NVE Corp (NVEC) 2025 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Good afternoon, and welcome to the NVE Corporation Conference Call for the quarter ended September 30, 2024. I'm Dan Baker, NVE's President and CEO. I'm joined by Controller and Principal Financial Officer, Daniel Nelson. This call is being webcast live via YouTube and Amazon Chime and is being recorded. A replay will be available through our website, nve.com, and our YouTube channel, youtube.com/nvecorporation.

下午好，歡迎參加 NVE 公司截至 2024 年 9 月 30 日的季度電話會議。我是丹貝克 (Dan Baker)，NVE 總裁兼執行長。與我一起的還有財務長兼財務長 Daniel Nelson。此通話正在透過 YouTube 和 Amazon Chime 進行網路直播並進行錄音。您可以透過我們的網站 nve.com 和 YouTube 頻道 youtube.com/nvecorporation 進行重播。

All participants are currently in a listen-only mode. After our presentation, there will be a question-and-answer session. You'll be able to ask a question by pressing Star 7 from a phone or clicking raise my hand from the Chime website or app. After my opening comments, Daniel Nelson will present our financial results. I'll cover products and marketing and we'll open the call to questions.

所有參與者目前都處於僅監聽模式。演講結束後，將進行問答環節。您可以透過在手機上按 Star 7 或在 Chime 網站或應用程式中點擊「舉手」來提問。在我的開場白之後，丹尼爾尼爾森將介紹我們的財務表現。我將介紹產品和行銷，然後我們將開始提問。

We issued our press release with financial results and filed our quarterly report on Form 10-Q in the past hour following the close of market. Links to the press release and 10-Q are available through the SEC's website, our website and on X, formerly known as Twitter. Please refer to the safe harbor statement on your screen. Comments we may make that relate to future plans, events, financial results or performance are forward-looking statements that are subject to certain risks and uncertainties including, among others, such factors as uncertainties related to the economic environments in the industries we serve, and risks and uncertainties related to future sales and revenue, as well as the risk factors listed from time to time in our filings with the SEC, including our annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended March 31, 2024.

我們在收盤後的一小時內發布了包含財務業績的新聞稿，並以 10-Q 表格形式提交了季度報告。新聞稿和 10-Q 的連結可透過 SEC 網站、我們的網站和 X（以前稱為 Twitter）取得。請參閱螢幕上的安全港聲明。我們可能發表的與未來計畫、事件、財務表現或績效相關的評論屬於前瞻性陳述，受到某些風險和不確定性的影響，其中包括與我們所服務產業的經濟環境相關的不確定性等因素，以及與未來銷售和收入相關的風險和不確定性，以及我們向 SEC 提交的文件中不時列出的風險因素，包括我們截至 2024 年 3 月 31 日的 10-K 表格年度報告。

Actual results could differ materially from the information provided, and we undertake no obligation to update forward-looking statements we may make.

實際結果可能與所提供的資訊有重大差異，我們不承擔更新我們可能做出的前瞻性陳述的義務。

We're pleased to report strong earnings despite continuing challenges in the semiconductor industry. Daniel Nelson will cover the financials. Daniel?

儘管半導體產業面臨持續的挑戰，但我們很高興地報告強勁的收益。丹尼爾·尼爾森將報告財務數據。丹尼爾？

Thanks, Dan. Total revenue for the quarter ended September 30, 2024, decreased 5% due to a 14% decrease in product sales, partially offset by 3,950% increase in contract R&D revenue. The decrease in product sales was primarily due to continued inventory clots, particularly in the distributor channels driven by weak chip demand and a slow recovery in global manufacturing.

謝謝，丹。截至 2024 年 9 月 30 日的季度總收入下降 5%，原因是產品銷售額下降 14%，但合約研發收入成長 3,950% 部分抵銷了這一影響。產品銷售下降的主要原因是庫存持續積壓，特別是在晶片需求疲軟和全球製造業復甦緩慢推動的分銷管道中。

Although the semiconductor industry recovery has been slower than most of us in the industry had hoped, we have an optimistic outlook. Our end markets are improving, and we have growth markets in the Industrial Internet of Things and electrification.

