Credo Technology Group Holding Ltd (CRDO) 2023 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by. (Operator Instructions) I would now like to turn the conference over to your host, Mr. Dan O'Neil. Please go ahead, sir.

女士們先生們，謝謝你們的支持。 （操作員指示）現在我想將會議轉交給東道主 Dan O'Neil 先生。請繼續，先生。

Good afternoon, and thank you all for joining us today for our Fiscal 2023 First Quarter Ending Earnings Call. Joining me today from Credo are Bill Brennan, our Chief Executive Officer; and Dan Fleming, our Chief Financial Officer.

下午好，感謝大家今天參加我們的 2023 財年第一季末收益電話會議。今天從 Credo 加入我的是我們的執行長 Bill Brennan；和我們的財務長丹·弗萊明。

I'd like to remind everyone that certain comments made on this call today may include forward-looking statements regarding expected future financial results, strategies and plans, future operations, the markets in which we operate, and other areas of discussion. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that are discussed in detail in our documents filed with the SEC. It's not possible for the company's management to predict all risks nor can the company assess the impact of all factors on its business or the extent to which any factor or combination of factors may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements.

我想提醒大家，今天在這次電話會議上發表的某些評論可能包括有關預期未來財務業績、策略和計劃、未來營運、我們營運的市場以及其他討論領域的前瞻性陳述。這些前瞻性陳述受到風險和不確定性的影響，這些風險和不確定性在我們向 SEC 提交的文件中進行了詳細討論。公司管理階層不可能預測所有風險，公司也無法評估所有因素對其業務的影響，或任何因素或因素組合可能導致實際結果與任何前瞻性陳述中包含的結果有重大差異的程度。

Given these risks, uncertainties and assumptions, the forward-looking events discussed during this call may not occur, and actual results could differ materially and adversely from those anticipated or implied. The company undertakes no obligation to publicly update forward-looking statements for any reason after the date of this call to conform these statements to actual results or to changes in the company's expectations except as required by law.

鑑於這些風險、不確定性和假設，本次電話會議中討論的前瞻性事件可能不會發生，實際結果可能與預期或暗示的結果有重大不利差異。除法律要求外，本公司沒有義務在本次電話會議之後以任何理由公開更新前瞻性陳述，以使這些陳述符合實際結果或公司預期的變更。

Also during this call, we will refer to certain non-GAAP financial measures, which we consider to be an important measure of the company's performance. These non-GAAP financial measures are provided in addition to and not as a substitute for or superior to financial performance prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP. A discussion of why we use non-GAAP financial measures and reconciliations between our GAAP and non-GAAP financial measures is available in the earnings release we issued today as well as in our SEC filings, which both can be accessed using the Investor Relations portion of our website.

此外，在這次電話會議中，我們也將提及某些非公認會計準則財務指標，我們認為這是衡量公司績效的重要指標。這些非公認會計原則財務指標是根據美國公認會計原則編制的財務績效的補充，而不是替代或優於根據美國公認會計原則編制的財務業績。關於我們為何使用非GAAP 財務指標以及我們的GAAP 與非GAAP 財務指標之間的調節的討論，請參閱我們今天發布的收益報告以及我們向SEC 提交的文件，您可以透過以下連結的投資者關係部分取得這些文件：我們的網站。

With that, I'll now turn the call over to our CEO. Bill?

現在，我將把電話轉給我們的執行長。帳單？

Thank you, Dan. Good afternoon, and thank you to everybody for joining the call. During this call, I'll review our fiscal Q1 results and then share why we continue to be excited about our progress and our plans moving forward. When I conclude, Dan Fleming, our Chief Financial Officer, will provide a detailed review of our financial results and expectations moving forward.

謝謝你，丹。下午好，感謝大家加入通話。在這次電話會議中，我將回顧我們第一季的財務業績，然後分享為什麼我們繼續對我們的進展和未來的計劃感到興奮。當我結束時，我們的財務長丹·弗萊明將對我們的財務表現和未來的預期進行詳細審查。

Credo's mission is to deliver high-speed connectivity solutions to break bandwidth barriers on every wired connection in the data infrastructure market. We provide innovative, secure, high-speed solutions that deliver improved power efficiency and cost as data rates and bandwidth requirements increase exponentially. Our connectivity solutions are optimized for both electrical and optical Ethernet applications, including the 100 gigabits per second, 200 gig, 400 and 800 gig port markets. All our products are built with our proprietary SerDes and DSP technologies. Our product families include integrated circuits or ICs, active electrical cables or AECs and SerDes chiplets. Our intellectual property or IP solutions consist primarily of SerDes IP licensing.

Credo 的使命是提供高速連接解決方案，以打破資料基礎設施市場中每個有線連接的頻寬障礙。我們提供創新、安全、高速的解決方案，隨著資料速率和頻寬需求呈指數級增長，可提高能源效率並降低成本。我們的連接解決方案針對電氣和光纖乙太網路應用進行了最佳化，包括每秒 100 GB、200 GB、400 GB 和 800 GB 連接埠市場。我們所有的產品均採用我們專有的 SerDes 和 DSP 技術建構。我們的產品系列包括積體電路或 IC、主動電纜或 AEC 以及 SerDes 小晶片。我們的智慧財產權或 IP 解決方案主要包括 SerDes IP 授權。

I'm happy to report that in the July quarter, we continued our strong execution, achieving $46.5 million in revenue, an increase from $37.5 million from the last quarter, up 24% sequentially. Our product revenue, which is a key indicator we track closely, was up 37% sequentially, showing the strong progress we're making ramping our AEC products.

我很高興地向大家報告，在 7 月這個季度，我們繼續保持強勁的執行力，實現了 4650 萬美元的收入，較上一季的 3750 萬美元有所增長，環比增長 24%。我們的產品收入是我們密切追蹤的關鍵指標，環比成長了 37%，這表明我們在提升 AEC 產品方面取得了巨大進展。

I would like to now provide an update on our product and SerDes IP licensing businesses. Starting with an update on active electrical cables, our AEC solutions represent a new high-speed connectivity product category, the Credo pioneered. As connection speeds increase, passive copper cables or DACs become obsolete due to severe signal integrity and size challenges. Optical connections or AOCs have prohibitive challenges with power and cost. AECs offer compelling in-rack solutions, achieving half the power, half the cost with better reliability and a more rugged physical design than AOCs. We continue to gain traction due to our engineering ingenuity and customer-first mindset. To date, we've sold AECs to more than 30 customers, including solutions for 50 gig, 100 gig, 200 gig, 400 and 800 gig ports. Our target customers include data centers, 5G carriers, networking OEMs and ODMs as well as others in the Ethernet ecosystem.

我現在想介紹一下我們的產品和 SerDes IP 授權業務的最新情況。從主動電纜的更新開始，我們的 AEC 解決方案代表了 Credo 開創的新高速連接產品類別。隨著連接速度的提高，被動銅纜或 DAC 由於嚴峻的訊號完整性和尺寸挑戰而變得過時。光連接或 AOC 在功耗和成本方面面臨著巨大的挑戰。 AEC 提供引人注目的機架內解決方案，與 AOC 相比，功耗和成本降低一半，並且具有更好的可靠性和更堅固的實體設計。由於我們的工程獨創性和客戶至上的理念，我們繼續獲得關注。迄今為止，我們已向 30 多家客戶出售 AEC，包括適用於 50 gig、100 gig、200 gig、400 和 800 gig 連接埠的解決方案。我們的目標客戶包括資料中心、5G 營運商、網路 OEM 和 ODM 以及乙太網路生態系統中的其他客戶。

During Q1, we continued to ramp the first 2 programs at our first major data center customer. We also had our first revenue shipments to that same customer on a third next-generation program. With regards to our second major data center customer, we continue to make progress, shipping the first preproduction AEC units for qualification prior to their ramp. We remain encouraged by our prospects at this customer, given the innovative nature of our AEC solution, and we continue to expect the initial ramp of this customer to happen towards the end of this fiscal year.

