AEye Inc (LIDR) 2022 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Thank you for standing by and welcome to the AEye Q4 2022 and full year 2022 earnings results conference call. (Operator Instructions) As a reminder, today's call is being recorded. I will now turn the conference over to your host, Mr. Stephen Lambright, Chief Managing Officer. Please go ahead.

感謝您的支持，歡迎來到 AEye 2022 年第四季度和 2022 年全年收益結果電話會議。 （操作員說明）提醒一下，今天的通話正在錄音中。我現在將會議轉交給你的東道主 Stephen Lambright 先生，他是首席執行官。請繼續。

Good afternoon and thank you for joining AEye's fourth-quarter and year-end 2022 earnings call. With me today are Matt Fisch, Chief Executive Officer, and Bob Brown, Chief Financial Officer.

下午好，感謝您參加 AEye 的 2022 年第四季度和年底財報電話會議。今天和我在一起的有首席執行官 Matt Fisch 和首席財務官 Bob Brown。

Earlier today, we announced our financial results for the fourth-quarter and full year 2022. A copy of our press release can be found on our website at investors.aeye.ai.

今天早些時候，我們公佈了 2022 年第四季度和全年的財務業績。我們的新聞稿副本可以在我們的網站 investors.aeye.ai 上找到。

Before we begin, I would like to remind participants that today's discussion may include forward-looking statements as defined in the securities laws and regulations of the United States with reference to future events, future operating results, or financial performance. Forward-looking statements are based on our current expectations and assumptions regarding our business, the industry, and other conditions. These forward-looking statements are subject to inherent risks, uncertainties, and changes in circumstances that are difficult or impossible to predict. Our actual results may differ materially from those contemplated by these forward-looking statements. We caution you, therefore, against placing undue reliance on any of these forward-looking statements. You can find more information about the risks, uncertainties, and other factors in our reports filed from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including in our more recent periodic report. All information discussed today is as of March 15, 2023, and we do not intend and undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future developments, or otherwise, except as may be required by law.

在我們開始之前，我想提醒與會者，今天的討論可能包括美國證券法律法規中定義的前瞻性陳述，涉及未來事件、未來經營業績或財務業績。前瞻性陳述基於我們當前對我們的業務、行業和其他條件的預期和假設。這些前瞻性陳述受固有風險、不確定性和難以或無法預測的情況變化的影響。我們的實際結果可能與這些前瞻性陳述中預期的結果存在重大差異。因此，我們告誡您不要過分依賴任何這些前瞻性陳述。您可以在我們不時向美國證券交易委員會提交的報告中找到有關風險、不確定性和其他因素的更多信息，包括我們最近的定期報告。今天討論的所有信息均截至 2023 年 3 月 15 日，我們不打算也不承擔任何義務更新任何前瞻性陳述，無論是由於新信息、未來發展還是其他原因，法律可能要求的除外.

In addition, today's discussion will include references to certain non-GAAP financial measures. These non-GAAP measures are presented for supplemental information purposes only, and should not be considered as a substitute for financial information presented in accordance with GAAP. A reconciliation of the measures to the most directly comparable GAAP measures is available in our press release. And you should refer to our reconciliations of non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP measures in our earnings release.

此外，今天的討論將包括對某些非 GAAP 財務指標的引用。這些非 GAAP 措施僅供補充信息之用，不應被視為替代根據 GAAP 提供的財務信息。我們的新聞稿中提供了這些措施與最直接可比的 GAAP 措施的調節。你應該在我們的收益發布中參考我們對非 GAAP 財務指標與最直接可比的 GAAP 指標的調節。

Now, let me pass the call over to Matt.

現在，讓我把電話轉給馬特。

Thank you, Steve. Good afternoon and welcome to our fourth-quarter and year-end 2022 earnings call. I'm Matt Fisch, AEye CEO. I am joined on the call today by our CFO, Bob Brown.

謝謝你，史蒂夫。下午好，歡迎來到我們的 2022 年第四季度和年底財報電話會議。我是 AEye 首席執行官 Matt Fisch。今天，我們的首席財務官鮑勃·布朗 (Bob Brown) 也加入了我的電話會議。

I'll begin the call by introducing myself, sharing some insights into what I've learned in my first month on the job, and some initial thoughts on where we go from here. I will then hand the call to Bob, who will review AEye's financial performance for fourth-quarter and full 2022 fiscal year, as well as a few comments on our 2023 outlook. Then we will open the call for questions.

我將通過自我介紹開始通話，分享我在工作的第一個月所學到的一些見解，以及一些關於我們從這裡走向何方的初步想法。然後我會把電話轉給鮑勃，他將審查 AEye 第四季度和整個 2022 財年的財務業績，以及對我們 2023 年展望的一些評論。然後我們將打開問題電話。

Let me start by telling you a bit about myself and why I'm thrilled to be here. Over the past 30 years, I have delivered transformational products that have supported the rapid evolution of the automotive and technology industries. I am excited about the opportunity for AEye to become a premier sensing technology provider. To do this, I will leverage my extensive experience with systems, software, and scaling large product organizations, as I did during my prior leadership roles at Gentherm, Harman, and Intel.

