德州儀器 (TXN) 2017 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Good day, and welcome to the Texas Instruments fourth-quarter 2017 and 2017 year-end earnings release conference call. Today's conference is being recorded. At this time, I'd like to turn conference over to Dave Pahl. Please go ahead, sir.

各位好，歡迎參加德州儀器2017年第四季及2017年全年業績發布電話會議。今天的會議正在錄影。現在，我想把會議交給戴夫·帕爾主持。請繼續，先生。

Thank you. Good afternoon, and thank you for joining our fourth quarter and 2017 earnings conference call. Rafael Lizardi, TI's chief financial officer, is with me today. For any of you who missed the release, you can find it on our website at ti.com/ir. This call is being broadcast live over the web and can be accessed through our website. A replay will be available through the web.

謝謝。下午好，感謝各位參加我們第四季及2017年財報電話會議。德州儀器財務長拉斐爾·利扎爾迪今天和我在一起。如果您錯過了發布會，可以在我們的網站 ti.com/ir 上找到它。本次通話正在網路上進行現場直播，可透過我們的網站收看。比賽錄影將在網路上播出。

This call will include forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties that could cause TI's results to differ materially from management's current expectations. We encourage you to review the notice regarding forward-looking statements contained in the earnings release published today as well as TI's most recent SEC filings for a more complete description.

本次電話會議將包含前瞻性陳述，其中涉及風險和不確定性，可能導致德州儀器 (TI) 的表現與管理層目前的預期有重大差異。我們建議您查看今天發布的盈利報告中有關前瞻性聲明的通知，以及德州儀器 (TI) 向美國證券交易委員會 (SEC) 提交的最新文件，以獲取更完整的說明。

First, let me provide some information that's important for your calendars. We plan to hold an update to our capital management strategy on February 6, at 10 a.m. Central Time. Similar to what we've done in the past, Rafael and I will provide insight into our strategy.

首先，讓我提供一些對您的日程安排很重要的資訊。我們計劃於2月6日上午10點舉行資本管理策略更新會議。中部時間。和以往一樣，拉斐爾和我將為大家提供關於我們策略的見解。

You also likely saw that last week we announced that Brian Crutcher will become President and CEO on June 1 and that Rich Templeton will continue as our Chairman. I'm sure you'll join me in congratulating them both.

您可能也已經看到，上週我們宣布 Brian Crutcher 將於 6 月 1 日就任總裁兼首席執行官，而 Rich Templeton 將繼續擔任董事長。我相信你們都會和我一起祝賀他們兩個。

Before I give you an overview of the fourth-quarter results, I want to summarize the impact the December 2017 tax reform act had. We applaud the reform to U.S. corporate law because it enables U.S.-headquartered companies, like TI, to compete more effectively on a global basis. The new law recognizes and rewards companies for exporting and having manufacturing, R&D and intellectual property in the United States.

在向大家概述第四季業績之前，我想先總結一下 2017 年 12 月稅改法案的影響。我們讚賞美國公司法的改革，因為它使像德州儀器 (TI) 這樣總部位於美國的公司的企業能夠在全球範圍內更有效地參與競爭。新法旨在表彰和獎勵那些在美國進行出口、擁有製造、研發和智慧財產權的公司。

Regarding the financial implications, there's 3 important points I'd like to point out. First, investors should assume an ongoing 18% annual operating tax rate starting in 2019. This rate comprehends the 21% statutory corporate rate and the benefit of exports and having manufacturing, R&D and intellectual property in the U.S. This rate does not include an estimate for stock-based compensation impact, which we provide at the start of each year.

關於財務方面的影響，我想指出以下三點。首先，投資者應假設從 2019 年開始，年度營業稅率將持續為 18%。該稅率包含了 21% 的法定公司稅率，以及出口和在美國擁有製造、研發和智慧財產權所帶來的收益。該稅率不包括股票選擇權激勵影響的估計值，我們會在每年年初提供該估計值。

Second, for 2018, investors should assume a 23% annual operating tax rate before stock-based compensation. This 23% rate comprehends the long-term rate of 18% that I just described, plus 5 percentage points of transitional tax effect that must be expensed in 2018. These transitional tax effects are mostly non-cash. To get you to an effective rate by quarter, we're assuming about $55 million of stock-based compensation benefit for 2018, split quarterly with $30 million in the first quarter, $10 million in the second and third quarters, and $5 million in the fourth. Therefore, the effective tax rate should be about 21% in the first quarter, 22% in the second and third, and 23% in the fourth quarter of 2018. You'll find this information summarized on our IR website under Financial Summary Data, as we've done in the past.

其次，對於 2018 年，投資者應假設股票選擇權激勵前的年度營業稅率為 23%。這個 23% 的稅率包含了我剛才描述的 18% 的長期稅率，再加上 5 個百分點的過渡性稅收影響，這部分稅收影響必須在 2018 年計入費用。這些過渡性稅收影響大多是非現金的。為了計算每季的有效費率，我們假設 2018 年的股票選擇權補償福利約為 5,500 萬美元，按季度分配，第一季 3,000 萬美元，第二季和第三季各 1,000 萬美元，第四季 500 萬美元。因此，2018 年第一季的實際稅率應約為 21%，第二季和第三季約為 22%，第四季約為 23%。您可以在我們的投資者關係網站的「財務摘要資料」部分找到這些資訊的匯總，就像我們過去所做的那樣。

Lastly, in fourth quarter of 2017, our tax expense included approximately $800 million of expense that was primarily related to the recently passed tax reform act. This included about $700 million for the tax on indefinitely reinvested earnings, as well as about $60 million for a reduction in deferred tax assets. The charge on deferred tax assets is non-cash. The charge associated indefinitely reinvested earnings will impact cash flow and will be paid over 8 years. We'll pay about $60 million in the first 5 years, $100 million in the sixth, $140 million in the seventh, $160 million in the eighth year. This will have impact -- there is no impact to cash flow in the fourth quarter of 2017 because of these tax changes.

最後，在 2017 年第四季度，我們的稅收支出包括約 8 億美元的支出，這主要與最近通過的稅收改革法案有關。其中包括約 7 億美元的無限期再投資收益稅，以及約 6,000 萬美元的遞延所得稅資產減少費用。遞延所得稅資產的費用是非現金的。與無限期再投資收益相關的費用將影響現金流，並將在 8 年內支付。前 5 年我們將支付約 6,000 萬美元，第 6 年支付 1 億美元，第 7 年支付 1.4 億美元，第 8 年支付 1.6 億美元。這將產生影響—由於這些稅收變化，2017 年第四季的現金流不會受到影響。

Of course, our initial estimates of the financial impact on the tax reform act could change as we refine our analysis and if any additional guidance on this new law becomes available. Our long-term investment strategy remains unchanged by tax reform. With more cash available on an ongoing basis, we'll continue to invest to grow our business, to strengthen our competitive advantages and return all free cash flow to our owners. Again, we believe the reform to U.S. corporate tax will enable U.S.-headquartered companies, like TI, to compete more effectively on a global basis.

當然，隨著我們不斷完善分析，以及如果有關這項新法律的任何額外指導意見出台，我們對稅收改革法案的財務影響的初步估計可能會發生變化。稅制改革不會改變我們的長期投資策略。隨著現金流的持續成長，我們將繼續投資以發展業務，增強競爭優勢，並將所有自由現金流返還給所有者。我們再次相信，美國企業稅改革將使像德州儀器 (TI) 這樣總部位於美國的跨國公司能夠在全球範圍內更有效地參與競爭。

Now I'll start with a quick summary of our financial results. Revenue for the fourth quarter increased 10% from a year ago, as demand for our products remained strong in the automotive and industrial markets. Communications equipment declined, while personal electronics grew mid-single digits, but results varied by customer.

