Coherent Corp (COHR) 2023 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Good day, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the Coherent Corp. FY '23 Third Quarter Earnings Call. (Operator Instructions) Please be advised this conference is being recorded.

美好的一天，謝謝你的支持。歡迎來到 Coherent Corp. FY '23 第三季度財報電話會議。 （操作員說明）請注意，此會議正在錄製中。

I would now like to turn the conference over to your speaker today, Mary Jane Raymond, please go ahead.

我現在想將會議轉交給今天的發言人 Mary Jane Raymond，請繼續。

Thank you, Kevin, and good morning. I'm Mary Jane Raymond, Coherent's Chief Financial Officer. Welcome to our earnings call today for the third quarter of fiscal year 2023. This call is being recorded on Wednesday, May 10, 2023. With me today on the call is Dr. Chuck Mattera, our Chair and Chief Executive Officer. After our prepared remarks, Chuck and I will be joined by Dr. Giovanni Barbarossa, our Chief Strategy Officer and the President of the Materials segment; Dr. Mark Sobey, our President of the Laser segment; and Bob Bashaw, our President.

謝謝你，凱文，早上好。我是相干公司的首席財務官 Mary Jane Raymond。歡迎參加我們今天召開的 2023 財年第三季度財報電話會議。本次電話會議的錄音時間為 2023 年 5 月 10 日，星期三。今天和我一起參加電話會議的是我們的董事長兼首席執行官 Chuck Mattera 博士。在我們準備好的發言之後，Chuck 和我將加入我們的首席戰略官兼材料部門總裁 Giovanni Barbarossa 博士；我們的激光部門總裁 Mark Sobey 博士；和我們的總裁 Bob Bashaw。

They will participate in the Q&A to discuss our strategy, results and the exciting prospects across our end markets. For today's call, the press release and investor presentation are available in the Investor Relations section of our website, coherent.com. Today's results include certain non-GAAP measures. Non-GAAP financials are not a substitute for, nor are they superior to financials prepared in accordance with GAAP.

他們將參與問答環節，討論我們在終端市場的戰略、成果和令人振奮的前景。對於今天的電話會議，新聞稿和投資者介紹可在我們網站 coherent.com 的投資者關係部分獲取。今天的結果包括某些非 GAAP 措施。非 GAAP 財務數據不能替代，也不會優於根據 GAAP 編制的財務數據。

A detailed reconciliation of these non-GAAP measures to our GAAP results is included in today's documents. I remind you that during this call, we will make certain forward-looking statements. These include, but are not limited to, statements regarding geopolitical and macroeconomic trends as well as expectations for our revenue, relevant market trends and financial performance, including our guidance.

這些非 GAAP 措施與我們的 GAAP 結果的詳細核對包含在今天的文件中。我提醒您，在本次電話會議期間，我們將做出某些前瞻性陳述。這些包括但不限於關於地緣政治和宏觀經濟趨勢的陳述，以及對我們的收入、相關市場趨勢和財務業績的預期，包括我們的指導。

In addition, we will discuss our progress on integration, including our delivery of the projected synergies and certain restructuring matters. All forward-looking statements are based on today's expectations, forecasts and assumptions. They involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from our comments today.

此外，我們將討論我們在整合方面的進展，包括我們實現預期的協同效應和某些重組事項。所有前瞻性陳述均基於今天的預期、預測和假設。它們涉及風險和不確定性，可能導致實際結果與我們今天的評論存在重大差異。

Our comments should be viewed in the context of the risk factors detailed in our most recent Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2022, and subsequent SEC filings. Coherent assumes no obligation to update the information discussed during this call, except as required by law. With that, let me turn the call over to Dr. Chuck Mattera. Chuck?

我們的評論應該結合我們最近的 10-K 表格（截至 2022 年 6 月 30 日的財政年度）以及隨後提交給美國證券交易委員會的文件中詳述的風險因素來看待。相干公司不承擔更新本次電話會議期間討論的信息的義務，除非法律要求。有了這個，讓我把電話轉給 Chuck Mattera 博士。查克？

Thank you, Mary Jane, and thank you all for joining us today. Cohere Corp. posted third quarter revenues of $1.24 billion, 6% below the low end of our guidance and 8% lower than the midpoint of our guidance. Revenues were up 4% year-over-year on a pro forma basis. Organic revenue growth was up 6% year-over-year. Our non-GAAP EPS was $0.58. Our operating cash flow was $152 million, we invested $97 million of capital equipment. We generated $55 million of free cash flow, and we retired $78 million of our debt. We were intensely focused on controlling costs, managing cash and continuing our disciplined approach to capital allocation during the quarter.

謝謝你，瑪麗珍，感謝大家今天加入我們。 Cohere Corp. 公佈第三季度收入為 12.4 億美元，比我們指引的下限低 6%，比我們指引的中點低 8%。按備考計算，收入同比增長 4%。有機收入同比增長 6%。我們的非 GAAP 每股收益為 0.58 美元。我們的經營現金流為 1.52 億美元，我們投資了 9700 萬美元的資本設備。我們產生了 5500 萬美元的自由現金流，還清償了 7800 萬美元的債務。在本季度，我們非常專注於控製成本、管理現金和繼續我們嚴格的資本配置方法。

The integration of Coherent continues to go well. Our third quarter performance was impacted by some of our larger customers, requesting us to delay scheduled shipments, primarily in the networking segment. Our long-term strategy of market, technology and business diversification is clearly an advantage for us in these market conditions. That diversification together with continued strong market share performance across our core markets helped mitigate the impact of the communications market challenges that we experienced in the quarter.

相干公司的整合繼續順利進行。我們第三季度的業績受到一些大客戶的影響，他們要求我們推遲預定的發貨，主要是在網絡領域。我們的市場、技術和業務多元化的長期戰略顯然是我們在這些市場條件下的優勢。這種多元化以及我們核心市場持續強勁的市場份額表現有助於減輕我們在本季度遇到的通信市場挑戰的影響。

Specifically, the solid performance of the Materials segment, coupled with the solid performance of the legacy Coherent business, now our Lasers segment provided diversification and stability by exposing us to multiple and different growth markets. Revenues in the quarter by segment were $551 million for networking, $365 million for lasers and $324 million for materials.

具體而言，材料部門的穩健表現，加上傳統相干業務的穩健表現，現在我們的激光部門通過讓我們接觸多個不同的增長市場，提供了多元化和穩定性。按部門劃分的季度收入分別為網絡 5.51 億美元、激光 3.65 億美元和材料 3.24 億美元。

Turning to the composition of our sales by our 4 major markets, 35% was into industrial, 44% into communications, 11% into electronics and 10% into instrumentation. Regarding the distribution of our revenues by region, North America accounted for 53%, Europe was 20%, Japan and Korea were 14%, China was 11% and 3% went into the rest of the world.

看看我們 4 個主要市場的銷售額構成，工業佔 35%，通信佔 44%，電子佔 11%，儀器佔 10%。從地區分佈來看，北美佔53%，歐洲佔20%，日本和韓國占14%，中國占11%，3%進入世界其他地區。

In the face of the macro challenges in the quarter, customers are now taking proactive measures to manage inventory and cash. We expect to constrained market conditions to persist into FY '24. With this temporary slowdown in the market, we've wasted no time in aligning our cost structure with market realities. To this end, we are pulling up the schedule for some of the actions planned, as part of our multiyear synergy integration and transformation efforts. We have begun the next phase of the Coherent acquisition integration plan, including those actions involving consolidations and moves to lower-cost sites.

面對本季度的宏觀挑戰，客戶現在正在採取積極措施來管理庫存和現金。我們預計受限的市場條件將持續到 24 財年。由於市場暫時放緩，我們立即根據市場現實調整我們的成本結構。為此，作為我們多年協同整合和轉型工作的一部分，我們正在加快一些計劃行動的時間表。我們已經開始了 Coherent 收購整合計劃的下一階段，包括那些涉及合併和轉移到低成本站點的行動。

These moves, alongside our other actions will keep us on track for delivering the previously announced $250 million synergy plan. We also undertook a number of actions to align our cost with current market realities, as we begin the fourth quarter. We are accelerating the restructuring actions we began in Q3 and announced today. It is focused on workforce reductions to reduce costs and expenses and facility rationalization, including the relocation of certain facilities to increase our resiliency and to lower our costs. We are also planning to implement a multiyear digital transformation, that will help enable us to improve our manufacturing productivity and efficiency and to provide lower-cost G&A services.

