Flux Power Holdings Inc (FLUX) 2024 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Greetings, and welcome to the Flux Power Holdings third-quarter fiscal year 2024 financial results conference call. (Operator Instructions) As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. I would now like to hand the call over to Maria Rico, Marketing Manager. Maria.

您好，歡迎參加 Flux Power Holdings 2024 財年第三季財務業績電話會議。（操作員指示）謹此提醒，本次會議正在錄製中。我現在想將電話轉交給行銷經理 Maria Rico。瑪麗亞.

Thank you, operator. Your hosts today, Ron Dutt, Chief Executive Officer; and Kevin Royal, Chief Financial Officer, will present results of operations for fiscal third quarter ended March 31, 2024. A press release detailing these results crossed the wire this afternoon at 4:01 PM Eastern Time and is available in the Investor Relations section of our company's website, fluxpower.com.

謝謝你，接線生。今天的主持人是執行長 Ron Dutt；財務長 Kevin Royal 將公佈截至 2024 年 3 月 31 日的第三財季營運表現。詳細介紹這些結果的新聞稿於美國東部時間今天下午 4:01 發布，可在我們公司網站 Fluxpower.com 的投資者關係部分查看。

Before we begin the formal presentation, I would like to remind everyone that statements made on the call and webcast may include predictions, estimates, or other information that might be considered forward-looking. While these forward-looking statements represent our current judgment on what the future holds, they are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially.

在我們開始正式演示之前，我想提醒大家，電話會議和網路廣播中的陳述可能包括預測、估計或其他可能被視為前瞻性的資訊。雖然這些前瞻性陳述代表了我們目前對未來的判斷，但它們受到風險和不確定性的影響，可能導致實際結果出現重大差異。

You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which reflect our opinions only as of the date of this presentation. Please keep in mind that we are not obligating ourselves to revise or publicly release the results of any revisions to these forward-looking statements in light of new information or future events.

請您注意不要過度依賴這些前瞻性陳述，這些陳述僅反映我們截至本簡報發布之日的觀點。請記住，我們沒有義務根據新資訊或未來事件修改或公開發布這些前瞻性陳述的任何修改結果。

Throughout today's discussion, we will attempt to present some important factors relating to our business that may affect our predictions. You should also review our most recent Form 10-K for a more complete discussion of these factors and other risks, particularly under the heading Risk Factors. At this time, I will turn the call over to Flux Power Chief Executive Officer, Ron Dutt.

在今天的討論中，我們將嘗試提出一些與我們的業務相關、可能影響我們的預測的重要因素。您還應該查看我們最新的表格 10-K，以更完整地討論這些因素和其他風險，特別是在「風險因素」標題下。此時，我會將電話轉給 Flux Power 執行長 Ron Dutt。

Thank you, Maria, and good afternoon, everyone. I'm pleased to welcome you to today's fiscal third-quarter 2024 financial results conference call. To begin, I would first like to call out our headline themes and then go on to step through supporting context and color.

謝謝瑪麗亞，大家下午好。我很高興歡迎您參加今天的 2024 年第三季財務業績電話會議。首先，我想先指出我們的標題主題，然後繼續逐步介紹支援背景和顏色。

We had experienced delays in new orders since this past January, driven by revised timing of forklift deliveries, which impact timing of our orders and shipments. We see indications in our market sector of the impact of higher interest rates and economic uncertainty during this calendar year. While we don't give specific guidance, we are aware of signs of potential abatement of the headwinds later this calendar year.

自今年一月以來，由於堆高機交貨時間的修改，我們的新訂單出現了延遲，這影響了我們的訂單和出貨時間。我們在市場領域看到了今年利率上升和經濟不確定性影響的跡象。雖然我們沒有給出具體指導，但我們意識到今年稍後不利因素可能減弱的跡象。

We have been undertaking specific initiatives to increase revenue growth, reduce costs, launch new high-demand products, and ensure our pricing is appropriate for all our models. Put simply, our two high priorities are revenue growth and reaching profitability. Our reputation in the market and with sustaining Fortune 100 customers we have provide evidence of our value proposition along with over 22,000 Flux Power lithium-ion packs operating in North America.

我們一直在採取具體措施來提高收入成長、降低成本、推出新的高需求產品，並確保我們的定價適合我們所有的型號。簡而言之，我們的兩個首要任務是收入成長和獲利。我們在市場上的聲譽以及對財富 100 強客戶的支持，以及在北美運營的 22,000 多個 Flux Power 鋰離子電池組，證明了我們的價值主張。

Turning to fiscal third quarter of 2024 results, we did experience reduced revenue of $14.5 million, versus $15.1 million in the year ago quarter. This reduction in revenue comes following our highest quarterly revenue ever of $18.3 million in the fiscal second quarter of 2024 this year.

談到 2024 年第三財季的業績，我們的營收確實減少了 1,450 萬美元，而去年同期的營收為 1,510 萬美元。這項營收減少是在今年 2024 財年第二季我們實現有史以來最高的季度收入 1,830 萬美元之後發生的。

Regarding our gross margin, the fiscal third quarter of 2024 decreased slightly to 30%, and our adjusted EBITDA was a loss of $1.4 million, compared with a loss of $700,000 in the year ago quarter. Our backlog has seen a similar impact, with reduction to $18.5 million from $25 million a year ago.

就我們的毛利率而言，2024財年第三季小幅下降至30%，調整後的EBITDA虧損140萬美元，而去年同期虧損70萬美元。我們的積壓訂單也受到了類似的影響，從一年前的 2500 萬美元減少到 1850 萬美元。

Regarding our customer base, we have no known lost customers and no lost orders to competition. Furthermore, we have not seen any pullback from interest in migrating to lithium-ion solutions. Despite our current higher interest rate environment, we believe the trend of fleet-wide migration to lithium-ion solution is still advancing, and micro capital spending trends remained intact, as evidenced by the Institute of Supply Management survey released this month showing that manufacturing grew for the first time in 1.5 years in this past March.

關於我們的客戶群，我們沒有已知的客戶流失情況，也沒有因競爭而失去訂單。此外，我們沒有看到遷移到鋰離子解決方案的興趣有任何減弱。儘管我們目前的利率環境較高，但我們相信整個船隊向鋰離子解決方案遷移的趨勢仍在推進，微觀資本支出趨勢保持不變，供應管理協會本月發布的調查顯示製造業增長就證明了這一點今年 3 月，這是 1.5 年來的首次。

To support revenue growth, we're expanding our sales force and implementing marketing initiatives to expand awareness of both the value proposition to customers and capabilities of Flux Power to impact their fleet operations. Our solutions provide increased performance of forklifts, product life cycle cost savings, asset management improvements from our leading telemetry, and carbon dioxide reductions to the environment. We also provide integration of most brands of charging equipment to our packs, to our lithium battery packs, and provide an integrated solution for the customers.

為了支持收入成長，我們正在擴大銷售團隊並實施行銷計劃，以提高客戶對價值主張的認識以及 Flux Power 影響其車隊營運的能力。我們的解決方案提高了堆高機的性能，節省了產品生命週期成本，透過我們領先的遙測技術改善了資產管理，並減少了對環境的二氧化碳排放。我們還提供將大多數品牌的充電設備整合到我們的電池組、鋰電池組中，並為客戶提供整合解決方案。

I would like to reiterate that we are highly focused on expanding sales and marketing initiatives to secure new customer relationships and support our customers' continued migration to lithium with their typical very large fleets. Additionally, we're working with our distribution partners to acquire new customers, which includes sales and marketing resources and materials and getting our salespeople closer to end customers and their needs as we collaborate with our dealers and distributors.

