萬機儀器 (MKSI) 2025 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Good day, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the MKS Instruments first-quarter 2025 earnings conference call. (Operator Instructions) Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded.

您好，感謝您的支持。歡迎參加 MKS Instruments 2025 年第一季財報電話會議。（操作員指示）請注意，今天的會議正在錄音。

I would now like to hand the conference over to your first speaker today, Paretosh Misra, Vice President of Investor Relations. Please, go ahead.

現在，我想將會議交給今天的第一位發言者，投資者關係副總裁帕雷托什·米斯拉 (Paretosh Misra)。請繼續。

Good morning, everyone. I'm Paretosh Misra, Vice President of Investor Relations, and I'm joined this morning by John Lee, President and Chief Executive Officer; and Ram Mayampurath, Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer, and Treasurer. Yesterday, after market close, we released our financial results for the first quarter of 2025, which are posted to our investor website at investor.mks.com.

大家早安。我是投資者關係副總裁 Paretosh Misra，今天早上與我一起出席的還有總裁兼執行長 John Lee；以及執行副總裁、財務長兼財務主管 Ram Mayampurath。昨天收盤後，我們發布了 2025 年第一季的財務業績，該業績發佈在我們的投資者網站 investor.mks.com 上。

As a reminder, various remarks about future expectations, plans, and prospects for MKS comprise forward-looking statements. Actual results may differ materially as a result of various important factors, including those discussed in yesterday's press release and in our most recent annual report on Form 10-K. These statements represent the company's expectations only as of today and should not be relied upon as representing the company's estimates or views as of any date subsequent to today, and the company disclaims any obligation to update these statements.

提醒一下，關於 MKS 未來預期、計劃和前景的各種評論均包含前瞻性陳述。由於各種重要因素，包括昨天的新聞稿和我們最新的 10-K 表年度報告中所討論的因素，實際結果可能存在重大差異。這些聲明僅代表本公司截至今天的預期，不應被視為代表本公司截至今天之後任何日期的估計或觀點，且本公司不承擔更新這些聲明的任何義務。

During the call, we will be discussing various non-GAAP financial measures. Unless otherwise noted, all income statement-related financial measures will be non-GAAP other than revenue and gross margin. Please refer to our press release and the presentation materials posted to the investor relations sections of our website for information regarding our non-GAAP financial results and a reconciliation to our GAAP measures. Our investor website also provides a detailed breakout of revenues by end market and division.

在電話會議中，我們將討論各種非公認會計準則財務指標。除非另有說明，除收入和毛利率外，所有與損益表相關的財務指標均採用非公認會計準則。有關我們的非 GAAP 財務業績以及與 GAAP 指標的對帳訊息，請參閱我們的新聞稿和發佈到我們網站投資者關係部分的簡報資料。我們的投資者網站也提供了按終端市場和部門劃分的詳細收入明細。

Now, I'll turn the call over to John.

現在，我將把電話轉給約翰。

Thanks, Paretosh, and good morning, everyone. MKS delivered excellent results in the first quarter as we reported strong revenues, executed well on cost management, delivered to our customers' production demand, and continued our deep technology engagements with them.

謝謝，帕累托什，大家早安。MKS 在第一季取得了出色的業績，因為我們報告了強勁的收入，在成本管理方面表現良好，滿足了客戶的生產需求，並繼續與他們進行深入的技術合作。

First quarter revenue of $936 million and gross margins of 47.4% were both at the high end of our guidance. Net earnings per delivered share of $1.71 exceeded the high end of our guidance. Our performance is a result of outstanding work by our team in a demand environment that has been showing early signs of improvement.

第一季營收為 9.36 億美元，毛利率為 47.4%，均達到我們預期的高點。每股淨收益 1.71 美元，超出了我們預期的最高水準。我們的業績源自於我們的團隊在需求環境已經出現早期改善跡象的情況下所做的出色工作。

The announcement of new and changing trade policies since February has injected uncertainty into our industry and our end markets. Our team is working closely with our suppliers and our customers to mitigate adverse impacts from these trade policies.

自二月以來，新的和不斷變化的貿易政策的宣布給我們的行業和終端市場帶來了不確定性。我們的團隊正在與供應商和客戶密切合作，以減輕這些貿易政策的不利影響。

At present, we do not expect a material impact to revenue, but we do anticipate some near-term impact on margins as we optimize supply chain and manufacturing activities in response to the dynamic geopolitical environment. Ron will provide more details later in the call.

目前，我們預計收入不會受到重大影響，但隨著我們根據動態的地緣政治環境優化供應鏈和製造活動，我們預計利潤率將在短期內受到一些影響。羅恩將在稍後的電話會議中提供更多細節。

I'll turn now to Q1 performance in our three end markets. Starting with our semiconductor market, revenue came in at the high end of our guidance and improved sequentially, driven by modest increases in demand for our vacuum product offerings for NAND. Specifically, our RF power solutions offerings in our plasma and reactive gas businesses performed well.

現在我將談談我們三個終端市場的第一季表現。從我們的半導體市場開始，由於對我們的 NAND 真空產品的需求適度增長，收入達到了我們預期的高位，並且環比有所提高。具體來說，我們的等離子和反應氣體業務中的射頻功率解決方案產品表現良好。

NAND picked up from prior year levels as customer inventories have largely normalized and system upgrades have increased. We also saw notable order activity in thermal sensors for etch applications and reactive gases for advanced wet cleaning applications. In the second quarter, we expect semiconductor revenue to be consistent on a sequential basis, but up low double digits year over year, reflective of an environment that is steadily improving.

由於客戶庫存基本上恢復正常且系統升級增加，NAND 價格較上年同期有所回升。我們也看到蝕刻應用的熱感測器和先進濕法清洗應用的反應氣體的訂單活動顯著增加。在第二季度，我們預計半導體營收將與上一季持平，但年成長將達到兩位數左右，這反映出市場環境正在穩步改善。

We are confident in our ability to outperform as the market recovery gains momentum and as our history has repeatedly shown during these upturns. Electronics and packaging revenue were also at the high end of our guidance. Better-than-expected result during a quarter that included the lunar New Year was driven by increased sales of flexible PCB drilling equipment as well as rigid PCB chemistry equipment.

隨著市場復甦勢頭增強，我們對自己的表現充滿信心，正如我們的歷史在這些好轉時期反覆證明的那樣。電子和包裝收入也達到了我們預期的高端。農曆新年期間的季度表現優於預期，這得益於柔性 PCB 鑽孔設備以及剛性 PCB 化學設備的銷售成長。

Some of our flexible PCB drilling equipment customers pulled forward purchases into Q1. We also saw continued momentum in orders for our chemistry and chemistry equipment for advanced multi-layer boards, high-density interconnects, and packaged substrates related to AI applications. Our products and technologies play key roles in enabling the manufacturing of increasingly complex electronic devices in this era of heterogeneous integration.

我們的一些柔性PCB鑽孔設備客戶將採購提前至第一季。我們還看到，用於先進多層板、高密度互連和與人工智慧應用相關的封裝基板的化學和化學設備的訂單持續增長。在異質整合時代，我們的產品和技術在製造日益複雜的電子設備方面發揮關鍵作用。

Additionally, we saw strong orders for laser equipment for low earth orbit satellite applications where we are the process tool record for multiple customers, validating our position as an innovator in advanced laser technologies. Looking ahead to Q2, we expect revenue from our electronics and packaging market to be down mid-single digits on a sequential basis but up mid-single digits year over year. Consistent with prior years, we believe our chemistry revenue will increase sequentially.

此外，我們看到了低地球軌道衛星應用雷射設備的大量訂單，我們是多個客戶的製程工具記錄，證明了我們作為先進雷射技術創新者的地位。展望第二季度，我們預期電子和封裝市場的營收將季減中個位數，但年增中個位數。與往年一致，我們相信我們的化學收入將持續成長。

However, we anticipate this increase will likely be offset by lower sales in our flexible PCB drilling equipment business given the pull forward of shipments I mentioned earlier. Our guidance implies a healthy low-teens, year-over-year growth rate for electronics and packaging the first half of the year. Q2 is expected to be the third consecutive quarter of strong chemistry equipment revenue, which is a good leading indicator for our consumable chemistry products.

