安富利 (AVT) 2022 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Welcome to the Avnet Fourth Quarter Fiscal Year 2022 Earnings Call. I would now like to turn the floor over to Joe Burke, Vice President, Treasury and Investor Relations for Avnet.

歡迎參加安富利 2022 財年第四季度財報電話會議。我現在想請安富利財務和投資者關係副總裁喬·伯克發言。

Thank you, Paul. Earlier this afternoon, Avnet released financial results for the fourth quarter and fiscal year 2022. The release is available on the Investor Relations section of the company's website. A copy of the slide presentation that will accompany today's remarks can be found via the link in the earnings release as well as on the IR section of Avnet's website.

謝謝你，保羅。今天下午早些時候，安富利發布了第四季度和 2022 財年的財務業績。該發布可在公司網站的投資者關係部分獲得。可以通過收益發布中的鏈接以及 Avnet 網站的 IR 部分找到將伴隨今天的評論的幻燈片演示文稿的副本。

Some of the information contained in the news release and on this conference call contain forward-looking statements that involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are difficult to predict. Such forward-looking statements are not a guarantee of performance, and the company's actual results could differ materially from those contained in such statements. Several factors that could cause or contribute to such differences are described in detail in Avnet's most recent Form 10-Q and 10-K and subsequent filings with the SEC.

新聞稿和本次電話會議中包含的一些信息包含前瞻性陳述，這些陳述涉及難以預測的風險、不確定性和假設。此類前瞻性陳述不能保證業績，公司的實際結果可能與此類陳述中包含的結果存在重大差異。安富利最新的 10-Q 和 10-K 表格以及隨後提交給美國證券交易委員會的文件詳細描述了可能導致或促成此類差異的幾個因素。

These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this presentation, and the company undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements or supply new information regarding the circumstances after the date of this presentation.

這些前瞻性陳述僅在本演示文稿發布之日發表，公司不承擔公開更新任何前瞻性陳述或提供有關本演示文稿日期之後情況的新信息的義務。

Today's call will be led by Phil Gallagher, Avnet's CEO; Tom Liguori, Avnet's CFO; and Ken Jacobson, Avnet's Corporate Controller and incoming CFO this September.

今天的電話會議將由安富利首席執行官 Phil Gallagher 主持； Avnet 首席財務官 Tom Liguori；安富利公司財務總監兼今年 9 月即將上任的首席財務官 Ken Jacobson。

With that, let me turn the call over to Phil Gallagher. Phil?

有了這個，讓我把電話轉給 Phil Gallagher。菲爾?

Thank you, Joe, and thank you, everyone, for joining our fourth quarter and fiscal year 2022 earnings conference call. What a year has been for Avnet? On the heels of our centennial anniversary, we built on the prior year's momentum to deliver robust financial results, including a record EPS year, nearly reaching $7 for the fiscal year. Our sales for the fiscal year were up nearly 25% year-over-year. This was supported by a strong year for Electronic Components and notably, a record revenue year for Farnell.

謝謝喬，謝謝大家參加我們的第四季度和 2022 財年財報電話會議。安富利一年過去了？在我們一百週年之後，我們在前一年的勢頭基礎上實現了強勁的財務業績，包括創紀錄的每股收益年度，本財年接近 7 美元。我們本財年的銷售額同比增長近 25%。這得益於電子元件強勁的一年，尤其是 Farnell 創紀錄的收入年。

We had a great performance from both operating groups and we're really excited about the revenue synergies we are seeing between the 2 as well. As announced earlier in the year, we also achieved and surpassed our near-term operating margin targets, and we're pleased to cap off the fiscal year with operating income margins of 4.5% this recently ended quarter and 3.9% for the fiscal year.

我們在兩個運營部門都有出色的表現，我們也對兩者之間的收入協同效應感到非常興奮。正如今年早些時候宣布的那樣，我們也實現並超過了我們的近期營業利潤率目標，我們很高興在本財年結束時，最近結束的季度的營業利潤率為 4.5%，本財年的營業利潤率為 3.9%。

Beyond the numbers, we were excited to host our Investor Day in June, where we had the opportunity to see many of our stakeholders in person in New York. We also announced a couple of key executive succession this fiscal year, including the appointment of Dayna Badhorn, a 24-year veteran of Avnet as the new Americas leader for Electronic Components. And more recently, the appointment of Ken Jacobson who has been a key contributor in our finance organization for 9 years to CFO effective in September.

除了數字之外，我們很高興能在 6 月舉辦投資者日，屆時我們有機會在紐約親自見到我們的許多利益相關者。我們還宣布了本財年的幾位關鍵高管繼任，包括任命在 Avnet 工作 24 年的資深人士 Dayna Badhorn 擔任新的美洲電子元件領導者。最近，9 年來一直是我們財務組織的主要貢獻者的 Ken Jacobson 被任命為首席財務官，於 9 月生效。

These moves are part of our succession planning process, which ensures continuity in executing our strategic plan. We've continued to make investments in inventory, including SKU additions at Farnell and in field application engineers and online design tools that have delivered meaningful value and growth. Additionally, we continue to make investments in our employees and are kicking off fiscal 2023, with a compensation increase across our employee base and merit-based rewards to acknowledge strong performers and remain competitive in a challenging labor market.

這些舉措是我們繼任計劃流程的一部分，可確保執行我們的戰略計劃的連續性。我們繼續對庫存進行投資，包括在 Farnell 增加 SKU 以及在現場應用工程師和在線設計工具方面提供了有意義的價值和增長。此外，我們將繼續對我們的員工進行投資，並啟動 2023 財年，增加我們員工基礎的薪酬和基於績效的獎勵，以表彰表現出色的員工並在充滿挑戰的勞動力市場中保持競爭力。

As I've mentioned throughout the year, we've been immensely proud of our team's commitment to executing on our strategy amid an increasingly complex macro environment. Their contributions have enabled us to grow share and secure exciting new business opportunities, enhance the value proposition of our supply chain engagements and high-service Farnell offerings. Provide uninterrupted support to our customers and suppliers looking to decrease risk in their supply chains. And lastly, to surpass our near-term operating margin targets sooner than anticipated.

正如我全年提到的那樣，我們為我們的團隊在日益複雜的宏觀環境中執行我們的戰略的承諾感到非常自豪。他們的貢獻使我們能夠增加份額並獲得令人興奮的新商機，增強我們的供應鏈參與和高服務 Farnell 產品的價值主張。為希望降低供應鏈風險的客戶和供應商提供不間斷的支持。最後，比預期更快地超過我們的近期營業利潤率目標。

Our teams are unmatched in terms of experience, expertise and diligence and their efforts are instrumental to Avnet's success and role at the center of the global technology supply chain. We have a strong foundation to build upon in the coming fiscal year and are well positioned to deliver value and adapt even if market conditions change in the future. From a demand perspective, this past quarter, we saw continued strength in the industrial, automotive, transportation and aerospace and defense segments.

我們的團隊在經驗、專業知識和勤奮方面無與倫比，他們的努力對安富利的成功和在全球技術供應鏈中心的作用至關重要。我們在下一個財政年度擁有堅實的基礎，即使未來市場條件發生變化，我們也有能力提供價值和適應。從需求的角度來看，上個季度，我們看到工業、汽車、運輸、航空航天和國防領域的持續增長。

Additionally, we expect some applications like EV charging and other alternative energy applications to pick up based on current energy supply concerns. Lingering COVID-19 impacts, inflation and impacts from the conflict in Ukraine continue to have some ripple effects on supply chains. While supply some of the parts has modestly improved, we expect supply chain challenges to persist throughout the remainder of this calendar year. It's in these types of environments that our role as a distributor is particularly critical.

此外，基於當前的能源供應問題，我們預計電動汽車充電和其他替代能源應用等一些應用將會回升。揮之不去的 COVID-19 影響、通貨膨脹和烏克蘭衝突的影響繼續對供應鏈產生一些連鎖反應。雖然部分零部件的供應略有改善，但我們預計供應鏈挑戰將在本日曆年剩餘時間內持續存在。正是在這些類型的環境中，我們作為經銷商的角色尤為重要。

As we've proven over the years, the value of Avnet in a complex operating environment is our ability to serve as a control tower for our customers, helping them proactively manage their supply chains. We expect customers and suppliers to leverage these solutions more fully in the coming years.

正如我們多年來所證明的那樣，Avnet 在復雜運營環境中的價值在於我們能夠充當客戶的控制塔，幫助他們主動管理供應鏈。我們希望客戶和供應商在未來幾年更充分地利用這些解決方案。

Now turning to our Electronic Components and Farnell highlights. Electronic Components had a strong year, reaching nearly $23 billion in sales. We were pleased to maintain robust sales this quarter following a very strong third quarter. These results were primarily driven by another record quarter of demand creation engagements, expanded sales in Asia and solid sales in the Americas and EMEA regions.

