Knowles Corp (KN) 2024 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Good afternoon. My name is Audra, and I will be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the Knowles Corporation fourth-quarter and full-year 2024 earnings conference call. Today's conference is being recorded. (Operator Instructions)

午安.我的名字是奧德拉，今天我將擔任您的會議主持人。現在，我歡迎大家參加諾爾斯公司2024年第四季和全年財報電話會議。今天的會議正在錄製。（操作員指令）

At this time, I would like to turn the conference over to Sarah Cook.

現在，我想將會議交給莎拉庫克 (Sarah Cook)。

Please go ahead.

請繼續。

Thank you, and welcome to our fourth-quarter and full-year 2024 earnings call. I'm Sarah Cook, Vice President of Investor Relations, and presenting with me today are Jeffrey Niew, our President and CEO; and John Anderson, our Senior Vice President and CFO.

謝謝，歡迎參加我們的 2024 年第四季和全年財報電話會議。我是投資者關係副總裁 Sarah Cook，今天與我一起發言的還有我們的總裁兼執行長 Jeffrey Niew；以及我們的高級副總裁兼財務長約翰·安德森（John Anderson）。

Our call today will include remarks about future expectations, plans and prospects for Knowles, which constitute forward-looking statements for purposes of the Safe Harbor provisions under applicable federal securities laws. Forward-looking statements in this call will include comments about demand for company products, anticipated trends in company's sales, expenses and profits, and involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations.

我們今天的電話會議將包括對諾爾斯未來預期、計劃和前景的評論，這些評論構成了適用聯邦證券法下安全港條款所指的前瞻性陳述。本次電話會議中的前瞻性陳述將包括對公司產品需求、公司銷售、費用和利潤預期趨勢的評論，並涉及可能導致實際結果與當前預期存在重大差異的多種風險和不確定因素。

The company urges investors to review the risks and uncertainties in the company's SEC filings, including, but not limited to, the annual report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2024.

該公司敦促投資者查看公司向美國證券交易委員會提交的文件中的風險和不確定性，包括但不限於截至 2024 年 12 月 31 日的財政年度的 10-K 表年度報告。

Periodic reports filed from time to time with the SEC and the risks and uncertainties identified in today's earnings release. All forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this call, and Knowles disclaims any duty to update such statements, except as required by law.

不時向美國證券交易委員會提交的定期報告以及今天的收益報告中確定的風險和不確定性。所有前瞻性陳述均截至本次電話會議之日，Knowles 不承擔更新此類陳述的任何義務，除非法律另有要求。

In addition, any non-GAAP financial measures referenced during today's conference call can be found in our press release posted at our website at knowles.com, and in our current report on Form 8-K filed today with the SEC.

此外，今天電話會議中提及的任何非公認會計準則財務指標均可在我們在網站 knowles.com 上發布的新聞稿以及我們今天向美國證券交易委員會提交的 8-K 表最新報告中找到。

This will include a reconciliation to the most directly comparable GAAP measures. All financial references on this call will be on a non-GAAP continuing operations basis unless otherwise indicated. We've made selective financial information available in webcast slides, which can be found in the Investor Relations section of our website.

這將包括與最直接可比較的 GAAP 指標的協調。除非另有說明，本次電話會議中的所有財務引用均以非 GAAP 持續經營為基礎。我們在網路廣播幻燈片中提供了精選的財務信息，您可以在我們網站的投資者關係部分找到。

With that, let me turn the call over to Jeff, who will provide details on our results. Jeff?

說完這些，讓我把電話轉給傑夫，他將提供有關我們的結果的詳細資訊。傑夫？

Thanks, Sarah, and thanks to all of you for joining us today. For the prepared remarks, we will provide our normal commentary on Q4 results as well as what we are seeing in our markets for Q1 and beyond. I will also summarize some highlights in 2024 and turn the call over to John to provide financial details on Q4 and guidance for Q1 and then close with some exciting things we have going on, which gives us confidence in 2025 being another year of revenue and EPS growth with continued strong cash flow.

謝謝，莎拉，也謝謝大家今天的參與。對於準備好的評論，我們將對第四季度的業績以及我們對第一季及以後的市場狀況提供正常評論。我還將總結 2024 年的一些亮點，並將電話轉給約翰，提供第四季度的財務細節和第一季度的指引，然後以我們正在進行的一些令人興奮的事情作為結束，這讓我們有信心 2025 年將是又一個收入和每股收益增長的一年，現金流將繼續保持強勁。

I think it's also important to note that with the completion of the sale of the Consumer MEMS microphone business in late 2024, there is a significant amount of historical financial information being released for our continuing operations in both the 10-K as well as the supplemental slides associated with this call. This is the first time we be providing this information, and it demonstrates the revenue and earnings growth of our business.

