Flex Ltd (FLEX) 2022 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Good afternoon, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to Flex's Fiscal Third Quarter 2022 Earnings Conference Call. (Operator Instructions) As a reminder, this call is being recorded. I will now turn the call over to Mr. David Rubin. You may begin, sir.

下午好，感謝您的支持。歡迎參加 Flex 的 2022 財年第三季度收益電話會議。 （操作員說明）作為提醒，此通話正在錄音中。我現在將把電話轉給大衛魯賓先生。先生，您可以開始了。

Thank you, Grace. Good afternoon, and welcome to Flex's Third Quarter Fiscal 2022 Earnings Conference Call. With me today is our Chief Executive Officer, Revathi Advaithi; and our Chief Financial Officer, Paul Lundstrom. Both will give brief remarks followed by Q&A.

謝謝你，格蕾絲。下午好，歡迎參加 Flex 的 2022 財年第三季度收益電話會議。今天和我在一起的是我們的首席執行官 Revathi Advaithi；和我們的首席財務官 Paul Lundstrom。兩人都將發表簡短的評論，然後進行問答。

This call is being webcast and recorded. And if you have not already received them, slides for today's presentation are available on the Investor Relations section of our flex.com website.

該電話正在網絡廣播和錄音中。如果您還沒有收到它們，今天的演示幻燈片可在我們的 flex.com 網站的投資者關係部分找到。

As a reminder, today's call contains forward-looking statements, which are based on our current expectations and assumptions, and are subject to risks and uncertainties, so actual events and results could differ materially. Also, such information is subject to change, and we undertake no obligation to update these forward-looking statements. For a full discussion of the risks and uncertainties, please see our most recent filings with the SEC.

提醒一下，今天的電話會議包含前瞻性陳述，這些陳述基於我們當前的預期和假設，並受到風險和不確定性的影響，因此實際事件和結果可能存在重大差異。此外，此類信息可能會發生變化，我們不承擔更新這些前瞻性陳述的義務。有關風險和不確定性的完整討論，請參閱我們最近提交給 SEC 的文件。

This call references non-GAAP financial measures for the current quarter. The GAAP reconciliations can be found in the appendix slides of today's presentation, as well as on the Investor Relations section of our website.

本次電話會議參考了本季度的非公認會計原則財務指標。 GAAP 對賬可在今天演示文稿的附錄幻燈片以及我們網站的投資者關係部分找到。

Lastly, with regard to Flex NEXTracker business, as we've previously discussed, we announced that we confidentially submitted a draft registration statement on Form S-1 of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on April 28, relating to the proposed initial public offering of its Class A common stock. The initial public offering and its timing are subject to market and other conditions and the SEC's review process. We made this announcement in accordance with Rule 135 under the SEC. Following SEC regulations, we will not make any further statements or answer additional questions on the NEXTracker filing at this time.

最後，關於 Flex NEXTracker 業務，正如我們之前討論過的，我們宣布，我們於 4 月 28 日在美國證券交易委員會的 S-1 表格上秘密提交了一份註冊聲明草案，該聲明與擬議的首次公開募股有關。其 A 類普通股。首次公開募股及其時間取決於市場和其他條件以及美國證券交易委員會的審查程序。我們根據 SEC 的第 135 條規則發布了此公告。根據美國證券交易委員會的規定，我們目前不會就 NEXTracker 文件發表任何進一步的聲明或回答其他問題。

With that, I'd like to turn the call over to Revathi, our CEO. Thank you.

有了這個，我想把電話轉給我們的首席執行官 Revathi。謝謝你。

Thank you, David. Good afternoon, and thank you for joining us today for our fiscal Q3 earnings call. Please turn to Slide 3, and I'll briefly review our results.

謝謝你，大衛。下午好，感謝您今天加入我們的第三季度財報電話會議。請轉到幻燈片 3，我將簡要回顧一下我們的結果。

We had another strong performance in our fiscal Q3, despite the anticipated challenge in supply chain environment. We achieved revenue of $6.6 billion, up 6% sequentially and above the top end of our previous guidance range. I want to emphasize that this outcome was more about strong execution than easier than expected macro challenges. Total Flex's adjusted operating margin came in at 4.5%, also better than previously anticipated. Adjusted EPS was $0.50, up from $0.49 in Q3 of last year. By the way, that's another new quarterly record for us.

儘管供應鏈環境面臨預期挑戰，但我們在第三財季又取得了強勁表現。我們實現了 66 億美元的收入，環比增長 6%，高於我們之前指導範圍的上限。我想強調的是，這一結果更多是關於強有力的執行，而不是比預期的更容易的宏觀挑戰。 Total Flex 調整後的營業利潤率為 4.5%，也好於此前的預期。調整後每股收益為 0.50 美元，高於去年第三季度的 0.49 美元。順便說一句，這對我們來說是另一個新的季度記錄。

Adjusted free cash flow came in at $31 million. I would just add that our results this quarter demonstrate the major progress we have made in our ability to adapt and overcome macro challenges quickly. Of course, our deep and long-standing relationship with our suppliers definitely helps us during times like these. We are proud of our strong performance, and it's another yet important win for the team.

調整後的自由現金流為 3100 萬美元。我只想補充一點，我們本季度的業績表明我們在快速適應和克服宏觀挑戰的能力方面取得了重大進展。當然，在這樣的時期，我們與供應商的深厚而長期的關係肯定會幫助我們。我們為自己的出色表現感到自豪，這對球隊來說是又一次重要的勝利。

The consistency and continued acceleration of our performance the last couple of years is driven by the diversity of our portfolio, along with our disciplined execution. Strong sequential growth in our cloud, communications and industrial businesses as a result of our bookings growth and successful ramps of these new businesses. Our investments in optical and 5G technology, electrification products and data center solutions are also helping to accelerate our growth this year.

過去幾年我們業績的一致性和持續加速是由我們投資組合的多樣性以及我們紀律嚴明的執行推動的。由於我們的預訂量增長和這些新業務的成功增長，我們的雲、通信和工業業務實現了強勁的連續增長。我們在光學和 5G 技術、電氣化產品和數據中心解決方案方面的投資也有助於加快我們今年的增長。

We also recently welcomed Anord Mardix to the team. This acquisition adds to our overall data center portfolio, which is a high growth vector for us. We're excited to see the combination of these investments and strong secular growth trends really drive our performance going forward.

我們最近還歡迎 Anord Mardix 加入團隊。此次收購增加了我們的整體數據中心產品組合，這對我們來說是一個高增長的載體。我們很高興看到這些投資與強勁的長期增長趨勢相結合，真正推動我們的業績向前發展。

I will come back at the end and talk about our growth drivers in a little bit more detail, but now I'll turn it over to Paul to take you through the full financials and the guidance.

我將在最後回來更詳細地討論我們的增長動力，但現在我將把它交給保羅，帶你了解完整的財務和指導。

Great. Thank you, Revathi, and good afternoon, everyone. Let me just start by saying how impressed we all are with the team's execution and commitment to delivering the best possible service for our customers in such a challenging environment. So thank you all for the hard work.

偉大的。謝謝你，Revathi，大家下午好。首先，讓我先說一下我們所有人對團隊的執行力和在如此充滿挑戰的環境中為我們的客戶提供最佳服務的承諾印象深刻。所以感謝大家的辛勤工作。

Beginning on Slide 5, please note, I will focus my remarks on the non-GAAP results. The GAAP reconciliations can be found in the appendix of the earnings presentation. Flex's revenue was $6.6 billion in the quarter, down 1 point year-over-year, but up 6% sequentially. Adjusted operating income was $298 million, down about 4% year-over-year and up 4% sequentially. Adjusted net income was $238 million, down 5% from the prior year period and up about 3% sequentially. And finally, adjusted earnings per share was $0.50, an increase of 2% year-over-year and 4% sequentially.

