微晶片科技 (MCHP) 2027 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Greetings and welcome to the Microchips Q2 fiscal year '27 financial results conference call. (Operator Instructions) As a reminder, this conference is being recorded.

各位好，歡迎參加 Microchip 2027 會計年度第二季財務業績電話會議。(接線員指示) 提醒各位，本次會議將被錄音。

I will now turn the conference over to Eric Bjornholt, Senior Vice President and CFO. Thank you, Eric. You may begin.

現在我將把會議交給資深副總裁兼財務長 Eric Bjornholt。謝謝你，Eric。你可以開始了。

All right. Thank you, and good afternoon, everyone. During the course of this conference call, we will be making projections and other forward-looking statements regarding future events or the future financial performance of the company. We wish to caution you that such statements are predictions and that actual events or results may differ materially. We refer you to our press releases of today, as well as our recent filings with the SEC that identify important risk factors that may impact Microchip's business and results of operations.

好的。謝謝，各位下午好。在本次電話會議期間，我們將就未來事件或公司未來財務表現提出預測及其他前瞻性陳述。我們提醒各位，此類陳述屬於預測，實際事件或結果可能會有重大差異。請參閱我們今天發布的新聞稿，以及近期向美國證券交易委員會（SEC）提交的文件，其中列示可能影響 Microchip 業務與營運結果的重要風險因素。

In attendance with me today are Steve Sanghi, Microchip's President and CEO; and Sajid Daudi, Microchip's Head of Investor Relations. I will comment on our second-quarter fiscal year 2027 financial performance, and Steve will provide commentary on our results and discuss the current business environment as well as our guidance.

今天與我一同出席的有 Microchip 總裁暨執行長 Steve Sanghi，以及 Microchip 投資人關係主管 Sajid Daudi。我將評論我們 2027 會計年度第二季的財務表現，Steve 將就我們的業績提供評論，並討論目前的商業環境以及我們的財測指引。

We will then be available to respond to specific investor and analyst questions. We are including information in our press release and on this conference call on various GAAP and non-GAAP measures. We have posted a full GAAP to non-GAAP reconciliation on the investor relations page of our website at www.microchip.com and included reconciliation information in our earnings press release, which we believe you will find useful when comparing our GAAP and non-GAAP results. We have also posted a summary of our outstanding debt and leverage metrics on our website.

接著我們將開放回應投資人與分析師的具體問題。我們在新聞稿與本次電話會議中提供了多項 GAAP 與非 GAAP 指標資訊。我們已在網站 www.microchip.com 的投資人關係頁面公布完整的 GAAP 與非 GAAP 調節表，並在財報新聞稿中納入調節資訊；我們相信這些資訊將有助於各位比較我們的 GAAP 與非 GAAP 結果。我們也在網站上公布了未償債務與槓桿指標的摘要。

I will now go through some of the operating results, including net sales, gross margin, and operating expenses. Other than net sales, I will be referring to these results on a non-GAAP basis, which is based on expenses prior to the effect of our acquisition activities, share-based compensation, and certain other adjustments as described in our earnings press release and in the reconciliations on our website.

接下來我將說明部分營運結果，包括淨銷售額、毛利率與營業費用。除淨銷售額外，我將以非 GAAP 基礎來說明這些結果；非 GAAP 係以扣除併購活動影響前的費用為基礎，並排除股權基礎薪酬及若干其他調整，相關內容如我們的財報新聞稿及網站上的調節表所述。

Our non-GAAP financial results met or exceeded the guidance we provided on August 6, 2026. Net sales in the September quarter were $1.622 billion, which was up 9.2% sequentially and up 42.2% from the September 2025 quarter. We had several infrequent items that positively impacted net sales by about $53 million in the September quarter that we do not expect to repeat in the December quarter.

我們的非 GAAP 財務結果達到或超過我們於 2026 年 8 月 6 日所提供的指引。9 月季度淨銷售額為 16.22 億美元，較前一季成長 9.2%，較 2025 年 9 月季度成長 42.2%。9 月季度有數項非經常性項目使淨銷售額增加約 5,300 萬美元，我們預期這些項目不會在 12 月季度重複出現。

These items were all at 100% gross margin and included approximately $21 million impact of our pricing change on inventory in the distribution channel, $22 million in licensing revenue from patent licensing transactions in excess of what we expect in the December quarter, and a $10 million benefit from a long-term contract with a customer.

這些項目皆為 100% 毛利率，包括：我們對通路分銷端庫存實施價格調整所帶來約 2,100 萬美元的影響、專利授權交易所帶來的授權收入 2,200 萬美元（高於我們預期 12 月季度的水準），以及與某客戶長期合約帶來的 1,000 萬美元收益。

We have posted a summary of our net sales by product line and geography on our website for your reference. On a non-GAAP basis, gross margins were 66.5%, including capacity underutilization charges of $26.6 million. Non-GAAP gross margins were positively impacted by higher licensing revenue in the quarter, as well as the impact of our pricing change that was implemented in the September quarter.

我們已在網站上公布按產品線與地理區域劃分的淨銷售額摘要，供各位參考。以非 GAAP 基礎計算，毛利率為 66.5%，其中包含 2,660 萬美元的產能利用不足費用。本季非 GAAP 毛利率受較高的授權收入以及 9 月季度實施的價格調整影響而有所提升。

Non-GAAP operating expenses were at 27% of sales, and operating income was 39.5% of sales. Non-GAAP net income was $559.2 million, and non-GAAP earnings per diluted share were $0.97, which was $0.04 above the midpoint of our guidance.

非 GAAP 營業費用占銷售額 27%，營業利益占銷售額 39.5%。非 GAAP 淨利為 5.592 億美元，稀釋後每股非 GAAP 盈餘為 0.97 美元，較我們指引中點高出 0.04 美元。

On a GAAP basis in the September quarter, gross margins were 65.9%. Total operating expenses were $603.5 million and included acquisition intangible amortization of $90.2 million, special charges of $7.9 million, which was primarily driven by our activities associated with our closure of Fab 2, and acquisition-related expenses, share-based compensation of $62.2 million, and $5.3 million of other expenses. The GAAP net income attributable to common shareholders was $373.6 million, or $0.68 per share, and included a tax benefit of $0.13 per share related to a valuation allowance release on tax attributes.

以 GAAP 基礎計算，9 月季度毛利率為 65.9%。營業費用總額為 6.035 億美元，其中包含併購無形資產攤銷 9,020 萬美元、特殊費用 790 萬美元（主要來自我們關閉 Fab 2 的相關活動）、併購相關費用、股權基礎薪酬 6,220 萬美元，以及其他費用 530 萬美元。歸屬於普通股股東的 GAAP 淨利為 3.736 億美元，或每股 0.68 美元，其中包含每股 0.13 美元的稅務利益，係與稅務屬性估值備抵回轉相關。

Our non-GAAP cash tax rate was 5.7% in the September quarter, and we expect to have a tax rate of about 6.5% for fiscal year 2027. Our tax rate is down from our previous forecast for a variety of reasons, including the impacts of a reduction in inventory reserves and a higher percentage of our taxable income being in jurisdictions with lower tax rates.

9 月季度我們的非 GAAP 現金稅率為 5.7%，我們預期 2027 會計年度稅率約為 6.5%。相較先前預測，我們的稅率下降，原因有多項，包括存貨準備金減少的影響，以及我們的應稅所得中有較高比例位於低稅率司法管轄區。

Our inventory balance at September 30, 2026, was $1.117 billion. We had 184 days of inventory at the end of the September quarter, which was up nine days from the end of the June quarter. Inventory increased in the quarter as we received some high-dollar-value wafers from our foundry partners in anticipation of future growth and built some finished goods inventory.

截至 2026 年 9 月 30 日，我們的存貨餘額為 11.17 億美元。9 月季度末存貨天數為 184 天，較 6 月季度末增加 9 天。本季存貨增加，係因我們為因應未來成長預期，自晶圓代工夥伴處取得部分高單價晶圓，並建立部分成品存貨。

Included in our September quarter ending inventory was 12 days of long-life cycle, high-margin products whose manufacturing capacity has been end-of-lifed by our supply chain partners. Inventory at our distributors in the September quarter was at 25 days, which was flat compared to the June quarter and at the lower end of what we have experienced historically.

我們 9 月季度期末存貨中包含 12 天的長生命週期、高毛利產品，其製造產能已被供應鏈夥伴終止（end-of-lifed）。9 月季度分銷商端存貨為 25 天，與 6 月季度持平，且處於我們歷史經驗的較低端。

Our cash flow from operating activities was $419.2 million in the September quarter. Our adjusted free cash flow was $377.1 million in the September quarter. As of September 30, our consolidated cash and total investment position was $457 million. Our net debt decreased by $31.7 million during the September quarter, and this is after funding the acquisition of Hailo.

9 月季度營運活動現金流為 4.192 億美元。9 月季度調整後自由現金流為 3.771 億美元。截至 9 月 30 日，我們合併現金與總投資部位為 4.57 億美元。9 月季度我們的淨負債減少 3,170 萬美元，且此數字已包含為收購 Hailo 所提供的資金。

Our adjusted EBITDA in the September quarter was $705.4 million and 43.5% of net sales. Our trailing 12-month adjusted EBITDA was $2.162 billion. Our net debt to adjusted EBITDA was 2.36 at September 30, 2026. We expect our net debt to adjusted EBITDA to continue to reduce as we progress through fiscal year 2027.

9 月季度調整後 EBITDA 為 7.054 億美元，占淨銷售額 43.5%。過去 12 個月的調整後 EBITDA 為 21.62 億美元。截至 2026 年 9 月 30 日，淨負債對調整後 EBITDA 倍數為 2.36。我們預期在 2027 會計年度進行期間，淨負債對調整後 EBITDA 倍數將持續下降。

Capital expenditures were $23.1 million in the September quarter, and we expect capital expenditures for fiscal year 2027 to be about $100 million. Depreciation expense in the September quarter was $36 million.

9 月季度資本支出為 2,310 萬美元，我們預期 2027 會計年度資本支出約為 1 億美元。9 月季度折舊費用為 3,600 萬美元。

I will now turn it over to Steve, who will provide some additional commentary on our September quarter results and our guidance for the December quarter. Steve?

接下來我把時間交給 Steve，他將就我們 9 月季度業績以及 12 月季度指引提供更多評論。Steve？

Thank you, Eric, and good afternoon, everyone. I will reflect a bit on our performance in the September quarter. The September quarter was an excellent quarter for Microchip, with broad-based growth as we beat the high end of our guidance in net sales, and our non-GAAP financial metrics like gross margin percentage, operating expense percentage, operating profit percentage, and earnings per share all met or beat our guidance.

謝謝你，Eric，各位下午好。我將稍微回顧我們在 9 月季度的表現。9 月季度對 Microchip 而言是非常出色的一季，我們呈現廣泛性的成長：淨銷售額超越指引上緣，而我們的非 GAAP 財務指標（如毛利率百分比、營業費用百分比、營業利益百分比與每股盈餘）也都達到或優於指引。

Our Industrial and Data Center end markets were the two biggest drivers of our growth. Across our end markets, new design wins are increasingly supporting that growth. Our end market split for the September quarter as a percentage of net sales, excluding Licensing revenue, was Industrial at 34.6%, Data Center at 16.7%, Aerospace and Defense at 16.1%, Automotive at 14.2%, Communication at 8.2%, Consumer Appliances at 7.3%, and Compute at 2.9%.

