Ouster Inc (OUST) 2024 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Hello and welcome to Ouster's second-quarter 2024 earnings conference call. (Operator Instructions) The call today is being recorded. And a replay of the call will be available on the Ouster's Investors Relations website an hour after the completion of this call.

大家好，歡迎參加 Ouster 2024 年第二季財報電話會議。（操作員指示）本次通話正在錄音。電話會議結束後一小時，Ouster 投資者關係網站上將提供本次電話會議的錄音回放。

I'd now like to turn the conference over to Chen Geng, VP of Strategic Finance and Treasurer.

現在我將把會議交給策略財務副總裁兼財務主管陳庚。

Good afternoon, everyone. Thank you for joining us for our second-quarter 2024 earnings call. I am joined today by Ouster's Chief Executive Officer, Angus Pacala; and Chief Financial Officer, Mark Weinswig.

大家下午好。感謝您參加我們2024年第二季財報電話會議。今天與我一同出席的有 Ouster 的執行長 Angus Pacala 和財務長 Mark Weinswig。

Before we begin the prepared remarks, we would like to remind you that earlier today, Ouster issued a press release announcing its second-quarter 2024 results. An investor presentation was published and is available on the Investor Relations section of Ouster's website.

在我們開始正式發言之前，我們想提醒各位，今天早些時候，Ouster 發布了一份新聞稿，宣布了其 2024 年第二季的業績。一份投資者簡報已發布，可在 Ouster 網站的投資者關係部分查閱。

Today's earnings call and press release reflects management's views as of today only and will include statements related to our business and financial outlook that are forward-looking statements under the federal securities laws. Actual results may differ materially from those contained in or implied by these forward-looking statements due to risks and uncertainties associated with our business.

今天的財報電話會議和新聞稿僅反映管理層截至今天的觀點，其中包含與我們業務和財務前景相關的聲明，這些聲明屬於聯邦證券法規定的前瞻性聲明。由於與我們業務相關的風險和不確定性，實際結果可能與這些前瞻性聲明中包含或暗示的結果有重大差異。

For a discussion of the material risks and other important factors that could impact our actual results, please refer to the company's SEC filings and today's press release, both of which can be found on our Investor Relations website. Any forward-looking statements that we make on this call are based on assumptions as of today. And other than as may be required by law, we undertake no obligation to update these statements as a result of new information or future events.

有關可能影響我們實際業績的重大風險和其他重要因素的討論，請參閱公司向美國證券交易委員會提交的文件和今天的新聞稿，這兩份文件都可以在我們的投資者關係網站上找到。我們在本次電話會議中所做的任何前瞻性陳述均基於截至今日的假設。除法律另有規定外，我們不承擔因新資訊或未來事件而更新這些聲明的義務。

Information discussed on this call concerning Ouster's industry, competitive position, and the markets in which it operates is based on information from independent industries and research organizations, other third-party sources, and management estimates, which are derived from publicly available information released by independent industry analysts and other third-party sources, as well as data from Ouster's internal research, and are based on reasonable assumptions and computations made upon reviewing such data, and its experience in and knowledge of such industry and markets. By definition, assumptions are subject to uncertainty and risk, which could cause results to differ materially from those expressed in the estimates.

本次電話會議中討論的有關 Ouster 所在行業、競爭地位及其經營市場的信息，均基於獨立行業和研究機構、其他第三方來源以及管理層估計的信息。這些估計源自獨立行業分析師和其他第三方來源發布的公開信息，以及 Ouster 內部研究的數據，並基於對這些數據進行審查後做出的合理假設和計算，以及 Ouster 在該行業和市場的經驗和知識。根據定義，假設存在不確定性和風險，這可能導致結果與估計中表達的結果有重大差異。

During this call, we will discuss certain non-GAAP financial measures. These non-GAAP financial measures should be considered as a supplement to and not a substitute for measures prepared in accordance with GAAP. For a reconciliation of non-GAAP financial measures discussed during this call to the most directly comparable GAAP measures, please refer to today's press release.

在本次電話會議中，我們將討論一些非GAAP財務指標。這些非GAAP財務指標應被視為依照GAAP編製的指標的補充，而不是替代。有關本次電話會議中討論的非GAAP財務指標與最直接可比較的GAAP指標的調節表，請參閱今天的新聞稿。

I would now like to turn the call over to Angus.

現在我想把電話交給安格斯。

Hello, everyone, and thank you for joining us today. I'll start with a brief recap of the quarter, overview of the market, and update on our strategic priorities. Mark will cover our financial results in more detail, before I close with some final thoughts.

大家好，感謝各位今天收看我們的節目。我將首先簡要回顧本季情況，概述一下市場狀況，並更新我們的策略重點。馬克將更詳細地介紹我們的財務業績，最後我將發表一些總結性意見。

Our second-quarter results showcase solid execution as our GAAP gross margin increased to 34%, setting a new operating record for Ouster. We reported revenues of $27 million, representing the sixth straight quarter we have met or exceeded our guidance.

我們第二季的業績展現了穩健的執行力，GAAP毛利率成長至34%，創下了Ouster新的營運紀錄。我們公佈的營收為 2700 萬美元，這是我們連續第六個季度達到或超過預期。

We are also making our business more efficient. Since the first quarter of 2023, we have reduced our inventory levels by over 30% and improved our annualized inventory turns to over 3.5 times from under 2.5. Alongside the continued improvement in our operating results, we have built one of the industry's most resilient balance sheets and diversified business models.

我們也在努力提高業務效率。自 2023 年第一季以來，我們的庫存水準已降低了 30% 以上，年度庫存週轉率從少於 2.5 次提高到超過 3.5 次。隨著經營績效的持續改善，我們建立了業界最具韌性的資產負債表和多元化的商業模式之一。

Subsequent to the end of the quarter, we repaid all outstanding balance on our revolving credit line with cash on hand. During the second quarter, we saw a strength in our robotics vertical, which accounted for many of our largest deals. We secured and expanded our relationship with Serve Robotics, a leading developer of advanced AI-powered delivery robots.

