Skywater Technology Inc (SKYT) 2024 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Ladies and Gentlemen, Thank you for standing by. My name is Christa and I will be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to Skywater Technology third-quarter, 2024 financial results conference call. (Operator Instructions). I would now like to turn the conference over to Claire mcadams Investor Relations for Skywater Claire. You may begin.

女士們先生們，謝謝你們的支持。我叫克里斯塔，今天我將擔任你們的會議操作員。此刻，我歡迎大家參加天水科技2024年第三季財務業績電話會議。（操作員說明）。我現在想將會議轉交給 Skywater Claire 的 Claire mcadams 投資者關係部門。你可以開始了。

Thank you, Operator. Good afternoon and welcome to Skywater's third-quarter, 2024. Conference call with me on the call today from Skywater are Thomas Sonderman, Chief Executive Officer and Steve Manco, Chief Financial Officer. I'd like to remind you that our call is being webcast live on Skywater's investor relations website at Ir dot Skywater technology dotcom. The webcast will be available for replay shortly after the call concludes on our IR website. We have posted a slide presentation to a company today's call as well as a financial supplement, summarizing our quarterly and annual financial results for the last three years including all non-GAAP adjustments and comparisons to our GAAP results, as well as the impact of tool sales on our gross margins during the call.

謝謝你，接線生。下午好，歡迎來到 Skywater 2024 年第三季。今天與我一起參加 Skywater 電話會議的是執行長 Thomas Sonderman 和財務長 Steve Manco。我想提醒您，我們的電話會議正在 Skywater 投資者關係網站 Ir dot Skywater technology dotcom 上進行網路直播。電話會議結束後不久，我們的 IR 網站將提供網路廣播重播。我們在今天的電話會議上向一家公司發布了幻燈片演示以及財務補充，總結了我們過去三年的季度和年度財務業績，包括所有非 GAAP 調整和與 GAAP 業績的比較，以及工具的影響電話會議期間我們的毛利率銷售額。

Any statements made about our future financial results and business are forward booking statements. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual results to differ materially. For a discussion of these risks and uncertainties, please refer to our filings with the securities and exchange commission including our earnings release filed on form 8-K today and our fiscal 2023 form 10-K.

有關我們未來財務表現和業務的任何聲明均為前瞻性預訂聲明。這些前瞻性陳述存在風險和不確定性，可能導致我們的實際結果出現重大差異。有關這些風險和不確定性的討論，請參閱我們向美國證券交易委員會提交的文件，包括今天以 8-K 表格提交的收益報告和 2023 財年 10-K 表格。

All forward-looking statements are made as of today and we assume no obligation to update any such statements.

所有前瞻性陳述均截至今日作出，我們不承擔更新任何此類陳述的義務。

During this call, we will discuss non-GAAP financial measures. You can find a reconciliation of these non-GAAP financial measures, two GAAP financial measures in our earnings release our financial supplement and in our Q3 earnings presentation, all three of which are posted on our investor relations website. Also on our investor relations website, events page. You will see that we plan to participate in two investor events between now and our next earnings call the New York summit on December 17th and the Needham Growth Conference on January 15th. With that, I'll turn the call over to Tom.

在本次電話會議中，我們將討論非公認會計準則財務指標。您可以在我們的收益發布、財務補充和第三季度收益演示中找到這些非 GAAP 財務指標的調整表、兩項 GAAP 財務指標，這三項指標均發佈在我們的投資者關係網站上。也在我們的投資者關係網站的活動頁面上。您會看到，我們計劃從現在到下一次財報電話會議（12 月 17 日的紐約峰會）和 1 月 15 日的尼達姆增長會議（Needham Growth Conference）之間參加兩項投資者活動。這樣，我就把電話轉給湯姆。

Thank you Claire and good afternoon to everyone on the call.

謝謝克萊爾，也祝所有參加電話會議的人下午好。

I'm pleased to announce another record quarter for Skywater with $94 million in revenue driven by unprecedented levels of customer coinvestment and 8¢ positive nongaap EPS combined ATS and Wafer services revenue totaled $63 million tools revenue which represents customer funded CapEx investments increased to an all time record $31 million driving our ninth consecutive quarter of sequential growth and record revenue.

我很高興地宣布，Skywater 的另一個創紀錄季度收入達到9,400 萬美元，這得益於前所未有的客戶共同投資水平，以及8 美分的正非公認會計原則EPS，ATS 和Wafer 服務合併收入總計6300萬美元，這意味著客戶資助的資本支出投資增加到了全部創紀錄的 3,100 萬美元推動我們連續第九個季度實現環比增長並創紀錄的收入。

ATS development revenue of $56 million demonstrated year over year growth of 5% but declined 9% from our record. Q2 ATS activity was a bit softer than we expected largely due to funding constraints that some of our A&D customers. As we near the end of the government's fiscal year, our ability to quickly balance ATS activity requirements with wafer services demand allowed us to move more production wafers through the fab which resulted in wafer services revenue exceeding our expectations at nearly $7 million.