我想重申，我們高度重視擴大銷售和行銷活動，以確保新的客戶關係，並支持我們的客戶透過其典型的超大型船隊繼續轉向鋰。此外，我們還與分銷合作夥伴合作來獲取新客戶，其中包括銷售和行銷資源和材料，並在與經銷商和分銷商合作時讓我們的銷售人員更接近最終客戶及其需求。

Also, we're taking several actions in support of our targeted sales trajectory. These include new product launches of heavy-duty models addressing customer demand, adding salespeople to support new customer acquisition, and increasing our marketing resources and initiatives. Importantly, we are launching a new private-label program this quarter with another top-tier forklift OEM.

此外，我們正在採取多項行動來支持我們的目標銷售軌跡。其中包括推出滿足客戶需求的重型型號新產品、增加銷售人員以支持新客戶獲取，以及增加我們的行銷資源和措施。重要的是，我們本季將與另一家頂級堆高機原始設備製造商推出新的自有品牌計畫。

As mentioned earlier, we are also taking actions to increase our gross margins, including cost reductions company-wide and selected pricing increases reflecting our total value-add to products and services for our customers. We are pleased to report on our continued progress in expanding technology and partnerships. Prototype testing of our fast-charging technology is scheduled to take place this summer.

如前所述，我們也採取行動來提高毛利率，包括全公司範圍內的成本削減和選擇性的定價上漲，以反映我們為客戶提供的產品和服務的總增值。我們很高興地報告我們在擴大技術和合作夥伴關係方面不斷取得的進展。我們的快速充電技術的原型測試計劃於今年夏天進行。

Separately, we are launching the automation of modularization of battery cells, which should improve our working capital management. We are working with new potential customers to implement second-life use of our packs that are reaching the end of their initial application. This would include stationary storage opportunities for those packs.

另外，我們正在啟動電池單元模組化自動化，這將改善我們的營運資金管理。我們正在與新的潛在客戶合作，對我們的初始應用即將結束的包裝進行二次利用。這將包括這些包的固定存儲機會。

We have an initiative with one of our Fortune 50 long-term customers to implement a nationwide installation of telemetry, which we call our SkyBMS. And this is all to improve customer asset management. Our software and cloud accessibility includes the development of an application of machine learning and AI features for product support tailored to large fleets.

我們與財富 50 強長期客戶之一發起一項倡議，在全國安裝遙測系統，我們稱之為 SkyBMS。而這一切都是為了改善客戶資產管理。我們的軟體和雲端可訪問性包括開發機器學習和人工智慧功能的應用程序，以便為大型車隊量身定制產品支援。

Now I do want to mention two of our recent appointments. And I'm also pleased to highlight our new CFO, Kevin Royal, who joined in early March this year, and also our newly elected board director, Mark Leposky. They both bring impressive depth of experience, successfully building high-growth businesses and are key resources to achieve our strategy of scaling our business with top-tier customers.

現在我想提一下我們最近的兩個約會。我還很高興地向您介紹今年 3 月初加入的新財務長 Kevin Royal，以及我們新當選的董事會董事 Mark Leposky。他們都帶來了令人印象深刻的豐富經驗，成功地建立了高成長的業務，並且是實現我們與頂級客戶擴展業務的策略的關鍵資源。

In the longer term, our strategy revolves around building scale to sell our packs, products to large fleets, building on our momentum in revenue, gross margin, and operating leverage. Currently, we are growing organically within our capital resources, but have begun to explore and develop strategies, including those already mentioned, to build partnerships that can leverage revenue growth, technology, and profitability and achieve our goal of building scale to meet the needs of our customers.

從長遠來看，我們的策略圍繞著擴大規模，向大型車隊銷售我們的包裝和產品，以我們在收入、毛利率和營運槓桿方面的勢頭為基礎。目前，我們正在我們的資本資源範圍內有機增長，但已經開始探索和製定策略，包括已經提到的策略，以建立能夠利用收入增長、技術和盈利能力的合作夥伴關係，並實現我們擴大規模以滿足客戶需求的目標。

As I mentioned earlier, adjusted EBITDA loss of $1.4 million during the fiscal third quarter resulted primarily from the impact of lower revenue and a one-time warranty-related expense. As presented in the previous slide, we are experiencing a pause, you would call it, due to the higher interest rate environment, yet we do see signs of a gradual return to our growth rate in the second half of calendar 2024.

正如我之前提到的，第三財季調整後 EBITDA 損失 140 萬美元，主要是由於收入下降和一次性保固相關費用的影響。正如上一張投影片所示，由於利率環境較高，我們正在經歷暫停，您可以稱之為停頓，但我們確實看到了 2024 年下半年成長率逐漸恢復的跡象。

Our current customer base continues to reflect large fleets of well-known companies seeking the value proposition of higher performance, lower lifetime costs, and asset management tools and services. Our full product line caters to large fleets who seek ongoing relationship, partnership to meet current and future needs, not just one-time transactional purchases. These customers represent well-known household names having large fleets who require high-performing suppliers who provide best-in-class products and, especially, services.

我們目前的客戶群繼續反映大量知名公司尋求更高績效、更低生命週期成本以及資產管理工具和服務的價值主張。我們的完整產品線迎合大型車隊的需求，他們尋求持續的關係、合作夥伴關係以滿足當前和未來的需求，而不僅僅是一次性的交易性購買。這些客戶代表著擁有大型車隊的家喻戶曉的品牌，他們需要高性能的供應商來提供一流的產品，尤其是服務。

While the forklift growth rate has historically been single-digit, the adoption of lithium-ion batteries is growing at a much higher rate, driven by the compelling value proposition of lithium compared to lead acid, and propane, for that matter, and especially in larger multi-shift operations. The material handling sector is not unaffected by economic downturns, but it is critical to transport goods and provide services throughout the business cycle. Our strategy includes adjacent verticals such as airport ground support equipment, referred to as GSE, and we continue to explore additional adjacencies to leverage our core competencies and capabilities.

雖然堆高機的成長率歷來都是個位數，但鋰離子電池的採用率正在以更高的速度成長，這是由於鋰相對於鉛酸和丙烷具有令人信服的價值主張，就此而言，特別是在較大的多班次作業。物料搬運產業並非不受經濟衰退的影響，但它在整個商業週期中運輸貨物和提供服務至關重要。我們的策略包括鄰近的垂直領域，例如機場地面支援設備（簡稱 GSE），並且我們將繼續探索其他鄰近領域，以利用我們的核心競爭力和能力。

Gross margin initiatives have dramatically improved over the last two years, and we expect continued improvement. Gross profit was down slightly during this third quarter to $4.4 million, and gross margin held steady at 30% compared to the year ago.

過去兩年毛利率大幅改善，我們預計將繼續改善。第三季毛利小幅下降至 440 萬美元，毛利率與去年同期相比穩定在 30%。

With strategic supply chain and profitability improvement initiatives achieving lower costs and higher volume purchasing, we are targeting gross margin improvement to continue, with a long-term goal of exceeding 40%. All these initiatives are part of our plan to accelerate gross margin and reach our target goal.

隨著策略供應鏈和獲利能力改善計畫實現更低的成本和更高的採購量，我們的目標是繼續提高毛利率，長期目標是超過 40%。所有這些舉措都是我們提高毛利率和實現目標計劃的一部分。

As of May 6, 2024, our open order backlog was $18.5 million. Our backlog reflects longer lead times of incoming purchase orders from major OEMs to align with their schedule of new forklift deliveries and extended delivery times for certain model lines for new GSE equipment.

