是德科技 (KEYS) 2023 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Good day, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Keysight Technologies Fiscal Second Quarter 2023 Earnings Conference Call. My name is Elissa, and I will be your lead operator today. (Operator Instructions) The call is being recorded today, Tuesday, May 16, 2023, at 1:30 p.m. Pacific Time.

女士們先生們，美好的一天，歡迎參加是德科技 2023 財年第二季度收益電話會議。我叫 Elissa，今天我將擔任你們的首席接線員。 （操作員說明）今天，即 2023 年 5 月 16 日，星期二，下午 1:30 正在錄製通話。太平洋時間。

I would now like to hand the call over to Jason Kary, Vice President, Treasurer and Investor Relations. Please go ahead, Mr. Kary.

我現在想將電話轉交給財務主管和投資者關係副總裁 Jason Kary。請繼續，卡里先生。

Thank you, and welcome, everyone, to Keysight's Second Quarter Earnings Conference Call for fiscal year 2023.

謝謝大家，歡迎大家參加是德科技 2023 財年第二季度收益電話會議。

Joining me are Keysight's President and CEO, Satish Dhanasekaran, and our CFO, Neil Dougherty. In the Q&A session, we'll be joined by our Chief Customer Officer, Mark Wallace. The press release and information to supplement today's discussion are on our website at investor.keysight.com. under the Financial Information tab and Quarterly Reports.

與我一起出席會議的還有是德科技總裁兼首席執行官 Satish Dhanasekaran 和我們的首席財務官 Neil Dougherty。在問答環節，我們的首席客戶官 Mark Wallace 將加入。新聞稿和補充今天討論的信息可在我們的網站 investor.keysight.com 上找到。在“財務信息”選項卡和“季度報告”下。

Today's comments will refer to non-GAAP financial measures. We will also make reference to core growth, which excludes the impact of currency movements and acquisitions or divestitures completed within the last 12 months. The most directly comparable GAAP financial metrics and reconciliations are on our website, and all comparisons are on a year-over-year basis, unless otherwise noted.

今天的評論將涉及非 GAAP 財務指標。我們還將參考核心增長，其中不包括貨幣變動和過去 12 個月內完成的收購或資產剝離的影響。最直接可比的 GAAP 財務指標和對賬在我們的網站上，除非另有說明，否則所有比較都是按年進行的。

We will make forward-looking statements about the financial performance of the company on today's call. These statements are subject to risks and uncertainties and are only valid as of today. We assume no obligation to update them. Please review our recent SEC filings for a more complete picture of these risks and other factors.

我們將在今天的電話會議上就公司的財務業績做出前瞻性陳述。這些聲明受風險和不確定性的影響，僅在今天有效。我們不承擔更新它們的義務。請查看我們最近提交給美國證券交易委員會的文件，以更全面地了解這些風險和其他因素。

Lastly, management is scheduled to participate in upcoming investor conferences hosted by JPMorgan, Baird and UBS.

最後，管理層計劃參加即將舉行的由摩根大通、貝爾德和瑞銀主辦的投資者會議。

And now, I will turn the call over to Satish.

現在，我將把電話轉給薩蒂什。

Thank you, Jason. Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining us today.

謝謝你，傑森。大家下午好，感謝您今天加入我們。

Keysight delivered a solid second quarter performance, capping off a record first half of the year. Our consistent execution as we navigate near-term macro dynamics reflects the resilience of our diversified business and the differentiation of Keysight solution portfolio.

是德科技第二季度業績穩健，上半年創下歷史新高。我們在應對近期宏觀動態時的一貫執行反映了我們多元化業務的彈性和是德科技解決方案組合的差異化。

My comments today will focus on 3 key headlines. First, our strong financial performance in the second quarter demonstrated the depth and the breadth of Keysight solutions and operating discipline. Revenue was at the high end of our guidance and earnings per share exceeded our guidance range as we delivered record gross margin and record free cash flow.

我今天的評論將集中在 3 個關鍵標題上。首先，我們第二季度強勁的財務業績證明了是德科技解決方案和運營紀律的深度和廣度。由於我們實現了創紀錄的毛利率和創紀錄的自由現金流，收入處於我們指導的高端，每股收益超出了我們的指導範圍。

Second, orders in the second quarter were stable and consistent with our expectations. As near-term macro dynamics play out, we're capitalizing on growth opportunities across our end markets with particular strength in automotive and global aerospace defense.

第二，二季度訂單穩定，符合我們的預期。隨著近期宏觀動態的發揮，我們正在利用我們終端市場的增長機會，尤其是在汽車和全球航空航天防禦領域。

And third, we remain confident in the long-term secular growth trends in our markets. While the current environment is uncertain, we are continuing to prudently invest for the future to build on our leadership positions and to deliver on the long-term strategy that I laid out at our Investor Day in March.

第三，我們對我們市場的長期長期增長趨勢仍然充滿信心。儘管當前環境不確定，但我們將繼續審慎地為未來進行投資，以鞏固我們的領導地位，並實現我在 3 月份的投資者日制定的長期戰略。

Now let's take a deeper look at our second quarter results. Orders declined 10% or 8% on a core basis. Record Q2 revenue grew 3% or 5% on a core basis. Operational excellence combined with favorable software and services mix resulted in record gross margins of 67%, operating margin of 30%, record free cash flow of $370 million and earnings per share growth of 16%.

現在讓我們更深入地了解一下我們第二季度的業績。核心訂單下降 10% 或 8%。創紀錄的第二季度收入在核心基礎上增長了 3% 或 5%。卓越的運營與有利的軟件和服務組合相結合，使毛利率達到創紀錄的 67%，營業利潤率達到 30%，自由現金流達到創紀錄的 3.7 億美元，每股收益增長 16%。

Turning to our business segments. The Electronic Industrial Solutions Group delivered record Q2 orders driven by demand in automotive and general electronics. Representing 33% of the total company revenue, EISG revenue was an all-time high and grew 17%, with strong double-digit growth across all end markets. This was also the 11th consecutive quarter of double-digit revenue growth for this business segment, which underscores our broad market reach and diversified portfolio.

轉向我們的業務部門。電子工業解決方案集團在汽車和通用電子產品需求的推動下交付了創紀錄的第二季度訂單。 EISG 收入占公司總收入的 33%，創歷史新高，增長 17%，所有終端市場均實現兩位數的強勁增長。這也是該業務部門連續第 11 個季度實現兩位數的收入增長，這凸顯了我們廣泛的市場覆蓋面和多元化的產品組合。

In automotive, we delivered strong double-digit revenue growth and secured new strategic wins with 2 large OEMs. Building on our strong position in this market, we introduced further automation and protocol test capabilities for our industry-leading EV charging test portfolio, allowing customers to accelerate their innovation. Improved battery performance and ease of charging are among the most critical capabilities EV developers are bringing to consumers today. Keysight's complete solutions allow customers to develop batteries with better range and faster charging time, and importantly, to efficiently test their interoperability against all global infrastructure standards under real-world conditions.

在汽車行業，我們實現了強勁的兩位數收入增長，並與 2 家大型原始設備製造商取得了新的戰略勝利。基於我們在該市場的強勢地位，我們為行業領先的 EV 充電測試產品組合引入了進一步的自動化和協議測試功能，使客戶能夠加速創新。改進的電池性能和易於充電是當今電動汽車開發商為消費者帶來的最關鍵的功能。是德科技的完整解決方案使客戶能夠開發續航里程更遠、充電時間更短的電池，更重要的是，客戶能夠在現實條件下根據所有全球基礎設施標準高效地測試其互操作性。

General electronics revenue grew by double digits to reach an all-time high. We are capitalizing on opportunities across a broad range of applications. For example, in quantum and silicon photonics, where we are seeing more advanced research investment. In digital health, where we closed deals with several prominent medical device customers for Keysight's microwave sensing and imaging solutions. And in industrial automation, where customers are developing components and products to connect factory and warehouse environments. Our outperformance in general electronics in a soft demand environment demonstrates the benefit of the broad and diverse set of applications and use cases that we enable.

