Velo3D Inc (VELO) 2023 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Good afternoon. Welcome to the Velo3D's fourth-quarter 2023 earnings conference call. (Operator Instructions)

午安.歡迎參加 Velo3D 2023 年第四季財報電話會議。（操作員說明）

As a reminder, today's conference call is being recorded. I will now turn the call over to Mr. Bob Okunski, Vice President of Investor Relations at Velo3D Corporation. Thank you, sir. You may begin.

提醒一下，今天的電話會議正在錄音。我現在將把電話轉給 Velo3D Corporation 投資者關係副總裁 Bob Okunski 先生。謝謝你，先生。你可以開始了。

Thanks, Diego. I'd like to welcome everyone to our fourth-quarter 2023 earnings conference call. On the call today, we will start out with comments from Brad Kreger, CEO of Velo3D, who will provide a summary of the quarter as well as an update on certain key strategic priorities for 2024. Following Brad's comments, Bernie Chung, our CFO, will then review our fourth-quarter 2023 financial results and provide our guidance.

謝謝，迭戈。歡迎大家參加我們的 2023 年第四季財報電話會議。在今天的電話會議上，我們將首先聽取 Velo3D 執行長 Brad Kreger 的評論，他將提供本季的摘要以及 2024 年某些關鍵策略重點的最新資訊。在 Brad 發表評論後，我們的財務長 Bernnie Chung 將審查我們 2023 年第四季度的財務業績並提供我們的指導。

As a reminder, a replay of this call will be available later today on the Investor Relations page of our website.

謹此提醒，今天晚些時候，我們網站的投資者關係頁面將提供本次電話會議的重播。

During today's call, we will make forward-looking statements that are subject to various risks and uncertainties that are described in the Safe Harbor slide of today's presentation, today's press release, as well as our 2022 10-K and additional 2023 SEC filings. Please see those documents for additional information regarding those factors that may affect these forward-looking statements.

在今天的電話會議中，我們將做出前瞻性聲明，這些聲明受到今天簡報的安全港幻燈片、今天的新聞稿以及我們的2022 年10-K 和其他2023 年SEC 文件中描述的各種風險和不確定性的影響。請參閱這些文件，以了解有關可能影響這些前瞻性陳述的因素的更多資​​訊。

Also, we will reference certain non-GAAP metrics during today's call. Please refer to the appendix of our presentation as well as today's earnings press release for the appropriate GAAP to non-GAAP reconciliation. We have also posted a set of PowerPoint slides, which we will reference during the call on the events and presentations page of our Investor Relations website.

此外，我們將在今天的電話會議中參考某些非公認會計準則指標。請參閱我們簡報的附錄以及今天的收益新聞稿，以了解適當的 GAAP 與非 GAAP 調整表。我們也發布了一組 PowerPoint 投影片，我們將在電話會議期間在投資者關係網站的活動和簡報頁面上參考這些投影片。

With that, I'd like to turn the call over to Brad Kreger, CEO of Velo3D. Brad?

說到這裡，我想將電話轉給 Velo3D 執行長 Brad Kreger。布拉德？

Thanks, Bob. I'd like to welcome everyone to our fourth-quarter earnings call. Before we get started, I would like to provide some brief comments related to the strategic review we announced in the fourth quarter. I could tell you that this comprehensive process remains ongoing and that the Board of Directors is in discussions with multiple parties related to maximizing stockholder value.

謝謝，鮑伯。我謹歡迎大家參加我們的第四季財報電話會議。在開始之前，我想就我們在第四季度宣布的策略審查提供一些簡短的評論。我可以告訴你，這個全面的過程仍在繼續，董事會正在與多方討論有關股東價值最大化的問題。

As we announced previously, we do not intend to disclose further developments on the strategic review process until we determine that such disclosure is appropriate or necessary. As a result, we will not be answering questions on the status of the review during this call. With that, I would like to move on to our results.

正如我們之前宣布的，在我們確定此類披露是適當或必要的之前，我們不打算披露戰略審查流程的進一步進展。因此，我們在本次電話會議中不會回答有關審核狀態的問題。說到這裡，我想繼續討論我們的結果。

For context, 2023 was a transformational year for the company. Our focus on a hyper-growth business strategy at the beginning of the year significantly impacted second-half performance as multiple new product introductions and rapid expansion of our installed base led to material increases in field system issues and customer concerns.

就背景而言，2023 年對該公司來說是轉型的一年。我們年初對高速成長業務策略的關注對下半年的業績產生了重大影響，因為多種新產品的推出和我們安裝基礎的快速擴張導致現場系統問題和客戶擔憂的實質增加。

Similarly, as we expanded beyond our early adopters of the technology to broader markets, we found ourselves methodology did not translate effectively, leading to poor opportunity qualification. These issues directly affected our bookings rate as evidenced by our very disappointing Q4 results. As a result, last quarter, we initiated company realignment to reduce costs, rebuild our bookings pipeline, and recommit ourselves to ensuring customers are successful while instituting a culture of quality, efficiency, and profitability.

