ChargePoint Holdings Inc (CHPT) 2023 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. At this time, I'd like to welcome everyone to the ChargePoint Third Quarter Fiscal 2024 Earnings Conference Call and Webcast. I would now like to turn the call over to Mr. Patrick Hamer, ChargePoint's Vice President of Capital Markets and Investor Relations. Patrick, please go ahead.

女士們、先生們，午安。現在，我歡迎大家參加 ChargePoint 2024 財年第三季財報電話會議和網路廣播。我現在想將電話轉給 ChargePoint 資本市場和投資者關係副總裁 Patrick Hamer 先生。派崔克，請繼續。

Good afternoon, and thank you for joining us on today's conference call to discuss ChargePoint's third quarter fiscal 2024 earnings results. This call is being webcast and can be accessed on the Investors section of our website at investors.chargepoint.com.

下午好，感謝您參加今天的電話會議，討論 ChargePoint 2024 財年第三季的獲利結果。本次電話會議正在進行網路直播，您可以在我們網站的投資者部分造訪 Investors.chargepoint.com。

With me on today's call are Rick Wilmer, our new President and Chief Executive Officer; and Mansi Khetani, our Interim Chief Financial Officer. This afternoon, we issued a press release announcing results for the quarter ended October 31, 2023, which can also be found on the Investors section of our website at investors.chargepoint.com.

與我一起參加今天電話會議的是我們的新總裁兼執行長 Rick Wilmer；以及我們的臨時財務長 Mansi Khetani。今天下午，我們發布了一份新聞稿，宣布截至 2023 年 10 月 31 日的季度業績，您也可以在我們網站的投資者部分找到該資訊：investors.chargepoint.com。

We'd like to remind you that during the conference call, management will be making forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond our control and could cause actual results to differ materially from our expectations. These forward-looking statements apply as of today, and we undertake no obligation to update these statements after the call.

我們想提醒您，在電話會議期間，管理階層將做出前瞻性聲明。這些前瞻性陳述涉及風險和不確定性，其中許多風險和不確定性超出了我們的控制範圍，可能導致實際結果與我們的預期有重大差異。這些前瞻性陳述從今天起適用，我們不承擔在電話會議後更新這些陳述的義務。

For a more detailed description of certain factors that could cause actual results to differ, please refer to our Form 10-Q filed with the SEC on September 11, 2023, and our earnings release, which was posted today on our website and was filed today with the SEC on Form 8-K.

有關可能導致實際結果有所不同的某些因素的更詳細說明，請參閱我們於 2023 年 9 月 11 日向 SEC 提交的 10-Q 表格，以及今天在我們的網站上發布並於今天提交的收益報告向SEC 提交表格8-K。

Also, please note that we use certain non-GAAP financial measures on this call, which we reconcile to GAAP in our earnings release and for certain historical periods in the investor presentation posted on the Investors section of our website. And finally, we will be posting a transcript of this call to our Investor Relations website within the Quarterly Results section. With that, it's my pleasure to introduce our new President and CEO, Rick Wilmer.

另請注意，我們在本次電話會議中使用了某些非公認會計準則財務衡量標準，我們在收益發布中以及在我們網站投資者部分發布的投資者介紹中針對某些歷史時期的財務衡量標準與公認會計準則進行了協調。最後，我們將在投資者關係網站的季度業績部分發布本次電話會議的記錄。至此，我很高興向大家介紹我們的新任總裁兼執行長 Rick Wilmer。

Thank you, Patrick. I'd like to begin this call by introducing myself. My name is Rick Wilmer and I have been CEO of ChargePoint since November 16. I was the company's Chief Operating Officer for the 18 months prior to this. So as I enter my new role, I am quite familiar with the business. I have previously served as CEO more than once, and I can assure you that the responsibility is not new to me.

謝謝你，派崔克。我想透過自我介紹來開始這通通話。我叫 Rick Wilmer，自 11 月 16 日起擔任 ChargePoint 執行長。在此之前的 18 個月裡，我擔任該公司的營運長。因此，當我進入新職位時，我對業務非常熟悉。我之前曾不只一次擔任過首席執行官，我可以向你們保證，這個職責對我來說並不陌生。

Since joining ChargePoint, I have introduced a number of key initiatives in the COO capacity, including the following: a more rigorous process for supplier qualification and management. This has led to millions of dollars in cost savings and improved supply assurance. A revamp of the company's manufacturing strategy to optimize cost structure, reduce tariffs and secure multiple sources for the manufacturing of every product we sell. This multiple sourcing model includes new factories in Southeast Asia, which will be fully online in 2024, at which point we will begin to realize their benefits.

自從加入 ChargePoint 以來，我以營運長的身份推出了許多關鍵舉措，其中包括： 更嚴格的供應商資格和管理流程。這節省了數百萬美元的成本並改善了供應保證。改善公司的製造策略，以優化成本結構、降低關稅並確保我們銷售的每種產品的製造擁有多個來源。這種多重採購模式包括在東南亞的新工廠，這些工廠將於 2024 年全面上線，屆時我們將開始實現其好處。

Of particular note, I am rebuilding our entire after-sales program. This is to prioritize customer care, ensure predictable deployments and to deliver exceptional support. We are doing this in a manner that can scale for rapid growth while improving response time, shortening total time to resolution and increasing the quality of service, all without increasing our costs.

特別值得注意的是，我正在重建我們的整個售後計劃。這是為了優先考慮客戶服務、確保可預測的部署並提供卓越的支援。我們這樣做的方式可以實現快速成長，同時提高回應時間、縮短解決問題的總時間並提高服務質量，而所有這些都不會增加我們的成本。

I am also leading ChargePoint's drive towards flawless network reliability. This is an important point to make as many consider it a barrier to EV adoption. It's a challenging problem, especially when it comes to physical station damage that operators cannot easily detect with remote monitoring. At the core of this is our recently launched Network Operations Center. The operations center features 24/7 proactive station monitoring and predictive analytics to find anomalies before the station owners or drivers notice them. It leverages multiple sources of driver feedback, including our mobile app, calls to our driver support line and social listening, all of which enhance the completeness of actionable insights.

我還領導 ChargePoint 實現完美的網路可靠性。這是一個重要的觀點，因為許多人認為這是電動車採用的障礙。這是一個具有挑戰性的問題，尤其是當操作員無法透過遠端監控輕鬆檢測到實體站損壞時。其核心是我們最近推出的網路營運中心。營運中心具有 24/7 主動車站監控和預測分析功能，可在車站所有者或駕駛注意到之前發現異常情況。它利用了駕駛員回饋的多種來源，包括我們的行動應用程式、駕駛員支援熱線和社交傾聽，所有這些都增強了可操作見解的完整性。

This all drives uptime. ChargePoint defines uptime as the percentage of ports which are capable of dispensing energy at any given moment. We believe this is the most transparent reporting of this metric in the industry and exactly what a customer driving up to our station would expect it to mean.

這一切都提高了正常運作時間。 ChargePoint 將正常運作時間定義為能夠在任何給定時刻分配能量的連接埠的百分比。我們相信，這是業內對該指標最透明的報告，也正是駕車前往我們車站的客戶所期望的含義。

We launched the operations center in August when the ChargePoint network was at 96% uptime, and we have realized incremental improvement since then for an uptime that is currently at 97.65%. I share this increase to communicate our success thus far, but we are not stopping there. We will soon be integrating data sources that will account for physical damage or prevent a driver from charging. We previously could not detect this, and it is critical towards delivering a comprehensive metric for reliability.

我們於 8 月啟動了營運中心，當時 ChargePoint 網路的正常運作時間為 96%，從那時起我們就實現了逐步改進，目前的正常運作時間為 97.65%。我分享這項成長是為了傳達我們迄今為止所取得的成功，但我們不會就此止步。我們很快就會整合資料來源，以解釋物理損壞或阻止駕駛員充電。我們以前無法檢測到這一點，這對於提供全面的可靠性指標至關重要。

More importantly, it will deliver the experience a driver is expecting when they charge their EV. This more comprehensive dataset will initially lower our uptime, but from this new baseline, we can continue on our quest for 99%-plus reliability and ensure everybody who needs to charge can do so seamlessly. These are just a few of the projects I have initiated to positively impact the business, and I hope to illustrate my track record of results so far at ChargePoint.

更重要的是，它將提供駕駛員在為電動車充電時所期望的體驗。這個更全面的數據集最初會降低我們的正常運行時間，但從這個新的基準來看，我們可以繼續追求 99% 以上的可靠性，並確保每個需要充電的人都能無縫充電。這些只是我為對業務產生積極影響而發起的幾個項目，我希望能說明我迄今為止在 ChargePoint 取得的成果記錄。

Now let's move on to talk about the third quarter. As we preannounced on November 16, the quarter was a disappointment for us and had initiated some changes, including my appointment. While the quarter was nowhere near expectation, the big picture still looks very good. We have had challenges executing, and this is what the new leadership team is here to fix. We are firmly committed to being profitable on an adjusted EBITDA basis in Q4 of calendar 2024. Our CFO, Mansi Khetani, will give the results for Q3 in detail shortly, which are consistent with the preliminary results given on November 16.