季度結束後，我們用手頭現金償還了循環信貸額度的所有未償餘額。第二季度，我們的機器人業務表現強勁，促成了我們許多最大的交易。我們鞏固並擴大了與Serve Robotics的合作關係，Serve Robotics是領先的先進人工智慧送貨機器人開發商。

Ouster's REV7 sensors are designed to support a level 4 capable fleet that makes on-demand delivery more affordable and accessible. We look forward to supporting Serve's planned fleet expansion across multiple US markets by the end of 2025.

Ouster 的 REV7 感測器旨在支援 4 級車隊，使按需配送更加經濟實惠且易於取得。我們期待支持 Serve 計畫在 2025 年底前在美國多個市場擴大車隊規模。

Also within robotics, we won deals with two of the world's leading mapping companies to improve how their billions of users explore the world. These customers are expanding their REV7 deployments to refresh and upgrade their mapping fleets with increased range, accuracy, and precision.

在機器人領域，我們也與兩家世界領先的地圖公司達成了協議，以改善其數十億用戶探索世界的方式。這些客戶正在擴大其 REV7 部署範圍，以更新和升級其測繪車隊，從而提高測繪範圍、準確性和精確度。

REV7 took mapping to a whole new level at the Paris Olympics, where fans engaged in new immersive experiences that brought them closer to the games. Reflecting our focus on software solutions, software-attached sales were a highlight in the quarter as we won deals to power perimeter security, intelligent transportation systems, and crowd analytics.

REV7 在巴黎奧運會上將地圖繪製提升到了一個全新的水平，讓粉絲們參與到全新的沉浸式體驗中，從而更貼近奧運會。鑑於我們對軟體解決方案的重視，本季軟體相關銷售成為一大亮點，我們贏得了為周界安全、智慧交通系統和人群分析提供支援的訂單。

With Ouster Gemini, our customers are able to detect and classify objects, conduct real-time tracking, protect secure zones, and automate alerts for security threats. Compared to traditional security solutions, Gemini can significantly decrease false alarms, reduce labor constraints, and enhance intrusion detection capabilities in a wide range of environmental conditions. I am excited about the additional software opportunities we have in the pipeline for the second half of 2024.

透過 Ouster Gemini，我們的客戶能夠偵測和分類物件、進行即時追蹤、保護安全區域以及自動發出安全威脅警報。與傳統安全解決方案相比，Gemini 可以顯著減少誤報，減少勞動力限制，並在各種環境條件下增強入侵偵測能力。我對我們計劃在 2024 年下半年推出的其他軟體專案感到興奮。

Touching on the current demand environment more broadly, we are encouraged to see expanding deployments with existing customers, as well as evaluation projects with new customers. Consistent with broader macroeconomic and industry trends, we have also seen some customer schedules pushed to the right. Despite these schedule changes, which may soften near-term growth, we expect our strong margin and operating expense performance to keep us on track to deliver on our path to profitability.

從更廣泛的角度來看，當前的需求環境令人鼓舞，我們很高興地看到現有客戶的部署規模不斷擴大，以及與新客戶的評估項目也在進行中。與更廣泛的宏觀經濟和行業趨勢一致，我們也看到一些客戶的交貨時間被推遲了。儘管這些計劃變更可能會在短期內減緩成長，但我們預計強勁的利潤率和營運費用表現將使我們繼續朝著獲利目標穩步前進。

Turning to our strategic business priorities for 2024, our first priority is to expand software sales and grow our installed base. In the second quarter, we secured deals to supply Ouster Gemini, our smart infrastructure software solution, to one of the world's largest consumer technology companies, as well as a global telecommunications company.

展望 2024 年的策略業務重點，我們的首要任務是擴大軟體銷售並增加用戶基數。第二季度，我們成功達成協議，向全球最大的消費科技公司之一以及一家全球電信公司供應我們的智慧基礎設施軟體解決方案 Ouster Gemini。

During the quarter, our software team also improved movement detection for security customers, optimized software processing requirements, and enhanced our deep learning perception model to support new use cases, which is identifying unauthorized individuals tailgating into restricted areas.

本季度，我們的軟體團隊還改進了安全客戶的行動偵測功能，優化了軟體處理要求，並增強了我們的深度學習感知模型以支援新的用例，即識別未經授權尾隨進入限制區域的人員。

The second quarter also marked one of our best quarters for software-attached sales. We increased our deployments at distribution yards as Gemini and REV7 are helping drive the immediate ROI for our customers, in addition to providing safety and operational optimization. We signed Gemini deals for multiple other use cases, such as material handling, crowd analytics, and perimeter security applications.

第二季也是我們軟體相關產品銷售最佳的季度之一。我們增加了在配送中心的部署，因為 Gemini 和 REV7 除了提供安全性和營運優化之外，還有助於推動客戶獲得即時的投資回報。我們還與 Gemini 簽署了多項其他應用場景的協議，例如物料搬運、人群分析和周界安全應用。

Turning to our digital lidar hardware roadmap, we have taped out our automotive-grade custom silicon Chronos chip and expect to integrate Chronos into our solid-state digital flash DS sensors in the next year.

談到我們的數位光達硬體路線圖，我們已經完成了汽車級客製化矽 Chronos 晶片的流片，並預計在明年將 Chronos 整合到我們的固態數位閃光 DS 感測器中。

Concurrently, we advance the development of our next-generation custom silicon for our OS sensors, the L4 chip. The L4 silicon is back from fab, and validation testing is underway. Both Chronos and L4 are expected to open up new verticals and bring significant improvements in performance, reliability, and manufacturability to the Ouster product family.

同時，我們正在推進下一代 OS 感測器客製化矽晶片（L4 晶片）的研發。L4晶片已從晶圓廠返回，驗證測試正在進行中。Chronos 和 L4 都有望開闢新的垂直領域，並為 Ouster 產品系列帶來效能、可靠性和可製造性的顯著改進。

Finally, our second-quarter results demonstrate solid execution and progress on our path to profitability. Our gross margins are now approaching the range provided in our long-term financial framework. And we have maintained a low-cost structure, while achieving significant year-over-year revenue growth. We remain on track to deliver the financial metrics necessary to reach profitability.

最後，我們第二季的業績表明，我們在實現盈利的道路上取得了穩健的執行和進展。我們的毛利率目前已接近我們長期財務框架中規定的範圍。我們保持了低成本結構，同時實現了顯著的年收入成長。我們仍有望實現獲利所需的各項財務指標。

In summary, the second quarter showcased our execution and progress on all three of our strategic business objectives. I'll now turn the call over to our CFO, Mark Weinswig, to provide more context on our financial results for the second quarter.