同樣，當我們從技術的早期採用者擴展到更廣泛的市場時，我們發現自己的方法沒有有效轉化，導致機會資格不佳。這些問題直接影響了我們的預訂率，我們非常令人失望的第四季結果證明了這一點。因此，上個季度，我們啟動了公司重組，以降低成本，重建我們的預訂管道，並重新致力於確保客戶成功，同時建立品質、效率和盈利能力的文化。

This has been a very challenging period for the company, and we still have a ways to go. However, we are very pleased with our progress over the last three to six months. We strongly believe that we're just starting to see the benefits of this strategic shift, and these efforts will enable us to achieve sustainable profitability as we exit 2024.

對於公司來說，這是一個非常具有挑戰性的時期，我們還有很長的路要走。然而，我們對過去三到六個月的進展感到非常滿意。我們堅信，我們才剛開始看到這項策略轉變的好處，這些努力將使我們能夠在 2024 年退出時實現可持續盈利。

With that in mind, I would now like to discuss the specifics of our fourth quarter. Please turn to slide 3. As I mentioned, Q4 was a transition quarter for us as we were impacted by our bookings challenges in the second half of last year, as well as by the disruption from a number of key initiatives related to our strategic realignment during the quarter. Given the typical length of our sales cycle is approximately six months, we are just now seeing the beginnings of a rebound in bookings as the change in our go-to-market strategy, along with our recommitment and investment to ensure customer success, is yielding tangible results.

考慮到這一點，我現在想討論第四季的具體情況。請翻到幻燈片 3。正如我所提到的，第四季度對我們來說是一個過渡季度，因為我們受到去年下半年預訂挑戰的影響，以及本季度與我們策略調整相關的許多關鍵舉措的中斷。鑑於我們的銷售週期通常約為六個月，隨著我們進入市場策略的改變以及我們為確保客戶成功而做出的重新承諾和投資，我們剛剛看到預訂量開始反彈。切實的成果。

In addition to the increase in overall bookings, we are pleased to see existing customers who held off ordering during Q4 reengaging to expand their Sapphire footprint. We remain very excited about our opportunities in 2024.

除了整體預訂量的增加之外，我們很高興看到在第四季度推遲訂購的現有客戶重新參與擴大他們的藍寶石足跡。我們對 2024 年的機會仍然感到非常興奮。

On the expense side, we continue to benefit from the implementation of our aggressive cost reduction program last quarter. We reduced our cost structure by more than 15% in Q4 and expect OpEx to decline an additional 15%-plus in the first quarter of 2024.

在費用方面，我們繼續受益於上季實施的積極成本削減計劃。我們在第四季將成本結構降低了 15% 以上，預計 2024 年第一季營運支出將再下降 15% 以上。

Additionally, our focus on cash flow is showing progress as free cash flow excluding financing improved by 35% year over year. We're also starting to benefit from our strategic shift to a customer-driven model as both manufacturing efficiency and customer reliability showed marked improvements in the fourth quarter.

此外，我們對現金流的關注也取得了進展，不包括融資的自由現金流年增了 35%。我們也開始受益於向客戶驅動模式的策略轉變，因為製造效率和客戶可靠性在第四季度都有顯著改善。

Finally, we are slowly rebuilding our backlog and seeing improved close rates as our pipeline starts to fill with highly qualified opportunities. Many of these new opportunities are in key verticals such as space, defense, and aerospace, and reflective of our technology advantage. Additionally, we are benefiting from our position as the only US-based supplier of large format metal AM solutions that has unique capabilities in printing complex internal geometries required for our customers' most demanding applications.

最後，我們正在慢慢重建我們的積壓訂單，隨著我們的管道開始充滿高素質的機會，我們看到成交率有所提高。其中許多新機會都在太空、國防和航空航太等關鍵垂直領域，反映了我們的技術優勢。此外，我們還受益於我們作為美國唯一一家大幅面金屬增材製造解決方案供應商的地位，該解決方案在列印客戶最苛刻的應用所需的複雜內部幾何形狀方面擁有獨特的能力。

Moving on to bookings. We booked five orders in the fourth quarter, with more than 80% of these orders coming from existing customers. This recovery in bookings is a strong validation of the successful implementation of our reliability initiatives to ensure our customers remain successful.

