威騰電子 (WDC) 2026 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Good afternoon, and welcome to the Western Digital's fourth quarter fiscal 2026 conference call. (Operator Instructions) Please note, this event is being recorded.

下午好，歡迎參加 Western Digital 2026 會計年度第四季財報電話會議。(接線員指示) 請注意，本活動將被錄音。

I would now like to turn the conference over to Mr. Ambrish Srivastava, Vice President of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

現在我想把電話會議交給投資人關係副總裁 Ambrish Srivastava 先生。請開始。

Thank you, and good afternoon, everyone. Joining me today are Irving Tan, WD's Chief Executive Officer; and Kris Sennesael, WD's Chief Financial Officer. Before we begin, please note that today's discussion will contain forward-looking statements based on management's current assumptions and expectations, which are subject to various risks and uncertainties.

謝謝，各位下午好。今天與我一同出席的有 WD 執行長 Irving Tan，以及 WD 財務長 Kris Sennesael。在開始之前，請注意今天的討論將包含前瞻性陳述，係基於管理層目前的假設與預期，並可能受到各種風險與不確定性影響。

These forward-looking statements include expectations for our product portfolio, our business plans and performance, ongoing market trends and our future financial results. We assume no obligation to update these statements. Please refer to our most recent annual report on Form 10-K and our other filings with the SEC for more information on the risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations.

這些前瞻性陳述包括對我們產品組合、業務計畫與表現、持續的市場趨勢以及未來財務結果的預期。我們不承擔更新這些陳述的義務。有關可能導致實際結果與預期有重大差異之風險與不確定性，請參閱我們最新的 Form 10-K 年度報告以及向 SEC 提交的其他文件。

In our prepared remarks, our comments will be related to non-GAAP results on a continuing operations basis, unless stated otherwise. Reconciliations between the non-GAAP and comparable GAAP financial measures are included in the press release and other materials that are being posted in the Investor Relations section of our website at investor.wdc.com. Lastly, I want to note that when we refer to we, us, our or similar terms, we are referring only to Western Digital as a company and not speaking on behalf of the industry.

在我們的事先準備發言中，除非另有說明，我們的評論將以持續營運基礎的非 GAAP 結果為主。非 GAAP 與可比 GAAP 財務衡量指標之間的調節表，已包含於新聞稿及其他資料中，並將張貼於我們網站 investor.wdc.com 的投資人關係專區。

With that, I will now turn the call over to Irving for introductory remarks. Irving?

接下來，我將把電話交給 Irving 做開場致詞。Irving？

Thanks, Ambrish. Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining us today. Let me begin by reflecting on our first full fiscal year of WD as a focused pure-play HDD company. We drove strong year-on-year revenue growth of 36%, while expanding our gross and operating margins significantly. We doubled EPS and generated $3.5 billion in free cash flow and strengthened our balance sheet to a net positive cash position while continuing to make significant capital returns to shareholders.

謝謝你，Ambrish。各位下午好，感謝今天加入我們。我先回顧一下 WD 作為專注的純 HDD 公司之第一個完整會計年度。我們推動營收年增 36% 的強勁成長，同時大幅擴張毛利率與營業利益率。我們的每股盈餘（EPS）倍增，並創造 35 億美元自由現金流，強化資產負債表至淨現金為正的狀態，同時持續對股東進行可觀的資本回饋。

These strong financial results an outcome of meeting our customers' growing storage demand by focusing on innovation and driving operational excellence across the global WD organization. We enter fiscal year 2027, and with robust customer demand, increased visibility and continued confidence in the durability of demand as well as our ability to service this demand with our industry-leading products and technology road map.

這些強勁的財務成果，來自於我們透過專注創新並在全球 WD 組織推動卓越營運，滿足客戶日益成長的儲存需求。我們進入 2027 會計年度，客戶需求強勁、能見度提升，並持續對需求的持久性以及我們以業界領先產品與技術藍圖滿足該需求的能力充滿信心。

Demand for storage is being driven both by AI as well as our core cloud services. Within the AI infrastructure market, there is a key dynamic taking shape. While compute cycles can be reused, data compiled, training and inference workloads share and reuse compute resources over time, yet the data generated by these workloads, including model inputs, outputs, locks and retained contacts continues to accumulate.

儲存需求的成長，既受到 AI 推動，也受到我們核心雲端服務的推動。在 AI 基礎設施市場中，一個關鍵動態正在形成。雖然運算週期可以重複使用，資料可被彙整，訓練與推論工作負載會隨時間共享並重複使用運算資源，但這些工作負載所產生的資料——包括模型輸入、輸出、鎖定資料以及保留的內容——仍會持續累積。

As AI usage scales, this creates a growing need for storage infrastructure capable of economically storing and managing this massive data sets. The inflection we have discussed in the past from AI training to inference to Agentic AI has only become more pronounced. Training models create significant initial data requirements, but inference generates and retains data continuously.

隨著 AI 使用規模擴大，對能以具經濟效益方式儲存並管理這些龐大資料集的儲存基礎設施之需求也隨之增加。我們過去談到從 AI 訓練到推論再到 Agentic AI 的拐點，如今只變得更加明顯。訓練模型會帶來顯著的初始資料需求，但推論會持續產生並保留資料。

Today, the largest AI platforms process tens of billions of tokens per minute, and billions of prompts per day, creating a rapidly expanding body of data that must be stored, managed and accessed over time. Recent disclosures show token volumes growing several full year-over-year underscoring the pace at which inference is scaling.

目前，最大的 AI 平台每分鐘處理數百億個 token、每天處理數十億次提示（prompts），形成一個快速擴張的資料體量，必須隨時間被儲存、管理並可被存取。近期揭露顯示 token 量以數倍的年增速度成長，凸顯推論擴張的速度。

Meanwhile, AI is moving rapidly from merely answering questions to agent AI that does the work coordinating task accessing data and operating continuously across multistep workflows. This transition creates a fundamentally more data-intensive workload and one that is increasingly persistent rather than transient.

同時，AI 正快速從僅僅回答問題，轉向能夠執行工作、協調任務、存取資料，並在多步驟工作流程中持續運作的代理式 AI（agent AI）。這項轉變帶來本質上更資料密集的工作負載，而且相較於短暫性，越來越具有持續性。

The storage implications are significant. Agents generate data at every step of the workflow, increasing both the volume of data created and the amount that must be stored over time. This is why we continue to view Agentic AI as a structural step function driver of capacity orientated storage demand.

對儲存的影響相當重大。代理在工作流程的每一步都會產生資料，增加資料產生的總量，以及必須隨時間儲存的資料量。這也是為什麼我們持續將 Agentic AI 視為以結構性「階躍式」方式推動容量導向儲存需求的驅動因素。

Beyond inference and Agentic AI, we are also seeing the emergence of physical AI, autonomous vehicles, robotics and industrial automation systems and humanoids, where the volume of real-world data needed to train these systems is insufficient. Thereby requiring the generation and storage of synthetic data sets, creating another driver of storage demand.

除了推論與 Agentic AI 之外，我們也看到實體 AI（physical AI）、自動駕駛車、機器人、工業自動化系統與人形機器人的興起；在這些領域，用於訓練系統所需的真實世界資料量仍然不足。因此需要生成並儲存合成資料集，形成另一個儲存需求的驅動因素。

Infrastructure investment is important, but it's only the beginning. Training creates the initial data foundation. Inference generates data continuously. Agentic systems multiply the volume and frequency of that data and physical AI accelerates the cycle further. Together, these trends create a more durable demand environment for data storage, driven not just by building AI infrastructure, but by the continuous creation and retention of data once that infrastructure is deployed.

基礎設施投資很重要，但那只是開始。訓練建立初始資料基礎。推論持續產生資料。Agentic 系統倍增資料的量與頻率，而實體 AI 進一步加速這個循環。綜合而言，這些趨勢打造出更具持久性的資料儲存需求環境；其驅動力不僅是建置 AI 基礎設施，更在於該基礎設施部署後資料的持續產生與保留。

As AI workloads move from deployment to sustained use, storage demand becomes less about a onetime infrastructure bill cycle and more about the compounding of data, that is the underlying secular demand growth driver for our business. Today, roughly 80% of data stored in hyperscaler data center resides on hard disk drives. That is likely to continue. That reflects what HDDs do exceptionally well, delivering the scale, economics and power efficiency required a long retention large-scale data storage.