現在轉向我們的電子元件和 Farnell 亮點。電子元件的表現強勁，銷售額達到近 230 億美元。在經歷了非常強勁的第三季度之後，我們很高興在本季度保持強勁的銷售。這些結果主要是由另一個創紀錄的季度需求創造、亞洲銷售擴大以及美洲和歐洲、中東和非洲地區的穩定銷售推動的。

Notably, this was our fifth consecutive quarter of growth in Asia, which enabled us to reach a near-term milestone of $10 billion in sales for the region for the fiscal year. And we saw year-over-year growth this quarter of over 34% in both the Americas and EMEA on a constant currency basis. Our book-to-bill ratios at the end of the quarter remained above parity. Lead times are mixed. Some remain extended, particularly for controllers, while some lead times of other products have been moderating. We continue to effectively manage our backlog. We brought our inventory levels up this quarter to support the ramp-up of sales in Asia into the seasonally strong first fiscal quarter.

值得注意的是，這是我們在亞洲連續第五個季度實現增長，這使我們在本財年實現了該地區銷售額 100 億美元的近期里程碑。我們看到本季度美洲和歐洲、中東和非洲地區按固定匯率計算的同比增長超過 34%。我們在本季度末的訂單出貨比仍然高於平價。交貨時間喜憂參半。有些仍然延長，特別是對於控制器，而其他產品的一些交貨時間一直在放緩。我們繼續有效地管理我們的積壓工作。我們在本季度提高了庫存水平，以支持亞洲銷售增長進入季節性強勁的第一財季。

As a distributor, we pride ourselves on our ability to meet and support strong customer demand, and I am proud of the success we have had in managing key relationships with customers and supplier partners to get the right parts in the right place at the right time. From a demand creation standpoint, we again had a solid quarter of design and engineering activity across all regions. High levels of design registrations and wins in prior quarters resulted in yet another quarter of record demand creation sales and gross profit.

作為經銷商，我們為能夠滿足和支持強大的客戶需求而感到自豪，我為我們在管理與客戶和供應商合作夥伴的關鍵關係方面取得的成功感到自豪，以便在正確的時間將正確的零件送到正確的地方.從需求創造的角度來看，我們再次在所有地區進行了穩定的設計和工程活動。前幾個季度的高水平設計註冊和獲勝導致又一個季度創紀錄的需求創造銷售額和毛利潤。

Demand creation revenue as a percentage of total electronic components increased to 31.2% for the year. Now moving on to Farnell. As I mentioned earlier, it was a record revenue year for Farnell with full year revenues increasing 20.2% year-over-year with demand indicators remaining fairly consistent. We continue to make investments in Farnell, adding over 18,000 new inventory SKUs in the quarter.

需求創造收入佔電子元件總量的百分比增至本年度的 31.2%。現在轉到法內爾。正如我之前提到的，這是 Farnell 創紀錄的收入年，全年收入同比增長 20.2%，需求指標保持相當穩定。我們繼續對 Farnell 進行投資，在本季度增加了 18,000 多個新庫存 SKU。

Our investment in Farnell's e-commerce platform and improving the user experience continues to yield meaningful results. Nearly 56% of Farnell's total sales and 72% of total orders transacted were placed through Farnell's e-commerce platform this quarter. We expect to continue to see increased traffic and new customer acquisitions in quarters to come.

我們對 Farnell 電子商務平台的投資和改善用戶體驗繼續產生有意義的結果。本季度，Farnell 近 56% 的總銷售額和 72% 的總交易訂單是通過 Farnell 的電子商務平台下達的。我們預計未來幾個季度將繼續看到流量增加和新客戶收購。

As we continue to improve our digital capabilities, we expect Farnell's value proposition to increase and enhance the synergistic collaboration between Farnell and Electronic Components. This collaboration allows us to serve our customers from new product introduction to mass production and is a key differentiator for Avnet.

隨著我們不斷提高我們的數字能力，我們預計 Farnell 的價值主張將增加和加強 Farnell 和電子元件之間的協同合作。這種合作使我們能夠為我們的客戶提供從新產品推出到批量生產的服務，並且是 Avnet 的關鍵差異化因素。

As we head into fiscal year 2023, we see opportunity for Avnet to leverage and build upon the value of its demand creation capabilities, supply chain services, embedded products and Farnell offerings. We're a different and much more resilient company today due to the durable changes we've made to our business. There has never been a greater need for global distributors, and we remain confident in our ability to meet those opportunities.

隨著我們進入 2023 財年，我們看到 Avnet 有機會利用和建立其需求創造能力、供應鏈服務、嵌入式產品和 Farnell 產品的價值。由於我們對業務做出了持久的改變，我們今天是一家不同且更具彈性的公司。對全球分銷商的需求從未如此強烈，我們仍然有信心抓住這些機會。

Before I turn it over to Tom to dig deeper into the financials, I'd like to take a moment to thank Tom for his immense contributions to Avnet. Over the past 4.5 years, Tom has been a big part of our transition into a stronger, more profitable and resilient company. Our balance sheet hasn't been this strong in decades. Tom and his team have built a high-quality finance organization, and importantly, he has served as an invaluable partner to me since my transition into the CEO role.

在我將其交給 Tom 以深入了解財務狀況之前，我想花一點時間感謝 Tom 對 Avnet 的巨大貢獻。在過去的 4.5 年裡，Tom 一直是我們向更強大、更有利可圖、更有彈性的公司轉型的重要組成部分。幾十年來，我們的資產負債表從未如此強勁。湯姆和他的團隊建立了一個高質量的財務組織，重要的是，自從我轉任 CEO 以來，他一直是我非常寶貴的合作夥伴。

I'm going to miss working alongside Tom and having him join me on these calls. But I'm absolutely confident we are in excellent hands with our incoming CFO, Ken Jacobson. Ken is a seasoned Avnet executive, who many of you have already met. He has served as our Corporate Controller and has been a critical leader in our financial organization for the past 9 years. So with that, let me pass it over to Tom.

我會想念和湯姆一起工作，讓他和我一起參加這些電話。但我絕對相信我們與即將上任的首席財務官肯·雅各布森 (Ken Jacobson) 相處得很好。 Ken 是一位經驗豐富的 Avnet 高管，你們中的許多人已經見過他。他曾擔任我們的公司財務總監，並在過去 9 年中一直是我們財務組織的重要領導者。因此，讓我把它交給湯姆。

Thank you, Phil. It's been a pleasure working alongside you and the entire Avnet team. I want to personally thank the finance team at Avnet for their support and friendship during my time here. They are a talented group of professionals and enjoy to work with.

謝謝你，菲爾。很高興與您和整個 Avnet 團隊一起工作。我要親自感謝 Avnet 的財務團隊在我任職期間給予的支持和友誼。他們是一群才華橫溢的專業人士，樂於與之共事。

And to echo your point, Phil, Avnet will be in very capable hands with Ken as CFO. I look forward to seeing Avnet's continued success under your leadership. We are very pleased with both our fourth quarter results and the record earnings year we've just completed. I will share some of the highlights from the quarter and full year before turning it over to Ken, who will discuss first quarter 2023 guidance.

為了回應你的觀點，菲爾，安富利將在肯擔任首席財務官的情況下非常有能力。我期待看到安富利在您的領導下繼續取得成功。我們對我們的第四季度業績和我們剛剛完成的創紀錄的盈利年度感到非常滿意。我將分享本季度和全年的一些亮點，然後將其交給肯，他將討論 2023 年第一季度的指導。

In the fourth quarter, our revenues were $6.4 billion, up 21.9% year-over-year and at the top end of our guidance range. Adjusted EPS exceeded guidance coming in at $2.07 compared with $1.12 in the prior year quarter. For the fiscal year, we achieved sales of $24.3 billion, up 24.5% year-over-year. A record GAAP EPS of $6.94 and a record adjusted EPS of $6.93. Job well done to the entire Avnet team.

第四季度，我們的收入為 64 億美元，同比增長 21.9%，處於我們指導範圍的高端。調整後每股收益超過預期，為 2.07 美元，而去年同期為 1.12 美元。本財年，我們實現銷售額 243 億美元，同比增長 24.5%。創紀錄的 6.94 美元的公認會計原則每股收益和創紀錄的 6.93 美元的調整後每股收益。整個 Avnet 團隊的工作做得很好。

Throughout the year, our teams continue to improve execution and efficiency while also managing expenses. We achieved and surpassed our near-term operating margin targets, resulting in fiscal year '22 operating margins of 3.9% for total Avnet. This was supported by operating margins of 3.9% for Electronic Components and 13.4% for Farnell.

全年，我們的團隊不斷提高執行力和效率，同時管理開支。我們實現並超過了我們的近期營業利潤率目標，使安富利在 22 財年的營業利潤率達到 3.9%。這得到了電子元件 3.9% 和 Farnell 13.4% 的營業利潤率的支持。

Turning to the income statement. Our revenue comparisons are affected by changes in foreign currency rates. Our reported revenues for the fourth quarter are $6.4 billion. Changes in foreign currencies had a negative impact on our sales of $150 million sequentially and $326 million year-over-year. Gross margin of 12.2% was down just slightly on a sequential basis. For the total year, gross margin of 12.2% was up by 73 basis points from the prior year. Both evidence that we are effectively managing pricing in the supply-constrained market.

