Allegro Microsystems Inc (ALGM) 2023 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Good day, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the Allegro MicroSystems Q3 fiscal 2023 Financial Results Conference Call.

美好的一天，謝謝你的支持。歡迎參加 Allegro MicroSystems 2023 財年第三季度財務業績電話會議。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員說明）

Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded. I would now like to hand the conference over to your speaker today, Jalene Hoover. Please go ahead.

請注意，今天的會議正在錄製中。我現在想把會議交給今天的發言人 Jalene Hoover。請繼續。

Thank you, Tanya. Good morning, and thank you for joining us today to discuss Allegro's third quarter fiscal 2023 results. I joined Allegra at the beginning of January and with more than 2 decades in semis, I'm thrilled to join at such an exciting time in Allegro life cycle. I look forward to working with the team as well as with all of you. I'm joined today by Allegro's President and Chief Executive Officer, Vineet Nargolwala; and Allegro's Chief Financial Officer, Derek D'Antilio. They will provide highlights of our business, review our quarterly financial performance and provide a summary of our outlook.

謝謝你，坦尼婭。早上好，感謝您今天加入我們討論 Allegro 的 2023 財年第三季度業績。我在 1 月初加入 Allegra，在半決賽中已有超過 20 年的經驗，我很高興能在 Allegro 生命週期中如此激動人心的時刻加入。我期待著與團隊以及你們所有人一起工作。今天，Allegro 總裁兼首席執行官 Vineet Nargolwala 加入了我的行列；和 Allegro 的首席財務官 Derek D'Antilio。他們將提供我們業務的亮點，審查我們的季度財務業績並提供我們展望的摘要。

We will follow our prepared remarks with a Q&A session. Our earnings release and the accompanying financial tables are available on the Investor Relations page of our website at www.allegromicro.com. This call is being webcast, and a replay will be available on our IR page shortly. Please note that comments other than statements of historical fact made during this conference call including forward-looking statements for purposes of the safe harbor provisions under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements may include projections and other statements about future events that are based on current expectations and assumptions and as a result, are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from anticipated results and projections.

我們將在準備好的評論之後進行問答環節。我們的收益發布和隨附的財務表格可在我們網站 www.allegromicro.com 的投資者關係頁面上找到。此電話會議正在進行網絡直播，重播將很快在我們的 IR 頁面上提供。請注意，本次電話會議期間發表的除歷史事實陳述以外的評論包括根據 1995 年《私人證券訴訟改革法案》的安全港條款作出的前瞻性陳述。這些前瞻性陳述可能包括關於未來的預測和其他陳述基於當前預期和假設的事件受到風險和不確定性的影響，可能導致實際結果與預期結果和預測存在重大差異。

Please refer to the earnings press release we issued today and other documents filed by us with the SEC including the risk factors discussed in detail in our most recent 10-K filed on May 18, 2022, as amended on Form 10-K/A filed on August 29, 2022, and subsequent 10-Qs. While we may elect to update forward-looking statements at some point in the future, the company assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking information presented even if our estimates or assumptions change.

請參閱我們今天發布的收益新聞稿和我們向美國證券交易委員會提交的其他文件，包括我們在 2022 年 5 月 18 日提交的最新 10-K 文件中詳細討論的風險因素，並在提交的 10-K/A 表格中進行了修訂2022 年 8 月 29 日，以及隨後的 10-Q。雖然我們可能會選擇在未來的某個時候更新前瞻性陳述，但即使我們的估計或假設發生變化，公司也沒有義務更新所提供的任何前瞻性信息。

Unless otherwise noted during the call, all references to income statement-related financial measures other than sales will be to financial measures not prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles or GAAP. Please refer to the press release posted to our website for information regarding our non-GAAP financial results and a reconciliation of our GAAP to non-GAAP financial measures. The non-GAAP financial measures that are discussed today are not intended to replace or be a substitute for the presentation of Allegro's GAAP financial results and may be calculated differently than similar measures used by other companies.

除非在電話會議期間另有說明，否則除銷售額外，所有與損益表相關的財務指標均指未按照公認會計原則或公認會計原則編制的財務指標。請參閱發佈在我們網站上的新聞稿，了解有關我們的非 GAAP 財務業績以及我們的 GAAP 與非 GAAP 財務措施的對賬信息。今天討論的非 GAAP 財務指標無意取代或替代 Allegro 的 GAAP 財務結果的呈現方式，並且計算方法可能與其他公司使用的類似指標不同。

We are providing this information because it may enable investors to make meaningful comparisons of core operating results and more clearly highlight the results of our core ongoing operations. It is now my pleasure to turn the call over to Allegro's President and CEO, Vineet Nargolwala. Vineet?

我們提供此信息是因為它可以使投資者對核心運營結果進行有意義的比較，並更清楚地突出我們核心持續運營的結果。現在我很高興將電話轉給 Allegro 的總裁兼首席執行官 Vineet Nargolwala。維內特？

Thank you, Jalene, and welcome to the Allegro team, and good morning, and thank you all for joining us this morning for our fiscal third quarter conference call. I'm pleased to report that Allegro had another record quarter with sales increasing 5% sequentially and 33% year-over-year to $249 million and near the high end of our guidance range. Our growth continues to be driven by ongoing momentum in our e-mobility and industrial markets with sales in these strategic focus areas, increasing 11% sequentially and 56% year-over-year.

