Flex Ltd (FLEX) 2024 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Good afternoon, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to Flex's Third Quarter Fiscal 2024 Earnings Conference Call. (Operator Instructions) I will now turn the call over to Mr. David Rubin, you may begin.

下午好，感謝您的耐心等待。歡迎參加偉創力 2024 財年第三季財報電話會議。 （接線員指示）我現在將電話轉給 David Rubin 先生，您可以開始了。

Thank you, Diego. Good afternoon, and welcome to Flex's Third Quarter Fiscal 2024 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.

謝謝你，迭戈。下午好，歡迎參加偉創力 2024 財年第三季財報電話會議。今天與我在一起的是我們的執行長 Revathi Advaithi；以及我們的財務長 Paul Lundstrom。兩人都會發表簡短的講話，然後進行問答。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可在 flex.com 的投資者關係部分取得。

This call is being recorded and will be available for replay on our corporate web website. 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.

此通話正在錄音，並將在我們的公司網站上重播。提醒一下，今天的電話會議包含前瞻性陳述，這些陳述是基於我們目前的預期和假設。這些陳述涉及風險和不確定性，可能導致實際結果有重大差異。有關這些風險和不確定性的完整討論，請參閱我們的簡報、新聞稿或我們最近向 SEC 提交的文件中的風險因素部分中的警告聲明。

Note this information is subject to change, and we have undertaken no obligation to update these forward-looking statements. Please note, unless otherwise stated, all results provided will be non-GAAP measures, and 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 today's presentation as well as in the summary financials posted on the Investor Relations website.

請注意，此資訊可能會發生變化，我們沒有義務更新這些前瞻性聲明。請注意，除非另有說明，否則提供的所有結果都將是非公認會計原則衡量標準，並且所有成長指標都將按年計算。完整的非 GAAP 與 GAAP 調整表可以在今天簡報的附錄投影片以及投資者關係網站上發布的財務摘要中找到。

As previously announced, on January 2, 2024, Flex completed the spinoff of all of its remaining interest in Nextracker to Flex shareholders. As a result of the completion of the spin-off, Nextracker became a fully independent public company. Flex no longer directly or indirectly holds any shares of Nextracker common stock and Flex will no longer consolidate Nextracker into its financial results. Please note, our guidance for fourth quarter fiscal '24 excludes any economic interest in Nextracker and for fiscal year 2024 full year guidance includes Flex economic interest in Nextracker for Q1 through Q3. However, it also excludes it from Q4 fiscal '24.

如同先前所宣布的，Flex 於 2024 年 1 月 2 日完成了將其在 Nextracker 的所有剩餘權益剝離給 Flex 股東的工作。分拆完成後，Nextracker 成為一家完全獨立的上市公司。 Flex 不再直接或間接持有 Nextracker 的任何普通股，且 Flex 將不再將 Nextracker 合併到其財務表現。請注意，我們對 24 財年第四季的指導不包括 Nextracker 的任何經濟利益，而對 2024 財年全年的指導則包括 Flex 從第一季到第三季對 Nextracker 的經濟利益。然而，它也將其排除在 24 財年第四季之外。

Lastly, the historical results of Nextracker and certain assets and liabilities included in the spin-off will be reported in Flex's consolidated financial statements as discontinued operations beginning in Flex's fourth quarter ending in March 31, 2024. With all that, now I'd like to turn the call over to our CEO, Revathi?

最後，Nextracker 的歷史業績以及分拆中包含的某些資產和負債將在Flex 的合併財務報表中報告為自Flex 的第四季度（截至2024 年3 月31 日）開始的終止業務。儘管如此，現在我想將電話轉給我們的執行長 Revathi？

With the tax-free spin that occurred in early January, making Nextracker a fully independent company, we wish them great success in the future and look forward to watching their continued growth. Through this process, we unlock tremendous value and the approach reflects in our continued focus on creating long-term shareholder value. Of course, Flex remains committed to enabling the transition to renewable energy in our core business.

隨著一月初發生的免稅重組，Nextracker 成為一家完全獨立的公司，我們祝福他們在未來取得巨大成功，並期待看到他們的持續成長。透過這個過程，我們釋放了巨大的價值，這種方法體現了我們對創造長期股東價值的持續關注。當然，偉創力仍然致力於在我們的核心業務中實現向再生能源的過渡。

We serve a wide variety of customers and applications, generating over $1 billion in revenue for this market. I should also mention that we continue to expand the use of renewable energy in our own factories as part of our net-zero journey. Now moving to our results on slide 4. Overall, fiscal Q3 was another quarter of strong execution. For total Flex, revenue was $7.1 billion, adjusted operating margin came in at 6.7%, and we delivered $0.71 of adjusted EPS.

我們為各種各樣的客戶和應用程式提供服務，為該市場創造了超過 10 億美元的收入。我還應該提到，作為我們淨零旅程的一部分，我們繼續在自己的工廠中擴大再生能源的使用。現在轉向投影片 4 上的結果。總體而言，第三財季是另一個執行力強勁的季度。 Flex 的總收入為 71 億美元，調整後營業利潤率為 6.7%，調整後每股收益為 0.71 美元。

Looking at results for Core Flex, which exclude Nextracker, we continue to execute very well with this dynamic environment. Revenue was $6.4 billion. Core Flex operating margin came in at a record 4.9%, up both sequentially and year-over-year, and we delivered $0.54 of EPS. Again, this was solid execution in the quarter. Now the takeaway should be clear. Our results continue to show the resiliency of the Flex model and fundamental changes to the industry.

看看 Core Flex 的結果（不包括 Nextracker），我們在這個動態環境中繼續表現得很好。收入為 64 億美元。 Core Flex 營業利潤率達到創紀錄的 4.9%，環比和同比均有所上升，我們實現了 0.54 美元的每股盈餘。這再次證明了本季的穩健執行。現在要點應該很清楚了。我們的結果繼續顯示了 Flex 模型的彈性和行業的根本變化。

Despite significant macro driven volume fluctuations, we've continued to deliver on our margin and EPS commitments. We remain very well positioned across the markets we serve, and this comes from our deep relationships with our customers and our ability to provide world-class quality and value in the products we manufacture. I want to share a couple of highlights from the quarter that demonstrate our strong market position.

儘管宏觀驅動的銷售量波動較大，但我們仍繼續履行利潤率和每股盈餘的承諾。我們在我們所服務的市場中保持著非常有利的地位，這源於我們與客戶的深厚關係以及我們為我們製造的產品提供世界一流品質和價值的能力。我想分享本季的一些亮點，這些亮點證明了我們強大的市場地位。

AI is driving changes in data movement both through the data center and across the network. Our strength in hyperscale data center and networking infrastructure are key enablers of our customers' success in delivering these products at scale. We've talked before about our strong positioning with multiple hyperscale customers. We're the only EMS provider with a comprehensive offering, including bespoke fully integrated rack systems and power solutions, ranging from embedded, discrete and all the way up to data center critical power.

人工智慧正在推動資料中心和網路中資料移動的變化。我們在超大規模資料中心和網路基礎設施方面的優勢是客戶成功大規模交付這些產品的關鍵推動力。我們之前已經討論過我們與多個超大規模客戶的強大定位。我們是唯一一家提供全面產品的 EMS 供應商，包括客製化的完全整合機架系統和電源解決方案，範圍從嵌入式、分立式一直到資料中心關鍵電源。

In addition, we offer value-added services in design, metal, components, supply chain management integration and aftermarket services, including circular economy. As a result of our comprehensive offerings, we continue to see very strong growth in our Cloud business. On the networking side, a good example is our partnership with Cisco. Recently, we were honored to receive their 2023 Electronic Manufacturing Services Partner of the Year Award.