截至 2024 年 5 月 6 日，我們的未完成訂單積壓金額為 1,850 萬美元。我們的積壓反映了主要原始設備製造商收到的採購訂單的交貨時間更長，以配合他們的新堆高機交付時間表，以及新 GSE 設備的某些型號系列的交付時間延長。

Beyond our backlog of open orders, the future continues to look bright, with growth of current customer adoption and new customer potential acquisition. With that, I will now turn it over to Kevin Royal, our newly appointed Chief Financial Officer, to review the financial results. Kevin.

除了積壓的未結訂單之外，隨著當前客戶採用率的成長和新客戶潛在獲取的成長，未來仍然一片光明。現在，我將把它交給我們新任命的財務長凱文·羅亞爾（Kevin Royal），以審查財務表現。凱文.

Thank you, Ron. Now turning to review our financial results for the quarter ended March 31, 2024. Revenue for the first fiscal quarter of 2024 decreased 4% to $14.5 million, compared to $15.1 million in the fiscal third quarter of 2023, due to lower capital spending in the market sectors that we serve, resulting in shipments of fewer units during the quarter.

謝謝你，羅恩。現在回顧我們截至 2024 年 3 月 31 日的季度的財務表現。2024 年第一財季的營收下降4%，至1,450 萬美元，而2023 年第三財季的營收為1,510 萬美元，原因是我們所服務的市場領域的資本支出減少，導致該季度的出貨量減少。

Gross profit for the fiscal third quarter of 2024 decreased 7% to $4.4 million, compared to a gross profit of $4.7 million in the fiscal third quarter of 2023. Gross margin decreased to 30% in the fiscal third quarter of 2024, as compared to 31% in the fiscal third quarter of 2023. Gross profit margin decreased slightly, by 100 basis points, as a result of higher warranty expense during the current quarter, partially offset by lower average cost of sales per unit achieved as a result of our product cost improvement initiatives.

2024 年第三財季的毛利下降 7%，至 440 萬美元，而 2023 年第三財季的毛利為 470 萬美元。2024 年第三財季的毛利率下降至 30%，而 2023 年第三財季的毛利率為 31%。由於本季保固費用增加，毛利率略有下降，下降了 100 個基點，但由於我們的產品成本改進計劃而實現的單位平均銷售成本下降，部分抵消了毛利率的下降。

Selling and administrative expenses increased to $5.3 million in the fiscal third quarter of 2024, as compared to $4.7 million in fiscal third quarter of 2023, primarily attributable to higher staff-related expenses, including certain severance expenses and increases in stock-based compensation, recruiting expenses, outbound shipping costs, and professional service fees, partially offset by decreases in sales commissions, E&O insurance expenses, travel expenses and depreciation expense. Research and development expenses increased to $1.3 million in the fiscal third quarter of 2024, compared to $1.2 million in the fiscal third quarter of 2023, primarily due to higher staff-related expenses, including severance expenses, stock-based compensation, and general research and development costs.

2024 財年第三季的銷售和管理費用增加至 530 萬美元，而 2023 財年第三季為 470 萬美元，這主要是由於員工相關費用增加，包括某些遣散費以及股票薪酬、招聘的增加費用、出境運輸成本和專業服務費，部分被銷售佣金、E&O 保險費用、差旅費用和折舊費用的減少所抵銷。2024 年第三財季的研發費用增加至130 萬美元，而2023 年第三財季的研發費用為120 萬美元，主要是由於員工相關費用增加，包括遣散費、股票薪酬以及一般研究和開發費用。

Adjusted EBITDA loss was $1.4 million in the fiscal third quarter of 2024, as compared to a loss of $0.7 million in the fiscal third quarter of 2023, primarily attributable to the impact of lower revenue. Net loss for the fiscal third quarter of 2024 was $2.6 million, compared to a loss of $1.4 million in the fiscal third quarter of 2023, primarily attributable to decreased gross profit and increases in operating expenses and interest expense to support our planned growth.

2024 年第三財季調整後 EBITDA 虧損為 140 萬美元，而 2023 年第三財季虧損 70 萬美元，主要歸因於營收下降的影響。2024 年第三財季的淨虧損為 260 萬美元，而 2023 年第三財季的淨虧損為 140 萬美元，主要歸因於毛利潤下降以及支持我們計劃增長的營運費用和利息支出增加。

Cash was $1.3 million on March 31, 2024, as compared to $2.4 million at June 30, 2023, based on timing of utilizing our credit line. Net cash used in operating activities decreased by $0.9 million to $4.3 million in the nine months ended March 31, 2024, compared to $5.2 million in the nine months ended March 31, 2023.

根據我們使用信用額度的時間，2024 年 3 月 31 日的現金為 130 萬美元，而 2023 年 6 月 30 日的現金為 240 萬美元。截至2024年3月31日止九個月，經營活動使用的現金淨額減少90萬美元，至430萬美元，而截至2023年3月31日止九個月為520萬美元。

Available working capital includes our line of credit as of May 6, 2024, under our $16 million credit facility from Gibraltar Business Capital, with a remaining available balance of $3.2 million, and $2 million available under the subordinated line of credit with Cleveland Capital. Credit line with Gibraltar, subject to eligible accounts receivables and the inventory borrowing base, provides for expansion up to $20 million.

可用營運資金包括截至 2024 年 5 月 6 日的信用額度，來自直布羅陀商業資本的 1,600 萬美元信貸額度，剩餘可用餘額為 320 萬美元，以及克利夫蘭資本的次級信用額度下的 200 萬美元。與直布羅陀的信貸額度，根據合格的應收帳款和庫存借款基礎，可擴大至高達 2,000 萬美元。

Now looking at capital allocation, we have been impacted by slowing revenue this calendar year, which is extending the time frame to reach cash flow breakeven. We are working with Gibraltar, our lender for our working capital line, to revise our financial covenant requirements to support our current trajectory. As a result, we needed to include a going concern clause in our 10-Q filing, which we anticipate to file on Monday, May 13, 2024. I'd now like to pass it back to Ron to offer some closing remarks.

現在看看資本配置，我們受到了今年收入放緩的影響，這延長了實現現金流量收支平衡的時間框架。我們正在與我們的營運資金線貸款人直布羅陀合作，修改我們的財務契約要求，以支持我們當前的發展軌跡。因此，我們需要在 10-Q 文件中納入持續經營條款，預計於 2024 年 5 月 13 日星期一提交。現在我想將它轉回給羅恩，以提供一些結束語。

Thank you, Kevin. To summarize our comments so far, the fiscal third quarter of 2024 saw lumpiness from timing of deliveries and customer, new forklifts, orders, and interest rate variability. We do, however, remain confident in our recovery and are highly focused on additional selling strategies to support our historical sales trajectory.

謝謝你，凱文。總結我們迄今為止的評論，2024 年第三財季的交貨時間和客戶、新堆高機、訂單和利率波動導致了不穩定。然而，我們對復甦仍然充滿信心，並高度關注額外的銷售策略，以支持我們的歷史銷售軌跡。

Gross margin initiatives have dramatically improved margins over the last two years. With strategic supply chain and profitability improvement initiatives, lower costs, and higher volume pricing, we continue to experience gross margin improvements.

