了我們服務的響應能力、靈活性和質量。這與在日本開設新的服務和維修設施相結合，導致了另一個季度的增長，因為我們在第四季度以 29 的同比增長結束了這一年。

For the first quarter, we anticipate modest sequential growth. Over the longer term, we plan to broaden our capacity, capability and footprint with a highly engineered service products and the additional facilities in EMEA and Asia to bolster future growth.

對於第一季度，我們預計會有適度的環比增長。從長遠來看，我們計劃通過高度工程化的服務產品以及在 EMEA 和亞洲的額外設施來擴大我們的能力、能力和足跡，以促進未來的增長。

In summary, 2017 was an unparalleled year, with exceptional growth across all 3 of our businesses. Industry fundamentals remain strong entering 2018, driven by the destructive technologies taking hold in our end markets. Our commitment to constant innovation is securing our position as a leading provider of power solutions, allowing our customers to address multi-year technology inflections. Building on our performance the last few years, we recently raised our 3 years' aspirational goals to greater than $1 billion in revenue, between $5.50 to $6.50 in non-GAAP EPS and over $550 million in cumulative cash generation. We remain committed to outperforming the markets we serve while executing on our capital deployment program to acquire and extend our portfolio and return value to our shareholders. I'd like to thank our customers, partners, shareholders and our valued employees for their support. Thank you for joining us. And we look forward to seeing many of you in the upcoming quarter.

總而言之，2017 年是無與倫比的一年，我們所有 3 項業務都實現了非凡的增長。進入 2018 年，在破壞性技術在我們的終端市場佔據一席之地的推動下，行業基本面依然強勁。我們對不斷創新的承諾確保了我們作為電源解決方案領先供應商的地位，使我們的客戶能夠應對多年的技術變化。基於我們過去幾年的業績，我們最近將 3 年的宏偉目標提高到超過 10 億美元的收入、5.50 美元至 6.50 美元的非 GAAP 每股收益和超過 5.5 億美元的累計現金生成。我們仍然致力於超越我們所服務的市場，同時執行我們的資本部署計劃以獲取和擴展我們的投資組合併為股東回報價值。我要感謝我們的客戶、合作夥伴、股東和我們尊貴的員工的支持。感謝您加入我們。我們期待在即將到來的季度見到你們中的許多人。

Before I turn the call over to Tom McGimpsey, I'd like to thank Tom Liguori for his commitment and dedication over the last few years in helping me bring AE to where it is today. We wish him the best of luck in his new endeavor. With that, let me turn the call over to Tom McGimpsey. Tom?

在我將電話轉給 Tom McGimpsey 之前，我要感謝 Tom Liguori 在過去幾年中幫助我將 AE 帶到今天的承諾和奉獻精神。我們祝愿他在新的事業中好運。有了這個，讓我把電話轉給 Tom McGimpsey。湯姆？

Thank you, Yuval. The fourth quarter concludes another exceptional year for Advanced Energy. We reached the high-end of our fourth quarter revenue guidance and exceeded our expectations for non-GAAP EPS. Fourth quarter revenues of $179.2 million rose 1.5% sequentially and 32.4% year-over-year. Non-GAAP operating margins of 34.1% drove non-GAAP EPS of $1.31, an increase of 10.1% over the third quarter and 23.6% year-over-year.

謝謝你，尤瓦爾。第四季度結束了 Advanced Energy 又一個非凡的一年。我們達到了第四季度收入指引的高端，超出了我們對非 GAAP 每股收益的預期。第四季度收入為 1.792 億美元，環比增長 1.5%，同比增長 32.4%。非 GAAP 營業利潤率為 34.1%，推動非 GAAP 每股收益為 1.31 美元，比第三季度增長 10.1%，同比增長 23.6%。

Beginning with the individual end markets for the fourth quarter, semiconductor sales again reached a new record of $123.6 million, up 6.1% from last quarter and 27.6% from last year. Industry demand for more complex tools resulted in increased capital intensity and demand for our power supplies. Industrial revenue came in at $30.6 million, down 14.7% from its record high in the third quarter following the expected digestion of capital investment made in advance of coating for consumer devices in prior quarters. Year-over-year, fourth quarter industrial revenues increased by 60.6%, far outpacing market performance. Service revenue for the quarter climbed to $25 million, up 3.4% sequentially and 28.7% compared to a year ago. Having grown sequentially for 8 consecutive quarters, service is now a $100 million annual run rate business for us.