謝謝 Jalene，歡迎來到 Allegro 團隊，早上好，感謝大家今天早上加入我們的第三財季電話會議。我很高興地報告，Allegro 又創下了一個創紀錄的季度，銷售額環比增長 5%，同比增長 33%，達到 2.49 億美元，接近我們指導範圍的高端。我們的增長繼續受到電動汽車和工業市場持續增長勢頭的推動，這些戰略重點領域的銷售額環比增長 11%，同比增長 56%。

Gross margin also expanded in the quarter due to higher sales of feature-rich products as well as continued favorable foreign exchange. This allowed us to deliver record operating margins of 30% in the quarter. Further highlighting our operating leverage, earnings per share increased more than 80% year-over-year on revenue growth of 33%. Coming off the strong quarter, along with the fourth quarter guidance, we're increasing full year sales growth expectations to 26% over fiscal 2022. In support of this growth, we are also making progress in alleviating the supply constraints that have limited our ability to serve our customers over the past several quarters.

由於功能豐富的產品銷量增加以及持續有利的外匯，該季度的毛利率也有所上升。這使我們能夠在本季度實現創紀錄的 30% 的營業利潤率。進一步突出我們的經營槓桿，每股收益同比增長 80% 以上，收入增長 33%。繼第四季度業績強勁的季度後，我們將 2022 財年的全年銷售增長預期提高至 26%。為支持這一增長，我們還在緩解限制我們能力的供應限制方面取得進展在過去幾個季度為我們的客戶提供服務。

Let me expand on this with some proof points. First, while our overall backlog remains strong, our past due backlog is beginning to decline as we ship more products to fulfill a portion of prior outstanding orders. We view this as a positive step as it improves order lead times for our customers. We have also continued to work with our customers to allow for reschedules and cancellations within certain parameters.

讓我用一些證據來擴展這一點。首先，雖然我們的整體積壓訂單仍然強勁，但隨著我們運送更多產品來完成部分先前未完成的訂單，我們逾期未付的積壓訂單開始減少。我們認為這是積極的一步，因為它縮短了我們客戶的訂單交貨時間。我們還繼續與客戶合作，允許在某些參數範圍內重新安排和取消。

Second, channel inventory has begun to normalize with certain distributors approaching historical levels. Finally, we've been able to grow our internal supply of wafers and die banks during the quarter to support anticipated growth. An another positive and very important step in down last week, our U.S.-based fab partner, Polar Semiconductor is expected to receive $150 million equity investment to expand its 200-millimeter wafer fabrication capacity which positions Polar and Allegro to support anticipated growth in customer demand.

其次，渠道庫存開始正常化，部分經銷商庫存接近歷史水平。最後，我們已經能夠在本季度增加晶圓和芯片庫的內部供應，以支持預期的增長。上週另一個積極且非常重要的舉措是，我們位於美國的晶圓廠合作夥伴 Polar Semiconductor 預計將獲得 1.5 億美元的股權投資，以擴大其 200 毫米晶圓製造能力，這將使 Polar 和 Allegro 能夠支持預期的客戶需求增長.

Shifting to key business highlights for the quarter. Sales in our automotive business increased 8% sequentially to a new quarterly record and represented year-over-year growth of 80%. Our focus on the secular mega trend of e-Mobility which includes the increasing electrification of vehicles and the higher adoption of data feature sets continues to drive Allegro's growth above market. In fact, e-Mobility applications expanded to a record 43% of Allegra's third quarter automotive sales, reflecting the combined contribution from our sensing and power products.

轉向本季度的主要業務亮點。我們汽車業務的銷售額環比增長 8%，創下季度新高，同比增長 80%。我們關注電動汽車的長期大趨勢，包括車輛電氣化程度的提高和數據功能集的更高采用率，繼續推動 Allegro 超越市場的增長。事實上，電動汽車應用佔 Allegra 第三季度汽車銷售額的比例達到創紀錄的 43%，反映了我們的傳感和電源產品的綜合貢獻。

In addition, the majority of third quarter automotive design wins were in e-Mobility. We continue to focus efforts across the company on the strategic fast-growing opportunity. Notable design wins included a large ADAS applications for our power products in a steering system for a North American OEM as well as multiple wins with the Chinese EV manufacturer. We also achieved another record in our Industrial business, with sales growing 6% sequentially and 60% year-over-year.

此外，第三季度的大部分汽車設計勝利都在電動汽車領域。我們繼續將整個公司的精力集中在戰略性的快速增長機會上。值得注意的設計勝利包括我們的動力產品在北美 OEM 的轉向系統中的大型 ADAS 應用，以及與中國電動汽車製造商的多項勝利。我們的工業業務也再創新高，銷售額環比增長 6%，同比增長 60%。

Continued growth of Clean Energy and Industrial Automation end markets drove our performance in the third quarter. Overall design win traction has remained strong and well balanced across target markets as well as on magnetic sensors and Power IC product portfolios. I'm equally pleased with our performance from a product line perspective. We continue to reinforce our market leadership in magnetic sensors, which grew 25% year-over-year.

清潔能源和工業自動化終端市場的持續增長推動了我們第三季度的業績。整體設計贏得牽引力在目標市場以及磁傳感器和功率 IC 產品組合中保持強勁和平衡。從產品線的角度來看，我對我們的表現同樣感到滿意。我們繼續鞏固我們在磁性傳感器領域的市場領導地位，該市場同比增長 25%。

Our Power IC portfolio continued to see very robust sales growing 50% on a year-over-year basis. These results underscore our core value of innovation with purpose, the strong alignment of our R&D investments and portfolio with our strategic focus areas as well as our initiatives to accelerate new product velocity. And finally, punctuating our continued investments and innovation, last week, we announced plans to open our newest R&D center in Richardson, Texas, which will expand Allegro's research and development efforts. I'll now turn the call over to Derek to review the financial results and provide guidance for our fiscal fourth quarter. Derek?