工業與資料中心終端市場是我們成長的兩大主要驅動力。在各終端市場中，新的設計導入（design wins）正日益支撐這項成長。以 9 月季度淨銷售額（不含授權收入）計算，我們的終端市場組合為：工業 34.6%、資料中心 16.7%、航太與國防 16.1%、汽車 14.2%、通訊 8.2%、消費性家電 7.3%、運算 2.9%。

From the September quarter 2025 to the September quarter 2026, net sales from Industrial grew 50.3%, Data Center grew 55.7%, Aerospace and Defense grew 41%, Automotive grew 19.3%, Communication grew 43.5%, Consumer Appliances grew 26.7%, and Compute declined 1.6%. Net sales from our Data Center business unit was over $250 million in the September quarter and is well on its way to be $1 billion in calendar year 2026.

從2025年9月季度到2026年9月季度，工業（Industrial）淨銷售成長50.3%，資料中心（Data Center）成長55.7%，航太與國防（Aerospace and Defense）成長41%，汽車（Automotive）成長19.3%，通訊（Communication）成長43.5%，消費性家電（Consumer Appliances）成長26.7%，而運算（Compute）下滑1.6%。我們資料中心事業單位在9月季度的淨銷售超過2.5億美元，並正穩步邁向在2026曆年達到10億美元。

For calendar 2026, about half of our Data Center business comes from our standard products, and about half comes from our Data Center Solutions Business Unit. On the standard product side, design wins are building across many products. In power, our digital power controllers are winning across AI data center power applications, from server power supplies to battery backup units. In system management, we offer the parts that sense, control, and connect a server or rack, and our Gigabit Ethernet switches and USB hubs are gaining design win momentum in management networks.

在2026曆年，我們資料中心業務約有一半來自標準產品，約有一半來自我們的資料中心解決方案事業單位（Data Center Solutions Business Unit）。在標準產品方面，設計導入（design wins）正於多項產品上持續累積。在電源方面，我們的數位電源控制器正於AI資料中心電源應用中持續取得採用，涵蓋從伺服器電源供應器到電池備援單元。在系統管理方面，我們提供可感測、控制並連接伺服器或機櫃（rack）的元件，而我們的Gigabit乙太網路交換器與USB集線器在管理網路中的設計導入動能正在增強。

With respect to our Gen 6 PCIe switch and retimer products, we had 19 design wins at the end of September quarter, up from 12 design wins at the end of June quarter. As of today, we now have 24 total design wins. These incremental wins will begin to ramp net sales next year and help position us across a growing range of next-generation data center platforms. As these deployments scale, so does our opportunity across the broader data center portfolio, including timing, security, and networking.

就我們第6代PCIe交換器與重定時器（retimer）產品而言，截至9月季度末我們有19項設計導入，高於6月季度末的12項設計導入。截至今日，我們目前合計已有24項設計導入。這些新增的導入將於明年開始帶動淨銷售放量，並協助我們在日益擴大的新一代資料中心平台範圍中取得有利定位。隨著這些部署規模擴大，我們在更廣泛的資料中心產品組合上的機會也隨之增加，包括時序（timing）、資安（security）與網路（networking）。

I would like to give one more organizational update. As you know, after my return to Microchip as CEO two years ago, I reorganized the company into five pillars. These pillars were: microcontrollers, analog and power, networking and connectivity, high-performance compute, and AI on the edge. There's a Senior Vice President heading up each of these pillars.

我想再提供一項組織更新。如各位所知，在我兩年前回到Microchip擔任CEO之後，我將公司重組為五大支柱。這些支柱為：微控制器（microcontrollers）、類比與電源（analog and power）、網路與連接（networking and connectivity）、高效能運算（high-performance compute），以及邊緣AI（AI on the edge）。每一個支柱皆由一位資深副總裁（Senior Vice President）負責。

Our Data Center Solutions Business Unit reports into the networking and connectivity pillar. Because of our focus on our Data Center Solutions Business Unit, called the DCS, I have decided to pull up the DCS business unit to report directly to me at the executive staff level. The head of that business unit is Brian McCarson, who has spoken at these earnings calls before and will now report directly to me.

我們的資料中心解決方案事業單位隸屬於網路與連接支柱。由於我們對資料中心解決方案事業單位（稱為DCS）的重點投入，我已決定將DCS事業單位提升至在高階主管團隊層級直接向我彙報。該事業單位負責人為Brian McCarson，他先前也曾在這些財報電話會議中發言，未來將直接向我彙報。

Our design wins are not limited to data centers. In Aerospace and Defense, we are winning designs across regions, products, and applications, from satellite communications and laser terminals to unmanned systems, by adapting our commercial technologies for space and defense.

我們的設計導入不僅限於資料中心。在航太與國防領域，我們透過將商用技術調整以符合太空與國防需求，於不同地區、產品與應用上持續取得設計採用，涵蓋從衛星通訊與雷射終端到無人系統。

In one recent case, a defense technology company selected our radiation-tolerant-secure FPGA over its incumbent supplier for two space avionics programs. As defense production rates ramp, so does our opportunity.

在近期一個案例中，一家國防科技公司在兩個太空航電（space avionics）專案中，選擇我們的耐輻射且具安全性的FPGA，取代其既有供應商。隨著國防量產速率提升，我們的機會也隨之增加。

Security requirements are also growing across our markets, from data centers to defense to the edge. At the edge, a leading enterprise network provider recently selected our security solution to protect its wireless networks, where quantum-resistant encryption became a requirement. Together, Data Center, Aerospace and Defense, Industrial, Robotics, Automotive, and the intelligent edge are the secular trends we see driving growth over the long term.

資安需求也正在我們各個市場中成長，從資料中心到國防再到邊緣。在邊緣端，一家領先的企業網路供應商近期選擇我們的資安解決方案來保護其無線網路，因為具量子抗性（quantum-resistant）的加密已成為需求。綜合而言，資料中心、航太與國防、工業、機器人、汽車，以及智慧邊緣，是我們所看到將在長期推動成長的結構性趨勢（secular trends）。

I will now talk about our business environment and the guidance going forward. Our bookings were very strong in the September quarter, and our book-to-bill ratio remained well above one. We started the December quarter with a higher backlog compared to when we entered the September quarter. The September quarter saw a pivot in the business environment, with customers completing their inventory digestion to shortages appearing in certain areas because of lengthening lead times at foundries, OSAT suppliers, and in our own fabs.

接下來我將談談我們的營運環境以及未來的財測指引。我們在9月季度的接單（bookings）非常強勁，接單出貨比（book-to-bill ratio）仍遠高於1。相較於進入9月季度時，我們在進入12月季度時的在手訂單（backlog）更高。9月季度的營運環境出現轉折：客戶完成庫存去化後，因晶圓代工廠、OSAT供應商以及我們自有晶圓廠的交期拉長，部分領域開始出現短缺。

Lead times for the majority of our standard products historically have been four to eight weeks. But now, with our die inventory substantially reduced and foundry and OSAT capacity constraints, we are seeing lead times broadly stretch out on many of our products. Our customer requests for expedited shipments have increased significantly from a few quarters ago. We are receiving many orders for requests inside the lead time, and they are going unsupported in the quarter.

我們多數標準產品的歷史交期通常為4到8週。但目前由於我們的晶粒（die）庫存大幅降低，加上晶圓代工與OSAT產能受限，我們看到許多產品的交期普遍拉長。相較於幾個季度前，客戶要求加急出貨的需求顯著增加。我們收到許多要求在交期內出貨的訂單，但在本季度無法支援。

We are advising our customers to give us longer-term backlog to help better match our new lead times, which vary a lot across our product lines. Our new lead times are anywhere from six weeks to 32 weeks.

我們建議客戶提供更長期的在手訂單，以便更好地配合我們新的交期；而交期在各產品線之間差異很大。我們新的交期介於6週到32週不等。

Eric just explained three infrequent items in the last quarter. First, it was an unusually strong quarter in our licensing group, with a couple of large deals closing in the September quarter. Our licensing business is usually lumpy.

Eric剛才說明了上季三項不常見項目。第一，我們授權（licensing）團隊出現異常強勁的一季，有幾筆大型交易在9月季度完成結案。我們的授權業務通常具有波動性（lumpy）。

The second item was the one-time effect of our recent price increases, which raised the value of our distribution inventory.

第二項是我們近期調價的一次性影響，這提高了我們通路庫存的價值。

The third was a revenue recognition from a long-term customer contract. Those infrequent items are not present in the December quarter. Our December quarter is also our weakest quarter seasonally, because there are a lot of holidays in the quarter. Therefore, the guidance for December quarter should be viewed in that context.

第三項是來自一份長期客戶合約的營收認列。這些不常見項目在12月季度並不存在。12月季度在季節性上也是我們最弱的一季，因為該季度有許多假期。因此，12月季度的指引應在此背景下解讀。

Our December quarter also includes the impact of two small acquisitions that we completed, Hailo in the AI on the edge space and VORAGO in the A&D space. We expect that Hailo will add about $4 million to our sales in the December quarter, and VORAGO will add about $6 million to our net sales in the December quarter.

我們的12月季度也包含兩項已完成的小型併購所帶來的影響：邊緣AI領域的Hailo，以及航太與國防（A&D）領域的VORAGO。我們預期Hailo在12月季度將為我們的銷售增加約400萬美元，而VORAGO在12月季度將為我們的淨銷售增加約600萬美元。

Taking all of these factors into account, we expect our net sales in the December quarter to be between down 3% and up 1%, with a midpoint of minus 1%. At the midpoint, this would be up 35.4% from the year-ago quarter.

綜合考量上述所有因素，我們預期12月季度的淨銷售將介於下滑3%至成長1%之間，中位數為下滑1%。以中位數計算，將較去年同期成長35.4%。

December quarter is usually seasonally down 3%-5%. This seasonal effect, combined with the infrequent items we experienced in the September quarter, puts our December quarter guidance about 5% to 7% above normal seasonality. We expect our non-GAAP gross margin to be between 64% to 65% of net sales. This is because of several reasons.

12月季度通常在季節性上會下滑3%至5%。此季節性影響，加上我們在9月季度經歷的不常見項目，使得我們的12月季度指引約較正常季節性高出5%至7%。我們預期非GAAP毛利率將介於淨銷售的64%至65%。原因有數點。

First, the three infrequent items in the September quarter were all at 100% gross margin.

第一，9月季度的三項不常見項目毛利率皆為100%。

Secondly, our net sales guidance is lower than what we would have expected a quarter ago.

第二，我們的淨銷售指引低於我們在一個季度前的預期。

Thirdly, we have substantial unsupported backlog on high-margin products that our supply chain cannot fulfill.

第三，我們在高毛利產品上有大量無法支援的在手訂單，供應鏈無法履行。

And finally, we're running lower level of utilization internally than what we were planning a quarter ago. All these factors are impacting our gross margin guidance.

最後，我們內部的產能利用率低於我們一個季度前的規劃水準。上述所有因素都在影響我們的毛利率指引。

We expect our non-GAAP operating expenses to be between 26.5% and 27% of sales. We expect our non-GAAP operating profit to be between 37% and 38.5% of sales. We expect our non-GAAP diluted earnings per share to be between $0.87 and $0.95 per share.

