Ultra Clean Holdings Inc (UCTT) 2026 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the UCT Reports first quarter 2026 financial results conference call. (Operator Instructions) This call is being recorded on Tuesday, April 28, 2026. I would now like to turn the conference over to Rhonda Bennetto, Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

各位女士、先生，下午好，歡迎參加 UCT Reports 2026 年第一季財務業績電話會議。（接線員指示）本次電話會議將於 2026 年 4 月 28 日（星期二）錄音。現在我想把會議交給投資人關係部的 Rhonda Bennetto。請開始。

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.

謝謝，接線員。各位下午好，感謝各位加入我們。今天與我一同出席的有執行長 James Xiao、財務長 Sheri Savage，以及行銷副總裁 Cheryl Knepfler。James 將先就產業發表一些準備好的談話，並重點說明 UCT 未來的一些機會。

Sheri will follow with the financial review, and then we'll open up the call for questions. 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.

接著 Sheri 將進行財務回顧，然後我們會開放提問。今天的電話會議包含前瞻性陳述，可能受到風險與不確定性影響。更多資訊請參閱我們向 SEC 提交文件中的「風險因素」章節。所有前瞻性陳述均基於截至今日的估計、預測與假設，我們不承擔在本次電話會議後更新這些陳述的義務。

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. Also, beginning this quarter, our non-GAAP results now exclude the impact of unrealized gains and losses on foreign exchange and our revised reference to prior periods was included in our fourth quarter earnings press release back in February.

我們的財務結果討論將以非 GAAP 基礎呈現。GAAP 與非 GAAP 的調節表可在今日發布並張貼於我們網站的新聞稿中找到。此外，自本季起，我們的非 GAAP 結果已排除外匯未實現損益的影響；而我們對先前期間的修訂參考已於 2 月發布的第四季財報新聞稿中納入。

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

那麼，接下來我想把電話交給 James。James，請開始。

Thank you, Rhonda, and good afternoon, everyone. We appreciate you joining us for the Q1 2026 earnings call. In my prepared remarks, I will provide my thoughts on the near and longer-term market drivers and highlight where UCT has a clear competitive advantage to capitalize on a variety of opportunities during this multiyear up cycle.

謝謝你，Rhonda，各位下午好。感謝各位參加我們 2026 年第一季財報電話會議。在我準備好的談話中，我將分享我對短期與長期市場驅動因素的看法，並說明 UCT 具備哪些明確的競爭優勢，能在這一個為期多年的上行循環中把握多元機會。

Following that, Sheri will provide a financial update, and then we will open up the call for questions. We started the year out strong and delivered revenue and earnings above the midpoint of our guided range for the first quarter, driven by solid execution across a broad set of products, services and customers.

之後 Sheri 將提供財務更新，接著我們會開放提問。我們以強勁的態勢展開今年，第一季在營收與獲利方面皆高於我們指引區間的中點，主要受惠於在廣泛的產品、服務與客戶組合上展現出穩健的執行力。

As you can see in our Q2 guidance, we're seeing momentum build across the semiconductor landscape, supported by growing industry-wide investments in AI-driven computing. I'd like to acknowledge our global teams for the sense of urgency, focus and operational excellence they continue to demonstrate every day. Their commitment to our customers and to driving the continuous improvement is elevating our performance today and positioning UCT to compete and win in the next phase of AI-driven growth.

從我們對第二季的指引可以看出，我們正看到半導體產業版圖的動能持續累積，並受到全產業對 AI 驅動運算投資增加的支持。我想肯定我們全球團隊每天持續展現的急迫感、專注力與卓越營運能力。他們對客戶的承諾以及推動持續改善，正在提升我們當前的表現，並使 UCT 能在 AI 驅動成長的下一階段競爭並勝出。

The rapid expansion of AI infrastructure is fueling increased investments across the semiconductor ecosystem, with hyperscalers and cloud providers expect to deploy significant data center capacity by spending around $600 billion in 2026, driving demand sharply higher. Investment by memory companies to address the bottleneck will remove a major constraint to the overall server supply chain, increasing foundry unit demand to support this growth.

AI 基礎設施的快速擴張正推動半導體生態系統各環節增加投資。超大規模業者與雲端服務供應商預期將在 2026 年投入約 6,000 億美元以部署大量資料中心產能，進而使需求大幅上升。記憶體公司的投資用以解決瓶頸，將移除整體伺服器供應鏈的一項主要限制，並提升晶圓代工的單位需求以支撐此成長。

AI data center growth is being fueled by the rapid adoption of generative and agentic AI, and we're now seeing the early impact of physical AI as well. This new wave is driving increased demand for AI memory and leading-edge foundry logic, further accelerating fab capacity investments. These investments are driving the surge in WFE spending, with notably strong demand in leading-edge foundry logic, high-bandwidth memory and advanced packaging, all critical enablers of AI workloads.

