Ichor Holdings Ltd (ICHR) 2025 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Good day, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to Ichor's third-quarter 2025 earnings conference Call. (Operator Instructions) As a reminder, this call is being recorded. I would now like to introduce your host for today's conference, Claire McAdams, Investor Relations for Ichor. Please go ahead.

女士們、先生們，大家好，歡迎參加Ichor公司2025年第三季財報電話會議。 （操作說明）提醒各位，本次電話會議正在錄音。現在我榮幸地介紹本次會議的主持人，Ichor公司投資者關係負責人Claire McAdams女士。請開始。

Thank you, operator. Good afternoon and thank you for joining today's third-quarter 2025 conference call.

謝謝接線生。下午好，感謝各位參加今天舉行的2025年第三季電話會議。

As you read our earnings press release and as you listen to this conference call, please recognize that both contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond our control and which could cause actual results to differ materially from such statements. These risks and uncertainties include those spelled out in our earnings press release, those described in our annual report on Form 10-K for fiscal year 2024 and those described in subsequent filings with the SEC. You should consider all forward-looking statements in light of those and other risks and uncertainties.

當您閱讀我們的獲利新聞稿和收聽本次電話會議時，請注意，兩者都包含聯邦證券法意義上的前瞻性陳述。這些前瞻性陳述受到許多風險和不確定因素的影響，其中許多因素超出我們的控制範圍，可能導致實際結果與此類陳述有重大差異。這些風險和不確定性包括我們在獲利新聞稿中列出的風險和不確定性、我們在 2024 財年 10-K 表格年度報告中所述的風險和不確定性，以及在隨後向美國證券交易委員會提交的文件中描述的風險和不確定性。您應該結合這些及其他風險和不確定性來考慮所有前瞻性陳述。

Additionally, we will be providing certain non-GAAP financial measures during this conference call. Our earnings press release and the financial supplement posted to our IR website each provide a reconciliation of these non-GAAP financial measures to their most comparable GAAP financial measures.

此外，我們將在本次電話會議中提供一些非GAAP財務指標。我們的獲利新聞稿和發佈在我們投資者關係網站上的財務補充文件均提供了這些非GAAP財務指標與其最可比較的GAAP財務指標的調節表。

On the call with me today, as usual, are Jeff Andreson and Greg Swyt. We also have our newly named CEO, Phil Barros, joining us for today's call. Jeff will begin with an update on our business, and then Greg will provide additional details about our results and guidance. Phil will then make his remarks before opening the line for questions.

今天和我一起通話的還有傑夫·安德烈森和格雷格·斯威特，和往常一樣。今天，我們新上任的執行長菲爾·巴羅斯也將參加電話會議。Jeff 將首先報告公司的最新情況，然後 Greg 將提供有關我們業績和指導的更多細節。菲爾隨後會發表講話，然後開放提問環節。

I'll now turn over the call to Jeff Andreson. Jeff?

現在我將把電話交給傑夫·安德烈森。傑夫？

Thank you, Claire, and welcome, everyone, to our Q3 earnings call. Thanks for joining us today.

謝謝克萊爾，也歡迎各位參加我們的第三季財報電話會議。感謝您今天收看我們的節目。

This afternoon, along with our third-quarter earnings release, we announced that Phil Barros, our long-time CTO, has been named Ichor's CEO effective today. We are very pleased to have Phil joining us for today's call. Phil has been with Ichor for over 20 years and held executive roles spanning engineering, product management, sales, account management and corporate development and strategy. He has been instrumental in the development of the company's product strategy, and I look forward to watching the company's success develop under Phil's leadership.

今天下午，在發布第三季財報的同時，我們宣布，該公司長期首席技術官 Phil Barros 已被任命為 Ichor 的首席執行官，即日起生效。我們非常高興菲爾能參加今天的電話會議。Phil 在 Ichor 工作超過 20 年，擔任工程、產品管理、銷售、客戶管理、企業發展和策略等多個管理職位。他在公司產品策略的製定過程中發揮了重要作用，我期待在菲爾的領導下，看到公司取得更大的成功。

Third quarter revenues of $239 million exceeded the midpoint of our expectations entering the quarter. Similar to the upside witnessed in Q2, we once again experienced customer accelerations of certain gas panel deliveries for dry etch and deposition applications into the quarter.

第三季營收為 2.39 億美元，超過了我們季度初步預期的中位數。與第二季的情況類似，我們再次經歷了客戶加快交付用於乾蝕和沈積應用的某些氣體面板。

There's no question that the demand environment for etch and deposition is strong and has strengthened year-to-date, particularly in support of leading-edge investments in gate-all-around and high-bandwidth memory. We believe the Q3 upside, however, reflected a pull-in of deliveries from the fourth quarter rather than an increase in overall second-half demand among our primary customers.

毫無疑問，蝕刻和沈積的需求環境強勁，並且今年以來持續增強，尤其是在支援全方位閘極和高頻寬記憶體等前沿投資方面。我們認為，第三季的成長反映的是第四季交付量的提前到來，而不是我們主要客戶下半年整體需求的成長。

At the same time, the demand profile for other served markets continue to weaken as we progress through the third quarter. While we've been discussing demand erosion affecting multiple applications for several quarters now, most significantly in the areas of EUV lithography and silicon carbide, what surprised us most during Q3 was the decline in our non-semi end markets.

