Optical Cable Corp (OCC) 2025 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Hello. My name is David, and I'll be your conference operator today. At this time, I'd like to welcome you to Optical Cable Corporation's third quarter of fiscal year 2025 earnings conference call. (Operator Instructions) Please note that today's call will be recorded.

你好。我叫大衛，今天我將擔任你們的會議接線生。現在，我謹代表光纖電纜公司歡迎各位參加2025財年第三季業績電話會議。（操作員指示）請注意，今天的通話將會被錄音。

Your host today will be Mr. Dean Sterrett. Mr. Sterrett, you may begin your conference.

今天的主持人是迪恩·斯特雷特先生。斯特雷特先生，您可以開始您的會議了。

Good afternoon, and thank you for joining us for Optical Cable Corporation's third quarter of fiscal 2025 conference call. By this time, everyone should have a copy of the earnings press release issued earlier today. You can also visit www.occfiber.com for a copy. n the call with us today are Neil Wilkin, President and Chief Executive Officer of OCC; and Tracy Smith, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer.

下午好，感謝各位參加光纜公司2025財年第三季電話會議。到目前為止，每個人都應該已經收到今天早些時候發布的盈利新聞稿副本。您也可以造訪 www.occfiber.com 取得副本。今天與我們通話的有 OCC 總裁兼執行長 Neil Wilkin 和高級副總裁兼財務長 Tracy Smith。

Before we begin, I would like to remind everyone that this call may contain forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. The actual future results of Optical Cable Corporation may differ materially due to a number of factors and risks, including, but not limited to, those factors referenced in the forward-looking statements section of this morning's press release. The cautionary statements apply to the contents of the internet webcast on occfiber.com as well as today's call.

在開始之前，我想提醒大家，這次電話會議可能包含涉及風險和不確定性的前瞻性陳述。由於多種因素和風險，包括但不限於今天早上新聞稿中前瞻性聲明部分提到的那些因素，光纜公司未來的實際業績可能會與預期有重大差異。這些警示聲明適用於 occfiber.com 上的網路直播內容以及今天的電話會議。

With that, I'll turn the call over to Neil Wilkin. Neil, please begin.

接下來，我將把電話交給尼爾威爾金。尼爾，請開始。

Thank you, Dean, and good afternoon, everyone. I will begin the call today with a few opening remarks. Tracy will then review the third-quarter results for the three-month and nine-month periods ended July 31, 2025, in some additional detail. After Tracy's remarks, we will answer as many of your questions as we can. As is our normal practice, we will only take questions from analysts and institutional investors during the Q&A session. However, we also offer other shareholders the opportunity to submit questions in advance of our earnings call. Instructions regarding such submissions are included in our press release announcing the date and time of our call.

謝謝院長，大家下午好。今天我將以幾句開場白開始這通電話會議。隨後，Tracy 將更詳細地審查截至 2025 年 7 月 31 日的第三季（三個月和九個月）業績。在特蕾西發言結束後，我們將盡可能回答大家的問題。按照慣例，問答環節我們只會接受分析師和機構投資人的提問。不過，我們也為其他股東提供了在財報電話會議之前提交問題的機會。有關此類提交的說明包含在我們宣布徵稿日期和時間的公告新聞稿中。

OCC had a strong third quarter as we delivered significant net sales growth and gross profit expansion during both the third quarter and the first nine months of this fiscal year. Net sales increased 22.8% during the third quarter of fiscal 2025 compared to the same period last fiscal year and increased 12.8% during the nine months ended July 31, 2025, compared to the same period last year. These results reflect OCC's -- the OCC team's ability to capture additional opportunities as demand for our products increased in many of our markets.

OCC 第三季表現強勁，在本財年的第三季和前九個月均實現了顯著的淨銷售額成長和毛利潤擴張。2025 財年第三季淨銷售額較上年同期成長 22.8%，截至 2025 年 7 月 31 日的九個月淨銷售額較上年同期成長 12.8%。這些結果反映了 OCC 團隊的能力，即隨著我們許多市場對我們產品的需求增加，OCC 團隊能夠抓住更多機會。

We also continue to see the benefits of OCC's significant operating leverage during the third quarter as our 22% -- 22.8% year-over-year increase in net sales drove gross profit growth of 61.2%. I'm pleased to report that the OCC team is executing well against our long-term growth strategy.

第三季度，我們繼續看到 OCC 顯著的經營槓桿效應帶來的好處，淨銷售額年增 22% 至 22.8%，推動毛利潤成長 61.2%。我很高興地報告，OCC 團隊在執行我們的長期成長策略方面進展順利。

As previously announced, OCC and Lightera entered into a strategic collaboration agreement in early July to expand product offerings and solutions to the enterprise sector, the data center sector as well as expanded presence in certain other sectors. As part of this strategic collaboration, OCC and Lightera have combined portions of the product portfolios of both companies to deliver additional integrated cable and connectivity solution offerings which will include certain Lightera products being offered and sold by OCC.

正如先前宣布的那樣，OCC 和 Lightera 於 7 月初達成了一項策略合作協議，旨在擴大面向企業、資料中心領域的產品和解決方案，並擴大在其他一些領域的業務。作為此次策略合作的一部分，OCC 和 Lightera 將兩家公司的部分產品組合結合起來，以提供更多整合式電纜和連接解決方案，其中包括 OCC 提供和銷售的某些 Lightera 產品。

In connection with this strategic collaboration, Lightera made an investment in OCC with Lightera holding 7.24% of the company's outstanding common shares. We anticipate our strategic collaboration with Lightera will provide growth opportunities for OCC. As we look ahead to the end of fiscal year -- of this fiscal year and into 2026, we remain focused on disciplined execution and capitalizing on growth opportunities need to drive shareholder value.

