IPG Photonics Corp (IPGP) 2023 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Good morning, and welcome to IPG Photonics Third Quarter 2023 Conference Call. Today's call is being recorded and webcast. At this time, I'd like to turn the call over to your host, Eugene Fedotoff, IPG Senior Director, Investor Relations, for introductions. Please go ahead with your conference.

早上好，歡迎參加 IPG Photonics 2023 年第三季電話會議。今天的通話正在錄音並進行網路直播。現在，我想將電話轉給主持人 IPG 投資者關係高級總監尤金·費多夫 (Eugene Fedotoff) 進行介紹。請繼續您的會議。

Thank you, Rob, and good morning, everyone. With me today is IPG Photonics' CEO, Dr. Eugene Scherbakov; and Senior Vice President and CFO, Tim Mammen.

謝謝你，羅布，大家早安。今天與我在一起的是 IPG Photonics 執行長 Eugene Scherbakov 博士；以及資深副總裁兼財務長 Tim Mammen。

Let me remind you that statements made during the course of this call that discuss management's or the company's intentions, expectations or predictions of the future are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause the company's actual results to differ materially from those projected in such forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties are detailed in IPG Photonics' Form 10-K for the period ended December 31, 2022, and our reports on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Copies of these filings may be obtained by visiting the Investors section of the IPG's website or the SEC's website.

讓我提醒您，在本次電話會議期間發表的討論管理層或公司的意圖、期望或對未來的預測的聲明均為前瞻性聲明。這些前瞻性陳述存在風險和不確定性，可能導致公司的實際結果與此類前瞻性陳述中的預測有重大差異。這些風險和不確定性詳見 IPG Photonics 截至 2022 年 12 月 31 日期間的 10-K 表格以及我們向美國證券交易委員會提交的報告。可透過造訪 IPG 網站或 SEC 網站的投資者部分取得這些文件的副本。

Any forward-looking statements made on this call are the company's expectations or predictions as of today, October 31, 2023. And the company assumes no obligation to publicly release any updates or revisions to any such statements. For additional details on our reported results, please refer to earnings press release, earnings call presentation and the financial data workbook posted on the Investor Relations website. We will also post these prepared remarks on the website following the completion of this call.

本次電話會議中所做的任何前瞻性陳述均為本公司截至今天（2023 年 10 月 31 日）的預期或預測。本公司不承擔公開發布任何此類陳述的任何更新或修訂的義務。有關我們報告結果的更多詳細信息，請參閱收益新聞稿、收益電話會議演示以及投資者關係網站上發布的財務數據工作簿。電話會議結束後，我們也會在網站上發布這些準備好的評論。

With that, I'll now turn the call over to Eugene Scherbakov.

現在，我將把電話轉給尤金·謝爾巴科夫 (Eugene Scherbakov)。

Good morning, everyone. Our third quarter revenue was negatively impacted by a softer demand in industrial markets and a further decline in sales in China. Lower demand from industrial customers and reduced the amount of e-mobility applications drove revenue declines in cutting, welding and marking applications. We also continued to see strong competition in addition to soft demand in the flat sheet cutting market in China.

大家，早安。我們第三季的營收受到工業市場需求疲軟和中國銷售進一步下降的負面影響。工業客戶的需求下降以及電動車應用數量的減少導致切割、焊接和打標應用的收入下降。除了需求疲軟之外，我們也持續看到中國平板切割市場的激烈競爭。

But even with lower revenue, we are pleased with our operating performance this quarter and delivered gross margin improvement and earnings per share at the high end of our guidance. While the uncertainty in macroeconomic conditions continue to wait on capital equipment spending, customer in Europe, North America and Japan are increasingly uses a high-power laser for cutting. We believe that laser adoption in these geographies is significantly behind China and this market remains less competitive with IPG holding a strong market positions.

但即使收入較低，我們對本季的經營業績感到滿意，並實現了毛利率改善和每股收益達到我們指導的上限。雖然宏觀經濟狀況的不確定性繼續影響資本設備支出，但歐洲、北美和日本的客戶越來越多地使用高功率雷射進行切割。我們認為，這些地區的雷射採用率明顯落後於中國，而且該市場的競爭力仍然較低，而 IPG 佔據著強大的市場地位。

We're also seeing the adoption of laser building technology in automotive and general industrial markets across many geographies. Laser welding provides high-speed precision and accuracy as well as low heat input and ability to join the similar materials. Our real-time welding measurement system is a great complementary technology for adjustable mode beam in the lasers and IPG welding (inaudible) that provides a fast and reliable welding solutions for a broad range of applications across many different industries.

我們也看到雷射建築技術在許多地區的汽車和一般工業市場中被採用。雷射焊接提供高速精度和準確度以及低熱輸入和連接類似材料的能力。我們的即時焊接測量系統是雷射器中可調模式光束和 IPG 焊接（聽不清楚）的重要補充技術，可為許多不同行業的廣泛應用提供快速可靠的焊接解決方案。

Emerging growth product sales accounted for 42% of total revenue in the third quarter. We saw a decline in AMB and high power pulsed laser related to lower demand on e-mobility applications due to decree investment EV battery capacity in China. We said in the past that the EV battery investment is likely to fluctuate quarter-to-quarter. Our production expansion projects can be very large in size and provide some lumpiness in our e-mobility services. As a result, some quarter, even years may be better than others.

新興成長產品銷售額佔第三季總營收的42%。我們看到 AMB 和高功率脈衝雷射的下降與中國電動車電池產能投資法令導致的電動車應用需求下降有關。我們過去說過，電動車電池投資可能會出現季度波動。我們的生產擴張項目可能規模非常大，並且會為我們的電動車服務帶來一些混亂。因此，某些季度甚至幾年可能會比其他季度更好。

However, we expect EV investment cycle to continue, provides a great opportunity for IPG in the next 3 to 5 years.

然而，我們預計電動車投資週期將持續下去，這為 IPG 在未來 3 至 5 年提供了巨大的機會。

Adoption of electric vehicles still grows in China, Europe and North America, and battery manufacturers will need to build additional capacity to support higher EV sales. Also, Energy storage is growing and may potentially require even more batteries to support the transition to a sustainable energy in the future.