在第一季度，我們繼續在我們的第一個主要資料中心客戶中推廣前兩個專案。我們也透過第三個下一代計劃向同一客戶交付了第一批收入。對於我們的第二個主要資料中心客戶，我們繼續取得進展，交付了第一批預生產 AEC 單元，以便在其投產前進行資格認證。鑑於我們的 AEC 解決方案的創新性質，我們仍然對該客戶的前景感到鼓舞，並且我們仍然預計該客戶的初始產能將在本財年末實現。

I'm pleased to share that we've fully recovered from the supply chain shortfall caused by the COVID shutdowns in China last quarter, successfully meeting demand in Q1 while building a buffer inventory that will help to minimize the impact of any supplier manufacturing disruptions in the future. We continue to invest aggressively in our next-generation 800-gig port AEC solutions with our leading 100-gig per lane SerDes technology. We've been working closely with our AEC customers to meet their future needs with innovative solutions to address opportunities for both the server rack and the disaggregated switch rack applications. To this end, we've delivered and verified 800 gig port AEC solutions to multiple data center customers, multiple networking OEMs as well as additional ecosystem partners.

我很高興地告訴大家，我們已經完全從上個季度中國因新冠肺炎疫情導致的供應鏈短缺中恢復過來，成功滿足了第一季度的需求，同時建立了緩衝庫存，這將有助於最大限度地減少供應商製造中斷的影響。我們繼續利用領先的每通道 100 G SerDes 技術積極投資下一代 800 G 端口 AEC 解決方案。我們一直與 AEC 客戶密切合作，透過創新解決方案滿足他們未來的需求，為伺服器機架和分類交換機機架應用抓住機會。為此，我們已向多個資料中心客戶、多個網路 OEM 以及其他生態系統合作夥伴交付並驗證了 800 GB 連接埠 AEC 解決方案。

Now turning to our optical solutions. In this market, we work closely with both optical module manufacturers and data center customers to deliver disruptive solutions for optical DSPs, laser drivers and TIAs. We are in production with 2 data center customers through numerous optical module manufacturers in a joint development model, or JDM, where our data center customers specify the key components to be used in our optical modules, such as Credo optical DSP. We are also engaged with several optical manufacturers across various applications, including 100-gig, 200-gig and 400-gig Ethernet solutions and beyond the data center, including PON, 5G and fiber channel.

現在轉向我們的光學解決方案。在這個市場中，我們與光學模組製造商和資料中心客戶密切合作，為光學 DSP、雷射驅動器和 TIA 提供顛覆性解決方案。我們透過眾多光學模組製造商以聯合開發模式（JDM）與 2 個資料中心客戶進行生產，其中我們的資料中心客戶指定在我們的光學模組中使用的關鍵組件，例如 Credo 光學 DSP。我們也與多家光學製造商合作，涉及各種應用，包括 100G、200G 和 400G 乙太網路解決方案以及資料中心以外的領域，包括 PON、5G 和光纖通道。

Notably, during Q1, we began production with a leading networking OEM for a 64 gig fiber channel optical module. We recently announced our optical DSP with integrated laser driver solutions for next-generation 800-gig and 400-gig optical modules with 100-gig per lane SerDes technology. Credo is now in a strong position to continue to deliver the same disruptive advantages on the combination of performance, power efficiency and cost for these next-generation 100-gig per lane deployments. With this strong progress, we continue to expect our optical solutions will contribute significantly to our growth in the future.

值得注意的是，在第一季度，我們開始與一家領先的網路 OEM 一起生產 64 GB 光纖通道光學模組。我們最近推出了具有整合雷射驅動器解決方案的光學 DSP，適用於採用每通道 100 GB SerDes 技術的下一代 800 GB 和 400 GB 光學模組。 Credo 現在處於有利地位，可以繼續在這些新一代每通道 100 千兆位元部署的效能、能源效率和成本組合方面提供相同的顛覆性優勢。憑藉這一強勁進展，我們繼續期望我們的光學解決方案將為我們未來的成長做出重大貢獻。

And moving to our Line Card PHYs, we are very pleased with our progress here as well. Credo has quickly become a leader in MACsec solutions that provide data encryption for the growing number of applications requiring high security. We're happy to report that we are now ramping production directly with a second major data center customer deploying our 400-gig port MACsec solution. We see the market trend towards high-security applications growing significantly in the future, and we remain bullish on this business. We continue to make strong progress with our Black Hawk 400-gig port retimer solution as well. Numerous networking OEM and ODM customers are currently transitioning from qualification to mass production.

轉向我們的線路卡 PHY，我們也對這裡的進展感到非常滿意。 Credo 已迅速成為 MACsec 解決方案的領導者，為越來越多需要高安全性的應用程式提供資料加密。我們很高興地報告，我們現在正在與部署我們的 400 吉端口 MACsec 解決方案的第二個主要資料中心客戶直接提高產量。我們看到未來高安全性應用程式的市場趨勢將顯著成長，我們仍然看好這項業務。我們的 Black Hawk 400-gig 連接埠重定時器解決方案也持續取得強勁進展。目前，眾多網路 OEM 和 ODM 客戶正在從資格認證過渡到大量生產。

As the market trends toward higher speeds, we will continue to see increasing demand for retimer and gearbox solutions, given the signal integrity challenges at 100-gig per lane. Credo is well positioned on our next-generation 800-gig Line Card PHY solutions, driven by the same theme of delivering disruptive performance, power efficiency and cost. Earlier this year, we announced our first generation 800-gig port Line Card solutions, and I'm happy to say that Credo has already been adopted by several customers as they develop their next-generation 100-gig per lane platforms.

隨著市場向更高速度發展的趨勢，考慮到每通道 100G 的訊號完整性挑戰，我們將繼續看到對重定時器和變速箱解決方案的需求不斷增長。 Credo 在我們的下一代 800-g 線路卡 PHY 解決方案上處於有利地位，其驅動力是提供顛覆性的性能、功效和成本。今年早些時候，我們宣布了第一代 800 GB 連接埠線路卡解決方案，我很高興地說，Credo 已被多家客戶在開發下一代每通道 100 GB 平台時採用。

Finally, we had another strong quarter with our SerDes IP licensing and SerDes chiplet business. This market is very strategic for us, and we had a strong revenue contribution in the quarter. Since our last earnings call, we made 2 significant announcements on our SerDes IP offerings. We announced the industry's first 40 gig PAM 3 SerDes IP, which will be important for next-generation consumer designs. This SerDes IP is leveraged from the work we've done with our lead consumer partner, making our IP a clear choice for next-generation consumer designs. We also recently announced availability of our 112-gig SerDes IP in TSMC's 5- and 4-nanometer processes. We believe we've set a new industry benchmark for lowest power across a broad range of reach requirements, delivering a comprehensive family of options to span from longest reach LR+ links with more than 40 dB loss to the short XSR links required in multi-chip module SoC designs.