ATS 開發收入為 5,600 萬美元，年增 5%，但較我們的記錄下降 9%。第二季 ATS 活動比我們預期的要軟一些，這主要是由於我們的一些 A&D 客戶的資金限制。隨著政府財政年度接近尾聲，我們能夠快速平衡ATS 活動需求與晶圓服務需求，這使我們能夠透過晶圓廠轉移更多的生產晶圓，從而使晶圓服務收入超過我們的預期，達到近700 萬美元。

We delivered 22% gross margin for the quarter. Well above expectations. This was driven by our continued focus on operational efficiencies and improved execution on a significant A&D program which enabled us to deliver key milestones with lower than expected costs and recover the majority of the $8 million cost accrual recorded in Q1, Steve will provide greater detail on our strong gross margin performance. During his remarks in all Q3 was an important quarter of execution on key programs resulting in significant gross margin and earnings upside in spite of the temporary softening in ATS

我們本季的毛利率為 22%。遠高於預期。這是由於我們持續專注於營運效率和改進重大A&D 計畫的執行，這使我們能夠以低於預期的成本實現關鍵里程碑，並收回第一季記錄的800 萬美元應計成本的大部分，史蒂夫將提供更多詳細資訊我們強勁的毛利率表現。在他的演講中，第三季度是關鍵計劃執行的重要季度，儘管 ATS 暫時疲軟，但毛利率和盈利仍顯著上升

And I will highlight several positive developments in our business and provide our current outlook within the overall customer demand environment.

我將重點介紹我們業務中的一些積極發展，並提供我們當前在整體客戶需求環境中的展望。

First. Consistent with our expectations throughout the year, we expect to deliver double digit revenue growth in our ATS. This year, we expect to return to sequential growth in ATS revenue in the fourth quarter after the temporary decline in Q3, which we expect will result in a record ATS year for us in 2024.

第一的。與我們全年的預期一致，我們預計 ATS 收入將達到兩位數成長。今年，我們預計 ATS 收入在第三季暫時下降後，將在第四季度恢復環比增長，我們預計這將在 2024 年創造創紀錄的 ATS 年度。

This anticipated robust growth year for ATS underscores the strategic importance of multiple aerospace and defense programs underway at Skywater, as well as several emerging growth technologies being developed for our commercial customers at the midpoint of Q4 expectations. Our three year CAGR for ATS revenue exceeds 35%. At the same time, we are demonstrating steady improvements in our operational execution which is an important outcome from the business transformation process we undertook last year. We believe the added revenue tailwind of record level CapEx coinvestment is yet another proof point of our customers' confidence in Skywater as a trusted domestic source of critical semiconductor technology.

ATS 預計將強勁成長的一年凸顯了 Skywater 正在進行的多個航空航太和國防項目的戰略重要性，以及在第四季度預期中為我們的商業客戶開發的幾項新興成長技術。我們的 ATS 收入三年複合成長率超過 35%。同時，我們的營運執行力正在穩步提高，這是我們去年進行的業務轉型過程的重要成果。我們相信，創紀錄水準的資本支出共同投資帶來的額外收入動力再次證明了我們的客戶對 Skywater 作為關鍵半導體技術值得信賴的國內來源的信心。

Next, we're pleased to announce a multiyear supply agreement with Nanotx, a pioneer of in vitro diagnostics and biosensor applications.

接下來，我們很高興地宣布與體外診斷和生物感測器應用領域的先驅 Nanotx 達成多年供應協議。

They are currently completing the development of a revolutionary biosensor that is the foundation of the rapid point of care diagnostic platform.

他們目前正在完成革命性生物感測器的開發，該感測器是快速護理診斷平台的基礎。

NANO DX is initially focused on traumatic brain injury applications with a clear path to various other disease states including stroke and infectious disease.

NANO DX 最初專注於創傷性腦損傷應用，為包括中風和傳染病在內的各種其他疾病狀態提供了明確的途徑。

This agreement marks an important step forward, reflecting our progress and readiness to support NANOTX on their path towards commercialization.

該協議標誌著向前邁出的重要一步，反映了我們在支持 NANOTX 走向商業化道路上所取得的進步和準備。

We continue to believe that these types of customer partnerships build a strong foundation for the future growth of our commercial Wafer services business where in addition to advanced biomedical, we see strong potential for our advanced compute and thermal imaging platforms.

我們仍然相信，這些類型的客戶合作夥伴關係為我們商業晶圓服務業務的未來成長奠定了堅實的基礎，除了先進的生物醫學之外，我們還看到了我們先進的運算和熱成像平台的巨大潛力。

Next, expanding our leadership in critical semiconductor technologies is our growing role within the microelectronics Commons initiative. An important element of the chips Act established under the National Defense Authorization Act. The microelectronics are ICOMS initiative is designed to accelerate us innovation and microelectronics and strengthen national security. Skywater has been selected as a key performer for multiple icoms projects spearheaded by the Southwest advanced packaging hub and the Northwest AI hardware hub. These projects in the initial round of funded programs aim to advance scalable low power microtechnology solutions that support AI hardware development and other high impact national security applications.

接下來，擴大我們在關鍵半導體技術方面的領導地位是我們在微電子共享計畫中日益重要的角色。根據《國防授權法》制定的晶片法的重要組成部分。微電子是ICOMS倡議旨在加速美國微電子創新並加強國家安全。Skywater 已被選為西南先進封裝中心和西北人工智慧硬體中心領導的多個 icom 專案的關鍵執行者。第一輪資助計畫中的這些項目旨在推進可擴展的低功耗微技術解決方案，支援人工智慧硬體開發和其他高影響力的國家安全應用。

Another highlight since last quarter is the appointment of Basil Haddad as senior Vice President and general manager of advanced packaging. Basil is charged with building and scaling Skywater's advanced packaging business serving both the defense and commercial market sectors.

