SunPower Corporation (SPWR) 2023 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Good morning. Welcome to SunPower Corporation's Third Quarter 2023 Thirs quarter call. (Operator Instructions). Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded. I would now like to turn the call over to Mr. Mike Weinstein, Vice President of Investor Relations at SunPower Corporation. Thank you, sir. You may begin.

早安.歡迎參加 SunPower Corporation 2023 年第三季電話會議。 （操作員說明）。請注意，今天的會議正在錄製中。我現在想將電話轉給 SunPower Corporation 投資者關係副總裁 Mike Weinstein 先生。謝謝你，先生。你可以開始了。

Good morning. I would like to welcome everyone to our third quarter 2023 earnings conference call. On the call today, we will begin with comments from Peter Faricy, CEO of SunPower, who will provide an update on third quarter announcements and business highlights, followed by an update on 2023 guidance, including recent sales trends, backlog, operating expense and financing.

早安.歡迎大家參加我們的 2023 年第三季財報電話會議。在今天的電話會議上，我們將首先聽取SunPower 首席執行官Peter Faricy 的評論，他將提供第三季度公告和業務亮點的最新信息，然後是2023 年指導的最新信息，包括最近的銷售趨勢、積壓訂單、營運費用和融資。

Following Peter's comments, Beth Eby, SunPower's CFO, will then review our financial results. As a reminder, a replay of the call will be available later today on the Investor Relations page of the website. During today's call, we will make forward-looking statements that are subject to various risks and uncertainties as described in the safe harbor slide of today's presentation, today's press release, our 2022 10-K and our quarterly reports on Form 10-Q.

在 Peter 發表評論後，SunPower 財務長 Beth Eby 將審查我們的財務表現。謹此提醒，今天稍晚將在網站的投資者關係頁面上提供電話會議的重播。在今天的電話會議中，我們將做出前瞻性聲明，這些聲明受到今天簡報的安全港幻燈片、今天的新聞稿、我們的2022 年10-K 和10-Q 表季度報告中所述的各種風險和不確定性的影響。

As we disclosed on October 24 in a Form 8-K filing, the company plans to restate as soon as practicable for financial statements for the 2022 10-K and the first and second quarter 10-Qs for 2023. Please see those documents for additional information regarding those factors that may affect these forward-looking statements. Also, we will reference certain non-GAAP metrics during today's call. Please refer to the appendix of our presentation as well as today's earnings press release for the appropriate GAAP to non-GAAP reconciliations.

正如我們在10 月24 日在8-K 表格文件中披露的那樣，該公司計劃在可行的情況下盡快重述2022 年10-K 財務報表以及2023 年第一季和第二季10-Q 報表。請參閱這些文件以了解更多資訊有關可能影響這些前瞻性陳述的因素的資訊。此外，我們將在今天的電話會議中參考某些非公認會計準則指標。請參閱我們簡報的附錄以及今天的收益新聞稿，以了解適當的 GAAP 與非 GAAP 調整表。

Finally, to enhance this call, we've also posted a set of PowerPoint slides, which we will reference during the call on the Events and Presentations page of the Investor Relations website. For prior periods, we have presented our best preliminary estimate of historical period financial information pending the outcome of the aforementioned restatement. We are also delaying the reposting or the posting of our supplemental data sheet detailing additional historical metrics until we have completed this restatement of historical financial information. And with that, I'd like to turn the call over to Peter Faricy, CEO of SunPower. Peter?

最後，為了增強本次電話會議的效果，我們也發布了一組 PowerPoint 投影片，我們將在電話會議期間在投資者關係網站的活動和簡報頁面上參考這些投影片。對於先前期間，我們已提出了歷史期間財務資訊的最佳初步估計，以待上述重述結果。我們也將推遲重新發布或發布詳細說明其他歷史指標的補充資料表，直到我們完成歷史財務資訊的重述。說到這裡，我想將電話轉給 SunPower 執行長 Peter Faricy。彼得？

Thanks, Mike, and good morning, everyone. Today, I will discuss our Q3 2023 results, our update to our full year 2023 guidance based on the latest information on markets and our progress with cost reduction and our view of the important factors that could affect 2024. In the third quarter, we continued to see difficult market conditions with a contraction in customer bookings and installations that is more persistent than we had previously forecast as a result of the higher impact of higher interest rates on consumer behavior.

謝謝麥克，大家早安。今天，我將討論我們2023 年第三季的業績、我們根據最新市場資訊對2023 年全年指引的更新、我們在成本削減方面的進展以及我們對可能影響2024 年的重要因素的看法。在第三季度，我們繼續由於利率上升對消費者行為的影響更大，市場形勢嚴峻，客戶預訂和安裝量下降的情況比我們先前預測的更為持久。

While these trends have continued longer and deeper than we expected this year, we will highlight some of the early positive signs in our sales channels that began materializing in September. We continue to anticipate our growing value proposition for our customers as traditional energy costs rise and we expect an improved picture for SunPower and the entire residential solar industry in 2024.

雖然這些趨勢比我們今年預期的持續時間更長、更深，但我們將重點介紹 9 月開始顯現的銷售管道中的一些早期積極跡象。隨著傳統能源成本的上升，我們繼續預計我們為客戶提供的價值主張將不斷增長，我們預計 SunPower 和整個住宅太陽能產業的前景將在 2024 年得到改善。

We reported a negative $1 million of adjusted EBITDA this quarter from 18,800 new customer additions, slower bookings this summer and higher installation expenses were the primary drivers of lower results this quarter. As we will discuss in more detail later, we have reduced our 2023 guidance to reflect current market conditions to new ranges of 70,000 to 80,000 new customers, $600 to $700 of adjusted EBITDA per customer before platform investment -- platform investment of $70 million to $90 million and adjusted EBITDA of negative $35 million to negative $25 million.

我們報告稱，本季新增客戶 18,800 名，調整後 EBITDA 為負 100 萬美元，今年夏季預訂速度放緩以及安裝費用增加是本季業績下降的主要原因。正如我們稍後將更詳細討論的那樣，我們已將2023 年指引降低至70,000 至80,000 名新客戶的新範圍，以反映當前的市場狀況，平台投資前每個客戶的調整後EBITDA 為600 至700美元－平台投資為7,000 萬至90 美元百萬美元，調整後的 EBITDA 為負 3,500 萬美元至負 2,500 萬美元。

These new ranges reflect the impact of lower-than-expected consumer demand and the delayed revenue recognition as cycle times have increased under higher lease volumes. We expect that our actions announced today to deepen our cost reduction will result in the realization of meaningful improvement to our operating expenses in 2024 as we aim to maintain financial strength through the weaker near-term market conditions.

這些新的範圍反映了消費者需求低於預期的影響以及由於租賃量增加而導致周期時間增加而導致收入確認延遲的影響。我們預計，今天宣布的深化成本削減行動將在 2024 年實現營運支出的顯著改善，因為我們的目標是在近期市場狀況疲軟的情況下保持財務實力。

Please turn to Slide 4. We added 18,800 new customers in Q3. And while we are currently facing stormy seas, we are highlighting some of the more notable pockets of strength in the business here. SunPower's new home business continues to perform above expectations, with installations growing 26% in Q3 versus Q2, and a 38,000 new homes in backlog. Sales continue to be driven in part by the growth of solar standard communities outside of California and a strong market for builders despite higher mortgage rates.

請參閱投影片 4。第三季我們增加了 18,800 名新客戶。雖然我們目前面臨著波濤洶湧的大海，但我們還是重點強調了這裡業務中一些更顯著的優勢。 SunPower 的新房業務持續表現高於預期，第三季安裝量較第二季成長 26%，積壓新房數量為 38,000 套。儘管抵押貸款利率較高，但加州以外太陽能標準社區的成長以及建築商市場的強勁仍然推動了銷售的成長。

SunPower's retrofit backlog stands at 18,100 customers, while higher lease volumes have increased the average time from booking to revenue recognition, we expect to complete the installation of substantially all of our California NEM 2.0 backlog this year. Adjusted EBITDA per customer was $1,000 before platform investment with room to improve next year as average inventory cost and installation costs are expected to continue their declines.

SunPower 的改造積壓客戶數量為 18,100 名，而較高的租賃量增加了從預訂到收入確認的平均時間，我們預計今年將完成幾乎所有加州 NEM 2.0 積壓的安裝。在平台投資之前，每位客戶調整後的 EBITDA 為 1,000 美元，明年還有改善的空間，因為平均庫存成本和安裝成本預計將繼續下降。

SunVault energy storage system sales continue to show strength with a California attach rate greater than 60% and an overall attach rate of more than 25% across our sales channels. We expect to deplete our inventory of SunVault V1 models by early 2024. Battery storage costs are declining rapidly, and this is an important part of the value proposition for customers, especially in California, where NEM 3.0 reduced the benefits of net metering with the utilities.

SunVault 儲能係統銷售持續表現強勁，加州附加率超過 60%，整個銷售通路的整體附加率超過 25%。我們預計在 2024 年初耗盡 SunVault V1 型號的庫存。電池儲存成本正在迅速下降，這是客戶價值主張的重要組成部分，尤其是在加州，NEM 3.0 降低了公用事業公司淨計量的優勢。

SunPower Financials reached a 56% customer attach rate for lease and loan products in the third quarter, well on its way to achieving the 65% to 75% target that we highlighted at last year's Analyst Day. Lease demand continues to grow with a 217% increase in contracted volumes in Q3. As noted previously, further growth for leasing is expected in 2023 and beyond, due to a combination of lease payment competitiveness versus higher utility bills and bonus tax incentives under the inflation Reduction Act. Sun Power remains customer-centric and agnostic towards lease or loan financing, and we believe that our current access to capital markets as a top-tier residential solar company is a major competitive advantage.

SunPower Financials 第三季的租賃和貸款產品客戶附著率達到 56%，距離我們在去年分析師日強調的 65% 至 75% 目標大有進展。租賃需求持續成長，第三季合約量成長 217%。如前所述，由於租賃支付競爭力與更高的公用事業費用以及《通貨膨脹減少法案》下的獎金稅收優惠相結合，預計租賃業務將在 2023 年及以後進一步增長。 Sun Power 仍然以客戶為中心，對租賃或貸款融資持不可知論態度，我們相信，我們目前作為頂級住宅太陽能公司進入資本市場是一個主要的競爭優勢。

Please turn to Slide #5. With over 60,000 new customers so far this year, we've tightened the guidance for our full year 2023 range to 70,000 to 80,000 customers. While it may be early to call a turnaround trend, we want to highlight that we're seeing in September as bookings appeared to improve sharply versus prior months. Particularly in key states such as California, Texas, Florida and Colorado. We continue to see some of these same improvement trends in October. The bottom line is that the steep year-over-year sales contraction that we've been seeing, since May has improved marketably in September and October. We're optimistic that these booking trends will continue and help boost the installation and customer recognition figures in the first half of 2024. Please turn to Slide #6. We reduced our 2023 guidance this quarter, and I will disclose the factors that led us to take this action as well as some of the remedies as we continue to pursue as we aim for a better outcome in 2024.