過去兩年，毛利率舉措顯著提高了利潤率。憑藉戰略供應鏈和盈利能力改善計劃、更低的成本和更高的批量定價，我們的毛利率持續提高。

We are highly focused on expanding sales and marketing initiatives to secure new customer relationships and support continued migration to lithium of current customers. We're very excited to add another Tier 1 OEM private-label program to supplement our strong OEM relationships and approvals.

我們高度重視擴大銷售和行銷活動，以確保新的客戶關係並支持現有客戶繼續轉向鋰。我們非常高興能夠添加另一個 1 級 OEM 自有品牌計劃，以補充我們強大的 OEM 關係和批准。

We are also working with our distribution network to expand customer acquisition. We're leveraging our position with growth-oriented projects and developing partnerships with vendors, technology partners, and opportunities to further drive growth. We are working to expand product lines for multiple customer segments and adjacent markets with new products and filling gaps in our energy storage offerings.

我們也與我們的分銷網絡合作​​以擴大客戶獲取。我們正在透過以成長為導向的專案來利用我們的地位，並與供應商、技術合作夥伴建立合作夥伴關係，並尋找進一步推動成長的機會。我們正在努力透過新產品擴大針對多個客戶群和鄰近市場的產品線，並填補我們能源儲存產品的空缺。

Recently, we introduced our new second-generation lithium-ion battery pack for Class II narrow-aisle forklifts and Class I four-wheel counterbalanced forklifts, and we'll be adding heavy-duty models to most of our product lines in coming months. Our telemetry, which includes asset management features, is in the pilot stage with a Fortune 50 company for implementation nationwide.

最近，我們推出了適用於 II 類窄通道堆高機和 I 類四輪平衡重堆高機的新型第二代鋰離子電池組，我們將在未來幾個月內向我們的大多數產品線添加重型型號。我們的遙測技術（包括資產管理功能）正處於與財富 50 強公司的試點階段，將在全國實施。

Finally, be assured, our top priorities are revenue growth and reaching profitability. Fortunately, underlying interest for migration to lithium-ion solutions has never been greater. I look forward to providing our shareholders with further updates in the near term as we strengthen our leadership position in lithium-ion technology solutions with our growing list of new and diverse large customers. I thank you all for attending. And now, I would like to hand the call over to the operator to begin our question-and-answer session. Operator.

最後，請放心，我們的首要任務是收入成長和獲利。幸運的是，人們對遷移到鋰離子解決方案的潛在興趣從未如此強烈。我期待在短期內向我們的股東提供進一步的最新信息，因為我們通過不斷增加的新的和多樣化的大客戶名單來加強我們在鋰離子技術解決方案方面的領導地位。我感謝大家的出席。現在，我想將電話轉交給接線員，開始我們的問答環節。操作員。

(Operator Instructions) Craig Irwin, Roth MKM.

（操作員說明）Craig Irwin，Roth MKM。

Good afternoon. This is Andrew on for Craig and thank you for taking my questions. So the first question I have here is on the announced private label, the second one with the OEM. I was wondering if you could just kind of describe maybe the scale of the partnership, any details on the rollout there? Just more color would be much appreciated.

午安.我是克雷格的安德魯，感謝您回答我的問題。因此，我的第一個問題是關於宣布的自有品牌，第二個問題是關於 OEM。我想知道您是否可以描述一下合作夥伴關係的規模以及在那裡推出的任何細節？如果有更多的顏色，我們將不勝感激。

Sure, yeah. The private -- we have another OEM private label and we've had for four or five years. This is going to be equal to or bigger than that. So it really provides very consistent, almost monthly, definitely quarterly, orders. And they are both Top 5 OEM globally.

當然，是的。自有品牌－我們還有另一個 OEM 自有品牌，而且已經有四、五年了。這將等於或大於該值。因此，它確實提供了非常一致的、幾乎每月、絕對是季度的訂單。他們都是全球排名前 5 名的 OEM。

And we found that it's very helpful, because these Class III walkie pallet jacks, which is the program, are found almost in every installation around the country. And the OEM dealerships feed that interest and really provide very helpful, efficient distribution strategy for us.

我們發現它非常有幫助，因為這些 III 級便攜式托盤搬運車（即該程式）幾乎在全國各地的每個安裝中都可以找到。OEM 經銷商滿足了這種興趣，並為我們提供了非常有用、高效的分銷策略。

So we already are getting -- we work closely with the OEMs and projecting their forecast for this. They're both of similar magnitude and size at this point, and very excited about launching this. We've just started it. It involves three or four variations of that product line. Very excited about it.

所以我們已經與原始設備製造商密切合作並預測他們對此的預測。目前它們的規模和規模相似，並且對推出這項專案感到非常興奮。我們才剛開始。它涉及該產品線的三到四種變體。對此非常興奮。

Great, thanks for the color, and it's great to hear. Second one here, kind of touched on different initiatives to stimulate revenue between the prepared remarks and in the press release kind of mentioning direct-to-consumer initiatives, kind of working with your marketing team, and even, I think, Ron, you mentioned potential partnerships earlier on the call. Could you just talk through what you're looking at there and the different ways you can boost demand here?

太棒了，謝謝你的顏色，很高興聽到。第二個是在準備好的演講和新聞稿中提到了一些刺激收入的不同舉措，其中提到了直接面向消費者的舉措，與您的行銷團隊合作，甚至我認為羅恩，您提到過電話會議早些時候討論了潛在的合作夥伴關係。您能談談您在那裡看到的情況以及可以在這裡刺激需求的不同方法嗎？

I think it's pretty exciting. We found -- while we have a good core of customers shown on our slide, on our website, in the presentation, of all the household customer names, I think we see it as the best time to aggressively expand our sales and marketing reach by adding more salespeople. We're in that process right now. We brought on a new one, another salesperson, bringing on another one. I fully expect to at least double, possibly triple, that over the coming year.

我認為這非常令人興奮。我們發現，雖然我們的投影片、網站、簡報中顯示了所有家庭客戶名稱的良好核心客戶，但我認為我們認為這是積極擴大我們的銷售和行銷範圍的最佳時機增加更多的銷售人員。我們現在正處於這個過程中。我們引進了一位新員工，另一位銷售人員，又引進了另一位銷售人員。我完全預計來年至少會增加一倍，甚至可能三倍。

We've found that there's a very strong interest to get more exposure of who we are, what we do, references of having Flux as a supplier to help them understand what configuration of lithium is best for them, to work with them. It's a long-term partnership.

我們發現，人們非常有興趣進一步了解我們是誰、我們做什麼、以 Flux 作為供應商的參考資料，以幫助他們了解哪種鋰配置最適合他們，並與他們合作。這是一種長期的合作關係。

So our salespeople are just not out there quoting deals trying to get the lowest bid, get this deal, and move on to something else. It's building that reputation and those references that show how we can provide a complete package for them, of understanding their needs and stretching their people and all their installations around the country, their techs, provide the product support network, confidence that we can deliver our packs on time to them; and also, that long-term relationships that we will continue to have, the technology and product features in the future as this sector evolves, to have confidence that we're a player that can do it.

因此，我們的銷售人員不會在那裡報價，試圖獲得最低出價，得到這筆交易，然後轉向其他事情。它正在建立這種聲譽和那些參考資料，這些參考資料表明我們如何為他們提供完整的一攬子計劃，了解他們的需求並擴展他們的人員和他們在全國各地的所有設施，他們的技術，提供產品支持網絡，並相信我們可以交付我們的產品。此外，隨著這個行業的發展，我們將繼續保持長期的合作關係、技術和產品功能，讓我們相信我們是一個能夠做到這一點的參與者。

So our sales people, our marketing initiatives, we're looking now to really get aggressive with those. There's a great opportunity for that, to attract that interest, particularly now that we have a reputation in the marketplace. Very strong, we just had an annual trade show in Atlanta in March, and we certainly got reassurance of that, which is very helpful.