上季以來的另一個亮點是任命 Basil Haddad 為高級副總裁兼先進封裝總經理。Basil 負責建立和擴展 Skywater 的先進封裝業務，服務於國防和商業市場領域。

His commercial sector experience will be pivotal in cultivating key new customers and partnerships to build a strong scalable manufacturing presence in the United States. His proven track record at Intel where he effectively managed large scale business lines and engineering projects highlights his ability to rapidly translate strategies into operational success.

他的商業領域經驗對於培養重要的新客戶和合作夥伴關係以在美國建立強大的可擴展製造業務至關重要。他在英特爾有效管理大型業務線和工程專案的良好記錄凸顯了他快速將策略轉化為營運成功的能力。

During the quarter, we continued to place new tooling purchase orders funded by the $120 million award announced earlier this year as Moore's law is slowing down 2.5 D and 3D advanced packaging becomes the next frontier of semiconductor technology innovation. The unprecedented demand for computation and the AI era makes heterogeneous integration a pivotal capability fuel the next phase of semiconductor growth. We believe Skywater is uniquely positioned to be a leading domestic supplier of advanced packaging solutions serving both defense and commercial customers.

本季度，由於摩爾定律正在減緩 2.5D 和 3D 先進封裝成為半導體技術創新的下一個前沿，我們繼續下達新的模具採購訂單，資金來自今年稍早宣布的 1.2 億美元獎勵。對運算和人工智慧時代前所未有的需求使得異質整合成為推動下一階段半導體成長的關鍵能力。我們相信 Skywater 具有獨特的優勢，能夠成為國內領先的先進封裝解決方案供應商，為國防和商業客戶提供服務。

Now turning to our outlook for the fourth quarter with our current visibility, we expect total revenue of $72 million to $76 million of which approximately $11 million is expected to be tools revenue.

現在轉向我們對第四季度的展望，根據目前的情況，我們預計總收入為 7,200 萬至 7,600 萬美元，其中工具收入預計約為 1,100 萬美元。

Therefore, we expect combined ATS and wafer services revenue to be $63 million plus or minus $2 million within this range. We expect sequential growth for ATS with revenue in the range of $58 million to $61 million and waiver services revenue in the range of $3 million to $4 million.

因此，我們預計 ATS 和晶圓服務的合併收入將在此範圍內上下 6,300 萬美元上下 200 萬美元。我們預計 ATS 的收入將持續成長，介於 5,800 萬美元至 6,100 萬美元之間，豁免服務收入在 300 萬美元至 400 萬美元之間。

Looking ahead to 2025 we are encouraged by a robust pipeline of secure A&D demand growing momentum across multiple commercial programs and the initial ramp of our advanced packaging business growth in our ATS segment is expected to be driven by strong continued momentum across various A&D programs and new well funded commercial initiatives. We expect these advancements to be bolstered by substantial new tooling capabilities funded by our customers during this unprecedented period of co-investment.

展望2025 年，我們對多個商業計劃中安全A&D 需求不斷增長的強勁勢頭感到鼓舞，並且我們ATS 領域的先進封裝業務增長的初步增長預計將受到各種A&D 計劃和新產品的強勁持續勢頭的推動。我們預計，在這段前所未有的共同投資期間，我們的客戶將資助大量新工具功能，從而推動這些進步。

Additionally, we plan to accelerate our advanced packaging ATS development. As we ramp our new fan out platform, we expect revenue from our Florida fab in 2025 will be a mix of ATS and tools and our Wafer services segment. We anticipate increasing demand from commercial programs that have and will transition from ATSto production together. We believe these factors position us well for continued expansion of our combined ATS and Wafer services business in 2025. Finally, for tools, we continue to expect approximately $200 million of total customer co-investment between 2024 and 2026.

此外，我們計劃加速先進封裝 ATS 的開發。隨著我們推出新的扇出平台，我們預計 2025 年佛羅裡達工廠的收入將由 ATS 和工具以及晶圓服務部門組成。我們預計已經並將從 ATS 過渡到製作的商業節目的需求將會增加。我們相信這些因素使我們能夠在 2025 年繼續擴展 ATS 和晶圓服務業務。最後，對於工具，我們仍然預期 2024 年至 2026 年間客戶共同投資總額約為 2 億美元。

Our tool delivery schedule indicates a current estimate of $40 million to $50 million for 2025. As we continue to ramp our advanced packaging business in Florida and incorporate new tooling in Minnesota. We expect that these capabilities will greatly enhance the solutions we can provide to our customers driving growth long into the future altogether. Our outlook for 2025 supports continued top line growth and gross margin expansion as we progress through the year I will now turn the call over to Steve.

我們的工具交付計畫顯示，目前估計 2025 年的交付金額為 4,000 萬至 5,000 萬美元。隨著我們繼續擴大在佛羅裡達州的先進封裝業務，並在明尼蘇達州採用新的工具。我們預計這些功能將大大增強我們為客戶提供的解決方案，共同推動未來的長期成長。隨著我們在這一年的進展，我們對 2025 年的展望將支持持續的營收成長和毛利率擴張，我現在將把電話轉給史蒂夫。

Thank you, Tom. third-quarter revenue reached another record for us at $93.8 million. Within this new record. ATS revenue was lower than forecasts at $56.4 million. Given the government fiscal year budget constraints, Tom discussed earlier while wait for services was higher than forecast of $6.7 million combined. ATS and Wafer services revenue was $63.1 million in the quarter. And tools revenue reached an all time record at $30.7 million. As a reminder, the additional metrics discussed today are non-GAAP measures our gross margin performance for the quarter exceeded our expectations. Entering into the quarter on our August call, we guided Q3 gross margin in the mid to high 10s or approximately 17% at the midpoint. We also guided an expected 7% points of negative gross margin impact from tools revenue for the quarter equating to an effective 24% margin at the midpoint expected for our combined ETF S and waiver services business in Q3.