通用電子產品收入實現兩位數增長，創歷史新高。我們正在利用廣泛應用的機會。例如，在量子和矽光子學領域，我們看到了更先進的研究投資。在數字健康領域，我們與多家知名醫療設備客戶就是德科技的微波傳感和成像解決方案達成交易。在工業自動化領域，客戶正在開發連接工廠和倉庫環境的組件和產品。我們在軟需求環境中在通用電子產品方面的出色表現證明了我們支持的廣泛多樣的應用程序和用例集的好處。

Semiconductor solutions delivered double-digit revenue growth driven by continued fab investments in new wafer capacity and advanced nodes. Our strong relationships with key customers in wafer test and precision lithography provide us with long-range demand visibility, which remains favorable despite near-term inventory headwinds. We believe the long-term growth drivers remain intact, supported by the government investments in initiatives such as CHIPS Act and advanced node development for small, more efficient and multifunctional chipsets.

半導體解決方案實現了兩位數的收入增長，這得益於對新晶圓產能和先進節點的持續投資。我們與晶圓測試和精密光刻領域的主要客戶的牢固關係為我們提供了長期的需求可見性，儘管近期庫存不利，但這種可見性仍然有利。我們認為，在政府對 CHIPS 法案等舉措的投資以及針對小型、更高效和多功能芯片組的高級節點開發等舉措的支持下，長期增長動力保持不變。

Turning to our Communications Solutions Group, revenue declined 3% against a strong compare of double-digit growth last year. At 45% of company revenue, Commercial Communications revenue declined 7%, which reflects the normalization of demand environment that we referenced last quarter. We saw cautious but stable spending across the communications ecosystem, particularly in the smartphone and PC computing markets as customers work through post-pandemic inventory dynamics and macro uncertainty. At the same time, our customers continued to invest in long-range, strategic R&D programs.

談到我們的通信解決方案集團，與去年兩位數的強勁增長相比，收入下降了 3%。商業通信收入占公司收入的 45%，下降了 7%，這反映了我們上個季度提到的需求環境正常化。我們看到整個通信生態系統的支出謹慎但穩定，尤其是在智能手機和 PC 計算市場，因為客戶正在應對大流行後的庫存動態和宏觀不確定性。與此同時，我們的客戶繼續投資於長期戰略研發計劃。

Keysight's first-to-market solutions are enabling future requirements in 5G, including non-terrestrial networks, Release 17 capabilities, Open RAN, AI-ML driven data center networks and early 6G research.

是德科技率先上市的解決方案正在滿足 5G 的未來需求，包括非地面網絡、Release 17 功能、Open RAN、AI-ML 驅動的數據中心網絡和早期 6G 研究。

After a 3-year pause, we saw strong global industry participation at Mobile World Congress and Optical Fiber Conference this year. At these events, we showcased our capabilities with the key industry players to advance new technologies and use cases. This quarter, we enabled Samsung to demonstrate 5G new radio nonterrestrial network use cases and satellite connectivity. In addition, we secured a key win in commercial space to test antennas, transceivers and telemetry systems. Keysight is also enabling ongoing Open RAN adoption. For example, CableLabs used Keysight's Open RAN architect solutions to achieve key interoperability milestones. Regionally, we saw strength in India with ongoing 5G and Open RAN deployments.

在中斷 3 年之後，我們在今年的世界移動通信大會和光纖大會上看到了全球行業的強大參與。在這些活動中，我們展示了我們與主要行業參與者一起推進新技術和用例的能力。本季度，我們幫助三星展示了 5G 新無線電非地面網絡用例和衛星連接。此外，我們還在商業領域取得了重要勝利，以測試天線、收發器和遙測系統。是德科技還支持持續採用 Open RAN。例如，CableLabs 使用是德科技的 Open RAN 架構解決方案來實現關鍵的互操作性里程碑。在區域方面，我們看到印度的優勢在於正在進行的 5G 和 Open RAN 部署。

Strategic data center R&D activity continues to gain momentum, and Keysight secured an early win with a leading customer to implement AI-ML use cases. Our unique and comprehensive solution stack, which spans the physical protocol and the application layers, is enabling us to capitalize on these new market and technology inflections. We are also continuing to advance early 6G research with industry leaders around the world. In Japan, we engaged with NTT DOCOMO, our new spectrum technologies for sub-terahertz frequencies. In the U.K., in collaboration with National Physical Laboratory and University of Surrey, we enabled connectivity at speeds greater than 100 gigabits per second using Keysight's 6G test [bed].

戰略性數據中心研發活動繼續保持發展勢頭，Keysight 早日贏得領先客戶的支持，以實施 AI-ML 用例。我們獨特而全面的解決方案堆棧跨越物理協議和應用程序層，使我們能夠利用這些新的市場和技術變化。我們還將繼續與世界各地的行業領導者一起推進早期 6G 研究。在日本，我們與 NTT DOCOMO 合作，這是我們用於太赫茲頻率的新頻譜技術。在英國，我們與國家物理實驗室和薩里大學合作，使用是德科技的 6G 測試 [bed] 實現了速度超過每秒 100 吉比特的連接。

Turning to our Aerospace and Defense Government business, we achieved record second quarter orders and revenue. Double-digit order growth was driven by increasing defense spending worldwide. At 22% of company revenue, ADG revenue was up 7%. Defense modernization spending remained strong in radar and spectrum operations while investment in space and satellite and ongoing research in 5G and 6G drove growth. We saw strong demand from the U.S. and European primes, with spends picking up in next-generation programs. We recently announced software-based, real-time spectrum analysis solution, allowing satellite network operators to provide users with the highest quality of service. Keysight continues to innovate to meet the needs of this evolving market.

談到我們的航空航天和國防政府業務，我們實現了創紀錄的第二季度訂單和收入。全球國防開支增加推動了兩位數的訂單增長。 ADG 收入占公司收入的 22%，增長了 7%。雷達和頻譜運營方面的國防現代化支出依然強勁，而太空和衛星投資以及對 5G 和 6G 的持續研究推動了增長。我們看到來自美國和歐洲主要項目的強勁需求，以及下一代項目的支出增加。我們最近發布了基於軟件的實時頻譜分析解決方案，使衛星網絡運營商能夠為用戶提供最高質量的服務。是德科技不斷創新以滿足這個不斷發展的市場的需求。

Software and services. Revenue growth across business segments was steady and represented over 1/3 of company revenue. Value-added solutions are becoming increasingly important in the rapidly evolving design emulation and test environments. In collaboration with Synopsys and Ansys, we recently announced a 79 gigahertz millimeter wave radio frequency reference flow for TSMC. This allows us to provide mutual customers with the solutions they need to push the boundaries of RF and millimeter wave design into applications for autonomous systems.

軟件和服務。各業務部門的收入增長穩定，占公司收入的 1/3 以上。在快速發展的設計仿真和測試環境中，增值解決方案變得越來越重要。我們最近與 Synopsys 和 Ansys 合作，宣布了 TSMC 的 79 GHz 毫米波射頻參考流程。這使我們能夠為共同客戶提供他們需要的解決方案，以將射頻和毫米波設計的界限推向自主系統的應用。

Technology megatrends and customers' innovation workflows are driving an expansion in software opportunities. We expect software and services growth to continue to outpace overall company growth over the next 3 years.

技術大趨勢和客戶的創新工作流程正在推動軟件機會的擴展。我們預計未來 3 年軟件和服務的增長將繼續超過公司整體增長。

Before I turn it over to Neil, I'd like to highlight some of the things that make me proud to lead this company. A collaborative and innovative culture is one of the strategic enablers for Keysight's continued value creation and an enduring competitive advantage. We recently published our 2022 corporate social responsibility report which showcases the progress that we have made against our commitments, and we're proud to have significantly surpassed many key impact goals for fiscal year '22. We also released our '22 diversity, equity and inclusion report, which highlights the company's accomplishments in building an inclusive workplace and expanding new STEM partnerships.

