AXT, Inc. (NASDAQ:AXTI) Q4 2022 Earnings Call Transcript

Morris Young: Yes. But Richard, I think — I had my head hanging down now. But if you look at indium phosphide, I think — as I said, I think healthcare is a big application, although I think the development is taking a pause. I mean automotive, we have a customer asking for 3,000 4-inch indium phosphide per month, and they were giving a formal quote, and we were calculating how much will it cost us and we were almost build — ready to build extra capacity for them, but they didn’t come through, okay? But I don’t think they’re playing games with us, okay? So, I think there are many other progress, such as if you’re going to have the Meta goggle, I was told that you need a eye-tracking indium phosphide sensor. And if that market were to take off and — but then of course, there’s a lot of development program taking a pause right now.

But I think those are many, many of these users, which will use indium phosphide. And one customer told us there are 12 projects being developed using indium phosphide to improve consumers’ experience to improve their handheld devices. So — but if you asked me last year, I think, well, maybe there’s a few which could come to fruition in 2024, but I think I’m taking more conservative

Richard Shannon: Okay.

Gary Fischer: Let me add something to that, too. It’s kind of a big picture comment. But indium phosphide is taking on a life of its own, and it’s robust. It’s great to watch. It’s exciting for us to be a leader in this kind of material. And there’s going to be stuff that’s going into gaming, automotive sensors, health and well-being. So, it’s definitely taken on the life of itself.

Morris Young: Yes. And I think if you’re looking for short term, I would say China is looking to pump up the economy. I think the government may want to do some infrastructure build. As far as, I think, United States, I think, U.S. is thinking about the big infrastructure build, wants to make Internet connection available throughout materials used for basic — anything which have anything to do with fiber optic communication, so I think they may help. But I think at this point, 5G base station is not built, which is on a low point, and telecommunication is on a low point. But any of this €“ government-pumped infrastructure build is going to help on the demand of indium phosphide.

Richard Shannon: Okay. Perfect. That’s all from me guys. Thank you.

Gary Fischer: Thanks, Richard.

Operator: Our final question comes from Hamed Khorsand with BWS.

Hamed Khorsand: Hi. Just wanted to really understand if you’re talking about a reset in the business in Q1, why you’re not considering resetting your business structure as it is? What’s giving you the confidence that you will bottom out in Q1?

Morris Young: I think we’re taking a reset, Hamed. I think…

Gary Fischer: I agree.

Morris Young: We’re not buying material. We’re shutting down most of our construction…

Gary Fischer: Lower CapEx.

Morris Young: Lower CapEx. We’re looking at all possible ways to tighten the — our budget.

Gary Fischer: Lower inventory.

Morris Young: Lower inventory. But when — are we looking at cutting back on (ph), that probably is area we’re not cutting back yet. But we’re going to take a cautious look because that’s the future of the company, such as 8-inch gallium arsenide, we want to keep on developing it, so that we can have a robust yield as well as the able capacity to deliver to our customers. That revenue is going to come if we can take care of that business. I mean, so is indium phosphide. Hamed, although, as we said, we’re not building more capacity anymore. I mean, if you were to ask us last year, we were saying we’re going to increase our capacity by 50%, didn’t we? So, this is a reset. We’re not building that capacity no more. That’s a reset.