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。 （操作員說明）我現在想將會議轉交給您的主持人 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，感謝大家今天加入我們的 2023 財年第一季度財報電話會議。今天從 Credo 加入我的還有我們的首席執行官 Bill Brennan；和我們的首席財務官 Dan Fleming。

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關於預期未來財務結果、戰略和計劃、未來運營、我們經營所在的市場以及其他討論領域的前瞻性陳述。這些前瞻性陳述受我們提交給 SEC 的文件中詳細討論的風險和不確定性的影響。公司管理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報告中包含的結果存在重大差異的程度陳述。

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，本次電話會議期間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存在重大不利差異。除法律要求外，公司不承擔任何義務在本次電話會議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化。

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.

同樣在本次電話會議中，我們將參考某些非公認會計準則財務指標，我們認為這是衡量公司業績的重要指標。這些非公認會計原則財務措施是對根據美國公認會計原則編制的財務業績的補充，而不是替代或優於其提供的。我們今天發布的收益報告和美國證券交易委員會的文件中討論了我們為什麼使用非公認會計原則財務指標以及我們的公認會計原則和非公認會計原則財務指標之間的對賬，這兩個文件都可以使用投資者關係部分訪問我們的網站。

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

有了這個，我現在將把電話轉給我們的首席執行官。賬單？

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，感謝大家加入電話會議。在這次電話會議中，我將回顧我們的第一財季業績，然後分享為什麼我們繼續對我們的進展和我們的前進計劃感到興奮。當我結束時，我們的首席財務官丹弗萊明將詳細審查我們的財務業績和未來的預期。

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，以打破數據基礎設施市場中每個有線連接的帶寬障礙。我們提供創新、安全、高速的解決方案，隨著數據速率和帶寬要求呈指數級增長，這些解決方案可提供更高的能效和成本。我們的連接解決方案針對電氣和光學以太網應用進行了優化，包括每秒 100 Gb、200 Gb、400 和 800 Gb 端口市場。我們所有的產品均採用我們專有的 SerDes 和 DSP 技術構建。我們的產品系列包括集成電路或 IC、有源電纜或 AEC 和 SerDes 小芯片。我們的知識產權或 IP 解決方案主要包括 SerDes IP 許可。

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.

我很高興地報告，在 7 月季度，我們繼續保持強勁的執行力，實現了 4650 萬美元的收入，比上一季度的 3750 萬美元增加了 24%。我們的產品收入是我們密切跟踪的一個關鍵指標，環比增長了 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 許可業務的最新情況。從有源電纜的更新開始，我們的 AEC 解決方案代表了新的高速連接產品類別，Credo 開創了先河。隨著連接速度的提高，由於嚴重的信號完整性和尺寸挑戰，無源銅纜或 DAC 變得過時。光連接或 AOC 在功率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，功耗降低一半，成本降低一半，可靠性更高，物理設計更堅固。由於我們的工程獨創性和客戶至上的心態，我們繼續獲得牽引力。迄今為止，我們已向 30 多家客戶銷售 AEC，包括 50 gig、100 gig、200 gig、400 和 800 gig 端口的解決方案。我們的目標客戶包括數據中心、5G 運營商、網絡 OEM 和 ODM 以及以太網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數據中心客戶中增加前兩個項目。我們還在第三個下一代計劃中向同一客戶提供了第一筆收入發貨。對於我們的第二個主要數據中心客戶，我們繼續取得進展，在他們的斜坡之前運送第一批試生產的 AEC 單元進行資格認證。鑑於我們的 AEC 解決方案的創新性，我們仍然對該客戶的前景感到鼓舞，我們繼續預計該客戶的初始增長將在本財政年度末發生。

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.