然而，考慮到我之前提到的出貨量提前，我們預計這一增長可能會被柔性 PCB 鑽孔設備業務的銷售下降所抵消。我們的預期意味著今年上半年電子產品和包裝產業的年增長率將達到健康的低十幾個百分點。預計第二季將是化學設備收入連續第三個季度強勁成長，這對我們的消耗性化學產品來說是一個很好的領先指標。

Our specialty industrial revenue was above the midpoint of our guidance. Within this market, life and health sciences and research and defense end markets performed steadily, but we did see some softness across the broader industrial market, especially with automotive applications. As a reminder, our specialty industrial market consists of a variety of applications across multiple end markets that leverage existing MKS technologies.

我們的特種工業收入高於預期的中點。在這個市場中，生命和健康科學以及研究和國防終端市場表現穩定，但我們確實看到整個工業市場出現一些疲軟，尤其是汽車應用領域。提醒一下，我們的專業工業市場由利用現有 MKS 技術的多個終端市場的各種應用組成。

Looking ahead to Q2, we expect revenue in our specialty industrial market to remain flattish as the broader industrial market remains soft. Overall, we executed well and delivered strong financial results in Q1. Our Q2 end market outlook and overall financial guidance reflect the increased uncertainty of the trade policies against, what otherwise appears to be an early-stage recovery in the end markets we serve.

展望第二季度，由於整體工業市場依然疲軟，我們預期專業工業市場的營收將保持穩定。總體而言，我們在第一季表現良好並取得了強勁的財務業績。我們對第二季終端市場的展望和整體財務指引反映了貿易政策不確定性的增加，而我們所服務的終端市場似乎正處於早期復甦階段。

While we are actively working on mitigation strategies in the near term, the situation remains fluid as our customers and the broader electronics ecosystem adapt to both tariffs and their potential macroeconomic implications. That said, we believe MKS is in a strong position to manage through these uncertainties with the industry's broadest portfolio of leading technologies, strong customer relationships, a strong financial operating model, and a team that is battle-tested.

雖然我們正在積極制定短期緩解策略，但隨著我們的客戶和更廣泛的電子生態系統適應關稅及其潛在的宏觀經濟影響，情況仍然不穩定。儘管如此，我們相信，憑藉業界最廣泛的領先技術組合、強大的客戶關係、強大的財務營運模式以及久經考驗的團隊，MKS 有能力應對這些不確定性。

Now let me turn it over to Ram to run through the financial results and second quarter guidance in more detail. Ram?

現在，讓我將時間交給拉姆，讓他更詳細地介紹一下財務表現和第二季的指引。記憶體？

Thank you, John, and good morning, everyone. We delivered strong results in the first quarter, driven by a continued recovery in demand in our semiconductor and electronics and packaging end markets, along with disciplined execution and cost management. First quarter revenue was $936 million, similar to last quarter, and up 8% year-over-year.

謝謝你，約翰，大家早安。受半導體、電子和封裝終端市場需求持續復甦以及嚴格的執行和成本管理的推動，我們在第一季取得了強勁的業績。第一季營收為 9.36 億美元，與上季持平，年增 8%。

The result was at the high end of our guidance and reflects better-than-expected trends across all our end markets. Excluding the impact of FX and palladium pass-through, revenue grew 10% year-over-year. First quarter semiconductor revenue was $413 million, up 3% sequentially, and 18% year-over-year.

這一結果達到了我們預期的高端，反映出我們所有終端市場的趨勢都比預期好。不計外匯和鈀金轉嫁的影響，營收年增 10%。第一季半導體營收為 4.13 億美元，季增 3%，年增 18%。

Excluding FX, revenue was up 20% year-over-year. The result was all at the high end of our expectations as our team continued to capitalize on sequential demand recovery in NAND, DRAM, and logic and foundry applications. Compared to last year, we saw strong performance in our plasma and reactive gas and RF power solutions businesses, reflecting benefits of NAND upgrades as well as normalization of customer inventory.

不包括外匯，營收年增20%。由於我們的團隊繼續利用 NAND、DRAM 以及邏輯和代工應用的連續需求復甦，因此結果完全符合我們的預期。與去年相比，我們的等離子和反應氣體以及射頻功率解決方案業務表現強勁，反映了 NAND 升級以及客戶庫存正常化的好處。

First quarter electronics and packaging revenue was $253 million, similar to last quarter, and at the high end of our guidance. The sequential result was led by unusually strong, flexible PCB drilling and chemistry equipment sales, partially offset by normal seasonal declines in chemistry. On a year-over-year basis, sales were up 22%, and excluding the impact of FX and palladium pass-through, sales were up 26%.

第一季電子和包裝收入為 2.53 億美元，與上一季持平，處於我們預期的高點。連續業績成長主要得益於柔性 PCB 鑽孔和化學設備銷售異常強勁，但被化學產品正常的季節性下滑部分抵銷。與去年同期相比，銷售額成長了 22%，若不計外匯和鈀金轉嫁的影響，銷售額則成長了 26%。

Chemistry revenue was up 8%, excluding the impact of FX and palladium pass-through, continuing the strong growth trend we have seen from last year. Flexible PCB drilling and chemistry equipment sales also rendered strong growth over the prior year. As John mentioned, we see our strong equipment sales as a positive leading indicator for future chemistry sales given the historical attach rates.

不包括外匯和鈀金轉嫁的影響，化學收入成長了 8%，延續了去年強勁的成長趨勢。柔性PCB鑽孔和化學設備的銷售額也比去年強勁成長。正如約翰所提到的，考慮到歷史附加率，我們認為強勁的設備銷售是未來化學品銷售的積極領先指標。

In our specialty industrial markets, first quarter revenue was $270 million, a decline of 4% sequentially, but above our guidance midpoint. Revenue was down 13% on a year-over-year basis and down 11%, excluding the impact of FX and palladium pass-through, primarily due to the continued softness in the general industrial and automotive markets.

在我們的專業工業市場，第一季營收為 2.7 億美元，季減 4%，但高於我們的預期中位數。營收年減13%，剔除外匯和鈀金轉嫁的影響後下降11%，主要原因是一般工業和汽車市場持續疲軟。

Moving down to the P&L, first quarter gross margin was 47.4%, which was at the high end of our guidance. We are pleased with the gross margin performance, which was up sequentially despite higher mix of equipment. This demonstrates the value our products bring to our customers and our continued execution on manufacturing excellence and supply chain efficiency.

轉到損益表，第一季毛利率為 47.4%，處於我們預期的高點。我們對毛利率表現感到滿意，儘管設備組合增加，但毛利率仍較上季上升。這證明了我們的產品為客戶帶來的價值以及我們在卓越製造和供應鏈效率方面的持續執行。

First quarter operating expenses were $254 million, near the midpoint of our guidance. We remain committed to managing our OpEx carefully as we balance investing for growth with driving profitability. First quarter operating income was $189 million, with an operating margin of 20.2%. This results in the strong revenue and gross margin that I highlighted.

第一季的營運費用為 2.54 億美元，接近我們預期的中間值。我們將繼續致力於謹慎管理我們的營運支出，在投資成長和提高獲利能力之間取得平衡。第一季營業收入為1.89億美元，營業利益率為20.2%。這導致了我所強調的強勁收入和毛利率。

First quarter adjusted EBITDA was $236 million, and at the high end of our expectations, an adjusted EBITDA margin of 25.2%. Net interest expenses was $45 million, just below our guidance of $46 million. The first quarter effective tax rate was 19.9%, which was lower than our guidance of 22%.

第一季調整後的 EBITDA 為 2.36 億美元，處於我們預期的高端，調整後的 EBITDA 利潤率為 25.2%。淨利息支出為 4500 萬美元，略低於我們的預期 4600 萬美元。第一季有效稅率為19.9%，低於我們的預期22%。

First quarter net earnings were $116 million, or $1.71 per diluted share, and above the high end of our guidance, reflecting the strong operating performance and lower income tax rates. First quarter free cash flow remained strong at $123 million, which is over 100% of our net earnings and 13% of revenue.

第一季淨收益為 1.16 億美元，即每股 1.71 美元，高於我們預期的高端，反映了強勁的經營業績和較低的所得稅率。第一季的自由現金流保持強勁，達到 1.23 億美元，占我們淨利潤的 100% 以上和收入的 13%。

We invested $18 million in our capital expenditures in the quarter, or slightly under 2% of revenue. We expect full year CapEx to fall within 4% to 5% of revenue. We closed the quarter with approximately $1.3 billion of liquidity, comprised of cash and cash equivalents of $655 million, and our undrawn revolving credit facility of $675 million.

