CMC Materials, Inc. (CCMP) 2021 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Good day, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the CMC Materials' Fourth Quarter Fiscal 2021 Earnings Conference Call. (Operator Instructions) As a reminder, this conference call is being recorded.

女士們、先生們，大家好！歡迎參加CMC Materials 2021財年第四季業績電話會議。 （操作員指示）溫馨提示：本次電話會議正在錄音中。

I would now like to introduce your host for today's conference, Colleen Mumford, Vice President, Communications and Marketing. Thank you. Please go ahead.

現在，我想介紹今天會議的主持人，科琳·芒福德（Colleen Mumford），她負責傳播和行銷的副總裁。謝謝。請開始。

Thank you, Lou. Good morning. With me today are David Li, President and CEO; and Scott Beamer, Vice President and CFO. Last night, we reported results for our fourth quarter fiscal year 2021, which ended September 30, 2021. We encourage you to review the slides and remarks document we've made available on the quarterly results section of the Investor Relations center on our website, cmcmaterials.com. A webcast of today's conference call and the script of this morning's remarks and question-and-answer session will also be available on our website shortly after the slide conference call. You may request any of the information by calling our Investor Relations office at (630) 499-2600.

謝謝，樓先生。早安.今天與我一同出席的是總裁兼執行長李大衛和副總裁兼財務長史考特·比默。昨晚，我們公佈了截至2021年9月30日的2021財年第四季業績。我們建議您查看我們在公司網站cmcmaterials.com投資者關係中心季度業績版塊提供的幻燈片和評論文件。今天電話會議的網路直播以及今天早上評論和問答環節的文字稿也將在幻燈片電話會議結束後不久發佈在我們的網站上。您可以致電我們的投資者關係辦公室 (630) 499-2600 獲取任何資訊。

Please remember that our discussions today may include forward-looking statements that involve a number of risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from these forward-looking statements. These risk factors are discussed in our SEC filings, including our Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2021, and Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2021, which we expect to file by November 12, 2021. We assume no obligation to update any of this forward-looking information.

請記住，我們今天的討論可能包含前瞻性陳述，這些陳述涉及一系列風險、不確定性和其他因素，可能導致實際結果與這些前瞻性陳述有重大差異。這些風險因素已在我們提交給美國證券交易委員會的文件中進行了討論，包括截至2021年6月30日的季度10-Q表和截至2021年9月30日的財年的10-K表，我們預計將於2021年11月12日之前提交這些文件。我們不承擔更新任何此類前瞻性資訊的義務。

Also, our remarks this morning reference certain non-GAAP financial measures. Our earnings release and slide presentation include a reconciliation of each non-GAAP financial measure to the nearest comparable GAAP financial measures. Additionally, data reflects rounded values throughout this discussion and in the accompanying slides and remarks documents.

此外，我們今天早上的演講中提到了某些非公認會計準則 (non-GAAP) 財務指標。我們的收益報告和投影片簡報中包含了每項非公認會計準則 (non-GAAP) 財務指標與最接近的可比較公認會計準則 (GAAP) 財務指標的對帳表。此外，本次討論以及隨附的投影片和發言文件中的資料均採用四捨五入值。

I will now turn the call over to Dave for opening comments, followed by a question-and-answer session.

現在我將把電話轉給戴夫，請他發表開場評論，然後進行問答環節。

Thanks, Colleen. Good morning, everyone. As announced last night, we reported results for fiscal year 2021, representing our fifth consecutive year of record revenue. Top line growth of 7% was driven by broad-based strength across our Electronic Materials segment. Driving performance in our Electronic Materials segment was CMP slurries, which grew 14% year-over-year, which we believe continues our track record of growth above the sector as we continue to gain positions in Advanced Technologies. We are also guiding for sequential growth in our Electronic Materials segment as we see continued strong demand for our solutions.

謝謝，科琳。大家早安。正如昨晚宣布的那樣，我們公佈了2021財年的業績，這是我們連續第五年創下營收紀錄。得益於電子材料部門的全面強勁成長，營收成長了7%。推動電子材料部門業績成長的是CMP研磨液，其年增14%。我們相信，隨著我們在先進技術領域的市場地位不斷提升，這一增長勢頭將推遲我們領先於整個行業的良好勢頭。鑑於市場對我們解決方案的需求持續強勁，我們也預期電子材料部門將達到環比成長。

In our Performance Materials segment, our pipeline and industrial Materials business increased year-over-year, but continues to be negatively impacted by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The macroeconomic backdrop remains challenging and difficult to forecast, but we remain focused on executing on our strategic initiatives, which include winning new customer positions and product innovation through our R&D efforts. From a profitability perspective, while our first half adjusted EBITDA margins trended in line with our performance at the end of fiscal year 2020, our second half profitability was negatively impacted as we absorbed higher costs primarily from raw materials, freight and logistics.

在我們的特性材料業務領域，我們的管道和工業材料業務較去年同期成長，但持續受到新冠疫情的負面影響。宏觀經濟環境依然充滿挑戰且難以預測，但我們仍專注於執行策略性舉措，包括透過研發努力贏得新客戶和產品創新。從獲利能力角度來看，雖然我們上半年調整後的EBITDA利潤率與2020財年末的業績走勢一致，但由於我們主要承受了原材料、運費和物流成本的上升，下半年的盈利能力受到了負面影響。

In yesterday's earnings release, we announced 2 key initiatives to mitigate cost challenges and enhance our financial performance. First, to counter the impact of rapidly rising raw materials, freight and logistics costs, we implemented global price increases, which took effect during the first quarter of fiscal year 2022. We believe these price increases will offset the cost headwinds that we have experienced to date and are prepared to implement further pricing actions, if needed. We are working closely with our customers and have been encouraged by the adoption of our new pricing to date.

在昨日的財報發布中，我們宣布了兩項關鍵舉措，旨在緩解成本挑戰並提升財務表現。首先，為了因應原物料、運費和物流成本快速上漲的影響，我們實施了全球價格上調，該措施已於2022財年第一季生效。我們相信，這些價格上調將抵消我們迄今為止面臨的成本壓力，並準備在必要時採取進一步的定價措施。我們正與客戶密切合作，新定價措施的實施至今令我們倍感鼓舞。

In addition, we initiated an enterprise-wide strategic cost optimization program named Future Forward. The program is designed to implement structural changes to enhance operational efficiencies, while maintaining our strong focus on technology innovation and customer partnerships. We are confident these actions will help optimize our overall cost structure while maintaining our commitment to innovation and operations and quality across our businesses to drive organic earnings growth.

此外，我們啟動了一項名為「未來前進」（Future Forward）的企業級策略成本優化計劃。該計劃旨在實施結構性變革，提升營運效率，同時保持我們對技術創新和客戶合作夥伴關係的高度關注。我們相信，這些措施將有助於優化我們的整體成本結構，同時繼續致力於創新、營運和質量，從而推動有機獲利成長。

The outlook for our Electronic Materials segment remained strong, driven by a healthy semiconductor industry as customers continue to invest in their infrastructure and operate at near maximum utilization. We believe our Electronic Materials segment will continue to benefit from IC technology advances and increased customer capacity. We are well positioned to capitalize on these trends given our many competitive differentiators, including a highly formulated and broad product portfolio, commitment to technological innovation, close customer partnerships, global infrastructure and ability to manage complex requirements across global supply chains.