我很高興地與大家分享，我們已經從上個季度中國因新冠疫情導致的供應鏈短缺中完全恢復，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任何供應商製造中斷的影響未來。我們繼續積極投資於我們的下一代 800-gig 端口 AEC 解決方案，採用我們領先的每通道 100-gig SerDes 技術。我們一直與我們的 AEC 客戶密切合作，通過創新的解決方案滿足他們未來的需求，從而為服務器機架和分解式交換機機架應用提供機會。為此，我們已向多個數據中心客戶、多個網絡 OEM 以及其他生態系統合作夥伴交付並驗證了 800 gig 端口 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。在這個市場上，我們與光模塊製造商和數據中心客戶密切合作，為光 DSP、激光驅動器和 TIA 提供顛覆性解決方案。我們通過眾多光模塊製造商與 2 個數據中心客戶在聯合開發模型中進行生產，或 JDM，我們的數據中心客戶指定要在我們的光模塊中使用的關鍵組件，例如 Credo 光 DSP。我們還與多家光學製造商合作，涉及各種應用，包括 100-gig、200-gig 和 400-gig 以太網解決方案以及數據中心以外的應用，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絡 OEM 合作生產 64 Gb 光纖通道光學模塊。我們最近發布了帶有集成激光驅動器解決方案的光學 DSP，適用於採用每通道 100-gig SerDes 技術的下一代 800-gig 和 400-gig 光學模塊。 Credo 現在處於有利地位，可以繼續為這些下一代每通道 100 吉格部署提供在性能、能效和成本組合方面相同的顛覆性優勢。憑藉這一強勁的進步，我們繼續期待我們的光學解決方案將為我們未來的增長做出重大貢獻。

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.

轉向我們的線卡 PHY，我們也對我們在這裡取得的進展感到非常滿意。 Credo 已迅速成為 MACsec 解決方案的領導者，該解決方案為越來越多的需要高安全性的應用程序提供數據加密。我們很高興地報告說，我們現在正與第二個主要數據中心客戶一起部署我們的 400-gig 端口 MACsec 解決方案來直接提高產量。我們看到未來高安全應用的市場趨勢將顯著增長，我們仍然看好這項業務。我們的 Black Hawk 400 千兆端口重定時器解決方案也將繼續取得長足進步。眾多網絡 OEM 和 ODM 客戶目前正在從資格認證過渡到批量生產。

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.

隨著市場趨向於更高的速度，鑑於每車道 100 gig 的信號完整性挑戰，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加。 Credo 在我們的下一代 800-gig 線卡 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、電源效率和成本。今年早些時候，我們宣布了我們的第一代 800-gig 端口線卡解決方案，我很高興地說，在開發下一代每通道 100-gig 平台時，Credo 已經被多家客戶採用。

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 許可和 SerDes 小芯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，我們在本季度的收入貢獻很大。自上次財報電話會議以來，我們就 SerDes IP 產品發布了 2 個重要公告。我們發布了業界首個 40 gig PAM 3 SerDes IP，這對於下一代消費類設計非常重要。該 SerDes IP 源自我們與主要消費者合作夥伴所做的工作，使我們的 IP 成為下一代消費者設計的明確選擇。我們最近還宣佈在 TSMC 的 5 納米和 4 納米工藝中提供我們的 112-gig SerDes IP。我們相信，我們已經為滿足廣泛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 的最長距離 LR+ 鏈路到多芯片所需的短 XSR 鏈路模塊 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 提供商相比，Credo 的獨特之處在於 Credo 將在我們的下一代 5 和 4 納米產品中為我們的 AEC、光學 PSP 和線卡 PHY 解決方案開發和部署相同的 IP。這對我們的 IP 許可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，我們希望再次為我們所有的 5 和 4 納米 IP 和產品解決方案提供最佳的功率和性能組合。過去，我們談到了 Credo 的核心優勢，即使用更成熟、更便宜的工藝技術，同時提供比競爭對手更低的功率和更小的裸片尺寸。我們將此稱為 N-1 工藝優勢。我們相信我們已經將這種 N-1 工藝優勢擴展到 5 和 4 納米，我們的競爭對手需要轉向更先進和更昂貴的工藝才能與 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 小芯片工作，我們很榮幸在 6 月的台積電技術研討會上被特斯拉提及為他們領先的 Dojo 超級計算機設計的主要連接合作夥伴，Credo 提供了他們的 112-gig XSR SerDes IP 和每秒 3.2 TB小芯片。同樣值得注意的是，我們最近成為了 UCIe 貢獻成員，利用我們行業領先的 XSR SerDes IP 和我們的 2 個每秒 3.2 TB 的生產小芯片的市場勢頭。

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。基於強大的客戶反饋和參與度，我們的下一代每車道 100 gig 解決方案的前景也讓我們感到鼓舞。近期，我們將繼續專注於在 23 財年取得強勁的業績，因為我們繼續期望實現至少 2 億美元的收入，這意味著年增長率將超過 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首席財務官 Dan Fleming，以提供有關我們第一季度的更多詳細信息並就第二季度提供指導。