我們預期非GAAP營業費用將介於銷售額的26.5%至27%。我們預期非GAAP營業利益將介於銷售額的37%至38.5%。我們預期非GAAP稀釋後每股盈餘將介於每股0.87美元至0.95美元。

At the midpoint, non-GAAP earnings per share would be up 107% over the year-ago quarter. Regarding our long-term model, we maintain our long-term model on a non-GAAP basis to be 65% gross margin, 25% operating expense, and 40% operating profit.

以中位數計算，非GAAP每股盈餘將較去年同期成長107%。關於我們的長期模型，我們維持以非GAAP基礎的長期模型：毛利率65%、營業費用25%、營業利益40%。

With that, operator, will you please call for questions?

那麼，接線員，請您開始開放提問好嗎？

Thank you. We will now be conducting a question-and-answer session. (Operator Instructions)

謝謝。我們現在開始進行問答環節。(接線員指示)

Timothy Arcuri, UBS.

Timothy Arcuri，瑞銀（UBS）。

Thanks a lot. Steve, I was wondering if you could help unpack a lot of these puts and takes. It seems like you said that December revenue is a little lower than what you would have thought three months ago, and fab utilization's also a little lower, yet bookings are stronger. Is this due to constraints that are downstream from you?

非常感謝。Steve，我想請你幫忙釐清這些利多與利空的拉扯。聽起來你說12月營收比你三個月前原先預期的略低，晶圓廠產能利用率也略低，但接單（bookings）卻更強。這是因為你們下游的限制所致嗎？

Maybe, does that give you more visibility into March, so you could maybe give us a sense, maybe, normal seasonal, I think in March is up like 3%. Sounds like maybe you feel a little bit better about March as a result of all this. If you can just unpack that for us, that'd be great. Thanks.

另外，這是否讓你對3月的能見度更高，因此可以給我們一些概念？我想3月正常季節性大概是成長約3%。聽起來因為這些因素，你對3月可能感覺更好一些。如果你能幫我們拆解一下就太好了。謝謝。

Yeah. So I think if you look at the last quarter, it was kind of noisy. The three items that we talked about were in our guidance. The licensing deals were in our guidance, the recognition of $10 million of customer contract was in our guidance, and so was the price increase. So the upside last quarter came from product sales, so we did very well.

是的。我想如果你看上一季，其實有點雜訊。我們談到的三個項目都已包含在我們的財測指引中。授權交易已包含在指引中、認列1,000萬美元的客戶合約也在指引中、漲價也在指引中。所以上一季的超預期主要來自產品銷售，我們表現非常好。

Now, when you look at the current quarter, lead times have stretched out, and a lot of the high-margin bookings we received on a lot of advanced products in pretty much every business segment cannot be fulfilled in this quarter. So, some of them are scheduled for next quarter. As a result, I think we're guiding the December quarter to be a tad lower than we would have thought about a quarter ago.

現在看本季，交期拉長了，而我們在幾乎每個業務部門、許多先進產品上拿到的高毛利接單，無法在本季交付。因此其中一些會排到下一季。所以我們對12月季度的指引會比我們大約一季前所想的略低一些。

The backlog for March quarter today is much better than December quarter was at the same point in time. So, currently we're optimistic. We're not giving any guidance for the March quarter, but I think some of the constraints we're talking about are now scheduled into March quarter. So, we are hopeful that March quarter will be a stronger quarter.

目前3月季度的在手訂單（backlog）比當時同一時間點的12月季度好很多。所以我們目前是樂觀的。我們不提供3月季度的指引，但我認為我們談到的一些限制現在已排程到3月季度。因此我們希望3月季度會是更強的一季。

Thanks a lot. Then maybe just as a quick follow-up. So, on the PCIe Gen 6 wins, I think, Steve, you said 14 design wins coming out of June, and it's now up to 24. Sounds like you're building some high-value inventory for that stuff too.

非常感謝。那我再快速追問一下。關於PCIe Gen 6的勝出案（wins），我記得Steve你說6月時有14個design win，現在增加到24個。聽起來你們也在為這些產品建立一些高價值庫存。

So, when does that start to become really big revenue? If you can kind of size what the incremental could be from those wins, if possible, that'd be great.

那麼，這些什麼時候會開始變成很大的營收？如果可以的話，能否大致量化這些勝出案可能帶來的增量規模？那就太好了。

We are unable to dollarize the wins. The part went into production last quarter, and we have small amount of shipments in the current quarter, and they will increase every quarter from here on. Actually, there is sizable shipment this quarter, and they start increasing then from the next quarter on.

我們無法把這些勝出案換算成美元金額。該產品在上一季已進入量產，本季有少量出貨，之後每一季都會從現在開始增加。其實本季就有相當規模的出貨，並且從下一季起開始增加。

The design wins are very strong, and they are turning on at various times next year. By the start of 2028, you can expect almost all 24 designs to be in production, and we are winning essentially a design a week almost.

這些design win非常強勁，並會在明年不同時間點陸續啟動量產。到2028年初，你可以預期幾乎全部24個設計都會進入量產，而且我們基本上幾乎是每週贏下一個設計案。

Yeah, just one clarification to the way Tim asked that question is he said PCIe Gen 6, and the 24 design wins is both PCIe and the retimers. Just wanted to clarify that.

是的，補充澄清一下Tim提問的方式：他提到的是PCIe Gen 6，而24個design win其實包含PCIe以及retimer兩者。只是想澄清這點。

That is correct. I think we are basically keeping them together. They are very much in the same application. Many times, retimer goes with the PCIe. We don't always win them both. In some cases, customer doesn't need the retimer, they only need the PCIe switch.

沒錯。我想我們基本上把它們放在一起看。它們在應用上非常相近。很多時候retimer會搭配PCIe。我們不一定兩個都拿下。有些情況下，客戶不需要retimer，只需要PCIe switch。

But they are pretty much products are in sync. In the past, we have broken out how many on PCIe Gen 6 and how many on retimer, and I don't have that today, but we have no problem in breaking that out.

但基本上這些產品是同步的。過去我們曾拆分披露PCIe Gen 6有多少、retimer有多少；我今天手上沒有這個數字，但我們拆分披露沒有問題。

Matthew Prisco, Cantor Fitzgerald.

Matthew Prisco，Cantor Fitzgerald。

Hey, guys. Thanks for taking the question. I guess to start, if you could maybe discuss order linearity in the quarter and maybe what you've seen through October and November thus far, and any color you can offer on those booking trends across end markets would be appreciated. Thanks.

嗨，各位。謝謝讓我提問。我想先請教一下，你們能否談談本季訂單線性（order linearity），以及截至目前10月與11月你們看到的情況？另外，若能就各終端市場的接單趨勢提供一些說明也會很有幫助。謝謝。

Bookings were quite strong all the way through September, so nothing really to point out there. And then October was another good month of bookings where backlog, overall backlog continued to grow. November's just been a few days, but nothing odd to report.

接單在整個9月都相當強勁，所以沒有什麼特別需要指出的。10月也是接單表現不錯的一個月，整體在手訂單持續增加。11月才剛過幾天，但沒有任何異常可回報。

Yeah. Bookings have continued well. The backlog has continued to build. The best way to look at our December quarter is to take the $53 million out of the September quarter, which were the three infrequent items.

是的，接單持續良好。在手訂單持續累積。看待我們12月季度最好的方式，是把9月季度中的5,300萬美元扣除，那是三個不常見的項目。

And if you do that, then our December quarter is up about 2.3% from our September quarter, versus normal seasonality for December quarter is down 3%-5%. Therefore, I think we got no issues in how the quarter is, how the product shipment backlog is, how the bookings are.

如果你這麼做，我們12月季度相較9月季度約成長2.3%，而12月季度的正常季節性通常是下滑3%到5%。因此我認為我們在本季進展、產品出貨在手訂單、以及接單方面都沒有問題。

All that continues well. But the two licensing deals, a unique customer program that added $10 million of revenue recognition last quarter, and this strange effect of when you ship the inventory to distributor, you assume there's a certain amount of disti price out protection on that, and then the rest of it you recognize as a revenue

這些都持續良好。但兩筆授權交易、上一季有一個獨特的客戶專案帶來1,000萬美元的營收認列，以及一個較特殊的影響：當你把庫存出貨給經銷商時，你會假設其中有一定比例會受到經銷商價格保護（disti price protection）的影響，其餘部分則認列為營收

When you increase the price, then that disti price protection becomes less, and you have to capture that as a one-time revenue in the quarter. That was about $21 million. Those items made it very noisy. If you peel through all that, and we're giving you complete visibility, if you take those out, then the quarter is up 2.3%.

當你調高價格時，那個經銷商價格保護的金額就會變少，而你必須把差額在當季作為一次性營收入帳。那大約是2,100萬美元。這些項目讓數字看起來非常雜訊。如果你把這些都剝除，我們也提供你完整能見度；若把它們扣掉，本季就是成長2.3%。

In that 2.3%, there's $10 million from two acquisitions, $4 million from Hailo and $6 million from VORAGO. We broke that out too, so take that out too if you like, and the 2.3% will go down to maybe 1.5% or something, versus down 4% at the midpoint.

在這2.3%之中，還包含兩項併購帶來的1,000萬美元：Hailo貢獻400萬美元、VORAGO貢獻600萬美元。我們也把這個拆出來了；如果你願意也可以再扣掉，那2.3%可能會降到約1.5%之類，而正常季節性在中位數是下滑4%。

There's no problem in how the business is doing, and we remain optimistic for the next quarter. Backlog is good, bookings are coming in. That's how you should view the quarter in that context.

公司營運沒有任何問題，我們對下一季仍然樂觀。在手訂單良好、接單持續進來。你應該在這樣的脈絡下看待本季。

Very helpful. Thank you. Maybe you can offer some more color on what you're seeing in terms of those constraints today, how those foundry OSAT constraints changed over the last 90 days. I believe you added internal constraints this quarter. How are you responding to these constraints overall, and how do you expect that situation to evolve as we look into 2027? Thank you.

非常有幫助。謝謝。也許你可以再多談一些你們目前看到的那些限制：這些晶圓代工與OSAT的限制在過去90天有什麼變化？我記得你們本季也新增了內部限制。你們整體如何因應這些限制？以及展望到2027年，你預期這個情況會如何演變？謝謝。

Incrementally, we have additional capacity allocation every quarter, which will continue to provide growth. But we could use more than that. On various different nodes, we have more capacity the following quarter. Therefore, some of the orders from this quarter are scheduled into next quarter, and I believe some of the orders from the next quarter will move into the June quarter, where we have more capacity.

逐季來看，我們每一季都有額外的產能配置，這將持續帶來成長。但我們其實還可以用到更多。在各種不同的製程節點上，我們在下一季會有更多產能。因此，本季的一部分訂單被排程到下一季，我也相信下一季的一部分訂單會移到 6 月季度，因為那時我們有更多產能。

We're not unique. I think the entire industry is seeing it. Demand is stronger than the capacity available. With whatever is happening in the market right now with data center, AI infrastructure, concerns whether they will all be built or not built, I think there's a silver lining in it. The whole thing was just too much hot air, and if some air comes out and capacity becomes available at OSATs and foundries for broad-based business, I think there is still silver lining in it.

我們並非特例。我認為整個產業都看到了這種情況。需求強於可用產能。就目前市場上資料中心、AI 基礎設施所發生的一切，以及大家擔心它們是否都會建成、或不會建成，我認為其中其實有一線曙光。整件事之前只是過度炒作；如果泡沫消一些、而 OSAT 與晶圓代工廠的產能能釋出給更廣泛的業務，我認為仍然有其正面的一面。

Joe Quatrochi, Wells Fargo.