為了進行這項策略合作，Lightera 對 OCC 進行了投資，Lightera 持有該公司 7.24% 的流通普通股。我們預計與 Lightera 的策略合作將為 OCC 帶來成長機會。展望本財年結束以及2026年，我們將繼續專注於嚴謹的執行和把握成長機會，以提升股東價值。

And with that, I'll turn the call over to Tracy, who will review in additional detail, our third quarter of fiscal year 2025 financial results.

接下來，我將把電話交給特雷西，她將更詳細地回顧我們 2025 財年第三季的財務表現。

Thank you, Neil. Consolidated net sales for the third quarter of fiscal 2025 increased 22.8% to $19.9 million compared to net sales of $16.2 million for the same period last year, resulting from increases in net sales in both our enterprise and specialty markets. Sequentially, net sales increased 13.5% during the third quarter of fiscal year 2025 compared to net sales of $17.5 million for the second quarter of fiscal 2025.

謝謝你，尼爾。2025 財年第三季綜合淨銷售額成長 22.8%，達到 1,990 萬美元，而去年同期淨銷售額為 1,620 萬美元，這主要得益於企業市場和專業市場淨銷售額的成長。與 2025 財年第二季 1,750 萬美元的淨銷售額相比，2025 財年第三季淨銷售額較上季成長 13.5%。

Consolidated net sales for the first nine months of fiscal 2025 increased 12.8% to $53.2 million compared to net sales of $47.2 million for the first nine months of fiscal 2024 with sales increases in both our enterprise and specialty markets. At the end of our third fiscal quarter of 2025, our sales order backlog and forward load was $7.1 million compared to $7.2 million as of April 30, 2025, $6.6 million as of January 31, 2025, and $5.7 million as of October 31, 2024.

2025 財年前九個月的合併淨銷售額成長 12.8%，達到 5,320 萬美元，而 2024 財年前九個月的淨銷售額為 4,720 萬美元，企業市場和專業市場的銷售額均有所成長。截至 2025 年第三財季末，我們的銷售訂單積壓和預售訂單為 710 萬美元，而截至 2025 年 4 月 30 日為 720 萬美元，截至 2025 年 1 月 31 日為 660 萬美元，截至 2024 年 10 月 31 日為 51 萬美元。

Turning to gross profit. Our gross profit increased 61.2% or $2.4 million to $6.3 million in the third quarter of fiscal 2025 compared to $3.9 million for the same period last year. Gross profit margin or gross profit as a percentage of net sales increased to 31.7% in the third quarter of fiscal 2025, up from 24.2% in the third quarter of fiscal 2024 and 30.4% for the second quarter of fiscal year 2025. Gross profit increased 39.5% to $16.3 million in the first nine months of fiscal 2025 compared to $11.7 million in the first nine months of fiscal 2024.

接下來討論毛利。2025 財年第三季度，我們的毛利成長了 61.2%，即 240 萬美元，達到 630 萬美元，而去年同期為 390 萬美元。2025 財年第三季毛利率（毛利佔淨銷售額的百分比）增加至 31.7%，高於 2024 財年第三季的 24.2% 和 2025 財年第二季的 30.4%。2025 財年前九個月的毛利成長 39.5%，達到 1,630 萬美元，而 2024 財年前九個月的毛利為 1,170 萬美元。

Gross profit margin increased to 30.6% in the first nine months of fiscal 2025 compared to 24.7% in the nine months of fiscal 2024. Gross profit margin for the third quarter and first nine months of fiscal 2025 was positively impacted by production efficiencies created by higher volumes and the resulting positive impact of our operating leverage. Additionally, our gross profit margin percentages are heavily dependent upon product mix on a quarterly basis and may vary based on changes in product mix.

2025 財年前九個月的毛利率成長至 30.6%，而 2024 財年前九個月的毛利率為 24.7%。2025 財年第三季和前九個月的毛利率受到產量提高帶來的生產效率提升以及由此產生的經營槓桿效應的正面影響。此外，我們的毛利率百分比很大程度上取決於季度的產品組合，並可能因產品組合的變化而有所不同。

SG&A expenses increased to $5.7 million or 9.5% in the third quarter of fiscal year 2025 compared to $5.2 million for the same period last year. SG&A expenses as a percentage of net sales were 28.8% in the third quarter of fiscal 2025 compared to 32.3% in the prior year period. SG&A expenses increased to $16.9 million or 8.2% during the first nine months of fiscal year 2025 compared to $15.7 million for the same period last year.

2025 財年第三季銷售、一般及行政費用增至 570 萬美元，增幅為 9.5%，去年同期為 520 萬美元。2025 財年第三季銷售、一般及行政費用佔淨銷售額的 28.8%，而上年同期為 32.3%。2025 財年前九個月的銷售、一般及行政費用為 1,690 萬美元，比去年同期的 1,570 萬美元成長了 8.2%。

SG&A expenses as a percentage of net sales were 31.8% in the third quarter of fiscal 2025 compared to 33.2% in the prior year period. The increase in SG&A expenses during the third quarter and first nine months of fiscal year 2025 compared to the same periods last year was primarily the result of increases in employee and contracted sales personnel-related costs and shipping costs, included an employee and contracted sales personnel-related costs for compensation costs and sales incentives.

2025 財年第三季銷售、一般及行政費用佔淨銷售額的 31.8%，而上年同期為 33.2%。2025 財年第三季和前九個月的銷售、一般及行政費用較上年同期有所增加，這主要是由於員工和合約銷售人員相關成本以及運輸成本的增加，其中包括員工和合約銷售人員的薪酬成本和銷售激勵成本。

OCC recorded net income of $302,000 or $0.04 per basic and diluted share for the third quarter of fiscal 2025 compared to a net loss of $1.6 million or $0.20 per basic and diluted share for the third quarter of fiscal 2024. OCC recorded a net loss of $1.5 million or $0.19 per basic and diluted share for the first nine months of fiscal year 2025 compared to $4.6 million or $0.59 per share for the first nine months of fiscal year 2024.