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。我將首先回顧我們的 23 財年第一季度業績，然後討論我們對 23 財年第二季度的展望。提醒一下，除非另有說明，否則以下財務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，在第一季度，我們又實現了創紀錄的一個季度收入 4650 萬美元，高於我們指導範圍的中點，環比增長 24%。連續增長是由我們產品的強勁收入增長推動的，該季度也達到創紀錄的 3610 萬美元，環比增長 37%。產品收入的這種增長是由 AEC 採用的持續浪潮引領的，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，我們產品增長的基本驅動力，即高速的強勁 [HSDC] 擴張前景依然存在。

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 業務在第一季度創造了 1040 萬美元的收入。知識產權仍然是我們業務的戰略組成部分，但提醒一下，我們的知識產權結果可能會因季度而異，主要受特定可交付成果和預先存在的合同的驅動。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，但我們在第一季度的收入組合為 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.

憑藉本季度強勁的產品業績，我們實現了高於我們指導中點的 60.5% 的毛利率。這主要受收入組合變化的推動，環比下降 316 個基點。一季度我們的IP毛利率為91.2%，本季度我們的產品毛利率為51.8%，環比增長326個基點，同比增長11.6個百分點。這種產品毛利率的增長主要是由於我們強勁的產品增長的槓桿作用。

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.

在我們指導的中點，本季度的總運營費用為 2260 萬美元，隨著我們擴大組織以實現增長，同比增長 43%。我們預計將繼續在業務中發揮相當大的影響力。隨著我們繼續投資資源以提供創新的解決方案，我們的運營支出增長受到研發同比增長 50% 的推動。隨著我們繼續建設上市公司基礎設施，我們的 SG&A 同比增長 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.

我們在第一季度實現了 570 萬美元的營業收入，環比增長 138%。我們本季度的營業利潤率為 12.2%，環比增長 584 個基點，因為我們繼續獲得經營槓桿。我們在第一季度實現了 540 萬美元的淨收入，比上一季度增長了 96%。第一季度運營現金流為負 1220 萬美元，環比減少 1460 萬美元，因為在本季度結束後的一周內收到了 1150 萬美元的大額應收款項。

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.

本季度資本支出為 530 萬美元，受生產口罩支出的推動，自由現金流為負 1750 萬美元，同比減少 720 萬美元。我們在本季度末的現金和等價物為 2.438 億美元，比第四季度減少了 1550 萬美元。現金的減少是由於持續的營運資本投資以支持我們的收入增長。我們的應收賬款餘額環比增長 86% 至 5480 萬美元，而未償銷售天數從第四季度的 72 天增加到 107 天。我們的第一季度期末庫存為 3700 萬美元，比上一季度增加 970 萬美元，因為我們繼續增加產品量，同時成功建立 AEC 緩衝庫存，以最大限度地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.

現在轉向我們對第二季度的指導。我們目前預計 23 財年第二季度的收入將在 4850 萬美元至 5250 萬美元之間，中點環比增長 9%，同比增長 91%。我們預計第二季度毛利率將在 59% 至 61% 的範圍內。我們預計第二季度的運營費用將在 2350 萬美元至 2550 萬美元之間。最後，我們預計第二季度加權平均攤薄股數約為 1.59 億股。正如比爾所說，我們仍有望在 23 財年實現至少 2 億美元的收入。將我們的強勁增長與我們的財政紀律相結合，我們將繼續在業務中產生槓桿作用，並預計全年實現兩位數的營業利潤率。有了這個，我會打開它來提問。謝謝你。

(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、光學、線卡 PHY 和 IP 之間的混合，這種混合是如何演變的？從宏觀角度來看，你有沒有看到一些較大的同行在最近的財報電話會議中指出的任何逆風或阻力？

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.

謝謝你的問題。我很感激。從混合的角度來看，我認為我們正朝著 6 到 9 個月前的預期走上正軌。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，然後是光學。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，然後是 Line Card。所以那裡真的沒有變化。然後在宏觀層面上，我認為我們總體上處於非常好的位置。如果您看看我們與客戶的合作，它們在新技術部署方面都處於領先地位，這些新技術部署真正提供了必要的下一代帶寬，而這些帶寬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項目的數量龐大且不斷增加。所以我想說的是，鑑於我們的定位，我們沒有看到對我們的業務產生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。對於我的後續行動，比爾，關於 AEC 和你的主要客戶的話題，我很好奇，你認為你的產品在哪一局採用？如果您查看在您的大客戶處部署的高速端口總數，並查看您的 AEC 的採用情況，我們處於採用階段的哪個階段？因為我試圖確定我們是否應該期待消化階段？還是在坡道上為時過早？你期待任何消化階段嗎？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。謝謝你的問題。我會說我們正處於第一個初始坡道的中間局。因此，這反映在我們本季度增長如此顯著的事實中。我們的預期是，這種增長將真正持續到下個季度。

Do you expect it to grow next year as well?