轉向損益表。我們的收入比較受到外幣匯率變化的影響。我們報告的第四季度收入為 64 億美元。外幣的變化對我們的銷售額環比和同比分別產生了 1.5 億美元和 3.26 億美元的負面影響。毛利率為 12.2%，環比略有下降。全年毛利率為 12.2%，比上年上升 73 個基點。這兩個證據都表明我們正在有效地管理供應受限市場中的定價。

In the fourth quarter, we continued to process many price increases. Adjusted operating expenses of $492 million for the quarter were down 3.4% sequentially. Adjusted operating expenses as a percentage of gross profit dollars was 63% in the fourth quarter. This is a substantial improvement from the 76% in the prior year fourth quarter, illustrating the disciplined expense management of our global teams.

在第四季度，我們繼續處理許多價格上漲。本季度調整後的運營費用為 4.92 億美元，環比下降 3.4%。第四季度調整後的運營費用佔毛利潤的百分比為 63%。與去年第四季度的 76% 相比，這是一個顯著改善，說明我們的全球團隊嚴格的費用管理。

On the nonoperating front, interest expense in the quarter was $30 million, up $4 million sequentially due to higher levels of debt within the quarter as well as a slight increase in short-term borrowing rates. We booked a 20.5% adjusted tax rate in the fourth quarter and ended the total year with a 21.9% adjusted tax rate. Farnell achieved revenues of $442 million in the fourth quarter and operating margins of 14.2%.

在非經營性方面，本季度利息支出為 3,000 萬美元，環比增加 400 萬美元，原因是本季度債務水平較高以及短期借款利率略有上升。我們在第四季度預訂了 20.5% 的調整後稅率，全年以 21.9% 的調整後稅率結束。 Farnell 第四季度的收入為 4.42 億美元，營業利潤率為 14.2%。

Revenues declined sequentially due to product shortages of semiconductors, single board computing and test equipment. As a result, Farnell ended the fourth quarter with a record customer order backlog. On a total year basis, Farnell achieved record revenues of $1.8 billion. Farnell's fourth quarter operating margin of 14.2% benefited favorably from higher year-over-year pricing, which contributed 180 basis points of margin.

由於半導體、單板計算和測試設備的產品短缺，收入環比下降。結果，Farnell 以創紀錄的客戶訂單積壓結束了第四季度。 Farnell 全年實現創紀錄的 18 億美元收入。 Farnell 的第四季度營業利潤率為 14.2%，這得益於較高的同比定價，貢獻了 180 個基點的利潤率。

Without the pricing benefit, Farnell operating margins would have been 12.4%, consistent with the 10% to 15% range through the cycle that we discussed during Investor Day. We are very pleased with Farnell's results and expect to build upon this momentum as we continue to make investments in SKUs, analytical tools and the e-commerce platform.

如果沒有定價優勢，Farnell 的營業利潤率將為 12.4%，與我們在投資者日討論的周期中 10% 至 15% 的範圍一致。我們對 Farnell 的業績感到非常滿意，並希望在我們繼續對 SKU、分析工具和電子商務平台進行投資的同時，在這一勢頭的基礎上再接再厲。

Farnell is a large part of our plan to target upward of 50% of gross profit dollars from higher-margin business. Electronic Components achieved revenues of $5.9 billion in the fourth quarter, up 23.9% year-over-year and down 1.5% sequentially. The sequential decline was mainly EMEA due to currency rates. However, Avnet EMEA fourth quarter revenues were 34% higher in constant currency than the year ago quarter.

Farnell 是我們計劃將高利潤業務的毛利潤提高到 50% 以上的計劃的重要組成部分。電子元件第四季度實現收入 59 億美元，同比增長 23.9%，環比下降 1.5%。由於貨幣匯率，環比下降主要是歐洲、中東和非洲地區。然而，安富利 EMEA 第四季度收入按固定匯率計算比去年同期高出 34%。

Operating margins were 4.3%, a 122 basis point improvement from last year. Our Electronic Components Group's performance this quarter was driven by another record quarter of demand creation engagements as well as very strong sales in Asia and Americas.

營業利潤率為 4.3%，比去年提高了 122 個基點。我們電子元件集團本季度的業績是由另一個創紀錄的季度需求創造活動以及亞洲和美洲非常強勁的銷售推動的。

Turning to cash, liquidity and the balance sheet. Our liquidity position remains strong. We ended the quarter with cash and equivalents of $153.7 million and $1.4 billion of available lines of credit. We are seeing an improvement in our ability to bring in inventory, which increased this past quarter. This was primarily to support strong sales and bookings in Asia and was accompanied by a corresponding increase in accounts payable.

轉向現金、流動性和資產負債表。我們的流動性狀況依然強勁。我們在本季度末擁有 1.537 億美元的現金和等價物以及 14 億美元的可用信貸額度。我們看到我們引入庫存的能力有所提高，這在上個季度有所增加。這主要是為了支持亞洲強勁的銷售和預訂，並伴隨著應付賬款的相應增加。

Sales in Asia have grown sequentially for 5 quarters, and we require the right inventory to support current demand. Our total Avnet inventory is 64 days on hand, which is still slightly below our normal 65. Total net working capital days at year-end were 69, down from 74 in the prior year. We remain committed to disciplined working capital management and to maintain our strengthened balance sheet.

亞洲的銷售額連續 5 個季度連續增長，我們需要合適的庫存來支持當前的需求。我們的 Avnet 總庫存天數為 64 天，仍略低於我們正常的 65 天。年底的總淨營運資金天數為 69 天，低於去年的 74 天。我們將繼續致力於嚴格的營運資金管理，並維持我們強化的資產負債表。

We are pleased with our debt position with debt coming in at $1.6 billion and net debt at $1.5 billion. Our gross debt leverage was 1.4x and net debt leverage was 1.3x.

我們對我們的債務狀況感到滿意，債務為 16 億美元，淨債務為 15 億美元。我們的總債務槓桿為 1.4 倍，淨債務槓桿為 1.3 倍。

Moving on to capital allocation. In the fourth quarter, we returned $25 million to shareholders in dividends, representing an 18% increase in the per share dividend payment year-over-year. As we said at Investor Day, share repurchases remain a meaningful part of our capital allocation strategy. This quarter, we repurchased $102 million of shares, up from $45 million last quarter.

繼續進行資本配置。第四季度，我們向股東返還了 2500 萬美元的股息，每股股息支付同比增長 18%。正如我們在投資者日所說，股票回購仍然是我們資本配置策略的重要組成部分。本季度，我們回購了 1.02 億美元的股票，高於上一季度的 4500 萬美元。

Moving forward, we remain committed to increasing shareholder value by delivering a reliable, increasing dividend and continued share repurchases.

展望未來，我們將繼續致力於通過提供可靠的、不斷增加的股息和持續的股票回購來增加股東價值。

With that, I'll now turn it over to Ken to discuss outlook for the first quarter of 2023. Ken?

有了這個，我現在將把它交給肯來討論 2023 年第一季度的前景。肯？

Thank you, Tom. I will provide some color about our expectations for the next quarter. But before I begin, I'd like to thank Tom for his leadership over the past several years and on a personal note for his mentorship and coaching that has allowed me to succeed him as CFO. I look forward to getting to know some of you on this call in the weeks to come.

謝謝你，湯姆。我將提供一些關於我們對下一季度的期望的顏色。但在我開始之前，我要感謝湯姆在過去幾年中的領導，並以個人名義感謝他的指導和指導，這使我能夠接替他擔任首席財務官。我期待在接下來的幾週內通過這次電話會議認識你們中的一些人。

Turning to guidance. For our fiscal Q1, we are guiding revenue in the range of $6.2 billion to $6.5 billion and adjusted diluted EPS in the range of $1.85 to $1.95. Our first quarter guidance today is based on current market conditions, including a $100 million negative impact on sales guidance at the midpoint from the recent strengthening of the U.S. dollar as compared to the fourth quarter. This guidance implies a sequential growth rate range of down 1% to up 4% and in constant currency and assumes a typical seasonal shift in sales to Asia from the Western regions.

轉向指導。對於我們的第一財季，我們指導收入在 62 億美元至 65 億美元之間，調整後的攤薄每股收益在 1.85 美元至 1.95 美元之間。我們今天的第一季度指導基於當前的市場狀況，包括與第四季度相比最近美元走強對銷售指導的中點產生 1 億美元的負面影響。該指引意味著按固定匯率計算的環比增長率範圍從下降 1% 到上升 4%，並假設從西部地區到亞洲的銷售出現典型的季節性變化。

This guidance assumes an effective tax rate of between 21% and 25% and 96 million outstanding shares on a diluted basis. We have spent the last couple of years making Avnet a stronger company. One that is not only able to operate effectively in today's complex environment, but also one that can provide even greater value for our customers by proactively managing their supply chain.

該指引假設有效稅率在 21% 至 25% 之間，以及 9600 萬股稀釋後的流通股。在過去的幾年裡，我們一直在使 Avnet 成為一家更強大的公司。它不僅能夠在當今復雜的環境中有效運營，而且還可以通過主動管理他們的供應鍊為我們的客戶提供更大的價值。

With the synergies we're seeing between Electronic Components and Farnell. Our investments to support future organic growth and steady progress toward our operating margin goals. We are confident in our ability to continue delivering value to our customers, suppliers and shareholders in fiscal year 2023 and beyond.

