AeroVironment Inc (AVAV) 2022 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by, and welcome to the AeroVironment Fiscal Year 2022 Third Quarter Conference Call. (Operator Instructions) Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded for replay purposes. (Operator Instructions)

女士們，先生們，感謝您的支持，歡迎參加 AeroVironment 2022 財年第三季度電話會議。 （操作員說明）請注意，今天的會議正在錄製以供重播。 （操作員說明）

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 2022 Third 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 2022 財年第三季度財報電話會議。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 on this call certain information presented 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，在本次電話會議上，所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、指示或暗示未來的陳述結果、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等詞。

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、戰略或實際結果與前瞻性陳述存在重大差異。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. The content of this conference call contains time-sensitive information that is accurate only as of today, March 3, 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.

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。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 3 月 3 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.

今天與我一起從 AeroVironment 加入我的是董事長、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?

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 fiscal year 2022 third quarter earnings conference call. I will start by summarizing last quarter's performance and discuss recent achievements. Next, Kevin will provide a more detailed summary of our financial results, after which I will follow up with a discussion of goals for the remainder of fiscal year 2022 before Kevin, Jonah, and I take your questions.

謝謝你，約拿。歡迎參加我們的 2022 財年第三季度收益電話會議。我將首先總結上個季度的表現並討論最近的成就。接下來，凱文將提供更詳細的財務業績摘要，之後我將在凱文、喬納和我回答您的問題之前討論 2022 財年剩餘時間的目標。

Let me emphasize a few key messages, which are included on Slide #3 of our earnings presentation. First, AeroVironment, like many other businesses in our industry, faced continued headwinds last quarter, as anticipated, notably with regards to supply chain constraints, the federal government's continuing resolution, entire labor market. Second, that said, third quarter results were largely in line with our expectations, and we are maintaining our previously stated guidance for fiscal year 2022. Historically, our fourth fiscal quarter has been our strongest, and we expect that trend to continue this year.

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，與我們行業中的許多其他企業一樣，AeroVironment 上個季度面臨著持續的逆風，正如預期的那樣，特別是在供應鏈限制、聯邦政府的持續解決方案以及整個勞動力市場方面。其次，也就是說，第三季度的業績在很大程度上符合我們的預期，我們將維持我們先前對 2022 財年的指導。從歷史上看，我們的第四財季一直是我們最強勁的，我們預計這一趨勢將在今年繼續。

Third, we continue to make strides in reducing costs, managing working capital, and increasing operational efficiency during this challenging period. And fourth, with a solid backlog and multiple expense reduction actions, we are positioned to deliver a strong fiscal year 2022 performance and even better performance in fiscal year 2023.

第三，在這個充滿挑戰的時期，我們繼續在降低成本、管理營運資金和提高運營效率方面取得長足進步。第四，憑藉堅實的積壓和多項開支削減行動，我們有能力在 2022 財年實現強勁的業績，並在 2023 財年實現更好的業績。

Before going through these themes in more detail, let me summarize our financial results for the third quarter. We delivered revenue of $90.1 million compared to $78.8 million last year, a 14% increase year-over-year. The revenue growth was primarily due to increased sales in our medium unmanned aircraft systems and unmanned ground vehicle segment. This, along with other organic and acquisition-led increases offset the negative impact from lower Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems product line shipments, which we had already anticipated. We ended the quarter with a backlog of $226 million compared to $252 million in Q2, with wins tempered due to the ongoing continuing resolution.

在更詳細地討論這些主題之前，讓我總結一下我們第三季度的財務業績。我們的收入為 9010 萬美元，而去年為 7880 萬美元，同比增長 14%。收入增長主要是由於我們的中型無人機系統和無人駕駛地面車輛部門的銷售額增加。這與其他有機和收購主導的增長一起抵消了小型無人機系統產品線出貨量下降的負面影響，這是我們已經預料到的。我們在本季度結束時積壓了 2.26 億美元，而第二季度為 2.52 億美元，由於持續的解決方案，我們的勝利有所緩和。

Despite the lower backlog, we have higher visibility to meet our current fiscal year guidance. Further, we're seeing additional contract opportunities both here and abroad that are helping to lay the foundation for growth in fiscal year 2023. Gross profit for the third quarter was $21.4 million, a decrease of 25% year-over-year. Gross margin percentage decreased to 24% from 36%, reflecting a heavier mix of service revenue. We're not content with this margin performance, and we'll touch on some of our cost-saving initiatives in a moment. Net income for the third quarter was breakeven or $0 per diluted share as compared to net profit of $0.2 million or $0.01 per diluted share for the third quarter of fiscal year 2021.

儘管積壓較少，但我們有更高的知名度來滿足我們當前的財政年度指導。此外，我們在國內外看到了更多的合同機會，這有助於為 2023 財年的增長奠定基礎。第三季度的毛利潤為 2140 萬美元，同比下降 25%。毛利率百分比從 36% 下降至 24%，反映出服務收入的比重增加。我們對這種利潤率表現並不滿意，稍後我們將介紹一些節省成本的舉措。與 2021 財年第三季度的淨利潤為 20 萬美元或每股攤薄收益 0.01 美元相比，第三季度的淨利潤為盈虧平衡點或每股攤薄收益 0 美元。

As I noted earlier, we're continuing to deal with the issues discussed on our last earnings call, but I would like to provide an update on these dynamic conditions. First and foremost are supply chain constraints, which have impacted product shipments and the company's underlying results. The overall situation has not changed materially as certain areas have recovered while others remain challenging. The bottom line is that we're having difficulty getting certain components in the quantities or lead times that we would like. Despite the uncertainty, we're attacking the various supply chain issues in every conceivable way to improve order fulfillment and ensure customer satisfaction.

正如我之前提到的，我們將繼續處理上次財報電話會議上討論的問題，但我想提供有關這些動態情況的最新信息。首先是供應鏈限制，這影響了產品出貨量和公司的基本業績。總體情況並未發生重大變化，因為某些領域已經恢復，而其他領域仍然充滿挑戰。最重要的是，我們很難以我們想要的數量或交貨時間獲得某些組件。儘管存在不確定性，但我們正在以各種可能的方式解決各種供應鏈問題，以改善訂單履行並確保客戶滿意度。

This is a work in progress, but we took several steps in the quarter. These steps include developing new tools to help us with marketplace component visibility, preordering material when appropriate, paying additional logistics expenses where necessary, and working with our suppliers under long-term agreements to consolidate demand. Not surprisingly, this disruption is negatively impacting our working capital, including higher inventory levels. However, we believe such near-term costs will result in better revenue visibility along with expanded margins as prices and lead times stabilize.

這是一項正在進行的工作，但我們在本季度採取了幾個步驟。這些步驟包括開發新工具以幫助我們提高市場組件的可見性、在適當時預購材料、在必要時支付額外的物流費用，以及根據長期協議與我們的供應商合作以鞏固需求。毫不奇怪，這種中斷對我們的營運資金產生了負面影響，包括更高的庫存水平。然而，我們相信隨著價格和交貨時間的穩定，這種近期成本將帶來更好的收入可見性以及利潤率的擴大。

Last quarter, I also spoke about hiring constraints in a tight labor market, which continues to impact our ability to recruit top talent and certain engineering disciplines. While this has improved, there are still gaps in staffing, particularly in the engineering arena. In response, we have increased our use of select outsourced talent firms, which in near term have enabled us to achieve our goals.

上個季度，我還談到了勞動力市場緊張的招聘限制，這繼續影響我們招聘頂尖人才和某些工程學科的能力。儘管情況有所改善，但人員配備方面仍然存在差距，尤其是在工程領域。作為回應，我們增加了對精選外包人才公司的使用，這在短期內使我們能夠實現我們的目標。

At the same time, we remain focused on managing our general and administrative expenses, which includes reducing headcount in noncore functions. During the quarter, we initiated cost savings actions totaling more than $10 million of annual savings in both headcount and facilities footprint. In summary, we're taking an active approach to ensure we can achieve our future growth objectives while operating our business efficiently.

