Geospace Technologies Corp (GEOS) 2024 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Welcome to the Geospace Technologies third quarter 2024 earnings conference call. Hosting the call today from Geospace is Mr. Rick Wheeler, President and Chief Executive Officer. He is joined by Robert Curda, the company's Chief Financial Officer, and Mr. Rich Kelly, the company's Chief Operating Officer. This call is being recorded and will be available on the Geospace Technologies, Investor Relations website following the call.(Operator Instructions)

歡迎參加 Geospace Technologies 2024 年第三季財報電話會議。今天由 Geospace 總裁兼執行長 Rick Wheeler 先生主持電話會議。與他一起的還有公司財務長 Robert Curda 和公司首席營運長 Rich Kelly 先生。本次電話會議正在錄音，電話會議結束後將在 Geospace Technologies 投資者關係網站上提供。

It is now my pleasure to turn the floor over to Rick Wheeler. Sir, you may begin.

現在我很高興將發言權交給里克·惠勒。先生，您可以開始了。

Thanks, Jamie. Good morning and welcome to Geospace Technologies' conference call for the third quarter of fiscal year 2024. As mentioned, I'm Rick Wheeler, the company's President and Chief Executive Officer, and I'm joined by Robert Curda, the company's Chief Financial Officer, and Rich Kelly, the company's Chief Operating Officer.

謝謝，傑米。早安，歡迎參加 Geospace Technologies 2024 財年第三季電話會議。如前所述，我是公司總裁兼執行長 Rick Wheeler，公司財務長 Robert Curda 和公司首席營運長 Rich Kelly 也加入了我的行列。

In our prepared remarks, I'll first provide an overview of the third quarter, and Robert will then follow with more in-depth commentary on our financial performance. Following Robert's update. Rich will speak to some of our operations and shed some light on our strategic direction. I will then give some final comments before opening the line for question.

在我們準備好的演講中，我將首先概述第三季度，然後羅伯特將對我們的財務表現進行更深入的評論。跟著羅伯特的更新。里奇將談論我們的一些業務，並闡明我們的策略方向。然後，在開始提問之前，我將給出一些最終評論。

Today's commentary on markets revenue planned operations and capital expenditures may be considered forward-looking as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are based on what we know now, but actual outcomes are affected by uncertainties beyond our control or prediction. Both known and unknown risks can lead to results that differ from what I said or implied today. Some of these risks and uncertainties are discussed in our SEC Form 10-K and 10-Q filings.

今天對市場收入、計劃運營和資本支出的評論可能被視為具有 1995 年《私人證券訴訟改革法案》所定義的前瞻性。這些陳述是基於我們現在所知的情況，但實際結果會受到我們無法控製或預測的不確定性的影響。已知和未知的風險都可能導致與我今天所說或暗示不同的結果。在我們的 SEC 10-K 和 10-Q 表格文件中討論了其中一些風險和不確定性。

For convenience, we will link a recording of this call on the Investor Relations page of our geospace.com website, which I hope everyone will browse through and learn more about Geospace, our subsidiaries and our products as well. Note that today's recorded information is time-sensitive and may not be accurate at the time one listens to the replay. Yesterday, after the market closed, we released our financial results for the third quarter and first nine months of fiscal year 2024, which ended June 30, 2024.

為了方便起見，我們將在 geospace.com 網站的投資者關係頁面上連結本次電話會議的錄音，希望大家瀏覽並了解更多有關 Geospace、我們的子公司和我們的產品的資訊。請注意，今天錄製的資訊具有時間敏感性，在收聽重播時可能不準確。昨天收盤後，我們發布了截至 2024 年 6 月 30 日的 2024 財年第三季和前九個月的財務業績。

With only three months of fiscal year 2024 remaining, we continue to maintain a profitable year reporting positive net income of $6.3 million or $0.47 per share. In addition, there has been no change in our long-standing unwavering commitment towards sustaining a strong balance sheet, which remains firmly intact with zero debt and holdings of $42.5 million in cash and short-term investments as of June 30, 2024.

2024 財年僅剩三個月，我們將繼續維持獲利，淨利為 630 萬美元，即每股 0.47 美元。此外，我們對維持強勁資產負債表的長期堅定承諾沒有改變，截至 2024 年 6 月 30 日，資產負債表保持零債務，持有 4,250 萬美元現金和短期投資。

Nonetheless, further gaps in our OBX rental contracts had a negative impact on third quarter revenue from our oil and gas market segment. This led to a net loss of $2.1 million for the three months ended June 30, 2024. During the quarter, a combination of unexpected weather delays, customers' operational difficulties and unawarded client surveys contributed to the extended gaps, although some of the work is expected to resume in the fourth quarter.

儘管如此，我們的 OBX 租約的進一步缺口對我們石油和天然氣市場部門第三季的收入產生了負面影響。這導致截至 2024 年 6 月 30 日的三個月淨虧損 210 萬美元。本季度，意外的天氣延誤、客戶營運困難以及未獲獎的客戶調查等綜合因素導致了差距的擴大，儘管部分工作預計將在第四季度恢復。

In quite a contrast, our Adjacent Markets segment generated yet another all-time revenue record for the third quarter, generating $16 million. This represents an increase of $1.1 million over the previous quarterly record, which was set a year ago. The ever-growing industry acceptance of our water meter cables and connectors is a strong enabler for additional revenue from these products. In addition, we anticipate substantial revenue contributions to this segment from our Aquana smart water valve and IOT technology products as market traction grows and increasing sales backlog continues to gather.

與此形成鮮明對比的是，我們的鄰近市場部門第三季的營收再創新高，達到 1,600 萬美元。這比一年前創下的季度紀錄增加了 110 萬美元。我們的水錶電纜和連接器的產業接受度不斷提高，有力地推動了這些產品的額外收入。此外，隨著市場吸引力的成長和銷售積壓的不斷增加，我們預計我們的 Aquana 智慧水閥和物聯網技術產品將為該細分市場帶來可觀的收入貢獻。

In combating the very familiar and often extreme volatility we experienced in our oil and gas segments, careful expansion of products and market diversity in our adjacent market segment has been a long-standing part of our strategic vision for Geospace. Noteworthy. Continuation of record-setting performances from this segment is strong evidence that this strategy is on track to provide long-term value for our shareholders.

在應對我們在石油和天然氣領域所經歷的非常熟悉且往往極端的波動時，在鄰近市場領域仔細擴展產品和市場多樣性一直是我們 Geospace 戰略願景的長期組成部分。值得注意的是。該部門持續創紀錄的業績有力地證明了這一策略有望為我們的股東提供長期價值。

Our emerging market segment posted $640,000 of revenue in the third quarter, with the largest portion coming from the fulfillment of a DARPA contract that is now essentially complete as an outcome of this project and other independent efforts, multiple government agency security projects and Advanced Energy energy transition monitoring projects offer future opportunities where this technology can be uniquely applied. In addition, as of June 30, 2024 this business segment had a backlog of approximately $750,000, primarily derived from an extension through April of 2025 of our existing US Border Patrol contract.

我們的新興市場部門第三季收入為 64 萬美元，其中最大部分來自 DARPA 合約的履行，由於該項目和其他獨立努力、多個政府機構安全項目和 Advanced Energy 能源，該合約現已基本完成過渡監測項目提供了可以獨特應用該技術的未來機會。此外，截至 2024 年 6 月 30 日，該業務部門積壓約 75 萬美元，主要是由於我們現有的美國邊境巡邏合約延長至 2025 年 4 月。

In other news, we were pleased to reveal some specifics of the company's Board of Directors management and leadership succession plan, wherein Rich Kelley will become the company's President and Chief Executive Officer on October 1, 2024. I have complete confidence in the skills and business acumen exhibited by Rich Kelly and his time with Geospace. As such, I look forward to an effective and smooth transition that will progressively preserve and increase shareholder value.

