Amtech Systems Inc (ASYS) 2026 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Good day, everyone, and welcome to the Amtech Systems fiscal first-quarter 2026 earnings call. Please note that this call is being recorded and simultaneously webcast.

大家好，歡迎參加 Amtech Systems 2026 財年第一季財報電話會議。請注意，本次通話將會被錄音並同時進行網路直播。

I would now like to turn the call over to Jordan Darrow of Darrow Associates, Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

現在我將把電話交給達羅聯合公司投資者關係部門的喬丹·達羅。請繼續。

Thank you, and good afternoon, everyone. We appreciate you joining us for the Amtech Systems fiscal 2026 first-quarter conference call and webcast. With me today on the call are Bob Daigle, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer; and Mark Weaver, Interim Chief Financial Officer. After close of market today, Amtech released its financial results for the first quarter of 2026. The earnings release is posted on the company's website at www.amtechsystems.com in the Investors section.

謝謝大家，大家下午好。感謝您參加 Amtech Systems 2026 財年第一季電話會議和網路直播。今天與我一起參加電話會議的有董事長兼執行長鮑勃·戴格爾，以及臨時財務長馬克·韋弗。今天收盤後，Amtech 發布了 2026 年第一季的財務表現。獲利報告已發佈在公司網站 www.amtechsystems.com 的投資者關係欄位中。

Before we begin, I'd like to remind everyone that the Safe Harbor disclaimer in our public filings cover this call and the webcast. Some of the comments to be made during today's call will contain forward-looking statements and assumptions that are subject to risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, those contained in our SEC filings, all of which are posted in the Investors section of our corporate website.

在開始之前，我想提醒大家，我們公開文件中的「安全港」免責聲明涵蓋本次電話會議和網路直播。今天電話會議上將要發表的一些評論將包含前瞻性陳述和假設，這些陳述和假設存在風險和不確定性，包括但不限於我們在提交給美國證券交易委員會的文件中包含的內容，所有這些文件都發佈在我們公司網站的投資者關係部分。

The company assumes no obligation to update any such forward-looking statements. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which speak only as of today. These statements are not a guarantee of future performance, and actual results could differ materially from current expectations.

本公司不承擔更新任何此類前瞻性聲明的義務。請注意，不要過度依賴前瞻性陳述，這些陳述僅代表截至今日的觀點。這些陳述並不保證未來的業績，實際結果可能與目前的預期有重大差異。

Among the important factors, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements, are changes in technologies used by customers and competitors; change in volatility and the demand for products; the effect of changing worldwide political and economic conditions, including trade sanctions; and the effect of overall market conditions, including equity and credit markets and market acceptance risks; ongoing logistics, supply chain and labor matters, and capital allocation plans. Other risk factors are detailed in our SEC filings, including our Form 10-K and Form 10-Q.

可能導致實際結果與前瞻性聲明中的結果存在重大差異的重要因素包括：客戶和競爭對手使用的技術的變化；產品波動性和需求的變化；全球政治和經濟狀況變化的影響，包括貿易制裁；以及整體市場狀況的影響，包括股票和信貸市場以及市場接受度風險；持續的物流、供應鏈和勞動力問題以及資本配置計劃。其他風險因素已在我們的美國證券交易委員會文件中詳細說明，包括我們的 10-K 表格和 10-Q 表格。

Additionally, in today's conference call, we will be referencing non-GAAP financial measures as we discuss the financial results for the first quarter. You will find a reconciliation of those non-GAAP measures to our actual GAAP results included in the press release issued today.

此外，在今天的電話會議中，我們將在討論第一季財務表現時參考非GAAP財務指標。您可以在今天發布的新聞稿中找到這些非GAAP指標與我們實際GAAP績效的調整表。

I will now turn the call over to Amtech's Chief Executive Officer, Bob Daigle.

現在我將把電話交給Amtech的執行長鮑勃·戴格爾。

Thank you, Jordan, and welcome to everyone joining our call today. Before I provide commentary on the quarter and recent developments, I'd like to introduce Mark Weaver, our Interim CFO.

謝謝喬丹，也歡迎今天所有參加我們電話會議的朋友。在對本季業績和近期發展進行評論之前，我想先介紹一下我們的臨時財務長馬克‧韋弗。

Mark joined us on December 16 to help us with our CFO transition until we appoint a permanent CFO. While we are making progress in our search, I'm confident we are in terrific hands with Mark. I had the privilege of having him as a colleague when he served as the Chief Accounting Officer and Corporate Controller of Rogers Corporation. Among other senior financial roles, he was the Chief Accounting Officer of NXP Semiconductors. We're very pleased to have someone with his experience assist us during this transition.