與此同時，我們仍然專注於管理我們的一般和行政費用，其中包括減少非核心職能部門的員工人數。在本季度，我們啟動了成本節約行動，每年在員工人數和設施佔地面積方面總共節省了超過 1000 萬美元。總之，我們正在採取積極的方法來確保我們能夠在高效運營業務的同時實現未來的增長目標。

Lastly, the continuing resolution in Washington continues to impact decision-making on projects and contract awards. We are closely monitoring the situation and are hopeful that a budget will pass soon. Nevertheless, our products and programs are prioritized in the 2022 Defense Authorization Act reflecting sustained demand. While the company continues to cope with the -- with headwinds and changing industrial conditions, we are confident in our ability to meet our previously stated guidance. Our recent acquisitions are performing well, and we're taking multiple steps to manage our business efficiently in this challenging environment. Even though challenges persist, we believe AeroVironment is positioned well to capitalize on the long-term growth potential and value creation opportunities presented by our unique portfolio of intelligent multi-domain robotic systems.

最後，華盛頓的持續決議繼續影響項目和合同授予的決策。我們正在密切關注情況，並希望預算能夠很快通過。儘管如此，我們的產品和計劃在 2022 年國防授權法案中被優先考慮，反映了持續的需求。在公司繼續應對逆風和不斷變化的工業條件的同時，我們對滿足我們先前陳述的指導的能力充滿信心。我們最近的收購表現良好，我們正在採取多個步驟在這個充滿挑戰的環境中有效地管理我們的業務。儘管挑戰依然存在，但我們相信 AeroVironment 能夠很好地利用我們獨特的智能多域機器人系統組合所帶來的長期增長潛力和價值創造機會。

Let me briefly comment on the significant world event that is currently unfolding in Europe. We, at AeroVironment, are truly saddened by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Our hearts go out to all those impacted by the ongoing crisis and especially the citizens of Ukraine who are heroically defending their nation against a superior force. Moreover, this event is a stark reminder that our country and our allies need to be prepared to defend ourselves against such unpredictable and unreasonable authoritarian regimes. Our family of loitering missiles and other products are ideal in helping defend against such current and future aggressions. And we stand ready to assist our country and our allies around the world in any way necessary.

讓我簡要評論一下目前正在歐洲展開的重大世界事件。 AeroVironment 對俄羅斯入侵烏克蘭感到非常難過。我們向所有受持續危機影響的人，特別是英勇保衛國家免受強大力量影響的烏克蘭公民表示哀悼。此外，這一事件清楚地提醒我們，我們的國家和我們的盟友需要做好準備，以抵禦這種不可預測和不合理的專制政權。我們的遊蕩導彈和其他產品系列非常適合幫助防禦此類當前和未來的侵略。我們隨時準備以任何必要的方式幫助我們的國家和我們在世界各地的盟友。

Now before turning the call over to Kevin, I would like to provide some updates on current developments within each of our product lines. I'll start with our Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems, or SUAS product line, our largest franchise. As discussed above, this segment's revenue has declined this year, driven primarily by lower domestic demand. We believe this is due to both the continuing resolution, environment, and the Army's focus on the next generation of Small UAS, which we expect to be completed in the next few years. On the other hand, our Puma and Raven systems are benefiting from enduring demand overseas. As an example, we recently booked 2 international orders from new European and Asian allies totaling nearly $20 million. To address the weaker domestic demand and position this franchise for continued success, we're investing in developing new capabilities for our platforms, especially those that allow us to leverage our installed base of tens of thousands of units across the globe while competing against near-peer adversaries.

現在，在將電話轉給 Kevin 之前，我想提供一些關於我們每個產品線當前發展的最新信息。我將從小型無人機系統或 SUAS 產品線開始，這是我們最大的特許經營權。如上所述，今年該部門的收入有所下降，主要是由於國內需求下降。我們認為，這是由於持續的解決方案、環境以及陸軍對下一代小型 UAS 的關注，我們預計將在未來幾年內完成。另一方面，我們的 Puma 和 Raven 系統正受益於海外的持久需求。例如，我們最近從歐洲和亞洲的新盟友處訂購了 2 份國際訂單，總額近 2000 萬美元。為了解決國內需求疲軟的問題並使該特許經營權獲得持續成功，我們正在投資為我們的平台開發新功能，特別是那些使我們能夠利用我們在全球數万台設備的安裝基礎同時與近乎競爭的平台的能力。同行的對手。

On this note, we recently announced the launch of our i45 night gimbal, which has seen strong interest from customers. We are also excited about the enhanced sensor-to-shooter capabilities, which are achieved by integrating our Small UAS products with our Tactical Missile Systems products. We continue to allocate a healthy portion of our R&D investment to realize our future SUS solution road map and look forward to sharing additional developments over the coming quarters.

在這方面，我們最近宣布推出 i45 夜間雲台，引起了客戶的強烈興趣。我們還對增強的傳感器到射手能力感到興奮，這是通過將我們的小型 UAS 產品與我們的戰術導彈系統產品集成來實現的。我們將繼續分配我們研發投資的健康部分，以實現我們未來的 SUS 解決方案路線圖，並期待在未來幾個季度分享更多的發展。

That brings me to our Tactical Missile symptoms or TMS product line, where we continue to see strong demand for our solutions, both domestically and internationally. We believe there are growing opportunities for our TMS products to replace traditional munitions and ground, air, and sea applications, especially with our new and larger Switchblade 600 variant.

這讓我想到了我們的戰術導彈症狀或 TMS 產品線，我們繼續看到國內和國際對我們的解決方案的強勁需求。我們相信，我們的 TMS 產品有越來越多的機會來取代傳統的彈藥以及地面、空中和海上應用，尤其是我們新的更大的 Switchblade 600 變體。

Deliveries of the first international order for Switchblade 300 are expected to take place this month, reflecting increased interest from international customers for this innovative technology. Additionally, we are actively engaged with multiple international customers who have both the interest and the need for Switchblade's unique capabilities. We recently met with the U.S. export authorities who support enabling our allies with our Switchblade family of loitering missiles. In addition, we recently introduced the Switchblade 300 Sensor To Shooter solution, which enables operators to [absolutely] and seamlessly transfer target coordinates from our Small UAS to Switchblade loitering missile systems.

Switchblade 300 的首個國際訂單預計將於本月交付，這反映了國際客戶對這項創新技術的興趣增加。此外，我們還積極與多個對 Switchblade 獨特功能既感興趣又需要的國際客戶進行接觸。我們最近會見了美國出口當局，他們支持使用我們的 Switchblade 系列遊蕩導彈為我們的盟友提供支持。此外，我們最近推出了 Switchblade 300 Sensor To Shooter 解決方案，它使操作員能夠[絕對] 無縫地將目標坐標從我們的小型 UAS 傳輸到 Switchblade 遊蕩導彈系統。

By implementing this solution, we're able to provide end-to-end interoperability that significantly reduces the cognitive load on soldiers handling the processing, evaluation, and dissemination, or PED, of our UAS data. The Switchblade 300 sensor to shooter solution includes everything needed to quickly update mission planning applications with the sensor shooter software. Target coordinates are instantly transferred from our Small UAS to Switchblade 300, creating an automated mission plan and launch sequence with no chance of data entry error. Upon launch, the Switchblade 300 can autonomously navigate to the designated coordinate core position, allowing operators to match full-motion video from both assets to ensure positive identification of the target.