請注意，從幻燈片 5 開始，我將重點關注非 GAAP 結果。 GAAP 對賬可在收益報告的附錄中找到。 Flex 本季度的收入為 66 億美元，同比下降 1 個百分點，但環比增長 6%。調整後的營業收入為 2.98 億美元，同比下降約 4%，環比增長 4%。調整後的淨收入為 2.38 億美元，比去年同期下降 5%，環比增長約 3%。最後，調整後每股收益為 0.50 美元，同比增長 2%，環比增長 4%。

On Slide 6, our third quarter adjusted gross profit was $498 million, down $16 million year-over-year. Q3 gross margin of 7.5% was about 10 basis points lower compared to last year. In total, adjusted SG&A came in at $200 million, down $3 million from our prior year period and at 3% of sales is at the better end of our targeted range of 3% to 3.2%. Overall, adjusted operating income was $298 million, resulting in a 4.5% adjusted op margin, down slightly, but strong performance considering the continued tightness in the supply chain and at the top end of our guidance.

在幻燈片 6 上，我們第三季度調整後的毛利潤為 4.98 億美元，同比下降 1600 萬美元。第三季度毛利率為 7.5%，與去年相比下降了約 10 個基點。總體而言，調整後的 SG&A 收入為 2 億美元，比去年同期減少 300 萬美元，銷售額的 3% 處於我們目標範圍 3% 至 3.2% 的較好端。總體而言，調整後的營業收入為 2.98 億美元，調整後的營業利潤率為 4.5%，略有下降，但考慮到供應鏈的持續緊張和我們指導的高端，表現強勁。

On Slide 7, Reliability revenue was $3 billion, up about 5% year-over-year. Demand was strong across each of the end markets. Adjusted operating income decreased 14% to $154 million with a 5.1% adjusted operating margin rate. In December, we were very happy to welcome the Anord Mardix to the team. Impact of the financials was immaterial in the quarter, but we are quite upbeat about the potential and the impact it will have on growth in our fast-growing data center business. We continue to expect it to be accretive to adjusted EPS and deliver mid-teens EBITDA margins in fiscal 2023, which begins this April.

在幻燈片 7 上，可靠性收入為 30 億美元，同比增長約 5%。每個終端市場的需求都很強勁。調整後的營業收入下降 14% 至 1.54 億美元，調整後的營業利潤率為 5.1%。 12 月，我們非常高興地歡迎 Anord Mardix 加入團隊。本季度財務狀況的影響並不重要，但我們對潛力及其對我們快速增長的數據中心業務增長的影響非常樂觀。我們繼續預計它將增加調整後的每股收益，並在今年 4 月開始的 2023 財年實現十幾歲的 EBITDA 利潤率。

Automotive revenue decreased mid-single digits in the quarter with healthy underlying demand offset by continued supply challenges. Health Solutions revenue was better than expected, but down slightly compared to the prior year, driven by tough comps related to last year's COVID-related critical care peak. Lastly, Industrial sales were strong, up mid-teens with strong growth across the board, including at NEXTracker, where we saw sales up high teens. Due to the global logistics headwinds, margins have been pressured at NEXTracker, but we view it as temporary. The cost pressure in NEXTracker is largely what drove the decline in Reliability margins. Fundamentals remain strong.

本季度汽車收入下降了中個位數，健康的潛在需求被持續的供應挑戰所抵消。健康解決方案收入好於預期，但與去年相比略有下降，原因是與去年與 COVID 相關的重症監護高峰期相關的艱難業績。最後，工業銷售強勁，整體增長強勁，增長強勁，包括在 NEXTracker，我們看到銷售額增長了十幾歲。由於全球物流逆風，NEXTracker 的利潤率受到壓力，但我們認為這是暫時的。 NEXTracker 的成本壓力主要是導致可靠性利潤率下降的原因。基本面依然強勁。

Moving to Agility. Segment revenue was $3.6 billion, down about 6.5% year-over-year. In total, the Agility segment delivered $163 million of adjusted operating income, a year-over-year increase of 7%, which led to a record 4.6% operating margin. Within Agility, CEC demand was very robust, particularly in cloud, 5G and optical. But upside in the quarter was limited by component constraints, which led to a modest sales decline. In Lifestyle, revenue was up slightly despite the difficult comp driven by new product ramps, customer wins and healthy underlying demand.

轉向敏捷。分部收入為 36 億美元，同比下降約 6.5%。總體而言，敏捷部門實現了 1.63 億美元的調整後營業收入，同比增長 7%，營業利潤率達到創紀錄的 4.6%。在 Agility 內部，CEC 需求非常強勁，尤其是在雲、5G 和光學領域。但本季度的上行空間受到零部件限制的限制，導致銷售額出現小幅下滑。在 Lifestyle 方面，儘管新產品增加、客戶贏得和健康的潛在需求推動了艱難的競爭，但收入略有增長。

And finally, as we indicated last quarter, Consumer Devices revenue was down double digits caused largely by a planned project completion.

最後，正如我們上個季度所指出的，消費設備收入下降了兩位數，這主要是由於計劃中的項目完成。

Turning to cash flow on Slide 8. Our net capital expenditures for the quarter totaled $119 million, and adjusted free cash flow was $31 million. This quarter, we paid out a net $523 million in cash at the closing of the Anord Mardix acquisition on December 1. We had 2 changes to our debt profile in the quarter, totaling $709 million. In both cases, we took advantage of regional opportunities at very low rates to support our business expansion and approaching maturities. During the fiscal third quarter, we repurchased 5 million shares totaling $90 million. In total, for fiscal '22, we have spent $580 million, repurchasing roughly 32 million shares. At the end of the quarter, we had approximately $600 million remaining on our current Board authorization.

轉向幻燈片 8 上的現金流。我們本季度的淨資本支出總計 1.19 億美元，調整後的自由現金流為 3100 萬美元。本季度，在 12 月 1 日完成對 Anord Mardix 的收購時，我們支付了 5.23 億美元的現金淨額。本季度我們的債務狀況發生了兩次變化，總計 7.09 億美元。在這兩種情況下，我們都以極低的利率利用區域機會來支持我們的業務擴張和接近到期日。在第三財季，我們回購了 500 萬股股票，總額為 9000 萬美元。在 22 財年，我們總共花費了 5.8 億美元，回購了大約 3200 萬股股票。在本季度末，我們現有的董事會授權剩餘大約 6 億美元。

Inventory at the end of the quarter was $6 billion. Inventory turns were 4.4, down from 4.8 turns last quarter. While we expect inventory to remain high in the near term, I'll reiterate Revathi's comments about strong end market demand. Chip shortages have customers waiting to fulfill demand and delivering on customer demand remains a high priority. So as shortages abate, so will higher than usual inventory levels.

本季度末的庫存為 60 億美元。庫存周轉率為 4.4，低於上一季度的 4.8 週。雖然我們預計短期內庫存將保持高位，但我將重申 Revathi 關於強勁終端市場需求的評論。芯片短缺讓客戶等待滿足需求，而滿足客戶需求仍然是重中之重。因此，隨著短缺減少，庫存水平也會高於平時。

All things considered, we're pleased with our free cash flow generation over the last several quarters, totaling $340 million fiscal year-to-date, and we continue to target free cash flow of approximately $500 million for fiscal 2022. Cash generation remains a priority. And in alignment with our stated capital allocation strategy, we'll continue to invest in key areas that will position Flex to capture growth.