現在讓我們繼續談談第三季。正如我們在 11 月 16 日預先宣布的那樣，這個季度對我們來說令人失望，並開始了一些改變，包括我的任命。儘管該季度遠未達到預期，但整體情況看起來仍然非常好。我們在執行過程中遇到了挑戰，這就是新領導團隊要解決的問題。我們堅定地致力於在 2024 年第四季度實現調整後 EBITDA 盈利。我們的財務長 Mansi Khetani 將很快詳細公佈第三季度的結果，該結果與 11 月 16 日給出的初步結果一致。

Here are the top line figures as well as where things went wrong. Our revenue for the quarter was $110 million. Non-GAAP gross margin was negative 18% due to a $42 million noncash impairment charge, and we managed our operating expenses as forecasted at $81 million. As we stated earlier, this top line revenue figure fell short of our expectations. We attribute the majority of this to 3 factors. First of all, the arrival of many commercial fleet vehicles has been delayed or in other cases, these vehicles have been slow to ramp up production. Recent data from the BloombergNEF dropped the 2023 sales forecast for electric commercial and transit vehicles by 20%. Our customers are eager to receive vehicles that they have ordered, but are not proceeding with investment in the infrastructure necessary to charge them until they have line of sight on vehicle delivery. As examples, we have a single customer waiting on more than 40 transit buses, others waiting on 100 Class 6 to 8 commercial trucks and 1/3 waiting on 500 vans. These begin to add up quickly.

以下是主要數據以及出現問題的地方。我們本季的營收為 1.1 億美元。由於 4,200 萬美元的非現金減損費用，非 GAAP 毛利率為負 18%，而我們的營運支出則按預期控制在 8,100 萬美元。正如我們之前所說，這項營收數字低於我們的預期。我們將其中大部分歸因於 3 個因素。首先，許多商用車隊車輛的抵達被推遲，或者在其他情況下，這些車輛的產量增長緩慢。彭博新能源財經 (BloombergNEF) 的最新數據將 2023 年電動商用車和運輸車的銷售預測下調了 20%。我們的客戶渴望收到他們訂購的車輛，但在他們了解車輛交付之前，不會繼續投資充電所需的基礎設施。例如，我們有一個客戶在 40 多輛公車上等待，其他人在 100 輛 6 至 8 級商用卡車上等待，1/3 在 500 輛貨車上等待。這些開始迅速增加。

The second factor impacting Q3 top line revenue can be summarized as a slowdown in commercial demand combined with supply chain normalization. As we mentioned last quarter, commercial charter demand has waned in the face of high interest rates and economic uncertainty. How has this been impacted by supply chain normalization? In simple terms, our channel has moved back to a model where they are carrying lower levels of inventory and placing smaller restocking orders as needed. While it negatively impacted Q3, we are poised to quickly monetize any uptick in commercial demand with inventory ready to ship.

影響第三季營收的第二個因素可以概括為商業需求放緩和供應鏈正常化。正如我們上季度提到的，面對高利率和經濟不確定性，商業包機需求已經減弱。供應鏈正常化對此有何影響？簡而言之，我們的管道已恢復到庫存水準較低並根據需要下達較小的補貨訂單的模式。雖然這對第三季產生了負面影響，但我們準備好透過準備發貨的庫存，快速將商業需求的任何成長貨幣化。

The third factor, which negatively impacted Q3 revenue, was something we could not have predicted going into the quarter, hesitation related to the automotive labor disputes in the United States. We do considerable business with the auto OEMs and their dealerships, both of which were delayed due to the well-publicized strike.

第三個因素對第三季的收入產生了負面影響，這是我們在進入本季時無法預測的，也就是與美國汽車勞資糾紛相關的猶豫。我們與汽車原始設備製造商及其經銷商有大量業務，但由於廣為人知的罷工，這兩家公司的業務都被推遲了。

Regarding the $42 million noncash impairment charge, I'd like to outline what it was taken for and how it differs from the impairment taken in Q2. The impairment in the second quarter addressed the cost structure of a single first-generation DC charger. That product continues to sell and does so at margin.

關於 4,200 萬美元的非現金減損費用，我想概述它的用途以及它與第二季的減損費​​用有何不同。第二季的減損解決了單一第一代直流充電器的成本結構問題。該產品繼續銷售，並且有利潤。

The noncash impairment taken in the third quarter addresses executional issues related to multiple product transitions and better aligns inventory with current demand. This was a deliberate action that cleans the slate for the business moving forward. We did not execute these new product transitions well, and we have learned from our mistakes.

第三季採取的非現金減損解決了與多種產品轉換相關的執行問題，並更好地使庫存與當前需求保持一致。這是一項經過深思熟慮的行動，為業務的發展掃清了障礙。我們沒有很好地執行這些新產品的轉型，我們已經從錯誤中學到了教訓。

Two factors that were at the center of these transitional issues: the extreme supply chain shortage brought on by the COVID pandemic; and the surge in demand we experienced from 2022 through the first half of 2023, leaving us with surplus inventory at the end of Q3. These issues have been corrected with supply and demand better balanced.

這些過渡性問題的核心有兩個因素：新冠疫情導致供應鏈極度短缺；從 2022 年到 2023 年上半年，我們經歷了需求激增，導致我們在第三季末出現庫存過剩。隨著供需更加平衡，這些問題已得到糾正。

To summarize, we have balanced our future supply commitments to realign with current demand and the current product range. We believe the noncash impairment charge we took in the third quarter places us back on solid ground to build from. As I have said at the beginning of the call, we have had some execution challenges that I began to fix as COO and will finish addressing as CEO. We believe the noncash impairments taken this quarter are conservative and comprehensive and that we are now in an excellent position to monetize our current inventory.

總而言之，我們平衡了未來的供應承諾，以適應當前的需求和當前的產品範圍。我們相信，我們在第三季收取的非現金減損費用使我們重新奠定了堅實的基礎。正如我在電話會議開始時所說的那樣，我們遇到了一些執行方面的挑戰，我作為首席營運長開始解決這些問題，並將以執行長的身份完成這些挑戰。我們認為本季採取的非現金減損是保守且全面的，我們現在處於將當前庫存貨幣化的絕佳位置。

Despite these issues, there were quite a few bright spots in the third quarter. Underlying strength in the business has shown itself via market share. We boosted our balance sheet by $232 million and ended the quarter with $397 million cash on hand. We have no debt maturities until 2028. This combines with an undrawn $150 million revolving credit facility, placing us in an excellent cash position.

儘管有這些問題，第三季還是有不少亮點。該業務的潛在實力已透過市場佔有率展現出來。我們的資產負債表增加了 2.32 億美元，本季末手頭現金為 3.97 億美元。我們在 2028 年之前沒有債務到期。這與未提取的 1.5 億美元循環信貸融通相結合，使我們處於良好的現金狀況。

Sales of ChargePoint Home Flex, our consumer home charging station, were up 45% sequentially for its best sales quarter ever. Home Flex has been the top-selling charger on Amazon for 19 weeks in a row. We take this as a sign that passenger EV sales are not slowing down despite recent media coverage to the contrary.

我們的消費者家庭充電站 ChargePoint Home Flex 的銷售額環比成長 45%，創下有史以來最好的銷售季度。 Home Flex 連續 19 週成為亞馬遜最暢銷充電器。我們認為這表明乘用車電動車的銷售並未放緩，儘管最近媒體報導了相反的情況。

I would also like to outline what was new from a product perspective in Q3. We saw quite a bit of activity. We began to roll out our NACS cable solutions, which are compatible with Tesla vehicles, on time and is first to market. We released the largest update to our driver app in years, which went live as we reached 1 million quarterly active users. Our fleet software lineup has rounded out to form a unique suite of solutions, and in preparation for the forthcoming transit vehicles, we have announced our pantograph charging system for municipal bus fleets.

我還想從產品角度概述第三季的新增內容。我們看到了相當多的活動。我們開始按時推出與特斯拉車輛相容的 NACS 電纜解決方案，並率先推向市場。我們發布了多年來司機應用程式的最大更新，當季度活躍用戶達到 100 萬時，該更新正式上線。我們的車隊軟體陣容已經完善，形成了一套獨特的解決方案，為了為即將推出的公車車輛做好準備，我們宣布了我們的市政公車隊受電弓充電系統。

Reverting to the products we already have in the field, Q3 saw increased utilization pressure. Energy dispensed from our chargers went from 250 gigawatt hours in the second quarter to 304 gigawatt hours in the third quarter, an 18% increase in only 3 months. Year-over-year, that figure was more than 70%. We believe this rapid increase in utilization will necessitate that customers scale their EV infrastructure soon.

回到我們在該領域已有的產品，第三季的使用率壓力增加。我們的充電器分配的能量從第二季的 250 吉瓦時增加到第三季的 304 吉瓦時，僅 3 個月就增加了 18%。與去年同期相比，這一數字超過了 70%。我們相信，利用率的快速成長將迫使客戶盡快擴展其電動車基礎設施。

On the customer front, we signed another premium German sports car manufacturer for our in-vehicle software to find, use and pay for charging in future vehicles.

在客戶方面，我們與另一家優質德國跑車製造商簽署了車載軟體協議，以在未來的車輛中找到、使用和支付充電費用。

Lastly, I am extremely proud of the first location for the Mercedes-Benz charging network in North America, which recently went online at Mercedes-Benz USA headquarters in Metro Atlanta. This is the fastest passenger vehicle charging solution in North America, thanks to our powerful and flexible Express Plus DC charging line, along with ChargePoint's full stack software solution. This deployment represents the rollout of a phenomenal user experience enabled by ChargePoint with capabilities no other company can match, including reservations, plug and charge, and many other features that make the charging experience impeccable.