馬克於 12 月 16 日加入我們，幫助我們完成財務長的過渡工作，直到我們任命正式的財務長。雖然我們的尋找工作正在取得進展，但我相信馬克會為我們帶來極大的幫助。我有幸曾與他共事，當時他擔任羅傑斯公司的首席會計官兼公司財務總監。除了擔任其他高階財務職務外，他還曾擔任恩智浦半導體公司的首席會計官。我們非常高興能有他這樣經驗豐富的人協助我們完成這次過渡。

Now on to my review of the quarter. Revenue for the quarter was $19 million at the midpoint of our guidance, and our adjusted EBITDA was $1.4 million, also within our guidance range. The quarter benefited from strength in demand for AI-related products, which accounted for 35% of revenue for our Thermal Processing Solutions segment in the first quarter, up from about 30% in the fourth quarter.

接下來，我將對本季進行回顧。本季營收為 1,900 萬美元，處於我們預期範圍的中點；調整後的 EBITDA 為 140 萬美元，也在我們的預期範圍內。本季受益於對人工智慧相關產品需求的強勁成長，該產品占我們熱處理解決方案部門第一季營收的 35%，高於第四季的約 30%。

Another highlight is that our bookings were strong for the quarter. Our overall book-to-bill ratio was 1.1, driven by performance of our Thermal Processing Solutions segment due to strength in AI equipment orders. We have the ability to deliver the majority of this equipment in the second quarter due to our short lead times, but customers have requested some deliveries in the third quarter to align with their factory build-outs.

另一個亮點是，本季我們的預訂情況表現強勁。我們整體的訂單出貨比為 1.1，這主要得益於熱處理解決方案部門的出色表現，而人工智慧設備訂單的強勁成長更是推動了這一成長。由於交貨週期短，我們有能力在第二季交付大部分設備，但客戶要求在第三季交付部分設備，以配合他們的工廠建設。

As broadly reported, semiconductor OEMs and OSATs continue to increase investments to expand capacity to support strong AI infrastructure demand. We expect demand for the equipment we produce for AI applications to continue to increase in the third and fourth quarters.

據廣泛報道，半導體OEM廠商和OSAT廠商將繼續加大投資，擴大產能，以滿足強勁的人工智慧基礎設施需求。我們預計，在第三季和第四季度，對我們生產的用於人工智慧應用的設備的需求將繼續增長。

In addition to traditional advanced packaging bookings, I'm pleased to report that we received initial orders from multiple industry leaders for panel-level packaging equipment during the quarter. Panel-level packaging is an emerging technology that provides cost and throughput advantages that should drive broader adoption and is expected to lead to future growth.

除了傳統的高級包裝訂單外，我很高興地報告，本季度我們收到了來自多家行業領先企業的面板級包裝設備的初始訂單。面板級封裝是一種新興技術，具有成本和產能優勢，有望推動其更廣泛應用，並帶來未來的成長。

We're also continuing to invest in next-generation equipment for high-density packaging to support emerging customer requirements. We believe this next-generation equipment will provide the opportunity to significantly increase our addressable market beyond 2026. We are currently processing samples for multiple customers.

我們也持續投資研發用於高密度包裝的下一代設備，以滿足客戶不斷變化的需求。我們相信，這種新一代設備將為我們帶來機會，使我們在 2026 年後能夠大幅擴大目標市場。我們目前正在處理多個客戶的樣品。

For our Semiconductor Fabrication Solutions segment, I'm pleased to report our first win for a specialty chemical product that we developed for a medical device semiconductor application. We produced and delivered initial product in the first quarter. Strong customer engagement and a robust opportunity pipeline for our specialty chemicals is validating our strategy to overserve underserved customers with technically demanding high-value applications.