請翻到幻燈片#5。今年到目前為止，我們已經擁有超過 60,000 名新客戶，我們已將 2023 年全年的客戶範圍收緊至 70,000 至 80,000 名客戶。雖然現在說出現好轉趨勢可能還為時過早，但我們想強調的是，我們在 9 月看到預訂量似乎比前幾個月大幅增加。特別是在加利福尼亞州、德克薩斯州、佛羅裡達州和科羅拉多州等關鍵州。我們在 10 月繼續看到一些相同的改善趨勢。最重要的是，自 5 月以來我們所看到的年比銷售大幅收縮在 9 月和 10 月的市場情況有所改善。我們樂觀地認為，這些預訂趨勢將持續下去，並有助於提高 2024 年上半年的安裝量和客戶認可度。請參閱投影片#6。我們本季降低了 2023 年指導，我將揭露導致我們採取這項行動的因素以及我們繼續採取的一些補救措施，以期在 2024 年取得更好的結果。

As I mentioned earlier, we've tightened the customer range to 70,000 to 80,000. While September and October booking trends are indeed positive, we are nonetheless affected by the slower pace of bookings this past summer that will slow our customer recognition. We continue to face some delays in the California system activation from the state's utilities, although we've seen recent significant improvements from earlier this year.

正如我之前提到的，我們已將客戶範圍收緊至 70,000 至 80,000 名。雖然 9 月和 10 月的預訂趨勢確實是正面的，但我們仍然受到去年夏天預訂速度放緩的影響，這將降低我們的客戶認可。儘管我們已經看到今年早些時候的重大改進，但我們仍然面臨加州公用事業公司激活加州系統的一些延遲。

New Homes backlog and customer bookings have exceeded our expectations, and we had our best Q3 for customer bookings for new homes in the company's history. New Homes is on track to comprise 15% to 20% of our total 2023 customers. Reduced guidance for 2023 EBITDA of negative minus $35 million to negative $25 million and EBITDA per customer before platform investment of $600 to $700, reflected the higher cost of goods sold and the amortization of installation spread acros lower-than-expected volume. The increase in lease volumes, which is a positive trend that ultimately boost sales origination fees nonetheless results in extended cycle times for revenue recognition versus loans and cash sales.

新房積壓和客戶預訂量超出了我們的預期，我們第三季的新房客戶預訂量創下了公司歷史上最好的成績。新住宅預計將占我們 2023 名客戶總數的 15% 至 20%。將 2023 年 EBITDA 指導值下調至負 3,500 萬美元至負 2,500 萬美元，平台投資前每位客戶的 EBITDA 下調至負 600 至 700 美元，反映出銷售商品成本較高以及安裝價差攤銷低於預期。租賃量的增加是一個正面的趨勢，最終會提高銷售起始費，但與貸款和現金銷售相比，會導致收入確認的週期時間延長。

The range for platform investment of $70 million to $90 million is still well below our original plan earlier this year and now reflects primarily the higher legacy business unit costs and the restatement of prior period inventory values. We plan to continue reducing operating expense in order to maintain financial strength through the near-term economic and market uncertainty. Long term, we continue to expect substantial tailwinds for the U.S. distributed solar market, including low market penetration, climbing utility bills, a strained electrical grid plus a decade of tax payments under the Inflation Reduction Act.

7,000 萬美元至 9,000 萬美元的平台投資範圍仍遠低於我們今年稍早的原始計劃，現在主要反映了較高的遺留業務單位成本和上期庫存價值的重述。我們計劃繼續減少營運費用，以在近期經濟和市場的不確定性中保持財務實力。從長遠來看，我們繼續預期美國分散式太陽能市場將面臨巨大的推動力，包括市場滲透率低、公用事業費用不斷攀升、電網緊張以及根據通貨膨脹削減法案繳納十年的稅款。

Platform investment is intended to continue positioning SunPower to gain market share as market conditions continue to develop. We plan to our to adjust our investment pace judiciously as conditions change. Finally, we're projecting an improvement in cash from operations during 2024. We intend to manage this with reductions to fixed and variable costs continued inventory reduction and continued expansion of customer financing capacity.

平台投資的目的是隨著市場狀況的不斷發展，繼續讓 SunPower 獲得市場份額。我們計劃根據情況變化明智地調整投資節奏。最後，我們預計 2024 年營運現金將有所改善。我們打算透過減少固定和可變成本、持續減少庫存和持續擴大客戶融資能力來實現這一目標。

Please turn to Slide #7. The Conventional electric utility rates are the primary competition for our industry. The U.S. Energy Information Agency reports that average U.S. retail electric rates remain near all-time highs as of August despite the moderating cost of bulk wholesale power and key fuels such as natural gas. Price increases continue to hit the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic states in California with 9 states seeing increases greater than 10% year-over-year.

請翻到投影片 #7。傳統電費是我們產業的主要競爭。美國能源資訊署報告稱，儘管大宗批發電力和天然氣等主要燃料的成本有所下降，但截至 8 月份，美國平均零售電價仍接近歷史高點。加州東北部和大西洋中部各州的價格持續上漲，其中 9 個州的年漲幅超過 10%。

We estimate that more than 40 million potential customers reside in states with electric rates rising faster than inflation. In California, PG&E rates are set to rise 9% to 13% in January of 2024. We believe that these steep cost increases and the impact of gridded stability on residential customers continue to elevate the value proposition of residential solar as one of the most powerful ways to stabilize and reduce home energy bills. Despite lower fuel prices, The Edison Electric Institute is projecting a 20% increase in electric utility capital investment from 2023 to 2025 compared to the previous 3 years. As these investments are recovered through electric bills, we continue to believe that the value of rooftop solar is likely to continue rising.

我們估計，超過 4,000 萬潛在客戶居住在電價上漲速度快於通貨膨脹速度的州。在加州，PG&E 費率將於2024 年1 月上漲9% 至13%。我們相信，這些成本的急劇增加以及電網穩定性對住宅客戶的影響將繼續提升住宅太陽能作為最強大的能源之一的價值主張穩定和減少家庭能源費用的方法。儘管燃料價格較低，但愛迪生電力研究所預計 2023 年至 2025 年電力公司資本投資將比前 3 年增加 20%。隨著這些投資透過電費收回，我們仍然相信屋頂太陽能的價值可能會繼續上漲。

Please turn to Slide #8. Next, I'll share the most important progress we've made in Q3 as we move forward with the five pillars of our long-term strategic plan. For customer experience, SunPower remain the top ranked U.S. to home, solar installer as indicated by our ratings and reviews on multiple platforms. We've also launched a new self-help center experience within my SunPower app and on our website to help resolve questions faster with less friction.

請翻到幻燈片#8。接下來，我將分享我們在第三季最重要的進展，因為我們正在推動長期策略計畫的五個支柱。就客戶體驗而言，根據我們在多個平台上的評級和評論，SunPower 仍然是美國家庭太陽能安裝商中排名第一的。我們還在我的 SunPower 應用程式和我們的網站上推出了新的自助中心體驗，以幫助更快地解決問題，減少摩擦。

For products, SunVault attach rates reached new highs in Q3 with sales up 163% versus Q2 and our best ever sales month in September. For growth, September retrofit bookings grew 59% in September versus August and New Homes expanded outside California with new communities signed with homebuilders such as CC Homes in Florida, Toll Brothers in Nevada, New York and Massachusetts and Meritage in Colorado.

對於產品而言，SunVault 附加率在第三季達到新高，銷售額比第二季成長 163%，也是我們有史以來銷售最好的 9 月。就成長而言，9 月的改造預訂量較8 月成長了59%，新住宅在加州以外地區擴張，與佛羅裡達州的CC Homes、內華達州、紐約州和馬薩諸塞州的Toll Brothers 以及科羅拉多州的Meritage等住宅建築商簽署了新社區協議。

We also added 97 new dealers in Q3, the most onboarded in a single quarter. For digital, SunPower released a new sales proposal tool for New Homes customers and completed the rollout of new scheduling software, which is designed to increase appointment reliability and reduced utilization costs. And finally, SunPower Financial completed the first phase of the ADT Solar's launch using SunPower Financial, enabling lease and PPA sales in 7 states.

第三季我們也新增了 97 家經銷商，是單季新增經銷商數量最多的。在數位方面，SunPower為新房客戶發布了新的銷售建議工具，並完成了新的排程軟體的推出，該軟體旨在提高預約可靠性並降低使用成本。最後，SunPower Financial 使用 SunPower Financial 完成了 ADT Solar 推出的第一階段，在 7 個州實現了租賃和 PPA 銷售。

Please turn to Slide #9. SunPower Financial continues to grow its business despite the impact of slower sales on SunPower overall. In Q3, we launched as the exclusive lessor for ADT solar customers choosing to finance for the lease or power purchase agreement. Loan financing is expected to launch in Q4, and the program has the potential to be a meaningful contributor to 2024 volume and profitability at gross margins that are roughly in line with the existing finance business.

請翻到投影片 #9。儘管銷售放緩對 SunPower 整體造成影響，SunPower Financial 仍在繼續發展其業務。在第三季度，我們成為選擇為租賃或購電協議融資的 ADT 太陽能客戶的獨家出租人。貸款融資預計將於第四季度推出，該計劃有可能對 2024 年的銷售和盈利能力做出有意義的貢獻，毛利率與現有金融業務大致一致。

As mentioned earlier, our leased net bookings continued to grow strongly in the third quarter, and leases currently enjoy a cost of capital advantage compared to loans. We continue to work on agreements with financing partners to increase our leases and financing, the capacity and facilities are in place to access ABS funding in the future. We are excited by the opportunities in this space. So stay tuned for more to follow.

如前所述，我們的租賃淨預訂量在第三季持續強勁成長，目前租賃與貸款相比享有資本成本優勢。我們繼續與融資合作夥伴達成協議，以增加我們的租賃和融資，未來獲得 ABS 資金的能力和設施已到位。我們對這個領域的機會感到興奮。因此，請繼續關注更多後續內容。

With that, I'll now turn it over to Beth for more details on our Q3 results. Beth?

現在，我將把它交給 Beth，以了解有關我們第三季業績的更多詳細資訊。貝絲？

Thank you, Peter. Please turn to Slide 11. Before I begin, I want to say a few words about our recent 8-K. We are working expeditiously to file amended financial statements for the 2022 10-K and the Q1 and Q2 2023, 10-Qs. We expect to file our Q3 Form 10-Q as soon as practicable. The restatement of prior microinverter cost reduces the inventory and increases the cost of revenue it does not change our cash position.

謝謝你，彼得。請翻到投影片 11。在開始之前，我想先簡單介紹一下我們最近的 8-K。我們正在迅速提交 2022 年 10-K 以及 2023 年第一季和第二季、10-Q 的修訂後財務報表。我們希望盡快提交第 3 季的 10-Q 表格。重述先前的微型逆變器成本會減少庫存並增加收入成本，但不會改變我們的現金狀況。

We are also working to improve SunPower's reporting procedures, particularly around the issues we've identified around inventory and cost of goods sold. Furthermore, as we previously disclosed, the company and Bank of America are currently negotiating the terms and conditions of a consent and waiver to address the effects of the restatement under our January 2023 amended credit agreement. While we can make no assurances regarding if and when the consent and waiver will be received, we are working productively and seek a positive outcome.