在我把它交給尼爾之前，我想強調一些讓我為領導這家公司而感到自豪的事情。協作和創新的文化是是德科技持續創造價值和持久競爭優勢的戰略推動因素之一。我們最近發布了 2022 年企業社會責任報告，其中展示了我們在兌現承諾方面取得的進展，我們很自豪能夠顯著超越 22 財年的許多關鍵影響目標。我們還發布了我們的 '22 多樣性、公平性和包容性報告，其中強調了公司在建設包容性工作場所和擴大新的 STEM 合作夥伴關係方面取得的成就。

To sum it up, our market leadership and deep customer relationships are sustainable competitive advantages. We're guided by our Keysight leadership model and run the company to outperform and to consistently create value under all business conditions. We believe the structural and financial flexibility of our operating model enables us to be resilient in the current macro environment.

總而言之，我們的市場領導地位和深厚的客戶關係是可持續的競爭優勢。我們以 Keysight 領導模式為指導，經營公司以在所有業務條件下超越並持續創造價值。我們相信，我們運營模式的結構和財務靈活性使我們能夠在當前的宏觀環境中保持彈性。

I would like to thank our employees for exemplifying a high-performance winning culture and consistently delivering exceptional value to our customers and shareholders.

我要感謝我們的員工樹立了高績效制勝文化的典範，並始終如一地為我們的客戶和股東提供卓越的價值。

With that, I will now turn it over to Neil to discuss our financial performance and outlook.

有了這個，我現在將把它交給尼爾來討論我們的財務業績和前景。

Thank you, Satish, and hello, everyone.

謝謝你，薩蒂什，大家好。

We delivered exceptionally strong financial performance in Q2, demonstrating the resilience of our business model. Revenue of $1.390 billion was at the high end of our guidance range and grew 3% or 5% on a core basis. Macroeconomic uncertainty continued to impact demand in the second quarter and orders of $1.319 billion declined 10% or 8% on a core basis. We ended the quarter with over $2.4 billion in backlog.

我們在第二季度實現了異常強勁的財務業績，展示了我們商業模式的彈性。 13.9 億美元的收入處於我們指導範圍的高端，並且在核心基礎上增長了 3% 或 5%。宏觀經濟的不確定性繼續影響第二季度的需求，13.19 億美元的核心訂單下降了 10% 或 8%。我們在本季度結束時積壓了超過 24 億美元。

Turning to our operational results for Q2. We reported record gross margin of 67% and operating expenses of $504 million, resulting in operating margin of 30%. We achieved net income of $380 million and delivered $2.12 in earnings per share, which was above the high end of our guidance. Our weighted average share count for the quarter was 179 million shares.

轉向我們第二季度的運營結果。我們報告的毛利率達到創紀錄的 67%，營業費用為 5.04 億美元，營業利潤率為 30%。我們實現了 3.8 億美元的淨收入和 2.12 美元的每股收益，高於我們指導的上限。我們本季度的加權平均股數為 1.79 億股。

Moving to the performance of our segments. Our Communications Solutions Group generated revenue of $937 million, down 3% or down 1% on a core basis. Commercial Communications revenue of $627 million was down 7%. Aerospace, Defense and Government revenue of $310 million increased 7%, driven by investments in defense modernization. Altogether, CSG delivered record gross margin of 68% and operating margin of 28%.

轉向我們細分市場的表現。我們的通信解決方案集團產生了 9.37 億美元的收入，下降了 3% 或在核心基礎上下降了 1%。商業通信收入為 6.27 億美元，下降 7%。受國防現代化投資的推動，航空航天、國防和政府收入為 3.1 億美元，增長 7%。總而言之，CSG 的毛利率達到創紀錄的 68%，營業利潤率為 28%。

The Electronic Industrial Solutions Group generated second quarter revenue of $453 million, up 17% or 19% on a core basis, with double-digit revenue growth in Automotive, General Electronics and Semiconductor, demonstrating the diversity of our markets. EISG reported gross margin of 64% and operating margin of 35%.

電子工業解決方案集團第二季度的收入為 4.53 億美元，核心業務增長 17% 或 19%，汽車、通用電子和半導體領域的收入實現兩位數增長，展示了我們市場的多樣性。 EISG 報告的毛利率為 64%，營業利潤率為 35%。

Moving to the balance sheet and cash flow. We ended our second quarter with $2.5 billion in cash and cash equivalents, generating cash flow from operations of $423 million and free cash flow of $370 million or 27% of revenue, which includes $107 million in onetime proceeds from the unwind of an interest rate swap.

轉向資產負債表和現金流量。我們以 25 億美元的現金和現金等價物結束了第二季度，產生了 4.23 億美元的運營現金流和 3.7 億美元的自由現金流，佔收入的 27%，其中包括 1.07 億美元的利率掉期平倉一次性收益.

Now turning to our outlook. In this challenging macro environment, the scenario we laid out last quarter for first half demand levels to persist through the remainder of the fiscal year is playing out. However, given the strength of our operating model and the actions we have taken to date, we now anticipate better earnings performance than previously communicated, with strong mid-single-digit EPS growth expected for the full year.

現在轉向我們的前景。在這個充滿挑戰的宏觀環境中，我們在上個季度提出的上半年需求水平將持續到本財年剩餘時間的情景正在上演。然而，鑑於我們運營模式的優勢和我們迄今為止採取的行動，我們現在預計盈利表現將比之前公佈的更好，全年每股收益預計將實現強勁的中個位數增長。

Turning to our third quarter guidance. We expect revenues to be in the range of $1.370 billion to $1.390 billion, and Q3 earnings per share to be in the range of $2 to $2.06 based on a weighted diluted share count of approximately 179 million shares. Despite ongoing uncertainty, Keysight's durable and resilient financial model positions us well to outperform in the current economic environment. Over the longer term, we remain confident in the underlying demand drivers for our markets and our ability to execute and achieve our new raised long-term targets, as presented at our Investor Day in March.

轉向我們的第三季度指導。我們預計收入將在 13.7 億美元至 13.9 億美元之間，根據約 1.79 億股的加權稀釋後每股收益，第三季度每股收益將在 2 美元至 2.06 美元之間。儘管存在持續的不確定性，但 Keysight 持久且有彈性的財務模型使我們能夠在當前的經濟環境中表現出色。從長遠來看，我們對我們市場的潛在需求驅動因素以及我們執行和實現我們在 3 月份的投資者日提出的新的長期目標的能力充滿信心。

With that, I will now turn it back to Jason for the Q&A.

有了這個，我現在將把它轉回 Jason 進行問答。

Thank you, Neil.

謝謝你，尼爾。

Elissa, could you please give the instructions for the Q&A?

Elissa，你能給出問答的說明嗎？

Absolutely. (Operator Instructions) Our first question comes from the line of Samik Chatterjee with JPMorgan.

絕對地。 （操作員說明）我們的第一個問題來自摩根大通的 Samik Chatterjee。

I guess if I start with the strong operating performance, I think, Neil, you were mentioning in your prepared remarks. Just maybe give us a bit more color there? Obviously, record gross margins, very strong operating margins in the context of sort of how the topline is playing out and how the macro is. How -- what are the drivers behind the gross margin improvement? And overall, how much of this is just sort of some of the supply pressures easing versus something that you, as you said, you've taken actions and sort of that's driving some of the improvement? If you can lay that out for us in terms of how sustainable that is? And I have a follow-up.

我想如果我從強勁的經營業績開始，我想，尼爾，你在準備好的發言中提到過。也許給我們多一點顏色？顯然，創紀錄的毛利率，在收入如何發揮和宏觀經濟如何的背景下非常強勁的營業利潤率。如何 - 毛利率提高背後的驅動因素是什麼？總的來說，這其中有多少只是緩解了一些供應壓力，而不是像你所說的那樣，你已經採取了行動，而這正在推動一些改善？您是否可以為我們說明它的可持續性？我有一個後續行動。

Yes. Samik, it's a great question. And to some extent, it depends on what your compare is over the past couple of quarters. A big driver of the sequential improvement from the last couple of quarters comes from the improvement in the supply chain. And in fact, I would tie it to the reduction in the third-party premiums that had kind of peaked in the back half of this year and last year and into the first quarter of this year. On a year-over-year basis, it's really far more mix. We had significantly favorable mix relative to the mix that we saw in the same quarter a year ago.

