Bel Fuse Inc (BELFB) 2023 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Good morning and welcome to Bel Fuse fourth-quarter and full-year 2023 earnings call. (Operator Instructions) As a reminder, this conference call is being recorded. I would now like to turn the call over to Jean Marie Young with Three Part Advisors. Please go ahead, Jean.

早安，歡迎參加 Bel Fuse 第四季和 2023 年全年財報電話會議。（操作員說明）謹此提醒，本次電話會議正在錄音。我現在想將電話轉給讓·瑪麗·楊（Jean Marie Young）和三部分顧問。請繼續，讓。

(audio cut) that will be considered forward-looking statements under federal securities laws, such as statements regarding the company's expected operating and financial performance for future periods, including guidance for future periods in 2024. These statements are based on the company's current expectations and reflect the company's views only as of today and should not be considered representative of the company's views as of any subsequent date.

（音訊剪輯）根據聯邦證券法，這些聲明將被視為前瞻性聲明，例如有關公司未來時期的預期營運和財務業績的聲明，包括 2024 年未來時期的指導。這些陳述是基於公司目前的預期，僅反映公司截至目前的觀點，不應被視為代表公司截至任何後續日期的觀點。

The company disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements or outlook. Actual results for future periods may differ materially from those projected by these forward-looking statements due to a number of risks, uncertainties, and other factors. These material risks are summarized in the press release we issued after market close yesterday.

本公司不承擔更新任何前瞻性陳述或展望的義務。由於許多風險、不確定性和其他因素，未來期間的實際結果可能與這些前瞻性陳述預測的結果有重大差異。這些重大風險在我們昨天收盤後發布的新聞稿中進行了總結。

Additional information about the material risks and other important factors that could potentially impact our financial performance and cause actual results to differ materially from our expectations are discussed in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our most recent annual report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2022, and our quarterly reports and other documents that we have filed or may file with the SEC from time to time.

我們向美國證券交易委員會提交的文件中討論了有關重大風險和其他重要因素的更多信息，這些風險和其他重要因素可能會影響我們的財務業績並導致實際結果與我們的預期存在重大差異，包括我們最新的10-K 表格年度報告截至 2022 年 12 月 31 日的財年，以及我們已向 SEC 提交或可能不時提交的季度報告和其他文件。

We may also discuss non-GAAP results during this call, and reconciliations of our GAAP results to non-GAAP results have been included in our press release. Our press release and our SEC filings are all available at the IR section of our website.

我們也可能在本次電話會議中討論非 GAAP 業績，並且我們的 GAAP 業績與非 GAAP 業績的對帳已包含在我們的新聞稿中。我們的新聞稿和 SEC 備案文件均可在我們網站的 IR 部分取得。

Joining me on the call today is Dan Bernstein, President and CEO; Farouq Tuweiq, CFO; and Lynn Hutkin, Vice President of Financial Reporting and Investor Relations.

今天與我一起參加電話會議的是總裁兼執行長 Dan Bernstein；法魯克‧圖維克，財務長；林恩‧哈特金 (Lynn Hutkin)，財務報告與投資者關係副總裁。

With that, I'd like to call -- I'd like to turn the call over to Dan. Dan?

有了這個，我想打電話——我想把電話轉給丹。擔？

Thank you, Jean, and good morning, and thank you for joining our call of Q4 and '22-'23 year end. Last month, Bell celebrated its 75th year of being in business. This is no easy feat in the electronic component business and a testament to the generation of great associates, customers, and partners that we have the privilege in working with.

謝謝你，Jean，早安，謝謝你參加我們的第四季和「22-」23 年末電話會議。上個月，貝爾慶祝了其成立 75 週年。這在電子元件產業絕非易事，也證明了我們有幸與之合作的優秀同事、客戶和合作夥伴的產生。

Over the years, we have instilled the four principles [of my father], who first started the company in 1949: work closely with our customer and product development teams. The benefits of this collaboration will enable the company to stay relevant and on the cutting edge of technology; two, establish and maintain relationship with quality suppliers; three, provide value to our shareholders. This is always central in our priorities and made possible for building and operating successful businesses; and finally, attract and retain talented associates.

多年來，我們灌輸了[我父親]於 1949 年首次創辦公司的四項原則：與我們的客戶和產品開發團隊密切合作。此次合作的好處將使公司能夠保持相關性並處於技術前沿；二、與優質供應商建立並維持關係；三、為股東提供價值。這始終是我們優先事項的核心，並使建立和經營成功的企業成為可能；最後，吸引並留住有才華的同事。

Bel has successfully navigated the challenges faced over the years and has stood the test of time by relying on these four principles. 2023 on many accounts was a challenging year for our initiative. Bel was able to perform better than most due to the diversity in our end markets and our unrelenting dedication to continuous improvement by our global teams.

依靠這四項原則，貝爾成功應對了多年來面臨的挑戰，並經受住了時間的考驗。從很多方面來說，2023 年對我們的倡議來說都是充滿挑戰的一年。由於我們終端市場的多樣性以及我們全球團隊對持續改進的不懈努力，貝爾能夠比大多數公司表現得更好。

It was also a transformer year for us as we consolidated four manufacturing sites, sold our non-core Czech operations and divested our former headquarter building, and focused on optimizing production and business processes. We finished 2023 with non-GAAP adjustable net sales, which excluded expedited fees slightly up from 2022 levels with significantly improved profitability. It's also a year of record cash flow generation. This enabled us to explore broadly in ways to invest in the business and return capital to our shareholders.

這對我們來說也是轉型的一年，因為我們整合了四個製造基地，出售了我們的非核心捷克業務並剝離了我們以前的總部大樓，並專注於優化生產和業務流程。2023 年，我們的非 GAAP 可調整淨銷售額（不包括加急費用）比 2022 年水準略有上升，獲利能力顯著提高。這也是現金流創紀錄的一年。這使我們能夠廣泛探索投資業務並向股東返還資本的方式。

As announced in our morning release, the Board of Directors has authorized a new program for the repurchase of up to $25 million of the company's outstanding shares in the open market, privately negotiated or block transactions or otherwise in accordance with applicable laws and regulations of the SEC, including Rule 10b-18 of the Exchange Act. Additional details regarding the stock repurchase program are contained in the 8-K that was filed yesterday.

正如我們在早晨新聞稿中宣布的那樣，董事會已批准一項新計劃，根據美國適用的法律和法規，透過公開市場、私下談判或大宗交易或其他方式回購最多2500 萬美元的公司已發行股票。 SEC，包括交易法第 10b-18 條。有關股票回購計劃的更多詳細資訊包含在昨天提交的 8-K 中。

Despite the many wins of 2023, we're not able to be as acquisitive as we had hoped, given the limited availability of viable targets. As we look to 2024, I'm excited about the road ahead. While it's expected that the year will be off to a slower start, as consistent with the Board assessment throughout our industry, we do believe the second half of the year looks promising, assuming inventory levels in the channel normalize.

儘管 2023 年取得了許多勝利，但鑑於可行目標的可用性有限，我們無法像我們希望的那樣進行收購。展望 2024 年，我對未來的道路感到興奮。雖然預計今年開局會較慢，這與董事會對整個行業的評估一致，但我們確實相信，假設通路庫存水準正常化，今年下半年看起來很有希望。

With our previously announced facility consolidations behind us, we entered 2024 with a much more efficient cost structure, which will serve us well, especially with the current sales level of our magnetic business.

隨著我們先前宣布的設施整合的結束，我們以更有效率的成本結構進入了 2024 年，這將對我們有利，特別是考慮到我們磁性業務目前的銷售水平。

Turning to the management team, we announced last month that Steve Dawson will be taking the helm of Bel Power Group upon Dennis Ackerman's retirement in July. Steve came to Bel through its acquisition of Power-One business from ABB in 2014 as an integral part of our turnaround story over the power segment in recent years.

談到管理團隊，我們上個月宣布，丹尼斯·阿克曼 (Dennis Ackerman) 於 7 月退休後，史蒂夫·道森 (Steve Dawson) 將接掌 Bel Power Group。Steve 於 2014 年透過收購 ABB 的 Power-One 業務來到 Bel，這是我們近年來電力領域扭虧為盈的重要組成部分。

I've worked side by side with Dennis and the team for the past decade. Coupled with his technical background and industry experience, Steve brings the right mix of continuity and fresh perspective to the role. I'm very excited to have him stepping up this summer as part of our going-forward executive team.

在過去的十年裡，我一直與丹尼斯和他的團隊並肩工作。加上他的技術背景和行業經驗，史蒂夫為這個角色帶來了連續性和新鮮視角的正確組合。我很高興他今年夏天加入我們未來的執行團隊。

After that, I'll turn over the call to Lynn to give us a financial update. Lynn?

