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    Lee Simpson • Morgan Stanley

    Lee Simpson's questions to Arm Holdings PLC (ARM) leadership

    Lee Simpson's questions to Arm Holdings PLC (ARM) leadership • Q1 2026

    Question

    Lee Simpson from Morgan Stanley asked about the roadmap for the Ethos NPU beyond 4 TOPS and the specific application for the new Xena CSS in the automotive market.

    Answer

    CEO Rene Haas explained that Ethos will scale beyond 4 TOPS for extremely low-power, battery-operated applications, not the data center. He positioned the new Xena CSS for L2 to L4 ADAS applications in automotive, noting a strong customer pipeline due to the benefits of accelerated time-to-market.

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    Lee Simpson's questions to Arm Holdings PLC (ARM) leadership • Q4 2025

    Question

    Lee Simpson from Morgan Stanley asked a broad question about Arm's strategy in the chiplet space, questioning if it's a path toward Arm making its own chips and what the larger value play is.

    Answer

    CEO Rene Haas explained that Arm's Amba interface is 'table stakes' for chiplet-based SoCs. He directly linked the value of CSS to the chiplet trend, as Arm IP can comprise the vast majority of a chiplet's area. He framed this as a natural extension of Arm's IP and standards role, not a move into manufacturing its own chips.

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    Lee Simpson's questions to Arm Holdings PLC (ARM) leadership • Q3 2025

    Question

    Lee Simpson asked about the drivers of licensing strength, particularly in relation to major AI projects like Stargate and Cristal intelligence, and inquired about the long-term earnings benefit for Arm from these initiatives.

    Answer

    CEO Rene Haas explained that Arm is positioned as the CPU of choice for the Stargate AI infrastructure project and that Cristal intelligence's agentic AI will drive demand for Arm's compute platform across all devices. CFO Jason Child added that Q3 licensing strength was driven by AI, v9, and CSS demand, and guided for approximately 60% year-over-year license revenue growth in Q4, fueled by the same trends.

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    Lee Simpson's questions to Arm Holdings PLC (ARM) leadership • Q2 2025

    Question

    Lee Simpson asked for details on the better-than-expected licensing revenue, its relation to the year-over-year decline in RPO, and whether any deals were pulled forward into the quarter.

    Answer

    CFO Jason Child confirmed there were no deal pull-forwards. He explained that while RPO was down year-over-year, the prior year was an all-time record, and the current quarter was the second-highest ever, showing a 10% sequential increase. He stated the licensing beat was due to the timing and size of deals and reaffirmed the full-year outlook remains reasonable.

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    Lee Simpson's questions to Cadence Design Systems Inc (CDNS) leadership

    Lee Simpson's questions to Cadence Design Systems Inc (CDNS) leadership • Q2 2025

    Question

    Lee Simpson of Morgan Stanley asked about the business model and monetization strategy for Cadence's new 'Agentic AI' systems.

    Answer

    President & CEO Anirudh Devgan explained that agentic AI solutions, like Cerebras AI Studio, are packaged and sold as value-add solutions on top of Cadence's base tools. The company's monetization strategy is to deliver significant productivity and performance gains to customers, who are generally willing to pay for that value. He noted Cadence has flexible business models to capture this value as the technology is adopted.

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    Lee Simpson's questions to Cadence Design Systems Inc (CDNS) leadership • Q1 2025

    Question

    Lee Simpson inquired about Cadence's potential exposure to U.S. tariffs on China, given that its main offerings are software and services and its hardware is based on ASICs from TSMC.

    Answer

    CEO Anirudh Devgan stated that software and services are not subject to tariffs. For the hardware business, he explained that Cadence's diversified supply chain, with manufacturing both in the U.S. and abroad, mitigates any direct impact. He concluded that due to this resilience and their ratable business model, they do not believe tariffs will affect their business.

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    Lee Simpson's questions to Cadence Design Systems Inc (CDNS) leadership • Q4 2024

    Question

    Lee Simpson of Morgan Stanley inquired if the strength in chiplet reference designs was primarily concentrated in China's EV sector and how the China forecast might be affected without this business.

    Answer

    CEO Anirudh Devgan clarified that chiplet design is a global phenomenon occurring across all verticals, not just one region or industry. He explained that while it began in high-performance computing, it is now proliferating into automotive and laptops worldwide. He highlighted Cadence's long-standing and comprehensive investments in 3D-IC, positioning the company well for this accelerating trend.

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    Lee Simpson's questions to Cadence Design Systems Inc (CDNS) leadership • Q3 2024

    Question

    Lee Simpson inquired about the breadth of customer interest in the Millennium platform beyond NVIDIA. He also asked about the timing and potential vertical market impact of the expanded collaboration with ARM on its Compute Subsystems (CSS).

    Answer

    CEO Anirudh Devgan explained that the ARM partnership is expanding to support their total design and compute subsystem strategy, driven by markets like HPC and automotive. Regarding Millennium, he expressed high optimism for its use in accelerating system design and analysis (SD&A) workloads like CFD, noting strong interest from aerospace and automotive customers.

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    Lee Simpson's questions to STMicroelectronics NV (STM) leadership

    Lee Simpson's questions to STMicroelectronics NV (STM) leadership • Q2 2025

    Question

    Lee Simpson from Morgan Stanley inquired about pricing trends for general-purpose microcontrollers, citing channel checks of erratic pricing in June, and asked about the readiness timeline for the 800-volt DCDC power supply for NVIDIA.

