艾睿電子 (ARW) 2024 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Good day and welcome to the Arrow Electronics First Quarter 2024 Earnings Call. Today's conference is being recorded. And at this time, I would like to turn the conference over to Raj Agrawal, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Please go ahead.

美好的一天，歡迎參加艾睿電子 2024 年第一季財報電話會議。今天的會議正在錄製中。這次，我想將會議交給資深副總裁兼財務長 Raj Agrawal。請繼續。

Thank you, operator and hello, everyone. Before we begin, I'd like to introduce our new Vice President of Investor Relations, Brad Windbigler. Brad is our current Treasurer and joined Arrow on May of last year. We're excited to have Brad lead Arrow's Investor Relations. And with that, I'll turn it over to him to get us started today.

謝謝接線員，大家好。在開始之前，我想先介紹一下我們新任投資人關係副總裁 Brad Windbigler。 Brad 是我們現任財務主管，於去年 5 月加入 Arrow。我們很高興讓 Brad 領導 Arrow 的投資者關係。就這樣，我將把它交給他，讓我們今天開始。

Thank you, Raj. It's a pleasure to be here. I'd like to welcome everyone to the Arrow Electronics First Quarter 2024 Earnings Conference Call. In addition to Raj Agrawal, Arrow's Chief Financial Officer, joining me today on the call is our President and Chief Executive Officer, Sean Kerins; our President of Global Components, Rick Marano; and our President of Global Enterprise Computing Solutions; Eric Nowak.

謝謝你，拉吉。很高興來到這裡。歡迎大家參加艾睿電子 2024 年第一季財報電話會議。除了 Arrow 財務長 Raj Agrawal 之外，今天參加電話會議的還有我們的總裁兼執行長 Sean Kerins；我們的全球零件總裁 Rick Marano；以及我們的全球企業運算解決方案總裁；埃里克·諾瓦克。

During this call, we'll make forward-looking statements, including statements about our business outlook, strategies and future financial results, which are based on our predictions and expectations as of today. Our actual results could differ materially due to a number of risks and uncertainties, including the risk factors described in our most recent filings with the SEC. We undertake no obligation to update publicly or revise any of the forward-looking statements as a result of new information or future events.

在本次電話會議中，我們將做出前瞻性聲明，包括有關我們的業務前景、策略和未來財務表現的聲明，這些聲明基於我們截至目前的預測和預期。由於許多風險和不確定性，包括我們最近向 SEC 提交的文件中描述的風險因素，我們的實際結果可能會存在重大差異。我們不承擔因新資訊或未來事件而公開更新或修改任何前瞻性陳述的義務。

As a reminder, some of the figures we will discuss today on today's call are non-GAAP measures, which are not intended to be a substitute for our GAAP results. We've reconciled these non-GAAP measures to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures in this quarter's associated earnings release or Form 10-Q. You can access our earnings release at investor.arrow.com, along with a replay of this call. We've also posted a slide presentation to accompany our prepared remarks and encourage you to reference these slides during this webcast.

提醒一下，我們今天將在今天的電話會議上討論的一些數據是非公認會計準則衡量標準，它們無意取代我們的公認會計準則結果。我們已將這些非 GAAP 指標與本季度相關收益發布或 10-Q 表格中最直接可比較的 GAAP 財務指標進行了調整。您可以在 Investor.arrow.com 上存取我們的收益發布以及本次電話會議的重播。我們也發布了投影片簡報以配合我們準備好的評論，並鼓勵您在本次網路廣播中參考這些投影片。

Following our prepared remarks today, Sean and Raj will be available to take your questions. I'll now hand the call over to our President and CEO, Sean Kerins.

在我們今天準備好的發言之後，肖恩和拉吉將回答您的問題。現在我將把電話轉給我們的總裁兼執行長 Sean Kerins。

Thanks, Brad and thank you all for joining us. Today, I'd like to discuss our first quarter performance, provide some color on the overall market environment and then close with our focal points and priorities as we look to the balance of the year. I'll then turn things over to Raj for more detail on our financials as well as our outlook for the second quarter.

謝謝布拉德，謝謝大家加入我們。今天，我想討論我們第一季的業績，對整體市場環境提供一些看法，然後在展望今年剩餘時間時介紹我們的重點和優先事項。然後我將把事情轉交給 Raj，以獲取有關我們財務狀況以及第二季度前景的更多詳細資訊。

In the first quarter, we continued to execute well in a challenging market environment, as we worked through the inventory correction that has impacted the global technology supply chain over the past few quarters. We delivered total sales of $6.9 billion, which was in line with our expectations and generated non-GAAP earnings per share of $2.41, which was above the high end of our guided range. As we take a closer look at Global Components, the cyclical nature of this business is a reality. And we're navigating through a prolonged correction as customers destock surplus inventory levels, which accumulated in response to the severe shortages that marked the industry supply chain disruptions of the pandemic era. We continue to witness the knock-on impact to the demand environment with softness across many of the markets we serve. While we still see relative strength in pockets, the broader industrial market, a meaningful portion of our overall mix remains in decline.

