Quantum-Si Inc (QSI) 2023 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by. Welcome to the Quantum-Si second-quarter 2023 earnings call. (Operator Instructions) Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to Juan Avendano, Head of Investor Relations for Quantum-Si. Juan, please go ahead.

女士們先生們，感謝你們的支持。歡迎參加 Quantum-Si 2023 年第二季度財報電話會議。 （操作員指示）請注意，今天的會議正在錄製中。我現在想將會議交給 Quantum-Si 投資者關係主管 Juan Avendano。胡安，請繼續。

Good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining us. Earlier today, Quantum-Si released financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2023. A copy of the press release is available on the company's website. Joining me today are Jeff Hawkins, Chief Executive Officer, and Jeff Keyes, Chief Financial Officer.

大家，早安。感謝您加入我們。今天早些時候，Quantum-Si 發布了截至 2023 年 6 月 30 日的第二季度財務業績。該新聞稿的副本可在該公司網站上獲取。今天與我一起出席的有首席執行官傑夫·霍金斯 (Jeff Hawkins) 和首席財務官傑夫·凱斯 (Jeff Keyes)。

Before we begin, I'd like to remind you that management will be making certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of federal securities laws. These statements involve material risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results or events to materially differ from those anticipated.

在開始之前，我想提醒您，管理層將在聯邦證券法的含義範圍內做出某些前瞻性聲明。這些陳述涉及重大風險和不確定性，可能導致實際結果或事件與預期存在重大差異。

Additional information regarding these risks and uncertainties appears in the section entitled Forward-Looking Statements of our press release. For a more complete list and description of risk factors, please see the company's filings made with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

有關這些風險和不確定性的更多信息請參見我們新聞稿中標題為“前瞻性陳述”的部分。有關風險因素的更完整列表和描述，請參閱該公司向美國證券交易委員會提交的文件。

This conference call contains time-sensitive information that is only accurate as of the live broadcast today, August 7, 2023. Except as required by law, the company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements.

本次電話會議包含的時間敏感信息僅在今天（2023 年 8 月 7 日）直播時準確。除法律要求外，公司不承擔任何更新或修改任何前瞻性陳述的意圖或義務。

During this call, we will also be referring to certain financial measures that are not prepared in accordance with US Generally Accepted Accounting Principles or GAAP, including EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA. A reconciliation of these non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures is included in the press release filed earlier today.

在本次電話會議中，我們還將提及某些未按照美國公認會計準則或 GAAP 編制的財務指標，包括 EBITDA 和調整後的 EBITDA。今天早些時候提交的新聞稿中包含了這些非公認會計原則財務指標與最直接可比的公認會計原則財務指標的調節表。

With that, I will turn the call over to Jeff Hawkins.

這樣，我會將電話轉給傑夫·霍金斯。

Thank you, Juan. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us. In today's call, we will provide a business update, present our second-quarter financial performance, and provide an outlook for the remainder of 2023. We will then open the line for questions.

謝謝你，胡安。大家早上好，感謝您加入我們。在今天的電話會議中，我們將提供業務更新、介紹我們第二季度的財務業績，並提供 2023 年剩餘時間的展望。然後我們將開放提問熱線。

As a reminder, the goal of Quantum-Si is to bring next-generation protein sequencing to every lab everywhere. Our proprietary technology delivers deeper, unbiased proteomics insights that we believe will accelerate scientific research, enable the discovery of new biomarkers, and ultimately power the development of new therapies and diagnostic tests that will positively impact human health.

提醒一下，Quantum-Si 的目標是將下一代蛋白質測序帶入世界各地的每個實驗室。我們的專有技術提供了更深入、公正的蛋白質組學見解，我們相信這些見解將加速科學研究，促進新生物標誌物的發現，並最終推動新療法和診斷測試的開發，從而對人類健康產生積極影響。

While we continue to make solid progress with our commercialization activities in the second quarter, we experienced some challenges that prevented us from meeting our revenue expectations. First, early customer feedback identified a set of software features that were important for our customers to efficiently analyze and interpret their experimental data.

雖然我們在第二季度的商業化活動中繼續取得紮實進展，但我們遇到了一些挑戰，使我們無法達到收入預期。首先，早期的客戶反饋確定了一組對於我們的客戶有效分析和解釋其實驗數據非常重要的軟件功能。

Second, we experienced some customer implementation challenges due to the wide range of biological sample types, sample preparation methods, and sequencing applications customers wanted to perform with our technology.

其次，由於客戶希望使用我們的技術執行各種生物樣本類型、樣本製備方法和測序應用，我們遇到了一些客戶實施挑戰。

Finally, we observed some general extension to the sales cycle as the internal purchasing process at our customers has slowed down from what we experienced in the beginning of the year. I would now like to provide more color on each of these items as well as share other updates on our progress during the quarter.

最後，我們觀察到銷售週期普遍延長，因為我們客戶的內部採購流程比年初有所放緩。我現在想為每一項提供更多的信息，並分享我們在本季度取得的進展的其他更新。

Our first corporate priority is to commercialize Platinum, Carbon, and the 2M Chip. Our commercial organization build-out is well underway. Under the leadership of our Chief Commercial Officer, Dr. Grace Johnston, we are building a truly world-class team across sales, marketing, and customer support.

我們公司的首要任務是將 Platinum、Carbon 和 2M 芯片商業化。我們的商業組織建設正在順利進行。在我們首席商務官 Grace Johnston 博士的領導下，我們正在建立一支真正世界一流的銷售、營銷和客戶支持團隊。

Despite experiencing some implementation challenges in the quarter, our commercial team collaborated closely with customers to resolve the challenges and ensure the customers felt valued, supported, and equally as important, excited about the potential of our technology to advance their future research.