通過實施該解決方案，我們能夠提供端到端的互操作性，從而顯著降低士兵處理 UAS 數據的處理、評估和傳播 (PED) 的認知負擔。 Switchblade 300 傳感器到射手解決方案包括使用傳感器射手軟件快速更新任務規劃應用程序所需的一切。目標坐標立即從我們的小型 UAS 傳輸到 Switchblade 300，創建自動化的任務計劃和發射序列，不會出現數據輸入錯誤。發射後，Switchblade 300 可以自動導航到指定的坐標核心位置，從而使操作員能夠匹配來自兩個資產的全動態視頻，以確保准確識別目標。

Finally, our Small UAS provides overwatch that can verify mission success. The Switchblade 300 sensor-to-shooter solution builds on AeroVironment's commitment to deliver innovative, streamlined, interoperable solutions that elevate the warfighter's situational awareness, reduce engagement timelines and cognitive load, and increase mission success and operational safety, Further, this solution demonstrates how interoperability between our different product lines can lead to better customer outcomes and build upon our prior integration of the Switchblade with the JUMP 20 Medium UAS, thus expanding the breadth of our capabilities available to our customers.

最後，我們的小型 UAS 提供了可以驗證任務成功的監視。 Switchblade 300 傳感器到射手解決方案建立在 AeroVironment 致力於提供創新、簡化、可互操作的解決方案的基礎之上，這些解決方案可提高作戰人員的態勢感知能力，減少交戰時間和認知負荷，並提高任務成功率和操作安全性。此外，該解決方案展示了互操作性如何在我們不同的產品線之間可以帶來更好的客戶成果，並建立在我們之前將 Switchblade 與 JUMP 20 中型 UAS 集成的基礎上，從而擴大了我們向客戶提供的能力範圍。

I will now move to our medium unmet aircraft systems or MUAS product line. As previously announced, we submitted a JUMP 20 proposal for the U.S. Army's Future Tactical UAS or FTUAS Increment 1 and more recently Increment 2. This contract serves as the proving ground for our technology by placing a half a dozen JUMP 20 systems in the hands of the U.S. Army combat brigades for testing. We look forward to hearing that on this award any day now. Assuming all goes well, we believe our win on Increment 1 will put us in a favorable position to win Increment 2 later this year, which could be worked up to $50 million in new contract value. As a reminder, the FTUAS program in aggregate is expected to be valued at over $1 billion over a 10-year period after full testing is complete. The U.S. Army's proposed fiscal year 2022 budget called for over $140 million of funding for advancing this potential program of record. In the meantime, we're submitting proposals to U.S. allies across the globe and are upgrading our JUMP 20 with a new autopilot to improve its ability to operate in environments with limited GPS availability.

我現在將轉向我們的中等未滿足的飛機系統或 MUAS 產品線。正如之前宣布的那樣，我們為美國陸軍的未來戰術 UAS 或 FTUAS 增量 1 和最近的增量 2 提交了 JUMP 20 提案。該合同通過將六套 JUMP 20 系統交到美國陸軍戰鬥旅進行測試。我們期待著在任何一天聽到這個獎項。假設一切順利，我們相信我們贏得增量 1 將使我們在今年晚些時候贏得增量 2 的有利位置，新合同價值可能高達 5000 萬美元。提醒一下，在全面測試完成後的 10 年內，FTUAS 計劃的總價值預計將超過 10 億美元。美國陸軍提出的 2022 財年預算要求提供超過 1.4 億美元的資金來推進這一潛在的記錄計劃。與此同時，我們正在向全球的美國盟友提交提案，並正在用新的自動駕駛儀升級我們的 JUMP 20，以提高其在 GPS 可用性有限的環境中運行的能力。

We currently have several RFPs being evaluated by European and Middle Eastern countries and have conducted demonstrations for numerous U.S. allies overseas. So far, we have built a healthy sales pipeline since this acquisition and expect first awards from these international efforts in fiscal year 2023. It's exciting to see the level of interest our JUMP 20 systems have generated with our international customers and installed base, validating a key synergy of the acquisition.

我們目前有幾個 RFP 正在接受歐洲和中東國家的評估，並為眾多美國海外盟友進行了示範。到目前為止，自此次收購以來，我們已經建立了健康的銷售渠道，並期待在 2023 財年從這些國際努力中獲得第一批獎項。看到我們的 JUMP 20 系統在我們的國際客戶和安裝基礎中產生的興趣程度令人興奮，驗證了收購的關鍵協同效應。

Moving to our Unmanned Ground Vehicles or UGV product line, the business is performing well. We have seen strong customer interest, especially in Europe and the Southern Pacific, and we're continuing to position the business to compete for domestic programs over the coming years. Further, our team has been working to expand the market opportunities in chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, or CBRN and tactical use cases. We are pleased with the expanding interest in our UGV products and believe in the solid value potential for our shareholders.

轉向我們的無人駕駛地面車輛或 UGV 產品線，該業務表現良好。我們已經看到了強烈的客戶興趣，尤其是在歐洲和南太平洋地區，我們將繼續定位該業務以在未來幾年內競爭國內項目。此外，我們的團隊一直在努力擴大化學、生物、放射、核或 CBRN 和戰術用例的市場機會。我們對我們的 UGV 產品不斷擴大的興趣感到高興，並相信我們的股東具有堅實的價值潛力。

Within our HAPS product line, we continue to move ahead in designing the next-generation aircraft under the terms of our 5-year master design and development agreement with SoftBank. As we said last quarter, we are progressing with Phase 2 of our partnership during which we will build a third aircraft to perform further flight testing, demonstrate longer duration flights and progress through FAA certification. At the same time, we continue to assess various U.S. DoD opportunities that can leverage Sunglider's unique capabilities.

在我們的 HAPS 產品線中，我們根據與軟銀簽訂的 5 年總體設計和開發協議條款繼續推進下一代飛機的設計。正如我們上個季度所說，我們正在推進合作夥伴關係的第二階段，在此期間，我們將建造第三架飛機以進行進一步的飛行測試，展示更長時間的飛行並通過 FAA 認證取得進展。與此同時，我們繼續評估可以利用 Sunglider 獨特能力的各種美國國防部機會。

And finally, our MacCready Works Advanced Solutions group continues to develop new applications in autonomy and artificial intelligence. In the quarter, we secured multiple new programs to advance the autonomy and swarming capabilities of AV's existing products. One of these programs leverages technology from our Progeny ISG acquisition to automatically detect and classify targets before transmitting target coordinates to a swarm of Switchblades.

最後，我們的 MacCready Works 高級解決方案小組繼續開發自主和人工智能方面的新應用。在本季度，我們獲得了多項新計劃，以提升 AV 現有產品的自主性和集群能力。其中一個程序利用我們從 Progeny ISG 收購的技術自動檢測和分類目標，然後將目標坐標傳輸到一群 Switchblade。

As a reminder, our ISG team is a leader in the development of AI-enabled computer vision, machine learning, and perceptive autonomy technologies. We're also a provider of related autonomy and computer vision services to U.S. government customers. We're excited that our ISG acquisition is bearing fruit and look forward to creating further value at our core products through these advanced technologies.

提醒一下，我們的 ISG 團隊在開發支持人工智能的計算機視覺、機器學習和感知自主技術方面處於領先地位。我們還是為美國政府客戶提供相關自治和計算機視覺服務的提供商。我們很高興我們對 ISG 的收購正在取得成果，並期待通過這些先進技術為我們的核心產品創造更多價值。

In summary, we're taking the steps within our control to manage the global headwinds impacting our industry and company. We've had to make some difficult decisions in the quarter but believe these decisions are better positioning us for even stronger growth in the years ahead. While there is more work to be done, our portfolio of intelligent multi-domain robotic systems provide a unique competitive advantage for our company, which should generate long-term shareholder value.

總之，我們正在採取我們控制範圍內的步驟來管理影響我們行業和公司的全球逆風。我們不得不在本季度做出一些艱難的決定，但相信這些決定可以更好地為我們在未來幾年實現更強勁的增長做好準備。雖然還有更多工作要做，但我們的智能多域機器人系統組合為我們公司提供了獨特的競爭優勢，這應該會產生長期的股東價值。

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

有了這個，我現在想把電話轉給凱文麥克唐納，以審查第三季度的財務狀況。凱文？

Thank you, Wahid. Today, I'll be reviewing the highlights of our third quarter performance, during which I will occasionally refer to both our press release and earnings presentation available on our website. Revenue for the third quarter of fiscal 2022 was $90.1 million, a 14% increase from the prior year's comparable period.