這些舉措連同我們的其他行動將使我們能夠按計劃交付先前宣布的 2.5 億美元協同計劃。在第四季度開始之際，我們還採取了一系列行動來使我們的成本與當前的市場現實保持一致。我們正在加快從第三季度開始並於今天宣布的重組行動。它側重於裁員以降低成本和費用以及設施合理化，包括搬遷某些設施以提高我們的彈性並降低我們的成本。我們還計劃實施多年數字化轉型，這將有助於我們提高製造生產力和效率，並提供成本更低的 G&A 服務。

We expect to realize $100 million to $125 million of restructuring savings on an annual basis by FY '25. Cumulative savings for the period FY '23 to FY '25 will range from $200 million to $300 million. The cost to achieve these savings will be between $150 million to $200 million. The good news is that it's very clear to me that our continued investment in the markets we serve, with best-in-class people and technology has earned us a strategic and highly competitive position at a growing number of customers.

我們預計到 25 財年，每年可節省 1 億至 1.25 億美元的重組費用。 23 財年至 25 財年期間的累計節省額將在 2 億美元至 3 億美元之間。實現這些節省的成本將在 1.5 億至 2 億美元之間。好消息是，我非常清楚，我們對我們所服務的市場的持續投資，以及一流的人才和技術，使我們在越來越多的客戶中贏得了具有戰略意義和極具競爭力的地位。

We've been planning and executing this evolution for a long time, including the most recent acquisitions of Finisar and Coherent. The power of our diversified and larger scale model is very clear to me. Our work is not done, rather it's just beginning. We are confident that our new product portfolio, technology and manufacturing platforms will be ready as the growth resumes. I also am confident in our ability to secure new design wins across our key product lines to drive long-term differentiated performance. We are very well positioned to continue benefiting from strong and durable technology trends, that we do not see abating anytime soon. With respect to our 4 end markets and communications, we experienced a near-term slowdown in the datacom market with some hyperscale and enterprise computing customers and with our telecom and cable TV customers as well as many abruptly shifted their focus in the quarter, from managing their supply chain shortages to managing their inventory surpluses.

長期以來，我們一直在計劃和執行這一演變，包括最近對 Finisar 和 Coherent 的收購。我非常清楚我們多元化和更大規模模型的力量。我們的工作還沒有完成，而只是剛剛開始。我們相信，隨著增長的恢復，我們的新產品組合、技術和製造平台將準備就緒。我也對我們在關鍵產品線中贏得新設計以推動長期差異化績效的能力充滿信心。我們處於非常有利的地位，可以繼續受益於強勁而持久的技術趨勢，我們認為這種趨勢不會很快減弱。關於我們的 4 個終端市場和通信，我們經歷了數據通信市場的近期放緩，一些超大規模和企業計算客戶以及我們的電信和有線電視客戶以及許多人在本季度突然轉移了他們的注意力，從管理他們的供應鏈短缺來管理他們的庫存盈餘。

These affected our telecom and datacom businesses about equally. Datacom revenues were $294 million compared to $332 million in Q3 of FY '22. And telecom revenues were $245 million compared to $222 million also in Q3 FY '22. We believe, this is a temporary interruption in the growth trajectory of these markets that will continue into FY '24. We also believe that the fundamental growth drivers of our communications market are intact, including increasing internet traffic, the proliferation of network devices and increased broadband and mobile data rates.

這些對我們的電信和數據通信業務的影響大致相同。數據通信收入為 2.94 億美元，而 22 財年第三季度為 3.32 億美元。電信收入為 2.45 億美元，而 22 財年第三季度的收入也為 2.22 億美元。我們認為，這是這些市場增長軌蹟的暫時中斷，並將持續到 24 財年。我們還相信，我們通信市場的基本增長動力完好無損，包括互聯網流量的增加、網絡設備的激增以及寬帶和移動數據速率的增加。

While datacom will be partially affected in the short term by the temporary pullback in investments in infrastructure, including the metaverse, it is expected to come back strongly, driven by the deployments of hyperscale computing, and for artificial intelligence and machine learning. In fact, we believe that we are at another inflection point in a decade-long megatrend forming with artificial intelligence and machine learning, and we expect these trends to account for more than half of all datacom transceiver shipments by 2028.

雖然短期內數據通信將部分受到包括元宇宙在內的基礎設施投資暫時回落的影響，但在超大規模計算的部署以及人工智能和機器學習的推動下，預計它會強勁回歸。事實上，我們認為我們正處於人工智能和機器學習形成的長達十年的大趨勢的另一個轉折點，我們預計到 2028 年這些趨勢將佔所有數據通信收發器出貨量的一半以上。

Despite the current datacom market reset, our industry-leading position in 200G and above remains very strong. Our leadership in this area derives from the vertical integration of our high-speed lasers, optics and electronics and our transceiver modules, and our ability to scale to meet aggressive volume ramps of the world's leading data center operators. In addition to the growth of our 200G and 400G datacom transceivers, we are accelerating our 800G shipments in anticipation of exponential growth beginning in FY '24.

儘管當前數據通信市場正在重新調整，但我們在 200G 及以上的行業領先地位仍然非常穩固。我們在這一領域的領先地位源於我們的高速激光器、光學和電子產品以及我們的收發器模塊的垂直整合，以及我們的擴展能力以滿足世界領先的數據中心運營商積極的數量增長。除了我們的 200G 和 400G 數據通信收發器的增長，我們正在加速我們的 800G 出貨量，以期在 24 財年開始出現指數級增長。

In telecom, we are a vertically-integrated market leader with our Coherent transceivers and disaggregated solutions. Once the growth resumes, we expect all of these products to continue to grow at double-digit percentages annually. We continue to invest in a broad product portfolio to address evolving requirements of our customers, who are focusing their resources on developing new platforms, and we are engaged in intense design and activity in response to multiple new opportunities ahead.

在電信領域，我們是垂直整合的市場領導者，擁有我們的相干收發器和分類解決方案。一旦恢復增長，我們預計所有這些產品將繼續以每年兩位數的百分比增長。我們繼續投資於廣泛的產品組合，以滿足客戶不斷變化的需求，他們將資源集中在開發新平台上，我們正在進行密集的設計和活動，以應對未來的多個新機遇。

These opportunities in telecom stemmed from disaggregation and are being increasingly led by hyperscalers, who through their continued build-out of metro, regional and submarine networks are also driving paradigm shifts in the transport network architecture. With our existing telecom transceiver portfolio and our differentiated DSP technology road map, we plan to launch the first 100G Coherent solution for network edge applications. We expect that the planned $65 billion investment in broadband access from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act will be a major catalyst for our optical communications business.

電信領域的這些機會源於分解，並且越來越多地由超大規模企業引領，他們通過持續建設城域網、區域網絡和海底網絡，也在推動傳輸網絡架構的範式轉變。憑藉我們現有的電信收發器產品組合和我們差異化的 DSP 技術路線圖，我們計劃推出第一個用於網絡邊緣應用的 100G 相干解決方案。我們預計基礎設施投資和就業法案中計劃的 650 億美元寬帶接入投資將成為我們光通信業務的主要催化劑。

Finally, as space is the new frontier, we are seeing a strong increase in demand for our differentiated products for satellite communications. In industrial, our revenues in the quarter were $438 million, down 3% sequentially. However, we saw a sustained strength in semiconductor cap equipment front-end sales, which grew 15% year-over-year and 8% sequentially and includes our EUV lithography products whose sales grew 30% sequentially. Lasers for both semiconductor wafer inspection and spike annealing set quarterly records and have a strong outlook at least through the rest of the calendar year. Our leading display customers lowered their demand outlook by greater than 35% due to a decrease in factory utilization based on lower demand, the lowest in 4 years.

最後，由於太空是新領域，我們看到對我們用於衛星通信的差異化產品的需求強勁增長。在工業領域，我們本季度的收入為 4.38 億美元，環比下降 3%。然而，我們看到半導體封蓋設備前端銷售額持續強勁，同比增長 15%，環比增長 8%，其中包括我們的 EUV 光刻產品，其銷售額環比增長 30%。用於半導體晶圓檢測和尖峰退火的激光器創下了季度記錄，並且至少在本日曆年的剩餘時間裡前景看好。由於需求下降導致工廠利用率下降，這是 4 年來的最低水平，因此我們領先的顯示器客戶將需求前景下調了 35% 以上。

This led to a decrease in our forecasted service business in Korea. In the quarter, a big highlight was that our sales of display spare parts into China, surpassed those of Korea for the first time, giving a clear sign of market growth in China, even though we see some sluggish demand for mobile devices. We expect these short-term consumer demand and inventory-related headwinds will resolve as we move towards the calendar Q3 release of the next-gen smartphones from industry leaders.