我們的功率 IC 產品組合繼續保持非常強勁的銷售額，同比增長 50%。這些結果凸顯了我們有目的地創新的核心價值、我們的研發投資和產品組合與我們的戰略重點領域的緊密結合，以及我們加快新產品開發速度的舉措。最後，上週我們宣布計劃在德克薩斯州理查森開設我們最新的研發中心，以加強我們的持續投資和創新，這將擴大 Allegro 的研發工作。我現在將電話轉給德里克審查財務業績並為我們的第四財季提供指導。德里克？

Thank you, Vineet, and good morning, everyone. Before we discuss the financial results, I'll again provide an update on what we are seeing in our business environment. As Vineet mentioned, demand and order patterns remain robust across our focus areas. We again exited Q3 with more than a year of backlog and extended visibility based on design wins.

謝謝你，Vineet，大家早上好。在我們討論財務結果之前，我將再次提供我們在業務環境中看到的最新情況。正如 Vineet 所提到的，需求和訂單模式在我們的重點領域仍然保持強勁。我們再次以一年多的積壓和基於設計勝利的擴展知名度退出了第三季度。

However, we acknowledge the macroeconomic uncertainty and as business conditions continue to evolve, we are continuing to monitor leading indicators for changes in our markets and sales channels. Looking at our end markets and beginning with auto, which represents nearly 70% of our sales, we continue to see significant opportunities for growth. According to recent third-party reports and adjusted to align to our fiscal year, Global Auto production is projected to be 83 million units, an increase of 8% compared to fiscal '22 and is projected to increase by another 4% in fiscal '24.

然而，我們承認宏觀經濟的不確定性，並且隨著商業環境的不斷發展，我們將繼續監控市場和銷售渠道變化的領先指標。看看我們的終端市場，從占我們銷售額近 70% 的汽車開始，我們繼續看到重要的增長機會。根據最近的第三方報告並根據我們的財政年度進行調整，全球汽車產量預計為 8300 萬輛，比 22 財年增長 8%，預計在 24 財年再增長 4% .

Further, in highlighting the significant e-Mobility opportunity, EV production is projected to increase by 50% in our fiscal '23 and by another 30% in fiscal '24. We also continue to see growth in our targeted industrial markets, while demand in our other markets, which include consumer applications, has continued to soften as expected. Moving on to the supply environment. In Q3, we began to see additional wafer capacity, and towards the end of the quarter, we started to rebuild our wafer and die banks.

此外，為了強調重要的電動汽車機會，電動汽車產量預計將在我們的 23 財年增長 50%，並在 24 財年再增長 30%。我們還繼續看到目標工業市場的增長，而我們其他市場（包括消費應用）的需求如預期的那樣繼續疲軟。轉到供應環境。在第三季度，我們開始看到額外的晶圓產能，並且在本季度末，我們開始重建我們的晶圓和芯片庫。

We expect to continue to build wafer and die bank in Q4 and believe this will allow us to improve lead times and further reduce our past due backlog. In addition, our supply chain team continues to make progress on securing capacity for fiscal '24 and beyond considering technology, cost and fab location. Now turning to Q3 results. Sales were $249 million, gross margins were 58%, operating income was 30.3% and adjusted EBITDA was 35.4%.

我們預計將在第四季度繼續建造晶圓和裸片庫，相信這將使我們能夠縮短交貨時間並進一步減少逾期積壓。此外，我們的供應鏈團隊繼續在確保 24 財年及以後考慮技術、成本和工廠位置方面的產能方面取得進展。現在轉向第三季度的結果。銷售額為 2.49 億美元，毛利率為 58%，營業收入為 30.3%，調整後的 EBITDA 為 35.4%。

Record sales, combined with strong gross margin performance contributed to EPS of $0.35 per share, an 84% increase year-over-year. Sales to our automotive customers were $170 million sales, or 68% of Q3 sales, an increase of 8% sequentially and 30% year-over-year. Within automotive, e-Mobility sales increased 15% sequentially and 54% year-over-year. Highlighting the transition to EV and ADAS features, our e-Mobility sales were 43% of Q3 auto sales, up from 37% a year ago. Industrial sales were $51 million, an increase of 6% sequentially and 60% year-over-year and other sales were $28 million, a decrease of 14% sequentially, but an increase of 15% year-over-year. From a product line perspective, magnetic sensor sales were $154 million, an increase of 10% sequentially and 25% year-over-year.

創紀錄的銷售額，加上強勁的毛利率表現，使每股收益達到 0.35 美元，同比增長 84%。我們汽車客戶的銷售額為 1.7 億美元，佔第三季度銷售額的 68%，環比增長 8%，同比增長 30%。在汽車領域，電動汽車銷售額環比增長 15%，同比增長 54%。強調向 EV 和 ADAS 功能的過渡，我們的電動汽車銷售額佔第三季度汽車銷售額的 43%，高於一年前的 37%。工業銷售額為 5100 萬美元，環比增長 6%，同比增長 60%；其他銷售額為 2800 萬美元，環比下降 14%，但同比增長 15%。從產品線來看，磁傳感器銷售額為 1.54 億美元，環比增長 10%，同比增長 25%。

Sales of Power Products were $95 million, a decline of 3% sequentially and an increase of 50% year-over-year. The sequential decline was driven by data center, where we allocated wafers to other areas of our business as we see some near-term inventory consumption. Sales through our distribution remained strong and with 39% of Q3 sales and we continue to work with our partners to restock inventories to more normalized levels versus the trough levels we saw earlier this year. Once again, no single customer represented more than 10% of sales, and sales by geography were again well balanced, with 26% of sales in China, 24% of sales in the rest of Asia, 18% in Japan and 16% in both Europe and North America.