從第四季度的個別終端市場開始，半導體銷售額再次創下 1.236 億美元的新紀錄，比上一季度增長 6.1%，比去年同期增長 27.6%。行業對更複雜工具的需求導致資本密集度和對我們電源的需求增加。工業收入為 3060 萬美元，較第三季度創下的歷史新高下降 14.7%，原因是前幾個季度在消費設備塗層之前進行的資本投資預期得到消化。與去年同期相比，第四季度工業收入增長 60.6%，遠遠超過市場表現。本季度的服務收入攀升至 2500 萬美元，環比增長 3.4%，同比增長 28.7%。在連續 8 個季度連續增長後，服務現在對我們來說是一項每年 1 億美元的運行率業務。

This quarter, non-GAAP operating margin was 34.1% compared to 31.9% last quarter and 30.7% last year. The increase over the third quarter was due in part to an improvement in gross margin, primarily from lower warranty costs as our products [did] continue to perform well at customer sites. In addition, SG&A expenses decreased in the quarter due to lower incentive pay associated with the departure of our CFO. As a result of these factors, non-GAAP EPS benefited by $0.03 in the quarter, leading to a normalized EPS of $1.28.

本季度，非美國通用會計準則營業利潤率為 34.1%，上一季度為 31.9%，去年為 30.7%。第三季度的增長部分是由於毛利率的提高，主要是由於我們的產品[確實]在客戶現場繼續表現良好而降低了保修成本。此外，由於與首席財務官離職相關的激勵薪酬較低，本季度的 SG&A 費用有所減少。由於這些因素，本季度非 GAAP 每股收益增加了 0.03 美元，導致正常化每股收益為 1.28 美元。

The total year tax expense of $62.1 million includes: one, tax expense of $72.9 million associated with the recently enacted U.S. tax reform; and two, a benefit of $33.8 million associated with the write-down of our solar inverter business, which was initially recorded in the third quarter. Net of these amounts, the total tax year expense would have been $23.1 million, or an annual effective tax rate of 12%. We expect our total U.S. cash tax liability related to the onetime repatriation tax offset by current activity, including the tax benefit realized by the write-down of our solar inverter business to be approximately $16 million payable over the next 8 years. Of that amount, approximately $1.3 million is estimated to be payable in 2018. We plan to continue to evaluate our tax estimates during the 12-month measurement period as additional information and regulatory guidance and interpretation becomes available. Looking to 2018, we currently expect our annual tax rate to be in the mid-teens. As a result, GAAP loss per share for the fourth quarter was $0.73. Non-GAAP EPS for the fourth quarter was $1.31 per share compared to $1.19 in the third quarter and $1.06 a year ago.

年度總計 6210 萬美元的稅收支出包括：一、與最近頒布的美國稅制改革相關的 7290 萬美元的稅收支出；第二，與我們的太陽能逆變器業務減記相關的 3380 萬美元收益，該收益最初記錄在第三季度。扣除這些金額後，納稅年度總費用為 2310 萬美元，即年有效稅率為 12%。我們預計我們與當前活動一次性匯回稅抵消相關的美國現金稅負債總額，包括在未來 8 年內應支付的約 1600 萬美元的太陽能逆變器業務減記帶來的稅收優惠。其中，約 130 萬美元預計將在 2018 年支付。我們計劃在 12 個月的衡量期內繼續評估我們的稅收估計，因為有更多信息和監管指導和解釋可用。展望 2018 年，我們目前預計我們的年度稅率將在十幾歲左右。因此，第四季度的 GAAP 每股虧損為 0.73 美元。第四季度非美國通用會計準則每股收益為 1.31 美元，而第三季度為 1.19 美元，一年前為 1.06 美元。

Turning to the balance sheet. In the fourth quarter, we generated $49.6 million of cash from continuing operations. During the quarter, we also executed on our capital deployment strategy by repurchasing $5 million in stock while continuing to pursue our pipeline of potential acquisitions. We ended the year with $410.4 million in cash and marketable securities.

轉向資產負債表。第四季度，我們從持續經營中產生了 4960 萬美元的現金。在本季度，我們還通過回購 500 萬美元的股票來執行我們的資本部署戰略，同時繼續尋求我們的潛在收購渠道。年底，我們擁有 4.104 億美元的現金和有價證券。

2017 was an exceptional year for Advanced Energy. Revenues rose 38.7% to $671 million. Non-GAAP operating margin improved by 410 basis points to 32.5% and non-GAAP EPS increased 53.4% to $4.77. We generated cumulative cash flow from continuing operations of $190 million for the year and repurchased $30 million, or approximately 422,000 shares, as part of our larger share buyback initiative. We also closed the acquisition of Excelsys for $17.4 million to expand our Specialty Power business.