最後，我們的 SerDes IP 授權和 SerDes 小晶片業務又迎來了一個強勁的季度。這個市場對我們來說非常具有戰略意義，我們在本季做出了強勁的營收貢獻。自上次財報電話會議以來，我們就 SerDes IP 產品發布了 2 項重要公告。我們發表了業界首款 40 gig PAM 3 SerDes IP，這對於下一代消費性設計非常重要。該 SerDes IP 是我們與領先消費者合作夥伴共同完成的工作的成果，使我們的 IP 成為下一代消費者設計的明確選擇。我們最近也宣布推出採用台積電 5 奈米和 4 奈米製程的 112 GB SerDes IP。我們相信，我們已經為廣泛的覆蓋範圍要求的最低功耗設定了新的行業基準，提供了全面的選項系列，涵蓋從損耗超過40 dB 的最長覆蓋範圍LR+ 鏈路到多晶片所需的短XSR 鏈路模組SoC設計。

Credo is unique compared to other Serdes IP providers in that Credo will develop and deploy this same IP in our next-generation 5- and 4-nanometer products for our AEC, optical PSP and Line Card PHY solutions. This becomes a great benefit to our IP licensing partners since Credo is walking the walk on product deployments right in step with our SerDes IP customer deployments. I will also say that we expect to again deliver the best power and performance combination for all our IP and product solutions in 5 and 4 nanometer. In the past, we've talked about Credo's core advantage of using more mature and less expensive process technology while delivering lower power and smaller die sizes than our competition. We refer to this as an N-1 process advantage. We believe we've extended this N-1 process advantage to 5 and 4 nanometer and that our competition will need to move to more advanced and expensive processes to be competitive with Credo.

與其他 Serdes IP 供應商相比，Credo 的獨特之處在於 Credo 將在我們的 AEC、光學 PSP 和線路卡 PHY 解決方案的下一代 5 奈米和 4 奈米產品中開發和部署相同的 IP。這對我們的 IP 授權合作夥伴來說是一個巨大的好處，因為 Credo 正在與我們的 SerDes IP 客戶部署同步進行產品部署。我還要說的是，我們期望再次為我們所有的 5 奈米和 4 奈米 IP 和產品解決方案提供最佳的功率和性能組合。過去，我們討論過 Credo 的核心優勢，即使用更成熟、更便宜的製程技術，同時提供比競爭對手更低的功耗和更小的晶片尺寸。我們將此稱為 N-1 流程優勢。我們相信我們已經將這種 N-1 製程優勢擴展到 5 奈米和 4 奈米，而我們的競爭對手將需要轉向更先進和更昂貴的製程才能與 Credo 競爭。

Regarding our SerDes chiplet efforts, we were honored to be mentioned by Tesla at TSMC's Technology Symposium in June as their key connectivity partner for their leading-edge Dojo supercomputer design, where Credo provided their 112-gig XSR SerDes IP and their 3.2 terabit per second chiplets. Also notable, we recently became a UCIe-contributing member, building on the market momentum for our industry-leading XSR SerDes IP and our 2 3.2 terabits per second production chiplets.

關於我們的SerDes 小晶片工作，我們很榮幸在6 月份的台積電技術研討會上被Tesla 提及，作為他們領先的Dojo 超級電腦設計的關鍵連接合作夥伴，其中Credo 提供了他們的112 g XSR SerDes IP和每秒3.2 太比特的資料小晶片。另外值得注意的是，我們最近成為了 UCIe 貢獻成員，以我們行業領先的 XSR SerDes IP 和每秒 2 3.2 太比特的生產小晶片的市場勢頭為基礎。

In summary, we continue to be excited about our progress as we deepen relationships with current customers and as we receive commitments from new customers. We're also encouraged by the prospects of our next-generation 100-gig per lane solutions based on strong customer feedback and engagement. Near term, we remain focused on delivering strong results in our fiscal '23 as we continue to expect to achieve at least $200 million in revenue, which would represent an annual growth of more than 88%.

總而言之，隨著我們加深與現有客戶的關係以及收到新客戶的承諾，我們繼續對我們的進步感到興奮。基於強大的客戶回饋和參與度，我們的下一代每通道 100g 解決方案的前景也讓我們感到鼓舞。短期內，我們仍然專注於在 23 財年取得強勁業績，因為我們繼續預計實現至少 2 億美元的收入，這意味著年增長率超過 88%。

Now I'll turn the call over to our CFO, Dan Fleming, to provide more details on our first quarter and to give guidance on Q2.

現在，我將把電話轉給我們的財務長 Dan Fleming，以提供有關我們第一季的更多詳細資訊並為第二季提供指導。

Thank you, Bill, and good afternoon. I will first review our Q1 fiscal '23 results and then discuss our outlook for Q2 of fiscal '23. As a reminder, the following financials will be discussed on a non-GAAP basis, unless otherwise noted.

謝謝你，比爾，下午好。我將首先回顧我們 23 財年第一季的業績，然後討論我們對 23 財年第二季的展望。提醒一下，除非另有說明，否則以下財務數據將在非公認會計原則的基礎上進行討論。

I'm pleased to share with you that in Q1, we achieved another quarter of record revenue at $46.5 million, above the midpoint of our guidance range and up 24% sequentially. Sequential growth was driven by strong revenue growth of our products, which also reached a record of $36.1 million for the quarter, up 37% sequentially. This growth in product revenue was led by a continued wave of AEC adoption that will continue to transition our revenue mix from being IP focused to product-focused. The fundamental driver of our product growth, a strong [HSDC] expansion outlook at the highest speeds remains in place in the face of an uncertain economic and geopolitical landscape.

我很高興與您分享，第一季度，我們的收入又創歷史新高，達到 4,650 萬美元，高於我們指導範圍的中點，比上一季增長 24%。連續成長是由我們產品的強勁收入成長推動的，該季度營收也達到創紀錄的 3,610 萬美元，比上一季成長 37%。產品收入的成長是由持續的 AEC 採用浪潮帶動的，這將繼續將我們的收入組合從以 IP 為中心轉變為以產品為中心。面對不確定的經濟和地緣政治格局，我們產品成長的根本驅動力，以最高速度強勁的 [HSDC] 擴張前景仍然存在。

Our IP business generated $10.4 million of revenue in Q1. IP remains a strategic part of our business, but as a reminder, our IP results may vary from quarter-to-quarter, driven largely by specific deliverables to preexisting contracts. While the mix of IP and product revenue will vary in any given quarter over time, our revenue mix in Q1 was 22% IP, above our long-term expectation for IP, which is 10% to 15% of revenue.

我們的 IP 業務在第一季創造了 1,040 萬美元的收入。智慧財產權仍然是我們業務的策略部分，但需要提醒的是，我們的智慧財產權業績可能會因季度而異，這主要是由現有合約的具體交付成果所驅動的。雖然IP 和產品收入的組合在任何特定季度都會隨著時間的推移而變化，但我們第一季的收入組合為IP 的22%，高於我們對IP 的長期預期，即佔收入的10% 至15%。

With a strong product result this quarter, we delivered gross margin of 60.5% above the midpoint of our guidance. This was down 316 basis points sequentially, driven principally by revenue mix changes. Our IP gross margin was 91.2% in Q1 and our product gross margin was 51.8% in the quarter, up 326 basis points sequentially and up 11.6 percentage points year-over-year. This product gross margin expansion is principally due to leverage from our strong product growth.

憑藉本季強勁的產品業績，我們的毛利率達到了 60.5%，高於我們指導值的中位數。環比下降 316 個基點，主要是由於收入結構變化。第一季 IP 毛利率為 91.2%，本季產品毛利率為 51.8%，較上季成長 326 個基點，較去年同期成長 11.6 個百分點。該產品毛利率的成長主要得益於我們強勁的產品成長。

Total operating expenses in the quarter were $22.6 million at the midpoint of our guidance and up 43% year-over-year as we scale the organization for growth. We expect to continue to deliver considerable leverage in the business. Our OpEx increase was driven by a 50% year-over-year increase in R&D as we continue to invest in the resources to deliver innovative solutions. Our SG&A was up 33% year-over-year as we continue to build out public company infrastructure.

