益華電腦 (CDNS) 2023 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Good afternoon. My name is Lisa, and I'll be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the Cadence Second Quarter 2023 Earnings Conference Call. (Operator Instructions) I'll now turn the call over to Richard Gu, Vice President Relations for Cadence. Please go ahead.

下午好。我叫麗莎，今天我將擔任你們的會議操作員。此時，我歡迎大家參加 Cadence 2023 年第二季度收益電話會議。 （操作員指示）我現在將電話轉給 Cadence 關係副總裁 Richard Gu。請繼續。

Thank you, operator. I would like to welcome everyone to our second quarter of 2023 earnings conference call. I'm joined today by Anirudh Devgan, President and Chief Executive Officer, and John Wall, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. The webcast of this call and a copy of today's prepared remarks will be available on our website, cadence.com.

謝謝你，接線員。歡迎大家參加我們的 2023 年第二季度收益電話會議。今天與我一起出席會議的還有總裁兼首席執行官 Anirudh Devgan 和高級副總裁兼首席財務官 John Wall。本次電話會議的網絡直播和今天準備好的發言副本將在我們的網站 cadence.com 上提供。

Today's discussion will contain forward-looking statements, including our outlook on future business and operating results due to risks and uncertainties, actual results may differ materially from those projected or implied in today's discussion. For information on factors that could cause actual results to differ, please refer to our SEC filings, including our most recent Forms 10-K and 10-Q, CFO commentary and today's earnings release.

今天的討論將包含前瞻性陳述，包括我們對未來業務和經營業績的展望，由於風險和不確定性，實際結果可能與今天討論中預測或暗示的結果存在重大差異。有關可能導致實際結果不同的因素的信息，請參閱我們向 SEC 提交的文件，包括我們最新的 10-K 和 10-Q 表格、首席財務官評論和今天的收益發布。

All forward-looking statements during this call are based on estimates and information available to us as of today, and we disclaim any obligation to update them. In addition, we present certain non-GAAP measures, which should not be considered in isolation from or as a substitute for GAAP results. Reconciliation of GAAP to non-GAAP measures are included in today's earnings release. (Operator Instructions) Now I'll turn the call over to Anirudh.

本次電話會議期間的所有前瞻性陳述均基於我們今天掌握的估計和信息，我們不承擔任何更新這些陳述的義務。此外，我們提出了某些非 GAAP 衡量標準，不應將這些衡量標準與 GAAP 結果分開考慮或替代 GAAP 結果。今天的收益發布中包含了 GAAP 與非 GAAP 指標的調節。 （接線員指示）現在我將把電話轉給 Anirudh。

Thank you, Richard. Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining us today. Cadence delivered excellent financial results for the second quarter of 2023, with strong ongoing customer demand for our innovative technology. We exceeded our guidance on all key metrics and are raising our financial outlook for the year yet again, resulting in 14% year-over-year revenue growth and 19% non-GAAP EPS growth. John will provide more details shortly on both our Q2 results and the updated outlook for the year.

謝謝你，理查德。大家下午好，感謝您今天加入我們。 Cadence 在 2023 年第二季度取得了出色的財務業績，客戶對我們的創新技術持續存在強勁需求。我們在所有關鍵指標上都超出了我們的指導，並再次提高了今年的財務前景，實現了 14% 的同比收入增長和 19% 的非 GAAP 每股收益增長。約翰將很快提供有關我們第二季度業績和今年更新展望的更多詳細信息。

With its unparalleled promise, generative AI is beginning to make a significant impact globally. Our dedicated focus on AI over the past several years, combined with our computational software expertise and invaluable data that lies at the core of AI, it uniquely positions us to deliver to this tremendous potential of this transformational technology. With escalating design complexity, increasing design starts and a growing talent shortage, AI-driven design automation is crucial in empowering customers to fully realize their innovation potential.

憑藉其無與倫比的前景，生成式人工智能開始在全球範圍內產生重大影響。過去幾年我們對人工智能的專注，加上我們的計算軟件專業知識和人工智能核心的寶貴數據，使我們處於獨特的地位，能夠發揮這一變革性技術的巨大潛力。隨著設計複雜性的不斷上升、設計啟動的增加和人才短缺的日益嚴重，人工智能驅動的設計自動化對於幫助客戶充分發揮其創新潛力至關重要。

Our customers are increasingly adopting our chip, package, board, system, generative AI portfolio as they are achieving exceptional quality of results and productivity benefit with these solutions. Customers are ramping up their R&D spend in AI-driven automation, opening up significant opportunities for Cadence. Our solutions are enabling marquee AI infrastructure platform companies to deliver their next-generation compute, networking and memory products.

我們的客戶越來越多地採用我們的芯片、封裝、電路板、系統、生成式人工智能產品組合，因為他們通過這些解決方案實現了卓越的結果質量和生產力優勢。客戶正在加大人工智能驅動自動化的研發支出，為 Cadence 帶來了重大機遇。我們的解決方案使知名人工智能基礎設施平台公司能夠提供下一代計算、網絡和內存產品。

For instance, in its Computex keynote earlier this quarter, Jensen Huang of NVIDIA noted that NVIDIA is a big Cadence customer and commented on the expanding strategic partnership between NVIDIA and Cadence to accelerate EDA, system analysis, AI and digital biology.

例如，在本季度早些時候的 Computex 主題演講中，NVIDIA 的 Jensen Huang 指出 NVIDIA 是 Cadence 的大客戶，並評論了 NVIDIA 和 Cadence 之間不斷擴大的戰略合作夥伴關係，以加速 EDA、系統分析、人工智能和數字生物學。

Cadence has successfully collaborated with Tesla on the development of their game-changing Dojo AI supercomputer. Tesla utilized a broad array of Cadence solutions across digital, custom analog, verification, 2.5D and 3D-IC and system analysis for developing Dojo chips and solutions. We are very excited to extend our partnership to Tesla's next-generation Dojo and SSD platforms.

Cadence 與 Tesla 成功合作開發了改變遊戲規則的 Dojo AI 超級計算機。 Tesla 利用涵蓋數字、定制模擬、驗證、2.5D 和 3D-IC 以及系統分析的廣泛 Cadence 解決方案來開發 Dojo 芯片和解決方案。我們非常高興能夠將我們的合作夥伴關係擴展到 Tesla 的下一代 Dojo 和 SSD 平台。

Our customers like Tesla are able to leverage the power of revolutionary Cadence Cerebrus generative AI technology to optimize the quality of results of their groundbreaking AI chips and related solutions. And from a product perspective, we began by providing AI-driven solutions for core EDA applications and expanded our AI portfolio to include system design and analysis and plan to extend it to life sciences in the future.

像 Tesla 這樣的客戶能夠利用革命性的 Cadence Cerebrus 生成式 AI 技術的力量來優化其突破性 AI 芯片和相關解決方案的結果質量。從產品角度來看，我們首先為核心 EDA 應用提供人工智能驅動的解決方案，並將我們的人工智能產品組合擴展到包括系統設計和分析，併計劃在未來將其擴展到生命科學領域。

With AI as they're underpinning, other generational trends such as hyperscale computing, 5G and autonomous driving, continue to spur robust design activity across semi and system companies, creating ample market opportunities for our differentiated technology portfolio. Now let's talk about our key highlights for Q2.

以人工智能為基礎，超大規模計算、5G 和自動駕駛等其他世代趨勢繼續刺激半導體和系統公司強勁的設計活動，為我們的差異化技術組合創造充足的市場機會。現在讓我們來談談第二季度的主要亮點。

In Q2, we deepened our long-standing partnership with a marquee electronic system company through a broad-ranging expansion of our core EDA, hardware, IP and systems portfolio. Emulation and prototyping have become a must-have part of the chip tapeout and software Behringer Flows and secular demand for our hardware platforms drove our verification business in Q2 to a 27% year-over-year revenue growth.

第二季度，我們通過廣泛擴展我們的核心 EDA、硬件、IP 和系統產品組合，加深了與一家大型電子系統公司的長期合作夥伴關係。仿真和原型設計已成為芯片流片和軟件 Behringer Flows 的必備部分，對我們硬件平台的長期需求推動我們的驗證業務在第二季度實現了 27% 的同比收入增長。

Following a record 2022 and Q1 '23, our Palladium Z2 and Protium X2 hardware platforms delivered a record Q2 as market demand accelerated for these best-in-class solutions. With 14 new customers and 45 repeat customers more than half the orders during the quarter included both platforms. Demand for our hardware solutions was broad-based with particular strength seen in AI, hyperscale computing and automotive segments.

繼 2022 年和 23 年第一季度創紀錄之後，隨著市場對這些一流解決方案的需求加速，我們的 Palladium Z2 和 Protium X2 硬件平台在第二季度創下了創紀錄的業績。本季度有 14 名新客戶和 45 名回頭客，超過一半的訂單都包含這兩個平台。對我們的硬件解決方案的需求基礎廣泛，尤其是在人工智能、超大規模計算和汽車領域。

A global communication services leader successfully deployed the Z2 and X2 systems to significantly accelerate the development of their data center chips for internal use, including those designed for AI applications. Our hardware platform enabled them to accelerate their verification workload and software bring up enabling first-pass silicon and software success. Verisium, our AI-driven verification platform that's built upon the JedAI database and natively integrated with our verification engines, is gaining traction at market-shaping customers.

一家全球通信服務領導者成功部署了 Z2 和 X2 系統，顯著加速了其內部使用的數據中心芯片的開發，包括專為人工智能應用程序設計的芯片。我們的硬件平台使他們能夠加快驗證工作量，而軟件則能夠實現芯片和軟件的首次成功。 Verisium 是我們的 AI 驅動驗證平台，它基於 JedAI 數據庫構建，並與我們的驗證引擎本地集成，正在吸引市場塑造客戶的關注。

For instance, a large mobile chip company is working with us on developing a new Verisium regression optimization app and a Japanese semi customer is actively deploying Verisium apps across its automotive SoC and already saw a 4x improvement in the identification of erroneous source code check-ins.

例如，一家大型移動芯片公司正在與我們合作開發一款新的 Verisium 回歸優化應用程序，一家日本半成品客戶正在其汽車 SoC 上積極部署 Verisium 應用程序，並且在識別錯誤源代碼簽入方面已經實現了 4 倍的改進。

Our digital IC business had another solid quarter, with 15% year-over-year revenue growth, largely driven by proliferation of our digital full flow, especially at the most advanced node and market-shaping customers. Our Cadence Cerebrus solution leverages breakthrough AI-driven technology to explore the entire design space and automatically optimize the digital full flow to deliver transformational results. Adoption and proliferation of Cadence Cerebrus accelerated. And with multiple new marquee wins is now deployed at 8 of our top 10 customers.

我們的數字 IC 業務又迎來了一個穩健的季度，收入同比增長 15%，這主要是由於我們的數字全流程激增，特別是在最先進的節點和市場塑造客戶方面。我們的 Cadence Cerebrus 解決方案利用突破性的人工智能驅動技術來探索整個設計空間並自動優化數字全流程以提供變革性結果。 Cadence Cerebrus 的採用和擴散加速。隨著多項新的重大勝利，我們的 10 大客戶中的 8 家現已部署。

A leading hyperscaler doubled their run rate through a major expansion that included our digital full flow and Cadence Cerebrus. Another market shaping hyperscaler successfully used our digital full flow and Cadence Cerebrus to achieve a 16% leakage power reduction on their latest custom silicon. And Socionext achieved 2 to 3x better productivity with our new Joules RTL design studio through analysis efficiency and significantly reduced iteration between RTL and implementation.

一家領先的超大規模企業通過包括我們的數字全流程和 Cadence Cerebrus 在內的重大擴展，將其運行率提高了一倍。另一家塑造市場的超大規模企業成功使用我們的數字全流程和 Cadence Cerebrus，在其最新的定制芯片上實現了 16% 的洩漏功率降低。 Socionext 借助我們新的 Joules RTL 設計工作室，通過提高分析效率並顯著減少 RTL 與實施之間的迭代，將生產力提高了 2 到 3 倍。

On IP, our scalable and profitable growth strategy continues benefiting from ongoing outsourcing trend as well as the opportunities offered by expanding foundry ecosystem. Demand for our design IP was strong, led by our multiyear agreement with Samsung Foundry to expand the availability of our design IP portfolio for Samsung's advanced process technology.

