RF Industries Ltd (RFIL) 2024 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Greetings, and welcome to the RF Industries First Quarter Fiscal 2024 financial results conference call.

您好，歡迎參加 RF Industries 2024 財年第一季財務業績電話會議。

At this time all participants are in a listen-only mode and a question and answer session will follow the formal presentation. If anyone should require operator assistance during the conference, please press star zero on your telephone keypad. Please note this conference is being recorded. I will now turn the conference over to your host, Margaret Boyce, Investor Relations for RF Industries. Margaret, you may begin.

此時，所有參與者都處於僅聽模式，正式演示之後將進行問答環節。如果有人在會議期間需要接線員協助，請按下電話鍵盤上的星號零。請注意，本次會議正在錄製中。我現在將會議交給主持人 RF Industries 投資者關係部門的瑪格麗特·博伊斯 (Margaret Boyce)。瑪格麗特，你可以開始了。

Thank you, Pam, and welcome everyone, to Arista Industries' First Quarter Fiscal 2024 earnings conference call. With me today is with me on today's call are F. industries, CEO. Rob Dawson, President and Chief Operating Officer, Ralph Beattie, and CFO, Peter Jensen. Before I turn the call over to Rob and Peter, I'd like to cover a few quick items we issued our Q1 earnings release after market today. That release is available on our website at our app industries.com.

謝謝 Pam，並歡迎大家參加 Arista Industries 的 2024 財年第一季財報電話會議。今天和我一起參加今天電話會議的是 F. Industries 執行長。Rob Dawson，Ralph Beattie 總裁兼營運長，Peter Jensen 財務長。在將電話轉給 Rob 和 Peter 之前，我想先簡單介紹一下我們今天在盤後發布的第一季財報。該版本可在我們的應用程式 Industries.com 網站上取得。

I'd like to remind everyone that during today's call, management will make forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Please note that statements on the call today may constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 21 E. of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. When used the words anticipate, believe, expect, intend, future and other similar expressions identify forward-looking statements in these forward-looking statements reflect management's current views with respect to future events and financial performance and are subject to risks and uncertainties, and actual results may differ materially from the outcomes contained in any forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause these forward-looking statements to differ from actual results include delays in development, marketing or sales of products and other risks and uncertainties discussed in the Company's periodic reports on Form 10-K and 10-Q and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Rf Industries undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements.

我想提醒大家，在今天的電話會議中，管理階層將做出涉及風險和不確定性的前瞻性聲明。請注意，今天的電話會議聲明可能構成 1934 年《證券交易法》第 21 E 條含義內的前瞻性聲明。當使用「預期」、「相信」、「期望」、「打算」、「未來」和其他類似表達方式時，這些前瞻性陳述中的前瞻性陳述反映了管理層對未來事件和財務表現的當前看法，並受到風險和不確定性的影響。可能導致這些前瞻性陳述與實際結果不同的因素包括產品開發、行銷或銷售的延遲以及公司在10-K 表格和10-Q 表格定期報告以及向證券公司提交的其他文件中討論的其他風險和不確定性和交易委員會。Rf Industries 不承擔更新或修改任何前瞻性聲明的義務。

Additionally, throughout this call, we will be discussing certain non-GAAP financial measures. Today's earnings release and the related current report on Form 10-K describe the differences between our GAAP and non-GAAP reporting.

此外，在整個電話會議中，我們將討論某些非公認會計準則財務指標。今天的收益發布和 10-K 表格中的相關當前報告描述了我們的 GAAP 和非 GAAP 報告之間的差異。

With that said, I'll now turn the conference over to CEO. Rob Dawson. Brad, please go ahead.

話雖如此，我現在將會議交給執行長。羅佈道森。布拉德，請繼續。

Thank you, Margaret, and welcome to our First Quarter Fiscal 2024 conference call. I just want to welcome Ray BBC's participation in our call recently promoted to President. Ray will play a key role in shaping the next generation of our business strategy and operations, and as such, will be a valuable addition to our quarterly calls for the first quarter, we reported net sales of $13.5 million, down 27% year over year. While the first quarter has always been our seasonally slowest period. Sales were lower than anticipated, largely due to more than $2 million of customer shipments and orders that were delayed in the quarter. Importantly, these orders were not canceled and we expect they will be shipped over the next few quarters. Fortunately, our lower cost structure helped us weather this rough period when the market recovers. Our cost reduction initiatives will yield even greater benefit and help us return to profitable growth.

