Sebastien Naji

Sebastien Naji asked if the average ASP or content opportunity for Astera Labs' customized solutions (like NVLink Fusion) would meaningfully increase compared to existing products, and if there would be a different margin or profitability profile. He also inquired about the drivers of strong growth in the Taurus line, distinguishing between underlying market growth and Astera's market share gains.

Answer

Jitendra Mohan, CEO and Co-founder, explained that for custom solutions like NVLink Fusion, the engagement model differs, and the attach rate tends to be higher (one per accelerator), which evens out the revenue content compared to a native switch shared across accelerators, despite potentially lower ASPs due to partner blocks. He noted that dollar content per XPU generation has consistently grown. For Taurus, he attributed growth to both increasing speeds (400G to 800G) driving demand for active components and Astera's business model of providing modules for cable assemblies, leading to 4x year-over-year growth in 2025.

Sebastien Naji inquired about Astera Labs' opportunities in China, particularly the willingness of Chinese hyperscalers to adopt open technologies like PCIe or UALink.

Answer

Jitendra Mohan, CEO and Co-founder, noted that due to IP and technology constraints, Chinese hyperscalers show significant demand for PCIe-based scale-up solutions. He explained that limited IP availability for higher data rates (e.g., 200 Gb) means they often use more GPUs (16-24 vs. 8 in the U.S.) to solve similar problems, creating a larger opportunity for Astera Labs' switching and retiming solutions. Regarding NVIDIA's shift to cableless designs, Mr. Mohan reiterated that Astera Labs' opportunity arises when hyperscaler customers customize high-performance GPU platforms, such as Blackwell or Rubin, for their specific infrastructure needs.

Sebastien Naji inquired about NVIDIA's shift to a more cableless design with their Rubin servers or rack, and if this design change impacts Astera Labs' opportunity with Aries or Taurus.

Answer

Jitendra Mohan, CEO, stated that Astera Labs' opportunity with NVIDIA-based designs arises when hyperscaler customers customize these platforms for their own infrastructure, as seen with the Blackwell platform and expected for Rubin. He emphasized that the choice of backplane (cable vs. PC board) is less relevant than the customization opportunities for Astera Labs.

Sebastien Naji inquired about non-AI market trends, specifically PCIe Gen5 adoption in general-purpose servers, and asked for Astera's perspective on how emerging scale-up Ethernet solutions might compete with its PCIe-based offerings.

Answer

President & COO Sanjay Gajendra confirmed that the general-purpose compute transition is a growth driver for the Ares, Taurus, and Leo CXL product lines. CEO Jitendra Mohan positioned UALink and PCIe as superior for scale-up due to lower latency and higher efficiency, arguing the key differentiator versus scale-up Ethernet is UALink's open, multi-vendor ecosystem.

Sebastien Naji asked about MPS's expectations for the adoption of vertical power solutions in data centers for 2026 and if their view has changed. He also inquired about the potential impact of the shift to co-packaged optics on MPS's optical module business, specifically regarding revenue per port and ASPs.

Answer

Michael Hsing, CEO and Founder, and Bernie Blegen, EVP and CFO, stated that vertical power is the natural evolution for energy-efficient, high-current solutions in data centers, and it will drive revenue in 2026. For co-packaged optics, Michael Hsing noted that higher current and density are beneficial for MPS, increasing opportunities and widening the competitive gap. Tony Balow, VP of Finance, clarified that while co-packaged optics is a long-term engagement, it is not expected to significantly impact 2026 revenue.

Sebastien Naji asked about expectations for the adoption of vertical power solutions in data centers in 2026 and whether this view has changed. He also inquired how the shift to co-packaged optics might change MPS's revenue opportunity in optics, specifically regarding revenue per port and ASPs.

Answer

Michael Hsing, CEO and Founder, stated that vertical power is the market's direction and will drive revenue in 2026, as it's the only energy-efficient solution for high voltage/current. Regarding co-packaged optics, Michael Hsing noted that higher current and density are beneficial for MPS, increasing opportunities and widening the competitive gap. Bernie Blegen, EVP and CFO, added that it also leads to a higher level of integration. Tony Balow, VP of Finance, clarified that co-packaged optics is a long-term engagement and not expected to significantly impact 2026 revenue.

Sebastien Naji (William Blair) asked about the current proportion of Rambus's product business not related to the server market, particularly the client market, and if rising memory costs might impact it. He also inquired if there were signs of a slowdown in new chip design starts impacting the IP business in 2026.

Answer

CEO Luc Seraphin stated that the client market contribution remains minimal, primarily limited to high-end parts, with the vast majority of business in the data center. CFO Desmond Lynch expressed satisfaction with the Silicon IP business performance in 2025, noting its strong positioning for AI solutions and expectation for continued growth in 2026, in line with long-term expectations.

Sebastien Naji asked about the portion of Rambus's product business not related to the server market (client market) and if rising memory costs create friction. He also inquired about any signs of a slowdown in new chip design starts impacting the IP business in 2026.

