Flex Ltd (FLEX) 2023 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Good afternoon. Thank you for standing by. Welcome to Flex's Fourth Quarter and Fiscal 2023 Earnings Conference Call. (Operator Instructions) As a reminder, this call is being recorded.

下午好。謝謝你的支持。歡迎參加偉創力第四季度和 2023 財年收益電話會議。 （操作員說明）提醒一下，此通話正在錄音中。

I will now turn the call over to Mr. David Rubin, you may begin.

我現在將把電話轉給大衛魯賓先生，你可以開始了。

Thank you, Chris. Good afternoon, and welcome to Flex's Fourth Quarter Fiscal 2023 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. Slides for today's call as well as a copy of the earnings press release and summary financials are available on the Investor Relations section at flex.com. This call is being recorded and will be available for replay on our corporate website.

謝謝你，克里斯。下午好，歡迎來到偉創力 2023 財年第四季度收益電話會議。今天和我在一起的是我們的首席執行官 Revathi Advaithi；以及我們的首席財務官 Paul Lundstrom。兩人都將發表簡短評論，然後進行問答。可在 flex.com 的投資者關係部分獲取今天電話會議的幻燈片以及收益新聞稿和財務摘要的副本。此通話正在錄音中，可以在我們的公司網站上重播。

As a reminder, today's call contains forward-looking statements, which are based on our current expectations and assumptions. These statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially. For a full discussion of these risks and uncertainties, please see the cautionary statements in our presentation press release or in the Risk Factors section in 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。這些陳述涉及可能導致實際結果大不相同的風險和不確定性。有關這些風險和不確定性的完整討論，請參閱我們的演示新聞稿中的警告聲明或我們最近提交給美國證券交易委員會的文件中的風險因素部分。

Note this information is subject to change, and we undertake no obligation to update these forward-looking statements. Lastly, please note, unless otherwise stated, all results provided will be non-GAAP measures, unless otherwise [specified in] all growth metrics will be on a year-over-year basis -- the full non-GAAP to GAAP reconciliations can be found in the appendix slides of this presentation as well as in the summary financials posted on the Investor Relations website.

請注意，此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。最後，請注意，除非另有說明，否則所提供的所有結果都將是非 GAAP 衡量指標，除非 [在] 中另有說明，所有增長指標都將按年計算——完整的非 GAAP 與 GAAP 對賬可以是可在本演示文稿的附錄幻燈片以及發佈在投資者關係網站上的財務摘要中找到。

Now I'd like to turn the call over to our CEO. Revathi?

現在我想把電話轉給我們的首席執行官。雷瓦蒂？

Thank you, David. Good afternoon, and thank you for joining us today. Starting with our fiscal Q4 results on Slide 4. Overall, it was another solid quarter. Our revenue grew 9% year-over-year with growth in our reliability, agility and NEXTracker segments. Adjusted operating margin came in at 4.9%, and we delivered $0.57 of adjusted EPS, which was a new record for fiscal Q4. Looking at the full year results, fiscal '23 was very strong despite the continuing challenges in the macroeconomic landscape. We grew revenue 17% year-over-year with adjusted operating margins for the full year at 4.8%. And we delivered adjusted EPS of $2.36, up [$0.20] -- up 20%. That's the third year in a row EPS has grown at least 20%.

謝謝你，大衛。下午好，感謝您今天加入我們。從我們在幻燈片 4 上的第四季度財報開始。總體而言，這是另一個穩定的季度。隨著可靠性、敏捷性和 NEXTracker 細分市場的增長，我們的收入同比增長 9%。調整後的營業利潤率為 4.9%，我們交付了 0.57 美元的調整後每股收益，這是第四財季的新紀錄。從全年業績來看，儘管宏觀經濟形勢持續面臨挑戰，但 23 財年的表現非常強勁。我們的收入同比增長 17%，全年調整後的營業利潤率為 4.8%。我們交付的調整後每股收益為 2.36 美元，上漲 [0.20 美元]——上漲 20%。這是每股收益連續第三年增長至少 20%。

Clearly, we can see the progress we have made by executing on our strategy. Turning to Slide 5. We got a lot done this year. We completed the NEXTracker IPO, getting the pricing and timing right for a great showing despite what is still a very tough IPO market. Looking across the organization, we had another record year in automotive wins. Not only has automotive revenue grown 40% over the last 2 years, but the composition continues to shift to next-gen mobility with an increasing percentage of our wins being design-led.

顯然，我們可以看到通過執行我們的戰略所取得的進展。轉到幻燈片 5。今年我們完成了很多工作。我們完成了 NEXTracker 的首次公開募股，儘管 IPO 市場仍然非常艱難，但定價和時機都恰到好處。縱觀整個組織，我們在汽車領域又創下了新紀錄。不僅汽車收入在過去兩年中增長了 40%，而且隨著我們越來越多的勝利以設計為主導，其構成繼續轉向下一代機動性。

In the business areas we're targeting, we are providing industry-leading design and engineering capabilities to secure long-term wins and build customer trust. Now this is also true for our wins in the healthcare space. As medical devices become smarter and more complex, OEMs are looking to increase their outsourced manufacturing to help navigate this complexity. Our extensive experience and capabilities and highly complex automation and global scale, position us well to help health care customers succeed in this changing landscape. As with our automotive business, our design and engineering capabilities and track record of serving leading health care brands give us a competitive market advantage.

在我們瞄準的業務領域，我們提供行業領先的設計和工程能力，以確保長期成功並建立客戶信任。現在，我們在醫療保健領域的勝利也是如此。隨著醫療設備變得越來越智能和復雜，原始設備製造商正在尋求增加外包製造以幫助應對這種複雜性。我們豐富的經驗和能力以及高度複雜的自動化和全球規模，使我們能夠很好地幫助醫療保健客戶在這個不斷變化的環境中取得成功。與我們的汽車業務一樣，我們的設計和工程能力以及為領先的醫療保健品牌提供服務的往績為我們提供了競爭市場優勢。

We had exceptionally strong growth in our cloud business this year as we ramp new hyperscale cloud programs. Our vertical integration, advanced technology capabilities and scale help drive these opportunities, and we have 1 with multiple hyperscale cloud partners. Other notable trends this year include our growth in renewable energy-related hardware from inverters to EV chargers, accelerated by the global shift to clean energy. We also see increasing demand from the U.S. IRA passage, creating additional opportunity to help our customers take advantage of this growing market.

隨著我們推出新的超大規模雲計劃，今年我們的雲業務增長異常強勁。我們的垂直整合、先進的技術能力和規模有助於推動這些機會，我們與多個超大規模雲合作夥伴有 1 個。今年其他值得注意的趨勢包括我們在從逆變器到 EV 充電器的可再生能源相關硬件方面的增長，這得益於全球向清潔能源的轉變。我們還看到美國 IRA 通道的需求不斷增加，創造了更多機會來幫助我們的客戶利用這個不斷增長的市場。

Now turning to supply chain. We continue to navigate the ongoing challenges in supply constraints during the fiscal year. However, we did see improvements in many areas as the year progressed. While there is still the occasional challenge, which is a part of our everyday business, the most significant supply issue remaining is the constraints with larger node semiconductors that primarily affect our reliability segment.

現在轉向供應鏈。在本財年，我們將繼續應對供應限制方面的持續挑戰。然而，隨著時間的推移，我們確實看到許多領域有所改善。雖然仍然存在偶爾的挑戰，這是我們日常業務的一部分，但仍然存在的最重要的供應問題是主要影響我們可靠性部分的較大節點半導體的限制。

Regionalization remains an important topic as companies strive for efficiency and resiliency. There's a lot of complexity here, and that topic often gets oversimplified. Our core value proposition is that we connect, design and advance manufacturing, supported by vertical integration and complex supply chains. Then we bring circular economy capabilities such as refurbishment and recycling to minimize waste.

