Capstone Green Energy Corp (CGRN) 2023 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Good day, ladies and gentlemen. And welcome to your Capstone Green Energy earnings conference call and webcast for the financial results for the third quarter of fiscal year 2023 that ended on December 31, 2022. (Operator Instructions) As a reminder, today's program will be recorded.

女士們、先生們，大家好。歡迎參加Capstone Green Energy公司2023財年第三季（截至2022年12月31日）的業績電話會議及網路直播。 （操作說明）提醒各位，今天的會議將進行錄音。

At this time, it's my pleasure to turn the floor over to Mr. Don Ayers, Vice President of Technology. Sir, the floor is yours.

現在，我很高興把發言權交給技術副總裁唐艾爾斯先生。先生，請您發言。

Thank you very much. Good afternoon, and thank you for joining today's fiscal 2023 third-quarter conference call. On the call with me today are Darren Jamison, Capstone Green Energy's President and Chief Executive Officer; and Scott Robinson, Interim Chief Financial Officer.

非常感謝。下午好，感謝各位參加今天舉行的2023財年第三季電話會議。今天與我一同參加會議的有Capstone Green Energy總裁兼執行長Darren Jamison，以及臨時財務長Scott Robinson。

Today, Capstone Green Energy issued its earnings release for its fiscal 2023 third quarter ended December 31, 2022. We will be referring to slides that can be found on our website under the Investor Relations section during the call today. This conference call contains estimates and forward-looking statements representing the company's views as of today, February 13, 2023.

今天，Capstone Green Energy發布了截至2022年12月31日的2023財年第三季財報。我們將在今天的電話會議中參考公司網站「投資者關係」欄位下的幻燈片。本次電話會議所包含的預測和前瞻性陳述代表了本公司截至2023年2月13日的觀點。

Capstone disclaims any obligations to update or revise these statements to reflect future events or circumstances. You should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements because they involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors that are in some cases beyond our control. Please refer to the safe harbor provisions set forth on slide two of the slides accompanying this presentation in today's earnings release, and in Capstone's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission for information concerning factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statements.

Capstone公司聲明不承擔任何更新或修訂這些聲明以反映未來事件或情況的義務。您不應過度依賴這些前瞻性聲明，因為它們涉及已知和未知的風險、不確定性以及其他因素，其中一些因素超出我們的控制範圍。有關可能導致實際結果與此類聲明明示或暗示的結果有重大差異的因素，請參閱今日盈利報告隨附幻燈片第二頁所列的安全港條款，以及Capstone公司向美國證券交易委員會提交的文件。

Please note that as Darren and Scott go through the discussion today, when they mention EBITDA, they are referring to adjusted EBITDA and the reconciliations in the earnings release and the appendix to the presentation slides.

請注意，Darren 和 Scott 在今天的討論中提到的 EBITDA 指的是調整後的 EBITDA，以及收益發布和簡報附錄中的調節表。

I would like to now turn the call over to Darren Jamison, President and Chief Executive Officer.

現在我將把電話交給總裁兼執行長達倫·賈米森。

Thank you Don, and good afternoon, everyone. Thank you for joining today for a review of our third quarter of fiscal 2023 results ending December 31, 2022. If you would now turn to slide 3.

謝謝唐，大家下午好。感謝各位今天參加我們2023財年第三季（截至2022年12月31日）業績回顧會議。現在請翻到第三張投影片。

I'd like to run through today's agenda. I will start with a brief business environment discussion and then update you on our strategic Energy-as-a-Service rental fleet growth. As a reminder, our Energy-as-a-Service or EaaS business remains the foundation upon which we are building a stronger Capstone. Next, Scott will provide more details on third quarter financial results. And then I will dive deeper into the electric charging --vehicle charging market, where we're seeing very exciting opportunities for us.

我想簡要介紹一下今天的議程。首先，我會簡單討論目前的商業環境，然後向大家報告我們能源即服務（EaaS）租賃車隊的策略性成長。需要強調的是，我們的能源即服務（EaaS）業務仍然是我們建立更強大的Capstone業務的基礎。接下來，Scott將詳細介紹第三季的財務表現。之後，我將深入探討電動車充電市場，我們看到了這個市場蘊藏著非常令人振奮的機會。

We'll then conclude with questions from our analysts. And I also want to remind you that there is an appendix of today's presentation providing more details and additional information on our products and the new IRA bill.

最後，我們將回答分析師的提問。我還想提醒各位，今天的簡報附有附錄，其中提供了關於我們產品和新個人退休帳戶法案的更多詳細資訊和補充資料。

Bill, let's go ahead and jump to slide 5. Slide 5 shows our current business environment that we're in today. Third quarter revenue was off $1 million compared to the same period last year. But to date, revenue is up 9.5%. This revenue growth can be attributed to our energy as a service or EaaS business, which has grown approximately 18% and continues to outperform the rest of the business. As you know, the Energy-as-a-Service business, which is our FPP long-term service contracts, our spare parts and long-term rentals is our critical foundation.

比爾，我們直接跳到第五張幻燈片。第五張幻燈片展示了我們目前的業務環境。第三季營收比去年同期減少了100萬美元。但截至目前，營收成長了9.5%。這項營收成長主要歸功於我們的能源即服務（EaaS）業務，該業務成長了約18%，並持續優於其他業務。如您所知，能源即服務業務，包括我們的FPP長期服務合約、備件和長期租賃業務，是我們業務的關鍵基礎。

And when I am happy to say the revenues are up 18% for the first nine months of fiscal 2023, mainly due to higher rental revenues of almost $4 million at [3.9] and an FPP maintenance contracts of approximately $900,000. In addition, we have navigated a very tough supply chain environment and we are expecting to see significant improvements in the area this year.