2017 年對於 Advanced Energy 來說是不平凡的一年。收入增長 38.7% 至 6.71 億美元。非 GAAP 營業利潤率提高 410 個基點至 32.5%，非 GAAP 每股收益增長 53.4% 至 4.77 美元。作為我們更大規模的股票回購計劃的一部分，我們全年從持續經營中產生了 1.9 億美元的累計現金流，並回購了 3000 萬美元，即約 422,000 股股票。我們還以 1740 萬美元完成了對 Excelsys 的收購，以擴大我們的特種電源業務。

Given the extraordinary momentum of the markets we serve and the strength of our financial markets, we recently updated our 3-year aspirational goals to revenue of more than $1 billion, noncash EPS of $5.50 to $6.50 and more than $550 million in cumulative cash generation.

鑑於我們所服務市場的非凡勢頭和我們金融市場的實力，我們最近將我們的 3 年理想目標更新為收入超過 10 億美元，非現金每股收益為 5.50 至 6.50 美元，累計現金產生超過 5.5 億美元。

With that, let me turn it over to the operator for questions. Operator?

有了這個，讓我把它交給接線員提問。操作員？

(Operator Instructions) And our first question comes from the line of Edwin Mok with Needham.

（操作員說明）我們的第一個問題來自 Edwin Mok 與 Needham 的對話。

Good luck to you, Tom.

祝你好運，湯姆。

Thank you.

謝謝。

So my first question -- let me just get this out of the way. I'm sure a lot of investors will ask the same question regarding the 1Q guidance. I think if I did my math correctly, your semicap is roughly up around 7% sequentially based on your guidance. Large customer, however, has said that their shipments move up 20% or that range, right? You've already said -- you can talk about the difference there. Anyway, you can now give us some color on that.

所以我的第一個問題——讓我先解決這個問題。我相信很多投資者會就第一季度的指導提出同樣的問題。我想如果我的計算正確的話，根據你的指導，你的半市值大約連續上漲了 7% 左右。然而，大客戶表示他們的出貨量增加了 20% 或那個範圍，對嗎？你已經說過——你可以談談那裡的區別。無論如何，您現在可以給我們一些顏色。

Sure. Sure, Edwin. I think that you referred to one OEM that has projected 20% growth. The few things that people need to understand is, number one, there's always a timing effect related to when we recognize revenue and where our customers recognize revenue, right? And we usually ship our products earlier to our customers for their preparation of their shipments. Number two, we have more than one customer, and not all customers are equal in terms of their growth rate and the timing of where they see the significant surge in their business because not all of them serve the same end users at the same capacity or same share rate. So if you look at that, the combination of timing and the distribution of our products and our content among all of our customers will dictate our growth rate. We're very constructive on 2018. As we said earlier, even in the last quarter, we expect 2018 to be stronger than 2017. As we said earlier, we expect Q1 to be stronger than Q2, and we are constructive towards the first half of 2018.

當然。當然，埃德溫。我認為您提到了一家預計增長 20% 的 OEM。人們需要了解的幾件事是，第一，我們何時確認收入以及我們的客戶在哪裡確認收入總是存在時間效應，對吧？我們通常會提前將產品運送給客戶，以便他們準備發貨。第二，我們有不止一個客戶，並不是所有客戶的增長率和業務顯著增長的時間都是一樣的，因為並非所有客戶都以相同的容量或相同的能力為相同的最終用戶服務相同的份額。因此，如果你看一下，我們的產品和內容在我們所有客戶中的時間和分佈的組合將決定我們的增長率。我們對 2018 年非常有建設性。正如我們之前所說，即使在最後一個季度，我們預計 2018 年將強於 2017 年。正如我們之前所說，我們預計第一季度將強於第二季度，我們對上半年持建設性態度2018 年。

Okay. That's helpful. On the wins that you talked about, Yuval, just to be clear in terms of timing, right, I think we talked about it before, but I just wanted to be clear. On the semicap wins, you mentioned that you won all the new design, including your 3-etch platform, which is very encouraging. But realistically, those are more like -- it takes some time for wins to turn into revenue. Those could potentially be more like [driver] for 2019. Is that fair? And then on the industrial design win...

好的。這很有幫助。關於你談到的勝利，Yuval，只是為了明確時間，對，我想我們之前談過，但我只是想說清楚。關於半導體獲勝，您提到您贏得了所有新設計，包括您的 3 蝕刻平台，這非常令人鼓舞。但實際上，這些更像是——勝利需要一些時間才能轉化為收入。那些可能更像是 2019 年的 [driver]。這公平嗎？然後在工業設計上取勝...

That's fair, Edwin. Yes.

這很公平，埃德溫。是的。

And then on the industrial design, is that a faster turnaround in terms of the time frame? I'm actually more interested in the contrast between the semi part of the business versus industrial in terms of the top win to revenue.