受半導體產業健康發展的推動，客戶持續投資基礎設施，並維持接近最大產能利用率，電子材料業務板塊前景仍強勁。我們相信，電子材料業務板塊將繼續受益於積體電路技術的進步和客戶產能的提升。憑藉我們眾多競爭優勢，包括高度規範且廣泛的產品組合、對技術創新的投入、緊密的客戶合作關係、全球基礎設施以及管理全球供應鏈複雜需求的能力，我們已做好準備，充分利用這些趨勢。

Turning to our guidance for the fiscal year. We currently anticipate full year adjusted EBITDA in the range of $355 million to $385 million. This guidance reflects our confidence to offset and grow beyond the loss of earnings from the exit of the wood treatment business, primarily through a combination of organic growth and the favorable impact of the Future Forward program, while pricing actions are expected to offset the additional impact of inflation.

談到我們對本財年的預期。我們目前預計全年調整後EBITDA將在3.55億美元至3.85億美元之間。這一預期反映了我們有信心抵消並超越退出木材處理業務帶來的收益損失，主要透過有機成長和「未來前進」計畫的有利影響，同時預期定價措施將抵消通膨的額外影響。

We begin our new fiscal year with optimism. The initiatives announced today, along with our strong differentiated product portfolio and advantage positions will further contribute to our long track record of profitable growth going forward.

我們滿懷樂觀地開啟新的財年。今天宣布的各項舉措，加上我們強大的差異化產品組合和優勢地位，將進一步鞏固我們長期獲利成長的良好記錄。

With that, I'll turn the call over to the operator as we prepare to take your questions.

說完這些，我將把電話轉給接線員，準備回答您的問題。

(Operator Instructions) Your first question comes from the line of Mike Harrison from Seaport Research Partners.

（操作員指示）您的第一個問題來自 Seaport Research Partners 的 Mike Harrison。

I was wondering if you can provide a little bit more detail on the timing of the actions that are part of the Future Forward program. How much of those actions are being implemented earlier in the year? Or should we maybe think of those savings as being weighted more towards the back half of fiscal '22? And then also maybe give some detail on whether these show up mostly in the corporate segment or if we'll see some impacts in Electronic Materials or Performance Materials?

我想知道您能否提供更多關於「未來前進」計畫中各項行動的時間安排的細節。這些行動有多少是在今年稍早實施的？或者我們應該認為這些節省的資金將更集中在2022財年的下半年？然後，能否再詳細說明這些節省主要體現在企業部門，還是會在電子材料或性能材料部門看到一些影響？

Yes. Sure, Mike. I would be expecting from a phasing by quarter perspective, less of an impact to Q1, meaningful change for Q2 and then Q3 and Q4 runs beyond that. I think as you're thinking about the 2 different slices of that, that approximately $15 million or so, that would be mostly for OpEx to impact FY '22 and the benefits that are going to come beyond FY '22, they're going to have a greater impact on cost of sales. That's likely to be something closer to foot -- footprint rationalization where those projects have a little bit of a longer timing. And then as you think about the segments or corporates of the $15 million for this year, I'd be thinking again about that as primarily in corporate, and then those future benefits would be primarily to the Electronic Materials segment.

是的，當然，麥克。我預計從季度分階段的角度來看，對第一季的影響較小，對第二季、第三季和第四季的影響會更大。我認為，當你考慮其中兩個不同的部分時，大約1500萬美元左右的支出將主要用於營運支出，影響22財年，而22財年之後的收益將對銷售成本產生更大的影響。這可能更接近於足跡合理化，這些項目的週期會更長一些。然後，當你考慮今年1500萬美元的分部或企業部門時，我會再次考慮這筆支出主要用於企業部門，而這些未來的收益將主要流向電子材料部門。

Yes. Mike, just to give some background on the program. First, we wanted to be thoughtful and strategic. Perhaps the pandemic was a catalyst, but I think it's just what good companies should do. And what we didn't want to do is impact any of our innovation, our customer-facing efforts. We feel really good about where we are there. But we wanted to take the opportunity to streamline the organization a bit. We know we're in a very dynamic environment. So we're excited about the announcement today and the work that's going to go on to support it.

是的。麥克，我先簡單介紹一下這個計畫的背景。首先，我們希望做到深思熟慮，並具有策略眼光。疫情或許是催化劑，但我認為這是優秀公司該做的。我們不想影響我們的任何創新，以及面向客戶的工作。我們對目前的狀況感到非常滿意。但我們想藉此機會稍微精簡組織架構。我們知道我們處在一個充滿活力的環境。因此，我們對今天的公告以及接下來將要進行的支援工作感到非常興奮。

All right. And then in terms of the Electronic Chemicals business, you again delivered a record quarter, at least in terms of revenue there. Can you comment a little bit on the progress that you're making as you're working to improve capabilities and looking to grow in some of those higher-value process chemicals within EC?

好的。那麼，就電子化學品業務而言，你們在本季再次創下了紀錄，至少在收入方面是如此。能否簡單介紹一下你們在提升能力以及尋求在電子化學品領域一些高價值製程化學品方面取得的進展？

Yes. Thanks, Michael. We're obviously excited about the second record quarter for us in a row for EC. The growth was driven by just strong demand in general, as we've talked about, this is more of a regional business. So we primarily participate in North America, Europe and Southeast Asia. We're a leader in all of those regions in which we participate. So I think that strength reflects both the underlying strong demand and high utilization by our customers, but also some new business wins as we continue to kind of optimize that portfolio. We're really pleased with the progress we've seen in EC.

是的，謝謝，邁克爾。我們對電子商務業務連續第二季創下紀錄感到非常興奮。成長主要源自於整體強勁的需求，正如我們之前提到的，這更像是一項區域性業務。因此，我們主要在北美、歐洲和東南亞開展業務。我們在所有這些地區都處於領先地位。我認為，這種強勁成長不僅反映了我們潛在的強勁需求和客戶的高利用率，也反映了我們不斷優化產品組合所帶來的一些新業務。我們對電子商務業務的進展感到非常滿意。

Your next question comes from the line of Kieran De Brun from Mizuho.

您的下一個問題來自瑞穗的 Kieran De Brun。

I just wondering if you can just discuss a little bit more in terms of where you saw -- like what key raw material headwinds you're experiencing in the quarter? And how you view those coming through into the first half next year? And then in terms of pricing, it seems like you're able to push it through pretty quickly to offset some of these increases they continue to remain, let's say. But how do you think about maintaining some of that price as some of these headwinds subside?

我只是想知道您能否再多談談您觀察到的情況——例如本季度您遇到了哪些主要的原材料逆風？您如何看待這些逆風會影響到明年上半年？然後就定價而言，您似乎能夠​​很快地推動價格上漲，以抵消一些價格上漲的負面影響。但是，隨著這些逆風逐漸消退，您如何看待維持部分價格不變？

Yes, Kieran. I'll give some context, and Scott can follow up with some additional detail. I think as we talked about last quarter, perhaps we were a bit earlier in seeing the effects of inflation and perhaps that's given us some more time to react and respond. And obviously, it's been a very, very pervasive topic in -- throughout the sector. How we feel about it is -- and we gave a few examples in the prepared remarks of just some of the headwinds that we're seeing. We're not going to be able to give a lot of specifics around pricing just because of the competitive dynamic. But what I would say is that we're very confident that we will -- we've offset the inflation that we've seen so far and are prepared to continue taking further pricing actions as needed as we see more inflationary pressures, perhaps in the future.