    Answer

    President & CFO Lorenzo Grandi reported that general-purpose MCU pricing is seeing stable, low-single-digit erosion with no unusual behavior. Marco Cassis, President of Analog, MEMS & Sensors Group, described the NVIDIA project as a 'work in progress' but expressed confidence in meeting the technical challenges. He stated it was too early to provide a sales timeline but ST aims to be an early adopter.

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    Lee Simpson's questions to STMicroelectronics NV (STM) leadership • Q2 2025

    Question

    Lee Simpson from Morgan Stanley asked about the pricing trends for general-purpose microcontrollers and the readiness of the 800-volt DCDC power supply solution for NVIDIA's AI data centers.

    Answer

    President & CFO Lorenzo Grandi confirmed that pricing for general-purpose MCUs is seeing stable, low-single-digit declines. Marco Cassis, President of the Analog, MEMS & Sensors Group, described the NVIDIA project as a challenging "work in progress" but expressed confidence in meeting the spec, though it was "too early to say" on the timing of a sales impact.

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    Lee Simpson's questions to Synopsys Inc (SNPS) leadership

    Lee Simpson's questions to Synopsys Inc (SNPS) leadership • Q2 2025

    Question

    Lee Simpson from Morgan Stanley inquired about the financial impact of the expected decline in China revenue, particularly on margins, in light of potential new BIS export controls. He also sought clarification on the payment schedule for the company's recent $10 billion bond issuance.

    Answer

    CEO Sassine Ghazi confirmed that the reiterated full-year guidance already accounts for a year-over-year decline in China revenue, which is being offset by strong performance in other regions. He declined to speculate on the margin impact of a BIS notice that Synopsys has not received. CFO Shelagh Glaser clarified that the initial bond payment will include a catch-up period before settling into a regular biannual rhythm.

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    Lee Simpson's questions to Synopsys Inc (SNPS) leadership • Q2 2025

    Question

    Lee Simpson from Morgan Stanley inquired about the outlook for Synopsys's China business, noting its decline in the revenue mix, and asked about the potential margin impact from any new BIS export controls. He also sought clarification on the payment schedule for the company's recent $10 billion bond issuance.

    Answer

    CEO Sassine Ghazi clarified that the company's full-year guidance already incorporates an anticipated year-over-year revenue decline in China, which is being offset by strong performance in other regions. He stated the company has not received any notice from BIS and declined to speculate on potential impacts. CFO Shelagh Glaser confirmed the bond payment schedule includes an initial catch-up payment followed by a regular biannual rhythm.

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    Lee Simpson's questions to Synopsys Inc (SNPS) leadership • Q1 2025

    Question

    Lee Simpson asked about the drivers behind the flattening sales growth in China and the outlook for the region. He also questioned how Synopsys views the potential of 'Agentic AI'—as a driver for operating margin or for accelerating product development.

    Answer

    CEO Sassine Ghazi attributed the deceleration in China to the cumulative effect of trade restrictions and a slowing local economy. He confirmed that the company's guidance assumes China's growth will be below the corporate average for the year. Regarding Agentic AI, Ghazi described it as a transformative opportunity that will change engineering workflows and stated that Synopsys is already leveraging AI internally to enhance productivity across all corporate functions.

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    Lee Simpson's questions to Synopsys Inc (SNPS) leadership • Q3 2024

    Question

    Lee Simpson asked if there was scope to flatten R&D spending to improve earnings or if the pace of innovation prevents it. He also asked about the growth potential from the automotive end market, given the shift to software-defined vehicles.

    Answer

    CFO Shelagh Glaser stated that R&D is not an area for savings, as continued investment is critical to stay ahead of accelerating industry innovation. CEO Sassine Ghazi described the automotive opportunity as very exciting, driven by the need for more sophisticated silicon and system-level design. He highlighted sales of virtualization solutions to OEMs and Tier 1s but did not quantify the segment's growth contribution.

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    Lee Simpson's questions to Infineon Technologies AG (IFNNY) leadership

    Lee Simpson's questions to Infineon Technologies AG (IFNNY) leadership • Q2 2025

    Question

    Lee Simpson asked about the end markets for the new PSOC CAPSENSE technology and for more details on the new trench superjunction technology for silicon carbide.

    Answer

    CEO Jochen Hanebeck explained the new PSOC CAPSENSE technology now includes inductive sensing, which works with wet hands, and is also used for liquid level sensing in industrial applications. He also confirmed the new trench superjunction for silicon carbide is a first that will propel them ahead of the competition. CFO Sven Schneider added that this demonstrates their commitment to innovation even while implementing the "Step-Up" cost-saving initiative.

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    Lee Simpson's questions to Infineon Technologies AG (IFNNY) leadership • Q2 2025

    Question

    Lee Simpson asked for details on the end markets for the new PSOC sensing technology and the significance of the new trench superjunction silicon carbide development.

    Answer

    CEO Jochen Hanebeck explained the new PSOC technology adds inductive sensing to its CAPSENSE IP, enabling applications like touch buttons that work with wet hands and non-invasive liquid level sensing. He also highlighted the new silicon carbide development, which combines a trench structure with a superjunction concept, as a 'perfect match' that will advance Infineon's technology ahead of competitors. CFO Sven Schneider noted these R&D investments show a commitment to innovation alongside cost-saving initiatives.

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