我很高興地宣布，2023財年前九個月的收入成長了18%，這主要得益於租金收入的增加，在[3.9]年達到近400萬美元，以及約90萬美元的FPP維護合約收入。此外，我們克服了非常嚴峻的供應鏈環境，並預計今年該領域將顯著改善。

Looking ahead, I'm excited about what we've seen to start our fiscal fourth quarter and what to expect for the rest of calendar 2023. For the first nine months of fiscal 2023, gross margins expanded to 16% from 14% for the first nine months of fiscal 2022. However, I'll note that this was less than anticipated as ongoing supply chain expenses, freight costs and expediting charges continued to plague us more than we anticipated.

展望未來，我對我們第四財季開局的表現以及2023年剩餘時間的預期都感到振奮。 2023財年前九個月，毛利率從2022財年前九個月的14%成長至16%。然而，需要指出的是，這一增長低於預期，因為持續的供應鏈支出、運費和加急費用仍然比我們預想的要高。

Now let's move on to slide 6. On slide 6, you can see that on December 31, 2022, there's about 40 megawatts of energy that service long-term rentals under contract and re-rental units under contract, which is a substantial increase from 17.7 megawatts on December 31, 2021, which represents a 126% increase year over year. I'm proud to say that we're still on schedule to meet the company's target of 50 megawatts under contract by March 31, 2023.

現在我們來看第6張投影片。從第6張投影片可看出，截至2022年12月31日，長期租賃及轉租單位的用電量約為40兆瓦，較2021年12月31日的17.7兆瓦大幅成長，較去年同期成長126%。我很自豪地宣布，我們仍有望按計劃實現公司設定的目標，即到2023年3月31日達到50兆瓦的合約用電量。

I'll now turn the call over to Scott, our interim CFO, to go through some of the specific financial results. Scott?

現在我將把電話交給我們的臨時財務長史考特，讓他來介紹一些具體的財務表現。史考特？

Thank you, Darren, and good afternoon, everyone. I will now review in more detail our financial results for the third quarter of fiscal 2023.

謝謝達倫，大家下午好。接下來我將更詳細回顧我們2023財年第三季的財務表現。

Moving to slide 8, you can see our Q3'22 results compared to Q2'23. Financial results for the third quarter of fiscal 2023 had revenue of $19.6 million compared to $20.8 million in the second quarter of fiscal 2023. Product and accessory revenues were $10 million, down from $10.6 million in the second quarter of fiscal 2023.

請看第8張投影片，您可以看到我們2022年第三季與2023年第二季的業績對比。 2023財年第三季的財務表現顯示，營收為1,960萬美元，而2023財年第二季為2,080萬美元。產品和配件收入為1000萬美元，低於2023財年第二季的1060萬美元。

Parts, services, and rental revenue, which includes our rental, STP long-term service contracts and distributor support subscription fees were $9.2 million, down from $10.2 million -- excuse me, $9.6 million, down from $10.2 million in the second quarter of fiscal 2023. And this was primarily due to a decrease in our spare parts revenue due to Russian sanctions. Gross margin as a percentage of revenue was 14% in Q3'23, up from 11% in Q2'23, primarily due to the easing of supply chain challenges.

零件、服務和租賃收入（包括租賃收入、STP長期服務合約收入和經銷商支援訂閱費）為920萬美元，低於2023財年第二季的1020萬美元——更準確地說，是960萬美元。這主要是由於俄羅斯制裁導致備件收入下降。 2023財年第三季毛利率為14%，高於第二季的11%，主要得益於供應鏈挑戰的緩解。

Total operating expenses increased slightly to $2.6 million (sic - see Presentation "$6 million") from $5.7 million in the previous quarter. Net loss was $5.2 million for the quarter, compared to a net loss of $4.9 in the second quarter of fiscal 2023. Adjusted EBITDA was a negative-$1.7 million compared to adjusted EBITDA of a negative-$2.2 million in the second quarter of fiscal 2023.

總營運支出略有增加，從上一季的570萬美元增加至260萬美元（原文如此，請參閱簡報中的「600萬美元」）。本季淨虧損為520萬美元，而2023財年第二季淨虧損為490萬美元。調整後EBITDA為負170萬美元，而2023財年第二季調整後EBITDA為負220萬美元。

Turning to slide 9, you will see the financial results for the third quarter of the fiscal year 2023, compared to the prior year period. Which were revenue at $19.6 million, compared to $20.6 million in the third quarter of fiscal 2022. Product & Accessory revenue was $10 million, down from $12.3 million last year. Parts, services, and rental revenue was $9.6 million, up from $8.3 million in the same period last year.

請翻到第9張投影片，您將看到2023財年第三季的財務業績，並與去年同期進行了比較。該季度營收為1,960萬美元，而2022財年第三季為2,060萬美元。產品及配件營收為1,000萬美元，低於去年同期的1,230萬美元。零件、服務和租賃營收為960萬美元，高於去年同期的830萬美元。

Gross margin as a percentage of revenue was 14%, up from 11% in the year ago period, primarily due to greater contribution from a higher margin rental business. Total operating expenses were stagnant at $6 million from $6 million in the year-ago period. The current year expenses include costs for investment banking and other fees relating to our debt refinancing activities. Net loss was $5.2 million for the three months ended December 31, compared to a net loss of $5.1 million in the prior period. Adjusted EBITDA was a loss of $1.7 million compared to adjusted EBITDA of a negative $3 million in the prior year period.

毛利率佔營收的百分比為14%，高於去年同期的11%，主要得益於高利潤率租賃業務貢獻的增加。總營運費用與去年同期持平，為600萬美元。本年度費用包括投資銀行費用以及與債務再融資活動相關的其他費用。截至12月31日的三個月淨虧損為520萬美元，而上年同期淨虧損為510萬美元。調整後EBITDA虧損170萬美元，而上年同期調整後EBITDA虧損300萬美元。

Slide 10 shows the year-to-date fiscal 2023 versus the year to date fiscal year 2022 financial results. Top line revenue increased from $53.9 million to $59 million due to growth in our energy as a service business. Gross margin increased from 14% to 16% due to contributions from the Energy-as-a-Service product line, offset by the direct material price increases previously mentioned.