繼續預訂。第四季我們預訂了 5 個訂單，其中 80% 以上的訂單來自現有客戶。預訂量的恢復有力地證明了我們成功實施了可靠性計劃，以確保我們的客戶保持成功。

We were pleased to see this momentum has carried over into Q1 as we booked more than 15 million in orders since the last two weeks of December and see significant near-term opportunities as we enter Q2. This success also reflects the benefit of our new go-to-market value-based selling approach as we now have higher confidence and greater visibility into achieving our first-half 2024 revenue forecast.

我們很高興看到這種勢頭延續到第一季度，因為自 12 月最後兩週以來我們預訂了超過 1500 萬份訂單，並且在進入第二季度時看到了重大的近期機會。這一成功也反映了我們新的基於市場價值的銷售方法的好處，因為我們現在對實現 2024 年上半年收入預測有更高的信心和更大的可見度。

In summary, the fourth quarter was an extremely challenging on a number of fronts. But given our cost reduction efforts, initial bookings recovery, and new go-to-market strategy, we are well positioned to achieve our financial goals this year. As I mentioned, we are focusing our sales efforts in those markets where we believe we have a significant competitive advantage: space, defense, and aerospace.

總而言之，第四季在許多方面都極具挑戰性。但考慮到我們降低成本的努力、初始預訂的恢復以及新的進入市場策略，我們有能力實現今年的財務目標。正如我所提到的，我們將銷售工作重點放在我們認為具有顯著競爭優勢的市場：太空、國防和航空航太。

I'd now like to provide an update on these markets as well as briefly discuss some of the key new revenue opportunities we see for 2024 and beyond.

我現在想提供這些市場的最新情況，並簡要討論我們在 2024 年及以後看到的一些關鍵的新收入機會。

Please turn to slide 4. In space, we remain a market leader as we added NASA and Avio as customers in 2023, for example. This leadership position is a result of a number of factors. Our technology enables customers to improve launch performance, which is important in lowering costs in a rapidly expanding industry. Even small improvements in performance means using less fuel or being able to carry larger payload.

請翻到幻燈片 4。例如，在太空領域，我們仍然是市場領導者，因為我們在 2023 年增加了 NASA 和 Avio 作為客戶。這一領導地位是多種因素共同作用的結果。我們的技術使客戶能夠提高發射性能，這對於快速擴張的行業降低成本非常重要。即使性能上的微小改進也意味著使用更少的燃料或能夠承載更大的有效載荷。

Also, with our combined hardware and software solution, our customers have the ability to quickly implement design changes. This is critical in a rapidly changing industry as launch cycles accelerate. For example, one of our customers went from design to launch in less than one year using our technology. We now count nine North American launch companies as customers, with many of these customers reaching critical mass over the next two years given recent successes and announced launch schedule acceleration.

此外，借助我們的硬體和軟體組合解決方案，我們的客戶能夠快速實施設計變更。隨著發布週期的加快，這對於快速變化的行業至關重要。例如，我們的一位客戶使用我們的技術從設計到推出只花了不到一年的時間。我們現在將九家北美發射公司視為客戶，鑑於最近的成功和宣布的發射計劃加速，其中許多客戶將在未來兩年內達到臨界規模。

I can tell you I remain most excited about our defense business. We're just scratching the surface of this opportunity and see huge potential for both new technologies such as hypersonics as well as being utilized for legacy part procurement. We have been and continue to be in discussions with DoD leadership about how we can be a leader in their transition to AM.

我可以告訴你，我仍然對我們的國防業務感到最興奮。我們只是觸及了這個機會的表面，並看到了高超音速等新技術以及用於遺留零件採購的巨大潛力。我們一直並將繼續與國防部領導層討論如何成為他們轉型為積層製造的領導者。

In addition to our discussions with the US government, we are seeing strong demand in this industry as we added three new defense customers in 2023, bringing our total to nine. Customers include Kratos Defense, Bechtel, Ohio Ordnance, and Lockheed Martin. Furthermore, the $825 billion defense spending bill, approved Friday, provides increased confidence in our 2024 defense bookings, where we have multiple system contracting activities in progress. Since Friday's announcement, we've already received one purchase order tied to this funding and expect to close additional orders in the coming days.

除了與美國政府的討論之外，我們還看到該行業的強勁需求，因為我們在 2023 年增加了三個新的國防客戶，使我們的總數達到九個。客戶包括 Kratos Defense、Bechtel、Ohio Ordnance 和 Lockheed Martin。此外，週五批准的 8,250 億美元國防支出法案增強了我們對 2024 年國防預訂的信心，我們正在進行多個系統承包活動。自周五宣布以來，我們已經收到了一份與這筆資金相關的採購訂單，並預計在未來幾天內完成更多訂單。

In aerospace, we see a similar dynamic as customers are looking to metal AM to implement new manufacturing methods, improve supply chain efficiency, and pursue concerted efforts aimed at cost reduction. We are happy to report that we are now starting to see traction in this space in both the US and Europe and expect to increase our footprint in this market this year.