儘管半導體產業的復甦比我們大多數業內人士的預期要慢，但我們對前景持樂觀態度。我們的終端市場正在改善，並且我們在工業物聯網和電氣化方面擁有成長的市場。

Gross profit increased 5% from the prior year and gross margin percentage increased to 86% from 78% in the prior year quarter. The increases were due to more profitable product mix and a larger proportion of direct rather than distributor sales. Total expenses increased 55% for the second quarter of fiscal 2025 compared to the second quarter of fiscal 2024, mostly due to a 24% increase in research and development expense, and a 31% increase in selling, general and administrative expense.

毛利較去年同期成長 5%，毛利率從去年同期的 78% 增至 86%。成長的原因是利潤較高的產品組合以及直接銷售而非分銷商銷售所佔的比例更大。與 2024 財年第二季相比，2025 財年第二季的總費用增加了 55%，主要是由於研發費用增加了 24%，銷售、一般和管理費用增加了 31%。

The increase in research and development expense was due to increased new product development activities. The increase in selling, general and administrative expense was primarily due to increased sales and marketing activities. We added sales personnel and increased marketing activities. Dan will talk about those activities shortly.

研發費用的增加是由於新產品開發活動的增加。銷售、一般和管理費用的增加主要是由於銷售和行銷活動的增加。我們增加了銷售人員並增加了行銷活動。丹很快就會談論這些活動。

Interest income for the quarter decreased 9% due to lower interest rate. Our effective tax rate, which is the provision for income taxes as a percentage of income before taxes increased to 17% for the second quarter of fiscal 2025 compared to 8% for the second quarter of fiscal 2024. The lower tax rate last year was due to a recovery of credit losses and changes in the timing and amounts of federal tax credits and deductions. The 15% decrease in net income in the second quarter of fiscal 2025 compared to the prior year quarter was primarily due to decreased revenue, increased R&D, increased SG&A, decreased interest income and higher tax rate partially offset by increased gross profit margin.

由於利率下降，本季利息收入下降 9%。我們的有效稅率（即所得稅撥備佔稅前收入的百分比）在 2025 財年第二季增至 17%，而 2024 財年第二季為 8%。去年稅率較低的原因是信貸損失的恢復以及聯邦稅收抵免和扣除的時間和金額的變化。與去年同期相比，2025 財年第二季淨利下降 15%，主要是由於收入減少、研發增加、SG&A 增加、利息收入減少和稅率上升，但毛利率上升部分抵消了這一影響。

With an unrealized gain from marketable securities, comprehensive income increased to $4.71 million from $4.67 million the prior year quarter. It was a profitable quarter with 86% gross margin, 65% operating margin, 60% net margin and earnings of $0.83 per share. For the first 6 months of fiscal 2025, total revenue decreased 15% to $13.5 million from $16 million for the first 6 months of the prior year. The decrease was due to a 20% decrease in product sales, partially offset by a 457% increase in contract R&D revenue. Net income for the first 6 months was $8.12 million or $1.68 per diluted share, from $9.13 million or $1.89 per share for the first half of fiscal 2024.

憑藉有價證券的未實現收益，綜合收益從去年同期的 467 萬美元增至 471 萬美元。這是一個獲利的季度，毛利率為 86%，營業利潤率為 65%，淨利潤率為 60%，每股收益為 0.83 美元。2025 財年的前 6 個月，總收入從上一年前 6 個月的 1,600 萬美元下降至 1,350 萬美元，下降了 15%。下降的原因是產品銷售額下降 20%，但合約研發收入成長 457% 部分抵消了這一下降。前 6 個月的淨利潤為 812 萬美元，即稀釋後每股收益 1.68 美元，而 2024 財年上半年的淨利潤為 913 萬美元，即每股收益 1.89 美元。

Now I'll turn the call back over to Dan Baker to cover the business. Over to you, Dan.

現在我將把電話轉回給丹貝克 (Dan Baker) 處理此事。交給你了，丹。

Thanks, Daniel. I'll cover new products, sales and marketing and CapEx. As Daniel mentioned, we've increased our investment in R&D. We spent 13% of revenue in the past quarter on R&D expense plus customer sponsored R&D, which is included in cost of sales. As a result of the efforts of our R&D team, we introduced a significant new product earlier this month, the ALT521-10E Tunneling Magnetoresistance Rotation sensor. It's build is the world's most sensitive device of its type, which allows for wide mechanical tolerances. Rotation sensing is ubiquitous. Applications include detecting complex motion and factory automation and automotive systems.

