Clearfield Inc (CLFD) 2025 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Good day and welcome to the Clearfield fiscal second quarter 2025 conference call. (Operator Instructions) As a reminder, this conference is being recorded.

大家好，歡迎參加 Clearfield 2025 財年第二季電話會議。（操作員指示）提醒一下，本次會議正在錄音。

I would now like to turn the conference over to your host, Greg McNifff, Investor Relations for Clearfield. Please go ahead.

現在，我想將會議交給主持人、Clearfield 投資者關係部門 Greg McNifff。請繼續。

Thank you. Joining me on today's call are Cheri Beranek, Clearfield's President and CEO; and Dan Herzog, Clearfield's CFO. As a reminder, Clearfield publishes a quarterly shareholder letter, which provides an overview of the company's financial results, operational highlights, and future outlook. You can find both the shareholder letter and the earnings release on Clearfield's investor relations website.

謝謝。參加今天電話會議的還有 Clearfield 總裁兼執行長 Cheri Beranek 和 Clearfield 財務長 Dan Herzog。提醒一下，Clearfield 每季都會發布一封給股東的信，其中概述了公司的財務表現、營運亮點和未來展望。您可以在 Clearfield 的投資者關係網站上找到股東信函和收益報告。

After brief prepared remarks, we will open the floor for a question-and-answer session. Please note that during this call, management will be making remarks regarding future events and the future financial performance of the company. These remarks constitute forward-looking statements for purposes of the Safe Harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements.

在簡短的準備好的發言之後，我們將進入問答環節。請注意，在本次電話會議中，管理層將對未來事件和公司未來財務表現發表評論。這些言論構成《私人證券訴訟改革法案》安全港條款所指的前瞻性聲明。這些前瞻性陳述受風險和不確定性的影響，可能導致實際結果與前瞻性陳述中表達的結果有重大差異。

It is important to also note that the company undertakes no obligation to update such statements except as required by law. The company cautions you to consider risk factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements contained in today's press release, shareholder letter, and on this conference call. The Risk Factors section in Clearfield's most recent Form 10-K filing with the Security and Exchange Commission and its subsequent filings on Form 10-Q provide a description of these risks.

還要注意的是，除非法律要求，否則公司不承擔更新此類聲明的義務。本公司提醒您考慮可能導致實際結果與今天的新聞稿、股東信函和本次電話會議中的前瞻性陳述中的結果有重大差異的風險因素。Clearfield 向美國證券交易委員會提交的最新 10-K 表格以及隨後提交的 10-Q 表格中的風險因素部分對這些風險進行了描述。

With that, I would like to turn the call over to Clearfield's President and CEO, Cheri Beranek. Cheri?

接下來，我想將電話轉給 Clearfield 總裁兼執行長 Cheri Beranek。雪莉？

Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining us today to discuss Clearfield's second-quarter results. We are happy to report a profitable second quarter of fiscal 2025. I will start by discussing the macro outlook followed by some commentary on the industry and then turn it over to Dan for a summary of our performance and outlook. For more detailed information, please refer to our shareholder letter posted on the IR section of our website.

大家下午好，感謝大家今天加入我們討論 Clearfield 的第二季業績。我們很高興地報告 2025 財年第二季實現獲利。我將首先討論宏觀前景，然後對行業進行一些評論，然後交給丹來總結我們的業績和前景。欲了解更詳細的信息，請參閱我們網站 IR 部分發布的股東信函。

We reported second-quarter fiscal 2025 net sales of $47.2 million, an increase of 28% over last year and above our guidance range, highlighted by net sales in our Clearfield segment, which increased 47% year over year. Likewise, our net income per share of $0.09 was above our guidance range and significantly improved from a year-ago period. Consistent with previous quarters, we view our second-quarter performance as another step closer to returning to a normalized level of growth for Clearfield.

我們報告稱，2025 財年第二季淨銷售額為 4,720 萬美元，比去年同期成長 28%，高於我們的預期範圍，其中 Clearfield 部門的淨銷售額同比增長 47%。同樣，我們的每股淨收入為 0.09 美元，高於我們的預期範圍，並且比去年同期有顯著改善。與前幾季一致，我們認為第二季的業績使 Clearfield 距離恢復正常成長水準又近了一步。

I now want to address the evolving tariff dynamic. As we've highlighted previously, all of Clearfield's products manufactured in Mexico are exempt from current tariffs as they are covered under the United States-Mexico-Canada agreement. We purposely designed our US and Mexican manufacturing facilities to support dual sourcing, cost optimization, and supply chain resilience.