隨著我們在電子元件和 Farnell 之間看到的協同作用。我們的投資是為了支持未來的有機增長和朝著我們的營業利潤率目標穩步前進。我們有信心在 2023 財年及以後繼續為客戶、供應商和股東創造價值。

With that, I will turn it back over to Paul to open it up for Q&A.

有了這個，我會把它交給保羅打開它進行問答。

(Operator Instructions) Our first question is from Nik Todorov with Longbow Research.

（操作員說明）我們的第一個問題來自 Longbow Research 的 Nik Todorov。

Congrats on great results. And Tom, thank you for -- it was a pleasure working with you and good luck on your new endeavors. First question, I guess, is on inventory. I guess you guys spoke about preparing for seasonal volume in Asia. But I guess, at the same time, you mentioned still some shortages impacting the Farnell business.

祝賀偉大的結果。湯姆，謝謝你——很高興與你合作，祝你在新的努力中好運。我猜第一個問題是關於庫存的。我猜你們談到了為亞洲的季節性銷量做準備。但我想，與此同時，您提到仍然存在一些影響 Farnell 業務的短缺。

Maybe can you talk about the composition of inventory. Where are you guys being able to build that inventory in what sections of the component business? And are you starting to see some loosening of maybe the components that were kind of mostly tied kind of the golden screw call it. That's kind of the first question I have.

也許你能談談庫存的構成。你們在哪裡能夠在組件業務的哪些部分建立庫存？並且您是否開始看到一些鬆動的組件，這些組件可能主要是被綁在一起的金螺絲稱為它。這是我的第一個問題。

Yes, Nik, this is Phil. Let me take a first crack at that. First of all, definitely very confident and comfortable with the inventory levels and the mix as well, by the way. And to meet the sales for the coming quarter, as we noted in the script, and overall days are still at 64%, which is below typical. So we're really comfortable. The quality of the inventory is good, very good, as a matter of fact. Some of the -- it's a mixed bag on the commodities and what's coming in and what's going out.

是的，尼克，這是菲爾。讓我先嘗試一下。首先，順便說一句，對庫存水平和組合絕對非常有信心和舒適。正如我們在腳本中指出的那樣，為了滿足下一季度的銷售額，總天數仍為 64%，低於典型值。所以我們真的很舒服。事實上，庫存的質量很好，非常好。其中一些 - 它在商品以及進來和出去的東西上好壞參半。

So if you look at overall lead times, still in the analog discretes, MCUs, et cetera. We're 20, 24 weeks, 30 weeks plus, respectively, moderating for sure, but still above levels pre-COVID, if you will, right? So we are seeing some moderation. In some of the passive area, we're definitely starting to see some -- based on mostly due to the consumer side of the equation, starting to see some areas in the MLCC, for example, coming in on lead time. But it's really complex. It's really by product, by commodity. But overall, a lot of the inventory that did come in, come in near the end of the quarter, and we'll be looking to turn at this quarter.

因此，如果您查看總體交貨時間，仍然是模擬分立器件、MCU 等。我們分別是 20 週、24 週、30 週，肯定會緩和，但仍高於 COVID 之前的水平，如果你願意的話，對吧？所以我們看到了一些適度。在一些被動領域，我們肯定開始看到一些——主要是由於等式的消費者方面，開始看到 MLCC 中的一些領域，例如，在交貨時間方面。但這真的很複雜。它真的是按產品，按商品。但總體而言，確實有很多庫存在本季度末進入，我們希望在本季度轉向。

Great. And the second question just around demand. I was wondering if you can provide us a little bit more color. There's obviously well-known weakness in the consumer electronics market. But recently, there's been some signs of at least in some areas of the semiconductor market that areas like data center, automotive and industrials are also starting to see signs of softening. Just what are you seeing from a booking standpoint, particularly in areas where lead times you mentioned they're starting to kind of come down?

偉大的。第二個問題與需求有關。我想知道你是否可以為我們提供更多的顏色。消費電子市場顯然存在著眾所周知的弱點。但最近，至少在半導體市場的某些領域出現了一些跡象，數據中心、汽車和工業等領域也開始出現疲軟跡象。從預訂的角度來看，您看到了什麼，特別是在您提到的交貨時間開始下降的地區？

Yes. So well, let's start with the latter part of the question. Overall, book-to-bills are, like I said, moderating, okay? They're not where they were 6 months or a year ago, but still above 1 okay, which I see is a good thing, that book-to-bill coming down a bit to began with you. So maybe back closer to a reality. As far as the -- yes, we already mentioned consumer. We don't play a whole lot there. That doesn't mean some capacity can't move from consumer products into other applications.

是的。好吧，讓我們從問題的後半部分開始。總的來說，就像我說的那樣，從帳單到帳單是適度的，好嗎？它們不是 6 個月或一年前的水平，但仍然高於 1 還可以，我認為這是一件好事，從你開始，從賬面到賬單下降了一點。所以也許回到更接近現實。至於——是的，我們已經提到了消費者。我們在那裡玩的不多。這並不意味著某些容量不能從消費產品轉移到其他應用程序中。

But right now, as we sit here today, the aerospace defense still very strong, the industrial space that we see as our backlog and was booked on us, and we're taking in, as you know, quite a few MRPs and our supply chain engagements still strong in transportation. I always call automotive/transportation because the applications are so broad outside of the automotive. It's e-bikes to dump trucks, right? I mean they're all using more and more electronic components. So still seeing that. As we see it today, is still pretty steady in the backlog, okay.

但是現在，當我們今天坐在這裡時，航空航天防禦仍然非常強大，我們認為是我們的積壓並被預定給我們的工業空間，正如你所知，我們正在接受相當多的 MRP 和我們的供應運輸業的連鎖經營仍然強勁。我總是稱汽車/運輸，因為汽車之外的應用非常廣泛。自卸卡車是電動自行車，對嗎？我的意思是他們都在使用越來越多的電子元件。所以還是這麼看的。正如我們今天所看到的，積壓的工作仍然相當穩定，好吧。

Our next question is from Toshiya Hari with Goldman Sachs.

我們的下一個問題來自高盛的 Toshiya Hari。

A big thank you to Tom as well for all the help over the years. I had 2 questions as well. First, on the guide, again, I just wanted to follow-up. So inventory grew, I think, 15% sequentially, and you talked about supporting growth in Asia. I get the FX headwinds in the quarter. But even the FX headwinds, you're guiding September quarter revenue up 1.5% or 2% at the midpoint.

非常感謝湯姆多年來提供的所有幫助。我也有2個問題。首先，在指南上，我只是想跟進。因此，我認為庫存環比增長了 15%，您談到了支持亞洲的增長。我在本季度遇到了外匯逆風。但即使是外匯逆風，你也指導 9 月季度收入在中點增長 1.5% 或 2%。

So I guess, what's the disconnect there? Should we expect further growth into December? Any color around that would be helpful.

所以我想，那裡的斷開連接是什麼？我們是否應該期待到 12 月的進一步增長？周圍的任何顏色都會有幫助。

This is Ken. I think part of that increase is the timing of sales came in later in the quarter. But if you think about EMEA and Asia, in particular, right, July is a pretty big month. If you kind of look at the prior year, I think our inventory grew like 17%, comparable level and then kind of moderated. So we feel the sales demand is there, and there is a cyclicality within the underlying quarter that we see that drive some of the higher levels at the end.

這是肯。我認為增長的部分原因是本季度晚些時候的銷售時機。但是，如果您特別考慮歐洲、中東和非洲和亞洲，對，7 月是一個非常重要的月份。如果你看看前一年，我認為我們的庫存增長了 17%，可比水平，然後有點放緩。因此，我們認為銷售需求是存在的，並且在我們看到的基礎季度中存在周期性，最終推動了一些更高的水平。

And again, our net inventory days is really flattish when you take the inventory days less the AP days. So you can see a lot of that came in and it supports the near-term sales.

同樣，當您將庫存天數減去 AP 天數時，我們的淨庫存天數真的很平緩。所以你可以看到很多東西進來了，它支持了近期的銷售。

Yes. Toshiya, and Asia typically in the September, December quarter does accelerate from a growth standpoint. And we're seeing that, as we sit here today, we're still seeing that.

是的。從增長的角度來看，Toshiya 和亞洲通常在 9 月和 12 月季度確實加速。我們看到了這一點，當我們今天坐在這裡時，我們仍然看到了這一點。

Got it. Very helpful. And then as my follow-up, just wanted to get some context around what you're seeing from a pricing standpoint versus what you're seeing on the volume side of the equation for June, for example, your EC business grew, I think, 23%, 24% year-over-year, ex some of the foreign exchange dynamics, what was kind of the mix between volume growth versus pricing growth? And what's the outlook for the back half of the calendar year?

知道了。非常有幫助。然後作為我的後續行動，我只是想了解一下您從定價角度看到的情況與您在 6 月份等式的數量方面看到的情況，例如，您的電子商務業務增長了，我認為, 23%, 24% 同比增長，排除一些外匯動態，數量增長與定價增長之間的混合是什麼？今年下半年的前景如何？

Yes. No, thanks. I'll take the first crack at that. This is Phil. So the bulk of the growth was still volume growth, okay? There's no question about it. And we're estimating from ASP inflation, if you will, somewhere between 7% and 8% of that was pricing inflation. And we track that by commodity and by ASP. So you say maybe take 7%, 8% on 24%. So 25%, 30% of the growth might have been due to ASP inflation. And we're still -- by the way, we still saw many price increases from the suppliers this past quarter, and we're foreseeing more coming, which is interesting.