之後，我會將電話轉給 Lynn，向我們提供最新的財務資訊。林恩？

Thank you, Dan. From our financial perspective, sales came in at $140 million for the fourth quarter and $640 million for the full year of 2023. On a non-GAAP basis, our adjusted net sales, which exclude expedite fee revenue, were down 12% in the fourth quarter of 2023 versus Q4 '22 and were up 1% for the full-year 2023 over 2022.

謝謝你，丹。從我們的財務角度來看，第四季的銷售額為 1.4 億美元，2023 年全年的銷售額為 6.4 億美元。根據非公認會計原則，我們的調整後淨銷售額（不包括加急費用收入）在2023 年第四季與2022 年第四季相比下降了12%，而2023 年全年比2022 年成長了1%。

Consistent with prior quarters, there were large offsetting movements within our product segments but pockets of strength within connectivity and power helping to mitigate the significant declines in magnetic sale throughout 2023.

與前幾季一致，我們的產品領域內出現了巨大的抵消變動，但連接性和電力方面的一些優勢有助於緩解 2023 年磁性銷售額的大幅下降。

Gross margin continued to increase on a year-over-year basis for the ninth consecutive quarter and reached 36.6% in the fourth quarter of 2023 as compared to 31% in Q4 22. Looking at the full year, gross margin was up by 570 basis points in 2023 as compared to 2022. Margin improvement continued to be led by favorable product mix and the successful execution of a variety of cost-reduction and efficiency programs.

毛利率連續第九個季度同比持續成長，2023 年第四季達到 36.6%，而 22 年第四季為 31%。從全年來看，2023年毛利率較2022年成長570個基點。有利的產品組合以及各種成本削減和效率計劃的成功執行繼續帶動利潤率的提高。

Before getting into the product segment discussion, there was one item to note which impacts our fourth-quarter segment margin. Historically and including the 2023 year, we have accrued our global incentive compensation expense in the corporate segment throughout the year and pushed down the appropriate annual allocation to the product segments in the fourth quarter.

在進入產品細分市場討論之前，有一點需要注意，它會影響我們第四季度的細分市場利潤率。從歷史上看，包括2023年，我們全年都在企業部門累計了全球激勵薪酬費用，並在第四季度減少了對產品部門的適當年度分配。

Due to a shift in our incentive compensation program to a calendar-year basis, there were five quarters of this expense pushed down to our segments in the fourth quarter of 2023. Aside from this, the year-over-year periods disclosed in our earnings release are generally comparable. However, there is a larger disconnect if looking at segment margins on a sequential basis from Q3 '23 to Q4 '23.

由於我們的激勵薪酬計劃改為按日曆年計算，因此 2023 年第四季有五個季度的費用被推到了我們的部門。除此之外，我們的財報中揭露的年比期間總體上具有可比性。然而，如果按順序查看 23 年第 3 季到 23 年第 4 季的分部利潤率，則存在更大的脫節。

Now turning to our product groups, sales of our power solutions and protection products in Q4 '23 amounted to $69 million, a 15% decline from the previous year's fourth quarter. On a full-year basis, 2023 showed an increase of 9% compared to 2022, reaching $314 million in sales. The growth for the full year was mainly driven by higher demand for front-end power products, which serve our networking end market.

現在轉向我們的產品組，23 年第 4 季我們的電源解決方案和保護產品的銷售額達到 6,900 萬美元，比去年第四季下降 15%。從全年來看，2023 年銷售額較 2022 年成長 9%，達到 3.14 億美元。全年的成長主要是由於對服務於我們的網路終端市場的前端電源產品的更高需求所推動的。

Sales of our e-mobility and rail products also remained strong and helped to offset declines in circuit protection and distribution sales. For full-year 2023, sales of e-mobility products amounted to $27.8 million, an increase of approximately 40% from the 2022 level. Products sold into rail applications totaled $30.1 million for full-year 2023, up 33% from 2022.

我們的電動車和鐵路產品的銷售也保持強勁，有助於抵消電路保護和分銷銷售的下降。2023年全年，電動車產品銷售額達2,780萬美元，較2022年成長約40%。2023 年全年，鐵路應用產品銷售總額為 3,010 萬美元，較 2022 年成長 33%。

The gross margin for the power segment was 40.2% for the fourth quarter of 2023, representing a 720-basis-point improvement from Q4 '22. On a full-year basis, the gross margin increased by 760 basis points to 38.1% in 2023 as compared to 30.5% for 2022. These increases were primarily driven by a favorable shift in product mix, cost reduction efforts, and favorable effects from the Chinese renminbi.

2023 年第四季電力部門的毛利率為 40.2%，比 22 年第四季提高了 720 個基點。全年毛利率較2022年的30.5%成長760個基點至2023年的38.1%。這些成長主要是由於產品結構的有利轉變、成本降低以及人民幣的有利影響所推動的。

Our connectivity solutions group achieved sales of $50.6 million in the fourth quarter of 2023, an increase of 7.5% compared to Q4 '22. On a full-year basis, 2023 connectivity sales amounted to $211 billion, an increase of almost 13% versus 2022. This improvement was due to the continued growth in the defense and aerospace industry, partially offset by softer demand from our premise wiring customers.

我們的連接解決方案團隊在 2023 年第四季實現銷售額 5,060 萬美元，比 22 年第四季成長 7.5%。從全年來看，2023 年連結銷售額達到 2,110 億美元，比 2022 年成長近 13%。這項改善歸因於國防和航空航太產業的持續成長，但部分被我們的駐地佈線客戶的需求疲軟所抵消。

For full-year 2023, sales of products into the commercial aerospace end market amounted to $53.3 million, an increase of 72% from the 2022 level of $31 million. Products sold into defense applications totaled $44.7 million for full-year 2023, up 25% from the $35.9 million in 2022. The gross margin for this group was 29.3% in the fourth quarter of 2023, up from 23.6% in the same quarter of 2022.

2023年全年，商用航空終端市場的產品銷售額達5,330萬美元，比2022年的3,100萬美元成長72%。2023 年全年國防應用產品銷售總額為 4,470 萬美元，較 2022 年的 3,590 萬美元成長 25%。2023年第四季的毛利率為29.3%，高於2022年同一季度的23.6%。

On a full-year basis, the gross margin improved by 830 basis points to 34.2% compared to 25.9% in 2022. Gross margins for the 2023 period were favorably impacted by the higher overall sales volume, multi-year contract renewal, and operational efficiencies implemented during 2023, partially offset by higher wage rates in Mexico and an unfavorable fluctuation in exchange rates between the US dollar and Mexican peso in 2023 as compared to 2022.

全年毛利率較 2022 年的 25.9% 提高 830 個基點至 34.2%。2023 年期間的毛利率受到 2023 年期間實施的總體銷量增加、多年合約續約和營運效率的有利影響，但部分被墨西哥工資率上升以及美元與墨西哥之間匯率的不利波動所抵消2023 年比索與2022年相比。

Lastly, our magnetic solutions' group sales declined by 49% from Q4 '22 levels to $20.5 million in the fourth quarter of 2023. This resulted in full-year 2023 sales for the magnetic segment of $115.1 million as compared to $178.8 million in 2022. This segment has a large concentration of sales in the networking end market and is largely tied to the ordering patterns and demands of certain large customers within that space.

最後，我們的磁性解決方案的集團銷售額從 22 年第四季的水準下降了 49%，至 2023 年第四季的 2,050 萬美元。這使得磁性細分市場 2023 年全年銷售額為 1.151 億美元，而 2022 年為 1.788 億美元。該細分市場的銷售主要集中在網路終端市場，並且在很大程度上與該領域內某些大客戶的訂購模式和需求相關。

The downward trend on top line in this segment is a continuation and further deterioration of what we saw in the second and third quarters of 2023. With lead times being down and new orders being shipped in the same quarter, this segment does not have the same visibility as our other segments. The inter-quarter sales that were expected in November and December simply did not transpire and has become evident that the rebound in this space will take longer than originally anticipated.

該細分市場營收的下降趨勢是我們在 2023 年第二季和第三季看到的情況的延續和進一步惡化。由於交貨時間縮短且新訂單在同一季度發貨，該細分市場的可見度與我們其他細分市場不同。11 月和 12 月預期的季度間銷售根本沒有實現，而且很明顯，該領域的反彈將需要比最初預期更長的時間。

Gross margin for the magnetic segment was 17.1% for Q4 '23, as compared to 29.5% in Q4 '22. On a full-year basis, magnetic gross margin was 22% in 2023 as compared to 27.6% in 2022. The lower sales volume and dual-cost structure in place throughout much of 2023 were the primary drivers of gross margin reduction to the magnetic segment compared with 2022.

