AeroVironment Inc (AVAV) 2023 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by, and welcome to the AeroVironment Fiscal Year 2023 First Quarter Conference Call. (Operator Instructions) Please be advised that today's conference call is being recorded for replay purposes.

女士們，先生們，感謝你們的支持，歡迎參加 AeroVironment 2023 財年第一季度電話會議。 （操作員說明）請注意，今天的電話會議正在錄製以供重播。

I would now like to hand the conference over to Jonah Teeter-Balin. Thank you. Please go ahead, sir.

我現在想把會議交給 Jonah Teeter-Balin。謝謝你。請繼續，先生。

Thank you, and good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to AeroVironment's Fiscal Year 2023 First Quarter Earnings Call. This is Jonah Teeter-Balin, Senior Director of Corporate Development and Investor Relations for AeroVironment.

謝謝你們，下午好，女士們，先生們。歡迎參加 AeroVironment 的 2023 財年第一季度財報電話會議。我是 AeroVironment 企業發展和投資者關係高級總監 Jonah Teeter-Balin。

Before we begin, please note that certain information presented on this call contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements include, without limitation, any statement that may predict, forecast, indicate or imply future results, performance or achievements and may contain words such as believe, anticipate, expect, estimate, intend, project, plan or words or phrases with similar meaning.

在我們開始之前，請注意本次電話會議中提供的某些信息包含 1995 年《私人證券訴訟改革法案》含義內的前瞻性陳述。前瞻性陳述包括但不限於任何可能預測、預測、指示或暗示未來的結果、表現或成就，並可能包含諸如相信、預期、期望、估計、打算、項目、計劃或具有類似含義的詞或短語。

Forward-looking statements are based on current expectations, forecasts and assumptions, which involve risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, economic, competitive, governmental and technological factors outside of our control that may cause our business strategy or actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements. For further information on these risks, we encourage you to review the risk factors discussed in AeroVironment's periodic reports on Form 10-K and other filings with the SEC, along with the associated earnings release and safe harbor statement contained therein.

前瞻性陳述基於當前的預期、預測和假設，其中涉及風險和不確定性，包括但不限於我們無法控制的經濟、競爭、政府和技術因素，這些因素可能導致我們的業務戰略或實際結果不同實質上來自前瞻性陳述。有關這些風險的更多信息，我們鼓勵您查看 AeroVironment 的 10-K 表格定期報告和向 SEC 提交的其他文件中討論的風險因素，以及其中包含的相關收益發布和安全港聲明。

This afternoon, we also filed a slide presentation with our earnings release and posted the presentation on our website at avinc.com in the Events and Presentations section.

今天下午，我們還在我們的收益發布中提交了幻燈片演示文稿，並將演示文稿發佈在我們網站 avinc.com 的活動和演示文稿部分。

The content of this conference call contains time-sensitive information that is accurate only as of today, September 7, 2022. The company undertakes no obligation to make any revision to any forward-looking statements contained in our remarks today or to update them to reflect the events or circumstances occurring after this conference call.

本次電話會議的內容包含的時間敏感信息僅在今天，即 2022 年 9 月 7 日是準確的。公司不承擔對我們今天評論中包含的任何前瞻性陳述進行任何修改或更新它們以反映本次電話會議後發生的事件或情況。

Joining me today from AeroVironment are Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Wahid Nawabi; and Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Mr. Kevin McDonnell. We will now begin with remarks from Wahid Nawabi. Wahid?

今天從 AeroVironment 加入我的有董事長、總裁兼首席執行官 Wahid Nawabi 先生；高級副總裁兼首席財務官 Kevin McDonnell 先生。我們現在從瓦希德·納瓦比的講話開始。瓦希德？

Thank you, Jonah. Welcome to our first quarter fiscal year 2023 earnings conference call. I will start by summarizing our quarterly performance and discuss recent achievements. Then Kevin will provide a more detailed review of our financial results, after which I will provide a summary of our expectations for the remainder of fiscal year 2023 before Kevin, Jonah and I take your questions.

謝謝你，約拿。歡迎參加我們的 2023 財年第一季度收益電話會議。我將首先總結我們的季度業績並討論最近的成就。然後，凱文將對我們的財務業績進行更詳細的審查，之後我將在凱文、喬納和我回答您的問題之前，概述我們對 2023 財年剩餘時間的預期。

Let me emphasize a few key messages, which are included on Slide #3 of our earnings presentation. First, our first quarter results were generally in line or above our expectations, and we're on track to achieve our fiscal year 2023 objectives, leading to another year of double-digit top line organic growth. Second, we're seeing strong order momentum demonstrated by a record funded backlog of more than $300 million as of August 27. And third, AeroVironment continues to successfully manage through ongoing supply chain challenges and is very well positioned for continued value creation even beyond this fiscal year, primarily due to strong demand across nearly all our product lines.

讓我強調一些關鍵信息，這些信息包含在我們收益演示的幻燈片 #3 中。首先，我們的第一季度業績總體上符合或高於我們的預期，我們有望實現我們的 2023 財年目標，從而實現又一年兩位數的有機增長。其次，截至 8 月 27 日，我們看到了超過 3 億美元的創紀錄資金積壓，顯示出強勁的訂單勢頭。第三，AeroVironment 繼續成功應對持續的供應鏈挑戰，並且非常適合繼續創造價值，甚至超越這一點財年，主要是由於我們幾乎所有產品線的強勁需求。

Let me first summarize our financial results for the quarter. We delivered first quarter revenue of $108.5 million compared to $101 million in fiscal year 2022, an organic increase of 7% year-over-year. This growth was primarily due to higher demand for our tactical missile systems and our small unmanned aircraft systems product lines.

首先讓我總結一下我們本季度的財務業績。我們第一季度的收入為 1.085 億美元，而 2022 財年為 1.01 億美元，同比增長 7%。這一增長主要是由於對我們的戰術導彈系統和我們的小型無人機系統產品線的更高需求。

Gross profit for the first quarter was $33.7 million compared to $28.7 million in the prior year period. Our gross margin increased to 31% from 28% in fiscal year 2022. This increase primarily reflects higher sales volumes as well as favorable product and geographical mix.

第一季度毛利潤為 3370 萬美元，而去年同期為 2870 萬美元。我們的毛利率從 2022 財年的 28% 增加到 31%。這一增長主要反映了更高的銷量以及有利的產品和地域組合。

We reported a non-GAAP adjusted net loss of $2.5 million or $0.10 per diluted share as compared to a loss of $4.2 million or $0.17 per diluted share for the first quarter of fiscal year 2022.

我們報告非公認會計原則調整後的淨虧損為 250 萬美元或每股攤薄收益 0.10 美元，而 2022 財年第一季度的虧損為 420 萬美元或每股攤薄收益 0.17 美元。

Looking ahead, we remain confident in the future of AeroVironment and our ability to deliver superior shareholder returns despite ongoing supply chain constraints, inflationary pressures and a tight labor market. We remain in direct contact with our most critical suppliers to improve material lead times. We're also continuing to work directly with the office of the U.S. Secretary of Defense at the Pentagon to prioritize our raw material needs. When appropriate, we continue to build additional inventory, which will allow us to meet the growing near-term demand for our highly innovative solutions.

展望未來，儘管供應鏈持續受限、通脹壓力和勞動力市場緊張，我們仍然對 AeroVironment 的未來以及我們為股東提供卓越回報的能力充滿信心。我們與最重要的供應商保持直接聯繫，以縮短材料交貨時間。我們還將繼續與五角大樓的美國國防部長辦公室直接合作，優先考慮我們的原材料需求。在適當的時候，我們會繼續增加庫存，這將使我們能夠滿足對我們高度創新的解決方案不斷增長的近期需求。

We're still facing continued headwinds related to the tighter labor markets, especially in key engineering disciplines in support of our growing set of customer-funded R&D programs. That said, we are successfully managing staffing levels across the organization and continue to prioritize our development activities to ensure the most urgent and important programs receive the resources they require.

我們仍然面臨與勞動力市場趨緊相關的持續逆風，特別是在支持我們不斷增長的客戶資助研發計劃的關鍵工程學科方面。也就是說，我們正在成功地管理整個組織的人員配備水平，並繼續優先考慮我們的發展活動，以確保最緊迫和最重要的項目獲得他們所需的資源。

Let me reiterate, demand for our innovative solutions remains high, both domestically and overseas. Our small UAS and Switchblade loitering munitions have both seen a surge in demand due to the conflict in Ukraine. Our other product lines are also benefiting from this greater global awareness and ongoing trends towards increased adoption of unmanned robotic systems. While our first quarter backlog remained roughly the same as last quarter, we're experiencing greater contract award activity in the current fiscal year quarter, which coincides with the fourth quarter of the U.S. government's current fiscal year.