這導致我們預測的韓國服務業務減少。本季度的一大亮點是我們在中國的顯示器備件銷售額首次超過韓國，這是中國市場增長的明顯跡象，儘管我們看到移動設備的需求有些低迷。我們預計這些短期消費者需求和與庫存相關的逆風將隨著我們走向行業領導者的下一代智能手機的日曆 Q3 發布而消退。

Such a trend also aligns with the widely announced new Gen 8.5 fab investments in China that we believe will drive a strong recovery in our OLED business into calendar year '24. In the month of March, we said an all-time record for sales into the laser aftermarket in North America. We continue to experience strong welding design wins for our kilowatt arm fiber lasers and our high- [ag] beam delivery solutions, as a result of the acceleration of EV and battery factories around the world. Instrumentation was up 4% sequentially to $125 million, as we continue to set records in this market through strength across the board, led by applications in immunology and laser-assisted procedures.

這種趨勢也與廣泛宣布的在中國的新 Gen 8.5 晶圓廠投資相吻合，我們相信這將推動我們的 OLED 業務強勁復甦進入 24 日曆年。 3 月份，我們說北美激光售後市場的銷售額創下歷史新高。由於全球 EV 和電池工廠的加速發展，我們的千瓦臂光纖激光器和高銀光束傳輸解決方案繼續在焊接設計方面取得巨大成功。儀器業務環比增長 4% 至 1.25 億美元，因為我們通過在免疫學和激光輔助程序中的應用引領的全面實力繼續在該市場創造記錄。

Sales of our ultrafast laser-based advanced imaging systems for neuroscience increased as well, and we had our strongest quarter in scientific since pre-COVID times. We shipped our 100,000th OBIS mini laser, and we added several new design wins for our light engine solutions, where we combine the lasers and optics that form the engine of our customers' products. It is our strategy to enable customers to source the entire laser light illumination side of their systems from coherent, accelerating their time to market, time to quality and time to cost. We believe that we can grow our revenue in the years to come well ahead of the market by expanding this addressable market.

我們用於神經科學的基於超快激光的高級成像系統的銷售額也有所增長，並且我們在科學領域取得了自 COVID 時代以來最強勁的季度。我們出貨了第 100,000 台 OBIS 迷你激光器，並為我們的光引擎解決方案增加了幾個新的設計勝利，我們將激光器和光學器件結合在一起，形成客戶產品的引擎。我們的戰略是讓客戶能夠從相干源中獲取系統的整個激光照明端，從而加快上市時間、質量時間和成本時間。我們相信，通過擴大這個潛在市場，我們可以在未來幾年增加收入，遠遠領先於市場。

At the other end of the optical spectrum, we shipped our 50th meter-class optic for the 30-meter telescope with more than 150 units to go before completion over the next several years. Meanwhile, the James Webb telescope continues to send back mind-bending images, and we are proud of Coherent's contributions, as the prime supplier of the world's most advanced space and terrestrial imaging systems. In electronics, our revenues were $139 million, up 121% year-over-year, led by consumer electronics for sensing. Our customer intimacy in this market gives us confidence that the long-term opportunity in consumer electronics is much broader than just in VCSELs for 3D sensing.

在光譜的另一端，我們為 30 米望遠鏡運送了 50 米級光學器件，在未來幾年完成之前還有 150 多個單元要運走。與此同時，James Webb 望遠鏡繼續發回令人費解的圖像，作為世界上最先進的空間和地面成像系統的主要供應商，我們為相干公司的貢獻感到自豪。在電子產品方面，我們的收入為 1.39 億美元，同比增長 121%，其中傳感類消費電子產品領漲。我們在這個市場上與客戶的親密關係使我們相信，消費電子產品的長期機會比僅用於 3D 傳感的 VCSEL 更廣泛。

However, we expect lower revenue from just under 10% to 3% or less of our annual revenues for the next 18 to 24 months, as some design changes take effect. We believe that sensing will ultimately become ubiquitous in metaverse hardware and wearables as well as in LIDAR and other emerging applications. Our strategic engagements are growing across them all. Regarding our outlook that we will discuss today, it reflects a degree of caution, around customer buying patterns in the near term. While June was traditionally legacy II-VI strongest quarter, the macro factors we are experiencing, along with seasonality will result in lower revenues sequentially.

然而，隨著一些設計變更生效，我們預計未來 18 至 24 個月的收入占我們年收入的比例將略低於 10% 至 3% 或更少。我們相信，傳感最終將在元宇宙硬件和可穿戴設備以及激光雷達和其他新興應用中變得無處不在。我們的戰略參與在所有方面都在增長。關於我們今天將討論的前景，它反映了對近期客戶購買模式的謹慎態度。雖然 6 月傳統上是 II-VI 最強勁的季度，但我們正在經歷的宏觀因素以及季節性因素將導致收入連續下降。

We will continue to stay focused on cost control, synergy realization and cash generation, while we align our cost to market realities. We will work to restructure and transform the company and position our product portfolios for sustainability to enable timely resumption of our growth as the market turns up. Our synergy and restructuring plans will further enhance our competitive position by driving greater scale and focus at existing sites, and affording increased flexibility and efficiency, product road map alignment and access to lower cost structures.

我們將繼續專注於成本控制、協同效應實現和現金生成，同時使我們的成本與市場現實保持一致。我們將努力對公司進行重組和轉型，並將我們的產品組合定位為可持續發展，以便在市場出現時及時恢復我們的增長。我們的協同效應和重組計劃將通過擴大現有站點的規模和重點、提供更高的靈活性和效率、產品路線圖調整和獲得更低成本的結構來進一步增強我們的競爭地位。

We have completed a rigorous analysis of these plans a careful assessment of the effects on our people, and believe that these moves will position us to achieve both short- and long-term commitments. With respect to our silicon carbide business, it grew more than 40% year-over-year. This business continues to be one of our top priorities. Therefore, our equipment investments in the silicon carbide platform expansion were again, about half of our total capital investment. The market is showing signs of a prolonged period of severe capacity constraints forming.

我們已經完成了對這些計劃的嚴格分析和對我們員工影響的仔細評估，並相信這些舉措將使我們能夠實現短期和長期承諾。碳化矽業務同比增長超過40%。這項業務仍然是我們的首要任務之一。因此，我們在碳化矽平台擴建中的設備投資再次占到我們總資本投資的一半左右。市場顯示出長期嚴重的產能限制正在形成的跡象。

We are extremely well positioned, as we have steadily gained share and in what we believe will be an underserved market for many years to come. We are increasingly asked by our customers to support a continuously increasing demand, and we have also often been asked by investors what our end game is for this business. Even with the $1 billion investment over 10 years that we announced in August of 2021, the gap between projected supply and demand is accelerating, and so we now believe that the market leader who emerges will be the incumbent, who is able to timely close the gap and serve the market needs. This will require a relentless focus on operational excellence and the results orientation that is a natural part of our company culture, and it will also require an even greater commitment to investment.

我們處於非常有利的位置，因為我們已經穩步增加了份額，並且我們相信在未來許多年內這將是一個服務不足的市場。越來越多的客戶要求我們支持不斷增長的需求，投資者也經常問我們這項業務的最終目標是什麼。即使我們在 2021 年 8 月宣布了 10 年的 10 億美元投資，預計供需之間的差距仍在加速，因此我們現在相信出現的市場領導者將是現任者，他能夠及時關閉差距，服務於市場需求。這將需要不懈地關注卓越運營和結果導向，這是我們公司文化的自然組成部分，並且還需要更大的投資承諾。

We see a unique opportunity to further accelerate our growth, through either accelerated investment and or deeper strategic partnerships. To that end, we have commenced the review of the strategic alternatives for our silicon carbide business. This review is focused on effectively serving the market, at the same time while maximizing long-term shareholder value for our Coherent shareholders by considering a range of potential alternatives. These include a sale, joint venture, minority investment were simply staying the course with the continued execution of our business plan.

我們看到了一個獨特的機會，可以通過加速投資和/或更深入的戰略合作夥伴關係來進一步加速我們的增長。為此，我們已開始審查碳化矽業務的戰略選擇。本次審查的重點是有效地服務於市場，同時通過考慮一系列潛在的替代方案，為我們的 Coherent 股東實現長期股東價值最大化。其中包括出售、合資、少數股權投資，這些都只是為了繼續執行我們的業務計劃而堅持到底。

We remain firmly committed to our customers, employees and our shareholders, and we'll continue to invest in capital, capacity and technology innovations, including expanding our portfolio, so as to become a full-line supplier of silicon carbide power devices and modules. We can give no assurances as to the outcome of this process. And following our Q&A session today, we do not intend to make any further public comment regarding this matter until we have a material development to disclose.