同時，隨著第三季的推進，其他服務市場的需求狀況持續疲軟。雖然我們已經討論了幾個季度以來影響多個應用領域的需求萎縮問題，尤其是在 EUV 光刻和碳化矽領域，但第三季度最讓我們感到驚訝的是非半導體終端市場的下滑。

As we entered the third quarter, we began to see order rates coming down from within our IMG business. As a reminder, the primary non-semi markets served by IMG include commercial space and aerospace and defense. IMG's business also brings a strong contribution margin to our overall financial performance. So when we did not see IMG order rates recover to their planned levels inside of the quarter as we had expected in early August, this resulted in a 1 percentage point impact to our Q3 gross margin. As a result, our continued progress made during Q3 in ramping the capacity of our internally sourced components and meeting our hiring objectives was overshadowed by the gross margin impact of lower IMG revenue volumes.

進入第三季後，我們開始看到IMG業務的訂單量下降。需要提醒的是，IMG 服務的主要非半導體市場包括商業航太、航空航太和國防領域。IMG 的業​​務也為我們的整體財務表現帶來了強勁的利潤貢獻。因此，當我們在 8 月初沒有看到 IMG 訂單率像我們預期的那樣在本季度恢復到計劃水平時，這導致我們的第三季度毛利率下降了 1 個百分點。因此，儘管我們在第三季提高了內部採購組件的產能並實現了招募目標，但IMG收入量下降對毛利率的影響卻掩蓋了這些進展。

With our current visibility, we are expecting IMG to continue to run at a lower rate for the remainder of the year, which is reflected in both our revenue and gross margin guidance for the fourth quarter. Our Q4 forecast now reflects meaningful forecast revisions from our third and fourth largest customers, reflecting the continued slowing in system build rates for certain applications and end markets.

根據我們目前的預測，我們預計 IMG 在今年剩餘時間內將繼續以較低的速度運營，這反映在我們對第四季的營收和毛利率預期中。我們第四季的預測現在反映了我們第三和第四大客戶的重要預測修正，這反映了某些應用和終端市場的系統建構速度持續放緩。

Our operational focus continues to be on improving the cost of our internal component manufacturing capacity to align with our targeted product margins and increasing our output to fulfill our customer demand. In parallel, we are making steady technical and operational progress on our two additional proprietary component products, which are designed to expand our addressable markets for both flow control and valves.

我們的營運重點仍是提高內部零件製造能力的成本，以符合我們設定的產品利潤率目標，並提高產量以滿足客戶需求。同時，我們在另外兩項專有組件產品方面取得了穩步的技術和營運進展，這兩項產品旨在擴大我們在流量控制和閥門方面的目標市場。

We are targeting our first beta unit for customer evaluation in early 2026. These next-generation offerings will allow us to serve a broader range of applications and customer needs, further increasing our value across the semiconductor supply chain.

我們計劃在 2026 年初推出首台測試版產品供客戶評估。這些新一代產品將使我們能夠服務更廣泛的應用和客戶需求，進一步提升我們在整個半導體供應鏈中的價值。

As we reflect on the customer demand environment, there's no question that our 18% year-over-year revenue growth recorded for the first three quarters of 2025 demonstrates strong performance relative to overall wafer fab equipment or WFE growth.

當我們回顧客戶需求環境時，毫無疑問，我們在 2025 年前三個季度實現的 18% 的同比增長率表明，相對於晶圓製造設備 (WFE) 的整體增長而言，我們的業績表現強勁。

Our strong growth this year reflects increased demand from our two largest customers and a strengthening environment for etch and deposition, partially offset by declines in our EUV lithography business, our silicon carbide business and the closure of some of our smaller underperforming business units during the year.

今年我們強勁的成長反映了我們兩大客戶需求的增加以及蝕刻和沈積環境的改善，但部分被我們的 EUV 光刻業務、碳化矽業務的下滑以及年內關閉的一些業績不佳的小型業務部門所抵消。

With the currently strong demand environment for etch and deposition expected to continue, the beginning of a recovery in these underperforming served markets for Ichor could very well result in Q4 2025, proving to be the trough quarter for this next phase of Ichor's growth ahead with Phil Barros as CEO.

鑑於目前對蝕刻和沈積的強勁需求環境預計將持續，Ichor 在這些表現不佳的服務市場中的復甦很可能在 2025 年第四季度開始，這很可能成為 Ichor 在 Phil Barros 擔任 CEO 的領導下進入下一階段增長的低谷季度。

With that, I'll turn it over to Greg to recap our Q3 results and provide further details around our financial outlook. Greg?

接下來，我將把發言權交給格雷格，讓他總結我們第三季的業績，並提供更多有關我們財務前景的細節。格雷格？

Thanks, Jeff. To begin, I would like to emphasize that the P&L metrics discussed today are non-GAAP measures. These measures exclude the impact of share-based compensation, amortization of acquired intangible assets, nonrecurring charges and discrete tax items and adjustments. There is a useful financial supplement available in the Investors section of our website that summarizes our GAAP and non-GAAP financial results as well as a summary of the balance sheet and cash flow information for the last several quarters.

謝謝你，傑夫。首先，我想強調的是，今天要討論的損益指標是非GAAP指標。這些措施不包括股份支付、收購無形資產攤提、非經常性費用和一次性稅務項目及調整的影響。我們網站的投資者關係部分提供了一份有用的財務補充資料，其中總結了我們按 GAAP 和非 GAAP 編制的財務業績，以及最近幾個季度的資產負債表和現金流量資訊的摘要。

Third quarter revenues were $239.3 million, above the midpoint of guidance, up 13% year-over-year and roughly flat to Q2. The gross margin for the quarter was 12.1%. As Jeff discussed, while we made good progress in ramping output of our internally sourced products, the slowdown in our non-semi business impacted Q3 gross margin by 100 basis points.