在其他消息中，我們很高興地透露了公司董事會管理和領導層繼任計畫的一些細節，其中 Rich Kelley 將於 2024 年 10 月 1 日成為公司總裁兼執行長。我對 Rich Kelly 所展現的技能和商業頭腦以及他在 Geospace 的時光充滿信心。因此，我期待有效且平穩的過渡，以逐步保護和增加股東價值。

In a few moments, Rich will speak on the call to give additional insight on our operations and strategic direction, but first, I'll turn the call over to Robert to provide more financial detail on the third quarter and nine month performance. Robert?

稍後，里奇將在電話會議上發言，對我們的營運和策略方向提供更多見解，但首先，我將把電話轉給羅伯特，提供有關第三季和九個月業績的更多財務細節。羅伯特？

Thanks, Rick, and good morning. Before I begin, I'd like to remind everyone that we will not provide any specific revenue or earnings guidance during our call this morning. In yesterday's press release, four for our third quarter ended June 30, 2024, we reported revenue of $25.9 million compared to last year's revenue of $32.7 million. The net loss for the quarter was $2.1 million, or $0.16 per diluted share compared to last year's net income of $3.2 million for $0.24 per diluted share.

謝謝，瑞克，早安。在開始之前，我想提醒大家，我們在今天早上的電話會議中不會提供任何具體的收入或盈利指引。在昨天的新聞稿中，我們報告了截至 2024 年 6 月 30 日的第三季度的第四季度收入為 2590 萬美元，而去年的收入為 3270 萬美元。本季淨虧損為 210 萬美元，即每股攤薄虧損 0.16 美元，而去年的淨利潤為 320 萬美元，即每股攤薄虧損 0.24 美元。

For the nine months ended June 30, 2024, we reported revenue of $100.2 million compared to revenue of $95.2 million last year. Our net income for the nine month period was $6.3 million or $0.47 per diluted share compared to last year's net income of $7.8 million or $0.59 per diluted share.

截至 2024 年 6 月 30 日的九個月，我們的營收為 1.002 億美元，而去年的營收為 9,520 萬美元。我們這 9 個月期間的淨利潤為 630 萬美元，即稀釋後每股 0.47 美元，而去年的淨利潤為 780 萬美元，即稀釋後每股 0.59 美元。

Our oil and gas market segment produced revenue of $9.2 million for the three months ended June 30, 2024. This compares with revenue of $17.7 million for the same period of the prior fiscal year, a decrease of 48%. For the nine month period, the segment contributed revenue of $59.9 million versus $56.2 million, an increase of 6.6%. The decrease in revenue for the three-month period was due to lower utilization of our OBX rental fleet. The nine month period increase in revenue is due to the $30 million sale of our Mariner ocean bottom nodes, which occurred in the first quarter of fiscal year 2024, which was part partially offset by lower utilization of our OBX roofs.

截至 2024 年 6 月 30 日的三個月，我們的石油和天然氣市場部門產生了 920 萬美元的收入。與上一財年同期的營收 1,770 萬美元相比，下降了 48%。在這 9 個月期間，該部門貢獻的收入為 5,990 萬美元，較 5,620 萬美元增長 6.6%。這三個月期間的收入下降是由於我們的 OBX 租賃車隊利用率較低。九個月期間營收的成長是由於 2024 財年第一季我們的 Mariner 海底節點銷售額達 3,000 萬美元，部分成長被 OBX 屋頂利用率較低所抵銷。

Our adjacent market segment revenue for the third quarter of fiscal year 2024 was $16 million compared to $14.9 million for the same prior year period. Revenue for the nine month period ended June 30, 2024 is $38 million, a very modest decrease over the same period in fiscal year 2023 at less than 1%. The increase in revenue for the three month period is due to higher demand for our water meter cable and connector products, partially offset by a decrease in demand for contract manufacturing served.

2024 財年第三季我們鄰近細分市場的營收為 1,600 萬美元，而去年同期為 1,490 萬美元。截至 2024 年 6 月 30 日的 9 個月期間的營收為 3,800 萬美元，與 2023 財年同期相比下降幅度非常小，不到 1%。這三個月的收入成長是由於對我們的水錶電纜和連接器產品的需求增加，部分被所服務的合約製造需求的減少所抵消。

Finally, revenue from our emerging market segment for the third quarter was $640,000 compared to $109,000 for the same period in 2023. The nine months revenue for this segment for fiscal year 2024 was $2 million compared to $400,000 for the same prior year period. The increase in revenue for both periods is due to revenue recognized from the completion of a dark, the contract we announced in 2023. Our operating expenses increased 500,000 for the third quarter of 2024, while they decreased by $800,000 or 2.6% for the nine month period ended ended June 30, 2024.

最後，我們第三季新興市場部門的營收為 64 萬美元，而 2023 年同期為 10.9 萬美元。2024 財年該部門 9 個月的營收為 200 萬美元，而去年同期為 40 萬美元。兩個時期的收入成長都是由於我們在 2023 年宣布的合約完成後確認的收入。2024 年第三季度，我們的營運費用增加了 50 萬美元，而截至 2024 年 6 月 30 日的九個月期間，營運費用減少了 80 萬美元，即 2.6%。

The increase in the three period is primarily due to higher sales and marketing costs, while the decrease in operating expense for the nine month period is primarily due to lower personnel cost as a result of our work force reduction in the first quarter of fiscal the fiscal year 2023.

這三個時期的成長主要是由於銷售和行銷成本的增加，而這九個月期間營運費用的減少主要是由於我們在本財年第一季減少了勞動力，從而降低了人員成本。

Our nine month cash investments into our rental fleet is $8.2 million and property and plant and equipment investments are $3.6 million for fiscal year 2024. We expect to end to invest a total of $12 million in equipment for our rental fleet and $5 million for our plant and equipment. Our balance sheet at the end of the third quarter reflected $42.5 million of cash and short-term investments. Our credit facility has available borrowings of $15 million. Thus, our total liquidity is $57.5 million as of June 30, 2024.

2024 財年，我們對租賃車隊的 9 個月現金投資為 820 萬美元，財產、廠房和設備投資為 360 萬美元。我們預計最終將投資總計 1,200 萬美元用於租賃車隊的設備，以及 500 萬美元用於工廠和設備。第三季末我們的資產負債表反映了 4,250 萬美元的現金和短期投資。我們的信貸額度有 1500 萬美元的可用借款。因此，截至 2024 年 6 月 30 日，我們的總流動資金為 5,750 萬美元。

Lastly, we own real estate holdings in Houston and around the world that are owned free and clear without any live.

最後，我們在休士頓和世界各地擁有房地產，這些房地產是自由、清晰地擁有的，沒有任何居住權。

This concludes my discussion, and I'll turn the call to Rich.

我的討論到此結束，我將把電話轉給 Rich。

Thanks, Robert. Greetings everyone.

謝謝，羅伯特。大家好。

As Robert mentioned, I am Rich Kelly, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Geospace Technologies. Since joining Geospace, the team has been welcoming and supportive. I have enjoyed getting to know the company and the team over the past several months. As previously mentioned by management, Geospace has a strategy to diversify beyond the traditional seismic industry given the ongoing challenges in that market. While we will continue to support our customer base and bring new products to market, we will also explore exciting opportunities for growth in our adjacent and emerging markets.