然後在工業設計方面，就時間框架而言，周轉速度是否更快？實際上，我更感興趣的是，在收入最高的贏家方面，商業與工業的半部分之間的對比。

Yes -- it's a great question, Edwin. And the answer is partially yes. Some of our Industrial business is more of a project-related business because some of the applications are not as regulated as semi. They do not apply the copy-exactly concept. However, in some highly regulated market and applications like medical, defense, aerospace that are as regulated as semi in terms of the appetite for change, these design wins could take as long as semi and has the same stickiness as semi. So it's a mix. It's really a mix. What we see in our industrial, especially in the area of PV solar, we have become the leading supplier with, I would say, the majority of the market share in the new capacity added in the world for PV solar cell manufacturing, using our existing and new power supplies. Even though each one of this project is a project, we have become the standard and are the go-to supplier for these power supplies.

是的——這是一個很好的問題，埃德溫。答案部分是肯定的。我們的一些工業業務更多是與項目相關的業務，因為一些應用程序不像半成品那樣受到監管。他們不應用完全複製的概念。然而，在一些高度監管的市場和應用中，如醫療、國防、航空航天等，在變革慾望方面與 semi 一樣受到監管，這些設計獲勝可能需要與 semi 一樣長的時間，並且具有與 semi 相同的粘性。所以這是一個混合。這真的是一個混合體。我們在我們的工業中看到的，特別是在光伏太陽能領域，我們已經成為領先的供應商，我想說，使用我們現有的光伏太陽能電池製造新增產能中的大部分市場份額和新的電源。儘管這個項目中的每一個都是一個項目，但我們已經成為標準，並且是這些電源的首選供應商。

Okay. That's helpful. On the industrial side of business, you guys talked about this consumer win that drove a lot of growth in the September quarter. Is that a onetime situation or are you -- that this customer build the capacity that they may need and, therefore, you have to win another design from someone else? Or is this ongoing or recurring business that you could expect this customer to come back?

好的。這很有幫助。在業務的工業方面，你們談到了消費者的勝利，這推動了 9 月季度的大量增長。這是一次性的情況還是您 - 這個客戶建立了他們可能需要的能力，因此您必須從其他人那裡贏得另一個設計？還是您希望該客戶回來的持續或經常性業務？

We expect additional capital investments in the area of consumer electronic products to continue into the future in the same profile we saw before. It's not a continuum, but rather a surge of investments to build coating lines for the specific products. The interesting dynamic in this market, it's not driven only by capacity, it is driven by new materials, highly engineered materials that are either optical, decorative or functional that are really critical for the consumer electronic products that we serve. We provide our power supplies to the equipment makers of these thin film coating processes. And in most cases, our power supplies are perceived as enabling for these highly engineered materials, which sometimes require very sophisticated applications, especially in co-sputtering, reactive sputtering, PVD application, in general.

我們預計消費電子產品領域的額外資本投資將以我們之前看到的相同形式持續到未來。這不是一個連續體，而是為特定產品建造塗層生產線的投資激增。這個市場中有趣的動態，它不僅僅是由容量驅動的，它是由新材料驅動的，高度工程化的材料，無論是光學的、裝飾性的還是功能性的，對於我們所服務的消費電子產品來說都是非常關鍵的。我們為這些薄膜塗層工藝的設備製造商提供電源。在大多數情況下，我們的電源被認為可以支持這些高度工程化的材料，這些材料有時需要非常複雜的應用，尤其是在共濺射、反應濺射、PVD 應用中。

Okay. Great. Last question I have on the lower warranty costs that benefit you on the gross margin side, right? Is that one time? Or is that more of a sustainable scenario? Should we start to assume margin can kind of push at this 54%-plus going forward?

好的。偉大的。最後一個問題是，較低的保修成本對您的毛利率有利，對吧？那是一次嗎？或者這更像是一個可持續的場景？我們是否應該開始假設利潤率可以在未來推動 54% 以上的增長？

Well, thanks, Edwin. This is Tom. Yes, it is one time, and we believe that gross margins will go back to their normal levels.

好吧，謝謝，埃德溫。這是湯姆。是的，這是一次，我們相信毛利率會回到正常水平。

Our next question comes from the line of Tom Diffely with D.A. Davidson.

我們的下一個問題來自 Tom Diffely 和 D.A.戴維森。

A quick question on just the make up -- the semi market. If we look out to 2018, we think that the growth is coming from DRAM and logic as opposed to 3D NAND last year. What does that mean for Advanced Energy in terms of both relative revenue growth and perhaps margins?