我很高興地宣布，在我們的半導體製造解決方案部門，我們首次贏得了為醫療器材半導體應用開發的特殊化學產品訂單。我們在第一季生產並交付了首批產品。強大的客戶互動和我們特種化學品的強勁市場機會，驗證了我們為那些技術要求高、價值高的應用領域服務不足的客戶提供過度服務的策略。

We also had improved bookings for our Entrepix and BTU parts and services businesses during the quarter as a result of a more proactive approach to business development and improvements we've made in service levels. Unfortunately, weak demand for our PR Hoffman products negatively impacted overall SFS results for the quarter and offset bookings gains at Entrepix. Demand at PR Hoffman continues to be impacted by weakness in the mature node semiconductor market and severe cost pressures at major silicon carbide semiconductor customers.

本季度，由於我們採取了更積極主動的業務發展方式以及在服務水平方面所做的改進，我們的 Entrepix 和 BTU 零件及服務業務的預訂量也有所提高。遺憾的是，由於對 PR Hoffman 產品的需求疲軟，本季 SFS 的整體業績受到了負面影響，並抵消了 Entrepix 的預訂成長。PR Hoffman 的需求持續受到成熟節點半導體市場疲軟和主要碳化矽半導體客戶面臨嚴重成本壓力的影響。

2026 will be an investment year at SFS as we execute on our strategy to overserve the underserved, but we expect double-digit growth and meaningful profits from these sticky reoccurring revenue streams beyond 2026. We believe the strong operating leverage and working capital efficiency that has resulted from our product line rationalization efforts and a migration to a semi-fabless manufacturing model over the past two years will result in continued strong cash flow and further increases in gross margins as revenues increase.

2026 年將是 SFS 的投資年，我們將執行過度服務於服務不足人群的策略，但我們預計 2026 年以後，這些穩定的經常性收入來源將實現兩位數的成長和可觀的利潤。我們相信，過去兩年透過產品線合理化和向半無晶圓廠製造模式轉型所取得的強勁經營槓桿和營運資本效率，將帶來持續強勁的現金流，並隨著收入的增長而進一步提高毛利率。

This was our ninth consecutive quarter of positive operating cash flow. Cash generated from operations was $4.1 million for the first quarter, and we ended the quarter with a cash balance of $22.1 million without debt. Adoption of a semi-fabless model, which included the consolidation of our manufacturing footprint from seven facilities to four, should also allow us to significantly increase revenue with minimal capital expenditures. We expect capital expenditures for the year to be below $1 million.

這是我們連續第九個季度實現正經營現金流。第一季經營活動產生的現金為 410 萬美元，季末現金餘額為 2,210 萬美元，且無債務。採用半無晶圓廠模式，包括將我們的製造基地從七個工廠整合到四個工廠，也應該能夠讓我們在資本支出最少的情況下大幅增加收入。我們預計今年的資本支出將低於100萬美元。

In summary, growth opportunities driven by AI infrastructure investments and our differentiated capabilities, combined with strong operating leverage as a result of our asset-light semi-fabless business model, position us very well to deliver meaningful shareholder value.

總而言之，人工智慧基礎設施投資和我們差異化能力帶來的成長機會，加上我們輕資產半無晶圓廠業務模式帶來的強大營運槓桿，使我們處於非常有利的地位，能夠為股東創造有意義的價值。

Now for further details on our financial results, I'll pass the call to Mark.

現在，關於我們的財務業績，我將把電話交給馬克，以便更詳細地了解情況。

Great. Thank you, Bob. It really is a pleasure to be working with you again, even if it's for a short period of time. Now on to my review of the financials for the fiscal '26 first quarter.

偉大的。謝謝你，鮑伯。能再次與您共事，即使時間不長，也真的非常愉快。接下來，我將對 2026 財年第一季的財務數據進行回顧。

For proper perspective, net revenues of $19 million in the first quarter of '26 do not represent a meaningful comparison to the prior-year period. This is due to the company's product line rationalization that began two years ago. For these periods, the only perspective worth noting is for AI-related demand, which grew year over year. You'll see in a moment the benefits of this rationalization to date when I address AI revenues as part of our TPS segment and when I talk about our consolidated gross margin as a percentage of revenues and other improvements in the company's operating performance, cash flow generation, and balance sheet.

為了正確看待這個問題，2026 年第一季 1,900 萬美元的淨收入與去年同期相比並不具有實際意義。這是由於該公司兩年前開始的產品線合理化調整所致。在這些時期內，唯一值得注意的方面是人工智慧相關的需求，該需求逐年增長。稍後，當我談到人工智慧收入作為我們TPS部門的一部分，以及我們合併後的毛利率佔收入的百分比，以及公司在營運績效、現金流產生和資產負債表方面的其他改進時，您就會看到這種合理化迄今為止帶來的好處。

But back to the discussion on revenues. A more appropriate comparison is to the fourth quarter. Total revenues were positively influenced by growth in AI product demand within the TPS segment. AI revenues contributed approximately 35% of TPS revenue versus 30% in Q4. The increase was approximately 10% on a sequential basis.