當 AI 工作負載從部署走向長期使用，儲存需求就不再主要取決於一次性的基礎設施採購週期，而更關乎資料的持續累積；這正是推動我們業務長期結構性需求成長的根本驅動力。目前，超大規模（hyperscaler）資料中心中約 80% 的已儲存資料位於硬碟（HDD）上。這種情況很可能會持續。這反映了 HDD 的卓越之處：提供長期保留、超大規模資料儲存所需的規模、經濟性與電力效率。

Let me now turn to why these secular growth drivers play to WD's strengths. WD's robust technology road map is based on the industry-leading are density per platter with a focus on innovation to meet our customers' capacity needs at scale, along with our growing ability to meet their requirements by providing cost-effective storage solutions in additional layers of the AI storage stack.

接下來我談談，為何這些長期結構性成長驅動因素正好發揮 WD 的優勢。WD 強健的技術藍圖建立在業界領先的每碟片面密度之上，並專注於創新，以在規模化的前提下滿足客戶的容量需求；同時，我們也日益具備能力，透過在 AI 儲存堆疊的更多層面提供具成本效益的儲存解決方案，來滿足客戶的需求。

We are on track to ship our 44 terabyte HAMR product in the first half of cal year 2027. Customer feedback on the qualification process continues to be very positive with the capacity, performance and reliability of our drives exceeding customer expectations. For our next-generation 40 terabyte ePMR drives, we commenced shipments in our June quarter, and are now entering volume production with two customers.

我們正按計畫在 2027 日曆年上半年出貨 44TB 的 HAMR 產品。客戶對於認證流程的回饋持續非常正面，我們硬碟的容量、效能與可靠性均超出客戶預期。至於我們下一代 40TB ePMR 硬碟，我們已在 6 月季度開始出貨，並正與兩家客戶進入量產階段。

We are currently ramping our out Ultra SMR technology with the third major customer. We expect that Ultra SMR will make up around 60% of our near line Exabyte shipments as we exit fiscal 2027. Since our last update, we have continued to broaden our customer engagement and qualification pipeline with additional hyperscaler and cloud customers advancing through qualification and deployment planning.

我們目前正與第三家主要客戶加速導入（ramp）我們的 Ultra SMR 技術。我們預期在 2027 會計年度結束時，Ultra SMR 將約占我們近線（nearline）Exabyte 出貨量的 60%。自上次更新以來，我們持續擴大客戶互動與認證管線，更多超大規模與雲端客戶正推進認證與部署規劃。

Beyond capacity, we are also extending innovation into new layers of the AI storage stack. We are making progress on improving drive performance before high bandwidth drives and are now sampling with five customers, now getting up to 8 times the throughput of today's drives without the corresponding increase in power drop, exactly the kind of performance the workloads require.

除了容量之外，我們也將創新延伸到 AI 儲存堆疊的新層面。我們在提升硬碟效能方面取得進展，針對高頻寬硬碟的改良目前已向五家客戶送樣；在不伴隨相應功耗提升的情況下，吞吐量可達到現有硬碟的最高 8 倍，這正是這些工作負載所需要的效能。

In closing, the opportunity in front of us is real. And at WD, we are well positioned to capture it. Data creation isn't slowing. It's accelerating. And as the belly of data grows, does the infrastructure storage requirements to store, manage and protect it. That's a durable long-term tailwind for our business, and we intend to fully capitalize on it. Our technology road map is strong, our customer relationships are deep, and we have the operational discipline to translate this opportunity into sustained earnings and free cash flow growth and long-term shareholder value.

最後總結，我們眼前的機會是真實存在的。而在 WD，我們具備良好條件把握這個機會。資料的產生並未放緩。它正在加速。而隨著資料規模不斷膨脹，用於儲存、管理與保護資料的基礎設施儲存需求也隨之增加。這將為我們的業務帶來持久的長期順風，我們也打算充分把握。我們的技術藍圖強勁、客戶關係深厚，並具備營運紀律，能將此機會轉化為持續的獲利與自由現金流成長，以及長期股東價值。

With that, let me hand it over to Kris to walk you through the financials and our outlook for Q1.

那麼，接下來我把時間交給 Kris，請他帶大家回顧財務表現並說明我們對第一季的展望。

Thank you, Irving, and good afternoon, everyone. Fiscal 2026 was an outstanding year for WD, driven by broadening demand, deepening customer engagements and disciplined execution. We grew revenue 36% to $12.9 billion while expanding gross margins 970 basis points to 49.1% and increasing operating margins by 1,290 basis points to 37.3%. We more than doubled earnings per share to $10.22, and we generated $3.5 billion of free cash flow, delivering a robust 27% free cash flow margin. We returned $3.1 billion to shareholders, reflecting our confidence in the durability of the business and our commitment to long-term value creation.

謝謝你，Irving，各位下午好。2026 會計年度對 WD 而言是表現卓越的一年，受惠於需求面擴大、客戶合作深化以及嚴謹的執行力。我們的營收成長 36% 至 129 億美元，同時毛利率擴張 970 個基點至 49.1%，營業利益率提升 1,290 個基點至 37.3%。每股盈餘較去年增加逾一倍至 10.22 美元，並創造 35 億美元自由現金流，繳出強勁的 27% 自由現金流利潤率。我們向股東回饋 31 億美元，反映我們對業務韌性的信心，以及對長期價值創造的承諾。

Let me now turn to our fourth quarter of fiscal '26. Revenue remained at $3.75 billion, up 44% year-over-year on the back of strong Exabyte growth and favorable pricing dynamics. Earnings per share grew 109% year-over-year to $3.56. Revenue, gross margin and EPS all came in at or above the high end of the guidance range.

接下來我說明 2026 會計年度第四季表現。營收維持在 37.5 億美元，在 Exabyte 強勁成長與有利的定價動能帶動下，年增 44%。每股盈餘年增 109% 至 3.56 美元。營收、毛利率與 EPS 皆落在或高於財測區間的高端。

We delivered 231 Exabytes to our customers, up 22% year-over-year. Nearline continued to drive our Exabyte growth, complemented by solid non-nearline Exabyte growth in the quarter. We began shipping the next-generation EPM drives with capacities up to 40 terabytes in our fiscal fourth quarter and expect a strong ramp over the next few quarters.

我們向客戶交付 231 Exabytes，年增 22%。Nearline 持續帶動 Exabyte 成長，同時本季非 nearline 的 Exabyte 也有穩健成長。我們已在 2026 會計年度第四季開始出貨下一代 EPM 硬碟，容量最高可達 40TB，並預期未來幾季將快速放量。

Cloud represented 89% of total revenue at $3.3 billion, up 43% year-over-year as demand for our high cast nearline products was strong with a favorable pricing environment. Client represented 6% of total revenue at $225 million, up 61% year-over-year. Consumer represented 5% of revenue at $187 million, up 38% year-over-year. Both segments benefited from improved pricing.

雲端業務營收為 33 億美元，占總營收 89%，年增 43%；在有利的定價環境下，我們高容量 nearline 產品需求強勁。Client 業務營收為 2.25 億美元，占總營收 6%，年增 61%。Consumer 業務營收為 1.87 億美元，占營收 5%，年增 38%。兩個部門皆受惠於定價改善。

Gross margin expanded 1,310 basis points year-over-year to 54.4%, resulting in strong year-over-year incremental gross margin. This was driven by a mix shift towards higher capacity drives, favorable pricing across our portfolio and disciplined execution in our manufacturing operations.

毛利率年增擴張 1,310 個基點至 54.4%，帶來強勁的年增量毛利率。主要驅動因素包括產品組合轉向更高容量硬碟、全產品組合的有利定價，以及我們在製造營運上的紀律執行。

During the quarter, the blended average year-over-year price increase per terabyte improved from high single digits last quarter to high teens this quarter, reflecting the impact of our predictable and sustainable pricing strategy as we deliver greater value to our customers.