OCC 2025 財年第三季淨收入為 302,000 美元，即每股基本和攤薄收益 0.04 美元，而 2024 財年第三季淨虧損為 160 萬美元，即每股基本和攤薄虧損 0.20 美元。OCC 2025 財年前九個月淨虧損 150 萬美元，即每股基本及攤薄虧損 0.19 美元，而 2024 財年前九個月淨虧損 460 萬美元，即每股虧損 0.59 美元。

With that, I'll turn the call back over to you, Neil.

那麼，我就把電話交還給你了，尼爾。

Thank you, Tracy. At this time, we would normally take questions from analysts and institutional investors -- live questions. However, we have received a number of questions in advance of the call today, we believe would be of interest in most participants. So we're going to go through those questions first, and then we will address any remaining questions live that may come from analysts and institutional investors.

謝謝你，特蕾西。這時，我們通常會接受分析師和機構投資人的提問——現場提問。不過，在今天的電話會議之前，我們收到了一些問題，我們相信大多數參與者都會對這些問題感興趣。所以我們將先解答這些問題，然後再現場解答分析師和機構投資人可能提出的任何其他問題。

Dean, if you could please begin reading the questions we've received in advance, and we will respond.

迪恩，請你提前閱讀我們收到的問題，我們會一一回答。

Absolutely. First question, can you comment on what you're seeing in your traditional markets and how it has evolved through the year?

絕對地。首先，您能否談談您在傳統市場中觀察到的情況，以及這些市場在過去一年中的發展變化？

Yes. We are generally seeing strength in our targeted markets this year, and that's been the case with others in the industry as well. We believe we're benefiting from our strong market position, and that's been reflected in our top line results this year, including in the third quarter of 2025.

是的。今年我們目標市場的整體表現強勁，業內其他公司的情況也是如此。我們相信，我們正受益於我們強大的市場地位，這一點已反映在我們今年的營收業績中，包括 2025 年第三季的業績。

Thanks. Can you comment as to what you're seeing in terms of AI impact? It seems like there should be a significant opportunity for you.

謝謝。您能否談談您觀察到的人工智慧影響？看來你應該會遇到一個重要的機會。

Well, folks know, and I believe it's fairly clear that AI is growing or someone even saying exploding because of all the demand. And this is positively impacting our industry generally. The impact is seen in the growth of hyperscale data centers in particular.

大家都知道，而且我認為很明顯，由於市場需求旺盛，人工智慧正在蓬勃發展，甚至有人說它正在爆炸式增長。這對我們整個行業都產生了積極的影響。這種影響尤其體現在超大規模資料中心的成長。

Currently, OCC's products are more suited for what we would call Tier 2 and Tier 3 data centers. However, we do believe we will see positive impact from AI and data center growth. However, we also believe the biggest growth that we've seen by those companies targeting hyperscale data centers.

目前，OCC 的產品更適合我們所謂的 Tier 2 和 Tier 3 資料中心。但是，我們相信人工智慧和資料中心的發展將會帶來正面的影響。然而，我們也認為，我們所看到的最大成長來自那些瞄準超大規模資料中心的公司。

Still with us, Dean?

迪恩，你還在嗎？

Yeah, apologies. CommScope recently sold the vertical that is competing with you on Amphenol. Do you expect any impact from that?

是的，抱歉。CommScope 最近出售了與您在 Amphenol 上競爭的業務部門。你預計這會造成什麼影響？

As our listeners may expect, we are following these developments, but at this time, we do not believe this will have an impact on OCC.

正如我們的聽眾所預料的那樣，我們正在關注這些事態發展，但目前我們認為這不會對OCC產生影響。

Thank you. Next question. The backlog is down versus Q2, but Q4 is usually the strongest quarter. Does this decline clog mean that the seasonality is not expected to be what we'd normally expect from Q4?

謝謝。下一個問題。積壓訂單量較第二季下降，但第四季通常是業績最好的季度。這種下滑是否意味著第四季的季節性波動預計不會像我們通常預期的那樣？

Tracy is going to take the next few questions here.

接下來由特蕾西來回答幾個問題。

Thanks. I would describe the decrease in backlog and forward load of approximately $100,000 as more of a leveling cost rather than a decrease, certainly not a significant decrease. And possibly more related to timing of shipments and order entry than indicative of demand. At the end of Q3, our backlog and forward load was still higher than the backlog and forward load at the end of both fiscal 2024 and the first quarter of fiscal 2025, which is basically where you see the seasonality impact.

謝謝。我會將積壓訂單和未來訂單量減少約 10 萬美元描述為成本平衡，而不是減少，當然也不是大幅減少。而且這可能與出貨時間和訂單輸入有關，而不是反映需求。第三季末，我們的積壓訂單和未來訂單量仍然高於 2024 財年末和 2025 財年第一季末的積壓訂單和未來訂單量，這基本上就是季節性影響的體現。

Thanks, Tracy. How much indicative backlog decline is a result of potentially weaker demand?

謝謝你，特蕾西。積壓訂單的下降有多少是因為潛在需求疲軟造成的？

Well, as I mentioned in my response to the previous question, this was a very minimal decline. We don't believe it is an indicator of weaker demand at this point. As Neil said, we're generally seeing strength in our target markets and believe demand is holding strong.