現在我先簡單總結一下我們的財務表現。由於汽車和工業市場對我們產品的需求依然強勁，第四季營收比去年同期成長了 10%。通訊設備銷售量下降，而個人電子產品銷售成長了中等個位數，但不同客戶群的銷售成長情況不一。

In our core businesses, Analog revenue grew 11% and Embedded Processing grew 20% compared to the same quarter a year ago. Operating margins increased in both businesses. Earnings per share were $0.34, including $0.75 of tax-related expenses not in our original guidance, primarily due to the recently passed tax reform act that I just discussed.

在我們的核心業務中，模擬業務收入年增 11%，嵌入式處理業務收入年增 20%。兩項業務的營業利潤率均有所提升。每股收益為 0.34 美元，其中包括 0.75 美元的稅收相關支出，這筆支出不在我們最初的預期之內，主要是由於我剛才提到的最近通過的稅收改革法案。

With that backdrop, I'll now provide details on our performance, which we believe continues to be representative of our ongoing strength of our business model. In the fourth quarter, our cash flow from operations was $1.9 billion. We believe that free cash flow growth, especially on a per share basis, is most important to maximizing shareholder value in the long term.

在此背景下，我將詳細介紹我們的業績，我們相信這將繼續代表我們商業模式的持續優勢。第四季度，我們的經營活動現金流為 19 億美元。我們認為，自由現金流成長，尤其是每股自由現金流成長，對於長期實現股東價值最大化至關重要。

Free cash flow for the trailing 12-month period was $4.7 billion, up 14% from a year ago. Free cash flow margin for the same period was 31.2% of revenue, up from 30.5% a year ago. We continue to benefit from an improved product portfolio that's long-lived and diverse, and the efficiencies of our manufacturing strategy, the latter of which includes our growing 300-millimeter Analog output. We believe free cash flow will be valued only if it's productively invested in the business or returned to owners. In 2017, we returned $4.7 billion of cash to owners through a combination of dividends and stock repurchases.

過去 12 個月的自由現金流為 47 億美元，比上年同期成長 14%。同期自由現金流利潤率為營收的 31.2%，高於去年同期的 30.5%。我們持續受益於不斷改進的產品組合（該組合使用壽命長且種類繁多）以及我們製造策略的效率，後者包括我們不斷增長的 300 毫米類比輸出。我們認為，只有將自由現金流用於生產性投資或回饋給所有者，才能反映其價值。2017 年，我們以股利和股票回購的方式向股東返還了 47 億美元現金。

I will now provide some details by segment. From a year-ago quarter, Analog grew 11% due to Power and Signal Chain. High Volume declined. Embedded Processing revenue grew 20% from a year-ago quarter due to growth in both product lines, which are Processors and Connected Microcontrollers. In our Other segment, revenue declined 16% from a year ago primarily due to custom ASIC, and the move of royalties, which began in the first quarter of 2017. For the year in total, Analog and Embedded each grew about 16% on broad-based growth, and combined are now 90% of TI's revenue.

接下來我將分部分提供一些細節。受電源和訊號鏈業務成長的推動，類比業務較去年同期成長了 11%。成交量下降。由於處理器和連接微控制器這兩個產品線的成長，嵌入式處理收入比去年同期成長了 20%。在其他業務板塊，營收較上年同期下降了 16%，主要原因是客製化 ASIC 晶片和自 2017 年第一季開始的特許權使用費的轉移。全年來看，類比電路和嵌入式電路業務在全面成長的帶動下均成長了約 16%，兩業務合計佔德州儀器總收入的 90%。

Let me describe our -- next, our revenue by end market in 2017. Just as a reminder, we provide an estimate of TI's revenue by end market on an annual basis. We break this into 6 categories: industrial; automotive; personal electronics, and that will include things like mobile phones, PC, tablets and TVs; comms equipment; enterprise systems; and everything else, which is primarily calculators.

接下來，我將介紹我們 2017 年按終端市場劃分的收入。再次提醒，我們會提供德州儀器 (TI) 按終端市場劃分的年度收入估計。我們將此分為 6 個類別：工業；汽車；個人電子產品（包括手機、電腦、平板電腦和電視等）；通訊設備；企業系統；以及其他所有產品（主要是計算機）。

Notably, every market contributed to growth in 2017. Specifically, industrial comprised 35% of our revenue, up 2 percentage points from 2016. Automotive was 19%, up 1 point. Personal electronics was 25%, down 1 point. Comms equipment and other were 12% and 3%, respectively, down 1 percentage point. While enterprise systems was about 6% in both years.

值得注意的是，2017 年每個市場都對成長做出了貢獻。具體而言，工業收入占我們總收入的 35%，比 2016 年成長了 2 個百分點。汽車業上漲19%，漲幅1個百分點。個人電子產品銷售額成長25%，下降1個百分點。通訊設備和其他設備分別下降了 12% 和 3%，下降了 1 個百分點。企業系統在這兩年中佔比約為 6%。

Also, we did not have a customer who was more than 10% of our revenue in 2017.

此外，2017 年我們沒有一個客戶的銷售額占我們收入的 10% 以上。

We continue to focus on our strategy on industrial and automotive markets, where we've been allocating capital and driving initiatives to strengthen our position. This is based on a belief that industrial and automotive will be the fastest-growing semiconductor markets. They have increasing semiconductor content, and these markets provide diversity and longevity. Taken together, this all translates to a high terminal value of our portfolio.

我們將繼續專注於工業和汽車市場的策略，我們一直在這些市場投入資金並推進各項舉措，以鞏固我們的地位。這是基於這樣一種信念：工業和汽車產業將成為成長最快的半導體市場。它們的半導體含量不斷增加，這些市場提供了多樣性和持久性。綜上所述，這一切都意味著我們投資組合的最終價值很高。

In 2017, industrial and automotive combined made up 54% of TI's revenue, up from 42% just 4 years ago. We've established momentum in these markets and we are far from satisfied and we continue to make improvements.

2017 年，工業和汽車業務合計佔 TI 收入的 54%，高於 4 年前的 42%。我們已在這些市場建立了發展勢頭，但我們遠不滿足，並將繼續改進。

Rafael will now review profitability, capital management and our outlook.

Rafael接下來將審查獲利能力、資本管理和我們的前景。

Thanks, Dave, and good afternoon, everyone. Gross profit in the quarter was $2.44 billion or 65.1% of revenue. From a year ago, gross profit increased due to higher revenue and lower manufacturing costs. Gross profit margin increased by 250 basis points. Operating expenses in the quarter were $795 million. Operating expenses on a trailing 12-month basis were up 3% and were 21.4% of revenue, within our range of expectations.

謝謝你，戴夫，大家下午好。本季毛利為 24.4 億美元，佔營收的 65.1%。由於收入增加和製造成本降低，毛利較上年同期成長。毛利率提高了250個基點。本季營運支出為 7.95 億美元。過去 12 個月的營運支出成長了 3%，佔營收的 21.4%，符合我們的預期範圍。

For the year, we have invested $1.51 billion in R&D, an important element of our capital allocation. Acquisition charges were $79 million, all of which was the ongoing amortization of intangibles, which is a non-cash expense. Acquisition charges will be about $80 million per quarter, through the third quarter of 2019, due to amortization of intangibles. That will decline to about $50 million per quarter for the 2 remaining years.

今年，我們在研發方面投入了 15.1 億美元，這是我們資本配置的重要組成部分。收購費用為 7,900 萬美元，全部為無形資產的持續攤銷，這是一項非現金支出。由於無形資產攤銷，截至 2019 年第三季度，收購費用將約為每季 8,000 萬美元。在接下來的兩年裡，這一數字將下降到每季約 5,000 萬美元。

Operating profit was $1.56 billion or 41.7% of revenue. Operating profit was up 17% from a year-ago quarter. Operating margin for Analog was 46.9%, up from 43.2% a year ago. And for Embedded Processing, it was 34.3%, up from 28.8% a year ago. Our focused investments on the best sustainable growth opportunities with differentiated positions enabled both businesses to continue to contribute nicely to free cash flow growth.