本季每 TB 的加權平均年增價格漲幅，從上季的高個位數提升至本季的高十位數，反映我們可預期且可持續的定價策略所帶來的影響，並在我們為客戶提供更高價值的同時體現出來。

Operating expenses were $382 million or approximately 10% of revenue, a 170 basis point sequential improvement, demonstrating further operating leverage in the model. Strong top line growth, expanding gross margins and leverage in the model drove operating income to $1.66 billion, up 126% year-over-year, translating into a durable operating margin of 44.2%, up 1,610 basis points year-over-year.

營業費用為 3.82 億美元，約占營收 10%，較前一季改善 170 個基點，顯示模型中的營運槓桿進一步提升。強勁的營收成長、毛利率擴張以及模型槓桿，推動營業利益達 16.6 億美元，年增 126%，使營業利益率達到具韌性的 44.2%，年增 1,610 個基點。

Interest and other expenses were $10 million, and our effective tax rate was $0.16. Taking into account the diluted share count of 388 million, earnings per share was $3.56, an increase of 109% year-over-year. Operating cash flow was $1.4 billion and CapEx was $108 million. This resulted in free cash flow generation of $1.3 billion for the quarter and a strong free cash flow margin of 34%.

利息及其他費用為 1,000 萬美元，我們的有效稅率為 0.16。在稀釋後股數 3.88 億股的基礎上，每股盈餘為 3.56 美元，年增 109%。營運現金流為 14 億美元，資本支出（CapEx）為 1.08 億美元。

During the quarter, we completed the monetization of the remaining 1.7 million shares of SanDisk exchanging them for 4.8 million WD shares. Additionally, we repurchased 2.3 million shares of our common stock for a total of $1 billion. Our full year and fourth quarter repurchase numbers that we are describing on this call include $328 million to settle the conversion premium for some of our converts in cash rather than in stock, avoiding the issuance of roughly 773,000 new shares. We also did $54 million of dividend payments and we ended the quarter with $1.1 billion of debt and $1.6 billion of cash, resulting in a net positive cash position of $500 million.

本季我們完成剩餘 170 萬股 SanDisk 持股的變現，並以其交換 480 萬股 WD 股票。此外，我們以合計 10 億美元回購 230 萬股普通股。我們在本次電話會議中所提及的全年與第四季回購數字，包含以現金而非股票結算部分可轉債的轉換溢價 3.28 億美元，從而避免發行約 77.3 萬股新股。我們也支付了 5,400 萬美元股利；季末負債 11 億美元、現金 16 億美元，淨現金部位為正 5 億美元。

Lastly, the Board has declared a cash dividend of $0.15 per share of our common stock, which will be paid on September 17, 2026, to our shareholders of record as of September 8, 2026. I will now turn to the outlook for the first quarter of fiscal 2027. We continue to operate in a strong demand environment with improving longer-term visibility. And favorable pricing dynamics across our cloud, consumer and client end markets.

最後，董事會已宣告每股普通股 0.15 美元的現金股利，將於 2026 年 9 月 17 日支付給截至 2026 年 9 月 8 日登記在冊的股東。接下來我將說明 2027 會計年度第一季展望。我們持續處於強勁的需求環境中，且長期能見度正在改善。同時，我們在雲端、消費與 Client 終端市場皆看到有利的定價動能。

We expect revenue to be $4.1 billion, plus/minus $100 million. At midpoint, this reflects a growth of 45% year-over-year. Gross margin is expected to be in the range of 55% to 56%. We anticipate operating expenses in the range of $390 million to $400 million. Interest and other expenses are expected to be $15 million. The tax rate is expected to be 17%. As a result, we expect diluted earnings per share to be $4, plus/minus $0.15 based on a non-GAAP diluted share count of 388 million shares.

我們預期營收為 41 億美元，上下浮動 1 億美元。以中位數計算，年增 45%。毛利率預期介於 55% 至 56%。我們預期營業費用介於 3.90 億至 4.00 億美元。利息及其他費用預期為 1,500 萬美元。稅率預期為 17%。因此，我們預期稀釋後每股盈餘為 4.00 美元，上下浮動 0.15 美元，係以非 GAAP 稀釋後股數 3.88 億股為基礎。

As we look ahead, we have high conviction in the drivers of demand, AI, cloud and the proliferation of data-intensive workloads continue to accelerate. On the supply side, our industry-leading technology and product road maps, combined with strong operational execution enabled us to deliver substantially more Exabytes to our customers. This does not require spending CapEx to add unit capacity, but we are making the necessary investments in our heads and media operations as well as an automation to increase our productivity. In summary, durable demand, disciplined supply and expanding margins position us to deliver sustained earnings growth, strong free cash flow and long-term shareholder value.

展望未來，我們對需求驅動因素具有高度信心；AI、雲端以及資料密集型工作負載的普及仍在加速。在供給端，我們領先業界的技術與產品路線圖，加上強勁的營運執行力，使我們能向客戶交付大幅更多的 Exabytes。這不需要透過增加單位產能來提高 CapEx 支出，但我們正在對磁頭與碟片（media）營運以及自動化進行必要投資，以提升生產力。總結而言，具韌性的需求、紀律的供給與擴張的利潤率，使我們有能力實現持續的獲利成長、強勁的自由現金流與長期股東價值。

With that, let's now begin the Q&A. Ambrish?

那麼，現在我們開始 Q&A。Ambrish？

Thank you, Kris. Operator, you can now open the line to questions, please, and to ensure that we hear from as many analysts as possible, please ask one question at a time. After which, we will give you an opportunity to ask one follow-up question.

謝謝你，Kris。接線員，請現在開放提問；為了確保能讓盡可能多的分析師發言，請一次只提一個問題。之後，我們會再給各位一次追問的機會。

(Operator Instructions)

（接線員指示）

CJ Muse, Cantor Fitzgerald.

CJ Muse，Cantor Fitzgerald。

Yeah, good afternoon. Thank you for taking the question. It's hard not to compare your results with your main competitor, where they're seeing better sequential top line growth and targeting gross margin is nearly 200 bps higher than your September guide.

是的，下午好。謝謝讓我提問。很難不把你們的結果與主要競爭對手相比；他們的營收季增表現更好，而且其毛利率目標幾乎比你們 9 月的指引高出 200 個基點。

So curious what you make of this? Is that due to their early ramp of HAMR, is it a difference in timing of contracts, perhaps you're selling fewer bits into the open market? Would love to hear your thoughts there and how you think about kind of gross margin acceleration from here? Do we need to kind of wait for HAMR in calendar '27? Or are there other drivers that can allow you to push higher?

所以想請教你怎麼看這件事？這是因為他們較早開始放量 HAMR，還是合約時點差異，或是你們在公開市場賣出的 bits 較少？很想聽聽你們的看法，以及你們如何思考接下來毛利率加速提升的空間？我們是否需要等到 2027 年曆年才會看到 HAMR 的貢獻？或者還有其他驅動因素能讓你們把毛利率推得更高？

Thanks for the question, CJ. there are always quarter-to-quarter variations in terms of gross margin because there's a whole range of factors that go into driving it. Obviously, timing of pricing in relation to the long-term agreement contracts is one. So there will always be timing differences on when existing LTAs expire and new LTAs kick in with different pricing regime. So that's one factor.

謝謝你的問題，CJ。毛利率在季度之間總會有一些波動，因為影響毛利率的因素很多。很明顯，其中一項因素是定價時點相對於長期協議（LTA）合約的安排。因此，既有 LTA 到期與新 LTA 以不同定價機制生效的時間點，總會存在差異。這是其中一個因素。

Second will be the introduction of next-generation platforms. So we're very excited that we started shipping in Q4 up to 40 Terabyte ePMR drives. Right now, we are very much on track to hit 50% of nearline bids on that form by third quarter of year '27. So that will, again, will drive our ability to ship more higher capacity drives into the marketplace and provide some additional upside opportunity from pricing as well, and obviously, we continue to work on operational efficiencies like we normally do.

