Sono-Tek Corp (SOTK) 2025 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Good day, and welcome to the Sono-Tek fourth quarter and full-year earnings conference call. (Operator Instructions)

大家好，歡迎參加 Sono-Tek 第四季和全年財報電話會議。（操作員指示）

Please note this event is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to Mr. Kirin Smith with PCG Advisory.

請注意，此事件正在被記錄。現在我想將會議交給 PCG Advisory 的 Kirin Smith 先生。

Please go ahead, sir.

先生，請繼續。

Thank you, Chuck, and thank you, everyone, for joining us today. Sono-Tek released their fourth quarter and full year fiscal 2025 results this morning. If you don't have a copy of the release, please go to the company's website at sono-tek.com and click on the Press Releases/News tab in the Investors section. The product, market and geography sales tables on the last page of the release will be part of today's discussion. With me on the call today are Dr. Chris Coccio, Sono-Tek's Executive Chairman; Steve Harshbarger, CEO and President; and Steve Bagley, Chief Financial Officer.

謝謝你，查克，也謝謝大家今天加入我們。Sono-Tek 今早公佈了其 2025 財年第四季和全年業績。如果您沒有該新聞稿的副本，請造訪該公司的網站 sono-tek.com，然後按一下「投資者」部分中的「新聞稿/新聞」標籤。新聞稿最後一頁的產品、市場和地理銷售表將成為今天討論的一部分。今天與我一起參加電話會議的還有 Sono-Tek 執行董事長 Chris Coccio 博士、執行長兼總裁 Steve Harshbarger 和財務長 Steve Bagley。

Before turning the call over to management, I would like to make the following remarks concerning forward-looking statements. Please note that various remarks that may be made on this conference call about future expectations, plans and prospects for the company constitute forward-looking statements for the purposes of safe harbor provisions under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual results may vary materially from those indicated by these forward-looking statements as a result of various important factors, including those discussed in the company's filings with the SEC. The company assumes no obligation to update the information contained in this conference call.

在將電話轉交給管理層之前，我想就前瞻性陳述發表以下評論。請注意，本次電話會議上可能發表的有關公司未來預期、計劃和前景的各種評論均構成《1995 年私人證券訴訟改革法》安全港條款所指的前瞻性陳述。由於各種重要因素（包括公司向美國證券交易委員會提交的文件中討論的因素），實際結果可能與這些前瞻性陳述所示的結果有重大差異。本公司不承擔更新本次電話會議中所包含的資訊的義務。

As a reminder, Sono-Tek currently holds two earnings calls per fiscal year. This is our fiscal year 2025 call for the full year-ended February 28, 2025. Our next earnings call will be our midyear call for the 6 months ended August 31, 2025, and will be held this October. I would now like to turn the call over to Chris Coccio, Executive Chairman, Sono-Tek. Chris, please go ahead.

提醒一下，Sono-Tek 目前每個財政年度都會舉行兩次收益電話會議。這是我們對截至 2025 年 2 月 28 日的 2025 財年全年的預測。我們的下一次財報電話會議將是截至 2025 年 8 月 31 日的 6 個月的年中電話會議，將於今年 10 月舉行。現在我想將電話轉給 Sono-Tek 執行主席 Chris Coccio。克里斯，請繼續。

Good morning, and thank you, Kirin. Thank you, everyone, for joining us. Today, we're going to discuss our fourth quarter and full year fiscal 2025 results that were released this morning before the market opened. I will begin with some opening remarks, and then Steve Harshbarger, CEO and President, will go through a deeper business and operational review, followed by Steve Bagley, our Chief Financial Officer. He will provide the financial review.

早安，謝謝你，Kirin。謝謝大家的參與。今天，我們將討論今天上午開市前發布的 2025 財年第四季和全年業績。我將首先致開幕詞，然後首席執行官兼總裁史蒂夫·哈什巴格 (Steve Harshbarger) 將進行更深入的業務和運營審查，隨後是我們的首席財務官史蒂夫·巴格利 (Steve Bagley)。他將提供財務審查。

Following their comments, we'll open up the call for your questions. Now for those of you newer investors in our company, Sono-Tek developed a revolutionary method of applying precision thin film coatings several decades ago. This proprietary technology involves the use of our advanced high-frequency ultrasonic nozzles, and they are incorporated to specialty motion systems, and they are able to achieve uniform micron and nano thin coatings onto our customers' products.

根據他們的評論，我們將開始回答您的問題。現在，對於我們公司的新投資者來說，Sono-Tek 幾十年前就開發了一種應用精密薄膜塗層的革命性方法。這項專有技術涉及使用我們先進的高頻超音波噴嘴，並將其納入專業運動系統，能夠在客戶的產品上實現均勻的微米和奈米薄塗層。

Our unique value proposition is that our thin film coating machines provide dramatic savings of the expensive liquids being applied. They are environmentally friendly by minimizing material usage and reducing overspray.

我們獨特的價值主張是，我們的薄膜塗佈機可以大幅節省所使用的昂貴液體。它們透過最大限度地減少材料使用和減少過度噴塗，實現了環保。

Importantly, this often helps companies comply with increasingly stringent government regulations aimed at reducing hazardous waste entering the environment. But the key advantage of our ultrasonic coating systems is the ability to apply precision thin films. They are vitally important in today's world with thousands of products and micro components now requiring a functional or protective coating to be added to them.

重要的是，這通常有助於公司遵守日益嚴格的政府法規，旨在減少進入環境的危險廢物。但我們的超音波塗層系統的主要優勢是能夠應用精密薄膜。它們在當今世界至關重要，成千上萬的產品和微型組件現在都需要添加功能性或保護性塗層。

The strategic shift that we made several years ago to offer more complex and complete solutions has meaningfully broadened our addressable market. That has resulted in significant growth in our average unit selling prices.

幾年前，我們進行了策略轉變，提供更複雜、更完整的解決方案，這大大拓寬了我們的潛在市場。這導致我們的平均單位售價大幅增加。

Our larger machines now commonly sell for over $300,000 and system prices can reach $1 million or more. That can significantly impact quarterly revenue. Additionally, our move into the clean energy sector is showing transformative results in next-generation solar cells, fuel cells and green hydrogen generation and carbon capture applications as we help shape a sustainable future with our customers.

我們大型機器的售價現在普遍超過 30 萬美元，系統價格可達 100 萬美元甚至更多。這會對季度收入產生重大影響。此外，我們進軍清潔能源領域的舉措正在為下一代太陽能電池、燃料電池、綠色氫氣生成和碳捕獲應用帶來變革性成果，幫助我們與客戶共同塑造永續發展的未來。

This is what we started to see in the past fiscal year where we saw our largest customer order in our history, and that was followed by an additional order of the same magnitude two weeks later. The new year presents some changes and challenges and uncertainties for most businesses, such as changes taking place in relationships with our trading partners and the redirection of climate policy and related government spending.

這是我們在過去的財政年度開始看到的情況，當時我們看到了我們歷史上最大的客戶訂單，兩週後我們又收到了同等規模的額外訂單。新的一年為大多數企業帶來了一些變化、挑戰和不確定性，例如與貿易夥伴的關係變化以及氣候政策和相關政府支出的重新調整。

On the trade issues, Sono-Tek builds our key ultrasonic hardware at our factory in Milton, New York, and most other materials are US-based, so we see a little concern there. On the export side, more than half of our current sales are to the US market, and we have been exposed to tariffs in certain other countries for many years. So we could be affected for better or for worse, depending on the outcome of negotiations taking place. Clean energy continues to represent a significant portion of our sales.

在貿易問題上，Sono-Tek 在位於紐約州米爾頓的工廠生產關鍵的超音波硬件，而且大多數其他材料都產自美國，因此我們對此感到有些擔憂。在出口方面，我們目前一半以上的銷售額銷往美國市場，而且多年來我們一直受到某些其他國家的關稅影響。因此，我們可能會受到好或壞的影響，這取決於談判的結果。清潔能源繼續占我們銷售額的很大一部分。

Fortunately, a large share of these sales comes from our commercial customers such as a US-based solar panel manufacturer and carbon capture and conversion companies, many of which are financially supported by airlines and other corporations focused on reducing their carbon footprint. This includes efforts to develop sustainable aviation fuel and other carbon-based products.

幸運的是，這些銷售額的很大一部分來自我們的商業客戶，例如美國的太陽能電池板製造商和碳捕獲和轉換公司，其中許多公司得到了航空公司和其他致力於減少碳足跡的公司的資金支持。這包括努力開發永續航空燃料和其他碳基產品。

While we do anticipate a decline in clean energy orders later in the year, we still expect revenue growth in the near term. This is by ongoing enhancements to our equipment across all sectors, including new expanded features and functionalities that are supporting sales in the medical and semiconductor markets. I'm pleased to report that we're seeing strong momentum in the medical device industry, particularly in growing interest for our high-volume production systems and increased demand for our balloon coating machines that are being used for cardiac interventions.

雖然我們確實預計今年稍後清潔能源訂單會下降，但我們仍然預計短期內收入會成長。這是透過不斷改進我們各個領域的設備來實現的，包括支援醫療和半導體市場銷售的新擴展特性和功能。我很高興地報告，我們看到醫療器材產業發展勢頭強勁，特別是對我們的大批量生產系統的興趣日益濃厚，以及對用於心臟介入的球囊塗佈機的需求不斷增加。

For the full year, we experienced a 4% annual revenue growth and the fourth quarter marked the fourth consecutive quarter in a row of revenue over $5 million. Now on top of that, our full year net income came in at $1.3 million, which was similar to the prior year. We remained encouraged by the path ahead, supported by a solid backlog of $8.6 million and expecting to see continued revenue growth and profitability in the first half of fiscal 2026. We're excited that our investments have begun to pay off.