23 年第 4 季磁性業務的毛利率為 17.1%，而 22 年第 4 季為 29.5%。以全年計算，2023 年磁性毛利率為 22%，而 2022 年為 27.6%。與 2022 年相比，2023 年大部分時間銷售下降和雙重成本結構是磁性細分市場毛利率下降的主要原因。

These factors were partially offset by favorable exchange rates with the Chinese renminbi versus the US dollar. On positive developments in the magnetics group, we can confirm at this time that our large facility consolidation project in China that will benefit this segment is complete. The leaner, more efficient operations and elimination of the dual-cost structure should aid the margins of this group going forward. At a consolidated level across all product segments, our backlog of orders totaled $373 million at December 31, 2023, a level we still consider to be high based on our history.

這些因素被人民幣兌美元的有利匯率部分抵銷。關於磁學集團的積極發展，我們現在可以確認我們在中國的大型設施整合項目已經完成，該項目將有利於該部門。更精簡、更有效率的營運以及消除雙重成本結構應該有助於該集團未來的利潤率。截至 2023 年 12 月 31 日，我們的積壓訂單總額為 3.73 億美元，從我們的歷史來看，我們仍然認為這一水準很高。

The selling, general, and administrative expenses for the fourth quarter of 2023 were $24.9 million, down slightly from the $25.1 million in Q4 '22. This reduction was primarily due to lower sales commission and a reduction in professional fees. On a year-to-date basis, SG&A increased by $6.7 million during 2023, mainly due to higher salary and fringe benefits in 2023 in addition to the MPS litigation lock incurred earlier in 2023.

2023 年第四季的銷售、一般和管理費用為 2,490 萬美元，略低於 2022 年第四季的 2,510 萬美元。這一減少主要是由於銷售佣金的減少和專業費用的減少。年初至今，SG&A 在 2023 年增加了 670 萬美元，主要是由於 2023 年工資和附加福利增加，以及 2023 年早些時候發生的 MPS 訴訟鎖定。

Turning to our balance sheet and cash flow, we closed the quarter with $127 million in cash and securities, a significant increase from the $70 million we had at the end of 2022.

談到我們的資產負債表和現金流，本季末我們的現金和證券為 1.27 億美元，比 2022 年底的 7,000 萬美元大幅增加。

During the fourth quarter of 2023, we generated cash flow from operating activities at $27.4 million, a 69% improvement from Q4 22. Looking at the full year of 2023, we generated cash flows from operating activities of $108.8 million, an improvement of 170% from 2022. Capital expenditures amounted to $2.5 million in the fourth quarter of 2023 and $12.1 million for the full year of 2023.

2023 年第四季度，我們的經營活動產生的現金流為 2,740 萬美元，比 22 年第四季成長 69%。綜觀 2023 年全年，我們的經營活動產生的現金流量為 1.088 億美元，比 2022 年成長 170%。2023 年第四季的資本支出為 250 萬美元，2023 年全年的資本支出為 1,210 萬美元。

We continue to make progress on reducing our inventory level and have achieved a $33.6 million reduction in inventory since the end of 2022. From a debt perspective, our outstanding balance remains at $60 million and is effectively subject to a fixed interest rate of 2.5% through our swap agreements that are in place through 2026.

我們在降低庫存水準方面繼續取得進展，自 2022 年底以來已實現庫存減少 3,360 萬美元。從債務角度來看，我們的未償餘額仍為 6000 萬美元，並且透過我們到 2026 年實施的掉期協議，實際上遵守 2.5% 的固定利率。

I'll now turn the call over to Farouq for additional commentary. Farouq?

我現在將把電話轉給法魯克以獲取更多評論。法魯克？

Thank you, Lynn. Good morning, everyone. As Dan mentioned, 2023 was a solid year for us in terms of holding our revenue base and seeing significant improvement of profitability and cash flow generation.

謝謝你，林恩。大家，早安。正如 Dan 所提到的，2023 年對我們來說是堅實的一年，我們維持了收入基礎，獲利能力和現金流產生顯著改善。

I wanted to take this opportunity to thank our global team for their tremendous efforts, creativity, and ingenuity this past year as we push for continuous improvements in all areas of the business, and our team answered the call and delivered above expectations. The priority of 2023 was to strengthen Bel's foundation, and this was achieved.

我想藉此機會感謝我們的全球團隊在過去一年中為推動業務各個領域的持續改進而付出的巨大努力、創造力和獨創性，我們的團隊響應了號召並交付了超出預期的成果。2023年的首要任務是加強貝爾的基礎，這個目標已經實現。

With much of the housekeeping efforts now behind us, the focus of 2024 will be threefold. First is top-line growth. This includes investing in customer relationships, identifying new sales strategies, determining which end markets and geographies to double down in, and most importantly, the development of new products to support sales growth in the future.

隨著大部分內務工作的完成，2024 年的重點將有三個。首先是營收成長。這包括投資於客戶關係、確定新的銷售策略、確定要加倍投入的終端市場和地區，最重要的是開發新產品以支持未來的銷售成長。

A quick comment here on the sales team. We've done a lot of work on that in 2023. We've added some new team members across the globe. We also rolled out a brand-new compensation and incentive structure that went live as of January. And the intention there is to really reward success and delivery with direct alignment and motivation to our associates.

這裡對銷售團隊進行快速評論。2023 年我們在這方面做了很多工作。我們在全球範圍內增加了一些新的團隊成員。我們也推出了全新的薪酬和激勵結構，並於一月生效。我們的目的是透過對員工的直接調整和激勵來真正獎勵成功和交付。

Second is further leaning out the way we do business. While we have accomplished a number of items, we still have a few projects we are working on. For example, we just kicked off a new project in the connectivity side, where we're streamlining our operations there for a passive connector business, transitioning that manufacturing out of Pennsylvania into other existing Bel facilities. This new initiative is expected to be completed by the end of 2024 and is anticipated to yield incremental annual cost savings in 2024 to the tune of $1 million.

其次是進一步調整我們的經營方式。雖然我們已經完成了許多項目，但我們仍有一些項目正在進行中。例如，我們剛剛在連接方面啟動了一個新項目，我們正在簡化被動連接器業務的運營，將製造從賓夕法尼亞州轉移到其他現有的貝爾工廠。這項新措施預計將於 2024 年底完成，預計到 2024 年每年可節省 100 萬美元的增量成本。

Third is capital deployment. It is evident as Dan noted that we are building up cash and now securities at a respectable pace, and we want to be good stewards of this capital. As such, and as Dan noted, we launched our first stock repurchase program since 2012. And this authorization is a proud moment for the Board and management team as we look to return cash to our shareholders. This was done at a time where our stock was discovering new milestones.

三是資本配置。丹指出，很明顯，我們正在以可觀的速度累積現金和證券，我們希望成為這筆資本的良好管理者。因此，正如丹指出的那樣，我們自 2012 年以來啟動了第一個股票回購計劃。對於董事會和管理團隊來說，這項授權是一個值得驕傲的時刻，因為我們希望向股東返還現金。這是在我們的股票發現新的里程碑的時候完成的。

To be clear, M&A is a top priority for us and must be aligned strategically and financially with our long-term goals. We'll also look to reinvest in the business to support organic growth. Increased investments in R&D to bolster new product introductions will be key. Additionally, another year of most likely elevated CapEx spend is expected in 2024 as we continue to upgrade aging equipment while introducing more automation to our manufacturing process against the backdrop of rising weakness globally.

需要明確的是，併購是我們的首要任務，必須在策略和財務上與我們的長期目標保持一致。我們還將尋求對業務進行再投資以支持有機成長。增加研發投資以支持新產品推出將是關鍵。此外，在全球經濟日益疲軟的背景下，隨著我們繼續升級老化設備，同時在製造流程中引入更多自動化技術，預計 2024 年資本支出很可能又會增加。

Now pivoting to 2024 and looking at that, as Dan mentioned and noted in our release, we expect a slow start to the year with a potential rebound in the second half. For the first quarter of 2024 based on currently available information and taking into account various financial and economic indicators, including what we see in our backlog and what we are hearing from our customers, we expect sales to be in the range of $125 million to $135 million.

現在轉向 2024 年，正如 Dan 在我們的新聞稿中提到和指出的那樣，我們預計今年開局緩慢，下半年可能會反彈。根據目前可用的信息，並考慮到各種財務和經濟指標，包括我們在積壓訂單中看到的情況以及我們從客戶那裡聽到的情況，2024 年第一季的銷售額預計將在1.25 億美元至135 美元之間百萬。

Aside from the anomaly we saw in Q1 last year, 2023, there is a typical step down in sales from Q4 to Q1 due to the Chinese New Year shutdowns that do occur in this quarter. And this historical trend is expected to continue this year.