我認為還需要注意的是，隨著 2024 年底消費 MEMS 麥克風業務出售的完成，我們將在 10-K 以及與本次電話會議相關的補充幻燈片中發布大量有關我們持續經營的歷史財務信息。這是我們第一次提供這些信息，它展示了我們業務的收入和盈利增長。

Now turning to results. For the fourth quarter, revenue of $143 million was within the guided range. Non-GAAP diluted EPS of $0.27 was also within the guided range, and we delivered cash from operations of $35 million, inclusive of CMM. The revenue and earnings shortfall to the midpoint in Q4 was driven entirely by challenges in a plant consolidation and ramping production of new products within our specialty film capacitor line, not from a lack of shippable orders. I will provide more detail on these challenges to my commentary within the Precision Device section.

現在來談談結果。第四季的營收為 1.43 億美元，在預期範圍內。非 GAAP 稀釋每股盈餘 0.27 美元也在指引範圍內，我們的營運活動現金流為 3,500 萬美元，其中包括 CMM。第四季度中期收入和盈利的缺口完全是由於工廠整合和特種薄膜電容器生產線新產品產量增加所面臨的挑戰，而不是由於缺乏可發貨訂單。我將在“精密設備”部分的評論中更詳細地介紹這些挑戰。

For the full year, on a continuing operations basis, revenue grew 21% and non-GAAP diluted EPS grew 32% from 2023 levels driven by the strength in med tech and specialty audio and the addition of film, MICA and electrolytic capacitors from Cornell to our product portfolio.

就全年而言，在持續經營基礎上，收入增長 21%，非 GAAP 稀釋每股收益較 2023 年水平增長 32%，這得益於醫療技術和專業音頻領域的實力以及康奈爾公司的薄膜、MICA 和電解電容器加入我們的產品組合。

Now for our segments. In Q4, med tech and specialty audio revenue grew 9% sequentially when it was flat on a year-over-year basis. 2024 revenues grew by 8% and adjusted EBIT by 13% from 2023 levels. By partnering with our customers to create innovative solutions, enhancing the performance of their products, we continue to drive growth.

現在開始我們的片段。第四季度，醫療技術和專業音訊收入與去年同期持平，但較上季成長 9%。 2024 年營收將成長 8%，調整後息稅前利潤將較 2023 年水準成長 13%。透過與客戶合作創造創新解決方案，提高其產品性能，我們持續推動成長。

This, coupled with our ability to leverage our fixed overhead drop adjusted EBIT growth. I continue to be very excited about the opportunities we have in the MSA segment ahead of us and expect another year of growth in 2025 as we continue to introduce new innovative custom solutions to our customers and be a world-class manufacturer of these products.

除此之外，我們也可以利用固定間接費用下降來調整稅前獲利成長。我對我們在 MSA 領域未來的機會感到非常興奮，並期待 2025 年再次實現成長，因為我們將繼續向客戶推出新的創新客製化解決方案，並成為這些產品的世界級製造商。

We're also beginning to see new opportunities to accelerate growth beyond 2025 by leveraging core competencies in medical markets, and we'll share more on this later this year as we close new design wins.

我們也開始看到透過利用醫療市場的核心競爭力來加速 2025 年以後成長的新機遇，我們將在今年稍後完成新的設計勝利後分享更多相關資訊。

In the Precision Device segment, Q4 revenues grew 4% year over year. As I stated earlier, challenges with shipments in specialty film capacitor products resulted in a greater than $3 million shortfall in our shipment plans.

在精密設備部門，第四季營收年增 4%。正如我之前所說，特種薄膜電容器產品出貨方面的挑戰導致我們的出貨計畫出現了超過 300 萬美元的缺口。

There were two causes. First, as part of our synergies from an acquisition -- from the acquisition of Cornell, we were consolidating facilities for specialty film to improve margins. Even though the production transfer was completed in Q4, it took longer than expected, and resulted in shipment challenges.

原因有兩個。首先，作為我們收購康乃爾大學所產生的協同效應的一部分，我們正在整合特種薄膜生產設施以提高利潤率。儘管生產轉移已於第四季度完成，但耗時比預期的要長，並導致了出貨方面的挑戰。

When delays in production transfers and the order book in specialty film consisting of numerous new custom products ramping at once, we fell short of our shipment targets. Shipments are expected to improve throughout the first half of 2025. I have confidence in the team will resolve the production challenges, and I'm very excited about the demand we have for these custom specialty film products.