是的。不，謝謝。我會採取第一個裂縫。這是菲爾。所以大部分增長仍然是銷量增長，好嗎？毫無疑問。如果你願意的話，我們從 ASP 通脹估計，其中 7% 到 8% 是定價通脹。我們通過商品和 ASP 進行跟踪。所以你說可能拿 7%、8% 對 24%。因此，25%、30% 的增長可能是由於 ASP 通脹。而且我們仍然 - 順便說一句，我們在上個季度仍然看到供應商的價格上漲很多，我們預計還會有更多上漲，這很有趣。

Our next question is from Jim Suva with Citigroup.

我們的下一個問題來自花旗集團的 Jim Suva。

Tom, I'm not sure you're allowed to leave. Sorry about that. But if you coach football, you might be right back just like [Phil]. But anyway, I'm going to miss you.

湯姆，我不確定你是否可以離開。對於那個很抱歉。但如果你執教足球，你可能會像 [Phil] 一樣馬上回來。但無論如何，我會想念你的。

I have one question, and I might just be because I'm not the smartest analyst out there, but it was asked a little bit on the prior question. But your sales outlook, again, is kind of flattish quarter-over-quarter. And if you include FX up a smidge, but your inventory. And I'm not saying inventory is bad, but your inventory is up materially, both year-over-year and quarter-over-quarter above sales.

我有一個問題，我可能只是因為我不是最聰明的分析師，但在前一個問題上被問到了一點。但是，您的銷售前景再次環比持平。而且，如果您將外匯包括在內，但您的庫存。而且我並不是說庫存不好，但是您的庫存大幅增加，同比和環比都高於銷售額。

So I guess I don't understand the disconnect around why the inventory build isn't translating into a similar or even closer sales growth rate unless maybe people will say you're holding the wrong inventory or it's in the wrong place, and then it's going to hurt you. So if you can just help us bridge the gap between the inventory build and the sales outlook. Again, I know it was asked a little bit earlier, but help some of us just really conceptual and grasp the bridge there.

所以我想我不明白為什麼庫存增加沒有轉化為類似甚至更接近的銷售增長率的脫節，除非人們可能會說你持有錯誤的庫存或者它在錯誤的地方，然後它是會傷害你。因此，如果您能幫助我們彌合庫存增加和銷售前景之間的差距。再一次，我知道它被問得更早一點，但幫助我們中的一些人真正概念化並掌握那裡的橋樑。

Yes, I'll go -- I'll take that one, Jim. This is Phil. Yes. As Ken said earlier, a similar scenario last year, right? So as we build and bring in the inventory, some of it was for, as we said, the Asia growth. Others were strategic customer opportunities that we've won in the past quarter and had to bring some inventory in. And then it was really the timing as you see the AP offset it.

是的，我會去——我會拿那個，吉姆。這是菲爾。是的。正如肯早些時候所說，去年也有類似的情況，對吧？因此，正如我們所說，當我們建立和引入庫存時，其中一些是為了亞洲的增長。其他是我們在上個季度贏得的戰略性客戶機會，不得不引入一些庫存。然後你看到美聯社抵消了它，這真的是時機。

So as we look at the next -- we're only guiding 3 months. If we look at the next 3 to 6 months, we feel the inventory is positioned correctly for the growth that we're seeing in the marketplace through December. The quality of the inventory, let me get on that one, that is extremely good. It's our -- what we call nonmoving inventory that we calculate is at an all-time low. So the inventory that we have is the right inventory and the quality inventory.

所以當我們看下一個 - 我們只指導 3 個月。如果我們看看接下來的 3 到 6 個月，我們認為庫存的定位是正確的，因為我們在 12 月之前在市場上看到了增長。庫存的質量，讓我上那個，那是極好的。這是我們的 - 我們計算的非流動庫存處於歷史最低水平。所以我們擁有的庫存是正確的庫存和優質的庫存。

And most of the inventory, we have 2 or more and more versus even many, many years ago that we've been around -- I've been around is for customer contracts, right? We have customer contracts. We have firm supply chain engagements. So there's either backlog or contracts backed up with NCNR on top of that, we pass them through from the suppliers, and that gives us the confidence that we're in a good position and going to be just fine.

大多數庫存，我們有 2 個或更多，甚至更多，很多年前，我們一直在 - 我一直在為客戶合同，對嗎？我們有客戶合同。我們有堅定的供應鏈參與。因此，除此之外，還有積壓或與 NCNR 支持的合同，我們將它們從供應商那里傳遞過來，這讓我們有信心，我們處於有利位置並且會很好。

Our next question is from Ruplu Bhattacharya with Bank of America.

我們的下一個問題來自美國銀行的 Ruplu Bhattacharya。

I'll echo the sentiment, Tom, we're going to miss you and Ken, congrats on the new role. For my first question, I'm going to ask the margin question again in a different way. So on the core side, margins were up 120 bps year-on-year. How much of that was because of ASPs going up. And you said 180 bps on the Farnell side, I guess, Phil, my question to you would be, if you're seeing prices still going up from vendors, how should we think about margins in both of these segments over the next couple of quarters?

我會回應這種情緒，湯姆，我們會想念你和肯的，祝賀新角色。對於我的第一個問題，我將以不同的方式再次提出保證金問題。因此，在核心方面，利潤率同比增長 120 個基點。其中有多少是因為平均售價上升。你說在 Farnell 方面是 180 個基點，我想，菲爾，我的問題是，如果你看到供應商的價格仍在上漲，我們應該如何考慮這兩個細分市場在接下來的幾年中的利潤率宿舍？

And when do you think the margins start to normalize back down to more of the levels that you've talked about on a through cycle basis. What are some of the things that can keep these margins high over the next couple of quarters?

您認為利潤率何時開始正常化回落到您在整個週期基礎上談到的更多水平。在接下來的幾個季度中，哪些因素可以使這些利潤率保持較高水平？

Yes. So on the price, I'll go first and let Ken jump in or Tom. But on the ASP and the cost increases from the suppliers (inaudible), that doesn't as much impact our margin as it does our growth, right, that we just talked about on the previous question or 2. Because we have contracts with customers. We get a price increase. We're passing that cost and increase to the customers, but it doesn't necessarily positively impact the margin, okay?

是的。所以在價格上，我會先讓肯或湯姆加入。但是關於 ASP 和供應商的成本增加（聽不清），這對我們的利潤的影響不如對我們的增長的影響，對，我們剛剛在上一個問題或 2 中談到。因為我們與客戶簽訂了合同.我們得到了價格上漲。我們正在將成本轉嫁給客戶，但這並不一定會對利潤率產生積極影響，好嗎？

So just that (inaudible). The balance of most of the margin [influx] whether it was sequentially up or moderated down is more of a mix issue, okay, more of a regional mix issue with the West being stronger in the June quarter and a little bit less in the September quarter as Asia as we forecast we'll outpace the West, and that has a different margin model.

就這樣（聽不清）。大部分保證金 [流入] 的平衡，無論是連續上升還是放緩，更多的是一個混合問題，好吧，更多的是一個區域混合問題，西部在 6 月季度更強，而在 9 月則略低正如我們預測的那樣，我們將在亞洲的季度中超過西方，並且有不同的利潤率模型。

And Tom's point out before some of the appreciation we've gotten on Farnell, we have seen some positive margin impact based on the way they price things in a market that we've been in, it's been 180 bps, we think we're getting a margin impact there to the positive.

湯姆指出，在我們對 Farnell 獲得一些升值之前，我們已經看到了一些積極的利潤率影響，基於他們在我們所處的市場中定價的方式，它是 180 個基點，我們認為我們是在那裡獲得積極的邊際影響。

And then maybe. Go ahead.

然後也許。前進。

I was just going to say, when we say Farnell, 180 basis points and that they're 14.2% would be 12.4% without the pricing that's an extreme, that's saying if all of the pricing went away, and that was to alleviate concerns that all of your margin -- all of our margins were based on pricing they're not. So we don't anticipate that happening. And I think we had -- the current volumes, there's no reason that margins would not stay at current or similar levels.

我只是想說，當我們說 Farnell 時，180 個基點，如果沒有極端定價，它們是 14.2% 將是 12.4%，也就是說，如果所有定價都消失了，那是為了減輕人們的擔憂你所有的利潤——我們所有的利潤都是基於定價的，它們不是。所以我們預計不會發生這種情況。而且我認為我們有 - 目前的數量，沒有理由利潤率不會保持在當前或類似的水平。

Okay. Maybe for my follow-up, if you can talk about CapEx expectations for the year and also your capital allocation priorities. I know you've been investing right now and you've had good e-commerce sales there. I mean how much more investment is needed in that business to get to your long-term target revenue goals for Farnell. And so if you can just talk about your investment areas and thoughts on capital allocation.