我們始終堅定地致力於我們的客戶、員工和股東，我們將繼續投資於資本、產能和技術創新，包括擴大我們的產品組合，以成為碳化矽功率器件和模塊的全線供應商。我們無法保證此過程的結果。在今天的問答環節之後，在我們有重大進展要披露之前，我們不打算就此事發表任何進一步的公眾評論。

With that, I'll turn it over to Mary Jane. Mary Jane?

有了這個，我會把它交給瑪麗珍。瑪麗珍？

Thank you, Chuck. Our backlog of $2.6 billion landed, as we expected it would. Our Q3 non-GAAP gross margin was 37.3%, and the non-GAAP operating margin was 17.5%. Supply chain costs were minimal in Q3. At segment level, the non-GAAP operating margins were 13.6% for networking, 27.5% for materials and 14.6% for lasers. During the quarter, with a sudden downturn in revenue, we carried approximately $15 million of under-absorbed capacity, and the gross margin was also affected by $8 million in FX and $7 million due to mix.

謝謝你，查克。正如我們預期的那樣，我們 26 億美元的積壓訂單落地了。我們第三季度的非美國通用會計準則毛利率為 37.3%，非美國通用會計準則營業利潤率為 17.5%。第三季度供應鏈成本最低。在細分市場層面，網絡的非 GAAP 營業利潤率為 13.6%，材料為 27.5%，激光為 14.6%。在本季度，由於收入突然下滑，我們的產能吸收不足約為 1500 萬美元，毛利率也受到 800 萬美元的外彙和 700 萬美元的混合影響。

Our operating expenses, SG&A plus R&D were 19.8% of sales, on a non-GAAP basis. The non-GAAP items were $62 million in amortization, $29 million in stock comp and $16 million of transaction and integration costs. Total stock comp is expected to be $26 million to $30 million in Q4. Synergies have now reached $66 million on an annualized basis, and we're making good progress in all categories. With respect to further details on our cost savings actions, our $100 million to $125 million of targeted cost reductions are in addition to our $250 million of cost synergies. These cost reductions are expected to be at least $130 million by fiscal year '27.

根據非公認會計原則，我們的運營費用、SG&A 加上研發費用佔銷售額的 19.8%。非 GAAP 項目為 6200 萬美元的攤銷、2900 萬美元的股票補償和 1600 萬美元的交易和整合成本。第四季度的總股票薪酬預計為 2600 萬至 3000 萬美元。協同效應現在已經達到每年 6600 萬美元，我們在所有類別中都取得了良好的進展。關於我們的成本節約行動的更多細節，除了我們 2.5 億美元的成本協同效應之外，我們還有 1 億至 1.25 億美元的目標成本削減。到 27 財年，這些成本預計將至少減少 1.3 億美元。

The FY '23 through '25 cumulative savings are expected to be between $200 million and $300 million, and the cost to achieve them are approximately $150 million to $200 million, including severance, retention, new net labor costs in the lower cost locations, facility moves, short-term duplicate costs and lease termination costs, along with IT consolidation. Quarterly non-GAAP EPS was $0.58, against a diluted share count of 141 million shares.

23 財年到 25 財年的累計節省預計在 2 億美元到 3 億美元之間，實現這些成本的成本約為 1.5 億美元到 2 億美元，包括遣散費、留用費、低成本地點的新淨勞動力成本、設施移動、短期重複成本和租賃終止成本，以及 IT 整合。季度非 GAAP 每股收益為 0.58 美元，而稀釋後的股票數量為 1.41 億股。

GAAP and non-GAAP EPS calculations are on Tables 6 and 7 of our press release. Interest expense in the quarter was $75 million. And for the 9 months ended March 31, interest expense was $208 million. Our total interest cost for fiscal year '23 is expected to be [$250] -- $281 million to $284 million. The March 31 cash balance was $901 million, just $12 million below the 12/31 balance. After paying down $78 million of debt in Q3, our total debt position on March 31 was $4.5 billion.

GAAP 和非 GAAP 每股收益計算在我們新聞稿的表 6 和表 7 中。本季度的利息支出為 7500 萬美元。截至 3 月 31 日的 9 個月，利息支出為 2.08 億美元。我們 23 財年的總利息成本預計為 [250 美元]——2.81 億美元至 2.84 億美元。 3 月 31 日的現金餘額為 9.01 億美元，僅比 12/31 餘額低 1200 萬美元。在第三季度償還了 7800 萬美元的債務後，我們在 3 月 31 日的總債務頭寸為 45 億美元。

Using the trailing 12 months of adjusted EBITDA on a pro forma basis for the combined company at March 31, the gross leverage was 3.5x, and the net leverage was 2.8x with the synergy credit, including the cost savings and the synergy credit of $312 million that is allowed by our credit facility definition, the growth leverage is 2.9x, and the net leverage is 2.3x.

使用合併後公司過去 12 個月的調整後 EBITDA 截至 3 月 31 日的預估基礎，總槓桿率為 3.5 倍，淨槓桿率為 2.8 倍，其中包括成本節約和 312 美元的協同信用我們的信貸額度定義允許的百萬美元，增長槓桿為 2.9 倍，淨槓桿為 2.3 倍。

Note that the $38 million of synergies are already in the result. The total of $312 million and $38 million equals $350 million. The additional $100 million of savings is worth [0.2] of a [turn] on leverage. Let me just restate the leverage without the synergy credit. As of March 31, the gross leverage was 3.5x, and the net leverage was 2.8x without the synergy credit.

請注意，3800 萬美元的協同效應已經體現在結果中。 3.12 億美元和 3800 萬美元的總和為 3.5 億美元。額外節省的 1 億美元相當於 [0.2] 的 [turn] 槓桿率。讓我在沒有協同信用的情況下重申槓桿作用。截至 3 月 31 日，在沒有協同信貸的情況下，總槓桿率為 3.5 倍，淨槓桿率為 2.8 倍。

With the synergy credit, it's 2.9x gross and the net leverage is 2.3x gross -- 2.3x net. Our effective tax rate in the quarter was 154%, and the non-GAAP tax rate for the quarter was 19%. We expect the tax rate for fiscal year '23 to be between 30% to 32%, assuming the current mix of earnings and no adoption of new or additional tax release.

有了協同信用，它是毛利率的 2.9 倍，淨槓桿是毛利率的 2.3 倍——淨值的 2.3 倍。我們本季度的有效稅率為 154%，本季度的非 GAAP 稅率為 19%。我們預計 23 財年的稅率將在 30% 至 32% 之間，假設當前的收益組合不採用新的或額外的稅收發布。

Turning to the outlook for Q4 FY '23. Our outlook for revenue for the fourth fiscal quarter ending June 30, 2023, is expected to be $1.125 billion to $1.175 billion and earnings per share on a non-GAAP basis to be $0.33 to $0.43 per share. On a full year basis, our revenue outlook is $5.08 billion to $5.15 billion.

轉向 23 財年第四季度的展望。我們對截至 2023 年 6 月 30 日的第四財季的收入預期為 11.25 億美元至 11.75 億美元，按非美國通用會計準則計算的每股收益為 0.33 美元至 0.43 美元。按全年計算，我們的收入前景為 50.8 億美元至 51.5 億美元。

Our non-GAAP EPS estimate assumes that the preliminary effects of purchase accounting are added back to the GAAP EPS other than the depreciation that is $5 million per quarter. The share count is 142 million shares for the entire non-GAAP EPS guidance range and both Series A and B are anti-dilutive. This means Series A and B dividends should be deducted from net income, and the share should not be included in the share count. The EPS calculation, including the dividend treatment is detailed on Table 8 of the press release for the guidance range. This table also shows the earnings at which the Series B preferred stock is dilutive.

我們的非 GAAP 每股收益估計假設採購會計的初步影響被加回 GAAP 每股收益，而不是每季度 500 萬美元的折舊。在整個非 GAAP 每股收益指導範圍內，股票數量為 1.42 億股，A 系列和 B 系列都是反稀釋的。這意味著 A 系列和 B 系列的股息應從淨收入中扣除，股份不應計入股份數量。每股收益計算，包括股息處理，詳見新聞稿表 8 的指導範圍。該表還顯示了 B 系列優先股具有稀釋性的收益。

All of the foregoing is at today's exchange rates. For the non-GAAP earnings per share, we add back to the GAAP earnings pretax amounts of $190 million to $210 million, including $95 million in amortization, $27 million in stock comp and $70 million to $80 million for integration and restructuring. The actual dollar amount of non-GAAP items, the tax rate, the exchange rates, the purchase price accounting and the share count are all subject to change. As a reminder, our answers today may contain forecasts, from which our actual results may differ materially due to a variety of factors.