正如我在回答上一個問題時提到的，這只是一個非常小的下降幅度。我們認為這並非當前需求疲軟的跡象。正如尼爾所說，我們整體看到目標市場表現強勁，並相信需求依然強勁。

Appreciate that. Next question is why was the gross margin 31.5% with higher sales levels in the quarter considering in Q4 last year, it was 33.5% with lower sales growth?

謝謝。下一個問題是，為什麼本季銷售額成長較高，毛利率卻達到了 31.5%，而去年第四季毛利率為 33.5%，但銷售額成長較低？

As we've mentioned in our previous filings, our gross profit margin varies depending on product mix in addition to volumes. We believe this was a result of product mix when comparing the two quarters.

正如我們在先前的文件中提到的，我們的毛利率除了受銷售影響外，還取決於產品組合。我們認為這是兩個季度產品組合差異造成的。

Thanks. Next question. Do you think you will need to increase capacity if you have plans to materially invest in extra capacity?

謝謝。下一個問題。如果您打算對產能進行實質投資，您認為是否需要增加產能？

We believe we have the capacity to capture the exciting growth opportunities out there. We're currently filling some open positions in our manufacturing operations, given anticipated demand, particularly in Roanoke. And it does take some time for our production employees to get fully up to speed. But other than filling open requisitions to meet anticipated demand, we don't have any needs or plans to significantly invest in extra capacity at this time.

我們相信我們有能力抓住當前令人振奮的成長機會。鑑於預期需求，特別是羅阿諾克地區的需求，我們目前正在填補製造部門的一些空缺職位。我們的生產員工確實需要一些時間才能完全上手。除了滿足預期需求而填補空缺職位外，我們目前沒有任何需要或計劃對額外產能進行大量投資。

Thank you. Our next question. Is the current OpEx level sustainable? Or should we expect any material expenses moving forward?

謝謝。我們的下一個問題。目前的營運支出水準是否可持續？或者我們應該預期未來會有任何實質支出？

As we've described in the past, we believe our operating leverage has a significant positive impact on our results as revenues increase. We also believe that our operating expenses should be generally sustainable at current and even higher sales levels.

正如我們過去所描述的那樣，我們相信隨著收入的增長，我們的經營槓桿對我們的業績有著顯著的正面影響。我們也認為，即使在目前的銷售水平下，甚至更高的銷售水平下，我們的營運費用也應該是可持續的。

Next question, could you elaborate on the structure of OCC's Lightera cooperation? Will OCC be manufacturing Lightera-branded products? And will OCC hold any Lightera equipment inventory?

下一個問題，能否詳細介紹OCC與Lightera的合作結構？OCC會生產Lightera品牌的產品嗎？OCC是否會持有Lightera的任何設備庫存？

Thanks, Dean. I will answer the number of questions that we've received regarding Lightera. I will say, as we get started and going through these questions that there's a lot of details about our collaboration that we're not prepared to share and that I think is consistent with the way we've typically operated.

謝謝，迪恩。我將回答我們收到的關於 Lightera 的所有問題。我想說的是，在我們開始討論這些問題的時候，有很多關於我們合作的細節我們並不准備分享，我認為這與我們通常的行事方式是一致的。

With respect to the question at hand here, we have previously disclosed the purpose of strategic collaboration that OCC has entered into Lightera was to expand product offerings and solutions, especially for the data center and enterprise sectors. We believe that both OCC and Lightera will benefit from opportunities generated by the ability to expand fiber optic and copper cabling and connectivity solutions in the enterprise sector, the data center sector as well as an expanded presence in certain other sectors.

關於這裡提出的問題，我們之前已經揭露了OCC與Lightera進行策略合作的目的，即擴大產品供應和解決方案，特別是針對資料中心和企業領域。我們相信，OCC 和 Lightera 都將受益於在企業領域、資料中心領域以及某些其他領域擴大光纖和銅纜佈線及連接解決方案所帶來的機會。

As you all know, Lightera has made investment in OCC, and we believe this reflects their confidence in OCC and resulted in Lightera holding 7.24% interest in OCC. We have on file the stock purchase agreement related to this investment by Lightera, and that was filed with the SEC in a Form 8-K shortly after the announcement on July 7.

如大家所知，Lightera 已對 OCC 進行了投資，我們認為這反映了他們對 OCC 的信心，並導致 Lightera 持有 OCC 7.24% 的股份。我們已存檔 Lightera 與此投資相關的股票購買協議，該協議在 7 月 7 日公告發布後不久以 8-K 表格的形式提交給了美國證券交易委員會。

Thank you. The next question on this topic. How will Lightera add value to OCC? How will Lightera help you to increase sales?

謝謝。關於這個主題的下一個問題。Lightera將如何為OCC創造價值？Lightera 將如何幫助您提高銷售額？

Well, as we've said and one of the benefits of working with a company like Lightera is they are a global leader in optical fiber and connectivity solutions. And we've successfully worked with Lightera and its predecessor OFS Fitel for decades. Our collaboration with Lightera expands on our product offerings and solutions, especially for data centers and enterprise sectors, and we believe OCC will benefit from that. We also -- we think not only our customers will benefit, but also our shareholders as well.

正如我們所說，與 Lightera 這樣的公司合作的好處之一是，他們是光纖和連接解決方案領域的全球領導者。幾十年來，我們一直與 Lightera 及其前身 OFS Fitel 保持著成功的合作關係。我們與 Lightera 的合作擴展了我們的產品供應和解決方案，特別是針對資料中心和企業領域，我們相信 OCC 將從中受益。我們認為，不僅我們的客戶會受益，我們的股東也會受益。

Thanks. Next question. It seems like OCC has already started to benefit from Lightera sales and marketing efforts. Is Lightera going to spend sales and marketing resources to generate business for the partnership going forward?