第二個將是下一代平台的介紹。因此我們非常興奮，因為我們已在第四季開始出貨最高達 40TB 的 ePMR 硬碟。目前我們非常有把握，能在 2027 年第三季前，於該規格的近線（nearline）投標中拿下 50% 的份額。因此這將再次推動我們把更多更高容量的硬碟出貨到市場的能力，並且在定價方面也帶來一些額外的上行機會；當然，我們也會一如既往持續推動營運效率。

So in short, there will always be quarter-to-quarter variations, but we feel very confident with the things that I mentioned in terms of the pricing structures that we have put in place with the introduction of our higher cap drives coming out in the second half of the year and our ongoing operational efficiencies that will lead to stronger Exabyte growth continuous top line growth and obviously ongoing margin expansion.

簡而言之，季度之間總會有波動，但就我提到的幾點而言，我們非常有信心：我們已建立的定價架構、今年下半年推出更高容量硬碟，以及持續的營運效率提升，將帶來更強勁的 Exabyte 出貨成長、持續的營收成長，並且顯然也會帶來持續的毛利率擴張。

Do you have a quick follow-up, CJ, which wouldn't be a multipart question, please.

CJ，你有沒有一個簡短的追問？請不要是多段式問題。

Yes, of course. Marvel hosted this session at Flash Memory Summit talking about the economically indispensable nature of HDDs in the AI data center. So curious with that as a backdrop, how is your visibility kind of improved? And how do you think it could improve further as you start signing contracts that renew.

有，當然。Marvel 在快閃記憶體高峰會（Flash Memory Summit）主辦了這場座談，談到 HDD 在 AI 資料中心中在經濟上不可或缺的特性。因此以此為背景，我想了解你們的能見度如何有所改善？以及當你們開始簽署續約合約時，你認為能見度還會如何進一步提升？

Yes. Thanks for the question,. Look, I think we have strong visibility and increasingly strong visibility it's being customer driven to a large degree as well. The last time we reported on LTAs, we talked about having one LTA of a large customer all the way up to calendar year '29. But we're very much in the coals of discussions with customers to establish LTAs for calendar year '29, '30, and '31 as well.

是的。謝謝你的問題。我認為我們的能見度很強，而且正在變得更強；在很大程度上也是由客戶端所驅動。上次我們談到長期協議（LTA）時，我們提到有一位大型客戶的一份 LTA 一路延伸到 2029 曆年。但我們目前正與客戶深入討論，建立涵蓋 2029、2030 與 2031 曆年的 LTA。

So visibility remains very strong. customer-driven demand for LTAs extending all the way out to '31 remains very strong. So we continue to work on them. I think we have very good line of sight in terms of the exabyte demand. What we're working through with them is more in terms of the pricing commercial construct of what those LTAs would look like going forward.

因此能見度依然非常強；客戶驅動、將 LTA 延伸到 2031 年的需求也依然非常強。所以我們會持續推進。我認為就 Exabyte 需求而言，我們有非常清晰的可視性。我們目前與他們一起推進的，更多是在於這些 LTA 未來的定價與商業條款架構會長什麼樣子。

Amit Daryanani, Evercore.

Amit Daryanani，Evercore。

Thanks for taking my question. I guess maybe the first one is exabyte shipments were up about 21%, I think, year-over-year to 21%, that's below the 30% exabyte growth you folks have had the last several quarters. Can you just talk about -- is this that can be pause related to timing or supply? Or does this sort of print a more normalized growth rate? And how do you think about exabyte growth through fiscal '27?

謝謝讓我提問。我想第一個問題是，Exabyte 出貨量年增大約 21%（我記得是 21%），這低於你們過去幾季約 30% 的 Exabyte 成長。你能談談這是否與時點或供應相關的暫停有關嗎？還是說這反映了較為正常化的成長率？以及你們如何看待到 2027 會計年度的 Exabyte 成長？

Yes. I mean I think what we've guided to is a exabyte. We see demand growing at above 25%, right, 25% plus going forward. So we clearly have a road map that's designed to support that. That will, again, as I mentioned, similar to margins, we quarter-to-quarter fluctuations in terms of exabyte growth rates depending on the mix of products that we ship.

是的。我的意思是，我們給出的指引是以 Exabyte 來看。我們看到需求未來將以高於 25% 的速度成長，也就是 25% 以上。因此我們顯然有一個路線圖是為了支援這個成長而設計的。同樣地，如我提到的，類似於毛利率，Exabyte 的成長率在季度之間也會因我們出貨的產品組合不同而出現波動。

And as we move into the second half of the year as we really ramp up the 40-terabyte shipments. As I mentioned, that will be over 50% of the nearline exabyte ship, we expect exabyte growth rate to accelerate. And then obviously, we have HAMR coming on in the second half of the year and in calendar '27 as well at a 44-terabyte level.

而當我們進入今年下半年、真正開始大幅拉升 40TB 出貨時，如我提到的，這將占近線 Exabyte 出貨的 50% 以上，我們預期 Exabyte 成長率將加速。然後很明顯地，我們也會在今年下半年以及 2027 曆年推出 HAMR，容量等級為 44TB。

Yes. And just to add, I think in Q4, exabyte shipments were up 22% year-over-year and when you look at it on a full fiscal year '26, exabytes were up 25% year-over-year.

是的。再補充一下，我認為在第四季，Exabyte 出貨年增 22%；而若看 2026 會計年度全年，Exabyte 年增 25%。

Do you have a follow-up, Amit?

Amit，你有追問嗎？

I do. Thanks a lot, Ambrish. Just on the pricing side, right, price per provide went up pretty dramatically high teens year-over-year, Kris, I think you talked about this. Can you just talk about how do you think pricing is going to keep evolving from here? And maybe specifically the new LTA that you folks are signing, are they enabling this kind of high-teens pricing? Or is there more upside as we go forward?

有的。非常感謝你，Ambrish。關於定價方面，每單位（我想是每 TB）價格年增相當顯著，達到十幾個百分點的高位；Kris，我記得你有提到。你能談談你們認為定價接下來會如何演變嗎？以及更具體地說，你們正在簽署的新 LTA 是否支撐這種「高十幾％」的定價？或者未來還有更多上行空間？

So I mean, I think we were beneficiaries of across-the-board pricing improvements, both in terms of our nearline products and obviously in the client consumer space as well. In terms of the near line, especially with our large customers, we've been very consistent in talking about predictable icing.

我的意思是，我們受惠於全面性的價格改善，包含近線產品，當然也包含客戶端與消費性市場。就近線而言，特別是面對大型客戶，我們一直非常一致地談到可預期的定價。

And that's the strategy we continue to adopt. This will give them visibility to ensure that they can make long-term architectural decisions with the right economics underpin that. So -- but even then as we increase higher capacity drives, we provide better TCO value to them, that gives us an opportunity to increase pricing, but you'll see that on a very predictable basis going forward.

而這也是我們持續採取的策略。這將讓他們具備能見度，確保他們能在正確的經濟性支撐下做出長期架構決策。所以——但即便如此，當我們提高更高容量硬碟的占比、為他們提供更好的總持有成本（TCO）價值時，這也給了我們提高價格的機會；但你會看到未來這會以非常可預期的方式發生。

. In terms of the non-nearline space, particularly in our client and consumer space, we saw a higher opportunity to increase pricing, predominantly driven by the pricing structures on alternative products that are flash based as well. So that resulted in a slightly higher pricing environment. Kris, do you want to -- anything you want to add to that?

。至於非近線領域，特別是在我們的客戶端與消費性市場，我們看到更高的提價機會，主要是受到替代產品（同樣以快閃為基礎）的定價架構所驅動。因此形成了略高的定價環境。Kris，你要不要——有沒有什麼想補充的？

No, I think you summarized it well.

沒有，我覺得你總結得很好。

Aaron Rakers, Wells Fargo.

Aaron Rakers，Wells Fargo。

Yeah, thanks for taking the question. I guess in the building on the prior questions, it seems to me like you've got a product transition dynamic going on with the 40 terabyte ePMR drive. If I look at your cost structure, it looks like you saw a plus per terabyte that was more maybe flattish, down a little bit sequential. So I'm curious, as we move through this product transition, how should we think about cost per terabyte or cost of goods sold per terabyte progressing through '27?