此外，我們也提供設計、金屬、零件、供應鏈管理整合和售後服務（包括循環經濟）的加值服務。由於我們提供全面的產品，我們的雲端業務持續保持強勁成長。在網路方面，我們與思科的合作就是一個很好的例子。最近，我們很榮幸獲得他們的 2023 年度電子製造服務合作夥伴獎。

We're also building on our 20-year partnership with Ciena under the world-class networking company to provide U.S.-based manufacturing capabilities and supply chain services, enabling Ciena to ramp high-volume production of its innovative pluggable optical technologies in support of the BEAD, the broadband equity access and deployment programs and the Build America, Buy America requirements.

我們還與世界級網路公司 Ciena 建立了 20 年的合作夥伴關係，提供位於美國的製造能力和供應鏈服務，使 Ciena 能夠大批量生產其創新的可插拔光學技術，以支援BEAD、寬頻公平接入和部署計劃以及「建設美國」、「購買美國」要求。

Now looking at automotive. Next-gen mobility, including EV onboard electronics, charging infrastructure and advanced compute systems for the software-defined vehicle remains very important long-term growth drivers and Flex plays a key role across these ecosystems to support the OEMs, including designing or co-designing content while bringing world-class manufacturing and supply chain leadership. We have built a well-diversified portfolio of solutions for ICE, hybrid, full EV and across the spectrum of driver assistance and safety.

現在看汽車。下一代移動出行，包括電動車車載電子設備、充電基礎設施和軟體定義車輛的先進運算系統，仍然是非常重要的長期成長驅動力，Flex 在這些生態系統中發揮關鍵作用，為OEM 提供支持，包括設計或共同設計內容，同時帶來世界一流的製造和供應鏈領導地位。我們為內燃機、混合動力、純電動車以及駕駛輔助和安全領域建立了多元化的解決方案組合。

For example, our advanced compute platform technology that powers software-defined vehicles is agnostic across ICE, hybrid and EVs. We also have established relationships with many of the upstream semiconductor providers as evidenced by our previously announced partnership with NVIDIA for ADAS and autonomous applications, and we recently showcased our next-gen EV power electronics full design capability with STMicroelectronics, utilizing the latest in silicon carbide MOSFET technology.

例如，我們為軟體定義車輛提供支援的先進運算平台技術在內燃機、混合動力和電動車中是不可知的。我們也與許多上游半導體供應商建立了合作關係，我們先前宣布與NVIDIA 在ADAS 和自動駕駛應用方面的合作夥伴關係證明了這一點，而且我們最近與意法半導體一起展示了我們的下一代電動汽車電力電子完整設計能力，利用了最新的碳化矽MOSFET技術。

So you can see Flex is well positioned for every stage of this long-term technology transition. It is also very important to remember as a platform, we are experts in complex compute and power, which gives us competitive advantage across the multiple markets. Our technology and vertical integration capabilities serve many applications, including hyperscale data centers, renewables and next-generation mobility.

因此，您可以看到 Flex 在這一長期技術轉型的每個階段都處於有利位置。同樣重要的是要記住，作為一個平台，我們是複雜運算和功率方面的專家，這使我們在多個市場上具有競爭優勢。我們的技術和垂直整合能力服務於許多應用，包括超大規模資料中心、再生能源和下一代移動出行。

Our customers look to us to help them navigate the complexity and implement these integrated capabilities to give them a competitive advantage. Now the current environment remains highly dynamic, and we're already seeing the impact from elevated interest rates in some markets and excess inventory in others. We have made it through the supply chain crisis. However, we carefully watch the situation in the Red Sea and how that could impact supply lines.

我們的客戶希望我們幫助他們應對複雜性並實施這些整合功能，從而為他們帶來競爭優勢。現在，當前的環境仍然高度活躍，我們已經看到了一些市場利率上升和其他市場庫存過剩的影響。我們已經度過了供應鏈危機。然而，我們仔細觀察紅海的局勢及其對供應線的影響。

We continue to execute through this cycle, and we are very well positioned in markets with strong, long-term secular drivers. The greater stability in margins and EPS validates the change we have made to our business and the evolution of the top-tier EMS industry. We are very optimistic about our future.

我們將繼續在這個週期中執行，並且我們在具有強大、長期長期驅動力的市場中處於非常有利的位置。利潤率和每股盈餘更加穩定，驗證了我們對業務所做的改變以及頂級 EMS 產業的發展。我們對未來非常樂觀。

With that, I'll pass the call over to Paul to take you through our financials.

接下來，我會將電話轉接給保羅，讓他向您介紹我們的財務狀況。

Okay. Thank you, Revathi. I would also like to start by wishing Nextracker great success on their new path and reiterate something that Revathi said. This separation is a great example of our commitment to create strong shareholder value. As you may recall, we executed on multiple value-creating transactions over this whole process with the private equity investment, the IPO, the follow-on and finally, the investor-friendly and tax-efficient spin of the remaining Nextracker shares.

好的。謝謝你，瑞瓦蒂。首先，我也想祝福 Nextracker 在新的道路上取得巨大成功，並重申 Revathi 所說的話。這次分離是我們致力於創造強大股東價值的一個很好的例子。您可能還記得，我們​​在整個過程中執行了多項創造價值的交易，包括私募股權投資、首次公開募股、後續以及最後對剩餘 Nextracker 股票的投資者友好型和節稅型旋轉。

Jumping to our third quarter performance on slide 7, it was another solid quarter. Third quarter revenue was $7.1 billion. Gross profit improved to $712 million and gross margin increased 10%, an increase of over 200 basis points. Operating income was $477 million with operating margin at 6.7%, up from 4.8% in the prior year period. And earnings per share came in at $0.71 for the quarter, increasing 15%, which includes $0.10 of Nextracker non-controlling interest.

跳到投影片 7 上我們第三季的業績，這又是一個穩健的季度。第三季營收為 71 億美元。毛利提高至 7.12 億美元，毛利率成長 10%，增幅超過 200 個基點。營業收入為 4.77 億美元，營業利益率為 6.7%，高於去年同期的 4.8%。本季每股收益為 0.71 美元，成長 15%，其中包括 0.10 美元的 Nextracker 非控制權益。

Looking at Core Flex results, which excludes Nextracker, results were stronger than initially expected with Core Flex revenue down -- excuse me, Core Flex revenue of $6.4 billion, down 11%, but against a tough year-over-year compare. Core flex operating margin came in at a record 4.9%, up 60 basis points with another quarter of sequential margin expansion, up 20 basis points from Q2. This is reflective of our strong execution, including cost actions and continued mix improvements.

看看 Core Flex 的結果（不包括 Nextracker），結果強於最初預期，但 Core Flex 收入下降了——對不起，Core Flex 收入為 64 億美元，下降了 11%，但同比比較卻很艱難。核心彈性營運利潤率達到創紀錄的 4.9%，上升 60 個基點，利潤率又連續一個季度擴張，較第二季上升 20 個基點。這反映了我們強大的執行力，包括成本行動和持續的組合改進。

The Flex core business delivered $0.54 of EPS, up 10%. Turning to our quarterly segment results on the next slide, reliability revenue was $3 billion, with solid demand in auto and medical devices, while we saw further macro-driven weakness in commercial industrial solutions and continued headwinds in residential solar. Operating income came in at $159 million, and operating margin for this segment improved sequentially and year-over-year to 5.4%.

Flex 核心業務實現每股收益 0.54 美元，成長 10%。轉向下一張投影片中的季度業績，可靠性收入為 30 億美元，汽車和醫療設備的需求強勁，而我們看到商業工業解決方案進一步受到宏觀驅動的疲軟以及住宅太陽能的持續阻力。該部門的營業收入為 1.59 億美元，營業利潤率較上季和年增至 5.4%。

In Agility, revenue came in at $3.5 billion as we executed on very strong AI-driven cloud demand. Operating income came in at $174 million. The team delivered a record 5% operating margin, reflective of favorable mix, continuing value-added services adoption and strong operational cost management. Finally, Nextracker delivered revenue of $710 million, up 38%. Operating income at Nextracker was $162 million, delivering 23% operating margin.