隨著公司努力提高效率和彈性，區域化仍然是一個重要的話題。這裡有很多複雜性，而且該主題經常被過於簡單化。我們的核心價值主張是我們在垂直整合和復雜供應鏈的支持下連接、設計和推進製造。然後，我們引入翻新和回收等循環經濟能力，以最大限度地減少浪費。

And we do this in every major theater of operation, which is critical to regionalization. Because at the heart of it, regionalization is about moving production closer to consumption, adding resilience to the value chain and addressing sustainability concerns. Flex has a strong track record of helping customers optimize their outsourced manufacturing and services, guiding them on what products should be produced where and balancing the dimensions of technology, labor and supply.

我們在每個主要戰區都這樣做，這對區域化至關重要。因為區域化的核心是讓生產更接近消費，增加價值鏈的彈性並解決可持續性問題。 Flex 在幫助客戶優化外包製造和服務、指導他們應該在何處生產什麼產品以及平衡技術、勞動力和供應方面方面有著良好的記錄。

We are very well positioned to help companies reduce risk, decrease time to market and become more resilient. A good example is in our lifestyle business, which significantly outperformed weak consumer end markets in fiscal '23 from targeted wins and share gains. Many of these wins came from our ability to regionalize our customers' manufacturing and deliver in multiple geographies. Overall, we've done very well managing through this cycle, and that is reflected in our fiscal year performance.

我們完全有能力幫助公司降低風險、縮短上市時間並提高彈性。一個很好的例子是我們的生活方式業務，該業務在 23 財年的目標勝利和份額收益方面明顯優於疲軟的消費終端市場。其中許多勝利來自我們將客戶的製造區域化並在多個地區交付的能力。總的來說，我們在這個週期中的管理做得很好，這反映在我們的財政年度業績中。

We have built strong relationships with our customers and our suppliers, increased our opportunities for growth and implemented new capabilities across our operations that make us even stronger and more resilient going forward.

我們與客戶和供應商建立了牢固的關係，增加了增長機會，並在我們的運營中實施了新功能，使我們在未來變得更加強大和更有彈性。

Now turning to Slide 6. Our accomplishments and contributions are being recognized by our customers and industry groups that acknowledge Flex as a leader in advanced manufacturing technology as well as our efforts to deliver for our customers in a responsible and sustainable manner.

現在轉到幻燈片 6。我們的成就和貢獻得到了我們的客戶和行業團體的認可，他們認可偉創力作為先進製造技術的領導者以及我們以負責任和可持續的方式為客戶提供服務的努力。

I'm very proud of what we have accomplished. Paul will provide guidance in just a moment, but I want to make a few comments as we look ahead to fiscal 2024. As you're well aware, it's a highly dynamic environment, and there is increasing uncertainty with general concerns on recession, interest rates and geopolitical dynamics. However, we always want to provide the most transparency we can based on our visibility into current customer demand. We will manage through this environment as we have through all the challenges of the last several years. Looking past the near-term macro uncertainty, we believe the fundamentals of outsourced manufacturing remain very strong. Our value proposition and our ability to manage through the cycles positions us well for the future.

我為我們所取得的成就感到非常自豪。保羅稍後會提供指導，但我想在我們展望 2024 財年時發表一些評論。如您所知，這是一個高度動態的環境，人們對經濟衰退的普遍擔憂增加了不確定性，利息利率和地緣政治動態。但是，我們始終希望根據我們對當前客戶需求的可見性提供最大的透明度。我們將應對這種環境，就像我們應對過去幾年的所有挑戰一樣。縱觀近期的宏觀不確定性，我們認為外包製造的基本面仍然非常強勁。我們的價值主張和我們管理週期的能力為我們的未來做好了準備。

With that, I'll turn it over to Paul to take you through the financials. Paul?

有了這個，我會把它交給保羅來帶你完成財務。保羅？

Okay. Thank you, Revathi, and good afternoon, everyone. I'll begin with our fourth quarter performance on Slide 8. Fourth quarter revenue was $7.5 billion, up 9%.

好的。謝謝 Revathi，大家下午好。我將從幻燈片 8 上的第四季度業績開始。第四季度收入為 75 億美元，增長 9%。

Gross profit totaled $594 million and gross margin improved 60 basis points to 7.9%. Operating profit was $364 million, with operating margins at 4.9%, improving 60 basis points year-over-year. And earnings per share came in at $0.57 for the quarter, an increase of 10%. Turning to our fourth quarter segment results on the next slide.

毛利潤總計 5.94 億美元，毛利率提高 60 個基點至 7.9%。營業利潤為 3.64 億美元，營業利潤率為 4.9%，同比提高 60 個基點。本季度每股收益為 0.57 美元，增長 10%。在下一張幻燈片中轉向我們的第四季度業績。

Reliability revenue increased 14% to $3.2 billion. Operating income was $142 million, up 1% and operating margin for this segment was 4.4%. Revenue growth was strong. However, the program investments and labor inflation, we mentioned last quarter continued to pressure margins in the segment. We expect reliability margins to progressively improve over the next several quarters. In Agility, revenue was $3.7 billion, up 5%.

可靠性收入增長 14% 至 32 億美元。該部門的營業收入為 1.42 億美元，增長 1%，營業利潤率為 4.4%。收入增長強勁。然而，我們上個季度提到的項目投資和勞動力通脹繼續對該部門的利潤率構成壓力。我們預計可靠性利潤率將在未來幾個季度逐步提高。在 Agility，收入為 37 億美元，增長 5%。

Operating income was $171 million, up 13% and strong execution and cost management drove an impressive 4.6% operating margin. Finally, NEXTracker revenue came in at $519 million, up 18% year-over-year. Operating income at NEXTracker was $70 million, 3x the level it was last year with operating margins now at 13.5%.

營業收入為 1.71 億美元，增長 13%，強大的執行力和成本管理推動了令人印象深刻的 4.6% 的營業利潤率。最後，NEXTracker 的收入為 5.19 億美元，同比增長 18%。 NEXTracker 的營業收入為 7000 萬美元，是去年的 3 倍，營業利潤率目前為 13.5%。

Looking at our full year results on Slide 10. Revenue was $30.3 billion, up 17%. Gross profit totaled $2.3 billion and gross margin improved to 7.7%. Operating income for the fiscal year 2023 totaled $1.4 billion, up 23% with a record 4.8% operating margin. For the full year, Flex achieved EPS of $2.36, up 20%. It's worth pointing out the greater than typical differential between our GAAP and non GAAP earnings was primarily due to the NEXTracker IPO-related charges.

在幻燈片 10 上查看我們的全年業績。收入為 303 億美元，增長 17%。毛利潤總計 23 億美元，毛利率提高至 7.7%。 2023 財年營業收入總計 14 億美元，增長 23%，營業利潤率達到創紀錄的 4.8%。全年，Flex 實現每股收益 2.36 美元，增長 20%。值得指出的是，我們的 GAAP 和非 GAAP 收益之間的差異大於典型差異，這主要是由於與 NEXTracker IPO 相關的費用。

On Slide 11, we have a performance by business unit for the full year. Reliability revenue was $12.7 billion, with operating margin finishing at 4.8%. Within reliability, automotive revenue was up 22%, primarily driven by new project ramps for our next-gen mobility portfolio. Health solutions was up 9%, and industrial was up 24%, aided by very strong growth in renewable energy, hardware EV charging and data center power.

在幻燈片 11 上，我們有按業務部門劃分的全年業績。可靠性收入為 127 億美元，營業利潤率為 4.8%。在可靠性方面，汽車收入增長了 22%，主要受我們下一代移動產品組合的新項目推動。健康解決方案增長 9%，工業增長 24%，這得益於可再生能源、電動汽車硬件充電和數據中心電力的強勁增長。

Overall, the solid double-digit growth in this segment is representative of the strength of our comprehensive portfolio. The Agility segment revenue came in at $15.8 billion, delivering a 4.4% operating margin. This strong operating margin is reflective of our strategy to focus our efforts on more profitable business, as well as strong cost management on slowing in consumer markets.

