Rambus Inc (RMBS) 2018 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Welcome to the Rambus Fourth Quarter and Fiscal Year 2018 Earnings Conference Call. (Operator Instructions) As a reminder, this conference is being recorded.

歡迎參加 Rambus 2018 年第四季和財政年度收益電話會議。（操作員指示）謹此提醒，本次會議正在錄製中。

I would now like to turn the conference over to Rahul Mathur, Chief Financial Officer. You may begin your conference.

我現在想將會議交給財務長拉胡爾·馬圖爾 (Rahul Mathur)。您可以開始您的會議了。

Thank you, Christine, and welcome to the Rambus Fourth Quarter 2018 Results Conference Call. I am Rahul Mathur, CFO, and on the call with me today is Luc Seraphin, our CEO.

謝謝 Christine，歡迎參加 Rambus 2018 年第四季業績電話會議。我是財務長 Rahul Mathur，今天與我通話的是我們的執行長 Luc Seraphin。

The press release for the results that we will be discussing today have been furnished to the SEC on Form 8-K. A replay of this call will be available for the next week at (855) 859-2056. You can hear the replay by dialing the toll-free number, and then entering ID #839-7247 when you hear the prompt.

我們今天將討論的結果新聞稿已透過 8-K 表格提交給 SEC。下週可撥打 (855) 859-2056 重播此電話會議。您可以撥打免費電話收聽重播，然後在聽到提示時輸入 ID #839-7247。

In addition, we are simultaneously webcasting this call, and along with the audio, we're webcasting slides that you will reference during portions of today's call. So even if you're joining us via conference call, you may want to access the webcast with the slide presentation. A replay of this call can be accessed on our website beginning today at 5:00 p.m. Pacific Time.

此外，我們同時對本次電話會議進行網路廣播，並與音訊一起網路廣播投影片，您將在今天電話會議的部分內容中參考這些投影片。因此，即使您透過電話會議加入我們，您也可能想要存取帶有幻燈片簡報的網路廣播。從今天下午 5:00 開始，您可以在我們的網站上觀看本次電話會議的重播。太平洋時間。

Our discussion today will contain forward-looking statements regarding our financial guidance for future periods, including Q1 2019 and beyond, prospects, product strategies, timing of expected product launches, demand for existing and newly acquired technologies, the growth opportunity for the various markets we serve and the changes that we will experience in our financial reporting due to our adoption of new revenue recognition standard that started in Q1 2018, amongst others things.

我們今天的討論將包含有關我們未來時期財務指引的前瞻性陳述，包括2019 年第一季及以後、前景、產品策略、預期產品發布的時間、對現有和新收購技術的需求、我們各個市場的成長機會由於我們採用 2018 年第一季開始的新收入確認標準等，我們的財務報告將會改變。

These statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that are discussed during this call and may be more fully described in the documents we file with the SEC, including our 8-Ks 10-Qs and 10-Ks. These forward-looking statements may differ materially from actual results, and we are under no obligation to update these statements. In an effort to provide greater clarity to our financials, we're using both GAAP and non-GAAP financial presentations in both our press release and also on this call. We have posted on our website a reconciliation of these non-GAAP financials to the most directly comparable GAAP measures in our press release and our slide presentation. You can see this on our website at rambus.com on the Investor Relations page under Financial Releases.

這些聲明受到本次電話會議期間討論的風險和不確定性的影響，並且可能在我們向 SEC 提交的文件中進行更全面的描述，包括我們的 8-K、10-Q 和 10-K。這些前瞻性陳述可能與實際結果有重大差異，我們沒有義務更新這些陳述。為了讓我們的財務狀況更加清晰，我們在新聞稿和本次電話會議中同時使用 GAAP 和非 GAAP 財務簡報。我們在我們的網站上發布了這些非公認會計準則財務數據與我們的新聞稿和幻燈片演示中最直接可比較的公認會計準則衡量指標的調節表。您可以在我們的網站 rambus.com 的「投資者關係」頁面上的「財務發布」下看到此資訊。

The order of our call today will be as follows: Luc will start with an overview of the business; I will discuss our financial results, including our guidance for future periods; and then we'll end with Q&A.

我們今天的電話會議順序如下：Luc 首先概述業務；我將討論我們的財務業績，包括我們對未來時期的指導；然後我們將以問答結束。

I'll now turn the call over to Luc to provide an overview of the quarter. Luc?

我現在將把電話轉給 Luc，以提供本季的概述。呂克？

Thank you, Rahul, and good afternoon, everyone. This is my second earnings call as CEO of Rambus, and as we embark on the new year, I would like to share some insights on the strategy for the company going forward before moving into specifics for Q4 and 2018 as a whole.

謝謝拉胡爾，大家下午好。這是我擔任Rambus 執行長的第二次財報電話會議，在我們開始新的一年之際，我想先分享一些關於公司未來策略的見解，然後再討論第四季和整個2018 年的具體細節。

For 2019, our top priorities as a company will be centered around 3 primary objectives. The first will be to refocus our product portfolio around our core strength in semiconductor, mainly high-speed memory and chip-to-chip interfaces, memory buffer chips and embedded security cores and provisioning software. We will target leading-edge, high-growth markets like data center and networking, artificial intelligence, machine learning, IoT and automotive. These are markets that demand both increasing levels of performance and security, positioning Rambus as an ideal choice for high-speed interfaces and embedded security solutions.

2019 年，我們公司的首要任務將圍繞 3 個主要目標。首先是圍繞我們在半導體領域的核心優勢重新調整我們的產品組合，主要是高速記憶體和晶片間接口、記憶體緩衝晶片以及嵌入式安全核心和配置軟體。我們將瞄準資料中心和網路、人工智慧、機器學習、物聯網和汽車等領先的高成長市場。這些市場對效能和安全性的要求不斷提高，因此 Rambus 成為高速介面和嵌入式安全解決方案的理想選擇。

We are aligning the research priorities in Rambus Labs on innovation and patent development in these key areas as well. Our patents remain foundational to our industry. By reinforcing our commitment to invention and advancing semiconductor technology, we enhance our value and relevance in our target markets and create a platform for investment in product development.

我們也將 Rambus 實驗室的研究重點調整為這些關鍵領域的創新和專利開發。我們的專利仍然是我們產業的基礎。透過加強我們對發明和先進半導體技術的承諾，我們提高了我們在目標市場的價值和相關性，並為產品開發投資創建了一個平台。

The second objective will be to optimize the company for operational efficiency and profitability, leveraging synergies across our businesses and customer base. There is significant overlap in our ecosystem of customers, partners and influencers. By focusing on the hardware and software solutions for secure connected semiconductors, we are able to bring better value to our customers and improve profitability for the company.

第二個目標是利用我們業務和客戶群之間的綜效，優化公司的營運效率和獲利能力。我們的客戶、合作夥伴和影響者的生態系統有顯著的重疊。透過專注於安全連接半導體的硬體和軟體解決方案，我們能夠為客戶帶來更好的價值並提高公司的獲利能力。

And finally, the third objective is to leverage our demonstrated ability to generate cash and reinvest in ourselves through organic and inorganic growth to amplify our market and technology position. These priorities will set the foundation for the company moving forward, emphasizing operational excellence and will enable Rambus to further its position as a global semiconductor leader in the high-speed interfaces, memory buffer chips and embedded security cores.

最後，第三個目標是利用我們所展示的產生現金的能力，並透過有機和無機成長對自己進行再投資，以擴大我們的市場和技術地位。這些優先事項將為公司前進奠定基礎，強調卓越運營，並使 Rambus 進一步鞏固其作為高速介面、記憶體緩衝晶片和嵌入式安全核心領域全球半導體領導者的地位。

With that, we've already taken the first steps towards these objectives in my first few quarters as CEO. Rambus had another solid performance in Q4 and a strong year overall for 2018, with continued execution from our product teams and record annual product revenue for IP cores and memory buffers.

至此，在我擔任執行長的頭幾個季度裡，我們已經朝著這些目標邁出了第一步。Rambus 在第四季再次表現強勁，2018 年整體表現強勁，我們的產品團隊持續執行，IP 核心和記憶體緩衝區的年度產品收入創紀錄。

In Q4, we delivered results in line with expectations with GAAP revenues of $68.5 million under ASC 606 and generated $35.1 million in cash from operations. For the full year, we delivered revenues of $231.2 million under ASC 606 and generated $87.1 million in cash. For reference, our fourth quarter revenue under the prior ASC 605 accounting standard would have been $102 million with a full year at $401.1 million, which excluding the Lighting business we shut down in Q1, is up 6% year-over-year.