營業利潤為 15.6 億美元，佔營收的 41.7%。營業利潤較去年同期成長17%。Analog 的營業利益率為 46.9%，高於一年前的 43.2%。而嵌入式處理領域的佔比為 34.3%，高於一年前的 28.8%。我們專注於投資具有差異化優勢的最佳永續成長機會，使兩家企業都能繼續為自由現金流成長做出良好貢獻。

Other income and expense declined $176 million as we signed several intellectual property agreements in the year-ago quarter that will not repeat -- or that did not repeat. Net income in the fourth quarter was $344 million or $0.34 per share, which included $0.75 in tax-related expenses, not in our prior outlook as we have discussed.

其他收入和支出減少了 1.76 億美元，因為我們在去年同期簽署了幾項智慧財產權協議，這些協議不會再重複——或者說沒有重複。第四季淨收入為 3.44 億美元，即每股 0.34 美元，其中包括 0.75 美元的稅收相關支出，這不在我們之前的預期之內，正如我們之前討論過的。

Let me now comment on our capital management results, starting with our cash generation. Cash flow from operations was $1.93 billion in the quarter, up 39% from a year ago. Capital expenditures were $231 million in the quarter. In the fourth quarter, we paid $611 million in dividends and repurchased $706 million of our stock for a total return of $1.32 billion in the fourth quarter.

現在讓我來談談我們的資本管理業績，先從我們的現金流產生情況說起。本季經營活動產生的現金流為 19.3 億美元，比去年同期成長 39%。本季資本支出為2.31億美元。第四季度，我們支付了 6.11 億美元的股息，並回購了 7.06 億美元的股票，第四季總回報為 13.2 億美元。

Our balance sheet remains strong with $4.47 billion of cash and short-term investments at the end of the quarter. We issued $500 million of debt in 10-year notes during the quarter. This leaves total debt of $4.1 billion with a weighted average coupon rate of 2.05%. Inventory days were 134, up 8 days from a year ago and within our expected range.

截至季末，我們的資產負債表依然穩健，擁有 44.7 億美元的現金和短期投資。本季我們發行了 5 億美元的 10 年期債券。如此一來，總債務為 41 億美元，加權平均票面利率為 2.05%。庫存週轉天數為 134 天，比去年同期增加了 8 天，但仍在我們的預期範圍內。

Now let's look at some of these results for the year.

現在讓我們來看看今年的部分結果。

In 2017, cash flow from operations was $5.36 billion, up 16% from the previous year. Capital expenditures were $695 million or 4.6% of revenue, consistent with our long-term expectations. Free cash flow for the past 12 months was $4.67 billion or 31.2% of revenue. Our cash flow reflects the strength of our business model. As we have said, we believe free cash flow growth, especially on a per share basis, is most important to maximizing shareholder value in the long term. And will be valued only if it's productively invested in the business or returned to shareholders. We remain committed to return all free cash flow to the owners of the company.

2017 年，經營活動產生的現金流為 53.6 億美元，較上年成長 16%。資本支出為 6.95 億美元，佔收入的 4.6%，與我們的長期預期一致。過去 12 個月的自由現金流為 46.7 億美元，佔營收的 31.2%。我們的現金流反映了我們商業模式的優勢。正如我們所說，我們認為自由現金流成長，尤其是每股自由現金流成長，對於長期最大化股東價值至關重要。只有當資金被有效地投資於企業或返還給股東時，才能反映其價值。我們仍然致力於將所有自由現金流返還給公司所有者。

Total cash returned to owners in 2017 was $4.66 billion. These combined returns of dividends and share repurchases demonstrate our confidence in our business model and our commitment to return all free cash flow to our owners. Over the last 12 months, we paid $2.10 billion in dividends or about 45% of free cash flow, evidence of their sustainability. Outstanding share count was reduced by 1.3% over the past 12 months and has been reduced by 43% since the end of 2004 when we initiated a program designed to reduce our share count.

2017 年返還給所有者的現金總額為 46.6 億美元。股利和股票回購的綜合回報顯示了我們對自身商業模式的信心，以及我們致力於將所有自由現金流返還給股東的承諾。過去 12 個月，我們支付了 21 億美元的股息，約佔自由現金流的 45%，證明了股息的可持續性。過去 12 個月，流通股數量減少了 1.3%，自 2004 年底我們啟動旨在減少流通股數量的計畫以來，流通股數量已減少了 43%。

Turning to our outlook for the first quarter, we expect TI revenue in the range of $3.49 billion to $3.79 billion and earnings per share to be in the range of $1.01 to $1.17, which includes an estimated $30 million discrete tax benefit.

展望第一季度，我們預計德州儀器 (TI) 的收入將在 34.9 億美元至 37.9 億美元之間，每股收益將在 1.01 美元至 1.17 美元之間，其中包括預計 3000 萬美元的一次性稅收優惠。

In closing, I'll note that the strength of our business model was demonstrated throughout our financial performance from top-line growth and margin expansion to free cash flow generation. We continue to invest in our competitive advantages, which are technology and manufacturing, portfolio breadth, market reach and diverse and long-lived products. We will continue to strengthen these advantages through disciplined capital allocation and by focusing on the best products, Analog and Embedded Processing; and the best markets, industrial and automotive, which I believe will enable us to continue to improve and deliver free cash flow per share growth for a long time to come.

最後，我想指出，從營收成長、利潤率擴張到自由現金流的產生，我們財務表現的全面表現都證明了我們商業模式的優勢。我們將繼續投資於我們的競爭優勢，包括技術和製造、產品組合廣度、市場覆蓋範圍以及多樣化和長壽命的產品。我們將繼續透過嚴格的資本配置，專注於最好的產品（模擬和嵌入式處理）和最好的市場（工業和汽車），來加強這些優勢。我相信這將使我們能夠在未來很長一段時間內繼續改進並實現每股自由現金流的成長。

With that, let me turn it back to Dave.

那麼，現在讓我把話題轉回給戴夫。

Thanks, Rafael. And operator, you can now open the lines up for questions. (Operator Instructions) Renée?

謝謝你，拉斐爾。操作員，現在可以開通問答線了。（操作說明）蕾妮？

(Operator Instructions) And our first question comes from Vivek Arya with Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

（操作員說明）我們的第一個問題來自美國銀行美林證券的 Vivek Arya。

I was wondering if you could give us some more color on what you're seeing in different end markets at the start of the year. When I look at your Q1 sales outlook, it's in line with consensus, seasonally somewhat conservative. After seasonally below -- well, below seasonal quarter you had in Q4. And Dave, it seems to me in somewhat contrast to the very strong macro environment. So is there something that you're seeing that is keeping you more conservative than usual?

我想請您詳細介紹一下年初時您在不同終端市場觀察到的情況。我看了你們第一季的銷售預期，感覺與市場普遍預期一致，從季節性角度來看也略顯保守。第四季業績低於往年同期水準。戴夫，在我看來，這與非常強勁的宏觀環境形成了某種對比。那麼，你觀察到的哪些因素讓你比平常更保守呢？

Yes. Vivek, I'd first just take a look at the results in total. If you look at the quarter, fourth quarter came in with 10% year-on-year growth. We just took -- for the year, the company came in at 12% year-on-year growth. And if you look at the outlook, at the midpoint, we're -- we'd be at mid to upper -- I'd say upper single-digit growth, overall. So I think if you look inside of that, we continue to see strength in automotive and industrial. The exciting thing about that, of course, is that both of those markets, we think, will drive our revenue for quite some time. I think inside of the fourth quarter, as we talked about in our prepared remarks, we did see weakness in comms equipment. That's a market that, traditionally, is choppy. And then in PE, it's really more of a mixed bag there and more dependent or varied by customers overall. But again, I -- with double-digit growth in the quarter and a 12% growth per year, I'd consider that as still strong performance. Do you have a follow-on?