第一季度，我們在充滿挑戰的市場環境中繼續表現良好，因為我們完成了過去幾季影響全球技術供應鏈的庫存調整。我們實現了 69 億美元的總銷售額，符合我們的預期，並產生了 2.41 美元的非 GAAP 每股收益，高於我們指導範圍的上限。當我們仔細研究 Global Components 時，就會發現該業務的週期性是一個現實。隨著客戶減少剩餘庫存水平，我們正在經歷長期的調整，這些庫存水準是為了應對嚴重短缺而累積的，這種嚴重短缺標誌著疫情時代的行業供應鏈中斷。我們繼續見證我們所服務的許多市場的疲軟對需求環境的連鎖影響。雖然我們仍然看到口袋相對強勁，但更廣泛的工業市場，我們整體組合的很大一部分仍然在下降。

Having said that, our customer base is stable. Our design-related activity is healthy and the leading indicators that point to the shape and duration of the cycle are definitely improving. Our book-to-bill ratios have improved steadily since late Q3 of last year across all 3 operating regions and are now approaching parity. However, backlog, which grew substantially during the shortage market environment continues to trend downward, consistent with shorter lead times, although it does remain above pre-pandemic levels. Also, cancellation activity has normalized and our visibility is improving.

話雖如此，我們的客戶群是穩定的。我們與設計相關的活動是健康的，表明週期的形狀和持續時間的領先指標肯定在改善。自去年第三季末以來，我們所有 3 個營運區域的訂單出貨比穩步改善，目前已接近持平。然而，在短缺市場環境下大幅增長的積壓訂單繼續呈下降趨勢，與較短的交貨時間一致，儘管它仍然高於大流行前的水平。此外，取消活動已正常化，我們的知名度正在提高。

Broad-based market data suggests customer inventory levels at OEMs and EMS providers are declining both sequentially and year-on-year, a necessary step in the right direction. Lastly, we continue to effectively manage our own inventory in keeping with our improving visibility to changing production schedules, achieving a $390 million reduction during the first quarter. So while it's difficult to precisely predict when the demand environment will accelerate, the industry fundamentals haven't changed and we're confident in its long-standing cyclical nature for a return to growth in the near term.

廣泛的市場數據表明，原始設備製造商 (OEM) 和 EMS 提供者的客戶庫存水準正在連續和同比下降，這是朝著正確方向邁出的必要一步。最後，我們繼續有效地管理我們自己的庫存，以提高對不斷變化的生產計劃的可見性，在第一季實現了 3.9 億美元的減少。因此，雖然很難準確預測需求環境何時會加速，但產業基本面沒有改變，我們對其長期週期性的性質有信心在短期內恢復成長。

Now from a regional perspective, in the West, we were encouraged by design win counts that grew sequentially as customers broadly pivot from efforts to sustain existing products for a new product design and introduction activity. We also enjoyed relative strength in transportation in the Americas and aerospace and defense in EMEA. And in Asia, exiting a late quarter Chinese New Year, we did see an uptick in activity related to consumer verticals and expect better sequential performance in the second quarter.

現在從區域角度來看，在西方，隨著客戶普遍從維持現有產品轉向新產品設計和推出活動，設計獲勝數量連續增長，這讓我們感到鼓舞。我們在美洲的交通運輸以及歐洲、中東和非洲的航空航太和國防領域也享有相對優勢。在亞洲，隨著中國農曆新年的結束，我們確實看到與消費者垂直行業相關的活動增加，並預計第二季度會有更好的連續表現。

For the Global Components business overall, as we look forward to the second quarter, we expect similar sequential sales trends compared to those we saw in Q1. However, we also expect leading indicators to continue to trend positively.

對於全球零件業務整體而言，當我們展望第二季時，我們預期與第一季相比，連續銷售趨勢類似。然而，我們也預期領先指標將持續呈現正向趨勢。

Now turning to Global ECS. In the first quarter, infrastructure software, cloud-related solutions and AI-enabled compute drove our overall results with softness related to large enterprise storage, networking and cybersecurity. Globally, our billings were nearly flat year-on-year and yet our recurring revenue base grew once again as we continue to see customers shift their spending patterns to offerings enabled through IT-as-a-service. This signals an encouraging trend because it will lead to improved visibility, stickier relationships and higher contribution margins over time. On a regional basis, in EMEA, we again achieved year-over-year billings and gross profit dollar growth in the quarter, driven by healthy cloud adoption and compute refresh activity.