好的。如果你能談談對今年資本支出的預期以及你的資本分配優先事項，也許我會跟進。我知道您現在一直在投資，並且在那裡的電子商務銷售情況不錯。我的意思是該業務需要多少投資才能實現 Farnell 的長期目標收入目標。所以如果你能談談你的投資領域和對資本配置的想法。

Yes, this is Ken, Ruplu. I would say, as we kind of communicated at our Investor Day, the CapEx will go up. We've been at pretty low levels in the past couple of years, part of that pandemic related. And so I think the guidance we gave there was around $100 million or kind of double where we've been. But a lot of that is focused on Farnell, right? Systems, warehouses, getting the right digital tools in place.

是的，這是肯，魯普魯。我想說，正如我們在投資者日進行的交流一樣，資本支出會上升。在過去的幾年裡，我們一直處於相當低的水平，這與大流行有關。所以我認為我們在那裡給出的指導大約是 1 億美元，或者是我們過去的兩倍。但其中很多都集中在法內爾身上，對吧？系統、倉庫、正確的數字工具。

From the rest of the capital allocation priorities, I think the thing we talked about was the $600 million of buybacks the Board authorized. And we did a fair amount in the quarter, about $100 million. And if pricing in the market continues to be favorable, we expect to continue to put some capital towards buybacks.

從其他資本分配優先事項來看，我認為我們討論的是董事會授權的 6 億美元回購。我們在本季度做了相當多的事情，大約 1 億美元。如果市場定價繼續有利，我們預計將繼續將一些資金用於回購。

Yes. Ruplu, on the balance of investments we're making outside of CapEx, and we're continuing to -- which really ties your margin, right? The higher value businesses, Farnell, we're seeing terrific success and will continue to invest in the e-commerce or continue to invest in inventory there. I mean back to Jim's question on inventory, we're continuing to publicly disclose the amount of SKUs that we're adding.

是的。 Ruplu，就我們在資本支出之外進行的投資餘額而言，我們將繼續——這真的與你的利潤掛鉤，對吧？更高價值的企業 Farnell，我們看到了巨大的成功，並將繼續投資電子商務或繼續投資那裡的庫存。我的意思是回到 Jim 關於庫存的問題，我們將繼續公開披露我們正在添加的 SKU 數量。

And we frankly, we'd like to have even more inventory at Farnell. We're doubling down our interconnect pass, electromechanical business. Much of this we talked about at the Investor Day because it's higher-margin business. Our digital offerings for not only demand creation, but supply chain and then demand creation in general, right? The field application engineers, all those things we're continuing to invest in because they drive a higher margin business and the last of which was, again, talked about Investor Day, the embedded business, which is a higher-margin business. So just to reiterate, we're still in that investment mode to drive growth and profitability to maintain those margins that we talked about.

坦率地說，我們希望在 Farnell 擁有更多庫存。我們正在將我們的互連通行證、機電業務翻一番。我們在投資者日討論的大部分內容是因為它是利潤率較高的業務。我們的數字產品不僅用於創造需求，還用於供應鏈，然後是一般的需求創造，對吧？現場應用工程師，我們繼續投資的所有這些東西，因為他們推動了利潤率更高的業務，而最後一項再次談到了投資者日，即嵌入式業務，這是一項利潤率更高的業務。因此，重申一下，我們仍處於推動增長和盈利能力的投資模式，以維持我們談到的利潤率。

Our next question is from Matt Sheerin with Stifel.

我們的下一個問題來自 Stifel 的 Matt Sheerin。

Phil, I'm hoping to ask another question regarding inventories in the outlook and really not just your inventories, but inventories across the supply chain. There are record levels within the EMS customer base as well as OEMs. Mike Ryan earlier this week talked about seeing an inventory correction not just in consumer, but also auto and industrial, and I know the memory market is sort of a different animal cyclically than the business that you're in.

菲爾，我希望就前景中的庫存提出另一個問題，而不僅僅是您的庫存，而是整個供應鏈的庫存。在 EMS 客戶群和 OEM 中都有創紀錄的水平。本週早些時候，邁克·瑞安談到了不僅在消費者領域，而且在汽車和工業領域的庫存調整，我知道內存市場與您所在的行業相比，在周期性方面是一種不同的動物。

But at some point, we are going to see inventories start to come down. And I'm just wondering, are you seeing any signs at all of that? Any rescheduling? And when we do see that happen, are you likely to be the first guy to see it? Or with the direct OEM will they start to see the cancellations first?

但在某個時候，我們將看到庫存開始下降。我只是想知道，你有沒有看到任何跡象？有重新安排嗎？當我們確實看到這種情況發生時，您可能是第一個看到它的人嗎？還是直接 OEM 他們會首先看到取消？

Yes. Thanks, Matt. It's a great question because we are tracking the publicly held companies. I'm looking at the data now and you aggregate them, for sure, their inventories are up Q-on-Q and up year-on-year, whether it's EMS, OEM or in our supplier set, right? So you're absolutely right. We continue to post that with our customers and the OEM and the EMS set. As you know, we know them well, and we do most of them we're doing supply chain engagements with.

是的。謝謝，馬特。這是一個很好的問題，因為我們正在跟踪上市公司。我現在正在查看數據，並且您將它們匯總，可以肯定的是，無論是 EMS、OEM 還是我們的供應商，他們的庫存都環比和同比增長，對嗎？所以你是絕對正確的。我們將繼續與我們的客戶以及 OEM 和 EMS 組一起發布。如您所知，我們對他們非常了解，並且我們在與他們進行供應鏈合作的大多數情況下進行。

And much of that inventory is being held up. I think Nicolaus mentioned what's called the golden screw. So as we post that, I was out this week with a major EMS guy and he say, the yes -- the inventory is up. It's good. I mean it's industrial, it's defense, they've got contracts for it. So we're doing the best we can to make sure that we're validating, okay, the demand.

而且大部分庫存都被擱置了。我認為 Nicolaus 提到了所謂的金螺絲。所以當我們發布這個消息時，我這周和一個主要的 EMS 人員出去了，他說，是的——庫存增加了。很好。我的意思是它是工業的，它是國防的，他們有合同。因此，我們正在盡最大努力確保我們正在驗證需求。

And as far as who will be first to see, that's a great question, too. We track our cancellations, okay, and our pushouts, right? So there's -- what gets canceled, what gets pushed out. We're not seeing an increase of any significance, maybe slightly in some cancellations and very little in cancellations, I'm sorry, and slightly in some pushouts.

至於誰將首先看到，這也是一個很好的問題。我們跟踪我們的取消，好的，我們的推出，對吧？所以有 - 什麼被取消，什麼被推出。我們沒有看到任何顯著的增加，可能在一些取消中略有增加，在取消中很少，對不起，在一些推出中略有增加。

We're not -- maybe that's surprising to many, but we're not seeing that backlog to support disappear. We've got to work with our end customers to help them too. If they can't take the product right now, how do we help them with that and some of the smaller customers, et cetera. So it's very complicated as you guys can imagine, that's the questions. But we're just giving you the visibility that we see based on the data that we watch daily, multiple times per day on a global basis on what's happening. And we're not seeing those early indicators, but we're watching it very closely.

我們沒有 - 也許這讓很多人感到驚訝，但我們沒有看到支持的積壓工作消失。我們也必須與最終客戶合作以幫助他們。如果他們現在不能接受產品，我們如何幫助他們以及一些較小的客戶等等。因此，你們可以想像，這非常複雜，這就是問題所在。但是，我們只是根據我們每天在全球範圍內每天多次觀看的數據為您提供我們所看到的關於正在發生的事情的可見性。我們沒有看到這些早期指標，但我們正在密切關注它。

Okay. That's very helpful. And on the gross margin question earlier. You talked about really not seeing any positive impact from ASP increases in the core business. But on the other hand, you could argue that the competitive environment is less severe now because supply has been constrained and very -- still strong demand. So we're in an environment when maybe there's weaker demand, would you see at least a return to more competitive pricing, which would put pressure on your margins?

好的。這很有幫助。以及前面的毛利率問題。您談到，核心業務的平均售價增長確實沒有看到任何積極影響。但另一方面，您可能會爭辯說，現在競爭環境不那麼嚴峻了，因為供應受到限制，而且需求仍然非常強勁。因此，我們處於需求可能疲軟的環境中，您是否會看到至少恢復到更具競爭力的定價，這會給您的利潤帶來壓力？

It's possible. We didn't see that much appreciation as we talked about. I mean, again, I believe ASPs are going to more firm up, Matt, as my take on it. I know historically, we could look at ASPs as an average in the industry, I think it's going to depend on the technology and the products. If it's commodity standard products, multiple sources, Yes, that might get a little bit more pricing pressure. But it might just be ASP pressure, not margin pressure, right? Because you still might be able to hold the margins, just might be an average selling price pressure.

這是可能的。正如我們所談論的那樣，我們沒有看到那麼多讚賞。我的意思是，我相信 ASP 會更加堅定，馬特，正如我的看法。我知道從歷史上看，我們可以將 ASP 視為行業的平均值，我認為這將取決於技術和產品。如果是商品標準產品，多個來源，是的，這可能會帶來更多的定價壓力。但這可能只是 ASP 壓力，而不是利潤壓力，對吧？因為你仍然可以保持利潤，只是可能是平均售價壓力。

In the higher end, which we're not seeing a lot of movement on from a lead time standpoint, high-end micros and don't get any specific suppliers, I don't know. I mean there's still price increases. This is what's kind of strange about what's happening, right? You just called out inventory days going up and these different mixed signals in the marketplace, yet we have north of 25 suppliers elevating prices in the last 30 to 45 days, and some talking about more. So it's really going to be -- I think, Matt, it's going to come down to by commodity. Okay. And then and where it sits in the -- from a technology standpoint.