當生產轉移延遲，以及由大量新客製化產品組成的特殊薄膜訂單同時增加時，我們未能實現出貨目標。預計 2025 年上半年出貨量將會改善。我相信團隊能夠解決生產難題，而且我對我們對這些客製化特種薄膜產品的需求感到非常興奮。

We expect this product category to drive meaningful growth in 2025 and beyond. What gives me confidence in significant growth for this product line is all the new customers and products that are coming to market and one in particular that will drive significant growth in 2026. We received an order this month for more than $75 million with a sizable prepayment for a new customer in the energy sector.

我們預計該產品類別將在 2025 年及以後實現有意義的成長。讓我對該產品線實現大幅成長充滿信心的因素是所有新客戶和新產品即將進入市場，特別是其中一款將在 2026 年推動大幅成長的產品。本月，我們接到了一筆價值超過 7,500 萬美元的訂單，其中包括一筆為能源領域新客戶支付的大筆預付款。

We expect at least $25 million of this order to ship in 2026. We will provide additional details about this exciting quarter and the rest of the opportunities ahead of us throughout 2025.

我們預計其中至少 2500 萬美元的訂單將於 2026 年發貨。我們將提供有關這個令人興奮的季度以及 2025 年剩餘機會的更多詳細資訊。

For the rest of the Precision Device segment, revenue was in line with expectations. In Q4, PD demonstrated a noticeable acceleration in orders from Q3 driven by medical and defense with both markets having their strong booking -- strongest bookings quarter of the year. It's noteworthy that our distribution book-to-bill trend was positive in Q4 and as we're finally seeing signs of abatement of excess sale inventory in the industrial end markets.

精密設備部門其餘部分的收入符合預期。在第四季度，PD 的訂單量較第三季度明顯加速，主要得益於醫療和國防兩個市場的訂單量強勁，是今年訂單量最強勁的季度。值得注意的是，我們的分銷訂單出貨比趨勢在第四季度呈現正面趨勢，我們終於看到工業終端市場過剩銷售庫存減少的跡象。

For Precision Devices on a full year basis, revenue grew 36% compared to 2023 and as our capacity portfolio expanded with the addition of Cornell. An additional 2024 highlights, which John will go into more detail, is about our cash from operations. Our continued robust cash generation, coupled with our strong balance sheet, gives us optionality of capitalizing on M&A opportunities and returning capital through share buybacks.

就精密設備全年而言，收入與 2023 年相比增長了 36%，隨著康奈爾的加入，我們的產能組合也擴大了。2024 年的另一個亮點是我們的經營現金流，John 將對此進行詳細介紹。我們持續強勁的現金創造能力，加上強勁的資產負債表，使我們能夠利用併購機會並透過股票回購返還資本。

The Board continues to be supportive of our share buyback program authorizing an additional $150 million in capacity to repurchase stock. Before moving on, I would like to touch on the fluid tariff situation we are all hearing so much about.

董事會繼續支持我們的股票回購計劃，批准額外 1.5 億美元的股票回購能力。在繼續之前，我想談談我們經常聽到的流動關稅情況。

First, the sale of CMM significantly reduced any -- our manufacturing footprint in China as well as our exposure to the China markets. On a continuing operation basis, in 2024, approximately 5% of revenue could be subject to tariffs on importing goods from either China or Mexico. Well, the exposure, as we understand today is limited, we will continue to explore alternatives to mitigate the impact of these tariffs.

首先，CMM 的出售大大減少了我們在中國的生產足跡以及對中國市場的曝險。在持續經營的基礎上，到 2024 年，約 5% 的收入可能會受到從中國或墨西哥進口商品的關稅影響。嗯，據我們今天了解，影響是有限的，我們將繼續探索其他方法來減輕這些關稅的影響。

Now let me turn the call over to John to detail our quarterly results to provide Q1 guidance. After hearing from John, I will share my thoughts on 2025.

現在，讓我將電話轉給約翰，詳細介紹我們的季度業績以提供第一季指引。聽完約翰的意見後，我將分享我對 2025 年的看法。

Thanks, Jeff. We reported fourth quarter revenues of $143 million, up 2% from the year ago period and within our guidance range. EPS was $0.27 in the quarter, up $0.05 or 23% and from Q4 of 2023, also within our guidance range.

謝謝，傑夫。我們報告第四季營收為 1.43 億美元，較去年同期成長 2%，且在我們的預期範圍內。本季每股收益為 0.27 美元，較 2023 年第四季上漲 0.05 美元或 23%，也在我們的指導範圍內。

In the Medtech and Specialty Audio segment, Q4 revenue was $70 million, flat compared with the year ago period. On a full year basis, revenue in the Medtech and Specialty Audio segment increased by 8% over prior year levels, driven by increased shipments into the hearing health market.

