AeroVironment Inc (AVAV) 2024 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Good day, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the AeroVironment Fiscal Year 2024 First Quarter Conference Call. (Operator Instructions) Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded.

美好的一天，感謝您的支持。歡迎參加 AeroVironment 2024 財年第一季度電話會議。 （操作員指示）請注意，今天的會議正在錄製中。

I would now like to hand the conference over to your speaker today, Jonah Teeter-Balin. Please go ahead.

我現在想把會議交給今天的發言人喬納·蒂特-巴林。請繼續。

Thanks, and good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to AeroVironment's fiscal year 2024 first quarter earnings call. This is Jonah Teeter-Balin, Senior Director of Corporate Development and Investor Relations.

謝謝，女士們先生們，下午好。歡迎參加 AeroVironment 2024 財年第一季度財報電話會議。我是喬納·蒂特-巴林 (Jonah Teeter-Balin)，公司發展和投資者關係高級總監。

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. These statements involve many risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from our expectations.

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。這些陳述涉及許多風險和不確定性，可能導致實際結果與我們的預期存在重大差異。

Further information on these risks and uncertainties is contained in the company's 10-K and other filings with the SEC, in particular, in the risk factors and forward-looking statement portions of such filings. Copies are available from the SEC on the AeroVironment website at www.avinc.com or from our Investor Relations team.

有關這些風險和不確定性的更多信息包含在該公司向 SEC 提交的 10-K 和其他文件中，特別是此類文件的風險因素和前瞻性聲明部分。副本可從 SEC 的 AeroVironment 網站 www.avic.com 或我們的投資者關係團隊獲取。

This afternoon, we also filed a slide presentation with our earnings release and posted the presentation to the Investors section of our website under Events and Presentations.

今天下午，我們還提交了一份幻燈片演示文稿和我們的收益報告，並將演示文稿發佈到我們網站的“投資者”部分的“活動和演示文稿”下。

The content of this conference call contains time-sensitive information that is accurate only as of today, September 5, 2023]. 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時效性信息，僅截至今天（2023 年 9 月 5 日）準確。該公司沒有義務對我們今天的言論中包含的任何前瞻性陳述進行任何修改，也沒有義務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.

今天與我一起參加 AeroVironment 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。

We will now begin with remarks from Wahid Nawabi. Wahid?

現在我們將首先聽取瓦希德·納瓦比的講話。瓦希德？

Thank you, Jonah. Welcome, everyone, to our fiscal year 2024 first quarter earnings conference call. I will start by summarizing our performance and recent achievements, after which Kevin will review our financial results in the greater detail. I will then provide information related to the outlook for fiscal year 2024, after which Kevin, Jonah and I will take your questions.

謝謝你，喬納。歡迎大家參加我們的 2024 財年第一季度收益電話會議。我將首先總結我們的業績和最近取得的成就，然后凱文將更詳細地回顧我們的財務業績。然後我將提供與 2024 財年展望相關的信息，之后凱文、喬納和我將回答你們的問題。

I'm pleased to report that we are off to a very strong first quarter and we believe we're on track for our best year ever.

我很高興地向大家報告，我們的第一季度業績非常強勁，我們相信我們將迎來有史以來最好的一年。

Our key messages, which are also included on Slide #3 of our earnings presentation, are as follows. First, first quarter revenue rose to $152 million, a 40% increase year-over-year and our best Q1 in AV's history. This reflects robust demand for our market-leading intelligent unmanned systems domestically and abroad. Second, our funded backlog rose to a new record at $540 million, up from $424 million at the start of fiscal year 2024. This backlog reflects $268 million of new bookings during the first quarter.

我們的關鍵信息如下，也包含在我們收益演示的幻燈片#3 中。首先，第一季度收入增至 1.52 億美元，同比增長 40%，是 AV 歷史上最好的第一季度。這反映出國內外對我們市場領先的智能無人系統的強勁需求。其次，我們的積壓訂單從 2024 財年年初的 4.24 億美元上升至 5.4 億美元，創下新紀錄。這一積壓訂單反映出第一季度新增預訂量為 2.68 億美元。

Third, we recently announced that AV will purchase privately-held Tomahawk Robotics, enabling multi-domain control of a wide variety of unmanned solutions from one user interface. And fourth, we're raising our previously issued guidance for fiscal year 2024, which I will cover later in more detail.

第三，我們最近宣布 AV 將購買私人持有的 Tomahawk Robotics，從而能夠通過一個用戶界面對各種無人解決方案進行多域控制。第四，我們提高了之前發布的 2024 財年指引，我將在稍後詳細介紹。

Gross margin for the first quarter was $65.7 million, an increase of 95% versus last fiscal year's $33.7 million, and our gross margin as a percentage of sales rose to 43% from 31% in fiscal year 2023. We continue to expect gross margins to remain strong in fiscal year 2024 as our revenue mix shifts to more favorable product sales.

第一季度的毛利率為6570 萬美元，比上一財年的3370 萬美元增長了95%，我們的毛利率佔銷售額的百分比從2023 財年的31% 上升到43%。我們繼續預計毛利率將隨著我們的收入結構轉向更有利的產品銷售，我們在 2024 財年保持強勁。

Overall, fiscal year 2024 is off to a great start and we're squarely on track to meet our increased outlook for the full year.

總體而言，2024 財年有了一個良好的開端，我們完全有望實現全年增長的預期。

Global trends continue to support broader long-term adoption of our solutions and we aim to take the company to new levels in both scale and performance this year and beyond. In line with our strategy, we recently agreed to acquire Tomahawk Robotics for $120 million, a leader in AI-enabled robotic common control systems and open standard communication technologies. We believe this transaction will enable AV to provide a deeper, broader and simpler integration between our own and other unmanned solutions, making it easier for our customers to successfully operate a variety of unmanned solutions in the field.

全球趨勢繼續支持我們的解決方案得到更廣泛的長期採用，我們的目標是在今年及以後將公司的規模和業績提升到新的水平。根據我們的戰略，我們最近同意以 1.2 億美元收購 Tomahawk Robotics，這是人工智能機器人通用控制系統和開放標准通信技術領域的領導者。我們相信，此次交易將使AV能夠在我們自己的和其他無人解決方案之間提供更深入、更廣泛和更簡單的集成，使我們的客戶更容易在現場成功運營各種無人解決方案。

Tomahawk's technology will streamline the operation of AV family of unmanned systems, enabling our users to achieve their missions with greater efficiency and simplicity. Tomahawk's Kinesis Ecosystem provides unmatched tactical capabilities utilizing an AI-enhanced open architecture control system that -- operating -- that seamlessly integrates any unmanned assets, providing a common operating picture for the operator. We expect Kinesis to enable AV's products to achieve an elevated modular open systems approach, which is in high demand by customers across the globe.

Tomahawk 的技術將簡化 AV 系列無人系統的操作，使我們的用戶能夠以更高的效率和簡單性完成任務。 Tomahawk 的 Kinesis 生態系統利用人工智能增強的開放式架構控制系統提供無與倫比的戰術能力，該系統可無縫集成任何無人資產，為操作員提供通用的操作畫面。我們期望 Kinesis 能夠使 AV 的產品實現更高的模塊化開放系統方法，這是全球客戶的高需求。

In addition, combining features of AV's Crysalis operating system with the Kinesis platform means pairing the best common controller technology with the most ubiquitous unmanned systems on the market today. AV and Tomahawk have been working together over the past few years, integrating Tomahawk's Kinesis control system with AV's small unmanned aircraft family of systems, including Raven B and Puma 3 AE.

此外，將 AV 的 Crysalis 操作系統的功能與 Kinesis 平台相結合意味著將最好的通用控制器技術與當今市場上最普遍的無人系統相結合。 AV 和 Tomahawk 在過去幾年中一直合作，將 Tomahawk 的 Kinesis 控制系統與 AV 的小型無人機系統系列（包括 Raven B 和 Puma 3 AE）集成。

Through our partnership, we have gained first-hand knowledge of the solutions that Tomahawk offers and we're confident that the combined experience and expertise of our 2 teams will result in a variety of unmatched unmanned expeditionary vehicles that meet our customers' emerging needs and exacting standards.