現在轉向全球 ECS。第一季度，基礎設施軟體、雲端相關解決方案和人工智慧運算透過與大型企業儲存、網路和網路安全相關的軟性推動了我們的整體業績。在全球範圍內，我們的帳單比去年同期幾乎持平，但隨著我們不斷看到客戶將其支出模式轉變為透過 IT 即服務提供的產品，我們的經常性收入基礎再次成長。這標誌著一個令人鼓舞的趨勢，因為隨著時間的推移，它將帶來可見度的提高、關係的黏性和貢獻率的提高。從區域來看，在歐洲、中東和非洲地區，在健康的雲端採用和運算更新活動的推動下，我們本季再次實現了年比帳單和毛利成長。

And in North America, our first quarter results reflect a mixed large enterprise IT spending environment. We continue to position our business in this region for greater mid-market scale in more infrastructure software and cloud adoption. During the quarter, we were pleased to announce significant enhancements to our digital go-to-market platform, ArrowSphere. It plays a key role in helping our suppliers and channel partners manage their journey to the markets for IT-as-a-service and solution selling and is key to the acceleration of our Line Card customer base expansion initiatives. Given the annual nature of our Global ECS business, you might recall, Q1 is typically the slowest of the year. Our second quarter outlook does call for modest improvement and operating income dollar growth year-on-year.

在北美，我們第一季的業績反映了大型企業 IT 支出環境的複雜性。我們繼續將我們的業務定位在該地區，以在更多基礎設施軟體和雲端採用方面擴大中端市場規模。在本季度，我們很高興地宣布我們的數位上市平台 ArrowSphere 得到重大增強。它在幫助我們的供應商和通路合作夥伴管理 IT 即服務和解決方案銷售市場之旅方面發揮關鍵作用，也是加速我們的線路卡客戶群擴張計劃的關鍵。您可能還記得，考慮到我們全球 ECS 業務的年度性質，第一季通常是一年中最慢的。我們對第二季的展望確實要求適度改善和營業收入年增。

In closing, as we continue to navigate a challenging market environment, we remain focused on the factors and variables within our control. These would include prudent management of our cost structure to keep our expense ratios in line. This will protect our selling, engineering and customer experience capacity for future growth and effective working capital management while still striving to meet the needs of our customers and suppliers. This discipline again contributed to strong cash flow during the quarter, providing us the flexibility to pursue our capital allocation priorities. And in the meantime, we remain invested in the growth priorities I highlighted last quarter while staying close to our suppliers and customers around the world. Those relationships fostered through the dedication of our global team, give me great confidence in our ability to successfully navigate this environment and capitalize on a promising future.

最後，隨著我們繼續應對充滿挑戰的市場環境，我們仍然專注於我們控制範圍內的因素和變數。其中包括對我們的成本結構進行審慎管理，以保持我們的費用比率保持一致。這將保護我們的銷售、工程和客戶體驗能力，以實現未來的成長和有效的營運資本管理，同時仍努力滿足客戶和供應商的需求。這項紀律再次促成了本季強勁的現金流，為我們提供了追求資本配置優先事項的靈活性。同時，我們繼續投資於我上季度強調的成長重點，同時與世界各地的供應商和客戶保持密切聯繫。透過我們全球團隊的奉獻精神建立起來的這些關係，讓我對我們成功駕馭這種環境並充分利用美好未來的能力充滿信心。

With that, I'll hand things over to Raj.

這樣，我就把事情交給 Raj 了。

Thanks, Sean. Consolidated sales for the first quarter was $6.9 billion, within our guidance range and down 21% versus prior year. Global Components sales were $5.2 billion, down 8% versus prior quarter or 24% versus prior year due to the ongoing semiconductor inventory correction. Enterprise Computing Solutions sales were $1.7 billion, down 8% versus prior year. This was partly a function of product mix and partly a function of lower discretionary IT spending in North America.

謝謝，肖恩。第一季綜合銷售額為 69 億美元，在我們的指導範圍內，比去年同期下降 21%。由於持續的半導體庫存調整，全球元件銷售額為 52 億美元，比上一季下降 8%，比去年同期下降 24%。企業運算解決方案銷售額為 17 億美元，比上年下降 8%。部分是由於產品組合的原因，部分是由於北美可自由支配的 IT 支出較低的原因。

Moving to other financial metrics for the quarter. First quarter consolidated gross margin of 12.5% was down approximately 20 basis points versus prior year, driven primarily by the overall mix of the components business. Sequentially, our gross margin was lower by approximately 10 basis points due to the seasonality within the ECS business, partially offset by favorable regional mix within the Global Components business. Our Q1 GAAP expenses included $57 million related to operating expense reduction initiatives and the winding down of the business. These actions will produce operating expense savings as we progress through 2024.

