Cohu Inc (COHU) 2021 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Good day, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the Cohu, Inc., Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2021 Results Conference Call. (Operator Instructions)

美好的一天，感謝您的支持。歡迎參加 Cohu, Inc. 2021 年第四季和全年業績電話會議。 （操作員說明）

Please be advised today's conference may be recorded. (Operator Instructions)

請注意，今天的會議可能會被錄製。 （操作員說明）

I'd now like to hand the conference over to Jeff Jones, Chief Financial Officer.

我現在想將會議交給財務長傑夫瓊斯。

Good afternoon, and welcome to our conference call to discuss Cohu's fourth quarter 2021 results and first quarter 2022 outlook. I'm joined today by our President and CEO, Luis Muller.

下午好，歡迎參加我們的電話會議，討論 Cohu 2021 年第四季業績和 2022 年第一季前景。今天我們的總裁兼執行長路易斯·穆勒 (Luis Muller) 也加入了我的行列。

If you need a copy of our earnings release, you may access it from our website, at cohu.com, or by contacting Cohu Investor Relations. There's also a slide presentation in conjunction with today's call that may be accessed on Cohu's website in the Investor Relations section.

如果您需要我們的財報副本，您可以從我們的網站 cohu.com 或聯絡 Cohu 投資者關係部門取得。今天的電話會議還有一個幻燈片演示，可以在 Cohu 網站的投資者關係部分訪問。

Replays of this call will be available via the same page after the call concludes.

通話結束後，可透過同一頁面重播本次通話。

Now to the safe harbor. During today's call, we will make forward-looking statements reflecting management's current expectations concerning Cohu's future business. These statements are based on current information that we have assessed, but which by its nature is subject to rapid, and even abrupt, changes. We encourage you to review the Forward Looking Statements section of the slide presentation and the earnings release as well as Cohu's filings with the SEC, including the most recently filed Form 10-K and Form 10-Q. Our comments speak only as of today, February 10, 2022, and Cohu assumes no obligation to update these statements for developments occurring after this call.

現在到安全港了。在今天的電話會議中，我們將做出前瞻性聲明，反映管理層目前對 Cohu 未來業務的預期。這些陳述是基於我們評估的當前訊息，但其本質可能會發生快速甚至突然的變化。我們鼓勵您查看投影片簡報和收益發布的前瞻性陳述部分以及 Cohu 向 SEC 提交的文件，包括最近提交的表格 10-K 和表格 10-Q。我們的評論僅代表今天（2022 年 2 月 10 日），Cohu 沒有義務就本次電話會議之後發生的事態發展更新這些聲明。

Finally, during this call we will discuss certain non-GAAP financial measures. Please refer to our earnings release and slide presentation for reconciliations to the most comparable GAAP measures.

最後，在本次電話會議中，我們將討論某些非公認會計準則財務指標。請參閱我們的收益發布和幻燈片演示，以了解與最具可比性的 GAAP 衡量標準的對帳。

Now I'd like to turn the call over to Luis Muller, Cohu's President and CEO. Luis?

現在我想將電話轉給 Cohu 總裁兼執行長 Luis Muller。路易斯？

Good afternoon, everyone, and thanks for joining us.

大家下午好，感謝您加入我們。

Fourth quarter revenue was approximately $192 million and non-GAAP EPS was $0.72, both higher than the midpoint of our guidance.

第四季營收約 1.92 億美元，非 GAAP 每股收益為 0.72 美元，均高於我們指引的中位數。

Full year 2021 revenue of $887 million grew 39% year-over-year, capping a 5-year revenue CAGR of 26%, one of the strongest in our industry. Full year non-GAAP EPS of $3.20 was up 169% year-over-year, demonstrating the scalability of our business model.

2021 年全年營收為 8.87 億美元，年增 39%，五年收入複合年增長率為 26%，是業界最強的之一。全年非 GAAP 每股收益為 3.20 美元，年增 169%，證明了我們業務模式的可擴展性。

We also had several design wins that expanded our products into new customers, achieved year-over-year revenue growth of 130% in inspection and metrology and 25% in interface products business and supported a significant ramp in the automotive and industrial segments.

我們還贏得了多項設計勝利，將我們的產品擴展到新客戶，在檢測和計量領域實現了130% 的收入同比增長，在接口產品業務中實現了25% 的收入同比增長，並支持了汽車和工業領域的顯著成長。

Coming back to Q4, we had a multitude of customer design wins this past quarter. Our tester business received volume orders for the Diamondx platform from a Japanese automotive semiconductor customer; qualified and secured initial volume order and shipment of Diamondx tester to a Korea-based display driver customer, delivering on the goal to expand our presence in this device segment; captured an important RF front-end module design win from a leading Japanese semiconductor manufacturer that is adopting Cohu's PAx tester with the RedDragon instrumentation suite; and got an initial PAx system order from a U.S.-based RF semiconductor manufacturer for testing Wi-Fi 6E and Wi-Fi 7 devices, displacing this customer's internal rack-and-stack solution.

回到第四季度，我們在上個季度贏得了大量客戶設計。我們的測試儀業務收到日本汽車半導體客戶的Diamondx平台大量訂單；合格並獲得了 Diamondx 測試儀的初始批量訂單並將其運送給韓國的顯示驅動器客戶，實現了擴大我們在該設備領域的業務的目標；從領先的日本半導體製造商那裡獲得了重要的射頻前端模組設計勝利，該製造商正在採用 Cohu 的 PAx 測試儀和 RedDragon 儀器套件；並從一家美國 RF 半導體製造商獲得了最初的 PAx 系統訂單，用於測試 Wi-Fi 6E 和 Wi-Fi 7 設備，取代了該客戶的內部機架堆疊解決方案。

In the interface business, we're gaining traction with a new line of power and precision analog contactors used in testing semiconductors for automotive and industrial applications.

在介面業務中，我們透過用於測試汽車和工業應用半導體的新型電源和精密模擬接觸器系列獲得了關注。

The handler business followed with capturing RF sales at a Taiwanese customer; being selected by a leading German customer and receiving first order for testing automotive ADAS processors on our Matrix handler equipped with T-Core active thermal control; receiving the first order for our Eclipse with T-Core active thermal control for testing Tier 1 mobile processors at a leading Korean OSAT customer; and a few other design wins in the growing automotive and industrial semiconductor markets in China.

處理程序業務隨後獲得了一家台灣客戶的 RF 銷售；被德國領先客戶選中，並收到在我們配備 T-Core 主動熱控制的 Matrix 處理器上測試汽車 ADAS 處理器的第一份訂單；收到第一份帶有 T-Core 主動熱控制的 Eclipse 訂單，用於在韓國領先的 OSAT 客戶測試一級行動處理器；以及在中國不斷成長的汽車和工業半導體市場中取得的一些其他設計成果。

Our DI-Core data analytics capped the quarter with another win at a customer in Europe.

我們的 DI-Core 數據分析在歐洲客戶中再次獲勝，為本季畫上了圓滿的句號。

In all, this was one of the longest lists of single-quarter design wins that I can remember in my tenure at Cohu and gives me confidence that we are on path to meet our midterm revenue target.

總而言之，這是我在 Cohu 任職期間所記得的最長的單季設計勝利清單之一，這讓我相信我們正在實現中期收入目標。

We enter 2022 with an 87% estimated test cell utilization, strong backlog and increasing demand for our products. We remain cautious about the tight supply chain environment and potential impact of Omicron in the next few months.