你預計它明年也會增長嗎？

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.

好吧，一般來說，我們獲得的機會與我們每個超大規模客戶部署的服務器數量相匹配。所以我還要說，我們參與了多個項目，因為他們改變了服務器級別的網絡接口卡或 NIC 的技術。因此，最終，我相信我們與第一位客戶的合作將繼續下去。從交易量的角度來看，我很難說，在我們完全增產後，交易量是否會繼續增加。但隨後我們希望將更多客戶添加到我們的組合中，這在 24 財年的時間框架內將是重要的。

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 2 個問題，一個是給比爾的，一個是給丹的。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您的客戶參與方面做得很好。我希望你能給定量方面的一些指導。你談到它是未來幾年的重要增長貢獻者。我們應該如何看待 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。我會說我們成長的基礎很小。因此，我們相信從百分比的角度來看，這將是我們正在推廣的不同產品中增長最快的。我想說的是，終端市場有一些令人驚訝的趨勢，我們看到 200 gig 光模塊的數量比 2 或 3 年前預測的要高得多。 400-gig，我們看到它確實還在增加，在第一輪主要的超大規模輪次之前，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.

但是我們看到其他人採用 400. 800 gig，我們認為它不會被市場上的每個超大規模生產商採用，因為有些人著眼於下一代 1.6 T。所以總的來說，我們將每個超大規模生產商視為一個獨立的市場，這真的是我們如何追求不同的機會。因此，從 100 gig 到 800 gig，我們在整個行業的許多不同港口市場上都有很多鐵桿，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，作為後續行動，比爾，假設您在首次公開募股時提供的一些評論今天仍然有效，您有望達到中長期數字，這是否公平？光學數字信號處理器？

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。然後作為我對丹的第二個問題。產品毛利率在本季度環比和同比都有很好的增長。當我們考慮接下來的幾個季度（如果不是幾個季度）時，隨著您繼續增加最大的 AEC 客戶，您的第二個客戶將在本財年末到來。從低基數開始，您的 DSP 業務開始增長。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，正如我們在過去幾個季度的討論中製定了我們的毛利率軌跡，從根本上說，沒有什麼真正改變。顯然，正如您所強調的，我們的產品毛利率從第四季度到第一季度擴大了 300 多個基點。我們已經證明，在整個 22 財年以及現在開始到 23 財年，這些產品的毛利率將隨著我們規模的擴大而擴大。因此，由於我們在未來 3 到 4 個季度達到的規模，我們預計這種擴張將從根本上繼續下去。

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相似，我們相信，這些年會有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 個演出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大。因此，我們已經看到了許多不同的趨勢，我們在過去已經描述過我們相信我們希望看到的趨勢，正如我們在過去所描述的那樣。

Our next question comes from Vijay Rakesh of Mizuho.

我們的下一個問題來自瑞穗的 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 gig 光收發器而言，我的意思是，您將與多少客戶打交道？您是否看到基本上有多個客戶的坡道？或者你是從一個開始，然後慢慢地將其他的增加到 '24、'25 財政年度？

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絡 OEM。我們正在向多個光學合作夥伴運送這些光學 DSP，即 64 gig 單通道，這些合作夥伴正在滿足來自我們正在合作的網絡 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，但您能否談談您可能如何改善您的供應鏈物流等，以及庫存增加的原因。但是，您能否談談您在確保預測和確保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.

一定一定。是的，這是一個非常好的問題。我想說的是，從供應的角度來看，我們現在發現自己的狀態比上個季度要好得多，當時我們遇到了中國停工問題。因此，我們關注供應鏈的不同元素。當然，我們正在與台積電積極規劃晶圓，這是我們與他們進行的非常定期的討論。在可預見的未來，我們認為那裡沒有問題。包裝基材是我們與合作夥伴進行的另一個非常頻繁的對話。我們對我們今天與這些供應鏈合作夥伴的關係感到非常滿意。