全年來看，我們的年營收成長了 4%，第四季是連續第四個季度營收超過 500 萬美元。除此之外，我們的全年淨收入達到 130 萬美元，與前一年持平。我們對未來的道路充滿信心，並有 860 萬美元的穩定積壓訂單作為支撐，預計 2026 財年上半年收入將繼續增長並實現盈利。我們很高興我們的投資開始獲得回報。

Our outlook for growth has greatly -- been greatly enhanced by the early success of our strategy to shift to those larger, more complex systems and platforms that I mentioned for production applications and also with multiple and repeat orders. And we continue to focus on opening new markets for our unique thin-film coating technology. Thank you.

我們的策略早期取得了成功，轉向了那些更大、更複雜的系統和平台，這些系統和平台用於生產應用以及多個重複訂單，這極大地增強了我們的成長前景。我們將繼續致力於為我們獨特的薄膜塗層技術開拓新市場。謝謝。

Now I will go ahead and turn the call over to Steve Harshbarger, our CEO and President. Steve, please go ahead.

現在我將把電話轉給我們的執行長兼總裁史蒂夫·哈什巴格 (Steve Harshbarger)。史蒂夫，請繼續。

Thanks, Dr. Coccio, and thanks, everyone, for joining us today. Firstly, I just want to echo Chris' enthusiasm. It's extremely gratifying to see our investments hitting their stride. Our first-year fiscal sales increased 4% year-over-year, which was in line with our guidance -- what makes this particularly noteworthy is that it comes on the heels of a very strong fiscal 2024, which benefited from a sharp rebound in demand as supply chain constraints eased.

謝謝 Coccio 博士，也謝謝大家今天加入我們。首先，我只是想贊同克里斯的熱情。看到我們的投資取得進展，我們感到非常欣慰。我們第一財年的銷售額年增 4%，符合我們的預期——尤其值得注意的是，這是在 2024 財年表現非常強勁之後實現的，受益於供應鏈限制緩解導致需求大幅反彈。

Delivering growth on top of that high baseline reflects the strength and resilience of our business. This solid performance was driven by increased demand for our integrated coating and multi-axis coating systems, which are commonly used in the clean energy sector. Integrated coating system sales increased by 28% or $814,000 to $3.7 million due to the continued success with a key strategic partner within the solar energy market.

在高基線之上實現成長反映了我們業務的實力和韌性。這種穩健的表現是由於我們的整合塗層和多軸塗層系統的需求增加所致，這些系統通常用於清潔能源領域。由於與太陽能市場關鍵策略合作夥伴的持續成功，綜合塗層系統銷售額增長了 28% 或 814,000 美元，達到 370 萬美元。

Clean energy, including fuel cells, green hydrogen generation, carbon capture and advanced solar cells are markets that we've been providing our R&D and pilot lines to for close to a decade now, and we're now having success with these customers transitioning to our production scale systems as a result of prior development work they did with our team of experienced application engineers.

近十年來，我們一直向清潔能源市場提供研發和中試生產線，其中包括燃料電池、綠色氫氣發電、碳捕獲和先進的太陽能電池。由於這些客戶之前與我們經驗豐富的應用工程師團隊一起進行過開發，我們現在已經成功地將這些客戶過渡到我們的生產規模系統。

We would like to note that while we are seeing steady demand across key markets, visibility into our full year revenue remains limited at this time due to the rapidly evolving conditions in the clean energy sector and the unknown impacts of potential tariffs with our international customer base.

我們想指出的是，雖然我們看到主要市場的需求穩定，但由於清潔能源領域的快速發展以及潛在關稅對我們國際客戶群的未知影響，目前我們全年收入的可見性仍然有限。

The increase in revenue for the full year of fiscal year 2025 was strongly influenced by shipments to a substantial customer from the clean energy sector who received shipment of three integrated coating systems totaling almost $2.2 million. All three of these systems are really a reflection of our successful first stage results of Project Altair, which rolled the capabilities for sophisticated PLC-based systems into our product offering and significantly expands our addressable market.

2025 財年全年營收的成長主要受到向清潔能源領域一位重要客戶出貨的影響，該客戶收到了三套整合式塗層系統，總價值近 220 萬美元。這三個系統實際上反映了我們 Altair 專案第一階段的成功成果，該專案將基於 PLC 的複雜系統功能融入我們的產品中，並顯著擴展了我們的潛在市場。

There are eight more high ASP systems in our backlog from Project Altair. While we are not projecting further near-term orders from these customers in FY 2026, we do remain optimistic about potential future demand dependent on the customers' execution of expansion plans. The increase in integrated coating systems we experienced was somewhat offset by our product division, which can also fluctuate from time to time.

我們的 Altair 專案積壓訂單中還有八個高 ASP 系統。雖然我們預計 2026 財年這些客戶不會有進一步的近期訂單，但我們對取決於客戶擴張計劃執行情況的潛在未來需求仍然持樂觀態度。我們的綜合塗層系統的成長在一定程度上被我們的產品部門所抵消，因為我們的產品部門也會不時波動。

Multi-axis coating systems, which are commonly used in the clean energy and medical device markets, saw sales grow 6% or $603,000 to a total of $10.7 million for the full fiscal year. These full system solutions contain some of our newest and highest average selling price or ASP platforms. Meaningfully, expanding our capabilities to design and build internally made multi-axis platforms has been a focus for Sono-Tek over the past 3 years under our project we call [ARIES]. ARIES has broadened our product offering while deepening our supply chain and increasing vertical integration, starting with our NovoCoat multi-axis series machines. This is an ongoing process, and we continue to build and expand our in-house capabilities.

多軸塗層系統常用於清潔能源和醫療設備市場，其整個財年的銷售額增長了 6% 或 603,000 美元，達到 1,070 萬美元。這些完整的系統解決方案包含我們一些最新和最高的平均售價或 ASP 平台。有意義的是，在過去 3 年裡，Sono-Tek 一直致力於擴展我們設計和建造內部製造的多軸平台的能力，我們稱之為[ARIES] 從 NovoCoat 多軸系列機器開始，ARIES 拓寬了我們的產品範圍，同時深化了我們的供應鏈並提高了垂直整合度。這是一個持續的過程，我們將繼續建立和擴展我們的內在能力。

Fluxing systems dipped for the full fiscal year of 2025, largely due to weaker demand in Latin America. This decrease was driven by a general slowdown in PCB equipment sales in Mexico and the closure of a key Sono-Tek distributor in the region. To address this, Sono-Tek has onboarded and trained a new Mexican-based distributor partner, which we believe will contribute to improved spray fluxer sales in fiscal 2026.

2025 財年全年熔劑系統銷售下滑，主因是拉丁美洲的需求疲軟。造成這一下降的原因是墨西哥 PCB 設備銷售普遍放緩，以及該地區主要 Sono-Tek 分銷商的關閉。為了解決這個問題，Sono-Tek 已吸收並培訓了一家新的墨西哥分銷商合作夥伴，我們相信這將有助於提高 2026 財年的噴霧助焊劑銷售量。

OEM sales, they were lower for the full year as expected due to the elevated inventory levels at several of our partners following early supply chain disruptions. We saw slower OEM sales through the first nine months of FY 2025, followed by a recovery in the fourth quarter as customers began drawing down their excess inventory.

OEM 銷售額全年低於預期，原因是早期供應鏈中斷後我們的幾個合作夥伴的庫存水準上升。我們看到 2025 財年前九個月的 OEM 銷售放緩，但隨著客戶開始減少過剩庫存，第四季度出現復甦。

Although total spares and services revenue dipped slightly in this past fiscal year, we did see increases in several areas of our service-related revenue, including reoccurring service contracts, which contributed positively to our overall performance. This really remains a focused area for growth as our expanding base of high ASP systems in the field is expected to drive future demand for reoccurring service contracts.

儘管上一財年備件和服務總收入略有下降，但我們在服務相關收入的幾個領域確實有所增長，包括重複服務合同，這對我們的整體業績產生了積極貢獻。這確實仍是一個重點成長領域，因為我們在該領域不斷擴大的高 ASP 系統基礎預計將推動未來對重複服務合約的需求。

We continue to believe that follow-on service and support packages could represent as much as 10% to 15% of the original order value. Now I'll review our sales by market. Sales to the alternative clean energy market grew 64% over the prior fiscal year.

我們仍然相信後續服務和支援包可能佔原始訂單價值的 10% 至 15%。現在我將按市場回顧我們的銷售情況。替代清潔能源市場的銷售額比上一財年成長了 64%。

These sales were positively impacted by a growing number of Sono-Tek customers transitioning from our R&D and pilot line machines to our production scale systems that, of course, carry much higher average selling prices or the ASPs, as I mentioned earlier. Many of our recent large contract announcements in this area are for systems used in the manufacturing of advanced solar cells and critical membranes for carbon capture, green hydrogen generation and fuel cell applications.