第四季度，我們的業績符合預期，根據 ASC 606 的 GAAP 收入為 6,850 萬美元，並從營運中產生了 3,510 萬美元的現金。全年，我們根據 ASC 606 實現了 2.312 億美元的收入，並產生了 8,710 萬美元的現金。作為參考，根據先前的 ASC 605 會計準則，我們第四季的營收將為 1.02 億美元，全年營收為 4.011 億美元，其中不包括我們在第一季關閉的照明業務，年成長 6%。

We executed well with systematic increases in customer wins in our product groups and continue technology leadership in strategic programs. Our licensing programs remain strong with new deals and renewals closed in Q4, including an agreement with Broadcom as well as NVIDIA and Phison, which we mentioned on our previous call.

我們表現良好，產品組的客戶贏得量系統性增加，並在策略計畫中繼續保持技術領先地位。我們的授權計劃仍然強勁，新交易和續約已在第四季度完成，包括我們在先前的電話會議中提到的與 Broadcom、NVIDIA 和 Phison 的協議。

Turning now to our product teams. Q4 was another positive quarter for servicing chips, as we continue to make steady gains in market share for DDR4 and closed out 2018 with record revenue of $36 million, in line with our target of $35 million to $40 million for the year.

現在轉向我們的產品團隊。第四季是服務晶片的另一個正面季度，我們繼續穩步提高 DDR4 的市場份額，並以 3,600 萬美元的創紀錄收入結束了 2018 年，這符合我們今年 3,500 萬至 4,000 萬美元的目標。

Looking forward to 2019. We remain confident in our ability to continue to gain market share for the current generation server platform and anticipate even greater share on the upcoming CPU refresh as we have more than twice the number of OEM and Data Center qualifications versus the previous generation. We believe this strong market position, at the time of new product introduction for Intel's next CPU, will outweigh the potential near-term softness for the memory market and propel strong gains in market share for our servicing chips in the second half. With that, we expect to continue the growth that has been demonstrated year-over-year and anticipate a revenue range of $50 million to $70 million for the buffer chip program in 2019.

展望2019年。我們對繼續獲得當前一代伺服器平台的市場份額的能力仍然充滿信心，並預計在即將到來的 CPU 更新中獲得更大的份額，因為我們擁有的 OEM 和資料中心資格數量是上一代的兩倍以上。我們相信，在英特爾下一代 CPU 推出新產品時，這種強大的市場地位將抵消記憶體市場近期潛在的疲軟，並推動下半年我們的服務晶片市場份額的強勁成長。因此，我們預計將繼續逐年成長，並預計 2019 年緩衝晶片專案的收入範圍為 5,000 萬美元至 7,000 萬美元。

In addition to the steady growth in DDR4, we maintained our leadership position for next-generation DDR5 servicing chips and are now shipping customer samples at the top-end speeds for both the RCD and DB chips. We are leveraging our head start in product development, with samples being validated by our partners and continue to have strong collaboration with the memory vendors as well as the broader ecosystem.

除了 DDR4 的穩定成長之外，我們還保持了下一代 DDR5 服務晶片的領先地位，現在正在以 RCD 和 DB 晶片的高端速度向客戶提供樣品。我們正在利用我們在產品開發方面的領先地位，樣品由我們的合作夥伴進行驗證，並繼續與內存供應商以及更廣泛的生態系統保持強有力的合作。

Turning now to our high-speed IP cores business. It has been growing at an impressive compounded annual growth rate of greater than 50% over the past 4 years. We continue to gain traction in high-growth, high-performance applications, including artificial intelligence, machine learning, graphics, wired communications and wireless infrastructure. We closed out the year with record revenue, fueled by wins with Tier 1 customers in Data Center and Communications segments worldwide.

現在轉向我們的高速 IP 核能業務。過去 4 年，其複合年增長率超過 50%，令人印象深刻。我們繼續在高成長、高效能應用領域獲得關注，包括人工智慧、機器學習、圖形、有線通訊和無線基礎設施。在全球資料中心和通訊領域贏得一級客戶的推動下，我們以創紀錄的收入結束了這一年。

Competing against industry players like Cadence and Synopsys, we continued our leadership position in high-end and high-bandwidth service and memory IP cores in advanced process nodes, with a tape-out of the industry's first GDDR6 Memory PHY in a leading-edge process node.

在與Cadence、Synopsys等產業廠商的競爭中，我們在先進製程節點的高階、高頻寬服務和記憶體IP核方面繼續保持領先地位，並在領先製程中流片了業界首款GDDR6記憶體PHY節點。

As demand for high-memory bandwidth extends beyond graphics, we see expanding customer engagements in a wide range of high-performance applications. In Q4, we closed a substantial number of design wins with top-tier customers worldwide, which sets us up nicely for healthy growth to continue in 2019.

隨著對高記憶體頻寬的需求擴展到圖形之外，我們看到客戶對各種高效能應用程式的參與不斷擴大。第四季度，我們贏得了全球頂級客戶的大量設計勝利，這為我們在 2019 年繼續健康成長奠定了良好的基礎。

Moving over to our cryptography business. 2018 saw the importance of semiconductor device level security grow in the industry, resulting in increased traction and opportunities for our embedded security cores and provisioning capabilities in market segments like IoT, automotive, networking and governance. We launched the programmable CryptoManager Root of Trust, which combines our deep security expertise with a modern open architecture, RISC-V, to create an easy-to-consume secure processing core and have ongoing engagements with semiconductor manufacturers, OEMs and cloud providers.

轉向我們的密碼學業務。2018 年，半導體設備級安全的重要性在產業中不斷增長，從而為我們的嵌入式安全核心和物聯網、汽車、網路和治理等細分市場的配置能力帶來了更大的吸引力和機會。我們推出了可程式 CryptoManager Root of Trust，它將我們深厚的安全專業知識與現代開放架構 RISC-V 相結合，創建易於使用的安全處理核心，並與半導體製造商、OEM 和雲端供應商持續合作。

In Q4, we closed the year with a great win at Micron and announced that our CryptoManager platform will be used to securely provision Micron Authenta secure memory product line. This is a key milestone as it showcases our ability to combine our device level provisioning solutions with third-party cores to extend our market share and enable a new level of protection for connected devices.

在第四季度，我們以美光的巨大勝利結束了這一年，並宣布我們的 CryptoManager 平台將用於安全地提供美光 Authenta 安全記憶體產品線。這是一個重要的里程碑，因為它展示了我們將設備級配置解決方案與第三方核心結合的能力，以擴大我們的市場份額並為互聯設備提供新級別的保護。

As we enter 2019, we are focused on delivering best-in-class embedded security cores and provisioning capabilities, which can be deployed independently or as a complete platform. We believe our CryptoManager programmable secure core and provisioning platform will play an increasingly important role in securing special purpose computing use cases of the edge, driving increased customer interest across our target segments, including automotive, artificial intelligence, machine learning and governance.

進入 2019 年，我們專注於提供一流的嵌入式安全核心和配置功能，這些核心和配置功能可以獨立部署，也可以作為完整的平台部署。我們相信，我們的CryptoManager 可程式安全核心和配置平台將在保護邊緣專用運算用例方面發揮越來越重要的作用，從而提高客戶對我們目標細分市場的興趣，包括汽車、人工智慧、機器學習和治理。

In summary, Q4 was another strong quarter that closed out a solid performance to 2018. For 2019, we are renewing our focus in our core areas of expertise and are poised for success in our target markets and year-on-year growth in product revenue. We are creating the foundation for future profitable growth as we continue to fuel innovation, roll out products, improve operational efficiency and generate cash.

總而言之，第四季度是另一個強勁的季度，為 2018 年帶來了穩健的業績。2019年，我們將重新聚焦於我們的核心專業領域，並準備在目標市場取得成功，並實現產品收入的年成長。隨著我們繼續推動創新、推出產品、提高營運效率並創造現金，我們正在為未來的獲利成長奠定基礎。

With that, I'll turn the call to Rahul to discuss the quarterly financial results. Rahul?

接下來，我將打電話給拉胡爾，討論季度財務表現。拉胡爾？

Thanks, Luc. I'd like to begin with our financial results for the quarter and the year. Let me start with some highlights on Slide 6. As Luc mentioned, we continue to make progress and delivered solid financial results, in line with our revenue expectations and at the high end of our earnings expectations. As you know, we've chosen to adopt the new accounting standard, ASC 606, using the modified retrospective method, which does not restate prior periods but rather runs the cumulative effect of the adoption through retained earnings as a beginning balance sheet adjustment. As a result, any comparison between fourth quarter or full year 2018 results under ASC 606 and prior results under ASC 605 is not the best way to track our company's progress.

謝謝，盧克。我想先介紹一下我們本季和本年度的財務表現。讓我先介紹幻燈片 6 中的一些要點。正如 Luc 所提到的，我們繼續取得進展並取得了穩健的財務業績，符合我們的收入預期並處於我們盈利預期的高端。如您所知，我們選擇採用新的會計準則 ASC 606，使用修改後的追溯法，該方法不會重述前期，而是透過留存收益作為期初資產負債表調整來計算採用的累積影響。因此，將 ASC 606 下的 2018 年第四季或全年業績與 ASC 605 下的先前業績進行比較並不是追蹤我們公司進展的最佳方式。

We are required to present a footnote that presents our 2018 results as if we continue to recognize revenue under the old standard. To make this transition easier to the readers of our financial statements, we presented our results under both ASC 606 and ASC 605 through 2018. This way, we can have a meaningful discussion regarding the performance of our business instead of focusing on accounting changes.