謝謝瑪格麗特，歡迎參加我們的 2024 財年第一季電話會議。我只是想歡迎 Ray BBC 參與我們最近晉升為主席的呼籲。Ray 將在製定我們下一代業務策略和營運方面發揮關鍵作用，因此，這將是我們第一季季度電話會議的寶貴補充，我們報告的淨銷售額為 1,350 萬美元，年減 27% 。雖然第一季一直是我們季節性最慢的時期。銷售額低於預期，主要是由於本季超過 200 萬美元的客戶發貨和訂單延遲。重要的是，這些訂單並未被取消，我們預計它們將在接下來的幾個季度內發貨。幸運的是，我們較低的成本結構幫助我們度過了市場復甦時的艱難時期。我們的成本削減措施將產生更大的效益，並幫助我們恢復獲利成長。

Turning to the overall market, it feels like the ice might be sign on the low CapEx spend and sluggish activity we experienced for over a year. We're finally starting to see some early signs of reversal from the CapEx downturn that made fiscal '23 so challenging as a welcome relief from the dramatic 17% decline in CapEx spending last year. Telecom companies guidance for 2024 indicated a CapEx spend to increase of up to 5%, and we're seeing this reflected in our business.

談到整體市場，感覺可能是我們一年多來經歷的低資本支出和低迷活動的跡象。我們終於開始看到資本支出低迷出現逆轉的一些早期跡象，資本支出低迷使得 23 財年充滿挑戰，但去年資本支出大幅下降 17% 的情況令人欣慰。電信公司 2024 年的指導顯示資本支出將增加高達 5%，我們看到這反映在我們的業務中。

Important to clarify, more of the 2024 CapEx is related to densification of wireless networks, which aligns nicely with our expanded product offerings. We're encouraged that many projects which have been in the sales pipeline for several quarters begin to convert, began to convert into purchase orders in February even better. This increase in new orders is primarily high-value products like our DAC. thermal cooling solutions and small cell trials that are being purchased by multiple customers in the Tier one wireless carrier ecosystem. This has led to a substantial increase in our quarterly backlog, which now stands at $19.3 million, up $3.1 billion compared to January 31. The progress we made in 2023 to become a leaner and more efficient operation will have a meaningful impact on profitability. As this carrier CapEx spending normalizes and our top line growth resumes, we believe this recovery will be gradual, but has staying power. Our backlog growth is comprised of multiple orders across a variety of customers and diverse geographies, not just one large order that's moving the needle with several customers. We have signed long-term master agreements. This means that as long as we continue to execute, will remain part of their build plans, not just for 2024. But for the long term, one customer in particular is beginning the first phase of a multiyear program of 5G deployment and infrastructure updates with a master agreement in place with this customer. We're optimistic this will result in repeatable business for our FI. We have also positioned RFID to benefit from diversification that isn't CapEx and market-specific. It's important to note that a portion of our products and solutions align well with operating and maintenance budgets versus CapEx. We believe that solutions like our Dac thermal cooling systems are helping us smooth out the peaks and valleys of carrier CapEx by addressing annual updates and upgrades that are part of a carrier's maintenance budget. We've been working hard to successfully build strong relationships and a greater presence with our carrier customers and capturing some of their maintenance budget as another source of funding separate from CapEx projects.

需要澄清的是，2024 年的資本支出更多與無線網路的緻密化有關，這與我們擴展的產品系列非常吻合。令我們感到鼓舞的是，許多已經在銷售管道中進行了幾個季度的項目開始轉變，在二月份開始轉變為採購訂單，情況甚至更好。新訂單的增加主要是我們的 DAC 等高價值產品。一級無線營運商生態系統中的多個客戶正在購買熱冷卻解決方案和小型蜂窩試驗。這導致我們的季度積壓訂單大幅增加，目前為 1,930 萬美元，比 1 月 31 日增加了 31 億美元。2023 年，我們在營運更精簡、更有效率方面的進展將對獲利能力產生重大影響。隨著該運營商資本支出正常化以及我們的收入成長恢復，我們相信這種復甦將是漸進的，但具有持久力。我們的積壓訂單成長是由來自不同客戶和不同地區的多個訂單組成的，而不僅僅是一個對多個客戶產生影響的大訂單。我們簽署了長期主協議。這意味著，只要我們繼續執行，就將仍然是他們建設計劃的一部分，而不僅僅是 2024 年。但從長遠來看，有一個客戶正在開始 5G 部署和基礎設施更新多年計畫的第一階段，並與該客戶簽訂了主協議。我們樂觀地認為這將為我們的金融機構帶來可重複的業務。我們也將 RFID 定位為從非資本支出和市場特定的多元化中受益。值得注意的是，我們的部分產品和解決方案與營運和維護預算與資本支出非常一致。我們相信，像我們的 Dac 熱冷卻系統這樣的解決方案可以解決營運商維護預算中的年度更新和升級問題，從而幫助我們消除營運商資本支出的高峰和低谷。我們一直在努力成功地與營運商客戶建立牢固的關係和更大的影響力，並獲取他們的一些維護預算作為獨立於資本支出項目的另一個資金來源。