是的，基蘭。我會介紹一些背景信息，斯科特可以跟進補充一些細節。我想，正如我們在上個季度討論的那樣，我們可能更早看到了通貨膨脹的影響，這或許給了我們更多時間來應對。顯然，通貨膨脹一直是整個產業非常普遍的話題。我們對此的看法是——我們在準備好的發言中舉了幾個例子，說明了我們所看到的一些不利因素。由於競爭激烈，我們無法透露太多關於定價的具體細節。但我想說的是，我們非常有信心——我們已經抵消了迄今為止看到的通貨膨脹，並且準備在未來看到更多通貨膨脹壓力時，根據需要繼續採取進一步的定價行動。

Yes. And the other point, Kieran, that you made about kind of trending that out. I think, again, as Dave said, we're going to be reluctant to be too specific about any particular raw material or the impact of the company and conversely, the pricing aspects of that. But we can say that, look, we expect to offset the inflation that's coming for this year. So as you're thinking about the margin pressures going forward or margin expectations going forward, our expectation is to be offsetting that incremental inflation going forward.

是的。基蘭，你提到的另一點，關於趨勢預測。我想，正如戴夫所說，我們不願過於具體地談論任何特定的原材料或公司的影響，反過來說，也不願談論定價方面的影響。但我們可以說，我們預計今年的通膨將得到抵銷。所以，當你考慮未來的利潤壓力或利潤預期時，我們的預期是抵銷未來的增量通膨。

So your most immediate question may be also related to Q1. And I'd be thinking of Q1 is trending pretty specifically or consistently with Q4 because the Future Forward program will have less of an effect to our Q1. We have some pricing in place now, as we said that we implemented earlier in the quarter. So we feel good about maintaining that. We have a piece of the wood treatment business that's coming out. So there's a few puts and takes. But I'd be thinking about the profitability of the company for Q1 as run rate pretty similar to what we experienced in Q4 this year and then likely getting better beyond that.

所以你最直接的問題可能也跟第一季有關。我認為第一季的趨勢與第四季度非常相似或一致，因為「未來前進」計畫對我們第一季的影響較小。正如我們在本季早些時候所說，我們現在已經制定了一些定價方案。因此，我們對維持這項定價方案感到滿意。我們即將推出一部分木材處理業務。因此，這其中存在一些利弊。但我認為公司第一季的獲利能力與今年第四季的營運率非常相似，並且之後可能會有所改善。

Great. And then maybe just a quick follow-up, and this maybe is a little bit of longer-term question, but we've seen a pretty substantial step-up in terms of semiconductor industry CapEx, which is probably going to continue to grow into next year. When we think about all that incremental demand coming online and what that means for your CMP slurries, you've had your electronics business as a whole. How do you think about your current capacity in terms of being able to satisfy that future demand and how you think about future organic investments? It seems like there's a bit of a step-up in CapEx this year. But overall, just any color you can give on how you're thinking about that going forward would be helpful.

好的。接下來我想問一個簡短的後續問題，這可能是一個比較長期的問題，但我們已經看到半導體產業的資本支出大幅成長，而且很可能在明年還會繼續成長。考慮到所有這些新增需求以及這對你們的CMP研磨液業務意味著什麼，你們的電子業務也受到了影響。您認為目前的產能如何滿足未來的需求？您如何看待未來的內部投資？今年的資本支出似乎增加。但總的來說，如果您能透露您對未來資本支出的看法，將會很有幫助。

Yes. We're really excited about that. So as we think about the announced capacity additions by our customers, first of all, we think we're very well positioned. So there's been announcements, obviously, of big additions in U.S., also in Europe and even in Japan, we have facilities in all those regions. And I think as we think about our business, it's really -- probably, as you would expect, for CMP slurries, we know that's a foundational, really important business for us. We will always have sufficient capacity for current and future demand. That's not going to be an issue. For EC in areas that are perhaps more CapEx intensive, we're really picking our shots, where can we be providing differentiated solutions to support our customers. I say pad, we've invested ahead of that growth as well.

是的，我們對此感到非常興奮。首先，考慮到客戶宣布的產能擴張，我們認為我們處於非常有利的位置。顯然，我們已經宣佈在美國、歐洲甚至日本大幅增加產能，我們在所有這些地區都設有工廠。而且，我認為，就我們的業務而言，CMP研磨液業務確實——正如您所料——我們知道這對我們來說是一項基礎性、非常重要的業務。我們將始終擁有足夠的產能來滿足當前和未來的需求。這不會成為問題。對於資本支出可能更密集的EC領域，我們正在仔細研究，看看我們可以在哪裡提供差異化的解決方案來支援我們的客戶。我強調，我們也已經提前進行了投資，以應對這一成長。

So in terms of capacity, I think, for slurry and pads, we're excited to support that future growth. For EC, we're going to be disciplined about looking at the portfolio, where can we add differentiated solutions and make investments to support that growth going forward. But I do think from a global infrastructure perspective, we're really well positioned to support the future customer expansions. I'd just add on one other point is, in our prepared remarks, we provided some background on CMP slurry growth rate. So we put that around 6%. We've obviously outgrown that significantly over the past 5 years. We think that is an indication of us gaining participation. So we think future growth is going to come from additional capacity coming online and increasing participation that we've seen from CMP slurries.

因此，就產能而言，我認為對於研磨液和研磨墊，我們很高興能夠支持未來的成長。對於電子電氣產品，我們將嚴格審視產品組合，看看在哪裡可以添加差異化解決方案，並進行投資以支持未來的成長。但我確實認為，從全球基礎設施的角度來看，我們完全有能力支持未來的客戶擴張。我想補充一點，在我們準備好的發言中，我們提供了一些關於CMP研磨液成長率的背景資訊。我們將其定為6%左右。在過去5年中，我們的成長顯然已經顯著超過了這個數字。我們認為這表明我們的參與度正在提高。因此，我們認為未來的成長將來自於新增產能的投產以及CMP研磨液領域參與度的提升，正如我們在CMP研磨液領域所看到的。

Your next question comes from the line of Chris Kapsch from Loop Capital Markets.

您的下一個問題來自 Loop Capital Markets 的 Chris Kapsch。

So just on the initial guidance range for 2022. I was wondering if you could talk about -- if you hit that -- the midpoint of that range exactly. Could you talk about what contribution would come from the Electronic Materials segment? I just think it would be helpful for investors to have a sense what the underlying growth of that core segment might look like against this favorable backdrop and maybe even especially coming through fiscal '21, when there's been some quarter-to-quarter choppiness for some idiosyncratic reasons in that business.