謝謝。下一個問題。OCC 似乎已經開始從 Lightera 的銷售和行銷工作中受益。Lightera 是否會投入銷售和行銷資源，為未來的合作創造業務？

Lightera did exhibit at the Dixi trade show last month. And at the invitation of Lightera, OCC did provide some personnel at the Lightera booth at Dixi. As part of this new collaboration, we expect the Lightera-OCC will be working together in various different ways. However, we are not commenting on our specific sales and marketing strategies, which is consistent with OCC's past practice.

Lightera上個月參加了Dixi貿易展。應 Lightera 的邀請，OCC 確實在 Dixi 展會上派出了一些人員到 Lightera 的展位。作為此次新合作的一部分，我們預計 Lightera-OCC 將在各種不同的方式上合作。但是，我們不對具體的銷售和行銷策略發表評論，這與OCC過去的做法一致。

Thanks, Neil. Next question. Is the goal with Lightera collaboration still to target Tier 2 data centers? Or does this open the door to hyperscalers and larger data centers?

謝謝你，尼爾。下一個問題。與 Lightera 合作的目標仍然是瞄準 Tier 2 資料中心嗎？這是否會為超大規模資料中心和大型資料中心打開大門？

OCC continues to focus on the products we offer, which tend to be more suitable for what we would call Tier 2 and Tier 3 data centers that does not rule out the possibility of us seeing benefits from the growth that's happening in the hyperscale market, but our core products are really -- and solutions are fairly focused on Tier 2 and Tier 3.

OCC 繼續專注於我們提供的產品，這些產品更適合我們所說的 Tier 2 和 Tier 3 資料中心，這並不排除我們從超大規模市場的成長中獲益的可能性，但我們的核心產品和解決方案確實相當專注於 Tier 2 和 Tier 3。

Thanks. The next investor question. Can you give us an impression of the opportunity here, maybe a typical ticket size for Tier 2 or Tier 3 data centers given the combined offerings?

謝謝。下一個投資者問題。您能否為我們介紹這裡的商機，例如考慮到綜合服務，二級或三級資料中心的典型單價是多少？

Well, I will say that the opportunities in Tier 2 and Tier 3 data centers really vary in size. It can include anything from greenfield builds to moves ads and changes. And as you all know, our practice -- it's our practice that we do not provide forecast of expected sales opportunities. So that's where -- I think that's what we can say about that.

嗯，我想說的是，二級和三級資料中心的機會規模差異很大。它可以包括從全新建設到搬遷、廣告和變更等任何內容。如大家所知，我們的慣例是不提供預期銷售機會的預測。所以，我想這就是我們能說的全部了。

Next question is, did Lightera want to buy more of the equity than the 7.24% interest?

下一個問題是，Lightera 是否想購買比 7.24% 的股份更多的股權？

Well, we're not going to comment or get into the details of our negotiations with Lightera, and that shouldn't be a surprise. We do think very highly of Lightera and Lightera team, and we believe their investment in OCC reflects their confidence in our business and the work we will do together. We're very excited to be working with Lightera and look forward to that continuing to develop over time.

我們不會對與 Lightera 的談判細節發表評論或進行深入探討，這應該不會讓人感到意外。我們非常看好 Lightera 和 Lightera 團隊，我們相信他們對 OCC 的投資反映了他們對我們業務以及我們將共同完成的工作的信心。我們非常高興能與 Lightera 合作，並期待這種合作關係隨著時間的推移繼續發展。

Thanks. We received a number of questions with respect to specific sales or financial outlook with respect to the strategic collaboration with Lightera. Can you speak to that?

謝謝。我們收到了一些關於與 Lightera 進行策略合作的具體銷售或財務前景的問題。您能談談這方面嗎？

Again, consistent with OCC's past practice, we are not going to give specific guidance or projections. What we will say is that we are confident that our strategic collaboration with Lightera and the resulting Lightera-OCC integrated solutions will enable us to offer -- make -- provide an offering that will expand our market opportunities, accelerate OCC's sales growth and will create value for OCC and its shareholders.

再次重申，與OCC以往的做法一致，我們不會給予具體的指引或預測。我們想說的是，我們有信心與 Lightera 進行策略合作，並由此產生 Lightera-OCC 整合解決方案，這將使我們能夠提供——製造——交付——一種能夠擴大市場機會、加速 OCC 銷售成長並為 OCC 及其股東創造價值的產品和服務。

Thanks. We have no other questions that were provided in advance of the call today at this time. Neil?

謝謝。目前我們沒有其他事先提交的問題。尼爾？

Okay. Thank you, Dean. (Operator Instructions)

好的。謝謝你，院長。（操作說明）

(Operator Instructions)

（操作說明）

Assaf Nathan, Eden Discovery.

阿薩夫·內森，伊甸園探索公司。

Hello, guys. Congratulations on a wonderful quarter. My first question is the [meaningful] growth in the US market this quarter. And in the past quarter, the US was not growing that fast. So I was wondering if you can give us a little bit of color about which verticals caused this strong acceleration in which products. It will be great. Thanks.

大家好。恭喜你度過了一個精彩的季度。我的第一個問題是本季美國市場的（實質）成長。上個季度，美國經濟成長速度並不快。所以我想知道您能否詳細介紹哪些垂直領域導致了哪些產品的強勁成長。那太好了。謝謝。

I appreciate the question. Part of the reason why we're seeing growth in addition to the work that our sales and business development teams are doing successfully is, you'll recall that in most of fiscal year 2024 and before that, the whole industry was in a bit of a downturn. So we're benefiting that, but we're also benefiting from our strong position in the marketplace. It's doing well.