通過我們的合作夥伴關係，我們獲得了戰斧提供的解決方案的第一手知識，我們相信，我們兩個團隊的經驗和專業知識相結合將產生各種無與倫比的無人駕駛遠征車輛，滿足客戶的新興需求和嚴格的標準。

Once the transaction closes, which we expect to occur later this quarter, Tomahawk will operate an additional product line reporting into our Unmanned Systems segment led by Senior Vice President and General Manager, Trace Stevenson. We expect this transaction to drive incremental revenues, adjacent market growth opportunities and product performance synergies driven by the integration of our [prospective] technologies.

一旦交易完成（我們預計將在本季度晚些時候完成），Tomahawk 將運營一條額外的產品線，向我們的無人系統部門匯報，由高級副總裁兼總經理 Trace Stevenson 領導。我們預計此次交易將推動收入增量、鄰近市場增長機會以及由我們的[前瞻性]技術整合驅動的產品性能協同效應。

All of this should drive increased shareholder value. We will provide updated guidance during our second quarter earnings call, reflecting the impact of this transaction to our anticipated fiscal year 2024 performance.

所有這些都將推動股東價值的增加。我們將在第二季度財報電話會議上提供最新指引，反映此次交易對我們預期 2024 財年業績的影響。

Before turning to the product lines results, I want to remind everyone that we consolidated our businesses into 3 reporting segments at the beginning of this fiscal year: Unmanned Systems, Loitering Munitions and MacCready Works.

在討論產品線業績之前，我想提醒大家，我們在本財年年初將業務合併為 3 個報告部門：無人系統、徘徊彈藥和 MacCready Works。

Starting with our Unmanned Systems segment, revenue grew 45% year-over-year to a record $98.2 million. Shipments during the quarter were driven by strong demand across a broad range of products, particularly our Puma systems which are urgently needed overseas. We continue to deliver Puma LE and Puma 3 AE systems through last year's large Ukraine foreign military sales order, but are nearly through the $176 million ceiling value, with a portion to be delivered in the second quarter. Looking ahead, our backlog remains robust.

從我們的無人系統部門開始，收入同比增長 45%，達到創紀錄的 9820 萬美元。本季度的出貨量受到多種產品的強勁需求推動，特別是海外急需的 Puma 系統。我們繼續通過去年的烏克蘭大型對外軍售訂單交付 Puma LE 和 Puma 3 AE 系統，但已接近 1.76 億美元的上限，其中一部分將在第二季度交付。展望未來，我們的積壓訂單仍然強勁。

Moving to our JUMP 20 system. We recently secured a $42 million contract from the U.S. Army for the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, or USAI. JUMP 20 will be the first Group 3 UAS platform provided by the U.S. Department of Defense to Ukraine. This is also the largest aircraft platform that the U.S. DoD has provided to Ukraine so far.

轉向我們的 JUMP 20 系統。我們最近從美國陸軍獲得了一份價值 4200 萬美元的烏克蘭安全援助計劃 (USAI) 合同。 JUMP 20將是美國國防部向烏克蘭提供的第一個第3組無人機平台。這也是美國國防部迄今為止向烏克蘭提供的最大的飛機平台。

We plan to ship these systems during this -- our second quarter of this fiscal year. We remain confident that our JUMP 20 is the most mature and capable solution in its class. We also recently finalized a 10-year technical [assistant] agreement with Mexico for JUMP 20 systems, allowing AV to continue providing UAS support and training to the government of Mexico's armed forces through the foreseeable future. The Mexican armed forces continue to rely upon JUMP 20 as the only Group 3 UAS platform in their operations.

我們計劃在本財年第二季度交付這些系統。我們仍然相信，我們的 JUMP 20 是同類產品中最成熟、最強大的解決方案。我們最近還與墨西哥就 JUMP 20 系統達成了一項為期 10 年的技術[助理]協議，使 AV 能夠在可預見的未來繼續為墨西哥政府武裝部隊提供無人機系統支持和培訓。墨西哥武裝部隊繼續依賴 JUMP 20 作為其行動中唯一的第 3 組無人機平台。

With an unmanned ground vehicles, or UGV, we recently achieved -- received an [out] order from the Danish Ministry of Defense for 21 ground robot systems, a mix of telemax and tEODor products, which are the first for that nation.

憑藉無人地面車輛 (UGV)，我們最近獲得了丹麥國防部的一份訂單，採購 21 套地面機器人系統，其中包括 telemax 和 tEODor 產品，這在該國尚屬首次。

We've also delivered the initial batch of 5 UGV systems to the Netherlands under a prior 30 robot contract. At the same time, we continue to mark progress providing UGVs to Ukraine on an accelerated schedule, which are performing life-saving [EUG] emissions in the field. Given our growing backlog across the entire Unmanned Systems segment, we are confident we're on track for another great year.

我們還根據之前的 30 台機器人合同向荷蘭交付了第一批 5 台 UGV 系統。與此同時，我們繼續加快向烏克蘭提供 UGV 的進度，這些車輛正在現場執行拯救生命的 [EUG] 排放。鑑於我們整個無人系統領域的積壓訂單不斷增加，我們相信我們將迎來又一個偉大的一年。

Moving to our Loitering Munitions segment. I'm pleased to say that growth continues with sales up 34% year-over-year. This reflects Switchblade shipments to an expanding number of allied countries across the globe. Recent demand for Switchblade 300 and 600 systems has been largely driven through the latest U.S. AI and the U.S. government.

轉向我們的徘徊彈藥部分。我很高興地說，銷售量同比增長 34%，持續增長。這反映出 Switchblade 向全球越來越多的盟國發貨。最近對 Switchblade 300 和 600 系統的需求主要是通過最新的美國人工智能和美國政府推動的。

The U.S. Army recently awarded us another contract for Switchblade 600 loitering munitions in support of the USAI. At the same time, we anticipate the U.S. government will continue to backfill and increase depleted DoD stockpiles. Additionally, we are responding to a request for information, or RFI, related to the U.S. Marine Corps Organic Precision Fire, or OPF, program.

美國陸軍最近授予我們另一份 Switchblade 600 徘徊彈藥合同，以支持 USAI。與此同時，我們預計美國政府將繼續補充和增加耗盡的國防部庫存。此外，我們正在回應與美國海軍陸戰隊有機精確火力（OPF）計劃相關的信息請求（RFI）。

Overall, we anticipate both U.S. and international demand for our loitering munitions systems to remain strong through the rest of fiscal year 2024.

總體而言，我們預計美國和國際對我們的巡飛彈藥系統的需求在 2024 財年剩餘時間內將保持強勁。

It is also important to mention that the last batch of our Switchblade 300 Block 10C configuration has been shipped and we have transitioned to the next-generation Block 20 variant. Switchblade 300 Block 20 features significantly more endurance, a tablet-based fire control system and other enhanced performance capabilities. Switchblade 300 Block 20 has successfully completed the U.S. Army safety confirmation certification and is now being delivered to customers.

還值得一提的是，我們的最後一批 Switchblade 300 Block 10C 配置已經發貨，我們已經過渡到下一代 Block 20 變體。 Switchblade 300 Block 20 具有顯著提高的耐用性、基於平板電腦的火控系統和其他增強的性能功能。 Switchblade 300 Block 20已成功完成美國陸軍安全確認認證，現已交付給客戶。

Moving to our MacCready Works segment. I'm pleased to report that segment revenues also grew 31% year-over-year to $23.2 million. We're also making solid progress in our stratospheric solar HAPS program. We successfully completed further flight test using a smaller scale version of the new Sunglider aircraft.

轉到我們的 MacCready Works 部分。我很高興地報告，該部門的收入也同比增長了 31%，達到 2,320 萬美元。我們的平流層太陽能 HAPS 計劃也取得了紮實的進展。我們使用新型 Sunglider 飛機的小型版本成功完成了進一步的飛行測試。

These tests allow our team to collect and analyze large amounts of data, which could not otherwise be obtained from computer-based simulations. We will now apply these learnings to our next-generation Sunglider, while at the same time, working with the FAA for type certification.