我們也致力於改進 SunPower 的報告程序，特別是圍繞我們發現的庫存和銷售成本問題。此外，正如我們先前所揭露的，該公司和美國銀行目前正在就同意和棄權的條款和條件進行談判，以解決我們 2023 年 1 月修訂的信貸協議下重述的影響。雖然我們無法保證是否以及何時收到同意和棄權，但我們正在富有成效地開展工作並尋求積極的成果。

For the third quarter, we are reporting negative $1 million of adjusted EBITDA and $432 million of non-GAAP revenue. We have added 18,800 new customers in Q3. With reduced customer demand, but continue to be driven largely by the effect of higher interest rates. However, as Peter mentioned, we are buoyed recently by stronger sales in September and October as well as persistently strong customer interest and lease financing.

第三季度，我們報告調整後 EBITDA 為負 100 萬美元，非 GAAP 收入為 4.32 億美元。第三季我們新增了 18,800 位新客戶。隨著客戶需求減少，但繼續主要受到利率上升的影響。然而，正如彼得所提到的，我們最近受到 9 月和 10 月銷售強勁以及持續強勁的客戶興趣和租賃融資的鼓舞。

Adjusted EBITDA per customer was $1,000 in the third quarter, lower year-over-year due to delayed revenue recognition from longer cycle times as well as higher year-over-year installation costs. Adjusted gross margin improved in Q3 versus Q2, a result of cost reduction, sequentially improved amortization of installation cost, as well as the absence of a Q2 inventory write-down. Platform investments is primarily products, digital and corporate OpEx. While this increased slightly year-over-year, we continue to work toward matching our investment and OpEx levels to slower market conditions.

第三季每位客戶的調整後 EBITDA 為 1,000 美元，年比較低，原因是周期時間較長導致收入確認延遲以及同比安裝成本較高。與第二季相比，第三季調整後的毛利率有所提高，這是由於成本降低、安裝成本攤銷連續改善以及第二季沒有庫存減記的結果。平台投資主要是產品、數位和企業營運支出。雖然這一數字同比略有增加，但我們繼續努力使我們的投資和營運支出水平與放緩的市場狀況相匹配。

Our aim is to maintain financial strength through this challenging period as we look to position the company for continued gains in market share, under stronger future market conditions. Turning to the balance sheet. We ended the quarter with $104 million of cash and $143 million of net recourse debt. With improved management of working capital, we reduced inventory levels to $328 million at the end of the quarter and generated positive cash from operations of $48 million. We have plans in place to bring inventory levels down further through the remainder of 2023 and 2024.

我們的目標是在這個充滿挑戰的時期保持財務實力，因為我們希望在未來更強勁的市場條件下，使公司能夠持續增加市場份額。轉向資產負債表。本季結束時，我們擁有 1.04 億美元的現金和 1.43 億美元的淨追索債務。透過改善營運資金管理，我們在季度末將庫存水準降低至 3.28 億美元，並從營運中產生了 4,800 萬美元的正現金。我們已製定計劃，在 2023 年剩餘時間和 2024 年進一步降低庫存水準。

We continue to value our ownership of lease renewal net retained value in SunStrong using a 6% discount rate. With growth in the portfolio, we now estimate the value of our stake at about $295 million. Please turn to Slide 12. As Peter already discussed, we reduced our 2023 guidance to a new range of negative $35 million to negative $25 million of adjusted EBITDA and driven by an anticipated 70,000 to 80,000 incremental customers with adjusted EBITDA per customer before platform investment of $600 to $700.

我們繼續使用 6% 的折扣率對 SunStrong 的租賃續約淨保留值所有權進行估值。隨著投資組合的成長，我們現在估計我們所持有的股份價值約為 2.95 億美元。請參閱投影片12。正如Peter 已經討論過的那樣，我們將2023 年調整後EBITDA 的指引降低至負3500 萬美元至負2500 萬美元的新範圍，並受到預計70,000 至80,000 名增量客戶的推動，每位客戶在平台投資之前的調整後EBITDA 600 美元到 700 美元。

Platform investments of $70 million to $90 million this year is higher than prior guidance, due to higher legacy cost and the impact of prior period adjustments. Although this is still significantly lower than our original guide this year. We will continue our efforts to reduce our platform investment through 2024. Before we return the call -- before we turn the call over for Q&A, I want to turn you back over to Peter for closing comments and a review of factors we are considering as we look ahead towards 2024.

由於遺留成本較高以及前期調整的影響，今年的平台投資為 7,000 萬至 9,000 萬美元，高於先前的指導。儘管這仍然大大低於我們今年最初的指南。我們將繼續努力減少我們的平台投資，直到 2024 年。在我們回電之前——在我們將電話轉交進行問答之前，我想請您轉回 Peter，以徵求結束意見並審查我們正在考慮的因素我們展望2024 年。

Thank you, Beth. Please turn to Slide 13. This slide is largely the same one we showed you last quarter and continues to list out our view of the future as we reset and launch forward into 2024 after a difficult 2023. We typically don't provide guidance for next year until February. From a macro perspective, we continue to expect that increasing utility rates and lower equipment pricing will be tailwinds for the industry.

謝謝你，貝絲。請參閱投影片13。這張投影片與我們上個季度向您展示的投影片基本上相同，並繼續列出我們對未來的看法，因為我們在經歷了困難的2023 年之後重新調整並進入2024 年。我們通常不會為下一步提供指導年直到二月。從宏觀角度來看，我們繼續預期公用事業費率的提高和設備定價的降低將成為該行業的推動力。

We also anticipate a more stable interest rate environment as well as improved clarity on the bonus tax credits available under the inflation Reduction Act. For SunPower, specifically, we expect to benefit from lower product costs. We intend to reduce our platform investment in the near term, and we expect this to benefit financial results in 2024, as we keep an eye on long-term opportunities for growth and investment.

我們也預期利率環境將更加穩定，而《通貨膨脹削減法案》規定的獎金稅收抵免將更加明確。具體而言，對於 SunPower，我們預計將從較低的產品成本中受益。我們打算在短期內減少平台投資，預計這將有利於 2024 年的財務業績，因為我們密切關注長期成長和投資機會。

Stronger-than-expected new homes bookings growth with a large backlog this year are expected to add to customer recognition in 2024. With additional lease financing capacity expected to close this year, we expect sales to benefit in 2024 from the growing popularity of lease financing and bonus tax credits from the inflation Reduction Act.

今年的新房預訂成長強於預期，且積壓量大，預計將在2024 年提高客戶認可度。隨著額外的租賃融資能力預計將於今年關閉，我們預計2024 年的銷售將受益於租賃融資的日益普及以及《通貨膨脹減少法案》的獎金稅收抵免。

SunPower Financial continues to grow its financing origination attachment rates with SunPower customers, and we plan to continue to seek additional opportunities for growth through partnerships like the one we announced recently with ADT. We also expect to begin seeing financial benefit from our collaboration with General Motors in 2024 as we start selling EV charger and solar equipment to Silverado customers. With that, operator, I'd like to turn the call over for questions. Thank you.

SunPower Financial 繼續提高與 SunPower 客戶的融資發起附加率，我們計劃繼續透過我們最近宣布的與 ADT 的合作夥伴關係尋求更多成長機會。隨著我們開始向 Silverado 客戶銷售電動車充電器和太陽能設備，我們也預計將於 2024 年開始從與通用汽車的合作中獲得經濟效益。接線員，我想轉接電話詢問問題。謝謝。

(Operator Instructions). Our first question comes from the line of Tristan Richardson from Scotia Bank.

（操作員說明）。我們的第一個問題來自豐業銀行的特里斯坦·理查森。

Good morning, guys. Just really kind of curious, if you could drill in on some of your comments around September, October. It sounds pretty encouraging. Peter, you mentioned bookings are deep in the positive. I wanted -- was curious, if that's specific to new homes or just across the country? And then curious about some of the activity you're seeing in the states you mentioned, specifically California, Colorado, Texas, et cetera.

早上好傢伙。只是真的有點好奇，如果你能深入了解你在九月、十月左右的一些評論。聽起來很令人鼓舞。彼得，你提到預訂量非常正面。我想——很好奇，這是針對新房還是全國各地？然後對您在您提到的州看到的一些活動感到好奇，特別是加利福尼亞州、科羅拉多州、德克薩斯州等。

Yes, thanks for the question. So on the comments we made around September and October, the best leading indicator of our business is consumer interest at the top of the funnel. And then right down from there is actual sales bookings. That's where the rubber meets the road, so to speak. So we were pleased that September turned out to be such a strong month and October has been of similar velocity from a sales bookings point of view. Coming into the end of the year, we're comping in November and December from last year that were pretty weak.

是的，謝謝你的提問。因此，根據我們在 9 月和 10 月左右發表的評論，我們業務的最佳領先指標是漏斗頂部的消費者興趣。接下來是實際的銷售預訂。可以說，這就是橡膠與道路的交會處。因此，我們很高興看到 9 月的表現如此強勁，而從銷售預訂的角​​度來看，10 月的成長速度也類似。進入今年年底，我們 11 月和 12 月的情況與去年相比相當疲軟。

So we're cautiously optimistic that we can end the year in a more positive note. That was followed by what was a very challenging summer. So if you go back to the last call we were on, we did think that May was going to be the low point of the year and that turned out to be true. But what also turned out to be true is that June, July and August were very challenging months from a sales booking point of view. And that's reflected in our updated guidance for 2023. From a new home standpoint, it's really almost a banner year for New homes.

因此，我們對今年能夠以更積極的基調結束表示謹慎樂觀。接下來是一個非常具有挑戰性的夏天。因此，如果你回顧我們上次的電話會議，我們確實認為五月將是今年的最低點，事實證明這是真的。但事實證明，從銷售預訂的角​​度來看，六月、七月和八月是非常具有挑戰性的月份。這反映在我們更新的 2023 年指南中。從新房的角度來看，這對新房來說幾乎是標誌性的一年。

New homes bookings have been better than expected. Just to give you a feel, our New homes backlog is actually up 10% year-over-year. So if you took a look at the backlog last year, Q3 and compare it to the backlog right now, we're up 10% year-over-year. We came into the year with a cautious realistic view of that business. And we're ending the year, I think, with a very optimistic view of where that business is going as we go forward. The backlog we have, just to give you a feel, that backlog is worth 2 years' worth of installations. So we feel pretty confident in our New Homes business and our plans for next year. And I'd say, as of right now, we're cautiously optimistic that that's a business that's going to grow as we head into 2024.

新房預訂量優於預期。讓您感受一下，我們的新房積壓實際上比去年同期增加了 10%。因此，如果您查看去年第三季的積壓訂單並將其與現在的積壓訂單進行比較，您會發現我們比去年同期成長了 10%。我們以謹慎現實的態度進入這一年。我認為，我們將以非常樂觀的方式結束這一年，並對業務的發展前景抱有非常樂觀的看法。我們的積壓工作只是為了讓您感覺到，這些積壓工作相當於 2 年的安裝量。因此，我們對我們的新房業務和明年的計劃非常有信心。我想說的是，截至目前，我們謹慎樂觀地認為，隨著我們進入 2024 年，這項業務將會成長。

Helpful. Appreciate it, Peter. And then maybe with respect to inventory, you talked about kind of working through SunVault 1.0 inventory by early next year. Curious on the micro side with respect to either existing inventory or pace of additions to inventory with respect to micros?