上述所有內容均按今天的匯率計算。對於非 GAAP 每股收益，我們將 1.9 億至 2.1 億美元的 GAAP 稅前收益加回，包括 9500 萬美元的攤銷、2700 萬美元的股票補償和 7000 萬至 8000 萬美元的整合和重組。非 GAAP 項目的實際美元金額、稅率、匯率、購買價格核算和股份數量都可能發生變化。提醒一下，我們今天的回答可能包含預測，由於各種因素，我們的實際結果可能與這些預測存在重大差異。

These include changes in mix, customer requirements, supply chain availability, competition and economic conditions to name a few. With that, Kevin, you may open the line for questions. Actually, let me amend one last thing. In our guidance range, the add-back are $95 million in amortization, $27 million in stock comp and $70 million to $85 million for integration and restructuring. All right then. Kevin, you can open the line for questions.

其中包括組合變化、客戶要求、供應鏈可用性、競爭和經濟條件等等。有了這個，凱文，你可以打開問題熱線。實際上，讓我修改最後一件事。在我們的指導範圍內，增加的攤銷費用為 9500 萬美元，股票費用為 2700 萬美元，整合和重組費用為 7000 萬至 8500 萬美元。那好吧。凱文，你可以打開問題熱線。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員說明）

Our first question comes from Ananda Baruah with Loop Capital.

我們的第一個問題來自 Loop Capital 的 Ananda Baruah。

Really appreciate taking the questions here. I guess, just to start, this could be for both Chuck and Mary Jane. How are you thinking -- well, I guess how would you describe sort of visibility, as you think about it? And then also, sort of with regards to backlog, how are you relating to the backlog now? Do you think of it any differently than you did 90 days ago? And then, I have a quick follow-up.

非常感謝在這裡提出問題。我想，只是開始，這可能是給查克和瑪麗·簡的。你是怎麼想的——好吧，我猜你會如何描述可見性，正如你所想的那樣？然後，關於積壓，您現在與積壓有何關係？你對它的看法與 90 天前有什麼不同嗎？然後，我有一個快速跟進。

The backlog is still strong. The customers are definitely changing their ordering patterns, given the shorter lead times, and they work off on inventory. That's not all of them, but that's a general theme. And I'm still feeling pretty good about it at least for the next couple of quarters.

積壓量仍然很大。考慮到更短的交貨時間，客戶肯定會改變他們的訂購模式，並且他們會減少庫存。這不是全部，但這是一個普遍的主題。至少在接下來的幾個季度裡，我仍然對此感覺很好。

Got it. And actually, I'll make this one my follow-up, Chuck. I guess that is to say you guys have described the backlog for a while now is a high-quality backlog. And so, it sounds like that's still your opinion. And while orders may be getting moved around, sounds like, I guess, is it fair to say you're not seeing significant cancellations. It's more like pushouts and reordering of timing of backlog orders.

知道了。實際上，查克，我會讓這個成為我的後續行動。我想這就是說你們已經將積壓描述了一段時間，現在是高質量的積壓。所以，聽起來這仍然是你的意見。雖然訂單可能會四處移動，但我想，可以說你沒有看到大量取消是否公平。它更像是對積壓訂單時間的推出和重新排序。

That's right. We are not seeing any significant cancellations. And in fact, the main thing that is moving in the backlog is, as we mentioned, is that customers are returning to more typical order patterns. So in some markets, that may be 13-weeks visibility or 26-weeks visibility, whereas during the period of intensive supply chain shortages, some customers had visibility for us out, as long as a year in order that we could share that with the suppliers.

這是正確的。我們沒有看到任何重大取消。事實上，正如我們所提到的，積壓中的主要變化是客戶正在回歸更典型的訂單模式。因此，在某些市場中，這可能是 13 週或 26 週的可見性，而在供應鏈嚴重短缺的時期，一些客戶為我們提供了長達一年的可見性，以便我們可以與供應商。

Our next question comes from Simon Leopold with Raymond James.

我們的下一個問題來自 Simon Leopold 和 Raymond James。

First one I wanted to ask is more of kind of a philosophical one is given the results today, you didn't choose to preannounce the quarter that was below your guidance.

我想問的第一個問題更像是一個哲學問題，今天給出了結果，你沒有選擇預先宣布低於你指導的季度。

Just wondering sort of how you think about that from a policy perspective. And then, in terms of my follow-up, I'll ask both now because the first one is pretty easy -- is when we think about the trends there, do you think of June as sort of setting a bottom end based on everything you see today. I understand it could change -- if it is the bottoming, how long do you think it could last?

只是想知道您如何從政策角度考慮這一點。然後，就我的後續行動而言，我現在會問這兩個問題，因為第一個問題很簡單——當我們考慮那裡的趨勢時，你是否認為 6 月是基於一切設定底端你看到今天。我知道它可能會改變——如果它是觸底，你認為它會持續多久？

So with respect to the preannounce, we determined that our best message was delivered in connection with the full earnings call and the Q&A, as well as the discussions that we have with many of you. So, we did think about that very carefully, and that was the conclusion we came to. Simon, I'm sorry, what's the second part of your question, you were asking, how long do we expect the bottom to last? Was that it?

因此，關於預告，我們確定我們最好的信息是與完整的收益電話會議和問答以及我們與你們中的許多人進行的討論有關的。所以，我們確實非常仔細地考慮過這個問題，這就是我們得出的結論。西蒙，對不起，你的問題的第二部分是什麼，你在問，我們預計底部會持續多久？是這樣嗎？

More or less, yes. I guess it's 2 parts in that, is sort of June setting a bottom? And then, how long do we expect this phase last?

或多或少，是的。我猜它分為兩部分，6 月是否觸底？然後，我們期望這個階段持續多長時間？

Well, Simon, as I said, I expect it to last into FY '24. I'm not prepared to say in which quarter in FY '24, do I think an inflection point takes place. We're preparing to have at least this level of demand and probably a little bit of upside that we're working to get for at least another 1 or 2 quarters at least.

好吧，西蒙，正如我所說，我希望它能持續到 24 財年。我不准備說 24 財年的哪個季度，我認為會出現拐點。我們正準備至少有這種水平的需求，並且可能有一點上行空間，我們正在努力至少再持續 1 或 2 個季度。

Our next question comes from Jed Dorsheimer of William Blair.

我們的下一個問題來自 William Blair 的 Jed Dorsheimer。

I guess first one, maybe, Chuck, is a follow-up to that previous. It looks as this everything kind of tied to consumer, whether directly or indirectly is kind of where you're seeing the biggest or the quickest slowdown, i.e., display, OLED. And I guess, as you think about the credit markets that have largely seized and unlikely to kind of open and which is probably the visibility.

我想第一個，也許，查克，是對前一個的跟進。看起來這一切都與消費者有關，無論是直接還是間接，都是你看到最大或最快放緩的地方，即顯示器、OLED。我想，正如你所想的那樣，信貸市場在很大程度上已經被佔領並且不太可能開放，這可能是可見性。

I guess what would -- as you think about shifting priorities within your business? Is that how you're thinking about that comment in terms of bouncing off of what may be a bottom? Or are you anticipating sort of a return in that display side of the business, maybe by micro-LEDs? And then I have a follow-up.

當您考慮在您的業務中改變優先級時，我想會怎樣？你是如何看待從底部反彈的評論的？或者您是否期待顯示業務的某種回報，也許是微型 LED？然後我有一個後續行動。

Okay. Mark, do you want to take that?

好的。馬克，你要拿那個嗎？

Sure, Chuck, can you hear me okay?

當然，查克，你能聽到我說話嗎？

Yes.

是的。

Yes. So we definitely saw a softening, as Chuck mentioned, in specifically the -- our service business out of Korea. We do clearly see everything, we read from other people's quarterly reports is clearly we're seeing some slowing in mobile demand, some display inventory adjustment, both at the end users, as well as at our customers.

是的。因此，正如查克提到的那樣，我們肯定看到了一種軟化，特別是在我們在韓國以外的服務業務方面。我們確實清楚地看到了一切，我們從其他人的季度報告中清楚地看到，我們看到移動需求有所放緩，一些顯示庫存調整，無論是在最終用戶還是我們的客戶。

So we definitely see that today. We would expect seasonally with most of the leading smartphone manufacturer launched new products in our first quarter in the July to September time frame. So we would expect to see that come back and we usually get the pre kind of quality build towards the end of the year. So I think certainly, on the -- speaking specifically to the display side, we definitely would expect that to recover somewhat in the second half of the year. But your observation that it's tied broader to consumer, I think, is pretty accurate.