本季的總營運費用為 2,260 萬美元（按我們指導的中點計算），隨著我們擴大組織規模以實現成長，年增 43%。我們預計將繼續在業務中提供相當大的影響力。我們的營運支出成長是由研發年增 50% 推動的，因為我們不斷投資資源以提供創新解決方案。隨著我們繼續建造上市公司基礎設施，我們的 SG&A 年比成長 33%。

We delivered operating income of $5.7 million in Q1, up 138% sequentially. Our operating margin was 12.2% in the quarter, up 584 basis points quarter-over-quarter as we continue to gain operating leverage. We delivered net income of $5.4 million in Q1, up 96% sequentially. The cash flow from operations in the first quarter was negative $12.2 million, a decrease of $14.6 million sequentially as a large receivable of $11.5 million came in the week after our quarter ended.

第一季我們實現營業收入 570 萬美元，比上一季成長 138%。隨著我們繼續獲得營運槓桿，本季我們的營運利潤率為 12.2%，環比上升 584 個基點。第一季我們實現淨利 540 萬美元，比上一季成長 96%。第一季營運現金流為負 1,220 萬美元，環比減少 1,460 萬美元，因為季度結束後一周出現了 1,150 萬美元的大額應收帳款。

CapEx was $5.3 million in the quarter, driven by production mask spending and free cash flow was negative $17.5 million, a decrease of $7.2 million year-over-year. We ended the quarter with cash and equivalents of $243.8 million, a decrease of $15.5 million from the fourth quarter. This decrease in cash was a result of continued working capital investments to support our top line revenue growth. Our accounts receivable balance increased 86% sequentially to $54.8 million, while days sales outstanding increased to 107 days, up from 72 days in Q4. Our Q1 ending inventory was $37 million, up $9.7 million sequentially as we continue our product ramp while successfully building AEC buffer inventory to minimize the impact of any manufacturing disruptions in the future.

受生產掩模支出的推動，本季資本支出為 530 萬美元，自由現金流為負 1,750 萬美元，年減 720 萬美元。本季末，我們的現金及等價物為 2.438 億美元，比第四季減少 1550 萬美元。現金減少是由於持續進行營運資本投資以支持我們的收入成長。我們的應收帳款餘額較上季成長 86%，達到 5,480 萬美元，而應收帳款天數從第四季的 72 天增加到 107 天。我們第一季的期末庫存為 3700 萬美元，比上一季增加了 970 萬美元，因為我們繼續提高產品產量，同時成功建立 AEC 緩衝庫存，以盡量減少未來任何製造中斷的影響。

Now turning to our guidance for the second quarter. We currently expect revenue in Q2 fiscal '23 to be between $48.5 million and $52.5 million, up 9% sequentially at the midpoint and 91% year-over-year. We expect Q2 gross margin to be within a range of 59% to 61%. We expect Q2 operating expenses to be between $23.5 million and $25.5 million. And finally, we expect Q2 weighted average diluted share count to be approximately 159 million shares. As Bill mentioned, we remain on track to achieve at least $200 million of revenue in fiscal year '23. And coupling our strong growth with our fiscal discipline, we will continue to generate leverage in the business and expect to deliver a double-digit operating margin for the full year. And with that, I'll open it up for questions. Thank you.

現在轉向我們第二季的指引。我們目前預計 23 財年第二季的營收將在 4,850 萬美元至 5,250 萬美元之間，中點比上一季成長 9%，年增 91%。我們預計第二季毛利率將在 59% 至 61% 之間。我們預計第二季營運支出將在 2,350 萬美元至 2,550 萬美元之間。最後，我們預計第二季加權平均稀釋後股票數量約為 1.59 億股。正如 Bill 所提到的，我們仍有望在 23 財年實現至少 2 億美元的營收。將我們的強勁成長與我們的財政紀律相結合，我們將繼續在業務中發揮槓桿作用，並預計全年實現兩位數的營業利潤率。接下來，我將開放提問。謝謝。

(Operator Instructions) Your first question comes from Vivek Arya of Bank of America.

（操作員說明）您的第一個問題來自美國銀行的 Vivek Arya。

The fiscal year. But I'm curious, how are you thinking about the mix between AEC, optical, Line Card PHYs and IP now versus what you thought 3 or 6 months ago, how has that mix evolved? And have you seen any headwinds or pushback at all from a macro perspective that a number of your larger peers have pointed to in their recent earnings calls?

財政年度。但我很好奇，與 3 或 6 個月前的想法相比，您現在如何看待 AEC、光纖、線路卡 PHY 和 IP 之間的組合，這種組合是如何演變的？您是否從宏觀角度看到了許多較大同行在最近的財報電話會議中指出的任何阻力或阻力？

Thanks for the question. I appreciate that. From the mix perspective, I think we're right on track with what we expected 6 to 9 months ago. Of course, we've quickly seen our AEC business turn into our largest from a revenue standpoint. Line Card follows and then optical is going to be next. Long term, we expect that our revenue mix will really match the market TAM in a sense that long term, we expect AEC to be our largest product business, followed by optical and then followed by Line Card. So really no changes there. And then on a macro level, I think we're in a very good position generally. If you look at our engagements with our customers are all really on the leading edge for new technology deployments that really deliver the necessary next-generation bandwidth that is really forefront in their requirements. And so if decisions are made by our customers to slow the quantity and rate of deployments, we still see large and ramping volumes for the programs that we're on. So I would say that we're not seeing the same kind of macro level impact to our business, just given our positioning.

謝謝你的提問。我很欣賞這一點。從組合的角度來看，我認為我們正處於 6 至 9 個月前的預期軌道上。當然，從收入的角度來看，我們很快就看到我們的 AEC 業務變成了我們最大的業務。接下來是線卡，然後是光纖。從長遠來看，我們預計我們的收入組合將真正與市場 TAM 相匹配，從長遠來看，我們預計 AEC 將成為我們最大的產品業務，其次是光學業務，然後是線路卡業務。所以確實沒有任何改變。然後在宏觀層面上，我認為我們總體上處於非常有利的位置。如果你看看我們與客戶的合作，都確實處於新技術部署的前沿，這些技術真正提供了必要的下一代頻寬，這確實是他們需求的最前沿。因此，如果我們的客戶決定放慢部署的數量和速度，我們仍然會看到我們正在進行的計劃的數量龐大且不斷增加。因此，我想說，鑑於我們的定位，我們的業務並沒有看到同樣的宏觀層面的影響。

All right. And for my follow up, Bill, on the topic of AEC and your lead customer, I'm curious, which innings of adoption do you think your product is in? If you would look at the total number of high-speed ports being deployed at your large customer, and you look at the adoption of your AEC, where are we in that adoption phase? Because I'm trying to determine whether we should be expecting a digestion phase? Or is it too early in the ramp? Do you expect any kind of digestion phase? Just where are you in the adoption process at your largest customer?

好的。 Bill，對於我的後續話題，關於 AEC 和您的主要客戶，我很好奇，您認為您的產品處於哪一個採用階段？如果您查看大客戶部署的高速連接埠總數，並查看 AEC 的採用情況，我們處於採用階段的哪個階段？因為我想確定我們是否應該等待消化階段？還是現在進入坡道還太早？您期望任何類型的消化階段嗎？您在最大客戶的採用過程中處於什麼階段？

Sure. Sure, again. Thanks for the question. I would say that we're in the middle innings of the first initial ramp. So it's reflected in the fact that we grew so significantly this quarter. And our expectation is that ramp will really continue through the next quarters.

當然。當然，再一次。謝謝你的提問。我想說我們正處於第一個初始坡道的中局。因此，這反映在我們本季實現如此顯著成長的事實中。我們的預期是，這種成長將真正持續到接下來的幾個季度。

Do you expect it to grow next year as well?