Joe Quatrochi，富國銀行。

Yeah, thanks for taking the question. You saw a nice acceleration in the Industrial demand this quarter. I was wondering if you could just talk about what you're seeing there, and maybe just on that last line you said, how do we think about your exposure to just everything around the data center infrastructure build, maybe outside of the data hall?

是的，謝謝讓我提問。你們本季工業需求出現不錯的加速。我想請你談談你們在那邊看到的情況；另外也想延伸你剛才最後一句話，我們該如何看待你們對資料中心基礎設施建置的曝險，可能是在機房（data hall）之外的部分？

I think, when it comes to Industrial is the broadest market segment there is. I mean, what is Industrial? It's not a narrow set of things. Industrial is factories, cities, hotels, lighting, robotics, medical. Industrial is very, very broad, and we're seeing opportunities in Industrial. Some of it got driven by Industrial was sort of the last one to recover, I think, two or three quarters ago.

我認為談到工業（Industrial），它是最廣泛的市場區隔。我的意思是，什麼是工業？它不是一小撮狹義的東西。工業包含工廠、城市、飯店、照明、機器人、醫療。工業非常、非常廣，我們在工業領域看到機會。其中一部分的動能來自於工業大概是最後一個復甦的，我想是在兩到三季前。

So, it's seeing substantial recovery from that point, and a lot of new design wins in every single area, robotics, medical, process control, factories, farming, equipment, appliances. Everything is growing, so it's very, very difficult to kind of explain Industrial beyond that because it's so broad. The second point of your question is on the data centers.

所以從那個時間點開始，它正在顯著復甦，而且在每一個領域都有大量新的設計導入（design wins）：機器人、醫療、製程控制、工廠、農業、設備、家電。所有東西都在成長，因此很難再進一步解釋工業，因為它的範圍太廣。你問題的第二點是關於資料中心。

We are early in the data center penetration, because we didn't have a lot of Gen 5 switch revenue, and you've known from past that we were very late to market on it, and therefore, we lost the Gen 5 business. With Gen 6, we are regaining a lot of the market share, and a lot of it is not in our revenue.

我們在資料中心的滲透仍屬早期，因為我們沒有太多 Gen 5 交換器的營收；而且你從過去就知道，我們在這方面上市時間很晚，因此我們失去了 Gen 5 的業務。到了 Gen 6，我們正在拿回很多市占，而其中很大一部分尚未反映在我們的營收中。

So, for us, it's all upside, where if it slows down, it could be downside for the people who have a lot of that business. In terms of our other half of our data center exposure, which is through microcontroller, analog, power, switches, security, USB, Ethernet, these are very broad-based products where data center is really a small portion of the overall shipments to all the end markets. If certain data centers won't get built, a lot of that upside is not in our forecast.

所以對我們而言，這全都是上行空間；如果市場放緩，對那些在這塊業務占比很高的人來說可能是下行風險。至於我們資料中心曝險的另一半，是透過微控制器、類比、電源、交換器、安全、USB、乙太網路等產品；這些都是非常廣泛的產品線，資料中心其實只占我們對所有終端市場整體出貨的一小部分。如果某些資料中心不會建成，其中很多上行空間本來就不在我們的預測之中。

Thanks. As we're thinking about just kind of the gross margin puts and takes into the December quarter, how should we think about this underutilization charges? There's a nice improvement this quarter. Do we keep thinking that's somewhat linear as we move forward?

謝謝。在我們思考 12 月季度毛利率的各項拉抬與拖累時，該如何看待這些產能利用不足費用（underutilization charges）？本季有不錯的改善。我們是否可以繼續認為未來會是某種線性改善？

It will not be linear. This quarter, we are not anticipating any sort of big improvement. We actually built finished goods last quarter and don't really want to do that again this quarter, so we're slowing down some of the assembly and test operations.

不會是線性的。本季我們不預期會有任何顯著改善。我們上季其實增加了成品庫存，而本季不太想再做一次，所以我們正在放慢部分封裝與測試作業。

We're still doing the ramp in our wafer fabs, where Steve had mentioned in his prepared remarks that die inventory is getting low in certain cases. It's a balance, but you will not see the large reduction in utilization or underutilization charges this quarter that you saw last quarter. That's still upside in front of us in future quarters.

我們仍在推進晶圓廠的爬坡（ramp），正如 Steve 在事先準備的談話中提到的，在某些情況下裸晶（die）庫存正在變低。這是一種平衡，但你不會在本季看到像上季那樣大幅降低利用率或大幅減少產能利用不足費用。未來幾季我們仍有上行改善空間。

December quarter historically is kind of weak, so we took that in cautiously, but it will accelerate again next quarter because then we go into good March quarter followed by two strong June and September quarters before we get another weak December quarter next year. So utilization should start to improve, but not linearly.

12 月季度歷來偏弱，所以我們在規劃時採取較保守的態度；但到下一季會再度加速，因為接著會進入表現不錯的 3 月季度，之後是兩個強勁的 6 月與 9 月季度，然後明年又會回到另一個偏弱的 12 月季度。因此產能利用率應該會開始改善，但不會是線性。

Chris Caso, Wolfe Research.

Chris Caso，Wolfe Research。

Yes, thanks. Good evening. The question is on pricing and the impact on the December quarter from some of the pricing actions that you took previously. What was the magnitude of that in December quarter? I seem to recall from last quarter that was one of the factors you had expected to be an offset because, as you said, you knew some of those three items that would not recur in the December quarter. I seem to recall that pricing was going to be one of the offsets for the December quarter.

是的，謝謝。晚安。我的問題是關於定價，以及你們先前採取的一些定價措施對 12 月季度的影響。在 12 月季度的影響幅度有多大？我記得上季你們提到，這會是你們預期用來抵銷的因素之一，因為如你所說，你知道那三個項目中有些不會在 12 月季度重複發生。我印象中，定價會是 12 月季度的其中一個抵銷因素。

You are correct. We expected that to be offset, and the remaining pricing is being effective this quarter because pricing change was done in the middle of the last quarter. However, because of what we described before, some of the fairly large-dollar-item products with very high margin, supply chain cannot fulfill this quarter, which is kind of offsetting the improvement we would have seen.

你說得沒錯。我們原本預期它會形成抵銷，而剩餘的定價效果會在本季生效，因為調價是在上季中段進行的。不過，因為我們先前描述的情況，一些金額相當大的高毛利產品，本季供應鏈無法交付，這在某種程度上抵銷了我們原本會看到的改善。

Right. Okay. Would it be right to assume that as supply improves, as you get the ability to supply some of these higher-margin products, perhaps some of the products where the price has gone up but you can't ship it right now, that you would see some of that benefit as you go into calendar 2027? Is that the right way to think about it?

了解。那麼是否可以合理假設：隨著供應改善、你們有能力供應其中一些較高毛利的產品，尤其是那些價格已上調但目前還無法出貨的產品，你們在進入 2027 年曆年時會看到部分效益？這樣理解對嗎？

Are you talking about benefit in revenue or benefit in something else?

你指的是營收方面的效益，還是其他方面的效益？

Well, I guess benefit in revenue from obviously being able to ship the product and the higher price, and then I guess more importantly from the margin side, because I think I understand what you're saying is that you didn't see as much of the pricing benefit that you had expected in the December quarter because you couldn't ship those products, therefore, as you finally were able to ship those products, you get that margin benefit.

嗯，我想是營收方面的效益，因為顯然能出貨就能認列營收，而且價格也更高；然後我想更重要的是毛利端，因為我理解你在說的是：你們在 12 月季度沒有看到原本預期那麼多的定價效益，是因為你們無法出貨那些產品；因此當你們終於能出貨時，就會得到那個毛利效益。

We certainly get the revenue benefit and we get some of the margin benefit, but the pricing in the industry from our suppliers has continued to go up. There's another round of price increase across the industry starting basically in January from most major foundries and OSATs. Because some of that we counted in our price increase when we did the price increase, that's why you're seeing a very good gross margin for the September quarter and pretty good gross margin in December quarter.

我們當然會得到營收效益，也會得到部分毛利效益，但產業內我們供應商的價格仍持續上漲。從 1 月開始，幾乎所有主要晶圓代工廠與 OSAT 都會啟動新一輪的漲價。由於其中一部分我們在先前調價時就已納入考量，這也是為什麼你會看到 9 月季度的毛利率非常好，而 12 月季度的毛利率也相當不錯。

If you're expecting it to go back to 66.5%, we're currently not projecting that. Our long-term target is 65%, and we think we're going to have to fight that price increase with the suppliers and figure out how we deal with it, whether there is a check on our gross margin or we pass that on to the customers further.

如果你期待毛利率回到 66.5%，我們目前並沒有這樣的預測。我們的長期目標是 65%，我們認為必須與供應商的漲價對抗並找出應對方式：要嘛毛利率會受到一些影響，要嘛我們進一步把成本轉嫁給客戶。

We haven't figured all that out yet.

我們還沒有把這一切都想清楚。

Vivek Arya, Bank of America Securities.

Vivek Arya，美國銀行證券。

Thanks for taking my questions. Steve, I wanted to start with more of a macro question based on your industry experience. Do you think that signals to you there are earnings cuts coming?

感謝讓我提問。Steve，我想先從一個較偏宏觀的問題開始，基於你在產業的經驗。你是否覺得這些訊號顯示接下來會有獲利預期下修？

Are we at peak demand? Just kind of what is your crystal ball telling you in terms of where we are in the cycle, and do you think all these worries are justified based on what you are seeing on the ground?

我們是否已經處於需求高峰？想請教你對於目前所處景氣循環位置的判斷，你的「水晶球」告訴你什麼？以及就你在第一線看到的情況，你認為市場的這些擔憂是否合理？

Well, Vivek, I think there is data center and non-data center. There is nothing to worry about in the non-data center. Industrial is doing fine. Automotive is continuing to recover. Its unit count is not growing as much, low single digit, but the content is growing significantly. We are winning across new car architectures across the board. We are doing very well.

Vivek，我認為可以分成資料中心與非資料中心。非資料中心沒有什麼好擔心的。工業領域表現良好。車用持續復甦。出貨量成長不多，約低個位數，但單車內容價值顯著成長。我們在各種新車架構上全面取得勝利。我們表現非常好。

Aerospace and Defense is doing well. Industrial is doing well. Automotive is doing well. Communication is doing well. The issues in data center, it was all that I have been kind of saying it could not be true. The demand was explosive. You cannot just have that large of a percentage of economy at a rate everybody expected it to grow.

航太與國防表現良好。工業表現良好。車用表現良好。通訊表現良好。資料中心的問題——我一直在說那種情況不可能一直為真。需求曾經爆發式成長。你不可能讓經濟中那麼大的一個比重，以大家預期的速度持續成長。

I think some of that is coming in check, whether it comes in check that the real estate of data centers cannot be built, or the power cannot be supplied, or the new Congress would not let it happen, or circular financing finally, you cannot do it anymore, it is not cost-effective, or people cannot monetize. Whatever the reason is, or the combination of reason is, the second derivative on data center has to come down substantially. I think you see market voting on it. To me, it is not new. I think it was predictable.