轉向本季的其他財務指標。第一季綜合毛利率為 12.5%，比去年同期下降約 20 個基點，這主要是由零件業務的整體組合推動的。隨後，由於 ECS 業務的季節性，我們的毛利率下降了約 10 個基點，但部分被全球零件業務中有利的區域組合所抵消。我們第一季的 GAAP 費用包括與營運費用削減計劃和業務縮減相關的 5,700 萬美元。隨著 2024 年的進展，這些行動將節省營運費用。

Non-GAAP operating expenses declined sequentially to $618 million, resulting from a decline in variable expenses and our continued efforts to control spending. We generated non-GAAP operating income of $251 million in Q1, which was 3.6% of sales, with global components operating margin coming in at 4.7% and enterprise computing solutions coming in at 4.2%, both on a non-GAAP basis. Interest and other expense was $80 million in the first quarter. Our non-GAAP effective tax rate was 22.6%, which benefited from favorable geographic income mix. And finally, non-GAAP diluted EPS for the first quarter was $2.41, which was above the high end of our guidance range.

由於變動費用下降以及我們持續努力控制支出，非 GAAP 營運費用較上季下降至 6.18 億美元。我們第一季的非 GAAP 營業收入為 2.51 億美元，佔銷售額的 3.6%，全球組件營業利潤率為 4.7%，企業運算解決方案為 4.2%（均以非 GAAP 基準計算）。第一季利息和其他費用為 8000 萬美元。我們的非 GAAP 有效稅率為 22.6%，這得益於有利的地理收入組合。最後，第一季非 GAAP 攤薄後每股收益為 2.41 美元，高於我們指引範圍的上限。

Bringing our attention to working capital. We reduced net working capital in the first quarter by over $400 million for Q4, ending the quarter at $6.9 billion. In fact, our Q1 represents the third consecutive quarter of lower net working capital. Accounts receivable and accounts payable both decreased in the first quarter with nearly offsetting impact. Inventory at the end of the first quarter was $4.8 billion, decreasing $390 million for Q4. Over the past 2 quarters, we've reduced inventory levels more than $1 billion. Our cash conversion cycle grew in the first quarter due to seasonality in our ECS business. Our cash flow from operations was $403 million in the first quarter. Net debt at the end of the first quarter was lower compared to Q4 at $3.3 billion. We repurchased $100 million of shares in the first quarter and our remaining stock repurchase authorization stands at approximately $475 million.

讓我們專注於營運資金。我們第一季的淨營運資本減少了 4 億多美元，第四季的淨營運資本減少了 69 億美元。事實上，我們的第一季代表淨營運資本連續第三個季度下降。一季度應收帳款和應付帳款雙雙下降，幾乎抵消了影響。第一季末庫存為 48 億美元，第四季減少 3.9 億美元。過去 2 個季度，我們已減少庫存水準超過 10 億美元。由於 ECS 業務的季節性，我們的現金週轉週期在第一季有所成長。第一季我們的營運現金流為 4.03 億美元。第一季末的淨債務為 33 億美元，低於第四季。我們在第一季回購了 1 億美元的股票，剩餘的股票回購授權約為 4.75 億美元。

Now turning to Q2 guidance. We expect sales for the second quarter to be between $6.2 billion and $6.8 billion. We expect global component sales to be between $4.6 billion and $5 billion, which, at the midpoint, is down about 28% from prior quarter. We expect enterprise computing solutions sales to be between $1.6 billion and $1.8 billion, which at the midpoint represents a 7% decrease year-on-year. We're assuming a tax rate in the range of approximately 23% to 25% and interest expense of approximately $75 million. And our non-GAAP diluted earnings per share is expected to be between $2.05 and $2.25. And finally, we estimate changes in foreign currencies to have a immaterial effect on our Q2 guidance. The details of foreign currency impacts can be found in our press release.

現在轉向第二季度指引。我們預計第二季的銷售額將在 62 億美元至 68 億美元之間。我們預計全球零件銷售額將在 46 億美元至 50 億美元之間，中位數較上一季下降約 28%。我們預期企業運算解決方案銷售額將在 16 億美元至 18 億美元之間，中間值年減 7%。我們假設稅率約為 23% 至 25%，利息支出約為 7,500 萬美元。我們的非 GAAP 攤薄每股收益預計在 2.05 美元至 2.25 美元之間。最後，我們估計外幣變化對我們第二季的指導影響不大。外匯影響的詳細資訊可以在我們的新聞稿中找到。

With that, Sean and I are now ready to take your questions. Operator, please open the line.

至此，肖恩和我現在準備好回答你們的問題了。接線員，請開通線路。

(Operator Instructions) Your first question comes from the line of William Stein with Truist Securities.

（操作員說明）您的第一個問題來自 Truist Securities 的 William Stein。

I'm hoping you could linger for a second on the business exit and inventory write-down, sort of unusual for you guys or maybe it's less so but it's -- I don't recall having seen anything like this in the past. Maybe you could just dig into that for a minute. What are you exiting, any explanation?