總體而言，這一領域的兩位數穩健增長代表了我們綜合產品組合的實力。 Agility 部門的收入為 158 億美元，營業利潤率為 4.4%。這一強勁的營業利潤率反映了我們將精力集中在利潤更高的業務上的戰略，以及針對消費市場放緩的強有力的成本管理。

Within Agility, CEC was up 30%, resulting from new cloud wins along with portfolio exposure to critical infrastructure like security and networking. Consumer devices revenue was down as expected, reflective of the consumer end market weakness. And finally, lifestyle revenue increased 2% as share gains drove better than market performance more than offsetting softer consumer spending.

在 Agility 中，CEC 上漲了 30%，這得益於新的雲服務以及投資組合對安全和網絡等關鍵基礎設施的敞口。消費設備收入如預期下降，反映了消費終端市場的疲軟。最後，生活方式收入增長了 2%，這是因為股票收益的增長超過了市場表現，而不是抵消了疲軟的消費者支出。

NEXTracker completed the year with revenue of $1.9 billion, a year-over-year improvement of 31% and ended the year with a 10.7% operating margin, over 4 points higher than the prior year. Overall, we were pleased with our performance and our ability to deliver strong sales and profit growth in a challenging year.

NEXTracker 全年收入為 19 億美元，同比增長 31%，營業利潤率為 10.7%，比上年高出 4 個百分點。總的來說，我們對我們的表現以及我們在充滿挑戰的一年中實現強勁銷售和利潤增長的能力感到滿意。

Moving on to cash flow on Slide 12. We saw inventory improvements in Q4 with net working capital advances down -- with inventory net of working capital advances down 8% sequentially. Total gross inventory also dropped this quarter by about $300 million. We continue to see improving signs here. However, we're still managing through shortages and extended lead times for some materials, so we expect inventory will be slow to unwind in the near term.

轉到幻燈片 12 的現金流。我們看到第四季度的庫存有所改善，淨營運資本預付款下降——扣除營運資本預付款的庫存淨額環比下降 8%。本季度總庫存也下降了約 3 億美元。我們繼續在這裡看到改善的跡象。然而，我們仍在應對某些材料的短缺和交貨時間延長的問題，因此我們預計短期內庫存將緩慢釋放。

Q4 net CapEx totaled $180 million, and for the full year came in at $615 million on target at 2% of revenue. We expect similar investment levels in our fiscal 2024. Free cash flow was $270 million for the quarter and $335 million for the full year. We expect stronger cash generation in FY '24 as the severity of the component shortages improves. Free cash flow in 2024 should be $600 million or more. In terms of financing and capital structure, we made some minor debt repayments in Q4, retiring the $79 million Indian CapEx loan and a EUR 250 million term loan.

第 4 季度淨資本支出總計 1.8 億美元，全年目標為 6.15 億美元，佔收入的 2%。我們預計 2024 財年的投資水平類似。本季度的自由現金流為 2.7 億美元，全年為 3.35 億美元。隨著組件短缺的嚴重程度得到改善，我們預計 24 財年的現金產生量會增加。 2024 年的自由現金流應為 6 億美元或更多。在融資和資本結構方面，我們在第四季度償還了一些小額債務，償還了 7900 萬美元的印度資本支出貸款和 2.5 億歐元的定期貸款。

That's north of $300 million in debt retirement, but you won't see that in consolidation as we put $150 million of debt on to NEXTracker as part of their IPO. Maybe a couple of comments on our cash balance before we turn to capital allocation. Cash on hand at $3.3 billion is solid and more than we would typically carry.

這超過了 3 億美元的債務退休，但你不會在整合中看到這一點，因為我們將 1.5 億美元的債務作為 NEXTracker 首次公開募股的一部分。在我們轉向資本配置之前，可能會對我們的現金餘額發表一些評論。 33 億美元的手頭現金是穩固的，比我們通常持有的要多。

The elevated level is a product of 2 things: one, buffer cash given the level of cash cycle volatility created by global component shortages, a situation which, as we have mentioned, is beginning to improve; and two, proceeds from the NEXTracker IPO were significant, about $700 million. I'll add, we do not plan to carry this elevated level of cash indefinitely.

高水平是兩件事的產物：一是緩衝現金，考慮到全球零部件短缺造成的現金周期波動水平，正如我們已經提到的，這種情況正在開始改善；第二，NEXTracker IPO 的收益可觀，約為 7 億美元。我要補充一點，我們不打算無限期地持有這種高水平的現金。

Turning to Slide 13. We remain focused on our capital allocation priorities, including investing in future growth and return of capital. We bought back $44 million worth of stock in the quarter and $337 million for the full fiscal year. Please turn to Slide 14 for our segment outlook for the fiscal first quarter. For Reliability Solutions, we expect mid-single to low double-digit revenue growth for the segment, driven by growth across all 3 business units based on continuing longer-term secular trends.

轉到幻燈片 13。我們仍然專注於我們的資本配置優先事項，包括投資於未來增長和資本回報。我們在本季度回購了價值 4400 萬美元的股票，在整個財政年度回購了價值 3.37 億美元的股票。請轉到幻燈片 14，了解我們對第一財季的細分市場展望。對於 Reliability Solutions，我們預計該部門的收入將實現中等個位數到低兩位數的增長，這主要受基於持續長期趨勢的所有 3 個業務部門的增長推動。

Revenue and Agility will be down mid-single to low double digits with consumer end market weakness affecting both lifestyle and consumer devices, offsetting modest growth expected in CEC. On to Slide 15 for our quarterly guidance, we expect revenue in the range of $7 billion to $7.5 billion with adjusted operating income between $320 million and $350 million. Interest and other expenses estimated to be around $52 million in the quarter, and we expect the tax rate to be around 13%. So for the quarter, we're expecting growth from OP at the midpoint with some pressure from interest and taxes. All that translates to adjusted EPS between $0.47 and $0.53 a share based on approximately 459 million weighted average shares outstanding.

收入和敏捷性將下降中個位數到低兩位數，消費者終端市場疲軟影響生活方式和消費設備，抵消了 CEC 的適度增長預期。在我們的季度指導幻燈片 15 上，我們預計收入在 70 億美元至 75 億美元之間，調整後的營業收入在 3.2 億美元至 3.5 億美元之間。本季度的利息和其他費用估計約為 5200 萬美元，我們預計稅率約為 13%。因此，對於本季度，我們預計 OP 將在中點增長，並受到利息和稅收的一些壓力。基於約 4.59 億股加權平均流通股，所有這些都轉化為調整後的每股收益在 0.47 美元至 0.53 美元之間。

This guidance includes the impact of approximately $0.03 to $0.04 of noncontrolling interest resulting from the NEXTracker IPO. Looking at our full year guidance on the following slide. It's a very dynamic macro right now. However, based on our current demand indicators for reliability, we expect the positive trends we described in Q1 to continue through the year.

本指南包括 NEXTracker IPO 對非控股權益產生的約 0.03 美元至 0.04 美元的影響。在下一張幻燈片中查看我們的全年指導。它現在是一個非常動態的宏。然而，根據我們目前的可靠性需求指標，我們預計我們在第一季度描述的積極趨勢將持續到今年。

For Agility, we also expect the challenging environment to continue beyond Q1 with some potential improvements late in the year. We expect NEXTracker to continue to grow based on their strong positioning in the utility solar space. We currently expect full year revenue between $30.5 billion and $31.5 billion, adjusted operating margin between 4.9% and 5.1%, and adjusted EPS and between $2.35 and $2.55 a share.

對於 Agility，我們還預計充滿挑戰的環境將持續到第一季度之後，並在今年晚些時候進行一些潛在的改進。我們預計 NEXTracker 將基於其在公用太陽能領域的強大定位而繼續增長。我們目前預計全年收入在 305 億美元至 315 億美元之間，調整後的營業利潤率在 4.9% 至 5.1% 之間，調整後的每股收益在 2.35 美元至 2.55 美元之間。

This includes, as Q1 does, approximately $0.17 to $0.19 of noncontrolling interest again resulting from the NEXTracker separation. To close, I'd just like to reiterate our confidence in the strategy to deliver against our longer-term goals. Over the last 3 years, we've demonstrated how we can manage through many challenges, improve our portfolio and still deliver double-digit annual EPS growth.