總而言之，第二季展現了我們在三大策略業務目標上的執行和進展。現在我將把電話交給我們的財務長馬克溫斯維格，讓他為我們第二季的財務表現提供更多背景資訊。

Thank you, Angus, and good afternoon, everyone. In the second quarter, we recognized a record $27 million in revenue, shipping over 4,000 sensors. Revenue increased 39% over the second quarter of 2023 and 4% over the first quarter of 2024.

謝謝你，安格斯，大家下午好。第二季度，我們實現了創紀錄的 2,700 萬美元收入，並交付了 4,000 多個感測器。2023 年第二季營收成長 39%，2024 年第一季營收成長 4%。

The smart infrastructure vertical was the largest contributor to revenue, followed closely by robotics. Since launching our software solutions in the first quarter of 2023, smart infrastructure has been our fastest-growing vertical and this quarter, comprised roughly one-third of total revenues.

智慧基礎設施垂直領域是收入貢獻最大的領域，其次是機器人領域。自 2023 年第一季推出軟體解決方案以來，智慧基礎設施一直是我們成長最快的垂直領域，本季約佔總營收的三分之一。

Our gross margin improvement over the past 18 months is a key highlight for Ouster. Second-quarter gross margin set record levels both on a GAAP and non-GAAP basis. GAAP gross margin was 34% in the second quarter of 2024, compared to negative 2% in the first quarter of 2023 and is nearing the range provided in our long-term framework of 35% to 40%.

在過去 18 個月裡，我們的毛利率有所提高，這是 Ouster 的一大亮點。第二季毛利率無論以GAAP或非GAAP準則均創歷史新高。2024 年第二季 GAAP 毛利率為 34%，而 2023 年第一季為 -2%，並且正在接近我們長期框架中規定的 35% 至 40% 的範圍。

Non-GAAP gross margin improved to 40% in the second quarter. Gross margin benefited from further adoption of our high-performing REV7 sensors, favorable product mix, and lower manufacturing costs. We see a slight normalization of these factors and expect our margins to be relatively flat sequentially.

第二季非GAAP毛利率調高至40%。毛利率受益於高性能 REV7 感測器的進一步普及、有利的產品組合以及較低的製造成本。我們看到這些因素略有趨於正常化，預計我們的利潤率將保持相對穩定。

I am proud of our progress in expanding gross margins since the merger. The strong performance illustrates our ability to drive revenue growth, while at the same time, significantly reducing overhead costs and streamlining our manufacturing operations. In addition, we have simultaneously reduced our inventory levels by almost $10 million, increasing our working capital efficiency.

我為我們自合併以來在提高毛利率方面取得的進展感到自豪。這一強勁的業績顯示我們有能力在大幅降低管理費用和簡化生產營運的同時，推動營收成長。此外，我們同時減少了近 1,000 萬美元的庫存，提高了營運資金效率。

GAAP operating expenses of $34 million were lower by 72% year over year and up 3% sequentially. The sequential increase was driven by higher stock-based compensation and increased litigation expenses. We expect operating expenses to fluctuate on a quarterly basis, largely due to the timing of R&D project spending and litigation activities, and should remain at or below third-quarter 2023 levels.

GAAP營運費用為3,400萬美元，較去年同期下降72%，較上季成長3%。環比成長的驅動因素是更高的股票選擇權激勵和增加的訴訟費用。我們預計營運費用將按季度波動，主要原因是研發項目支出和訴訟活動的時間安排，並且應該保持在 2023 年第三季的水平或更低。

Moving to the balance sheet. Our balance sheet is industry-leading with cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash, and short-term investments of $186 million at June 30. During the second quarter, we received approximately $16 million from ATM sales.

接下來查看資產負債表。截至 6 月 30 日，我們的資產負債表處於行業領先地位，現金、現金等價物、受限現金和短期投資達 1.86 億美元。第二季度，我們從 ATM 銷售中獲得了約 1,600 萬美元的收入。

In August, consistent with our strategy to improve our capital structure, we utilized $44 million of cash to fully repay the outstanding balance on our revolving credit line. This action further strengthens our financial position and provides Ouster with a resilient balance sheet.

8 月，為了改善我們的資本結構，我們動用了 4,400 萬美元現金，全額償還了循環信貸額度的未償餘額。此舉進一步鞏固了我們的財務狀況，並為 Ouster 提供了穩健的資產負債表。

Now moving to guidance. For the third quarter, we expect to achieve between $27 million and $29 million of revenue. We anticipate steady sequential revenue growth for the remainder of the year.

現在進入指導環節。我們預計第三季營收將在 2,700 萬美元至 2,900 萬美元之間。我們預計今年剩餘時間內營收將保持穩定成長。

I'll now turn the call back to Angus for his closing remarks.

現在我將把電話轉回給安格斯，請他作總結發言。

Thanks, Mark. The Ouster team delivered solid execution in the second quarter. This is now the fifth straight quarter of expanding margins and increasing revenue.

謝謝你，馬克。Ouster 隊在第二節比賽中表現出色。這已經是連續第五個季度利潤率和營收雙雙成長了。

Non-GAAP gross margins reached 40% for the first time in our history. We had one of the best quarters for software-attached sales, added new features to our software product portfolio, and both of our next-generation custom silicon chips are progressing. Ouster stands out as a fundamentally differentiated lidar company that is shaped by our exceptional employees, customers, and technology.

公司史上首次實現非GAAP毛利率40%。我們在軟體附加產品銷售方面取得了有史以來最好的季度業績之一，為我們的軟體產品組合增加了新功能，而且我們的兩款下一代客製化矽晶片都在穩步推進中。Ouster 是一家與眾不同的雷射雷達公司，這得益於我們傑出的員工、客戶和技術。

We are relentlessly focused on building the highest-quality products and providing best-in-class support to help solve our customers' cutting-edge challenges. I'm excited to see the use cases for lidar expand as the world is automating to solve an ever-increasing number of modern challenges.