除了我們在 2023 年第一季看到的異常情況外，由於本季確實發生了農曆新年停工，第四季到第一季的銷售額出現了典型的下降。而這一歷史趨勢預計今年還會延續。

When looking at Q1 2023, there are a few items to keep in mind as we bridge from the $172 million that was last year to the expected range of Q1 2024, so I'm going to run you through a few of these items to keep in mind. First, our first-quarter '23 sales included $7 million of expedited fees revenues that is not expected to recur in Q1 '24. These sales previously benefited our power segment.

在考慮 2023 年第一季時，當我們從去年的 1.72 億美元過渡到 2024 年第一季的預期範圍時，需要記住一些事項，因此我將向您介紹其中的一些事項，以確保心裡。首先，我們 23 年第一季的銷售額包括 700 萬美元的加急費用收入，預計不會在 24 年第一季出現。這些銷售先前使我們的電力部門受益。

Second, if you recall, we divested our connectivity business in the Czech Republic during mid 2023, which contributed around annual sales of around $5 million.

其次，如果您還記得的話，我們在 2023 年中期剝離了捷克共和國的連接業務，該業務貢獻了約 500 萬美元的年銷售額。

Third, we announced during Q3 '23 that we walked away from roughly $9 million of annual sales within the magnetic segments due to their low margin profile.

第三，我們在 23 年第三季宣布，由於磁性產品利潤率較低，我們放棄了約 900 萬美元的年銷售額。

Fourth, Q1 '23 was one of our power segment's strongest quarters as they were finally able to ship orders that had been past due with the raw material shortages of 2022 easing by early 2023. These quote-unquote catch-up orders from Q1 '23 and Q2 '23, largely tapered off during the second half of 2023, as expected, and these heightened volumes are not expected to repeat in Q1 '24. We estimate that there were approximately $10 million of these catch-up sales in power in Q1 '23 that will not occur.

第四，23 年第一季是我們電力領域最強勁的季度之一，因為隨著 2022 年原材料短缺問題到 2023 年初有所緩解，他們終於能夠運送過期的訂單。正如預期的那樣，這些來自 23 年第一季和 23 年第二季的追趕訂單在 2023 年下半年基本上逐漸減少，而這些增加的交易量預計不會在 24 年第一季重複出現。我們估計，23 年第一季的電力追趕銷售中大約有 1,000 萬美元不會發生。

Fifth, on the differential between Q1 '23 actuals and Q1 '24 projections, we're estimating that magnetic sales will trend down further in Q1 in typical seasonality weakness. And while accounting for the over inventory in the channel, we expect to account for approximately $20 million decline compared to Q1 '23.

第五，根據 23 年第一季實際情況與 24 年第一季預測之間的差異，我們估計在典型的季節性疲軟情況下，第一季磁性銷售額將進一步下降。在考慮通路庫存過剩的情況下，我們預計與 23 年第一季相比將減少約 2,000 萬美元。

And lastly, due to the overall weaker demand within our industry right now, Bel's factories in China will be taking an extended Chinese New Year holiday for a few additional days. While this is being done as a cost-containment measure, it does result in a few manufacturing and shipping days. And one comment to point on that is we're seeing our suppliers and also our customers and their contract manufacturers taking a longer Chinese New Year as opposed to last year. Those were kind of the bridges from Q1 last year to this year.

最後，由於目前產業整體需求疲軟，貝爾在中國的工廠將額外延長數天春節假期。雖然這是一種成本控制措施，但確實會導致製造和運輸時間縮短一些。對此的一個評論是，我們看到我們的供應商、我們的客戶及其合約製造商的農曆新年時間比去年更長。這些是從去年第一季到今年的橋樑。

And just a quick comment. Bel is operating in an industry currently as we all know that has been going through an over-inventory situation throughout 2023 that we performed pretty well against that backdrop. So this industry-wide phenomenon is hitting Bel a little bit more than what we anticipated on the magnetic side and do see -- anticipate based on the conversations we are talking about to see light at the end of the tunnel here in the second quarter. Obviously, this is a very fluid situation that we are monitoring.

只是一個簡短的評論。眾所周知，Bel 目前所處的行業在 2023 年一直經歷庫存過剩的情況，但在此背景下我們的表現相當不錯。因此，這種全行業現象對貝爾的打擊比我們對磁性方面的預期要大一些，而且我們確實看到了——根據我們正在談論的對話，預計第二季度隧道盡頭會出現曙光。顯然，我們正在監控的情況非常不穩定。

The other thing to note in magnetics is, as we've talked about a little bit earlier, is the concentration of certain customers and end market. One other thing is, as Dan also noted here, is we've gone through this downcycle in the past and will not be the last time. We're confident in our ability to manage through this period, and we'll be well positioned when the industry does rebound.

正如我們之前討論過的，磁性領域另一件需要注意的事情是某些客戶和終端市場的集中度。另一件事是，正如丹在這裡也指出的那樣，我們過去經歷過這種下行週期，而且不會是最後一次。我們對度過這段時期的能力充滿信心，當產業真正反彈時，我們將處於有利地位。

Taking a big step back and looking at more macro 2024, we remain very excited and optimistic about some of our other resilient end markets such as commercial air, defense, rail, EV, niche industrial, and more recently, space. We do expect a recovery in our distribution business, which, as a reminder, accounts for almost 30% of our revenue with very healthy gross margins.

退後一步，展望 2024 年更宏觀的情況，我們對其他一些有彈性的終端市場（例如商用航空、國防、鐵路、電動車、利基工業以及最近的太空市場）仍然感到非常興奮和樂觀。我們確實預計我們的分銷業務將會復甦，提醒一下，分銷業務占我們收入的近 30%，毛利率非常健康。

One other comment is during these softer times of inventory in the last two years, the engineering resources at our customers and industry was really focused more on fulfillment and finding alternative sources to production. Now with the inventory situation, we are seeing our customer engineering resources re-pivot towards more MPI and more growth-oriented working on next-generation technology.

另一種評論是，在過去兩年的庫存疲軟時期，我們的客戶和行業的工程資源實際上更專注於履行和尋找生產的替代來源。現在，根據庫存情況，我們看到我們的客戶工程資源重新轉向更多 MPI 和更多以成長為導向的下一代技術工作。

We are excited to embrace the challenges and opportunities of 2024 and are not deterred by this year -- by these near-term bumps in the road. We are on a journey, and our focus continues to be on growth and progress for the long-term betterment of Bel.

我們很高興迎接 2024 年的挑戰和機遇，並且不會被今年的近期困難所嚇倒。我們正在踏上旅程，我們的重點仍然是成長和進步，以實現貝爾的長期改善。

With that, I'll turn the call back over to Dan.

這樣，我會將電話轉回給丹。

Thank you very much, Farouq. At this time, we'd like to open up the call for questions.

非常感謝你，法魯克。此時，我們想開放提問。

(Operator Instructions) Jim Ricchiuti, Needham & Company.

（操作員說明）Jim Ricchiuti，Needham & Company。

Hi, good morning. Thanks. I just wanted to go back to that comment about possible improvement in magnetics. Looking out to Q2, how much of that is just a function of some of the perhaps the extended shutdowns coming out of Chinese New Year picking up the business -- picking up in Q2? Or is there actually some signs of improvement in demand?

早安.謝謝。我只是想回到關於磁性方面可能的改進的評論。展望第二季度，其中有多少只是由於農曆新年導致的一些可能延長的停工而使業務在第二季度有所回升？或者需求實際上有一些改善的跡象嗎？

Yeah, so Jim, thank you for the question. So taking a step back here with the over inventory, obviously, demand is down. So when we look at our suppliers and also our customers, they are taking this extended or longer-maybe-than-usual time off for Chinese New Year to kind of address that situation.

是的，吉姆，謝謝你的提問。因此，退一步來說，庫存過剩，顯然需求下降了。因此，當我們觀察我們的供應商和客戶時，他們會在農曆新年期間延長或可能比平常更長的假期，以解決這種情況。

Obviously, the hope there is to contain costs and result in some inventory [digestation]. Do we expect that to digest through all the inventory? I don't think so.

顯然，希望能夠控製成本並產生一些庫存[消化]。我們是否期望消化掉所有庫存？我不這麼認為。

And then also -- so that's why we do expect it will be a little bit carrying through into Q2. The other thing I would note and as you know, in our specifically kind of networking magnetic side here, we've seen some of these press releases come out in the last month or so, where this is pretty well documented on the inventory side. And the various public statements out there also said roughly two quarters. We, I think, align on that here internally as well.