謝謝你，瓦希德。今天，我將回顧我們第三季度業績的亮點，在此期間，我偶爾會參考我們網站上的新聞稿和收益報告。 2022財年第三季度收入為9010萬美元，比上年同期增長14%。

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 $24.4 million of revenue, down from last year's $50.5 million in revenue. Reiterating what Wahid said, the client's Small UAS -- the Small UAS business was primarily driven by reduced U.S. DoD spending, while international demand continues to be consistent with historical patterns. We expect the demand for Small UAS from the DoD to continue below historical levels in the near term.

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無人機系統，收入為 2440 萬美元，低於去年的 5050 萬美元。重申 Wahid 所說，客戶的小型無人機——小型無人機業務主要是由美國國防部支出減少推動的，而國際需求繼續與歷史模式保持一致。我們預計國防部對小型無人機的需求在短期內將繼續低於歷史水平。

Our acquired Median UAS segment had another solid quarter with revenue of $21.2 million, a small increase over the second quarter. Most of our Medium UAS revenue is classified as service revenue as we anticipate growth in this segment to be in the form of product sales. As Wahid indicated, we are well positioned for the Army's FTUAS program and our international pipeline for the JUMP 20 continues to build. Our Tactical Missile Systems business or TMS segment contributed $18.6 million of revenue during the quarter.

我們收購的 Median UAS 部門又一個穩健的季度，收入為 2120 萬美元，比第二季度略有增長。我們的大部分中等 UAS 收入被歸類為服務收入，因為我們預計該細分市場的增長將以產品銷售的形式出現。正如瓦希德所說，我們為陸軍的 FTUAS 計劃做好了準備，我們的 JUMP 20 國際管道繼續建設。我們的戰術導彈系統業務或 TMS 部門在本季度貢獻了 1860 萬美元的收入。

TMS continued to be impacted by ongoing supply chain issues in Q3, and we expect these issues to continue at least for the remainder of the fiscal year. But to repeat what Wahid said, we are seeing an increased opportunity for international sales of our TMS products. Revenue from the Other segment, which includes HAPS and our acquired Telerob and Progeny ISG businesses, increased year-over-year to $26 million versus $8.6 million in the fiscal 2021 third quarter. The increase is primarily a result of revenue from the acquired Progeny ISG and UGV businesses.

TMS 在第三季度繼續受到持續供應鏈問題的影響，我們預計這些問題至少會在本財年剩餘時間內繼續存在。但要重複 Wahid 所說的，我們看到 TMS 產品的國際銷售機會增加。包括 HAPS 和我們收購的 Telerob 和 Progeny ISG 業務在內的其他部門的收入同比增長至 2600 萬美元，而 2021 財年第三季度為 860 萬美元。這一增長主要是來自收購的 Progeny ISG 和 UGV 業務的收入。

Turning to gross margins. Slide 5 of the earnings presentation shows the mix of product versus service margins -- service revenue, sorry. Our mix of product and service revenues is a major factor in our overall gross margins. For Q3, we saw a decline in the mix to 47% product, down from 58% product in Q2 and 74% in the prior year third quarter. For the full year, we are tracking towards the 55% product mix, down from our original expectation of 60% and below our historical 70% level. Despite this negative mix trend, our guidance remains unchanged as Wahid indicated in his remarks.

轉向毛利率。收益演示文稿的幻燈片 5 顯示了產品與服務利潤率的組合——服務收入，抱歉。我們的產品和服務收入組合是我們整體毛利率的主要因素。對於第三季度，我們看到產品組合從第二季度的 58% 和去年第三季度的 74% 下降到 47%。全年，我們正在追踪 55% 的產品組合，低於我們最初預期的 60% 和低於我們歷史 70% 的水平。儘管存在這種負面的混合趨勢，但正如瓦希德在講話中指出的那樣，我們的指導保持不變。

Slide 6 of the earnings presentation shows the trend of adjusted product and service gross margins, while Slide 7 -- 12 reconciles the GAAP gross margin to adjusted gross margins. which excludes intangible amortization expense and other noncash purchase accounting items.

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 7 - 12 將 GAAP 毛利率與調整後的毛利率相協調。其中不包括無形攤銷費用和其他非現金采購會計項目。

I'll now speak to our adjusted gross margins. Overall adjusted gross margins for the quarter were 29%, down sequentially from 39% in the second quarter of FY '22. The 2 primary factors in the lower adjusted gross margins are lower product mix as product revenue traditionally has higher gross margins than our service revenue and lower product gross margins as a result of lower Small UAS sales mix.

我現在談談我們調整後的毛利率。本季度的整體調整後毛利率為 29%，低於 22 財年第二季度的 39%。調整後毛利率下降的兩個主要因素是產品組合較低，因為產品收入傳統上比我們的服務收入具有更高的毛利率，以及由於小型無人機銷售組合較低而導致產品毛利率下降。

Adjusted product margins for the quarter were 37% versus 48% in the second quarter, reflecting the product mix shift I just mentioned. However, for the remainder of the year, we expect to see adjusted product gross margins to be in the mid to low 40s. In terms of adjusted service gross margins, we also saw a decrease to 23% in the third quarter versus 27% in the second quarter of the year. The service margin declined sequentially and year-over-year reflects the impact from our acquired Medium UAS COCO business, which has lower gross -- lower margins than our traditional service businesses. We are expecting adjusted service margins to end up in the mid-20s for the full fiscal 2022.

本季度調整後的產品利潤率為 37%，而第二季度為 48%，這反映了我剛才提到的產品組合轉變。然而，在今年剩餘時間內，我們預計調整後的產品毛利率將在 40 年代中期至 40 年代中期。在調整後的服務毛利率方面，我們也看到第三季度下降至 23%，而今年第二季度為 27%。服務利潤率環比下降，同比下降反映了我們收購的 Medium UAS COCO 業務的影響，該業務的毛利率低於我們的傳統服務業務。我們預計整個 2022 財年調整後的服務利潤率將在 20 年代中期結束。

Next, turning to operating expenses. SG&A expense for the third quarter was $22.5 million and includes intangible amortization and acquisition-related expenses of $4.6 million compared to just $0.7 million last year. Excluding intangible amortization and acquisition-related expenses, SG&A for the third quarter was $17.9 million or 20% of revenue compared to $12.2 million or 15% of revenue in the prior year period. The increase was primarily a result of added expense from the 3 acquisitions we completed over the past year. Year-to-date, SG&A excluding intangible amortization and acquisition-related expense was 18% of revenue. We expect SG&A as a percentage of revenue to be 17% for the full year, again, excluding the intangible amortization and acquisition-related expenses.

接下來，轉向運營費用。第三季度的 SG&A 費用為 2250 萬美元，其中包括 460 萬美元的無形攤銷和收購相關費用，而去年僅為 70 萬美元。不計無形攤銷和收購相關費用，第三季度的 SG&A 為 1790 萬美元，佔收入的 20%，而去年同期為 1220 萬美元，佔收入的 15%。增加的主要原因是我們在過去一年完成的 3 次收購增加了費用。年初至今，不包括無形攤銷和收購相關費用的 SG&A 佔收入的 18%。我們預計 SG&A 佔全年收入的百分比將再次達到 17%，不包括無形攤銷和收購相關費用。

R&D for the third quarter was 14% of revenue and 13% year-to-date. We expect R&D as a percentage of revenue to be in line with our guidance of 11% to 12% for the full year. At this point, I'd like to take note that we took several cost reduction measures during the quarter to reflect current business conditions. This includes headcount reductions and facility consolidation. We incurred some onetime costs and other nonrecurring expenses in Q3 of $1.5 million impact -- $1.5 million, impacting both the cost of goods sold and operating expenses. These costs will continue into Q4 but have been included in our guidance.