是的。維韋克，我建議你先看整體結果。如果看一下季度數據，第四季年增了10%。我們剛剛統計了一下——就全年而言，該公司實現了12%的同比增長。從前景來看，中期來看，我們整體的成長幅度應該在個位數以上。所以我覺得，如果你深入分析，我們會發現汽車和工業領域仍然保持強勁勢頭。當然，令人興奮的是，我們認為這兩個市場將在相當長的一段時間內推動我們的收入成長。我認為，正如我們在準備好的發言稿中所談到的，在第四季度，我們確實看到了通訊設備的薄弱環節。這是一個歷來波動較大的市場。而在私募股權領域，情況就比較複雜了，而且整體上更依賴客戶或因客戶而異。但是，考慮到本季兩位數的成長和每年 12% 的成長，我認為這仍然是強勁的業績。您還有後續問題嗎？

Yes. So maybe let me ask the same question in a different way. So you grew 10% in Q4. When I look at Q1, it's pointing to a somewhat deceleration to 7%, which is still impressive, but a deceleration regardless. So are you seeing anything in the environment that is making you conservative? And sort of follow-on from that is, do you think this is a sustainable growth rate, right? I know you don't give out full-year guidance, but do you see the trend sustainable for the rest of the year?

是的。那麼，或許我可以換個方式問同樣的問題。所以你們第四季成長了10%。從第一季的數據來看，成長速度略有放緩至 7%，雖然仍然令人印象深刻，但畢竟有所放緩。那麼，你覺得當前環境有什麼因素讓你變得保守嗎？由此引申的問題是，你認為這是一個可持續的成長率嗎？我知道你們不提供全年業績指引，但你們認為這種趨勢能在今年餘下的時間裡持續下去嗎？

Yes. So now let me not try to forecast the year. I think, as you said, upper single digits is still strong growth. I think when we look at the macro environment, it overall seems constructive, continues to seem constructive for us. We did see changes in comms equipment. I wouldn't describe that as something that's necessarily a macro effect. It is just what it is. That's -- it continues to be a choppy market for us, but a good market. It's a market that we continue to invest in and can make money there for some time. So overall, I think we're positioned well. And again, I think the overall environment is constructive.

是的。所以，我就不去嘗試預測今年的狀況了。我認為，正如你所說，個位數以上的成長率仍然是強勁的成長。我認為，從宏觀環境來看，總體而言，它似乎是建設性的，而且似乎將繼續對我們有利。我們確實看到了通訊設備的變化。我不認為這一定是一種宏觀效應。事情就是這樣。對我們來說，市場依然波動較大，但整體來說是個不錯的市場。這是一個我們會持續投資並能在一段時間內持續獲利的市場。所以總的來說，我認為我們處於有利地位。而且，我認為整體環境是建設性的。

Yes. Let me just add to that. If you take a step back and think about on the sustainability question, the way we think about our market, it starts with a global GDP growth, 3% to 4% or so. And then semiconductors should grow on top of that, 1% to 2%, particularly in the markets that we focus, which are industrial and automotive, and that's because that's where the semiconductor content is happening. And then on top of that, we've been gaining share in Analog and Embedded on a pretty consistent basis. So you can think of another point or 2 on top of that for our long-term sustainable growth. Of course, any one quarter, even any one year, that can vary. But over the long haul, this is a great market to be in particularly industrial and automotive, which is where we're focusing our investments, our efforts because that's where the semiconductor content growth is happening.

是的。我再補充一點。如果退後一步，思考永續性問題，以及我們對市場的思考方式，就會發現它始於全球 GDP 成長，大約 3% 到 4%。然後半導體產業應該會在此基礎上成長 1% 到 2%，尤其是在我們關注的工業和汽車市場，因為半導體應用主要集中在這些領域。除此之外，我們在模擬和嵌入式領域的市佔率也一直在穩定成長。所以，你可以在此基礎上再想出一兩點，以促進我們的長期永續發展。當然，任何一個季度，甚至任何一年，情況都可能有所不同。但從長遠來看，這是一個非常好的市場，尤其是在工業和汽車領域，這也是我們集中投資和努力的領域，因為半導體含量的成長就發生在這些領域。

(Operator Instructions) Our next question comes from Ross Seymore with Deutsche Bank.

（操作員說明）我們的下一個問題來自德意志銀行的羅斯·西摩。

The 21% roughly growth that you had in your industrial business, any color you could provide, Dave, on what's going on underneath the covers there? That's a very, very impressive number. And kind of getting at the same sustainability question, any color that you could give? Looking backwards might be helpful.

戴夫，你能否透露一下你工業業務約 21% 的成長情況，以及背後的原因？這是一個非常非常驚人的數字。這也牽涉到同樣的永續性問題，你能給什麼顏色建議嗎？回顧過去或許會有幫助。

Yes. You bet, Ross. And I think if you -- the numbers that we provide you are rounded percentages. So I would describe industrial growth, overall, in the upper teens when you look year-over-year. And that growth is based on almost all sectors growing, so very, very diverse. That's one of the things that we like about it. And for those that listen to us regularly, you've heard me talk about the 14 different sectors that we have that make up the industrial segment, and that will include things like factory automation and control, industrial transport, things that you would expect. But it also includes things like medical and health care, avionics, appliances and those types of things, perhaps the financial community wouldn't put inside of industrial but behaves much in the same way, so that's why they're in there. So we're really pleased with that growth. What's encouraging about it, again, is it's coming from very diverse sources and it's really about content gains inside of that market. Do you have a follow-on, Ross?

是的。當然，羅斯。而且我認為，如果您——我們提供給您的數字是經過四捨五入的百分比。因此，如果從同比來看，我會將工業成長率整體描述為接近百分之十幾。而且這種成長是建立在幾乎所有行業都在成長的基礎上的，因此非常非常多元化。這是我們喜歡它的原因之一。經常收聽我們節目的聽眾應該都聽我說過，工業領域由 14 個不同的行業組成，其中包括工廠自動化和控制、工業運輸等等，這些都是大家所期望的。但它也包括醫療保健、航空電子設備、家用電器等，金融界或許不會將它們歸入工業範疇，但它們的運作方式卻大同小異，所以它們才被歸入其中。所以我們對這一增長非常滿意。令人鼓舞的是，這些成長來自非常多樣化的來源，真正重要的是該市場內部的內容成長。羅斯，你還有後續問題嗎？

Yes, I do. Switching over to the OpEx side, for either you or for Rafael. In 2017, there's a big delta between what R&D did versus SG&A. And then now, also, that you have some better profitability with the tax rate being lower, I really just wanted to see what your views are on the OpEx side of the equation, overall. Will you spend more now that you have more cash? And how will it be split if there's any differences between those 2 buckets?

是的，我願意。切換到營運支出方面，無論是對你還是對 Rafael 來說。2017 年，研發支出與銷售、一般及行政費用之間存在巨大差距。而且現在稅率降低了，獲利能力也提高了，所以我很想了解您對營運支出的整體看法。現在手頭寬裕了，你會增加消費嗎？如果這兩個桶子之間有任何差異，該如何分配？

Yes. Ross, what I would tell you is that, first, on a high-level OpEx to us is an investment, whether it's R&D or SG&A. In the case of R&D, obviously, we're putting out more differentiated products, focused on industrial and automotive to strengthen our competitive advantages. In this case, the breadth of portfolio, of course. In the case of SG&A, there are a lot of things there. But one thing that we've been focusing on is demand creation. And that strengthened another competitive advantage, which is the channel advantages. So we did that in 2017. Our OpEx was up about 3%, and we're going to continue focusing our investments on that. On the second part of your question on tax reform -- and by the way, on that, let me step back for a second. Dave said during the call that it's a great thing. We're very happy with tax reform. It's going to enable companies like TI, a U.S.-based company, to compete more effectively on a global basis. Now we're on an even playing field versus companies outside the United States. So that is great. But our long-term investment strategy remains unchanged. We're going to continue investing to strengthen our competitive advantages as we have talked about before. And now with more cash, we're going to do that and then we're going to return all free cash flow to the owners of the company, which is our commitment as part of our competitive advantage -- I'm sorry, our capital management strategy that we have been talking about for a number of years.