考慮到所有因素，我們對過去幾個季度產生的自由現金流感到滿意，本財年迄今總計 3.4 億美元，我們繼續將 2022 財年的自由現金流目標定為約 5 億美元。現金產生仍然是優先。根據我們既定的資本配置戰略，我們將繼續投資於使 Flex 能夠實現增長的關鍵領域。

On Slide 9, our segment outlook. We expect Reliability Solutions to be up mid- to high single digits with demand continuing to outstrip supply, leading to trends in the business similar to Q3. Automotive will be marginally down and Health Solutions essentially flat with strong double-digit growth in Industrial. Agility Solutions revenue is expected to be relatively flat year-over-year. We expect mid- to high single-digit growth in CEC based on strength in cloud and 5G. Lifestyle revenue should be up slightly, following similar trends to last quarter, and Consumer Devices, in line with Q3, due to the aforementioned planned program completion, setting up a difficult compare.

在幻燈片 9 上，我們的細分市場展望。我們預計可靠性解決方案將達到中高個位數，需求繼續超過供應，導致業務趨勢類似於第三季度。汽車行業將略有下降，而健康解決方案將基本持平，工業行業實現兩位數的強勁增長。敏捷解決方案的收入預計將與去年同期相比相對持平。基於雲和 5G 的實力，我們預計 CEC 將實現中高個位數增長。由於上述計劃的完成，生活方式收入應該會略有上升，與上一季度的趨勢相似，而消費類設備的收入與第三季度一致，很難進行比較。

Full year guidance on Slide 10. You'll see that we've updated and narrowed our full year guidance range. Our new guidance reflects revenue of $25.4 billion to $25.8 billion or 6% year-over-year growth at the midpoint. At the midpoint of the range, adjusted EPS of $1.88 would be up 20% year-on-year. The updated guidance now at the top end of the previous range, reflects a combination of the improving strength of our results, our execution trajectory, and the strong secular trends we continue to see.

幻燈片 10 的全年指導。您會看到我們已經更新並縮小了全年指導範圍。我們的新指引反映了 254 億美元至 258 億美元的收入，即中點同比增長 6%。在該範圍的中點，調整後的每股收益為 1.88 美元，同比增長 20%。更新後的指導現在位於之前範圍的高端，反映了我們業績不斷提高的實力、我們的執行軌跡以及我們繼續看到的強勁長期趨勢的結合。

Turning to Slide 11. We expect fiscal fourth quarter revenue to be in the range of $6.2 billion to $6.6 billion, with adjusted operating income between $265 million and $305 million. Interest and other expenses is estimated to be roughly $40 million, and the tax rate should remain at the high end of our 10% to 15% guidance range. We expect adjusted EPS to be in the $0.05 range of $0.41 to $0.46, excluding the impact of stock-based compensation expense and net intangible amortization, with about 474 million weighted shares outstanding.

轉到幻燈片 11。我們預計第四財季收入將在 62 億美元至 66 億美元之間，調整後的營業收入在 2.65 億美元至 3.05 億美元之間。利息和其他費用估計約為 4000 萬美元，稅率應保持在我們 10% 至 15% 指導範圍的高端。我們預計調整後的每股收益將在 0.41 美元至 0.46 美元的 0.05 美元範圍內，不包括基於股票的補償費用和淨無形攤銷的影響，約有 4.74 億股加權流通股。

With that, I'll turn the call back over to Revathi.

有了這個，我會把電話轉回給 Revathi。

Thank you. As you can see from Paul, another strong quarter and improved guidance for our fiscal 2022. In early 2020, when COVID was just unfolding, we held our first Investor Day since I came into the company. In the midst of uncertainty, we shared with you our long-term financial framework.

謝謝你。正如您從 Paul 那裡看到的，又一個強勁的季度和改進了我們 2022 財年的指導。在 2020 年初，當 COVID 剛剛展開時，我們舉行了自我進入公司以來的第一個投資者日。在不確定的情況下，我們與您分享了我們的長期財務框架。

As you can see here on Slide 12, we said we would deliver organic growth above GDP and get to mid-single-digit operating margins and EPS growth of 10-plus percent. Looking at our full year guide of FY 2022, you can see we have accelerated growth even while lapping a major portfolio change in FY '20. And we have delivered on our long-term margin and EPS goals.

正如您在幻燈片 12 上看到的那樣，我們表示我們將實現高於 GDP 的有機增長，並實現中個位數的營業利潤率和 10% 以上的每股收益增長。查看我們的 2022 財年全年指南，您可以看到即使在 20 財年發生重大投資組合變化的同時，我們也加速了增長。我們已經實現了我們的長期利潤率和每股收益目標。

Turning to Slide 13. We plan to have an Investor Day in late March, where we will discuss how the combination of our investments in commercial and technology capabilities, coupled with strong secular trends will accelerate our growth potential. Technology transitions like 5G, optical, electrification and point-of-care diagnostics continues to be a major driver for most of our customers. And Flex's investments in these technologies have helped us win major programs and continues to position us strongly in this market.

轉到幻燈片 13。我們計劃在 3 月下旬舉辦投資者日，屆時我們將討論我們對商業和技術能力的投資以及強勁的長期趨勢將如何加速我們的增長潛力。 5G、光學、電氣化和即時診斷等技術轉型仍然是我們大多數客戶的主要驅動力。 Flex 在這些技術上的投資幫助我們贏得了重大項目，並繼續在這個市場中佔據強勢地位。

In addition to these technology transitions, the challenges of the last several years have solidified the need for robust global supply chains, so companies can deliver their products to market and meet customer commitments Many companies have found that they can -- that they can't effectively manage this by themselves. This need is expanding the total available market for supply chain and advanced manufacturing services. Now the desire to manufacture products closer to local demand is also becoming a priority.

除了這些技術轉型之外，過去幾年的挑戰鞏固了對強大的全球供應鏈的需求，因此公司可以將產品推向市場並滿足客戶承諾 許多公司發現他們可以——但他們不能自己有效地管理這個。這種需求正在擴大供應鍊和先進製造服務的總可用市場。現在，製造更接近當地需求的產品的願望也成為了優先事項。

Again, only a few companies have the capabilities to accomplish this efficiently and on a global scale, and that is driving strong new business wins for us. Other secular trends we're bullish about our digitalization, data center growth, and infrastructure investments, driving growth in the energy sector in both residential and utility scale. Now these secular growth drivers have been fueling our pipeline and bookings growth as you can see in this year's results. As I said earlier, the combination of our investments in commercial and technology capabilities has positioned us well to capitalize on strong secular trends and has accelerated our growth potential going forward. Now combined with our track record on operational execution, this will create strong shareholder value in the years to come.

同樣，只有少數公司有能力在全球範圍內有效地實現這一目標，這為我們帶來了強勁的新業務勝利。其他長期趨勢，我們看好我們的數字化、數據中心增長和基礎設施投資，推動住宅和公用事業規模的能源部門增長。現在，正如您在今年的業績中所看到的，這些長期增長驅動因素一直在推動我們的管道和預訂增長。正如我之前所說，我們在商業和技術能力方面的投資相結合，使我們能夠很好地利用強勁的長期趨勢，並加速我們未來的增長潛力。現在結合我們在運營執行方面的記錄，這將在未來幾年創造強大的股東價值。

On behalf of the entire leadership, I want to thank our employees for their contributions and strong execution, and of course, our customers and suppliers for their trust and partnership, and our shareholders for your continued support.