我們始終致力於打造最高品質的產品，並提供一流的支持，以幫助客戶解決前沿挑戰。隨著世界自動化程度的提高，雷射雷達的應用場景也在不斷擴展，以解決日益增多的現代挑戰，我對此感到非常興奮。

Whether it's industrial companies delivering more efficiency or cities deploying technology for safer roads, Ouster's digital lidar is increasingly the center of choice. With lidar adoption still in its infancy, we are just beginning to tap into our growth, and I see a tremendous opportunity still in front of us.

無論是工業企業提高效率，還是城市部署技術以改善道路安全，Ouster 的數位光達都日益成為首選。光達技術的應用仍處於起步階段，我們才剛開始挖掘其成長潛力，我認為我們面前仍然蘊藏著巨大的機會。

With that, I'd like to open the call for a Q&A.

接下來，我想開啟問答環節。

(Operator Instructions) Kevin Cassidy, Rosenblatt Securities.

（操作說明）凱文·卡西迪，羅森布拉特證券。

Hi. Yeah, thanks for taking my question, and congratulations on the great results.

你好。是的，謝謝你回答我的問題，也恭喜你取得了優異的成績。

Yeah, moving up to 40% gross margin is quite an accomplishment. And I just want to understand some of the moving parts in doing that. Is it the unit volumes that are up and costs may be coming down with that, or is it because you're selling more software? And maybe you can give a ranking of which one affected the gross margins the most?

是的，毛利率達到 40% 確實是一項了不起的成就。我只是想了解其中的一些運作環節。是因為銷量上升導致成本下降，還是因為軟體銷量增加？或許您可以對哪一項對毛利率的影響最大進行排名？

Yeah, thanks for the question, Kevin. We're very proud of the gross margins, definitely, one of the highlights of really the past year.

是的，謝謝你的提問，凱文。我們對毛利率非常滿意，這絕對是過去一年中最令人矚目的亮點之一。

But over the past 18 months, we took significant actions. We moved more product to our contract manufacturer. We took costs out of the business. We shut down facilities. And those actions and the revenue growth and the product mix shift have allowed us to really see a significant increase in our overall gross margins.

但在過去18個月裡，我們採取了重大行動。我們將更多產品轉移到了代工廠生產。我們削減了公司的成本。我們關閉了部分設施。這些舉措、收入成長和產品組合調整，使我們的整體毛利率真正實現了顯著成長。

We provided the long-term framework of between 35% and 40% in terms of a growth margin target. And we're, right now, knocking at the door of being able to hit those levels.

我們設定了長期成長框架，目標成長率為 35% 至 40%。而現在，我們正朝著達到這些水準的目標邁進。

Great. And maybe to understand the software strategy a little more, you're selling it as an attached feature now and getting an extra price, I would think. And other maintenance contracts along with that, do you have a long term -- where you continually update the software for your customers?

偉大的。或許為了更深入地了解軟體策略，我認為你們現在是將其作為附加功能出售，並收取額外費用。此外，你們還有其他維護合約嗎？例如長期合同，持續為客戶更新軟體？

Yeah. That's a great follow-on question on the -- and it really relates to the gross margins as well, the software strategy that we put in place. Basically, driving software-attached sales through our solutions business is really starting to pay off.

是的。這是一個很好的後續問題——而且它確實與毛利率以及我們制定的軟體策略有關。基本上，透過我們的解決方案業務推動軟體相關銷售真的開始見效了。

We had a record revenue quarter for software-attached sales. That's a customer that's buying a combination of hardware and software from Ouster. And this is not an overnight success. We've been investing in Gemini and Blue City now for over two years and made major investments last year and integrating those two products after the merger and a unified software stack.

軟體相關銷售額本季創下歷史新高。這是從 Ouster 購買硬體和軟體組合的客戶。這並非一蹴可幾的成功。我們已經對 Gemini 和 Blue City 進行了兩年多的投資，去年更是投入巨資，並在合併後整合了這兩個產品，形成統一的軟體堆疊。

And we're seeing customers respond. So Blue City -- we see customers now expanding from pilot phase into real deployments into municipalities that could impact the safety and improve congestion of the towns and cities that you and I live in.

我們看到了客戶的正面回饋。所以，Blue City——我們看到客戶現在正從試點階段擴展到市政當局的實際部署，這可能會影響你我居住的城鎮的安全並改善交通擁堵。

So we're really excited about that, that adoption starting to show legs and drive actual revenue -- significant revenue and expanding gross margins. About a third of our revenue this quarter came from the smart infrastructure vertical. And again, we sell software solutions into that vertical specifically. And that's all just creating this great flywheel of success in that vertical and for our gross margin expansion.

因此，我們對此感到非常興奮，因為這種普及開始顯現成效，並帶來實際收入——可觀的收入和不斷擴大的毛利率。本季我們約有三分之一的營收來自智慧基礎設施垂直領域。我們再次強調，我們專門向該垂直行業銷售軟體解決方案。而這一切都為該垂直領域和我們毛利率的成長創造了巨大的成功飛輪。

Thank you. I'll go back in the queue.

謝謝。我重新排隊。

Kevin Garrigan, WestPark Capital.

凱文·加里根，西園資本。

Yeah. Hey, Angus. Hey, Mark. Let me echo my congrats on the progress.

是的。嘿，安格斯。嘿，馬克。我也要對所取得的進展表示祝賀。

Hey, Angus, you know what, some contracts that were pushed to the right at some of your customers, kind of a two-part question. Do you guys have agreements with customers that are non-cancellable, and then what end markets do you see the pushouts in?

嘿，安格斯，你知道嗎，你的一些客戶的一些合約被推到了右邊，這其實是一個包含兩部分的問題。你們是否與客戶簽訂了不可取消的協議？如果是，你們預期會在哪些終端市場出現推廣活動？

Yeah, so just to answer that, so we absolutely have contracts that are non-cancellable with customers. That's the bookings. The definition of a booking is a non-cancellable PO or contract that we have in hand.

是的，所以為了回答這個問題，我們確實有與客戶簽訂的不可取消的合約。這是預訂情況。預訂的定義是指我們手中不可取消的採購訂單或合約。

And last year, we had a great bookings year, book-to-bill ratio of 1.7x. So significant number of customers are under contract with Ouster, which gives us a lot of confidence in the long-term kind of view of the top customers of Ouster.