是的。 Samik，這是一個很好的問題。在某種程度上，這取決於您對過去幾個季度的比較。過去幾個季度連續改善的一個重要推動力來自供應鏈的改善。事實上，我認為這與今年下半年和去年以及今年第一季度達到頂峰的第三方保費減少有關。與去年同期相比，它確實更加複雜。與一年前同一季度的組合相比，我們的組合非常有利。

As to sustainability, I think obviously, we set a new -- raised a gross margin target for this business of 66% to 67% over the longer term. I think this is a great proof point in terms of showing our ability to achieve those kinds of levels. I don't necessarily know that we're ready to operate at this level continuously going forward, but we also raised the EPS guidance for the year relative to the scenario we laid out last quarter. And certainly, the operating margin performance -- excuse me, the gross margin performance and the easing of the supply chain constraints and costs are a factor that led to that increased EPS guidance.

至於可持續性，我認為很明顯，我們設定了一個新的——從長期來看，將該業務的毛利率目標提高到 66% 至 67%。我認為這是展示我們達到這些水平的能力的一個很好的證明點。我不一定知道我們已經準備好在這個水平上不斷前進，但我們也相對於我們上個季度製定的情景提高了今年的 EPS 指導。當然，營業利潤率表現——對不起，毛利率表現以及供應鏈限制和成本的放鬆是導致 EPS 指引增加的一個因素。

Samik, if I can -- this is Satish -- if I can add to Neil's point, quite pleased with the financial performance in this environment. Obviously, both CSG and EISG showed gross margin improvements. In EISG, a lot of it was linked to volume. But if you look, the business model is solid, right? You look at the software and services, have been steadily outpacing the business -- overall business growth for a long time now, and we expect that trend to continue. And I would say that that gives us confidence, as Neil pointed out, that as we continue to execute our strategy of going up the stack all the way from physical protocol and application layers, we'll continue to have more opportunities moving forward.

Samik，如果可以的話——我是 Satish——如果我可以補充 Neil 的觀點，我對這種環境下的財務表現非常滿意。顯然，南玻和東電的毛利率均有所改善。在 EISG 中，很多都與交易量有關。但如果你看，商業模式是可靠的，對吧？你看一下軟件和服務，一直在穩步超過業務——長期以來整體業務增長，我們預計這種趨勢將繼續下去。正如 Neil 指出的那樣，我會說這給了我們信心，隨著我們繼續執行從物理協議層和應用程序層一直向上堆棧的戰略，我們將繼續有更多的機會向前發展。

Got it.

知道了。

And Satish, if I can follow up with you and on the demand side for Commercial Communications. You talked about the sort of customer spending patterns last quarter. Have you seen any more sort of broader -- broadening out of the weakness? I know some of your peers have talked about even some of the base station testing, et cetera, being a bit weaker. But have you seen any broadening beyond sort of just the smartphone ecosystem of players and that weakness that you're seeing? And even interested in hearing what you're seeing from your customers in relation to, do you really see sort of your Commercial Comms hit sort of hitting a trough already and now starting to sort of stabilize at these levels? Because that's what the numbers are indicating, but interested to hear how you're thinking about it.

薩蒂什，如果我能跟進你和商業通信的需求方。您在上個季度談到了客戶消費模式的種類。你有沒有看到更廣泛的 - 擴大弱點？我知道你的一些同行甚至談到了一些基站測試等等，有點弱。但是，您是否看到了玩家的智能手機生態系統之外的任何擴展以及您所看到的弱點？甚至有興趣聽聽您從客戶那裡看到的相關信息，您是否真的看到您的商業通訊已經觸及低谷，現在開始穩定在這些水平？因為這就是數字所表明的，但有興趣聽聽您是如何考慮的。

Yes. Samik, I think the headline on demand, I think, in orders has been stability, right? I think that's sort of the theme and it holds true even in Commercial Communications where, obviously, we discussed the dynamics of customers working through inventory corrections. Some of them are in a place where they're starting to think about next year's programs. They're starting to think about other programs. But then some of them are still working through the inventory correction situation in their business. So it's really dependent on different customers.

是的。 Samik，我認為頭條新聞的需求，我認為訂單一直很穩定，對吧？我認為這就是主題，即使在商業通信中也是如此，顯然，我們討論了客戶通過庫存更正工作的動態。他們中的一些人已經開始考慮明年的計劃了。他們開始考慮其他計劃。但是他們中的一些人仍在努力解決他們業務中的庫存調整情況。所以這真的取決於不同的客戶。

But broadly, I would say, if you look at our 5G business, the R&D parts of the opportunity continues to hold up better, and there are different drivers there. And then you referenced the base station side, actually, was also holding up in line with quarter 1. And I think on the networking side, we had slightly down quarter-over-quarter. But all in all, it's holding up well at this time. I don't know that I would go as far as calling a trough or calling a bottom, but I -- we remain focused on delivering to our customers' road maps. And we're seeing high engagement with our customers, particularly in comms after the OFC and Mobile World Congress. I think people are starting to think about what the future might bring, and there's tremendous opportunity to innovate and nobody wants to fall behind.

但總的來說，我想說，如果你看看我們的 5G 業務，機會的研發部分繼續保持更好的狀態，並且那裡有不同的驅動因素。然後你提到基站方面，實際上，也與第一季度保持一致。而且我認為在網絡方面，我們的季度環比略有下降。但總而言之，它目前表現良好。我不知道我會說是低谷還是底部，但我——我們仍然專注於為客戶提供路線圖。我們看到與客戶的高度互動，尤其是在 OFC 和世界移動通信大會之後的交流中。我認為人們開始思考未來會發生什麼，創新的機會巨大，沒有人願意落後。

And if I was just going to add on to that, I mean, just kind of catching on to that theme of stability that Satish mentioned. I think as we look at demand and turn that lens forward, we're thinking about second half demand that's largely in line with what we saw in the first half, albeit with some seasonality attached to it. Typically, we would see Q3 tick down and Q4 tick up, not just because of the way we manage our sales compensation programs, but also particularly in this scenario, where one of the growth drivers that we're seeing in this market is aerospace defense and the fact that those markets tend to skew up in our fourth quarter.

如果我只是想補充一點，我的意思是，只是抓住薩蒂什提到的穩定性主題。我認為，當我們審視需求並將鏡頭向前看時，我們正在考慮下半年的需求，這與我們在上半年看到的情況基本一致，儘管有一些季節性因素。通常，我們會看到第三季度下降而第四季度上升，這不僅僅是因為我們管理銷售補償計劃的方式，而且特別是在這種情況下，我們在這個市場上看到的增長動力之一是航空航天國防以及這些市場在第四季度往往會出現偏差的事實。

Congrats on the execution.

祝賀執行死刑。

Thank you, Samik.

謝謝你，薩米克。

Our next question comes from the line of Mehdi Hosseini with Susquehanna.

我們的下一個問題來自 Mehdi Hosseini 和 Susquehanna 的台詞。

Yes. Going back to backlog, I want to better understand how the normalization, especially post Covid is playing. And just for illustration, if I were to look at prior to COVID and look at like 3 to 5 years of history, the next quarter revenue to prior quarter backlog averaged around 0.9. Reflecting the nature of the business which has turned, COVID changed that. Your backlog went up due to supply chain disruption. And as you look forward post-COVID, should we expect more of a turn business? And I have a follow-up.

是的。回到積壓，我想更好地了解正常化，尤其是 Covid 之後的情況。僅舉個例子，如果我查看 COVID 之前的情況並查看 3 到 5 年的歷史，那麼下一季度的收入與上一季度積壓的平均比率約為 0.9。反映出已經轉變的業務性質，COVID 改變了這一點。由於供應鏈中斷，您的積壓訂單增加了。當你期待後 COVID 時，我們是否應該期待更多的轉機業務？我有一個後續行動。

Yes. I think, Mehdi, from a business model standpoint, as you know, we've been driving to increasing solutions, more software and services mix, higher ARR, and that's been part of the strategy for go-to-market and that could alter in a very moderate way, the mix. But at some point, yes, I think as demand gets back in line, we would expect the supply and demand balance to be restored.