然後，這就是為什麼我們確實預計它將在第二季度有所體現。我要注意的另一件事是，正如您所知，在我們這裡特殊的網路磁性方面，我們已經看到其中一些新聞稿在上個月左右發布，在庫存方面有很好的記錄。各種公開聲明也提到了大約兩個季度。我認為，我們內部也在這一點上保持一致。

Okay. And just turning to the power solutions portion of the business, how would you characterize the overall demand level? I mean, there was a bit of a weaker showing. You still seeing signs, I think, of strength in some of the major end markets, including networking. But I'm wondering if you could just give some color on that.

好的。就業務的電源解決方案部分而言，您如何描述整體需求水準？我的意思是，表現有點弱。我認為，您仍然可以看到一些主要終端市場（包括網路市場）的強勁跡象。但我想知道你是否可以對此給出一些顏色。

And Lynn, I don't know if it's possible if you gave it. I may have missed it. You gave some breakdown on e-mobility for the year. What was it for the quarter? Same thing on commercial air, if you would? And then I'll drop back in the queue. Thank you.

Lynn，我不知道如果你給了它是否可能。我可能錯過了。您對今年的電動車進行了一些細分。本季的情況如何？如果你願意的話，商業廣播也有同樣的事情嗎？然後我會回到隊列中。謝謝。

So maybe I'll take the first part of that, Jim. As we look at power and overall business, when we look at 2023, Q1 last year was our strongest quarter, and you followed our stock for a long time in our company. And I'm not sure that's ever happened. And part of that, specifically on power, there was these catch-up orders in Q1, Q2. And then obviously we saw a little bit of step down, but still strength in performance and impressive margins coming out of our power group.

所以也許我會先講第一部分，吉姆。當我們看電力和整體業務時，當我們看2023年時，去年第一季是我們最強勁的季度，您在我們公司長期關注我們的股票。我不確定這是否曾經發生過。其中一部分，特別是在電力方面，第一季、第二季有這些追趕訂單。然後顯然我們看到了一些下降，但我們的電力集團的業績和利潤率仍然強勁。

When we overall assess the power group, I would say we see pockets of strength but also pockets of weakness. So when we look at, for example, distribution and power, that is a pocket of weakness and has been, I think, probably for the majority of last year. We also do see weakness in that segment within our fuses business. But we also see some strength, as I talked about in terms of industrial rail and e-mobility.

當我們總體評估權力集團時，我想說我們看到了一些優勢，但也看到了一些弱點。因此，當我們審視分配和電力等方面時，就會發現這是一個弱點，我認為，這可能是去年大部分時間的弱點。我們也確實看到了我們保險絲業務中該領域的弱點。但我們也看到了一些優勢，正如我在工業鐵路和電動交通方面所談到的。

So stated differently, our power business has been able to perform despite not humming along on all cylinders here, which I think is a testament to the work that's been done on the operational side of that segment.

換句話說，我們的電力業務儘管沒有全力運轉，但仍然能夠正常運轉，我認為這證明了該部門運營方面所做的工作。

Then I'll turn over to Lynn on the e-mobility.

然後我將把電動車的問題交給 Lynn。

Yeah, sure. So just to quote some fourth-quarter sales numbers for some of these end markets, commercial air, Q4 '23 sales were $11.4 million. Military, which -- just out there was $10.8 million for the fourth quarter. E-mobility was $5.7 million, and rail was $8.9 million. Those are all fourth-quarter '23 numbers.

好，當然。因此，僅引用其中一些終端市場（商用航空）的第四季度銷售數據，23 年第 4 季的銷售額為 1,140 萬美元。軍事方面，第四季營收為 1,080 萬美元。電動交通為 570 萬美元，鐵路為 890 萬美元。這些都是 23 年第四季的數據。

Got it. Thank you. I'll jump back in the queue.

知道了。謝謝。我會跳回到隊列中。

Bobby Brooks, Northland Capital Markets.

布魯克斯 (Bobby Brooks)，北國資本市場。

Hey, good morning, guys. Thank you for taking my question. Obviously, a positive news coming out of the quarter was this $25 million buyback announcement. And I was just curious if you could help us frame how you expect executing that going forward. Reading the 8-K, I know that there is no expiration date on it. So maybe just some color on how you -- how you guys are thinking of using that as an additional capital return to shareholders.

嘿，早上好，夥計們。感謝您回答我的問題。顯然，本季傳來的一個正面消息是 2,500 萬美元的回購公告。我只是好奇您是否可以幫助我們制定您期望如何執行該計劃。看了8-K，我知道上面沒有有效期限。所以也許只是一些關於你們如何考慮將其用作股東的額外資本回報的顏色。

Yeah. Thanks, Bobby, for the question. As noted, as a company that's been on a journey of transformation, this is the first time we'll be out in the markets doing a formalized buyback since 2012, so a better part of the decade. And our approach here is, I'm sure we'll kind of see how it goes and learn a little bit, but we do need to be mindful as we execute the buyback our average daily flow, right?

是的。謝謝鮑比的提問。如前所述，作為一家一直在轉型之旅中的公司，這是我們自 2012 年（這十年來的大部分時間）以來第一次在市場上進行正式回購。我們的方法是，我相信我們會看看它的進展並學習一些東西，但我們在執行平均每日流程時確實需要保持警惕，對吧？

So as we think about how do we do it in a fair manner is to kind of execute it in a more programmatic setting. So we will be doing that on the programmatic side.

因此，當我們思考如何以公平的方式做到這一點時，就是在更程式化的環境中執行它。所以我們將在程序方面這樣做。

The lack of exploration a date, if you will, I would kind of phrase it this way. Our intention is to not elongate this thing, but we need to be able to do purchases with the parameters of the program. But we do expect that to be, I'd say, relatively in a handful of quarters to be through that, pending market conditions, obviously.

如果你願意的話，我會這樣形容缺乏對約會的探索。我們的目的是不延長這個東西，但我們需要能夠使用程式的參數來購買。但我想說，我們確實預計這將在幾個季度內完成，顯然，這取決於市場狀況。

Got it. And then just talking about -- so I think the verbiage in your press release and just on this call on the shift to focusing on growth, I think, is interesting. You talked a little bit -- Farouq, you talked a little bit about identifying new sales strategies, developing new products, and figuring out geographically where you should focus on that growth.

知道了。然後只是談論——所以我認為你們新聞稿中的措辭以及關於轉向關注增長的電話會議中的措辭，我認為很有趣。你談了一點——法魯克，你談了一點關於確定新的銷售策略、開發新產品以及弄清楚你應該在哪裡關注增長的地理位置。

Could you -- we're about two months into the first quarter. Could you maybe talk about any early results or trends that you've seen from that reemphasis on top-line growth? And maybe talk about what products -- what product verticals are you really looking to focus on developing new products and why that's the focus going forward on those new products? And maybe I would guess that it probably aligns with what you're seeing in end market demand.

第一季已經過兩個月了。您能否談談您從重新強調營收成長中看到的任何早期結果或趨勢？也許可以談談哪些產品——您真正希望專注於開發新產品的垂直產品是什麼？為什麼這是這些新產品的重點？也許我會猜測它可能與您在終端市場需求中看到的情況一致。

So maybe taking a step back here, Bobby, you're right. Obviously, we partner with our customers to develop new products. And as we've talked about in the call, our customer engineers in the last, call it, two to three years because of the supply chain challenges were focused on finding alternate sources for products and qualifying new components on their systems to get products out the door, so what we call fulfillments, okay?

所以也許退後一步，鮑比，你是對的。顯然，我們與客戶合作開發新產品。正如我們在電話中談到的，我們的客戶工程師在過去的兩到三年內，由於供應鏈的挑戰，專注於尋找產品的替代來源，並對系統上的新組件進行資格認證，以將產品送出門，所以我們稱之為滿足，好嗎？

As the supply chain has eased up and some inventory has been building up in the channel, we're seeing more of those engineering resources re-pivot and focus on generation 2.0, 3.0, and the next generation of technology.

隨著供應鏈的放鬆以及通路中一些庫存的積累，我們看到更多的工程資源重新轉向並專注於 2.0、3.0 代和下一代技術。

So as we're seeing that re-pivot, we are obviously there at the forefront of these discussions with our customers. Now despite some of the guidance that we gave here, we are seeing some nice signs of win, I'd say, across our portfolio.