正如羅伯特所提到的，我是 Geospace Technologies 執行副總裁兼營運長 Rich Kelly。自從加入 Geospace 以來，團隊一直熱情歡迎並提供支援。在過去的幾個月裡，我很高興能了解這家公司和團隊。正如管理層先前提到的，鑑於該市場持續面臨的挑戰，Geospace 制定了超越傳統地震產業的多元化策略。在我們將繼續支持我們的客戶群並將新產品推向市場的同時，我們還將探索鄰近市場和新興市場的令人興奮的成長機會。

As Rick and Robert mentioned, our adjacent markets posted record revenue this quarter, and we look forward to expanding this success further, our Aquana product line continues to gain acceptance in the market, and we anticipate continued growth driven by the value of industrial internet things or IoT and cloud-based technologies. Our subsidiary, [Quantum] Technology Sciences continues to explore interesting uses for its analytics technology outside of traditional markets.

正如 Rick 和 Robert 所提到的，我們的鄰近市場本季收入創紀錄，我們期待進一步擴大這一成功，我們的 Aquana 產品線繼續獲得市場認可，我們預計工業互聯網物聯網價值將推動持續增長或物聯網和基於雲端的技術。我們的子公司 [Quantum] Technology Sciences 繼續探索其分析技術在傳統市場之外的有趣用途。

Our team is focused on continuing to identify and develop opportunities to leverage our knowledge and expertise in these growth markets. Lastly, I want to thank the Board for having the confidence in my ability to lead the company going forward. I also want to thank Rick for his guidance and support these past few months and look forward to continuing to work with both Robert and Rick as we move on the succession plan through the remainder of the calendar year. Thank you.

我們的團隊致力於繼續尋找和開發機會，以利用我們在這些成長市場中的知識和專業知識。最後，我要感謝董事會對我領導公司前進的能力充滿信心。我還要感謝里克在過去幾個月的指導和支持，並期待繼續與羅伯特和里克合作，在今年剩餘的時間內推進繼任計劃。謝謝。

Thanks, Rich. As a final note, I'd like to draw attention to the success of our stock repurchase program authorized by the Board of Directors in May of 2024. Under this program, as of August 7, 2024, the company has repurchased approximately 512,000 of its common shares on the open market. In addition, our Board of Directors has approved an extension of the program that will allow allow up to an additional $2 million of shares to be repurchased.

謝謝，里奇。最後，我想提請大家注意董事會於 2024 年 5 月批准的股票回購計畫的成功。根據該計劃，截至 2024 年 8 月 7 日，該公司已在公開市場上回購了約 512,000 股普通股。此外，我們的董事會已批准延長該計劃，允許額外回購高達 200 萬美元的股票。

With that, this concludes our prepared commentary and I'll now turn the call back over to Jamie for any questions from the listeners.

至此，我們準備好的評論就結束了，現在我將把電話轉回傑米，詢問聽眾的任何問題。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員說明）

Josh Goldberg, G2.

喬許‧戈德堡，G2。

Hi, good morning. This question is for Rich. First of all, congratulations on your promotion and certainly excited to see where you're taking this great company, I guess for me, I just wanted to hear a little more about what you see on the adjacent market growth. And I think I have my own opinion that probably shouldn't be called adjacent markets anymore because it's going to be as meaningful maybe as your oil and gas markets. What are you thinking about or how are you planning on driving double digit or more growth at the adjacent markets over the next few years plus?

嗨，早安。這個問題是問里奇的。首先，恭喜您的晉升，並且很高興看到您將這家偉大的公司帶到哪裡，我想對我來說，我只是想听聽更多關於您在鄰近市場增長方面看到的情況。我想我有自己的觀點，可能不應該再被稱為相鄰市場，因為它可能會像石油和天然氣市場一樣有意義。您在想什麼，或者您計劃如何在未來幾年內推動鄰近市場兩位數或更多的成長？

Thank you, Josh, and I appreciate the question. Clearly, as we look at what we are the space we're playing in today with adjacent markets, especially around smart water and water metering. We have seen significant growth in that space year-on-year over the last several years. And so we have a strategy to continue to diversify in that growing our existing product lines through consideration of possibly adding to that. That's always up for discussion and part of our strategy going forward.

謝謝你，喬什，我很高興你提出這個問題。顯然，當我們審視我們今天與鄰近市場的競爭空間時，尤其是在智慧水和水計量方面。在過去幾年中，我們看到該領域逐年顯著成長。因此，我們制定了一項策略，透過考慮可能增加現有產品線，繼續實現多元化。這始終是值得討論的議題，也是我們未來策略的一部分。

You mentioned on the on the on the press release that Aquana has a backlog for the first time. Can you tell a little bit about what that product is in and why are you going to have a backlog at that product?

您在新聞稿中提到，Aquana 首次出現積壓訂單。您能簡單介紹一下該產品的用途以及為什麼該產品會出現積壓嗎？

So Aquana is our smart valve technology that allows municipalities to control the valve at the point of use that is gaining traction with municipalities as they look to increase the smartness and intelligence of their of monitoring their product, which is water. And that is a newer technology to that industry as it is taking us a while to educate and grow that technology in that space, which is not really known for technology, but it's gained some significant traction over the last couple of years, and it's really a plus the product has matured now. So we're really starting to see an uptake and acceptance of that technology, the other place that we're starting to see both.

因此，Aquana 是我們的智慧閥門技術，它允許市政當局在使用點控制閥門，這項技術受到市政當局的關注，因為他們希望提高水產品監控的智慧性和智慧性。對於該行業來說，這是一項較新的技術，因為我們需要一段時間來在該領域教育和發展該技術，該領域並不是真正以技術聞名，但它在過去幾年中獲得了一些顯著的吸引力，而且它確實另外，該產品現在已經成熟。因此，我們確實開始看到該技術被採用和接受，而在另一個地方，我們也開始看到這兩者。

So let me just highlight, we also starting to see interest in multifamily usage. So you are seeing a lot of growth in that space, if you as you know and a smart moderate sort of smart water metering is important to that is that industry

因此，讓我強調一下，我們也開始看到對多戶住宅使用的興趣。因此，如果您知道，智慧適度的智慧水錶對該行業很重要，那麼您會看到該領域的大量成長

Do you have a sense then, of course, it could be a $5 million a year business in a year from now?

當然，您是否意識到一年後它可能會成為每年 500 萬美元的業務？

Well, that's certainly our hope and anticipation for sure.

嗯，這當然是我們的希望和期待。

And regarding your businesses Itron, have you disclosed how much of your revenues coming from that relationship? And what could the opportunity be with them?

關於您的業務 Itron，您是否透露過您有多少收入來自這種關係？他們能有什麼機會呢？

No, we don't share that information specific to a particular relationships like that.

不，我們不會分享特定於此類特定關係的資訊。

Okay. So it's fair to say that with Aquana coming on stronger and some of the other businesses, adjacent markets could be a double digit grower going forward?

好的。因此，可以公平地說，隨著 Amana 和其他一些業務的發展，鄰近市場未來可能會出現兩位數的成長？

We certainly anticipate that I mean at the if you look at what the industry itself is, advertising, their advertising 10% to 15% growth over the next five to six years, and we're seeing that trend in our water meter business. So we fully anticipate seeing some of that but there's no guarantees, obviously.

我們當然預計，我的意思是，如果你看看這個行業本身，廣告，他們的廣告在未來五到六年內增長 10% 到 15%，我們在水錶業務中看到了這種趨勢。因此，我們完全預計會看到其中的一些，但顯然不能保證。

Sure. No, because this year, you guys are down 1% through the first nine months, and I know some of that was inventory issues. So, you should probably not have the same issues next year.

當然。不，因為今年前九個月你們的業績下降了 1%，我知道其中一些是庫存問題。因此，明年您可能不會遇到同樣的問題。

Well into just to add, there is some seasonality to all of this. So there are always ups and downs. But if you go back and look at the history, and Josh, I know you've already done that. But when you look at the history of our adjacent markets and in particular that industrial component, as it's been reported, it has just done nothing but grow. And we certainly, as Rich just said, we certainly anticipate that to be continued in the future.