是的。我認為，Mehdi，從商業模式的角度來看，正如你所知，我們一直在推動增加解決方案、更多的軟件和服務組合、更高的 ARR，這是進入市場戰略的一部分，這可能會改變以一種非常溫和的方式，混合。但在某個時候，是的，我認為隨著需求恢復正常，我們預計供需平衡將會恢復。

Sorry, Mehdi. As I talked about it from a backlog perspective, I think in terms of the backlog normalization, it's happening much like we laid out last quarter, right, that orders -- revenues have outpaced orders in both Q1 and Q2. We expect that largely to continue here through the remainder of the year. And while we may not work through all of what I've kind of had described as the abnormal backlog, we're going to work through a significant portion of that, if you think of it as kind of $80 million a quarter kind of a run rate.

對不起，邁赫迪。當我從積壓的角度談論它時，我認為就積壓正常化而言，它的發生很像我們上個季度的佈局，對，訂單——第一季度和第二季度的收入都超過了訂單。我們預計，在今年餘下的時間裡，這種情況在很大程度上會繼續下去。雖然我們可能無法解決我所說的異常積壓的所有問題，但如果您將其視為每季度 8000 萬美元，我們將解決其中的很大一部分運行速度。

And so -- and you are correct. As the supply chain situation is involved, we are once again becoming more and more reliant on turns business. Not quite back to where we were pre-COVID, but some of that is the fact of the kind of the structural changes that have occurred in our business over that period of time.

所以——你是對的。由於涉及供應鏈情況，我們再次變得越來越依賴輪流業務。還沒有完全回到 COVID 之前的狀態，但其中一些是我們業務在那段時間發生的結構性變化的事實。

Sure.

當然。

And certainly I don't want to take away anything from the demand drivers. And in that context, maybe you could remind us what are the key demand drivers looking forward, like 600 gig internet, million wave or semiconductor? And to me, those dynamics are very different than the 5G investment cycle that you went through from 2017 through 2019. And then if you could just remind us how the next couple of years could be different than prior upturn?

當然，我不想從需求驅動因素中拿走任何東西。在這種情況下，也許您可以提醒我們期待的主要需求驅動因素是什麼，例如 600 gig 互聯網、million wave 或半導體？對我來說，這些動態與你從 2017 年到 2019 年經歷的 5G 投資週期非常不同。然後你能否提醒我們未來幾年與之前的好轉有何不同？

Yes. Thank you, Mehdi. And as you know, we have a diversified portfolio, and we have diversified end market exposure that gives us plenty of opportunity to continue to expand our share position. We are -- we still only have 25% market share in our markets, and we have additional new SAM opportunities that I outlined at Investor Day.

是的。謝謝你，邁赫迪。如您所知，我們擁有多元化的投資組合，我們擁有多元化的終端市場敞口，這讓我們有很多機會繼續擴大我們的份額。我們是——我們在我們的市場中仍然只有 25% 的市場份額，而且我們還有我在投資者日概述的額外的新 SAM 機會。

But if you just look at the high level, you'd say the innovation trends across our end markets continue to accelerate. And I think what we're seeing even during this time is customers are not pulling back on their long-term priorities, especially with regard to keeping their competitiveness going. And so that is a trend that we expect to continue, and that would bode well for -- in wireless Release 17 and new innovations that are coming up, and heading into 6G, which is on a road map for the industry.

但如果你只看高層次，你會說我們終端市場的創新趨勢繼續加速。而且我認為，即使在這段時間裡，我們所看到的是，客戶並沒有放棄他們的長期優先事項，尤其是在保持競爭力方面。因此，這是我們期望繼續下去的趨勢，這預示著 - 在無線版本 17 和即將出現的新創新中，以及進入 6G，這是行業的路線圖。

And in Wireline, clearly, the move to 800 gig terabit ethernet and multiple optimizations that networks have to go through in the world of AI-ML, I think that's another diversified opportunity for us that we're pretty excited about.

在 Wireline 中，很明顯，向 800 gig 太比特以太網的轉變以及網絡在 AI-ML 世界中必須經歷的多重優化，我認為這對我們來說是另一個多元化的機會，我們對此感到非常興奮。

And then you go into aerospace defense. I think research spanned across multiple nations of the world continue to remain strong as many nations are investing in organic IP. You look at supply onshoring or reshoring or security around supply chain, that is a demand driver. And when you look at semiconductor, the move -- the road map is pretty secure to actually go through the progression from 7-nanometer to 5 to 3, to 2 and so on and so forth. So we look at across our end markets, including the General Electronics business with digital health, and I didn't talk about the one that is currently inflecting, which is automotive, with EV and AV. And all these are secular trends. And I think our focus as a company on R&D innovations, enabling customers to go faster, is definitely -- will put us in a good position to capitalize.

然後你進入航空航天防禦。我認為跨越世界多個國家的研究繼續保持強勁，因為許多國家都在投資有機知識產權。你看看供應鏈的供應外包或回流或安全，這是一個需求驅動因素。當你看半導體時，移動 - 路線圖非常安全，可以實際經歷從 7 納米到 5 納米到 3 納米，再到 2 納米等等的進展。因此，我們著眼於我們的終端市場，包括具有數字健康的通用電子業務，我沒有談論目前正在發生變化的市場，即汽車、EV 和 AV。所有這些都是長期趨勢。而且我認為我們作為一家專注於研發創新的公司，讓客戶走得更快，這肯定會讓我們處於有利的地位。

The next question comes from the line of Chris Snyder from UBS.

下一個問題來自瑞銀集團的 Chris Snyder。

So fiscal Q2 revenue came in below typical seasonality. And obviously, you guys have been talking about the cyclical slowdown, so not a surprise there. But I guess my question is, if the guidance calls for kind of typical seasonality into the third quarter with topline largely flattish, can we take that or should we take that as a vote of confidence that the market dynamics or demand is not getting worse?

因此，第二財季收入低於典型的季節性。顯然，你們一直在談論周期性放緩，所以不足為奇。但我想我的問題是，如果指導意見要求第三季度出現典型的季節性，而收入基本持平，我們可以接受還是應該將其視為對市場動態或需求不會惡化的信心投票？

Yes. I mean, as I said, I think we largely think -- albeit at a lower level, we think -- we largely see things as stable here as we move from the first half into the second half, right? I just talked about how on the demand side, we expect second half orders to be on par with the first half, albeit with the seasonality that I mentioned.

是的。我的意思是，正如我所說，我認為我們在很大程度上認為——儘管我們認為在較低的水平上——我們在很大程度上認為這裡的情況在我們從上半場進入下半場時是穩定的，對吧？我剛剛談到了在需求方面如何，我們預計下半年的訂單將與上半年持平，儘管我提到了季節性。

And I think from a revenue perspective, the same is largely correct. We delivered $1.380 billion in Q1, guided to $1.380 billion in Q2. We did a little bit better. We've guided to $1.380 billion in Q3. And I think if you think about a level of revenue stability at about that level, you're thinking about it the right way.

我認為從收入的角度來看，這在很大程度上是正確的。我們在第一季度交付了 13.8 億美元，第二季度預計為 13.8 億美元。我們做得更好一點。我們在第三季度指導了 13.8 億美元。而且我認為，如果你在那個水平上考慮一定程度的收入穩定性，你就會以正確的方式思考它。

I appreciate that.

我很感激。

And kind of taking that and following up on the guide. If my back to the envelope math is correct here, mid-single-digit EPS growth for the year would imply a pretty big decline in Q4, both versus Q3 but also year-on-year. And with topline seemingly at least kind of stable, it would -- it seems to be calling for a decline in margins. Any reason for that? I don't know if there's ever been a quarter where Q4 EPS came in below Q3.

有點接受並跟進指南。如果我回到信封數學在這裡是正確的，那麼今年的中個位數每股收益增長將意味著第四季度與第三季度相比以及同比都有相當大的下降。而且收入似乎至少有點穩定，它似乎要求利潤率下降。有什麼理由嗎？我不知道是否有一個季度的第四季度每股收益低於第三季度。

Yes. Well, again, as I said, I think if you think about the topline for Q4, stability would be the term that I'd use to describe that. When it comes to EPS, I think on a year-over-year basis, you're not incorrect at modeling a decline. While Q4 a year ago was not that dissimilar from what we just delivered here in Q2, as we look into the back half of the year, as I said, we might not be able to sustain the gross margin quite as favorably as the mix we just delivered. And then in addition, we want to see some incremental investments into some of the future technologies that are going to drive our markets as we move forward.