在敏捷性方面，我們滿足了非常強勁的人工智慧驅動的雲端需求，收入達到了 35 億美元。營業收入為 1.74 億美元。該團隊實現了創紀錄的 5% 營業利潤率，反映了有利的組合、持續的增值服務採用和強大的營運成本管理。最後，Nextracker 營收 7.1 億美元，成長 38%。 Nextracker 的營業收入為 1.62 億美元，營業利潤率為 23%。

Moving to cash flow on slide 9, we made further progress on our inventory improvement goals, reducing net inventory again by 5% sequentially and 13% year-over-year. In general, the semiconductor shortages that punctuated the previous supply chain challenges are largely back to normal, and we expect continued reductions in inventory and working capital advances. However, the Red Sea situation could temporarily impact the pace of those reductions if supply chains are adversely affected by increasing transit times.

轉到幻燈片 9 上的現金流，我們在庫存改善目標上取得了進一步進展，淨庫存再次環比減少 5%，比去年同期減少 13%。總體而言，先前供應鏈面臨的半導體短缺問題已基本恢復正常，我們預計庫存和營運資金預付款將持續減少。然而，如果供應鏈因運輸時間增加而受到不利影響，紅海局勢可能會暫時影響削減的速度。

Q3 net CapEx came in at $128 million on target at 2% of revenue. We expect to maintain a similar total investment level in Q4. Free cash flow in the quarter was $156 million. We expect free cash flow in Q4 to be between $3 million and $400 million for Core Flex. So given where we are today, that would put us in line with our original FY '24 free cash flow guidance of $600 million that had assumed a combined Flex and Nextracker for the full year despite the absence of Nextracker in Q4.

第三季淨資本支出為 1.28 億美元，目標為佔營收的 2%。我們預計第四季將維持類似的總投資水準。該季度的自由現金流為 1.56 億美元。我們預計 Core Flex 第四季的自由現金流將在 300 萬美元至 4 億美元之間。因此，考慮到我們今天的處境，這將使我們符合我們最初的 24 財年 6 億美元自由現金流指引，該指引假設全年將 Flex 和 Nextracker 合併，儘管第四季度沒有 Nextracker。

In the quarter, we returned $275 million to shareholders through share repurchases ahead of the full Nextracker separation. Fiscal year-to-date, we have returned approximately $780 million. Please turn to the next slide for our segment outlook for the fiscal fourth quarter. For Reliability Solutions, we expect revenue will be down mid-single digit to low teens as we expect continued strength in Cloud Power Solutions, stable demand in automotive and medical devices and continued mixed demand in medical equipment and life sciences.

本季度，我們在 Nextracker 完全分離之前透過股票回購向股東返還了 2.75 億美元。財年迄今，我們已返還約 7.8 億美元。請翻到下一張投影片，了解我們第四財季的細分市場前景。對於可靠性解決方案，我們預計收入將下降中個位數至十幾位數，因為我們預計雲端電源解決方案將持續強勁，汽車和醫療設備需求穩定，以及醫療設備和生命科學需求持續混合。

We also expect further macro-related weakness in core industrial and also residential solar. Revenue in Agility is expected to be down low teens to low 20s percent. We continue to see strong AI-driven Cloud spending with weakness in communications, enterprise IT and consumer-related end markets. Q4 is also typically our seasonally weakest quarter across Agility. On to slide 11 for our quarterly guidance. With the Nextracker separation completed on January 2, Q4 guidance is now based only on Core Flex financials and is not comparable to previous consensus.

我們也預期核心工業和住宅太陽能將進一步出現與宏觀相關的疲軟。 Agility 的收入預計將下降百分之十幾到百分之二十。我們繼續看到人工智慧驅動的雲端支出強勁，但通訊、企業 IT 和消費者相關終端市場疲軟。第四季通常也是敏捷性季節性最弱的季度。請參閱投影片 11，以了解我們的季度指引。隨著 Nextracker 分離於 1 月 2 日完成，第四季度指引現在僅基於 Core Flex 財務數據，與先前的共識不具可比性。

For Q4, we expect revenue in the range of $5.8 billion to $6.4 billion with operating income between $305 million and $355 million. Interest and others estimated to be around $53 million. We expect the tax rate to be around 15% in the quarter. All of that translates to adjusted EPS between $0.50 and $0.60 based on approximately 425 million weighted average shares outstanding. And looking at our GAAP guidance, recall for Q3, we expected approximately $100 million in restructuring charges.

對於第四季度，我們預計營收在 58 億美元至 64 億美元之間，營業收入在 3.05 億美元至 3.55 億美元之間。利息和其他費用估計約為 5300 萬美元。我們預計本季稅率在 15% 左右。根據約 4.25 億股加權平均流通股計算，所有這些調整後每股收益在 0.50 美元至 0.60 美元之間。回顧我們的 GAAP 指引，回顧第三季度，我們預計重組費用約為 1 億美元。

We implemented about $70 million of that in Q3. So we expect at least another $30 million of those charges will then shift into Q4. Looking at our full year guidance on the following slide, note that FY '24 total Flex guidance still includes the impact from Nextracker in the prior 3 quarters. Please note, total Flex full year guidance is not comparable to our previous guidance or consensus due to the January separation of Nextracker.

我們在第三季實施了約 7000 萬美元。因此，我們預計其中至少 3000 萬美元的費用將轉移到第四季度。請參閱下一張投影片中的全年指引，請注意，24 財年 Flex 整體指引仍包括前 3 季 Nextracker 的影響。請注意，由於 Nextracker 一月份的分離，Flex 全年指導總額與我們先前的指導或共識無法比較。

So for total Flex, we expect full year revenue between $27.7 million and $28.3 billion, adjusted operating margin now between 5.7% and 5.9% and adjusted EPS between $2.47 and $2.57 a share. As with last quarter, for additional visibility, we are providing our expectations for Core Flex only for the full year, and this guidance is comparable to Core Flex guidance that we gave last quarter.

因此，對於Flex 總收入，我們預計全年收入在2,770 萬美元至283 億美元之間，調整後營業利潤率目前在5.7% 至5.9% 之間，調整後每股收益在2.47 美元至2.57 美元之間。與上個季度一樣，為了提高可見性，我們僅提供對全年 Core Flex 的預期，該指導與我們上季度給出的 Core Flex 指導相當。

So for Core Flex, our guidance is essentially unchanged from last quarter. We expect full year revenue between $26 million and $26.6 billion. We expect adjusted operating margin to be between 4.8% and 4.9%, and we expect adjusted EPS of between $2.07 and $2.17 a share. As we enter into the final quarter of the year, our team continues to execute very well in a challenging environment.

因此，對於 Core Flex，我們的指引與上季基本上沒有變化。我們預計全年收入在 2,600 萬美元至 266 億美元之間。我們預計調整後營業利潤率將在 4.8% 至 4.9% 之間，調整後每股收益將在 2.07 美元至 2.17 美元之間。隨著進入今年最後一個季度，我們的團隊在充滿挑戰的環境中繼續表現出色。

As Revathi pointed out, the results we are delivering validate that Flex is a more resilient and efficient company. Strong long-term trends remain intact, and we continue to have ample opportunity to build on our diversified portfolio and customer base through new wins and increasing wallet share, and we'll continue to drive margin expansion and ultimately create shareholder value.

正如 Revathi 指出的那樣，我們提供的結果證明 Flex 是一家更具彈性和效率的公司。強勁的長期趨勢保持不變，我們繼續有充足的機會透過新的勝利和增加錢包份額來建立我們多元化的投資組合和客戶群，我們將繼續推動利潤率擴張並最終創造股東價值。

Lastly, this year, we will hold our virtual investor event in conjunction with our fiscal Q4 earnings call where we will provide full fiscal '25 guidance and also update our longer-term outlook. So please stay tuned for that. I'll now turn the call back over to you, Diego, to start the Q&A.