本季我們的資本支出為 1800 萬美元，略低於收入的 2%。我們預計全年資本支出將佔收入的 4% 至 5%。本季末，我們的流動資金約為 13 億美元，其中包括 6.55 億美元的現金和現金等價物，以及 6.75 億美元的未提取循環信貸額度。

As we mentioned in our last earnings call in January 2025, we made a voluntary principal prepayment of $100 million in connection with the repricing of our term loans, which reduced our credit spreads by 25 basis points. We exited the quarter with a gross debt of $4.6 billion and a net leverage ratio of 4.2 times based on our trailing 12-month adjusted EBITDA of $933 million. Our net leverage ratio improved slightly from the end of prior quarter, reflecting our strong year-over-year adjusted EBITDA results.

正如我們在 2025 年 1 月的上次收益電話會議上提到的那樣，我們自願提前償還了 1 億美元的本金，以重新定價我們的定期貸款，這使我們的信用利差降低了 25 個基點。本季結束時，我們的總債務為 46 億美元，基於過去 12 個月調整後的 EBITDA 9.33 億美元，淨槓桿率為 4.2 倍。我們的淨槓桿率較上一季末略有改善，反映了我們強勁的同比調整後 EBITDA 業績。

Also in the quarter, we repurchased approximately 0.5 million shares under our existing share repurchase program. The repurchase was accretive and is expected to offset full year stock compensation dilution. In addition to this, we expect to make another voluntary prepayment on our term loan in the current quarter.

本季我們也根據現有股票回購計畫回購了約 50 萬股。此次回購具有增值作用，預計將抵銷全年股票薪資稀釋。除此之外，我們預計本季將再次自願提前償還定期貸款。

We remain focused on executing on our long-term capital allocation priorities of investing in organic growth opportunities and reducing our leverage through principal prepayments and working with our banking partners to reduce our interest expenses as market opportunities arise. Finally, during the quarter, we paid a dividend of $0.22 per share, or $15 million.

我們仍然專注於執行我們的長期資本配置優先事項，即投資有機成長機會、透過預付本金來降低我們的槓桿率，並與我們的銀行合作夥伴合作，在市場機會出現時降低我們的利息支出。最後，在本季度，我們支付了每股 0.22 美元的股息，即 1500 萬美元。

We are very pleased with our performance in the quarter. The fundamentals of our business remain strong. At our current cost structure, we expect significant improvements in cash generation as the demand environment improves, which would allow us to accelerate our deleveraging efforts even further.

我們對本季的表現非常滿意。我們的業務基礎依然強勁。在我們目前的成本結構下，隨著需求環境的改善，我們預期現金產生將顯著改善，這將使我們能夠進一步加快去槓桿力度。

Let me now turn to our second quarter outlook. The guidance we are providing represents our best estimates based on the dynamic environment in which we are operating. We expect revenue of $925 million plus or minus $40 million, reflecting our view that underlying demand remains stable despite the trade-related uncertainties. We believe our technology is integral to our customer success, and we are designed into many of the advanced applications our products support.

現在讓我來談談我們第二季的展望。我們提供的指導代表了我們根據營運的動態環境做出的最佳估計。我們預計收入為 9.25 億美元，上下浮動 4000 萬美元，這反映出我們認為儘管存在貿易相關的不確定性，但潛在需求仍然保持穩定。我們相信我們的技術對於客戶的成功至關重要，並且我們的技術已融入我們的產品支援的許多先進應用中。

Buy-in market, we expect semiconductor revenue to be $415 million plus or minus $15 million. Revenue from our electronics and packaging market is expected to be $240 million plus or minus $10 million. And revenue from our specialty industrial market is expected to be $270 million plus or minus $15 million.

買進市場，我們預期半導體營收為 4.15 億美元，上下浮動 1,500 萬美元。我們的電子和包裝市場的收入預計為 2.4 億美元，上下浮動 1000 萬美元。我們專業工業市場的收入預計為 2.7 億美元，上下浮動 1500 萬美元。

This guidance reflects relative stability in our business, with the exception of slight downtick in flex PCB drilling equipment following the exceptional first quarter results. We are guiding gross margin of 46.5% plus or minus 100 basis points. The guidance incorporates expectations of a certain higher near-term costs related to tariffs.

該指引反映了我們業務的相對穩定性，除了在第一季業績優異之後柔性 PCB 鑽孔設備略有下滑之外。我們預期毛利率為 46.5% 上下浮動 100 個基點。該指引考慮了與關稅相關的近期成本將有所上升的預期。

Our current estimate is that tariffs could be up to 100 basis points. We will remain agile in light of the fluid trade and tariff environment to optimize our performance as we implement cost mitigation strategies. We expect second quarter operating expenses of $252 million plus or minus $5 million and adjusted EBITDA of $216 million plus or minus $23 million.

我們目前的估計是關稅可能高達100個基點。鑑於不斷變化的貿易和關稅環境，我們將保持靈活性，在實施成本降低策略的同時優化我們的績效。我們預計第二季營運費用為 2.52 億美元，上下浮動 500 萬美元，調整後 EBITDA 為 2.16 億美元，上下浮動 2,300 萬美元。

We expect tax rates of approximately 18% in the second quarter. Based on the progress we have made on our ongoing tax planning efforts, we now expect our full year tax rate to be in the range of 18% to 20%. We expect second quarter net earnings per diluted share of $1.56 plus or minus $0.28. This includes our estimated impact of incremental tariff costs.

我們預計第二季的稅率約為18%。根據我們正在進行的稅務規劃工作所取得的進展，我們現在預計全年稅率將在 18% 至 20% 之間。我們預計第二季每股淨收益為 1.56 美元，上下浮動 0.28 美元。這包括我們估計的增量關稅成本的影響。

We are pleased with the demand trends we are seeing in key areas of our business and the overall encouraging start to the year. Our execution has remained strong and we have a longstanding track record of managing through uncertainty. We remain confident in our position as a key provider of enabling technologies to our customers across the electronics ecosystem and in our ability to help them solve their most complex challenges.

我們對業務關鍵領域的需求趨勢以及今年整體令人鼓舞的開局感到滿意。我們的執行力依然強勁，並且我們擁有長期應對不確定性的良好記錄。我們對自己作為整個電子生態系統客戶支援技術的主要提供者的地位以及我們幫助他們解決最複雜挑戰的能力充滿信心。

With that, operator, please open the call for Q&A.

接線員，請開啟問答環節。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員指示）

Steve Barger, KeyBanc Capital Markets.

KeyBanc 資本市場公司的 Steve Barger。

Hey, thanks. Good morning. John, you said system upgrades for memory tools have increased. Does it feel like that trend has some momentum and can you talk about size and timing of what that could look like?

嘿，謝謝。早安.約翰，您說記憶體工具的系統升級增加。您是否覺得這種趨勢有一定的動能？您能談談這種趨勢的規模和時間嗎？

Yeah, good morning, Steve. I would say this, two things. One is that the inventory burn of our inventory for the NAND market looks like it's normalized, so that's one factor. But we are seeing the upgrades for NAND, and that's really where we were mentioning about the improving semiconductor market.

是的，早上好，史蒂夫。我想說兩件事。一是我們在NAND市場的庫存消耗看起來已經正常化了，這是一個因素。但我們看到了 NAND 的升級，這正是我們提到的半導體市場正在改善的地方。

In terms of outlook, we kind of expect more upgrades to continue, but certainly that can vary. We can see a quarter out, a little more, and I think really it's going to depend on the NAND customers and what their plans are. But for right now, we're pretty happy with the improvement in NAND year over year and the fact that our inventory has now normalized.

就前景而言，我們預計會繼續出現更多的升級，但情況肯定會有所不同。我們可以看到一個季度或更長一點的時間，我認為這實際上取決於 NAND 客戶及其計劃。但就目前而言，我們對 NAND 逐年改善以及庫存已恢復正常感到非常滿意。

And just in terms of overall size, I know you're incumbent on a lot of the machines that are out there. Is there any way to gauge what the size of it could be for upgrades?

就整體規模而言，我知道你們對許多現有的機器負有責任。有沒有什麼方法可以衡量升級所需的規模？

Well, I think the good thing is that upgrades means that you can only upgrade what's out there, the install base, and that is obviously one large customer of ours, and all of that is our RF power. It's hard to gauge the size of that. Of course, we know the install base, but it really will depend on which customers are upgrading.