我謹代表整個領導層，感謝我們的員工的貢獻和強大的執行力，當然還要感謝我們的客戶和供應商的信任和合作夥伴關係，以及我們的股東一直以來的支持。

With that, I'd like to turn the call over to start the Q&A.

有了這個，我想把電話轉過來開始問答。

(Operator Instructions) Your first question comes from the line of Ruplu Bhattacharya from Bank of America.

（操作員說明）您的第一個問題來自美國銀行的 Ruplu Bhattacharya。

My first question is on NEXTracker. Based on the disclosures you've given so far, looks like for the first 3 quarters of fiscal '22, revenues for NEXTracker are growing very strong, around 10% year-on-year, which compares to -- the full year fiscal '21, you had reported only 2% growth. So the first part of the question is what is driving that strong growth? And do you think that this growth rate can sustain going forward?

我的第一個問題是關於 NEXTracker。根據您迄今為止提供的披露，看起來在 22 財年的前 3 個季度，NEXTracker 的收入增長非常強勁，同比增長約 10%，相比之下——全年財年21，你只報告了 2% 的增長。那麼問題的第一部分是什麼推動了這種強勁的增長？您認為這種增長率能否持續下去？

But then on the margin side, it's a little bit -- you're suffering from, I guess, the freight costs and logistics costs. It looks like for the first 3 quarters, operating margin for that business is 7% versus 15% for the full year. So it's about half of last year. So is it just the logistics cost that's impacting that? You mentioned that you think this is temporary. Why do you think that? Is this a business where you can pass on the cost? Does it take longer to pass it on? So if you can just kind of give us your thoughts on revenue and -- revenue growth and margin improvement in that business.

但在利潤方面，它有點——我猜你正在遭受運費和物流成本的困擾。看起來前 3 個季度，該業務的營業利潤率為 7%，而全年為 15%。所以大約是去年的一半。那麼影響這一點的僅僅是物流成本嗎？你提到你認為這是暫時的。為什麼你這麼想？這是一項您可以轉嫁成本的業務嗎？傳遞它需要更長的時間嗎？所以，如果你能告訴我們你對收入的看法，以及該業務的收入增長和利潤率提高。

Yes, Ruplu, I'll start and Paul can jump in. I'd say first is, I'll start with on the growth question. Yes, obviously, strong growth comparison this year. And of course, last year, with COVID and things like that, things did get to a little pause in terms of solar and utility grade installation. But I would say that the pipeline and bookings for that business has been very strong even through COVID times. And then now as installations are coming back, you're seeing that reflected in our growth rates. And we continue to be very bullish for that sector, not just because everything you hear about kind of energy projects that is going on around the globe, but also the infrastructure investments that are being committed to this country.

是的，Rupl，我會開始，Paul 可以加入。我首先要說的是，我將從增長問題開始。是的，顯然，今年的強勁增長比較。當然，去年，由於 COVID 和類似的事情，在太陽能和公用事業級安裝方面確實有點停頓。但我想說的是，即使在 COVID 時代，該業務的管道和預訂量也非常強勁。然後現在隨著安裝的恢復，您會看到這反映在我們的增長率中。我們繼續非常看好該行業，不僅因為你聽到的關於全球範圍內正在進行的各種能源項目的一切，而且還因為正在致力於這個國家的基礎設施投資。

So pipeline is strong. Bookings are even more strong, growth rate is expected to continue, if not accelerate, from where we are today. So feel very, very good about it.

所以管道很強大。預訂量更加強勁，預計增長率將繼續，即使不是加速，從我們今天的水平。所以感覺非常非常好。

In terms of margin, first, as I'll point out is that our performance is much better than all the peers in this sector. So that's one. Second is, I would say, we have talked about this before that we are able to pass on not just kind of steel inflation costs and things like that, but freight and logistics costs also. But there is a timing issue involved with passing those on. And what you've seen happen with freight and logistics, Ruplu, is, of course, the inflation has gone up quarter-over-quarter-over-quarter. So as we are passing that on, there's also a catch-up that's required, as we continue to see this inflation, including the availability of things like shippers and all of that.

在利潤率方面，首先，正如我要指出的那樣，我們的表現比該行業的所有同行都要好得多。所以這是一個。其次，我想說，我們之前已經討論過這個問題，我們不僅可以轉嫁鋼鐵通脹成本之類的東西，還可以轉嫁運費和物流成本。但是傳遞這些內容存在時間問題。你所看到的貨運和物流，Ruplu，當然是通貨膨脹率環比上升。因此，當我們將其傳遞下去時，還需要進行追趕，因為我們繼續看到這種通貨膨脹，包括托運人之類的東西的可用性等等。

So I think that is a challenge we are facing, but we are very, very comfortable that, that is transitionary and that we will improve the margins of this business as we move forward. Our fundamentals are very strong. This is like any other business that has time in terms of passing this on to their system. So it's very similar to that. And we feel very comfortable that the fundamentals are strong, and they will catch up in terms of their margin rates as they move forward.

所以我認為這是我們面臨的挑戰，但我們非常非常滿意，這是過渡性的，我們將在前進的過程中提高這項業務的利潤率。我們的基本面非常強大。這就像任何其他有時間將其傳遞到他們的系統的企業一樣。所以它與那個非常相似。我們對基本面強勁感到非常放心，隨著它們的發展，它們的保證金率將迎頭趕上。

Okay. My second question is on the CEC business, specifically on the cloud portion. You mentioned that, that -- the demand from cloud was particular -- was very strong this quarter. Some of your peers have seen in that business, customers move to a consignment model, and that has impacted their revenues. Are you seeing anything like that from your customers? Or from Flex's standpoint, are you building the whole rack? Do you think that, that business can continue to grow as we look out into the next couple of quarters?

好的。我的第二個問題是關於 CEC 業務，特別是關於雲部分。您提到過，雲的需求在本季度非常強勁。您的一些同行已經在該業務中看到，客戶轉向寄售模式，這影響了他們的收入。您是否從客戶那裡看到過類似的情況？或者從 Flex 的角度來看，您是在構建整個機架嗎？您是否認為，隨著我們展望未來幾個季度，該業務可以繼續增長？

So first, I'll say is our CEC business, if you recall, a couple of years ago, we did some kind of pruning and correction in the CEC business. In the last year, we have invested a lot in terms of growing the cloud and the 5G business. And you're seeing all that kind of play through in our growth associated with cloud and 5G. So we are feeling very good about our investments in the cloud business with all the major hyperscalers and colos. So feeling really good about that.

首先，我要說的是我們的 CEC 業務，如果你還記得，幾年前，我們對 CEC 業務進行了某種修剪和修正。去年，我們在發展雲和 5G 業務方面投入了大量資金。您會在我們與雲和 5G 相關的增長中看到所有這些因素。因此，我們對與所有主要超大規模企業和託管公司在雲業務上的投資感覺非常好。所以感覺真的很好。

I'd say in terms of the model itself, we usually let our customers drive kind of what is the right engagement model. It's usually a partnership approach to figuring out where is the best value, because whether it's a consignment model or not consignment model, really depends on kind of where is the value driven, right? And so if we find that we are not having any value, then consignment model is the right one to do. So we like to have a partnership with our customers in a collaboration to come up with the answer of what is the right model. So it's a balanced approach.

我想說就模型本身而言，我們通常讓我們的客戶推動正確的參與模型。它通常是一種合作夥伴關係來確定最佳價值，因為無論是寄售模型還是非寄售模型，實際上取決於價值驅動的類型，對吧？因此，如果我們發現我們沒有任何價值，那麼寄售模式就是正確的做法。因此，我們希望與我們的客戶建立合作夥伴關係，共同提出正確模型的答案。所以這是一個平衡的方法。

And we don't have a business where we kind of moved that around a pretty significant scale as you have seen some others do it. I think we're very consistent in our approach to this. And we allow our customers to really figure out and work with us as to what is the model, who drives the best value, and then based on that, we make the decision.