AI 資料中心的成長由生成式 AI 與代理式（agentic）AI 的快速採用所帶動，而我們也開始看到實體 AI 的早期影響。這一波新趨勢正推升對 AI 記憶體與先進製程晶圓代工邏輯的需求，進一步加速晶圓廠產能投資。這些投資帶動 WFE（晶圓廠設備）支出激增，其中以先進製程晶圓代工邏輯、高頻寬記憶體以及先進封裝的需求尤為強勁，這些都是 AI 工作負載的關鍵使能技術。

Increasing device complexity is driving higher process and equipment intensity, especially in deposition and removal, sustaining the WFE cycle and expanding UCT's opportunity. Demand continued to build week by week, and we expect this momentum to increase as customers gain clarity on fab time lines, delivery schedules and ramp readiness. Long-term customer forecast and capacity requests reinforce our confidence in continued WFE demand growth with our services business directly tied to wafer starts. We are also seeing increasing wafer volumes across IDMs and foundries, driven by AI demand and ongoing fab expansions with higher tool utilization, creating a durable multiyear growth tailwind for our service business.

裝置複雜度提升正推動更高的製程與設備密度，尤其是在沉積與去除（deposition and removal）領域，進而支撐 WFE 循環並擴大 UCT 的機會。需求持續逐週攀升，我們預期隨著客戶對晶圓廠時程、交付排程與量產爬坡準備度更為明確，這股動能將進一步增強。客戶的長期預測與產能需求申請強化了我們對 WFE 需求持續成長的信心，而我們的服務業務與晶圓開工（wafer starts）直接連動。我們也看到 IDM 與晶圓代工廠的晶圓量持續增加，受 AI 需求與持續擴廠、以及更高的設備稼動率所驅動，為我們的服務業務帶來可持續的多年成長順風。

We're aligned with our customers and industry sentiment that we're in the early stage of a multiyear cycle that should accelerate into the second half of this year and beyond. Strong demand is occurring alongside emerging supply side constraints, including clean room capacity and the time required to bring new fabs online. As a result, today's environment is driven not only by demand, but also by the industry's ability to scale efficiently.

我們與客戶及產業共識一致，認為目前正處於一個多年循環的早期階段，並且應在今年下半年及之後加速。強勁需求同時伴隨供給端限制逐步浮現，包括無塵室產能以及新廠上線所需時間。因此，當前環境不僅由需求驅動，也取決於產業能否有效率地擴張。

By executing on our UCT 3.0 growth strategy, we are strategically positioning to win in this environment. Ramp readiness remains a top priority under UCT 3.0. We are executing with urgency and a customer-first mindset. We align our teams, systems and supply chain to deliver with speed, quality and consistency. We see the AI-driven ramp as a meaningful opportunity to drive growth and expand margins through improved utilization and more efficient operations and infrastructure.

透過執行 UCT 3.0 成長策略，我們正策略性地定位以在此環境中勝出。在 UCT 3.0 之下，「爬坡準備度」仍是首要優先事項。我們以急迫感與以客戶為先的思維執行。我們整合團隊、系統與供應鏈，以速度、品質與一致性進行交付。我們將 AI 驅動的爬坡視為一項重要機會，可透過提升稼動率以及更有效率的營運與基礎設施來推動成長並擴大毛利率。

In parallel, we're advancing our MPX strategy, new product introduction, development and transition to accelerate time to market through our global centers of excellence. By co-innovating earlier with customers, compressing NPI cycles and strengthening responsiveness and the supply chain resilience, we are enabling faster ramps to high-volume production near our customers. This positions us to execute at speed and scale, supporting incremental share gains as customers prioritize development velocity and ramp speed, while driving UCT's operating leverage and margin expansion through higher volumes, improved mix and greater efficiency.

同時，我們也在推進 MPX 策略、新產品導入（NPI）、開發與轉移，透過全球卓越中心加速上市時程。藉由更早與客戶共同創新、縮短 NPI 週期、強化回應速度與供應鏈韌性，我們能在貼近客戶的地點更快爬坡至高量產。這使我們能以速度與規模執行，支援在客戶重視開發速度與爬坡速度之際取得額外市占，同時透過更高出貨量、更佳產品組合與更高效率，提升 UCT 的營運槓桿並擴大利潤率。

Supporting ramp readiness and MPX, we're making strong progress on our third UCT 3.0 initiative, digital transformation. We are upgrading our systems, processes and data infrastructure with AI compatible solutions to improve visibility, reduce cycle times and increase productivity, while enabling faster customer response. These efforts are strengthening our foundation for AI-enabled operations, increasing agility, driving productivity gains and transforming UCT into a more scalable enterprise aligned to capture growth in this multiyear AI-driven industry upturn.

為支援爬坡準備度與 MPX，我們在 UCT 3.0 的第三項倡議——數位轉型——也取得顯著進展。我們正以相容 AI 的解決方案升級系統、流程與資料基礎架構，以提升可視性、縮短週期時間並提高生產力，同時加快對客戶的回應。這些努力正在強化我們 AI 賦能營運的基礎、提升敏捷性、推動生產力提升，並將 UCT 轉型為更具可擴展性的企業，以掌握這一波多年期 AI 驅動的產業上行成長。

Our global footprint supports around $3 billion in revenue today and can scale up to $4 billion with modest incremental capital investment. Assuming continued progress in workforce development, strategic supply chain and operational scaling, we do not expect infrastructure capacity to be our constraint. As volumes ramp, this should allow UCT to drive stronger operating leverage, improve profitability and create sustainable value.

