Ultra Clean Holdings Inc (UCTT) 2025 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Ultra Clean Technologies fourth-quarter 2025 financial results conference call. (Operator Instructions)

女士們、先生們，下午好，歡迎參加 Ultra Clean Technologies 2025 年第四季財務業績電話會議。（操作說明）

This call is being recorded on Monday, February 23, 2026. I would now like to turn the conference over to Rhonda Bennetto, Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

本次通話於2026年2月23日星期一進行錄音。現在我將把會議交給投資者關係部的 Rhonda Bennetto。請繼續。

Thank you, operator. Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining us. With me today are James Xiao, CEO; Sheri Savage, CFO; and Cheryl Knepfler, VP Marketing. James will begin with some prepared remarks about the industry and highlight some of the opportunities ahead for UCT. Sheri will follow with the financial review, and then we'll open up the call for questions.

謝謝接線生。各位下午好，感謝各位的參與。今天陪同我的有執行長 James Xiao、財務長 Sheri Savage 和行銷副總裁 Cheryl Knepfler。James 將首先就該行業發表一些準備好的講話，並重點介紹開普敦大學未來的一些機會。Sheri 將隨後進行財務審查，之後我們將開放提問環節。

Today's call contains forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties. For more information, please refer to the Risk Factors section in our SEC filings. All forward-looking statements are based on estimates, projections and assumptions as of today, and we assume no obligation to update them after this call. Discussion of our financial results will be presented on a non-GAAP basis. A reconciliation of GAAP to non-GAAP can be found in today's press release posted on our website.

今天的電話會議包含前瞻性陳述，這些陳述存在風險和不確定性。更多資訊請參閱我們提交給美國證券交易委員會文件中的「風險因素」部分。所有前瞻性陳述均基於截至今日的估計、預測和假設，我們不承擔在本次電話會議後更新這些陳述的義務。我們將以非公認會計準則（non-GAAP）為基礎對財務績效進行討論。有關 GAAP 與非 GAAP 的調整表，請參閱我們網站上今天發布的新聞稿。

And with that, I would like to turn the call over to James. James, please go ahead.

接下來，我將把電話交給詹姆斯。詹姆斯，請繼續。

Thank you, Rhonda, and good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining us. This is my first sole earnings call as CEO. And as I approach nearly six months in a row, I remain very energized by the opportunity ahead of us. We have spent significant time across our global sites, meeting with employees, customers and partners and have developed an even deeper conviction in the strength of our team, our strategic position and have refined our long-term growth strategy and vision, which I now call UCT 3.0.

謝謝你，朗達，大家下午好，謝謝各位的參與。這是我以CEO首次獨自主持財報電話會議。時隔近六個月，我對眼前的機會依然充滿熱情。我們花了大量時間走訪全球各地，與員工、客戶和合作夥伴會面，更加堅定了我們團隊的實力和戰略地位，並完善了我們的長期成長策略和願景，我現在稱之為 UCT 3.0。

I want to thank our employees worldwide for their focus, resilience and commitment to operational execution during this transition. Their dedication to our customers and to continuous innovation and improvement is fundamental to our performance, and it positions us well as we enter a new phase of AI technology-driven industrial growth where speed, scale and execution will become defining advantages for long-term winners like UCT.

我要感謝我們全球員工在此次轉型期間所展現出的專注、韌性和對營運執行的奉獻精神。他們對客戶的奉獻以及對持續創新和改進的執著是我們業績的根本，也使我們在進入人工智慧技術驅動的工業成長新階段時佔據了有利地位，在這個階段，速度、規模和執行力將成為像 UCT 這樣的長期贏家的決定性優勢。

As you have heard recently from our customers and their customers, we're no longer preparing for a semiconductor recovery. We're entering a structural expansion of wafer fab equipment driven by AI infrastructure and physical AI demand. The long-term outlook for the semiconductor market remains very strong. Industry projections now suggest the market could reach $1 trillion in annual revenue of semiconductors by 2027, possibly earlier, which is significantly ahead of prior expectations. What we are witnessing is not a normal cyclical upturn.

正如您最近從我們的客戶及其客戶那裡了解到的那樣，我們不再為半導體行業的復甦做準備。我們正進入晶圓製造設備結構擴張期，這是由人工智慧基礎設施和實際人工智慧需求所驅動的。半導體市場的長期前景依然非常​​強勁。產業預測顯示，到 2027 年，半導體市場年收入可能達到 1 兆美元，甚至可能更早，遠遠超出了先前的預期。我們現在看到的並不是正常的周期性上漲。

It is an AI technology inflection. The center of gravity has shifted from consumer electronics to AI infrastructure, physical AI, autonomous driving and other AI applications. The evolving AI road map from generative AI to physical and agentic AI and ultimately, artificial general intelligence, or AGI, is driving greater end customer confidence and accelerating investment in AI infrastructure. Stakeholders across the AI ecosystem are investing to support growing AI end market demand.

