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    Mark Lipacis • Evercore ISI

    Mark Lipacis's questions to Arm Holdings PLC (ARM) leadership

    Mark Lipacis's questions to Arm Holdings PLC (ARM) leadership • Q1 2026

    Question

    Mark Lipacis from Evercore ISI asked about the quantified FX impact on future EPS and the rationale for customers to remain with x86 if Arm's data center share reaches 50%.

    Answer

    CFO Jason Child projected a $0.01 per quarter FX headwind for the rest of the fiscal year. CEO Rene Haas added that Arm's data center share can grow beyond 50% due to the architecture's customization benefits and the efficiency of maintaining a single software stack for AI data centers.

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    Mark Lipacis's questions to Arm Holdings PLC (ARM) leadership • Q4 2025

    Question

    Mark Lipacis from Jefferies asked for clarification on the potential impact of tariffs, questioning if the indirect effect on royalties would stem from negative demand elasticity due to higher end-device costs.

    Answer

    CEO Rene Haas confirmed this understanding, stating that Arm sees no direct impact as it provides services, not end products. He noted no impact was seen in Q4 or is expected in Q1, but indirect effects on supply chains and end demand create uncertainty for the rest of the year. Haas emphasized strong fundamentals, highlighting the raised Q1 royalty growth guidance of 25% to 30%.

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    Mark Lipacis's questions to Arm Holdings PLC (ARM) leadership • Q3 2025

    Question

    Mark Lipacis asked if CSS license activity is balanced between data center and handsets, and whether AI in smartphones and IoT devices necessitates a chiplet architecture, driving high CSS attach rates.

    Answer

    CEO Rene Haas confirmed that the chiplet approach will become pervasive across nearly all SoCs, creating a significant opportunity for Arm's CSS solutions. CFO Jason Child clarified that the CSS deals signed to date are split roughly 50-50 between infrastructure (data center) and client (handsets), with automotive adoption expected later.

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    Mark Lipacis's questions to Nova Ltd (NVMI) leadership

    Mark Lipacis's questions to Nova Ltd (NVMI) leadership • Q1 2025

    Question

    Mark Lipacis of Evercore ISI requested a framework for understanding the tariff impact on gross margins, specifically its geographic and component-level sources. He also asked about the process for reevaluating the company's target operating model given recent strong performance.

    Answer

    Executive Guy Kizner explained the tariff impact stems from the bill of materials (BOM) for machines and, more significantly, from service spare parts imported between territories. He noted that with performance outpacing OpEx growth, the company is increasing investments in R&D and sales to support its road map, aligning with the updated operating margin model of 28% to 33% introduced at the recent Investor Day.

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    Mark Lipacis's questions to GlobalFoundries Inc (GFS) leadership

    Mark Lipacis's questions to GlobalFoundries Inc (GFS) leadership • Q1 2025

    Question

    Mark Lipacis asked for a framework to understand the impact of tariffs on GlobalFoundries' revenue, manufacturing flexibility, and potential for market share gains. He also inquired about the outlook for Average Selling Prices (ASPs) and the company's strategy to maintain gross margins amid ASP declines.

    Answer

    CEO Timothy Breen stated that while the medium-term tariff impact is uncertain, the company's diversified global footprint is a long-term tailwind, attracting increased customer interest in U.S. sourcing. He noted that the pricing environment for differentiated technologies remains constructive. CFO John Hollister added that ASPs are expected to decline mid-single digits for the year, primarily due to product mix, not pricing pressure, and that gross margin is supported by utilization, depreciation roll-off, and cost improvements.

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    Mark Lipacis's questions to GlobalFoundries Inc (GFS) leadership • Q4 2024

    Question

    Mark Lipacis of Evercore ISI inquired about the drivers of strong 2024 free cash flow, the outlook for 2025 including working capital, and requested more detail on the $935 million impairment charge at the Malta facility.

    Answer

    CFO John Hollister confirmed expectations for strong free cash flow in 2025, similar to 2024 levels, driven by business performance and a capital-efficient strategy with modest CapEx. He explained the impairment charge was related to rightsizing the Malta fab's carrying value to align with its strategic diversification into new technologies like 22FDX and advanced packaging, which also contributes to the expected 15% decline in D&A.

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    Mark Lipacis's questions to GlobalFoundries Inc (GFS) leadership • Q3 2024

    Question

    Mark Lipacis of Evercore ISI noted the company's strong free cash flow generation and asked for more color on its capital allocation strategy, specifically questioning if capital returns like share buybacks or dividends are being considered. He also asked about the target cash balance needed to run the company.

    Answer

    CFO John Hollister acknowledged the company's strong cash generation, with a net cash position of roughly $2 billion. He confirmed that capital deployment discussions are happening and could include share repurchases, dividends, or debt reduction in the future, but the company needs to build a more consistent history first. CEO Thomas Caulfield added that accretive M&A is another potential use of capital and emphasized that GF's existing factory footprint can support growth to $9-10 billion in revenue while still generating free cash flow.

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    Mark Lipacis's questions to NXP Semiconductors NV (NXPI) leadership

    Mark Lipacis's questions to NXP Semiconductors NV (NXPI) leadership • Q1 2025

    Question

    Mark Lipacis asked for a perspective on inventory management theory, questioning whether the semiconductor industry has fundamentally changed post-COVID or if it will revert to old restocking cycles driven by lead times.