嗯，我認為好處是升級意味著你只能升級現有的安裝基礎，這顯然是我們的一個大客戶，而所有這些都是我們的射頻功率。很難衡量其規模。當然，我們知道安裝基礎，但這實際上取決於哪些客戶正在升級。

And certainly one customer has said they see a lot of these customers planning on upgrades, but I think they're probably going to have the best visibility.

當然，有一位客戶表示，他們看到很多客戶都在計劃升級，但我認為他們可能會擁有最好的可見性。

Got it. And then for my follow-up, really great to hear about momentum for the chemistry equipment solutions. Can you frame up what customers are telling you about two-half visibility or what your second-half visibility is there and maybe timing of installation and how that results or flows through to chemistry?

知道了。然後，對於我的後續問題，真的很高興聽到有關化學設備解決方案的發展勢頭。您能否概括一下客戶告訴您的有關雙半可見性或您的後半可見性以及安裝時間以及其結果或對化學的影響？

Sure. The chemistry equipment bookings and now the revenue, this is the third quarter of those increased bookings there. We've talked about it in the past. This is tied to HDI and MLB for AI. So artificial intelligence is driving a lot of these new equipment bookings.

當然。化學設備訂單和現在的收入，這是第三季增加的訂單。我們以前討論過這個問題。這與 AI 的 HDI 和 MLB 相關。因此，人工智慧正在推動大量新設備預訂。

We see it steady right now. Of course, the bookings that occurred a three quarters ago are going in now last quarter, we will go in next quarter. So that's the kind of lead time you can expect. And this quarter, we also saw continued strength there. And also, as you know, we have a very, very high attach rate of our chemistry to that equipment. And it portends a very good future for that chemistry revenue.

我們現在看到它穩定。當然，三個季度前發生的預訂現在已經進入上個季度，我們將進入下個季度。這就是您可以預期的交貨時間。本季度，我們也看到了其持續的強勁表現。而且如您所知，我們的化學品與該設備的結合率非常非常高。這預示著化學收入的前景非常好。

Now, of course, chemistry revenue is determined by market demand in the end. But when we start with our equipment, it's certainly beneficial for MKS.

當然，化學收入最終是由市場需求決定的。但是當我們開始使用我們的設備時，它對 MKS 肯定是有益的。

Yeah, thanks. Sounds promising. I'll pass it along.

是的，謝謝。聽起來很有希望。我會傳達的。

Thanks, Steve.

謝謝，史蒂夫。

Shane Brett, Morgan Stanley.

摩根士丹利的 Shane Brett。

Thank you for letting me ask a question. So my first question is on tariffs. So you mentioned that tariffs will have an impact of 100 basis points on gross margins. Could you talk about how you and your customers are looking to mitigate or offset the impact? And have you seen any change to customer order patterns from tariffs? And I'm asking really in the context of whether you see any signs of Poland-like activity? Thank you.

感謝您允許我提問。我的第一個問題是關於關稅的。所以您提到關稅將對毛利率產生 100 個基點的影響。您能談談您和您的客戶如何減輕或抵銷影響嗎？您是否發現關稅對客戶訂單模式有任何改變？我真正想問的是，您是否看到了類似波蘭活動的跡象？謝謝。

Hi, Shane. This is Ram. I'll take that. We are very closely engaged both with our customers and suppliers to find the best solution. And in addition to that, as you know, we have global manufacturing and multi-site manufacturing capabilities with a very resilient supply chain. So those are our mitigation actions that we are looking at.

你好，肖恩。這是拉姆。我會接受的。我們與客戶和供應商密切合作，以找到最佳解決方案。除此之外，如您所知，我們擁有全球製造和多站點製造能力以及非常有彈性的供應鏈。這些就是我們正在考慮的緩解措施。

As you know, the situation is still very fluid. And we're looking at a broad array of mitigation plans, including selective commercial actions when necessary. And on your question on the top line, so far we haven't seen any impact to the top line from the tariffs.

正如你們所知，局勢仍然非常不穩定。我們正在研究一系列緩解計劃，包括在必要時採取選擇性商業行動。關於您提到的營收問題，到目前為止，我們還沒有看到關稅對營收產生任何影響。

Hey, Shane. This is John. I would clarify, too. We incorporated the effect of tariffs on our gross margin. We did say that that could be up to 100 basis points. We didn't say we incorporated that whole amount. I just want to make sure that was clear to everyone.

嘿，肖恩。這是約翰。我也想澄清一下。我們將關稅的影響納入了我們的毛利率。我們確實說過，這個數字可能高達 100 個基點。我們並沒有說我們納入了全部金額。我只是想確保每個人都清楚這一點。

Thank you for the clarification. And for my follow-up, this is kind of a big-picture question, but is there any preliminary outlook on the second half? And how has the stronger-than-expected first half possibly impacted your outlook, maybe three months ago?

感謝您的澄清。我的後續問題是，這是一個宏觀問題，但對下半年有什麼初步展望嗎？那麼，三個月前，上半年表現強於預期可能對您的前景產生什麼影響？

I think we were happy with our first-half performance, certainly in our semi-market as well as our E&P markets. When you take our guidance for Q2 and add it to our results for Q1, you can see double-digit increases year over year in semi as well as even in E&P. So we're really happy with those developments.

我認為我們對上半年的表現感到滿意，尤其是在半成品市場以及勘探與生產市場。當您將我們對第二季度的指導意見與第一季的業績相加時，您會發現半導體行業甚至勘探與生產行業的業績同比均實現了兩位數的增長。所以我們對這些進展感到非常高興。

I think your question is what will happen in the second half. I think, in general, if all things were equal, we would kind of be happy with a stable demand and potentially increasing demand in those markets. I think the biggest issue now is what will happen with the macroeconomic issues because of tariffs.

我想你的問題是下半場會發生什麼事。我認為，一般來說，如果所有條件都相同，我們會對這些市場穩定的需求和潛在的成長需求感到高興。我認為現在最大的問題是關稅將導致宏觀經濟問題發生什麼。

And so that puts a little more uncertainty into it. But if everything else were the same, we would certainly be happy with these pockets of improvements in our markets and then the year-over-year improvements in our markets.

因此，這會帶來更多的不確定性。但如果其他一切都相同，我們肯定會對我們市場中這些方面的改善以及我們市場逐年改善感到高興。

Got it. Thanks very much.

知道了。非常感謝。

Krish Sankar, Cowen & Company.

Krish Sankar，Cowen & Company。

Hi, thanks for taking my question. I have two of them. First one, John, you mentioned about land upgrades, et cetera, on the trend there. Is that a function of just the overall industry upgrades or is your RF power supply share gains helping incrementally? I'm just trying to figure out, has any share gains helped you or is it just more the industry cyclicality right now? And then I have a follow up.

你好，謝謝你回答我的問題。我有兩個。首先，約翰，您提到了土地升級等等趨勢。這是整個產業升級的結果嗎？還是您的射頻電源份額成長會逐步帶來幫助？我只是想弄清楚，股價上漲對您有幫助嗎，還是現在這只是產業週期性因素？然後我有一個後續行動。

Yeah, I would say this, Krish. The upgrades are picking up, and that's the real driver, as well as the fact that our inventory is burned off. I don't know how you gain more share when you're at 100%, so I'm not sure that question is relevant at this point. But we know we are 100% market share.

是的，我會這麼說，克里什。升級正在加速，這是真正的驅動力，也是我們的庫存被消耗殆盡的事實。我不知道當你達到 100% 時如何獲得更多份額，所以我不確定這個問題是否與此相關。但我們知道我們的市佔率是 100%。

This is on the RF side. Do you have any traction on the pulsed DC side?

這是在 RF 側。您對脈衝直流電方面有什麼看法嗎？

Yeah, I think we've talked in the past. Pulsed DC is something we work on, as well, and we're engaged with all the major players in pulsed DC. And pulsed DC is certainly something that may happen in volume production, but right now it has not.

是的，我想我們以前談過。脈衝直流電也是我們的研究方向，我們與脈衝直流電領域的所有主要參與者都有合作。脈衝直流電肯定有可能實現批量生產，但目前還沒有。

So we're working on that with customers. I think depending on the customer and the applications, some may adopt it, some may not.

因此我們正在與客戶一起努力解決這個問題。我認為根據客戶和應用程式的不同，有些客戶可能會採用它，有些客戶可能不會。

Got it. And then just as a follow-up, John, if you go back three months ago, a lot of your legacy Atotech business is leveraged to smartphones, and there's a view that smartphones are recovering the back half. Now that seems to have been pushed into next year, I'm just kind of curious, does that change the dynamics on how you look into your second half for the Atotech business, or is it too early to make that call?