去年，我們的預訂量非常可觀，預訂出貨比達到了 1.7 倍。因此，大量客戶與 Ouster 簽訂了合同，這讓我們對 Ouster 頂級客戶的長期發展前景充滿信心。

And so overall, to the question of where we're seeing slowdown or expansion, I really want to step back and stress how positive the outlook is for Ouster's business across each one of our verticals. All we see is growth in the future for Ouster.

因此，總的來說，對於我們看到哪些領域出現放緩或擴張的問題，我真的想退一步，強調 Ouster 在我們各個垂直領域的業務前景是多麼樂觀。我們看到的只有 Ouster 的未來發展前景一片光明。

We have created a flywheel across four key industries. And each one of those industries is adopting more automation, more digital lidar sensors from Ouster, and building stronger ties and more mature business models.

我們在四大關鍵產業中打造了一個良性循環。這些行業都在採用更多自動化技術，採用更多來自 Ouster 的數位光達感測器，並建立更緊密的聯繫和更成熟的商業模式。

To give some examples, Serve Robotics, we mentioned in the call, that's a customer we've been working with for over five years. They've been at smaller pilot stage for a long time, and now they've made the leap to a 2,000-unit expansion of their business.

舉個例子，我們在電話會議中提到了 Serve Robotics，這是我們合作超過五年的客戶。他們長期以來一直處於小規模試點階段，現在他們已經實現了業務規模的飛躍，擴大到 2000 台。

That's a novel business model, last-mile delivery starting in LA, and 2,000 units is nothing to sniff at. That's bigger than Waymo's deployment in any city in the US. So we're seeing customers like that in novel domains, like robotics, expanding. And we're also seeing customers moving out of pilot stage or development stage with some of our software solutions.

這是一個新穎的商業模式，最後一公里配送從洛杉磯開始，2000 台的銷售量也不容小覷。這比 Waymo 在美國任何一個城市的部署規模都大。因此，我們看到像這樣的客戶在新興領域（例如機器人領域）不斷擴張。我們也看到一些客戶正在使用我們的軟體解決方案，並已從試點階段或開發階段過渡到後續階段。

So Blue City -- I mentioned municipalities now talking about tens or hundreds of intersections being deployed with the technology, where we've been in the pilot stage across hundreds of different sites in the last couple years. Same thing is true for our Gemini solution. We now have customers that are using Gemini as a core part of their business, driving cost savings for logistics players, security -- providing security at sites.

所以，Blue City——我之前提到過，現在很多市政當局正在討論在數十個或數百個十字路口部署這項技術，而我們在過去幾年裡已經在數百個不同的地點進行了試點。我們的 Gemini 解決方案也是如此。現在，我們的一些客戶將 Gemini 作為其業務的核心部分，為物流企業節省成本，並為現場提供安全保障。

So yeah, I really want to stress, overall, Ouster, what we see is growth in our future. Obviously, we're guiding up for next quarter. And we're committed to the long-term model that we provided with 30% to 50% growth annually on a path to profitability.

所以，我真的想強調，總的來說，Ouster，我們看到的是未來的成長。顯然，我們對下一季的業績預期是上調的。我們致力於推行我們提供的長期發展模式，每年實現 30% 至 50% 的成長，最終獲利。

Okay, perfect. I appreciate that color. And then as a follow-up, kind of going off of Kevin's software question, I mean, it looks like this quarter -- you mentioned you had signed much larger customers. Kind of looking at your pipeline, do you have for -- or any other large companies in the pipeline? And are any on the edge, and what can you kind of do to get them over the finish line?

好的，完美。我喜歡這個顏色。然後，作為後續問題，算是接續凱文的軟體問題，我的意思是，看起來這個季度——你提到你們簽下了更大的客戶。我正在考察貴公司的專案儲備，目前是否有其他大型公司正在洽談合作？有沒有一些人處於崩潰邊緣，你可以做些什麼來幫助他們衝過終點線？

Yeah. So the software-attached sale is a key part of Ouster's strategy. We outlined that at the beginning of the year, and it's really focused on the smart infrastructure vertical. And we have two products there, Blue City for traffic management and then Gemini as a crowd analytics -- a more generalized solution for crowd analytics, logistics, and security.

是的。因此，軟體捆綁銷售是 Ouster 策略的關鍵部分。我們在年初就提出了這個目標，它主要關注智慧基礎設施垂直領域。我們在那裡有兩款產品，分別是用於交通管理的 Blue City 和用於人群分析的 Gemini——一個更通用的人群分析、物流和安全解決方案。

And this is the first year that we really had a significant go-to-market strategy with a mature product. And already, we're at a point where a third of our revenue this quarter was software-attached sales -- or excuse me -- was from the smart infrastructure vertical. And we had a record quarter for software-attached sales in the quarter.

今年是我們首次針對成熟產品製定了重要的市場推廣策略。目前，我們本季收入的三分之一來自軟體相關銷售——或者更準確地說——來自智慧基礎設施垂直領域。本季我們的軟體相關銷售額創下了歷史新高。

And this is just the beginning. I think that there's potential for us to have the majority of our sales within the smart infrastructure vertical be software-attached. Again, these products have been out for, in many cases, under a year, and we're adding to these products all the time.

而這只是個開始。我認為，在智慧基礎設施垂直領域，我們的大部分銷售額都有可能來自軟體附加產品。再次強調，這些產品上市至今，許多情況下還不到一年，而且我們一直持續增加新產品。

So the difference with hardware and software is we're able to incorporate new features, address customer demand, and drive value at a faster cadence with this customer base. Because it's software, we can deliver over the air versus shipping new hardware and developing new hardware on a longer timeframe.

因此，硬體和軟體的差異在於，我們能夠以更快的節奏，為客戶群添加新功能、滿足客戶需求並創造價值。因為是軟體，我們可以進行無線交付，而無需像傳統硬體那樣耗費更長的時間去運輸和開發新硬體。

So I think there's big things to come here. And we're going to continue to give insights into how customers are adopting this as the year goes on.

所以我認為這裡未來會有大事發生。我們將繼續深入分析客戶在今年稍後是如何採用這項技術的。

Okay, perfect. I appreciate the color. Thank you.