在高端，從交貨時間的角度來看，我們沒有看到太多的進展，高端微型並且沒有任何特定的供應商，我不知道。我的意思是價格仍然上漲。這就是正在發生的事情的奇怪之處，對吧？您剛剛提到庫存天數上升和市場上這些不同的混合信號，但我們有超過 25 家供應商在過去 30 到 45 天內提高了價格，有些人還在談論更多。所以它真的會 - 我認為，馬特，這將歸結為商品。好的。然後從技術的角度來看，它所處的位置。

Okay. Great. And just my last question, a modeling question for the incoming and outgoing CFO, if I may, just on the mix of margin. You talked about some OpEx increases, some salary increases. So what should we expect for OpEx? And imagining that gross margin should be down a little bit sequentially just on the seasonality issues you talked about with the strength in Asia. Does that make sense?

好的。偉大的。只是我的最後一個問題，關於新任和離職 CFO 的建模問題，如果可以的話，只是關於利潤率的組合。你談到了一些運營支出的增加，一些工資的增加。那麼我們應該對 OpEx 有什麼期望呢？想像一下，僅就您談到的季節性問題以及亞洲的實力而言，毛利率應該會依次下降。那有意義嗎？

Yes, Matt, that makes sense. I would say the mix shift is going to cause the gross margin impact. OpEx flattish, maybe up a little bit from these investments, but we've done some offsetting things as well. So we're making investments in our people, but there's still things that we can improve upon on the OpEx side of things.

是的，馬特，這是有道理的。我會說混合轉變將導致毛利率影響。運營支出持平，可能會從這些投資中上升一點，但我們也做了一些抵消性的事情。因此，我們正在對我們的員工進行投資，但在運營支出方面我們仍有一些可以改進的地方。

Our next question is from William Stein with Truist Securities.

我們的下一個問題來自 Truist Securities 的 William Stein。

I want to add my congratulations to everyone. I was hoping to ask about the book-to-bill trends. I think you highlighted, Phil, that the book-to-bill faded a little bit in the quarter, but still nicely above 1. Is that true of both segments? And can you give us any color in terms of both the difference (inaudible) and trends in that ratio from last quarter to this quarter?

我想向大家表示祝賀。我希望能詢問有關從帳單到帳單的趨勢。我想你強調了，菲爾，本季度的帳單到帳單略有下降，但仍遠高於 1。這兩個部分都是如此嗎？從上一季度到本季度，您能否就該比率的差異（聽不清）和趨勢給我們任何顏色？

You broke up a little bit, but I think I got it. Thanks, Will. So for both operating groups, the components and Farnell were both positive book-to-bill through the quarter and are as of today as well, by the way. But as I pointed out, but it moderated a bit, which, again, I think is a good thing. So it wasn't off the charts, just still came in at a good positive book-to-bill. Remember, we look at book-to-bill has -- and then we got the supply chain engagements. So they're kind of outside the booking. So we got to look at that as well. And as -- through the quarter, it's -- at a global level, it's similar. The mix by region is a little bit different in the book-to-bill. But at the global level, it's still positive, close to where it closed out, frankly, at the end of the June quarter for both Farnell and the Electronic Components.

你分手了一點，但我想我明白了。謝謝，威爾。因此，對於這兩個運營集團來說，組件和 Farnell 在整個季度都是正的賬面出貨比，順便說一句，截至今天也是如此。但正如我所指出的，但它有所緩和，我再次認為這是一件好事。所以它並沒有超出圖表，只是仍然以良好的積極賬面收單率進入。請記住，我們查看的是訂單到賬單 - 然後我們得到了供應鏈參與。所以他們有點在預訂之外。所以我們也要看看。而且 - 在整個季度，它是 - 在全球範圍內，它是相似的。按地區劃分的組合在帳單上略有不同。但在全球範圍內，它仍然是積極的，坦率地說，Farnell 和電子元件公司在 6 月季度末都接近收盤價。

And then a follow-up, if I can. At the Analyst Day, you discussed some new tools and services that you're providing to customers, I think even in your prepared remarks, you mentioned this control tower concept. Can you maybe talk about that. Maybe just help us understand the effect on your business. Is it a direct revenue effect? And is it here and now? Is it more of a future thing? Or is it less of a revenue or margin impact and more of a matter of increasing your stickiness with customers?

如果可以的話，然後進行跟進。在分析師日，您討論了您為客戶提供的一些新工具和服務，我認為即使在您準備好的評論中，您也提到了這個控制塔概念。你能不能談談那個。也許只是幫助我們了解對您業務的影響。是直接的收入效應嗎？它是此時此地嗎？它更像是未來的事情嗎？或者它對收入或利潤的影響較小，而更多的是增加您對客戶的粘性？

Yes. Thanks, Will. We did talk about both of those. So let me start with the -- and they're both under what, I would call, the digital category. The one was the -- our design tool. It's an online design tool, we call, AVAIL and that is live. And effectively, it has thousands of block diagrams in it, and we're pushing that out directly to customers in an API or a cloud-based accessibility, it really helps our demand creation, okay?

是的。謝謝，威爾。我們確實談到了這兩個。所以讓我從 - 我稱之為數字類別開始。一個是我們的設計工具。它是一個在線設計工具，我們稱之為 AVAIL，它是實時的。實際上，它有數千個框圖，我們正在通過 API 或基於雲的可訪問性將其直接推送給客戶，這確實有助於我們創造需求，好嗎？

It helps us not just with demand creation, but more and more customers and it was covered at the Investor Day with our panel as well, more and more customers are looking for solutions and more of our suppliers are looking for us to sell solutions. So that tool helps us design in -- influence design and win more of the design on the whole board.

它不僅幫助我們創造需求，而且幫助越來越多的客戶，我們的小組也在投資者日進行了報導，越來越多的客戶正在尋找解決方案，我們的更多供應商正在尋找我們銷售解決方案。所以這個工具可以幫助我們設計——影響設計並在整個電路板上贏得更多的設計。

So that's the tool we talked about, it's called, AVAIL. And that's -- again, that's been rolled out internally for our field application engineers. Now we're kind of turning that around to give direct accessibility to our customers, and that's in process pretty much as we speak. And on that demand creation in general was over 30%, almost 31% of our total revenues last quarter, which is a record number for us, again, important because of the -- when designed a big chip, it helps us pull through and helps us with the stickiness down the line and still critical for our suppliers.

這就是我們談到的工具，它被稱為 AVAIL。那是 - 再次，這是在內部為我們的現場應用工程師推出的。現在我們正在扭轉這種局面，為我們的客戶提供直接的可訪問性，而這幾乎就在我們所說的過程中。總體而言，需求創造超過 30%，幾乎占我們上個季度總收入的 31%，這對我們來說又是一個創紀錄的數字，再次重要，因為當設計一個大芯片時，它幫助我們度過難關，並且幫助我們提高粘性，並且對我們的供應商仍然至關重要。

I mean they lean on us for demand creation, and we respond. The other one, you're right, we call it a control tower. It's around supply chain orchestration. We've had -- it's already roughly 50% of our business where we're actually managing a customer's [MIP]. We're taking in feed, whether it's an EDI and API, a fax, whatever they -- however they want to give it to us, we're managing their pipelines for us. And what's happened in the last couple of years is, more and more customers are coming to us because they need more assistance.

我的意思是他們依靠我們來創造需求，我們會做出回應。另一個，你是對的，我們稱之為控制塔。它圍繞供應鏈編排。我們已經 - 我們實際管理客戶 [MIP] 的業務已經佔了大約 50%。我們正在接收提要，無論是 EDI 和 API、傳真，無論他們想給我們什麼，我們都在為我們管理他們的管道。過去幾年發生的情況是，越來越多的客戶來找我們，因為他們需要更多幫助。

And some of these are maybe Tier 1s, large OEMs that weren't doing business with us directly and they're asking us to help them rebuild their supply chains when it comes to technology and semiconductors. And yes, we've called out the control tower, and we've had some big wins and one, it helps revenue. Some of this is Supply-Chain-as-a-Service as we talked about, where it's low working capital or no working capital and really gross profit kind of building. And then third is, yes, it does integrate us more with those customers.

其中一些可能是 1 級、大型 OEM，它們沒有直接與我們開展業務，他們要求我們幫助他們在技術和半導體方面重建他們的供應鏈。是的，我們已經召集了控制塔，我們已經取得了一些重大勝利，其中一個，它有助於收入。其中一些是我們談到的供應鏈即服務，它的營運資金低或沒有營運資金，而且真正的毛利潤是一種建設。然後第三個是，是的，它確實將我們與這些客戶更多地整合在一起。

And really, the partnerships just go to a new level where we're integrated and it does create more stickiness. So hopefully, that answers the question.