所以我們今天肯定會看到這一點。我們預計大多數領先的智能手機製造商會在 7 月至 9 月的第一季度季節性推出新產品。所以我們希望看到它回來，我們通常會在年底前獲得高質量的構建。所以我認為，在 - 特別是在顯示方面，我們肯定希望它在今年下半年有所恢復。但我認為你認為它與消費者有更廣泛聯繫的觀察是非常準確的。

What I would say, Jed, though, is that for the third quarter, the actual largest drop that was at least not as we expected, was in communications. We had expected consumer, at least on the consumer electronics side, the smaller electronics, let's call it, we had expected a seasonal decline in that, but it was actually communications that felt very, very quickly in the quarter.

不過，傑德，我要說的是，對於第三季度，至少與我們預期不同的實際最大跌幅是在通信領域。我們曾預計消費者，至少在消費電子產品方面，較小的電子產品，我們曾預計會出現季節性下降，但實際上通信在本季度感覺非常非常快。

Got it. That's helpful. As my follow-up question, just as it relates to the strategic -- your strategic review of the silicon carbide business, I'm curious -- have you secured strategic -- how should I say this? I guess, materials, like graphite, for example, you have a pretty aggressive build-out plan of the $1 billion, over the next 10 years. And I'm just wondering, if from a supply chain, you have kind of removed any potential barriers that as you think about that strategic review might be helpful.

知道了。這很有幫助。作為我的後續問題，就像它與戰略有關——你對碳化矽業務的戰略審查，我很好奇——你有沒有確保戰略——我該怎麼說呢？我猜，材料，例如石墨，在未來 10 年內有一個相當激進的 10 億美元的擴建計劃。我只是想知道，如果從供應鏈中，你已經消除了任何潛在的障礙，你認為戰略審查可能會有所幫助。

Look, thank you, Jed. Well, you got it. We've paid a lot of attention to the supply chain, and it involves both the equipment that we need for the expansion of the crystal growth operation, as well as the critical and strategic raw materials. We have a full court press on that as a matter, of course. We've had that for years, and we'll maintain that all the way up the curve.

聽著，謝謝你，傑德。嗯，你明白了。我們非常關注供應鏈，它既涉及我們擴大晶體生長業務所需的設備，也涉及關鍵的戰略原材料。當然，我們對此有充分的法庭壓力。我們已經有很多年了，我們會一直保持這種狀態。

Our next question comes from Jim Ricchiuti with Needham & Company.

我們的下一個問題來自 Needham & Company 的 Jim Ricchiuti。

Just a question on the industrial and particularly on the semi cap side. It looks like you're still seeing fairly strong trends in that business, which is a little bit counter to what some other folks are seeing. What's your line of sight, as you think about that particularly on the semi cap portions, Chuck, over the next couple of quarters.

只是一個關於工業的問題，特別是在半盤方面。看起來您在該業務中仍然看到相當強勁的趨勢，這與其他一些人所看到的有點相反。在接下來的幾個季度裡，你的視線是什麼，特別是在半帽部分，查克，你的視線是什麼。

Thank you, Jim. We definitely -- we had a real strong quarter in Q3. We opted even the forecast that we have by a little bit. I think the back end of the line will continue to be moved a little backward and maybe a little bit forward. I think that's the place where we're going to see things slide to the right a little longer.

謝謝你，吉姆。我們肯定 - 我們在第三季度有一個真正強勁的季度。我們甚至選擇了我們的預測。我認為生產線的後端將繼續向後移動一點，也許向前移動一點。我認為這就是我們將看到事情向右滑動的時間更長的地方。

But the front end of the line and our ability to serve it seems to have just a steady demand. I don't see that driving any change to our underlying business for semi cap equipment. So in summary, front end, full speed ahead, the back end of the line for inspect laser -- wafer inspection. That's the place, where I think we could see some softness in the next 1 or 2 quarters.

但是前端和我們服務它的能力似乎只是一個穩定的需求。我認為這不會推動我們的半帽設備基礎業務發生任何變化。所以總而言之，前端，全速前進，激光檢測線的後端——晶圓檢測。這就是我認為我們可以在接下來的 1 或 2 個季度看到一些疲軟的地方。

Got it. And maybe just a clarification on a previous question, and I just want to make sure I'm understanding this correctly, the improvement that you I think, are suggesting in the display business with utilization in the second half of the calendar year.

知道了。也許只是對上一個問題的澄清，我只是想確保我理解正確，我認為你的改進是在日曆年下半年在顯示業務中提出的建議。

Yes, you have a somewhat unique line of sight because you have some line of sight with your consumer electronics customers and you're having conversations, obviously, on the OLED side with your customers in Korea and China. Is this consistent with what you're hearing from both customers, if you will, in terms of some increase in utilization and some improvement in the second half of the calendar year, in that part of the business.

是的，你有一些獨特的視線，因為你與你的消費電子產品客戶有一些視線，而且你正在與韓國和中國的客戶就 OLED 方面進行對話。這是否與您從兩位客戶那裡聽到的一致，如果您願意，就日曆年下半年的那部分業務的利用率有所提高和有所改善而言。

Yes. I'll ask Mark to add some color to it, about what we're expecting in the [fall].

是的。我會請 Mark 為它添加一些顏色，關於我們對 [秋季] 的期待。

Yes, I think the statement was -- I think the way the statement was phrased is accurate, we're certainly getting indications from our customers that would indicate to us that there would be a pickup, certainly in utilization and service demand in the second half of the calendar year, or the first half of our FY '24.

是的，我認為聲明是——我認為聲明的措辭方式是準確的，我們肯定會從客戶那裡得到指示，這些指示會向我們表明，第二個階段的利用率和服務需求肯定會有所回升日曆年的一半，或我們 24 財年的上半年。

Our next question comes from Christopher Rolland with Susquehanna.

我們的下一個問題來自 Christopher Rolland 和 Susquehanna。

I know you can't talk too much about strategic plans for SiC , but I did want to know a little bit more about it, just broad strokes, and why you guys want to partner versus going it alone? Is it the sheer amount of capital that's involved? Or is it kind of sharing the load of potential risk involved, or is it really more looking for like a large captive customer to use the material, just broad strokes? Wondering why the partnership and the change there.

我知道你不能過多談論 SiC 的戰略計劃，但我確實想了解更多，只是粗略的了解，以及為什麼你們想要合作而不是單獨行動？涉及的資金量是否龐大？或者它是在分擔所涉及的潛在風險的負擔，還是真的更像是在尋找一個大的專屬客戶來使用這些材料，只是粗略的概括？想知道為什麼夥伴關係和那裡的變化。

Okay. I'll ask Bob to address it, but I would say we have large captive customers already, and more trying to get more of our mind share and our capacity. Bob, would you address the rest of the question, please?

好的。我會請 Bob 來解決這個問題，但我會說我們已經有大量的專屬客戶，並且有更多的人試圖獲得更多的思想份額和我們的能力。鮑勃，你能解決剩下的問題嗎？

Yes, sure. Thank you, Chris. Well, first of all, we are bullish on the silicon carbide market in general. And what we're seeing is that the market demand is not only growing, but it's accelerating. So the growth is accelerating. We are at an inflection point. And the industry, we believe, is supply constrained today and will remain so. So given the increased pace of the market, we think that now is the right time really to look at all of our strategic options. And I'd say, a lot of the things that you mentioned are for sure, things that are on our mind, both the amount of capital investment, the opportunity to bring strategic partners to the table to help both with that financial responsibility, and with strategic alternatives as we think through where the business is going to go. So all of those are on our minds.

是的，當然。謝謝你，克里斯。嗯，首先，我們總體看好碳化矽市場。我們看到的是，市場需求不僅在增長，而且還在加速。所以增長正在加速。我們正處於一個轉折點。我們認為，該行業目前供應受限，並將繼續如此。因此，鑑於市場步伐加快，我們認為現在是真正審視我們所有戰略選擇的正確時機。我要說的是，你提到的很多事情都是肯定的，我們正在考慮的事情，包括資本投資的數量，讓戰略合作夥伴參與進來以幫助雙方承擔財務責任的機會，以及在我們思考業務的發展方向時，我們會提出戰略選擇。所以所有這些都在我們的腦海中。

The thing that we are doing now, and we think is the right thing to do is to start a formal process, and really take a good hard look at all of our options and then read and react against those options and do the right thing to serve the market and to address our shareholder value.

我們現在正在做的事情，我們認為是正確的事情，就是開始一個正式的流程，認真認真地審視我們所有的選擇，然後閱讀這些選擇並做出反應，做正確的事情來服務市場並解決我們的股東價值。

Yes. I think that's really interesting. I'm looking forward to seeing what comes of it. Your inventory is a little elevated around 160-plus days. I was wondering about kind of utilizations or underutilizations. And then, you kind of talked about some footprint consolidation as well. How should we think about that? And how should we think about that affecting overall company utilizations when you're done?