這些測試使我們的團隊能夠收集和分析大量數據，而這些數據是無法通過基於計算機的模擬獲得的。我們現在將把這些知識應用到我們的下一代 Sunglider 中，同時與 FAA 合作進行型號認證。

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

現在，我想將電話轉給凱文·麥克唐納，以審查第一季度的財務狀況。凱文？

Thank you, Wahid. Today, I will be reviewing the highlights of our first quarter performance, during which I will occasionally refer to both our press release and earnings presentation available on the website. Also, there is an 8-K available on our website, which recaps our historical results into the new segments.

謝謝你，瓦希德。今天，我將回顧我們第一季度業績的亮點，在此期間我偶爾會參考網站上提供的新聞稿和收益報告。此外，我們的網站上還提供 8-K，它將我們的歷史結果概括為新的細分市場。

Overall, we started the first quarter extremely strong in terms of backlog, revenue, adjusted gross margins and adjusted EBITDA. As Wahid mentioned in his remarks, revenue for the first quarter of fiscal 2024 was $152.3 million, an increase of 40% as compared to the $108.5 million from the first quarter of fiscal 2023.

總體而言，我們在第一季度開始時在積壓訂單、收入、調整後毛利率和調整後 EBITDA 方面都非常強勁。正如瓦希德在講話中提到的，2024財年第一季度的收入為1.523億美元，比2023財年第一季度的1.085億美元增長了40%。

Slide 5 of the earnings presentation provides a breakdown of revenue by segment for the quarter. Our largest segment during the quarter was Unmanned Systems, or UMS, which is a combination of our small UAS, medium UAS and UGV businesses with revenue of $98.2 million, an increase of 45% from last year's $67.8 million, driven primarily by our small UAS business unit, which shipped systems to 8 international countries during the quarter.

收益報告的幻燈片 5 提供了本季度按部門劃分的收入細目。本季度我們最大的細分市場是無人系統（UMS），它是我們的小型UAS、中型UAS 和UGV 業務的組合，收入為9,820 萬美元，比去年的6,780 萬美元增長45%，這主要是由我們的小型UAS 推動的業務部門，該部門在本季度向 8 個國際國家運送系統。

Loitering Munitions Systems, or LMS, recorded revenue of $30.9 million, a 34% increase compared to the $23 million last year during Q1. LMS demand continues to be driven by strong U.S. and international orders.

Loitering Munitions Systems (LMS) 的收入為 3090 萬美元，比去年第一季度的 2300 萬美元增長了 34%。 LMS 需求繼續受到強勁的美國和國際訂單的推動。

Revenue from our MacCready Works segment came in at $23.2 million, an increase of 31% compared to the $17.7 million from the first quarter of last fiscal year. We continue to see strong demand in MacCready Works services within the various agencies of the U.S. DoD and U.S. government, in particular, increasing demand for incorporation of our computer vision, autonomy and AI capabilities.

MacCready Works 部門的收入為 2,320 萬美元，比上一財年第一季度的 1,770 萬美元增長了 31%。我們繼續看到美國國防部和美國政府各機構對 MacCready Works 服務的強勁需求，特別是對我們的計算機視覺、自主和人工智能功能的整合需求不斷增加。

In Slide 5 of the earnings presentation, there's a breakdown between product and service revenue. Specifically, during the first quarter, product revenues accounted for 78% of total revenues, a notable increase from 53% in the corresponding quarter of the previous year due to strong product revenues from our small UAS business and to a lesser extent from lower MUAS COCO service operations with the closure of all the [site] locations.

在收益演示的幻燈片 5 中，對產品和服務收入進行了細分。具體來說，第一季度，產品收入佔總收入的78%，較上年同期的53%顯著增長，原因是我們的小型無人機業務的產品收入強勁，以及較小程度上來自較低的MUAS COCO關閉所有[站點]地點的服務運營。

For the remainder of fiscal 2024, we expect product sales to remain above 70% of total revenue, but expect LMS sales to increase as the percentage of product sales, which will have an impact of lowering overall product gross margins.

在2024財年剩餘時間內，我們預計產品銷售額將保持在總收入的70%以上，但預計LMS銷售額佔產品銷售額的百分比將增加，這將產生降低整體產品毛利率的影響。

Now turning to 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 adjusted gross margins, which excludes the intangible amortization and other non-cash purchase accounting items.

現在轉向毛利率。收益報告的幻燈片 6 顯示了調整後產品和服務毛利率的趨勢，而幻燈片 12 將 GAAP 毛利率與調整後毛利率進行了調節，其中不包括無形攤銷和其他非現金購買會計項目。

In the first quarter, consolidated GAAP gross margins finished at 43%, up compared to 31% in the previous year. The improvement in GAAP gross margins was largely a result of improved product service mix and strong product gross margins. In addition, gross margins were favorably impacted by a decrease of $4 million of depreciation on COCO ISR assets.

第一季度，綜合 GAAP 毛利率為 43%，高於去年同期的 31%。公認會計原則毛利率的改善主要歸功於產品服務組合的改善和強勁的產品毛利率。此外，COCO ISR 資產折舊減少 400 萬美元，對毛利率產生了有利影響。

Adjusted gross margins for the first quarter were 45% compared to 34% in the first quarter of last year. The improvement in adjusted gross margins was also driven by the improved service mix and strong product gross margins.

第一季度調整後毛利率為 45%，而去年第一季度為 34%。調整後毛利率的改善也得益於服務組合的改善和產品毛利率的強勁。

Adjusted product gross margins for the quarter were 49% versus 44% in the first quarter of fiscal -- of last fiscal year, again, to a higher mix of revenue from our small UAS products during the quarter. In terms of adjusted gross -- service gross margins, the first quarter was at 28% versus 22% during the same quarter last year, again, due to the closure of the MUAS COCO operation sites.

本季度調整後的產品毛利率為 49%，而上一財年第一季度的毛利率為 44%，同樣是因為本季度我們的小型無人機產品的收入組合更高。就調整後的服務毛利率而言，第一季度為 28%，而去年同期為 22%，這也是由於 MUAS COCO 運營基地的關閉。

We expect adjusted gross margins to continue to be strong during the first half of the year. However, as our product mix shifts, during the second half of the year we expect adjusted gross margins to end up in the high 30s for the year.

我們預計今年上半年調整後的毛利率將繼續強勁。然而，隨著我們的產品結構發生變化，我們預計下半年調整後的毛利率將達到 30 左右的高位。

In terms of adjusted EBITDA, Slide 13 of our earnings presentation shows the reconciliation of GAAP net income to adjusted EBITDA. In the first quarter of fiscal 2024, adjusted EBITDA was $37 million, representing an increase of $24 million or 54%. The main factors contributing to this increase were higher sales volume and favorable sales mix, which was partially offset by incremental SG&A expenses, investments in R&D.

就調整後 EBITDA 而言，我們收益報告的幻燈片 13 顯示了 GAAP 淨利潤與調整後 EBITDA 的調節表。 2024財年第一季度，調整後EBITDA為3700萬美元，增加2400萬美元，增幅54%。促成這一增長的主要因素是更高的銷量和有利的銷售組合，但部分被增量的SG&A費用和研發投資所抵消。

SG&A expense during -- SG&A expense, excluding intangible amortization and acquisition-related expenses for the quarter was $23 million or 15% of revenue compared to the first quarter in fiscal 2023 of $18 million or 16% of revenue. While R&D expense increased modestly year-over-year in dollar terms, R&D expense as a percentage of revenue was 10% versus 14% in the corresponding quarter of last year. R&D will run closer to 12% for the full year as we continue to invest in new products and upgrades to existing products to meet the evolving needs of our customers.