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，與我們的 AEC 供應鏈合作夥伴一起，我們發現自己現在處於一個更好的位置。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，以避免在中國由 COVID 造成的任何近期中斷，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。它完全符合我們想要的目標。從長遠來看，我們還提到我們將努力實現地理多樣性。時間到了，但我們在上個季度在開始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 ROTH 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，可能會以不同的方式詢問佈線問題。我們應該期望定價趨勢與初始客戶相似還是更高且具有更多功能？任何跡像都會與您已經給我們的保證金討論一起提供幫助。

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。我想說並不是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構建的 AEC 時，ASP 中會有一些差異。我現在想說的是，對於我們正在運送的當前 AEC，我認為 ASP 有機會從那時起增加。它實際上基於我們將要運送的 AEC 的類型，以及隨著我們朝著提高速度的方向發展。我們出貨的第一批產品確實與無源電纜市場息息相關。因此，我們確實認為我們的 AEC 優於這些無源銅解決方案。因此，當我們討論與我們的 100 gig 或 200 gig 或 400 gig AEC 相關時，我們在某種意義上有點束縛。

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 gig 無源銅纜將不會出現在討論中。因此，這確實是替代我們解決方案的地方。從定價和功率的角度來看，我們將處於更好的位置。因此，從某種意義上說，屆時我們將不受束縛，我們預計 ASP 會因此自然而然地上升。所以我會說，在短期內，當我們考慮增加我們的第二個客戶時，尤其是 24 財年，因為我們正在建造的電纜是更複雜的電纜，所以平均售價會更高一些.因此，我們將看到它呈上升趨勢，因為我們正在運送更複雜、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?

這很有幫助。欣賞那裡的詳細顏色。然後對於 Dan，關於 5 納米 4 納米產品的到來，您能否告訴我們研發和資本支出掩膜成本何時到來的時間？那裡是否會出現增長，或者是否會被整體預算所吸收？

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，大部分成本都變成了我們的固定資產。所以會有現金消費，但這真的是 24 財年及以後的事。在那個時間點之前，我們已經完成了工程流片。但它們已納入我們的運營支出預測，從這個角度來看，它們並不過分重要。

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?

喬什·布查爾特代表馬特。感謝您提出我的問題並祝賀結果。我想問一下你的數據中心暴露情況。在將 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升級您的客戶到 CPU 升級之間劃清界限嗎？或者在這個角度上它有點無關緊要？

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。我會說，對於我們已經增加並且我們繼續增加的第一個客戶，這方面真的沒有什麼。這些是我們每通道連接 25 gig 的組合。當我們審視下一代時，有一系列升級，從連接的角度來看，這確實是我們看待它的方式。他們將移動到每車道 50 gig 的車道，然後是每車道 100 gig 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。所以那裡有一些依賴。這就是為什麼我們不能對斜坡的時間過於具體。它實際上是基於我們在客戶進行下一代開發和規劃部署時獲得的最佳反饋。

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。這很有幫助。然後我知道你提到 IP 許可收入一直高於目標 10% 到 15%。我想，我們應該如何將其與那種平坦的毛利率指導相提並論？我們是否應該期望許可證在短期內保持高位？我不知道 Tesla Dojo 超級計算機是如何分層的，或者那裡是否有消費產品，或者它只是預計下個季度的許可，但隨著規模的擴大，它會通過提高產品利潤率來彌補？

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。這麼好的問題。正如比爾提到的，知識產權被認為是我們業務中非常具有戰略意義的一部分。就許可收入而言，收入確認過程的一件事是，它可能會因季度而異。因此，當您查看我們的季度環比結果時，要弄清楚整體收入組合將是什麼更具挑戰性，而在整個財年中，我們對整體收入充滿信心我們看到的混合。因此，從這個角度來看，您會看到我們的 IP 收入從第四季度佔收入的 30% 左右上升到第一季度的 22%。從長遠來看，我們說它將是 10% 到 15%。因此，在接下來的幾年中，我們將達到這個範圍，但隨著我們達到這個範圍，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.