我們的全球據點目前可支援約 30 億美元的營收，並可在僅需適度增量資本投資的情況下擴展至 40 億美元。假設在人力培育、策略性供應鏈與營運擴張方面持續取得進展，我們預期基礎設施產能不會成為限制因素。隨著出貨量爬升，這將使 UCT 能推動更強的營運槓桿、提升獲利能力並創造可持續的價值。

In closing, while the long-term outlook remains strong, the near-term environment remains dynamic with variability across customer spending, potential supply chain constraints and geopolitics. In this environment, disciplined execution will define the winners. With our trusted partnership with key customers, strong ramp readiness and a global footprint that enables speed, agility and scale, we believe we are well positioned to capture an outsized portion of the opportunities ahead of us.

最後，儘管長期展望依然強勁，短期環境仍具動態性，客戶支出存在差異性，亦可能面臨供應鏈限制與地緣政治因素。在此環境下，嚴謹的執行力將決定勝負。憑藉我們與關鍵客戶的可信賴合作關係、強健的爬坡準備度，以及能提供速度、敏捷性與規模的全球布局，我們相信自己已做好充分準備，把握未來的龐大機會。

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

接下來我將把電話交給 Sheri，由她總結我們第一季的業績並更新第二季指引。在財務摘要之後，我期待回答各位的問題。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 seeing increased momentum from the early stages of a multiyear AI-driven expansion, and we're executing with urgency to support customer ramps while maintaining a strong focus on operational efficiency, cost discipline and margin improvement.

謝謝你，James，各位下午好。感謝各位加入我們。今天的討論中，我將僅引用非 GAAP 數字。如 James 所提到，我們正看到多年期 AI 驅動擴張早期階段所帶來的動能提升；我們也以急迫感執行以支援客戶爬坡，同時持續高度聚焦於營運效率、成本紀律與利潤率改善。

For the first quarter of 2026, total revenue came in at $533.7 million compared to $506.6 million in the prior quarter. Revenue from products was $465.7 million compared to $442.4 million last quarter. Services revenue was $68 million in Q1 compared to $64.2 million in Q4. Our global footprint supports about $3 billion in revenue today and can scale to approximately $4 billion with modest incremental capital investment.

2026 年第一季，總營收為 5.337 億美元，較前一季的 5.066 億美元增加。產品營收為 4.657 億美元，較上一季的 4.424 億美元增加。第一季服務營收為 6,800 萬美元，較第四季的 6,420 萬美元增加。我們的全球據點目前可支援約 30 億美元的營收，並可在僅需適度增量資本投資的情況下擴展至約 40 億美元。

With ongoing progress in workforce and operational scaling, we do not expect capacity constraints. As production increases over time, we would expect to benefit from improved operating leverage and corresponding margin expansion. Total gross margin for the first quarter was 16.5% compared to 16.1% last quarter. Product gross margin was 14.6% compared to 14.1% in Q4 and services was 30% compared to 29.7% last quarter.

隨著人力與營運擴張持續取得進展，我們預期不會出現產能限制。隨著產量隨時間增加，我們預期將受惠於營運槓桿改善以及相應的利潤率擴張。第一季總毛利率為 16.5%，較上一季的 16.1% 提升。產品毛利率為 14.6%，較第四季的 14.1% 提升；服務毛利率為 30%，較上一季的 29.7% 提升。

Gross margin improved primarily due to better product mix and higher volumes, driving factory efficiencies. Margins continue to be influenced by fluctuations in volume, mix and manufacturing region as well as material and transportation costs. So there will be variances quarter-to-quarter. Operating expense for the quarter was $61.1 million compared to $56.6 million in Q4. As a percentage of revenue, operating expenses were 11.4% versus 11.2% last quarter. Total operating margin for the quarter came in at 5.1% compared to 4.9% last quarter.

毛利率改善主要來自較佳的產品組合與更高的出貨量，帶動工廠效率提升。利潤率仍會受到出貨量、產品組合與製造地區的波動，以及材料與運輸成本的影響，因此各季之間會有差異。本季營業費用為 6,110 萬美元，較第四季的 5,660 萬美元增加。以營收百分比計，營業費用為 11.4%，上一季為 11.2%。本季總營業利益率為 5.1%，較上一季的 4.9% 提升。

Margin from our products division was 4.2% compared to 3.9% and services margin was 11.5% compared to 12.4% in the prior quarter. The first quarter tax rate came in at 20%, 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.