這是人工智慧技術的重大變革。重心已從消費性電子產品轉移到人工智慧基礎設施、實體人工智慧、自動駕駛和其他人工智慧應用。從生成式人工智慧到實體人工智慧和代理人工智慧，最終到通用人工智慧（AGI），人工智慧的發展路線圖正在不斷演進，這正在增強終端客戶的信心，並加速對人工智慧基礎設施的投資。人工智慧生態系統中的各利益相關者都在進行投資，以支援不斷增長的人工智慧終端市場需求。

Rising device complexity is accelerating wafer fab equipment spending as leading edge fabs deploy new materials like molybdenum and new structures such as gate-all-around and high-bandwidth memory. These technologies require tight integrated solutions across deposition and removal with increased dep edge CapEx intensity, which provide a tremendous growth opportunity for UCT.

隨著裝置複雜性的不斷提高，晶圓製造設備的支出也在加速成長，領先的晶圓廠正在部署鉬等新材料和環柵、高頻寬記憶體等新結構。這些技術需要在沉積和去除方面提供緊密整合的解決方案，同時增加沉積邊緣資本支出強度，這為 UCT 提供了巨大的成長機會。

All these market drivers should lead to a multiyear WFE upturn once wafer fabs address their near-term clean room constraints. Our technology co-innovation is tightly aligned to our customers' road maps. We expect to see strength around etch and deposition, especially ALD and high-precision etch to support gate-all-around and backside power distribution logic transitions as well as high-bandwidth memory, advanced packaging and greater than 300-layer NAND in memory. This environment demands innovation velocity and operational agility. This is how UCT is positioned today and will continue to evolve to win and create a sustainable, profitable growth.

一旦晶圓廠解決了近期無塵室的限制問題，所有這些市場驅動因素都應該會導致晶圓廠設備產業在未來幾年內出現回升。我們的技術協同創新與客戶的路線圖緊密契合。我們預計蝕刻和沈積技術將表現強勁，特別是 ALD 和高精度蝕刻技術，以支援全包圍閘極和背面電源分配邏輯轉換，以及高頻寬記憶體、先進封裝和 300 層以上的 NAND 記憶體。這種環境要求創新速度和營運靈活性。這就是UCT目前的定位，並將繼續發展以贏得勝利並創造可持續的獲利成長。

This strategic transformation is what we call UCT 3.0. Ramp readiness is our top priority now. We have been preparing for this moment, and this is where UCT has a distinct competitive advantage. Over the past several months, we have been focused on our business to operate with greater responsiveness and sense of urgency, efficiency, and accuracy.

我們將這項策略轉型稱為 UCT 3.0。目前的首要任務是做好啟動準備。我們一直在為這一刻做準備，而這正是開普敦大學擁有明顯競爭優勢的地方。在過去的幾個月裡，我們一直專注於提高業務營運的反應速度和緊迫感，並提高效率和準確性。

Leveraging our global talent and footprint, we're driving operational execution initiatives to ensure we grow as the partner of choice for engineering support, development and also the manufacturing support. Through facility optimizations over the last several years, we have the capacity in place now to support approximately $3 billion in revenue today with global utilization currently averaging 65%.

憑藉我們的全球人才和佈局，我們正在推動營運執行計劃，以確保我們成長為工程支援、開發以及製造支援的首選合作夥伴。透過過去幾年的設施優化，我們目前具備了支援約 30 億美元收入的能力，全球利用率目前平均為 65%。

Among our worldwide capacity, approximately 50% is currently in Asia with plans to increase to 60%, which is strategically aligned to support our key customers' global manufacturing footprint. As volumes ramp quarter over quarter, we will be focused on improving operating leverage and generating meaningful margin expansion.

目前，我們全球產能中約有 50% 位於亞洲，並計劃將其提高到 60%，這一戰略佈局旨在支持我們主要客戶的全球製造佈局。隨著銷售逐季成長，我們將專注於提高營運槓桿並實現利潤率的顯著提升。

While we expect 2026 demand to be second half weighted and increase into 2027, customers are encouraging us to position capacity ahead of that inflection. Our largest customers are providing extended visibility, enabling us to align capacity and service infrastructure in advance of increased order activity. In parallel, we have identified and addressed product-specific supply chain and manufacturing constraints to ensure the readiness for a step function increase in orders.