我認為其中一些正在回歸理性，無論是因為資料中心的土地/機房空間蓋不出來，或電力供應不上，或新一屆國會不允許，或循環融資終於走到盡頭、再也做不下去而且不具成本效益，或人們無法變現。不管原因是什麼，或多種原因的組合，資料中心的「二階導數」（成長加速度）必須大幅下降。我想你也看到市場正在用價格投票。對我而言，這不是新鮮事。我認為這是可預測的。

Right. What do you think that means for Microchip? Because I think in your commentary, you used the phrase that you thought September was a pivot, right? You are seeing lead times get stretched out.

了解。你認為這對 Microchip 意味著什麼？因為我記得你在評論中用到「9 月是轉折點」這個說法，對吧？你也看到交期正在拉長。

Do you think a lot of that demand is coming because there is a crowding out from the data center, or do you think there is kind of real kind of demand upturn? More specifically, if you look at the next several quarters for Microchip, do you think there is still the possibility of above-seasonal growth?

你認為這些需求有很大一部分是因為資料中心把產能擠壓掉所造成的排擠效應，還是你認為是真正的需求回升？更具體地說，如果看 Microchip 接下來幾個季度，你認為是否仍有高於季節性的成長可能？

Yeah, I think yes. Like I said, there is data center and non-data center. The non-data center demand is normal. It is doing well. Data center demand has been explosive. If that comes down, its effect on us would be very small because we are very much in the early stage. We are not doing billions of dollars of revenue in the data center, and all of our rest of the markets are growing, and data center is 16.7% of our business, not 100% like many of the other companies.

是的，我認為有。如我所說，有資料中心與非資料中心之分。非資料中心的需求是正常的。表現良好。資料中心需求曾經爆發式成長。如果那部分降溫，對我們的影響會非常小，因為我們仍處於非常早期的階段。我們在資料中心的營收不是以數十億美元計，而且我們其餘市場都在成長；資料中心只占我們業務的 16.7%，不像許多其他公司是 100%。

Where the crowding out is not in demand. The crowding out is in capacity. Data center has been crowding out capacity for trailing edge nodes because of power requirements and analog requirements and all these other things, microcontrollers and others. So, data center has been crowding out capacity at the OSAT, and in many cases, we have lost capacity, where some of it we had to bring it inside, some of it we had to move it elsewhere, and it takes time to requalify.

所謂的排擠並不是發生在需求端。排擠發生在產能端。由於功耗需求、類比需求，以及其他各種因素（微控制器等），資料中心一直在排擠成熟製程節點的產能。因此，資料中心一直在 OSAT（外包半導體封裝測試）端排擠產能；在很多情況下，我們失去了一些產能，有些必須轉回內部，有些必須移到其他地方，而重新認證需要時間。

Therefore, the backlog could not be served and will be served some in the next quarter, some in the quarter after. I think a deceleration on the data center will probably have a positive effect on our business because some of that capacity frees up.

因此，積壓訂單無法被滿足，接下來會在下一季滿足一部分、再下一季再滿足一部分。我認為資料中心若出現減速，反而可能對我們的業務有正面影響，因為部分產能會被釋放出來。

Vijay Rakesh, Mizuho Securities.

Vijay Rakesh，瑞穗證券。

Yeah. Hi. Just a quick question on the Aerospace and Defense side. It's kind of grown in line with Microchip's overall growth. When do you actually see Aerospace and Defense orders start to come back? Are these long lead orders where you have good visibility? And a quick follow-up.

是的，你好。關於航太與國防這一塊有個簡短問題。它的成長大致與 Microchip 整體成長一致。你們實際上何時會看到航太與國防的訂單開始回來？這些是否屬於長交期訂單，讓你們有很好的能見度？以及一個簡短的追問。

Well, Aerospace and Defense grew 41% September over September, so we think it is growing very well. The demand for Aerospace and Defense is very strong at the primes, but primes have to build up capacity, some starting from real estate. Some of them are being asked to increase the missile production by 5x or 4x.

航太與國防在 9 月相較去年 9 月成長了 41%，所以我們認為成長非常好。主承包商（primes）端對航太與國防的需求非常強，但主承包商必須建立產能，有些甚至要從廠房/不動產開始。其中一些被要求把飛彈產量提高到 5 倍或 4 倍。

Well, they do not have the floor space to ramp the production to 4x, so they are adding capacity, buildings and machinery and all that. We are starting to get the orders, but they are scheduled out when they need it. I think Aerospace and Defense is not a data center kind of business, $10 million today and $200 million tomorrow. It will grow consistently, but it is not a hockey stick because the Industrial complex cannot grow at that rate.

但他們沒有足夠的廠房面積把產量拉升到 4 倍，所以他們正在增加產能、增建廠房與機器設備等。我們開始收到訂單，但交期是依他們需要的時間排程。我認為航太與國防不是那種資料中心式的業務——今天 1,000 萬美元、明天 2 億美元。它會穩定成長，但不會呈現曲棍球棒式暴衝，因為工業體系不可能以那樣的速度成長。

Got it. On the price increases, you mentioned foundry OSAT price increases. How much flexibility do you have to kind of pass through, or what are you anticipating in terms of the impact of those as you look at 2027 in terms of margin or any headwinds there? Thanks.

了解。關於漲價，你提到晶圓代工與 OSAT 的價格上漲。你們有多大的彈性可以轉嫁？或是你們對 2027 年在毛利率方面的影響、以及可能的逆風，有什麼預期？謝謝。

Well, we consider our gross margins very healthy. Our last quarter, because of some infrequent items, was higher than target. Otherwise, it is very close to target, within 100 basis points of that. We do not want to take a second price increase to our customers so quickly when we just did a price increase in the middle of August.

我們認為我們的毛利率非常健康。上一季因為一些不常見的項目而高於目標。除此之外，其實非常接近目標，落差在 100 個基點以內。我們不希望在 8 月中旬才剛對客戶調價後，又這麼快再進行第二次漲價。

Just like we did that last time, we absorbed it for a while, and if the cost kept going up, then we passed the price increase. We are kind of doing similar. Right now, we are planning to not do a price increase and absorb it. At these kind of gross margins, we do not feel that our gross margins are low.

就像上次一樣，我們先吸收一段時間；如果成本持續上升，我們才會把漲價轉嫁出去。我們現在也採取類似做法。目前我們的規劃是不漲價、先行吸收。在這樣的毛利率水準下，我們不覺得我們的毛利率偏低。

Harlan Sur, J.P. Morgan.

Harlan Sur，摩根大通。

Yeah, good afternoon. Thanks for taking my question. Book-to-bill is strongly above one. Your backlog even now continues to grow. I assume that this strong demand profile is across not just advanced foundry-based products, but across your internally manufactured products as well, right? Your overall lead times are extending.

是的，午安。謝謝讓我提問。接單出貨比（book-to-bill）明顯高於 1。你們的積壓訂單即使到現在仍持續增加。我推測這樣強勁的需求不僅來自先進代工製程相關產品，也涵蓋你們內部自製的產品，對嗎？你們整體交期正在延長。

Your front-end utilizations, I would have expected to move higher this quarter, especially with your commentary on low die bank inventories as well. Why wouldn't front-end utilization charges continue to decrease this quarter? I understand back-end utilizations might be stepping down a bit, but why aren't front-end utilizations continuing to increase here in December, and therefore lower underutilization charges?

我原本預期你們本季前段製程（front-end）的稼動率會提高，尤其你們也提到晶粒庫存（die bank）偏低。為什麼前段製程的稼動不足費用（underutilization charges）本季不會繼續下降？我理解後段製程（back-end）稼動率可能會稍微下滑，但為什麼前段製程稼動率在 12 月沒有持續上升，從而降低稼動不足費用？

Harlan, the front end is reducing in the current quarter, but the back end is not going to be as fully utilized as it was the quarter before. It's the combination of those things, and we don't expect a material change in the overall underutilization charge in the quarter.

Harlan，本季前段製程的產能利用率在下降，但後段製程的利用率不會像上一季那樣充分。這是這些因素的綜合結果，我們預期本季整體產能未充分利用費用不會出現重大變化。

I think one other point is that there's a perception that on in-house built fab products.

我想還有一點是，外界對於自家晶圓廠生產的產品有一種看法。

There should be no constraint and there should be no lead time issue. The problem is, the inside-produced wafers also go through the OSAT. Some of it goes through our internal factory, but some of the packages we don't do, it goes through OSAT. So it sees the same constraints that our foundry wafers see. In a lot of cases, some of the capacity at our major OSAT suppliers has been displaced.

認為不應該有任何產能限制，也不應該有交期問題。問題在於，內部生產的晶圓也要經過 OSAT。有一部分會走我們內部工廠，但有些封裝我們不做，就會交由 OSAT。因此它面臨的限制與我們委外晶圓代工的晶圓相同。在很多情況下，我們主要 OSAT 供應商的一部分產能已被排擠掉。

AI companies, you know which ones, came in and took over the whole factory, and they pushed everybody out. We brought some in, we brought it some to other OSAT manufacturers, but that is the crowding out of AI. It's affecting processing of inside wafers as well as outside wafers in assembly and test. We are rapidly improving that situation. Ordinarily, we do an inside versus outside analysis when there's a payback to do inside.

一些 AI 公司，你知道是哪幾家，進來把整個工廠都包下來了，把其他人都擠出去。我們把一部分轉到其他 OSAT 製造商，但這就是 AI 的排擠效應。它影響了內部晶圓與外部晶圓在封裝與測試的處理。我們正在快速改善這個情況。一般來說，當在內部生產有投資回收效益時，我們會做內製與外包的分析。

Not everything we can do cheaper inside. Sometimes we cannot keep the tool fully busy because we could not fully utilize the tool, so therefore we keep it outside. But when we get displaced outside, we can't produce it, a very good margin product, then cost doesn't matter, then we want to bring it in and produce it. So we're making those moves, but those moves take six months.

不是所有東西在內部做都更便宜。有時候我們無法讓設備保持滿載，因為無法充分利用該設備，所以就維持外包。但當我們在外部被排擠、導致無法生產某些毛利很好的產品時，那成本就不是重點了，我們就想把它移回內部生產。所以我們正在做這些調整，但這些調整需要六個月。

Some of this displacement only happened just a couple of months ago. So those are the things we are struggling with, and that's why I said that some deceleration of the AI demand actually would be quite positive early on.

其中一些排擠其實是就在幾個月前才發生。所以這些就是我們正在努力克服的事情，也因此我才說，AI 需求若能稍微降溫，早期反而會是相當正面的。

Got it. Okay, and I appreciate that. As my follow-up, Steve, we are seeing a lot more adoption overall of integration of machine learning and AI capabilities into all of these sort of embedded applications across Industrial, Automotive, even Consumer, right?

了解。好的，我很感謝你的說明。作為追問，Steve，我們看到整體上在工業、車用，甚至消費性等各類嵌入式應用中，機器學習與 AI 能力的整合採用正在增加，對吧？

For many of these applications, you don't need a standalone NPU, like your acquired product family from Hailo, but you could leverage embedded NPU accelerators, right? Can you just remind us, your 32-bit MCU product lines, do you have product families with embedded NPU, and are you seeing accelerated adoption of NPU-based MCUs for these types of embedded, like machine learning AI applications?