讓我重申，國內外對我們創新解決方案的需求仍然很高。由於烏克蘭的衝突，我們的小型 UAS 和 Switchblade 遊蕩彈藥的需求都出現了激增。我們的其他產品線也受益於這種更大的全球意識和越來越多地採用無人機器人系統的持續趨勢。雖然我們第一季度的積壓工作與上一季度大致相同，但我們在本財年季度（與美國政府本財年第四季度）的合同授予活動有所增加。

As of August 27, we have a record funded backlog of over $300 million and are optimistic about additional wins in the next 4 to 6 months. Notably, our mix of business is shifting to higher product sales, which should improve our margin profile in fiscal year 2023.

截至 8 月 27 日，我們有超過 3 億美元的創紀錄資金積壓，並且對未來 4 到 6 個月的額外勝利持樂觀態度。值得注意的是，我們的業務組合正在轉向更高的產品銷售，這應該會改善我們在 2023 財年的利潤率狀況。

We're also proud to have published our inaugural corporate social responsibility report, now available on our website. AeroVironment is built on a legacy of more than 50 years of environmental stewardship, and our commitment to sustainability is embedded in our mission of developing highly-innovative solutions that deliver on our customers' missions while doing more with less. Let's not forget, the overwhelming majority of our robotic solutions are designed with fully-electric propulsion systems, making them amongst the greenest and most environmentally-friendly solutions in the market.

我們也很自豪地發布了我們的首份企業社會責任報告，該報告現已在我們的網站上提供。 AeroVironment 建立在 50 多年的環境管理傳統之上，我們對可持續發展的承諾植根於我們開發高度創新的解決方案的使命中，這些解決方案能夠實現客戶的使命，同時事半功倍。別忘了，我們絕大多數的機器人解決方案都採用全電動推進系統設計，使其成為市場上最環保、最環保的解決方案之一。

Now I would like to provide an update on current developments within each of our product lines. Let me begin with our small UAS product line, which experienced growth over the prior year's first quarter. Given the strength of this business, we continue to see additional growth opportunities, particularly with international customers. We're also prudently investing in developing new advanced solutions and plan to introduce multiple new products to market this fiscal year. This will position us to pursue additional future programs of record within the U.S. DoD while leveraging a large installed base for upgrades and enhancements. Overall, we see increasing global demand in our small UAS, including multiple opportunities for our best-in-class Puma AE and Puma LE UAV systems for Ukraine.

現在，我想提供有關我們每個產品線當前發展的最新信息。讓我從我們的小型 UAS 產品線開始，該產品線在去年第一季度經歷了增長。鑑於這項業務的實力，我們繼續看到額外的增長機會，尤其是國際客戶。我們還謹慎投資開發新的先進解決方案，併計劃在本財年向市場推出多種新產品。這將使我們能夠在美國國防部內追求更多的未來記錄計劃，同時利用龐大的安裝基礎進行升級和增強。總體而言，我們看到全球對小型 UAS 的需求不斷增長，包括為烏克蘭提供一流的 Puma AE 和 Puma LE UAV 系統的多種機會。

Our tactical missiles systems product line is also experiencing robust growth this fiscal year. The overall demand trends for our Switchblade 300 and 600 loitering munitions are accelerating. Switchblade remains unique in terms of its long range, precision strike, loitering duration and patented wave-off features. We're extremely proud of this innovation and the capabilities it provides Ukraine and its military to defend their country.

我們的戰術導彈系統產品線在本財年也經歷了強勁的增長。我們的 Switchblade 300 和 600 遊蕩彈藥的總體需求趨勢正在加速。 Switchblade 在其遠程、精確打擊、遊蕩持續時間和獲得專利的揮動功能方面仍然是獨一無二的。我們為這項創新及其為烏克蘭及其軍隊提供的保衛國家的能力感到非常自豪。

Since our last earnings call, interest in both Switchblade 300 and 600 has continued to grow, with TMS product line sales increasing 20% year-over-year. The U.S. government is intent on backfilling inventories reduced through its presidential drawdowns to support Ukraine. We were recently awarded a $20.6 million contract for Switchblade 300 systems from the U.S. Army.

自我們上次召開財報電話會議以來，對 Switchblade 300 和 600 的興趣持續增長，TMS 產品線銷售額同比增長 20%。美國政府打算回補因總統撤資而減少的庫存，以支持烏克蘭。我們最近從美國陸軍獲得了一份價值 2060 萬美元的 Switchblade 300 系統合同。

In addition, the prior congressional legislation authorizing $40 billion in military and humanitarian aid has provided the opportunity for new orders for Ukraine. We are encouraged by these developments and the opportunity to further assist Ukraine and our other allies in Europe.

此外，先前授權 400 億美元軍事和人道主義援助的國會立法為烏克蘭提供了新訂單的機會。我們對這些事態發展以及進一步協助烏克蘭和我們在歐洲的其他盟國的機會感到鼓舞。

Additionally, we recently received a DO priority rating by the U.S. federal government, which will expedite and prioritize the purchase of necessary supplies for Switchblade from our vendors. A DO-rated order is the second highest level of priority that can be granted by the U.S. DoD.

此外，我們最近獲得了美國聯邦政府的 DO 優先評級，這將加快並優先從我們的供應商處購買 Switchblade 的必要用品。 DO 級命令是美國國防部可以授予的第二高優先級。

We're also fielding multiple requests for proposals from additional allies for both Switchblade 300 and 600 loitering munitions. We continue to work with these customers to translate their interest into firm contracts and expect additional sales later this year and next fiscal year.

我們還響應了來自其他盟友的多個關於 Switchblade 300 和 600 遊蕩彈藥的提案請求。我們將繼續與這些客戶合作，將他們的興趣轉化為堅定的合同，並期望在今年晚些時候和下一財年實現更多銷售。

Overall, our pipeline and demand levels continue to increase, setting us up for strong shipments late in fiscal year 2023 and into fiscal year 2024. As you can see, we remain positive about both the near-term and long-term outlook for our TMS product line. Order flow is picking up with backlog growth and deliveries expected to accelerate as the year progresses. We maintain broad bipartisan support for Switchblade products as Congress begins formulating the budget for government fiscal year 2023.

總體而言，我們的管道和需求水平繼續增加，為我們在 2023 財年末和 2024 財年的強勁出貨做好了準備。如您所見，我們對 TMS 的近期和長期前景保持樂觀生產線。隨著積壓的增長，訂單流正在回升，預計隨著時間的推移交付速度將加快。隨著國會開始製定 2023 財年政府預算，我們保持對 Switchblade 產品的廣泛兩黨支持。

The key challenges to meet this growing demand for our Switchblade loitering munitions remains the timing of these contracts coupled with global supply chain constraints. However, we're optimistic that our proactive management of supply chain challenges, coupled with the assistance of the U.S. government, will help us deliver on our operational objectives.

滿足對我們的 Switchblade 遊蕩彈藥不斷增長的需求的主要挑戰仍然是這些合同的時間安排以及全球供應鏈的限制。然而，我們樂觀地認為，我們對供應鏈挑戰的積極管理，加上美國政府的協助，將幫助我們實現我們的運營目標。

I will now switch gears and discuss our medium UAS or MUAS product line. I'm very pleased to announce that after some delays, the U.S. Army has officially awarded AeroVironment Increment 1 of the Future Tactical UAS program also known as FTUAS. We're excited by this important award. As a reminder, the FTUAS program in aggregate is expected to be valued at more than $1 billion over a 10-year period. In the near term, the U.S. Army's proposed funding for FTUAS is approximately $100 million for government fiscal year 2023. Our focus now turns to competing for Increment 2, which we expect to be awarded in the next 12 months. We look forward to demonstrating the full breadth of our unique capabilities to the U.S. Army on this very important program.

我現在將切換齒輪並討論我們的中型 UAS 或 MUAS 產品線。我很高興地宣布，經過一些延遲，美國陸軍已正式授予未來戰術 UAS 計劃（也稱為 FTUAS）的 AeroVironment Increment 1。我們對這一重要獎項感到興奮。提醒一下，未來 10 年 FTUAS 計劃的總價值預計將超過 10 億美元。在短期內，美國陸軍為 FTUAS 提議的 2023 財年政府資金約為 1 億美元。我們現在的重點轉向競爭 Increment 2，我們預計將在未來 12 個月內授予。我們期待在這個非常重要的項目中向美國陸軍展示我們獨特能力的全部範圍。

In addition, we're excited to announce that we recently acquired Planck Aerosystems, a leading provider of advanced unmanned aircraft navigation solutions. This acquisition will enhance autonomy capabilities across our entire portfolio and is especially applicable to our JUMP 20 UAV, where it is expected to further our competitive advantage for FTUAS and other upcoming programs.