與第一季度一樣，這包括再次因 NEXTracker 分離而產生的約 0.17 美元至 0.19 美元的非控制性權益。最後，我想重申我們對實現長期目標的戰略的信心。在過去的 3 年裡，我們已經展示了我們如何應對許多挑戰、改進我們的產品組合併仍然實現兩位數的年度每股收益增長。

So we'll manage through this current backdrop and remain focused on creating long-term value for our stakeholders. I'll now turn the call back over to Chris to begin Q&A.

因此，我們將在當前的背景下進行管理，並繼續專注於為我們的利益相關者創造長期價值。我現在將電話轉回給克里斯開始問答。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員說明）

Our first question comes from Steven Fox, Fox Advisors.

我們的第一個問題來自 Fox Advisors 的 Steven Fox。

I was just curious, one, if you are still comfortable with the fiscal '25 guidance that you laid out at your analyst meeting a year ago. And how it might change within a slowdown in some of the core Agility segments? And then secondly, I know you just said that not planning on carrying the excess cash for a while, but I mean your stock was recently under $20, and you're putting up very strong guidance here. What's the impetus that would get you to sort of buy back significant stock going forward?

我只是很好奇，如果你仍然對一年前在分析師會議上製定的 25 財年指導感到滿意。在某些核心敏捷性細分市場放緩的情況下，它可能會如何變化？其次，我知道你剛剛說過暫時不打算持有多餘的現金，但我的意思是你的股票最近低於 20 美元，你在這裡提出了非常強有力的指導。什麼動力會讓你在未來回購大量股票？

Steve. I'll start with the first 1 and give it to Paul for the second 1. I'd (inaudible) start with saying that we're not giving an FY '25 guidance here. But we're very comfortable with how we have progressed towards those long-term goals that we have set for ourselves. We had said that our expectation was for a high single-digit CAGR over a number of years.

史蒂夫。我將從第一個 1 開始，然後將其交給 Paul 第二個 1。我會（聽不清）首先說我們不會在這裡提供 FY '25 指導。但我們對我們如何朝著我們為自己設定的長期目標取得進展感到非常滿意。我們曾說過，我們的期望是在多年內實現高個位數的複合年增長率。

We still expect that to be the case even with a slower growth in fiscal '24, '23 was up really strong 17%. And so overall, we feel still good about our kind of FY '25 guidance that we have given, though we're not really going into details here. And then you'll see with our current guide and what we performed with FY '23, that it still remains on track, even with all this craziness around the macro dynamics and everything that's happening, I think we've managed the situation really well, which makes us comfortable with that long-term goals we have given you. Paul, on cash?

即使 24 財年增長放緩，我們仍然預計情況會如此，23 財年增長了 17%。所以總的來說，我們對我們給出的 FY '25 指導感覺仍然很好，儘管我們在這裡並沒有真正深入細節。然後你會看到我們目前的指南和我們在 23 財年所做的事情，它仍然保持在正軌上，即使圍繞宏觀動態和正在發生的一切都如此瘋狂，我認為我們已經很好地處理了這種情況，這讓我們對我們給您的長期目標感到滿意。保羅，現金？

Yes. Just, Steven, on the cash, I appreciate the question. As I mentioned in the prepared remarks, cash was definitely on the high side at the end of Q4. Our priority is stock repurchase, full stop. If you saw what we did in Q4, it was much lighter than I would like to have seen it. That was due to the blackout associated with the NEXTracker IPO. Once we knew we were going to be into the market, we sort of have to stop trading and then there's a bit of a quiet period thereafter. So if I had my druthers, we would have done more in Q4. I'll say we're going to do more in Q1 than what we did in Q4. And again, that's -- if you look at all of our capital allocation choices, stock repurchase right now is by far the highest priority.

是的。只是，史蒂文，關於現金，我很欣賞這個問題。正如我在準備好的評論中提到的那樣，第四季度末現金肯定偏高。我們的首要任務是股票回購，句號。如果你看到我們在第四季度所做的事情，它比我希望看到的要輕得多。這是由於與 NEXTracker IPO 相關的停電。一旦我們知道我們將要進入市場，我們就不得不停止交易，然後會有一段安靜的時期。因此，如果我有勇氣，我們會在第四季度做得更多。我會說我們將在第一季度做的比我們在第四季度做的更多。再一次，那是——如果你看看我們所有的資本配置選擇，目前的股票回購是迄今為止最優先考慮的事情。

And maybe, if you just -- the 1 part of the question was on the Agility segment. Anything you have to do to manage that sort of in a down year.

也許，如果你只是 - 問題的第一部分是關於敏捷性部分的。在低迷的一年裡，你必須做任何事情來應對這種情況。

Yes. I would say we've done really well in terms of how we have managed the Agility segment a couple of years ago, maybe 3 years ago, I'm forgetting how long ago, we talked about how we really focused on having the right operational model to help Agility manage through the ups and downs of the demand cycles knowing it's a little bit more volatile than our reliability business. And that has really helped us, if you can see in terms of the operating margin performance for Agility through this time.

是的。我想說，就幾年前我們管理敏捷性細分市場的方式而言，我們做得非常好，也許是 3 年前，我忘記了多久以前，我們談到了我們如何真正專注於擁有正確的運營模型來幫助 Agility 管理需求週期的起伏，因為我們知道它比我們的可靠性業務更不穩定。如果您可以從這段時間敏捷的營業利潤率表現來看，那確實對我們有幫助。

I think we'll see what we have commonly talked about before, which is lifestyle and consumer devices are pressured, as you can see in the consumer market. Lifestyle will probably lap the comps a little bit sooner because we've been seeing the impact of that for a few quarters. CEC, I'd say there is a lot of noise on cloud. We still expect cloud to grow positively. -- had a strong -- they had a strong FY '23, they grew 30%. So I'd say overall demand and agility will fluctuate some like we've talked about in FY '24, but we feel very good about the operational cadence we have in terms of managing margins for this business through the cycle.

我認為我們會看到我們之前經常談論的內容，即生活方式和消費設備受到壓力，正如您在消費市場中看到的那樣。 Lifestyle 可能會更快地完成比賽，因為我們已經看到了幾個季度的影響。 CEC，我想說云上有很多噪音。我們仍然預計雲會積極增長。 ——有一個強大的——他們有一個強大的 23 財年，他們增長了 30%。所以我想說整體需求和敏捷性會像我們在 24 財年談到的那樣波動，但我們對在整個週期內管理該業務利潤率的運營節奏感到非常滿意。

Our next question comes from Mark Delaney, Goldman Sachs.

我們的下一個問題來自高盛的馬克德萊尼。

First, just a quick housekeeping one. I just want to make sure I understand how guidance would have prepared compared to how you previously reported. So you're assuming a flat share count sequentially -- so you're not baking in, I would think any big use of proceeds from NEXTracker. You say there's a $0.03 to $0.04 impact from noncontrolling interest. So is it fair to conclude that EPS guidance would have been at the midpoint, $0.53 to $0.54, if there wasn't [another] transaction done?

首先，只是一個快速的家務管理。我只是想確保我了解指南與您之前報告的方式相比如何準備。所以你假設一個固定的份額計數——所以你沒有烘焙，我認為 NEXTracker 的收益有任何大的用途。你說非控制性權益會產生 0.03 美元到 0.04 美元的影響。因此，如果沒有完成 [另一項] 交易，那麼得出結論認為 EPS 指導將處於中點 0.53 美元至 0.54 美元是否公平？

You're absolutely right, Mark. You're absolutely right. So all else equal, we would be up quite a bit more year-on-year. If you just -- you look at it purely on an EPS basis. Your comment on share count is also correct.