您預計明年也會成長嗎？

Well, generally speaking, the opportunity that we've got really matches the number of servers that are deployed at each one of our hyperscale customers. And so I would say that also, we're engaged in multiple programs as they change technology for their network interface card or NICs at the server level. And so ultimately, I believe that the ramp that we've got with our first customer will continue. It's hard for me to say, from a volume standpoint, will the volumes continue to increase after we were fully ramped. But then we expect to add more customers to our mix that will be significant in the fiscal '24 time frame.

嗯，一般來說，我們獲得的機會確實與我們每個超大規模客戶部署的伺服器數量相符。所以我想說的是，我們參與了多個項目，因為他們在伺服器層級改變了網路介面卡或 NIC 的技術。因此，最終，我相信我們與第一個客戶的合作將會繼續下去。從數量的角度來看，我很難說在我們全面擴大產能後，數量是否會繼續增加。但我們預計將在我們的組合中添加更多客戶，這在 24 財年的時間範圍內將具有重要意義。

Our next question comes from Toshiya Hari of Goldman Sachs.

我們的下一個問題來自高盛的 Toshiya Hari。

I had 2 questions as well, one for Bill and one for Dan. I guess in terms of your optical solutions business, Bill, I think you did a great job in talking about your customer engagements qualitatively. I was hoping you could give perhaps some guidance on the quantitative front. You talked about it being a big growth contributor over the next couple of years. How should we think about fiscal '24 and beyond for optical solutions?

我也有兩個問題，一個問比爾，一個問丹。我想就您的光學解決方案業務而言，比爾，我認為您在定性地談論客戶參與度方面做得很好。我希望你能在定量方面提供一些指導。您談到它是未來幾年成長的重要貢獻者。我們該如何考慮 24 財年及以後的光學解決方案？

Well, I think the progress that we're making is, I think, very strong. I think we're right on track with where we expected to be. I would say that the base that we're growing from is small. So we believe that this is going to be the fastest growth from a percentage perspective out of the different products that we're promoting. I will say that there is some surprising trends in the end markets where we see that the 200 gig optical module is much, much higher volume than the forecasters showed going back 2 or 3 years ago. 400-gig, we see is something that's really still increasing, where it was really a small percentage of the market up until the first major hyperscaler rounds.

嗯，我認為我們正在取得的進展非常強勁。我認為我們正朝著我們預期的方向前進。我想說的是，我們成長的基礎很小。因此，我們相信，從百分比角度來看，這將是我們正在推廣的不同產品中成長最快的。我想說的是，終端市場出現了一些令人驚訝的趨勢，我們發現 200 GB 光模組的銷量比 2 或 3 年前預測者顯示的要高得多。我們看到 400 千兆位元實際上仍在增加，直到第一輪大型超大規模計算之前，它實際上只佔市場的一小部分。

But we see others adopting 400. 800 gig, we see it will not be adopted by every hyperscaler in the market as some look towards the next generation 1.6 T. So in general, we look at every hyperscaler as an independent market, and that's really how we're pursuing the different opportunities. So we've got many irons in the fire across the industry on many different port markets really from 100 gig through 800 gig, and even we have early conversations going on about 1.6 T.

但我們看到其他人採用400. 800 gig，我們看到市場上的每個超大規模企業都不會採用它，因為有些人期待下一代1.6 T。企業視為一個獨立的市場，這確實是我們如何尋求不同的機會。因此，我們在整個行業的許多不同端口市場上都有很多熨斗，從 100 gig 到 800 gig，甚至我們也有關於 1.6 T 的早期對話。

Got it. So just as a follow-up, Bill, is it fair to assume that some of the commentary that you provided at the time of your IPO still stand today, you're on track to hit kind of the medium to long-term numbers in optical DSP?

知道了。因此，比爾，作為後續行動，可以公平地假設您在首次公開募股時提供的一些評論今天仍然有效嗎？

Yes, we believe we're on track.

是的，我們相信我們正在走上正軌。

Okay. Got it. And then as my second question for Dan. Product gross margins were up nicely, both sequentially and year-over-year in the quarter. As we think about the next couple, if not several quarters, as you continue to ramp at your largest AEC customer, your second customer comes in toward the end of the fiscal year. And from a low base, your DSP business starts to ramp. How should we think about your product gross margins evolving over the next, call it, 4 quarters?

好的。知道了。然後是我問丹的第二個問題。本季產品毛利率較上季及年比均大幅成長。當我們考慮接下來的幾個季度（如果不是幾季）時，隨著您繼續擴大最大的 AEC 客戶，您的第二個客戶將在本財年末到來。您的 DSP 業務從較低的基數開始穩定成長。我們應該如何看待您的產品毛利率在接下來的四個季度中的變化？

Yes. That's a great question. And if you recall, as we had laid out our gross margin kind of trajectory through our discussions over the last quarters, fundamentally, nothing has really changed. A couple of things to point out, obviously, just as you're highlighting, our product gross margin expanded more than 300 basis points from Q4 to Q1. And we've demonstrated throughout all of fiscal year '22 and now starting into fiscal '23 that these product gross margins will expand as we gain scale. So we expect that expansion to continue fundamentally just because of the scale we're attaining over the next 3 to 4 quarters.

是的。這是一個很好的問題。如果你還記得的話，正如我們在過去幾季的討論中所製定的毛利率軌跡一樣，從根本上來說，沒有任何真正的改變。顯然，有幾件事需要指出，正如您所強調的那樣，我們的產品毛利率從第四季度到第一季擴大了 300 個基點以上。我們已經在整個 22 財年以及現在開始的 23 財年證明，隨著我們規模的擴大，這些產品的毛利率將會擴大。因此，我們預計這種擴張將從根本上繼續下去，因為我們將在未來 3 到 4 個季度實現規模。

Beyond that, the fiscal year '24 and fiscal year '25 stories are similar to what we had described before, there will be, we believe, some favorable revenue mix trends over those years that will help further expand that gross margin. And some of the dynamics in the AEC market will also contribute to that margin expansion when 800 gig ports are kind of the predominant ports. So there's a lot of different trends that we've seen, that we've described in the past that we believe we expect to see, as we've described in the past.

除此之外，24 財年和 25 財年的故事與我們之前描述的類似，我們相信，這些年來將會出現一些有利的收入組合趨勢，這將有助於進一步擴大毛利率。當 800 個千兆位元港口成為主要港口時，AEC 市場的一些動態也將有助於利潤率的擴張。因此，我們已經看到了很多不同的趨勢，我們過去已經描述過這些趨勢，我們相信我們期望看到這些趨勢，正如我們過去所描述的那樣。

Our next question comes from Vijay Rakesh of Mizuho.

我們的下一個問題來自 Mizuho 的 Vijay Rakesh。

Bill and Dan, just on the 64 gig optical transceiver side, I mean, how many customers would you be engaging with? Are you seeing basically the ramp going with multiple customers? Or are you starting with one and then slowly ramping other ones into fiscal '24, '25?

Bill 和 Dan，就 64 GB 光收發器而言，我的意思是，你們會與多少客戶打交道？您是否看到基本上有多個客戶的坡道？還是您從其中一個開始，然後在 24、25 財年慢慢增加其他項目？

Good question. And so our main partner is a large networking OEM. We are shipping these optical DSPs, the 64 gig single lane to multiple optical partners that are fulfilling that demand that comes from the networking OEM that we're working with.

好問題。因此，我們的主要合作夥伴是一家大型網路 OEM。我們正在向多個光學合作夥伴運送這些光學 DSP（64 GB 單通道），以滿足我們合作的網路 OEM 的需求。

Got it. And on the supply side, I know you guys have been building a buffer inventory et cetera, but can you talk to how you have probably improved your supply chain logistics et cetera, as why inventory is up a little bit. But can you talk to what you're doing there in terms of securing your forecast and securing the supply side as well, giving that customer supply assurance at least?