所以，關於2022年的初步預期範圍。我想知道您能否談談——如果達到這個範圍——該範圍的中間值具體是多少。您能否談談電子材料部門將帶來哪些貢獻？我認為這將有助於投資者了解在當前有利背景下，尤其是在21財年，該核心部門的潛在成長情況，因為由於某些特殊原因，該業務的季度環比波動較大。

Yes. Sure, Chris. I'd be thinking of that organic growth as primarily from electronic materials. And I think that we've also -- we recognize the complexity with the wood treatment business coming out. So we were pretty transparent, I think, in our materials about how you can think about the wood business and the phasing out that is happening for that. Now undoubtedly, when you unpack that, which you probably already have, you'll notice that the Q4 margin for PM was down. The PM margin will continue to be pressured with the exit of wood treatment and there's inflationary pressures in the PIM business.

是的，當然，克里斯。我認為有機成長主要來自電子材料。而且我認為我們也意識到木材處理業務退出帶來的複雜性。所以，我認為我們在材料中非常透明地解釋了木材業務以及該業務的逐步退出。毫無疑問，當你仔細分析這些因素時（你可能已經了解了），你會注意到PM第四季的利潤率下降了。隨著木材處理業務的退出，PM利潤率將繼續承壓，而且PIM業務還面臨通膨壓力。

So I'd be thinking about the organic growth as mostly electronic materials. And again, I mentioned Q1 versus Q4 expectation, I'd be thinking of a similar run rate and then the rest of the year getting better as we have the benefits of future forward kicking in.

所以我認為有機成長主要體現在電子材料方面。我再次提到了第一季與第四季的預期，我認為今年剩餘時間的業績會有所好轉，因為我們將受益於未來成長的推動。

Yes. And Chris, just to add on to Scott's comments, we have that bridge in the prepared materials. And I think as our guidance reflects its optimism of continued strength of electronic materials, in particular, that's where the organic growth is going to come from. We're just putting pricing and inflation as an offset the benefits of the Future Forward program. And then obviously, as Scott mentioned, that exit of wood treat, which is a pretty significant profitability contributor. I think we've done a nice job driving value in that business, but we're exiting over the course of the next several quarters. So that's kind of the bridge that we provided in the prepared remarks and gives you a feel for what we're thinking about the year.

是的。克里斯，補充一下斯科特的評論，我們在準備好的材料業務中建立了橋樑。我認為，由於我們的業績指引反映了對電子材料持續走強的樂觀態度，有機成長將主要來自電子材料。我們只是將價格和通膨因素作為未來發展計畫收益的抵銷。然後，正如斯科特所提到的，顯然，木材處理業務的退出，這對盈利貢獻相當顯著。我認為我們在該業務的價值提升方面做得很好，但我們將在接下來的幾個季度內退出。所以，這就是我們在準備好的評論中提供的橋樑，讓您了解我們對今年的展望。

Right. That's helpful. And just the follow-up would be, as you look at that guidance and developing it and have some scenario analysis around the high end and low-end of that range. Just what are the product lines where you see greater risk of variability that might lead to either hitting the lower end of that range or the higher end of that range? What are some scenarios that -- where you come in on either end? And what would you attribute those factors too?

對。這很有幫助。接下來的問題是，當你審視並製定該指引時，你會圍繞該範圍的高端和低端進行一些情境分析。你認為哪些產品線的波動風險較大，可能導致觸及該範圍的低端或高端？在哪些情景下，你會分別處於低端和高端？你認為這些因素又是什麼？

Yes. Thanks, Chris. Good question. I feel like the spectrum of the range really is, first, we feel really good about our position. So we mentioned in some of the prepared remarks, a few really breakthrough wins we've had in advanced applications, one in cobalt, one in 3D NAND. So we feel really good about our participation and advancing that participation rate in slurries as well as pads as EC, as I mentioned, we're kind of picking our shots. So I look at sort of that range of high-end and low-end of guidance, really as one -- we're assuming the industry stays very strong.

是的，謝謝，克里斯。這個問題問得好。我覺得這個範圍其實是這樣的：首先，我們對自己的定位非常滿意。我們在一些準備好的演講中提到了我們在先進應用領域取得的一些突破性進展，一個在鈷，一個在3D NAND。因此，我們對自己的參與度以及在漿料和墊片領域的參與度提升感到非常滿意。正如我之前提到的，我們正在根據市場狀況進行調整。因此，我把這個指引的高端和低端範圍視為一個整體——我們假設這個行業將保持強勁。

So backdrop of strong -- continued strong industry demand. I think that's what everyone is calling for, but I think that's one big assumption. The other one is, obviously, when we think about profitability, it continues to be a very dynamic environment, right? So responding to rising costs. Again, we gave some examples in the prepared remarks about logistics, raw materials. So our ability to continue responding and offsetting that with price, I think, is sort of the second factor. But in terms of our positions, we feel like we've continued to win advanced positions and are seeing those ramp up. We're seeing that ramp-up of new capacity coming online from customers. So I'd say those are sort of the 2 areas to think about in terms of the range of our guidance.

所以，強勁的產業需求——持續強勁的產業需求——是大背景。我認為這是每個人都在呼籲的，但我認為這是一個很大的假設。另一個因素是，顯然，當我們考慮盈利能力時，這仍然是一個非常動態的環境，對吧？所以要應對不斷上漲的成本。我們在準備好的演講中再次提到了物流和原材料方面的例子。因此，我認為，我們繼續應對並透過價格抵消這些影響的能力是第二個因素。但就我們的市場地位而言，我們感覺我們繼續贏得了領先地位，並且正在看到這些地位的提升。我們看到來自客戶的新產能正在增加。所以，我認為，就我們的指導範圍而言，這兩個面向是需要考慮的。

Your next question comes from the line of Amanda Scarnati from Citi.

您的下一個問題來自花旗銀行的 Amanda Scarnati。

I have a question on the step-up in CapEx that we're seeing into fiscal '22. Can you just talk about what's driving that step-up in capacity? Are you seeing any sort of unconstrained demand or difficulty in meeting customer demand that's driving Capex? Or is this a little bit more of a longer-term strategic addition?

我有一個關於22財年資本支出成長的問題。您能否談談是什麼推動了產能的提升？您是否看到任何不受約束的需求或難以滿足客戶需求的情況推動了資本支出的成長？或者，這只是一項更長期的策略性增加？

Yes. Sure, Amanda. I would characterize it as the second longer-term and strategic investments now for the longer-term and the strategic over time. We have not had any particular issues or problems, meeting all the demands of our customers. We've made the comment before, and we can continue to make it that we've delivered every single shipment to our customers even during all of the issues that we've had during the pandemic era. And I would just say that, as you know, we constrained CapEx this year given the particularly uneven environment that we had. And so there's some investment that from this year kind of phases into next. But I would be thinking of it as mostly, again, strategic investments now for the strategic and the longer-term in the future, essentially in electronic materials to benefit and to participate in the increasing capacity that our customers are putting in.