因此，我們的銷售人員，我們的行銷計劃，我們現在正在尋求真正積極地實施這些措施。這是一個很好的機會來吸引人們的興趣，特別是現在我們在市場上享有盛譽。非常強大，我們剛剛在三月在亞特蘭大舉辦了一年一度的貿易展，我們當然得到了這一點的保證，這非常有幫助。

Because when the investors are investing in a deal, nobody wants to be the first one in, and the same way with trying a new product. So I think we've built a lot of leverage over, a lot of hard work over the past 10 years developing this. We've been validated in the marketplace, and now is the time to certainly expand our exposure.

因為當投資者投資一項交易時，沒有人想成為第一個投資的人，嘗試新產品也是如此。因此，我認為在過去 10 年的開發過程中，我們已經建立了巨大的影響力和大量的努力。我們已經在市場上得到了驗證，現在是時候擴大我們的曝光度了。

Great. Well, thank you for answering my questions, and I'll hop back in the queue.

偉大的。好的，謝謝您回答我的問題，我會回到隊列中。

Yeah, thanks, Andrew.

是的，謝謝，安德魯。

Rob Brown, Lake Street Capital Markets.

羅布布朗，湖街資本市場。

Hi, good afternoon.

嗨，下午好。

Hi, Rob, how you doing?

嗨，羅布，你好嗎？

Great, thank you. On the sort of order activity and the market demand, I know it's slowed down a little bit. How's the visibility there? Do you get a sense of things starting to pick up from kind of customer conversations or is there sort of a time cycle or seasonality to the orders that you feel comfortable with that can get some growth in the back half?

太好了謝謝。就訂單活動和市場需求而言，我知道它有所放緩。那裡的能見度怎麼樣？您是否從與客戶的對話中感覺到事情開始好轉，或者訂單是否存在某種時間週期或季節性，您認為可以在下半年獲得一些增長？

In the past, in past years, we've had some seasonality for the summer, particularly for the food and beverage distribution companies who don't like to install new equipment in the summer. So there has been some of that experience. But I think what we're seeing is a pretty broad-based reaction by the end customers of the interest rate activity. And it's what we suspect. We got a lot of input across the sector at the trade show along with what our sales people get. And we see as well.

在過去的幾年裡，我們的夏季有一些季節性，特別是對於那些不喜歡在夏季安裝新設備的食品和飲料分銷公司。所以有一些這樣的經驗。但我認為我們看到的是最終客戶對利率活動的相當廣泛的反應。這正是我們所懷疑的。我們在貿易展上獲得了整個行業的大量意見以及我們的銷售人員的意見。我們也看到了。

So I think where we -- the past December quarter, we had our highest revenue month. The underlying current was there was, if you look at gross output, starting to be impacted back in the fall. So there's a little time lag effect of that to when we and, really, our competitors in the sector start seeing -- as it falls through and affects us. So we see that continuing.

因此，我認為在過去的 12 月季度中，我們實現了收入最高的月份。如果你看看總產出，潛在的電流是在秋季開始受到影響的。因此，當我們以及實際上我們在該行業的競爭對手開始看到它失敗並影響我們時，會有一點時間滯後效應。所以我們看到這種情況仍在繼續。

We work with our largest customers on long-term forecast, and they're all there. They're just pushing, delaying some of these out. So the hard numbers are the backlog that you get because those are orders, definite timing. Then we work with forecasts of our end customers and also our OEMs who are matching the new forklifts with our batteries. We see and hear a lot of talk about the impacts across the whole sector.

我們與最大的客戶合作進行長期預測，他們都在那裡。他們只是在推動、推遲其中一些。因此，硬數字是您得到的積壓訂單，因為這些是訂單，有明確的時間表。然後，我們根據最終客戶以及為新堆高機與我們的電池進行匹配的原始設備製造商的預測進行合作。我們看到和聽到很多關於整個行業影響的討論。

So we have indications, and I say indications because you know we don't give guidance, but things starting to pick up and having less caution on putting new equipment into place in the latter half of the year, particularly more towards the fourth quarter. There are lead times on forklifts, there are lead times on batteries. So that has to be factored into the understanding of timing. But I would say we see us coming out of that in the back half of this year.

所以我們有跡象，我說有跡像是因為你知道我們不提供指導，但情況開始好轉，並且在今年下半年安裝新設備時不再那麼謹慎，尤其是在第四季度。堆高機有交貨時間，電池也有交貨時間。因此，必須將其納入對時機的理解中。但我想說，我們預計今年下半年會走出困境。

Okay, great. Thanks for the color there. And then on the new product launches, can you remind us again of sort of how where you're at in that? And I know there were some models that were launched and some are coming, but where are you at in the new product kind of refresh and enhanced models?

好的，太好了。感謝那裡的顏色。關於新產品的發布，您能再次提醒我們您在這方面的進展如何嗎？我知道有些型號已經推出，有些即將推出，但您在新產品類型的更新和增強型號中處於什麼位置？

Yeah, sure. We have been working on well over the past year, actually longer than that, having a series of what I would call heavy-duty models for all our lines. Our customers with their forklifts, they need different power needs depending on whether they're lifting and moving potato chips or engine blocks, to add color to it.

好，當然。在過去的一年裡，我們一直在努力，實際上比這更長，為我們所有的生產線提供了一系列我稱之為重型模型的產品。我們的堆高機客戶需要不同的動力需求，這取決於他們是提升和移動薯片還是引擎組，以為其增添色彩。

And so we're introducing these heavier-duty, power-capable across really almost our lines and getting that through, all those through UL Listing, and then they have to be approved by the engineers in all the OEMs that are putting this on the forklift. And so that process has just taken longer, actually longer than we anticipated. But that has been happening and getting approved, and we are going to be rolling those out in the coming months.

因此，我們幾乎在我們的生產線上引入了這些重型、高功率的產品，並通過了 UL 認證，然後它們必須得到所有將其投放到市場的原始設備製造商 (OEM) 的工程師的批准。所以這個過程花費的時間比我們預期的要長，實際上比我們預期的要長。但這已經發生並獲得批准，我們將在未來幾個月內推出這些內容。

And in line with the concept of heavy-duty, we've also seen among end customers that were using large forklifts or very large forklifts, both indoor or outdoor, had, in the past, been using propane or diesel because it was outdoors and those configurations handle those jobs better. As lithium has now coming in to be a very viable choice, we're seeing the need for a higher voltage such as our 80-volt. Now we do 80 volts for the airline sector, but we have not been -- the demand hasn't been there in the material handling side.

根據重型概念，我們還看到，無論是室內還是室外，使用大型堆高機或超大型堆高機的最終客戶過去一直使用丙烷或柴油，因為它是在室外，並且這些配置可以更好地處理這些工作。由於鋰現在已成為一種非常可行的選擇，我們看到了對更高電壓（例如 80 伏特）的需求。現在我們為航空業提供 80 伏特電壓，但我們還沒有這樣做——物料搬運方面還沒有需求。

However, it's now emerging. We are developing those 80-volt applications. So we see the future very bright in continuing to supply to those higher-voltage larger trucks. The margins are higher in that area, also requires more capability on the supplier side to meet those requirements. Okay. You there, Rob?

