Advanced Energy Industries Inc (AEIS) 2018 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Good day, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Advanced Energy Industries Q4 2018 Earnings Conference Call.

女士們先生們，美好的一天，歡迎來到 Advanced Energy Industries 2018 年第四季度收益電話會議。

(Operator Instructions) As a reminder, this conference call may be recorded for replay purposes.

（操作員說明）提醒一下，此電話會議可能會被錄音以供重播。

It is now my pleasure to hand the conference over to Mr. Edwin Mok, Vice President of Strategy Marketing and Investor Relations. Sir, you may begin.

現在我很高興將會議交給戰略營銷和投資者關係副總裁 Edwin Mok 先生。先生，您可以開始了。

Thank you, operator. Good morning, everyone. Welcome to Advanced Energy's Fourth Quarter 2018 Earnings Conference Call.

謝謝你，運營商。大家，早安。歡迎來到 Advanced Energy 2018 年第四季度收益電話會議。

With me today are Yuval Wasserman, our President and CEO; Paul Oldham, our Executive Vice President and CFO; and Brian Smith, our Director of Investor Relations.

今天和我在一起的是我們的總裁兼首席執行官 Yuval Wasserman；我們的執行副總裁兼首席財務官 Paul Oldham；和我們的投資者關係總監 Brian Smith。

Before we begin, I would like to mention that AE will be participating at the Morgan Stanley TMT conference in February, the Susquehanna technology conference and [Wells] conference both in March. As other events occurred, we will make additional announcements.

在我們開始之前，我想提一下，AE 將參加 2 月份的摩根士丹利 TMT 會議、3 月份的 Susquehanna 技術會議和 [Wells] 會議。如有其他事件發生，我們將另行發佈公告。

And now let me remind you that today's call contains forward-looking statements, including the company's current view of the industry, performance, products, applications and business outlook. These statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially and are not guarantees of future performance. Information containing these risks and uncertainties is contained in our filings and -- with the SEC. All forward-looking statements are based on management's estimates, projections and assumptions as of today, February 5, 2019, and the company assumes no obligation to update them. Aspirational goals and targets discussed in this conference call or in the presentation material should not be interpreted in any respect as guidance.

現在讓我提醒您，今天的電話會議包含前瞻性陳述，包括公司當前對行業、業績、產品、應用和業務前景的看法。這些陳述受風險和不確定因素的影響，可能導致實際結果出現重大差異，並且不是對未來業績的保證。包含這些風險和不確定性的信息包含在我們提交給美國證券交易委員會的文件中。所有前瞻性陳述均基於管理層截至 2019 年 2 月 5 日的估計、預測和假設，公司不承擔更新這些陳述的義務。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。

Today's call also includes non-GAAP adjusted financial measures, which excludes the effects of discontinued operations, stock compensation expenses, amortization of intangibles, restructuring charges, acquisition-related costs and other onetime items. Reconciliations between GAAP and non-GAAP measures are contained in yesterday's earnings release, which is available on the investor relations page of our website.

今天的電話會議還包括非 GAAP 調整後的財務指標，其中不包括已終止運營的影響、股票補償費用、無形資產攤銷、重組費用、收購相關成本和其他一次性項目。GAAP 和非 GAAP 措施之間的對賬包含在昨天的收益發布中，可在我們網站的投資者關係頁面上獲取。

We will be referring to earnings slides posted on our investor relations section of our website as well.

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。

With that, let me pass the call to President and CEO Yuval Wasserman. Yuval?

有了這個，讓我把電話轉給總裁兼首席執行官 Yuval Wasserman。尤瓦爾？

Thank you, Edwin. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us for our Fourth Quarter Earnings Conference Call.

謝謝你，埃德溫。大家早上好，感謝您加入我們的第四季度收益電話會議。

In the fourth quarter, we continued to execute on our strategy to grow and strengthen the company while feeling the impact of cyclical weakness in semiconductor and the expected seasonal slowdown in our industrial market. Year-over-year Q4 revenues were down 14%, with solid growth in both industrial and service, including the addition of LumaSense, partially offsetting the decline in semi. Financially, we delivered solid profitability and cash flow even on lower revenues while accelerating investments in new products and technologies and starting the process of diversifying our operational footprint.

在第四季度，我們繼續執行發展壯大公司的戰略，同時感受到半導體週期性疲軟和工業市場預期季節性放緩的影響。第四季度收入同比下降 14%，工業和服務均實現穩健增長，包括 LumaSense 的加入，部分抵消了半導體業務的下滑。在財務方面，即使在收入較低的情況下，我們也實現了穩健的盈利能力和現金流，同時加快了對新產品和技術的投資，並開始了我們運營足跡多元化的過程。

Despite the significant second half decline in semiconductor market, for 2018 we grew 7% year-over-year, delivered non-GAAP operating margins of over 27% and maintained solid operating cash flow, highlighting the resilience of our operating model.

儘管下半年半導體市場大幅下滑，但 2018 年我們同比增長 7%，非美國通用會計準則營業利潤率超過 27%，並保持穩健的經營現金流，凸顯了我們經營模式的彈性。

In semiconductors, the capital spending environment has been negatively affected by several global factors, including slowing growth in end market demand for semiconductor devices, digestion of equipment capacity and uncertainty around trade policies and global economic growth. Our business is further impacted by inventory reductions in both semiconductor devices and finished goods inventory at our customers. The impact of lower demand was broad-based but came mostly out of our core etch and deposition applications. Despite the challenging environment, we see customers pursuing new and enabling technologies that will shape the future of our market. As a result, we have accelerated our investment in new RF products and technologies and believe there are opportunities to aggressively pursue share gains and expand our offering in these critical areas.

在半導體領域，資本支出環境受到多項全球因素的負面影響，包括半導體設備終端市場需求增長放緩、設備產能消化以及貿易政策和全球經濟增長的不確定性。我們的業務進一步受到客戶半導體設備和成品庫存減少的影響。需求下降的影響是廣泛的，但主要來自我們的核心蝕刻和沈積應用。儘管環境充滿挑戰，但我們看到客戶正在尋求能夠塑造我們市場未來的新技術和使能技術。因此，我們加快了對新 RF 產品和技術的投資，並相信有機會積極追求份額收益並擴大我們在這些關鍵領域的產品範圍。

During the quarter, we shipped multiple new evaluation products to 5 leading OEM customers, targeting various new incremental revenue opportunities. These investments support our customers' accelerated road maps while expanding our leading technology and market share positions. In the plasma-based etch and deposition applications, design wins we secured in prior quarters have already allowed us to gain share against our competitors and key customers. For example, we estimate our overall market share at one leading Korean equipment OEM has increased by 10 points in 2018. In addition, we believe we have steadily expanded our market share in other process steps. In 2018, we secured significant position in process control, including wins at the most advanced EUV inspections and metrology tools. And in Q4, we expanded our leading position in ion implantation by displacing a high-voltage competitor.

本季度，我們向 5 家領先的 OEM 客戶交付了多款新的評估產品，瞄準了各種新的增量收入機會。這些投資支持我們客戶的加速路線圖，同時擴大我們領先的技術和市場份額地位。在基於等離子的蝕刻和沈積應用中，我們在前幾個季度獲得的設計勝利已經使我們能夠從我們的競爭對手和主要客戶中獲得份額。例如，我們估計我們在一家領先的韓國設備 OEM 的整體市場份額在 2018 年增加了 10 個百分點。此外，我們相信我們在其他工藝步驟中穩步擴大了我們的市場份額。2018 年，我們在過程控制方面取得了重要地位，包括贏得了最先進的 EUV 檢測和計量工具。在第四季度，我們通過取代高壓競爭對手擴大了我們在離子注入領域的領先地位。

Beyond our strategy to expand our footprint within semi, we remain bullish on our long-term growth drivers in the market. Demand for higher power levels, advanced topologies and sophisticated control system in our power supplies continue to increase, with the leading-edge semiconductor technologies firmly positioning AE as the power leader in the industries we serve. As demand stabilizes and our customers' inventory levels normalize, we anticipate coming out of this downturn with a stronger market share position and a resumption of our growth in this key market.