在知識產權方面，我們的可擴展和盈利增長戰略繼續受益於持續的外包趨勢以及不斷擴大的代工生態系統提供的機會。由於我們與三星代工廠達成了多年協議，旨在擴大我們的設計 IP 產品組合適用於三星先進工藝技術的可用性，因此對我們的設計 IP 的需求非常強勁。

We signed a definitive agreement with Rambus to acquire their 5 IP assets along with the talented team. The addition of the leading HBM GDDR5 solutions and SerDes IP enhances our established IP portfolio, providing complete subsystem solutions for demanding networking, hyperscaler and AI applications.

我們與 Rambus 簽署了最終協議，收購他們的 5 項 IP 資產以及才華橫溢的團隊。領先的 HBM GDDR5 解決方案和 SerDes IP 的加入增強了我們現有的 IP 產品組合，為要求苛刻的網絡、超大規模和人工智能應用提供完整的子系統解決方案。

Our system design and analysis business continued its strong momentum in Q2, delivering 23% year-over-year revenue growth. With Moore's Law slowing down and chip complexity and cost increasing, companies are looking to multi-die 3D-IC and chiplet-based architecture to achieve better performance and greater cost savings.

我們的系統設計和分析業務在第二季度繼續保持強勁勢頭，收入同比增長 23%。隨著摩爾定律的放緩以及芯片複雜性和成本的增加，公司正在尋求多芯片 3D-IC 和基於小芯片的架構，以實現更好的性能和更大的成本節省。

In Q2, we expanded our collaboration with Samsung Foundry through the delivery of reference flows and package design kits based on our uniquely differentiated integrity 3D-IC platform, the industry's only unified platform that includes system planning, packaging and system-level analysis in a single cockpit.

在第二季度，我們通過提供基於我們獨特的差異化完整性 3D-IC 平台的參考流程和封裝設計套件，擴大了與三星代工廠的合作，該平台是業界唯一的統一平台，在單一駕駛艙中包括系統規劃、封裝和系統級分析。

Our multiphysics solutions boosted by our optimality generative AI technology, leverage differentiated system simulation and optimization techniques to deliver superior results. Our CFD portfolio that includes recently acquired high fidelity simulation technology, one large renewals and add-on business with top aerospace and defense companies. We were pleased with the new wins and growing repeat orders for our multiphysics portfolio from customers across multiple end markets.

我們的多物理場解決方案由我們的最優生成人工智能技術推動，利用差異化的系統仿真和優化技術來提供卓越的結果。我們的 CFD 產品組合包括最近收購的高保真模擬技術、一項大型更新以及與頂級航空航天和國防公司的附加業務。我們對來自多個終端市場的客戶對我們的多物理場產品組合的新勝利和不斷增長的重複訂單感到高興。

In summary, I'm pleased with our Q2 results and the continuing momentum of our business. AI-driven automation and chip and system design offers massive opportunities for Cadence over the long term that seamlessly aligned with our computational software core competence and intelligent system design strategy. We continue to invest in our world-class EDA system design and analysis and AI capabilities to deliver cutting-edge innovation to our customers and partners. Now I will turn it over to John to provide more details on the Q2 results and our updated 2023 outlook.

總之，我對我們第二季度的業績和業務的持續增長勢頭感到滿意。從長遠來看，人工智能驅動的自動化以及芯片和系統設計為 Cadence 提供了大量機會，與我們的計算軟件核心能力和智能係統設計策略無縫結合。我們繼續投資世界一流的 EDA 系統設計和分析以及人工智能能力，為我們的客戶和合作夥伴提供尖端創新。現在我將把它交給 John，以提供有關第二季度業績和我們更新的 2023 年展望的更多詳細信息。

Thanks, Anirudh, and good afternoon, everyone. I'm pleased to report that Cadence achieved strong results for the second quarter of 2023, driven by the broad-based strength of our business. Our customers are increasingly adopting our generative AI portfolio that they are achieving exceptional quality results and productivity benefits with these solutions. Here are some of the financial highlights from the second quarter, starting with the P&L. Total revenue was $977 million. GAAP operating margin was 30.7% and non-GAAP operating margin was 41.8%. GAAP EPS was $0.81, and non-GAAP EPS was $1.22.

謝謝阿尼魯德，大家下午好。我很高興地報告，在我們廣泛的業務實力的推動下，Cadence 在 2023 年第二季度取得了強勁的業績。我們的客戶越來越多地採用我們的生成式人工智能產品組合，他們通過這些解決方案實現了卓越的質量結果和生產力優勢。以下是第二季度的一些財務亮點，從損益表開始。總收入為 9.77 億美元。 GAAP 營業利潤率為 30.7%，非 GAAP 營業利潤率為 41.8%。 GAAP 每股收益為 0.81 美元，非 GAAP 每股收益為 1.22 美元。

Next, turning to the balance sheet and cash flow. Cash balance at quarter end was $874 million, while the principal value of debt outstanding was $650 million. Operating cash flow was $414 million, and we used $325 million to repurchase Cadence shares in Q2. We are increasing our outlook for the remainder of the year due to continued broad-based strength across our technology portfolio. Demand for our functional verification hardware solutions remained particularly strong.

接下來，轉向資產負債表和現金流量。季末現金餘額為 8.74 億美元，未償債務本金為 6.5 億美元。運營現金流為 4.14 億美元，第二季度我們用 3.25 億美元回購了 Cadence 股票。由於我們的技術組合持續保持廣泛的實力，我們正在提高今年剩餘時間的前景。對我們的功能驗證硬件解決方案的需求仍然特別強勁。

And as a result, our updated outlook for the second half of the year reflects approximately 15% revenue growth compared to the second half of last year. Before I provide our updated outlook for the year and our expectations for Q3, I'd like to highlight that our outlook contains our usual assumption that the export control regulations that exist today remain substantially similar for the remainder of the year.

因此，我們對今年下半年的最新展望反映了與去年下半年相比收入增長約 15%。在我提供今年的最新展望和對第三季度的預期之前，我想強調一下，我們的展望包含我們通常的假設，即目前存在的出口管制法規在今年剩餘時間內保持基本相似。

Our updated outlook for fiscal 2023 is revenue in the range of $4.05 billion to $4.09 billion. GAAP operating margin in the range of 30.2% to 31.2%. Non-GAAP operating margin in the range of 41.2% to 42.2%. GAAP EPS in the range of $3.35 to $3.41, non-GAAP EPS in the range of $5.05 to $5.11. Operating cash flow in the range of $1.3 billion to $1.4 billion, and we expect to use at least 50% of our annual free cash flow to repurchase Cadence shares.

我們對 2023 財年的最新展望是收入在 40.5 億美元至 40.9 億美元之間。 GAAP營業利潤率在30.2%至31.2%之間。非 GAAP 運營利潤率在 41.2% 至 42.2% 之間。 GAAP 每股收益為 3.35 美元至 3.41 美元，非 GAAP 每股收益為 5.05 美元至 5.11 美元。運營現金流在 13 億美元至 14 億美元之間，我們預計將使用至少 50% 的年度自由現金流來回購 Cadence 股票。

A large number of hardware systems are slated for delivery in late September and early October. For the purposes of providing our outlook for Q3, which ends on September 30, we thought it was prudent to assume that the vast majority of those hardware deliveries fall into October and Q4. With that in mind, for Q3, we expect revenue in the range of $990 million to $1.01 billion. GAAP operating margin of approximately 29%, non-GAAP operating margin of approximately 40%, GAAP EPS in the range of $0.76 to $0.80, non-GAAP EPS in the range of $1.18 to $1.22. And we expect to use approximately $125 million of cash to repurchase Cadence shares.

預計9月底10月初將有大量硬件系統交付。為了提供對 9 月 30 日結束的第三季度的展望，我們認為謹慎的假設是，絕大多數硬件交付時間是在 10 月和第四季度。考慮到這一點，我們預計第三季度的收入將在 9.9 億美元至 10.1 億美元之間。 GAAP 營業利潤率約為 29%，非 GAAP 營業利潤率約為 40%，GAAP 每股收益在 0.76 美元至 0.80 美元之間，非 GAAP 每股收益在 1.18 美元至 1.22 美元之間。我們預計將使用約 1.25 億美元現金回購 Cadence 股票。

As usual, we published a CFO commentary document on our Investor Relations website, which includes our outlook for additional items as well as further analysis on GAAP to non-GAAP reconciliations. In conclusion, we delivered a strong Q2 and first half of the year. With the increase in our outlook, at the midpoint, we now expect revenue growth for the year to exceed 14%, which would take our 3-year revenue CAGR to approximately 15%. Our non-GAAP EPS growth of approximately 19%, which would result in an average annual growth rate of 22% over the past 3 years.

與往常一樣，我們在投資者關係網站上發布了一份首席財務官評論文件，其中包括我們對其他項目的展望以及對 GAAP 與非 GAAP 調節的進一步分析。總之，我們在第二季度和上半年表現強勁。隨著我們展望的上調，我們現在預計今年的收入增長將超過 14%，這將使我們的 3 年收入複合年增長率達到約 15%。我們的非 GAAP 每股收益增長約 19%，這將導致過去 3 年的平均年增長率為 22%。

As always, I'd like to close by thanking our customers, partners and our employees for their continued support. And with that, operator, we will now take questions.

與往常一樣，我想最後感謝我們的客戶、合作夥伴和員工的持續支持。接線員，我們現在開始提問。

(Operator Instructions) Our first question comes from Jason Celino with KeyBanc Capital Markets.

（操作員說明）我們的第一個問題來自 KeyBanc Capital Markets 的 Jason Celino。

John, Anirudh, good quarter. I think if we take a step back, up 14% for the year, feel pretty impressive. It sounds like hardware had another record quarter and was up 27%. But I think some investors will still wonder, could it have been even better? Maybe could you speak to any areas that maybe weren't as strong that you were hoping? Or how do we kind of level set the performance?

約翰，阿尼魯德，好話。我認為如果我們退後一步，今年增長 14%，感覺相當令人印象深刻。硬件季度似乎又創歷史新高，增長了 27%。但我認為一些投資者仍然會想，它還能更好嗎？也許你能談談那些可能沒有你希望的那麼強大的領域嗎？或者我們如何設置性能水平？

Jason, good question. In general, we manage our business for the long term, and we are pretty positive with the results. For the full year, like you mentioned, more than 14% revenue growth and earnings are growing at 19%. And then our strategy of doing EDA plus SDA plus AI with the computational software expertise. So I think overall, we're pretty pleased with how all the businesses are performing and continue to drive in all fronts, working with customers and partners to deliver the right solutions.

傑森，好問題。總的來說，我們的業務管理是長期的，我們對結果非常樂觀。正如您提到的，全年收入增長超過 14%，盈利增長 19%。然後我們的策略是利用計算軟件專業知識進行 EDA 加 SDA 加 AI。因此，我認為總的來說，我們對所有業務的表現非常滿意，並將繼續在各個方面推動，與客戶和合作夥伴合作提供正確的解決方案。

Jason, as Anirudh says, we're very happy with -- very pleased with the first half performance. if there's anything unusual essentially in the numbers for the first half, I think one unusual thing for me would probably be the operating cash is flat in our guide to last quarter. And that's because, as Anirudh says, we manage the business for the long term. There's an opportunity -- we've had some opportunities to build inventory. We've had very strong hardware demand, so we need to buy inventory, and we were offered some larger discounts for payment upfront. So we've embedded that into the guidance. It will help us with gross margins in future years, but it doesn't help with operating cash for this year.