中國、歐洲和北美的電動車採用率仍在成長，電池製造商將需要建立額外的產能來支持更高的電動車銷售。此外，能源儲存正在成長，可能需要更多的電池來支持未來向永續能源的過渡。

Our handheld welder sales continued to grow, driven by a rollout in Europe and LightWELD sales up in 4x the speed of traditional MIG and TIG welders and does not require extensive training. We are seeing as the high interest in the welding community and held 5 simultaneous live demonstrations of the device at the FABTECH show this year to satisfy this interest.

在歐洲推出以及 LightWELD 銷售速度是傳統 MIG 和 TIG 焊接機的 4 倍且不需要大量培訓的推動下，我們的手持式焊接機銷量持續成長。我們看到了焊接界的濃厚興趣，並在今年的 FABTECH 展會上同時舉辦了 5 場該設備的現場演示，以滿足這種興趣。

We're also still early on adoption curve and continue to promote LightWELD in welding market in U.S. and other geographies. We are also seeing a significant increase in demand for our lasers and 3D printing applications. Industry reports suggest that technology is being tested for manufacturing of consumer electronic devices. Growth in metal 3D printing technology has been shown that many had anticipated. But it seems like there is a new catalyst that can potentially drive further adoption.

我們也處於採用曲線的早期階段，並將繼續在美國和其他地區的焊接市場推廣 LightWELD。我們也看到對雷射和 3D 列印應用的需求顯著增加。產業報告表明，消費性電子設備的製造技術正在接受測試。金屬 3D 列印技術的發展已經超出了許多人的預期。但似乎有一種新的催化劑可以推動進一步的採用。

3D printing is using high-quality laser to melt metal powder to create parts and (inaudible) a strong position in this market, providing the lasers with higher stability beam characteristics. We are recently introduced a new AM laser design, especially for additive manufacturing. This was (inaudible) adjustable mode and can move from single mode to [find] structure to multi-mode output or to 6x higher build up rates.

3D 列印使用高品質雷射熔化金屬粉末來製造零件，並（聽不清楚）在該市場中佔據強勢地位，為雷射提供了更高穩定性的光束特性。我們最近推出了新的積層製造雷射設計，特別適用於積層製造。這是（聽不清楚）可調模式，可以從單模式移動到[查找]結構，再到多模式輸出或提高 6 倍的構建速率。

Finally, sales in our medical business improved as expected after the inventory reduction by large customer in the prior quarter. Growth in medical continues to be driven by adoption of our laser system and consumable fibers which you are considering the gold standard in (inaudible) applications.

最後，在上一季大客戶減少庫存後，我們的醫療業務銷售改善符合預期。我們的雷射系統和消耗性光纖的採用繼續推動醫療領域的成長，您正在考慮將其視為（聽不清楚）應用程式中的黃金標準。

We are also seeing strong growth in esthetic applications, which is a much larger market and our fiber laser technology is significantly more advanced compared to the traditional lasers used in medical and esthetic applications. And our goal is to gain market share by replacing this older technologies. We are working on multiple new opportunities to broaden our medical portfolio and to further grow the business so it becomes more meaningful contributor to IPG sales.

我們也看到美容應用的強勁成長，這是一個更大的市場，與醫療和美容應用中使用的傳統雷射相比，我們的光纖雷射技術要先進得多。我們的目標是透過替換這些舊技術來獲得市場份額。我們正在尋找多個新機會來擴大我們的醫療產品組合併進一步發展業務，使其成為 IPG 銷售更有意義的貢獻者。

In summary, I remain optimistic about the growth driven for our products and continued diversification of IPG revenue in the long term. We have introduced a new product for our laser cleaning and drying applications this year and promote our high-efficiency eco-lasers that help reduce the environment impact for our customers.

總而言之，從長遠來看，我對我們產品的成長驅動以及 IPG 收入的持續多元化保持樂觀。今年，我們針對雷射清潔和乾燥應用推出了一款新產品，並推廣我們的高效生態雷射器，以幫助減少對客戶的環境影響。

I would like to thank our employers for the strong contribution in the quarter. And I will now turn the call over to Tim to discuss financial highlights.

我要感謝我們的雇主在本季做出的巨大貢獻。我現在將把電話轉給蒂姆，討論財務要點。

Thank you, Eugene, and good morning, everyone. My comments generally will follow the earnings call presentation, which is available on our Investor Relations website. I will start with the financial review on Slide 4.

謝謝尤金，大家早安。我的評論通常會在收益電話會議演示之後發表，該演示可以在我們的投資者關係網站上找到。我將從幻燈片 4 上的財務審查開始。

Revenue in the third quarter was $301 million, a decline of 14% year-over-year. Foreign currency headwinds reduced revenue growth by approximately 2%. Revenue from materials processing applications decreased 15% year-over-year, while revenue from other applications was nearly flat.

第三季營收為3.01億美元，年減14%。外匯不利因素導致收入成長下降約 2%。來自材料加工應用的收入年減 15%，而其他應用的收入幾乎持平。

GAAP gross margin was 44.1%, an increase of 100 basis points year-over-year, which was driven by lower inventory provisions and reduced shipping costs and tariffs as well as an improvement in absorption of manufacturing costs as a percentage of sales. On a sequential basis, gross margin continued to improve on lower revenue as we focused on reducing costs, managing inventory and improving manufacturing efficiency.

GAAP 毛利率為 44.1%，年成長 100 個基點，這是由於庫存準備金減少、運輸成本和關稅降低以及吸收製造成本佔銷售額的百分比提高所致。環比來看，由於我們專注於降低成本、管理庫存和提高製造效率，毛利率在收入下降的情況下繼續提高。

Despite the headwinds to our revenue from a challenging operating environment, and reduced capital equipment spending worldwide, I am pleased with the resilience of our financial model and the company's ability to improve margins and to continue to generate ample cash flow from operations to support current and future investments.

儘管充滿挑戰的營運環境以及全球資本設備支出的減少給我們的收入帶來了阻力，但我對我們財務模式的彈性以及公司提高利潤率和繼續從營運中產生充足現金流以支持當前和未來發展的能力感到滿意。未來的投資。

FX headwinds also had a negative impact in the quarter. If exchange rates relative to the U.S. dollar had been the same as 1 year ago, we would have expected revenue to be $6 million higher and gross profit to be $4 million higher.