這些銷售受到越來越多的 Sono-Tek 客戶從我們的研發和中試線機器轉向我們的生產規模系統的積極影響，當然，正如我之前提到的，這些系統的平均售價或 ASP 要高得多。我們最近在該領域發布的許多大型合約均涉及用於製造先進太陽能電池和碳捕獲、綠色氫氣生成和燃料電池應用的關鍵薄膜的系統。

Sales in the past year included shipment of four high ASP systems to significant customers in the clean energy sector totaling $3.4 million. Our electronics sales decreased slightly by 3% for the full year versus last year and still benefited though from shipment of a newly developed coating system with wafer shuttling capabilities directing at the semiconductor market. Medical sales declined by 22% for FY 2025, primarily driven by lower demand for our stent and balloon coating systems.

去年的銷售包括向清潔能源領域的重要客戶運送四套高 ASP 系統，總額達 340 萬美元。與去年相比，我們全年的電子產品銷售額略有下降 3%，但仍受益於針對半導體市場推出的具有晶圓穿梭功能的全新塗層系統。2025 財年醫療銷售額下降了 22%，主要原因是我們的支架和球囊塗層系統的需求下降。

We are, however, projecting this sector to rebound strongly in FY 2026, led by the increased adoption of our balloon coating systems for some key medical device manufacturers. And as Chris mentioned, we are also pleased to report that we're seeing promising momentum in the medical sector industry as a whole, particularly in interest for our high-volume production systems. Industrial sales were down 47% versus last fiscal year, partially influenced by a float glass coating system that shipped in the prior fiscal year and didn't repeat in the current fiscal year. And by geography, in fiscal 2025, approximately 61% of our sales were to US and Canadian customers.

然而，我們預計該行業將在 2026 財年強勁反彈，這得益於一些主要醫療器材製造商越來越多地採用我們的球囊塗層系統。正如克里斯所提到的，我們也很高興地報告，我們看到整個醫療產業呈現出良好的發展勢頭，尤其是對我們的大批量生產系統的興趣。工業銷售額與上一財年相比下降了 47%，部分原因是上一財年出貨的浮法玻璃塗層系統在本財年沒有重複出現。按地理劃分，到 2025 財年，我們約 61% 的銷售額來自美國和加拿大客戶。

This is compared to 55% in fiscal 2024. Sales in the US and Canada increased 15% or $1.63 million, driven by the delivery of five high ASP systems that totaled $3.94 million, and this is really reinforcing our strategy to provide highly complex, high-volume systems with premium pricing. This represents the largest number of high ASP systems we've ever sold in a single year.

相較之下，2024 財年這一比例為 55%。美國和加拿大的銷售額增加了 15% 或 163 萬美元，這得益於五套高 ASP 系統的交付，總額達 394 萬美元，這確實強化了我們以高價提供高度複雜、大批量系統的策略。這是我們有史以來在一年內銷售的高 ASP 系統數量最多一次。

Growth in the US and Canada region was partially offset by declines in other regions. Latin America sales decreased 34% or $412,000, again, due to a $465,000 float glass coating system sale that went into Mexico that occurred in the prior year, but didn't repeat in the current fiscal 2025.

美國和加拿大地區的成長被其他地區的下降部分抵消。拉丁美洲的銷售額下降了 34% 或 412,000 美元，同樣是由於前一年向墨西哥銷售了價值 465,000 美元的浮法玻璃塗層系統，但在本 2025 財年沒有重複這種情況。

Asian sales declined 16% or $510,000, influenced by continued weak demand from China, where sales fell to $522,000 in fiscal 2025 from $775,000 in fiscal 2024. China now represents approximately 2.5% of total sales, and this is really down significantly from its historic peak. EMEA sales increased 2% or $98,000, supported by multiple system shipments to customers in the green energy sector.

受中國需求持續疲軟的影響，亞洲銷售額下降了 16%，即 51 萬美元，中國銷售額從 2024 財年的 77.5 萬美元下降到 2025 財年的 52.2 萬美元。目前，中國市場約佔總銷售額的 2.5%，與歷史高峰相比大幅下降。由於向綠色能源領域客戶出貨的多個系統，EMEA 地區的銷售額成長了 2% 或 98,000 美元。

And as we look ahead to fiscal 2026, we closed Q4 of FY 2025 with a solid equipment and service-related backlog of $8.6 million. While certainly not at record levels, it represents a healthy starting point for the year and reflects encouraging order activity. This backlog includes two orders of $2.95 million each that we announced over the past year, marking the largest orders in Sono-Tek's histories. We attribute the increase in sales and strong backlog as a direct result of our investments in R&D with a strong focus on product expansion. For the full year, we invested $2.7 million in R&D compared to $2.9 million in the prior fiscal year.

展望 2026 財年，我們在 2025 財年第四季結束時擁有價值 860 萬美元的設備和服務相關積壓訂單。雖然肯定沒有達到創紀錄的水平，但它代表了今年的一個健康起點，並反映了令人鼓舞的訂單活動。這筆積壓訂單包括我們去年宣布的兩份價值各 295 萬美元的訂單，這是 Sono-Tek 史上最大的訂單。我們將銷售額的成長和強勁的積壓訂單直接歸因於我們對研發的投資以及對產品擴展的高度重視。全年我們在研發方面的投資為 270 萬美元，上一財年為 290 萬美元。

In closing, we expect the first half of FY 2025 with continued sales growth and profitability, supported by our solid backlog and steady demand across key markets. While visibility into the full year revenue remains limited at this time, we do still remain confident in our long-term growth prospects.

最後，我們預計，在穩健的訂單量和主要市場穩定的需求的支持下，2025 財年上半年的銷售額和獲利能力將持續成長。雖然目前對全年收入的預測仍然有限，但我們仍然對長期成長前景充滿信心。

Our momentum stems from our deliberate strategic shift to large customized systems with accelerating ASPs and our proprietary ultrasonic atomization technology remains at the core of all of our systems, and we've been able to achieve this significant shift organically through our own development internally -- internal development efforts.

我們的動力源自於我們深思熟慮的策略轉變，轉向加速 ASP 的大型客製化系統，而我們專有的超音波霧化技術仍然是我們所有系統的核心，並且我們已經能夠透過我們自己的內部開發——內部開發努力——有機地實現這一重大轉變。

With that said, I will hand the call over to Steve Bagley, our CFO, to review the financials in more detail. Steve, all yours to proceed.

話雖如此，我將把電話交給我們的財務長史蒂夫·巴格利 (Steve Bagley)，以更詳細地審查財務狀況。史蒂夫，一切都繼續吧。

Very good, Steve. Thank you, and good morning, everyone. I will now walk you through our full year fiscal 2025 results, and then we will open up the call for any questions that you may have. Net sales for the fiscal year increased by 4% to $20.5 million compared to $19.7 million for FY 2024. Gross profit decreased 1% year-over-year or $106,000 to $9.74 million and the gross profit percentage decreased to 47.5% from 50% in the prior year.

非常好，史蒂夫。謝謝大家，早安。我現在將向您介紹我們 2025 財年全年業績，然後我們將開始回答您可能遇到的任何問題。本財年的淨銷售額為 2,050 萬美元，較 2024 財年的 1,970 萬美元成長 4%。毛利年減 1% 至 974 萬美元，或 10.6 萬美元，毛利率從上年的 50% 下降至 47.5%。

The decrease is due to product mix and the reallocation of specific labor expenses from the engineering department to cost of goods sold. This reallocation started in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2024 as an outcome of the completion of several successful R&D endeavors. Operating expenses increased slightly to $8.73 million when compared to $8.66 million for the prior year.

下降的原因是產品組合以及工程部門特定勞動力費用重新分配至銷售成本。此次重新分配始於 2024 財年第四季度，是幾項成功研發工作完成的成果。營運費用略微增加至 873 萬美元，而上一年同期為 866 萬美元。

Research and product development costs decreased to $2.72 million versus $2.89 million in the prior year, and that's primarily due to a decrease in salaries and the reallocation of specific labor expenses from engineering to cost of goods sold. And this reallocation started in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2024 as an outcome of the completion of several successful R&D endeavors.

研究和產品開發成本從去年的 289 萬美元下降至 272 萬美元，主要是由於工資下降以及特定勞動力費用從工程重新分配到銷售成本。此次重新分配始於 2024 財年第四季度，是幾項成功研發工作完成的成果。

Marketing and selling expenses were basically flat at $3.68 million for the year compared to $3.67 million for the prior year. We did have an increase, and that was due to increased commissions and travel and trade show expenses, and those increases were partially offset by a decrease in salary expenses.

本年度行銷和銷售費用基本持平，為 368 萬美元，而前一年為 367 萬美元。我們的支出確實有所增加，這是由於佣金、差旅和貿易展覽費用增加所致，而這些增加部分被工資費用的減少所抵消。

General and administrative expenses increased to $2.33 million for the year compared with $2.1 million in the prior year. The increase is primarily due to increased salaries, legal and audit fees and other corporate expenses. Operating income decreased $172,000 to $1.01 million compared with $1.18 million in the prior year.

本年度一般及行政開支由上一年的 210 萬美元增至 233 萬美元。成長的主要原因是薪資、法律和審計費用以及其他公司費用的增加。營業收入從上年的 118 萬美元減少 17.2 萬美元至 101 萬美元。

And the decrease in operating income is primarily due to a decrease in gross profit combined with an increase in operating expenses. Interest and dividend income decreased to $489,000 for fiscal 2025 compared with $530,000 for fiscal 2024. For fiscal 2025, we recorded a tax provision of $261,000 compared to $303,000 in the prior year.