謝謝你，湯姆。第三季營收再創新高，達到 9,380 萬美元。在這個新記錄中。ATS 收入為 5,640 萬美元，低於預期。鑑於政府財政年度預算限制，Tom 早些時候討論過，等待服務的金額高於預測的 670 萬美元總和。本季 ATS 和 Wafer 服務收入為 6,310 萬美元。工具收入達到 3,070 萬美元，創下歷史紀錄。提醒一下，今天討論的其他指標是非公認會計準則衡量標準，我們本季的毛利率表現超出了我們的預期。在我們 8 月的電話會議中，進入本季時，我們預計第三季的毛利率將在 10 左右左右，即中點約為 17%。我們也預期本季工具收入將對毛利率產生 7% 的負面影響，相當於我們第三季 ETF S 和豁免服務業務合併後的有效利潤率中點為 24%。

Our report Q3 gross margin was 22.3%. The record level of tools revenue impacted gross margin by about 10.5% points. Equating to an effective 32.8% gross margin for our combined ATS and Water Services business. The most significant driver of the gross margin upside was the reversal of the majority of the $8 million cost accrual recorded in Q1. We made strong progress delivering on key program milestones and recovered $5.6 million of the accrual during Q3. This had a 9% point positive impact on gross margin for the quarter.

我們的報告第三季毛利率為 22.3%。創紀錄的工具收入水準影響了毛利率約 10.5 個百分點。相當於我們 ATS 和水服務業務合併後的有效毛利率為 32.8%。毛利率上升的最重要驅動因素是第一季記錄的 800 萬美元應計成本的大部分逆轉。我們在關鍵計畫里程碑方面取得了巨大進展，並在第三季收回了 560 萬美元的應計費用。這對該季度的毛利率產生了 9 個百分點的正面影響。

So with a reported gross margin of 22.3% the 10.5% point negative impact of tools and a 9% point positive impact of the reversal. Q3's gross profit equated to 23.8% gross margin performance for our combined ATS and waiver services business. The continued strength in gross margin was driven primarily by improved operational efficiencies and continued progress in our ongoing cost reduction strategies.

因此，報告的毛利率為 22.3%，工具的負面影響為 10.5%，逆轉的正面影響為 9%。第三季的毛利相當於我們的 ATS 和豁免服務合併業務的毛利率為 23.8%。毛利率的持續走強主要是由於營運效率的提高以及我們持續的成本削減策略的持續進展。

Operating expenses were $14.1 million aligned with our expectations for the quarter given the $5.6 million accrual recovery operating income was well ahead of forecast at $6.8 million adjusted EBITA was $11 million and we achieved non-GAAP net income of 8¢ per share.

營運費用為1,410 萬美元，與我們對本季的預期一致，因為應計恢復營運收入為560 萬美元，遠高於預測的680 萬美元，調整後EBITA 為1,100 萬美元，並且我們實現了每股8美分的非GAAP 淨利。

Turning to the balance sheet, the balance of total cash at quarter end at $20.7 million has remained relatively consistent. Since year end 2023 we generally manage our cash needs through intra quarter draws on our revolver, which also helps in minimizing our overall borrowing cost. Our interest expense was lower than forecast in Q3 as a result of our ability to minimize our revolver balance. For much of the quarter, we were free cash flow positive. Once again in Q3, with $14.3 million of cash flow from operations. Positive cash flow from operations consisted of approximately $9 million generated from the P&L and a $5 million benefit from working capital changes. During the quarter, We reduced our overall indebtedness by approximately $6 million with $60.8 million in total debt outstanding. At quarter end, we currently have $76 million available on our revolver.

就資產負債表而言，季末現金總額餘額為 2,070 萬美元，維持相對穩定。自 2023 年底以來，我們通常透過季度內循環利用我們的循環資金來管理我們的現金需求，這也有助於最大限度地降低我們的整體借貸成本。由於我們能夠最大限度地減少左輪餘額，我們的利息支出低於第三季的預期。在本季的大部分時間裡，我們的自由現金流均為正值。第三季度，營運現金流再次達到 1,430 萬美元。營運產生的正現金流包括損益表產生的約 900 萬美元和營運資本變化帶來的 500 萬美元收益。本季度，我們的整體債務減少了約 600 萬美元，未償債務總額為 6,080 萬美元。截至季末，我們的左輪手槍目前有 7,600 萬美元的可用資金。

Turning to our outlook for Q4 and our expectations for various financial metrics as we move through 2024 and into 2025.

談到我們對第四季的展望以及我們對 2024 年和 2025 年各種財務指標的預期。

As Tom mentioned with our current visibility, we expect Q4 total revenue of $72 million to $76 million. This reflects our expectations of $58million to $61 million of ATS revenue, $3 million to $4 million of wafer services revenue and $11 million of tools revenue.

正如 Tom 所提到的，以我們目前的知名度，我們預計第四季度的總收入為 7,200 萬美元至 7,600 萬美元。這反映了我們對 ATS 收入 5,800 萬至 6,100 萬美元、晶圓服務收入 300 萬至 400 萬美元以及工具收入 1,100 萬美元的預期。

Our Q4 revenue guidance demonstrates solid execution toward our growth objectives entering 2024.