第 10 張投影片展示了 2023 財年迄今與 2022 財年迄今的財務表現對比。由於能源即服務業務的成長，總收入從 5,390 萬美元增至 5,900 萬美元。毛利率從 14% 增至 16%，這主要得益於能源即服務產品線的貢獻，但部分被前文提及的直接材料價格上漲所抵銷。

Operating expenses decreased from $19.7 million to $17.2 million due to cost reduction efforts and adjusted EBITDA improved from $8.1 million loss to a $3.4 million loss.

由於成本削減措施，營運費用從 1,970 萬美元減少到 1,720 萬美元，調整後的 EBITDA 從虧損 810 萬美元改善為虧損 340 萬美元。

Turning to slide 11, you will see selected balance sheet and cash flow items. Cash decreased to $16.6 million from $23.8 million at September 30, 2022, driven primarily by net loss funding, investments in our rental fleet, and purchase of long lead time inventory. Cash used in operating activities in the December quarter was $4.9 million compared to cash provided of $900,000 in the September quarter.

翻到第11頁，您將看到部分資產負債表和現金流量表項目。截至2022年9月30日，現金餘額從2,380萬美元減少至1,660萬美元，主要原因是淨虧損融資、對租賃車隊的投資以及採購交貨週期長的庫存。 12月季度經營活動所用現金為490萬美元，而9月季度經營活動所用現金為90萬美元。

The variation was largely due to net loss funding and inventory purchases. Accounts receivable declined nearly from $19.3 million to $15.2 million as our DSO dropped from 85 days to 66 days during the quarter. This reduction was due to collection efforts and also benefited from offsetting certain accounts receivable accounts against the purchase price of rental units that were additions to our rental fleet.

這項變更主要歸因於淨虧損融資和庫存採購。應收帳款從1,930萬美元降至1,520萬美元，同時我們的應收帳款週轉天數（DSO）在本季從85天降至66天。這項減少得益於催收工作的開展，同時也受益於將部分應收帳款與新增租賃車輛的購置價格進行了抵銷。

Total inventory levels increased by $4.5 million due to the previously mentioned price increases from vendors and due to the necessity to purchase inventory in advance of forecasted demand due to continued shortages and other supply chain challenges. In addition, we do need more inventory as we ramp production of those new products and focus on growing the rental fleet to 50 megawatts by March 31.

由於先前提到的供應商漲價，以及由於持續的短缺和其他供應鏈挑戰，需要提前採購庫存以滿足預測需求，總庫存水準增加了450萬美元。此外，隨著新產品產量的提升以及我們致力於在3月31日前將租賃設備規模擴大到50兆瓦，我們也需要更多庫存。

I will turn it back over to you, Darren.

我會把它交還給你，達倫。

Thank you, Scott. As part of our quarterly update. Let's take a few minutes to remind investors our overall strategy and how we're working to achieve our profitability goals. Let's go ahead and turn to slide 13.

謝謝斯科特。作為季度更新的一部分，我們花幾分鐘時間向投資者回顧我們的整體策略以及我們如何努力實現獲利目標。請翻到第13頁投影片。

Slide 13 is the technology and markets we are now concentrating on, and are showing on the slide. I include this because I want to remind our investors of the various diversified industries and applications in which our solutions are currently being deployed. I won't go over every detail in each category, but I do want to draw your attention to smart microgrids, renewable energy, and especially EV charging, where we're seeing new demand for both stationary and portable EV charging solutions.

第13張幻燈片展示了我們目前重點關注的技術和市場。我之所以加入這部分內容，是為了提醒我們的投資者，我們的解決方案目前已應用於各個多元化的產業和應用領域。我不會逐一介紹每個類別的細節，但我想重點介紹智慧微電網、再生能源，尤其是電動車充電領域，我們看到市場對固定式和便攜式電動車充電解決方案的需求都在不斷增長。

Let's go ahead and move on to slide 14. Slide 14 displays the projected revenues for the global EV infrastructure market. And our plan is to be there to take advantage of much of that market as we can, because market will generate opportunity for DERs and for smart microgrids. There is demand for EV charging solutions in both the United States and Europe right now, and we look forward to providing energy to customers who cannot readily get a charging solution for the local utility.

接下來我們來看第14張投影片。第14張幻燈片展示了全球電動車基礎設施市場的預計收入。我們的計劃是盡可能多地參與其中，充分利用這個市場，因為市場將為分散式能源（DER）和智慧微電網創造機會。目前，美國和歐洲對電動車充電解決方案的需求都很旺盛，我們期待為那些無法輕易從當地電力公司獲得充電解決方案的客戶提供能源。

Slide 15 shows you a key new solution we are developing to meet the needs that we're starting to see from EV charging opportunities around the industry. This solution could substantially reduce stress on the grid, and the environment when coupled with intelligent EV charging solutions. Using natural gas, renewable natural gas, or renewable biogas to power the EV charging infrastructure.

第 15 張投影片展示了我們正在開發的一項關鍵新解決方案，旨在滿足我們目前在電動車產業中看到的充電需求。該方案與智慧電動車充電解決方案相結合，可大幅減輕電網壓力，並保護環境。該方案使用天然氣、再生天然氣或再生沼氣為電動車充電基礎設施提供動力。

This gives users the option to charge a bus or a truck fleet without the need for extra grid infrastructure, grid payments and enables fleet to electric vehicles and deploy them much quicker. Some key points are that it's scalable and transportable and avoid high utility demand fees. Furthermore, most places have access to natural gas pipelines or users can use a virtual natural gas pipeline, not to mention caps on EAS allows for the rental of these units. So the costly capital expenditures can be avoided.