儘管在本季度遇到了一些實施挑戰，但我們的商業團隊與客戶密切合作，解決了這些挑戰，並確保客戶感到受到重視、支持，並且同樣重要的是，他們對我們的技術推動其未來研究的潛力感到興奮。

The customer feedback about the quality of our commercial team members and the support they have provided has been very positive. We are excited about the team that Grace is building, and we are confident that they will build positive and lasting relationships with leading researchers globally.

客戶對我們商業團隊成員的素質及其所提供的支持的反饋非常積極。我們對格雷斯正在組建的團隊感到興奮，我們相信他們將與全球領先的研究人員建立積極和持久的關係。

Our sales funnel is also strong and is tracking well ahead of our expectations for 2023. Quantum-Si's technology addresses gap in currently marketed technologies, and it is clear customers are interested in exploring how Platinum can positively impact their research.

我們的銷售渠道也很強大，並且遠遠超出了我們對 2023 年的預期。Quantum-Si 的技術解決了當前營銷技術的差距，很明顯，客戶有興趣探索 Platinum 如何對他們的研究產生積極影響。

From a geographic standpoint, approximately 70% of the funnel is made up of US-based customers and 30% from Europe. This change in geographic mix from prior quarters is the result of having more US-based sales professionals.

從地理角度來看，大約 70% 的渠道由美國客戶組成，30% 來自歐洲。與前幾個季度相比，地理結構的變化是由於擁有更多美國銷售專業人員的結果。

From a market segment perspective, academic customers continue to represent the largest opportunity in the funnel with biotech customers being the second-largest market segment today. As we have shared on previous earnings calls, we were actively building out our commercial marketing team. And with that team in place, we expected to launch outbound marketing efforts drive greater awareness of our technology and grow our sales funnel.

從細分市場的角度來看，學術客戶仍然代表著漏斗中最大的機會，而生物技術客戶是當今的第二大細分市場。正如我們在之前的財報電話會議上分享的那樣，我們正在積極建設我們的商業營銷團隊。隨著該團隊的到位，我們預計將開展對外營銷工作，提高人們對我們技術的認識並擴大我們的銷售渠道。

In the second quarter, we made key hires in our commercial marketing team and implemented our first outbound marketing campaign. The early market feedback from these campaigns has been positive and reinforces our belief that our technology fills a significant unmet need in the proteomics market.

第二季度，我們在商業營銷團隊中進行了關鍵招聘，並實施了我們的第一次對外營銷活動。這些活動的早期市場反饋是積極的，並增強了我們的信念，即我們的技術滿足了蛋白質組學市場中未滿足的重大需求。

As stated at the beginning of the call, early customer feedback identified a set of software features that were important for customers to efficiently analyze and interpret their experimental data. Our product marketing team did an excellent job engaging with the customers to clearly define what enhancements were needed.

正如電話會議開始時所述，早期客戶反饋確定了一組軟件功能，這些功能對於客戶有效分析和解釋其實驗數據非常重要。我們的產品營銷團隊在與客戶的互動中做得非常出色，清楚地定義了需要哪些改進。

These requests were communicated to our software team who got straight to work on these enhancements, and I am pleased to report the team delivered an upgraded version of software in early July. The new software version has been released to our customers, and the feedback to date has been very positive.

這些請求已傳達給我們的軟件團隊，他們立即著手進行這些增強功能，我很高興地報告該團隊於 7 月初交付了軟件的升級版本。新的軟件版本已經發布給我們的客戶，迄今為止的反饋非常積極。

Additionally, during the second quarter, we began to observe a general lengthening of our customers' capital purchasing process. We have instrument sales that entered the customer's capital purchasing process during the quarter that continue to move along at a moderated pace.

此外，在第二季度，我們開始觀察到客戶的資本購買流程普遍延長。我們的儀器銷售在本季度進入了客戶的資本購買流程，並繼續以溫和的速度發展。

We have no reason to believe that these capital purchases will not ultimately be approved, but we are being advised by our customers that they are experiencing this process slowdown in general. We continue to believe that in the current macroenvironment, having a low-cost instrument will be advantageous to customer adoption.

我們沒有理由相信這些資本購買最終不會獲得批准，但我們的客戶告訴我們，他們總體上正在經歷這一過程的放緩。我們仍然相信，在當前的宏觀環境下，擁有低成本的儀器將有利於客戶的採用。

Our second priority is to lead with innovation. During the second quarter, we experienced some customer implementation challenges due to the wide range of biological sample types, sample preparation methods, and sequencing applications customers wanted to perform with our technology.

我們的第二要務是以創新引領。在第二季度，由於客戶希望使用我們的技術執行各種生物樣本類型、樣本製備方法和測序應用，我們遇到了一些客戶實施挑戰。

As we dug deeper into each of these areas, we determined that our current R&D strategy and programs were not aligned optimally to our core capability and had gaps in terms of addressing the full scope and complexity of the proteomics workflow. As such, we have initiated a strategic review of current R&D programs and our R&D organizational design and capacity.

當我們深入研究每個領域時，我們發現我們當前的研發戰略和計劃與我們的核心能力並沒有最佳結合，並且在解決蛋白質組學工作流程的全部範圍和復雜性方面存在差距。因此，我們對當前的研發計劃以及研發組織設計和能力進行了戰略審查。

We are near the completion of that process and expect to implement the necessary changes during the current quarter. While that process is not yet complete, I would like to share some of our thinking and initial actions taken thus far.

我們即將完成該流程，並預計在本季度實施必要的更改。雖然這一過程尚未完成，但我想分享我們迄今為止的一些想法和初步行動。

Consistent with other proteomic detection technologies, customers select the biological sample type and sample preparation method they use. The range of sample types and sample prep methods utilized in proteomics is extensive. And often, some level of optimization is required to make them compatible with the downstream detection technology.