一個關於化妝的快速問題——半市場。如果展望 2018 年，我們認為增長來自 DRAM 和邏輯，而不是去年的 3D NAND。就相對收入增長和利潤率而言，這對 Advanced Energy 意味著什麼？

We're pretty much agnostic to the device technology. What we see, our power supplies have been used for all devices, logic, foundry, DRAM and 3D NAND. Obviously, with the transition to 3D NAND and also the migration to more complex 3D NAND devices with many more layers, the capital intensity of the power content in those tools increases because of the need for higher power, more complex power delivery solutions, and with that, increase in ASP, so our dollar content increases. At the same time, as the industry -- in the planar devices, be it DRAM or logic or foundry, as the industry migrates to more advanced geometries, here again, we need to deliver more power supplies for dual and quad patterning, but sometimes more sophisticated power supplies for new applications that are being applied for these devices, such as selective deposition and selective etch, ALD, ALE, all require some of our advanced power supplies.

我們對設備技術幾乎一無所知。我們所看到的，我們的電源已用於所有設備、邏輯、代工、DRAM 和 3D NAND。顯然，隨著向 3D NAND 的過渡以及向具有更多層的更複雜的 3D NAND 設備的遷移，這些工具中功率內容的資本強度增加，因為需要更高的功率、更複雜的功率傳輸解決方案，並且隨著也就是說，ASP 增加，因此我們的美元含量增加。與此同時，作為行業——在平面設備中，無論是 DRAM 還是邏輯還是代工廠，隨著行業向更先進的幾何形狀遷移，我們再次需要為雙和四圖案化提供更多電源，但有時用於這些設備的新應用的更複雜的電源，例如選擇性沉積和選擇性蝕刻、ALD、ALE，都需要我們的一些高級電源。

Okay. And then from a margin point of view, is there any difference at all? Is that more customer or project dependent?

好的。然後從保證金的角度來看，有什麼區別嗎？是否更多地依賴於客戶或項目？

In the semiconductor world, we don't talk about projects. We basically -- our relationship with our customers are strategic, and our pricing discussions with our customers are strategic and based on long-term contracts. So in general, you can assume that the gross margins of the products that we sell to the semiconductor customers for different end product are very similar.

在半導體世界，我們不談項目。我們基本上 - 我們與客戶的關係是戰略性的，我們與客戶的定價討論是戰略性的並且基於長期合同。所以一般來說，你可以假設我們銷售給半導體客戶的不同最終產品的產品毛利率非常相似。

Okay. Great. And then moving over to the industrial side. Is there a normal seasonal pattern at this point? Or is that one that's going to be more lumpy just based on projects that could turn normal seasonal patterns into random acts?

好的。偉大的。然後轉向工業方面。此時是否存在正常的季節性模式？還是僅基於可以將正常的季節性模式轉變為隨機行為的項目而變得更加笨拙？

I'm sorry, Tom, can you repeat the question?

對不起，湯姆，你能重複這個問題嗎？

Yes. Just curious, is there a normal seasonal pattern on the industrial side of the business? Or is that one, at this point, more kind of lumpy project-based?

是的。只是好奇，工業方面的業務是否存在正常的季節性模式？還是那個，在這一點上，更像是基於項目的塊狀？

The latter. You're right. We don't believe that we have the typical seasonality. Our Industrial business is a collection of flavors. It's many applications, many industries, many customers. Each of them could have a unique investment pattern, but in aggregate, as we have demonstrated, we continue to grow. In fact, we grow faster than we ever expected, with one exception, with very large investment in industrial coating for consumer electronic products that occurred last year.

後者。你說得對。我們不相信我們有典型的季節性。我們的工業業務是各種口味的集合。它有很多應用，很多行業，很多客戶。他們每個人都可以有一個獨特的投資模式，但總的來說，正如我們所展示的，我們繼續增長。事實上，我們的增長速度比我們預期的要快，只有一個例外，去年對消費電子產品的工業塗料進行了大量投資。

Okay. And then just finally on the tax. You said tax should be in the mid-teens. It sounds like that's pretty much on track to what you're expecting before the tax implications came through last month. Just curious, is there any implication from the new tax laws on you?

好的。最後是稅收。你說稅收應該在十幾歲左右。聽起來這與您在上個月稅收影響出現之前的預期幾乎一致。只是好奇，新稅法對您有什麼影響嗎？

Thank you, Tom. No. It's -- in a sense, you should just expect mid-teens going forward and minimal impact.

謝謝你，湯姆。不。從某種意義上說，你應該期待十幾歲的人繼續前進並且影響最小。

Our next question comes from the line of Pavel Molchanov with Raymond James.

我們的下一個問題來自 Pavel Molchanov 和 Raymond James 的台詞。

Happy to see your solar wins. And in that context, I'm sure you've noticed the new Section 201, solar tariff. Have you been approached by any overseas solar manufacturers who might be interested in building U.S. capacity in response to the tariff?