這使得用戶無需額外的電網基礎設施和電網費用即可為公車或卡車車隊充電，並能更快地將車隊轉換為電動車並進行部署。其關鍵優勢在於可擴展性和可移動性，並且避免了高昂的公用事業需求費用。此外，大多數地區都能接入天然氣管道，或者用戶可以使用虛擬天然氣管道，更不用說EAS的上限允許租賃這些設備。因此，可以避免昂貴的資本支出。

Before turning it over for questions from our analysts, I want to leave you with some thoughts. Even though our bottom line was essentially unchanged, we're able to survive an extremely challenging supply chain climate. I am enthusiastic about what I've observed in the beginning of our fiscal fourth quarter and what I anticipate for the remainder of the calendar year 2023 as we look ahead.

在將發言權交給分析師提問之前，我想先和大家分享一些想法。儘管我們的淨利潤基本上保持不變，但我們依然能夠應對極為嚴峻的供應鏈環境。我對第四財季初的業績以及2023年剩餘時間的展望都感到非常振奮。

We are still dealing with supply chain problems and rising prices, but I anticipate that our pricing hikes from January will start to balance this out. As input costs stabilize, we continue to anticipate the adjusted EBITDA results returned to more normal levels that we saw in Q1, hopefully in the fourth quarter and the first quarter and beyond.

我們仍在應對供應鏈問題和價格上漲，但我預計從1月開始的價格上漲將開始抵消這些影響。隨著投入成本趨於穩定，我們繼續預期調整後的EBITDA業績將恢復到第一季的正常水平，希望在第四季度以及之後的每個季度都能實現這一目標。

We anticipate over the next 12 months, there will be a convergence of favorable developments, including our price hikes taking effect, implementation of the new Inflation Reduction Act, and the growth of new markets like EV charging. As we move away from being solely a manufacturing firm, our Energy-as-a-Service rental business will continue to be our main focus, and should deliver us benefits like profitability, predictable revenues and strong cash flows.

我們預計未來12個月內，一系列有利因素將匯聚一堂，包括我們的價格上漲生效、新《通膨削減法案》的實施以及電動車充電等新興市場的成長。隨著我們逐漸擺脫單純的製造企業模式，能源即服務租賃業務仍將是我們的核心業務，並有望為我們帶來盈利能力、可預測的收入和強勁的現金流等收益。

As we get closer to our target, 50 megawatts under contract, our results show that we have made progress since making the significant strategy shifts. The facts demonstrate that our customers need the solution and that we can deliver at meeting their needs and generating profits for our shareholders.

隨著我們距離50兆瓦的簽約目標越來越近，我們的業績表明，自從我們做出重大策略調整以來，已經取得了進展。事實證明，我們的客戶需要這樣的解決方案，而我們能夠滿足他們的需求，並為股東創造利潤。

Now with that, I'd like to open the call up for questions from our analysts. Operator?

現在，我想開放問答環節，接受分析師們的提問。接線生？

Certainly. At this time, we'll be conducting a question-and-answer session. (Operator Instructions) Rob Brown, Lake Street Capital Markets.

當然。此時，我們將進行問答環節。 （操作員指示）羅伯布朗，湖街資本市場。

Hai Darren, hai Scott. Just wanted to talk a little bit about your confidence in your rental trajectory there to the 50 megawatts. How's the pipeline look at this point? And I think you've had some announcements recently that could you close, but just an update on how you get from the 40 megawatts at the end of the year to the 50 megawatts a year ago?

嗨，達倫，嗨，史考特。我想和你們聊聊你們對租賃專案進度的信心，目標是達到50兆瓦。目前專案儲備情況如何？我知道你們最近宣布了一些可能完成的項目，但能否更新一下，你們是如何從去年年底的40兆瓦目標過渡到一年前的50兆瓦的？

Yeah, it's a great question. We've got a 100 megawatt-plus pipeline of projects. Obviously, we're trying to fill a 10 megawatt gap between 40 megawatt and 50 megawatt. We're in negotiation with several projects right now, mostly in the US oil and gas space. I would expect that we'll be at 45 megawatts under contract by the end of this month. And then we'll only need to fill 5 megawatts between into February and into March.

是的，這是一個很好的問題。我們目前有超過100兆瓦的專案儲備。顯然，我們正在努力填補40兆瓦到50兆瓦之間10兆瓦的缺口。我們目前正在與幾個項目進行談判，主要集中在美國油氣領域。我預計到本月底，我們將完成45兆瓦的合約簽訂。之後，我們只需要在二月到三月期間填補剩餘的5兆瓦缺口。

So I'm highly confident on the trajectory that we're on, we should expect to see more press releases between now and into the quarter. I think it's -- definitely we've seen a softening I would say of the crypto market, but I would say oil and gas has more than made up for that. Most of the opportunity you're seeing right now are in the oil and gas space, especially since January.

所以我對我們目前的發展軌跡非常有信心，預計從現在到本季末會有更多新聞稿發布。我認為加密貨幣市場確實有所疲軟，但石油和天然氣市場的表現足以彌補這一點。目前大部分的投資機會都集中在石油和天然氣領域，尤其是在1月之後。

Okay, great. And then have you seen any of the IRA-driven demand yet? I assume it's still coming, but if you haven't yet, how does that play out in the next few months?

好的，太好了。那麼，您是否已經看到任何由IRA驅動的需求了？我估計這種需求還在醞釀中，但如果您還沒有看到，未來幾個月的情況會如何發展？

Yes, we had great bookings in January. In fact, we actually booked more product sales in January than we did the entire third quarter, in one month. So I would say we're starting to see the leading indicator of some of those opportunities. I think that we've got to rerun numbers for customers and people need to get comfortable with the new bill. But I think it's going to be very significant. If you look at the US market, it is well more than half of our business. And the biggest piece of that has been CHP renewables. So that's definitely hitting our biggest market with a huge incentive.