與其他蛋白質組檢測技術一樣，客戶可以選擇他們使用的生物樣品類型和样品製備方法。蛋白質組學中使用的樣品類型和样品製備方法的範圍很廣泛。通常，需要進行一定程度的優化才能使它們與下游檢測技術兼容。

One solution we have been pursuing to address this area is Carbon, our automated sample prep instrument. While Carbon could help reduce sample prep variation and streamline the end-to-end workflow of our platform, it is not an absolute requirement for our Platinum protein-sequencing instrument and may not be the best solution long term.

我們一直致力於解決這一領域的一個解決方案是 Carbon，我們的自動化樣品製備儀器。雖然 Carbon 可以幫助減少樣品製備差異並簡化我們平台的端到端工作流程，但這並不是我們 Platinum 蛋白質測序儀器的絕對要求，而且可能不是長期的最佳解決方案。

There are commercially available liquid-handling platforms in sample prep chemistry that may be an equal or better fit for customers and allow us to instead focus our internal resources on our core competency in protein sequencing. To this end, we have put the beta testing and launch of Carbon on hold while we complete an evaluation of the business case and assessment of potential options to address this portion of the customer workflow.

樣品製備化學中有市售的液體處理平台，這些平台可能同等或更適合客戶，並使我們能夠將內部資源集中在蛋白質測序方面的核心能力上。為此，我們暫停了 Carbon 的 Beta 測試和發布，同時完成了對業務案例的評估以及對解決這部分客戶工作流程的潛在選項的評估。

Another consideration in our go-forward product strategy will be to drive greater focus and investment in our core capabilities in protein sequencing. And therefore, we will look to leverage more industry partnerships and customer consortiums to address items like sample prep, workflow automation, or the development of specific sequencing applications.

我們未來產品戰略的另一個考慮因素是加大對蛋白質測序核心能力的關注和投資。因此，我們將尋求利用更多的行業合作夥伴和客戶聯盟來解決樣品製備、工作流程自動化或特定測序應用程序開發等問題。

Finally, we are looking closely at our organizational design to ensure that we fully resource the most critical areas to our success such as applications development.

最後，我們正在密切關注我們的組織設計，以確保我們為成功最關鍵的領域（例如應用程序開發）提供充分的資源。

During the second quarter, we recognized the need for greater resourcing and applications development and redeployed some of our internal resources to this effort. The resulting outcome is that we were able to successfully deliver five new application nodes, demonstrating the capabilities of our protein-sequencing technology.

在第二季度，我們認識到需要更多的資源和應用程序開發，並為此重新部署了一些內部資源。最終的結果是，我們能夠成功交付五個新的應用節點，展示了我們的蛋白質測序技術的能力。

We believe that once complete, realignment of our R&D efforts will position us to deliver additional product improvements before the end of 2023 while also ensuring a pipeline of technology improvements that will support a steady cadence of releases throughout 2024.

我們相信，一旦完成，我們研發工作的重新調整將使我們能夠在 2023 年底之前提供額外的產品改進，同時確保一系列技術改進，以支持整個 2024 年穩定的發布節奏。

Our third priority is to preserve financial strength. We remain committed to continuously improving our fiscal discipline. In that vein, one objective in the announced R&D strategic review is to prioritize the programs that have the broadest customer appeal while maintaining a base level of investment into a pipeline of longer-term projects that will drive significant improvements to our core technology in the future.

我們的第三個優先事項是保持財務實力。我們仍然致力於不斷改善我們的財政紀律。本著這一精神，已宣布的研發戰略審查的一個目標是優先考慮具有最廣泛客戶吸引力的項目，同時保持對一系列長期項目的基本投資水平，這些項目將在未來推動我們核心技術的重大改進。

We intend to continuously evaluate all of our investments across the company to ensure that the capital we have been provided is utilized to maximize shareholder value and our financial runway.

我們打算不斷評估整個公司的所有投資，以確保我們提供的資本被用於最大化股東價值和我們的財務跑道。

Finally, on the operations front, we are continuing to work through several initiatives to lower manufacturing costs, including in the areas of procurement, automation, and our insourcing versus outsourcing strategy. These initiatives have the clear goal to secure our supply chain and enhance our margin position as we continue to scale up.

最後，在運營方面，我們正在繼續採取多項舉措來降低製造成本，包括採購、自動化以及內包與外包策略等領域。這些舉措有明確的目標，即在我們繼續擴大規模的同時，確保我們的供應鏈安全並提高我們的利潤狀況。

In closing, launching a novel technology into a new market always involves some bumps in the road. Our focus remains on ensuring we execute a commercial strategy that prioritizes the early customer experience and seeks to strike a balance between long-term success and near-term revenue attainment.

最後，將一項新技術推向新市場總是會遇到一些坎坷。我們的重點仍然是確保我們執行優先考慮早期客戶體驗的商業戰略，並尋求在長期成功和近期收入實現之間取得平衡。

Given this philosophy, we expect to continue with a controlled rollout for the remainder of the year. We will continue to closely monitor customer feedback and implementation success metrics throughout this timeframe. That data will ultimately determine how the commercial team accelerates our new customer implementation efforts.

鑑於這一理念，我們預計將在今年剩餘時間內繼續有控制地推出。我們將在此期間繼續密切監控客戶反饋和實施成功指標。這些數據將最終決定商業團隊如何加速我們的新客戶實施工作。

I will now turn the call over to Jeff Keyes to review our financial results. Jeff?

我現在將把電話轉給傑夫·凱斯，以審查我們的財務業績。傑夫？

Thank you, Jeff. First, I would like to say how excited I am to be onboard with Quantum-Si. We have an excellent leadership team, and all of us are aligned and focused on commercial execution and delivering the best and most innovative solutions to our customers.