實際上，合作夥伴關係只是進入了一個我們整合的新水平，它確實創造了更多的粘性。所以希望這能回答這個問題。

Our next question is from Joe Quatrochi with Wells Fargo.

我們的下一個問題來自富國銀行的 Joe Quatrochi。

Congrats to Tom and Ken. I just kind of wanted another question on the book-to-bill and the change that you're seeing there. Can you maybe just help us understand. Is this a change in maybe the breadth of orders in terms of the number of customers or maybe the quantity that your customers are ordering in terms of like the amount at one time or just the maybe months of visibility they're giving you in their order book? Any help there would be great.

恭喜湯姆和肯。我只是想要另一個關於帳單和您在那裡看到的變化的問題。你能不能幫助我們理解。這可能是客戶數量方面的訂單廣度的變化，還是您的客戶訂購的數量（例如一次數量）或他們在訂單中為您提供的可能幾個月的可見性書？那裡的任何幫助都會很棒。

Yes. Thanks, Joe. It's not customer count. That I can tell you. There are going to be some customers, as you guys, know are slowing down and others that are picking up. (inaudible) has to do with the lead time. So as if lead times in some areas do come in, a lot of the MRPs that drive the bookings or supply chain engagements, they'll adjust those MRPs based on quoted lead time, publish lead time or actual lead time. So more of it is that than it is anything else. And then I said, some customers is lower than others. I mean you're going to always have some verticals that are up or some that are down.

是的。謝謝，喬。這不是客戶數量。我可以告訴你。正如你們所知道的，將會有一些客戶正在放緩，而其他客戶正在加速。 （聽不清）與交貨時間有關。因此，如果某些領域的提前期確實出現了，許多推動預訂或供應鏈參與的 MRP，他們將根據引用的提前期、發布提前期或實際提前期調整這些 MRP。所以更多的是它而不是其他任何東西。然後我說，有些客戶比其他客戶低。我的意思是你總會有一些垂直向上或向下。

Our next question is from Joe Cardoso with JPMorgan.

我們的下一個問題來自摩根大通的 Joe Cardoso。

Just 2 quick ones for me. First, you modestly narrowed the revenue guidance range for the quarter. So just curious to see what's driving the better visibility heading into the September quarter, if anything. And then second, you mentioned the supply shortages with Farnell. Has that improved at all in the first quarter to date? And are you baking in a continued headwind from the shortages in the first quarter guide?

對我來說只有 2 個快速的。首先，您適度縮小了本季度的收入指導範圍。所以只是想看看是什麼推動了進入 9 月季度的更好的能見度，如果有的話。其次，您提到了 Farnell 的供應短缺。迄今為止，第一季度情況是否有所改善？您是否因第一季度指南中的短缺而持續逆風？

Let me work on the side. Joe, could you repeat the first part of that question, you broke up. I got the Farnell one, but I didn't catch the first one.

讓我在旁邊工作。喬，你能重複一下那個問題的第一部分嗎，你分手了。我得到了 Farnell 的，但我沒有抓住第一個。

Yes, sure. So just the first one is simple, just in the revenue guidance, you narrowed the range that you typically give at least for the prior 2 to 3 quarters. Just curious what's driving the more narrowed range there? Is it better visibility? Just curious to hear if there's anything behind that? And then the second one is just the Farnell.

是的，當然。因此，第一個很簡單，就在收入指導中，您縮小了通常至少在前 2 到 3 個季度給出的範圍。只是好奇是什麼導致那裡的範圍更窄？能見度更好嗎？只是想知道這背後是否有什麼？然後第二個就是 Farnell。

Yes. For the guidance question, Joe, I'd say this is Ken. I would say there's not really anything that's changed. We -- I think maybe the prior quarter, we expanded a little bit with some maybe more uncertainties. But this would be a typical kind of plus or minus $150 million on the midpoint. So I think you'd see that going forward.

是的。對於指導問題，喬，我會說這是肯。我想說實際上並沒有任何改變。我們 - 我認為也許在上一季度，我們擴大了一點，可能會有更多的不確定性。但這將是典型的中點正負 1.5 億美元。所以我認為你會看到這一點。

Yes. And thanks, Ken. And on the Farnell, yes, what would we say with Farnell, they've got quite a bit of backlog. We've been increasing -- or working to increase the SKUs to 200-plus thousand and we're just about 70%, 80% there. So it's not -- yes, we can get more inventory. It always helps their growth, but it's not really built into a negative guide or anything all on that.

是的。謝謝，肯。在 Farnell 上，是的，我們會對 Farnell 說些什麼，他們有相當多的積壓工作。我們一直在增加——或努力將 SKU 增加到 200 多萬個，而我們只有大約 70%、80%。所以它不是 - 是的，我們可以獲得更多庫存。它總是有助於他們的成長，但它並沒有真正融入負面指南或其他任何東西。

Anything around Farnell would be more just seasonality. They're also heavy in Europe, right? That's where -- and Europe tends to be a little bit slower in the summer. And we're probing to see a more normal seasonality in Europe than we had the last 2 years because last 2 years were somewhat anomalies in the Europe market. So I think we're going to go back to more of a bit of a slower seasonality quarter in Europe. But no, it's not -- it's not having a heavy impact.

Farnell 周圍的任何事物都只是季節性因素。他們在歐洲也很重，對吧？那就是 - 歐洲在夏天往往會慢一點。我們正在探索歐洲的季節性比過去兩年更正常，因為過去兩年歐洲市場有些異常。所以我認為我們將回到歐洲更多的是一個較慢的季節性季度。但不，它不是——它沒有產生重大影響。

Our next question is from William Stein with Truist Securities.

我們的下一個問題來自 Truist Securities 的 William Stein。

I apologize if I missed this. But I'm just -- as I look at the segments, I'm realizing that Farnell is about flat year-over-year and the traditional components distribution business is still growing at a healthy clip. Can you comment on the difference between these 2? I've noted that in times of sort of desperate demand relative to limited supply that you might see this bump in Farnell that could then feed. Is that the dynamic we're seeing now? Are customers getting filled slightly better through more traditional methods and therefore, backing off of Farnell? Or is there another dynamic there?

如果我錯過了這一點，我深表歉意。但我只是 - 當我查看細分市場時，我意識到 Farnell 與去年同期相比基本持平，而傳統的零部件分銷業務仍在以健康的速度增長。你能評論一下這兩個之間的區別嗎？我注意到，在相對於有限的供應而言，在某種絕望的需求時期，你可能會看到 Farnell 的這種顛簸，然後可以養活。這就是我們現在看到的動態嗎？客戶是否通過更傳統的方法獲得了更好的滿足，因此放棄了 Farnell？還是那裡有另一種動態？

Well, yes, no problem. Did you talk about the guide to September.

嗯，是的，沒問題。你有沒有談到九月的指南。

I think the Q4 versus Q4.

我認為第四季度與第四季度。

Q4 versus Q4.

第四季度與第四季度。

Yes. I mean -- well, I guess, this is Ken, I would say some of that is FX driven. They've got a lot of our business as Phil mentioned. So -- but they have had some, I'll call it, shortages of some parts that they could, including single border computing and things of that nature. So I feel like in the market, demand is still pretty strong. And the pricing is still relatively good. So I don't see anything indicating there that would signal anything more different than what we're seeing in the components business in the broader electronic components business.

是的。我的意思是——嗯，我猜，這是 Ken，我想說其中一些是 FX 驅動的。正如菲爾提到的，他們有很多我們的業務。所以 - 但他們有一些，我稱之為，他們可以的一些部分的短缺，包括單邊界計算和那種性質的東西。所以我覺得在市場上，需求仍然很強勁。而且定價還是比較好的。因此，我沒有看到任何跡象表明與我們在更廣泛的電子元件業務中的元件業務中看到的情況相比有什麼不同。

Yes. I think there's anything to read there. It's the long and short of it, Will. But they do -- all the catalog guys do pick up maybe a bit. And we've talked about that when there's shortages out there, they definitely see a little bit more action than they typically would. But we've not seen anything dramatically changed there.

是的。我想那裡有什麼可以讀的。這是長和短，威爾。但他們確實 - 所有目錄的人都可能會撿起一點。我們已經討論過，當出現短缺時，他們肯定會看到比通常情況下更多的行動。但我們還沒有看到那裡有什麼顯著變化。

There are no further questions at this time. I'd like to turn the floor back over to Phil Gallagher for any closing comments.

目前沒有其他問題。我想把發言權轉回給 Phil Gallagher 以徵求任何結束意見。

All right. Thank you very much, and thanks for the questions, and thanks for participating in today's earnings call. I look forward to speaking to you again in our first -- following our first fiscal quarter earnings report in October. And at that point, I wish Ken all the best of luck. And Tom, thanks for everything, and I hope everybody has a good rest of the day.

好的。非常感謝您，感謝您提出問題，並感謝您參加今天的財報電話會議。我期待在 10 月份的第一個財政季度收益報告之後再次與您交談。在那一點上，我祝愿肯好運。還有湯姆，謝謝你所做的一切，我希望每個人都能好好休息一天。

Thank you, everyone.

謝謝大家。

Thank you. This concludes today's conference. You may disconnect your lines at this time. Thank you for your participation.

謝謝你。今天的會議到此結束。此時您可以斷開線路。感謝您的參與。