FARO Technologies Inc (FARO) 2023 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Good day, everyone, and welcome to the FARO Technologies Third Quarter 2023 Earnings Call. For opening remarks and introductions, I'll now turn the call over to Michael Funari at Sapphire Investor Relations. Please go ahead, sir.

大家好，歡迎參加 FARO Technologies 2023 年第三季財報電話會議。對於開場白和介紹，我現在將把電話轉給藍寶石投資者關係部的 Michael Funari。請繼續，先生。

Thank you, and good morning. With me today from FARO are Peter Lau, President and Chief Executive Officer; and Allen Muhich, Chief Financial Officer. Yesterday, after market close, the company released its financial results for the third quarter of 2023. The related press release and Form 10-Q are available on FARO's website at www.faro.com. Please note certain statements in this conference call, which are not historical facts, may be considered forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, some of which are beyond our control and include statements regarding future business results, product and technology development, customer demand, inventory levels, our outlook and financial guidance, economic and industry projections or subsequent events.

謝謝你，早安。今天與我一起出席 FARO 的有總裁兼執行長 Peter Lau；和財務長艾倫·穆希奇(Allen Muhich)。昨天收盤後，該公司發布了 2023 年第三季的財務業績。相關新聞稿和 10-Q 表格可在 FARO 網站 www.faro.com 上取得。請注意，本次電話會議中的某些陳述並非歷史事實，可能被視為涉及風險和不確定性的前瞻性陳述，其中一些風險和不確定性超出了我們的控制範圍，包括有關未來業務業績、產品和技術開發、客戶需求的陳述、庫存水準、我們的前景和財務指導、經濟和行業預測或後續事件。

Various factors could cause actual results to differ materially. For a more detailed description of these and other risks and uncertainties, please refer to today's press release and our annual and quarterly SEC filings. Forward-looking statements reflect our views only as of today and except as required by law, we undertake no obligation to update or revise them. During today's conference call, management will discuss certain financial measures that are not presented in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles or non-GAAP financial measures. In the press release, you will find additional disclosures regarding these non-GAAP measures, including reconciliations to comparable GAAP measures. While not recognized in our GAAP, management believes these non-GAAP financial measures provide investors with relevant period-to-period comparisons of core operations. However, they should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for a measure of financial performance prepared in accordance with GAAP. Now I'd like to turn the call over to Peter Lau.

各種因素可能導致實際結果有重大差異。有關這些以及其他風險和不確定性的更詳細描述，請參閱今天的新聞稿以及我們向 SEC 提交的年度和季度文件。前瞻性陳述僅反映我們截至目前為止的觀點，除非法律要求，否則我們不承擔更新或修改這些陳述的義務。在今天的電話會議上，管理階層將討論某些不符合美國公認會計原則或非公認會計準則財務措施的財務措施。在新聞稿中，您會發現有關這些非公認會計準則衡量標準的其他揭露，包括與可比較公認會計準則衡量標準的調節。雖然我們公認的會計準則沒有得到認可，但管理層認為這些非公認會計準則財務指標為投資者提供了核心業務的相關期間比較。然而，它們不應被孤立地考慮或作為根據 GAAP 編制的財務業績衡量標準的替代品。現在我想把電話轉給劉彼得。

Thank you, Mike. Good morning, and welcome, everyone, to our call. We made notable progress in the third quarter, exceeding the high end of our guidance range by delivering $86.8 million in revenue.