最後，今年，我們將在第四季度財報電話會議的同時舉辦虛擬投資者活動，屆時我們將提供完整的 25 財年指導，並更新我們的長期前景。所以請繼續關注。我現在會把電話轉回給你，迭戈，開始問答。

We'll now begin the question-and-answer session portion of today's call. (Operator Instructions). Our first question comes from Samik Chatterjee with JPMorgan.

我們現在將開始今天電話會議的問答環節。 （操作員說明）。我們的第一個問題來自摩根大通的 Samik Chatterjee。

This is (inaudible) Samik Chatterjee. I wanted to ask regarding like the updated visibility regarding end markets. Can you please revisit the 2.65 Core Flex EPS target for FY '25 and let us know both the drivers regarding the same versus with respect to top line expansion versus operating margins and buyback support? And I have one follow-up.

我是（聽不清楚）薩米‧查特吉。我想詢問有關終端市場的最新可見性的問題。您能否重新審視 25 財年 2.65 核心彈性 EPS 目標，並讓我們了解有關相同目標、營收擴張、營業利潤率和回購支持的驅動因素？我還有一個後續行動。

Okay. [Sumithe], I'll start off and Paul jump in here wherever you want to. I'll first start by saying is that our fiscal year ends in March, and as Paul pointed out, we'll be doing our Investor Day in April. So that's kind of when we'll be really talking about guidance for fiscal '25 and long term.

好的。 [Sumithe]，我先出發，Paul 可以跳到這裡，無論你想跳到哪裡。我首先要說的是，我們的財政年度在三月結束，正如保羅指出的那樣，我們將在四月舉辦投資者日。因此，到那時我們將真正討論 25 財年和長期的指導。

But the first, I'll just start by saying, if I go back to 2022 long-term targets that we said, we talked about a few things, right? We talked about 5% Core Flex operating margin. We talked about mid-teens EPS growth. And we still think those targets are in the right ballpark. I'll just say that the market is very dynamic. You know that as well as we do. So we'll have to wait a little bit, like I said in the beginning for next quarter to give the exact number when we give the full FY '25 guidance.

但首先，我首先要說的是，如果我回到我們所說的 2022 年長期目標，我們討論了一些事情，對嗎？我們談到了 5% 的 Core Flex 營運利潤率。我們討論了十幾歲左右的每股收益成長。我們仍然認為這些目標是正確的。我只想說，市場非常活躍。你和我們一樣清楚這一點。因此，我們必須等待一段時間，就像我在下個季度開始時所說的那樣，當我們給出完整的 25 財年指導時，才能給出確切的數字。

But I want to take a minute and just take a step back and look at what we have done right, in the last 4 years to complete the transformation that we started. So that includes major portfolio alignments, operational transitions and a lot of shareholder-friendly corporate development actions. This quarter, we hit Core Flex operating margin of 4.9%, which was record, and we expect that to improve again next quarter.

但我想花一點時間，退後一步，看看我們在過去 4 年裡做了哪些正確的事情，以完成我們開始的轉型。這包括主要的投資組合調整、營運轉型和許多有利於股東的企業發展行動。本季度，我們的 Core Flex 營運利潤率達到了 4.9%，創歷史新高，我們預計下個季度將再次改善。

So clearly, delivering on the commitment, we have a more agile and a more efficient company that's focused on higher-value business. But the goal of all this transformation was also to make Flex a more investable company. So we're also focused on the quality of our earnings. And that means that if you look at the primary drivers of our fundamentals, it's about strong growth in end markets with long-term trends, increasing wallet share with our customers. So it's good growth, right?

很明顯，透過兌現承諾，我們擁有一家更敏捷、更有效率的公司，專注於更高價值的業務。但所有這些轉型的目標也是讓偉創力成為更值得投資的公司。因此，我們也關注收入的品質。這意味著，如果你看看我們基本面的主要驅動因素，你會發現終端市場的強勁成長具有長期趨勢，增加了我們客戶的錢包份額。所以這是一個很好的成長，對吧？

And then on top of that, we're adding things like value-added services and executing well operationally. So going back to the things we said, good margin expansion in 2022, we've said this. EPS growth in the mid-teens despite all the macro and the corporate development work we've done with the – in order Nextracker, we've done good work on capital return. So I would say we remain a strong, agile, resilient company, a lot of macro uncertainties and we'll use the next few months to figure it out, but we feel good about the fundamentals of what we talked about in 2022. Paul, anything you'd add?

除此之外，我們還添加了增值服務等內容並執行良好的營運。回到我們所說的，2022 年利潤率將實現良好成長，我們已經說過了。儘管我們在 Nextracker 上完成了所有宏觀和企業發展工作，但每股盈餘仍以十幾歲左右的速度成長，我們在資本回報方面做得很好。因此，我想說，我們仍然是一家強大、敏捷、有彈性的公司，存在著許多宏觀不確定性，我們將用接下來的幾個月來解決這個問題，但我們對2022 年所討論的基本面感到滿意。Paul，你有什麼要補充的嗎？

Yes. I think you said it well. I mean, we told you that we think we can do margins of 5% down the road. And like you said, we just hit 4.9% and expect to do more. We also have talked about mid-teens EPS growth. As I look ahead to next year, I think that's reasonable, low teens, mid-teens. And we're buying back stock. And so I think the hard part for us at the moment is what's revenue growth really going to be based on the macro.

是的。我覺得你說得很好。我的意思是，我們告訴過您，我們認為未來可以實現 5% 的利潤率。正如您所說，我們剛剛達到 4.9%，並預計會做得更多。我們也討論了十幾歲左右的每股收益成長。當我展望明年時，我認為這是合理的，低十幾歲，中十幾歲。我們正在回購股票。因此，我認為目前對我們來說最困難的部分是收入成長真正基於宏觀。

We're listening to all the same earnings calls that all of you guys are too. And I could kind of go down the list for FY or calendar '24, you look at telecommunications' CapEx looks down, enterprise spending continues to be a bit weak, industrial capital equipment seems to continue to be slowing a bit. So I would rather just hold off a quarter. We'll talk about it in more detail at the Investor Day here in May. But I think you have a pretty good framework for how we're thinking about it.

我們正在聽的財報電話會議和你們所有人一樣。我可以列出 24 財年或日曆的清單，你看看電信的資本支出看起來有所下降，企業支出仍然有點疲軟，工業資本設備似乎繼續略有放緩。所以我寧願推遲一個季度。我們將在五月的投資者日上更詳細地討論它。但我認為你對我們如何思考這個問題有一個很好的框架。

And a follow-up I have is regarding the M&A landscape, like what are the sort of activity that you are currently seeing in this space? And which is the target area for you in terms of end markets for M&A?

我的後續行動是關於併購領域的，例如您目前在這個領域看到的活動類型是什麼？就併購的終端市場而言，您的目標領域是哪一個？

Sure. So I would say our posture really hasn't changed on M&A. And I guess I'll just kind of broadly talk about capital allocation. But we continue to have a pretty robust process, and I would say, a pretty robust pipeline. We're always looking at the landscape of opportunities. There's nothing large scale that I would say is in the hopper.

當然。所以我想說我們在併購方面的立場確實沒有改變。我想我只會廣泛地談論資本配置。但我們仍然擁有一個非常強大的流程，我想說，一個非常強大的管道。我們一直在尋找機會。我想說料斗裡沒有任何大型的東西。

We're talking about technology acquisitions and other tuck-ins that we can make to sort of improve the capability of the enterprise, but not large-scale M&A. And if I think about how I would sort of prioritize M&A, frankly, it's probably last unless we can get a really good deal. Continuing to focus on internal investment and make sure the business is well funded for all the organic growth opportunities we think we have over the next several years. That's a key priority for us. And the stock continues, in our view, to be a great opportunity to create more shareholder value. So we're going to continue to buy back stock.