補充一下，所有這些都有一些季節性。所以總是有起起落落。但如果你回顧歷史，喬什，我知道你已經做到了。但當你看看我們鄰近市場的歷史，特別是工業部分的歷史時，正如報導的那樣，它除了增長之外什麼也沒做。當然，正如里奇剛才所說，我們當然預期這種情況在未來會持續下去。

Do you think that the Adjacent Market business, pretty good operating margins. You guys are doing about $4.6 million on the $16 million, so close to 25% margins. Does that stay at that level, or does the Aquana make you guys have lower margins going forward?

您認為鄰近市場業務的營業利潤率相當不錯。你們在 1600 萬美元的基礎上賺了大約 460 萬美元，利潤率接近 25%。這會維持在這個水平，還是 Aquana 會讓你們的利潤率下降？

Well, we're always going to strive for higher margins. We really beat up on our costs of production in our manufacturing operations, which has an extreme acumen and helping with that, and he's going to make some inroads very prolifically in that regard. But as a company, we need to make margins, but it has to be of value to the customers. So that's one of the reasons that we're pursuing technology avenues within that domain. And because that's where the value really exists for the customer base and higher technology products can demand higher margins.

好吧，我們總是會努力爭取更高的利潤。我們確實降低了製造業務的生產成本，我們的製造業務具有極高的敏銳性並在這方面提供了幫助，他將在這方面取得一些非常多的進展。但作為一家公司，我們需要賺取利潤，但它必須對客戶有價值。這就是我們在該領域尋求技術途徑的原因之一。因為這才是客戶群真正存在的價值所在，而更高技術的產品可以要求更高的利潤。

Okay, great. Just going to the oil and gas segment. I mean, obviously it is a lumpy business. Sometimes you guys have had a stronger year. Other times it's been somewhat weaker. Could you give us any sort of visibility or pipeline on what you think could happen over the next sort of nine or 12 months so you can possibly grow your own your oil and gas business and I have one more question.

好的，太好了。剛進入石油和天然氣領域。我的意思是，顯然這是一個不穩定的行業。有時你們度過了更堅強的一年。其他時候則稍弱一些。您能否向我們提供您認為未來 9 或 12 個月內可能發生的情況的任何形式的可見性或管道，以便您可以發展自己的石油和天然氣業務，我還有一個問題。

The oil and gas business is exactly as you described. It's very lumpy. It's very volatile. It is hard to navigate around that. Oftentimes, hence, our conservative approach to managing cash and our balance sheet, et cetera. It's very difficult to predict. I mean, it's something I tell you today tomorrow when there's news from the Middle East that will be entirely falls. It will not represent any real true at that point in time. What we do see is there's certainly more recognition worldwide at this point that economies need energy. And the fact is that oil and gas will remain an energy provider of consequence for many, many years to come. It's not decades.

石油和天然氣業務正如您所描述的那樣。它非常凹凸不平。它非常不穩定。很難解決這個問題。因此，我們通常會採取保守的方法來管理現金和資產負債表等。很難預測。我的意思是，這是我今天告訴你們的，明天當有來自中東的消息將完全崩潰時。它不會代表那個時間點的任何真實情況。我們確實看到，目前全球範圍內肯定有更多人認識到經濟需要能源。事實上，在未來很多年裡，石油和天然氣仍將是重要的能源提供者。這還不是幾十年。

So that being said, the part of that industry that we that we are a part of which is on the very front end of it with respect to instrumentation and sensing and that sort of thing has its ups and downs and is largely volatile because it can be cut off and then turned on in rapid succession. So I it's it's really difficult for me to give you some meaningful prediction as to how that will go. But we're certainly going to trying to take advantage of every one of those opportunities that present themselves by having, as Rich said, continuing to support those customers with good products as time goes on.

話雖這麼說，我們所在的行業在儀器儀表和感測方面處於最前端，這類事情有起有落，並且在很大程度上是不穩定的，因為它可以被切斷然後快速連續地打開。所以我真的很難給你們一些關於事情將如何發展的有意義的預測。但我們肯定會努力利用每一個出現的機會，正如里奇所說，隨著時間的推移，繼續以優質產品支持這些客戶。

Okay, last one from me on the balance sheet, clearly you are bullish on the future will be with the stock buyback? And I noticed that your inventories also went up quite a bit. But was there -- at least your current inventories. Is there a focus on being ahead of the curve with that? Or what was the reason why your current inventories went up so much?

好的，我在資產負債表上的最後一項，顯然您看好未來的股票回購？我注意到你們的庫存也增加了不少。但至少你目前的庫存在那裡。是否專注於在這方面保持領先？或者說你們現在的庫存增加這麼多的原因是什麼？

So that there's kind of two aspects to that question with the main one being where I see the identified long lead components that we can strategically buy to ensure we have supply when needs come up for our guests. Our components are oil and gas instruments and we've also have recently sold some items that have been in inventory and build component out of components that have been in inventory very long time for a very long time some of our long-term inventory. So as a result of that generating usage in sales, it's it's changed the aspect of some of those components as we view for for a long term versus current estimate.

因此，這個問題有兩個方面，主要的一個方面是我看到了已確定的長引線組件，我們可以策略性地購買這些組件，以確保我們在客人出現需求時有供應。我們的組件是石油和天然氣儀器，我們最近也出售了一些庫存中的物品，並用庫存中很長時間的組件來建造組件（我們的一些長期庫存）。因此，由於銷售中產生的使用量，它改變了其中一些組件的方面，正如我們對長期與當前估計的看法一樣。

Adding to what Robert said, Josh, to the extent that we've increased some of these inventories on the raw components that Robert mentioned, you've got to recall that there have been great upheavals in the supply chain worldwide with respect to components, even things as simple as plastics in some cases. And so that definitely throws a curve in terms of managing the business and trying to ensure that we can get our products out. But we do tried to diligence diligently examine where some of those components that we assure ourselves will get used are put on the shelf so that we can make production work.

補充一下羅伯特所說的內容，喬什，就我們增加了羅伯特提到的原材料庫存而言，你必須記住，全球範圍內的零部件供應鏈發生了巨大的變化，在某些情況下，甚至是像塑膠這樣簡單的東西。因此，這肯定會在管理業務和努力確保我們能夠推出我們的產品方面造成曲線。但我們確實努力認真檢查我們確信會使用的一些組件放在貨架上的位置，以便我們可以進行生產。

Got you. Well, I just wanted to thank Rick for I mean, I want to thank Walter for all his hard work over the last few years. I know from a long-term experience how much effort and time and how much value he's created for the company. I just wanted to wish him much success in the future.

明白你了。好吧，我只是想感謝里克，我的意思是，我想感謝沃爾特在過去幾年裡所做的辛勤工作。我從長期的經驗中知道他為公司創造了多少努力和時間，創造了多少價值。我只是想祝他未來成功。

All right. Thank you very much.

好的。非常感謝。

We'll be in touch. Thank you.

我們會保持聯繫。謝謝。

Bill Dezellem, Tieton Capital.

比爾·德澤勒姆，泰頓資本。

Thank you and congratulations on your retirement Rick, I will miss having you on the call.

謝謝你並祝賀你退休，瑞克，我會想念你打電話的日子。

Thank you very much, Bill.

非常感謝你，比爾。

So I'm going to assume that others will ask a little bit more about the oil and gas market. And the prior questioner asked about Aquana. So I'm going to jump into the what's currently the smallest business, the emerging markets, you it seems like you gave us some insights into what's going on there. So let's start if we could with the darker contract. And would you please talk about the spillover benefits and that that you're seeing from that were referenced in the press release.