是的。羅斯，我想告訴你的是，首先，從宏觀層面來看，營運支出對我們來說是一種投資，無論是研發支出或銷售、一般及行政費用。在研發方面，顯然我們正在推出更多差異化產品，專注於工業和汽車領域，以增強我們的競爭優勢。當然，這裡指的是投資組合的廣度。就銷售、一般及行政費用而言，其中包含許多項目。但我們一直關注的重點是創造需求。這進一步鞏固了另一個競爭優勢，即通路優勢。所以我們在2017年就做了這件事。我們的營運支出成長了約 3%，我們將繼續把投資重點放在這方面。關於您提出的稅制改革問題的第二部分——順便說一句，關於這一點，讓我先退一步想想。戴夫在通話中說，這是一件好事。我們對稅制改革非常滿意。這將使像德州儀器（TI）這樣的美國公司能夠在全球範圍內更有效地參與競爭。現在我們與美國以外的公司站在了同一起跑線上。那太好了。但我們的長期投資策略保持不變。我們將繼續投資，以增強我們的競爭優勢，正如我們之前所討論的。現在有了更多現金，我們將這樣做，然後我們將把所有自由現金流返還給公司所有者，這是我們作為競爭優勢的一部分所做的承諾——抱歉，是我們多年來一直在談論的資本管理策略的一部分。

We move next to Toshiya Hari with Goldman Sachs.

接下來我們來聽聽高盛的 Toshiya Hari 的介紹。

Dave, you talked a little bit about the communications equipment market and the weakness there. Was that focused on -- around a single region or a couple of customers or was it broad-based? And when would you expect that part of the market to inflect to the upside?

戴夫，你剛才談到了通訊設備市場及其疲軟的現狀。這項活動是針對某個地區或幾個客戶進行的，還是覆蓋範圍很廣？那麼，您預計這部分市場何時會向上反彈？

Yes. Well, first, I would say that it was different by customer and it impacted our segments differently because of that exposure. And it's really hard to predict what direction that market will take over the long term. The good news is that our position even there is very broad-based, so we will be reflective of the overall market. People will continue to buy communications equipment, basestations and things for some time to come. We continue to invest and position ourselves well for newer technologies as they come out. So that includes trends like carrier aggregation or massive, multiple antennas that we'll see in later 4G as well as 5G standards. So we're very confident about those positions. And in the short term, the market will be what the market will be. Do you have a follow-on?

是的。首先，我認為不同客戶群受到的影響不同，因此對我們各個細分市場的影響也不同。而且，很難預測該市場的長期發展方向。好消息是，即使在這些領域，我們的業務基礎也非常廣泛，因此我們將反映整個市場的狀況。在未來一段時間內，人們仍會繼續購買通訊設備、基地台等產品。我們將持續投資，並為新技術的出現做好充分準備。因此，這包括載波聚合或大規模多天線等趨勢，我們將在以後的 4G 和 5G 標準中看到這些趨勢。所以我們對這些立場非常有信心。短期內，市場會如何發展，就讓它如何發展。您還有後續問題嗎？

Yes. I had a question on inventory at TI, what you see in the distribution channel and also your end customers, specifically on your own inventory? I was a little bit surprised to see inventory tick up on a sequential basis. I think, historically, Q4 would be flat to down, if I'm not mistaken. So if you can comment on how you would describe the inventory, that would be great.

是的。我有一個關於德州儀器庫存的問題，您想了解您在分銷渠道和終端客戶那裡，特別是您自己的庫存情況？看到庫存較上季成長，我有點驚訝。如果我沒記錯的話，從歷史數據來看，第四季應該會持平或下降。如果您能就庫存情況發表一下看法，那就太好了。

Yes. Toshiya, let me start and then I'll hand it over to Rafael. And I think when you look at inventory -- I'll start with inventory, the channel, it remains steady at about 4 weeks. I'll point out to those that aren't as familiar with us, it's structurally lower than many of our peers will run because of consignment programs. So you'll see that as 1/2 to about 1/3 as what many of our peers will run. And we feel very comfortable at those types of levels. What we see down channel from customers is -- will depend on what type of arrangements we've got. If we've got a consignment program with them, we can see very -- into their manufacturing plans and their build plans because we own that material until they pull it. But really, our visibility ends there. Meaning that when they -- if they're building inventory or if they're putting inventory down channel, we can't see that. But we see no indications of inventory that's building there overall. So let me turn it over to Rafael about our inventory.

是的。Toshiya，我先開始，然後交給Rafael。我認為，從庫存情況來看——我先從庫存和渠道說起，庫存量穩定在 4 週左右。我要向那些不太了解我們的人指出，由於寄售計劃，我們的營運結構比許多同行要低。所以你會發現，這大約是許多同行運行速度的 1/2 到 1/3。我們感覺在這些層面上非常得心應手。我們從客戶管道了解到的情況－將取決於我們達成的協議類型。如果我們與他們有寄售計劃，我們就可以非常清楚地了解他們的生產計劃和製造計劃，因為在他們提取之前，這些材料的所有權歸我們所有。但實際上，我們的視野僅限於此。這意味著，當他們——無論是建立庫存還是透過管道下架庫存時，我們都看不到。但我們沒有看到任何跡象表明那裡的庫存正在整體上增加。那麼，接下來就交給拉斐爾來介紹一下我們的庫存狀況。

Yes. So let me step back and tell you how we think of our inventory overall. We want to maintain high levels of customer service. We want to minimize obsolescence, optimize our manufacturing utilization and all these things vary depending on multiple factors. So for example, our consignment. We have many consignment engagements. In fact, we want to continue increasing consignment engagement because we get -- we tend to get a better signal to consignment engagement. So all of that is good stuff. Also, step back and think about our strategy focusing on diverse customers, focusing on diverse positions on industrial, automotive where are -- we design a part in industrial, and that part may sell for 10, 20, even 30 years. So the inventory is good for a long, long time. So we don't have to worry about this obsolescence risk that maybe in the past we had with other types of focus that we had. So in this particular case, in the fourth quarter, we -- our inventory days ended up at 134, that's within our range. And we had a chance to replenish some of our low volume, high mix of stock. So we're going to -- we did some of that. In fact, we're going to continue doing that because over the long haul, as we replenish that, we have inventory available to sell to those industrial and automotive customers, and be able to keep those high levels of customer service.

是的。那麼，讓我退後一步，來談談我們對整體庫存的看法。我們希望維持高水準的客戶服務。我們希望最大限度地減少產品過時，優化生產利用率，而這一切都取決於多種因素。例如，我們的貨物。我們有很多寄售業務。事實上，我們希望繼續提高寄售參與度，因為我們能從中獲得更好的寄售參與度訊號。所以這些都是好事。此外，退後一步思考我們的策略，即專注於多元化的客戶，專注於工業、汽車等行業的多元化定位——我們設計一個工業零件，這個零件可能會銷售 10 年、20 年，甚至 30 年。所以這批庫存可以用很久。因此，我們不必像過去關注其他領域那樣，擔心過時的風險。所以在這個特殊的案例中，在第四季度，我們的庫存週轉天數最終為 134 天，這在我們的範圍內。我們有機會補充一些銷量低、種類繁多的庫存。所以我們要──我們已經做了一些這方面的工作。事實上，我們將繼續這樣做，因為從長遠來看，隨著庫存的補充，我們將有庫存可以出售給工業和汽車行業的客戶，並能夠保持高水準的客戶服務。

Our next question comes from John Pitzer with Crédit Suisse.