進入 2022 年，我們預計測試單元利用率為 87%，積壓訂單強勁，而且對我們產品的需求不斷增加。我們對未來幾個月緊張的供應鏈環境和 Omicron 的潛在影響保持謹慎。

But we're also excited by the customer traction and the opportunity to broaden our semi test applications with our Diamondx tester; growing interest in our Neon inspection and metrology technology; expansion in test interface products; and many ongoing qualifications of our DI-Core data analytics software solution.

但我們也對客戶的關注以及使用 Diamondx 測試儀擴展我們的半測試應用的機會感到興奮；人們對我們的霓虹燈檢查和計量技術越來越感興趣；測試介面產品的擴充；以及我們的 DI-Core 數據分析軟體解決方案的許多持續資格認證。

As a result, we recently increased Cohu's midterm financial targets to revenue of $1 billion and non-GAAP EPS of $4 per share. Additionally, many of our customers have publicly announced their recent quarterly results and provided growth forecasts for 2022, which emboldens our view that this will be another good year for Cohu. We don't typically have a single large customer that drives revenue in a year but count on aligning our product strategy to segments of the market and customers that have outsize growth prospects.

因此，我們最近將 Cohu 的中期財務目標提高到收入 10 億美元和非 GAAP 每股收益 4 美元。此外，我們的許多客戶已經公開公佈了他們最近的季度業績，並提供了 2022 年的成長預測，這更加堅定了我們的觀點，即這將是 Cohu 又一個好年頭。我們通常沒有一個大客戶能夠在一年內推動收入，但我們依靠的是根據細分市場和具有巨大成長前景的客戶來調整我們的產品策略。

We forecast 2022 to be a strong year for our semiconductor tester group, which is starting to benefit from the many recent customer design wins and expansion within and beyond the RF mobility segment; continued gains in inspection and metrology, working to qualify Neon at several new customers in 2022; and deploying new vision solutions later in the year that further align our products to tighter quality requirements in advanced packaging.

我們預測 2022 年對於我們的半導體測試儀團隊來說將是強勁的一年，該團隊開始受益於最近贏得的許多客戶設計以及射頻移動領域內外的擴張；在檢查和計量方面持續取得進展，努力在 2022 年讓 Neon 在幾個新客戶中獲得資格；並在今年稍後部署新的視覺解決方案，進一步使我們的產品符合先進封裝更嚴格的品質要求。

We're also planning another growth year for the interface business, particularly in automotive and industrial power applications and high-performance RF mobility. DI-Core business is lifting off at many automotive and industrial semiconductor manufacturers, augmenting our product portfolio and delivering value via mining sensor data in our products to improve our customers' productivity.

我們還計劃介面業務迎來另一個成長年，特別是在汽車和工業電源應用以及高性能射頻移動領域。 DI-Core 業務正在許多汽車和工業半導體製造商中蓬勃發展，擴大了我們的產品組合，並透過挖掘產品中的感測器數據來創造價值，從而提高客戶的生產力。

Finally, we forecast handler demand to moderate in 2022, which we expect will drive sequential consolidated gross margin expansion this year.

最後，我們預測 2022 年處理機需求將放緩，預計這將推動今年綜合毛利率的環比擴張。

Order forecast remains strong, and the challenge continues to be to secure enough from the supply chain to satisfy demand. And as always, we will continue to assess opportunities and make investments based on high ROI and strong future cash flow potential.

訂單預測仍然強勁，挑戰仍然是從供應鏈中獲得足夠的資金來滿足需求。一如既往，我們將繼續評估機會並根據高投資回報率和強勁的未來現金流潛力進行投資。

Let me now turn it over to Jeff to share fourth quarter results and provide specifics about our Q1 guidance. Jeff?

現在讓我將其交給傑夫，分享第四季度的業績並提供有關我們第一季指導的具體資訊。傑夫？

Thanks, Luis. Before I walk through the Q4 results and Q1 guidance, please note that my comments that follow all refer to non-GAAP figures. Information about the non-GAAP financial measures, including the GAAP to non-GAAP reconciliations and other disclosures, are included in the accompanying earnings release and investor presentation, which are located on the Investor page of our website.

謝謝，路易斯。在我詳細介紹第四季的業績和第一季的指導之前，請注意，我後面的評論均指非公認會計準則資料。有關非 GAAP 財務指標的信息，包括 GAAP 與非 GAAP 調節表和其他披露信息，均包含在隨附的收益發布和投資者演示文稿中，這些信息位於我們網站的投資者頁面上。

Now turning to the financial results, Cohu delivered strong revenue and profitability in the quarter. Q4 revenue was $191.9 million and at the higher end of our guidance range. Total revenue for full year 2021 was $887 million, growing 39% over 2020 and setting a new Cohu record.

現在轉向財務業績，Cohu 在本季度實現了強勁的收入和盈利能力。第四季營收為 1.919 億美元，處於我們指引範圍的高端。 2021 年全年總營收為 8.87 億美元，比 2020 年成長 39%，創下 Cohu 的新紀錄。

During the fourth quarter, 2 automotive segment customers each accounted for more than 10% of sales. For full year 2021, one automotive segment customer accounted for approximately 14% of sales.

第四季度，2家汽車細分市場客戶的銷售額各佔10%以上。 2021 年全年，一個汽車細分市場客戶約佔銷售額的 14%。

In the fourth quarter, Cohu's gross margin was 44.1% and in line with our guidance. Full year 2021 gross margin was 43.6%.

第四季度，Cohu 的毛利率為 44.1%，符合我們的指引。 2021年全年毛利率為43.6%。

Operating expenses for Q4 were $50.7 million, also in line with guidance. Full year 2021 operating expenses were approximately 23% of revenue and lower than our midterm target by about 300 basis points, supplementing profitability as we expand gross margin.

第四季的營運支出為 5,070 萬美元，也符合指引。 2021 年全年營運費用約佔收入的 23%，比我們的中期目標低約 300 個基點，在我們擴大毛利率的同時補充了獲利能力。

Fourth quarter non-GAAP operating income was 17.7% of revenue, and adjusted EBITDA was 20%. Full year operating income was 20.5%, and adjusted EBITDA for 2021 was 22.2%.

第四季非 GAAP 營業收入佔營收的 17.7%，調整後 EBITDA 為 20%。全年營業收入為 20.5%，2021 年調整後 EBITDA 為 22.2%。

Return on invested capital in the fourth quarter was approximately 48%, and full year ROIC was approximately 55%.

第四季投資資本報酬率約為48%，全年ROIC約為55%。

Cohu generated a net tax benefit in Q4 due to the recognition of foreign tax credits applied to U.S. federal taxes. The non-GAAP effective tax rate for full year 2021 was approximately 10%, benefiting mainly from U.S. NOLs, R&D credits and the foreign tax credits recognized in Q4.

由於承認適用於美國聯邦稅的外國稅收抵免，Cohu 在第四季度產生了淨稅收優惠。 2021 年全年非公認會計原則有效稅率約為 10%，主要受益於美國 NOL、研發抵免和第四季度確認的外國稅收抵免。

Non-GAAP EPS for the fourth quarter was $0.72. The foreign tax credits recognized in Q4 contributed $0.15 to EPS. The full year 2021 EPS was $3.20, growing 169% year-over-year.