因此，我假設其他人會更多地詢問有關石油和天然氣市場的問題。前面的提問者問到了 Aquana。因此，我將進入目前最小的業務，新興市場，你似乎給了我們一些關於那裡正在發生的事情的見解。那麼，如果可以的話，讓我們從更黑暗的合約開始。請您談談溢出效益以及您在新聞稿中提到的溢出效益。

Specific to the DARPA contract that went very well for us. We got great feedback from DARPA and there are a number of opportunities that they've identified within the military community where they could potentially apply that technology and that application. And so even since our report out on that, we've had a couple of really good meetings with other parties within the government. So we do see some really interesting opportunities. Nothing that's been formalized yet, but definitely some interesting conversations and some real interest on their side, including our technology going forward.

具體到 DARPA 合同，我們進展順利。我們從 DARPA 那裡得到了很好的回饋，他們在軍事界發現了許多可以應用該技術和應用的機會。因此，自從我們就此發表報告以來，我們已經與政府內其他各方舉行了幾次非常好的會議。所以我們確實看到了一些非常有趣的機會。目前還沒有正式確定的事情，但肯定是一些有趣的對話和他們方面的一些真正的興趣，包括我們未來的技術。

And I'm not familiar with how this those processes work and talk to us about the time line, if if in fact to if something were to develop how quickly can that go? And I recognize I won't ask how long can it go because that could be decades. But to help public that will probably go up on the on the other hand, if things were to move along at a favourable pace.

我不熟悉這些流程是如何運作的，並與我們討論時間線，如果事實上，如果某些事情要發展的話，可以多快進行？我意識到我不會問它能持續多久，因為那可能是幾十年。但另一方面，如果事情以有利的速度進展的話，為了幫助大眾，這個數字可能會上升。

Yes. So as you can expect, I mean, dealing especially with anything government related, we're at the mercy of appropriations and approvals once the money is allocated and the project is kicked off, these projects are not short lived. They take time to develop and they can be 12 to 24 months type projects in a lot of cases and even longer. And but they're not very typical. You're not the typical commercial where you get an order and six months later you deliver.

是的。因此，正如您所期望的，我的意思是，特別是處理與政府相關的任何事情，一旦資金分配和項目啟動，我們就會受到撥款和批准的擺佈，這些項目並不是短暫的。它們需要時間來開發，在許多情況下可能需要 12 到 24 個月甚至更長的時間。但它們並不是很典型。您並不是典型的收到訂單並在六個月後交付的廣告。

Okay. So are you saying that once the money has been allocated, it can take an additional 12 to 24 months before you begin delivery or once the money has been allocated. The delivery process can be can be up to a couple of years.

好的。那麼您是說一旦資金分配完畢，可能還需要 12 到 24 個月才能開始交付，還是一旦資金分配完畢。交付過程可能長達幾年。

So, I really can't get into specifics because every project is unique when dealing with these particular parties. But what I really want to drive home is there's not going to be money allocated three months later. We're going to recognize that as revenue as an organization. It will be a partnership that will take time. Government contracts are always phased. And so there's a lot of complexity there.

所以，我真的無法詳細說明，因為在與這些特定各方打交道時，每個專案都是獨一無二的。但我真正想開車回家的是三個月後不會再分配資金。我們將把它視為一個組織的收入。這將是一種需要時間的夥伴關係。政府合約總是分階段的。所以那裡有很多複雜性。

So what's really more interesting to us is that we are starting to see the technology actually be mentioned by name within these organizations and a real interest in that. And so that is really what's more exciting to us at this point.

因此，對我們來說真正更有趣的是，我們開始看到這些組織中實際上提到了該技術，並且對此產生了真正的興趣。所以這對我們來說確實是更令人興奮的。

Great. Thank you. And let me kind of shift, if I may, to the backlog, it's referenced that that's due to an extension of the border control border patrol contract, which we understand that they have done extensions in the past, but I guess I'm a little bit surprised with the at least the CBO report would indicated in the spring, there's going to be a a more significant decision company coming from walk us through that extension, why they would do that in advance of a larger decision. And is this potentially a very positive signal to how the equipment is performing versus the competing products.

偉大的。謝謝。如果可以的話，讓我談談積壓，有人提到這是由於邊境管制邊境巡邏合同的延長，我們知道他們過去已經延長了合同，但我想我是有點驚訝的是，至少國會預算辦公室的報告將在春季表明，將會有一個更重要的決策公司來引導我們完成這項延期，為什麼他們會在做出更大的決定之前這樣做。這是否可能是一個非常積極的信號，表明該設備相對於競爭產品的性能如何？

We can't speak too much of that because that's still an ongoing project. And quite honestly, we don't we don't get a lot of feedback from Border Patrol. We do know that the testing is still ongoing. They're doing the acceptance testing. That project is due to expire in April of 2025, thus the early Q1 later or Q1, Q2 time line for the extension on the they will make a decision they are obligated to make a decision next year on how to move forward. And so, we'll hear we expect to hear back calendar year Q2 next year.

我們不能談論太多，因為這仍然是一個正在進行的項目。老實說，我們不知道，我們沒有從邊境巡邏隊得到很多回饋。我們確實知道測試仍在進行中。他們正在進行驗收測試。該專案將於 2025 年 4 月到期，因此第一季早期或第一季、第二季的延期時間軸將做出決定，他們有義務在明年就如何推進做出決定。因此，我們將聽到我們預計明年第二季的消息。

And actually allow me to have a little fun with that originally that decision was supposed to be in September, so next month. So when you say that they're obligated to make a decision and is that obligated kind of as we might think to pay the IRS or is this obligated like I might you might consider growing your friends for dinner next week?

實際上，讓我對最初的決定應該在九月，所以下個月有一點樂趣。因此，當你說他們有義務做出決定時，這種義務是像我們想像的那樣向國稅局支付費用，還是像我一樣有義務，你可能會考慮下週邀請你的朋友共進晚餐？

Well, I mean, I'm sure all of you are familiar with the way our governments work the last few years, and we would hope that at some point they actually can pass a budget and allocate money appropriately. But we do anticipate being an election year, frothiness within are government agencies, most likely a continuing resolution. And so these budgets will probably not firm up until next year. So our anticipation is after that's happened, then these monies will be allocated and projects will move forward.

嗯，我的意思是，我相信你們所有人都熟悉我們政府過去幾年的工作方式，我們希望在某個時候他們實際上可以通過預算並適當分配資金。但我們確實預計今年是選舉年，政府機構內部將出現泡沫，很可能會持續解決。因此，這些預算可能要到明年才會穩定下來。因此，我們的預期是，在這一切發生之後，這些資金將會被分配，計畫將繼續進行。

Okay. That is helpful. And then would you then take a take this quantum discussion towards the energy industry and and discuss the comments that you referenced in the release about the energy industry, the application of Quantum and the timing that this could it could convert to revenue?

好的。這很有幫助。然後，您是否會針對能源產業進行量子討論，並討論您在新聞稿中提到的有關能源產業、量子應用以及它可以轉化為收入的時間的評論？

Sure. So, Aquana has...

當然。那麼，阿奎納...

Quantum.

量子。

That's right. My apologies. Quantum has conducted a number of, I would say, research projects over the past couple of years in the energy industry, particularly with carbon capture and sequestration with some success. But as we know that industry is still trying to find itself. And while we've had some success, we don't really anticipate much opportunity within the next short term, I would say there are other. There are some other application within the energy energy industry, which are early days that take advantage of that technology in new and interesting ways and we do see interest in that. So we anticipate the possibility of that developing into a commercial releasable and sellable product within the coming in all years. I would say

這是正確的。我很抱歉。我想說，過去幾年，Quantum 在能源產業開展了許多研究項目，特別是在碳捕獲和封存方面取得了一些成功。但正如我們所知，該行業仍在努力尋找自己。雖然我們取得了一些成功，但我們並沒有真正預期在下一個短期內會有太多機會，我想說還有其他機會。能源產業還有一些其他應用，這些應用仍處於早期階段，以新穎有趣的方式利用該技術，我們確實看到了對此的興趣。因此，我們預計在未來幾年內有可能發展成為可商業發布和銷售的產品。我會說

Great thank you. And then one additional question coming back to Quanta, if I may, that to $900,000 of backlog, what what were the circumstances that led to that developing.