而且我們沒有像您看到其他人那樣將其轉移到相當大的規模的業務。我認為我們在這方面的方法非常一致。我們讓我們的客戶真正弄清楚並與我們合作，了解模型是什麼，誰推動了最佳價值，然後基於此，我們做出決定。

Congrats on the strong execution.

祝賀強大的執行力。

Your next question comes from the line of Mark Delaney from Goldman Sachs.

您的下一個問題來自高盛的 Mark Delaney。

First question was on supply chain. Hoping you could provide a bit more clarity on what Flex has seen? I realize there's been supply chain challenges for quite a while now. At the same time, there's now Omicron variant. So any incremental details you can share on what the company is seeing currently? And any expectations for how that may progress going forward?

第一個問題是關於供應鏈的。希望您能更清楚地說明 Flex 所看到的內容？我意識到供應鏈挑戰已經有很長一段時間了。同時，現在有 Omicron 變體。那麼，您可以分享公司目前所看到的任何增量細節嗎？以及對未來進展的任何期望？

Mark, I love this question, because obviously, my crystal ball is as good as yours in this. But I would say in terms of -- yes, we see a ton of data coming in, right? And that helps us process some thoughts on this. You've seen suppliers and customers give anywhere from thoughts on, hey, late 2022 to 2023, you start to see the supply issues abate. And I would say that our thinking is in line with that, because frankly, now we haven't seen that abate in any significant way. We feel like those supply challenges are still there and consistent.

馬克，我喜歡這個問題，因為很明顯，我的水晶球在這方面和你的一樣好。但我會說——是的，我們看到大量數據進入，對吧？這有助於我們處理對此的一些想法。您已經看到供應商和客戶在任何地方都給出了想法，嘿，2022 年末到 2023 年，您開始看到供應問題有所緩解。我想說我們的想法與此一致，因為坦率地說，現在我們還沒有看到這種情況有任何顯著的減弱。我們覺得這些供應挑戰仍然存在並且始終如一。

So we have a very, very big supply chain team, right, 10,000 people, and we're able to really work with our suppliers to get our demand fulfilled in a way that makes sense for us and our supply -- and our customers. But looking forward, I would say that kind of the second half of '22 and '23 seems to make sense, based on kind of capacity investments that suppliers are committed to having made. So we're kind of in line with where all the industry is in terms of looking forward and thinking this is probably a late calendar '22 going into '23 type of situation.

所以我們有一個非常非常大的供應鏈團隊，對，有 10,000 人，我們能夠真正與我們的供應商合作，以一種對我們和我們的供應——以及我們的客戶有意義的方式來滿足我們的需求。但展望未來，我會說 22 年和 23 年的下半年似乎是有道理的，基於供應商承諾進行的產能投資。因此，我們有點與所有行業的展望一致，並認為這可能是 22 年進入 23 年這種情況的晚期日曆。

I would say in terms of Omicron, Mark, the impact to our kind of performance itself wasn't significant at all, because one of the reasons is, we have 85% of our 165,000 employees fully vaxxed and around 93% of them with at least one dose. So we have just driven a culture of focusing on understanding why this is important to you and your family, which has really helped us take this a long way. And because of that, we have really been able to hold our performance through these kind of COVID ups and downs that you have seen recently.

我想說就 Omicron 而言，Mark，對我們這種績效本身的影響根本不顯著，因為原因之一是，我們 165,000 名員工中有 85% 完全接種了疫苗，其中約 93% 的員工在至少一劑。因此，我們剛剛推動了一種專注於理解為什麼這對您和您的家人很重要的文化，這確實幫助我們取得了長足的進步。正因為如此，我們真的能夠在你最近看到的這種 COVID 起起落落中保持我們的表現。

That's very helpful. And my follow-up question was around the EV business and you alluded to it a couple of times in the prepared remarks, not just in the Automotive business, but also Industrial with charging. I was hoping you could elaborate a bit more on what you're seeing in EVs and the outlook there? And is it getting to a point where you can size how much of the company's revenue is coming from EVs?

這很有幫助。我的後續問題是圍繞電動汽車業務，你在準備好的評論中提到了幾次，不僅是汽車業務，還有充電工業。我希望您能詳細說明您在電動汽車中看到的情況以及那裡的前景？它是否已經到了可以估算公司收入中有多少來自電動汽車的地步？

Yes, Mark, I -- we will talk more about this in our Investor Day. And so we'll go deeper into kind of big growth drivers like electrification for us. If you think about EV and autonomous, both together, we have been spending a lot of technology dollars into developing our own portfolio of solutions on converters, really looking for partnership for high-voltage inverters, our own battery management solution. And then also investing with core partners in terms of long-range battery solutions. So we're really putting a lot of money into technology on electrification.

是的，馬克，我——我們將在投資者日更多地討論這個問題。因此，我們將深入探討電氣化等重大增長驅動因素。如果您同時考慮電動汽車和自動駕駛汽車，我們一直在投入大量技術資金來開發我們自己的轉換器解決方案組合，真正尋找高壓逆變器的合作夥伴關係，我們自己的電池管理解決方案。然後還與核心合作夥伴在遠程電池解決方案方面進行投資。因此，我們確實在電氣化技術上投入了大量資金。

Autonomous, you already knew that we had a pretty strong working relationship with almost large autonomous players, and it was a matter of time before those started to ramp up. We will talk more about it in our Investor Day. It is starting to become a larger and larger part of our business. And as we look forward, we'd say kind of as ICE vehicles start to kind of reduce in terms of overall volume, we do see that electrification and autonomous will drive an unfair share of growth.

自治，你已經知道我們與幾乎大型自治玩家建立了非常牢固的合作關係，而那些開始加速發展只是時間問題。我們將在投資者日詳細討論它。它開始成為我們業務中越來越大的一部分。正如我們展望的那樣，我們會說，隨著 ICE 車輛的總銷量開始有所減少，我們確實看到電氣化和自動駕駛將推動不公平的增長份額。

If you look at our bookings this year, it has been all pivoted a lot towards electrification mainly. And then what I'd really like about this market even more is a geography, because we are also winning electrification in China, as you know, which is one of the largest growth markets. So we've really doubled our effort to say, we want to win in electrification in China, because that provides us scale, but we also want to do that in kind of Europe and North America. So the geography or distribution is really good. We're not just tied to one player in one geography. We really are more distributed across the globe.

如果你看一下我們今年的預訂量，就會發現它主要集中在電氣化方面。然後我更喜歡這個市場的地理位置，因為我們也在中國贏得電氣化，正如你所知，這是最大的增長市場之一。所以我們真的加倍努力說，我們希望在中國的電氣化方面獲勝，因為這為我們提供了規模，但我們也希望在歐洲和北美做到這一點。所以地理或分佈真的很好。我們不僅僅與一個地區的一名球員聯繫在一起。我們確實分佈在全球各地。

So feeling very good about it, and we'll share more details in March at our Investor Day. This will be one of our macro growth themes for sure.

所以感覺非常好，我們將在三月份的投資者日分享更多細節。這肯定是我們的宏觀增長主題之一。

Your next question comes from the line of Shannon Cross from Cross Research.