你完全正確，馬克。你是絕對正確的。因此，在其他條件相同的情況下，我們的同比增長會多得多。如果你只是 - 你純粹在 EPS 的基礎上看它。您對分享數的評論也是正確的。

We typically guide flat. But I think everybody knows, we're sitting on north of $3 billion worth of cash. And as I mentioned to Steven, our capital allocation priority is weighted towards repo at the moment.

我們通常引導平面。但我想每個人都知道，我們坐擁價值 30 億美元的現金。正如我向史蒂文提到的那樣，我們目前的資本配置優先權偏重於回購。

Got it. Okay. That's helpful just to level set on guidance and relative to the prior accounting methods. And then just my question on the business was last quarter on your earnings call, you said you expected to grow in fiscal '24. You're not formally guiding for revenue growth a little bit year-on-year with the new revenue guidance.

知道了。好的。這有助於提高指導水平並相對於先前的會計方法。然後我關於業務的問題是上個季度在你的財報電話會議上，你說你預計會在 24 財年增長。你沒有正式指導新的收入指導與去年同期相比收入增長一點點。

You're calling out though increased macro headwinds that it sounds like got a bit more difficult over the last 90 days. So maybe you can just talk about whether or not they have become incrementally more challenging so your views come down overall? Or is there something incremental on a company-specific basis, that's offsetting like share gain?

儘管在過去 90 天裡宏觀逆風有所增加，但您卻在大聲疾呼，這聽起來有點困難。所以也許你可以談談他們是否變得越來越具有挑戰性，所以你的觀點總體上下降了？還是在公司特定的基礎上有一些增量，比如股票收益？

So Mark, what I'd say is that we've been like super consistent on this for the last maybe 3 or 4 quarters, right? We've talked about how we are planning for demand slowdown, kind of what our recession playbook looks like. And we've been really focused on forecasting the right demand on behalf of our customers for a while. So we've been super consistent in terms of our view of how fiscal '24 will play out.

所以馬克，我要說的是，在過去的 3 或 4 個季度裡，我們在這方面一直非常一致，對吧？我們已經討論了我們如何計劃應對需求放緩，我們的經濟衰退劇本是什麼樣子的。一段時間以來，我們一直專注於代表客戶預測正確的需求。因此，我們對 24 財年將如何發揮作用的看法一直非常一致。

And that's why it's not much of a surprise. We're very comfortable saying a few months ago in our last earnings call that we'll see positive growth for fiscal '24, we're guiding in line with that. So despite all the noise in the last 90 days, we haven't changed our view in terms of how we see fiscal '24 play out.

這就是為什麼它並不令人驚訝。幾個月前，我們在上一次財報電話會議上說我們將看到 24 財年的正增長，我們對此表示非常滿意。因此，儘管過去 90 天裡有各種噪音，但我們對如何看待 24 財年的結果沒有改變看法。

I mean we have to talk about macro headwinds and all of that. There's too much noise in the system not to talk about it, right? And -- but what I would say is we've been very consistent, right? And we've been talking about this for 3, 4 quarters in terms of how we see the recession play out, how we're planning for it. And I would say despite all the noise, we've been quite consistent in what we said 90 days ago and what we're seeing now in terms of our overall growth rate.

我的意思是我們必須談論宏觀逆風等等。系統裡有太多的噪音不談論它，對吧？而且 - 但我要說的是我們一直非常一致，對嗎？就我們如何看待經濟衰退的結果以及我們如何計劃而言，我們已經討論了 3、4 個季度。我要說的是，儘管有各種噪音，但我們在 90 天前所說的話以及我們現在在整體增長率方面所看到的情況一直非常一致。

So we're not seeing anything change from our views. So I think you're hearing a lot of noise publicly about this, but how we have thought about our 6 segments and how they're going to perform through the cycle, really hasn't changed at all for us. We have been super consistent, which is what helps us give this kind of guidance and pretty much in line with what we thought it was going to be. Paul, anything you want to add to that?

所以我們沒有看到我們的觀點有任何變化。所以我認為你在公開場合聽到了很多關於這個的聲音，但我們如何考慮我們的 6 個部分以及它們將如何在整個週期中表現，對我們來說真的沒有改變。我們一直非常一致，這有助於我們提供這種指導，並且幾乎符合我們的預期。保羅，你還有什麼要補充的嗎？

No, I'd just say the turmoil that we're seeing externally is more regional banking than it is with our end markets. haven't changed significantly, a couple of little puts and takes. But on balance, I'd say we're pretty consistent. I would say, even over the last 6 to 9 months.

不，我只是說我們在外部看到的動盪更多的是區域銀行業，而不是我們的終端市場。沒有顯著變化，一些小的投入和投入。但總的來說，我會說我們非常一致。我會說，即使是在過去的 6 到 9 個月裡。

Our next question comes from Ruplu Bhattacharya, Bank of America.

我們的下一個問題來自美國銀行的 Ruplu Bhattacharya。

For my first question, it's related to your full year fiscal '24 guide. Paul, what have you factored in with respect to year-on-year negative impact on the top line from inflation pass-through and also year-on-year margin benefit from the same inflation pass-through impact. And I think related again to the guide, you said free cash flow of $600 million, which is almost double year-on-year -- but you also said inventory will be slow to unwind in the nearer term. So can you give us your thoughts on how we should think about free cash flow linearity in '24?

對於我的第一個問題，它與你的全年 24 財年指南有關。保羅，關於通貨膨脹對頂線的同比負面影響以及同樣的通貨膨脹影響帶來的同比利潤率，你有什麼考慮因素。我認為再次與指南相關，你說自由現金流為 6 億美元，幾乎同比增長一倍——但你也說短期內庫存將緩慢釋放。那麼你能告訴我們你應該如何考慮 24 年的自由現金流線性嗎？

Okay. Sure. There's a fair amount to unpack that Ruplu. So if I missed something redirect and I'll make sure that I answer it. But first on what have we factored in for the guidance in terms of pass-through -- maybe just talk real quick about Q4. So Q4 recoveries were slightly less actually than what we had seen a year ago. Now a year ago, so we were at peak levels in terms of inflation rate. And so we were passing through a lot.

好的。當然。有相當多的東西可以打開 Ruplu 的包裝。因此，如果我錯過了重定向的內容，我會確保我會回答它。但首先，我們在傳遞方面的指導中考慮了什麼——也許只是快速談論第四季度。因此，第四季度的複蘇實際上比我們一年前看到的要少。一年前，我們的通貨膨脹率處於最高水平。所以我們經歷了很多。

And as you and I think everyone else understands those are very low calorie pass-through. And so again, what we saw this past quarter, down just a little bit. What we've assumed going forward, look, it's a little awfully hard to call right now. We put a guidepost out there for the full year 2024. I'm not exactly sure how this is going to play out. but we're assuming it's essentially going to be flat. How that would affect OP? Well, if recoveries come down on a percentage basis, that would be helpful.

正如你我認為其他人都明白這些是非常低的熱量傳遞。同樣，我們在上個季度看到的只是一點點下降。我們對未來的假設，看，現在很難說。我們在那裡放了一個 2024 年全年的路標。我不確定這將如何進行。但我們假設它基本上是持平的。這將如何影響OP？好吧，如果回收率按百分比下降，那將很有幫助。

I think the second question was on free cash flow and inventory. Yes, you're right. We're guiding to double the cash generation that we saw in our FY '23, 600, I think what I said was 600 or more -- it will be a slow and gradual improvement to the working capital situation. I was really happy to see the tailwind that we saw in Q4.

我認為第二個問題是關於自由現金流和庫存的。你是對的。我們正在指導將我們在 23 財年看到的現金產生翻一番，600，我想我說的是 600 或更多——這將是對營運資金狀況的緩慢和漸進的改善。我真的很高興看到我們在第四季度看到的順風。

Working capital advances were up sequentially, inventory was down sequentially. So that was a good guy for cash. But I don't expect that we're going to continue at a $300 million down quarter after quarter after quarter. It will be a slow rollout. And cash flow, if you look at how we've typically performed, cash flow tends to be more back half loaded. So I think that's probably what we'll see here again this year.