第三季度的研發佔收入的 14%，年初至今為 13%。我們預計研發佔收入的百分比將符合我們全年 11% 至 12% 的指導。在這一點上，我想指出，我們在本季度採取了多項降低成本的措施，以反映當前的業務狀況。這包括裁員和設施整合。我們在第三季度產生了一些一次性成本和其他非經常性費用，影響為 150 萬美元——150 萬美元，影響了銷售成本和運營費用。這些成本將持續到第四季度，但已包含在我們的指導中。

Looking at the bottom line, our GAAP net income for the third quarter of fiscal 2022 rounds to $0.00 per diluted share compared to net income of $0.2 million or $0.01 per diluted share for the third quarter of fiscal 2021. While the year-over-year difference wasn't significant, it reflects a decrease of $13.5 million in our operating income, driven in large part by the increase in intangible amortization related to our acquisitions. During the quarter, we also incurred $1.5 million of additional operating expenses related to cost-saving initiatives, as I just mentioned. This was largely offset below the operating line by $15.4 million tax benefit driven by a combination of our year-to-date and projected full year pretax losses and R&D tax credits.

從底線來看，我們 2022 財年第三季度的 GAAP 淨收益為每股攤薄收益 0.00 美元，而 2021 財年第三季度的淨收益為 20 萬美元或每股攤薄收益 0.01 美元。差異並不顯著，它反映了我們的營業收入減少了 1350 萬美元，這在很大程度上是由於與我們的收購相關的無形攤銷增加。正如我剛才提到的，在本季度，我們還產生了 150 萬美元與成本節約計劃相關的額外運營費用。這在很大程度上被我們年初至今和預計的全年稅前虧損和研發稅收抵免所驅動的 1540 萬美元的稅收優惠抵消了。

In terms of adjusted EPS, Slide 10 of our earnings presentation shows the reconciliation of GAAP and adjusted or non-GAAP diluted EPS. The company posted adjusted earnings per share of $0.32 for the third quarter of fiscal 2022 versus $0.14 per diluted share for the third quarter of fiscal '21. The difference between GAAP and non-GAAP earnings reflects acquisition-related expenses and intangible amortization. We have not added back onetime costs related to seeing the cost saving actions expense during the quarter.

就調整後的每股收益而言，我們收益報告的幻燈片 10 顯示了 GAAP 與調整後或非 GAAP 攤薄後每股收益的對賬。該公司公佈的 2022 財年第三季度調整後每股收益為 0.32 美元，而 21 財年第三季度稀釋後每股收益為 0.14 美元。 GAAP 和非 GAAP 收益之間的差異反映了與收購相關的費用和無形攤銷。我們沒有在本季度增加與查看成本節約行動費用相關的一次性成本。

Turning to the balance sheet. Total cash and investments at the end of the third quarter was $100.7 million, which is slightly up from the second quarter of this fiscal year. We continue to have a strong balance sheet with over $100 million of cash and investments and $100 million working capital facility.

轉向資產負債表。第三季度末的現金和投資總額為 1.007 億美元，略高於本財年第二季度。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 1 億美元的營運資金。

Next, I'd like to highlight some of our backlog metrics. Slide 7 of the earnings presentation provides a summary of our current fiscal 2022 visibility. As of today, total visibility towards the midpoint of our $440 million to $460 million revenue guidance range is 95%. Our funded backlog at the end of the third fiscal quarter of 2022 was $226.3 million.

接下來，我想強調一些我們的積壓指標。收益演示文稿的幻燈片 7 提供了我們當前 2022 財年能見度的摘要。截至今天，我們 4.4 億美元至 4.6 億美元收入指導範圍中點的總能見度為 95%。截至 2022 年第三財季末，我們的資金積壓為 2.263 億美元。

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. Before turning the call over for questions, let me just reiterate a few key points from earlier today. With 95% visibility to the midpoint of our previously stated guidance, we are reaffirming our guidance for fiscal year 2022 as follows: Full year revenue between $440 million and $460 million, net loss from continuing operations between 12 and $8 million, adjusted EBITDA between 59 and $65 million, diluted loss per share between $0.47 and $0.33, and non-GAAP diluted earnings per share is forecasted to be between $1.23 and $1.37. While facing the ongoing challenges caused by our supply chain constraints, the continuing resolution in Washington and a tight labor market, we have and will continue to aggressively reduce costs, manage working capital and improve AeroVironment's long-term growth profile.

謝謝，凱文。在轉交提問之前，讓我重申今天早些時候的幾個關鍵點。鑑於我們先前所述指引的中點有 95% 的可見度，我們重申我們對 2022 財年的指引如下：全年收入在 4.4 億美元至 4.6 億美元之間，持續經營淨虧損在 12 美元至 800 萬美元之間，調整後 EBITDA 在 59 美元之間和 6500 萬美元，每股攤薄虧損在 0.47 美元至 0.33 美元之間，非公認會計準則攤薄每股收益預計在 1.23 美元至 1.37 美元之間。在面臨由我們的供應鏈限制、華盛頓問題的持續解決和勞動力市場緊張帶來的持續挑戰的同時，我們已經並將繼續積極降低成本、管理營運資金並改善 AeroVironment 的長期增長狀況。

While I'm proud of our team and the progress shown in tackling the various macro challenges, I'm also excited by the many opportunities which lie ahead. Given the potential FTUAS program win, the solid performance of our recently acquired businesses, and expanding demand from overseas customers, I believe AeroVironment is on the right path for growth, which will yield improved financial and operational results. That means better margins and higher cash flow as well as an even larger international presence.

雖然我為我們的團隊以及在應對各種宏觀挑戰方面所取得的進展感到自豪，但我也對未來的許多機會感到興奮。鑑於 FTUAS 計劃的潛在勝利、我們最近收購的業務的穩健表現以及海外客戶不斷擴大的需求，我相信 AeroVironment 正走在正確的增長道路上，這將帶來更好的財務和運營業績。這意味著更高的利潤率和更高的現金流，以及更大的國際影響力。

We believe in the future of AeroVironment, and we're investing in leading-edge technologies that will accelerate the top line and provide for years of solid performance. So as we approach the end of fiscal year 2022, I speak for the entire team here at AeroVironment and are resolved to serve our customers to the best of our abilities, capitalize on new market opportunities and ensure the returns that our investors have come to expect.

我們相信 AeroVironment 的未來，我們正在投資於領先的技術，這些技術將加速收入增長並提供多年的穩健表現。因此，隨著我們臨近 2022 財年末，我代表 AeroVironment 的整個團隊發言，並決心盡我們所能為我們的客戶服務，利用新的市場機會並確保我們的投資者所期望的回報.

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

有了這個，Kevin、Jonah 和我現在將回答你的問題。

(Operator Instructions) So our first question comes from the line of Ken Herbert from RBC Capital Markets.

（操作員說明）所以我們的第一個問題來自加拿大皇家銀行資本市場的 Ken Herbert。

Wahid, just a first question. Can you provide any more color on the expected timing of the FTUAS contract announcement and what -- assuming you're successful with the -- assuming you're successful with the -- with Increment 1, what that could contribute to this year, if anything, but I guess, more importantly, to fiscal '23?

瓦希德，只是第一個問題。您能否提供更多關於 FTUAS 合同公告的預期時間以及什麼 - 假設你成功了 - 假設你成功了 - 增量 1，這對今年有什麼貢獻，如果什麼，但我想，更重要的是，到 23 財年？

Sure, Ken. So the U.S. Army has basically told us that they are planning on awarding that contract and make an announcement sometime in our fourth fiscal quarter right now. So we're hopeful that by the end of this quarter, we will have that outcome basically announced and communicated. That's for Increment 1. Fairly soon after that, the Army also plans to award Increment 2. Whoever wins increment 1, the probability of being successful, winning increment obviously increases, which is good for us. And then that also increases the probability of success for the longer-term program of record acquisition if it were to become a program of record.