此外，我們很高興地宣布，我們最近收購了先進無人機導航解決方案的領先供應商普朗克航空系統公司。此次收購將增強我們整個產品組合的自主能力，尤其適用於我們的 JUMP 20 無人機，預計將進一步提升我們在 FTUAS 和其他即將推出的項目中的競爭優勢。

Based in San Diego, Planck Aerosystems has developed unique unmanned aircraft solutions for close to a decade with products ranging from embedded software applications to fully-integrated UAS solutions that leverage technologies for guidance, navigation and artificial intelligence. As part of our MUAS product line, Planck, including its Autonomous Control Engine or ACE, capabilities will be integrated into our existing products to enable improved autonomous takeoff and landing on land or at, sea particularly in GPS-denied and contested aerospace environments. Working together as part of AeroVironment, we will offer even more compelling and depreciated solutions to our customers. It is a great addition to the company, and we're thrilled to have their talented staff as part of our team.

總部位於聖地亞哥的普朗克航空系統公司近十年來開發了獨特的無人機解決方案，其產品從嵌入式軟件應用程序到利用制導、導航和人工智能技術的完全集成的 UAS 解決方案。作為我們的 MUAS 產品線的一部分，普朗克（包括其自主控制引擎或 ACE）的功能將集成到我們現有的產品中，以實現改進的陸地或海上自主起飛和降落，特別是在 GPS 拒絕和有爭議的航空航天環境中。作為 AeroVironment 的一部分，我們將攜手合作，為我們的客戶提供更具吸引力和更優惠的解決方案。這是對公司的一個很好的補充，我們很高興他們的才華橫溢的員工成為我們團隊的一部分。

Lastly, our MUAS business continues to pursue additional international opportunities, including through recent demonstrations of our JUMP 20 systems to potential customers in both Europe and the Middle East.

最後，我們的 MUAS 業務繼續尋求更多的國際機會，包括最近向歐洲和中東的潛在客戶展示我們的 JUMP 20 系統。

Regarding our unmanned ground vehicles or UGV product line, we continue to see strong interest abroad and are pursuing new opportunities, leveraging the heightened interest fostered by the conflict in Ukraine. This product line also remains on track to grow this fiscal year.

關於我們的無人駕駛地面車輛或 UGV 產品線，我們繼續在國外看到強烈的興趣，並正在尋求新的機會，利用烏克蘭衝突引發的高度興趣。該產品線在本財年也將保持增長。

Within our HAPS product line, I'm pleased to announce that we secured an additional $25 million of funding during Q1 to continue with the next phase of development for our Sunglider platform underscoring our strong enduring partnership with SoftBank. Both companies are committed to the vision of developing and commercializing stratospheric-based telecommunication services for the growing global population. We're now focused on building a third aircraft to perform further flight testing, demonstrate increased endurance and obtain FAA certification.

在我們的 HAPS 產品線中，我很高興地宣布，我們在第一季度獲得了額外的 2500 萬美元資金，以繼續我們的 Sunglider 平台的下一階段開發，這突顯了我們與軟銀的牢固持久合作夥伴關係。兩家公司都致力於為不斷增長的全球人口開發和商業化基於平流層的電信服務。我們現在專注於建造第三架飛機，以進行進一步的飛行測試，展示更高的續航能力並獲得 FAA 認證。

In addition, we are now pursuing opportunities within several agencies of the U.S. DoD, which we believe can benefit from our advanced solar HAPS solution. Overall, we remain on track for HAPS revenue of between $25 million to $35 million this fiscal year.

此外，我們現在正在美國國防部的多個機構內尋求機會，我們相信這可以從我們先進的太陽能 HAPS 解決方案中受益。總體而言，我們本財年的 HAPS 收入仍有望達到 2500 萬至 3500 萬美元。

And finally, I'll share some exciting developments for our MacCready Works Advanced Solutions product line. Recently, NASA announced that it plans to send additional space flights to Mars in the coming years for ground sample analysis and mineral retrieval. The Mars sample retrieval lander will include 2 recovery helicopters known as Mars science helicopters due to the success of ingenuity, which has already performed 29 consecutive and successful flights on Mars and survived over a year beyond its original planned lifetime.

最後，我將分享我們 MacCready Works 高級解決方案產品線的一些激動人心的發展。最近，美國宇航局宣布計劃在未來幾年向火星發送更多的太空飛行，以進行地面樣本分析和礦物檢索。火星樣本檢索著陸器將包括2架回收直升機，因匠心獨運而被稱為火星科學直升機，該直升機已在火星上連續成功飛行29次，並在其原計劃壽命之外存活了一年多。

These helicopters will provide a secondary crucial capability to retrieve samples from the surface of Mars. We believe these upcoming missions will provide AeroVironment with multiple opportunities to showcase our innovative unmanned robotic solutions while enabling the collection of valuable scientific data that benefits all humanity.

這些直升機將提供從火星表面檢索樣本的次要關鍵能力。我們相信這些即將到來的任務將為 AeroVironment 提供多種機會來展示我們創新的無人機器人解決方案，同時能夠收集有益於全人類的有價值的科學數據。

We remain actively engaged with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, or JPL, on this next important mission. With this architecture solidified, the program is expected to move into a preliminary design phase this October, which is expected to last about 12 months. During this phase of the program, we will complete engineering prototypes of the major mission components, after which more definitive manufacturing timelines can be prepared.

我們將繼續與 NASA 的噴氣推進實驗室 (JPL) 積極合作，共同完成下一個重要任務。隨著這一架構的鞏固，該計劃預計將於今年 10 月進入初步設計階段，預計將持續約 12 個月。在該計劃的這一階段，我們將完成主要任務組件的工程原型，之後可以準備更明確的製造時間表。

In summary, AeroVironment remains on track for double-digit top line organic growth and improved underlying results this year. We're keeping expenses under control, successfully managing through ongoing supply chain constraints and seeking out the best and brightest talent to ensure we deliver for our customers and shareholders. Solid execution, combined with robust global demand for our products and services, gives us confidence in our performance for the quarters to come.

總之，AeroVironment 今年仍有望實現兩位數的收入有機增長和改善的基本業績。我們控制開支，成功管理持續的供應鏈限制，並尋找最優秀和最聰明的人才，以確保我們為客戶和股東提供服務。紮實的執行力，加上全球對我們產品和服務的強勁需求，讓我們對未來幾個季度的業績充滿信心。

With that, I would like to now turn the call over to Kevin McDonnell for a review of first quarter financials. Kevin?

有了這個，我現在想把電話轉給凱文麥克唐納，以審查第一季度的財務狀況。凱文？

Thank you, Wahid. Today, I'll be reviewing the highlights of our first quarter fiscal 2023 performance, during which I will occasionally refer to both our press release and earnings presentation available on our website.

謝謝你，瓦希德。今天，我將回顧我們 2023 財年第一季度業績的亮點，在此期間，我偶爾會參考我們網站上提供的新聞稿和收益報告。

In summary, this was a good quarter, both in terms of organic revenue growth and improvement to our adjusted EBITDA versus last year's first quarter. We've done all this despite continued supply chain challenges, as Wahid highlighted in his remarks.

總而言之，這是一個不錯的季度，無論是在有機收入增長和我們調整後的 EBITDA 與去年第一季度相比的改善方面。正如瓦希德在講話中強調的那樣，儘管供應鏈面臨持續挑戰，我們還是完成了這一切。

Now I'd like to provide more detail to the revenue for the quarter. Revenue for the first quarter was $108.5 million, an increase of 7% over the first quarter of fiscal 2022 revenue of $101 million.

現在我想提供更多關於本季度收入的細節。第一季度收入為 1.085 億美元，比 2022 財年第一季度的 1.01 億美元收入增長 7%。

Slide 5 of the earnings presentation provides a breakdown of revenue by segment for the quarter. Our largest segment during the quarter was small UAS with $43.3 million of revenue, up from last year's $40 million. Approximately 70% of small UAS revenue in the quarter was from international customers, and we expect this trend to continue throughout the year.

收益報告的幻燈片 5 提供了本季度按部門劃分的收入明細。本季度我們最大的部分是小型 UAS，收入為 4330 萬美元，高於去年的 4000 萬美元。本季度大約 70% 的小型 UAS 收入來自國際客戶，我們預計這一趨勢將在全年持續。

Our Tactical Missile Systems, or TMS, segment contributed $23 million of revenue during the quarter compared to $19.2 million in fiscal 2022. Despite the strong first quarter growth, we are still hampered by supply chain challenges in the TMS segment.

我們的戰術導彈系統 (TMS) 部門在本季度貢獻了 2300 萬美元的收入，而 2022 財年為 1920 萬美元。儘管第一季度增長強勁，但我們仍然受到 TMS 部門供應鏈挑戰的阻礙。

Our medium UAS segment finished the quarter with revenue of $19.3 million, a $3.1 million decrease compared to the first quarter of fiscal 2022 of $22.4 million. The decline is largely a result of lower MEUAS program revenues. However, as Wahid mentioned, our Medium UAS division was recently awarded with the Army's FTUAS Increment 1 program. This is an important milestone in building increased Medium UAS product revenue over the coming quarters.