It's also important to note that last year, 57% of our sales came from diverse end markets outside of wireless carrier applications such as manufacturing, public safety, energy, hospitality, education and medical. In addition, we're continuing to explore opportunities with new customer segments, including cable companies, wireline telecom carriers and industrial markets that could develop into meaningful business over time. As I've said before, we felt strongly that our wireless carrier customers could only stay on the sidelines for so long to stay competitive, they need to continuously improve the telecom infrastructure to meet customers' expectations for speed and coverage. Not only are they focused on the 4G and 5G macro towers, but also on network densification to meet both new and pent-up demand.

另外值得注意的是，去年我們 57% 的銷售額來自無線營運商應用以外的不同終端市場，例如製造、公共安全、能源、飯店、教育和醫療。此外，我們正在繼續探索新客戶群的機會，包括有線電視公司、有線電視公司、有線電視營運商和工業市場，隨著時間的推移，這些客戶群可能會發展成為有意義的業務。正如我之前所說，我們強烈感覺到，我們的無線營運商客戶只能在很長一段時間內處於觀望狀態以保持競爭力，他們需要不斷改進電信基礎設施，以滿足客戶對速度和覆蓋範圍的期望。他們不僅關注 4G 和 5G 宏塔，還關注網路緻密化，以滿足新的和被壓抑的需求。

In the telecom market, we made significant investments in our Integrated Systems product line and can now offer a broad selection of high quality interconnect products and next-generation integrated systems. This positions us to gain a larger percentage of our customers' bill of materials by having the leading edge products they need for key applications.

在電信市場，我們對整合系統產品線進行了大量投資，現在可以提供多種高品質互連產品和下一代整合系統。這使我們能夠透過擁有客戶關鍵應用所需的領先產品來獲得更大比例的客戶物料清單。

In addition to expanding our portfolio of high-value products. Over the last year, we executed our plan to control costs and drive further synergies by consolidating our facilities, while the work we did in 2023, reduced our annual expenses by $2.5 million. We have other initiatives underway to potentially reduce annual expenses by another $3 million by the end of fiscal year 2024. And Ray will provide more details during his remarks.

除了擴大我們的高價值產品組合。去年，我們執行了控製成本的計劃，並透過整合我們的設施進一步推動協同效應，而我們在 2023 年所做的工作使我們的年度開支減少了 250 萬美元。我們正在採取其他舉措，有可能在 2024 財政年度年底前將年度開支再減少 300 萬美元。雷將在演講中提供更多細節。

In 2023, we accomplished a great deal through the hard work and dedication of our outstanding team. And Ray as Chief Operating Officer, was very instrumental in achieving this progress. Recognizing that leadership in February, we promoted him to President and Chief Operating and Chief Operation Officer. This promotion expenses leadership role at RFI beyond operations to include greater oversight on our go-to-market strategies. I'm confident that they will make significant contributions to shaping our business strategy, go-to-market and operations for the next phase of our strategic plan.

2023年，我們透過優秀團隊的努力和奉獻取得了巨大的成就。Ray 作為首席營運官，在實現這一進展方面發揮了重要作用。由於認識到他的領導才能，我們在二月將他提升為總裁兼營運長和營運長。此次晉升使 RFI 的領導角色超出了營運範圍，還包括對我們的上市策略進行更大程度的監督。我相信他們將為我們下一階段策略計劃的業務策略、上市和營運做出重大貢獻。

Looking ahead to 2024, we're optimistic about our future prospects we have a strong competitive position with a highly attractive product portfolio, a capital light business model and substantial operating leverage. As you've heard me say before, as capital expenditures pickup, we see significant leverage in our P&L that can have a favorable impact on gross margins, either from higher sales, a better product mix, a better product mix shift or boat plus as we reduce expenses, any incremental sales should flow to the bottom line with what we know today, we expect Q2 sales to increase sequentially over Q1 as we begin to benefit from the substantial new order flow that I discussed earlier. I want to thank our employees who work diligently to improve our operations and set the company up for future success. I also want to thank our shareholders who have been patient through the downturn. We appreciate all of your support, and I'll now turn the call over to Ralph ABC to speak about our operations. Ray.