感謝您的提問。除了銷售和業務拓展團隊的成功工作之外，我們之所以能夠實現成長，部分原因是，您可能還記得，在 2024 財年的大部分時間里以及之前，整個行業都處於低迷狀態。所以我們從中受益，同時也受益於我們在市場上的強大地位。情況良好。

I don't think we can speak and we typically don't speak to the specifics of which markets and which products are doing well. But generally, right now, and as we will disclose in our Form 10-Q that will be filed later today, we've seen growth in both our enterprise markets as well as our specialty markets. And we've seen growth in the US, and we've seen growth internationally. And so I think that for -- and right at this point, it's a fairly broad growth scenario that we are experiencing and strengthen market.

我認為我們不能，而且通常也不會談論哪些市場和哪些產品表現良好。但總的來說，目前，正如我們將在今天稍後提交的 10-Q 表格中所揭露的那樣，我們的企業市場和專業市場都實現了成長。我們在美國看到了成長，在國際上也看到了成長。所以我認為，就目前而言，我們正在經歷一個相當廣泛的成長情景，市場正在增強。

Okay. And from my next question. I've been following you for a long time, and I read all the press releases and noticed all the tones So in the current press release, you talked about good prospects for this year and beyond, which is a new thing. It seems that you are more confident on the next fiscal year. So this is also a surprise. So can you explain a little bit about driving that, and a little bit more color about what makes you feel more optimistic?

好的。接下來我要問一個問題。我關注你們很久了，讀過所有的新聞稿，也注意到了你們的各種語調。在這次的新聞稿中，你們談到了今年及以後的良好前景，這還是頭一次。看來您對下一個財政年度更有信心了。所以這也是個意外。那麼，您能否稍微解釋一下這種驅動力，以及是什麼讓您感到更樂觀呢？

Well, we've been optimistic because the industry went through about five quarters of decrease and pressure. We kept the position. We weren't as negatively affected as others in our industry were. And in addition to that, we're also benefiting from the recovery in the industry.

我們一直保持樂觀，因為該行業經歷了大約五個季度的下滑和壓力。我們保住了這個位置。我們受到的負面影響沒有業內其他公司那麼大。除此之外，我們也受益於業界的復甦。

We believe that the activity that's going on in data centers we're going to benefit from even though we are not, at the moment, offering products that are more hyperscale related. And we also see strength in our other markets. We do a lot of specialty work and we're seeing strength across the board in those markets. And so that's the is why we're optimistic.

我們相信，儘管我們目前沒有提供與超大規模資料中心相關的產品，但我們仍將從資料中心正在發生的活動中受益。我們在其他市場也看到了強勁勢頭。我們做了很多專業性很強的工作，而且在這些市場中，我們看到了全面強勁的成長動能。所以這就是我們保持樂觀的原因。

I think we're also, as you would expect, excited about our relationship -- new relationship with Lightera. We've worked with Lightera for years. We know the quality company that they are and the people. And the fact that we believe we are taking the relationship we've developed over many years to a different level than making this investment in collaborating in a significant way in certain markets and with certain products, I think, is particularly -- the reason to be particularly optimistic on our part.

我想，正如你所預料的那樣，我們也對我們與 Lightera 建立的新關係感到興奮。我們與 Lightera 合作多年。我們了解他們是多麼優秀的公司，以及他們的員工。我們相信，我們正在將多年來建立的關係提升到一個不同的水平，透過在某些市場和某些產品上進行重大合作來加大投資，我認為這尤其——是我們特別樂觀的原因。

We still have seasonality in our annual cycle. Quarters Q1 and Q2 tend to be a little softer. And of course, there's a lot of noise in the market now in many different fronts. If you just -- as you see and follow the financial moves, you can see that. So we can't be certain about what will happen. But right now, we're particularly optimistic about the path we're on.

我們的年度週期仍然存在季節性變化。第一季和第二季通常略顯疲軟。當然，目前市場上各方面都充斥著許多噪音。如果你仔細觀察並注意金融動態，你就會明白這一點。所以我們無法確定會發生什麼事。但就目前而言，我們對我們所走的道路尤其樂觀。

Thank you. That's very helpful. And that's all my last question. I won't [try] the call. So is it a little bit more macro oriented, so we can assume interest rates are probably going down soon. So does the fact that interest rates are going down can maybe affect some of your clients, maybe help a little bit to release some of the financial pressure, and maybe exponential growth? Do you see any effect like that?

謝謝。那很有幫助。這是我的最後一個問題。我不會嘗試打電話。所以，這有點偏向宏觀層面，因此我們可以假設利率可能很快就會下降。那麼，利率下降是否可能會對您的某些客戶產生影響，或許能稍微緩解一些財務壓力，並可能帶來指數級成長呢？你觀察到類似的效果嗎？

It's hard to say. I think that the interest rate decreases that the Fed is at least being pressured and somewhat considering. They're looking at various different market data, some of which is conflicting. And how that actually filters down is the actual interest rates that businesses are subject to is also still a question mark, I think, in the market. So we're not really looking to what happens with the interest rates to figure out how our business is going to do going forward, but it is something we'd watch as you'd expect.

很難說。我認為，聯準會至少在利率下降的問題上面臨壓力，並且正在考慮採取相應措施。他們正在查看各種不同的市場數據，其中一些數據相互矛盾。而最終企業實際上需要承擔的利率究竟如何，我認為，在市場上仍是個未知數。所以，我們並沒有真正關注利率走勢來決定我們公司未來的發展方向，但正如你所料，我們會密切關注利率變化。

Thank you. Thank you so much. Just a very last question. Considering the large growth you had this quarter, do you still expect the level [you do not expect] you expect Q4 to be the strongest?

謝謝。太感謝了。最後一個問題。考慮到本季的大幅成長，您是否仍預期第四季將是成長最強勁的季度？

Well, we don't really forecast on a quarterly basis. And our business also is a business that has -- can have a lot of volatility in it. But right now, we're optimistic.