最後，我對北美第一個梅賽德斯-奔馳充電網絡感到非常自豪，該網絡最近在亞特蘭大都會區的梅賽德斯-奔馳美國總部上線。由於我們強大且靈活的 Express Plus DC 充電線以及 ChargePoint 的全端軟體解決方案，這是北美最快的乘用車充電解決方案。此次部署代表了 ChargePoint 帶來的非凡用戶體驗的推出，其功能是其他公司無法比擬的，包括預訂、即插即充以及許多其他使充電體驗無可挑剔的功能。

Lastly, a few general statistics of note. We count 74% of the Fortune 50 and 59% of the Fortune 500 as customers. We finished the quarter with more than 274,000 global active ports under management on the ChargePoint network, of which approximately 22,000 are DC fast chargers. We now provide drivers with access to more than 567,000 roaming ports worldwide for a total of more than 841,000 ports. All of the port statistics I am reciting should leave you with the second clear takeaway. Our subscription business is growing rapidly and setting us up for long-term success.

最後，一些值得注意的一般統計數據。我們的客戶有 74% 的財富 50 強企業和 59% 的財富 500 強企業。截至本季度，我們在 ChargePoint 網路上管理超過 274,000 個全球活躍端口，其中約 22,000 個是直流快速充電器。我們現在為司機提供訪問全球超過 567,000 個漫遊端口的權限，總計超過 841,000 個端口。我所敘述的所有港口統計數據應該會讓您得到第二個明確的結論。我們的訂閱業務正在快速成長，為我們長期成功奠定了基礎。

It is important for me to also give stats, which means something for the future of our planet, our updated environmental metrics. We have enabled nearly 8 billion electric miles driven, enough to drive around the world 320,000 times or to look at it another way, we estimate this is enough to power more than 245,000 homes for an entire year. We estimate this means over 1.6 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions were averted by EVs on our network.

對我來說，提供統計數據也很重要，這對我們星球的未來、我們更新的環境指標都有意義。我們已經實現了近 80 億英里的電動行駛里程，足以駕駛環遊世界 32 萬次，或者換個角度來看，我們估計這足以為超過 245,000 個家庭提供一整年的電力。我們估計這意味著我們網路上的電動車避免了超過 160 萬噸溫室氣體排放。

To summarize my remarks on the business. Despite our top line numbers for Q3, we believe our product and go-to-market strategy are solid and that the key to our success moving forward is operational rigor with a laser focus on execution. Our strategy's success in the near term will be validated by accomplishing our core objective of being adjusted EBITDA positive in the fourth quarter of next year.

總結一下我對業務的評論。儘管我們第三季的營收數據很高，但我們相信我們的產品和上市策略是紮實的，我們前進成功的關鍵是嚴格的營運和高度重視執行。我們的策略在短期內的成功將透過實現明年第四季調整後的 EBITDA 為正值的核心目標來驗證。

We are managing our cash with extreme rigor, and we are well capitalized to reach adjusted EBITDA positive. We plan to treat our large inventory balance as an asset, ready to ship and deploy faster than the competition.

我們極其嚴格地管理我們的現金，並且我們擁有充足的資本來實現調整後的 EBITDA 為正值。我們計劃將我們的大量庫存餘額視為一項資產，準備好比競爭對手更快地運輸和部署。

While I have mentioned product transition challenges of the past, the good news is we have nearly completed the transition to our second-generation product portfolio, which is a leading and comprehensive product lineup across both hardware and software. We will continue to fine-tune our strategy with a relentless focus on results through excellent execution.

雖然我提到了過去的產品轉型挑戰，但好消息是我們幾乎完成了向第二代產品組合的轉型，這是一個跨硬體和軟體的領先且全面的產品陣容。我們將繼續調整我們的策略，透過卓越的執行不懈地註重結果。

In reference to guidance, which I'm sure is top of mind for many of you, we will not be giving Q4 guidance today. As much as I would like to do so, it would not be prudent given my limited tenure in this role and the factors our team is working to counter as we speak. This decision implies nothing about Q4, rather it serves as a signal, we are 100% focused on the job at hand, which is rapid recovery and excellent execution. With that being said, we expect to provide top line guidance next quarter as well as outline my strategy for the road to profitability.

關於指導，我相信這是你們許多人最關心的問題，我們今天不會給出第四季的指導。儘管我很想這樣做，但考慮到我擔任這一職位的任期有限以及我們的團隊正在努力應對的因素，這並不謹慎。這個決定與第四季度無關，而是一個訊號，我們100%專注於手頭上的工作，即快速恢復和出色的執行力。話雖如此，我們預計將在下個季度提供營收指導，並概述我的獲利之路策略。

I will conclude my remarks with a reminder of who we are, what we do and the opportunity lying ahead of us. We are a leader in this space and continue to grow. We enable the entire EV ecosystem from software integrations in the new EVs themselves, to the software, which will power entire networks for utilities, municipalities and businesses who serve EV drivers.

在結束演講時，我將提醒大家我們是誰、我們做什麼以及我們面前的機會。我們是這個領域的領導者，並且不斷發展。我們支援整個電動車生態系統，從新電動車本身的軟體集成，到為電動車司機提供服務的公用事業、市政當局和企業的整個網路提供動力的軟體。

We win by building for those EV drivers, not for a particular market or vertical. It is the singular focus on the driver that shapes our strategy. Our platform empowers companies to connect with drivers who need to charge. It allows those companies to extend and expand their relationships with their constituents via an entirely new touch point so they can enhance their brand, company, loyalty or operational effectiveness.

我們透過為電動車驅動者打造產品而獲勝，而不是針對特定市場或垂直領域。正是對驅動因素的單一關注塑造了我們的策略。我們的平台使公司能夠與需要充電的駕駛者建立聯繫。它允許這些公司透過全新的接觸點延伸和擴大與選民的關係，從而提高他們的品牌、公司、忠誠度或營運效率。

We are not just about charging an EV to get it back out on the road, but rather to enable the transition to e-mobility. This is not only to help decarbonize our planet but to also create a new realm of possibilities for our customers to better serve their own customers. Thank you all for listening. And I will now hand over the call to our CFO, Mansi Khetani, to review the financials.

我們不僅僅是為電動車充電以使其重新上路，而是要實現向電動車的過渡。這不僅是為了幫助我們的星球脫碳，而且還為我們的客戶創造一個新的可能性領域，以便更好地服務他們自己的客戶。感謝大家的聆聽。現在我將把電話轉交給我們的財務長曼西·赫塔尼 (Mansi Khetani)，以審查財務狀況。

Thanks, Rick. As a reminder, please see our earnings release where we reconcile our non-GAAP results to GAAP and recall that we continue to report revenue along three lines: networked charging system, subscription and other. Networked charging systems refers to our connected hardware. Subscription includes our cloud services connecting that hardware, Assure warranties and our ChargePoint as a Service offering where we bundle hardware, software and warranty coverage into recurring subscriptions. Other consists of professional services and certain nonmaterial revenue items.

謝謝，瑞克。提醒一下，請參閱我們的收益報告，其中我們將非 GAAP 業績與 GAAP 進行了核對，並回想一下，我們繼續按照三方面報告收入：網絡收費系統、訂閱和其他。網路充電系統是指我們連接的硬體。訂閱包括我們連接硬體的雲端服務、保證保固和我們的 ChargePoint 即服務產品，我們將硬體、軟體和保固範圍捆綁到定期訂閱中。其他包括專業服務和某些非物質收入項目。

For Q3, revenue was $110 million, down 12% year-on-year and down 27% sequentially, below our guidance range of $150 million to $165 million. Networked charging systems at $74 million was 67% of Q3 revenue, down 24% year-on-year. Subscription revenue at $31 million was 28% of total revenue, up 41% year-on-year. Other revenue at $6 million and 5% of total revenue was down 4% year-on-year.

第三季的營收為 1.1 億美元，年減 12%，季減 27%，低於我們 1.5 億至 1.65 億美元的指引範圍。網路充電系統營收為 7,400 萬美元，佔第三季營收的 67%，較去年同期下降 24%。訂閱收入為 3,100 萬美元，佔總收入的 28%，年增 41%。其他收入為 600 萬美元，佔總收入的 5%，年減 4%。

Turning to verticals. As you know, we report verticals by billings, which approximates the revenue split. Q3 billings percentages were: commercial, 70%; fleet, 16%; residential, 13%; and other, 1%. Commercial slowed down for the reasons Rick made out earlier. Fleet was 16% of billings, similar to last quarter. We continue to shift against large programs like the U.S. Postal Service, but as Rick also mentioned, vehicle availability pushed out many of our larger transit deals. Residential had its largest quarter ever in terms of units sold.