好的，完美。我喜歡這個顏色。謝謝。

Richard Shannon, Craig Hallum.

理查德·香農，克雷格·哈勒姆。

Hi, Angus and Mark. Thanks for taking my questions. I'm going to follow up on one that was asked earlier. I think there's different perspectives to the response. I just want to be more specific here.

嗨，安格斯和馬克。謝謝您回答我的問題。我將跟進回答之前有人提出的一個問題。我認為對此可以有不同的看法。我只是想把話說得更具體一點。

And Angus, you talked about some delays and push-outs you're seeing here, which is not a surprise. And we've heard from other companies that are reporting so far this season here. Maybe you can characterize where you're seeing that by industry, by geography. And then maybe as a corollary or a follow-on to that, Mark comments about what this might mean for the fourth quarter.

安格斯，你剛才提到了一些延誤和延期的情況，這並不令人意外。我們還了解到其他公司在本季迄今的報告情況。或許你可以按行業、按地理位置來描述你發現這種情況的地點。然後，或許作為推論或後續，馬克評論了這可能對第四季意味著什麼。

I didn't catch the specific language, but it made it sound like you're expecting kind of a flattish revenue in the fourth quarter versus the third. Just want to clarify what that means.

我沒聽清具體措辭，但聽起來你似乎預計第四季的營收將與第三季相比持平。我只是想弄清楚那是什麼意思。

Yeah. So Richard, I'll go first just because I want to make sure that I don't -- that any words I said are not mischaracterized at all. So what my comments were is that we do anticipate steady sequential revenue growth for the remainder of the year.

是的。所以理查德，我先說吧，因為我想確保我說的任何話都不會被曲解。所以我的評論是，我們預計今年剩餘時間的收入將保持穩定的環比成長。

And as Angus mentioned, we are going to grow. We are continuing to grow. It's our focus to grow. We've got a very strong book of business. And you should expect that we are going to grow within the framework that we put together, which is the 35% to 50% annual revenue growth.

正如安格斯所說，我們會發展壯大。我們正在持續發展壯大。我們的目標是發展壯大。我們的業務非常強勁。你們應該預料到，我們將在我們制定的框架內發展，即每年 35% 至 50% 的收入成長。

Yeah. And then on the question on push-out by industry, the nature of having hundreds of customers and being a diversified business is there really isn't a single industry where there's a trend of push-outs. We have a certain fraction of customers that always delay. That's the nature of adopting new complex technology.

是的。至於產業排擠問題，由於擁有數百名客戶且業務多元化，實際上並沒有哪個產業有排擠趨勢。我們有一部分客戶總是拖延付款。這就是採用複雜新技術的必然結果。

And there's nothing wrong with that, if you've built a business that incorporates that reality and is resilient to it. And actually, I view that delay -- when you go and look at the customer survey, the customers that are delaying -- and again, it really is broad-based across our industries.

如果你建立的企業能夠適應這種現實並能抵禦這種現實的影響，那麼這樣做也沒什麼不好。實際上，我認為這種延遲——當你查看客戶調查，查看那些延遲付款的客戶——你會發現，這種延遲在我們各個行業中都是普遍存在的。

The common thread is that the delay is coming from technical development of their total solution. And that means software. That means software integration, validation. And so it really is an opportunity for Ouster to go and build more of those solutions across our verticals.

共同點是，延誤是由於他們整體解決方案的技術開發所造成的。這意味著軟體。這意味著軟體整合和驗證。因此，這對 Ouster 來說確實是一個機會，可以去建立更多此類解決方案，並拓展到我們的各個垂直領域。

And so we started in the smart infrastructure vertical building total solutions. And as a result, we don't have delays of that nature for our software-attached sales for the customers in that domain.

於是，我們從智慧基礎設施垂直領域起步，打造整體解決方案。因此，我們在該領域客戶的軟體銷售中不會出現此類延誤。

And so I think that there's an immense capacity to start building out solutions that address these challenging technical problems, software and hardware working in concert, complex AI technology that's safety critical, and industrial or robotics or automotive, and building that software and expanding our revenue base as a result, and also speeding time to market for the tail of customers that's struggling with that kind of technology.

因此，我認為我們有能力開始建立解決方案，以解決這些具有挑戰性的技術問題，例如軟體和硬體協同工作、複雜的人工智慧技術（對安全至關重要）、工業、機器人或汽車領域，並建立這些軟體，從而擴大我們的收入基礎，同時加快那些在技術方面遇到困難的客戶的產品上市速度。

So hopefully, that gives you some color. This is really not an industry-by-industry trend at all. It's the nature of having hundreds of customers and having a diversified business.

希望這能帶給你一些色彩上的感受。這其實根本不是某個產業的趨勢。這就是擁有數百名客戶和多元化業務的必然結果。

Okay, and I apologize. I may have misinterpreted your initial comments, which you're not interpreting this push-out anyway to any macroeconomic activity, but delays in complex technical developments. Is that accurate, Angus?

好的，我道歉。我可能誤解了你最初的評論，你並沒有將這次推遲解讀為任何宏觀經濟活動，而是解讀為複雜技術發展的延遲。安格斯，這個說法準確嗎？

There will always be some level of macroeconomics that plays with some of our customers. But Ouster is expecting to grow. We got it up. We're expecting to have growth through the end of the year and continue to grow in line with our long-term model.

宏觀經濟因素總是會對我們的一些客戶產生影響。但奧斯特預計會發展壯大。我們把它弄好了。我們預計到年底將保持成長，並將繼續按照我們的長期發展模式實現成長。

So I don't want you to have the wrong takeaway here. We see nothing but up and to the right for the revenue at Ouster.

所以我不想讓你們產生錯誤的理解。我們看到 Ouster 的收入只會不斷上漲和成長。

Okay, great. Thanks for correcting my misinterpretation there. My second question here, I guess, I'll follow up on the software topic in response to the last question you were talking about.

好的，太好了。謝謝您糾正我的誤解。我的第二個問題，我想就您剛才提到的軟體問題再補充一點。

Within the smart infrastructure space, seeing a majority of your hardware sales being software-attached, it sounded like a forward-looking comment, as opposed to something you're seeing here now or expecting in the near future. But maybe you can expand on this and help us maybe think about maybe just within the smart infrastructure space. Is there visibility into 10%, 25% of that vertical being software-driven at some point?