我們需要提供一個腳註來介紹我們 2018 年的業績，就好像我們繼續按照舊準則確認收入一樣。為了讓財務報表的讀者更容易完成這項轉變，我們根據 ASC 606 和 ASC 605 公佈了截至 2018 年的業績。這樣，我們就可以就我們的業務績效進行有意義的討論，而不是專注於會計變更。

Going forward, we'll only be able to report results and give guidance under ASC 606, but we'll continue to provide additional operational metrics, such as licensing billings to give our investors better insight into our operational performance.

展望未來，我們將只能根據 ASC 606 報告結果並提供指導，但我們將繼續提供其他營運指標，例如許可帳單，以使投資者更了解我們的營運績效。

Under our new accounting standard, ASC 606, we delivered fourth quarter revenue of $68.5 million. Under ASC 605, we would have delivered revenue of $102 million. Under ASC 606, we delivered non-GAAP diluted net income per share of $0.09. Under ASC 605, we would have delivered non-GAAP diluted net income per share of $0.28 at the high end of our expectation.

根據我們的新會計準則 ASC 606，我們第四季的營收為 6,850 萬美元。根據 ASC 605，我們將實現 1.02 億美元的收入。根據 ASC 606，我們實現了非 GAAP 攤薄後每股淨利潤 0.09 美元。根據 ASC 605，我們將實現非 GAAP 稀釋後每股淨利 0.28 美元，達到我們預期的上限。

We ended the year with cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities of $277.8 million, up $30 million from the previous quarter, due primarily to cash from operations of $35.1 million. We delivered solid results while continuing to leverage our high-margin historic businesses to fuel growth in adjacent areas where we have strong technical and market expertise with a focus on memory and security.

截至年底，我們的現金、現金等價物和有價證券為 2.778 億美元，比上一季增加 3,000 萬美元，這主要是由於營運現金為 3,510 萬美元。我們取得了堅實的成果，同時繼續利用我們的高利潤歷史業務來推動鄰近領域的成長，我們在這些領域擁有強大的技術和市場專業知識，並專注於記憶體和安全性。

Now let me talk you through some revenue details on Slide 7. Revenue for the fourth quarter was $68.5 million under the new revenue accounting standard, higher than our expectation of $56 million to $62 million due to the structure of licensing agreements signed within the quarter. Revenue would have been $102 million under ASC 605, in line with our expectations. For the full year, excluding the Lighting business we shut down in Q1, our business was up 6%.

現在讓我向您介紹幻燈片7 上的一些收入細節。根據新的收入會計準則，第四季度的收入為6850 萬美元，高於我們由於本季度簽署的許可協議結構而預期的5600 萬至6200萬美元。根據 ASC 605，營收將為 1.02 億美元，符合我們的預期。全年來看，除去我們在第一季關閉的照明業務，我們的業務成長了 6%。

As we've mentioned previously, the new revenue recognition standard has a material difference in the timing of revenue recognition for our fixed fee licensing arrangements. Our licensing business continues to perform well as the foundation of our success is core to our initiatives in both memory and security and will continue to generate cash in years to come.

正如我們之前提到的，新的收入確認標準對我們的固定費用授權安排的收入確認時間有重大差異。我們的授權業務繼續表現良好，因為我們成功的基礎是我們在記憶體和安全方面的舉措的核心，並將在未來幾年繼續產生現金。

Going into additional detail under ASC 605, our Memory and Interface revenue would have been $82.8 million and our Security business revenue would have been $19.2 million. Our overall Security business was down year-over-year as we restructured contracts in our pipeline to improve the overall long-term value, and we saw a one-time true-up in both fees and forecasts with an anticounterfeiting customer of our cryptography products groups. As we expected, revenue for our Payments and Ticketing business was between $25 million and $30 million for the full year. We expect that business to grow to $35 million to $40 million in 2019.

根據 ASC 605 的更多細節，我們的記憶體和介面收入將為 8,280 萬美元，我們的安全業務收入將為 1,920 萬美元。我們的整體安全業務同比下降，因為我們重組了管道中的合約以提高整體長期價值，並且我們看到我們的密碼產品的防偽客戶的費用和預測都出現了一次性調整組。正如我們預期的那樣，我們的支付和票務業務全年收入在 2500 萬美元至 3000 萬美元之間。我們預計 2019 年該業務將成長至 3,500 萬至 4,000 萬美元。

As we announced last quarter, we are evaluating strategic options for that business, but this business is still part of our operating results. We expect that business to be roughly breakeven in 2019, so regardless of which strategic option we chose, if any, I don't expect a significant impact to the company's overall profitability in 2019.

正如我們在上季度宣布的那樣，我們正在評估該業務的戰略選擇，但該業務仍然是我們經營業績的一部分。我們預計該業務在2019年將大致實現盈虧平衡，因此無論我們選擇哪種策略選擇（如果有的話），我預計不會對公司2019年的整體獲利能力產生重大影響。

Let me walk you through our non-GAAP income statement on Slide 8. Along with our solid revenue performance in Q4, we once again beat our profitability targets on a non-GAAP basis. Cost of revenue plus operating expenses, or what we refer to as total operating expenses, for the quarter came in at $61.6 million. We ended the quarter with headcount of 796, down from 814 in the previous quarter as a result of our refocus on our core growth initiatives. Over the course of 2019, we expect to invest in headcount to support our growth initiatives in our Memory and Security businesses.

讓我帶您瀏覽幻燈片 8 上的非 GAAP 損益表。除了第四季度穩健的收入表現外，我們再次超出了非 GAAP 基礎上的盈利目標。該季度的收入成本加上營運費用，或我們所說的總營運費用，為 6,160 萬美元。由於我們重新關注核心成長計劃，本季末我們的員工人數為 796 人，低於上一季的 814 人。2019 年，我們預計將投資於員工隊伍，以支援我們記憶體和安全業務的成長計畫。

Revenue and operating expenses under ASC 605 led to operating income of $40.4 million. We're pleased with the operating margin expansion we delivered in 2018. We recorded $6.1 million of interest income under ASC 606 related to the significant financing component for our fixed fee patent and technology licensing arrangements for which we have not yet received payment but recognized revenue under the new accounting standard. We incurred $0.6 million of interest expense, primarily related to the convertible notes we issued in Q4 2017. This was offset by incremental interest income related to the return on our cash portfolio. After adjusting for noncash interest expense on our convertible notes, this resulted in non-GAAP interest and other expense for the fourth quarter of $0.5 million, up from Q3. Using an assumed flat rate of 24% for non-GAAP pretax income, non-GAAP net income for the quarter would have been $30.3 million under ASC 605 or $0.28 per share, at the high end of our guidance. On an apples-to-apples basis, under ASC 605, our earnings per share in 2018 was 35% higher than 2017.

ASC 605 下的收入和營運支出帶來了 4,040 萬美元的營運收入。我們對 2018 年營業利潤率的成長感到滿意。我們根據 ASC 606 記錄了 610 萬美元的利息收入，這些利息收入與我們的固定費用專利和技術許可安排的重要融資部分有關，我們尚未收到付款，但根據新會計準則確認了收入。我們產生了 60 萬美元的利息費用，主要與我們在 2017 年第四季發行的可轉換票據有關。這被與我們現金投資組合回報相關的增量利息收入所抵銷。對可轉換票據的非現金利息支出進行調整後，第四季的非公認會計準則利息和其他支出為 50 萬美元，高於第三季。使用假設的非 GAAP 稅前收入 24% 的統一稅率，根據 ASC 605，本季非 GAAP 淨利潤將為 3,030 萬美元，即每股 0.28 美元，達到我們指導的上限。依照 ASC 605 的同類比較，我們 2018 年的每股盈餘比 2017 年高出 35%。

Now let me turn to the balance sheet details on Slide 9. We are very pleased with the strength of our balance sheet. Cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities totaled $277.8 million, up $30 million from the previous quarter due primarily to cash from operations of $35.1 million. We expect to maintain our ability to generate solid cash flow from operations in 2019. This will be an important metric to monitor as we adopt ASC 606. As a result of adopting ASC 606, at the end of Q4, we had contract assets worth $674 million, which reflects the net present value unbilled AR related to licensing arrangements for which the company has no future performance obligations. I expect this number to continue to trend down as we bill and collect for these contracts.