是的。好吧，正如我所說，我認為如果你考慮第四季度的頂線，穩定性將是我用來描述它的術語。談到每股收益，我認為與去年同期相比，你在模擬下降方面並沒有錯。雖然一年前的第四季度與我們剛剛在這裡交付的第二季度沒有什麼不同，但正如我所說，我們展望今年下半年時，我們可能無法像我們的組合那樣保持毛利率。剛剛交付。此外，我們希望看到對未來技術的一些增量投資，這些技術將在我們前進的過程中推動我們的市場。

So I do think on a year-over-year basis, you will expect a decline in the fourth quarter.

所以我確實認為，與去年同期相比，你會預計第四季度會出現下滑。

Yes. And I think just to add to the point, right, it is an uncertain environment that's out there. And I think when we speak with customers, the engagement levels are high. But in terms of them planning for budgets, they're really relying on their underlying business to pick up. And so there's that dynamic which results in an elongated cycle to close the pipeline, and so that's the case.

是的。而且我想補充一點，對，這是一個不確定的環境。而且我認為當我們與客戶交談時，參與度很高。但就他們的預算規劃而言，他們實際上是在依賴其基礎業務的回升。因此，這種動態導致關閉管道的周期延長，情況就是這樣。

And our guide, we try to be central weighted. We're not factoring in any macro recovery nor are we factoring in any recovery from China reopening into the guide. And those could be upside, but the macro could get worse too. So that's the way we see it, and we'll keep you updated.

而我們的指南，我們試圖集中註意力。我們沒有考慮任何宏觀復甦，也沒有將中國重新開放後的任何復蘇納入指南。這些可能是好的，但宏觀也可能變得更糟。這就是我們的看法，我們會及時通知您。

The next question comes from the line of Aaron Rakers from Wells Fargo.

下一個問題來自富國銀行的 Aaron Rakers。

Yes. Also congrats on the execution in the quarter.

是的。也祝賀本季度的執行情況。

A lot of questions that I had were already answered, but I want to go back to kind of the narrative around AI and ML. And maybe you can help just unpack a little bit of the demand insertion that you're seeing? Just maybe help us appreciate where and to what extent Keysight's involved in those opportunities? I'm just kind of curious, so just helping us appreciate a little bit more of the AI narrative and the demand drivers you're seeing?

我的很多問題已經得到解答，但我想回到關於 AI 和 ML 的敘述。也許您可以幫助解壓縮您看到的一些需求插入？也許可以幫助我們了解是德科技在哪些方面以及在多大程度上參與了這些機會？我只是有點好奇，所以只是幫助我們更多地了解 AI 敘述和您看到的需求驅動因素？

Yes. I think AI, it's safe to say that it's been under discussion for quite a long time, and you could say machine-learning algorithms are not that new. But what we're seeing now is a tick up in networks really thinking about the way to train AI models, the way to infer in an AI environment, and that creates some opportunities for us. I think Kailash referred to that in our presentation at Investor Day as some pilots that we have going on. And fundamentally, you look at it at the high level, you have typical search not solve traffic in the network. And with AI-ML, you have a lot of east-west traffic. And I think modeling that and being able to train your network to perform is going to become a differentiator. And I think having the full stack in wireless and Wireline allows us to go address opportunities for our customers.

是的。我認為人工智能，可以肯定地說，它已經被討論了很長時間，你可以說機器學習算法並不是那麼新。但我們現在看到的是，網絡正在真正思考訓練 AI 模型的方式、在 AI 環境中進行推理的方式，這為我們創造了一些機會。我認為 Kailash 在投資者日的演講中提到了我們正在進行的一些試點。從根本上說，從高層次來看，典型的搜索並不能解決網絡中的流量問題。有了 AI-ML，你就會有很多東西向的流量。而且我認為建模並能夠訓練您的網絡執行將成為一個差異化因素。而且我認為擁有無線和有線的完整堆棧使我們能夠為我們的客戶抓住機會。

How big that could be, I mean, to be determined. But I do know that a lot of our customers are having discussions with us at this time, and we're continuing to invest in this new emerging opportunity.

這有多大，我的意思是，有待確定。但我確實知道我們的很多客戶此時正在與我們進行討論，我們將繼續投資於這個新出現的機會。

Yes. Very helpful.

是的。很有幫助。

And then as a quick follow-up, I noticed this quarter, you did not repurchase any share. I think that's the first time in a little while. So Neil, I'm just curious of how you're thinking about very strong free cash flow? How you're thinking about share repurchase, maybe M&A, just overall capital allocation given the strong balance sheet position?

然後作為快速跟進，我注意到這個季度，你沒有回購任何股票。我認為這是一段時間以來的第一次。所以尼爾，我很好奇你是如何看待非常強勁的自由現金流的？考慮到強大的資產負債表狀況，您如何考慮股票回購，也許是併購，只是整體資本配置？

Yes. There have been no changes to our capital allocation priorities. Obviously, we re-laid them out at our Analyst Day in March. We continue to look for opportunities to grow our business via value-accretive M&A. While we didn't purchase any shares during the quarter for a variety of reasons, we've been very active in the buyback markets and would expect that -- to continue to be least anti-dilutive with our buyback programs and be opportunistic on top of that. And so we continue to believe there is ample opportunity for us to create value through appropriate capital allocation.

是的。我們的資本配置優先順序沒有變化。顯然，我們在 3 月份的分析師日重新佈置了它們。我們繼續尋找機會通過增值併購來發展我們的業務。儘管出於各種原因我們在本季度沒有購買任何股票，但我們在回購市場上一直非常活躍，並且預計我們的回購計劃將繼續保持最少的反稀釋作用，並在頂部投機取巧那個。因此，我們仍然相信，我們有充足的機會通過適當的資本配置來創造價值。

The next question comes from the line of Mark Delaney with Goldman Sachs.

下一個問題來自馬克德萊尼與高盛的合作。

This is Will Bryant asking a question on the behalf of Mark Delaney.

我是威爾布萊恩特代表馬克德萊尼提問。

So first question is, with orders down year-over-year, will easier comps in backlog be enough for the company to grow at that 5% to 7% target that you laid out next year if the macro is still similar to current conditions? Or would the macro need to improve at all to reach that goal?

因此，第一個問題是，隨著訂單同比下降，如果宏觀仍與當前狀況相似，積壓訂單中更容易的補償是否足以讓公司實現你明年制定的 5% 至 7% 的目標？或者宏觀是否需要改進才能實現該目標？

Yes. As we said, the macro environment continues to remain highly uncertain, and we're not ready to make a call as to what the environment is going to be 6 months from now when we get to FY '24. I think what we see right now is largely stability, and as Satish just said, we're not ready to call an upturn but nor do we have any additional downside baked into what we're seeing currently.

是的。正如我們所說，宏觀環境繼續保持高度不確定性，我們還沒有準備好在我們進入 24 財年時預測 6 個月後的環境會怎樣。我認為我們現在看到的基本上是穩定的，正如薩蒂什剛才所說，我們還沒有準備好稱之為好轉，但我們目前所看到的也沒有任何額外的不利因素。

Okay. That's helpful.

好的。這很有幫助。

And my second question, I just wonder if you can comment or give some additional color around regional order trends at all?

我的第二個問題，我只是想知道您是否可以對區域訂單趨勢發表評論或提供一些額外的色彩？

Sure, Will. This is Mark. I'll talk about the region trends.

當然，威爾。這是馬克。我將談談區域趨勢。

So it begins with the word stability. We talked about that many times already. Q2 orders were steady and predictable and really consistent with our expectations. We saw increased customer demand and increased customer engagements with continuing focus on their R&D programs across all 4 regions. This was especially shown in the case for aerospace and defense, where we saw strong growth in demand across all of our regions. We saw the demand in automotive continue with some key wins, a couple of key OEM wins, particularly in Europe. And in general, the broad base of customers and the variety of applications that we serve within General Electronics really held up strongly across most regions as well.