我現在想談談不斷變化的關稅動態。正如我們之前強調的那樣，Clearfield 在墨西哥生產的所有產品均可免徵現行關稅，因為它們受到美國-墨西哥-加拿大協議的保護。我們特意設計了美國和墨西哥的製造工廠，以支援雙重採購、成本優化和供應鏈彈性。

And our Nestor business has enabled us to relocate our cable production from Europe to the US as well. Additionally, we are shifting the production of our affected components to multiple manufacturing sites across the globe. Our proactive diversification of our supply chain has allowed us to maintain stable product availability even as trade policies fluctuate.

我們的 Nestor 業務也使我們能夠將電纜生產從歐洲遷移到美國。此外，我們正在將受影響部件的生產轉移到全球多個製造基地。我們積極主動地實現供應鏈多元化，使得我們即使在貿易政策波動的情況下也能保持穩定的產品供應。

Regarding Asian-sourced products in particular, we maintain strong supplier relationships across Asia and have additional sources in place globally to ensure continued product availability. However, while we do anticipate increased costs as a result of the recent tariff policies, we continue to implement tactics to address these impacts and to understand how potential increases in selling prices could impact demand from our customers. We do not believe the evolving tariff situation as currently known will materially affect our operating results.

特別是對於亞洲產品，我們與亞洲各地的供應商保持著牢固的關係，並在全球範圍內擁有額外的來源，以確保產品的持續供應。然而，雖然我們確實預期最近的關稅政策會導致成本增加，但我們仍將繼續實施策略來應對這些影響，並了解潛在的銷售價格上漲將如何影響我們客戶的需求。我們認為，目前已知的關稅情勢變化不會對我們的經營業績產生重大影響。

Turning to the industry, we continue to view the BEAD program as a meaningful long-term growth catalyst, particularly for community broadband and Tier 3 service providers. Although funding has faced administrative delays and regulatory uncertainty, we remain confident in the program's direction. Despite political shifts and increased discussion around technology neutrality, we believe the majority of BEAD funding will ultimately support fiber-based infrastructure. As such, we expect that BEAD will begin to contribute materially to Clearfield's revenue in fiscal 2026.

談到產業，我們繼續將 BEAD 計劃視為有意義的長期成長催化劑，特別是對於社區寬頻和 Tier 3 服務提供者而言。儘管資金面臨行政延誤和監管不確定性，但我們仍然對該計劃的方向充滿信心。儘管政治局勢發生變化且圍繞技術中立的討論日益增多，但我們相信，大部分 BEAD 資金最終將支持基於光纖的基礎設施。因此，我們預計 BEAD 將在 2026 財年開始對 Clearfield 的營收做出重大貢獻。

As for near-term growth catalysts, we expect the Enhanced Alternative Connect America Cost Model or EACAM program to contribute meaningfully in the upcoming build season. While EACAM and BEAD funding cannot be applied to the same service addresses, providers can leverage both programs across different areas of their networks, enabling broader and more efficient network expansion. Because the BEAD and EACAM government programs combined with a return to a more normal ordering pattern for the overall industry, we believe Clearfield is well positioned to benefit from these opportunities.

至於近期的成長催化劑，我們預計增強型替代連接美國成本模型或 EACAM 計劃將在即將到來的建設季節做出有意義的貢獻。雖然 EACAM 和 BEAD 資金不能用於相同的服務位址，但提供者可以在其網路的不同區域利用這兩個計劃，從而實現更廣泛、更有效率的網路擴展。由於 BEAD 和 EACAM 政府計劃與整個行業恢復更正常的訂購模式相結合，我們相信 Clearfield 完全有能力從這些機會中受益。

Finally, I'd like to highlight an important achievement in the quarter. Our FieldSmart FiberFlex 600 active cabinet has been recognized among the best in the industry by the 2025 Lightwave+BTR Innovation Reviews in the optical category. This award further validates our approach to providing flexible, scalable solutions that empower our customers to deploy networks efficiently and effectively. As we continue positioning the company to capitalize on current opportunities, we remain focused on identifying the next catalyst for growth. I look forward to updating you on these opportunities later in the year.