是的。我認為這真的很有趣。我很期待看到它的結果。您的庫存在 160 多天左右略有增加。我想知道某種利用率或未充分利用。然後，您也談到了一些足跡整合。我們應該如何考慮？當你完成後，我們應該如何考慮這會影響公司的整體利用率？

So with respect to the inventory being somewhat elevated. We have a plan that is very strict and actually led by Chuck to actually get that inventory down.

因此，關於庫存有所增加。我們有一個非常嚴格的計劃，實際上由 Chuck 領導，以實際降低庫存。

So we ourselves think the inventory is elevated and it is very, very important to continue to drive to bring that down. With respect to the footprint consolidation, which, as you're correct, does have -- can have an effect on the inventory level. There is no question that the consolidation of certain sites will help the utilization of our manufacturing floor space to a very, very good extent. That's a very important goal here.

所以我們自己認為庫存增加了，繼續推動降低庫存是非常非常重要的。關於足跡整合，正如你所言，確實存在——可能會對庫存水平產生影響。毫無疑問，某些站點的整合將有助於在非常非常好的程度上利用我們的製造場地空間。這是一個非常重要的目標。

Great. I don't know if you could put any numbers to that or not, but -- but -- yes.

偉大的。我不知道你是否可以給出任何數字，但是 - 但是 - 是的。

I'm not in a position to put numbers to actual utilization, just at this point in time. I mean, obviously, with the lower demand for this quarter we have a lower utilization. So we would be coming off and our artificially low base. But that is a good question. I'll think about that and see, if we can answer that subsequently.

就在這個時間點，我無法將數字用於實際利用率。我的意思是，很明顯，由於本季度的需求較低，我們的利用率較低。所以我們會離開我們人為的低基數。但這是一個很好的問題。我會考慮一下，看看我們是否可以隨後回答這個問題。

Our next question comes from Samik Chatterjee with JPMorgan Chase.

我們的下一個問題來自摩根大通的 Samik Chatterjee。

Just on the first one, most of the demand challenges you're highlighting today on the networking side, we're well aware of the inventory situation on -- in the other segments, there's a bit of consumer demand. So a lot of them sound cyclical or other industry players have called them out, as more cyclical. And I'm just trying to match that up with your restructuring plans, which will obviously be multiyear sort of restructuring efforts, and which is more suggestive for structurally lower demand that you see for some of the segments? Or should I really be interpreting this as this is a sort of a cost improvement that you needed to enact anyways and what's contemplated and maybe the macro is just sort of driving or triggering to take those actions sooner than you would have ideally taken them? And I have a follow-up.

關於第一個，您今天在網絡方面強調的大部分需求挑戰，我們很清楚庫存情況——在其他領域，有一些消費者需求。所以他們中的很多人聽起來是周期性的，或者其他行業參與者已經把他們稱為周期性更強的人。而且我只是想將其與您的重組計劃相匹配，這顯然是多年的重組工作，並且更能暗示您對某些細分市場的結構性需求下降？或者我真的應該將其解釋為這是一種您無論如何都需要製定的成本改進以及預期的內容，也許宏觀只是在某種程度上驅動或觸發採取這些行動，而不是理想情況下採取的行動？我有一個後續行動。

Yes. So -- your latter point that we were contemplating these all along. And in some cases, were contemplated by the laser segment even before the acquisition, and we've just chosen to accelerate them. So, that is a 100% correct. And I'll do your follow-up.

是的。所以 - 你的後一點是我們一直在考慮這些。在某些情況下，激光部門甚至在收購之前就已經考慮過，我們只是選擇加速它們。所以，這是 100% 正確的。我會做你的後續行動。

Yes. And the second was quick. Essentially, when I think about your synergy plans and then sort of the additional restructuring plans? Is it fair to assume that the additional restructuring base savings would be more in the networking in the materials segments, and less impactful on a sort of incremental basis to lasers? Is that the right way of thinking about it?

是的。第二個很快。從本質上講，當我考慮您的協同計劃以及其他重組計劃時？假設額外的重組基礎節省將更多地用於材料領域的網絡，並且在某種增量基礎上對激光器的影響較小，這是否公平？這是正確的思考方式嗎？

I would say that it's actually across all 3 segments. But given that we already have [$250 million] in the synergies between the laser segment and the rest of the company, then the larger portion of the new restructuring savings, yes, probably does fall on the other two. But the restructuring does affect all 3 segments.

我會說它實際上跨越了所有 3 個細分市場。但鑑於我們在激光部門和公司其他部門之間的協同效應中已經有了 [2.5 億美元]，那麼新重組節省的大部分資金，是的，可能確實落在了其他兩個部門身上。但重組確實影響了所有 3 個部門。

Our next question comes from Sidney Ho with Deutsche Bank.

我們的下一個問題來自德意志銀行的 Sidney Ho。

Great. In the past, you guys talked about backlog normalizing to this $2.5 billion, $2.6 billion level, and it looks like the normalization process is happening faster than at least, we previously expected. Does that mean in your guidance, you're assuming no more additional work down of this excess backlog? Then, how about we just look at the 12-month backlog? Because I know the -- some of the orders are more than 12 months.

偉大的。過去，你們談到積壓正常化到 25 億美元、26 億美元的水平，看起來正常化過程的速度至少比我們之前預期的要快。這是否意味著在您的指導中，您假設不再需要處理這些多餘的積壓工作？那麼，我們只看 12 個月的積壓情況如何？因為我知道 - 有些訂單超過 12 個月。

So on the first part of your question, actually, I think what I said is that we expected the backlog to land in the $2.4 billion to $2.5 billion range. So, it may well be that it is a little bit faster, but I don't think that we've reached the level that we think could be the running backlog at $2.4 billion to $2.5 billion. And I'm sorry, Sidney, I did not quite understand your second part.

所以關於你問題的第一部分，實際上，我想我所說的是我們預計積壓訂單將在 24 億美元至 25 億美元之間。因此，它很可能會快一點，但我認為我們還沒有達到我們認為可能是 24 億美元至 25 億美元的運行積壓水平。對不起，西德尼，我不太明白你的第二部分。

Yes. The second part is I understand this, you have orders in the backlog that are longer than 12 months. So, if I just look at the 12-month backlog, is that already normalizing?

是的。第二部分是我的理解，你們有超過 12 個月的積壓訂單。那麼，如果我只看 12 個月的積壓，是否已經正常化了？

Well, for sure, the 12-month backlog is already normalizing, yes. But we do have in several markets, several of our end markets, orders that go beyond 12 months.

嗯，可以肯定的是，12 個月的積壓已經正常化，是的。但我們確實在幾個市場、幾個終端市場有超過 12 個月的訂單。

And in fact, I would say in the laser segment, 15 has been more of their norm. So it is actually normalizing already. That is true. But I think the resting place, at least in my present estimate is $2.4 billion to $2.5 billion.

事實上，我想說在激光領域，15 更符合他們的標準。所以它實際上已經正常化了。那是真實的。但我認為，至少在我目前的估計中，安息之地是 24 億至 25 億美元。

Okay. That's helpful. My follow-up question is on the silicon carbide business. I understand you're going through the strategic review, but one of the large silicon carbide customer has recently announced a supply agreement with the Chinese silicon carbide supplier on 150-millimeter wafers or also for future 200-millimeter. Can you talk about your view on any changes in the competitive landscape? And maybe does that have anything to do with the timing of the strategic review?

好的。這很有幫助。我的後續問題是關於碳化矽業務。我知道你正在進行戰略審查，但一位大型碳化矽客戶最近宣布與中國碳化矽供應商就 150 毫米晶圓或未來的 200 毫米晶圓達成供應協議。您能談談您對競爭格局變化的看法嗎？也許這與戰略審查的時間有什麼關係嗎？

Yes, I'd be happy to take that question, Chuck. Our view of the market is really underpinned across the entire market. It's growing faster, the growth is accelerating, the supply is constrained. And I think, in the context of what you're talking about, it's just an example of those things being true.

是的，查克，我很樂意回答這個問題。我們對市場的看法確實在整個市場得到了支持。它增長得更快，增長正在加速，供應受到限制。而且我認為，在你所談論的內容中，這只是那些事情是真實的一個例子。

And so as a result, you believe that the market is constrained, and it will remain like that for an extended period of time, and it will grow at an accelerating pace, then investing at a greater rate is the right thing to do. And we believe it's both the right thing to do, and we think we have the right products, technology, quality, all the things that we need to serve the market. So we're bullish on the market, and we remain committed to it.