除了我們在 semi 中擴大足蹟的戰略外，我們仍然看好我們在市場上的長期增長動力。隨著領先的半導體技術將 AE 牢牢定位為我們所服務行業的電源領導者，對我們電源中更高功率水平、先進拓撲結構和復雜控制系統的需求不斷增加。隨著需求趨於穩定和我們客戶的庫存水平正常化，我們預計將以更強的市場份額地位和恢復我們在這個關鍵市場的增長來擺脫這種低迷。

In our industrial technology markets, revenues declined sequentially in Q4, as expected, but on a year-over-year basis they grew significantly for both the quarter and the year, driven both by our position and underlying organic growth. This has proven to be an increasingly important balance to our semiconductor market. Over the last 2 years, our industrial revenue has nearly doubled, highlighting the success of our diversification strategies.

在我們的工業技術市場，收入在第四季度連續下降，正如預期的那樣，但在我們的地位和潛在的有機增長的推動下，本季度和全年的收入同比都有顯著增長。事實證明，這對我們的半導體市場來說是一個越來越重要的平衡點。在過去兩年中，我們的工業收入幾乎翻了一番，凸顯了我們多元化戰略的成功。

Within our industrial markets, we have 2 major application sets. The first, which we call advanced materials, involve extending our thin film material processing technologies to adjacent markets such as PV solar, flat panel display, glass and hard coatings. Although business level declined sequentially in Q4 on lower solar PV and typical seasonal structure in glass and hard coating, we secured several new projects and design wins which expand our footprint in these markets. Applied power is our second industrial technologies application set. These are precision power solutions serving end markets such as medical devices, analytical instruments and general industrial production applications with stringent power and thermal requirements. Applied power grew significantly both sequentially and year-over-year in Q4 primarily due to the acquisition of LumaSense Technologies. Beyond LumaSense, our sales into the medical and life science markets continue the long-term structural growth band, supported by multiple new designs that we secured in Q4. In medical devices we continue to be the leading power supply provider to the medical lasers market, with several new wins this quarter. And we expanded our position in the analytical instruments market.

在我們的工業市場中，我們有 2 個主要的應用程序集。第一個，我們稱之為先進材料，涉及將我們的薄膜材料加工技術擴展到鄰近市場，如光伏太陽能、平板顯示器、玻璃和硬塗層。儘管第四季度業務水平因較低的太陽能光伏和玻璃和硬塗層的典型季節性結構而連續下降，但我們獲得了幾個新項目和設計勝利，擴大了我們在這些市場的足跡。Applied power 是我們的第二個工業技術應用集。這些精密電源解決方案服務於終端市場，如醫療設備、分析儀器和具有嚴格電源和熱要求的一般工業生產應用。Applied Power 在第四季度環比和同比均有顯著增長，這主要歸功於對 LumaSense Technologies 的收購。除了 LumaSense 之外，我們在醫療和生命科學市場的銷售額繼續保持長期結構性增長，這得益於我們在第四季度獲得的多項新設計。在醫療設備方面，我們繼續成為醫療激光市場的領先電源供應商，本季度取得了幾項新勝利。我們擴大了我們在分析儀器市場的地位。

During the quarter, we made progress towards integrating the LumaSense acquisition into our business. We have taken the initial steps in streamlining sales distribution by integrating a portion of the business into our direct channels. Further, our plan to achieve our cost synergies is starting to be realized. Our customers are excited with the new technologies that we can offer now, and we are confident in the revenue synergy opportunities of this acquisition. Beyond LumaSense, we continue to actively pursue additional M&As, with targets across a spectrum of sizes, technologies and capabilities.

本季度，我們在將 LumaSense 收購整合到我們的業務方面取得了進展。通過將部分業務整合到我們的直接渠道，我們已經採取了簡化銷售分銷的初步步驟。此外，我們實現成本協同效應的計劃開始實現。我們的客戶對我們現在可以提供的新技術感到興奮，我們對此次收購帶來的收入協同機會充滿信心。除了 LumaSense 之外，我們繼續積極尋求更多的併購，目標涵蓋各種規模、技術和能力。

Our service business recorded its third consecutive record quarter in Q4 and a record year in 2018. We believe our geographic expansion is driving share gains from third-party providers, and the service revenue opportunities of our growing installed base are still in the early innings. Coupled with new service programs and the expansion of our engineered service solutions such as retrofits and upgrades, we remain confident that our service business will sustain a greater-than-10% compounded annual growth rate over the coming years.

我們的服務業務在第四季度連續第三個季度創紀錄，並在 2018 年創下歷史新高。我們相信我們的地域擴張正在推動第三方供應商的份額增長，而我們不斷增長的安裝基礎的服務收入機會仍處於早期階段。加上新的服務計劃和我們的工程服務解決方案（如改造和升級）的擴展，我們仍然相信我們的服務業務將在未來幾年保持超過 10% 的複合年增長率。

In summary, 2018 was a year of 2 halves, with market conditions, particularly in semi, deteriorating through the end of the year. Despite the market challenges, Advanced Energy completed a very successful year highlighted by record annual revenues, solid profitability, robust cash flow and good execution of our inorganic growth strategy with 3 acquisitions. Visibility in the current environment is very low. We expect the current conditions in our semi market to persist at least through the first half of 2019, with the Q1 sequentially lower than Q4. However, in this environment we will continue to invest for growth, capitalizing in our increasing momentum of new technologies and product introductions. At the same time, we're managing discretionary costs and improving efficiency to deliver solid profitability and cash flow. Longer term, we continue to see a bright future for our semi business driven by growing complexity of devices and increased power content in our customers' equipment. Our industrial technologies and service offerings continue to grow nicely, and our acquisition funnel remains active as we use our strong financial position to drive inorganic growth.

總而言之，2018 年是兩個半年，市場狀況，尤其是半成品，在年底前不斷惡化。儘管面臨市場挑戰，Advanced Energy 還是以創紀錄的年收入、穩健的盈利能力、穩健的現金流和通過 3 次收購良好執行我們的無機增長戰略，完成了非常成功的一年。當前環境下的能見度非常低。我們預計半成品市場的當前狀況至少會持續到 2019 年上半年，第一季度將低於第四季度。然而，在這種環境下，我們將繼續投資於增長，利用我們不斷增長的新技術和產品引進勢頭。與此同時，我們正在管理可自由支配的成本並提高效率，以提供穩健的盈利能力和現金流。從長遠來看，我們繼續看到我們的半導體業務在設備複雜性和客戶設備中功率含量增加的推動下的光明前景。我們的工業技術和服務產品繼續良好增長，我們的收購渠道仍然活躍，因為我們利用我們強大的財務狀況來推動無機增長。

Although the timing may be impacted by the level and pace of recovery in the semi industry, we remain committed to our long-term aspirational goal of revenue over $1 billion and earnings of between $5.5 to $6.5 per share.

儘管時間可能會受到半導體行業復甦水平和步伐的影響，但我們仍然致力於實現收入超過 10 億美元和每股收益在 5.5 至 6.5 美元之間的長期理想目標。

I would like to thank our customers, shareholders, partners and our valued employees for your support. I look forward to seeing many of you in the upcoming quarter.

我要感謝我們的客戶、股東、合作夥伴和我們尊貴的員工的支持。我期待在即將到來的季度見到你們中的許多人。

With that, let me turn the call over to Paul.

有了這個，讓我把電話轉給保羅。

Thank you, Yuval. And good morning, everyone.

謝謝你，尤瓦爾。大家早上好。

In the fourth quarter, we continued to feel the impact of cyclical weakness in semiconductor, combined with the seasonal slowdown in our industrial markets. Despite the challenging environment, our fourth quarter revenue came in near the midpoint of our guidance range. Our non-GAAP EPS was impacted by slightly lower gross margins and higher expenses resulting from our decision to accelerate certain R&D investments, partially offset by a lower tax rate for the quarter.

在第四季度，我們繼續感受到半導體週期性疲軟以及工業市場季節性放緩的影響。儘管環境充滿挑戰，但我們第四季度的收入接近我們指導範圍的中點。我們的非 GAAP 每股收益受到毛利率略低和我們決定加速某些研發投資導致的費用增加的影響，部分被本季度較低的稅率所抵消。

Total revenue was $154.2 million, down 10.9% from last quarter and 14% from a year ago. Our service business generated record revenue in Q4, partially offsetting the decline in semi and industrial. Despite the decline in Q4, full year 2018 revenues were up 7.1% to $719 million, with semi down 4% and industrial growing 43%.