第三季營收為 2.393 億美元，高於預期中位數，年增 13%，與第二季基本持平。本季毛利率為12.1%。正如傑夫所討論的，雖然我們在提高內部採購產品的產量方面取得了良好進展，但非半導體業務的放緩使第三季毛利率下降了 100 個基點。

With operating expenses aligned with the forecast at $23.8 million, our operating income for Q3 was $5.1 million. Our net interest expense and net income tax expenses were likewise aligned with our expectations at $1.7 million and $0.7 million, respectively. The resulting EPS for the quarter was $0.07 per share.

第三季營運支出與預測一致，為 2,380 萬美元，營業收入為 510 萬美元。我們的淨利息支出和淨所得稅支出也與預期相符，分別為 170 萬美元和 70 萬美元。本季每股收益為 0.07 美元。

Our Q3 GAAP results reflect $18.3 million in restructuring costs related to the strategic consolidation of our global operations and consisted of inventory impairment and fixed asset charges as well as personnel transition and facility shutdown costs. We anticipate there may be additional charges in the fourth quarter and fiscal 2026 as we continue to execute on the strategy.

我們第三季的 GAAP 業績反映了與全球業務策略整合相關的 1,830 萬美元重組成本，其中包括存貨減損和固定資產費用，以及人員過渡和設施關閉成本。我們預計，隨著我們繼續執行該策略，第四季度和 2026 財年可能會產生額外費用。

Turning to the balance sheet. Our cash and equivalents totaled $92.5 million at the end of the quarter, flat to Q2. We generated $9 million in cash from operations, and our capital investments for the quarter were $7.1 million. Working capital changes reflect a consistent level of days sales outstanding and an $18 million decrease in inventory.

接下來看一下資產負債表。截至本季末，我們的現金及等價物總額為 9,250 萬美元，與第二季持平。本季我們從經營活動中獲得了 900 萬美元的現金，資本投資為 710 萬美元。營運資本的變動反映了應收帳款週轉天數的穩定水準以及庫存減少 1,800 萬美元。

Our planned CapEx investments for 2025 are still expected to total approximately 4% of revenue as we finish the build-out of our new Malaysia factory, that aligns with our strategy to consolidate our global operations and capacity in close alignment with our customers.

我們計劃在 2025 年進行的資本支出投資預計仍將佔收入的 4% 左右，屆時我們將完成馬來西亞新工廠的建設，這符合我們整合全球業務和產能，與客戶緊密合作的策略。

In Q3, we completed the refinancing of the company's credit facility in order to reduce our overall borrowing costs. This refinance impacted our GAAP provision for other expenses during the quarter. We reduced the fixed amount of the revolver facility from $400 million to $225 million in favor of an accordion feature. We also extended the term of the facility another five years. Our outstanding term loan balance remained unchanged and at the end of the quarter was $125 million, and our net debt coverage ratio was 1.5x, well below any potential threshold for covenants.

第三季度，我們完成了公司信貸額度的再融資，以降低我們的整體借貸成本。此次再融資對我們本季按美國通用會計準則提列的其他費用準備金產生了影響。我們將循環信貸額度的固定金額從 4 億美元減少到 2.25 億美元，轉而採用可伸縮條款。我們也將該設施的使用期限延長了五年。我們的未償還定期貸款餘額保持不變，截至季末為 1.25 億美元，淨債務覆蓋率為 1.5 倍，遠低於任何潛在的契約門檻。

Now I will discuss our guidance for the fourth quarter of 2025. With anticipated revenues in the range of $210 million to $230 million, we expect our Q4 gross margins to be between 10% and 12%. In comparison to our earlier expectations for gross margin, about half of the reduction is due to the lower level of IMG revenues and the other half is due to the lower revenue from our third and fourth largest semi customers.

現在我將討論我們對 2025 年第四季的業績預期。預計第四季營收將在 2.1 億美元至 2.3 億美元之間，毛利率預計在 10% 至 12% 之間。與我們先前對毛利率的預期相比，約一半的下降是由於 IMG 收入下降，另一半是由於我們第三和第四大半導體客戶的收入下降。

We expect Q4 operating expenses to remain relatively consistent with Q3 levels at approximately $23.7 million. Net interest expense for Q4 is expected to be approximately $1.7 million. We expect to record a tax expense in Q4 of approximately $900,000, reflecting a full year non-GAAP tax expense of $5.6 million, which is unchanged from our prior expectations. As you update your models for 2026, our assumed effective tax rate is currently expected to be in the range of 15% to 17%.

我們預計第四季營運支出將與第三季水準保持相對穩定，約為 2,370 萬美元。預計第四季淨利息支出約為 170 萬美元。我們預計第四季將確認約 90 萬美元的稅項支出，反映出全年非 GAAP 稅項支出為 560 萬美元，這與我們先前的預期一致。當您更新 2026 年模型時，我們目前假設的有效稅率預計在 15% 到 17% 之間。

Finally, our EPS guidance range for Q4 of a loss of $0.14 to a profit of $0.02 reflects a share count of 34.5 million shares.

最後，我們對第四季每股盈餘的預期範圍為虧損 0.14 美元至獲利 0.02 美元，反映出股票數量為 3,450 萬股。

I will now turn over the call to Phil Barros. Phil?

現在我將把通話交給菲爾·巴羅斯。菲爾？

Thank you, Greg. First, I want to thank the Board for their confidence and Jeff for his mentorship and most of all, our employees. You make everything we do possible. It's an honor to lead the company I've been part of for nearly 22 years into the next phase of growth. While I may be new to the CEO role, I am not new to Ichor, our business or our customers.