雖然我們預計 2026 年的需求將集中在下半年，並在 2027 年繼續成長，但客戶鼓勵我們提前佈局產能，以應對這一轉折點。我們最大的客戶提供了更全面的可視性，使我們能夠提前調整產能和服務基礎設施，以應對訂單活動的增加。同時，我們已經確定並解決了特定產品的供應鏈和製造方面的限制因素，以確保能夠應對訂單的階躍式增長。

For UCT to support our long-term goal of a $4 billion annual run rate, only modest incremental clean room investment will be required. We do not expect infrastructure-related capacity to be a limiting factor during this cycle, provided we continue to build and retain the skilled workforce required and leverage automation and lean capabilities to scale capacity efficiently.

為了使 UCT 能夠實現每年 40 億美元的長期目標，只需要適度增加無塵室投資。我們預計，只要我們繼續培養和留住所需的技術工人，並利用自動化和精益能力高效地擴大產能，基礎設施相關的能力就不會成為本輪週期中的限制因素。

Having well-planned extra capacity entering a technology inflection of this magnitude is a strategic competitive advantage. This allows us to support customer road maps while capturing pull-in and drop-in opportunities and responding rapidly to urgent need and frequent changes that others may struggle to support.

在科技發生如此巨大變革的時期，擁有規劃完善的額外產能是一種策略競爭優勢。這使我們能夠支援客戶的路線圖，同時抓住引入和臨時引入的機會，並快速回應其他公司可能難以支援的緊急需求和頻繁變化。

In addition to our ramp readiness initiatives, we're also accelerating the design to production cycle, expanding our participation in high-value new product introductions at the leading edge nodes and strengthening strategic technology integration with our customers. A key enabler of this is our expanded MPX strategy, which is comprised of new product introduction, new product development and new product transition. Together, they will position UCT to co-innovate earlier, ramp faster and manufacturing closer to customers, driving speed, responsiveness and supply chain resilience at scale.

除了我們的產能準備計畫外，我們還在加快從設計到生產的周期，擴大我們在前沿節點的高價值新產品推出方面的參與度，並加強與客戶的戰略技術整合。實現這一目標的關鍵因素是我們擴大的 MPX 策略，該策略包括新產品引進、新產品開發和新產品過渡。雙方將共同努力，使 UCT 能夠更早進行共同創新，更快地擴大規模，並在更靠近客戶的地方進行生產，從而大規模地提高速度、響應能力和供應鏈韌性。

Another important focus area is on digital transformation. By upgrading our systems, processes and data infrastructure with AI compatible solutions, we are further improving operational visibility, shorten cycle times, enhancing productivity, and enabling a faster response time to our customers. These digital initiatives set a solid foundation for our multiyear digital transformation drive towards AI-enabled IT infrastructure and business processes to enhance operational agility and continuously improve productivity.

另一個重點領域是數位轉型。透過使用與人工智慧相容的解決方案升級我們的系統、流程和資料基礎設施，我們正在進一步提高營運可見性，縮短週期時間，提高生產力，並加快對客戶的回應速度。這些數位化措施為我們未來多年推動人工智慧賦能的IT基礎設施和業務流程的數位轉型奠定了堅實的基礎，從而增強了營運敏捷性並不斷提高了生產力。

In closing, we remain focused on reaching our long-term $4 billion revenue target expanding margins over time and delivering durable shareholder value as a strategic co-innovator and manufacturing partner throughout the next cycle of technology inflection.

最後，我們將繼續專注於實現 40 億美元的長期營收目標，隨著時間的推移擴大利潤率，並在下一個技術變革週期中作為戰略合作創新者和製造合作夥伴，為股東創造持久價值。

We will now turn the call over to Sheri, who will summarize our first quarter results and update you with our first quarter guidance. I look forward to your questions following the financial summary. Thank you.

現在我們將把電話轉交給 Sheri，她將總結我們第一季的業績，並向大家更新我們第一季的業績預期。我期待您在財務摘要之後提出問題。謝謝。

Thanks, James, and good afternoon, everyone. Thanks for joining us. In today's discussion, I will be referring to non-GAAP numbers only. As James mentioned, we are entering a structural expansion of wafer fab equipment spend, driven by AI infrastructure and physical AI demand. I'll now review our fourth quarter and full year results as well as provide our first quarter guidance.

謝謝你，詹姆斯，大家下午好。謝謝您的參與。今天的討論中，我將只參考非GAAP財務資料。正如 James 所提到的，在人工智慧基礎設施和實體人工智慧需求的推動下，我們正進入晶圓製造設備支出結構性擴張的時期。接下來，我將回顧我們第四季和全年的業績，並提供我們第一季的業績指引。

For the fourth quarter, total revenue came in at $506.6 million compared to $510 million in the prior quarter. Revenue from products was $442.4 million compared to $445 million last quarter. Services revenue came in at $64.2 million in Q4 compared to $65 million in Q3. For the full year, total revenue was $2.1 billion, roughly flat with 2024 revenue.