在醫療技術和專業音訊領域，第四季營收為 7,000 萬美元，與去年同期持平。從全年來看，醫療技術和專業音頻部門的收入比去年增長了 8%，這得益於聽力健康市場的出貨量增加。

Q4 gross margins were 51.4% and down 130 basis points versus the year ago period driven by lower average pricing on mature products and higher factory cost. The Precision Devices segment delivered fourth-quarter revenues of $73 million, up 4% from the year ago period. Shipments of high-performance capacitors were lower than expected due to a slower-than-expected ramp-up of our specialty film product line.

第四季毛利率為 51.4%，較去年同期下降 130 個基點，原因是成熟產品的平均價格較低且工廠成本較高。精密設備部門第四季營收為 7,300 萬美元，較去年同期成長 4%。由於我們的特種薄膜產品線的成長速度低於預期，高性能電容器的出貨量低於預期。

As Jeff noted, we have a strong backlog for this product line, and we expect production output to increase throughout the first half of the year driving a return to total company revenue and earnings growth beginning in the second quarter.

正如傑夫所說，該產品線有大量積壓訂單，我們預計今年上半年產量將會增加，從而從第二季開始推動公司總收入和獲利的恢復成長。

Segment gross margins were 38%, up 240 basis points from the fourth quarter of 2023 as factory productivity improvements in our legacy Precision Device business were partially offset by higher scrap costs and production inefficiencies as we ramp up the specialty film product lines.

分部毛利率為 38%，較 2023 年第四季成長 240 個基點，因為隨著我們擴大特種薄膜產品線，我們傳統精密設備業務的工廠生產率提高被廢料成本上升和生產效率低下所部分抵消。

On a total company basis, R&D expense in the quarter was $9 million, up $1 million from Q4 of 2023 driven by increased investments in both the Medtech, Specialty Audio and Precision Device segments. SG&A expenses were $26 million, up $1 million from prior year levels, driven by higher incentive compensation costs. Interest expense was $3 million in the quarter and flat with the prior year.

從整個公司來看，本季的研發費用為 900 萬美元，比 2023 年第四季增加了 100 萬美元，這得益於對醫療技術、專業音訊和精密設備部門的投資增加。銷售、一般及行政開支為 2,600 萬美元，較前一年增加 100 萬美元，主要由於激勵薪酬成本增加。本季利息支出為 300 萬美元，與上年持平。

Now I'll turn to our balance sheet and cash flow. In the fourth quarter, we generated $35 million in cash from operating activities at the midpoint of our guidance. For full-year 2024, we generated cash from operating activities of $130 million. Note that cash from operations for the 3 and 12 months ended December 31, includes $2 million and $24 million, respectively, generated by the Consumer MEMS microphone business.

現在我來談談我們的資產負債表和現金流。第四季度，我們從經營活動中產生了 3,500 萬美元的現金，達到預期的中位數。2024 年全年，我們的營運活動現金流為 1.3 億美元。請注意，截至 12 月 31 日的 3 個月和 12 個月的營運活動現金流量分別包括消費性 MEMS 麥克風業務產生的 200 萬美元和 2,400 萬美元。

Capital spending was $3 million in the quarter. During the fourth quarter, we repurchased 1.3 million shares at a total cost of $24 million and reduced our debt balance by $23 million. We exited the quarter with cash of $130 million and $203 million of debt that includes borrowings under our revolving credit facility and an interest-free seller note issued in connection with the Cornell acquisition.

本季資本支出為 300 萬美元。第四季度，我們回購了 130 萬股，總成本為 2,400 萬美元，並減少了 2,300 萬美元的債務餘額。本季結束時，我們的現金為 1.3 億美元，債務為 2.03 億美元，其中包括循環信貸額度下的借款以及與康乃爾收購相關發行的無息賣方票據。

Lastly, our net leverage ratio based on trailing 12 months adjusted EBITDA was 0.6 times. For the full year, we repurchased 3 million shares at a total cost of $54 million. In addition, the Board of Directors recently authorized a $150 million increase to our stock purchase plan.

最後，我們基於過去 12 個月調整後的 EBITDA 的淨槓桿率為 0.6 倍。全年我們回購了 300 萬股，總成本為 5,400 萬美元。此外，董事會最近批准將我們的股票購買計劃增加1.5億美元。

Moving to our guidance. For the first quarter of 2025 revenues are expected to be between $124 million and $134 million. R&D expenses are expected to be between $8 million and $9 million, selling and administrative expenses are expected to be within the range of $23 million to $25 million, down $2 million year over year on actions taken to reduce our fixed cost base in order to support the needs of our continuing operations.