首先讓我向您介紹一下我自己，以及為什麼我很高興來到這裡。在過去的 30 年裡，我交付了支持汽車和技術行業快速發展的轉型產品。我很高興 AEye 有機會成為首屈一指的傳感技術供應商。為此，我將利用我在系統、軟件和擴展大型產品組織方面的豐富經驗，就像我之前在 Gentherm、Harman 和 Intel 擔任領導職務時所做的那樣。

I recently led the technology team at Gentherm, a $1.3 billion developer of thermal management technologies. Under my leadership, we delivered innovative products to the automotive market that aligned with the industry's shift to electrification, and created new value propositions with systems and software.

我最近領導了 Gentherm 的技術團隊，Gentherm 是一家市值 13 億美元的熱管理技術開發商。在我的領導下，我們向汽車市場交付了與行業向電氣化轉變相一致的創新產品，並通過系統和軟件創造了新的價值主張。

At AEye, our software-definable LiDAR is also at the center of this transformation. I will lead our team to enhance, productize, and monetize AEye's platform and product portfolio to power the next generation of advanced driver assistance systems, and drive greater efficiency, productivity, and safety in smart infrastructure and other industrial markets.

在 AEye，我們的軟件定義激光雷達也處於這一轉變的中心。我將帶領我們的團隊增強 AEye 的平台和產品組合，並將其產品化和貨幣化，為下一代高級駕駛輔助系統提供動力，並推動智能基礎設施和其他工業市場提高效率、生產力和安全性。

Throughout my career, I have consistently pursued opportunities that have the vision and capacity to change the world, to have an impact, to create opportunities that didn't previously exist. This is more than passion. My track record shows I thrive and succeed when presented with the challenge of bringing revolutionary technologies to market. My greatest satisfaction and success comes from making a difference, and AEye's technology has the potential to be transformative.

在我的整個職業生涯中，我一直在尋找具有改變世界、產生影響和創造前所未有機會的遠見和能力的機會。這不僅僅是激情。我的業績記錄表明，當我面臨將革命性技術推向市場的挑戰時，我會茁壯成長並取得成功。我最大的滿足感和成功來自於有所作為，而 AEye 的技術具有變革的潛力。

I joined AEye because I believe it has all the ingredients for commercial success. We have industry-leading technology, a unique and compelling business model, a healthy commercial pipeline, a stellar team, and exceptional business partners like Continental.

我加入 AEye 是因為我相信它具備商業成功的所有要素。我們擁有行業領先的技術、獨特且引人注目的商業模式、健康的商業渠道、一流的團隊以及大陸集團等卓越的業務合作夥伴。

Continental has the proven ability to deliver full-stack advanced driver assistance systems to the automotive and trucking markets. Over the years, they have delivered over 150 million sensors across dozens of product lines, making them one of the leading integrated ADAS solution providers in the world.

大陸集團擁有向汽車和卡車運輸市場提供全棧高級駕駛員輔助系統的成熟能力。多年來，他們已經在數十條產品線中交付了超過 1.5 億個傳感器，使其成為全球領先的集成 ADAS 解決方案提供商之一。

For me, the most powerful market validation is that Continental selected AEye's technology for productization and integration into their industry-leading ADAS product portfolio. And we continue to receive positive feedback from OEM customers regarding Continental's automotive production intent B sample, giving me great confidence that we have the right product-market fit for the next generation of advanced driver assistance systems.

對我而言，最有力的市場驗證是大陸集團選擇 AEye 的技術進行產品化並集成到其行業領先的 ADAS 產品組合中。我們繼續從 OEM 客戶那裡收到關於大陸集團汽車生產意向 B 樣本的積極反饋，這讓我非常有信心我們擁有適合下一代高級駕駛員輔助系統的正確產品市場。

In my first month at AEye, I'm thoroughly impressed with the vitality and creativity of the team. The culture and energy here is remarkable, and it has me excited about what's to come.

在AEye的第一個月，團隊的活力和創造力給我留下了深刻的印象。這裡的文化和活力非同凡響，這讓我對即將發生的事情感到興奮。

My immediate task at hand is to set clear objectives, and focus our efforts, and remove impediments so that our team can successfully execute and achieve our goals. To that end, I've been working with the executive team to develop a go-forward plan that aligns our strengths with our objectives. We are well underway, but this takes time and careful consideration.

我手頭的當務之急是設定明確的目標，集中精力，排除障礙，使我們的團隊能夠成功執行並實現我們的目標。為此，我一直在與執行團隊合作制定一項前瞻性計劃，使我們的優勢與我們的目標保持一致。我們進展順利，但這需要時間和仔細考慮。

My commitment to you is that we will come back to you in our May earnings call with my plan for the company and a timeline to which you will be able to hold me and the executive team accountable. We will align our innovative 4Sight platform with the most promising opportunities and focus on a set of achievable objectives that will define success for AEye and its shareholders.