謝謝，丹尼爾。我將介紹新產品、銷售和行銷以及資本支出。正如丹尼爾所提到的，我們增加了研發投資。上一季我們將 13% 的收入用於研發費用加上客戶贊助的研發，這已包含在銷售成本中。經過我們研發團隊的努力，我們在本月稍早推出了一款重要的新產品：ALT521-10E 隧道磁阻旋轉感測器。它的構造是世界上同類設備中最靈敏的，可實現較寬的機械公差。旋轉感測無所不在。應用包括檢測複雜運動、工廠自動化和汽車系統。

The technology is also applicable to medical device navigation. There's more information on our website and our YouTube channel has a demonstration of the new sensors extraordinary sensitivity and precision. NVE would like to congratulate NASA on its successful Europa Clipper launch last week. Our robust components are mission-critical parts of the spacecraft sophisticated instruments that will search Jupiter's Icy Moon for signs of life. The craft is scheduled to reach Europa in April 2030. NASA rigorously qualified our parts, a great validation of our quality and reliability.

該技術也適用於醫療設備導航。我們的網站上有更多信息，我們的 YouTube 頻道演示了新型感測器非凡的靈敏度和精度。NVE 祝賀 NASA 上週成功發射歐羅巴快船。我們堅固的組件是太空船精密儀器的關鍵任務部件，這些儀器將在木星的冰冷衛星上尋找生命跡象。該飛船計劃於 2030 年 4 月抵達木衛二。NASA 對我們的零件進行了嚴格的認證，這是對我們的品質和可靠性的強大驗證。

As Daniel noted, we've also increased our investment in sales and marketing. We exhibited at the Medical Design and Manufacturing Trade Show last week in Minneapolis, part of the Advanced Manufacturing Event, Minnesota is a health care industry hub and medical devices are an important market for us. We have a convincing benefit proposition for medical devices with small size, low power and superb reliability. Specifically, we demonstrated our new high field Tunneling Magnetoresistance sensors, which have a unique omnidirectional capability and detect high field so they can detect the high fields from MRI to enable MRI-tolerant medical devices. We also featured our medical device navigation technology and our best-in-class electrical isolators to ensure the safety of medical instruments.

正如丹尼爾所指出的，我們也增加了對銷售和行銷的投資。我們上週參加了在明尼阿波利斯舉行的醫療設計和製造貿易展，這是先進製造活動的一部分，明尼蘇達州是醫療保健行業中心，醫療設備對我們來說是一個重要的市場。我們對小尺寸、低功耗和卓越可靠性的醫療設備提出了令人信服的優勢主張。具體來說，我們展示了新型高場隧道磁阻感測器，該感測器具有獨特的全向能力並檢測高場，因此它們可以檢測 MRI 的高場，從而實現 MRI 耐受的醫療設備。我們還展示了我們的醫療設備導航技術和一流的電氣隔離器，以確保醫療器材的安全。

Turning to CapEx. We've previously discussed plans for $4 million to $5 million in capital investments over the next 2 fiscal years, fiscal 2025 and 2026. We've already spent $1.13 million in the first half of this fiscal year, fiscal 2025. The investments will increase our capacity and capabilities, including the capability to manufacture wafer-level chip scale packages in-house. These parts will be smaller, higher performance and allow us to be more self-sufficient and capture more value. We are developing several wafer-level chip scale part types. We provided customers with prototypes and there's been strong customer interest. We hope to begin some production late this fiscal year.

轉向資本支出。我們先前討論了未來 2 個財年（2025 財年和 2026 財年）400 萬至 500 萬美元資本投資的計畫。我們在本財年（2025 財年）的上半財年已經花了 113 萬美元。這些投資將提高我們的產能和能力，包括內部製造晶圓級晶片規模封裝的能力。這些部件將更小、性能更高，使我們能夠更加自給自足並獲得更多價值。我們正在開發幾種晶圓級晶片規模零件類型。我們為客戶提供了原型，客戶對此表現出了濃厚的興趣。我們希望在本財年末開始部分生產。

We have looked at other buildings in the areas options for the expansion or we could expand in our current building. Our current lease expires in March 2026, and we're exploring a lease extension with an allowance to help pay for an expansion in our current building. We held our Annual Shareholders Meeting in August in person here at NVE. Proxy advisory firms recommend in-person annual meetings for good governance.