電源產品的銷售額為 9500 萬美元，環比下降 3%，同比增長 50%。連續下降是由數據中心推動的，我們在數據中心看到一些近期庫存消耗，我們將晶圓分配到我們業務的其他領域。通過我們的分銷實現的銷售依然強勁，佔第三季度銷售額的 39%，我們繼續與我們的合作夥伴合作，將庫存補充到比我們今年早些時候看到的低谷水平更正常的水平。再一次，沒有一個客戶佔銷售額的 10% 以上，按地域劃分的銷售額再次均衡，中國占銷售額的 26%，亞洲其他地區的銷售額佔 24%，日本佔 18%，兩國占 16%歐洲和北美。

Turning to profitability. Gross margin was 58%, an increase of 180 basis points compared to Q2, driven by favorable mix, continued positive foreign exchange and leverage in our assembly and test facility. Foreign exchange contributed an incremental 50 basis points compared to Q2 and 180 basis points compared to rates at the beginning of our fiscal year. Operating expenses increased by 2% sequentially on a dollar basis and declined as a percentage of sales to 27.7% compared to 28.3% of sales in Q2 and 31.7% in Q3 of fiscal '22. Third quarter research and development expenses were 15% of sales and SG&A expenses were 13%, down sequentially and contributing to strong operating leverage. Operating income was 30.3% of sales, up from 27.9% in Q2 and 23.1% a year ago.

轉向盈利能力。毛利率為 58%，與第二季度相比增長 180 個基點，這得益於有利的組合、持續積極的外彙和我們的組裝和測試設施的槓桿作用。與第二季度相比，外匯貢獻了 50 個基點，與我們財年開始時的匯率相比增加了 180 個基點。營業費用按美元計算連續增長 2%，佔銷售額的百分比下降至 27.7%，而 22 財年第二季度和第三季度的銷售額分別為 28.3% 和 31.7%。第三季度研發費用佔銷售額的 15%，SG&A 費用為 13%，環比下降，有助於實現強勁的經營槓桿。營業收入佔銷售額的 30.3%，高於第二季度的 27.9% 和一年前的 23.1%。

Operating income increased by 14% sequentially on a comparable sales increase of 5%. The effective tax rate in the quarter was 9% lower than our guidance due to a change in the treatment of certain foreign R&D credits. We now expect our full year fiscal non-GAAP tax rate to be approximately 11%. The Q3 share count was 193.9 million shares and net income was $68.8 million or $0.35 per diluted share, an increase of 13% sequentially and 84% year-over-year.

營業收入環比增長 14%，可比銷售額增長 5%。由於某些外國研發信貸的處理方式發生變化，本季度的實際稅率比我們的指導低 9%。我們現在預計全年財政非公認會計原則稅率約為 11%。第三季度的股票數量為 1.939 億股，淨收入為 6880 萬美元或每股攤薄收益 0.35 美元，環比增長 13%，同比增長 84%。

Moving to the balance sheet and cash flow. We ended Q3 with cash and equivalents of $344 million. In terms of working capital, DSO was 47 days, consistent with Q2 and days of inventory with 102 days, up from 85 days in Q2. Cash flow from operations was $54 million, capital expenditures, primarily for wafer probe and test equipment were $14 million and free cash flow was $40 million.

轉向資產負債表和現金流量。我們以 3.44 億美元的現金和等價物結束了第三季度。在營運資金方面，DSO 為 47 天，與第二季度一致，庫存天數為 102 天，高於第二季度的 85 天。運營現金流為 5400 萬美元，主要用於晶圓探針和測試設備的資本支出為 1400 萬美元，自由現金流為 4000 萬美元。

Finally, turning to our Q4 outlook. We expect sales in the fourth quarter to be in the range of $260 million to $270 million. And at the midpoint of this range, we are projecting a full year sales increase of 26%. We expect Q4 gross margins to be approximately 57% and expect operating expenses to be between 27% and 28% of sales. Based upon current tax legislation, we expect our non-GAAP tax rate to be approximately 11% and our diluted share count to be approximately 194 million shares.

最後，轉向我們的第四季度展望。我們預計第四季度的銷售額將在 2.6 億美元至 2.7 億美元之間。在此範圍的中點，我們預計全年銷售額將增長 26%。我們預計第四季度的毛利率約為 57%，預計運營費用將佔銷售額的 27% 至 28%。根據現行稅法，我們預計我們的非 GAAP 稅率約為 11%，稀釋後的股份數量約為 1.94 億股。

Using these assumptions, we anticipate non-GAAP earnings per share to be in the range of $0.35 to $0.37. As a reminder, our fiscal '23 fourth quarter includes 14 weeks and ends on March 31. I will now turn the call back to Vineet. Vineet?

使用這些假設，我們預計非 GAAP 每股收益將在 0.35 美元至 0.37 美元之間。提醒一下，我們的 23 財年第四季度包括 14 週，將於 3 月 31 日結束。我現在將電話轉回給 Vineet。維內特？

Thank you, Derek. We are pleased to have delivered another quarter of record performance. These results are a testament to our market focus as well as our innovative product portfolio and considerable engineering talent. I want to thank our teams across the world for their hard work and dedication and going above and beyond to serve our customers. The markets and applications that we serve are underpinned by strong secular trends, which we believe will continue to expand and drive growth for Allegro in both the near term and through the next decade. Our continuous innovation and differentiated solutions for our strategic focus areas gives us confidence in Allegro's ability to outperform the markets we serve.

謝謝你，德里克。我們很高興又創造了四分之一的創紀錄業績。這些結果證明了我們對市場的關注以及我們創新的產品組合和大量的工程人才。我要感謝我們在世界各地的團隊，感謝他們的辛勤工作和奉獻精神，並超越一切為我們的客戶提供服務。我們所服務的市場和應用受到強勁的長期趨勢的支撐，我們相信這種趨勢將在近期和未來十年內繼續擴大並推動 Allegro 的增長。我們針對戰略重點領域的持續創新和差異化解決方案使我們對 Allegro 超越我們所服務市場的能力充滿信心。

I will close on a very positive and satisfying note. As evidence of our emphasis on customer intimacy and push to cultivate more direct OEM engagement, Allegro was recently awarded the Best Cooperation Supplier of 2022 by Wodeer, a Tier 1 and Geely, a major Chinese OEM. We are pleased with this recognition and we'll continue to find ways to get even closer to our customers as we help them tackle challenging problems. With that, we will be glad to take your questions. Jalene?