營運資金預付款環比上升，存貨環比下降。所以這是現金的好人。但我不認為我們會繼續一個季度又一個季度地下降 3 億美元。這將是一個緩慢的推出。而現金流，如果你看一下我們通常的表現，現金流往往會背負一半。所以我認為這可能是我們今年會在這裡再次看到的。

Okay. Maybe for my follow-up, I have a question for Revathi. You've been steering the business more towards the longer life cycle areas like automotive, health care and industrial. So can you give us your thoughts on how you see the capital intensity of the business evolving over the next 2, 3 years?

好的。也許對於我的後續行動，我有一個問題要問 Revathi。您一直在將業務更多地轉向生命週期更長的領域，例如汽車、醫療保健和工業。那麼，您能否告訴我們您如何看待未來 2、3 年企業資本密集度的變化？

I know you're guiding CapEx to be at the same 600 level as in fiscal '22, which is higher than the past 2, 3 years. So should we expect this level of CapEx going forward? And where do you see the investments more, which end markets and which areas are you investing more to drive future growth?

我知道你正在指導資本支出與 22 財年相同的 600 水平，這高於過去 2、3 年。那麼我們應該期待這種水平的資本支出嗎？你在哪裡看到更多的投資，哪些終端市場和哪些領域你投資更多以推動未來增長？

Yes. Thanks, Ruplu. I'd say we've been redirecting this business with this strategy for the last couple of years, right? So I would say the -- how our CapEx has played out the last few years is not going to be very different than what you see moving forward in terms of the mix between reliability and agility.

是的。謝謝，魯普魯。我想說的是，在過去的幾年裡，我們一直在用這種策略重新定向這項業務，對吧？所以我想說 - 我們的資本支出在過去幾年中的表現與您在可靠性和敏捷性之間的組合方面看到的進展沒有太大不同。

I've said this before in prior calls, what we've gotten really good at is using our equipment, which is common across various customers and redirecting that well based on the pluses and minuses of volume, and that has helped in terms of how we overall manage our CapEx across the businesses, and that applies for both reliability and agility. So I'd say overall, CapEx for Flex will remain in line with what we have talked about, but it does require us to be very efficient in terms of use of capital across our businesses, and how we manage volumes going up and down and use capital more efficiently.

我之前在之前的電話中已經說過，我們真正擅長的是使用我們的設備，這在不同的客戶中很常見，並根據音量的優缺點重新定向，這有助於如何我們全面管理整個業務的資本支出，這適用於可靠性和敏捷性。所以我想說的是，總的來說，Flex 的資本支出將與我們所討論的保持一致，但它確實要求我們在整個業務的資本使用方面非常高效，以及我們如何管理上下波動和更有效地使用資本。

I'd say, in terms of reliability, the effect you would see is more investment in ramps because most of the programs are very complicated, and they involve very high complex automation for areas like health care and automotive. So the investments will be more OpEx heavy towards ramps, which is what you are tending to see from us right now. And then I'd say the other thing is if you look at the effect of regionalization, which is happening as a result of what is happening in the macro world, even that we'll redistribute our capital more efficiently in our -- and that's what we are planning to do, and we've been doing that the last couple of years. and that will lean off a little bit of CapEx towards reliability, which is driving a lot of growth towards to that part of the business.

我想說，就可靠性而言，你會看到的效果是對坡道的更多投資，因為大多數程序都非常複雜，並且它們涉及醫療保健和汽車等領域非常複雜的自動化。因此，投資將更多地投入到斜坡上，這就是您現在傾向於從我們這裡看到的。然後我想說的另一件事是，如果你看一下區域化的影響，這是宏觀世界正在發生的事情的結果，即使我們將在我們的領域更有效地重新分配我們的資本 - 那就是我們計劃做的事情，過去幾年我們一直在做。這將減少一點資本支出以提高可靠性，這將推動這部分業務的大量增長。

So net-net, I don't see a lot of change in terms of overall CapEx, the distribution of it. may continue to shift.

所以淨淨，我沒有看到整體資本支出和分配方面有太大變化。可能會繼續轉移。

Our next question comes from Matt Sheerin, Stifel.

我們的下一個問題來自 Stifel 的 Matt Sheerin。

My first question just regarding your guidance or framework for FY '24, which calls for a modest growth, 2% or so. Given that your Q1 is basically going to be flat to slightly down year-on-year, it implies a more back-end loaded growth? And do you expect some of that to come from a rebound in CEC? Or is that based on continued growth in the reliability markets?

我的第一個問題是關於你對 24 財年的指導或框架，它要求適度增長，2% 左右。鑑於您的第一季度同比基本持平或略有下降，這意味著更多的後端負載增長？您是否期望其中一些來自 CEC 的反彈？還是基於可靠性市場的持續增長？

Sure, Matt. It's a good question. I'm glad you asked. Not a huge change Q1 versus full year. I think Q1 at the midpoint is down about 1 at the midpoint full year up 2. So a little bit of a back half load. But as I think about the whole business, there's a lot of moving pieces. And so let me just break down a few of them that kind of illustrate what's happening. If you look at maybe rewind a year ago. What we started to see in probably June of last year was softening consumer end markets. We saw it in the consumer device business within Agility.

當然，馬特。這是個好問題。很高興你問了。第一季度與全年相比變化不大。我認為 Q1 在中點下降了大約 1，在中點全年上升了 2。所以有點後半負荷。但當我考慮整個業務時，有很多動人的部分。因此，讓我分解其中的一些來說明正在發生的事情。如果你看看也許倒帶一年前。我們大概從去年 6 月開始看到的是消費終端市場疲軟。我們在 Agility 的消費設備業務中看到了這一點。

We also saw it in the lifestyle business. As investors, you didn't necessarily see it in lifestyle because we had so much share gain, but the underlying markets were soft. We haven't yet lapped tough comps in those consumer end markets because we really didn't see things soften until June time frame. So as we look ahead here to Q1, which is our June quarter, we'll have pressure in both lifestyle and consumer devices, just on the continuation of what we have seen over the last 9 months being fairly soft end markets. So a bit of a tough comp in those businesses. I think everybody sort of expecting enterprise IT spending to be a little bit soft. We're expecting that in the first quarter.

我們在生活方式行業也看到了這一點。作為投資者，您不一定會在生活方式中看到它，因為我們獲得瞭如此多的份額收益，但基礎市場疲軟。我們還沒有在這些消費者終端市場上進行強硬競爭，因為直到 6 月的時間框架我們才真正看到情況有所緩和。因此，當我們展望第一季度，即我們的 6 月季度時，我們將在生活方式和消費設備方面面臨壓力，只是因為我們在過去 9 個月中看到的終端市場相當疲軟。因此，在這些業務中有點困難。我認為每個人都希望企業 IT 支出會有所下降。我們預計在第一季度。

What we're expecting in the second half within that CEC business, strong cloud growth. That's driven -- okay, the markets will be what they will be, but we have fairly significant share gain expected in the second half as we ramp on that, that will give us tailwind in the CEC business. And then if you look at the 3 pieces within reliability, all of them have growing businesses with some ramps in the second half. The health solutions business is doing well. I think we'll continue to ramp as we move into the back half of this year for that group.

我們對 CEC 業務下半年的預期是強勁的雲增長。這是驅動的——好吧，市場將是這樣，但我們預計下半年我們將獲得相當可觀的份額增長，因為我們會加大力度，這將給我們帶來 CEC 業務的順風。然後，如果您查看可靠性中的 3 個部分，它們都會在下半年有一些增長的業務。健康解決方案業務表現良好。我認為，隨著我們進入今年下半年，我們將繼續增加該小組的人數。

The renewable energy piece within reliability is doing well and continues to ramp, and we continue to see strong take rates on our next-gen mobility portfolio within automotive, things like EV and ADAS continue to do well, and we'll continuing to ramp there. So it's kind of the mix of the business, softer Q1 first half driven by consumer -- And I think as we lap those comps, things get a little easier on the consumer side, and we have some nice ramps in the hopper for the back half of the year, in particular, in reliability.