當然，肯。因此，美國陸軍基本上已經告訴我們，他們正計劃授予該合同，並在我們的第四財季某個時候發佈公告。因此，我們希望到本季度末，我們將基本宣布並傳達該結果。那是增量1。不久之後，陸軍也計劃授予增量2。誰贏得增量1，成功的概率明顯增加，這對我們有好處。然後，如果要成為記錄計劃，這也增加了長期記錄獲取計劃的成功概率。

So in terms of the actual award, we expect that to happen sometime in this quarter. And in terms of contributions, we may recognize a small amount of revenue for that in fiscal year '22 this fourth quarter, but majority of that most likely will be in the next quarter. And that's primarily predicated by how fast our customer can move and being able to assume deliveries or accept deliveries and deploy these systems out there. It is a very large strategic opportunity that we're very focused on. And we're so far engaged with the U.S. Army very actively on a regular basis, and we hope to provide you with more updates in the near future.

因此，就實際獎勵而言，我們預計這將在本季度的某個時候發生。在貢獻方面，我們可能會在 22 財年第四季度確認少量收入，但其中大部分很可能會在下一季度出現。這主要取決於我們的客戶能夠以多快的速度移動以及能夠承擔交付或接受交付並在那裡部署這些系統。這是一個非常大的戰略機遇，我們非常關注。到目前為止，我們一直非常積極地定期與美國陸軍接觸，我們希望在不久的將來為您提供更多更新。

And as a follow-up, with the situation currently in Eastern Europe, there's some speculation about reinstatement of maybe OCO accounts. How, if anything, have you seen that situation in Europe impacting your business today? Or how should we think about that to potentially impact the business in fiscal '23?

作為後續行動，鑑於目前東歐的情況，有人猜測可能會恢復 OCO 賬戶。如果有的話，您是否看到歐洲的這種情況影響了您今天的業務？或者我們應該如何考慮這可能會影響 23 財年的業務？

Sure. So Ken, the recent events in Ukraine and Europe, obviously, is very heartbreaking and our hearts and minds and prayers go to the Ukrainian citizens and others. At the same time, the solutions that we have developed such as Switchblade 300 and 600, JUMP 20 in our Small UAS is perfectly designed and suited for those types of conflicts. We truly believe that our Switchblade family of loitering missiles could be a gamechanger, literally a gamechanger for the Ukrainian military. The ability to shoot these things very easily and identify target and designate them automatically and take them out and disable them or destroy them with no collateral damage is absolutely phenomenally well situated for that type of a conflict.

當然。所以，肯，最近在烏克蘭和歐洲發生的事件，顯然是非常令人心碎的，我們為烏克蘭公民和其他人祈禱。同時，我們在小型 UAS 中開發的 Switchblade 300 和 600、JUMP 20 等解決方案經過完美設計，適用於這些類型的衝突。我們堅信，我們的 Switchblade 系列遊蕩導彈可能會改變遊戲規則，實際上是烏克蘭軍隊的遊戲規則改變者。能夠非常輕鬆地射擊這些東西並識別目標並自動指定它們並將它們取出並禁用它們或在沒有附帶損害的情況下摧毀它們絕對非常適合這種類型的衝突。

In terms of a OCO budget and account, historically, we have benefited from that during the conflicts in the Middle East in Afghanistan. We use -- historically received significant amount of funding for both our Small UAS and TMS as a result of that. It is not clear to me now whether that is going to happen again in the case of Ukraine. If it does, I believe that would be a positive contributor to our business. And even besides that, I do believe that all the activity that's going on right now is sort of becoming a wake-up call for a lot of our allies in Europe as well as the U.S. military that systems like Switchblade and JUMP 20 could be extremely effective and vital to these types of conflicts in the future.

在 OCO 預算和賬戶方面，歷史上，我們在阿富汗中東沖突期間受益於這一點。因此，我們使用 - 歷史上為我們的小型 UAS 和 TMS 獲得了大量資金。我現在還不清楚烏克蘭是否會再次發生這種情況。如果確實如此，我相信這將對我們的業務做出積極貢獻。甚至除此之外，我確實相信，現在正在進行的所有活動都在某種程度上成為我們在歐洲的許多盟友以及美國軍方的警鐘，像 Switchblade 和 JUMP 20 這樣的系統可能會非常對未來這些類型的衝突有效且至關重要。

Our next question comes from the line of Austin Moeller from Canaccord.

我們的下一個問題來自 Canaccord 的 Austin Moeller。

Just my first question here. The last time that we spoke, I was wondering if there was any timing around when you think the supply chain component procurement issues might be resolved. Do you guys have any better visibility into that now relative to the last quarter?

只是我的第一個問題。上次我們交談時，我想知道您是否認為供應鏈組件採購問題可能會得到解決。與上一季度相比，你們現在對此有更好的了解嗎？

The short answer is that we have some visibility to the best of our abilities, and we're taking a lot of actions related to the supply chain constraints. And I mentioned a few of them on my remarks, but it is an ongoing effort and challenge on a daily basis. In some areas, we have seen improvements. And in some areas, we have seen a lack of improvements. I tend to believe that those challenges will continue into next fiscal year of ours. And I don't see how all those issues are going to go away within the next 3 to 6 months. I tend to believe that while some areas have shown some improvement, overall, the situation still exists, and we've taken an enormous amount of effort to address many of those.

簡短的回答是，我們盡我們所能了解一些情況，並且我們正在採取許多與供應鏈限制相關的行動。我在講話中提到了其中的一些，但這是每天都在持續的努力和挑戰。在某些領域，我們看到了改進。在某些領域，我們看到缺乏改進。我傾向於相信這些挑戰將持續到我們的下一個財政年度。而且我看不到所有這些問題會在未來 3 到 6 個月內消失。我傾向於認為，雖然某些領域已經顯示出一些改善，但總體而言，這種情況仍然存在，我們已經付出了巨大的努力來解決其中的許多問題。

And I think we've done an incredible job of addressing the issues that are out there working with our suppliers and how that could be mitigated. But we do this on an ongoing basis, we evaluate the impact due to this and also there may be some issues related to the Ukraine situation that could cause this in some ways to improve by putting a priority for defense, acquisitions, and supply chain, but also may negatively impact it because of the global supply chain constraints in general. So it's an ongoing challenge that I see it continuing into next fiscal year for us.

我認為我們在解決與供應商合作的問題以及如何緩解這些問題方面做得非常出色。但是我們會持續這樣做，我們會評估由此產生的影響，並且可能存在與烏克蘭局勢相關的一些問題，這些問題可能會通過優先考慮國防、採購和供應鏈而在某些方面導致這種情況得到改善，但由於總體上全球供應鏈的限制，也可能對其產生負面影響。所以這是一個持續的挑戰，我認為它會持續到我們的下一個財政年度。

And just a follow-up there. So say that some countries in Europe wanted to procure some Switchblades, could you potentially prioritize using components for TMS relative to some other product lines just to get them shipped out faster?

只是那裡的後續行動。假設歐洲的一些國家想要採購一些 Switchblade，您是否可以優先考慮使用 TMS 的組件相對於其他一些產品線，只是為了讓它們更快地發貨？

Yes, we could. There's multiple ways that we can address that potential new increased demand. First and foremost, we have some inventory within our U.S. defense -- with our defense customers themselves. So U.S. military can provide some of those directly to those customers and wait for us to backfill their needs and their supply from AeroVironment in the next few months, number one.

是的，我們可以。我們可以通過多種方式解決潛在的新增長需求。首先，我們在美國國防中有一些庫存——我們的國防客戶自己。因此，美國軍方可以直接向這些客戶提供其中一些，並等待我們在接下來的幾個月內從 AeroVironment 回填他們的需求和供應，排名第一。

Number two, we already are working all of our supply chain avenues and relationships and suppliers to see if we can get more of those components that are in high demand that could be useful for those needs. And third, another key item in here is the U.S. Department of Defense could always activate a higher priority for military or active war type of situations that could put us and many other defense contractors on the higher priority with these suppliers.