展望 2024 年，我們對未來前景感到樂觀，我們擁有強大的競爭地位，擁有極具吸引力的產品組合、輕資本的商業模式和可觀的營運槓桿。正如您之前聽我說過的，隨著資本支出的增加，我們看到損益表中存在巨大的槓桿作用，這可以對毛利率產生有利的影響，無論是來自更高的銷售額、更好的產品組合、更好的產品組合轉變或船舶加成我們減少了開支，任何增量銷售都應該流入我們今天所知的底線，我們預計第二季度的銷售額將比第一季連續增長，因為我們開始受益於我之前討論的大量新訂單流。我要感謝我們的員工，他們辛勤工作，改善了我們的運營，並為公司未來的成功奠定了基礎。我還要感謝我們的股東，他們在經濟低迷時期一直保持耐心。我們感謝您的支持，現在我將把電話轉給 Ralph ABC，談談我們的營運情況。射線。

Thank you, Rob. I'm truly honored to assume the role of President of RF Industries and excited to speak with you today about the opportunities that lie ahead in my capacity. I will be leading our FI's sales, product management, engineering and operations teams across all business units and product areas. Our goal is to closely align these teams with our go-to-market strategy that will facilitate enhanced cross-selling of our diverse portfolio and solutions. This strategic alignment is designed to establish a more cohesive and efficient organizational structure that will help us capitalize on significant market opportunities. I'm confident that fostering greater integration within our market-facing team will give us a competitive edge as we pursue these opportunities.

謝謝你，羅布。我非常榮幸能夠擔任射頻產業總裁，並很高興今天能與您談論我所面臨的機會。我將領導我們 FI 所有業務部門和產品領域的銷售、產品管理、工程和營運團隊。我們的目標是使這些團隊與我們的上市策略緊密結合，從而促進我們多元化產品組合和解決方案的交叉銷售。這種策略調整旨在建立一個更具凝聚力和效率的組織結構，這將有助於我們抓住重要的市場機會。我相信，在我們面向市場的團隊中促進更大程度的整合將為我們在追求這些機會時帶來競爭優勢。

As mentioned by Rob earlier, our initiative to drive further cost reductions will continue through 2024. We see opportunities for improvement in several areas such as direct material facilities and equipment, product design and development, along with the benefits of applying lean principles company-wide to improve operation efficiencies.

正如 Rob 先前提到的，我們推動進一步降低成本的措施將持續到 2024 年。我們看到了直接材料設施和設備、產品設計和開發等多個領域的改進機會，以及在全公司範圍內應用精實原則以提高營運效率的好處。

In addition to our ongoing cost reduction initiative, we have organized the tiger team focused on cash generation. While this initiative will examine several best practices to strengthen our business. Its immediate priority will focus on minimizing excess and obsolete inventory for potential benefits from both cost reduction and cash generation programs will enhance our financial strength of our organization. Furthermore, I am very excited about the collaborative spirit and enthusiasm of my new team. Together, we've engaged in discussions around sales strategy, market diversification market share as well as product roadmap and rationalization. We are totally aligned and maximizing the opportunities ahead that will contribute to a bright future for our FI. It's an exciting time for our Company.

除了我們正在進行的成本削減計劃之外，我們還組織了專注於現金生成的老虎團隊。雖然該計劃將研究幾種最佳實踐，以加強我們的業務。其當務之急將集中於最大限度地減少過剩和過時的庫存，以從降低成本和現金生成計劃中獲得潛在收益，這將增強我們組織的財務實力。此外，我對新團隊的協作精神和熱情感到非常興奮。我們一起圍繞銷售策略、市場多元化、市場份額以及產品路線圖和合理化進行了討論。我們完全一致，並最大限度地利用未來的機會，為我們的金融機構創造光明的未來。對我們公司來說，這是一個令人興奮的時刻。

And with that, I will now turn it over to Peter to discuss our financial results at Cedar.

現在，我將把它交給 Peter 來討論我們在 Cedar 的財務表現。

Thank you, Ralph, and good afternoon, everyone. As Rob mentioned, our first quarter results were lower than we expected. However, we are excited to see spending improving and having a positive impact on our backlog.

謝謝拉爾夫，大家下午好。正如羅布所提到的，我們第一季的業績低於我們的預期。然而，我們很高興看到支出有所改善並對我們的積壓工作產生積極影響。

First quarter sales were $13.5 million, a decrease of $4.9 million or 27% decrease year over year and down 15% on a sequential basis. First quarter gross profit margin decreased to 24.5% from 27.7% year over year. The 320 basis points decrease reflected the impact of lower sales and less leverage to cover certain fixed costs. First quarter operating loss was $2.1 million compared to an operating loss of $1.2 million in the prior year period. The operating loss was primarily due to lower sales volume and lower contribution from higher-margin products offset by lower operating expenses.