我們談論的是技術收購和其他我們可以用來提高企業能力的投資，但不是大規模併購。如果我考慮如何優先考慮併購，坦白說，除非我們能達成真正好的交易，否則它可能是最後的。繼續專注於內部投資，並確保業務有充足的資金來應對我們認為未來幾年擁有的所有有機成長機會。這是我們的首要任務。我們認為，該股票仍然是創造更多股東價值的絕佳機會。所以我們將繼續回購股票。

Yes. The only thing I'd add is if the areas where we would be interested in in technology or tuck-in acquisitions would be in the place of power, embedded power, critical power related to this --which we have a really good sizable business and the products business would be focused around hyperscale and data center customers, so continue building out that part of our portfolio.

是的。我唯一要補充的是，我們對技術或收購感興趣的領域是否是電力、嵌入式電力、與此相關的關鍵電力——我們在這些領域擁有非常龐大的業務產品業務將專注於超大規模和數據中心客戶，因此請繼續建立我們產品組合的這一部分。

And the second would be around this continued growth in our value-added services business and things that add to that. So those are the areas we would be keen on and would be investing in as we look further if we -- like Paul said, but it comes second after buyback.

第二個是圍繞著我們的增值服務業務和其他附加業務的持續成長。因此，如果我們像保羅所說的那樣，我們將熱衷於並投資這些領域，但它排在回購之後的第二位。

And our next question comes from Mark Delaney with Goldman Sachs Asset Management.

我們的下一個問題來自高盛資產管理公司的馬克‧德萊尼。

Starting on Cloud, (inaudible) market you mentioned today is doing well. I believe Flex have been expecting about 20% growth in Cloud, driven by the multiple hyperscaler programs that have been ramping. Maybe you can talk a little bit more around how those are going operationally? Are you able to meet that demand? And how is growth in Cloud tracking relative to your prior view of nearly 20% growth?

從雲端開始，您今天提到的（聽不清楚）市場表現良好。我相信，在多個超大規模專案的推動下，Flex 預計雲端業務將實現 20% 左右的成長。也許你可以多談談這些的運作情況？你能滿足這個需求嗎？與您之前認為的近 20% 的成長相比，雲端追蹤的成長情況如何？

Yes. Mark, the Cloud business is doing really well. It will be North of the -- well North of the 20% that we talked about earlier. And when we were previously talking about this, we were kind of hedging our bets to look at how the markets develop and all that. But overall, our Cloud business for fiscal '24 all said and done, would have grown well North of 20%.

是的。馬克，雲端業務做得非常好。它將位於我們之前討論過的 20% 的北部。當我們之前討論這個問題時，我們有點對沖我們的賭注，看看市場如何發展等等。但整體而言，我們 24 財年的雲端業務成長將遠超過 20%。

And I would say that we expect fiscal year '25 to also be considerably strong for Cloud. And this includes not just our CEC business as you know and what we do there in terms of RAC integration and all of that, but also our embedded power and our facilities power business. So pretty significant growth for Cloud. Cloud will start to become almost as big as our -- at some point as our enterprise IT business. So it's catching up to that. So really good growth coming out of Cloud, and we expect fiscal '25 to be good.

我想說的是，我們預計 25 財年的雲端運算也將相當強勁。這不僅包括您所知的 CEC 業務以及我們在 RAC 整合等方面所做的工作，還包括我們的嵌入式電源和設施電源業務。雲端運算的成長非常顯著。雲端將開始變得幾乎與我們的企業 IT 業務一樣大。所以它正在迎頭趕上。雲端運算帶來了非常好的成長，我們預計 25 財年將會很好。

Operationally, I would say, doing well. We are very pleased with how the program ramps are going. And it is a very large-scale program, and we've made considerable progress on it and going well. So I'm pleased with it.

從操作上來說，我想說，做得很好。我們對計劃的進展感到非常滿意。這是一個非常大規模的計劃，我們已經取得了相當大的進展並且進展順利。所以我對此很滿意。

That's helpful. And my other question was just trying to better understand some of the mechanics in the fiscal 4Q guide. And in particular, it looks like the company is expecting EBIT dollars in fiscal 4Q to increase sequentially to, I think, about $330 million at the midpoint, up from, I think, the $315 Core Flex did in the third quarter even though revenue is dropping a little over $300 million quarter-on-quarter. So maybe help us better understand if you could please, what's allowing EBIT dollars and margin to improve so much even as revenue is falling in the coming quarter for guidance?

這很有幫助。我的另一個問題只是想更好地理解第四季財報指南中的一些機制。特別是，該公司預計第四財季的息稅前利潤將持續成長至中位數約 3.3 億美元，高於第三季 315 美元的 Core Flex，儘管營收為季減略高於 3 億美元。因此，如果您願意的話，也許可以幫助我們更好地理解，即使下個季度的收入下降，是什麼讓息稅前利潤和利潤率改善如此之大？

Yes, it's a good question, Mark. And so give you a little bit of clarity on that. So first, just to kind of go back to the third quarter because your question was that of sequential. So third quarter, we did $6.4 billion for Core Flex. That was 4.9% operating margin. You're exactly right. Our expectation here at the midpoint would be $6.1 billion of revenue in Q4 at 330, that would be 5.4% operating margin. So nice -- certainly like the trajectory there.

是的，這是個好問題，馬克。所以請讓您澄清一下這一點。首先，回到第三季度，因為你的問題是連續的。第三季度，我們為 Core Flex 投入了 64 億美元。營業利益率為 4.9%。你說得完全正確。我們的中點預期是第四季營收為 61 億美元（330），即 5.4% 的營業利潤率。太棒了——當然喜歡那裡的軌跡。

I would say it's a couple of things. One, if you look at the revenue, it's down sequentially. A piece of that, probably a third is just less recoveries. We talked a little bit about sort of the improving semiconductor market. We have less claims that are kind of going backwards that inflation pass-through effect that we've talked about now for probably 1.5 years. And so I would say a little bit less sequential revenue just from claims. The rest is volume, and that does drop through.

我想說的是有幾件事。第一，如果你看一下收入，你會發現它是連續下降的。其中一部分，可能是三分之一，只是復原次數較少。我們討論了一些正在改善的半導體市場。我們的主張有所減少，這種說法有點倒退我們現在已經討論了可能 1.5 年的通膨傳遞效應。因此，我想說，僅來自索賠的連續收入會減少一些。剩下的就是成交量，而成交量確實下降了。

However, mix is improving. That's a good guy. That would be one. Two, -- if you look at the tailwind we have from restructuring as we move from Q2 to Q3 to Q4, a lot of those programs that we talked about in the prepared remarks, at $70 million or so were implemented as we move through the quarter. And so you're going to have more benefit in the fourth quarter than you have in the third. So that's a good guy. And then the other one would just be given the sort of choppy end markets and some volume contraction in some of our end markets, we're taking other cost actions. I think it's just a prudent thing to do. So that kind of gets you to better margin, mix, cost out, restructuring tailwind.

然而，混合正在改善。那是個好人。那就是其中之一。 Two, -- if you look at the tailwind we have from restructuring as we move from Q2 to Q3 to Q4, a lot of those programs that we talked about in the prepared remarks, at $70 million or so were implemented as we move through the四分之一.因此，第四季你將獲得比第三季更多的收益。所以這是一個好人。然後，考慮到終端市場的波動以及我們的一些終端市場的銷售萎縮，我們正在採取其他成本行動。我認為這只是一個謹慎的做法。因此，這可以讓你獲得更好的利潤、組合、成本削減、重組順風。

Our next question comes from Matt Sheerin with Stifel.