第二，我們已經在利用我們所有的供應鏈途徑、關係和供應商，看看我們是否可以獲得更多對這些需求有用的高需求組件。第三，這裡的另一個關鍵項目是美國國防部總是可以在軍事或積極戰爭類型的情況下啟動更高的優先級，這可能會使我們和許多其他國防承包商在這些供應商中處於更高的優先級。

Fundamentally, our volumes in some of these areas are not that big relative to the global demands and volumes for these microprocessors and chips. However, if the U.S. duty enacted such a priority on it, it will give us priority within the suppliers and the whole global supply chain in general. So there are at least 3 ways that I can think of that we're actively working, all 3. If there was to be a stronger demand then we could address that.

從根本上說，相對於這些微處理器和芯片的全球需求和數量，我們在其中一些領域的銷量並沒有那麼大。但是，如果美國的關稅對其製定了這樣的優先權，它將在供應商和整個全球供應鏈中給予我們優先權。因此，我認為至少有 3 種我們正在積極工作的方式，全部 3 種。如果有更強烈的需求，那麼我們可以解決這個問題。

Our next question comes from the line of Brian Ruttenbur from Imperial Capital.

我們的下一個問題來自帝國首都的 Brian Ruttenbur。

First question is just helping us understand your revenue visibility going into the quarter. You cited supply chain issues, continuing resolution, delays like that. What is your visibility? I know you have great backlogs and things like that. Do you have the supplies in place right now? Do you have the orders in hand to ship in this fourth quarter?

第一個問題只是幫助我們了解您進入本季度的收入可見性。你提到了供應鏈問題、持續的解決方案、類似的延誤。你的能見度如何？我知道你有大量的積壓工作和類似的事情。你現在有貨源嗎？你們手頭有訂單要在第四季度發貨嗎？

And the short answer is, overall, we, as I said in the comments, that we feel confident about our ability to achieve the reaffirmed guidance that we provided based on the variables and the facts and the conditions that we see today. There are several reasons as to why. Number one, we have a visibility, which we refer to as our visibility for achieving the midpoint of our guidance, we're about 95% visibility to the midpoint of our current guidance on revenue. Compared to our historical levels, that's pretty much in line with it and maybe to some extent, slightly better.

簡短的回答是，總的來說，正如我在評論中所說，我們對根據我們今天看到的變量、事實和條件實現我們提供的重申指導的能力充滿信心。有幾個原因。第一，我們有一個可見性，我們稱之為實現我們指導中點的可見性，我們對當前收入指導的中點的可見性約為 95%。與我們的歷史水平相比，這非常符合它，並且在某種程度上可能會稍微好一些。

Number two, we have a strong backlog that contributes a backlog to that visibility. And three is we have already started this process internally with suppliers. Are there still some risks? Absolutely. There always has been and there will continue to be as the quarter goes on. But overall, based on all the indicators that we have and based on all the factors that we see, we believe that we should be able to achieve our guidance as we confirm today for the full fiscal year and fourth quarter.

第二，我們有一個強大的積壓，為這種可見性貢獻了積壓。三是我們已經在內部與供應商開始了這個過程。是否還有一些風險？絕對地。隨著季度的進行，一直存在並將繼續存在。但總的來說，根據我們擁有的所有指標以及我們看到的所有因素，我們相信我們應該能夠實現我們今天確認的整個財年和第四季度的指導。

Just as a follow-up on a slightly different subject, if I can, in terms of you sell to 50 countries roughly. Have you sold to Ukraine in the past or sold to Turkey that sells to Ukraine? I didn't know if there's any direct exposure with your systems right now.

如果可以的話，就像對一個稍微不同的主題的後續行動一樣，就您而言，大約銷售到 50 個國家/地區。你過去有賣給烏克蘭還是賣給土耳其再賣給烏克蘭？我不知道你的系統現在是否有任何直接暴露。

Yes. So Brian, I'm not able to comment on any specific country for sensitivity reasons. What I can tell you is that absolutely positively majority, if not most of the European countries, Western European, Eastern European, the Baltics, the Scandinavian, Middle Eastern, Northern African countries are our existing customers, and that list continues to grow. So that's number one.

是的。所以布賴恩，出於敏感原因，我無法對任何特定國家發表評論。我可以告訴你的是，如果不是大多數歐洲國家，西歐、東歐、波羅的海、斯堪的納維亞、中東、北非國家，絕對絕大多數是我們現有的客戶，而且這個名單還在繼續增長。所以這是第一名。

Number two, given the fact that we already do business with 50-plus countries around the world and have a very large installed base, helps us execute our strategy and provide more of our products and portfolio to various countries around the world. So we generally feel very good about that because our installed base and customer base is very robust, very broad, probably unmatched in the industry and many aspects of it internationally. And it's actually one of the strong [seats] of AeroVironment. We're very fortunate to have a diversified product portfolio, diversified customer base geographically as well as different types of customers and different services of the military, Army, Marines, Navy, Air Force, et cetera.

第二，鑑於我們已經與全球 50 多個國家開展業務並擁有龐大的安裝基礎，這有助於我們執行我們的戰略，並為世界各國提供更多的產品和產品組合。所以我們總體上對此感覺很好，因為我們的安裝基礎和客戶基礎非常強大，非常廣泛，可能在行業和國際上的許多方面都無與倫比。它實際上是 AeroVironment 的強大 [席位] 之一。我們很幸運擁有多元化的產品組合、多元化的地域客戶群以及軍隊、陸軍、海軍陸戰隊、海軍、空軍等不同類型的客戶和不同的服務。

(Operator Instructions) Our next question comes from the line of Christopher Rieger from Berenburg.

（操作員說明）我們的下一個問題來自貝倫堡的 Christopher Rieger。

Just sort of piggybacking on Austin's first question. I'd like to double-click on a comment you made regarding the supply chain difficulties you are experiencing. You mentioned that some areas are better and some are worse. Could you sort of speak to the specifics as best you can as to how the situation has changed from last quarter?

只是對奧斯汀的第一個問題的支持。我想雙擊您就您遇到的供應鏈困難發表的評論。你提到有些地方更好，有些地方更差。您能否盡可能詳細地談談情況與上一季度相比有何變化？

Sure. Chris, so generally speaking, because our systems are extremely innovative in terms of cutting-edge technology. We use some of the most highest-performing GPUs as graphic processor -- processing units and CPUs and other various types of semiconductor that addresses and in terms of performance, they're on the most extreme of what's referred to as SWAP, Size, Weight, and Power performance.

當然。克里斯，一般來說，因為我們的系統在尖端技術方面極具創新性。我們使用一些性能最高的 GPU 作為圖形處理器 - 處理單元和 CPU 以及其他各種類型的半導體，它們解決和就性能而言，它們處於所謂的 SWAP、尺寸、重量的最極端和電源性能。

So these are the types of things that are highly, highly in demand in many other industries besides ours. And so it is the cutting edge and the leading edge. And based on that, the supply in general for those systems are very, very high globally besides just in the United States. Historically, we've done a really good job of working with our suppliers to not only give them long-term forecast, but we've also provided them with requirements that they have to actually carry inventory based on our forecast. And that's really helped us over the last 2.5, 3 years considerably.

因此，這些類型的東西在我們以外的許多其他行業中的需求量非常大。所以它是前沿和前沿。基於此，這些系統的總體供應量在全球範圍內非常非常高，而不僅僅是在美國。從歷史上看，我們在與供應商合作方面做得非常好，不僅為他們提供長期預測，而且我們還向他們提供了他們必鬚根據我們的預測實際攜帶庫存的要求。在過去的 2.5 到 3 年裡，這確實幫助了我們很多。

What's changed from last quarter to this quarter? In some areas, we see some improvements. And those improvements are such that a supplier might have quoted us an x amount of weeks of lead time. And as time has gone by, they've been able to improve that lead time. And in some cases, that has actually eroded. So net-net, I would say that there's been pockets of positives, but there's also some pockets of negatives or setbacks in that regard.