很高興看到你的太陽能獲勝。在這種情況下，我相信您已經註意到新的第 201 條太陽能關稅。是否有任何可能有興趣建設美國產能以應對關稅的海外太陽能製造商與您接洽過？

No, we have not. As you note, please, that we are a supplier to the equipment makers for this industry. So our customers are mainly concentrated in Asia and EMEA. And we provide our power supplies for these customers wherever they build their machines. They may eventually, maybe in the future, end up sending their machines back for the U.S., but these companies are offshore companies, Chinese companies and European companies. Our power supplies have -- became enablers for the next generation vintage of PV solar cells, and as such, we delivered them wherever they're needed.

不，我們沒有。請注意，我們是該行業設備製造商的供應商。所以我們的客戶主要集中在亞洲和歐洲、中東和非洲。我們為這些客戶在他們製造機器的任何地方提供電源。他們可能最終，也許在未來，最終將他們的機器送回美國，但這些公司是離岸公司，中國公司和歐洲公司。我們的電源已成為下一代 PV 太陽能電池的推動者，因此，我們可以在需要的地方提供它們。

Okay. Clear enough. One more on the U.S. tax cut. So you've made it clear that your effective rate is going to be essentially as it has been. Do you have any overseas cash that you would be interested in repatriating? And if so, what might the timetable on that be?

好的。夠清楚了。還有一個是關於美國減稅的。所以你已經明確表示你的有效利率將基本保持原樣。您是否有任何有興趣匯回的海外現金？如果是這樣，時間表可能是什麼？

Yes, Pavel, about 70% of our cash is overseas. At this point, we'll look and see what happens. But currently, we will keep it where it's at, and we'll make the determination going forward.

是的，帕維爾，我們大約 70% 的現金都在海外。在這一點上，我們將看看會發生什麼。但目前，我們會將其保留在原處，我們將繼續做出決定。

Our next question comes from the line of Mehdi Hosseini with SIG.

我們的下一個問題來自 SIG 的 Mehdi Hosseini。

Two follow-ups. Yuval, on the NAND side, how do you see market opportunities for AE evolving as NAND manufacturers adopt a stack-over-stack architecture? And then the second question that I have is on M&A front. How should we think about the change of leadership at the CFO spot? And how is that impacting your M&A strategy? And is there an update that you can share with us?

兩次跟進。 Yuval，在 NAND 方面，隨著 NAND 製造商採用堆棧架構，您如何看待 AE 發展的市場機會？然後我的第二個問題是關於併購方面的。我們應該如何看待 CFO 領導層的變動？這對您的併購策略有何影響？是否有更新可以與我們分享？

Sure. Let me start with the first question, Mehdi. It's a great question. As the industry migrates to more stack films, memories as moving to -- all the way up to the 96 layers, what we see is that the industry will need new set of tools because of the complexity in a challenging geometry and the architecture of the device. We're now talking about aspect ratios that become extremely challenging and especially in the etch world. That requires the use of higher power to be able to etch that deep and high aspect ratio devices. In some cases, more strict and critical control over the power pulses and frequencies. And a combination of these high-power, highly controlled, very nimble and agile power supplies require a new generation of control algorithms and capabilities, including metrology, all of which require the development of either derivatives or new power supplies. As a result of that, our dollar content per chamber of etcher increases with the number of layers that are applied to the memory device.

當然。讓我從第一個問題開始，邁赫迪。這是一個很好的問題。隨著行業遷移到更多的堆棧膜，存儲器遷移到 - 一直到 96 層，我們看到的是，由於具有挑戰性的幾何結構和架構的複雜性，該行業將需要一套新的工具設備。我們現在談論的縱橫比變得極具挑戰性，尤其是在蝕刻領域。這需要使用更高的功率才能蝕刻深和高縱橫比的設備。在某些情況下，對功率脈沖和頻率的控制更為嚴格和嚴格。這些高功率、高度可控、非常靈敏的電源的組合需要新一代的控制算法和能力，包括計量學，所有這些都需要開發衍生品或新電源。因此，我們的蝕刻機每個腔室的美元含量隨著應用於存儲設備的層數而增加。

If I may have just a quick follow on this topic. How does the dollar content change if, let's say, for illustration purpose, the 96 layer is 2 stack of 48? Would that stack on the stack change the dollar content for you?

如果我可以快速了解一下這個話題。如果出於說明目的，假設 96 層是 2 疊 48，那麼美元含量如何變化？堆棧上的堆棧會為您改變美元內容嗎？

Well, the dollar content for us is a function of the power delivered by the power supply, the control systems we apply and the core technologies we develop to make these power supplies able to etch these challenging devices. So what I'm talking about is increase in ASP.

好吧，對我們來說，美元含量取決於電源提供的功率、我們應用的控制系統以及我們開發的核心技術，使這些電源能夠蝕刻這些具有挑戰性的設備。所以我說的是 ASP 的增加。

Okay. Got it. And then on M&A, what's the update? And how should we think about the change in CFO?