是的，當然，Amanda。我認為現在這主要是針對長期和長期策略的第二次長期策略投資。我們沒有遇到任何特殊問題，滿足了客戶的所有需求。我們之前已經說過，即使在疫情期間遇到的所有問題中，我們也能繼續確保將每一批貨物交付給客戶。我想說的是，正如你所知，考慮到我們面臨的特別不平衡的環境，我們今年限制了資本支出。所以，今年的一些投資可能會延續到明年。但我認為，現在這主要是針對未來策略和長期的策略投資，主要是在電子材料領域，以便從客戶不斷增加的產能中受益並參與其中。

Shifting gears to the oil and gas business. Oil consumption is still sort of below production, especially here in the U.S., do we need this consumption to return in order to recover the VRA business? And then is there any additional concerns about CP demand increasing in the U.S. and how that's going to impact the DRA business longer term?

轉向石油和天然氣業務。石油消費量仍低於產量，尤其是在美國。我們需要消費量回升才能恢復VRA業務嗎？此外，對於美國CP需求的成長，是否有其他擔憂？這將如何影響DRA業務的長期發展？

Yes. As we've mentioned before, Amanda, it's obviously a pretty challenging environment on the PM side. And despite the rise in oil price, demand for DRA is really correlated to oil transport. And we have very strong positions in the U.S. So pretty specific to the U.S. ramping up oil transport. And just -- we just haven't seen that yet. And so as we've tried to look at our forecast and working with our customers closely, I think it's a business that we recognize is operating in a challenged environment. I think it's fair to say that we're looking at all options for that business. And we're also seeing some interesting innovation in that area that we are introducing in terms of new products. But I think it's just a continued challenging environment. And obviously, it's not a big focus for us at the moment.

是的。正如我們之前提到的，Amanda，PM 業務顯然面臨著相當嚴峻的環境。儘管油價上漲，但 DRA 的需求與石油運輸息息相關。我們在美國市場佔有非常強勁的地位，這尤其體現在美國石油運輸量的成長。只是——我們還沒有看到這種情況。因此，當我們努力審視我們的預測並與客戶密切合作時，我認為我們意識到這項業務正處於一個充滿挑戰的環境中。可以說，我們正在為這項業務尋找所有可行的方案。我們也看到了該領域一些有趣的創新，我們正在推出新產品。但我認為這只是一個持續充滿挑戰的環境。顯然，這目前不是我們的重點。

Your next question comes from the line of Paretosh Misra from Berenberg.

您的下一個問題來自貝倫貝格的帕雷托什·米斯拉 (Paretosh Misra)。

So you had a very good performance in electronic chemicals in the second half of this fiscal year. Was there anything unusual that helps us such as customer restocking or something along those lines? Or is this a good base rate and you expect that business to grow with the second half as a base going forward?

所以，你們在本財年下半年的電子化學品業務表現非常出色。有什麼特別的因素對我們有幫助嗎？例如客戶補貨之類的？或者說，這是一個很好的基準成長率，您預期該業務會以以下半年為基礎繼續成長嗎？

Yes, we didn't call out any sort of atypical inventory buildup. I think it's really just reflective of high utilization and demand from our customers. We did talk about a few new wins in the Electronic Chemicals segment several quarters ago. So some of that demand is seeing that business ramp up. I think this business, if we think about the growth profile, it's going to be a solid business. It's probably not going to grow as fast as our CMP slurries or pads business, but it's one in which -- one, we're picking our shots and where we can differentiate ourselves. And I think we're seeing that come out in terms of the business that we have in the portfolio continues to be very differentiated products that we support our customers with. And so just to answer your question, I think it's really driven by more of the strong demand from customers that we see in the regions that we participate in.

是的，我們沒有提到任何非典型的庫存增加。我認為這實際上只是反映了高利用率和客戶的需求。幾個季度前，我們確實談到了電子化學品部門的一些新成果。因此，部分需求推動了該業務的成長。我認為，如果從成長前景來看，這項業務將會是個穩健的業務。它的成長速度可能不會像我們的CMP研磨液或拋光墊業務那麼快，但它是一個——首先，我們正在選擇合適的目標，並努力實現差異化。我認為，就我們產品組合中的業務而言，我們看到的仍然是我們為客戶提供的差異化產品。所以，回答你的問題，我認為這實際上是由我們所參與地區的客戶強勁需求所推動的。

Good to hear that. And then how are you tracking in terms of meeting your 2024 EBITDA target, I believe it's $460 million to $510 million. Are you ahead or maybe these cost inflation is a bit of a drag on that? Like how would you kind of track that?

很高興聽到這個消息。那麼，您如何實現2024年的EBITDA目標呢？我認為是4.6億到5.1億美元。您目前處於領先地位嗎？還是成本上漲會拖累您的目標？您打算如何實現這個目標？

Yes. I think we'll update that more formally, Paretosh, in the coming time frame here. But I think you're thinking about things the right way. Look, the semi industry continues to be very strong. We're excited about where we participate and our ability to serve our customers and drive value through that segment. So that continues. The inflationary pressures were new, and we're articulating today our objective and our expectation that we'll be able to offset those in the future. And we have to factor in the wood treatment exit as well. So I'm probably going to be reluctant to give too many details about FY '24 right now until we formally sort of re-update that, which I think would be coming up in the shorter time frame.

是的。帕累托什，我想我們會在未來一段時間內更正式地更新這一點。但我認為你的想法是正確的。你看，半導體產業持續強勁。我們對我們所參與的領域以及我們服務客戶和透過該領域創造價值的能力感到興奮。這種情況會持續下去。通膨壓力是新的，我們今天闡明了我們的目標以及我們未來能夠抵消這些壓力的預期。我們還必須考慮木材處理業務的退出。所以，在我們正式重新更新之前，我現在可能不願意透露太多關於24財年的細節，我認為這將在較短的時間內完成。

(Operator Instructions) Your next question comes from the line of Mike Harrison from Seaport Research Partners.

（操作員指示）您的下一個問題來自 Seaport Research Partners 的 Mike Harrison。

A couple of additional ones. Wondering if you could give a little bit more detail on the order patterns you saw from your Chinese distributor customer. Have those order patterns normalized as of September or October? And I guess, maybe more broadly on China, you noted the 40% growth rate in fiscal '21. Maybe talk a little bit about how you see growth in China going forward?

還有幾個問題。您能否更詳細地介紹一下您從中國經銷商客戶看到的訂單模式？截至9月或10月，這些訂單模式是否已恢復正常？我想，更廣泛地說，就中國市場而言，您提到21財年的成長率為40%。能否談談您如何看待中國市場未來的成長？

Yes. I'll give some context, and then Scott can provide some additional detail. First, China is not a new region for us to operate in. We've grown very strongly in China, almost 20% year-over-year for the last 5 years. And then we've seen significant growth in the last couple of years. And I think that's, one -- I think one is our continuing to work closely with our customers in China, although we don't sell direct. We have a local team there that work very closely with those customers, and we continue to gain participation in China. And we all know that China is also investing a lot in their semiconductor industry. So we see from a mid-term, long-term perspective, really, really strong growth coming from China. It's an important region for us, and we think we're well positioned. I'll let Scott comment on sort of the near-term order patterns.