可靠性中的可再生能源部分錶現良好並繼續增長，我們繼續看到我們在汽車領域的下一代移動產品組合的高利率，EV 和 ADAS 等產品繼續表現良好，我們將繼續在這方面增長.所以這是一種業務組合，由消費者驅動的第一季度疲軟 - 我認為當我們對這些公司進行測試時，消費者方面的事情變得更容易一些，我們在後面的料斗中有一些不錯的斜坡半年，尤其是在可靠性方面。

Okay. That was helpful. And then just regarding the expectations for margin improvement within reliability as you progress through fiscal '24. What are the key drivers of that?

好的。那很有幫助。然後，隨著您在 24 財年的進展，關於可靠性內利潤率提高的預期。這其中的關鍵驅動因素是什麼？

So it will be similar to the inventory situation, it will be a gradual improvement in reliability. We're making a number of investments in that business right now, as Revathi had pointed out, really the last couple of quarters. whichhas put a little bit of pressure on margins. I think the other challenge in reliability at the moment is we continue to suffer from the larger node semiconductor shortages, which means you have, in some cases, idle resources.

所以會和庫存情況類似，可靠性會逐漸提高。正如 Revathi 指出的那樣，我們現在正在對該業務進行大量投資，實際上是在過去幾個季度。這給利潤率帶來了一點壓力。我認為目前可靠性的另一個挑戰是我們繼續遭受更大的節點半導體短缺，這意味著在某些情況下你有閒置資源。

And that's been a challenge for us really over the last year. You don't want to take high-quality resources offline, you have to be ready when stuff arrives. And again, we have a number of ramps in that business that we need to make sure that we're well ready and funded for -- but it will be a gradual improvement as we move through the year. I think it will be improving chips. It will be coming up to rate on ramps and better absorption.

在過去的一年裡，這對我們來說確實是一個挑戰。你不想讓優質資源下線，你必須在東西到來時做好準備。再一次，我們在該業務中有許多坡道，我們需要確保我們做好充分準備並為此提供資金——但隨著我們在這一年中的進展，這將是一個漸進的改進。我認為這將改進芯片。它將在斜坡上達到速度並更好地吸收。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員說明）

Our next question comes from Shannon Cross, Credit Suisse.

我們的下一個問題來自瑞士信貸的 Shannon Cross。

I'm curious now that we're getting closer to the IRA funds starting to flow and hopefully some clarity on who's going to benefit where. Can you give us any color on how you're thinking about it within your renewables segment? And then I have a follow-up.

我很好奇，現在我們離 IRA 資金開始流動越來越近了，希望能清楚地知道誰將從哪裡受益。你能告訴我們你在可再生能源領域是如何考慮它的嗎？然後我有一個後續行動。

I'll tell you, Shannon, there is going to be a very well-executed conference call in about 20 minutes from the NEXTracker team and they can probably better cover IRA than I can. I'm half joking.

我會告訴你，Shannon，NEXTracker 團隊將在大約 20 分鐘後召開一次執行得很好的電話會議，他們可能比我能更好地報導 IRA。我半開玩笑。

They probably won't say a whole lot either because it's still taking shape. I think -- we've been talking about clarity on that for quite some time. You have a government agency that has been tasked with adjudicating the details of all of that big complicated bill. We thought it was going to be clarified in December, and then we thought it was going to be clarified in January and then February, and here we are, we're still a little bit ambiguous. What I will say is we do know it is a tailwind for the industry. it helps with volume, and it probably helps with margin. We just haven't really been able to figure out exactly how it's going to manifest itself in the P&L., other than to say it's going to be a good guy. It will be a good guy for Core Flex, and it will be a good guy for NEXTracker.

他們可能也不會說太多，因為它還在成形。我認為 - 我們已經討論了很長一段時間的清晰度。你有一個政府機構，其任務是裁定所有復雜的大賬單的細節。我們認為它會在 12 月得到澄清，然後我們認為它會在 1 月和 2 月得到澄清，現在我們仍然有點模棱兩可。我要說的是，我們確實知道這是該行業的順風。它有助於提高交易量，也可能有助於提高利潤率。我們只是還沒有真正弄清楚它將如何在 P&L 中表現出來，除了說它將成為一個好人。對 Core Flex 來說是個好人，對 NEXTracker 來說也是個好人。

And Shannon, where we're clearly seeing outside of NEXTracker, where we've seen already both volume and equipment ramps going in, in North America for residential solar customers. We're seeing some push in the EV business as a result of it also charging stations.

和香農，我們清楚地看到 NEXTracker 之外的地方，我們已經看到北美住宅太陽能客戶的數量和設備坡道正在進入。由於它還有充電站，我們看到了電動汽車業務的一些推動。

So we are clearly putting in investment for program ramps with our customers on revenue growth driven by the IRA. So I'd say that the benefit to the volume benefit, we are starting to see that already in those areas outside of NEXTracker. I'd say in terms of margin benefit, I think that's where the noise still exists in terms of who exactly is going to see which part of it.

因此，我們顯然正在與我們的客戶一起投資，以提高 IRA 推動的收入增長。所以我想說的是，體積收益的好處，我們已經開始在 NEXTracker 之外的那些領域看到這一點。我想說，就利潤率而言，我認為就誰將看到其中的哪一部分而言，噪音仍然存在。

Okay. And then not to beat a dead horse here, but just on the cash return side of things. As i look at you've got $3.3 billion of cash. You've got $600 million of cash flow generation this year. I assume you're probably going to do a secondary once you get through the 6-month period that's about $500 million given where NexTracker is trading. So that gets me to close to $4.5 billion worth of cash. I understand that you're saying that you want to buy back more stock, but why not what's precluding you from saying we're going to do a $2 billion share repurchase. So we're going to be in the market. We're looking at 250, 300 a quarter. Just to give investors and those of us trying to forecast some idea of the magnitude that you're thinking.

好的。然後不要在這裡打死馬，而只是在現金回報方面。我看你有 33 億美元的現金。今年你產生了 6 億美元的現金流。我假設一旦你度過了 6 個月的時間，考慮到 NexTracker 的交易地點，你可能會進行二級交易，這大約是 5 億美元。所以這讓我獲得了接近 45 億美元的現金。我知道你是說你想回購更多股票，但為什麼不阻止你說我們將進行 20 億美元的股票回購。所以我們將進入市場。我們正在尋找每季度 250、300。只是為了給投資者和我們這些試圖預測你正在考慮的規模的人一些想法。

Yes. It's a great question, Shannon. And I really don't want to dodge it. So I'll just tell you. Our capital allocation priority is definitely share repo right now. But similar to the NEXTracker transaction, which we announced our intentions on that thing 2 years and a quarter ago. Sometimes, it takes a little bit of time to fully work -- how are you going to operationalize things fully through the system. There are other impediments that the Street doesn't necessarily see. But share repo is definitely a priority for the business right now. We'll do more in Q1 than what we did in Q4. And you'll see another reauthorization following our Annual Shareholder Meeting here in August. So that will be a marker point, but we hear you.

是的。這是一個很好的問題，香農。我真的不想躲避它。所以我只告訴你。我們目前的資本配置重點絕對是股票回購。但類似於 NEXTracker 交易，我們在 2 年零一個季度前宣布了我們對那件事的意圖。有時，完全工作需要一點時間——您將如何通過系統完全操作事物。華爾街不一定會看到其他障礙。但股票回購絕對是目前企業的首要任務。我們將在第一季度做的比我們在第四季度做的更多。在 8 月份的年度股東大會之後，您將看到另一項重新授權。所以這將是一個標誌點，但我們聽到你的聲音。

And Shannon. I think -- just the only thing I'd add is, I think investors clearly have seen how we have done well with our capital allocation strategy. Our timing has been good in terms of how we have executed on this. And so without giving very specific numbers of what and when we are going to do, I think the commentary and the commitment to how we're going to -- the use of cash, I think, is the clarity that we're providing -- and without giving the exact numbers, which doesn't make sense at this point in time to talk about. But that's our commitment, and we have done it well in the past, and I think investors will know that we'll be -- we'll continue to do it that way within the next year.