謝謝你，麥克。早安，歡迎大家撥打我們的電話。我們在第三季取得了顯著進展，營收達到 8,680 萬美元，超出了指導範圍的上限。

In addition, due to our lower cost structure and sequential 90 basis point non-GAAP gross margin expansion, adjusted EBITDA improved by $2.6 million or 300 basis points over the second quarter despite a small sequential decline in revenue. From a top line perspective, the better-than-expected performance resulted from focused sales activities to increase our overall pipeline and acceleration in customer decision-making in our target markets that, combined with an improved material availability and improved sales and operations execution enabled higher-than-expected unit shipments. During the quarter, we continued to make excellent progress on our initiatives to streamline operations by taking a series of actions that reduced our footprint, rightsized our cloud investment, integrated prior acquisitions and increased our overall productivity. We have increasing confidence that these cost actions will optimize our performance and not adversely affect our ability to capture long-term market share. While we are pleased with the progress, we are in the early innings of improving results and driving increased execution. Our team recognizes that we have more work to do and is committed to executing with intensity.

此外，由於我們較低的成本結構和連續 90 個基點的非 GAAP 毛利率擴張，儘管收入連續小幅下降，但調整後的 EBITDA 比第二季度提高了 260 萬美元或 300 個基點。從營收角度來看，好於預期的業績源於集中銷售活動，以增加我們的整體管道和加速目標市場的客戶決策，再加上材料可用性的改善以及銷售和運營執行的改進，使我們能夠實現更高的業績。- 單位出貨量超出預期。本季度，我們採取了一系列行動，減少了足跡，調整了雲端投資規模，整合了先前的收購，並提高了整體生產力，從而在簡化營運的舉措方面繼續取得了巨大進展。我們越來越有信心，這些成本行動將優化我們的業績，並且不會對我們佔領長期市場份額的能力產生不利影響。雖然我們對進展感到滿意，但我們仍處於改善結果和推動執行力增強的早期階段。我們的團隊認識到我們還有更多工作要做，並致力於大力執行。

The revised cost structure reflected in our third quarter expense base and gross margin expansion demonstrates the progress we've made towards improving our operating model. In the quarters ahead, we will continue to be vigilant on maintaining current spending levels and capturing additional opportunities with a particular focus on expanding gross margins while continuing our [fist] investment in new products and technologies. On the product front, the third quarter, we accelerated our product development process while focusing on key product launches, which we believe will have the greatest impact in the market. An example of this is our recently launched Orbis Mobile Scanner, a groundbreaking advancement set to redefine 3D reality capture. Orbis is the first-to-market scanner that can be used for both mobile and stationary data capture in 1 device. It's best of both world's performance, providing the ease of use and speed of a mobile scanner while also providing the unique ability to seamlessly switch to stationary mode which significantly enhances accuracy. When combined with automated integration to our recently announced Sphere XG platform, FARO provides customers the ability to automatically process 3D data, making completed 3D images available for viewing and collaboration in a cloud, a desktop or mobile environment up to 90% faster than alternatives.

我們第三季的費用基礎和毛利率擴張反映了修訂後的成本結構，這表明我們在改善營運模式方面取得了進展。在未來幾個季度，我們將繼續保持警惕，維持當前的支出水平，並抓住更多機會，特別關注擴大毛利率，同時繼續對新產品和技術進行[首次]投資。在產品方面，第三季我們加快了產品開發進程，同時專注於關鍵產品的發布，我們相信這將對市場產生最大的影響。我們最近推出的 Orbis 行動掃描儀就是一個例子，這是一項突破性的進步，旨在重新定義 3D 現實捕捉。 Orbis 是首款上市的掃描儀，可在一台裝置中用於行動和固定資料擷取。它兼具了世界上最好的性能，提供了行動掃描器的易用性和速度，同時也提供了無縫切換到固定模式的獨特能力，從而顯著提高了準確性。當與我們最近發布的Sphere XG 平台的自動整合相結合時，FARO 為客戶提供了自動處理3D 資料的能力，使完整的3D 影像可在雲端、桌面或行動環境中查看和協作，速度比替代方案快達90%。