謝謝你，傑夫。首先，我想說我對加入 Quantum-Si 感到非常興奮。我們擁有一支優秀的領導團隊，我們所有人都齊心協力，專注於商業執行，並為客戶提供最佳、最具創新性的解決方案。

I personally come from a background of leading a series of companies through rapid change in growth and where extreme financial discipline was paramount. I plan to draw upon these experiences to help lead Quantum-Si through a continued financially disciplined approach that ensures we utilize our existing capital in the best way for rapid commercial growth while at the same time maximizing our capital runway.

我個人曾領導過一系列公司經歷快速的增長變革，在這些公司中，嚴格的財務紀律至關重要。我計劃利用這些經驗來幫助領導 Quantum-Si 通過持續的財務紀律方法，確保我們以最佳方式利用現有資本實現快速商業增長，同時最大化我們的資本跑道。

Now let's discuss the details of our Q2 2023 financial results. Revenue in the second quarter of 2023 was $205,000, which consisted of revenue from our Platinum instrument and associated consumable kits. At the end of the second quarter, we had two units that were in backlog, and revenue was deferred. We anticipate recognizing revenue on these units in Q3.

現在讓我們討論 2023 年第二季度財務業績的詳細信息。 2023 年第二季度的收入為 205,000 美元，其中包括來自我們的白金儀器和相關耗材套件的收入。在第二季度末，我們有兩個單位積壓，收入被遞延。我們預計在第三季度確認這些單位的收入。

Gross profit in the second quarter was $78,000 and gross margin was 38%. Our gross margin will be somewhat variable for the near future as we work through our initial stages of commercialization and also be impacted by the timing and mix of instruments versus consumable sales.

第二季度毛利潤為78,000美元，毛利率為38%。隨著我們進入商業化的初始階段，我們的毛利率在不久的將來會有所變化，並且還會受到儀器與消耗品銷售的時間安排和組合的影響。

GAAP operating expenses in the second quarter of 2023 or $27 million compared to $30.2 million in the second quarter of 2022. The decrease was primarily due to a $2.6 million lower research and development expense and $600,000 lower SG&A expenses.

2023 年第二季度的 GAAP 運營費用為 2700 萬美元，而 2022 年第二季度為 3020 萬美元。減少的主要原因是研發費用減少了 260 萬美元，SG&A 費用減少了 60 萬美元。

Included in those amounts is a decrease of stock-based compensation by $1.9 million, with the remaining $1.3 million comprising a large decrease in general and administrative expenses, offset by higher sales and marketing expenses as we ramp up our commercial operations team.

其中包括股票薪酬減少 190 萬美元，其餘 130 萬美元包括一般和管理費用的大幅減少，但隨著我們擴大商業運營團隊而增加的銷售和營銷費用所抵消。

Net loss for the second quarter of 2023 was $25.6 million compared to $32.4 million in the second quarter of 2022. Adjusted EBITDA for the second quarter of 2023 was a loss of $22.9 million compared to a loss of $25.8 million in the second quarter of 2022. A reconciliation table of adjusted EBITDA to GAAP net loss is provided in our press release filed earlier today.

2023 年第二季度的淨虧損為 2560 萬美元，而 2022 年第二季度為 3240 萬美元。2023 年第二季度調整後 EBITDA 為虧損 2290 萬美元，而 2022 年第二季度為虧損 2580 萬美元。今天早些時候提交的新聞稿中提供了調整後EBITDA 與GAAP 淨虧損的調節表。

As of June 30, 2023, we had $297.2 million in cash and cash equivalents and investments in marketable securities. Our guidance for the rest of 2023 includes our controlled commercialization execution approach as we align our R&D resources toward capabilities and feature enhancements that have the broadest customer appeal.

截至 2023 年 6 月 30 日，我們擁有 2.972 億美元的現金和現金等價物以及有價證券投資。我們對 2023 年剩餘時間的指導包括我們受控的商業化執行方法，因為我們將研發資源調整到具有最廣泛客戶吸引力的功能和功能增強上。

Finally, I am reiterating that our non-GAAP operating expenses are expected to be flat compared to 2022, while still ensuring that we have all the resources and capabilities for our commercial execution plan and our existing cash, cash equivalents, and investment in marketable securities will provide runway into 2026.

最後，我重申，我們的非 GAAP 運營支出預計與 2022 年持平，同時仍確保我們擁有用於商業執行計劃以及現有現金、現金等價物和有價證券投資的所有資源和能力將為2026年提供跑道。

Now I'll turn the call back over to Jeff Hawkins for closing remarks.

現在我將把電話轉回給傑夫霍金斯做總結髮言。

Thank you, Jeff. Over the last quarter, we made great strides in the build-out of our commercial team and have received valuable feedback from customers as we continue our thoughtful and controlled commercialization of Platinum.

謝謝你，傑夫。上個季度，我們在商業團隊的建設方面取得了長足進步，並在繼續深思熟慮和受控的鉑金商業化過程中收到了客戶的寶貴反饋。

We believe the outcome of our strategic review of R&D will better position us to deliver additional product improvements before the end of 2023, while also ensuring a pipeline of technology improvements that will support a steady cadence of releases throughout 2024.

我們相信，研發戰略審查的結果將使我們能夠更好地在 2023 年底之前提供更多產品改進，同時確保一系列技術改進，以支持整個 2024 年穩定的發布節奏。

Going forward, we will continue to be laser focused on delivering the technology capabilities and applications customers want most while maintaining a high level of fiscal discipline over the use of our capital resources.

展望未來，我們將繼續專注於提供客戶最想要的技術能力和應用程序，同時對我們的資本資源的使用保持高水平的財政紀律。

Operator, please open the line for questions.