我們的中型無人機部門在本季度結束時的收入為 1930 萬美元，與 2022 財年第一季度的 2240 萬美元相比減少了 310 萬美元。下降主要是由於 MEUAS 計劃收入減少。然而，正如瓦希德所說，我們的中型無人機部門最近獲得了陸軍的 FTUAS 增量 1 計劃。這是在未來幾個季度增加中型無人機產品收入的一個重要里程碑。

Our HAPS segment contributed $10.2 million in Q1, in line with the $10.4 million in the prior year first quarter. As noted by Wahid, we recently signed a contract for extension of our HAPS program with SoftBank.

我們的 HAPS 部門在第一季度貢獻了 1020 萬美元，與去年第一季度的 1040 萬美元持平。正如 Wahid 所說，我們最近與軟銀簽署了一份擴展 HAPS 計劃的合同。

Revenue from the Other segment, which includes our Telerob and the MacCready Works businesses, increased year-over-year to $12.8 million versus $9.2 million in the fiscal 2022 first quarter. Most of this growth in Other came from our MacCready Works business, which continues to win contracts for advanced mission capabilities.

包括我們的 Telerob 和 MacCready Works 業務在內的其他部門的收入同比增長至 1280 萬美元，而 2022 財年第一季度為 920 萬美元。 Other 的大部分增長來自我們的 MacCready Works 業務，該業務繼續贏得先進任務能力的合同。

Now looking at gross margins. Slide 5 of the earnings presentation shows the mix of product versus service revenue. In Q1, we saw a product mix of 53%, which is in line with the first quarter of last year. GAAP gross margins improved from 28% to 31% year-over-year.

現在看毛利率。收益報告的幻燈片 5 顯示了產品收入與服務收入的組合。在第一季度，我們看到了 53% 的產品組合，與去年第一季度持平。 GAAP 毛利率同比從 28% 提高到 31%。

I'll now speak to our adjusted gross margins. Slide 6 of the earnings presentation shows the trend of adjusted product and service gross margins, while Slide 12 reconciles the GAAP gross margins to the adjusted gross margins, which excludes intangible amortization expense and other noncash purchase accounting items.

我現在談談我們調整後的毛利率。收益報告的幻燈片 6 顯示了調整後的產品和服務毛利率的趨勢，而幻燈片 12 將 GAAP 毛利率與調整後的毛利率進行了核對，其中不包括無形攤銷費用和其他非現金采購會計項目。

Overall, adjusted gross margins in the first quarter were 34%, up compared to 32% in the first quarter of FY '22. This increase was a result of higher margin sUAS international product sales. Adjusted product gross margins for the quarter were 45% versus 42% in the first quarter of last fiscal year due again to a favorable geographical mix.

總體而言，第一季度調整後的毛利率為 34%，高於 22 財年第一季度的 32%。這一增長是由於 sUAS 國際產品銷售利潤率較高。由於有利的地域組合，本季度調整後的產品毛利率為 45%，而上一財年第一季度為 42%。

In terms of adjusted service gross margins, the first quarter was at 21% versus 22% during the same quarter last year. The slight year-over-year decrease was due to lower Medium UAS service gross margins. As mentioned last quarter, we expect product mix to be higher in the fiscal 2023, which will result in improving gross margins, partially offset by some short-term increased supply chain costs.

在調整後的服務毛利率方面，第一季度為 21%，而去年同期為 22%。同比略有下降是由於中型無人機服務毛利率下降。如上個季度所述，我們預計 2023 財年的產品組合會更高，這將導致毛利率提高，部分被一些短期增加的供應鏈成本所抵消。

Now turning to GAAP earnings. We had a GAAP net loss for the first quarter of $8.4 million compared to a net loss of $14 million for the first quarter of fiscal 2022. The $5.5 million year-over-year improvement was due to a $5 million in increased gross margin dollars, a $4.5 million decrease in acquisition-related expenses and a $1.8 million decrease in SG&A expenses. These positive items were partially offset by a $3.6 million increase in tax expense and an increase of $1.3 million in R&D expenses.

現在轉向GAAP收益。我們第一季度的 GAAP 淨虧損為 840 萬美元，而 2022 財年第一季度的淨虧損為 1400 萬美元。同比增長 550 萬美元是由於毛利率增加了 500 萬美元，收購相關費用減少 450 萬美元，SG&A 費用減少 180 萬美元。這些積極的項目被增加的 360 萬美元的稅收費用和增加的 130 萬美元的研發費用部分抵消。

I should note that under the current tax accounting rules, we'll continue to have a tax expense in quarters with a pretax loss and a tax benefit in quarters with taxable income of approximately 50% of the GAAP pretax income in both cases.

我應該指出，根據當前的稅務會計規則，在這兩種情況下，我們將繼續在稅前虧損的季度中產生稅收支出，在應稅收入約為 GAAP 稅前收入的 50% 的季度中獲得稅收優惠。

In terms of adjusted EBITDA, Slide 13 of our earnings presentation shows a reconciliation of GAAP net loss to adjusted EBITDA. The adjusted EBITDA for the first quarter of fiscal 2023 was $13.1 million, an increase of over 90% over the prior year. Of the $6.3 million improvement over Q1 of FY '22, $5.4 million was related to increased adjusted gross margins as a result of improved product margins, $2.3 million related to lower SG&A expense, and this was partially offset by a $1.3 million increase in R&D spending.

就調整後的 EBITDA 而言，我們收益報告的幻燈片 13 顯示了 GAAP 淨虧損與調整後 EBITDA 的對賬。 2023財年第一季度調整後的EBITDA為1310萬美元，比上年增長90%以上。在 22 財年第一季度的 630 萬美元改進中，540 萬美元與產品利潤率提高導致調整後毛利率增加有關，230 萬美元與 SG&A 費用降低有關，這部分被研發支出增加 130 萬美元所抵消.

Slide 10 shows a reconciliation of GAAP and adjusted or non-GAAP diluted EPS. The company posted adjusted loss per diluted share of $0.10 for the first quarter of fiscal 2023 versus $0.17 diluted share loss for the first quarter of fiscal 2022.

幻燈片 10 顯示了 GAAP 與調整後或非 GAAP 稀釋後每股收益的對賬。該公司公佈的 2023 財年第一季度的調整後每股攤薄虧損為 0.10 美元，而 2022 財年第一季度的攤薄後每股虧損為 0.17 美元。

Turning to the balance sheet. The total cash investment to end in the quarter were $123.5 million. This represents an increase of $6 million over our year-end balances. We saw improvement in accounts receivable and unbilled receivables during the quarter, partially offset by some expected inventory increases. We anticipate inventories will continue to increase throughout the year due to increasing demand for our products and supply chain headwinds that requires us to buy some inventory ahead of orders. We continue to have a strong balance sheet with over $100 million of cash investments and $100 million working capital facility.

轉向資產負債表。本季度末的總現金投資為 1.235 億美元。這比我們的年終餘額增加了 600 萬美元。我們看到本季度應收賬款和未開票應收賬款有所改善，部分被一些預期的庫存增加所抵消。由於對我們產品的需求增加和供應鏈逆風要求我們在訂單前購買一些庫存，我們預計庫存將在全年繼續增加。我們繼續擁有強勁的資產負債表，擁有超過 1 億美元的現金投資和 1 億美元的營運資金。

I would like to conclude with our FY '23 revenue visibility. Slide 8 of the earnings presentation provides a summary of our product -- of our current fiscal 2020 visibility. Visibility as of today is at 75% to the midpoint of our revenue guidance range. The 75% visibility compares favorably to historical Q1 conference call visibility.

我想以我們 23 財年的收入可見性結束。收益演示文稿的幻燈片 8 提供了我們產品的摘要——我們當前 2020 財年的知名度。截至今天，能見度為我們收入指導範圍的中點的 75%。 75% 的可見度優於歷史上的第一季度電話會議可見度。

Now I'd like to turn things back to Wahid.

現在我想把事情轉回到瓦希德身上。

Thanks, Kevin. We remain confident in our ability to deliver on our expectations for fiscal year 2023 and beyond. While federal budget priorities are still being determined by -- for government fiscal year 2023, our advanced unmanned robotic solutions continue to be in strong demand. As such, we are reiterating our previously provided guidance for fiscal year 2023, which is again shown on Slide #7.

謝謝，凱文。我們對實現 2023 財年及以後的預期的能力仍然充滿信心。雖然聯邦預算優先事項仍在由政府確定 2023 財年，但我們先進的無人機器人解決方案的需求仍然強勁。因此，我們重申我們之前提供的 2023 財年指導，這在幻燈片 #7 中再次顯示。

We anticipate revenue of between $490 million and $520 million for fiscal year 2023, representing double-digit organic growth and net income of $11 million to $18 million or $0.42 to $0.72 per diluted share. We forecast non-GAAP adjusted EBITDA of between $82 million and $92 million; and non-GAAP earnings per diluted share, excluding acquisition-related costs, amortization of intangible assets and other onetime expenses, of between $1.35 and $1.65. We continue to expect 60% of revenue will be in the second half of this fiscal year, reflecting the timing of current and anticipated awards.