有幫助。很欣賞它，彼得。然後，也許就庫存而言，您談到了明年初之前完成 SunVault 1.0 庫存的工作。對微觀方面的現有庫存或微觀庫存增加速度感到好奇嗎？

Yes. So I think we're pleased with battery inventory levels with the comments we made about selling through SunVault through sometime in Q1. We're also pleased with microinverter inventory levels really, the inventory levels that we were wanting to work on, that we talked about on the last call, were really all about panels. And we're pleased that we were able to, before the restatement bring down inventory $77 million in 1 quarter. So that's good progress. We're still not where we want to be. There's still more room for improvement to get leaner in panels, but we're pleased with that progress in a single quarter.

是的。因此，我認為我們對第一季某個時候透過 SunVault 進行銷售的電池庫存水準感到滿意。我們也對微型逆變器的庫存水平感到滿意，我們想要處理的庫存水平，我們在上次電話會議中談到的，實際上都是關於面板的。我們很高興在重述之前我們能夠在第一季將庫存減少 7700 萬美元。所以這是一個很好的進步。我們還沒有到達我們想要的位置。面板的精簡還有更多改進空間，但我們對一個季度的進展感到滿意。

And as Beth and I talked about on the last call, we're committed to get into a healthy position by the end of this calendar year. And I think we'll kick off 2024 in a in a much better position from a product standpoint across inventory levels across all products.

正如貝絲和我在上次電話會議中談到的那樣，我們致力於在今年年底前進入健康狀態。我認為，從產品的角度來看，我們將在 2024 年開始時在所有產品的庫存水準上處於一個更好的位置。

Our next question comes from the line of Colin Rusch from Oppenheimer & Company Inc.

我們的下一個問題來自 Oppenheimer & Company Inc. 的 Colin Rusch。

Can you talk about -- and obviously, this is still fluid, the discussions around the credit agreement and what you might need to potentially be carrying in terms of restricted cash and some of the key variables that you guys are working through at this point?

您能否談談——顯然，這仍然是不穩定的——圍繞信貸協議的討論，以及您可能需要攜帶哪些受限制的現金，以及您目前正在解決的一些關鍵變量？

See, we're still in discussion with Bank of America and our lenders. So it's a little premature to talk about what the terms will be on the consent and waiver to address our restatement.

看，我們仍在與美國銀行和我們的貸方進行討論。因此，現在談論同意和棄權條款以解決我們的重述還為時過早。

And I guess just to follow-up then, do you have a sense of time line on how long that's going to take before you reach a conclusion with that?

我想接下來，您是否知道需要多長時間才能得出結論？

The discussions are ongoing and productive.

討論正在進行且富有成果。

Okay. Perfect. And then I guess on the technology side, as you guys look at the energy storage opportunity and the evolution of your platform. I guess the cadence of evolving the product. Can you talk about how many adjustments to performance you might see here over the next couple of years and whether you need to really change the design of that product to meet some of the new market conditions that we're seeing with the rule changes.

好的。完美的。然後我想在技術方面，當你們關注能源儲存機會和平台的演進時。我猜想的是產品進化的節奏。您能否談談在接下來的幾年中您可能會看到多少性能調整，以及您是否需要真正改變該產品的設計以滿足我們在規則變化中看到的一些新的市場條件。

Sorry, Colin, are you referring to SunVault specifically? Or sorry, just clarify your question.

抱歉，Colin，您特別指的是 SunVault 嗎？或者抱歉，請澄清您的問題。

Yes, yes. Exactly. On SunVault I mean.

是的是的。確切地。我的意思是在 SunVault 上。

Yes. Sorry. Yes. No, that's a great question. So on SunVault, here's how we're thinking about the battery storage world as we go forward. So we're pleased that SunVault sales growth, we talked about September was our best sales month ever. We've really gained a lot of velocity, interestingly enough across all of our sales channels. A lot of it has been California-based. And consumers are, economically, they really benefit from having battery backup to better manage these NEM rates.

是的。對不起。是的。不，這是一個很好的問題。在 SunVault 上，以下是我們對電池儲存領域未來發展的思考。因此，我們很高興 SunVault 的銷售成長，我們談到 9 月是我們有史以來最好的銷售月份。我們確實獲得了很大的速度，有趣的是我們所有的銷售管道。其中許多都位於加利福尼亞州。從經濟角度來看，消費者確實可以從備用電池中受益，從而更好地管理這些 NEM 費率。

But also many of them want the assuredness of having battery backup and resiliency with the grid outages that we've had, particularly in California. So I think we're pleased with where that's going. But as we look ahead, there's two things that have changed that are -- that will be reflected in what we do going forward in the battery space. One is it's really important for our customers to be able to manage storage panels, EV chargers, all seamlessly in a single app and have them integrated together. Historically, we believed the primary way for us to be able to do that would be to assemble our own battery. Now we've been able to negotiate partnerships that will permit us to have that data, manage this for the consumer, but not have to do the actual battery assembly.

但他們中的許多人也希望擁有備用電池和彈性，以應對我們所經歷的電網中斷，特別是在加州。所以我認為我們對目前的進展感到滿意。但當我們展望未來時，有兩件事已經改變了——這將反映在我們未來在電池領域所做的事情中。一是對於我們的客戶來說，能夠在一個應用程式中無縫管理儲存面板、電動車充電器並將它們整合在一起非常重要。從歷史上看，我們認為實現這一目標的主要方法是組裝我們自己的電池。現在我們已經能夠談判合作夥伴關係，這將使我們能夠擁有這些數據，為消費者管理這些數據，但不必進行實際的電池組裝。

So as we look forward, we're quite excited. I don't have anything to announce on this call, I would say, stay tuned, but we're excited to work with a number of other battery partners. And I think once we sell through SunVault 1.0 we're looking forward to participating with other battery makers. And I think the world in batteries has really become a game of scale. And we're not going to have the size and scale, I think you need to compete effectively. So we've made the decision to stop working on SunVault 2.0 and to really focus on, who are the world-class partners that would want to work with us as we go forward to serve consumers well in the space. So more to be talked about in future discussions, but that's sort of how we're thinking about the battery world as we go forward.

因此，當我們展望未來時，我們非常興奮。我在這次電話會議上沒有什麼要宣布的，我想說，請繼續關注，但我們很高興與許多其他電池合作夥伴合作。我認為一旦我們透過 SunVault 1.0 進行銷售，我們就會期待與其他電池製造商合作。我認為電池世界確實已經成為一場規模遊戲。我們不會有規模和規模，我認為你需要有效競爭。因此，我們決定停止 SunVault 2.0 的開發工作，並真正專注於那些願意與我們合作的世界級合作夥伴，我們將繼續為該領域的消費者提供良好的服務。因此，在未來的討論中還有更多內容需要討論，但這就是我們在前進過程中對電池世界的思考方式。

Our next question comes from the line of Philip Shen from ROTH MKM.

我們的下一個問題來自 ROTH MKM 的 Philip Shen。

Looking at the '24, Peter, I know you haven't given official guidance, but given, where we are in the year and what you see so far, it looks like Q4 bookings have improved. But that said, the Q4 customer adds are still down maybe 15% quarter-over-quarter. So what kind of run rate should we expect for -- and what kind of activity should we expect for Q1 and 2 of next year and what that cadence might look like through '24?

看看 24 年，彼得，我知道你還沒有給出官方指導，但考慮到我們今年的情況以及你迄今為止所看到的情況，第四季度的預訂量似乎有所改善。但即便如此，第四季的客戶數量較上季仍下降了 15% 左右。那麼，我們應該期望什麼樣的運行率，以及明年第一季和第二季我們應該期望什麼樣的活動，以及到 2024 年的節奏可能會是什麼樣子？

Thanks, Phil. Yes. Let me give you some color around how we're thinking about growth and the kinds of factors that impacted. One of the big positives this year is that because we've always been agnostic between lease loan and cash, we were well positioned to pivot as the market pivoted. So last year at this time, we were roughly 80-20 loan on financing, and this year, it's exactly the opposite.

謝謝，菲爾。是的。讓我向您介紹我們如何看待成長以及影響因素的種類。今年的一大積極因素是，由於我們一直對租賃貸款和現金持不可知論，因此我們處於有利位置，可以隨著市場的變化而調整。所以去年這個時候，我們大概有80-20的融資貸款，而今年，恰恰相反。

We were roughly 80-20 lease. Why does that matter on customers? Well, for leases, the revenue recognition is about 30 days plus later than it is for cash and loans. And that's because we don't recognize revenue and EBITDA until we get to permission to operate stage. And as you know, in California, the utilities have really struggled to keep up with the demand that came out of NEM 2.0 bookings. And so that normal 30-day delay has been more like a 60- to 90-day delay. So it has really slowed down our customer recognition this year, and we'll work through most of that as we end through this calendar year.

我們的租約大約是80-20。為什麼這對客戶很重要？對於租賃來說，收入確認比現金和貸款晚約 30 天以上。這是因為，在獲得營運許可之前，我們不會確認收入和 EBITDA。如您所知，在加州，公用事業公司確實很難滿足 NEM 2.0 預訂所帶來的需求。因此，正常的 30 天延遲更像是 60 到 90 天的延遲。因此，這確實減緩了我們今年的客戶認可度，我們將在今年結束時解決大部分問題。

As we take a look at 2024, as you mentioned, we're not giving out guidance yet. We give out guidance every year on our first quarter call. I think we're cautiously optimistic that the New Homes business looks like it's trending positively, and we'll be in a position to grow next year. And then I think it's too early on the retrofit business. I like the signals of September and October. But I think if the volatility of this year has taught us anything, it's we need a longer proof that there's -- that this is a trend that's going to continue before we make a comments on what that looks like as we go forward.

正如您所提到的，當我們展望 2024 年時，我們尚未給予指導。我們每年第一季的電話會議都會給予指引。我認為我們對新房業務的發展趨勢持謹慎樂觀的態度，明年我們將能夠實現成長。然後我認為現在進行改造業務還為時過早。我喜歡九月和十月的信號。但我認為，如果今年的波動教會了我們什麼的話，那就是我們需要一個更長的證據來證明這種趨勢將持續下去，然後我們才能對未來的情況做出評論。

Just to put it in perspective, last year, in 2022, we grew revenue at 56%, grew our customer base at 48%. So the dramatic change this year is one that you normally don't see in consumer businesses. And so I think given that volatility, we'll be thoughtful. We'll see how bookings play out for the remainder of this calendar year, and then we'll be better prepared when we talk to you in February to give you our guidance for '24.