外匯逆風也對該季度產生了負面影響。如果相對於美元的匯率與 1 年前相同，我們預計收入將增加 600 萬美元，毛利將增加 400 萬美元。

GAAP operating income was $56 million, and operating margin was 18.5%. Net income was $55 million or $1.16 per diluted share. The effective tax rate in the quarter was 19% and benefited from certain discrete items. Foreign currency transaction gains related to remeasuring foreign currency assets and liabilities to period-end exchange rates had a small positive impact on operating income of $400,000 or $0.01 per share.

GAAP 營業收入為 5,600 萬美元，營業利潤率為 18.5%。淨利為 5,500 萬美元，或攤薄後每股收益 1.16 美元。本季的有效稅率為 19%，受益於某些離散項目。與根據期末匯率重新計量外幣資產和負債相關的外幣交易收益對營業收入產生了 400,000 美元或每股 0.01 美元的微小積極影響。

I'd like to remind you that last year's results benefited from $22 million or $0.32 per diluted share gain on the sale of the telecom transmission business. Excluding the currency transaction gain, asset impairments and recovery of a restructuring charge related to our Russian operations as well as the gain on the sale of telecom business last year, operating expenses were nearly unchanged year-over-year. Sequentially, operating expenses increased primarily in research and development and sales and marketing as we invested in resources to drive future growth while still controlling expenses.

我想提醒您，去年的業績得益於出售電信傳輸業務帶來的 2,200 萬美元或稀釋後每股收益 0.32 美元。排除貨幣交易收益、資產減損和與俄羅斯業務相關的重組費用回收以及去年出售電信業務的收益，營運費用比去年同期幾乎沒有變化。隨後，營運費用主要增加在研發以及銷售和行銷方面，因為我們投資資源以推動未來成長，同時仍控制費用。

Moving to Slide 5. Sales of high-power CW lasers decreased 22% and represented approximately 40% of total revenue. Sales of ultra-high power lasers above 6 kilowatts represented 46% of total high-power CW laser sales. The decline in revenue was primarily due to lower demand in flat sheet cutting applications in China and Europe. We continue to see customers outside of China adopting laser technology, but demand has been impacted by the economic uncertainty with OEMs delaying purchasing and reducing inventories.

轉到幻燈片 5。高功率連續雷射的銷售額下降了 22%，約佔總收入的 40%。 6千瓦以上超高功率雷射銷售佔高功率連續雷射總銷量的46%。收入下降的主要原因是中國和歐洲對平板切割應用的需求下降。我們繼續看到中國以外的客戶採用雷射技術，但需求受到經濟不確定性的影響，原始設備製造商推遲採購並減少庫存。

Pulsed laser sales decreased 25% year-over-year due to lower sales in marking and solar cell applications. System sales increased 4% year-over-year, with growth in LightWELD offsetting a decline in non-laser systems. Medium power laser sales increased 1%, driven by increased demand in welding and higher sales in 3D printing applications. QCW laser sales were down 4% year-over-year, and other product sales decreased due to lower revenue in advanced and telecom applications.

由於打標和太陽能電池應用銷售額下降，脈衝雷射銷售額較去年同期下降 25%。系統銷售額年增 4%，其中 LightWELD 的成長抵消了非雷射系統的下降。受焊接需求增加和 3D 列印應用銷售增加的推動，中功率雷射銷售額成長 1%。 QCW 雷射銷售額年減 4%，由於先進和電信應用收入下降，其他產品銷售額也有所下降。

Looking at our performance by region on Slide 6. Revenue in North America decreased 13%. We saw a strong growth in welding and cleaning applications as well as higher parts and service sales. However, this growth was more than offset by lower sales in cutting, medical, advanced and telecom allocations.

從幻燈片 6 中按地區劃分的業績來看。北美地區的收入下降了 13%。我們看到焊接和清潔應用的強勁成長以及零件和服務銷售的增加。然而，這種成長被切割、醫療、先進和電信分配的銷售下降所抵消。

In Europe, sales increased 3% and the region continued to perform well given weak -- the weak macroeconomic environment. Revenue growth was driven by welding and semiconductor applications. Revenue declined in cutting, marking and cleaning applications, which were impacted by lower industrial demand and destocking by some OEM customers.

在歐洲，銷售額成長了 3%，儘管宏觀經濟環境疲軟，但該地區的表現依然良好。收入成長是由焊接和半導體應用推動的。受到工業需求下降和一些 OEM 客戶減少庫存的影響，切割、打標和清潔應用領域的收入下降。

Revenue in China decreased 28% year-over-year as demand declined across most industrial applications, including cutting, welding and marking. Additionally, revenue was negatively impacted by competition in the flat sheet cutting market and lower demand in e-mobility applications due to a decline in new battery products -- projects and delayed capacity expansions.

由於大多數工業應用（包括切割、焊接和打標）的需求下降，中國的收入較去年同期下降 28%。此外，平板切割市場的競爭以及新電池產品項目減少和產能擴張推遲導致電動車應用需求下降，對收入產生了負面影響。

Moving to a summary of our balance sheet and cash flow on Slide 7. We ended the quarter with cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments of $1.1 billion and no debt. Our inventories continue to decrease sequentially, and we target further reductions in inventories in the fourth quarter. Cash provided by operations was $86 million and capital expenditures were $26 million during the quarter. We sold 2 buildings in the quarter, realizing $29 million in proceeds, which means net capital expenditures are just under $55 million year-to-date, well below the same period last year.

接下來是投影片 7 上我們的資產負債表和現金流的摘要。本季結束時，我們的現金、現金等價物和短期投資為 11 億美元，沒有債務。我們的庫存繼續環比減少，我們的目標是在第四季度進一步減少庫存。本季營運提供的現金為 8,600 萬美元，資本支出為 2,600 萬美元。我們在本季出售了 2 棟建築，實現了 2,900 萬美元的收益，這意味著今年迄今的淨資本支出略低於 5,500 萬美元，遠低於去年同期。

While maintaining a strong balance sheet, we have been returning a significant amount of capital to shareholders through opportunistic share repurchases. We spent $46 million on share repurchases in the third quarter and approximately $160 million this year.