接線員，請開通提問線路。

(Operator Instructions) Kyle Mixon, Canaccord.

（操作員說明）Kyle Mixon，Canaccord。

Hey, good morning. Thanks, guys. So, Jeff, I appreciate all of the, I guess, commentary around, I guess, what's been happening lately and why the revenue came in where it is, and why you're doing some of these initiatives now, and what's going to be happening going forward like the software-enablement implementation stuff or the sales cycle stuff.

嗨，早上好。多謝你們。所以，傑夫，我想，我很欣賞所有關於最近發生的事情的評論，為什麼收入會達到現在的水平，為什麼你現在正在採取一些舉措，以及將會發生什麼未來發生的事情就像軟件支持實施的事情或銷售週期的事情一樣。

But I guess, obviously, less revenue than last quarter, you put up $0.25 million in revenue last quarter and almost $0.5 million in orders. Maybe that makes some sense, given there's likely pent-up demand early in the launch.

但我想，顯然，收入比上季度要少，上季度的收入為 25 萬美元，訂單接近 50 萬美元。考慮到發布初期可能存在被壓抑的需求，這也許有一定道理。

But I guess, why weren't you able to convert those orders exiting 1Q into revenue or at least generate more revenue than the last quarter? Again, $0.5 million in orders exiting the quarter is kind of interesting. And then then maybe, Jeff, could you just share any comments on the orders -- the dollar number of orders in second quarter and the backlog exiting the quarter as well? Thanks.

但我想，為什麼你不能將第一季度退出的訂單轉化為收入，或者至少產生比上一季度更多的收入？同樣，本季度退出的 50 萬美元訂單也很有趣。然後，傑夫，您能否分享一下對訂單的任何評論——第二季度訂單的美元數量以及本季度退出的積壓訂單？謝謝。

Yes. Thanks, Kyle. I'll take your -- the last part of the questions first. So we exited the quarter, as Jeff Keyes said, with two instruments in the backlog that we would expect to convert in the third quarter. With respect to events during the quarter that impacted revenue, as I said in the prepared remarks, it had a lot to do with just some of the implementation challenges that we experienced with customers.

是的。謝謝，凱爾。我將首先回答你的問題的最後一部分。因此，正如傑夫·凱斯所說，我們在本季度結束時，積壓了兩種工具，我們預計將在第三季度進行轉換。至於本季度影響收入的事件，正如我在準備好的發言中所說，這與我們與客戶遇到的一些實施挑戰有很大關係。

And when we experience these things, we react in real time, meaning we deploy our applications team to help those customers validate a given sample type or validate a sample prep method they're using. And we don't want to keep expanding the installed base and end up in a situation where we're unable to provide the level of support needed.

當我們遇到這些事情時，我們會實時做出反應，這意味著我們部署應用程序團隊來幫助這些客戶驗證給定的樣品類型或驗證他們正在使用的樣品製備方法。我們不想繼續擴大安裝基礎並最終陷入無法提供所需支持水平的情況。

So we had to sort of measure our activities on the commercial front to ensure we could really provide that high level of support on the implementation front.

因此，我們必須衡量我們在商業方面的活動，以確保我們能夠真正在實施方面提供高水平的支持。

Okay. I mean, that's good. That's helpful. And again, it sounds like a lot some of the changes that you're making are going to be done by the end of second quarter. I mean, are you -- is it safe to say that in the second half or I guess by the end of the year, a lot of these -- I'll use the word issues, but I think they're just bumps and growing pains.

好的。我的意思是，那很好。這很有幫助。再說一遍，聽起來您要做的很多改變將在第二季度末完成。我的意思是，你可以安全地說，在下半年或者我想在今年年底，很多這樣的問題，我會使用“問題”這個詞，但我認為它們只是顛簸和成長的煩惱。

I guess that will happen along the way. Those will be worked out by the end of the year, and you'll at least enter the fourth quarter or '24 at a solid run rate you'll be comfortable with?

我想這會一直發生。這些將在今年年底前解決，你至少會以你滿意的穩定運行速度進入第四季度或 24 年？

Yes, Kyle, I think that's a fair way to assess it. We're learning a lot every day in the market. We're prioritizing the various improvements that customers want to see or the applications that they'd like us to open up or help them optimize.

是的，凱爾，我認為這是一個公平的評估方式。我們每天都在市場上學到很多東西。我們優先考慮客戶希望看到的各種改進或他們希望我們開放或幫助他們優化的應用程序。

We're deploying people in real time to these activities. As I mentioned in the prepared remarks, we'll go even further with that with the sort of the finalization of the R&D strategic review.

我們正在實時部署人員參與這些活動。正如我在準備好的發言中提到的，我們將進一步完成研發戰略審查。

I mean, the goal is to have -- sort of being the smoothest implementation sort of scenario we can be in for 2024. But even saying that, we do expect that we'll continue to evolve and enhance the product for the foreseeable future.

我的意思是，我們的目標是在 2024 年實現最順利的實施方案。但即便如此，我們確實希望在可預見的未來繼續發展和增強產品。

There's a lot of headroom technologically here to continue to expand the capabilities and enable our customers to do more, and more and we'll continue to invest in that.

這裡有很大的技術空間來繼續擴展功能並使我們的客戶能夠做得更多，我們將繼續對此進行投資。

Okay. Thanks for that. And then -- and Jeff Hawkins, you talked about last quarter, how you -- there could be a potential inflection in orders and shipments and revenue in the second half of this year. I guess it sounds like that's not really expected anymore, but can you just provide some thoughts?