我們預計 2023 財年的收入將在 4.9 億美元至 5.2 億美元之間，實現兩位數的有機增長，淨收入為 1100 萬美元至 1800 萬美元或每股攤薄收益 0.42 美元至 0.72 美元。我們預測非 GAAP 調整後的 EBITDA 將在 8200 萬美元至 9200 萬美元之間；非公認會計準則每股攤薄收益（不包括與收購相關的成本、無形資產攤銷和其他一次性費用）在 1.35 美元至 1.65 美元之間。我們繼續預計本財年下半年將有 60% 的收入，這反映了當前和預期獎勵的時間安排。

Our adjusted gross margin should end up at or slightly above last fiscal year. This is mainly driven by favorable product mix and higher volumes, somewhat offset by the unfavorable impact of ongoing supply chain expenses. We also expect to deliver adjusted EBITDA of between 16% and 18% of revenue for the full year, as previously discussed.

我們調整後的毛利率應最終達到或略高於上一財年。這主要是由有利的產品組合和更高的銷量推動的，但在一定程度上被持續供應鏈費用的不利影響所抵消。如前所述，我們還預計全年調整後的 EBITDA 將佔收入的 16% 至 18%。

Before turning the call over for questions, let me just reiterate a few key takeaway points on which our investors should focus. First, we remain on track for our fiscal year 2023 guidance, including, among other things, double-digit top line organic growth, stable margins and improved bottom line results. Second, we're seeing strong order momentum demonstrated by the record funded backlog of more than $300 million as of August 27. And third, AeroVironment continues to successfully manage through ongoing supply chain challenges and is very well positioned for continued value creation even beyond this fiscal year, primarily due to strong demand across nearly all our product lines.

在提出問題之前，讓我重申一些我們的投資者應該關注的關鍵要點。首先，我們將繼續實現 2023 財年的指導方針，其中包括兩位數的收入有機增長、穩定的利潤率和改善的利潤結果。其次，截至 8 月 27 日，我們看到了超過 3 億美元的創紀錄資金積壓表明了強勁的訂單勢頭。第三，AeroVironment 繼續成功應對持續的供應鏈挑戰，並且非常適合繼續創造價值，甚至超越這一點財年，主要是由於我們幾乎所有產品線的強勁需求。

I would like to thank our employees for their hard work during the quarter. Their perseverance and dedication have enabled us to continue supporting our military and allies around the world. All of us at AeroVironment are committed to providing the U.S., our allies and other customers around the world with the most reliable, innovative and invaluable unmanned aerial- and ground-based robotic solutions. Similarly, we remain committed to our goal of delivering strong returns for our shareholders.

我要感謝我們的員工在本季度的辛勤工作。他們的毅力和奉獻精神使我們能夠繼續支持我們的軍隊和世界各地的盟友。 AeroVironment 的所有人都致力於為美國、我們的盟友和世界各地的其他客戶提供最可靠、創新和無價的無人機和地面機器人解決方案。同樣，我們仍然致力於為股東帶來豐厚回報的目標。

And with that, Kevin, Jonah and I will now take your questions.

有了這個，凱文、喬納和我現在將回答你的問題。

(Operator Instructions) I have the first question. It's coming from Ken Herbert of RBC.

（操作員說明）我有第一個問題。它來自加拿大皇家銀行的肯赫伯特。

Wahid, I just wanted to start out. Can you just maybe provide an update specifically on Switchblade 300 and 600? How much of the maybe the 300 in funded backlog you've called out or implied in the fiscal '23 revenues are sales associated with Switchblade into Ukraine, either directly into Ukraine or as part of a replenishment of inventories here in the United States?

瓦希德，我只是想開始。您能否提供專門針對 Switchblade 300 和 600 的更新？您在 23 財年的收入中提到或暗示的 300 筆資金積壓中，有多少是與 Switchblade 進入烏克蘭相關的銷售，無論是直接進入烏克蘭還是作為美國補充庫存的一部分？

So Ken, the mix of backlog so far is somewhat evenly divided between the product lines. And as I mentioned in my remarks, we expect significantly more new orders for Switchblade over the next 4 to 6 months for the 2 specific reasons you mentioned: one, to provide more switch blades to Ukraine through the U.S. government; and two, to also backfill the depleted inventories of the U.S. DoD that they've already drawn from to help Ukraine with so far.

所以，Ken，到目前為止，積壓的混合在產品線之間有點平均分配。正如我在講話中提到的，我們預計未來 4 到 6 個月會有更多的 Switchblade 新訂單，原因有你提到的 2 個具體原因：第一，通過美國政府向烏克蘭提供更多的 Switch Blade；第二，還回填美國國防部已經耗盡的庫存，到目前為止，他們已經從中提取了這些庫存來幫助烏克蘭。

So I would say, as of now, the mix of our backlog is evenly distributed. It's not heavily tilted towards Switchblade yet, but we do have line of visibility to several additional contracts and orders that are in the works through the U.S. DoD and some of our allies that should make it into orders in the next few months.

所以我想說，到目前為止，我們的積壓工作是均勻分佈的。它還沒有嚴重傾向於 Switchblade，但我們確實可以看到美國國防部和我們的一些盟友正在製定的其他幾份合同和訂單，這些合同和訂單應該會在未來幾個月內成為訂單。

Okay. That's helpful. And just as a follow-up, is it possible maybe to quantify the impact of the supply chain on the fiscal first quarter? And what's your visibility on if that's getting better? Is it steady? Is it stable? I mean how do we think about that impact as it flows through the rest of the fiscal year?

好的。這很有幫助。作為後續行動，是否有可能量化供應鏈對第一財季的影響？如果情況好轉，您的能見度如何？穩定嗎？穩定嗎？我的意思是，我們如何看待這種影響，因為它貫穿本財年的剩餘時間？

Sure. You're welcome, Ken. So definitely, supply chain remains to be a headwind for everyone around the world that I know of, and we talk to in our industry as well, and that's no different for us. We are managing it very successfully by proactively working with suppliers, with the U.S. DoD, with the Office of the Secretary Defense, with the distributors of our suppliers and many, many other activities that we've got going.

當然。不客氣，肯。因此，毫無疑問，供應鏈對於我所知道的世界各地的每個人來說仍然是一個逆風，我們也在我們的行業中與之交談，這對我們來說沒有什麼不同。通過與供應商、美國國防部、國防部長辦公室、我們供應商的分銷商以及我們正在進行的許多其他活動積極合作，我們非常成功地管理它。

For Q1, the results really were threefold. One, it was within or slightly above our expectations, so we're very pleased with the results for Q1 as we expected them to be. If you recall, government continuing resolution for fiscal year 2022 did not end up until sort of March-April time frame. So a lot of the acquisition dollars and funding that the U.S. DoD is expecting to put in contract in government fiscal 2022 is actually being executed now, which is basically going through this month and next month as the last 2 months of it, and that's why there's some delays in contracting in that regard.

對於第一季度，結果確實是三倍。第一，它在我們的預期之內或略高於我們的預期，因此我們對第一季度的結果感到非常滿意，正如我們預期的那樣。如果你還記得，政府對 2022 財年的持續決議直到 3 月至 4 月的時間框架才結束。因此，美國國防部期望在政府 2022 財年簽訂合同的大量採購資金和資金實際上正在執行，這基本上是本月和下個月的最後兩個月，這就是為什麼在這方面簽訂合同有一些延誤。

And lastly, supply chain still while -- still remains a headwind. We have managed to secure as much of our supply as we can for this fiscal year while there still remains to be some risk. But overall, we feel good about the remainder of this year. We believe that given our position today and all the actions we've taken, including building a little bit in advance where it's prudent, positions us well to be able to achieve our operational plan for this year.

最後，供應鏈仍然存在 - 仍然是逆風。我們已經設法在本財年盡可能多地確保供應，但仍然存在一些風險。但總的來說，我們對今年剩餘時間感覺良好。我們相信，鑑於我們今天的立場以及我們已採取的所有行動，包括在謹慎的情況下提前建設，我們能夠很好地實現我們今年的運營計劃。

Our next question will be coming from Peter Arment of Baird.

我們的下一個問題將來自 Baird 的 Peter Arment。

Wahid, Kevin, I guess I wanted to come back to, I guess, talk about Switchblade as well. Just over the summer, you've had a lot of interest, I think, internationally. Maybe you could just update us on the time line there because it sounds like what you're referring to is the supply chain is particularly impacting your TMS kind of product line, so your ability to kind of fulfill some of the demand that's obviously increasing.