本季度的 SG&A 費用（不包括無形攤銷和收購相關費用）為 2300 萬美元，佔收入的 15%，而 2023 財年第一季度的 SG&A 費用為 1800 萬美元，佔收入的 16%。雖然研發費用以美元計算同比略有增長，但研發費用佔收入的比例為 10%，而去年同期為 14%。隨著我們繼續投資新產品和升級現有產品以滿足客戶不斷變化的需求，全年研發支出將接近 12%。

Now turning to GAAP earnings. In the first quarter, the company generated net income of $21.9 million versus a net loss of $8.4 million recorded in the same period last year. The increase in net income of $30.3 million can be attributed to several factors, mainly $31.9 million increase in gross margin, driven by a rise in sales volume and improvement in revenue mix, a $3.4 million decrease to intangible amortization and a $1.3 million decrease in taxes. This was partially offset by a $1.9 million increase in SG&A expenses, a $0.4 million increase in R&D spending and a $0.2 million increase in unrealized loss on equity-related investments.

現在轉向 GAAP 收益。第一季度，該公司淨利潤為 2190 萬美元，而去年同期淨虧損為 840 萬美元。淨利潤增加 3030 萬美元可歸因於多種因素，主要是由於銷量增加和收入結構改善推動毛利率增加 3190 萬美元、無形攤銷減少 340 萬美元以及稅金減少 130 萬美元。這被 SG&A 費用增加 190 萬美元、研發支出增加 40 萬美元以及股權相關投資未實現損失增加 20 萬美元所部分抵消。

Slide 10 shows the reconciliation of GAAP and adjusted or non-GAAP diluted EPS. The company posted earnings per diluted share of $1 for the first quarter of fiscal 2024 versus $0.08 per diluted share loss for the first quarter of fiscal 2023.

幻燈片 10 顯示了 GAAP 與調整後或非 GAAP 稀釋每股收益的調節。該公司公佈的 2024 財年第一季度稀釋後每股收益為 1 美元，而 2023 財年第一季度稀釋後每股虧損為 0.08 美元。

Turning to the balance sheet. Total cash and investments at the end of the quarter was $128.4 million, which is a decrease of $28 million from the fourth quarter of fiscal 2023. During the quarter, we reduced our long-term debt by $5 million to $130 million.

轉向資產負債表。本季度末的現金和投資總額為 1.284 億美元，比 2023 財年第四季度減少了 2800 萬美元。本季度，我們的長期債務減少了 500 萬美元，達到 1.3 億美元。

Inventories increased $37 million during the quarter of fiscal 2024. Inventories will remain at these levels as we prepare for shipments in the coming quarters and carry extra inventory as a result of supply chain risk minimization. With that said, inventory as a percentage of backlog are in line with recent historical averages and down from COVID period averages.

2024 財年季度庫存增加了 3700 萬美元。我們為未來幾個季度的發貨做準備，並因供應鏈風險最小化而持有額外庫存，庫存將保持在這些水平。話雖如此，庫存佔積壓訂單的百分比與最近的歷史平均水平一致，並且低於新冠疫情期間的平均水平。

We continue to have a strong balance sheet with over $100 million of cash and investments and approximately $100 million available under our working capital facility.

我們繼續擁有強勁的資產負債表，擁有超過 1 億美元的現金和投資，以及我們的營運資本設施下的約 1 億美元的可用資金。

I'd like to conclude with some highlights of our backlog metrics. Slide 8 of the earnings presentation provides a summary of our current fiscal 2024 visibility. As Wahid mentioned, our funded backlog at the end of the first quarter of fiscal 2024 was a record $540 million, an increase of 27% from the prior quarter. Visibility to the midpoint of our revised FY '24 revenue guidance range is over 100%. With our record-setting revenue and backlog, we are positioned well for another record-setting growth year in fiscal 2024.

最後，我想介紹一下我們的待辦事項指標的一些要點。收益演示文稿的幻燈片 8 總結了我們當前 2024 財年的可見性。正如瓦希德提到的，截至 2024 財年第一季度末，我們的資金儲備達到創紀錄的 5.4 億美元，比上一季度增長 27%。我們修訂後的 24 財年收入指導範圍中點的可見度超過 100%。憑藉創紀錄的收入和積壓訂單，我們已做好充分準備，在 2024 財年再創創紀錄的增長。

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. With a record backlog of orders and after a very strong first quarter, we're increasing our guidance for fiscal year 2024 as follows. We anticipate revenue of between $645 million and $675 million. We anticipate non-GAAP adjusted EBITDA of between $117 million and $127 million, representing about 18% of revenue. Net income guidance remains unchanged at $51 million to $59 million or $1.91 to $2.21 per diluted share. This is primarily due to increased R&D investments in support of our strong growth.

謝謝，凱文。由於訂單積壓創歷史新高，且第一季度表現強勁，我們將 2024 財年的指引上調如下。我們預計收入將在 6.45 億美元至 6.75 億美元之間。我們預計非 GAAP 調整後 EBITDA 為 1.17 億美元至 1.27 億美元之間，約佔收入的 18%。淨利潤指引保持在 5100 萬至 5900 萬美元不變，即稀釋後每股收益 1.91 至 2.21 美元。這主要是由於支持我們強勁增長的研發投資增加。

Non-GAAP earnings guidance also remains unchanged between $2.30 and $2.60 per diluted share. We expect R&D investments to be closer to 12% of revenue this fiscal year. As a reminder, we expect a more balanced revenue distribution with roughly 50% of revenues expected to occur in each half of this fiscal year. We now have nearly 100% visibility to the midpoint of our revised revenue guidance.

非 GAAP 盈利指引也保持在每股攤薄後 2.30 美元至 2.60 美元之間不變。我們預計本財年研發投資將接近收入的 12%。提醒一下，我們預計收入分配將更加平衡，大約 50% 的收入預計將出現在本財年的每一半。現在，我們對修訂後的收入指引的中點有近 100% 的了解。

While we are confident in our ability to achieve our guidance, there are also numerous factors at play. This includes working with suppliers to scale their businesses to match our needs as well as securing long lead items.

雖然我們對實現指導目標的能力充滿信心，但還有許多因素在起作用。這包括與供應商合作擴大其業務以滿足我們的需求以及確保長期供貨。

We remain well-positioned to deliver nearly 20% growth in revenue, higher margins and overall improved bottom line results. The investments we're making this year should also position the company for continued growth in years to come.

我們仍然處於有利地位，可以實現近 20% 的收入增長、更高的利潤率和整體改善的利潤。我們今年進行的投資也將為公司在未來幾年的持續增長奠定基礎。

While the overall geopolitical environment as well as battlefield trends towards significant greater use of unmanned platforms support our confidence in the future, we're mindful that the U.S. government is nearing the end of its fiscal year. We, as with most defense contractors, now regularly assume that a continuing resolution is more likely than not, which could impact contract timing.

雖然整體地緣政治環境以及大幅增加使用無人平台的戰場趨勢支持了我們對未來的信心，但我們注意到美國政府的財政年度即將結束。與大多數國防承包商一樣，我們現在經常認為持續解決方案的可能性更大，這可能會影響合同時間。

However, I would say unequivocally that AV remains optimistic about our fiscal year 2024 given broad support for our systems and services. We believe the current administration will continue to provide the necessary budget dollars and prioritization for the type of mission-critical unmanned systems we supply, particularly in contested environment operations.

然而，我要明確地說，鑑於我們的系統和服務得到了廣泛支持，AV 對 2024 財年仍然持樂觀態度。我們相信，現任政府將繼續為我們提供的關鍵任務無人系統類型提供必要的預算資金和優先順序，特別是在有爭議的環境行動中。

We are at the forefront of developing and offering in-demand solutions for autonomy, automatic target recognition and tracking. In addition, the U.S. DoD is investing more in loitering munitions and small unmanned systems, areas where we are well-positioned to thrive.

我們處於開發和提供按需解決方案的前沿，用於自主、自動目標識別和跟踪。此外，美國國防部正在加大對巡飛彈藥和小型無人系統的投資，我們在這些領域有能力蓬勃發展。

Now, let me once again summarize the key points from today's call. First, we delivered record first quarter results, which provide a solid start to fiscal year 2024. Second, our record funded backlog remains at historic levels, reflecting strong global demand for our solutions. Third, the acquisition of Tomahawk Robotics will further improve the outlook for interconnected unmanned solutions and opens new avenues for growth across our product portfolio. And fourth, overall, the fundamentals of our business look better than ever they have in our history and we're well-positioned to continue our growth trajectory as Congress begins laying the groundwork for the fiscal year 2024 budget.