轉向垂直領域。如您所知，我們按帳單報告垂直行業，這近似於收入分配。第三季的帳單百分比為：商業，70%；機隊，16%；住宅，13%；其他，1%。由於瑞克早些時候提出的原因，商業活動放緩。機隊佔帳單的 16%，與上季類似。我們繼續反對美國郵政服務等大型項目，但正如里克也提到的那樣，車輛的可用性推遲了我們許多大型交通交易。住宅銷售量創下歷史最高季度紀錄。

To outline our geographic mix, North America made up 79% of Q3 revenue, and Europe was at 21%, consistent with Q2. In the third quarter, Europe delivered $23 million in revenue, growing 30% year-on-year but decreasing sequentially by 28%. This decrease reflects reduced demand from commercial customers due to uncertain economic conditions. This includes changing U.K. government mandates for electric vehicles as well as lower restocking orders from our channel partners as they work through reducing their high inventory of non-ChargePoint products.

概述我們的地理組合，北美佔第三季營收的 79%，歐洲佔 21%，與第二季一致。第三季度，歐洲營收2,300萬美元，年增30%，但季減28%。這一下降反映了由於經濟狀況不確定而導致商業客戶需求減少。這包括改變英國政府對電動車的規定，以及減少我們通路合作夥伴的補貨訂單，因為他們正在努力減少非 ChargePoint 產品的高庫存。

Turning to gross margin. Non-GAAP gross margin for Q3 was negative 18%. This reflects a noncash impairment charge of $42 million. Without that impairment charge, non-GAAP gross margin would have been 20%. This was still below our expected range, mainly due to absorption of fixed costs over fewer units sold in the quarter. We would have been within the range we had guided to had revenue matched our expectations.

轉向毛利率。第三季非 GAAP 毛利率為負 18%。這反映了 4,200 萬美元的非現金減損費用。如果沒有這項減損費用，非 GAAP 毛利率將為 20%。這仍然低於我們的預期範圍，主要是由於本季銷售的單位數量減少而吸收了固定成本。如果收入符合我們的預期，我們就會處於我們指導的範圍內。

Non-GAAP operating expenses for Q3 were $81 million, a year-on-year increase of 2% and a sequential decrease of 9%. This reflects a partial quarter impact from the cost savings initiatives we announced on September 6. We expect to see a continued reduction in operating expenses in Q4 and beyond.

第三季非 GAAP 營運費用為 8,100 萬美元，年增 2%，季減 9%。這反映了我們 9 月 6 日宣布的成本節約措施對季度的部分影響。我們預計第四季度及以後的營運費用將持續減少。

Stock-based compensation in Q3 was $33 million, down from $35 million in Q2. Q3 non-GAAP adjusted EBITDA loss with pre-impairment gross profit was $55 million. This was 7% down year-on-year and higher than our expectations due to the revenue shortfall. Our non-GAAP adjusted EBITDA loss, inclusive of the noncash impairment, was $97 million.

第三季的股票薪酬為 3,300 萬美元，低於第二季的 3,500 萬美元。第三季非 GAAP 調整後 EBITDA 虧損，減損前毛利為 5,500 萬美元。由於收入短缺，這一數字年減 7%，高於我們的預期。我們的非 GAAP 調整後 EBITDA 損失（包括非現金減損）為 9,700 萬美元。

We built inventory during the quarter. We finished the quarter with $199 million in inventory, which is net of the Q3 noncash impairment discussed earlier and up from $144 million at the end of Q2. Of note, about half of the impairments impacted the inventory line. The other half, which was related to commitments, is reflected as a liability on the balance sheet. We expect inventory to decline in the future as we have slowed down our build rate to adjust for the current demand environment. Our deferred revenue balance, which consists of payments towards future recurring subscription revenue from existing customer commitments, was at $227 million, up from $220 million at the end of Q2.

我們在本季建立了庫存。本季末，我們的庫存為 1.99 億美元，扣除了先前討論的第三季非現金減值，高於第二季末的 1.44 億美元。值得注意的是，大約一半的減損影響了庫存線。另一半則與承諾相關，在資產負債表上反映為負債。我們預計未來庫存將會下降，因為我們已經放慢了建造速度以適應當前的需求環境。我們的遞延收入餘額（包括現有客戶承諾的未來經常性訂閱收入的付款）為 2.27 億美元，高於第二季末的 2.2 億美元。

Looking at cash. We finished the quarter with $397 million of cash and cash equivalents. This balance includes $232 million raised through our at-the-market offering facility during the quarter at an average price of $4.37. This was comprised of $175 million raised with an institutional investor in connection with the amendments to our outstanding convertible notes as announced on October 11 and $57 million in additional funds raised in the quarter. Please refer to our prior filings available with the SEC for a more complete description of the amendments to our convertible notes.

看著現金。本季結束時，我們擁有 3.97 億美元的現金和現金等價物。該餘額包括本季透過我們的市場發行工具籌集的 2.32 億美元，平均價格為 4.37 美元。其中包括與機構投資者籌集的 1.75 億美元，這些資金與 10 月 11 日宣布的未償還可轉換票據的修訂有關，以及本季籌集的額外資金 5,700 萬美元。請參閱我們先前向 SEC 提交的文件，以了解有關可轉換票據修訂的更完整說明。

We have no further plans to access the aftermarket facility. We believe we are fully funded through our goal of adjusted EBITDA positive in the fourth quarter of next year. In addition to our cash balance, our $150 million revolving line of credit remains undrawn. Our path to adjusted EBITDA positive in the fourth quarter of next year assumes both modest revenue growth and modest margin expansion.

我們沒有進一步訪問售後設施的計劃。我們相信，我們的資金充足，能夠實現明年第四季調整後 EBITDA 為正值的目標。除了我們的現金餘額外，我們的 1.5 億美元循環信貸額度仍未提取。我們在明年第四季實現調整後 EBITDA 為正值的前提是營收適度成長和利潤率適度擴張。

In addition, we will constantly evaluate ways to increase operating efficiency and improve our cost structure. We had approximately 418 million shares outstanding as of October 31, 2023. Thank you, and we will now move on to Q&A.

此外，我們將持續評估提高營運效率和改善成本結構的方法。截至 2023 年 10 月 31 日，我們的流通股約為 4.18 億股。謝謝，我們現在將進入問答環節。

(Operator Instructions) Our first question comes from the line of James West with Evercore ISI.

（操作員說明）我們的第一個問題來自 Evercore ISI 的 James West。

Rick, I wanted to kind of dig in a little more on the slowdown in buying, particularly from what will be fleet customers. I recognize that the deliveries of the vehicles are part of the delay. But at what point do they really have to go forward with building the charging infrastructure? Because it's clearly a gating item to using those vehicles, if you will.

里克，我想更多地了解購買放緩的情況，特別是來自車隊客戶的購買放緩。我認識到車輛的交付是延誤的一部分。但他們什麼時候才真正需要繼續建造充電基礎設施呢？因為如果你願意的話，這顯然是使用這些車輛的一個門控項目。

I think from our perspective, we see a desire to have the charging infrastructure largely coincident with vehicle delivery, maybe a bit earlier than that, that we're going to allow them to optimize their capital investment, both in vehicles and charging infrastructure, such that one doesn't show up in front of the other.

我認為從我們的角度來看，我們希望充電基礎設施在很大程度上與車輛交付同時進行，也許比這早一點，我們將允許他們優化在車輛和充電基礎設施方面的資本投資，例如那一個不會出現在另一個面前。

Okay. And the infrastructure, I'm assuming these are customers that have already either placed purchase orders that haven't been delivered or you've already done extensive work with them, so the designs are done. So it's just a matter of delivery and installing equipment. Is that correct?

好的。至於基礎設施，我假設這些客戶要么已經下了尚未交付的採購訂單，要么您已經與他們進行了大量工作，因此設計已經完成。所以這只是交付和安裝設備的問題。那是對的嗎？

Generally correct. Yes.

大體正確。是的。

Our next question comes from the line of Colin Rusch with Oppenheimer & Co.

我們的下一個問題來自 Colin Rusch 與 Oppenheimer & Co. 的對話。

Could you talk a little bit about the trend lines on utilization on the existing chargers that are out in the field and then also how much cash you might be able to pull out of working capital here over the next couple of quarters as you optimize the balance sheet?

您能否談談現有現有充電器利用率的趨勢線，以及在接下來的幾個季度中，當您優化平衡時，您可以從營運資本中提取多少現金？床單？

Sure. I'll let Mansi take the working capital question then I'll come back and address utilization.

當然。我會讓曼西回答營運資金問題，然後我會回來解決利用率問題。

Yes. So Colin, on the working capital front, so in Q3, we did invest in the inventory buildup, you can see from our balance sheet. Over the next few quarters, we expect to bring that inventory down because we've already started working with our contract manufacturers on that front. So overall, in terms of general working capital usage, this should trend down. Also, our deferred revenue balance, which kind of brings out the SaaS component of our business, significantly helps with working capital as well.

是的。科林，在營運資本方面，在第三季度，我們確實投資於庫存建設，你可以從我們的資產負債表中看到。在接下來的幾個季度中，我們預計會降低庫存，因為我們已經開始與合約製造商在這方面合作。因此，整體而言，就一般營運資金使用而言，這一數字應該會呈現下降趨勢。此外，我們的遞延收入餘額在某種程度上帶出了我們業務的 SaaS 部分，對營運資金也有很大幫助。

And in terms of utilization, Colin, what we're seeing is an increase. I think we've seen this from other data points in the industry as well, and we are interested to see how this translates into a pickup in the commercial business because there's no question that pressure is building on the commercial networks regarding utilization and thus, the availability of ports for people to charge their EVs when they want to charge.