知道了。在供應方面，我知道你們一直在建立緩衝庫存等，但你們能否談談您如何改善供應鏈物流等，以及為什麼庫存略有上升。但您能否談談您在確保預測和供應方面所做的工作，至少為客戶提供供應保證？

Sure, sure. Yes, that's a very good question. I would say from a supply standpoint, we find ourselves in a much better shape right now than we were in the past quarter when we had the issue with the shutdowns in China. And so there's different elements of our supply chain that we look at. Of course, we are actively planning wafers with TSMC, and that's a very regular discussion we have with them. We see no issues for the foreseeable future there. Packaging substrates are another very frequent conversation we're having with our partners. We feel very good about our position today with those supply chain partners as well.

當然，當然。是的，這是一個非常好的問題。我想說，從供應的角度來看，我們發現我們現在的狀況比上個季度好得多，當時我們遇到了中國停工的問題。因此，我們關注供應鏈的不同要素。當然，我們正在積極與台積電規劃晶圓，這是我們與他們進行的非常定期的討論。我們認為在可預見的未來不會有任何問題。包裝基材是我們與合作夥伴經常討論的另一個議題。我們對今天與這些供應鏈合作夥伴的關係也感到非常滿意。

And then finally, with our AEC supply chain partners, we find ourselves in a much better position now. We did exactly what we said we were going to do on the last call from June 1 to avoid any kind of near-term disruptions that are caused by COVID in China, we built in inventory, and that's why you see the inventory tick up. So we're not surprised. It's absolutely right on track with where we wanted to be. Longer term, we mentioned also that we're going to be working towards having geographic diversity. It's going to time, but we have made progress during the last quarter in starting and making progress with those discussions. Generally, I think we're in good shape from a supply chain partner perspective. Yes. Generally, I think we're in good shape from a supply chain partner perspective.

最後，透過我們的 AEC 供應鏈合作夥伴，我們發現自己現在處於更好的位置。我們完全按照我們在 6 月 1 日的最後一次電話會議上所說的去做，以避免中國新冠肺炎造成的任何短期幹擾，我們建立了庫存，這就是為什麼你會看到庫存增加。所以我們並不感到驚訝。它絕對符合我們想要的目標。從長遠來看，我們也提到我們將努力實現地理多樣性。這需要時間，但我們在上個季度在啟動這些討論並取得進展方面取得了進展。總的來說，我認為從供應鏈合作夥伴的角度來看，我們的狀況良好。是的。總的來說，我認為從供應鏈合作夥伴的角度來看，我們的狀況良好。

Our next question comes from Suji Desilva of ROTH.

我們的下一個問題來自羅仕證券的 Suji Desilva。

Maybe asking the cabling question a little differently for the customers that are going to ramp up. Should we expect pricing to trend similar to the initial customer or higher with more features? Just any indication there would be helpful along with the margin discussion you already gave us.

對於即將增加的客戶，可能會以稍微不同的方式詢問佈線問題。我們是否應該預期定價趨勢與初始客戶相似，或具有更多功能而更高？只要有任何跡象，以及您已經向我們提供的保證金討論，都會有所幫助。

Sure. That's a good question. I would say that not every one of the AECs that we're building is similar. And so as we develop AECs that are built towards a different specification, there will be some variance in the ASPs. I would say right now, with the current AECs that we're shipping, I think there is opportunity for the ASPs to increase from that point. And it's really based on the type of AECs we'll be shipping as well as, as we move towards increasing speed. The first products that we're shipping are really tethered to the passive cable market. And so there's a real perception that our AECs are a premium over these passive copper solutions. And so we've been a bit tethered in a sense when we're having the discussions when it relates to our 100 gig or 200 gig or 400 gig AECs.

當然。這是個好問題。我想說的是，並非我們正在建造的每一個 AEC 都是相似的。因此，當我們開發針對不同規範所建構的 AEC 時，ASP 中將會存在一些差異。我現在想說的是，根據我們目前正在發貨的 AEC，我認為 ASP 有機會從那時起增加。這實際上取決於我們將要運輸的 AEC 類型，以及我們不斷提高速度的方向。我們發貨的第一批產品確實與被動電纜市場息息相關。因此，人們確實認為我們的 AEC 比這些被動銅解決方案更有價值。因此，當我們進行涉及 100 gig、200 gig 或 400 gig AEC 的討論時，我們在某種意義上有點受束縛。

As we start looking at the future, 800 gig, passive copper cables will not be in the conversation. And so this is really where the solutions that are alternatives to ours. We're going to be in a much, much better position from a pricing and power standpoint. And so in a sense, we will be untethered at that point, and we expect that ASPs will naturally rise as a result. So I would say that near term, as we look at ramping our second customer, and we look at fiscal '24 in particular, that because the cable that we're building is a much more complex cable, the ASPs will be a bit higher. And so we'll see it trending up just based on the fact that we're shipping AECs that are more complex to build with a heavier cost content.

當我們開始展望未來時，800 GB 被動銅纜將不會出現在我們的討論範圍內。因此，這確實是我們的解決方案的替代方案。從定價和功率的角度來看，我們將處於一個非常非常好的位置。因此，從某種意義上說，到那時我們將不受束縛，我們預計平均售價將自然上升。因此，我想說，短期內，當我們考慮擴大我們的第二個客戶，特別是 24 財年時，因為我們正在建造的電纜是一種更複雜的電纜，所以平均售價會更高一些。因此，我們將看到它的趨勢上升，因為我們正在交付建造起來更複雜、成本更高的 AEC。

That's very helpful. Appreciate the detailed color there. And then maybe for Dan, on the 5-nanometer 4-nanometer products coming, can you give us a sense of the timing of when the R&D and CapEx mask costs might come in? And whether there will be a bump up there or whether that will be absorbed with the overall budget?

這非常有幫助。欣賞那裡的詳細顏色。然後，對於 Dan 來說，關於即將推出的 5 奈米和 4 奈米產品，您能否讓我們了解研發和資本支出掩模成本可能何時出現的時間？是否會有所增加，或是否會被納入總體預算？

Yes. Much of that cost, of course, from a production asset perspective, becomes fixed assets for us. And so there will be a consumption of cash, but that's really FY '24 and beyond. We've got engineering tape-outs before that point in time. But they're baked into our OpEx forecast, and they're not overly material from that perspective.

是的。當然，從生產資產的角度來看，大部分的成本都變成了固定資產。因此將會有現金消耗，但這實際上是 24 財年及以後的情況。在那之前我們已經完成了工程流片。但它們已納入我們的營運支出預測中，從這個角度來看，它們並不算太重要。

Our next question comes from Matt Ramsay of Cowen.

我們的下一個問題來自 Cowen 的 Matt Ramsay。

Josh Buchalter on behalf of Matt. Thanks for taking my question and congrats on the results. I wanted to ask about your data center exposure. There have been some well-documented delays in CPU upgrade cycles that have IO upgrades to DDR5. Is there any line that we should be drawing between your exposure and upgrade your customers to the CPU upgrades? Or is it sort of irrelevant at this standpoint?