營業收入的減少主要是由於毛利的減少和營業費用的增加。2025財年的利息和股息收入從2024財年的530,000美元減少至489,000美元。2025 財年，我們記錄的稅務準備金為 261,000 美元，而前一年為 303,000 美元。

Our net income for fiscal 2025 was $1.2 million or $0.08 per share, and that compares with $1.4 million or $0.09 per share for the prior year. The decrease in net income is primarily due to the current period's decrease in gross profit, combined with an increase in operating expenses, partially offset by a decrease in income tax expense.

我們 2025 財年的淨收入為 120 萬美元或每股 0.08 美元，而上一年為 140 萬美元或每股 0.09 美元。淨利潤的減少主要是由於本期毛利的減少，加上營業費用的增加，但被所得稅費用的減少部分抵消。

Our diluted weighted average shares outstanding decreased slightly to approximately 15.77 million, and that compares to 15.774 million shares in fiscal 2024. The decrease is partially due to the share buyback program we put in place in fiscal 2025. We continue to maintain a strong cash position with cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities totaling $11.9 million, and that was at February 28, 2025. And we continue to have no debt on our balance sheet. CapEx for the full year was $496,000, all of which is directed at ongoing upgrades of our manufacturing and development lab facilities.

我們的稀釋加權平均流通股數略微下降至約 1,577 萬股，而 2024 財年為 1,577.4 萬股。下降的部分原因是我們在 2025 財政年度實施的股票回購計畫。我們繼續保持強勁的現金狀況，截至 2025 年 2 月 28 日，現金、現金等價物和有價證券總額為 1,190 萬美元。我們的資產負債表上仍然沒有債務。全年資本支出為 496,000 美元，全部用於持續升級我們的製造和開發實驗室設施。

And we expect to invest approximately $435,000 in new equipment for fiscal year 2026. And with that, we will now open the call for any questions from the audience. Operator, please go ahead.

我們預計 2026 財年將在購買新設備方面投資約 43.5 萬美元。現在，我們將開始回答觀眾的任何問題。接線員，請繼續。

(Operator Instructions) Ted Jackson, Northland Securities.

（操作員指示）北國證券的泰德傑克森。

So I wanted to start off on kind of the [Alta] Energy space. And I know you're not giving guidance for the second half but just understand timing and stuff. So when I look at the backlog at $8 million-plus, a big chunk of that is coming out of Alta Energy. You said you had a couple of large orders within there. And then earlier in the call, you said you had 8 orders in backlog within that world as well.

所以我想從 [Alta] 能源領域開始。我知道你沒有給下半場的指導，只是了解時間安排和其他事情。因此，當我看到積壓訂單金額超過 800 萬美元時，我發現其中很大一部分來自 Alta Energy。您說您在那裡有幾個大訂單。然後在早些時候的通話中，您說過您在該地區也有 8 個訂單積壓。

So do you have eight systems in Alta Energy that are sitting in backlog that will be shipping if they are part of that $8.6 million? Or do you have like a line of sight on eight and you have two systems within current backup? Just to clarify on that part.

那麼，如果 Alta Energy 有 8 個系統積壓在訂單中，並且需要出貨，那麼這些系統是否屬於這 860 萬美元的一部分呢？或者您是否有八條視線並且在當前備份中有兩個系統？只是為了澄清一下那部分。

Sure. Yes. We actually have eight systems that are in that backlog today that are coming from the clean energy sector, all of which will be shipping in the current fiscal year. So it's giving us a strong entrance for Alta Energy, most definitely for this current FY 2026. It will probably ship in two different orders, but it will be -- it's eight systems in total.

當然。是的。事實上，我們目前積壓的八個系統均來自清潔能源領域，所有這些系統都將在本財政年度出貨。因此，這為 Alta Energy 提供了一個強勁的入口，尤其是在目前的 2026 財年。它可能會分兩次發貨，但總共會有八個系統。

And then do you expect those systems to come through your P&L in the first half of '25?

那麼，您是否預期這些系統會在 25 年上半年實現損益？

Yes, I would suspect so. If not all, at least the majority of them will flow through in Q1 or Q2 or a combination of both.

是的，我懷疑如此。如果不是全部，至少其中大部分將在第一季或第二季或兩者的組合中流通。

I mean '26, excuse me.

我的意思是 '26，對不起。

Yes, sorry about that. Q1 and Q2 of FY 2026, correct.

是的，很抱歉。2026 財年第一季和第二季度，正確。

And then -- with regards to the visibility that you have in the second half, a couple of things to noodle around on that front. Have you seen like a softening with regards to demand, a pullback from your customers that's come into play in the last few months? I mean, to be honest, a lot of companies that I have listened to calls with, in particular, saw their businesses, the activity within their markets really softened in April.

然後——關於下半年的可見性，有幾件事需要注意。在過去的幾個月裡，您是否發現需求疲軟，客戶減少的現象？我的意思是，說實話，我聽過的許多公司的電話會議都表明，他們的業務、市場活動在 4 月確實有所減弱。

Did you see something similar to that happen in your world? Is it concentrated in the Alta Energy, which it seems like it might be? Is it all being driven by the current administration's lack of support?

您是否在您的世界中看到過類似的事情發生？它是否集中在阿爾塔能源中，看起來似乎是這樣的？這一切都是因為現任政府缺乏支持嗎？

Yes. I will say that we have seen some apprehension to act quickly from the US-based clean energy sector when it comes to placing orders right now. Fortunately, for us, the majority of our clean energy customer base are making money on their own. Our biggest clean energy customers don't really need significant financial support from the US government.

是的。我想說的是，我們看到美國清潔能源產業在下訂單時有些猶豫不決。幸運的是，對我們來說，大多數清潔能源客戶群都在自己賺錢。我們最大的清潔能源客戶實際上並不需要美國政府的大量財政支持。

But it will certainly affect us to some level depending on how far the US government does pull back from the clean energy support. However, it's important to remember the rest of the world hasn't slowed down at all. When you look at the EU and most of Asia, they're very aggressively investing into the clean energy sector inclusive of the same areas that we're in when it comes to the carbon capture and hydrogen generation. Green hydrogen is still a huge push right now.

但這肯定會對我們產生一定程度的影響，這取決於美國政府在多大程度上減少對清潔能源的支持。然而，重要的是要記住世界其他地區根本沒有放慢腳步。看看歐盟和亞洲大部分地區，他們正在積極投資清潔能源領域，其中包括我們在碳捕獲和氫氣生產方面所處的相同領域。目前，綠色氫氣仍是一大推動力。

So while the US may see some tempering down there slightly, I don't think we're going to see that in other areas of the world, fortunately, for us.

因此，儘管美國可能會略微緩和這種局面，但我認為我們不會在世界其他地區看到這種情況，這對我們來說是幸運的。

And then within those other areas of the world, as you're going through this environment with tariffs and such, I mean, what kind of impact would that have? Would it -- is it -- are you directly impacted by that by how much would your -- is your technology of such that they just have to bite the bullet and take it? How would that play out in terms of how you see it today? I know it's a moving --

那麼在世界其他地區，當你經歷關稅等環境時，這會產生什麼樣的影響？這會不會——會不會——你會受到多大程度的直接影響——你的技術會不會讓他們不得不咬緊牙關接受它？從您今天的角度來看，這將會產生怎樣的結果？我知道這是感人的--

Yes. It's definitely a moving target, but I can tell you right now, we have not seen the tariffs become a major impact to us outside of China. We've just had some guys that were over visiting other areas of Asia, Japan, South Korea, and they had indicated that the currency exchange rates have gotten a little bit more favorable for our customers to buy things of recent.

是的。這肯定是一個不斷變化的目標，但我現在可以告訴你，我們還沒有看到關稅對我們在中國以外地區產生重大影響。我們剛剛接待了一些去亞洲其他地區、日本和韓國的客人，他們表示，最近這些地區的貨幣匯率對我們的顧客來說變得更加有利了。

And the tariff is not enough where they're saying, hey, that's going to impact our decision-making today as they are today. Now of course, anything can change where it could make it better or worse. But at this moment, we're not seeing a significant impact on the tariffs to date. And it seems like the indications are right now that there's going to be some reasonable negotiations coming up. And I think most of our customer base is planning on that happening as well.

而關稅是不夠的，他們說，嘿，這會影響我們今天的決策。當然，任何事情都可能發生變化，可能會使情況變得更好或更糟。但目前為止，我們還沒有看到關稅產生重大影響。現在看來，各種跡象表明，即將出現一些合理的談判。我認為我們的大多數客戶也正在計劃這樣做。

And then my last question, and I'll get out of line because hopefully, there will be another question or two from other people. But you have a lack of visibility in the second half. At what point are we where -- I mean, at what point do you need to see things improve in orders to come in for you to be able to show growth for the year. Let's say, the first half is fine and in the second half, you need to get some business brought in.

這是我的最後一個問題，我將不再贅述，因為希望其他人還會問一兩個問題。但下半場的前景卻缺乏看點。我們處於什麼階段——我的意思是，你需要在什麼時候看到事情有所改善，才能展示今年的成長。假設上半年很好，下半年你需要帶來一些生意。

But you know what I mean like that it could turn around, but you still have to make these systems, you see what I'm saying. So how long would it take you to make systems? Like what's the cutoff point to where the second half becomes kind of even if the things turn around, you're just not going to be able to deliver product in time to get revenue into fiscal '26. You understand what I'm asking?