傑森，正如阿尼魯德所說，我們對上半場的表現非常滿意。如果上半年的數字本質上有什麼不尋常的地方，我認為對我來說一個不尋常的事情可能是我們上季度的指南中的運營現金持平。這是因為，正如阿尼魯德所說，我們管理業務是為了長期發展。這是一個機會——我們有一些建立庫存的機會。我們的硬件需求非常強勁，因此我們需要購買庫存，並且我們為預付款提供了一些更大的折扣。因此，我們已將其嵌入到指南中。這將有助於我們提高未來幾年的毛利率，但對今年的運營現金沒有幫助。

Got you. And then my quick follow-up on the IP acquisition from Rambus. Is it included in guidance? And then maybe can you speak to strategic rationale? I guess what goes into the decision sell versus buy (inaudible)?

明白你了。然後我對 Rambus 的 IP 收購進行了快速跟進。是否包含在指南中？然後你能談談戰略原理嗎？我想決定賣出還是買入（聽不清）的因素是什麼？

Yes, Jason. So everything we know is included in our guidance, but it's immaterial to us for the year.

是的，傑森。因此，我們所知道的一切都包含在我們的指導中，但這對我們今年來說並不重要。

Yes. And it's a great opportunity for us to acquire a very good set of IPs and a talented team. And what is particularly good in this case is that it is an existing commercial operation. Sometimes we have opportunity to acquire teams from other semiconductor companies. But in this case, it was an existing commercial operation with key IPs like HBM and GDDR.

是的。這對我們來說是一個獲得非常好的知識產權和優秀團隊的絕佳機會。而本案特別好的一點是，它是一個現有的商業運作。有時我們有機會收購其他半導體公司的團隊。但在本例中，它是一個現有的商業運營，擁有 HBM 和 GDDR 等關鍵 IP。

So we took that opportunity, and we're glad to partner with Rambus here. And it really helps IP for AI and 3D-IC with HBM and GDDR IPs. So overall, I think it's a good acquisition, and we continue to invest in all our businesses, including IP.

所以我們抓住了這個機會，我們很高興與 Rambus 在這里合作。它確實有助於使用 HBM 和 GDDR IP 實現 AI 和 3D-IC IP。所以總的來說，我認為這是一次很好的收購，我們將繼續投資於我們的所有業務，包括知識產權。

We'll take our next question from Charles Shi with Needham & Company.

我們將接受 Needham & Company 的 Charles Shi 提出的下一個問題。

First, I want to ask about bookings, and I have a follow-up on hardware. So John or Anirudh, are you guys still seeing strong bookings potential in the second half? I definitely saw your bookings, implied bookings are actually already up in Q2, but I think the people are probably accustomed to like $1 billion plus per quarter kind of bookings. So when can we get to that -- back to that level? Or do you still expect the second half bookings to be as strong as less than maybe first half '22?

首先我想問一下預訂的問題，硬件方面我有跟進。那麼約翰或阿尼魯德，你們仍然看到下半年強勁的預訂潛力嗎？我確實看到了你們的預訂，隱含預訂實際上已經在第二季度增加了，但我認為人們可能已經習慣了每季度 10 億美元以上的預訂。那麼我們什麼時候才能回到那個水平呢？或者您仍然預計下半年的預訂量會比 22 年上半年少嗎？

Yes, Charles, great question. Yes, we'd expect a stronger second half for bookings. As we said last quarter, the -- we had very few contracts expiring in the first half of this year, and we have more contracts expiring in the second half of 2023. So we'd expect bookings to be higher in the second half compared to the first. When we look at backlog, we filed our 10-Q by the way. So you'll see our backlog at the end of Q2 dropped from $5.4 billion to $5.3 billion and RPO at the end of Q2 dropped from $5 billion at the end of Q1 to $4.9 billion.

是的，查爾斯，好問題。是的，我們預計下半年的預訂量將會強勁。正如我們上季度所說，今年上半年到期的合同非常少，而 2023 年下半年到期的合同則更多。因此，我們預計下半年的預訂量將高於上半年。當我們查看積壓工作時，我們順便提交了 10-Q。因此，您會看到我們第二季度末的積壓訂單從 54 億美元下降到 53 億美元，第二季度末的 RPO 從第一季度末的 50 億美元下降到 49 億美元。

But the current value of that RPO, the annual value, as you know, backlog and RPO is a combination of the annual value multiplied by the time essentially that you've contracted with customers. And our current RPO is up from last quarter, it was $2.7 billion last quarter. It's up to $2.8 billion this quarter. So we've improved the annual value, and that's typically what we focus on, making sure we're improving the annual value.

但是，RPO 的當前價值、年度價值（如您所知）、積壓訂單和 RPO 是年度價值乘以您與客戶簽訂合同的時間的組合。我們目前的 RPO 比上季度有所增長，上季度為 27 億美元。本季度這一數字高達 28 億美元。因此，我們提高了年度價值，這通常是我們關注的重點，確保我們正在提高年度價值。

But yes, we're very, very pleased with the bookings performance for Q2. It was slightly stronger than we had anticipated or expected. And second half, we think it will be better again.

但是，是的，我們對第二季度的預訂表現非常非常滿意。它比我們預期或預期的要稍微強一些。下半年，我們認為情況會再次好轉。

Yes. So is it safe for us to -- for you guys to call maybe Q1 was probably the fall in terms of booking, and we are way past that going forward?

是的。那麼，對於我們來說，你們打電話的安全嗎？也許第一季度的預訂量可能會下降，而我們已經超越了這一點？

Yes, yes, Q1 was definitely a low bookings quarter for us. Q2 was a lot stronger.

是的，是的，第一季度對我們來說絕對是預訂量較低的季度。 Q2 強得多。

Got it. Maybe a follow-up question around hardware. You kind of said for Q4, you're expecting a good amount of hardware revenue. Maybe it's parked in Q4, but when folks look at your full year guidance, your Q4 isn't really up by a lot. They imply the guidance for Q4. But given you just said that the bookings are expecting relatively strong, I would think that ratable part of the business should see a very strong sequential growth into Q4. But -- and later on top of the hardware strength, you're expecting in Q4, can you kind of reconcile what you guided for Q4 versus the commentary you made about hardware and the bookings?

知道了。也許是有關硬件的後續問題。您曾說過，第四季度您預計會有大量硬件收入。也許它停在第四季度，但當人們看到你的全年指導時，你的第四季度並沒有真正上漲很多。它們意味著第四季度的指導。但考慮到您剛才說預訂量預期相對強勁，我認為業務的可評級部分在第四季度應該會出現非常強勁的連續增長。但是，除了您在第四季度所期望的硬件實力之外，您能否將您對第四季度的指導與您對硬件和預訂的評論進行協調？

Yes, Charles, I think you're referring to the step-up from Q3 to Q4 in our guide. So we're guiding about $1 billion of revenue in Q3 with a balance of just over $1.7 billion in Q4. Now that's slightly exaggerated the Q3 to Q4 step-up, when we originally looked at the top-down forecast for the second half, there was a lower step-up in revenue mainly due to software increases in annual value and in software bookings that we expect.

是的，查爾斯，我認為您指的是我們指南中從第三季度到第四季度的升級。因此，我們預計第三季度的收入約為 10 億美元，第四季度的餘額略高於 17 億美元。現在，這有點誇大了第三季度到第四季度的增幅，當我們最初查看下半年的自上而下預測時，收入增幅較低，主要是由於我們預期的軟件年度價值和軟件預訂的增長。

But when we looked at the hardware and the timing of when hardware deliveries happen and there's so many that fall late in the quarter, we thought it was prudent to assume that those bookings, we should include them in our implied Q4 guidance, so to speak, rather than including it in Q3 because I'm not really sure about the timing of those.

但是，當我們查看硬件以及硬件交付發生的時間時，有很多是在本季度末交付的，我們認為謹慎的假設是，我們應該將這些預訂納入我們隱含的第四季度指導中，可以這麼說，而不是包括在第三季度中，因為我不太確定這些預訂的時間。

We'll take our next question from Vivek Arya with Bank of America.

我們將回答美國銀行 Vivek Arya 的下一個問題。

This is [Blake] on for Vivek. Just wanted to start out, if you could provide some insight on how you quantify benefits from AI? Just looking at the semiconductor landscape, there have been several AI-related design programs that started a few years ago. So would you say you've already seen the benefits in your financials? Or should we expect even more growth acceleration in the future? And if you could comment on the attach rate of your AI-enabled products to baseline contracts, that would be helpful?

這是維韋克的[布萊克]。只是想開始，您能否提供一些有關如何量化人工智能收益的見解？只要看看半導體領域，幾年前就已經啟動了幾個與人工智能相關的設計項目。那麼您是否已經看到了財務方面的好處？或者我們是否應該期待未來會有更多的增長加速？如果您可以評論一下您的人工智能產品與基準合同的附加率，這會有幫助嗎？

Yes. So the AI has multiple implications for us. The first part is we enable the development of AI system side. This is more like a horizontal application. So like we talked about our partnership with NVIDIA and there are other companies building AI systems like we talked about today, our partnership with Tesla, which is building both server side AI and on the core AI and then other kind of data center companies. So that's -- and we are in a unique position to supply to all the -- whether it's GPU or data center or automotive applications of AI to do the AI build-out. And that I think is still continuing.

是的。因此人工智能對我們有多重影響。第一部分是我們賦能AI系統端的開發。這更像是一個橫向應用程序。就像我們談論我們與 NVIDIA 的合作夥伴關係一樣，還有其他公司構建人工智能係統，就像我們今天談論的那樣，我們與特斯拉的合作夥伴關係，特斯拉正在構建服務器端人工智能和核心人工智能，然後是其他類型的數據中心公司。因此，我們處於獨特的地位，可以向所有人提供 AI 的 GPU、數據中心或汽車應用程序來進行 AI 構建。我認為這種情況仍在繼續。

There'll be more and more systems designed, and our tools and IP can play a key role in that. So that's kind of the first application. And I believe we are still in the beginning stages of that kind of build-out and monetization.

將會設計出越來越多的系統，我們的工具和知識產權可以在其中發揮關鍵作用。這就是第一個應用程序。我相信我們仍處於這種擴建和貨幣化的開始階段。

And then the second part would be more vertical, applying it to our own products. So we have JedAI platform, which is with a unique position as a kind of a data platform for AI and then 5 unique AI applications, all the way from analog, digital, verification, package and board and systems. So I believe we have the most comprehensive product portfolio for chip package system design.

然後第二部分會更加垂直，應用到我們自己的產品中。所以我們有JedAI平台，它作為人工智能的數據平台具有獨特的地位，然後是5個獨特的人工智能應用程序，從模擬、數字、驗證、封裝到電路板和系統。所以我相信我們擁有最全面的芯片封裝系統設計產品組合。

And that also I think we are in the early stages, but we are seeing a lot of adoption of those kind of vertical applications. And we are also using them internally. We design our own chips for Palladium systems, right? And then, of course, we have a big application engineering team that works with customers. So not only we are providing solutions to our customers and partners on EDA and SDA, but we are also using them internally and seeing good benefits.

我認為我們還處於早期階段，但我們看到此類垂直應用程序被大量採用。我們也在內部使用它們。我們為 Palladium 系統設計自己的芯片，對嗎？當然，我們還有一個與客戶合作的大型應用工程團隊。因此，我們不僅為客戶和合作夥伴提供 EDA 和 SDA 解決方案，而且還在內部使用它們並看到了良好的效益。

And then the third part, which is more out in the future, I think AI will also drive new kind of applications. And one of the biggest ones is definitely going to be life sciences. So we are laying the groundwork for that with our OpenEye and there's a lot of opportunity to apply their -- AI there in digital biology, which will pay out in the next 5 to 10 years. So for all these kind of 3 big -- there's a horizontal play for building out the AI systems, GPUs and data center other things, vertical plate of EDA and system, both to our customers and ourselves and emerging areas that will emerge in life sciences. So overall, I feel we are very well positioned to really capitalize on this mega trend.