Wahid，Kevin，我想我想回到，我想，也談談 Switchblade。就在整個夏天，我認為你對國際上的興趣很濃厚。也許您可以在那裡更新我們的時間表，因為聽起來您所指的是供應鏈特別影響您的 TMS 類型的產品線，因此您滿足某些明顯增加的需求的能力。

Peter, that's accurate. Overall, most of our products are somewhat affected by the supply chain constraints, the global supply chain constraints, but Switchblade in particular. Because some of the -- as you know, some of the electronics that are within Switchblade are very specific to Switchblade, specifically the warhead and fuse for the arming of the loitering munition, et cetera, et cetera.

彼得，這是準確的。總體而言，我們的大部分產品都受到供應鏈約束、全球供應鏈約束的影響，尤其是 Switchblade。因為如你所知，Switchblade 中的一些電子設備是 Switchblade 特有的，特別是用於武裝遊蕩彈藥的彈頭和保險絲等等。

Overall, I can tell you that the activity level in terms of demand signals is very, very strong for Switchblade and our small UAS overall. It's both domestic as well as international. We are actively engaged on with several countries. The list continues to grow, and most of those engagements are progressing quite well through the acquisition and contracting process. That's why I mentioned on earlier in my remarks that we expect to secure more contracts, and the momentum should continue into our second and third quarter of this fiscal year.

總的來說，我可以告訴你，對於 Switchblade 和我們的小型 UAS 整體而言，需求信號方面的活動水平非常非常強。既是國內的，也是國際的。我們正在與多個國家積極合作。該列表繼續增長，其中大多數參與在收購和承包過程中進展順利。這就是為什麼我在前面的講話中提到我們希望獲得更多合同，而且這種勢頭應該會持續到本財年的第二和第三季度。

Now how much of that demand we can convert to actual sales and revenue for this year is still undetermined because of the timing of those contracts and the supply chain constraints. But we're working at them actively, but what I can say is that we feel good about being able to achieve our current plans given the situation we're in and the visibility that we have within our pipeline.

現在，由於這些合同的時間安排和供應鏈的限制，我們可以將多少需求轉化為今年的實際銷售額和收入仍不確定。但是我們正在積極地為他們工作，但我可以說的是，鑑於我們所處的情況以及我們在管道中的可見性，我們對能夠實現我們目前的計劃感到滿意。

And then lastly, of course, Switchblade has absolutely been an incredible game changer for the Ukraine military through this conflict. Many of the U.S. allies in Europe are awoken by this, and they're really interested in acquiring the capability. We're actively engaged with them on both DCS and FMS cases, and I expect that to continue over the next several months and quarters.

最後，當然，在這場衝突中，Switchblade 絕對是烏克蘭軍方令人難以置信的遊戲規則改變者。許多美國在歐洲的盟友對此感到震驚，他們對獲得這種能力非常感興趣。我們正在積極與他們就 DCS 和 FMS 案件進行接觸，我預計這將在未來幾個月和幾個季度繼續進行。

I'd add to that, that we're also seeing -- it shouldn't get lost that we're seeing increased adoption with the U.S. DoD across a broader class of customers there. So while the international demand is great and the Ukraine war, we're also seeing in the U.S. side, so it's kind of a double whammy.

我要補充一點，我們也看到了——我們看到美國國防部在更廣泛的客戶類別中越來越多地採用這一點不應該迷失。因此，雖然國際需求很大並且烏克蘭戰爭，但我們也看到了美國方面，所以這是一種雙重打擊。

Yes. And then just a follow-up related to this conversation on Switchblade. Wahid, the profitability for this area in TMS, I assume as the international mix grows, particularly if you get more direct, we should expect that to improve. Is that a correct assumption?

是的。然後只是與 Switchblade 上的對話相關的後續行動。 Wahid，我認為隨著國際組合的增長，特別是如果你變得更直接，我們應該期望這種情況會有所改善。這是一個正確的假設嗎？

Yes. So our first quarter profitability was pretty much in line and slightly above our expectations. Usually, we have a lower and unprofitable first quarter, and that over time improves. This year, especially, we do have the backlog. But supply constraints, that's what is really driving some of the revenue and top line for the first half, and that's why we expect about 60% of our revenue to be in the second half. And of course, for the full year, we expect it to be a fairly profitable year for us, way better results than last fiscal year, and we expect that momentum to continue into our government -- our fiscal year 2024. I believe that the demand drivers and the macroeconomic levels. Despite the economy and higher interest rates and inflationary pressures, I believe that we're positioned very well for this fiscal year as well as next fiscal year and beyond.

是的。因此，我們第一季度的盈利能力幾乎符合我們的預期，略高於我們的預期。通常，我們的第一季度業績較低且無利可圖，並且隨著時間的推移會有所改善。尤其是今年，我們確實有積壓的工作。但是供應限制，這才是上半年真正推動部分收入和收入的原因，這就是為什麼我們預計下半年收入的大約 60%。當然，就全年而言，我們預計這對我們來說將是一個相當有利可圖的一年，比上一財年要好得多，我們預計這種勢頭將持續到我們的政府——我們的 2024 財年。我相信需求驅動因素和宏觀經濟水平。儘管經濟和更高的利率和通脹壓力，我相信我們在本財年以及下一財年及以後的情況下都處於非常好的位置。

Our next question will be coming from Austin Moeller of Canaccord Genuity.

我們的下一個問題將來自 Canaccord Genuity 的 Austin Moeller。

Wahid and Kevin, so just my first question here. This has sort of been touched on by a few analysts before me. But within that $307 million backlog as of August 27, how many of those customers are specifically NATO Europe customers that were part of the 20 countries approved by the DoD and the state department a few months ago?

瓦希德和凱文，我的第一個問題。在我之前的一些分析師已經談到了這一點。但在截至 8 月 27 日的 3.07 億美元積壓訂單中，有多少客戶是幾個月前國防部和國務院批准的 20 個國家的一部分的北約歐洲客戶？

So Austin, we have a fairly growing list of international customers, both for Switchblade as well as for our other small UAS products. We're also engaged with multiple countries in our Medium UAS JUMP 20 systems internationally.

所以奧斯汀，我們有相當多的國際客戶名單，包括 Switchblade 以及我們其他小型 UAS 產品。我們還在國際上與多個國家進行了中型 UAS JUMP 20 系統的合作。

I'm not able to comment specifically on the number of customers and company countries, primarily because of the sensitivity of those countries and customers of disclosure. But what I can tell you is that the portfolio of those customers are -- is growing, the demand is healthy, and I expect that to even grow further in the coming months. Majority of those engagements are through the U.S. government and FMS cases. But there is also multiple activities and even unfunded contracts on a DCS basis, which is reflected on our unfunded backlog, which is separate from the $307 million that I mentioned earlier.

我無法具體評論客戶和公司國家的數量，主要是因為這些國家和客戶的披露敏感性。但我可以告訴你的是，這些客戶的投資組合正在增長，需求是健康的，我預計未來幾個月還會進一步增長。其中大部分是通過美國政府和 FMS 案件進行的。但在 DCS 基礎上也有多項活動，甚至沒有資金合同，這反映在我們沒有資金的積壓工作中，這與我之前提到的 3.07 億美元是分開的。

Although we are more bullish on FMS cases for Switchblade than DCS because U.S. government, I believe, generally prefers for this type of loitering munitions to be procured and provided to our allies through FMS cases. Although we have a letter authorizing it for both DCS and FMS, but we feel more optimistic on the FMS sales in general.

儘管我們更看好 Switchblade 的 FMS 案例而不是 DCS，因為我相信美國政府通常更喜歡通過 FMS 案例採購併提供這種類型的遊蕩彈藥給我們的盟友。雖然我們有 DCS 和 FMS 的授權信，但我們總體上對 FMS 的銷售感到更加樂觀。

Okay. That's helpful. And then of the customers that are looking at the JUMP 20 and Medium UAS, how many are looking at buying that kit and bundling it with some Switchblade 300 just given that you can fire those off the wings?

好的。這很有幫助。然後在關注 JUMP 20 和中型 UAS 的客戶中，有多少人正在考慮購買該套件並將其與一些 Switchblade 300 捆綁在一起，因為您可以將它們從機翼上發射出去？

So we have actually demonstrated that capability. Several customers are interested in them. We are actively engaged in those discussions. The number, again, is sensitive to our customers, but I expect long term in the next 2 to 3 years that multiple of our existing Switchblade customers would be highly interested in both our Vapor helicopter as well as our medium JUMP 20 UAS to be equipped with Switchblade, multiple Switchblades, which we have demonstrated both in live demonstrations in real life.