但你知道我的意思，它可能會好轉，但你仍然必須建立這些系統，你明白我的意思。那麼您需要花多長時間來製作系統？例如，下半年的截止點是什麼時候？即使情況好轉，你也無法及時交付產品，因此無法在 26 財年獲得收入。你明白我在問什麼嗎？

Yes, for sure, Ted. I think we'll see by the time we report our Q1 earnings, which isn't that long from now. Keep in mind that our Q1 ends this month. So we're only a few days away from our Q1 closing. But by the time we report those earnings, I think we should have some pretty clear visibility on the full fiscal year.

是的，當然，泰德。我想我們會在報告第一季收益時看到結果，距離現在並不遠了。請記住，我們的第一季將於本月結束。因此，我們距離第一季結束只有幾天時間了。但當我們報告這些收益時，我認為我們應該對整個財政年度有相當清晰的了解。

We are anticipating based on our forecast, some what could be significant orders for us. And fortunately, they're also coming from sectors that are outside of the clean energy sector, which is nice to see. I mean so much of the work we've developed -- done to develop these high ASP production lines, although they -- our first customers were greatly in the clean energy sector, it's directly transferable over to both the industrial sectors, the medical sectors and the semiconductors, so much of that know-how that we've now developed.

根據我們的預測，我們預計一些訂單可能會對我們很重要。幸運的是，他們也來自清潔能源領域以外的產業，這令人欣慰。我的意思是，我們為開發這些高 ASP 生產線所做的大量工作，儘管我們的第一批客戶主要來自清潔能源領域，但它可以直接轉移到工業領域、醫療領域和半導體領域，我們現在已經開發出了許多這樣的技術訣竅。

So what we're coating today is high ASP machines that are more commonly from the semiconductor and medical sector right now in particular. And if we're able to close those up before we report Q1, I think we could have -- we're hoping for some promising news.

因此，我們今天要介紹的是高 ASP 機器，這些機器目前更常見於半導體和醫療領域。如果我們能夠在報告第一季之前解決這些問題，我想我們可以——我們希望得到一些有希望的消息。

Diversification of revenues is a good thing, Steve. So I wouldn't be disappointed at all.

收入多樣化是件好事，史蒂夫。所以我一點也不會失望。

Bill Nicklin, Circle N Advisors.

Circle N Advisors 的 Bill Nicklin。

Some of which I would like answer, and you've already answered for Ted, but I'll kind of re-ask the question anyway. If you look at your opportunities you're going to drive backlog in the upcoming months, how should that unfold?

其中一些問題我希望得到解答，而且你已經替 Ted 回答過了，但無論如何我還是會重新問這個問題。如果您看一下未來幾個月內您將面臨的積壓機會，那麼該如何展開呢？

Yes. It's kind of similar to what I was telling Ted you that we are seeing strong momentum, in particular, in both the medical and the semiconductor sectors. Our team has really done an outstanding job expanding our high ASP product offering in the clean energy space. And as I mentioned to Ted, we're still continuing to see meaningful contributors to customers going after that area, particularly from the EU and parts of Asia, where the demand remains strong, even as the US market faces some more uncertainty.

是的。這和我告訴泰德的有點類似，我們看到了強勁的發展勢頭，特別是在醫療和半導體領域。我們的團隊在擴大清潔能源領域的高 ASP 產品供應方面確實做得非常出色。正如我向泰德提到的那樣，我們仍然看到對該地區客戶做出重大貢獻的客戶，特別是來自歐盟和亞洲部分地區的客戶，即使美國市場面臨更多不確定性，這些地區的需求仍然強勁。

But what we're especially encouraging is that much of that development and expertise we built in the clean energy sector is directly transferable to other industries. This positions us really well as we introduce new high-value products in the microelectronics and medical markets over the coming year.

但令我們特別鼓舞的是，我們在清潔能源領域取得的大部分發展成果和專業知識可以直接轉移到其他產業。這為我們在未來一年向微電子和醫療市場推出新的高價值產品奠定了良好的基礎。

And that includes expansion of our semiconductor-focused systems. You might remember, we had that newly developed wafer shuttling program. And now we're also focused on advancing the next phase of our semiconductor-specific capabilities evolving beyond our sophisticated lab scale platforms.

其中包括擴展我們以半導體為中心的系統。您可能還記得，我們有新開發的晶圓穿梭程式。現在，我們也致力於推動半導體特定能力的下一階段發展，超越我們複雜的實驗室規模平台。

And those are currently priced in the area of, say, $300,000 approximately, but we're moving more towards production scale systems aimed at semiconductor fabs in particular, where system values can then range from that $500,000 to $1 million area. So that could be another significant jump for us as we head down that path.

目前這些系統的價格大約在 30 萬美元左右，但我們正轉向專門針對半導體工廠的生產規模系統，其係統價值將在 50 萬美元到 100 萬美元之間。因此，這對於我們沿著這條道路前進而言可能是另一個重大飛躍。

Good. And could you be just a little more granular on the medical side, what you're looking at that is different from what you've been serving in the past? And are these new areas going to significantly increase your total addressable market? Or are you just picking up a little here and a little there?

好的。您能否更詳細地介紹一下醫療方面的情況，您所看到的與您過去所服務的情況有什麼不同？這些新領域是否會顯著增加您的整體目標市場？還是你只是在這裡撿一點，在那裡撿一點？

Yes. I think what's significant is now when someone comes to buy a system from us in the Medical market, they're not just buying a $80,000 or $100,000 machine. These more complex systems that we're now developing, which have a lot more capabilities are doubling or tripling the prices of these machines.

是的。我認為重要的是，現在當有人在醫療市場向我們購買系統時，他們購買的不僅僅是一台價值 80,000 美元或 100,000 美元的機器。我們目前正在開發的這些更複雜的系統具有更多的功能，這使得這些機器的價格翻了兩倍或三倍。

And fortunately for us, there is a big increase in demand right now for balloon catheters is an area right now where it's -- we're kind of getting on the ground floor. We have a lot of good customers in that area that purchased a lot of our pilot line and R&D machines, but that's going to be an industry right now that's ready to scale.

對我們來說幸運的是，目前對球囊導管的需求大幅增加，這是我們目前正處於起步階段的領域。我們在該地區有很多優質客戶，他們購買了我們的許多中試生產線和研發機器，但這將是目前一個準備擴大規模的行業。

And we believe we're positioned well for our higher volume machines to scale with our customers. And these are big significant customers. So we are under the impression right now that we have a good probability to capture a good chunk of that marketplace and kind of own that market like we did for stents. But the only difference will be our stent coating systems were only $80,000 to $100,000 machines. I think in the balloon coating area, we're going to be able to capture with possibly $250,000 machines that have a lot more capabilities.

我們相信，我們的高容量機器已做好準備，可以隨著客戶的擴大而擴大規模。這些都是重要的大客戶。因此，我們現在的印像是，我們很有可能佔領該市場的很大一部分份額，並像支架市場一樣擁有該市場。但唯一的區別是我們的支架塗層系統僅為 80,000 至 100,000 美元的機器。我認為在氣球塗層領域，我們將能夠利用可能價值 25 萬美元、功能更強大的機器。

And Bill, just to comment here. It is a newer market segment because if you can't put a stent in because the vessel is too small or what have you, then they are now going with these balloon insertions where it leaves behind antirestenosis drug. And that's really -- I mean, it's been around a little bit in the past, but it's come on very strongly recently.

比爾，我只是想在這裡評論一下。這是一個較新的細分市場，因為如果由於血管太小或其他原因而無法放入支架，那麼他們現在會採用球囊插入術，而留下抗再狹窄藥物。這確實是——我的意思是，它過去曾存在過一點，但最近卻變得非常強烈。

Back to kind of a general question that Sono-Tek has been spending a lot of money in recent years, taking on expense that has pressured your bottom line. In regard to this, what benchmarks do you use to judge what spending is appropriate? And where do you go from here with your spending levels?

回到一個一般性問題，Sono-Tek 近年來花費了大量資金，這些開支給您的底線帶來了壓力。對此，您以什麼標準來判斷什麼樣的支出是適當的？那麼，您的支出水準將如何發展呢？

Yes, yes. Well, you're right. We made some significant investments to support the strategy of expanding our product lines, and we're now just beginning to see the results. In FY 2025, we shipped approximately $6 million in products that were tied to our recent development efforts. And more than half of that total came from what we are defining as those high ASP, high average selling price platforms, which are really the ones that are over like the $500,000 area.

是的，是的。嗯，你說得對。我們進行了一些重大投資來支持擴大產品線的策略，現在我們才剛開始看到成果。在 2025 財年，我們交付了與我們最近的開發工作相關的價值約 600 萬美元的產品。其中超過一半來自我們定義的高平均售價、高平均銷售價格的平台，這些平台的價格實際上超過 50 萬美元。

And the remainder involved existing midsized systems that we were adding increased complexities and capabilities. For example, we'd be transforming $150,000 system conventionally for us into a $300,000 system with a lot more capabilities and complexities. And these efforts, they support our objective to broaden the scope of our full systems offering. It increases the average selling price, delivers greater value to our customers. And we do our best to benchmark the spending against strategic potential growth areas and long-term return on investments.

其餘部分涉及現有的中型系統，我們正在增加這些系統的複雜性和功能。例如，我們將把傳統上價值 15 萬美元的系統改造成功能更強大、更複雜、價值 30 萬美元的系統。這些努力支持了我們擴大全套系統產品範圍的目標。它提高了平均售價，為我們的客戶帶來了更大的價值。我們盡力將支出與策略性潛在成長領域和長期投資回報進行比較。

I noticed I drove by the plant the other day, the place looks terrific. So congratulations on that. But along with that and the expansion that you're taking, what do you see as the potential for efficiencies throughout the manufacturing operation? And is there any low-hanging fruit that you can get there?