好的。感謝那。然後，傑夫·霍金斯，您談到上個季度，今年下半年的訂單、發貨量和收入可能會出現潛在的變化。我想這聽起來似乎不再是真正的預期，但你能提供一些想法嗎？

And maybe Jeff Keyes as well, welcome to the call, maybe you could provide some thoughts on how to think about, I guess, shipments and revenue and utilization, things like that in the second half of the year as we sort of think about modeling?

也許傑夫·凱斯（Jeff Keyes）也是如此，歡迎來電，也許你可以提供一些關於如何思考的想法，我猜，出貨量、收入和利用率，以及下半年我們在考慮建模時的類似事情？

Yes. So I'll start, and Jeff Keyes can add any color he'd like to add. As I mentioned in the prepared remarks, Kyle, we're going to keep the controlled launch in place through the end of the year. That doesn't mean that there might not be some uplift in in revenue in a given quarter, but we don't expect a rapid acceleration in the second half, a much more controlled launch in the second half with the growth.

是的。那麼我就開始了，傑夫·凱斯可以添加他想要添加的任何顏色。正如我在準備好的發言中提到的，凱爾，我們將在今年年底前保持受控發射。這並不意味著特定季度的收入可能不會出現一些增長，但我們預計下半年收入不會快速加速，隨著增長，下半年的推出會更加受控。

Jeff Keyes, anything you want to add to that?

傑夫·凱斯（Jeff Keyes），您還有什麼要補充的嗎？

No, I think that about sums it up. Jeff's comments are consistent with my thoughts as we work through this process of the R&D realignment in deployments. We're going to continue to have this controlled ramp, but we would expect that we might see some uplift over the next couple of quarters, but I think that's going to be dependent on our customer base and how we interact with them for the rest of the year.

不，我想這就是總結。當我們在部署中進行研發調整的過程中，傑夫的評論與我的想法是一致的。我們將繼續保持這種受控的增長，但我們預計在接下來的幾個季度中我們可能會看到一些提升，但我認為這將取決於我們的客戶群以及我們在其餘時間與他們互動的方式今年的。

Okay. Thanks, guys for that. And then on the strategic R&D realignment, it sounded like just Carbon for now. I mean, maybe, Jeff, just -- can you confirm that? I feel like maybe there were probably some chips in development that were higher density, maybe like that's affected.

好的。謝謝你們。然後在戰略研發調整方面，目前聽起來只是碳。我的意思是，也許，傑夫，只是——你能證實這一點嗎？我覺得也許正在開發一些密度更高的芯片，也許會受到影響。

And with Carbon, was that critical to any orders? Were they contingent on Carbon being launched and perhaps like a guaranteed bundle? I'm just kind of curious about that. And then overall -- again, I'm just not totally certain on this right now.

對於 Carbon，這對任何訂單都至關重要嗎？它們是否取決於 Carbon 的推出，也許就像一個有保證的捆綁包？我只是對此感到好奇。總的來說，我現在還不能完全確定這一點。

What was the purpose or the strategy underlying the review, and then what's the end game here? And how would you -- what would you deem as a successful outcome for that?

審查的目的或策略是什麼？最終的結果是什麼？您認為什麼是成功的結果？

Yes, Kyle, let me take a shot at those. If I miss one, let me know. First, on the Carbon front, so there are -- there were no deals in the pipeline that were contingent upon Carbon. We didn't have any sort of Carbon bundles as you described it.

是的，凱爾，讓我嘗試一下。如果我錯過了，請告訴我。首先，在碳方面，目前沒有任何交易取決於碳。正如您所描述的那樣，我們沒有任何類型的碳束。

Really, the assessment of Carbon was about -- it's a cartridge-based sort of solution, which can be very elegant but has a lot higher development cost and timelines to adapt it to all these different sample types and sample prep methods.

事實上，對 Carbon 的評估是——它是一種基於墨盒的解決方案，它可能非常優雅，但開發成本和時間表要高得多，以適應所有這些不同的樣品類型和样品製備方法。

Is that the best way to approach sample prep, or is it more of an open platform? One of the commercially available liquid handling platforms, might that be more flexible to this sort of range of sample types and methods we're seeing?

這是進行樣品製備的最佳方法，還是它更像是一個開放平台？商用液體處理平台之一，對於我們所看到的此類樣品類型和方法是否更加靈活？

So that's really what that evaluation is about. And that's the only program, as you mentioned, that we're stating right now is on hold. We're obviously, though, reviewing, Kyle, the totality of the R&D investments and really looking at driving the investments that really unlock the full potential of the Platinum device and the existing consumable.

這就是評估的真正目的。正如您所提到的，這是我們現在宣布暫停的唯一計劃。不過，凱爾，我們顯然正在審查研發投資的總體情況，並真正著眼於推動真正釋放白金設備和現有消耗品全部潛力的投資。

What we're seeing is there's a lot of growth potential for that existing platform and chip, and it's really about enabling applications. It's about enabling additional sequencing capabilities as we expand coverage and other things unlike that.

我們看到的是現有平台和芯片有很大的增長潛力，而且它實際上與支持應用程序有關。這是為了在我們擴大覆蓋範圍和其他不同的事情時啟用額外的測序功能。

So really, that's how we're looking at it. And then the end game is ultimately that we have the right level of R&D investment into those core areas that will really drive the adoption and that we have that sort of process that allows us to generate a consistent sort of release of improvements throughout a given year. So that's really the endgame in mind.

確實，這就是我們的看法。最終的結果是，我們對那些核心領域進行了適當水平的研發投資，這將真正推動採用，並且我們擁有這樣的流程，使我們能夠在特定的一年內生成一致的改進版本。所以這確實是最終的結局。

Yes, and you've touched on all the questions there. Can I just ask about manufacturing? I mean, you don't really mention that at all, but is that a bottleneck whatsoever so far? Or are you pretty much good to go on when it comes to the supply chain, things like that?