我們產品事業部的毛利率為 4.2%，相較於上一季的 3.9%；服務毛利率為 11.5%，相較於上一季的 12.4%。第一季稅率為 20%，符合我們的預期。我們在高稅率與低稅率司法管轄區之間的獲利組合，可能導致稅率在全年出現波動。展望 2026 年，我們預期稅率將維持在 20% 出頭的區間。

Based on 46.3 million shares outstanding, earnings per share for the quarter were $0.31 on net income of $14.5 million compared to $0.24 on net income of $10.9 million in the prior quarter. During the quarter, we made the strategic decision to further strengthen our balance sheet and meaningfully reduce our ongoing cost of capital.

以流通在外股數 4,630 萬股計算，本季每股盈餘為 0.31 美元，淨利為 1,450 萬美元；相較於上一季每股盈餘 0.24 美元、淨利 1,090 萬美元。本季期間，我們做出策略性決策，進一步強化資產負債表，並大幅降低我們持續性的資本成本。

In February, we priced a $600 million offering of zero-coupon convertible senior notes. We used a portion of the proceeds to fully repay our Term Loan B, reducing our annual cash interest expense by approximately $30 million. Subsequent to quarter end, we refinanced and upsized our revolving credit facility from $150 million to $250 million, reduced the interest margin by 75 basis points and extended the maturity to 2031, further enhancing our liquidity and financial flexibility.

2 月，我們完成定價一筆 6 億美元的零息可轉換優先票據發行。我們使用部分募集資金全額償還 Term Loan B，使我們每年的現金利息支出約減少 3,000 萬美元。於季末之後，我們將循環信用額度由 1.5 億美元再融資並擴增至 2.5 億美元，將利差下調 75 個基點，並將到期日延長至 2031 年，進一步提升我們的流動性與財務彈性。

Together, these actions are expected to reduce our weighted average borrowing rate from around 6.2% to approximately 1.4%. Turning to the balance sheet. Cash and cash equivalents were $323.5 million compared to $311.8 million at the end of last quarter. Operating cash flow was negative $33.3 million this quarter compared to positive $8.1 million last quarter, driven primarily by higher working capital as we build inventory to meet near-term demand and support future growth.

綜合而言，這些措施預期可將我們的加權平均借款利率由約 6.2% 降至約 1.4%。接著談資產負債表。現金及約當現金為 3.235 億美元，較上一季季末的 3.118 億美元增加。本季營運現金流為負 3,330 萬美元，上一季則為正 810 萬美元，主要是因為我們為了滿足短期需求並支援未來成長而建立庫存，導致營運資金增加。

We are seeing broad-based improvements across the semiconductor landscape heading into the second half of this year and beyond, underpinned by sustained industry investment in AI-driven computing. We remain focused on maintaining discipline around margin expansion and driving sustainable shareholder returns over time.

我們看到半導體產業景氣在今年下半年及更長期呈現全面性改善，其背後支撐因素是產業對 AI 驅動運算的持續投資。我們仍將專注於維持毛利率擴張的紀律，並在時間推移中推動可持續的股東報酬。

Turning to the guidance. For the second quarter, we project total revenue to be between $565 million and $605 million and EPS in the range of $0.44 to $0.60. And with that, I'd like to turn the call over to the operator for questions.

接著談財測。第二季我們預估總營收介於 5.65 億至 6.05 億美元之間，每股盈餘（EPS）介於 0.44 至 0.60 美元。接下來我想把電話交給接線員，進入提問環節。

(Operator Instructions)

（接線員指示）

Charles Shi, Needham.

Needham 的 Charles Shi。

Hey, good afternoon, James, Sheri. Maybe the first question, James, what's the WFE outlook you are seeing as of today? And I think in your prepared remarks, there's a line you mentioned you talked about solving the memory bottleneck and the relation to how that increases foundry unit output.

嗨，下午好，James、Sheri。第一個問題，James，就目前來看你們看到的 WFE（晶圓廠設備）展望如何？另外我記得你在事先準備的講稿中提到一句話，談到解決記憶體瓶頸，以及這與如何提升晶圓代工單位產出之間的關係。

And I'm not sure the context of that line. And are you kind of implying maybe the memory WFE growth is pretty high today, maybe some of that strength will transition more to the leading-edge foundry logic? I'm not sure what you meant by that line, but can you elaborate a little bit while you address the WFE outlook question. Thank you.

我不太確定那句話的脈絡。你是否在暗示，現在記憶體 WFE 的成長很高，而其中部分強勁動能可能會轉移到先進製程的晶圓代工邏輯？我不確定你那句話的意思，但能否在回答 WFE 展望問題時也稍微多做說明？謝謝。

Thanks, Charles. Yes, so the WFE outlook is really continue to grow bigger than we saw the previous quarter. We see really from our customers, they're quoting $140 billion to $145 billion in 2026. So that's dependent on where you see the '25 number end up with at 18% to 20% year-over-year growth. And we see the similar momentum. The customers are talking about 15% and above for the 2027.