喬許·布查爾特代表馬特。感謝您提出我的問題並祝賀結果。我想問一下你們資料中心的暴露情況。在 IO 升級到 DDR5 的 CPU 升級週期中存在一些有據可查的延遲。我們應該在您的曝光和為您的客戶升級 CPU 升級之間劃定一條界線嗎？或者從這個角度來看，這有點無關緊要？

Good question. I would say for the first customer that we've ramped with and that we continue to ramp with, there's really nothing on that front. These are our mix with 25 gig per lane connectivity. As we look at the next generation, there's a series of upgrades that will from a connectivity standpoint is really the way we view it. They'll be moving to lanes of 50 gig per lane and then lanes of 100-gig per lane. And so we're not going to ship AECs until these new NICs and servers are shipping. And so there is some dependence there. And that's why we can't be too specific with the timing of the ramp. It's really based on the best feedback that we're getting as our customers go through their next-generation development and planning on their deployments.

好問題。我想說，對於我們已經增加並繼續增加的第一個客戶，這方面確實沒有什麼。這些是我們的組合，每個通道連接 25 GB。當我們展望下一代時，從連結的角度來看，有一系列的升級，這確實是我們看待它的方式。他們將轉移到每條車道 50 G 的車道，然後每車道 100 G 的車道。因此，在這些新的 NIC 和服務器發貨之前，我們不會發貨 AEC。因此存在一定的依賴性。這就是為什麼我們不能對斜坡的時間太具體。它實際上是基於我們在客戶進行下一代開發和部署規劃時獲得的最佳回饋。

Understood. That's very helpful. And then I know you mentioned that the IP license revenue has been running higher than the target 10% to 15%. How should we, I guess, square that away with the sort of the flat gross margin guidance? Should we expect licensing to remain elevated near term? I don't know how the Tesla Dojo supercomputer is layering in or if there is a consumer piece in there, or is it just licensing is expected down next quarter, but it's going to be made up for by improving product margins as you scale?

明白了。這非常有幫助。然後我知道你提到IP授權收入一直比目標高10%到15%。我想，我們應該如何將其與固定毛利率指導相協調呢？我們是否應該預期許可在短期內保持較高水準？我不知道 Tesla Dojo 超級電腦是如何分層的，或者其中是否有消費者部分，或者只是預計下季度的許可數量會減少，但隨著規模的擴大，它將通過提高產品利潤來彌補？

Yes. Let me address that. So great question. IP, as Bill mentioned, is considered a very strategic part of our business. And one thing about the revenue recognition process when it comes to license revenue is it can vary quite a bit from quarter-to-quarter. So as you look at our quarter-over-quarter results, it's a little bit more challenging to figure out what that overall revenue mix is going to be, whereas over a full fiscal year, we have a high degree of confidence in the overall revenue mix that we see. So from that standpoint, you see our IP revenue went from about 30% of revenue in our Q4 to 22% in Q1. Long term, we said it will be 10% to 15%. So over the course of the next few years, we'll get to that range, but there's going to be some variability from quarter-to-quarter as we get there. But hopefully, that's helpful.

是的。讓我來解決這個問題。很好的問題。正如比爾所提到的，智慧財產權被認為是我們業務中非常具有戰略意義的部分。關於授權收入的收入確認流程的一個問題是，每季的收入可能會大不相同。因此，當您查看我們的季度環比業績時，要弄清楚整體收入組合將是多少有點挑戰性，而在整個財年中，我們對整體收入充滿信心混合我們所看到的。因此，從這個角度來看，我們的 IP 收入從第四季度佔營收的 30% 左右上升到第一季的 22%。長期來看，我們說會是10%到15%。因此，在接下來的幾年中，我們將達到這個範圍，但當我們達到這個範圍時，每個季度都會有一些變化。但希望這會有所幫助。

That is. I will hop back in the queue.

那是。我會跳回到隊列中。

On our end, we're not hearing anything. There's some sort of difficulty.

在我們這邊，我們什麼也沒聽到。有某種困難。

Mr. Svanberg, please make sure your phone is unmute.

思文凱先生，請確保您的手機已開啟靜音。

Yes. I didn't hear anything either. But I assume, yes, this is Tore, Tore Svanberg from Stifel. So I had a question on sort of your revenue mix. So obviously, you have a lot of greenfield opportunities, and you've got new businesses ramping. But we are obviously hearing selectively about some softness here and there, even on the data infrastructure side of things. So could you quantify for us how much of the business may be subject to softness on the data infrastructure side?

是的。我也沒聽到什麼。但我想，是的，這是 Tore，來自 Stifel 的 Tore Svanberg。所以我對你們的收入組合有一個疑問。顯然，你有很多綠地機會，新業務正在蓬勃發展。但我們顯然選擇性地聽到了一些軟性的說法，甚至是在資料基礎設施方面。那麼您能否為我們量化一下有多少業務可能會受到資料基礎架構的疲軟影響？

Sure. It's a good question. If we look at our end customer for Ethernet products, it's really data centers and supply chain partners of data centers, so networking OEMs and ODMs as well as optical manufacturers. And so definitely, there is a high dependence on the data center market in general. For us, near term, we are not going to be impacted as much by changes that happen within that group of players, really because we're ramping on new next-generation technology deployments that really deliver the necessary bandwidth increases that everybody has planned.

當然。這是一個好問題。如果我們看看乙太網路產品的最終客戶，它實際上是資料中心和資料中心的供應鏈合作夥伴，因此網路 OEM 和 ODM 以及光學製造商。因此，整體而言，人們對資料中心市場的依賴度很高。對我們來說，短期內，我們不會受到該群體內部發生的變化的太大影響，這實際上是因為我們正在大力部署新的下一代技術，這些技術確實可以提供每個人都計劃的必要頻寬增加。

And now we expect that our customers are going to ramp new technology as fast as they can. And because we're in an early stage in our company development, many of the programs that we ramp are really the first programs that we're ramping with a given customer. And so although they may decide to spend a little less or spend at a rate that's less than they had originally planned, what we see is ultimately large volume ramps, whether they're slightly down compared to what was planned. To us, it gives us, as you said, a greenfield new ramp. So I don't expect near term for our business, meaning the next year, 2 years, that we're going to track with any kind of changes within our customer base since we're really on the new technology end of the spectrum.

現在，我們希望我們的客戶能夠盡快採用新技術。由於我們正處於公司發展的早期階段，因此我們推出的許多專案實際上是我們針對特定客戶推出的第一個專案。因此，儘管他們可能決定減少支出或以低於最初計劃的速度支出，但我們看到的最終是大幅增長，無論與計劃相比是否略有下降。對我們來說，正如您所說，它為我們提供了一個全新的坡道。因此，我預計我們的業務短期內（即明年、兩年）我們不會追蹤客戶群內的任何變化，因為我們確實處於新技術領域。

That's a great perspective. My other question is on supply. You did talk about some of the disruptions now being behind you. I know you're also working on further diversifying your supply chain. So I was hoping you could update us with a little bit more detail there? And when would you expect, especially on the AEC side to have a more diversified components?

這是一個很棒的觀點。我的另一個問題是關於供應。您確實談到了一些現在已經過去的干擾。我知道您也在努力進一步實現供應鏈多元化。所以我希望您能給我們更多詳細資訊？您預計什麼時候，特別是在 AEC 方面，會有更多元化的組成部分？

Good question, good question. So we've been working very closely with 2 different partners, really over the past several years as we've pioneered this market. We are in production mainly with one of those suppliers now. And the second supplier will ramp really in the near term in the upcoming couple of quarters. So we'll have nice diversity as we look at fiscal '24.

好問題，好問題。因此，在過去幾年裡，我們一直在與兩個不同的合作夥伴密切合作，因為我們開拓了這個市場。我們現在主要與這些供應商之一進行生產。第二家供應商將在接下來的幾個季度內真正成長。因此，當我們展望 24 財年時，我們將擁有良好的多樣性。

Great. Just one last question for Dan. Dan, you talked about some of the working capital dynamics and especially with the DSOs, that being higher than usual. But any read over the next few quarters, how the DSO will trend?