是的，謝謝讓我提問。我想延續前面問題來看，對我而言，你們似乎正在進行 40TB ePMR 硬碟的產品轉換動態。如果我看你們的成本結構，看起來每 TB 成本可能大致持平、環比略降。因此我想了解，隨著我們走過這次產品轉換，你們認為到 2027 年，每 TB 成本或每 TB 的銷貨成本會如何演進？

Yes. So Erin, the cost per terabyte in Q4 of fiscal '26, the quarter that we reported was down approximately 8% year-over-year. We've indicated before that cost per terabyte in the long-term will come down on or about 10% year-over-year. And the main driver, as Irving already explained, right, is the move to higher capacity drives better aerial density, which gives us a substantial reduction on a cost per terabyte. And as we execute in the near, mid and long-term, execute on our technology road map, execute on our product road map introduced the next-generation ePMR and introduce our HAMR products into the market, we will, over time, continue to see cost per terabyte coming down.

是的。所以 Aaron，在 2026 會計年度第四季（我們剛報告的那一季），每 TB 成本年減約 8%。我們之前也指出，長期來看每 TB 成本將以約 10% 的年減幅下降。而主要驅動因素，如 Irving 已經解釋的，是轉向更高容量硬碟、更高的面積密度（areal density），這會讓我們的每 TB 成本大幅降低。隨著我們在短期、中期與長期執行我們的技術路線圖、執行我們的產品路線圖、導入下一代 ePMR，並把 HAMR 產品導入市場，我們將隨時間持續看到每 TB 成本下降。

Do you have a followup, Aaron.

Aaron，你有追問嗎？

I do. Maybe Kris, back to -- you've done a lot on the balance sheet, right? You've got a $1.1 billion left on kind of the debt. You've got $1.6 billion in cash. I'm just curious, how are you thinking about the capital structure from here?

有的。Kris，回到——你們在資產負債表上做了很多事，對吧？你們大概還剩下 11 億美元的債務。你們有 16 億美元的現金。我只是好奇，接下來你們如何思考資本結構？

Is it pretty much 100% free cash flow return? Do you want to put more debt on the balance sheet? I'm just curious if any updated thoughts on that.

基本上是 100% 的自由現金流回饋嗎？你們想在資產負債表上增加更多負債嗎？我只是好奇這方面是否有任何更新的想法。

Yes. No change there to our strategy and our commitment to return the free cash flow back to the shareholders consistently with what we have been doing over the last four or five quarters through a combination of our dividend payments as well as our share repurchases. And so we're fully committed to those two programs.

是的。我們的策略沒有改變，也沒有改變我們一貫將自由現金流回饋給股東的承諾；這與我們過去四到五個季度透過股利發放以及股票回購的組合所做的一致。因此，我們完全致力於這兩項計畫。

Wamsi Mohan, Bank of America

Wamsi Mohan，美國銀行

Hi, yes, thank you so much. I was wondering, Irving, just if you could maybe drill down a little bit on the mix comment that you made in the answer to one of the prior questions on the 22% exabyte growth because previously expected that those room deliver more exabytes in the quarter and the deceleration seems pretty strong.

嗨，是的，非常感謝。Irving，我想請你針對你在回答先前某個問題時提到的「組合」評論再深入一點，關於 22% 的 EB（exabyte）成長；因為先前原本預期那些（產品/出貨）在本季會帶來更多 EB，而這次的減速看起來相當明顯。

So I was hoping maybe you can double-click a little bit on your mix comment. At the same time, you're expecting obviously an acceleration here in your comments, both on a macro level as well as from your product cadence perspective. So anything you could give us in terms of what is changing in that mix very specifically, which caused maybe the slower growth in the quarter? I mean, 22% is pretty strong, but like definitely a deceleration and then further acceleration, like is there a near-term cap on that before you maybe start to ramp HARM?

所以我希望你能再更具體地說明一下你提到的組合因素。同時，從你的評論來看，你顯然預期接下來會加速，不論是宏觀層面或是產品節奏的角度。因此，你能否就「組合」到底具體改變了什麼、導致本季成長較慢，提供一些說明？我的意思是，22% 已經很強，但確實是減速，然後又會再加速——在你們開始放量 HAMR 之前，短期內是否會有一個上限？

Yes. So thanks for the question, Wamsi. A lot of it, as you know well, we have the large customers. And so different customers take different types of technology. So if there's a particular customer in a particular quarter, that takes a bit more CMR products, Obviously, that will mean we ship fewer bits into the marketplace for the number of units that we have, right?

是的。謝謝你的問題，Wamsi。其中很大一部分原因，如你很清楚的，我們有大型客戶。不同客戶會採用不同類型的技術。所以如果某個特定客戶在某個季度採購了更多 CMR 產品，顯然在相同的出貨台數下，代表我們投放到市場的位元（bits）會更少，對吧？

So in a different quarter where we have customers that are more ultra-smart heavy and for the same number of units, we're able to deliver much more exabytes into the marketplace.

而在另一個季度，如果客戶的需求更偏向 UltraSMR（超智慧 SMR）比重較高，那麼在相同的出貨台數下，我們就能向市場交付更多 EB。

So there will always be variations quarter-to-quarter, and they don't buy on a very linear basis. It's a bit lumpy. So you will see sort of quarter-to-quarter variations within that. But from a medium- to long-term trajectory, we feel very confident about the ongoing exabyte growth, the ability to hit percentage growth trajectory that we shared, both in terms of the 40 Terabyte ePMR that we're ramping up very aggressively. Then obviously, we have the 44-Terabyte HAMR coming out in the first half of calendar '27, which we're ramping and obviously, we've indicated in our road map, we will have 50-Terabyte products coming out towards the second half of calendar '27.

因此，季度之間一定會有波動，而且他們的採購並不是非常線性的。會有些起伏。所以你會看到這種季度間的變動。但從中長期的軌跡來看，我們對 EB 持續成長非常有信心，也有能力達成我們分享過的百分比成長軌跡；這包括我們正非常積極放量的 40TB ePMR。接著，顯然我們在 2027 年上半年會推出 44TB HAMR，並進行放量；而且我們也在路線圖中指出，將在 2027 年下半年推出 50TB 產品。

Okay, that's helpful. Thank you. And then if I could just follow up. When you look at your quarter-on-quarter gross margins from your guidance, not to beat a dead horse here, but year-on-year, you still are suggesting pretty strong incrementals. I get that. But is there anything specific within, again, mix and sort of pricing dynamic that is changing on a sequential basis? Or is the pricing dynamic something that should persist and it's more about just sort of the mix that's creating maybe not further upside to the gross margins?

好的，這很有幫助。謝謝。另外我想追問一下。從你們的指引來看，季度對季度的毛利率變化——不是要老調重彈——但年對年你們仍然暗示相當強的增量（incrementals）。我理解。但在短期（環比）上，是否有任何特定因素（同樣是組合與定價動態）正在改變？還是說定價動態應該會持續，而主要只是組合因素使得毛利率沒有進一步上行？

So definitely, again, quarter-to-quarter, there's going to be valuations. That's why I'm not really fixated on my sequential incremental gross margins. I look more on my incremental gross margins on a year-over-year basis. And just to put some numbers around that, right, in fiscal '25, on a full year basis, our incremental gross margin was 60% and in fiscal '26 -- the fiscal year that we just ended, incremental gross margins were 75% year-over-year, ending in Q4 with incremental gross margin year-over-year, 84%, 85%. And implied in the guide for Q1 is a year-over-year incremental gross margin of 80%, 81%.

所以確實，如同我說的，季度之間一定會有波動。這也是為什麼我不會太執著於環比的增量毛利率。我更看重年對年的增量毛利率。為了用一些數字說明：在 2025 財年，以全年來看，我們的增量毛利率是 60%；而在 2026 財年——也就是我們剛結束的財年——年對年的增量毛利率是 75%，並在第四季以年對年增量毛利率 84%、85% 作結。而在第一季指引中所隱含的是年對年增量毛利率 80%、81%。

So I think we're executing really well on driving incremental gross margins, further improving the gross margins. I have high conviction that we will continue to improved gross margins for many quarters going forward based on everything what we've explained. There is very strong demand. We're moving to higher capacity drives that provides more value to our customers, and that enables us to increase our price per terabyte while at the same time driving down the cost per terabyte. And I think that's a great recipe for further gross margin improvements.