第一季銷售額為 1,350 萬美元，年減 490 萬美元，成長 27%，季減 15%。第一季毛利率從去年同期的27.7%下降至24.5%。下降 320 個基點反映了銷售額下降和用於支付某些固定成本的槓桿率降低的影響。第一季營運虧損為 210 萬美元，而上年同期營運虧損為 120 萬美元。營業虧損主要是因為銷售下降和高利潤產品的貢獻減少，但營業費用下降所抵銷。

In the first quarter of 2024, our net loss was $1.4 million or $0.13 per diluted share, and our non-GAAP net loss was $590,000 or $0.06 per diluted share compared to a net loss of $1.2 million or $0.11 per diluted share and a non-GAAP net loss of $25,000 or $0 per diluted share for Q1 2023. First quarter. Adjusted EBITDA was negative $1.1 million compared to positive adjusted EBITDA of $78,000 in Q1 2023.

2024 年第一季度，我們的淨虧損為140 萬美元，即稀釋後每股0.13 美元，非GAAP 淨虧損為59 萬美元，即稀釋後每股0.06 美元，而非公認會計原則淨虧損為120 萬美元，即稀釋後每股0.11 美元，非公認會計原則淨虧損為120 萬美元，即稀釋後每股0.11 美元。第一季。調整後 EBITDA 為負 110 萬美元，而 2023 年第一季調整後 EBITDA 為正 78,000 美元。

Moving to the balance sheet. As of January 31, we had a total of $4.5 million of cash and cash equivalents and have working capital of $21.6 million and a current ratio of approximately 2.9 to 1 with current assets of $32.9 million and current liabilities of $11.3 million. As of July 31, we borrowed $12.5 million under our term loan and $500,000 from the revolving credit facility related to the credit facility. As you saw in the third amendment filed at the end of February. We have been working over the last several months to ensure we have access to liquidity and flexibility needed to support the recovery of our business. As of today, we have refinanced the term loan that was put in place in 2022 with a new asset-based revolver with a new lender. This revolver will support our next phase while giving us the working capital flexibility to handle potentially uneven deployments in customer orders.

轉向資產負債表。截至 1 月 31 日，我們的現金及現金等價物總額為 450 萬美元，營運資金為 2,160 萬美元，流動比率約為 2.9 比 1，流動資產為 3,290 萬美元，流動負債為 1,130 萬美元。截至 7 月 31 日，我們透過定期貸款借入 1,250 萬美元，並從與信貸安排相關的循環信貸安排借入 50 萬美元。正如您在二月底提交的第三次修正案中看到的那樣。過去幾個月我們一直在努力確保我們能夠獲得支持業務復甦所需的流動性和靈活性。截至今天，我們已經透過新的貸款人以新的基於資產的循環貸款為 2022 年發放的定期貸款進行了再融資。這把左輪手槍將為我們的下一階段提供支持，同時為我們提供營運資金彈性，以處理客戶訂單中潛在的不均勻部署。

Our inventory was $18 million, down from $18.7 million last year. The decrease in inventory reflected our continued rationalization and rightsizing of our inventory to address the lower demand level we experienced in 2023. We believe our current inventory level supports our strategic business model of inventory availability, and we continue to manage this closely as we expect to see increased demand in 2024 as CapEx spending gradually normalizes over the coming year.

我們的庫存為 1800 萬美元，低於去年的 1870 萬美元。庫存的減少反映了我們對庫存的持續合理化和規模調整，以應對 2023 年需求水準較低的問題。我們相信，我們目前的庫存水準支援我們的庫存可用性策略業務模式，並且我們將繼續密切管理這一模式，因為隨著來年資本支出逐漸正常化，我們預計 2024 年需求將會增加。

Moving on, we are seeing momentum built around new business. Our backlog as of January 31, was $16.2 million on first quarter bookings of $13.6 million. Subsequent to Q1, we've seen an increase in order flow. And as of today, our backlog currently stands at $19.3 million. As we look ahead, we're optimistic the positive trends we are seeing with our customers will continue to benefit our sales. We're excited about our opportunity to drive top line growth and generate profitability through key customer projects and higher value solutions.

繼續前進，我們看到了圍繞新業務的勢頭。截至 1 月 31 日，我們的積壓訂單為 1,620 萬美元，第一季的預訂量為 1,360 萬美元。第一季之後，我們看到訂單流量增加。截至今天，我們的積壓訂單已達 1,930 萬美元。展望未來，我們樂觀地認為，我們在客戶中看到的正面趨勢將繼續有利於我們的銷售。我們很高興有機會透過關鍵客戶專案和更高價值的解決方案來推動收入成長並產生盈利。

With that, I'll open up the call for your question.

接下來，我將打開電話詢問您的問題。

Thank you.