所以它從穩定這個詞開始。我們已經談過很多次了。第二季度訂單穩定且可預測，與我們的預期完全一致。我們看到客戶需求增加，客戶參與度增加，並繼續關注所有 4 個地區的研發計劃。這在航空航天和國防領域尤為明顯，我們看到我們所有地區的需求都強勁增長。我們看到汽車需求持續增長，獲得了一些關鍵的勝利，一些關鍵的 OEM 勝利，尤其是在歐洲。總的來說，我們在 General Electronics 服務的廣泛客戶群和各種應用程序在大多數地區也確實表現強勁。

We did see some pullback, as we saw in Q1, around commercial comms that was centered with some of our larger customers in the Americas. We saw some pullback in short-term demand with semiconductor in Asia. But in general, across all regions, we saw this continuing stability in engagements and order flow as we expected.

正如我們在第一季度看到的那樣，我們確實看到了一些回調，圍繞以我們在美洲的一些大客戶為中心的商業通信。我們看到亞洲半導體的短期需求有所回落。但總的來說，在所有地區，我們都看到了我們預期的這種持續穩定的參與度和訂單流。

Our next question comes from the line of Meta Marshall from Morgan Stanley.

我們的下一個問題來自摩根士丹利的 Meta Marshall。

Great. It looks like you guys bring down about $100 million of backlog this quarter and you had been kind of guiding to about $300 million of backlog for the remainder of the year, so it seems like everything is on track there. I guess I just wanted to get an update as to whether kind of $200 million of additional backlog for the year was a good estimate? And just kind of what segment that's most concentrated on?

偉大的。看起來你們本季度減少了大約 1 億美元的積壓訂單，而你們在今年剩餘時間裡一直在指導大約 3 億美元的積壓訂單，所以看起來一切都在按計劃進行。我想我只是想知道今年 2 億美元的額外積壓是否是一個好的估計？最集中的部分是什麼？

And then just a second question, just in terms of where you're seeing some of the more cautious spending on comms. Is that legacy standards? Just kind of what projects are being potentially pushed out while kind of emphasis is still being put on 6G, kind of new releases of 5G?

然後是第二個問題，就您在哪些地方看到一些更謹慎的通信支出而言。那是遺留標準嗎？在仍將重點放在 6G 或 5G 的新版本上時，可能會推出哪些項目？

Meta, I'll take the second part first and then Neil will speak to the backlog.

Meta，我先講第二部分，然後 Neil 會談談積壓工作。

I think the -- in comms, obviously, the big driver is new innovation, new technology trends. So we saw strength in Release 17, non-terrestrial networks, all of the same themes that we've been talking about, and some increased investments around the globe around the next-generation technologies. And so largely in R&D, the trends are holding. And in production environments, our production test environments is where we're seeing much more weakness in demand as customers are digesting this excess inventory associated with smartphones and PCs and such. And our share position, even though at a lower level, continues to be strong, and we're focused on our portfolio and our portfolio continues to grow, and we'll continue to release new products in alignment with customer needs.

我認為——在通信中，很明顯，最大的驅動力是新的創新、新的技術趨勢。因此，我們在第 17 版、非地面網絡、我們一直在談論的所有相同主題以及圍繞下一代技術的全球投資增加方面看到了優勢。因此，主要在研發方面，趨勢一直存在。在生產環境中，我們的生產測試環境是我們看到需求更加疲軟的地方，因為客戶正在消化與智能手機和個人電腦等相關的過剩庫存。我們的份額地位，儘管處於較低水平，但仍然很強勁，我們專注於我們的產品組合，我們的產品組合繼續增長，我們將繼續發布符合客戶需求的新產品。

With regard to the backlog position, obviously, we have a backlog situation. Neil mentioned we have a growing deferred revenue balance with increasing focus we have placed on software services and ARR. And we also, in accordance with where we're seeing the order strength, whether it's automotive or in semiconductor or in aerospace defense, we're also providing more system type of capabilities to our customers, which have longer lead times.

關於積壓情況，顯然，我們有積壓情況。尼爾提到，隨著我們越來越關注軟件服務和 ARR，我們的遞延收入餘額不斷增加。而且，我們還根據我們看到的訂單強度，無論是汽車、半導體還是航空航天國防，我們還為我們的客戶提供更多系統類型的功能，這些功能的交貨時間更長。

Neil will give you more specifics.

尼爾會給你更多的細節。

Yes. I think on the backlog side, you referenced our comments about expecting to burn somewhere around $300 million of backlog for the year. I mean, that statement was made last quarter when revenues outpaced orders by $80 million, and we talked about how we expected that demand environment to sustain itself for at least the next couple of quarters. And that's, in fact, what's playing out. So if you think about kind of an $80 million backlog burn per quarter, you get to $320 million, and that's largely how we're thinking about it with orders and revenue largely stable into the back half of the year.

是的。我認為在積壓方面，您參考了我們關於預計今年將消耗約 3 億美元積壓的評論。我的意思是，該聲明是在上個季度收入超過訂單 8000 萬美元時發表的，我們討論了我們如何預計需求環境至少在接下來的幾個季度內能夠維持下去。事實上，這就是正在發生的事情。因此，如果你考慮每季度 8000 萬美元的積壓燃燒，你將達到 3.2 億美元，這主要是我們考慮的方式，訂單和收入在今年下半年基本穩定。

And the last question you asked is how does it skew by business? Right now, it's clearly skewing towards CSG.

你問的最後一個問題是它如何因業務而傾斜？現在，它顯然傾向於 CSG。

The next question comes from the line of Adam Thalhimer with Thompson, Davis.

下一個問題來自 Adam Thalhimer 與 Thompson, Davis 的對話。

Nice quarter.

不錯的季度。

Neil, the working capital was pretty negative in 2022, and it looks like it kind of finally started to swing positive in Q2. Do you expect that trend to continue in the back half cash from working capital?

尼爾，2022 年的營運資金相當負，看起來它終於在第二季度開始轉正。您是否預計這種趨勢會在營運資金的後半部分繼續？

Yes. I mean, it's certainly something we're watching carefully. There's a number of factors there. The supply chain situation clearly put pressure on working capital in a number of ways. First of all, inventory purchase commitments, which while things are getting better, we did make significant purchase commitments over the course of the last 4 to 6 quarters during that time frame, so think that's going to keep some pressure. And we also, to be honest, began to alter our processes around demos so that we could -- rather than putting new units into demo inventory, we sustain the life of our demo inventory so we could deliver products into the hands of our customers. And so as we start to normalize that, rotate that demo back out and sell that equipment via our used equipment business, I think we'll be able to bring inventory over time -- down over time.

是的。我的意思是，這當然是我們正在仔細觀察的事情。那裡有很多因素。供應鏈狀況顯然以多種方式給營運資金帶來壓力。首先，庫存採購承諾，雖然情況正在好轉，但我們在過去 4 到 6 個季度的時間框架內確實做出了重大採購承諾，因此認為這會保持一些壓力。老實說，我們也開始圍繞演示改變我們的流程，這樣我們就可以——而不是將新單元放入演示庫存，我們維持演示庫存的壽命，這樣我們就可以將產品交付給客戶。因此，當我們開始將其正常化，將演示輪換回來並通過我們的二手設備業務出售該設備時，我認為我們將能夠隨著時間的推移減少庫存——隨著時間的推移。

And then I think on the receivables side, what's really going to help us there is as the supply chain situation continues to improve and we can really start to linearize our revenue delivery within the quarter, that will help. And I think there is room for continued improvement there over time.

然後我認為在應收賬款方面，隨著供應鏈狀況的持續改善，真正對我們有幫助的是，我們可以真正開始在本季度內線性化我們的收入交付，這將有所幫助。而且我認為隨著時間的推移還有持續改進的空間。

Okay. And it was slight, but the CapEx guidance came down a touch. Just wondering what drove that?

好的。這是輕微的，但資本支出指導有所下降。只是想知道是什麼驅動了它？

Well, similarly there, you think -- the CapEx that you're seeing there is obviously the cash flow side of things. And again, with the supply chain situation, a lot of what we're seeing on the cash flow side is -- were commitments that were made many months ago and to which we're starting to get delivery. We actually have seen our new commitments actually drop even further than what you've seen on the cash flow side of things as the supply chain situation is resolved. But the -- we do expect CapEx cash flows to be high for the remainder of the year -- higher for the remainder of the year.