對於許多這類應用，你不一定需要獨立的 NPU，例如你們從 Hailo 併購而來的產品家族，而是可以利用嵌入式的 NPU 加速器，對吧？能否請你提醒我們一下，你們的 32 位元 MCU 產品線是否有內建 NPU 的產品家族？以及你們是否看到在這類嵌入式（例如機器學習/AI）應用中，採用以 NPU 為基礎的 MCU 正在加速？

Our in-house microcontroller and microprocessor product lines did not have AI acceleration in them. No hardware acceleration. We had some software acceleration. We did have some hardware acceleration available on our FPGAs and our Data Center Solutions Business Unit, but not on our microcontroller business units and the microprocessor business unit, we did not.

我們自家的微控制器與微處理器產品線並沒有 AI 加速能力。沒有硬體加速。我們有一些軟體加速。我們在 FPGA 以及資料中心解決方案事業部確實有一些硬體加速能力，但在微控制器事業部與微處理器事業部，我們沒有。

When we bought Hailo, in our microprocessor business unit, we were developing products. The first of those products was going to be available in about two and a half, three years, and the second of them was going to be available in about four and a half years, because they were serial in nature. The product line that Hailo brought to us accelerates the roadmap by five years. Therefore, we have canceled the two products that we were developing in the NPU business unit because they have been replaced by Hailo.

當我們收購 Hailo 時，在微處理器事業部我們正在開發產品。其中第一個產品原本大約要兩年半到三年後才會上市，第二個大約要四年半後才會上市，因為它們是序列式開發。Hailo 帶來的產品線讓我們的產品藍圖加速了五年。因此，我們已取消 NPU 事業部原本正在開發的兩個產品，因為它們已被 Hailo 取代。

In fact, I have merged the Hailo and NPU business unit together, and we are advancing the Hailo roadmap, and we have canceled our NPU roadmap in the microprocessor business unit. That's how important Hailo has been for us.

事實上，我已把 Hailo 與 NPU 事業部合併，我們正在推進 Hailo 的產品藍圖，同時也取消了微處理器事業部的 NPU 藍圖。這就是 Hailo 對我們有多重要。

I see. Okay. That makes a lot of sense. Thank you, Steve.

我明白了。好的，這很合理。謝謝你，Steve。

Jim Schneider, Goldman Sachs.

高盛的 Jim Schneider。

Good afternoon. Thanks for taking my question. I was wondering if you could maybe broadly characterize the customer willingness to build, the OEM customer willingness to build inventory on the balance sheet at this point, given the extended lead times.

下午好。謝謝讓我提問。我想請教你是否能大致描述一下，在交期拉長的情況下，目前客戶願不願意備貨，也就是 OEM 客戶願不願意在資產負債表上建立庫存？

Is that something that some customers and some verticals are willing to do, or is it more broad-based than that? And maybe just give us a sense about, are they even able to do that given the supply constraints you've talked about?

這是只有部分客戶、部分垂直領域願意這麼做，還是更普遍的現象？另外也請你談談，在你提到的供應限制下，他們是否甚至有能力這麼做？

I mean, right now, in broad base of customers, we do not see a desire by them to build inventory. We can hardly get them to place orders with our new lead time. Seems like, number one, lead times are moving rapidly. Secondly, semiconductor manufacturers are always telling their customers, I want more backlog, I want more backlog. It kind of becomes a broken record, like the wolf is coming, wolf is coming, and they don't respond to it.

我的意思是，就目前而言，在廣泛的客戶群中，我們沒有看到他們有建立庫存的意願。我們甚至很難讓他們依照我們新的交期去下單。看起來第一，交期變動得很快。第二，半導體製造商總是跟客戶說，我要更多在手訂單、我要更多在手訂單。這有點像壞掉的唱片，一直喊狼來了、狼來了，但他們不會因此做出反應。

They don't. They don't respond to it till they get in trouble, where lead times rapidly go out, they don't have the product, they try to expedite it, we cannot serve it, the lines are down for eight weeks, and that's when there is a fire behind them and they start to place orders. We are not seeing that yet.

他們不會。他們要等到真的出事才會反應：交期快速拉長、他們拿不到產品、想要加急，我們也無法供應，產線停擺八週；那時候火燒眉毛，他們才開始下單。我們目前還沒看到那種情況。

That's helpful color. Then just as a follow-up, just going back to the gross margin question, it seems like previously you talked about some of the higher-margin products, what you thought would benefit you in the December quarter. You talked about the reasons why those are constrained.

這些背景資訊很有幫助。接著追問一下，回到毛利率的問題，之前你們談到一些較高毛利的產品，你們認為會在 12 月季度帶來助益。你們也談到為什麼那些產品受到限制的原因。

Just wanted to make sure that I understand, is the new piece of information that those higher-margin products will come back into the mix over the next couple quarters, but perhaps the input cost increases are not going to be offset on the broader base of products? Do I have that right?

我想確認我理解是否正確：新的資訊是，這些較高毛利的產品會在接下來幾個季度重新回到產品組合中，但也許投入成本的上升不會在更廣泛的產品基礎上被抵銷？我這樣理解對嗎？

Yeah, I think our assessment last quarter that we can keep the gross margin in the 66% range by more high-margin products coming in, the rest of the price increase kicking in, and completely offsetting the high licensing revenue and couple of other infrequent items, I think that turned out to be more aggressive than the reality has turned out. So we have backed off from that assumption.

是的，我想我們上季的評估是：透過更多高毛利產品進來、其餘的漲價開始生效，並且完全抵銷高授權收入以及其他幾個不常見項目，我們可以把毛利率維持在 66% 左右；我想結果證明這個判斷比實際情況更為積極。所以我們已經從那個假設退回來。

Now, we still told you always that our long-term gross margin was 65%, and there'll be times in the good times when it will go over, there'll be times in the bad times when it will go under, but we didn't guide you to a higher than 65% gross margin. But we did say that we could maintain it in the December quarter. Now, various things have happened, partially driven by some of the high-margin products pushing out because of constraints.

另外，我們一直告訴各位，我們的長期毛利率目標是 65%；景氣好的時候會高於它，景氣差的時候會低於它，但我們並沒有指引高於 65% 的毛利率。不過我們確實說過在 12 月季度可以維持。現在發生了各種事情，部分是因為一些高毛利產品因受限而延後。

We can't quite get there. Question is then, why we're not getting there in March or June? Because some of the further price increases from our suppliers is kicking in. Whether we're able to offset that or not, we're not able to model it today. So that's why we're basically resetting that and saying, think of 65% as a long-term gross margin, and we will work very hard to get there and maintain it, but not any higher than that.

我們沒辦法完全達到。那問題是，為什麼在 3 月或 6 月也達不到？因為供應商進一步的漲價正在生效。我們是否能夠抵銷這些漲價，目前我們還無法建模。所以我們基本上是在重設預期，並表示：請把 65% 視為長期毛利率目標；我們會非常努力達到並維持它，但不會高於這個水準。

Blayne Curtis, Jefferies.

Blayne Curtis，Jefferies。

Hey, good afternoon, guys. I wanted to ask on the trigger to pull back the utilization. Is there a certain level of inventory you don't want to grow it on an absolute basis or a certain number of days you're targeting? Just trying to understand that trigger. I think most people, I know the stock market's terrible lately, but expect a continued recovery, so I'm just trying to understand how you're thinking about managing that.

嘿，各位下午好。我想問一下關於把產能利用率往回拉的觸發點。你們是不希望庫存以絕對值再增加到某個水準，還是有一個目標庫存天數？我只是想理解那個觸發條件。我想大多數人——我知道最近股市很糟——但仍預期復甦會持續，所以我想了解你們是如何思考並管理這件事的。

I think the equation is very, very complex. We build hundreds of thousands of SKUs. Our product, including internal fabs and outside foundries, come from almost 40 different factories around the world, and it's a very complex equation. On some nodes, we have plenty of capacity.

我認為這個等式非常、非常複雜。我們生產數十萬個SKU。我們的產品（包含內部晶圓廠與外部代工廠）來自全球將近40座不同的工廠，這是一個非常複雜的方程式。在某些製程節點上，我們有充足的產能。

On other nodes, we are heavily constrained. Some of the nodes where we have enough capacity, it's a kind of product goes into our packages, like BGA and others, where the capacity is constrained. In some cases, we cannot get the substrates. In some other cases, we don't have the assembly capacity. In other cases, our test capacity has been confiscated by the AI crowd.

在其他製程節點上，我們則受到嚴重限制。有些我們產能足夠的節點，其產品會進入我們的封裝，例如BGA等，而那邊的產能反而受限。有些情況下，我們拿不到載板（substrates）。另一些情況下，我們沒有足夠的組裝產能。還有一些情況下，我們的測試產能被AI那一波人馬給「搶走」了。

It's a very, very complex equation. Despite that, I think we're growing our businesses up nicely. We'll be up again next year. We're solving these problems, bringing some inside, some moving it from foundry to foundry. It's noisy. I get it. I'm frustrated by it too, and with the kind of questions you guys are asking, I get it. The only thing that's going to help is AI decelerating.

這是一個非常、非常複雜的方程式。儘管如此，我認為我們的業務仍在相當不錯地成長。明年還會再成長。我們正在解決這些問題：有些拉回內部做，有些則在不同代工廠之間移轉。過程會有雜訊。我理解。我也對此感到挫折；而且從你們問的這些問題來看，我懂你們的感受。唯一能幫上忙的，就是AI需求降溫。

Got you. Thank you. I wanted to ask on the auto channel. I think there's some hope that maybe that could be better. I'm kind of curious what you're seeing. Any evidence of restocking in any areas of strength in auto?

了解。謝謝。我想問一下汽車通路。我覺得大家有些期待那邊可能會好轉。我有點好奇你們看到的是什麼。在汽車領域，有沒有看到任何補庫存的跡象，或是某些強勢區域？

Our auto business was up 19.3% year over year. I mean, for auto, that's very good. For auto, that's excellent. Auto is never going to grow 100%, 50%, 40%. The auto unit volume grows 2% or 3% best case. Our auto was up 19.3%. We're getting lots of auto design wins, and when you get a design win, it goes to production in three years.

我們的汽車業務年增19.3%。我是說，以汽車來講，這非常好。對汽車而言，這很優秀。汽車不可能成長100%、50%、40%。汽車整體出貨量最好的情況也就成長2%或3%。我們汽車業務年增19.3%。我們拿到很多汽車設計導入（design win），而一旦拿到design win，通常要三年後才會進入量產。

So we are harvesting some of that was designed two, three years ago, and there's a good amount of growth coming in with future designs next year and year after. But don't expect any more out of auto. It grew 19.3%. In fact, that's more than entitlement in auto.

所以我們正在收割兩、三年前設計導入的成果；而且明年、後年也會有相當不錯的成長來自未來的設計。但不要期待汽車還能更多。它已經成長19.3%。事實上，這已經高於汽車業務的「應得」成長幅度。

William Stein, Truist Securities.

William Stein，Truist Securities。

Great. Thanks for taking my questions. First quick one is, I'm wondering if there's any meaningful influence of the two acquisitions on either cost of goods or OpEx in the near term?

很好。謝謝讓我提問。第一個快問：我想知道這兩項收購在短期內，是否會對銷貨成本（COGS）或營業費用（OpEx）產生任何實質影響？

There is. I mean, there's OpEx that come along with both of these acquisitions. We aren't going to break out profitability for either of these small acquisitions, but Hailo is investing pretty significantly in their R&D efforts, and we are definitely doubling down on that.