但讓我們回到收入的討論。更恰當的比較對象應該是第四季。TPS領域內AI產品需求的成長對總收入產生了正面影響。AI 收入約佔 TPS 收入的 35%，而第四季這一比例為 30%。與上一季相比，增幅約為10%。

Bookings for AI applications remain strong. Other areas of TPS and SFS sales offset this growth on a consolidated basis, which is attributable to general weakness in non-AI areas of the semiconductor industry, in particular, for mature node semiconductors used in the automotive electronics industry.

人工智慧應用的預訂量依然強勁。TPS 和 SFS 銷售的其他領域抵消了合併基礎上的這一增長，這歸因於半導體行業非人工智能領域的普遍疲軟，特別是汽車電子行業使用的成熟節點半導體的疲軟。

Circling back to the benefits of the company's transformation, gross margin as a percentage of sales increased in the first quarter of '26 sequentially from the fourth quarter and year over year from the first quarter of last year. Importantly, the increase in gross margin was achieved on lower sales volume. Gross margin as a percentage of sales increased to 44.8% in the first quarter of '26 from 38.4% in the same period of the prior year and 44.4% in the fourth quarter.

回到公司轉型帶來的好處，2026 年第一季毛利率佔銷售額的百分比較上一季較上季成長，較上一季較上季成長。重要的是，毛利率的成長是在銷量下降的情況下實現的。2026 年第一季毛利率佔銷售額的百分比從去年同期的 38.4% 和第四季的 44.4% 成長至 44.8%。

Selling, general and administrative expenses increased $500,000 sequentially from the prior quarter but decreased by $1.2 million as compared to the first quarter of '25. The increase from the prior quarter is primarily due to incentive compensation, professional fees, and insurance; and the decrease from the prior year period is primarily due to cost reduction efforts and structural changes to reduce fixed costs.

銷售、一般及行政費用較上一季較上季增加 50 萬美元，但較 2025 年第一季減少 120 萬美元。與上一季相比的成長主要是由於激勵性薪酬、專業費用和保險；與上年同期相比的下降主要是由於成本削減措施和為降低固定成本而進行的結構性調整。

Research, development and engineering expenses increased by $0.3 million sequentially from the prior quarter and were relatively flat compared to the same prior-year period. The company continues to maintain a more focused approach to its innovation investments, including next-generation products targeting the AI supply chain and our specialty chemicals business.

研發和工程費用較上一季較上季增加 30 萬美元，與去年同期相比基本持平。公司持續保持更專注的創新投資策略，包括針對人工智慧供應鏈和特種化學品業務的下一代產品。

GAAP net income for the first quarter of fiscal 2026 was $0.1 million or $0.01 per share. This compares to GAAP net income of $1.1 million or $0.07 per share for the preceding quarter and GAAP net income of $0.3 million or $0.02 per share for the first quarter of fiscal 2025.

2026 財年第一季 GAAP 淨收入為 0.1 百萬美元，即每股 0.01 美元。相比之下，上一季的 GAAP 淨收入為 110 萬美元，即每股 0.07 美元；2025 財年第一季的 GAAP 淨收入為 30 萬美元，即每股 0.02 美元。

Unrestricted cash and cash equivalents at December 31, 2025, were $22.1 million compared to $17.9 million at September 30, 2025, due primarily to the company's focus on operational cash generation, working capital optimization, strong accounts receivable collections, and accounts payable management. In the past 12 months through December 31, 2025, cash increased by 67% or $8.9 million, while the company has remained without debt. As for the stock repurchase program, the company did not use any cash for this as no shares were repurchased since the plan was put in place on December 9.