我對您的承諾是，我們將在 5 月份的財報電話會議上向您反饋我對公司的計劃以及您可以讓我和執行團隊負責的時間表。我們將使我們的創新 4Sight 平台與最有前途的機會保持一致，並專注於一系列可實現的目標，這些目標將為 AEye 及其股東定義成功。

I'm excited to be here. AEye is well-positioned with exceptional technology and talent, and I look forward to sharing our vision for the next phase of AEye's evolution at our earnings call this May.

我很高興來到這裡。 AEye 擁有卓越的技術和人才，我期待在今年 5 月的財報電話會議上分享我們對 AEye 下一階段發展的願景。

At this point, I will turn it over to Bob Brown to review the details of our financial performance last quarter and last year. Bob?

在這一點上，我將把它交給 Bob Brown 來審查我們上個季度和去年的財務業績的細節。鮑勃？

Thanks, Matt. Welcome, everyone. Revenue in the fourth quarter was $1.1 million, up 42% from the third quarter. Our development contract services revenue was stronger in the fourth quarter due to contract-specific progress in our automotive business.

謝謝，馬特。歡迎大家。第四季度收入為 110 萬美元，比第三季度增長 42%。由於我們汽車業務的特定合同進展，第四季度我們的開發合同服務收入強勁。

Revenue for the full year was $3.6 million, up 21% from the prior year. We managed our spending carefully throughout the year as we continued to focus our resources on the most impactful areas of our business.

全年收入為 360 萬美元，比上年增長 21%。由於我們繼續將資源集中在我們業務中最具影響力的領域，因此我們全年謹慎地管理支出。

GAAP operating expenses were $22 million in the fourth quarter, an increase of 2.9% from the prior quarter due to a favorable item in the third quarter that did not repeat in the fourth quarter. Our non-GAAP operating expenses were $16 million in the fourth quarter, up from $15.1 million in the third quarter.

第四季度 GAAP 運營費用為 2200 萬美元，比上一季度增長 2.9%，這是由於第三季度沒有在第四季度重複出現的有利項目。第四季度我們的非美國通用會計準則運營費用為 1600 萬美元，高於第三季度的 1510 萬美元。

Net loss in the fourth quarter was $23.7 million on a GAAP basis, up slightly from a net loss of $23.6 million in the third quarter. GAAP EPS was a loss of $0.15 per share in the fourth quarter, which was flat relative to the prior quarter.

根據美國通用會計準則，第四季度淨虧損為 2370 萬美元，略高於第三季度的淨虧損 2360 萬美元。第四季度 GAAP 每股收益為每股虧損 0.15 美元，與上一季度持平。

Net loss on a non-GAAP basis in the fourth quarter was $17.5 million. And non-GAAP EPS was a loss of $0.11, which was flat relative to non-GAAP EPS in the third quarter.

第四季度非 GAAP 淨虧損為 1750 萬美元。非美國通用會計準則每股收益虧損 0.11 美元，與第三季度非美國通用會計準則每股收益持平。

Non-GAAP net loss for the full year was $73.8 million, which represented a substantial improvement relative to our initial expectations for a non-GAAP net loss of $100 million at the beginning of 2022.

全年非 GAAP 淨虧損為 7380 萬美元，與我們最初預期的 2022 年初非 GAAP 淨虧損 1 億美元相比有了顯著改善。

Net cash used in operating activities for the fourth quarter was $16.1 million, which improved from $22.4 million in the third quarter. The quarter-over-quarter improvement was primarily driven by cash used in the third quarter for working capital and for annual prepaid insurance costs that did not recur in the fourth quarter.

第四季度經營活動使用的現金淨額為 1610 萬美元，高於第三季度的 2240 萬美元。環比改善的主要原因是第三季度用於營運資金的現金和第四季度未發生的年度預付保險費用。

We're continuing to manage our cash very carefully, especially in this environment, and we're focusing our cash outlays on critical areas that clearly support our strategy and product development. Our capital expenditures in the quarter were very modest at $800,000, reflecting our unique capital-light model and our partnerships with manufacturers like Continental and Sanmina.

我們將繼續非常謹慎地管理我們的現金，尤其是在這種環境下，我們將現金支出集中在明確支持我們的戰略和產品開發的關鍵領域。我們本季度的資本支出非常低，為 800,000 美元，反映了我們獨特的輕資本模式以及我們與大陸集團和 Sanmina 等製造商的合作夥伴關係。

We ended the year with $94.2 million of cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities on our balance sheet. We believe this provides us with a solid financial base to support our business as we head into what's expected to be a challenging economic climate in 2023.

到年底，我們的資產負債表上有 9420 萬美元的現金、現金等價物和有價證券。我們相信，這為我們提供了堅實的財務基礎來支持我們的業務，因為我們將進入 2023 年預計充滿挑戰的經濟環境。

We've received many questions over the last several days about our exposure to Silicon Valley Bank, or SVB. The vast majority of our cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities are held in our account with a much larger bank, which was unaffected by SVB's issues. While we were also an SVB customer, we regained full access to our SVB accounts as of Monday morning.