是的，您已經觸及了所有問題。我可以問一下製造方面的問題嗎？我的意思是，你根本沒有提到這一點，但到目前為止這是否是一個瓶頸？或者說，在供應鏈之類的事情上，你是否很擅長繼續下去？

Yes. No concerns on supply chain and manufacturing. It was not a bottleneck in any way to the results in the second quarter.

是的。無需擔心供應鍊和製造。這絕不是第二季度業績的瓶頸。

Okay, awesome. And maybe just closing on a positive comment, good to hear the outbound marketing as kind of all systems go. And it sounds like early success there, early progress.

好吧，太棒了。也許只是結束一個積極的評論，很高興聽到所有系統都在進行對外營銷。聽起來像是那裡的早期成功，早期進步。

When you crank that up, I mean, are you thinking about going after any new customer types, maybe you are going to unlock or increase your footprint in non-academic markets like biotech, maybe just expand your footprint there? I think that can be interesting to hear.

當你加大力度時，我的意思是，你是否正在考慮追求任何新的客戶類型，也許你會解鎖或增加你在生物技術等非學術市場的足跡，也許只是擴大你在那裡的足跡？我認為這聽起來很有趣。

Yes, Kyle, thanks for that question. The way the commercial marketing team is approaching it is it's a mix. Sometimes, you're diving in with a campaign to really look for a specific type of user with specific types of applications within the academic research environment. And other times, the campaigns will be around unlocking new segments, biotech, as you mentioned, perhaps more industrial settings for antibody QA/QC.

是的，凱爾，謝謝你的提問。商業營銷團隊的處理方式是混合。有時，您會深入開展一項活動，真正尋找學術研究環境中具有特定類型應用程序的特定類型用戶。而其他時候，這些活動將圍繞解鎖新的細分市場、生物技術，正如您提到的，也許還有更多抗體 QA/QC 的工業環境。

So really, that the outbound marketing programs are very, very targeted. So we'll run many of them across these different areas as we try to drive, really, that specific demand that lines up well to where we're seeing success in the market.

確實，對外營銷計劃非常非常有針對性。因此，當我們試圖推動真正符合我們在市場上看到的成功的特定需求時，我們將在這些不同的領域運行其中的許多產品。

Okay, great. Look forward to seeing that. All right, thanks, guys. I appreciate it.

好的，太好了。期待看到這一點。好的，謝謝大家。我很感激。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Yuan Zhi, B. Riley.

袁志，B.萊利。

Good morning. Thank you for taking our questions. Just a quick follow up on Kyle's question. You mentioned the challenge in the implementation front. Can you comment on if the test run requests from customers or potential customers have changed things in 1Q? And then I have a follow-up question.

早上好。感謝您接受我們的提問。快速跟進凱爾的問題。您提到了實施方面的挑戰。您能否評論一下客戶或潛在客戶的試運行請求是否在第一季度發生了變化？然後我有一個後續問題。

Yes, the requests haven't changed, Yuan. Really, what it is, it's more you get into the customer's laboratory, and they work through that full workflow from whatever the biological sample type is they selected through the sequencing on our platform and ultimately that analysis.

是的，要求沒有改變，袁。事實上，更多的是你進入客戶的實驗室，他們通過我們平台上的測序選擇的生物樣本類型以及最終的分析完成整個工作流程。

And there's just a very broad range of samples and sample prep methods, I mean, ranging everywhere from someone who might isolate a protein in a gel and cut out a band to people using immunoprecipitation kits and other sort of chemistry.

我的意思是，樣品和样品製備方法的範圍非常廣泛，從可能在凝膠中分離蛋白質並切出條帶的人到使用免疫沉澱試劑盒和其他化學類型的人。

So it's not really that there's any difference in the request. It's just each customer has a somewhat unique set of samples and prep methods that we have to work closely with them to optimize in front of the sequencing on the Platinum instrument.

所以請求實際上並沒有什麼不同。只是每個客戶都有一套有些獨特的樣品和製備方法，我們必須與他們密切合作，在 Platinum 儀器上進行測序之前進行優化。

Got it. Thanks for clarifying that technical challenge there. My other question is, can you maybe talk about the poster presentation you had at ASMS? What was the challenge of identifying proteins and the proteoform in that sample, in that presentation?

知道了。感謝您澄清那裡的技術挑戰。我的另一個問題是，您能談談您在 ASMS 上的海報展示嗎？在該演示中，鑑定該樣品中的蛋白質和蛋白形式的挑戰是什麼？

Yes, at the ASMS conference, that was really a poster to not only demonstrate some of the capabilities of our technology, but really to help for that group of users who are also mass-spec users, really help them understand how does our technology perform in comparison to mass spec as well as share information around the workflow, the automated analysis that our platform affords a user.

是的，在 ASMS 會議上，這確實是一張海報，不僅展示了我們技術的一些功能，而且真正幫助了那群同時也是質譜用戶的用戶，真正幫助他們了解我們的技術如何表現與質譜以及工作流程共享信息相比，我們的平台為用戶提供了自動化分析。

So it was really an educational and sort of a comparative data study for those users in the mass spec community.

因此，對於質譜社區的用戶來說，這確實是一種教育性的比較數據研究。

Got it. Thanks for taking our questions.

知道了。感謝您回答我們的問題。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Swayampakula Ramakanth, H.C. Wainwright.

斯瓦安帕庫拉·拉瑪坎特 (Swayampakula Ramakanth)，H.C.溫賴特。

Thank you. Good morning, Jeff and Jeff. I appreciate you taking my questions. So, Jeff, the issues that some of your current customers have flagged during this initial launch, were they to US-specific sample types, or is it more universal?