因此，當我們看到這種轉變時，我們顯然處於與客戶討論的最前線。現在，儘管我們在這裡提供了一些指導，但我想說，在我們的投資組合中，我們看到了一些很好的勝利跡象。

So for example, if we look at the connectivity side, while there are challenges through, for example, the on-premise wiring, we're seeing robustness as we talked about commercial air and defense. But from a new market perspective, space, we believe, is an emerging and will be an emerging and growing area. We've been going after that for some time, and we're seeing some nice conversions into a decent, call it, seven-plus-figure type orders.

例如，如果我們看看連接方面，雖然存在諸如本地佈線等方面的挑戰，但當我們談論商業航空和國防時，我們會看到穩健性。但從新的市場角度來看，我們相信太空是一個新興領域，並且將是一個新興和成長的領域。我們已經追求這個目標有一段時間了，我們看到一些不錯的轉換為體面的，稱之為七位數以上的訂單。

So these are great products to be in. And so that's just an example on connectivity. So when we look at the power side of it, obviously, we have had some softness. But we see some areas of nice new development, whether it be in some of the legacy industries we're in such as rail. We are seeing some nice increase, let's say, discussions being had around AI and some of the investment going on there because we think our power business will -- these are power hungry units that support level infrastructures, it will be underappreciated.

所以這些都是很棒的產品。這只是連接性的一個例子。因此，當我們看它的力量方面時，顯然我們有一些軟弱。但我們看到了一些不錯的新發展領域，無論是在我們所處的一些傳統產業，例如鐵路。我們看到一些不錯的成長，比如說，圍繞人工智慧進行的討論以及正在進行的一些投資，因為我們認為我們的電力業務將 - 這些是支援水平基礎設施的耗電單位，它將被低估。

So we're seeing some nice chat or discussions ramp up. In addition, as we've talked about e-mobility -- and obviously, we're exploring some new other areas. Within also magnetics, we do see some nice green shoots of growth as well that we're going after. But again, these are the sales cycles in a down market. It will take a little bit longer.

所以我們看到一些愉快的聊天或討論正在增加。此外，正如我們所討論的電動車——顯然，我們正在探索一些新的其他領域。在磁性方面，我們確實也看到了一些我們正在追求的良好的成長萌芽。但同樣，這些是低迷市場中的銷售週期。需要的時間會長一點。

So I think the revenue situation of Bel Fuse in Q4 and the guidance we gave out for Q1 here, I think, does a disfavor to a lot of the good stuff that we do have going on. One comment I will make though, we talked about this in our 10-K. We do have a concentration of a couple of key customers within our networking side, channel partners. So as a result of that, this is not a kind of a broader thing. It's a little more contained.

因此，我認為 Bel Fuse 第四季的收入狀況以及我們為第一季給予的指導，我認為，對我們正在進行的許多好事不利。不過，我要發表評論，我們在 10-K 中討論了這一點。我們確實在網路方面、通路夥伴中集中了一些關鍵客戶。因此，這並不是一個更廣泛的事情。它更包含一點。

Maybe I will turn it over to Dan. Do you want to give some color?

也許我會把它交給丹。你想給一些顏色嗎？

I think, Bob, when you look at new opportunities, I think what we really have tried to focus over the two years, how do we test the new young engineers? And our focus was, if you go back 10, 20 years ago, most engineers would have dealt with guys that knock on the door, either a rep company that will work off of a commission or (inaudible) deal salespeople.

我想，鮑勃，當你看到新的機會時，我想我們這兩年真正努力關注的重點是，我們如何測試新的年輕工程師？我們的重點是，如果你回到 10、20 年前，大多數工程師都會與敲門的人打交道，要嘛是靠佣金工作的代表公司，要嘛是（聽不清楚）交易銷售人員。

As times change, nobody has gone to talk to people. They want to get on the Internet and get their components as fast as possible, the Amazon model. There's two leading companies that are leading the charge in this. One is called DigiKey. The other company is called Mouser, which is owned by Berkshire Hathaway. Both companies are multi-billion-dollar companies, and their whole focus is how to get products to the engineering community a lot faster than they have done in the past.

隨著時代的變遷，已經沒有人去跟人說話了。他們希望上網並儘快獲得組件，即亞馬遜模式。有兩家領先的公司在這方面處於領先地位。一種稱為 DigiKey。另一家公司名為 Mouser，隸屬於波克夏海瑟威公司。兩家公司都是價值數十億美元的公司，他們的全部重點是如何比過去更快地將產品推向工程界。

Over the past two or three years, we made a major effort to build our relationships with those two key e-commerce distributors. With that in mind, when we acquired CUI, people said, did you buy CUI because it was a power company? We bought CUI because of the digital marketing capabilities they had and the relationship they have with DigiKey.

在過去的兩三年裡，我們付出了巨大努力來建立與這兩家主要電子商務經銷商的關係。考慮到這一點，當我們收購CUI時，人們說，你買CUI是因為它是一家電力公司嗎？我們購買 CUI 是因為他們擁有數位行銷能力以及他們與 DigiKey 的關係。

So with the addition of CUI to our product portfolio, we're now ranked number 15 at DigiKey and now have over 5,000 suppliers. And the same thing with Mouser, we made tremendous inroads with Mouser, where our salesperson was voted a salesperson of the year four years in a row with Mouser. I think there's only three people obtained that goal.

因此，隨著 CUI 添加到我們的產品組合中，我們現在在 DigiKey 排名第 15 位，並且擁有超過 5,000 家供應商。與 Mouser 一樣，我們在 Mouser 方面取得了巨大進展，我們的銷售人員連續四年被 Mouser 評為年度銷售人員。我認為只有三個人實現了這個目標。

So our focus is as the world changes, as we say, we have to change with it. And we really have to retrench ourselves with these e-commerce distributors moving forward. I'll give you the best example. At Cisco, we have two direct people -- salespeople at Cisco. We have two engineers with badges at Cisco, and we also used two rep companies. So at any point in a day, we probably have 10 people calling at Cisco on Bel's behalf.

因此，我們的重點是隨著世界的變化，正如我們所說，我們必須隨之改變。隨著這些電子商務分銷商的發展，我們確實必須緊縮開支。我給你舉一個最好的例子。在思科，我們有兩個直接人員──思科的銷售人員。我們有兩位擁有思科徽章的工程師，我們也使用了兩家代表公司。因此，一天中的任何時候，我們可能都會有 10 個人代表貝爾打電話給思科。

However, we did receive a fuse order awhile back, and we called up our rep company. We called up our direct salespeople. We call it our FAEs and see where it came from, and it came from DigiKey. And this is what we see more and more that engineers are working through them to get components quickly. And that's what we really have spent tremendous amount of time, and we should see a lot more success as they keep planting more and more seeds.

然而，不久前我們確實收到了一份保險絲訂單，我們打電話給我們的代表公司。我們打電話給我們的直銷人員。我們將其稱為 FAE，看看它來自哪裡，它來自 DigiKey。這就是我們越來越多地看到工程師正在透過它們來快速獲得組件。這就是我們確實花了大量時間的事情，隨著他們不斷播種越來越多的種子，我們應該會看到更多的成功。

Got it. That's really good color on the new product growth going forward. But maybe -- any just early -- any early reads on the growth initiatives that you're looking to do in the first quarter in terms of seeing any certain geographic areas that you're going to start to focus on?

知道了。這對未來新產品的成長來說確實是一個很好的色彩。但也許——任何早期——任何關於你希望在第一季採取的成長計劃的早期解讀，看看你將開始關注的任何特定地理區域？

I think the area that we felt that was underdeveloped was, for us, was Europe. We went in and we hired Molex, a salesperson that knows the market very well. Her focus was, hey, guys, we need a lot more people in the territory to be successful. She hired a whole new team of people, and they all have very strong backgrounds. I think now, we're represented every -- with a direct person, every person in Europe.

我認為對我們來說，我們認為欠發達的地區是歐洲。我們進去並聘請了 Molex，他是一位非常了解市場的銷售人員。她的重點是，嘿，夥計們，我們需要更多的人在該地區取得成功。她僱用了一個全新的團隊，他們都有非常強大的背景。我認為現在，我們有一個直接的人代表歐洲的每個人。

However, for all products with how we sell, it takes us about six months to a year on the magnetic side and on the power side to get approvals. On the connector side, you're talking two years minimum to get products approved.

然而，對於我們銷售的所有產品，我們在磁性方面和電源方面需要大約六個月到一年的時間才能獲得批准。在連接器方面，您所說的是至少兩年才能獲得產品批准。

So what we're using now is seeing how Europe works with a more direct sales force, more involvement, and compare that to what we have throughout the world today. So it's -- again, I'm hoping by summer that we can bear some fruit. But we have -- for example, we have two fuse opportunities in Europe, which is each $1 million and one we already got approval on. So to get $1 billion fuse order, I think we get maybe one every 10 years. So we are seeing that they are opening up substantial opportunities that we haven't seen in the past.