第四季非 GAAP 每股收益為 0.72 美元。第四季確認的外國稅收抵免為每股收益貢獻了 0.15 美元。 2021 年全年每股收益為 3.20 美元，年增 169%。

Record revenue growth and profitability in Fiscal Year 2021, coupled with strong customer demand, backlog of $293 million at the end of Q4 and increasing traction in key growth markets, led to a recent expansion of our midterm financial targets to revenue of $1 billion and non-GAAP EPS of $4.

2021 財年創紀錄的收入成長和獲利能力，加上強勁的客戶需求、第四季末2.93 億美元的積壓訂單以及主要成長市場的吸引力不斷增強，導致我們最近將中期財務目標擴大到10 億美元和非- GAAP 每股收益為 4 美元。

Moving to the balance sheet, the cash grew to $380 million, and total debt was relatively unchanged quarter-over-quarter at $119 million. However, we did make a voluntary debt repayment in early Q1 of $7 million to reduce the Term Loan B outstanding balance to approximately $95 million.

從資產負債表來看，現金成長至 3.8 億美元，債務總額較上季不變，為 1.19 億美元。然而，我們確實在第一季初自願償還了 700 萬美元的債務，將定期貸款 B 的未償餘額減少到約 9,500 萬美元。

The Q4 cash balance is net of $7.3 million used to repurchase approximately 207,000 shares of common stock during the fourth quarter.

第四季現金餘額扣除第四季用於回購約 207,000 股普通股的 730 萬美元。

Cash flow from operations remained strong and capital additions, mainly to support expansion of our contactor manufacturing operations, remains modest overall.

來自營運的現金流仍然強勁，主要用於支持我們接觸器製造業務擴張的資本增加總體上仍然溫和。

Cohu's balance sheet is in a strong position to support debt reduction, the share repurchase program and investment opportunities to expand our served markets and technology portfolio in line with our growth strategy.

Cohu 的資產負債表處於有利地位，可以支持債務削減、股票回購計劃和投資機會，以根據我們的成長策略擴大我們所服務的市場和技術組合。

Now moving to our Q1 outlook, we're guiding Q1 revenue to be between $188 million and $202 million. As I mentioned, customer demand remains strong, and the midpoint of our Q1 revenue guidance reflects a small increase over Q4 revenue. Supply chain remains challenging for both Cohu and our customers, resulting in small but dynamic shifts in revenue, as some shipments were pulled into Q4 while others have been pushed beyond Q1 due to material shortages of wafers and lead frames among our customers and supply constraints on certain semiconductors used in our testers.

現在轉向我們對第一季的展望，我們預計第一季的營收將在 1.88 億美元至 2.02 億美元之間。正如我所提到的，客戶需求仍然強勁，我們第一季營收指引的中點反映了比第四季營收小幅成長。對於Cohu 和我們的客戶來說，供應鏈仍然充滿挑戰，導致收入出現小幅但動態的變化，因為我們的客戶中晶圓和引線框架的材料短缺以及供應限制，一些出貨量被拉到第四季度，而另一些出貨量則被推遲到第一季之後。

Order backlog, customer demand and test cell utilization remains strong and bodes well for sequential revenue growth in Q2. However, given the uncertainty with supply chain and semiconductor availability, we're hesitant to comment in further detail about future quarterly revenue at this time.

訂單積壓、客戶需求和測試單元利用率仍然強勁，預示著第二季營收連續成長。然而，考慮到供應鏈和半導體可用性的不確定性，我們目前不願進一步詳細評論未來的季度收入。

Q1 gross margin is forecasted to be approximately 44.5%. We're seeing a moderation of automotive test handlers and quarter-over-quarter growth in tester revenue, improving product mix and having a positive impact on gross margin.

第一季毛利率預計約為44.5%。我們看到汽車測試處理程序的數量減少以及測試儀收入的季度環比增長，改善了產品組合併對毛利率產生了積極影響。

Q1 operating expenses are projected to be approximately $53 million, and we're projecting Q1 interest expense to be approximately $1 million. Q1 debt repayment will be approximately $7 million, reflecting the payment already made at the end of January.

第一季營運費用預計約 5,300 萬美元，我們預計第一季利息費用約為 100 萬美元。第一季債務償還額約 700 萬美元，反映了 1 月底已支付的款項。

We expect Q1 adjusted EBITDA at the midpoint of guidance to be approximately 19%.

我們預計第一季調整後 EBITDA 的指導中位數約為 19%。

And the Q1 forecast non-GAAP tax rate is approximately 16% at the midpoint of guidance. Full year 2022 non-GAAP tax rate is estimated to be approximately 18%.

第一季預測的非 GAAP 稅率約為指引中位數的 16%。 2022 年全年非 GAAP 稅率預計約為 18%。

The diluted share count for Q1 is expected to be approximately 49.5 million shares.

第一季的稀釋後股份數量預計約為 4,950 萬股。

And that concludes our prepared remarks. Now we'll open the call to your questions.

我們準備好的發言就到此結束。現在我們將開始回答您的問題。

(Operator Instructions) Our first question comes from Toshiya Hari, with Goldman Sachs.

（操作員說明）我們的第一個問題來自高盛的 Toshiya Hari。

Luis, I was hoping you could talk a little bit about the supply environment. It looks like you're embedding some sort of impact from a supply perspective in your Q1 outlook, both directly impacting you guys, but also impacting your customers. What are some of the primary causes? And when do you expect some of these challenges to abate? And then I've got a quick follow-up.

路易斯，我希望你能談談供應環境。看起來您正在從供應角度將某種影響納入第一季的展望中，這既直接影響你們，也影響您的客戶。主要原因有哪些？您預計這些挑戰何時會減輕？然後我會進行快速跟進。

Toshiya, yes, you're correct. We are modeling continued challenge at our customers, both from a sourcing wafers as well as sourcing substrates and lead frames perspective. So it's hard to quantify, but we have some understanding in a few instances from our customers of the situation.

俊哉，是的，你說得對。我們正在從採購晶圓以及採購基板和引線框架的角度對客戶面臨的持續挑戰進行建模。所以很難量化，但我們從客戶那裡了解到了一些情況。

And then on our own side, as we have been mentioning now for several quarters, the supply chain remains pretty tight and at this stage even shifting a little bit to tightness in sourcing some discrete electronic components for motors, controllers as well as sourcing semiconductor devices themselves.

然後，在我們自己方面，正如我們幾個季度以來一直提到的那樣，供應鏈仍然相當緊張，現階段甚至在採購一些用於電機、控制器的分立電子元件以及採購半導體設備方面變得緊張。他們自己。

Maybe, Toshi, I can add to that. For Q1, the semi shortage, we're modeling -- we've adjusted the forecast by $8 million to $10 million as a result of both semi shortage through our supply chain as well as some customer delays, as Luis explained.

也許，Toshi，我可以補充一下。對於第一季的半成品短缺，我們正在建模 - 正如路易斯解釋的那樣，由於我們的供應鏈半成品短缺以及一些客戶的延誤，我們已將預測調整了 800 萬美元至 1000 萬美元。

Got it. That's very helpful. And then I guess as my follow-up, how are you guys thinking about 2022, the full year, in terms of your different products? I think, Luis, in your prepared remarks, you talked about strong design wins in semiconductor tests. I think you had positive comments on your contactor interface business. And you also talked about moderation in handlers. So curious how you're thinking about those 3 large buckets within your business for Cohu, specifically, but also how are you thinking about the SAM growth relative to 2021.