在航空航太領域，我們看到了類似的動態，客戶希望透過金屬增材製造來實施新的製造方法，提高供應鏈效率，並共同努力降低成本。我們很高興地報告，我們現在開始看到美國和歐洲這一領域的吸引力，並預計今年將擴大我們在該市場的足跡。

Finally, we're implementing a number of programs to expand our future revenue streams. First, the potential monetization of our recently launched flow developer software package. This package provides users with the maximum flexibility and control over print parameters by unlocking our pre-defined black box parameters set, making it more efficient for customers to use their existing designs and scale production.

最後，我們正在實施一些計劃來擴大我們未來的收入來源。首先，我們最近推出的流程開發軟體包的潛在貨幣化能力。該軟體包透過解鎖我們預先定義的黑盒參數集，為用戶提供了最大的靈活性和對列印參數的控制，使客戶能夠更有效地使用其現有設計和規模生產。

Second, on the R&D front, we are in the early phases of refining our next-generation Sapphire model. This product will be very competitive with our peers on cost, retain key technology advantages, and open up markets we currently do not sell into.

其次，在研發方面，我們正處於完善下一代藍寶石模型的早期階段。該產品在成本上與我們的同行相比將非常有競爭力，保留關鍵技術優勢，並開拓我們目前沒有銷售的市場。

Third, we are leveraging our relationship in the consumable space to drive reoccurring revenue and margin expansion, as well as exploring ways to better package ancillary equipment to provide more complete solutions that help customers scale more quickly. While we're excited about the growth potential given our go-to-market efforts, these efforts will not come to fruition without executing on our internal realignment initiatives to position the company for success.

第三，我們正在利用我們在消耗品領域的關係來推動經常性收入和利潤擴張，並探索更好地包裝輔助設備的方法，以提供更完整的解決方案，幫助客戶更快地擴大規模。雖然我們對進入市場的努力所帶來的成長潛力感到興奮，但如果不執行我們的內部調整計劃以使公司取得成功，這些努力就不會取得成果。

I would now like to briefly discuss how we plan to improve our operational execution before providing an update on the 2024 strategic priorities we laid out last quarter.

現在，我想簡要討論我們計劃如何改進我們的營運執行力，然後再介紹我們上季度製定的 2024 年戰略重點的最新情況。

Please turn to slide 5. As we discussed last quarter, we made significant changes in our go-to-market strategy that we feel will position us well for future success. For example, we've shifted from an engineering-led sales approach to one that focuses on value-based selling. The engineering-led approach worked very well in the early adopter phase of our product adoption, but we realized that in order to expand our footprint, we needed a new value-based approach.

請翻到投影片 5。正如我們上季度所討論的那樣，我們對進入市場策略做出了重大改變，我們認為這將為我們未來的成功奠定良好的基礎。例如，我們已經從以工程為主導的銷售方式轉變為注重基於價值的銷售方式。以工程為主導的方法在我們產品採用的早期採用階段非常有效，但我們意識到，為了擴大我們的足跡，我們需要一種新的基於價值的方法。

In relation to manufacturing, we are just starting to see the benefit of cost reduction initiatives started in the second half of 2023. These cost reductions were achieved through qualification of new suppliers, establishing supply agreements, and working with suppliers to deliver lower raw material costs. We've also seen initial success increasing production efficiency as we have materially improved our production processes and workflows. Both of these are directly related to our gross margin expansion plans.

就製造業而言，我們剛開始看到 2023 年下半年開始的成本削減措施的好處。這些成本降低是透過新供應商的資格認證、簽訂供應協議以及與供應商合作降低原材料成本來實現的。我們也看到了生產效率提高的初步成功，因為我們大幅改善了生產流程和工作流程。這兩者都與我們的毛利率擴張計劃直接相關。

On the customer service side, resolving our customers' reliability concerns is our number one focus. Successfully addressing this issue is critical to our land-and-expand strategy as it drives repeat customer sales. Simply put, happy customers buy more systems.

在客戶服務方面，解決客戶的可靠性問題是我們的首要關注點。成功解決這個問題對於我們的土地擴張策略至關重要，因為它可以推動回頭客銷售。簡而言之，滿意的客戶會購買更多系統。

Aside from increasing our field service organization to provide a more hands-on, high-touch relationship, we are expanding our customer training programs to minimize customer-induced issues. We're also investing in processes that will enable us to identify and proactively prevent field failures, ensuring higher utilization rates.