在智慧基礎設施領域，看到你們的大部分硬體銷售都與軟體捆綁在一起，這聽起來像是一個具有前瞻性的評論，而不是你們現在正在看到或預期在不久的將來會發生的事情。但或許您可以就此展開討論，幫助我們思考一下，或許可以只限於智慧基礎設施領域。是否有可能在某個時候，該垂直領域 10% 或 25% 的業務由軟體驅動？

Yeah, I fumbled my words on that answer. So just to clarify, we did about a third of our revenue from the smart infrastructure vertical this quarter. And we had a record quarter for software-attached revenue. Now the fact is we really only sell smart infrastructure software. So we had a strong quarter in smart infrastructure from a software-attached sales basis and just from an overall basis as a mix of the industry.

是的，我回答這個問題時結結巴巴的。澄清一下，本季我們約有三分之一的收入來自智慧基礎設施垂直領域。我們的軟體相關收入創下了季度新高。事實上，我們真正銷售的只是智慧基礎設施軟體。因此，無論從軟體銷售角度還是從整個行業的整體角度來看，我們在智慧基礎設施領域都取得了強勁的季度業績。

And if you go back and reread some of my comments from late last year, early this year, software-attached sales were under 20% of the revenue for a couple quarters there, but really set the expectation that we -- there's the capacity for us to outgrow -- or yeah, outgrow -- grow faster in the smart infrastructure vertical than others.

如果你回顧我去年底、今年年初的一些評論，你會發現，軟體附加銷售額在幾個季度內佔收入的比例不到 20%，但這確實表明，我們有能力在智慧基礎設施垂直領域實現比其他公司更快的成長。

Why? It's for two reasons. One is because we're building these total solutions in-house. And like I said, that allows you to side step some of the tricky issues with customer integrations. The second is because these verticals are immense. The IPS traffic solutions industry is billions of dollars globally, 150,000 signalized intersections in the United States alone.

為什麼？原因有二。其中一個原因是，我們正在自主建構這些整體解決方案。正如我所說，這可以讓你繞過客戶整合方面的一些棘手問題。第二點是因為這些垂直領域非常龐大。全球 IPS 交通解決方案產業規模達數十億美元，光在美國就有 15 萬個號誌交叉路口。

Likewise, the security industry, security solutions, the hardware, video management solutions, tens of billions of dollars; hundreds of millions of cameras are sold every year into that vertical. So we're entering major markets with turnkey software-hardware solutions.

同樣，安防產業、安防解決方案、硬體、視訊管理解決方案，每年都有數百億美元的市場；數億台攝影機銷往這個垂直領域。因此，我們正在以交鑰匙軟硬體解決方案進入主要市場。

So I think that smart infrastructure as a vertical still has the capacity to outgrow our other verticals or become a larger share over time. And I do think that at least an internal goal is for the majority of those sales to be software-attached just because of the nature of the products that we're -- the software products that we have. Gemini and Blue City, I see as encompassing the vast -- or a majority of use cases in the smart infrastructure vertical.

所以我認為，智慧基礎設施作為一個垂直領域，仍然有潛力超越我們其他垂直領域，或隨著時間的推移獲得更大的份額。而且我認為，至少我們的一個內部目標是讓大部分銷售都與軟體捆綁在一起，這完全是因為我們產品的性質——我們擁有的軟體產品。我認為 Gemini 和 Blue City 涵蓋了智慧基礎架構垂直領域的大部分用例。

Got it. Okay. Great perspective there, Angus. That's all from me. I'll jump on the line. Thanks.

知道了。好的。安格斯，你的觀點很棒。我的內容就這些了。我這就上線。謝謝。

Thanks, Richard.

謝謝你，理查。

Italy (sic - "Itay") Michaeli, Citi.

義大利（原文如此 - “Itay”）Michaeli，花旗銀行。

Great. Thanks. Hi, everybody. Just two questions.

偉大的。謝謝。大家好。就兩個問題。

First, on gross margin, with 40% non-GAAP this quarter -- and I think, Angus, you're mentioning the opportunity ahead, the increase of software-attached sales. It won't prevent upside over time to the 35% to 40% range you provided. And if you do see some upside, could there be an opportunity for the company to even invest some of that back into price to drive volume?

首先，就毛利率而言，本季非GAAP毛利率為40%——我認為，安格斯，你提到的是未來的機遇，也就是軟體附加銷售額的成長。隨著時間的推移，它不會阻止上漲至您所提供的 35% 至 40% 的範圍內。如果確實看到了上漲空間，公司是否有可能將部分上漲空間重新投入價格，以推動銷售成長？

And just secondly, maybe for Mark, I was hoping you could expand a bit more on the decision to pay down the revolver in Q3, and kind of what went behind that decision? Thank you.

其次，我想問馬克一個問題，你能否詳細解釋第三季償還循環貸款的決定，以及做出這個決定背後的原因？謝謝。

Thanks for the questions, Itay. Great to hear from you. So just moving first to the gross margin side, we're very, very happy by the performance this quarter. We did have a couple of tailwinds that impacted us.

謝謝你的提問，伊泰。很高興收到你的來信。首先來看毛利率方面，我們對本季的業績非常非常滿意。我們確實遇到了幾次順風，這對我們產生了影響。

We saw strong revenue growth. We had a favorable product mix. We saw lower cost. We've guided or we've noted that we have this long-term framework of 35% to 40%. We've not made any changes to that.

我們實現了強勁的營收成長。我們擁有有利的產品組合。我們看到了更低的成本。我們已經指導或指出，我們的長期框架為 35% 至 40%。我們沒有對此做任何更改。

As we see more of the business move to potentially higher-margin verticals, we may update that in the future. At this point, we're sticking with kind of that framework that we've laid out.

隨著越來越多的業務轉移到利潤率可能更高的垂直領域，我們將來可能會更新這項數據。目前，我們將繼續沿用我們已經制定的框架。

And going back to your other point, which is that there might be opportunities to look at opportunities from the fact that we may have higher margins in certain verticals than other verticals. So it's something that we have discussed, and it's something that we are looking at.