謝謝你，格雷格。首先，我要感謝董事會的信任，感謝傑夫的指導，最重要的是，感謝我們的員工。你們讓我們所有的工作成為可能。能夠帶領我效力近 22 年的公司進入下一個發展階段，我深感榮幸。雖然我擔任執行長一職的時間不長，但我對 Ichor、我們的業務和我們的客戶並不陌生。

So I want to outline the strategic priorities that will drive us in our next phase of growth.

因此，我想概述將推動我們進入下一個成長階段的策略重點。

2026 will be a year of transition for Ichor. We plan to realign our global footprint and cost structure to strengthen our long-term profitability while leveraging the benefits of our recent strategic investments. We are focused on improving our product margins across all of our product verticals. These initiatives are aimed at driving our earnings growth faster than our revenue. As one of the key architects of our proprietary product strategy, I fully believe it's the right strategy for Ichor.

2026年將是伊科爾的轉型之年。我們計劃調整全球佈局和成本結構，以增強長期獲利能力，同時充分利用近期策略投資帶來的效益。我們致力於提高所有產品線的利潤率。這些措施旨在推動我們的獲利成長速度超過收入成長速度。作為我們專有產品策略的主要架構師之一，我完全相信這是 Ichor 的正確策略。

Our focus is now on smoother execution, completing customer qualifications, transitioning our products to volume and delivering new products to give Ichor and our customers a clear competitive edge. We believe in the long-term fundamentals of our markets, driven by AI, high-performance logic and advanced packaging. These inflections are reshaping the industry and will drive sustained growth in our core WFE markets. But our goal is not to simply grow with the market, it's to outpace it.

我們現在的重點是更順利地執行、完成客戶資格認證、將我們的產品推向批量生產以及交付新產品，從而使 Ichor 和我們的客戶擁有明顯的競爭優勢。我們相信，在人工智慧、高效能邏輯和先進封裝技術的驅動下，我們的市場擁有長期的基本面。這些變革正在重塑產業格局，並將推動我們核心WFE市場的持續成長。但我們的目標不僅是與市場共同發展，而是超越市場。

At our core, we are an engineering company. We create value by engaging early with our customers to solve their most critical problems. These partnerships enable us to drive sustainable growth by developing products and solutions that Ichor is uniquely positioned to provide.

我們本質上是一家工程公司。我們透過儘早與客戶接觸，解決他們最關鍵的問題，從而創造價值。這些合作關係使我們能夠透過開發 Ichor 具有獨特優勢的產品和解決方案來推動永續成長。

Finally, our machining business drives the highest contribution margin across our product portfolio, and we will stay focused on expanding it across both our semiconductor and non-semiconductor markets. I see tremendous opportunities ahead and I have complete confidence in our team's ability to continue to outgrow the markets we serve.

最後，我們的機械加工業務是我們產品組合中貢獻利潤率最高的業務，我們將繼續專注於在半導體和非半導體市場擴大業務。我看到了未來巨大的機遇，我完全相信我們的團隊有能力繼續超越我們所服務的市場。

With that, I will now open the call for Q&A.

接下來，我將開放問答環節。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作說明）

Brian Chin, Stifel.

Brian Chin，Stifel。

Thank you, Jeff, for your help over the years, and welcome, Phil. Look forward to speaking with you more. Maybe first question on the environment and some of the updates here on the call. Can you quantify the revenue shortfall from IMG in Q3? How much is IMG sales expected to decline in 4Q? What's driving the decline? And what's the prognosis for returning to Q2 revenue level sometime next year?

傑夫，感謝你這些年來的幫助；歡迎菲爾。期待與您進一步交流。或許第一個問題可以談談環境議題以及本次電話會議的一些最新進展。你能量化一下IMG在第三季的營收缺口嗎？IMG第四季銷售額預計下降多少？導致這種下滑趨勢的原因是什麼？那麼，明年某個時候恢復到第二季營收水準的前景如何？

Yes. So it's Jeff, Brian. Yes, I would say entering the quarter, it was down a couple, $2.5 million or so from what we expected, and most of that was in their higher-margin businesses. And then going into Q4, it's going to drop again a similar level, stabilize, we believe, and then start to recover in the first quarter. I would say maybe by the second quarter, we'll be back to where we thought we would be about now. That's the IMG story. What was the second part that I can't remember?

是的。所以是傑夫，布萊恩。是的，我想說，進入本季時，比我們預期的減少了大約 250 萬美元，而且大部分減少都發生在利潤率較高的業務中。我們認為，進入第四季後，價格將再次下降到類似的水平，然後趨於穩定，並在第一季開始復甦。我認為，到第二季度，我們或許就能回到我們先前預期的水平。這就是IMG的故事。第二部分是什麼來著？我記不起來了。

And part of that was sort of what drove the decline?

而這在某種程度上也是導致衰退的原因之一？

Yes, yes, yes. It's interesting. I think some of this is just -- it's taken -- we have some business that runs at a run rate into the sub-tier that was a portion of it. But the biggest portion was really new programs where the funding just didn't drop down through the prime to us. It's not gone. It's just a matter of when it comes.

是的，是的，是的。很有意思。我認為其中一些只是——它被拿走了——我們有一些業務以一定的速度發展到下一級，而下一級是其中的一部分。但其中最大的一部分是真正的新項目，這些項目的資金並沒有透過主要管道直接撥給我們。它並沒有消失。只是時間問題。

A piece of it has already arrived. So it's already been kind of incorporated into it and another couple of pieces are going to start to layer in. But really, they won't be able to affect the fourth quarter. They'll start to help the first quarter growth.

其中一部分已經到了。所以它已經被某種程度上融入其中了，接下來又會加入其他一些元素。但實際上，他們無法影響第四節的比賽。它們將有助於第一季的成長。

Got it. Okay. So that can tie into sort of the budget lock that we have and the continuing resolution in terms of frozen budget levels and whatnot.