除了擴大我們的現場服務組織以提供更親力親為、高度接觸的關係之外，我們還在擴大我們的客戶培訓計劃，以盡量減少客戶引發的問題。我們也投資於流程，使我們能夠識別並主動預防現場故障，確保更高的利用率。

Bernie will address our efforts on OpEx and cash flow in more detail, but I wanted to highlight that our cost reduction plan remains on track, and we recently completed our facility's consolidation and headcount alignment program. We remain focused on further reducing OpEx and are in the process of identifying additional cost reductions to ensure we achieve our cash flow breakeven target in the second half of this year.

伯尼將更詳細地討論我們在營運支出和現金流方面的努力，但我想強調的是，我們的成本削減計劃仍在按計劃進行，而且我們最近完成了設施的整合和人員調整計劃。我們仍然專注於進一步降低營運支出，並正在尋找額外的成本削減措施，以確保我們在今年下半年實現現金流收支平衡的目標。

Before I turn the call over to Bernie for our financials, I wanted to provide an update on the status of the strategic priorities we discussed last quarter.

在我將電話轉給伯尼以了解我們的財務狀況之前，我想提供有關我們上季度討論的策略優先事項的最新情況。

Please turn to slide 6. First, we have reduced the installation time of our Sapphire printers by 40% over the last six months. This goes to the success of key initiatives that we launched in the second half of the year to improve the quality of our printers and streamline installation processes.

請翻到幻燈片 6。首先，在過去六個月中，我們將 Sapphire 印表機的安裝時間縮短了 40%。這得歸功於我們在今年下半年推出的旨在提高印表機品質和簡化安裝流程的關鍵措施的成功。

We are most proud of the success we've had in improving customer experience and success. We've seen improved system uptime across the installed base while reducing issue resolution times by 40% since Q3 2023. This is reflected in our existing customer booking rate, which has significantly improved this quarter.

我們對在改善客戶體驗和成功方面取得的成功感到非常自豪。自 2023 年第三季以來，我們發現整個安裝群的系統正常運作時間都得到了改善，同時問題解決時間減少了 40%。這反映在我們現有的客戶預訂率上，本季該預訂率顯著提高。

As I previously mentioned, our pipeline continues to fill with qualified leads, and we are starting to rebuild our backlog. We've signed more than $15 million in new orders since mid-December with more than 50% of those orders from strategic accounts with multiple systems. This success demonstrates that our customers value our technology and that we are successfully addressing the reliability issues in the field.

正如我之前提到的，我們的管道繼續充滿合格的潛在客戶，我們正在開始重建我們的積壓訂單。自 12 月中旬以來，我們已簽署了超過 1500 萬美元的新訂單，其中 50% 以上的訂單來自具有多個系統的策略客戶。這一成功表明我們的客戶重視我們的技術，並且我們正在成功解決該領域的可靠性問題。

Finally, to reiterate, we expect to reduce our cost structure by more than 30% by Q1 2024 and remain confident that we see a clear, executable path to cash flow breakeven in the second half of 2024.

最後，重申一下，我們預計在 2024 年第一季將成本結構降低 30% 以上，並堅信我們將在 2024 年下半年看到一條清晰、可行的現金流盈虧平衡路徑。

In closing, 2023 was a transformational year for the company, and I'm very encouraged with the progress we have made. We remain excited about the future opportunity and believe our realignment puts us in a much stronger position to achieve our profitability goal in 2024.

最後，2023 年對公司來說是轉型的一年，我們所取得的進展讓我深受鼓舞。我們對未來的機會仍然感到興奮，並相信我們的重組將使我們處於更有利的地位，以實現 2024 年的獲利目標。

With that, I would like to turn the call over to Bernie to discuss our financials and provide guidance.

因此，我想將電話轉給伯尼，討論我們的財務狀況並提供指導。

Thanks, Brad. Moving on to our quarterly financial performance, please turn to slide 8. As Brad briefly mentioned, fourth-quarter revenue of $2 million was significantly impacted by reduced system sales due to the decline in second-half bookings as well as the sales disruption caused by our realignment initiatives as we read -- as we position the company for success in 2024. On a year-over-year basis, both year of sale and recurring revenues were in line with 2022.

謝謝，布拉德。接下來是我們的季度財務業績，請轉到投影片 8。正如 Brad 簡要提到的，第四季度 200 萬美元的收入受到下半年預訂量下降導致的系統銷售減少以及我們的重組計劃造成的銷售中斷的嚴重影響，因為我們將公司定位為2024 年取得成功。與去年同期相比，銷售年份和經常性收入均與 2022 年持平。

The significant negative gross margin for the quarter was primarily driven by reduced system volume, the impact of our $27 million inventory charge, as well as costs associated with our realignment initiatives. We expect first-quarter gross margin improvement resulting from lower balance of material costs, minimal working capital needs, the benefit from our consolidated supply contracts and, as well as operational and manufacturing efficiencies.