我們的第四季營收指引顯示我們對進入 2024 年的成長目標的堅定執行。

Despite budget constraints affecting ATSand Q3, we continue to expect a solid growth year within the 10% to 20% range. And with our current visibility today, our expectations are in the range of 12% to 14% growth over 2023.

儘管預算限制影響了 ATS 和第三季度，但我們仍然預計今年將實現 10% 至 20% 的穩健成長。根據我們目前的可見度，我們的預期是 2023 年將成長 12% 至 14%。

We expect waiver services revenue this year will end up slightly favorable to the 60% to 65% year on year decline forecasted a quarter ago.

我們預計今年的豁免服務收入最終將略好於上季預測的 60% 至 65% 的年減。

We currently expect 2024 tools revenue of approximately $76 million in total expectations for revenue growth in 2024 are in the range of 18% to 20%.

我們目前預計 2024 年工具收入約為 7,600 萬美元，2024 年營收成長的總預期在 18% 至 20% 範圍內。

Turning to Q4 gross margin guidance at the midpoint. We expect similar gross margin performance on a similar quarter of combined ATS and Wafer services business levels with Q4 gross margin expected to be in the range of 19% to 23% in an anticipated tool impact of 300 basis points at the midpoint. Our Q4 guidance represents 24% gross margin performance for the combined ATS and waiver services business.

轉向第四季毛利率指引的中點。我們預期 ATS 和晶圓服務業務合併水準相似季度的毛利率表現類似，第四季毛利率預計在 19% 至 23% 之間，預計工具影響中點為 300 個基點。我們的第四季指引代表 ATS 和豁免服務合併業務的毛利率為 24%。

We expect operating expenses in the range of $14.5million to $15 million interest expense in the range of $2.5 million to $2.9 million in nominal tax expense for the fourth quarter.

我們預計第四季的營運支出將在 1,450 萬美元至 1,500 萬美元之間，利息支出將在 250 萬美元至 290 萬美元之間。

Assuming that income from non-controlling interest remains approximately $1 million. The resulting non-GAAP EPS range for Q4 is a loss of 4¢ to a loss of 10¢ per share.

假設來自非控制權益的收入仍約為 100 萬美元。由此產生的第四季非公認會計準則每股收益範圍為每股虧損 4 美分至 10 美分。

Finally, here are a few more of our assumptions for our quarterly results as we move into 2025 tools revenue is currently expected to be in the range of $40 million to $50 million in 2025. And with our current visibility, we expect the majority of tools' revenue to be recognized in the second half of the year.

最後，隨著我們進入 2025 年，以下是我們對季度業績的更多假設，目前預計 2025 年工具收入將在 4,000 萬美元至 5,000 萬美元之間。以我們目前的知名度，我們預計大部分工具的收入將在今年下半年確認。

Our OpEx run rate has been running at the lower end of expectations as a result of good execution on our cost control initiatives, as well as deferment of certain spending to future quarters. As a result, the run rate is likely to be somewhat higher as we move into next year.

由於成本控制計劃執行良好，以及將某些支出推遲到未來幾個季度，我們的營運支出運行率一直處於預期的較低水平。因此，隨著明年的到來，運行率可能會有所提高。

While overall debt levels will fluctuate through the year depending on draws from our revolver. We believe $2.5 million to $2.9 million in quarterly interest expense is a good assumption for the foreseeable future. As we continue to benefit from over $20 million of advanced customer deposits for tool purchases for 2025. For modeling purposes, you should assume nominal to no tax expense or benefit our income from variable interest entities below the line is not something we can predict with accuracy, but $1 million is a historic average that we expect will be appropriate to use for your models. Looking forward with that. I'll turn the call over to Q&A operator. Please open the line for questions.

雖然整體債務水準將在一年中波動，具體取決於我們左輪手槍的動用。我們認為，在可預見的未來，季度利息支出為 250 萬至 290 萬美元是一個不錯的假設。我們將繼續受益於 2025 年用於購買工具的超過 2000 萬美元的預付客戶押金。出於建模目的，您應該假設名義稅費或無稅費或我們從線下可變利益實體獲得的收益不是我們可以準確預測的，但100 萬美元是歷史平均值，我們預計適合用於您的模型。對此充滿期待。我會將電話轉給問答接線生。請打開提問專線。

Thank you. We will now begin the question and answer session. (Operator Instructions). Comes from the line of Krish Sankar with TD Cowen. Please go ahead.

謝謝。我們現在開始問答環節。（操作員說明）。來自 Krish Sankar 和 TD Cowen 的血系。請繼續。

Yeah, hi. Thanks for taking my question. I have two of them. First one, Steve, I just want to make sure that I got your guidance right on the gross margin side. You said it's 19% to 23%. Is it mainly because ba backing of the tool revenue, the the revenues is effectively flattish sequentially X tools?

是的，嗨。感謝您提出我的問題。我有兩個。首先，史蒂夫，我只是想確保我在毛利率方面得到了正確的指導。你說的是19%到23%。主要是因為ba工具收入的支持，收入實際上與X工具持平嗎？

Yeah, that's right. Probably a flat quarter to quarter on, on the ATS and waiver services revenue and therefore a very similar margin for ATS and waiver services business in Q4. So 19% to 23% was the range provided.

是的，沒錯。ATS 和豁免服務收入可能與上一季持平，因此第四季度 ATS 和豁免服務業務的利潤率非常相似。所以提供的範圍是 19% 到 23%。

So then another question on just in 2025. A two part question one is, how should we think about March quarter? Are we going to see seasonality for ATS and A services? So revenue should be down and therefore gross margin should be down? And what do you think about ATS and A for services for calendar 25 as a whole? You know, would you expect it to grow or is it still dependent on semi market recovery?