我們已經研究了該地區的其他建築物的擴建選項，或者我們可以在目前的建築物中進行擴建。我們目前的租約將於 2026 年 3 月到期，我們正在探索延長租約並提供補貼，以幫助支付目前大樓的擴建費用。我們於 8 月在 NVE 親自召開了年度股東大會。代理諮詢公司建議召開現場年度會議以實現良好的治理。

All of our directors and officers attended along with our auditors. We had a chance to meet shareholders and answer questions. In the formal meeting, each director was reelected, including Kelly Way, who was elected for the first time, named executive officer compensation was approved, and the selection of our independent registered public accounting firm was ratified.

我們所有的董事和管理人員以及我們的審計師都出席了會議。我們有機會會見股東並回答問題。在正式會議上，每位董事均獲得連任，其中包括首次當選的Kelly Way，批准了執行董事薪酬，並批准了我們獨立註冊會計師事務所的選拔。

Shareholders had a chance to see and try out hands-on product demonstrations and tour our facility. Demonstrations included a hot dog cooker to demonstrate our power conversion products and a chessboard to demonstrate an array of position sensors. There's a replay of the meeting, the slides and product demonstrations on our website and YouTube channel. We filed the final vote counts in a current report on Form 8-K.

股東有機會觀看和嘗試實際產品演示並參觀我們的設施。演示包括展示我們的電源轉換產品的熱狗炊具和展示一系列位置感測器的棋盤。我們的網站和 YouTube 頻道上有會議重播、幻燈片和產品簡報。我們在表格 8-K 的最新報告中提交了最終計票結果。

Now we'd like to open the call for questions. To ask a question from a phone, press star 7 to unmute or from a browser or the Chime App, click the raise my hand icon under the meeting chat. That's at the bottom of the left column, and unmute yourself to speak. Please state your name and affiliation before your question and to prevent background noise, please mute your line after asking your question.

現在我們想開始提問。若要透過手機提問，請按星號 7 取消靜音，或透過瀏覽器或 Chime 應用程式提問，請點擊會議聊天下方的舉手圖示。它位於左欄底部，取消靜音即可講話。請在提問前註明您的姓名和所屬單位，並在提問後將線路靜音，以防止背景噪音。

Dan, it's Jeff Bernstein from Silverberg Bernstein Capital. I had a couple of questions for you. One, you had a big uptick in the R&D contract R&D. Can you just talk about what that completed project was about?

丹，我是西爾弗伯格·伯恩斯坦資本公司的傑夫·伯恩斯坦。我有幾個問題想問你。第一，研發合約研發大幅增加。您能談談已完成的項目是關於什麼的嗎？

Yes. So most of our contract R&D is related to defense business and developing new systems, particularly anti-tamper systems. So that is -- that's usually the nature of the contract R&D and our hope is that it will result in product sales down the road, defense product sales. So because of the nature of those types of contracts, we are generally not able to get too specific about them. But the other advantage of those types of contracts is they build our intellectual property portfolio. They expand our technology platform and our R&D team did a great job on that project.

是的。因此，我們的合約研發大多與國防業務和開發新系統，特別是防篡改系統有關。這就是——這通常是合約研發的本質，我們希望這將導致產品銷售，即國防產品銷售。因此，由於這些類型的合約的性質，我們通常無法對它們進行過於具體的了解。但此類合約的另一個優點是它們建構了我們的智慧財產權組合。他們擴展了我們的技術平台，我們的研發團隊在這個專案上做得很好。

Got you. And so is that something that you think could be -- a product in the next 12 or 18 months?

明白你了。那麼您認為這會是未來 12 或 18 個月內推出的產品嗎？

It could be. It's difficult to predict time frames. They depend on procurement cycles. Sometimes they take longer than that. But that's -- the goal is that we -- we typically do R&D with the goal of developing either technology that we can turn into products or that it's for a customer that will buy a custom high value-added product.

可能是。預測時間範圍很困難。它們取決於採購週期。有時他們需要比這更長的時間。但這是 - 我們的目標 - 我們通常進行研發，其目標是開發可以轉化為產品的技術，或者是為將購買客製化高附加價值產品的客戶提供的技術。

Understand. Okay. And then the -- unclonable functions business -- has been volatile over time. Can you just give us an update there -- things like we're sending a lot more sophisticated systems overseas these days and that at some point, that ought to convert into some positive momentum?