非常感謝。然後還有一個問題回到廣達，如果可以的話，積壓了 90 萬美元，是什麼情況導致了這種情況的發生。

Sales really, I mean, fundamentally, as traction has been gained on the quantum product, we've seen that sales pipeline start to begin filling. And to that extent, we have these opportunities to deliver these valves, Gina, we announced the Jordan order some time ago, and so they're certainly fulfillment of that that's taking place as well.

銷售確實，我的意思是，從根本上來說，隨著量子產品的吸引力不斷增加，我們已經看到銷售管道開始開始填充。從這個意義上說，我們有機會交付這些閥門，吉娜，我們不久前宣布了喬丹的訂單，所以他們當然也履行了正在發生的事情。

I'd also like to add to that move that that we've been priming that at home for quite a while supplying customers with the valves to test and use of used to see if they like its performance, if it meets their needs. So so I think what we're seeing now is that priming is resulting in in orders coming our way. And as a result, we now have backlog now.

我還想補充一點，我們已經在國內啟動了相當長一段時間，為客戶提供閥門進行測試和使用，看看他們是否喜歡它的性能，是否滿足他們的需求。因此，我認為我們現在看到的是，啟動正在導致我們收到訂單。結果，我們現在積壓了。

Yes, as I mentioned, I mean, that's a new technology to that industry, and it's taken them a while to really understand the benefit of that. As Robert said, we had provided samples to them to test. And that as he said, that pipeline is very it's got a very pretty long pole on it. So we are just now starting to see the fruits of that labour from Geospace for the last several years in that market. And we anticipate that to grow going forward as that as that pipe continues to evolve and grow, we fully anticipate additional revenues from it.

是的，正如我所提到的，我的意思是，這對該行業來說是一項新技術，他們花了一段時間才真正理解它的好處。正如羅伯特所說，我們已向他們提供了樣品進行測試。正如他所說，那條管道非常長，上面有一根非常長的桿子。因此，我們現在才剛開始看到 Geospace 過去幾年在該市場的勞動成果。我們預計，隨著該管道的不斷發展和壯大，我們將繼續成長，我們完全預計會從中獲得額外的收入。

And so is the $900,000 a single a single customer order? Is it multiple orders and is where's the Aquana at in terms of its ability to manufacture.

那麼 90 萬美元是單一客戶訂單嗎？是否有多個訂單？

It's certainly multiple orders across multiple applications, so not just municipalities, but also the multi-family application that we discussed. So we are seeing uptake of that technology in that product across all of the areas we're interested in. And yes, I mean, we fully expect that to continue.

這當然是跨多個應用程式的多個訂單，因此不僅是市政當局，還有我們討論的多戶應用程式。因此，我們看到該產品在我們感興趣的所有領域都採用了該技術。是的，我的意思是，我們完全期望這種情況能夠持續下去。

And on the manufacturing question, we're there earlier.

關於製造問題，我們很早就到了。

Yes. So that product is now released in some of its variants and we are shipping essentially from inventory.

是的。因此，該產品現在已發布其某些變體，我們基本上從庫存中發貨。

Great. Okay. So the backlog is not due to a manufacturing bottleneck. It's just the timing of shipment timing phenomenon.

偉大的。好的。因此，積壓並不是由於製造瓶頸造成的。這只是出貨定時現象。

Exactly the kind of the normal lead time of those orders coming in and some of those orders are fairly new.

與這些訂單的正常交貨時間完全相同，其中一些訂單相當新。

Well, congratulations on that. And I'll turn the floor over to someone else.

好吧，恭喜你。我會把發言權交給其他人。

Thank you, Bill.

謝謝你，比爾。

Scott Bundy, Moors & Cabot.

史考特邦迪，《摩爾斯與卡伯特》。

Good morning, guys.

早安，夥計們。

Hi, Scott.

嗨，斯科特。

Good morning, Rich. Welcome. So I'm just going to follow up on Aquana for a second. If some if I were a distributor and I gave you an order for $5 million of the various Aquana products could you deliver on that?

早上好，里奇。歡迎。所以我想跟進 Aquana。如果我是經銷商，我給您下了一份價值 500 萬美元的各種 Aquana 產品訂單，您能交付嗎？

If I had the proper timeline, absolutely. But I deliver tomorrow. No. I mean, we still have supply chain and we still have ramp-up in manufacturing. But we have the process now we have the supply chain. Now it's just a matter of the lead time, the componentry and the lead time through manufacturing, but being able to come up to scale coming up to scale for us should not be an issue given the facilities that we have, the team that we have, the capabilities that we have.

如果我有合適的時間表，絕對可以。但我明天發貨。不。我的意思是，我們仍然有供應鏈，而且我們的製造仍然有成長。但我們現在有了流程，我們有了供應鏈。現在這只是交貨時間、零件和製造週期的問題，但考慮到我們擁有的設施和團隊，能夠達到規模對我們來說應該不是問題，我們擁有的能力。

So Rich, it a time line is an interesting word. So it could you deliver within a six month period of time, if in fact that happened.

如此豐富，時間線是一個有趣的詞。因此，如果確實發生了的話，您可以在六個月內交付。

Give me an interesting what I would have been if I mean the spotlight, I don't really know I can answer that today, but I would say that we would give a good go.

給我一個有趣的問題，如果我指的是聚光燈，我真的不知道我今天能回答這個問題，但我想說我們會盡力而為。

Okay. I'm Robert, just a quick question is the first buyback complete the first $5 million complete?

好的。我是羅伯特，請問第一次回購是否完成了前 500 萬美元？

Yeah. As of today, yes, or very close to complete as of today.

是的。截至今天，是的，或者截至今天已經非常接近完成。

Okay, great. Thank you. And so Rick, just a little background here. Where do you see the seismic market relative to your years in the industry? I mean you guys are spending $12 million bucks on new equipment that certainly implies utilization of your existing equipment is going to go up. Am I wrong to think that?

好的，太好了。謝謝。里克，這裡只是一些背景知識。相對於您在該行業的多年經驗，您如何看待地震市場？我的意思是，你們花費 1200 萬美元購買新設備，這肯定意味著現有設備的使用率將會上升。我這樣想有錯嗎？

Well, not really. I mean, we've come out with new designs that incorporate the latest technologies out there. And the fact that was the large sales that we made in Q1 was a direct result of having technology that didn't exist in the other quarters. So the thing is, though it's a market that, as you're well aware, just has significant ups and downs certainly and exactly as Rich said earlier, we intend to service that market. But we will we will service that market in a very cautious way to make sure that we don't overextend ourselves in the market itself lends itself to a bit that sort of approach. We believe our manufacturing capabilities are able to keep up with the demand as it manifests. But the days like it was with geophones where you keep thousands of those in stock on the shelf ready to go is not the that's not the situation that we live in these days. So it's more of on demand situation, but we're prepared to fulfill that demand as it comes up.

嗯，不是真的。我的意思是，我們已經推出了融合了最新技術的新設計。事實上，我們在第一季取得的龐大銷售額是我們擁有其他季度不存在的技術的直接結果。所以問題是，儘管正如您所知，這個市場肯定會出現顯著的起伏，正如里奇之前所說，我們打算為該市場提供服務。但我們將以非常謹慎的方式為該市場提供服務，以確保我們不會過度擴張，市場本身就適合採取這種方法。我們相信我們的製造能力能夠滿足所體現的需求。但是，像地震檢波器那樣的日子，你把數千個地震檢波器放在貨架上隨時準備使用，但這並不是我們現在生活的情況。因此，這更多的是按需情況，但我們準備在需求出現時滿足它。

So is bidding activity stronger now than it was, let's say, at the end of 16, 18 months ago? Can you just give us an idea of what sort of activity is going on in that space?