現在讓我談談投影片 9 上的資產負債表詳細資料。我們對資產負債表的實力感到非常滿意。現金、現金等價物和有價證券總額為 2.778 億美元，比上一季增加 3,000 萬美元，主要是由於營運現金為 3,510 萬美元。我們預計 2019 年將維持營運產生穩定現金流的能力。當我們採用 ASC 606 時，這將是一個需要監控的重要指標。由於採用 ASC 606，截至第四季度末，我們的合約資產價值 6.74 億美元，這反映了與公司沒有未來履約義務的許可安排相關的未開票 AR 淨現值。我預計隨著我們為這些合約開立帳單和收取費用，這個數字將繼續下降。

It's important to note that this metric doesn't represent the entire value of our existing licensing arrangement as several customers have royalty-based agreements that allow us to recognize revenue each quarter under ASC 606. As a reminder, Rambus has invested in technology R&D throughout our history, and our patent portfolio continues to be amongst the strongest in our industry. As part of our strategic planning cycle, we've renewed our focus and investment on patent generation with an effort to fund key technology challenges facing the industry in the years to come. Our patents are foundational to our industry and provide a strong platform for our investment in product development and innovation.

值得注意的是，該指標並不代表我們現有授權安排的全部價值，因為一些客戶簽訂了基於特許權使用費的協議，使我們能夠根據 ASC 606 每個季度確認收入。謹此提醒，Rambus 在我們的歷史中一直投資於技術研發，我們的專利組合仍然是業界中最強大的。作為我們策略規劃週期的一部分，我們重新關注並投資於專利生成，努力為未來幾年產業面臨的關鍵技術挑戰提供資金。我們的專利是我們行業的基礎，為我們在產品開發和創新方面的投資提供了強大的平台。

As we look forward to our significant patent renewals in the future, we should note that while our typical licensing agreements last 5 to 10 years, our patents are valid for 20 years, and we remain confident in our ability to continue to renew with our partners at favorable economic turns in the future as we've demonstrated historically.

當我們期待未來的重大專利續展時，我們應該注意到，雖然我們的典型授權協議持續 5 至 10 年，但我們的專利有效期為 20 年，並且我們對繼續與合作夥伴續展的能力充滿信心正如我們歷史上所證明的那樣，未來經濟將出現有利的轉變。

Fourth quarter CapEx was $2.9 million and depreciation was $2.6 million. For the year, CapEx was $10.8 million, and depreciation was $10.7 million. Looking forward, I expect roughly $3 million of CapEx for the first quarter and roughly $11 million for the full year of 2019. I also expect depreciation of roughly $2.5 million for the first quarter and roughly $10 million for the full year of 2019. Overall, we have a strong balance sheet with limited debt and expect to continue to generate strong cash from operations in the future.

第四季資本支出為 290 萬美元，折舊為 260 萬美元。今年資本支出為 1,080 萬美元，折舊為 1,070 萬美元。展望未來，我預計第一季的資本支出約為 300 萬美元，2019 年全年的資本支出約為 1,100 萬美元。我還預計第一季折舊約為 250 萬美元，2019 年全年折舊約為 1000 萬美元。總體而言，我們擁有強勁的資產負債表和有限的債務，預計未來將繼續從營運中產生強勁的現金。

Now let me turn to our guidance for the first quarter on Slide 10. As a reminder, our forward-looking guidance reflects our best estimates at this point in time, and our actual results could differ materially from what I'm about to review. To provide our investors and analysts additional transparency through our accounting transition, we've been providing financial outlook as if we were still under ASC 605. Going forward, we'll only be able to provide financial outlook under ASC 606. Future revenue under ASC 606 could be volatile from period-to-period due to the timing and structure of our licensing arrangements. We will continue to focus on leveraging our vast patent portfolio to maximize the value for our business as well as provide the best economic structure for our customers.

現在讓我談談幻燈片 10 上我們對第一季的指導。提醒一下，我們的前瞻性指導反映了我們目前的最佳估計，我們的實際結果可能與我即將審查的結果有重大差異。為了透過會計轉型為投資者和分析師提供額外的透明度，我們一直在提供財務前景，就好像我們仍處於 ASC 605 之下一樣。展望未來，我們將只能根據 ASC 606 提供財務前景。由於我們的許可安排的時間安排和結構，ASC 606 下的未來收入可能會隨著時間的推移而波動。我們將繼續專注於利用我們龐大的專利組合來最大化我們的業務價值，並為我們的客戶提供最佳的經濟結構。

To offer additional transparency, we've also been providing information on licensing billings, which is an operational metric that reflects amounts invoiced to our licensing customers during the period adjusted for certain differences. The differences between licensing billings and royalty revenue under ASC 605 are primarily related to timing as we don't always recognize revenue the same quarter we bill our customers. As you've seen in the supplemental information that we provided on Slide 17 of our earnings deck, on an annual basis, licensing billings closely correlates with what we reported as royalty revenue under ASC 605, given this timing lag. We'll continue to provide licensing billings as another operational metric to help our investors understand the underlying performance of our company.

為了提高透明度，我們還提供了有關許可帳單的信息，這是一個營運指標，反映了在針對某些差異進行調整的期間向我們的許可客戶開出的發票金額。ASC 605 下的授權帳單和特許權使用費收入之間的差異主要與時間安排有關，因為我們並不總是在向客戶開立帳單的同一季度確認收入。正如您在我們收益表幻燈片 17 上提供的補充資訊中看到的那樣，考慮到這種時間滯後，每年的授權費用與我們根據 ASC 605 報告的特許權使用費收入密切相關。我們將繼續提供許可帳單作為另一個營運指標，以幫助我們的投資者了解我們公司的基本績效。

With that said, under the new ASC 606 revenue standard, we expect revenue in the first quarter between $41 million and $47 million. Under ASC 606, we expect royalty revenue between $18 million and $24 million. We also expect licensing billings between $73 million and $79 million.

話雖如此，根據新的 ASC 606 收入標準，我們預計第一季的營收將在 4,100 萬美元至 4,700 萬美元之間。根據 ASC 606，我們預計特許權使用費收入將在 1,800 萬美元至 2,400 萬美元之間。我們也預計許可證費用在 7,300 萬美元至 7,900 萬美元之間。

We expect Q1 non-GAAP total operating expenses, which includes COGS, to be between $62 million and $66 million, up from Q4 spend due to the regular FICA and other employee-related expenses that come back in the first quarter. Over the course of 2018, we kept operating expenses roughly flat as revenue grew, providing leverage to our financial model. I expect total operating expenses, which include COGS related to our buffer chip business, to grow through 2019 as we ship more product. We continue to expect that our buffer chip business will grow to $50 million to $70 million in 2019.

我們預計第一季非 GAAP 總營運費用（包括 COGS）將在 6,200 萬美元至 6,600 萬美元之間，高於第四季度的支出，原因是第一季的常規 FICA 和其他員工相關費用。2018 年，隨著收入的成長，我們的營運支出基本上持平，這為我們的財務模型提供了槓桿作用。我預計隨著我們出貨更多產品，總營運費用（包括與緩衝晶片業務相關的銷貨成本）將在 2019 年成長。我們繼續預計我們的緩衝晶片業務將在 2019 年成長至 5,000 萬至 7,000 萬美元。

However, as we've mentioned previously, we have limited visibility in the first quarter due to macroeconomic issues, inventory in the supply chain and trade concerns from China. This could cause softness in buffer chip shipments in this first quarter. While we cannot control the macroeconomic environment, we're very pleased with our continued share gain, representing several consecutive years of 50% or higher growth.

然而，正如我們之前提到的，由於宏觀經濟問題、供應鏈庫存以及來自中國的貿易擔憂，我們第一季的能見度有限。這可能會導致第一季緩衝晶片出貨量疲軟。雖然我們無法控制宏觀經濟環境，但我們對我們的份額持續成長感到非常高興，連續幾年實現 50% 或更高的成長。

Under the new 606 revenue standard, non-GAAP operating results for the first quarter is expected to be between a loss of $20 million and $13 million. For non-GAAP interest and other income and expense, which excludes the interest income related to ASC 606, we would have expected $1 million expense, which includes $0.6 million of interest expense related to the notes due in 2023. Based on the new tax legislation passed at the end of 2017, we expect our pro forma tax rate in 2019 to remain consistent with our 2018 pro forma tax rate of roughly 24%. The 24% is higher than the new statutory rate of 21%, primarily due to higher tax rates in our foreign jurisdictions. As a reminder, we pay roughly $20 million of cash taxes each year, driven primarily by our licensing agreements with our partners in Korea. Under 606 and based on a 24% tax rate, we expect GAAP taxes to be a benefit of $6 million and a tax provision of $4 million in Q1.