現在，我再次總結一下今天電話會議的要點。首先，我們交付了創紀錄的第一季度業績，為 2024 財年提供了堅實的開端。其次，我們創紀錄的資金積壓仍保持在歷史水平，反映出全球對我們解決方案的強勁需求。第三，收購Tomahawk Robotics將進一步改善互聯無人解決方案的前景，並為我們的產品組合開闢新的增長途徑。第四，總體而言，我們業務的基本面看起來比歷史上任何時候都好，隨著國會開始為 2024 財年預算奠定基礎，我們已做好充分準備繼續我們的增長軌跡。

Before turning the call over to questions, we're also excited to welcome Admiral Phil Davidson to our Board of Directors. Admiral Phil Davidson brings extensive knowledge of battlefield operations, especially in the INDOPACOM theater and the deployment of new defense capabilities. We look forward to the unparalleled strategic counsel and vision he will bring to AV.

在將電話轉入提問之前，我們也很高興歡迎菲爾·戴維森海軍上將加入我們的董事會。菲爾·戴維森上將帶來了戰場作戰的廣泛知識，特別是印太司令部戰區和新防禦能力的部署。我們期待他將為 AV 帶來無與倫比的戰略建議和願景。

I would also like to thank Catharine Merigold for her 8 years of service on our Board of Directors as she is stepping down at our upcoming annual meeting. Her passion for and interest in our company's future were instrumental to our success during her tenure.

我還要感謝凱瑟琳·梅里戈爾德 (Catharine Merigold) 在我們董事會的 8 年服務，她即將在我們即將舉行的年會上卸任。她對我們公司未來的熱情和興趣對我們在她任職期間的成功發揮了重要作用。

And as always, my appreciation to our workforce goes without saying. Without such a dedicated and talented team of professionals, we would not have the market-leading position powered by the cutting-edge technological advancements that we enjoy today. We appreciate all our employees every day just as we do our longstanding investors and other stakeholders in the company. The future continues to look bright and we believe fiscal year 2024 will drive the company to new heights.

一如既往，我對我們員工的感激之情不言而喻。如果沒有這樣一支敬業且才華橫溢的專業團隊，我們就不可能擁有當今尖端技術進步所帶來的市場領先地位。我們每天都感謝所有員工，就像我們感謝公司的長期投資者和其他利益相關者一樣。未來依然光明，我們相信 2024 財年將推動公司達到新的高度。

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

接下來，凱文、喬納和我現在將回答你們的問題。

(Operator Instructions) Our first question will come from the line of Gregory Konrad from Jefferies.

（操作員說明）我們的第一個問題將來自 Jefferies 的 Gregory Konrad。

Great quarter. Maybe just to start on the outlook, I mean, the revenue outlook, it's a pretty big raise 1 quarter in. Can you maybe just talk about what's changed since last quarter? Has there been some risk retirements? Is it orders? And just kind of what's driving that better revenue outlook for the year?

很棒的季度。也許只是從前景開始，我的意思是，收入前景，第一季度有相當大的增長。您能談談自上季度以來發生了什麼變化嗎？是否存在一些退休風險？是命令嗎？是什麼推動了今年更好的收入前景？

Sure. So we're very pleased with how great our team performed on the first quarter, Greg. There are several factors why we raised our guidance for full fiscal year 2024. One is we've had a tremendous first quarter. And our first quarter -- this is a historic first quarter for the company.

當然。所以我們對我們團隊在第一季度的出色表現感到非常滿意，格雷格。我們上調 2024 財年指引的原因有幾個。其中之一是我們第一季度的業績表現出色。我們的第一季度——這對公司來說是歷史性的第一季度。

Second, our backlog, as you saw, is at a historic level also. We have another record on top of a record that we achieved this Q1. And in our visibility to the midpoint of our revised guidance is nearly at 100%. So you can look at that and say, based on our inventory position and ability for us to be able to secure long lead items, we feel fairly strong that at this time, we can achieve the revised guidance range that we provided.

其次，正如您所看到的，我們的積壓也達到了歷史水平。除了第一季度創下的記錄之外，我們又創造了一項記錄。我們對修訂後指導意見中點的可見度接近 100%。因此，您可以看看這一點，並說，根據我們的庫存狀況和我們能夠獲得長交貨期項目的能力，我們非常確信此時我們可以實現我們提供的修訂後的指導範圍。

The demand for our solutions remained very healthy, both domestically and abroad. And I think the whole aerospace and defense industry is in a point of inflection when it comes to small unmanned systems as a distributed architecture of warfare as well as loitering munitions, both categories which we have essentially invented in the marketplace over the last 2 decades. So we're positioned extremely well. The demand seems to be very strong even beyond fiscal 2024. And we felt that at this time, we should raise our guidance to be able to achieve the higher levels of revenue outlook on the top line that we provided.

國內外對我們解決方案的需求仍然非常健康。我認為，當涉及到作為分佈式戰爭架構的小型無人系統以及徘徊彈藥時，整個航空航天和國防工業正處於一個轉折點，這兩個類別基本上都是我們在過去二十年裡在市場上發明的。所以我們的定位非常好。即使在 2024 財年之後，需求似乎也非常強勁。我們認為，此時我們應該提高我們的指導，以便能夠實現我們提供的更高水平的收入前景。

And then maybe just a follow-up. If you can talk about Tomahawk a little bit? You had Progeny, and just kind of how you view the shift from maybe hardware to more software and integration? And how you think about that kind of expanding the addressable market as you get more into control and software side versus the hardware?

然後也許只是後續行動。您能談談戰斧嗎？你們有 Progeny，您如何看待從硬件到更多軟件和集成的轉變？當您更多地進入控制和軟件方面而不是硬件方面時，您如何看待這種擴大潛在市場的方式？

Sure. So I'm glad you asked that question, Greg, because it's a really important point to make here. There are several reasons why we decided to acquire Tomahawk, which we have known by the way, for many, many years. We've worked with them in the past, as I mentioned on my remarks, and we know the technology, the products and their talent very, very well. It's very similar to the Progeny Systems.

當然。所以我很高興你問這個問題，格雷格，因為這是一個非常重要的觀點。我們決定購買戰斧有幾個原因，順便說一下，我們已經知道很多很多年了。正如我在發言中提到的，我們過去曾與他們合作過，我們非常非常了解他們的技術、產品和人才。它與後代系統非常相似。

There's a few key reasons I want to highlight. One, the overall customer trends are, when the warfighters are overwhelmed with so many robotics systems, small, medium, large, extra large, et cetera, et cetera, loitering munitions, ground robot, et cetera, it becomes very difficult for a warfighter to be able to carry multiple ground control stations and tablets and devices to control multiple UAVs.

我想強調幾個關鍵原因。一，總體客戶趨勢是，當戰士們被如此多的機器人系統淹沒時，小型、中型、大型、超大型等等，徘徊彈藥，地面機器人等等，對於戰士來說變得非常困難能夠攜帶多個地面控制站以及平板電腦和設備來控制多架無人機。

So what Tomahawk does, it allows not only AeroVironment robotic systems, but also any other brand of robotic systems to be able to simply integrate together in the battlefield to simplify the life of our customers, meaning the warfighter.

Tomahawk 所做的，它不僅允許 AeroVironment 機器人系統，還允許任何其他品牌的機器人系統能夠在戰場上簡單地集成在一起，以簡化我們客戶（即戰士）的生活。

In addition to that, it also enables a whole bunch of AI-enabled features and technology, which we have been investing and they're investing in as well. So one thing that's really not well known about our offering is that we've been investing in this category of autonomy, GPS-denied operations, contested battlefield environments like the ones that we see and witness every day in Ukraine. AeroVironment has been investing in this area for several years, and we expect that to continue and we're positioned extremely well on that.