    Answer

    CEO Kurt Sievers expressed a somewhat pessimistic view, stating that while communication has improved, he believes not much has fundamentally changed in practice. He fears that working capital pressures across the supply chain are too high to allow for sustained higher inventory levels, making it likely that the industry will revert to its historical, cyclical inventory patterns rather than adopting a new 'just-in-case' model permanently.

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    Mark Lipacis's questions to Marvell Technology Inc (MRVL) leadership

    Mark Lipacis's questions to Marvell Technology Inc (MRVL) leadership • Q4 2025

    Question

    Mark Lipacis from Evercore ISI asked about the risk of an AI spending slowdown or digestion period and what metrics Marvell monitors to assess this risk for both its processor and communications businesses.

    Answer

    Matthew Murphy, Chairman and CEO, explained that Marvell triangulates top-down CapEx data with bottom-up, program-level planning directly with customers. He expressed confidence in a strong multi-year outlook, driven by new custom program ramps and technology transitions that create company-specific tailwinds. He highlighted Marvell's proven ability to scale with customer demand, which underpins this confidence.

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    Mark Lipacis's questions to Marvell Technology Inc (MRVL) leadership • Q3 2025

    Question

    Mark Lipacis sought clarification on the $40 billion custom AI TAM and asked about the competitive landscape for custom silicon and the underlying reasons for its growing prominence.

    Answer

    CEO Matt Murphy confirmed the $40 billion custom TAM and Marvell's goal of capturing over 20% market share. He characterized the competitive landscape as having very high barriers to entry, with only Marvell and one other large competitor possessing the necessary combination of IP, execution teams, and manufacturing scale. He explained the trend is driven by Total Cost of Ownership (TCO), as custom designs allow hyperscalers to optimize performance for their largest, most critical workloads.

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    Mark Lipacis's questions to NVIDIA Corp (NVDA) leadership

    Mark Lipacis's questions to NVIDIA Corp (NVDA) leadership • Q4 2025

    Question

    Mark Lipacis of Evercore ISI asked for clarification on enterprise growth within the data center and questioned how hyperscaler spending splits between internal and external workloads, and if enterprises will become a larger part of the mix.

    Answer

    EVP and CFO Colette Kress confirmed enterprise revenue grew nearly 2x year-over-year, similar to large CSPs. President and CEO Jensen Huang added that while CSPs are currently half of the business, he believes the enterprise segment will be 'by far larger' long-term. He expanded the definition of enterprise to include industrial and physical AI, citing the auto industry's need for AI in design (Agentic AI), manufacturing (AI factories), and the vehicles themselves (robotics), representing vast new markets.

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    Mark Lipacis's questions to Allegro Microsystems Inc (ALGM) leadership

    Mark Lipacis's questions to Allegro Microsystems Inc (ALGM) leadership • Q3 2025

    Question

    Mark Lipacis of Evercore ISI asked about the revenue realization timeline for new products, considering the company has doubled its product introductions over the past two years.

    Answer

    CEO Vineet Nargolwala detailed the different revenue cycles. In automotive, it typically takes 2-3 years from product introduction to the start of production, with peak revenue occurring 4-5 years out. In industrial markets, the cycle is much shorter, often around 12 months to production. He explained the strategy involves building a core technology platform for automotive and then creating derivatives for industrial customers.

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    Mark Lipacis's questions to Allegro Microsystems Inc (ALGM) leadership • Q2 2025

    Question

    Mark Lipacis from Evercore inquired about inventory levels further downstream at Tier 1 customers and asked for details on Allegro's own on-balance-sheet inventory strategy.

    Answer

    CEO Vineet Nargolwala described a geographical split in downstream inventory: China and Asia are lean, with some customers potentially "too skinny," while Europe and North America face churn due to OEM production cuts. CFO Derek D'Antilio clarified that Allegro's inventory days decreased due to higher revenue, and the company is strategically building its die bank, which now constitutes about half of its inventory. Nargolwala emphasized this die bank is crucial for ensuring supply agility as the channel becomes leaner.

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    Mark Lipacis's questions to Astera Labs Inc (ALAB) leadership

    Mark Lipacis's questions to Astera Labs Inc (ALAB) leadership • Q3 2024

    Question

    Mark Lipacis of Evercore ISI inquired about Astera Labs' long-term diversification strategy, asking for the expected revenue split between merchant GPU and custom AI platforms. He also asked about the supply chain mechanics that enabled the company to deliver significant Q3 revenue upside.

    Answer

    Executive Jitendra Mohan stated that while the company pursues all growth vectors, the custom AI accelerator segment may become a larger portion of revenue over time due to opportunities in back-end interconnects. CFO Michael Tate and Jitendra Mohan explained that the Q3 upside was met by utilizing existing inventory and a flexible, multi-sourced supply chain designed to handle volatile hyperscaler demand.

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    Mark Lipacis's questions to Impinj Inc (PI) leadership

    Mark Lipacis's questions to Impinj Inc (PI) leadership • Q3 2024

    Question

    Mark Lipacis asked for a detailed explanation of what it means for other retailers to be 'piggybacking' on the large North American retailer's rollout, inquiring about the design cycle and the process for these other retailers to 'flip the switch.'

    Answer

    CEO Chris Diorio explained that the 'piggybacking' is a simple process. The pioneering retailer did the hard work of figuring out how to tag a vast range of general merchandise. Now, other retailers can simply add a 'must be tagged' requirement to their supplier RFQs. For retailers already using RAIN for apparel, the business processes and hardware are in place, making the expansion to new categories a relatively fast process.

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