These advancements reflect the fusion of FARO's legacy technologies with those of our recent GeoSLAM and HoloBuilder acquisitions and further demonstrate our commitment to innovation. Before turning the call over to Allen, who will provide greater detail on our third quarter results, I want to take a moment to share some of my observations. Since joining FARO, my primary focus has been on building a point of view on what is working, where we need to improve our opportunity for sustained technology differentiation and finally, on a sustainable financial success model. I'm very impressed by what I've learned. Having met with customers around the world, the strength of FARO's brand in the market is clear and not only speaks to the trust customers have in us, but also our reputation for 3D application expertise and innovation. By leveraging our core stance in the market, we are well positioned to remain at the leading edge of product performance while exploring near adjacencies that expand our addressable market, solve our customers' toughest problems and ultimately drive growth. Customer feedback has affirmed our overarching product solutions strategy. In speaking with our employees, the team's unwavering commitment to our organization is palpable.

這些進步反映了 FARO 的傳統技術與我們最近收購的 GeoSLAM 和 HoloBuilder 技術的融合，並進一步證明了我們對創新的承諾。在將電話轉給艾倫之前（他將提供有關我們第三季業績的更多詳細資訊），我想花點時間分享我的一些觀察。自從加入 FARO 以來，我的主要關注點是就什麼是有效的、我們需要改善持續技術差異化的機會以及最後建立可持續的財務成功模式建立自己的觀點。我對所學到的印象非常深刻。在與世界各地的客戶會面後，FARO 品牌在市場上的實力顯而易見，這不僅體現了客戶對我們的信任，也體現了我們在 3D 應用專業知識和創新方面的聲譽。透過利用我們在市場上的核心地位，我們處於有利地位，能夠保持產品性能的領先優勢，同時探索鄰近地區，擴大我們的潛在市場，解決客戶最棘手的問題並最終推動成長。客戶回饋肯定了我們的整體產品解決方案策略。在與我們的員工交談時，團隊對我們組織堅定不移的承諾是顯而易見的。

Given the macro challenges and uncertainties over the past several years, their dedication is truly commendable. The team is not only engaged but driven by a shared ambition to be a leader in the market through a commitment to our customers, shareholders and the legacy of FARO. I'm encouraged by the opportunity to improve upon the solid foundation we have as a company. I believe in establishing an operating system centered around an 80/20 philosophy, that relentlessly prioritizes key activities that will drive the greatest impact on shareholder value and a financial model that will yield improved profitability in all market conditions. We are well down the path of implementing organizational initiatives such that all 1,300 FARO employees know how what they do every day contributes to the achievement of the priorities we've aligned on and agreed to as a team. I have confidence the resulting focus and rigor will yield performance improvements. Having had the chance to assess the market opportunity, there is incredible value to be created by the reduction of waste and inefficiencies in the management of the world's physical assets through the use of 3D capture and virtual management tools. Our potential for growth is broad and substantial but will require a focused and disciplined product road map as well as a go-to-market strategy targeted toward customers, markets and applications where we have the highest probability of success.

考慮到過去幾年的宏觀挑戰和不確定性，他們的奉獻精神確實值得稱讚。團隊不僅積極參與，而且受到共同雄心的推動，即透過對客戶、股東和 FARO 遺產的承諾，成為市場領導者。我很高興有機會在我們公司的堅實基礎上進行改進。我相信建立一個以 80/20 理念為中心的操作系統，堅持不懈地優先考慮將對股東價值產生最大影響的關鍵活動，以及在所有市場條件下都能提高盈利能力的財務模型。我們正在實施組織計劃，讓所有 1,300 名 FARO 員工都知道他們每天所做的事情如何有助於實現我們作為一個團隊一致同意的優先事項。我相信由此產生的專注和嚴謹將帶來績效改善。在有機會評估市場機會後，透過使用 3D 擷取和虛擬管理工具，減少世界實體資產管理中的浪費和低效率，可以創造令人難以置信的價值。我們的成長潛力是廣泛且龐大的，但需要有一個專注且嚴格的產品路線圖，以及針對我們最有可能成功的客戶、市場和應用的市場策略。

The driving force remains our underlying strategy of hardware augmented by software to deliver solutions that solve customer problems. Yet there is likely some refinement to key elements and focus areas that will accelerate and optimize our success. In the coming months, I expect to continue building upon our operating cadence and further refine my strategic point of view with our employees, executive team and Board of Directors to develop a cohesive strategy. When finalized, I plan to publicly communicate to our stakeholders, our key priorities, target markets, targeted financial model and long-term goals as well as a road map for achievement. With that, I'll now turn the call over to Allen to provide an overview of our third quarter financial results.