我注意到前幾天我開車經過這個工廠，這個地方看起來棒極了。對此我表示祝賀。但是，除了這些以及你們所採取的擴張措施之外，您認為整個製造流程中還存在哪些提高效率的潛力？你能從那裡得到任何唾手可得的成果嗎？

Yes. I mean we're always working to improve operational efficiencies here that with these high ASP systems becoming a bigger part of our product mix, we are very focused on standardizing certain subsystems refining the production flow.

是的。我的意思是，我們一直致力於提高營運效率，隨著這些高 ASP 系統成為我們產品組合中更重要的一部分，我們非常注重標準化某些子系統以改善生產流程。

The idea here is that these efforts will help us to reduce lead times and hopefully improve margins without sacrificing our abilities to make customizations where it matters. So we are making some operational layouts in this manner. And that's a lot of the CapEx spending that you've seen over recent years has been to that idea there of trying to increase our operational efficiencies in those areas.

我們的想法是，這些努力將幫助我們縮短交貨時間，並有望提高利潤率，同時又不犧牲我們在重要時刻進行客製化的能力。所以我們正在以這種方式製定一些操作佈局。近年來，我們看到大量的資本支出都用於提高這些領域的營運效率。

I heard Steve Bagley say something about share repurchases. Where are you with the share repurchasing program as far as getting it completed? And what are the odds that if you get it completed, you could see an increase in the future?

我聽到史蒂夫巴格利談論股票回購。股票回購計畫目前進展如何？如果你完成了它，那麼未來你看到收入成長的幾率有多大？

Yes. Well, of course, as we put out there already, we currently have an active share repurchase program in place, which authorizes it's up to, I believe, $2 million in buybacks. And at this time, we haven't provided guidance beyond that, but I can assure you that the program is definitely something we continue to evaluate closely. It is regularly discussed at the Board level every quarter as part of our capital allocation strategy. But unfortunately, I haven't given guidance beyond that at this point.

是的。嗯，當然，正如我們已經提到的，我們目前有一個積極的股票回購計劃，我相信該計劃授權回購金額高達 200 萬美元。目前，我們還沒有提供進一步的指導，但我可以向你們保證，我們肯定會繼續密切評估該計劃。作為我們資本配置策略的一部分，董事會每季都會定期討論這個問題。但不幸的是，目前我還沒有給予進一步的指導。

Dick Ryan, Oak Ridge Financial.

迪克‧瑞安 (Dick Ryan)，橡樹嶺金融公司。

Steve, I think most things have been asked. I just have a couple more on the end markets. Medical, the positive commentary there, maybe a point of clarification, maybe I didn't have it right. But I thought Medical had been negatively influenced with the softness in China. If that's the case and China continues to be kind of a nonevent, where are you seeing the progress? You mentioned from stents to balloon, but is it a geographical expansion? Or where do you see the growth in the Medical coming from?

史蒂夫，我想大多數問題都已經被問過了。我還有一些關於終端市場的事情。醫學上，那裡的正面評論，也許是一個澄清點，也許我說的不對。但我認為醫療產業受到了中國經濟疲軟的負面影響。如果情況確實如此，而中國繼續無所作為，您認為中國會取得哪些進展？您提到從支架到球囊，但這是地理擴展嗎？或者您認為醫療產業的成長來自哪裡？

Yes, for sure, we have seen a shift in the geographic area for our Medical customers. There was a period of time where China, we had a huge Medical component out of the China marketplace. At this point, China, as I mentioned earlier, it's only 2.5% of our total sales, of which most of that probably is Medical, but it's not a significant marketplace for us any longer. Where we are now picking up the most significant customers in the Medical market is in the US and the EU.

是的，我們確實看到醫療客戶的地理區域發生了變化。曾經有一段時間，我們在中國市場擁有大量醫療零件。目前，正如我之前提到的，中國僅占我們總銷售額的 2.5%，其中大部分可能來自醫療領域，但它不再是我們的重要市場。目前，我們在醫療市場上最重要的客戶是美國和歐盟。

And the US is being our strongest area -- that our systems now due to our increased capabilities, our very basic systems kind of got us into the China market because they wanted very basic systems. The U.S. market and the EU market wanted more complex systems with more controls and capabilities. And that's what we are now delivering to that marketplace.

美國是我們最強大的市場——由於我們系統能力的增強，我們非常基礎的系統讓我們進入了中國市場，因為他們想要非常基礎的系統。美國市場和歐盟市場需要具有更多控制和功能的更複雜的系統。這就是我們現在向市場提供的產品。

These are, I would say, much more sophisticated systems than what we were delivering into the China market by demand of the customer here and our capability to meet that demand. So almost everything we're showing for increases there is coming from either the EU or the US at this point.

我想說，這些系統比我們根據中國客戶的需求和我們滿足該需求的能力向中國市場提供的系統要複雜得多。因此，目前我們所顯示的幾乎所有成長都來自歐盟或美國。

Is this just an evolution to more complex systems? Or are you taking share from somebody else?

這只是朝向更複雜系統的演變嗎？或者您正在從其他人手中奪取份額？

For the Medical market, in particular, we don't do a lot with outsourced partners in this area. We are actually able to pretty much provide the complete solution internally for providing the end systems to that marketplace. So it's nice -- it should be really nice margin systems for us. And great that we've put in most of that R&D effort is already behind us in order to be able to meet the needs of the demands of that market.

特別是對於醫療市場，我們與該領域的外包合作夥伴的合作並不多。實際上，我們能夠在內部提供完整的解決方案，為該市場提供終端系統。所以這很好——這對我們來說應該是一個非常好的保證金制度。值得慶幸的是，我們已經投入了大部分研發精力，以便能夠滿足市場的需求。

And on the Semi side, your commentary kind of is flying in the face of what has been pretty well telegraphed at the state of the Semi marketplace. How are you seeing that more positive commentary? Again, is it similar to Medical where you're getting some of your more complex solutions in front of a fab or two and they're able to kind of evaluate your new capabilities when -- if they're going at capacity, they don't have an opportunity to look at alternative solutions. So how are you making the progress on the Semi side?

而在半導體方面，您的評論有點與半導體市場現狀相反。您如何看待這種更正面的評論？再說一次，這是否與醫療領域類似？在醫療領域，你會在一兩家晶圓廠面前展示一些更複雜的解決方案，他們能夠評估你的新能力——如果他們滿載生產，他們就沒有機會尋找替代解決方案。那麼準決賽方面你們的進展如何？

Yes. For sure, we're offering solutions that the competition can't offer. So for most of the applications we're going into and considering proposals for the fab side, it's typically for a product that has something unique about it, which requires our unique ultrasonic spray. So that's -- we find these opportunities every now and then. And now that we have found the correct strategic partners to develop these complex solutions, and it's mostly in the wafer handling complexities more than anything else.

是的。當然，我們提供的解決方案是競爭對手無法提供。因此，對於我們正在研究並考慮為晶圓廠提出的建議的大多數應用來說，它通常針對具有獨特性的產品，這需要我們獨特的超音波噴塗。所以這就是──我們時不時會發現這些機會。現在我們已經找到了正確的策略夥伴來開發這些複雜的解決方案，其中最主要的是晶圓處理的複雜性。

But we found a great partner there to team up with, which allows us to provide this larger offerings. And like I said, I think our first proposal that we've just recently put out there increased the machine that we would have normally sold for about $300,000 to around $850,000. But more importantly, our machine would have never even been considered for that fab if we didn't have those increased capabilities to team up with our basic machine also.

但我們找到了一個很棒的合作夥伴，這使我們能夠提供更廣泛的產品。正如我所說的，我認為我們最近提出的第一個提案將機器的價格從通常的 30 萬美元左右提高到了 85 萬美元左右。但更重要的是，如果我們沒有這些增強的功能與我們的基本機器配合，我們的機器甚至永遠不會被考慮用於該工廠。

So that's what's most important is that we wouldn't have even been in the running for that order without having this increased capability.

因此，最重要的是，如果沒有這種增強的能力，我們甚至不可能獲得該訂單。

Whose technology is the robotic wafer handling? Is it yours? Is it your partners? And is that an opportunity where you could kind of bring that in-house at some point, either organically or through acquisitions?

機器人晶圓處理是誰的技術？這是你的嗎？是你的合作夥伴嗎？這是否是一個機會，您可以在某個時候將其引入公司內部，無論是有機發展還是透過收購？

Both are possible. The partner we found is a very good strategic partner for us. They're not that far away. We're not sharing their name, but -- and what's nice with this partner that they are very used to working with companies like Sono-Tek. This is actually their business model is to team up with companies like Sono-Tek, which have unique capabilities and have a really good front end of the organization to get into the semiconductor fabs.

兩種情況都有可能。我們找到的合作夥伴對我們來說是一個非常好的策略夥伴。他們距離並不是那麼遠。我們不會透露他們的名字，但是——這個合作夥伴的優點在於他們非常習慣與 Sono-Tek 這樣的公司合作。這實際上是他們的商業模式，即與 Sono-Tek 等公司合作，這些公司擁有獨特的能力，並且擁有非常好的組織前端，可以進入半導體晶圓廠。

I mean that's one thing that we're usually quite successful on is introduction of new products when we can find a targeted market. And our application engineering expertise really comes into play because if we can bring them into our lab, prove that we can meet the needs for what they're looking to achieve in their fab, then you're really in the door as long as you can show that you can provide that full system solution.