您的下一個問題來自 Cross Research 的 Shannon Cross。

I have 2 questions. I'm curious, as we've moved past the holiday season, are you seeing any improvement in customer lead times? Have buying behaviors changed overall? Do you see customers able to plan a little bit better? I'm just balancing maybe a little bit slower non-holiday demand with obviously Omicron and everything else that's happened. And then I have a follow-up.

我有 2 個問題。我很好奇，因為我們已經過了假期，你看到客戶交貨時間有什麼改善嗎？購買行為總體上是否發生了變化？您是否看到客戶能夠更好地計劃？我只是在平衡可能有點慢的非假日需求與顯然 Omicron 和其他所有發生的事情。然後我有一個跟進。

Sure. Maybe start with lead times and then I'll just talk about stocking levels, because I think that's kind of an interesting phenomenon too, Shannon. Particularly in the Lifestyles business as we've moved out of the holiday season, I would say no significant change to customer lead times. But what we are continuing to see is inventory at the customer or at the channel level continues to be very, very low. Our customers, particularly in the Lifestyle business, would like to see, I don't know, 6 to 8 weeks' worth of inventory, and they have somewhere between 0 and 2.

當然。也許從交貨時間開始，然後我將只談談庫存水平，因為我認為這也是一種有趣的現象，Shannon。特別是在生活方式業務中，因為我們已經離開了假期，我想說客戶交貨時間沒有顯著變化。但我們繼續看到的是客戶或渠道級別的庫存仍然非常非常低。我們的客戶，尤其是生活方式業務的客戶，希望看到（我不知道）6 到 8 週的庫存，他們的庫存介於 0 到 2 之間。

So we do expect, as I mentioned in the prepared remarks, we continue to see strong demand signals in that business, in particular. And I think that, coupled with the need to replenish inventory is going to be a positive tailwind for us over the next couple of quarters.

因此，正如我在準備好的評論中提到的那樣，我們確實預計，我們將繼續看到該業務的強勁需求信號，尤其是。我認為，再加上補充庫存的需要，在接下來的幾個季度裡，這對我們來說將是一個積極的推動因素。

And then, Shannon, the only other thing I would add is, that segment -- the Consumer segment, the Lifestyle, as we call it, also has a lot of the reshoring work that's going on, right, in terms of that you have capacity available close to kind of the end consumer. So that is also driving a lot of program and bookings ramp for us. So I would say holiday lead times, maybe kind of being managed better, ports are clearing, though, they're all backed up again. But I'd say, in general, Paul has answered that, inventory levels are still depleted. And then program changes like reshoring is driving a lot of the demand there too.

然後，香農，我唯一要補充的另一件事是，那個部分——消費者部分，我們所說的生活方式，也有很多正在進行的回流工作，對，就你所擁有的而言可用容量接近最終消費者的種類。因此，這也為我們推動了很多計劃和預訂量的增加。所以我會說假期交貨時間，也許管理得更好，港口正在清理，不過，它們都重新備份了。但我想說，總的來說，保羅已經回答說，庫存水平仍然耗盡。然後像回流這樣的程序變化也推動了那裡的大量需求。

Okay. And then I'm curious, Paul, if you think about how you're managing working capital and specifically inventory, which is obviously up, but just in general, given everything that's happened in the last couple of years, should we assume working capital needs to run at a higher level going forward with the more distributed manufacturing? Or is there a way over time to kind of work working capital back down again maybe as things normalize?

好的。然後我很好奇，保羅，如果你考慮如何管理營運資金，特別是庫存，這顯然是上升的，但總的來說，鑑於過去幾年發生的一切，我們是否應該假設營運資金需要在更高的水平上運行更分佈式的製造？或者隨著時間的推移，隨著事情的正常化，有沒有辦法讓營運資金再次下降？

Yes. I do. To your point, I mean, inventory is running hot, and I think that will continue. But as we move into 2023, I do see inventory levels starting to normalize. I'll say our big priority right now is just meeting customer demand, and we need a higher level of inventory just to do that. And -- but again, I think you'll see that ramp down as the supply constraints improve as we move through our fiscal '23 with inventory starting to come down then.

是的。我願意。就您而言，我的意思是，庫存正在運行，我認為這種情況會持續下去。但隨著我們進入 2023 年，我確實看到庫存水平開始正常化。我會說我們現在的首要任務是滿足客戶需求，為此我們需要更高水平的庫存。而且 - 但同樣，我認為隨著供應限制的改善，隨著我們進入 23 財年，庫存開始下降，你會看到這種下降。

And I guess I would also point to cash flow. Look, inventory is elevated, but we continue to generate positive cash flow and hold fast to our roughly $500 million in free cash flow this year. So I think we're managing it pretty well.

我想我也會指出現金流。看，庫存增加了，但我們繼續產生正現金流，並保持今年大約 5 億美元的自由現金流。所以我認為我們管理得很好。

Your next question comes from the line of Steven Fox from Fox Advisors.

您的下一個問題來自 Fox Advisors 的 Steven Fox。

Two questions. First, on the Lifestyle business. I was wondering if you could give some more color around the new logos and portfolio expansion you talked about in the slides?

兩個問題。首先，關於生活方式業務。我想知道您是否可以為您在幻燈片中談到的新徽標和產品組合擴展提供更多顏色？

And then secondly, Paul, I understand seasonality in the March quarter, but if demand is exceeding your ability to supply right now, why isn't the March quarter guidance closer to what you just posted in terms of December revenues?

其次，保羅，我了解 3 月季度的季節性，但如果需求超過了您現在的供應能力，為什麼 3 月季度的指引不接近您剛剛發布的 12 月收入？

Yes. So maybe I can take the seasonality question and maybe you can talk to the label. On seasonality, just some data points for you. Historically, as we move from Q3 to Q4, it's in the past, been about a 10% step down from Q3 to Q4. That's based on, I don't know, the last 10 years or so. At the midpoint right now, we're looking at about a 3% sequential decline, better than what we've done historically. I think, driven by a couple of things, hopefully, some improving component shortages, but also driven by some customer ramps. So I think we feel pretty good about our Q3 to Q4 step.

是的。所以也許我可以回答季節性問題，也許你可以和標籤談談。關於季節性，只為您提供一些數據點。從歷史上看，當我們從第三季度到第四季度時，過去從第三季度到第四季度下降了大約 10%。這是基於，我不知道，過去 10 年左右。在現在的中點，我們看到環比下降約 3%，比我們歷史上所做的要好。我認為，受一些因素的推動，希望能夠改善組件短缺，但也受到一些客戶增長的推動。所以我認為我們對第三季度到第四季度的感覺非常好。

To your point, if we had unfettered access to chips, Q4 would be much, much higher. But we just, much to my chagrin, don't see this shortage challenge going away immediately here as we move into the first part of this calendar year. It's going to take several quarters to work our way out of it.

就您而言，如果我們可以不受限制地獲得芯片，那麼第四季度將會高得多。但是，令我懊惱的是，當我們進入本日曆年的第一部分時，我們並沒有看到這種短缺挑戰立即消失。我們需要幾個季度才能擺脫它。

And Steve, the way I think about it is when we talked about Q3, we weren't -- while we were able to estimate a large part of what we were going to get from suppliers, we were able to do some work to pull in things for our customers, but also to be able to do some resourcing and things like that, which really helped kind of Q3 and which we thought would happen in Q4, right? And so we'll do the same in Q4.