知道了。好的。所以這與我們目前的預算鎖定以及凍結預算水準等方面的持續決議有關。

Yes. It could be, but I can't on that. I don't know what's taken so far, probably.

是的。有可能，但我不能確定。我不知道目前進展如何。

Got it. Maybe the second question. In terms of your top four, and there's been kind of more weakness on maybe your two smaller of the four customers that kind of is lingering here maybe into the end of this year. What sort of optimism do you have? There was something in the press release that sort of suggested some optimism that business levels improve first half next year. Can you maybe provide a little more color on what kind of visibility you have months and quarters and kind of what gives you a sense that the business trajectory can come back in the first half next year?

知道了。或許是第二個問題。就你們的前四大客戶而言，其中兩個規模較小的客戶可能會有一些疲軟的跡象，這種情況可能會持續到今年年底。你抱持的是哪一種樂觀態度？新聞稿中似乎暗示著對明年上半年業務水準有所改善的樂觀態度。您能否更詳細地說明一下您對未來幾個月和幾季的業績預期，以及是什麼讓您覺得公司業務軌跡能在明年上半年恢復？

Yes. Good question. I mean, again, I think largely the outlook as we entered the third quarter, what's really changed, I think you pointed out was it's the IMG softness and then it's our smaller -- our non- -- call them 10% customers' business levels. But what we have seen from the visibility is already we're starting to see a recovery into Q1.

是的。問得好。我的意思是，再說一遍，我認為進入第三季後，前景發生了很大變化，正如你所指出的，是IMG業務的疲軟，以及我們規模較小的——我們那些非——稱之為10%客戶的業務水平。但從目前的情況來看，我們已經開始看到第一季出現復甦跡象。

I think some of the latest news about the elimination of the 50% ownership threshold, I think we're going to see some impact from that. Having said that, we haven't seen anything, and it's probably pretty late in the quarter to react to that. But I think we can already see kind of the core depth and etch market starting to bounce up. I'm not ready to guide you quarter one revenue, but we're pretty confident that we're seeing Q4 as the trough.

我認為，關於取消50%所有權門檻的最新消息，將會產生一些影響。話雖如此，我們還沒有看到任何跡象，而且現在距離季度末可能已經太晚了，無法對此做出反應。但我認為我們已經可以看到核心深度和蝕刻市場開始反彈了。我現在還無法預測第一季的營收，但我們相當有信心第四季將是低潮。

Maybe last question. This might be for Phil. So adjusting for that lower IMG mix in Q3, it sounds like gross margins might have increased around 60 basis points or so Q-on-Q were it not for that kind of unfavorable mix. I guess, firstly, was that tied to some improved operational execution in terms of the internal component supply ramp in Minnesota?

或許是最後一個問題。這可能是給菲爾的。因此，考慮到第三季 IMG 產品組合較低，如果不是因為這種不利的產品組合，毛利率環比可能會成長約 60 個基點。首先，我想，這是否與明尼蘇達州內部零件供應提升方面的營運執行力增強有關？

And then kind of more broadly, reflecting on sort of the transition year commentary you made, I know it's maybe a little unfair to ask you this right about, Phil, but what will the company do? So yes, answered however you can, but what can the company do? What will the company do in the next 6, next 12 months to sustainably improve the execution around that internal supply and product yield to lay a good foundation for the appreciable gross margin improvement once -- helped obviously, once revenue can kind of get back to that $250 million per quarter level as well?

然後，更廣泛地說，回顧一下你對過渡年的評論，我知道現在問你這個問題可能有點不公平，菲爾，但是公司會怎麼做呢？所以，無論你怎麼回答，答案都一樣，但公司又能做什麼呢？在接下來的 6 個月到 12 個月裡，公司將採取哪些措施來可持續地改善內部供應和產品良率的執行情況，從而為毛利率的顯著提高奠定良好的基礎——當然，前提是收入也能恢復到每季 2.5 億美元的水平？

Yes. I'll start off with the answer, and then I'll hand off to Greg to talk about the $250 million number. What I'll say is the new products, we are on track or on track to what we projected last quarter in terms of our improvements that we talked about last quarter. So well on track there.

是的。我先給答案，然後把麥克風交給格雷格，讓他談談2.5億美元的數字。我想說的是，就新產品而言，我們正按計劃推進，或者說，我們正按計劃推進上個季度預測的改進目標，正如我們上個季度所談到的那樣。進展順利。

We have key initiatives to continue to increase our gross margin on those products, in particular, getting our valve product line to our product margins where we want it to be. We're very close to those and should see that early next year. So we'll continue to see those grow over the next couple of coming quarters.

我們有關鍵舉措來繼續提高這些產品的毛利率，特別是要使我們的閥門產品線的毛利率達到我們想要的水平。我們離目標非常接近了，應該會在明年初看到結果。因此，在接下來的幾個季度裡，我們將繼續看到這些數字成長。

With that said, I'm going to hand over the $250 million question over to Greg. If you don't mind, Greg?

綜上所述，我要把這個價值 2.5 億美元的問題交給格雷格來回答。格雷格，如果你不介意的話？

Yes. Thanks, Phil. I think, Brian, the first question was on the Q3 miss. And we talked about IMG, but the recovery quarter-over-quarter within the machining business was there. It's just that the full miss was really predominantly driven by the IMG miss.

是的。謝謝你，菲爾。布萊恩，我認為第一個問題是關於第三季的失誤。我們討論了IMG，但機械加工行業的季度環比復甦是存在的。只是這次完全失誤主要是由IMG失誤造成的。

When we look out into the outer quarters, and we are -- as Phil talked about the plans on the machining business, we still expect to get to the mid-teens when we get to that kind of second half. What we've always been saying recently for the past couple of calls is that $250 million run rate, still expect to be in those mid-teens as we execute on our machining strategy to get the volumes up and get those efficiencies to where we expect them to be.