截至 2025 年 12 月 31 日，公司非限制性現金及現金等價物為 2,210 萬美元，而截至 2025 年 9 月 30 日為 1,790 萬美元，這主要歸功於公司專注於營運現金流的產生、營運資本的最佳化、強勁的應付帳款回收以及應付帳款的回收。截至 2025 年 12 月 31 日的過去 12 個月裡，現金增加了 67%，即 890 萬美元，而公司一直保持零負債。至於股票回購計劃，該公司沒有為此使用任何現金，因為自 12 月 9 日該計劃實施以來，尚未回購任何股票。

Now turning to our outlook. For the second fiscal quarter ending March 31, 2026, the company expects revenue in the range of $19 million to $21 million. At the midpoint of this range, our guidance is a sequential increase from our reported revenue for the first quarter. AI-related equipment sales for the Thermal Processing Solutions segment is anticipated to drive the majority of our revenue growth.

現在談談我們的展望。該公司預計截至 2026 年 3 月 31 日的第二財季營收將在 1,900 萬美元至 2,100 萬美元之間。依照該區間的中點計算，我們的預期是比第一季公佈的營收季增。預計熱處理解決方案部門的人工智慧相關設備銷售將推動我們大部分的收入成長。

With the benefit of previously implemented structural and operational cost reductions, Amtech expects to continue delivering solid operating leverage, resulting in adjusted EBITDA margins once again coming in at high single digits.

由於先前實施的結構性和營運性成本削減措施，Amtech 預計將繼續實現穩健的營運槓桿，從而使調整後的 EBITDA 利潤率再次達到高個位數。

The outlook provided during our call today and in our earnings press release is based on an assumed exchange rate between the United States dollar and foreign currencies. Changes in the value of foreign currencies in relation to the United States dollar could cause actual results to differ from expectations.

我們今天電話會議和獲利新聞稿中提供的展望是基於美元與外幣之間假定的匯率。外幣兌美元匯率的變動可能導致實際結果與預期結果有所不同。

And now I will turn the call over to the operator for questions.

現在我將把電話轉交給接線員，回答大家的問題。

(Operator Instructions) George Marema, Pareto Ventures.

（操作說明）喬治·馬雷馬，帕累托創投公司。

So I was curious on this. You discussed in the call about this panel-level business. Could you elaborate a little bit on what that is, a little more color on that?

所以我對此很好奇。你們在電話會議中討論了小組層面的業務。能詳細解釋一下那是什麼嗎？再多說幾句？

Yes. Traditionally, chip packaging has been pretty discrete components. And the drive is really from a cost effectiveness and throughput perspective to start to produce packaging really in large panel formats and then basically dice them up later like they do with semiconductor wafers.

是的。傳統上，晶片封裝都是將各個組件分開封裝。而推動這項措施的真正原因是出於成本效益和生產效率的考慮，開始以大面板形式生產封裝，然後像半導體晶圓一樣將其切割成小塊。

Our sense is this is really the future of advanced packaging. So it was important for us to really basically demonstrate that, again, we're in a position of process of record with the key OEMs and OSATs. So the variety of customer orders that we received for that technology in this quarter, I think, was good validation about future demand.

我們認為這才是先進包裝的未來發展方向。因此，對我們來說，真正重要的是要證明，我們與主要 OEM 和 OSAT 廠商之間擁有流程記錄。因此，我認為本季度我們收到的針對該技術的各種客戶訂單很好地驗證了未來的需求。

And during 2025, you were talking about perhaps in 2026 fiscal, you may have some new products. Does this have anything to do with fabs and new capabilities?

在 2025 年，您提到或許在 2026 財年，您可能會推出一些新產品。這和晶圓廠及新功能有關嗎？

The new products are more around addressing higher-density packaging requirements. Panel processing uses very similar technology to what we're providing today. And again, what I mentioned earlier is we've built equipment, we're processing samples for customers for this higher-density packaging applications. But we're still in the relatively early stages. At this stage, I'm thinking, George, that you're looking at probably 2027 before we would see any meaningful demand from that next-generation equipment.

新產品更多是為了滿足更高密度的包裝需求。面板加工採用的技術與我們目前提供的技術非常相似。正如我之前提到的，我們已經製造了設備，正在為客戶加工用於這種高密度包裝應用的樣品。但我們仍處於相對早期的階段。喬治，我認為，現階段，我們可能要到 2027 年才能看到下一代設備產生任何實質的需求。

Okay. And I was happy to hear you got a win in the specialty chemical business. Are there any other qualifications underway in the services and chemical businesses?

好的。我很高興聽到你在特種化學品業務領域取得了成功。服務業和化學工業還有其他正在進行的資格認證項目嗎？

Yes. We have a variety of active engagements right now. And again, as I mentioned in the commentary, I've been very pleased with the level of customer engagement and pull for these collaborative development efforts. So I think we're starting to get a sense that this business model that we've developed around addressing these niche applications looks very promising, looks very promising in terms of developing a pipeline of this reoccurring revenue streams.