然而，現在它正在出現。我們正在開發這些 80 伏特應用。因此，我們認為繼續向那些更高電壓的大型卡車供應的未來非常光明。該領域的利潤率較高，也需要供應商具備更強的能力來滿足這些要求。好的。你在嗎，羅布？

Thanks, Ron. I'll turn it over.

謝謝，羅恩。我會把它翻過來。

Okay, thanks Rob.

好的，謝謝羅布。

Eric Stine, Craig-Hallum.

艾瑞克·斯坦，克雷格·哈勒姆。

Hi, Ron. Hi, Kevin. I've been jumping around on calls so I hope I don't double up on questions or topics, but maybe we could just go back to the interest rate dynamic and I can appreciate the impact on the order book or the order of lumpiness. But can you just talk about -- I mean, do you get a sense that it's more interest rate uncertainty or is it level of interest rates? Because I guess those two points have a very different conclusion as to when things might start to lift.

嗨，羅恩。嗨，凱文。我一直在接聽電話，所以我希望我不要在問題或主題上重複，但也許我們可以回到利率動態，我可以理解對訂單簿或塊狀順序的影響。但你能談談——我的意思是，你是否覺得這是利率的不確定性更大，還是利率水平？因為我猜這兩點對於事情何時開始好轉有非常不同的結論。

Yeah, no, that's a great question, Eric. Having come off really a very long era, as we know, of very, very low interest rates, even at 4%, 5%, 6%, 7%, 8%, it rankles a lot of people, creates a lot of uncertainty. The forecasts at the national level really haven't been all that accurate recently, which I think has caused a, this is just my opinion, degree of uncertainty. Well, what's really going to happen with interest rates?

是的，不，這是一個很好的問題，艾瑞克。正如我們所知，已經經歷了一個非常非常低的利率時代，即使是 4%、5%、6%、7%、8%，這讓許多人感到憤怒，產生了很多不確定性。最近國家層級的預測確實不太準確，我認為這造成了一定程度的不確定性，這只是我的觀點。那麼，利率到底會發生什麼事？

And as a footnote, I think it's in some way a fallout from the pandemic and the disrupting of a lot of the economic forces at work. So if you look historically, interest rates aren't extremely high, but I do think that, apparently, there's a very wide perception of input that we get that people, a lot of end customers are waiting for interest rates to mitigate a little bit before they execute these orders on forklifts and batteries, thinking that, according to some forecast, interest rates are going to decline.

作為腳註，我認為這在某種程度上是疫情和許多經濟力量受到干擾的後果。因此，如果你從歷史角度來看，利率並不是非常高，但我確實認為，顯然，人們對輸入有非常廣泛的看法，很多最終客戶都在等待利率稍微降低在他們執行這些堆高機和電池訂單之前，他們認為，根據一些預測，利率將會下降。

Got it. So you're not seeing -- yeah, sorry, go ahead.

知道了。所以你沒有看到——是的，抱歉，繼續吧。

Yeah, no, I'm just saying it's one that's a little bit -- requires a little bit of crystal ball to interpretate exactly what's happening. But you have to remember that the equipment we're talking about, particularly the forklifts, more the forklifts than the batteries, but the forklifts don't suddenly die and have to be replaced. And that gives the asset managers in these warehouses and factories some wiggle room on the timing of this stuff. So there's not a big, high risk in that.

是的，不，我只是說這有點需要一點水晶球才能準確解釋正在發生的事情。但你要記住，我們所說的設備，特別是堆高機，更多的是堆高機而不是電池，但堆高機不會突然報廢而必須更換。這給了這些倉庫和工廠的資產管理者在這些東西的時間安排上有一些迴旋餘地。所以這並不存在很大的高風險。

Now having said that, these forklifts don't last forever. The batteries sure don't. The batteries have a limited life. And so I think I don't see this as a -- in long term, a very long term, nor do we get that from the input of our large customers.

話雖如此，這些堆高機不會永遠持續下去。電池肯定不行。電池的壽命有限。因此，我認為，從長遠來看，我並不認為這是一個非常長期的目標，我們也沒有從大客戶的意見中得到這一點。

Okay. All right, that's helpful. And then maybe just on the additions to the sales organizations and I think you said doubling or potentially tripling that, I mean, any way to kind of quantify maybe, before doing this, what percentage of the market or the opportunities you might have got to look at and what you expect that to be once you're -- whether you've doubled or tripled that organization, the capabilities?

好的。好的，這很有幫助。然後也許只是增加銷售組織，我想你說的是增加一倍或可能增加三倍，我的意思是，在這樣做之前，有任何方法可以量化你可能擁有的市場百分比或機會看看你的期望是什麼——無論你是否已經將組織和能力擴大了一倍或三倍？

Yeah, no, we've had three salespeople in the field covering the three large geographies of the country and the focus on where the very large Fortune 100, 500 companies are located and going after what I would call the low-hanging fruit. What I have in mind is, we need to at least double that here as fast as we can digest and train the people.

是的，不，我們在該領域有三名銷售人員，涵蓋全國三大地區，重點關注財富 100 強、500 強的大型公司所在地，並追求我所說的容易實現的目標。我的想法是，只要我們能夠消化和訓練人員，我們至少需要將這裡的數量增加一倍。

We -- I don't believe this is any place for somebody new to the industry to cut their teeth. We need to have people with relationships, understanding in this sector. We just hired a really good hire that was recommended by one of our partners in the industry. And so I feel very confident and also am confident in that approach.

我們——我不認為這是一個讓這個行業的新人入門的地方。我們需要在這個領域有關係、有了解的人。我們剛聘請了一位非常優秀的員工，他是我們產業夥伴推薦的。所以我感到非常有信心，也對這種方法充滿信心。

So my VP of Sales is also in process with two other potential ones. So we get that added coverage and along with staffing our marketing back office and sales support with that, I think our strategy is certainly to be able to get a much wider exposure. Whether it's double or not, those things are hard to determine, and also the timeline on that is harder.

因此，我的銷售副總裁也在與另外兩位潛在的副總裁進行溝通。因此，我們獲得了更多的覆蓋範圍，並為我們的行銷後台和銷售支援配備了人員，我認為我們的策略肯定是能夠獲得更廣泛的曝光。無論是不是雙倍，這些事情都很難確定，而且時間線也更難確定。

I'd say also, with those new product introductions we have, those also provide a lot more ammunition for some of these fleets. The fleets do not like going to one forklift supplier for one battery and then another one for another battery. So there's a fair amount of one-stop shopping, particularly when it comes to lithium, because you have to go in and -- the application setup and so forth becomes a practical point.

我還要說，隨著我們推出的新產品，它們也為其中一些艦隊提供了更多的彈藥。車隊不喜歡向一家堆高機供應商購買一顆電池，然後再向另一家堆高機供應商購買另一種電池。因此，有相當多的一站式購物，特別是在鋰方面，因為你必須進去——應用程式設定等成為一個實際點。

So I think -- I feel pretty confident we are going to really expand. I think to your question, well, how much, it's a little difficult to say. Except, through my own network, I've gotten a lot of feedback, look, there's a real opportunity if you get some more people out there, and execute marketing campaigns.

所以我認為——我非常有信心我們將真正擴張。我想對於你的問題，嗯，多少，有點難說。除此之外，透過我自己的網絡，我收到了很多回饋，看，如果你有更多的人在那裡並執行行銷活動，那麼就有真正的機會。

Got it. Thanks a lot.

知道了。多謝。

Thanks, Eric.

謝謝，埃里克。

Matthew Galinko, Maxim Group.