謝謝你，Charles。是的，WFE 的展望確實持續成長，而且規模會比上一季看到的更大。我們從客戶那邊聽到的報價是，2026 年約在 1,400 億到 1,450 億美元之間。這取決於你怎麼看 2025 年最終落點，年增率大約在 18% 到 20%。我們也看到類似的動能。客戶也在談 2027 年約 15% 以上的成長。

So to your question about the memory growth, I think that we kind of see that the AI capacity is somehow gated by the memory capacity in the past three, four quarters. And now we see that all the major memory customers are investing in their greenfield factories and also upgrading their existing fabs to maximize their current footprint. So that actually gave a whole industry an unlock of the constrained capacity. So we see more of the new leading-edge new factory launches in basically all 3 leading customers, TSMC, Intel and Samsung.

至於你問到的記憶體成長，我認為在過去三到四個季度，AI 產能某種程度上是被記憶體產能所限制。現在我們看到所有主要記憶體客戶都在投資新建（greenfield）工廠，同時也升級既有晶圓廠，以最大化現有廠區的產出。這實際上讓整個產業解鎖了原本受限的產能。因此我們看到在三大領先客戶——台積電、英特爾與三星——都在推動更多先進製程的新廠啟動。

Got it. So maybe the second question, James, I understand that the outlook is getting stronger on a week-by-week basis. You gave a special shout out to etch deposition, and I think that's well understood. But is there any part of your end markets that may still be a little bit slow, maybe even on a relative basis? I didn't hear you talk about lithography. I didn't hear you talk about your domestic Chinese customers. So what's going on there in those areas?

了解。第二個問題，James，我理解展望正以每週為單位變得更強。你特別點名了蝕刻與沉積，我想這大家都很清楚。但在你們的終端市場中，是否仍有任何部分相對偏慢，哪怕只是相對而言？我沒有聽到你談到微影（lithography），也沒有聽到你談到你們中國本土客戶。這些領域目前情況如何？

Yeah, I think that, first of all, very good question. If you see the -- really the fast-growing segment in WFE overall, it is really the leading-edge foundry logic and HBM on the memory side and advanced packaging. So those are more an etch and removal intensive in terms of capital intensity. So therefore, relatively, you hear our customers are saying that they see that the first half, the deposition and etch is at mid-30s of the WFE. And in the second half, they see that increase to the high 30s of WFE.

是的，我認為首先這是個非常好的問題。如果你看整體 WFE 中真正快速成長的區塊，主要是先進製程的晶圓代工邏輯、記憶體端的 HBM，以及先進封裝。這些在資本密集度上更偏向蝕刻與去除（removal）密集。因此相對而言，你會聽到客戶說，上半年沉積與蝕刻約占 WFE 的 30% 中段；下半年他們預期會提升到 WFE 的 30% 高段。

So naturally, because this high-growth area are etch and dep intensive, so we see a higher share of dep and etch in overall WFE. The flattish area we see is probably the non-dep and etch segment overall. And the surprising is the trailing node foundry logic are also not going down. They're more like flattish. China, as we discussed before, it was a kind of building inventory safety stock situation in '24 and '25. Therefore, they're really kind of become a bigger portion of worldwide WFE at 35 to 40. Now we're seeing they're back to normal in the low 20s as the portion of the worldwide WFE. So I don't think that's an outlier. It's more back to the normal business situation.

所以很自然地，因為這些高成長領域是蝕刻與沉積密集型，我們看到沉積與蝕刻在整體 WFE 中的占比更高。我們看到較為持平（flattish）的區域，可能是整體非沉積與非蝕刻的區塊。比較令人意外的是，成熟製程（trailing node）的晶圓代工邏輯也沒有下滑，反而更像是持平。至於中國，如同我們先前討論過的，2024 與 2025 年有點像是在建立庫存安全存量（safety stock）的情況，因此其占全球 WFE 的比重一度來到 35% 到 40%。現在我們看到其占比回到較正常的 20% 出頭。我不認為那是異常值，而是回到正常的業務狀態。

Got it. Maybe the last question from me, if I may. If I understand the typical behavior of your customers correctly, I think this is a year -- I mean this year is when they are competing for basically who can ship tools faster to their customers. How do you assess in this kind of situation, whether the requests are coming from your customers are reasonable, whether -- or if any chance some of the requests you would see unreasonable and potentially at the expense of the growth for your outer years? How do you handle the situation like that and in terms of how you allocate your capacity, grow your capacity, et cetera? Just maybe a little bit of high-level philosophical question from -- I want to understand how you operate in an environment like this.

了解。若可以的話，我最後一個問題是：如果我對你們客戶的典型行為理解正確，我認為今年——我是說今年——他們基本上是在競爭誰能更快把設備出貨給他們的客戶。在這種情況下，你們如何評估客戶提出的需求是否合理？是否有可能你們看到某些需求不合理，並可能以犧牲未來幾年的成長為代價？你們如何處理這種情況，以及在產能分配、擴充產能等方面怎麼做？這算是一個比較高層次、偏理念性的問題——我想了解你們在這種環境下如何運作。

Actually, this is a great question. I think that I really see a very healthy move as an industry. What I mean by that is that we see the customer actually giving us a long-term forecast, so we can do the planning better. And the long-term forecast is actually showing the growth momentum. They gave us a confidence to really kind of utilize our current capacity and also have the confidence to plan for the next step expansion.