好吧，你認為同樣在那裡 - 你在那裡看到的資本支出顯然是事物的現金流量方面。再一次，在供應鏈情況下，我們在現金流方面看到的很多是 - 是幾個月前做出的承諾，我們開始兌現這些承諾。我們實際上已經看到，隨著供應鏈問題的解決，我們的新承諾實際上比您在現金流方面看到的下降得更多。但是——我們確實預計今年剩餘時間的資本支出現金流量會很高——今年剩餘時間會更高。

The next question comes from the line of Matt Niknam with Deutsche Bank.

下一個問題來自德意志銀行的 Matt Niknam。

Congrats on the quarter.

祝賀這個季度。

I want to go back to gross margins, and maybe if we can talk a little bit about some of the drivers of upside. I think there was reference to product mix, if we can just go back to that and unpack that. And I'm also curious whether there were any software license sales in there that may not recur on a go-forward basis?

我想回到毛利率，也許我們可以談談一些上行的驅動因素。我認為這裡提到了產品組合，如果我們可以回到那個並打開它的話。而且我也很好奇那裡是否有任何軟件許可銷售可能不會在前進的基礎上再次發生？

And then just one follow-up as well on orders, if you could talk about the linearity over the course of the quarter and how that trended by month, if possible?

然後還有一個跟進訂單，如果你能談談本季度的線性以及每月的趨勢，如果可能的話？

Yes. Let me take the gross margin question, and then we'll have Mark address the orders question.

是的。讓我來回答毛利率問題，然後我們將讓馬克解決訂單問題。

I think on the gross margin side, again, on a year-over-year basis, it's primarily mix. And we do see a fair amount of movement in mix. Mix within the quarter can shift. But if you think about it in this particular situation, obviously, the shift towards higher recurring revenue is helping to the extent that those software revenues are sustained and stable in a period of time where revenues are -- orders and revenue and demand for hardware is generally under pressure. I think that's a favorable shift on mix.

我認為在毛利率方面，與去年同期相比，它主要是混合的。我們確實看到了相當多的混合運動。季度內的組合可以轉移。但是，如果您在這種特定情況下考慮一下，顯然，向更高的經常性收入的轉變在一定程度上有助於這些軟件收入在收入的一段時間內持續和穩定 - 訂單和收入以及對硬件的需求是一般是有壓力的。我認為這是一個有利的組合轉變。

And then probably even a bigger impact than that within the quarter is within the product shipments itself, it's skewed towards higher end systems rather than lower end tools within the quarter is the best way to describe it. And particularly versus a year ago -- versus prior quarters where we maybe have had an unfavorable mix shift towards high levels of disti shipments, some of our lower-end products or things that can skew mix the other way. So that's what we saw within the quarter.

然後可能比本季度內的影響更大的是產品出貨量本身，它傾向於更高端的系統而不是本季度的低端工具是描述它的最佳方式。特別是與一年前相比 - 與前幾個季度相比，我們可能已經向高水平的 disti 出貨量進行了不利的組合轉變，我們的一些低端產品或可能以其他方式傾斜的東西。這就是我們在本季度看到的情況。

Yes. And Matt, as far as the order flow within the quarter, I would say it was very typical for a Q2 as the second period and the 6-month performance period, we saw it ramp throughout each of the 3 months. February is a shorter month, fewer selling days. As you get to the end of the performance period with our incentive comp and sales, we do expect a stronger finish, which is exactly what we saw.

是的。 Matt，就本季度的訂單流量而言，我想說這對於第二季度和 6 個月的業績期來說是非常典型的，我們看到它在 3 個月的每個月都在上升。二月是一個較短的月份，銷售天數較少。當您通過我們的激勵補償和銷售進入績效期結束時，我們確實希望有更好的完成，這正是我們所看到的。

What I can say though was very consistent was the kind of elevated level of customer engagement as customers prioritized on different programs that they felt were important going forward, and we saw that really as a stabilizing factor after coming out of Q1.

我可以說的是非常一致的是客戶參與度的提高，因為客戶優先考慮他們認為對未來很重要的不同計劃，我們認為這確實是第一季度結束後的一個穩定因素。

So we did see a ramp, but I wouldn't read anything more into that other than the natural seasonality of the Q2.

所以我們確實看到了一個斜坡，但除了第二季度的自然季節性之外，我不會讀到更多的東西。

Got it.

知道了。

And just on the gross margins, any sort of abnormal software license sales in there to call out?

就毛利率而言，是否存在任何異常的軟件許可銷售？

No.

不。

The next question comes from the line of David Ridley-Lane with Bank of America.

下一個問題來自美國銀行的 David Ridley-Lane。

Maybe a little bit of a strategy question. So as you've grown your automotive and EV battery business, are there some attractive adjacencies there? Would you consider inorganic investments to kind of round out the offering? Or do you feel that you have kind of the solutions that you need to keep up the growth there?

也許有點策略問題。那麼，隨著您的汽車和 EV 電池業務的發展，那裡是否存在一些有吸引力的鄰接關係？您會考慮通過無機投資來完善此次發行嗎？或者你覺得你有某種解決方案來保持那裡的增長？

Yes. I think as we mentioned, automotive has been a fairly new vertical expansion for us, one that we focused on since Keysight was formed, and we have successfully grown that to over $500 million. And we continue to see even more opportunity to expand as there's going to be ongoing innovations in EV and AV, not only in automobiles but in other sectors as well, with the push for autonomous and electrification even in broader set of industries. And we're continuing to build the most comprehensive portfolio all the way from design to silicon bring up to simulation, validation, compliance testing and manufacturing with more emphasis on R&D, really. And we're helping create standards.

是的。我認為，正如我們提到的，汽車對我們來說是一個相當新的垂直擴張，自是德科技成立以來我們就一直關注這一領域，我們已經成功地將其增長到超過 5 億美元。我們繼續看到更多的擴展機會，因為 EV 和 AV 將不斷創新，不僅在汽車領域，而且在其他領域，甚至在更廣泛的行業中推動自主和電氣化。我們將繼續構建最全面的產品組合，從設計到矽片再到模擬、驗證、合規性測試和製造，並且更加重視研發，真的。我們正在幫助制定標準。

We're also working on finding new methodologies for testing that will be disruptive. And to that extent, we've made a small technology tuck-ins that have enhanced our software content and ability to make contributions to the workflow in this area. And we see, as we think about our M&A, we see a strong pipeline for opportunities and we'll continue to evaluate them against our strategic and financial hurdles, and we'll look to lean in for the right opportunity.

我們還在努力尋找具有破壞性的新測試方法。就此而言，我們做了一個小的技術插件，增強了我們的軟件內容和能力，為該領域的工作流程做出貢獻。我們看到，當我們考慮我們的併購時，我們看到了強大的機會管道，我們將繼續根據我們的戰略和財務障礙評估它們，我們將尋找合適的機會。

And then just a quick follow-up. How are your own lead times -- as the supply chain has improved, how are your own lead times relative to pre-COVID history? Where do we stand on that?

然後只是快速跟進。您自己的交貨時間如何——隨著供應鏈的改進，您自己的交貨時間與 COVID 之前的歷史相比如何？我們的立場是什麼？

Yes. So still improving. For a significant part of the portfolio, we're already back. There's another significant chunk that should work its way back to kind of pre-COVID lead times here over the third quarter. And then there will continue to be some outliers beyond that, but we're rapidly moving in the right direction.

是的。所以還在改進中。對於投資組合的很大一部分，我們已經回來了。在第三季度，還有另一個重要的部分應該回到 COVID 之前的交貨時間。然後還會有一些異常值，但我們正在朝著正確的方向迅速前進。

That concludes our question-and-answer session for today. I would like to turn the call back to Jason Kary for any closing comments.

今天的問答環節到此結束。我想將電話轉回給 Jason Kary，以徵求任何結束意見。

Thanks, Elissa, and thanks, everyone, for joining us today. That concludes our call, and we look forward to seeing you at some of the upcoming conferences here in the quarter.

謝謝 Elissa，也謝謝大家今天加入我們。我們的電話會議到此結束，我們期待在本季度即將舉行的一些會議上見到您。

This concludes our conference call. You may now disconnect.

我們的電話會議到此結束。您現在可以斷開連接。