在過去的幾天裡，我們收到了很多關於我們對矽谷銀行 (Silicon Valley Bank, SVB) 風險敞口的問題。我們的絕大多數現金、現金等價物和有價證券都存放在我們在一家規模大得多的銀行的賬戶中，該銀行未受 SVB 問題的影響。雖然我們也是 SVB 的客戶，但從周一早上起，我們重新獲得了對 SVB 賬戶的完全訪問權限。

Turning to our external sources of funds, you may recall that we issued a convertible note in September, which provided us with $10 million of proceeds. Thus far, we have paid the monthly installments required under the note in cash rather than shares. We have the rights, subject to certain conditions, to issue another convertible note to the same investor in 2023 in the same amount and on the same terms.

談到我們的外部資金來源，您可能還記得我們在 9 月份發行了可轉換票據，為我們提供了 1000 萬美元的收益。到目前為止，我們已經以現金而不是股票支付了票據要求的每月分期付款。在某些條件下，我們有權在 2023 年以相同的金額和相同的條款向同一投資者發行另一份可轉換票據。

We also continue to have access to our equity line of credit facility as an additional source of liquidity. We did not issue any shares under that facility in the fourth quarter.

我們還可以繼續使用我們的股權信貸額度作為額外的流動性來源。我們在第四季度沒有根據該貸款發行任何股票。

Now let me address our near-term outlook. We are maintaining a cautious view on the business in the first quarter. We expect revenue for the first quarter to be in the range of $500,000 to $700,000.

現在讓我談談我們的近期前景。我們對第一季度的業務保持謹慎看法。我們預計第一季度的收入將在 500,000 美元至 700,000 美元之間。

We have temporarily slowed production of our 4Sight industrial product in Q1 as we complete the second phase of the transfer of production to our manufacturing partner and complete the planned validation of the product built in the production environment. While volumes are expected to be modest in the near term, we are continuing several proof-of-concept deployments of our LiDAR with key customers, particularly in the ITS market.

我們在第一季度暫時放慢了 4Sight 工業產品的生產，因為我們完成了向製造合作夥伴轉移生產的第二階段，並完成了在生產環境中構建的產品的計劃驗證。雖然短期內預計銷量不大，但我們正在繼續與主要客戶進行我們的 LiDAR 的幾個概念驗證部署，特別是在 ITS 市場。

In response to the uncertain environment we noted earlier, we have been managing our spending carefully. However, we expect our first quarter operating expenses to be up approximately 10% to 15% from the fourth quarter, based primarily on the timing of certain development projects. We expect our non-GAAP EPS to be a loss of approximately $0.13 in the first quarter.

為了應對我們之前提到的不確定環境，我們一直在謹慎地管理我們的開支。然而，我們預計第一季度的運營費用將比第四季度增加約 10% 至 15%，這主要取決於某些開發項目的時間安排。我們預計第一季度我們的非 GAAP 每股收益將虧損約 0.13 美元。

Let me conclude by saying that while we expect to feel the impacts of a potential recession and ongoing supply chain challenges in the near term, we are well-positioned to navigate through this period. The secular backdrop for LiDAR adoption across the automotive and industrial markets remains compelling. And the feedback we're getting from OEM customers on Continental's automotive production and 10 B sample continues to be very encouraging.

最後，我要說的是，雖然我們預計會在短期內感受到潛在衰退和持續供應鏈挑戰的影響，但我們已做好充分準備度過這一時期。汽車和工業市場採用 LiDAR 的長期背景仍然引人注目。我們從 OEM 客戶那裡得到的關於大陸集團汽車生產和 10 B 樣品的反饋仍然非常令人鼓舞。

With that, we'll open the line for questions. Operator?

有了這個，我們將打開問題熱線。操作員？

(Operator Instructions) Suji Desilva, ROTH.

（操作員說明）Suji Desilva，ROTH。

Hi, Matthew. Hi, Matthew. Hi, Bob. And welcome, Matthew. Best of luck. And, Bob, best of luck with your next steps. So the manufacturing transition for your non-auto, can you talk about the timeframe for when that would come up and be able to support volume ramp there?

嗨，馬修。嗨，馬修。嗨，鮑勃。歡迎，馬修。祝你好運。鮑勃，祝你下一步好運。那麼你的非汽車製造轉型，你能談談什麼時候會出現並能夠支持那裡的產量增長的時間表嗎？

We're slowing production, as we said, in Q1, and this is really related to doing validation and testing on that product. So we've held off a bit on production here in Q1, so that's what you're seeing in the Q1 impact. So it's going to be very minor volumes here in Q1 as we work through that.

正如我們所說，我們在第一季度放慢了生產，這實際上與對該產品進行驗證和測試有關。所以我們在第一季度推遲了一些生產，這就是你在第一季度的影響中看到的。因此，在我們解決這個問題的過程中，第一季度的數量將非常少。

So the hardware is in very good shape, so we've been getting good feedback from the field on how those hardware units are performing in the field, but we are doing an update to the software. So we've got a pretty significant software revision that we want to roll out, and as a result of that, we want to do formal testing on that and make sure we've got it rock solid before we start getting into further production.