其實這是個很好的問題。我認為我看到的是產業非常健康的變化。我的意思是，我們看到客戶實際上會提供我們長期預測，讓我們能更好地做規劃。而這些長期預測也顯示出成長動能，讓我們有信心去充分利用現有產能，同時也有信心規劃下一步的擴產。

As I mentioned in my previous earnings call and this one, we really have capacity to really run at $3 billion run rate per year. The current run rate is still $2 billion, $2.2 billion. So we have the runway to really kind of address additional demand. And our brick-and-mortar capacity can handle up to $4 billion. So by minimal capital investment, we can have six to nine months to build that capacity so we can really reach the $4 billion run rate. So in that sense, we're well positioned to address the drop-in demand from our customers.

如同我在上一場與這一場法說中提到的，我們確實有能力以每年 30 億美元的年化營收速度（run rate）運轉。目前的年化速度仍在 20 億到 22 億美元之間，因此我們有空間去因應額外需求。而我們的實體（brick-and-mortar）產能可支援到 40 億美元。透過最小的資本投入，我們可以在 6 到 9 個月內建立該產能，讓我們達到 40 億美元的年化速度。因此在這個意義上，我們具備良好條件去因應客戶的即時新增需求（drop-in demand）。

Thanks for the color, James.

謝謝你的補充說明，James。

Krish Sankar, TD Cowen.

TD Cowen 的 Krish Sankar。

Hi, this is Robert Mertens on the line on behalf of Krish. I guess the first one is just around your domestic China business. Do you have a percentage of sales figure you could share for the March quarter? And just how you sort of expect that portion of your business to trend given that the current semi-cap customers in China have been doing pretty well.

嗨，我是 Robert Mertens，代表 Krish 在線上。我想第一個問題是關於你們中國本土業務。你們是否能分享 3 月季度的銷售占比？以及考量到目前中國的半導體資本設備客戶表現相當不錯，你們預期這部分業務占比的趨勢會如何發展？

Yeah, as we previously discussed, the percentage of our China business, domestic China business is less than 5% of our overall revenue. We maintain that kind of range. And what we see is that gradually the domestic Chinese WFE customers will increase their share within the China WFE market. And we see also the growth opportunity as we grow the share with those Chinese customers.

是的，如同我們先前討論過的，我們的中國本土業務占整體營收的比重低於 5%。我們維持在這樣的區間。我們看到的是，中國本土的 WFE 客戶將逐步提高其在中國 WFE 市場中的占比；同時，隨著我們在這些中國客戶中的市占提升，我們也看到相應的成長機會。

Christian Schwab, Craig-Hallum Capital Group.

Christian Schwab，Craig-Hallum Capital Group。

Great. Congrats on the great quarter and outlook. Given the demand is improving week by week, I guess it's kind of crystal clear. But do you -- as you look at the year, do you have an idea of what percentage of revenue will be second half weighted versus the first half?

很好。恭喜本季表現與展望都很出色。鑑於需求逐週改善，我想這點相當明確。不過當你們看今年全年時，是否能分享一下，營收大概會有多少比例偏重在下半年、相較於上半年？

Yeah, great question. So we -- as you can see that in our forecast, we're seeing close to double-digit growth quarter-over-quarter from Q1 to Q2. We expect a similar range of growth going forward and for the second half.

是的，這是個好問題。所以我們——如你在我們的預測中所看到的，我們預期從第一季到第二季的季對季成長接近雙位數。我們也預期往後以及下半年會有類似區間的成長。

Perfect. And then can you give us -- given $4 billion in revenue driven by increased WFE, but finally seeing a very material increase in wafer starts to drive your services business. When you talk about $4 billion in revenue potential and another $1 billion that could be added given a modest amount of capital and notice to put that online, what would you anticipate would be your mix of revenue at $4 billion that would be service?

很好。最後一個問題：在晶圓廠設備（WFE）增加帶動下，你們提到有 40 億美元的營收，且終於看到晶圓開工（wafer starts）出現非常顯著的增加，進而帶動你們的服務業務。當你們談到 40 億美元的營收潛力，以及在投入適度資本並提前通知以使產能上線的情況下，還可能再增加 10 億美元時，在 40 億美元營收規模下，你們預期其中有多少營收組成會來自服務？

Yeah, I think it's a good question. So as we discussed, we see that the -- our service revenue is really a function of wafer starts and a small portion of that business is also directly correlated to the WFE growth. So in an aggregated base, we expect a double-digit growth for the year on the service side. And going forward, we still see a range of 10% to 12% as our overall revenue percentage.