科林，就利用率而言，我們看到的是增加。我認為我們也從行業的其他數據點看到了這一點，我們有興趣了解這如何轉化為商業業務的回升，因為毫無疑問，商業網絡在利用率方面面臨著越來越大的壓力，因此，當人們想要充電時，可以​​使用連接埠為電動車充電。

Our next question comes from the line of Bill Peterson with JPMorgan.

我們的下一個問題來自比爾·彼得森與摩根大通的對話。

First of all, I'd like to understand more -- I know you're not willing to provide 4Q guidance. But in terms of the visibility you see, I'd like to try to understand what trends you're seeing with channel partners. I guess specifically for commercial and fleet, how much -- I guess, how much inventory is at your disti partners? How much does that vary between L2 and DC, fast, maybe newer and older products? I guess I'm kind of trying to wonder, is there any more destocking or is there any destocking that needs to occur? And perhaps related, like how have orders trended quarter-to-date maybe relative to prior quarters at the same period of time, first month into the quarter?

首先，我想了解更多－我知道你們不願意提供4Q指導。但就您看到的可見度而言，我想嘗試了解您在通路合作夥伴中看到的趨勢。我猜想，特別是對於商業和車隊來說，你們的經銷合作夥伴有多少庫存？ L2 和 DC、快速、新產品和舊產品之間的差異有多大？我想我有點想知道，是否還會有更多的去庫存，或者是否需要進行任何去庫存？也許是相關的，例如季度至今的訂單趨勢與前幾季同期（即本季第一個月）的趨勢如何？

Yes. Thanks, Bill. Good question. We're under the impression that channel inventory is largely normalized. And while I hate to continue to use the excuse of the COVID pandemic, it's a real reason why we've experienced this.

是的。謝謝，比爾。好問題。我們的印像是渠道庫存基本上正常化。雖然我討厭繼續使用新冠病毒大流行的藉口，但這確實是我們經歷這種情況的原因。

During the COVID pandemic, we saw certain components that went into chargers with 2-year lead times. And the supply chain was driven hard due to those types of extended lead times along with very strong demand last year into early this year. That translated through into the channel. Our products were on lead times, so the channel bought ahead, and they ended up with inventory. Our lead times for our components are largely back to normal, and we are now shipping with very short lead time into the channel, which has allowed the channel inventory to normalize.

在新冠疫情期間，我們看到某些組件進入充電器的交貨期為 2 年。由於這些類型的交貨時間延長以及去年到今年年初的強勁需求，供應鏈受到了嚴重推動。這轉化為頻道。我們的產品在交貨時間內，所以通路提前購買，他們最終有庫存。我們的組件交貨時間基本上恢復正常，現在我們可以在很短的交貨時間內運送到渠道，這使得渠道庫存正常化。

Our next question comes from the line of Craig Irwin with ROTH MKM.

我們的下一個問題來自 Craig Irwin 和 ROTH MKM。

So can you maybe update us on the head count exiting the quarter? And what should we look for to see the current status on the planned $30 million in savings that you guys have talked about? And is that something that is a firm target? Or is that something we can possibly see move around a little bit as you've expressed a really clear commitment about EBITDA profitability by the end of the '24 calendar year?

那麼您能否向我們介紹本季退出人數的最新情況？我們應該關注什麼來了解你們所討論的 3000 萬美元計劃節省的當前狀態？這是一個堅定的目標嗎？或者，當您對 24 日曆年末的 EBITDA 獲利能力表達出非常明確的承諾時，我們可能會看到一些變化？

I can take that, Craig. So in terms of head count exiting the quarter, you'll get more details in our 10-Q, but we were a little over 1,800 people. That includes all COGS and OpEx heads, total heads across the company.

我可以接受，克雷格。因此，就本季度結束的員工人數而言，您將在我們的 10-Q 中獲得更多詳細信息，但我們的員工人數略多於 1,800 人。這包括所有 COGS 和 OpEx 負責人，即整個公司的總負責人。

In terms of the savings target, we achieved the $30 million that we had talked about in Q2. In fact, if you look at our Q3 OpEx number, it's lower than what that $30 million would indicate, meaning thereby that we've actually been able to reduce cost a little bit more.

就節省目標而言，我們實現了第二季談到的 3000 萬美元。事實上，如果你看一下我們第三季的營運支出數字，你會發現它低於 3000 萬美元所顯示的數字，這意味著我們實際上能夠進一步降低成本。

We're constantly looking at areas for improvement. We're looking at facilities costs and external services, consulting and what have you. And we showed that in Q3 by cutting more than the $30 million that we had laid out. And we'll continue to do that. As Rick mentioned and as I said in my prepared remarks as well, we'll continue to look at that. That is one area that is in our control. And we will look at it constantly to make sure that we hit our EBITDA positive goal in Q4.

我們不斷尋找需要改進的領域。我們正在考慮設施成本和外部服務、諮詢以及您擁有的東西。我們在第三季透過削減超過 3000 萬美元的支出來證明這一點。我們將繼續這樣做。正如里克提到的以及我在準備好的演講中所說的那樣，我們將繼續關注這一點。這是我們控制範圍內的一個領域。我們將不斷關注它，以確保我們在第四季度實現 EBITDA 積極目標。

Our next question comes from the line of Chris Dendrinos with RBC Capital Markets.

我們的下一個問題來自加拿大皇家銀行資本市場部門的 Chris Dendrinos。

I wanted to go back to that last question and explore a little bit more. I guess maybe just on the EBITDA target for the year-end next year. Can you maybe talk a little bit more about the levers that you have to pull in order to hit that goal and then sort of maybe what kind of growth you're looking at for next year to get you there?

我想回到最後一個問題並進行更多探索。我想也許只是明年年底的 EBITDA 目標。您能否多談談為實現該目標而必須採取的槓桿措施，然後您希望明年實現什麼樣的成長才能實現這一目標？

Yes. I can take that. So we're not guiding specifically to revenue for next year. But as I said, we are expecting revenue to grow modestly. We're using conservative estimates on large programs that are expected to hit in the second half of next year, especially across auto and fast charge segments. We're expecting continued delivery on the USPS contract and other large auto and transit contracts that we've already won.

是的。我可以接受。因此，我們不會具體指導明年的收入。但正如我所說，我們預計收入將溫和成長。我們對預計在明年下半年實施的大型專案進行保守估計，特別是在汽車和快速充電領域。我們預計美國郵政總局合約以及我們已經贏得的其他大型汽車和運輸合約將繼續交付。

We are being also extremely cautious on the transactional and workplace type business since that recovery will depend on economic conditions and the interest rate environment. Another indicator is the heavy biz dev activity, RFP activity and win rates that we're seeing. So that kind of gives us confidence in the modest revenue growth that I've assumed in the second half.

我們對交易和工作場所類型的業務也非常謹慎，因為復甦將取決於經濟狀況和利率環境。另一個指標是我們看到的大量商業開發活動、RFP 活動和獲勝率。因此，這讓我們對下半年營收的溫和成長充滿信心。

In terms of gross margin, I think we will see improvement as well as we second source to Asia manufacturing, as Rick alluded to, and as we continue our cost down efforts. And lastly, we will be constantly monitoring and controlling OpEx, and we'll continue to focus on efficiency. There are a number of significant cost improvements we are evaluating, and that is one thing that is definitely more in our control.

就毛利率而言，我認為我們將會看到改善，正如里克所提到的那樣，我們將把第二來源轉向亞洲製造，並且我們將繼續努力降低成本。最後，我們將持續監控營運支出，並持續關注效率。我們正在評估許多重大的成本改進，這肯定是我們更能控制的一件事。

Got it. Okay. And then maybe just building on that comment around the Asia supply chain. Is there any way you could quantify that a bit more just kind of in terms of what kind of, I guess, margin uplift that might provide and how that supply chain differs, I guess, from what you all have right now?

知道了。好的。然後也許只是建立在有關亞洲供應鏈的評論之上。有沒有什麼方法可以更準確地量化，我想，可能會帶來什麼樣的利潤提升，以及供應鏈與你們現在擁有的供應鏈有何不同？

Yes. Today, the supply chain, we largely have each of our products built by one manufacturing partner. So we have not had a position of competitive tension regarding our manufacturing services. We've changed that, and this is what the Asia manufacturing footprint brings to the table. It has every product in our portfolio built in more than one location by 2 different partners that allows us to put them in competitive tension against product cost, obviously, which is a major priority, along with on-time delivery and quality.

是的。如今，在供應鏈中，我們的每一種產品基本上都是由一個製造合作夥伴製造的。因此，我們的製造服務並未處於競爭緊張的境地。我們改變了這一點，這就是亞洲製造業足跡所帶來的影響。我們的產品組合中的每一款產品都由兩個不同的合作夥伴在多個地點製造，這使我們能夠將它們置於產品成本的競爭壓力中，顯然，這是一個主要優先事項，同時還有按時交貨和品質。

Our next question comes from the line of Stephen Gengaro with Stifel.

我們的下一個問題來自 Stephen Gengaro 和 Stifel 的對話。

I guess 2 for me. One might be a little naive, but I'm kind of curious, when you talk about network reliability and charger uptime, what are the factors that create downtime? Like is it the quality of the charger? Is it lack of maintenance? Is it abuse from customers? Is it all -- what actually is it? And how do you -- what are the steps to kind of improve that really?