當我們向外看去，就像菲爾談到機械加工業務的計劃時，我們仍然預計，當我們進入下半年時，我們能夠達到十幾個百分點。在最近幾次電話會議上，我們一直強調的是，2.5億美元的年化收入，預計仍將維持在十數十億美元左右，因為我們將執行加工策略，提高產量，並將效率提升到我們預期的水平。

Charles Shi, Needham.

石正麗，李約瑟。

Jeff, I really appreciate working together for the last couple of years and wish you well for your next chapter. Phil, welcome aboard. Looking forward to more conversation with you.

傑夫，我非常感謝過去幾年與你共事，祝你人生下一階段一切順利。菲爾，歡迎加入。期待與您有更多交流。

So maybe the first question I want to ask a little bit more near term, some of the commentary would hope you clarify a little bit. You talked about the Q3 revenue benefited from some of the pull-ins and you talked about some of the Q4 revenue decline. There are some downward revisions from number three and number four customers. Are those two things correlated, meaning was the pull-in into Q3 done by the number three, number four customer? Or are they not?

所以，我想問的第一個問題可能更貼近近期情況，有些評論希望您能稍作澄清。您提到第三季營收受惠於部分新增客戶，也提到第四季營收有所下降。第三和第四位客戶提出了一些下調意見。這兩件事之間有相關性嗎？也就是說，第三季的銷售成長是由排名第三或第四的客戶所推動的嗎？或者並非如此？

Charles, thanks. It's Jeff. No, I would say, generally, they're unrelated. I mean the pull-in actually was offsetting some of the softness in IMG, but I would say largely, that was at our largest customer.

查爾斯，謝謝。是傑夫。不，我認為，一般來說，它們之間沒有關聯。我的意思是，拉動實際上抵消了IMG的一些軟化，但我想說，這主要是因為我們最大的客戶。

Great. So Jeff and Phil, I want to get your thoughts a little bit more specific on next year's expectations, maybe not exactly about Ichor, but the overall WFE trend. I think your customers have talked about maybe first half next year kind of at a similar level as the second half this year and second half next year could see some of the stronger inflection to the upside. Are you aligned with that? And specifically on maybe the outer quarter Q1, since your second half '25 run rate actually comes down a little bit given what you guided for Q4. Is that still the same picture there?

偉大的。所以 Jeff 和 Phil，我想聽聽你們對明年的預期更具體地談談，也許不是指 Ichor，而是 WFE 的整體趨勢。我認為您的客戶已經談到，明年上半年的業績可能與今年下半年的業績水準大致相同，而明年下半年可能會出現更強勁的上漲趨勢。你同意這種觀點嗎？具體來說，可能是第一季的外半段，因為考慮到你對第四季的預測，你的 2025 年下半年的運行率實際上略有下降。那張照片還是原來的嗎？

Hey, it's Jeff. What I would tell you is we still kind of see a more back half weighted year next year with the growth in the year, probably you're going to have to assume it starts around midyear. I think some of this China reduction of the 50%, that might also help the front half a bit. But I still think our view is a stronger back half of the year. And then a stronger '27 is kind of what is our view of what's going to happen over the next couple of years.

嘿，我是傑夫。我想說的是，我們預計明年下半年仍將是成長的主要動力來源，可能要等到年中左右才會開始。我認為中國減產 50% 的部分原因，或許也能對上半年有所助益。但我仍然認為下半年的情況會更好。然後，我們認為未來幾年將會出現更強勁的「27」賽季。

Craig Ellis, B. Riley Securities.

Craig Ellis，B. Riley Securities。

I'll echo the thanks to Jeff and the good wishes and the welcome to Phil. Look forward to being in conversation going forward. I was hoping I could pick up on some of the questions thus far. So it sounds like as we look into 2026, we can expect 100 basis points or more of gross margin expansion just as IMG normalizes. But from there to the 15% at $250 million in revenues, Greg, how would we build that layer cake? What are the specific contributors, whether it be something in weldments, something in gas panel, et cetera. Can you help us just understand how we go from 12-ish percent up to 15%?

我謹代表大家向傑夫表示感謝，並向菲爾致以美好的祝福和歡迎。期待未來能繼續交流。我希望能夠回答目前為止提出的一些問題。因此，展望 2026 年，隨著 IMG 業務恢復正常，我們可以預期毛利率將成長 100 個基點或更多。但是，從那裡到營收達到 2.5 億美元，成長 15% 的目標，格雷格，我們該如何建造這個多層蛋糕呢？具體原因是什麼？是焊接件中的某些部件，還是氣體面板中的某些部件等等？你能幫我們理解一下，為什麼從 12% 左右成長到 15% 嗎？

Sure. Thanks, Craig. So it's a couple of things, and it's still continued on the conversation around improving our proprietary products. And that's going to be, as Phil has mentioned, our key strategy to drive. And so as that moves through the year, that will be one of the biggest levers that we have.

當然。謝謝你，克雷格。所以，這涉及到兩方面，而且我們仍在繼續討論如何改進我們的專有產品。正如菲爾所提到的，這將是我們推動發展的關鍵策略。因此，隨著時間的推移，這將是我們擁有的最大槓桿之一。

Phil also, in his comments, talked about our global operations footprint that we are rationalizing as we move through that. We'll see some improvement later in the year, but not incremental, that will be more of a '27. But we're working on driving efficiencies that will help move that through. And then not only on the branded product and the leverage of our factories, but driving incremental revenue from our machining business, which garners obviously a higher product margin than our integration business and getting that mix up as a higher percentage of the business.