是的，我認為這是個好問題。如我們所討論的，我們看到——我們的服務營收確實主要取決於晶圓開工量，而其中也有一小部分業務與 WFE 成長直接相關。以整體基礎來看，我們預期今年服務端將有雙位數成長。展望未來，我們仍然認為服務營收占整體營收的比例約在 10% 到 12% 的區間。

Great. And then lastly, historically, if we go back to '20 and '21 as far as the last accelerated WFE spending cycle, you outgrew WFE growth materially. And should we assume the big not only market share gains and certainly your ability to potentially gain share with the ease of adding increased capacity. But as far as outgrowing WFE, there's a lag period between installing fab equipment and wafer starts being finished, which is the driver of the services business, I guess, in aggregate. Is that the way we should be thinking about the primary driver of your growth outperforming WFE? Or do you think this cycle, you're better positioned for market share gains?

很好。最後，從歷史來看，如果回到 2020 年與 2021 年、也就是上一輪 WFE 支出加速的週期，你們的成長明顯超越 WFE 的成長。我們是否應該假設，除了你們取得的重大市占提升，以及你們透過更容易新增產能而可能進一步擴大市占的能力之外，就「超越 WFE 成長」這件事而言，主要原因是：晶圓廠設備安裝到晶圓開工完成之間存在一段落後期，而晶圓開工完成是整體上驅動服務業務的因素？我們應該用這樣的方式來理解你們成長優於 WFE 的主要驅動力嗎？還是你認為在這一輪週期中，你們在市占提升方面的布局更有利？

Yeah, so we definitely see that we will grow with the WFE growth and with really the upside potential on both product side and service side. And really, to me, the playbook is always to defend the core, which we are really in a leading position and grow the SAM. So we enter into new modules and new gas panel business as our customers expand their product portfolio. And then finally, win at inflection. So position ourselves with stronger NPI capabilities so we can align with customers' NPI road map and win in the next node inflection.

是的，所以我們確實看到，我們將隨著 WFE 的成長而成長，並且在產品端與服務端都具備上行潛力。對我而言，作戰手冊一向是：守住核心——我們在核心領域確實處於領先地位——並擴大 SAM（可服務市場）。因此，當客戶擴展其產品組合時，我們會切入新的模組以及新的氣體面板（gas panel）業務。最後是在拐點取勝：透過更強的 NPI（新產品導入）能力來定位自己，使我們能與客戶的 NPI 路線圖對齊，並在下一個製程節點拐點中勝出。

Understood. Great. Thank you. No other questions.

了解。很好，謝謝。沒有其他問題了。

Edward Yang, Oppenheimer.

Edward Yang，Oppenheimer。

Hi, James, Sheri, team. Thanks for the time. Just first question, related to that strong second quarter guide on the revenue side and for the remainder of the year, how should we think about gross margin progression?

嗨，James、Sheri、團隊，謝謝撥冗。第一個問題：關於第二季營收端強勁的指引，以及今年剩餘期間，我們應該如何看待毛利率的走勢？

Yeah, Gross margin should start to continue to improve as we move through the year. Obviously, we'll see it being slightly up in Q2 and then continue to grow as we move through the year as the revenue potentially goes up. So obviously, mix and where it's shipping from does play a factor in that and things change as we move through the year, but we truly do see it moving up as we get closer to the Q4 time frame.

是的，毛利率應該會在今年推進的過程中持續改善。很明顯地，第二季會小幅上升，然後隨著今年進行、營收可能上升而持續成長。當然，產品組合以及出貨地點確實會影響毛利率，而且隨著年度推進情況也會變動，但我們確實看到，隨著接近第四季的時間點，毛利率會往上走。

And Sheri, if I could dig a little deeper related to mix. I mean you've got a plethora of different products and services. Just focusing on the product side, what are the gross margin differentials between your lowest and highest? And what's your highest margin products and maybe talk some detail around that.

Sheri，如果我可以就產品組合再深入一點：你們有非常多不同的產品與服務。先聚焦在產品端，你們最低與最高毛利率之間的差異大概是多少？你們毛利率最高的產品是哪些？也請就此多分享一些細節。

Yeah, we probably don't publish as much on the specific product margins. But as I've mentioned before, we have a large bell curve of margins, so they can range anywhere between 10% to 50% to 60% depending upon whether it's a component part or it's a module or a gas panel.

是的，我們可能沒有針對特定產品毛利率發布那麼多資訊。但如我之前提過，我們的毛利率呈現很大的鐘形分布，因此依據是零組件、模組或氣體面板而定，毛利率可能介於 10% 到 50% 或 60%。

So it just really depends on the sheer volume of each of those mixes of products that play into our overall gross margin, along with how fast the revenue comes in to us and how fast we can hire labor and other costs associated with that. So those are the key factors that play into our margin as we grow revenue. So again, a large bell curve of margins. There's quite a few different products and different margins within those products as well. So that's why it makes it complicated to detail all of those out.