最後，我想強調本季的一項重要成就。我們的 FieldSmart FiberFlex 600 主動機櫃在 2025 年 Lightwave+BTR 創新評論的光學類別中被評為業界最佳。該獎項進一步證明了我們提供靈活、可擴展解決方案的方法，使我們的客戶能夠高效、有效地部署網路。在我們繼續定位公司以利用當前機會的同時，我們仍然專注於尋找下一個成長催化劑。我期待在今年稍後向您通報這些機會。

I'd now like to turn the call over to our CFO, Dan Herzog, who will provide an overview of our financial results for the second quarter fiscal 2025, as well as to share our outlook for the remainder of the fiscal year.

現在，我想將電話轉給我們的財務長 Dan Herzog，他將概述我們 2025 財年第二季度的財務業績，並分享我們對本財年剩餘時間的展望。

Thank you, Cheri. And good afternoon, everyone. I will now review our second-quarter results, beginning with sales. Consolidated net sales in the first quarter of fiscal 2025 were $47.2 million, a 28% increase from $36.9 million in the prior-year second quarter and above our guidance range of $37 million to $40 million. This figure includes $40.6 million of Clearfield segment net sales, up 47% year over year, and $6.6 million of Nestor segment net sales down 30% year over year.

謝謝你，Cheri。大家下午好。我現在將回顧我們的第二季業績，首先是銷售額。2025 財年第一季的綜合淨銷售額為 4,720 萬美元，較去年同期的 3,690 萬美元增長 28%，高於我們的預期範圍 3,700 萬美元至 4,000 萬美元。這一數字包括 Clearfield 部門淨銷售額 4,060 萬美元，年增 47%；以及 Nestor 部門淨銷售額 660 萬美元，年減 30%。

Our outperformance this quarter was driven by strong customer demand across all our Clearfield segment end markets and solid execution as we converted quoting activity into revenue at a faster pace and higher rate than anticipated. Once again, our strong bottom-line performance and continued gross margin improvements were primarily driven by lower year-over-year excess inventory reserve costs, led by improved utilization, as well as increased overhead absorption due to increased volumes at our Clearfield facilities.

本季我們的出色表現得益於我們所有 Clearfield 細分終端市場的強勁客戶需求以及穩健的執行力，因為我們以比預期更快的速度和更高的速度將報價活動轉化為收入。再次，我們強勁的底線業績和持續的毛利率改善主要得益於同比下降的超額庫存儲備成本（主要是利用率提高）以及由於 Clearfield 工廠產量增加而導致的間接費用吸收增加。

We are pleased with the progress our Nestor segment is making with the production of Microduct at our new facility in Estonia as we continue to right-size the cost structure for the business. We remain focused on improving our European operations by prioritizing higher-gross-margin solutions. Based upon these trends, we are reiterating our fiscal 2025 outlook of net sales in the range of $170 million to $185 million.

我們很高興看到 Nestor 部門在愛沙尼亞新工廠生產 Microduct 方面取得的進展，因為我們將繼續調整業務成本結構。我們將繼續致力於透過優先考慮更高毛利率的解決方案來改善我們的歐洲業務。根據這些趨勢，我們重申 2025 財年淨銷售額預期在 1.7 億美元至 1.85 億美元之間。

As Cheri noted, we anticipate annual revenue growth for the Clearfield segment to be in line or above industry forecasts while we expect annual revenue from our Nestor segment for fiscal 2025 to fall slightly year over year as we focus on improving margins. For our third fiscal quarter of 2025, we anticipate net sales in the range of $45 million to $50 million and net income per share in the range of $0.01 to $0.08.

正如 Cheri 所指出的，我們預計 Clearfield 部門的年收入成長將與行業預測持平或高於行業預測，而我們預計 2025 財年 Nestor 部門的年收入將同比略有下降，因為我們專注於提高利潤率。對於 2025 財年第三季度，我們預計淨銷售額將在 4,500 萬美元至 5,000 萬美元之間，每股淨收入將在 0.01 美元至 0.08 美元之間。

The net income per share range is based on the number of shares outstanding at the end of the second quarter and does not reflect potential share repurchases completed in the third quarter. Our guidance reflects the evolving tariff situation as currently known, which we do not believe will materially affect our operating results.

每股淨收入範圍基於第二季末的流通股數量，並不反映第三季完成的潛在股票回購。我們的指導反映了目前已知的不斷變化的關稅情況，我們認為這不會對我們的經營業績產生重大影響。

And with that, we will open the call to your questions.