下一個問題來自瑞士信貸的約翰‧皮策。

Dave, Rafael, maybe just a follow-up on the inventory question. I guess, maybe asked a different way, were you planning to grow inventory sequentially in the calendar fourth quarter or did it end up growing because some revenue upside did not materialize in the quarter? And I guess, importantly, as you look out to calendar first quarter, how do you expect to manage inventory to the calendar first quarter? Will it come down from here? Are you taking any unusual utilization action around inventory to bring it down?

Dave、Rafael，或許可以再補充一點庫存問題。換個方式問，你們是否計劃在第四季環比增加庫存，還是因為該季度部分營收成長預期未能實現才導致庫存增加？我想，更重要的是，展望第一季度，您打算如何管理第一季的庫存？它會從這裡下來嗎？你們是否採取了任何非常規的庫存利用措施來降低庫存？

Yes. What I would tell you is inventory came in about as expected. In -- on the second part of your question, of course, we don't get into that level of detail. But I would tell you that, as I mentioned to the earlier caller, we want to have buffers of inventory, particularly when addressing the industrial market, but also the automotive market. It's a good thing to have these buffers. And we have many -- many of our products are low volume, high mix. So -- and by the way, those are products that last for -- we can keep them for 10 years in our shelves, and then we sell them to our customers for 20 or 30 years. So from a manufacturing standpoint, it makes sense to build them, keep them in storage. And the way you build them in batches, then it's just about more efficient that way. So we did that in fourth quarter and if -- depending on the market, if we can build some more in first and second, and third we'll do that again.

是的。我可以告訴你的是，庫存到貨情況基本上符合預期。至於你問題的第二部分，我們當然不會深入探討那麼詳細的內容。但我要告訴你們，正如我之前對那位來電者提到的，我們希望有庫存緩衝，尤其是在應對工業市場時，但對汽車市場也是如此。有這些緩衝措施是件好事。而且我們有很多產品——我們的許多產品都是小批量、多品種的。所以——順便說一句，這些產品可以保存10年——我們可以把它們放在貨架上，然後賣給我們的客戶20年或30年。所以從生產製造的角度來看，生產出來並儲存起來是合理的。而且，大量生產的方式效率更高。所以我們在第四季做了這件事，如果——取決於市場狀況，如果我們能在第一、第二和第三季再建一些，我們會再次這樣做。

Yes. And I'll just add to kind of the corollary to the point that Rafael made. We do look at risk of obsolescence. So if we have a part that's a custom part primarily used by 1 or 2 customers. We'll tend to keep very low inventory on those parts. So kind of managing that inventory stack to risk of obsolescence is something that we aggressively do. Do you have a follow-on, John?

是的。我只想補充一點，算是對拉斐爾觀點的推論。我們確實會考慮產品過時的風險。所以，如果我們有一個零件，它是客製化零件，主要供 1 或 2 個客戶使用。我們將盡量保持這些零件的低庫存水準。因此，我們積極採取措施來管理庫存，降低庫存過時的風險。約翰，你還有後續問題嗎？

Just to be clear, is this a change in sort of your long-term inventory targets? Or are we just kind of still within those targets just perhaps maybe migrating to the higher ends?

為了確認一下，這是否意味著你們的長期庫存目標發生了某種變化？或者我們只是仍然在這些目標範圍內，只是可能朝著更高的目標方向發展？

The objective is the same. As far as the target, as we do every year, we look at our metrics for the capital management strategy. And as you know, we have 10 or 12 metrics or so. So we look at those and if we need to tweak them, we tweak them. So on February 6, we have a call and I will go through that. And if we need to tweak some of those metrics including inventory, we will do that at that point.

目標是一樣的。至於目標，我們每年都會參考資本管理策略的指標。如您所知，我們有大約 10 到 12 個指標。所以我們會查看這些，如果需要調整，我們就進行調整。所以2月6日我們會開個電話會議，我會詳細講解一下。如果需要調整其中一些指標，包括庫存，我們屆時會進行調整。

Our next question comes from Harlan Sur with JPMorgan.

下一個問題來自摩根大通的哈蘭‧蘇爾。

Can you just give us an idea of the breadth of the demand trends on a year-over-year basis by geography? I think, last quarter, you guys saw year-over-year growth in most geographies except for Japan, which was flat. Just wondering if the strength continues to be broad-based here?

能否簡單介紹一下按地域劃分的年度需求趨勢概況？我認為，上個季度，除了日本市場持平之外，你們在大多數地區都實現了同比增長。想知道這種強勁勢頭是否依然普遍存在？

Yes. Harlan, it was broad-based. We had -- we saw revenue growth in Europe, in Asia as well as the U.S. But again, this year, Japan was down. It's almost very similar, but I would describe that growth as being very broad-based. Do you have a follow-on?

是的。哈蘭，它的基礎很廣泛。我們在歐洲、亞洲以及美國都看到了收入成長。但今年，日本的營收又下滑。兩者非常相似，但我認為這種增長的基礎非常廣泛。您還有後續問題嗎？

Yes, I do. Your Analog revenues grew by about $1.4 billion in 2017. And if my memory serves me correctly, you guys exited 2016 with your 300 millimeter fabs driving about $2.5 billion in revenues on an annualized basis. Is it therefore kind of fair to assume that you're driving now close to about $4 billion in revenues through your 300-millimeter Analog fab? So utilization, roughly about 48%?

是的，我願意。2017年，貴公司模擬業務的營收成長了約14億美元。如果我沒記錯的話，你們在 2016 年結束時，300 毫米晶圓廠的年收入約為 25 億美元。因此，我們可以合理地假設，您現在透過您的 300 毫米類比晶片工廠創造了近 40 億美元的收入嗎？所以利用率大概在48%左右？

Yes. That's -- you're right in the ZIP Code, Harlan. And so we ran about 50% of that capacity in our 300-millimeter fabs, which includes the Richardson fab and also DMOS6, so somewhere in the ZIP Code of about $4 billion of revenue. And I think, as we look at that and just to take a step back, manufacturing and technology is one of our 4 competitive advantages. 300 millimeter is probably one of the best examples that we can point to inside of that. And we have, because of 300 millimeter, when you look at the number of dies we produce on that versus 200, we just have a structural cost advantage in every wafer that we build and every dollar of revenue we put through there. So that's a benefit that has -- we've accrued over the years and have increased that. But the great news is we continue to have a lot of headway, a lot of runway ahead of us.

是的。沒錯──你沒猜錯，哈蘭，你找對了郵遞區號。因此，我們在 300 毫米晶圓廠中運行了大約 50% 的產能，其中包括 Richardson 晶圓廠和 DMOS6 晶圓廠，這大約創造了 40 億美元的收入。我認為，當我們審視這一點，退一步講，製造業和技術是我們四大競爭優勢之一。300 毫米可能是我們能指出的其中最好的例子之一。而且，由於採用了 300 毫米工藝，當我們比較我們在這種工藝上生產的晶片數量和 200 毫米工藝時，我們就能看出，我們在製造的每一片晶圓以及投入的每一美元收入上都具有結構性的成本優勢。所以這是我們多年來累積並不斷增加的優勢。但好消息是我們仍然取得了巨大進展，前方還有很長的路要走。

Yes. Just to build on that, that is part of what's supporting the free cash flow growth that we're seeing. This year, free cash flow growth was 14% on a per share basis with 16%. This illustrates the strength of the business model with the competitive advantages, our focus on auto and industrial and Analog and Embedded.

是的。在此基礎上，這也是我們所看到的自由現金流成長的部分支撐因素。今年，每股自由現金流成長率為 14%，而每股收益為 16%。這體現了我們商業模式的強大實力和競爭優勢，我們專注於汽車和工業以及模擬和嵌入式領域。

Our next question comes from Chris Danely with Citigroup.