從上一季度到本季度有何變化？在某些領域，我們看到了一些改進。這些改進使得供應商可能會向我們提供 x 週的交貨時間。隨著時間的流逝，他們已經能夠改善交貨時間。在某些情況下，這實際上已經被侵蝕了。所以net-net，我會說有一些積極因素，但在這方面也有一些消極因素或挫折。

Overall, we've been able to manage that, and it's a daily effort, daily activity to address the issues that come up and to go away. It's a dynamic environment. Overall, given our forecast today and how we've executed so far, we believe we're well positioned to achieve our full year results that we -- what we've discussed earlier.

總的來說，我們已經能夠做到這一點，這是一項每天的努力，每天的活動來解決出現和消失的問題。這是一個動態的環境。總體而言，鑑於我們今天的預測以及迄今為止我們的執行情況，我們相信我們有能力實現我們之前討論過的全年業績。

So again, I'm very proud of our teams being able to execute on the third quarter and deliver the results that we expected. And we believe that we're positioned well for not only this fiscal year, but even for fiscal year '23 and beyond.

再說一次，我為我們的團隊能夠在第三季度執行並交付我們預期的結果感到非常自豪。我們相信，我們不僅在本財年，甚至在 23 財年及以後都處於有利地位。

And just switching gears here. On the labor front, has your utilization of outsourced engineering services had a material impact on your margins? And if so, could you quantify the impact?

只是在這裡換檔。在勞動力方面，您對外包工程服務的利用是否對您的利潤產生了重大影響？如果是這樣，你能量化影響嗎？

Brian, I'm sorry, Chris, the outsourced labor effort has had some effect, not very material in general but has had some effect. We don't typically break them down by specific drivers or contributors. Overall, there are certain areas that we could use outside labors -- labors or engineering resources for some of the work. But some of it is very, very high-tech work, which requires a lot of training and knowledge transfer, which we are very hesitant to do and it's not practically to do that easily. So overall, we've made progress on both fronts, bringing some outside outsourced labor in, but also actually increasing our headcount and hiring. And so we've made some progress since last quarter, but it still remains a challenging environment. Overall, the demand for the type of resources that we're looking for primarily in autonomy, AI, guidance navigation and control air mechanical design, robotics engineering. These are the areas that we look for and we have needs. And the demand for those still remains to be very, very high and competitive overall.

布賴恩，對不起，克里斯，外包的勞動力工作產生了一些影響，一般來說不是很重要，但產生了一些影響。我們通常不會按特定的驅動程序或貢獻者來分解它們。總體而言，我們可以在某些領域使用外部勞動力——勞動力或工程資源來完成某些工作。但其中一些是非常非常高科技的工作，需要大量的培訓和知識轉移，我們非常猶豫，實際上也不容易做到。所以總的來說，我們在兩個方面都取得了進展，引進了一些外部外包勞動力，但實際上也增加了我們的員工人數和招聘。因此，自上個季度以來我們已經取得了一些進展，但它仍然是一個充滿挑戰的環境。總體而言，我們主要在自主、人工智能、制導導航和控制空氣機械設計、機器人工程方面尋找資源類型的需求。這些是我們尋找和需要的領域。對這些產品的需求仍然非常非常高，並且總體上具有競爭力。

So our next question comes from the line of Louie DiPalma from William Blair.

所以我們的下一個問題來自 William Blair 的 Louie DiPalma。

Wahid, can you discuss opportunities and the developmental progress with the Switchblade 600. You previously have discussed how there is some strategic overlap with the 600 and Javelin missiles amongst other types of missiles. And specifically, the Javelin missiles have been in the news a lot as it relates to Ukraine. So I was just wondering if you could discuss at a high level the different types of end markets and applications you see for the 600?

Wahid，您能否討論一下 Switchblade 600 的機遇和發展進展。您之前已經討論過 600 和標槍導彈以及其他類型的導彈如何在戰略上重疊。具體來說，標槍導彈經常出現在與烏克蘭有關的新聞中。所以我只是想知道你是否可以從高層次上討論你看到的 600 的不同類型的終端市場和應用程序？

Sure. So Louie, so far, it's a strong belief of ours that a loitering missile such as Switchblade 300 or 600 and particularly Switchblade 600 is an ideal capability that today the Ukrainian military and the other allies and neighbors in Eastern Europe, Western Europe could absolutely benefit from and use. As you know, they carry similar warheads in them, and they have similar amounts of warhead capacity and payload capacity. But in terms of its other performance characteristics, Switchblade 600 is extremely superior.

當然。因此，到目前為止，Louie 堅信，諸如 Switchblade 300 或 600 尤其是 Switchblade 600 之類的巡航導彈是一種理想的能力，今天烏克蘭軍隊以及東歐、西歐的其他盟國和鄰國絕對可以從中受益從和使用。如您所知，它們攜帶類似的彈頭，並且具有相似數量的彈頭容量和有效載荷容量。但就其其他性能特點而言，Switchblade 600 是極其優越的。

Being able to travel 50-plus kilometers, not have to have the target on your visual site and then designate it and then take it out. These are all the competitive, compelling unique value proposition, and differentiators of Switchblade 600, which I believe makes it a superior weapon and missile system for the type of conflict that we see today and Ukraine and possibly in other areas all over the world eventually. So we feel very good. This is something that we've been talking about, and we believe them for years and years. That's why we invested in it. I think our domestic customers see that as well, and we're hopeful that with our latest engagements with the U.S. State Department and the Pentagon, we will get more of their support to be able to export these store allies. And that's really the key for us to be able to do that.

能夠行駛 50 多公里，不必將目標放在您的視覺站點上，然後指定它然後將其取出。這些都是 Switchblade 600 具有競爭力的、令人信服的獨特價值主張和差異化因素，我相信這使它成為我們今天和烏克蘭以及最終可能在世界其他地區看到的衝突類型的優越武器和導彈系統。所以我們感覺很好。這是我們一直在談論的事情，我們多年來一直相信他們。這就是我們投資它的原因。我認為我們的國內客戶也看到了這一點，我們希望通過與美國國務院和五角大樓的最新合作，我們將獲得他們更多的支持，以便能夠出口這些商店盟友。這確實是我們能夠做到這一點的關鍵。

Again, one of the other things I want to mention, Louie, is that we have received authorization, as you know, to export that to one country to Switchblade 300. We had some very favorable and positive engagements with the U.S. State Department and officials from the U.S. Department of Defense in the last quarter, where they are quite supportive of helping us equip our allies with more of our Switchblade 300 and 600 in the next few months to come. Obviously, this is going to take some time because the process doesn't go -- doesn't happen overnight. But we believe that those engagements is very positive in terms of encouraging us and giving us optimism that the U.S. military and state department is very much supportive of enabling our allies with this capability.

Louie，我想再次提及的另一件事是，如您所知，我們已獲得授權，可以將其出口到一個國家以使用 Switchblade 300。我們與美國國務院和官員進行了一些非常有利和積極的接觸上個季度來自美國國防部，他們非常支持在未來幾個月內幫助我們為盟友配備更多的 Switchblade 300 和 600。顯然，這需要一些時間，因為這個過程不會進行——不會在一夜之間發生。但我們相信，這些接觸對鼓勵我們並讓我們樂觀地認為美國軍方和國務院非常支持使我們的盟友具備這種能力是非常積極的。

(Operator Instructions) I'm showing no further questions in the queue. Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes today's conference call. Thank you again for participating, and we look forward to speaking with you again next quarter. You may now disconnect.

（操作員說明）我在隊列中沒有顯示更多問題。女士們，先生們，今天的電話會議到此結束。再次感謝您的參與，我們期待下個季度再次與您交談。您現在可以斷開連接。