謝謝。早上好，傑夫和傑夫。感謝您回答我的問題。那麼，傑夫，您當前的一些客戶在首次發布期間標記的問題是針對美國特定的樣本類型，還是更普遍？

Yes, I wouldn't say it's a specific sample type as much as it is just this combination of sample type and the way they're preparing the sample. How many proteins are they looking for at once? How pure is that sample versus how impure is that sample? It really wasn't about a specific sample type that was challenging.

是的，我不會說這是一種特定的樣品類型，而只是樣品類型和他們準備樣品的方式的組合。他們一次尋找多少種蛋白質？該樣品的純度有多高，而該樣品的不純度有多高？這確實不是一個具有挑戰性的特定樣本類型。

Okay. Thanks for that. And then in terms of the software upgrade that you released, if I heard it correctly, it was in July. So do you think that upgrade was able to handle the issues at hand, and how have the customers responded to that upgrade to date?

好的。感謝那。然後就您發布的軟件升級而言，如果我沒聽錯的話，那是在七月份。那麼您認為升級能夠解決當前的問題嗎？迄今為止，客戶對升級有何反應？

Yes, good question. So you are correct. We released that software version in July. And I would say the key attribute that customers were looking for were some additional visualizations at the amino acid level of the data they were generating with the technology.

是的，好問題。所以你是對的。我們於 7 月份發布了該軟件版本。我想說，客戶尋求的關鍵屬性是他們使用該技術生成的數據的氨基酸水平的一些額外可視化。

So the initial version showed [a parade of] peptides, how peptides are indicated to a given protein. And really, what this new software did was really enhance the UI of that, the ability to visualize it, giving amino acid level data and information sort of in aggregate, things that allowed our customers to really understand the data they were generating really at both the amino acid, the peptide, and the protein level.

因此，最初的版本展示了[一系列]肽，以及如何將肽指示給給定的蛋白質。事實上，這個新軟件所做的是真正增強了用戶界面，將其可視化的能力，提供氨基酸水平數據和信息的匯總，使我們的客戶能夠真正理解他們在兩個方面真正生成的數據氨基酸、肽和蛋白質水平。

So again, we rolled that out in July. The feedback from users has been very positive. They're very happy with those and with sort of the overall improvement to the user interface. I mean, as we get more feedback, we'll continue to make enhancements to that software.

因此，我們在 7 月份再次推出了該功能。用戶的反饋非常積極。他們對這些以及用戶界面的整體改進非常滿意。我的意思是，隨著我們獲得更多反饋，我們將繼續增強該軟件。

But I think the big sort of transformation of our software that needed to take place to enable our customers on the analysis side is this change we made in July, and it will be somewhat more incremental moving forward.

但我認為，為了讓我們的客戶能夠進行分析，我們需要對我們的軟件進行重大改造，這就是我們在 7 月份所做的改變，而且未來將會更加漸進。

Okay. And then just my last question, this is on the sales cycle lengthening that you stated. Is this a more of a -- because at this point, most of your customers are from academic labs. Is it more academicians waiting for the fourth quarter to ensure that they use up all that research dollars associated with the grant? Or is this more than that? Is this is really accounting other people getting involved in it?

好的。我的最後一個問題是關於您所說的銷售週期延長的問題。這是否更像是——因為目前，您的大多數客戶都來自學術實驗室。是否有更多的院士在等待第四季度，以確保他們用完與資助相關的所有研究資金？或者這還不止於此？難道這真的是會計其他人介入了嗎？

Yes, R. K., we're not hearing that there's a scenario where our instruments are being held up because there's some pending grant that hasn't been approved.

是的，R.K.，我們沒有聽說我們的儀器因某些待決撥款尚未獲得批准而被擱置。

Really, what we're commenting on in the prepared remarks is given Grace and I and other members of the commercial team sort of experienced -- with an instrument at $70,000, we would expect if that enters the procurement cycle at a customer, it is going to take some period of time to get through that process.

確實，我們在準備好的評論中評論的內容是 Grace 和我以及商業團隊的其他成員有一定的經驗 - 對於價值 70,000 美元的儀器，我們預計如果它進入客戶的採購週期，它是需要一段時間才能完成該過程。

And what we're seeing is as we've gotten through the sales cycle with the customer that's sort of the technical buyer, that purchase order goes into the procurement process. And that process is just moving a little bit slower. It's not moving through that process of internal approvals and more of the procurement and accounting or financial side as fast as we had been seeing.

我們看到的是，當我們與客戶（即技術買家）完成銷售週期時，採購訂單就會進入採購流程。而且這個過程只是進展得慢了一點。它並沒有像我們所看到的那樣快地完成內部審批流程以及更多的採購、會計或財務方面的流程。

So again, no reason to believe at this stage that those instruments that are in that cycle won't ultimately be approved and will come through. It's just moving at a slower pace than we saw in Q1 and a slower pace than we would expect given our collective experience selling capital equipment in the life science space.

因此，現階段沒有理由相信該週期中的那些工具最終不會獲得批准並最終獲得通過。它的發展速度比我們在第一季度看到的要慢，而且比我們預期的要慢，因為我們在生命科學領域銷售資本設備的集體經驗。

Okay. Thank you. Thank you for taking all my questions.

好的。謝謝。感謝您回答我所有的問題。

You're welcome.

不客氣。

I show no further questions at this time. I would now like to turn the call back Juan for closing remarks.

我目前沒有提出任何進一步的問題。現在我想轉回胡安的電話，讓他​​發表結束語。

Thank you all for your participation today. We look forward to updating you on our progress in the next quarterly earnings call. Have a good day.

感謝大家今天的參與。我們期待在下一個季度的財報電話會議上向您通報我們的最新進展。祝你有美好的一天。

This concludes today's conference call. Thank you for participating. You may now disconnect.

今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝您的參與。您現在可以斷開連接。