我的意思是，當我們找到目標市場時，我們通常能夠非常成功地推出新產品。我們的應用工程專業知識確實發揮了作用，因為如果我們可以將它們帶入我們的實驗室，證明我們可以滿足他們在晶圓廠中想要實現的需求，那麼只要您能證明您可以提供完整的系統解決方案，您就真的進入了大門。

Bill Nicklin, Circle N Advisors.

Circle N Advisors 的 Bill Nicklin。

On the Medical side, if we look back at the total addressable market for you in the stent business, and what you were selling to China and I guess some US companies, too. If you look at what you're seeing now in the Medical side, can you compare -- and where you're looking at these larger production machines, could you give me some idea of the total addressable market in the new areas that you're addressing relative to the total addressable market in the stent market that -- the old traditional stent market?

在醫療方面，如果我們回顧一下支架業務的整體可尋址市場，以及您向中國和一些美國公司銷售的產品。如果您看一下現在醫療方面的情況，您能否進行比較 - 並且，當您查看這些大型生產機器時，您能否給我一些關於您所針對的新領域的總目標市場相對於支架市場的總目標市場 - 舊的傳統支架市場的總目標市場的概念？

Yes. I think the number of machines ultimately could be similar to where we were at with the stents, say, 10 years ago. For example, you take the Chinese market right now, even though we don't sell a ton in China right now, we still believe we will not dominate that marketplace because they bought our machines over so many years, where we have sold hundreds of stent coating machines into that marketplace in the area of probably 200 machines in total, it could be even higher than that off the top of my head, but it's in that ballpark-ish area.

是的。我認為最終機器的數量可能與 10 年前的支架數量相似。以現在的中國市場為例，儘管我們現在在中國的銷量不多，但我們仍然相信我們不會主導這個市場，因為他們多年來一直購買我們的機器，我們已經向該市場銷售了數百台支架塗佈機，總共大概有 200 台機器，我腦海中的數字可能甚至更高，但大概就是這個範圍。

And I think there's no reason to think that we couldn't be selling similar volumes of our balloon coating systems. But the difference is instead of selling inexpensive machines at, say, $50,000 to $70,000 in China, we could be selling machines that are close to the $200,000 range, a little bit higher than that, but in the US and European market, they have a lot more capabilities.

我認為沒有理由認為我們無法銷售類似數量的氣球塗層系統。但不同之處在於，我們在中國不會銷售價格低廉的機器，例如 5 萬到 7 萬美元，而是銷售接近 20 萬美元的機器，價格略高一些，但在美國和歐洲市場，它們的功能要強大得多。

So the dollar value, I think you've told me you're looking at 2 to 3 times greater revenue potential in what you're filling now or intend to fill?

那麼，就美元價值而言，我想您已經告訴我，您現在正在填補或打算填補的職位的收入潛力將增加 2 到 3 倍？

Correct. And this is all new market compared to the stent market is a very mature market at this point, established, but there's a lot of growth happening in the area where the stent market is continuing to stay -- a lot of our customers in that area, especially over (inaudible) likely not purchase a new machine for some years, but certainly will be.

正確的。與支架市場相比，這完全是一個新市場，目前支架市場已經非常成熟，但該領域仍有很大的成長空間，支架市場將繼續保持成長態勢——我們在該領域的許多客戶，尤其是（聽不清楚）可能在幾年內不會購買新機器，但肯定會購買。

Yes. I'd like to make a comment, Bill, some of the market research that you can tone into online about the (inaudible) being $8.2 billion growing at 7.7% and then the catheter, which is what we're talking about as a newer area for us, well, it's $2 billion, and it's growing at 6.5%. So these are really healthy markets that we've tapped into. And I think what Steve is saying, we really are trying to focus in on those two areas. We've been in the stent coating business for a long time. But when you look at that growth rate, there might be more opportunities there for us.

是的。比爾，我想對一些你可以在網上查閱的市場研究發表一下看法，關於（聽不清楚）82 億美元的市場規模，增長率為 7.7%，然後是導管市場，也就是我們所說的較新的領域，嗯，它是 20 億美元，增長率為 6.5%。所以，這些都是我們真正涉足的健康市場。我認為正如史蒂夫所說，我們確實在努力集中精力於這兩個領域。我們從事支架塗層業務已有很長時間。但當你看到這個成長率時，我們可能會有更多的機會。

Right. Because I see back a few months ago, you introduced a catheter coating machine. So I imagine that, that just visually even if you look at the coating of catheters, it would appear to be a larger market requiring larger production machines than what you've been coating. Is that accurate?

正確的。因為我看到幾個月前你們推出了一種導管塗層機。因此，我可以想像，即使從視覺上看導管塗層，它似乎是一個比你一直在塗層的更大的市場，需要更大的生產機器。這樣準確嗎？

Yes. A set that I personally have not thought about before, but that is separate catheter coatings, but there's also just catheter coatings treating some of the infections that are caused by the great use of catheters these days in hospital settings. So in a way, what we thought was 1 market has become 3 markets, we certainly can pursue them all with our equipment.

是的。我個人以前從未想過這一組，但那是單獨的導管塗層，但也有導管塗層可以治療當今醫院環境中大量使用導管所引起的一些感染。因此從某種程度上來說，我們認為的 1 個市場已經變成了 3 個市場，我們當然可以用我們的設備去開拓所有市場。

(Operator Instructions) [Daniel Bouchin], Private Investor.

(操作員指示)[Daniel Bouchin]，私人投資者。

I've just got sort of two questions. Apologies, I'm from England. So there might be a bit of delay on the call. So the first question for me is, I understand sort of the kick that we get from the high average selling prices. But how does that really translate to us as investors?

我有兩個問題。抱歉，我來自英國。因此通話可能會有點延遲。所以對我來說第一個問題是，我理解高平均售價帶給我們的衝擊。但這對我們投資人來說究竟意味著什麼呢？

Because I would assume that the gross margins are fairly similar for that. And also, I would also assume that there's not so much operating leverage because a lot of these high ASP machines will have a fair amount of application engineering anyway. So I'm just wondering, Steve, what's the sort of the real benefit of these high ASP machines?

因為我認為它們的毛利率相當相似。而且，我還認為營運槓桿不會那麼大，因為許多高 ASP 機器無論如何都會有相當多的應用工程。所以我只是想知道，史蒂夫，這些高 ASP 機器的真正好處是什麼？

Yes. Good question, Daniel. I think the big benefit, and as you mentioned, the margins are similar. I think we will start to see some leverage, but it may not be a huge amount of leverage as things go forward. But most importantly, these high ASP machines are primarily directed into high-volume manufacturing operations where our historical machines were very much focused towards R&D and pilot line machines.

是的。問得好，丹尼爾。我認為最大的好處是，正如您所提到的，利潤率是相似的。我認為我們將開始看到一些槓桿作用，但隨著事態的發展，它可能不會產生巨大的槓桿作用。但最重要的是，這些高 ASP 機器主要用於大量製造業務，而我們的歷史機器主要集中在研發和試線機器。

So we'd sell one, two, maybe five machines, and then they would have to transition over to the production machines, which we couldn't supply. But the difference is the production machines, no one ever wants to buy one, two, or five production machines. That's where they're usually looking to buy 10, 20 production machines.

因此，我們會銷售一台、兩台，也許五台機器，然後他們必須轉換到我們無法提供的生產機器。但不同之處在於量產機器，沒有人願意購買一台、兩台或五台量產機。他們通常希望購買 10 到 20 台生產機器。

So I think we'll -- it's kind of exponential because you start to see a higher priced machine, but the demand for the number of the machines significantly increases if you can sell production volume machines versus the R&D and pilot volume machines. And that's when you can really start to see some...

所以我認為我們會——這是一種指數級增長，因為你會開始看到價格更高的機器，但如果你可以銷售量產機器而不是研發和中試量產機器，那麼對機器數量的需求就會顯著增加。那時你才真正開始看到一些…

Yes, that makes sense. And within the balloon catheters, all of this sort of stuff, is there -- are those sort of capped around $300,000? Or are there -- is there the possibility for single machines to be of the same level as we have in alternative energy, millions of dollars?

是的，這很有道理。那麼在球囊導管內，所有這類東西的價格上限是否在 30 萬美元左右？或者說——單台機器是否可能達到與替代能源相同的水平，價值數百萬美元？

Yes. I think for this particular -- at this stage, this is -- the customers we're dealing with there right now actually have been using our R&D machines to start that were in that $80,000 to $120,000 machines area. They've now received first the pilot line machines and now are going through the process of production volume machines, which put them again up towards that $250,000 area. I don't believe our first introduction of this will be beyond that. But if we could sell a couple of hundred machines to various customers that are in that $250,000 area, that would be a pretty good success for us.

是的。我認為就這一點而言——在現階段——我們目前正在處理的客戶實際上已經開始使用我們的研發機器，這些機器的價格在 80,000 美元到 120,000 美元之間。他們現在已經收到了第一批試驗線機器，現在正在進行量產機器的過程，這使他們的目標再次達到 25 萬美元。我不相信我們對此的第一次介紹會超出這個範圍。但如果我們能夠向各個價值在 25 萬美元左右的客戶銷售幾百台機器，那對我們來說就是一個相當大的成功了。

With that said, I think there is a chance, though, in the next follow-on stage to possibly increase the offering there even further. There are processes that sit before and after the actual coating stage. So that is always something that we're always looking to do. Every time we accomplish one stage, we always move on to the next stage. It's kind of like that first jump we made in the semiconductor machine that we went from selling $100,000 one up and now we're up to around $300,000 machine.