所以硬件狀況非常好，所以我們已經從現場獲得了關於這些硬件單元在現場的表現的良好反饋，但我們正在對軟件進行更新。所以我們有一個非常重要的軟件修訂版，我們想要推出，因此，我們想要對其進行正式測試，並確保在我們開始進一步生產之前我們已經得到它的堅如磐石。

So we're not going to give guidance for the full year. So we're really just guiding at Q1 at this point, Suji. But we do expect to have more production again here in Q2 when we get there. But Q1 is going to be light because of those reasons. And Matt, I don't know if you want to comment further on what we're doing around the software side and how that relates to the production.

所以我們不會給出全年的指導。所以我們現在真的只是在第一季度指導，Suji。但是當我們到達那裡時，我們確實希望在第二季度再次有更多的產量。但由於這些原因，第一季度將會很輕鬆。 Matt，我不知道你是否想進一步評論我們在軟件方面所做的工作以及它與生產的關係。

Yeah, thanks, Bob. Just to give a little bit of color to that, one of the things we're learning as we're going through this manufacturing transition is that there are some differences in requirements between the industrial and the automotive markets. Just to make it very clear, an example of that being 24 by 7 operation of the LiDAR system that's required in industrial, whereas that requirement does not exist in such a strong form in the automotive space. So that's an example of the learnings that we're having as we're doing this transition outside of automotive and into other markets.

是的，謝謝，鮑勃。只是為了給它一點顏色，我們在經歷這個製造轉型時正在學習的一件事是工業和汽車市場之間的要求存在一些差異。只是為了非常清楚，一個例子是工業所需的 LiDAR 系統 24 x 7 運行，而這種要求在汽車領域並不存在如此強烈的形式。因此，這是我們在汽車之外和其他市場進行這種過渡時所獲得的經驗教訓的一個例子。

And the good news here is that what we're finding is that because of the foundation of software programmability of our platform, we're able to address these issues without having to redesign the product, essentially.

好消息是，我們發現，由於我們平台軟件可編程性的基礎，我們能夠解決這些問題，而無需重新設計產品，基本上。

Okay, great. And then maybe my next question could be on the visibility here. You talked about the pipeline, the number of engagements, and maybe weave into that continental in the next steps with the partner there.

好的，太好了。然後我的下一個問題可能是關於這裡的可見性。你談到了管道、參與的數量，並可能在接下來的步驟中與那裡的合作夥伴一起進入那個大陸。

Yeah, I'll take that one. So we have line of sight at this point in time into six very clear automotive OEM engagements. Look, I've been in the automotive business for several years and have some very good insight at this point into the signals of how these deals are going. And based on that, I feel very confident that before the end of this year, we're going to get some clear decisions on a subset of those for sure.

是的，我會拿那個。因此，我們在這個時間點有視線進入六個非常明確的汽車 OEM 參與。看，我已經在汽車行業工作了幾年，並且在這一點上對這些交易如何進行的信號有一些非常好的洞察力。基於此，我非常有信心，在今年年底之前，我們肯定會就其中的一部分做出一些明確的決定。

Okay, great. And maybe last question for Matt. Matt, since you've come in, can you talk about the AEye product, and the LiDAR market, and the technology differentiation from your perspective, what you're hearing from customers and what you think is going to resonate as you do compete? It's a crowded LiDAR market, but I'd love to hear your thoughts coming out of the gate here.

好的，太好了。也許是馬特的最後一個問題。馬特，既然你進來了，你能談談 AEye 產品、LiDAR 市場，以及從你的角度來看的技術差異化，你從客戶那裡聽到的信息，以及你認為在競爭中會產生共鳴的內容嗎？這是一個擁擠的 LiDAR 市場，但我很想听聽您的想法。

Absolutely. I think first and foremost, we have best-in-class long-distance detection of objects, and this is really an essential piece of higher levels of autonomous driving. That's really a key piece of differentiation for us.

絕對地。我認為首要的是，我們擁有同類最佳的遠距離物體檢測，這確實是更高水平自動駕駛的重要組成部分。這對我們來說確實是差異化的關鍵部分。

And also, what I've really been impressed by is the actual design of the product, which minimizes the size and number of moving parts, mechanically speaking. That's going to be a clear advantage as we get further down the road, especially into the design validation testing and reliability testing that's required of the automotive industry. This is really going to be a key hurdle and challenge for everyone. And our design, I would say, is about as close as you can get to solid state at this point.

而且，真正讓我印象深刻的是產品的實際設計，從機械角度來說，它最大限度地減少了運動部件的尺寸和數量。隨著我們走得更遠，這將是一個明顯的優勢，特別是進入汽車行業所需的設計驗證測試和可靠性測試。這對每個人來說都將是一個關鍵的障礙和挑戰。而我們的設計，我想說，在這一點上你可以盡可能接近固態。

And then, related to it earlier is the flexibility and the programmability of the design. For example, being able to change scan patterns, which allows us to deal with a wide range of issues or learnings that we're having in the field. Those are the top three that really stood out to me and drove my choice to join this company. I think it's fantastic.

