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    Jack Egan • Charter Equity Research

    Jack Egan's questions to Axcelis Technologies Inc (ACLS) leadership

    Jack Egan's questions to Axcelis Technologies Inc (ACLS) leadership • Q2 2025

    Question

    Jack Egan from Charter Equity Research, Inc. questioned if tariff pull-ins boosted CS&I revenue and if the quarter's elevated share repurchases indicate a new, higher baseline for buybacks.

    Answer

    EVP & CFO James Coogan clarified that strong CS&I revenue was driven by customer upgrades, not material tariff pull-ins. Regarding buybacks, he stated the company was opportunistic and expects to repurchase shares at a rate above its historical ~$15M quarterly baseline, but did not commit to a specific future amount.

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    Jack Egan's questions to Axcelis Technologies Inc (ACLS) leadership • Q1 2025

    Question

    Jack Egan questioned whether the strong book-to-bill was primarily from non-memory segments, given the short lead times of memory customers. He also asked for the rationale behind keeping full-year OpEx flat despite an expected revenue decline.

    Answer

    CFO James Coogan confirmed that the Q1 bookings profile largely mirrored the revenue split, which was weighted towards general mature and power, not memory. Regarding OpEx, both Coogan and CEO Russell Low emphasized the decision to maintain spending is a strategic investment in R&D and product roadmaps to ensure the company is well-positioned with innovative products for the eventual market recovery.

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    Jack Egan's questions to Axcelis Technologies Inc (ACLS) leadership • Q4 2024

    Question

    Jack Egan of Charter Equity Research asked for details on the significant sequential growth in CS&I revenue and questioned if emerging weakness among silicon carbide device makers could risk the company's second-half 2025 outlook.

    Answer

    EVP and CFO James Coogan explained the CS&I strength was broad-based, driven by customers using the slowdown to upgrade existing tools for efficiency, a trend often seen in Q4. President and CEO Russell Low added this is a focused strategy. Regarding SiC risk, Coogan noted that Axcelis's broad customer base mitigates reliance on any single customer's performance. Low emphasized that different customers are at different stages—building capacity, optimizing yield, or transitioning to new architectures—which diversifies demand.

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    Jack Egan's questions to Axcelis Technologies Inc (ACLS) leadership • Q3 2024

    Question

    Jack Egan asked about the company's use of Chinese components in its supply chain and requested clarification on the relative importance of the automotive, industrial, and consumer end-markets for the general mature segment.

    Answer

    CFO James Coogan stated that the company actively manages its supply chain to localize where possible and maintains a strong supply base outside of China. CEO Russell Low confirmed that automotive, industrial, and consumer are all significant drivers for the general mature segment but could not quantify the specific contribution of each, noting all three have been weak recently.

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    Jack Egan's questions to Navitas Semiconductor Corp (NVTS) leadership

    Jack Egan's questions to Navitas Semiconductor Corp (NVTS) leadership • Q2 2025

    Question

    Jack Egan requested a breakdown of the factors driving the Q3 revenue decline and asked if the NVIDIA collaboration has increased engagement with other data center customers.

    Answer

    CEO Gene Sheridan stated that the Q3 sequential decline was driven by roughly equal contributions from three factors: the impact of China tariffs on US-made SiC products, the strategic reduction in mobile business, and a broader industry slowdown delaying new project ramps. He confirmed the NVIDIA announcement has opened more doors with other customers, including those exploring similar high-voltage data center architectures.

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    Jack Egan's questions to Navitas Semiconductor Corp (NVTS) leadership • Q1 2025

    Question

    Jack Egan inquired about the breakdown of the design win pipeline between silicon carbide (SiC) and gallium nitride (GaN), and the reasons for the recent decline in R&D spending relative to SG&A.

    Answer

    CEO Eugene Sheridan stated that while near-term revenue is GaN-heavy, the design win pipeline is well-balanced between GaN and SiC, particularly for combined use in EV and data centers. He also clarified that Q1 SG&A was elevated due to one-time expenses and that the forward-looking split is expected to be approximately 55% R&D and 45% SG&A.

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    Jack Egan's questions to Navitas Semiconductor Corp (NVTS) leadership • Q4 2024

    Question

    Jack Egan questioned the reason for the silicon carbide distributor disengagement, the company's comfort with its current cash balance given the burn rate, and the source of the latest operating expense synergies.

    Answer

    CFO Todd Glickman clarified the distributor disengagement was separate from cost-cutting and was due to the partner's lack of performance and failure to pay. He stated that with over two years of cash available, there is no organic need to raise capital. Glickman also explained the latest cost savings were found separately from the Q4 workforce reduction and were related to realizing synergies from prior acquisitions.

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    Jack Egan's questions to Navitas Semiconductor Corp (NVTS) leadership • Q3 2024

    Question

    Jack Egan asked about GaN's adoption in 48-volt data center intermediate bus converters against cost-effective silicon. He also inquired about the potential impact of liquid cooling in data centers on the demand for power semiconductors.

    Answer

    CEO Eugene Sheridan stated that Navitas sees a significant opportunity to push frequency and efficiency with its new low-voltage GaN, creating a strong value proposition over silicon, especially when combined with the new Infineon partnership. Regarding liquid cooling, Sheridan positioned it as a necessary enabler for the entire data center industry, arguing that it accelerates the demand for more power, higher energy savings, and greater power density, making it a net benefit for power semiconductor companies.

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    Jack Egan's questions to Monolithic Power Systems Inc (MPWR) leadership

    Jack Egan's questions to Monolithic Power Systems Inc (MPWR) leadership • Q1 2025

    Question

    Jack Egan inquired about the margin outlook for new accelerator ramps, asking if there's a structural difference in margin profiles for custom ASICs versus GPUs. He also asked if there are any signs of a broader analog cycle recovery, separate from MPS's specific design wins.

    Answer

    CFO Bernie Blegen stated there is no structural change to the company's margin model from new accelerator ramps. CEO Michael R. Hsing emphasized that MPS will not pursue low-margin business and competes on performance, not price, with new products carrying higher margins. Regarding the analog cycle, Blegen said it's impossible to separate MPS's performance from its new product ramps, which drive their growth story regardless of the macroeconomic environment.

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    Jack Egan's questions to Coherent Corp (COHR) leadership

    Jack Egan's questions to Coherent Corp (COHR) leadership • Q2 2025

    Question

    Jack Egan from Charter Equity Research asked for more specifics on the datacom yield improvements, such as their source and whether they were one-time or ongoing. He also inquired about potential strategic changes in sales, marketing, or distribution.

    Answer

    CEO James Anderson described the yield improvements as coming from a range of both one-time and ongoing efforts across the entire manufacturing process, with a focus on yields and input costs. CFO Sherri Luther added that yield improvements were also a factor in the prior quarter. Anderson confirmed that the company is actively reallocating sales and marketing resources to areas with the greatest long-term growth and margin opportunities.

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    Jack Egan's questions to Coherent Corp (COHR) leadership • Q1 2025

    Question

    Jack Egan asked if the company is seeing a margin benefit from the higher mix of 800G transceivers, given historically range-bound segment margins. He also inquired about the long-term growth outlook for telecom, considering carriers' challenges in monetizing 5G.

    Answer

    CEO James Anderson confirmed that newer, higher-speed transceivers typically carry higher margins. CFO Sherri Luther added that the networking segment's profit did increase sequentially. On telecom, Anderson acknowledged the near-term monetization challenges and the company's cautious stance but affirmed a belief in long-term growth, particularly from data center interconnect (DCI), with more details planned for the Investor Day.

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