那麼另一個問題是關於 2025 年的。一個由兩部分組成的問題是，我們該如何看待三月季度？我們會看到 ATS 和 A 服務的季節性嗎？那麼收入應該會下降，毛利率也應該下降嗎？您對 25 號日曆服務的 ATS 和 A 整體有何看法？您知道，您預計它會成長還是仍取決於半成品市場的復甦？

Yeah. So the way we're looking at, you know, water services is, you know, we see overall growth next year in 25 again with a higher concentration of our ATS to wafer services conversions being the primary driver. And then of course, ATS, we still expect to see growth in ATSnext year. The real seasonality we typically see is in Q3 as we end the fiscal year, given the current concentration in A&D. But overall we expect to see combined core growth or ATS plus, wait for services going up next year and Steve you want.

是的。因此，我們看待供水服務的方式是，我們預計明年的整體成長將再次達到 25 年，其中 ATS 向晶圓服務轉換的集中度更高，這是主要驅動力。當然，ATS，我們仍然預計明年 ATS 會出現成長。鑑於目前航空航天業的集中度，我們通常看到的真正季節性是在本財年結束時的第三季。但總體而言，我們預計會看到綜合核心成長或 ATS 加上，等待明年服務的成長和史蒂夫你想要的。

Thank you very much.

非常感謝。

Okay Thanks.

好的，謝謝。

Your next question comes from the line of Quinn Bolton, Bolton with Needham. Please go ahead.

你的下一個問題來自奎因·博爾頓，博爾頓和李約瑟的路線。請繼續。

Hey guys, Nick Doyle, I'm for Quinn. Thanks for taking our questions. The tool revenue guide for four Q is I think coming in a little softer than expected and then, and then 25 I think coming in a little softer as well. So it seems like a little bit of a pause over the next couple quarters. Anything specific you can talk to on, on that line? Thanks.

嘿夥計們，尼克·多伊爾，我支持奎因。感謝您回答我們的問題。我認為 4 個 Q 的工具收入指南比預期要軟一些，然後是 25 個 Q，我認為也比預期軟一些。因此，接下來的幾季似乎會有點暫停。您可以在那條線上聊什麼具體的事情嗎？謝謝。

Yeah, I mean, typically, you know, we project when we think tools are going to arrive, the timing of some of those tools again, is highly dependent on our tool supplier. So that's part of what you're seeing. And then again, as we get into 2025 we're projecting based on current delivery schedules. What we anticipate, you know, coming into our fabs, what we're confirming is the 200 million over the 24 to 26 period. And the specific cadence will, you know, be highly dependent on when our customers, you know, engage with us to place the orders. And then of course, when we actually get the tools delivered.

是的，我的意思是，通常，你知道，我們預計工具何時會到達，其中一些工具的時間再次高度依賴我們的工具供應商。這就是你所看到的一部分。再說一次，當我們進入 2025 年時，我們將根據當前的交付時間表進行預測。我們預計，你知道，進入我們的晶圓廠，我們正在確認的是 24 至 26 年間的 2 億個。您知道，具體的節奏將高度依賴我們的客戶何時與我們下訂單。當然，當我們真正交付工具時。

And with, with what we're seeing for the fourth quarter, we said up to $80 million for 2024 with what we just guided for the fourth quarter, we would just be under that at around $76 million. So still in line with what we thought for 2024 I think the other important thing to think about is looking at the overall $200 million. We're still confirming our expectations for co investments in that range over a three year period. We did bring down our expectations for 2025. And I think the also the important thing to know is we're really seeing maybe only $1 million to $2 million of tool revenue in the first quarter and probably a similar amount in the second quarter and a lot of the tool revenue will come from the tools going into our Florida facility in 2025 where the majority was coming into Minnesota in 2024. So given the timing of that project, we're seeing it back end loaded in the second half of 2025. And that's when the majority of the $40 million to $50 million of tool revenue is expected to be recognized.

根據我們對第四季的預測，我們表示 2024 年將達到 8,000 萬美元，而根據我們剛剛對第四季的指導，我們將略低於這一數字，約為 7,600 萬美元。因此，與我們對 2024 年的預期一致，我認為另一個需要考慮的重要事情是著眼於 2 億美元的整體規模。我們仍在確認我們對三年內該範圍內共同投資的預期。我們確實降低了對 2025 年的預期。我認為還需要了解的重要一點是，我們實際上看到第一季的工具收入可能只有 100 萬到 200 萬美元，第二季可能也有類似的金額，而且許多工具收入將來自工具將於2025 年進入我們佛羅裡達州的工廠，其中大部分工具將於2024 年進入明尼蘇達州。因此，考慮到該專案的時間安排，我們預計它將於 2025 年下半年完成後端加載。預計 4,000 萬至 5,000 萬美元的工具收入中的大部分將在那時得到確認。

Okay. Understood, very clear. Thank you. And then I think last quarter you indicated maybe four customers have transitioned away for services in 2024 and then you kind of mentioned, you know, some of the strength you're seeing you're expecting in 2025 should be, you know, further transition. So have any more transition this quarter and, and visibility on that for 2025 you know, the number of customers transitioning. Thanks.