然後第三部分，這是未來更多的內容，我認為人工智能也將推動新的應用。其中最大的領域之一肯定是生命科學。因此，我們正在通過 OpenEye 奠定基礎，並且有很多機會在數字生物學中應用人工智能，這將在未來 5 到 10 年內得到回報。因此，對於所有這些三大領域——構建人工智能係統、GPU 和數據中心其他東西，垂直板塊的 EDA 和系統，無論是對於我們的客戶還是我們自己，以及生命科學中將出現的新興領域。總的來說，我覺得我們處於非常有利的位置，可以真正利用這一大趨勢。

Yes. And Blake, to answer your revenue question, essentially, I mean, I think it's clear that it's showing up quickly in the hardware space. We feel on the software side, it will probably take a couple of contract cycles for that to flow through. We're seeing strength in pockets on the software side. But the software side because it's recurring in revenue will take a while to play through. But you're definitely seeing the impact of AI in hardware -- strong hardware demand.

是的。布萊克，回答你的收入問題，本質上，我的意思是，我認為很明顯它正在硬件領域迅速出現。我們認為在軟件方面，可能需要幾個合同周期才能完成。我們看到軟件方面的實力。但軟件方面，因為它會產生經常性收入，因此需要一段時間才能發揮作用。但你肯定會看到人工智能對硬件的影響——強勁的硬件需求。

Got it. Helpful. And then just quickly as a follow-up. I hope we can discuss your capital allocation policy as well. Just given the pretty solid cash position and significant cash generation of the company, is there any interest in allocating more cash towards share repurchases? And also, if you could comment on any interest in issuing the dividend in the future as well?

知道了。有幫助。然後快速跟進。我希望我們也能討論一下你們的資本配置政策。考慮到公司相當穩固的現金狀況和大量的現金產生，是否有興趣分配更多現金用於股票回購？另外，您是否也可以評論一下未來發放股息的興趣？

Yes, Blake, yes, we look at that all the time in terms of our cash allocation policy. In Q2, we used $325 million on stock repurchases. $200 million of that was due to an accelerated share repurchase. Now the timing of that was to coincide with -- was times deliberately to coincide with our merit and promotion cycle. You might have noticed as well in our guide that expenses take a step up and margins slightly down second half compared to first half. That's because our pay rise and promotion cycle kicks in on July 1 at Cadence. And that's typically when we do our stock refresh for employees in the company.

是的，布萊克，是的，我們一直在現金分配政策方面考慮這一點。第二季度，我們使用了 3.25 億美元用於股票回購。其中 2 億美元是由於加速股票回購所致。現在，這個時間是故意與我們的績效和晉升週期相一致的。您可能也在我們的指南中註意到，與上半年相比，下半年費用有所增加，利潤率略有下降。這是因為 Cadence 的加薪和晉升週期從 7 月 1 日開始。這通常是我們為公司員工進行庫存更新的時候。

And because we granted a lot of stock at that time of the year, we -- in our stock repurchase approach, we want to make sure that we're offsetting the dilution first. And then ideally, we want to reduce that share count over time. We've talked about dividends with the Board from time to time, but we think it makes most sense to use our excess cash for stock repurchases.

因為我們在一年中的那個時候授予了大量股票，所以在我們的股票回購方法中，我們希望確保我們首先抵消稀釋。理想情況下，我們希望隨著時間的推移減少份額數量。我們不時與董事會討論股息，但我們認為將多餘現金用於股票回購是最有意義的。

Our policy is essentially to use at least 50% of free cash flow to repurchase our shares. And that should more than offset dilution, see the share count continues to decline over time and give us enough to grow the business.

我們的政策本質上是使用至少 50% 的自由現金流來回購我們的股票。這應該足以抵消稀釋作用，隨著時間的推移，股票數量繼續下降，並為我們提供足夠的空間來發展業務。

We'll take our next question from Jay Vleeschhouwer with Griffin Securities.

我們將接受 Griffin Securities 的 Jay Vleeschhouwer 提出的下一個問題。

Business question first and a technology question as a follow-up. So Anirudh, as you know, for the last couple of years, we've often spoken about how semiconductor companies and systems customers become increasingly alike. The question though is, in what important ways do they remain dissimilar in terms of sales cycles, conversion of RPO to revenue, services requirements, account profitability? Anything you care to mention that continues to distinguish those two classes of customers?

首先是業務問題，其次是技術問題。因此，阿尼魯德（Anirudh），如您所知，在過去幾年中，我們經常談論半導體公司和系統客戶如何變得越來越相似。但問題是，它們在銷售週期、RPO 到收入的轉換、服務要求、客戶盈利能力方面在哪些重要方面仍然存在差異？您有什麼想提及的能夠繼續區分這兩類客戶的嗎？

Yes, Jay, I mean, like you've also written, I mean, the semi companies are becoming system companies and system companies are becoming semi companies. And some traditional semi companies are much more system companies now with software and a lot of traditional system companies are doing a lot of semi, one of the big -- several big semis have done in system company. So there are a lot of similarities.

是的，傑伊，我的意思是，就像您也寫過的那樣，我的意思是，半成品公司正在成為系統公司，而係統公司正在成為半成品公司。一些傳統的半成品公司現在更多的是擁有軟件的系統公司，許多傳統的系統公司正在做很多半成品，其中幾家大型半成品公司已經在系統公司做了。所以有很多相似之處。

You're asking in terms of differences, I mean, I guess one key difference has to be that the system companies, by definition, have hardware and software together. You are a system company because you have software and also have electrical and mechanical together. I mean a good example is a car, right? It's emerging electronics and mechanical and it's emerging of hardware and software.

你問的是差異，我的意思是，我想一個關鍵的差異必須是，根據定義，系統公司將硬件和軟件結合在一起。你是一家系統公司，因為你有軟件，也有電氣和機械。我的意思是汽車就是一個很好的例子，對吧？電子和機械、硬件和軟件正在興起。

So for that reason, I think like the strength we talked about in the hardware business, a lot of it is not just for chip design, it is for software bring-up. And we are seeing that in AI applications, a lot of the software has to be built along with the hardware. And even for NVIDIA, which is traditionally semi company, has a lot of software, of course, (inaudible). And then a lot of the data center companies that are doing their own chips have a lot of software.

因此，出於這個原因，我認為就像我們在硬件業務中談到的優勢一樣，很多不僅僅是用於芯片設計，還用於軟件開發。我們看到，在人工智能應用中，很多軟件必須與硬件一起構建。當然，即使對於傳統上半公司的 NVIDIA 來說，也有很多軟件（聽不清）。許多正在開發自己芯片的數據中心公司都擁有很多軟件。

So I think the enablement of software becomes key. And the other thing is this merger of electrical and mechanical. That's why our whole investment in system design and analysis in thermal simulation, which is a big thing for data centers and cars, electromagnetics, CFD. So the key thing I think is unique is different is hardware plus software and electrical plus mechanical.

所以我認為軟件的支持成為關鍵。另一件事是電氣和機械的合併。這就是為什麼我們在熱仿真係統設計和分析方面進行全部投資，這對於數據中心和汽車、電磁學、CFD 來說是一件大事。所以我認為獨特的關鍵在於硬件加軟件和電氣加機械。

Now in some cases, we do strategic services for some system companies to get them started. And I think that's also a unique difference. So sometimes, we will provide help them to get going with chip development. So I would say, Jay, these are probably 3 big differences compared to. But it's good to see the growth in the semis, too. We are happy to have a whole new market with system companies, but we still love all our semi customers, and they're doing phenomenal, and we are partnering with them in all kinds of ways.

現在有些情況下，我們給一些系統公司做戰略服務，讓他們起步。我認為這也是一個獨特的區別。所以有時，我們會幫助他們進行芯片開發。所以我想說，Jay，相比之下，這可能是 3 個很大的差異。但很高興看到半決賽的增長。我們很高興與系統公司建立一個全新的市場，但我們仍然喜歡我們所有的半成品客戶，他們做得非常出色，我們正在以各種方式與他們合作。

Okay. As the technology follow-up at DAC 2 weeks ago, there was a quite interesting presentation by Cadence at the conference related to AI and there was the use of a very interesting with regard to productivity or where productivity is going to come from in future for EDA. And that term used by Cadence was task abstraction. So a new kind of abstraction from the decades of extraction we've seen in EDA for the last many years.

好的。作為兩週前 DAC 的技術後續活動，Cadence 在會議上做了一個非常有趣的與 AI 相關的演示，其中使用了一個非常有趣的關於生產力或 EDA 未來生產力將來自何處的內容。 Cadence 使用的術語是任務抽象。因此，我們在過去許多年的 EDA 中看到了幾十年來提取的一種新的抽象。

So how are you manifesting that new concept of abstraction in terms of product development, packaging, all those sorts of things going forward since that term seems to be very much a critical part of your thinking going forward for EDA productivity?

那麼，您如何在產品開發、包裝以及所有這些未來的事情方面體現新的抽象概念，因為該術語似乎是您對 EDA 生產力的思考的關鍵部分？

Yes. Jay, if you step back, right, you look at fundamental innovations, of course, we talk about a lot of things. But if you look at mathematics or computer science, I mean, there are 2 big innovations. One is abstraction, the other is parallelism. And in the history of EDA is moving up the abstraction layer, right, from -- all the way from polygons to transistors to gates, to RTL. And also parallelism, I mean, in the last 10 years, I think if you look at EDA -- history of EDA, it started with abstraction first, as you know. And then in the last 10 years, it went back to more parallelism with use of cloud computing and CPUs. But with this AI, there is opportunity to do more abstraction, move even higher level. Basically, the real opportunity is to automate mundane tasks, right?

是的。傑伊，如果你退後一步，對吧，你會看到根本性的創新，當然，我們談論了很多事情。但如果你看看數學或計算機科學，我的意思是，有兩大創新。一是抽象，二是並行。在 EDA 的歷史中，抽象層一直在向上移動，從多邊形到晶體管到門，再到 RTL。還有並行性，我的意思是，在過去 10 年裡，我想如果你看看 EDA——EDA 的歷史，你知道，它首先是從抽像開始的。然後在過去 10 年裡，通過雲計算和 CPU 的使用，它又回到了更多的並行性。但有了這個人工智能，就有機會做更多的抽象，達到更高的水平。基本上，真正的機會是自動化平凡的任務，對吧？

So what was done by the user can be done by the AI engine. So abstraction will provide in the end a lot of automation and productivity improvement. And we are seeing that we can apply it to even technology -- design technology codesign, DTCO with leading foundries. We can apply AI to design of floor planning and higher-level functions, which should previously manual apply to 3D-IC partitioning with integrity.

所以用戶所做的事情都可以由AI引擎完成。因此，抽象最終將提供大量自動化和生產力改進。我們發現，我們甚至可以將其應用於技術——設計技術協同設計、與領先代工廠的 DTCO。我們可以將人工智能應用到平面規劃和更高級別功能的設計中，而這些設計以前應該手動應用於3D-IC完整的分區。

So overall, this theme of applying AI, doing more abstraction, doing more of the mundane work and let the user focus on higher-level tasks and be more productive is only the beginning of that and is enabled in all these aspects, digital verification, system design and so on.

總的來說，應用人工智能、做更多抽象、做更多平凡工作、讓用戶專注於更高級別的任務並提高工作效率這一主題只是一個開始，並且在數字驗證、系統設計等所有這些方面都可以實現。

Our next question comes from Ruben Roy with Stifel.

我們的下一個問題來自魯本·羅伊和斯蒂菲爾。

Anirudh, if I could start from where you left off there, I had a question similar to Jay's. But I was wondering, I think you mentioned that Cerebrus with AI was deployed at 8 of your top 10 customers. I'm just wondering today, can you talk about how AI is being used? Is it mostly placed in route? Or are you seeing some of these other areas being implemented in leading-edge designs, whether it's packaging or even some of the floor planning, et cetera? How far along are we?

Anirudh，如果我可以從你離開的地方開始，我有一個與傑伊類似的問題。但我想知道，我想您提到了具有 AI 功能的 Cerebrus 已部署在您的 10 大客戶中的 8 個中。我今天只是想知道，你能談談人工智能是如何被使用的嗎？主要是放在路線上嗎？或者您是否看到其他一些領域正在前沿設計中實施，無論是包裝還是一些平面圖等？我們還有多遠？

It's getting pretty pervasive. The first thing I'm certain of now compared to like 2 years ago, we started on this 2, 3 years ago in terms of working with Cerebrus and our customers. One thing I'm positive now is that a few years from now, almost all our customers will be using these tools because they are -- it's almost like an irreversible trend.