驅動力仍然是我們透過軟體增強硬體的基本策略，以提供解決客戶問題的解決方案。然而，關鍵要素和重點領域的一些改進可能會加速和優化我們的成功。在接下來的幾個月中，我希望繼續加強我們的營運節奏，並與我們的員工、執行團隊和董事會進一步完善我的策略觀點，以建立一個有凝聚力的策略。最終確定後，我計劃向我們的利害關係人公開傳達我們的主要優先事項、目標市場、有針對性的財務模式和長期目標以及實現路線圖。現在，我將把電話轉給艾倫，概述我們第三季的財務表現。

Thank you, Peter, and good morning, everyone. Third quarter revenue of $86.8 million was up 2% compared with the third quarter of 2022. 3D metrology demand remained relatively healthy, particularly in the automotive and aerospace industries. Geographically, demand within the Americas and Europe continue to perform well, but the softness we saw in China causes a bit of caution near term and into the fourth quarter. In.

謝謝你，彼得，大家早安。第三季營收為 8,680 萬美元，較 2022 年第三季成長 2%。3D 計量需求仍相對健康，尤其是在汽車和航空航太產業。從地理上看，美洲和歐洲的需求持續表現良好，但我們在中國看到的疲軟導致近期和第四季的需求有些謹慎。在。

The third quarter, we continued to see our sales activities yield an expanded pipeline. While too early to call a trend in remaining longer than historical averages, our sales cycles modestly shortened after 2 consecutive quarters of lengthening. This positive timing change created an uplift in demand and with improved execution in sales and operations planning positively impacting our [finish availability], we were able to accelerate product availability and satisfy the increased customer demand. Third quarter hardware revenue of $55.7 million was up 1% year-over-year, while software revenue of $11.2 million was up 6% and service revenue of $19.9 million increased slightly. Recurring revenue was $17.1 million and represented 20% of sales. As discussed in prior quarters, over the past year, we have seen a modest flattening of overall software revenue as we convert customer purchases of perpetual licenses to subscriptions. In the third quarter, we began to see a resumption in both sequential and year-over-year growth as we exit this transitionary stage. Service revenue showed a modest 1% year-over-year increase, marking the second straight quarter of year-on-year growth, as our service revenue continues to show signs of recovery from the contraction in our serviceable installed base that resulted from softness in 2020 and 2021 hardware shipments.

第三季度，我們繼續看到我們的銷售活動擴大了管道。雖然現在判斷維持時間長於歷史平均的趨勢還為時過早，但我們的銷售週期在連續兩季延長後略有縮短。這種積極的時間變化導致了需求的增加，並且隨著銷售和營運計劃執行的改進對我們的[成品可用性]產生了積極影響，我們能夠加快產品可用性並滿足不斷增長的客戶需求。第三季硬體營收為 5,570 萬美元，年增 1%，軟體營收為 1,120 萬美元，成長 6%，服務營收為 1,990 萬美元，略有成長。經常性收入為 1,710 萬美元，佔銷售額的 20%。正如前幾季所討論的，在過去的一年裡，隨著我們將客戶購買的永久授權轉變為訂閱，我們發現整體軟體收入略有下降。在第三季度，隨著我們退出這個過渡階段，我們開始看到環比和年成長的恢復。服務收入年增 1%，連續第二個季度同比增長，因為我們的服務收入繼續顯示出從可服務安裝基數因經濟疲軟導致的收縮中復甦的跡象。2020 年和 2021 年硬體出貨量。