本季毛利率大幅負值的主要原因是系統容量減少、2,700 萬美元庫存費用的影響以及與我們的調整計畫相關的成本。我們預計第一季毛利率將有所改善，這得益於材料成本平衡的降低、營運資金需求的最低限度、我們綜合供應合約的好處以及營運和製造效率的提高。

We also made significant progress in reducing our operating cost structure in the fourth quarter as non-GAAP OpEx declined more than 15% sequentially to $16 million excluding the costs and charges related to our realignment initiatives. The decrease in operating expenses was primarily driven by a decrease in G&A expense, which reflects savings related to our headcount and realignment initiatives.

第四季度，我們在降低營運成本結構方面也取得了重大進展，非 GAAP 營運支出環比下降了 15% 以上，至 1,600 萬美元，不包括與我們的重組計劃相關的成本和費用。營運費用的減少主要是由於一般管理費用的減少，這反映了與我們的員工人數和重組計劃相關的節省。

Specifically, R&D expenses declined by $2.2 million; G&A declined $1.2 million; and sales and marketing was in line with last quarter. We expect OpEx to decline more than 30% in the first quarter of 2024 compared to the third quarter of 2023.

具體來說，研發費用減少了 220 萬美元； G&A 減少 120 萬美元；銷售和行銷與上季持平。我們預計 2024 年第一季營運支出將比 2023 年第三季下降 30% 以上。

GAAP net loss for the quarter was $58.2 million, including a non-cash gain of approximately $28 million related to changes in the fair value of our warrants, earnout, and debt derivative liabilities. On a non-GAAP basis, which excludes this loss in stock-based compensation expense, net loss was $61.1 million. And adjusted EBITDA for the quarter, excluding the same items, was a loss of $51.5 million. As we discussed, we expect improvement in gross margin in 2024 as we go through the year.

本季 GAAP 淨虧損為 5,820 萬美元，包括與我們的認股權證、獲利和債務衍生負債公允價值變動相關的約 2,800 萬美元非現金收益。以非公認會計準則計算，不包括股票補償費用損失，淨虧損為 6,110 萬美元。該季度調整後的 EBITDA（不包括相同項目）為虧損 5,150 萬美元。正如我們所討論的，我們預計 2024 年毛利率將有所改善。

I want to briefly discuss the four key drivers of this improvement. Please turn to slide 9. First is the -- are just benefiting -- starting to benefit from our bill of material cost reduction initiatives that we started in Q4. We have identified and started to implement constantly 25 separate programs to lower our Sapphire XC costs by more than 30% by the end of the year.

我想簡要討論這項改進的四個關鍵驅動因素。請翻到投影片 9。首先是——剛剛受益——開始受益於我們在第四季度啟動的材料成本削減計劃。我們已經確定並開始不斷實施 25 個單獨的計劃，以便在年底前將藍寶石 XC 成本降低 30% 以上。

Second is our continued products mix shift to our larger format, higher price Sapphire XC system at a reduced bill of material costs. We have also added programs to improve the monetization of our maintenance and parts recurring revenue stream, as well as expanding our consumables business such as powder sales.

其次，我們持續將產品組合轉向尺寸更大、價格更高的藍寶石 XC 系統，同時降低材料成本。我們還增加了一些計劃，以提高我們的維護和零件經常性收入流的貨幣化，並擴大我們的消耗品業務，例如粉末銷售。

Third, it is just become more operationally efficient in the factory. This will be accomplished through improved overhead cost absorption as we scale system value in addition to leveraging our new supply agreements in a shift to utilizing a higher number of system sub-assemblies.

第三，工廠的運作效率變得更高。這將透過改善間接成本吸收來實現，因為我們除了利用新的供應協議轉向使用更多數量的系統子組件之外，還擴大了系統價值。

Finally, improving field support efficiency, which is directly tied to customer system reliability. This has been a drag on gross margin for the past couple of quarters, but we firmly believe the changes we have made in our service organization will minimize the impact in the near term, while allowing us to expand margins in the second half of the year.

最後，提高現場支援效率，這與客戶系統的可靠性直接相關。這在過去幾季拖累了毛利率，但我們堅信，我們在服務組織中所做的改變將在短期內最大限度地減少影響，同時使我們能夠在下半年擴大利潤率。

On slide 10, we are providing some additional detail on our operating expense cost reduction initiatives. As discussed, we have significantly reduced our cost structure over the last six months, including our headcount reduction as well as our facility consolidation. We expect our Q1 results will reflect the full benefit of these programs, primarily in our sales and marketing and G&A functions, with additional reductions in R&D given our product roadmap.