是的，我們一月份的預訂量非常可觀。事實上，我們一月份的產品銷售額就超過了整個第三季的銷售額，僅一個月就達到了這個數字。所以我認為我們已經開始看到一些機會的先行訊號。我認為我們需要重新計算一下客戶的預算，大家也需要適應新的帳單。但我認為這將意義重大。如果你看看美國市場，它占我們業務的一半以上。而其中最大的部分是熱電聯產再生能源。所以這無疑為我們最大的市場帶來了巨大的誘因。

So taking that IRA tax incentive from 10% to 40% is very significant. But again, I'd say oil and gas is very strong. I just got back from Europe. We're seeing actually oil and gas activity in Europe for the first time in years, as well as the US market also being strong. We've also got projects going on in Latin America, Australia and parts of Asia.

因此，將IRA的稅收優惠從10%提高到40%意義重大。但我仍然認為，石油和天然氣產業非常強勁。我剛從歐洲回來。我們看到歐洲多年來首次出現石油和天然氣開採活動，美國市場也表現強勁。我們在拉丁美洲、澳洲和亞洲部分地區也有正在進行的計畫。

Great. And my last question is on the pricing that you took at the end of January. What's the magnitude of that? And does that happen pretty quickly? Or does that take time to roll out?

好的。我的最後一個問題是關於你們一月底的定價。這個定價幅度有多大？生效速度很快嗎？還是需要一段時間才能全面實施？

No, it definitely happens -- we implement it quickly and we update sales force. But there is a lag obviously, because we typically book products one quarter and ship them a couple of quarters later. So there's going to be a lag between new orders at higher pricing than when those go through our P&L. So January 31 was a new price increase. In the US market it was 10%, overseas it was more like 7%. Just because the IRA bill being US-influenced, and then obviously the dollar isn't fairly strong as well.

不，這種情況確實會發生——我們會迅速實施並通知銷售團隊。但顯然存在滯後，因為我們通常會在一個季度內預訂產品，然後在幾個季度後發貨。因此，新訂單價格上漲到計入損益表之間會存在一定的延遲。所以，1月31日是新一輪提價。美國市場漲幅為10%，海外市場漲幅約7%。這主要是因為IRA法案受到美國的影響，而且美元目前也不太強勢。

So fairly significant price increases even last year as well. We're still working on the other side of the equation, which is getting cost down from our vendors. We are seeing freight costs and freight shipping times come down nicely. We still got some work to do, though, on some of the other commodities. Especially printed circuit boards, IGBTs, fans, some high-grade wiring and things like that, the costs need to come back down. So it's -- I would say we are on the backside of the bell curve when it comes to supply chain issues, but we still have some work to do to get there.

所以，即使去年價格也出現了相當大的上漲。我們仍在努力解決另一個問題，那就是降低供應商的成本。我們看到貨運成本和運輸時間都有了顯著的改善。不過，在其他一些商品方面，我們仍需努力。特別是印刷電路板、IGBT、風扇、一些高級線材等等，這些產品的成本需要回落。所以，就供應鏈問題而言，我認為我們已經處於常態分佈曲線的後半段，但我們仍需付出更多努力才能最終解決問題。

Okay. Thank you. I'll turn it over.

好的，謝謝。我這就翻過來。

Thanks, Rob. Great questions.

謝謝羅布。問得好。

Thank you. Shawn Severson, Water Tower Research.

謝謝。肖恩·塞弗森，水塔研究公司。

Thank you. Just a couple of questions there. And I was wondering -- I wanted to follow up on Rob's question, a little bit about the pathway you're seeing from the IRA and how it's been showing up in the orders. I know you said you started a strong calendar year, but I'm trying to understand when I look at modeling the year, where do you see the bulk of this coming in and do we have any big surges that we would look for later in the year as this really starts to develop?

謝謝。我還有幾個問題。我想就羅布的問題再補充一點，關於您觀察到的IRA（個人退休帳戶）的成長路徑以及它在訂單中的表現。我知道您說過今年開局強勁，但我想了解的是，在分析全年數據時，您認為大部分成長會來自哪裡？隨著成長的深入，我們是否會在今年稍後看到任何大幅成長？

Yes, you definitely have to look at our normal project lifecycle, which for product sales where it's capital purchase, these projects can be 12 months to 18 months and in some cases even longer. So it's definitely a longer sales cycle, but we're seeing an uptick in inquiries, we're seeing projects move through, sales force at a better clip. And so I think we're starting to see the leading indicator of it, but it should really strengthen the summer into the fall. And that's exciting for us.

是的，您絕對需要專注於我們正常的專案生命週期。對於涉及資本採購的產品銷售項目，這些項目可能需要 12 到 18 個月，在某些情況下甚至更長。因此，銷售週期確實延長了，但我們看到詢價數量增加，專案進度也更加順利，銷售團隊的工作效率也更高了。所以我認為我們已經開始看到一些先行指標，而且這種情況應該會在夏季到秋季期間進一步加強。這對我們來說令人振奮。

And so as Scott mentioned, we're trying to build inventory for what we see is a growing product sales pipeline, especially in the US this year, as well as trying to get to 50 megawatts. So we're pulling pretty hard on our supply chain. In defense of our supply chain, our purchases are up dramatically year over year, much more than our revenue because of the build on the EaaS side.