客觀地說，去年，也就是 2022 年，我們的收入成長了 56%，客戶群成長了 48%。因此，今年的巨大變化是消費產業中通常看不到的變化。因此，我認為考慮到這種波動性，我們會深思熟慮。我們將了解今年剩餘時間的預訂情況，然後在 2 月與您交談時為您提供 '24 的指導，以便我們可以做好更好的準備。

Okay. Thanks, Peter. Shifting to balance sheet and liquidity. I was wondering if you could help us understand the liquidity at the end of Q3? And then also share any thoughts on potential need for external capital under what conditions might you need to pursue external capital? And then inventory can be a lever for you. How much do you think you need to work down by year-end to avoid external capital?

好的。謝謝，彼得。轉向資產負債表和流動性。我想知道您能否幫助我們了解第三季末的流動性？然後也分享對外部資本潛在需求的想法，在什麼情況下您可能需要尋求外部資本？然後庫存可以成為您的槓桿。您認為年底前需要減少多少工作才能避免外部資本的流入？

We ended with $104 million of cash, $143 million of net recourse debt in the quarter. Cash from operations was good on the inventory drawdown. So we're pleased with how we ended in Q3. Going forward, we are working multiple options to improve cash and liquidity, and there are multiple options. And -- but our first priority is same thing, as I said last quarter, is to improve our own working capital management and continue to draw down inventory.

本季末，我們擁有 1.04 億美元的現金和 1.43 億美元的淨追索債務。由於庫存減少，營運現金表現良好。因此，我們對第三季的業績感到滿意。展望未來，我們正在採取多種選擇來改善現金和流動性，而且有多種選擇。而且，正如我上季度所說，我們的首要任務是改善我們自己的營運資金管理並繼續減少庫存。

I think I mentioned last quarter that target days of inventory for us is about 60 days. We'll get there, and then we'll set a bigger target. But at a 60-day target, we'd be at about 200 at the moment. We'd be about $250 million of inventory. So we've got some drawdown left to do.

我想我上個季度提到過，我們的庫存目標天數約為 60 天。我們會到達那裡，然後我們會設定一個更大的目標。但以 60 天的目標，我們目前的數量約為 200。我們的庫存約為 2.5 億美元。因此，我們還需要進行一些縮編。

Okay. Just to clarify. So you have -- can you quantify to get to that 60 days, what might that mean for inventory? How much in terms of dollars?

好的。只是為了澄清。那麼，您能否量化達到 60 天，這對庫存意味著什麼？換算成美元是多少？

So we're at about $327 million right now. So that's another $75 million-ish. We're shooting for that for year-end, but some of that bleed over into Q1. But it's a focus for the whole company.

所以我們現在的資產約為 3.27 億美元。那麼這又是 7500 萬美元左右。我們計劃在年底實現這一目標，但其中一些會延續到第一季。但這是整個公司的焦點。

Our next question comes from the line of Pavel Molchanov from Raymond Inc. Raymond James.

我們的下一個問題來自 Raymond Inc. Raymond James 的 Pavel Molchanov。

Going back to the loan versus lease dynamic, given that in the final analysis, there is, let's call it, $20,000 of capital per roof top system that needs to be sourced from some capital provider. Why does it matter so much from your perspective, whether the customer chooses one flavor of financing versus the other?

回到貸款與租賃動態，考慮到在最終分析中，每個屋頂系統需要從某個資本提供者那裡獲得 20,000 美元的資本。從您的角度來看，為什麼客戶選擇一種融資方式還是另一種融資方式如此重要？

Well, I guess that's the point that we've made, which is that we really believe we're the only residential solar company that's agnostic. We really -- our goal is to talk to consumers, get to know them and their needs and really figure out the best option for them, including cash, by the way. So 20% of our business today is still cash sales. But when it comes to financing, we always offer both options and try to talk through the consumer the pros and cons of both.

嗯，我想這就是我們所表達的觀點，那就是我們確實相信我們是唯一一家不可知論的住宅太陽能公司。我們的目標是與消費者交談，了解他們和他們的需求，並真正找出最適合他們的選擇，包括現金。所以我們今天 20% 的業務還是現金銷售。但在融資方面，我們總是提供兩種選擇，並嘗試與消費者討論兩種選擇的優缺點。

Typically, loans require down payment, leases don't. Historically, last year, loans were a little better value. That's actually flipped. Leases are a better value this year. So I think the fact that leases are growing is very rational. Consumers like the fact that they're saving a little bit more than they would with versus a loan and no down payment required. It's an easier vehicle to get people into and get them off into rooftop solar. For those -- just as a friendly reminder, we've been in the lease business, since 2008. So it's not a new business for us. We've been in this business for a long time. We have a number of great partners on the tax equity side and on the regular lease capital side. So it's a business that we're excited about and plan to continue to grow as we go forward.

通常，貸款需要首付，而租賃則不需要。從歷史上看，去年貸款的價值要高一些。這實際上是翻轉的。今年的租賃價值更高。所以我認為租賃成長的事實是非常合理的。消費者喜歡這樣的事實：與貸款相比，他們節省的錢多一點，而且不需要首付。這是一種更容易讓人們進出屋頂太陽能的交通工具。對於這些人——友情提醒一下，我們自 2008 年起就開始從事租賃業務。所以這對我們來說並不是一項新業務。我們從事這個行業已經很久了。我們在稅收股權和常規租賃資本方面擁有許多優秀的合作夥伴。因此，我們對這項業務感到興奮，並計劃在未來繼續發展。

Okay. Let me follow-up on with another inventory question. Benchmark price of modules and you said this is the bulk of your inventory base is down roughly 30% between April and October. At what point would you get into a situation, where just as a matter of accounting, you would have to recognize a write-down on the value?

好的。讓我跟進另一個庫存問題。模組的基準價格（您說這是您庫存的大部分）在 4 月至 10 月期間下降了約 30%。在什麼時候你會遇到這樣一種情況，即作為會計問題，你必須承認價值的減記？

So accounting rules are, if you're selling it at above cost, you do not take a write down and we are still selling all of it above cost.

因此，會計規則是，如果您以高於成本的價格出售，則無需減記，我們仍然以高於成本的價格出售所有產品。

The color I'd add is that from a panel perspective, and this is really true across all equipment by the way. So it doesn't matter whether it's panels, inverters, EV chargers. Quality has gone up this past year and prices have come way down. You're focusing on the 30% drop in panels, which is really, really important. What does that play out going forward? Well, for 2024, I think it's going to be great for consumers.

我要添加的顏色是從面板角度來看的，順便說一句，這在所有設備上都是如此。因此，無論是面板、逆變器或電動車充電器，都無關緊要。去年，品質有所提高，價格也大幅下降。您關注的是面板數量下降 30%，這非常非常重要。未來會發生什麼事？嗯，到 2024 年，我認為這對消費者來說將會是一件好事。

It's going to mean -- for those, who've been on the edge of whether or not they believe this is affordable, because it's a big ticket item, we're going to be in a better position to provide more affordable options for consumers. And I think given the volatility we've had in the market this year, that's going to be terrific. We're selling through panels that I would say are close to market right now. And then I think, there's no question in 2024, we'll have a greater and greater share of panels that are world-class quality and world-class price competitive. And those are the two pieces we focus on the most. We really -- for our dealers and our customers, we want to provide them the best panels in the world, but they have to be at affordable prices, and we think we can do both.

這意味著，對於那些一直猶豫是否認為這是負擔得起的人來說，因為這是一個大件商品，我們將處於更好的位置，為消費者提供更實惠的選擇。我認為考慮到今年市場的波動，這將是非常棒的。我們正在透過面板進行銷售，我認為這些面板目前已經接近市場。然後我認為，毫無疑問，到 2024 年，我們將擁有越來越多的具有世界級品質和世界級價格競爭力的面板份額。這是我們最關注的兩個部分。對於我們的經銷商和客戶，我們真的希望為他們提供世界上最好的面板，但它們必須價格實惠，我們認為我們可以做到這兩點。

Our next question comes from the line of Joseph Osha from Guggenheim.

我們的下一個問題來自古根漢的約瑟夫·奧沙（Joseph Osha）。

A couple of questions. First, we've heard a few comments about reducing equipment cost, obviously, buying in cheaper panels helps. I'm wondering what you can say about your philosophy for procuring inverters as we move through 2024? And then I do have another question.

有幾個問題。首先，我們聽到了一些關於降低設備成本的評論，顯然，購買更便宜的面板會有所幫助。我想知道您對 2024 年採購逆變器的理念有何看法？然後我還有另一個問題。

Sure. Yes. Well, first of all, I think most of you know, we've had an exclusive relationship with Enphase. It's been in place for a number of years. That goes through the first quarter of 2024. Enphase is a company that we respect a lot. They make high-quality products. We respect the engineering team and the quality team and the support we've gotten from them. So we have nothing, but if you were doing a customer survey, we're in the we give positive reviews. We're pleased with those products, and so are our customers and dealers.

當然。是的。嗯，首先，我想你們大多數人都知道，我們與 Enphase 有著排他性的關係。它已經存在很多年了。這將持續到 2024 年第一季。Enphase 是一家我們非常尊敬的公司。他們生產高品質的產品。我們尊重工程團隊和品質團隊以及我們從他們那裡得到的支持。所以我們什麼都沒有，但如果您進行客戶調查，我們就會給予正面的評價。我們對這些產品感到滿意，我們的客戶和經銷商也很滿意。

But I would say forward-looking, what you would expect broadly is what I mentioned earlier, which is whether it's inverters or panels, the market's going to a place, where the expectations on quality are increasing and the expectations on value or prices, the prices are decreasing and the expectation is that value is going to increase. And I would say that's certainly true in the inverter market. So we would expect that to be true as we go forward.

但我想說的是，前瞻性的，你廣泛期望的是我之前提到的，無論是逆變器還是面板，市場將走向一個地方，對品質的期望越來越高，對價值或價格的期望越來越高，價格正在下降，而預期價值將會增加。我想說，在逆變器市場上確實如此。因此，我們希望隨著我們的前進，這將成為現實。

I would say that, that market from our point of view has gotten more competitive recently. I think there's a number of new entrants. There's a number of options. That have been introduced in this past year that I think are interesting from our dealer standpoint and at some point, I think consumers would benefit from as well. But having said all that, I do expect that we'll continue to have a good partnership with Enphase, and I look forward to discussing that more in future calls as we go.

我想說的是，從我們的角度來看，這個市場最近變得更具競爭力。我認為有很多新進入者。有多種選擇。我認為從我們經銷商的角度來看，去年推出的這些內容很有趣，在某些時候，我認為消費者也會從中受益。但話雖如此，我確實希望我們將繼續與 Enphase 保持良好的合作夥伴關係，並且我期待在未來的電話會議中更多地討論這一點。

I'm sure, Bob. We does too. And just following up a little bit on some of your bookings comments, obviously, there's some sequential improvement. But I'm just wondering if you can maybe walk us, give us year-on-year walk in particular in California, trying to understand what the progression for that has looked like in Q3 and what you think that might look like into Q4 and Q1 given some of the unique dynamics of the state.