我希望你們能在業務退出和庫存減記問題上停留片刻，這對你們來說有點不尋常，或者也許不那麼常見，但它是——我不記得過去見過這樣的事情。也許你可以深入研究一下。你退出什麼，有什麼解釋嗎？

Yes, it was a small business for us, Will and it was unprofitable in nature. And it did have some inventory on the balance sheet that we wrote down as a result. So it's not a material impact from a P&L standpoint but we do have some inventory on hand that we wrote down. And it's sort of part of our OpEx savings initiatives that we're always looking for. And so that should help us as we move through the course of the rest of this year as well.

是的，這對我們來說是一筆小生意，威爾，而且本質上是無利可圖的。結果，我們在資產負債表上確實有一些庫存。因此，從損益表的角度來看，這並不是一個重大影響，但我們手頭上確實有一些我們記下的庫存。這是我們一直在尋求的營運支出節省計劃的一部分。因此，這也應該對我們在今年剩餘時間有所幫助。

Okay. Maybe as my follow-up, I could ask about inventory trends. Inventory days are still running about, I don't know, 20-plus days above sort of the historical norm. But payables are also pretty inflated. They sort of offset each other. So it's not a big deal from the cash conversion perspective. But what should we anticipate for the next few quarters and maybe long-term targets in terms of sort of working capital targets, that would be helpful for truing up my model.

好的。也許作為我的後續行動，我可以詢問庫存趨勢。我不知道，庫存天數仍在運行，比歷史正常水平高出 20 多天。但應付帳款也相當膨脹。它們有點互相抵消。因此，從現金轉換的角度來看，這並不是什麼大問題。但是，我們應該對未來幾季的預期以及營運資本目標的長期目標進行預期，這將有助於修正我的模型。

You bet, Will. Thanks for joining us. So maybe just a few remarks about what we're doing to manage inventory in this environment in general, and then I'll let Raj speak to how we're thinking about working capital in total. As you saw, we were able to manage a step down in inventory once again this quarter. I think it's been pretty substantial over the past couple. We're obviously very focused on backlog conversion. We do still see better sell-through in the mass market. And given our mass market focus, that's been helpful. We obviously still carry some excess. We think that's largely a function of some of the longer-term supply agreements that came to prominence during the peak of the shortage market, many of which are now obsolete or winding down. But there's still some remnants of that both in our shop as well as throughout the ecosystem. But in general, we're pretty confident in the quality of our inventory as it relates to customer demand, given the visibility we do have.

你敢打賭，威爾。感謝您加入我們。因此，也許只是簡單介紹一下我們在這種環境下管理庫存的整體做法，然後我將讓 Raj 談談我們如何考慮整體營運資金。正如您所看到的，本季我們再次實現了庫存下降。我認為在過去的幾年裡這已經相當可觀了。顯然，我們非常關注積壓訂單轉換。我們仍然看到大眾市場的銷售情況有所改善。考慮到我們對大眾市場的關注，這很有幫助。顯然我們仍然攜帶一些多餘的東西。我們認為，這在很大程度上是在短缺市場高峰期間出現的一些長期供應協議的結果，其中許多協議現在已經過時或逐漸終止。但在我們的商店以及整個生態系統中仍然存在一些殘餘。但總的來說，考慮到我們所擁有的可見性，我們對庫存品質非常有信心，因為它與客戶需求有關。

We tend to look at our inventory through the lens of turns. We are seeing our turns normalize both for semiconductor and IP&E. We think that's a good sign. It's another of the positive leading indicators that we want to see as we manage through the cycle. Ultimately, we do want to maintain inventories that best serve customer needs, especially in areas related to demand creation and solution selling, both of which are pretty important to our suppliers because it is all about getting back to growth. So we may not see the same step down in Q2 as we saw in Q1 and Q4 but we are managing this effectively and we are getting to turns that we think are in line with historical patterns. And ultimately, once we get to the right level, that will be a good sign in terms of the correction overall.

我們傾向於透過轉彎的角度來看待我們的庫存。我們看到半導體和 IP&E 的輪轉正在正常化。我們認為這是一個好兆頭。這是我們在管理整個週期時希望看到的另一個積極的領先指標。最終，我們確實希望維持最能滿足客戶需求的庫存，特別是在與需求創造和解決方案銷售相關的領域，這兩者對我們的供應商都非常重要，因為這一切都是為了恢復成長。因此，我們可能不會在第二季度看到與第一季和第四季度相同的下降，但我們正在有效地管理這一點，並且我們正在進入我們認為符合歷史模式的轉變。最終，一旦我們達到正確的水平，就整體調整而言，這將是一個好兆頭。

Yes. Let me just pause for a second and see if that answers your question, if you have something more there.

是的。讓我暫停一下，看看這是否回答了你的問題，如果你還有更多內容。

Well, I understand, I think you just said that the sequential burn from a dollars perspective may not be as big but I wonder if we have longer-term targets that we can sort of anchor our model towards over time for either of these 2 metrics?