因此，我們現在正在使用的是了解歐洲如何與更直接的銷售團隊、更多的參與合作，並將其與我們當今世界各地的情況進行比較。所以，我再次希望到夏天我們能夠取得一些成果。但我們有——例如，我們在歐洲有兩個熔斷機會，每個機會價值 100 萬美元，其中一個我們已經獲得批准。因此，為了獲得 10 億美元的保險絲訂單，我認為我們可能每 10 年就會獲得一個。因此，我們看到它們正在開闢我們過去從未見過的大量機會。

Got it. I'll return to the queue. Thank you, guys.

知道了。我會返回隊列。感謝你們。

Thank you, Bobby/

謝謝你，鮑比/

Theodore O'Neill, Litchfield Hills Research.

西奧多·奧尼爾，利奇菲爾德山研究中心。

Thank you. I wanted to follow up on the e-mobility side of the business. You can't miss the bad press that's coming out on the EV side with Rivian and Lucent reporting recently. Are you positioned better in that space because you've got a greater focus on charging infrastructure and commercial vehicles? So I just wonder if you could give us some --

謝謝。我想跟進該業務的電動車方面。您不能錯過最近 Rivian 和 Lucent 報導的電動車方面的負面報導。您是否因為更加關注充電基礎設施和商用車輛而在該領域處於更好的位置？所以我只是想知道你能否給我們一些--

I don't think -- again, we've tried to keep away from the Teslas on the on the power side, anything that's high volume that you're concerned about. So no.

我不認為——再說一遍，我們試圖在電力方面遠離特斯拉，任何你關心的高容量的東西。所以不行。

So again, when we look at Rivian and Lucent or Tesla, we are more in the circuit protection side of that business where we feel that it's more feasible and you're not going to get killed if there's a down market. However, our focus is more on niche markets, for example, school buses, heavy-duty equipment, marine equipment. So we're not really looking at high volume of our EV business.

因此，當我們考慮 Rivian 和朗訊或特斯拉時，我們更專注於該業務的電路保護方面，我們認為它更可行，如果市場低迷，您不會被殺死。然而，我們的重點更多是在利基市場，例如校車、重型設備、船舶設備。因此，我們並沒有真正關注電動車業務的大量成長。

Farouq, do you want to add anything to that?

Farouq，您想補充什麼嗎？

Yes, exactly. And I think we're -- maybe taking a step back, these products that we are doing -- are going into, these niche applications, have a lot of software and firmware on them. And there's a lot of demand requirements on what we do, so not high-volume commodity passenger vehicles. That's one.

對，就是這樣。我認為我們——也許退一步說，我們正在做的這些產品——正在進入這些利基應用程序，上面有很多軟體和韌體。我們所做的事情有很多需求，所以不是大批量的商品乘用車。這是一個。

Two is when we look at the customer base and that it ranges from startup new companies trying to do some things that are very interesting and forward to regular way household names. So I think we're covering a pretty broad gamut out of those players.

二是當我們審視客戶群時，它的範圍從試圖做一些非常有趣和前瞻性的事情的初創公司到家喻戶曉的常規公司。所以我認為我們涵蓋了這些玩家的相當廣泛的範圍。

If these price points are very expensive, let's say, to the end users as a result of that, there is investment. And also, generally, the users, our customers' customers, if you will, have a big vision around either incentives or mandates along with views of being more green.

如果這些價格點對最終用戶來說非常昂貴，那麼就有投資。而且，一般來說，用戶，我們客戶的客戶，如果你願意的話，對激勵措施或強制要求以及更加綠色的觀點有一個遠大的願景。

So what drives those decision purposes a little bit more now to -- we ended up the year a little bit less than where we thought we would end up because as we've seen some of the more start-up folks that are reliant on capital raises be a little bit challenged. So walking out with a 40% increase year over year is great, a little bit behind expectations for us. But nonetheless, we think this is here to stay, and we think this is a temporary kind of thing in the market right now.

那麼，現在推動這些決策目的的因素是——我們今年的業績比我們預期的要少一些，因為正如我們看到的一些更多依賴資本的​​新創公司一樣加薪會有點挑戰。因此，以同比 40% 的增長走出去已經很棒了，但有點低於我們的預期。但儘管如此，我們認為這種情況將會持續下去，而且我們認為這只是目前市場上的暫時現象。

Okay. Thanks very much.

好的。非常感謝。

Hendi Susanto, Gabelli Funds.

Hendi Susanto，Gabelli 基金。

Good morning, Dan, Farouq, and Lynn.

早安，丹、法魯克和林恩。

Good morning.

早安.

Good morning.

早安.

Good morning.

早安.

My first question is about the possible rebound in the second half. Do you have any anticipation which areas will be rebound earlier versus later?

我的第一個問題是關於下半年可能出現的反彈。您是否預計哪些領域會較早或較晚反彈？

But we haven't we haven't heard anything in the marketplace stating that at all. I think everybody is saying the second half of this year. So no, I don't think we're to ready jump back on yet.

但我們還沒有在市場上聽到任何這樣的說法。我想大家都在說今年下半年。所以不，我認為我們還沒有準備好重新開始。

I see. And then, Dan, what is the likelihood that the rebound will take place in Q4 instead of Q3?

我懂了。那麼，Dan，反彈發生在第四季而不是第三季的可能性有多大？

If I do that, I wouldn't be working at Bel Fuse.

如果我這樣做，我就不會在 Bel Fuse 工作了。

Maybe, Hendi, taking a step back, right, when we look at -- and Dan can correct me on this. But historically, when we've gone through periods of softness, I'd say one to three quarters is probably the norm, maybe four quarters' worth. When we look at the industry, it started going through this softness roughly around Q4 '22. So if that is true and Q4 '22 was the date, we are roughly five quarters in, right? And now we're heading into the sixth quarter, so probably a little bit extended from a historical perspective.

也許，亨迪，退後一步，對吧，當我們看到——丹可以糾正我這一點。但從歷史上看，當我們經歷疲軟時期時，我認為一到四分之三可能是常態，也許是四分之四。當我們觀察這個行業時，它大約在 22 年第四季左右開始經歷這種疲軟狀態。因此，如果這是真的，並且日期為 22 年第四季度，那麼我們大約已經過去了五個季度，對嗎？現在我們正進入第六季度，所以從歷史角度來看可能會有點延長。

So as we talk to our customers, both distributors and OEMs, various industry literature, when we look at the point-of-sale data to distributors, we're seeing demand come through to the shelf, not getting replenished, all of that kind of leads to amalgamation of us coming up the best-guess assessment of second-half growth, first-half digestation.

因此，當我們與客戶（分銷商和原始設備製造商）、各種行業文獻交談時，當我們查看分銷商的銷售點數據時，我們看到需求已到達貨架，但沒有得到補充，所有這些導致我們合併對下半年成長和上半年消化的最佳猜測評估。

And then we also look at some of these other public companies out there on the hardware side that serve some of the end markets we serve. It reaffirms our belief, but at the same time is that bulletproof answer to that. Unfortunately, I don't think so. But we are optimistic that we came into this softness after the industry maybe. And hopefully, we exit probably around the same time as they do, assuming everything is aligned on that.

然後我們也研究了一些其他在硬體方面的上市公司，這些公司為我們服務的一些終端市場提供服務。它重申了我們的信念，但同時也是對此的無懈可擊的答案。不幸的是，我不這麼認為。但我們樂觀地認為，我們可能是在產業之後才陷入這種疲軟的狀態。希望我們能夠與他們在同一時間退出，假設一切都與此一致。

Okay. And Farouq, the backlog order, I believe, is the $373 million. You indicated that it's still considered to be relatively high based on history. What backlog order level for should we think when you would feel it somewhat closer to normal to history?

好的。法魯克（Farouq）的積壓訂單，我相信是 3.73 億美元。您表示，根據歷史，它仍然被認為是相對較高的。當您覺得積壓訂單水準更接近歷史正常水準時，我們應該考慮什麼水準？

Maybe I can take this one. Sorry to jump in. I think post COVID, I don't know if there's normal any ever again from us. So before COVID, we used to get quarterly quotes. We have to bid our products every quarter. And the average purchasing person would give us four different purchase orders for a part number.