是的。我會先介紹一些背景資訊，然後Scott可以提供一些額外的細節。首先，中國對我們來說並不是一個新市場。我們在中國的成長非常強勁，過去5年年增近20%。而且，過去幾年，我們的成長也非常顯著。我認為，其中之一就是我們繼續與中國客戶緊密合作，儘管我們不直接銷售產品。我們在中國擁有一支在地團隊，與這些客戶緊密合作，並且我們持續在中國市場拓展業務。我們都知道，中國也在大力投資半導體產業。因此，從中長期來看，我們看到中國市場的成長動能非常強勁。中國對我們來說是一個重要的市場，我們認為我們處於有利地位。我請Scott來談談近期的訂單模式。

Yes. I think the -- as we expected, Mike, the near-term order patterns have normalized during this quarter, we expect to get back to growth beginning in Q1, which is what we articulated, was an expectation last quarter. So we're still on track and expecting that. I think you mentioned the significant growth in FY '21 versus FY '20. And you get to the point where China is one of our largest countries now. So you get a little bit of large numbers. And so that percentage growth is likely down from what you've mentioned in FY '21. But I'd still be thinking about double digits for China for next year.

是的。麥克，我認為正如我們預期的那樣，本季的近期訂單模式已經恢復正常，我們預計從第一季開始將恢復成長，這也是我們上個季度所表達的預期。所以我們仍然在正軌上，並且期待著這一點。我記得您提到了21財年與20財年相比的顯著成長。而且您也注意到，中國現在是我們最大的國家之一。所以您得到的數字有點大。因此，這個百分比成長率可能會低於您提到的21財年。但我仍然認為明年中國市場的成長率將達到兩位數。

All right. I appreciate that. And then a question on the PIM business. That's one of the areas where you identified pretty significant raw material inflation, but you've got this issue around kind of weaker demand and some competitive dynamics that are not super favorable and maybe impacting your ability to get pricing. Have you seen competitors moving on pricing in this inflationary environment, and that is enabling you to increase your own prices? Maybe talk about how you're balancing kind of the need for pricing with your desire to maintain market share or see some recovery in volumes?

好的，非常感謝。接下來是關於PIM業務的問題。您之前提到過，PIM業務的原物料價格上漲非常顯著，但您也遇到了一些問題，例如需求疲軟以及一些不太有利的競爭態勢，這些因素可能會影響您的定價能力。在這種通膨環境下，您是否看到競爭對手在定價方面有所調整，促使您提高價格？能否談談您是如何在定價需求與維持市場佔有率或實現銷售回升之間取得平衡的？

Yes. I think you know the space well, Mike, and it continues to be an increasing area of competitiveness. So we're clear-eyed about that. I don't want to speak about what competitors are planning from a price perspective. But we look at things from a company-wide perspective. So no doubt, PIM is being impacted within our PM. segment. The PIM business is being impacted by raw materials, and we showed an indicative chart in our materials.

是的。麥克，我想你對這個領域很了解，而且這個領域的競爭還在持續加劇。所以我們對此很清楚。我不想從價格角度談論競爭對手的計劃。但我們是從整個公司的角度來看問題。毫無疑問，PIM 在我們的 PM 部門受到了影響。 PIM 業務受到原料的影響，我們在材料業務中展示了一張指示性圖表。

So the margin pressures will occur within that segment. I think from an overall company perspective, we have the expectation of offsetting price. That's not necessarily true for each of the segments. But we want to make sure that we're clear as a company overall. But we also mentioned that I think there are some interesting things that we have been working on to further improve profitability of this business, including product innovations and new products with potentially alternative raw materials. So we're focused on improving the business, optimizing the business, but we're also clear-eyed about the competitive environment and also the demand environment.

因此，利潤率壓力將出現在該細分市場內。我認為，從公司整體角度來看，我們預期價格會有所抵銷。這不一定適用於每個細分市場。但我們希望確保公司整體思路清晰。我們也提到，我認為我們一直在努力進行一些有趣的工作，以進一步提高該業務的盈利能力，包括產品創新和採用潛在替代原材料的新產品。因此，我們專注於改善業務、優化業務，但我們也對競爭環境和需求環境保持清醒的認識。

Your next question comes from the line of David Silver from CL King.

您的下一個問題來自 CL King 的 David Silver。

I had a question, I guess, on the Future Forward program. And in particular, I guess I was thinking about how you're designing this program or the goals of this program with regards to your global footprint? So my recollection is for the past several years, I mean, expanding or broadening your global reach has been a priority use of discretionary CapEx pretty much every year. And I can't recall the exact wording, but it seems like there are parts of your global footprint where maybe you're going to be pruning back a bit.

我有個關於「未來前進」計畫的問題。具體來說，我想問的是，你們是如何設計這個專案的，或者說，這個專案的目標與你們的全球佈局有什麼關係？我記得過去幾年，擴大或拓展你們的全球影響力幾乎每年都是可自由支配的資本支出的優先用途。我不記得確切的措辭了，但看起來你們的全球佈局中有些部分可能會被稍微削減。

So when I think about the goals, maybe response, customer responsiveness and maybe to have some redundancy in terms of supply capability in issues probably a little more prominent in the current environment. I was just hoping you could just discuss the balance that you're envisioning between maintaining the type of global footprint you need to serve your customers with the goals of maybe extracting some greater efficiencies or economizing here and there?

所以，當我考慮目標時，也許是回應速度、客戶回應能力，以及在當前環境下可能更突出的問題上，在供應能力方面保留一些冗餘。我只是希望您能談談您所設想的平衡點：既要保持服務客戶所需的全球影響力，又要實現提高效率或在某些方面節省開支的目標？

Yes. I think for us, as we think about it, again, we've been very thoughtful about our approach, and we don't think that reducing cost is opposed to supporting growth. And so as we think about our global footprint and where our customers are adding capacity and needing more support that's obviously not going to be a focus of this program, and we kind of mentioned that we're not impacting any innovation or customer-facing kind of efforts. This is really more focused around corporate.

是的。我認為，就我們本身而言，我們一直在深思熟慮，我們並不認為降低成本與支援成長是對立的。因此，考慮到我們的全球佈局以及客戶在哪些領域增加產能並需要更多支持，這顯然不會成為該計劃的重點。我們也提到過，這不會影響任何創新或面向客戶的工作。這其實更著重於企業層面。

There could be, as Scott mentioned, look at our facilities. We're not prepared to talk more about that today, but it would not be an area that we'd see sacrificing growth or customer support. Overall, I think it's just -- as we look back, we're several years removed from KMG. We took on a lot of infrastructure and, of course, a lot of great people. And as we look back, a few years removed, I think it's just a good opportunity for us. I think the pandemic serves as a catalyst, but I think this is a good opportunity for us to do some strategic cost optimization around the company.

正如斯科特所提到的，我們可能會考慮我們的設施。我們今天不准備詳細討論這個問題，但這不會是我們犧牲成長或客戶支援的一個面向。總的來說，我認為——回顧過去，我們離開KMG已經好幾年了。我們接手了大量的基礎設施，當然也引進了許多優秀的人才。幾年過去了，我認為這對我們來說是一個很好的機會。我認為疫情是一個催化劑，但我認為這對我們來說也是一個圍繞公司進行策略成本優化的好機會。

Yes. I think that's a good summary. I would only add the context in terms of the financials, David, as we have highlighted $15 million expected of an incremental benefit directly to this year and then $20 million to $25 million. That will take a little bit more time that the $20 million to $25 million is the total. So there's an incremental, call it, $5 million to $10 million in the future. I think I would be thinking about that as more of the footprint rationalization because of everything that Dave described, those are longer-term projects. We're going to have to do a lot of work, not only if we're going to impact a site, but working with our customers, reregistering, getting the approvals and so on from them. So I would just tie Dave's comments in with this little bit of a tail on some of the benefits of the activities that we envision as part of future forward.