除此之外，它還支持大量人工智能功能和技術，我們一直在投資，他們也在投資。因此，關於我們的產品，人們真正不為人所知的一件事是，我們一直在投資此類自主性、GPS 拒絕操作、有爭議的戰場環境，就像我們每天在烏克蘭看到和目睹的那樣。 AeroVironment 多年來一直在這一領域進行投資，我們預計這種投資將繼續下去，並且我們在這方面處於非常有利的位置。

So what Tomahawk does, it helps us accelerate that deployment and adoption and to meet the customers' need while we're better than anybody. So there are several reasons [that] the growth acquisition -- It allows us to grow further and faster and allows us to deliver more value to our customers in order to simplify their, what I call, ecosystem, an environment where they're operating multiple UAVs. Obviously, we just signed and we're going to close that this quarter -- we expect to close it this quarter and we'll provide more color on the financials at that time.

因此，Tomahawk 所做的就是幫助我們加速部署和採用，並在我們比任何人都更好的同時滿足客戶的需求。因此，增長收購有幾個原因——它使我們能夠進一步更快地發展，並允許我們為客戶提供更多價值，以簡化他們的，我所說的生態系統，他們的運營環境多架無人機。顯然，我們剛剛簽署，我們將在本季度結束——我們預計在本季度結束，屆時我們將提供更多有關財務數據的信息。

Our next question comes from the line of Peter Arment from Baird.

我們的下一個問題來自貝爾德 (Baird) 的彼得·阿門特 (Peter Arment)。

Wahid and Kevin, terrific results. Wahid, just a question on the product mix. I don't think we've ever seen you have a report 78% of the mix just kind of in the quarter for products. And I'm just wondering, just given how well your backlog is hitting new record levels, just kind of what we should expect going forward throughout this year, just thinking about service versus products?

瓦希德和凱文，成績非常好。瓦希德，只是關於產品組合的問題。我認為我們從未見過您報告 78% 的產品組合只是在本季度出現的。我只是想知道，考慮到你們的積壓工作達到了新的紀錄水平，這就是我們今年應該期待的事情，只考慮服務與產品？

Peter, as I said in my remarks, yes, we expect the product mix as a percentage of revenue to be more favorable towards products as it was in our Q1. And as you know that product sales generally -- because we invest our R&D in our products, and we sell them as -- majority of them, not all of them, as a commercial item, we enjoy a higher gross margin in that regard, because we invest in them and it's justified to our customers. So for the remainder of this year, we expect the gross margin percentage and the mix of revenue to be more favorable towards product sales and services for fiscal year 2024.

彼得，正如我在發言中所說，是的，我們預計產品組合佔收入的百分比將更有利於產品，就像第一季度一樣。正如你所知，一般來說，產品銷售——因為我們將研發投入到我們的產品中，並且我們將它們作為商業產品出售——其中大多數，不是全部，我們在這方面享有更高的毛利率，因為我們對它們進行投資，這對我們的客戶來說是合理的。因此，在今年剩餘時間裡，我們預計毛利率和收入組合將更有利於 2024 財年的產品銷售和服務。

And then just on the backlog -- the record backlog, can you maybe talk a little bit about how the FMS activity that you're seeing and just the opportunities there? I know you've been able to expand the countries that Switchblade is available for. And of course, you've had a huge installed base in the small UAS category internationally. But how is FMS activity we think about going forward?

然後就待辦事項——創紀錄的待辦事項，您能否談談您所看到的 FMS 活動以及那裡的機會？我知道您已經能夠擴大 Switchblade 的可用國家/地區。當然，小型無人機類別在國際上已經擁有龐大的安裝基礎。但我們如何看待 FMS 活動的未來發展呢？

Sure. So overall, our backlog, as you know -- as I mentioned, is at a record level, again. We had a record backlog entering first quarter of fiscal 2024, last quarter on our earnings call. And we actually built -- beat that or increased that by almost another $100 million this quarter. It is phenomenal how well we've been performing in terms of securing orders and working on growing our backlog.

當然。總的來說，正如你所知，正如我所提到的，我們的積壓工作再次達到了創紀錄的水平。進入 2024 財年第一季度，也就是上個季度的財報電話會議上，我們的積壓量創歷史新高。我們實際上在本季度創造了 - 超過或增加了近 1 億美元。我們在確保訂單和增加積壓訂單方面的表現非常出色。

Many additional FMS cases remain not to be in contract yet from our many allies for loitering munitions. We believe that over the next several quarters and maybe even beyond fiscal '24, we will see more countries placing orders and contracting these -- the demands that they have and the needs they have for loitering munitions.

許多額外的 FMS 案件仍未與我們的許多盟友簽訂關於徘徊彈藥的合同。我們相信，在接下來的幾個季度，甚至可能在 24 財年之後，我們將看到更多的國家下訂單並簽訂合同——他們的需求以及他們對巡飛彈藥的需求。

The Ukraine conflict has essentially put an explanation mark on how effective and important small unmanned systems and loitering munitions are for a near peer kind of a conflict, the one that they are facing with Russia. So our systems have been incredibly vital. And I believe that this is an inflection point as we go into multiple years beyond now.

烏克蘭衝突本質上說明了小型無人系統和巡飛彈藥對於類似的衝突（即他們與俄羅斯面臨的衝突）的有效性和重要性。所以我們的系統非常重要。我相信，隨著我們進入未來的許多年，這是一個轉折點。

This is something that we work for very hard as a company. We've been saying this for a long time. We believe in this value proposition of our solution. And I think our customers are starting to realize that and that's accelerating their needs and requirements for acquiring those things.

這是我們作為一家公司非常努力的目標。這句話我們已經說了很長時間了。我們相信我們解決方案的這一價值主張。我認為我們的客戶開始意識到這一點，這正在加速他們獲取這些東西的需求和要求。

So in short, backlog is very strong for this year. We expect that to remain strong throughout the whole year. And I believe that many additional FMS cases for Switchblade 300 and 600 remains to be not contracted yet. This could be contracted in the future. Those cycles take a little longer, but there's a very healthy pipeline that's being built as we progress throughout this fiscal year, which will help us in future years.

簡而言之，今年的積壓非常多。我們預計這一勢頭全年將保持強勁。我相信 Switchblade 300 和 600 的許多其他 FMS 案例仍未簽訂合同。這可能會在未來簽訂合同。這些週期需要更長的時間，但隨著我們在本財年的進展，正在建立一個非常健康的渠道，這將在未來幾年對我們有所幫助。

(Operator Instructions) And our next question comes from the line of Ken Herbert from RBC.

（操作員說明）我們的下一個問題來自 RBC 的 Ken Herbert。

I wanted to -- Wahid, I wanted to see if I could start out and ask a question on the backlog again. Is it possible to parse out how much of the growth in backlog is maybe direct with [USAID] to Ukraine versus maybe international customers or other U.S. domestic opportunities?

我想——瓦希德，我想看看我是否可以開始再次詢問有關積壓的問題。是否可以分析出有多少積壓訂單的增長可能是直接通過[美國國際開發署]流向烏克蘭，而不是國際客戶或其他美國國內機會？

Ken, unfortunately, because of customer sensitivity, I'm not able to dive -- go further deeper into the colors of the backlog and what. But what I could say is that in general, our backlog is really strong in all 3 of our business segments, our Unmanned Systems segment, our Loitering Munitions segment and our MacCready Works segment. So we have seen significant growth in all of them. The backlog for Loitering Munitions is made up primarily because we only sell those to the U.S. government, including for international opportunities.

肯，不幸的是，由於客戶的敏感性，我無法深入研究積壓的顏色和其他內容。但我可以說的是，總的來說，我們的所有 3 個業務部門（無人系統部門、遊蕩彈藥部門和 MacCready Works 部門）的積壓訂單都非常多。所以我們看到所有這些都顯著增長。徘徊彈藥的積壓得到彌補主要是因為我們只將這些彈藥出售給美國政府，包括為了國際機會。

U.S. DoD has so far decided to fill those requests all through an FMS or USAI case. FMS case is coming through the U.S. Army. So really, the contracting office that handles our Switchblade family of systems for both domestic and international customers has been and remains to be the U.S. military and U.S. Army. The mix of customers in that area is pretty broad. I'm not able to comment on a specific contract or amounts of them because of the sensitivity of the conflicts that we have around the world and our customers.