我確定，鮑伯。我們也是。只要稍微跟進一下您的一些預訂評論，顯然，會有一些連續的改進。但我只是想知道您是否可以帶我們走一走，特別是在加利福尼亞州，嘗試了解第三季度的進展情況以及您認為第四季度的進展情況以及Q1 給出了該州的一些獨特動態。

Yes. So California has been interesting. We were actually pretty close on our forecast for the year to how it's turned out. The law, I guess, lasted a little longer in the summer than we probably would have thought it would have based on the transition from NEM 1 to NEM 2. But I think the September and October recovery are kind of in line with our expectations on the California side. What's been, frankly, a lot more difficult to forecast this year was the outside of California business.

是的。所以加州很有趣。實際上，我們對今年的預測與結果非常接近。我猜想，該法律在夏天的持續時間比我們想像的要長一些（基於從 NEM 1 到 NEM 2 的過渡）。但我認為 9 月和 10 月的復甦有點符合我們對加州一側。坦白說，今年更難預測的是加州以外的業務。

I think we mentioned on previous calls, we were struggling in kind of the southeast and southwest part of the U.S., some of those places like Arizona and Florida have low utility costs. So there's still benefit there, but the benefit does become a little bit more marginal. If utility costs remain low. So Arizona, Florida, been a struggle. Same thing for Texas, Colorado. So the reason I think on the slide, that we talk about the retrofit booking increase is that there is an increase in California, but we're really beginning to see some of these other southern states begin to get some traction, which I think is a positive signal.

我想我們在之前的電話中提到過，我們在美國東南部和西南部地區陷入困境，其中一些地方，如亞利桑那州和佛羅裡達州，公用事業成本較低。所以那裡仍然有好處，但好處確實變得有點邊際了。如果公用事業成本仍然很低。所以亞利桑那州、佛羅裡達州一直是一場戰鬥。德州、科羅拉多州也是如此。因此，我認為在幻燈片上我們談論改造預訂增加的原因是加州的預訂增加，但我們確實開始看到其他一些南部州開始受到一些關注，我認為這是一個積極的信號。

Now I think it's too early, September and October do not yet make up a long enough trend that we'd feel comfortable saying we know that this will last into 2024. I think, again, this has been such a volatile year. I think it's prudent to be cautious and thoughtful here. But we also -- we are -- we'd rather have a positive signal, obviously, to end the year then going to have a neutral or negative signal. So quite a bit of improvement in September and October, and our hope is that, that lasts for the remainder of the year.

現在我認為現在還為時過早，9 月和 10 月還沒有形成足夠長的趨勢，我們可以放心地說我們知道這種情況將持續到 2024 年。我再次認為，這是動蕩的一年。我認為在這裡保持謹慎和深思熟慮是明智的。但我們也——我們——顯然，我們寧願在今年結束時發出積極的信號，然後再發出中性或消極的信號。因此，九月和十月的情況有相當大的改善，我們希望這種情況能持續到今年剩餘的時間。

Okay. Not to just put you on the spot, do you think California can be up year-on-year in Q4 in bookings?

好的。不僅僅是讓您感到尷尬，您認為加州第四季的預訂量會比去年同期成長嗎？

I don't think it will be up year-over-year, but I think it has a chance to get closer to flattish. I mentioned earlier, we really had -- we had a very, very strong bookings year last year until mid-November. Mid-November through the end of December was really light. And you can blame it on the holidays, the weather, all those different factors.

我認為它不會逐年上升，但我認為它有機會接近持平。我之前提到過，去年直到 11 月中旬，我們的預訂量確實非常非常大。 11 月中旬到 12 月底，天氣非常晴朗。你可以將其歸咎於假期、天氣以及所有這些不同的因素。

But that may have been in retrospect, maybe interest rates finally catching up and consumer confidence finally catching up and that may have been the beginning of what was really a bigger slowdown that happened into this year. So from a November and December standpoint, it will be easier to have flat year-over-year performance, if you will, because last year was so soft. So that would be our hope and our goal is to get something closer to flat November and December in California.

但回想起來，也許利率終於​​迎頭趕上，消費者信心終於迎頭趕上，這可能是今年發生的更大規模經濟放緩的開始。因此，從 11 月和 12 月的角度來看，如果您願意的話，同比表現會更容易持平，因為去年的表現非常疲軟。因此，這將是我們的希望，我們的目標是讓加州 11 月和 12 月的情況更加穩定。

Our next question comes from the line of Brian Lee from Goldman Sachs.

我們的下一個問題來自高盛的 Brian Lee。

I guess one question I had was more kind of housekeeping factual. I know, Beth, you're still working with your creditors on the waivers and what have you. But could you remind us what the actual covenants are? I believe there might be some either minimum cash and/or EBITDA coverage covenant. Could you remind us what those are, where you stand relative to those today?

我想我的一個問題更像是家務管理的事實。我知道，貝絲，你仍在與你的債權人就豁免問題進行合作，你還有什麼。但你能提醒我們真正的契約是什麼嗎？我相信可能會有一些最低現金和/或 EBITDA 覆蓋契約。您能否提醒我們這些是什麼？您與今天的這些相比處於什麼位置？

So there's four covenants. One is a net debt-to-EBITDA with all the adjustments of 4.5x, and that's all the nonrecourse. You take out the nonrecourse groups. There's an interest coverage and there's a minimum liquidity, not minimum cash and an asset covenant. And all of those.

所以有四個盟約。其中之一是淨債務與 EBITDA 比率，所有調整後均為 4.5 倍，這就是所有無追索權。你去掉非追索權組。有利息保障和最低流動性，而不是最低現金和資產契約。還有所有這些。

And given the...

並考慮到...

And if anything, final adjustments, but yes.

如果有的話，最後的調整，但是的。

Understood. Sorry, I cut you off there. So it sounds like even given the negative EBITDA outlook here that you updated the market on this morning, you still plan to be in compliance with all those covenants through year-end?

明白了。抱歉，我打斷了你。因此，聽起來即使考慮到您今天早上更新市場的 EBITDA 前景為負，您仍然計劃在年底之前遵守所有這些契約？

That's -- we need to get to the final is they're always a backward looking, and we're fine in Q3, and we're talking to the banks about waivers for the restatement and anything else we need.

那就是——我們需要進入決賽，因為他們總是向後看，我們在第三季度表現得很好，我們正在與銀行討論重述的豁免以及我們需要的其他任何事情。

Okay. Understood. Helpful. And then just shifting gears a little bit. I know there's been a lot of focus around like growth and inventory chain type matters for you. I guess, I wanted to hone in on kind of the cost structure a bit. You did almost $100 million in EBITDA last year on 80,000 new customers at the midpoint this year. You're talking about 75,000 customers. So I mean I know it's off your original view entering the year. But relative to last year, it's not that significantly lower.

好的。明白了。有幫助。然後稍微換一下檔位。我知道對於您來說，成長和庫存鏈類型等問題受到了很多關注。我想，我想稍微研究一下成本結構。去年中期，您為 80,000 名新客戶帶來了近 1 億美元的 EBITDA。您談論的是 75,000 名客戶。所以我的意思是我知道這與你進入這一年時的原始觀點不同。但與去年相比，並沒有明顯下降。

So -- but EBITDA is clearly going to be significantly negative given the new update here. So wanted to understand better kind of where you're at in terms of thought process around the cost structure. It seems like you clearly had a higher cost structure coming into the year given a more optimistic view on volumes that hasn't played out and you haven't been able to pivot quick enough on cost to kind of to navigate. But if you think about next year, I don't know if you have a fully formed view, but if it's flat, if it's still modestly down, like what are you thinking in terms of how fast and how much you can do on the cost side of things?

因此，考慮到此處的新更新，EBITDA 顯然將顯著為負。因此，我想更好地了解您在圍繞成本結構的思考過程方面的位置。考慮到對尚未發揮作用的銷售的更樂觀看法，您今年顯然有一個更高的成本結構，並且您無法足夠快地調整成本以進行導航。但如果你想想明年，我不知道你是否有一個完整的觀點，但如果它持平，如果它仍然適度下降，就像你在想什麼，你可以在路上做多快和做多少成本方面？

Because again, you did $100 million in EBITDA on 80,000 customers, given where market trends are, I think it wouldn't be that aggressive to assume next year is flat and not a growth year. So just kind of wondering what you think the cost structure needs to look like and what maybe targets there could be in terms of achieving some cost reduction?

因為，考慮到市場趨勢，你為 80,000 名客戶帶來了 1 億美元的 EBITDA，我認為假設明年持平而不是成長的一年並不會那麼激進。因此，我想知道您認為成本結構需要是什麼樣子，以及在實現成本降低方面可能有哪些目標？

Yes. Thanks, Brian. I'll take that. So you're right. I think this year, if you took a look at our guidance -- last year, we grew revenue 54%, customers, 48%. We were cautious this year, if you recall, at the very beginning of the year, our customer guidance was 20%. So we thought with the impact of California NEM, obviously, that would sell things down, but we didn't expect to be in a position, where our revenue will be flattish year-over-year and customers will be down a little bit year-over-year.

是的。謝謝，布萊恩。我會接受的。所以你是對的。我想今年，如果你看一下我們的指導——去年，我們的收入成長了 54%，客戶成長了 48%。今年我們很謹慎，如果你還記得的話，在今年年初，我們的客戶指導是 20%。因此，我們認為，顯然，受加州 NEM 的影響，這會導致產品銷量下降，但我們沒想到我們的收入將同比持平，而客戶數量將略有下降-同比。

And so we weren't prepared for that scenario. But we -- this is the -- in our announcement today, we've announced our second round of cost reductions, fixed cost reductions and we talked about this on our last call, but the very first thing you attack are discretionary spending and you look for places to reduce waste. That's the formula that matters the most. You don't want to take away things that matter to customers and matter to dealers, but you really want to take away things that are discretionary and things that -- in this kind of down market are prudent to reduce. But we're not done yet. We'll still continue to evaluate our fixed cost structure throughout Q4. I anticipate the possibility that will eliminate even more fixed costs during this quarter.

所以我們沒有為這種情況做好準備。但我們——這就是——在今天的公告中，我們宣布了第二輪成本削減，固定成本削減，我們在上次電話會議上談到了這一點，但你攻擊的第一件事是可自由支配支出，你尋找減少浪費的地方。這是最重要的公式。你不想拿走對客戶和經銷商重要的東西，但你確實想拿走可自由支配的東西，以及在這種低迷市場中需要謹慎減少的東西。但我們還沒完成。我們仍將在整個第四季繼續評估我們的固定成本結構。我預計本季可能會消除更多固定成本。

And the key thing for us is to really emerge as a stronger, more resilient company for 2024. The point you're making, I think we strongly agree with this kind of volatility, you don't usually see this in consumer markets. But it is what it is. So we have to build a company that's resilient and can be prepared for a minus 10 or minus 20 or flat or a plus 10 or plus 20. And that's our goal with these cost reductions is to put ourselves in a position, where we're able to work through the market regardless of how volatile it is for next year.