理解。好的。然後，不可複製功能業務隨著時間的推移一直不穩定。您能為我們介紹一下最新情況嗎？

It does, Jeff. As you say, systems that are -- defense systems that are sold to allies often need anti-tamper protection. They're especially susceptible to falling into unfriendly hands. So while we hate to see some of the some of the conflicts and instabilities, Allied weapon sales and Defense system sales do tend to help that business. And as you know, there was recent earlier this year. There was an appropriation for Ally specifically for Taiwan, Ukraine and Israel. So those types of systems tend to require anti-tamper.

確實如此，傑夫。正如你所說，出售給盟友的防禦系統通常需要防篡改保護。他們特別容易落入不友善的手中。因此，雖然我們不願意看到一些衝突和不穩定，但盟軍的武器銷售和國防系統銷售確實有助於這項業務。如您所知，今年早些時候發生了最近的事情。盟友專門為台灣、烏克蘭和以色列撥款。因此，這些類型的系統往往需要防篡改。

Okay. And was it kind of a low quarter on unclonable functions this quarter? Or is that -- this business been strong?

好的。本季不可複製功能的數量是否較少？或者說——這項業務一直很強？

They were strong in the past quarter. But as you know, the sales can be lumpy and vary from quarter-to-quarter based on procurement schedules. We're optimistic about the long-term defense sales -- based on what we see now. But it's hard to predict quarter-to-quarter.

他們在上個季度表現強勁。但如您所知，銷售額可能不穩定，並且根據採購計劃每個季度都有所不同。根據我們現在所看到的情況，我們對長期國防銷售持樂觀態度。但很難預測每季的情況。

Got you. Yes. And you did make the comment in the Q and on the call about a mix shift in revenue towards -- more towards direct and less distribution that had a very nice positive impact on gross margin. And you mentioned that the product revenue weakness was more due to inventory hangover in the distribution channel than with direct customers. Can you just dive into that a little bit further?

明白你了。是的。您確實在問答和電話會議中發表了有關收入混合轉向的評論——更多地轉向直接和更少的分銷，這對毛利率產生了非常好的積極影響。您提到，產品收入疲軟更多是由於分銷管道的庫存積壓，而不是直接客戶的庫存積壓。能進一步深入探討一下嗎？

Yes. So the industry is in a slowdown. The semiconductor industry in general is in a slowdown. So when that happens, what tends -- distributors tend to build up their inventories because end customers aren't buying them and then we get what's sometimes called the bullwhip effect, the supply chain amplifies market changes since customers tend to cancel orders, to manage inventories during downturns.

是的。所以這個行業正在放緩。半導體產業總體上正在放緩。因此，當這種情況發生時，分銷商往往會增加庫存，因為最終客戶不購買它們，然後我們就會得到有時所謂的牛鞭效應，供應鏈會放大市場變化，因為客戶傾向於取消訂單，以管理庫存。

So -- but the positive was that our end customer sales remain strong -- and because we don't have a distributor margin in there, that tends to help our margins. And so as Daniel pointed out in the prepared remarks, our gross profit actually increased in the quarter year-over-year, even though the revenue was down slightly.

所以，但積極的一面是，我們的最終客戶銷售仍然強勁，而且因為我們沒有分銷商利潤，這往往有助於我們的利潤。因此，正如丹尼爾在準備好的發言中指出的那樣，儘管收入略有下降，但我們本季度的毛利實際上比去年同期有所增加。

And can you just give us kind of an order of magnitude range of sales as a percent to the distribution channel? Is it ranged from -- 40% to 50% or 10% to 20% or et cetera? And I would assume that so we're in a trough now and what we're kind of at the lower end of whatever that range is.

您能否給我們一個數量級的銷售範圍（佔分銷管道的百分比）？範圍是 40% 到 50% 還是 10% 到 20% 等等？我認為我們現在正處於低谷，無論這個範圍是什麼，我們都處於低谷。

You're exactly right. We are -- well, we certainly hope we're at the lower end and that the inventories in the channel appear to be being depleted, which is a good sign for us because that means that the distributors will tend to return to buying so that the -- that their book-to-bill, if you will, that the amount that they're buying is going to more closely correlate to what their customers are buying we don't report a percentage or a number, but I think qualitatively, you're right.