知道了。然後作為後續問題，約翰，如果你回顧三個月前，你會發現你的許多傳統 Atotech 業務都與智慧型手機有關，有觀點認為智慧型手機正在恢復後半部分。現在看來，這件事情已經被推遲到明年了，我只是有點好奇，這是否會改變您對 Atotech 業務下半年的展望，還是現在下結論還為時過早？

Yeah, I would make a couple comments on that, Krish. We actually saw a little bit of improvement in our Atotech business related to smartphone builds and even little PCs. Not a lot, but you can see that in the year-over-year numbers in our chemistry revenue.

是的，克里什，我對此發表幾點評論。事實上，我們看到 Atotech 在智慧型手機製造甚至小型電腦方面的業務有所改善。雖然不多，但您可以從我們化學收入的同比數字中看到這一點。

I think in Q1 of 2025, our chemistry organic growth was 8% over Q1 of last year. So we're seeing some of that. A lot of it also is driven by AI, but to your point, the cyclicality of the consumer product cycle is typical that Q1 is the lowest for chemistry revenue, Q2 starts accelerating, Q3 is the peak, and then Q4 depends, depending on the demand.

我認為，2025 年第一季度，我們的化學有機成長率將比去年第一季成長 8%。我們看到了一些這樣的情況。其中許多也是由人工智慧驅動的，但正如你所說，消費產品週期的周期性是典型的，即化學收入在第一季度是最低的，第二季度開始加速，第三季度是峰值，然後第四季度取決於需求。

So I think we still are expecting that kind of pattern for the consumer markets-related part of our chemistry business.

因此我認為我們仍然期待化學業務中與消費市場相關的部分出現這種模式。

Thanks a lot, John. Thank you.

非常感謝，約翰。謝謝。

James Ricchiuti, Needham & Company.

詹姆斯·里基烏蒂（James Ricchiuti），李約瑟公司。

Good morning. John, what do you think drove the pull forward on the flex drilling side of the business? Any anticipation of tariffs, or do you think it was just some real underlying demand? I mean, it sounded like you were seeing some positive signs, which you alluded to in the last quarterly call.

早安.約翰，您認為是什麼推動了柔性鑽孔業務的發展？對關稅有任何預期嗎，或者您認為這只是一些真正的潛在需求？我的意思是，聽起來你看到了一些積極的跡象，你在上次季度電話會議上提到過這一點。

Yeah, that's right, Jim. As far as we could tell, it's really just demand was needed a little earlier than what we typically see in the cycle. You've covered us a long time; you know that cycle. It wasn't because of tariffs, as far as we could tell. It was just a demand pull-in because our customers needed it. So really not tariff-related.

是的，沒錯，吉姆。據我們所知，這實際上只是需要比我們通常在周期中看到的更早一點的需求。您已經報道我們很久了；你知道這個循環。據我們所知，這並不是因為關稅。這只是一種需求拉動，因為我們的客戶需要它。所以實際上與關稅無關。

And did that include demand also as it relates to HDI applications in that area for drilling?

這是否也包括該地區鑽探的 HDI 應用相關的需求？

Sorry, you broke up a little bit, Jim. Can you repeat that?

抱歉，你有點分心了，吉姆。你能重複一遍嗎？

Yeah. John, I just wanted to know how satisfied you are with the progress you're seeing in the HDI drilling portion of the business.

是的。約翰，我只是想知道你對 HDI 鑽井業務部分所取得的進展有多滿意。

Right. Yes. We mentioned, again, that low-earth orbit applications continue to grow. As you know, more and more customers are getting into that market, and being a production tool record is very helpful there. I think, in general, the HDI drilling market still remains a little muted in terms of CapEx. But we have several design wins throughout the year, and so we're still very happy with the progress there.

正確的。是的。我們再次提到，低地球軌道應用持續成長。如您所知，越來越多的客戶正在進入該市場，並且成為生產工具記錄在那裡非常有幫助。我認為，總體而言，HDI 鑽井市場在資本支出方面仍然有些低迷。但我們全年已贏得多項設計大獎，因此我們對目前的進展感到非常滿意。

I think the point I would make about the HDI, as we said in our prepared remarks, is that's confirmation for us that the tool we make, some customers definitely think it's very much something that is competitive and maybe differentiating from a cost of ownership standpoint.

我認為我想就 HDI 提出的觀點是，正如我們在準備好的發言中所說的那樣，這向我們證實了我們製造的工具，一些客戶肯定認為它非常具有競爭力，並且可能從擁有成本的角度來看具有差異化。

And just one quick follow-up. I'm wondering how you're thinking about mitigation actions as it relates to gross margins ahead when you're seeing, if we look after the second half. Do you anticipate having this behind you? I know it could be as much as 100 basis points in Q2, but how are you thinking about it in the back half?

還有一個快速的後續問題。我想知道，當我們展望下半年時，您會如何考慮與未來毛利率相關的緩解措施。您預計這一切會過去嗎？我知道第二季可能會高達 100 個基點，但您對下半年的情況有何看法？

Hi, Jim. This is Ram. Let me start by saying that we are very pleased with the continued strength in our gross margin. Our gross margin has remained well above 47% for about five quarters now. So the fundamentals of our business still remain very strong. As you know, this is a very uncertain time and we are working through mitigation actions, so we are watching the new cycle and the developments as they come. One thing I can tell you is that we are committed to a 47% plus gross margin in the long term.

你好，吉姆。這是拉姆。首先我要說的是，我們對毛利率的持續強勁感到非常高興。我們的毛利率已連續約五季維持在47%以上。因此，我們的業務基礎仍然非常強勁。如您所知，這是一個非常不確定的時期，我們正在採取緩解措施，因此我們正在關注新的週期及其發展。我可以告訴你的是，我們致力於長期實現47%以上的毛利率。

Okay, thank you.

好的，謝謝。

Thanks, Jim.

謝謝，吉姆。

Vivek Arya, Bank of America Securities.

Vivek Arya 的美國銀行證券。

Hi, this is Michael Mani on for Vivek Arya. Thanks so much for taking our question. I just wanted to dive a little more into the specific pain points you're seeing with regards to tariffs.

大家好，我是 Michael Mani，為 Vivek Arya 主持。非常感謝您回答我們的問題。我只是想更深入地探討一下您在關稅方面看到的具體痛點。

So, exactly which product areas, which segments are seeing the most impact? Could you give us a sense of-- I know there's a significant manufacturing presence in China. I mean, how much of that is being exported back to the US? Is it largely serving domestic China customers? And then, conversely, how much of what you produce in the US is being sent to China? Thank you.

那麼，究竟哪些產品領域、哪些細分市場受到的影響最大呢？您能否向我們介紹一下—我知道中國擁有重要的製造業影響力。我的意思是，其中有多少被出口回美國？它主要服務中國國內客戶嗎？那麼，反過來說，美國生產的產品有多少被運往中國？謝謝。

Yeah, Michael, thanks for the question. So, I think the short answer is everything is occurring that you just called out, and we're trying to mitigate all of that. We do have footprints in China. A lot of it is China for China, certainly in our chemistry business. So, I would say in the chemistry business, there's very minimal impact from tariffs because of that localization.

是的，邁克爾，謝謝你的提問。所以，我認為簡短的回答是您剛才提到的一切都在發生，我們正在努力緩解所有這些影響。我們在中國確實有足跡。很多都是中國為中國而做的，當然也包括我們的化學業務。因此，我想說，在化學產業，由於本地化，關稅的影響非常小。

Most of the issue is coming from the vacuum side because we do have some factories there that ship worldwide. And so, this is the mitigation work we're doing now is to minimize that. Some of it does come back to the United States. A lot of it does not.

大部分問題都來自真空方面，因為我們在那裡確實有一些工廠可以向世界各地發貨。所以，我們現在正在採取的緩解措施就是盡量減少這種情況。其中一部分確實回到了美國。很多情況並非如此。

And we're trying to work with our customers to try to minimize that. We also have, as Rob said, factories all over the world. And so, while not every factory makes everything, longer term, we can also make those kinds of changes.

我們正在努力與客戶合作，盡量減少這種情況。正如羅布所說，我們在世界各地都有工廠。因此，雖然並非每家工廠都生產所有產品，但從長遠來看，我們也可以做出此類改變。

And so, to Jim Ricchiuti's earlier point, I think there's an impact from tariffs in the short term. And that's why we are confident that longer term, if the tariffs stay the way they are, we would be able to have mitigation actions so that we can commit to that 47% plus gross margin long term.