在維持強勁的資產負債表的同時，我們一直透過機會性股票回購向股東返還大量資本。第三季我們花了 4,600 萬美元用於股票回購，今年大約花了 1.6 億美元。

Moving to our outlook on Slide 9. Third quarter book-to-bill was below 1 with macroeconomic uncertainty resulting in a project delays and reduced orders in all major manufacturing regions. Leading manufacturing indicators in Europe are trending to the lowest level since the 2008 recession. While economic indicators in China are mixed, we believe the Chinese cutting market is down 20% to 30%, and the timing of an overall recovery in demand remains uncertain despite some government stimulus.

轉向我們對投影片 9 的展望。第三季訂單出貨比低於 1，宏觀經濟不確定性導致所有主要製造地區的項目延遲和訂單減少。歐洲領先製造業指標正跌至 2008 年經濟衰退以來的最低水準。儘管中國的經濟指標好壞參半，但我們認為中國切割市場下降了 20% 至 30%，儘管政府採取了一些刺激措施，但需求整體復甦的時間仍不確定。

Competition from Chinese manufacturers remains stiff. Additionally, project delays related to battery capacity expansion in China provide further uncertainty to the outlook. Although we have limited visibility into orders beyond fourth quarter, we continue to believe the battery investment in China should restart in 2024 as electric vehicle sales continue to increase. Investments in battery capacity outside of China is in the early stages and should increase in the next several years as well.

來自中國製造商的競爭依然激烈。此外，與中國電池產能擴張相關的工程延誤給前景帶來了進一步的不確定性。儘管我們對第四季度之後訂單的了解有限，但我們仍然認為，隨著電動車銷量的持續成長，中國的電池投資應該會在 2024 年重新啟動。中國以外對電池產能的投資尚處於早期階段，未來幾年也應該會增加。

We also expect some benefits from government spending and onshoring activities to benefit industrial activity in the U.S. For the fourth quarter of 2023, we expect revenue of $270 million to $300 million. The fourth quarter gross margin estimate is between 41% and 43%. We deliver -- we anticipate delivering earnings per diluted share in the range of $0.80 to $1.10 with approximately 47 million diluted common shares outstanding.

我們也預期政府支出和在岸活動將有利於美國的工業活動。2023 年第四季度，我們預計收入為 2.7 億至 3 億美元。第四季毛利率預計在41%至43%之間。我們預計稀釋後每股盈餘將在 0.80 至 1.10 美元之間，稀釋後流通普通股約為 4,700 萬股。

As discussed in the safe harbor passage of today's earnings press release, our guidance is based upon current market conditions and expectations assumes exchange rates referenced in our earnings press release and is subject to risks outlined in the safe harbor and the company's reports with the SEC.

正如今天收益新聞稿的安全港段落中所討論的，我們的指導基於當前的市場狀況和預期，假設我們的收益新聞稿中引用的匯率，並受到安全港和公司向美國證券交易委員會提交的報告中概述的風險的影響。

With that, we'll be happy to take your questions.

這樣，我們將很樂意回答您的問題。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員說明）

Our first question comes from Ruben Roy with Stifel.

我們的第一個問題來自魯本·羅伊和斯蒂菲爾。

Dr. Scherbakov, I wanted to start on China. And Tim just mentioned that at this point, it sounds like there's a lot less visibility. I wanted to make sure I was understanding that commentary right because Tim said that potentially battery investment should restart in 2024. I think 90 days ago, the tone of your call and your commentary was a little more positive in terms of when you thought we would get a catch-up on some investment for batteries in China. And it sounds like that's probably weekend from 90 days ago and there's a lot less certainty.

謝爾巴科夫博士，我想從中國開始。蒂姆剛剛提到，在這一點上，聽起來可見度要低得多。我想確保我正確理解了該評論，因為蒂姆說潛在的電池投資應該在 2024 年重新啟動。我認為 90 天前，您的電話語氣和評論在您認為我們會追趕中國電池的一些投資。聽起來這可能是 90 天前的周末，而且不確定性要低得多。

So maybe if you could just walk us through how you're thinking about that maybe for the first half of 2024 to start, that would be helpful.

因此，如果您能向我們介紹一下您對 2024 年上半年開始的想法，也許會有所幫助。

Thank you for your questions. But during these 90 days, I have visibility to visit China and discuss with our potential and existing customers for many applications. And of course, our main question is about the e-mobility applications. And total opinions are definitely now battery manufacturing production is saturated, temporary, it's clear. And forecast, of course, it's not 100% forecast, but forecast (inaudible) account that it will be also a little bit lower in the first half of the year, next year and will increase in the second half. Of course, it will strongly depend on the environment conditions, what kind of the political situations and so on. But in total, definitely it's not so optimistic about the activity for EV applications in China.

謝謝您的提問。但在這 90 天裡，我有機會訪問中國並與我們的潛在和現有客戶討論許多應用。當然，我們的主要問題是關於電動交通應用。整體意見肯定是現在電池製造產量已經飽和，這是暫時的，這是很明顯的。當然，預測並不是100%的預測，而是預測（聽不清楚），上半年、明年也會低一點，下半年會增加。當然，這很大程度取決於環境條件、政治情勢等。但總體而言，中國的電動車應用活動肯定不那麼樂觀。

Okay. Well, that's helpful. And then, Tim, I think you mentioned the cutting market was down 20% to 30% in aggregate. I think your cutting exposure in China is a lot lower than that. Just wanted to make sure I had that right. And if you can give us actual -- an actual number, that would be helpful.

好的。嗯，這很有幫助。然後，提姆，我想您提到切割市場總體下降了 20% 到 30%。我認為你們在中國的削減風險比這要低得多。只是想確保我做對了。如果你能給我們一個實際的數字，那將會很有幫助。

So we talk about 20% to 30% is the overall decline in the total Chinese cutting market, right? And I think that's shown in some of the numbers that have been reported by other Chinese public companies who had a weak Q3. Our China flat sheet cutting sales are still well below 10% of our total consolidated sales. This quarter, having seen that relatively stable in Q1 and Q2, it was a little bit down in Q3. But really, the weaker performance in China on a year-over-year basis, it's still showing up on the cutting side. But really, some of the EV demand has softened as reflected in our original guidance and didn't really strengthen during the quarter at all. So totally, I'd say that kind of covers it.