根據新的606收入標準，第一季的非GAAP營運表現預計將虧損2,000萬美元至1,300萬美元。對於非 GAAP 利息和其他收入和支出（不包括與 ASC 606 相關的利息收入），我們預計支出為 100 萬美元，其中包括與 2023 年到期票據相關的 60 萬美元利息支出。根據 2017 年底通過的新稅法，我們預計 2019 年的預估稅率將與 2018 年約 24% 的預期稅率保持一致。24% 高於新的法定稅率 21%，主要是由於我們外國司法管轄區的稅率較高。提醒一下，我們每年繳納約 2000 萬美元的現金稅，這主要是由我們與韓國合作夥伴簽訂的許可協議推動的。根據 606 法案並基於 24% 的稅率，我們預計第一季 GAAP 稅收將帶來 600 萬美元的收益和 400 萬美元的稅收撥備。

We expect our Q1 share count to be roughly 110 million basic and diluted shares outstanding. This leads you to between a non-GAAP loss of $0.18 and $0.12 for the quarter. While we do not issue annual guidance, looking ahead to 2019, as we've disclosed previously, we have structural step-downs in a number of our long-term licensing agreements which impacts our 2019 revenue, though one of these -- even though one of these agreements steps back up in 2020.

我們預計第一季的流通股基本股和稀釋股約為 1.1 億股。這導致該季度的非 GAAP 損失為 0.18 美元至 0.12 美元。雖然我們不發布年度指引，但展望 2019 年，正如我們之前所披露的，我們在許多長期許可協議中進行了結構性削減，這影響了我們 2019 年的收入，儘管其中之一 - 儘管其中一項協議將於2020 年恢復。

In balance, we expect the growth we see in our product programs to offset these structural step-downs, and we're comfortable with the current consensus analyst expectations on the top line and the bottom line for each quarter of 2019. Through our focus on our core business, we also expect roughly flat cash flow in 2019 as we maintain our strong cash flow and continue to invest in product programs that are growing nicely.

總的來說，我們預計產品計劃中的成長將抵消這些結構性下降，並且我們對當前分析師對 2019 年每個季度營收和利潤的一致預期感到滿意。透過專注於核心業務，我們預計 2019 年的現金流將大致持平，因為我們將保持強勁的現金流並繼續投資於成長良好的產品項目。

Let me finish with a summary on Slide 11. We are proud of the solid performance by our team and the progress we continue to make against our strategic initiatives. While we understand that the adoption of ASC 606 adds a level of complexity to our financial reporting, it's important to reiterate that the underlying financial strength of our business remains strong.

最後讓我對投影片 11 進行總結。我們為我們團隊的穩健表現以及我們在策略性舉措方面不斷取得的進展感到自豪。雖然我們知道採用 ASC 606 增加了我們財務報告的複雜性，但重要的是要重申我們業務的潛在財務實力仍然強勁。

In closing, we are refocusing our product portfolio around core strength in the semiconductor industry, improving our operational efficiency and profitability, leveraging synergies across businesses and our customer base and using our strong balance sheet to support our strategic initiatives. We continue to generate solid cash from operations and remain very well positioned for continued success as we head into 2019.

最後，我們正在圍繞半導體產業的核心優勢重新調整我們的產品組合，提高我們的營運效率和獲利能力，利用跨業務和客戶群的協同效應，並利用我們強大的資產負債表來支持我們的策略舉措。我們繼續從營運中產生穩定的現金，並在進入 2019 年時保持良好的狀態以繼續取得成功。

With that, I will turn the call back to our operator, Christine, to begin Q&A. Could we please have our first question?

之後，我會將電話轉回給我們的接線生 Christine，開始問答。我們可以問第一個問題嗎？

(Operator Instructions) Your first question comes from the line of Gary Mobley from Benchmark.

（操作員說明）您的第一個問題來自 Benchmark 的 Gary Mobley。

I want to start with the buyback or, I guess said differently, the lack of the buyback. Your cash position has grown, and I know you did an ASR earlier this year, but I'm just wondering where you stand with respect to the buy back. And should we read into the fact that no shares repurchased in the quarter may be indicative of something in the M&A pipeline?

我想從回購開始，或者，我想換句話說，從缺乏回購開始。您的現金狀況有所增加，我知道您今年早些時候進行了 ASR，但我只是想知道您在回購方面的立場。我們是否應該考慮到本季沒有回購股票可能表明併購管道中存在某些情況的事實？

Gary, thanks much for your questions. As you know, over the last several years or so, we've returned about 40% to 50% of our free cash flow back to our shareholders. And we've been using the share buyback in order to go do that. What we did in Q4 is we actually spent some time with our Board looking at our overall capital structure and what we want to do with cash and debt and equity, the other components as well. And what I'd expect is that we'll continue to generate strong cash from operations. And if there's nothing near term from an acquisition perspective, then yes, you should absolutely expect us to continue to return capital to our shareholders through a buyback program.

加里，非常感謝你的提問。如您所知，在過去幾年左右的時間裡，我們已將大約 40% 至 50% 的自由現金流返還給股東。為了做到這一點，我們一直在利用股票回購。我們在第四季度所做的是，我們實際上花了一些時間與董事會一起研究我們的整體資本結構以及我們希望如何處理現金、債務和股權以及其他組成部分。我預計我們將繼續從營運中產生強勁的現金。如果從收購的角度來看短期內沒有什麼，那麼是的，你絕對應該期望我們繼續透過回購計畫向股東返還資本。

Okay. And given that your headcount, personnel headcount, has been trickling down and just given the guidance you gave for the first quarter and perhaps some modest growth off that base, is it possible you could see operating margin expansion on a non-GAAP ASC 605 basis versus 2018?

好的。考慮到您的員工人數一直在下降，並且剛剛給出了第一季的指導，並且可能在此基礎上略有增長，您是否有可能看到在非 GAAP ASC 605 基礎上的營業利潤率擴張與2018 年相比？

I think it's absolutely possible, Gary. If you look over the last several years, we had a much higher operating margin, again, on a like-to-like ASC 605 basis. And with the acquisitions that we made in 2016, we made the decision to go into these product businesses, which will help us grow both our top line and bottom line. And that's what you've seen over the last several years. So what you've seen is that you have seen that growth from, I think, about a 32% operating margin up to about a 34%. I think current consensus estimates have that being roughly flat. But as our Payments and Ticketing business, which roughly is breakeven, if we end up finding a strategic option for that business, then you can see our operating margin, again, grow by another few percent. What I also like about our product businesses, Gary, is that our infrastructure and investment for those businesses is already built into our model. So as we continue to grow, either on the buffer chip side or the IP core side or on the cryptography product, that incremental gross margin had a pretty strong fall through into operating profit and operating margin. And so as we grow on the top line, we'll see operating margin expansion through there as well.

我認為這絕對有可能，加里。如果你回顧過去幾年，我們的營業利潤率同樣要高得多，同樣是在 ASC 605 的基礎上。透過 2016 年的收購，我們決定進入這些產品業務，這將有助於我們增加收入和利潤。這就是您在過去幾年中看到的情況。所以你所看到的是，我認為營業利潤率從 32% 左右成長到了 34% 左右。我認為目前的共識估計大致持平。但我們的支付和票務業務大致處於盈虧平衡狀態，如果我們最終找到該業務的策略選擇，那麼您可以看到我們的營業利潤率再次增長幾個百分點。加里，我還喜歡我們的產品業務的一點是，我們對這些業務的基礎設施和投資已經內建在我們的模型中。因此，隨著我們不斷成長，無論是在緩衝晶片方面還是在 IP 核心方面或在密碼產品方面，增量毛利率都大幅下降到營業利潤和營業利潤率。因此，隨著我們營收的成長，我們也會看到營業利潤率的擴大。

Okay. A question for Luc. You did mention for the buffer chip business an expanded footprint of roughly 2x the size, and I'm assuming that perhaps it's tied with Intel's latest generation of server processors. And I'm wondering if a delay in the Intel's ramp of 10-nanometer might have an impact on the timing of the ramp in the buffer chip pipeline.

好的。問呂克一個問題。您確實提到緩衝晶片業務的佔地面積擴大了大約兩倍，我假設它可能與英特爾最新一代的伺服器處理器有關。我想知道英特爾 10 奈米的延遲是否會對緩衝晶片管道中的斜坡時序產生影響。

Well, thanks for the question, Gary. First of all, we've increased share year-over-year, '18 over '17, on the Skylake platform. So we've increased our footprint with all OEMs and customers on the Skylake platform, really, we're coming late to market for the new platform, Cascade Lake. Where the new processor, Cascade Lake, we have a footprint that is twice as big as what we had in Skylake. And we track this ramp for Cascade Lake, and we're confident that, with the second half of the year, we would continue on that growth path that we are on. And we feel confident with the $50 million to $70 million revenue for this coming year.

嗯，謝謝你的提問，加里。首先，我們在 Skylake 平台上的份額逐年增加，「18 年比 17 年增加」。因此，我們增加了 Skylake 平台上所有 OEM 和客戶的​​覆蓋範圍，實際上，我們在新平台 Cascade Lake 上的上市時間較晚。新處理器 Cascade Lake 的佔地面積是 Skylake 的兩倍。我們追蹤 Cascade Lake 的成長趨勢，我們相信，在今年下半年，我們將繼續走現在的成長道路。我們對來年 5,000 萬至 7,000 萬美元的收入充滿信心。

Your next question comes from the line of Suji Desilva from ROTH Capital.