我們的下一個問題來自 Stifel 的 Matt Sheerin。

Just relative to your outlook, and you pointed out several end markets where there is a weakness, but a quarter ago, you took a very big cut to your forward guidance based on customer order cuts. So the question is have things gotten materially worse or in terms of any cancellations or inventory issues at customers' demand issues have things stabilized? Because it looks like your guidance is sort of in line with what we had previously expected.

就您的前景而言，您指出了幾個存在弱點的終端市場，但一個季度前，您根據客戶訂單削減對前瞻性指引進行了大幅削減。所以問題是，情況是否變得更加糟糕，或者就客戶需求問題的取消或庫存問題而言，情況是否已經穩定下來？因為看起來你的指導有點符合我們之前的預期。

Yes. Matt, I would say that it's in line with what we had previously expected. I would say when we took that correction when we did, we really looked forward. We looked at the feedback we got from customers. We used a lot of our own intelligence and planning to understand what channel inventories look like, how these end markets are going to behave and use a lot of our own intelligence to come up with what the forward-looking forecast was going to be, and that's playing out to be in line with what we thought.

是的。馬特，我想說這符合我們之前的預期。我想說，當我們做出修正時，我們真的很期待。我們查看了從客戶那裡得到的回饋。我們使用了大量自己的情報和計劃來了解渠道庫存是什麼樣的，這些終端市場將如何表現，並使用大量我們自己的情報來提出前瞻性預測，以及事實證明，這與我們的想法一致。

I would say in terms of markets itself, just to give you a little color of what we're saying, I'm not -- we're not seeing any significant difference from what we saw. We had said before that Cloud was fairly strong. Automotive was -- continues to be strong, but interest rates will be a watch item for that, as you've heard several people talk about. In health care, we said it was mixed. It continues to be that way. I'd say industrial has been weak like we said before.

我想說的是，就市場本身而言，只是為了讓您對我們所說的內容有一些了解，我不是——我們沒有看到與我們所看到的任何顯著差異。我們之前說過，Cloud 相當強大。汽車行業過去——繼續強勁，但正如你聽到幾個人談論的那樣，利率將成為一個值得關注的項目。在醫療保健方面，我們說情況好壞參半。情況仍然如此。我想說，正如我們之前所說，工業一直疲軟。

And so overall, I'd say, very similar. There's no kind of no new news to deliver. But what I'm happy about is, as you know, it's hard to do good forecast in this type of environment. So I think we came pretty close to trying to predict what we thought our end markets we're going to do, and it's in line with what we said.

總的來說，我想說，非常相似。沒有什麼新消息可以傳遞。但令我高興的是，正如你所知，在這種環境下很難做出好的預測。因此，我認為我們已經非常接近嘗試預測我們認為我們的終端市場將要做的事情，並且這與我們所說的一致。

Okay. And then on the inventory reduction and expected cash flow, Paul, how should we think about the cadence of the share repurchase program? And could you remind us how much is left on your authorization?

好的。那麼關於庫存減少和預期現金流，保羅，我們應該如何考慮股票回購計畫的節奏？您能否提醒我們您的授權還剩多少？

So left on the authorization, off the top of my head, I don't know that, but I'm sure David can pull it quickly. But let me tell you kind of what we're thinking. So buyback this past quarter about $275 million or so. I would expect that we'll probably do close to twice that here in Q4. The cadence definitely steps up.

所以就留下了授權，我一時想不起來，我不知道這一點，但我相信大衛能很快完成。但讓我告訴你我們的想法。因此上個季度回購約 2.75 億美元左右。我預計第四季度我們的業績可能會接近兩倍。節奏一定會加快。

If I were to just put a placeholder in there, I would say go with $500 million, give or take, which would put us at for the full fiscal year, somewhere in the order of $1.3 billion. It's what we've talked about before. There's -- I think as we move through the better part of the calendar year last year, a fair amount of stops and starts because we were in process for a lot of the Nextracker transaction, which means that we kind of got blacked out in some months. But we continue to believe that this is a nice value creation opportunity in our own stock and hence, the expected stepped-up cadence in our FY Q4 here.

如果我只是在那裡放一個佔位符，我會說 5 億美元，無論給予或接受，這將使我們整個財年的支出約為 13 億美元。這就是我們之前討論過的。我認為，去年我們在日曆年的大部分時間裡，有相當多的停頓和啟動，因為我們正在進行大量的 Nextracker 交易，這意味著我們在某些​​方面被駭了。幾個月。但我們仍然相信，這是我們自己股票的一個很好的價值創造機會，因此，我們預計第四財年第四季的節奏會加快。

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

我們的下一個問題來自美國銀行的魯普盧·巴塔查亞 (Ruplu Bhattacharya)。

Competitor Jabil also took down their guidance. But the strange thing there is they've taken down their second half more than the first half. I mean, if I look at your fiscal year '25, the June quarter, September quarter, I mean, their guidance would imply some weakness in the end markets.

競爭對手捷普也撤下了他們的指引。但奇怪的是，他們下半場的得分比上半場還要多。我的意思是，如果我看看你們的 25 財年、六月季度、九月季度，我的意思是，他們的指導將意味著終端市場的一些疲軟。

My question to you, Paul, is the $265 million in earnings that you have for fiscal '25, even without either restating that or not, can you remind us of what are some of the margin improvement levers that you have so that even if revenues are weaker in the first half of fiscal '25, what are your thoughts as to like what you can do in terms of margin improvement to help get PPS to where you want to get to?

保羅，我向您提出的問題是，您 25 財年的收入為 2.65 億美元，即使沒有重申這一點，您能否提醒我們您擁有哪些利潤率改善槓桿，以便即使收入25 財年上半年表現較弱，您認為在提高利潤率方面可以採取哪些措施來幫助PPS 達到您想要的目標？

Ruplu, I'll start and Paul can jump in. So at I'll tell you is that we have shown this year, right, our ability to really manage our decrementals really well, either through a variety of different ways, whether it is through improved cost management, driving strong productivity and efficiency in our factories and then, of course, our end markets in terms of where we are participating and mix has also helped overall.

Ruplu，我先開始，保羅可以介入。所以我要告訴你的是，我們今年已經展示了，對吧，我們有能力真正很好地管理我們的減量，無論是通過各種不同的方式，無論是透過改善成本管理，提高我們工廠的生產力和效率，當然，我們參與和混合的終端市場也整體上有所幫助。

So when I look at kind of first half versus second half, frankly, Ruplu, I mean, at this point, it's too early to talk about FY '25, but I don't even know if like second half has a huge recovery. I think in general, FY '25 will be an interesting year. But I'd say our view is that we have tremendous room in terms of driving factory automation and productivity, and we have seen that play out this year, and we'll continue to drive that into next year.

因此，當我比較上半年與下半年的情況時，坦白說，Ruplu，我的意思是，在這一點上，談論25 財年還為時過早，但我什至不知道下半年是否有巨大的復甦。我認為總的來說，25 財年將會是有趣的一年。但我想說的是，我們的觀點是，我們在推動工廠自動化和生產力方面有巨大的空間，我們已經看到今年的表現，我們將繼續推動這一趨勢到明年。

So fundamental operating efficiency and productivity driven by factory improvement is going to be a core part of this. Our mix will continue to improve. So things like value-added services, growth coming from power and hyperscale, all those are critical areas where we will see margin improvement driven by that.

因此，由工廠改進驅動的基本營運效率和生產力將成為其中的核心部分。我們的組合將繼續改善。因此，增值服務、來自電力和超大規模的成長等都是我們將看到利潤率改善的關鍵領域。

So I think those are the ways that we continue to see margin improvement. And then we also have tailwind from restructuring that we just did that will continue to flow through into next year. So those are all the ways we're thinking continued margin improvement. And I think this year and the last few years have proven that we can deliver it.