所以我們說20%到30%是中國切割市場總量的整體下降，對嗎？我認為第三季表現疲軟的其他中國上市公司報告的一些數據也表明了這一點。我們在中國的平板切割銷售額仍遠低於我們綜合銷售額的 10%。本季度，一、二季度相對穩定，三季略有下降。但實際上，中國的表現較去年同期已疲軟，但仍表現在削減方面。但實際上，正如我們最初的指導所反映的那樣，部分電動車需求已經疲軟，並且在本季根本沒有真正增強。總的來說，我想說這涵蓋了它。

Yes, absolutely. And if I could sneak in a last question here. It's great to see the gross margin holding up in lieu of the lower revenue run rate and even with the guidance. And some of the inputs there, Tim, that you talked about, didn't have too much to do, I don't think yet with getting some of the factory utilizations on the new factories and the expanded factory in Germany up. Maybe you could just walk us through maybe medium-term gross margin thinking from here as revenues potentially start to recover next year?

是的，一點沒錯。我是否可以在這裡偷偷提出最後一個問題。很高興看到毛利率保持不變，而不是較低的收入運行率，即使有指導也是如此。提姆，你談到的一些投入並沒有太多的作用，我認為還沒有提高德國新工廠和擴建工廠的一些工廠利用率。也許您可以從這裡引導我們思考中期毛利率，因為明年收入可能開始復甦？

Yes. I think -- I mean I've used a little bit of a weaker gross margin in terms of my guidance number I put 41% to 43%. That's primarily because we're still trying to get inventory down in Q4. So your total absorption may be a little bit lighter in addition to that. I'd be a little bit more conservative on inventory provisions coming into the end of the quarter, but not meaningfully so right that top of that range is 1 and a bit percent below Q3.

是的。我認為——我的意思是，就我的指導數字而言，我使用了稍微弱的毛利率，我把它定為 41% 到 43%。這主要是因為我們仍在努力在第四季度降低庫存。因此，除此之外，您的總吸收量可能會稍微輕一些。我對本季末的庫存準備金會更加保守，但並沒有那麼正確，以至於該範圍的上限為 1 且比第三季度低一點點。

I think Q3, though is evidence that the trajectory and ability to get back above 45% and into that 45% to 50% range is coming closer. And particularly, if you see a recovery in revenue from the levels they're at. So we've actually achieved 2 quarters of sequential improvement on gross margin, interestingly on lower revenue each time.

不過，我認為第三季證明了回到 45% 以上並進入 45% 至 50% 範圍的軌跡和能力越來越接近。特別是，如果您看到收入從目前的水平恢復過來。因此，我們實際上已經連續兩個季度實現了毛利率的連續改善，有趣的是每次收入都在下降。

So we are seeing some of the yield and total volume of product produced in Poland, for example, has increased over the third quarter that costs have started to come down. It's still not quite at the target price we want them to be of a fiber block, but they're certainly making a meaningful contribution. So that would be some of the improvement. Italy has done very well in getting their total manufacturing and their cost to an initial level that we wanted them to do so.

例如，我們看到波蘭生產的一些產品的產量和總量在第三季增加，而成本開始下降。它仍然沒有完全達到我們希望它們成為纖維塊的目標價格，但它們確實做出了有意義的貢獻。這將是一些改進。義大利在將總製造成本和成本達到我們希望的初始水平方面做得非常好。

But there's other work going on at the moment on product cost initiatives to take significant cost out of some of the higher power lasers in the next 6 months or so, new generations of diodes.

但目前正在進行產品成本計劃方面的其他工作，以在未來 6 個月左右的時間內大幅降低一些更高功率雷射和新一代二極體的成本。

But other stuff, the mix in terms of -- it was weaker in terms of total revenue, but some of the mix rate related to the medical applications welding being a good share of total revenue, we had a strong quarter in Korea and Japan where pricing is a lot more resilient that can help with margins as well. So there's a lot of things that go in there. But I think what this really shows is that you can get back into that higher than 45% gross margin that we haven't walked away from you.

但其他方面，就總收入而言，混合率較弱，但與醫療應用焊接相關的一些混合率佔總收入的很大一部分，我們在韓國和日本的季度表現強勁，其中定價更具彈性，也有助於提高利潤。所以裡面有很多東西。但我認為這真正表明的是，您可以重新獲得我們尚未放棄的高於 45% 的毛利率。

Our next question comes from James Ricchiuti with Needham & Company.

我們的下一個問題來自 Needham & Company 的 James Ricchiuti。

Had to -- I would like to follow up a little bit more about what you're seeing in the 3D printing space. It's an area you guys have been talking about more positively over the past year. And I'm wondering is the demand you're seeing, is this mainly coming from the hardware vendors in China? And are these primarily for consumer electronics applications, at least that's what we seem to be hearing about more?

不得不——我想進一步了解您在 3D 列印領域所看到的情況。這是你們在過去一年裡一直在更積極地談論的一個領域。我想知道您所看到的需求主要來自中國的硬體供應商嗎？這些主要用於消費性電子應用嗎？至少我們似乎聽到的更多是這樣的？

There is -- Jim, there's good demand coming out of the hardware vendors in China. The European additive had been fairly good through the first couple of quarters, I think it was sort of flattish in Q3. Nobody has any visibility into any of the consumer electronic stuff at the moment. So a lot of the stuff in China is still aerospace. Dr. Scherbakov on his visit actually saw a very large system with -- I think you said 50 lasers...

吉姆，中國的硬體供應商有很好的需求。歐洲添加劑在前幾季表現相當不錯，我認為第三季表現平平。目前沒有人對任何消費性電子產品有任何了解。所以中國的很多東西還是航空航天。 Scherbakov 博士在他的訪問中實際上看到了一個非常大的系統，我想你說的是 50 個雷射器...

50 lasers simultaneously users is growing very large part of metal.

50個雷射同時使用者正在生長很大一部分金屬。

So we don't have any visibility into the consumer electronics potential demand. I don't think anybody has yet.

因此，我們對消費性電子產品的潛在需求沒有任何了解。我認為還沒有人這樣做。

And a while back, Tim, I have to try to find it somewhere in my notes, but you guys did size the 3D printing business. And I'm wondering, where are you in relation to where it was at the peak a few years ago when you were seeing quite a bit of activity at least encouraging activity early on?