謝謝。

At this time will be conducting a question and answer session. If you'd like to ask a question, please press star one on your telephone keypad. A confirmation tone will indicate your line is in the question queue, you may press star two. If you would like to remove your question from the queue For participants using speaker equipment, it may be necessary to pick up your handset before pressing the star keys. Once again, please press star one on your phone at this time. If you wish to ask a question, please hold while we poll for question.

此時將進行問答環節。如果您想提問，請按電話鍵盤上的星號一。確認音將表示您的線路已在問題佇列中，您可以按星號二。如果您想從佇列中刪除您的問題 對於使用揚聲器裝置的參與者，可能需要在按星號鍵之前拿起聽筒。此時請再按手機上的星號一。如果您想提問，請稍候，我們會投票回答問題。

And the first question today is coming from Josh Nichols from B. Riley. Josh, your line is live.

今天的第一個問題來自 B. Riley 的 Josh Nichols。喬希，您的線路已上線。

Yes, thanks, to take my question on I know the carrier CapEx market has obviously been tough specifically for last year and the first quarter is a little bit of a seasonally low for you guys, but good to hear that the revenue is expected to pick up in 2Q just given what we're seeing for the decent backlog jump. I'm just kind of curious, do you think if there's going to be more of an incremental or material sequential pickup in 2Q, or do you think a lot of that backlog is going to be coming in like the fiscal second half of this year, and we just think of the cadence of the acceleration over the next few quarters?

是的，謝謝，回答我的問題，我知道運營商資本支出市場去年顯然很艱難，第一季對你們來說有點季節性低點，但很高興聽到收入預計會回升鑑於我們所看到的積壓量大幅增加，第二季的業績上升。我只是有點好奇，您認為第二季度是否會有更多增量或實質連續回升，或者您認為大量積壓會像今年財年下半年那樣出現，我們只考慮未來幾季加速的節奏？

Yes, Josh, thanks. Good question. I think I'll give kind of a few two reactions to the question or to answer to the question. So one is what we've been through in the last four quarters. I have a hard time predicting exact timing on when these orders are going to flow. So I'll just I'll give that caveat kind of dip again, but I think that the broader pieces, we expect some of the orders we've been seeing to help us in Q2. I'm not going to give specific guidance on Q2 revenue number, but we certainly expect nice recovery starting to show in the second quarter and then through the rest of the year, I mean these orders that we've seen to take the backlog up, as I said in my prepared remarks, it's not a one-time thing. We have scenarios occasionally where we get a large order and we draw against it for some period of time. This is several recurring orders around several different projects with multiple customers that are not just the month of February was great from a bookings perspective, but it's not just that. I think we've continued to see those into March, helping that backlog, and we expect there to be more sort of continuing as the year goes on. So hard to give exact timing, but we certainly expect to sort of accelerate from here.

是的，喬什，謝謝。好問題。我想我會對這個問題給出兩種反應或回答這個問題。其中之一就是我們在過去四個季度所經歷的事情。我很難預測這些訂單何時流通的確切時間。因此，我會再次提出警告，但我認為，從更廣泛的角度來看，我們預計我們所看到的一些訂單將在第二季為我們提供幫助。我不會對第二季度的收入數字給出具體指導，但我們當然預計第二季度開始出現良好的復甦，然後在今年剩餘時間裡，我的意思是我們看到的這些訂單增加了積壓正如我在準備好的發言中所說，這不是一次性的事。我們偶爾會遇到這樣的情況：我們收到一筆大訂單，然後我們在一段時間內對其進行提款。這是圍繞多個客戶的幾個不同項目的幾個重複訂單，從預訂的角度來看，不僅二月份很棒，而且不僅如此。我認為我們在三月繼續看到這些情況，有助於解決積壓問題，我們預計隨著時間的推移，會有更多的情況繼續發生。很難給出確切的時間，但我們當然希望從這裡開始加速。

Josh, any more questions?

喬什，還有什麼問題嗎？

Yes, one more question. Sort of just looking at the OpEx structure, you guys have gotten pretty lean and mean over the last 12 months, I'd say and add $2.5 million of annualized operating savings. And you mentioned on the call that could be potentially another $3 million of additional savings. Could you just maybe elaborate on where those are potentially coming from specifically what the company plans to do or any extension associated with achieving those?

是的，還有一個問題。只要看看營運支出結構，我想說，在過去 12 個月裡，你們已經變得相當精簡和刻薄，並且每年增加了 250 萬美元的營運節省。您在電話中提到，這可能會另外節省 300 萬美元。您能否詳細說明這些可能來自公司具體計劃做什麼或與實現這些目標相關的任何擴展？

Sure.

當然。

Yes.