其實我們並不按季度進行預測。而且，我們的業務也是一個波動性很大的業務。但就目前而言，我們持樂觀態度。

Appreciate your questions. I was happy that you've asked a number of them. I'm happy to answer those. We tend to restrict the questions just to two for institutional investor.

感謝您的提問。很高興你問了其中的幾個問題。我很樂意回答這些問題。我們通常只向機構投資人提出兩個問題。

Dean, are there any other questions? Or operator, excuse me?

迪恩，還有其他問題嗎？或是接線員，打擾一下？

(Operator Instructions)

（操作說明）

James Winchester, Quantified Value Partners.

James Winchester，Quantified Value Partners。

Yes, good afternoon. I wanted to ask if you could maybe give us a little bit better sense of what's driving gross margin. I know that you've talked in the past about how -- when market was soft, you maintain your infrastructure and capacity even though it was kind of penalized you during that period. But in looking at gross margins, I see we are now, I think, up to the fourth quarter consecutively of very nice expansion in gross margin. I was wondering if you could just talk a little bit about what's driving that?

是的，下午好。我想請問您能否更詳細地解釋一下影響毛利率的因素？我知道你過去曾說過，當市場疲軟時，即使受到某種程度的懲罰，你也要維持基礎設施和產能。但從毛利率來看，我認為我們已經連續四個季度實現了非常不錯的毛利率成長。我想請您簡單談談是什麼原因導致了這種情況？

Sure. There's two things that impact our margins significantly. One is the product mix. The products that we offer particularly on the fiber optic cable side, but also across our other product lines, can vary based on product mix. Now, you -- just from what the market price is for certain products. And so that creates an issue. And also on the cable manufacturing side, that product mix can particularly impact from a processing standpoint. So I put those kind of in one bucket, which is really product mix.

當然。有兩件事會對我們的利潤率產生重大影響。一是產品組合。我們提供的產品，尤其是在光纖電纜方面，以及其他產品線方面，會根據產品組合而有所不同。現在，你——只需根據某些產品的市場價格即可。這就造成了一個問題。此外，在電纜製造方面，這種產品組合也會對加工產生特別大的影響。所以我把它們放在一個桶子裡，也就是產品組合裡。

The second piece that really impacts us and then we benefit from a higher sales levels is the operating leverage, and that operating leverage in our business is significant. So yes, we do tend to not like to pull back in personnel significantly on the manufacturing side when there's pullbacks in the marketplace, but a lot of the cost relates to just the fixed cost of having a manufacturing facility. And as our sales dollars go up, those fixed costs get spread over those higher dollars very quickly, and that results in higher gross profit margins.

真正影響我們並使我們受益於更高銷售水準的第二個因素是經營槓桿，而我們業務中的經營槓桿非常重要。所以，是的，當市場萎縮時，我們通常不喜歡大幅削減生產方面的人員，但許多成本都與擁有生產設施的固定成本有關。隨著銷售額的成長，這些固定成本很快就會分攤到更高的銷售額上，從而帶來更高的毛利率。

We did see the same effect in SG&A costs because we have a substantial amount of fixed SG&A costs. And being a public company, those public company costs also factor into that. I addressed that in my letter to the shareholders in our 2024, last year's letter to the shareholders, that kind of gives you a sense of what you can see over several quarters, which may be of interest to you if you haven't looked at that before.

我們在銷售、一般及行政費用方面也看到了同樣的影響，因為我們有大量的固定銷售、一般及行政費用。而且，作為一家上市公司，上市公司的相關成本也會影響這一點。我在去年的致股東信中（2024 年）談到了這一點，這封信大致概述了幾個季度的情況，如果您以前沒有看過，這可能會讓您感興趣。

That's very helpful. just sort of extending on that first question and in light of your new relationship or a joint venture with Lightera, can you sort of give a generalization of whether that will, number one, whether that will drive more volume over your manufacturing infrastructure? And number two, can you give us some sense of kind of where you're at in terms of utilization of your capacity?

這很有幫助。我想就第一個問題做個補充，鑑於您與 Lightera 建立了新的合作關係或合資企業，您能否概括地說明一下，首先，這是否會提高您生產基礎設施的產量？第二，您能否大致介紹一下您目前的產能利用率？

Are you at one-fourth or one-half, 90%, we're going to need more capacity next year? Or just to sort of give a broad brush assessment of where you're at?

你們的產能是四分之一、二分之一還是90%？明年我們需要更大的產能嗎？還是只是想大致評估一下你目前的狀況？

Sure. Well, we certainly do hope that the relationship with Lightera will create more production volume for us. I think that we're in a good position in our products and in our markets. And then adding Lightera's products to that, I think, ultimately should create more demand for us. And that's what our goal certainly is.

當然。當然，我們真心希望與 Lightera 的合作關係能為我們帶來更大的產量。我認為我們在產品和市場方面都處於有利地位。再加上 Lightera 的產品，我認為最終應該會為我們創造更多需求。而這正是我們的目標。

From a utilization or capacity standpoint, typically -- and Tracy had talked about this, I think, earlier in a question a little bit is typically what affects us most is the personnel standpoint from a manufacturing side. The -- we tend to have more capacity in equipment than we completely utilize. Part of that's because our product line is diverse enough that we have to be prepared for different types of flows of products through the plant, particularly on the cable side. And so we tend to flex on personnel with overtime and then by new hires, as demands increase, and that typically does not require significant additional investment in new equipment. And that also explains the operating leverage.