菲爾在演講中也談到了我們正在逐步調整的全球營運佈局。今年稍後我們會看到一些改善，但不是漸進式的，那要等到 2027 年才會發生。但我們正在努力提高效率，以推動這項進程。不僅要依靠品牌產品和工廠的槓桿作用，還要從我們的機械加工業務中推動增量收入，這顯然比我們的整合業務能獲得更高的產品利潤率，並讓這部分業務在公司業務中佔比更高。

That's helpful. And then the follow-up question, and it may be that you've covered some of it. In Phil's prepared remarks, he characterized calendar 2026 as a year of transition. I was just hoping to get further color on what the elements of the transition were and what was targeted to achieve in 2026 versus elements of a transition that might start in '26 and then yield more benefit in '27 and beyond?

那很有幫助。然後是後續問題，也許你已經回答過一部分了。菲爾在事先準備好的演講稿中，將 2026 年描述為過渡年。我只是希望進一步了解過渡的各個要素是什麼，以及2026年要實現的具體目標是什麼，而不是指那些可能從2026年開始，然後在2027年及以後產生更多效益的過渡要素？

Yes. As Greg kind of mentioned earlier, I would say it's three major levers. First and foremost is getting all of our products into volume, getting them at the cost targets and quite frankly, expanding those products across more and more customers. I think we talked about on our last call, in particular, we slowed down one of the qualifications because we, quite frankly, weren't ready for the ramp. So we're going to be ramping that product and that customer through the first half of the year, which will increase our touch points with additional customers in terms of our proprietary products.

是的。正如格雷格之前提到的那樣，我認為這主要有三個槓桿。首要任務是讓我們所有的產品達到大量生產，達到成本目標，坦白說，還要將這些產品推廣給越來越多的客戶。我想我們在上次通話中特別談到了，我們放慢了其中一項資格賽的進度，因為坦白說，我們還沒有準備好上坡。因此，我們將在今年上半年逐步擴大該產品和該客戶的規模，這將增加我們與更多客戶接觸的機會，從而更好地推廣我們的專有產品。

Second, as Greg mentioned, in particular, our global operations and our global footprint, we are going to be doing work to making sure our products are made in the right location for the right margin. And also that will help us from a flexibility standpoint. If you think of it this way, we want to use our machining business within North America to drive our quick turn, and that quick turn is going to be our revenue growth for our long term, if that makes sense.

其次，正如格雷格所提到的，特別是考慮到我們的全球營運和全球佈局，我們將努力確保我們的產品在合適的地點生產，以獲得合適的利潤。從靈活性的角度來看，這也有助於我們。這樣想來，我們希望利用我們在北美的機械加工業務來推動我們的快速週轉，而這種快速週轉將成為我們長期的收入成長，如果這樣理解沒錯的話。

Krish Sankar, TD Cowen.

Krish Sankar，TD Cowen。

This is Robert Mertens on for Krish. I think you had previously mentioned some friction in your hiring process for the machining business. Could you just provide an update on where you are in that business in terms of current capacity and which would be needed to service demand in a more normalized demand environment?

這是羅伯特‧默滕斯替克里什報道。我想你之前曾提到過，你們在機械加工業務的招募過程中遇到了一些困難。能否簡單介紹一下貴公司在該業務領域的當前產能，以及在需求恢復正常的情況下，需要多少產能才能滿足市場需求？

Yes. We talked last quarter that we need to get the hiring up in our Minnesota factory in particular. We have met those hiring targets. As we see increased demand for those products, though, what we will be doing is increasing our capacity by bringing on both our Malaysia footprint as well as our Mexico footprint, building some of those same products.

是的。上個季度我們討論過，我們需要加強對明尼蘇達州工廠的招募。我們已經完成了招募目標。不過，隨著對這些產品的需求不斷增長，我們將透過整合我們在馬來西亞和墨西哥的工廠來提高產能，生產其中一些相同的產品。

Great. That's helpful. And then last quarter, you mentioned qualifying a third customer in your internal valve system and we're engaged with the fourth customer. Do you have any update at this time? You can provide us on where you are in the qualification phase and sort of the rate of adoption you're expecting for these customers going internally sourced products?

偉大的。那很有幫助。然後上個季度，您提到您的內部閥門系統正在篩選第三位客戶，而我們現在正在與第四位客戶接洽。目前有最新消息嗎？您能否告知我們您目前處於資格認證階段的哪個階段，以及您預期這些客戶採用內部採購產品的接受率為何？

Yes, that's what I was alluding to in my comment on the last question. In particular, we believe that fourth customer will come online in the first half of next year in terms of our valve supply.

是的，我在上一個問題的評論中指的就是這個。特別是，我們相信第四位客戶將於明年上半年開始向我們供應閥門。

Edward Yang, Oppenheimer.

愛德華楊，奧本海默。

So just to clarify, are we past all the hiring and retention challenges in the US machining operations? And it's nice to hear you got the hiring up. How are you able to hit those targets?

所以，為了明確起見，我們是否已經克服了美國機械加工產業的所有招募和留任挑戰？很高興聽到你們的招募工作進展順利。你是如何擊中這些目標的？

Yes. I think we talked about in the past about different incentive programs we put in place in order to get the hiring programs in line. We are on track. We've met all of our hiring requirements for our Minnesota factory. What I will say is as we see these products expand, we will be duplicating resource requirements in lower-cost regions as well.