轉向我們的指導。預計 2025 年第一季的營收將在 1.24 億美元至 1.34 億美元之間。研發費用預計在 800 萬至 900 萬美元之間，銷售和管理費用預計在 2,300 萬至 2,500 萬美元之間，較上年同期減少 200 萬美元，原因是我們採取措施減少固定成本基礎，以支持我們持續經營的需求。

We're projecting adjusted EBIT margin for the quarter to be within a range of 16% to 18%. Interest expense in Q1 is estimated at $2 million to $3 million and includes noncash imputed interest, and we expect an effective tax rate of 13% to 17%.

我們預計本季調整後的息稅前利潤率將在 16% 至 18% 之間。第一季的利息支出預計為 200 萬至 300 萬美元，包括非現金估算利息，我們預計有效稅率為 13% 至 17%。

We're projecting EPS to be within the range of $0.16 to $0.20 per share, this assumes weighted average shares outstanding during the quarter of $91 million on a fully diluted basis. We're projecting cash utilized in operating activities to be within the range of $15 million to $5 million and capital spending is expected to be $4 million.

我們預計每股收益將在 0.16 美元至 0.20 美元之間，假設本季的加權平均流通股數在完全攤薄的基礎上為 9,100 萬美元。我們預計經營活動所用現金將在 1,500 萬美元至 500 萬美元之間，資本支出預計為 400 萬美元。

Cash used in operating activities includes $12 million to settle supplier obligations related to the Consumer MEMS microphone business. We expect an additional payment of $12 million in Q2. These payments represent substantially all remaining supplier obligations related to the CMM business.

經營活動所用現金包括 1,200 萬美元，用於償還與消費性 MEMS 麥克風業務相關的供應商債務。我們預計第二季將額外支付 1200 萬美元。這些付款基本上代表了與 CMM 業務相關的所有剩餘供應商義務。

In conclusion, based on recent order trends and existing backlog, we expect to resume year-over-year revenue and earnings growth beginning in the second quarter of this year and expect to deliver operating cash flow of more than 15% of revenues from continuing operations for full year 2025.

總而言之，根據最近的訂單趨勢和現有的積壓訂單，我們預計從今年第二季度開始收入和盈利將恢復同比增長，並預計 2025 年全年的營運現金流將超過持續經營收入的 15%。

I'll now turn the call back over to Jeff to share his thoughts on '25 and beyond. Jeff?

現在我將把電話轉回給傑夫，讓他分享他對 25 年及以後的看法。傑夫？

Thanks, John. Now let me close with some thoughts on the strategic positioning of the company. As I look forward, design activity has never been higher for the company. We have a healthy pipeline of new opportunities ramping into production in 2025 across our end markets. Starting with medtech, the end market for here in helps remains strong, and our MSA business is expanding the product offering to our customers positioning them for continued growth.

謝謝，約翰。最後，我想談談我對公司策略定位的一些看法。展望未來，公司的設計活動將達到前所未有的高峰。我們擁有大量新的機遇，將於 2025 年在終端市場投入生產。從醫療技術開始，這裡的終端市場有助於保持強勁，我們的 MSA 業務正在擴大向客戶提供的產品，為他們提供持續成長的定位。

In the defense market, our high-performance capacitor business is seeing orders for new and expanding programs. Demand for our specialty film capacitors is high with shipments and orders for these products expecting significant growth through 2025. With this new $75 million-plus order in the energy sector, we expect even further acceleration of growth in 2026.

在國防市場，我們的高性能電容器業務正在獲得新項目和擴展項目的訂單。我們對特種薄膜電容器的需求很高，預計到 2025 年這些產品的出貨量和訂單將會大幅成長。隨著能源領域這項價值 7,500 多萬美元的新訂單，我們預計 2026 年的成長將進一步加速。

As our operations teams increase the output and customer deliveries in specialty film, we expect to see growth in both industrial and energy markets in 2025. Further, we believe the industrial end markets have stabilized as inventory levels within our distribution partners has started to decline.

隨著我們的營運團隊增加特種薄膜的產量和客戶交付量，我們預計 2025 年工業和能源市場都會實現成長。此外，我們相信，由於我們的分銷合作夥伴的庫存水準開始下降，工業終端市場已經穩定下來。

Based on all the activities we are experiencing, I'm confident our ability to grow revenue and profitability again in 2025. We ended 2024 with the sale of the Consumer MEMS microphone business closing in late December. The sale culminates a strategic transformation we have been embarking on for a number of years.

根據我們正在經歷的所有活動，我相信我們有能力在 2025 年再次增加收入和盈利能力。隨著消費型 MEMS 麥克風業務於 12 月底出售，我們結束了 2024 年的旅程。這次出售標誌著我們多年來一直在進行的策略轉型達到了頂峰。

We strengthened our balance sheet, invested in our core businesses where we have higher terms completed an acquisition that expanded our portfolio and our serviceable market and provide new growth vectors. Lastly, we returned capital to shareholders through stock buybacks. It has been built on several pillars that guided us through this transformation and will guide us as we move forward.