我將以非常積極和令人滿意的方式結束。作為我們重視客戶親密度和推動培養更直接的 OEM 參與的證據，Allegro 最近被一級供應商 Wodeer 和中國主要 OEM 吉利授予 2022 年最佳合作供應商。我們對這一認可感到高興，我們將繼續尋找更接近客戶的方法，幫助他們解決具有挑戰性的問題。這樣，我們很樂意回答您的問題。賈琳？

Thank you, Vineet. This concludes management's prepared remarks. We will now open the call for questions. Tanya, please review Q&A instructions.

謝謝你，維尼特。管理層準備好的評論到此結束。我們現在將開始提問。 Tanya，請查看問答說明。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員說明）

And our first question will come from Gary Mobley of Wells Fargo.

我們的第一個問題將來自 Wells Fargo 的 Gary Mobley。

Good morning, everybody, and welcome, Jalene. It will be good to work with you again. I wanted to start out by probing a little bit deeper into a comment Derek made with respect to backlog still at a year's worth of backlog. I know earlier this summer or I guess, in the summer, you stress tested the backlog, giving customers an opportunity to cancel or defer some of those orders. Have you stress tested more recently that backlog and what was the outcome if so?

大家早上好，歡迎你，Jalene。很高興再次與您合作。我想首先更深入地探討 Derek 就積壓工作量仍為一年的積壓工作量發表的評論。我知道今年夏天早些時候，或者我猜，在夏天，你們對積壓訂單進行了壓力測試，讓客戶有機會取消或推遲其中一些訂單。您是否最近對積壓工作進行了壓力測試？如果是，結果如何？

Yes, Gary, this is Derek. Thank you. We've continued to work with our customers throughout Q2 and throughout Q3 and continue to work with them to better align our lead times to deliver what the customers want, and quite frankly, to work down our past due backlog.

是的，加里，這是德里克。謝謝你。我們在整個第二季度和整個第三季度繼續與我們的客戶合作，並繼續與他們合作以更好地調整我們的交貨時間以交付客戶想要的東西，並且坦率地說，處理我們過去到期的積壓工作。

As a result of that, we have continued to allow cancellations here into Q3. Cancellations in Q3 were slightly higher than Q2, and backlog is coming down as we expect it to come down. It's not getting to normalized levels. We'll continue to work with our customers on that. We still have well over a year's worth of backlog and approximately 20% of that is still past due.

因此，我們在第三季度繼續允許取消。第三季度的取消率略高於第二季度，積壓訂單正在減少，正如我們預期的那樣。它沒有達到正常水平。我們將繼續與我們的客戶合作。我們仍有超過一年的積壓，其中約 20% 仍未到期。

I want to ask about gross margin and the outperformance there? I know in the first half of the year, there was a tailwind from foreign exchange, but if not mistaken, foreign exchange wasn't as favorable throughout the third quarter or was it? And with 57% gross margin guidance for the fourth quarter, obviously, 200 basis points or a little bit less above your target range, is there a new view on the long-term targeted range there?

我想問一下毛利率和那裡的表現？我知道在今年上半年，外匯帶來了順風，但如果沒記錯的話，整個第三季度外匯都沒有那麼有利，是嗎？第四季度的毛利率為 57%，顯然比您的目標範圍高出 200 個基點或略低一點，是否對長期目標範圍有新的看法？

Yes. So foreign exchange continued to be a pervasive tailwind in Q3. And if I look at our gross margins in Q2, they were 56.2%. And if I took out foreign exchange, Q2 was about 55%. Q3 had about 180 basis points of foreign exchange, if I compare that to rates at the beginning of the year. So excluding the complete foreign exchange compared to the beginning of this year, it was about 56.2%.

是的。因此，外彙在第三季度繼續成為普遍的推動因素。如果我看一下我們第二季度的毛利率，它們是 56.2%。而如果我拿出外匯，Q2大概是55%。如果我將其與年初的匯率進行比較，第三季度的外匯匯率約為 180 個基點。所以剔除全部外匯與年初相比，約為56.2%。

So the mix did contribute an extra 120 basis points in Q3 here. Q4 still has some foreign exchange in there, Gary. So if I take out the foreign exchange in Q4, it's probably somewhere between 55% and 56% gross margin on an operational basis.

因此，這種組合確實在第三季度貢獻了額外的 120 個基點。第四季度還有一些外匯，加里。因此，如果我在第四季度剔除外匯，在運營基礎上，毛利率可能介於 55% 和 56% 之間。

And our next question comes from Joshua Buchalter of Cowen.

我們的下一個問題來自 Cowen 的 Joshua Buchalter。

Congrats on another stellar quarter. I wanted to ask about the Polar investment. I know you're working with UMC and TSMC to expand your capacity. What sort of, I guess, a realistic time line where this incremental investment at Polar could start meaningfully contributing to your total output potential? And I guess, I assume it's going to be a little bit.

祝賀另一個出色的季度。我想問一下Polar的投資。我知道你們正在與 UMC 和 TSMC 合作來擴大你們的產能。我想，什麼樣的現實時間表可以讓 Polar 的增量投資開始對您的總產出潛力做出有意義的貢獻？而且我想，我認為它會有點。

So could you update us on how you're feeling about your ability to get more output out of TSMC and UMC in the shorter term?