因此，對於 Jim Ricchiuti 之前的觀點，我認為關稅在短期內會產生影響。這就是為什麼我們有信心，從長遠來看，如果關稅保持現狀，我們將能夠採取緩解措施，以便我們能夠長期致力於 47% 以上的毛利率。

Great. Thank you. And for my follow-up, I just want to think a little more medium term about the recovery we're seeing in semi-market here. So, if I look at where this is running relative to maybe the peak in 2022, you're down around 20%. And I know that last peak included some customers you might have not been able to ship to. Obviously, that was the peak of the last NAND cycle.

偉大的。謝謝。至於我的後續行動，我只是想從中期角度考慮我們所看到的半市場復甦。因此，如果我看一下相對於 2022 年的峰值而言的運行情況，就會發現下降了約 20%。我知道上次高峰期有一些客戶您可能無法出貨。顯然，這是上一個 NAND 週期的頂峰。

So, as we think about getting back to that peak over the medium term, would you need a recovery in the NAND market to get back there? Or could the foundry and logic wins and progress in metrology, lithography, these other places, help you get back to the peak? Especially because I know with the NAND upcycle you're seeing, since a lot of that's upgrade driven, while that's still beneficial to you, it might not be as beneficial as Greenfield ads. So, how should we think about getting back to your former rates? Thank you.

那麼，當我們考慮在中期內回到高峰時，是否需要 NAND 市場復甦才能回到高峰？或者代工和邏輯方面的勝利以及計量、光刻等其他領域的進步能否幫助您重返巔峰？特別是因為我知道您所看到的 NAND 上升週期，因為其中許多都是升級驅動的，雖然這對您仍然有利，但可能不如 Greenfield 廣告那麼有利。那麼，我們應該如何考慮恢復到以前的費率呢？謝謝。

Yeah, Mike, I would say that we look at the wafer fab equipment market as a totality. And as we've talked about in the past, MKS is addressing 85% of WFE. And then to your point, there are sub-segments of it, some driven by NAND, some driven by logic and DRAM.

是的，麥克，我想說我們將晶圓廠設備市場視為一個整體。正如我們過去所討論的，MKS 正在解決 85% 的 WFE 問題。然後回到你的觀點，它有幾個子部分，一些由 NAND 驅動，一些由邏輯和 DRAM 驅動。

And while we have had that headwind of not being able to ship to many of our previous customers in China, and our non-US competitors are, and so that's a headwind to market share just by math, we have taken the actions and controlling things we can, which is to double down on world-class optics and push the lithography metrology inspection, continuing to push share gains wherever we can.

儘管我們面臨著無法向中國許多以前的客戶以及我們的非美國競爭對手發貨的不利因素，因此從數學上講，這對市場份額構成了不利因素，但我們已經採取行動並控制我們可以控制的事情，即加倍投入世界一流的光學技術並推動光刻計量檢測，繼續盡可能地提高市場份額。

And I think then, of course, the natural growth of the wafer fab equipment market will also help us get back to that peak. But to your point, I think NAND won't ever get back to that peak, because that was quite a large peak, but other things can grow.

當然，我認為晶圓廠設備市場的自然成長也將幫助我們回到巔峰。但就你的觀點而言，我認為 NAND 永遠不會回到那個峰值，因為那是一個相當大的峰值，但其他東西可以增長。

And so, if you think about what people are talking about today get all around and backside power, a lot of that is step-edge centric, and that's still we're more levered versus lithography metrology inspection. I think a lot of the other things that are going on, like packaging or putting chips together or wafers together, that drives backing processes as well. And so you've seen some of our customers talk about that.

因此，如果你想想人們今天所談論的全方位和背面功率，其中很多都是以階躍邊緣為中心，而這仍然是我們相對於光刻計量檢查更具槓桿作用的。我認為正在發生的很多其他事情，例如封裝或組裝晶片或晶圓，也推動了支援流程。所以你會看到我們的一些客戶談論這個。

And then I would pivot more importantly is that with advanced packaging, that's really another area for growth where MKS is uniquely positioned to enjoy both the packaging growth as well as the chip growth.

然後我要重點強調的是，先進的封裝實際上是另一個成長領域，MKS 擁有獨特的優勢，可以同時享受封裝成長和晶片成長。

Thanks so much for the call.

非常感謝您的來電。

Matthew Prisco, Cantor Fitzgerald.

馬修·普里斯科、康托·菲茨傑拉德。

Hey, guys. Thanks for taking the question. I wanted to start on maybe the photonic side of the business and just what type of traction are you seeing there today? Any changes over the last three months? And maybe how do you think about the ramp of the major wins here that you've previously announced? Anything around timing or impact of the model would be helpful.

嘿，大家好。感謝您回答這個問題。我想從光子業務方面開始，您目前在那裡看到了什麼樣的發展勢頭？過去三個月有什麼改變嗎？您如何看待您之前宣布的重大勝利？任何有關模型的時間或影響的資訊都會有所幫助。

Yeah. Good morning, Matt. And I think for photonics, you're talking about the semi side of it or in general the broader photonics business?

是的。早安，馬特。我認為對於光子學來說，您談論的是半導體方面還是更廣泛的光子學業務？

Talking about the semi side specifically.

具體談論半決賽方面。

Yeah. So I would say that the design wins that we talked about in the past, those remain highly engaged technical engagements with our customers. We're continuing to work on new things as well with those customers.

是的。所以我想說，我們過去談到的設計勝利，仍然是我們與客戶高度參與的技術合作。我們將繼續與這些客戶合作開發新產品。

We're not immune to the cycles for even lithography metrology inspection, but the lead times are much longer. So those cycles are a little more muted. And you can see that in 2024 that segment of WFE for us was $300 million, which is a much faster growth than the market.

我們甚至無法免受光刻計量檢測週期的影響，但交貨時間要長得多。因此這些週期會變得更加平緩。您可以看到，到 2024 年，我們的 WFE 部分營收為 3 億美元，成長速度遠遠快於市場。

I would say this. Some of the things that we have designed in, we talked about in the past some complex integrated subsystems that only MKS can do because of our portfolio, those are going into production on some of the most advanced lithography metrology inspection tools.

我會這麼說。我們設計的一些東西，我們過去討論過一些只有 MKS 才能做到的複雜整合子系統，因為我們的產品組合，它們將在一些最先進的光刻計量檢測工具上投入生產。

So we're seeing that what we're doing is incredibly critical to some of the most incredibly critical tools in a fab. So we're really pretty pleased with that momentum, Matt.

因此，我們發現，我們所做的事情對於晶圓廠中一些最關鍵的工具來說至關重要。所以我們對這種勢頭感到非常高興，馬特。

And then just a quick follow up. How should we think about your ability and willingness to continue paying down debt within the uncertain backdrop? Maybe if you can update us on a minimum cash balance and the current prepayment strategy. I know normally when you guys report, you've already got the repayment for the quarter in the book. I haven't seen that yet. So what are we thinking for kind of magnitude this quarter and moving forward? Thanks.

然後只是快速跟進。在充滿不確定性的背景下，我們應該如何看待您繼續償還債務的能力和意願？也許您可以向我們更新最低現金餘額和當前的預付款策略。我知道通常當你們報告時，你們已經在帳簿上記下了該季度的還款。我還沒看過。那麼，我們對本季及未來的規模有何看法？謝謝。

Hi, Matt. In general, you can expect a similar pattern as we did last year with regard to our debt pay down. As we said in the prepared remarks, we will do a prepayment in Q2. Our capital allocation strategy has not changed. After we invest in CapEx and in the business, our priority remains repayment of debt. And we are very confident that we can operate.

你好，馬特。總體而言，您可以預期我們的債務償還模式與去年類似。正如我們在準備好的評論中所說，我們將在第二季度進行預付款。我們的資本配置策略沒有改變。在我們對資本支出和業務進行投資之後，我們的首要任務仍然是償還債務。我們非常有信心能夠開展營運。

Our liquidity is very strong. And at these levels of cash, we are very confident given the systems and cash poolings we have put in place. We have a very flexible system to apply cash and there's no need to maintain the levels of cash we did in the past. So at these levels, it frees up a lot more cash for applying towards our debt.