好的。知道了。然後在併購方面，最新情況是什麼？我們應該如何看待CFO的變動？

So we continue to deploy a very disciplined and rigorous approach to selecting target acquisitions, acquiring companies and integrating the companies. The change in CFO is not a change in our strategy. The change in CFO is not a change in the way we are pursuing our M&A strategy. We have a very good pipeline. We're very constructive about our ability to do some good -- make some great progress in 2018. And we follow our proven disciplined process in integrating -- and acquiring and integrating companies. Thus far, all the recent 5 acquisitions we've made are profitable, growing, accretive, generating cash and growing in new verticals and new geographical regions as we planned. 2018 is a good year for us, as we have created a very fruitful pipeline of target acquisitions and obviously the previous CFO was part of that process.

因此，我們繼續採用非常有紀律和嚴格的方法來選擇目標收購、收購公司和整合公司。首席財務官的變動並不是我們戰略的改變。首席財務官的變動並不是我們追求併購戰略方式的改變。我們有一個很好的管道。我們對我們做好事的能力非常有建設性——在 2018 年取得一些重大進展。我們在整合、收購和整合公司方面遵循經過驗證的紀律程序。到目前為止，我們最近進行的 5 次收購都是盈利的、增長的、增值的、產生現金的，並且按照我們的計劃在新的垂直領域和新的地理區域實現增長。 2018 年對我們來說是豐收的一年，因為我們創造了一個非常富有成效的目標收購管道，顯然前任首席財務官是該過程的一部分。

I just want to make sure I understand that your new longer-term EPS target of $5.50 to $6.50. Is that contingent on M&A? Or is that independent of acquisitions?

我只是想確保我了解您的新長期每股收益目標為 5.50 美元至 6.50 美元。這取決於併購嗎？或者這與收購無關？

It does include both organic growth and target acquisitions between $150 million to $200 million over 3 years period. And if you look historically, what happened is, the reason we're so comfortable with our new aspirational goal is that our organic growth grew significantly faster than our plan as a result of the markets we serve and share gain. So this increase in organic growth, coupled with the commitment to acquire between $150 million to $200 million of acquired revenue, is what allows us to comfortably set the goal to greater than $1 billion.

它確實包括 3 年期間 1.5 億至 2 億美元的有機增長和目標收購。如果你從歷史上看，發生的事情是，我們對新的理想目標如此滿意的原因是，由於我們服務的市場和分享收益，我們的有機增長速度明顯快於我們的計劃。因此，這種有機增長的增加，加上承諾獲得 1.5 億至 2 億美元的收購收入，使我們能夠輕鬆地將目標設定為超過 10 億美元。

And our next question comes from the line of Patrick Ho with Stifel.

我們的下一個問題來自 Stifel 的 Patrick Ho。

Yuval, maybe just as a follow-up on your services business and the growth you've seen there. Obviously, it's a great annuity business, and you detailed how you're growing above industry average rate. Can you detail, aside from the growth in the installed base, which obviously is a big contributor to the services growth, what are the, I guess, capabilities or what other new offerings are you guys providing that's driving this growth not only in 2017, but probably over the next few years?

Yuval，也許只是對你的服務業務和你在那裡看到的增長的跟進。顯然，這是一項偉大的年金業務，您詳細說明了您如何以高於行業平均水平的速度增長。你能否詳細說明，除了安裝基礎的增長，這顯然是服務增長的重要貢獻者，我想，你們提供的功能或其他新產品是什麼推動了這種增長，不僅在 2017 年，但可能在未來幾年內？

Thank you for the question, Patrick. It's a good question because in addition to the expected growth driven by the increase in our installed base, we have deployed just -- no, a few years ago, a strategy to develop engineered service products. And what it means basically, we go back to our installed base and instead of relying on fixing broken -- out of warranty, broken products, we offer our customers upgrades, retrofits, used equipment, enhancements and offerings that increase the performance of the products, increase the -- basically, the life of the capital investment they made and allow them to reduce the total cost of ownership of the products. So we're not talking about -- we changed the approach in our service business from being reactionary to address customer problem to be proactive and go to the market with new offerings that provide the customers enhancements of their old, vintage, legacy products.

謝謝你的問題，帕特里克。這是一個很好的問題，因為除了我們安裝基數增加帶來的預期增長之外，我們還部署了 - 不，幾年前，開發工程服務產品的戰略。這基本上意味著什麼，我們回到我們的安裝基礎，而不是依賴修復損壞的——超出保修期的損壞產品，我們為客戶提供升級、改造、二手設備、增強和產品，以提高產品的性能，基本上，增加他們所做的資本投資的壽命，並允許他們降低產品的總擁有成本。所以我們不是在談論 - 我們改變了我們服務業務的方法，從反應性地解決客戶問題到積極主動地進入市場，向市場提供新產品，為客戶提供舊的、老式的、遺留產品的增強功能。

Great. That's helpful. And maybe as a follow-up question in terms of the business environment that you're seeing on the semi side of things. I just wanted to make it clear, you expect a strong first half of the year, but you expect the first quarter to be stronger than the second half. Is that more just on the customer timing and when they take your products? Or is there something, I guess, you see from a visibility standpoint that gives you that outlook?