Answer

Luc Seraphin (CEO, Rambus) stated that the client market contribution remains minimal, limited to high-end parts, but is important for long-term positioning. The vast majority of the business is in the data center. Desmond Lynch (CFO, Rambus) and Luc Seraphin expressed satisfaction with the silicon IP business performance in 2025 and a bullish outlook for 2026, driven by a leading-edge portfolio for AI workloads and custom hardware, with no signs of a slowdown.

Sebastien Naji inquired about Arm's strategic positioning and the overall opportunity within the rapidly expanding AI data center market, particularly given the recent surge in new data center deals and computing capacity buildouts.

Answer

Rene Haas, Arm's Chief Executive Officer, highlighted power as the primary bottleneck in data center expansion and emphasized Arm's 50% greater efficiency compared to competitors. He noted unprecedented demand for Arm-based compute from major players like NVIDIA, Amazon, Google, Microsoft, and Tesla, leading to the Neoverse business more than doubling year-over-year.

Sebastian Naji asked about Arm's strategic positioning within the AI opportunity, specifically regarding the nonstop stream of new data center deals and the opportunity across the buildout.

Answer

CEO Rene Haas highlighted power as the primary bottleneck in data center buildouts, emphasizing Arm's 50% greater efficiency compared to competitors. He noted unprecedented demand for Arm-based compute from partners like NVIDIA, Amazon, Google, Microsoft, and Tesla, driving significant growth in the Neoverse business, which more than doubled year-over-year.

Sebastien Naji from William Blair asked for an update on the Arm China business and whether recent U.S. export controls could boost its data center contribution.

Answer

CEO Rene Haas stated that recent export controls do not significantly impact Arm's business and that the China market's momentum tracks the rest of the world. CFO Jason Child added that China represented about 21% of revenue in Q1, up from ~15% in the prior quarter and ~14% a year ago, indicating strong growth.

Sebastien Naji asked about Arista Networks' investments in enterprise go-to-market strategies, specifically where the most progress is expected in 2026, such as geographic expansion, channel investment, or cross-selling to existing enterprise customers.

Answer

Jayshree Ullal, Arista Networks' CEO and Chairperson, expressed excitement for the large $30 billion TAM in the enterprise segment. Todd Nightingale, Arista Networks' President and COO, highlighted three key dimensions: expansion into the campus (completed with VeloCloud), geographic expansion (noting good numbers in Asia), and reaching new logos by investing in the channel.

Sebastien Naji asked about Arista's investments in its enterprise go-to-market strategy, seeking insight into where the company expects to make the most significant progress in 2026, including geographic expansion, channel investment, or cross-selling to existing customers.

Answer

Jayshree Ullal, CEO and Chairperson, highlighted the excitement for the $30 billion enterprise TAM. Todd Nightingale, President and COO, detailed three key areas of focus: expanding into the campus market with VeloCloud, accelerating geographic expansion (noting good numbers in Asia), and reaching new logos by investing in the channel to drive more opportunities.

Sebastien Naji asked for a ranking of the opportunities across Arista's three AI networking product families: the 7060 series, the 7800 AI Spine, and the new 7700 Ethalink switch.

Answer

CEO Jayshree Ullal provided a qualitative ranking. The 7060 series is the most popular by unit volume. The flagship 7800 series is smaller in volume but the most strategic in revenue dollars. The new 7700 series, co-developed with Meta, is positioned as a 'best of both worlds' solution for mid-scale clusters up to 10,000 GPUs and has no direct competitor. Chief Platform Officer John McCool added that customers often mix these products to optimize deployments.

Sebastien Naji of William Blair & Company asked about the long-term opportunity for Ethernet in scale-up AI connectivity and whether the Meraki-Catalyst platform integration would shift hardware purchasing behavior.

Answer

CEO Chuck Robbins acknowledged a potential future shift to Ethernet for scale-up, confirming Cisco has roadmaps to address it. Regarding the platform integration, he believes it will make Catalyst more attractive to customers wanting simple cloud management, thereby expanding its appeal rather than causing a shift away from it.

Sebastien Naji of William Blair inquired about the adoption of white box solutions by hyperscalers and whether AI was driving a shift toward that model, given Cisco's flexible offerings.

Answer

CEO Chuck Robbins stated he has not seen a meaningful shift away from full systems, which remain the predominant purchase from hyperscalers. CFO Scott Herren supported this by highlighting that two-thirds of the quarter's AI orders were for complete systems, not disaggregated components, reinforcing the trend observed in the previous quarter.

Sebastien Naji asked about the mix of growth from new versus existing customers and inquired about the competitive positioning of the NVIDIA BlueField solution, including the risk of NVIDIA developing its own alternative.

Answer

President and CEO François Locoh-Donou stated that while new customer acquisition is strong, particularly for Distributed Cloud, the majority of growth comes from expanding within the existing customer base. Regarding the NVIDIA partnership, he emphasized that F5's unique L4-7 traffic management expertise is a key differentiator that is difficult to replicate, providing a compelling and early solution to the industry-wide problem of GPU utilization. He acknowledged the main work ahead is on the go-to-market model.