會的。我的意思是，這兩項收購都會帶來相應的OpEx。我們不會單獨揭露這兩個小型收購案各自的獲利情況，但Hailo在研發投入上相當積極，而我們也確實在那方面加倍投入。

And the VORAGO products are good products in Aerospace and Defense with high gross margins, and we're excited about the opportunity on that. But there absolutely is an impact on OpEx in the current quarter by having a full quarter of Hailo and almost a full quarter of VORAGO in the numbers, and that's obviously built into our guidance.

另外，VORAGO的產品在航太與國防領域是很好的產品，毛利率很高，我們對那個機會感到興奮。但把Hailo完整一季、以及VORAGO幾乎完整一季納入數字後，確實會在本季對OpEx造成影響，而這也顯然已反映在我們的財測指引中。

I think to give you a little more color, VORAGO gross margin is higher than Microchip, but with $6 million revenue contribution, it doesn't move the needle in the current quarter. Hailo margins are lower than Microchip, but with $4 million in revenue, that doesn't move the needle either. In the area of OpEx, VORAGO OpEx is small, and gross margins are very high, so VORAGO is actually very profitable.

再補充一點細節：VORAGO的毛利率高於Microchip，但其營收貢獻只有600萬美元，因此在本季不會對整體造成明顯影響。Hailo的毛利率低於Microchip，但營收只有400萬美元，也同樣不會造成明顯影響。在OpEx方面，VORAGO的OpEx很小、毛利率又非常高，所以VORAGO其實非常獲利。

So that's doing very well, but with such a small revenue, it doesn't move the needle. Hailo doesn't make money yet. They have very high R&D and small amount of revenue, and we're seeing huge opportunity. There is a multi-hundred million dollar funnel on it already in a very quick period of time. So we will do very well in Hailo over time, but short term, we're having to absorb its higher OpEx.

所以那邊表現很好，但因為營收規模太小，對整體不會有明顯影響。Hailo目前還不賺錢。他們研發費用很高、營收規模又小，但我們看到巨大的機會。在很短的時間內，相關商機漏斗（funnel）就已經達到數億美元規模。所以長期來看我們在Hailo會做得很好，但短期內我們必須吸收其較高的OpEx。

Yeah, that's very helpful. Thank you. Steve, I wanted to follow up on another question you answered earlier. You didn't quite say that, hey, we've been in an AI bubble, but effectively, what one might infer from what you said about all the various challenges with data center, and when you responded about how to think about the influence on your business, you --

是的，這非常有幫助。謝謝。Steve，我想追問你先前回答的另一個問題。你沒有直接說「我們正處於AI泡沫」，但實際上，從你談到資料中心各種挑戰、以及你回應如何看待其對你們業務的影響時，人們可能會推論你——

I didn't say it, then you said no (multiple speakers) I'm sorry, go ahead.

我沒這麼說，是你說的，不（多位講者）抱歉，你繼續。

No, no. Okay, that's good. I appreciate that. But in terms of how to interpret, how to think about the go-forward model, you encouraged us to think about data center versus not, and you talked about the silver lining, but I wonder if you consider or if you think your business may be influenced from a couple of other factors. For example, data center drives some Industrial demand probably for your business.

不、不。好，這樣就好。我很感謝。但就如何解讀、如何思考未來的模型而言，你鼓勵我們把資料中心與非資料中心分開來看，你也談到一線希望；不過我想知道，你是否認為、或你是否覺得你們的業務可能還會受到其他幾個因素影響。例如，資料中心可能會帶動一些工業需求，對你們的業務應該有影響。

Probably, it's certainly responsible for some of the price inflation we've seen. By the way, there's a similar dynamic in Aerospace and Defense if you consider a lot of what's going on now, the unwind potentially related to lower spending in Aerospace and Defense to which you're highly exposed. So, if we were in a bubble in AI data center, couldn't this be more broadly problematic for your business?

可能吧，它當然也要為我們看到的一部分價格上漲負責。順帶一提，如果你考慮到現在發生的很多事情，在航太與國防也有類似的動態——可能會出現回檔（unwind），與航太與國防支出下降有關，而你們在那邊曝險很高。所以，如果AI資料中心曾經是一個泡沫，這會不會更廣泛地對你們的業務造成問題？

No, I don't think so. Data center is 16.7% of our business, and half of that 16.7% is broad-based products, and half of that are the Data Center Solutions Business Unit. The Data Center Solutions Business Unit is in the retooling phase, having lost the Gen 5, regaining market share with Gen 6.

不，我不這麼認為。資料中心占我們業務的16.7%，而這16.7%的一半是廣泛型產品，另一半是資料中心解決方案事業部（Data Center Solutions Business Unit）。資料中心解決方案事業部正處於重新調整（retooling）階段：先前失去Gen 5，現在透過Gen 6重新奪回市占。

So there's all upside. In the broad-based business that we have, there would be roughly 8% of our business out of the 100. So I think this is a time, if the data center were to correct, our broad-based exposure in Industrial, in Automotive, in Aerospace and Defense, in Appliances, in Consumer, in Computing would be very, very helpful. Microchip should outperform in that kind of environment compared to the companies that are kind of all data center.

所以那邊只有上行空間。至於我們的廣泛型業務，約占整體100%中的8%左右。因此我認為，如果資料中心出現修正，我們在工業、汽車、航太與國防、家電、消費性、運算等領域的廣泛曝險，將會非常、非常有幫助。在那種環境下，相較於那些幾乎全押資料中心的公司，Microchip應該會表現得更好。

Got it. Thank you.

了解。謝謝。

Yes, if I didn't say it, I'll say it again. I have been saying it, that data center is in the bubble.

是的，如果我沒說，我再說一次。我一直在說，資料中心是在泡沫之中。

There we have it.

就是這樣。

Joshua Buchalter, TD Cowen.

Joshua Buchalter，TD Cowen。

Hey, guys. Thanks for taking my question. Steve, you mentioned sort of a reluctance to raise pricing so close to the previous increase. In the spring, you were also mentioning, given some of the relationships you were trying to rebuild after PSP, that reluctance.

嗨，各位。謝謝讓我提問。Steve，你提到在距離上一次漲價這麼近的時間點，對於再度調漲價格有些猶豫。春季時你也提到，考量到在 PSP 之後你們正試圖重建的一些關係，當時也有這種猶豫。

I guess big picture, you are seeing pressure from input costs rising. How are you philosophically thinking about pricing from a high level? How should we expect you, from a competitive standpoint, to react as a lot of your competitors are raising prices? Thank you.

我想從大方向來看，你們看到投入成本上升帶來的壓力。從高層次來看，你們在理念上是如何思考定價的？從競爭角度，當許多競爭對手都在漲價時，我們應該如何預期你們會做出反應？謝謝。

I think we were very careful in raising prices. We immediately didn't jump on it back in January, February. We were in the process of repairing our relationships, which we have done it very successfully. That's delivering 40% growth year over year.

我認為我們在漲價方面非常謹慎。在一月、二月時我們並沒有立刻跟進。當時我們正在修復我們的客戶關係，而我們做得非常成功。這也帶來了年增 40% 的成長。

When we became comfortable that our relationship was such that we can handle a price increase, we implemented it very carefully. It was small in nature, and we've been successful. We haven't lost customers.

當我們對關係的狀態感到放心，認為可以承受一次漲價時，我們非常小心地執行。幅度不大，而且我們做得很成功。我們沒有流失客戶。

Now we're in the same mode. I think we don't want to push the luck so much. We're not greedy. We are comfortable and happy with the gross margins we have. The other point I would make is our operating margins are higher than some of our competitors' gross margins.

現在我們也處於同樣的模式。我認為我們不想把運氣推得太過頭。我們不貪心。我們對目前的毛利率感到安心且滿意。另外一點是，我們的營業利益率比一些競爭對手的毛利率還高。

I mean, look at STMicro. It's not that our product prices is low. We are a premium price company. We make very good product, high quality. We fight for every cent. Our margins are very high, which means, I don't know if our costs are lower than those companies.

我是說，看看 STMicro。並不是我們的產品價格很低。我們是一家高價位（premium pricing）的公司。我們做出非常好的產品，品質很高。我們為每一分錢都會爭取。我們的利潤率非常高，這也意味著，我不知道我們的成本是否比那些公司更低。

Actual costs are very hard to compare. We don't really know. But if the costs were to be equivalent, our prices are very good. Our operating margin is higher than STMicro's gross margin. You got to give us some credit for that.

實際成本非常難比較。我們其實也不清楚。但如果成本相當，我們的定價是很不錯的。我們的營業利益率比 STMicro 的毛利率還高。這點你得給我們一些肯定。

No, I hear you on that. Maybe for Eric, leverage is down at below 2.4x. How should we be thinking about when's the right time when you'll be able to start returning cash to investors via raising the dividend and repurchases again? Thank you both.

不，我理解你的意思。也許問 Eric：槓桿率已降到 2.4 倍以下。我們應該如何看待，什麼時候才是你們能再次透過提高股利與回購來把現金回饋給投資人的適當時機？謝謝你們兩位。

Yeah, it's a good question. We get it a lot, and it is a discussion in the boardroom. But the board definitely wants us to continue to take leverage down. We had a pretty big scare during the last downturn, and leverage went way too high.

是的，這是個好問題。我們常被問到，董事會也確實在討論。但董事會明確希望我們繼續降低槓桿。在上一波景氣下行時我們受到很大的驚嚇，槓桿率升得太高。

I think we're going to take a cautious approach, keep the dividend where it's at for now, and probably evaluate this as we move into next fiscal year, have a good discussion with the board, and keep investors abreast of our thoughts. But next couple of quarters, for sure, continue to get the leverage metrics down.

我想我們會採取審慎作法，暫時把股利維持在目前水準，並且可能在進入下一個會計年度時再評估，與董事會好好討論，也會讓投資人了解我們的想法。但接下來幾個季度，肯定會繼續把槓桿指標降下來。

Christopher Rolland, Susquehanna.

Christopher Rolland，Susquehanna。

Thanks for the question. Steve, you are always good with insights on the cycle. This one seems hot and maybe getting hotter. If you could probably talk about how you see or when you see the cycle perhaps ending.

謝謝讓我提問。Steve，你對景氣循環的洞見一向很到位。這一輪看起來很熱，甚至可能更熱。你能否談談你如何看待、或何時會看到這個循環可能結束？

It does not seem like we have inventory builds and safety stock building and stuff like that that we had in COVID, so probably we have some to go. Maybe adding in there, if the AI data center bubble does slow here, in your words, is that going to be enough to prolong this cycle?

看起來不像 COVID 時期那樣有庫存堆積、安全庫存增加等等，所以可能還有一段路要走。另外補充一下，如果你所說的 AI 資料中心泡沫在這裡放緩，這是否足以延長這個循環？

I will go back to data center and non-data center. I do not see any issues in non-data center. Like I said, even our current quarter on a product basis is sequentially up 2.3%, where seasonality is down 3%-5%. I do not see any issues.

我會回到資料中心與非資料中心來看。我在非資料中心看不到任何問題。如我所說，即便以我們本季各產品來看，季增 2.3%，而季節性通常是下滑 3%～5%。我看不到任何問題。

We have a very good March backlog. I think cycle continues on the non-data center. On the data center side, like I said, on our Solutions Business Unit, Data Center Solutions Business Unit, is in the retooling phase. I mean, they are winning lots of designs. If we had those designs all on Gen 5, and we are re-winning them on Gen 6, it will not be incrementally as positive.