你說得完全正確。我們——嗯，我們當然希望我們處於低端，並且渠道中的庫存似乎正在耗盡，這對我們來說是一個好兆頭，因為這意味著經銷商將傾向於重新購買，以便他們的訂單到帳單，如果你願意的話，他們購買的數量將與他們的客戶購買的產品更緊密地相關，我們不會報告百分比或數字，但我認為定性， 你說得對。

The distributor sales are low right now. End user sales have not been as depressed because of the effects that I mentioned. And so we're hopeful that the distributor sales will pick up again and the percentage will increase.

目前經銷商的銷售量很低。由於我提到的影響，最終用戶銷售並沒有那麼低迷。因此，我們希望經銷商的銷售額能夠再次回升，並且比例能夠增加。

Okay. And then I wanted to touch on -- you had a piece out during the quarter, and you touched on this in the call about precise navigation sensors for catheters. And we talked about -- you and I during the quarter -- that was potentially something that was applicable to the new pulse feed ablation catheters out there. And your biggest customer is offering one, and is expected to be a big growth area for them. Looks like Medtronic where your new director is from -- is also offering the same thing.

好的。然後我想談談 - 你們在本季度推出了一項內容，並且在有關導管精確導航感測器的電話會議中談到了這一點。我們在本季討論過——你和我——這可能適用於新的脈衝饋送消融導管。您最大的客戶正在提供一種產品，預計這將成為他們的一個巨大成長領域。看起來你的新主管所在的美敦力公司也提供同樣的服務。

And they describe their's as -- the Medtronic as having real-time local impedance reading to assess catheter proximity to tissue. So I'm assuming that we're kind of talking about the same thing in terms of the navigation capabilities that your parts bring, but can you just discuss that a little bit?

他們將其描述為——美敦力（Medtronic）具有即時局部阻抗讀數來評估導管與組織的接近程度。所以我假設我們在您的部件帶來的導航功能方面正在談論同樣的事情，但是您能稍微討論一下嗎？

Yes. So as you point out, that is an important area for us and an important -- and an area where we have a convincing benefit proposition in that our sensors are smaller and more sensitive than other technologies. So the way our customers can use this is to detect an external magnetic field with the that's imparted on the catheter and then they can infer from that the position of the catheter in the body. And that's very important so that they can get the catheter to the right place and deliver the therapy or make sure that it's in the right blood vessel in the case of things like coronary angioplasty catheters.

是的。正如您所指出的，這對我們來說是一個重要的領域，也是我們擁有令人信服的利益主張的重要領域，因為我們的感測器比其他技術更小、更靈敏。因此，我們的客戶可以使用它來檢測施加在導管上的外部磁場，然後他們可以從中推斷導管在體內的位置。這非常重要，這樣他們就可以將導管放置到正確的位置並提供治療，或者在冠狀動脈血管成形術導管等情況下確保導管位於正確的血管中。

So it's an area that's becoming more important and where precision and small size is becoming more important. So our sensors have unique advantages in that area, and that was one of the things that we were promoting at the recent MD&M conference that we talked about in the prepared remarks.

因此，這是一個變得越來越重要的領域，其中精度和小尺寸也變得更加重要。因此，我們的感測器在該領域具有獨特的優勢，這是我們在最近的 MD&M 會議上推廣的內容之一，我們在準備好的演講中談到了這一點。

This is Mike Austiner. Can I ask a question?

這是麥克·奧斯汀納。我可以問問題嗎？

Yes, go ahead, sir.

是的，請繼續，先生。

Yes. Dan, this is Mike Austiner. I met you a couple of years ago at the annual meeting.

是的。丹，這是麥克奧斯汀納。幾年前，我在年會上認識了你。

Oh, yes, of course.

哦，是的，當然。

Yes. Two questions. First of all, I know you finished up your trade show -- all your trade shows. I was just wondering what the outcome was? Anything real positive is going to come out of that? And then the second question is, since you've increased your CapEx expenditures. Is that affecting your cash flow? Or how is it affecting your cash flow in relation to the dividend?

是的。兩個問題。首先，我知道您已經完成了您的貿易展覽—所有的貿易展。我只是想知道結果如何？這會帶來什麼真正正面的結果嗎？第二個問題是，既然你增加了資本支出。這會影響你的現金流嗎？或者它如何影響與股利相關的現金流？

All right. So with regard to the first question, we were -- trade shows -- we were pleased with the response, the traffic and the leads that we got at the trade shows. We recently did a wrap-up of video. It's on YouTube if you're interested, but we had three major trade shows during the season. And the last one was MD&M, which was last week. And we have a lot of leads to follow up.