那麼，您能否向我們介紹一下您對在短期內從台積電和聯電獲得更多產出的能力的看法？

Yes. Josh, thanks for the question. So first on Polar, we're really excited about this new development. We believe that it's going to be really important -- it's a really important development for us and for our customers as we will be able to make the necessary technology investments and capacity enhancements to serve our customers for many years to come. The time line in terms of getting the new capacity and technology online, we're still probably 2 to 3 years out.

是的。喬希，謝謝你的提問。因此，首先在 Polar 上，我們對這一新發展感到非常興奮。我們相信這將非常重要——這對我們和我們的客戶來說都是一個非常重要的發展，因為我們將能夠進行必要的技術投資和能力增強，以便在未來許多年內為我們的客戶提供服務。就在線獲取新容量和技術而言，我們可能還有 2 到 3 年的時間。

It's largely based on lead time for equipment and qualification of those lines. So we don't expect it to be a meaningful contribution to our wafer capacity for at least the next 2 to 3 years. In the meantime, we are working with our other foundry partners to get increased allocation for the coming fiscal year. And as we get into the guidance for the upcoming year, we'll shed more light on that.

這主要取決於設備的交貨時間和這些生產線的資質。因此，我們預計它至少在未來 2 到 3 年內不會對我們的晶圓產能做出有意義的貢獻。與此同時，我們正在與其他代工合作夥伴合作，為下一個財政年度增加分配。當我們進入來年的指南時，我們將對此做出更多說明。

I appreciate the color. For my follow-up, I wanted to ask about inventories. I think in the past, you've spoken to sort of 100 to 110-day target. It sounds like you're making good progress on building up the die bank and slowly lowering lead times, but there's still work to do. So I guess, is it a fair assumption that at least for the near and medium term, that 100 to 110-day target is, I guess, too low?

我很欣賞這種顏色。對於我的後續行動，我想詢問庫存。我想在過去，你談到了 100 到 110 天的目標。聽起來您在建立模具庫和緩慢降低交貨時間方面取得了良好進展，但仍有工作要做。所以我想，至少在近期和中期，我認為 100 到 110 天的目標是不是太低了？

Yes. Josh, good question. This is Derek. We're going to continue to build wafer bank in particular here in Q4 and that's really an area that during sort of the pandemic and coming out of the pandemic, we struggled with being able to build any wafer and die bank. And as a result, our lead times went up. Our past due backlog went up. So we have a real focus on trying to reduce that past due backlog, improved lead times.

是的。喬希，好問題。這是德里克。我們將繼續在第四季度特別是在這裡建立晶圓銀行，這確實是一個在大流行期間和從大流行中走出來的領域，我們努力建立任何晶圓和芯片銀行。結果，我們的交貨時間增加了。我們逾期的積壓增加了。因此，我們真正專注於減少逾期未付的積壓，縮短交貨時間。

We're making allocation decisions to put product in the right place, so we're not building inventory at customers. But I'd expect that our wafer bank, in particular, will continue to build here over the next -- the short term.

我們正在做出分配決策以將產品放在正確的位置，因此我們不會在客戶處建立庫存。但我預計我們的晶圓銀行，特別是，將在未來 - 短期內繼續在這裡建設。

Our next question comes from Blayne Curtis of Barclays.

我們的下一個問題來自巴克萊銀行的 Blayne Curtis。

I had 2. I just want to ask one on the data center. You mentioned a bit of a pause in reallocating those wafers. Maybe if you can just elaborate on where you're seeing that? And then the second one is just kind of you're hearing more about 48-volt servers and some changes of data center plans. Any thoughts for that data center business as you look to the calendar year?

我有2個。我只想問一個關於數據中心的。您提到在重新分配這些晶圓時稍作停頓。也許如果你能詳細說明你在哪裡看到的？然後第二個就是你聽到更多關於 48 伏服務器和數據中心計劃的一些變化。展望日曆年，您對數據中心業務有何想法？

Yes. Blayne, thank you for the question. So data center continues to be a really important growth vector for us, and we see some really strong momentum -- continued momentum with our design wins. Having said that, and we've alluded to this before, we do see a little bit of an inventory digestion in data center. And so we've made some very proactive and conscious efforts to allocate our wafer supply to areas where we have been stressed for a while. And as Derek pointed out earlier, full -- we still have a significant amount of past due backlog that we're trying to serve.

是的。布萊恩，謝謝你的提問。因此，數據中心對我們來說仍然是一個非常重要的增長載體，我們看到了一些非常強勁的勢頭——我們的設計獲勝的持續勢頭。話雖如此，我們之前也提到過這一點，我們確實看到了數據中心的一些庫存消化。因此，我們做出了一些非常積極主動和有意識的努力，將我們的晶圓供應分配給我們已經承受了一段時間壓力的地區。正如 Derek 之前指出的那樣，我們仍然有大量積壓的工作需要處理。

So that's really what went into making those decisions. When we think about the 48-volt trajectory in data centers, we don't really see any change in momentum there, and that's actually underpinned by the design wins we're seeing in that segment.

所以這才是做出這些決定的真正原因。當我們考慮數據中心的 48 伏軌跡時，我們並沒有真正看到那裡的勢頭有任何變化，而這實際上是由我們在該領域看到的設計勝利所支撐的。

And then I just wanted to follow up on the prior question on the Polar investment. I think the prior arrangement kind of ensure you guys kind of positive transfer payments. So i.e., if Polar had lower utilizations, it wasn't really impactful to you. I'm kind of curious with this new investment. Would you be kind of sharing in the utilization and kind of is the cost structure any different? Or is it similar to what you had in place before?