是的。我們目前正在進行各種積極的項目。正如我在評論中提到的，我對客戶參與度和對這些合作開發工作的需求感到非常滿意。所以我覺得我們開始感覺到，我們圍繞這些小眾應用程式開發的這種商業模式看起來非常有前景，在建立這種經常性收入來源方面看起來非常有前景。

Gary DiStefano, Titan Partners.

Gary DiStefano，Titan Partners。

Bob, congrats on the very solid quarter. Listen, just a quick macro question level for me. Listen, given the growing backlog, customer orders, consistent operating cash flow, continued customer engagement, what are you most encouraged about here as you move through fiscal 2026?

鮑勃，恭喜你本季業績非常出色。聽著，我只想問一個宏觀層面的問題。聽著，鑑於不斷增長的積壓訂單、客戶訂單、持續的營運現金流以及持續的客戶參與度，在展望 2026 財年之際，您最感到鼓舞的是什麼？

Yes. I think the two areas that are strong bookings and as I -- the commentary, right, we have short -- we've talked about this before, short lead times on the equipment we provide for AI packaging. So we had a very solid booking quarter. Some of it stretches into Q3. But at least based on our channel checks and what we're hearing out in the field, we're seeing continued strong demand. And what we're hearing is we should continue to see strength that goes into third quarter, fourth quarter as well because there's always been the question of how long is the demand going to continue.

是的。我認為預訂量強勁的兩個領域是——正如我——評論，對吧，我們之前也討論過，我們為人工智慧包裝提供的設備的交貨週期很短。所以，我們本季的預訂情況非常穩健。其中一些會延續到第三季。但至少根據我們的通路調查和我們在現場了解到的情況來看，我們看到市場需求仍然強勁。我們聽到的消息是，這種強勁勢頭應該會延續到第三季和第四季度，因為一直以來都有一個疑問：這種需求會持續多久。

And we're getting continued evidence that we've got better visibility out to a few quarters now, which gives us some comfort. As I mentioned, this being process of record for panel-level packaging also gives us some comfort in terms of driving future demand because we do think that's going to be a key part of where the industry is going.

我們不斷得到證據表明，現在我們對幾個季度的能見度有所提高，這讓我們感到些許安慰。正如我之前提到的，作為面板級包裝的正式流程，這也讓我們對推動未來的需求感到安心，因為我們認為這將是產業發展方向的關鍵部分。

And I'd say the third area, which George explored earlier, is really the evidence that we're -- both the win with the customer, but also the strength of the pipeline we're seeing for our specialty chemicals, I think, puts us in a position where in terms of visibility towards growth and increasing confidence about growth, we're in a good place.

我認為第三個方面，也就是喬治之前探討過的，確實證明了我們——無論是贏得客戶，還是我們特種化學品業務的強勁發展勢頭，都使我們處於有利地位，在增長前景和對增長的信心方面，我們處於一個良好的位置。

And again, the fact that we continue to see -- as we see this revenue flow through, the margin profile continues to strengthen, which is what we anticipated, but ultimately, we needed to see it in our results, and we are seeing it.

再次強調，隨著收入的持續增長，利潤率也在不斷提高，這正是我們所預期的，但最終，我們需要在業績中看到這一點，而我們現在看到了。

(Operator Instructions) Craig Irwin, ROTH Capital Partners.

（操作說明）克雷格·歐文，ROTH Capital Partners。

So Bob, I know you've worked so hard over the last several quarters to bring down your frictional costs, right, downsizing the footprint, adjusting your spending to your highest-priority projects and customers. This quarter, we saw a $700,000 increase quarter over quarter on the SG&A and R&D lines combined.

鮑勃，我知道你在過去幾季裡非常努力地降低摩擦成本，縮小規模，調整支出，把錢花在優先順序最高的專案和客戶身上。本季度，銷售、管理及行政費用和研發費用合計較上季成長 70 萬美元。

I know you're not going to be spending that much money unless you're very intentional about it. Can you maybe call out any items in there that you think are particularly interesting or projects or customers or general areas of commitment? Is this AI? Or is this something for the broader semiconductor industry? Anything you could share?