所以我認為我們在推動增量毛利率、進一步改善毛利率方面執行得非常好。基於我們所解釋的一切，我非常有信心未來很多個季度我們都會持續改善毛利率。需求非常強勁。我們正轉向更高容量的硬碟，為客戶提供更高價值，這讓我們能提高每 TB 的價格，同時降低每 TB 的成本。我認為這是一個能持續推動毛利率改善的絕佳配方。

Krish Sankar, TD Cowen.

Krish Sankar，TD Cowen。

Yeah, hi, thanks for taking my question. My first one, Irving, clearly, your pricing is improving pretty well. You kind of mentioned customers asking for LTAs into 2029, '30, '31. I'm just wondering, with 90% of your bids going into cloud and most of them unto LTA extending longer, the velocity of price increases that you are seeing going from high single digits to high teens last quarter and probably 20% in September quarter, would that slow down because most are under LTA? Or do you think there's still flexibility where the velocity of price increases could still increase?

是的，嗨，謝謝讓我提問。第一個問題，Irving，很明顯你們的定價改善得相當不錯。你提到客戶要求把 LTA（長期協議）延伸到 2029、2030、2031 年。我想問的是，既然你們 90% 的投標都在雲端，而且多數都納入更長期的 LTA，你們看到的漲價速度從上一季的高個位數到高十幾%，而 9 月季度可能到 20%，這樣的漲價速度會不會因為多數在 LTA 之下而放緩？或者你認為仍有彈性，漲價速度還可能進一步加快？

Yes. Thanks for the question. As I pointed out, I think if you talk about the cloud business, as you pointed out, quite a significant amount of it is under LTA. Obviously, not every LTA starts sense at the same time. So we will see price adjustments from LTAs even as we go through the fiscal year depending on when the contracts kick in with the new pricing, and it's obviously dictated by some of the new platforms we introduced into the market.

是的。謝謝你的問題。如我指出的，如果談雲端業務，正如你所說，其中相當大一部分是在 LTA 之下。當然，不是每一份 LTA 都在同一時間開始生效。因此，隨著財年推進，我們仍會看到來自 LTA 的價格調整，取決於合約何時以新定價生效；而這顯然也受到我們導入市場的新平台所驅動。

And to reiterate our whole pricing strategy there to make sure it's predictable, and we give a lot of visibility to our customer. Where we've seen a bit more ability to drive more rapid price increases has been in the non-nearline space. If we fast forward that to what we're looking at into what we're discussing with customers on '29, '30, '31, we've -- we're working through the specific commercial constructs of the LTAs, but we have a good line of sight and visibility to the volume requirements of our customers that sort of further strengthened our conviction on that 25% plus exabyte growth.

再重申一次，我們整體的定價策略是確保可預測性，並提供客戶高度的可視性。我們看到較有能力推動更快速漲價的部分是在非 nearline（非近線）領域。如果把時間往前推到我們與客戶討論 2029、2030、2031 年的情況，我們正在梳理 LTA 的具體商業架構，但我們對客戶的量需求有很清楚的掌握與能見度，這也進一步強化了我們對 25% 以上 EB 成長的信心。

What we're working through is the pricing regime of how we would effect that for those years going forward. In short, I think there's still a lot of opportunity for us to deliver more value to our customers, deliver better TCO and be able to benefit that through pricing as we've always stated we would do.

我們正在處理的是，未來那些年度我們要如何建立並落實相應的定價機制。簡而言之，我認為我們仍有很大的機會為客戶交付更多價值、提供更好的 TCO（總持有成本），並且如同我們一直所說的，透過定價來取得相應的回報。

Do you have a follow-up, Krish?

Krish，你有追問嗎？

Yeah, thanks, Ambrish. A quick follow-up for Kris. You kind of mentioned how the cost per terabyte downs are like probably like high single digits right now. and it can get to like down 10% carve downs. Is that in a post hammer qualification world? Or do you think that's something you can get to by in the next few quarters?

有的，謝謝，Ambrish。我有個簡短追問給 Kris。你提到每 TB 成本下降目前大概是高個位數，並且可能可以達到大約 10% 的下降幅度。那是指在 HAMR 完成認證之後的情境嗎？還是你認為在接下來幾個季度就能達到？

So I have said in the past and repeated today, right, that the mid- to long-term cost per terabyte decline is on or about 10% year-over-year. If you look at it the last couple of quarters, we've been executing to that. And I have high conviction again over the longer term that we will be able to execute to that. Again, there are always going to be some variations quarter-to-quarter, but mid- to longer term, -- and it's all driven by our technology road map and our product transitions to higher aerial density and higher cost drives that will bring down the cost per terabyte.

所以我過去曾說過、今天也再次重申，對，單位每 TB 的中長期成本下降幅度大約是年減 10% 左右。如果你看最近幾個季度，我們的執行結果確實符合這個趨勢。而且我再次對更長期我們能夠做到這一點抱持高度信心。同樣地，季度之間一定會有一些波動，但就中長期而言——這一切都由我們的技術路線圖以及產品轉換所驅動，轉向更高的面密度與更高成本效益的硬碟，進而降低每 TB 成本。

Asiya Merchant, Citi.

Asiya Merchant，花旗。

Hey, good afternoon. This is Mike Cadiz for Asia merchant at Citi. So my first question is that given your LTA conversations, and of course, the visibility that they provide. Can you perhaps talk about the types of workloads your customers are planning to accommodate, be it agentic or physical, et cetera, and how, if at all, the workloads differ through time. from LTAs encompassing more near term 2027 to LTAs and conversations covering '28, '29 and even '30. Just wanted to see the progression of workloads from your perspective.

嗨，午安。我是花旗的 Mike Cadiz，代表 Asiya Merchant 提問。我的第一個問題是，考量你們與客戶的 LTA（長期協議）對話，當然也包括這些對話所提供的能見度，你能否談談客戶計畫要承載的工作負載類型，例如代理式（agentic）或實體（physical）等，以及這些工作負載是否、以及如何隨時間而有所不同——從 LTA 涵蓋較近的 2027 年，到涵蓋 2028、2029 甚至 2030 年的 LTA 與相關對話。只是想從你們的角度了解工作負載的演進。

Sure. I think the bulk of the workloads will be the same. And there are a couple of growth drivers that we see, we are definitely getting visibility from customers. One, and first of all, something that's underappreciated. -- core cloud services continue to grow.

當然。我認為大多數工作負載會是相同的。我們看到幾個成長驅動因素，也確實從客戶那裡獲得能見度。第一，而且首先有一點常被低估——核心雲端服務仍在持續成長。

As well, especially video-driven applications. So an example is the collaboration tools that many of us use each and every day. A lot of these video meetings that we're on are getting sort very increasing that's driving a lot more storage demands and on core cloud services. . And obviously, in AI, the primary drivers over the last 24, 36 months have been model training and development.

另外，尤其是由影片驅動的應用。例如我們許多人每天都在使用的協作工具。我們參與的許多視訊會議正變得越來越多，這正在推升更多的儲存需求，也推動核心雲端服務的需求。.而且很明顯地，在 AI 方面，過去 24 到 36 個月的主要驅動因素一直是模型訓練與開發。

And what we are seeing now and going forward is growth driven by inference, Agentic AI. And actually, we're starting to see the early innings of growth being driven by physical AI as well. And we are engaging with many large enterprise customers who are in the physical AI space, and we have good visibility in terms of the growth trajectories in those as well.

而我們現在以及未來看到的成長，將由推論（inference）、代理式 AI（Agentic AI）所驅動。事實上，我們也開始看到由實體 AI（physical AI）所帶動成長的早期階段。我們正與許多投入實體 AI 領域的大型企業客戶合作，對於這些領域的成長軌跡也有良好的能見度。

So definitely growth coming from those vectors that I just shared. And on top of that, obviously, with the introduction of our innovations like the high bandwidth drives that we have now sampling with five customers that opens up the ability to also able to deliver hard drive capabilities with the superior economics that it has in higher bandwidth foot loads as well. So we see that also as a future driver of growth that we are very excited about that customers are engaging very closely with Aon.

所以，確實會從我剛分享的那些向量帶來成長。此外，隨著我們推出創新，例如我們目前正在向五家客戶送樣的高頻寬硬碟，這也開啟了在更高頻寬工作負載中，提供具備更優經濟性的硬碟能力。因此我們也把這視為未來令人振奮的成長驅動因素，客戶也正與 Aon 非常密切地互動。

And operator, will you go to the next caller, please?