好吧，我理解，我想你剛才說過，從美元角度來看，連續消耗可能沒有那麼大，但我想知道我們是否有長期目標，我們可以隨著時間的推移將我們的模型錨定在這兩個指標中的任何一個上？

On the inventory, what I would say, just back to Sean's comments, it's the lowest level it's been in a couple of years. And so we really want to position ourselves to support our customers. $1 billion reduction in the last 2 quarters was quite significant, as I mentioned. And so we certainly want to be positioned through the upturn, when that comes. And that's really important to us. Overall, we've generated -- let me answer it this way, we generated about $900 million of cash flow in the last 12 months. And so we're doing a really good job of managing the overall working capital. We're going to continue to generate cash flow in the second quarter and healthy amount of cash flow but we also want to manage working capital to the needs of the business.

關於庫存，我想說的是，回到肖恩的評論，這是幾年來的最低水準。因此，我們確實希望定位自己來支持我們的客戶。正如我所提到的，過去兩個季度減少了 10 億美元，這是相當大的。因此，當經濟好轉時，我們當然希望能夠做好準備。這對我們來說非常重要。總體而言，我們在過去 12 個月內產生了約 9 億美元的現金流。因此，我們在管理整體營運資金方面做得非常好。我們將在第二季繼續產生現金流和健康的現金流，但我們也希望管理營運資金以滿足業務需求。

Your next question comes from the line of Joe Quatrochi with Wells Fargo.

你的下一個問題來自富國銀行的喬‧夸特羅奇 (Joe Quatrochi)。

I wanted to follow up on the OpEx savings that you mentioned in the prepared remarks on the last question. Can you just kind of help us quantify maybe like how to think about the OpEx savings on a net basis as we move through to 2024 and modeling that?

我想跟進您在最後一個問題的準備好的評論中提到的營運支出節省。您能否幫助我們量化一下，例如如何考慮到 2024 年時的淨營運支出節省並對其進行建模？

Sure, Joe. Let me just kind of frame up the way we're thinking about costs in this environment, and then Raj can give you some color to maybe help you think about the magnitude. As you'd expect, we're taking appropriate actions in this environment to navigate the correction. I think we said last quarter and it's still true that you can expect to see our absolute operating expense dollars trend downward throughout the course of the year. However, we do see this as ultimately short term in nature, even though this cycle has taken longer than those in the past to play out.

當然，喬。讓我簡單介紹一下我們在這種環境下考慮成本的方式，然後拉吉可以給你一些顏色，也許可以幫助你思考其規模。正如您所期望的，我們正在這種環境下採取適當的行動來引導修正。我認為我們上個季度說過，您仍然可以預期我們的絕對營運費用在全年中呈下降趨勢。然而，我們確實認為這本質上是短期的，儘管這個週期比過去需要更長的時間才能結束。

So ultimately, we do want to protect our growth priorities in all the associated selling and engineering and customer experience capacity for the long haul. We've always taken a posture that leads us to concentrate on structural costs so that we can repurpose it over time in favor of what we're trying to do to grow and that's exactly what we're up to now. And we think the expense ratios that we're managing too are really consistent with the last time we had to navigate a correction.

因此，最終，我們確實希望長期保護所有相關銷售、工程和客戶體驗能力的成長優先事項。我們一直採取的態度是讓我們專注於結構性成本，這樣我們就可以隨著時間的推移重新調整它的用途，以支持我們正在努力實現的成長，而這正是我們現在所做的。我們認為我們正在管理的費用比率也與我們上次不得不進行調整時的情況非常一致。

Yes. And Joe, just to add to that, we did take some expenses in the first quarter, as I mentioned in my comments. This is -- I would, first of all, just say this is part of our ongoing OpEx reduction initiatives. But specifically, we would expect these charges to pay back within the next 12 to 15 months. So that's the way I would look at it in the P&L.

是的。喬，補充一點，正如我在評論中提到的那樣，我們在第一季確實支出了一些費用。首先，我只想說這是我們正在進行的營運支出削減計劃的一部分。但具體而言，我們預計這些費用將在未來 12 至 15 個月內收回。這就是我在損益表中看待它的方式。

Okay. So I guess like maybe said ask in a different way, I mean, what's the right kind of OpEx trajectory that we think about the '24, just given those comments?

好的。所以我想也許會以不同的方式問，我的意思是，根據這些評論，我們對 24 世紀的正確營運支出軌跡是什麼？

I mean, obviously, it depends on the overall revenue trajectory. But putting that aside for a moment, we would see OpEx trending downward for the various things that we talked about.