然後我只想跟進關於 Polar 投資的先前問題。我認為事先安排可以確保你們獲得積極的轉移支付。也就是說，如果 Polar 的利用率較低，那麼它對您的影響並不大。我對這項新投資有點好奇。您能分享一下利用率嗎？成本結構有什麼不同嗎？或者它是否與您之前所擁有的相似？

Yes, Blayne, this is Derek. The cost structure, we have, I would say, market-based competitive pricing with Polar right now. It's probably in between the pricing of our other partners. And that's part of the reason why we're excited about this. I think the investment will allow them actually over time to reduce the cost with scale at that fab. We have not been paying transfer pricing. The larger owner pays transfer pricing for Polar. And in fact, as a result of this transaction, we'll go from owning about 30% of Polar right now to around 14%, so it will be some slight benefits in accounting.

是的，布萊恩，這是德里克。成本結構，我想說，我們現在與 Polar 有基於市場的競爭性定價。這可能介於我們其他合作夥伴的定價之間。這就是我們對此感到興奮的部分原因。我認為這項投資將使他們實際上隨著時間的推移在該工廠的規模上降低成本。我們沒有支付轉讓定價。較大的所有者為 Polar 支付轉讓定價。事實上，作為這次交易的結果，我們將從現在擁有約 30% 的 Polar 股份增加到約 14%，因此這將在會計方面帶來一些輕微的好處。

And there won't be any transfer pricing. It's largely market-based pricing with a long-term wafer agreement that's market-based.

而且不會有任何轉讓定價。它主要是基於市場的定價和基於市場的長期晶圓協議。

Our next question comes from Quinn Bolton from Needham & Company.

我們的下一個問題來自 Needham & Company 的 Quinn Bolton。

Congratulations on the 30% Op margin. Just one quick follow-up on the Polar investment. As a minority shareholder, are you guys required to contribute any CapEx to this expansion? Or is that all handled separately by Polar?

祝賀您獲得 30% 的 Op 保證金。只是對 Polar 投資的快速跟進。作為少數股東，你們是否需要為這次擴張貢獻任何資本支出？還是全部由 Polar 單獨處理？

Quinn, this is Derek. No, we're not required to contribute any CapEx. We'll own about 14% of Polar. We've owned 30% right now and have not been required to contribute any CapEx. And that's really one of the wonderful things about this is the pull the fab, we'll get the investment they need to improve their technology from both One Equity Partners, coupled with some proposed chips act funding.

奎因，這是德里克。不，我們不需要貢獻任何資本支出。我們將擁有 Polar 約 14% 的股份。我們現在擁有 30% 的股份，並且不需要貢獻任何資本支出。這真的是其中一件美妙的事情，那就是拉動晶圓廠，我們將從 One Equity Partners 那裡獲得他們改進技術所需的投資，以及一些擬議的芯片法案資金。

Got it. My question is with your lead time starting to compress as you build die bank and you said in the near term, it sounds like you're going to be rebuilding some channel inventories. Can you just -- I know you're not giving guidance beyond the March quarter, but how are you thinking about the next several quarters? Do you -- as you see lead times compressed, do you expect a period of sort of a pause in sales?

知道了。我的問題是，隨著您建立模具庫，您的交貨時間開始壓縮，並且您說在短期內，聽起來您將要重建一些渠道庫存。你能不能——我知道你不會在 3 月季度之後提供指導，但你如何看待接下來的幾個季度？你 - 當你看到交貨時間壓縮時，你是否期望銷售暫停一段時間？

Or do you think you can continue to grow through this period of compression in lead times and the backlog normalizing over the next several quarters?

還是您認為您可以在這段交貨時間壓縮期和未來幾個季度的積壓正常化期間繼續增長？

Yes, Quinn, that's a really great question. I would say what we're trying to do with building wafer and die bank is really about improving lead times for our customers. It's a customer service issue for us. Having said that, we would expect no real pause in our sales growth. As Derek pointed out, we have over a year's worth of backlog. Our mission right now is to continue to improve lead times for our customers, keep reducing the past due and make sure that we are servicing customers the way we want to service them. And so that's really what the wafer and the die bank is about.

是的，奎因，這是一個非常好的問題。我想說的是，我們在構建晶圓和模具庫方面所做的努力實際上是為了為我們的客戶縮短交貨時間。這是我們的客戶服務問題。話雖如此，我們預計我們的銷售增長不會真正停頓。正如 Derek 指出的那樣，我們有超過一年的積壓工作。我們現在的使命是繼續為客戶縮短交貨時間，不斷減少逾期付款，並確保我們以我們希望的方式為客戶提供服務。所以這就是晶圓和芯片組的真正意義所在。

And our next question will come from Vijay Rakesh from Mizuho Group.

我們的下一個問題將來自瑞穗集團的 Vijay Rakesh。

Great quarter and guide here. Just a quick question on the EV side. I think you guys mentioned EV growing 30% in fiscal '24. Is that right? I'm just wondering if that's conservative if you start to see the EV side start to expand faster given all the price cuts in the channel?

很棒的季度和這裡的嚮導。只是關於 EV 方面的一個快速問題。我想你們提到 EV 在 24 財年增長了 30%。是對的嗎？我只是想知道如果您開始看到 EV 方面開始更快地擴張，因為渠道中的所有降價，這是否保守？

Yes, Vijay, that's a great question. We're just using third-party data at this point. So I think it remains to be seen if the price cuts actually accelerate the EV penetration. We think there's potential elasticity there. So at this point, we're just relying on the third-party data here with the 30%.

是的，Vijay，這是一個很好的問題。我們目前只使用第三方數據。所以我認為降價是否真的會加速電動汽車的普及還有待觀察。我們認為那裡有潛在的彈性。所以在這一點上，我們只是依靠第三方數據來獲得 30%。

Got it. And in terms of applications, I think you had talked about how your content is much higher on the EV side with the sensors. You talked about $90 per unit on the EV side. Do you see broadly that driving your market share higher as you go into calendar '23 fiscal '24? I guess the question is, do you see that application space expanding in EVs?