總收入為 1.542 億美元，比上一季度下降 10.9%，比去年同期下降 14%。我們的服務業務在第四季度創造了創紀錄的收入，部分抵消了半導體和工業業務的下滑。儘管第四季度收入下降，但 2018 年全年收入增長 7.1% 至 7.19 億美元，半成品收入下降 4%，工業收入增長 43%。

Our total revenue growth, despite the decline in the semiconductor environment, reflects the success to date and importance of our diversification strategy.

儘管半導體環境有所下滑，但我們的總收入增長反映了迄今為止的成功以及我們多元化戰略的重要性。

For the year, our adjusted operating margin was 27.2%, and we generated operating cash flow of $151.4 million.

全年，我們調整後的營業利潤率為 27.2%，產生的營業現金流為 1.514 億美元。

Looking at sales by market.

按市場看銷售額。

Semiconductor revenue in the quarter was $83.5 million, down 13.4% from last quarter and 32.4% year-over-year. During the quarter, our customers reduced ordering of our power products as industry demand decelerated and as they reduced their finished goods inventories. Although visibility is limited, we expect a further step down in market activity in Q1, which we believe could continue through the first half.

本季度半導體收入為 8350 萬美元，環比下降 13.4%，同比下降 32.4%。在本季度，我們的客戶減少了對我們電源產品的訂購，因為行業需求放緩，而且他們減少了成品庫存。儘管能見度有限，但我們預計第一季度市場活動將進一步放緩，我們認為這可能會持續到上半年。

Industrial technologies revenue declined 14.3% from the third quarter to $41.6 million primarily as a result of a significant thin films solar shipment in Q3 that did not repeat in Q4 and the expected seasonal slowdown. Year-over-year, revenues grew 35.8% due to our recent acquisitions which provide us additional platforms for growth going forward. For the full year, industrial revenue grew 43% in total and delivered 15% organic growth driven by a robust design win pipeline.

工業技術收入比第三季度下降 14.3% 至 4,160 萬美元，這主要是由於第三季度薄膜太陽能出貨量很大，而第四季度沒有重複，以及預期的季節性放緩。與去年同期相比，由於我們最近的收購為我們提供了額外的增長平台，收入增長了 35.8%。全年，工業收入總計增長 43%，並在穩健的設計獲勝管道的推動下實現了 15% 的有機增長。

Looking forward, despite concerns about macroeconomic growth, we expect industrial revenues in Q1 to grow sequentially. Longer term, we continue to expect our industrial products to grow at a mid-teens compounded annual growth rate.

展望未來，儘管對宏觀經濟增長存在擔憂，但我們預計一季度工業收入將環比增長。從長遠來看，我們繼續預計我們的工業產品將以十幾歲中期的複合年增長率增長。

Service revenue for the quarter was a third consecutive record at $29.1 million, up 3.1% from the third quarter and 16.3% from the last year. For the fiscal year, service revenue was $108.6 million, up 17.5%, which is better than our long-term target of greater than 10% annual growth, driven by our ongoing progress in gaining share from third-party service providers and growth in our installed base. With the challenges in the semiconductors industry and the Lunar New Year holiday, we expect service revenue to be sequentially flat in Q1.

本季度服務收入連續第三年創下新高，達到 2910 萬美元，比第三季度增長 3.1%，比去年同期增長 16.3%。本財年，服務收入為 1.086 億美元，增長 17.5%，好於我們年增長率超過 10% 的長期目標，這主要得益於我們在從第三方服務提供商那裡獲得份額方面取得的持續進展以及我們的業務增長。安裝基礎。鑑於半導體行業的挑戰和農曆新年假期，我們預計第一季度服務收入將環比持平。

And since it's the first full quarter after we completed our acquisition of LumaSense Technologies, I'll provide additional color on the business. LumaSense revenue was approximately $12 million in Q4, the lowest historical quarterly run rate, mostly due to weakness in semiconductor which represented 13% of sales during the quarter. In addition to the weak semi environment, LumaSense revenue was impacted by acceleration of the transition from a third-party international distributor to our own internal sales team and the resulting drawdown in channel inventory. We expect this trend to continue in Q1 before normalizing by Q2. While the near-term impact to revenue is negative, we are confident that this change will enable a more strategic relationship with our customers and faster growth in the future.

由於這是我們完成對 LumaSense Technologies 的收購後的第一個完整季度，我將為該業務提供更多顏色。LumaSense 第四季度的收入約為 1200 萬美元，是歷史上最低的季度運行率，這主要是由於半導體業務疲軟，佔該季度銷售額的 13%。除了疲軟的半導體環境外，LumaSense 的收入還受到從第三方國際分銷商向我們自己的內部銷售團隊的加速過渡以及由此導致的渠道庫存縮減的影響。我們預計這一趨勢將在第一季度繼續，然後在第二季度恢復正常。雖然近期對收入的影響是負面的，但我們相信這一變化將使我們與客戶建立更具戰略意義的關係，並在未來實現更快的增長。

Gross margin for the fourth quarter was 48.8%. On a non-GAAP basis, gross margin was 49.4% compared to 50% last quarter. In addition to the impacts of [lower] volume, we also saw higher-than-average warranty and obsolescence costs on our legacy product and increased tariffs on some of our shipped components. Although we have mitigated the vast majority of the impact on tariffs, we expect the overall impact to margin to be 50 to 75 basis points looking forward.

第四季度的毛利率為 48.8%。按非美國通用會計準則計算，毛利率為 49.4%，而上一季度為 50%。除了[較低]銷量的影響外，我們還看到我們的遺留產品的保修和過時成本高於平均水平，並且我們的一些裝運組件的關稅增加。儘管我們已經減輕了對關稅的絕大部分影響，但我們預計未來對利潤率的總體影響將達到 50 至 75 個基點。

Looking to Q1, we expect adjusted gross margins to be down 100 to 200 basis points, primarily on lower volumes and mix.

展望第一季度，我們預計調整後的毛利率將下降 100 至 200 個基點，這主要是由於銷量和產品組合的下降。

As Yuval mentioned, in an effort to further mitigate our exposure to regional risks, improve our business continuity profile and lower costs, we are investing in the evaluation of additional production options in Southeast Asia. While we expect these efforts to be cost neutral or lower in the long run, we anticipate incurring an additional 50 to 100 basis points of costs starting in Q2 and lasting several quarters during this transition period.

正如 Yuval 提到的，為了進一步減輕我們對區域風險的敞口、改善我們的業務連續性並降低成本，我們正在投資評估東南亞的其他生產選擇。雖然我們預計從長遠來看，這些努力將保持成本中性或更低，但我們預計從第二季度開始並在此過渡期間持續幾個季度的額外成本將增加 50 至 100 個基點。

GAAP operating expenses in Q4 increased by nearly $10 million over Q3 primarily due to a full quarter of LumaSense expenses, restructuring charges of $3.8 million and higher amortization and stock compensation expense. Non-GAAP operating expenses from continued operations were $47.5 million or 30.8% of revenue. This compares to $42.2 million or 24.4% in the prior quarter. Excluding the addition of LumaSense, operating expenses increased approximately $800,000, primarily a result of investments in critical engineering programs to accelerate our innovations and drive long-term growth. These expenses were partially offset by the temporary cost-control measures we took in Q4.

第四季度的 GAAP 運營費用比第三季度增加了近 1000 萬美元，這主要是由於整個季度的 LumaSense 費用、380 萬美元的重組費用以及更高的攤銷和股票補償費用。來自持續經營的非 GAAP 運營費用為 4750 萬美元，佔收入的 30.8%。相比之下，上一季度為 4220 萬美元或 24.4%。不包括增加 LumaSense，運營費用增加了約 800,000 美元，這主要是由於投資於關鍵工程項目以加速我們的創新和推動長期增長。這些費用被我們在第四季度採取的臨時成本控制措施部分抵消了。

Looking forward, we expect operating expenses in Q1 to be about flat sequentially as we continue these strategic investments offset by actions we are taking to curtail discretionary spending, drive synergies through the integration of acquired businesses and improve overall efficiencies.

展望未來，我們預計第一季度的運營支出將大致持平，因為我們繼續進行這些戰略投資，但我們正在採取行動減少可自由支配的支出，通過整合收購業務推動協同效應，並提高整體效率。

As I mentioned, in Q4, we recorded $3.8 million in restructuring costs related to our manufacturing footprint optimization, acquisition integration and business efficiency improvement. Including our Q3 activity, we expect these actions to yield annualized savings of approximately $10 million to be realized over the next 3 quarters, split between operating expense and cost of goods sold.