我猜對我來說是2。也許有點天真，但我有點好奇，當你談論網路可靠性和充電器正常運行時間時，造成停機的因素是什麼？比如充電器的品質？是不是缺乏維護？是不是被顧客欺負了？這就是全部──到底是什麼？你如何——採取哪些步驟來真正改善這一點？

Great question, Stephen. Thanks. It all starts with the reliability and durability of the hardware, and we invest a lot of energy and money into building very reliable, very durable hardware. But that by no means is the entire solution to the problem.

好問題，史蒂芬。謝謝。這一切都始於硬體的可靠性和耐用性，我們投入了大量的精力和金錢來建立非常可靠、非常耐用的硬體。但這絕對不是問題的全部解決方案。

The next step is to get the hardware installed correctly. And this is a major area of focus for us going forward into the future. This is an area of investment for us, and this is surrounding training, the electricians of the regions we do business in to work with charging infrastructure correctly. If it's built correctly and it's designed to be reliable and durable, but if it's installed incorrectly, you're going to end up with failure modes that were going to prevent EV drivers from charging.

下一步是正確安裝硬體。這是我們未來關注的一個主要領域。這是我們的一個投資領域，這是圍繞著培訓我們開展業務的地區的電工如何正確使用充電基礎設施而進行的。如果它構建正確且設計可靠耐用，但如果安裝不正確，您最終將陷入故障模式，從而阻止電動車駕駛員充電。

The third piece of this relates to physical damage. These are products that are technically complex. They're out in the wild everywhere from the far northern reaches where they go well below zero to the deserts where they get way over 100 degrees Fahrenheit and they're expected to last for a decade or longer. And in those environments, in addition to being outdoors, they're also subject to physical damage. It's shameful, but we see vandalism. We see people backing into chargers. We see people running over charger handles. And a lot of that physical damage is difficult to detect through our remote monitoring technology, which is what I alluded to in my opening comments regarding our Network Operations Center enhancements, where we're now going to be crowdsourcing a lot of additional data sources that observe chargers that are down such that we can action those.

第三部分與物理損壞有關。這些產品技術複雜。它們在野外隨處可見，從遠低於零度的極北地區到溫度超過 100 華氏度的沙漠，它們預計能持續十年或更長時間。在這些環境中，除了戶外之外，它們還會受到物理損壞。這是可恥的，但我們看到破壞行為。我們看到人們倒車充電。我們看到人們在充電器手把上奔跑。許多物理損壞很難透過我們的遠端監控技術來檢測，這就是我在有關網路營運中心增強功能的開場評論中提到的，我們現在將眾包大量額外的資料來源，觀察已關閉的充電器，以便我們可以對其進行操作。

So to summarize, if you build reliable hardware, it's installed correctly and you're able to react to problems that occur that are largely out of our control because it's mostly physical damage, we're going to have a very reliable network.

總而言之，如果您構建可靠的硬件，安裝正確，並且您能夠對發生的問題做出反應，這些問題很大程度上超出了我們的控制範圍，因為它主要是物理損壞，我們將擁有一個非常可靠的網路。

Got it. Right. And then just the other one for me, and it's -- I know you've touched on this a bit. But as we think about the sort of path to the EBITDA positive target, what should we be watching every quarter? I mean, is it just as simple as controlling your costs and getting your volumes up? Like do you need a certain volume level to get there? Is there any more color you could add to those pieces of the puzzle?

知道了。正確的。然後是我的另一個問題，那就是——我知道你已經談到了這一點。但當我們思考實現 EBITDA 正目標的路徑時，我們每季應該關注什麼？我的意思是，這只是控製成本和提高產量這麼簡單嗎？例如你需要一定的音量才能到達那裡嗎？您還可以為這些拼圖添加更多顏色嗎？

So as Rick mentioned, we'll give you more color to our path to profitability in our Q4 call, our next call. But what I can say at this point is with a modest revenue growth and slow increase in margin sequentially each quarter, we can get there. Of course, the final lever will be operating expenses.

正如里克所提到的，我們將在下一次第四季電話會議中為您提供更多關於我們獲利之路的資訊。但我現在可以說的是，隨著每季營收的適度成長和利潤率的緩慢成長，我們可以實現這一目標。當然，最後的槓桿將是營運費用。

Our next question comes from the line of Joseph Osha with Guggenheim.

我們的下一個問題來自約瑟夫·奧沙與古根漢的關係。

Understanding that you might not be able to comment in detail, I'm wondering if your review of the business might include looking at some of the segments that you're in, perhaps emphasizing more and perhaps maybe reducing focus on some other business segments. Is that one possible outcome of the work you're doing?

我知道您可能無法詳細發表評論，我想知道您對業務的審查是否可能包括查看您所在的某些細分市場，也許會更多地強調，也許會減少對其他一些業務細分市場的關注。這是你正在做的工作可能產生的結果之一嗎？

Good question. Thank you for that. My assessment at the moment is that our current go-to-market and product strategy is solid. I'll give credit to our CEO, prior CEO, Pasquale Romano. He did a great job, was a visionary in this industry. And I'm lucky to have adopted such a well-thought-out, insightful product and go-to-market strategy.

好問題。謝謝你。我目前的評估是，我們目前的上市和產品策略是可靠的。我要感謝我們的執行長、前任執行長帕斯誇萊·羅馬諾。他做得很好，是這個行業的有遠見的人。我很幸運能夠採用這樣一個經過深思熟慮、富有洞察力的產品和進入市場的策略。

We'll obviously fine-tune as market conditions change and demand shifts between vertical markets. But largely, we're going to be focused on executing that strategy that exists.

隨著市場條件的變化和垂直市場之間需求的變化，我們顯然會進行微調。但在很大程度上，我們將專注於執行現有的策略。

Okay. And then one for Mansi, just listening to what you guys have talked about today in terms of sort of modest revenue growth and getting to EBITDA breakeven. Simple math suggests that either: a, you've got a heck of a gross margin expansion built in there; or b, that you're going to take a pretty substantial bite out of OpEx even from the current run rate. Am I correct in assuming that one of those levers has to move a lot in order to get to this EBITDA breakeven target you're talking about?

好的。然後是曼西，聽聽你們今天談論的關於適度收入成長和實現 EBITDA 盈虧平衡的內容。簡單的數學表明：a，你已經在那裡建立了毛利率的大幅擴張;或者 b，即使從當前的運行率來看，您也會從營運支出中獲得相當大的份額。我是否正確地假設其中一個槓桿必須大幅移動才能達到您所說的 EBITDA 損益平衡目標？

Joe, all I can say at this point is stay tuned. We will be ready to provide more details at our next call. Sorry, I can't provide additional details right now.

喬，此時我只能說敬請期待。我們將準備在下次通話中提供更多詳細資訊。抱歉，我現在無法提供更多詳細資訊。

Our next question comes from the line of Cameron Lochridge with the Bank of America.

我們的下一個問題來自卡梅倫·洛奇里奇與美國銀行的對話。

So I just kind of wanted to go back and talk about some of these larger macro topics that are kind of delaying orders for you guys. Commercial fleet deliveries, you mentioned, commercial demand, some of these auto labor disputes. I guess really my question is, what kind of line of sight do you guys have into some of these issues that are admittedly out of your hands resolving themselves? And really, the question ties back to -- I hear you guys suggesting modest revenue growth next year. So just trying to get a sense for kind of what's informing that. If you could just give us some color there, would be helpful.

所以我只是想回去談談一些更大的宏觀話題，這些話題有點延遲了你們的訂單。您提到的商業車隊交付、商業需求、其中一些汽車勞資糾紛。我想我真正的問題是，對於這些確實無法自行解決的問題，你們有什麼看法？事實上，這個問題與──我聽到你們建議明年收入適度成長。所以只是想了解其中的內容。如果您能給我們一些顏色，將會有所幫助。

Cameron, we're always working to get better line of sight onto all those factors. I think in the fleet side, it's easier to get line of sight on fleet vehicle delivery. But in the past, commitments have changed as people realize how hard it is to build electric vehicles, at least in the early days. So we keep a very close eye on how any of those delivery commitments of vehicles change.

卡梅倫，我們一直在努力更好地了解所有這些因素。我認為在車隊方面，更容易獲得車隊車輛交付的視線。但在過去，隨著人們意識到製造電動車有多麼困難（至少在早期），承諾發生了變化。因此，我們密切關注車輛交付承諾的變化。

On the commercial side, I would say that's more -- it's a bit more difficult to understand. I think what we're facing there is an uncertain economic future in the face of high interest rates with many believing we could have a nice soft landing and others believing a recession is coming. And I think the CFOs in the commercial space view charging as something that is not mandatory, and they are being conservative with their cash and waiting for some of this economic uncertainty to clear up before they start to succumb to the increased utilization pressure we're seeing on ports that's clearly happening out there.

在商業方面，我想說的是，這更難以理解。我認為，面對高利率，我們面臨著不確定的經濟未來，許多人相信我們可以實現良好的軟著陸，而另一些人則認為經濟衰退即將到來。我認為商業領域的財務長認為收費不是強制性的，他們對現金持保守態度，等待經濟不確定性的部分消除，然後才開始屈服於我們正在增加的利用壓力。在港口上看到明顯正在發生的事情。

Got it. And then just in terms of the -- what's kind of given you guys the line of sight into modest revenue growth, just any comment there, next year?