我們加強了資產負債表，投資於我們的核心業務，我們以更高的價格完成了收購，擴大了我們的產品組合和服務市場，並提供了新的成長動力。最後，我們透過股票回購向股東返還資本。它建立在幾個支柱之上，這些支柱引導我們完成了這一轉變，並將指導我們前進。

First, through deep engineering and customer application expertise our high-performance technologies drive us as we create new products that solve difficult problems in the real world.

首先，透過深度工程和客戶應用專業知識，我們的高效能技術推動我們創造新產品，解決現實世界中的難題。

Second, after we customize these technologies to create solutions, we leverage our world-class manufacturing operations to be a trusted, high-quality supplier through a blue-chip set of customers.

其次，在我們客製化這些技術來創建解決方案之後，我們利用我們世界一流的製造業務，透過一群藍籌客戶成為值得信賴的高品質供應商。

Finally, we use our expertise to serve niche applications within large growing markets, such as medtech, defense, industrial, electrification and energy. These fundamental pillars create value for our organization, our customers and our shareholders. For continued operations, we achieved a revenue CAGR of 12% over the past five years through a combination of organic growth and acquisitions as presented on slide 9 in the supplemental materials today.

最後，我們利用我們的專業知識為大型成長市場中的利基應用提供服務，例如醫療技術、國防、工業、電氣化和能源。這些基本支柱為我們的組織、客戶和股東創造了價值。對於持續經營，我們透過有機成長和收購相結合的方式，在過去五年中實現了 12% 的收入複合年增長率，正如今天補充資料第 9 頁所示。

Our ability to differentiate our products coupled with our ability to leverage overhead allow us to achieve adjusted EBITDA CAGR of 36% over the same period. I'm excited about the progress we've made to date in our future. I look forward to our investor forum, which we expect to host in Q2 of this year. There, I will go into further detail on our strategy and plans for future growth.

我們差異化產品的能力加上我們利用管理費用的能力使我們在同一時期實現了 36% 的調整後 EBITDA CAGR。我對我們未來迄今所取得的進展感到非常興奮。我期待我們預計在今年第二季舉辦的投資者論壇。在這裡，我將進一步詳細介紹我們的未來發展策略和計劃。

Now let me turn the call over to the operator for the Q&A session. Operator?

現在，讓我將電話轉給接線員，進行問答環節。操作員？

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員指令）

Anthony Stoss, Craig-Hallum.

安東尼·斯托斯、克雷格·哈勒姆。

Jeff, a couple of questions. I just wanted to focusing on -- you commented about pricing pressure. Is it in a particular segment? Or is it across kind of all the product lines and then maybe for John, in terms of the inventory, I know you said it's starting to come down, but maybe you can give us a sense of how many months it still is. And then I have one or two others.

傑夫，有幾個問題。我只是想關注——你對價格壓力的評論。是否位於某一特定細分市場？或者是涉及所有產品線，然後對於約翰來說，就庫存而言，我知道您說它開始下降，但也許您可以告訴我們現在還有多少個月。然後我還有一兩個其他的。

Yes. So first on pricing pressure. I'd sit there and say, generally speaking, the Precision Device segment, I'd say pricing net-net is a positive. I think we talked about the Cornell acquisition, how we've got about $5 million to $6 million of pricing increase in 2024. I would expect that we would probably have maybe in the neighborhood of $2 million to $3 million in Cornell in 2025.

是的。首先是定價壓力。我想說，總體來說，精密設備部門的淨定價是正面的。我想我們談論了康奈爾的收購，到 2024 年我們的價格將上漲約 500 萬至 600 萬美元。我預計到 2025 年康乃爾大學的資金可能會達到 200 萬到 300 萬美元左右。

And the rest of Precision Devices, I would say, net-net price per positive. I would sit there and say there's been a little bit more pressure in the MSA business on pricing. Nothing that gets me overly worried. It's mainly in mature products. It's not about new products.

對於 Precision Devices 的其餘部分，我想說的是，每件商品的淨價格。我想說的是，MSA 業務在定價方面面臨更大的壓力。沒有什麼令我過度擔心的事。主要體現在成熟產品。這與新產品無關。

It's really about product mix. And so I think we still are very confident that the MSA business will be north of 50% gross margin going forward, just as it's been in the past. . On the inventory, I think here's what I'd say. When we look back last quarter, I kind of talked about there being about six months' worth of inventory at the end of Q3 in the inventory -- the distribution channel.