好的。明白了，非常清楚。謝謝。然後我認為上個季度您表示可能有 4 位客戶在 2024 年轉向使用服務，然後您提到，您所看到的您期望在 2025 年看到的一些優勢應該是進一步轉型。因此，本季會有更多過渡，並且可以了解 2025 年的過渡客戶數量。謝謝。

Yeah. Well, as I mentioned in my prepared remarks, Nano DX, we, we just concluded a supply long term supply agreement with them. The timing for when they'll actually move to production like our other customers is highly dependent on their qualification schedules, which are somewhat out of our control, but we continue to be very confident in our conversions. And that's why overall, we're looking at Waer services growth next year. Even in the soft, you know, macro environment we're dealing with as it relates to, you know, our traditional legacy business, which was really our main driver of Wafer services. You know, as we entered this year.

是的。嗯，正如我在準備好的演講中提到的那樣，Nano DX，我們，我們剛剛與他們簽訂了供應長期供應協議。他們像我們的其他客戶一樣實際投入生產的時間很大程度上取決於他們的資格時間表，這在某種程度上超出了我們的控制範圍，但我們仍然對我們的轉換非常有信心。這就是為什麼總體而言，我們期待明年瓦爾服務的成長。即使在我們正在處理的軟宏觀環境中，因為它與我們的傳統遺留業務有關，這實際上是我們晶圓服務的主要驅動力。你知道，當我們進入今年時。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Your next question comes from the line of Richard Shannon with Craig Hallum Capital. Please go ahead.

您的下一個問題來自理查德·香農 (Richard Shannon) 與克雷格·哈勒姆資本 (Craig Hallum Capital) 的對話。請繼續。

Well, Hi guys. Thanks for taking my question as well. Maybe a question on the accrual reversal. The crew you took in the first quarter, you said you reversed a good chunk of here. I guess how do we think about the potential for a full reversal? And what does that mean about the program involved here? Does that mean we're, we're back to where we were before or how should we interpret what this means for that program?

好吧，大家好。也感謝您提出我的問題。也許是關於應計沖銷的問題。你在第一季度招募的團隊，你說你逆轉了這裡的很大一部分。我想我們如何看待全面逆轉的可能性？這對於這裡涉及的程序意味著什麼？這是否意味著我們回到了之前的狀態，或者我們應該如何解釋這對該計劃意味著什麼？

Yeah. So, good evening, Richard. This, this is Steve. I'll start with it on, on the accounting side and I'll give it over to Tom to talk about the program. Yeah, but just to make sure we're clear it was an $8 million approval that was recorded in the first quarter and we released remaining 5.6 million of that in the third-quarter. So, so if you look at that on a year-to-date basis for 2024 it's almost like it never happened. So the pool accrual now has been recognized and reversed through the P&L so from an accounting perspective, it's all behind us.

是的。那麼，晚上好，理查德。這，這是史蒂夫。我將從會計方面開始，然後將其交給湯姆來討論該計劃。是的，但只是為了確保我們清楚第一季記錄了 800 萬美元的批准，我們在第三季釋放了剩餘的 560 萬美元。所以，如果你從 2024 年至今來看，這幾乎就像從未發生過一樣。因此，應計資金現在已透過損益表得到確認並逆轉，因此從會計角度來看，這一切都已成為過去。

I'm going to go talk about the program.

我要去談談這個計劃。

Yeah. Richard, how you doing? Good to hear you, hear you on the other side.

是的。理查德，你好嗎？很高興聽到你的聲音，在另一邊聽到你的聲音。

Thank you for your time.

感謝您抽出時間。

You the, the way to think of this program. Again, it's a, you know, technology development program. And when we, you know, we're exiting Q1, we were, you know, working through some technical issues that we have resolved really excellent progress by the team to get the platform stabilized so that we can launch it in the second half of next year.

你是如何看待這個程式的。再說一遍，這是一個技術開發計劃。當我們退出第一季時，我們正在解決一些技術問題，我們團隊已經解決了這些問題，取得了非常好的進展，使平台穩定下來，以便我們可以在下半年推出它明年。

Our PDK will be released in the early part of next year and while production is still several years away, again, this is our you know, rad hard program that, that has a significant qualification beyond just the chip manufacturing, we expect this program to continue to you know, move forward at a, at a pace that is consistent with our customers expectations. And we really feel good about where we are, you know, given some of the challenges we were facing earlier this year.

我們的 PDK 將於明年初發布，雖然距離量產還需要幾年的時間，但同樣，這是我們的 rad 硬計劃，除了晶片製造之外還具有重要的資格，我們希望該計劃能夠繼續以符合客戶期望的速度前進。考慮到我們今年稍早面臨的一些挑戰，我們對自己的現狀感到非常滿意。

Okay, I appreciate that update. And Steve, thanks for a reminder about the prior accrual. I guess I forgot about that one. My second question is really kind of looking at your your aerospace and defense customers and you talk about budgets that were a little soft ending the September quarter of the official year for the government. Maybe if you want to discuss both, what you're seeing here is an impact in the current fourth quarter. But obviously, if we have a new administration coming in the following quarter here, what do you get a sense either way about what this might mean for the programs you're involved with?

好的，我很欣賞這次更新。史蒂夫，感謝您提醒我們之前的應計費用。我想我已經忘記那件事了。我的第二個問題實際上是在關注您的航空航天和國防客戶，您談到了政府官方年度九月季度結束時的預算有點軟。也許如果您想討論兩者，您在這裡看到的是當前第四季度的影響。但顯然，如果我們在下個季度出現新政府，您對這對您參與的項目可能意味著什麼有什麼感覺？

Yeah. So we feel very strong about all of our programs, I think you know, as we enter the new fiscal year which began in Q4, of course, you know, the, the funding and the commitment to the programs is as strong as it's ever been. And a lot of that has to do with the progress we've been making is the technology development matures. But the, the real question related to the administration and all that, you know, that that obviously has to work its way through, you know, through the process. But we're, you know, it's competent again, as we've ever been in our ability to not only execute on these programs. But where they are in their development cycle and the ability again for us to make them successful is really all about execution and that's what we're focused on.