我的意思是，顯然，這取決於整體收入軌跡。但暫時擱置這一點，我們會看到我們討論的各種事情的營運支出呈下降趨勢。

Okay. Maybe shifting gears a little bit. I just kind of want to think about on the component side. I think if you look at the guidance for the June quarter, this would be potentially where things shake out, the fourth quarter in a row that your largest U.S. competitor to actually be larger from a revenue perspective. I know there's a lot of inventory dynamics that are going on right now. But just how do we think about your market share and just the sustainability of that as we look forward to a market recovery?

好的。也許稍微換一下檔位。我只是想從組件方面考慮一下。我認為，如果你看一下六月季度的指引，這可能是事情發生變化的地方，從收入的角度來看，你最大的美國競爭對手實際上已經連續第四個季度變得更大了。我知道現在正在發生很多庫存動態。但是，當我們期待市場復甦時，我們如何看待您的市場份額及其可持續性？

So Joe, we don't really think that there's any reason to believe market share dynamics have changed in a meaningful way throughout this cycle. If we look at our competition more broadly, we all carry a different mix of line card, some common, some different and that tends to vary region by region. So it's not surprising that quarter-to-quarter, you're going to see some variability in our growth rates and others. But again, we're pretty confident that we're holding, if not gaining ground in most of our key supplier relationships.

所以，喬，我們真的認為沒有任何理由相信市佔率動態在整個週期中發生了有意義的變化。如果我們更廣泛地審視我們的競爭，就會發現我們都擁有不同的線路卡組合，有些是共同的，有些是不同的，而且往往因地區而異。因此，您會看到我們的成長率和其他方面的成長率出現一些變化，這並不奇怪。但我們再次非常有信心，我們在大多數關鍵供應商關係中即使沒有取得進展，也能保持住。

(Operator Instructions) Your next question comes from the line of Ruplu Bhattacharya with Bank of America.

（操作員指示）您的下一個問題來自美國銀行的 Ruplu Bhattacharya 線路。

Maybe I'll start with Raj. In the ECS segment, Raj, was there a meaningful contribution from netted down items to gross margins? And can you talk about the gross margins in that segment in Americas versus Europe because I think you were trying to focus on the middle market in Americas. Did that have a meaningful impact in this quarter?

也許我會從拉傑開始。 Raj，在 ECS 部門，淨減項目對毛利率是否做出了有意義的貢獻？您能否談談美洲與歐洲該細分市場的毛利率，因為我認為您試圖專注於美洲的中間市場。這對本季產生了有意義的影響嗎？

Ruplu, are you talking about the first quarter or our second quarter guidance?

Ruplu，您是在談論第一季還是我們第二季的指導？

No, I'm just talking about the quarter you reported, the first quarter.

不，我只是談論你報告的季度，即第一季。

Yes, there's some -- first of all, there's some seasonality from the fourth quarter to the first quarter. So that's playing a part in a lot of the numbers that you're seeing because the ECS business has its largest quarter as the fourth quarter of the year. And so the gross margin step down that you've seen there is mostly related to seasonality. Year-over-year, that business did grow gross margins but that's really what you're seeing there in the gross margin profile of the business.

是的，有一些——首先，從第四季度到第一季有一些季節性。因此，這在您看到的許多數字中都發揮了作用，因為 ECS 業務的最大季度是今年第四季度。因此，您所看到的毛利率下降主要與季節性有關。與去年同期相比，該業務的毛利率確實有所增長，但這確實是您在該業務的毛利率概況中看到的。

And as has always been the case, Ruplu, the margin dynamics are different between the 2 regions. In Europe, they are structurally higher based on the substantial size of our mid-market customer base and the mix of the products we offer. In North America, as is the case for the industry, margins tend to be a little bit lower.

像往常一樣，Ruplu，這兩個地區的利潤動態是不同的。在歐洲，基於我們中端市場客戶群的龐大規模和我們提供的產品組合，它們在結構上更高。在北美，正如該行業的情況一樣，利潤率往往要低一些。

Right. And just to follow up on the second part of that question. I think, Sean, you had said that you're focusing on customer mix and the mid-market in the Americas region. What innings are we in, in that? And how is that progressing?

正確的。只是為了跟進該問題的第二部分。我想，肖恩，您曾說過您專注於美洲地區的客戶組合和中端市場。我們現在處於第幾局？進展如何？

So I think, look, we really like the model that we've established in Europe, Ruplu, we think it really reflects our strategy overall, right? We've got a substantial mid-market customer base. We have a rich line card of infrastructure software and cloud solutions, good efforts through digital adoption. And frankly, we're on the same path in North America. It is taking longer than maybe we first thought. We're fortunate now to have the gentleman that really help build and establish our model at scale in Europe, now leading our global business. And I know Eric will be spending quite a bit of time in North America but it will take some more time as we look forward.