偉大的。這很有幫助。也許作為你在半邊看到的商業環境方面的後續問題。我只是想說清楚，你預計上半年會強勁，但你預計第一季度會比下半年更強勁。這是否更多地取決於客戶的時間安排以及他們何時購買您的產品？或者，我猜，從可見性的角度來看，有什麼東西可以給你那種前景嗎？

Patrick, let me make a correction here. We did not say that Q1 is going to be higher than Q2. We said Q1 was higher or is higher than Q4. We are constructive in Q2, and I mentioned that earlier. We are very constructive in the first half. And from our vantage point right now, Q2 does not look like a down quarter.

帕特里克，讓我在這裡更正一下。我們並沒有說 Q1 會高於 Q2。我們說 Q1 高於或高於 Q4。我們在第二季度是建設性的，我之前提到過。上半場我們非常有建設性。從我們現在的角度來看，第二季度看起來並不像一個下跌季度。

(Operator Instructions) And our next question comes from the line of Dick Ryan with Dougherty.

（操作員說明）我們的下一個問題來自 Dick Ryan 和 Dougherty 的台詞。

I appreciate the clarification because I thought I heard Q1 would be higher than Q2 as well. Could you provide us the contribution from AMAT and Lam in the quarter and maybe for the year?

感謝您的澄清，因為我認為我聽說 Q1 也會高於 Q2。您能否向我們提供 AMAT 和 Lam 在本季度乃至全年的貢獻？

Yes, we really don't break it out at this point. You'll see an update in the 10-K.

是的，我們現在真的不打破它。您會在 10-K 中看到更新。

And our next question comes from the line of Paul Wick with Columbia Management.

我們的下一個問題來自 Paul Wick 與 Columbia Management 的對話。

Could you discuss whether there is a change in capital return in light of the tax reform and the large amount of cash on the balance sheet?

能否談談稅改和資產負債表上大量現金對資本回報率是否有影響？

Yes, there is really no noticeable change on return on cash.

是的，現金回報率確實沒有明顯變化。

No plans to increase the share repurchase?

沒有計劃增加股份回購？

Okay. Yes, we continue to look at returning cash to shareholders. Right now, our vehicle is repurchasing. We have an approval that -- and a plan to continue to spend up to $100 million of repurchase stock. And we will continue to do that based on our deployment of cash for acquisitions, the opportunity in the markets to acquire shares.

好的。是的，我們繼續考慮向股東返還現金。目前，我們的車輛正在回購中。我們獲得了批准——併計劃繼續花費高達 1 億美元的回購股票。我們將根據我們為收購部署的現金，以及市場上收購股票的機會，繼續這樣做。

And we may do it opportunistically.

我們可能會投機取巧。

And we may do that opportunistically.

我們可能會投機取巧地這樣做。

And this concludes today's question-and-answer session. I would now like to turn the call back to Yuval for any closing remarks.

今天的問答環節到此結束。我現在想將電話轉回給 Yuval 以聽取任何結束語。

Thanks, everybody, for joining us this morning. 2017 was an amazing year for us. We expect 2018 to be a better year, a year of growth. To make it clear, so people don't get confused, we expect Q2 to be as good as Q1. And we're looking forward to seeing many of you during the quarter. Thanks a lot.

謝謝大家今天早上加入我們。 2017 年對我們來說是非凡的一年。我們預計 2018 年將是更好的一年，增長的一年。明確地說，這樣人們就不會感到困惑，我們希望第二季度和第一季度一樣好。我們期待在本季度見到你們中的許多人。多謝。

Yuval, this is Tom Liguori. I just wanted to say I thoroughly enjoyed being your CFO. Thank you for the opportunity, and I wish you and Tom the best going forward.

Yuval，我是 Tom Liguori。我只是想說我非常喜歡擔任你們的首席財務官。感謝您給我這個機會，祝您和湯姆前程似錦。

Thank you very much.

非常感謝。

Thank you, Tom.

謝謝你，湯姆。

Good luck, Tom.

祝你好運，湯姆。

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for participating in today's conference. This does conclude the program. And you may all disconnect. Everyone, have a great day.

女士們，先生們，感謝你們參加今天的會議。這確實結束了程序。你們可能都會斷開連接。大家，祝你有美好的一天。