正如我提到的，在第四季度，我們記錄了 380 萬美元的重組成本，這些重組成本與我們的製造足跡優化、收購整合和業務效率提高有關。包括我們第三季度的活動，我們預計這些行動將在接下來的三個季度實現每年約 1000 萬美元的節省，其中包括運營費用和銷售成本。

GAAP operating margin for the quarter was 12.7% compared to 23% last quarter. Non-GAAP operating margin was 18.6% compared to 25.6% in Q3. Excluding the acquisition of LumaSense, adjusted operating margins were 20.6%.

本季度的 GAAP 營業利潤率為 12.7%，而上一季度為 23%。非美國通用會計準則營業利潤率為 18.6%，而第三季度為 25.6%。不包括對 LumaSense 的收購，調整後的營業利潤率為 20.6%。

Our tax rate for the fourth quarter was 6% primarily as a result of additional discrete items we discussed last quarter, lower foreign income and higher R&D tax credit. Our non-GAAP tax rate was 5.5%. We expect our tax rate in Q1 and looking forward to be in the 14% to 15% range.

我們第四季度的稅率為 6%，主要是由於我們上個季度討論了額外的離散項目、較低的外國收入和較高的研發稅收抵免。我們的非 GAAP 稅率為 5.5%。我們預計第一季度的稅率將在 14% 至 15% 的範圍內。

GAAP earnings per diluted share from continuing operations for the fourth quarter were $0.50 compared to earnings of $0.90 last quarter; and a loss of $0.73 last year, which was impacted by onetime tax expenses associated with the write-down of the solar inverter business and with U.S. tax reform. Non-GAAP EPS for the quarter was $0.73 compared to $1.05 in the third quarter and $1.31 a year ago.

第四季度來自持續經營業務的 GAAP 每股攤薄收益為 0.50 美元，而上一季度為 0.90 美元；去年虧損 0.73 美元，這是受到與太陽能逆變器業務減記和美國稅制改革相關的一次性稅費的影響。本季度非美國通用會計準則每股收益為 0.73 美元，而第三季度為 1.05 美元，一年前為 1.31 美元。

Turning now to the balance sheet.

現在轉向資產負債表。

Operating cash flow from continuing operations was $32.9 million, and our cash and marketable securities balance increased sequentially to $351.8 million at the end of Q4. Net working capital decreased during the quarter by $80 million. Our receivable balance declined by over $10 million, as DSO remained about flat at 58 days. Days payable rose by 1 day to 48 days. Inventory decreased by $12 million. And turns were 3x, bringing our inventory levels, adjusted for acquisitions, back to historical levels.

來自持續經營的經營現金流為 3290 萬美元，我們的現金和有價證券餘額在第四季度末環比增加至 3.518 億美元。本季度淨營運資金減少了 8000 萬美元。我們的應收賬款餘額減少了超過 1000 萬美元，因為 DSO 保持在 58 天的水平。應付天數增加 1 天至 48 天。庫存減少了 1200 萬美元。周轉率是 3 倍，使我們的庫存水平（針對收購進行了調整）回到了歷史水平。

During the quarter, we spent $26.1 million to repurchase 575,000 shares of stock at an average price of $45.36. For the year, we spent approximately $95 million to purchase 1.7 million shares. Since the inception of our program in 2015, we have spent approximately $175 million to repurchase 3.8 million shares.

本季度，我們花費 2610 萬美元以平均 45.36 美元的價格回購了 575,000 股股票。這一年，我們花費了大約 9500 萬美元購買了 170 萬股股票。自 2015 年啟動該計劃以來，我們已花費約 1.75 億美元回購 380 萬股股票。

Looking forward to the first quarter of 2019, given current market conditions and order levels, we expect revenues to be between $138 million to $148 million and non-GAAP earnings per share to be between $0.40 and $0.55.

展望 2019 年第一季度，鑑於當前的市場狀況和訂單水平，我們預計收入將在 1.38 億美元至 1.48 億美元之間，非 GAAP 每股收益將在 0.40 美元至 0.55 美元之間。

In summary, we completed a very successful and profitable year that started strong and ended weak. We expect 2019 to be a challenging year for our semiconductor business as the industry reduces investment. However, even during the weak quarters, we have been able to and expect to continue to deliver solid earnings and cash flow. We remain bullish about the growth potential and long-term drivers in our core markets and are committed to executing on our long-term plan to drive profitable growth, strong cash flow and earnings per share. In the interim, we will continue to invest in critical programs while driving synergies from our acquisitions and improvements in efficiency across the company. Further, we will use our strong cash position to pursue new growth opportunities and expand our addressable market.

總而言之，我們度過了非常成功且盈利豐厚的一年，開局強勁，收尾乏力。隨著行業投資減少，我們預計 2019 年對我們的半導體業務來說將是充滿挑戰的一年。然而，即使在疲軟的季度，我們也能夠並期望繼續提供穩健的收益和現金流。我們仍然看好我們核心市場的增長潛力和長期驅動因素，並致力於執行我們的長期計劃，以推動盈利增長、強勁的現金流和每股收益。在此期間，我們將繼續投資於關鍵項目，同時通過我們的收購和提高整個公司的效率來推動協同效應。此外，我們將利用我們強大的現金狀況來尋求新的增長機會並擴大我們的潛在市場。

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 will come from the line from Mehdi Hosseini with SIG.

（操作員說明）我們的第一個問題將來自 SIG 的 Mehdi Hosseini。

A couple of follow-ups. Yuval, if I were to look at your Q1 semiconductor commentary and guide, it suggests a quarterly revenue of $70 million to $72 million. Should we assume that this is reflecting the kind of maintenance inventory at your OEM customer and also maintenance CapEx by semiconductor manufacturers? Or if you want to answer differently, it will be great.

一些後續行動。Yuval，如果我看一下你的第一季度半導體評論和指南，它表明季度收入為 7000 萬至 7200 萬美元。我們是否應該假設這反映了您的 OEM 客戶的維護庫存類型以及半導體製造商的維護資本支出？或者，如果您想以不同的方式回答，那就太好了。

Well, we can assume that it remain at that level.

好吧，我們可以假設它保持在那個水平。

Okay. So when you talked about the first half weak, you have a double-digit decline in Q1 and it would go sideways. That's where we talk about the weak...

好的。所以當你談到上半年疲軟時，第一季度有兩位數的下降，而且會橫盤整理。這就是我們談論弱者的地方......

We -- Mehdi, we don't forecast Q2, but in general we believe that we saw the -- most of the change happened over the last 4 weeks. We saw a setting or a correction in the business last quarter, right? And we believe that right now we are pretty much at what we think is the trough for us.

我們——邁赫迪，我們不預測第二季度，但總的來說，我們相信我們看到了——大部分變化發生在過去 4 週內。上個季度我們看到了業務設置或調整，對嗎？我們相信，現在我們幾乎處於我們認為對我們來說是低谷的階段。

Okay, all right. And then just one quick follow-up on semi. Over the past couple of years '16 through '18, AE benefited from capacity at memory manufacturers, both DRAM and SAM investment, technology migration on the foundry logic. Looking forward, I see wafer capacity at a minimum and more focused on technology migration. Does that change the dynamics for your semiconductor business, or am I just not getting that right? Any color will be great here.

好的，好的。然後只是對 semi 的快速跟進。在過去的 16 年到 18 年期間，AE 受益於內存製造商的產能、DRAM 和 SAM 投資、代工邏輯的技術遷移。展望未來，我認為晶圓產能處於最低水平，並且更側重於技術遷移。這是否會改變您的半導體業務的動態，或者我只是沒有理解正確？任何顏色在這裡都會很棒。

Sure. I think you're right. And there is a significant pull right now across the wafer [fabrication] industry to invest in next-generation technology when it comes to new products and processes and materials. That benefits us tremendously. And that's one of the reasons we have invested significantly in technology development and product development over the last -- in Q4. And we'll continue to invest, especially in RF technology, in pursuing significant pull from customers that are designing the next-generation tools with our technology. This is an exciting time for us that it's an opportunity during the slowdown in the industry to invest in accelerating our product development technology. As we mentioned in the prepared remarks, we're shipping products that are going to fabs right now for next-generation technology applications across a very broad space of applications, from etch, deposition, ALD, ALE and so forth and so on. And our technology has been recognized as enabling. And for that reason, and to accommodate the strong demand we get from OEMs around the world for our technology, we continue to invest and accelerate the investment in product development.