第四季總營收為 5.066 億美元，而上一季為 5.1 億美元。產品收入為 4.424 億美元，而上一季為 4.45 億美元。第四季服務收入為 6,420 萬美元，而第三季為 6,500 萬美元。全年總收入為 21 億美元，與 2024 年的收入大致持平。

Due to facility optimization initiatives over the last several years, we have the capacity in place now to support approximately $3 billion in revenue and are currently averaging 65% utilization. We believe that in order for UCT to support a $4 billion annual run rate, only modest incremental clean room investment will be required. We remain focused on aligning workforce capacity with demand while leveraging automation and lean disciplines to drive efficient and scalable growth.

由於過去幾年採取了設施優化措施，我們現在有能力支持約 30 億美元的收入，目前平均利用率為 65%。我們認為，為了讓 UCT 能夠維持 40 億美元的年營運率，只需要適度增加無塵室投資。我們將繼續專注於使勞動力能力與需求相匹配，同時利用自動化和精益管理方法來推動高效和可擴展的成長。

Total gross margin for the fourth quarter was 16.1% compared to 17% last quarter. Products gross margin was 14.1% compared to 15.1% in Q3, and services was 29.7% compared to 30% last quarter. Gross margin was impacted in Q4 due to a shift in product mix. Total gross margin for 2025 was 16.5% compared to 17.5% in the prior year. Margins continue to be influenced by fluctuations in volume, mix, manufacturing region and related tariffs, as well as material and transportation costs, so there will be variances quarter to quarter. As production levels increase sequentially, we expect improved operating leverage and meaningful margin expansion.

第四季總毛利率為 16.1%，而上一季為 17%。產品毛利率為 14.1%，而第三季為 15.1%；服務毛利率為 29.7%，而上一季為 30%。第四季毛利率受到產品組合變化的影響。2025 年總毛利率為 16.5%，而前一年為 17.5%。利潤率繼續受到銷售量、產品組合、生產地區和相關關稅以及材料和運輸成本波動的影響，因此每個季度都會有所不同。隨著產量逐週增加，我們預期經營槓桿將得到改善，利潤率將顯著提高。

Operating expenses for the quarter was $56.6 million compared to $57.7 million in Q3. As a percentage of revenue, operating expenses were 11.2% versus 11.3% last quarter. For the year, operating expense as a percentage of revenue was 11.2% compared to 10.6% in the prior year.

本季營運支出為 5,660 萬美元，而第三季為 5,770 萬美元。營業費用佔收入的百分比為 11.2%，而上一季為 11.3%。本年度營業費用佔收入的百分比為 11.2%，而前一年為 10.6%。

Total operating margin for the quarter came in at 4.9% compared to 5.7% last quarter. Margin from our Products division was 3.9% compared to 4.9% and services margin was 12.4% compared to 11.1% in the prior quarter. For the full year, operating margin was 5.3% compared to 6.9% in the prior year.

本季總營業利益率為 4.9%，而上一季為 5.7%。產品部門的利潤率為 3.9%，而上一季為 4.9%；服務部門的利潤率為 12.4%，而上一季為 11.1%。全年營業利益率為 5.3%，而去年同期為 6.9%。

Fourth quarter tax rate came in at 21%, consistent with our expectations. Our mix of earnings between higher and lower tax jurisdictions can cause our rate to fluctuate throughout the year. For 2026, we expect our tax rate to stay in the low-20% range. Based on 45.8 million shares outstanding, earnings per share for the quarter were $0.22 on net income of $10 million compared to $0.28 on net income of $12.9 million in the prior quarter. For the full year, earnings per share was $1.05 on net income of $47.7 million compared to $1.44 on net income of $65.2 million in 2024.

第四季稅率為21%，與我們的預期一致。由於我們的收入分佈在高稅率和低稅率地區之間，因此我們的稅率可能會在一年中波動。我們預計2026年的稅率將維持在20%左右。根據 4,580 萬股流通股計算，本季每股收益為 0.22 美元，淨利為 1,000 萬美元，而上一季每股收益為 0.28 美元，淨利為 1,290 萬美元。全年每股收益為 1.05 美元，淨收入為 4,770 萬美元，而 2024 年每股收益為 1.44 美元，淨收入為 6,520 萬美元。

Turning to the balance sheet. Our cash and cash equivalents were $311.8 million compared to $314.1 million at the end of last quarter. Cash flow from operations was $8.1 million this quarter compared to breakeven last quarter, primarily due to working capital management. For the full year, cash flow from operations was $65.6 million compared to $65 million in the prior year.