接線員，請接下一位來電者？

Erik Woodring, Morgan Stanley.

Erik Woodring，摩根士丹利。

Hey, guys. Thank you very much for taking my questions. Irving, Last quarter, you mentioned you could see some interest from sovereign and neocloud data centers for nearline drives in your systems. Can you maybe just tease that out a bit more now that we are three months beyond that comment. Just what are they buying? How price sensitive are they? How big are they? How big can they get, et cetera? And then a quick follow-up.

嗨，各位。非常感謝讓我提問。Irving，上季你提到，你看到主權（sovereign）與新型雲端（neocloud）資料中心對你們系統中的近線（nearline）硬碟有一些興趣。現在距離那段評論已經三個月了，你能否再多談一點？他們到底在買什麼？他們對價格有多敏感？他們規模多大？未來能成長到多大，等等？然後我有一個簡短追問。

Sure, Eric. So it's a great question. I think we looked at that as an opportunity, and the opportunity is materializing today. And again, I would highlight three areas. We definitely see increasing demand from neo clouds, actually even frontier AI labs are coming to us for supply.

當然，Eric。這是個很好的問題。我認為我們把那視為一個機會，而這個機會今天正在具體化。同樣地，我想強調三個面向。我們確實看到來自新型雲端的需求增加，實際上甚至連前沿 AI 實驗室（frontier AI labs）也來找我們供貨。

And as I just touched on to the earlier question, physical AI company. So we've seen very strong demand from an autonomous vehicle company for more storage as they ramp up the autonomous vehicle capabilities, we are seeing more demand for sovereigns from new clouds from AI frontier labs as well as the particularly see the economic benefits hard drives and the increasing storage demands that their business models are creating as well. . In terms of pricing, I would say they are in the very tax supply environment that we're in, that provides us an opportunity for increased pricing leverage as well.

另外，如同我在前一個問題中提到的，還有實體 AI 公司。我們看到某家自動駕駛車公司在提升自動駕駛能力的同時，對更多儲存有非常強勁的需求；我們也看到來自主權客戶、新型雲端、AI 前沿實驗室的更多需求，尤其是他們看到了硬碟的經濟效益，以及其商業模式所帶來的儲存需求持續增加。.至於定價，我會說在我們目前這種供應非常吃緊的環境下，也為我們帶來了更高的定價槓桿機會。

And Erik, you said you had a follow-up?

Erik，你說你有追問？

Yes. Just a quick one. Just a clarification, Irving, on your kind of pricing commentary. Is it -- am I correct in that you have sequential pricing escalators in some of your contracted pricing? And just given that demand has strengthened, and you are adding more value to your customers now with these higher-capacity drives, is it the right way to think that these pricing escalators are accelerating? Or is that maybe over extrapolating too much?

是的。很快一個。Irving，我想釐清一下你對定價的評論。我理解是否正確：你們部分合約定價中有逐季的價格調升條款（sequential pricing escalators）？而且考量需求走強、以及你們以更高容量硬碟為客戶帶來更多價值，是否可以把它理解為這些價格調升正在加速？還是說這樣推論有點過度？

Yes, you're probably over extrapolating a bit too much, Erik. I would say that the LTAs obviously have a base price associated to a base volume. And then as we were able to deliver upside to our customers, that's subject to different pricing constructs. So that's generally what we've consistently said as a general construct of how the LTAs are commercially organized.

是的，你可能有點過度推論了，Erik。我會說，LTA 顯然會有一個與基準量（base volume）相對應的基準價格（base price）。然後當我們能為客戶提供超出基準的額外供應（upside）時，會適用不同的定價架構。這大致就是我們一貫所說、LTA 在商業上如何安排的一般架構。

Ben Reitzes, Melius.

Ben Reitzes，Melius。

Hey, guys. Thank you for taking the question. I wanted to ask you, given the product ramp and improving demand environment, should we expect the first quarter fiscal to represent the low point for both sequential revenue growth and incremental margins with acceleration as we move throughout the year with regard to FY27.

嗨，各位。謝謝讓我提問。我想問的是，考量產品爬坡以及需求環境改善，我們是否應該預期本財年第一季會是「連續營收成長」與「增量利潤率」的低點，並且隨著 FY27 年度進行而加速？

Yes, Ben, as you know, we only guide one quarter at a time. And again, I think this quarter, we are guiding to some sequential growth as well as year-over-year growth and some good incremental -- strong incremental gross margins on a year-over-year basis.

是的，Ben，如你所知，我們一次只提供一季的指引。同樣地，本季我們指引包含一定的季對季成長、以及年對年成長，並且在年對年的基礎上有不錯的增量——強勁的增量毛利率表現。

Again, we have -- based on the strong demand environment that we see based on our great execution on technology and product road map based on the fact that we are at the beginning of a ramp of the introduction of our and new generation of ePMR up to 40 terabytes followed then by our HAMR introduction, we have high conviction that we can continue to ship a lot more exabytes at better pricing and driving down the cost over time, which will lead to a continuous strong revenue growth as well as further gross margin improvement. I'll leave it at that.

再說一次，基於我們所看到的強勁需求環境、基於我們在技術與產品路線圖上的優異執行、以及基於我們正處於導入新一代 ePMR（最高到 40TB）並接著導入 HAMR 的爬坡初期，我們高度確信能以更好的價格出貨更多的 EB（exabytes），並隨時間推進降低成本，這將帶來持續強勁的營收成長以及進一步的毛利率改善。我就先說到這裡。

Do you have a follow-up, Ben?

Ben，你有追問嗎？

Yes. I just was wondering if you could tease out physical AI a little more. I mean I think that what might be useful for investors is there's a ton of training video but also synthetic video. And you're mentioning it now more prominently than you did, I believe, in the prior quarters. And I was just wondering, did something change?

有。我想請你再多談一點實體 AI。我認為對投資人有幫助的是：有大量的訓練影片資料，也有合成影片（synthetic video）。而你們現在提到它的比重似乎比前幾季更高。我想問的是，是不是有什麼事情改變了？

And how do you see that your tier being impacted by what's probably going to be a surge in both synthetic and video data used to train these things?

以及你如何看待你們的分層（tier）會受到影響——因為用來訓練這些系統的合成資料與影片資料很可能會同時激增？

Thanks for the question, Ben. Yes, we have highlighted it a bit more this quarter, specifically because we're getting a lot better visibility from this space as well. I highlighted an example with autonomous vehicle player where I would say that the increase in exabyte demand from them for this calendar years -- or sorry, calendar year '27 has increased multiple for, right? So we're definitely seeing that. And if you extrapolate that by the number of players in this space, you extend that to human or you extend that to industrial automation systems as well.

謝謝你的提問，Ben。是的，我們這一季確實更著重強調了一些，特別是因為我們也從這個領域獲得了更好的能見度。我舉了一個自動駕駛車輛業者的例子；我會說，他們在本曆年——抱歉，是 2027 曆年——對 Exabyte 需求的增加已經成倍成長，對吧？所以我們確實看到了這點。而如果你把這個趨勢按這個領域的玩家數量去外推，並延伸到人形機器人或工業自動化系統，也同樣適用。

And as I highlighted in the prepared remarks, in many of these cases, they are generating new data from the tools and vehicles that they are collecting data from, but it's still insufficient to train their models as well. So they're also using the existing data feeding it into AI tools to generate synthetic data to further train the models and drive reinforcement learning, and that's requiring a lot more storage data. as well.

而且如我在事先準備的發言中所強調的，在許多這類案例中，他們正從所使用的工具與車輛所蒐集的資料中產生新的資料，但這些資料仍不足以訓練他們的模型。因此他們也會使用既有資料，將其輸入 AI 工具以生成合成資料，進一步訓練模型並推動強化學習，而這也需要更多的儲存資料。

So the cycle that we saw in how model training development inference was being created will extend into what is happening into physical, but it's becoming very real now, and we see that being a driver of growth of '27 and beyond as well.

所以，我們過去看到的模型訓練、開發與推論的循環，將會延伸到實體世界正在發生的事情；但現在它正變得非常真實，我們也看到這將成為 2027 年及之後的成長驅動因素。

Karl Ackerman, BNP Paribas.