我知道除非你特別有計劃地花錢，否則你不會花那麼多錢。您能否指出其中有哪些您認為特別有趣的項目、客戶或您關注的領域？這是人工智慧嗎？或者，這屬於更廣泛的半導體產業範疇？有什麼可以分享的嗎？

Yes. No, the R&D increases are really in two categories. We are investing and have increased investments in the next-generation packaging equipment for AI applications. So being able to handle higher density, we increased investments really to move more quickly. And I thought that was important for us. It's a huge opportunity for us that we need to capitalize on.

是的。不，研發投入的成長其實分為兩類。我們正在投資並增加對用於人工智慧應用的下一代包裝設備的投資。為了應對更高的密度，我們增加了投資，以便更快地發展。我認為這對我們來說很重要。這是一個我們必須抓住的巨大機會。

And again, I think the commentary around the semi fab solutions traction, now we've seen some validation. So we have increased resources a bit in that area and really trying to build that momentum behind growth in that business as well.

再次強調，我認為圍繞半導體製造解決方案發展勢頭的評論，現在已經得到了一些驗證。因此，我們增加了這方面的資源投入，並努力推動該業務的成長動能。

On the -- more of the G&A side thing, there were consulting costs, there's also some variable comp costs that were in the quarter that I think will be ongoing. I'm not so sure that the consulting costs, some of that could come down a bit as well in future quarters. But those were the main drivers for the differences quarter over quarter.

至於一般及行政費用方面，有諮詢費用，還有一些我認為會持續存在的變動薪酬費用。我不太確定諮詢費用是否會下降，不過未來幾季其中一些費用可能會下降。但這些都是季度季後差異的主要原因。

Understood. Then the next thing is business momentum, right? I know we're kind of in a choppy environment. You've been climbing a set of stairs as far as your AI revenue mix, [25, 30, 35], that's awesome. Do you have confidence that that mix is likely to continue to increase over the next couple of quarters?

明白了。接下來就是業務發展勢頭了，對吧？我知道我們現在所處的環境有點動盪。你的 AI 收入組成已經穩定提升，[25, 30, 35]，這太棒了。您是否有信心，這種組合在未來幾季會繼續成長？

And I know that there's not a whole lot of order visibility per se, given the fast book and burn nature of a lot of your business. 1-to-1 book-to-bill is great. But do you feel like the sort of general tempo of that base business is healthy and potentially accelerating to where we can see different growth than what we've had over the last couple of quarters?

我知道，鑑於你們業務的快速成交模式，訂單本身的可見度並不高。一對一的訂單結算模式非常好。但您是否覺得該基礎業務的整體節奏是健康的，並且有可能加速成長，從而實現與過去幾季不同的成長？

So let me start with the AI. I think our visibility has improved on the AI part of the business. Customers are more open around what they have planned for expansion these days because, obviously, with the rapid ramps, people are more concerned about making sure their supply chains -- their supply base can support that.

那麼，就讓我先從人工智慧說起吧。我認為我們在人工智慧業務方面的可見度有所提高。如今，客戶對他們的擴張計劃更加坦誠，因為很明顯，隨著業務的快速增長，人們更加關心確保他們的供應鏈——他們的供應基礎能夠支持擴張。

So we're feeling pretty good around -- it's not great visibility. It's not like the orders are placed, but in terms of forecasts and what we're hearing in terms of the tempo and then the build-outs, right? Because I think if you characterize prior quarters, the equipment, for the most part, we were providing for AI chip packaging was, I'll call it, squeezing equipment into existing facilities, but you're now seeing new facilities being -- they're built and starting to be outfitted with equipment.

所以我們覺得周圍環境還不錯——雖然能見度不太好。雖然訂單還沒有下達，但就預測而言，就節奏和建立進度而言，對吧？因為我認為，如果你回顧前幾季度，你會發現我們為人工智慧晶片封裝提供的設備，在很大程度上，我稱之為“把設備塞進現有設施”，但現在你會看到新的設施正在建設中，並開始配備設備。

And that's part of when I commented on the strong book-to-bill in the first quarter, but some of these orders in the third quarter, that's tied to that, right? They're going to finish the facilities in the second quarter, do some of the installation work in the third quarter.