接下來看一下資產負債表。我們的現金及現金等價物為 3.118 億美元，而上一季末為 3.141 億美元。本季經營活動產生的現金流量為 810 萬美元，而上季則為損益平衡，主要是由於營運資金管理的改善。全年經營活動產生的現金流量為 6,560 萬美元，而去年同期為 6,500 萬美元。

Looking ahead, we continue to see a strong structural backdrop for semiconductors with industry estimates now calling for annual revenue to approximately $1 trillion by 2027, possibly earlier. We continue to execute towards our longer-term $4 billion revenue goal with a focus on expanding margins and generating durable shareholder returns. For the first quarter of 2026, we project total revenue to be between $505 million and $545 million. We expect EPS in the range of $0.18 to $0.34.

展望未來，半導體產業仍擁有強勁的結構性前景，業內人士預測，到 2027 年，半導體產業的年收入將達到約 1 兆美元，甚至可能更早。我們將繼續朝著40億美元的長期營收目標邁進，重點是擴大利潤率和創造持久的股東回報。我們預計 2026 年第一季總營收將在 5.05 億美元至 5.45 億美元之間。我們預計每股收益在 0.18 美元至 0.34 美元之間。

And with that, I'd like to turn the call over to operator for questions.

那麼，接下來我將把電話交給接線員，回答您的問題。

(Operator Instructions) Charles Shi, Needham.

（操作說明）查爾斯史，李約瑟。

Hey, good afternoon. Thanks for takig my questions. I want to start with your overall view on WFE. Back in January, I believe you talked about probably low to mid-teens WFE growth. I saw in your presentation, there's $125 billion to $135 billion projection in the deck, but not so sure about your base numbers. So can you give us a little bit better sense of what's your WFE forecast this year?

嘿，下午好。謝謝你回答我的問題。我想先聽聽您對WFE的整體看法。我記得一月份的時候，你提到 WFE 成長率可能在 10% 到 20% 之間。我在你的簡報中看到，預測金額在 1250 億美元到 1350 億美元之間，但我不太確定你的基本數字。那麼，您能否更詳細地介紹您對今年世界金融市場（WFE）的預測？

And on a related question, the Q1 guidance looks like at least on a year-on-year basis, it's at the midpoint of the guidance is only up a little bit. So it looks like you maybe predict -- I mean, implying a very, very strong second half pickup. I wonder how the shape of the year could be? Thank you.

關於相關問題，第一季業績指引看起來至少與去年同期相比，處於指引的中點，僅略有上升。所以看起來你可能預測——我的意思是，暗示下半場會有非常非常強烈的反彈。我想知道今年的走勢會是怎麼樣的呢？謝謝。

Charles, let me answer your questions, and I'll have Sheri chime in. So for -- as I explained to you in the Needham conference, a month ago, we see the forecast increase week by week. So right now, our view on the overall WFE is bigger than a month ago. So we're looking at 15% to 20% year-over-year growth.

查爾斯，讓我來回答你的問題，我稍後會讓謝裡插話。所以——正如我一個月前在尼德姆會議上向你們解釋的那樣，我們看到預測值每週都在上升。所以現在，我們對整體WFE的看法比一個月前更樂觀了。因此，我們預計同比成長率將達到 15% 至 20%。

And in terms of your second question, yes, we do not see probably what you see the year over year, quarter over quarter from our customers. But we have a big bump from Q3 to Q4. So if you take the average, the increased rate actually is kind of in line with our customers' growth rate.

至於你的第二個問題，是的，我們可能沒有看到你從客戶那裡看到的同比、環比數據。但第三季到第四季出現了大幅成長。所以，如果取平均值，成長率其實與我們客戶的成長率大致一致。

James, maybe a quick clarification. You said a big bump. Basically, you are saying maybe the run rate -- for your revenue run rate, you see like September will be a very strong pickup from June, maybe from a strong pickup again from September to December. Is that what you were speaking to, yes.

詹姆斯，或許我需要快速澄清一下。你說的是劇烈震動。基本上，你的意思是，就你的收入運行率而言，你認為9月份的收入會比6月份大幅增長，9月份到12月份的收入可能會再次大幅增長。是的，你剛才說的就是這個嗎？

Yes. I think that you're right. So look forward, we definitely see a step function increase in the second half of '26. And that's where we see the over year, and we're very optimistic about the whole year growth.

是的。我認為你是對的。所以展望未來，我們肯定會在 2026 年下半年看到階躍式成長。這就是我們看到的同比數據，我們對全年的成長非常樂觀。

Maybe may I ask a question about gross margin. So can you provide a little bit color March quarter, what's the implied gross margin expectation under your revenue and EPS assumptions?