知道了。這非常有幫助。然後我想，作為我的後續行動，你們對 2022 年全年的不同產品有何看法？我認為，路易斯，在您準備好的演講中，您談到了半導體測試中強大的設計勝利。我認為您對接觸器介面業務有正面的評價。您也談到了處理程序的節制。很好奇您如何考慮 Cohu 業務中的這 3 個大桶，特別是您如何考慮 SAM 相對於 2021 年的成長。

Sure. Why don't we start at the end here with the SAM portion and then work our way back to the company then.

當然。我們為什麼不從最後的 SAM 部分開始，然後再回到公司。

We're looking at the overall TAM for test to be largely the same year-over-year 2021 to 2022. And from a SAM perspective, we've been saying this for a little while now, that we have about a $1.4 billion SAM on the tester market. And frankly, that is not changing. What's changing is our ability to penetrate into that SAM. We're fairly emboldened by design wins that we scored, particularly in the second half of last year, and what is still at play here going into 2022.

我們認為 2021 年至 2022 年測試的整體 TAM 與去年基本相同。坦白說，這並沒有改變。改變的是我們滲透到 SAM 的能力。我們獲得的設計勝利讓我們信心十足，尤其是在去年下半年，到 2022 年仍然如此。

So to a degree, very happy to see traction that we're getting in the DDIC market, display driver IC test market, with our tester business. Also power management in mixed signal, particularly in the automotive side.

因此，在某種程度上，我們很高興看到我們的測試儀業務在 DDIC 市場、顯示器驅動器 IC 測試市場中獲得牽引力。還有混合訊號中的電源管理，特別是在汽車方面。

We continue to get some opportunities, too, in displacing in-house rack-and-stack solutions and the RFM, as well. It doesn't really change the SAM; it more so changes our penetration into the SAM. That's the positive side.

我們也繼續獲得一些機會來取代內部機架堆疊解決方案和 RFM。它並沒有真正改變 SAM；它只是改變了 SAM。它更重要的是改變了我們對地對空飛彈的滲透。這是正面的一面。

On the contactor business, a little bit more difficult to forecast what the market is going to look like in 2022. We think it'd be somewhat flat to up 7% on the contactor side. But we are continuing to gain new customers and new penetrations, particularly for power management devices and precision analog semiconductor tests.

在接觸器業務方面，預測 2022 年的市場狀況有點困難。但我們正在繼續獲得新客戶和新滲透，特別是在電源管理設備和精密模擬半導體測試方面。

On the handler side, we think a combination of things. One, the market itself will probably moderate down in conjunction with the automotive moderation that we've been talking about, and that should have a similar effect on our business, in our test handler automation business, since we have such a large share in the automotive test equipment.

在處理程序方面，我們考慮了多種因素的組合。第一，市場本身可能會隨著我們一直在談論的汽車行業的放緩而放緩，這應該會對我們的測試處理程序自動化業務產生類似的影響，因為我們正在汽車測試設備。

I hope that answers your question, Toshiya.

我希望這能回答你的問題，Toshiya。

Our next question comes from Brian Chin, with Stifel.

我們的下一個問題來自 Brian Chin 和 Stifel。

Maybe, Luis, first to follow up on that last question relative to the test handler business, do you care to put any sort of brackets around magnitude, sort of duration in terms of the moderation you see in the business? Clearly, you still would have been up in terms of growth, or not constrained in Q1, even more than you're guiding right now. And so it looks like you do have some offsets vis-a-vis the many order commentary and wins that you talked about earlier in the call. So just wondering if you could put any more brackets around sort of that moderation in the handler business.

也許，路易斯，首先要跟進與測試處理程序業務相關的最後一個問題，您是否願意根據您在業務中看到的適度程度，在大小、持續時間上加上任何類型的括號？顯然，第一季的成長仍然會有所上升，或者不受限制，甚至比您現在指導的還要多。因此，與您之前在電話會議中談到的許多訂單評論和勝利相比，您確實有一些抵消。所以只是想知道你是否可以在處理程序業務中添加更多的括號來進行適度的處理。

Sure. Yes, I think I can. The way we look at the handler business is that in 2021, last year, we had a combination of growth and also a rebound from the constrained environment, particularly in automotive, in 2020.

當然。是的，我想我可以。我們看待裝卸機業務的方式是，在 2021 年，即去年，我們既有成長，也有從 2020 年的受限環境中反彈，尤其是在汽車領域。

And as we look to 2022, I think there's going to be a plus and a minus here. The plus being electrification of drivetrain in the automotive space continues to be very strong and progressing very well. I mean, you can't today go out and buy vehicles because of lack of semiconductors, as you all know.

當我們展望 2022 年時，我認為這裡會有優點和缺點。優點是汽車領域動力傳動系統的電氣化仍然非常強勁且進展順利。我的意思是，眾所周知，由於缺乏半導體，您現在無法出去購買車輛。

At the same time, I think that rebound that happened predominantly in the first half of '21, we sized that, netting of expected growth in 2022, to be about a $40 million to $50 million sort of net negative, if you will, or so-called the moderation that we're commenting here for the handler business going into 2022.

同時，我認為反彈主要發生在 21 年上半年，如果您願意的話，我們將 2022 年的預期增長淨值計算在內，約為 4000 萬至 5000 萬美元的淨負值，或者我們在這裡評論的所謂的節制是針對進入2022 年的處理商業務。

Got it. Got it. Okay. That's helpful. And a question about the test contactors. I'm curious to what extent -- I know, number one, you have some gross margin improvement initiatives that are expected to be pretty meaningful towards the end of the second half of the year. Wondering if those are still on track?

知道了。知道了。好的。這很有幫助。還有一個關於測試接觸器的問題。我很好奇到什麼程度——我知道，第一，你們有一些毛利率改善舉措，預計在今年下半年末將非常有意義。想知道這些是否仍在正軌上？

And two, from that standpoint as well as from a revenue shipment standpoint, I know there's been a lot of disruptions, discontinuities out in Southeast Asia where you have some manufacturing. Have you been impacted at all by that, as well?

第二，從這個角度以及從收入出貨的角度來看，我知道東南亞有一些製造業出現了許多中斷和不連續性。您是否也受到了影響？

Brian, so with respect to the gross margin on contactors, we ended Q4, as we suspected, in a strong position, just a little bit above 40%. And yes, still anticipating significant increase there throughout the year. So second half, still anticipating mid-40% gross margin for the contactor business.

Brian，就接觸器的毛利率而言，正如我們所懷疑的那樣，我們在第四季度末處於強勢地位，略高於 40%。是的，仍然預計全年會有顯著增長。因此下半年，仍預期接觸器業務毛利率約40%。

Certainly, with the workforce in Asia, Philippines primarily, it's been a challenge. And so we're working through it. I don't -- we haven't had any significant downtime as a result, but it just continues to be a challenge.

當然，對於亞洲（主要是菲律賓）的勞動力來說，這是一個挑戰。所以我們正在努力解決這個問題。我不認為——我們沒有因此而出現任何重大停機，但這仍然是一個挑戰。

Okay. Fair enough. I know you don't want to make too much forward revenue commentary, but I will ask a question about seasonality. And I know that taking on board some of the year-to-year effects you're talking about in terms of the various end products, usually 2Q and 3Q tend to be sort of stronger seasonal periods. Do you think the demand still speaks to that kind of rate? The supply may speak to something different. And again, there's other overlays in terms of your business. But any way to think about sort of that seasonality in your business?