GAAP gross margin was 48% and non-GAAP gross margin was 48.9% for the third quarter of 2023. On a non-GAAP basis, continued high raw material costs and relative strength of the U.S. dollar compared to historical exchange rates resulted in the third quarter's year-over-year gross margin decline. Sequentially, we are pleased that reported non-GAAP gross margin improved 90 basis points due in part to improved product mix, a modest decrease in unfavorable purchase price variance that resulted from our 2022 broker buys. And importantly, we saw initial benefits from supply chain localization. The sequential gross margin improvement from our shift to a Southeast Asia supply chain is important as it marks up a point on our way to realizing $12 million in annualized savings. Additionally, in Q3, while lower than Q2, we continue to recognize approximately 300 basis points of the unfavorable 2022 broker buy PPV amortization that will no longer affect us in early 2024. Taken together, we continue to expect a meaningful improvement in 2024 gross margin. GAAP operating expenses were $48.6 million and included approximately $4.6 million in acquisition-related intangible amortization and stock completion expenses and $2.5 million in restructuring and other transaction costs.

2023 年第三季 GAAP 毛利率為 48%，非 GAAP 毛利率為 48.9%。在非 GAAP 基礎上，原物料成本持續走高以及美元相對於歷史匯率的相對強勢導致第三季本季度毛利率年減。因此，我們很高興報告的非 GAAP 毛利率提高了 90 個基點，部分原因是產品組合的改善，以及我們 2022 年經紀人購買導致的不利購買價格差異的適度減少。重要的是，我們看到了供應鏈本地化的初步好處。我們轉向東南亞供應鏈後毛利率的連續改善非常重要，因為它標誌著我們實現年化 1,200 萬美元節省的目標。此外，在第三季度，雖然低於第二季度，但我們繼續認識到不利的2022 年經紀商購買PPV 攤銷約300 個基點，這將在2024 年初不再影響我們。總而言之，我們繼續預計2024年毛利率將出現有意義的改善。 GAAP 營運費用為 4,860 萬美元，其中包括約 460 萬美元的收購相關無形攤銷和股票完成費用以及 250 萬美元的重組和其他交易成本。

Non-GAAP operating expense of $41.5 million was down $2.8 million from Q3 last year, as we realized the first full quarter benefit of our restructuring efforts. As we stated last quarter, with our expense reductions largely completed, we remain committed to realizing quarterly spending at present FX rates of approximately $40 million to $43 million. GAAP operating loss was $6.9 million in the third quarter of 2023 compared with an operating loss of $7.1 million in the third quarter of 2022. Non-GAAP operating income was $900,000 in the third quarter of 2023 compared to a loss of approximately $750,000 in the third quarter of 2022. Adjusted EBITDA was $3.5 million or approximately 4.1% of sales. Our GAAP net loss was $8.8 million or 46% per share. Our non-GAAP net income was approximately $450,000 or $0.02 per share for the third quarter of 2023 compared to a net income of approximately $550,000 or $0.03 per share in Q3 2022. In May, we discussed a total charge of between $22 million and $28 million to realize our new quarterly expense base. On a year-to-date basis, we have incurred approximately $25 million in charges resulting from cash severance for affected employees, inventory write-offs as we increase our focus on core strategic product lines and facility and other asset-related write-downs as we seek to reduce utilized work [footage].