下一個問題來自花旗集團的克里斯·丹利。

I guess, first question for Rafael. If you look at your sort of cash flow deployment over the last few years, you'll take out, I think, around $500 million in debt and then the rest of it goes to kind of 1/3 buyback, 2/3 dividend. With the extra cash, can we assume those same ratios? Or would you look to take out a little more debt or keep it kind of the same?

我想，第一個問題應該要問拉斐爾。如果你看看你過去幾年的現金流配置情況，我認為你會償還大約 5 億美元的債務，然後剩下的錢大約有 1/3 用於股票回購，2/3 用於分紅。有了額外的資金，我們能否假設這些比例不變？還是你會考慮再多藉一點錢，還是維持現狀？

So Chris, a few things there. Let me maybe take one at a time. First, with the debt. The way we think about debt is we take on debt when economics makes sense. And right now, the economics make sense. We have $4.1 billion of debt and it's at a 2.05% weighted average coupon rate. So and the one we took out recently was a 10-year debt at 2.9%. Of course, that's pretax. So economics makes sense and of course, we do it in a very judicious way. We have -- we don't have concentrated maturities and we maintain a strategic flexibility. On the first part of your question, our commitment to return all free cash flow to the owners of the company. You know us for a long time and you know that we've been doing that. This year, for example, we generated $4.7 billion free cash flow and we returned, guess what, $4.7 billion. So we're committed to doing that and we do it through both dividends and buybacks. This year, dividends were $2.1 billion; buybacks, $2.6 billion. We have a robust and flexible model to do that. It doesn't have to be necessarily any particularly split. Dividends, we like to be between 40% and 60% of free cash flow of the current year. And essentially, repurchases is everything else. Do you have a follow-up on that?

克里斯，有幾件事要說。或許我可以一次處理一個。首先，我們來談談債務問題。我們看待債務的方式是，當經濟狀況合理時，我們才會承擔債務。就目前而言，這種經濟策略是合理的。我們有 41 億美元的債務，加權平均票面利率為 2.05%。所以，我們最近貸的一筆是 10 年期貸款，利率是 2.9%。當然，這是稅前數據。所以經濟學是有道理的，當然，我們也是用非常明智的方式來運用它。我們沒有集中成熟的業務，並且保持著策略彈性。關於您問題的第一部分，我們承諾將所有自由現金流返還給公司所有者。你認識我們很久了，也知道我們一直在做這件事。例如，今年我們產生了 47 億美元的自由現金流，你猜怎麼著，我們也回饋了 47 億美元。因此，我們致力於實現這一目標，並透過分紅和股票回購來實現。今年，股利為 21 億美元；股票回購為 26 億美元。我們擁有強大而靈活的模式來實現這一點。不一定非得是某種特定的分裂。我們希望股息支付率保持在當年自由現金流的 40% 到 60% 之間。而從本質上講，回購就是其他一切。您對此還有後續進展嗎？

Yes. And another, I guess, historical/longer-term question. So in Q4, you guys are roughly on a sequential basis, seasonal. And if we look at, I think, the 6 quarters before that, every quarter was probably 1% to 3% above seasonal. So are you seeing things, I guess, stabilizing or cooling off or any signs of that in the industry? Or am I just looking at the numbers too much and doing a little paralysis by analysis?

是的。我想，這又是一個歷史性/更長遠的問題。所以，在第四季度，你們大致是按季度和季節性劃分的。如果我們看一下之前的 6 個季度，我認為每個季度都比季節性高出 1% 到 3%。所以，你覺得產業內的情況是趨於穩定還是降溫，或是有其他任何跡象顯示情況正在好轉？或者我是不是太關注數字，反而陷入了分析癱瘓？

Maybe more of the latter. I'll just say when you look at the numbers, Chris, really from the top-line growth down to the free cash flow generation, you just see the strength in the business model, right? We've got -- we've been investing in Analog and Embedded, they represent 90% of our revenue. They both grew 16% year-on-year. Industrial and automotive make up 54% of that. So we won't control the short-term demand. It kind of is what it is. But when you look at those numbers overall, I think -- at least when we look at them, we think they look pretty solid.

或許後者更多。克里斯，我只想說，當你仔細看看這些數據時，從營收成長到自由現金流產生，你會發現這種商業模式的優勢所在，對吧？我們一直在投資模擬和嵌入式技術，它們占我們收入的 90%。兩者的年增長率均為 16%。工業和汽車行業佔其中的 54%。因此，我們無法控制短期需求。事情就是這樣。但從整體來看這些數字，我認為——至少在我們看來，它們看起來相當可靠。

The next question comes from Stacy Rasgon with Bernstein Research.

下一個問題來自伯恩斯坦研究公司的史黛西·拉斯貢。

Regarding the near-term OpEx trends. The last few quarters, OpEx come in light at least versus Street expectations. I know you guys don't guide short-term OpEx. But I would say this time it came a little -- I guess, a little higher than we had expected. How did OpEx come in versus your own expectations in the quarter? And how are we -- how should we be thinking about as we go into Q1? Are there any, I guess, changes or differences versus what might we ordinarily see in a typical Q1 in terms of plans?

關於近期營運支出趨勢。近幾個季度，營運支出至少低於華爾街的預期。我知道你們不負責短期營運支出。但我覺得這次的結果比我們預期的還要高。本季營運支出與您的預期相比如何？那麼，在進入第一季時，我們該如何思考呢？我想，就計劃而言，與我們通常在典型的第一季看到的相比，是否存在任何變化或差異？

Yes. Stacy, first, OpEx came in about as expected. That's the short answer to the first question. Then before I go to the second question, let me take a step back. I think, I alluded to this earlier, but just to mention it again, we see OpEx as investments, right, whether it's R&D or SG&A. And those were up 3% for the year. So very reasonable given the growth that we're turning our key markets in Analog and Embedded, in industrial and automotive. So we're getting the results that we want from those investments. And those investments go to strengthen our competitive advantages. And in the case of R&D, maybe the easiest thing to point out is the broad portfolio that continues to grow and strengthen. And in the case of SG&A, the easiest one to point to is the demand creation and everything that we're doing there. Going to the second part of your question on the first quarter, as you know we don't get into specific details there. All I would tell you is that, it's normal. People are still going to take less vacation in the first quarter than they do in the fourth because of Christmas and Thanksgiving and other things. And we still have pay and benefit increases in February. So we expect about the same as we usually expect in that transition.

是的。Stacy，首先，營運支出基本上符合預期。這是第一個問題的簡短答案。那麼，在回答第二個問題之前，先讓我先退一步。我想，我之前已經提到過這一點，但為了再次強調，我們將營運支出視為投資，對吧，無論是研發支出還是銷售、一般及行政費用。這些指標全年成長了3%。考慮到我們在模擬和嵌入式、工業和汽車領域的主要市場成長，這非常合理。所以，我們從這些投資中獲得了想要的結果。這些投資將用於增強我們的競爭優勢。就研發而言，最容易指出的一點是其廣泛的產品組合，並且還在不斷發展壯大。就銷售、一般及行政費用而言，最容易指出的就是需求創造以及我們在這方面所做的一切。關於您問題的第二部分，也就是第一季的情況，您也知道我們不會深入探討具體細節。我只能說，這是正常的。由於聖誕節、感恩節和其他節日的原因，人們在第一季休假的時間仍然會比第四季少。二月我們還有薪資和福利成長。因此，我們預期過渡期間的情況與往常的預期大致相同。

Do you have a follow-on, Stacy?

史泰西，你還有後續問題嗎？

I do. Around the inventory buffers that you were talking about putting in place. Are you actually seeing shortages or lead times for those specific products actually beginning to extend to drive that buffer addition or you're just being sort of proactive about getting it in place now? And how much of the, I guess, inventory -- you guys total inventory as it stands today out of the $1.96 billion would correspond to some of these buffer areas?