它變得相當普遍。與兩年前相比，我現在可以確定的第一件事是，我們在兩三年前就開始與 Cerebrus 和我們的客戶合作。我現在確信的一件事是，幾年後，幾乎我們所有的客戶都將使用這些工具，因為它們——這幾乎就像一種不可逆轉的趨勢。

And then Cerebrus placement route was the first one in some ways. So it has a lot of adoption. But it is extending to, like I mentioned, working with foundries, working with floor planning, higher-level functions, verification. See, in the end, I do believe verification will have a most profound impact within EDA on AI will be on verification because it's an unbounded NP-complete problem, right?

然後 Cerebrus 放置路線在某些方面是第一個。所以它得到了很多采用。但正如我提到的，它正在擴展到與鑄造廠合作，與平面規劃、更高級別的功能和驗證合作。最後，我確實相信驗證將對 EDA 中的 AI 驗證產生最深遠的影響，因為這是一個無界 NP 完全問題，對吧？

So you can do more and more verification you're never done. So that's why you see us investing heavily in Verisium. And we are the first to apply AI to verification. We talked about couple of examples with customers in the prepared remarks. And then the other thing is areas that traditionally haven't had a lot of automation, like package and PCB. So with Allegro X AI, that area has not seen automation for like 20, 30 years for the first time it's possible with AI.

所以你可以做越來越多的驗證，你從未完成過。這就是為什麼我們在 Verisium 上投入巨資。我們是第一個將人工智能應用於驗證的。我們在準備好的評論中與客戶討論了幾個例子。另一件事是傳統上沒有太多自動化的領域，例如封裝和 PCB。因此，有了 Allegro X AI，該領域已經有 20、30 年沒有實現自動化了，這是人工智能首次實現自動化。

And then in system simulation, see the system -- EDA by its nature has had a 30-year history of optimization and automation. Now it was not with -- it was more with classical techniques and now with AI. But if you look at the system area, like CFD or electromagnetics, they could barely simulate stuff, forget optimizing it. So not only now we can simulate things because our algorithms are faster, and we are also accelerating them on GPUs and all to give massive speed up on system simulation.

然後在系統仿真中，看到系統——EDA從本質上來說已經有30年的優化和自動化歷史了。現在不再是——更多的是經典技術，現在是人工智能。但如果你看看系統領域，比如 CFD 或電磁學，他們幾乎無法模擬東西，忘記優化它。因此，現在我們不僅可以模擬事物，因為我們的算法更快，而且我們還在 GPU 上加速它們，所有這些都是為了大幅加快系統模擬的速度。

So now for the first time, you can stimulate a very, very high-Fidelity simulation of the whole car. But then on top of it, optimality and AI, you can do the design of the car or the shape of the wing, which is what, in the end, the user wants, right? They just don't want to simulate. And all this applies exactly to this big market of SD&A.

因此，現在您第一次可以模擬整個汽車的非常非常高保真度的模擬。但除此之外，最優性和人工智能，你可以設計汽車或機翼的形狀，這才是用戶最終想要的，對嗎？他們只是不想模擬。而這一切恰恰適用於SD&A這個大市場。

So I think that's a huge opportunity. And we're already seeing that, like even with some of the car companies we work with, we can optimize the shape of the wing that affects performance like for a racing car, you'll be using AI. So we already have pretty promising results, and we will talk more about that in the future. So I would say, first of all, I think it will be deployed across all these platforms.

所以我認為這是一個巨大的機會。我們已經看到，就像與我們合作的一些汽車公司一樣，我們可以優化影響性能的機翼形狀，就像賽車一樣，你將使用人工智能。所以我們已經取得了非常有希望的結果，我們將在未來更多地討論這一點。所以我想說，首先，我認為它將部署在所有這些平台上。

We started with PNR, but already we are seeing a lot of potential. And in the end, in EDA, the huge potential will be verification In the other area, I'm very optimistic is system simulation and AI.

我們從 PNR 開始，但我們已經看到了很大的潛力。最後，在EDA中，巨大的潛力將是驗證。在另一個領域，我非常樂觀的是系統仿真和人工智能。

A quick follow-up for John. Just on operating margin. Down a little bit in Q3 with what sounds to me like hardware kind of strengthening towards the end of the quarter and obviously into Q4. How are you thinking about that? Or how should we think about operating margin and sort of the moving parts between Q3? You bumped it up a little bit for the full year. So if you can help us out on how you're thinking about operating margin in the context of hardware attach rates going up as you exit the year, that would be helpful?

約翰的快速跟進。只是營業利潤率。第三季度略有下降，在我看來，硬件在本季度末有所加強，顯然進入第四季度。你覺得怎麼樣？或者我們應該如何考慮第三季度之間的營業利潤率和變化因素？你把全年的收入提高了一點。因此，如果您能幫助我們了解您在今年退出時硬件附加費率上升的情況下如何考慮營業利潤率，這會有幫助嗎？

Yes. No worries, great question. But as you saw, I think the first half was roughly just under 42%, I think, for non-GAAP operating margin. For the second half, the guide essentially implies 41% to 42% operating margin. Now it's slightly down as it has been in the last few years in the second half compared to the first half. But that's because July 1 is our merit cycle. That's when we do pay raises and promotions and generally pay increases, the vast majority of our expense base is people and engineers, about 90% of the employees are engineers.

是的。不用擔心，很好的問題。但正如您所見，我認為上半年的非 GAAP 營業利潤率大約略低於 42%。對於下半年，該指南實質上意味著營業利潤率為 41% 至 42%。現在，與過去幾年一樣，下半年與上半年相比略有下降。但那是因為 7 月 1 日是我們的績效週期。那就是我們加薪和升職的時候，一般加薪，我們的絕大多數支出基礎是人員和工程師，大約90%的員工是工程師。

So pay increases impact us from the first day of Q3 and that step-up in cost is really the headwind you're seeing from Q3 when you compare Q3 and Q4 combined or second half compared to the first half. Now I've exaggerated that a little bit by being prudent with the Q -- our Q3 guide on the hardware side because there's a number of hardware systems that are scheduled to be delivered in late September.

因此，加薪從第三季度的第一天開始就對我們產生影響，當您比較第三季度和第四季度的總和或下半年與上半年相比時，成本的上昇實際上是您在第三季度看到的阻力。現在，我對 Q 持謹慎態度，有點誇大了這一點——我們在硬件方面的第三季度指南，因為有許多硬件系統計劃於 9 月下旬交付。

And late September is the holiday period -- sorry, late September, early October is the holiday period in China and other parts of Asia. And I'm just worried that some of those will slip to Q4. So I'd assume the vast majority of them slipped to Q4 in the guide just to be prudent. And that, of course, is impacting the operating margin that we're showing in the guide for Q3. But I think if you look at the second half as a whole, generally, it's 41% to 42% for the second half when you take out the impact of that prudence.

九月底是假期——抱歉，九月底、十月初是中國和亞洲其他地區的假期。我只是擔心其中一些會滑到第四季度。因此，為了謹慎起見，我認為其中絕大多數都滑到了指南中的第四季度。當然，這會影響我們在第三季度指南中顯示的營業利潤率。但我認為，如果你把下半年作為一個整體來看，一般來說，如果去掉這種謹慎的影響，下半年的比例是41%到42%。

We'll take our next question from Blair Abernethy with Rosenblatt Securities.

我們將回答羅森布拉特證券公司布萊爾·阿伯內西 (Blair Abernethy) 提出的下一個問題。

Great quarter. Just wanted to dive in a little bit on China. The growth this quarter on a year-over-year basis was quite strong. And anything you'd -- any color you could give there on what's driving that and how this continues would be helpful? And secondly, just on -- back on the hardware side, John, just you commented in the past about your production capacity ramping up. Just wondering where you're at midyear here and how lead times are doing?

很棒的季度。只是想深入了解一下中國。本季度同比增長相當強勁。你能給出的任何關於驅動因素以及這種情況如何持續的顏色都會有幫助嗎？其次，回到硬件方面，約翰，您過去曾評論過您的生產能力正在提高。只是想知道您在年中的情況以及交貨時間如何？

Yes, I'll start first and then John can comment on the inventory. But overall, China, we are pleased to see continuing strong design activity in all kinds of end markets and also good strength for hardware business. So we've also had a good hardware business in China. And particularly in Q2, I would say there was a lot of strength from mobile vertical. A lot of companies, some big system companies designing their own chips, and also automotive, especially EV automotive in China was particularly strong.

是的，我先開始，然後約翰可以對庫存發表評論。但總的來說，我們很高興看到中國各種終端市場的設計活動持續強勁，硬件業務也表現強勁。所以我們在中國也有很好的硬件業務。特別是在第二季度，我想說移動垂直領域的力量很大。很多公司，一些大的系統公司都設計自己的芯片，還有汽車，特別是中國的電動汽車特別強大。

So I mean, China is a -- just like rest of the world is pretty diverse market, and we play in all aspects of it. But those 2 verticals were pretty strong in China. John, do you want to...

所以我的意思是，中國是一個——就像世界其他地方一樣，是一個相當多元化的市場，我們在各個方面都參與其中。但這兩個垂直領域在中國相當強大。約翰，你想...

Yes. And in terms of your question in relation to lead times, I think, at the start of the year, we ramped up production capacity because lead times have exceeded 26 weeks. And we thought that's going to hurt us and we're competing for hardware business. We put a big dent in that in Q1. We ramped up production capacity. We kept at those levels for Q2 and intend to keep it at the higher production levels throughout the rest of the year and going forward. We're bringing down those lead times. Our goal is to try and get it down into the 10- to 13-week kind of time frame, but we're not there yet though.

是的。至於你關於交貨時間的問題，我認為，在今年年初，我們提高了產能，因為交貨時間已經超過 26 週。我們認為這會傷害我們，而我們正在爭奪硬件業務。我們在第一季度對此做了很大的改進。我們提高了產能。我們在第二季度保持了這些水平，並打算在今年剩餘時間和未來將其保持在較高的生產水平。我們正在縮短交貨時間。我們的目標是嘗試將其縮短到 10 到 13 週的時間範圍內，但目前還沒有實現。

I mean in terms of the guide that I've given you for Q3, even with prudence and all in -- let's say, if I took the prudence out, that we don't need $1 of Q3 hardware bookings to meet those numbers. So we're slightly over the 13 weeks, probably around the 15-week mark in terms of what we have in backlog right now to deliver. So we won't actually get through all of the hardware orders that we have in backlog in Q3. The -- but demand is still strong. We are reducing -- it's probably around the 15-week mark now, but I'd like to get that down to 10 to 13.

我的意思是，就我為您提供的第三季度指南而言，即使是謹慎行事，全力以赴 - 比方說，如果我不謹慎行事，我們不需要 1 美元的第三季度硬件預訂來滿足這些數字。因此，就我們目前待交付的積壓訂單而言，我們已經稍微超過了 13 週，可能在 15 週左右。因此，我們實際上不會完成第三季度積壓的所有硬件訂單。但需求仍然強勁。我們正在減少——現在可能在 15 週左右，但我想把它減少到 10 到 13 週。

Okay. Great. And actually, just one more question on the hardware, if I can. So the Palladium Z2 and the Protium X2 have been out in the market now for a bit of time. When can we expect to see next-generation versions?

好的。偉大的。事實上，如果可以的話，我還有一個關於硬件的問題。 Palladium Z2 和 Protium X2 現在已經上市一段時間了。我們什麼時候可以看到下一代版本？

Yes. It's been only out for 2 years, which is -- our last system it was like, I don't know, 5, 6 years between launches and I think this one has been out 2 years. And even when we launch Z2, X2, even Z1 and X1, we're doing great. So right now, we are pretty pleased with these systems. And we also can add -- we keep improving the software. I mean, that's the hardware part of it, but we're always improving the software and compile times that go on top of these systems.