馬修·加林科，Maxim 集團。

Hey, thanks for taking my questions. I guess, maybe just following up on something you just mentioned about end market preference for one-stop shopping, do you have a sense of opportunities that maybe you weren't competitive in in the past, just the products weren't there and you think you're able to fill going forward or has the market just not developed enough that you haven't missed out on any opportunities but you believe that it's kind of greenfields from here?

嘿，謝謝你回答我的問題。我想，也許只是跟進您剛才提到的終端市場對一站式購物的偏好，您是否有一種機會感，也許您過去沒有競爭力，只是產品不存在，而您認為自己能夠填補未來的空缺，或市場還不夠發達，您沒有錯過任何機會，但您認為這裡是一片綠地？

Matt, the first part of that didn't come through very, very clear. What opportunities, potential opportunities are you talking about?

馬特，第一部分的內容並不是非常非常清楚。您在談論什麼機會、潛在機會？

I'm just kind of stitching together a couple of themes that I think you talked about on the call, one being that you mentioned filling some voids potentially in the product line and then also the end market preference for one-stop shopping. And that was really the emphasis of the question where I'm just curious if there have been competitive situations where you've lost out but you think you could go back after or whether you just see the market developing to the point where it's time to put those resources into play.

我只是將您在電話會議上談到的幾個主題拼接在一起，其中一個是您提到填補產品線中的一些潛在空白，然後是終端市場對一站式購物的偏好。這確實是問題的重點，我只是好奇是否存在競爭情況，您已經失敗了，但您認為您可以回去，或者您是否只是看到市場發展到了該改變的地步。

No, your sense is spot on. We have missed some deals that were kind of agonizing to miss because there was a certain variation of product we weren't offering. If you want to go -- somebody counted all the forklifts up and there's like 440 different variations. Now some of them are small variations on the model, but the point is there are some, what we believe to be, a little lower-volume gaps that -- in fact, there's one we're coming out with and selling that now.

不，你的感覺是對的。我們錯過了一些令人痛苦的交易，因為我們沒有提供某些產品。如果你想去——有人統計了所有的堆高機，大約有 440 種不同的堆高機。現在，其中一些是模型的微小變化，但重點是，我們認為存在一些銷量較小的差距——事實上，我們現在正在推出並銷售這種產品。

But we've missed some orders because a customer wanted to go with someone. They needed, like, three different types of forklifts. And they didn't want to -- they wanted to go to one supplier to do all three. Well, one of them was a low-order picker that we hadn't developed yet so we didn't get the business. So there are some examples of that and I really understand that and I think all of our folks do. So we think we can get, acquire more business as we continue to fill out our lineup.

但我們錯過了一些訂單，因為一位顧客想和某人一起去。他們需要三種不同類型的堆高機。但他們不想——他們想找一家供應商來完成這三件事。嗯，其中一個是低階揀選機，我們還沒有開發出來，所以我們沒有得到這項業務。所以有一些例子，我真的理解這一點，我認為我們所有人都明白。因此，我們認為，隨著我們繼續充實我們的陣容，我們可以獲得更多業務。

Got it, thank you. And I guess just a follow-up to the -- adding salesmen in the not-too-distant future just given where macro is. And I guess, what are your expectations for how quickly the new sales additions start contributing to top line? Is it something that's contingent on macro and when purchasing starts again, we'll see that come through meaningfully or is it -- you think they could find spots to contribute in the relatively short term, even in the context of the current spending environment?

收到了。我想這只是在不久的將來增加銷售人員的後續行動，剛剛給出了宏觀的情況。我想，您對新增加的銷售量以多快的速度開始為營收做出貢獻有何期望？這是否取決於宏觀因素，當採購再次開始時，我們會看到它有意義，還是——你認為他們可以在相對短期內找到貢獻的地方，即使在當前的支出環境中？

Yeah, sure, no. There's a rule of thumb in the sales circuit: well, when you hire a new salesman, it takes about 1.5 years to get fully up to speed. Well, I think that's been the case when they're new to the sector and new to a lot of things. I'm not recruiting from that group of people.

是的，當然，不是。銷售循環中有一條經驗法則：當您僱用新銷售員時，大約需要 1.5 年才能完全熟悉。嗯，我認為當他們剛進入這個行業並且對很多事情都不熟悉時就是這種情況。我不會從那群人中招募人員。

The person we just hired has a network, has contacts, understands the industry. And feeding off that network and know-how, we've sat down and discussed how much he could bring in in this coming 12 months. And I thought it was a little aggressive, but I like that. And I think they can start bringing in business definitely within the three to six-month period and really start to increase that because they're not starting from ground zero.

我們剛聘用的人有人脈、有人脈、了解這個行業。憑藉該網絡和專業知識，我們坐下來討論了他在未來 12 個月內可以帶來多少收入。我覺得這有點激進，但我喜歡這樣。我認為他們肯定可以在三到六個月內開始帶來業務，並真正開始增加業務，因為他們不是從零開始。

And also the other big factor here is four, five, six years ago, we were having problems hiring salespeople who could really sell anything. They were more order-takers. And I think to the extent that when you hire sales people in this sector where you're dealing with top-tier companies, you really require a certain skill level, capability level, along with that network I mentioned as well.

這裡的另一個重要因素是四、五、六年前，我們在招募真正可以銷售任何東西的銷售人員時遇到了問題。他們更多的是訂單接受者。我認為，當你在這個與頂級公司打交道的領域僱用銷售人員時，你確實需要一定的技能水平、能力水平，以及我提到的網絡。

So you get that firing on all those cylinders, and I think that this fiscal year '25, I'm definitely counting on revenue. How much? It's a bit of a crystal ball exercise for that. But I think what we have learned is you just don't hire salespeople, the first one that comes in the door.

所以你讓所有這些汽缸都開動了，我認為在這個 25 財年，我肯定會指望收入。多少？這有點像水晶球練習。但我認為我們學到的是，你不要僱用第一個進來的銷售人員。

You're very focused, very determined. We've found we have a lot of interest because we've had a very high growth rate over the past four or five years, not these past months, and salespeople love that. And they also love we've got an advanced energy solution product, a hot market, and hot demand. So exciting, it's a really interesting time to be expanding the sales force.

你非常專注，非常有決心。我們發現我們有很多興趣，因為我們在過去四到五年而不是過去幾個月有非常高的成長率，銷售人員喜歡這一點。他們也喜歡我們擁有先進的能源解決方案產品、熱門市場和熱門需求。太令人興奮了，這是擴大銷售團隊的一個非常有趣的時刻。

Great, thank you.

太好了謝謝。

Okay, thanks, Matt.

好的，謝謝，馬特。

Craig Irwin, ROTH Capital Partners.

克雷格歐文，羅仕資本合夥人。

Good evening. Thank you for taking my questions. So I guess, Ron, you did a really good job last quarter communicating the air pocket for the March quarter so I guess, financial results are -- they are what they are. But one thing that impressed me was the gross margins, the fact that you still had very strong gross margins, and that's one of the areas where you've kind of outperformed, done a really impeccable job over the last couple of years.

晚安.感謝您回答我的問題。所以我想，羅恩，上個季度你在傳達三月份季度的空氣袋情況方面做得非常好，所以我想，財務結果是——它們就是這樣。但令我印象深刻的一件事是毛利率，事實上，你們仍然擁有非常高的毛利率，這是你們表現出色的領域之一，在過去幾年中做得非常無可挑剔。

You talk a little bit about this target longer term of getting to 40% gross margins. Can you maybe update us on anything that might have changed there? Are there any things likely to cut in over the next couple of quarters that might give you a little opportunity to capture more margin dollars on the products you're making? And is it a business mix issue or manufacturing efficiency? Any color would be helpful.