是的，我覺得總結得很好。大衛，我只想補充一下財務方面的背景信息，因為我們強調了預計今年將直接帶來1500萬美元的增量收益，之後還有2000萬到2500萬美元。這比2000萬到2500萬美元的增量收益要多花一點時間。所以未來會有500萬到1000萬美元的增量收益。我認為，鑑於戴夫所描述的一切，我認為這些更多的是足跡合理化，這些都是長期項目。我們還有很多工作要做，不僅是要影響一個站點，還要與客戶合作，重新註冊，獲得他們的批准等等。所以我想把戴夫的評論和我們設想的未來活動帶來的一些好處連結起來。

Okay. Great. And my next question, I hope I can get this out in an understandable manner. But I'm just hoping you could maybe integrate the long-term qualification process that your CMP business is typically undergo for a position win or process a record award. And then the Marriott were integrated with the very aggressive wafer, pad equipment spending that's going on in the industry. So in other words, there's a time line, there's a gap between maybe when you're qualified. And maybe when a physical facility or production line is actually complete and turns on and then ramps up over time.

好的。太好了。我的下一個問題，我希望我能以易於理解的方式解釋清楚。我只是希望您能將CMP業務通常需要經歷的長期資格認證流程整合起來，才能贏得市場地位或獲得創紀錄的獎項。然後，Marriott計畫與業界正在發生的非常激進的晶圓和焊盤設備支出相結合。換句話說，存在一個時間線，在您獲得資格認證與實體設施或生產線實際完工並投入使用，然後隨著時間的推移逐漸提升之間存在差距。

And I'm just wondering, when you look in the context of your guidance for '22 and thinking about where you've been the last few quarters, is it fair to say that you're expecting a notable pickup in the cadence at which I think maybe the relevant production facilities, where you have positions. Will they be turning on at a notably quicker cadence, let's say, over the next 12 months compared to the last 12 months. Any comment on the opportunities to initiate these new position wins into actual production and ramp up?

我只是想知道，結合您對2022年的預期，並思考過去幾季的情況，您是否預計相關生產設施（您擁有生產崗位）的投產節奏會顯著加快？與過去12個月相比，未來12個月的生產節奏是否會大幅加快？您能否談談將這些新獲得的職位投入實際生產並提升產能的機會？

Yes, Dave, I think you have the right key dynamics to focus on. Again, we kind of focus -- go back to expectation of CMP growth rates, probably 6%. As we see more capacity coming online, you might see that number go up a bit. That capacity, we're already seeing some of it come online, for example, from some of our memory customers, but equally important is winning those new opportunities. So we talked about some of the new opportunities that we won and are excited about. We also talked about the consumable set win in the pads area.

是的，戴夫，我認為你關注的關鍵動態是正確的。再次強調，我們關注的是──回到CMP成長率的預期，大概是6%。隨著更多產能上線，你可能會看到這個數字略有上升。我們已經看到一些產能上線，例如來自一些記憶體客戶的產能，但同樣重要的是贏得這些新的機會。所以我們談到了我們贏得的一些新機會，並對此感到興奮。我們也談到了在焊盤領域耗材產品的成功。

It's really important for us to continue increasing our participation in those advanced nodes as we have been doing so that when those new capacities start up, we're well positioned to either just kind of [port] over if the customer is using the similar technology and process or if they're ramping up a new technology or able to introduce new products and grow with them. Right now, I'd say, of the significant announced capacities, for example, TSMC in Arizona or Intel has talked about a few new fabs. Those are pretty early stage, right? I think they're not close to being start-up. So those are kind of in the -- kind of 1 plus year range out. But I do think we're seeing some of the customers that have invested in incremental capacity additions starting those up.

對我們來說，繼續增加對這些先進節點的參與度非常重要，就像我們一直以來所做的那樣。這樣，當這些新產能啟動時，如果客戶使用類似的技術和工藝，或者他們正在加速開發新技術，或者能夠推出新產品並共同成長，我們就能很好地進行移植。目前，我想說，在已宣布的重要產能中，例如亞利桑那州的台積電和英特爾已經談到了一些新的晶圓廠。這些都還處於早期階段，對吧？我認為它們還遠未啟動。所以，這些項目大概需要一年以上的時間。但我確實認為，我們看到一些投資於增量產能的客戶正在啟動這些專案。

And those occur, obviously, a lot faster, and we see that volume come through. We are expecting and confident to get both, right? We want to be there to support that additional capacity when it comes online. And we also want to grow our participation by winning new technologies as they ramp-up in logic, foundry and memory. So it's all of the above, but I would say, grounded in that sort of 6% growth rate of CMP, we've obviously performed much more strongly than that, and we expect to continue to do so. But that's sort of some of the background in context.

顯然，這些事情發生得更快，而且我們看到了產量的成長。我們期待並有信心實現這兩個目標，對吧？我們希望在新增產能上線時能夠提供支援。我們也希望透過贏得新技術來擴大我們的參與度，因為新技術正在邏輯、代工和記憶體領域蓬勃發展。以上都是原因，但我想說，基於CMP 6%的成長率，我們的表現顯然比這要強勁得多，而且我們預計還會繼續保持下去。以上只是一些背景狀況。

Okay. Great. I hope Colleen doesn't shoot me later, but I'm just going to sneak in a question. I don't believe anyone's asked about the share repurchase activity this quarter. And I'm just wondering how you look at that pretty aggressive spend in the context of, I guess, your overall value creation strategies. So should we expect an elevated level going forward? Or was that kind of a one-off opportunistic kind of event?

好的。太好了。希望科琳待會別打我，我還是偷偷問個問題。我覺得沒人問過本季的股票回購活動。我想知道，在你們的整體價值創造戰略背景下，你們是如何看待這筆相當激進的支出的。那麼，我們應該預期未來回購水準會更高嗎？還是說，這只是一次性的機會主義事件？

Yes. You understand it well. There was an accelerated level of purchases this quarter. And I would say it's from a confluence of factors. We continue to be very excited about the long-term prospects for our industry and our ability to operate within the industry. We constrained CapEx in FY '21. And we've also been maximizing the cash returns for the wood business. So we saw an opportunity to deploy those funds. I would just say, in addition, David, that there's no change to our capital deployment priorities. They continue to be organic -- organic growth, number one, paying dividends to shareholders on an ongoing and increasing basis, reducing debt or leveraging up potentially for M&A.