當然。我想你是正確的。在新產品、工藝和材料方面，整個晶圓 [製造] 行業現在都在大力投資下一代技術。這使我們受益匪淺。這就是我們在第四季度大力投資技術開發和產品開發的原因之一。我們將繼續投資，尤其是在 RF 技術方面，以吸引使用我們的技術設計下一代工具的客戶。這對我們來說是一個激動人心的時刻，這是在行業放緩期間投資加速我們的產品開發技術的機會。正如我們在準備好的評論中提到的那樣，我們正在運送產品，這些產品現在將用於非常廣泛的應用領域的下一代技術應用，從蝕刻、沉積、ALD、ALE 等等。我們的技術已被公認為是可行的。出於這個原因，為了滿足我們從世界各地的原始設備製造商那裡獲得的對我們技術的強烈需求，我們繼續投資並加快對產品開發的投資。

Do the new products lead to revenue multiplier as we go through technology migration? Or do we need to wait for wafer capacity as part of the story to come in?

在我們進行技術遷移時，新產品是否會帶來收入倍增？還是我們需要等待晶圓產能作為故事的一部分出現？

We expect -- as you know, the adoption of new technology in the industry can range between 18 months to 24 months or even 36 months to high volume in a factory. Some of our new technologies are in early-stage pilot production in fabs. We expect that to ramp, and we expect to exit this year with a stronger market position and with much higher opportunity for incremental revenue creation. Some of these design wins we'll realize in mass production will drive tens of millions of dollars of incremental revenue.

我們預計——如您所知，新技術在行業中的採用可能需要 18 個月到 24 個月，甚至 36 個月才能在工廠中實現高產量。我們的一些新技術正在晶圓廠進行早期試生產。我們預計這種情況會有所增加，我們預計今年將以更強大的市場地位和更多創造增量收入的機會退出。我們將在大規模生產中實現的其中一些設計勝利將推動數千萬美元的增量收入。

And our next question will come from the line of Krish Sankar with Cowen and Company.

我們的下一個問題將來自 Krish Sankar 與 Cowen and Company 的合作。

This is Rob Mertens on behalf of Krish. Just if I look to your March guide, the revenues levels are around what you haven't seen since maybe the end of 2016, early '17, where earnings came in at around $1. I know you gave some color in terms of the OpEx and the gross margins for the quarter for your EPS guide, but sort of looking out towards later part of the year, are you expecting the margins to improve a little bit? And also, what sort of level of revenue does -- continue to decline to be at break-even levels?

我是 Rob Mertens，代表 Krish。如果我看看你的 3 月指南，收入水平大約是你自 2016 年底，即 17 年初以來從未見過的水平，當時收入約為 1 美元。我知道您在 EPS 指南的季度運營支出和毛利率方面給出了一些顏色，但在某種程度上展望了今年晚些時候，您是否期望利潤率有所提高？而且，什麼樣的收入水平會繼續下降到盈虧平衡水平？

Yes. It's a great question, Rob. I think the first thing that I would note is that, if you look at our revenues, they are down at those levels, as you mentioned, post 2016, but if you actually look at the mix of revenues, you could argue that our semi business is actually down lower than that. And it's been offset by acquisitions that we've made. In the last 5 quarters, we've acquired 4 companies. And they, for instance -- I'm sorry, 6 companies. And they bring some cost structure with them. And so what you've seen is that we've added new businesses that aren't at our same operating model, then you see an impact on earnings right now. Now looking forward, those platforms give us -- those new companies give us a platform for greater growth and in fact are contributing to earnings today. And so I guess a simple way of saying it, it could be worse if we hadn't sort of diversified the company the way that we have. As Yuval mentioned, we're very excited about what's happening in semi despite the difficult revenue environment. There's a lot of investment in technology, and we'll be well positioned as that market recovers. And our diversification strategy we think has paid dividends. Now from a profitability perspective, we still have a very solid model, we believe. At our Q1 guide, we'll still be solidly profitable and generate cash. And if you look at just broadly on a breakeven point, we could see revenues dropping to the very low $100 million range before we'd be around breakeven. And certainly, if we saw that occur, we -- there's other actions we can take as a company to shore up the financials. So we think this continues to be a time to take advantage of the environment to position ourselves to be a stronger company as we exit this -- the downturn that we're in today. Now I'd also say that we -- you saw that we did take some restructuring costs this quarter, and those will be implemented over the course of the year. We think that's about $10 million in annualized savings. In a large part, that's actually what's funding these investments in R&D. And the other natural new year costs would be inspiration, temporary measures and those types of things, but overall we would expect to be able to keep expenses about flat even on growing sales. And we could see a little bit of margin improvement, although as we mentioned there is probably -- there's going to be some modest investment to continue to diversify our manufacturing footprint. So net-net we think there's still a lot of room in the model. We think it's a robust model, and we think we'll be positioned stronger as the market in semi ultimately recovers.

是的。這是一個很好的問題，羅伯。我想我要注意的第一件事是，如果你看看我們的收入，它們會下降到你提到的 2016 年後的水平，但如果你真的看看收入的組合，你可能會爭辯說我們的半生意實際上比這還低。它已被我們進行的收購所抵消。在過去的 5 個季度中，我們收購了 4 家公司。例如，他們——對不起，有 6 家公司。他們帶來了一些成本結構。因此，您所看到的是，我們增加了與我們的運營模式不同的新業務，然後您現在就會看到對收益的影響。現在展望未來，這些平台給了我們——那些新公司給了我們一個實現更大增長的平台，實際上正在為今天的收益做出貢獻。所以我想用一種簡單的方式來說，如果我們沒有像現在這樣使公司多樣化，情況可能會更糟。正如 Yuval 所提到的，儘管收入環境困難，但我們對 semi 發生的事情感到非常興奮。在技術方面有很多投資，隨著市場的複蘇，我們將處於有利地位。我們認為我們的多元化戰略已經帶來了回報。我們相信，現在從盈利能力的角度來看，我們仍然有一個非常可靠的模型。根據我們的第一季度指南，我們仍將穩步盈利並產生現金。如果你從廣義上看盈虧平衡點，我們可以看到收入在我們達到盈虧平衡點之前下降到非常低的 1 億美元範圍。當然，如果我們看到這種情況發生，我們 - 作為一家公司，我們可以採取其他行動來支撐財務狀況。因此，我們認為這仍然是利用環境將我們自己定位為一家更強大的公司的時候，因為我們退出了這個——我們今天所處的低迷時期。現在我還要說我們 - 你看到我們本季度確實採取了一些重組成本，這些成本將在一年中實施。我們認為每年可節省約 1000 萬美元。在很大程度上，這實際上是為這些研發投資提供資金的原因。其他自然的新年成本將是靈感、臨時措施和這些類型的東西，但總的來說，我們預計即使在銷售增長的情況下也能保持開支持平。我們可以看到利潤率有所改善，儘管正如我們提到的那樣 - 可能會有一些適度的投資來繼續使我們的製造足跡多樣化。因此，我們認為模型中仍有很大的空間。我們認為這是一個穩健的模型，我們認為隨著半成品市場的最終復甦，我們將處於更有利的地位。

Great. That's helpful. And if just I could throw in one follow-up around your LumaSense business. If I'm just looking at the model, which you guided 13% or so this quarter and semi revenue [high] around like $10 million or so coming from industrial and a little bit from the service. If I'm backing out of this, it seems like the industrial is down quite a bit quarter-over-quarter. I know you -- it sounds like the solar business is the big reason there, but looking forward, is that a business you're expecting to recover at a certain time? Or is it more of a lumpy business that you have lower visibility in?