在投影片 10 上，我們提供了有關營運費用成本削減計劃的一些額外細節。正如所討論的，我們在過去六個月中大幅降低了成本結構，包括人員減少以及設施整合。我們預計第一季的業績將反映這些計畫的全部好處，主要是在我們的銷售和行銷以及一般管理職能方面，並根據我們的產品路線圖進一步減少研發費用。

Finally, we see further opportunities to reduce expenses and are currently evaluating additional cost reduction measures.

最後，我們看到了進一步減少開支的機會，目前正在評估額外的成本削減措施。

Moving on to cash flow, please turn to slide 11. We exited the quarter with $31 million in cash and investments. Cash used for the quarter was $41 million, of which $40 million went to the partial paydown of our existing term debt. We also raised $18 million in an equity transaction in the fourth quarter. Realignment expenses, including severance costs associated with our facility's closure, has totaled $2 million. CapEx was minimal, with the balance of the cash was used for working capital purposes.

接下來討論現金流，請翻至投影片 11。本季結束時，我們持有 3,100 萬美元的現金和投資。本季使用的現金為 4,100 萬美元，其中 4,000 萬美元用於償還我們現有定期債務的部分。我們還在第四季透過股權交易籌集了 1800 萬美元。重組費用（包括與我們工廠關閉相關的遣散費）總計 200 萬美元。資本支出很少，現金餘額用於營運資金。

Finally, we expect cash used to be in the range of $13 million to $17 million in the first quarter. Given our expected improvement in both revenue, margin, and cost structure, we believe we'll achieve free cash flow breakeven excluding financing in the second half of the year.

最後，我們預計第一季的現金在 1300 萬至 1700 萬美元之間。鑑於我們預期收入、利潤率和成本結構都會改善，我們相信我們將在今年下半年實現不包括融資的自由現金流盈虧平衡。

I'd now like to provide our outlook for fiscal year 2024. Please turn to slide 12. As mentioned, we expect sequential quarterly improvements in revenue, margin, and operating expenses in 2024 as we start to benefit from our realignment initiatives.

我現在想介紹一下我們對 2024 財年的展望。請翻到投影片 12。如前所述，隨著我們開始從我們的重組措施中受益，我們預計 2024 年收入、利潤率和營運費用將逐季度有所改善。

Our full-year 2024 guidance is as follows. We expect revenue to be in the range of $80 million to $95 million; gross margin in the range of 20% to 30%, with gross margin of approximately 30% in the fourth quarter of 2024; non-GAAP operating expenses in the range of $40 million to $50 million.

我們的 2024 年全年指引如下。我們預計收入將在 8,000 萬美元至 9,500 萬美元之間；毛利率在20%至30%之間，2024年第四季毛利率約為30%；非 GAAP 營運費用在 4,000 萬至 5,000 萬美元之間。

In conclusion, we are focused on executing a realignment strategy with a clear path to profitability through improvements in operating efficiency, margins, and cash flows. We continue to believe that we have runway to achieve sustainable profitability in 2024.

總之，我們專注於執行重組策略，透過提高營運效率、利潤和現金流量來明確獲利路徑。我們仍然相信，我們有能力在 2024 年實現可持續盈利。

With that, I'd now like to turn the call over for questions. Operator?

至此，我現在想轉接電話詢問問題。操作員？

(Operator Instructions) James Ricchiuti, Needham & Company.

（操作員說明）James Ricchiuti，Needham & Company。

Hi. Thank you. Good afternoon. Just when we think about the improvement you're anticipating looking at to Q4 '24 for gross margins, what does that imply in terms of revenues? What kind of a revenue range do you need to be in, say, to get to the midpoint of that gross margin guidance? You highlighted a number of things that potentially could give a look to gross margins. But just wondering from a top-line standpoint, where do you need to see revenues?

你好。謝謝。午安.當我們考慮您預計 24 年第 4 季毛利率的改善時，這對收入意味著什麼？例如，您需要處於什麼樣的收入範圍才能達到毛利率指引的中點？您強調了一些可能有助於了解毛利率的因素。但只是想從營收的角度來看，您需要在哪裡看到收入？

Yeah, great question. At a high level, roughly between $25 million to $30 million a quarter to fully realize the gross margin targets that we've set out for ourselves. Quite a bit of the gross margin improvement that we're starting to see flow through here in Q1 is based out of activities that were initiated in the second half of 2023.

是的，很好的問題。在較高水準上，大約每季 2,500 萬至 3,000 萬美元才能完全實現我們為自己設定的毛利率目標。我們在第一季開始看到的毛利率改善很大一部分是基於 2023 年下半年啟動的活動。

With the weakness in Q4, one of the things that did is it delayed the flow through of inventory. But what we're seeing now is the lower-cost raw materials that, again, we had started to get into inventory in the fourth quarter are flowing through and will start to materialize in our P&L for Q1. And then we have a number of initiatives to further drive down those costs of materials. But ultimately, that intersection point that you're sort of describing would be at roughly $25 million a quarter.