好的。很公平。我知道您不想對收入進行太多評論，但我會問一個有關季節性的問題。我知道，考慮到您所談論的各種最終產品的一些逐年影響，通常第二季和第三季往往是季節性較強的時期。您認為需求仍符合這種利率嗎？供應可能會有所不同。再說一次，在您的業務方面還有其他重疊。但是有什麼方法可以考慮您業務中的季節性嗎？

I'll go, and you can add a little bit. So yes, Brian, still seeing strong demand still. We had a book-to-bill over 1 in Q4, and it's looking pretty strong in Q1 so far. So the demand is still there. The real wildcard is the supply chain.

我去吧，你可以補充一點。所以，是的，布萊恩，仍然看到強勁的需求。我們在第四季的訂單出貨比超過 1，到目前為止，第一季看起來相當強勁。所以需求還是有的。真正的通配符是供應鏈。

Yes. I think that covers it.

是的。我認為這涵蓋了它。

Our next question comes from Krish Sankar, with Cowen and Company.

我們的下一個問題來自 Cowen and Company 的 Krish Sankar。

I had 2 of them. Luis or Jeff, thanks for the color on the SAM opportunity in FY '22. So if I kind of roll it all together between the tester, handler and the contactor, it seems like your FY '22 revenues could be maybe flat to up low single digits. Is that a decent proxy? Or any thoughts on that?

我有 2 個。 Luis 或 Jeff，感謝您為 22 財年 SAM 機會提供的資訊。因此，如果我將測試儀、處理程序和接觸器之間的所有內容綜合起來，看起來您 22 財年的收入可能會持平，甚至上升到低個位數。這是一個合適的代理嗎？或對此有何想法？

Krish, when you put it all together, the reality is I think the market is about the same in 2022 as 2021, putting it all together. What we do have is we have a moderation on the handler side that I already spoke to. So the tune of $40 million, $50 million, sort of that automotive bubble that we saw in '21. And then we do have sort of the tailwind of customer gains that we have had here with the tester business in DDIC, PMIC mixed signal and even RFM as well as growth from customer gains as well in the contactor business that we expect to continue into 2022.

Krish，當你把所有這些放在一起時，現實是我認為 2022 年的市場與 2021 年的市場大致相同。我們所做的是，我們在處理程序方面進行了調節，我已經談過這一點。所以 4000 萬美元、5000 萬美元的調子，有點像我們在 21 年看到的汽車泡沫。然後，我們確實在 DDIC、PMIC 混合訊號甚至 RFM 的測試儀業務以及客戶收益以及接觸器業務中獲得了客戶收益的成長，我們預計這種成長將持續到 2022 年。

So you put that all in the blender and the reality is the SAM is about the same. It's more of a story of gaining market share in 2022.

所以你把所有的東西都放進攪拌機裡，事實是 SAM 差不多是一樣的。這更多的是一個在 2022 年獲得市場份額的故事。

Yes, that's true. I think one more thing to remember, Krish, is that we sold PCB Test halfway through last year. They contributed $26 million to our $887 million for last year. So that's a gap that we're looking to make up.

是的，確實如此。 Krish，我認為還有一件事要記住，我們去年中期就賣了 PCB Test。去年我們貢獻了 8.87 億美元，而他們貢獻了 2,600 萬美元。所以這是我們正在尋求彌補的差距。

Got it. Super helpful. And then just to follow along the same path, given that the mix shift is more towards tester from handlers, that's a tailwind for gross margins. And then obviously, you're going to be improving your gross margin for the contactors. So it just optically makes sense that the gross margin should grow this year compared to last year. How should we think about OpEx, given all the rising costs? And I'm trying to figure out the implications for earnings.

知道了。超有幫助。然後沿著同樣的路徑走下去，考慮到混合轉向更多地從處理程序轉向測試程序，這對毛利率來說是有利的。顯然，您將提高接觸器的毛利率。因此，從視覺上看，今年的毛利率應該會比去年有所成長。考慮到成本不斷上漲，我們該如何看待營運支出？我正在嘗試找出對收入的影響。

For OpEx, Krish? Is that what you had mentioned in your question?

對於營運支出，克里什？這是你在問題中提到的嗎？

(A), number one, gross margin going up, does it make sense? And (B), how to think about OpEx?

(A)，第一，毛利率上升，有意義嗎？ (B)，如何考慮營運支出？

Okay. So we guided Q1 OpEx at about $53 million. I think we're going to have -- we will have a tight range of OpEx for 2022. So anywhere from probably at $52 million a quarter to $54 million a quarter, just sort of depending on not only revenue and some of the variable costs we have, commissions, travel, things of that nature, but on a quarterly basis we have some items that don't necessarily -- more, call them, seasonal, if you will. But that range is a range that we're modeling for the year, $52 million to $54 million.

好的。因此，我們指導第一季營運支出約為 5,300 萬美元。我認為 2022 年我們的營運支出範圍將會很窄。等類似性質的東西，但按季度計算，我們有一些不一定的項目——更多，如果你願意的話，可以稱它們為季節性的。但這個範圍是我們今年建模的範圍，5,200 萬美元到 5,400 萬美元。

And from a cost increase, much like last year, we have been passing that through to customers. There may be some delays, like we had last year, when we pass it through. But eventually, we do catch up to those cost increases.

與去年一樣，由於成本增加，我們一直將其轉嫁給客戶。就像去年一樣，當我們通過時可能會出現一些延誤。但最終，我們確實趕上了成本的成長。

Our next question comes from Craig Ellis, with B. Riley Securities.

我們的下一個問題來自 B. Riley Securities 的 Craig Ellis。

I wanted to start just by clarifying a point. I think, Jeff, you indicated that the supply chain issues that you were seeing in the near term were worth about $8 million to $10 million. So as we look at the 1.6% guide, and I think 3 months ago we were thinking that the business might grow 5% to 10%, is the difference between the 1.6% and the 5% to 10% that $8 million to $10 million? Or have there been some moving dynamics in terms of how you're looking at 1Q from where you were 3 months ago?

我想先澄清一點。 Jeff，我認為您表示您近期看到的供應鏈問題價值約為 800 萬至 1000 萬美元。因此，當我們查看1.6% 的指導時，我認為3 個月前我們認為業務可能會增長5% 到10%，這就是1.6% 和5% 到10% 之間的差異，即800 萬美元到1000萬美元？或者，您對第一季的看法與 3 個月前相比是否發生了一些變化？

Craig, so we had a little more roll back into Q4. So we -- the revenue there was a little bit higher than our midpoint of guidance. And then yes, you're correct. I had said $8 million to $10 million as a Q1 impact related to supply chain.

克雷格，所以我們在第四季有更多的回滾。因此，我們的收入略高於我們的指導中點。是的，你是對的。我曾說過，第一季與供應鏈相關的影響為 800 萬至 1,000 萬美元。

Got it. Okay. And then secondly, nice to see the $293 million in backlog. Can you just comment on what you're seeing in terms of how that's distributed across the different products? And as you look at the backlog, how far out is that extending? Is that giving you visibility into the second half of the year? Or is that really just through the second quarter? Any color on breadth and duration would be helpful.