是的。我想我們之前討論過為了使招聘計劃步入正軌而實施的各種激勵計劃。我們一切進展順利。我們明尼蘇達州工廠的所有招聘要求都已滿足。我想說的是，隨著這些產品的擴張，我們也會在成本較低的地區重複投入資源。

Okay. And just a follow-up question for you, Phil. How does your prior perspective that CTO would that be helpful for you in alleviating some of these execution issues that we've seen, which were more manufacturing related? And when you talk about 2026 being a year of changes, does that mean, again, that you're going to focus a little bit more on the R&D side versus manufacturing or operations? Or am I reading too much into it? Again, you coming from the CTO position to CEO?

好的。菲爾，我還有一個後續問題想問你。您之前作為首席技術長的觀點，對於緩解我們所看到的這些與製造相關的執行問題，會有什麼幫助？當您提到 2026 年是變革之年時，這是否意味著您將再次更加重視研發方面，而不是製造或營運方面？還是我想太多了？您又要從技術長升任執行長了嗎？

Quick answer is yes. What I would say there is Jeff has talked about in the past, some of the growing pains we've gone through as we transition from more of a services business to a products business. So my perspective as being one of the architects of the products business is how we grow our operations with our products is going to be very, very important as we move forward. So that was one of the key milestones, the key things we need to get done in 2026 is making sure our product transitions are very, very smooth going forward.

簡而言之，答案是肯定的。我想說的是，傑夫過去也談過，我們在從服務型企業轉型為產品型企業的過程中經歷了一些成長的陣痛。因此，作為產品業務的架構師之一，我的觀點是，隨著我們不斷前進，我們如何利用產品來發展業務將非常非常重要。所以，這是我們 2026 年需要完成的關鍵里程碑之一，也是我們需要完成的關鍵事項之一，那就是確保我們的產品過渡在未來能夠非常非常順利地進行。

Yes. Just as a comment on Phil. Phil has obviously been in so many different roles within the company, but he has been deeply engaged in driving the alignment of cost targets with what we need to do. And so it's not new to him by any way, shape or form. This has been a real big team effort, and he's been a critical player in that.

是的。光是就菲爾發表一下看法。菲爾顯然在公司擔任過許多不同的職務，但他一直積極致力於推動成本目標與我們需要做的事情保持一致。所以對他來說，這根本不是什麼新鮮事。這是一項真正的團隊努力，而他在這方面發揮了關鍵作用。

Christian Schwab, Craig-Hallum Capital Group.

Christian Schwab，Craig-Hallum Capital Group。

With Q4 being the trough for the year as we're kind of thinking about 2026, would you expect year-over-year growth in '26 versus '25?

鑑於第四季是全年的低谷，而我們現在正在考慮 2026 年，您認為 2026 年的年成長率會比 2025 年高嗎？

Yes, definitely. But that's our current view without guiding the whole year next year is I think we are anticipating growth. I mean we've just said that Q1 should be better than Q2. Q4 is the trough, and then it may be relatively flattish in the front half. We'll see how that works out. Generally, as you know, Christian, things start to pull forward. But we do see right now in alignment with what others are forecasting, customers are telling us back half of the year is going to be very strong.

是的，當然。但這只是我們目前的看法，暫不考慮明年全年的走勢，我認為我們預計明年將會成長。我的意思是，我們剛才已經說過，第一季應該比第二季好。第四季是低谷，然後前半季可能會相對平坦。我們看看結果如何。克里斯蒂安，你也知道，通常情況下，事情都會開始向前發展。但就目前來看，與其他人預測的情況一致，客戶回饋說今年上半年業績將非常強勁。

So with that in mind and getting to the target of $250 million then run rate in the back half, is the internal plan to be able to hit the mid-teens gross margin goal in the second half of '26, I mean?

所以考慮到這一點，並力爭在下半年達到 2.5 億美元的營收目標，那麼內部計畫是否能夠在 2026 年下半年實現 15% 左右的毛利率目標呢？

Yes, Christian, that is the plan. That's what the operations is putting together right now.

是的，克里斯蒂安，這就是計劃。這就是營運部門目前正在著手準備的事情。

Okay. Great. And then my last question then, we discussed an aspirational goal of vertical integration driving a gross margin of 20%. Is that still the aspirational goal that you guys have in mind?

好的。偉大的。那麼，我的最後一個問題是，我們討論了垂直整合的宏偉目標，目標是實現 20% 的毛利率。那仍然是你們心中懷抱的遠大目標嗎？

Yes. Long range, that is still our aspirational goal. Flow control is really going to be the enabler for us to get from that mid-teens to that 20% gross margin.

是的。從長遠來看，這仍然是我們的遠大目標。流量控制將成為我們實現毛利率從十幾個百分點提升到 20% 的關鍵因素。

And congrats, Phil, on your new job. And Jeff, best wishes.

恭喜菲爾找到新工作。傑夫，祝你一切順利。

Thank you, Christian.

謝謝你，克里斯蒂安。

Thank you.

謝謝。

This now concludes our question-and-answer session. I would like to turn the floor back over to Jeff Andreson for closing comments.

我們的問答環節到此結束。現在我把發言權交還給傑夫·安德森，讓他做總結發言。

I want to thank you for joining us on our call this quarter. I'd also like to thank our employees, suppliers, customers and investors for their ongoing dedication and support over my last eight years at Ichor. Phil and Greg will look forward to our next quarterly update in early February for our fourth quarter earnings call.

感謝您參加本季的電話會議。我還要感謝我們的員工、供應商、客戶和投資者，感謝他們在我過去八年裡對 Ichor 的持續奉獻和支持。Phil 和 Greg 期待二月初的第四季財報電話會議，屆時我們將發布下一季更新報告。

Operator, that concludes our call.

接線員，通話到此結束。