回到你的另一點，那就是我們或許可以從某些垂直領域比其他垂直領域擁有更高利潤率這一事實中尋找機會。所以，這是我們已經討論過的事情，也是我們正在研究的事情。

Yeah, the question being kind of on investing some of that margin back into volume with certain customers. I think that that's an apt observation in question. There's certainly a set of customers that we could invest in per se if we see a major volume opportunity.

是的，問題在於如何將部分利潤重新投入與特定客戶的銷售成長。我認為這是一個恰當的觀察。如果我們看到巨大的銷售機會，當然可以對某些客戶群進行投資。

And I think that that's built into, to some degree, our long-term model. I do want to make it clear; we're committed to the 35% to 40% margins. Now where we end up in that regime could be determined by how much we are investing in a particular vertical that might need a different type of pricing in order to reach an order of magnitude more scale.

我認為這在某種程度上已經融入我們的長期模式中。我想明確一點：我們致力於實現 35% 到 40% 的利潤率。現在，我們最終會走到哪一步，可能取決於我們在某個特定垂直領域投入了多少資金，而該領域可能需要不同的定價方式才能達到更大的規模。

We're certainly in a position with the balance sheet we have and the progress we've made to move aggressively in a couple of directions if that makes sense for the business and for the long-term profitability of the business.

憑藉我們目前的資產負債表和取得的進展，如果這對企業和企業的長期獲利能力有意義，我們完全有能力在幾個方向上積極推進。

And then moving over to the balance sheet and the decision to pay down the debt that we had outstanding, the $45 million of debt, part of the business, which might not be as flashy but which I really enjoy, is looking at the balance sheet, focusing on efficiency (technical difficulty) working capital management.

然後，我們轉向資產負債表，決定償還未償債務，這筆 4500 萬美元的債務，這是業務的一部分，雖然可能不那麼引人注目，但我真的很喜歡，那就是查看資產負債表，專注於效率（技術難度）營運資本管理。

Over the last year, 1.5, we've lowered our DSOs by 60%. We've reduced our inventory by $10 million, increasing our inventory turns [2x], significantly reduced the cash conversion cycle. So every one of our working capital metrics just looking very, very positive.

在過去的1.5年裡，我們的應收帳款週轉天數降低了60%。我們減少了 1000 萬美元的庫存，提高了庫存週轉率 [2 倍]，並顯著縮短了現金週轉週期。因此，我們所有的營運資本指標看起來都非常非常正面。

That, along with the fact that we had a very strong ending cash amount of about $186 million as of the end of June, it gave us the confidence to be able to pay down that debt, so that we have what we believe is the most resilient balance sheet of anybody in the industry. We think that's a competitive advantage.

再加上截至 6 月底我們擁有約 1.86 億美元的強勁現金儲備，這讓我們有信心償還債務，因此我們擁有業內最穩健的資產負債表。我們認為這是一個競爭優勢。

Terrific. That's all very helpful. Thank you.

了不起。這都很有幫助。謝謝。

Kevin Cassidy, Rosenblatt Securities.

Kevin Cassidy，Rosenblatt Securities。

Yeah. Thanks for letting me ask a follow-up question. The L4 coming out -- when you came out with REV7, it was a real game changer, and you're still benefiting from that. What do you think with L4? Are you addressing higher end markets or different markets with that? Or do you expect this to be more or less a cannibalization of the current product?

是的。謝謝允許我問一個後續問題。L4 的推出——就像你們推出 REV7 時一樣，它真正改變了遊戲規則，你們至今仍在從中受益。你覺得L4怎麼樣？你的目標市場是高端市場還是其他類型的市場？或者您認為這會或多或少蠶食現有產品？

Yeah. Thanks for the question. I was waiting for a product question. So still the core of Ouster is our digital lidar technology and our road map based around silicon chips.

是的。謝謝你的提問。我當時在等一個產品相關的問題。因此，Ouster 的核心仍然是我們的數位光達技術，以及我們基於矽晶片的發展路線圖。

And really, the promise here is that Ouster's products are going to continue to become -- to be exponentially better based on the Moore's law improvements in the underlying semiconductor technologies. And we've seen that across multiple generations of chip, most recently with the L3 chip doubling the range of all of our products, just by swapping out that silicon.

而真正的前景是，隨著底層半導體技術的摩爾定律不斷進步，Ouster 的產品將會持續變得更好——呈指數級增長。我們已經看到，在多代晶片中，L3 晶片透過更換矽片，使我們所有產品的覆蓋範圍翻了一番。

So our customers can expect to benefit from continued exponential improvement in our products. L4 is going to deliver on that promise again. But it's not just about producing higher-end products. We can also simultaneously reduce costs in the system by absorbing even more complexity of the system onto the silicon chips.

因此，我們的客戶可以期待從我們產品的持續指數級改進中受益。L4 將再次兌現這項承諾。但這不僅僅是生產高端產品的問題。我們還可以透過將系統的更多複雜性整合到矽晶片上，同時降低系統成本。

And that applies to the L4, but also to the Chronos chip which notably is taped out and will be coming back for incorporation into the DF sensors. So the promise of digital lidar and the silicon-based road map that Ouster has is continuing with both the L4 and the Chronos. And customers will benefit immensely from improvements in performance, features, and affordability as a result of that investment.

這不僅適用於 L4，也適用於 Chronos 晶片，值得注意的是，該晶片已完成流片，並將重新整合到 DF 感測器中。因此，Ouster 的數位雷射雷達的承諾以及基於矽的路線圖在 L4 和 Chronos 上得以延續。由於這項投資，客戶將從性能、功能和價格的提升中受益匪淺。

Okay, great. Thanks for that clarification.

好的，太好了。謝謝你的解釋。

There are no further questions at this time, so I will hand it back over to Mr. Pacala for closing remarks.

目前沒有其他問題了，所以我會把發言權交還給帕卡拉先生，請他作總結發言。

Great. Well, I want to thank the Ouster team for another great quarter and thank everyone for joining the call. And hope everyone has a great evening. Cheers.

偉大的。我要感謝 Ouster 團隊又一個出色的季度，也感謝大家參加電話會議。祝大家今晚過得愉快。乾杯。

Thank you. This does conclude today's conference call. You may now disconnect.

謝謝。今天的電話會議到此結束。您現在可以斷開連線了。