是的。它只推出了 2 年，也就是說，我們上一個系統的發布間隔了 5、6 年，我不知道，而我認為這個系統已經推出了 2 年。即使我們推出 Z2、X2，甚至 Z1 和 X1，我們也做得很好。所以現在，我們對這些系統非常滿意。我們還可以補充一點——我們不斷改進軟件。我的意思是，這是它的硬件部分，但我們一直在改進這些系統之上的軟件和編譯時間。

So there is ongoing software rhythm to them anyway, independent of the hardware. But overall, I mean, this phenomenal performance by the team, and we really appreciate all the support from our customers and partners.

因此，無論如何，它們都有持續的軟件節奏，獨立於硬件。但總的來說，我的意思是，團隊的出色表現，我們非常感謝客戶和合作夥伴的所有支持。

We'll take our next question from Joe Vruwink with Baird.

我們將回答 Joe Vruwink 和 Baird 提出的下一個問題。

Let me dig in a bit of a leading question. So you're now talking about second half revenues growing 15%. Some multiyear CAGRs are closer to 15% to 16%. There's things on the horizon in that next couple of quarters not trailing, but longer as just in terms of how your customers are acting and also what Cadence is offering that would seem to be better than what you've experienced, both in terms of R&D intensity and your potential wallet share.

讓我深入探討一個引導性問題。所以你現在談論的是下半年收入增長 15%。一些多年復合年增長率接近 15% 至 16%。在接下來的幾個季度中，即將發生的事情不會落後，而是會更長，就像您的客戶的行為方式以及 Cadence 所提供的產品似乎比您所經歷的更好，無論是在研發強度還是您的潛在錢包份額方面。

So the question is, instead of this 15% rate of growth being the high end of what historical growth rates have been, do you think we're maybe seeing a resetting of the overall base case for growth rates and what might be available to the company going forward?

所以問題是，這 15% 的增長率不是歷史增長率的高端，你認為我們是否可能會看到增長率的整體基本情況的重置以及公司未來可能獲得的東西？

Well, first of all, I would say 15% growth rate and 19% EPS growth is an amazing performance of any company. So we are very proud of the team to deliver this. And in terms of design activity and R&D intensity, I mean that is strong, if not getting stronger. So of course, the overall macro environment as tough as it has been last year and this year, but we do see a lot of semi and system activity. So that's not any different than before, but we have to carefully monitor how things go in the future, of course. But overall, we are pretty pleased to see the design activity.

嗯，首先，我想說，15%的增長率和19%的每股收益增長對於任何公司來說都是驚人的表現。因此，我們為能夠實現這一目標的團隊感到非常自豪。就設計活動和研發強度而言，我的意思是，即使不是變得更強，也是很強的。當然，整體宏觀環境與去年和今年一樣艱難，但我們確實看到了大量的半成品和系統活動。所以這和以前沒有什麼不同，但當然，我們必須仔細監控未來的發展情況。但總的來說，我們很高興看到設計活動。

Yes, Joe and you'll see it in the -- we published our CFO commentary in the second page of the CFO commentary, you'll see we track 3-year CAGRs. But we're really trying to grow the accounts through a complete contract cycle, and most of our customers do 3-year baseline contracts to do add-ons throughout the year that with those baseline contracts. So we think the 3-year CAGR is a good metric.

是的，喬，您會在 - 我們在首席財務官評論的第二頁中發布我們的首席財務官評論中看到它，您會看到我們跟踪 3 年復合年增長率。但我們確實在努力通過一個完整的合同周期來增加客戶數量，我們的大多數客戶都簽訂了 3 年期基準合同，以便在這些基準合同的基礎上全年進行附加項目。因此，我們認為 3 年復合年增長率是一個很好的指標。

And if you look at the revenue growth rate on a 3-year CAGR basis, it's continuing to decline. Now it's certainly the pace of acceleration seems to have slowed down this last 2 years in the kind of mid-teen mark that -- but our focus is on driving revenue growth -- profitable revenue growth. But we're using -- we generate huge amounts of cash flow. And we aim to use more than 50% of that cash flow to buy back shares and reduce share count.

如果你以 3 年復合年增長率為基礎來觀察收入增長率，你會發現它正在持續下降。現在，過去兩年的加速步伐似乎已經放緩，但我們的重點是推動收入增長——盈利收入增長。但我們正在使用——我們產生了大量的現金流。我們的目標是使用超過 50% 的現金流來回購股票並減少股票數量。

So we're trying to drive that non-GAAP EPS higher and be disciplined with our stock-based compensation. You'll see our stock-based compensation has consistently been around 8% of revenue, and our non-GAAP EPS CAGR, it's been 20% or higher for the last 5 years. And with this 19% rate that we're on now at the midpoint of the guide, that has us on track for 22% EPS growth on a 3-year CAGR basis for 2023.

因此，我們正在努力提高非公認會計準則每股收益，並嚴格遵守基於股票的薪酬。您會發現我們的股票薪酬一直佔收入的 8% 左右，而過去 5 年我們的非 GAAP 每股收益複合年增長率為 20% 或更高。由於我們目前的增長率為 19%，處於指南的中點，因此我們有望在 2023 年的 3 年復合年增長率基礎上實現 22% 的每股收益增長。

So our focus is really on bottom line. We care about EPS and growing EPS for investors and growing profitability, and revenue growth is a means to an end, I guess, in that respect. But we're very, very pleased that is continuing to increase.

所以我們的重點實際上是底線。我們關心每股收益以及投資者不斷增長的每股收益和不斷增長的盈利能力，我想，在這方面，收入增長是達到目的的一種手段。但我們非常非常高興這一數字正在持續增加。

Okay. And then one AI question. I think it's a follow-up on Jay and Ruben's questions. But just a point about -- it seems like maturity, certainly customer experience, referenceability, it's greatest than the back-end area of its greatest around Cerebrus. When you think about the pace of adoption on the things you've introduced into markets since last fall, do you think it's any quicker or slower than the experience with Cerebrus so far?

好的。然後是一個人工智能問題。我認為這是傑伊和魯本問題的後續。但有一點是——它看起來很成熟，當然還有客戶體驗、參考性，它比 Cerebrus 周圍最偉大的後端領域都更好。當您考慮自去年秋天以來引入市場的產品的採用速度時，您認為它比迄今為止的 Cerebrus 更快還是更慢？

So like is there any reason that debone verification would not be a prime candidate for your underlying technology? I'm just wondering if you can maybe compare and contrast the adoption curve.

那麼，是否有任何理由使去骨驗證不會成為您的底層技術的主要候選者呢？我只是想知道您是否可以比較和對比採用曲線。

Yes, that's a good question. I would say that the adoption curves are -- at this point, I would say they are similar. Especially Verisium, as I said, verification is a big area. Now they're easier in some sense that there is already a proof point that the customers have seen with Cerebrus. So they are confident in our ability to deliver overall AI solutions. And same thing with like Allegro X, Virtuoso Studio. So -- but also how it is in this business, right, the customers have to try the things and they tried on some design, then they do broad adoption. So that's always there in new areas as well, so like with Verisium and Allegro. So I would say, overall, it is similar and there's a lot of interest.

是的，這是一個好問題。我想說的是，採用曲線在這一點上是相似的。尤其是 Verisium，正如我所說，驗證是一個很大的領域。現在，從某種意義上說，他們變得更容易了，因為客戶已經通過 Cerebrus 看到了證據。所以他們對我們提供整體人工智能解決方案的能力充滿信心。與 Allegro X、Virtuoso Studio 一樣。所以——但在這個行業也是如此，對吧，客戶必須嘗試這些東西，他們嘗試了一些設計，然後他們進行廣泛採用。因此，在新領域中也始終存在這種情況，例如 Verisium 和 Allegro。所以我想說，總的來說，它是相似的，而且有很多興趣。

I mean the amount of interest in other AI solutions apart from the original like Cerebrus is very high. But I would say the rate at this point is similar of adoption. And this is going to take some time, which is okay. It is a natural process of trying and deploying. Now some areas, it's faster like hardware because of the nature of the revenue recognition. But overall, the adoption is great and moving along.

我的意思是，除了 Cerebrus 等原始人工智能解決方案之外，人們對其他人工智能解決方案的興趣也非常高。但我想說，目前的採用率與採用率相似。這需要一些時間，但這沒關係。這是一個嘗試和部署的自然過程。現在在某些領域，由於收入確認的性質，它比硬件更快。但總體而言，採用率很高並且正在不斷發展。

We'll take our next question from Gary Mobley with Wells Fargo.

我們將接受富國銀行加里·莫布里 (Gary Mobley) 提出的下一個問題。

I wanted to ask about the commercialization of the 5 different tools under the JedAI umbrella. And I wanted to confirm something, first of all, is that in baseline -- are those products in baseline license renewals with customers? Or are you licensing those on a per chip design basis and have the tools major way from price discovery phase to general availability?

我想詢問 JedAI 旗下 5 種不同工具的商業化情況。我想確認一些事情，首先是在基線中——這些產品是否在與客戶續訂基線許可證中？或者您是否在按芯片設計的基礎上授權這些工具，並擁有從價格發現階段到全面上市的主要工具？

Gary, so these all are new to products. So they're not in previous contracts. So all of these products have to be purchased, and they can be purchased with the renewal or outside of renewal, as you know, in add-on business, but they are not part of existing contracts with customers. And we have different business models in which we introduced these products just like our base product.

加里，所以這些都是新產品。所以他們不在之前的合同中。因此，所有這些產品都必須購買，並且可以在續訂時購買，也可以在續訂之外購買，如您所知，在附加業務中，但它們不屬於與客戶的現有合同的一部分。我們有不同的商業模式，我們在其中推出這些產品，就像我們的基礎產品一樣。

And then as we talk to customers, some of them are in very wide deployment. I think I gave you example in the prepared remarks on one hyperscaler. We had a very, very wide deployment of some of these AI tools. Some are in the early stages. But these are all new products versus what was there in previous contracts.

然後，當我們與客戶交談時，其中一些已經得到了非常廣泛的部署。我想我在關於一個超大規模的準備好的評論中給了你例子。我們非常非常廣泛地部署了其中一些人工智能工具。有些還處於早期階段。但這些都是新產品，與之前合同中的產品不同。

Got it. Got it. And I wanted to ask about what you're signaling with the acquisition of the 5 business from Rambus. I know you went through a period of time where there was a decision to maybe refocus some of the energy, some of the investments from the company away from IP into areas like SD&A. And so now you're making an acquisition to grow some aspect of your IP business. And so I'm wondering if you can give us an update on how you view the IP business as it fits with the overall business in terms of investment in effort?

知道了。知道了。我想問一下您從 Rambus 收購 5 業務的舉動傳達了什麼信號。我知道您經歷過一段時間，決定將公司的部分精力和部分投資從知識產權轉移到 SD&A 等領域。因此，現在您正在進行收購以發展您的知識產權業務的某些方面。因此，我想知道您是否可以向我們介紹您如何看待知識產權業務的最新情況，因為它在努力投資方面與整體業務相契合？

Yes. IP is an important segment of our business. It's like having 5 kids, right? We love all the 5 kids, all 5 lines of business. Now one of them is very young and growing like SD&A, growing 20% plus. So that's great, but that doesn't mean we don't take care of all the lines of business. So IP, this is a great opportunity to get a right team and IP, which is synergistic, useful for AI and 3D-IC.

是的。知識產權是我們業務的一個重要部分。就像生了5個孩子一樣，對吧？我們愛所有 5 個孩子，所有 5 個業務領域。現在其中一個非常年輕，並且像 SD&A 一樣成長，增長了 20% 以上。這很好，但這並不意味著我們不負責所有業務。所以IP，這是一個獲得合適團隊和IP的絕佳機會，它是協同的，對AI和3D-IC有用。

So I think, at the right time, we will make investments in all lines of our business. And we have done so like with Virtuoso, with digital. So we want to make sure all lines of business are competitive here.

所以我認為，在適當的時候，我們會在我們的所有業務領域進行投資。我們已經這樣做了，就像 Virtuoso 和數字化一樣。因此，我們希望確保所有業務領域都具有競爭力。

We'll take our next question from Andrew DeGasperi with Berenberg Capital Markets.

