Veeco(VECO)2025-02-12 23:19Financial Data and Key Metrics Changes - Revenue for 2024 totaled 116 million, and diluted non-GAAP EPS increased to 182 million, a 5% year-over-year increase, with non-GAAP operating income of 0.41 [11][34] Business Line Data and Key Metrics Changes - Semiconductor business revenue reached 78 million, representing 11% of revenue, while data storage revenue increased by 12% to 74 million, a slight decline from the prior year, accounting for 10% of revenue [25] Market Data and Key Metrics Changes - China accounted for 36% of total revenue, up from the prior year, driven by semiconductor sales [25] - The Asia Pacific region (excluding China) made up 32% of revenue, while the United States contributed 23% and EMEA accounted for 9% [25] - Q4 revenue from China increased to 39%, reflecting growth in semiconductor sales [32] Company Strategy and Development Direction - The company is focused on expanding its served available market (SAM) by investing in core technologies to enable industry inflections, particularly in laser annealing and advanced packaging [17][20] - The strategy includes targeting high-growth areas such as AI and high-performance computing, with expectations for AI revenue to grow to over 20% of total revenue in 2025 [38][41] - The company anticipates significant growth in its laser annealing and ion beam deposition technologies, projecting SAM growth in these areas [18][19] Management's Comments on Operating Environment and Future Outlook - Management expects a decline in investment from mature node customers in China, while growth in AI and high-performance computing is driving leading-edge investments [38] - The company is optimistic about the potential for growth in the compound semiconductor market, particularly in solar and photonics, starting in late 2025 [39] - Management highlighted the importance of their enabling technologies for key inflections in the semiconductor industry, positioning the company for long-term growth [41] Other Important Information - The order backlog at the end of the year was approximately 80 million from the prior year, primarily due to the data storage business [26] - Gross margin for the full year was 43.3%, with expectations for a decrease to around 42% in 2025 due to product mix changes [27][126] - The company ended the quarter with cash and short-term investments of 24 million [35] Q&A Session Summary Question: What is the outlook for China revenue in Q1? - Management expects China revenue in the first half of 2025 to be about 25% to 30% of total revenue, down from 36% in 2024 [47] Question: Can you provide more details on advanced packaging growth? - Advanced packaging is expected to double in 2025, driven by wet processing and capacity expansions at leading foundries [50][51] Question: What is the status of the NSA evaluation program? - The NSA evaluation program is progressing well, with customers looking at multiple applications [65] Question: How is the company positioned in the high-bandwidth memory market? - The company is a production tool of record with one DRAM customer and is entering an evaluation agreement with a second customer [76][108] Question: What are the expectations for gross margins in 2025? - Gross margins are expected to be around 42% in 2025, down from 43% in 2024, primarily due to changes in product mix [126][130]