我可以問一個關於毛利率的問題嗎？那麼，您能否簡單介紹一下三月的季度業績？在您的營收和每股盈餘假設下，隱含的毛利率預期是多少？

Charles, this is Brian Harding. I'll cover the margin question for you. Just quickly, yes, we expect gross margins in Q1 to be roughly the same, maybe slightly up to Q4, and then sequentially up from there through the year.

查爾斯，這位是布萊恩哈丁。我會為你解答利潤率的問題。簡單來說，是的，我們預計第一季的毛利率大致相同，可能會在第四季略有上升，然後從那時起逐年上升。

Krish Sankar, TD Cowen.

Krish Sankar，TD Cowen。

Yeah, thanks for taking question. James, I had two of them. One is, if WFE is going to grow 15% to 20%, is it fair to assume you could outgrow that WFE this year? And would your revenues grow sequentially every quarters? Or is it really more back half weighted that Q2 is going to be flattish? So just trying to figure out if you can outgrow WFE for Ultra Clean revenues.

謝謝你回答問題。詹姆斯，我有兩個。一是，如果 WFE 要成長 15% 到 20%，那麼假設你今年就能超過 WFE 的成長速度是否合理？你們的營收會每季都持續成長嗎？或者說，第二季的走勢真的會比較平穩，因為後半段的權重比較大？所以，我只是想弄清楚，Ultra Clean 的收入能否超過 WFE。

Yeah. I think that what we look at is, this year, we see really kind of a step function growth of the WFE. So we're very confident that we will -- kind of in line with the WFE growth. And we also see that because we have a well-planned extra capacity that really can address $3 billion. So we'll capture more opportunities, leverage that extra capacity. So we're pretty confident we will be on par with WFE growth or even higher.

是的。我認為我們今年看到的是，WFE 確實出現了一種階躍式增長。所以我們非常有信心，我們將——與 WFE 的成長保持同步。我們也看到，因為我們擁有精心規劃的額外產能，確實可以解決 30 億美元的問題。這樣我們就能抓住更多機遇，充分利用額外的產能。因此我們相當有信心，我們的成長速度將與WFE持平，甚至更高。

And would it be sequentially growing? Or is it more really like Q3, Q4?

它會逐級成長嗎？或者更像是第三季、第四季？

I think that we will see another growth in Q2 already, but more step function in the second half.

我認為第二季就會出現另一波成長，但下半年成長速度會更加迅猛。

Got it. Got it. And then a quick follow-up. How much was China as a percentage of revenues last quarter? And how do you expect that to grow, especially given that the Chinese semi-cap customers seem to be doing pretty well?

知道了。知道了。然後是一個簡短的後續問題。上個季度中國市場佔總營收的百分比是多少？鑑於中國中小企業客戶似乎發展勢頭良好，您預計這一趨勢將如何成長？

It's a great question. I think that as you have already heard from our customer, the WFE in China is flattish in 2026. I think because of the worldwide WFE is growing substantially, I think the percentage of the China WFE will be lower. For our business for the China OEMs, we see also kind of flattish forecast for 2026. But overall, it's less than 7% of our overall revenue. So I would not put too much of the emphasis on this.

這是一個很好的問題。我認為正如您已經從我們的客戶那裡了解到的那樣，到 2026 年，中國的 WFE 將保持穩定。我認為，由於全球女性就業人數大幅成長，中國女性就業人數的比例將會下降。對於我們針對中國OEM廠商的業務，我們認為2026年的預測也比較穩定。但總體而言，它只占我們總收入的不到 7%。所以我認為不必過度強調這一點。

Got it. Thank you very much.

知道了。非常感謝。

Edward Yang, Oppenheimer.

愛德華楊，奧本海默。

Hi, James. Thanks for the time. Just wanted to follow up on the gross margin assumption for the upcoming first quarter '26. I think Brian mentioned that you're expecting same or slightly up from third quarter. So just wondering what's driving that? Why aren't you seeing more operating leverage from that? And can you maybe talk a little bit more in detail about the mix issue that you saw in the fourth quarter?

你好，詹姆斯。謝謝你抽出時間。我想跟進一下關於 2026 年第一季毛利率的假設。我認為布萊恩提到過，你預計業績會與第三季持平或略有成長。所以我想知道是什麼原因導致這種情況？為什麼你沒有從中獲得更大的經營槓桿效應？您能否更詳細地談談您在第四季度看到的產品組合問題？

Yeah, Ed. I think that I will answer that, and maybe Brian, you can chime in. So overall, I really see, as I said, we're running at 65% of the utilization rate today, and we see definitely the demand is growing quarter by quarter. So by the end of 2026, we definitely see a much higher utilization rate. That will naturally expand our margin profile.