這實際上與產品組合有關。因此我認為我們仍然非常有信心，未來 MSA 業務的毛利率將達到 50% 以上，就像過去一樣。。關於庫存，我想我要說的是以下。當我們回顧上個季度時，我談到了第三季末的庫存（分銷管道）中大約有六個月的庫存。

We think that number has come now down at the end of Q4, down to about 4% to 4.5%. And what I would say is we had a pretty strong bookings quarter in Q4. Our bookings accelerated quite a bit in Q4 in the Precision Device segment.

我們認為，在第四季末，這一數字已經下降至約 4% 至 4.5%。我想說的是，我們第四季的預訂量相當強勁。我們第四季在精密設備領域的預訂量大幅增加。

And looking at our flash reports already for Q1, January was also very strong in bookings as well. And that goes across not just distribution, but also with our direct OEM customers as well. So that's what's honestly giving us quite a bit of confidence in full-year 2025 being another year of growth.

從我們第一季的快報來看，一月份的預訂量也非常強勁。這不僅涉及分銷，也涉及我們的直接 OEM 客戶。所以這確實讓我們相當有信心 2025 年全年又將實現成長。

Yes. Tony, in terms of inventory, just to clarify, Jeff referenced inventory at our customers, either distributors or OEMs versus our in -- our inventories are pretty normalized level.

是的。東尼，就庫存而言，需要澄清的是，傑夫引用了我們客戶的庫存，無論是分銷商還是原始設備製造商 (OEM)，而我們的庫存處於相當正常化的水平。

Yes. And I guess what I'd say is, again, six months at the end of Q3 four to five months at the end of Q4, we need to see it be below three months is where it needs to be. And so we'll see that where it ends at the end of this quarter. But I guess what gives me optimism we're seeing a lot more orders from distribution that we weren't seeing in Q3 came in Q4 and actually already into January, we're seeing some pretty strong orders.

是的。我想說的是，第三季末的六個月、第四季末的四到五個月，我們需要看到它低於三個月，這是必要的。因此，我們將在本季末看到結果。但我想讓我感到樂觀的是，我們看到來自分銷的訂單比第三季度多了很多，而第四季度的訂單卻很多，實際上到 1 月份，我們已經看到了一些相當強勁的訂單。

Okay. And then just two follow-ups. Jeff, you made a comment that on the specialty film that you have confidence that we will get this fixed. Is it still ongoing? Is it another month or two?

好的。接下來是兩個後續問題。傑夫，你評論說，關於特種薄膜，你有信心我們會解決這個問題。它還在進行嗎？還要再過一兩個月嗎？

Or how long do you think before that's fixed? And then maybe, John, can you just remind us what the consumer business did on an annual revenue basis.

或者您認為需要多長時間才能解決這個問題？然後也許，約翰，你能否提醒我們消費者業務的年度收入狀況。

So on specialty film business, we're definitely going to see sequential improvement in output, but it's not yet in Q1 where we want it to be. I think it's probably going to take us into the fully into the second quarter, near the end of the first half in order to really start catching up. I mean, that's I think where we're at.

因此，就特種薄膜業務而言，我們肯定會看到產量連續改善，但第一季還沒有達到我們想要的水平。我認為我們可能要進入第二季度，接近上半年末才能真正開始迎頭趕上。我的意思是，我認為這就是我們所處的情況。

But I think what the real positive here is Tony, we have a big backlog of orders per shipment already in 2025. This is a really exciting area for us in terms of application, specialty film area.

但我認為真正的積極因素是托尼，我們在 2025 年的每批貨物中已經積壓了大量訂單。就應用、專業薄膜領域而言，這對我們來說是一個非常令人興奮的領域。

And I think what also gives us really excited about is, and we called it out in the press release is we got a $75-plus million order already in Q1.

我認為讓我們真正興奮的是，我們在新聞稿中提到，我們在第一季已經獲得了超過 7500 萬美元的訂單。

I know it does start shipments until 2026. But this is a real order. We got a pretty significant millions of dollars prepayment to start ramping this up. But this is going to be a very big product line for us going forward. And we'll talk more about out of as we get closer to the shipment date.

我知道它確實會在 2026 年之前開始發貨。但這是真實的命令。我們獲得了數百萬美元的預付款來開始推進這項工作。但這對我們來說未來將會是一個非常大的產品線。隨著裝運日期的臨近，我們將進一步討論有關事宜。

Yes. Tony, in response to your question on the CMM revenues for the period January 24 through December 27 when we closed roughly $260 million.

是的。托尼，回答您關於 1 月 24 日至 12 月 27 日期間 CMM 收入的問題，當時我們的收入約為 2.6 億美元。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員指令）

Bob Labick, CJS Securities.