是的。

Maybe I'll give a kind of a first pass on and then I'll let Ray add some of the specific initiatives at a high level that the team is driving. So generally, it's sort of a continuation of the things that we began had planned going into fiscal '23 with the combining of locations to allow us to get started on some of these streamlining opportunities. So it's sort of the next phase of that and continuing down the path of the good diligent various work streams that the team has been driving.

也許我會先介紹一下，然後讓 Ray 添加團隊正在推動的一些高階具體舉措。所以總的來說，這是我們開始計劃進入 23 財年的事情的延續，透過合併地點，讓我們能夠開始利用其中一些精簡機會。因此，這是下一階段，並繼續沿著團隊一直在努力推動的各種工作流程的道路前進。

So Rene, do you want to mention some of the specific items that you had a few in your prepared remarks that maybe just recap those at a high level, what the items are that some of the initiatives the team is driving.

那麼，Rene，您想提一下您在準備好的發言中提到的一些具體項目嗎？

Sure.

當然。

Thanks, Robyn And Josh, like I kind of mentioned in my dialogue, we're looking at multiple facets of the business on direct material is one element on, as Rob mentioned, facilities on the consolidation of facilities and the synergies that we can benefit from those consolidations. We're also looking very heavily into product design on manufacturability of new product design and then the other. The other big element is of the lean principles on eliminating waste in our operation, our manufacturing processes and our processes across the board. So we kicked this off in 2023. We see other opportunities moving into 2024. And we think that there's that there's more that can be accomplished as we move into this year.

謝謝，羅賓和喬什，就像我在對話中提到的那樣，我們正在研究直接材料業務的多個方面，正如羅布提到的那樣，設施整合以及我們可以受益的協同效應是其中一個要素從這些合併中。我們也非常重視產品設計的新產品設計的可製造性，然後是其他方面。另一個重要因素是精實原則，旨在消除我們營運、製造流程和全面流程中的浪費。所以我們在 2023 年啟動了這個計畫。我們看到 2024 年還有其他機會。我們認為，隨著今年的到來，還有更多的事情可以完成。

Thanks.

謝謝。

And then last question for me.

然後是我的最後一個問題。

I guess like given the anticipated upswing in revenue throughout the rest of the year and the fact that you've talked about, you're probably going to be getting some higher-margin revenue from small cell and DAS, things like that. How should investors be thinking about the potential margin expansion over the coming quarters for the Company?

我想，考慮到今年剩餘時間收入的預期增長以及您所談到的事實，您可能會從小型基地台和 DAS 等方面獲得一些更高利潤的收入。投資人應該如何考慮公司未來幾季潛在的利潤率擴張？

Yes. Maybe I'll give a first pass and let Peter add some specifics there.

是的。也許我會先進行一次，然後讓彼得在那裡添加一些細節。

So I think the general summary is we need to be as a specific sales number to allow us to cover fixed charge, right? That is one of the things that Peter mentioned in his comments. And I think just at a high level, as we see product mix get better, we brought our breakeven way down. But as we see the product mix get better around these higher margin items, I think that is one key area where we should see the margin expansion start to happen. Peter, you want to add some specifics there?

所以我認為總的總結是我們需要作為一個具體的銷售數字來允許我們支付固定費用，對吧？這是彼得在評論中提到的事情之一。我認為，從高水準來看，當我們看到產品組合變得更好時，我們的損益平衡點就下降了。但當我們看到圍繞這些利潤率較高的產品的產品組合變得更好時，我認為這是我們應該看到利潤率擴張開始發生的關鍵領域。彼得，你想在那裡添加一些細節嗎？

Sure.

當然。

Hey, Josh.

嘿，喬許。

Thanks, hopped on. So as as the year continues and we see the improvements in the top line and the product mix getting better, I think we can expect us to get closer to 30% range where we've been, Josh, coming off a 35 at 24.5 on that, that not a great number for us, but I think with the sales improving and kind of the synergies we report on last year and continuing on to this year. As we see the sales from the higher kind of margin stuff start to start to ship out the gilt yield, you'll see a quicker improvement to our gross margins with well, we saw some sales increase here.

謝謝，跳了。因此，隨著這一年的繼續，我們看到營收的改善和產品組合的改善，我認為我們可以期望我們能夠接近 30% 的範圍，喬什，從 35 到 24.5這對我們來說不是一個很大的數字，但我認為隨著銷售的改善以及我們去年報告的協同效應並將持續到今年。當我們看到利潤率較高的產品的銷售開始開始輸出英國國債收益率時，您會看到我們的毛利率更快地提高，我們在這裡看到了一些銷售成長。

Great. That's all for me.

偉大的。這就是我的全部。

Thanks, guys.

多謝你們。

Thanks, Jeff.

謝謝，傑夫。

Thank you.