您的下一個問題來自羅斯資本 (ROTH Capital) 的 Suji Desilva。

So maybe a little bit related to Gary's question, but perhaps a little different. The recent kind of data center uncertainty that Intel has called out in video with the preannouncement today, can you just talk about how we should think about that in the context of what's going on with the revenue part of our business? I know Rahul, you talked about limited visibility, but any color you can have as to how you and those data points overlap would be helpful to understand from the go forward.

所以也許與加里的問題有點相關，但也許有點不同。英特爾在今天的預告影片中指出了最近資料中心的不確定性，您能談談我們應該如何在我們業務收入部分發生的情況下考慮這一點嗎？我知道拉胡爾，你談到了有限的可見性，但是你可以用任何顏色來說明你和這些數據點如何重疊，這將有助於你今後的理解。

Sure. What we see is that there is uncertainty in the macroeconomic environment. Your question is about the supply chain in general and the levels of inventory. So we see some potential softness, I would say, lack of visibility into Q1. But our traction on the design win front is still very, very strong, and we think the effect it's going to have on us is going to be maybe softness in Q1. But as I said, we feel confident based on what we see with our customers that our revenue is going to continue to grow in 2019 overall, as I said, to the $50 million to $70 million range.

當然。我們看到的是，宏觀經濟環境存在不確定性。你的問題是關於整個供應鏈和庫存水準。因此，我們看到了一些潛在的疲軟，我想說，第一季缺乏可見性。但我們在設計獲勝方面的吸引力仍然非常非常強勁，我們認為它對我們的影響可能是第一季的疲軟。但正如我所說，根據我們從客戶那裡看到的情況，我們有信心我們的收入將在 2019 年總體上繼續增長，如我所說，達到 5000 萬至 7000 萬美元的範圍。

Okay. That's helpful. And then maybe on the strategic options for the Security, Payments business. Can you just give us some color as to what the process is like and what the environment is like? Just to have some understanding of the appetite in the marketplace for this kind of asset. Any color there would be helpful.

好的。這很有幫助。然後也許是安全、支付業務的策略選擇。能為我們介紹一下流程和環境嗎？只是為了了解市場對此類資產的需求。任何顏色都會有幫助。

Sure, Suji. It's Rahul. What I'd tell you is we've been delighted just with what we've seen as a response to the announcement we made in October. There has been a lot of inbound interest from different partners, investors, different options in terms of that business. So we're going through a process, I think, towards the end of Q4. We looked at having advisers help us go through that. So what I'd expect is that likely somewhere in the first half of this year we'll have an idea of what strategic option we'll choose, if any, in terms of this business. But as we talked about previously, not just on this call but in previous calls and other times, this was a very exciting business. I think what we're doing there with tokenization, in particular, has a lot of traction in the marketplace and in the security software marketplace as well. Just one of the things we learned over the last year or so is that, that business was growing in ways that was further and further away from our semiconductor core, hence the announcement we made in October. But to answer your question, yes, we've had a lot of very exciting conversations about different options for that business.

當然，蘇吉。這是拉胡爾。我要告訴你的是，我們對 10 月發布的公告所得到的回應感到非常高興。不同的合作夥伴、投資者對該業務有許多不同的興趣。因此，我認為，我們將在第四季末經歷一個過程。我們考慮讓顧問幫我們解決這個問題。因此，我預計，在今年上半年的某個時候，我們可能會知道在這項業務方面我們將選擇什麼策略選擇（如果有的話）。但正如我們之前談到的，不僅是在這次電話會議上，而且在之前的電話會議和其他時間裡，這是一件非常令人興奮的事情。我認為我們在代幣化方面所做的事情尤其在市場和安全軟體市場中具有很大的吸引力。我們在過去一年左右學到的一件事是，該業務的成長方式與我們的半導體核心越來越遠，因此我們在 10 月發布了這一消息。但為了回答你的問題，是的，我們就該業務的不同選擇進行了很多非常令人興奮的對話。

Your next question comes from the line of Sidney Ho from Deutsche Bank.

您的下一個問題來自德意志銀行的 Sidney Ho。

The lack of ASC 605 disclosure, it's certainly going to make things a little more complicated, but maybe just for the first quarter of this practice, we'll see if we can get some help here. If you were to report revenue under ASC 605, and let's say, if your revenue and billing is just like -- the same just like the last quarter, should we just add up the guidance for billings and royalty and then put in our own assumption of the chipset revenue? Or am I double counting something here?

由於缺乏 ASC 605 揭露，這肯定會使事情變得更加複雜，但也許只是在本實踐的第一季度，我們會看看是否可以在這裡獲得一些幫助。如果您要根據 ASC 605 報告收入，假設您的收入和帳單就像上個季度一樣，我們是否應該將帳單和特許權使用費的指導相加，然後放入我們自己的假設晶片組收入的多少？或者我在這裡重複計算了一些東西？

Sidney, thanks a lot for your questions. And yes, we can understand how the difference between 605 and 606 can be a little confusing. If you go back to Slide 10 in terms of our deck, what we've shown is our outlook under ASC 606, and then we've also provided a little more clarity in the table to the right of it. And if you look, again, and this is what we've presented historically, I think it's on Slide 17 right now, historically under ASC 605, what we reported, our licensing billings, again, that's an operational metric that reflects the amounts that we've actually invoiced to our partners adjusted for certain differences. But our licensing billings historically has been very close to what we reported as royalty revenue under ASC 605, right? So I think the difference in 2017 was nothing. The difference on over $300 million in fiscal year 2018 was just about $2 million. So it's been a very accurate way to look at what we previously reported under royalty revenue. So coming back to Slide 10, the guidance that we gave for the quarter under ASC 606 has total revenue of $41 million to $47 million. Of that, royalty revenue is $18 million to $24 million. However, licensing billings, which some folks use as a proxy for royalty revenue, is about $55 million higher than what we've given from a royalty revenue perspective. So I think that's one way to look at what our actual cash flow might look like going forward under 606.

西德尼，非常感謝你的提問。是的，我們可以理解 605 和 606 之間的差異可能會有點令人困惑。如果您回到投影片 10 來看我們的套牌，我們展示的是 ASC 606 下的前景，然後我們還在右側的表格中提供了更清晰的資訊。如果你再看一下，這就是我們歷史上展示的內容，我認為它現在在幻燈片17 上，歷史上在ASC 605 下，我們報告的內容，我們的許可賬單，再次，這是一個運營指標，反映了實際上，我們已經向合作夥伴開立了針對某些差異進行調整的發票。但從歷史上看，我們的授權帳單非常接近我們根據 ASC 605 報告的特許權使用費收入，對吧？所以我認為2017年的差異沒什麼。2018 財年超過 3 億美元的差異僅約 200 萬美元。因此，這是查看我們先前在特許權使用費收入項下報告的內容的一種非常準確的方法。回到投影片 10，我們根據 ASC 606 給出的季度指引總收入為 4,100 萬美元至 4,700 萬美元。其中，特許權使用費收入為 1,800 萬至 2,400 萬美元。然而，有些人用許可費作為特許權使用費收入的代表，它比我們從特許權使用費收入角度給出的數字高出約 5500 萬美元。因此，我認為這是了解 606 法案下我們未來實際現金流情況的一種方法。

Okay. That's helpful. I'll have to go through the numbers myself. But maybe a follow-up question is, in the past, you've talked about your recurring revenue, it's about $50 million in core earnings and about $220 million for patent licensing. How should we think about the current environment impact that revenue stream? And maybe broadly, what have caused them to move up or down more meaningfully other than the scheduled step-down that we've talked about on the Memory side?

好的。這很有幫助。我得親自檢查一下這些數字。但也許後續的問題是，過去您談到您的經常性收入，大約有 5000 萬美元的核心收入和大約 2.2 億美元的專利授權收入。我們該如何看待當前環境對收入流的影響？也許從廣義上講，除了我們在記憶體方面討論過的預定降級之外，是什麼導致它們更有意義地向上或向下移動？

Sure, Sidney. And just for a little bit of a background, I refer to the backbone of our company as being between patent licensing and cores. And that backbone historically has been roughly $300 million, as you just called out. It's usually been about $250 million on the licensing side and about $50 million in cores. As we talked about previously, we have a number of structural step-downs in certain licensing agreements. I think we have several partners who were looking to manage their cash flows in a certain time in the industry. And so that results in a step-down for those patent licensing agreement through 2019. And as Luc talked about, we have some really interesting growth happening on the product side, the IP cores, buffer chip as well. And so I think the net delta on that backbone of $300 million is probably about $15 million of a headwind for us in 2019. So essentially, the product growth will offset any declines in patent licensing until up to about $15 million so instead of being roughly $300 million, you'd expect that to be closer to a kind of $285 million in 2019. Does that help you in terms of additional color?