我們將回答 Berenberg Capital Markets 的 Andrew DeGasperi 提出的下一個問題。

I guess the first one I have is on the individual segment. I noticed the IP business in Q2 came down a bit and also system analysis, a slight deceleration. Just wondering if there's anything you would call out for those 2. And I have a follow-up.

我想我的第一個是在個人部分。我注意到第二季度的IP業務有所下降，系統分析也略有放緩。只是想知道您是否會對這 2 點提出什麼要求。我有一個後續行動。

Yes, sure. Thanks, Andrew. But in relation to IP, we've always been expecting more IP to be delivered in the second half compared to the first half. It's actually the opposite of 2022. I think we called that out on last quarter's call as well. So we're expecting a stronger second half for IP, and IP can be a bit lumpy at times because it's based on the timing of deliveries.

是的，當然。謝謝，安德魯。但就IP而言，我們一直預計下半年將比上半年交付更多的IP。這實際上與 2022 年相反。我想我們在上個季度的電話會議上也指出了這一點。因此，我們預計 IP 下半年會表現強勁，但 IP 有時可能會有點不穩定，因為它取決於交付時間。

On system design and analysis, that we're very, very pleased with the strength of the growth there. Again, I mean all of our businesses are growing strongly. I think when I look at the second half, and the 15% that we expect our total revenue to grow compared to the second half of last year, I think all of our businesses are growing double digits in that outlook.

在系統設計和分析方面，我們對那裡的增長勢頭非常非常滿意。再說一遍，我的意思是我們所有的業務都在強勁增長。我認為，當我展望下半年時，我們預計總收入將比去年下半年增長 15%，我認為我們所有的業務都將實現兩位數的增長。

Got it. And then in terms of your guidance, if I were to look at the high end of the range for the top line, specifically, what exactly would -- assumptions would we have to make for you to get there or even exceed it? In other words, is there a potential for surprises -- positive surprises on that front?

知道了。然後，根據您的指導，如果我要查看頂線範圍的高端，具體而言，我們必須做出哪些假設才能使您達到甚至超過它？換句話說，在這方面是否有可能帶來驚喜——積極的驚喜？

Well, I'm certainly -- I'm very confident in the second half guide. But I'm now confident also in the Q3 guide -- I was less confident when I saw all those hardware deliveries time for kind of the final week and the final few days of Q3, and I didn't want to take the risk of including those in the Q3 guide. But for the second half, I'm very confident in the second half.

嗯，我當然——我對下半年的指導非常有信心。但我現在對第三季度指南也充滿信心——當我看到所有這些硬件交付時間都在第三季度的最後一周和最後幾天時，我不太有信心，而且我不想冒險將這些時間包括在第三季度指南中。但對於下半場，我對下半場非常有信心。

But -- and as we reduce the lead times on our hardware, we found that we're certainly seeing the demand for our hardware strengthen and we have strong demand across all lines of business. And as Anirudh would say, I mean design activity is very, very strong. So I guess to the extent that we can continue to reduce those lead times and deliver hardware earlier, that certainly a track to the higher end of the guidance range because with hardware, of course, you get revenue upfront.

但是，隨著我們縮短硬件的交貨時間，我們發現對硬件的需求肯定會增強，並且所有業務線都有強勁的需求。正如阿尼魯德所說，我的意思是設計活動非常非常強大。因此，我想，如果我們能夠繼續縮短交付週期並更早地交付硬件，這肯定會達到指導範圍的高端，因為使用硬件，您當然可以預先獲得收入。

But on the software side, growth takes -- revenue takes longer to kind of play through because of the recurring revenue profile.

但在軟件方面，由於經常性收入狀況，增長需要更長的時間才能發揮收入。

We'll take our next question from Harlan Sur with JPMorgan.

我們將接受摩根大通哈蘭·蘇爾的下一個問題。

The fact the full year is playing out as you expected, right, the stronger second half in front of you. Your semiconductor, your systems customers continue to drive strong chip packaging, system design activity and road maps, especially in the areas of accelerated compute and AI. And so when you combine this with your pipeline, your renewal visibility, you guys have already said your second half bookings will be strong. Does the team believe that it can grow its backlog for the full year?

事實上，全年的表現正如你所預期的那樣，對吧，更強勁的下半年就在你面前。您的半導體、您的系統客戶將繼續推動強大的芯片封裝、系統設計活動和路線圖，特別是在加速計算和人工智能領域。因此，當您將其與您的渠道、續訂可見性結合起來時，你們已經說過下半年的預訂將會很強勁。團隊是否相信全年的積壓訂單能夠增加？

So in terms of backlog, I mean, we don't guide bookings. But I don't think it's unreasonable to expect our backlog to end the year higher than here, where we are here. Our focus is really on growing the annual value of that backlog. So I mean, like a 3-year software contract worth $10 million a year, we'll add $30 million to backlog into RPO and a 2-year contract worth $12 million a year will add $24 million to backlog in RPO.

因此，就積壓而言，我的意思是，我們不指導預訂。但我認為，預計今年年底我們的積壓訂單量會高於現在的水平，這並不是不合理的。我們的重點實際上是增加積壓訂單的年度價值。所以我的意思是，就像每年價值 1000 萬美元的 3 年期軟件合同一樣，我們將在 RPO 積壓中增加 3000 萬美元，而每年價值 1200 萬美元的 2 年期合同將為 RPO 積壓增加 2400 萬美元。

Now if it's a choice between those two options with one customer, we'll typically take the $12 million a year because $12 million a year is better than $10 million a year, and there will be a lower booking number, a lower ARPU number, but it will show up in the current RPO.

現在，如果一個客戶在這兩個選項之間進行選擇，我們通常會選擇每年 1200 萬美元，因為每年 1200 萬美元比每年 1000 萬美元要好，而且預訂數量、ARPU 值都會較低，但它會顯示在當前的 RPO 中。

And like I said earlier, that -- I mean if you look at our Q2 backlog compared to Q1, it dropped down from $5.4 billion to $5.3 billion. But if you look at our Q2 current RPO, that's the amount of our RPO that we expect to turn up in revenue in the next 12 months. At the end of Q1, with a higher backlog number, that was $2.7 billion. At the end of Q2 with a lower backlog number, that's gone up from $2.7 billion to $2.8 billion.

正如我之前所說，我的意思是，如果你看看我們第二季度的積壓訂單與第一季度相比，它從 54 億美元下降到 53 億美元。但是，如果您查看我們第二季度當前的 RPO，這就是我們預計在未來 12 個月內體現在收入中的 RPO 金額。第一季度末，積壓訂單數量增加，達到 27 億美元。第二季度末，由於積壓訂單數量減少，這一數字從 27 億美元增加到 28 億美元。

So our focus is generally on the annual value. But I think I understand where your question is coming from, because first half was quite light for bookings. We expect the second half to be stronger. I do think that it's, like I say, not unreasonable to expect RPO and backlog to increase from here.

所以我們的重點一般是年價值。但我想我理解你的問題從何而來，因為上半年的預訂量相當少。我們預計下半年會更加強勁。我確實認為，正如我所說，期望 RPO 和積壓工作從現在開始增加並不是沒有道理的。

I appreciate that. And then for Anirudh, all of the leading-edge chip companies are moving to this chiplet that die-based packaging architecture. The systems customers are adopting these very, very complex board designs, right? Here you guys benefit with Allegro, Integrity, Clarity, Celsius platforms. Can you just give us a rough sense of the revenue contribution from advanced packaging and board design, simulation, verification? Is it near 10% of revenues? And roughly how fast is this subsegment growing on a year-over-year basis?

我很感激。然後對於 Anirudh 來說，所有領先的芯片公司都在轉向這種基於芯片的封裝架構的小芯片。系統客戶正在採用這些非常非常複雜的電路板設計，對嗎？在這裡，你們可以從 Allegro、Integrity、Clarity、Celsius 平台中受益。您能給我們大致介紹一下先進封裝和電路板設計、模擬、驗證的收入貢獻嗎？它接近收入的10%嗎？這個細分市場的同比增長速度大致有多快？

Yes, that's a good observation, of course. I mean there's a lot of chiplet-based design activity and it started in HPC, high-performance computing AI. And I think it will permeate to other parts -- other verticals as well. And also, all the leading foundries, as you know, are now leading with their 3D-IC kind of solutions. And we -- it shows up in different parts in our business. It definitely shows up in SD&A because SD&A system design and analysis includes both the Allegro and all the system analysis of Clarity, Celsius.

是的，當然，這是一個很好的觀察。我的意思是，有很多基於小芯片的設計活動，它們始於 HPC、高性能計算人工智能。我認為它會滲透到其他領域——其他垂直領域。而且，如您所知，所有領先的代工廠現在都以其 3D-IC 類型的解決方案處於領先地位。而我們——它出現在我們業務的不同部分。它肯定會出現在 SD&A 中，因為 SD&A 系統設計和分析既包括 Allegro 也包括 Clarity、Celsius 的所有系統分析。

And that's why you are seeing very, very strong growth. I mean that's a very, very strong growth number, I would say, especially on a ratable revenue model, right? So if you're growing 23% this quarter, 20% plus for the last several years, so a lot of it is driven by this 3D-IC chiplet because the system market is interesting, right, the thermal market and the electromagnetic market traditionally. But a lot of the new growth is this intersection of chip and system, which is, by nature, 3D-IC and chiplet.

這就是為什麼你會看到非常非常強勁的增長。我想說，這是一個非常非常強勁的增長數字，尤其是在可評稅收入模式下，對吧？因此，如果本季度增長 23%，過去幾年增長 20% 以上，那麼很大一部分增長是由 3D-IC 小芯片推動的，因為系統市場很有趣，對吧，傳統上是熱市場和電磁市場。但許多新的增長是芯片和系統的交叉點，本質上就是 3D-IC 和小芯片。

So we have a lot of customers buying thermal solutions, especially targeted for chiplets because that's a big thing, or electromagnetics targeted for chiplets. So we definitely see that in SD&A. And then we continue to see that in our regular business, like Virtuoso or Innovus and Digital. But I still think this is still early innings. It's still the baseball analogy, still the second, third inning for 3D-IC, and it will become the dominant technology.

因此，我們有很多客戶購買散熱解決方案，特別是針對小芯片的散熱解決方案，因為這是一件大事，或者針對小芯片的電磁解決方案。所以我們在 SD&A 中肯定看到了這一點。然後我們繼續在我們的常規業務中看到這種情況，比如 Virtuoso 或 Innovus 和 Digital。但我仍然認為這還處於早期階段。這仍然是棒球的比喻，仍然是 3D-IC 的第二、第三局，它將成為主導技術。

I mean, of course, the 2-nanometer and 1.4-nanometer all that will be critical, but they will be all integrated on chiplets and into poses going forward. So -- and I think what is important to remember, of course, a lot of people talk about chiplets and 3D-IC, but we are uniquely positioned. So not only for chip implementation but then also for package design, we provide the leading -- we are the leading software provider for package design with Allegro and then all the thermal and system analysis tool. So I think Cadence is, I believe, very uniquely positioned to benefit from chiplet and 3D-IC.

當然，我的意思是，2 納米和 1.4 納米都至關重要，但它們都將集成在小芯片上並形成未來的形態。因此，我認為重要的是要記住，當然，很多人都在談論小芯片和 3D-IC，但我們的定位獨特。因此，不僅對於芯片實現，而且對於封裝設計，我們都提供領先的——我們是 Allegro 封裝設計的領先軟件提供商，然後是所有熱分析和系統分析工具。因此，我認為 Cadence 處於非常獨特的位置，可以從小芯片和 3D-IC 中受益。

We'll take our next question from John Marco Conti with Deutsche Bank.

我們將接受德意志銀行約翰·馬可·孔蒂提出的下一個問題。

So the first one is, I know you've touched on this a little bit. Could you share some more color on the usage of AI tools in system companies this quarter? Are any of the new wins related to AI tools for system customers? And how can we think about the acceleration of usage, not just leading nodes, but in the broader design space, even at more mature nodes? I think investors are thinking what next when you taking the current use cases in the next 2, 3 years, where the cost trade-off might not be as imperative as to say in the GPU market? I imagine is this a function of better price recovery matched with higher adoption/proven use cases?