所以我們實際上已經證明了這種能力。有幾個客戶對它們感興趣。我們正在積極參與這些討論。同樣，這個數字對我們的客戶很敏感，但我預計在未來 2 到 3 年的長期內，我們現有的多個 Switchblade 客戶將對我們的 Vapor 直升機以及我們配備的中型 JUMP 20 UAS 高度感興趣使用 Switchblade，多個 Switchblade，我們已經在現實生活中的現場演示中進行了演示。

So I think that not only Switchblade will be successful and grow as its own product line, and similarly, our medium UAS evidence of -- one of the major evidences the Army program, but other platforms and enabling our medium UAS and other platforms with Switchblade become more and more common in the industry over the years to come.

因此，我認為不僅 Switchblade 會成功並作為其自己的產品線發展壯大，同樣，我們的中型 UAS 證明——陸軍計劃的主要證據之一，但其他平台以及使用 Switchblade 啟用我們的中型 UAS 和其他平台在接下來的幾年裡，在行業中變得越來越普遍。

(Operator Instructions) The next question we have is coming from Louie DiPalma of William Blair.

（操作員說明）我們的下一個問題來自 William Blair 的 Louie DiPalma。

Wahid, Kevin and Jonah, has the contract that has been discussed widely in the media for AeroVironment to manufacture and ship 10 Switchblade 600 to Ukraine, has that contract closed yet? And was that responsible for a portion of the increase in backlog during the month of August?

Wahid、Kevin 和 Jonah 已經在媒體上廣泛討論了 AeroVironment 製造和運送 10 台 Switchblade 600 到烏克蘭的合同，該合同已經結束了嗎？這是否是 8 月份積壓訂單增加的部分原因？

Louie, I am not in a position to be able to, again, comment on specific contracts due to the customer sensitivity. What I can tell you is that for Switchblade 600 specifically, we have several, several engagements and contract activities that are near signage or award with the U.S. DoD. They're both for Ukraine as well as some other allies besides Ukraine. And also, a portion of that unfunded backlog that we have is also specifically related to Switchblade 600 when the DCS sales for one of our allies. And so again, but I'm more optimistic on FMS sales of Switchblade in general than DCS, although we remain engaged on both fronts with our customers and the pipeline for both Switchblade 300 and 600 looks quite healthy and growing.

Louie，由於客戶的敏感性，我無法再次對特定合同發表評論。我可以告訴你的是，特別是對於 Switchblade 600，我們有幾項、多項約定和合同活動，接近美國國防部的標誌或獎勵。他們既是為了烏克蘭，也是為了烏克蘭以外的其他一些盟友。而且，當我們的一個盟友的 DCS 銷售時，我們擁有的一部分未獲得資金的積壓也與 Switchblade 600 特別相關。再說一次，但我對 Switchblade 的 FMS 銷售總體上比 DCS 更樂觀，儘管我們仍然在這兩個方面與我們的客戶保持聯繫，而且 Switchblade 300 和 600 的管道看起來相當健康並且正在增長。

And you were successful with the FTUAS Increment 1. And can you remind us how does that win position AeroVironment for that ultimate $1 billion program of record? And how does Increment 2 fit into the mix with the program of record?

您在 FTUAS Increment 1 上取得了成功。您能否提醒我們，AeroVironment 是如何為最終 10 億美元的創紀錄項目贏得位置的？增量 2 如何與記錄程序相結合？

Sure. So Louie, the way that the U.S. Army has so far described and plans to award the future tactical UAS program is as follows. Increment 1 is really critical and was critical for us and for anybody who wins it because it is the first set of air vehicles and systems, where the U.S. Army is going to buy them and provide them to an operating combat brigade. So one combat brigade within the U.S. Army is going to receive a system, and they are going to take that system and basically operate them.

當然。因此，Louie，美國陸軍迄今為止描述併計劃授予未來戰術 UAS 計劃的方式如下。增量 1 真的很關鍵，對我們和任何贏得它的人來說都是至關重要的，因為它是第一套飛行器和系統，美國陸軍將購買它們並將它們提供給作戰旅。因此，美國陸軍中的一個戰鬥旅將接收一個系統，他們將採用該系統並基本上操作它們。

The intent there is to inform the U.S. Army program office of any additional enhancements, improvements or changes to the platform if they see any or to make sure that what they have so far selected is what the operators and users really want and need for their missions.

其目的是通知美國陸軍項目辦公室，如果他們看到任何額外的增強、改進或更改平台，或確保他們迄今為止選擇的內容是運營商和用戶真正想要和需要的任務.

Additionally, in Increment 2, the U.S. Army plans to add additional improvements or enhancements to the performance requirements of the competition, which we are very well aware of. And our goal is to meet those additional expectations ahead of the customers' acquisition process.

此外，在增量 2 中，美國陸軍計劃對競賽的性能要求增加額外的改進或增強，我們非常清楚這一點。我們的目標是在客戶獲取過程之前滿足這些額外的期望。

And so the reason why Increment 1 is so critical is that whoever gets Increment 1 award: A, they get to field systems with the users; and B, are in a much better position than all the other competitors to benefit and be ahead of competition in terms of competing for Increment 2, although Increment 2 will be an open competition. But that will give us an advantage because, so far, according to the U.S. Army, we are the only awardee for Increment 1, and they are proceeding with us only at this time. And based on our engagements with them, they're very happy and satisfied with our systems performance, and they look forward to fielding these systems and working with us to improve and deliver more capability to the military.

因此，增量 1 如此重要的原因在於，無論誰獲得增量 1 獎： A，他們與用戶一起進入現場系統；和 B 在競爭增量 2 方面比所有其他競爭者處於更有利的位置，並且在競爭方面處於領先地位，儘管增量 2 將是一場公開競爭。但這會給我們帶來優勢，因為到目前為止，根據美國陸軍的說法，我們是增量 1 的唯一獲獎者，他們只是在這個時候與我們一起進行。根據我們與他們的接觸，他們對我們的系統性能非常滿意和滿意，他們期待部署這些系統並與我們合作，以改進和為軍隊提供更多能力。

And so once Increment 2 gets awarded, that becomes the official program of record, which is expected to be about $1 billion in the budget process and as part of the acquisition planning process within the U.S. Pentagon and U.S. Army.

因此，一旦 Increment 2 獲得批准，這將成為正式的記錄計劃，預計將在預算過程中花費約 10 億美元，並作為美國五角大樓和美國陸軍採購計劃過程的一部分。

Great. And do you expect that $1 billion to be allocated just to one vendor? Or is it expected to be like multi-company?

偉大的。您是否預計這 10 億美元只會分配給一家供應商？還是預計會像多公司一樣？

That's a great question, Louie. It is not common for the U.S. Army for such set of capabilities, whether it's a Group II, III UAV or a weapon system or another asset that the soldiers or the combat brigades carry for them to actually have multiple options or multiple choices. Because then you force structure, you have to deploy these systems and train the force structure based on more than one set of capabilities.

這是一個很好的問題，路易。對於美國陸軍來說，這種能力並不常見，無論是第 II、III 類無人機還是武器系統或士兵或戰鬥旅攜帶的其他資產，他們實際上有多種選擇或多種選擇。因為那時你要強制結構，所以你必須部署這些系統並根據一組以上的能力訓練部隊結構。

So although the U.S. Army hasn't said definitively that they plan on awarding to 1, that is their plan today, okay? Could that change? Possibly. Is it likely? In my view, the likelihood is low. And primarily, the reason I think the likelihood is low is because the way that the U.S. military and Army operates and trains and does its training, document and supply maintenance and support structure, for having 2 separate systems for this -- for -- and a given combat brigade will make it extremely difficult, if not impossible, to practically implement.

因此，儘管美國陸軍還沒有明確表示他們計劃授予 1，但這是他們今天的計劃，好嗎？那能改變嗎？可能。有可能嗎？在我看來，可能性很小。主要是，我認為可能性很低的原因是因為美國軍隊和陸軍的運作方式和訓練方式，以及進行訓練、記錄和供應維護和支持結構的方式，為此擁有兩個獨立的系統 - 用於 - 和一個特定的戰鬥旅將使實際實施變得極其困難，如果不是不可能的話。

Right. One final question if I may. Are you able to -- I know it's -- this is very -- it might be premature. But are you able to discuss your partnership with Northrop Grumman for the Jackal Switchblade variant that they showcased at the Special Operations Forces conference?

正確的。如果可以的話，還有最後一個問題。你能 - 我知道這是 - 這非常 - 這可能還為時過早。但是您能否討論一下您與諾斯羅普·格魯曼公司在特種作戰部隊會議上展示的 Jackal Switchblade 變體的合作關係？

Yes, I can't comment on that, and we are certainly partnered with Northrop Grumman for a very specific U.S. Army opportunity that's referred to as LRPM, long-range precision munitions, and it's essentially the U.S. Army's version of a Switchblade capability that can be deployed and equipped the U.S. Army military with. That is a very large program which both Northrop and [Aravind] feel that we have a very compelling solution that we should compete and go forward with.