所以這真的取決於各類產品組合的實際出貨量，這些都會影響我們的整體毛利率；同時也取決於營收進來的速度，以及我們能多快招募人力與承擔相關的其他成本。這些是在我們營收成長時影響毛利率的關鍵因素。再強調一次，毛利率的鐘形分布很大；產品種類很多，而同一類產品內也有不同的毛利率。因此，要把所有細項逐一拆開說明會比較複雜。

Got it. And maybe a question for James. Beyond the general uplift in WFE, you mentioned your UCT 3.0 strategy. I know it's a long-term vision, but just interested in the progress around that, the co-innovator and the MPX framework. And just wondering how customer receptivity has been to that? And when can we expect to see specific market share gains or new module wins around that MPX framework?

了解。也許這題問 James：除了 WFE 的整體上行之外，你提到 UCT 3.0 策略。我知道這是長期願景，但我想了解目前進展，尤其是共同創新者（co-innovator）與 MPX 架構。想請問客戶對此的接受度如何？以及我們何時可以期待在 MPX 架構下看到具體的市占提升或新的模組得標？

We are -- great question. We are investing in our, I call it, regionalized center of excellence. So basically, we have NPI Center of Excellence in US We further enhance that. And we're actually expanding our NPI capabilities in Asia and also in Europe. So the customer wants to have the engineers co-innovate, define the spec and really design the system and modules close to their core engineering team.

我們——這是個好問題。我們正在投資我所稱的「區域化卓越中心」。基本上，我們在美國有 NPI 卓越中心，我們會進一步強化它；同時我們也正在擴充在亞洲以及歐洲的 NPI 能力。客戶希望工程師能共同創新、定義規格，並且在靠近其核心工程團隊的地方真正完成系統與模組的設計。

That's actually in Europe, in US and expanding to Asia. So we follow customers' need on that. Then we will also transfer that locally by region to our HVM site, also distribute in all the regions, right, US and Europe and Southeast Asia. And that's really well aligned with our customer strategy where they're also moving their global engineering footprint close to their high-value production sites.

這在歐洲、在美國都在進行，並且正擴展到亞洲。我們會依客戶的需求來布局。接著，我們也會依區域把這些能力在地移轉到我們的 HVM（高量產）據點，並在所有區域進行配置，也就是美國、歐洲與東南亞。這也與我們的客戶策略高度一致，因為他們也正在把全球工程布局移到更靠近其高價值量產據點的地方。

So well received by customer. We see some early momentum, and that's actually accelerating our NPI engagement with customers. We already have a pretty strong pipeline of NPI engagement with existing customers. This regionalized center of excellence just further enhance our capabilities.

客戶的反應非常正面。我們看到一些早期動能，而這也正在加速我們與客戶的 NPI 合作。我們與既有客戶本來就已經有相當強的 NPI 合作管線；這個區域化卓越中心只會進一步強化我們的能力。

Okay, thank you.

好的，謝謝。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Krish Sankar, TD Cowen.

Krish Sankar，TD Cowen。

Hi, thank you. I realize I put myself on mute after my first prior question. And my second question was going to be around the margin profile, but you just answered it. So I won't make you repeat yourself. Thank you again.

嗨，謝謝。我發現我在前一個問題之後把自己設成靜音了。我的第二個問題本來是關於毛利率結構，但你們剛剛已經回答了，所以我就不讓你們重複了。再次謝謝。

Thank you, Robert.

謝謝你，Robert。

Thanks.

謝謝。

I'd like to turn the call back over to Sheri Savage for an announcement.

我想把電話會議交回給 Sheri Savage 發布一項公告。

Thank you, operator. I have an announcement to make, and I wanted to share it on this call because I personally know many of you here today. After a lot of thought, I've decided to retire from UCT. Being part of UCT's journey over the past 17 years has been an incredible privilege. I'm incredibly proud of what we've built together, and I'm deeply grateful for the trust, partnership and support of our teams, our leadership and our Board.

謝謝，接線員。我有一項公告要發布，我想在這通電話會議上分享，因為我個人認識今天在場的許多位。經過深思熟慮之後，我決定從 UCT 退休。在過去 17 年參與 UCT 的旅程是一項難得的榮幸。我對我們一起打造的成果感到無比自豪，也非常感謝我們團隊、管理層與董事會所給予的信任、夥伴關係與支持。

I'm confident that UCT is ideally positioned for continued growth and success in the years ahead. I'll remain fully engaged until we find my successor, looking both internally and externally, and I'll continue behind the scenes to ensure a smooth transition. Thank you for making this journey meaningful and rewarding for me. I really appreciate the support many of you have given to me over the years. And with that, thank you for joining our call today, and we look forward to seeing you when we report our second quarter earnings. Thanks.

我有信心，UCT 已處於最理想的位置，能在未來幾年持續成長並取得成功。在找到我的接任者之前——我們將同時從內部與外部尋覓——我會保持全程投入；同時我也會在幕後持續協助，確保交接順利。謝謝各位讓這段旅程對我而言如此有意義且收穫豐富。我非常感謝多年來許多人對我的支持。最後，謝謝各位今天參與我們的電話會議，我們期待在發布第二季財報時與各位再見。謝謝。

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

今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝各位的參與。您現在可以掛線。