不久前，蒂姆，我必須嘗試在我的筆記中找到它，但你們確實確定了 3D 列印業務的規模。我想知道，與幾年前的高峰期相比，當時您看到了相當多的活動，至少在早期鼓勵活動，現在您處於什麼位置？

Definitely some years ago, it was the (inaudible) activity in the 3D printing or additive manufacturing. But at this time, it was definitely was overestimated in this market. And then it was, of course, went down. And now I think it's a much more realistic estimation of such kind of a technology for our future industrial laser applications. And from this point of view, of course, IPG has a very strong position, why? Because for such kind of application customers have to use a very stable laser. Very stable means for some parts, they have to use laser more than 1 month on the continuous operations. And it must be absolutely stable, not only this power but also beam distribution. This is why because our product is a very (inaudible). Up to now, we have a very strong position also for the Chinese market.

肯定是幾年前，這是 3D 列印或積層製造領域的（聽不清楚）活動。但這個時候，在這個市場上絕對是被高估了。然後，當然，它就下降了。現在我認為這是對我們未來工業雷射應用的此類技術更加現實的估計。而從這一點來看，當然IPG的地位非常強大，為什麼呢？因為對於此類應用，客戶必須使用非常穩定的雷射。非常穩定意味著對於某些零件，他們必須使用雷射連續作業1個月以上。而且必須絕對穩定，不僅是這個功率，還有光束分佈。這就是為什麼，因為我們的產品非常（聽不清楚）。到目前為止，我們在中國市場也擁有非常強大的地位。

And especially when we introduce a new AM laser with adjustable mode, adjustable power and much more stable. And in this case, our customer has opportunity to increase productivity of such kind of technology, but it's very important, very important. This is why they're using up to 50 simultaneous working laser. And they couldn't improve -- they couldn't -- only increase power. It's not possible. They're using -- as usually, they're using 500, 700 watts, the maximum power (inaudible) because if you only increase power to 1 kilowatt you can evaporate this metal. It's not optimal solution. Only optimal solution to use simultaneous in parallel many lasers mainly stable by quality lasers for this application.

尤其是當我們推出一種新型 AM 雷射器，其模式可調、功率可調且更加穩定。在這種情況下，我們的客戶有機會提高此類技術的生產力，但這非常非常重要。這就是為什麼他們使用多達 50 個同時工作的雷射。他們無法改進——他們不能——只能增加力量。這是不可能的。他們通常使用 500、700 瓦的最大功率（聽不見），因為如果你只將功率增加到 1 千瓦，你就可以蒸發這種金屬。這不是最佳解決方案。唯一同時並行使用許多雷射的最佳解決方案，主要是針對該應用的高品質雷射。

And final question and maybe, Tim, if I could just clarify on the book-to-bill, was that similar in all your major regions? Or was it -- did it vary a bit in certain regions being a little bit weaker? Obviously, a little stronger. And then the follow-up is just on the emerging business. Excluding e-mobility, are you seeing the sustainability in the medical, which picked up? And clearly on 3D printing you're getting some momentum. And just in general, how we should think about emerging going forward?

最後一個問題，蒂姆，如果我能澄清一下訂單到賬單的情況，你們所有主要地區的情況是否相似？還是——某些地區的情況有所不同，稍微弱一些？顯然，強了一些。然後後續就只關注新興業務了。除了電動交通之外，您是否看到醫療領域的永續性有所回升？顯然，在 3D 列印方面，您正在獲得一些動力。總的來說，我們該如何思考新興市場的未來發展？

Yes. I mean I think book-to-bill qualitatively was probably -- I'm not to saying it's massively weaker, but it was -- Europe has got some challenges around it. The cutting business is performing actually very well at the beginning of the year. That's certainly softened even though Europe through Q3 in terms of revenue is quite reasonable. I'd say their bookings have slowed down. China has been a struggle. I'm not sure whether I believe that their PMIs have been at 50%. Some of the more positive stuff was in -- again, in Japan, Korea actually had very good bookings. Some of that was actually a very large order for some medical esthetic product. North America, I'd say, it's not got a huge amount of traction behind it, but it's is probably a bit stronger than Europe is at the moment in terms of as expected, right, the North American economy continues to outperform Europe. Yes. So qualitatively, that would be my feedback on that.

是的。我的意思是，我認為從訂單到帳單定性來說，我並不是說它大幅疲軟，但它確實是——歐洲在這方面遇到了一些挑戰。切割業務在年初實際上表現得非常好。儘管歐洲第三季的收入相當合理，但這一情況肯定有所減弱。我想說他們的預訂速度已經放緩。中國一直在奮鬥。我不確定我是否相信他們的 PMI 一直在 50%。一些更積極的事情是——再次，在日本、韓國實際上有非常好的預訂量。其中一些實際上是一些醫療美容產品的非常大的訂單。我想說，北美並沒有巨大的推動力，但就預期而言，它目前可能比歐洲強一些，對吧，北美經濟繼續跑贏歐洲。是的。從質量上來說，這就是我對此的反饋。

On some of the emerging growth products, I think you highlighted a couple of things like the medical has rebounded. As we said it would do, LightWELD in total was up, so that was positive, particularly with some of the rollout on a more global basis. And we continue to work on new versions of LightWELD and actually looking to expand the distribution network that we've got for that product. Take cost out of the product as well, and (inaudible) to it.

關於一些新興成長產品，我認為您強調了一些事情，例如醫療業的反彈。正如我們所說，LightWELD 總體上有所上升，因此這是積極的，特別是在全球範圍內進行了一些推廣。我們將繼續開發 LightWELD 的新版本，並實際上尋求擴展該產品的分銷網絡。也從產品中扣除成本，並且（聽不清楚）它。

Some of the -- actually, some of the semiconductor advanced applications also performed well. Some of that revenues in Europe. Within high-power pulsed, some of the EV stuff was weaker, but cleaning was actually stronger. Cleaning grew quite well there. So even the emerging growth products didn't perform particularly well. They're still above 40% of revenue. And there was still some nice product lines within that, that performed pretty well. I think I got them all that were positive.