所以我認為，看，我們真的很喜歡我們在歐洲建立的模型，Ruplu，我們認為它確實反映了我們的整體策略，對嗎？我們擁有大量的中端市場客戶群。我們擁有豐富的基礎設施軟體和雲端解決方案產品線，並在數位化採用方面做出了巨大努力。坦白說，我們在北美也走著同樣的路。這可能比我們最初想像的還要長。我們現在很幸運，擁有一位真正幫助我們在歐洲大規模建立和建立模型的先生，他現在領導著我們的全球業務。我知道埃里克將在北美度過相當多的時間，但隨著我們的期待，這將需要更多的時間。

Okay. Got it. If I can ask a quick follow-up. Sean, from your prepared remarks for the components segment, it sounded like you're seeing some green shoots. I mean, it's still going through inventory correction but you saw the book-to-bill was improving and things sounded a little bit better. But when we look at the guide, right, at the midpoint, at least $4.8 billion, I think it's going to be down 8% sequentially. So just can you give us your thoughts on what you think -- what you're seeing for the June quarter in terms of regional mix? And what is -- is anything weaker or stronger? I mean, if you can just give us your thoughts on the June quarter for the components segment.

好的。知道了。如果我可以要求快速跟進。肖恩，從您為組件部分準備的發言來看，聽起來您似乎看到了一些萌芽。我的意思是，它仍在進行庫存調整，但你看到訂單出貨比正在改善，情況聽起來好一點。但當我們查看指南時，右圖的中位數至少為 48 億美元，我認為它將比上一季下降 8%。那麼您能否告訴我們您的想法 - 您對六月季度的區域組合有何看法？什麼是——有什麼更弱或更強的東西嗎？我的意思是，您能否告訴我們您對 6 月季度零件業務的看法。

Yes, sure. I'll try to frame it up a little bit and then maybe ask Rick Marano, our Global President, to talk about some of the differences from region to region. He's a little bit closer to our regional market activity. But as you know, in Q1, we saw softness across a number of key verticals for us. There was a better market related to transportation in the West, aerospace and defense in Europe, consumer-related verticals in Asia. We saw those as you say, green shoots. We think we're approaching the bottom based on all the leading indicators that we pay close attention to. We're probably not quite there yet but we're sure getting a lot closer. And as you know, the cycle plays out differently from one region to the next and it plays out differently over time. So I'll let Rick give you some additional color about that.

是的，當然。我會試著稍微概括一下，然後也許請我們的全球總裁 Rick Marano 談談各個地區之間的一些差異。他更接近我們的區域市場活動。但如您所知，在第一季度，我們看到了許多關鍵垂直領域的疲軟。西方的交通運輸、歐洲的航空航太和國防、亞洲的消費者相關垂直市場都有較好的市場。正如你所說，我們看到了這些，綠芽。根據我們密切關注的所有領先指標，我們認為我們正在接近底部。我們可能還沒有完全實現這一目標，但我們肯定已經更接近了。如您所知，這一周期的表現因地區而異，而且隨著時間的推移也有所不同。所以我會讓里克給你一些額外的資訊。

Yes. Thanks, Sean. I think when you look at the markets overall, from a regional standpoint, I think they're playing out as we expect them to play out to a certain degree. Some green shoots in the East, in Asia around certain verticals that we're starting to see some sense of recovery from. To Sean's point in the West, in the Americas, some green shoots around transportation. Destocking continuing to happen and inventory levels getting to some levels where we're starting to see some build in backlog overall as we talk about North America. And in EMEA and we look at basically the mil-aero segment of our business. We see some green shoots there. But as we work through the balance of the cycle, as destocking continues to happen, we're confident that we're starting to see the market shape up the way we thought we would based off of the regions and the timing within the cycle in those regions as well.

是的。謝謝，肖恩。我認為，當你從區域的角度來看整個市場時，我認為它們的表現正如我們所期望的那樣。東方、亞洲在某些垂直領域出現了一些萌芽，我們開始看到一些復甦的感覺。根據肖恩的觀點，在西方，在美洲，交通運輸出現了一些萌芽。去庫存繼續發生，庫存水準達到一定水平，當我們談論北美時，我們開始看到整體積壓情況增加。在歐洲、中東和非洲地區，我們基本上專注於我們業務的軍用航空領域。我們在那裡看到了一些綠芽。但隨著我們努力實現週期的平衡，隨著去庫存的繼續進行，我們有信心開始看到市場按照我們認為的基於週期內的地區和時間的方式形成。

I will now turn the call back over to Brad Windbigler for closing remarks. Please go ahead.

現在，我將把電話轉回給布拉德溫比格勒 (Brad Windbigler)，讓他發表結束語。請繼續。

Great. Thank you all again for joining today's call. We look forward to meeting you at upcoming investor events. Have a good day.

偉大的。再次感謝大家參加今天的電話會議。我們期待在即將舉行的投資者活動中與您見面。祝你有美好的一天。

Ladies and gentlemen, that concludes today's call. Thank you all for joining and you may now disconnect.

女士們、先生們，今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝大家的加入，現在可以斷開連線了。