因此，您認為市場是受限的，並且會在很長一段時間內保持這種狀態，並且會以更快的速度增長，那麼以更大的速度進行投資是正確的做法。我們相信這是正確的做法，我們認為我們擁有正確的產品、技術、質量以及服務市場所需的所有東西。所以我們看好市場，我們仍然致力於它。

Our next question comes from Meta Marshall with Morgan Stanley.

我們的下一個問題來自摩根士丹利的 Meta Marshall。

Yes, sorry. One question on just whether you're seeing any changes to pricing in datacom in this environment? I know your expectations were that pricing was going to stay relatively stable, particularly at the high speed, but just as demand has softened, are your expectations still for that? And then, maybe just kind of secondarily on that. I know, when you guys bought the Finisar business, the idea was you would kind of keep some of that vertical integration that, that business that had, does this [opportunity] in the market kind of change how you think about that business going forward, or just alternatives to production on that business.

是的，對不起。一個問題是您是否看到在這種環境下數據通信的定價有任何變化？我知道您的期望是價格將保持相對穩定，尤其是在高速行駛時，但正如需求疲軟一樣，您的期望仍然如此嗎？然後，也許只是次要的。我知道，當你們收購 Finisar 業務時，他們的想法是，你們會保留一些垂直整合，即該業務在市場上的這種 [機會] 是否會改變您對該業務未來發展的看法，或者只是該業務生產的替代方案。

Giovanni, do you want to take.

喬凡尼，你要帶走嗎？

Yes, Meta, so keep in mind that on the datacom side, we are ramping fast and mostly weighted on the 200G and above data rates. And so in that case, the price pressure is more on the dollar per bit that obviously we need to deliver than actually the individual ASP of the product, right? So in other words, the focus is on lowering the cost of the traffic, not necessarily by lowering the price of the product, but the -- by lowering the price of the dollar per bit behind the lowering the dollar per bit is the (inaudible) with the solution.

是的，Meta，所以請記住，在數據通信方面，我們正在快速提升並且主要集中在 200G 及以上的數據速率上。因此，在那種情況下，顯然我們需要交付的每比特美元的價格壓力比產品的實際單個 ASP 更大，對嗎？所以換句話說，重點是降低流量成本，不一定是通過降低產品價格，而是——通過降低每比特美元的價格，降低每比特美元的背後是（聽不清) 與解決方案。

So that has been going on for quite some time. And fortunately, we are seeing strong demand for the high data rate transceivers. And, so we don't really see anything out of the ordinary right now because we have maybe a couple of quarters of softness. That's not definitely a change in the pricing pattern that we have seen in the past. So not much difference there.

所以這已經持續了一段時間。幸運的是，我們看到了對高數據速率收發器的強勁需求。而且，所以我們現在真的沒有看到任何異常，因為我們可能有幾個季度的柔軟度。這絕對不是我們過去看到的定價模式的變化。所以那裡沒有太大區別。

And then, with respect to the question that you are asking on, do we -- have we changed our view on the vertical integration for transceivers.

然後，關於您提出的問題，我們是否改變了對收發器垂直集成的看法。

Let me take that. The short answer is no. We're deriving substantial benefits and advantage by having the model. And then, what we're going to stay focused on is working through any underutilization of the capacity and getting our footprint into the lowest cost structure we possibly can. And introducing new components, new lasers, new optics, new electronics. Those in combination with the model that we have for the assembly and testing will sustain our advantage.

讓我拿那個。最簡潔的答案是不。通過擁有該模型，我們正在獲得可觀的利益和優勢。然後，我們將繼續關注的是解決容量的任何未充分利用問題，並將我們的足跡納入我們可能的最低成本結構。並引入新組件、新激光器、新光學器件、新電子產品。那些與我們用於組裝和測試的模型相結合將保持我們的優勢。

Our next question comes from Mark Miller with the Benchmark Company.

我們的下一個問題來自 Benchmark 公司的 Mark Miller。

What are you thinking about in terms of taxes for the current quarter and fiscal '24, will it be a benefit? And in what percent?

您對本季度和 24 財年的稅收有何看法，這會帶來好處嗎？百分比是多少？

So my expectation is that the tax rate is probably in the neighborhood of about 25%. And as you know, for this year, the tax rate is a little bit all over the place with respect to purchase accounting. What's deductible and what's not. So that's -- but I think overall, for the total year, it should be around 30%.

所以我的預期是稅率可能在 25% 左右。正如你所知，今年，採購會計的稅率有點普遍。什麼是免賠額，什麼不是。這就是——但我認為總體而言，就全年而言，它應該在 30% 左右。

Okay. And it will be a tax benefit for the current quarter?

好的。這將是本季度的稅收優惠？

Against on the losses, yes.

反對損失，是的。

Our next question comes from Ruben Roy with Stifel.

我們的下一個問題來自 Stifel 的 Ruben Roy。

Sorry, everybody. I was on mute. A follow-up for Chuck or Bob on the silicon carbide discussion. As you start the formal review process, Chuck, has anything changed with the way you're thinking about investing? You've been spending 50% of CapEx on silicon carbide. Do you pause that? Do you accelerate it, given what you're seeing in the market? Just -- I'd love to understand how you're thinking about kind of the near-term spend for SiC.

對不起，大家。我是靜音的。 Chuck 或 Bob 關於碳化矽討論的後續行動。當你開始正式的審查過程時，查克，你對投資的思考方式有什麼變化嗎？您已經將 50% 的資本支出用於碳化矽。你暫停嗎？考慮到你在市場上看到的情況，你會加速嗎？只是 - 我很想了解您如何考慮 SiC 的近期支出。

Full speed ahead on the business plan.

全速推進商業計劃。

Okay. That was easy enough. And then a follow-up on -- I think you mentioned that datacom and telecom were equally impacted with the near-term demand's environment. Just wondering, if you could walk us through -- I know there's a lack of visibility as you think about the next couple of quarters, but you did say that datacom should be short term. You've got some markets that are inflecting like AI. Is that something that you have a little bit of visibility into when you might see datacom come back? Is it next quarter or quarter after? Any other detail would be great.

好的。這很容易。然後是後續——我想你提到過數據通信和電信同樣受到近期需求環境的影響。只是想知道，如果你能告訴我們——我知道你在考慮接下來的幾個季度時缺乏可見性，但你確實說過數據通信應該是短期的。你有一些像人工智能一樣變化的市場。當您看到數據通信恢復時，您是否對此有一些了解？是下個季度還是之後的一個季度？任何其他細節都會很棒。

I alluded to intense design-in activity that we have. We -- this AI opportunity, but not only the AI opportunity, the 800G deployments, they are heating up, in terms of planning. And that's going to be a focal point in FY '24. And I do believe that we have -- we may have because we're working hard to position ourselves to have maybe a little bit greater opportunity, than what we currently have factored into our plans. But it's too early to call that.

我提到了我們擁有的密集設計活動。我們——這個 AI 機會，但不僅僅是 AI 機會，800G 部署，就規劃而言，它們正在升溫。這將成為 24 財年的焦點。而且我確實相信我們有 - 我們可能有，因為我們正在努力定位自己，以獲得比我們目前計劃中的更多機會。但現在這樣說還為時過早。

And I think, the next couple of quarters, we're just going to have to watch it carefully. We're working intensely in terms of capacity, getting new products and positioned to ramp. I think we're uniquely positioned to be able to go from 0 to 100 miles an hour, when it comes to deployments of new systems and our customers know that. And I believe, they're counting on us to be able to do that. We just need a clear science that is to the rate of acceleration, and that's what we're working on.

而且我認為，接下來的幾個季度，我們將不得不仔細觀察它。我們在產能、獲取新產品和準備提升方面都在加緊努力。我認為，在部署新系統時，我們處於獨特的位置，能夠以每小時 0 英里的速度行駛到 100 英里，而我們的客戶也知道這一點。我相信，他們指望我們能夠做到這一點。我們只需要一門關於加速度的清晰科學，這就是我們正在努力的方向。

And I'm not showing any further questions at this time. I'd like to turn the call back over to Mary Jane.

我現在不會提出任何進一步的問題。我想把電話轉回 Mary Jane。

Thank you very much to everyone for joining us today. We appreciate your participation, and we'll talk to you soon. Bye-bye.

非常感謝大家今天加入我們。感謝您的參與，我們會盡快與您聯繫。再見。

Ladies and gentlemen, this does conclude today's conference. You may now disconnect, and have a wonderful day.

女士們，先生們，今天的會議到此結束。您現在可以斷開連接，並度過美好的一天。