然後，之前與之相關的是設計的靈活性和可編程性。例如，能夠改變掃描模式，這使我們能夠處理我們在該領域遇到的各種問題或知識。這些是真正讓我印象深刻並促使我選擇加入這家公司的前三名。我認為這太棒了。

Okay. Great. I appreciate the call, Matt. Thanks. Thanks, guys.

好的。偉大的。感謝您的來電，馬特。謝謝。多謝你們。

Thanks, Suji.

謝謝，蘇吉。

Joseph Osha, Guggenheim Partners.

約瑟夫·奧沙，古根海姆合夥人。

Best of luck, Bob, with the next venture and go blue, of course.

祝你好運，鮑勃，當然是下一次冒險。

Thank you, Joe.

謝謝你，喬。

So in 2000 -- you finished the year with about $95 million in cash, which is a lot of money, and you burned about $71 million. So understanding, of course, that the plan is still coming together, how much runway do you guys feel like you need to have before the business begins to support itself? Because if you operate the business like it's been running for the last year, you're going to run out of money early in 2024. So I'm just wondering what sort of initial signposts you can give us for thinking about how you're going to manage the company's remaining cash.

所以在 2000 年——你以大約 9500 萬美元的現金結束了這一年，這是一大筆錢，你燒掉了大約 7100 萬美元。因此，當然，了解該計劃仍在製定中，你們覺得在業務開始支持自己之前需要多少跑道？因為如果你像去年一樣經營業務，你將在 2024 年初用完錢。所以我只是想知道你可以給我們什麼樣的初步路標來思考你是如何將管理公司的剩餘現金。

Yeah. Absolutely. Thanks for the question, Joe. So yeah, as you said, we had $94 million in cash at December 31. So from where we're staying today, we feel confident we've got at least a year's worth of cash on the balance sheet from today. So we're in reasonably good shape from that perspective.

是的。絕對地。謝謝你的問題，喬。所以，是的，正如你所說，截至 12 月 31 日，我們擁有 9400 萬美元的現金。因此，從我們今天所處的位置來看，我們有信心從今天開始，我們的資產負債表上至少有一年的現金價值。所以從這個角度來看，我們的狀態相當不錯。

We do intend to raise more capital in the future. So you'll see that in our 10-K that we mentioned that when that is published here shortly.

我們確實打算在未來籌集更多資金。所以你會在我們的 10-K 中看到我們提到的，當它很快在這裡發佈時。

But as you know, given the cash balance, we do have some flexibility on timing. So there's not an urgency to do something, although we do intend to raise some capital at some point here. So we'll see more about that in the future. We're not going to guide further than that at this moment.

但如您所知，鑑於現金餘額，我們在時間安排上確實有一些靈活性。因此，儘管我們確實打算在這裡的某個時候籌集一些資金，但並不急於做某事。所以我們將來會看到更多。目前我們不會提供比這更進一步的指導。

Given Matt's only been in the chair for 30 days here, I think we want to give Matt a chance to finish his strategic analysis here. And then I think we'll come back in May with some further thoughts about how we're going to take the company forward and what that implies for the cash.

鑑於 Matt 在這裡擔任主席僅 30 天，我認為我們希望 Matt 有機會在這裡完成他的戰略分析。然後我想我們會在 5 月份回來，進一步思考我們將如何推動公司向前發展以及這對現金意味著什麼。

Yeah. I'll just add one thing to that. You know, I've been digging into especially the customer engagements over the last 30 days. There's definitely opportunity for focus. And looking at those signals that I mentioned earlier, I think we can get more focus. That's really a key initiative from my end.

是的。我只會添加一件事。你知道，在過去的 30 天裡，我一直在深入研究客戶參與度。肯定有機會專注。看看我之前提到的那些信號，我認為我們可以更加關注。從我的角度來看，這確實是一項關鍵舉措。

Okay. Thank you very much.

好的。非常感謝。

Thanks, Joe.

謝謝，喬。

Tom Diffely, D.A. Davidson.

湯姆·迪菲利，檢察官戴維森。

This is Linda with D.A. Davidson on behalf of Tom Diffely. Congratulations on your progress and thank you for letting us ask questions. And welcome, Matt. And best of luck with your next steps, Bob.

這是 D.A. 的琳達。戴維森代表湯姆·迪菲利。祝賀你的進步，感謝你讓我們提問。歡迎，馬特。祝你下一步好運，鮑勃。

So my first question, if I remember correctly, you expected some supply chain challenges to last longer. And I was wondering if you could provide any update on the rounds with 4Sight M given those supply chain challenges. And then if you could give us some color on how the order bookings look like at the moment, and then the growth trajectory there throughout next year.