是的，您理解得很好。本季採購量有所加速。我想說，這是多種因素共同作用的結果。我們仍然對行業的長期前景以及我們在行業內的營運能力感到非常興奮。我們在21財年限制了資本支出，同時也一直在最大化木材業務的現金回報。因此，我們看到了部署這些資金的機會。此外，大衛，我想說的是，我們的資本部署重點並沒有改變。我們將繼續保持有機成長－有機成長是第一位的；持續增加向股東派發股利；減少債務；以及提高潛在的併購槓桿。

But right now, we're in the reducing debt phases #3 and then repurchasing shares. So I don't see a structural change to our priorities there. And I think the one thing that I would just recognize is that we continue to meet all of our capital deployment priorities. We haven't -- it wasn't a matter of us buying shares and having to change expectations about any of the other priorities because of the high-value of what it is that we provide to our customers, the capital-light model, the earnings leverage that we're able to achieve, we're able to generate a lot of cash. We're going to continue to be thoughtful deployers of that. But because of these, again, kind of confluence of factors, we saw the opportunity this quarter.

但目前，我們正處於債務削減的第三階段，隨後正在回購股票。因此，我認為我們的優先事項不會發生結構性變化。我認為唯一需要確認的是，我們將繼續滿足所有資本配置的優先事項。我們並沒有——我們並沒有因為購買股票而改變對其他優先事項的預期，因為我們為客戶提供的產品價值高，我們採用輕資本模式，我們能夠實現盈利槓桿，我們能夠創造大量現金。我們將繼續深思熟慮地部署這些優先事項。但由於這些因素的共同作用，我們在本季看到了機會。

Your next question comes from the line of Paretosh Misra from Berenberg.

您的下一個問題來自貝倫貝格的帕雷托什·米斯拉 (Paretosh Misra)。

So just looking back at this year, you had inflation impact, that impacted to EBITDA and also some variability from buying patterns in China. Is there a way to quantify the impact from these items? I know you shared some numbers in the last call, but just wondering if you could read it us.

回顧今年，通貨膨脹對EBITDA產生了影響，中國消費者的購買模式也發生了一些變化。有沒有辦法量化這些因素的影響？我知道您在上次電話會議上分享了一些數據，但能否請您閱讀？

I think this will help you Paretosh. When we think about our path, and I'm going to just run forward to the total company metric EBITDA as a percent of revenue. In FY '20, we were about 32%. We're going to end FY '21. We have ended FY '21, about 30%. So there were pressures on our business this year, and we were pretty, again, I think, thoughtful and clear -- clearly stating those last quarter and this quarter. So our profitability in Q4 has trended in line with what we had expected, but we'll end the year about 30%. And I had mentioned that for FY '22, I think if you're thinking about a similar sort of expectation because of those different puts and takes that we mentioned, that's a reasonable way to be thinking about '22.

我認為這對你有幫助，帕累托。當我們思考我們的發展路徑時，我將直接討論公司整體指標EBITDA佔收入的百分比。在2020財年，我們的EBITDA約為32%。到21財年結束時，這一比例將達到30%左右。所以，今年我們的業務面臨壓力，而且我認為我們非常周到和清晰——在上個季度和本季度都清楚地闡述了這些壓力。因此，我們第四季的獲利趨勢與我們預期一致，但到年底，我們的EBITDA將在30%左右。我之前提到過，對於22財年，我認為如果你考慮到我們提到的不同的預期，那麼對22財年做出類似的預期，這是一個合理的思考方式。

So inflationary environment in Q -- in FY '21, pricing actions in place to offset additional inflation in FY '22. And we mentioned in our materials, we're always looking at that. And as things continue to evolve, we may change our plans as well and even have the opportunity to increase price going forward. But that's how I'd be thinking about the profitability of the company in a general way. And I mentioned earlier how to think about Q1 versus Q4. And I would be thinking about EM as improving slightly, and I'd be thinking about PM as coming down with some extra raw material pressures in PIM and then the exit of the wood treatment business. That's how I would kind of verbally describe some of the work that you're undoubtedly doing on the financials.

因此，在21財年第四季的通膨環境下，我們採取了定價措施來抵銷22財年的額外通膨。我們在材料中提到過，我們一直在關注這個問題。隨著情勢的不斷發展，我們也可能會調整計劃，甚至有機會提高價格。但這就是我對公司獲利能力的整體看法。我之前提到過如何看待第一季和第四季。我認為新興市場（EM）略有改善，而木材處理（PM）業務則有所下降，原因是PIM業務面臨一些額外的原材料壓力，以及木材處理業務的退出。這就是我對您在財務方面無疑正在進行的一些工作的口頭描述。

(Operator Instructions) Your next question comes from the line of Chris Kapsch from Loop Capital Markets.

（操作員指示）您的下一個問題來自 Loop Capital Markets 的 Chris Kapsch。

So really, a question on the IP litigation. And so my interpretation of everything that's transpired there is that you've been successful in this patent infringement case. The patent is done, there was infringement. What I'm curious is if there's the timing of any potential benefit. Have you factored any benefit from that resolution into this guidance range that you've given? And then secondly, is it fair for us to conclude maybe that the outcome of that litigation, which is focused on the U.S. from a jurisdiction standpoint, might be a benchmark for similar infringement cases in other jurisdictions?

所以，實際上，這是一個關於智慧財產權訴訟的問題。我對目前發生的一切的解讀是，你們在這起專利侵權案中勝訴了。專利已經失效，侵權行為已經存在。我好奇的是，是否存在任何潛在利益的時機。你們在給予的指導範圍內是否已經考慮到了該解決方案帶來的任何利益？其次，我們可以得出這樣的結論嗎？該訴訟從司法管轄權的角度來看集中在美國，其結果可能成為其他司法管轄區類似侵權案件的基準。

Yes. Thanks, Chris. Obviously, we feel really good about where we are with that. But we're still in our active litigation. We do expect a final determination in sort of early December-ish. And we have not factored in any sort of conversions, although we're working with many customers, and we're seeing a lot of pull. So that would just be upside to our guidance. To your question of kind of the scope and span, we highlight also that we brought an enforcement action in Taiwan. So we think that this is a -- we feel confident, obviously, in the merits and what we've heard back from the ITC so far. We feel confident that we're going to prevail on our innovation and technology, and we're working with, I would just say, several significant customers on conversion, and it is a global effort.

是的，謝謝，克里斯。顯然，我們對目前的進展感到非常滿意。但我們仍在積極進行訴訟。我們預計最終裁決將在12月初左右公佈。雖然我們正在與許多客戶合作，並且看到了很多客戶，但我們尚未考慮任何形式的轉換。所以，這只會對我們的預期產生正面影響。關於您關於範圍和跨度的問題，我們也強調了我們在台灣提起的執法行動。因此，我們認為，這顯然對案情以及迄今為止從美國國際貿易委員會（ITC）獲得的回饋充滿信心。我們相信，我們將憑藉創新和技術取得勝利，而且我們正在與幾位重要的客戶就轉換事宜進行合作，這是一項全球性的努力。

Speakers, I see no further questions in the queue at this time, Colleen Mumford, I'll turn the call back over to you.

各位發言者，我看現在沒有其他問題了，科琳·芒福德，我將把電話轉回給您。

Great. Thanks. That is all the questions that we have this morning. Thank you all for your time and your interest in CMC Materials.

太好了，謝謝。今天早上的問題就到這裡。感謝大家抽出時間，也感謝大家對CMC材料的興趣。

This concludes today's conference call. Thank you for participating, and have a wonderful day. You may all disconnect.

今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝各位的參與，祝福大家有美好的一天。各位可以斷開連接了。