當然，西德尼。就一點背景知識而言，我將我們公司的支柱稱為專利授權和核心之間的支柱。正如您剛才所說，這一支柱歷史上大約為 3 億美元。授權方面的費用通常約為 2.5 億美元，核心方面的費用約為 5,000 萬美元。正如我們之前談到的，我們在某些​​授權協議中進行了一些結構性的縮減。我認為我們有幾個合作夥伴希望在行業的某個時期管理他們的現金流。因此，這些專利授權協議將在 2019 年之前減少。正如 Luc 所說，我們在產品方面、IP 核心、緩衝晶片方面發生了一些非常有趣的成長。因此，我認為 3 億美元支柱的淨增量可能會對我們 2019 年造成約 1,500 萬美元的不利影響。因此，從本質上講，產品成長將抵消專利授權的任何下降，直至達到約 1,500 萬美元，因此您預計 2019 年這一數字將接近 2.85 億美元，而不是約 3 億美元。這對您增加顏色有幫助嗎？

Yes. That's helpful. If I can squeeze in one more. Yes. So you guys bought the assets from Diablo, and my understanding is that Diablo has a long history in enterprise SSD market. What are your plans as it relates to the assets you acquired from them? And would you be licensing those IP? Or do you have plans to enter the SSD market by actually making those SSDs?

是的。這很有幫助。如果我能再擠一張的話。是的。所以你們從 Diablo 購買了資產，我的理解是 Diablo 在企業級 SSD 市場有著悠久的歷史。對於從他們那裡獲得的資產，您有什麼計劃？您會授權這些智慧財產權嗎？或者你們有計劃透過實際生產SSD來進入SSD市場嗎？

That's a great question, Sidney. Let me give you some context. Diablo was an early pioneer in NVDIMM technologies, and we acquired their patented innovations to broaden our portfolio in the hybrid DRAM and Flash memory markets and complement our product offering. So people -- we're not very visible on that, but we already had activities in hybrid memory system. So when we refocused our R&D efforts, one of the key areas of focus was hybrid memory systems. We also have, as part of our buffer chip sale, a small portion of our sales going to NVDIMM systems. So this is something that is not new to us. But the acquisition of Diablo strengthens our portfolio for patents, and brings technologies that we think is going to be useful for future systems and future memory systems. And these hybrid memory systems they combine DRAM and non-volatile memory, like Flash or other memory, such as 3DX, and they're designed to offer the cost effectiveness of nonvolatile solutions with the performance of DRAM. And we think that in the future, the benefits are desirable to handle large data sets like the ones that we can find in a machine learning type of applications. So overall, this is a good acquisition for us. It strengthens our portfolio of patents, and it continues to build on adjacent focus areas around DIMM technologies.

這是一個很好的問題，西德尼。讓我給你一些背景資訊。Diablo 是 NVDIMM 技術的早期先驅，我們獲得了他們的專利創新，以擴大我們在混合 DRAM 和快閃記憶體市場的產品組合並補充我們的產品組合。所以人們——我們在這方面不是很明顯，但我們已經在混合記憶系統方面開展了活動。因此，當我們重新調整研發工作重點時，重點關注的領域之一是混合式儲存系統。作為緩衝晶片銷售的一部分，我們的一小部分銷售額也流向了 NVDIMM 系統。所以這對我們來說並不新鮮。但收購 Diablo 增強了我們的專利組合，並帶來了我們認為對未來系統和未來儲存系統有用的技術。這些混合儲存系統將 DRAM 和非揮發性記憶體（如快閃記憶體或 3DX 等其他記憶體）結合在一起，旨在提供非揮發性解決方案的成本效益和 DRAM 的效能。我們認為，在未來，處理大型資料集（例如我們在機器學習類型的應用程式中可以找到的資料集）的好處是可取的。總的來說，這對我們來說是一次很好的收購。它增強了我們的專利組合，並繼續圍繞 DIMM 技術建立相鄰的重點領域。

Next question comes from the line of Mark Lipacis from Jefferies.

下一個問題來自 Jefferies 的 Mark Lipacis。

The first one on the CryptoManager Root of Trust. Luc, I was wondering, can you help us understand what is the blue sky scenario for this business? And is there a chance that the business model evolves? And maybe if you could just review that business model to the extent that you're selling a product versus like maybe some kind of transactions or something like that. That's the first question. I have a follow up.

CryptoManager 信任根上的第一個。Luc，我想知道，你能幫助我們了解這項業務的藍天場景是什麼嗎？商業模式有發展的機會嗎？也許你可以回顧一下你銷售產品的商業模式，而不是某種交易或類似的東西。這是第一個問題。我有後續行動。

Yes. That's a great question. I think one key event that happened in 2018 was the recognition in the market that more and more applications require security to be handled at the silicon level. I think that understanding that happened in 2018, that was good for us. We are well positioned in that space because of our history with our initial customer where we provisioned more than a billion chips per year. So we have a strong position there. That recognition in the market has translated in new design wins we've announced in Q4, the design wins with Micron, where they do provision their own core with our provisioning system, and that's going to be a great inroad into applications like -- such like IoT. Now the big vision is that more and more applications, in more and more segments will require this secure embedded into the silicon. And although we kind of talked about it today, we have more and more engagements with a large number of customers in different segments that actually requires to either provide the complete solution or part of the solution to do so. Again, 2018 was pivotal. Customers did realize that they needed embedded security. This has translated to us into new customer wins like the one we announced in Q4, and a lot of activities with new customers going forward. We've changed our product line to take the benefits of these opportunities in the sense that we moved our architecture to RISC-V, but give our customers the programmability that they didn't have in previous versions, and we've decoupled the provisioning system from the cores so that we can address applications, such as the one we had with Micron. Now from a business model standpoint, the current business model is we sell cores, like we sell cores, like standard IP cores, license fees and NRE, and when it comes to the provisioning system, it depends on the customers. It depends on the customers. It can be volume based, for example, but it really depends on the customers. But we hope that when these applications become pervasive, the revenue will grow at the same rate.

是的。這是一個很好的問題。我認為 2018 年發生的一個關鍵事件是市場認識到越來越多的應用程式需要在晶片層級處理安全性。我認為 2018 年發生的事情對我們有好處。我們在該領域處於有利地位，因為我們與最初的客戶合作，每年提供超過 10 億顆晶片。所以我們在那裡擁有強大的地位。市場的認可已經轉化為我們在第四季度宣布的新設計勝利，該設計贏得了美光科技的勝利，他們確實透過我們的配置系統提供了自己的核心，這將是對此類應用的巨大進軍。就像物聯網一樣。現在的宏偉願景是，越來越多的應用程式、越來越多的領域將需要這種安全嵌入到矽中。儘管我們今天談到了這一點，但我們與不同細分市場的大量客戶進行了越來越多的合作，這些客戶實際上需要提供完整的解決方案或部分解決方案才能做到這一點。2018 年再次成為關鍵。客戶確實意識到他們需要嵌入式安全性。這為我們帶來了新客戶的勝利，就像我們在第四季度宣布的那樣，以及未來與新客戶進行的許多活動。我們已經改變了我們的產品線，以利用這些機會的好處，即我們將架構轉移到RISC-V，但為我們的客戶提供了他們在以前的版本中沒有的可編程性，並且我們已經解耦了配置系統，以便我們能夠處理應用程序，例如我們與美光公司合作的應用程式。現在從商業模式的角度來看，目前的商業模式是我們銷售核心，就像我們銷售核心一樣，例如標準IP核心、授權費和NRE，而當涉及配置系統時，這取決於客戶。這取決於客戶。例如，它可以基於數量，但這實際上取決於客戶。但我們希望當這些應用程式變得普遍時，收入也會以相同的速度成長。

Okay. That's very helpful. And is there -- when you talked about these 3 kind of areas of focus, it sounds like one of them was a refocus of R&D on IP. Is that a change from the past? Or is that kind of an extension of what you've already been doing? It sounded like -- was there kind of a refocus towards patent development? Or is that -- is this just something that you've been doing and you're just kind of refocusing the segments?

好的。這非常有幫助。當您談到這三種重點領域時，聽起來其中之一是知識產權研發的重新重點。這與過去相比有什麼改變嗎？或者這是您已經在做的事情的延伸？聽起來像是——是否有重新關注專利開發？或者，這只是您一直在做的事情，只是重新調整細分市場的重點？

It's a combination. We think that, as we said earlier, we don't want to invest in programs that do not have customer traction. So we eliminated programs that didn't give us customer traction. We are refocusing on memory technology and high-speed interface and embedded security because we believe that there is a future there. Our patent licensing program is important to us. We continue to invest in invention for our patent licensing program so that we're in a strong position for the renewals. Remember, the patents have a long life. Some of the patents we have today will still be valid at the time of renewal, and we're continuing to invest in new inventions for those areas. We believe it's foundational for the long-term growth of our business, and we also believe it's foundational for our product development. That's why we eliminated those areas where we didn't have customer traction, that was far from our core, and we want to refocus on what we're good at to support both our patent licensing programs for the renewals as well as supporting our product initiatives that show -- the growth that we're showing between 2018 and 2019.