知道了。然後，就明年而言，什麼能讓你們看到適度的收入成長，有什麼評論嗎？

Yes. I can take that. Yes. So like I said before, we're using conservative estimates based on large programs that either we've already won or we have line of sight into. For the latter part of next year, this includes programs with the auto OEMs and fast charge segments. We'll continue delivery on the USPS contract, as I mentioned. There are some large auto and transit contracts that we won and we've already started executing on. So those are the things that -- whatever is already funded and we have visibility into, that's what I'm taking into my model right now. Being extremely cautious on the transactional workplace side of things because we'll have to see how the macro plays out.

是的。我可以接受。是的。正如我之前所說，我們正在使用基於我們已經獲勝或我們已經了解的大型專案的保守估計。明年下半年，這包括與汽車原始設備製造商和快速充電領域的項目。正如我所提到的，我們將繼續按照美國郵政合約交付。我們贏得了一些大型汽車和運輸合同，並且已經開始執行。所以這些就是——無論什麼已經得到資助並且我們可以看到，這就是我現在正在考慮到我的模型中的東西。在事務性工作場所方面要極為謹慎，因為我們必須看看宏觀經濟如何發揮作用。

Our next question comes from the line of Chris Pierce with Needham & Company.

我們的下一個問題來自 Needham & Company 的 Chris Pierce。

I was wondering if you could comment on competition within Level 2 charging and with Tesla kind of coming down towards Level 2. And then Level 3 seems to get a lot of the airplay within the industry. Are -- is it potentially that your customers are holding off on Level 2 and preferencing Level 3, and that's kind of putting you at a disadvantage? Or is that kind of not the right way to think about it? Just the competition in Level 2 and interplay between Level 2 and Level 3.

我想知道您是否可以評論一下 2 級充電中的競爭以及特斯拉向 2 級的下降。然後 3 級似乎在行業內得到了很多關注。您的客戶是否有可能推遲使用第 2 級並更喜歡第 3 級，這會讓您處於不利地位？或者說這不是正確的思考方式？只是Level 2的競爭以及Level 2和Level 3之間的互動。

So I don't think there's a trade-off between the 2. I think Level 2 and Level 3 fit into a customer situation, depending on their use case and the needs that they have. So I don't think there's one stealing from the other.

因此，我認為 2 級之間不需要權衡。我認為 2 級和 3 級適合客戶情況，具體取決於他們的用例和需求。所以我不認為有人會偷竊對方的東西。

Level 2 in home, we obviously saw a record quarter as we reported. When it comes to workplace, this is what we alluded to earlier, where in commercial, in general, not just workplace, I think we're seeing this viewed as a discretionary purchase, and the CFOs of the world are being cautious with discretionary purchasing. But we also see pressure building with the increased utilization, as we mentioned earlier.

正如我們報導的那樣，在主場 2 級，我們顯然看到了創紀錄的季度。當涉及工作場所時，這就是我們之前提到的，在商業領域，一般而言，不僅僅是工作場所，我認為我們將其視為可自由支配的採購，世界各地的首席財務官對可自由支配的採購持謹慎態度。但正如我們之前提到的，隨著利用率的提高，我們也看到了壓力的增加。

Okay. And then if I understand you correctly, on the last 2 quarters, you've taken the inventory charges. But without speaking to revenue, margins in the fourth quarter and beyond should kind of revert back to where they were in the last fiscal year? Like what's the right way to think about -- or will there be a little bit of a hangover until you burn through inventory? I just want to make sure -- kind of some guidance on modeling margins maybe.

好的。如果我理解正確的話，在過去的兩個季度中，您已經收取了庫存費用。但如果不談收入，第四季及以後的利潤率應該會恢復到上一財年的水準嗎？例如什麼是正確的思考方式——或者在你耗盡庫存之前會不會有一點宿醉？我只是想確定一下——也許可以提供一些關於建模利潤的指導。

Yes. So we are not giving guidance to Q4 gross margin, but I can tell you what I'm thinking right now. I think Q4 margins come back in line to the normalized Q3 margins. Obviously, it may be slightly up or down depending on where the final mix lands. And then next year, I think we will start seeing an improvement from Q4 based on the Asia manufacturing strategy, the fact that this impairment has already been taken so all of our costs are extremely clean now, so we should see fewer material variances. So all those things should help margins improve next year.

是的。因此，我們不會對第四季度的毛利率給予指導，但我可以告訴你我現在的想法。我認為第四季的利潤率將恢復到第三季標準化利潤率的水平。顯然，它可能會略有上升或下降，具體取決於最終混音的落地位置。然後明年，我認為我們將開始看到基於亞洲製造策略的第四季度的改善，事實上這種減值已經被採取，所以我們所有的成本現在都非常乾淨，所以我們應該看到更少的材料差異。因此，所有這些因素都應該有助於明年提高利潤率。

Our next question comes from the line of Robert Jamieson.

我們的下一個問題來自羅伯特·賈米森。

I just have a few here. So first, with your deep and broad customer base, just curious, are you -- like with the conservatism from the CFOs, are you seeing any kind of headwinds or pressure from like the site preparation side, where maybe the initial installments weren't as costly and now it's becoming a little bit harder to install? Is that anything that's maybe been pressuring demand?

我這裡只有幾個。因此，首先，對於您深厚而廣泛的客戶群，您只是好奇，您是否像首席財務官的保守主義一樣，是否看到了來自場地準備方面的任何阻力或壓力，而最初的分期付款可能並沒有出現在現場準備方面？成本高昂，現在安裝變得有點困難？這是否可能對需求造成壓力？

No, I haven't seen any pullback there. But I think in commercial, obviously, the total cost of ownership, which includes not only the chargers, but the installation, is something that's being considered by the financial decision-makers in the commercial space.

不，我沒有看到任何回調。但我認為在商業領域，顯然，總擁有成本（不僅包括充電器，還包括安裝）是商業領域的財務決策者正在考慮的事情。

Okay. And then just from the comments that you all have shared, and I appreciate the color. Just curious, I mean, is your top line becoming a little bit more correlated to near-term deliveries? And it's kind of what I digested the commentary as. And if that's the case, do you expect this as like a near-term kind of headwind? And then longer term, obviously, the trends are still positive from a growth standpoint, but just curious any thoughts there.

好的。從你們大家分享的評論來看，我很欣賞這種顏色。我只是好奇，你的收入是否與近期交付的相關性變得更強了？這就是我對評論的消化。如果是這樣的話，您是否認為這會是近期的逆風？從長遠來看，顯然，從成長的角度來看，趨勢仍然是正面的，但只是好奇那裡的任何想法。

Yes. We've talked about this before. We've had linearity as an issue, but a majority of the shipments in the quarter happened within the last 2 weeks. And it's not that much transactional. But at that point in time, if -- for example, on the fleet side, if our customers want to push out delivery, it gets pushed out in literally the last week. And so to that extent, we do get a little blindsided even though these are contracts that we've already won. We are on a mission to fix that, and we totally realize that having a more linear business will make our lives a lot easier. We will be able to forecast more efficiently, we'll be able to plan our operation strategy in a better way. So it's more that back-end-loaded kind of structure of our shipments that's causing more of the uncertainty, which we are on our way of fix.

是的。我們之前已經討論過這個問題。我們遇到了線性問題，但本季的大部分出貨發生在過去兩週內。而且它的交易性也不那麼大。但在那個時間點，如果——例如，在車隊方面，如果我們的客戶想要推遲交貨，那麼它實際上會在上週被推遲。因此，從這個意義上說，儘管我們已經贏得了這些合同，但我們確實有點措手不及。我們的使命是解決這個問題，我們完全意識到擁有更線性的業務將使我們的生活變得更加輕鬆。我們將能夠更有效地進行預測，我們將能夠以更好的方式規劃我們的營運策略。因此，我們的運輸的後端加載結構導致了更多的不確定性，我們正在解決這個問題。

Okay. No, that helps. And sorry, just one last one, if I can squeeze it in. Just conceptually, when you're thinking about -- and I'm not asking for guidance here. But when you're talking about like the OpEx cuts that you're going to have to make next year, how do you think about balancing in a high-growth market, obviously, your sales and marketing staff and conserving talent and keeping employees happy? Like how do you think about balancing those items as you move forward when you're going to be making some of these cuts?

好的。不，這有幫助。抱歉，如果我能把它塞進去的話，只是最後一個。只是從概念上講，當你在思考時——我並不是在這裡尋求指導。但是，當您談論明年必須削減的營運支出時，您如何考慮在高成長市場（顯然是您的銷售和行銷人員）中平衡、保留人才並讓員工感到高興？就像當你要進行一些削減時，你如何考慮在前進時平衡這些項目？

Again, we will give you a lot more color in the next call, but that is definitely top of mind. We need to balance a lot of things while we make these kind of decisions. We had to do the same thing in September. And so this is top of mind. We are all evaluating all the nuances of every action.

同樣，我們將在下次通話中為您提供更多信息，但這絕對是首要考慮的事情。在做出這種決定時，我們需要平衡很多事情。九月我們也必須做同樣的事情。所以這是首要考慮的。我們都在評估每一個行動的所有細微差別。

We have other levers like facilities costs, like external spend, like prioritizing our R&D rollouts, prioritizing our sales and marketing, investments in areas where we see revenue today, et cetera, et cetera. So a lot of significant -- a lot of efficiency improvements and we're constantly evaluating, but we will be able to give you more color at our next call.