所以我的第一個問題，如果我沒記錯的話，你預計一些供應鏈挑戰會持續更長時間。我想知道鑑於這些供應鏈挑戰，您是否可以提供 4Sight M 回合的任何更新。然後，如果你能給我們一些關於目前訂單預訂情況的顏色，以及明年全年的增長軌跡。

Yeah. You bet. Thank you, Linda. So in terms of the supply chain challenges, some of those problems are still there. So there are still some key parts that we would classify as long lead time types of parts. So it's taking longer to get those. There are also still some PPV challenges where parts are still priced above where you would normally see them priced if there were not the supply chain challenges in place.

是的。你打賭。謝謝你，琳達。因此，就供應鏈挑戰而言，其中一些問題仍然存在。所以仍然有一些關鍵零件我們會歸類為長交貨期類型的零件。所以獲得這些需要更長的時間。還有一些 PPV 挑戰，如果沒有供應鏈挑戰，零件的價格仍然高於您通常看到的價格。

I'd say it's getting better. So we are seeing some improvement, but I would say those issues are still lingering. So it's not hurting us too much in terms of the production at this point. As we said for Q1, the key issue there is just doing this software revision and the testing and validation. So I don't think that will be a big limiter in terms of production for this year.

我會說它正在變得更好。所以我們看到了一些改善，但我想說這些問題仍然存在。因此，就目前的生產而言，這並沒有對我們造成太大傷害。正如我們在第一季度所說，關鍵問題只是進行軟件修訂以及測試和驗證。所以我認為這不會成為今年產量的主要限制因素。

We are working closely with customers, as we said in the prepared remarks. We are focusing, and we're going to spend quite a bit of time in the tech space and systems. So there will be a lot of focus around that area this year.

正如我們在準備好的評論中所說，我們正在與客戶密切合作。我們正在專注，我們將在技術領域和系統上花費大量時間。因此，今年該領域將受到很多關注。

So Matt, I don't know if you want to add further in terms of the customer engagements and visibility from what you've seen so far.

所以馬特，我不知道你是否想進一步補充你到目前為止所看到的客戶參與度和可見性。

All right. No, I think that's a good summary, Bob. And as we're looking at things right now with the software and getting those updates done, that's really on the critical path.

好的。不，我認為這是一個很好的總結，Bob。當我們現在正在使用軟件查看事情並完成這些更新時，這確實在關鍵路徑上。

Great. I appreciate the color. And then, last quarter, you had mentioned some successes in tracking, and I was wondering where at the moment you're sitting with that. Have you seen any more engagement there? How are you looking at it?

偉大的。我很欣賞這種顏色。然後，上個季度，你提到了在跟踪方面取得的一些成功，我想知道你現在坐在哪裡。你在那裡看到更多的訂婚了嗎？你怎麼看？

Right. I had alluded to the OEM engagements in general earlier, but specifically for the announcement I think you're referring to, we did have a press release out in October of last year. And for strategic reasons, we did agree with the trucking platform partner and delay disclosing their identity until a later date. So we don't have an update on that today, but you can refer to that press release that came out in October.

正確的。我之前提到過一般的 OEM 參與，但特別是我認為你所指的公告，我們確實在去年 10 月發布了新聞稿。出於戰略原因，我們確實同意卡車運輸平台合作夥伴的意見，並推遲到以後再披露他們的身份。所以我們今天沒有這方面的更新，但你可以參考 10 月份發布的新聞稿。

Sounds good. And then, my last question. So I might have missed it, but besides the impact of the manufacturing conditions in 1Q, could you provide any context for what the revenue run rate looks like for this year beyond 1Q?

聽起來不錯。然後，我的最後一個問題。所以我可能錯過了它，但除了第一季度製造條件的影響之外，您能否提供任何有關今年第一季度之後的收入運行率情況的背景信息？

Yeah. We think there's an opportunity for modest growth this year. That won't be easy from where we're starting, right? It's a slow start to the year, as you see, in terms of the guidance. But we feel like we've got the opportunity to generate some modest growth this year. So that's what we're going to be working towards on the top line.

是的。我們認為今年有適度增長的機會。從我們開始的地方開始並不容易，對吧？正如您所見，就指導而言，今年開局緩慢。但我們覺得我們今年有機會實現一些適度增長。所以這就是我們要在頂線努力的方向。

Got it. I appreciate it. Thank you.

知道了。我很感激。謝謝。

Thanks, Linda.

謝謝，琳達。

John Roy, Water Tower Research.

約翰羅伊，水塔研究。

So Matt, the signals that you're seeing from the automotive industry, I wonder if you can give in your background. Could you give us maybe a little more color and related to your experience as to how that might play out? And as a corollary to that, I'm also curious, in your new role, how are you going to engage with customers? Are you going to be really out there on the forefront trying to make it rain? And what is your thinking there?