知道了。好的。其次，很高興看到 2.93 億美元的積壓訂單。您能否評論一下您所看到的內容在不同產品中的分佈？當您查看積壓的訂單時，您會發現積壓的情況已經延長了多遠？這是否讓您對下半年有了一定的了解？或者這真的只是到了第二季嗎？任何關於寬度和持續時間的顏色都會有幫助。

The duration is really up to 2 quarters. There's some that goes beyond that, but it's not meaningful. So it's color on up to 2 quarters.

持續時間實際上長達2個季度。有一些超出了這個範圍，但沒有意義。所以最多有 2 個季度的顏色。

In terms of the breakdown of the backlog, I think it's close to where we were on an annual basis from a revenue perspective. Now over the last quarter or 2, certainly testers have gotten stronger as automotive test handlers have moderated. But I would say from a total makeup, it's probably 55% to 60% handlers and then close to 30% testers and the balance would be contactors.

就積壓的細分而言，我認為從收入角度來看，它接近我們每年的情況。在過去一兩個季度中，隨著汽車測試處理程序的緩和，測試人員無疑變得更加強大。但我想說，從整體組成來看，可能有 55% 到 60% 的處理人員，然後接近 30% 的測試人員，其餘的將是接觸人員。

Got it. And then, let's see, lastly for me, nice to see the company being active on the buyback program, with the $7 million, given where valuation is versus 10-year levels. Can you just help us understand how you're thinking about utilizing that buyback program as you look ahead at the first quarter of the year?

知道了。然後，讓我們看看，最後對我來說，很高興看到該公司積極參與回購計劃，回購金額為 700 萬美元，考慮到估值與 10 年水平相比。您能否幫助我們了解您在展望今年第一季時如何考慮利用該回購計劃？

I think the target in the first quarter is going to be really to offset dilution, and I think it's going to be similar to what we did in Q4, Craig. So I would model somewhere close to 200,000 shares, something close to what our Q1 results were.

我認為第一季的目標將真正抵消稀釋，我認為這將與我們在第四季度所做的類似，克雷格。因此，我會對接近 200,000 股的股票進行建模，接近我們第一季的結果。

Our next question comes from Quinn Bolton, with Needham.

我們的下一個問題來自奎因·博爾頓和李約瑟。

Just wanted to just sort of ask a picture about 2022. I know you're not commenting beyond the second quarter, and you talked about seeing sequential growth continuing into Q2, but kind of walking through the puts and takes for the year it sounds like revenue for the business, ex PCB Test, is going to be roughly flattish, in the $850 million to $860 million range. I look at the first quarter guidance at $195 million. It sort of feels like either you have a really big June quarter or perhaps you're seeing some of the revenue shifting out of Q1 into either Q2, Q3, maybe even into Q4. So I guess to get to sort of a flat year, it seems to imply perhaps a stronger second half than you might normally see. And I'm just wondering if you guys agree with that, or do you just see sort of whatever pushes out of March might be captured in June?

只是想問一下有關2022 年的情況。像是除 PCB 測試外，該業務的收入將大致持平，介於 8.5 億美元至 8.6 億美元之間。我預計第一季指引為 1.95 億美元。感覺就像要嘛你有一個非常大的六月季度，要嘛你可能會看到一些收入從第一季轉移到第二季、第三季度，甚至可能轉移到第四季。因此，我想今年的表現會比較平淡，這似乎意味著下半年的表現可能比你通常看到的還要強勁。我只是想知道你們是否同意這一點，或者你們是否認為三月推出的任何東西都可能在六月捕獲？

Well, in terms of trying to recapture what pushes out of March into a particular quarter, that's hard to do based on the uncertainty. So again, we're seeing a lot of strength in the business right now, a lot of good indicators, and the projections for the market are, as Luis went through, similar to what they were last year.

好吧，就試圖重新捕捉從三月到特定季度的情況而言，由於不確定性，這是很難做到的。再說一次，我們現在看到業務有很大的實力，有很多好的指標，而且正如路易斯所經歷的那樣，市場的預測與去年相似。

But it's just -- this is one of the reasons we're not giving any kind of indication of Q2 revenues. There's just too much uncertainty. So whether that pushes to Q2, Q3, what comes out of Q2, Q3, it's just too uncertain at the moment.

但這只是——這就是我們沒有給出任何第二季度收入跡象的原因之一。存在太多的不確定性。因此，這是否會推動第二季、第三季度，以及第二季、第三季的結果，目前還不確定。

You don't have the visibility.

你沒有可見度。

Right. And so we're really hesitant, as you can tell, to put any kind of parameters around this.

正確的。所以，正如你所知，我們真的很猶豫是否要為此設定任何類型的參數。

Realistically, Quinn, we're not in a position to talk about second half of the year yet. It's just too soon to have a good educated guess of what's going to happen that far out.

實際上，奎因，我們還不能談論今年下半年的情況。現在對那麼遠的將來會發生什麼做出有根據的猜測還為時過早。

Is it fair to say, though, that you're sort of more confident in your outlook that, ex PCB Test, the revenue would be roughly flattish, what's harder to call is just the timing of the revenue? Or do you think that there's risk to that $850 million, $860 million kind of flattish year-on-year outlook?

不過，公平地說，您對自己的前景更有信心，即除 PCB 測試外，收入將大致持平，更難判斷的是收入的時間安排？或者您認為 8.5 億美元、8.6 億美元的年比前景持平是否有風險？

Quinn, I think we're saying we're confident in what we have been talking about for the last 1 to 2 quarters, which is we would see a moderation on the handler business due to the automotive snapback effect we talked about.

奎因，我認為我們對過去 1 到 2 個季度所討論的內容充滿信心，即由於我們討論的汽車回彈效應，我們將看到處理程序業務的放緩。

We would see an increase on the tester business going into the first half of this year. If I would say, perhaps we're a little positively surprised by the strength of some of these design wins that we got recently, in the sense of their translating into volume orders already. That's exciting.

我們將看到今年上半年測試儀業務的成長。如果我想說，也許我們對我們最近獲得的一些設計勝利的實力感到有點驚訝，因為它們已經轉化為批量訂單。這太令人興奮了。

We were confident on the improvements on the contactor business, both the revenue growth and the improvement in gross margin.

我們對接觸器業務的改善，包括收入成長和毛利率的改善充滿信心。

So those are all playing out as we expected. I'm a little, say, disappointed on the continued tightness in the supply chain side. I would have thought it would have started easing a little bit. And it's not; that's remaining. So that creates a little bit more of aggravation here in the near term than we expected. So, so far, everything is playing out the way we expected, except for supply chain remains a challenge.

所以這些都是按照我們的預期進行。比如說，我對供應鏈的持續緊張感到有點失望。我原以為它會開始有所緩解。事實並非如此；剩下的就是這個了。因此，短期內這會造成比我們預期更多的惡化。因此，到目前為止，一切都按照我們預期的方式進行，除了供應鏈仍然是一個挑戰。

What to know for the second half of the year, it's too early to comment. So I don't know how to answer your question for the full year at this point.

下半年要知道什麼，現在評論還太早。所以我現在不知道如何回答你全年的問題。

Our next question comes from Tom Diffely, with D.A. Davidson.

我們的下一個問題來自 Tom Diffely 和 D.A.戴維森。

So very nice to hear about the mini design wins. I want to dig in just a little bit more on the RF test side in Japan. So Luis, how big is that market? And is it currently being served with in-house solutions? Or are there specific competitors there?