我們的流動性非常強。在這樣的現金水準下，考慮到我們已建立的系統和現金池，我們非常有信心。我們有一個非常靈活的現金應用系統，沒有必要維持過去的現金水準。因此，在這些水平上，我們可以釋放更多的現金來償還債務。

As we mentioned in the call, in the beginning of the quarter, we found an opportunity to buy back some stock. Because we have a lot of confidence in our business. It was a modest amount. It was accretive too and also helped offset the dilution in the year. But that does not reflect any shift in our capital allocation strategy. We are committed to paying down debt one more prepayment in Q2. And that focus will continue.

正如我們在電話會議中提到的，在本季初，我們發現了回購部分股票的機會。因為我們對我們的業務非常有信心。這是一個適度的金額。它也具有增值作用，並且還有助於抵消當年的稀釋。但這並不反映我們的資本配置策略的任何轉變。我們承諾在第二季再預付一筆債務。而這種關注將會持續下去。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Thanks, Matt.

謝謝，馬特。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員指示）

Melissa Weathers, Deutsche Bank.

德意志銀行的梅莉莎‧韋瑟斯。

Hi there. Thank you for letting me ask a question. I guess for my first one on the specialty industrial business, I know there's a couple moving pieces. You guys called out automotive being a bit worse in this most recent quarter. Could you talk a little bit more about what you're seeing in that segment? What are the moving pieces? What kind of growth rate or what trend would we be expecting in 2025? Just because it is so chunky and there are some differing trends by different end markets.

你好呀。感謝您允許我提問。我想，對於我第一次涉足特種工業業務，我知道有幾個活動的部分。你們說最近這個季度汽車業的情況有點糟。您能否再多談談您在該片段中看到的內容？有哪些活動部件？我們預期 2025 年的成長率或趨勢是怎樣的？只是因為它非常厚實，並且不同的終端市場存在一些不同的趨勢。

Good morning, Melissa. Thanks for the question. Yes, we called out general industrial as well as automotive being muted and obviously down year over year and causing our specialty industrial markets to be down year over year. Quarter over quarter was actually a little better than we thought. But year over year, it's definitely down. I would say this, even as late as yesterday, a forecast for light vehicle production changed, went down.

早上好，梅麗莎。謝謝你的提問。是的，我們指出，一般工業和汽車市場表現疲軟，而且明顯逐年下滑，導致我們的專業工業市場也逐年下滑。與上一季相比，實際表現比我們想像的要好一些。但與去年同期相比，這一數字肯定是下降的。我想說的是，甚至就在昨天，輕型車產量的預測也發生了變化，下降了。

So automotive is really something that is quite muted. And then I think with the tariff environment that just added just a tremendous amount of more uncertainty to it. You've seen many automotive companies come out with huge numbers of profitability impact because of the tariffs.

因此，汽車產業確實是一個相當低調的產業。然後我認為關稅環境只會增加大量的不確定性。你已經看到許多汽車公司的獲利能力因關稅而受到巨大影響。

And obviously, you've seen a lot of folks buy before the tariffs and now they're not going to buy. So I think it's a very volatile and uncertain time for the automotive industry. And that's certainly going to affect our customers who are down the supply chain. So we don't believe there's any share loss. I think it's really just a market driven macro effect.

顯然，你已經看到很多人在關稅實施前購買，但現在他們不買了。所以我認為這對汽車產業來說是一個非常動盪和不確定的時期。這肯定會影響到我們供應鏈下游的客戶。因此我們認為不會有任何份額損失。我認為這實際上只是市場驅動的宏觀效應。

Could it go worse? It could. I think that's the part of the tariffs that could make it worse. And of course, if we get relief from tariffs or some deal is made, then of course that would put the market back into maybe a more normal seasonality. So just a lot of uncertainty right now, Melissa. And I don't know if we could really tell you more than that.

情況還會更糟嗎？有可能。我認為關稅的一部分可能會使情況變得更糟。當然，如果我們降低關稅或達成某種協議，那麼市場當然會恢復到更正常的季節性。所以現在有很多不確定性，梅麗莎。我不知道我們是否真的可以告訴你更多。

Got it. Well, thank you for attempting to share your crystal ball with us because we all have the same questions. And then as my follow up on the, I want to go back to the chemistries side of the business, specifically within E&P.

知道了。好吧，感謝您嘗試與我們分享您的水晶球，因為我們都有相同的問題。然後，作為我的後續行動，我想回到業務的化學方面，特別是在 E&P 領域。

You walked us through the seasonality in a prior question, which is really helpful. Can you just help us, just remind us how we should think about the growth rate of that business beyond just seasonality? But is that a GDP plus type grower? Is there any content applications? I know AI is a nice driver and you've got the equipment sales that are getting pulled in. But how do we think about the growth rate of that chemistries piece in E&P beyond just seasonality?

您在先前的問題中向我們介紹了季節性，這非常有幫助。您能否幫助我們，提醒我們除了季節性之外，還應該如何考慮業務的成長率？但這是GDP加成型的成長嗎？有內容應用程式嗎？我知道人工智慧是一個很好的驅動力，而且它還能拉動設備銷售。但是，除了季節性因素之外，我們如何看待勘探與生產中化學成分的成長率？

Yeah, that's a great question. And I think when you look at the entire PCB industry and the chemistry that goes with it, we have said in our long-term model that it's GDP plus 300 basis points. Now, it's broken up into three segments, the PCB industry. The very difficult high-end packaged substrate segment, that's the PCB right underneath the chips. That is growing at high single digits and maybe even double digits now, low double digits. So that CAGR is an exciting area for growth.

是的，這是一個很好的問題。我認為，當你觀察整個 PCB 產業及其相關的化學反應時，我們在長期模型中已經說過，它是 GDP 加上 300 個基點。現在，PCB產業已分為三個部分。非常困難的高階封裝基板部分，即晶片正下方的 PCB。現在，這個數字正以高個位數甚至兩位數、低兩位數的速度成長。因此，CAGR 是一個令人興奮的成長領域。

And then HDI, that middle layer of technology, is really driven more by things like smartphones. And that has been a little muted, but we kind of thought mid-single digit CAGR. And then MLB, the lower end, we thought was GDP.

然後，HDI，即中間層技術，實際上更多地受到智慧型手機等產品的推動。雖然這個數字有點低迷，但我們認為複合年增長率將達到中等個位數。然後，我們認為 MLB 的下端是 GDP。

And I think what we're seeing is that AI is actually even adding some incremental growth to MLB and HDI, as well as the packaged substrate. But overall, I think we kind of still subscribe to the GDP plus 300 basis points that we talked about three years ago. But it's incrementally a little better. Just like AI has driven chips, the $1 trillion target in 2030 for chip sales, AI has kind of added incremental positivity to that. I think it's also doing the same for the PCB industry.

我認為我們看到的是，人工智慧實際上甚至為 MLB 和 HDI 以及封裝基板增加了一些增量增長。但總體而言，我認為我們仍然認同三年前談論的 GDP 加上 300 個基點的觀點。但情況逐漸好轉了一點。就像人工智慧推動晶片發展一樣，到 2030 年晶片銷售額將達到 1 兆美元，人工智慧也為此目標增添了正面影響。我認為它對 PCB 行業也會產生同樣的影響。

[David Liu], Mizuho.

[David Liu]，瑞穗。

Hi, thanks for letting me ask a question. I'm on for DJ here. Maybe another on second half, I know a lot of customers and suppliers are pulling their four-year outlook and not providing forecast, but I was wondering on the other side, where are you guys seeing customers maybe more strong and bullish maintaining that four-year outlook? And where is MKSI benefiting there? And also, how that drives the, specifically, maybe how the semiconductor business still growing above 200 basis points, above WFE? Thank you.

你好，謝謝你讓我問問題。我在這裡擔任 DJ。也許下半年還有另一個問題，我知道很多客戶和供應商都在製定四年展望，而不是提供預測，但我想知道另一方面，你們在哪裡看到客戶可能更強勁、更樂觀地維持四年展望？那麼 MKSI 在哪裡受益呢？而且，這具體如何推動半導體業務仍以高於 WFE 200 個基點的速度成長？謝謝。

Hey, David, thanks for the question. I guess the way we would think about it is we're very engaged with all of our semi customers for sure, as well as E&P customers. And in general, I think the def-etch customers in semi are relatively more positive, I think, for the second half.