這是一個組合。我們認為，正如我們之前所說，我們不想投資沒有客戶吸引力的項目。因此，我們取消了那些無法吸引客戶的項目。我們正在重新關注記憶體技術、高速介面和嵌入式安全性，因為我們相信那裡有未來。我們的專利許可計劃對我們很重要。我們繼續投資於我們的專利許可計劃的發明，以便我們在續展方面處於有利地位。請記住，專利的有效期很長。我們今天擁有的一些專利在續訂時仍然有效，並且我們將繼續投資這些領域的新發明。我們相信這是我們業務長期成長的基礎，我們也相信它是我們產品開發的基礎。這就是為什麼我們消除了那些沒有客戶吸引力的領域，這些領域遠離我們的核心，我們希望重新專注於我們擅長的領域，以支持我們的專利許可計劃的續訂以及支持我們的產品2018 年至2019年間我們所展現的成長舉措。

That's helpful. And then the last question, Rahul. Did you say that OpEx would grow through the year? Is that if only if revenues grow? Like in a scenario where revenues were flat, would OpEx grow anyway? Or is that a comment based on the DIMM business?

這很有幫助。然後是最後一個問題，拉胡爾。您是否說過營運支出全年都會成長？是不是只要收入成長就可以了？就像在收入持平的情況下一樣，營運支出還會成長嗎？或者這是基於 DIMM 業務的評論？

Right. I think that's more on the DIMM business because our total operating expenses include COGS related to that business. So that's present in our total operating expenses program. As Luc mentioned, I think we've done a nice job of refocusing our company, and I think our total operating expenses excluding COGS, our OpEx excluding COGS, should be roughly flat. It kicks up in Q1 because of the normal employee-related costs. One of the things I'm actually quite proud of, it's what Luc just talked about, and he and I were actually working on this before he became CEO as well, are really helping to refocus and be better at understanding where we invested. And so what you've seen just from us from an operating income perspective over the last several years is very nice growth on operating income despite roughly flat revenue as we've optimized our portfolio.

正確的。我認為這更多地涉及 DIMM 業務，因為我們的總營運支出包括與該業務相關的 COGS。所以這存在於我們的總營運費用計劃中。正如 Luc 所提到的，我認為我們在重新調整公司重點方面做得很好，我認為我們的總營運費用（不包括銷貨成本）、我們的營運支出（不包括銷貨成本）應該大致持平。由於正常的員工相關成本，它在第一季開始增加。事實上，我感到非常自豪的一件事是Luc 剛才談到的，在他成為執行長之前，他和我實際上也在研究這個問題，這確實有助於重新集中註意力並更好地了解我們的投資方向。因此，從過去幾年的營業收入角度來看，儘管隨著我們優化了我們的投資組合，收入大致持平，但營業收入仍實現了非常好的成長。

Your next question comes from the line of Atif Malik from Citigroup.

您的下一個問題來自花旗集團的 Atif Malik。

I just have a few questions. Rahul, you talked about long-term licensing agreements coming down this year and then stepping back up in 2020. Why would it step up in 2020? And what visibility do you have?

我只有幾個問題。Rahul，您談到了今年取消長期許可協議，然後在 2020 年恢復。為什麼2020年會加速？您的知名度如何？

Sure, Atif, and thanks for your question. So one of our key licensing arrangements actually had a provision in it where our partner had a certain number of quarters during which they could step down their payments of their choosing. And I think our partner negotiated that years ago to help them manage cash flow through any cycle. So they elected to take that step down where the impact amongst those several quarters really hits us in 2019. And that's the bulk of the difference. That backbone dropping from $200 million to $285 million is almost entirely explained from there, although there's a bunch of moving pieces. Now the provision says that it steps down for a number of quarters, but then once that's finished, it steps back up. So that step-up is just purely contractual to come back up in 2020 and beyond.

當然，阿提夫，謝謝你的提問。因此，我們的一項關鍵許可安排實際上有一項規定，即我們的合作夥伴可以在一定數量的季度內根據自己的選擇減少付款。我認為我們的合作夥伴多年前就進行了談判，以幫助他們管理任何週期的現金流。因此，他們選擇採取這項措施，因為這幾季的影響將在 2019 年真正影響我們。這就是最大的差異。儘管還有很多變化，但從 2 億美元跌落到 2.85 億美元的主幹資金幾乎完全可以從那裡解釋。現在該條款規定，它將在幾個季度內下降，但一旦結束，它就會恢復。因此，這種提升純粹是合約規定的，會在 2020 年及以後恢復。

Got it. And then, Luc, going back to Sidney's question, Diablo Technologies, it sounds very interesting. Can you just talk about how much you paid for it? And does this improve your leverage in licensing, signing of internal license fee as they are using nonvolatile memory on the DIMM for their server purely platform?

知道了。然後，Luc，回到 Sidney 的問題，Diablo Technologies，這聽起來很有趣。能簡單說說你花了多少錢嗎？當他們在純粹的伺服器平台上使用 DIMM 上的非揮發性記憶體時，這是否會提高您在許可、簽署內部許可費方面的優勢？

So Atif, it's Rahul. I'll just take a portion of that. The consideration there was relatively immaterial in terms of a total dollar amount for our company. And I think we may have mentioned, we actually just took assets, so there's no liabilities or anything else that came across with the patent portfolio. I'll ask Luc to speak a little on the other parts in terms of is there an opportunity for us in the future.

阿蒂夫，是拉胡爾。我只拿其中的一部分。就我們公司的總美元金額而言，那裡的考慮相對無關緊要。我想我們可能已經提到過，我們實際上只是獲取了資產，因此專利組合中沒有負債或任何其他內容。我會請 Luc 談談其他方面，例如我們未來是否有機會。

For Diablo? Yes. There are opportunities for us in the future. Again, this is a great deal for us in terms of acquisition. It supports our licensing program going forward. It strengthens our licensing portfolio. But it also strengthened our ability to give value to our customers on the product side. Again, we will continue to look at this type of opportunities when they are adjacent to what we do, support our product growth and support our licensing program.

為了暗黑破壞神？是的。未來我們還有機會。同樣，就收購而言，這對我們來說是一筆巨大的交易。它支持我們未來的許可計劃。它增強了我們的許可組合。但這也增強了我們在產品方面為客戶提供價值的能力。同樣，當此類機會與我們的業務相關時，我們將繼續關注它們，支持我們的產品成長並支持我們的授權計劃。

Okay. And one final one. You talked about $50 million to $70 million sales of buffer chip this year. What is the size of the market? And where do you think you can take your market share?

好的。還有最後一張。您談到今年緩衝晶片的銷售額為 5,000 萬至 7,000 萬美元。市場規模有多大？您認為您可以在哪裡佔據市場份額？

Yes. The size of the market is about $350 million roughly, so we continue to gain share. We continue to gain share because, over the last 2 years, we've improved the competitiveness of our products. We've improved the footprint of our design wins, and we've improved the quality of our products. So the market is not growing at the pace that we are growing, but we're gaining share in that market, substantial share. We grew share from '18 to -- '17 to '18, and we have confidence we continue on that trajectory in '19, growing from the $36 million we did in 2018 to anything between $50 million and $70 million in 2019.

是的。市場規模約為3.5億美元，因此我們不斷獲得份額。我們繼續獲得份額，因為在過去兩年中，我們提高了產品的競爭力。我們改善了設計成果的足跡，並提高了產品的品質。因此，市場的成長速度不如我們，但我們正在該市場中獲得份額，相當大的份額。我們的份額從 18 年增長到 17 年到 18 年，我們有信心在 19 年繼續沿著這一軌跡發展，從 2018 年的 3600 萬美元增長到 2019 年的 5000 萬美元到 7000 萬美元之間。

(Operator Instructions) At this time, there are no further questions. This concludes the question-and-answer session. I would now like to turn the conference back over to the company.

（操作員說明） 此時，沒有進一步的問題。問答環節到此結束。我現在想將會議轉回公司。

So as you can see, we continue to demonstrate our technology leadership and ability to execute across the company. We have renewed our focus on our core expertise, and look forward to an exciting 2019. Thank you for your continued interest and time, and have a very good day.

正如您所看到的，我們繼續展示我們的技術領先地位和在整個公司的執行能力。我們重新專注於我們的核心專業知識，並期待令人興奮的 2019 年。感謝您持續的關注和時間，祝您有美好的一天。

Thank you, this now concludes today's conference.

謝謝大家，今天的會議到此結束。