從利用率或產能的角度來看，通常情況下——我想 Tracy 之前在某個問題中也稍微談到過這一點——對我們影響最大的通常是製造方面的人員情況。我們往往擁有比實際利用率更高的設備產能。部分原因是我們的產品線種類繁多，因此我們必須做好準備，以應對工廠內不同類型的產品流，尤其是在電纜方面。因此，隨著需求的增加，我們傾向於透過加班和招募新員工來靈活調配人員，而這通常不需要對新設備進行大量的額外投資。這也解釋了經營槓桿效應。

What we've disclosed in our Form 10-Q, typically, when we do our calculations is capacity -- running at a capacity of about 50%. Now that seems low, but that's not the personnel we have staff. That's really the machinery and also recognition of how we calculate or how we're utilizing shifts. So in two of our facilities, we're not running 24 hours a day. And in Roanoake, we're not fully staffed 24 hours a day, 365 like some companies.

我們在 10-Q 表格中揭露的內容通常是，當我們進行計算時，產能——以大約 50% 的產能運作。現在看來這個數字很低，但這並非我們實際的員工人數。這其實就是機制，也是我們如何計算或如何利用輪班的認識。因此，我們有兩個工廠不是24小時運轉的。在羅阿諾克，我們不像某些公司那樣，每天 24 小時、全年 365 天都有充足的人員配備。

That's important and strategic in the way we operate because we're not making just a handful of cable products that are always run in very, very long runs and kind of set it and forget it. Our products include customized products and also specialty products that allow us to be more flexible as different product lines move through our facility in different cells -- in different manners, depending on demand.

這在我們的營運方式中非常重要且具有戰略意義，因為我們生產的電纜產品並非總是用於非常非常長的線路，也不是一勞永逸。我們的產品包括客製化產品和特殊產品，這使得我們能夠更靈活地根據需求，在不同的生產線上，以不同的方式，在我們的工廠的不同單元中進行生產。

So what I'd say is that we report that by calculating in that manner, it's about a 50% capacity. I think on any day, our manufacturing people wouldn't look at it that way. And -- but that's the way we calculate it. But certainly, we have to maintain and do maintain excess capacity in order to maintain that flexibility and also a reality of to take the business and the part of the business we're in rather than a company that really focuses on 100 different or 200 different cable products, and that's what they run all day long, 365, 24/7.

所以我想說的是，按照這種計算方法，我們的產能利用率大約是 50%。我認為，在任何情況下，我們的生產人員都不會那樣看待這個問題。但這就是我們的計算方法。但當然，我們必須保持並確實保持過剩產能，以保持這種靈活性，同時也要面對現實，即我們所處的業務和業務部分，而不是像一家公司那樣，真正專注於 100 種或 200 種不同的電纜產品，並且他們全天候 365 天、每天 24 小時都在運行這些產品。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作說明）

[Sergei Mascaro], [Kelper Capital Firm].

[Sergei Mascaro]，[Kelper Capital Firm]。

Hey, guys. Thanks for taking my question. I'm wondering why you are not talking about the data center opportunity in your website and your data center products?

嘿，夥計們。謝謝您回答我的問題。我想知道為什麼你們的網站和資料中心產品中沒有提及資料中心帶來的商機？

Let me make sure I understood the question, why we're not talking about the collaboration more extensively on our website yet? Is that what you're talking about?

讓我確認一下我是否理解了這個問題，為什麼我們還沒有在網站上更廣泛地討論這項合作？你指的是這個嗎？

No, no, no. I'm asking if I check your website, it seems that you are not offering products for data center. I'm wondering why you are not advertising the product that you have on your website?

不，不，不。我想問的是，我查看了你們的網站，似乎你們沒有提供與資料中心相關的產品。我想知道為什麼你們沒有在網站上宣傳你們的產品？

Well, I mean, we do have -- we are in the process of making some improvements to our website. I think that there's a couple of reasons. Number one, I think that there needs to be some improvements. We do have data center products on our website. I need to go back to see how much we specifically promoted that, but we are -- we will look at improvements on our website.

嗯，我的意思是，我們確實——我們正在對我們的網站進行一些改進。我認為原因有二。首先，我認為需要進行一些改進。我們的網站上確實有資料中心產品。我需要回去查看我們具體做了多少推廣，但我們正在——我們會考慮改進我們的網站。

But a lot of our sales and the business that we receive is through the relationships we've had in the industry over years and years and years. And so it's a little bit different than some other businesses that relied more on the advertising on the website.

但是，我們的大部分銷售額和業務都是透過我們多年來在業內建立的關係獲得的。因此，它與其他一些更依賴網站廣告的企業略有不同。

And there are no further questions on the line at this time. And I'll turn the program back to management for any additional or closing remarks.

目前沒有其他問題需要提問。最後，我會把發言權交還給管理階層，讓他們補充或作總結發言。

Thank you, David. I would like to thank everyone for listening to our third quarter of fiscal year 2025 conference call today. As always, we appreciate your time and your investment in Optical Cable Corporation.

謝謝你，大衛。感謝大家今天收聽我們2025財年第三季電話會議。一如既往，我們感謝您抽出寶貴時間並對光纜公司進行投資。

Additionally, on today, specifically, I'd like to thank those men and women who have served and are serving our country around the world to protect our freedom and liberty, and to honor those who perished and the terrorist attack on our country 24 years ago today in New York, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. In OCC, we will never forget. Thank you.

此外，今天，我特別要感謝那些在世界各地為保護我們的自由而服役和正在服役的男男女女，並向24年前在紐約、賓夕法尼亞和弗吉尼亞遭受恐怖襲擊而喪生的人們致敬。在OCC，我們永遠不會忘記。謝謝。

This does conclude the Optical Cable Corporation's third quarter of fiscal year 2025 earnings conference call. Thank you for your participation, and you may now disconnect.

至此，光纜公司 2025 財年第三季財報電話會議結束。感謝您的參與，您現在可以斷開連接了。