也許我可以接受這個。抱歉跳進去。我認為新冠疫情過後，我不知道我們是否還能恢復正常。因此，在新冠疫情爆發之前，我們通常會取得季度報價。我們每季都必須對我們的產品進行投標。一般採購人員會給我們一個零件號碼的四個不同的採購訂單。

Since COVID, that stretched to -- we were getting an order -- one order every 24 months. So that's coming back a little bit. So we don't know where it's going to end up. If I'm a head of a purchasing department, why do I want to want to order four times a year when I can order once a year? I can cancel a product down the road.

自新冠疫情以來，我們每 24 個月收到一份訂單。所以這又回來了一點。所以我們不知道它最終會去哪裡。如果我是採購部門的主管，為什麼我可以每年訂購一次，為什麼還要每年訂購四次？我可以取消某個產品。

So I think that's still filtering out where it's going to be. But I don't think we're going to get back to $150 million level, which was our pre-COVID level.

所以我認為這仍在過濾它的未來。但我認為我們不會回到 1.5 億美元的水平，即新冠疫情爆發前的水平。

Correct. I mean -- and maybe I think about, to Dan's point, is -- historically, it's been rough that quarter. And during the extended times, it was roughly, call it, four-ish quarters, a little bit less. So if that bookends as one and four, right, do we go all the way back to one? We don't think so. We think there's some new order behavior and new ways of doing things. And also, people obviously are coming through some rough times with some scarring tissue here.

正確的。我的意思是——也許我認為，就丹的觀點而言，是——從歷史上看，那個季度很艱難。在較長的時間裡，大約是四個季度左右，稍微少一點。那麼，如果書尾是一和四，對吧，我們會一直回到一嗎？我們不這麼認為。我們認為存在一些新的秩序行為和新的做事方式。而且，人們顯然正在經歷一些艱難時期，這裡有一些疤痕組織。

But to Dan's point is we don't know where it kind of settles down. So that's why we continue to say, for right now, it's elevated. And also, when you got to really kind of peel it back a little bit, we'd probably look at magnetics as probably normalized. And then we'd probably say power is a little bit elevated and connectivity is maybe somewhere in the middle to elevated.

但丹的觀點是我們不知道它會在哪裡安定下來。這就是為什麼我們現在繼續說它已經升高。而且，當你真的把它稍微剝開一點時，我們可能會認為磁性可能是標準化的。然後我們可能會說功率有點升高，而連接性可能處於中間升高的位置。

Okay, yeah. And then any insight into pricing environment in 2024?

好吧，是的。那麼對 2024 年的定價環境有何見解呢？

Historically -- again, going back historically, as lead times come down, we do see more price pressure. But at this point in time, we haven't faced an abundance of price pressure. And again, I don't know if things are going to change or not. But historically, as lead times do come down, you do face a little bit more price pressure, but we have not seen that yet to date.

從歷史上看——再次回顧歷史，隨著交貨時間的縮短，我們確實看到了更大的價格壓力。但目前，我們還沒有面臨很大的價格壓力。再說一次，我不知道事情是否會改變。但從歷史上看，隨著交貨時間確實縮短，您確實面臨更大的價格壓力，但迄今為止我們還沒有看到這種情況。

And the flip side of that equation, correct me if I'm wrong here, Dan, is when lead times come down, it means we're back into the regularly normal ordering pattern. So therefore, volumes normalize, right? So the idea here is, generally, there is that kind of a concession to a little bit of price to get a little more volume type thing, all right? So I think when that normal cycle, we have not -- we're not there yet, I would say.

丹，這個等式的另一面是，如果我錯了，請糾正我，當交貨時間縮短時，這意味著我們又回到了正常的訂購模式。因此，成交量正常化，對吧？所以這裡的想法是，一般來說，有一點價格的讓步來獲得更多的數量類型的東西，好嗎？所以我認為，在正常週期中，我們還沒有——我想說，我們還沒有達到那個水平。

I see. And then last question, do you have updates on Bel Fuse investment in electric in terms of what activities in 2024, whether there are some milestones in 2024?

我懂了。最後一個問題，您是否有關於 Bel Fuse 在 2024 年進行哪些活動的電力投資的最新情況，2024 年是否有一些里程碑？

I think, again, we took a minority position in it. We're running, I think, at this point in the year, late.

我認為，我們再次在其中佔據了少數地位。我認為，我們在今年的這個時候跑步，已經很晚了。

I'd say we had -- I think our bullish case was maybe we see something transact end of 2024. But now we're thinking probably more in our base case, which is a 2025 event. There's a lot of development going on in the second-generation products and also in their first-generation products and some of their customer challenges that we talked about. Our e-mobility business, they're seeing a little bit of that.

我想說，我們的看漲理由是，我們可能會在 2024 年底看到一些交易。但現在我們可能更考慮我們的基本情況，即 2025 年的事件。第二代產品和第一代產品以及我們談到的一些客戶挑戰正在進行大量開發。我們的電動車業務，他們也看到了一些。

So when we put the second-generation products with some of the challenges they're having in the first generation in terms of their customers' challenges, we don't foresee any kind of milestones in terms of any kind of triggers on calls or anything like that in 2024. And we think 2025 is probably kind of our base case at some point.

因此，當我們將第二代產品與第一代產品面臨的客戶挑戰的一些挑戰放在一起時，我們並沒有預見到任何類型的呼叫或任何觸發器方面的里程碑。就像 2024 年一樣。我們認為 2025 年可能是我們某個時候的基本情況。

But we are working with them very closely, our sales team, our purchasing team, how we manufacture. So we are truly aligned that if they hit the target they are supposed to hit when we do merge, that we're very -- two organizations that are very working close together. So I'm pleased by the relationship we have today.

但我們正在與他們、我們的銷售團隊、我們的採購團隊以及我們的製造方式密切合作。因此，我們真正一致認為，如果他們達到了我們合併時應該達到的目標，那麼我們就是兩個非常密切合作的組織。所以我對我們今天的關係感到高興。

Thank you, Dan, Farouq, and Lynn.

謝謝丹、法魯克和林恩。

Thanks, Hendi.

謝謝，亨迪。

Jim Ricchiuti, Needham & Company.

吉姆‧里奇烏蒂 (Jim Ricchiuti)，李約瑟公司。

Thanks. Going back over the past year and considering now you guys have done quite a bit of work in terms of restructuring, and it's been evident in the gross margins. So I'm wondering, just given the kind of guidance we're looking at for Q1, how should we be thinking about gross margins in terms of the puts and takes for -- with that? These are obviously lower levels of revenue, but you've also been restructuring the business.

謝謝。回顧過去的一年，現在想想你們在重組方面做了很多工作，這在毛利率上也很明顯。所以我想知道，鑑於我們正在尋找第一季的指導，我們應該如何考慮看跌期權和期權的毛利率？這些顯然是較低的收入水平，但您也一直在重組業務。

So Jim, I think, for Q1, what we had mentioned in the earnings release was that from a margin perspective, we expect to hold with the full-year '23 margin, so it is a step down from Q4 margin level. And a lot of that has to do with the lower sales volume that we're seeing.

所以吉姆，我認為，對於第一季度，我們在收益發布中提到的是，從利潤率的角度來看，我們預計將保持23 年全年的利潤率，因此這比第四季度的利潤率水平有所下降。這很大程度上與我們看到的銷量下降有關。

In addition to just Chinese New Year, it's typically a lower-margin quarter for us. Looking beyond Q1, we would expect those margins to normalize a bit back to where the 2023 later quarters had been running, but we do see a step down there in Q1.

除了農曆新年之外，這通常是我們利潤率較低的季度。展望第一季之後，我們預計這些利潤率將恢復到 2023 年後期季度的正常水平，但我們確實看到第一季的利潤率下降。

Great. That's helpful because that's also where I was going with that. As we start potentially seeing some improvement in Q2 and hopefully in the back half of the year, you're actually starting off with a higher level of margins than we've seen historically with these kind of revenue levels. Okay. Thank you.

偉大的。這很有幫助，因為這也是我的目的。當我們開始可能看到第二季並希望在今年下半年出現一些改善時，實際上您的利潤率水平比我們歷史上看到的此類收入水平更高。好的。謝謝。

You're welcome.

不客氣。

We have reached the end of our question-and-answer session. I would like to turn the conference back over to Dan Bernstein for closing remarks.

我們的問答環節已經結束。我想將會議轉回丹伯恩斯坦致閉幕詞。

Once again, we appreciate everybody joining the call and say thank you very much and looking forward to improved results as we move along in the year. Thank you.

我們再次感謝大家加入電話會議，並表示非常感謝，並期待在這一年中取得更好的成果。謝謝。

Thank you. This will conclude today's conference. You may disconnect your lines at this time, and thank you for your participation.

謝謝。今天的會議到此結束。此時您可以斷開線路，感謝您的參與。