那麼，現在的競標活動是否比 16、18 個月前的情況更強勁？您能否讓我們了解一下該空間正在發生什麼樣的活動？

I think compared to 16 to 18 months ago, it probably is not last year was a significant year with respect to activity, particularly in the ocean bottom node market. We've seen a lull in that, as we've said in the recent quarters, and that extended itself into this quarter. So compared to a year and a half or two years ago. I think it's it's an increased level of activity. But I think even our even our customers or contractors are very cautious about things and being very selective about how they go about accepting these bids.

我認為與 16 至 18 個月前相比，去年對於活動而言可能不是一個重要的一年，特別是在海底節點市場。正如我們在最近幾個季度所說的那樣，我們已經看到了這種平靜，並且這種情況一直延續到本季。與一年半或兩年前相比。我認為這是活動水準的增加。但我認為，即使是我們的客戶或承包商也對事情非常謹慎，並且對如何接受這些投標也非常有選擇性。

Rick, is that you think a direct result of the consolidation in the industry?

Rick，您認為這是產業整合的直接結果嗎？

I think that does have a bearing on it. The consolidation in the industry does change the discussions in terms of how the clients, the oil companies and the library houses go about trying to service their own customers and needs. So, it does have a bearing on it, but I don't think it's a paradigm shift or anything like that. But it is there's always some turmoil when you have consolidation within an industry.

我認為這確實有影響。產業的整合確實改變了有關客戶、石油公司和圖書館如何努力服務自己的客戶和需求的討論。所以，它確實有影響，但我不認為這是範式轉移或類似的事情。但當產業內進行整合時，總是會出現一些混亂。

And along the lines of PRM, are there still discussions out there? Are they more active? Do you see it -- sense any final investment decisions within the next three to nine months?

沿著 PRM 的思路，現在還有討論嗎？他們更活躍嗎？您是否看到 - 感覺到未來三到九個月內有任何最終投資決定？

The nine to nine months, no, I don't. The discussions, absolutely. Those are continuing and, in fact, extending themselves in many respects. So that is a market that still remains viable, but it is one, as you well know, that is not a steady, ongoing business in terms of the types of contracts that are made available. Very sporadic and long spans of time in between. But those discussions are very active. So, we don't expect anything to come across that quickly. But in the next several years, we do.

九到九個月，不，我不。討論，絕對是。這些活動仍在繼續，事實上，它們在許多方面都在擴展。因此，這是一個仍然可行的市場，但正如您所知，就可用合約類型而言，這並不是一個穩定、持續的業務。其間的時間跨度非常零散且漫長。但這些討論非常活躍。因此，我們不期望任何事情會這麼快出現。但在接下來的幾年裡，我們會這樣做。

And do you would you anticipate another pilot program similar to the one that was done 18 months or two years ago as checking up the product?

您是否預計還會有另一個類似 18 個月或兩年前檢查產品的試點計畫？

That's very likely, even if it's one that we don't announce or anything of that nature, but yes.

這很有可能，即使我們沒有宣布或任何類似性質的事情，但是是的。

I think we still see an interest in PRM for sure. So, the oil companies are still interested in what value that could add over time for their reservoirs.

我認為我們肯定仍然對 PRM 感興趣。因此，石油公司仍然對隨著時間的推移可以為其油藏增加什麼價值感興趣。

Okay. Terrific. Thank you. I'm just going to one last question. In the release, when you guys say, I'm not going to quote it correctly here, but significant revenue with Aquana or substantial contribution from Aquana, substantial is different than everybody's mind, what's in your mind?

好的。了不起。謝謝。我只想回答最後一個問題。在新聞稿中，當你們說，我不會在這裡正確地引用它，但是 Aquana 的重大收入或來自 Aquana 的實質貢獻，實質與每個人的想法不同，您的想法是什麼？

Well, I think what we're seeing is that it's going to be noteworthy revenue to where you see it on as a line item on our P&L. And to me, that's significant to the extent that it's a notable contribution, not unlike our water meter cables and connectors as it contributes to that particular segment under the industrial market. Now it was mentioned earlier that maybe that's not the right name anymore. We're going to consider how best to sort of organize our filings in our of our reporting of this data and the revenue that might lend itself a little better to understanding where Quanta fits into all that. But what we mean is something notable that's going to create value and gross profit and net income.

嗯，我認為我們所看到的是，這將是一筆值得注意的收入，你可以在我們的損益表上看到它作為一個項目。對我來說，這很重要，因為它是一個顯著的貢獻，與我們的水錶電纜和連接器不同，因為它為工業市場的特定細分市場做出了貢獻。現在前面提到過，也許這不再是正確的名字了。我們將考慮如何最好地組織我們的報告中的數據和收入，這可能有助於更好地了解廣達在這方面的定位。但我們的意思是那些將創造價值、毛利和淨利潤的值得注意的事情。

Sorry, last question regarding cross border tunnel threats as it's related in the CBP., it's interesting that you can find all the information regarding your subsidiary quantum, but nothing about the competitors. Is that what you're finding also

抱歉，最後一個問題是關於跨境隧道威脅的，因為它與 CBP 相關。這也是你所發現的嗎

Isn't that interesting and yes, it is the case, I guess for us being a public company and certainly making ourselves known and Quantum, making sure that they're represented in the discussion space out there with respect to the homeland security and other parts of the defense industry, maybe that contributes to it. But you're right, there's there's there's not nearly as much information available as what might be available about Quantum.

這不是很有趣嗎？這對此有所貢獻。但你是對的，關於量子的可用資訊遠沒有那麼多。

That's unbelievable. Thank you, guys.

這太難以置信了。謝謝你們，夥計們。

And thank you. Thanks, Scott. Appreciate it.

謝謝你。謝謝，斯科特。欣賞它。

[John Eliot], private investor.

[約翰·艾略特]，私人投資者。

Yes, good morning, gentlemen. I was going to ask if PRM was dead, but you briefly discussed that with Scott do know what companies are so slow teas, PRM. again.

是的，早安，先生們。我本來想問 PRM 是否已經死了，但你與 Scott 簡短地討論過，PRM 確實知道哪些公司如此緩慢。再次。

Well, it requires a significant capital investment. And when the oil companies are putting their budgets together, they're the fight in the boardroom is over projects about LNG facilities, about refineries and other things that draws significantly more on the capital of the organization, although the operating expense approach, which is to pay for the reservoir monitoring in it overtime manner of speaking where you hire a contractor to come in and layout equipment, a record data and then take it all back and then come back a year later or whatever the time span may be. Those costs more. And it takes about five to seven years, depending on the span of time between these surveys before you recoup your upfront capital investment in a PRM system.

嗯，這需要大量的資本投資。當石油公司將預算放在一起時，他們在董事會中的爭論是圍繞液化天然氣設施、煉油廠和其他更多地消耗組織資本的項目進行的，儘管運營費用方法是以加班方式支付水庫監測費用，也就是說，您聘請承包商來佈置設備、記錄數據，然後將其全部收回，然後一年後或無論時間跨度如何。那些成本更高。在您收回 PRM 系統的前期資本投資之前，大約需要五到七年的時間，具體取決於這些調查之間的時間跨度。

So there is there is some concern, I guess, within the oil companies about the volatility they see within their own markets about laying out capital that spans a length of time like that. Now many of them do realize that benefit. And those are exactly the ones that have serious discussions about this. And in the long run, they save money, but it's really just a matter of balancing their capital budgets as they go forward.