偉大的。最後還有一個問題想問丹。丹，您談到了一些營運資金動態，尤其是 DSO 的營運資金動態，該動態高於平常。但未來幾季 DSO 的趨勢將如何？

Yes, we would expect it to come down, certainly. As we mentioned, the timing of AR sometimes is a little bit out of our control. And as we have more customers ramping our AR, just specific invoices have become much larger, and we received one particular one, 4 days after the quarter ended. So when you start calculating balance sheet metrics, that actually has a significant impact on things. So quarter-over-quarter, we're going to see fluctuations in these working capital items, including payables and some other accruals. But over the long term, it will smooth out and we expect DSOs, DPOs and even days of inventory will normalize over the next year or so.

是的，我們當然希望它會下降。正如我們所提到的，AR 的時機有時有點超出我們的控制範圍。隨著我們有越來越多的客戶增加我們的 AR，只是特定的發票變得更大，我們在季度結束後 4 天收到了一張特定的發票。因此，當您開始計算資產負債表指標時，這實際上會對事情產生重大影響。因此，按季度計算，我們將看到這些營運資金項目的波動，包括應付帳款和其他一些應計費用。但從長遠來看，它會變得平穩，我們預計 DSO、DPO 甚至庫存天數將在未來一年左右恢復正常。

Our next question comes from Trevor Janoskie of Needham & Company.

我們的下一個問題來自 Needham & Company 的 Trevor Janoskie。

This is Trevor on for Quinn Bolton. I'm wondering, have you seen any competitors begin designing solutions that could compete with your AEC opportunities at the first and second hyperscale customers? Or do you see Credo as the sole supplier through fiscal '24?

我是奎因·博爾頓的特雷弗。我想知道，您是否看到任何競爭對手開始設計可以在第一和第二超大規模客戶中與您的 AEC 機會競爭的解決方案？還是您認為 Credo 是 24 財年的唯一供應商？

Good question. And so for sure, we've seen competitors beginning to make investments in this space. And I think that's a great indicator that at an end customer perspective that it's of high priority, and that's why anybody would start investing in a new business, really based on customer driven demand. We haven't really seen competitors begin to deliver products that we would see in the field. But we know that there are several companies that are making large investments. So we feel comfortable with where we are competitively. And I think that as it relates to the first couple of ramps that we'll go through, we never take anything for granted. I'm never going to say that our customer base is comfortable with a single supplier, just like we would be uncomfortable in that same situation. And so I will say that from the standpoint of the demand forecast that we've got, I feel very confident in the demand forecast. And in the near term, I think we expect it to be quite predictable.

好問題。因此，可以肯定的是，我們已經看到競爭對手開始在這個領域進行投資。我認為這是一個很好的指標，從最終客戶的角度來看，它具有高優先級，這就是為什麼任何人都會開始投資新業務，真正基於客戶驅動的需求。我們還沒有真正看到競爭對手開始提供我們在該領域看到的產品。但我們知道有幾家公司正在進行大量投資。因此，我們對自己的競爭狀​​況感到滿意。我認為，由於這與我們將要經過的前幾個坡道有關，因此我們從不認為任何事情都是理所當然的。我永遠不會說我們的客戶群對單一供應商感到滿意，就像我們在同樣的情況下會感到不舒服一樣。所以我想說，從我們得到的需求預測的角度來看，我對需求預測非常有信心。在短期內，我認為我們預期它是可以預測的。

And in your comments, you mentioned being in the middle innings of the ramp with that large customer. Does that mean that your large customer is still providing order forecast that extend past 12 months? Or has that visibility come in at all?

在您的評論中，您提到與那位大客戶處於坡道的中間局。這是否意味著您的大客戶仍在提供過去 12 個月的訂單預測？或者這種可見性已經出現了嗎？

Yes. Our relationship with the first customer is one where they frequently give us a 12-month outlook. And I can say that for the 12-month outlook, I think everything makes sense. And every time we get extended another month to date, there's been no surprises. So our expectation is that this program is going to run through calendar '23 and into '24. But we're well positioned for the next-generation programs as well as they would maybe ramp down that given technology deployment and ramp into the next-generation one. So that's really the goal that our team has in working with this customer as well as every other customer that we're engaged with.

是的。我們與第一位客戶的關係是他們經常向我們提供 12 個月的展望。我可以說，對於 12 個月的前景，我認為一切都是有道理的。到目前為止，每次我們再延長一個月，都不會感到驚訝。因此，我們的期望是該計劃將持續到 23 日曆年到 24 日曆年。但我們已經為下一代計劃做好了準備，他們可能會減少給定的技術部署並進入下一代計劃。因此，這確實是我們團隊與該客戶以及我們合作的所有其他客戶合作的目標。

Our next question is from Richard Shannon of Craig Hallum.

我們的下一個問題來自 Craig Hallum 的 Richard Shannon。

A quick follow-up from an earlier question regarding supply diversification on AEC. Is this a diversification by supplier? Is it also diversified by geography, meaning out of the, I think, the Shanghai area or you've been out of China?

快速跟進之前有關 AEC 供應多元化的問題。這是供應商的多元化嗎？它是否也因地理位置而多樣化，我認為是在上海地區，或者你已經離開了中國？

Good question. The diversification that we'll see near term is with supply partners. So we'll go from having one in production, having 2 in production. Geographically, that will come a bit later. That will be later in calendar '23. So just as expected, we're right on track. So both suppliers will be building in China short term, and then we'll look to build diversity geographically following that.

好問題。我們近期將看到供應夥伴的多元化。因此，我們將從生產 1 台變成生產 2 台。從地理上來說，這會晚一點。那將在日曆 '23 的晚些時候進行。正如預期的那樣，我們正步入正軌。因此，兩家供應商短期內都將在中國開展業務，然後我們將尋求在地理上建立多元化。

Okay. Perfect. My follow-up question is on AECs. Can you guys talk about the applications and the specific products you're referring to? I know that with the first partner. I think at least the first 2 are NIC 2 TOR, and I think maybe your second customer is also a similar approach here. Are you seeing any expansion into your other AEC categories like the switch or the span or anything like that? So when do we start to see that happening?

好的。完美的。我的後續問題是關於 AEC。你們能談談你們所指的應用程式和具體產品嗎？我和第一個夥伴就知道這一點。我認為至少前兩個是 NIC 2 TOR，我想也許你的第二個客戶在這裡也是類似的方法。您是否看到其他 AEC 類別（例如開關或跨度或類似產品）的任何擴展？那我們什麼時候開始看到這種情況發生呢？

Sure. You're right that the first 2 customers that we've talked about, these are both server rack or NIC 2 TOR applications. We do also see customers that are looking to adopt our AECs for the switching and routing layer as well. And these are primarily 400 gig. But as we look at 800 gig or 100 gig per lane, I think it's going to be quite common for those customers that choose to go with disaggregated switch racks. But I think near term, say, this year and next fiscal year, predominantly we'll be shipping AECs that are in a server rack application.

當然。您是對的，我們談到的前 2 位客戶都是伺服器機架或 NIC 2 TOR 應用程式。我們也確實看到客戶希望在交換和路由層採用我們的 AEC。這些主要是 400 演出。但當我們考慮每通道 800 G 或 100 G 時，我認為對於那些選擇使用分解交換機機架的客戶來說，這將是相當普遍的。但我認為短期內，例如今年和下一個財年，我們將主要交付伺服器機架應用程式中的 AEC。

Thank you. I'm showing no further questions at this time. This does conclude today's conference call. You may now disconnect. Have a great day.

謝謝。我目前沒有提出任何進一步的問題。今天的電話會議到此結束。您現在可以斷開連線。祝你有美好的一天。

Thank you.

謝謝。