是的，我無法對此發表評論，我們當然與諾斯羅普·格魯曼公司合作，為美國陸軍提供了一個非常具體的機會，稱為 LRPM，遠程精確彈藥，它本質上是美國陸軍版本的 Switchblade 能力，可以部署和裝備美國陸軍軍隊。這是一個非常大的計劃，Northrop 和 [Aravind] 都認為我們有一個非常引人注目的解決方案，我們應該競爭並繼續前進。

So what you saw at that conference, the SOCOM, was where Northrop actually demoed -- displayed the first prototype of the Jackal loitering munition system in public. We are engaged with them. We're very pleased with that partnership. We're making very good progress, and we intend to compete there. And the reason why this is important is because this is another example of how we believe the adoption of loitering munition is going to keep getting more and more momentum, not in the U.S. DoD, but also with majority, if not all of our allies in the next decade. And we're very, very fortunate and pleased to be in a position that we are as the leading provider with a demonstrated, validated, field proven capability that is already fielded by the thousands. And that gives us a significant advantage in the marketplace to be able to capitalize on those opportunities going forward.

所以你在那次會議上看到的 SOCOM 是諾斯羅普實際演示的地方——公開展示了豺狼遊蕩彈藥系統的第一個原型。我們與他們訂婚。我們對這種夥伴關係非常滿意。我們取得了很好的進展，我們打算在那裡競爭。這一點之所以重要，是因為這是另一個例子，說明我們如何相信游盪彈藥的採用將繼續獲得越來越多的勢頭，不是在美國國防部，而是在我們的大多數盟友（如果不是所有盟友）中下一個十年。我們非常、非常幸運並且很高興能夠成為領先的供應商，擁有經過驗證、經過現場驗證的能力，已經被數千人使用。這使我們在市場上具有顯著優勢，能夠利用這些未來的機會。

Our next question will be coming from Brian Ruttenbur of Imperial Capital.

我們的下一個問題將來自 Imperial Capital 的 Brian Ruttenbur。

A couple of quick questions. First of all, back to supply chain. What we're hearing is the supply chain from a number of companies is at least visibly starting to get better, that 6 to 9 months, things should be dramatically improved from where they are now. I know you made a comment about supply chain still having -- that you're still having issues there. Can you comment about what you're seeing in the next couple of quarters in terms of visibility on the supply chain?

幾個快速的問題。首先，回到供應鏈。我們聽到的是，許多公司的供應鏈至少明顯開始好轉，在 6 到 9 個月內，情況應該會比現在有了顯著改善。我知道您對供應鏈仍然存在發表評論 - 您仍然存在問題。您能否就供應鏈的可見性發表評論一下您在接下來幾個季度看到的情況？

Brian, the supply chain situation really is extremely dynamic and changes literally on a daily basis. Since we are a prime system contractor and provider of a system solution to our customer, we deal with a variety of different products, not just one set of specific electronics or that. We buy composite material, motors, semiconductors, microprocessors, lenses, gimbal cameras, et cetera, et cetera, so battery packs, battery systems, et cetera. So our needs is pretty broad, and our portfolio is pretty wide and large as well. So the profile of supply chain constraint changes on every one of those categories on a very, very fast-paced basis. Number one.

布賴恩，供應鏈情況確實非常動態，並且每天都在變化。由於我們是主要的系統承包商和為客戶提供系統解決方案的供應商，我們處理各種不同的產品，而不僅僅是一套特定的電子產品或其他產品。我們購買複合材料、電機、半導體、微處理器、鏡頭、雲台相機等等，還有電池組、電池系統等等。所以我們的需求非常廣泛，我們的產品組合也非常廣泛和龐大。因此，供應鏈約束的情況在這些類別中的每一個都以非常、非常快的速度發生變化。第一。

Number two, as I mentioned in my remarks, we have received authorization from the Pentagon, U.S. Department of Commerce and Department of Defense, a authorization that allows us to go with our suppliers and place at-risk orders ahead of actual U.S. government contract signed for the demand that the U.S. DoD is forecasting for Ukraine and for the U.S. DoD at a DO priority rating level. That is a very difficult authorization, which is to my knowledge almost unprecedented. But the U.S. DoD has given us that authorization, and we're engaged already the last 2 months with our suppliers on all of our at-risk orders and non-at-risk orders to be able to secure that.

第二，正如我在講話中提到的，我們已獲得五角大樓、美國商務部和國防部的授權，該授權允許我們與供應商合作，並在實際簽署美國政府合同之前下達風險訂單美國國防部預測烏克蘭和美國國防部在 DO 優先評級級別的需求。這是一個非常困難的授權，據我所知，這幾乎是前所未有的。但是美國國防部已經給了我們授權，並且我們已經在過去 2 個月與我們的供應商就我們所有的風險訂單和非風險訂單進行了接觸，以確保能夠確保這一點。

So while I cannot give you a very clear picture, we see improvements in some areas, but we also see some areas that are stagnant. And I would say that the 2 areas that are still of the highest need for us is some semiconductors and processors that go into the Switchblade systems as well as a critical sort of components that go into the Switchblade warhead. And we're working those, as I said, from many, many different angles.

因此，雖然我不能給你一個非常清晰的畫面，但我們在某些領域看到了改進，但我們也看到了一些停滯不前的領域。我想說，我們仍然最需要的兩個領域是一些進入 Switchblade 系統的半導體和處理器，以及進入 Switchblade 彈頭的關鍵組件。正如我所說，我們正在從許多不同的角度開展這些工作。

But it is a -- and Department of Defense, the office of the Secretary of Defense for sustainment and acquisition is directly engaged with us on a weekly basis, is working and actively making phone calls with us and reaching out our suppliers to try to solve this. And that has been very helpful, but it's still not sufficient to be able to give us a 100% confidence yet. But we feel pretty good about our position and ability to be able to deliver on our expectations this year.

但這是一個 - 國防部，負責維持和採購的國防部長辦公室每週與我們直接接觸，正在積極與我們通電話，並與我們的供應商聯繫以試圖解決這個。這非常有幫助，但仍然不足以讓我們有 100% 的信心。但我們對我們今年能夠實現預期的地位和能力感到非常滿意。

Right. And as a bolt-on to that, just as a follow-up, gross margins, you said, are going to be flat to slightly up. Is that because of the supply chain? Or is that because of the rising cost and you price a lot of your deliverables years in advance and prices are rising? Is it a combination of those 2 factors? Or is it one versus the other?

正確的。作為對此的補充，正如您所說，毛利率將持平或略有上升。是因為供應鏈嗎？或者是因為成本上升，並且您提前幾年為許多可交付成果定價並且價格正在上漲？它是這兩個因素的組合嗎？或者是一個對另一個？

That's accurate, Brian. It is basically a combination of both. So we expect the gross margins for the full year to be at or slightly above last fiscal year's gross margins, and the reason why it's going to be up is because the mix of our products revenues changed favorably to more hardware sales and product sales versus services and also a heavier dose of international sales versus domestic sales, which also gives us a better margin profile. Now that is offset, to some extent, by some increases in supply chain constrained costs and expenses, expediting of parts, some material cost because of the macroeconomic levels, the pricing increases, et cetera, et cetera.

沒錯，布賴恩。它基本上是兩者的結合。因此，我們預計全年的毛利率將與上一財年的毛利率持平或略高於上一財年的毛利率，之所以會上升，是因為我們的產品收入組合發生了有利的變化，硬件銷售和產品銷售與服務相比有所改善與國內銷售相比，國際銷售的劑量也更大，這也給了我們更好的利潤率。現在這在一定程度上被供應鏈限製成本和費用的一些增加、零件的加速、由於宏觀經濟水平導致的一些材料成本、價格上漲等等所抵消。

Now having said all that, we have already taken some active steps to adjust our prices where we can, which we can -- in many, many cases, we can. But the effect of that is not immediate. We always work with our customers to make sure we plan with their budgets accordingly and what they have put in their budgets. So we do not want to surprise them at the last minute, and we are working with them to make sure that they can accommodate those and we can justify those increases as time moves forward. So that's the reason why I think for this fiscal year, it will be either at or slightly above and hopefully even better next year.

現在說了這麼多，我們已經採取了一些積極的措施來調整我們的價格，我們可以——在很多很多情況下，我們可以。但這並不是立竿見影的效果。我們始終與客戶合作，以確保我們根據他們的預算以及他們在預算中的投入進行計劃。因此，我們不想在最後一刻讓他們感到驚訝，我們正在與他們合作，以確保他們能夠適應這些情況，並且隨著時間的推移，我們可以證明這些增加是合理的。所以這就是我認為本財年的原因，它會達到或略高於，並希望明年會更好。

Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, thank you again for participating, and we look forward to speaking with you again next quarter. You may all disconnect. Have a wonderful evening.

謝謝你。女士們，先生們，再次感謝您的參與，我們期待下個季度再次與您交談。你們都可以斷開連接。度過一個美好的夜晚。