所以我認為這些是我們繼續看到利潤率改善的方式。然後，我們也從剛剛進行的重組中受益，這將繼續延續到明年。這些都是我們思考持續提高利潤率的所有方法。我認為今年和過去幾年已經證明我們可以實現這一目標。

Right. Thanks for the details Revathi. For my follow-up, I want to ask you another broad picture question. So now that Flex is Core Flex ex-Nextracker, where do you think your investments will be more which end market or which segment?

正確的。感謝瑞瓦蒂提供的詳細資訊。對於我的後續行動，我想問你另一個廣泛的問題。那麼既然 Flex 是 Core Flex ex-Nextracker，您認為您的投資將更集中在哪個終端市場或哪個細分市場？

And as you look out beyond this near-term weakness in the end markets, what do you think will drive growth for Flex? I mean, which end market or which sector? And where would you want to invest your CapEx? And I know, for example, you've got a big Cloud customer you talked about. But I mean, any areas, is it Reliability that you want to invest in? Is it Agility or both? Any thoughts there?

當您展望終端市場近期疲軟的局面時，您認為什麼將推動 Flex 的成長？我的意思是，哪個終端市場或哪個部門？您想將資本支出投資到哪裡？例如，我知道您有一個您談論的雲端大客戶。但我的意思是，在任何領域，您想要投資的是可靠性嗎？是敏捷還是兩者兼具？有什麼想法嗎？

Yes. Ruplu, thanks for that question. We are going to talk a lot more about this in our Investor Day, but just giving you a preview of it would be, we'll continue to invest significantly both in commercial and in capacity growth for power related to Cloud, and that's going to be a considerable part of our growth.

是的。魯普魯，謝謝你的提問。我們將在投資者日更多地討論這一點，但只是給您一個預覽，我們將繼續在與雲端相關的電力的商業和容量增長方面進行大量投資，這將成為我們成長的重要組成部分。

I would say Cloud itself within our CEC segment, so that is focused on kind of AI and hyperscale growth will be continued investment for us. So this theme is kind of in line with what we talked about last Investor Day, and that has proven to be a very good commitment of our resources, and that will continue to be a major macro growth driver for us.

我想說的是我們的 CEC 部門中的雲端本身，因此專注於人工智慧和超大規模成長將是我們的持續投資。因此，這個主題與我們上次投資者日討論的內容一致，事實證明這是對我們資源的非常好的承諾，並將繼續成為我們主要的宏觀成長動力。

I would say the second would be, you have -- we'll talk more about this in a few months, but value-added services, which is a combination of recycling, waste management, but also things like additional component services or more vertical integration across our end-to-end wallet share of our customers is a significant part of our growth strategy, and that has proven to be -- has had good tailwind over the last few years, and we expect that to be a continued growth focus for us, and we'll discuss that more.

我想說第二個是，我們將在幾個月內更多地討論這個問題，但增值服務是回收、廢物管理的組合，而且還包括附加組件服務或更垂直的服務等跨我們的客戶端到端錢包份額的整合是我們成長策略的重要組成部分，事實證明，這在過去幾年中具有良好的推動力，我們預計這將成為持續成長的重點對我們來說，我們將對此進行更多討論。

And then, of course, everything around electrification will be -- I mean, we continue to increase our wallet share in the automotive market, and that will be a growth area also. So, if I look at the macros, those are very much in line with the areas that I think are good growth drivers, not just for Flex, but you see that reflected in the industry itself. So those will be our focus areas.

當然，圍繞電氣化的一切都會——我的意思是，我們將繼續增加我們在汽車市場的份額，這也將是一個成長領域。因此，如果我看一下宏觀，這些與我認為是良好成長驅動力的領域非常一致，不僅對 Flex 而言，而且你會看到這反映在產業本身。因此，這些將是我們的重點領域。

(Operator Instructions). Our next question comes from Steven Fox with Fox Advisors.

（操作員說明）。我們的下一個問題來自福克斯顧問公司的史蒂文·福克斯。

A couple of questions for me. First of all, on the cash flows looking ahead, now that we're looking at a Core Flex business into next fiscal year, can you give us a sense for how we -- sort of some rule of thumbs on working capital, especially as you finish up the year, it sounds like working down some inventory? And then I had a follow-up.

有幾個問題問我。首先，關於未來的現金流，既然我們正在考慮下一財年的核心彈性業務，您能否讓我們了解一下我們如何——關於營運資本的一些經驗法則，特別是在你完成了這一年，聽起來像是在減少一些庫存？然後我進行了跟進。

Yes. I think good news is on this, Steven, is we do continue to see progress on inventory. And I don't want to guide on FY '25 yet, we're still kind of working through that process, but I certainly like the momentum and how things have sort of loosened up a little bit. My only hedge on that would be we supported the inventory growth with working capital advances from customers, and those will kind of unwind together, maybe not exactly at the same time, but those kind of come down generally simultaneously. But yes, I mean I expect more good things to come when it comes to cash because I do see a working capital [unwind] here as we look forward over the next couple of years.

是的。史蒂文，我認為這方面的好消息是我們確實繼續看到庫存方面的進展。我還不想對 25 財年進行指導，我們仍在努力完成這個過程，但我當然喜歡這種勢頭以及事情如何放鬆。我唯一的對沖是，我們用客戶預支的營運資金來支持庫存成長，這些資金會一起釋放，也許不是完全同時，但通常會同時下降。但是，是的，我的意思是，在現金方面，我預計會出現更多好事，因為在我們展望未來幾年時，我確實看到這裡的營運資金[放鬆]。

And then just there's been a lot of interesting comments on the certain markets. Just stepping back for a second. I noticed the sort of justified reason for not getting too specific on fiscal '25, but it also sounds like you haven't seen any other leg down. So can you just sort of express to us like what your biggest concerns are as you head into the new fiscal year that are out of your control?

然後，針對某些市場出現了很多有趣的評論。只是退後一步。我注意到沒有對 25 財年過於具體的合理理由，但聽起來你還沒有看到任何其他方面的下降。那麼，您能否向我們表達一下，當您進入新的財政年度時，您最大的擔憂是什麼？這是您無法控制的？

Paul, do you want to start?

保羅，你想開始嗎？

I would say -- I mean, Revathi and I probably -- we worry about lots of things, but -- and maybe they're slightly different, but mine would be -- I worry a little bit about the end markets. I think the operations are well managed, and I think we've demonstrated that we can grow earnings despite end market contractions.

我想說——我的意思是，Revathi 和我可能——我們擔心很多事情，但是——也許它們略有不同，但我的會是——我有點擔心終端市場。我認為營運管理得當，而且我認為我們已經證明，儘管終端市場收縮，我們仍然可以增加收益。

And I think we have enough levers to pull that I think you can see great operating performance despite a tough year here in FY '24. But revenue is one of those things that until it stops going down, it's not going up. And so I do worry a little bit about things like telecommunications infrastructure, enterprise IT spending, what's going to happen with medical equipment, which would be more the CapEx in medical centers.

我認為我們有足夠的槓桿來拉動，儘管 24 財年經歷了艱難的一年，但我認為您可以看到出色的經營業績。但收入是其中之一，除非它停止下降，否則它不會上升。因此，我確實有點擔心電信基礎設施、企業 IT 支出、醫療設備的情況，這更多的是醫療中心的資本支出。

But boy, there's a lot of tailwinds right now. And Cloud seems to be going quite well. I think automotive has held up well despite interest rates. I think there's parts of the industrial business that it's getting maybe bad press globally right now. But man, we have some great opportunities, and I continue to be pretty bullish on the supply chain continuity argument is such a tailwind for the macro in EMS and especially for Flex. I think that's going to be a good guy for us over the next several years. So there's some specific end market challenges that I'm a little bit anxious about, but I think the overall, the macro is pretty good for companies in our industry. We just need to execute.