我願意。圍繞著您剛才提到的要建立的庫存緩衝機制。您是否真的看到這些特定產品的短缺或交貨週期開始延長，從而促使您增加緩衝庫存，還是您只是提前採取積極主動的措施來落實這些措施？那麼，你們目前的庫存總額（19.6億美元）中，有多少會對應到這些緩衝區呢？

Yes. Let me start and then Dave will chime in on the rest of your question. But the buffer, this is nothing new. We've had it, wow, 4, 5, 6 years or so. And obviously, depending on demand, strength of demand, it fluctuates if we're able to build or if we're draining the buffer, I mean, that's what they're for. At times, we drain them. So -- and frankly, off the top of my head, I couldn't tell you how much of the $1.9 billion and change is for the buffer. So the bigger point is why we have the buffers. We -- we're focusing end markets such as -- industrial is the best example where you have a lot of small customers across the world, in the middle of the U.S., in Shenzhen, in the middle of Germany. Small customers focused on 14 sectors, hundreds of end equipment. You couldn't possibly build-to-order that stuff, right? Because there's any one customer may order a few thousand pieces. So what you do is you build in bigger batches, you store it and then you sell it over time. And because the parts -- just in our inventory the last 10 years, then it's very affordable. It makes a lot of sense to do that. And we do that with very low levels of scrap in any one quarter and any one year.

是的。我先來，然後戴夫會回答你剩下的問題。但緩衝機制，這並非什麼新鮮事。我們已經用了它，哇，大概有4、5、6年了。顯然，根據需求、需求強度，我們能否建造或是否耗盡緩衝庫存都會波動，我的意思是，這就是緩衝庫存的作用。有時，我們會把它們排乾。所以——坦白說，我一時想不起來這 19 億美元多一點裡有多少是緩衝資金。所以更重要的問題是，我們為什麼要設定緩衝區。我們——我們專注於終端市場，例如——工業領域就是最好的例子，在這個領域，你有很多遍布世界各地的小客戶，在美國中部、深圳、德國中部。專注於 14 個產業、數百種終端設備的小型客戶。那種東西不可能按訂單生產，對吧？因為任何一個客戶都可能訂購數千件產品。所以你的做法是大量生產，儲存起來，然後慢慢賣出去。而且因為這些零件——僅僅是我們過去 10 年的庫存——價格就非常實惠。這樣做很有道理。而且我們每季和每年的廢料含量都非常低。

Yes. And I'll just add, I think, when you look -- we're doing that Stacy so that our lead times can remain stable. And then probably coupled with that is we focus on making sure that we've got very high customer service metrics. So when we say we're going to ship something, that we actually ship it on that date to customers. And those 2 things combined are what give customers confidence that they can get the products that they need from us. So we spent a lot of time and that's -- maybe just to highlight that, that's one of the initiatives that we've had at our company as we looked at having more Analog, more Embedded products, more industrial and automotive. We knew we needed to ensure that we put in place the capabilities to be able to service customers of any size and have those types of metrics.

是的。我還要補充一點，我認為，當你仔細觀察時——史泰西，我們這樣做是為了保持交貨週期的穩定。此外，我們也可能專注於確保客戶服務指標非常高。所以，當我們說要出貨時，我們實際上就會在約定的日期將產品出貨給客戶。正是這兩點結合起來，讓客戶相信他們能夠從我們身上獲得他們需要的產品。所以我們投入了大量時間，而且——也許只是想強調一下——這是我們公司在尋求更多模擬、更多嵌入式產品、更多工業和汽車產品時所採取的舉措之一。我們知道我們需要確保具備為任何規模的客戶提供服務的能力，並擁有相應的指標。

Yes. And just to add a little bit to that, back on the way we look at inventory, think about the improving manufacturing asset utilization. If you can improve them, run the factories, not completely level because you can never do that exactly like that, but fairly level, that goes a long way to improving your manufacturing processes, your yields, your cycle times. And that just translates into lower costs which, guess what, translates into more free cash flow. And that goes to the strength of our business model, how we generate all that free cash flow that we have been growing consistently for what now, 14 -- 13, 14 years.

是的。再補充一點，回到我們看待庫存的方式，想想如何提高製造資產的使用率。如果你能改進它們，讓工廠運轉起來，雖然不能完全做到完全一致（因為你永遠不可能做到完全一致），但要盡量做到相對一致，這將對改進你的製造流程、產量和周期時間大有裨益。而這只會轉化為更低的成本，你猜怎麼著，這又會轉化為更多的自由現金流。而這正是我們商業模式的優勢所在，也是我們如何產生所有這些自由現金流並持續成長至今（13、14 年）的原因。

Our next caller is David Wong with Wells Fargo.

下一位來電者是富國銀行的David Wong。

So a follow-on from Vivek's question earlier. So you're seeing a slight deceleration in your overall blended growth, but in the December quarter you had really strong growth in Analog and Embedded. Would we expect in the March quarter sort of roughly equal deceleration in both Analog and Embedded? Or is it one more than the other?

這是 Vivek 之前問題的後續提問。所以，你們的整體綜合成長略有放緩，但在 12 月季度，模擬和嵌入式業務的成長非常強勁。我們是否可以預期，在三月的季度中，類比電路和嵌入式電路的成長速度將大致相同地放緩？或者說，其中一個比另一個更重要？

Yes. David, we provide guidance at the top level for revenue and we try not to get into the corners by markets or by products. So now if there's something unusual going on, either if it was by market or specific customer or in one of those business units, we would call that out. And there's nothing for us to highlight inside of there. Do you have a follow-on?

是的。David，我們在收入方面提供最高層級的指導，我們盡量不按市場或產品進行細分。所以現在，如果出現任何不尋常的情況，無論是市場、特定客戶或某個業務部門，我們都會指出來。裡面沒有什麼值得我們重點介紹的。您還有後續問題嗎？

No, that's good.

不，那很好。

Okay. With that I'll turn it over to Rafael.

好的。接下來，我將把麥克風交給拉斐爾。

Sure. Let me just finish with a few comments that -- on some key items that I want everybody to remember. First, the strength of our business model is demonstrated throughout our financial performance. We have strong growth in both Analog and Embedded, which are the best products, and industrial and automotive, which are the best markets. That's where the semiconductor content growth is happening and we are confident that's where it will continue to happen for many, many years to come.

當然。最後，我想就一些重要事項補充幾點，希望大家記得。首先，我們商業模式的優勢體現在我們的財務表現中。我們在模擬和嵌入式領域（我們最好的產品）以及工業和汽車領域（我們最好的市場）都實現了強勁成長。半導體含量成長正發生在那裡，我們相信在未來很多年裡，這種成長仍將繼續發生在那裡。

Second, as I said before, we're very excited about tax reform. It's made TI just more competitive on a global scale, so we're excited about what we can do with that. And finally, we continue to be disciplined in executing our capital management strategy. We remain committed to returning all free cash flow to the owners of the company. Dave?

其次，正如我之前所說，我們對稅制改革感到非常興奮。這使得德州儀器在全球範圍內更具競爭力，因此我們對能夠利用這一點所取得的成就感到興奮。最後，我們將繼續嚴格執行我們的資本管理策略。我們仍然致力於將所有自由現金流返還給公司所有者。戴夫？

Thank you all for joining us. Again, please plan to join us for our capital management call on February 6 at 10:00 a.m. Central Time. A replay of this call is available on our website. Good evening.

感謝各位的參與。再次提醒各位，請計劃於2月6日上午10:00參加我們的資本管理電話會議。中部時間。本次通話的錄音可在我們的網站上觀看。晚安.

Thank you. This does conclude today's presentation. We thank you for your participation.

謝謝。今天的演講到此結束。感謝您的參與。