還有香農。我認為——我唯一要補充的是，我認為投資者清楚地看到我們在資本配置策略方面做得很好。就我們在這方面的執行方式而言，我們的時機很好。因此，在沒有給出我們將要做什麼和何時做的非常具體的數字的情況下，我認為評論和對我們將如何做的承諾——我認為，現金的使用是我們提供的清晰度—— - 並且沒有給出確切的數字，目前談論這些數字沒有意義。但這是我們的承諾，我們過去做得很好，我認為投資者會知道我們會——我們將在明年繼續這樣做。

Just like we did with the NEXTracker IPO, which is why I mentioned that I think we thread the needle on that.

就像我們對 NEXTracker IPO 所做的那樣，這就是為什麼我提到我認為我們在這上面穿針引線。

Great. Just to clarify, nothing's changed on your thoughts about NEXTracker should be a stand-alone business at some point here, though.

偉大的。需要澄清的是，您關於 NEXTracker 的想法在某些時候應該是一個獨立的業務，但沒有任何改變。

I absolutely believe it should be a stand-alone business.

我絕對相信它應該是一個獨立的業務。

The last question comes from Paul Chung, JPMorgan.

最後一個問題來自摩根大通的Paul Chung。

So just on the year, you finished at a record here at 4.8%. You mentioned guide point of possibly exceeding 5% for the first time. you're seeing some nice upside from product mix shift, [though] anything else you want to kind of point out that maybe driving some structural uptick here? Any automation methods you're implementing? And where do you kind of see the longer-term margin targets with the portfolio today?

所以就在這一年，你在這裡創下了 4.8% 的紀錄。你第一次提到可能超過5%的指導點。您從產品組合轉變中看到了一些不錯的好處，[儘管]您想指出的其他任何事情可能會在這裡推動一些結構性增長？您正在實施的任何自動化方法？您如何看待當今投資組合的長期利潤率目標？

So Paul, I'll start and then maybe Paul Lundstrom can jump in. I'd say we've been consistent over the last few years when we have talked about how margin will improve for these businesses, right? And we have talked about 2 things. One is continuing to change the mix in the kinds of businesses that we'll pursue within our 6 segments, which is a very important part of what we look to do. Because we have said that our available markets are really large within these businesses, and it's up to the business leaders there to move the mix.

所以保羅，我會開始，然後也許保羅倫德斯特羅姆可以加入。我想說的是，在過去幾年裡，我們一直在討論如何提高這些業務的利潤率，對吧？我們談到了兩件事。一個是繼續改變我們將在 6 個細分市場中追求的業務種類的組合，這是我們希望做的事情的一個非常重要的部分。因為我們已經說過，我們的可用市場在這些企業中確實很大，而這取決於那裡的企業領導者來調整組合。

So we measure that consistently. We look for bookings movement in terms of margins. So mix is a big part of it. On terms of operations side, absolutely, yes. We have been very good at the kinds of investment we make in automation. So it's not just automation for the sake of automation, right? We are very, very prudent in terms of where we invest in automation, and we have a very good futuristic plan of how our factories will look like. You've seen that from the kinds of awards we have won for manufacturing excellence.

因此，我們始終如一地衡量這一點。我們尋找利潤方面的預訂變動。所以混合是其中很重要的一部分。在運營方面，絕對是的。我們一直非常擅長在自動化方面進行的各種投資。所以這不僅僅是為了自動化而自動化，對吧？我們在投資自動化方面非常、非常謹慎，我們對工廠的外觀有一個非常好的未來計劃。您已經從我們因卓越製造而贏得的各種獎項中看到了這一點。

So operational efficiency is definitely driving some of the margin improvement that you've seen in the last year. I would say our manufacturing plants are operating the best they've ever operated at, and we expect that, that will continue to improve every year because automation is improving every year. So it is from both sides that we're seeing margin improvement, Paul, and I'm not willing to give any new targets that we haven't already shared with you that are consistent for FY '25?

因此，運營效率肯定會推動您在去年看到的一些利潤率提高。我要說的是，我們的製造工廠的運營狀況是有史以來最好的，而且我們預計，由於自動化每年都在提高，因此每年都會繼續改善。因此，從雙方來看，我們都看到了利潤率的提高，保羅，我不願意給出我們尚未與您分享的與 25 財年一致的任何新目標？

Great. And then -- my follow-up is, as you kind of move to these higher-margin products across health care, auto, industrial, are you seeing more appetite for more complex products, lower volume type products, opportunities there that come at higher margins. Do you expect to kind of take more share from some of the smaller EMS players here in the U.S. as a result that kind of specialized on some of these higher hurdle rates? Are you being more competitive there? And any displacements you want to call out?

偉大的。然後——我的後續行動是，當你在醫療保健、汽車、工業等領域轉向這些利潤率更高的產品時，你是否看到人們對更複雜的產品、產量更低的產品以及更高的機會更有興趣？邊距。您是否希望從美國這裡的一些較小的 EMS 參與者那裡獲得更多份額，從而專門從事其中一些更高的障礙率？你在那裡更有競爭力嗎？您想調出任何位移嗎？

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Yes. So Paul, what I would say is I don't think we are at share from smaller EMS. But what we definitely see is each 1 is a little different. So for example, in industrial, we do a lot of more complex products that we -- and lower volume products that tend to be higher margin, right? So you see that play out in the industrial space.

是的。所以保羅，我要說的是，我認為我們無法從較小的 EMS 中獲得份額。但我們肯定看到的是每個 1 都有點不同。因此，例如，在工業領域，我們做了很多更複雜的產品——而產量較低的產品往往利潤率更高，對吧？所以你會看到它在工業領域發揮作用。

In automotive, we are seeing more complex products, which is the combination of the EV platform products that we own and the ones we make for our customers but those are higher volume, and it's all about getting the automation right, getting the footprint correct and make sure you stabilize that program as it ramps up, so you can kind of make good margins through the cycle -- and health is similar to automotive that way.

在汽確保在該計劃逐漸增加時穩定該計劃，這樣您就可以在整個週期中獲得可觀的利潤——而健康在這方面與汽車類似。

Our cloud businesses, in general, have been all about getting to scale very quickly and then maintaining it that way. so we can drive the efficiency and the improvement by a high level of automation. So I'd say it depends on the business in terms of volume and mix that drives the margin, I'd say industrial tends to lean towards kind of lower volume, more complex products.

總的來說，我們的雲業務一直致力於快速擴展並保持這種方式。因此我們可以通過高度自動化來推動效率和改進。所以我想說這取決於推動利潤的數量和組合方面的業務，我想說工業傾向於傾向於產量更低、更複雜的產品。

Automotive is getting more complex. The cloud is getting more complex, but they're all higher volume also. So I'd say each 1 is a little different. There's not a one-size-fits-all.

汽車變得越來越複雜。雲變得越來越複雜，但它們的體積也越來越大。所以我會說每個 1 都有點不同。沒有一種放之四海而皆準的方法。

There are no further questions at the time. Please proceed.

目前沒有其他問題。請繼續。

Thank you. So on behalf of the Flex leadership team, I just wanted to give a thank you to all our customers and our shareholders for your support. And then I want to thank the Flex team across the globe for continuing to work and their dedication and contributions to the business. So thank you all. Thanks for joining us today.

謝謝。因此，我代表偉創力領導團隊，感謝所有客戶和股東的支持。然後我要感謝全球的 Flex 團隊繼續工作以及他們對業務的奉獻和貢獻。所以謝謝大家。感謝您今天加入我們。

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

謝謝。今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝您的加入。您現在可以斷開連接。