因此，我猜想，石油公司內部對他們在自己的市場中看到的、跨越這樣長的時間的資本佈局的波動性存在一些擔憂。現在他們中的許多人確實意識到了這一好處。這些正是對此進行認真討論的人。從長遠來看，他們省了錢，但這實際上只是一個在他們前進的過程中平衡資本預算的問題。

One of the (inaudible) is a lot of these fields have multiple partners and so to come to an agreement across those partners about the capital outlay can add just another level of complexity to the PRM decision.

其中一個（聽不清楚）是許多這些領域都有多個合作夥伴，因此這些合作夥伴之間就資本支出達成協議可能會為 PRM 決策增加另一層複雜性。

That's true.

這是真的。

And I believe when when Scott was asking some questions, you said that there could be perhaps late or maybe I misunderstood you, but perhaps a tender in the next several years. So does that mean you're not expecting any activity with PRM in 2025 or the near future?

我相信當斯科特問一些問題時，你說可能會遲到，或者也許我誤解了你，但也許會在未來幾年內進行招標。那麼這是否意味著您預計 2025 年或不久的將來 PRM 不會開展任何活動？

No. I to clarify on that, I think a tender could come out much sooner than that, but there would not be any revenue recognition because these systems will take the better part of a year to manufacture with a effective design that has to take place upfront with respect because each field is a different animal. Each one has its own requirements that have to take place. So a tender could easily come out sooner than that. But the likelihood of one coming out in three to nine months is that those are short odds. I would say.

不。我要澄清這一點，我認為招標可能會比這早得多，但不會有任何收入確認，因為這些系統將花費一年的大部分時間來製造，並且必須預先進行有效的設計尊重，因為每個領域都是不同的動物。每個人都有自己必須滿足的要求。因此，招標很可能會比這更早發布。但三到九個月內推出的可能性很小。我會說。

And at one time it seemed like there were I can't remember the term used was it was a handful of companies that were interested in PRM. And we're in discussions with Geospace about that, would you say the number of companies who were interested in it, that the numbers the same hasn't increased, hasn't decreased?

有一段時間，我似乎不記得所使用的術語是少數公司對 PRM 感興趣。我們正在與 Geospace 討論這個問題，您認為對此感興趣的公司數量沒有增加，也沒有減少？

No, I think it's about the same.

不，我認為這差不多。

I will thank you for answering my questions.

我會感謝您回答我的問題。

You're welcome.

不客氣。

Thank you, John.

謝謝你，約翰。

(Operator Instructions) I will return now to Bill Dezellem with Tieton Capital.

（操作員指示）我現在將回到 Tieton Capital 的 Bill Dezellem。

Thank you. Have a couple of additional questions that your comments have prompted. The first is have you considered and using your balance sheet for PRM. and the leasing of lease to own whatever you'd like to call it or rental to essentially come back that to that decision by the by oil companies that they don't want to make a big upfront dollar amount. What's your what's your view on that now?

謝謝。還有一些您的評論所引發的其他問題。首先是您是否考慮過並使用您的資產負債表進行 PRM。租賃或租賃本質上是回到石油公司的決定，即他們不想預付大量資金。您現在對此有何看法？

No, That's a very good question, Bill, and we actually have considered what other means of approach might be amenable to that sort of thing as it turns out generally within the oil companies officially and on the bottom of the ocean, they want to own it. So there they're not really receptive to those sorts of ideas wherein one would lease the equipment back or have not to date. And we have actually had some discussions certainly internally about how we might trying to organize an approach like that. But it doesn't it doesn't seem to get very much traction when we present something like that.

不，這是一個非常好的問題，比爾，我們實際上已經考慮過哪些其他方法可能適合此類事情，因為事實證明，在石油公司內部和在海底，他們通常想要擁有它。因此，他們並不真正接受那些將設備租回或不更新的想法。實際上，我們內部確實進行了一些討論，討論我們如何嘗試組織這樣的方法。但事實並非如此，當我們展示這樣的東西時，似乎並沒有得到太多的關注。

So it creates quite a riddle if they're not receptive to leasing product on the on the ocean bottom, but nor are they receptive to writing a check for product on the ocean bottom.

因此，如果他們不接受在海底租賃產品，但也不接受為海底產品開支票，這就產生了很大的謎團。

That's a hard squeeze, isn't it?

這是一個艱難的擠壓，不是嗎？

It certainly is. Okay. And just for clarification, relative to a tender, was the implication of what you said that the second half of fiscal '25 is when you think a tender could come out? Or are you thinking more second half of calendar '25?

確實如此。好的。澄清一下，相對於招標，您所說的「25 財年下半年」是指您認為招標可能會出現的時間嗎？還是您正在考慮 25 年曆的下半年？

No. I think second half of '25 is probably the higher probability, but things could be a little more accelerated than that, but I don't anticipate that to be true.

不。我認為 25 年下半年的可能性可能更高，但事情可能會比這更快一點，但我預計這不會是真的。

Got it. Okay. That's helpful. And then you were talking earlier about the the seismic exploration market and that the level of demand, it has taken a pause relative to the high strength that you were seeing and yet you invested I think it was $4.2 million in rental equipment in the in the third quarter, and you're planning on another $3.5 million to be invested in the fourth quarter so that that's a little bit. In contrast, it seems like there maybe is something else going on there. So what why are you investing in the rental business or in rentals if if you're being a bit cautious about about the market to demand?

知道了。好的。這很有幫助。然後你早些時候談到了地震勘探市場和需求水平，相對於你所看到的高強度，它已經暫停了，但你投資了我認為在租賃設備方面有 420 萬美元第三季度，您計劃在第四季再投資350 萬美元，所以這只是一點點。相比之下，似乎還有其他事情正在發生。那麼，如果您對市場需求持謹慎態度，為什麼還要投資租賃業務或租賃呢？

Yes, a good portion of that is related to us building out mariners for a rental contract. We announced earlier this year. So we have a contract that is in hand and we're ready to go. But unfortunately, our customers not quite ready to go to work yet. So we're waiting for them to decide the to take the equipment out and start gathering data for us.

是的，其中很大一部分與我們為租賃合約建造海員有關。我們在今年早些時候宣布了這一消息。所以我們手上有一份合同，我們已經準備好了。但不幸的是，我們的客戶還沒準備好去上班。所以我們正在等待他們決定取出設備並開始為我們收集數據。

And what's your current understanding as just a comment in the release late in the fourth quarter or is that a different contract.

您目前的理解是什麼？

That's it.

就是這樣。

Great. Okay. Thank you all again.

偉大的。好的。再次感謝大家。

Thanks, Bill.

謝謝，比爾。

And ladies and gentlemen, as there are no further questions at this time, I'd like to turn the floor back over to Mr. Rick Wheeler for any additional or closing comments.

女士們、先生們，由於目前沒有其他問題，我想將發言權交還給 Rick Wheeler 先生，徵求任何補充或結束意見。

All right. Well. Thank you, Jamie, and thanks to all of you who joined our call today. We certainly appreciate it and appreciate the questions, and we look forward to speaking with you again on our conference call for the fourth quarter and year end of fiscal year 2024. That will come in November.

好的。出色地。謝謝傑米，也感謝今天加入我們電話會議的所有人。我們當然對此表示感謝並感謝您提出的問題，我們期待在 2024 財年第四季和年底的電話會議上再次與您交談。那將在十一月到來。

Well, thank you and goodbye.

嗯，謝謝你，再見。

And thank you. This does conclude today's Geospace Technologies third quarter 2024 earnings conference call. Please disconnect your line at this time and have a wonderful day.

謝謝你。今天的 Geospace Technologies 2024 年第三季財報電話會議到此結束。請此時斷開您的線路，祝您有美好的一天。