非 GAAP 營運費用為 4,150 萬美元，比去年第三季減少了 280 萬美元，因為我們實現了重組工作的第一個完整季度效益。正如我們上季度所說，隨著我們的費用削減基本上完成，我們仍然致力於實現以目前匯率計算的季度支出約為 4,000 萬至 4,300 萬美元。 2023 年第三季的GAAP 營運虧損為690 萬美元，而2022 年第三季的營運虧損為710 萬美元。2023 年第三季的非GAAP 營運收入為90 萬美元，而第三季的虧損約為75 萬美元2022 年第四季。調整後 EBITDA 為 350 萬美元，約佔銷售額的 4.1%。我們的 GAAP 淨虧損為 880 萬美元，即每股虧損 46%。 2023 年第三季度，我們的非GAAP 淨利潤約為450,000 美元，即每股0.02 美元，而2022 年第三季度的淨利潤約為550,000 美元，即每股0.03 美元。5 月份，我們討論了2200萬至2800 萬美元的總費用實現我們新的季度支出基礎。今年迄今，由於我們更加關注核心戰略產品線和設施以及其他資產相關的減記，我們因受影響員工的現金遣散費、庫存沖銷而產生了約 2500 萬美元的費用。我們力求減少已利用的工作[素材]。

We continue to expect that approximately 40% of the combined charges to be cash payments. Our cash balance at the end of the quarter was $79.9 million, down $8.6 million from Q2, largely due to restructuring charges. Excluding the restructuring and other nonrecurring cash payments, our free cash flow would have been approximately neutral in the third quarter. We remain very focused on improving our days sales outstanding with accelerated collections expected in the fourth quarter of 2023 and into 2024. Given our current accounts receivable balance, expectations for revenue and our new expense base as well as further enhancements to our inventory management, we continue to expect cash flow to be positive in the second half of 2023. While we are pleased with our third quarter results and view them as evidence, the business is moving in the right direction, we remain cautious on extrapolating this trend into the fourth quarter. From a geographic perspective, in the third quarter, we experienced an unexpected softening in the Chinese market. At this stage, we do not expect China demand to rebound in the fourth quarter, which will create an incremental headwind to the seasonal year-end strength. Together with PMI remaining below 50 and sales cycles remaining above historical levels, we want to remain thoughtful and measured in setting expectations for the remainder of this year.

我們仍預計合併費用約 40% 為現金支付。本季末我們的現金餘額為 7,990 萬美元，比第二季減少 860 萬美元，主要是由於重組費用。不包括重組和其他非經常性現金支付，我們第三季的自由現金流將大致為中性。我們仍然非常注重改善應收帳款週轉天數，預計在2023 年第四季和2024 年加速收款。考慮到我們目前的應收帳款餘額、收入預期和新的費用基礎以及庫存管理的進一步增強，我們繼續預計2023 年下半年現金流為正。雖然我們對第三季業績感到滿意並將其視為證據，但業務正在朝著正確的方向發展，但我們對將這一趨勢推斷到第四季度仍持謹慎態度。從地理角度來看，第三季度，中國市場出現了意想不到的疲軟。現階段，我們預期第四季中國需求不會反彈，這將對季節性年末強勢產生增量阻力。鑑於 PMI 仍低於 50，銷售週期仍高於歷史水平，我們希望在設定今年剩餘時間的預期時保持深思熟慮和謹慎衡量。

As a result, at present FX rates, we expect fourth quarter revenue of between $92 million and $100 million. At those revenue levels and given corresponding non-GAAP gross margin improvement to between 50.5% and 52% and non-GAAP operating expenses of between $41 million and $43 million, we would expect non-GAAP earnings per share of between $0.18 and $0.34. This concludes our prepared remarks. And at this time, we'd be pleased to take questions.

因此，按照目前的匯率，我們預計第四季的營收將在 9,200 萬美元至 1 億美元之間。在這些收入水準上，考慮到相應的非GAAP 毛利率提高至50.5% 至52% 以及非GAAP 營運費用在4,100 萬美元至4,300 萬美元之間，我們預計非GAAP 每股收益將在0.18 美元至0.34美元之間。我們準備好的演講到此結束。此時，我們很樂意回答問題。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員說明）

We will go first to Greg Palm with Craig-Hallum Capital Group.

我們將首先介紹 Craig-Hallum Capital Group 的 Greg Palm。

Yes. Congrats on the results and Pete and especially a good start for you. So congrats as well.