是的，埃德。我想我會回答這個問題，布萊恩，你也可以補充一些意見。所以總的來說，正如我所說，我們目前的利用率達到了 65%，而且我們確實看到需求正在逐季增長。因此，到 2026 年底，我們肯定會看到更高的利用率。這自然會提高我們的利潤率。

And also, we're keeping very disciplined operation cadence. So we will not grow the OpEx and IDL as the revenue growth. So that discipline will also give us margin expansion opportunities, and Brian, maybe you want to talk more on the model standpoint?

而且，我們也保持著非常嚴謹的營運節奏。因此，我們的營運支出和間接費用不會隨著收入的成長而成長。因此，這種紀律也將為我們帶來利潤率擴張的機會。布萊恩，或許你想從模型的角度再多談談？

Yeah, sure. Just looking at Q3 to Q4, first off, Ed, we -- in Q3, we did have a favorable product mix that didn't repeat again in Q4. And so -- and our margins do continue to fluctuate with volume and mix and manufacturing regions as well as tariffs and material transportation costs. A number of things impact our margins quarter to quarter.

當然可以。僅從第三季到第四季來看，首先，Ed，我們在第三季確實擁有有利的產品組合，但第四季並沒有再次出現這種情況。因此，我們的利潤率會隨著銷售量、產品組合、生產地區以及關稅和原材料運輸成本而持續波動。影響我們季度利潤率的因素有很多。

And going forward into Q1, I did say that we expect Q4 and Q1 to be roughly in line, maybe slightly better in Q1. But then as volumes come in, as James mentioned, in Q2, 3 and 4, we expect sequential margin expansion in a meaningful way.

至於第一季度，我之前說過，我們預計第四季和第一季的業績大致持平，第一季可能會略好一些。但正如 James 所提到的，隨著銷量在第二、三、第四季度到來，我們預計利潤率將出現顯著的環比增長。

Okay. And I mean, this is a tough question to answer, but obviously, a lot of excitement around what's happening in memory. And that's a business that in the prior peak was $900 million in revenue for you. It's down about $300 million from that peak.

好的。我的意思是，這是一個很難回答的問題，但顯然，人們對記憶領域正在發生的事情感到非常興奮。而這家公司在上一個高峰期曾為你帶來 9 億美元的收入。比高峰下降了約3億美元。

So I would imagine that would have some significant upside as well. So James, when you think about, I guess, this memory cycle, what's your feeling in terms of how much longer it could go in terms of the strength on the upside? And what are the sort of parameters we should be watching out for in terms of the slope of that up cycle and the duration of that up cycle? Thank you.

所以我認為這也會有一些顯著的優勢。所以詹姆斯，當你思考這個記憶週期時，你覺得它的上升勢頭還能持續多久？那麼，在上升週期的斜率和持續時間方面，我們應該關注哪些參數呢？謝謝。

Thank you. Ed, this is a great question. I think that you hear from our customers' customer, right? So some of them are mentioning that the shortage will last until 2028. And what we see that all three of them, Micron, Samsung, and SK, they are really investing on greenfield will they continue to convert existing fab to really kind of address immediate demand. So we really see this as a multi-year upturn for the memory segment.

謝謝。艾德，這是一個很好的問題。我想你應該是從我們客戶的客戶那裡聽到消息的，對吧？所以有些人認為短缺情況將持續到 2028 年。我們看到，美光、三星和SK這三家公司都在大力投資新建廠，它們是否會繼續改造現有工廠以真正滿足眼前的需求？因此，我們認為記憶體領域將迎來多年的成長期。

And also, if you look at the end market demand, HBM will compromise the nameplate capacity in the DRAM factories. So you almost need more WFE investment to compensate that focus on HBM capacity expansion while they still try to address the unbalanced demand and supply in the regular DRAM market.

此外，從終端市場需求來看，HBM 會影響 DRAM 工廠的標稱產能。因此，為了彌補專注於 HBM 產能擴張的不足，同時也要努力解決常規 DRAM 市場供需不平衡的問題，幾乎需要更多的 WFE 投資。

And also, I think that if you look at the NAND, you still see that upgrade from the 2xx to 3xx and 4xx. So that will continue. You heard Lam is talking about that $40 billion over multiple years of NAND upgrade capacity and investment. And they also mentioned that they are going to modify that model, seeing the demand even for the eSSD, for example, right?

而且，我認為如果你看一下 NAND，你仍然可以看到從 2xx 到 3xx 和 4xx 的升級。所以這種情況還會持續下去。你聽到林說的就是那筆價值 400 億美元的多年 NAND 升級產能和投資。他們還提到，鑑於市場對 eSSD 等產品的需求，他們將對該模型進行修改，對吧？

So I think that overall, we really believe this is a multiyear growth for the NAND and customers are talking about for the AI-specific memory. They see a 22% CAGR, or 2 to 3x CAGR compared to the regular memory market.