史蒂夫，我的想法是，當我們談論第三季度時，我們沒有——雖然我們能夠估計我們將從供應商那裡得到的大部分東西，但我們能夠做一些工作來拉動在為我們的客戶做事的同時，也能夠做一些資源配置之類的事情，這確實有助於第三季度，我們認為這會在第四季度發生，對吧？所以我們將在第四季度做同樣的事情。

So we're giving you a revenue guide based on what we think our supply situation will be, but we're working absolutely hard with our suppliers and our customers to do better than that, but it's hard to kind of pin down a commitment that is easy to make these days, right? So we think it's a good guide based on what -- where we see things, but obviously, we're working our suppliers all the time to be able to do much better than that.

因此，我們根據我們認為的供應情況為您提供收入指南，但我們正在與我們的供應商和客戶一起努力工作，以做得更好，但很難確定一個承諾，即這些天很容易做，對吧？因此，我們認為這是一個很好的指南，基於我們在哪裡看到的東西，但顯然，我們一直在與我們的供應商合作，以便能夠做得比這更好。

In terms of logos itself, when we, again, did our portfolio changes in 2020 -- FY 2020, we really focused on -- earlier we were doing a lot of small logos and start-ups and things like that. And we've really refocused our business on kind of large logos, where we have clear value add from a technology perspective. So our focus on is not just adding new logos, we are very clear on where we want to add logos, but also to have a deeper penetration with our existing logos. So as an example, we are focused very much on winning, kind of dispensing fluids kind of on Lifestyle on all large logos, because we feel our manufacturing process capability on what is a very technical problem of managing the quality of dispensing liquids is important. So we want to focus on adding liquid -- on adding logos on that space.

就徽標本身而言，當我們再次在 2020 年（2020 財年，我們真正專注於）對我們的產品組合進行更改時，我們之前做了很多小型徽標和初創企業之類的事情。而且我們真的將我們的業務重新集中在大型徽標上，從技術角度來看，我們在這些徽標上具有明顯的附加值。所以我們的重點不僅僅是添加新的標誌，我們非常清楚我們想要在哪裡添加標誌，而且還要對我們現有的標誌進行更深入的滲透。舉個例子，我們非常專注於在所有大型標誌上的生活方式上贏得一種分配流體，因為我們認為我們在管理分配液體質量的技術性問題上的製造工藝能力很重要。因此，我們希望專注於添加液體——在該空間添加徽標。

Even the same with Floor Care. As you know, we're one of the world's largest manufacturers of floor care. We feel like we have process manufacturing technology capability that gives us an advantage. That we are really focused on adding logos there, we already have a large market share. So our growth of Lifestyle, as you -- fantastic growth, right, the last few years has really been with deeper penetration with existing logos, which is providing them more geographies of growth, adding more kind of services business, as they're looking for a more, kind of holistic life cycle support. And then really focusing on technology and manufacturing capabilities where we feel like we should penetrate other logos.

地板護理也是如此。如您所知，我們是世界上最大的地板護理製造商之一。我們覺得我們擁有為我們提供優勢的工藝製造技術能力。我們真正專注於在那裡添加徽標，我們已經擁有很大的市場份額。所以我們的 Lifestyle 的增長，就像你一樣 - 驚人的增長，對，過去幾年確實對現有徽標進行了更深入的滲透，這為他們提供了更多的增長地域，增加了更多種類的服務業務，正如他們正在尋找的那樣獲得更多、更全面的生命週期支持。然後真正專注於我們認為應該滲透其他徽標的技術和製造能力。

So that's kind of where we've really focused our Lifestyle business, and it's really working. I mean, fantastic growth performance from that business in the last couple of years.

所以這就是我們真正專注於我們的生活方式業務的地方，它真的很有效。我的意思是，過去幾年該業務的出色增長表現。

Your next question comes from the line of Jim Suva from Citigroup.

您的下一個問題來自花旗集團的 Jim Suva。

I think it was Revathi on her prepared comments, she mentioned how pleased she was with the execution of the team and specifically, stated, if I heard right, it was more a function of strong execution more than easing supply chain challenges. If I got that right, Revathi, can you help us understand how do you know about that, that's the case? And is it just because the lead times are still really long to getting supply? And why were you able to -- I don't want a leapfrog, but jump and get the parts and components, while all other OEMs seem to struggle with securing components?

我認為這是 Revathi 在她準備好的評論中提到的，她提到她對團隊的執行感到非常高興，並特別指出，如果我沒聽錯的話，這更像是一個強大的執行功能，而不是緩解供應鏈挑戰。如果我猜對了，Revathi，你能幫助我們了解你是怎麼知道的嗎？是這樣的嗎？僅僅是因為交貨時間仍然很長嗎？為什麼你能夠——我不想要越級，而是跳躍並獲得零件和組件，而所有其他 OEM 似乎都在努力保護組件？

Thank you, Jim, for that question. And yes, I think you have nailed it absolutely right in terms of why we're able to manage this. One is, I would say, my statement is absolutely correct, because we haven't seen anything change in supply or demand, right? Supply is still pretty bottlenecked across all major -- I would say, all major kind of material components that we're looking at. And demand is very, very strong, right? And that is still the fact.

謝謝你，吉姆，這個問題。是的，我認為你已經完全正確地解釋了為什麼我們能夠管理這個問題。一個是，我會說，我的陳述是絕對正確的，因為我們沒有看到供需發生任何變化，對吧？所有主要的供應仍然非常瓶頸 - 我想說，我們正在研究的所有主要材料組件。需求非常非常強勁，對吧？這仍然是事實。

So there are 2 things that really helps us in an environment like this. One is our scale, of course. Significant scale, which helps us have deep relationship with our suppliers. We work very closely with our customers to really understand how we prioritize, what we prioritize, within the quarter, what we can bring in, what we should push out, and really work with our suppliers to say, is there substitution? Should we be looking at qualifying something different? All of those really helps with our scale, right? 30-plus countries, 100-plus factories. Every supplier we call will lift up the phone and give us top priorities.

因此，在這樣的環境中，有兩件事真正對我們有所幫助。一個是我們的規模，當然。顯著的規模，這有助於我們與供應商建立深厚的關係。我們與客戶密切合作，以真正了解我們如何優先考慮，我們在本季度內優先考慮什麼，我們可以引入什麼，我們應該推出什麼，並真正與我們的供應商合作，說是否有替代品？我們是否應該考慮對不同的東西進行排位賽？所有這些真的有助於我們的規模，對吧？ 30多個國家，100多家工廠。我們致電的每一位供應商都會拿起電話，為我們提供最優先考慮的事項。

So we work in a real partnership between our suppliers, customers and ourselves in a very complex environment, right. Hundreds and thousands of lines that we're moving around every single day. And then on top of that, what happens is the stuff we plan for it to arrive, Jim, doesn't arrive. What we weren't expecting to arrive, arrives, because of the boat stopped somewhere or a supplier had -- didn't meet their commitments. So the factories have to be super, super nimble in terms of stop, start and doing all of that. So that is also another fantastic capability we have.

因此，我們在一個非常複雜的環境中與我們的供應商、客戶和我們自己建立真正的合作關係，對吧。我們每天都在移動成百上千條線路。最重要的是，發生的事情是我們計劃讓它到達的東西，吉姆，沒有到達。我們沒想到會到達，到達，因為船停在某個地方或供應商有 - 沒有履行他們的承諾。所以工廠在停止、啟動和執行所有這些方面必須超級、超級靈活。所以這也是我們擁有的另一個出色的能力。

Our factory execution machine, I would say, is unbelievable. It's like no others that I have seen. And so they are able to take and execute. If we have the parts, there's no question that we can get it done. So they're able to do that and also be efficient at the same time, as you can see with our results. And Jim, that's why I feel very comfortable saying that supply demand hasn't changed. We are very focused on resourcing, redesigning for our customers, doing all of that as we adapt to the supply situation.