到目前為止，美國國防部已決定通過 FMS 或 USAI 案例來滿足這些請求。 FMS 案件正在通過美國陸軍處理。事實上，為國內和國際客戶處理 Switchblade 系列系統的承包辦公室一直是美國軍方和美國陸軍。該地區的客戶群非常廣泛。由於我們在世界各地和我們的客戶之間存在的衝突的敏感性，我無法對具體合同或合同金額發表評論。

But it's healthy across the board, and I believe that it's going to stay that way for the foreseeable next -- this year and beyond, hopefully as well. Because, as I said, we'll continue to build on our momentum and that's one of our fundamental goal and priority last several years to continue to build our backlog to also level load our revenue based on a quarterly basis. And as you can see, we expect this year to be nearly 50-50 between first half and second half of the year, primarily because of our backlog.

但總體而言，它是健康的，我相信在可預見的未來，今年及以後，它也將保持這種狀態，希望也是如此。因為，正如我所說，我們將繼續鞏固我們的勢頭，這是我們過去幾年的基本目標和優先事項之一，繼續建立我們的積壓工作，以按季度平衡我們的收入負載。正如您所看到的，我們預計今年上半年和下半年的數量將接近 50-50，這主要是因為我們的積壓。

And if I could, there's been a lot of press recently around some newer starts within the United States, whether it be the LASSO program or Replicator or others. I'm not sure [if] you could talk about these, but could you maybe just talk about how well you believe you're positioned from some of the newer efforts with the U.S. Army, the Marine Corps and other parts of the U.S. government of some of these new competitions and how meaningful they could perhaps be in '24 and in fiscal '25 for you?

如果可以的話，最近有很多關於美國境內一些新項目的新聞報導，無論是 LASSO 項目還是 Replicator 項目還是其他項目。我不確定你是否可以談論這些，但你能否談談你認為自己在與美國陸軍、海軍陸戰隊和美國政府其他部門的一些新努力中的定位如何？這些新競賽中的一些以及它們在24年和25 財年對您來說可能有多大意義？

So Ken, I could not agree more with you in terms of the relevance of these large, very high priority focus areas for the U.S. DoD. You mentioned a couple. LASSO that's been -- recently been announced by the U.S. Army. We're tracking all of these. We are engaged with our customers very closely.

肯，就這些大型、非常高度優先的重點領域與美國國防部的相關性而言，我非常同意你的觀點。你提到了幾個。美國陸軍最近宣布了 LASSO。我們正在追踪所有這些。我們與客戶密切合作。

One of the things that we pride ourselves is that we spend a lot of energy making sure that we're very, very close and intimate to our customers so we can solve their problems the best way possible, better than anybody. And some of these requirements are squarely focused around the area that we, as a business, are offering as a pure-play player. There is no one on this planet that I can think of that has the breadth and the depth of our portfolio when it comes to unmanned systems and robotics.

我們引以為豪的事情之一是，我們花費了大量的精力來確保我們與客戶非常非常親密，這樣我們就能以最好的方式解決他們的問題，比任何人都更好。其中一些要求完全集中在我們作為一家企業作為純粹的參與者提供的領域。在無人系統和機器人技術方面，我認為這個星球上沒有人擁有我們產品組合的廣度和深度。

So the Replicator, which was just recently announced by the U.S. DoD and Pentagon is very much another example of the type of capabilities that our defense customers, U.S. DoD specifically, is looking to sort of acquire over the next several years. That's very much focused around our system. So I think we're positioned really well. I believe we will be able to participate in these opportunities. The details of that, of course, I'm not able to disclose right now because it's quite early and it's sensitive to our customers' operations and business.

因此，美國國防部和五角大樓最近剛剛宣布的複制器是我們的國防客戶（特別是美國國防部）希望在未來幾年內獲得的能力類型的另一個例子。這非常關注我們的系統。所以我認為我們的定位非常好。我相信我們將能夠參與這些機會。當然，具體細節我現在還不能透露，因為現在還為時尚早，而且對我們客戶的運營和業務很敏感。

(Operator Instructions) And our next question comes from the line of Bryce Sandberg from William Blair.

（操作員說明）我們的下一個問題來自威廉·布萊爾的布萊斯·桑德伯格。

Wahid, you referenced how the $176 million Ukraine Puma IDIQ is nearly fully drawn. Do you expect to be able to renew this contract?

瓦希德，您提到價值 1.76 億美元的烏克蘭 Puma IDIQ 幾乎已全部抽完。您希望能夠續簽這份合同嗎？

So the answer is we are already engaged on additional contracts. So the short answer is yes. Is it going to be exactly the same type of contract and the same exact amount? No. But there's definitely a lot of demand for our systems for Ukraine. As you all know, as I mentioned before, Ukraine has made many public statements that our Puma system is the workhorse in Ukraine and our Switchblade family systems is also one of their very critical capabilities that have helped them defend their nation and defend their independence against Ukraine so far.

所以答案是我們已經簽訂了額外的合同。所以簡短的回答是肯定的。合同類型和金額是否完全相同？不會。但烏克蘭對我們的系統的需求肯定很大。眾所周知，正如我之前提到的，烏克蘭多次公開聲明，我們的 Puma 系統是烏克蘭的主力，我們的 Switchblade 系列系統也是他們非常關鍵的能力之一，幫助他們保衛國家並捍衛獨立。烏克蘭至今。

I believe that, that's going to continue. We are engaged with the U.S. DoD on a very, very close and regular basis. There are several additional requests for our systems and the U.S. DoD is working with us to be able to fulfill those needs as they see appropriate.

我相信，這種情況將會持續下去。我們與美國國防部進行非常、非常密切和定期的接觸。對我們的系統還有一些額外的要求，美國國防部正在與我們合作，以便能夠在他們認為合適的情況下滿足這些需求。

As you can see, some of that is also, in fact, reflected our backlog today. So the strong backlog does include additional orders for our unmanned systems in small UAS as well as loitering munitions, but I expect that to grow and continue to expand over the next several quarters as we move forward because I think that, as I said, it's an inflection point. Many of these countries, including Ukraine, want to have more and more of our [types of] systems, which are far, far less expensive than much more (inaudible) other platforms and they're much more effective in what they're trying to do and how they're fighting their conflict with Russia.

正如您所看到的，其中一些實際上也反映了我們今天的積壓。因此，大量的積壓訂單確實包括我們的小型無人機無人系統以及巡飛彈藥的額外訂單，但我預計隨著我們的前進，這一訂單將在未來幾個季度增長並繼續擴大，因為我認為，正如我所說，這是一個拐點。其中許多國家，包括烏克蘭，希望擁有越來越多的我們的[類型]系統，這些系統比更多（聽不清）的其他平台便宜得多，而且在他們正在嘗試的事情上更加有效要做的事情以及他們如何應對與俄羅斯的衝突。

(Operator Instructions) And our next question comes from the line of Pete Skibitski from Alembic Global.

（操作員說明）我們的下一個問題來自 Alembic Global 的 Pete Skibitski。

Nice quarter, guys. I'll echo that. Just, Wahid, you touched in your opening comments, I think, supply chain issues. Can you update us on what you're seeing in terms of -- as you ramp in volume, issues with GUIs, any other components that you're having whose lead times are extended?

伙計們，這個季度不錯。我會附和。只是，瓦希德，我認為您在開場白中提到了供應鏈問題。您能否向我們介紹一下您所看到的最新情況——隨著產量的增加、GUI 問題以及您擁有的交付時間延長的任何其他組件？

So Pete, we believe that the revised guidance we gave, we're pretty -- we're confident that based on all indicators today, we're going to be able to achieve the revised increased guidance on the top line. We have secured pretty much most of our long lead items. And as Kevin mentioned in his remarks, we have intentionally raised our inventory levels to some extent, primarily because our systems are in high demand and sense of urgency within our U.S. DoD as well as our allies is very high. As soon as they contract with us, they would like us to deliver the systems. So it's never a perfect situation. The supply chain is a game of -- I call it a Whac-A-Mole game.