所以馬特，你從汽車行業看到的信號，我想知道你是否可以提供你的背景。你能給我們更多的顏色和與你的經驗相關的關於它可能如何發揮作用的信息嗎？作為一個必然結果，我也很好奇，在你的新角色中，你將如何與客戶互動？你真的要站在最前線試圖讓它下雨嗎？你的想法是什麼？

Yeah, absolutely. Why don't I take on the second part of the question first? Getting out and hearing firsthand what customers are saying, and especially the various components of our partnership with Conti, first and foremost, for me, I'm already booking travel to make those arrangements. But especially given that we're in this go-to-market phase right now, and a little bit of my -- or a lot of bit of my technical background weighing in, it's super important to really understand what the friction points, the constraints, and the problems that customers are trying to solve, and bringing that perspective back into the company and translating that to a set of objectives for the team and priority and focus. That's a key part of the game plan here.

是的，絕對。為什麼我不先回答問題的第二部分？出去聽聽客戶的第一手意見，尤其是我們與 Conti 合作的各個組成部分，首先，對我來說，我已經預訂了旅行以進行這些安排。但特別是考慮到我們現在正處於進入市場的階段，並且我的一點點 - 或者我的很多技術背景都在權衡，真正理解摩擦點是什麼非常重要，制約因素，以及客戶試圖解決的問題，並將這種觀點帶回公司，並將其轉化為團隊的一系列目標以及優先事項和重點。這是遊戲計劃的關鍵部分。

Just as an example, now getting back to the first part of your question, I recently worked for a Tier 1 provider in the automotive space called Gentherm, and we had a pretty deep engagement with General Motors that's public now, bringing a new category of product into market with one of their new vehicles. So I've been on the front lines of that for the last three years. And seeing the moving parts of what those signals are, if you will, that tell us, hey, the customer is really engaged with us in a very material and meaningful way, leading indicator towards success on a series production award.

舉個例子，現在回到你問題的第一部分，我最近在汽車領域的一級供應商 Gentherm 工作，我們與現在公開的通用汽車公司進行了相當深入的接觸，帶來了一個新的類別產品與他們的新車之一一起進入市場。所以在過去的三年裡，我一直站在這方面的前線。看到這些信號的移動部分，如果你願意的話，告訴我們，嘿，客戶真的以一種非常物質和有意義的方式與我們互動，這是系列生產獎成功的領先指標。

I just experienced that firsthand with a new category of product this last three years in my most recent assignment. So I'm definitely making those connections to what's going on with AEye's engagements with our customers. So we're in the mix.

在最近的三年中，我剛剛在最近的任務中親身體驗了一種新產品類別。因此，我肯定會將這些與 AEye 與客戶的互動聯繫起來。所以我們在混合。

It sounds good. You had mentioned that software is going to be a key point going forward in terms of development. Do you guys feel like you need to staff up a little more, given that you might be putting a lot more effort into the software?

這聽起來不錯。您曾提到軟件將成為未來發展的關鍵點。考慮到你們可能會在軟件上投入更多的精力，你們是否覺得你們需要更多的人手？

So software has always been a critical priority for the company. It's deeply woven into the product architecture and value proposition. Look, as the automotive industry is embracing more of the software-defined vehicle concept, I think this is going to be a catalyst for pulling in LiDAR as a solution beyond autonomous driving, if you will.

因此，軟件一直是公司的重中之重。它深深地融入了產品架構和價值主張中。看，隨著汽車行業越來越多地採用軟件定義的汽車概念，我認為這將成為推動 LiDAR 作為自動駕駛以外的解決方案的催化劑，如果你願意的話。

Certainly, I believe that there will be a pull for LiDAR early on. We've got to get the hardware in the vehicle so the data collection can begin as soon as we start talking about data collection and analysis to feed into autonomous driving even, a huge amount of software involved in that. So we're on it, and staffing and investing appropriately.

當然，我相信 LiDAR 早日會有吸引力。我們必須在車輛中安裝硬件，以便在我們開始談論數據收集和分析以提供給自動駕駛時就可以開始數據收集，甚至涉及大量軟件。所以我們正在努力，並適當地配備人員和投資。

Great, Matt. Thank you so much. And, Bob, congratulations, and we'll talk to you soon.

太好了，馬特。太感謝了。鮑勃，祝賀你，我們很快就會和你談談。

Great. Thanks very much, John. Appreciate it.

偉大的。非常感謝，約翰。欣賞它。

Thank you. I'm showing no further questions at this time. I'm going to turn the call back over to Matt Fisch, CEO, for any closing remarks.

謝謝。我現在沒有進一步的問題。我將把電話轉回給首席執行官 Matt Fisch，聽取任何結束語。

I want to thank everybody for joining our call today. In closing, I believe AEye is well-positioned with exceptional technology, talent, and partners, and I look forward to the next phase of AEye's evolution in our May earnings call.

我要感謝大家今天加入我們的電話會議。最後，我相信 AEye 擁有卓越的技術、人才和合作夥伴，我期待著 AEye 在我們 5 月份的財報電話會議上看到下一階段的發展。

Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, this does conclude today's conference. Thank you all for participating. You may now disconnect. Have a great day.

謝謝。女士們，先生們，今天的會議到此結束。謝謝大家的參與。您現在可以斷開連接。祝你有美好的一天。