偉大的。這很有幫助。如果我能對您的 LumaSense 業務進行後續跟進就好了。如果我只看這個模型，你本季度指導了 13% 左右，半收入 [high] 大約 1000 萬美元左右來自工業，還有一點來自服務。如果我退出這一點，那麼工業似乎比上一季度下降了很多。我認識你——聽起來太陽能業務是其中的主要原因，但展望未來，你是否希望在某個特定時間恢復該業務？還是您的知名度較低，這更像是一個塊狀業務？

Yes, good question. We actually guided our industrial business to be down sequentially in Q4 because seasonally it's a low quarter. In fact, it was even a little lower. And if you look at the revenue mix, industrial was actually a little below what we thought. And semi was about on, oddly enough. And as the little bit lower industrial was exactly that, it was a little softer business from the solar PV area. And remember we got a large order, large revenue of solar PV in Q3, which sort of aggravated the compare. But solar was off a little bit. And China was off a little bit too, just more broadly, but sequentially we expect industrial will grow in Q1. It grows seasonally. And part of the shortfall in Q4 industrial was delays in shipments of some products into those markets. So we continue to believe industrial will grow in the mid-teens range overall, and it will be up sequentially in Q1.

是的，好問題。我們實際上指導我們的工業業務在第四季度連續下降，因為季節性是一個低季度。事實上，它甚至更低一點。如果你看一下收入組合，工業實際上比我們想像的要低一些。奇怪的是，半決賽即將開始。由於工業水平較低，因此太陽能光伏領域的業務較為疲軟。請記住，我們在第三季度獲得了太陽能光伏的大訂單、大收入，這在某種程度上加劇了比較。但是太陽能有點關閉。中國也有一點偏離，只是范圍更廣，但我們預計工業將在第一季度繼續增長。它季節性生長。第四季度工業短缺的部分原因是某些產品向這些市場的發貨延遲。因此，我們繼續相信工業總體增長將在十幾歲左右，並且將在第一季度連續上升。

It had been the fastest-growing section of the company, if you look at the annual basis.

如果按年度計算，它是公司增長最快的部門。

And our next question will come from the line of Tom Diffely with D.A. Davidson.

我們的下一個問題將來自 Tom Diffely 和 D.A.戴維森。

Yes. First, a clarification. When we look at your forecast for a little step down here in the first quarter, is that driven solely by just the end markets, the noise in the end markets? Or is there a little bit of inventory -- OEM inventory correction in there as well?

是的。首先，澄清一下。當我們看一下您對第一季度這裡的小幅下調的預測時，這是否僅由終端市場、終端市場的噪音驅動？還是有一點庫存——那裡還有 OEM 庫存修正？

It's both, Tom. It's both the end market but also the drawdown of inventories.

兩者都是，湯姆。這既是終端市場，也是庫存的減少。

Okay. And then basically, as you've said before, that's just finished goods working through the system.

好的。然後基本上，正如您之前所說，這只是通過系統運行的成品。

Correct.

正確的。

Okay. And then Paul, when you look at the R&D, the increased spending, do you view that as mainly project based? Or is this kind of a new normal where your goal is just to be a little more active on the new product developments going forward?

好的。然後保羅，當你看到研發，增加的支出時，你認為這主要是基於項目的嗎？或者這是一種新常態，您的目標只是在未來的新產品開發中更加積極一點？

Yes, I'd say it's more of a new normal. We've done a careful review of our R&D projects and what -- where the opportunities are. And as Yuval mentioned, we're seeing a lot of pull from our customers for things that can have an impact in the relatively near term, not a 3-year outturn, in this sort of more 1- to 2-year outturn. And if you look at when the semi industry could recover, which we don't know, we think it makes sense to make these -- continue to make these investments at this time. So I wouldn't count on R&D dropping back down. I think around this level is the right level. Now I don't think we need to grow it. We've made a step up in investment here and we'll continue that investment, but it's going to -- I would say roughly in this range is the right way to think of it.

是的，我會說這更像是一種新常態。我們仔細審查了我們的研發項目以及機會所在。正如 Yuval 所提到的，我們看到客戶對可能在相對短期內產生影響的事情有很大的吸引力，而不是 3 年的結果，在這種更多的 1 到 2 年的結果中。如果你看看半工業何時可以復蘇，我們不知道，我們認為進行這些是有意義的——此時繼續進行這些投資。所以我不會指望研發會退縮。我認為在這個水平附近是合適的水平。現在我認為我們不需要種植它。我們在這裡加大了投資，我們將繼續投資，但它會——我想說大致在這個範圍內是正確的思考方式。

Right now -- Tom, we're right now budgeted in terms of R&D investment at the level that will allow us to continue to accelerate our R&D and product development in conjunction with our key customers' road maps and also in alignment with new customers around the world that are approaching us right now to use our technology for their next-generation devices. We just have a tremendous amount of opportunities related to new design wins that we want to make sure that we fund properly.

現在 - 湯姆，我們現在的研發投資預算水平將使我們能夠繼續加速我們的研發和產品開發，結合我們的主要客戶的路線圖，並與周圍的新客戶保持一致世界現在正在接近我們，希望將我們的技術用於他們的下一代設備。我們只是有大量與新設計獲勝相關的機會，我們希望確保我們提供適當的資金。

Yes, that will make sense. And then I guess, when you look at all the crosscurrents in the industry over the last several months, has there been a meaningful change in the utilization rate of your tools in the field that might ultimately impact the service over the next few quarters?

是的，這是有道理的。然後我想，當您查看過去幾個月行業中的所有交叉流時，您的工具在該領域的利用率是否發生了有意義的變化，最終可能會影響未來幾個季度的服務？

We don't think so, no.

我們不這麼認為，不。

Okay. And then just finally, when you look at all that's happened over the last 6, 9 months, has anything changed your long-term view of the potential of this industry or in potential event synergy in the industry?

好的。最後，當你回顧過去 6、9 個月發生的所有事情時，有什麼改變了你對這個行業潛力或行業潛在事件協同作用的長期看法嗎？

Not at all. We -- as we said repeatedly, the underlying demand in the industry are strong. We are in a period of digestion, in our opinion; many of the players in the industry right now using this period of digestion to accelerate the development of new products and new technologies. If we look at, the industry is moving to much more complex structures, new materials and new processes. All these require new product architecture and, with that, new power delivery architectures. And we are the supplier that companies approach to, to deliver those technologies.

一點也不。我們 - 正如我們反复說過的那樣，該行業的潛在需求強勁。我們認為，我們正處於消化期；不少業內人士正利用這段消化時間，加快新產品、新技術的研發。如果我們看一下，這個行業正在轉向更複雜的結構、新材料和新工藝。所有這些都需要新的產品架構，以及隨之而來的新的電力傳輸架構。我們是公司接觸的供應商，以提供這些技術。

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

我們的下一個問題將來自 Stifel 的 Patrick Ho。

This is actually Brian Chin calling in for Patrick. First, a question about the manufacturing. I think you mentioned that you're going to pursue some initiatives to bring up some manufacturing in Southeast Asia. I'm curious. How much of that is desire to diversify away from Shenzhen in terms of the process power business? And how much of that is related to I think you had -- you're going to have to relocate some of that capacity, anyways, next year? So kind of the natural order of that. So that's my first question.

這實際上是 Brian Chin 為 Patrick 打電話。首先，關於製造的問題。我想你提到過你將採取一些舉措在東南亞發展一些製造業。我很好奇。就過程電源業務而言，其中有多少是希望從深圳實現多元化？其中有多少與我認為你有關係 - 無論如何，明年你將不得不重新安置其中的一些能力？這有點自然。這是我的第一個問題。

So I think that the planning, the evaluation of our operational footprint that we started funding in Q4 aims at addressing business continuity, allow us to have flexibility to move products from a major hub to more than just one factory and also to address costs. So it's all of the above. It's a project that will take some time, and we believe that long term it will be cost neutral in terms of the investment. It's a very low-capital-intensity project; as you know, we just final assembly and test. It's more about diversifying the location of origin of our products. Do you want to add anything to that, Paul?

因此，我認為我們在第四季度開始資助的規劃和運營足跡評估旨在解決業務連續性問題，使我們能夠靈活地將產品從一個主要樞紐轉移到多個工廠，並解決成本問題。所以就是以上所有。這是一個需要一些時間的項目，我們相信從長遠來看，它的投資成本是中性的。這是一個資本密集度非常低的項目；如您所知，我們只是進行最後的組裝和測試。它更多地是關於使我們產品的原產地多樣化。保羅，你想補充什麼嗎？

Yes. And you're right. We do -- our lease is expiring in Shenzhen. We do have an extension to that actually for about a year, which gives us a nice window to, hopefully, just balance our operations. As Yuval said, there will be a little bit of insurance costs that will be incremental, but once in place, our total costs will be neutral and lower because we'll have a balance between factories. It's not just adding a second factory. It's balancing amongst 2 to diversify our -- all of our mix really and give us more flexibility going forwards.