對我們來說，關鍵是到 2024 年真正成為一家更強大、更有彈性的公司。我認為我們非常同意這種波動，在消費市場中通常不會看到這種波動。但是它就是這樣啊。因此，我們必須建立一家具有彈性的公司，能夠為負 10 或負 20 或持平或正 10 或正 20 做好準備。這就是我們降低成本的目標，就是讓我們自己處於這樣的位置：無論明年市場波動有多大，都能夠應付市場。

We do have to recognize from a world standpoint, there are a lot of disruptions happening globally, and it is hard to say how those will have an impact on both consumer confidence and interest rates. So it's prudent right now. You have to be thoughtful about, where you spend and how you spend, and that's exactly what we plan to do. So the focus we talked about in the last call, deliver results manage cash and liquidity, continue to lower our costs, put ourselves in a position, where we have a stronger balance sheet, stronger company. That's exactly what we plan to do throughout the remainder of Q4 and be ready for I hope a great recovery year in 2024.

我們確實必須從世界的角度認識到，全球範圍內發生了很多混亂，很難說這些將如何對消費者信心和利率產生影響。所以現在還是謹慎為好。你必須深思熟慮，花在哪裡以及如何花，這正是我們計劃要做的。因此，我們在上次電話會議中談到的重點是，交付成果，管理現金和流動性，繼續降低成本，讓自己處於一個擁有更強大的資產負債表、更強大的公司的位置。這正是我們計劃在第四季度剩餘時間裡做的事情，並為我希望 2024 年實現良好復甦的一年做好準備。

That's helpful, Peter. So I guess, if I hear you correctly, there's a lot of fixed charge focus. So if we're trying to track your progress over the next few quarters and into '24, is it fair to assume we'd see it more in your gross margins than in your OpEx line?

這很有幫助，彼得。所以我想，如果沒聽錯的話，有很多固定充電焦點。因此，如果我們試圖追蹤您在接下來的幾個季度和 24 年的進展，是否可以假設我們會在您的毛利率中看到比在您的營運支出方面更多的進展？

Yes, I think you will. And I think the other lever we have is one of the key ways to be successful, when demand is more volatile is trying to make as many of your cost variable as possible. So our goal would be to reduce fixed costs that are truly fixed and then make as many of our fixed cost, variable costs so that they really only get occurred if the business is there and the business happens.

是的，我想你會的。我認為，當需求波動較大時，我們擁有的另一個槓桿是成功的關鍵方法之一，那就是盡可能地降低成本變數。因此，我們的目標是減少真正固定的固定成本，然後盡可能多地生產固定成本和可變成本，這樣它們只有在業務存在並且業務發生時才會真正發生。

And that's the work that we're doing right now behind the scenes. And I expect that we're going to be in a position, where, again, we're a much stronger and more resilient company by the time we end this calendar year.

這就是我們現在在幕後所做的工作。我預計，到今年結束時，我們將再次成為更強大、更有彈性的公司。

Our next question comes from the line of Ben Kallo from Baird.

我們的下一個問題來自貝爾德 (Baird) 的本卡洛 (Ben Kallo)。

Peter, could you just update us on progress with new panel manufacturers, relationships there. And then as you open up to kind of an agnostic technology platform on both panel side and the battery side, do you -- how do you balance that with the SunPower brand, which has a great brand value?

彼得，您能否向我們介紹一下與新面板製造商的進展以及那裡的關係。然後，當您在面板側和電池側開放某種不可知論的技術平台時，您如何平衡這一點與具有巨大品牌價值的 SunPower 品牌之間的關係？

Yes. Great question, Ben. So first, I'll back up. I think many of you know, we've had a partnership with Maxeon, since the spin-off. We continue to work with Maxeon. We're in discussions with them. I think those discussions have trended positive, and we're cautiously optimistic that we'll work out an agreement for both parties that I think is advantageous for both companies. So on the Maxeon side, that's where we stand.

是的。好問題，本。首先，我會備份。我想你們很多人都知道，自從 Maxeon 分拆以來，我們就與 Maxeon 建立了合作關係。我們將繼續與 Maxeon 合作。我們正在與他們討論。我認為這些討論呈現正面趨勢，我們謹慎樂觀地認為，我們將為雙方制定一項我認為對兩家公司都有利的協議。所以在 Maxeon 方面，這就是我們的立場。

Interestingly enough, in Q3, we hit a milestone that we've never hit before, which is actually, we sold more non-Maxeon panels than we sold Maxeon panels. That's not purposeful. It really is about what consumers want and what dealers want. And so I think that's a signal that the mainstream segment and more leasing is probably going to put more pressure to have panels that are high quality but also really affordable. From our point of view and from dealer feedback, I think the panel business as it is today, short of any innovations is really becoming more commoditized. It's becoming more challenging to differentiate one panel from another. There's a number of really high-quality panel makers out there.

有趣的是，在第三季度，我們達到了以前從未達到的里程碑，實際上，我們銷售的非 Maxeon 面板比銷售的 Maxeon 面板還要多。那不是有目的的。這實際上是關於消費者想要什麼和經銷商想要什麼。因此，我認為這是一個信號，表明主流細分市場和更多的租賃可能會給生產高品質但價格實惠的面板帶來更大的壓力。從我們的角度和經銷商的反饋來看，我認為目前缺乏任何創新的面板業務確實正在變得更加商品化。區分一個面板與另一個面板變得越來越具有挑戰性。那裡有許多真正高品質的面板製造商。

We've been engaged with discussions with all of the high-quality panel makers we'll never compromise our brand, to your point, by selling anything other than panels that meet our quality bar and our quality test. But we will provide, I think, increasingly high-quality, but also more affordable options for consumers. And I think our dealers are excited about that, and I know consumers will benefit from that as well. So we're excited about where this goes going forward. No announcements to make on that today, but that's another area I'd say stay tuned. We're working behind the scenes with a number of different providers.

我們一直在與所有高品質面板製造商進行討論，就您的觀點而言，我們絕不會透過銷售符合我們品質標準和品質測試的面板以外的任何產品來損害我們的品牌。但我認為，我們將為消費者提供越來越高品質且更實惠的選擇。我認為我們的經銷商對此感到興奮，而且我知道消費者也會從中受益。因此，我們對未來的發展感到興奮。今天沒有相關消息發布，但這是我想說的另一個領域，請繼續關注。我們正在與許多不同的提供者進行幕後合作。

Just a follow-up there on the dealers, I saw that you had a good quarter. I think maybe you said it was the best quarter of dealer ads. I'm just wondering if the conversations on liquidity or kind of the shift to more technology-agnostic have come up in these discussions or how you're managing those relationships. Thank you.

只是對經銷商的後續行動，我看到你們的季度表現不錯。我想也許你說這是經銷商廣告最好的一個季度。我只是想知道這些討論中是否出現了有關流動性或向技術不可知論的轉變的對話，或者您如何管理這些關係。謝謝。

Thank you. Yes. Well, we've had -- it's interesting, the last dealer conference we had, I recall countless stories of dealers telling me how high our bar is to become a SunPower dealer. We really we think of ourselves as having the highest quality dealer network in the world and dealers, particularly our master dealers and the dealers, we've made equity investments in they're world-class providers. They have a great customer experience. They're well-run businesses. They're businesses that we stand behind and they've been resilient even during this more turbulent stormy seas kind of a year.

謝謝。是的。嗯，很有趣，我們上次召開的經銷商會議，我記得無數經銷商的故事告訴我我們成為 SunPower 經銷商的門檻有多高。我們確實認為自己擁有世界上最高品質的經銷商網路和經銷商，特別是我們的主經銷商和經銷商，我們對他們進行了股權投資，他們是世界一流的供應商。他們有很好的客戶體驗。他們是經營良好的企業。他們是我們支持的企業，即使在風雨飄搖的一年裡，他們也一直保持著韌性。

So the fact that we've been able to recruit so many in Q3 and set a new record. I think it just goes to show you that even in this more turbulent market, you can find these areas of great opportunity. When you talk to them, I think they're very attracted by the SunPower brand, our commitment to have a world-class customer experience. They know that we're the #1 rated solar -- residential solar company in the U.S., and it's across every survey and the gap is pretty wide between us and the closest competitor on that front.

事實上，我們在第三季招募了這麼多人，並創下了新紀錄。我認為這只是向您表明，即使在這個更動蕩的市場中，您也可以找到這些充滿機會的領域。當你與他們交談時，我認為他們對 SunPower 品牌非常感興趣，我們致力於提供世界一流的客戶體驗。他們知道我們是美國排名第一的太陽能住宅太陽能公司，在每項調查中都是如此，我們與這方面最接近的競爭對手之間的差距相當大。

So people want to be part of that ecosystem. They want to be part of that family. And then you add to it the fact that we have attractive lease programs. We have attractive panel options, we've got great technology for consumers and the mySunPower app that they love. We've really got a great package for dealers. So the feedback has been very positive. I expect that we'll continue to be able to add high-quality dealers at, I don't know, if we'll have the same rate we did in Q3, but we expect to be adding quite a few dealers over the next 12 to 18 months.

所以人們希望成為這個生態系統的一部分。他們想成為這個家庭的一份子。然後您還可以添加一個事實，即我們擁有有吸引力的租賃計劃。我們擁有極具吸引力的面板選項，我們為消費者提供了出色的技術以及他們喜愛的 mySunPower 應用程式。我們確實為經銷商提供了很棒的套餐。所以反饋非常正面。我預計我們將繼續能夠添加高品質經銷商，我不知道我們是否會保持與第三季度相同的速度，但我們預計在接下來的時間裡會添加相當多的經銷商12至18個月。

Our next question comes from the line of Jon Windham from UBS.

我們的下一個問題來自瑞銀集團 (UBS) 的 Jon Windham。

Perfect. I just had a quick question about the updated adjusted EBITDA per customer guidance was $600 million to $700 million. In the third quarter, it was $1,000. I think that was for the run rate this year. How do we think about that in terms of sequential profitability into the fourth quarter? And how much of that is maybe due to some restatements of the previous trying to balance the two moving parts?

完美的。我只是有一個簡單的問題，即根據客戶指導調整後的 EBITDA 為 6 億至 7 億美元。第三季為 1,000 美元。我認為這是今年的運行率。我們如何看待第四季的連續獲利能力？其中有多少可能是由於之前試圖平衡兩個活動部分的一些重述造成的？

So the way we've thought about it is the new guidance reflects a couple of things. One is we did have softer bookings and lower consumer demand in the summer months, we talked about this. So May was the low point, but June, July and even August, we're below our expectations. We believe it's due to the high interest rates and low consumer confidence.

因此，我們認為新的指導方針反映了一些事情。一是我們在夏季的幾個月裡確實出現了預訂疲軟和消費者需求下降的情況，我們對此進行了討論。所以五月是低點，但六月、七月甚至八月，我們都比我們的預期低。我們認為這是由於高利率和低消費者信心所造成的。

So that's reflected in the fact that we're getting -- there's fewer projects for us to get done in a particular quarter. That's exasperated by the fact that more and more of our customer base is choosing -- are choosing leases. Leases rev rec on average, during normal times 30 days later, but in California, where we still do a lot of our business, it's been more like 60 to 90 days later. So that really -- think of it as it pushes out revenue and profit recognition, but the costs are still there.