Svanberg 先生，請確保您的電話已取消靜音。

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。我也什麼都沒聽到。但我想，是的，這是來自 Stifel 的 Tore，Tore Svanberg。所以我對你們的收入組合有疑問。所以很明顯，你有很多新的機會，你有新的業務在增加。但我們顯然是在選擇性地聽到這里和那裡的一些軟性，即使在數據基礎設施方面也是如此。那麼，您能否為我們量化有多少業務可能會在數據基礎設施方面受到軟化影響？

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。這是個好問題。如果我們看一下以太網產品的最終客戶，它實際上是數據中心和數據中心的供應鏈合作夥伴，即網絡 OEM 和 ODM 以及光學製造商。因此，可以肯定的是，總體而言，對數據中心市場的依賴程度很高。對我們而言，短期內，我們不會受到該群體中發生的變化的影響，因為我們正在加速新的下一代技術部署，真正提供每個人計劃的必要帶寬增加。

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可能快地採用新技術。而且因為我們處於公司發展的早期階段，我們推出的許多項目實際上是我們與特定客戶一起推出的第一個項目。因此，儘管他們可能決定少花錢或以比他們最初計劃的速度少花錢，但我們看到的最終是大量的增長，無論它們與計劃相比是否略有下降。對我們來說，正如你所說，它為我們提供了一個全新的坡道。因此，我不希望我們的業務在短期內，即明年，即 2 年，我們將跟踪客戶群中的任何類型的變化，因為我們確實處於新技術的末端。

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?

這是一個很好的觀點。我的另一個問題是關於供應的。你確實談到了一些現在在你身後的干擾。我知道您還在努力使您的供應鏈進一步多樣化。所以我希望你能在那裡更新我們的更多細節？你預計什麼時候，尤其是在 AEC 方面，會有更多樣化的組件？

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，在過去幾年中，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。在接下來的幾個季度中，第二家供應商將在短期內真正增加。因此，當我們查看 24 財年時，我們將擁有很好的多樣性。

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。丹的最後一個問題。丹，您談到了一些營運資金動態，特別是與 DSO 相比，這比平時要高。但是，在接下來的幾個季度中，DSO 將如何發展？

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。隨著我們有越來越多的客戶使用我們的 AR，只有特定的發票變得更大，我們在季度結束 4 天后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，季度環比，我們將看到這些營運資金項目的波動，包括應付賬款和其他一些應計項目。但從長遠來看，它會趨於平穩，我們預計 DSO、DPO 甚至庫存天數將在明年左右恢復正常。

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?

這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個超大規模客戶中與您的 AEC 機會競爭的解決方案？或者您是否將 Credo 視為 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。所以可以肯定的是，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，它是高度優先的，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會在該領域看到的產品。但我們知道有幾家公司正在進行大筆投資。因此，我們對自己的競爭優勢感到滿意。而且我認為，由於它與我們將要經歷的前幾個坡道有關，我們從不認為任何事情是理所當然的。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。所以我會說，從我們得到的需求預測的角度來看，我對需求預測很有信心。在短期內，我認為我們預計它是可以預測的。

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，您提到與那個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超過 12 個月的訂單預測？還是根本沒有這種可見性？

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。我們與第一個客戶的關係是他們經常給我們 12 個月的展望。我可以說，對於 12 個月的前景，我認為一切都說得通。迄今為止，每次我們再延長一個月，都沒有意外。所以我們的期望是這個程序將運行到日曆 '23 到 '24。但是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與之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?

關於 AEC 供應多樣化的早期問題的快速跟進。這是供應商的多元化嗎？它是否也因地域而多樣化，我認為是在上海地區之外，還是您已經離開中國？

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。我們將在短期內看到供應合作夥伴的多樣化。因此，我們將從生產中的 1 個變為生產中的 2 個。從地理上講，這會晚一點。那將在 '23 日曆的晚些時候。因此，正如預期的那樣，我們正走在正軌上。因此，兩家供應商都將在短期內在中國建設，然後我們將尋求在此之後在地理上建立多樣性。

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。你們能談談您所指的應用程序和特定產品嗎？我知道第一個合作夥伴。我認為至少前 2 個是 NIC 2 TOR，我認為您的第二個客戶在這裡可能也是類似的方法。您是否看到其他 AEC 類別的擴展，例如開關或跨度或類似的東西？那麼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。沒錯，我們談到的前 2 個客戶都是服務器機架或 NIC 2 TOR 應用程序。我們也確實看到客戶也希望將我們的 AEC 用於交換和路由層。這些主要是 400 演出。但是當我們看到每條通道 800 gig 或 100 gig 時，我認為對於那些選擇使用分類交換機機架的客戶來說，這將是相當普遍的。但我認為近期，比如說，今年和下一個財政年度，我們主要將在服務器機架應用程序中交付 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.

謝謝你。我現在沒有進一步的問題。這確實結束了今天的電話會議。您現在可以斷開連接。祝你有美好的一天。

Thank you.

謝謝你。