是的。恭喜你所取得的成績和皮特，尤其是對你來說這是一個好的開始。所以也恭喜你。

Thanks, Greg. Nice to speak to you.

謝謝，格雷格。很高興和你說話。

Maybe just kind of starting on the revenue and the sort of demand outlook side of things, as you kind of look back on the quarter and just general activity, I'm curious, are you characterizing the better than expected activity due to -- how much is due to market conditions versus just better execution and sort of company specific? I'm guessing it's a mix of both, but maybe leans towards the latter, but I just wanted to get some kind of further input on what your thoughts are.

也許只是從收入和需求前景方面開始，當你回顧本季和一般活動時，我很好奇，你是否描述了比預期更好的活動，因為——如何很大程度上是由於市場條件而不是更好的執行力和公司的具體情況？我猜這是兩者的混合，但也許傾向於後者，但我只是想進一步了解您的想法。

Yes, Greg, thanks for the question. I mean geographically, I would say we continue to see broad strength in the Americas region with EMEA staying study. APAC contraction driven by China. I would say that the execution was driven by a number of factors, probably most notably normalization of material availability, which obviously allows us to react to our sales forecast a little bit better -- be in a better position with finished goods, a better position to move our products around the world to satisfy set customer demand. So a little bit of market, a little bit of execution, which obviously drove a better-than-expected results, Greg.

是的，格雷格，謝謝你的提問。我的意思是從地理上看，我們繼續看到美洲地區的廣泛實力，而歐洲、中東和非洲地區仍在研究中。中國推動亞太地區經濟萎縮。我想說，執行是由許多因素驅動的，可能最顯著的是材料可用性的正常化，這顯然使我們能夠更好地對我們的銷售預測做出反應——在成品方面處於更好的位置，更好的位置將我們的產品運送到世界各地，以滿足客戶的既定需求。所以一點點市場，一點點執行，這顯然帶來了比預期更好的結果，格雷格。

And other than calling out China as a maybe a region of weakness. Is there anything out there geographic-wise or end market-wise that cautions you going forward relative to maybe what you would have thought a few months ago?

除了稱中國可能是一個薄弱地區之外。與幾個月前的想法相比，是否有任何地理或最終市場方面的因素可以提醒您繼續前進？

Yes. I mean, look, Greg, I think we're all kind of looking at the developing situation in the Middle East and trying to understand what that means for the broader macroeconomic environment. The AEC market continues to remain a little soft with the decline in resi and commercial projects. But that said, I would say industrial applications on the 3DM side still pretty strong, I would say, a good macroeconomic environment there. So look, we're watching it closely, the continued normalization of our supply chain should allow us to continue to react and drive execution of that demand, and we'll be particularly focused on that execution in the fourth quarter.

是的。我的意思是，格雷格，我認為我們都在關注中東的發展局勢，並試圖了解這對更廣泛的宏觀經濟環境意味著什麼。隨著再生資源和商業項目的減少，AEC 市場繼續保持疲軟狀態。但話雖如此，我想說 3DM 方面的工業應用仍然相當強勁，我想說的是，那裡的宏觀經濟環境良好。因此，我們正在密切關注，供應鏈的持續正常化應該使我們能夠繼續做出反應並推動需求的執行，我們將特別關注第四季度的執行。

Understood. And then if I could just shift gears a little bit on gross margin. In terms of the outlook for Q4, Allen, does that take into account a lower maybe headwind from the broker fees? Or is that still taking into account kind of a full 300 basis points?

明白了。然後我是否可以在毛利率上稍微調整一下。就第四季度的前景而言，艾倫，這是否考慮到經紀人費用可能較低的阻力？還是仍考慮了整整 300 個基點？

If you think about the purchase price variance that we experienced in Q3, I think we expect that the combination between the 2022 broker buys as well as the localization of our supply chains to Southeast Asia. The effect that we're seeing in Q3, we expect to modestly improve in Q4, but generally, by and large, remain the same. The margin improvement that we see in Q3 -- from Q3 to Q4 is mainly going to be driven by the increase in revenue and our above corporate average contribution margins and better fixed cost absorption.