但是，現在有很多順風。 Cloud 似乎進展順利。我認為儘管利率上升，汽車業仍表現良好。我認為工業企業的某些部分目前可能在全球範圍內受到負面報導。但是，夥計，我們有一些很好的機會，而且我仍然非常看好供應鏈連續性論點，這對 EMS 的宏觀經濟尤其是 Flex 來說是一個順風車。我認為在接下來的幾年裡，這對我們來說將是一個好人。因此，我對一些特定的終端市場挑戰有點擔心，但我認為總體而言，宏觀經濟對我們行業的公司來說相當有利。我們只需要執行。

I have nothing to add, I think that's well said.

我沒什麼要補充的，我覺得說得很好。

The last question comes from George Wang with Barclays.

最後一個問題來自巴克萊銀行的喬治王。

Congrats on the quarter. Just I have two quick ones. Firstly, just looking at the guidance for the free cash flow for the 4Q seems very strong, especially -- so they more than doubled sequentially from a Core flex standpoint. Maybe you can kind of double click some of the [puts and takes] on the driver. Obviously, aside from some factors you mentioned kind of [co-inventory] and some working capital advances reduction, just curious kind of additional leverage you guys have as we look out to FY '25?

恭喜本季。只是我有兩個快的。首先，僅看第四季度自由現金流的指導就顯得非常強勁，尤其是——因此從核心彈性的角度來看，它們連續增加了一倍多。也許您可以雙擊驅動程式上的一些[Puts and Takes]。顯然，除了你們提到的一些因素（共同庫存）和一些營運資金預付款減少之外，當我們展望 25 財年時，你們還有哪些奇怪的額外槓桿？

Sure, George. No problem. So one thing I'll just point out is we do tend to be a little seasonal on cash flow. Our fiscal year-end is March, you have -- a lot of our customers' fiscal year-end is December. And so there can be a little bit of timing between our Q3 and customers' Q4. And so Q3 tends to be a little on the light side.

當然，喬治。沒問題。因此，我要指出的一件事是，我們的現金流確實有點季節性。我們的財政年度結束是三月，我們許多客戶的財政年度結束是十二月。因此，我們的第三季和客戶的第四季之間可能會有一點時間上的差距。因此，第三季的情況往往比較溫和。

Q4 for us tends to be much better as some customers sort of hold checks as they get to their year-end. So seasonally, we tend to be a little bit better. That's part of it. We're definitely making some nice progress now on inventory, as I had kind of mentioned to Stephen. Working capital advances and inventory will broad-brush, I would say, they will come down sort of simultaneously. But that should continue to be a tailwind for us as we unwind some of that inventory from that chip shortage we dealt with over the last couple of years. My only other comment I would say this is a typical CFO comment. I really don't like giving quarterly guidance. And please don't expect that going forward.

對我們來說，第四季往往要好得多，因為有些客戶在年底時會保留支票。所以從季節性來看，我們往往會好一點。這是其中的一部分。正如我向史蒂芬提到的那樣，我們現在在庫存方面確實取得了一些不錯的進展。我想說的是，營運資金預付款和庫存將大致同時下降。但這對我們來說應該繼續是一個順風車，因為我們從過去幾年處理的晶片短缺中釋放了一些庫存。我唯一的其他評論是，這是典型的財務長評論。我真的不喜歡提供季度指引。請不要指望這種情況會持續下去。

The reason we were so sort of clear and prescriptive here on Q4 was, I think it's important for people to understand how things look post Nextracker separation. And so that $300 million to $400 million of free cash flow we're expecting in Q4, typically, I wouldn't make that sort of guide and plus or minus that. But generally speaking, we feel pretty good about where we are now for the year.

我們在第四季如此清晰和規範的原因是，我認為人們了解 Nextracker 分離後的情況很重要。因此，我們預計第四季度的自由現金流將達到 3 億至 4 億美元，通常情況下，我不會制定此類指南以及加上或減去這一數字。但總的來說，我們對今年的現狀感到非常滿意。

Just a quick follow-up, just kind of trying to hone in on the AI kind of power, hyperscale exposure there. Just -- are you able to quantify the revenue contribution for this particular segment? So they're enjoying kind of over 20% growth. Kind of what's the mix roughly versus total Flex revenue? And you guys sort of incorporate some of the share gains as well aside from -- so they obviously a growing pie for the AI industry and a large -- it's not like some share gain as well, maybe you guys are taking versus other ODMs out there given such a double-digit strong growth rate? Maybe you can give additional color on those.

只是一個快速的後續行動，只是試圖磨練人工智慧的力量，在那裡進行超大規模的曝光。只是——您能夠量化這個特定細分市場的收入貢獻嗎？所以他們正在享受超過 20% 的成長。與 Flex 總收入相比，這種組合大致是怎樣的？你們也吸收了一些份額收益——所以它們顯然是人工智慧產業的一塊不斷增長的蛋糕，而且是一個很大的份額——這也不像一些份額收益，也許你們正在與其他 ODM 相比有沒有給出如此兩位數的強勁成長率？也許你可以為它們添加額外的顏色。

Yes. George, we'll talk a little bit more about this in our Investor Day, but we haven't shared -- I mean, you know in Anord Mardix because we bought that business, and so that revenue is known, but it's grown dramatically since we bought it. We haven't shared our embedded power business and those numbers publicly and our value-added services numbers that go into hybrid scale.

是的。喬治，我們將在投資者日更多地討論這一點，但我們還沒有分享——我的意思是，你知道在阿諾德·馬迪克斯，因為我們買了那家公司，所以收入是已知的，但它增長迅速自從我們買了它。我們還沒有公開分享我們的嵌入式電力業務和這些數字以及我們進入混合規模的增值服務數字。

So those haven't been shared. So I would say if I look at kind of AI growth and overall growth for us in hyperscale across these capabilities, all of those are fairly strong. Yes, we've definitely clearly taken share, I would say, in the CEC segment. In the embedded power segment, we don't really have major competitors who have our capability, our product capability.

所以這些還沒有被分享。所以我想說，如果我看看人工智慧的成長以及我們在超大規模領域的整體成長，所有這些能力都相當強勁。是的，我想說，我們顯然已經在 CEC 領域佔據了份額。在嵌入式電源領域，我們並沒有真正擁有我們的能力、我們的產品能力的主要競爭對手。

And I would say, so we feel very comfortable with the fact that we're taking share in the right way and not really from ODMs because we don't like to compete with ODM margins. So I would say more in terms of being able to sell our overall value. So the margin accretion also is in line with what we would be looking for. So more to come on that, I would say, here in a few months, but we'll definitely focus on kind of AI and data center growth as it relates to us. But we feel really good about the growth associated with that for us.

我想說，所以我們對我們以正確的方式獲取份額而不是真正從 ODM 那裡獲得份額感到非常滿意，因為我們不喜歡與 ODM 利潤競爭。所以我會更多地談論能夠出售我們的整體價值。因此，利潤成長也符合我們的預期。所以我想說，幾個月後還會有更多的事情發生，但我們肯定會關注與我們相關的人工智慧和資料中心的成長。但我們對與此相關的成長感到非常滿意。

I think that was the last question. So thank you. We look forward to speaking with you again when we hold our investor event in conjunction with our fiscal Q4 earnings call. I would like to -- on behalf of my leadership team, I want to say a thank you to all our customers and our shareholders for their support, and of course, the Flex team across the globe for their dedication and contributions. Thank you.

我認為這是最後一個問題。所以謝謝。我們期待在我們與第四季度財報電話會議同時舉行投資者活動時再次與您交談。我謹代表我的領導團隊，向所有客戶和股東的支持表示感謝，當然，也要感謝全球偉創力團隊的奉獻和貢獻。謝謝。

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。您現在可以斷開連線。