正如史考特所提到的，我們正在努力增加庫存，以滿足不斷增長的產品銷售管道的需求，尤其是在今年的美國市場，同時我們也在努力實現50兆瓦的裝置容量目標。因此，我們的供應鏈面臨巨大的壓力。不過，為了證明供應鏈的可靠性，我們的採購量年增率顯著，遠超收入成長，這主要得益於能源即服務（EaaS）業務的拓展。

So definitely, I look though, for the back half of the year to be very strong. The first half of this year, we're really focused on getting good up 50 megawatts under contract and then getting all 50 megawatts deployed. I think that's another important point is that there is a lag between signing a rental contract and actually getting the product built, shipped, and commissioned, and that can be anywhere from 45 days to 60 days typically.

所以，我肯定地認為下半年會非常強勁。今年上半年，我們的重點是簽訂50兆瓦的合同，然後完成這50兆瓦的部署。我認為另一個重點是，從簽訂租賃合約到實際完成產品建造、出貨和調試之間存在時間差，通常需要45到60天。

So my last question is just, has there been any bias towards the types of customers that are responding to this and obviously the push towards the large global customers and national customers with the internal sales force specifically -- are you seeing any differences in appetite between the types of customers that are engaging on this? And then I'll step back in queue.

所以我的最後一個問題是，在響應此活動的客戶類型方面是否存在任何偏好？顯然，我們特別關注大型全球客戶和國內客戶以及內部銷售團隊—您是否發現不同類型的客戶在參與此活動的需求方面有任何差異？然後我就要重新排隊了。

Shawn, it's an interesting question. I don't think we have enough data to make a statement. I mean, most of the folks we're talking to right now are people that had projects that didn't go forward because of paybacks being too long. So we're reaching back out to those folks. Those are people who are touched in the last couple of years, rerunning the economics. In general, the IRA bill drops the simple payback by two years. So it was a secure payback. It's not a four year payback or seven years nor five.

肖恩，這個問題很有意思。我覺得我們目前的數據還不足以下結論。我的意思是，我們現在接觸的大多數人都是因為投資回報期過長而導致專案擱淺的人。所以我們正在重新聯繫這些人。這些人都是在過去幾年受到影響的，我們正在重新評估他們的經濟狀況。總的來說，IRA法案將簡單的投資回報期縮短了兩年。所以，投資回報期是比較穩健的，既不是四年，也不是七年或五年。

So we've got to reach out to those customers who run economics and see if we get them interested in moving forward in the project. And if they're not interested in the capital purchase or they're instead looking at an EaaS solution. I think it's also interesting, I just returned from Europe and they're pretty stunned by the IRA bill. I think it puts the US ahead of Europe as far as developing green energy and energy transformation, and I think that's a place that they're not used to being.

所以我們需要聯絡那些負責經濟分析的客戶，看看他們是否有興趣推動這個專案。如果他們對資本投入不感興趣，或更傾向於能源即服務（EaaS）解決方案，那又會怎麼樣呢？我覺得很有趣的是，我剛從歐洲回來，他們對《能源改革法案》（IRA）的反應相當震驚。我認為這會讓美國在綠色能源和能源轉型發展方面領先歐洲，而歐洲人可能並不習慣處於這種領先地位。

So I do think you're going to see more come out of Europe as they tried to catch up to the US, and hopefully trying to get ahead of the US. And so I think there's more opportunities there. And as I also mentioned, because of the war in Ukraine, we're seeing oil and gas activity pick back up in Europe as they realize they can't get all their natural gas from Russia and that the cost of other natural gas and supply is very challenging to find other locations. So interesting times in Europe and interesting times of the US. I think between the IRA bill and the impacts of the Ukraine war.

所以我認為，隨著歐洲努力追趕美國，甚至超越美國，未來將有更多機會來自歐洲。正如我之前提到的，由於烏克蘭戰爭，歐洲的石油和天然氣活動正在復蘇，因為他們意識到不能完全依賴俄羅斯的天然氣，而且尋找其他天然氣產地成本高昂，供應困難。因此，歐洲和美國都正經歷著充滿變數的時期。我認為，這其中既有《愛爾蘭共和法案》的影響，也有烏克蘭戰爭的影響。

Thank you. Sameer Joshi, H.C. Wainwright.

謝謝。薩米爾喬希，H.C. 溫賴特。

Hey Darren and Scott. Thanks for taking my question. So just following up on the EaaS discussion -- you are on track to get to your target of 50 megawatts. Does the IRA and the increased incentives for upfront benefits change your strategy long term and -- are you increasing your targeted EaaS deployment next year, in the fiscal 2024 year?

嗨，Darren 和 Scott。感謝你們回答我的問題。關於能源即服務 (EaaS) 的討論，你們目前正朝著 50 兆瓦的目標穩步前進。 IRA 以及前期收益激勵措施的增加是否會改變你們的長期策略？你們是否會在 2024 財政年度增加 EaaS 的部署目標？

So that's -- it's a great question. I think right now, we're really focused on getting to 50 megawatts. If you look at the numbers in the [queue], if we were just neutral on margins for our products, we'd be EBITDA-neutral for the year. So the negative gross margin on our products because of supply chain issues is dragged down our ability to be EBITDA-positive, adjusted EBITDA positive. If we get back to just zero gross margin or just slightly positive and we get to 50 megawatts deployed, we're solidly EBITDA positive.

所以，這是一個很好的問題。我認為目前我們的重點是實現50兆瓦的裝置容量目標。如果你看一下項目清單上的數字，如果我們產品的毛利率保持中性，那麼我們今年的EBITDA也將保持中性。但由於供應鏈問題導致產品毛利率為負，這拖累了我們實現EBITDA為正（調整後EBITDA為正）的能力。如果我們能將毛利率恢復到零或略為正，並且實現50兆瓦的裝置容量目標，那麼我們就能穩定地實現EBITDA為正。

And so that's really the short term growth and the short term goal, we need to really see cost of capital going forward. And so how we work on refinancing, Goldman and what that looks like, I think will drive what we do going forward beyond 50 megawatts. So I think when we talk again after the fourth quarter, I hope to have a solid plan in place to say we were already at 50 megawatts deployed, we're back into positive EBITDA territory like we were in Q1 of this year. And then hopefully have a rollout strategy and where we go next beyond the 50 megawatts.