很高興聽到迷你設計獲勝。我想進一步深入了解日本的射頻測試方面。那麼路易斯，這個市場有多大？目前是否使用內部解決方案提供服務？或是有具體的競爭對手嗎？

So the Japan customer win, I mean, they are one of the -- potentially the or one of the leaders in the RFM space. And I think as we mentioned a few quarters ago, we had a couple of more large RF customers to win, or perhaps more than a couple, but a few more RF customers to win.

因此，日本客戶獲勝，我的意思是，他們是 RFM 領域的潛在領導者之一。我認為，正如我們在幾個季度前提到的，我們還有幾個更大的射頻客戶需要贏得，或者可能不止幾個，但還有更多的射頻客戶需要贏得。

This is a very important penetration win for us. We've been working on it for over a year, and we finally got a beachhead entrance. So that's a very important penetration there.

這對我們來說是一次非常重要的滲透勝利。我們為此努力了一年多，終於找到了灘頭陣地入口。所以這是一個非常重要的滲透。

We also had some design wins at a U.S.-based RFM customer, where we're displacing in-house rack-and-stack solution for a Wi-Fi 6 and Wi-Fi 7 application.

我們還贏得了美國 RFM 客戶的一些設計，我們正在為 Wi-Fi 6 和 Wi-Fi 7 應用程式取代內部機架堆疊解決方案。

So I think that's it for the moment on the RF.

我想 RF 方面的內容就到此為止了。

Okay. And then, Jeff, moving to the target model, I'm curious as we bridge the gap from last year's results to the target model, on the margin expansion side is that a combination of just product mix and scale? Or are there any other programs that you need to implement to get to the higher margin?

好的。然後，傑夫，轉向目標模型，我很好奇，當我們縮小去年結果與目標模型的差距時，在利潤擴張方面，這是否只是產品組合和規模的結合？或者您需要實施其他計劃才能獲得更高的利潤？

No. Those would be the 2 key items: mix in terms of growth in testers and contactors, moderation in the handlers. And then the scale is really more about the contactors and the internal manufacturing there. So yes, increasing the revenue and the product that flow through the Asia-based or Philippines-based, Japan-based factories.

不。然後規模實際上更多的是接觸器和內部製造。所以是的，增加流經亞洲或菲律賓、日本工廠的收入和產品。

Okay. That's helpful. And then just quickly focusing on the cash generation, the roughly 10% free cash flow yield last year, very nice, but you're projecting 18% free cash flow on the target model. And it seems like there's a bigger jump in free cash flow than there is for EPS or margins. So I'm just curious what is the incremental driver there on kind of a bridge-the-gap basis.

好的。這很有幫助。然後快速關注現金生成，去年大約 10% 的自由現金流收益率，非常好，但你在目標模型上預測 18% 的自由現金流。自由現金流的增幅似乎比每股盈餘或利潤率的增幅更大。所以我只是好奇在彌合差距的基礎上增量驅動因素是什麼。

This year, we saw a significant increase on the balance sheet in receivables and inventory. So I think we're going to get a better churn and be able to improve the DSOs and the inventory days there. So that's the target, and those are the actions in front of us.

今年，我們看到資產負債表上的應收帳款和庫存大幅增加。因此，我認為我們將獲得更好的客戶流失率，並能夠改善 DSO 和庫存天數。這就是目標，這就是我們眼前的行動。

Our next question comes from Atif Malik, with Citi.

我們的下一個問題來自花旗銀行的 Atif Malik。

Luis, if I remember it correctly, last year you guys were a little bit early in talking about test utilization coming down on the mobile side, and it seems to me like that has stabilized and started to improve. But curious on the moderation in the auto handlers. Is this something that you're starting to hear from your customers? Or you just expect kind of cyclicality to play out? Are there any signs right now? Or are you just being conservative?

路易斯，如果我沒記錯的話，去年你們談論行動端測試利用率下降的問題有點早，在我看來，這種情況已經穩定並開始改善。但對自動處理程序中的節制感到好奇。您是否開始從客戶那裡聽到這樣的說法？或者您只是期望出現某種週期性？現在有什麼跡象嗎？還是你只是保守？

No, I don't think it's any speculation. We have seen obviously a pretty tremendous ramp in the automotive demand for our test handlers in the first half of last year, '21. And the moderation has started already in the third quarter of last year and then back to the normal seasonality pattern that we expected here in the fourth quarter and the first quarter.

不，我不認為這是任何猜測。去年（21 年）上半年，我們明顯看到汽車對我們的測試處理程序的需求出現了相當大的增長。去年第三季就已經開始放緩，然後又回到我們預期的第四季和第一季的正常季節性模式。

So there's still a lot of unfulfilled demand in the automotive market. I just think that that snapback effect that we saw in the first half of last year ain't going to repeat itself. And the forecast, the order forecast, the backlog we have on hand pretty much supports that view already.

因此，汽車市場仍然存在大量未滿足的需求。我只是認為去年上半年我們看到的那種反彈效應不會重演。我們手頭上的預測、訂單預測和積壓訂單幾乎已經支持了這個觀點。

Great. And then if you could touch on Wi-Fi 6E. I understand that test demand is improving this year. But within that test demand, if you can rank-order RF versus the display driver versus power management, if you can just rank-order which end market is the strongest.

偉大的。然後您是否可以談談 Wi-Fi 6E。據我了解，今年的測試需求正在改善。但在該測試需求中，如果您可以對射頻、顯示驅動器和電源管理進行排序，如果您可以對哪個終端市場最強進行排序。

Well, it, in part, has to do with our penetration, our share penetration, in each one of these segments. So the RF segment will continue to be the strongest for our tester business in 2022, but that's simply due to the fact that that's the area we have our strongest share at the moment and continue to gain some new customers, as I described here in the prepared remarks: one in Japan, one in the U.S., and the RFM.

嗯，這在某種程度上與我們在這些細分市場的滲透率、份額滲透率有關。因此，到 2022 年，射頻領域將繼續成為我們測試儀業務中最強勁的領域，但這僅僅是因為這是我們目前擁有最強份額的領域，並將繼續獲得一些新客戶，正如我正在準備好的評論：日本一份，美國一份，RFM 一份。

Nevertheless, if I were to look at just pure growth year-on-year or as a percentage of revenue growth year-on-year, we are really bullish on the DDIC market, the display driver market. We had a very, very important qualification win in Korea in the fourth quarter. That's going to translate into volume business, probably starting this quarter and into the subsequent quarters this year. We have had some new devices qualified on the platform at existing customer in Taiwan, although fabless customers, in reality, testing at OSATs. So really emboldened by the traction in DDIC and, frankly, even a bit surprised by how fast that traction is translating into volume business.

儘管如此，如果我只看同比純增長或同比收入增長的百分比，我們確實看好 DDIC 市場，即顯示驅動器市場。第四節我們在韓國取得了一場非常非常重要的預選賽勝利。這將轉化為批量業務，可能從本季開始並持續到今年後續幾季。我們已經在台灣現有客戶的平台上獲得了一些合格的新設備，儘管無晶圓廠客戶實際上正在 OSAT 進行測試。 DDIC 的吸引力確實讓我感到鼓舞，坦白說，甚至對這種吸引力轉化為大量業務的速度感到有點驚訝。

Also very happy to see the PMIC and mixed signal win in Japan. I think there's a lot more that we can and need to do in the PMIC and mixed signal side. So I would expect that will be more of a story that we'll be discussing perhaps towards the second half of the year.