第一個問題是，我知道你已經觸及了這一點。您能否分享一些有關本季度系統公司人工智能工具使用情況的更多信息？新的勝利是否與系統客戶的人工智能工具相關？我們如何思考使用的加速，不僅僅是領先節點，而是更廣泛的設計空間，甚至是更成熟的節點？我認為投資者正在思考，當你考慮未來 2、3 年的當前用例時，下一步會發生什麼，成本權衡可能不像 GPU 市場那樣勢在必行？我想這是一個更好的價格恢復與更高的採用/經過驗證的用例相匹配的功能嗎？

Yes. I think the application of AI has like, as you know, has both horizontal and vertical components, right? Horizontal is building out the AI infrastructure. So those in the beginning tend to be advanced node GPUs and also system companies. So the system companies we mentioned, because one of them is Tesla, right? So that's -- they have a server side chip. They have talked about this, which is Dojo and then also in the car, right, with full self-driving. So that, I think, is a pretty remarkable use of AI that's only going to grow with other companies doing this -- other auto companies doing similar things.

是的。我認為人工智能的應用，正如你所知，既有橫向的，也有縱向的，對吧？ Horizo​​ntal 正在建設人工智能基礎設施。因此，一開始的公司往往是先進節點 GPU 和系統公司。那麼我們提到的系統公司，因為其中之一就是特斯拉，對嗎？所以他們有一個服務器端芯片。他們談到了這個，這是道場，然後也在車裡，對吧，完全自動駕駛。所以，我認為，這是人工智能的一個非常顯著的應用，只有隨著其他公司這樣做——其他汽車公司做類似的事情，它才會增長。

And then we have several customers, which are hyperscalers, which are building their own silicon for AI. I mean this is well publicized also, and you can guess who they are. So we are continuing to work with them. And we had several meaningful expansions in Q2 linked to AI chips done by these large hyperscale companies.

然後我們有幾個客戶，他們是超大規模客戶，他們正在構建自己的人工智能芯片。我的意思是這也廣為人知，你可以猜到他們是誰。因此，我們將繼續與他們合作。我們在第二季度進行了幾次與這些大型超大規模公司的人工智能芯片相關的有意義的擴張。

And now on the vertical side, it kind of applies to all of 5 main product portfolios for AI like we talk -- with built on JedAI. And those -- that application in EDA and SDA is not node dependent because that can be in all nodes. And even the horizontal AI application, I think, it started advanced node, but it will go to mainstream nodes because of Edge computing. The Edge computing doesn't need to be at 3-nanometer or 2-nanometer.

現在在垂直方面，它適用於我們所說的人工智能的所有 5 個主要產品組合——基於 JedAI 構建。 EDA 和 SDA 中的應用程序不依賴於節點，因為它可以在所有節點中。甚至橫向人工智能應用，我認為，它開始於高級節點，但由於邊緣計算，它將走向主流節點。邊緣計算不需要是 3 納米或 2 納米。

But especially the vertical ones when we put AI in Virtuoso or Allegro or verification, these are -- these can be applied across all the nodes, not just advanced nodes. And the potential -- the benefits that there we are seeing are independent of the nodes. And just to give you an example, like in some cases, it depends on the design. And in some cases, we can get like 10%, 15% PPA benefit from AI.

但尤其是垂直領域，當我們將人工智能放入 Virtuoso 或 Allegro 或驗證中時，這些可以應用於所有節點，而不僅僅是高級節點。我們所看到的潛力 - 好處與節點無關。只是舉個例子，在某些情況下，這取決於設計。在某些情況下，我們可以從人工智能中獲得 10%、15% 的 PPA 收益。

And if you go from one node to another node, sometimes the benefit is 10% to 15%. So you're getting as much benefit from better AI algorithms as moving to a new node. So it also improves the efficiency at your current node. But I think in terms of applying it to EDA and system design and analysis, that will be node independent.

而如果從一個節點轉到另一個節點，有時收益是 10% 到 15%。因此，您從更好的人工智能算法中獲得的好處與遷移到新節點一樣多。因此它也提高了當前節點的效率。但我認為將其應用於 EDA 以及系統設計和分析時，這將是獨立於節點的。

Got it. Just a follow-up on hardware. Could you talk about the renewal cycle for hardware? When do you expect the customers to come back and buy newer generation of Protium or Palladium? And is it in line with the EDA cycle, i.e., 2.5 to 3 years?

知道了。只是硬件方面的後續。您能談談硬件的更新周期嗎？您預計客戶什麼​​時候會回來購買新一代 Protium 或 Palladium？是否符合EDA週期，即2.5至3年？

Yes, that's a good question. So typically, what we see hardware purchases are tied to bear design cycles and sizes of the chips, not necessarily tied to our -- when we introduce our new systems. That can help when we go from Z1 to Z2. But typically, any big customer will typically buy hardware every year because of they're doing more designs, or the design size is going up. If the design size goes up, then they need to consume more hardware.

是的，這是一個好問題。因此，通常情況下，我們所看到的硬件採購與芯片的設計週期和尺寸有關，而不一定與我們推出新系統時的情況有關。當我們從 Z1 轉到 Z2 時，這會有所幫助。但通常情況下，任何大客戶通常都會每年購買硬件，因為他們正在進行更多設計，或者設計尺寸正在增加。如果設計尺寸增加，那麼他們需要消耗更多的硬件。

So that's why this hardware business has been so good over the last 4, 5 years because it's not a one and done kind of purchase. You need to buy multiple times as you do bigger and bigger chips and more chips. So -- and then we have multiple lines now, Palladium and Protium, so it makes it much less cyclical that you would expect or what it was like a few years ago.

這就是為什麼這個硬件業務在過去四五年裡表現如此出色，因為它不是一次性購買。當你購買越來越大的籌碼和更多的籌碼時，你需要多次購買。所以 - 然後我們現在有多個生產線，鈀和氕，因此它使它的周期性比您預期的或幾年前的情況要小得多。

Yes, there's a secular demand for hardware capacity or emulation capacity that's -- and it's a pipeline business. So unlike our software business where you know when the existing contract expires and you know the renewal opportunity comes up, typically, we see -- in the past, we used to see a hardware customer come back and purchase a new system, maybe 2.5, 3 years after the first system, but now they're purchasing new systems regularly because like I said, demand is really, really strong, and there's just a secular trend in that demand for growth in emulation capacity.

是的，對硬件能力或仿真能力有長期需求——而且這是一個管道業務。因此，與我們的軟件業務不同，在我們的軟件業務中，您知道現有合同何時到期，並且您知道續約機會會出現，通常，我們看到 - 過去，我們過去常常看到硬件客戶回來購買新系統，可能是在第一個系統後 2.5、3 年，但現在他們定期購買新系統，因為就像我說的，需求非常非常強勁，而且仿真能力增長的需求存在長期趨勢。

Our final question comes from Joshua Tilton with Wolfe Research.

我們的最後一個問題來自沃爾夫研究中心的約書亞·蒂爾頓。

The first one, I want to go back to the full year guide. I know that you guys mentioned that you expect, I think, hardware to grow 15% year-over-year in the second half. But what about compared to the first half? Are you still baking in any conservatism in the hardware guide relative to the strength in hardware that you saw in the first half of the year?

第一個，我想回到全年指南。我知道你們提到，我認為下半年硬件將同比增長 15%。但與上半年相比呢？相對於您在今年上半年看到的硬件實力，您是否還在硬件指南中抱有任何保守態度？

So Josh, just to correct that, the expectation for 15% growth in the second half is comparing second half versus second half for total revenue at Cadence, all our businesses. We expect all of our businesses to grow by double digits in the second half compared to the second half last year. Some are stronger than others.

Josh，為了糾正這一點，下半年 15% 增長的預期是比較下半年與 Cadence 所有業務的總收入。我們預計下半年所有業務將比去年下半年實現兩位數增長。有些比其他的更強。

In relation to hardware specifically, we've seen strong demand pretty consistently for a couple of years now. In Q1, we ramped up production capacity because lead times had gone over 6 months. We tried to address those, and it certainly helped with improved demand in the second quarter, and we're seeing more opportunities in the pipeline for the second half. Now that gives us comfort to raise the guide for the second half of the year. But it is a pipeline business.

特別是在硬件方面，我們幾年來一直看到強勁的需求。第一季度，我們提高了產能，因為交貨時間已經超過 6 個月。我們試圖解決這些問題，這無疑有助於改善第二季度的需求，而且我們在下半年看到了更多機會。現在，我們可以放心地提高下半年的指南。但這是一個管道業務。

Typically, people only put their opportunities into the pipeline about a quarter before they intend to purchase. In some cases, you might get visibility 4 to 6 months in, but it's a pipeline business. Right now, we have strong backlog for hardware, and that's spread into our decision to increase our guide for the second half, but there is potential for that for that demand to continue.

通常情況下，人們只會在打算購買之前大約四分之一的時間才會考慮購買機會。在某些情況下，您可能會在 4 到 6 個月內獲得可見性，但這是一項管道業務。目前，我們的硬件積壓較多，這已影響到我們決定增加下半年的指導，但這種需求有可能繼續下去。

And if we're going to keep production capacity at the levels we're at right now because we expect that demand to continue into the future.

如果我們要將產能保持在目前的水平，因為我們預計這種需求將持續到未來。

And then just my second one, in the prepared remarks, I think you guys used the word full flow in Cerebrus in the same sentence. Are you seeing a dynamic or maybe your AI tools are driving more of your customers to choose to go full flow with Cadence?

然後是我的第二個，在準備好的發言中，我認為你們在同一句話中使用了 Cerebrus 中的“全流”一詞。您是否看到了動態，或者您的 AI 工具是否正在推動更多客戶選擇使用 Cadence 全流程？

Yes, absolutely. That's a very good observation. I mean one trend that is driving full flow adoption is advanced nodes when you move from 7 to 5 to 3 to 2. So that -- because things get more complicated and this -- and we architected this years ago to be full flow. So that helps. And secondly, that helps is AI orchestration or Cerebrus because it can give better results if the AI engine is able to optimize all aspects of the flow.

是的，一點沒錯。這是一個非常好的觀察。我的意思是，當你從 7 個節點轉向 5 個節點、再到 5 個節點、再到 3 個節點、再到 2 個節點時，推動全流程採用的一個趨勢是高級節點。因此，因為事情變得更加複雜，我們幾年前就將其架構為全流程。所以這有幫助。其次，人工智能編排或 Cerebrus 會有所幫助，因為如果人工智能引擎能夠優化流程的各個方面，它可以提供更好的結果。

So there is a natural tie-in to that, which is great for us. This is a fabulous thing and the same thing in other areas as well, like verification. But both these trends are accelerating the deployment of full flow, advanced nodes and AI.

因此，這是一種自然的搭配，這對我們來說非常好。這是一件了不起的事情，在其他領域也是如此，比如驗證。但這兩種趨勢都在加速全流程、先進節點和人工智能的部署。

I will now turn the call back over to Anirudh Devgan for closing remarks.

我現在將把電話轉回給阿尼魯德·德夫甘 (Anirudh Devgan) 進行總結髮言。

Yes. Thank you all for joining us this afternoon. It's an exciting time for Cadence with strong business momentum and growing opportunities in the semiconductor and systems industry. With a world-class employee base, we continue to deliver on our innovation road map and delight our customers and partners. On behalf of our Board of Directors, we thank our customers partners and investors for their continued trust and confidence in Cadence.

是的。感謝大家今天下午加入我們。對於 Cadence 來說，這是一個激動人心的時刻，在半導體和系統行業擁有強勁的業務勢頭和不斷增長的機會。憑藉世界一流的員工基礎，我們繼續實現我們的創新路線圖，並讓我們的客戶和合作夥伴滿意。我們謹代表董事會感謝客戶、合作夥伴和投資者對 Cadence 的持續信任和信心。

Thank you for participating in today's Cadence Second Quarter 2023 Earnings Conference Call. This concludes today's call, and you may now disconnect.

感謝您參加今天的 Cadence 2023 年第二季度收益電話會議。今天的通話到此結束，您現在可以掛斷電話了。