The following is excerpted from the question-and-answer section of the transcript.
(Questions from industry analysts are provided in full, but answers are omitted - download the transcript to see the full question-and-answer session)
Question: Samik Chatterjee - JPMorgan Chase & Co, Research Division - Analyst
: I guess, Chuck, on the demand question again, just you're guiding to the fiscal fourth quarter to be now almost sort of similar to
what the third quarter is or even down a bit, which is, if I go back historically, has never really -- I don't see many instances of that. I
mean is that really a reflection of the supply environment? Or are there any other sort of aspects of demand stemming from the
geopolitical sort of situation here that's impacting that? And when do we sort of start to see you sort of cycle past some of that?
Question: David Vogt - UBS Investment Bank, Research Division - Analyst
: I just had a follow-up on backlog and near-term RPO. If I'm not mistaken, I think your near-term RPO is flat sequentially at roughly
$16.2 billion, $16.3 billion. And if I tack on sort of $1 billion increase quarter-over-quarter in your backlog, given sort of the supply
chain constraints that you've articulated and maybe what some of your peers are saying, I mean, I guess I'm trying to triangulate on
what the revenue trajectory looks like as we go into next year. I mean you mentioned, Chuck, to throw seasonality off the window.
But is it within the realm of possibility that we could start the year next year in the first half at sort of a run rate on where we are
today as we exit this year? I mean is that a realistic probability given on how revenue kind of flows through? And then I have a quick
clarification follow-up.
Question: David Vogt - UBS Investment Bank, Research Division - Analyst
: Great. And then maybe just as a follow-up. When you think about where backlog peaks and where maybe purchase order commitments
on your end peaks, obviously, no supply chains kind of throw a lot of sort of the calculation out the window. But as you look at your
order book and what you see from a demand perspective from your customers, how would you sort of handicap where we think
we reach that sort of peak commitment from your perspective to make sure that you have the appropriate components and parts
to meet the demand longer term, right? Are we talking about as order growth decelerates from 8% in this quarter, it ultimately could
decelerate a little bit further? Are we a little bit closer to peak on both of those metrics than maybe we thought a quarter or 2 ago?
Question: David Vogt - UBS Investment Bank, Research Division - Analyst
: Yes. No, that make sense. We're trying to understand sort of the cash flow conversion. So that's helpful.
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