嘿，大衛，謝謝你的提問。我想我們會這樣想，我們肯定與所有半成品客戶以及 E&P 客戶保持著密切的聯繫。總的來說，我認為半導體產業的防禦蝕刻客戶對下半年的態度相對更為正面。

There's puts and takes. There's some constraints because of restrictions. And then there's some backside power and get all around that are tailwinds. So, there's some puts and takes. But in general, I think most people are pretty positive on the year-over-year growth. And certainly, many analysts think that 2025 is a slight growth year relative to 2024.

有得有失。由於限制，存在一些限制。然後還有一些後方力量和周圍的順風。因此，存在一些得失。但總的來說，我認為大多數人對同比增長持相當樂觀的態度。當然，許多分析師認為，2025 年相對於 2024 年而言是一個略有成長的一年。

Now, of course, we don't know if that's going to work out or not, but that is what we're hearing from our customers. And, of course, that is what they're ordering. That's the order pattern we're seeing.

當然，現在我們不知道這是否會奏效，但這就是我們從客戶那裡聽到的。當然，這就是他們所訂購的。這就是我們看到的訂單模式。

With respect to packaging, we've talked about these equipment orders for three quarters in a row now tied to AI applications. And these equipment orders are for MLB and HDI, very thick MLB layers, many layers. And the reason I think we're getting a lot of those equipment orders is, in the equipment industry for chemistry, our equipment is on the high end. We do the most difficult types of equipment. And so, when you're doing the most difficult kinds of packaging, you need our equipment. And so, that's why I think we're seeing a little tailwind there.

關於包裝，我們已經連續三個季度討論了這些設備訂單，現在這些訂單與人工智慧應用相關。這些設備訂單是用於MLB和HDI的，MLB層非常厚，層數很多。我認為我們之所以獲得大量設備訂單，是因為在化學設備產業中，我們的設備屬於高階產品。我們製造最困難類型的設備。因此，當您進行最困難的包裝時，您需要我們的設備。所以，這就是為什麼我認為我們在那裡看到了一點順風。

So, those customers are very bullish, obviously. They are investing very quickly. They're pulling as fast as they can so that they can put that capacity in so they can either grow their share or compete for a share to support the AI industry.

因此，這些客戶顯然非常樂觀。他們投資非常快。他們正在盡可能快地投入，以便能夠擴大自己的份額或爭奪支援人工智慧產業的份額。

Thanks. And can you give us a review on ‘25 or ‘26 WFE globally? Thanks. That's it.

謝謝。您能為我們介紹一下 25 或 26 屆 WFE 的全球評價嗎？謝謝。就是這樣。

Yeah. As I've said many times in the past, if I could do that, I don't have to do this job. But I would say this, we always pivot back to longer term. The wafer fab equipment industry is a great neighborhood that's getting better. And that's because it's driven by continued need for more semiconductors, more complex semiconductors that require more steps and more equipment. You can see CapEx intensity trending over the decades in a direction where it's now maybe in that 15% range in terms of CapEx intensity.

是的。正如我過去多次說過的那樣，如果我能做到這一點，我就不必做這份工作了。但我想說的是，我們總是把目光轉向更長遠的未來。晶圓廠設備產業是一個正在變得越來越好的產業。這是因為人們對更多半導體、更複雜的半導體（需要更多步驟和更多設備）的持續需求所驅動。您可以看到，過去幾十年來，資本支出強度一直呈趨勢，現在資本支出強度可能處於 15% 的範圍內。

And so, at a trillion-dollar chip industry, that's $150 billion WFE, which is 50% more than today. And so, I think longer term trend, it's a great neighborhood. We're incredibly proud of the fact that we are the market leader in terms of addressing 85% of every piece of equipment out there.

因此，在價值數兆美元的晶片產業中，WFE 的價值為 1500 億美元，比現在高出 50%。所以，我認為從長期趨勢來看，這是一個很棒的社區。我們非常自豪，因為我們在解決 85% 的設備問題方面處於市場領先地位。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Steve Barger, KeyBanc Capital Markets.

KeyBanc 資本市場公司的 Steve Barger。

Hey, thanks for the follow up. $123 million in free cash flow is the best first quarter I can see in my model. And it looks like working cap was a smaller use than normal. Is that just timing? And do you expect a normal kind of low double digit or low teens free cash flow margin this year?

嘿，謝謝你的跟進。 1.23 億美元的自由現金流是我在我的模型中看到的第一季最好的表現。而且看起來工作帽的用量比正常情況下還要小。那隻是時機嗎？您預計今年的自由現金流利潤率將處於正常的低兩位數或低十幾位數之間嗎？

Well, I can comment on the Q1 cash flow, Steve. The improvements we have made to working capital through last year clearly has helped. We are able to operate at a much better level now. In addition to that, we also had a strong top line and good margin here. CapEx was a little light in Q1, but that's purely timing. That will come back up. But we do see, we are very happy with the strength of our cash flow and where we are positioned.

好吧，我可以對第一季度的現金流發表評論，史蒂夫。我們去年對營運資金所做的改進顯然起了作用。我們現在能夠以更好的水平運作。除此之外，我們還擁有強勁的營收和良好的利潤率。第一季的資本支出略少，但這純粹是時間問題。那將會恢復。但我們確實看到，我們對我們的現金流實力和我們的定位感到非常滿意。

Do you see anything unusual for the remainder of the year that we should be thinking about? Or would this be kind of a normal year in the context of whatever the top line does?

您是否認為今年剩餘時間有什麼不尋常的事情值得我們考慮？或者，從營收情況來看，今年是正常的一年？

That's correct. That's what I was going to say. It really goes back to the top line discussion, right? Outside that, we don't see anything abnormal this year other than CapEx ramp up in the coming quarters. I was going to also comment that we did guide a little bit of an incremental improvement in our tax rates too, which is helpful as well.

沒錯。這就是我要說的。這確實又回到了最開始的討論，對嗎？除此之外，除了未來幾季資本支出增加之外，我們認為今年不會有任何異常情況。我還要評論說，我們確實也指導了稅率的逐步改善，這也很有幫助。

I know your primary focus is debt reduction, as it should be, but with your strong free cash flow and the recent downside volatility in the stock, why not be opportunistic when shares are trading at a sizable discount to however you calculate intrinsic value?

我知道您的主要關注點是減少債務，這也是理所當然的，但是鑑於您強勁的自由現金流和股票近期的下行波動，當股價以遠低於您計算的內在價值的價格交易時，為什麼不抓住機會呢？

We did that.

我們做到了。

It was offset dilution, but would you remain opportunistic going forward?

這是抵消稀釋，但你今後還會繼續抓住機會嗎？

It's something which we look at. It's a fair question. It's something which we look at, and when it's accretive, we certainly take that into consideration. We still have a little under $30 million left from our existing authorization, so it's an evaluation that we do internally. Debt repayment is strengthening the balance sheet. It's our primary focus, but it's an analysis we do internally.

這是我們要關注的事情。這是一個公平的問題。這是我們關注的事情，當它增加時，我們當然會考慮到這一點。我們現有的授權金額還剩下略低於 3000 萬美元，因此這是我們內部進行的評估。償還債務正在增強資產負債表。這是我們的主要關注點，但這是我們內部進行的分析。

I would also add that debt reduction through paydown is one avenue. Certainly, we're always looking at portfolio and staying focused on our main markets. It's strategic planning season. It's the time where we refocus on that again. I think there are other ways to accelerate debt repayment, and we're looking at all those ways.

我還要補充一點，透過償還債務來減少債務是一種途徑。當然，我們始終關注投資組合併專注於我們的主要市場。現在是策略規劃季節。現在是我們重新關注這個問題的時候了。我認為還有其他方法可以加速償還債務，我們正在研究所有這些方法。

Good. I would just urge the board to really consider that as an option, given some of the volatility we've seen. Thanks.

好的。考慮到我們所看到的一些波動，我只是想敦促董事會認真考慮這個選擇。謝謝。

Thank you. (Operator Instructions)

謝謝。（操作員指示）

I am showing no further questions at this time. I will go ahead, and I will turn it back to Paretosh Misra for closing remarks.

我目前沒有其他問題。我將繼續發言，然後請帕雷托什·米斯拉 (Paretosh Misra) 作結束語。

Thank you all for joining us today and for your interest in MKS. Travis, you may close the call, please.

感謝大家今天的參與以及對 MKS 的關注。崔維斯，請你結束通話。

Thank you for your participation in today's conference. This does conclude the program. You may now disconnect.

感謝大家參加今天的會議。該計劃確實就此結束。您現在可以斷開連線。