話雖如此，我認為在下一個後續階段仍有機會進一步增加產品供應。在實際塗層階段之前和之後都有一些工序。所以這始終是我們一直想要做的事情。每當我們完成一個階段，我們總是會進入下一個階段。這有點像我們在半導體機器領域取得的第一次飛躍，我們從一台機器的售價約 10 萬美元上升到現在的 30 萬美元。

And now we're taking that $300,000 machine and saying, all right, how do we make it into a $500,000 to $1 million machine. So I suspect there could be a similar evolution there to happen. It probably in the medical sector for balloon catheter in particular, it probably won't happen this year, but it could potentially happen in the future years.

現在我們要把這台價值 30 萬美元的機器改造成價值 50 萬到 100 萬美元的機器。所以我懷疑那裡可能會發生類似的演變。它可能在醫療領域，特別是在球囊導管領域，今年可能不會發生，但在未來幾年可能會發生。

Okay. And then two final questions. How successful do you think Sono-Tek is as a stand-alone business? Like would it be the case that you think Sono-Tek could benefit from some sort of integration within another company or something like that? Like how well do you think it's running as a stand-alone business?

好的。最後還有兩個問題。您認為 Sono-Tek 作為獨立企業有多成功？您是否認為 Sono-Tek 可以從與其他公司或類似公司的某種整合中受益？您認為它作為獨立企業運作得如何？

I think we still have a long runway ahead of us with a lot of organic growth potential. With that said, I think as we start to reach this sort of critical mass or when you start to get that $20 million to $40 million area, I think when we're up and around that $40 million area, we will probably become on the radar of a lot of companies is my suspicion because that kind of seems like it's a critical area when you hit it right around $40 million.

我認為我們還有很長的路要走，並且有很大的有機成長潛力。話雖如此，我認為當我們開始達到這種臨界規模或當你開始進入 2,000 萬美元到 4,000 萬美元的領域時，我認為當我們達到 4,000 萬美元左右時，我們可能會進入很多公司的視線，我懷疑因為當你達到 4,000 萬美元左右時，這似乎是一個關鍵領域。

And I think that Sono-Tek, although we believe in our organic growth ourselves, but if someone came to acquire us and if it was the right decision for the stockholders and the right decision for the employees, we would always consider anything -- any opportunities that way as well.

我認為，儘管我們自己相信 Sono-Tek 的有機成長，但如果有人來收購我們，並且這對股東和員工來說都是正確的決定，我們也會考慮任何事情——任何機會。

But like I said, I think the road ahead of us right now, we can do a lot just organic growth. And if we find the right acquisition partner and opportunity, we would still always ourselves even look at an acquisition because we are in a very healthy cash position to make very synergistic acquisitions if they made sense for us.

但就像我說的，我認為我們現在可以做很多事情來實現有機成長。如果我們找到合適的收購夥伴和機會，我們仍然會考慮收購，因為我們的現金狀況非常健康，如果收購對我們有意義的話，我們可以進行非常具有協同效應的收購。

And do you have any guidance on CapEx? Maybe you've published it, but do you have any guidance on that for 2026 and also somewhat 2027?

您對資本支出有什麼指導嗎？也許您已經發布了它，但是您對 2026 年以及 2027 年有什麼指導嗎？

Yes. We actually anticipated CapEx to drop just a little bit this year. I think we were around $500,000 last year. And this year, I think we're anticipating it to be around $430,000. And the reason for that is that we actually made a lot of really significant investments over the last three years into our facilities, into being prepared for growth in the facilities.

是的。實際上，我們預計今年的資本支出將略有下降。我認為去年我們的收入大約是 50 萬美元。今年，我認為我們預計這一數字將達到 43 萬美元左右。原因在於，我們在過去三年中對我們的設施進行了大量的重要投資，為設施的成長做好了準備。

So a lot of what we had to do in preparation to be heading towards $40 million, those expenses have already been incurred. So it's not like we're really slowing anything down there. It's just we are -- we've made a lot of the investments already.

因此，為了達到 4,000 萬美元的目標，我們所做的許多準備工作，這些費用已經發生過了。所以這並不意味著我們真的在減緩任何事情。只是我們已經進行了大量投資。

[Andy Newby, Newby Investments]

[安迪紐比，紐比投資公司]

I'm just curious how you guys are focused on, if at all, with battery technology. You mentioned wafer technology. I'm just curious if you're in the space of EV battery fabs or not.

我只是好奇你們是如何關注電池技術的？您提到了晶圓技術。我只是好奇您是否從事電動車電池製造業。

Sure, Andy. Yes, it's a good question. There's two primary areas that we've been involved in battery. One is thin film batteries, and that's kind of a newer R&D area of batteries, but it's a fastly growing area, and they're often applying nano coatings. And we certainly have a presence primarily in the R&D market for these new thin film batteries.

當然，安迪。是的，這是個好問題。我們主要涉及電池的兩個領域。一個是薄膜電池，這是一個較新的電池研發領域，但它是一個快速成長的領域，它們經常應用奈米塗層。我們主要在這些新型薄膜電池的研發市場佔有一席之地。

That's unlike a lithium battery. Then independent of that, we have a customer base that is using our ultrasonic coating systems to apply a protective barrier coating onto lithium batteries. And this is associated with the fire dangers of batteries.

這與鋰電池不同。除此之外，我們還有一個客戶群，他們正在使用我們的超音波塗層系統在鋰電池上施加保護性屏障塗層。這與電池的火災危險有關。

Right now, they wrap batteries with a material to present -- to reduce the chances of a flame occurring or a fire occurring. And there is a pretty big push right now to see if that can be done through a spray coating technique to increase the reliability of that barrier coating working.

現在，他們用一種材料包裹電池，以減少火焰或火災的可能性。目前我們正在大力研究是否可以透過噴塗技術來實現這一點，以提高阻隔塗層工作的可靠性。

And that's the other area of exploration that we are involved in and pretty significantly in that area as well. The actual lithium battery materials themselves, we don't really get involved into us just because they're so thick that they can't typically be coated. But the barrier coating, we most certainly -- it's an active area in our labs and with our customers.

這是我們參與的另一個探索領域，在該領域也發揮了相當重要的作用。對於實際的鋰電池材料本身，我們並沒有真正深入研究，因為它們太厚了，通常無法進行塗層處理。但我們最肯定的是，阻隔塗層是我們實驗室和客戶中一個活躍的領域。

Okay. So would you say that that's something that you are developing? Is it necessarily something you're selling? Or you have active customers that are purchasing those kinds of solutions from Sono-Tek?

好的。那麼你會說這是你正在開發的東西嗎？這一定是你要賣的東西嗎？或者您有活躍的客戶正在從 Sono-Tek 購買此類解決方案？

Active customers that are both working with us and to some level purchasing, but it's mostly on the R&D stage purchasing. But we -- it's one of those areas that we spend, in particular, more time on than a lot of applications because we believe this has got some legs.

活躍的客戶既與我們合作，也進行一定程度的採購，但主要是在研發階段的採購。但是，這是我們花費時間比許多應用程式更多的領域之一，因為我們相信它有一定的發展空間。

So when we identify a market that we think, oh, this could really take off and become big, we really try to dive in deep and get a lot of application know-how and understanding that for those. So it's an area that we have quite a bit of depth in and we believe in the future of it, even though it's small right now.

因此，當我們確定一個我們認為可能真正起飛並變得龐大的市場時，我們就會真正嘗試深入研究並獲得大量的應用知識和理解。因此，我們對這個領域有相當深入的了解，我們相信它的未來，儘管現在這個領域還很小。

This concludes our question-and-answer session. I would like to turn the conference back over to Mr. Stephen Harshbarger for any closing remarks. Please go ahead, sir. Mr. Harshbarger, your line is open for closing remarks.

我們的問答環節到此結束。我想將會議交還給史蒂芬‧哈什巴格先生，請他作最後發言。先生，請繼續。哈什巴格先生，您可以發表結束語了。

Thank you. I apologize. I think I just hit the mute button by mistake there. Well, thank you all for joining us today. Sono-Tek's long-term outlook remains strong, supported by the continued success of our newly developed high ASP platforms across advanced technology markets.

謝謝。我很抱歉。我想我只是錯誤地按下了靜音按鈕。好吧，感謝大家今天加入我們。Sono-Tek 的長期前景依然強勁，這得益於我們新開發的高 ASP 平台在先進技術市場的持續成功。

We look forward to sharing our fiscal 2026 results during our next call in October. And in the meantime, please don't hesitate to reach out to myself or Dr. Coccio with any questions that you may have. And thanks again. Enjoy the rest of your day, and we look forward to talking to you again in the future.

我們期待在 10 月的下次電話會議上分享我們的 2026 財年業績。同時，如果您有任何問題，請隨時與我或 Coccio 博士聯繫。再次感謝。祝您今天過得愉快，我們期待將來再次與您交談。

The conference has now concluded. Thank you for attending today's presentation. You may now disconnect.

會議現已結束。感謝您參加今天的演講。您現在可以斷開連線。