是的。你是對的。我們有——我們在深圳的租約即將到期。實際上，我們確實將其延長了大約一年，這為我們提供了一個很好的窗口，希望能夠平衡我們的運營。正如 Yuval 所說，會有一些增量的保險成本，但一旦到位，我們的總成本將保持中性且更低，因為我們將在工廠之間取得平衡。這不僅僅是增加第二個工廠。它在 2 之間取得平衡，使我們的所有組合真正多樣化，並為我們提供更大的靈活性。

So long term, long term, we are going to be relying on more than one factory.

所以從長遠來看，我們將依賴不止一家工廠。

Got it. And I'm sure it makes sense, when business is slower, to do these sorts of things than when things are kind of revved up, right.

知道了。而且我敢肯定，當業務放緩時，做這些事情比在事情加速時做這些事情更有意義，對吧。

Sure.

當然。

So another question. Appreciate all the detail on the new evaluations and certainly some breadth there in terms of product and customers. That being said, would you put NAND and dielectric applications towards the front in terms of what could contribute sooner versus latter -- later?

那麼另一個問題。欣賞新評估的所有細節，當然還有產品和客戶方面的一些廣度。話雖這麼說，你會把 NAND 和電介質應用放在前面嗎？

I'm sorry. Can you repeat the question, Brian?

對不起。你能重複這個問題嗎，布賴恩？

Yes. So you talked about, I think, like 5 new customer evaluations, sort of breadth in terms of the products applications that are under evaluation. I'm curious. Of those evaluations, do you think the ones that could come to fruition sooner would be on the NAND side and dielectric in nature?

是的。所以你談到了，我認為，就像 5 個新客戶評估，在評估中的產品應用方面的廣度。我很好奇。在這些評估中，您認為可以更快實現的評估是在 NAND 方面還是在本質上是電介質方面？

It's -- thank you. It's across the board. It is both NAND, DRAM and logic and foundry, all across the board. Look at -- the industry is moving towards much more complex structures and also new materials. These new materials require different ways of deposition and etch processes. And the -- in NAND, for example, the increasing number of layers in the stack creates unique challenges related to material processes that require a totally different approach in terms of the deposition and etch processes that eventually require a different power distribution strategy because RF power is the enabler of these processes.

這是——謝謝。這是全面的。既是NAND，又是DRAM，又是邏輯和代工，一刀切。看看——這個行業正在朝著更複雜的結構和新材料的方向發展。這些新材料需要不同的沉積方式和蝕刻工藝。並且 - 例如，在 NAND 中，堆棧中層數的增加帶來了與材料工藝相關的獨特挑戰，這些挑戰在沉積和蝕刻工藝方面需要完全不同的方法，最終需要不同的功率分配策略，因為 RF 功率是這些過程的推動者。

The other thing I'll mention, Brian, is if you look at our platform, we address all areas of deposition and etch. And as Yuval said, we're now expanding into other content around the chamber. And historically, NAND, DRAM and logic, if you look at the last 4 quarters or 5 quarters, have been about 1/3 each. And so as we see investment shift more towards foundry and logic, we're participating in that. And so our business will shift a little bit with the timing of that investment as well because we play broadly in all those applications.

布賴恩，我要提到的另一件事是，如果你看看我們的平台，我們會處理沉積和蝕刻的所有領域。正如 Yuval 所說，我們現在正在擴展到會議廳周圍的其他內容。從歷史上看，NAND、DRAM 和邏輯，如果你看看過去 4 個或 5 個季度，每個季度大約佔 1/3。因此，當我們看到投資更多地轉向鑄造和邏輯時，我們正在參與其中。因此，我們的業務也會隨著投資的時間而發生一些變化，因為我們在所有這些應用程序中發揮著廣泛的作用。

One more comment. The adoption of EUV for 5-nanometer logic devices will require ALD and ALE processes, and we are a key supplier for those applications.

再來一條評論。5 納米邏輯器件採用 EUV 需要 ALD 和 ALE 工藝，而我們是這些應用的主要供應商。

Okay. Appreciate all the details. One last question from us. From a capital allocation standpoint, I think, based on what's authorized, you -- if you bought back a similar amount of stock here in Q1 that you did in 4Q, you might exhaust your current repurchase. Any thoughts about continuing to look at strategic acquisition potential as well? So just kind of curious how you're thinking about capital allocation moving forward.

好的。欣賞所有細節。我們的最後一個問題。從資本配置的角度來看，我認為，根據授權，如果你在第一季度回購了與第四季度相似數量的股票，你可能會用完當前的回購。有沒有關於繼續關注戰略收購潛力的想法？所以有點好奇你是如何考慮未來的資本配置的。

Yes. Brian, our fundamental philosophy hasn't changed. And that is to allocate the majority of our available capital, 70%, to growing the company through acquisitions, and then to be opportunistic with our share repurchase. And that's our strategy. And as we said, we're open to both continued small tuck-ins or medium tuck-ins, as in the case of LumaSense, but also larger opportunities if they make sense. And we have capacity to do that. The -- relative to the share repurchase, the board meets regularly, at least quarterly, and reviews it every quarter. And as we consume the -- kind of the authorization, we regularly kind of refresh that. So I wouldn't anticipate anything different going forward.

是的。布賴恩，我們的基本理念沒有改變。那就是將我們大部分可用資本（70%）分配給通過收購來發展公司，然後通過我們的股票回購來獲得機會。這就是我們的策略。正如我們所說，我們對持續的小規模投資或中等規模的投資持開放態度，就像 LumaSense 的情況一樣，但如果有意義的話，我們也會有更大的機會。我們有能力做到這一點。與股票回購相關，董事會定期開會，至少每季度開一次會，並每季度進行一次審查。當我們使用這種授權時，我們會定期刷新它。所以我預計未來不會有任何不同。

And our next question will come from the line of Pavel Molchanov with Raymond James.

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

On the M&A front, you've been pursuing industrial focus for many years now, but obviously given the pressures in the semi cap value chain, I imagine that a lot of the middle-market players are feeling the pain, in fact more pain than you guys are. Is now perhaps the time to consider bulking up in some additional semi cap opportunities? Or do you think it's still too early?

在併購方面，多年來你一直在追求工業重點，但顯然考慮到半市值價值鏈的壓力，我想很多中端市場參與者都感受到了痛苦，實際上比你們真的是。現在也許是時候考慮增加一些額外的半盤機會了嗎？還是您認為現在還為時過早？

Thanks, Pavel, for the question. Yes, indeed, our strategy had been to diversify the company and accelerate the diversification by acquiring companies from new markets and verticals to accelerate our entry into those markets. Some of these acquired companies have also a semi content in them; for example, LumaSense. LumaSense is 75% industrial, 25% semi when we acquired the company. As we look at the semi world, being a pure-play power leading company and a leader in the critical power supplies that go into these applications, the number of potential like targets in semi for us is almost 0, especially if you consider antitrust, right? So most likely, acquiring a power supplier to the semi industry will be a -- either -- a risk for cannibalization but also risk of antitrust challenges related to that. Other components that go into the semi industry usually are not enabling components. And some of them are commodity products which carry fairly low margins and different selling cycle and little effort in engineering. So for that reason, we look at semi targets very opportunistically. We look at industrial targets very strategically.

帕維爾，謝謝你提出這個問題。是的，的確，我們的戰略一直是通過收購新市場和垂直領域的公司來使公司多元化並加速多元化，以加快我們進入這些市場的速度。其中一些被收購的公司也有半內容；例如，LumaSense。當我們收購該公司時，LumaSense 是 75% 的工業，25% 的半導體。當我們審視 semi 世界時，作為一家純粹的電力領先公司和進入這些應用的關鍵電源的領導者，semi 對我們來說潛在的類似目標的數量幾乎為 0，特別是如果你考慮反壟斷，正確的？因此，最有可能的是，收購一家半導體行業的電力供應商將既有蠶食的風險，也有與之相關的反壟斷挑戰的風險。進入半導體行業的其他組件通常不是啟用組件。其中一些是商品，利潤率很低，銷售週期不同，工程上的努力也不多。因此，出於這個原因，我們非常機會主義地看待半目標。我們非常有戰略眼光地看待工業目標。

Okay, that's helpful. I remember this topic was also discussed on the last quarter call, and I think your comments about your cash flow breakeven probably lend themselves to ask the question again. Any updated thoughts on initiation of a dividend as a way of perhaps kind of accentuating your return of capital to shareholders?