也很高興看到PMIC和混合信號在日本獲勝。我認為在 PMIC 和混合訊號方面我們可以而且需要做更多的事情。因此，我預計這將是我們可能在今年下半年討論的更多故事。

(Operator Instructions) Our next question comes from David Duley, with Steelhead.

（操作員說明）我們的下一個問題來自 Steelhead 的 David Duley。

I apologize. I missed part of your prepared remarks. I'm just curious what you kind of think for the size or the growth rate of the test market this year. Teradyne kind of mentioned it was flat, but they have a big headwind with their largest customer. So I imagine -- and they mentioned that there's pretty decent growth outside of the mobility and Apple business. So I'm kind of wondering what your guess is for what the growth rate of the market of the test business might be this year.

我道歉。我錯過了你準備好的部分發言。我只是好奇您對今年測試市場的規模或成長率有何看法。泰瑞達（Teradyne）提到，業績持平，但他們與最大的客戶面臨巨大的阻力。所以我想——他們提到，除了行動和蘋果業務之外，還有相當可觀的成長。所以我想知道您對今年測試業務市場成長率的猜測是什麼。

David, given our size in that market, we tend to focus more on our SAM and the growth opportunities in our SAM. I mean, I looked at both Teradyne and AVANTA as sort of bellwether what they're saying for the market size. Obviously, as you pointed out, Teradyne claim it should be flat. AVANTA claims, I don't know, I think a 10%, 12% growth year-on-year, talking about the SOC market in particular.

David，考慮到我們在該市場的規模，我們傾向於更多地關注我們的 SAM 以及 SAM 中的成長機會。我的意思是，我將 Teradyne 和 AVANTA 視為市場規模的領頭羊。顯然，正如您所指出的，泰瑞達聲稱它應該是平的。 AVANTA聲稱，我不知道，我認為年成長10%、12%，特別是在談論SOC市場時。

As I mentioned in the prior question here, we're seeing really interesting opportunities in DDIC, in PMIC and mixed signal. So is it because those markets are growing, like AVANTA says? Or realistically, for us, they are also design wins, recent design wins.

正如我在上一個問題中提到的，我們在 DDIC、PMIC 和混合訊號領域看到了非常有趣的機會。那麼是因為這些市場正在成長，就像 AVANTA 所說的那樣嗎？或者實際上，對我們來說，它們也是設計勝利，最近的設計勝利。

So we see growth opportunity for our tester business. We think our tester business is going to nicely grow in 2022. As far as the market grows, I guess I'll take the bellwether comments and say it's somewhere between 0% and 12% growth, based on Teradyne and AVANTA.

因此，我們看到了測試儀業務的成長機會。我們認為我們的測試儀業務將在 2022 年實現良好成長。

Okay. You mentioned, I think, at one point or another that you expected to gain share in 2022. Could you just elaborate in what parts of your business you expect to gain share?

好的。我想，您曾經提到您希望在 2022 年獲得份額。

Sure. It is predominantly on the tester and the contactor side. We have -- once again, we have done a really good design win in the DDIC market in Korea in Q4, and we are seriously expanding our presence now in Taiwan. So DDIC is a tremendous opportunity for us.

當然。它主要位於測試儀和接觸器側。我們再次在第四季度在韓國 DDIC 市場取得了非常好的設計勝利，並且我們現在正在認真擴大我們在台灣的業務。所以 DDIC 對我們來說是一個巨大的機會。

We're also expanding our presence in the mixed signal and power management IC space of our tester and some new instrumentation that were brought in and some refresh that we've done in 2021.

我們還擴大了我們在測試儀混合訊號和電源管理 IC 領域的業務，並引入了一些新儀器，並在 2021 年進行了一些更新。

There is a little bit more to do in the RFM, including these wins in Japan and in the U.S. RFM customers. That's not the end of the road, by the way. I mean, we just broke in. I think we've got to capture the revenues still and design all the different applications.

RFM 還有更多工作要做，包括贏得日本和美國 RFM 客戶。順便說一句，那不是路的盡頭。我的意思是，我們剛剛闖入。

The contactor side, we had some new products in power management and precision analog that are getting very good orders, very good order rate here in the fourth quarter and starting at the first quarter of this year. So we grew the contactor business 25% in '21 year-over-year. We do expect to grow it again in '22.

在接觸器方面，我們在電源管理和精密模擬方面有一些新產品，這些產品在第四季度和今年第一季開始獲得了非常好的訂單，訂單率非常高。因此，我們的接觸器業務在 21 年年增了 25%。我們確實預計 22 年會再次成長。

And then lastly, the inspection and metrology. We had a tremendous year in '21. We grew 130% year-over-year in revenue. A lot of it has to do with this so-called Neon platform with infrared imaging capability, just a really, really good attachment to mobile device applications. We have a list of customers that we're targeting to win in '22. And then later in the year, we do expect to bring in some new vision technology that continues to expand our penetration, thereafter more into high-performance digital and particularly where there is vertical stack semiconductor stacking or 3D packaging into 2023.

最後是檢查和計量。 21 年我們度過了美好的一年。我們的營收年增 130%。這很大程度上與具有紅外線成像功能的所謂 Neon 平台有關，它是行動裝置應用程式的一個非常非常好的配件。我們有一份目標是在 22 年贏得的客戶名單。然後在今年晚些時候，我們確實希望引入一些新的視覺技術，繼續擴大我們的滲透率，此後更多地進入高性能數位領域，特別是到 2023 年有垂直堆疊半導體堆疊或 3D 封裝的領域。

So those are the primary areas of growth for the business in '22.

因此，這些是 22 年業務成長的主要領域。

Excellent. And then I'm sorry if you already addressed this. But Jeff, it seems like the earnings per share in the December quarter were a bit above where Street expectations were. Could you just outline what the key reasons for that were?

出色的。如果您已經解決了這個問題，我很抱歉。但是傑夫，12 月季度的每股盈餘似乎略高於華爾街的預期。您能否概述一下造成這種情況的主要原因是什麼？

Key reasons: a little more revenue, slightly better gross margin and then we had a foreign currency gain of about $700,000. So those are some small differences. But then on a tax provision, we realized a foreign tax credit in the quarter which drove a $2 million tax benefit, a credit, as opposed to a debit in the quarter. So that added $0.15 to EPS.

主要原因：收入增加一點，毛利率稍微好一點，然後我們獲得了約 70 萬美元的外匯收益。這些都是一些小的差異。但在稅收規定方面，我們在本季實現了外國稅收抵免，這帶來了 200 萬美元的稅收優惠，即本季的抵免，而不是藉方。這樣每股收益就增加了 0.15 美元。

That concludes today's question-and-answer session. I'd like to turn the call back to Jeff Jones for some closing remarks.

今天的問答環節到此結束。我想把電話轉回給傑夫瓊斯，讓他做一些結束語。

All right. Thank you, everybody. Appreciate you joining the call, and we'll talk to you soon. Thank you.

好的。謝謝大家。感謝您加入通話，我們很快就會與您聯繫。謝謝。

This concludes today's conference call. Thank you for participating. You may now disconnect.

今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝您的參與。您現在可以斷開連線。