由於第四季的疲軟，造成的影響之一是庫存的流通延遲。但我們現在看到的是成本較低的原材料，我們在第四季度開始進入庫存，這些原材料正在流動，並將開始在我們第一季的損益表中反映出來。然後我們採取了許多措施來進一步降低材料成本。但最終，您所描述的交叉點約為每季 2500 萬美元。

Hey, Jim.

嘿，吉姆。

Got it. And the -- yes.

知道了。還有——是的。

Hey, Jim, good morning. Just to also add further to that, we had a big drag on our support services in 2023, and we've done a lot of improvements in our field service support. So this will also help drive some of that gross margin expansion in 2024.

嘿，吉姆，早安。還要進一步補充的是，2023 年我們的支援服務受到了很大的拖累，我們在現場服務支援方面做了許多改進。因此，這也將有助於推動 2024 年毛利率的部分成長。

Got it. The $15 million of bookings that you highlighted, can you say if any of those orders were from what historically has been your large customer in commercial space? Or are these other existing customers in that market and defense? Maybe a little bit of a sense as to where you saw the booking strengths in there since mid-December?

知道了。您強調的 1500 萬美元訂單中，是否有任何訂單來自您歷史上商業領域的大客戶？或者這些是該市場和國防領域的其他現有客戶嗎？也許您對自 12 月中旬以來那裡的預訂優勢有一點了解？

Yeah, the bookings largely tended to be reflective of the profile we saw in 2023. So a large portion of that was in existing space customers that were expanding their fleets as they are ramping up for additional engine production and accelerated launch schedules. A good portion of that, roughly a third -- a little over a third was in the defense sector. And so, again, we were starting to see that accelerate at a pace that quite honestly, we haven't seen before.

是的，預訂量在很大程度上反映了我們在 2023 年看到的情況。因此，其中很大一部分是現有的太空客戶，他們正在擴大機隊，因為他們正在增加引擎產量並加快發射時間表。其中很大一部分，大約三分之一——略多於三分之一是在國防部門。因此，我們再次開始看到這種加速速度是我們以前從未見過的。

And again, with the defense spending bill being approved last week, we anticipate that's going to unlock a lot of active conversations that we've been working on for several months that were ultimately kind of contingent on that particular funding being released. So those are probably the two most significant contributors. When you start to look at the balance, again, it continues to be reflective of our mix in 2023. So it's oil, gas, our contract manufacturing networks, customers in those segments.

再次，隨著國防支出法案上週獲得批准，我們預計這將引發我們幾個月來一直在進行的許多積極對話，這些對話最終取決於特定資金的釋放。所以這些可能是兩個最重要的貢獻者。當您再次開始審視平衡時，它仍然反映了我們 2023 年的組合。所以它是石油、天然氣、我們的合約製造網路、這些領域的客戶。

Have you had -- last question for me, have you had any issues with machines that have come back where customers have basically turned them back to you? And I'm wondering if there's any kind of a used machine market out there for your equipment, or has that not been an issue?

我的最後一個問題是，您對已退回的機器有任何問題嗎？客戶基本上已經將它們退還給您了？我想知道是否有任何類型的二手機器市場適合您的設備，或者這不是一個問題嗎？

So we've had machines come back to us off lease at the end of their lease term. And so there is a resale market, and we've been able to resell each one of those machines at a healthy -- based on the network value, at a healthy margin. So the demand is out there.

因此，我們已經讓機器在租賃期結束後歸還給我們。因此有一個轉售市場，我們已經能夠以合理的價格轉售每台機器——基於網路價值，以合理的利潤。所以需求就在那裡。

Yeah, we found that to be a very successful model when systems get to the end of their lease cycle.

是的，我們發現當系統的租賃週期結束時，這是一個非常成功的模型。

Got it. Thanks very much.

知道了。非常感謝。

Thanks, Jim.

謝謝，吉姆。

Thanks, Jim.

謝謝，吉姆。

Thank you. And there are no further questions at this time. I'll turn the floor back over to Brad Kreger for closing remarks. Thank you.

謝謝。目前沒有其他問題。我將把發言權交還給布拉德克雷格（Brad Kreger）作結束語。謝謝。

Yeah. I want to thank everybody for joining us today, and we look forward to providing additional updates in the coming quarters. Thank you.

是的。我要感謝大家今天加入我們，我們期待在未來幾季提供更多更新。謝謝。

Thank you. With that we conclude today's call. All parties may disconnect. Have a good day.

謝謝。我們今天的電話會議到此結束。所有各方都可以斷開連接。祝你有美好的一天。