好的，這很有幫助。我記得在上個季度的電話會議上也討論了這個話題，我認為你對現金流盈虧平衡的評論可能會讓他們再次問這個問題。關於發起股息的任何最新想法可能是一種強調你對股東的資本回報的方式？

Yes, it's good question. Thanks, Pavel. We do regularly review our capital allocation strategy, including a discussion of the dividend. At this point, the strategy remains the same, which is to use our opportunistic share repurchase plan as the method of choice to return value to shareholders.

是的，這是個好問題。謝謝，帕維爾。我們會定期審查我們的資本配置策略，包括對股息的討論。在這一點上，策略保持不變，即使用我們的機會主義股票回購計劃作為向股東回報價值的選擇方法。

And our next question will come from the line of Quinn Bolton with Needham & Company.

我們的下一個問題將來自 Quinn Bolton 與 Needham & Company 的合作。

I just wanted to follow up on Tom's question about inventory correction versus sort of the slower demand environment and wondering if you might be able to give us some sense how much of a lower revenue in March is coming from inventory drawdowns versus just the overall level of lower demand.

我只是想跟進湯姆關於庫存調整與需求放緩環境的問題，想知道你是否可以讓我們了解 3 月份的收入減少有多少來自庫存減少，而不是整體水平較低的需求。

Yes. It's a good question and a tough one to answer. Obviously we don't have perfect visibility into our customers' plans and what they see, but clearly the market activity, as you've seen, Quinn, in the last 3 or 4 weeks, all of our customers and peers have kind of reset at a lower level. And to some degree, it's related. If their business is lower, it will take longer to work through the inventory. So there's some element of that too, but fundamentally the inventory is an area that we expected to be drawn down. And there'll continue to be impact related to that. And we said in our prepared marks we -- remarks we expect these kind of conditions to persist through the first half. And then we'll see if things go from there.

是的。這是一個很好的問題，也是一個很難回答的問題。顯然，我們無法完全了解客戶的計劃和他們看到的內容，但很明顯，市場活動，正如你所見，Quinn，在過去的 3 或 4 週內，我們所有的客戶和同行都有某種程度的重置在較低的水平。在某種程度上，它是相關的。如果他們的業務較低，則需要更長的時間來處理庫存。所以也有一些因素，但從根本上說，庫存是我們預計會減少的一個領域。並且會繼續產生與此相關的影響。我們在準備好的標記中說，我們預計這些情況會持續到上半年。然後我們會看看事情是否會從那裡開始。

I guess it's sort of a follow-up, Paul, on that. I think Lam, on their call, talked about WFE in '19 being front-end loaded. Some of the other OEMs have talked about more of a back-end load. Do you guys have any thoughts, as you look out, speak to your customers, what just the overall shape of WFE will be in 2019? I guess the question is, if WFE trends down in the second half, does that exacerbate the inventory drawdowns that you're currently seeing?

保羅，我想這有點跟進。我認為 Lam 在他們的電話中談到了 19 年的 WFE 是前端加載。其他一些 OEM 已經談到了更多的後端負載。你們有沒有什麼想法，當你注意，與你的客戶交談時，WFE 在 2019 年的整體形態會是什麼樣子？我想問題是，如果下半年 WFE 趨勢下降，這是否會加劇您目前看到的庫存縮減？

So it's a great question. And the answer is different from different OEM. Different OEMs different -- have different exposures to end markets. And their commentary about the business for the second half of the year is affected by their view of the market they serve primarily. And without going into details, some OEMs are more memory centric. Some OEMs are more logic and foundry centric, and they see different view of the rest of the year when you talk to them and -- or when you read their commentary. In general we don't believe that the visibility is good enough to even call the second half. We believe that we are right now operating in the what I'd call target-rich environment for us when it comes to design wins and take advantage of the kind of a slowdown in the industry when everybody is focusing on accelerating product development to basically be fully aligned with the customers to make sure that we help them go to market earlier, as everybody is anticipating the resumption of growth both in capacity and also in technology nodes as we exit from this downturn.

所以這是一個很好的問題。並且不同的OEM給出的答案是不同的。不同的原始設備製造商不同——對終端市場的敞口不同。他們對下半年業務的評論受到他們對主要服務市場的看法的影響。無需贅述，一些 OEM 更以內存為中心。一些原始設備製造商更注重邏輯和以代工為中心，當你與他們交談時，或者當你閱讀他們的評論時，他們會對今年餘下的時間有不同的看法。總的來說，我們認為能見度還不足以稱之為下半場。我們相信，當涉及到設計勝利時，我們現在正處於目標豐富的環境中，並利用行業放緩的機會，因為每個人都專注於加速產品開發，基本上是與客戶充分保持一致，以確保我們幫助他們更早地進入市場，因為每個人都期待在我們擺脫經濟低迷時恢復產能和技術節點的增長。

Great. Then last question from me. Just wondering if you might be able to level set us on the timing of your long-term model of $5.50 to $6.50 in EPS. How dependent is that on a recovery in WFE spending? How dependent is it on your improved share position exiting 2019 or other factors?

偉大的。然後是我的最後一個問題。只是想知道您是否能夠讓我們了解您的每股收益 5.50 美元至 6.50 美元的長期模型的時機。這對 WFE 支出複甦的依賴程度如何？它在多大程度上取決於您在 2019 年結束後改善的股票地位或其他因素？

So obviously the timing of the recovery in semi will impact the timing of that profile of growth, but at the same time we are very acquisitive and we are pursuing a pipeline of target acquisitions that may help us accelerate that despite of the semi cycle. So it's a combination of the M&A activity and the maturity of those targets and the recovery of semi. We are very confident in the future of this company. We're very confident and stay behind our strategic aspirational goals. And again, as we said earlier, right now it seems like we are in a kind of a lull position in the semi, but we believe that it's just a temporary situation and we expect to see the recovery with a much stronger market position and much stronger footprint around the world.

因此，很明顯，半復甦的時機將影響這種增長的時機，但與此同時，我們非常收購，我們正在尋求一系列目標收購，這可能有助於我們在半週期中加速這一進程。因此，這是併購活動與這些目標的成熟度以及半導體復甦的結合。我們對這家公司的未來充滿信心。我們非常有信心並堅持我們的戰略理想目標。再一次，正如我們之前所說，現在看來我們在半決賽中處於一種平靜的狀態，但我們相信這只是暫時的情況，我們預計會看到市場地位更加強勁的複蘇更強大的足跡遍布全球。

Thank you. And I am showing no further questions at this time, so now it is my pleasure to hand the conference back over to Yuval Wasserman for any closing comments or remarks.

謝謝。我現在沒有再提出任何問題，所以現在我很高興將會議交還給 Yuval Wasserman，請他發表任何閉幕評論或評論。

Thanks, everybody, for joining us today.

謝謝大家今天加入我們。

As I mentioned earlier, we view this period right now as an exciting period for us to rejuvenate, to invest and to develop and accelerate the launch of our new products and technologies to the market. We are being right now adopted by multiple OEMs around the world into their new process tools. Obviously the decline in Q1 is driven by the market dynamic, as we explained. Just a note, if you look at products that go into the semi market, our decline between -- from Q4 to Q1 is in line with our peer companies, and in some cases we are in a better position. So we are looking forward to a fruitful year in terms of investment, in strategic investment. And we are ready to come out of this downturn much stronger with new products and technologies.

正如我之前提到的，我們現在將這段時期視為振興、投資、開發和加速將我們的新產品和技術推向市場的激動人心的時期。我們現在正被世界各地的多家原始設備製造商採用到他們的新工藝工具中。顯然，正如我們所解釋的，第一季度的下降是由市場動態驅動的。請注意，如果你看看進入半市場的產品，我們從第四季度到第一季度的下降與我們的同行公司一致，在某些情況下我們處於更好的位置。因此，我們期待在投資和戰略投資方面收穫豐碩的一年。我們已準備好通過新產品和新技術更強大地走出經濟低迷期。

Thank you, and we look forward to seeing you in the next few months.

謝謝你，我們期待在接下來的幾個月裡見到你。

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for your participation on today's conference. This does conclude the program, and we may all disconnect. Everybody have a wonderful 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，我們都可以斷開連接。每個人都有美好的一天。