接下來，我們將開始回答你們的問題。

(Operator Instructions) Ryan Koontz, Needham & Company.

（操作員指示）Ryan Koontz，Needham & Company。

Great. Thanks for the questions. Congrats on a great quarter there. Cheri, on the product mix, can you comment on that? I know you've been very, very strong in the last several quarters on subscriber ads. Can you update us on how new passings were in your first quarter and how maybe they are off to your start of the June quarter?

偉大的。感謝您的提問。恭喜您本季取得如此出色的成績。Cheri，關於產品組合，您能評論一下嗎？我知道過去幾季你們在訂閱廣告方面表現非常強勁。您能否向我們介紹一下第一季新增病例數以及 6 月季度初新增病例數的情況？

Right. The quarter now ending in March, we had a really strong continuation of products being purchased for the connection of homes and then expanding upon that, reignited growth in products for connecting homes. There had been previously some level of surplus fiber distribution hubs or cabinets in the marketplace. Those are gone, and now our sales of cabinets are resuming.

正確的。截至三月的本季度，我們家庭連結產品購買量持續強勁成長，並在此基礎上進一步擴大，重新點燃了家庭連結產品的成長。此前，市場上存在一定程度的光纖分配中心或機櫃過剩。那些已經消失了，現在我們的櫥櫃銷售正在恢復。

I think moving forward, what we're going to see now, especially over the course of the summer when there is more focus on the connected home, which is more labor intensive, that we'll continue to see an increase in the number of homes connected using Clearfield equipment.

我認為，展望未來，我們現在將會看到，特別是在夏季，當人們更加關注勞動密集的連網家庭時，我們將繼續看到使用 Clearfield 設備連網的家庭數量增加。

Got it. And how is traction coming along on your new connected home products there?

知道了。你們的新型連網家居產品在那裡的銷售情況如何？

Really thrilled with where we're at with the home deployment kits. One of the things that we do, to me, is really always a focus on labor, always a focus on craft-friendly solutions. And the home deployment kits take all of the equipment that is necessary for turning up the home, put it in one package, which is different from anyone else in the marketplace. And then we use those solutions to where and which we take one -- a whole person out of the equation.

我們對家庭部署套件的現狀感到非常興奮。對我來說，我們所做的事情之一就是始終關注勞動力，並始終關注工藝友好的解決方案。家庭部署套件將家庭部署所需的所有設備放在一個包中，這與市場上的其他產品不同。然後我們利用這些解決方案，從等式中取出一個完整的人。

We can pull up a house with one person rather than two. So you'll see a lot of highlight about the home distribution kits in the summer trade shows and the like. You'll see a lot of it on our trucks that are coming across the country to demo our products. and you'll see a lot of that equipment in our customers' trucks that are out there connecting homes.

我們只需要一個人就可以蓋一棟房子，而不需要兩個人。因此，您將在夏季貿易展覽會等中看到許多有關家庭配送套件的亮點。您會在我們穿越全國來演示我們產品的卡車上看到很多這樣的設備。您也會在我們客戶的卡車上看到很多這樣的設備，它們正在連接各個家庭。

Great, thanks. And really a strong bounce back from your regionals there in the quarter. Nice to see. Roughly, how is that diversification within that category? Roughly how many customers are contributing materially to that number in regionals?

太好了，謝謝。本季度，您所在地區的業績確實強勁反彈。很高興看到。大致來說，該類別內的多樣化程度如何？大約有多少客戶對地區內這數字做出了重大貢獻？

Large regionals, there's a half a dozen companies that are involved, but there was one customer that did pull forward about $3 million worth of business into this quarter. And so always thrilled to be able to do ongoing business with the large regionals and being in a good place for their builds. But you will see in the Q when it's filed that we have one large region will become a 10% customer.

大型地區性企業有六家公司參與其中，但有一家客戶確實在本季帶來了價值約 300 萬美元的業務。因此，我總是很高興能夠與大型地區開展持續的業務，並為他們的建設提供良好的環境。但是，當提交 Q 時，您會看見我們有一個大區域將成為 10% 的客戶。

Great. And Dan, on the gross margin there, you talked about lower E&O reserve. Did you end up crediting back some of that E&O reserve in the quarter or you're just saying it was less of a reserve?