我們還有其他槓桿，例如設施成本、外部支出、優先考慮我們的研發推廣、優先考慮我們的銷售和行銷、對我們今天看到收入的領域進行投資等等。因此，我們正在不斷評估許多重要的效率改進，但我們將能夠在下次通話中為您提供更多資訊。

Our next question comes from the line of Shreyas Patil with Wolfe Research.

我們的下一個問題來自 Wolfe Research 的 Shreyas Patil。

I guess just on this issue of reliability of the chargers, I mean, how are you addressing the reality that you don't own and operate the network, so you are having to ultimately either absorb cost of repair yourself or you have to try and encourage the station owners to do that? And either that has to be done through some kind of payment or some model that you have to use to get them to do that. How do -- just trying to understand how you could actually address some of the reliability issues as a result.

我想就充電器的可靠性問題而言，我的意思是，您如何解決您不擁有和運營網路的現實，因此您最終必須自己承擔維修成本，或者必須嘗試並鼓勵站長這樣做嗎？這要么必須透過某種付款方式來完成，要么必須使用某種模型才能讓他們做到這一點。如何做——只是想了解如何真正解決一些可靠性問題。

So in terms of covering a station that is subject to a problem after it's been energized and has charged vehicles, we have a very rich suite of aftermarket service offerings that cover that for our customers. And it all depends on their specific use case with respect to the service level that we can provide. So that -- they pay for that as part of our services and support line on our P&L, and that's a part of our recurring revenue, and that allows our customers to have peace of mind that their stations are going to be repaired and issues resolved quickly, but it also allows us to afford to do that for them.

因此，就覆蓋在通電和車輛充電後出現問題的充電站而言，我們擁有一套非常豐富的售後服務產品，可以為我們的客戶提供解決方案。這完全取決於他們的具體用例以及我們可以提供的服務等級。因此，他們支付的費用是我們損益表上服務和支援線的一部分，也是我們經常性收入的一部分，這讓我們的客戶可以放心，他們的加油站將得到維修並解決問題很快，但它也讓我們有能力為他們做這件事。

Okay. And maybe just on the material cost side, I think we had heard from prior management repeatedly about how new product introductions were going to result in significant cost reduction initiatives or significant cost reduction opportunities. And we've sort of -- it doesn't seem to be actually happening. I mean the numbers don't seem to suggest that there have been material cost savings.

好的。也許只是在材料成本方面，我認為我們已經多次從以前的管理層那裡聽說新產品的推出將如何帶來顯著的成本降低舉措或顯著的成本降低機會。我們似乎——這似乎並沒有真正發生。我的意思是，這些數字似乎並沒有表明材料成本得到了節省。

So I'm trying to understand how to frame the kind of magnitude of savings you could realize from either this new supply chain strategy or the new product introductions that you talked about that have flown through.

因此，我試圖了解如何確定您可以透過這種新的供應鏈策略或您談到的新產品介紹實現的節省幅度。

I can assure you they're worth pursuing. And part of the timing on this is related to our inventory position. We need to work through that inventory, not only that we have on hand, but that's in the supply chain before we can enjoy lower cost on both piece parts themselves as well as the manufacturing value-add that we are charged by our manufacturing partners. This is why we've indicated that by the time we get to the end of 2024, we will be very cost optimized around product cost.

我可以向你保證他們值得追求。部分時間安排與我們的庫存狀況有關。我們需要處理掉這些庫存，不僅是我們手頭上的庫存，而且是供應鏈中的庫存，然後我們才能享受到零部件本身的較低成本以及製造合作夥伴向我們收取的製造增值。這就是為什麼我們表示，到 2024 年底，我們將圍繞產品成本進行非常成本優化。

Our next question comes from the line of Steven Fox with Fox Advisors LLC.

我們的下一個問題來自 Fox Advisors LLC 的 Steven Fox。

I just had 2 clarifications. One, on the manufacturing strategy, would you say that there's still in-house final assembly that the company is doing that they could also look at to reduce fixed costs? And then secondly, on the gross margins, I know you're not talking specifically, but I would imagine there's a benefit to gross margins as you flow through some low- or no-cost, written down inventory through the income statement in coming quarters? Is that a reasonable assumption?

我剛剛做了兩點澄清。第一，關於製造策略，您是否認為公司仍在進行內部組裝，他們也可以考慮降低固定成本？其次，關於毛利率，我知道你不是在具體談論，但我想當你在未來幾季的損益表中流動一些低成本或無成本的減記庫存時，毛利率會有好處？這是一個合理的假設嗎？

So let me take the first half of that, Steven. In terms of in-house assembly, we do very little of that. But one core tenet of our product design principle is around the concept of modularity. This is very important for inventory and working capital management.

那麼讓我來談談前半部分，史蒂文。在內部組裝方面，我們做得很少。但我們產品設計原則的核心原則之一是圍繞著模組化概念。這對於庫存和營運資金管理非常重要。

Essentially, what that means is even though we have a myriad of configurations that a customer can order, for example, you can have different lengths of cables, you can have NACS connectors, you can have all kinds of different configurations in the product itself, we do all that in a very modular way, which allows us to stock relatively generic inventory, which helped us keep our inventory position down and our working capital up. I'll let Mansi take the second half of that question.

本質上，這意味著即使我們有多種配置供客戶訂購，例如，您可以有不同長度的電纜，您可以有 NACS 連接器，您可以在產品本身中有各種不同的配置，我們以非常模組化的方式完成這一切，這使我們能夠儲存相對通用的庫存，這有助於我們保持庫存狀況下降和營運資本增加。我請曼西回答這個問題的後半部。

Yes. With respect to the inventory impairment piece and the impact on margins, so the Q3 impairment was related to product transition. So we impaired all the slow-moving product that we are not actively selling today. So while there is no direct margin impact from sell-through of that product, what it does help -- where it does help margin is the material variances that we would be taking slowly over time as we find ourselves dealing with slower-moving inventory. Every quarter, we'll write off a little portion. That part is taken care of because we've taken all of that upfront. So to that extent, there will be some impact or some benefit to margin. But in terms of the actual reduction in COGS, the inventory that we now have comprises of the newer products, the next-gen products, and those are at full value.

是的。就庫存減損部分以及對利潤率的影響而言，第三季的減損與產品轉型有關。因此，我們對今天不積極銷售的所有滯銷產品進行了減損。因此，雖然該產品的銷售量不會對利潤率產生直接影響，但它確實有幫助——它確實有助於利潤率的是隨著時間的推移，當我們發現自己正在處理流動較慢的庫存時，我們將慢慢採取的實質差異。每個季度，我們都會沖銷一小部分。這部分已經得到處理，因為我們已經預先考慮了所有這些。所以從這個意義上來說，對利潤率會有一些影響或一些好處。但就銷貨成本的實際減少而言，我們現在的庫存包括較新的產品、下一代產品，而這些產品都是完全價值的。

Our final question comes from the line of Brett Castelli with Morningstar.

我們的最後一個問題來自晨星公司的 Brett Castelli。

Just sticking with that last question around new products. I just wanted to confirm that there's no new, I'll call it, large new products, either on the AC or the DC side that you're planning on rolling out over the next 12 to 18 months. I just want to confirm that, that's largely -- that's behind us at this point, at least in the [near future].

只是堅持關於新產品的最後一個問題。我只是想確認一下，你們計劃在未來 12 到 18 個月內推出的交流或直流側都沒有新的（我稱之為大型新產品）。我只是想確認一下，這在很大程度上已經過去了，至少在[不久的將來]。

Yes. Brett, we have one product transition plan for late 2024 and another one planned for mid-2025. Those will be the next 2 coming up, and we have definitely learned from our lessons and we'll make sure that we optimize the bleed down of the inventory on the products that those new products will be replacing.

是的。 Brett，我們在 2024 年底制定了一項產品過渡計劃，並計劃在 2025 年中期制定另一項產品過渡計劃。這些將是接下來的兩個，我們肯定已經從教訓中吸取了教訓，我們將確保優化這些新產品將取代的產品的庫存減少。

Okay. And is that on the AC or DC side, Rick?

好的。瑞克，那是交流側還是直流側？

No, I'm not going to go into any pre-product announcements here. I can tell you they're both awesome products, though.

不，我不會在這裡討論任何產品前的公告。不過，我可以告訴你，它們都是很棒的產品。

All right. Before we close, I'd like...

好的。在我們結束之前，我想...

I would now like to turn the call -- oh, pardon me. I'd now like to turn the call over to Rick Wilmer for closing remarks.

我現在想轉接電話——哦，請原諒。現在我想將電話轉給里克·威爾默（Rick Wilmer）做總結發言。

All right. Thank you. Before we close, I'd just like to thank our shareholders, customers and employees for your continued support. Thank you very much for your time.

好的。謝謝。在結束之前，我謹感謝我們的股東、客戶和員工的持續支持。非常感謝您的寶貴時間。

Goodbye.

再見。

I'd like to thank our speakers for today's presentation, and thank you all for joining us. You may now disconnect.

我要感謝今天的演講者，也感謝大家加入我們。您現在可以斷開連線。