實際上，一些半導體先進應用也表現良好。其中一些收入來自歐洲。在高功率脈衝中，一些電動車的東西較弱，但清潔效果實際上更強。那裡的清潔工作發展得很好。因此，即使是新興成長產品的表現也不是特別好。它們仍佔收入的 40% 以上。其中仍然有一些不錯的產品線，表現相當不錯。我想我得到了所有積極的結果。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員說明）

Our next question comes from Michael Feniger with Bank of America.

我們的下一個問題來自美國銀行的麥可費尼格。

Tim, the inventory side, you made some nice improvement. You took out sequentially. And I think you talked about you're really focusing in the fourth quarter on that. Do you think you'll step takes them out early 2024 if we stay at this demand level? Or do you think you'll be able to get most of that done by the fourth quarter? Curious how you're kind of thinking about that?

提姆，庫存方面，您取得了一些不錯的改進。你按順序取出。我認為你談到你在第四季度真正關注這一點。如果我們保持這一需求水平，您認為您會在 2024 年初採取措施將其淘汰嗎？或者您認為您能夠在第四季度之前完成大部分工作嗎？好奇你是怎麼想的？

No. I mean, it's just going to take -- continue to take several quarters to get it down to the level that we'd like to see it at, right? We're still in terms of days running at a high level given the level of activity. So it's -- we're going to continue working on it in Q4. It's going to take several quarters, though, to continue to bring that down to the level we want it to be at.

不，我的意思是，這只是需要 - 繼續需要幾個季度才能將其降至我們希望看到的水平，對吧？考慮到活動水平，我們的運行天數仍處於高水平。所以我們將在第四季繼續努力。不過，要繼續將其降至我們希望的水平，還需要幾個季度的時間。

Some of that will come from -- there's a lot of purchase components in inventory related to electronic parts and those purchases have certainly started to slow down. They were commitments made when that supply chain was extremely tight. And as you run down that inventory, it's not as though that's an internally produced part. So running down the electronic components that are purchased from a third party as you consume them wouldn't lead to like an immediate impact on absorption as you get that under control because it's a third-party purchase rather than internally produced component.

其中一些將來自——庫存中有大量與電子零件相關的採購組件，而這些採購肯定已經開始放緩。它們是在供應鏈極度緊張時做出的承諾。當你耗盡庫存時，你會發現這不是內部生產的零件。因此，當您使用從第三方購買的電子元件時，將其耗盡不會對吸收產生直接影響，因為您可以控制這些電子元件，因為它是第三方購買的，而不是內部生產的元件。

But yes, inventory is going to -- it's a work in progress. several quarters to continue to do it. I'm pleased with the way we've so far managed to at least stabilize it and kind of moving in the right direction.

但是，是的，庫存將會——這是一項正在進行的工作。幾季繼續做下去。我對我們迄今為止至少穩定局勢並朝著正確方向前進的方式感到滿意。

Makes sense, Tim. And just -- I know there's a lot of focus on the EV build-out capacity in China. Just curious on the U.S. side, how exposed you are to there already? Just because there are some headlines you're seeing, I'm sure you've seen, Tim, about Ford pushing out around $12 billion of CapEx right now. GM with a plant, Tesla, there seems like there's a little bit of a pause going on right now based on some EV demand in the U.S. It could also just be with strikes that were happening there. So just curious what you're seeing there? How critical that is to you now? And if you're seeing that more of a pause rather than anything more indicative going forward?

有道理，蒂姆。我知道人們非常關注中國的電動車產能。只是好奇美國方面，你們在那裡的暴露程度如何？提姆，僅僅因為您看到了一些頭條新聞，我相信您已經看到了福特目前推出約 120 億美元資本支出的消息。通用汽車擁有一家工廠，特斯拉，由於美國的一些電動車需求，目前似乎有一些暫停，也可能只是因為那裡發生了罷工。所以只是好奇你在那裡看到了什麼？現在這對你來說有多重要？如果您看到的更多的是暫停而不是任何更具指示性的進展？

Our view is that there is a bit of a pause, right? You've seen several announcements that have come even in the last couple of weeks. But if the transition towards electric vehicles is going to continue and reach a much more meaningful level, the total investments will have to pick up. I mean our view is that if they're starting to have to start looking at capacity for '25 and '26, the second half of next year, should see some improvement on that.

我們的觀點是有一點停頓，對吧？您甚至在過去幾週內就已經看到了幾則公告。但如果向電動車的過渡要繼續下去並達到更有意義的水平，總投資就必須增加。我的意思是，我們的觀點是，如果他們開始不得不開始考慮 25 和 26 年的產能，那麼明年下半年應該會看到一些改進。

Our exposure in North America on some quarters, it can be quite high. You've got projects where we've delivered a significant amount of welding and other equipment for EV. There's some revenue for EV in North America in Q4 guidance. But it's not -- I mean, our business in North America isn't totally dependent upon EV but it clearly was a meaningful driver for us, and we do need a rebound in that EV investment to happen. And hopefully, that will happen in '24 with a view to capacity that's needed in '25, '26.

我們在北美某些方面的曝光度可能相當高。在一些項目中，我們為電動車提供了大量的焊接和其他設備。第四季指引中有北美電動車的一些收入。但事實並非如此——我的意思是，我們在北美的業務並不完全依賴電動車，但它顯然對我們來說是一個有意義的驅動力，我們確實需要電動車投資反彈。希望這將在 24 年實現，以達到 25 年、26 年所需的容量。

And for America, EV applications for us is interesting because it's not only -- requirements are not only for lasers or some components. We also start to supply to our customers a complete system. For example, for cleaning applications, one of the biggest EV manufacturers are start to use our cleaning applications was a new product, already [ship to] and in pipeline stage, some additional orders for this. For us, it's very important to demonstrate our new technologies.

對於美國來說，電動車應用對我們來說很有趣，因為它不僅要求雷射或某些組件。我們也開始向客戶提供完整的系統。例如，對於清潔應用，最大的電動車製造商之一開始使用我們的清潔應用程序，這是一種新產品，已經[發貨]並處於管道階段，為此有一些額外的訂單。對我們來說，展示我們的新技術非常重要。

Sorry, Mike, the other thing is that we are expanding the application. So the drying -- the first meaningful amount of drying revenue will come in Q4. The overall feedback from the market on that is very -- not just for EV, by the way, across the whole bunch of different applications where that laser can be used on drying, whether it's for coatings or even some -- even more esoteric areas. So that and then we're looking at some other cutting applications within battery as well that are more specialized. So the application set is continuing to expand, and customers are working with us on different applications as well.