Karl Ackerman，法國巴黎銀行（BNP Paribas）。

Thank you. I have two questions, if I may. First, how should we think about the gross margin delta today between nearline versus non-year line? I ask because given the greater ability to raise prices in the non nearline HDD market, I would imagine that gap closes. And then what share of these LTAs reprice for nearline over the next 12 months?

謝謝。如果可以的話，我有兩個問題。第一，今天我們應該如何看待近線（nearline）與非近線（non-nearline）之間的毛利率差異？我之所以這麼問，是因為鑑於非近線 HDD 市場更有能力提價，我想像這個差距會縮小。另外，這些 LTA（長期協議）中，有多少比例會在未來 12 個月內針對近線產品重新定價？

So the gross margin between nearline, non-nearline, which includes consumer and client and all of that, it's all in the same ballpark right now in the five ZIP code. So there's not a lot of differentiation there anymore.

近線與非近線（包含消費與客戶端等）之間的毛利率，目前大致都在同一個區間，大概是「五字頭」的水準。所以現在已經沒有太多差異了。

Got it. Okay, thank you. Irving, obviously, hyperscale demand is robust. How large is on-prem enterprise now, and are you able to sign LTAs with them, too? Thank you.

了解。好的，謝謝。Irving，很明顯超大規模（hyperscale）需求很強勁。那麼目前企業端自建（on-prem enterprise）有多大？你們也能和他們簽 LTA 嗎？謝謝。

Yes. Thanks for the question, Karl. I would say again that the vast majority of the new line bitter shipping are going to hyperscale customers. Increasingly, there's actually increased demand from enterprise OEM players in the storage space, especially as they are pivoting to more hybrid-based storage solutions where most recently, they were looking at all potentially 100% flash array systems. There's a shift back towards hybrid systems that's driving more demand from us.

是的。謝謝你的提問，Karl。我再說一次，絕大多數新的 nearline 位元出貨（shipping）都會流向超大規模客戶。同時，儲存領域的企業 OEM 玩家需求也在增加，特別是當他們轉向更多混合式（hybrid）儲存解決方案之際；就在最近，他們原本可能在評估 100% 全快閃陣列系統。現在出現回到混合式系統的轉變，這正在帶動我們的需求增加。

And so we are also ontheforward-looking requirements into the projections that we're working on in terms of supply that's giving us better visibility as well.

因此，我們也把前瞻性的需求納入我們正在進行的供應規劃預測中，這也讓我們有更好的能見度。

And obviously, our engineering teams are also working with them to be able to adopt our Ultra products. and next-generation ePMR HAMR products that will give them high-capacity drives and therefore, more exabytes faster as well.

而且很明顯，我們的工程團隊也正與他們合作，以便採用我們的 Ultra 產品，以及下一代 ePMR HAMR 產品，這將為他們提供高容量硬碟，因而也能更快提供更多 Exabyte。

And operator, we'll go to the last caller, please.

接線員，請接最後一位來電者。

Ananda Baruah, Loop Capital.

Ananda Baruah，Loop Capital。

Hey, thanks, guys. Thanks, Ambrish, for squeezing me in here. Irving, Kris, just was wondering what's a useful way to think about sort of the China hyperscale and the China AI lab opportunity going forward with all the activity that's been going on there?

嘿，謝謝，各位。謝謝你，Ambrish，讓我插進來提問。Irving、Kris，我想請教一個有用的思考方式：在那邊近期各種動態之下，未來中國的 hyperscale 與中國 AI 實驗室的機會應該怎麼看？

Yes. Thanks is the question, Ananda. I think the Asian market represents obviously a very exciting opportunity for us. We've clearly been hearing and seeing a lot about the proliferation of AI frontier lab models there. that are open source.

是的。謝謝你的問題，Ananda。我認為亞洲市場對我們而言顯然是一個非常令人振奮的機會。我們確實聽到並看到那裡 AI 前沿實驗室模型的擴散，其中不少是開源的。

We think that's actually going to be good for the overall industry because that's actually going to drive greater access to different models that will help to proliferate AI a lot more with superior economics.

我們認為這其實會對整體產業有利，因為這將推動更多人能接觸到不同的模型，並以更好的經濟性讓 AI 更加普及。

So depending on the use case, you can use different economic models to be able to drive growth and value in the different applications. But at the heart of it, whether it's the traditional frontier models that you've seen in the US that are premium or some of the new open source more economical models. The underlying requirement that they're going to be able to require of data to support the training of these models. These models are going to generate a lot more data that requires storage for us.

因此，視使用情境而定，你可以使用不同的經濟模型，來推動不同應用的成長與價值。但核心在於，不論是你在美國看到的傳統前沿模型（屬於高端）或是一些新的、開源且更具成本效益的模型，它們在訓練上對資料的底層需求都會非常高。這些模型也會產生更多需要我們儲存的資料。

So we view it as very positive because even as compute maybe drives greater efficiency in terms of compute and memory resources. The requirement for storage is just going to compound and grow. So we view it very positively for demand going forward.

所以我們把它視為非常正面，因為即便運算可能在運算與記憶體資源使用上帶來更高效率，對儲存的需求只會持續疊加並成長。因此我們對未來需求非常樂觀。

A quick follow-up on hand?

我可以快速追問一個嗎？

Yes, quick one. And just dovetailing from there, the interplay between mixing up meaningfully higher aerial density points, counterbalance against we're at the front end of inference, which is the real kind of killer use case for hard drives. And so how do you see those two things sort of impacting the supply-demand gap in the coming years?

好的，簡短一個。延續剛才的話題，當我們把更高的面密度（areal density）節點大幅導入時，與此同時我們也正處於推論（inference）的前期，而推論才是硬碟真正的殺手級使用案例。那你怎麼看這兩件事在未來幾年對供需缺口的影響？

Well, we think the growth in inferencing will be positive in terms of the demand for higher capacity drives, course influencing is actually going to generate even more data. that's going to be required to be stored both to support reinforcement learning, and the fact that storing the context of data that's generated is going to be more economical than rerunning it through compute and memory resources.

我們認為推論的成長將對高容量硬碟的需求帶來正面影響；當然，推論其實會產生更多資料，這些資料需要被儲存，以支援強化學習；此外，儲存所產生資料的上下文，會比把它再透過運算與記憶體資源重新跑一次更具經濟性。

So we think actually is inferencing in the genetic growth is going to drive even more demand for storage and the best way to that storage with superior TCO and the faster it is to deliver high-capacity drives, which is definitely something we're working towards delivering to our customers

所以我們認為，推論與生成式成長將帶動更多儲存需求；而以更優的 TCO（總持有成本）來提供這些儲存的最佳方式，就是更快交付高容量硬碟——這也正是我們努力為客戶達成的方向。

This concludes our question-and-answer session. I would like to turn the conference back over to management for any closing remarks.

問答環節到此結束。我想把電話會議交回管理層，請他們做任何結語。

Thank you. So at WD, as we look ahead to our new fiscal year and beyond, we do so with a very clear sense of purpose. Our customers are counting on us to deliver storage infrastructure at scale and speed that matches the pace and adoption of AI, and we are very much release that challenge. We're confident that our technology leads our execution is disciplined and the entire WD team remains focused on delivering.

謝謝。因此，在 WD，當我們展望新的會計年度及更長遠的未來時，我們帶著非常清晰的使命感。我們的客戶仰賴我們以規模與速度交付儲存基礎設施，以匹配 AI 的發展節奏與採用速度，而我們非常樂於迎接這項挑戰。我們有信心，我們的技術領先、執行有紀律，整個 WD 團隊也持續專注於交付成果。

So I want to really take this opportunity to thank the entire WD team for an outstanding year, to our investors and analysts for joining us today, and thank you for your time and your continued confidence in Western Digital.

因此，我想藉此機會真誠感謝整個 WD 團隊在這一年表現出色，也感謝今天與會的投資人與分析師；謝謝各位的時間，以及各位對 Western Digital 持續的信任。

The conference has now concluded. Thank you for attending today's presentation. You may now disconnect.

本次電話會議到此結束。感謝各位參加今天的簡報。您現在可以掛線。