所以，這才是真正的短期成長和短期目標，我們需要密切注意未來的資本成本。至於我們如何進行再融資，與高盛的合作以及最終結果，我認為將決定我們未來在50兆瓦之後的發展方向。因此，我希望在第四季度結束後，我們能製定出一個切實可行的計劃，說明我們已經部署了50兆瓦的裝機容量，並且像今年第一季一樣，重新實現了正EBITDA。然後，我們希望能夠制定出一個推廣策略，以及在50兆瓦之後，我們下一步的發展方向。

But today, we're fairly focused on executing on that 50, and it is not insignificant. We think that is a business we started three years ago. And really had a trouble getting lift off because of COVID. This is accelerating very quickly and so deploying 50 megawatts, which is closer to 75 or 80 machines around the US and now moving internationally, that's a lot of activity to undertake for us in a short period of time.

但今天，我們的重心相當放在執行這50兆瓦的計畫上，這可不是小數目。我們認為這項業務是我們三年前啟動的，但由於新冠疫情，起步階段非常艱難。如今，這項業務發展迅猛，在美國部署50兆瓦（相當於75到80台機組），並拓展到國際市場，這在短時間內對我們來說是一項艱鉅的任務。

Understood. Thanks for that. Moving to the EV initiative, are you -- well the first question is, what is the status of the development of the product? And is this development being done with certain customers in mind and target audiences in mind? Or are you independently developing and then present it to any potential customers?

明白了，謝謝。接下來談談電動車項目，首先，產品的研發進度如何？研發過程中是否考慮了特定客戶群和目標受眾？還是你們獨立研發，然後再向所有潛在客戶推廣？

No, we're working with one of the largest commercial REITs in the US, it is kind of our partner right now. They're providing the chargers, we're providing the microturbines. We've also generated -- you saw a picture in the presentation -- a portable version of that, it was 180 kilowatt charger with the C200 microturbine, got a little bit of a battery on board for back starting and some solar PV. But the goal is to be able to deploy these around the country as people bring in electric fleet. We're finding a lot of folks getting buses and trucks and then they turn to the utility and they can't get the additional utility feed and power that they need.

不，我們正在與美國最大的商業房地產投資信託基金之一合作，它目前是我們的合作夥伴。他們提供充電器，我們提供微型燃氣渦輪機。我們還開發了一種便攜式充電樁——您在演示文稿中看到了圖片——它配備了一個180千瓦的充電器和C200微型燃氣渦輪機，還內置了一個小型電池用於備用啟動，以及一些太陽能光伏板。我們的目標是隨著人們引入電動車，將這些設備推廣到全國各地。我們發現很多人買了公車和卡車，然後他們向電力公司申請額外供電，卻無法獲得所需的電力。

And so they often find themselves with a fleet brand new, but they can't charge it. And so we've got the opportunities here in California, we're doing stuff in New Jersey, we got stuff going on in Chicago right now. So they're big company, we're riding their coattail a little bit. They've obviously got a pretty big, indentured customer base as large as they are. So I think it's a good natural fit for us.

所以他們常發現自己擁有一批全新的車隊，卻無法充電。我們在加州有這樣的機會，我們在新澤西州也有項目，目前在芝加哥也有進展。他們是一家大公司，我們算是搭上了他們的順風車。他們顯然擁有龐大且穩定的客戶群。所以我認為這對我們來說是一個非常合適的合作。

But it's early days. So we'll see how this expands. Obviously, portables great, we'd rather do more permanent infrastructure and I think as demand for EV charging increases and we electrify more buildings, the number of utilities that are unable to keep up with that demand is only going to grow and so I think that's a great opportunity for us. We'll look at the landscape as it adjusts and grows and figure out if we want to partner somebody or continue to just work with few key clients.

但現在還處於早期階段。所以我們還要觀察它的發展。顯然，便攜式充電樁很好，但我們更傾向於建造永久性基礎設施。我認為，隨著電動車充電需求的成長和更多建築的電氣化，無法滿足需求的公用事業公司數量只會越來越多，所以我認為這對我們來說是一個絕佳的機會。我們會密切關注市場格局的變化和發展，並決定是尋求合作夥伴，還是繼續與少數核心客戶保持合作。

Understood. Should we expect the initial revenues during calendar year 2023 or 2024 from this?

明白了。我們應該預期在2023年還是2024年會獲得初步收益？

Yes. Absolutely. We've got seven or eight megawatts out on rent right now. On trailers, we've got some permanent installations that we've quoted that we think will move forward here this quarter. We've done a couple of installations in Europe for permanent EV charging solutions. So yeah, this is something that's driving revenue, both for new product sales and through our EaaS business.

是的，沒錯。我們目前有七、八兆瓦的電力設備出租。至於拖車式充電樁，我們已經報價了一些永久性安裝項目，預計本季就能推進。我們在歐洲也完成了幾個永久性電動車充電解決方案的安裝項目。所以，是的，這確實在推動收入成長，無論是新產品銷售還是我們的電動車即服務（EaaS）業務。

And I think the really exciting part is how this could grow over the next several years if electric vehicle infrastructure is not put in place and EVs continue to grow at the pace that they're projected to grow then this is going to be a huge opportunity for us.

我認為真正令人興奮的是，如果電動車基礎設施沒有到位，而電動車又繼續以預計的速度成長，那麼未來幾年電動車的發展潛力將是巨大的，這對我們來說將是一個巨大的機會。

Understood. Just a few on the parts revenues, which are slightly impacted by this Russian sanctions. Was that impact in like some million dollar range? Or was it like a couple of million dollars? How should we think of the scale of this impact?