偉大的。丹，關於毛利率，您談到了較低的 E&O 儲備。您最終是否在本季度退回了部分 E&O 儲備金，還是您只是說儲備金減少了？

It was less of a reserve. I think last year's quarter, we had about close to $5 million or $4.9 million. This year, we ended up with -- or this quarter, we ended up with roughly around [$0.4 million]. But we did reverse about [$0.5 million] of tailwinds of recovery, so continue to see strong. That's what we talk about when we say utilization. It's kind of like prepaid inventory, and it works really well for us reducing that with the higher demand.

這不是一個儲備。我認為去年季度我們的收入大約接近 500 萬美元或 490 萬美元。今年，或者說本季，我們最終的結果是[40萬美元]。但我們確實扭轉了約 [50 萬美元] 的復甦順風，因此繼續保持強勁勢頭。這就是我們所說的利用率。這有點像預付庫存，對我們來說，隨著需求的增加，它確實可以很好地減少庫存。

Sure, great. And then lastly, you talked about Nestor, maybe making some changes there. Can you unpack that a little bit in terms of your cost-reduction approach or what you're thinking for that business?

當然，太好了。最後，您談到了 Nestor，也許在那裡做了一些改變。您能否從成本削減方法或您對該業務的想法的角度稍微解釋一下這一點？

We're continuing to expand the product mix, and the new products that are being produced there are predominantly being produced in Estonia. So we'll continue the business that we're doing in Finland and the development of cables, but our higher gross margin solutions are predominantly coming out of the Estonia plant.

我們正在繼續擴大產品組合，那裡生產的新產品主要在愛沙尼亞生產。因此，我們將繼續在芬蘭開展業務和電纜開發，但我們毛利率較高的解決方案主要來自愛沙尼亞工廠。

And that plant, we've just finished building that plant. It's really optimized for diversification, really optimized for flexibility of product mix. And so being able to bring new products to market that are in that higher margin category will really help us and get the products closer to the European continent because we could ship them out of Estonia more quickly than we can out of Finland.

我們剛剛建完了那個工廠。它確實針對多樣化進行了最佳化，確實針對產品組合的靈活性進行了最佳化。因此，能夠將利潤率更高的新產品推向市場將對我們有很大幫助，並使產品更接近歐洲大陸，因為我們可以比從芬蘭運出更快地將它們從愛沙尼亞運出。

Yes, great. Super. I'll pass it on. Thank you.

是的，太棒了。極好的。我會傳達的。謝謝。

Thank you so much.

太感謝了。

(Operator Instructions) There are no further questions at this time. At this point, I'd like to turn the call back over to Cheri Beranek for closing comments.

（操作員指示）目前沒有其他問題。現在，我想將電話轉回給 Cheri Beranek，請他發表最後評論。

Thanks so much. Unfortunately, for those of you who may be on the call, we've identified that there are a lot of calls from a lot of public companies going on at this point in time. So unfortunately, the rest of our analyst community was not able to join us today. But know that we will be speaking to each of our analysts later this evening when they are available so that they can put their reports out tomorrow morning. So for those of you who receive your reports from the analysts, know that we will have a chance to speak with each of them this evening.

非常感謝。不幸的是，對於那些可能正在參加電話會議的人來說，我們發現此時有許多上市公司正在進行電話會議。因此，很遺憾，我們分析師社群的其他成員今天無法加入我們。但請注意，我們將在今晚晚些時候與每位分析師進行交談，以便他們能夠在明天早上發布報告。因此，對於那些從分析師那裡收到報告的人來說，請知道我們今晚將有機會與他們每個人交談。

We are thrilled with where we see the market recovering. Our position, especially within the Clearfield segment, is one in which demand is there. We're seeing it both in our connected home and in our past home and excited about new trade shows and new products that you're going to see launched moving forward. We believe that the U-shaped recovery is underway, and we look forward to a lot of great business moving forward. Until next quarter, please be careful, be nice to each other, and we'll talk soon.

我們對市場復甦感到非常興奮。我們的地位，特別是在 Clearfield 領域，是存在需求的。我們在互聯家居和過去的家中都看到了它，並對即將推出的新貿易展和新產品感到興奮。我們相信，U 型復甦正在進行中，我們期待未來會出現許多偉大的業務。直到下個季度，請小心，互相友好，我們很快就會交談。

Thanks. This concludes today's conference. You may disconnect your lines at this time, and we thank you for your participation.

謝謝。今天的會議到此結束。現在您可以斷開線路，感謝您的參與。