謝謝。

And once again, it will be star-1 if there were any other questions at this time. Once again, star one if you wish to ask a question. Once again, that's star one if you wish to ask a question at this time.

再次強調，如果此時還有任何其他問題，它將是 1 星。如果您想提問，請再次加註星標。再說一次，如果你想在這個時候問問題，那就是第一件事。

And the next question is coming from Greg Graves. Greg is a private investor.

下一個問題來自格雷格·格雷夫斯。格雷格是一位私人投資者。

Gentlemen. I just have one simple question related to the activities in the U.S. and China. Could you give us a rough idea of how we live, how much you are relying on China for some of the components that go into our parks?

先生們。我只有一個與美國和中國的活動有關的簡單問題。您能否讓我們大致了解我們的生活方式，以及您在多大程度上依賴中國生產我們公園的一些組件？

Yes. Thanks, Gregg. Good question. So small, as in less than 10% of our inventory has a direct connection there. Now that's direct. That doesn't mean that US-based suppliers that we're purchasing from are also sourcing something, but our exposure that we're aware of is, I would say less than 10% of our inventory.

是的。謝謝，格雷格。好問題。如此之小，我們的庫存中只有不到 10% 與此有直接聯繫。現在就直接了。這並不意味著我們採購的美國供應商也在採購某些東西，但據我們所知，我們的風險敞口不到我們庫存的 10%。

Thank you. That's very reassuring.

謝謝。這非常令人放心。

Thanks, Greg.

謝謝，格雷格。

Thank you.

謝謝。

And the next question is coming from Ethan Starr Eaton is also a private investor.

下一個問題來自伊森·斯塔爾·伊頓（Ethan Starr Eaton），他也是私人投資者。

Yes, thank you. There was some mention of some obsolete out-of-date inventory in your inventory figure.

是的，謝謝。您的庫存數據中提到了一些過時的過時庫存。

I'm wondering roughly, can you give me give some guidance as to the percentage or dollar figure roughly about the inventory and what your hopes are for moving it out the door?

我大概想知道，您能否就庫存的大致百分比或美元數字提供一些指導，以及您希望將其移出大門的希望是什麼？

Yes, I think we've been so giving a specific network we're not going to give a specific number on it. I can tell you is it's a small percentage of our total and in some cases, it's not actually obsolete. It's just been slow moving and we've made the decision to turn that into cash to move some stuff out of there. So it's not going to have a massive material change to our inventory level, but some of the decline that you saw in our current inventory and it is $18 million as we reported, and it was [$18.9 million] prior quarter. So that part of that is selling through some inventory, but part of that is also reducing those numbers. So it's not I don't want to overstate the obsolete word. We certainly want to say, yes, there is some in there that we needed to move out, but it's more about, I think, just rationalizing and turning into cash if it hasn't been moving.

是的，我認為我們已經給出了一個特定的網絡，我們不會給出具體的數字。我可以告訴你，它只占我們總數的一小部分，在某些情況下，它實際上並沒有過時。只是進展緩慢，我們決定將其轉化為現金，以將一些東西移出那裡。因此，我們的庫存水準不會發生巨大的實質變化，但我們目前的庫存會有所下降，正如我們報告的那樣，庫存為 1800 萬美元，上一季為 1,890 萬美元。因此，其中一部分是透過一些庫存進行銷售，但也有一部分是減少這些數量。所以並不是我不想誇大這個過時的詞。我們當然想說，是的，裡面有一些我們需要搬走，但我認為，更多的是合理化，如果沒有搬走，就變成現金。

Okay.

好的。

Well, thanks for correcting me on the improper use of obsolete and look forward to next quarter's results.

好吧，感謝您糾正我對過時的不當使用，並期待下個季度的結果。

frankly.

坦白說。

But I think we said the word obsolete. So that's on us not huge. Thank you.

但我認為我們說了「過時」這個詞。所以這對我們來說並不大。謝謝。

Okay, perfect.

好的，完美。

Thank you.

謝謝。

There were no other questions at this time. I would now like to hand the call back to Rob Dawson, CEO at RF Industries. For closing remarks.

此時沒有其他問題了。現在我想將電話轉給 RF Industries 執行長 Rob Dawson。作結束語。

Thanks, Paul, and thanks, everyone, for joining our call today, and we look forward to reporting our second quarter results in June. Have a good day.

謝謝 Paul，也謝謝大家今天加入我們的電話會議，我們期待在 6 月報告我們的第二季業績。祝你有美好的一天。

Thank you. This does conclude today's conference. You may disconnect your lines at this time. Have a wonderful day. Thank you for your participation.

謝謝。今天的會議到此結束。此時您可以斷開線路。祝你有美好的一天。感謝您的參與。