知道了。在應用方面，我想你已經談到了你的內容在 EV 方面的傳感器是如何高得多的。你談到電動汽車方面每單位 90 美元。當你進入 24 財年的 23 財政年度時，你是否廣泛地看到推動你的市場份額更高？我想問題是，您是否看到電動汽車的應用空間正在擴大？

Yes. Vijay, just to be clear, so the $90 is our content opportunity, and that includes our newest acquisition, Heyday, which brings to us isolated high-voltage gate drivers. I would say that broadly and directionally, our content opportunity on EVs is 1.6 to twice that of what we have in our standard ICE vehicle. And certainly, as you look at the application set, we believe that we have leadership in the applications that are specific to an EV, around current sensing, around motor drivers and then isolated gate drivers. And so we would expect to see share expansion as we -- as EVs take off. The Heyday revenue is probably 2 to 3 years out at this point. So that's just the nuance there.

是的。 Vijay，我要明確一點，所以 90 美元是我們的內容機會，其中包括我們最新收購的 Heyday，它為我們帶來了隔離式高壓柵極驅動器。我要說的是，從廣義和方向上講，我們在電動汽車上的內容機會是我們在標準內燃機汽車上的內容機會的 1.6 到兩倍。當然，當您查看應用程序集時，我們相信我們在特定於 EV 的應用程序、電流感應、電機驅動器和隔離式柵極驅動器方面處於領先地位。因此，隨著電動汽車的騰飛，我們預計會看到份額擴張。此時，全盛時期的收入可能需要 2 到 3 年。所以這就是細微差別。

Got it. And just a quick last question. I think in the past, you've mentioned your foundry capacity has been one of the gating factors on your -- in your top line. Are you seeing better capacity allocation now from your foundries?

知道了。最後一個問題。我想在過去，你提到過你的鑄造能力一直是你的門檻因素之一 - 在你的頂線。您現在是否看到您的代工廠有更好的產能分配？

Yes. So it is incrementally getting better, Vijay, and I would say the long term looks really good. We have to work through the near term here as the increased allocation starts to make its way through our back end but that's the dynamic we are dealing with.

是的。所以它逐漸變得更好，Vijay，我會說長期看起來真的很好。我們必須在短期內努力工作，因為增加的分配開始通過我們的後端，但這是我們正在處理的動態。

And our next question will come from Alessandra Vecchi of William Blair.

我們的下一個問題將來自威廉布萊爾的亞歷山德拉維奇。

I asked for the congratulations on the strong quarter, and Vijay took a couple of my questions on EV. So maybe, Derek, just one for you, a housekeeping question more so. Just on OpEx, you guys have done a tremendous job kind of getting OpEx down to that 27% to 28% of sales that you guys had alluded to at the beginning of the year, even with inflationary pressures. How should we think about that as we look forward to next year and maybe walk us through some of the puts and takes?

我要求對強勁的季度表示祝賀，Vijay 回答了我關於 EV 的幾個問題。所以也許，德里克，只給你一個，更像是一個內務管理問題。就 OpEx 而言，你們做了很多工作，將 OpEx 降低到你們在年初提到的銷售額的 27% 到 28%，即使存在通貨膨脹壓力。我們應該如何考慮這一點，因為我們期待著明年，也許會引導我們完成一些推銷和收購？

Yes. Thanks, Alex. The way to look at it is that 27% to 28% that we had in both Q3 and going into Q4 still includes some elevated variable compensation as well, which will reset at the beginning of our fiscal year on April 1. So that will be a natural decrease in that at the beginning of the year. And as I said before, we expect to invest significantly in research and development, particularly in these focus areas where we have leadership and want to maintain that leadership so the target is to invest about 15% of sales in research and development, and we were about there in Q3.

是的。謝謝，亞歷克斯。看待它的方式是，我們在第三季度和進入第四季度時的 27% 到 28% 仍然包括一些較高的可變薪酬，這將在 4 月 1 日財政年度開始時重置。所以這將是比年初自然減少。正如我之前所說，我們希望在研發方面進行大量投資，特別是在我們擁有領先地位並希望保持領先地位的這些重點領域，因此目標是將銷售額的 15% 左右投資於研發，我們當時大約在第三季度。

SG&A came down to about 13% of sales, and I'd expect that as a percentage of sales to continue to come down as that won't grow any more than inflation. What I mean by inflation is sort of normalized inflation. So that's the way to look at OpEx.

SG&A 下降到銷售額的 13% 左右，我預計它佔銷售額的百分比將繼續下降，因為它的增長不會超過通貨膨脹。我所說的通貨膨脹是一種正常化的通貨膨脹。這就是看待 OpEx 的方式。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員說明）

And I'm showing no further questions. I would now like to hand the conference back to Jalene Hoover for closing remarks.

我沒有再提出任何問題。我現在想將會議交還給 Jalene Hoover 作閉幕詞。

Thank you, Tanya. Before closing out the call, we are excited to announce that Allegro plans to host its inaugural Analyst Day event on March 14 at Convene Rockefeller Plaza in New York with virtual accessibility. Please stay tuned for additional information for this invitation-only event. We appreciate you taking the time to join us today. This concludes this morning's conference call.

謝謝你，坦尼婭。在結束電話會議之前，我們很高興地宣布，Allegro 計劃於 3 月 14 日在紐約的 Convene Rockefeller Plaza 舉辦首屆分析師日活動，並提供虛擬訪問服務。請繼續關注此邀請活動的更多信息。感謝您今天抽出時間加入我們。今天上午的電話會議到此結束。

This concludes today's conference call. Thank you for your participation. You may now disconnect.

今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝您的參與。您現在可以斷開連接。