明白了。只是關於零件收入，這些收入確實受到了俄羅斯制裁的輕微影響。影響金額大概在幾百萬美元左右嗎？還是幾百萬美元？我們該如何看待這種影響的規模？

Yes. Russia once upon a time was one of our biggest markets. We've got 2,500 microturbines over there. So the ability to not sell new product over there or struggle to get spare parts and make sure that we stay in line with all the US sanctions is definitely impacting us a few million dollars a quarter, if not more. I'd say some of the supply chain issues definitely impacted a couple of megawatts shipments last quarter, so it's a probably another couple of million dollars there as well. So those two things are definitely challenging for us.

是的。俄羅斯曾經是我們最大的市場之一。我們在那裡有2500台微型燃氣渦輪機。因此，如果無法在俄羅斯銷售新產品，或難以獲得備件，同時還要確保遵守美國的所有製裁措施，這無疑會為我們造成每季數百萬美元甚至更多的損失。我認為，上個季度的一些供應鏈問題也影響了數兆瓦的出貨量，所以這方面可能也損失了數百萬美元。所以，這兩方面對我們來說無疑是個巨大的挑戰。

On the supply chain side, we continue to meet with our various vendors. Unfortunately, when some vendors can't meet deliveries and others can, the imbalances in our inventories which we're seeing today, where we've got too much of one part, not enough of the other, and inability to hit our target production levels. So that will be a major focus for us, it has been the last quarter, it will continue to be a major focus for the next couple of quarters until we get our supply chain more balanced and our inventory turns back to 3.5, 4 -- where we want to see them -- compared to where we are today.

在供應鏈方面，我們持續與各供應商保持溝通。遺憾的是，由於部分供應商無法按時交貨，而其他供應商可以，導致我們目前庫存失衡，即某些零件庫存過多，而另一些零件庫存不足，從而無法達到預期的生產水準。因此，這將是我們工作的重點，也是上個季度的工作重點，未來幾季仍將如此，直到我們的供應鏈更加平衡，庫存恢復到我們理想的3.5到4倍水準。

Very happy, though -- on the receivables side, we really focused on receivables coming out of COVID. As you recall, we were 65 days going into COVID, kind of DSO, we hit 156 days as a high during COVID, we're back down to 66 days today. So that's been a lot of work by the finance team and myself to clean up the receivables and work with the distributors name these customers to make that happen. So a good success story there. Now we need to focus on supply chain side and the balance sheet side and then continue to keep growing that Energy-as-a-Service business.

不過，在應收帳款方面，我們確實非常高興——我們專注於了疫情後的應收帳款。您可能還記得，疫情爆發前我們的應收帳款週轉天數（DSO）是65天，疫情期間最高達到了156天，而現在已經回落到66天。這離不開財務團隊和我本人的辛勤工作，我們清理了應收帳款，並與經銷商和客戶合作，最終實現了這一目標。所以，這方面取得了不錯的成效。現在，我們需要專注於供應鏈和資產負債表，並繼續發展能源即服務（EaaS）業務。

Got it. Thanks for taking my questions and good luck.

明白了。謝謝你回答我的問題，祝你好運。

No, thank you.

不，謝謝。

Thank you. That concludes our Q&A session. I will now hand the conference back to Darren Jamison for closing remarks. Please go ahead.

謝謝。問答環節到此結束。現在我將會議交還給達倫·賈米森，請他作閉幕致詞。請開始吧。

Great. Well, thank you. Great questions by the analysts. You touched on a lot of the things I wanted to touch on. I think the most important thing for me to look at this quarter is that we're still hitting our target to be at 50 megawatts under contract on March 31. That's the most important thing, the most transformational thing we can do for our business. And so as we grow that energy as a service business we need to keep hitting those target dates, make sure we get that product deployed to make sure the fleet is running well so we get more repeat customers.

太好了，謝謝。分析師們提出的問題都很好。你們談到了很多我想談的內容。我認為本季對我來說最重要的是，我們仍然能夠實現3月31日合約裝置容量達到50兆瓦的目標。這是我們業務發展中最重要的事情，也是最具變革意義的事情。因此，隨著我們能源服務業務的成長，我們需要繼續達成這些目標，確保產品部署到位，確保機組運作良好，從而獲得更多回頭客。

We are in process, as you know, of refinancing the Goldman note with Greenhill & Company. We do need to drive that to conclusion here in the next two or three months at least, and then figure out what we're doing for our long term capital needs to keep growing the Energy-as-a-Service business.

如您所知，我們正在與格林希爾公司（Greenhill & Company）進行高盛債券的再融資。我們至少需要在未來兩三個月內完成這項工作，然後才能考慮如何滿足我們的長期資本需求，以繼續發展能源即服務業務。

Inventory is a bit out of whack, as he said, and supply chain issues have been challenging like many manufacturers around the world, but that's not an excuse. We need to do a better job, and our vendors need to do a better job and hopefully the fourth quarter and the first quarter of this new year, we'll get that behind us as well. So be looking for more Energy-as-a-Service press releases and we look forward to talking to everybody soon at the conclusion of our fourth quarter. Thank you.

正如他所說，庫存有點失衡，供應鏈問題也像世界各地許多製造商一樣給我們帶來了挑戰，但這並非藉口。我們需要做得更好，我們的供應商也需要做得更好。希望在第四季和新年第一季度，我們能夠克服這些問題。敬請關注更多關於能源即服務（EaaS）的新聞稿，我們期待在第四季度結束後儘快與大家交流。謝謝。

Thank you, everyone. This concludes today's event. You may disconnect at this time and have a wonderful day. Thank you for your participation.

謝謝大家。今天的活動到此結束。您可以斷開連接，祝您有美好的一天。感謝您的參與。