如果你考慮一下我們在第三季度經歷的購買價格差異，我認為我們預計 2022 年經紀人購買以及我們供應鏈在東南亞的本地化之間的結合。我們在第三季看到的效果預計在第四季會略有改善，但總的來說，整體保持不變。我們在第三季度看到的利潤率改善——從第三季度到第四季度，主要是由於收入的增加、我們高於企業平均水平的貢獻利潤率以及更好的固定成本吸收所推動的。

Okay. And so do you realize then most of that benefit in Q1? Or is it sort of exiting Q1 where you see most of that headwind dissipate?

好的。那麼您是否意識到第一季的大部分好處？或者說，在第一季度，您看到大部分逆風已經消散？

There's certainly going to be a sizable improvement in Q1, but not to the full extent that we've outlined, that would be more of a -- into the second half -- mid-Q2 into the second half, not to get too precise.

第一季肯定會有相當大的改善，但不會達到我們概述的全部程度，這將更多地是進入下半年——進入第二季度中期，進入下半年，不要太精確。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員說明）

We will go next to Jim Ricchiuti with Needham & Co.

接下來我們將與尼達姆公司的吉姆·里奇烏蒂 (Jim Ricchiuti) 一起去。

This is actually Chris Grenga on for Jim. And congrats on the quarter, by the way. With the release of Sphere XG, I was just wondering if you could talk about the trend that you're seeing in terms of bookings in terms of the revenues per user. Any color even at a high level that you could provide there, that would be great.

這實際上是克里斯·格倫加 (Chris Grenga) 替吉姆 (Jim) 配音的。順便說一句，恭喜本季。隨著 Sphere XG 的發布，我想知道您是否可以談談您在預訂方面看到的每個用戶收入的趨勢。您可以在那裡提供任何顏色，即使是高水平的顏色，那就太好了。

Chris, thanks for the question and I appreciate the commentary. Probably too early to talk about Sphere XG and that trend as it just released in the middle of August.

克里斯，謝謝你的提問，我很欣賞你的評論。談論 Sphere XG 及其趨勢可能還為時過早，因為它剛剛在 8 月中旬發布。

What I will say is the added functionality on Sphere XG along with the workflow component and the integration with our new Orbis product will allow many of our customers to seamlessly automate the capture and the readiness of that 3D data. And so we expect really big things from Sphere XG and look forward to talking more about that in quarters to come.

我要說的是 Sphere XG 上的附加功能以及工作流程組件以及與我們新的 Orbis 產品的整合將使我們的許多客戶能夠無縫地自動捕獲 3D 資料並做好準備。因此，我們對 Sphere XG 寄予厚望，並期待在未來幾季對此進行更多討論。

Got it. And on automotive, could you just maybe talk a little bit more about what you're seeing there? And -- was there any exposure to sort of what we're hearing about with respect to the UAW situation?

知道了。在汽車方面，您能否多談談您在那裡看到的情況？還有——是否有任何關於我們所聽到的有關 UAW 情況的信息？

Thanks, Chris. Yes. No, look, it's something that we're watching closely. As I commented, we are still seeing broad strength in our Americas business. And at this point, would expect that to continue into the fourth quarter. So no specific effects, but we'll continue to watch that situation pretty closely.

謝謝，克里斯。是的。不，看，這是我們正在密切關注的事情。正如我所評論的，我們仍然看到美洲業務的廣泛優勢。目前，預計這種情況將持續到第四季。所以沒有具體的影響，但我們將繼續密切關注這種情況。

Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. This does conclude today's program. You may now disconnect.

謝謝你們，女士們、先生們。今天的節目到此結束。您現在可以斷開連線。