好的。因此，關於第一個問題，我們——貿易展覽——我們對貿易展覽上得到的回應、流量和線索感到滿意。我們最近做了一個影片總結。如果你有興趣，可以在 YouTube 上觀看，但我們在這個季節舉辦了三個主要的貿易展。最後一篇是 MD&M，是上星期的。我們有很多線索需要跟進。

So our sales and sales support staff are working on that, and we're working on -- with the customers and with our distributors -- to follow up on some of the leads that we got at shows and the trips that were associated with those shows. So we're pleased with that. It -- sometimes there's obviously a lag there, and it takes some time to develop these leads but we're optimistic that these will turn into business and into sales.

因此，我們的銷售和銷售支援人員正在努力解決這個問題，我們正在與客戶和經銷商合作，跟進我們在展會上獲得的一些線索以及與這些線索相關的旅行顯示。所以我們對此感到滿意。有時顯然存在滯後，需要一些時間來開發這些線索，但我們樂觀地認為這些線索將轉化為業務並轉化為銷售。

In terms of the capital expenditures and cash flow -- so the cash flow tends to lead the capital expenditure. We often make down payments. So much of the $1.1 million that we mentioned that we've spent so far in CapEx this fiscal year, the first half of the fiscal year is down payments on equipment. So the equipment will be delivered subsequently, but in the meantime, we have to pay cash for it to get the equipment going because these are custom pieces of equipment that are being designed to our specifications.

就資本支出和現金流而言，現金流往往領先資本支出。我們經常支付首付款。我們提到的本財年到目前為止我們在資本支出上花費的 110 萬美元中，大部分都是設備的首付。因此，設備將隨後交付，但同時，我們必須支付現金才能使設備運行，因為這些是根據我們的規格設計的客製化設備。

The hope, of course, is that they will be able to generate products and business and will have a good return on the investment. But in the meantime, we're spending money that we believe is an investment. We believe, though, that we have a strong balance sheet and that we can continue to have both -- an aggressive dividend to build our shareholder value, and the investments in capital expenditures, sales and marketing and R&D that will pay off in the future.

當然，希望他們能夠產生產品和業務，並獲得良好的投資回報。但同時，我們正在花錢，我們認為這是一項投資。不過，我們相信，我們擁有強大的資產負債表，並且我們可以繼續擁有兩者——積極的股息以建立我們的股東價值，以及對資本支出、銷售和營銷以及研發的投資，這將在未來得到回報。

Okay. Because -- because your balance sheet, the cash balance has come down as you've been making these forward payments for equipment, correct?

好的。因為——因為你的資產負債表、現金餘額已經下降，因為你一直在為設備支付這些遠期付款，對嗎？

It has, yes. But we still have -- by most metrics, very strong balance sheet. We can support a dividend, and we can continue to make the investments we need to make.

有，是的。但從大多數指標來看，我們的資產負債表仍然非常強勁。我們可以支持股息，我們可以繼續進行我們需要的投資。

Okay. And this equipment hopefully comes online? And do you have a time frame that I may have missed the timing that you said?

好的。這個設備有望上線嗎？您是否有一個我可能錯過了您所說的時間範圍的時間範圍？

This fiscal year and next fiscal year, so that's fiscal 2025 and 2026. However, we do hope to be in some production of some of the new products that are related to the investments this fiscal year, which would end March 31, 2025.

本財年及下財年，即 2025 財年及 2026 財年。然而，我們確實希望能夠生產一些與本財年投資相關的新產品，該財年將於 2025 年 3 月 31 日結束。

Are there any other questions you can unmute your microphone?

還有其他問題可以取消麥克風靜音嗎？

Well, if not, we were pleased to report strong earnings for the past quarter and increases in gross profit and comprehensive income as the industry continues to recover. We look forward to speaking with you again on our next earnings call in January. A replay of this call will be available on the investor events page of our website, nve.com and our YouTube channel, that's youtube.com/nvecorporation. Thank you for participating in today's call.

好吧，如果沒有，我們很高興地報告上個季度的強勁盈利，以及隨著行業持續復甦，毛利和綜合收入的增長。我們期待在一月份的下一次財報電話會議上再次與您交談。本次電話會議的重播將在我們網站 nve.com 的投資者活動頁面和我們的 YouTube 頻道 youtube.com/nvecorporation 上提供。感謝您參加今天的電話會議。