抱歉，麥克，另一件事是我們正在擴展該應用程式。因此，乾燥——第一筆有意義的干燥收入將在第四季度出現。市場對此的整體反饋非常好——順便說一句，不僅僅是對於電動車，在雷射可以用於乾燥的所有不同應用中，無論是塗層還是一些——甚至是更深奧的領域。因此，我們正在研究電池內的一些其他更專業的切割應用。因此，應用程式集正在不斷擴展，客戶也在不同的應用程式上與我們合作。

That's helpful color. I guess maybe following up on that, Tim, with expanding the application set. It seems like you guys are making progress on the gross margin given some of the changes in production. I'm curious though, if you got a big picture, if you think maybe taking the margin range down, would that unlock more growth in some ways since that was kind of a lever, at least on the pricing side, historically? Just curious how you kind of think about that, would that reinvigorate or (inaudible) to drive higher growth if you made that type of shift?

這是有用的顏色。我想也許會跟進這一點，蒂姆，擴展應用程式集。考慮到生產的一些變化，你們的毛利率似乎正在取得進展。不過，我很好奇，如果你有一個大局觀，如果你認為也許可以降低利潤率範圍，這會在某些方面釋放更多增長，因為從歷史上看，至少在定價方面，這是一種槓桿？只是好奇你對此有何看法，如果你做出這種轉變，是否會重振或（聽不清楚）推動更高的成長？

I think the overall pricing of lasers and integrated beam delivery systems drives a huge amount of productivity benefit for the end customers, right? A lot of these -- even on the EV side, when you combine it with LDD and even non-EV applications, the welding is really driving significant returns on investment. We highlighted, for example, on LightWELD compared to MIG or TIG it's 4x faster. So I don't think the issue on the pricing is that you're going to try and compete with the Chinese it's not like a 10% price reduction. It's magnitude greater than that and the cost of lasers overall has come down very dramatically over the last 3 to 4 years.

我認為雷射和整合式光束傳輸系統的整體定價為最終客戶帶來了巨大的生產力優勢，對嗎？其中許多 - 即使在電動車方面，當您將其與 LDD 甚至非電動車應用相結合時，焊接確實可以帶來可觀的投資回報。例如，我們強調，與 MIG 或 TIG 相比，LightWELD 的速度快 4 倍。所以我不認為定價問題是你要嘗試與中國人競爭，這不像降價 10%。其幅度要大得多，並且在過去 3 到 4 年裡，雷射器的總體成本已大幅下降。

So we don't think this isn't really a pricing issue, the value proposition of the technology overall continues to be very significant. Having said that, we are looking at taking a lot of cost out of some of the higher power lasers, and we will be able to be a bit more aggressive around pricing whilst actually increasing margin if we achieve those cost decreases over the next couple of quarters as well.

因此，我們認為這並不是真正的定價問題，而該技術整體的價值主張仍然非常重要。話雖如此，我們正在考慮從一些較高功率雷射中降低大量成本，如果我們在接下來的幾年內實現成本降低，我們將能夠在定價方面更加激進，同時實際上增加利潤。宿舍也是如此。

Of course, we are -- for this cost initiatives -- cost reduction initiatives, it's very important. But also very important that we will start to introduce a new technological platform for the standard -- I mean, not standard, but new lasers for welding and cutting applications. It will be a significant cost reduction in manufacturing of such kind of lasers and really introduce the next 2, 3 quarters to the market.

當然，對於這項成本舉措，我們的成本削減措施非常重要。但同樣重要的是，我們將開始引入一個新的標準技術平台——我的意思是，不是標準，而是用於焊接和切割應用的新雷射。這將顯著降低此類雷射的製造成本，並在未來 2、3 個季度真正推向市場。

Our next question comes from Mark Miller with The Benchmark Company.

我們的下一個問題來自 The Benchmark Company 的 Mark Miller。

Just wondering what drove the sequential improvement in other sales?

只是想知道是什麼推動了其他銷售額的持續改善？

Rebounds in the medical business and then some of the other advanced applications around semiconductor are quite strong. Those would probably be the 2 main drivers, Mark.

醫療業務以及半導體周圍的其他一些先進應用的反彈相當強勁。這些可能是兩個主​​要驅動因素，馬克。

Okay. Emerging products, green lasers continue to do well there. And what else is doing well in terms of products?

好的。新興產品綠色雷射持續表現出色。那麼在產品方面還有哪些表現出色的呢？

Sorry, in which products?

抱歉，在哪些產品中？

Emerging products. Green lasers are still strong there?

新興產品。綠色雷射還強嗎？

Actually, green was a little bit weaker this quarter, but we're working on a whole bunch of new projects for green. So hopefully see a recovery. And the strong performance on emerging was again the medical, some of the advanced applications, LightWELD performed well, within high-power pulsed cleaning did very well. Welding in general, was strong even though it was a bit weaker quarter on welding.

實際上，本季綠色有點疲軟，但我們正在開發一大堆新的綠色項目。所以希望看到康復。而在新興領域表現強勁的又是醫療，一些先進的應用，LightWELD表現出色，在高功率脈衝清洗方面表現非常出色。整體而言，焊接強度很高，儘管焊接強度稍弱。

We've reached the end of the question-and-answer session. I'd now like to turn the call back over to Eugene Fedotoff for closing comments.

我們的問答環節已經結束了。現在我想將電話轉回尤金費多托夫（Eugene Fedotoff）以徵求結束意見。

Thank you for joining us this morning and for your continued interest in IPG. We will be participating in a number of investor events this quarter. And looking forward to speaking with you again soon. Have a great day, everyone.

感謝您今天早上加入我們並感謝您對 IPG 的持續關注。本季我們將參加一些投資者活動。並期待很快再次與您交談。祝大家有個美好的一天。

This concludes today's conference. You may disconnect your lines at this time, and we thank you for your participation.

今天的會議到此結束。此時您可以斷開線路，我們感謝您的參與。