所以皮特，我們相信我們給出的修訂後的指導非常好——我們相信，根據今天的所有指標，我們將能夠實現修訂後的營收增長指導。我們已經確保了大部分長交貨期產品的安全。正如凱文在講話中提到的，我們有意在一定程度上提高了我們的庫存水平，主要是因為我們的系統需求量很大，而且我們的美國國防部和我們的盟友內部的緊迫感非常高。他們與我們簽訂合同後，就希望我們交付系統。所以這永遠不是一個完美的情況。供應鍊是一場遊戲——我稱之為打地鼠遊戲。

Every day, every week, there's some sort of a new issue. But overall, we have handled this and managed this extremely well throughout the entire years of the COVID pandemic, the supply chain constraint, et cetera. So for fiscal '24, overall, we're in a very good position. And -- but there's challenges that arise every day and we try to address them. And we've actually done a really good job of managing those things.

每天、每週都會出現某種新問題。但總的來說，在新冠疫情大流行、供應鏈限制等方面，我們已經處理了這個問題，並且管理得非常好。因此，對於 24 財年，總體而言，我們處於非常有利的位置。而且——但是每天都會出現挑戰，我們會努力解決這些挑戰。事實上，我們在管理這些事情方面做得非常好。

Another challenge that we are also facing, that we're tackling is not only we have to manage the supply chain and making sure the parts are there, our revenue has grown considerably over the last 2 or 3 years.

我們還面臨著另一個挑戰，我們正在解決的不僅是我們必須管理供應鏈並確保零件到位，我們的收入在過去兩三年中也大幅增長。

And with this growth, we need to also make sure that we bring up the production capacity of some of our smaller suppliers. And that is something that doesn't happen overnight. And it requires effort on our part. And for them to increase capacity, they've got to scale up their production and their manufacturing and their operations. And we're working with many of them that are strategic to us to make sure that we don't have any bottlenecks.

隨著這種增長，我們還需要確保提高一些較小供應商的生產能力。這不是一朝一夕就能發生的事情。這需要我們付出努力。為了提高產能，他們必須擴大生產、製造和運營規模。我們正在與許多對我們具有戰略意義的公司合作，以確保我們沒有任何瓶頸。

And I'm very pleased with the progress that our team is making. And we've made it a concerted effort and focus for ourselves as a priority as a company and a leadership team to focus on that for the last 3 to 4 years. And I think that is starting to pay dividends for us as we see the kind of growth that we've been able to achieve and deliver to -- for our shareholders.

我對我們團隊所取得的進展感到非常滿意。在過去的 3 到 4 年裡，我們作為公司和領導團隊，共同努力並重點關注這一點。我認為，當我們看到我們已經能夠實現並為我們的股東帶來的增長時，這開始為我們帶來紅​​利。

And last one for me. On the Tomahawk deal, my question is, why buy this company? It's fairly young, right, only 5 years old. Why buy them instead of maybe team with them on an ongoing basis or some other business arrangements? It's -- this whole area of ground control systems, it's -- I guess you would have to have a comfort level that their IP is so high that it would -- other competitors would have a hard time overcoming that. Can you share your thoughts on why you pulled the trigger on this deal?

最後一張給我。關於戰斧交易，我的問題是，為什麼要收購這家公司？還算年輕吧，才5歲。為什麼要購買他們而不是與他們持續合作或進行其他業務安排？整個地面控制系統領域，我猜你必須感到放心，因為他們的 IP 如此之高，以至於其他競爭對手將很難克服這一點。您能分享一下您為何啟動這筆交易嗎？

Sure. So as you said -- that's a very good question, Pete. One, we've known it for many, many years, and we've known them since their founding days, in fact. So I've personally known the -- one of the founders through the industry, of course, for a long time. The reason why we did this is because it allows us to accelerate and achieve our growth objectives faster for ourselves as well as for our customers. As an independent company, while they continue to work with us, we won't be getting the level of priority and preferential treatment as we would like because at the end of the day, it's all about the mission of our customers, the warfighters.

當然。正如你所說，這是一個非常好的問題，皮特。第一，我們已經認識它很多很多年了，事實上，我們從他們成立之日起就認識它們了。當然，我個人認識該行業的一位創始人很長時間了。我們這樣做的原因是因為它使我們能夠為我們自己以及我們的客戶更快地加速並實現我們的增長目標。作為一家獨立公司，雖然他們繼續與我們合作，但我們不會得到我們想要的優先級和優惠待遇，因為歸根結底，這都是關於我們的客戶、戰士的使命。

And most of our customers have already chosen to go down the path of selecting their system -- Tomahawk systems as the open architecture to connect multiple unmanned and manned devices. So think about a battlefield where there are tanks, armored vehicles, ground robots, UAVs, et cetera, USVs, and you need to make sure that you provide a common operating picture for the operator, for the warfighter.

我們的大多數客戶已經選擇走上選擇他們的系統的道路——戰斧系統作為連接多個無人駕駛和有人駕駛設備的開放架構。因此，想像一下有坦克、裝甲車、地面機器人、無人機等 USV 的戰場，您需要確保為操作員和戰士提供通用的操作畫面。

And so what Tomahawk does, it brings all those things and it connects them and integrates them and also introduces a lot of predictive AI feature set. So in order for us to deliver those capabilities to our customers faster and also integrate deeper in terms of our product road maps, technology investments, we felt that the acquisition was a better way to go.

Tomahawk 所做的，它帶來了所有這些東西，並將它們連接起來並集成它們，並且還引入了許多預測性 AI 功能集。因此，為了讓我們更快地向客戶提供這些功能，並在我們的產品路線圖和技術投資方面進行更深入的整合，我們認為收購是更好的選擇。

And lastly, I would say, we're also growing in terms of our talent. Tomahawk Robotics is primarily based out of Florida and it's an area that we like to get access to more talent. So their site in Florida allows us to expand our workforce outside of California and areas where they're closer to our customers. So there are several reasons, their talent base, their IP, their product, their progress with customers as well as ability to support our growth in the years to come.

最後，我想說，我們的人才也在不斷成長。 Tomahawk Robotics 主要總部位於佛羅里達州，我們希望在這個領域能夠獲得更多人才。因此，他們在佛羅里達州的工廠使我們能夠將我們的勞動力擴展到加利福尼亞州以外以及距離客戶更近的地區。所以有幾個原因，他們的人才基礎、他們的知識產權、他們的產品、他們與客戶的進步以及支持我們未來幾年增長的能力。

So I really feel strongly that this is a very good decision for our company and our shareholders. It's also a great outcome for our customers. So far, the feedback has been very positive and it positions us to basically marry the best, the most ubiquitous unmanned systems provider, which is AeroVironment, with the most advanced common controller technology enabled by AI from Tomahawk to be a integrated system solution for our customers.

所以我真的強烈地感覺到，這對我們公司和我們的股東來說都是一個非常好的決定。對於我們的客戶來說，這也是一個很好的結果。到目前為止，反饋非常積極，這使我們基本上能夠與最好、最普遍的無人系統提供商AeroVironment 結合，採用由戰斧AI 提供的最先進的通用控制器技術，成為我們的集成系統解決方案。顧客。

And with no further questions in the queue, I'd like to turn the call back over to Jonah Teeter-Balin for any closing remarks.

由於隊列中沒有其他問題，我想將電話轉回給 Jonah Teeter-Balin，讓其作結束語。

Great. Thank you once again for joining today's conference call and for your interest in AeroVironment. As a reminder, an archived version of this call, all SEC filings and relevant news can be found under the Investors section of our website. We wish you a good evening and look forward to speaking with you again following next quarter's results.

偉大的。再次感謝您參加今天的電話會議以及對 AeroVironment 的興趣。提醒一下，本次電話會議的存檔版本、所有 SEC 文件和相關新聞都可以在我們網站的投資者部分找到。我們祝您度過一個美好的夜晚，並期待在下一季度的業績公佈後再次與您交談。

This concludes today's conference call. Thank you for participating. You may now disconnect. Everyone, have a great day.

今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝您的參與。您現在可以斷開連接。大家，祝你有美好的一天。