您談到了毛利率達到 40% 的長期目標。您能否向我們通報可能發生變化的最新情況？在接下來的幾個季度中，是否有任何事情可能會削減，讓您有機會從您正在生產的產品中獲取更多利潤？這是業務組合問題還是製造效率問題？任何顏色都會有幫助。

Yeah, sure, no. We are the beneficiaries of a lot of hard work on improving our vendors, and that comes with costs, along with the volumes that we've had as we've grown in volume, although you haven't seen that volume this past quarter, but underlying a lot of that pricing. I'd say one of the most significant, if I had to point to one thing, you've heard a lot about how -- you may have thought about but in battery packs, declining in price coming out of China. And we are the beneficiaries of that, with a high-single-digit reduction in the cost of those packs. And the packs are, like, a third over a half of the bottom costs of our products.

是的，當然，不是。我們是改善供應商的大量艱苦工作的受益者，這伴隨著成本，以及隨著我們數量的增長而增加的數量，儘管你在上個季度沒有看到這個數量，但很多定價的基礎。我想說的是，最重要的事情之一，如果我必須指出一件事，你可能已經聽說過很多關於電池組的價格下降的問題。我們是其中的受益者，這些包裝的成本大幅降低了個位數。包裝成本大約是我們產品底價的三分之一以上。

So that's going to begin flowing through soon, kind of close through, gradually through the inventory of goods. But we're certainly keen on that. That's a nice boost. I'd say the other boost, along with ongoing cost reductions from an early-stage product to a more mature -- from the designs to the manufacturing elements.

因此，這很快就會開始流過，接近流過，並逐漸流過商品庫存。但我們當然對此很熱衷。這是一個很好的推動。我想說的是另一個推動力，以及從早期產品到更成熟產品的持續成本降低——從設計到製造要素。

We're two-thirds of the way through lean. We're starting to get elements of there that affect that bottom cost quality, with warranty as well. Although we had a warranty blip a few months ago, which happens. But those things all have bearing on that.

我們已經完成了精實的三分之二。我們開始了解影響最低成本品質的因素，以及保固。儘管幾個月前我們遇到了保固問題，但這種情況確實發生了。但這些事情都與此有關。

And I'd say the last thing that has bearing on this is that our pricing, and, really, our competitors' pricing, are in part a function of the competitive marketplace. It's also a function of the value-add that the customers see. So to the extent that we execute on our quality, our delivery, our training attacks, our responsiveness of our product service and, I'd say, building trust with the supplier, from all of that that goes on really gets us more pricing leverage.

我想說的最後一件事是，我們的定價，實際上，我們競爭對手的定價，在某種程度上是競爭市場的函數。這也是客戶看到的增值的函數。因此，就我們執行品質、交付、培訓、產品服務的回應能力以及與供應商建立信任而言，所有這些確實讓我們獲得了更多的定價優勢。

I remember four or five years ago, I didn't have a lot of pricing. We were innovating a product at pretty high failure rates. You just didn't have the leverage because of the uncertainty. It's the whole risk-return principle. So we see something coming from that to fuel, help fuel -- it's never just one thing -- that helps fuel a margin eventually to 40% or beyond.

我記得四、五年前，我沒有太多的定價。我們正在以相當高的失敗率創新產品。由於不確定性，你只是沒有槓桿作用。這就是整個風險報酬原則。因此，我們看到從中產生的一些東西可以推動、幫助推動——這不僅僅是一件事——有助於最終將利潤率提高到 40% 或更高。

Excellent. And then big-picture question for you, adjacent markets, outside of lift trucks, have you considered other potential opportunities like military batteries or other industrial batteries, medical batteries that would benefit from your existing manufacturing footprint and also retain really chunky margins that your engineers and your salespeople would be a good match for delivering these into the market? I mean, are you looking at diversification?

出色的。然後，對您來說，重要的問題是，除了堆高機之外的鄰近市場，您是否考慮過其他潛在的機會，例如軍用電池或其他工業電池、醫療電池，這些機會將受益於您現有的製造足跡，並保留您的工程師的豐厚利潤您的銷售人員是否適合將這些產品推向市場？我的意思是，您正在考慮多元化嗎？

Oh, yeah, very much so. Our strategy has always been to add adjacencies where we didn't have to create a whole new infrastructure or get distracted with. But now that you mention DoD, we just put in a bid on a DoD proposal, which we think would be very, very interesting, with a partner.

哦，是的，非常如此。我們的策略始終是增加鄰接點，而無需創建全新的基礎架構或分心。但既然你提到了國防部，我們剛剛對國防部的提案進行了投標，我們認為與合作夥伴一起進行該提案將非常非常有趣。

I'm keen on getting into that DoD business because I think we need it to help fuel our strategy to build scale. So we have a couple of partners on actually two different proposals on that. Our fast-charging technology that we talk about, we have an R&D partner back East. There's one approach that we're using, and that has connections to the DoD, too, as well.

我熱衷於進入國防部業務，因為我認為我們需要它來幫助推動我們的策略，以擴大規模。因此，我們有幾個合作夥伴實際上對此有兩個不同的提案。我們談論的快速充電技術，我們在東方有一個研發合作夥伴。我們正在使用一種方法，它也與國防部有聯繫。

So yes, we're very keen on that. We have done, by the way, we did a project with a company called Local Motors for automated shuttle vehicles, 400-volt, eight-passenger fully automated shuttle vehicles, and we made about a dozen of those. And Local Motors went under, a new company came along. So we're working with them.

所以，是的，我們對此非常熱衷。順便說一句，我們已經與一家名為 Local Motors 的公司合作完成了一個項目，用於自動穿梭車輛，400 伏特、八乘客全自動穿梭車輛，我們製造了大約十幾輛。Local Motors 倒閉了，一家新公司出現了。所以我們正在與他們合作。

So we are exploring opportunities. It has to satisfy our business case, on the one hand. At the same time, to build scale, we need to explore. We are exploring those. So yes, absolutely, Craig.

所以我們正在探索機會。一方面，它必須滿足我們的業務案例。同時，要形成規模，還需要探索。我們正在探索這些。所以，是的，絕對是，克雷格。

Fantastic. Well, congratulations for the progress. I'll hop back in the queue.

極好的。好吧，恭喜你取得了進展。我會跳回到隊列中。

Okay. Thanks, Craig.

好的。謝謝，克雷格。

There are no further questions at this time. And I would like to turn the floor back over to Ron Dutt for closing comments.

目前沒有其他問題。我想將發言權交還給 Ron Dutt 以供結束評論。

Thank you, operator. I'd like to thank each of you for joining our financial results conference today and look forward to continuing to update you on our ongoing progress and growth. If we were unable to answer any of your questions, please reach out to our IR firm, MZ Group, who would be more than happy to assist. This concludes our update for this past quarter. Thank you.

謝謝你，接線生。我要感謝你們今天參加我們的財務業績會議，並期待繼續向你們通報我們持續取得的進展和成長的最新情況。如果我們無法回答您的任何問題，請聯絡我們的投資者關係公司 MZ Group，他們將非常樂意為您提供協助。我們上個季度的更新到此結束。謝謝。

Ladies and gentlemen, that concludes today's conference. Thank you for joining us. You may now disconnect your lines.

女士們、先生們，今天的會議到此結束。感謝您加入我們。現在您可以斷開線路。