這就是我之前評論第一季強勁的訂單出貨比的原因之一，但第三季的一些訂單也與此有關，對吧？他們計劃在第二季完成設施建設，並在第三季進行一些安裝工作。

In terms of visibility on the balance of the semiconductor market, I read the same things and pay attention, probably, to the same source as you do. There's some inklings of maybe some improvement in the more traditional mature node markets, but the clarity is definitely not as good in that space as it is in AI. So I do expect the momentum to continue around AI. Those other parts of the business we're less certain about, and that was reflected, frankly, in our guidance for the second quarter.

就半導體市場平衡的可見性而言，我閱讀的內容和關注的資訊來源可能和你一樣。在較傳統的成熟節點市場中，或許出現了一些改善的跡象，但該領域的清晰度肯定不如人工智慧領域。所以我預計人工智慧領域的成長動能將會持續下去。對於業務的其他部分，我們不太確定，坦白說，這反映在我們對第二季的業績預期中。

Understood. Last question, if I may. Sometimes GAAP earnings can be important, just given the different data services out there in the market. This quarter, you had an 83% tax rate. That doesn't strike me as a natural or normal tax rate for you.

明白了。最後一個問題。鑑於市場上存在各種不同的數據服務，有時 GAAP 收益可能很重要。本季您的稅率為 83%。這在我看來並不像是你正常的稅率。

Can you maybe talk us through what this was and what you think a fair tax rate could be for this year? I realize last year, actually, it was a tax benefit. So I wouldn't be surprised if we saw one again. But this kind of thing does sometimes create a little volatility in smaller names, yes.

您能否為我們解釋一下這是什麼，以及您認為今年合理的稅率應該是多少？我去年才意識到，實際上這是一項稅收優惠。所以，如果我們再次看到它，我不會感到驚訝。但這類事情有時確實會為小型股帶來一些波動。

Yes. Let me ask Mark to jump in here.

是的。我請馬克插句話。

Yes. So Craig, this is because our US entities are in a loss position. And so with them being in a loss position, there is no there's no tax benefit that's recognized as a result of them being in a loss position because we have a valuation allowance against our deferred tax assets.

是的。所以克雷格，這是因為我們的美國實體處於虧損狀態。因此，由於他們處於虧損狀態，我們無法確認任何因他們處於虧損狀態而產生的稅收優惠，因為我們對遞延所得稅資產提列了估值準備。

So what you're seeing is the tax is coming through that's on our foreign entities. And although the foreign entities have income, right, that's probably twice as much as the loss in the US, but that's -- the loss in the US because that benefit doesn't come through because we have a valuation allowance, it ends up being that you're showing a larger tax expense on the bottom line in relationship to the overall income because that income is reduced on a book basis because of the US. Does that help?

所以你現在看到的是，這筆稅是針對我們海外實體徵收的。雖然外國實體有收入，對吧，這可能是美國虧損的兩倍，但這是——美國的虧損，因為這項收益沒有體現出來，因為我們有估值準備金，最終導致你在底線上顯示的稅項支出相對於整體收入而言更大，因為由於美國的收入在賬面上減少了。這樣有幫助嗎？

That makes complete sense to me. I've seen this many times in the past. And as we watch this US super cycle play out, hopefully end up having to pay a lot of taxes at a low rate, but a lot of taxes in the future, right? Congratulations on the progress this quarter.

我完全同意。我以前見過很多次這種情況。當我們觀察美國這個超級週期的發展時，希望最終我們不得不以較低的稅率繳納大量的稅款，但未來卻要繳納大量的稅款，對吧？恭喜本季取得的進展。

And with that, we'll be ending today's question-and-answer session. I would like to turn the floor back over to Bob Daigle for closing remarks.

今天的問答環節到此結束。我謹將發言權交還給鮑伯·戴格爾，請他作總結發言。

All right. Well, thank you. And in closing, I want to thank everybody on the call today. We look forward to seeing some of you in March at the upcoming Annual ROTH Capital Conference as well as other Investor Relations activities. And for everyone else, please stay tuned for updates on our continued progress, and have a good evening.

好的。謝謝。最後，我要感謝今天參加電話會議的各位。我們期待在三月即將舉行的 ROTH Capital 年度大會以及其他投資者關係活動中見到你們中的一些人。其他各位，請繼續關注我們的最新進展，祝大家晚安。

Ladies and gentlemen, with that, we'll conclude today's conference call and presentation. We thank you for joining. You may now disconnect your lines.

女士們、先生們，今天的電話會議和演示就到此結束。感謝您的參與。現在您可以斷開線路了。