這反映在我們在特定季度完成的項目越來越少的事實中。令人惱火的是，我們越來越多的客戶群正在選擇租賃。正常情況下，租賃收入平均為 30 天后，但在我們仍然開展大量業務的加州，情況更像是 60 至 90 天后。所以確實如此——把它想像成它推開了收入和利潤確認，但成本仍然存在。

So it's made in the short term, I think, financials more challenging. And then the final piece is, we have been aggressive at fixed cost reductions. The reduction we announced as part of earnings today is our second major cost reduction in the past two quarters. But as you know, those usually take some time to execute and play out. So the -- we'll get the full year benefit of those changes in 2024. But for example, the ones we announced today, we're only going to get partial benefit in Q4. So that gives you a little bit more color. The restatement piece has some impact on the -- on the EBITDA for the quarter, but it's, call it, $5 million-ish, it's not huge. A modest amount will be reflected in this quarter.

因此，我認為，短期內，財務狀況變得更具挑戰性。最後一點是，我們一直在積極削減固定成本。我們今天在收益中宣布的削減是過去兩個季度我們第二次重大成本削減。但如您所知，這些通常需要一些時間來執行和發揮作用。因此，我們將在 2024 年獲得這些變化的全年收益。但例如，我們今天宣布的變化，我們只會在第四季度獲得部分收益。所以這會給你更多的色彩。重述部分對本季的 EBITDA 產生了一些影響，但它的影響是 500 萬美元左右，並不大。少量金額將反映在本季。

Our next question comes from the line of Julien Dumoulin-Smith from Bank of America.

我們的下一個問題來自美國銀行的 Julien Dumoulin-Smith。

Thank you very much for the time, I appreciate it. Look, maybe just starting off on the cash and liquidity front, just real quickly. You guys mentioned specifically having some value tied to the SunStrong Leasing and how do you think about raising further liquidity specifically through further asset monetization and rotation here, first off?

非常感謝您抽出時間，我很感激。看，也許只是從現金和流動性方面開始，而且速度很快。你們特別提到了與SunStrong Leasing 相關的一些價值，你們如何考慮先透過進一步的資產貨幣化和輪調來進一步提高流動性？

And then secondly, I got a follow-up on some of the cost reductions. But just what else as you think about sources of capital can you point to? I get the core business here, but on the periphery of that, how do you think about the financing options on the table, specifically.

其次，我對一些成本削減進行了跟進。但當您想到資本來源時，您還能指出什麼呢？我在這裡了解核心業務，但在其外圍，您具體如何看待擺在桌面上的融資選擇。

Yes. So I mean, Julien, as you know, all public companies, you're constantly thinking about cash liquidity, your debt. You're constantly managing those things. That's not new. In volatile times, you're still -- you're spending time on it, but even in good times, you're trying to optimize that mix. The #1 thing we were focused on coming out of last quarter, we're really pleased with the results. how do we sell through the inventory we have, the $77 million reduction before the restatement is terrific progress. And then the fact that we were positive cash from operations and positive free cash flow. Those are the kinds of things that if we were to do consistently, obviously, significantly change our liquidity and our cash position. So that's plan A. And then I think are there other options for us to pursue? Absolutely.

是的。所以我的意思是，朱利安，正如你所知，所有上市公司，你都會不斷地考慮現金流動性和你的債務。你不斷地管理這些事情。這並不新鮮。在動盪的時期，你仍然會花時間在上面，但即使在好的時期，你也會嘗試優化這種組合。上季我們重點關注的第一件事是，我們對結果非常滿意。我們如何透過我們擁有的庫存進行銷售，在重述之前減少了 7700 萬美元，這是一個了不起的進步。事實上，我們的營運現金為正，自由現金流為正。如果我們堅持不懈地做這些事情，顯然會顯著改變我們的流動性和現金狀況。這就是 A 計劃。然後我想我們還有其他選擇嗎？絕對地。

And so we're always looking at those options none of those options are things that we need to pursue right now, but there are always options that we're thinking about pursuing if necessary. But the #1 focus of the company is really run the business well, generate cash and put ourselves in a position, where we're self-sufficient with cash generation.

因此，我們總是在考慮這些選擇，這些選擇都不是我們現在需要追求的，但總有一些選擇是我們在必要時考慮追求的。但公司的第一要務是真正經營好業務，產生現金，並使我們自己處於現金產生自給自足的位置。

Excellent. And then actually, Peter, to that point, just talking about running the business well. I mean the OpEx reductions and just streamlining the variable versus fixed, I mean, how much of this is a geographic repositioning versus a platform repositioning? And how do you think about that impacting sales, right? Because at the same time, you put less dollars into the funnel, presumably that decelerates something on the other side.

出色的。事實上，彼得，到目前為止，只是在談論如何經營好業務。我的意思是營運支出的減少，以及簡化可變與固定的流程，我的意思是，其中有多少是地理重新定位與平台重新定位？您如何看待這對銷售的影響，對嗎？因為同時，你在漏斗中投入的資金減少了，這可能會減慢另一邊的速度。

I mean -- and again, I get that isn't necessarily linear at sometimes. But how do you think about that kind of translating here? Again, whether that's geographic or through different sales channels. And then maybe just related to that, if I can help accentuate one more point. How much of it is like in cents per watt or near-term EBITDA per customer? How do you think about the trend that you're seeing today on manufacturing and COGS reductions as you trend into -- through the quarter into '24. I mean it seems like that's pretty substantive here. I'm curious if you can try to quantify some of that and help provide some context on '24 COGS reductions.

我的意思是——再說一遍，我知道有時這不一定是線性的。但你如何看待這裡的這種翻譯呢？同樣，無論是地理上的還是透過不同的銷售管道。如果我能幫忙強調一點的話，也許只是與此相關。其中多少是每瓦美分或每位客戶的近期 EBITDA？您如何看待今天看到的製造業和銷貨成本下降的趨勢，以及進入 24 世紀這個季度的趨勢。我的意思是，這似乎是相當實質的。我很好奇您是否可以嘗試量化其中的一些內容並幫助提供一些有關“24 年銷售成本削減”的背景資訊。

Sure. So on the first set of questions around how do you think about marketing investment, how do you think about the regionality part of this, number one thing is we're still committed to run this business with a long-term focus. So we haven't done the things you sometimes hear about other companies doing, like just pulling down marketing spend to try to hit a number.

當然。因此，在關於您如何看待行銷投資、如何看待其中的區域性部分的第一組問題中，首要的是我們仍然致力於以長期為重點來經營這項業務。因此，我們沒有做你有時會聽到其他公司做的事情，例如只是減少行銷支出以試圖達到目標。

We're not running the business that way. So we're still investing appropriately in marketing and sales, and it's important in this business, frankly, to do it. So that you'd build the backlogs that we have and that you have a base of business to be able to run your business on going forward. So we don't believe in taking shortcuts like cutting marketing and sales, I think those are really fool's gold, if you will. And I think it's important for us to continue to run the business thoughtfully and with a long-term investment in mind.

我們不是這樣經營業務的。因此，我們仍在行銷和銷售方面進行適當的投資，坦白說，這對這項業務很重要。這樣您就可以建立我們擁有的積壓訂單，並且您擁有能夠繼續經營業務的業務基礎。因此，我們不相信採取削減行銷和銷售等捷徑，如果你願意的話，我認為這些確實是愚人金。我認為，對我們來說，繼續深思熟慮地經營業務並牢記長期投資非常重要。

Now having said that, you're right to point out that on a regional basis, particularly this year, it's been volatile, and we don't have to have the same strategy regionally as we go forward. We can really evaluate what are the best options to serve consumers. And in our case, we really have an advantage because we have a strong direct business, SunPower Direct and our [SPRE] operations. We have a strong subsidiary with Blue Raven. We've got a great dealer network. We've got great installing partners that are partners of ours that are not part of any of those ecosystems.

話雖如此，您正確地指出，從區域角度來看，特別是今年，情況一直不穩定，我們在前進時不必在區域範圍內採取相同的策略。我們可以真正評估什麼是服務消費者的最佳選擇。就我們而言，我們確實具有優勢，因為我們擁有強大的直接業務、SunPower Direct 和我們的 [SPRE] 業務。我們有一家強大的子公司 Blue Raven。我們擁有強大的經銷商網路。我們擁有優秀的安裝合作夥伴，他們是我們的合作夥伴，但不屬於任何這些生態系統。

And so the process that we're constantly going through and will be making changes throughout the fourth quarter to prepare ourselves for '24 is how do you anticipate how much demand you'll see really, it's not even state-by-state. It's kind of utility by utility across the U.S. And then in our case, what's the best go-to-market strategy that makes the most sense economically. I think again, the volatility of this year, if there's a big lesson coming out of it, is you have to build a model that's more flexible and more resilient.

因此，我們在第四季度不斷經歷並將做出改變，為「24」做好準備的過程是如何預測您將看到的實際需求量，甚至不是逐州的需求。這是美國各地公用事業公司的情況。然後在我們的例子中，什麼是經濟上最有意義的最佳進入市場策略。我再次想到，今年的波動，如果說從中得到了一個重要的教訓的話，那就是你必須建立一個更靈活、更有彈性的模型。

And going into next year, our mindset is be prepared for the minus 20 and be prepared for the positive 20 and put ourselves in a position, where we could be equally effective. But that's how we think about that as we go forward. And then on the -- I think your last question was around COGS reduction. We've made great progress this year on OpEx reduction and COGS reduction. I think certainly from a materials cost point of view, we anticipate materials costs coming down year-over-year between '24 and '23.

進入明年，我們的心態是為負 20 度做好準備，為正 20 度做好準備，讓自己處於同樣有效的位置。但這就是我們在前進過程中的思考方式。然後，我認為你的最後一個問題是關於銷售成本的降低。今年我們在降低營運支出和降低銷售成本方面取得了巨大進展。我認為，從材料成本的角度來看，我們預計材料成本在 24 年至 23 年間將逐年下降。

So that will be a positive for us. We should also recognize that prices are down year-over-year. Consumers are looking for more value. Dealers are looking for more value. So that benefit in material costs will split between consumers, dealers and we'll have the potential to keep some of that for ourselves. And then really, I think it's around the other areas of COGS. How do you think about your infrastructure, your overhead, your regional operations. And how do you go through the process I just described to optimize those next year. And I think we feel like we're in a position that by the time we finish Q4, we'll be in a strong position to be ready for 2024.

所以這對我們來說是積極的。我們也應該認識到價格逐年下降。消費者正在尋找更多的價值。經銷商正在尋找更多的價值。因此，材料成本的好處將在消費者和經銷商之間分配，我們將有可能為自己保留其中的一部分。事實上，我認為這與銷貨成本的其他領域有關。您如何看待您的基礎設施、管理費用和區域營運。您如何完成我剛剛描述的流程來優化明年的這些流程。我認為，當我們完成第四季時，我們將處於有利地位，為 2024 年做好準備。

Thanks to everybody for your participation. We look forward to -- we hope, a strong close for 2023 and talking to all of you early next year about our expectations for 2024. Thank you very much.

感謝大家的參與。我們期待——我們希望 2023 年能夠圓滿結束，並在明年初與大家討論我們對 2024 年的期望。非常感謝你們。

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

今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝您的參與。您現在可以斷開連線。