我想說，我們工廠的執行機器令人難以置信。這就像我見過的其他人一樣。所以他們能夠採取和執行。如果我們有零件，毫無疑問我們可以完成它。所以他們能夠做到這一點，同時也很高效，正如您從我們的結果中看到的那樣。吉姆，這就是為什麼我很自在地說供應需求沒有改變。我們非常專注於為我們的客戶提供資源、重新設計，並在我們適應供應情況的同時完成所有這些工作。

And then our factories, I mean what can I say about our factory execution. They have just the last couple of years. They have just kind of blown it away with their fantastic execution. And so that's what it comes down to.

然後是我們的工廠，我的意思是關於我們的工廠執行我能說些什麼。他們只有最近幾年。他們只是用他們出色的執行力把它吹走了。這就是它歸結為的原因。

And our last question comes from the line of Paul Chung from JPMorgan.

我們的最後一個問題來自摩根大通的 Paul Chung。

So just on -- follow-up on free cash flow. Should we kind of expect more outsized generation, maybe in the first half of '23, kind of relative to '22 or expect a little bit more normalization towards the end of '23? How should we think about of seasonality of cash flow? I know it's difficult to predict.

所以就在 - 跟進自由現金流。我們是否應該期待更多的超大一代，也許是在 23 年上半年，相對於 22 年，還是期待在 23 年末有更多的正常化？我們應該如何看待現金流的季節性？我知道這很難預測。

Yes. So if you think about the inventory levels that we're at right now, Paul, as I had kind of mentioned this to Shannon, they are a bit elevated. And we'll see that ramp down over the next several quarters moving into 2023. The good news here is that we have, in many cases, cash advances from customers that have helped to offset the burden of that inventory growth. And mechanically, the way it will work is, as inventory levels come down, so do the customer cash advances. And so there's a little bit of an offset there. And so the way I'm thinking to 2023, and we'll talk more about this at the Investor Day in March, I suspect.

是的。所以如果你想想我們現在的庫存水平，保羅，正如我向香農提到的那樣，它們有點高。到 2023 年，我們將在接下來的幾個季度看到這種下降。好消息是，在許多情況下，我們從客戶那裡獲得了現金墊款，這有助於抵消庫存增長帶來的負擔。從機械上講，它的工作方式是，隨著庫存水平下降，客戶現金墊款也會下降。所以那裡有一點偏移。所以我對 2023 年的想法是這樣的，我懷疑我們將在 3 月的投資者日上更多地討論這個問題。

But I'm thinking seasonality won't be too much different than what we've seen in the past. If you look back over the last several years, we tend to be more back half loaded, and I think 2023 will probably be much the same.

但我認為季節性不會與我們過去看到的有太大不同。如果你回顧過去幾年，我們往往更多的是半載，我認為 2023 年可能會大致相同。

And then, Paul, the only thing I would add is, a strong balance sheet, right? We're still in a fantastic position. Our focus is on meeting demand as we have said for our customers, because we just want to really focus on delivering our best for them. And in that time, I would say we're doing yeoman's job and fantastic job in terms of managing our cash flow, of course, with a lot of support from our customers, who fully understand what we're trying to get done for them.

然後，保羅，我唯一要補充的是，強大的資產負債表，對吧？我們仍然處於非常有利的位置。正如我們對客戶所說，我們的重點是滿足需求，因為我們只想真正專注於為他們提供最好的服務。在那個時候，我想說我們在管理我們的現金流方面正在做 yeoman 的工作和出色的工作，當然，在我們的客戶的大力支持下，他們完全了解我們正在努力為他們完成什麼.

So we're really pleased with where we are with it, and we think it stabilizes as the situation balances out. So really pleased with where we are.

因此，我們對我們所處的位置感到非常滿意，並且我們認為隨著局勢的平衡，它會穩定下來。對我們所處的位置非常滿意。

Great. And then last question on component shortages. How are you kind of prioritizing certain customers? Are you prioritizing certain higher-margin segments? How are you dealing with those dynamics? And if you could also talk about kind of some of the pricing dynamics? I believe you're passing on most of the cost, but is there any kind of incremental margins you're capturing for prioritization of certain customers?

偉大的。然後是關於組件短缺的最後一個問題。您如何優先考慮某些客戶？您是否優先考慮某些利潤率較高的細分市場？你是如何處理這些動態的？如果您還可以談論一些定價動態？我相信您轉嫁了大部分成本，但是您是否有任何形式的增量利潤用於確定某些客戶的優先級？

Yes. I'd say, Paul, really important question, right? I'd say in terms of how we prioritize, we have a very in-depth analytical and focused approach with our customers and our suppliers that really drives prioritization. We don't prioritize based on margins or stuff like that. We really focus on, can we get the product in. If we can get the product in from our suppliers, we will absolutely deliver the end product to the customers. Obviously, medical always gets attention from all our suppliers. That's just been the way it has been.

是的。我會說，保羅，非常重要的問題，對吧？我想說的是，就我們如何確定優先級而言，我們對客戶和供應商採取了非常深入的分析和專注的方法，從而真正推動了優先級。我們不會根據利潤或類似的東西來確定優先級。我們真正關注的是，我們能不能把產品拿進來。如果我們能從我們的供應商那裡拿到產品，我們絕對會把最終產品交付給客戶。顯然，醫療總是受到我們所有供應商的關注。事情就是這樣。

But our prioritization is really focused on what can the supplier give us based on their capacity and their capability and we work very closely with our customers in terms of making sure that they understand the prioritization.

但我們的優先級實際上側重於供應商可以根據他們的能力和能力為我們提供什麼，我們與客戶密切合作，以確保他們了解優先級。

I'd say in terms of price, the way I think about it really is, there is -- the last year has had tremendous cost changes, whether you think about freight or material prices associated with semiconductors and all other materials, right? And we have a very collaborative approach with our customers. We really focus on sharing cost with them. They understand that we drive efficiencies very, very well. But they also have a role to play in terms of cost. And they want us to do what's the right thing for running our business and running their business.

我想說的是價格，我的想法是，去年有巨大的成本變化，無論你是考慮與半導體和所有其他材料相關的運費還是材料價格，對吧？我們與客戶採取非常協作的方式。我們真正專注於與他們分攤成本。他們了解我們非常非常好地提高了效率。但就成本而言，它們也可以發揮作用。他們希望我們做正確的事情來經營我們的業務和經營他們的業務。

So it's a partnership approach, I would say, in terms of how we share costs with our customers. That's how this industry works. And at this time like this, you have to be more tied at the hip, so our customers understand kind of what are the things we're seeing and what is the role they have to play. And then where are the places we can drive efficiency and be better in how we run. And all of those is working, and you see that in our results even in the last 6 months with cost escalating. And we continue to use that same playbook with our customers and our suppliers.

因此，我想說，就我們如何與客戶分擔成本而言，這是一種合作方式。這就是這個行業的運作方式。在這種情況下，您必須更加束手無策，以便我們的客戶了解我們所看到的事物以及他們必須扮演的角色。然後，我們可以在哪些地方提高效率並在我們的運行方式上做得更好。所有這些都在發揮作用，您可以在我們的結果中看到這一點，即使在過去 6 個月中，成本也在不斷上升。我們繼續對我們的客戶和供應商使用同樣的劇本。

Thank you so much, presenters. And ladies and gentlemen, this concludes today's conference call. Thank you all for joining. You may now disconnect.

非常感謝各位主持人。女士們，先生們，今天的電話會議到此結束。謝謝大家的加入。您現在可以斷開連接。

Goodbye.

再見。