Duksan Jang

Duksan Jang asked for clarification on the Q1 guide of $195 million sales, noting it's about a $20 million delta from previous expectations, and inquired about the puts and takes, specifically how much was due to pull-ins versus real end demand, given stronger memory bookings and improved general mature/power. He also asked if the 2026 outlook of being flattish and second-half weighted is primarily driven by memory or is more broad-based, and what gives confidence in that visibility.

Answer

Jamie Coogan (EVP and CFO, Axcelis Technologies) explained that the Q1 guide was impacted by a combination of modest CS&I pull-ins from Q1 into Q4 2025 and some system pushouts from Q1 into later in 2026 due to fab readiness. He stated that the second-half weighting for 2026 revenue is broad-based, with incremental memory volume at a higher rate than expected in the back half, systems volume weighted towards the back half due to customer timing, and anticipated CS&I uptick from upgrades.

Duksan Jang asked if Axcelis has seen any pull-in of orders from customers due to tariff concerns and inquired about the current state of customer inventory and utilization for silicon carbide tools.

Answer

CEO Russell Low stated there has been no notable pull-in activity or panic buying from customers in response to tariff discussions, attributing this to customer confidence in Axcelis's global operational footprint. He noted that while there are pockets of improved tool utilization, the recovery is not yet broad-based, and recent tariff uncertainty may have tempered what might have otherwise been improvements.

Duksan Jang of Bank of America asked for a ranking of the key growth drivers in the communications and compute segment. He also asked if the company would ship in line with demand or more conservatively once industrial and auto inventory normalizes.

Answer

CEO Ford Tamer listed multiple intertwined drivers, including cloud CapEx, attach rates, ASPs, and design wins, but declined to rank them. CFO Lorenzo Flores stated that once inventory normalizes, he would expect the company to ship in line with demand, which should result in 'quite strong growth' as new design wins ramp.

Duksan Jang asked for confirmation that the 2026 growth outlook of 15-20% remains in place and requested a way to quantify the gross margin impact from the increasing mix of new products.

Answer

CFO Lorenzo A. Flores responded that the company's fundamental long-term outlook is unchanged based on design wins and customer deployments, but they remain cautious about external macro factors. CEO Fouad Tamer added that while not providing specific figures, there is a 'very significant' ASP increase from pre-Nexus to Nexus, and again to Avant, which will benefit gross margins.

Duksan Jang asked if the previous soft guidance for 2026 growth to return to the 15-20% range remains intact. He also requested a way to quantify the impact of the new product mix on gross margins.

Answer

CFO Lorenzo A. Flores explained that from a fundamental standpoint (customer feedback, design wins), the company's outlook has not changed, but they remain mindful of how macro factors could impact results in 2025 and 2026. CEO Fouad Tamer added that while not providing specific numbers, there are 'very significant' ASP increases when moving from pre-Nexus to Nexus and from Nexus to Avant, in line with market expectations for those product tiers.

Duksan Jang asked about the server and computing business, seeking to understand the split between content gains versus unit growth, especially given expected weakness from CPU vendors. He also questioned the feasibility of the long-term 15-20% growth target for 2026, given that historical industry growth has been in the high single digits.

Answer

CEO Ford Tamer stated that Lattice has seen a significant, roughly 50% increase in content from one server generation to the next, which applies to the currently ramping generation. He attributed the confidence in the long-term 15-20% growth target to the rapid ramp of new products like Nexus and Avant, which are growing faster than previous product cycles and are gaining traction with an increasing funnel of design wins.

Duksan Jang of BofA Securities sought to clarify if the expectation for flattish revenue in H1 2025 was for the company overall or specific to the industrial segment. He also asked if the trend of expanding content per server is continuing with the latest CPU generations.

Answer

CEO Ford Tamer clarified that the expectation for flattish revenue through the first half of 2025 applies to the company overall. He confirmed that server content is expanding, citing a recent trade show where a partner showcased a board with over 50 Lattice devices and noting that Lattice is now designed into the top 10 server makers.

Duksan Jang of Bank of America followed up on the tariff topic, asking if Nova had observed any customer order pull-ins or pushouts. He also questioned the relatively flat memory revenue trend despite a strong market, seeking details on Nova's progress in high-bandwidth memory (HBM).

Answer

Executive Gabriel Waisman stated that while there are customer concerns, Nova has not seen any major pushouts or pull-ins related to tariffs. He clarified that HBM is a significant growth driver, representing about one-third of the company's advanced packaging product revenues, and is seeing major growth alongside logic.

Duksan Jang asked about any indirect impacts from tariffs on the semiconductor business, such as customer pull-ins. He also inquired about gross margin drivers beyond 40% in 2026 and the expected pace of OpEx growth for the full year.

Answer

CEO Stephen Kelley stated they have not seen any indirect tariff impacts or downward forecast revisions from semi customers. CFO Paul Oldham outlined that margin expansion in 2026 will be driven by gaining traction with higher-margin new products and continued volume leverage. For OpEx, he reiterated the plan for a $1-2 million incremental increase per quarter, which should result in full-year spending growth at a rate better than half of revenue growth.