是的。因此，我想你知道，當我們進入從第四季度開始的新財政年度時，我們對我們的所有計劃都感到非常強烈，當然，你知道，對這些計劃的資金和承諾與以往一樣強大到過。這在很大程度上與我們所取得的進步有關，即技術開發的成熟。但是，真正的問題與政府有關，以及所有這些，你知道，顯然必須透過整個過程來解決。但我們，你知道，它再次有能力，因為我們不僅有能力執行這些程序。但他們在開發週期中的位置以及我們再次讓他們成功的能力實際上都與執行有關，這就是我們所關注的重點。

Okay, fair enough. I appreciate the detail guys. That's all for me.

好吧，很公平。我很欣賞這些細節。這就是我的全部。

(Operator Instructions). Your next question comes from the line of Robert Agano with Piper Sandler. Please go ahead.

（操作員說明）。你的下一個問題來自羅伯特·阿加諾和派珀·桑德勒的對話。請繼續。

Yes, Thanks guys. This is Robert on for harsh. Appreciate you guys taking the time and the question. Just one here from me on gross margin, the gross margin trajectory had been growing steadily through the year and it seems like you guys are guiding it down here for Q4. Can you give us some of the drivers? I guess looking forward for 2025 since you mentioned in your presentation, increasing revenues and operating leverage kind of impacting here the number for 2025. So we're just wondering the puts and takes there.

是的，謝謝大家。這對羅伯特來說是嚴厲的。感謝你們抽出時間來提問。我只想談談毛利率，這一年毛利率軌跡一直在穩定成長，看來你們正在引導第四季的毛利率下降。你能給我們一些司機嗎？我想展望 2025 年，因為您在演示中提到，收入和營運槓桿的增加會影響 2025 年的數字。所以我們只是想知道那裡的看漲期權和看跌期權。

Yeah, first off, let me adjust the fourth quarter of gross margins isn't expected to go down in the fourth quarter. It's expected to be very similar to what it was in the third-quarter. Especially when you're looking at it from the tool impact on a basis point perspective. So A T and waiver services revenue levels are expected to be the same in the, in the fourth quarter as they were in the third. And also the gross margin driven from A and waiver services business is likely to be the same in the fourth quarter as well. With those levels. If you look at margin expectations for 2025 I would expect our margins to increase given the lower amount of tool revenues coming through. Again, we're looking at more like 76 or so million dollars of tools in 2024 compared to 40 to 50 in 2025. So your margin on a basis point impact will be less in 2025 given the lower amount of expected tool revenue. But the ATS and Waiver services business is expected to grow as Tom mentioned. And with that, we still believe that we're going to get better than a 55% flow through at these revenue levels on a margin. And with that, the gross profit should increase in 2025 as well.

是的，首先，讓我調整一下第四季的毛利率，預計第四季不會下降。預計與第三季的情況非常相似。尤其是當您從基點角度的工具影響來看待它時。因此，預計第四季度的 A T 和豁免服務收入水準將與第三季相同。第四季由 A 和豁免服務業務驅動的毛利率也可能相同。有了這些水平。如果你看看 2025 年的利潤率預期，鑑於工具收入減少，我預期我們的利潤率會增加。同樣，我們預計 2024 年工具價值將達到 7600 萬美元左右，而 2025 年工具價值將達到 40 到 50 種。因此，鑑於預期工具收入較低，到 2025 年，基點影響的利潤將會減少。但正如 Tom 所提到的，ATS 和豁免服務業務預計將會成長。因此，我們仍然相信，在這些收入水平上，我們的利潤率將高於 55%。這樣一來，2025 年的毛利也應該會增加。

Fair enough. That's all from me. Thanks guys.

很公平。這就是我的全部。謝謝你們。

For me. Thanks guys and we have no further questions in our queue at this time. I will now turn the call back over to Thomas Saunderson CEO for closing comments.

為我。謝謝大家，目前我們的隊列中沒有其他問題了。我現在將把電話轉回首席執行官托馬斯·桑德森 (Thomas Saunderson) 以徵求結束意見。

Thank you operator. I want to close today's call by conveying the strong confidence all of us at Skywater have and our ability to execute successfully towards our long term growth opportunities and profitability objectives and we intend to continue to build your confidence and our ability to execute. Please reach out to Claire directly to arrange a follow up and we hope to see many of you at the New York summit in December at the Needham Growth Conference in January. We look forward to providing an update on our 2024 results in February and with that, I'll conclude today's earnings call.

謝謝運營商。在結束今天的電話會議時，我想表達 Skywater 所有人的強烈信心以及我們成功執行長期增長機會和盈利目標的能力，並且我們打算繼續增強您的信心和我們的執行能力。請直接聯繫克萊爾安排後續行動，我們希望在 12 月的紐約峰會和 1 月的尼達姆增長會議上見到你們中的許多人。我們期待在 2 月份提供 2024 年業績的最新信息，我將結束今天的財報電話會議。

Ladies and gentlemen, this does conclude the call. Thank you for your participation and you may now disconnect.

女士們、先生們，電話會議到此結束。感謝您的參與，您現在可以斷開連接。