我們三月的在手訂單（backlog）非常好。我認為非資料中心的循環會持續。資料中心方面，如我所說，我們的解決方案事業部、資料中心解決方案事業部正處於重新整備（retooling）階段。我是說，他們正在贏得很多設計案。如果那些設計案原本都在 Gen 5 上，而我們在 Gen 6 上重新贏回來，那麼增量上的正面效果就不會那麼大。

We would have gotten revenue before, it would be a lot higher. But we lost them two years ago, and now we are winning it. We have won 24 designs on Gen 6. For us, I think it is incrementally positive. If the cycle decelerates, much of that upside and bubble is not in our numbers. It is in everybody else's numbers. It is not in our numbers.

我們原本就會先拿到營收，而且會高很多。但我們兩年前失去了它們，現在又贏回來。我們在 Gen 6 上已贏得 24 個設計案。對我們而言，我認為這是增量上的正面。如果循環減速，很多上行空間與泡沫並不在我們的數字裡。那是在其他所有人的數字裡。不在我們的數字裡。

Understood. Given the constraints that you guys have in the expanding lead times, it does seem like this is from external manufacturing as opposed to internal. Does any of this give you reconsideration on the mix of external versus internal? It was a long time ago that you were potentially considering a 300 mm fab, but would you consider even at the front end, perhaps planning for a new fab?

了解。考量到你們面臨的限制與交期拉長，看起來這是來自外部製造而非內部。這是否會讓你們重新思考外包與內製的組合？很久以前你們曾考慮過 300 mm 晶圓廠，但你們是否會考慮即便在前段製程，也規劃一座新廠？

I mean, we are an IDM, integrated device manufacturer. Our bias always is what we can produce inside, we produce inside. Let's take package first, and I'll take the fab. We largely do packages where we do not have enough volume to do it cost-effectively inside. In some cases, our volume are such we can't even keep one set of tools, one pilot line busy.

我是說，我們是一家 IDM（整合元件製造商）。我們一向的偏好是：能在內部生產的，就在內部生產。先談封裝，再談晶圓廠。我們多數把封裝外包，是因為量不夠大，無法在內部以具成本效益的方式來做。在某些情況下，我們的量甚至不足以讓一套設備、一條試產線保持忙碌。

If you can't, then your utilization will be very low and the cost will be higher. So those are the ones we do outside. Never had an issue with it. This is sort of the first time where AI is crowding it out and having us think through even bringing some things inside, which may be slightly higher cost, but at least we'll have the capacity.

如果做不到，那麼稼動率就會很低、成本就會更高。所以這些我們就放到外部做。過去從未有過問題。這算是第一次 AI 把產能擠壓掉，讓我們開始思考，甚至把某些東西拉回內部做，即便成本可能略高，但至少我們會有產能。

Now, if you come on the fab side, when we were considering a 300 mm fab during the post-COVID years, our plan was to do it under a license with a major foundry. Because all our wafers ran in that foundry, and the foundry was saying they will not add any trailing edge capacity, therefore, they were agreeing to give us a license at 300 mm to bring those processes inside. When the COVID cycle busted and they had enough capacity, then we didn't want to spend a couple of billion dollars or more of CapEx, nor did they want to give the license, so that program went away.

至於晶圓廠端，當我們在後 COVID 年代考慮 300 mm 晶圓廠時，我們的計畫是在一家主要晶圓代工廠的授權（license）之下來做。因為我們所有晶圓都在那家代工廠生產，而代工廠表示他們不會再增加任何成熟製程（trailing edge）產能，因此同意給我們 300 mm 的授權，把那些製程導入內部。當 COVID 循環破裂、他們有了足夠產能後，我們就不想投入數十億美元甚至更多的資本支出（CapEx），他們也不想再提供授權，所以那個計畫就取消了。

Today, the problems are not as big, and they're not as severe, and they're not multi-year problems where we have to go back and build a few billion dollars of capital to build a 300 mm fab and seek a license again. We're not thinking that because we don't think the problem is that long. It's just a short-term issue.

今天，問題沒有那麼大，也沒有那麼嚴重，也不是那種需要持續好幾年的問題——我們必須回頭再投入幾十億美元資本去建一座 300 mm 晶圓廠，並再次申請許可。我們不會那樣想，因為我們認為問題不會拖那麼久。這只是短期問題。

I just want to add one piece of clarification to the way you asked the question. We do have capacity constraints with some of our internal production also. There are certain products where we are behind, we cannot meet customers' lead times, and we are working as hard as we can to bring on capacity.

我只是想針對你提問的方式補充一點說明。我們內部生產在某些方面也確實有產能限制。有些產品我們落後了，無法滿足客戶的交期，我們正盡最大努力把產能拉上來。

As Steve mentioned before, even when we bring on that capacity, sometimes if it is outsourced for assembly test, we have capacity constraints even when it comes out of our fab. These constraints have grown beyond just being an outside foundry issue for us.

如 Steve 先前提到的，即使我們把產能拉上來，有時候如果後段封裝測試是外包的，那麼即便晶圓從我們的晶圓廠出來，我們在那裡也會遇到產能限制。對我們而言，這些限制已經不只是外部晶圓代工的問題了。

Tore Svanberg, Stifel.

Tore Svanberg，Stifel。

Yes, thank you. Steve, I had a question on the OSAT capacity, the external capacity that is impacting your front-end capacity. How much visibility do you have there? I mean, is it a matter of just being on a location and waiting to get the allocation, or do you have a fairly good feel for when that is going to open up so that you can actually start ramping your own front-end utilization?

是的，謝謝。Steve，我想問一下 OSAT 產能，也就是影響你們前段產能的外部產能。你們對那邊的能見度有多少？我的意思是，這只是人在現場等著拿到配額的問題，還是你們對何時會鬆動、讓你們能真正開始提升自家前段產能利用率，有相當好的掌握？

There are multiple answers to that question. In some cases, our allocation at that OSAT is not increasing, so we are qualifying a different OSAT in a different country, and some of that is scheduled to be in production in the middle of next quarter. We will get some incremental for half the quarter and then have more even in the June quarter.

這個問題有好幾種答案。在某些情況下，我們在該 OSAT 的配額沒有增加，所以我們正在另一個國家的不同 OSAT 進行認證，其中一部分預計在下個季度中段開始量產。我們在該季度後半段會拿到一些增量，到了 6 月季度還會更多。

In some other cases, the current OSAT is asking us to load it with a minimum batch size. Because when the batch sizes are smaller, it takes more capacity, it is less efficient for the manufacturer. So they are asking us to do minimum batch sizes. Our volume on those packages is small, and we cannot meet the minimum batch size. Therefore, either you pay the extra price for breaking the batch size, or you load it infrequently, once every two weeks, so you can bundle up and meet the minimum batch size, which again then pushes some revenue outside the quarter because you cannot meet the batch size.

在另外一些情況下，目前的 OSAT 要求我們以最低批量（minimum batch size）投料。因為當批量較小時，會占用更多產能，對製造商而言效率較低。所以他們要求我們達到最低批量。我們在那些封裝上的量很小，無法達到最低批量。因此，要嘛你為拆批（未達批量）支付額外費用，要嘛就降低投料頻率、每兩週投一次，這樣才能把量湊起來達到最低批量；但這又會把部分營收推到季度之外，因為你無法達到批量要求。

In some other cases, we are tooling up that capacity inside, and several different programs, and some are in production next quarter, some will even take a quarter longer. It is all over the place. But more capacity becomes available next quarter, June quarter, and from there on.

還有一些情況是，我們正在內部把那部分產能建置起來，涉及好幾個不同的專案；有些會在下個季度投產，有些甚至還要再多一個季度。情況很分散。但下個季度、6 月季度以及之後，會有更多產能可用。

That is very helpful. Thank you. As my follow-up, and maybe back to the sort of AI bubble and rebalancing of data center across your seven segments, is there anything that you could give us confidence that, if data center does slow down, I understand that it will not impact you as much as others, but what about, let us say, the 24 design wins you have in PCIe Gen 6?

這非常有幫助。謝謝。作為追問，也許回到 AI 泡沫以及你們七個事業部中資料中心的再平衡：有沒有什麼能讓我們更有信心——如果資料中心放緩，我理解對你們的影響不會像其他公司那麼大——但例如你們在 PCIe Gen 6 上拿到的 24 個 design win 呢？

Are they still going to go to production? Any sort of color you could share with us there to give us that confidence?

它們還會進入量產嗎？你能否分享一些看法，讓我們更有信心？

Yeah. So 24 design wins will go to production, but its volume could be slightly lower than if the bubble were to continue. We do not always know the customer who we have design wins with, when they go to production, are they shipping into a data center which already exists, or they are shipping into a data center in Ohio that the local governor is going to put on hold.

會的。這 24 個 design win 都會進入量產，但如果泡沫不再延續，量可能會比原本略低一些。我們不一定總是知道：我們拿到 design win 的客戶在量產時，是出貨到既有的資料中心，還是出貨到俄亥俄州某個可能被當地州長暫緩的資料中心。

We do not know that, right? It is all over the place. But it is much smaller portion of our business, so the impact on us from that slowdown would be a fraction of what it would be compared to somebody who is 100% business is in data center.

我們不知道，對吧？情況很分散。但這在我們業務中占比小得多，所以那種放緩對我們的影響，只會是相較於那些 100% 業務都在資料中心的公司的一小部分。

Yeah, that's fair. Thank you very much.

是的，這很合理。非常感謝。

The fact that on many of the products, like the Gen 6 switch and retimer, it's largely all upside for us because we have no business in it. The other comment I want to make is, if you conservatively model fiscal year 2028, that begins on April 1, with whatever assumptions you have, even in the extreme conservative case, I come up with over $4 of earnings. The stock is at 15x earnings.

事實上，在許多產品上，例如 Gen 6 交換器和 retimer，對我們而言幾乎都是純上行空間，因為我們在那裡原本沒有業務。我還想補充一點：如果你用保守方式去建模 2028 會計年度（從 4 月 1 日開始），不管你採用什麼假設，即便在極端保守的情境下，我算出來每股盈餘也超過 4 美元。而這檔股票目前只有 15 倍本益比。

Sounds good. thank you.

聽起來不錯。謝謝。

I tell you, I'm tempted to buy it myself. I might.

我跟你說，我都忍不住想自己買了。我可能會。

That concludes today's question-and-answer session. I'd like to turn the floor back over to Mr. Sanghi for closing comments.

以上結束今天的問答環節。我想把時間交回給 Sanghi 先生做結語。

Thank you for attending our conference call. I think next conference we go to will be UBS, right?

感謝各位參加我們的電話會議。我想我們下一場要參加的會議是 UBS，對吧？

Sanghi is at a conference next week. But yeah, we'll have a large Microchip presence at UBS with a larger group of executives.

Sanghi 下週會出席一場會議。不過是的，我們會在 UBS 有更大規模的 Microchip 團隊出席，會有更多高階主管一起參與。

We'll see some of you there. Thank you very much.

到時候會在那裡見到各位中的一些人。非常感謝。

Thanks, everyone.

謝謝各位。

This concludes today's teleconference. You may disconnect your lines at this time. Thank you for your participation.

今天的電話會議到此結束。您現在可以掛斷電話線。感謝您的參與。