拉比克（Bob Labick），CJS 證券公司。

So looking at, we'll call it, Knowles 2.0, we estimate maybe 40% of revenues are going to come from medtech, 40% industrial and 20 defense. But industrial is the harder one to break down. Can you give us a sense of the biggest end markets there and the trends kind of across those?

因此，我們稱之為 Knowles 2.0，我們估計大約 40% 的收入將來自醫療技術，40% 來自工業，20% 來自國防。但工業領域是最難突破的。您能否向我們介紹那裡最大的終端市場以及這些市場的趨勢？

Yes. Bob, I think you kind of see this. This is kind of like the story of -- it's a lot of the distribution business, right? And where we estimate that we shipping it on an annual basis to north of 30,000 customers. I think one of the beauties of this market is, is we don't really have reliance.

是的。鮑勃，我想你已經明白這一點了。這有點像是——很多都是分銷業務的故事，對吧？我們估計每年我們會將其運送給 30,000 多名客戶。我認為這個市場的優點之一是我們實際上沒有依賴。

And that's probably areas where we think because we have so many smaller customers, we have a pretty unique opportunity here to continue to look at strategic pricing in this area.

這可能是我們認為的領域，因為我們有如此多的小型客戶，所以我們在這裡有一個非常獨特的機會來繼續研究該領域的策略定價。

What I would say, again, kind of what I said earlier is we are starting to see stabilization. And if I look at our industrial/distribution business, I think we believe right now, what we see is we've kind of hit the bottom on that and we're starting to rise sequentially in Q1. And not to the extent yet where we want to be yet, but the bookings trend is in the right direction. And I think that's what we're kind of looking at, Bob.

我想說的是，就像我之前說的，我們開始看到穩定。如果我看一下我們的工業/分銷業務，我認為我們現在看到的是我們已經觸底，並且我們在第一季開始連續上升。雖然還沒有達到我們想要的程度，但預訂趨勢是朝著正確的方向發展的。我想這就是我們正在關注的事情，鮑伯。

And so it's really hard. I think we can kind of lay out a lot of these different markets, but there's no one market that really like is very, very large for us in the industrial sector.

所以真的很難。我認為我們可以佈局許多不同的市場，但是在工業領域中沒有一個市場對我們來說真正非常大。

Yes, I'd say a couple of areas that we play in are automation areas, HVAC areas, downhole pumps in the energy, but your equipment or semiconductor equipment. I mean there's a lot of markets in here. I mean like not just like two or three, there's quite a few markets we're in.

是的，我想說我們涉足的幾個領域是自動化領域、暖通空調領域、能源領域的井下泵，但您的設備或半導體設備。我的意思是這裡有很多市場。我的意思是，我們不只涉足兩三個市場，我們還涉足了相當多的市場。

Okay. Great. And then obviously, you mentioned the new specialty film products and the impact on the quarter and whatnot. Maybe give us a little more color on that product, what areas that's going to be sold in. And then R&D investments in general.

好的。偉大的。然後顯然，您提到了新的特種薄膜產品及其對本季的影響等等。也許您可以向我們詳細介紹該產品，以及它將在哪些地區銷售。然後是整體研發投資。

Obviously, if you're rolling out new products, we should see some acceleration in growth going forward, as you've talked about. So give us a sense of what the R&D and innovation is being spent on.

顯然，如果您推出新產品，我們應該會看到未來成長加速，正如您所說的那樣。那麼請讓我們來了解研發和創新方面的支出狀況。

Yes. So I mean I think what -- we have a core -- in a specialty film area, we have a core capability. And the applications that we're selling into is what we call pulse power applications. It's applications that require a significant amount of energy in a very, very short period of time. And what they're doing is this allocation is buying a lot of capacitors, fully charging them and then releasing the energy all at once.

是的。所以我的意思是，我認為——我們有一個核心——在專業電影領域，我們有一個核心能力。我們銷售的應用就是所謂的脈衝功率應用。這些應用需要在極短的時間內消耗大量的能量。他們的做法是購買大量電容器，將其充滿電，然後一次性釋放能量。

It's a very unique capability that we have, and we're ramping this up. I feel very confident about the shipments from this order. Starting in 2026, we'll be ramping this out. But you can kind of see that -- right now, we're ramping up for a whole bunch of smaller customers. And then we have this one big customer who is going to drive a lot of growth in 2026.

這是我們擁有的一項非常獨特的能力，我們正在加強這項能力。我對這次訂單的出貨非常有信心。從 2026 年開始，我們將加強推進這一目標。但你可以看到——現在，我們正在為一大批小客戶提供服務。我們還有一位大客戶，他將在 2026 年推動巨大的成長。

And that concludes the question-and-answer session. Thank you for your participation in today's conference. You may now disconnect.

問答環節到此結束。感謝大家參加今天的會議。您現在可以斷開連線。