所以我認為，總體而言，我們真的相信 NAND 將在未來幾年內持續成長，客戶們也正在談論 AI 專用記憶體。他們預計複合年增長率將達到 22%，是普通記憶體市場的 2 到 3 倍。

That's very helpful. Thank you.

那很有幫助。謝謝。

Christian Schwab, Craig-Hallum.

克里斯蒂安·施瓦布，克雷格·哈勒姆。

Great. Thanks for taking my question. So James, with the 65% utilization rate and your recent facility optimization over the last 1.5 years or 2 years, how should we be thinking about what utilization rate or what type of order visibility would be required to put in essence, the $1 billion worth of capacity that's available to you above and beyond the $3 billion you have today? How should we be thinking about that?

偉大的。謝謝您回答我的問題。詹姆斯，鑑於你目前的利用率高達 65%，並且在過去 1.5 到 2 年裡你對設施進行了優化，我們應該如何考慮需要怎樣的利用率或訂單可見性才能將你目前擁有的價值 10 億美元的產能（在你現有 30 億美元產能的基礎上）充分利用起來？我們該如何看待這個問題？

Yeah. I think that what we see today, Christian, is that week by week, we see a drop in forecast. So we're very optimistic from the quarterly run rate standpoint. We'll fill that capacity very quickly, especially, we're actually shifting our focus to Asian manufacturing. It's kind of in line with our customers' global manufacturing strategy.

是的。克里斯蒂安，我認為我們今天看到的是，預測值每週都在下降。因此，從季度運行率的角度來看，我們非常樂觀。我們很快就會填補這一產能缺口，尤其是我們正在將重心轉移到亞洲製造業。這與我們的客戶的全球製造策略基本一致。

So very soon, you will see our Asian factory will fill completely. And that will eventually represent 60% of our global capacity and will match the customers' manufacturing footprint. So with the increasing utilization with heavy weighted Asian manufacturing, we'll see really the positive improvement on our margin profile.

所以很快你就會看到我們的亞洲工廠全部投入使用。最終，這將占我們全球產能的 60%，並與客戶的生產佈局相符。隨著亞洲製造業佔比越來越高，我們的利潤率狀況將會得到真正的正面改善。

Great. And then on the margin profile, understanding utilization rates having an impact. But as your customers then begin to, especially in memory, materially increase wafer starts per month, naturally, your services business, which is heavily influenced by wafer starts similar to what we saw in '20 and '21, when that mix of revenue was larger and a 29% gross margin, plus or minus naturally kind of drives gross margins there without any material increase in product gross margin. Am I thinking about that right?

偉大的。然後，在利潤率方面，了解利用率的影響也很重要。但是，隨著您的客戶（尤其是在記憶體領域）開始大幅增加每月晶圓開工量，您的服務業務自然也會受到影響。服務業務很大程度上受到晶圓開工量的影響，這與我們在 2020 年和 2021 年看到的情況類似，當時該收入組合更大，毛利率為 29% 左右，自然而然地推動了服務業務的毛利率，而產品毛利率並沒有實質性增長。我這樣想對嗎？

Yeah, you're right. Yeah. So I guess the question is what is the growth on the service business?

是的，你說得對。是的。所以我想問的是，服務業的成長情況如何？

So in that sense, we see double-digit growth in 2026. Again, it's also weighted in the second half when our leading-edge foundry logic customers ramp up their factories in US. We definitely see we're well positioned for that US foundry logic ramp in addition to our current customer we're serving in US.

因此，從這個意義上講，我們預計 2026 年將實現兩位數成長。此外，由於我們領先的代工邏輯客戶在美國擴大工廠規模，下半年的業績也相對較好。我們確信，除了我們目前在美國服務的客戶之外，我們已為美國代工邏輯晶片的量產做好了充分準備。

Great. Got it. No other question. Thank you.

偉大的。知道了。沒有其他問題了。謝謝。

There are no further questions at this time. I would now like to turn the call back to James Xiao for closing comments. Sir, please go ahead.

目前沒有其他問題了。現在我想把電話轉回給 James Xiao，請他做總結發言。先生，請繼續。

Thank you for joining us today. This concludes our earnings call. I will have a follow-up with you guys at a private session. Talk to you later.

感謝您今天蒞臨。我們的財報電話會議到此結束。我會在私人會議上和你們進行後續跟進。我們回聊。

Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes today's conference call. Thank you very much for your participation. You may now disconnect.

女士們、先生們，今天的電話會議到此結束。非常感謝您的參與。您現在可以斷開連線了。